Rise of Neo Nazis In Russia Brings Ban

Already outlawed by Germany and Austria in the aftermath of World War II, the autobiography-cum-manifesto has in recent years become required reading for some Russian ultranationalist groups, despite the fact that it insults Slavs and calls for the colonization of their motherland.
“['Mein Kampf'] sets out ideas of national socialism, conveys a militaristic worldview, excuses discrimination and the eradication of non-Aryan people, and reflects ideas which resulted in the start of World War II,” said the office of the prosecutor general, in its announcement that the book had been added to its list of prohibited extremist literature.
But a steep and widely publicized escalation in attacks on migrant workers and foreign students has caused the country considerable international embarrassment. According to the Moscow-based human rights group Sova, extreme-right militants killed 71 people in Russia last year — almost twice as many as in 2004. And so far this year, at least seven people have died at the hands of racist thugs, while 29 more have been injured.
That spike in assaults and murders has moved the Russian state to crack down on neo-Nazis. Last year, 45 people were successfully prosecuted for carrying out violent hate crimes, up from 35 in 2008.
Galina Kozhevnikova says that simply outlawing “Mein Kampf” will do little to help the battle against neo-Nazism. “I have a feeling that people needed to report that they were fighting extremism,” she told Reuters. “It will still be available on the Internet. It’s impossible to stop it spreading.”
The Central Council of Jews in Germany, Munich’s Institute of Contemporary History and several other mainstream organizations argue that if they were allowed to publish a fully annotated version of “Mein Kampf” — one that points out which chunks of text Hitler stole from others, and which parts of a heroic life story he invented — they would be better able to demystify the book.More

Requiem for Detroit?

   
thanks for the tip Battleskin
Julien Temple’s new film is a vivid evocation of an apocalyptic vision: a slow-motion Katrina that has had many more victims. Detroit was once America’s fourth largest city.
Built by the car for the car, with its groundbreaking suburbs, freeways and shopping centres, it was the embodiment of the American dream.
But its intense race riots brought the army into the city. With violent union struggles against the fierce resistance of Henry Ford and the Big Three, it was also the scene of American nightmares.more

The numbers just don’t seem to justify the murders

Death toll: 3,149 (since 1987)
What is Genocide?
The term “genocide” was coined by legal scholar Raphael Lemkin in 1943, writing:
‘Generally speaking, genocide does not necessarily mean the immediate destruction of a nation, except when accomplished by mass killings of all members of a nation. It is intended rather to signify a coordinated plan of different actions aiming at the destruction of essential foundations of the life of national groups, with the aim of annihilating the groups themselves.
Names of people notified as murdered in rural and peri-urban areas of South Africa – dates, sources
updated March 19 2010

At an early morning prayer meeting in Sharpeville’s Roman Catholic Church, an impassioned congregation raised their voices in song in the stained glass dawn light.
“All we could see were people falling down. It was like a storm … bullets tearing their clothes,” the Rev. Mary Senkhane recalled of her own experience on that day 50 years ago.
Police officers killed 69 black South Africans in Sharpeville, where people had gathered to protest the pass books that the white apartheid government required them to carry at all times. Police shot demonstrators including women and children as they ran away.
At the cemetery, neat concrete slabs mark the graves of the 69 massacre victims amid rows of mismatched tombstones covered with unkempt grass and faded artificial flowers. Hundreds of people assembled Sunday to pay their respects.

“Sleep well. We have forgiven those who did this to you,” Ma Phethane murmured as she laid a small bouquet on the gravestone of her grandfather, who was killed when she was just 15.More from abc

Civil Rights Denied!!!

