The Breakfast Club (Gangstagrass “All For One”)

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.

Breakfast Tune:  Gangstagrass “All For One” Official Music Video

Today in History

Breakfast News & Blogs Below

News

Kurds angered by anti-ISIL conference snub

by Michael Pizzi, Al Jazeera

January 23, 2015

The president of Iraqi Kurdistan on Friday slammed the United States-led coalition against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) for excluding the Kurds from an organizational meeting in London this week, noting that his hard-bitten peshmerga fighters had proven themselves the only capable force on the ground to combat the armed group.

“We were expecting everyone to show respect to the sacrifices made by the people of Kurdistan and its peshmerga [fighters] by inviting a representative from Kurdistan to this event and similar such events,” Massoud Barzani said in a heated statement, as translated by Kurdish Rudaw news.

The peshmerga “are the most effective force countering global terrorism today,” he added. “It is unfortunate that the people of Kurdistan do the sacrifice and the credit goes to others.”…

Students who survived Mexico’s night of bloody horror accuse army and police

by Nina Lakhani, The Guardian

January 24, 2015

Uriel Alonso Solís is an affable 19-year-old, the oldest of five children from a poor campesino family. But his grittiness shows through as he recounts the terrible night his college friends – four of whom he grew up with – were seized and hauled off to face a brutal fate that still reverberates across Mexican society.

Alonso survived the horrific attack on unarmed students by state and criminal forces last September in the southern state of Guerrero, which left six people dead, 25 injured and 43 trainee teachers forcibly disappeared.

…

On Monday, hundreds of thousands of people across the world are expected to take to the streets to mark the four-month anniversary of the disappearances. So far, only one of the missing students, Alexander Mora Venancio, 21, has been confirmed dead by an independent forensic examination. …

‘Nauseating’ Praise for Dead Saudi King Exposes Hypocrisy of West, Say Critics

by Deirdre Fulton, Common Dreams

January 23, 2015

In the wake of Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz’s death early Friday, human rights observers are calling attention to the hypocrisy of laudatory remembrances that appear to ignore the dictator’s disregard for the fundamental rights of Saudi citizens as well as his role in international conflicts.

Or, as journalist Glenn Greenwald puts it at The Intercept: “The effusive praise being heaped on the brutal Saudi despot by western media and political figures has been nothing short of nauseating.”

…

“Given the foundations upon which American-Saudi ties rest, it’s unlikely that the relationship will be drastically altered by the passing of King Abdullah and the succession of his brother Prince Salman,” Hussain concluded. “Regardless of how venal, reckless, or brutal his government may choose to be, as long as it protects American interests in the Middle East it will inevitably be showered with plaudits and support, just as its predecessor was.'”

Anti-Muslim acts haved soared in France since Paris attacks, group says

Al Jazeera and wire services

January 23, 2015

At least as many anti-Muslim acts have taken place in France since the Jan. 7-9 attacks on the headquarters of the Charlie Hebdo satirical newspaper and a Jewish supermarket than for all of last year, a leading Muslim group said Friday.

The French Council for the Muslim Religion said its recent study found that 128 anti-Muslim actions or threats were recorded in France, not including Paris, from Jan. 7 through Jan. 20, in comparison to 133 in all of France, including Paris, in 2014. Not all the acts included in the study were reported to police.

…

Since the attacks, mosques have been damaged by a grenade, gunshots and repeated vandalism, and stores owned by Muslims have been burned, the French Council for the Muslim Religion said in its report. At least one person was assaulted and hospitalized, said Abdallah Zekri of the National Observatory Against Islamophobia, which worked with the council to produce the study.

How Al Qaeda’s Biggest Enemy Took Over Yemen (and Why the U.S. Government Is Unlikely to Support Them)

by Casey L. Coombs and Jeremy Scahill, The Intercept

January 22, 2015

Sanaa – Yemeni President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi, his prime minister and entire government cabinet resigned en masse today, just 24 hours after Houthi rebels occupied the presidential compound in Sanaa. The resignations give unprecedented power to the Houthis, a Shiite minority from the country’s isolated northern highlands.

The political crisis also opens the door to an all-out war over control of the Yemeni capital, involving Sunni political factions and al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP. The conflict could also draw in Saudi Arabia, the United States and Iran.

