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
Mount Vesuvius erupts, burying two Ancient Roman cities; Hurricane Andrew hits Florida; British troops burn Washington in War of 1812; Pluto demoted as a planet; Pete Rose banned from baseball for life
Breakfast Tunes
Breakfast News
Volcanic eruption beneath Iceland’s Dyngjujökull glacier sparks red alert
Subglacial eruption, and seismic activity at the Bárðarbunga volcano, prompts officials to raise the aviation warning to red
A small volcanic eruption has occurred under Iceland’s Dyngjujökull glacier, prompting authorities to raise the warning code for aviation to red, the highest level, Iceland’s meteorological office has said.
The region of the Bárðarbunga volcano, in the centre of the island nation, has already been evacuated due to days of heightened seismic activity there. [..]
The red alert is the highest warning on the country’s five-point scale and indicates an eruption is imminent or underway with a significant emission of ash likely. The colour codes are intended to inform the aviation sector about a volcano’s status. [..]
Obama orders review of police use of military gear
Jolted by images of protesters clashing with heavily armed police officers in Missouri, President Barack Obama has ordered a comprehensive review of the government’s decade-old strategy of outfitting local police departments with military-grade body armor, mine-resistant trucks, silencers and automatic rifles, senior officials say.
The review will be led by White House staff and will consider whether the government should continue providing such equipment and, if so, whether local authorities have sufficient training to use it appropriately, said senior administration and law enforcement officials. The government also will consider whether it is keeping a close enough watch on equipment inventories, and how the weapons and other gear are used.
The review, coupled with proposed legislation and planned congressional hearings, opens the possibility for significant changes in Washington’s approach to arming local law enforcement agencies.
US ‘set to launch air strikes’ on senior Isis terror chiefs in Syria
White House will ‘take action’ against threats as Turkey comes under pressure to halt flow of jihadists across its border
The United States was said to be considering air strikes aimed at eliminating individual leaders of Islamic State as Turkey came under mounting pressure to stem the flow of jihadists across its border into Syria.
As Washington on Saturday debated extending air strikes into Syria, senior British politicians urged Ankara to act to block recruits from the UK and other countries from entering Syria via Turkey, en route to joining Islamic State (formerly Isis). This weekend large numbers of Isis jihadists were trying to secure greater control of the border area, pushing northwards in armoured trucks looted from abandoned Iraqi military bases. [..]
The United States was said to be considering air strikes aimed at eliminating individual leaders of Islamic State as Turkey came under mounting pressure to stem the flow of jihadists across its border into Syria.
As Washington on Saturday debated extending air strikes into Syria, senior British politicians urged Ankara to act to block recruits from the UK and other countries from entering Syria via Turkey, en route to joining Islamic State (formerly Isis). This weekend large numbers of Isis jihadists were trying to secure greater control of the border area, pushing northwards in armoured trucks looted from abandoned Iraqi military bases.
Thousands march in New York over Garner and Brown police deaths
Crowds gather in Staten Island near site of Eric Garner death
Protesters echo Ferguson’s ‘Hands up, don’t shoot’Thousands of people gathered on Saturday in the New York borough of Staten Island to protest near the spot where Eric Garner, an unarmed 43-year-old black man, died last month after white police officers used an illegal chokehold while trying to subdue and arrest him.
As tensions continued to simmer in Ferguson, Missouri, over the fatal shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager, by a white police officer earlier this month, up to 15,000 people were initially forecast to march in New York and call for justice and fair policing. On Saturday, however, a marshal at the event told the Guardian between 5,000 and 7,000 marchers were expected.
Peaceful marchers maintain as evening lengthens in Ferguson
Traffic flowed freely on West Florissant Avenue on Saturday night, for the first night in days.
Between 200 to 300 protesters still marched the sidewalks in small clusters, from Canfield Drive – near where Michael Brown was shot and killed by a police officer more than two weeks ago – to Ferguson Avenue and back again.
But police officers weren’t directing traffic. Squad cars had pulled down side streets. Traffic on West Florissant rolled unimpeded. In fact, at about 10:20 p.m., not a police car or officer was visible from the corner of West Florissant and Ferguson.
Must Read Blog Posts
‘We Finally Got One of Those Animals’: Community Organizer in Ferguson Recounts Arrest Kevin Gosztola, FDL The Dissenter
The Body in the Street Charles P. Pierce, Esquire The Politics Blog
Behold, John Brennan’s Scary Memo! Marcy Wheeler, emptywheel
Thought for the day digby, Hullabaloo
Awesome Stuff: Solar Chargers Mike Masnick, Trchdirt
How health insurance companies still cheat customers under Obamacare Dr. Mark Thoma, MD, Americablog
Advair, Symbicort charge Americans 5x what they charge Europeans John Aravosis, Americablog
Something to Think about over Coffee Prozac
You have to learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than anyone else.
