Mediaboss Marketing

Five stories that have North Texas talking: Denton ISD administrator under fire for kids book; white nationalist rally planned for Sept. 11; meet the eye behind iconic Dallas skyline photos; and more.

Some Denton County residents are calling for a school district administrator to be fired over his recently self-published childrens book that features a white nationalist symbol as a main character.

Eric Hauser, the assistant principal at Rodriguez Middle School, published The Adventures of Pepe and Pede on Amazon on Aug. 1. He said he didnt know that Pepe the Frog has been used by the self-described alt-right movement in recent years until after the book was out, The Dallas Morning News reports. He knew it was a conservative meme, he said, not one used by white nationalists.

(Update, Monday 4 p.m. Hauser has been removed from his position as assistant principal and assigned to an "unannounced role with the district," the Dallas Observer reports.)

Hauser said he wrote the story to fill a void in conservative children's literature, according to the Morning News. He also said he doesn't align with the alt-right and chose Pepe because he's a "funny," "lovable character." Pede is short for centipede, a self-adopted term by some supporters of President Trump, according to Buzzfeed.

Heres the description of the book, which Hauser says has been picked up by a publisher:

Pepe the Frog and his best friend Centipede unite as one as they fight to restore law and order, and bring freedom back to Wishington Farm. This is an adventurous tale for all ages packed with patriotic prominence!

An online petition with nearly 500 signatures (as of early Monday morning) demanding Hausers removal also calls out the book for being anti-Muslim.

The district hadn't heard about the book until Thursday when Hauser contacted them about it, Denton ISD spokesman Mario Zavala told the Morning News.

"It doesn't really apply to district curriculum. It's something Mr. Hauser wanted to do on a personal level," he said. [The Dallas Morning News]

The High Five is KERAs daily roundup of stories from Dallas-Fort Worth and across the state. Explore our archives here. And sign up for our weekly email for the North Texas news you need to know.

See the original post here:
Petition Calls For Firing Of Denton ISD Admin Who Published Children's Book With Pepe The Frog - KERA News

President Donald Trump finally condemned white supremacists on Monday, two days after a car-ramming left one woman dead in Charlottesville, Virginia, calling racism evil. His failure to single out members of the Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazisand other members of the white supremacist movement for so long drew criticism from across the political spectrum. By Sunday, he had only decried hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides.

His slow reaction angered his critics even more as they were in the knowledge that a range of authority figures had warned Trump of the threat that white supremacists posed months before James Alex Fields Jr. plowed his car into counter-protesters, killing Heather Heyer. An intelligence bulletin obtained by Foreign Policy, entitled White Supremacist Extremism Poses Persistent Threat of Lethal Violence and dated May 10, shows that the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security briefed Trump as recently as May, at least indirectly, about the threat of the white supremacist movement and the threat of further attacks by members of this ultra-conservative group.

We assess lone actors and small cells within the white supremacist extremist movement likely will continue to pose a threat of lethal violence over the next year, the bulletin reads.

Daily Emails and Alerts - Get the best of Newsweek delivered to your inbox

The FBI explicitly says in the briefing that white supremacists are to blame for the majority of domestic extremism. They were responsible for 49 homicides in 26 attacks from 2000 to 2016more than any other domestic extremist movement, the document states.

Not only have the security services warned Trump about the threat of white supremacists, but so too have his Democratic rivals and predecessors.

Barack Obama, days before Trumps election win over Hillary Clinton, took aim at Trump for refusing to decline the support of former KKK leader David Duke. If you accept the support of a Klan sympathizer, the Klan, and hesitate when asked about that support, then youll tolerate that support when youre in office, he said at a North Carolina rally.

Trump, when questioned about Dukes support on CNN in February, said: Just so you understand, I dont know anything about David Duke, OK?

White nationalists carry torches on the grounds of the University of Virginia on the eve of a planned Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, on August 11. Alejandro Alvarez/News2Share via Reuters

Clinton herself targeted Trump for allowing far-right sympathies to creep into his campaign, as well as his hiring of Breitbart CEO Steve Bannon, who used the news website as a platform for the alt-right, the Clinton campaign said on its website. It also posted images shared by Trump and his son Donald Trump Jr. on Twitter that included Pepe the Frog, a cartoon or meme that has become a symbol associated with white supremacy, the campaign said.

In an August 2016 speech in Nevada, Clinton chastised Trump for"taking hate groups mainstream," and permittinga "radical fringe"to become prominent withintheRepublican Party. "There's no other Donald Trump. This is it," she said.

Rights groups such as the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) have warned that far-right bigots have been emboldened by the Trump presidency and criticized both Trump and the White House for failing to even mention the Charlottesville showdown when it was known that the Unite The Right march would be taking place, and met by counter-protests.

From the day he came down the escalator in the tower that bears his name, Trump consciously poured fuel on the fire, the Southern Poverty Law Centersaid in a release after the Charlottesville clashes.

Researchers from the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University said in February that hate crimes across nine metropolitan areas of the U.S. rose more than 20 percent in 2016 because of the presidential campaign and Trumps victory.

