The Raw Story

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

Sunday, 1 February 2015

Insanity! School suspends 9-year-old for pretending he had Hobbit 'ring of power'

Aiden Steward had just watched the third Hobbit movie with his family and he wanted to pretend that he had a ring that could make people disappear, just like Bilbo Baggins. But when he brought the toy ring to school, it ended up getting him suspended.The ring he brought may not have been the true ring of power, but the Kermit, Texas, school where he attended said the pretend Tolkien "one ring" was used in a "threat" against a classmate.When Aiden...

Cop pulls gun on teens having snowball fight

© Still from witness video A disturbing new video was recently uploaded that shows a New York police officer holding a number of teenage kids at gunpoint for nothing other that throwing snowballs at each other.New Rochelle's uploaded the video that shows the teens scared out of their minds, as an officer points his weapon at the kids who can bee seen kneeling on the ground.The cowardly officer can be heard telling them "Don't f*cking move, guys!"The...

Auschwitz revisited

In the week we have been commemorating the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz I have been trying to understand why I am so weary and wary of the Holocaust. Despite the undoubted emotional pull of the survivors' testimonies, is there any lasting meaning be found in the ashes at Auschwitz? Should it even be looked for?I didn't always feel this way.We recently moved house and a few weeks ago my older son and I were unpacking boxes of...

Syriza and Russian sanctions: Best option for present, big decisions in future

As Eric Kraus has pointed out there is complete confusion in the media today about how to spin the latest EU sanctions decision. Did Syriza fold as per Reuters and . Or did the meeting expose growing splits within the EU as per the and the .The best answer is that nothing definite was decided at the latest EU Council meeting but Syriza did manage to put a marker down. I go back to my piece about Syriza for Russia Insider. Whether one likes the...

What's with the demonization of cigarettes?

© unknown Is there a difference? Perhaps one of my readers can help me differentiate between one poison and the other. Whether you inhale it, drink it or eat it, a poison is a poison. I don't defend smoking, but there is a shameful double standard that exists at the expense of smokers and they know it. Why do government officials allow graphic images of disease on cigarette packages without extending the same courtesy to the labels on cosmetics,...

Glimmer of hope for Assange

© Creative CommonsJulian Assange in one of his rare public appearances in the Ecuadorean embassy in London, where he has been in hiding since June 2012. There is a window of hope, thanks to a U.N. human rights body, for a solution to the diplomatic asylum of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, holed up in the embassy of Ecuador in London for the past two and a half years.Authorities in Sweden, which is seeking the Australian journalist's extradition...

Ukraine top general: No Russian troops fighting against Ukrainian army

that statement: The Chief of Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces, General Viktor Muzhenko, is saying, in that news-report, which is dated on Thursday January 29th, that the only Russian citizens who are fighting in the contested region, are residents in that region, or of Ukraine, and also some Russian citizens (and this does not deny that perhaps some of other countries' citizens are fighting there, inasmuch as American mercenaries have already been...

Thirty thousand take to streets as Irish Water Tax rebellion marches on

© @WSMIreland/ TwitterWater tax protesters in Drogheda cross the River Boyne. The center of Dublin has reportedly shut down as demonstrators, joining a chorus of nation-wide protests on Saturday, came out in droves to fight government efforts to tax citizens' right to water.An estimated 30,000 marched in Dublin while other protests were held in cities and towns across the country including Limerick, Waterford and Donegal. According to the rallies...

Be aware: The forgotten history of vaccinations

© amazon.com Vaccines are one of the most controversial medical therapies, and it's impossible to make an informed decision unless you know both sides of the story. In the process of knowing both sides, the historical context is critical.Dr. Suzanne Humphries, author of Dissolving Illusions: Disease, Vaccines, and the Forgotten History,1 is a nephrologist who has committed the latter part of her medical career to exposing the "lost history" of vaccinations.Barbara...

Naked Titan blasted by solar wind viewed for first time

© Illustration by A.Fazekas, SkySafari Saturn's largest moon, Titan, looks more like Venus and Mars than astronomers ever suspected - at least when it comes to suffering a severe strike from the solar wind.NASA's Cassini spacecraft made a flyby of Titan in December 2013 that offered a unique opportunity for scientists, in newly reported observations. For the first time, scientists caught a close glimpse of the large moon when it was outside Saturn's...

Kiev's end may come soon after the "Debaltsevo collapse"

© UnknownUkrainian and NATO flags Fighting in Debaltsevo outskirts have been continuing for several days. Their intensity approaches the earlier fight for the Donetsk Airport. Considering the length of the frontline, the Battle for Debaltsevo is increasingly reminiscent of the Battle of Ilovaysk.The wedge that was pushed into Novorossia defenses during the summer had strategic sense for the Ukrainian military. In the event the offensive was continued,...

Man arrested after telling black waitress he wants to take her 'Where he hung her Grandpa' (VIDEO)

Racism may be over according to the GOP and the Supreme Court, but outside those particular delusional conservative bubbles the rest of America realizes that outright race-based bigotry is still a... thing.As is often the case, we need look no further than the state of Missouri to see that racism is alive and well. Tommy Dean Gaa, 65, of Maryville, was charged with felony assault motivated by discrimination after he accosted an African-American...

ACLU files federal lawsuit against Georgia for imprisioning black teenager who was too poor to pay fines

© Reuters / Stephen Hird The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has filed a federal lawsuit against officials in DeKalb County, Georgia after a judge imprisoned a black teenager who was too poor to pay $838 in fines. It all started with a traffic ticket near his home.ACLU attorneys are now asking for an end to a process which, according to the group, allows indignant and impoverished Americans to be wrongly imprisoned for not being able to afford...
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