The Raw Story

A non-profit news blog, focused on providing independent journalism.

Sunday, 2 November 2014

Pirates in the sand: The Islamic State's paramilitary, America's 21st century terror privateers?

© Unknown What is ISIS? If you believe government and corporate media propaganda, then you probably still think that ISIS is a grassroots Islamic ideological movement - with no connection to foreign agencies like the CIA, Britain's MI6, Turkish (NATO) intelligence, Saudi intelligence, Israeli intelligence, or Pakistan's ISI.You would be partly correct, in that there is a grassroots element to ISIS, one which coalesces around vulnerable poor, economically...

Majority of Scots would now vote 'yes' to independence - poll

© Reuters / Russell Cheyne Just six weeks after the referendum in which Scots rejected independence by 55 to 45 percent, a new YouGov poll for the has found that 52 percent now back a split from the union, as Labour sees its support in Scotland gradually diminish.The YouGov poll put support for the union at 48 percent. The figures will give more momentum to the pro-independence Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP), which wants to see another referendum...

The BBC: Washington's ministry of propaganda, UK branch

"Not since Iraq have I seen BBC News working at propaganda strength like this. So glad I'm out of there" These are the words of the former economics editor of the BBC's Newsnight show, Paul Mason, relating to the BBC's coverage of the Scottish independence referendum. The London broadcaster's biased reporting on Scottish independence is not an isolated incident however, as the BBC has been blatantly warping, misrepresenting and omitting pertinent...

Disproportionate punishment! Israeli ministers pass bill jailing stone throwers for 20 years

© Reuters / Abed Omar QusiniA Palestinian protester uses a sling to throw stones towards Israeli border policemen during clashes following a protest against the near-by Jewish settlement of Qadomem, in the West Bank village of Kofr Qadom near Nablus Government ministers in Israel have voted to increase penalties ten-fold on people convicted of throwing stones at vehicles from two to 20 years, in a move designed to deal with a wave of violence that...

Scientist warns Amazon rainforest losing ability to regulate climate

© http://ift.tt/12tNiKZIt was called the Amazon Rain Forest. The Amazon rain forest has degraded to the point where it is losing its ability to benignly regulate weather systems, according to a stark new warning from one of Brazil's leading scientists.The Amazon works as a giant pump, channeling moisture inland via aerial rivers and rainclouds that form over the forest more dramatically than over the sea, the author says. It also provides a buffer...

Hacking democracy: North Carolina voters report voting machines switching their votes to GOP candidate

© ShutterstockVoter in front of voting machine at polling station A voter in Guilfrord County, attempting to take advantage of early voting in North Carolina, told the News-Record that the voting machine he used repeatedly switched his vote for a Democrat to a vote for her Republican opponent.Percy Bostick, 69, of Greensboro said he tried casting a vote for Democrat Kay Hagan - who is locked in a tight battle with her GOP opponent - however the...

The Caliph fit to join OPEC

Islamic State leader Caliph Ibrahim - aka Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi - never ceases to amaze us - and most of all his powerful petrodollar-stuffed backers. The Caliph is for all practical purposes now an oil major worth of membership of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). His /mercenary goons - in theory - have for some time been extracting, refining, shipping and/or smuggling and clinching juicy deals involving vast quantities...

Woman sues LAPD for kidnapping and sexually assaulting her

© Counter Current News When Kim Nguyen called a cab after a few drinks, she thought she was on the right side of the law. But in spite of her best efforts, the 27-year-old pharmacist explains she was thrown from a police cruiser after Los Angeles police officers kidnapped and sexually assaulted her while she was waiting for that cab.Part of the assault on Nguyen was captured on camera, as the young woman was filmed tumbling from a moving LAPD cruiser...

IPCC focus on stopping global warming and extreme weather is 'unscientific and immoral'

"IPCC Chairman Dr. Rajendra Pachauri was right to advocate "a global agreement to finally reverse course on climate change" when he spoke to delegates tasked with approving the IPCC Synthesis Report, released on Sunday," said Tom Harris, executive director of the Ottawa, Canada-based International Climate Science Coalition (ICSC). "The new direction governments should follow must be one in which the known needs of people suffering today are given...

