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.
Listen to yourself and in that quietude you might hear the voice of God.
— Maya Angelou (@DrMayaAngelou) May 23, 2014
May the Goddess guide Maya on her journey to the Summerlands. May her family and friends and the world find Peace.
Blessed Be. The Wheel Turns
TheMomCat
This Day in History
Breakfast News
Ohio judge orders moratorium on executions amid drug scrutiny
Following botched execution in Oklahoma, a federal judge stays state’s executions to allow arguments over lethal injections
A US judge ordered a two-and-a-half-month moratorium Wednesday on executions in Ohio to allow time for arguments over the state’s new lethal injection procedures, which have drawn intense scrutiny.
Lethal injection, the primary means of execution in all 32 states with capital punishment, is under fire as never before because of botched executions, drug shortages caused by a European-led boycott, and a flurry of lawsuits over the new chemicals that states are using instead.
While public support for the death penalty remains strong in the US, concerns have been renewed by the botched execution of an Oklahoma inmate and an incident in January when an Ohio inmate snorted and gasped during the 26 minutes it took him to die.
The Ohio order delays executions scheduled for July and August while attorneys prepare filings about the state’s decision to boost the dosages of its lethal injection drugs.A US judge ordered a two-and-a-half-month moratorium Wednesday on executions in Ohio to allow time for arguments over the state’s new lethal injection procedures, which have drawn intense scrutiny.
Veterans health probe confirms cover-up of care delays
By David Lawder and Roberta Rampton, Reuters
Calls for U.S. Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki to resign grew louder on Wednesday as the agency’s inspector general confirmed “systemic” and widespread VA scheduling abuses to cover up long wait times for veterans’ healthcare.
The Department of Veterans Affairs’ internal watchdog is probing manipulation of appointment data at 42 VA medical centers, up from 26 last week, it said in an interim report on allegations of secret waiting lists.
“Our reviews at a growing number of VA medical facilities have thus far provided insight into the current extent of these inappropriate scheduling issues throughout the VA health care system,” the VA Inspector General’s Office said.
The office also said it has confirmed that “inappropriate scheduling practices are systemic” throughout the Veterans Health Administration.
Relatives remove Sierra Leone Ebola patients from clinic
World Health Organisation warns that Ebola is still spreading across west Africa nearly two months after outbreak was reported
Relatives of Ebola patients in Sierra Leone have been removing their loved ones from community health centres despite protests from medical staff, amid warnings from the World Health Organisation that the deadly and highly infectious disease is still spreading across west Africa nearly two months after an outbreak was first reported.
Guinea’s capital, Conakry, has recorded its first new Ebola cases in more than a month, and five people have died in Sierra Leone’s first confirmed outbreak of Ebola virus, according to the WHO.
Exclusive: Deadly pig virus re-infects U.S. farm, fuels supply fears
By Tom Polansek, Reuters
An Indiana farm has become the first to confirm publicly it suffered a second outbreak of a deadly pig virus, fueling concerns that a disease that has wiped out 10 percent of the U.S. hog population will be harder to contain than producers and veterinarians expected.
The farm, through its veterinarian, publicly acknowledged on Tuesday a repeat incident of Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea virus (PEDv), which has killed up to 7 million pigs and pushed pork prices to record highs since it was first identified in the United States a year ago.
Matt Ackerman, whose veterinary practice is in southeastern Indiana, told Reuters the farm’s operators did not want to be identified but authorized him to speak on their behalf.
Defense demands abuse evidence in USS Cole bombing case
By Tom Ramstack. Reuters
A Guantanamo Bay detainee accused of organizing the 2000 bombing of the U.S. warship USS Cole asked a military judge on Wednesday for a classified Senate report on CIA interrogation techniques as part of his defense in the death penalty case.
Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, a Saudi Arabian national of Yemeni descent, is accused of organizing the suicide bombing of the Cole that killed 17 American sailors and injured 42 in a Yemeni port.
Al-Nashiri was arrested in 2002 and held at secret Central Intelligence Agency prisons before being transferred to Guantanamo.
Egypt’s Sisi sweeps to victory in presidential vote
By Yasmine Saleh and Michael Georgy, Reuters
Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the general who toppled Egypt’s first freely elected leader, swept to victory in a presidential election, provisional results showed on Thursday, joining a long line of leaders drawn from the military.
But a lower than expected turnout figure raised questions about Sisi’s credibility after his supporters had idolised him as a hero who can deliver political and economic stability.
Sisi captured 93.3 percent of votes cast as counting nearly came to a close, judicial sources said. His only rival, leftist politician Hamdeen Sabahi, gained 3.0 percent while 3.7 percent of votes were declared void.
Must Read Blog Posts
Did Obama’s Handling of Karzai When Visiting Kabul Put Bilateral Security Agreement at Risk? by Jim White, emptywheel
Glenn Greenwald came in and trashed the place. And it’s not his place … by digby, Hullabaloo
The Result of Austerity and Neo-Liberalism is the Rise of the Neo-Fascist Right by Ian Welsh
Can Senator Leahy Actually Get Anything Done To Help With Civil Liberties And Innovation? by Mike Masnick, Techdirt
If you refuse to learn about us, what chance do we have? by rserven. Daily Kos
The Daily Wiki
In the social sciences, unintended consequences (sometimes unanticipated consequences or unforeseen consequences) are outcomes that are not the ones intended by a purposeful action. The term was popularised in the 20th century by American sociologist Robert K. Merton.
Unintended consequences can be roughly grouped into three types:
A positive, unexpected benefit (usually referred to as luck, serendipity or a windfall).
A negative, unexpected detriment occurring in addition to the desired effect of the policy (e.g., while irrigation schemes provide people with water for agriculture, they can increase waterborne diseases that have devastating health effects, such as schistosomiasis).
A perverse effect contrary to what was originally intended (when an intended solution makes a problem worse)
Something to Think about over Coffee Prozac
Courage is the most important of all the virtues, because without courage you can’t practice any other virtue consistently. You can practice any virtue erratically, but nothing consistently without courage.
~Maya Angelou~
Breakfast Tunes
Stupid Shit by LaEscapee
Cross posted at The Stars Hollow Gazette, Voices on the Square and GOS