The Traditionalist
American Knights of the Ku Klux Klan were denied a permit to have a BBQ at
Fort davidson State Historic Site. Why??? I don't know they did not give a
coherent answer. I am sure that Delecia Huitt Field Operations
Supervisor, Southern Missouri Historic District, Division of State Parks
knows. Her phone number is 636-931-5200. I have the letter of denial
posted below:

ARN, SPLC, ARA groups to counter march on March 21 WPWW

More Proof That Whites Are Forbidden To Have Pride In Their Race, Culture or Trying To Preserve and Celebrate it.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia—International Day for the Elimination of Racism coming up on March 21 could see a clash between protesters as neo-Nazis plan to rally in Calgary, Vancouver, and Victoria.
According to the Anti Racist Network (ARN), white-supremacist demonstrations are planned for B.C.’s Lower Mainland and Victoria on Sunday. What is traditionally the International Day for the Elimination of Racism, the neo-Nazis have declared White Pride Worldwide Day.

ARN, the activist group No One Is Illegal (NOII), and others are preparing a counter-rally to confront white supremacist groups such as Blood and Honour Canada, and Advocates for White Civil Rights.
ARN says it expects hundreds to show up in support of multiculturalism.
In Calgary, the neo-Nazi/white pride groups Aryan Guard and White European Bloodlines are also expected to rally. At last year’s event in Calgary, an estimated 500 anti-racists confronted 30 white supremacists, resulting in violence and three arrests.
White pride demonstrations have taken place on the day in Calgary and Toronto in recent years, but observers say gatherings have not occurred in British Columbia for some time.
“It is unfortunate to see that this kind of open display of intolerance would come to the streets of any place in Canada,” said Bromberg. “To watch these guys march down the street if you were, for instance, a holocaust survivor—it’s a pretty scary moment.”
March 21 has been recognized the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination since 1960 after the massacre of demonstrators demanding an end to apartheid in Sharpesville, South Africa.
It has only been since 2000 that neo-Nazi and white nationalist organizations have claimed March 21 as White Pride Worldwide Day against what they call multi-racial supremacy.
The white pride movement has been growing alongside a burgeoning music business worth more than $3.4 million, according to Interpol and the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Ironically, although white power music has been driven underground due to bans throughout Europe, the United States has become a Mecca and haven for the industry due to First Amendment protections.
Power music song lyrics fan feelings of anger, blind rage, and violent tendencies, and frequently include exhortations to kill.
More from ET

Walmart announcement tells black people to leave store in N.J.

A male voice came over the public-address system Sunday evening at a store in Washington Township, in southern New Jersey, and announced: “Attention, Walmart customers: All black people, leave the store now.”
Shoppers in the store said a manager quickly got on the public-address system and apologized. It was unclear whether a rogue patron or an employee was responsible for the comment, but many customers expressed their anger to store management.
“I want to know why such statements are being made, because it flies in the face of what we teach our children about tolerance for all,” said Sheila Ellington who was shopping with a friend.
Ellington, of Monroe, and her friend Patricia Covington said they plan to boycott the retailer until they’re assured the issue has been addressed.
Officials with Wal-Mart Stores, based in Bentonville, Ark., said the announcement was “unacceptable” and they’re trying to determine who made it and how it happened.
Bill Mitchell, a former Walmart employee who was shopping Wednesday at the store, said he was saddened to hear about the announcement but that, “As a black man, I’ve heard worse things.”More NW

"It was a disgusting comment," Ellington said. "Once I heard that, I was absolutely shocked and appalled."

The man was very calm when he broadcast the message, according to Tinsley.

"He said it as if he had a million dollars for us," the Washington Township resident said. "He wasn't nervous, [he was] really calm."

The women said the store's manager immediately addressed his shock about the incident to a large crowd of angry shoppers who gathered in the front of the store. He then made an apology over the intercom.

Tinsley said her husband then called 911 to report what had happened.

Washington Township Police and the Gloucester County Prosecutor's Office are investigating the incident as a possible hate crime.

There are 25 phones throughout the 206,000 square-foot supercenter that have access to the paging system, according to the Gloucester County Prosecutors Office.

Officials say they reviewed the store's surveillance system and did not find anyone using the phones. But they do say some of the phones are outside of the camera's reach.More

Skulls And Spears: Vikings Found In Dorset

 

Fifty skulls found in a burial pit in Dorset probably belonged to Vikings who had been slaughtered by our Anglo-Saxon ancestors, archaeologists have revealed.

