Collins mulling DL stint if Wright doesn’t return Monday

PITTSBURGH — David Wright's left shoulder is expected to be re-evaluated Monday, potentially allowing the Mets third baseman to play later in the day against the Braves.

If Wright isn't ready for a return to action, manager Terry Collins would like some clarity on whether his third baseman will need a stint on the disabled list.

"[Monday] will have a lot to say," Collins said before the Mets' 5-2 loss to the Pirates on Sunday. "If he's not significantly better due to the rest the last couple of days, I think we need to talk about the possibility of maybe putting him on the DL."

Wright was scratched from Friday's lineup and diagnosed a day later with a bruised left rotator cuff. Wright said the injury occurred on June 12 while he was diving head-first into second base, but it didn't bother him enough to become a problem until Thursday, when he aggravated the shoulder on two defensive plays.

The Mets are without a real backup infielder with Wright sidelined, but Eric Young Jr. can be moved to second base in an emergency. Eric Campbell has started at third base the last three days and finished 2-for-4 on Sunday.

The fact the Braves are scheduled to start lefties Alex Wood and Mike Minor the next two games has Collins hopeful that Wright can play.

"The guy hits [.403] against left-handed pitching, you would like that back in the lineup," Collins said. "But there's a chance he won't play, and I realize that. We'll get through it."

Collins said he needed to get work for Gonzalez Germen and Dana Eveland, each of whom pitched a scoreless inning in relief. Overall, Mets relievers have allowed eight earned runs over their last 43 innings (1.67 ERA) spanning 15 games.

Anthony Recker had noticeable swelling on his right hand a day after getting hit by a foul tip behind the plate, but X-rays taken were negative. Recker said he was available to play if needed.

Ruben Tejada finished 2-for-5 and extended his hitting streak to eight games. The shortstop is 11-for-30 (.366) over that stretch. Since May 25, he is 29-for-95 (.305).

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The best in science reporting this summer

When night has fallen over the beach and you're staring at the stars, you may begin wondering about the mysteries of the cosmos, or even about programming your DVD player. Reading these magazines might give you a head start on finding some of those answers.

Discover interviews "Apes" director Matt Reeves, who created an ape city in Louisiana and used 3D cameras to film many of the scenes in the mud and rain. Cirque de Soleil acrobats wore sensors so their motions could be mimicked by the computerized apes. "I was into the ape civilization," the director said in stating the obvious. More interesting is a cover feature on a real-life journey to the center of the earth. The Russians spent decades trying to drill into the mantle but got only about halfway through the 15-mile crust before giving up. This, and a feature about the inner workings of our brain in which 8.5 billion neural cells do some heavy lifting, show how little we know about our own world let alone space.

Popular Science also goes to the movies. In fact, it embraces pop culture by providing only pictorials and short news items. An examination of how much reality there is to popular science fiction ideas is intriguing. Yes, the idea of adding a new chromosome like the X-Men has a basis in reality. Thousands of years ago, after all, Europeans started drinking milk, thus developing a new tolerance for lactose. However, combining humans and animals to make super humans is more fiction. Our bodies attack alien tissue, making this reality only in the movies. A feature on GMOs and the new Arctic granny apples about to hit the market feels like science fiction.

Scientific American, meanwhile, is largely inaccessible for the average Joe. One story starts, "Predicting what ubiquitous computing and sensor data will mean for daily life is as difficult as predicting 30 years ago how the

Internet would change the world." The author then proceeds to write four pages of predictions. There are also several hard-to-follow features about cancer. There is, though, a fascinating feature on scientists discovering how to convert treated sewage into water that is cleaner than what comes out of our reservoirs. The problem is, How do you persuade people in a water-starved city like San Diego to use the reasonably priced technology and get over the mental yuck factor of drinking sewage water?

Want science for hipsters? Popular Mechanics has pictorials galore, including a story on what kind of wood barrels are behind certain whiskies. In the same Williamsburg vein, there's a feature on converting your motorcycle into a café bike like the one Steve McQueen used to ride. You can get the pieces by mail and do it yourself in 60 to 80 hours. The mag also has some good reporting on how the US government plans to destroy the chemicals of Syrian despot Bashar al-Assad, which involves taking them out to sea.

The New Yorker's cover cartoon depicts tourists at the 9/11 memorial, snapping smiling selfies, inhaling giant sodas and toting Century 21 shopping bags. Inside, Adam Gopnik pens an egg-headed treatise in which he calls the monument a "celebration of liberty tightly policed" and "a cemetery that cowers in the shadow of commerce." Meanwhile, an update on the mess in San Francisco, where tech tycoons are clashing with locals over real estate, is downright naive. Citing the prospect of falling interest rates, Nathan Heller writes that "a company town will move toward becoming, once more, just a town." Call us crazy, but we're still quite bullish on Bay-area real estate, no matter what Fed chief Janet Yellen decides.

New York fares far better on the subject with a cover story that declares "New York real estate is the new Swiss bank account." In an exposé that's uncharacteristically hard-nosed for this magazine, we are told that "foreigners are flooding the market to stash, hide and sometimes launder their money." Fleeing transparency laws in Switzerland, they're jacking up apartment prices in the Big Apple, aided by "an entire industry of tight-lipped advisers that exists largely to keep anyone from discovering" who they are, the mag reports. So does that mean this publication is finally ditching its giddy, bubbly, wide-eyed coverage of real estate as a spectator sport? We doubt it.

Time also happens to weigh in on real estate, this time with a 39-page special report on "The Smarter Home." Unfortunately, the report itself isn't so smart. The houses of the future will make you "calmer, safer, richer, and healthier," the magazine predicts. Given all of the aforementioned that's happening in real estate, we are far more concerned whether we'll be able to even afford the house of the future, much less whether it could make us richer by controlling our air conditioning, keeping our pipes from freezing or, most convincingly, being really small. Let's face it: a bunch of Apple gadgets doesn't change the fact that the economic outlook looks bleak.

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Lease is more: One World Trade now over 50% full

It was a tall order — but the Port Authority and its partner, the Durst Organization, have leased more than half of the new 102-story 1 World Trade Center.

Their quest for tenants got a boost over the past several weeks with the signing of three new lease agreements, said Jarod Barowitz, a spokesman for Durst, which will run the building.

"It's 56 percent leased. The building opens at the end of the year, so it's progressing well," he said.

The three new sign-ups are KiDS Creative, an ad agency; BMB Group, a London-based wealth-management company and Legends Hospitality, which is setting up headquarters in the building and in a separate deal will also run the 1,776-foot-high building's observatory.

That brings to seven the number of tenants committed to leases in the 3-million-square-foot building.

Demand for space in the building had been tepid over the past several years, forcing Durst to drop the rents for floors below the 64th. Those floors started off at $75 per square foot monthly. Now they're $69. But the higher floors command higher rents. Floors above 64 go for $80 to $100 per square foot.

Barowitz suggested that other deals are in the works, noting, "There is leasing activity I can't talk about."

The signature tenant is publishing giant Condé Nast, which agreed to lease approximately 1 million square feet, from the 20th floor through part of the 45th floors, in a 25-year deal expected to be worth $2 billion.

Another big tenant is the General Services Administration, a federal agency leasing the 50th through the 55th floors.

The building rests on a concrete base, designed to resist a terror attack. The base accommodates the lobby and 18 floors of space for mechanical equipment.

Also reserved for equipment are the 91st through 99th floors,

The PA proudly boasts that the observatory on the "the tallest structure in the Western Hemisphere" will draw about 3.8 million visitors every year once the 120,000-square-foot facility opens early next year.

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American Apparel could take back ousted CEO amid debt woes

American Apparel is now in the lion's den — Lion Capital's, that is.

The cash-strapped clothing company's bankers have told lender Lion Capital that it won't be able to issue new debt to refinance a $10 million loan whose default was triggered June 18 when the board ousted CEO Dov Charney, sources told The Post.

That's despite the retailer's assurances to Lion and the public last week that it didn't expect to have a problem refinancing the loan, whose default is threatening a liquidity crisis and a possible bankruptcy.

Reached Sunday, a source close to American Apparel said the company still believes it has the resources to pay back the Lion loan, possibly by selling additional shares.

But according to a source close to Lion, the tables have turned so drastically that American Apparel reps suggested to Lion over the weekend that Charney might return to the company in order to avert the crisis.

"They're now saying that Dov might be back, which would cure the default," according to a source close to the discussions.

As first reported by The Post last week, Lion has denied a waiver on a default provision that was triggered when the board staged a surprise coup against Charney, citing an internal probe into alleged misconduct.

Faced with a July 4 repayment deadline from Lion, sources said, company lawyers late last week had briefly disputed that the loan was in default. They argued that Charney has technically not yet been fired, but instead suspended for 30 days pending a cure period.

The company has since backed away from that argument, according to a source, and is looking to repay the debt with the help of adviser Peter J. Solomon, a New York investment bank.

A second alternative to raise emergency capital through selling new stock also could be difficult, sources said, with some questioning whether the company has enough registered shares to raise the money it needs.

According to securities filings, American Apparel has issued about 176 million out of 230 million authorized shares. The stock closed Friday at 97 cents.

Concerned that not enough authorized shares remain for the stock offering, company bankers proposed that Lion surrender millions of stock warrants that the British-based firm owns, according to one source.

Lion, headed by the shrewd financier Lyndon Lea, rejected that idea in discussions Sunday, according to a source close to Lion. Theoretically, that could leave the board with the option of increasing the company's share authorization at a special meeting.

Lion might be persuaded to take shares under a new authorization, according to the source. But such a deal would likely require deeply discounting the shares. Lion, which historically has been supportive of Charney, would also likely demand seats on the board, the source said.

Elsewhere, the board is facing an attack from Charney himself, who on Friday disclosed he has partnered with investment firm Standard General LP to amass a controlling stake.

American Apparel responded Saturday by adopting an anti-takeover "poison pill" provision.

