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: Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn cover Europe’s “The Final Countdown”
Today in History: October 11th
Congress OK’s U.S. military force against Iraq; Former President Jimmy Carter wins Nobel Peace Prize; Anita Hill accuses Supreme Court pick Clarence Thomas; Second Vatican Council opens; ‘SNL’ premieres. (Oct. 11)
Something to Think about, Breakfast News & Blogs Below
‘We’re witnessing a massacre – and those responsible will not be brought to justice’
Constanze Letsch, The Guardian
More than 90 people were killed and 245 wounded in the worst terror attack in Turkey’s recent history, after two explosions targeted a peace rally in the centre of the country’s capital, Ankara.
The near simultaneous explosions by suspected suicide bombers ripped through a main junction close to the city’s central railway station as thousands started to gather for a peace march organised by several leftwing groups, including trade unions and the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic party (HDP), to call for an end to the escalating violence between the Turkish government and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ party (PKK).
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The prime minister’s office banned media coverage of the attack, citing “security reasons”, though several local media groups said they would ignore the ministry’s orders. Access to social media services, such as Twitter, was temporarily only possible through VPN in Turkey. …
Hundreds of Thousands March in Berlin Against TTIP Trade Deal
Common Dreams staff
Hundreds of thousands of people rallied on Saturday afternoon in the German capital against the massive Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) accord being negotiated by the European Union and the United States. Critics say the trade deal will benefit large corporations at the expense of average Europeans.
Trade unions, environmental groups, NGOs and anti-globalization groups were among the organizers of the huge rally, which went from the main railway station in central Berlin to the national parliament. Over 250,000 people turned out for the event – many more than the 50,000 to 100,000 expected, but Berlin police claimed the number was closer to their initial expectation of 100,000.
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“Never before have we seen so many people take to the streets for this issue,” the German trade union confederation DGB, which helped organize the protest, said on Saturday.
Revealed: how ‘big tobacco’ used EU rules to win health delay
Jamie Doward, The Guardian
The world’s largest tobacco companies were instrumental in promoting Europe-wide, pro-business regulations that they used to delay health initiatives.
Analysis carried out by the University of Bath’s Tobacco Control Research Group (TCRG) has found that the companies played a key role in pushing the European commission’s Better Regulation agenda, which places business interests at the heart of policy drafting. They then used the new laws to block and delay a series of major health reforms, including UK introduction of plain packaging.
Under the terms of the Better Regulation agenda, which internal tobacco industry documents reveal was enthusiastically supported by British American Tobacco, European governments, including the UK, must conduct public consultations and impact assessments when introducing laws that affect business. The tobacco companies took advantage of these laws, using third parties and fake grassroots campaigns to swamp the consultations on anti-smoking initiatives such as the introduction of plain packaging. In addition, they were highly selective in what they submitted. All failed to include evidence – disclosed as a result of historic legal action – that they knew branded packaging was crucial to the marketing of their products, something they consistently denied in public. …
U.N. Upholds Human Rights, World Bank Dismisses Them
Thalif Deen, IPS
The United Nations has always remained one of the most vociferous and passionate advocates of human rights – exemplified in the creation in 2006 of a 47-member Human Rights Council in Geneva to uphold its mandate.
But, in its own political yard, a member of its extended family, namely the World Bank, is apparently working at cross-purposes.
Philip Alston, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights, has lambasted the World Bank for either marginalizing or ignoring human rights in its policies. …
- Explosions Rock Turkish Peace Rally; Police Block Ambulances Trying to Help Victims
Common Dreams staff - Tamir Rice shooting justified, say expert reports, as grand jury process continues
Afi Scruggs - Beltway media beclowns itself again: Kevin McCarthy, GOP extremism & the Village’s asinine false equivalence
Heather Digby Parton - Robert Reich: ‘Wall Street Is on the Road to Another Crisis’-Bernie Knows It, Why Doesn’t Hillary?
Robert Reich - Volkswagen executives describe authoritarian culture under former CEO
Reuters
Something to Think about over Coffee Prozac:
New England man offers to ship autumn foliage for $19.99
BOSTON (Reuters) – People who want to see New England’s colorful fall foliage no longer need to travel for the experience. A Boston-area man is offering to ship bundles of the dried up, multi-colored vegetation straight to your door for $19.99.
Kyle Waring, of Somerville, Massachusetts, set up the website shipfoliage.com earlier this year and began sending his first packages of hand-picked leaves to U.S. customers this week.
“I’ve hit over 200 sales so far,” he said. …
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