The Gettysburg Address, Abraham Lincoln’s undying call for a “new birth of freedom” at the bloody turning point of the US Civil War, turned 150 years old Tuesday, even as the union he fought to preserve quarrels bitterly over the role of government. Thousands of people bundled up...
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U.S. marks 150th anniversary of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address
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Senate’s defense bill would allow Guantanamo Bay to finally close
The US Senate debated a defense bill Tuesday that would ease restrictions on detainee transfers from Guantanamo, a major first step toward closing the controversial war-on-terror prison. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said the provision should be the first measure debated and voted on in the...
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Troubling study finds rape incidents are far higher than reported by the U.S. Census Bureau
The incidence of sexual violence is likely sharply underreported in a closely-watched barometer of US crime because of the way it’s designed, an expert panel said Tuesday. The National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), conducted by the US Census Bureau for the Bureau of Justice Statistics,...
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California pastor outraged to find Bible filed under ‘fiction’ at Costco
A California pastor says he found the Bible filed under “fiction” at a Costco store near his home. Pastor Caleb Kaltenbach said he made the discovery Friday while shopping for a present for his wife in Simi Valley. “All the Bibles were labeled as fiction,” said Kaltenbach, pastor at the...
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Seattle’s election of Kshama Sawant shows socialism can play in America
The election of Kshama Sawant, a socialist, to the city council of Seattle seems like dropping a pebble in the ocean – particularly given the Tea Party’s inroads into Congress and the Republican hold on state legislatures. With one lone vote, we can’t expect Seattle to collectivize...
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Alabama legislator to Raw Story: ‘Our country wasn’t founded on the Koran!’
Alabama State Rep. DuWayne Bridges proposed an amendment to the state’s constitution on Monday that would allow public schools and other state properties to display the Ten Commandments from the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. When Raw Story telephoned the legislator to ask if similar...
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Conservatives flip out after Obama reads original Gettysburg Address without ‘under God’
Conservative websites on Tuesday expressed outraged after President Barack Obama read an original version of President Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, which did not include the words “under God.” In celebration of the 150th anniversary of the Gettysburg Address, filmmaker Ken Burns...
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Iowa man’s gun accidentally fires from pants pocket at Wal-Mart but he finishes shopping
Police said an Iowa man was arrested after his concealed weapon accidentally fired while he was shopping at Wal-Mart. Officers said Christopher William Strube, of Centerville, was shopping Sunday afternoon when the .45-caliber handgun fired from his pants pocket. Investigators said the 50-year-old...
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Mario Batali deftly fends off Twitter morons after raising money for Texas pro-choice charity
Chef Mario Batali announced yesterday afternoon on his Twitter account (540K followers) that for the next 30 minutes he was going to match donations from his followers up to $5,000 as, in New York, Sarah Silverman and Lizz Winstead were holding a fundraiser for Lady Parts Justice, a pro-choice...
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Ohio Supreme Court upholds the firing of a creationist science teacher
Ohio’s Supreme Court upheld the firing of an eighth-grade science instructor who taught creationism instead of evolution to his students. The court issued a 4-3 ruling Tuesday that agreed with an appeals court and the trial court that teacher John Freshwater had failed to comply with orders to...
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Prosecutor at bail hearing: Zimmerman choked girlfriend days before shotgun threat
At a bond hearing on Tuesday, prosecutors in Seminole County alleged that former neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman had choked his girlfriend just days before she called 911 to say he was threatening her with a shotgun. Zimmerman had been arrested on felony domestic violence and...
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Outcry forces Catholic school to put off ‘Pray away the gay’ speaker
A Catholic school in Bronx, New York has postponed a presentation by virulently anti-LGBT activist Rev. Donald Timone, a retired priest who preaches that non-heterosexual orientations and feelings can be overcome with prayer and a 12-step program of his devising. According to the New York Times,...
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European Union powers to work together on new drones
Several EU nations including France and Germany agreed Tuesday to join forces to develop new-generation drones, in a bid to close a gaping deficiency in the bloc’s defence industry. EU defence ministers meeting in Brussels approved a series of projects to develop Medium Altitude Long...
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Facebook recognises Kosovo as independent state
The world’s largest social network Facebook has listed Kosovo as a country more than five years after the breakaway territory proclaimed independence from Serbia, officials said Tuesday. “Facebook recognises Kosovo as a state,” Minister for EU Integration Vlora Citaku wrote on...
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NATO tech expert gets seven-year jail sentence for data theft
A German court Tuesday sentenced a former NATO employee to seven years in jail for spying after the IT expert copied secret data in order to sell it to a foreign intelligence service. The 61-year-old man, identified only as Manfred K., had worked for the transatlantic military alliance at the US...
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Florida tea party lawmaker busted on cocaine charge voted to require drug tests for food stamp recipients
Freshman Tea Party Rep. Trey Radel (R-FL) will appear in court on Wednesday to face charges of cocaine possession, Politico reported. The 37-year-old former journalist could be fined up to $1,000 and faces a maximum of 180 days in jail if found guilty. He was arrested on Oct. 29 and charged on...
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African fruit bat found to carry a double virus risk
A large fruit bat that ranges over most of sub-Saharan Africa carries two animal viruses that pose a potential infection risk for humans, scientists said Tuesday. Bats are a known source for animal viruses, including the deadly Ebola virus, that have leapt the species barrier to other mammals. In a...
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Botswana bans fracking in Kalahari Game Reserve
Botswana’s government Tuesday said environmental protection was key in its search for natural gas, rejecting claims that fracking was already under way in the country’s top wildlife park. “There are currently no fracking operations going on in the country except exploration...
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Venezuela gives Maduro power to rule by decree for a year
Venezuela’s National Assembly on Tuesday gave President Nicolas Maduro wide-ranging special powers to rule by decree for one year. The socialist president of the OPEC member state says he needs the greater personal power as his government struggles with soaring inflation and shortages of...
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Saudi Arabia deports 60,000 immigrants in government crackdown
Saudi Arabia has deported more than 60,000 illegal foreign workers in a crackdown over the past fortnight and more are to follow, Interior Minister Prince Mohammed bin Nayef said Tuesday. Police have rounded up tens of thousands of people for deportation since an amnesty for foreign workers to...
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