Archive for October 2006

RIOTS could erupt in Britain if the row over Muslim veils intensifies, a race relations chief warned yesterday.

Trevor Phillips predicted “fire” unless urgent action was taken to ease tensions.

He said cities were in danger of becoming split by race and faith. And that could spark bigger riots than those in Oldham and Burnley five years ago.

Mr Phillips, head of the Commission for Racial Equality, claimed some Muslims had grown over-sensitive to criticism.

He said: “This could be the trigger for the grim spiral that produced riots in the north of England. Only this time the conflict would be much worse. We need to chill.”

In a warning of what could happen he referred to the writer who predicted race riots in LA and other US cities.

He said: “In 1963 James Baldwin quoted an old spiritual in a famous essay, correctly predicting the civil strife that was to come saying: ‘God gave Noah the rainbow sign. Said no more water, but the fire next time.’ ”

His remarks were a disturbing echo of Enoch Powell’s notorious “rivers of blood” speech on immigration in 1968.

Yesterday Mr Phillips said the row over Muslim teaching assistant Aishah Azmi — suspended for wearing a full veil — had inflamed the situation.

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BLUFFTON — The Beaufort County Council took the first step at enacting three major policy measures Monday, including passing an ordinance that would penalize businesses for employing unauthorized aliens and a county smoking ban.

The County Council unanimously approved an illegal immigration relief ordinance, approved a smoking ban 9-1 and unanimously approved an ordinance that authorizes fee in lieu of taxes incentive agreements between prospective businesses and the county. The measures require two more County Council votes before being adopted.

Council members Mark Generales and Starletta Hairston urged the public to participate in the policy-making process behind the illegal immigration relief ordinance. He asked the business community in particular for feedback, because the measure penalizes businesses for employing unauthorized aliens through the county’s business licensing program.

“For God’s sake, don’t let us do this in a vacuum,” Generales said.

A draft of the ordinance is available online at the county’s Web site, bcgov.net.

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ST. PETERSBURG, October 24 (RIA Novosti) - Russian President Vladimir Putin pledged Tuesday to counter illegal immigration in the country, and at the same time to simplify the legalization of those living and working here.

Millions of illegal immigrants from struggling former Soviet republics have flooded Russia since the breakup of the Soviet Union, bringing with them a rise in crime and a wave of xenophobic sentiment in response.

“I think we will be understood if we cope with illegal immigration and simultaneously ease procedures to legalize those working and living in Russia,” Putin said at a forum looking into the problems of Russians living abroad.

He added that procedures to obtain residence and work permits in Russia will be considerably simplified as of January 15. “Employers will have a greater share of the responsibility, and administrative barriers will be removed,” he said.

Putin issued instructions October 5 to introduce quotas on foreign workers by November 15, regulate trade in markets and set the term for the continuous stay of foreigners with visas at no more than 90 days for every six months.

The government press service said at the time that the documents would aim to reinforce national security, maintain an optimal balance of labor in the country, as well as provide Russian citizens with priority in employment.

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MISSION BEACH, Calif. — A recent series of crimes in the Mission Beach area has prompted city officials to hold a community meeting.

Early Sunday morning a group of young men robbed some people near Belmont Park

San Deigo Police said they believe the same men broke into a nearby condo and sexually assaulted two women.

Councilman Kevin Faulconer will host a neighborhood watch meeting 7:00 p.m. Thursday.

It will be held at the Mission Beach Women’s Club on Santa Clara Place.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Tuscaloosa detectives and city leaders are still looking for concrete answers behind the city’s recent crime epidemic, but they can now point to at least two likely causes — drugs and convicted criminals released early from jail.

The most recent murder happened at around 7 a.m. Tuesday, when a Mercedes went careening across several lawns and then slammed into a garage. The driver was already dead when detectives arrived on the scene, identified by family members as 29-year-old Eddie Porter. Neighbors said they saw someone shoot Porter shortly before the accident and detectives confirmed Porter died as a result of gunshot wounds.

Porter is Tuscaloosa’s fourth homicide in a week, and the third case where the suspects are still at large. Officers confirmed that all four cases involve illegal drug activity and at least two of the men charged in one of the murders, Reginald D’Andre White and his brother, Sherman White, were released from jail before serving their full sentences. City leaders are now demanding the state stop releasing prisoners ahead of schedule, no matter whether they’re paroled or freed on account of their good behavior.

Releasing prisoners who are considered non-violent early from jail is a relatively new practice in Alabama and city leaders plan to launch a campaign protesting the practice.

“That’s not asking too much. That’s just asking them to do what a judge and jury already told them to do. When you put them back into the community, it causes all sorts of problems besides murder: theft, drug crimes. Problems we’re now seeing (manifested) in our community,” said Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox.

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While the AFL-CIO leadership remains committed to what an immigration reform group calls “a massive illegal alien amnesty program,” some rank and file workers and constituent locals are asserting that such a policy would do irreparable harm to American workers. The latest crack in the AFL-CIO’s support for amnesty is Pittsburgh Plumbers Local No. 27, which approved a resolution October 10 demanding that their union dues not be used for activities that support undocumented immigrants.

The resolution sharply criticizes the AFL-CIO leadership’s positions on dealing with illegal immigration. Local 27 “wants to express our outrage regarding the AFL-CIO’s stance on supporting millions of illegal aliens.” Illegal immigration is “harming our country,” and specifically the interests of working Americans, it states.

