The Raw Story

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

Monday, 26 January 2015

Handcuffs, leg shackles and tasers: The new face of punishment in the public schools

"In many parts of the country, teachers are viewed as beyond reproach, much like doctors, police officers, or clergy ... and, therefore, are rarely challenged about their classroom conduct. In some cases, this means that actions that would be considered criminal if committed by a parent remain unchallenged by law enforcement if they occur in a school setting." - Senator Tom Harkin, "Dangerous Use of Seclusion and Restraints in Schools Remains Widespread...

Asteroid flying past Earth today has mini-moon!

© NASA/JPL-CaltechThis animation, created from 20 individual radar images, clearly show the rough outline of 2004 BL86 and its newly-discovered moon. Click for larger animation. Wonderful news! Asteroid 2004 BL86, which passed closest to Earth today at a distance of 750,000 miles (1.2 million km), has a companion moon. Scientists working with NASA's 230-foot-wide (70-meter) Deep Space Network antenna at Goldstone, California, have released the...

I wish I'd never reported my rape

© mevans via iStockI sit in the windowless interrogation room, fingers brushing against the cool metal of handcuffs attached to the chair, and try to comprehend what the detective sitting across from me is asking."Were you a virgin?" he says, his lips curling slightly as he repeats the question. "Explain to me, how could you have been bleeding if you weren't on your period? Have you had sex before?" I feel my face flush with embarrassment as I think...

Argentina to dissolve intelligence body after prosecutor death

President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner has announced plans to disband Argentina's intelligence agency.In a TV address, she said she would draft a bill to set up a new body.Ms Fernandez said the intelligence services had kept much of the same structure they had during the military government, which ended in 1983.The move comes after the mysterious death of prosecutor Alberto Nisman - hours before he had been due to testify against senior government...

Lethal weather forecast for the UK; crippling snowstorms next week

© Net Weather/Getty Images Panicked forecasters raised the alert in the past hour after spotting the freak system on the weather models.Rare in the UK it is identical to the phenomenon which triggered crippling whiteouts and ice storms in the United States.Sparked by the frenzied and volatile behaviour of the jet stream it threatens to bring the fury of the North Pole tearing across the country next week.Forecasters say temperatures will plunge...

It's not the Greeks who failed, it's the predatory beast EU

© Matson Photo ServiceAircraft refueling at Semakh, British Mandate Palestine 1931. In what universe is it a good thing to have over half of the young people in entire countries without work, without prospects, without a future? And then when they stand up and complain, threaten them with worse? How can that possibly be the best we can do? And how much worse would you like to make it? If a flood of suicides and miscarriages, plummeting birth rates...

Let them shiver: Utah proposes wood burning ban

© AP Photo/Douglas C. PizacParticulates from an inversion fill the Salt Lake valley Friday, Jan. 26, 2007, as seen from the mountains southeast of Salt Lake City. In an effort to improve air quality across Utah during the winter season, the Utah Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has proposed a seasonal wood burn ban, much to the chagrin of many locals.The ban would eliminate solid fuel burning in fireplaces and wood/coal stoves from Nov....

The healing power of sound

The Healing Power of Sound", actively uses sound in his integrative oncology practice. This interview was reprinted with permission from Mr. Bill Thompson. It should be noted here that singing bowls are horizontal gongs. More information about sound healing can be found © unknown NT: How did you discover Tibetan "singing" bowls and their usefulness in healing?Gaynor: Well, I took care of a Tibetan monk in 1991. I'm a cancer specialist and also a...

Paleo cardiologist: 'Never inject chemicals into ourselves and into our children in order to boost our immune systems'

© Image illustrators Since the "Disneyland Outbreak" of measles in California, there's been a mass hysteria and calls for quarantine and forced injection scarcely seen since...that brief break we got from Ebola.So when a medical doctor boldly stands up and flies against the face of the narrative, the mainstream press cannot help but capture his "shocking statement." What they won't heavily highlight about Dr. Jack Wolfson is that he is a respected...

Thomas Jefferson’s views on crime and punishment

The whipping post was a common punishment for lawbreakers.In 1778, Thomas Jefferson began working with a committee to reform the criminal code in the Commonwealth of Virginia. What the committee proposed may come as a surprise to modern observers. Below are some of the notable excerpts of the proposal, known as the “Bill Proportioning Crimes and Punishments”, or Bill 64.* * * * *EYE FOR AN EYEAdopting a lex talionis approach to justice — better known...

U.S. broadcasting chief compares RT to ISIS and Boko Haram

Following comments from the US overseas broadcasting chief listing RT as a challenge alongside the Islamic State and Boko Haram, critics said the outlet was singled out for "daring to advocate a point of view," as well as for "competing for viewership."On Wednesday, the new chief of the US Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), Andrew Lack, told the that RT posed a significant challenge - putting the broadcaster in a list alongside the Islamic...

Freedom, where are you? Not in America or Europe today

When the former Goldman Sachs executive who runs the European Central Bank (ECB) announced that he was going to print 720 billion euros annually with which to purchase bad debts from the politically connected big banks, the euro sank and the stock market and Swiss franc shot up. As in the US, quantitative easing (QE) serves to enrich the already rich. It has no other purpose.The well-heeled financial institutions that bought up the troubled sovereign...

Biotech firm using climate change hysteria to persuade Florida residents to accept GMO mosquitoes

© Reuters / Ricardo Rojas Pointing to climate change and the rise of tropical diseases, British researchers hope to sell their idea of releasing millions of genetically modified mosquitoes in the Florida Keys. Almost 140,000 people have signed a petition against the plan.For many years, the neighborhoods of the Florida Keys have been sprayed with insecticides to ward off a host of bugs, including perhaps the mother of all pests, the mosquito. Over...
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