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 January 17th:
Ben Franklin born; Warsaw liberated from the Nazis; Eisenhower’s farewell address; Magnitude 7.2 earthquake hits Japan; Al Capone, Muhammad Ali born
Susanna Hoffs, lead singer for the Bangles born January 17th 1961.
Breakfast TuneThe Cleverlys – Walk Like An Egyptian
Something to Think about, Breakfast News & Blogs Below
Obama declares Flint water emergency as Sanders blames Michigan governor
Martin Pengelly, The Guardian
…On Saturday the White House authorized the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) to provide water, filters, cartridges and other supplies for 90 days. Republican governor Ricky Snyder asked Obama for help on Friday, saying emergency measures could cost $41m.
Democratic candidate for president Bernie Sanders called for Snyder to resign on Saturday, saying he has “no excuses” for the the disaster.
“The governor long ago knew about the lead in Flint’s water,” the Vermont senator said in a statement issued by his campaign. “He did nothing. As a result, hundreds of children were poisoned. Thousands may have been exposed to potential brain damage from lead. Gov[ernor] Snyder should resign.” …
Pro-independence candidate wins Taiwan presidential election
The Associated Press
Pro-independence party candidate Tsai Ing-wen claimed victory in Taiwan’s presidential election late Saturday, defeating the China-friendly party that has led the self-governing island for eight years. Tsai will be the nation’s first female head of state.
Voters concerned that Taiwan’s economy is under threat from China and broadly opposed to Beijing’s demands for political unification resoundingly chose Tsai over the Nationalists’ Eric Chu, a late entry to the race after the party’s original candidate was seen as alienating voters.
Tsai said her victory was a further show of how ingrained democracy has become on Taiwan and demonstrated that its people wish for a government “steadfast in protecting this nation’s sovereignty.” …
Oil price woes deepen as Iran vows to add 500,000 barrels a day
Katie Allen, The Guardian
Global oil prices will remain under pressure this week after Iran said it was ready to add half a million barrels a day to crude exports just hours after international sanctions were lifted this weekend.
Iran’s president, Hassan Rouhani, hailed a “glorious victory” as his country relished reconnecting to the global economy following the formal announcement late on Saturday that sanctions were ending thanks to moves by Tehran to scale back its nuclear programme.
Iran returns to international oil markets with prices hovering near 12-year lows because of a supply glut and waning global demand as economic growth falters. The prospect of Iran flooding the market with more crude had already dented prices last week, pushing Brent crude below $30 a barrel. …
‘Welcome to America’: Australia’s First Female Muslim Parliamentarian ‘Interrogated’ at LAX
Bethania Palma Markus, Raw Story
Australia’s first female, Muslim lawmaker was dragged in for interrogation at Los Angeles International Airport, according to Australian news reports.
Mehreen Faruqi is a member of the Australian parliament, representing New South Wales, ABC Australia reports. She posted to Twitter on Thursday that she flew into LAX and was promptly fingerprinted. Airport security then asked her how she and her travel companions “got” Australian passports.
“Welcome to America,” she wrote wryly.
Faruqi immigrated to Australia from Pakistan in 1992 and joined the Greens Party in 2004. She became a member of parliament in 2013. …
The EPA Finally Admitted That the World’s Most Popular Pesticide Kills Bees—20 Years Too Late
Tom Philpott, Mother Jones
Bees are dying in record numbers—and now the government admits that an extremely common pesticide is at least partially to blame.
For more than a decade, the Environmental Protection Agency has been under pressure from environmentalists and beekeepers to reconsider its approval of a class of insecticides called neonicotinoids, based on a mounting body of research suggesting they harm bees and other pollinators at tiny doses. In a report released Wednesday, the EPA basically conceded the case.
…
The agency still has to consider public comments on the bee assessment it just released, and it also has to complete a risk assessment of imidacloprid’s effect on other species. In addition to their impact on bees, neonic pesticides may also harm birds, butterflies, and water-borne invertebrates, recent studies suggest. Then there are the assessments of the other four neonic products that need to be done. Meanwhile, a coalition of beekeepers and environmental groups filed a lawsuit in federal court Wednesday pointing out that the agency has never properly assessed neonics in their most widely used form: as seed coatings, which are then taken up by crops.
- Why are the Oscar nominees so white?
Mikki Kendall, Washington Post
- Coal Ash Wastewater Will Be Dumped Into Virginia Rivers
Alejandro Davila Fragoso, Think Progress
- Before I Can Fix This Tractor, We Have to Fix Copyright Law
Kyle Wiens, Slate
Something to Think about over Coffee Prozac
Oregon occupiers ask public for supplies: get glitter, sex toys
Daniel Wallis
(Reuters) – Gifts of sex toys, glitter and nail polish are not what the armed protesters who seized a U.S. wildlife refuge in Oregon were expecting when they put out a public call for supplies to help get them through the winter.
The occupiers, who took over buildings at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge on Jan. 2 in the latest conflict over the U.S. government’s control of land in the West, had been hoping for snacks, fuel and warm clothes when they provided sympathizers with a local mailing address.
Instead, as they angrily showed online, they received sex-related toys and food that would be of little use as they braced for a long standoff with federal law enforcement agents who have kept watch from a distance. …
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