While such hate crimes have continued to rise, Trump came under fire again in February for failing to quickly condemn anti-Semitic bomb threats and the desecration of Jewish cemeteries. He came out against the hate-fueled incidents but again was criticized for the time it took. The SPLC has pointed to his rhetoric about Mexicans (rapists), Muslims (total and complete shutdown of them entering the country), and a Black Lives Matter activist beaten up at one of his rallies in Birmingham, Alabama (maybe he should have been roughed up).

Read this article:
Charlottesville: FBI, DHS, Obama and Clinton All Warned of White Supremacist Threat, but Is Trump Listening? - Newsweek

The now-defunct Facebook page of James Alex Fields Jr., the white nationalist who has been accused of second-degree murder afterreportedly ramminghis car into demonstrators in Charlottesville, Virginia, was populated by Trump memes, Pepe the Frog and even a cat.

More incongruous, at first glance, was the inclusion of Bashar al-Assad,the leader of the Syrian regime in Damascus, with the caption "undefeated." ButFields' Facebookpost belies a growing admiration amongAmericas far right for the Syrian president.

Read More:U.S. Horrified by Brutal Assassination of White Helmets, Shot Dead in Their Sleep

Daily Emails and Alerts - Get the best of Newsweek delivered to your inbox

Assad, who has clung to power over the course of Syrias six-year war, was pictured wearing aviator sunglasses and wearing full military uniform in the meme, published by Buzzfeed but now removed from Fields' Facebook page. While the affinity for the Muslim leader may seem unlikely, it has grown in recent months, with the "alt-right" creating images and postscriticizing President Donald Trump over his cruise missile strikes against Assads military in April,The Washington Post reported.

The white nationalist leader Richard Spencer gave his tacit backing to Assad when, in opposition to Trumps airstrikes against Assad, he led a protest against anti-fascist demonstratorsoutside the White House. The extreme rights anger as Donald Trump dropped the isolationist positions espoused by his chief strategist Steve Bannon, the former head of Breitbart.com, over the Syrian regimes use of sarin gas, led to the rise of conspiracy theories implicating the U.S. in the use of chemical weapons to provoke conflict with Damascus, Vanity Fair reported.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad gives an exclusive interview to AFP in Damascus, the capital, on February 11, 2016. AFP / JOSEPH EID

The Syrian gas attack was done by deep state agents, alt-right blogger Mike Cernovich tweeted. Infowars, a right-wing conspiracy theory website, went as far as to blame billionaire George Soros.

Aside from the alt-rights general stance against foreign intervention, Assad is particularly liked and was branded a close ally and an amazing leader by former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke in March this year on Twitter. Posting another image of the Syrian leader, again wearing dark glasses and military fatigues, Duke hailed Assad as a bulwark against the Islamic State militant group (ISIS).

The extreme rights fondness for Assad extends beyond his image as an ally against ISIS. He is also praised for his antipathy towardIsrael, and, by extension, the Jewish faith. The Syrian leader has regularly accused Israel of aiding terrorists fighting his army. The same terrorists fighting on Syrian soil serve Israel, even if they are not members of Israel's standing army, Assad said in an April interview with a Croatian newspaper,Haaretz reported.

Assad and his lieutenants have been accused of human rights violations and war crimes by several human rights organizations and NGOs. Leading U.N. war crimes investigator Carla Del Ponte, who last week steppeddown from her rolein frustration over the international communitys inability to try alleged war criminals, has said there is enough evidence to convict the Syrian leader.

However, Assads insouciance in the face of widespread atrocities carried out in Syria seems to be part of his appeal to the extreme right. In a video posted on Twitter, three Charlottesville protesters appear to support and even make light of the Syrian Air Force's use of barrel bombs. The crudely made explosives, which are tipped out of aircraft with little to no targeting, have caused catastrophic civilian casualties.

One protester wears a T-shirt bearing the moniker Bashars Barrel Delivery Co. Assad did nothing wrong, says Tim Gionet, a far-right social media activist. Barrel bombs, hell yeah.

See the original post here:
Why Do James Alex Field Jr. and US Neo-Nazis Love Syria's Bashar al-Assad? - Newsweek

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Saturday, August 12, 2017, 4:30 AM

An assistant principal in Texas who self-published a conservative childrens book featuring Pepe the frog insists he had no idea the cartoon character had become a symbol of white supremacy.

Eric Hauser, who has worked in the Denton Independent School District for more than 10 years, wrote The Adventures of Pepe and Pede, a book he says has been picked up by a publisher just two weeks after its debut, the Dallas News reported.

The book tells the story of a frog and a centipede who fight to restore law and order and take on a bearded alligator named Alkah, according to the Dallas Observer.

The books description on Amazon.com also reads, This is an adventurous tale for all ages packed with patriotic prominence!

White nationalists march through UVA with torches

Pepe the frog was originally created by cartoonist Matt Furie more than a decade ago before it was hijacked by trolls and branded as a symbol of the alt-right, a movement that mixes racism, white nationalism and populism.