The decapitated warriors were discovered last year on Ridgeway Hill in Weymouth during escavations for a new road.

The mass war grave astonished archaeologists who have spent the last year carefully removing and analysing the remains.
They are thought to date from between 910 and 1030 AD, when England was ruled by Saxon kings and Vikings from Denmark had begun a second wave of raids on the South Coast.
"Any mass grave is a relatively rare find, but to find one on this scale from this period of history is extremely unusual.
"(It) presents an incredible opportunity to learn more about what is happening in Dorset at this time."
Mr Score said it was possible to make a "strong inference" that the bodies were all Vikings.

Teeth samples from 10 of the men showed they grew up in countries where the climate was colder than Britain, with one thought to have come from within the Arctic Circle.
Tests showed they ate a high protein diet, which is comparable with other sites uncovered in Sweden.
Injuries to the jaw and head had been inflicted by a sharp bladed weapon, and cuts to the pelvis, chest and stomach show signs of a bloody and brutal battle.
There are also indications of defensive injuries to the hands.
Two healed fractures are unlikely to have received medical attention and in one case, left the victim with one leg that was 5cm shorter than the other.
Sky News Source

Maggie's Notebook: Stupak: Dems say Abortions save Money: Stupak Threatened by Ethics Inquiry

Maggie's Notebook: Stupak: Dems say Abortions save Money: Stupak Threatened by Ethics Inquiry

Land Reform and the lingering Zimbabwe food crisis

Land reform in Zimbabwe

Land reform in Zimbabwe officially began in 1979 with the signing of the Lancaster House Agreement, an effort to more equitably distribute land between the historically disenfranchised blacks and the minority-whites who ruled Zimbabwe from 1890 to 1979.  Zimbabwean whites, although making up less than 1% of the population, owned more than 70% of the arable land, including most of the best. With no allocation of property rights, communal lands were characterised by slash-and-burn agriculture, resulting in a tragedy of the commons. Since the implementation of the most recent land reforms, only 300 of 4,500 commercial farmers remain on farms. The eviction of the mostly white farmers has been partly blamed by critics and aid agencies for Zimbabwe’s worst famine in living memory, more
Zimbabwe food crisis ‘looms’
The International Red Cross has warned that Zimbabwe could be facing a very severe food crisis. The charity says that more than 2.7 million people, a quarter of the country’s population, are in “dire need” of food aid.  There are already more than two million people who need food aid in the country and that number is going to rise because the harvest has failed, the group says.
They are appealing for donors to contribute more than $20m in funding. There is also concern about the possible impact of food shortage on the estimated one million children left orphaned after their parents died of Aids.Source   

White people in Zimbabwe

After the country’s independence as Zimbabwe in 1980, white people had to adjust to being an ethnic minority in a country with an African government. Many white people emigrated in the early 1980s, being uncertain about their future, but many remained. Political unrest and the illegal seizure of farms resulted in a further exodus commencing in 1999. Two white farmers and an unknown number of African farmworkers were killed while defending their farms from these seizures. The 2002 census recorded 46,743 white people remaining in Zimbabwe. More than 10,000 were elderly and fewer than 9,000 were under the age of 15.[1]more

Lawyers for dispossessed farmers believe that on Monday they will be able to start using the law to seize houses in Cape Town which are owned by the Zimbabwean government. Their action, which follows a landmark legal ruling, promises to humiliate Mr Mugabe and embarrass South Africa’s president Jacob Zuma, who was on a state visit to Britain last week.
The battle for justice fought by one of the white farmers, Mike Campbell, aged 77, was featured in the documentary film Mugabe and the White African. It was shown in British cinemas this year to great acclaim.  The film tells how he fought stubbornly to bring a legal case in 2008 against Mr Mugabe’s government at the Southern African Development Community tribunal, based in the Namibian capital Windhoek.
Mr Campbell won a victory when the court ruled that Mr Mugabe’s farm takeovers were racist in nature and therefore illegal.more

