The Raw Story

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

Friday, 21 November 2014

Obama signs secret order that expands US combat operation in Afghanistan

© AFP Photo / Ethan MillerIt's alright, I have everything under control. President Barack Obama has secretly signed an order that expands the United States' direct combat role in Afghanistan throughout 2015, the reported.Signed over the last few weeks, the secret order permits American forces to continue to battle the Taliban and other militants that pose a threat to either the Afghan government or US personnel.According to the , US jets, bombers,...

The green children of Woolpit: the 12th century legend of visitors from another world

© WikipediaThe ruins of the Abbey of Bury St. Edmunds The Children of Woolpit is an ancient account dating back to the 12th century, which tells of two children that appeared on the edge of a field in the village of Woolpit in England. The young girl and boy had green-hued skin and spoke an unknown language. The children became sick and the boy died, but the girl recovered and over the years came to learn English. She later relayed the story of...

Europe backpedaling on U.S. aggressive agenda towards Russia?

It's long overdue but better late than never that Europe might just be back-pedalling on America's aggressive agenda towards Russia. The business-like visit to Moscow this week by Germany's Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier suggests that Europe can come to its senses to seek a diplomatic resolution of the escalating tensions over the Ukraine crisis - tensions that could spark a wider continental war, or worse.Steinmeier met with his Russian...

Teacher charged after video surfaces of him forcefully dragging student into pool

A California physical education teacher has been charged with corporal injury to a child after video surfaced of him attempting to throw a 14-year-old girl into the pool during his class, News10 reports.On the video - taken by another student - Edison High School P.E. teacher Denny Peterson can be seen dragging the girl toward the pool while she yells, "My top is falling down."The lawyer representing her, Gilbert Somera, admitted that the girl...

Why on Earth are police going to a class called "Killology" and training to be "warriors"?

© Killology Albuquerque, New Mexico - Just over a week after the City of Albuquerque signed an agreement with the Department of Justice, promising to scale back aggressive police tactics and address police brutality, the Albuquerque Police Department has found themselves in the midst of another scandal.This week, it was revealed by local KRQE News 13 that a retired Albuquerque Police Officer was teaching a class that was seemingly designed to instruct...

Sheeple scanner: The FBI is very excited about this machine that can scan your DNA in 90 minutes

© IntegenXA scanner, quickly: The RapidHIT 200 can generate a DNA profile in about 90 minutes. Robert Schueren shook my hand firmly, handed me his business card, and flipped it over, revealing a short list of letters and numbers. "Here is my DNA profile." He smiled. "I have nothing to hide." I had come to meet Schueren, the CEO of IntegenX, at his company's headquarters in Pleasanton, California, to see its signature product: a machine the size...

No surprise: U.S. used Al-Qaeda in Yemen to blackmail government

© AP Photo/ Hani Mohammed The United States used the presence of al-Qaeda affiliated terrorist cells in Yemen to blackmail the government in Sanaa, Yemeni president's adviser Saleh Samad told RIA Novosti Friday."Political vacuum in the country at the time when the government was being formed prevented authorities from taking drastic measures and declaring war on terror. The United States used al-Qaeda to blackmail the Yemeni government and impose...

Skyrocketing water bills: Utilities and cities using underhanded tactics to gouge customers

"In places like Benton Harbor, Michigan and Detroit, there is something called the emergency manager, which essentially is a local dictator. He can depose the mayor and offer decrees and answer to no one except the governor. In these two cities and others, because they are lacking tax revenue (because of lack of industry) they are jacking up the water rates as much as 40%. ... One of the people who was leading the charge against this stuff was...

Obama fundraises off immigration speech, seeks $1,000 contributions

President Obama is fundraising off his controversial immigration decision Thursday night, dispatching an email that steers readers to a “Donate Today” page that seek contributions up to $1,000.That page reads, “Thanks — now, we need to fight back. President Obama is taking action. The other side wants nothing more than to tear this progress down. Help fight back — make a donation today.”What’s more, in his email from his Organizing for Action,...

