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
Highlights of this day in history: Soviet coup against Mikhail Gorbachev fails; Exiled revolutionary Leon Trotsky murdered in Mexico; Nat Turner leads a slave rebellion; U.S. flag gets 50th star; Count Basie and singer Kenny Rogers born.
Breakfast Tunes
Breakfast News
US reveals failed special forces mission to free James Foley within Syria
Elite US military forces secretly invaded Syria recently in a risky and ultimately unsuccessful attempt to free an Ameirican journalist, James Foley, before he was killed by militants with the Islamic State (Isis), the Pentagon announced on Wednesday.
Confirmation of the failed night-time raid, which took place earlier this summer, came after a day of sharp questioning over whether the Obama administration had done enough to save Foley’s life. It represented the first confirmation of US military operations within insurgency-wracked Syria, where Isis gestated into the jihadist organization that has redrawn the borders of the Middle East.
Ferguson: Eric Holder says justice will be upheld in Michael Brown case
The US attorney general, Eric Holder, has visited Ferguson to assure residents that justice will prevail in the police shooting of an unarmed teenager – but a local prosecutor has warned it will probably be two months before a decision is taken on whether to charge the officer involved.
Holder on Wednesday met the family of Michael Brown, whose death on 9 August triggered protests and riots in the St Louis suburb, and stressed the Obama administration’s commitment to civil rights in this and other cases.
A grand jury convened for the first time to hear preliminary evidence about the encounter between Brown, 18, and Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson, who fired six bullets under disputed circumstances.
Russia closes McDonald’s restaurants for ‘sanitary violations’
Russia has shut down four McDonald’s restaurants in Moscow for alleged sanitary violations in a move critics said was the latest blow in its tit-for-tat sanctions tussle with the west.
The federal monitoring service for consumer rights and wellbeing announced on Wednesday that the offending outlets included the famous restaurant on Pushkin Square that opened just before the fall of the Soviet Union. The body said the eateries were being shut down for “sanitary violations” discovered during inspections this week.
California highway patrol officer could face charges for beating woman
A California highway patrol officer who was videotaped repeatedly striking a woman on the side of a Los Angeles freeway could face serious charges, the agency said Wednesday after forwarding its investigation to the district attorney.
Officer Daniel Andrew, who was put on a desk assignment after the incident, was removed from duty and put on paid administrative leave, the CHP said.
The agency didn’t reveal if it made a recommendation to prosecutors but said in a news release that its report outlined potentially serious charges he could face. It didn’t specify possible charges.
Bowe Bergdahl ‘ready to move on’ to civilian life, lawyer says
Freed US prisoner of war Bowe Bergdahl, who spent five years as a captive of the Taliban in Afghanistan and now faces a US army probe into his conduct, wants to leave the military and return to civilian life, his lawyer said on Wednesday.
“He is ready to move on to the next chapter of his life,” Bergdahl’s attorney, Eugene Fidell, told Reuters. “He would like to get a college education.”
Must Read Blog Posts
The Penitent Charles P. Pierce, Esquire’s The Politics Blog
Holder’s Agency in Ferguson marcy Whee;er, emptywheel
How Strong Is The Legal Case Against Darren Wilson? Anonymous, Crooks and Liars
Late Night: Defective X-Ray Pornscanners. You Can See Sideboobs But Not Sidearms spocko, FDL
Four Ways to Make Law Enforcement Less Adversarial Jon Walker, FDL Action
Police Target School Building of Church, Which Has Been ‘Safe Space’ for Ferguson Community Kevin Gosztola, FDL The Dissenter
The Daily Wiki
A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred place, such as a shrine. By the use of such places as a safe haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This secondary use can be categorized into human sanctuary, a safe place for humans, such as a political sanctuary; and non-human sanctuary, such as an animal or plant sanctuary.
Something to Think about over Coffee Prozac
Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding.
Stupid Shit by LaEscapee
