Mexican Illegal Alien Miguel Angel Rodriguez-Gaona Charged with Murder in Maryland Stabbing Death

So, Maryland's in the news tonight a bit, heh.

From Emily Miller, at Fox News 5 DC, "EXCLUSIVE: Alleged illegal immigrant charged in Md. murder denied bond."

The dude had a fake passport.

Also at Twitchy, "Not PC: Emily Miller refers to alleged murderer with fake green card as ‘illegal alien’."

University of Maryland Law School Creates New Course in Social Justice: 'Freddie Gray's Baltimore' (VIDEO)

Well, everything's about "social justice" nowadays, isn't it?

At the Baltimore Sun, "Syllabus for law school's Freddie Gray course says unrest 'almost certainly not over'":

A new course at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law titled "Freddie Gray's Baltimore: Past, Present, and Moving Forward" aims a wide lens at the 25-year-old man's death and the "serious recent disturbances" that followed — which it says are "almost certainly not over" and require deep analysis.

"The course is not viewed by its organizers as an end in itself," reads the course overview, provided Wednesday by Professor Michael Greenberger. "Rather, it is intended to be a springboard for further and deeper academic teaching and writing efforts, clinical work, and student and faculty involvement in citizen and government efforts to reform law and policy in the subject matter areas" of "policing; criminal justice; housing; health care; education; poverty; and community development and joblessness."

Gray was arrested in April and suffered a severe spinal cord injury while in police custody. His death from the injury sparked demonstrations against police brutality across Baltimore. On the day of his funeral, rioting, looting and arson broke out.

"These events, which are almost certainly not over, have highlighted and/or uncovered serious on-going social and financial dislocations within the City," the syllabus reads.

Six Baltimore Police officers have been criminally charged in Gray's arrest and death; all have pleaded not guilty. The legal process leading to their trials is still in its early stages.

Greenberger, the course administrator, will be joined in teaching or planning the eight-week course by 12 other professors at the law school. The syllabus also lists Sherilynn Ifill, the president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, as another "tentative" organizer and teacher, of a class on the causes and implications of housing segregation.

The coursework will also be "supplemented by other academics, experts, and officeholders," though the syllabus does not identify those people.

Students, the syllabus reads, will be "apprised throughout the course of volunteer opportunities to work on the issues addressed in the course."

More.

Also at the Wall Street Journal, "Law School Launches ‘Freddie Gray’ Course."

And from the course description:

The idea for this course emanates from the recent disturbances in Baltimore arising from Freddie Gray’s arrest and his resulting death. These events have highlighted and/or uncovered serious on-going social and financial dislocations within the City. The course will examine the recent unrest itself and then examine the causes of, and possible solutions to, those dislocations, including an examination of problems in policing; criminal justice; housing; health care; education; poverty; and community development and joblessness.

The course is not viewed by its organizers as an end in itself. Rather, it is intended to be a springboard for further student and faculty involvement in citizen and government efforts to reform law and policy in the subject matter areas listed above. Students will be apprised throughout the course of volunteer opportunities to work on the issues addressed in the course.

And here's the statement from the university, "New Maryland Carey Law Course Examines Causes and Solutions to Baltimore’s Recent Civil Unrest":

In response to the recent disturbances in Baltimore following  the death of Freddie Gray, the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law is offering a new course titled, “Freddie Gray’s Baltimore: Past, Present, and Moving Forward.”

The eight-week course, which begins in September, will be taught by Maryland Carey Law faculty members as well as other academics, practicing professionals and elected officials.  It will be open to students from the law school and the University of Maryland School of Social Work.

The course will examine the unrest in Baltimore as well as its causes and possible solutions by focusing on social, economic and other issues, including policing practices, criminal justice, access to housing, health care, education, joblessness and community development.

“We see this course as an opportunity for our students to grapple with important issues in their backyard” said Dean Donald B. Tobin. “We want not only to educate our students but to inspire them to act on what they’ve learned and work with our neighbors in West Baltimore to strengthen our community and city.”

