Welcome to The Breakfast Club! We’re a disorganized group of rebel lefties who hang out and chat if and when we’re not too hungover we’ve been bailed out we’re not too exhausted from last night’s (CENSORED) the caffeine kicks in. Join us every weekday morning at 9am (ET) and weekend morning at 10:30am (ET) to talk about current news and our boring lives and to make fun of LaEscapee! If we are ever running late, it’s PhilJD’s fault.
AP’s Today in History for March 27th
Martin Luther King Jr.’s son meets James Earl Ray in prison for assassinating his father; Comedian Milton Berle dies; the FDA approves Viagra; Quentin Tarantino is born. (March 27)
Breakfast Tune Easter Parade – New Mountain Music
Something to Think about, Breakfast News & Blogs Below
Massive Margins in Pacific States Make Saturday Super for Sanders
Common Dreams staff
Bernie Sanders claimed three resounding victories on Saturday as caucus-goers in Alaska, Hawaii, and Washington overwhelming backed the Vermont senator, proving that his campaign has the “momentum” to battle Democratic rival Hillary Clinton all the way to the convention.
While Sanders was predicted to win in Alaska and Washington, as CNN reports, “the real news is in the sheer size of his victory.”
Indeed, Sanders bested Clinton by more than sixty points in Alaska, where he took 81.6 percent to her 18.4 percent. In Hawaii, he won 70.6 percent to 29.2 percent and in the delegate-heavy Washington, Sanders beat Clinton 72.7 percent to 27.1 percent.
During his victory speech in Madison, Wisconsin, which holds its primary on April 5, Sanders took direct aim at the state’s notorious Republican Governor Scott Walker. …
Al-Jazeera to lay off 500 staff worldwide
Gwyn Topham, The Guardian
Al-Jazeera is set to cut about 500 jobs worldwide, with most of the layoffs expected in the broadcaster’s home base in Qatar.
The news network said the cuts were in line with the changes in global media, which has seen many organisations forced to reduce staff and tighten budgets – although the state-funded channel will also have been impacted by falling oil prices. The move will bring down al-Jazeera’s global staff of about 4,500 by more than 10%.
The broadcaster’s acting director general, Mostefa Souag, said the network had spent months evaluating its options. He said: “Based on this review, we have embarked on a workforce optimisation initiative that will allow us to evolve our business operation in order to maintain a leading position and continue our recognised commitment to high quality, independent and hard-hitting journalism around the world.” …
British EU exit campaign backed by 250 business leaders
Michael Holden, Reuters
The campaign for Britain to leave the EU has been backed by 250 business leaders including the former chief executive of HSBC, the Vote Leave group said on Saturday, hoping to counter the view that UK businesses back staying in the bloc.
The camps arguing for and against Britain staying in the European Union ahead of a referendum on British membership on June 23 have both made the economic impact of a ‘Brexit’ a cornerstone of their campaigns.
Last month, the bosses at more than a third of Britain’s biggest companies including major oil companies Shell RDSA.L and BP (BP.L) and its largest telecoms group BT (BT.L) said leaving the EU would put jobs and investment at risk. …
Netanyahu cabinet at odds over murder probe of soldier in Hebron shooting
Dan Williams, Reuters
An Israeli army murder inquiry into a soldier’s killing of a supine and wounded Palestinian assailant, the first such legal proceedings in six months of street violence, triggered friction on Sunday within Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet.
Video taken by Israel’s B’Tselem human rights group showed the infantryman firing on Thursday into the head of a Palestinian as he lay on the ground, still moving, in Hebron in the occupied West Bank. Minutes earlier, the Palestinian had stabbed and wounded another soldier.
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The Hebron incident brought to the boil a debate in Israel over whether excessive force has been used against Palestinian assailants. Palestinian leaders have accused the Israelis of routine extra-judicial killings – a charge that Israel denies. …
- Walking while texting could mean jail time under New Jersey proposal
Associated Press in Trenton
- Pope slams rejection of immigrants in Easter message
Agence France-Presse
- The Very Strange History of the Easter Bunny
Katie Edwards
Something to Think about over Coffee Prozac
Petition to allow guns at Republican convention earns 24,000 signatures
Alan Yuhas, The Guardian
An online petition to allow guns into the Republican National Convention in Cleveland in July has received more than 24,000 signatures in favor of overturning the “irresponsible and hypocritical act of selecting a ‘gun-free zone’” for the party’s quadrennial gathering.
The convention will be held between 18 and 21 July at the Quicken Loans Arena, a venue with a policy that forbids “firearms and other weapons of any kind” on its grounds. Republican debate venues have also barred firearms.
The petition, posted anonymously to Change.org last week, declares the Cleveland arena’s weapons ban “a direct affront to the second amendment and puts all attendees at risk”.
“By forcing attendees to leave their firearms at home,” the petition continues, “the RNC and Quicken Loans Arena are putting tens of thousands of people at risk both inside and outside of the convention site”. …