Missouri lawmakers will back a plan to name a stretch of highway for a Holocaust survivor, three years after a neo-Nazi group "adopted" it in a litter-clearing program, the bill's sponsor said on Friday.
Representative Sara Lampe said she respects the free speech rights of the National Socialist Movement, but wants people to see Springfield, a stronghold of Christian activism in America's Bible Belt, as welcoming Jews and all faiths.
The bid to have the 1.5 mile stretch of highway near Springfield named for Rabbi Ernest Jacob has strong bipartisan support and the backing of his family, she said.
"It's important when people travel down that highway to know we have diversity in this community," Lampe, a Springfield Democrat, told Reuters on Friday.
Jacob moved to Springfield after World War II and was known for working well with ministers of all faiths for the good of the religious community, Lampe said.
The proposal passed a Missouri House committee on Tuesday and Lampe expects it to win full approval of the legislature this spring. The signs could go up late this summer, she said.
An effort to name the highway section after another rabbi ended two years ago after objections from his family. A bill to name the segment for Nazi war criminal hunter Simon Wiesenthal failed to gain legislative approval last year.
Reuters
Saturday, 5 March 2011
BNP 'unlikely' to fight to replace councillor after resignation (UK)
And it seems likely there will be no attempt to replace him at the upcoming May local elections.
The far-right party sprang a shock when it comfortably won Swanley St Mary’s ward in a 2009 by-election after a Labour councillor resigned.
In doing so he became the first BNP councillor to be elected outside of London.
Mr Golding, who was once expelled from the party for allegedly attacking its only ethnic minority councillor, said he resigned because he had moved out of the area and was no longer able to attend council meetings or work on behalf of residents.
According to the party’s south east regional director, the BNP is unlikely to field a replacement candidate in the May 5 elections.
John Underwood, a Labour councillor for St Mary’s ward, welcomed his decision to resign.
"He only attended three council meetings the whole year," he said. "He has completely disappeared.
"Yes I’m pleased in a way because we can get on and do our work. He was totally useless, he never accepted any committee posts and he only ever turned up when he felt like it.
"He was most critical about everyone else and could make offensive comments at times."
Mr Golding resigned on Monday with immediate effect. He said: "Basically I’ve moved out of the area and I can no longer carry out my duties.
"I cannot carry out the duties of a councillor on behalf of my constituents so I want to allow the seat to go to someone else.
"I did not want to carry on taking the money, the allowance, while I was not able to do any work."
Asked if he had felt any hostility while at the council because he represented the views of the far-right party, he said: "Not at all, all the council officials were always fair and friendly.
"The only hostility was from Labour councillors."
Mr Golding, former communication director for the BNP, would not say where he has moved to, but said he would continue as a south east regional fundraiser for the party.
Andy McBride, south east regional director for the BNP, said the party was unlikely to put forward another candidate to fight for the St Mary’s seat in the May 5 elections.
"We don’t have a meeting until Tuesday next week," he said. "County organisations will decide whether it is going to be viable.
"To win that seat was an anomaly. I’m not aware of any candidate at the moment. We are concentrating on reform and a major reworking of the party, getting rid of people who have caused us problems."
When Mr Golding snatched the St Mary’s seat it, was the first BNP victory in the south east outside London.
At the time he said: "Young people in this ward have said they find it almost impossible to get a council house.
"All the council houses are given to foreigners and asylum seekers – that has got to stop."
Sevenoaks council’s Labour group leader Bryan Harrod said the party would be fighting hard to regain the sewith strong candidates.
In response to Mr Golding’s departure, he said: "I don’t think he has been a very effective councillor. He only turns up at full council now and against so I don’t see how he can be putting forward the residents concerns.
Kent News
Call for calm ahead of English Defence League and Unite Against Fascism protests (UK)
Community leaders appealed for calm ahead of protests by the English Defence League. Hundreds of right-wing demonstrators are set to descend upon the town centre on Saturday afternoon.
A rival protest by the left-wing group Unite Against Fascism was also set to take place in Deeplish – sparking fears of clashes between the opposing factions.
But faith leaders were urging people to stay calm, while the police had vowed to clamp down on any violence.
Mushtaq Ahmed, chairman of Rochdale Council of Mosques, said that he had asked Muslims not to join in during Friday prayers yesterday.
He told the Observer: "We are asking people not to organise their own counter protests as it will not help.
"We have heard that there may be some young men coming from neighbouring towns and we do not welcome them.
"We have got good community cohesion here in Rochdale and hopefully it will pass off peacefully.
"The EDL have a democratic right and we respect that as long as it does not cause problems for the rest of the community."
More than 500 EDL members were expected to meet in the town before holding a demonstration outside the town hall and war memorial from about 1.30pm.