Throughout the course, students will be apprised of volunteer opportunities to work on the issues addressed in each session.

More.

I don't actually see the course syllabus anywhere, although so far I'm underwhelmed.

Paulina Porizkova: Getting Old Not the Greatest

Well, you're as young as you feel.

The older you get the more you have to put into it, which can be a drain.

On the other hand, the rewards can be off the charts.

At London's Daily Mail, "'My looks are so tied in to what I'm worth': 80s Supermodel and former Vogue cover girl Paulina Porizkova, 50, admits aging 'isn't the greatest thing'."

Porizkova's my first Sports Illustrated Rule 5 babe, here: "Rule 5 Saturday: Paulina Porizkova."

And she's looking no worse for the wear, on Twitter: "#50NoMakeup."

Swedish Supermodel Elsa Hosk on Becoming a Victoria's Secret Angel (VIDEO)

Looking ahead to the end-of-the-year babe-blogging bonanza from Victoria's Secret.

They go all out over there.

Watch: "Sizzling Supermodel Elsa Hosk on Becoming a Victoria’s Secret Angel."

BONUS: "Victoria's Secret stunner Elsa Hosk puckers up and embraces fellow Angel Martha Hunt at charity SoulCycle ride in NYC."

Islamic State Claims Responsibility as Baghdad Truck Bomber Kills Dozens (VIDEO)

At the Washington Post, "Blast in busy Baghdad market kills at least 60."

Some reports say as high as 67 were killed.

And watch, from Richard Engel, at MSNBC, "ISIS Claims Responsibility for Baghdad Attack."

How Our Society Became So Stupid

It's Bill Whittle's Afterburner, via Theo Spark, "The Great Unlearning":

High by the Beach

Just out from Lana Del Rey, off her fourth studio album.

And here's one reaction, at the Verge, "Watch Lana Del Rey blow up a helicopter in 'High By the Beach'":

More like 'die by the beach'.

Heh.

Watch: "Lana Del Rey - High By the Beach."

Also at Harper's, "WATCH LANA DEL REY'S NEW MUSIC VIDEO 'HIGH BY THE BEACH'."

P-32 Mountain Lion Killed Trying to Cross Interstate 5 Near Castaic

It's almost inevitable. The lions just aren't going to have enough living space when the come down by metropolitan Los Angeles. This P-32 guy is apparently the most-tracked Southern California puma ever. But he made one last crossing, and it was fatal.

I love these guys too. Sad.

At LAT, "Male puma known as P-32 is killed crossing 5 Freeway in Castaic":

Mountain Lion Famous for Crossing LA Freeways Is Killed Crossing a Freeway http://t.co/Du0Ww27ea1

— ECommerce News (@ECommerceNews1) August 13, 2015

The journey of a mountain lion that successfully crossed four highways came to an end early Monday when it was struck and killed by a vehicle as it tried to make another run across a major L.A. freeway.

The puma named P-32 is the only known male to venture out of the Santa Monica Mountains and wander north into other habitat areas, said Kate Kuykendall, a spokeswoman for the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.

P-32 was best known for dashing across the 101 Freeway near Thousand Oaks on April 3. He managed to cross Highway 23 near the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and settled into a natural area in the Simi Hills. He had also crossed highways 118 and 126.

But P-32’s journey, deemed to be “a textbook case of successful dispersal," was cut short. The 21-month-old puma headed east and tried to cross the 5 Freeway between 4 and 6 a.m. when he was hit in Castaic.

“This case illustrates the challenges that mountain lions in this region face, particularly males,” wildlife ecologist Seth Riley said in a statement.

“P-32 conquered all kinds of freeways and highways to reach the Los Padres," he continued, "but it was probably another dominant male that made him leave the area and attempt one last crossing, which obviously was not successful.”

P-32 is the first male to be studied that successfully fled the mountains.

He is the 12th mountain lion killed on a freeway or road since researchers began studying the mountain lion population in 2002 to determine how they survive in the city...

Temperatures Soar in Southern California

Well, they're soaring in Northern California too, but I'm down here, lol.