$2,250 US will get you Quick Visa to Canada

RCMP investigates immigration website

 

The RCMP has launched an investigation into a website guaranteeing immigrants easy access to Canada and advising them to use false pretexts in order to take advantage of the countrys free health care and social programs.
On its website, which was taken offline on Thursday, Quick Visa Canada offered clients “a cheap, quick and effective way to come to Canada.”
For $2,250 US, the company said, it would help potential immigrants come to Canada as tourists and then assist them in filing a claim for refugee status.
“We will provide you with a listing of different motives so that you can choose the one that best suits you,” the companys website said.
“The motives that we will present to you are very easy to explain to the immigration officials. For example many of our clients choose the type of motives in which they claim that there were part of an organization (anti abortion, human rights, Gay or Lesbian movement, etc, etc) back in their home country and that some people were against that movement.”
Organizations that provide assistance to immigrants and refugees were outraged by the website’s claims.
More from CBC

Offended By Yard Art. . .

“Say no to the ghetto. White Power. Mt. Greenwood, the next Englewood.” He also hung a white noose next to the sign. When confronted by a reporter with Fox-TV, Corrigan claimed the display was “yard art.”

Apparently, Corrigan has not broken any laws, even though plenty of people will see his sign as offensive and racist. Although the City of Chicago’s Commission on Human Relations has contacted Corrigan with the hope of persuading him to remove the racist sign, the agency has no authority to impose any fine.
Since the story broke Tuesday night, Corrigan’s house in the 9900 block of South Fairfield has been picketed by angry black protesters.
On Wednesday afternoon, Corrigan covered the sign with a tarp.
Frankly, I’m more outraged by Corrigan’s white noose than I am his racist sign. Corrigan’s ugly words were meant to insult prospective home buyers.
But hanging a white noose, along with the racist speech, can only be interpreted as an act of aggression and intimidation.
Because there is no law against someone being racist, Chicago Police are unable to charge Corrigan with any crimes.
Unfortunately, you cannot arrest someone for being mean-spirited.
But neither the police nor the Commission on Human Relations should let the noose slide. Corrigan should be told to remove it or face charges of disorderly conduct.
As for the racist sign, Corrigan did prospective homeowners a favor. There is nothing worst than not knowing you are living next door to someone who does not want you there.More

‘We are proud of eating pork, this is our land!’

PARIS (Reuters) – A French fast food chain’s decision to serve only halal meat in eight restaurants with a strong Muslim clientele has sparked a wave of criticism from politicians decrying the step as unacceptable. A far-right leader said the 350-branch Quick chain was imposing “an Islamic tax” on its customers. A Socialist mayor has threatened a law suit for discrimination against customers who do not want to eat according to Muslim dietary laws.More

We have here, in France and Belgium a fast food called “Quick”. It has recently been decided that some of these restaurants will no longer have pork meat in their burgers and will only offer Hallal meat to their customers.  “Les identitaires” which is a nationalist group fighting islamisation as well as many other things decided to first order a burger with bacon (girl at the very beginning) at a Quick restaurant in Lyon but were told off and expelled from that restaurant. That’s why, they decided to go and protest within the restaurant itself against the islamisation of France and Europe. The guy talking in the mic says among other things that people who come and have lunch here support Islam and hallal meat which is obtained by slitting animals throat when fully alive etc…….then they all shout out “1st, 2nd and third generation we are proud of eating pork” and “this is our land”

I march every year with these people in Rouen for Jeannes d’Arc day.

thank you finalwar 

Rebeyne! VS Quick Halal [Video]

The Tundra Tabloids reported a week ago on the French hamburger chain, Quick, that decided to strip pork products from its menu in order to serve the religious needs of the local population. They didn’t even bother to offer two kinds of sandwiches, one halal and the other with pork, so now t More..he people are (justifiably) up in arms and beginning to show their anger over being force fed with sharia nonsense in their secular state. KGS
A herd of 70 dissatisfied pigs invaded Quick Halal Villeurbanne on Sunday morning. They intended to protest against the decision to remove the bacon burger and cons of the new offer Quick who now proposes that the halal its customers. It is unacceptable that a chain of “restaurants” which is largely Caisse des Depots et Consignations, in the French State, participates in the exclusion.MORE

Quebec woman barred from course for second time. . .

