The Breakfast Cub (Rock Stars)

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

Julius and Ethel Rosenberg convicted of Cold War espionage; Lt. William Calley, Jr. convicted in the Vietnam War’s My Lai massacre; U.S. troops leave South Vietnam; Attorney Johnnie Cochran dies.

Breakfast Tunes

The US government dropped its court fight against Apple after it successfully pulled data from the iPhone of San Bernardino gunman Syed Farook, according to court records.

The development on Monday effectively ended a six-week legal battle poised to shape digital privacy for years to come. Instead, Silicon Valley and Washington are poised to return to a simmering cold war over the balance between privacy and law enforcement in the age of apps.

Justice Department lawyers wrote in a court filing Monday evening that they no longer needed Apple’s help in getting around the security countermeasures on Farook’s device.

Falkland Islands lie in Argentinian waters, rules UN commission

Argentina’s government is celebrating a decision by a UN commission to expand its maritime territory in the South Atlantic Ocean by 35% to include the disputed Falkland islands and beyond.

The Argentine foreign ministry said its waters had increased by 1.7 million square km (0.66 million square miles) and the decision will be key in its dispute with Britain over the islands. Argentina lost a brief, bloody 1982 war with Britain after Argentinian troops seized the South Atlantic archipelago that Latin Americans call the Malvinas.

The UN commission on the limits of the continental shelf sided with Argentina, ratifying the country’s 2009 report fixing the limit of its territory at 200 to 350 miles from its coast.

Too early to say if EU-Turkey refugee deal is working

Initial reports indicate a decline in the number of refugees trying to cross to Greece from Turkey since Ankara and the EU concluded their controversial agreement on refugees. The agreement foresees the return to Turkey, as of April 1, of all those who crossed illegally to Greece after March 20. Turkey will in return send a similar number of “legal refugees” to Europe.

On paper all looks fine – although the legality of the deal is still being questioned – and the initial signs show that the arrangement may be working. There are also signs that the Turkish coast guard and navy are monitoring the seas between Turkey and Greece more closely.

Greek officials are nevertheless cautious. They suggest that the decline in numbers may be seasonal, and are bracing for spring when a new deluge may be uncontrollable, even if a large number of crossings are prevented.

California governor announces landmark $15 minimum wage deal

California governor Jerry Brown has announced a deal to raise the state minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2022, marking the largest victory to date of the national “Fight for $15” campaign to raise pay for low-income workers.

“It’s a matter of economic justice, it makes sense, and it will help our entire state do much better for its citizens,” Brown said at a midday press conference announcing the proposal. “Once again California is showing we can do right by workers, we can advance our economy, and we can do it by the legislative process.”

Under the terms of the proposal, the state minimum wage, which is currently $10.00, will increase by $0.50 per year for two years, and then $1 per year for four years, until it reaches $15 in 2022. Businesses with 25 or fewer employees will have an additional year to phase in the increases. Beginning in 2024, the wage will be indexed to inflation. The deal extends paid sick days to home-care workers and includes “off ramps” that allow the governor to delay implementation in the event of a recession or budgetary shortfalls.

Images Show ISIS Didn’t Completely Destroy Palmyra

The first images and videos released of the historic Syrian city of Palmyra, which government forces retook from the self-styled Islamic State on Sunday, have given archaeologists hope that many of the historic city’s structures are still intact and restorable.

Footage of parts of the city appeared to show that it had been reduced to rubble, and Syrian television showed many valuable artifacts inside Palmyra’s museum smashed or torn up. But Palmyra as a whole hasn’t been destroyed to the degree that many experts feared.

“We were expecting the worst. But the landscape, in general, is in good shape,” Maamoun Abdulkarim, Syria’s Directorate-General for Antiquities and Museums, told Agence France-Presse. “The joy I feel is indescribable.”

The Media, Nick Kristof Included, Still Doesn’t Understand Its Role in Creating Donald Trump Charles Pierce, Esquire Politics

The StuxNet Team Reunion emoptywheel aka Marcy Wheeler, emptywheel

Highlighting Western Victims While Ignoring Victims of Western Violence Glenn Greenwald, The Intercept

Edifying Tales For The Young Pioneers Of Gun-Ism Steve M., Crooks and Liars

DOJ To Court: We Got Into The iPhone, So Please Drop Our Demand To Force Apple To Help Us… This Time mike Masnick, Techdirt