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
A divided U.S. Supreme Court halts the presidential recount in Florida, effectively making Republican George W. Bush the winner.
Breakfast Tunes
Breakfast News
Government shutdown averted as House passes omnibus spending bill
Republicans formed an unlikely alliance with the White House in a late-night scramble to pass a $1.1tn federal budget over the objections of House Democrats, who claim it has been hijacked by Wall Street lobbyists and campaign finance interests.
In dramatic scenes that mirrored the lead-up to the government shutdown of October 2013, White House chief of staff Denis McDonough spent three hours locked in talks with the House Democratic caucus on Thursday night trying to persuade its members to drop their opposition to the so-called “cromnibus” and pleading with them that it was the best deal available.
Eventually, with less than three hours to go until another government shutdown, House speaker John Boehner decide to gamble on receiving sufficient support from Democrats to overcome a rebellion on the right of his own party and called a final vote.
Minority congressional staffers walk out to protest police killings
Minority congressional staffers in Washington staged a brief walkout on the steps of Capitol Hill in a show of solidarity with protesters around the country following the grand jury decisions in the Michael Brown and Eric Garner cases.
Up to 200 staffers from a coalition of minority congressional groups, including the Congressional Black Associates, the Congressional Hispanic Staff Association, and the Congressional Asian Pacific American Staff Association, walked out of work for 15 minutes, organisers said. [..]
The protesters raised their hands in the air during the walkout, replicating a common pose throughout the protests that has often been accompanied with the words “Hands up, don’t shoot”.
Ferguson protesters sue to limit police use of force during demonstrations
The lawsuit names St Louis police chief Sam Dotson, St Louis County police chief Jon Belmar and Missouri highway patrol captain Ronald S Johnson. The three were leaders of the “unified command,” appointed by Governor Jay Nixon in August, which was responsible for protection related to civil unrest.
It isn’t clear when US district judge Carol Jackson will rule. Her decision will apply only to Missouri.
Police actions have had a chilling effect on demonstrators’ constitutional rights of assembly and free speech, their attorney, Thomas B Harvey, said.
Protests have spread across the country since the Brown decision and a grand jury decision in New York City not to indict a white officer in the death of Eric Garner, a black man who died gasping “I can’t breathe” while police were trying to arrest him for allegedly selling loose, untaxed cigarettes.
Lima climate talks agree on just one paragraph of deal with 24 hours left
Negotiators working on a deal to fight climate change have agreed on just a single paragraph of text, casting a shadow over the prospects for a strong outcome in Lima.
The talks – scheduled to end at noon local time on Friday after 10 full days – are intended to provide a clear blueprint for a global agreement to find climate change by the end of next year.
But while negotiators descended on Lima in a positive mood, buoyed by recent commitments from the US and China, the talks have fallen into a rut.
“We are going backwards,” said Alden Meyer, who monitors the climate negotiations for the Union of Concerned Scientists.
EU plans to scrap laws on clean air and waste recycling
EU plans to tackle air pollution that causes tens of thousands of premature deaths and make countries recycle more of their rubbish are to be scrapped, according to leaked documents.
At risk are a clean air directive designed to reduce the health impacts from air pollution caused by vehicles, industry and power plants, and a waste directive that would set states the target of recycling 70% of waste by 2030.
In a bid to prevent leaks, the EU’s powerful vice-president Frans Timmermans presented paper versions of the work plan proposals to the bloc’s commissioners on Wednesday, which were then collected afterwards, but copies have been seen by the Guardian.
Surge in Ebola infections leads to lockdown in eastern Sierra Leone
Authorities in Sierra Leone have imposed a two-week lockdown in the eastern district of Kono after health workers uncovered a surge of Ebola infections in the area, where the epidemic was thought to be largely under control.
The worst outbreak of Ebola on record has killed 6,533 people in the three west African countries most affected – Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea – and infected 18,118 people, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Thursday.
Sierra Leone, with a shortage of treatment centres and trained staff, has overtaken Liberia as the worst-affected nation, and until now the recent spread was believed to be centred on western areas around the capital, Freetown.
However, the WHO said on Wednesday that it had found bodies piled up at the only hospital in Kono, a district of about 350,000 people bordering Guinea.
Egyptian mummy emerges from coffin for first time in 2,300 years
A mummy emerged from its coffin for the first time in 2,300 years this week after several tense moments as scientists lifted the wooden lid.
The body, carefully pulled from the ancient box by conservator JP Brown and three other scientists at the Chicago Field Museum, belonged to a 14-year-old Egyptian boy named Minirdis. Brown and his colleagues will work on the mummy and coffin to repair damage and stabilize it for display and travel to an upcoming exhibition.
Revolutionary war-era time capsule found in Massachusetts state house
Crews worked carefully on Thursday to remove a time capsule dating back to 1795 from the granite cornerstone of the Massachusetts statehouse, where historians believe it was originally placed by Revolutionary war luminaries Samuel Adams and Paul Revere among others.
The time capsule is believed to contain items such as old coins and newspapers, but the condition of the contents was not known and the Massachusetts secretary of state, William Galvin, speculated that some could have deteriorated over time.
Originally made of cowhide, the time capsule was believed to have been embedded in the granite cornerstone of the building when construction on the state Capitol began in 1795. Adams was governor of Massachusetts at the time.
The time capsule was removed in the mid-19th century and its contents transferred to a copper box, Galvin said.
Must Read Blog Posts
How Fear Of Occupy Wall Street Undermined the Red Cross’ Sandy Relief Effort Justin Elliott and Jesse Eisinger. ProPublica
Like Canada’s Harper Government, Obama Administration Muzzling Its Scientists Steve Horn, MyFDL
Senate Report Reveals CIA Torture Program Originated in Same Department as MKULTRA Jeff Kaye, FDL The Dissenter
There is No Preparing for Health Care Calvinball Jon Walker, FDL
In Bungled Covert Operation, USAID Contractor Recruited Hip-Hop Artists to Help Topple Cuban Government Kevin Gosztola, FDL The Dissenter
SEC’s Mary Jo White Approves of Torture Yves Smith, naked capitalism
Mark Udall Says Full CIA Torture Report Should Be Declassified Scott Raab, Esquire’s Politics Blog
Dick Cheney Says CIA Torture Report Is ‘Full Of Crap’ — Then Admits He Hasn’t Read It Mike Masnick, Techdirt
European Commissioner For Human Rights And Key EU Privacy Committee Strongly Condemn Mass Surveillance And Bulk Data Retention Glyn Moody, Techdirt
Where Are They Now? Dozens of Prisoners Unaccounted For With Closure of US Bagram Prison Jim White, emptywheel
Torture? Obviously, But What About Litany Of Other Crimes? bmaz, emptywheel
Something to Think about over Coffee Prozac
Cromnificent
Heads Citibank wins, tails Citibank wins. You lose!