The Egyptian immigrant made headlines last week when it was revealed provincial Immigration Department officials expelled her from a government-sponsored French class several months ago after she refused to take off her niqab.
Known only as Naema in Quebec media, she had since enrolled in another government-sponsored French class, this time at a community centre for immigrants in Montreal.  But almost as soon as the Quebec government got word she was attending class in her niqab, it confronted her again, forcing her to make the same decision she made in November.
As she did then, Naema chose her religion instead of learning French on the Quebec government’s terms.
“It is a copy and paste of what happened last week,” said Samer Majzoub, who heads the Canadian Muslim Forum, a non-profit organization that has been providing support for Naema.
“Why is the government doing this? I wonder if they have other things to do in life other than following this woman.”
Quebec Immigration Minister Yolande James appeared to move quickly in addressing the latest contribution to the province’s ongoing debate over the accommodation of religious and ethnic minorities.
News of Naema’s new enrolment first appeared in Tuesday’s edition of Montreal La Presse newspaper. By 10 a.m., officials from the Quebec government were meeting with her and representatives of the centre.
James’ office said it received word on Friday from teachers at the community centre that Naema was wearing her niqab in class.
“As we did last time, we told her that we have pedagogical objectives to meet in our French immersion courses, that they have to be taken with her face exposed,” said Luc Fortin, a spokesman for James.
“She refused to take off her niqab and she left the course.”
In Quebec City on Tuesday, James said “if she wants to attend the classes we need to be able to see her face.”  Naema declined to speak to The Canadian Press, saying through an intermediary that she had been upset by media coverage of her initial expulsion.
Several commentators as well as certain Muslim groups expressed support for the Quebec’s government’s position last week.  They argued Naema had been unreasonable in her demands, which reportedly included giving oral presentations with her back facing the co-ed class.
“She’s devastated,” Majzoub said. “This woman was insisting on being part of Quebec society, on integrating.”
The accommodation issue is politically contentious for the provincial Liberal government.  Facing repeated criticism from the Opposition Parti Quebecois for failing to protect Quebec values, the Liberals say they intend to take “concrete measures” in the coming weeks to deal with the problem.
More from source
thank you battleskin

NAACP urges Frankel to take action over racist videos

The president of the local chapter of the NAACP is urging Mayor Lois Frankel to take swift and strong action against those who posted a racist video on the Internet, lampooning a city firefighter who has spent years trying to prove he’s been overlooked for promotions because he’s black.
Even if the city can’t identify who posted the video on YouTube.com, it should decry it, said NAACP president Lia Gaines.
“It certainly should be strongly condemned,” she said Tuesday. “The city should send a clear message that it won’t tolerate things like that.”
The obscenity-laced video was posted last month after Capt. Rick Curtis was charged with DUI. He is contesting it.
In the animated video, a not-very-thinly veiled caricature of Curtis repeatedly throws the race card when stopped by a white officer.
“You are a cracker ass racist cop. I am a captain at the fire department,” the Curtis character, dressed in gold chains, repeatedly tells the cop.
The cop who looks like a Lego character replies: “I think you are a terrible fire captain and you are making the other firefighters at your fire department look bad. All the other firefighters must hate your guts.”
More
*please note I was unable to find a picture or Video of the LEGO  ‘cracker ass racist cop’

Investigating the Afterlife Concepts of the Norse Heathen

Investigating the Afterlife Concepts of the Norse Heathen

Racial Tensions? [Marysville, Ohio]

Some say there are racial tensions in a local school district -- and now others are saying this isn't the first time.

