LOS ANGELES — About 100 members of a self-described neo-Nazi group protested against immigrants to the United States on Saturday, sparking a counter-rally that drew about 500 people.
The black-clad neo-Nazis were met by members of Hispanic, black and gay community groups who shouted "Racists Go Home" and "Stop the Nazis."
The group, which calls itself the National Socialist Movement, requested and received a city parade permit for a white power demonstration at City Hall.
"It's just one group of racists protesting another group of racists," said one police officer.
Some of the counter protestors waved signs reading "Nazi scum."
Los Angeles is among the most diverse cities in the United States, with 44 percent of the population of Hispanic origin or descent. Most Americans nationwide are still of European descent but California has no majority ethnic group.
Sunday, 18 April 2010
BNP excluded from debate
And Mike Ashburner, the BNP’s parliamentary candidate, has slammed the snub as being made by “typical limp-wristed charlatans.”
All the other general election candidates set to contest the Barrow and Furness seat are invited to the “Question Time” on Sunday, April 25.
So while Mr Ashburner has been left out in the cold, there will be appearances by John Woodcock (Labour), John Gough (Conservative), Barry Rabone (Liberal Democrats), Chris Loynes (Green Party), John Smith (UKIP) and Brian Greaves (Independent).
The event has been organised – as at previous general elections – by Churches Together in Barrow and will this time be staged in The Abbey Road Baptist Church.
The organisation’s secretary Margaret Evason, of St James’ Anglican Church in Barrow, said the hard-line stance on the BNP was their decision to make but followed national guidelines.
Churches Together in England recently stated that, while most churches stayed away from instructing people on how to vote, the racist policies and philosophy of the British National Party were incompatible with Christian faith.
Mrs Evason said: “We felt that if the BNP candidate was invited then some people would not turn up at the debate who might otherwise have come.”
She added that questions should be sent in advance in writing to Reverend John Goddard, of 27 Carlton Avenue, Barrow or by emailing: jmgoddard@tinyworld.co.uk. The debate, which starts at 3pm, will be chaired by former Barrow Town Clerk Derek Lyon with further information available from Mrs Evason – wife of the Reverend Stuart Evason – on 821475.
Mr Ashburner last night told the Evening Mail the decision was disappointing but predictable.
He added: “It is what you expect from the typical limp-wristed charlatans that masquerade as Christians these days.
“They are only too willing to bend over backwards to our Muslim colonisers and convert their churches to mosques at the earliest convenience.
“It will be a peculiar event indeed, without the only party that stands up for our Christian heritage.
“Clearly, Margaret Evason doesn’t believe in democracy and hates free speech.”
David Edmonson, Minister for Vickerstown and Millom Methodist Churches, has also entered the debate.
Writing his Christian Comment in tonight’s Evening Mail, he says the Barrow churches feel that showing an interest in political matters is a natural part of following Jesus.
But Reverend Edmonson points out that the Millom churches decided not to hold a similar meeting because they did not want to run the risk of being associated with any particular party.
He adds: “On the whole I think I side with the Barrow decision: I don’t think Christians can avoid election politics – even if we’d sometimes like to.”
NWEMail
BNP man's home paid for by German embassy
The London organiser of the BNP is the husband of a German Embassy diplomat and benefits from accommodation and allowances provided by the German taxpayer, The Sunday Telegraph can reveal.
The London organiser of the BNP is the husband of a German embassy diplomat and benefits from accommodation and allowances provided by the German taxpayer.
Bob Bailey also enjoys some diplomatic immunity as the family member of an envoy - though this is limited as he remains a British citizen.
He married Martina Borgfeldt in Australia in 1999 after meeting her while serving in the Royal Marines in Africa. The latest issue of the Diplomatic List shows she is an "assistant attaché" at the German embassy.
Mr Bailey is leader of the opposition on Barking and Dagenham Council, which he hopes to take control of at next month's elections.
He gives his main home as an address in Barking and Dagenham, east London, but lives in embassy-provided accommodation in west London. This appears to breach rules which say that council candidates must live or work in the same borough.
One source close to the embassy said that Mr Bailey had never told his wife that he was a BNP leader and she found out when confronted recently by her superiors.
Mr Bailey yesterday refused to deny this, or his marriage to Mrs Borgfeldt, or that he lived with her in a home paid for by the German embassy, though he insisted he did live in Barking.
The Telegraph
Bob Bailey also enjoys some diplomatic immunity as the family member of an envoy - though this is limited as he remains a British citizen.
He married Martina Borgfeldt in Australia in 1999 after meeting her while serving in the Royal Marines in Africa. The latest issue of the Diplomatic List shows she is an "assistant attaché" at the German embassy.
Mr Bailey is leader of the opposition on Barking and Dagenham Council, which he hopes to take control of at next month's elections.
He gives his main home as an address in Barking and Dagenham, east London, but lives in embassy-provided accommodation in west London. This appears to breach rules which say that council candidates must live or work in the same borough.
One source close to the embassy said that Mr Bailey had never told his wife that he was a BNP leader and she found out when confronted recently by her superiors.
Mr Bailey yesterday refused to deny this, or his marriage to Mrs Borgfeldt, or that he lived with her in a home paid for by the German embassy, though he insisted he did live in Barking.
The Telegraph
Saturday, 17 April 2010
Neo-Nazi clothing label Thor Steinar sues satirical copycat
Since December 2008 Storch Heinar, or “Stork Heinar,” has mocked the neo-Nazi scene with t-shirts and other products bearing the image of an awkward cartoon stork with a Hitler-style moustache and hairdo. The label funds the Social Democratic activist organisation Endstation Rechts, which aims to fight right-wing extremism in the state of Mecklenburg Western-Pomerania.
The tongue-in-cheek label has apparently done so well that now Thor Steinar’s parent company MediaTex is taking them to court on June 23 in Nürnberg-Fürth.
Storch Heinar organisers don’t deny the label apes Thor Steinar’s identity.
“We want to highlight that the brand ‘Thor Steinar’ has a high status and symbolic significance in the scene,” said one of the project’s initiators, Mathias Brodkorb, a Social Democrat and Mecklenburg Western-Pomerania state parliamentarian.
Brodkorb says he has frequent run-ins with parliamentarians for the neo-Nazi NPD party, which has had six seats in the state legislature in Schwerin since 2006.
