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.
AP’s Today in History for November 8th
Adolf Hitler makes his first attempt to seize power in Germany; Democrat John F. Kennedy wins the presidency; Ronald Reagan is elected governor of California; Bonnie Raitt is born; Led Zeppelin releases the album ”Led Zeppelin Four.”. (Nov. 8)
Breakfast Tunes Kashmir on banjo and uke
Something to Think about, Breakfast News & Blogs Below
TPP Trade Pact Would Give Wall Street a Trump Card to Block Regulations
David Dayen, The Intercept
Banks and other financial institutions would be able to use provisions in the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership to block new regulations that cut into their profits, according to the text of the trade pact released this week.
In what may be the biggest gift to banks in a deal full of giveaways to Hollywood, the drug industry and technology firms, financial institutions would be able to appeal any national rules they didn’t like to independent, international tribunals staffed by friendly corporate lawyers.
That could nullify a proposal by Hillary Clinton to impose a “risk fee” on financial firms — or the Elizabeth Warren/Bernie Sanders plan to reinstate the firewall between investment and commercial banks. …
US border agency staff rejects body cameras
Al Jazeera and The Associated Press
Customs and Border Protection staff concluded after an internal review that agents and officers should not be required to wear body cameras, positioning the nation’s largest law enforcement agency as a counterweight to a growing number of police forces that use them to promote public trust and accountability.
The yearlong review cited cost and a host of other reasons to hold off, according to two people familiar with the findings who spoke on condition of anonymity because the findings have not been made public. It found operating cameras may distract agents while they are performing their jobs, may hurt employee morale and may be unsuited to the hot, dusty conditions in which Border Patrol agents often work.
The findings, in an August draft report, are subject to approval by Commissioner R. Gil Kerlikowske, who last year announced plans to test cameras at the agency that employs roughly 60,000 people. …
WHO officially declares Sierra Leone Ebola-free
Lisa O’Carroll and Umaru Fofana, The Guardian
Sierra Leone has been declared free of Ebola by the World Health Organisation, prompting nationwide celebrations tinged with sadness over the 4,000 lives the virus claimed. Freetown was transformed into a giant carnival on Friday night as ecstatic crowds took to the streets of the capital in an outpouring of emotion.
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In a moving ceremony in Freetown on Saturday morning, the WHO’s country director, Anders Nordström, confirmed that 42 days had passed without any new cases, thereby satisfying criteria that the virus was no longer being transmitted. A speech by Yusuf Kamara, a healthcare worker who lost 16 members of his family and survived the disease himself, brought tears and a standing ovation. “For us, Ebola is not over. We need your help to treat the many, many health problems we still suffer from. And remember those who died at the hands of Ebola, and especially the children who have been affected by this outbreak,” he said.Sierra Leone’s president, Ernest Bai Koroma, has ended the state of emergency declared during the outbreak, but the country will now enter a 90-day period of heightened surveillance to make sure the virus does not return. The National Ebola Response Centre (NERC) will continue to operate until the end of the year, and the swabbing of all dead bodies for Ebola will be mandatory until June 2016. …
Pentagon plan to close Guantánamo expected to include Colorado prison
Associated Press
The Pentagon’s plan outlining the long-stalled effort to close the Guantánamo Bay detention center, expected to be released in the coming week, includes details suggesting that the Centennial correctional facility in Colorado is one suitable site to send detainees whom officials believe should never be released, administration officials said.
The plan represents a last-gasp effort by the Obama administration to convince staunch opponents in Congress that dangerous detainees who cannot be transferred safely to other countries should be housed in a US-based prison.
According to administration officials, the plan makes no recommendations on which of seven US sites is preferred and provides no rankings. But it lists the prison sites in Colorado, South Carolina and Kansas that a Pentagon assessment team reviewed in recent months and mentions advantages and disadvantages for the facilities. Those elements can include the facilities’ locations, costs for renovations and construction, the ability to house troops and hold military commission hearings, and health care facilities. …
‘Assault on Free Speech in India’ as Government Moves to Destroy Greenpeace
Deirdre Fulton, Common Dreams
Marking an escalation of ongoing hostilities between the Indian government and Greenpeace India, the Tamil Nadu Registrar of Societies on Wednesday cancelled the environmental NGO’s license to operate in the country—a move akin to kicking the group out altogether.
“While several international leaders, including the United Nations Secretary General, have recently upheld the importance of civil society in healthy democracies, this notice is the latest assault on free speech in India,” Greenpeace India said in a statement. “Over the last 18 months, Greenpeace India has endured repeated attempts at suppression through different government authorities, and prepares yet again to seek legal redress.”
According to the cancellation notice (pdf), Greenpeace India Society’s registration was allegedly revoked for “fraudulently” conducting their business by falsifying balance sheets, and other violations of the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act of 1975. …
How Law Enforcement Can Use Google Timeline To Track Your Every Move
Jana Winter, The Intercept
THE RECENT EXPANSION of Google’s Timeline feature can provide investigators unprecedented access to users’ location history data, allowing them in many cases to track a person’s every move over the course of years, according to a report recently circulated to law enforcement.
“The personal privacy implications are pretty clear but so are the law enforcement applications,” according to the document, titled “Google Timelines: Location Investigations Involving Android Devices,” which outlines the kind of information investigators can now subpoena.
The Timeline allows users to look back at their daily movements on a map; that same information is also potentially of interest to law enforcement. “It is now possible to submit a legal demand to Google for location history greater than six months old,” the report says. “This could revitalize cold cases and potentially help solve active investigations.” …
- As Mission Creeps in Iraq and Syria, Lawmakers Ask: Will We Ever Vote on War?
Sarah Lazare, Common Dreams
- Chile Admits Pablo Neruda May Have Been Killed by Pinochet Regime
Nadia Prupis, Cmmon Dreams
- Day Before Deadly Bombing, U.S. Official Asked if Any Taliban Were “Holed Up” At MSF Hospital
Murtaza Hussain, The Intercept
Something to Think about over Coffee Prozac
Two centuries-old tombs unearthed beneath historic New York City park
Alan Yuhas in New York, The Guardian
City workers have discovered two burial vaults underneath Washington Square Park in New York City, uncovering the remains of at least a dozen people interred around two centuries ago.
Contractors for the city department of design and construction (DDC) uncovered the first vault on Tuesday, during excavations to replace a century-old water main on the east side of the park, in the heart of bustling Greenwich Village. The workers called an archaeologist contracted by the city, who opened a way into the chamber only 3.5ft beneath the sidewalk.
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The first vault was actually a rediscovery: power company ConEdison first uncovered the vault in 1965, finding 25 skeletons inside. Before this week’s excavation archaeologists knew the tomb existed, but were not sure where thanks to the company’s poor record-keeping. …