According to the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), the plumbers’ resolution follows a similar position taken last month by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, which represents some 750,000 building trades workers nationally. Earlier this summer, Teamster president James Hoffa expressed opposition to legalization for millions of illegal immigrants and called for an overhaul of U.S. immigration policies that he believes are detrimental to the interests of American workers.

“Americans from all walks of life at the grassroots are mobilizing to stop a massive illegal alien guest worker amnesty program being promoted by a disengaged elite,” said Dan Stein, president of FAIR. “Whether it is union members acting to protect their jobs and wages, or local governments acting to protect local residents from costs and crime associated with illegal immigration, Americans are making it clear that they will not sit quietly while their interests are being sold out.”

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Greg Hodai felt like the luckiest man alive when his family won the green card lottery 10 years ago.

It was their ticket to leave his post-communist Hungary and start life anew in the United States.

He came to America legally, selling everything his family owned to afford the airplane tickets, and that’s why he attended a rally in downtown Fort Myers on Sunday against those who cross the border illegally.

“I am an immigrant, but I came the legal way,” said Hodai, 30. “I am now a U.S. citizen.”

About 100 people gathered for the rally at Centennial Park, saying that illegal immigrants drain public funding for schools, medical services and other aid. They come to America and take jobs for citizens and don’t speak English.

Russ Landry, president of Citizens Against Illegal Aliens and Southwes Florida Brigade of the American Freedom Riders Southwest Florida brigade, said the rally was organized to inform the public about political candidates’ stance on the issue.

“We have political report cards on all of the senators,” he said. “We have interviews with people who are aware of the collapse of hospitals, schools and criminal system.

We want people to know our government has failed us at the local, state and federal offices. If the wrong people get into office, this will never change.”

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Concerns over the nation’s immigration policies took center stage at Tuesday’s town hall meeting in Cedartown hosted by U.S. Rep. Phil Gingrey.

Gingrey (R-Marietta) is on the campaign trail, but opened his comments with a promise to avoid campaign rhetoric. He did not mention his Democratic opponent (Patrick Pillion, of Carrollton) nor discuss their differing policy stances.

Gingrey spoke briefly at Cedartown City Hall On Oct. 17. He talked about some of the changes in immigration policy he endorsed and about some of the bills pending before the House. Afterward, he took questions from the audience. A numbe of those questions also were about immigration issues.

Gingrey stressed that he agrees the system is broken and is being abused by illegal aliens. Immigration policy is one of the few issues on which he disagrees with the nation’s president, he said.

“People accuse me of being a rubber stamp for President Bush,” Gingrey said. “I’ll rubber stamp him all day on those issues that the people of my district support.

“But on immigration, his plan sounds a lot like amnesty to me.”

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With more than 300 homicides since January, Houston is on pace to record nearly 400 slayings for the year - which would be the highest number of killings the city has seen in more than a decade.

As of Oct. 16, the city had recorded 316 homicides, up 25 percent from the 252 slayings at this time last year. The Houston Police Department said an uptick in homicides by Hurricane Katrina evacuees has contributed to that increase.

“We recognize that the homicide rate is up as far as raw numbers and as well as percentages relative to the population,” said Capt. Dwayne Ready. “We also recognize that Katrina evacuees continue to have an impact on the murder rate.”

Though overall crime is slightly down for the year, the police department has had a difficult time reining in the rising homicide rate. But it’s still not time to panic, police said.

“The homicide rate has been much higher in years past, especially the 1980s,” Ready said. “Even if the number … for 2006 hits 400 it’s not a bleak picture for Houston.”

The city’s homicide rate declined throughout the 1990s. In 1991 there were 608 homicides. The rate steadily dropped from 465 in 1992, to 254 in 1998 - a far cry from 1981, the year the city was dubbed the murder capital of the United States when it tallied 701 homicides.

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The British National Party in Kent is appalled to learn that a local school is set to sell off land, currently used as a farm, to make way for new housing development. This housing development is, of course, part of the massive house-building program said to be required by Labour - to accommodate the overspill from London caused by current waves of mass immigration and the migrant flood yet to come!

Both staff and pupils at the North School, in Ashford, are said to be “dismayed” by the proposal. Should the scheme come to fruition then other homes will have to be found for the cows, sheep and ducks currently domicile on the land and looked after by the school’s pupils.

In an attempt to justify the proposal, a spokesman for Tory controlled Kent County Council has alleged that “a deal was reached with the previous head teacher”.

New head teacher wants farm to stay for future generations.

Media reports claim that the school’s new head teacher, Ms. Lesley Ellis, wants to ensure the farm will remain for the enjoyment of generations to come – a view shared by Kent BNP.

Ms. Ellis is also reported as making the most laudable suggestion that it should remain to be used as a “Vocational Centre of Excellence for Land Based Studies” with access for the whole community – something a British nationalist administration would encourage as part and parcel of its oft-voiced support for Britain’s Labour-persecuted farming industry.

Indeed Ms. Ellis “hit the nail on the head” when she reportedly said: “Once this land is sold it’s sold forever and as far as I’m concerned this is our legacy for the future. The decisions we make now will impact upon future generations 100 years from now!” We couldn’t have expressed it better ourselves!

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