The t-shirts, mugs, and even dog outfits bearing Storch Heinar’s image have sold throughout Europe, Brodkorb said, describing the silly stork as a “poor bastard.”
MediaTex, based in the Brandenburg city of Zeesen, apparently tried to trademark the Storch Heinar name soon after the t-shirts appeared, but was rejected and followed up with a lawsuit against the activist group.
The company, known for being litigious, acknowledged it had initiated the lawsuit but refused to comment on the case.
But Brodkorb said Endstation Rechts won’t bow to the legal pressure, and has instead launched a new t-shirt series to boost funding for legal costs. The shirts indicate that the purchaser is a Weltkriegsverliererbesieger, or “World War loser conqueror.”
“However the trial goes, we’ll figure out how to keep the clothing shop open,” he said.
The Local Germany
Police issue web warning following hate crime attack (UK)
Police have issued a warning about meeting people through internet chat rooms after a man was attacked in Leicestershire
Police have issued a warning about meeting people through internet chat rooms after a man was attacked in Leicestershire.
The 50-year-old victim had arranged to meet a man at a park in Burbage on Sunday evening after initially meeting him via an internet chat room for gay men, the Peterborough Telegraph reported.
But when he got to the park in Colts Close he was approached by four men who demanded he hand over his money.
The victim was then hit a number of times until he told his assailants he did not have any cash, police said.
He had suffered injuries to his face and head and was taken by ambulance to Leicester Royal Infirmary for treatment.
After the attack it was discovered that his car had been damaged and the front driver’s side window smashed.
Leicestershire Police said they believe the man was set up by the suspects via the chat line for gay men that he had been using and that he was targeted because of his sexual preference.
Officers hope to interview the occupants of two cars in the nearby car park after the attack who asked the victim if he was OK before driving off.
Detective Constable Pete Watson said: “It is appalling to think that this man was purposely targeted because of his sexual orientation and we want the suspects to know that it is not something that we will tolerate.”
He added: “We are determined to find the four men responsible and are appealing to members of the public for their help in finding and identifying them.”
Pink Paper
Police have issued a warning about meeting people through internet chat rooms after a man was attacked in Leicestershire.
The 50-year-old victim had arranged to meet a man at a park in Burbage on Sunday evening after initially meeting him via an internet chat room for gay men, the Peterborough Telegraph reported.
But when he got to the park in Colts Close he was approached by four men who demanded he hand over his money.
The victim was then hit a number of times until he told his assailants he did not have any cash, police said.
He had suffered injuries to his face and head and was taken by ambulance to Leicester Royal Infirmary for treatment.
After the attack it was discovered that his car had been damaged and the front driver’s side window smashed.
Leicestershire Police said they believe the man was set up by the suspects via the chat line for gay men that he had been using and that he was targeted because of his sexual preference.
Officers hope to interview the occupants of two cars in the nearby car park after the attack who asked the victim if he was OK before driving off.
Detective Constable Pete Watson said: “It is appalling to think that this man was purposely targeted because of his sexual orientation and we want the suspects to know that it is not something that we will tolerate.”
He added: “We are determined to find the four men responsible and are appealing to members of the public for their help in finding and identifying them.”
Pink Paper
HOLOCAUST-DENYING BISHOP FINED BY GERMAN COURT
A renegade British bishop has been fined 10,000 euros (£8,750) for denying the Holocaust in a case that has acutely embarrassed the Vatican. The case went ahead in a German court without Richard Williamson, whose breakaway Catholic fraternity told him not to testify, his lawyer said. Denying that the Holocaust took place, or questioning key elements, is illegal in Germany. The bishop acknowledged the offending comments in a statement read in court. Williamson, 70, was convicted by the court in the southern German city of Regensburg of inciting racial hatred for stating in a TV interview aired in January 2009 that only "200,000 to 300,000 Jews perished in Nazi concentration camps". He also denied the Nazis had used gas chambers. Imposing the fine in the high-profile proceedings on Friday, presiding judge Karin Frahm said: "The statements by the accused represent a denial of the actions taken under the National Socialist regime. "Bishop Williamson must have assumed that his remarks would draw attention. Williamson knowingly accepted that attention." Williamson was fined 12,000 euros (£12,500) earlier this year for giving the interview in Germany to a Swedish broadcaster. The latest trial was ordered after Mr Williamson, who lives in London, refused to pay. He faced a sentence ranging from a fine to up to five years in prison. Williamson's lawyer, Matthias Lossmann told the court: "Bishop Williamson would gladly have come, but the Saint Pius X Society suggested he did not - to be precise, they forbade him from coming."
'Remarks are unacceptable'
The court on Friday heard an excerpt of the interview, in which Williamson is heard telling the interviewer: "Be careful, this is against the law in Germany." The bishop was told the interview would be aired only in Sweden, Mr Lossmann told the court. He said Williamson could not be held criminally responsible for its release in Germany. "That will be the crux of the case here," he said. "We do not even need to discuss the fact that these remarks are unacceptable, that is completely beside the point." Mr Lossmann read a statement by Williamson in which the cleric acknowledged casting doubt on the Holocaust. "I was aware that it is against German law to express such doubts, so I expressed these doubts for exclusive broadcast on Swedish television" where such remarks are legal, he said. The Saint Pius X Society, an ultra-conservative, Swiss-based Catholic fraternity, appointed Williamson a bishop without the pope's blessing after it broke away from Rome over the Vatican II reforms of 1965. Among the reforms rejected by the organisation was a declaration, Nostra Aetate, which ended a Church doctrine by which the Jews were held responsible for killing Jesus Christ. The trial comes at a difficult time for Pope Benedict XVI and the Vatican as a sexual abuse scandal rocks the Catholic church. Hundreds of people have come forward in Germany and other countries around the world, saying they were molested by predatory priests. Bishop Williamson's case prompted a rare comment on religious matters by the German chancellor. Angela Merkel called on Pope Benedict to "clarify unambiguously that there can be no denial" that the Nazis killed six million Jews. Williamson has said he wished to apologise to anyone offended by his comments but has refused to retract his assertions, saying only that he would re-examine the historical evidence.
