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
‘Son of Sam’ killer David Berkowitz caught near New York City; Leno and Rosemary LaBianca murdered by Charles Manson’s cult; FDR stricken with polio; The Smithsonian Institution established.
Breakfast Tunes
The only greater thing than sailing with the dolphins is swimming with the dolphins.
Breakfast News
Obama pledges long-term campaign to fight Iraq’s spreading jihadist crisis
Barack Obama has committed the US to long-term involvement in Iraq, warning that the rapidly evolving crisis in the north would not be solved quickly.
Conceding that the advance of the Islamic State (formerly Isis) forces had been swifter than anticipated – details emerged on Saturday of the jihadists opening another front as they crossed into Lebanon from Syria – the president accepted there was no quick fix. His warning came as the archbishop of Irbil’s Chaldean Catholics told the Observer fewer than 40 Christians remained in north-western Iraq after a jihadist rampage that has forced thousands to flee from Mosul and the Nineveh plains into Irbil in the Kurdish north.
U.S. launches new airstrikes on ISIS militants
The U.S. military says American jet fighters and drones have conducted four more airstrikes on Islamic militants in Iraq, taking out armoured carriers and a truck that were firing on civilians.
U.S. Central Command says the strikes were spread out, with three before noon ET on Saturday and one about 3 p.m.
The military says indications suggest that the strikes were successful in destroying the armoured vehicles.
This is the third round of airstrikes against Islamic State (ISIS) forces by the U.S. military since they were authorized by President Barack Obama
Louisiana hospital unwittingly supplied execution drug to prison
A Louisiana hospital unknowingly provided the state’s department of corrections with a drug used for lethal injections, it was revealed this week.
The Louisiana department of corrections purchased 20 vials of hydromorphone from Lake Charles Memorial hospital a week before the scheduled execution of Christopher Sepulvado, but did not inform the hospital of its intended use for the drug, according to a report by non-profit news group the Lens. The same report noted that the purchase was revealed in a document provided by the state in a lawsuit challenging its lethal-injection practice.
Ebola crisis: Guinea closes borders with Sierra Leone and Liberia
Guinea closed its borders with Sierra Leone and Liberia on Saturday in a bid to halt the spread of an Ebola epidemic that has killed nearly 1,000 people in the three countries this year.
Authorities said the decision was taken primarily to prevent infected people crossing into Guinea, a country where at least 367 people have died of Ebola since March and 18 others are being treated in isolation.
The west African outbreak of Ebola is the worst the world has faced and the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday it represents an international health emergency that will likely continue for months.
US and Germany threaten Russia with ‘additional consequences’ over Ukraine
On a busy day of diplomatic activity, President Barack Obama and the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, agreed on Saturday that Russia would face “additional consequences” if it intervened in Ukraine without permission from the Ukrainian government, the White House said.
In a statement about a call between Obama and Merkel that took place while Obama was aboard Air Force One, flying to Massachusetts for a scheduled vacation, the White House said: “The two leaders agreed that any Russian intervention in Ukraine, even under purported ‘humanitarian’ auspices, without the formal, express consent and authorisation of the government of Ukraine is unacceptable, violates international law, and will provoke additional consequences.”
Uganda holds first pride rally after ‘abominable’ anti-gay law overturned
Uganda has hosted its first gay pride rally since a draconian anti-homosexuality law was overturned by the courts.
Sandra Ntebi, organiser of the rally held on Saturday in Entebbe, 35km from the capital Kampala, said police had granted permission for the invitation-only “Uganda Pride” event.
“This event is to bring us together. Everyone was in hiding before because of the anti-homosexuality law,” she said. “It is a happy day for all of us, getting together.”
The overturned law, condemned as “abominable” by rights groups but popular among many Ugandans, called for proven homosexuals to be jailed for life.
Egypt: court dissolves Muslim Brotherhood’s political wing
An Egyptian court has dissolved the Freedom and Justice party, the political wing of the banned Muslim Brotherhood.
A court banned the Muslim Brotherhood itself in September, but that ruling did not cover its political wing, leaving open the possibility that it could be allowed to run in parliamentary elections. But the latest ruling, made on Saturday, effectively bans the Brotherhood from formal participation in electoral politics.
Eight firefighters suffer burns battling California blaze
Eight firefighters who suffered minor burns while battling a wildfire in Northern California left the hospital Saturday as crews gained enough ground on other blazes across the West to allow hundreds of people to return to their homes.
Three firefighters from Santa Clara County and five inmate firefighters from the Salt Creek Camp, a minimum-security facility in California, received minor burns as they battled a fast-moving blaze about 160 miles north of San Francisco in Mendocino County late Friday night.
The inmate crews work side by side with firefighters and do everything from battling blazes to helping build containment lines, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokeswoman Lynne Tolmachoff said.
Super moon could outshine meteor shower
Aug. 10 brings the start of the “Old Faithful” of meteor showers, the Perseids, as well as a super moon.
The prolific Perseids show up once a year, in August, filling the night sky with as many as 80 shooting stars an hour. This year’s show coincides with the arrival of a super moon, which occurs when the Earth and moon are at their closest.
Super moons bring with them 30% more light. That’s a problem as it makes the meteors less visible.
Still, the two events together make this a good few days to spend some time outside at night, says Ben Burress, an astronomer with the Chabot Space and Science Center in Oakland.
Must Read Blog Posts
U.S. “Humanitarian” Bombing of Iraq: A Redundant Presidential Ritual by Glenn Greenwald, The Intercept
Leaked Files: German Spy Company Helped Bahrain Hack Arab Spring Protesters Cora Currier and Morgan Marquis-Boire, The Intercept
Propaganda Alert, Mainstream Corporate Media – ISIS. BEWARE!! Big Al, Voices on the Square
CIA Intervention in Ukraine Has Been Taking Place for Decades Jeff Kaye, FDL’s The Dissenter
DOJ and Treasury Schooled by College Athletes Petrr, MyFDL
To the FCC on the issue of Network Neutrality OPOL, Humanitarian Left
A New Story Brings Up an Old Death The Rude Pundit
Department of Useful Information
My solution to sleeping on a bus: tie your head to the chair. It's better than a neck pillow. pic.twitter.com/0U2Qf5zzXr
— Thailand/Elise (@Thailander) August 10, 2014
Something to Think about over Coffee Prozac
There is no flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people.
Stupid Shit by LaEscapee
What do you do when people hate you?
Cross posted at The Stars Hollow Gazette and Voices on the Square
