The Breakfast Club (It’s Our Lives)

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.

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This Day in History

Rutherford B. Hayes declared U.S. President after disputed election, Mikhail Gorbachev born, “King Kong” and “The Sound of Music” premiere in NYC.

Breakfast Tunes

Something to Think about over Coffee Prozac

All new states are invested, more or less, by a class of noisy, second-rate men who are always in favor of rash and extreme measures, but Texas was absolutely overrun by such men.

Sam Houston

Nothing has changed, Sam

Breakfast News

Chinese manufacturing fall adds to evidence of sharp global downturn

China’s factories have stumbled through last month’s new year celebrations to join a broad decline in manufacturing across Europe and the US, adding further evidence of sharp downturn in the global economy since the beginning of the year.

Factory output contracted in China and the UK during February while growth slowed in France, Germany, Italy and the US to indicate that businesses and consumers remain wary of committing themselves to large orders while the direction of global trade remains uncertain.

UK manufacturers, which cut jobs for the second month in a row, were among the worst hit following a tumble in monthly exports.

Italy Moves to Toughen Penalties for Olive Oil Fraud

Italian lawmakers voted on Tuesday to stiffen a legislative decree that Italian olive oil producers and other critics charged would decriminalize olive oil counterfeiting.

Commissions in both houses of Parliament approved the decree but recommended that the government ensure that criminal law prevail over administrative sanctions, such as simple fines, in cases of commercial fraud.

The decree will now return to the government, which must draft a final version. The recommendations of the commissions are not binding, but it is rare that the government does not act on them.

Congress tells FBI that forcing Apple to unlock iPhones is ‘a fool’s errand’

The Justice Department is on a “fool’s errand” trying to force Apple to unlock the iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino terrorists, lawmakers told FBI director James Comey on Tuesday.

Lawmakers of both parties sharply challenged Comey as the House judiciary committee considered the FBI’s court order to unlock an iPhone owned by Syed Farook, who with his wife killed 14 people at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, California, in December and was killed by law enforcement.

Legislators repeatedly accused the Justice Department of overreaching its authority and undermining both privacy and cybersecurity. Several endorsed Congress passing a law settling the boundaries – something Apple supports – and accused the FBI of trying to circumvent Congress by launching a lawsuit against Apple.

Texas fears ‘brain drain’ now that public universities will allow guns on campus

Whenever headhunters called, Frederick Steiner would tell them thanks but no thanks – he was content in his job as dean of the school of architecture at the University of Texas at Austin. Then the state passed a “campus carry” law and recruiters heard a different answer.

Amid fears that the law’s passage is leading to a “brain drain” of academics and will discourage students from applying, Steiner’s is a high profile departure tied to the new statute. One of the university’s most distinguished professors, he will become the dean of the University of Pennsylvania School of Design in the summer.

“I was very happy in Austin and love the University of Texas and the school of architecture,” he said. But the law, on top of worries over the effect of budget cuts, persuaded him to move to his alma mater.

Florida drops bill to open fracking in the Everglades after public outcry

Environmentalists in Florida are celebrating the failure of an oil industry-backed bill they say would have opened a pathway to fracking in the ecologically sensitive Everglades wetlands.

State lawmakers unexpectedly dropped the measure in a hearing in Tallahassee on Tuesday, just as they were about to begin debate on the controversial, high-pressure drilling practice, bowing instead to a groundswell of public opinion.

More than 40 local authorities around Florida had already passed ordinances or resolutions banning fracking for oil and natural gas on their lands, a power they would have been forced to cede to a single state agency had the bill become law.

In San Francisco, you will soon need to be 21 to buy cigarettes

San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors voted unanimously on Tuesday to raise the legal age to buy tobacco products to 21 from 18, joining New York City, Boston and Hawaii in lifting the minimum age.

San Francisco becomes the second-largest city after New York City to raise the minimum age to buy cigarettes and other tobacco products, including e-cigarettes. The ordinance goes into effect 1 June.

Supervisor Scott Wiener, chief sponsor of the legislation, said raising the age will discourage young people from turning into lifelong smokers.

Alaska’s mild winter means snow has to be shipped in before Iditarod dog race

A lack of snow in Anchorage, Alaska, is forcing organizers of the famous Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race to ship tons of it in by train for the event’s ceremonial start on Saturday.

The mild winter in Anchorage, the state’s largest city, also could mean a shortened version of the 11-mile route, a fan-friendly event that is held a day earlier than the actual start of the race. On Saturday, temperatures are expected to be above freezing.

The competitive start of the nearly 1,000-mile race will be held Sunday in Willow, 50 miles north of Anchorage.