BBC News
'Remarks are unacceptable'
The court on Friday heard an excerpt of the interview, in which Williamson is heard telling the interviewer: "Be careful, this is against the law in Germany." The bishop was told the interview would be aired only in Sweden, Mr Lossmann told the court. He said Williamson could not be held criminally responsible for its release in Germany. "That will be the crux of the case here," he said. "We do not even need to discuss the fact that these remarks are unacceptable, that is completely beside the point." Mr Lossmann read a statement by Williamson in which the cleric acknowledged casting doubt on the Holocaust. "I was aware that it is against German law to express such doubts, so I expressed these doubts for exclusive broadcast on Swedish television" where such remarks are legal, he said. The Saint Pius X Society, an ultra-conservative, Swiss-based Catholic fraternity, appointed Williamson a bishop without the pope's blessing after it broke away from Rome over the Vatican II reforms of 1965. Among the reforms rejected by the organisation was a declaration, Nostra Aetate, which ended a Church doctrine by which the Jews were held responsible for killing Jesus Christ. The trial comes at a difficult time for Pope Benedict XVI and the Vatican as a sexual abuse scandal rocks the Catholic church. Hundreds of people have come forward in Germany and other countries around the world, saying they were molested by predatory priests. Bishop Williamson's case prompted a rare comment on religious matters by the German chancellor. Angela Merkel called on Pope Benedict to "clarify unambiguously that there can be no denial" that the Nazis killed six million Jews. Williamson has said he wished to apologise to anyone offended by his comments but has refused to retract his assertions, saying only that he would re-examine the historical evidence.
BBC News
NEO-NAZI CUTS DEAL WITH PROSECUTION (Serbia)
A Member of the neo-Nazi organization Nacionalni Stroj has admitted to attacking participants of an anti-fascist forum in Novi Sad. The man, named as Dolf Pospiš, thus made a deal with the prosecution and will spend 16 months in prison. Pospiš admitted to participating in the attack on the forum in Novi Sad in October 2007. According to the deal, which has been accepted by a Novi Sad court with jurisdiction in the case, he will spend 16 months in prison, Public Prosecution Spokesman Tomo Zoriæ confirmed for B92. Several persons sustained minor injuries and several neo-Nazis, including the organization’s leader Goran Davidoviæ, were arrested during the 2007 incident. Davidoviæ is a fugitive recently arrested in Germany, where he was hiding. Serbia has requested his extradition.
B92
B92
Friday, 16 April 2010
Smear complaint by BNP Sedgefield candidate
The BNP candidate for Sedgefield in County Durham has claimed he is the victim of a smear campaign.
Mark Walker said that details of an unemployment tribunal were leaked to the press in a bid to blacken his name.
He was dismissed from his teaching job at Sunnydale Community College in 2008 because of his absenteeism.
He maintained he was sacked because of his BNP membership but an employment tribunal rejected his claim for unfair dismissal in January.
Mr Walker was suspended from his post at Sunnydale Community College in March 2007, after an allegation of misuse of a school computer.
About 18 months later he was sacked on the grounds of his sick record.
He said that he was being discriminated against because he was a member of the BNP and the resultant stress had made him ill.
His case went to an employment tribunal, which ruled in favour of his employers, Durham County Council.
No details were released at the time and Mr Walker described it as "strange" that they should have surfaced in the press so close to the election.
"It is absolutely politically motivated," he said.
"They want to smear my name for the election because I'm standing in Tony Blair's old constituency.
"It's gutter politics."
He added: "I could appeal against the [tribunal's] decision but I've lost my job so cannot afford justice."
Other candidates for Sedgefield so far announced are:
Labour: Phil Wilson; Conservative: Neil Mahapatra; Liberal Democrats: Alan Thompson; UK Independence Party: Brian Gregory.
BBC News
Mark Walker said that details of an unemployment tribunal were leaked to the press in a bid to blacken his name.
He was dismissed from his teaching job at Sunnydale Community College in 2008 because of his absenteeism.
He maintained he was sacked because of his BNP membership but an employment tribunal rejected his claim for unfair dismissal in January.
Mr Walker was suspended from his post at Sunnydale Community College in March 2007, after an allegation of misuse of a school computer.
About 18 months later he was sacked on the grounds of his sick record.
He said that he was being discriminated against because he was a member of the BNP and the resultant stress had made him ill.
His case went to an employment tribunal, which ruled in favour of his employers, Durham County Council.
No details were released at the time and Mr Walker described it as "strange" that they should have surfaced in the press so close to the election.
"It is absolutely politically motivated," he said.
"They want to smear my name for the election because I'm standing in Tony Blair's old constituency.
"It's gutter politics."
He added: "I could appeal against the [tribunal's] decision but I've lost my job so cannot afford justice."
Other candidates for Sedgefield so far announced are:
Labour: Phil Wilson; Conservative: Neil Mahapatra; Liberal Democrats: Alan Thompson; UK Independence Party: Brian Gregory.
BBC News
BNP candidate's husband in drugs arrest
Unemployed Clifford Baddeley, aged 49, of Holehouse Road, Abbey Hulton, who is a BNP member, was arrested last month on suspicion of possessing cannabis.
Days later, police also searched the semi-detached house he shares with his wife Melanie.
She is a BNP city councillor who is standing as the party's Parliamentary candidate for the Stoke-on-Trent North constituency.
Mr Baddeley has not been charged with any offences, but remains on police bail while officers complete their investigation.
His wife said yesterday that she was aware of her husband's arrest, but had not told party chiefs about the situation.
The Abbey Green ward member said: "I haven't told the party, because it's nothing to do with me; it's his problem, not mine. I was very upset and annoyed with him when I found out about his arrest, and I still am because I wasn't aware what was happening at the time.
"He is on police bail at the moment and the police did come and search my house, but didn't find anything."
She added: "My husband did smoke cannabis for medical reasons, but as far as I'm concerned, I'm carrying on as normal with my election campaign."
Mr Baddeley admitted that he used to smoke the drug to relieve the pain of chronic arthritis.
He said: "I know that the BNP disapproves of drug use, but I'm more worried about my wife, who is very anti-drugs.
"She works tirelessly for this community, and it's embarrassing for her that I'm in this situation.
"I've stopped using cannabis, and I'm back on medication, although it doesn't work as well."
Stoke-on-Trent City Council's BNP group leader, Councillor Michael Coleman, was shocked to learn of Mr Baddeley's arrest.