Seventy-four people were arrested and seven injured in violent clashes between the EDL and UAF during a protest in Bolton last March while 10 people were injured and 44 arrested during an EDL protest in Manchester city centre in October 2009.
But Leon Britain, north west organiser for the EDL, said the Rochdale protest would be peaceful.
He said: "We are coming to Rochdale to highlight the paedophile grooming in the town and have been invited by our Rochdale division.
"We are not out to cause tension and do not go out intent on causing trouble.
"If you look at our previous demonstrations in Bolton and Manchester where there has been fighting it has only been because of the police force being against us and from radical Islamists attacking us."
Chief Supt John O' Hare, the man in charge of Rochdale police, was leading the security operation.
He said: "This event will be policed in a professional and sensitive manner but I must make it clear that anyone who is coming with the sole intention of intimidating communities or inciting violence and racism can expect a swift and robust police response.
"GMP has been working extremely closely with the council, all faith groups in the town and other partners to inform residents and address any concerns they have.
"Our police operation does not finish once the demonstrators leave town.
"There will be an extensive policing operation into the night and in the days afterwards."
Town centre pubs were expected to remain open as usual and Roger Ellis, chief executive of Rochdale council, said shops would trade as normal while the protest took place.
He said: "Public safety is our priority and police will be joined by officers from various council services to provide a substantial and visible reassuring presence throughout the day, during the event and afterwards.
"We respect everyone's democratic right to undertake a peaceful demonstration but be assured that we will support the police in dealing swiftly with any criminal or public order offences."
MP Simon Danczuk said: "I understand that many people are angry at the cuts, frustrated that they're working harder for less and looking for scapegoats.
"But Rochdale should not be bullied by the English Defence League who are coming to our town to sow division, fear and hatred."
Manchester Evening News
A rival protest by the left-wing group Unite Against Fascism was also set to take place in Deeplish – sparking fears of clashes between the opposing factions.
But faith leaders were urging people to stay calm, while the police had vowed to clamp down on any violence.
Mushtaq Ahmed, chairman of Rochdale Council of Mosques, said that he had asked Muslims not to join in during Friday prayers yesterday.
He told the Observer: "We are asking people not to organise their own counter protests as it will not help.
"We have heard that there may be some young men coming from neighbouring towns and we do not welcome them.
"We have got good community cohesion here in Rochdale and hopefully it will pass off peacefully.
"The EDL have a democratic right and we respect that as long as it does not cause problems for the rest of the community."
More than 500 EDL members were expected to meet in the town before holding a demonstration outside the town hall and war memorial from about 1.30pm.
Seventy-four people were arrested and seven injured in violent clashes between the EDL and UAF during a protest in Bolton last March while 10 people were injured and 44 arrested during an EDL protest in Manchester city centre in October 2009.
But Leon Britain, north west organiser for the EDL, said the Rochdale protest would be peaceful.
He said: "We are coming to Rochdale to highlight the paedophile grooming in the town and have been invited by our Rochdale division.
"We are not out to cause tension and do not go out intent on causing trouble.
"If you look at our previous demonstrations in Bolton and Manchester where there has been fighting it has only been because of the police force being against us and from radical Islamists attacking us."
Chief Supt John O' Hare, the man in charge of Rochdale police, was leading the security operation.
He said: "This event will be policed in a professional and sensitive manner but I must make it clear that anyone who is coming with the sole intention of intimidating communities or inciting violence and racism can expect a swift and robust police response.
"GMP has been working extremely closely with the council, all faith groups in the town and other partners to inform residents and address any concerns they have.
"Our police operation does not finish once the demonstrators leave town.
"There will be an extensive policing operation into the night and in the days afterwards."
Town centre pubs were expected to remain open as usual and Roger Ellis, chief executive of Rochdale council, said shops would trade as normal while the protest took place.
He said: "Public safety is our priority and police will be joined by officers from various council services to provide a substantial and visible reassuring presence throughout the day, during the event and afterwards.
"We respect everyone's democratic right to undertake a peaceful demonstration but be assured that we will support the police in dealing swiftly with any criminal or public order offences."
MP Simon Danczuk said: "I understand that many people are angry at the cuts, frustrated that they're working harder for less and looking for scapegoats.
"But Rochdale should not be bullied by the English Defence League who are coming to our town to sow division, fear and hatred."
Manchester Evening News
Daily Star reporter quits in protest at tabloid's 'anti-Muslim' coverage (UK)
Richard Peppiatt admits producing fictional stories about celebrities and accuses tabloid of inciting racial tensions.
The Daily Star has been accused of printing fictional stories by a disgruntled reporter who has resigned over its "hatemongering" anti-Muslim propaganda.
In a resignation letter, Richard Peppiatt said he was leaving after the Star gave sympathetic coverage to the far-right English Defence League last month.
Peppiatt admits producing a number of fictional stories about celebrities during his two years at the tabloid, a practice he implies was sanctioned by his seniors.