I was going to go for that 5 mile walk again today, but my wife warned against it. We'll walk tonight after the Angels game.

Watch, from Jasmine Viel, at CBS News 2 Los Angeles, "Scorching Temperatures Continue to Rise Throughout SoCal."

Islamic State's Murderous Culture of Jihadi Rape and Sex Slavery

At Blazing Cat Fur, linking to the New York Times, "ISIS Enshrines a Theology of Rape":

QADIYA, Iraq — In the moments before he raped the 12-year-old girl, the Islamic State fighter took the time to explain that what he was about to do was not a sin. Because the preteen girl practiced a religion other than Islam, the Quran not only gave him the right to rape her — it condoned and encouraged it, he insisted.

He bound her hands and gagged her. Then he knelt beside the bed and prostrated himself in prayer before getting on top of her.

When it was over, he knelt to pray again, bookending the rape with acts of religious devotion.

“I kept telling him it hurts — please stop,” said the girl, whose body is so small an adult could circle her waist with two hands. “He told me that according to Islam he is allowed to rape an unbeliever. He said that by raping me, he is drawing closer to God,” she said in an interview alongside her family in a refugee camp here, to which she escaped after 11 months of captivity...

Keep reading.

#BlackLivesMatter Slams Hillary Clinton for 'Her Part in Perpetuating White Supremacist Violence' (VIDEO)

Oh boy.

It's really hard out there for a Democrat right now.

No one is safe on the left. No one. The Democrats have old white sexagenarians and septuagenarians leading the presidential primary field. Clinton and Sanders are being mercilessly mowed down like fresh recruits going up against machine-gun emplacements at the Somme. It's brutal.

From Ruby Cramer, at BuzzFeed, "The Activists, The Candidate, And The Media: Clinton’s First Black Lives Matter Moment":

"I didn't hear a reflection on her part in perpetuating white supremacist violence." pic.twitter.com/LV2RdHFx9D

— Gabriel Debenedetti (@gdebenedetti) August 11, 2015

In a matter of months, Black Lives Matter has become a powerful enough force in Democratic politics that campaign staffers actually accommodated would-be protesters as both worked the media. But what do activists actually want from Clinton?

KEENE, N.H. — Standing beneath the hooded entrance to Keene Middle School, as rain hit the parking lot pavement early on Tuesday evening, the three activists exchanged a round of hugs, first with each other, then with the two videographers along to capture it all: another win for Black Lives Matter.

The small contingent, dressed in matching “Bulletproof” t-shirts, traveled from Massachusetts that morning with plans to stage a demonstration in the middle of a Hillary Clinton campaign event. As it turned out, the protest never happened. Instead, the group got 15 mostly private minutes with the candidate.

The activists — Daunasia Yancey, Julius Jones, and Vonds Dubuisson — declared the meeting a success. One, that is, for Black Lives Matter, not Clinton. Her answers, they told reporters afterward, had not been satisfying or sufficiently reflective.

Other Democrats, mostly Bernie Sanders, have already faced protests from Black Lives Matter on the campaign trail. The idea: to interrupt a candidate’s routine event or stump speech, and shift the conversation to questions about structural racism and police violence. This was Clinton’s first such encounter with the group whose name, often written as a one-word hashtag, #BlackLivesMatter, has become the powerful avatar of a broader social and racial justice movement.

And what played out in New Hampshire over a single three-hour period, from 3:15 to 6:15 p.m., encapsulated the complicated dynamic between campaign, movement, and media that the other candidates have struggled to navigate in recent weeks.

On Tuesday, under the watch of the national press corps, Clinton took her turn at trying, and failing, to meet the expectations of the activists who have become increasingly influential figures in the Democratic primary.

So much so that when Yancey, Jones, and Dubuisson arrived too late to get into the event, a forum on mental health and substance abuse, Clinton aides tried hurriedly to get the activists into the campaign function they wanted to attend only to interrupt — setting off an unlikely sequence of events, shaped as much by the participants on the ground as by the coverage happening about them, in real time, on Twitter.

