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
Tet offensive begins in Vietnam; Adolph Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany; Franklin D. Roosevelt born; Mahatma Gandhi assassinated; ‘Bloody Sunday’ in Northern Ireland; The Lone Ranger debuts on radio.
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Breakfast News
Senators introduce bipartisan bill to erase all US travel restrictions to Cuba
Describing a new “reality” with Cuba, a bipartisan group of senators has introduced new legislation that would erase all travel restrictions for US citizens to visit the country.
The move came two weeks after the Obama administration eased restrictions on some US travel to Cuba as part of a broad effort to normalize relations between the two countries.
“We’ve tried this current policy that we have prohibiting travel for about 50 years, and it hasn’t worked, so it’s time for something new,” said Republican senator Jeff Flakeof Arizona at a news conference on Capitol Hill to introduce the bill on Thursday. “It’s time to allow Americans to travel freely to Cuba,” he said, according to ABC News.
At least 26 killed in Egypt as militants attack army and police targets in Sinai
Egyptian security forces suffered one of the bloodiest days in their peacetime history yesterday, with at least 26 people reported to have been killed in a series of attacks on soldiers and police in north-east Sinai, where the government has struggled to contain an 18-month insurgency by militants linked to Islamic State (Isis).
Isis’s affiliate in the region, Province of Sinai, claimed responsibility for the killings, after issuing warnings on jihadist forums earlier in the day that an attack was in the offing. The affiliate, known as Ansar Beit al-Maqdis until its declaration of allegiance to Isis in November, recently released pictures of its masked gunmen training in the desert.
Classified: US Military Imposes ‘Startling’ Blackout On Key Details Of War In Afghanistan
In an unprecedented blackout, top U.S. military officials have quietly classified key information about how they are spending the over $65 billion dollars appropriated since 2002 to train Afghan forces.
New York Times reporter Matthew Rosenberg, who broke the story in the press on Thursday, explained, “until this month the American-led coalition regularly shared details on how the money was being put to use and on the Afghan forces’ progress.”
However, this information has been suddenly declared off-limits, meaning that over 100 critical aspects of U.S. policy in Afghanistan are shielded from public disclosure.
Cuba’s Raul Castro: If US Really Wants Normal Relations, It Must Give Back Guantanamo Base
In order to achieve fully normalized relations, the United States must return the base at Guantánamo Bay to Cuba, the island nation’s President Raul Castro said Wednesday.
The remarks follow a historic restoration of diplomatic relations between the two countries that began in December.
Speaking at the summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) in Costa Rica, Castro also called for an end to the embargo and for Cuba to be taken off the list of state sponsors of terror.
Gorbachev: US Pulled Russia Into New Cold War That Could Turn ‘Hot’
Mikhail Gorbachev stated that the United States has pulled Russia into a new Cold War that faces the risk of further escalation.
The 83-year-old former Soviet leader made the comments on Thursday in an interview with Russian news agency Interfax.
“The U.S. has already dragged us into a new Cold War, trying to openly implement its idea of triumphalism,” he is quoted as saying.
“Where will that lead all of us?” he said.
Obama must finally end NSA phone record collection, says privacy board
The US government’s privacy board is calling out President Barack Obama for continuing to collect Americans’ phone data in bulk, a year after it urged an end to the controversial National Security Agency program.
The Obama administration could cease the mass acquisition of US phone records “at any time”, the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB) said in an assessment it issued on Thursday.
The PCLOB’s assessment comes amid uncertainty over the fate of legislation to cease that collection. An effort intended to stop it, known as the USA Freedom Act, failed in the Senate in November. While the administration said after its defeat that Obama would push for a new bill, it has yet to do so in the new Congress, and the president has thus far pledged in his State of the Union address only to update the public on how the bulk-surveillance program now works in practice.
Measles outbreak jumps to 96 cases as worry grows over Super Bowl impact
he measles outbreak which started at Disneyland has grown to 96 confirmed cases in eight states, with California accounting for the vast majority.
