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
Nazi Germany’s capital Berlin falls in World War II; Artist Leonardo da Vinci dies; Civil War Gen. ‘Stonewall’ Jackson killed; Nelson Mandela claims victory in South Africa vote; Singer Bing Crosby born.
Breakfast Tunes
Something to Think about over Coffee Prozac
Some people are born mediocre, some people achieve mediocrity, and some people have mediocrity thrust upon them.
Breakfast News
Leaked TTIP documents cast doubt on EU-US trade deal
Talks for a free trade deal between Europe and the US face a serious impasse with “irreconcilable” differences in some areas, according to leaked negotiating texts.
The two sides are also at odds over US demands that would require the EU to break promises it has made on environmental protection.
President Obama said last week he was confident a deal could be reached. But the leaked negotiating drafts and internal positions, which were obtained by Greenpeace and seen by the Guardian, paint a very different picture.
Iraqi PM orders arrest of protesters who stormed Baghdad’s green zone
The Iraqi prime minister, Haider al-Abadi, has ordered authorities to arrest and prosecute the protesters who attacked security forces and legislators and damaged state property after breaking into Baghdad’s heavily fortified green zone to protest delays in reform plans.
Abadi’s statement came a day after hundreds of angry followers of the influential Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr tore down blast walls and poured into the parliament building, exacerbating a long-simmering political crisis.
Drug overdose epidemic has driven increase in organ donors, data shows
The devastating epidemic of drug overdose deaths in the US has led to an increase in organ donors, data from the federal government shows.
As the death rate from drug overdoses surged in the US over the last several years, the number of organ donors who died from overdoses increased from 1.1% of all deceased organ donors in 2000 to 9.34% in 2015, according to government data.
These numbers reflect a marginal improvement in one public health crisis – 22 people die each day waiting for an organ transplant – spurred by the damage of another.
The rate of deaths from drug overdoses has increased 137% since 2000, including a 200% increase in the rate of overdose deaths involving opioids.
Kenya torches stockpile of ivory in bid to protect wild elephants
The Kenyan president set fire to a huge stockpile of ivory on Saturday in an effort to show his country’s commitment to saving Africa’s elephants.
Uhuru Kenyatta ordered the destruction of more than 100 tonnes of tusks from around 6,700 elephants, stacked in 11 pyres at a ceremony in Nairobi national park. The fires, destroying a quantity seven times bigger than ever before, are expected to burn for several days.
Kenyatta, who was joined by other African leaders and foreign officials, has demanded a total ban on the ivory trade to protect wild elephants on the continent. The move has been supported by a range of conservation groups but criticised by others who claim it will encourage poaching.
History made as first Miami to Cuba cruise for 50 years sets sail
After a half-century of waiting, passengers have finally set sail from Miami on an historic cruise to Cuba.
Carnival Corp’s 704-passenger Adonia left port at about 4:24pm local time, bound for Havana. The ship will also visit the ports of Cienfuegos and Santiago de Cuba along the way.
The cruise comes after Cuba loosened its policy banning Cuban-born people from arriving to the country by sea, a rule that threatened to stop the cruises from happening.
When it first announced the cruises, Carnival said it would bar Cuban-born passengers due to the government’s policy. But the Cuban-American community in Miami complained and filed a discrimination lawsuit in response.
Breakfast Blogs
Will Ferrell Made the Right Choice Charles Pierce, Esquire Poltics
Jon Huntsman Blows With The Wind driftglass at his blog
Swag Slag digby aka Heather Digby Parton, Hullabaloo
Bikers Vs. Rioters — Hey, What Could Go Wrong? Steve M., No More Mister Nice Blog
Fight Breaks Out At WHCD Afterparty Between HuffPo’s Ryan Grim And Fox’s Jesse Watters Heather, Crooks and Liars