By 6:15 p.m., the result of this frenetic rush to manage the arrival of the three Black Lives Matter activists was, ultimately, three dissatisfied Black Lives Matter activists.

The organizers “didn’t hear a response” from Clinton to their direct concerns, according to Yancey, the co-founder of the group’s Boston chapter and the organizer leading the group in Keene. Fifteen minutes later, she said, “our time was up.”

Yancey said she and the other activists asked Clinton questions about her role, and Bill Clinton’s, in 1990s drug and crime policy — and “in perpetuating white supremacist violence.” The activists declined to relay Clinton’s answers — but they did express their disappointment with the exchange on the whole. “I didn’t hear a reflection on her part in perpetuating white supremacist violence,” Yancey said.

“I think she gave the answer she wanted to give.”

Ouch.

Keep reading.

And you gotta love how #BlackLivesMatter activists show up late to the Hillary event, are locked out by security, and then cause an existential meltdown in the Clinton camp, with campaign operatives frightened to the quick by the inevitably forthcoming "racist" and "white supremacist" attacks had not those black shakedown artists gotten inside.

They're eating their own on the left. Sometimes you just gotta sit back and watch. It's like Pol Pot's taking over.

Germany's Violent Backlash Against Third-World Asylum Seekers

Well, about the existential European migration crisis.

At the New York Times, "Violent Backlash Against Migrants in Germany as Asylum-Seekers Pour In":

FREITAL, Germany — Even as Germany has been trying to accommodate a swelling stream of newcomers, the most anywhere in Europe, it is also experiencing a persistent pattern of violence against migrants, raising concerns about escalating far-right opposition.

Rights activists who monitor the treatment of refugees say while they are seeing an increase in hate crimes across Europe, particularly targeting Roma or asylum-seekers from Europe’s poorest countries, nowhere have they seen mass demonstrations or attacks on housing for refugees like those in Germany.

“We’ve seen many bad news stories from Germany, but not that many from other countries — not in the sense of calling it a growing trend,” said Thorfinnur Omarsson, a spokesman for the European Council on Refugees and Exiles, based in Brussels.

In the first half of this year alone, more than 179,000 people applied for asylum in Germany, a country of about 80 million. That is an increase of 132 percent over the same period in 2014, with Syrians the largest group, the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees said.

During the same period, the Interior Ministry recorded 202 attacks on housing for asylum-seekers, including attempts to render shelters uninhabitable through arson, attacks with stones or other vandalism. In addition, a group called Courage Against the Right cites 48 attacks on individuals, based on local police records.

Some of the episodes, such as the arson attacks in the Bavarian town of Vorra and in the eastern town of Tröglitz, have received widespread attention. But there have been many others, including one in Lunzenau in Saxony on July 29, when vandals broke into and deliberately flooded an empty shelter for 50 asylum-seekers by opening the taps in the bathrooms.

That same night, in nearby Dresden, a group of 50 people staged a demonstration against a tent city, hastily set up by the state to temporarily shelter hundreds of asylum-seekers. The Courage Against the Right group has counted 89 such demonstrations this year, many organized by local groups with names like Freital Defends Itself that have sprung up in cities and towns where empty office buildings and hotels have been converted into hostels for new arrivals.

Germany has also witnessed record numbers of people volunteering their time, clothing and money to help the newcomers, and the German government, both nationally and on the state level, has strongly denounced the attacks.

Still, the persistence of such attacks has human rights groups and security officials worried about the wider implications...

The "wider implications"? Well, one implication is that it's not just the "right wing" that's fomenting a backlash against the migrants. European economies across the board are struggling to absorb the refugees, and the Communists in Greece are putting migrants in concentration camps.

The fact is the crisis doesn't break down into neat "right-left" stereotypes. The Nazis are banned in Germany. Until European governments decide to control their borders, national residents all across the political spectrum will see increasing costs and threats to their security. It's out of control.

And previously, "Latest on Europe's Migrant Crisis (VIDEO)," and "Alongside Doctors Without Borders in the Mediterranean."