But he said the party would still be backing Mrs Baddeley in the run-up to the General Election.
After being contacted by The Sentinel yesterday, he said: "It is shocking and disappointing. Mr Baddeley is a party member.
"I know he has a serious medical problem and is in pain, and that's why he used cannabis. But I don't approve, and the party doesn't approve of people using drugs in that way.
"We condemn these drugs in our communities and we have to condemn this. However, Melanie didn't know about it and we feel it doesn't affect her.
"It will be damaging for us to some degree, but we like Melanie and will be backing her."
Mrs Baddeley was unveiled as the BNP's Parliamentary candidate in Stoke-on-Trent North in January, when party leader Nick Griffin travelled to the city to unveil his election manifesto in Meir.
Staffordshire Police declined to comment on the investigation.
This is Staffordshire
CALL FOR EXCLUSION OF DUTCH ANTI-ISLAM PARTY
A former leader of the Dutch Christian Democrats, 87-year-old Willem Aantjes, has called on his party to rule out coalition talks with the extreme right Freedom Party. Mr Aantjes says the party, led by anti-Islam MP Geert Wilders, is undemocratic and not fit to be in a coalition government with the Christian Democrats. The Freedom Party has no members and is accountable to nobody, according to Mr Aantjes. The former leader wants the congress of his party to discuss the issue next week. If it is not put on the agenda, and if the Christian Democrats do not rule out talks with the Freedom Party, Mr Aantjes said he would vote for the radical Christian Union party instead in the 9 June general election. No party is expected to gain an overall majority, so as usual in the Netherlands coalition talks will decide which combination of parties will form the next government.
RNW
RNW
HOLOCAUST-DENYING BISHOP WILLIAMSON ABSENT AS TRIAL BEGINS (Germany)
The trial of British bishop Richard Williamson for Holocaust denial began in Regensburg on Friday in a case that has deeply embarrassed the Vatican. The high-profile proceedings opened without Williamson after his breakaway ultra-conservative Catholic fraternity ordered the cleric not to testify, his lawyer said. "Bishop Williamson would gladly have come, but the Saint Pius X Society suggested he did not - to be precise, they forbade him from coming," defence attorney Matthias Lossmann told the court in this southern German city. He was fined 12,000 euros (17,000 dollars) earlier this year for giving an interview in Germany to a Swedish broadcaster in 2009 in which he argued that only "200,000 to 300,000 Jews perished in Nazi concentration camps." The bishop also denied there had ever been any gas chambers. A further trial was ordered after he refused to pay. Denying that the Holocaust took place, or questioning key elements, is illegal in Germany and Austria. Williamson, 70, who now lives in London, faces a sentence ranging from a fine to a prison sentence of up to five years if convicted.
Williamson belongs to the Saint Pius X Society, a Swiss-based Catholic fraternity, which appointed him a bishop without the pope's blessing after it broke away from Rome over the Vatican II reforms introduced in 1965. Among the points rejected by the organisation was a declaration, Nostra Aetate, which ended a Church doctrine by which the Jews were held responsible for killing Jesus Christ. Pope Benedict XVI unleashed a deluge of criticism for reversing the excommunication of Williamson and three other bishops in the Saint Pius X Society just days after the bishop made his remarks on the Holocaust. The case prompted a rare comment on religious matters by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who called on Pope Benedict to "clarify unambiguously that there can be no denial" the Nazis killed six million Jews. The pope later admitted mistakes in his handling of the case, saying he was unaware of Williamson's latest remarks and that it was "intolerable" to dispute the facts of the Holocaust.
The trial comes amid a ballooning sexual abuse scandal rocking the Catholic Church, with hundreds of people coming forward in Germany and other countries around the world saying they were molested by predatory priests. Williamson has said he apologised to anyone offended by his comments but has refused to retract his assertions, saying only that he would re-examine the historical evidence. The court on Friday heard an excerpt of the interview, in which Williamson is heard telling the interviewer: "Be careful, this is against the law in Germany." The bishop was told the interview would be aired only in Sweden, Lossmann told the court, and said Williamson could not be held criminally responsible for the release of the remarks in Germany. "That will be the crux of the case here," he said. "We do not even need to discuss the fact that these remarks are unacceptable, that is completely beside the point." Lossmann added that the bishop had been surprised by a question on the Nazis' slaughter of European Jews at the end of the interview.
AFP
Williamson belongs to the Saint Pius X Society, a Swiss-based Catholic fraternity, which appointed him a bishop without the pope's blessing after it broke away from Rome over the Vatican II reforms introduced in 1965. Among the points rejected by the organisation was a declaration, Nostra Aetate, which ended a Church doctrine by which the Jews were held responsible for killing Jesus Christ. Pope Benedict XVI unleashed a deluge of criticism for reversing the excommunication of Williamson and three other bishops in the Saint Pius X Society just days after the bishop made his remarks on the Holocaust. The case prompted a rare comment on religious matters by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who called on Pope Benedict to "clarify unambiguously that there can be no denial" the Nazis killed six million Jews. The pope later admitted mistakes in his handling of the case, saying he was unaware of Williamson's latest remarks and that it was "intolerable" to dispute the facts of the Holocaust.
The trial comes amid a ballooning sexual abuse scandal rocking the Catholic Church, with hundreds of people coming forward in Germany and other countries around the world saying they were molested by predatory priests. Williamson has said he apologised to anyone offended by his comments but has refused to retract his assertions, saying only that he would re-examine the historical evidence. The court on Friday heard an excerpt of the interview, in which Williamson is heard telling the interviewer: "Be careful, this is against the law in Germany." The bishop was told the interview would be aired only in Sweden, Lossmann told the court, and said Williamson could not be held criminally responsible for the release of the remarks in Germany. "That will be the crux of the case here," he said. "We do not even need to discuss the fact that these remarks are unacceptable, that is completely beside the point." Lossmann added that the bishop had been surprised by a question on the Nazis' slaughter of European Jews at the end of the interview.