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4 tips to keep your business meetings lean and mean

You're knee-deep in a client proposal, your inbox is filling up by the second — and you're locked in a conference room, where Tom from accounting is only halfway through a meandering 30-minute monologue.

It's not cruel and unusual punishment: It's a meeting. And in the annals of office life, few things can be as time-sucking — or soul-crushing.

According to a CareerBuilder survey, poorly run powwows can be downright ruinous for productivity, with 23 percent of respondents counting meetings as their primary workday distraction.

But it doesn't have to be this way. Here, productivity pros and city business leaders offer their top tips for keeping business sit-downs lean and mean.

All hail the memo

The first step in the battle against the unwanted meeting is deciphering which ones are even necessary. The most common offenders? Those whose sole purpose is to communicate information.

"So many meetings occur because they are convenient to the person calling the meeting," says Al Pittampalli, author of "Read This Before Our Next Meeting." He explains, "Writing a memo takes time, and it's easier and faster to tell everyone live."

So instead of summoning everyone to the conference room to share a project update, put the information in a cohesive and coherent e-mail instead. It might take you longer, but it will preserve the uninterrupted stretches of time your colleagues need to get their best work done.

"Let's realize what the live [meeting] time is really good for — which is to debate, argue and make decisions," Pittampalli says. "And let's use a digital form of conversation for everything else."

Get exclusive

If you've ever sat through a sit-down in which exactly one talking point was relevant to your work, you know the unique torture of the come-one-come-all meeting invite. Experts say it's time to ditch the all-inclusive approach and get decisive about who really needs to be there.

"Only invite those whose attendance is crucial to moving the agenda items forward," counsels Tamara Myles, author of "The Secret to Peak Productivity." "Productivity tends to decrease as the number of attendees increases."

According to a 2009 study published in Small Group Research, the magic number might be three to six people. A survey of 329 work groups found that overall productivity was highest among groups of that size.

In the Midtown offices of tech startup LocalMaven, CEO Arnon Rosan is a fanatic about keeping meetings small — even though his company is only five employees strong.

"I'm pretty particular — I'll call a meeting with three out of the five," he explains. "It might sound harsh, but I'll say, 'I hope this doesn't offend you, but you really don't need to be in this meeting.' "

Employees don't mind the exclusion.

"Frankly, everybody's so busy in a start-up environment, they're happy to not be distracted," he says.

Time is money

Once you've gathered the troops at the round table, the best way to keep the sit-down brief is to keep your eye on the clock — literally.

To do so, Pittampalli recommends scheduling meetings for odd times, "like 17 or 23 minutes," or using a stopwatch in the conference room.

"It sends the signal that we really want to make every minute count," he says.

At Brandstyle Communications, an Upper East Side p.r. firm, partners hold employees to a five-minute talking limit during their weekly staff meetings, using an iPhone stopwatch to keep track.

Co-founder Zoe Weisberg Coady says they instituted the policy after off-topic tangents derailed too many confabs.

"It has shaved a good 20 minutes off our meetings and keeps everyone's attention," says Weisberg Coady of the timer technique. "No one is starting to check their e-mail or Instagram. Instead, everyone is trying to beat the clock."

Take a stand

And if you can't get the resident chatty Cathy to rein in her spiel? Hold a stand-up meeting, like employees do every day in the Flatiron offices of Betterment, an automated investment firm.

"No one wants to stand up too long, so it forces you to be concise," explains CEO Jon Stein of his company's team huddles.

Nat Wasserstein, a Nyack-based crisis management consultant, likes to start meetings by asking his clients to rise from their chairs.

"At first they think I'm joking," says Wasserstein. "I've found stand-up meetings are more efficient. The physical act of standing helps me frame the meeting's agenda as an instant call to action."

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Yankees, Tanaka fall to Red Sox in ninth

The chance to pull within a game of the AL East lead presented itself to the hosts Saturday night at Yankee Stadium.

Before the Yankees and Red Sox tipped off the first-place Blue Jays already were beaten and with Masahiro Tanaka on the mound you had to like the ace's chances against a lineup that was anemic Friday night versus Vidal Nuno.

As usual, Tanaka carried his weight, but so did Red Sox lefty Jon Lester, who was hit hard the last time he faced the Yankees in late April.

The difference was Mike Napoli's two-out, solo homer off Tanaka in the ninth that carried the Red Sox to a 2-1 victory in front of a sold-out crowd of 48,433.

Napoli's 10th homer was hit to right field on a 96-mph, 1-2 pitch which was Tanaka's 112th of the game. Tanaka gave up two runs and seven hits, is 11-3 and is riding the first losing streak in America.

Lester went eight innings and improved to 9-7. Koji Uehara recorded the final three outs for his 17th save.

Lester walked Brett Gardner starting the eighth inning, but manager Joe Girardi didn't give Derek Jeter the bunt sign and Dustin Pedroia turned Jeter's hard-hit grounder into a 4-6-3 double play.

Held hitless through five innings by Lester the first three Yankees to bat in the sixth singled but Gardner, the first one, was erased from the basepaths when caught attempting to swipe second with Jeter at the plate.

It was the third time in 19 tries that Gardner was nabbed.

Jeter followed with a ground single to left and Jacoby Ellsbury followed with the same type of hit to right. Mark Teixeira popped up a 2-0 pitch to short right field and the ice-cold Carlos Beltran struck out. The whiff extended Beltran's latest slide to 6-for-34 (.176) and kept the score tied, 1-1.

An overturned review kept Lester's no-hit bid alive through five innings. With two outs Yangervis Solarte produced a slow roller toward third that Xander Bogaerts bare-handed and threw to first, where Mark Wegner called Solarte safe.

Nevertheless, a second look showed first baseman Mike Napoli's foot never came off the bag as Wegner initially ruled it. Solarte was out and the Yankees were searching for the first hit.

Tanaka's most impressive work came in the fourth when Pedroia led off with a single to right and David Ortiz doubled to right.

Tanaka regrouped to strike out Napoli and Stephen Drew with nasty splitters and stranded the runners by feeding Bogaerts an inning-ending grounder to Jeter.

The 12th homer Tanaka gave up this season was hit by David Ross, the No. 9 hitter, in the third inning and tied the score, 1-1.

Jackie Bradley, Jr. opened the inning with a fly ball that chased center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury to the warning track. Two pitches later Ross drove a 1-0 pitch clocked at 91 mph hour over the left-field wall.

The Yankees scored the game's first run without a hit in the third inning when Drew, the Red Sox shortstop, failed to cleanly field Brian Roberts' leadoff grounder. Lester then hit Solarte in the left foot to put runners at first and second without an out.

Brett Gardner's bunt toward third moved the runners up a base and Jeter's grounder to Drew scored Roberts with an unearned run.

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Bill politicized death hoping to get Hillary millions of votes: book

Edward Klein's book about the animosity between the Clintons and Obamas, "Blood Feud" (Regnery Publishing), rocketed up the best-seller charts since it was featured in The Post last Sunday. Here, in another exclusive excerpt, Klein ­describes how Bill's health is a preoccupation of the Clintons.

A pair of black, armor-plated SUVs swung into a suburban cul-de-sac and crunched to a stop in the driveway of the Clintons' home in Chappaqua, New York.

A wall of burly Secret Service agents jumped out and surrounded the man who emerged from the lead vehicle.

It was mid-summer 2013, and Bill Clinton looked shrunken and weary. He was returning from a routine visit with his doctors at New York–Presbyterian Hospital, where he had received some grave news.

His cardiologist, Dr. Allan Schwartz, had given the former president a thorough checkup. The tests showed that there had been a further deterioration in the function of Bill's heart, Schwartz said. The doctor made the former president promise to cut back on his schedule and get more rest.

Once home, Bill went upstairs to his bedroom and lay down on a daybed. He was exhausted. He used to be a man of many hobbies: He collected old cars and 1950s rock memorabilia, and he loved to watch sports, especially college basketball.

These were his lifelong distractions; they helped him unwind during his downtime.

But now he was uninterested in anything but the 2016 presidential election. It was all he cared about. He was obsessed with it. That and his health.

Later that day, Bill, Hillary, and two of her friends gathered in the converted red barn that served as Bill's home office. The women drank Chardonnay; Bill favored a Pinot Noir.

It wasn't long before Bill brought the conversation around to politics.

"We started too damn late last time," he said, referring to the 2008 campaign. "That's why I've been working on this thing for the past five years, since that one ended. We're on course to raise the money, well over a billion dollars, and we're getting our people in place everywhere."

He said that he was writing what he called "playbooks" — thick notebooks outlining positions for Hillary to take on the major issues of the day — everything from immigration reform to gun control and education.

He felt strongly that Hillary was going to have to distance herself from Barack Obama and his amateurish handling of domestic and foreign policy.

"You've got to hit hard at the Obama record," he continued, getting up from his chair and circling the barn while he spoke. "Your administration would be a third Clinton term, not a third Obama term. We have to be very harsh, because the voters are turning on him like a bad dog, and we have to do the same."

The conversation continued in that vein for some time, and then, quite unexpectedly, Bill changed the subject and began talking about his health.

"I'm worried how my health will affect your campaign," he said. "I have to do all I can to prepare the campaign playbooks, but I also have to accept the fact that if I fall by the wayside, you have to continue without me and make a positive thing out of it."

Photo: AP

"A positive thing?" Hillary said. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Obviously, you have to have a big state funeral for me, with as much pomp and circumstance as possible," he said. "I'm thinking maybe I should be buried at Arlington [National Cemetery] rather than at my library in Little Rock. After all, I was commander in chief for eight years and have every right to be buried at Arlington."

"Bill!" Hillary said, trying to interrupt his train of thought.

"I'm going to plan this thing out in detail," he said.

"I don't want to hear this!" Hillary said.

