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
Serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer gets life in prison; House lawmakers pick a president; Garry Kasparov beats IBM’s Deep Blue at chess; NBA star Michael Jordan born; The Eagles release their greatest hits.
Breakfast Tunes
Something to Think about over Coffee Prozac
Then Everybody Can
If our smart guys can do this, then everybody can. And everybody can learn how to do it!
As long as we’re the good guys with the ability to infect computers…
Breakfast News
Cyber-Security Firm: NSA-Linked Spyware Found in Hard Drives Worldwide
Researchers with Kaspersky Lab describe what they say is “the most advanced threat actor” they’ve seen to date.
A top technology security firm announced on Monday that they have uncovered evidence that sophisticated spying software, likely linked to the National Security Agency, was implanted in the hard drives of personal computers across the globe.
Researchers with the Moscow-based Kaspersky Lab introduced their findings while presenting at the Kaspersky Security Analyst Summit in Cancun, Mexico, and also published an initial paper (pdf) Monday on what they consider “the most advanced threat actor” they’ve seen to date. [..]
The targets reportedly included government and military institutions, telecommunication companies, banks, energy companies, nuclear researchers, media, and Islamic activists.Although the firm did not publicly name the source behind the spying campaign, they said the Equation Group “worm” was closely linked to Stuxnet, the cyberweapon the U.S. used to attack Iran’s uranium enrichment facility beginning in late 2007.
Huge fire in West Virginia after oil train derails, sending tanker into river
Around 200 people evacuated from scene of crash south-east of Charleston as rescuers fight to reach one house set ablaze
A train carrying more than 100 tankers of crude oil derailed in southern West Virginia on Monday, sending at least one tanker into the Kanawha River, igniting at least 14 and sparking a house fire, officials said.
There were no immediate reports of injuries. Nearby residents were told to evacuate as a state emergency response team and environmental officials headed to the scene about 30 miles south-east of Charleston.
The state was under a winter storm warning and getting heavy snowfall at times, with as much as 5in in some places. It was not clear if the weather had anything to do with the derailment, which occurred about 1.20pm ET along a flat stretch of rail.
‘This Is Not A Game,’ Declares Greek Minister as Talks Collapse in Brussels
‘Europe must cut its lossses with a program that is not working,’ declares Syriza’s finance minister Yanis Varoufakis
Without any apparent progress, talks in Brussels between the Syriza-led government of Greece and finance ministers of the Eurogroup collapsed on Monday just hours after negotiations began.
An official with the Greek delegation first told Reuters that talks were called off after finance minister Yanis Varoufakis rejected a proposal put forth by the Eurogroup ministers which essentially called for an extension of the current bailot scheme with no alterations to the terms. [..]
The basics of the impasse? Greece won’t commit to an extension of the lending program which is tied to the same austerity conditions it claims have devastated its economy. And the Eurogroup will not accept an extension-sometimes referred to as a “bridge”-of the lending program unless Greece agrees to the further austerity conditions.
At a subsequent press conference, Varoufakis expressed continued optimism that a deal still can be reached but said, “Europe must cut its lossses with a program that is not working.”
“This is not a game,” Varoufakis said of the talks when asked about the possible impacts their collapse would have on the financial markets. His message to the market, he said, is that “we do not have the right to play games with the people of Europe.”
Brewing ‘Perfect Storm,’ GOP Lawmakers Push Millionaire-Friendly State Tax Schemes
Despite unfair burden on lower- and middle- classes, conservative-led state governments push regressive tax plans
As income inequality in the U.S. continues its ascent, Republican lawmakers in several states are pushing increasingly regressive tax agendas that only promise to benefit top earners while burdening states’ poorest residents.
An analysis by the New York Times published Friday notes that “of the 10 or so Republican governors who have proposed tax increases, nearly all have called for increases in consumption taxes, which hit the poor and middle class harder than the rich.” [..]
According to their report, Tax Fairness: An Answer to State Budget Problems (pdf), in the 10 states with the most regressive tax structures, the bottom 20 percent pay up to seven times as much of their income in taxes as their wealthy counterparts. According to the study, Washington State is the most regressive, followed by Florida, Texas, South Dakota, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Arizona, Kansas, and Indiana.
Hiroshima Survivors Sue Over ‘Black Rain’ That Followed Atomic Bombing
Over 40 survivors of bombing demand aid from Japan for severe health impacts
Over 40 survivors of the U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan are preparing to file a class action lawsuit demanding their government provide them health coverage for the ongoing health impacts of exposure to radioactive “black rain.”
The Japanese publication Mainichi reports:
The A-bomb survivors – all residents of Hiroshima Prefecture – are currently not receiving assistance under the Atomic Bomb Survivors’ Assistance Law as they were outside the black rain area recognized by the government. They will apply to the Hiroshima prefectural and municipal governments for A-bomb survivors’ certificates as early as next month. They expect to be rejected, and plan to file suit seeking a nullification of those rejections.
The survivors say they developed severe health problems, including cancer and heart disease, as a result of their exposure to the black rain-the precipitation, darkened by nuclear fallout, that fell on Hiroshima and Nagasaki following the U.S. bombings in 1945.
Over 200,000 people perished as a result of the nuclear weapons attacks and the radiation poisoning and sickness that followed.
Must Read Blog Posts
We Are All Founders Charles P. Pierce, Esquire
Obama ISIS Authorization Includes Ground Troops For Syria DSWright, FDL News Desk
From Moscow, With Aloha CTuttle, MyFDL
Mossad Now Issuing Denials for CIA? Marcy Wheeler, emptywheel
Return of the Coin? letsgetitdone, Corrente
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