AFP
RACISM AND HOMOPHOBIA IN GAMING
It's not just cyberbullets that are exchanged during firefights on the XBox Live version of "Call of Duty." Many gamers also exchange hate speech over their headsets as they stalk each other across the virtual battlefields. Players trade racist, homophobic and anti-Semitic insults so frequently that game makers are taking steps to tone down the rhetoric. The comments would shock parents who may not realize their children are constantly exposed to language that might make a sailor blush. Most parental concerns have focused on violence, not language. One gamer told an opponent he presumed to be Jewish that he wished Hitler had succeeded in his mission. Many exchanges involve talk of rape or exult over the atomic bombing of Japan. There are frequent slurs on homosexuals, Asians, Hispanics and women. Such comments can be heard on all online video gaming systems, including PlayStation Network, Blizzard Entertainment (World of Warcraft) and others. "Personally, I don't do a lot of online gaming for that reason," said Flynn DeMarco, founder of the Web site GayGamer.net, which has worked with Microsoft and other companies on steps to clean up online gaming. "I don't play with anybody I don't already know." DeMarco said hate speech has been a problem for years.
Game makers, despite some serious efforts, can only seek to limit the amount. "A lot of the problem lies within the players themselves," DeMarco said. The widespread use of the slurs is partly fueled by the same anonymity that provides cover for abuse throughout cyberspace. Players can compete with people thousands of miles away, and know them only by the fictional "gamertags" they use to identify themselves. After years of tolerating abusive players, gamers have become more diligent about noting the gametags of abusive players and reporting them to game companies. Abusive players can be punished or even banned, but the process is slow. "It's a baby steps kind of thing," DeMarco said. Microsoft, maker of the XBox 360, has taken numerous steps to clean up the language on its Live service, which is by far the biggest online gaming service with some has 23 million members. Stephen Toulouse, director of policy and enforcement for Microsoft's Xbox Live service, heads a team charged with providing a safe and enjoyable experience for customers. "There is always a subset of humanity that goes toward miscreant behavior," Toulouse said. With 1 million to 2 million players online at any one time, most of the policing falls to other users who report hate speech to the company, he said.
Those complaints are reviewed, and people who use hate speech can face punishments such as having their voice privileges suspended, making them unable to speak with other players in real time. They can also be banned temporarily or even permanently from the service, Toulouse said. Players whose conduct crosses into criminal behavior are reported to law enforcement, he said. The company has created a Web site to help parents control their children's gaming, http://www.GetGameSmart.com. Parents can learn how to limit the people their children play with, limit the time and type of games they play and find other tools, he said. Gamers always have the power to mute out any other player they find offensive, or can block an offensive player and not encounter him again, Toulouse said. But the notion of companies monitoring and cleaning up cyberspace is troubling to some. Joan Bertin, director of the National Coalition Against Censorship in New York City, said she is uncomfortable with game makers serving as "nannies." "They respond occasionally and erratically and incompletely," she said. "Some people who are doing what everyone else is doing get caught."
The coalition, which works to protect First Amendment rights, does not generally endorse actions to limit speech, she said. "The use of taboo language has a lot of different functions and they not all are evil," she said. "I don't think pulling the cover over it and hiding it makes it go away." Gamers themselves are also somewhat split on the issue. When Xbox Live banned the use of gamertags or profile information that revealed sexual orientation, in an effort to reduce taunting, some gays and lesbians were upset because they wanted to use such IDs, DeMarco said. A simple solution would be having gamers use their real names, but that presents a host of problems involving privacy and the protection of children from predators. "I don't want everybody out there knowing my name and looking me up on the Internet or Facebook," DeMarco said. Plus the fake names can be fun, DeMarco said, although they can also be offensive, making plays on ethnic slurs. Still, Toulouse said the use of real names is being studied as one possible solution. DeMarco said the best solution may just be continuing to educate people, especially parents of young gamers, about the problem. "I'd like to see parents being aware of what their kids being exposed to," he said
Star Tribune
Game makers, despite some serious efforts, can only seek to limit the amount. "A lot of the problem lies within the players themselves," DeMarco said. The widespread use of the slurs is partly fueled by the same anonymity that provides cover for abuse throughout cyberspace. Players can compete with people thousands of miles away, and know them only by the fictional "gamertags" they use to identify themselves. After years of tolerating abusive players, gamers have become more diligent about noting the gametags of abusive players and reporting them to game companies. Abusive players can be punished or even banned, but the process is slow. "It's a baby steps kind of thing," DeMarco said. Microsoft, maker of the XBox 360, has taken numerous steps to clean up the language on its Live service, which is by far the biggest online gaming service with some has 23 million members. Stephen Toulouse, director of policy and enforcement for Microsoft's Xbox Live service, heads a team charged with providing a safe and enjoyable experience for customers. "There is always a subset of humanity that goes toward miscreant behavior," Toulouse said. With 1 million to 2 million players online at any one time, most of the policing falls to other users who report hate speech to the company, he said.
Those complaints are reviewed, and people who use hate speech can face punishments such as having their voice privileges suspended, making them unable to speak with other players in real time. They can also be banned temporarily or even permanently from the service, Toulouse said. Players whose conduct crosses into criminal behavior are reported to law enforcement, he said. The company has created a Web site to help parents control their children's gaming, http://www.GetGameSmart.com. Parents can learn how to limit the people their children play with, limit the time and type of games they play and find other tools, he said. Gamers always have the power to mute out any other player they find offensive, or can block an offensive player and not encounter him again, Toulouse said. But the notion of companies monitoring and cleaning up cyberspace is troubling to some. Joan Bertin, director of the National Coalition Against Censorship in New York City, said she is uncomfortable with game makers serving as "nannies." "They respond occasionally and erratically and incompletely," she said. "Some people who are doing what everyone else is doing get caught."
The coalition, which works to protect First Amendment rights, does not generally endorse actions to limit speech, she said. "The use of taboo language has a lot of different functions and they not all are evil," she said. "I don't think pulling the cover over it and hiding it makes it go away." Gamers themselves are also somewhat split on the issue. When Xbox Live banned the use of gamertags or profile information that revealed sexual orientation, in an effort to reduce taunting, some gays and lesbians were upset because they wanted to use such IDs, DeMarco said. A simple solution would be having gamers use their real names, but that presents a host of problems involving privacy and the protection of children from predators. "I don't want everybody out there knowing my name and looking me up on the Internet or Facebook," DeMarco said. Plus the fake names can be fun, DeMarco said, although they can also be offensive, making plays on ethnic slurs. Still, Toulouse said the use of real names is being studied as one possible solution. DeMarco said the best solution may just be continuing to educate people, especially parents of young gamers, about the problem. "I'd like to see parents being aware of what their kids being exposed to," he said
Star Tribune
Tory wife quits to stand for BNP
A former Conservative party member has defected to the BNP to stand in the local elections – while her husband stands for the Tories in another ward.
