Archive for February 2008

Iranian officials have formally demanded the Dutch government stop the screening of a film in the Netherlands about the Qur’an that was produced by a politician.

The film, its title still under wraps, is by Dutch member of parliament Geert Wilders, who says his film shows the Muslim holy book as something that motivates people to murder.

The Iranian justice minister, Gholam Hussein Elham, wrote to his Dutch counterpart, Ernst Hirsch Ballin, calling for a ban. He urged Ballin to prevent this “provocative and satanic act on the basis of European Convention on Human Rights.

“We must not allow the freedom of speech … to be used as a cover for assaulting the sensibilities, and exalted moral and religious values which are respected by all of humanity,” Elham said in the letter.

The Dutch government has refused to intervene. At the same time, it also has plans for an emergency evacuation of its nationals and diplomats from the Middle East should the Wilders film be shown.

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The OECD boss, Angel Gurria, says that rich country governments need to do more to help immigrants integrate and make better use of their skills, which will improve economic prospects and reduce backlashes against immigrants.

“Much greater emphasis needs to be placed on helping recent immigrants learn the host-country language and become familiar with workplace practices,” he said.

The OECD’s new research shows that immigrants now make up 7.5% of the population of the rich countries as a whole, with the highest proportion in Luxembourg (32%), Australia (23%) and Switzerland (22.6%).

In absolute terms, the US (31 million) and Germany (8 million) have the most immigrants, making up nearly half the total in the OECD area.

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A judge listening to graphic details of an immigration centre riot yesterday warned that Britain had lost control of its borders “for the first time since 1066″.

Christopher Elwen gave the dramatic assessment after four foreign nationals were cleared of masterminding the “rampage” at Harmondsworth removal centre.

Two of the men were jailed for the millions of pounds worth of damage caused during the huge disturbance, which left large parts of the 555-bed West London centre wrecked.

Southwark Crown Court in London heard that the mayhem - sparked by complaints about human rights and detainees not having Sky TV - engulfed all four wings.

Staff feared for their lives as many detainees armed themselves with makeshift weapons, damaged walls, destroyed security cameras, smashed windows, shattered furniture and started fires at the privately-run facility.

Several of those on duty were forced to retreat as an enraged 50-strong mob battered down an internal security door.

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So what exactly is MEChA? A social justice group that coordinates efforts in the fight for the rights of the underprivileged and unrepresented? An ethnic identity group that provides Chicanos/Latinos a place to feel welcome and opportunities to fraternize and take pride for who they are? Or a racist organization that advocates revolution and segregation?

In fact, MEChA is all of these things. MEChA is in many ways the modern day Ku Klux Klan of Chicanos. While you may initially believe this statement to be hyperbole, a further examination will lend credence to the comparison. Before proceeding, note that the parallel is between the modern day KKK and MEChA, which is a much different organization than the KKK of the past. We are in no way suggesting that MEChA is an organization that lynches and terrorizes other races in the manner the KKK has in the past, nor has MEChA been the cause of intimidation, pain, and anguish as has the KKK. Where the comparisons are familiar, however, are in the present day ideologies of the organizations.

El Plan de Aztlán, first presented in 1969, is the most heinous fundamental document associated with MEChA. This document is where the statement “Por La Raza todo. Fuera de La Raza nada” (”For those in the race, everything. For those outside the race, nothing”) comes from. During the Recall campaign California Lt. Governor Cruz Bustamante came under much fire for not denouncing this blatantly racist rule. In addition, this plan calls for a revolution to return control of the lands of their forefathers to Chicano control. “Aztlán belongs to those who plant the seeds, water the fields, and gather the crops and not to the foreign Europeans.” So, in essence, any actual attempt to adhere to the tenets of this plan would not only be racist, but treasonous (which makes the fact that the Lt. Governor of California refused to denounce it even more frightening).

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Music has always been a powerful tool of expression but a string of controversial songs in recent years has raised questions about whether artists are crossing the line with lyrics that are racially or religiously offensive.

Just this week the Freedom Front Plus lodged a formal complaint with the Broadcasting Complaints Commission of South Africa about a song by artist Zubz, titled Get Out.

The lyrics read: “Understand I’m gonna get this panga to your neck. Take what is mine today and I’ll rob you tomorrow.”

The song ends: “It’s not all white people that’s racist. And not all white people perpetuate the imbalance. So not all white people needs to be addressed.”

