Bloody Dhimmitude! The Stupid, Weak, Fawning Brits!
MAIL ON SUNDAY: Schools are being urged to rearrange tests, cancel swimming lessons and stop sex education to avoid offending Muslims during Ramadan.

Head teachers in Stoke-on-Trent have been issued with the guidance for treatment of Muslim pupils who may still be fasting when the new term starts in September.

But critics dismissed the advice as ‘over-zealous’ bureaucracy and said all pupils would be forced to miss out on activities as a result.

During Ramadan, all Muslims who have reached puberty avoid eating or drinking between sunrise and sunset to encourage discipline and self-restraint.

To help them with this, Stoke council advises schools not to schedule exams or hold parents’ meetings and social events after school.

They should also avoid swimming lessons because some parents and pupils consider the risk of swallowing water too great.

It even advises schools to cancel sex education because Muslims are expected to avoid sexual thoughts while fasting.

Although the guidance was specifically drawn up to help Muslims, it will affect every pupil in the 89 schools in the Potteries. Council forces schools to rearrange exams and cancel lessons to avoid offending Muslims during Ramadan >>> Claire Ellicott | Sunday, July 11, 2010

New Councilman Hopes to Cultivate SLC Diversity
THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE: From small-town roots, Stan Penfold now pledges to be a progressive force.

All he really wanted to do was garden. Now, Stan Penfold is poised to sow the seeds of progressive policy in Salt Lake City.

It is quite a baptism for the city's newest councilman, a self-described unlikely politician, elected to lead the liberal Avenues and Capitol Hill areas.

But so too was growing up Mormon in Humboldt County, Calif., "the pot capital of the planet," Penfold smiles.

"I remember having to navigate that," he says, eating a fish platter at downtown's Oyster Bar. "I was this strait-laced kid around everybody that drank and smoked pot. The experience taught me it's sort of OK to be who you are."

That mantra has paid dividends throughout his life. It helped him comprehend the strange land of Utah when he moved here to practice landscape horticulture nearly 30 years ago.

And, as an openly gay man (thought to be the capital council's first), it helped him grow comfortable despite being immersed in the state's conservative culture.

"I discovered I kind of liked it here," says Penfold, the decade-long executive director of the Utah AIDS Foundation who travels the world and always expected one day to return to California. "Nobody was more surprised than I was."

Now, after three decades of building a life, career and penchant for a growing community, the erstwhile gardener is ready to dig in to city politics. He replaces Eric Jergensen, a moderate who stepped down after eight years. Rather than being a lightning rod for gay rights -- "the city has done a remarkable job on the social-issue stuff," he says -- Penfold will focus on the grass-roots stuff -- improving quality of life where residents live.

"I want Salt Lake City government to see a city of neighborhoods," he says. "People function well when they are recognized." >>> Derek P. Jensen | Saturday, January 02, 2010

ADVOCATE.COM: Gay Man Joins Salt Lake City Council >>> Advocate.com Editors | Sunday, January 03, 2010

Tory Councillor Suspended for Complaining that Candidates Have 'Foreign' Names
THE TELEGRAPH: A Conservative councillor has been suspended after complaining that the party's would-be MPs do not have "normal" English names.

Peter Hobbins, a former parliamentary candidate, wrote a series of emails to fellow party members complaining that applicants for the Orpington seat in Kent sounded "foreign".

He also complained that candidates approved by Conservative Central Office all mention Africa on their CVs, describing their cover letters as "ridiculous" and "pathetic".

"I have been contacted by a Mr Dilon Gumraj and a Zerha Zaidi and others who are all on the approved Conservative Parliamentary Candidates list," he wrote in one email. "Not one of them has a ‘normal’ English name." >>> Matthew Moore | Saturday, November 21, 2009

It Wouldn’t Be Muslims the Police Were Afraid of Upsetting, Would It?
Photo courtesy of The Mail on Sunday
THE MAIL ON SUNDAY: A St George's Day parade through an inner-city area hit by race riots has been cancelled following police advice.

Community groups had planned to stage the multi-cultural event in Bradford and 1,500 schoolchildren were due to take part.

Many of the youngsters had already made flags of St George to carry on the parade on April 23, which was designed to boost community cohesion.

But last week police and council chiefs told the organisers that the event could not go ahead as planned for 'health and safety' reasons. At a meeting, police demanded a shorter route which avoided two streets at the centre of the race riots in 2001.

As a result, organisers have decided to call off the event, which was due to attract more than 10,000 people.

Bradford City councillor Quasim Khan said: "We were told by the police at the meeting that the original route had not been risk assessed and if we wanted a march to go ahead on that date, St George's Day, we would have to accept a smaller, different route.

"The police officers were getting quite animated, saying things like 'look, this just isn't going to happen'." Police and council officials said they did not have sufficient warning of the event.

However, community leaders planning the parade said the event was blighted because of fears it could stoke up violence. They claimed a police inspector had actually begun the plans for the parade nine months ago. Cancelled on Police Advice: St George's Day Parade through the Bradford Race-Riot Zone >>> By Martin Smith | April 19, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback - UK)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback - UK)