Sheila Spink is running for the far-right party in Heatons North, Stockport.
Her husband of 20 years, Conservative candidate Alex Raisbeck, is standing just a few miles down the road in Manor ward.
But Ms Spink said the decision had not caused tension in her marriage.
She said: “It’s absolutely no big deal. I was with the Conservative party. I have left the Conservative party.
“I don’t think they will do what is necessary to be done in this country. I don’t think they are tackling the big problem.
“My husband has not left the Conservative party and that’s his business.”
Speaking from the couple’s Heaton Mersey home, Ms Spink said she left the Tories because she felt they are not up to the job, particularly on immigration.
She said: “There’s no mention of immigration at all.
“They are just not dealing with that problem.”
The BNP has a policy of ‘firm incentives’ to force non-white people to leave Britain.
Ms Spink admits her husband, who stood for the Tories in the 2008 local elections in Heatons South, and came second, feels differently.
She said: “Alex is standing for the Conservatives in one ward and that’s his business. We are husband and wife and we have been married for 20 odd years – forever.
“There’s absolutely no animosity. It’s two professional adults. We are both in our 60s.
“We have lived a lot of life and look at things from a different angle.”
Mr Raisbeck, who has campaigned in the past with current Conservative parliamentary candidate for Stockport Stephen Holland, was not at home to comment.
A local Tory insider said the party had become aware of the situation in the last few days.
He said: “We are going to get slaughtered about this. We never realised she’d joined the BNP. He’s got some explaining to do. It’s gone past the date where we can withdraw the candidate without the candidate’s permission. In my view it’s not tenable. It’s come as a total and utter shock.”
The Conservative party did not respond to the our request for a comment.
Manchester Evening News
Sheila Spink is running for the far-right party in Heatons North, Stockport.
Her husband of 20 years, Conservative candidate Alex Raisbeck, is standing just a few miles down the road in Manor ward.
But Ms Spink said the decision had not caused tension in her marriage.
She said: “It’s absolutely no big deal. I was with the Conservative party. I have left the Conservative party.
“I don’t think they will do what is necessary to be done in this country. I don’t think they are tackling the big problem.
“My husband has not left the Conservative party and that’s his business.”
Speaking from the couple’s Heaton Mersey home, Ms Spink said she left the Tories because she felt they are not up to the job, particularly on immigration.
She said: “There’s no mention of immigration at all.
“They are just not dealing with that problem.”
The BNP has a policy of ‘firm incentives’ to force non-white people to leave Britain.
Ms Spink admits her husband, who stood for the Tories in the 2008 local elections in Heatons South, and came second, feels differently.
She said: “Alex is standing for the Conservatives in one ward and that’s his business. We are husband and wife and we have been married for 20 odd years – forever.
“There’s absolutely no animosity. It’s two professional adults. We are both in our 60s.
“We have lived a lot of life and look at things from a different angle.”
Mr Raisbeck, who has campaigned in the past with current Conservative parliamentary candidate for Stockport Stephen Holland, was not at home to comment.
A local Tory insider said the party had become aware of the situation in the last few days.
He said: “We are going to get slaughtered about this. We never realised she’d joined the BNP. He’s got some explaining to do. It’s gone past the date where we can withdraw the candidate without the candidate’s permission. In my view it’s not tenable. It’s come as a total and utter shock.”
The Conservative party did not respond to the our request for a comment.
Manchester Evening News
BNP can't count on Barking breakthrough
Nick Griffin has racialised housing issues but the area's problems aren't unique and BNP success can be rolled back.
A key contest in this election is in Barking, between the BNP's Nick Griffin and Labour's Margaret Hodge.
On the face of it, all the ingredients for an electoral breakthrough by the BNP appear to be here: rising unemployment, housing problems, deep poverty, a growing proportion of immigrants and asylum seekers, and a local Labour party that has presided over decades of impoverishment.
The decline of industry in Barking and Dagenham, accelerated by Ford Dagenham's decision to cease car production in 2002, means the proportion of local people employed in manufacturing has fallen from 40% in the early 1990s to less than half that figure today. Unemployment in the borough now stands at close to 10% and average incomes are the lowest in London. The borough has some of the lowest literacy and numeracy levels in the country and more than a third of its children are born into poverty.
Is it increasing social deprivation, then, that has led to the rise of the BNP?
While it is undoubtedly a factor, eight of London's 33 boroughs are worse off than Barking, and 20 nationally, so this alone cannot account for the BNP's emergence as a political force locally.
Barking is also affected by demographic change. Although around 80% of residents are classed as white, 50% of school pupils are from ethnic minorities, as young upwardly mobile black and Asian families move into the borough. Has an influx of immigrants produced votes for the far right? The picture is not so simple. First, most of these new arrivals are not immigrants but "internal migrants" from other parts of London. Second, the proportion of non-white residents in Barking remains below the London average.
What is specific to Barking is the pace of change. Its overall population, not just its proportion of ethnic minorities, is one of the fastest growing in the country. This population competes for scarce resources. Council housing stock has fallen from 40,000 to 18,000 as a consequence of Margaret Thatcher's right-to-buy initiative in the 1980s, and the failure of Barking and Dagenham council to build any public housing for the past quarter of a century. There are now more than 28,000 people on the local social housing waiting list.
The BNP's achievement has been to racialise this issue and turn ethnic minorities into scapegoats for a complex process of political and social disintegration in the area. Its repeated claims about Labour's alleged "Africans for Essex" scheme, whereby ethnic minority families are supposed to have been given £50,000 relocation grants to shore up electoral support for the government in areas like Barking, are a typical example. The fact that these claims are completely untrue only makes them more effective, because that's how scapegoating works.
The BNP does not care about housing – the amount of casework taken up by its Barking councillors on the issue is derisory. But scapegoating works where there is little to counter it. The BNP has been able to insinuate its way into a community in crisis. Rapid social transformation and chronic social decay have left the area with fewer resources to resist the development of a fascist current. According to government reports, Barking's social cohesiveness is weak, with less participation in the local community (sports, recreation, museums, libraries, voluntary associations) than elsewhere – although the situation is beginning to improve.