"Wear your widow's weeds, so people will feel sympathy for you. Wear black for a decent mourning period and make my death an asset. The images on television of the ­funeral and the grieving widow in black will be priceless.

"When I'm gone, people will think only of my good points and forgive, if not forget, the bad. I'll be remembered in a positive light more in death than I was in life. That always happens. Everybody knows that. So you'll have to take maximum advantage of my death."

"Bill…," Hillary said.

"It should be worth a couple of million votes," he said.

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Knicks remain faves with Melo set to dive in to free-agency

According to one Knicks player Carmelo Anthony spoke to recently, he gave no indication he was planning an exit strategy from New York.

The source told The Post this week one reason Anthony wants to remain in New York is he has enjoyed being in a big media market, as opposed to being in Denver.

The Post reported two weeks ago Knicks officials liked their odds of re-signing Anthony following their June 13 dinner meeting in Los Angeles in which Phil Jackson, coach Derek Fisher and general manager Steve Mills met with Anthony and his agent Leon Rose and broached the Mavericks trade.

The Post reported the organization likes its chances because of cap-space issues of Chicago and Houston. ESPN.com confirmed The Post report Saturday, saying Knicks officials were "increasingly optimistic'' about their chances because Anthony and Jackson have "connected.'' And now Anthony has a more consistent point guard in Jose Calderon, one of seven players Jackson added this week.

In Anthony's words, nothing is official until a deal is "signed, sealed and delivered," and Tuesday he dips his toe into the free-agent waters for the first time in his NBA career — something he has said since October he wanted to experience.

Anthony has planned visits to Chicago, Houston, Dallas and Los Angeles, where he has an apartment and the Lakers have cap space. There's no plans on visiting Miami yet, but Heat president Pat Riley has called the Big Four scenario a "pipe dream" — even though of the current Big Three, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade have opted out, and reportedly Chris Bosh will do the same.

The Melo Drama began in October when a New York Observer story quoted Anthony as saying, "I want to be a free agent. I think everybody in the NBA dreams to be a free agent at least one time in their career. It's like you have an evaluation period. I want to experience it.''

The next day, Anthony became defensive about the article's perception.

"Does that mean I'm not coming back to New York?,'' he said. "Not at all. But it's definitely an opportunity I'm willing to explore and experience. That not whatsoever means I'm not coming back to New York or I don't want to be in New York.''

A lot has happened since — the Knicks going from 54-28 to a 37-45 disaster.

"He is stepping into a situation in which people are going to appeal to him and his better self and about what their team is, and he is going to have to make that judgment call," Jackson said Thursday.

Anthony has talked about wanting to be on a title contender, but his most recent comments have indicated the Knicks are the favorites. He acknowledged his pow-wow with Jackson, Fisher and Mills was "a great meeting'' and said of Fisher's hiring, "I like everything Phil is doing.''

In a recent video, Anthony said he's worried about uprooting his 7-year-old son Kiyan and is looking at the "big picture'' of six years, not his title chances next season. Rose said Monday, "Carmelo loves being a Knick, he loves the city and the fans.''

And yet the Bulls still pose a threat, even if their cap situation is more complicated than quantum physics. CAA's William Wesley is an advisor for both Anthony and Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau. The Bulls still have cap work to do and need to convince Anthony they're not gutting the team. Their best hope is convincing Jackson to work a sign-and-trade.

The Bulls' draft-night trade for shooter Kyle McDermott gives them the ability to dump Mike Dunleavy's contract, amnesty Carlos Boozer and offer Anthony close to $17 million for four years. They do not want to sacrifice Taj Gibson.

Anthony can make a starting salary of $22.5 million over five years in New York, though if he re-signs he likely will take less to give Jackson flexibility in 2015. If Anthony demands the full max from Jackson, that could lead to issues.

In need of bigs, the Knicks have the $3.27 million mini mid-level exception for a free agent and would love to sign Jackson favorite Pau Gasol, with a big discount. But a more likely scenario is signing Gasol's Lakers teammate, power forward Jordan Hill, a former Knicks first-rounder, or Kris Humphries.

The Knicks have other free agents in center Cole Aldrich, Shannon Brown, injury-prone Kenyon Martin and point guard Tour'e Murry, whom the Knicks have until Monday to offer a $1 million qualifying offer to make him restricted. Only Murry has a shot at returning.

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Made-in Brooklyn brands see major boom

Watch out, wannabes — real made-in-Brooklyn brands are getting hardcore cred.

Last Friday, the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce launched a new Brooklyn Made certification program to separate the pretenders from the genuine Brooklyn brands.

Discerning shoppers can soon check out bronze, silver or gold certification — à la LEED buildings — depending on whether the company merely calls Brooklyn home or also creates local manufacturing jobs.

The chamber's move is just the latest evidence of the proliferation, prestige and growing economic weight of made-in-Brooklyn brands. Food and fashion are leading the charge, contributing to rising manufacturing employment after a decades-long slump.

In 2012, Brooklyn manufacturers added nearly 400 jobs, mainly in apparel, for a total of 19,913, according to State Department of Labor data.

Various Brooklyn-based spicy sauces and pastes sold at "By Brooklyn."Photo: Angel Chevrestt

"Brooklyn is a global brand," said New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli. "Kings County's cachet has spurred an uptick in manufacturing jobs that we hope will continue and increase."

New Yorkers and tourists seeking local artisanal products are flocking to the Brooklyn Flea, Smorgasburg and By Brooklyn, a Smith Street gift shop featuring only Brooklyn-made merchandise.

But Brooklyn's manufacturing totals are still well below pre-recession levels. Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce President Carlo Scissura said the city and state could offer Brooklyn manufacturers tax breaks and assistance finding start-up or expansion space.

Three years ago, when Gaia DiLoreto opened By Brooklyn, she stocked about 200 different items. Fast-forward to today, and she carries 800 products, fielding an average of 10 new offers a week.

Selling a savvy mix of new lines and stalwarts like headphone brand Grado Labs, DiLoreto is turning a profit and expects sales to rise 20 percent this year.

Brad Schmidt chose Bushwick for menswear brand Cadet's factory since it's 10 minutes on the L train from the Williamsburg home he shares with co-founder Raul Arevalo.

The interior of "By Brooklyn."Photo: Angel Chevrestt

"Made in Brooklyn" resonates with customers, while allowing Cadet to keep inventory costs low by producing merchandise that can be in stores two weeks later.

Shipping 13,000 jars of pickles to a new retail client in South Africa isn't a problem for Shamus Jones of Brooklyn Brine, which employs a total of 35 to 40 people in a bustling Gowanus plant and nearby restaurant.

Now, Jones wants to grow — without leaving the borough that's been integral to his success.

"We're searching for a building to buy, to give us a stay of execution in a sea of condos and escalating real estate prices," he said. "We're pretty adamant about staying in Brooklyn."

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Nets’ free agency plan: Do not disturb

After dramatic roster overhauls each of the past two offseasons, the Nets will begin the summer shopping season Tuesday trying to keep last season's roster intact.

With 10 players already under contract for next season — and that's without counting second-round pick Markel Brown, who hasn't put pen to paper yet — the Nets don't have many spots left to fill on their 15-man roster for next season. Instead, general manager Billy King will be hoping to retain a trio of free agents — Paul Pierce, Shaun Livingston and Alan Anderson — and perhaps fill in around the edges.

"There are still some guys that are floating out there as free agents. The more guys you can get and get continuity back and retain some of those guys, the better," King said last week. "I look at teams, when you're playing Miami in the playoffs or Miami is playing San Antonio in the Finals, they make the plays at the end of the game because they have familiarity with each other and understanding the continuity and the understanding of where guys are going to be on the court, and that just takes time.

"Sometimes it's great to go buy the new car, but sometimes the car you had runs better than the new one."

With longtime friend and teammate Kevin Garnett set to return for a 20th season, it will be a healthy surprise if Pierce winds up elsewhere in free agency, given the Nets retain his Bird rights and he settled in nicely in Brooklyn, after last season's trade from the Celtics.

The situation with Livingston, however, is more fluid — which is why King said earlier this season Livingston is the team's "No. 1 priority" once free agency begins. After a terrific season on a minimum contract, including stepping into the starting lineup and becoming the team's top perimeter defender, the Nets can offer Livingston only the mini mid-level exception, but will have to wait to see if that's enough to bring him back.

"[July 1] is when everybody can start making offers and you get a feel for where the market is going to be," King said. "Right now you can speculate and have ideas of who may pay and what they may do, but you don't know what somebody may do in the draft, make a trade. … Once you start, then guys end up getting paid and if they leave, then we go to Plan B."

The Nets could find themselves in a similar situation with Anderson, who became a valuable role player last season at both guard spots after being the 15th and final player signed last summer. Like Livingston, he became valuable both in the locker room and on the court.

King and Kidd said the Nets would like to bring him back, as well — assuming they can afford to do so. Anderson potentially could command a raise and a multi-year deal on the open market.

"Yeah, I thought those guys were all great for us," Kidd said at the unveiling of the team's practice facility in Brooklyn on Thursday morning. "When you look at those guys, their corporate knowledge was very important going into next season because they know what we're trying to do, so we don't have to start over."

Nets looking to retain more than retool in free agency.

After starting over with essentially a new roster each of the past two seasons, the Nets will be hoping to do the opposite when they reconvene this fall. Whether they will or not will be determined over the next few weeks.

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Martoma sentence of 8-plus years recommended by Bharara

Preet Bharara is looking for a tough sentence for former SAC Capital portfolio manager Mathew Martoma, who was convicted of the largest-ever insider trading crime.

The US Attorney for Manhattan asked a federal judge on Friday to impose a prison sentence toward the "high end" of similar crimes — the longest being 11 years for Galleon Group's Raj Rajaratnam.

Bharara's office said it "does not oppose" a sentence below the guidelines of 15.6 to 19.7 years but asked for more than the eight years the probation department has recommended.