…

The Houthis, however, are quickly proving that the old adage, “The enemy of my enemy is my friend,” is not always true. While they are bitter enemies of AQAP, the Houthis manning the checkpoints often adorn their AK-47s with stickers bearing the group’s motto: “Death to America, death to Israel, curse on the Jews, victory to Islam.” …

Fatal clashes as Yemen protests spread

Al Jazeera and agencies

January 24, 2015

At least nine people have been killed and many others wounded in clashes that erupted between Houthi fighters and tribesmen in a village just north of Radaa city in central Yemen.

Saturday’s fighting, in which five Houthis and four tribesmen were killed in Dar Al-Najd, comes as thousands of Yemenis took to the streets of Sanaa to protest against the Houthi group’s control of the capital, two days after President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s resignation left the country in political limbo.

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The fall of Hadi’s Western-backed government raise fears of chaos engulfing Yemen, strategically located next to oil giant Saudi Arabia and on the key shipping route from the Suez Canal to the Gulf.

US May Soon Stand Alone Opposing Children’s Treaty

by Thalif Deen, Inter Press Service

January 23, 2015

UNITED NATIONS, Jan 23 2015 (IPS) – When the East African nation of Somalia, once described as a “lawless state”, ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) early this week, it left two countries in splendid isolation from the rest of the world: South Sudan and the United States.

…

When U.S. President Barack Obama was campaigning in 2008, he said, “It is embarrassing that the U.S. is in the company of Somalia, a lawless land. If I become president, I will review this and other human rights treaties.”

But to date, there has been no “review” of the CRC, an important first step before submitting this to the Senate. …

Haitians seek relief in Dominican border town but find security crackdown

by Renee Lewis, Al Jazeera

January 23, 2015

DAJABON, Dominican Republic –  Every Monday and Friday morning, the bi-national market town of Dajabon fills up. Thousands of Haitians cross the border into the Dominican Republic and line the streets of Dajabon with everything from clothes to diapers to food. They wait for the Dominican buyers who arrive on buses, motorcycles and in SUVs from cities all over the country, lured by the cheap prices offered by Haitian sellers.

Markets like Dajabon are a lifeline for many Haitians. A 2010 earthquake leveled Haiti’s capital, killing more than 200,000 people. A subsequent cholera epidemic just months later resulted in at least 9,000 more deaths. Government failure followed the disaster, and most Haitians were forced to fend for themselves. Unlike Haiti, the Dominican Republic was left largely untouched by the earthquake even though the two countries share the same island.

The political situation in Haiti has deteriorated over the last few months, resulting in a larger than usual number of migrants trying to cross the border, legally and illegally, according to Dominican security personnel and Haitians at the market. The government of the Dominican Republic has responded with a security crackdown on Haitian migrants, worsening the historically rocky relationship between the two countries. …

Ahead of Obama Visit, MSF Warns US Pressure on India Could Impact Access to Medicines for Millions

Doctors Without Borders, Common Dreams

January 23, 2015

NEW DELHI – Ahead of US president Obama’s visit to India, the international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) expressed deep concern over the US government’s heightened efforts  to undermine access to affordable medicines from India-often called the “pharmacy of the developing world.” Millions of people across the globe rely on Indian low-cost generics, just as MSF relies on these to carry out its medical work.

The US has been scaling up pressure on India and increasing visits to the country over the last several months in order to aggressively campaign against India’s patent law. The country’s law sets a high bar for what merits a patent in an effort to prevent abusive pharmaceutical patenting practices, such as “evergreening,” which put profit over public health by blocking production of more affordable generics. The US is pushing for India to adopt intellectual property (IP) measures similar to those common in the US and EU, which would ultimately result in unaffordable medicine prices for both India and the countries that rely on affordable medicines made in India.

“The alarm bells should be going off for the new Indian government,” said Dr. Manica Balasegaram, executive director of MSF’s Access Campaign. “The US is pushing India to play by its rules on intellectual property, which we know will lead to medicines being priced out of reach for millions of people.” …

A Transgender Woman Is Murdered-Media Refuses to Honor Her Gender Identity

by Terrell Jermaine Starr, AlterNet

January 23, 2015

Lamia Beard may be the first transgender woman murdered in 2015, according to National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP), but she is by no means the first trans woman to have her gender identity denied by authorities and media outlets.

The 30-year-old woman was found suffering from a gunshot wound in Norfolk, Va. Saturday morning, according to numerous reports. Beard was taken to Norfolk General Hospital where she later died of her injuries.