The economic and social roots of the BNP's emergence in Barking are not unique to the area. This means that there is nothing inevitable about its success here. Whatever the havoc wreaked on Barking by the vagaries of the market, the party's ability to feed off the despair produced by social inequality and deprivation remains dependent on the outcome of political decisions and battles that are yet to be resolved. Neither, then, is its success irreversible.
The Guardian
A key contest in this election is in Barking, between the BNP's Nick Griffin and Labour's Margaret Hodge.
On the face of it, all the ingredients for an electoral breakthrough by the BNP appear to be here: rising unemployment, housing problems, deep poverty, a growing proportion of immigrants and asylum seekers, and a local Labour party that has presided over decades of impoverishment.
The decline of industry in Barking and Dagenham, accelerated by Ford Dagenham's decision to cease car production in 2002, means the proportion of local people employed in manufacturing has fallen from 40% in the early 1990s to less than half that figure today. Unemployment in the borough now stands at close to 10% and average incomes are the lowest in London. The borough has some of the lowest literacy and numeracy levels in the country and more than a third of its children are born into poverty.
Is it increasing social deprivation, then, that has led to the rise of the BNP?
While it is undoubtedly a factor, eight of London's 33 boroughs are worse off than Barking, and 20 nationally, so this alone cannot account for the BNP's emergence as a political force locally.
Barking is also affected by demographic change. Although around 80% of residents are classed as white, 50% of school pupils are from ethnic minorities, as young upwardly mobile black and Asian families move into the borough. Has an influx of immigrants produced votes for the far right? The picture is not so simple. First, most of these new arrivals are not immigrants but "internal migrants" from other parts of London. Second, the proportion of non-white residents in Barking remains below the London average.
What is specific to Barking is the pace of change. Its overall population, not just its proportion of ethnic minorities, is one of the fastest growing in the country. This population competes for scarce resources. Council housing stock has fallen from 40,000 to 18,000 as a consequence of Margaret Thatcher's right-to-buy initiative in the 1980s, and the failure of Barking and Dagenham council to build any public housing for the past quarter of a century. There are now more than 28,000 people on the local social housing waiting list.
The BNP's achievement has been to racialise this issue and turn ethnic minorities into scapegoats for a complex process of political and social disintegration in the area. Its repeated claims about Labour's alleged "Africans for Essex" scheme, whereby ethnic minority families are supposed to have been given £50,000 relocation grants to shore up electoral support for the government in areas like Barking, are a typical example. The fact that these claims are completely untrue only makes them more effective, because that's how scapegoating works.
The BNP does not care about housing – the amount of casework taken up by its Barking councillors on the issue is derisory. But scapegoating works where there is little to counter it. The BNP has been able to insinuate its way into a community in crisis. Rapid social transformation and chronic social decay have left the area with fewer resources to resist the development of a fascist current. According to government reports, Barking's social cohesiveness is weak, with less participation in the local community (sports, recreation, museums, libraries, voluntary associations) than elsewhere – although the situation is beginning to improve.
The economic and social roots of the BNP's emergence in Barking are not unique to the area. This means that there is nothing inevitable about its success here. Whatever the havoc wreaked on Barking by the vagaries of the market, the party's ability to feed off the despair produced by social inequality and deprivation remains dependent on the outcome of political decisions and battles that are yet to be resolved. Neither, then, is its success irreversible.
The Guardian
Met inquiry into BNP’s ‘dirty tricks’ against Margaret Hodge
Police are investigating the British National Party for allegedly running a dirty tricks campaign against a rival candidate.
The Met confirmed it was looking into claims the far-right party had lied in literature about Margaret Hodge, the Labour hopeful in Barking.
BNP leader Nick Griffin is challenging the culture minister for the east London seat.
In a newsletter sent to residents, his party claimed Mrs Hodge had financial interests in a proposed new prison for Barking.
It also carried a cartoon suggesting she was personally behind a ‘racist’ housing allocation.
It also said a member of her staff hung up on an ex-soldier when he called her office.
Mrs Hodge said: ‘This is politics of the worst kind. Griffin creates a big lie, tells it often enough and it hopes it becomes a truth.’
Her lawyers have contacted the BNP over the claims. The BNP denies any wrong-doing.
Meanwhile, Charlotte Lewis, a BNP candidate, defended as ‘hilarious’ pictures of her wearing a burka and fishnet stockings at a party
Metro
The Met confirmed it was looking into claims the far-right party had lied in literature about Margaret Hodge, the Labour hopeful in Barking.
In a newsletter sent to residents, his party claimed Mrs Hodge had financial interests in a proposed new prison for Barking.
It also carried a cartoon suggesting she was personally behind a ‘racist’ housing allocation.
It also said a member of her staff hung up on an ex-soldier when he called her office.
Mrs Hodge said: ‘This is politics of the worst kind. Griffin creates a big lie, tells it often enough and it hopes it becomes a truth.’
Her lawyers have contacted the BNP over the claims. The BNP denies any wrong-doing.
Meanwhile, Charlotte Lewis, a BNP candidate, defended as ‘hilarious’ pictures of her wearing a burka and fishnet stockings at a party
Metro
Posthumous Award for the King Who Saved Jews (Bulgaria)
The award was given to his grandson, Toronto banker Hermann Leiningen, and Chabad organized the award ceremony. The award itself was presented by a group of Bulgarian Jews whose lives were saved when the king refused to deport them.
King Boris III previously has been honored by the Anti-Defamation League.
However, his legacy remains somewhat controversial: while he refused to hand Bulgaria's Jews over to Hitler's army, he did allow the deportation of Jews from Thrace and Macedonia, which at that time were under Bulgarian rule. In addition, some historians say the king expressed willingness to deport Jews, but was stopped by the heads of the Independent Orthodox Church.
Leiningen, the king's grandson, told the Canadian Jewish Press that King Boris III had remained firm in his insistence that Bulgaria's Jews not be deported. Whether or not the church intervened to save Jews as well, “the final decisions had to be made by [the king],” he noted.
Boris III was unable to save the Jews of Thrace and Macedonia because those territories, unlike Bulgaria, were occupied by the German army, Leiningen explained.
