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
Paris liberated during World War II; A first swim across the English Channel; Actor Sean Connery, composer Leonard Bernstein, and musician Elvis Costello born; Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Born to Run’ released.
Breakfast Tunes
Breakfast News
‘Hold tight and hold your breath’: Wall Street workers advise against panic
It was a tumultuous Monday on Wall Street, as the US stock market suffered its biggest one-day fall since 2011 over fears of a collapse in the Chinese economy.
The Dow Jones Industrial average lost 586 points, or 3.56%, recovering slightly from when it plunged 1,089 points on Monday morning. The S&P 500 lost about 3.9%, closing at a seven-month low, and Nasdaq lost 3.8%. [..]
Despite the rollercoaster of stocks plunging, recovering and diving again, business seemed to be moving on Wall Street itself, as tourists snapped pictures of the New York stock exchange and traders rushed outside to grab a quick bite to eat or pick up delivery, saying they weren’t authorized to speak to the press.
Those not working for the stock exchange offered candid viewpoints on the drama on Wall Street, with most advising against panic or worry because the numbers will sort themselves out. Two Deutsche Bank employees having lunch outside the stock exchange were unsurprised the events of the morning, and said they thought the fall was “easily predictable”.
Missouri judge withdraws Ferguson arrest warrants before 2015
A new municipal judge in Ferguson, Missouri, on Monday ordered sweeping changes to court practices in response to a scathing Justice Department report following the shooting of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown a year ago.
Municipal court judge Donald McCullin, appointed in June, ordered that all arrest warrants issued in the city before 31 December 2014 be withdrawn.
Defendants will receive new court dates along with options for disposing of their cases, such as payment plans or community service. Fines may be commuted for indigent people.
The changes come five months after the Justice Department strongly criticized city leaders in its report, saying the police force and court worked together to exploit people in order to raise revenue.
Washington wildfires break state record: just how big is the blaze?
The fire complex burning in north-central Washington is now the largest in state history, beating a record set just last year in the same county.
Fire spokesman Rick Isaacson said on Monday that the Okanogan Complex of wildfires grew overnight to just over 400 square miles, slightly more than the Carlton fires, which also burned in Okanogan County last summer.
Late morning local time on Monday, officials said the complex of fires had burned 256,567 acres, or just over 400 square miles. For comparison, New York City is just over 300 square miles, Los Angeles is about 500 square miles, and London is just over 600 square miles. The fire has burned an area roughly one-fifth the size of Delaware.
Okanogan County is just over 5,300 square miles.
US sends F-22 fighter jets to Europe as part of Ukraine response
The US is to deploy F-22 fighter jets to Europe as part of efforts to support eastern European members of the Nato alliance unnerved by Russia’s intervention in Ukraine.
“Russia’s military activity in the Ukraine continues to be of great concern to us and to our European allies,” the air force secretary, Deborah James, told a news conference at the Pentagon. “For the air force an F-22 deployment is certainly on the strong side of the coin.”
James did not give details about the specific number of planes, date or location of the deployment but said it was in line with defence secretary Ash Carter’s recent call for a strong and balanced approach to Russia.
Merkel and Hollande plan EU-wide response to escalating migration crisis
Thousands of refugees were heading towards Hungary and the EU border on Monday, as the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, said the union’s member states must fairly share the burden of dealing with Europe’s biggest migration crisis since the second world war.
Speaking before talks in Berlin with the French president, François Hollande, Merkel said Europe needed to act together to deal with the chaotic scenes in Greece and the western Balkans as desperate migrants tried to reach the EU. “The current situation troubles us greatly,” she said.
Germany and France are to draft common proposals on immigration and security to deal with the worsening emergency. On Monday, Merkel said they could include building new registration centres in Greece and Italy to be run and staffed by the EU as a whole by the end of the year.
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Must Read Blog Posts
War Criminals Gather In London For World’s Largest Arms Fair Billy Briggs, ShadowProof
Judge Rejects Obama Administration’s ‘Fear-Mongering,’ Orders Release of Immigrants Kevin Gosztola, ShadoeProof
Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders Are Calling for a Revolution Charles Pierce, Esquire Politics
Dick Cheney Prepares to Fearmonger Again on Aluminum Tube Day emptywheel aka Marcy Wheeler, emptywheel
Police Regularly Use Stingrays Without A Warrant To Find Petty Criminals, Then Try To Hide That Fact Mike Masnick, Techdirt
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Your Moment of Zen
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