The reporter, who was once made to dress up in a burqa, now accuses the paper of inciting racial tensions and Islamaphobia. "You may have heard the phrase 'the flap of a butterfly's wings in Brazil sets off a tornado in Texas'," Peppiatt wrote to the proprietor, Richard Desmond, in a letter seen by the Guardian.
"Well, try this: 'The lies of a newspaper in London can get a bloke's head caved-in down an alley in Bradford.' If you can't see that words matter, you should go back to running porn magazines."
Desmond's media empire has included pornographic magazines and adult TV channels as well as Express newspapers, Channel 5 and celebrity magazines. Desmond has said he was not consulted before the decision to publish the front-page story and editorial about the EDL.
Peppiatt tells him in his letter: "The weight of your ownership rests heavy on the shoulders of everyone, from the editor to the bloke who empties the bins."
Peppiatt, who handed in his resignation this week, said the "incendiary" suggestion the EDL was planning to field election candidates was known to be an exaggeration. "But further up the newsprint chain it appears a story, too good to allow the mere spectre of reality to restrain, was spotted," he wrote.
The EDL story is one of a number of prominent articles published by the Star that Peppiatt claims were made up, including some of his own. The reporter was recently involved in stories claiming Rochdale council had spent taxypayers' money on "Muslim-only squat-hole loos". In fact, the toilets were neither paid for by the local authority or "Muslim-only".
"I was tasked with writing a gloating follow-up declaring our post-modern victory in 'blocking' the non-existent Islamic cisterns of evil," Peppiatt wrote. The Press Complaints Commission later ruled the story was inaccurate and misleading.
The reporter also quotes Kelly Brook, who recently complained about the number of fabricated stories she reads about herself on the internet. She said: "There was a story that I'd seen a hypnotherapist to help me cut down on the time I take to get ready to go out. Where do they [journalists] get it from?"
Peppiatt wrote: "Maybe I should answer that one. I made it up. Not that it was my choice: I was told to." He said he had "plucked" the story about Brook's experimentation with hypnotherapy from his imagination, adding: "Not that it was all bad. I pocketed a £150 bonus."
In a list of "my other earth-shattering exclusives" for the Star, Peppiatt recalls producing articles about Michael Jackson, the pop star Robbie Williams and Katie Price which he said had no factual basis.
He also admits making up a story suggesting that Matt Lucas was on suicide watch following the death of the comedian's former civil partner. Lucas won substantial damages in court. Peppiatt criticises the Star's editorial judgment in his letter, accusing it of hypocrisy, and "arranging the day's news based on the size of the subjects' breasts".
He adds: "On the awe-inspiring day millions took to the streets of Egypt to demand freedom, your paper splashed on: JORDAN … THE MOVIE. A snub to history? Certainly," he writes. "An affront to Journalism? Most definitely."
As a young reporter desperate to make his name in Fleet Street, Peppiatt concedes he took to his commissions "with gusto", but now questions the ethics of what he was required to do, suggesting he was at times promoting an anti-Muslim agenda.
"On order I dressed up as John Lennon, a vampire, a Mexican, Noel Gallagher, St George (twice), Santa Claus, Aleksandr the Meerkat, the Stig, a transvestite, Alex Reid. When I was ordered to wear a burqa in public for the day, I asked: 'Just a head scarf or full veil?' Even after being ambushed by anti-terror cops when panicked Londoners reported 'a bloke pretending to be a Muslim woman', I didn't complain.
"Mercifully, I'd discovered some backbone by the time I was told to find some burqa-clad shoppers (spot the trend?) to pose with for a picture [with me] dressed in just a pair of skin-tight M&S underpants."
Peppiatt's letter concludes by criticising Desmond for not providing greater resources. "When you assign budgets thinner than your employee-issue loo roll there's little option but for Daily Star editors to build a newspaper from cut-and-paste jobs off the Daily Mail website, all tied together with gormless press releases.
"But when that cheap-and-cheerful journalism gives the oxygen of publicity to corrosive groups like the EDL ... it's time to lay down my pen."
The Daily Star rejected Peppiatt's claims, implying he may hold a grudge against his employer after being "passed over" for several staff positions. It said: "Regarding the paper's coverage of Islam, he never voiced any disquiet over the tone. For the record, the Daily Star editorial policy does not hold any negativity towards Islam and the paper has never, and does not endorse, the EDL."[Peppiatt] refers to a Kelly Brook story – in fact he approached and offered the newspaper that story, vouched for its accuracy, and then asked for and received an extra freelance fee for doing so," the statement said.
The Star also claimed that Peppiatt had been warned by senior reporters after suggesting he would make up quotes.
The Guardian
Read the letter in full Here
In a resignation letter, Richard Peppiatt said he was leaving after the Star gave sympathetic coverage to the far-right English Defence League last month.
