The Breakfast Club (The Times They Are Changin)

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

Martin Luther King Jr. gives speech before assasination; Bruno Richard Hauptmann electrocuted for kidnap and murder of Charles Lindbergh’s son; President Harry Truman signs Marshall plan; Jesse James shot to death; Pony Express begins service; Marlon Brando is born.

Breakfast Tunes

Something to Think about over Coffee Prozac

A hero is someone who understands the responsibility that comes with his freedom.

Bob Dylan

Breakfast News

Energy East Tar Sands Pipeline Hits Major Snag as TransCanada Forced to Scrap Terminal

The pipeline giant TransCanada has announced it is scrapping its plan for an oil export terminal on the St. Lawrence River in Cacouna, Québec, in turn delaying the completion of the Energy East tar sands pipeline for at least two years.

Explaining its decision, the corporation cited concerns over the terminal’s impact on Beluga whales, including a scientific report last December that recommended they be declared an endangered species with full protection of their habitat.

Astroturf Warning: TPP Critics Call Out Fake ‘Progressive’ Group Pushing Corporate Trade Agenda

Critics of the corporate-friendly Trans-Pacific Partnership are lining up against what they call an “astroturf” operation claiming to represent progressives in favor of Fast Tracking the sweeping and secretive trade deal.

No such progressives exist, they say.

Last month, a Democratic political consulting firm founded by former Obama administration staffers launched a website dubbed “Progressive Coalition for American Jobs,” which claimed to prove the existence of progressives who support trade promotion authority, or Fast Track power.

Fast Track, which will likely be taken up by Congress soon after lawmakers return from Easter recess on April 13, would make it easier for Obama to negotiate trade deals-including the massive 12-nation TPP-by preventing them from being amended by House or Senate members.

However, groups like Public Citizen, CREDO Action, and Democracy for America say no real progressives support handing over trade authority to the White House in this way.

Chelsea Manning joins Twitter and gets over 1,000 followers before posting

Chelsea Manning, the US soldier serving 35 years in military prison for leaking state secrets to WikiLeaks, has joined the social media site Twitter.

The army private has secured the handle @xychelsea and will begin posting tweets from noon ET on Friday. Given the conditions of her custody – which do not extend to internet access – she will dictate comments by phone to supporters who will then post on her behalf.

The new Twitter feed had by 5.30pm ET on Thursday already attracted more than 1,000 followers, even before the soldier had uttered a word or followed any other accounts. Her page includes a drawing of her as she would like to be seen, with long hair – even though the military authorities have consistently refused to allow her to grow out her hair.

HSBC is ‘cast-iron certain’ to breach banking rules again, executive admits

A senior HSBC executive has privately admitted that the bank is “cast-iron certain” to have another major regulatory breach in the future, and is struggling on multiple fronts to clean up its worldwide operations.

Global head of sanctions Lee Hale – whose recorded comments appear to contrast with public statements from HSBC’s chief executive that the bank has fundamentally transformed itself after recent scandals – said gaps remained in the bank’s compliance with sanctions policies and the screening of certain financial transactions.

Purvi Patel case sets bad tone for reproductive rights in Indiana

Legal and medical experts say women’s reproductive rights in Indiana could be dramatically altered in the wake of a 20-year prison sentence handed down this week to an Indiana woman for self-aborting her fetus.

In July 2013, Purvi Patel, now 33, used abortion drugs purchased online from Hong Kong to attempt to terminate her pregnancy in its 24th week. Patel delivered what she said was a stillborn fetus at home, placed the fetus in the dumpster behind the family restaurant and went to the hospital after losing a significant amount of blood.

She was convicted in February of feticide and neglect of a dependent, making her the first woman in the US to be charged, convicted and sentenced for giving herself an abortion.

Duke University student admits hanging noose from tree on campus

A Duke University student has admitted to hanging a noose from a tree on campus, a day after hundreds attended a rally there decrying racism at the university.

University police and the office of student affairs said on Thursday that they had identified the student but would not release a name due to federal privacy laws. The student is “no longer on campus”, a police spokesman, Keith Lawrence, said, adding that the person “will be subject to Duke’s student conduct process”.

“Duke continues to coordinate with state and federal officials about potential criminal violations,” Lawrence said. The school is looking for others who may have been involved.