At least nine new cases surfaced in recent days, including two in Arizona, where health officials worry that hundreds of people may have been exposed to the virus on the eve of the state hosting the Super Bowl.
The latest national numbers were “about what you would expect”, Matt Zahn, medical director of epidemiology and assessment for the Orange County Health Care Agency, told the Guardian on Thursday. The agency has found itself at the outbreak’s epicentre.
Republicans push through Keystone bill to set up showdown with Obama
Fresh from their first big legislative win in the new Congress, Republicans on Thursday called on Barack Obama to back down on his veto threat and sign into law a bill approving construction of the Keystone XL pipeline.
As the Keystone bill glided to a 62-36 passage in the Senate, with nine Democrats voting in favour, Republicans stepped up their challenge to Obama’s authority and urged him to sign off on the pipeline project. [..]
But that bill is highly unlikely to become law. The White House has said repeatedly that Obama will veto the bill, and Republicans do not have the support to overcome the veto.
Dartmouth bans hard alcohol, forbids Greek life pledging
Dartmouth College on Thursday announced sweeping changes aimed at curbing dangerous behavior on campus, saying it will ban hard liquor, forbid pledging at fraternities and sororities, and require all students to undergo a four-year sexual violence prevention program.
The major overhaul, spelled out by President Philip Hanlon in a speech to the Dartmouth community, places the school among the leaders of colleges targeting binge drinking, sexual assaults, and other problems. Hanlon warned Greek organizations that if they fail to make improvements, their future could be in doubt.
Further Proving One-Sided Recovery, One in Five US Children on Food Assistance
One in five U.S. children relied on food assistance in 2014-a figure higher than before the recession-highlighting the uneven results of the so-called economic recovery, new information from the U.S. Census Bureau reveals.
That total is up from one in eight in 2007, according to data released Wednesday. While single-parent families with only a mother present who received food stamps jumped the highest-up 8.1 million from 5.5. million in 2007-figures increased across the board.
Married-parent families in need of assistance went up to 5.2 million from 2.7 million, while those with two unmarried parents jumped to 1.2 million from .5 million.
Bill Would Allow Texas Teachers To Kill Students
People who are concerned about the use of excessive force by law enforcement may have to deal with another fatal can of worms. If Texas state Rep. Dan Flynn (R) gets his way, teachers will have the right to use deadly force against students in Texas classrooms, in the near future.
The Lone Star State already permits teachers to have firearms in the classroom, but H.B. 868, also known as the Teacher’s Protection Act, would authorize instructors to use “force or deadly force on school property, on a school bus, or at a school-sponsored event in defense of the educator’s person or in defense of students of the school that employs the educator.” Instructors would also have the right to use deadly force “in defense of property of the school that employs the educator.” Moreover, civil immunity would be granted to those who use deadly force, meaning they would not be liable for the injury or death of student.
Must Read Blog Posts
US Government Grows Increasingly Frustrated with Judge Challenging State Secrets Claims in No Fly List Case Kevin Gosztola, FDL The Dissenter
“Just Like Witches at Black Masses” Big Al, caucus99percent
Did Obama Order Total Information Shutdown on Afghanistan? Jim White, emptywheel
Insane U.S. Oil Glut Wars Glen Ford, Black Agenda Report
Sellouts: The Senate & The Keystone XL Pipeline Charles P. Pierce, Esquire’s Politics Blog
Anti-Muslim Protesters Shout Islamophobic Insults At Muslims In Texas Capitol John Amato, Crooks and Liars
So much for that militarization of the police issue digby , Hullabaloo
Feds Gagged Google Over Wikileaks Warrants Because They Were ‘Upset By The Backlash’ To Similar Twitter Warrants Mike Masnick. Techdirt
You Don’t Own What You Bought: Drone Maker Updates Firmware On All Drones To Stop Any Flights In DC Mike Masnick, Techdirt