Deals in Top-Brand Jewelry

At Amazon, Shop Fashion - Extra 50% Off Select Jewelry.

Plus, from James McPherson, The War That Forged a Nation: Why the Civil War Still Matters.

The #BlackLivesMatter' Movement Doesn't Really Care About 'Lives'

They care about power --- and demonization of "white racists."

From Andrew Klavan:

Migrant Crisis Raises Existential Questions for Europe

Well, Europe has a lot of existential questions, but yeah, this migrant thing is out of control and very dangerous.

From Timothy Spangler, at the O.C. Register, "Migrant surge raises existential questions for Europe":

This week saw further waves of migrants arriving illegally on European shores. On the Greek island of Kos, more than 2,000 Syrians and Afghans were rounded up from makeshift camps and relocated to a sports stadium, where questions about their treatment were soon raised by aid workers.

In a single day, the Italian coast guard rescued approximately 1,500 migrants from unseaworthy boats attempting to cross the Mediterranean from North Africa, and many others were still lost at sea. Meanwhile, angry migrants in the Spanish seaside town of Salou clashed with police after a Senegalese man jumped to his death as officers raided his apartment.

With each new illegal arrival on European soil, awkward questions are raised about the ability of European politicians to address the migration crisis fully and effectively.

Despite the cataclysmic Greek financial crisis, the near-bankrupt country still makes an appealing destination for thousands of migrants. As police on Kos this week collected individuals from several camps strewn across the island into a stadium for processing, complaints of maltreatment were raised due to the excessive heat and lack of adequate food and water.

Kos sits just off the coast from Turkey, making it a prime target for illegal crossings. Since the beginning of the year, more than 120,000 migrants have illegally entered Greece. Approximately 1.6 million Syrians who fled their civil war are now in Turkey, with many of them eyeing Kos as the easiest point of entry into Europe. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has candidly admitted that, while battling the financial crisis, his country lacks the financial resources to do more to address the migration crisis.

Further west, the Mediterranean remains a deadly front line between European authorities and waves of migrants in North Africa. More than 2,000 migrants have died this year attempting the sea crossing. Human traffickers in Libya have profited from smuggling approximately 100,000 men, women and children across the Mediterranean during the same period.

Members of the Italian military have worked diligently to rescue as many migrants as possible. Despite the widely reported casualty numbers, boats crammed to bursting continue to attempt the high-risk voyage.

Even when migrants make landfall in Europe, countries such as Spain, alongside Italy and Greece, must cope with undocumented migrants unable to work legally who must support themselves through illegal activities. In Salou this week, police targeted the homes of several people believed to be associated with the selling of fake luxury goods to tourists in the resort town south of Barcelona. When officers entered the apartment of a Senegalese suspect, he immediately jumped to his death to avoid arrest.

Protests soon broke out on the streets of Salou, with 100 migrants clashing with officers, leading to injuries on both sides. With the tourist season along the Catalan coast in full swing, at least one tourist was also injured in these clashes.

Unfortunately, despite the mounting human costs of illegal migration into Europe, many European politicians, as well as countless learned observers in the mainstream media, continue to dismiss the crisis as scaremongering by far-right politicians with ulterior motives...

Yeah. "Scaremongering." That's all they've got, despicable leftists. Meanwhile, people are dying. And all left-wing governments can do is lock them up in containment (concentration) camps? Not good. Not good at all.

Still more.

And ICYMI, "Latest on Europe's Migrant Crisis (VIDEO)," and "Alongside Doctors Without Borders in the Mediterranean."

Alongside Doctors Without Borders in the Mediterranean

They're coming from everywhere. Afganistan refugees even made it Greece this week.

At Der Spiegel, "Mediterranean Desperation: Saving Lives at the World's Most Dangerous Border":

Doctors Without Borders is the only major humanitarian organization actively rescuing refugees in the Mediterranean. So far, it has saved more than 10,000 people. But in the world's biggest crisis region, timing is everything.

