The Breakfast Club (The Wild String Instrumentalist)

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: Steve Martin plays the banjo on the Gong Show

Published on Aug 7, 2013

what the title sez

Today in History

Published on Aug 29, 2013 Highlights of this day in history: The Civil War’s Second Battle of Bull Run ends; Thurgood Marshall confirmed as first black Supreme Court justice; First black astronaut blasts off; Ty Cobb’s baseball debut; David Letterman moves to CBS. (Aug. 30)

Something to Think about, Breakfast News & Blogs Below

Al Jazeera journalists sentenced to three years in jail by Egyptian court

Al Jazeera Staff

A court in Egypt has sentenced three Al Jazeera journalists to three years in jail after finding them guilty of “aiding a terrorist organization.”

Egyptian Baher Mohamed, Canadian Mohamed Fahmy and Australian Peter Greste were all handed three-year jail sentences when the court in Cairo delivered the verdict on Saturday, sparking worldwide condemnation of the decision.

…

Amnesty International condemned the sentences, calling them a “death knell for freedom of expression in Egypt.” …

Malaysia rally demanding PM’s resignation enters 2nd day

Al Jazeera and wire services

Protests demanding the resignation of embattled Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak over a financial scandal remained on the streets of the capital Sunday, after the first day of the massive rally passed peacefully.

The 34-hour protest would continue until Sunday evening, organizers told Al Jazeera.

On Saturday, tens of thousands of protesters, dressed in yellow T-shirts, had gathered at five designated areas in the Malaysian capital as part of a two-day rally organised by the activist group, Bersih. The group is calling for Najib to step down and for a series of institutional reforms they say would make the government more transparent and accountable. …

West Point professor calls on US military to target legal critics of war on terror

Spencer Ackerman, The Guardian

An assistant professor in the law department of the US Military Academy at West Point has argued that legal scholars critical of the war on terrorism represent a “treasonous” fifth column that should be attacked as enemy combatants.

In a lengthy academic paper, the professor, William C Bradford, proposes to threaten “Islamic holy sites” as part of a war against undifferentiated Islamic radicalism. That war ought to be prosecuted vigorously, he wrote, “even if it means great destruction, innumerable enemy casualties, and civilian collateral damage”.

Other “lawful targets” for the US military in its war on terrorism, Bradford argues, include “law school facilities, scholars’ home offices and media outlets where they give interviews” – all civilian areas, but places where a “causal connection between the content disseminated and Islamist crimes incited” exist. …

Sarah Palin showers Donald Trump with adoration in ‘interview of the year’

Rory Carroll, The Guardian

It sounded like a match made in Tea Party heaven and did not disappoint. Sarah Palin and Donald Trump teamed up for a celestial voyage to the solar system where Trump is beloved, Trump is right, and Trump will win.

Palin, moonlighting as a guest host on the One America News Network, promised their encounter on Friday night would be the “interview of the year”. In a strange way, it was compelling.

Nothing substantial happened, but here was Trump subject to gushing adoration, a heroic leader invited to share his wisdom and courage, leaving him unchallenged – and unmoored. The fantasies took flight. …

• This Black Driver’s Mistake Was Looking a Police Officer in the Eye
  
  Leon Neyfakh
• Shock poll shows Bernie Sanders nipping at Hillary Clinton’s heels in Iowa
  
  Luke Brinker
• AP Files Suit For FBI’s Refusal To Come Clean on ‘Fake Reporter’ Operations
  
  Jon Queally

Something to Think about over Coffee Prozac:

Air guitarists duke it out at Finland world championships

MATTI HUUHTANEN, AP

OULU, Finland – Who can play wildest on an instrument no one can see? A record 30 air guitarists from a dozen countries are jamming on a stage in northern Finland to answer just that question.

The 20th Air Guitar World Championships kicked off Thursday with 30 “dark horses” hoping to be among eight advancing to Friday’s final, joining seven national champions who automatically qualify.

The competition started as a joke by a local musician, adding to the small Nordic nation’s reputation as an inventor of offbeat summer events such as the “mosquito slapping” and “wife carrying” competitions. It has gradually spread worldwide with national events held annually in several countries. …

Breakfast Quote:

I’m just trying to make a smudge on the collective unconscious.

David Letterman