Peppiatt admits producing a number of fictional stories about celebrities during his two years at the tabloid, a practice he implies was sanctioned by his seniors.
The reporter, who was once made to dress up in a burqa, now accuses the paper of inciting racial tensions and Islamaphobia. "You may have heard the phrase 'the flap of a butterfly's wings in Brazil sets off a tornado in Texas'," Peppiatt wrote to the proprietor, Richard Desmond, in a letter seen by the Guardian.
"Well, try this: 'The lies of a newspaper in London can get a bloke's head caved-in down an alley in Bradford.' If you can't see that words matter, you should go back to running porn magazines."
Desmond's media empire has included pornographic magazines and adult TV channels as well as Express newspapers, Channel 5 and celebrity magazines. Desmond has said he was not consulted before the decision to publish the front-page story and editorial about the EDL.
Peppiatt tells him in his letter: "The weight of your ownership rests heavy on the shoulders of everyone, from the editor to the bloke who empties the bins."
Peppiatt, who handed in his resignation this week, said the "incendiary" suggestion the EDL was planning to field election candidates was known to be an exaggeration. "But further up the newsprint chain it appears a story, too good to allow the mere spectre of reality to restrain, was spotted," he wrote.
The EDL story is one of a number of prominent articles published by the Star that Peppiatt claims were made up, including some of his own. The reporter was recently involved in stories claiming Rochdale council had spent taxypayers' money on "Muslim-only squat-hole loos". In fact, the toilets were neither paid for by the local authority or "Muslim-only".
"I was tasked with writing a gloating follow-up declaring our post-modern victory in 'blocking' the non-existent Islamic cisterns of evil," Peppiatt wrote. The Press Complaints Commission later ruled the story was inaccurate and misleading.
The reporter also quotes Kelly Brook, who recently complained about the number of fabricated stories she reads about herself on the internet. She said: "There was a story that I'd seen a hypnotherapist to help me cut down on the time I take to get ready to go out. Where do they [journalists] get it from?"
Peppiatt wrote: "Maybe I should answer that one. I made it up. Not that it was my choice: I was told to." He said he had "plucked" the story about Brook's experimentation with hypnotherapy from his imagination, adding: "Not that it was all bad. I pocketed a £150 bonus."
In a list of "my other earth-shattering exclusives" for the Star, Peppiatt recalls producing articles about Michael Jackson, the pop star Robbie Williams and Katie Price which he said had no factual basis.
He also admits making up a story suggesting that Matt Lucas was on suicide watch following the death of the comedian's former civil partner. Lucas won substantial damages in court. Peppiatt criticises the Star's editorial judgment in his letter, accusing it of hypocrisy, and "arranging the day's news based on the size of the subjects' breasts".
He adds: "On the awe-inspiring day millions took to the streets of Egypt to demand freedom, your paper splashed on: JORDAN … THE MOVIE. A snub to history? Certainly," he writes. "An affront to Journalism? Most definitely."
As a young reporter desperate to make his name in Fleet Street, Peppiatt concedes he took to his commissions "with gusto", but now questions the ethics of what he was required to do, suggesting he was at times promoting an anti-Muslim agenda.
"On order I dressed up as John Lennon, a vampire, a Mexican, Noel Gallagher, St George (twice), Santa Claus, Aleksandr the Meerkat, the Stig, a transvestite, Alex Reid. When I was ordered to wear a burqa in public for the day, I asked: 'Just a head scarf or full veil?' Even after being ambushed by anti-terror cops when panicked Londoners reported 'a bloke pretending to be a Muslim woman', I didn't complain.
"Mercifully, I'd discovered some backbone by the time I was told to find some burqa-clad shoppers (spot the trend?) to pose with for a picture [with me] dressed in just a pair of skin-tight M&S underpants."
Peppiatt's letter concludes by criticising Desmond for not providing greater resources. "When you assign budgets thinner than your employee-issue loo roll there's little option but for Daily Star editors to build a newspaper from cut-and-paste jobs off the Daily Mail website, all tied together with gormless press releases.
"But when that cheap-and-cheerful journalism gives the oxygen of publicity to corrosive groups like the EDL ... it's time to lay down my pen."
The Daily Star rejected Peppiatt's claims, implying he may hold a grudge against his employer after being "passed over" for several staff positions. It said: "Regarding the paper's coverage of Islam, he never voiced any disquiet over the tone. For the record, the Daily Star editorial policy does not hold any negativity towards Islam and the paper has never, and does not endorse, the EDL."[Peppiatt] refers to a Kelly Brook story – in fact he approached and offered the newspaper that story, vouched for its accuracy, and then asked for and received an extra freelance fee for doing so," the statement said.
The Star also claimed that Peppiatt had been warned by senior reporters after suggesting he would make up quotes.
The Guardian
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)