The Raw Story

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Monday, 12 January 2015

Charlie Hebdo attack has nothing to do with freedom of expression  -  It was about war

Most white people don't like to admit it, but those cartoons upheld their prejudice, their racism, their political supremacy, and cut it how you will - images like that upheld a political order built on discrimination.In less than an hour of the dreadful shooting of 12 people at the French magazine Charlie Hebdo, the politicians had already started to lie to their own public.John Kerry, US Secretary of State, declared that, "freedom of expression...

'Mossad is behind Paris attacks' says Ankara Mayor Gökçek

© DHAAnkara Mayor Melih Gökçek saying it like it is. According to a report from Anadolu circulating in the Turkish media, Gökçek attended the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) Gölbaşı youth branch fourth ordinary district congress on Sunday and mentioned the terrorist attacks in France. He said Israel was annoyed with the lower house of French parliament for voting for the recognition of a Palestinian state and with France's vote in favor...

Citizens of Stockton, CA enage in a new crowd-funded, direct action against police brutality

STOCKTON - Citizens in Stockton, California have taken a new approach to activism.Rather than sticking to the traditional form of protest in which signs are held and slogans are chanted, these citizens have taken direct action and offered a grassroots, crowd-funded incentive structure to end police brutality in their community.They have offered a $2,500 reward to anybody who submits information leading to the arrest or termination of cops who brutalize or kill people. They were able to let people know about the offer by printing all the details...

FLASHBACK: Flu shot? Forget about it.

© unknownHand washing is important. Tis' the "season" for the flu shot. It comes around every year - September turns into October and germs get the memo that your body is up for business, or maybe it's the government, CDC, and pharmaceutical companies that think your wallet is up for business and the organ you use for common sense and reasoning is on hiatus. I'm really not sure.The only notice I get of "flu shot season" is a stack of masks my husband...

Washington D.C.: L'Enfant plaza metro station fire leaves one woman dead and dozens hospitalized

© unknownL'Enfant Plaza Metro One woman is dead and dozens of other people were hospitalized, two in critical condition, after the upper level of the L'Enfant Plaza Metro station in southeast D.C. filled with smoke Monday afternoon.One Virginia-bound Yellow Line train was in the tunnel just south of the station when the smoke was reported about 3:20 p.m., according to Metro."There was a woman who was in distress on that train, and I'm sorry to say...

Remember when Paris Muslims helped Jews escape the Nazis?

© Alice Heartherb Here's one they left out of the history textbooks. A recent French film, Free Men, brought to light the remarkable true history of how Muslims gave sanctuary to French Jews in Nazi-occupied Paris during Second World War. An untold "Oscar Schindler" story, the film is inspired by actual events and in this case, our 'Schindler' is Si Kaddour Benghabrit, the rector of the Grand Mosque of Paris until 1954.Underneath the fortress of...

Paris: March of the hypocrites

Nice turnout! Leaders can't be mixing with the plebs, after all. It was only natural that "world leaders" would place themselves at the head of the Paris "unity" demonstration held to express outrage at the vicious murders. Daniel Wickham, a student at the London School of Economics, compiled a list of the enemies of free speech who elbowed their way to the head of the march. Most hypocritical of all are the French themselves, who have laws against...

Kadyrov blasts Europe for double standards on terrorism, points finger at West

© RIA Novosti/Said TsarnaevHead of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov The unprecedented public response to the Charlie Hebdo shootings in France could be organized by those who want to stir anti-Islamic sentiment and distract people from other problems, claims the leader of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov.The head of the Chechen Republic explained his position through his longtime medium of choice - the Instagram photo sharing service. In an extensive...

More of the nanny police state- town governments across the US ban sledding

[embedded content]Local politicians in cities and towns across America have implemented laws that will ban children from sledding.Town officials in Dubuque, Iowa for example, have banned sledding in 48 of its 50 parks because they fear that children will get hurt and that their parents could sue the city. "We have all kinds of parks that have hills on them. We can't manage the risk at all of those places," Marie Ware, Dubuque's leisure services manager told reporters."Everybody likes sledding, OK? Everyone wants to promote outdoor activities, and...