A Manhattan federal jury convicted Martoma of helping SAC earn profits and avoid losses of $275 million.

"Given the magnitude of the crime, a significant sentence is needed to promote respect for the law, provide just punishment, and deter others," Bharara's office said in its sentencing memorandum.

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Mets continue slide with extra-inning loss to Pirates

PITTSBURGH — Vic Black's return to PNC Park won't top his list of career highlights with the Mets.

The fire-balling reliever, acquired last September from the Pirates as part of the deal for Marlon Byrd and John Buck, couldn't get the final out in the 11th inning Friday night, sending the Mets to their third straight loss, 3-2, in front of 37,952.

Josh Harrison's two-out, RBI double against Black ended it, on a night the Mets' bats went into hibernation after the fifth inning.

Jenrry Mejia's brilliance in the 10th inning kept the Mets alive, after they appeared finished.

Mejia escaped a second-and-third jam with nobody out, striking out two in the process.

Before his heroics, Harrison was the loose squirrel on the field in the 10th inning who guaranteed the Mets' infamy on the blooper reels.

Gregory Polanco hit a chopper that Mejia grabbed, forcing Harrison into a rundown between second and third. But Harrison, ducking and weaving, first avoided Eric Campbell's tag attempt. The last line of defense was Ruben Tejada, who took Campbell's toss and missed Harrison, who lunged onto the infield grass but was not ruled out of the basepaths.

The inning began with a defensive miscue, as Campbell — starting at third base in place of David Wright (headed to New York for an MRI exam on his sore left shoulder) — booted Harrison's grounder. Harrison was generously awarded a single.

Mejia sent the game to extra innings by getting three straight outs after allowing a leadoff single to Russell Martin in the ninth. Mejia, working for the first time in six days, struck out Gaby

Sanchez and Jordy Mercer in succession to end the threat.

Bobby Abreu was retired with the go-ahead run at third base in the ninth — killing the Mets' final chance to take the lead in regulation. Mark Melancon had allowed singles in the inning to Campbell and Travis d'Arnaud, giving the Mets their first legitimate threat since the fifth.

Andrew McCutchen elicited the chant "MVP" from the sellout crowd in the eighth by racing to the fence in right-center and robbing Curtis Granderson of a potential leadoff double.

Jacob deGrom gave the Mets a second straight strong performance, lasting 6²/₃ innings in which he allowed two earned runs on five hits, three walks and a hit batsman. The rookie was coming off a dominant start in Miami, where he fired seven shutout innings for his first major league victory.

Josh Edgin recorded a big out in the seventh, when he retired Polanco with the go-ahead run at second base. The lefty Edgin has retired all 20 first batters he has faced in 2014, a franchise record by a reliever to begin a season.

Mercer's two-run single in the fourth tied the game at 2-2 after deGrom had loaded the bases with two outs. Martin's infield single — Lucas Duda smothered the ball but couldn't recover in time to make the play — put runners on first and second before Pedro Alvarez walked to load the bases.

McCutchen's single started the rally.

Duda's two-run single earlier in the inning gave the Mets a lead. For Duda it was the continuation of a breakout month. He entered on a 20-for-69 (.290) clip that included five homers and 15 RBIs.

Daniel Murphy's double put runners on second and third for Duda, who increased his RBI total to 41.

Brandon Cumpton pitched seven innings for the Pirates and allowed two earned runs on six hits with four strikeouts and a walk.

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A Nixonian IRS

The death of two Watergate-era officials — Johnnie Walters and Howard Baker — is news any way you slice it.
But the news has added relevance today, coming as it does in the same week as IRS Commissioner John Koskinen's smug and snarky appearance before Congress.

Walters, who died Tuesday at 94, was one of two IRS commissioners who resisted orders from the Nixon White House to use the agency as a political weapon.

Walters says that in 1972, he was handed a copy of Nixon's infamous "enemies list" by White House Counsel John Dean and told to start auditing and investigating those on it.

A shocked Walters refused — his predecessor, Randolph Thrower, had resigned rather than comply with the same order — and hid the list in a safe. He stepped down a few months later and eventually turned the list over to congressional investigators.

His reasoning was simple: Although politically motivated IRS harassment had been done under JFK, Nixon's order "would have ruined the entire tax system. If you louse that up, and it was loused up by these people, we don't have a democracy."

Cut to today. Unlike these Nixon orders, there's no evidence Barack Obama or any White House official targeted Americans for IRS harassment.

But also unlike with Nixon, American organizations with political views contrary to President Obama's have been harassed because of their politics by the IRS under Obama's watch.

Which is why Walters had recently expressed his concern over the IRS targeting of conservatives. "[The] IRS must be run non-political," he warned, or else "our tax system will fail."

As for Howard Backer, who also died this week, he was vice chairman of the Senate select committee investigating Watergate when he famously asked, "What did the president know and when did he know it?"

It's a good question. But as we're now learning with this newest scandal, sometimes we have to dig even deeper than that.

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Goodluck Nigeria

When in April the Islamist group Boko Haram abducted nearly 300 girls from their school in northeast Nigeria, it commanded global attention and sparked a #BringBackOurGirls movement.

But the girls are still missing. The campaign seems to have moved from hashtag ­demands to ­newspaper column ­diplomacy. On Friday, The Washington Post carried an op-ed by no less than the ­president of Nigeria himself, Goodluck Jonathan.

In it he wrote, "Something positive can come out of [this situation] in Nigeria." He says, "Most important, the return of the Chibok girls, but also new international cooperation to deny havens to terrorists and destroy their organizations."

And he says he's going to ask the UN General Assembly to establish and coordinate a system to share intelligence, etc.

Remember, this is the same leader whose military initially claimed it had freed the girls, whose wife's anger was directed at Nigerians protesting the government's inaction rather than the kidnappers and who presides over Africa's largest economy and fourth-largest armed forces.

Meanwhile, this week Boko Haram kidnapped another 90 Nigerian children and set off a massive bomb in the heart of the nation's capital.

Apparently the government's secret plan to get the girls back — which President Jonathan says he has to "remain quiet about" — isn't much impressing them.

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Supremes’ recess-pick double slap

Three cheers for right-wing obstructionism. Can we have more, please, and louder?

This week's unanimous Supreme Court ruling on President Obama's illegal recess appointments is a double smackdown.

First, it's a rebuke against arrogant White House power-grabbers who thought they could act with absolute impunity and interminable immunity.

Second, the ruling is a reproach of all the establishment pushovers on Capitol Hill who put comity above constitutional principle.

In a nutshell: The high court determined that Obama lawlessly exceeded his executive authority when he foisted three members onto the National Labor Relations Board in 2012, during what Democrats declared was a phony-baloney Senate "recess."

In reality, the Senate was holding pro-forma sessions over winter break precisely to prevent such circumvention. The ability to convene pro-forma sessions is a power retained in both the House and Senate. It's a time-honored, constitutionally protected tradition.

No matter.

Our imperial president and his crafty lawyers declared that the Senate wasn't in business despite the Senate's declaration that it was, and the White House rammed through the appointments of Terence Flynn, Richard Griffin and Sharon Block while the Senate took a brief weekend break in between the ­pro- forma sessions.

The steamrolling gave the NLRB a quorum — and a green light to issue hundreds and hundreds of legally suspect decisions.

But conservatives objected. Plaintiff Noel Canning, the businessman who challenged the legitimacy of NLRB decisions made by the shadily packed panel, objected.

And President Rules For Thee But Not For Me got hoisted by his own petard. The high court resoundingly rejected the administration's ploy to usurp "the Constitution's broad delegation of authority to the Senate to determine how and when to conduct its business."

The decision also vindicates conservative pushback against Obama's overreaching recess appointments of radical SEIU lawyer Craig Becker in 2010 and unfettered financial czar Richard Cordray in 2012.

As Carrie Severino, chief counsel to the Judicial Crisis Network, put it: "[T]he real victory goes to the Constitution's separation of powers . . . By striking down these appointments, the Supreme Court delivered a much-needed bench-slap to the Obama administration's contempt for the Constitution."

The Canning decision should embolden "obstructionist" conservatives on Capitol Hill — led by House Republicans — who have raised bloody hell over Obama's imperial governance in defiance of establishment GOP go-along, get-alongism.

Staunch conservative Sen. Ted Cruz pointed out after the NLRB ruling: "This marks the 12th time since January 2012 that the Supreme Court has unanimously rejected the Obama administration's calls for greater federal executive power."

Thanks to patriotic obstructionism, this should and will be far from the last rebuke. Continued accommodation of this control-freak president and his cronies is suicide.

There are only two responsible replies to a Constitution-trampling, end-run executive unilaterally declaring, "Yes, I can":

1) "No, you can't."
2) "Hell no, you can't."

Michelle Malkin is the author of "Culture of Corruption: Obama and his Team of Tax Cheats, Crooks and Cronies."

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The soda ban gets canned

There were always two sides to Mayor Mike Bloomberg.

One was the tough-on-crime, fiscally responsible, pro-school-reform leader who did great things for this city. The other was the nanny who used his bureaucracies to pester New Yorkers about what they ate, drank or smoked.

Guess which of these legacies Bill de Blasio embraced when he became mayor?

We see that in light of this week's ruling by New York's Court of Appeals, which held that the city's Board of Health way overstepped its authority when it tried to ban the sale of sodas in containers larger than 16 ounces.

It's a slap at Bloomberg, yes. But de Blasio was invested here as well.

It was our new mayor, after all, who chose to continue the city's appeal of a lower-court ruling against the soda-ban. Indeed, a de Blasio administration statement said the city was "extremely disappointed" it was prevented "from implementing a sugary drink portion cap policy."

Meanwhile, de Blasio has dropped the city's appeal of Judge Shira Scheindlin's outrageous decision on stop-and-frisk.

In other words, while Mayor Bill is more than willing to use the courts to continue Bloomberg's war on Big Gulps, he's not willing to do the same for the Bloomberg crime policies that helped transform New York into America's safest big city.