Hysterical America: Alabama school system paid former FBI agent $157,000 to spy on black students

© ShutterstockMiddle aged man peeping through window blinds Huntsville City Schools (HCS) paid a former Federal Bureau of Investigations agent $157,000 to direct security last year, but critics contend that the system he implemented is designed to monitor the social media activity of black students, according to AL.com.Chris McRae, the agent in question, was brought in to oversee the Students Against Fear (SAFe) program, which works by allowing...

George Orwell is rolling over - Metropolitan Police uses secret surveillance technology to follow suspects (and innocent folks)...

© RIA Novosti / Alexey Nikolsky Metropolitan Police uses secret surveillance technology to follow suspects and gather data from their mobile phones, reports. The gathering is done to all active mobiles within a certain range - including those belonging to innocent people.The technology, called an IMSI catcher, also allows for phone calls to be intercepted and listened to. Text messages and emails can also be collected and read. Additionally, it...

Canada: New Brunswick snowstorm leaves 7,600 without power

© Viktor Pivovarov / Canadian PressA snow plow operator clears a street in Moncton, New Brunswick New Brunswick was blasted with the region's first snowstorm of the year on Sunday, causing power outages and prompting officials to urge people to stay off roads.Environment Canada said a low pressure system was intensifying as it tracked across the Maritimes Sunday. The national weather forecaster had issued snowfall warning for central and northwestern...

Already an early U.S. winter? A foot of snow in Maine, record unprecedented early-season snow in South Carolina

Up to a foot of snow has fallen in Maine from a storm system that earlier brought an unprecedented early-season snow to parts of South Carolina on the first day of November.Bangor, Maine, reported 12 inches of snow as of 2:50 p.m. EST Sunday. Scroll down for more on the snow forecast for New England.Snow was observed Saturday as far south and east as Charleston, South Carolina, the earliest flakes on record in the city. This occurred less than...

High strangeness is in the air: German minister's plane disappears from radar 'for hours', causes stir

© AFP Photo / Aris MessinisGerman Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steimeier Frank-Walter Steinmeier's plane, the German foreign affairs minister, reportedly disappeared for several hours from radar screens on Saturday as he was travelling in Asia, sending diplomats and government officials scrambling in alarm.The minister was on his way from Seoul, South Korea, to Jakarta, Indonesia, when the incident happened, die Bild-Zeitung reported.The airbus...

Fast food marketing strategies continue to target children

© eleanortate.com A newly published research study examining only marketing directed at children on the interior and exterior of fast food restaurants has found that black, as well as middle-income communities and rural areas, are disproportionately exposed to such marketing tactics.Authored by Arizona State University researcher Punam Ohri-Vachaspati and her colleagues, the study is the first to examine the use of child-directed marketing on the...

The Nobel Peace prize deception

© The Sea Gypsy Philosopher Every October I foolishly get my hopes up as the announcement of the Nobel Peace Prize approaches. My dream is that the committee will finally proclaim that the greatest obstacle to world peace is American Imperialism.And then they will elaborate on this by insisting that only when the U.S. Empire has vanished, can global harmony and justice prevail. Therefore, they award the prize to some courageous writer or film-maker...

The seasonal flu lie: PR stunt to sell more vaccinations

It is said that the seasonal flu kills between 250,000 to 500,000 people worldwide, a number that to some reading might sound incredibly high.[1] Perhaps this is why the flu vaccine is so heavily offered? The key question that is creating a great amount of controversy is whether or not the numbers we read about the amount of flu deaths are actually accurate?When winter time rolls around we start hearing the term "flu season." As a result, we are...

Paedophile Ring whistleblower Melanie Shaw sentenced without evidence

A jury delivered a shock guilty verdict on paedophile ring whistleblower, Melanie Shaw, yesterday, accused of starting a shed fire and throwing paint on a neighbour's home in Nottingham, England.Observers watched with incredulity as Judge Michael Pert QC announced the news, resulting in a conviction of arson - reckless as to whether life was endangered, on February 1, and damaging property on June 26. Sentencing will take place in six weeks following...
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