Ukraine crisis: Joe Biden warns Russia

How touching, kissing with their noses. US Vice-President Joe Biden has warned Russia faces "rising costs and greater isolation" if it fails to respect the September peace deal in Ukraine.Mr Biden, on a visit to Ukraine where he met President Petro Poroshenko, called on Russia to withdraw its military forces from Ukraine.Ukrainians are marking a year since the start of the uprising which ousted pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych.Amid celebrations,...

Bill that would limit NSA spying on phone calls blocked by Senate

The US Senate blocked action Tuesday on a bill that would have imposed only minor limitations on a National Security Agency program that collects records of the phone calls of every American. The vote was 58 to 42 to take up the measure for consideration, with supporters falling two votes short of the 60 required to force action.The vote was nearly by party lines in the outgoing lame duck Senate, with 52 Democrats, two independents who generally...

'Totally innocent' unarmed man 'accidentally' shot dead by NYPD police

© AFP Photo / Timothy A. Clary A rookie NYPD officer "accidentally" shot and killed an unarmed African-American man in a staircase in a New York apartment block. It happened as Ferguson is tensely waiting for a grand jury decision on a police officer who shot Michael Brown.Akai Gurley, 28, and his girlfriend Melissa Butler were entering a staircase on the seventh floor in Pink House project in Brooklyn late Thursday evening when two policemen came...

Woman inmates at prison in India allege guards forced them into prostitution

© YouTube Mention Parappana Agrahara to someone in India and they're not likely to assume you're talking about the neighborhood in India's fourth largest city, Bangalore. Instead, the name will probably bring to mind one of India's most infamous prisons, which has housed high-profile Indian celebrities and politicians.The prison is an island surrounded by an urban ocean, walled off from the city of Bangalore by monstrous gates and barbed wire fences....

CIA wants to erase thousands of incriminating emails

© J. Scott Applewhite/AP A CIA plan to erase tens of thousands of its internal emails - including those sent by virtually all covert and counterterrorism officers after they leave the agency - is drawing fire from Senate Intelligence Committee members concerned that it would wipe out key records of some of the agency's most controversial operations.The agency proposal, which has been tentatively approved by the National Archives, "could allow for...

Disturbing! The Gulf Stream now stalling in two broken areas

Are we witnessing the Gulf Stream closing down? Is the cold November in the US just a precursor of what is to come?A massive snowstorm has wreaked havoc in the north-eastern US and left seven people dead in upstate New York. After sweeping across the Great Lakes, the storm dumped 5ft (1.5m) of snow in the Buffalo area, with more forecast. The storm caused seven deaths there - one in a car crash, one trapped in a car and five from heart attacks.Freezing...

Sexual abuse against Palestinian child detainees reported

At least 600 Palestinian children were arrested in Jerusalem since last June. Of these children, nearly 40% were reportedly exposed to sexual abuse during arrest or investigation by the Israeli authorities, according to a report by the Palestinian Prisoners Club (PPC). Ma'an archive image. The PCC says that the daily arrest campaigns constitute a collective punishment against Palestinian residents of Jerusalem.Attorney with the PCC, Mufeed al-Haj,...

'Shame on you!' Ukrainian president booed by protesters on Maidan

© RIA Novosti / Michail PolinchakUkrainian President Petro Poroshenko speaks with Kiev residents after the ceremony of laying flowers to the Celestial Hundred Heroes Cross on the anniversary of the beginning of Maidan protests. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko was heckled by protesters as he tried to pay tribute to the victims of the last year's Euromaidan riots in Kiev, which saw around 100 dead and led to a regime change in the country."Shame...

The high cost of sickcare: Big medicine cashes in with needless tests and scans

There are many structural reasons which I have covered in depth for years, but one that most of us can relate to from personal experience is needless, hyper-costly scans and tests.Even those of us who have never had a CT or MRI scan (and I hope I never will) know the drill from friends and family: practically every injury is now scanned by one device or another at enormous expense--not for treatment, as M.D. Ishabaka explains, but as defensive medicine to ward off future lawsuits or in response to patient demands. Ishabaka (M.D.) walks us through...
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