Which tells us New Yorkers may well be stuck with the worst of both worlds: Nanny Bloomberg's regulations — and Progressive Bill's crime policies.

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Cops seek New Jersey mom-beater seen on Facebook video

SALEM, NJ — A woman kicked and pummeled a mother in front of her toddler as at least one witness recorded video but did nothing to stop the savage beating, police said Thursday.

Latia Harris, 25, of Salem, was charged with aggravated assault and terroristic threats in the Tuesday evening assault. Salem police had not located her as of Thursday afternoon.

The video shows the mother falling to the ground as a woman repeatedly punches her face, kicks her in the back and spits on her. Several people watch as the woman also threatened to attack the victim's 2-year-old son, who yelled and kicked the suspect's legs in a futile effort to stop the violence.

Latia Harris, 25, is accused of beating a mother in front of her son on video.Photo: AP

Police Chief John Pelura III described the video as "physically sickening to watch," and he blasted witnesses for recording the beating instead of calling for help. The footage was posted to Facebook.

"There is so little regard for human life — by the actor and the bystanders," Pelura said in a statement.

The assault took place in a field between a McDonald's and an apartment complex in Salem, a small city about 30 miles southwest of Philadelphia. Police received a call from the guardhouse outside the apartments and said they arrived to find the victim disoriented, confused and bleeding from the face. The victim told reporters she has a broken nose and mild concussion.

She told officers that a McDonald's employee named Tia accused her of spreading rumors about her and her manager, police said. The victim used to work at the McDonald's herself.

The owner of the franchise, Jim Burlaga, released a statement confirming the video shows one of his workers, who appeared to be wearing her fast-food uniform. Burlaga said he was "extremely disturbed" by the behavior and is cooperating with police.

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Changes in store for TV Guide

TV Guide is shrinking its size slightly and dumping 14 pages of TV grid listings to make way for new features and photos as part of a big redesign.

The company had recently booted Debra Birnbaum as its editor in chief and replaced her with Doug Brod, who was an executive editor.

Birnbaum recently landed as the TV editor of Variety.

The current editorial staff has 13 editors and writers and another 10 in the design production and photo areaa and has been through incessant cost-cutting and downsizing in recent years.

"We're down a few people, but we are thinking of adding some staff," said Brod.

David Fishman, who recently replaced interim CEO Jack Kliger said that the company has been profitable since shortly after Open Gate Capital took over the magazine for only $1 in 2009.

Fishman said that the TV Guide revamp "is a huge investment."

The money is coming from a reduction in the magazine's size that he said will save "several hundred thousand dollars."

It will now be 7 inches by 10 inches. In its most recent format, it was 7 ³/₈ by 10 ¹/₂ inches.

Throughout most of its existence, it was a pocket-sized digest but that was changed in 2005 by former owners who inflated it into a standard-sized magazine.

The new redesign hits on Aug. 11. Although it has been experiencing a 10.5 percent decline in ad pages through the June 23 issue, Fishman said "Our main revenue stream is still the consumer"—and he said they renew at an unually high rate, close to a 70 percent rate.

"It's not a listings magazine anymore," Fishman said. "Come Aug. 11 it will be primarily a features magazine."

While it was once one of the best-selling magaines in America, today Fishman sees it as "a niche magazine for TV enthusiasts" with a circulation of 2,023,373. Two months ago it boosted its cover price 25 percent to $4.99.

And for the first time, he said, after ther redesign, the now 29 times-a-year magazine will begin to be distributed inside airport newsstands, using Hudson News, TNG and Ingram as its wholesalers.

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Ground Zero grows up

Three World Trade Center will now move forward. And the new financing deal is a win all around.

It's a win for Larry Silverstein, who now will have the cash to finish a building that is a big part of Lower Manhattan's redevelopment.

It's a win for the Port Authority, in that it helps get it out of a business it doesn't belong in. Above all, it's a win for the taxpayers, who won't be on the hook for the loan guarantee.

This new deal came about because PA board members, led by Kenneth Lipper, last month blocked a proposed $1.2 billion loan guarantee to Silverstein, calling it "an inappropriate investment." And rightly so.

Under the new agreement, the PA will release $159 million in insurance funds Silverstein received as compensation for the 9/11 attacks.

The developer says this money — originally slated for use on another building — will help him obtain private financing through the municipal-bond market.

Our issue has never been with Silverstein. It's with a Port Authority whose forays into areas such as real estate have taken it far outside its mandate.

We opposed the old deal because the key to PA reform is returning its focus to where it ought to be: on transportation and related infrastructure.

When The Post came out against the PA guarantee for 3 World Trade Center, there were predictions of Armageddon and unfinished buildings. But lo and behold, the private sector found a better way forward.

Anyone surprised?

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With Phil’s first pick, Knicks grab Wichita State’s Cleanthony Early

Early came late for the Knicks.

The Knicks selected upstate Middletown product, scoring small forward Cleanthony Early with the 34th pick of the draft. Early, who starred for upstart Wichita State, was projected in some mock drafts as a first-round pick.

The four-year collegiate player averaged 16.3 points per game in 27 minutes per game, giving the Shockers a high-energy scorer, and led them to two straight NCAA Tournament appearances. He played at Pine Bush High in Orange County.

Early moved upstate after growing up in New York City.

"I'm a New York kid,'' he told The Post's Steve Serby in March. "I grew up in The Bronx. I've been in Brooklyn, I've been in Queens, I've played basketball a lot of places in New York. It's pretty much the same, it's that gritty attitude, that New York City swag.''

The Knicks failed to move up into the first round with the asking price too high, as the club was reluctant to give up on Iman Shumpert.

Meanwhile, the Bulls saved just $325,000 in cap space for Carmelo Anthony's free agency by packaging their two first-round picks (16 and 19) to move up to 11 and take small forward Doug McDermott. He's a shooter who can replace Mike Dunleavy if he's traded for legit cap space.

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Wheeler throws dud as Mets fall to Athletics

Before Wednesday's game against the Athletics, Mets manager Terry Collins talked about needing to keep an eye on Zack Wheeler's innings total and getting the bullpen some work.

This wasn't what he had in mind.

Wheeler, in his first start since shutting out the Marlins last week, lasted just two innings in an 8-5 loss at Citi Field as the Mets had their three-game winning streak snapped despite a late five-run surge from the offense.

Wheeler (3-8) gave up six runs in just two innings, including a mammoth two-run homer to Brandon Moss in the first and then a bases-clearing double by Yoenis Cespedes with the bases loaded in the third to make it 6-0, proving that his transformation from a potential top-of-the-rotation starter to an actual top-of-the-rotation starter is far from complete.

It was a disappointing follow-up for the right-hander.

Thoughts of a repeat complete game shutout performance were dashed quickly when Wheeler hung a 2-0 breaking ball to Moss, who ripped it high into the Pepsi Porch in right. And he didn't get any better in the second.

A Mets offense that scored double digit runs in each of the previous two games, waited until the seventh to break through against lefty Brad Mills, who was making just his second major league start since being acquired in a trade from the Brewers last week.

Lucas Duda, who didn't start because Collins didn't want to alter Tuesday's lineup that scored 10 runs, hit a pinch-hit, three-run homer to get the Mets on the board. Unfortunately for the Mets, they trailed by eight runs at the time.

Chris Young hit his third homer in two games against his former team to get the Mets within three runs in the eighth. The Mets failed to rally in the ninth.
Mills (1-0) had spent the season with Milwaukee's Triple-A affiliate in Nashville, but you wouldn't have known it Wednesday.

The Mets loaded the bases with three singles in the second inning — prompting Collins to pinch-hit for Wheeler — but Wilmer Flores flied to left to end the threat.

The lineup's woes took a backseat to Wheeler's issues, who had the shortest outing of his brief major league career. He lasted just 3 ²/₃ innings in a loss to the Giants on June 8.

And those issues came not long after Collins had sung Wheeler's praises as he looked for him to take the next step in his development.

"He came with such high expectations and everyone thought he was gonna be great right out of the gate," Collins said. "And it just shows you sometimes it takes a little time. But this guy, you just see a different personality than you did in April. This guy matured, he believes he can do it now and trusts his stuff a lot more."

It didn't do him any good Wednesday.

"You always hope after get they're exposed to the major leagues they figure out what it takes to be here and take control of the league," the manager said. "With what we saw the other day, he's doing that. He had good command of all of his pitches."

It's a transformation Collins saw Matt Harvey make a year ago.

"That's what we saw Matt do," Collins said. "They can be really special. I'm hoping that last start for Zack gets him going and four of five [outings] would be like that."
Maybe Wednesday was the one outlier.

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Who says Obama is a lame duck?

Pundits are pointing to President Obama's recent decline in public opinion polls, and saying that he may now become another "lame duck" president, unable to accomplish much during his final term in office.

That has happened to other presidents. But it's extremely unlikely to happen to this president. There are reasons why other presidents have become impotent during their last years in office. But those don't apply to Obama.

The Constitution of the United States doesn't give presidents the power to carry out major policy changes without the cooperation of other branches of government.

Once the country becomes disenchanted with a president during his second term, Congress has little incentive to cooperate with him — and, once Congress becomes uncooperative, there's little that a president can do on his own.

That is, if he respects the Constitution.

Obama has demonstrated, time and again, that he has no respect for the Constitution's limitations on his power.

Despite his oath of office, to see that the laws are faithfully executed, Obama has unilaterally changed welfare-reform laws, by eliminating the work requirement passed by Congress during the Clinton administration.

He has repeatedly and unilaterally changed or waived provisions of the ObamaCare law passed by Congress during his own administration.

He has ordered Border Patrol agents not to carry out provisions of the immigration laws he doesn't like.

We see the results today in the tens of thousands of illegal immigrants entering the country unimpeded.

Obama's oath of office obviously means no more to him than his oft-repeated promise that "you can keep your own doctor."