Video | NBC4i.com

Wait One Cotton Picking Moment! This Is Insane

University of Missouri police yesterday arrested two white male students suspected of dropping cotton balls in front of the Gaines/Oldham Black Culture Center on campus.

Zachary Tucker, 21, and Sean Fitzgerald, 19, were arrested about 7:30 p.m., each on suspicion of one count of tampering in the second degree, a Class D felony enhanced because of the hate crime classification. They each posted $4,500 bond and were released from the Boone County Jail, with a date to return to court set for March 29.
Tucker is listed as a senior psychology major in an MU directory and is from St. Louis. Fitzgerald is a freshman political science major,

Fitzgerald

Chancellor Brady Deaton has temporarily suspended the students, saying he “determined it is in the best interest of the university community.”
MU police were called to the black culture center Friday morning after students and staff awoke to find cotton balls strewn across the lawn. The racist act, an overt reminder of slavery, came on one of the last days of Black History Month.
Police said they received an anonymous tip that led to the arrest but did not provide additional details.  Capt. Brian Weimer would not confirm whether nearby video surveillance images were used in the arrest, saying he did not want to jeopardize the case.
Nathan Stephens, director of the black culture center, said he was pleased to hear about the arrests.
“I am excited that justice has prevailed,” he said. “I’m saddened for these students, but I’m also hopeful we can now continue to galvanize and make this university into what we want it to be —More

How much money a day do you spend per person/child?

Dispossessed: Mother of 11 lives on just £7 a day per child

The movies? Have I ever taken my kids to the movies?” Barbara Harriott repeats my question with a sense of incredulity and by way of reply flings open the door of her musty living room where six of her youngest children sleep. “Three of them share this double bunk, two are on single beds and one uses that pull-out settee,” she says, beginning the grand tour, her baby on her hip.
“The two older boys sleep up here” — she heads up the uncarpeted wooden stairway — “and I sleep with the baby across the hall from my oldest girl. Can you imagine,” she says, “how much it would cost if I took all of my kids to the movies? I'd have to save for a year!”

Ms Harriott, 44, has 11 children, nine boys and two girls, ranging in age from 25 years to six months. They all live, bar the oldest, in an overcrowded house in Lewisham with four bedrooms, two lavatories, one bath and a small kitchen where they eat in shifts. Their home is a picture of poverty: peeling walls, damp mouldy ceilings, bare bulbs, heating turned down to save on gas bills, and clothes stuffed into plastic bags and piled on landings like the back room of a charity shop. This week the Evening Standard is publishing a series of articles highlighting the plight of London's dispossessed, the 41 per cent of the capital's children who live below the poverty line, and today we focus on a type of family often stigmatised as “spongers”.

 We often take a critical view of women such as Ms Harriott whose children have been fathered by five different men, none of whom married her or stuck around to help. In her case, it's costing the taxpayer a small fortune, the state funding her housing costs, council tax, and daily living expenses to the tune of £38,844 a year. Yet seen from her children's point of view, after housing costs, the family are left with £543 a week to live on, the equivalent of just £7 a child per day, and well below the poverty line for a family like theirs of £689 per week.

Born in south London, Ms Harriott never knew her father and was brought up by her Caribbean mother who worked on the production line of a toy factory. “I lived with my mother and younger brother in the spare room of my aunt's house, and my aunt looked after us while my mother was at work,” she begins. “For a while we were a happy family but my childhood ended when I was six and my aunt, who had her own husband and children, threw us out and we ended up on the street.

