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.
This Day in History
Breakfast News
—–
Remember that time Congress declared war against Yemen?
Source: ‘Massive and unprecedented’ attack targets al Qaeda in Yemen
An operation targeting al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is under way in Abyan and Shabwa, Yemen, a high-level Yemeni government official who is being briefed on the strikes told CNN on Monday.
The official said that the scale of the strikes against AQAP is “massive and unprecedented” and that at least 30 militants have been killed. The operation involved Yemeni commandos who are now “going after high-level AQAP targets,” the official said.
A day earlier, suspected drone strikes targeted al Qaeda fighters in Yemen for the second time in two days, killing “at least a dozen,” the government official said.
—–
Japan PM makes offering to Yasukuni Shrine, angers China, South Korea
apanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has sent a ritual offering to the Yasukuni Shrine, seen by critics as a symbol of Japan’s past militarism, angering both South Korea and China on Monday and putting regional ties under further strain.
Adding to unease in the region, a Chinese maritime court in Shanghai seized a ship on Saturday owned by Japanese shipping firm Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, a move that Japan warned could have an adverse impact on its businesses in China.
The court said the company had failed to pay compensation stemming from a wartime contractual obligation. China’s Foreign Ministry said the disagreement was a normal commercial dispute.
—–
Suicide Bombings, Attacks in Iraq Kill 19 People
Suicide bombings and other attacks across Iraq killed at least 19 people and wounded 36 on Monday, officials said, the latest in an uptick in violence as the country counts down to crucial parliament elections later this month.
In one suicide attack, the bomber drove his explosives-laden car into a police checkpoint in the town of Suwayrah, killing 12 people – five policemen and seven civilians. A police officer said the explosion in Suwayrah, located about 40 kilometers (25 miles) south of Baghdad, also wounded 19 people.
—–
Did boy, 16, hitch ride from California to Hawaii in plane’s landing gear?
The first sign something was off was when the ground crew at Kahului Airport in Maui noticed a boy wandering the tarmac, dazed and confused.
The story he told officials was even more incredible.
The 16-year-old apparently hitched a ride from San Jose, California, to Maui, Hawaii, in the landing-gear wheel well of a Boeing 767, Hawaiian Airlines said Sunday.
—–
UAW’s Volkswagen case heads to NLRB hearing as politicians object
A contentious effort to unionize a foreign brand’s automobile factory is scheduled to reach a courtroom Monday, and the case appears far from resolution.
A U.S. senator, the Tennessee governor and several state lawmakers are fighting subpoenas served by the United Automobile Workers union ordering them to appear in court with documents related to the failed vote at Volkswagen in Chattanooga, Tenn.
The UAW alleges that the conservative politicians intimidated workers at the plant, leading a 53% majority to vote in February against becoming a union shop. The union lost even though Volkswagen remained neutral. The German automaker supports unions at all of its other major factories.
—–
Obama signs into law ‘terrorist’ UN envoy visa ban
President Barack Obama has signed into law a measure that would bar entry to any UN ambassador whom the US says has engaged in “terrorist activity”.
The law came as a response to Iran’s pick of a UN envoy linked to the student militants who overran the US embassy in Tehran in 1979.
The US has already denied Hamid Aboutalebi a visa, and Mr Obama said he would treat the new law as “advisory”.
—–
Must Read Blog Posts
General Mills reverses legal changes and issues an apology
And now I remember why I hate holidays.
The “Marxism is coming back” trope
Sunday Train: What’s in SUPERTRAINS for Small Town and Rural America?
—–
5 things you do that may make spring allergies worse
While the spring months bring warmer temperatures and longer hours of sunshine, they also bring about seasonal allergies for millions of people. And with a predicted “pollen vortex” threatening to make this spring the worst allergy season on record, you may need all the help you can get.
According to the latest statistics from the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunity (ACAAI), hay fever (or allergic rhinitis), the nasal condition that causes cold-like symptoms – stuffy nose, watery eyes – will affect nearly 50 million Americans this season.
—–
The Daily Wiki
n social psychology, group polarization refers to the tendency for groups to make decisions that are more extreme than the initial inclination of its members. These more extreme decisions are towards greater risk if individuals’ initial tendencies are to be risky and towards greater caution if individuals’ initial tendencies are to be cautious. The phenomenon also holds that a group’s attitude toward a situation may change in the sense that the individuals’ initial attitudes have strengthened and intensified after group discussion.
—–
Something to Think about over Coffee Prozac
War will exist until that distant day when the conscientious objector enjoys the same reputation and prestige that the warrior does today.
—–
Breakfast Tunes
—–