Why do we have a Constitution of the United States if a president can ignore it without any consequences?

The Constitution can't protect our rights if we don't protect the Constitution. Freedom is not free, and the Constitution is just some words on paper if we do not do anything to those who violate it.

What can ordinary citizens do? Everything. Theirs is the ultimate power of the ballot that can bring down even the most powerful elected official.

The most important thing the voters can do is vote against anyone who violates the Constitution. When someone who has violated the Constitution repeatedly gets re-elected, then the voters are accomplices in the erosion of protection for their own freedom.

Laws without penalties are just suggestions — and suggestions are a pitiful defense against power.

After voters have failed to protect the Constitution, the last-ditch remedy is impeachment. But Obama knows he's not going to be.

Who wants to provoke a constitutional crisis and riots in the streets? And, worst of all, end up with Joe Biden as president of the United States? Some cynics long ago referred to Obama's choice of mental lightweight Biden to be his vice president as "impeachment insurance."

With neither the Constitution, nor the voters, nor the threat of impeachment to stop him, Obama has clear sailing to use his powers however he chooses.

Far from seeing his power diminish in his last years, Obama can extend his power even beyond the end of his administration by appointing federal judges who share his disregard of the Constitution and can enact his far-left agenda into law from the bench, when it can't be enacted into law by the Congress.

Federal judges with lifetime tenure can make irreversible decisions binding future presidents and future Congresses.

If Republicans don't win control of the Senate in this fall's elections, a Senate controlled by Majority Leader Harry Reid can confirm judges who will have the power to extend Obama's agenda and complete the dismantling of Constitutional government.

Obama can, as he said before taking office, fundamentally "change the United States of America." Far from being a lame-duck president, Obama can make this a lame-duck democracy.

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Yankees hold off Blue Jays to snap four-game skid

TORONTO — The losing streak was at four games and tied the season's longest downer. The bats were dead in three of the four defeats, the defense was shaky and the bullpen looked as if it needed a vat of energy drinks, because starters other than Masahiro Tanaka were seemingly allergic to working into the late innings.

And while it didn't come easy — because nothing these days is for the Yankees — they snuck out of Rogers Centre with a much-needed 5-3 victory over the AL East-leading Blue Jays on Wednesday night in front of 34,710.

The victory pulled the Yankees to within 2 ½ games of Toronto, avoided the losing streak becoming the longest of what has been a very streaky season and didn't allow the Blue Jays to complete the sweep.

Mark Teixeira, by far the Yankees' most consistent hitter this season, swatted a two-run homer in their four-run fourth inning and drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the seventh that pushed the lead to 5-3. He leads the club with 14 homers and 39 RBIs.

Jacoby Ellsbury went 3-for-4.

Hiroki Kuroda (5-5) won for the first time since May 28. In 6 ¹/₃ innings, he gave up three runs and eight hits.

Not having pitched since June 18 because the situations didn't dictate it, David Robertson replaced Adam Warren with one out in the eighth and Dioner Navarro on first via a single off Warren.

Robertson whiffed Juan Francisco with a 84-mph breaking ball for the second out and struck out Colby Rasmus with an 85-mph model to keep the lead. Robertson then recorded the final three outs for his 18th save in 20 chances.

Because Joe Girardi used Dellin Betances for two innings and 45 pitches Tuesday night, the Yankees manager didn't have the pellet-throwing right-hander Wednesday. So with a runner on first and one out in the seventh, Girardi called for Shawn Kelley, and he gave up a hit to Jose Reyes and retired Melky Cabrera on a fly to right.

Girardi then went for lefty Matt Thornton to face the left-handed hitting Adam Lind. Anthony Gose swiped third and Reyes second to make it sticky for Thornton, but he killed the threat by getting Lind to hit a broken-bat dribbler to the mound.

Without a hit against lefty reliever Rob Rasmussen, the Yankees put runners on first and second to start the seventh when Brett Gardner walked and Derek Jeter got hit on the left foot.

Rasmussen wild pitched them to second and third with Ellsbury at the plate, and he walked on a 3-1 pitch. Blue Jays manager John Gibbons called for Sergio Santos to face the switch-hitting Teixeira, and his fly to center scored Gardner and upped the Yankees' lead to 5-3.

After scoring four runs in the third inning for their first lead since last Friday — when Carlos Beltran beat the Phillies with a three-run homer in the ninth — the Yankees had a chance to add runs in the fifth against Drew Hutchison, but didn't.

Jeter and Ellsbury put together consecutive one-out singles, but Teixeira flied deep to right-center before Beltran walked to load the bases for Ichiro Suzuki, whose bouncer to the right side stranded three.

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Kidnappers beware: Mel Gibson’s lesson for Israel

Never mind Mel Gibson's anti-Semitism — or Gary Oldman's ridiculous defense of him this week. Israel (and America) can take a bit of advice from the character Gibson played, Tom Mullen, in the 1996 film "Ransom."

In fact, the Jewish state seems to be doing just that.

For nearly two weeks now, Israel has been cracking down on Hamas, which it says is behind the June 12 kidnapping of three teenagers.

Shortly after the boys disappeared, the Israeli Defense Force launched Operation Brothers' Keepers, putting Hebron and its outskirts — a Hamas stronghold — under siege. Hundreds of West Bank Hamas operatives were arrested. Homes of its bigwigs were razed.

The group's financial and social infrastructure was hit, and charities, media assets and bank accounts were confiscated.

Separately, some right-wing Israeli legislators are drafting a law to limit the prime minister's ability to free hundreds of Arab terrorists in exchange for a small number of Israeli abductees.

As if to underscore the point, this week the national police named Ziad Awad as a suspect in an April murder of an Israeli cop. Awad was released just recently as part of an exchange of hundreds of terrorists for one Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit. Now Israel is rearresting dozens of them.

Israel's new approach is reminiscent of Gibson's in "Ransom."

In the film, Mullen, an airline exec, at first contemplates paying the kidnappers $2 million to get back his young son. But then, he changes his mind. As he displays the cash on live TV, he tells the bad guys: "This is as close as you'll ever get to it."

No ransom will be paid, he says. "Not one dime. Not one penny. Instead, I'm offering this money as a reward on your head. Dead or alive, it doesn't matter." It's a terrific moment.

Like the father in the movie, and even more than in other free societies, Israelis see each abductee as their own child. Consider: Until last month, few Americans outside of Hailey, Idaho, ever heard of Bowe Bergdahl.

Then suddenly, he became a political football. Every detail of his capture was reexamined, and President Obama's release of five Taliban terrorists to free him was heavily criticized.

But imagine that debate had Bergdahl's face been plastered on every billboard and every newscast across the country for the entirety of his five-year captivity.

That's how it was in Israel when Gilad Shalit was held incommunicado in Gaza for half a decade. (Until last month, more New Yorkers had probably heard of Shalit than Bergdahl.)

In the tiny Jewish state, public pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to pay any price for the return of Shalit — everyone's "child" — was enormous. To free him, Bibi agreed in October 2011 to release 1,027 Palestinian prisoners, including terrorists convicted of mass murder.

The swap was history's most uneven, but far from unique for Israel. Since the 1980s, it has exchanged as many as 7,500 Arab prisoners for 14 living abductees and the bodies of six dead ones.

Israel puts an extremely high premium on captured citizens, and in the age of insta-media this vulnerability has become a major weakness (even though some rightly argue it's also the country's real strength.)

Well aware of this, Hamas has plotted more kidnappings, hoping to reap the political benefits of mass-prisoner release. Soldiers, civilians, girls, boys, the elderly — whatever. Hamas sees their abduction for ransom as a major new terrorist weapon.

And sure enough, when 19-year-old Eyal Yifrah, 16-year-old Gilad Shaar and 16-year-old Naftali Frenkel (who has US citizenship) disappeared last week while hitchhiking home from a religious school in Gush Etzion, a large Jewish settlement block in the West Bank, they became everyone's boys.

Only this time, Israel is trying to turn the tables.

It's looking to impose a high price on Hamas for the kidnapping. True, it's not clear if Jerusalem can stick to this crackdown. Pressures abound: World leaders waste no time denouncing "collective punishment."

Fears that reported IDF "atrocities" could ignite region-wide violence (as Ramadan begins Saturday) are very real.

Indeed, only two weeks into the abduction crisis, the IDF already seems to be easing the Hebron siege. And eventually Netanyahu may well let prisoners go, in exchange for the three teens.

Still, Israel is aiming to convey a message to Hamas: Whatever benefit you may get in the end, the price you pay will be higher.

After turning the tables in "Ransom," Gibson "congratulates" the kidnappers: "You've just become a $2 million lottery ticket," he tells them. No, reality is not a movie. But that doesn't mean films can't make good points.

Israel is now proving a useful lesson from "Ransom": Even in the most heart-wrenching of circumstances, the bad guys don't have to win.

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Walmart’s progressive heart

Nice to see that all the vitriol directed at Walmart hasn't dimmed its sense of ­humor.

Witness the clever but pointed response by the company's vice president for corporate communications, David Tovar, to a recent New York Times column accusing it of being at the heart of a GOP plot to "make life miserable for millions" of Americans.

In a red-lined copy of the column posted to Walmart's blog, Tovar scored the article for getting key facts wrong. A net drain on taxpayers?

To the contrary, Walmart is America's largest taxpayer. Forcing workers into public assistance because of low wages? No, having a job at Walmart helps employees move off the dole.

Poor treatment of workers?

Walmart promoted 170,000 employees last year, and full-timers earn 78 percent above the federal minimum wage.

In fact, says the Manhattan Institute's Jared Meyer, progressives should be singing Walmart's praises because of the low prices that directly benefit the lowest-paid Americans.

A study cited by Jason Fuhrman, chairman of President Obama's Council of Economic Advisors, notes that Walmart and similar superstores have lowered the price of buying food by 20 percent.