…

So far, the three media outlets that have covered Beard’s death (News Channel 3, Fox affiliate WAVY-TV, and The Virginia-Pilot) have misgendered her as a man. It is not clear if any of the outlets knew that Beard identified as a transgender woman. NCAVP worked with the Virginia Anti-Violence Project, in Richmond, Va., to confirm that Beard identified herself as a transgender woman. …

New Jersey police shooting leads to renewed interest in body cameras

Jessica Glenza and Oliver Laughland, The Guardian

January 24, 2015

The fatal police shooting of Jerame Reid, a 36 year-old black New Jersey man, has thrown the issue of police body cameras back into the spotlight, as experts say recently released dashboard footage raises as many questions as it answers.

…

National police reform advocates have called on the New Jersey state attorney general to investigate the shooting, arguing that the Cumberland county prosecutor’s office is not impartial enough to deal with the matter fairly.

It remains unclear if the shooting will be referred to a grand jury.

Supreme Court agrees to review controversial execution drug

The Associated Press

January 23, 2015

The Supreme Court is stepping into the issue of lethal injection executions for the first time since 2008, agreeing Friday to take up an appeal filed by death row inmates in Oklahoma.

The justices will review whether the sedative midazolam can be used in executions amid concerns that it does not produce a deep, coma-like unconsciousness. As a result, prisoners may experience intense and needless pain when other drugs are injected to kill him. The order came eight days after the court refused to halt the execution of an Oklahoma man that employed the same combination of drugs.

Oklahoma uses midazolam as one of three drugs in lethal injection executions. The second drug serves to paralyze the inmate and the third one is used to stop his heart.

Pennsylvania Court Hands Down Big Win for Teachers’ Union

by Deirdre Fulton, Common Dreams

January 23, 2015

In what the Philadelphia teachers’ union is describing as “a victory for collective bargaining,” the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court ruled Thursday that the School Reform Commission (SRC) does not have the power to cancel union contracts, as it abruptly did last fall.

On October 6, 2014, the SRC voted to terminate the teachers’ contract and unilaterally impose new health care provisions on the union’s 10,000 members. The Philadelphia Federation of Teachers (PFT) was given no advance word of the action, which district officials said would free up an additional $50 million for severely underfunded schools. The action was set to go into effect on December 15, but the union won an injunction against the SRC.

At the time, the PFT’s Caucus of Working Educators described the Commission’s actions as “not really about funding. This is an attempt to dismantle the union that defends public education in Philadelphia.” Student and teacher protests and walk-outs took place in the wake of the SRC’s decision. …

TSA agents seize record number of firearms at US airports in 2014

Wire services. Elizabeth Mendez contributed reporting, Al Jazeera

January 23, 2015

A record number of firearms were discovered by agents at U.S. airport security checkpoints in 2014, with more than four out of five of them loaded, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said Friday.

TSA figues show 2,212 guns were found in carry-on bags during screenings last year, represnting a 22 percent increase from 2013.

Ross Feinstein, a spokesman for the TSA, told Al Jazeera that the number of passengers traveling with firearms in their carry-on bag has been increasing every year since 2007. He added that the spike was down to more travelers attempting to carry guns in their hand luggage. …

In Boon to ‘Fight for $15,’ Study Confirms Living Fast Food Wage Totally Doable

by Sarah Lazare Common Dreams

January 23, 2015

A growing movement of fast food workers has launched strikes, protests, and public pressure campaigns across the United States and world demanding an end to starvation wages and a minimum of $15 an hour, under the slogan “We are worth more!”

Now, a just-released paper from economic researchers is affirming what those employees have long argued: such pay is doable, affordable, and would not require mass firings, despite the claims of industry heavyweights, from McDonald’s to Wendy’s.

Entitled A $15 Minimum Wage: How the Fast-Food Industry Could Adjust Without Shedding Jobs, the paper was written by Robert Pollin, distinguished professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts – Amherst and co-director of the Political Economy Research Institute, and Jeannette Wicks-Lim, a PERI research assistant professor. …

Blogs

• Not Just The University of Missouri- Kansas City, by ek hornbeck
• Obama’s State of the Union-Swings and Misses, by Ralph Nader
• The Likely Cause of Addiction Has Been Discovered and It Is Not What You Think, by Johann Hari
• When Wingnut Cavemen Attack: The Right Turns on Renee Ellmers with Stunning Misogyny, by Joan Walsh
• Compare and Contrast: Obama’s Reaction to the Deaths of King Abdullah and Hugo Chávez, by Glenn Greenwald

Something to Think about over Coffee Prozac:

Music is everybody’s possession. It’s only publishers who think that people own it.

John Lennon