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
Nuremberg tribunal convicts top Nazi leaders of war crimes; Berlin Airlift ends; James Meredith registers at Ole Miss; Mozart’s ‘Magic Flute’ premieres; Actor James Dean killed in a car crash.
Breakfast Tunes
Something to Think about over Coffee Prozac
Until one has loved an animal a part of one's soul remains unawakened.
Breakfast News
David Cameron: Russia and Iran will not accept Syria without Assad
Britain and the US are miles apart from Iran and Russia on how to stop the bloodshed in Syria because Tehran and Moscow will not contemplate the end of the Assad regime, David Cameron has said.
The prime minister said working to end the four-year Syrian civil war was the “most difficult, intractable problem” that he and the US president, Barack Obama, had faced, as he gave the clearest explanation yet of the differences between the world leaders.
Saudi Arabia says there is ‘no future’ for Assad in Syria
Saudi Arabia has called on Bashar al-Assad to give up power or be removed by force, raising the global stakes at a time when the Russians are shipping troops and military hardware to Syria in an effort to prop up its beleaguered leader.
The threat was made on Tuesday by Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister, Adel Al-Jubeir.
“There is no future for Assad in Syria,” Jubeir told journalists at the UN general assembly. “There are two options for a settlement in Syria. One option is a political process where there would be a transitional council. The other option is a military option, which also would end with the removal of Bashar al-Assad from power.”
New York Law Blocks Judges From Practicing Medicine From The Bench
Drug court judges in New York will no longer be allowed to order defendants in recovery to stop taking doctor-prescribed medications as part of their treatment, as the result of a new law signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Public health experts say medication-assisted treatment such as Suboxone or methadone gives addicts the best chance at sobriety, but judges in New York routinely substituted their own opinion, arguing that those in their control should abide by strict abstinence.
The legislation was spurred by the White House’s Office of National Drug Control Policy, known as the drug czar, which announced in early February that drug courts would not receive federal funding if they continued to force addicts off such medications.
New Zealand’s new ocean sanctuary will be one of world’s largest protected areas
New Zealand will create one of the largest marine protected areas in the world, spanning an area of 620,000 sq km.
The Kermadec ocean sanctuary will be one of the world’s most significant fully protected ecosystems, the prime minister of New Zealand, John Key, told the UN general assembly in New York.
The sanctuary is in the South Pacific Ocean, about 1000km north-east of New Zealand, and expands a marine reserve that surrounds a clutch of small islands.
Germany attributes spike in mushroom poisonings to foraging refugees
Most refugees have already defied the odds by the time they arrive in Europe, having typically undertaken perilous journeys across land and sea. But once they have reached Germany they are not out of danger, according to mushroom experts and doctors, who warn record numbers of people are becoming ill after eating poisonous mushrooms.
A leading German toxicologist has said poisonings are at an all-time high owing to the large number of newcomers foraging for mushrooms and mistaking those they find for varieties found in their homelands.
Prof Siegmar Berndt, thead toxicologist of the German Mycological Society, said he had never come across so many cases. “In my 70-year lifespan there have never been so many mushroom poisonings as there have been so far this year,” he told the Guardian.
Edward Snowden’s first Twitter troll: Republican candidate George Pataki
It didn’t take long after Edward Snowden joined Twitter for the NSA whistleblower to acquire his first Twitter troll: Republican presidential long-shot George Pataki.
Pataki, the former three-term governor of New York who has languished at the bottom of polls so far in this presidential campaign, went after Snowden in a series of tweets on Tuesday.
The New York Republican initially greeted Snowden’s arrival by Twitter by calling him “a traitor”.
United States’ first marijuana resort to be opened in South Dakota
The Santee Sioux is opening the nation’s first marijuana resort on its reservation in South Dakota. The experiment could offer a new money-making model for tribes nationwide seeking economic opportunities beyond casinos.
Santee Sioux leaders plan to grow their own marijuana and sell it in a smoking lounge that will include a nightclub, arcade games, bar and food service and, eventually, slot machines and an outdoor music venue.
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Must Read Blog Posts
Today in Colossal Dickitude Charles Pierce, Esquire Politics
TSA Security Still Not Secure But Maybe We Can Keep Our Shoes on Soon emptywheel aka Marcy Wheeler, emptywheel
Tony Benn’s Ten-Minute History Lesson on Neoliberalism Gaius Publius, Hullabaloo
[UPDATE] Brookings Institution Under Fire For Wall Street Shilling Dan Wright, The Bullpen @ ShadowProof
Anonymous Hacktivists Target Saudi Arabia To Prevent Brutal Execution Of 21 Year Old Kevin O’Connell, Community @ ShadowProof
Court Smacks Prosecutors For Refiling Identical Charges In Hopes Of Keeping Evidence From Being Suppressed Tim Cushing, Techdirt
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