Mystery mile-wide ring in Antarctica may be crater from house-sized meteorite

© Tobias Binder / Alfred Wegener InstituteThe 2km (1.24 miles) wide ring above is thought to have been caused by a meteorite that smashed into the ice. An enormous impact crater thought to have been created by a meteorite the size of a house smashing into Earth has been discovered in the Antarctic ice sheet.Scientists conducting a routine aerial research flight above East Antarctica noticed a strange ring-like structure in the normally flat and...

BBC reporter faces calls to resign after he tells daughter of Holocaust survivors after Paris attacks: 'Palestinians suffer hugely at Jewish hands as well'

© BBCBBC reporter Tim Willcox (pictured) has faced calls to resign after he told the daughter of Holocaust survivors: 'Palestinians suffer hugely at Jewish hands as well' during a live broadcast from Paris yesterday A BBC reporter has faced calls to resign after he told the daughter of Holocaust survivors in Paris: 'Palestinians suffer hugely at Jewish hands as well'.Journalist Tim Willcox sparked anger during his coverage of yesterday's rally in...

China commits $20 billion to Venezuela at first China-Latin America forum in Beijing

© REUTERS/Andy Wong/PoolVenezuela's President Nicolas Maduro (front L) walks with China's President Xi Jinping as they arrive for a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, January 7, 2015. President Maduro announced that China has agreed to invest 20 billion dollars in Venezuela following the China-Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) meeting in Beijing. Venezuelan officials hope that increased Chinese investment...

Greek farmers lose $46.7 million due to Russian food ban

Greek farmers have lost $46.7 million in fruit and vegetable exports due to the food ban introduced by Russia in August 2014, a report published by Athens News Agency said."We have lost significant volumes of exports to Russia - 34,167 tonnes [37,662 tons] or 39.45 million euro [$46.7 million]," the Incofruit-Hellas association of Greek enterprises exporting fruit, vegetables and juices said in a report published Sunday.Exports of Greek fruit and...

Enormous underwater lemur graveyard discovered dating back 1,000 years in Madagasgar

© NSFThe lemur graveyard was found in a remote region of Madagascar. What could be the largest single collection of lemur remains has been discovered in submerged caves in Madagascar.A team of experts working with the National Science Foundation discovered the bone yard in a remote desert region of the island.The complete lemur skeletons - all of extinct species - had remained intact for hundreds if not thousands of years, making it a unique site...

ISIS signals strategy change: Claims attack on Saudi Arabia border

© Islamic State Official Media House For AnbarISIS circulated photos claiming responsibility for Monday's attack on the Saudi Arabian border with Iraq. For the first time since the Islamic State group formally announced its desire to conquer Saudi Arabia last month, government officials said terrorist elements had launched an attack on the Saudi border with Iraq. Four militants, one wearing a suicide vest, attacked a border fortification Monday,...

Saudi cleric condemns snowmen as anti-Islamic

A prominent Saudi Arabian cleric has whipped up controversy by issuing a religious ruling forbidding the building of snowmen, described them as anti-Islamic.Asked on a religious website if it was permissible for fathers to build snowmen for their children after a snowstorm in the country's north, Sheikh Mohammed Saleh al-Munajjid replied: "It is not permitted to make a statue out of snow, even by way of play and fun."Quoting from Muslim scholars,...

American manufacturing renaissance a complete myth

The idea that the United States is going through a "manufacturing renaissance," although optimistically touted in the media and by experts, does not reflect reality, write the authors of a new report from a reputable Washington, D.C. think-tank, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF).The authors of the report claim that the highly publicized media narrative of a rebirth in America's manufacturing sector is based on misleading...
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