King Boris III died in 1943 shortly after a meeting with Hitler. His body was never found.
Leiningen noted that his own father, Prince Karl, had moved to Israel in 1969 and had spent the last two decades of his life there, on a horse ranch in the Galilee. “No one could really figure out” why his father was drawn to Israel, he said.
novinite
BNP steals anti-BNP war veteran's words
Amazingly, within hours some of his own words were lifted verbatim and put into the mouth of the BNP's own claimed war veteran Bob Head.
Compare and contrast their two letters. It's both galling and depressing:
THE ANTI-BNP APPEAL
When I enlisted in the army 66 years ago, I did it for Britain.
Now I need you to do something for me.
The BNP is trying to strangle our great nation with the same extremist and fascist agenda that Hitler's Nazis threatened us with decades ago. Today, the war isn't being fought on the battlefield - but in the ballot box.
Hope Not Hate is on the front lines of our fight. They're organising to make sure modern-day Nazis aren't elected on 6 May and to preserve the Britain for which I fought so hard. If I had my health I would be out there with them. But I can't - so I'm writing to ask you to volunteer for me.
Please join Hope Not Hate's Day of Action this weekend - the campaign has laid on transport to help you get to the areas in which you are needed the most:
http://action.hopenothate.org.uk/fightthenazis
I was barely in my twenties when I went to fight for Britain. I left home with friends - all young lads like myself - and many never returned.
Today, the BNP salute and say "Heil Hitler" - and they support the same all-white Britain. They're proud of what the Nazis did to my friends, and what they did to millions of innocent people throughout Europe.
We didn't fight with our lives on the line years ago just to be right back here today.
We need to do everything we can to stop the BNP from being elected to local councils and to Parliament. Those boys lost to the war would proudly go door-to-door with Hope Not Hate to fight against the fascist BNP today.
There are no tanks and no guns in this fight - but we still need your courage to speak out.
Kenneth Riley. Normandy Veteran - Tank Division
THE BNP APPEAL
A message from Normandy Veteran Bob Head
Dear Fellow Patriot,
When I enlisted in the army in 1942, aged 18, I did it for Britain.
Now I need you to do something for me.
The old-gang parties and their fellow cohorts in the media are dismantling and destroying the Britain we fought so hard to defend and preserve. Today, the war isn't being fought on the battlefield - but in the ballot box.
The British National Party is on the front lines of our fight. Our party and our courageous activists are working around the clock to save the country that our War Heroes fought and died for. If I had my health I would be out there with them. But I can't - so I'm writing to ask you to volunteer for me.
.....
There are no tanks and no guns in this fight - but we still need your courage to propel the British National Party to its goals. Get active, leafleting, canvassing, speaking to people, get the word out!
Could you spare £20 towards our election campaign? £20 is not much, but it could be crucial to the BNP's chances of winning
------
Admin: Please help to fight this horrendous party that makes a mockery of our war heroes and the debt we owe them.
Please sign up and donate money to the Hope Not Hate campaign and show the world that the offensively racist BNP don’t speak in your name.
Arkansas man sentenced for Obama and African-Americans death plot
An Arkansas man was sentenced to 10 years in prison Thursday for plotting to kill dozens of blacks, including then-Sen. Barack Obama, federal authorities said.
Paul Schlesselman pleaded guilty in January and was sentenced in an Arkansas federal court Thursday.
Federal officials said Schlesselman had threatened to kill Obama on October 23, 2008, shortly before the presidential election.
He also planned to "murder dozens of people with a focus on murdering African-Americans," the Justice Department said.
Schlesselman admitted planning the killing rampage for more than a month and had started to pile up weapons, including a short-barreled shotgun, the Justice Department said.
He planned to go on a series of robberies, burglaries and murders that would have ended with the killing of Obama, the Justice Department said.
"Our nation has made great progress in advancing civil rights, but this unthinkable conspiracy is a reminder that hate-fueled violence continues to be a very real problem in so many communities," said Thomas E. Perez, assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division.
CNN
Paul Schlesselman pleaded guilty in January and was sentenced in an Arkansas federal court Thursday.
Federal officials said Schlesselman had threatened to kill Obama on October 23, 2008, shortly before the presidential election.
He also planned to "murder dozens of people with a focus on murdering African-Americans," the Justice Department said.
Schlesselman admitted planning the killing rampage for more than a month and had started to pile up weapons, including a short-barreled shotgun, the Justice Department said.
He planned to go on a series of robberies, burglaries and murders that would have ended with the killing of Obama, the Justice Department said.
"Our nation has made great progress in advancing civil rights, but this unthinkable conspiracy is a reminder that hate-fueled violence continues to be a very real problem in so many communities," said Thomas E. Perez, assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division.
CNN
UEFA MUST GET TOUGH ON RACISM WITH £1M FINES, SAYS ANDERSON (uk)
England's first black international has condemned world football's attempts to rid the game of racism. Viv Anderson, who signalled a huge culture change within the English game when he was called up by Ron Greenwood in 1978 for the first in a 30-cap career, said: "We have our house in order in the UK. Nobody is allowed to chant. It is when we go to other countries. To get rid of it, the lead has to come from Uefa. The fines have to be more stringent." Anderson, who has just launched his autobiography, First Among Unequals, won back-to-back European Cups during his days at Nottingham Forest and became one of the few men to play under both Brian Clough and Sir Alex Ferguson when he was signed by Manchester United. He believes racism in European football has been allowed to fester for long enough. "When you are talking about a £14,000 fine for abusing England players, it is a nonsense. I know it is a minority but if the fines were £1 million, that would have an impact. "People would stand up and take notice about who was coming into the stadiums and what they were doing. I don't know what the answer is but the fines are ridiculous." Anderson does not believe the game's authorities have taken seriously black players' threats to take unilateral action in the face of abuse. Samuel Eto'o was the first in a succession of high-profile players to say they would be willing to walk off a pitch if they were isolated. "There are a lot of middle-class white people running football," he said. "This is 2010. We live in a multiracial world. If you had paid £30 to watch a match and someone like Eto'o or Thierry Henry walks off because of a few idiots, how would you feel? They have to clamp down on it. Racism should have been eradicated by now."
The Independant
The Independant
ITALY'S TOP COURT REJECTS GAY MARRIAGE
AFP
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