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
The Watergate scandal begins to unfold; The Battle of Bunker Hill during the American Revolution; O.J. Simpson arrested in the slayings of his ex-wife Nicole and Ronald Goldman; Singer Kate Smith dies.
Breakfast Tunes
Something to Think about over Coffee Prozac
No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path.
Breakfast News
NASA: The Earth is Running Out of Water
Bottom line: the Earth is running out of water.
Two new NASA studies led by researchers from the University of California Irvine and published Tuesday show that the depletion of global groundwater resources, due to the dueling impacts of global warming and growing human demand, has caused the world’s water supply to drop to dangerous levels.
The first report compares statistical analysis of water withdrawal to GRACE satellite analysis, which measures variations in gravity on the Earth’s surface, between January 2003 and December 2013. The study compares the difference between the use and availability of these resources to determine the amount of overall renewable groundwater stress, or RGS.
According to the findings, at 21 of the 37 largest aquifers, water is being drained at a greater rate than it is being naturally replenished, 13 of which fell into the most troubled category.
In Leaked Draft, Pope Francis Takes ‘Hard Core’ Stance on Climate Debate
In a lengthy and moving letter to Roman Catholic bishops leaked on Monday, Pope Francis unequivocally asserts that “human activity” is to blame for our planet’s destruction, and the only solution is for humanity to change its “lifestyle” and “consumption.”
The draft encyclical, published by Italian newspaper L’Espresso on Monday, three days before its intended release, is making waves among the international community as it boldly condemns both climate-deniers and carbon credit speculation, and upholds the growing climate movement and push to divest from fossil fuels.
“Humanity is called to take note of the need for changes in lifestyle and changes in methods of production and consumption to combat this warming, or at least the human causes that produce and accentuate it,” he wrote in the draft. “Numerous scientific studies indicate that the greater part of the global warming in recent decades is due to the great concentration of greenhouse gases … given off above all because of human activity.”
IMF Report Admits IMF’s Obsession with Capitalism Is Killing Prosperity
In light of how the International Monetary Fund has spent most of its existence parading around the world telling governments to make their economies more friendly for multinational corporations by suppressing wages, restricting pensions, liberalizing industries, and more or less advocating they ignore the popular will of workers and the less fortunate-all in the name of market capitalism and endless economic growth-a new report released by the IMF on Monday contains an ironic warning: stop doing all that.
Though it perpetuates the idea that economic growth is the master to whom all should bow, the new research-conducted by the IMF’s own economists and submitted under the title Causes and Consequences of Inequality (pdf) – argues that many of the policies promoted by the IMF have actually harmed nations by exacerbating widespread economic inequality. As many have noted, current disparities between the world’s richest and poorest represent a nearly unprecedented level of global inequality which the report described as the “defining challenge of our time.”
‘US Families Torn Apart’: Obama’s War on Drugs Driving Surge in Deportations
Under U.S. President Barack Obama, the war on drugs is driving a surge in deportations of non-U.S. citizens, ripping families apart for alleged drug possession-including the most minor amounts and in many cases years after the fact-a new report from Human Rights Watch reveals.
A Price Too High: US Families Torn Apart By Deportations for Drug Offenses (pdf) is based on data from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests, as well as over 130 interviews with impacted people, lawyers, and authorities.
The 93-page report finds that deportations for drug charges increased by 43 percent between 2007 and 2012.
During this time period, 260,000 people were exiled from the country for drug offenses-and 34,000 of them for alleged marijuana possession.
Good News on Trans Fat, But Industry Loopholes Leave Bad Taste
In a move it says will prevent tens of thousands of heart attacks and thousands of deaths, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday issued a final decision that gives the food industry three years to phase out partially hydrogenated oils, the main source of trans fat in processed foods.
The FDA’s declaratory order (pdf), based on a rule first proposed in 2013, states that the agency has made a “final determination” that partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs) are no longer “generally recognized as safe” for any use in human food. According to the FDA, foods that commonly contain trans fat-a byproduct of PHOs-include: processed baked goods, microwave popcorn, coffee creamers, and ready-to-use frostings.
Scientists and public health experts generally welcomed what is effectively a ban on trans fat, but some warned that the agency’s action wasn’t strong enough.
Senate passes torture ban despite Republican opposition
More than 20 Republican senators rejected a ban on the use of cruel and degrading treatment of prisoners on Tuesday, voting against an ultimately successful measure to permanently prevent a repeat of the CIA’s once secret and now widely-discredited torture program.
The bipartisan amendment reaffirms President Barack Obama’s prohibition of interrogation techniques such as waterboarding and sleep deprivation, which were developed by the CIA under the administration of his predecessor, George W Bush.
The measure passed in the Senate, 78-21.
Colt Defense, America’s best-known gun maker files for bankruptcy protection
Colt Defense, one of America’s best-known maker of guns, has filed for bankruptcy protection, the company announced Sunday night.
The company is hoping for an accelerated sale of its operations in the US and Canada. Sciens Capital Management, an investor which owns about 87% of the company, has agreed to act as a “stalking horse bidder” and purchase its assets and assume its liabilities. Colt hopes the entire process will take 60 to 90 days.
“The plan we are announcing and have filed today will allow Colt to restructure its balance sheet while meeting all of its obligations to customers, vendors, suppliers and employees and providing for maximum continuity in the Company’s current and future business operations,” said Keith Maib, chief restructuring officer of Colt Defense.
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Must Read Blog Posts
Supreme Court: Women Getting Abortions in North Carolina Don’t Have to Look at Their Ultrasounds Dahlia Lithwick, Slate
ISDS provisions in TPP violate Article III of the U.S. Constitution Gaius Publius, Hullabaloo
Senate Report Calls for President Obama to Lift Crude Oil Export Ban Brandon Jordan, FDL
‘Fast Track’ Hands the Money Monopoly to Private Banks – Permanently CTuttle, FDL
Documents Raise Concerns About Extent of CIA Spying Inside the United States Kevin Gosztola, FDL
Mexico’s Supreme Court quietly legalizes same-sex marriage Jon Green, AMERICAblog
Huge Loss For Free Speech In Europe: Human Rights Court Says Sites Liable For User Comments Mike Masnick, Techdirt
FBI, While Hating On Encryption, Starts Encrypting All Visits To Its Website Mike Masnick, Techdirt
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Your Moment of Zen
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