The call comes in at 10:15 a.m. on the fourth day at sea, just as the ship's captain says it looks like it'll be a quiet day. A refugee boat has been spotted at 33 degrees 05 minutes north latitude and 12 degrees 27 minutes east longitude, 17 nautical miles off the coast of Sabratha, Libya. It could be a rubber dinghy, with space for around 100 people. Or it might be a wooden boat, with up to 800 people on board. The captain hits the throttle, pushing the MY Phoenix to full speed.

It's the law of the sea: With every passing hour, the children on board the refugee boat get weaker, more women faint, the men below decks inhale more toxic gasoline fumes, the inflatable dinghies lose air and the wooden boats take on more water. Every hour increases the danger of the boats springing a leak or simply sinking.
And the rescue workers won't reach the troubled vessel for another three hours.

On board the MY Phoenix, preparations begin. There's Regina Catrambone, an Italian woman who founded the "Migrant Offshore Aid Station," or MOAS for short. There's also the emergency relief coordinator Will Turner from Great Britain and the American nurse Mary Jo Frawley, both of whom work for the aid organization Doctors Without Borders. These three people are the heart of the mission, but of course they are not alone. With them are a captain from Spain, a drone pilot from Austria and a rescue specialist from Malta. Altogether, there are 18 of them, patrollingg the waters between Sicily, Malta and Libya -- an area almost the size of Germany. They wait, sometimes for a call from Rome, other times for a dot to appear on the horizon.

The 40-meter-long MY Phoenix was a fishing trawler before it was retro-fitted as a research vessel. Now, in its third life, it sails on behalf of humanity with one simple goal: to save lives where no one else does. It is a floating refugee camp, equipped with an infirmary full of pain medication alongside drugs to combat seasickness and scabies. It also has an ample supply of baby food and oxygen, a cooler with vaccines and 50 body bags in two sizes: one for adults and one for children.

The Mediterranean has become a crisis region, one where more than 2,000 people have died this year already -- more than have lost their lives in attacks in Afghanistan. But of course that figure is misleading. It reflects only the number of recorded deaths. Who knows how many people have drowned without a trace?

Nevertheless, no aid agencies are active in the region. They all wait on shore for the survivors to arrive. The business of saving lives is left to those who are the least prepared: navies and merchant vessels. Meanwhile, more and more refugees are embarking on the perilous journey across the Mediterranean -- 188,000 so far this year.

It's hard to believe that a crisis area of this magnitude is empty of aid workers -- unthinkable, Doctors Without Borders thought, or, as their founders call them, Médecins Sans Frontières, MSF. It is the biggest, best organized medical relief organization in the world. An army of survival. They are professionals for natural catastrophes and civil wars, and they are engaged in the fight against HIV, Ebola and measles. With a budget of €1.066 billion ($1.16 billion) in 2014, MSF's 2,769 international employees and 31,000 local helpers undertook some 8.3 million treatments...

More.

Natalie Portman's New Love

Natalie Portman helped launch Rule 5 blogging way back in 2008. See, "Natalie Portman Gets Results!"

And Ms. Portman made the cover of July's Harper's Bazaar, "The actress on fashion, family, directing her first movie, and learning to live on the bright side."

Brown Bear Goes for Swim in La Cañada Pool

La Cañada's up by Pasadena. It's hotter than hell up there, and lots of mountains.

Watch, at CBS News 2 Los Angeles, "Bear Takes Dip In Pool of La Cañada Flintridge Home."

Groundhog With Head Stuck in a Can is Rescued by Police

Heh.

Watch, at Euronews, "Groundhog with head stuck in can rescued by police."

What Caused the Civil War?

Well, the Stogie/Donald debates have fizzled out by now, and Stogie's announced that I'm his "enemy." But man, I've freakin' never seen someone go off the rails so rapidly.

My old friend turned into a loon and conspiracy whack job. Sad.

Anyways, the debate's never gonna be settled, obviously. But as it goes on, Marxists and radical libertarians will no doubt be growing tinfoil out of their ears.

Watch, at Prager University, "Colonel Ty Seidule, Professor of History at the United States Military Academy at West Point, settles the debate":