A New York-based magazine has sparked outrage after publishing a story about its fashion editor wearing a niqab for a day.

Vice magazine published a story on its website yesterday that details difficulties experienced by Annette Lamothe-Ramos, its fashion editor, while wearing a five-piece niqab, a cloth normally worn by some Muslim women when they are out in public.

The editor, who incorrectly labelled the cloth a burqa in the story, told of how she "scared tourists", felt like Batman and began to sweat in places she had never sweated before, all of which offended readers of the consistently irreverent magazine.

Ms Lamothe-Ramos, who also works as a DJ in New York, wrote about how she would never "do anything like this again because it suckkkkked".

Daily Mail, 8 August 2012

See "I walked around in a burqa all day (And I'm not Muslim)", Vice, 8 August 2012

And "A response to the detractors of our burqa-for-a-day article", Vice, 9 August 2012

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A prominent Phoenix tea party leader who believes Muslims cannot be trusted to be loyal to the United States and should not be working for the federal government is incensed with U.S. Sen. John McCain's defense of a top State Department official and is eying a recall drive against Arizona's senior senator.

Wes Harris, the founder and chairman of the Original North Phoenix Tea Party, said he plans to take out a recall petition against McCain. While Harris has many problems with McCain, a mass email he sent out focused solely on the senator's recent defense of Huma Abedin, a top aide to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Harris accused Abedin of having ties to an Islamic extremist group, and he objected to the fact that a Muslim was working for the State Department in the first place.

Harris said he believes Muslims' loyalty to the U.S. is questionable because their ultimate loyalty is to the Quran and Islam, which he described as "more a fascist type of organization."

"Have you ever read the Quran? I suggest you do so, because anyone that is a Muslim is a threat to this country, and that's a fact," Harris told the Arizona Capitol Times. "There is no such thing as a moderate Muslim. If they are Muslim they have to follow the Quran. That's their religion and that's their doctrine."

Harris said he plans to circulate recall petitions against McCain. In his email, he said, "We must find a way to get rid of this embarrassment."

The email Harris sent includes a forwarded item from the blog Bare Naked Islam that castigates McCain for defending "Islamic enemies of America" and attacking U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, a Minnesota Republican and tea party favorite. The blog piece ends by saying, "Go to hell, Senator, it's time for you to take your final dirt nap."

Harris said he believes Abedin has ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. But ultimately, he said it doesn't matter whether she's linked to the group or not because he doesn't believe Muslims should work for the federal government.

"Is she a Muslim? Is she an active Muslim?" Harris said. "I rest my case. That's all she needs to be."

Arizona Capitol Times, 23 July 2012

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A high-flying businessman was hauled before the court for a tirade of religious abuse at a Muslim immigration official waiting to check his passport.

Anthony Holt, 65, had become wound up after reading an article in the Daily Mail about the "victimisation of Christianity" on a flight into Manchester. When he landed, the retired consultant refused to go through a desk where Sayima Mohammed was on duty.

He astonished witnesses by pointing at her and saying: "I don't want to be seen by that. I don't want to be seen by any Muslim in a position of authority. I want to be seen by someone who's English. This is England. This is my country. I'm not into all this Islam."

As Ms Mohammed burst into tears, her colleagues refused to check Mr Holt's documents and ordered him to calm down. When police arrived, Holt turned his attention to a cop, saying: "That's Islam. I'm not going to that. This is my country." The 15-minute row only ended when he was arrested.

During a police interview Holt claimed the abuse was not "personal". He said: "The problem I have is with Islam as a whole. It's threat to the British population and the British way of life. I wanted to take a stand."

Holt, of Railway Road, Urmston, pleaded guilty to using religiously aggravated threatening words or behaviour. He was ordered to pay £100 compensation and a £145 fine.

Trafford magistrates heard he had worked as a consultant advising lawyers about the purchase of railway stock until his retirement earlier this month.

The court heard the outburst took place in front of a queue of witnesses, including children. In a statement to police, Ms Mohammed said: "I felt threatened, shocked and humiliated to be treated in that manner for no apparent reason."

Praveen Sethi, defending, said Holt had been flying into Manchester at the end of "a stressful week". He had been reading an article in the Mail in which the former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey spoke of the "victimisation of Christians and Christianity".

Mr Sethi said: "He took his frustrations out on the first person he saw. Mr Holt is a man of previous good character. He's not a racist nor against any religion what-so-ever, which makes it even more surprising he carried out this act."

The court heard Holt suffered from a neurological disorder which meant he could "explode" at any time.

Holt told magistrates his comments were not directed to Ms Mohammed, but at the fact she was wearing a scarf. He said: "I have pleaded guilty because I am. It's totally out of character for me. I deeply regret it and deeply regret any offence or distress I caused the lady. Nothing I said was directed to her personally."

Geoff Homer, chairman of the bench, told Holt: "You have said to this court this is a one off incident and we accept that."

Manchester Evening News, 2 June 2012

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