The Obamas were once part of the demonize-Walmart crowd. Now the former head of the Walmart Foundation serves as Health and Human Services secretary. And the first lady has hailed Walmart for making fresh fruits more affordable for everyone.

A job-producer and income-booster: For any right-thinking progressive, shouldn't that make Walmart part of the solution, not the problem?

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GOP Sen. Cochran leads in Mississippi over tea party’s McDaniel

WASHINGTON — Six-term Sen. Thad Cochran and tea party favorite Chris McDaniel dueled closely Tuesday night in the bruising, costly Mississippi primary runoff that exposed deep divisions within the Republican Party.

With 10 percent of precincts reporting, Cochran led with 57 percent to McDaniel's 43 percent in a test of whether the congressional veteran could win over voters with his seniority and Washington clout.

In a last-ditch effort, Cochran had reached out to traditionally Democratic voters — blacks and union members — in his underdog candidacy against McDaniel. Voters who cast ballots in the June 3 Democratic primary were barred from participating.

The Mississippi contest that threatened to cast aside the 76-year-old Cochran was the marquee race on a busy June primary day that included New York, Oklahoma, Colorado, Maryland and Utah. In a special House election on Florida's Gulf Coast, voters chose Republican businessman Curt Clawson to replace former Rep. Trey Radel, who resigned in January after pleading guilty to cocaine possession.

In New York's Harlem and upper Manhattan, 84-year-old Democratic Rep. Charles Rangel, a 22-term congressman and the third-most-senior member of the House, faced a rematch against state Sen. Adriano Espaillat, bidding to become the first Dominican-American member of Congress.

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Donkeys’ disaster? Obama’s policies may doom Dems

Are we seeing a full-scale Democratic Party meltdown? We might be.

The most recent polling shows the president at all-time lows. This matters because presidential approval has, in the past, been a key factor in the results of midterm elections.

The Democratic Party is using every bit of Big Data at its disposal to neutralize that presidential drag. This might help, but Big Data isn't magic.

It might be able to tell Democrats where they're hurting, but it can't heal the wounds it diagnoses. Only good policy decisions can.

The president is backing his party into a corner. The health-care rollout has cast a permanent shadow on the 2014 election.

If Democrats in competitive races try to separate themselves from it, they will look weak and vascillatory. Even worse, they may get liberal donors angry.

Those same Democrats are going to have to explain their views on unfolding administration scandals like the supposedly missing and destroyed IRS e-mails that would tell the story of how conservative groups came to be targeted for their views.

If they carry water for the administration, they will not only be defending the indefensible but will be defending the IRS — never a smart-money move in a close race even when the tax man isn't behaving in what appears to be a criminal fashion.

But if they attack, they will hear about it from the White House, from their leaders on Capitol Hill and from those same donors.

Then there's foreign policy. It rarely plays a role in midterm elections.

But a general impression of chaos, incompetence and bad judgment certainly does, and that is what foreign policy has become for President Obama and the Democrats.

The disaster in Iraq caught Obama and his team flat-footed and very likely incapable of serious response.

Given that the president has spent two years praising his administration for pulling our forces out of Iraq, he has constructed a nearly impregnable barrier to a significant effort to reverse the gains of the combined terrorist-Saddamist onslaught.

The president clearly considers the removal of American forces from harm's way a signal achievement of his administration, and would resist any policy that would alter his reputation as a war-ender.
He also acknowledges that Iraq's collapse would be dangerous to our national interests and should be prevented. The problem is that he may not be able to have it both ways.

He and his party know voters don't want Americans back on the ground in Iraq. Voters also don't want to lose Iraq. So what does he have?

Apparently, he thinks he has an Iran card to play.

That is why he and his team are talking openly about making common cause with Iran to stabilize Iraq — even as Iran helped foment the political crisis that helped strengthen the insurgency and has been a signal contributor to fomenting the hellish chaos in Syria.

Not to mention, of course, the Iranian rush toward a nuke, out of which the Obama administration mysteriously believes it can seduce the mullahs through protracted negotiations.

These suggestions that we can and should play international footsie with Iran may not have a role in the polling that suggests a near-national panic about the collapse of American foreign policy.

After all, the public doesn't follow the ins and outs of these matters that closely.

But over the past 35 years Iran has been America's most consistent ideological foe, and the public does not view that country or its leaders with favor, to put it mildly.

It is true that a great many Americans do not remember the 1979-80 hostage crisis, but a great many also do — and nearly everyone is old enough to remember former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad repeatedly threatening Israel with literal annihilation during his eight-year presidency.

Add to that the fact that Vladimir Putin recently swallowed another country's province whole while the West watched helplessly, China toying with Japan in the Pacific and tens of thousands of children pouring over our Southwestern border — and you have a portrait of the most important and popular Democrat of the 21st century turning into the portrait of Dorian Gray before our eyes.

Then there are the self-inflicted wounds of his putative successor. Hillary Clinton has now spent two weeks on the book-publicity trail making gaffe after gaffe about her wealth and power.

Clinton has not only revealed herself to be a significantly less formidable candidate for 2016 than anyone thought just six weeks ago.

She has inadvertently exposed a truth about the present-day Democratic Party — which is that its aristocratic ruling class is, if anything, even more out of touch with the everyday lives of Americans than the Republicans are.

None of this is to say the GOP is in good shape. Except there are only two parties, and the Democrats are vastly worse off with Election Day only a little more than four months away.

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Nets owner to trim spending to get $1B valuation

Brooklyn Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov, with hopes of winning a $1 billion valuation for his team, has agreed to end his free-spending ways, The Post has learned.

The 49-year-old Russian billionaire feared the red ink spilled by the team — in large part because of his history of deficit spending — would discourage some potential bidders from forking over enough cash for Bruce Ratner's minority stake to gain the 10-figure value, sources said.

Ratner's Forest City Enterprises announced earlier this year it would sell its 20 percent stake in the Nets.

It needs to get $200 million for the team to hit Prokhorov's target.

The $1 billion valuation would be only half of what former Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer just agreed to pay for the LA Clippers.

The Clippers, though, are profitable and the Nets are far from it. Also, there is a roughly 20 percent discount when selling minority stakes, sources said.

"If it were a control sale, I think you could get $1 billion easily," a potential suitor said. "This [minority-stake evaluation] is a little tough."

Suitors are concerned they not only would need to invest $200 million, but then cover their share of any losses, which last year stretched to about $50 million, sources said.

Last year, the NBA hit the Nets with a luxury tax bill of more than $90 million after the Prokhorov-run team spent $102 million on payroll, well over the $72 million maximum allowed before incurring penalties.

Despite leading the league in payroll, the Nets barely made it past the Toronto Raptors in the first round and lost in five games to the Miami Heat in the second.

Now, Prokhorov has indicated to suitors he will not be so free with the cash, sources said.

Prokhorov, who bought a controlling stake in the Nets in 2010, has quietly indicated he will keep his payroll under the luxury-tax threshold starting in the 2015-16 season, one source with direct knowledge of the auction said. "It will take a year to get to the salary cap," the source said.

In addition, the billionaire owner has expressed a willingness to cover more than his share of team losses for at least a year, the source said.

"A new investor could be protected completely," a buy-side banker added.

Still, despite potential bidders being told Prokhorov would reel in spending, one well-placed source is skeptical the team owner will agree to such frugality.

The NBA salary cap — and the threshold before a luxury tax would kick in — is expected to rise next year, which could also help Prokhorov obtain the $1 billion valuation.

The loss-making Nets are projecting they will swing to more than a $50 million profit in the 2016-17 season through a combination of cost-cutting and sweeter media deals, according to the sales books being distributed to potential bidders on the Ratner stake, according to two sources who have seen the books.

Brooklyn currently gets a relatively puny $20 million a year from its local TV deal with the YES Network, sources said, but that is due to be reset to about $50 million beginning in 2017.

Also, a new league-wide NBA deal is expected to put an additional $30 million a year into each team's coffers.

Forest City and the Nets declined comment, and its banker, Evercore Partners, did not return calls.

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The IRS smirks

That was quick. During a congressional hearing Monday night, IRS Commissioner John Koskinen — an attorney — asserted the IRS had done nothing criminal.

Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC), then asked what criminal statutes he relied on to reach that judgment. Koskinen admitted he hadn't looked at any.

Less than 24 hours later, America's top official for archiving federal records, David Ferriero, appeared before Congress. He said the IRS "did not follow the law."

Not that this will have much effect on Commissioner Koskinen, as smug and imperious as any bureaucrat you will met.

Throughout these hearings, he's come across less as a professional determined to restore the good name of the IRS than a Democratic Party hack who thinks the IRS is the victim here.

In that, he's largely been abetted by a press corps that will show no interest in this scandal absent some link to the White House.

In response, some are calling for a special prosecutor. We do not join them. Better that Congress use the powers the framers gave it, including the power of the purse.

So we are pleased the House Appropriations Committee has responded by slashing the IRS budget.

Coming on top of cuts made earlier this year, it would bring the IRS budget down to 2008 levels.
Yes, the Senate could fight it.

But so what? If Democratic senators want to spend this election year defending the IRS and saying it deserves more taxpayer dollars, let them.

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AT&T, DirecTV execs try to sell Congress on a bundle

Once again, executives involved in a pay-TV merger appeared on Capitol Hill to tell lawmakers why the merger should be approved.

On Tuesday, AT&T and DirecTV brass testified before both House and Senate committees — and even hinted monthly TV bills could come down if the $48.5 billion hookup is sealed.

They didn't guarantee lower prices but spoke enough about it to leave lawmakers feeling they could happen.

"I am very, very skeptical as a senator, not just as a consumer," Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), said at the Senate Judiciary Committee's antitrust panel hearing.

Blumenthal asked AT&T Chief Executive Randall Stephenson whether he could commit to pass on the savings from lower content fees to consumers dollar-for-dollar.

"No sir, I can't," Stephenson said, but added he hoped the merger would result in slower price increases for consumers.

