The Raw Story

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

Tuesday, 24 February 2015

Turn yourself in, Mr. Secretary of State! A Ukrainian's open letter to John Kerry

© UnknownUS Secretary of State John Kerry in 1971 protesting the war in Vietnam. When it comes to selling out John Kerry has no equals. I am a citizen of Ukraine - a poor country, located in Eastern Europe. They say that George Bush Jr. couldn't find it on the map. Maybe that's why the war here began only now, after Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria and other countries were freed from authoritarianism and to which the great USA brought...

New Study: Soda Ingredient Poses Cancer Risk

A new study carried out by the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future (CLF) has found that millions Americans who consume soda every day are putting themselves at risk of developing cancer as a result of an ingredient contained in many soft drinks.4-Methylimidazole, commonly known as 4-MEI, is a coloring used by soft drink makers to give their beverages that distinctive dark hue. It can be found in many popular soft drinks, including Pepsi,...

Forced blood draws, DNA collection and biometric scans: What country is this?

"The Fourth Amendment was designed to stand between us and arbitrary governmental authority. For all practical purposes, that shield has been shattered, leaving our liberty and personal integrity subject to the whim of every cop on the beat, trooper on the highway and jail official. The framers would be appalled."—Herman Schwartz, The Nation © Global Research Our freedoms—especially the Fourth Amendment—are being choked out by a prevailing view...

So much for rights: Chicago police illegally detain and torture Americans at local 'black site'

Chicago's Homan Square 'black site' The Chicago police department operates an off-the-books interrogation compound, rendering Americans unable to be found by family or attorneys while locked inside what lawyers say is the domestic equivalent of a CIA black site.The facility, a nondescript warehouse on Chicago's west side known as Homan Square, has long been the scene of secretive work by special police units. Interviews with local attorneys and...

Community kitchens: Time to revive an old custom to help feed millions

© ShutterstockA return to community canteens as an alternative to food banks? Did you watch Channel 4's latest sensational documentary Junk Food Kids? If so, you probably shared the sense of outrage that exploded across social media when scenes featuring obese children with decaying teeth were broadcast.But the presence of fat children on our screens masks the fact that we are currently facing an unnecessary global starvation epidemic. We live in...

BEST OF THE WEB: A letter to young people about 50 Shades of Grey

Just another 'Christian Grey' bad childhood. {Many of you have asked that I provide my letter to young people as a PDF. Download A Letter to Young People About here.}There's nothing grey about . It's all black.Let me explain.I help people who are broken inside. Unlike doctors who use x-rays or blood tests to determine why someone's in pain, the wounds I'm interested in are hidden. I ask questions, and listen carefully to the answers. That's how...

Beating a dead horse: U.S. considering even more sanctions against Russia

© Evan Vucci/AP The United States will be considering further sanctions against Russia in the coming days depending on whether there is progress on the Minsk peace agreements, US Secretary of State John Kerry said."The next step, if we take one in the next days, which is under consideration depending on what unfolds, will bring us into synchronization [with the sanctions imposed by the European Union and Canada]. Not only will we come into synchronization,...

Gazprom notes Kiev cash-for-gas fail could cost EU its supply

© RIA Novosti / Sergey GuneevAleksei Miller, Chief Executive Officer, Gazprom Russia will completely cut Ukraine off gas supplies in two days if Kiev fails to pay for deliveries, which will create transit risks for Europe, Gazprom has said.Ukraine has not paid for March deliveries and is extracting all it can from the current paid supply, seriously risking an early termination of the advance settlement and a supply cutoff, Gazprom's CEO Alexey Miller...

Supreme Court ruling further erodes 4th amendment - FISA warrants to remain secret

© U.S. Marshal's OfficeAdel Daoud Defense attorneys for the Chicago teen arrested for terrorism in a 2012 sting will be not have access to government surveillance documents, the Supreme Court ruled Monday, upholding a lower court's decision without comment.Lawyers for Adel Daoud requested access to the surveillance application that prosecutors submitted to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court to show that the teenager was targeted...

Alaska becomes 3rd state to legalize marijuana, DC will soon be 4th

© Reuters/Alessandro Bianchi Alaska has joined Colorado and Washington in legalizing recreational marijuana, and the District of Columbia will follow suit on Thursday this week.The new laws allow adults over 21 to consume small quantities of home-grown pot in private, though sales remain illegal.Ballot initiatives legalizing personal marijuana consumption were approved by voters in Alaska, Oregon, and Washington, DC last November. Alaska's law went...

Some things Greece must remember about US foreign policy

George Papandreou, leader of Greece in 1964 American historian D.F. Fleming, writing of the post-World War II period in his eminent history of the Cold War, stated that "Greece was the first of the liberated states to be openly and forcibly compelled to accept the political system of the occupying Great Power. It was Churchill who acted first and Stalin who followed his example, in Bulgaria and then in Rumania, though with less bloodshed."The British...

Dangerous sea level rise on U.S. East Coast reported by scientists

© AP Photo/Richard Drew Sea levels along North America's northeastern coast experienced a record rise from 2009 to 2010, according to a report by a team of scientists in the United States.From New York to Newfoundland, coastal waters rose by as much as 128 millimeters - more than five inches - over the two-year span, states the report, which will be published in an upcoming issue of Nature Communications."The extreme sea level rise event during...

94 year old ex-Nazi sergeant charged with murders from time at Auschwitz

© APThe main gate of the Auschwitz death camp complex in occupied-Poland. German prosecutors have charged a 94-year-old man with 3,681 counts of accessory to murder on allegations he worked as a sergeant at the camp. German prosecutors have charged a 94-year-old man with 3,681 counts of accessory to murder on allegations he served in the Nazis' Auschwitz death camp.Schwerin prosecutors' spokesman Stefan Urbanek said Monday the suspect was an SS...

Heart wrenching: Cop brutally attacks 78-year-old grandmother for delivering cupcakes to her grandchildren

78-year-old grandmother Mary Poole was brutally assaulted and pepper-sprayed by a police officer when she attempted to deliver cupcakes to her grandchildren at school.The children's parents are in the midst of a divorce and custody battle, so Mary wanted to do something nice for the children. She decided to deliver a gift in a neutral setting."I hadn't seen my granddaughters for some time and I wanted to see them, and so I baked some cupcakes and...
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