The song and its gory video were broadcast on SABC1 last month.

Willie Spies of the FF Plus said the party had decided to pursue the issue because of the sentiments regarding race. It also felt the song could fuel crime.

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Several hundred Serbs held a demonstration in Brussels on Sunday. The Serbs are unhappy that Belgium plans to recognise Kosovo as an independent state.

The protesters say that last Sunday’s unilateral declaration of independence by the Kosovan Parliament contravenes international law.

One of the demonstration’s organisers, the Serbian historian Alexis Troude, told journalists that the declaration of independence contravenes the UN Charter, UN resolution 1244, the 1975 Helsinki Final Act and the Serbian constitution.

The protesters also fear that the recognition of Kosovan independence will have consequences elsewhere in Europe.

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Superintendent Wayne Mawson, in his forties, said he left the property in Hackney because he did not want to confront teenagers sitting on his wall.

The head of operations for Haringey, north London, added that the youths had made him nervous about his work - and confessed he had given in to their loitering.

Mr Mawson, who earns about £70,000 a year, said: “I gave in to them because it was either that or start challenging them. My quality of life has improved massively since then.”

Mr Mawson made the admission at a neighbourhood watch meeting at the Royal British Legion in Crouch End as he highlighted the important role that safer neighbourhood police teams play.

“They are not only about the big stuff, but also about looking after situations like this, serving the everyday needs of our community,” he said.

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WASHINGTON – California, which once lured Americans from near and far, is now driving out millions of the most productive residents – including high percentages of the most affluent.

“When California faced a Mount Everest-sized $14 billion deficit in 2003, one of the major causes for the red ink was the stampede of millionaire households from the state,” says a report called “Rich States, Poor States” by economists Arthur Laffer and Stephen Moore. “Out of the 25,000 or so seven-figure-income families, more than 5,000 left in the early 2000s, and the loss of their tax payments accounted for about half the budget hole.”

And it’s not just the rich leaving.

Based on data from moving companies, California had the second-highest domestic population out-flow of any state in 2005, according to the report, “despite the beautiful weather, beaches, and mountains.”

The bad news for California is that it faces a $14 billion deficit this year, despite boasting one of the highest tax burdens in the nation.

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A total of 20 towns were hit by fires on Sunday night, with around 29 people arrested - most of them for arson or attempted arson.

In two cases the fires were so strong that blocks of flats had to be evacuated.

Bands of young people have vandalised or set fire to hundreds of cars and a number of schools in the past week, however the situation was said to have been improving over the weekend.

Police said they could give no reason for the behaviour, but said unusually mild weather and the closure of schools for a winter break might have contributed.

Social workers believe an alleged plot to kill a Danish cartoonist for his drawing two years ago of the Prophet Mohammad may have fuelled the riots. Fifteen Danish newspapers reprinted his drawing on Wednesday in protest against the alleged murder plot.

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CANADIANS now know the precise moment when radical anti-racism became a more powerful sociological toxin than racism itself: 7:55pm EST on Sept. 5, 2003. That is the date-stamp on a particularly vile posting, left by an anonymous user on the message board of the right-wing web site freedomsite.org (http://www.freedomsite.org/), attacking Canada’s first black senator. It read as follows:

“Not only is Canadian Senator Anne Cools is a Negro, she is also an immigrant! And she is also one helluva preachy c*nt. She does NOT belong in my Canada. My Anglo-Germanic people were here before there was a Canada and her kind have jumped in, polluted our race, and forced their bullshit down our throats. Time to go back to when the women *** imports knew their place . . . And that place was NOT in public!”

Horrible, shocking stuff. But even more shocking is the identity of the fellow whose electronic fingerprints were all over the message: famed Canadian human-rights lawyer Richard Warman.

Warman is a legend in anti-racism circles. A former member of the Canadian Human Rights Commission, he’s launched countless complaints against right-wing extremists, and won almost all of them. But during proceedings surrounding one of Warman’s 2003-era complaints against The Freedom-Site (http://www.freedomsite.org/), the respondents turned the tables. A computer expert named Bernard Klatt did some digging under The Freedom-Site’s back office, and determined that the Cools posting had been made from a computer bearing the IP address 66.185.84.204, the very same address from which Warman had admitted to visiting The Freedom-Site using a different alias.

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