 “But you also have to give me some credit because despite my shortcomings, I have created a happy household and I am a very good mother. My eldest has a solid job working for a clothing company, the next two are in college, none are in jail, none are on drugs, and none are on the child protection register. I also realise that ending up like me, living off the state, is no example, and so I tell my children, do well at school, have goals, have a career before you have children'

She begins to cry and says: “I love this country, I owe everything to this country, but it's so difficult in London living off £7 per child per day. I don't drink, I don't smoke, everything goes on essentials and yet by the end of the week, the cupboard's bare.” She opens her fridge to reveal a bunch of carrots, some celery, and a loaf of bread.
She points to the kitchen units falling off their hinges. “Every piece of furniture in this house is second-hand or donated. It's impossible to save. We still don't have a computer. The children haven't had Christmas presents or a meal out for years. The only time we go out as a family is to church on Sunday. Recently my 14-year-old Asher needed new school shoes, but I couldn't afford them. His teachers had a whip round to raise the 50 quid.”
She outlines her weekly budget: £95 for utilities, £17 for a bus pass, £20 for telephones, £3 for her TV licence, £10 for Sky (“our only luxury”), £350 on groceries (“strictly no-name brands from Iceland or Tesco”), and £30 for debt repayments.
It leaves her less than £20 for essential clothing and, crucially, nothing to cope with emergencies like last year when Lewisham council mistakenly cut off her housing benefit for four months. Source of Story MORE

3 White Teachers Removed From Class Over Black Hero Choices

Three Los Angeles elementary school teachers accused of giving children portraits of O.J. Simpson, Dennis Rodman and RuPaul to carry in a Black History Month parade have been removed from their classrooms,
Children from other classes at the school displayed photos of more appropriate black role models, such as Nelson Mandela, Harriet Tubman and President Barack Obama,
District Superintendent Ramon Cortines placed the teachers — all white men who teach first, second and fourth grades — on administrative leave on Tuesday while an investigation is conducted, Pollard-Terry said.
“The superintendent will not let anyone make a mockery out of Black History Month,” she said.
The issue was brought to district officials’ attention by the Los Angeles chapter of the NAACP after the organization received a complaint early Monday, chapter President Leon Jenkins said.
Jenkins said he felt the teachers acted in concert to mock black heroes and children’s innocence.
“These are not the people we want our young people to emulate or believe these people represent the best of the African-American community,” Jenkins said. “It’s hard for the NAACP to believe this was a mistake.”
Simpson, a former NFL star, is serving a nine-year prison sentence for robbery and kidnapping. He was famously acquitted in 1995 of murdering his ex-wife and her friend.
RuPaul is a drag queen performer.
Rodman, a former NBA star, has gained notoriety for bad boy behavior on and off the basketball court.
Some parents at the school on Wednesday said the issue was overblown. Sharon Tinson, who has two daughters at the school and attended Friday’s celebration, said she had been surprised to see Simpson displayed in the parade. But she noted that Simpson, like Rodman, was a great athlete before falling from grace. RuPaul simply has an alternative lifestyle, she added.  She noted the event also included a tribute to pop singer Michael Jackson, who has also had a checkered career.More

Que. Government Boots Niqab Wearing Woman From Classroom

thank you Jeff

MONTREAL – After months of balancing a woman’s religious beliefs with her desire to learn French, the Quebec government stepped into her classroom to offer an ultimatum: take off the niqab or drop the course.
The woman opted to keep her Islamic face-covering and has filed a human-rights complaint against the government.
In a province where the government frequently faces accusations of doing too much to accommodate minorities, these actions have prompted a fair bit of praise.
The woman began taking a French course designed for immigrants at a Montreal college in February but she refused to remove her niqab while men were present.
The college was initially willing to accommodate her, but eventually balked as her demands escalated.  The breaking point occurred when the woman again refused to take off the niqab, though teachers had stressed it was essential they see her face to correct her enunciation and facial expressions.
In what appears to be a highly unusual move, provincial Immigration Minister Yolande James intervened. Officials from her department, acting with the minister’s knowledge, met with the woman to discuss her options.
Several groups, including several teachers’ unions, applauded the government for drawing a line in the sand. So did moderate Muslim groups.
“When people come to Canada we’re not coming to the Islamic Republic of Canada,” said Raheel Raza, a Muslim women’s-rights activist who has argued for a public ban on religious face coverings. 

more at links above