The Raw Story

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

Saturday, 14 March 2015

Why the media silence on Lindsey Graham's vow to use the military to force vote in Congress?

© Manuel Balce Ceneta/APSenator Lindsey Graham The protracted 2016 presidential campaign cycle has already begun, and with it the close attention of the media to the statements made by prospective candidates in hopes of discovering even the slightest "gaffe" that can be turned into a political news item.All the more odd then that the remarks made at a New Hampshire town hall meeting by one Republican presidential hopeful, Senator Lindsey Graham...

Berlin professor sees Germany as the "taskmaster" of Europe

© Claudia Höhne/Körber-Stiftung "In the long run, the role of 'paymaster' can only be played by one who is also ready to play the difficult role of 'taskmaster'," writes Herfried Münkler in his new book (Power in the Center) The Berlin political scientist openly argues for German hegemony in Europe. Germany has "become the central power in Europe," writes Münkler, and must "play the corresponding role."Münkler justifies German claims to hegemony...

Shape-shifting robot a step closer with development of unique gallium alloy

[embedded content]Hasta la vista, baby. A real-life T-1000, the shape-shifting liquid-metal robot from , is a step closer, thanks to a self-powered liquid metal motor.The device is surprisingly simple: just a drop of metal alloy made mostly of gallium - which is liquid at just under 30 °C - with some indium and tin mixed in. When placed in a solution of sodium hydroxide, or even brine, and kept in contact with a flake of aluminium for "fuel", it moves around for about an hour. It can travel in a straight line, run around the outside of a circular...

Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg - Donbas conflict not NATO's responsibility

The conflict in southeastern Ukraine (Donbas) is not the responsibility of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the alliance's Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has told Sky News."Our main responsibility is to defend and to protect all NATO allies and no NATO ally has been attacked," Stoltenberg said on Friday, reminding that Ukraine is not a member of NATO "so there is a difference between Ukraine and NATO members, because the security...

Free will? Same stimulus doesn't always produce same response, even in worms

Even worms have free will. If offered a delicious smell, for example, a roundworm will usually stop its wandering to investigate the source, but sometimes it won't. Just as with humans, the same stimulus does not always provoke the same response, even from the same individual. New research at Rockefeller University, published online in , offers a new neurological explanation for this variability, derived by studying a simple three-cell network...

Another myth busted: No connection between hip width and efficient locomotion

Among the facts so widely assumed that they are rarely, if ever studied, is the notion that wider hips make women less efficient when they walk and run.For decades, this assumed relationship has been used to explain why women don't have wider hips, which would make childbirth easier and less dangerous. The argument, known as the "obstetrical dilemma," suggests that for millions of years female humans and their bipedal ancestors have faced an evolutionary...

Elderly nun gang raped in India, sparking outrage

© File photo: K. Murali KumarA nun who resisted a group of dacoits that broke into a convent was gang-raped in West Bengal's Nadia district. The attack at Convent of Jesus and Mary School is the latest in a string of high-profile rape cases in the countryA group of bandits gang raped an elderly nun on Saturday when she attempted to stop them from robbing a Christian missionary school in eastern India, police said, the latest crime to focus attention...

Shame on India - 'India's Daughter' gang rape documentary banned by Indian Government

© AFP: Sajjad HussainProtests and outrage over crimes against women in India India's decision to ban a documentary about the gang rape and murder of a woman in Delhi has been described as "uncivilised" by the film's director. The Indian government obtained a court injunction last week to stop the documentary, , from being broadcast in the country.The documentary examines the horrific gang rape and murder of a 23 year old medical student in Delhi...

Oklahoma just said you can only get married if you're religious

© Unknown What say should the state have in marriage? That's a great question that many have been asking for a long time. But now the State of Oklahoma has answered that question in a fairly bizarre way...Instead of saying that the State will have no role in marriage, instead of recognizing any agreement between consenting adults related to marriage, the State has mandated that it will back away just enough to allow clergy and clergy alone to conduct...

Why aren't Americans spending? Is it because they have nothing to spend?

© aptuda I thought all those Obama jobs, the millions of Obamacare enrollees getting "free" health insurance, and the plunge in gas prices would lead to billions of excess disposable income being spent on stuff. Considering consumer spending accounts for 68% of GDP, this juggernaut of jobs would propel the US economy to new heights. Keynesianism at its finest. But something went awry on the road to prosperity. The American people have stopped spending...

