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 February 26th
The 1993 bombing of New York’s World Trade Center; President Ronald Reagan rebuked over Iran-Contra; France’s Napoleon Bonaparte escapes exile on Elba; Singers Fats Domino and Johnny Cash born.
Breakfast Tune Folsom Prison Blues (Johnny Cash) Banjo Cover – alice (lots of alice)
Something to think about, Breakfast News & Blogs below
‘Incredibly Disappointing’: Democrats Choose Tom Perez to Head Party
Andrea Germanos
Democrats on Saturday chose Tom Perez to lead the party, sparking criticism from progressive organizations who say picking the former labor secretary over the other front-runner, Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), was a missed opportunity for the party.
Perez’s win was secured in a second round of voting by the Democratic National Committee (DNC) gathered in Atlanta, getting 235 votes to Ellison’s 200.
It marks the end of a race many observers saw as a choice between the establishment and the progressive wing of the party. Ellison had the backing of lawmakers like Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and groups including National Nurses United and the Communications Workers of America; Perez was backed by “many from former President Obama’s political orbit,” as ABC News writes, and “is viewed—with good reason—as a reliable functionary and trustworthy loyalist by those who have controlled the party and run it into the ground,” journalist Glenn Greenwald wrote this week.
Erich Pica, president of Friends of the Earth Action, which supported Ellison, said the outcome showed “[t]he DNC is out of touch with the American public and their needs. Democratic leaders were at a crossroads and today they chose to continue the failed Clinton strategy of prioritizing wealthy donors over the activist base.” …
Canada PM Trudeau pressured to tackle influx of asylum seekers over US border
Ashifa Kassam
Justin Trudeau, Canada’s prime minister, is facing growing political pressure to address the steady stream of asylum seekers who have been braving freezing temperatures, fields of waist-deep snow and icy ditches to cross into Canada from the US by foot.
Recent months have seen a growing number of people entering Canada at remote, unguarded locations along the US border. Doing so allows the migrants – many of whom are desperate to flee Trump’s crackdown on immigration – to skirt a longstanding pact that bars most refugee claimants in the US from applying for asylum in Canada.
Advocates in Manitoba say they know of some 139 refugees – including children – who have made the perilous crossing since the start of the year, while groups in Quebec, British Columbia and Ontario also report a rise in irregular crossings. …
No debt relief for Greece, Germany’s deputy finance minister says
Michelle Martin; Editing by Mark Potter
Greece must not be granted a “bail in” that would involve creditors taking a loss on their loans, Germany’s deputy finance minister said in an interview broadcast on Sunday, reiterating the German government’s opposition to debt relief for Athens.
“There must not be a bail-in,” Jens Spahn told German broadcaster Deutschlandfunk, according to a written transcript of the interview.
“We think it is very, very likely that we will come to an agreement with the International Monetary Fund that does not require a haircut,” he said, referring to losses that Greece’s creditors would have to take if debt was written off. …
State Dept. Memo Warning Employees Against Leaking Is Immediately Leaked
Jon Queally
The leaks just keep on coming.
While President Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed frustration over the unsanctioned release of internal documents and information, the Washington Post reported Friday morning on the existence of a State Department memo specifically warning agency employees against unauthorized leaks.
How did the paper know about the memo? Because it was leaked, of course. …
- What Else is Wrong with Globalization
JOAN ROELOFS
- How the “guerrilla archivists” saved history – and are doing it again under Trump
MORGAN CURRIE AND BRITT S. PARIS
Something to think about over coffee prozac
Iceland’s President Wishes He Could Ban Pineapple As Pizza Toppings
Pineapple-topped pizzas leave the president of Iceland cold.
In fact, Guðni Th. Jóhannesson says if he could, he’d pass a law banning pineapple from being used as pizza topping in his country.
Jóhannesson made the saucy comments to a group of high school students in the town of Akureyri, according to Iceland magazine,
One of the students asked Jóhannesson his opinion on this cheesy topic and he didn’t mince words, according to Visier, an Icelandic language news website.
The president told the student he was firmly opposed to pineapple on pizzas. He added, perhaps with a tongue in his cheek (not a pineapple), that it is only the fact that he’s not allowed to pass laws that is keeping him from banning it entirely.
He later clarified he doesn’t hate pineapple all the time, just on pizza. …