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.
Breakfast Tune: 17 Greensky Bluegrass 2013-03-09 Where The Streets Have No Name
Today in History
A golden spike completes America’s first transcontinental railroad; Nazis burn books in Germany; Rudolf Hess parachutes into Scotland; Nelson Mandela takes office in S. Africa; U2’s frontman Bono born. (May 10)
Breakfast News & Blogs Below
Bernie Sanders perfectly sums up why elites love apathetic voters
Zaid Jilani, AlterNet
American voter turnout has long lagged behind that of most countries. A new Pew survey released this month found that among developed countries the United States had higher voter turnout in the last national election than only Japan, Chile, and Switzerland:
This lower voter turnout has consequences – it is a well-established fact that the groups of people that do not vote tend to have more progressive views. Thus lower voter turnout tends to benefit conservative political parties.
In the 2006 film American Blackout, which chronciled voter suppression, then-Rep. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) explained how high turnout was a “nightmare” for the elites who rule America:
SANDERS: The truth of the matter is that the media, large corporations, the people who control politically our country today do not want you to participate. They want a low turnout of primarily upper middle class people, they want big money to dominate the political process. Their nightmare is that young people, lower income people, working people jump into the process. They do not want that.
Patriotism at a Price: US Military Paid NFL Teams to ‘Honor’ Soldiers at Games
Sarah Lazare, Common Dreams
What better way to advertise military culture-and recruit teenagers-than by staging heartfelt salutes to “hometown heroes” at professional football games in front of thousands of fans?
That, apparently, is what Department of Defense officials thought when they shelled out at least $5.4 million of U.S. taxpayer’ money to 14 NFL teams between 2011 and 2014-to pay them to promote the military on and off the field.
The vast majority of this money was disbursed by the National Guard, journalists Christopher Baxter and Jonathan D. Salant of New Jersey Advance Media revealed in an article published Thursday. …
Appeals court overturns sabotage conviction against nun
Reuters
A U.S. appellate court on Friday overturned sabotage convictions against an elderly nun and two other peace activists for breaking into a Tennessee nuclear defense facility in 2012.
Megan Rice, 85, was sentenced to three years for the break-in at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge – an incident that embarrassed U.S. officials and prompted security changes.
In a 2-1 decision, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also reversed sabotage convictions against two U.S. Army veterans, Michael Walli and Greg Boertje-Obed, who were also involved in the incident. The panel found that the three lacked the necessary intent for a violation of the federal Sabotage Act. …
US nuclear plant shuts down after fire
Reuters
A unit at Indian Point nuclear plant in Buchanan, New York state, was shut down following a transformer failure and fire on Saturday, and at one point smoke was seen rising from the facility.
But the plant was stable and there was no danger to the public or employees, Entergy Corp said.
Several people tweeted from nearby that they saw a big explosion. …
- How the Texas of Canada swung to the left
Audrea Lim, Al Jazeera - Parlez-vous français? For Maine’s Acadian youth, the answer is often ‘non’
Kevin Williams, Al Jazeera - Fast-Track Bill Vote in Senate: Winter Is Coming
Dave Johnson, Campaign for America’s Future - Senators demand CIA’s Brennan admit computer search improper
Jonathan S. Landay, McClatchy
Something to Think about over Coffee Prozac:
Ohio calls on neighbours for help as Lake Erie turns green
Associated Press
Pollutants feeding the toxic algae blooms that have been turning parts of western Lake Erie green and contaminating drinking water in recent summers are not just coming from Ohio.
They are flowing into the lake from farm fields in Michigan and Indiana, leaky septic tanks in southern Canada, and Detroit’s wastewater plant. That is why Ohio’s governor and environmental chief are starting to ask some of their neighbors to look into what else they can do to cut down on the pollutants – primarily phosphorus – that end up in the lake’s tributaries.
“We can’t do it alone, and they can’t do it alone,” said Craig Butler, director of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency. “I think everybody really understands that we need collaboration.” …
Breakfast Quote:
The problem with writing a book in verse is, to be successful, it has to sound like you knocked it off on a rainy Friday afternoon. It has to sound easy. When you can do it, it helps tremendously because it’s a thing that forces kids to read on. You have this unconsummated feeling if you stop.
Dr. Seuss
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