Stephenson and his counterpart at DirecTV tried to paint their deal as different from the proposed Comcast-Time Warner Cable merger.

"This is not Comcast-Time Warner [Cable]," Stephenson told a House Judiciary Committee panel. "This is not two cable companies getting together."

Stephenson said there was very little overlap between the two companies.

"There is simply no significant competitive overlap between AT&T and DirecTV in the product that consumers overwhelmingly demand — an integrated broadband/video offering," he said.

DirecTV Chief Executive Michael White said that without an Internet offering, his satellite-TV company has produced slower subscription growth and has been attacked in rivals' ad campaigns for lacking bundles.

"Broadband has supplanted video as the most important element in a customer's service bundle," he said.

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Labor acts to hide older data in job surveys

The Labor Department has made it more difficult for the Census Bureau to screw around with the nation's unemployment report.\

More difficult — but not impossible.

In case you are just joining this ongoing drama, the Labor Department pays Census to conduct the monthly Household Survey that produces the national unemployment rate, which despite numerous failings is — inexplicably — still very important to the Federal Reserve and others.

One of the problems with the report is that Census field representatives — the folks who knock on doors to conduct the surveys — and their supervisors have, according to my sources, been short-cutting the interview process.

Rather than collect fresh data each month as they are supposed to do, Census workers have been filling in the blanks with past months' data. This helps them meet the strict quota of successful interviews set by Labor.
That's just one of the ways the surveys are falsified.

This month, Labor tried to outsmart the cheaters by denying them access to past interviews. So the only way the questionnaires could be filled out is by actually conducting interviews.

Government workers would have to do their job — now, that's a first!

So now, the Census workers for the Current Employment Survey will have to interview the same household for four straight months.

Then these households are given an eight-month break. (Other families are on different schedules so there is never a shortage of people that Census is harassing in any given month.)

After the eight-month break, these households are interviewed for five months.

Before Labor made its surprise change, Census field reps and their supervisors had unfettered access to any of the family interviews. So, after the eight-month break, the field rep and the supervisor could look back and see whether someone in the family, say, had a job during the first interview cycle.

Then, if they were inclined to cheat on the latest survey, the Census field reps and/or supervisors could just copy the old responses.

There was little chance that anyone would catch on.

Now the field reps and supervisors can't see the old results after a family's eight-month hiatus.

This, of course, is going to make it much harder for Census to meet the 80 percent success rate for responses that Labor requires. But it'll also get more accurate readings of the employment situation.

With these new restrictions the Census Bureau is having an even more difficult time completing the surveys.

As of Monday, 6,500 surveys still needed to be completed in Denver, New York City and Philadelphia. Denver alone needed 1,300 surveys to be completed by Tuesday to be ready for the June jobless report to be released a week from Friday.

Of course, the problem is that Census field reps and supervisors may be lazy, but they aren't stupid.

So they will probably get around the new obstacle by keeping a personal, handwritten diary on the families they have interviewed. Cheat notes — just like we used before computers.
Hey, but at least Labor is trying!

The spokesman for Labor did not return my phone call from Friday. And Labor still hasn't done the right thing, and make a statement that the unemployment data has been corrupted by lax standards at Census.

Census workers were apparently surprised that they no longer had access to all the interview data and they were assured by higher-ups that the change was intentional.

A June 17 e-mail that went out from Joe Quartullo, the Survey Statistician at Census, for instance, explained "the interviewing system for labor force was designed in a manner that broke all longitudinal links between MIS-4 and MIS-5 since BLS did not want any of the normal month-to-month longitudinal links to apply."

Translation: Census workers can no longer see information from Month In Sample 4 (MIS-4) to MIS-5, which takes place after the eight-month break.

Quartullo's e-mail emphasizes that this was intentional — "by design" he wrote in bold letters in the e-mail's first line.

This whole controversy began when a Philadelphia Census worker, Julius Buckmon, was caught falsifying surveys and — most important — his wrongdoing was covered up.

Worse, Buckmon alleged that supervisors told him to cheat.

Other Census sources have also told me that data is falsified all the time. And since Census polls for lots of different government agencies, including the Justice Department, the problem could be bigger than anyone can imagine.

The Commerce Department's Inspector General completed an investigation in May and found that while Buckmon did falsify data, his accusations against others were unproven.

And it said that a larger conspiracy to rig the unemployment rate was nonsense. Apparently Labor isn't so sure or it wouldn't have changed its procedures.

---

Last week, the Financial Times reported that "central banks around the world, including China's, have shifted decisively into investing in equities as low interest rates have hit their revenues."

The paper quoted a study published by the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum, a central bank research group.

So this is another one of those "I told you so" moments.

As I've been explaining for years, the stock markets are rigged and it's being done by central banks.

Is the Fed involved? Probably. That was the plan proposed by a Fed member in 1989 when Washington was worried about a crash.

There is going to be hell to pay when this next central bank-made bubble pops.

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Simon Cowell and Lauren Silverman buy a new love nest

TV mogul Simon Cowell and girlfriend Lauren Silverman have found a home in Manhattan to raise their little love child. Sources told The Post's Jennifer Gould Keil they closed on a luxury apartment on the Upper East Side, close to where Silverman's other son, Adam, 7, lives with his father, Andrew Silverman.

Simon Cowell and girlfriend Lauren SilvermanPhoto: INF

Cowell shelled out at least $10 million for the new three-bedroom suite on East 78th Street.

It is not clear which apartment the couple bought, but a three-bedroom in the building was recently listed for $10.8 million.

The location and size are similar to the $26,000-a-month place Cowell rented for Silverman after she became pregnant.

"They wanted to be on the Upper East Side, and they love modern and new," a source said.

Cowell, who's worth $95 million, and Silverman have been house-hunting for several months.

The couple and baby Eric were seen leaving the St. Regis, where Cowell often stays when he's in town, in February and checking out Upper East Side apartments.

They will likely divide their time between New York and London.

Modal Trigger

Simon Cowell and girlfriend Lauren Silverman just closed on a luxury apartment on the Upper East Side.

Williams New York

Inside the 151 East 78th Street love nest.

Williams New York

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A welcome move by Kerry in Iraq

Even if it produces no dramatic results, Secretary of State John Kerry's visit to Baghdad Monday should be regarded as a positive step.

While no one expects the United States to take a leading role in helping Iraq out of its current crisis, the visit, which follows President Obama's decision to send a token force of 300 men to Baghdad, indicates Washington's abiding interest in what happens in Iraq.

Over the past two years, Kerry, who has visited the Middle East more than any other region in the world, has studiously avoided Iraq. He now realizes that, with or without its current troubles, Iraq cannot be ignored.

What happens in Iraq will affect the entire region and beyond, affecting the United States' national-security interests for years to come.

Initially, the current crisis in Iraq took the Obama administration by surprise.

Both the president and Kerry believed they could treat Iraq as a nightmare best forgotten. Thus, when the jihadists erupted into Mosul almost two weeks ago, Washington had no contingency plan to cope with the effect.

The result was a number of faux pas, including the amazing suggestion that the United States and Iran work together to stabilize Iraq.

With the initial shock absorbed, the Obama administration is now in a position to develop something of a policy on Iraq. Such a policy, as Obama has amply indicated, is going to be a low-profile one.

The president has tied his own hands on the use of military force by announcing that he would not make any move in that direction without prior congressional and international approval.

Nor is he prepared to supply Iraq with any new category of weapons needed to deal with the jihadist insurgency.

Despite such self-imposed constraints, America is still capable of making a positive contribution to efforts to stabilize Iraq.

As Kerry indicated Monday, the United States could still play the role of mediator among various Iraqi factions whose cooperation is needed for the formation of a broad-based government to deal with the current crisis.

America should not insist on the departure of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki as a precondition. Maliki is past his sell-by date and must move on.

However, to ditch him now could appear like a victory for the jihadists. It could also send the message that governments are made and unmade not through elections and parliamentary procedures but with recourse to violence and terror.

Whatever accord is made on the shape of a new government, it must include at least an implicit pledge that Maliki will step down once the situation is brought under control.

The United States still has strong influence with some of the Kurdish factions whose support is crucial for forming a new government.

The US may also find sympathetic ears among the secular bloc led by former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, himself a Shiite but ­enjoying some support among Arab Sunnis as well.

But what could America offer in exchange for its demand to have a say in Iraqi politics?

To start with it could promise to work with Iraq at least until the end of the current crisis.

We now know that America had collected a mass of electronic and other data on the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or Da'aesh in Arabic.

Had that information been shared with the authorities in Baghdad, they might have been better able to prepare for dealing with the attacks launched against Mosul.

That the US is now offering full intelligence cooperation is a step in the right direction.

Next, while sticking to Obama's decision not to provide Iraq with new categories of weapons, especially fixed-wing aircraft, the US could speed up the delivery of weapons already bought and paid for by Baghdad, notably Hellfire missiles.

Washington could also use quiet diplomacy to persuade some of its regional allies to assume a more active role in denying Da'esh funds and weapons originating in their territories.

Da'esh has now set up shop on the Jordanian frontier and controls a swath of territory close to the border with Saudi Arabia. Thus the policy of benign neglect towards Da'esh may begin to look like malign complicity.

Iraq does not need cash from America. However, allocating a symbolic sum from the fund just set up by Obama to fight international terrorism could be seen as a sign that Washington regards Iraq as an ally in the War on Terror.

As recent purges of the Iraqi army indicate, one of Iran's top priorities is to weed out Iraqi officers trained by the US, including some who have graduated from US military academies.

Maliki has obliged, partly to please Tehran. The US should counter that by urging an end to the purges and offering greater training facilities inside and outside Iraq.

With or without US support, Da'esh will be contained and defeated if only because of its anachronistic posture.

However, it is in the United States' national interest to remain an ally of Iraq as it uses its newly regained freedom to build a better future.

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