BEST OF THE WEB: Ukraine war crimes report: Torture and inhumane treatment of civilians

The second report about the war crimes of the armed forces and security forces of Ukraine by The Foundation for the Study of Democracy (the director - M. S. Grigoryev), in which the data is given about large-scale and systematic violation of the European convention of human rights by the representatives of the Ukrainian armed forces, the National Guard, and other units of the Ministry of the Internal Affairs, and also of the Security Service of Ukraine...

Operation Vigilant Guard drills take place in North and South Carolina complete with door to door wellness checks

© unknown In yet another example of the growing trend of the process of acclimatization of the general public to an open military presence on American streets as well as greater cooperation between the US Military and civilian law enforcement, South Carolina was recently the scene of a statewide "emergency preparedness" drill that incorporated both of these aspects in a visible form.On March 7, 2015, the state-wide drill, entitled Operation Vigilant...

Man killed taking pictures of his first snowfall in Dallas after fleeing violence in Iraq

© AP Photo/Courtesy of Zahraa AtlaieAtlaie, left, and her husband Ahmed Al-Jumaili Police say a suspect arrested Friday in the killing of an Iraqi man taking photos of his first snowfall said he was looking for whoever shot at his girlfriend's home when he randomly came upon the victim and opened fire.Nykerion Nealon, 17, was being held without bond on a murder charge in last week's death of Ahmed Al-Jumaili, who in February moved to Dallas to escape...

Canadian intel agent linked with getting British schoolgirls into Syria to join ISIS

Picture of three British schoolgirls who joined ISIS. The has reported that an individual who authorities believe helped three British schoolgirls travel to Syria to join ISIS is linked to Canada's intelligence agency, CSIS.The noted that, "Turkish news agencies reported Thursday that a foreign intelligence agent detained in that country on suspicion of helping the girls travel to neighbouring Syria to join ISIL was working for the Canadian government."Turkey's...

Lithuania jails 84 year old ex-Soviet security officer for 5 years for 'committing genocide' - His real crime? Prosecuting die-hard Nazis

Lithuanian 'nationalists' marching to commemorate their forefathers' valiant participation in Hitler's death machine. An 84-year-old former Soviet state security officer has been found guilty of genocide and sentenced by a Lithuanian court to five years in jail over his participation in a 1956 operation to arrest guerrilla leader Adolfas Ramanauskas-Vanagas.Court prosecutors in the city of Kaunas asked for a longer sentence - seven years - for Stanislovas...

U.S. Geological Survey reports earthquake in western North Carolina

The U.S. Geological Survey has reported an earthquake that shook part of Swain County late Friday night.The U.S.G.S. tracked the earthquake to Cherokee and said it happened at 11:51 p.m.According to the U.S.G.S. website, this was a 2.8 magnitude earthqua...

Cops sell man drugs then kill him, shoot one of their own cops in the process

Anthony Andrew Williams A man is dead, and a deputy has been shot after the Putman County Sheriff's Department relentless carries out the state's immoral war on drugs.The incident happened as cops were driving around in a neighborhood Friday night looking for otherwise completely innocent people to purchase their drugs, so they could arrest them. Prior to setting up and killing Anthony Andrew Williams of Hawthorne, police arrested 10 people in this...

Victims of the 'global chessboard': Millions of Syrian refugees 'abandoned' in Lebanon

© UnknownWith much of Syria's infrastructure and towns decimated by Western-supported ISIL, who knows how long these millions of refugees will have to wait before they can return to Syria to put their lives back together, or even get a little relief. Syrian refugees. There are several million of them all over the region: in Turkey and Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon, even in Egypt.Clearly, a "Syrian refugee crisis" has been triggered by the West and by...

NATO's war propaganda is a crime against humanity not freedom of speech

© Unknown The reaction of the media in the Nato countries to the murder of Boris Nemtsov reveals the next phase of the war against Russia. Defeated at Debaltsevo, defied by Russia, lectured by China, the Nato warlords need something immediate and dramatic to guide the imaginations of their peoples towards war. The constant propaganda offensive aimed at Russia is accelerating and is increasingly designed to identify Russia and its people not with...
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