The Anti-Defamation League also called Pepe the Frog a hate symbol in September 2016, although the organization noted the meme was not necessarily bigoted in nature.

Hauser, who claims he was unaware of the connection before the book was published, told the Observer: I disagree with the [alt-right or white supremacist] label. I think that label was put on Pepe in an attempt to silence conservatives.

The political symbolism doesnt stop at Pepe -- centipedes are also what some Trump supporters call themselves.

White nationalist pleads guilty after shoving Trump protester

The term originates from a series of YouTube videos that compiled footage of Trump during a debate with nature documentary voice-overs describing a centipede killing a tarantula.

Hauser told the Observer: This book has a lot of conservative overtones, but I will tell you this: I wrote the book as attempt to break down the barriers of political correctness and embrace truth, honesty and teamwork.

While some residents in Denton were put off by the book, plenty of Amazon customers left positive reviews.

Debra Nobles rated the book five stars and wrote, A very sophisticated commentary about our political world today presented in a charming story for children.

Journalist who exposed troll behind Trump-CNN meme gets threats

Mario Zavala, the spokesperson for the school district where Hauser will serve as an assistant principal at the newly built Rodriguez Middle School, defended him.

Zavala issued a statement on Friday that read: We are aware of Mr. Hauser's publication. The book was written on his own time, using his own resources and is not affiliated with our curriculum or instruction. Mr. Hauser's book and its contents belong to him and are not tied to our district.

Read the original here:
Assistant principal pens conservative children's book featuring Pepe the frog - New York Daily News

BEIRUT Among the postings on what might have been the Facebook page of James Alex Fields Jr., the driver of the car that killed a counterprotester at the right-wing demonstrations in Charlottesville, Va. on Saturday, were images of far-right favorite Pepe the Frog, swastikas and a baby portrait of Adolf Hitler, according to BuzzFeed.

Perhaps more surprisingly, there was also reportedly a picture of Syrias President Bashar al-Assad, in full military uniform, inscribed underneath with the word undefeated.

Screenshots of the now-inaccessible profile were widely circulated on social media on Saturday and Sunday, although the account's authenticity could not be confirmed. But the apparent fascination with Assad would fit a more general link between the far right and the Syrian regime that has grown increasingly pronounced in recent months and played a role throughout this weekends white nationalist rallyin Virginia.

Assads politics and those of his father before him have historically been associated more with the left than the right. His late father, President Hafez al-Assad, was the closest Middle East ally of the Soviet Union throughout the Cold War. The son has enjoyed the stalwart support of international leftists throughout his attempt to crush the six-year-old rebellion against his rule.

In recent months, however, Assad has become an icon also for the far right, whose leaders and spokesman have heaped praise on the ferocity with which he has prosecuted the war, his role in fighting the Islamic State and his perceived stance against Muslims and Jews.

That Assads harsh methods have resulted in tens of thousands of civilian casualties seems only to have enhanced his stature. In a video posted on Twitter, three men who participated in the Charlottesville protests hailed Assads use of barrel bombs to subdue communities that turned against him. One is wearing a T-shirt that says: Bashars Barrel Delivery Co.

Barrel bombs are crude, cheaply made explosive devices that are tipped out of aircraft without any form of targeting, and their use has killed thousands of civilians in Syria. In the streamed live video, the men defend Assad.

Assad did nothing wrong, said alt-right social-media activist Tim Gionet, who is also known as Baked Alaska on Twitter and YouTube.

Barrel bombs, hell yeah, he can be heard saying in the same video.

Assads emergence as a popular hero for the right appears to have followed a series of tweets in March by the former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke, in which he lavished praise on the Syrian president, describing him as an amazing leader and more.

Other right-wing leaders have long expressed their support for the Syrian president and clearly hoped that President Trump, who made flattering comments about Assad on the campaign trail, would strike up an alliance with him. Such hopes were also based on the backing Assad had received from some far-right politicians in Europe. Frances Marine Le Pen, for example, has said that keeping Assad in power is the most reassuring solution.

After Trump ordered the U.S. militaryto bomb a Syrian airfield in response to a chemical attack in northern Syria, numerous right-wing commentators expressed their dismay on Twitter. Shortly after the attack, right-wing protesters opposed to the military intervention, led by white nationalistRichard B. Spencer, faced off against a group of antifascist protesters outside the White House.

Although Trump has continued to refuse to directly back Assad, even calling him truly an evil person in an April TVinterview, the far rights apparent fascination with seeing the Syrian president hold on to power has persisted.

The far right's love affair with Assad also might not be entirely unexpected. His Ba'ath Party is fiercely nationalist and ethnocentric, focused on the promotion of Arab identity. One of the few political parties permitted by his regime and one of his staunchest supporters in the war is the Syrian Social Nationalist Party, which drew the inspiration for its logo from the swastika.

Noack reported from London.

See original here:
Syria's Assad has become an icon of the far right in America - Washington Post