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
First US combat troops arrive in Vietnam; Russian revolution begins; US Commodore Matthew Perry makes second landing in Japan; Joe DiMaggio dies.
Breakfast Tunes
Something to Think about over Coffee Prozac
When in doubt, do it.
Breakfast News
Greece bailout: eurozone inspectors to review reforms
Eurozone inspectors of Greece’s bailout have been cleared to return to Athens to complete a much-delayed review of the government’s adherence to its economic reform commitments.
Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the eurozone’s top official, said there was “enough common ground” between the two sides for the inspectors to return to the Greek capital as soon as Tuesday.
However, he said the Greek government had more work to do if the review was to be favourable, notably on plugging a budget hole and deepening certain reforms.
A successful review of the reforms that were demanded in the country’s latest €80bn (£62bn) bailout programme is needed to release more rescue loans and pave the way for discussions on how to reduce Greece’s debt burden. Dijsselbloem confirmed the debt discussions would be forthcoming.
Syria refugee crisis: EU and Turkey agree outline of deal
European leaders said early on Tuesday morning that they had reached the outlines for a possible deal with Ankara to return thousands of refugees to Turkey and were hopeful a full agreement could be reached at a summit next week.
Turkey’s prime minister, Ahmet Davutoğlu, outlined proposals to resettle one Syrian refugee in Europe for every Syrian returned to Turkey from the Greek islands.
After 12 hours of talks in Brussels, the German chancellor Angela Merkel described the one in, one out proposal as “a breakthrough” that would deter refugees from making the perilous sea crossing to Greece, but said Europe needed more time to agree final details.
EU leaders will aim to seal the deal with Turkey at another summit on 17-18 March.
Gay adoption rights: ruling overturned by US supreme court in LGBT victory
In a victory for LGBT rights groups, the eight justices of the supreme court on Monday unanimously overruled an Alabama court that balked at recognizing a same-sex adoption.
The decision reverses the lower court’s ruling that the adoption rights granted to a lesbian couple in Georgia had no validity in Alabama. The two women, identified only by their initials of EL and VL, were raising three biological children EL conceived while they were a couple until they separated in 2011. A Georgia court had given parental rights during that time to VL, who has no biological relationship to the children. But when she moved to Alabama and sought visitation rights, her former partner challenged her parental rights and won in front of the state supreme court.
The case had been closely watched by LGBT advocates as a key test of same-sex adoption rights. Across the country, states have uneven protections for same-sex couples raising children. More than half of states allow both partners in a same-sex couple to obtain parental rights.
Two polygamous towns found guilty of prejudice in civil rights trial
Two polygamous towns on the Utah-Arizona border violated the constitutional rights of nonbelievers by denying them basic services such as police protection, building permits and water hookups, a jury said on Monday.
The civil rights trial marks one of boldest efforts by the government to confront what critics have long said was a corrupt regime in Colorado City, Arizona, and Hildale, Utah. The towns were accused of doing the bidding of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a radical offshoot of mainstream Mormonism, which disavowed polygamy more than 100 years ago.
The jury, which reached a verdict on its fourth day of deliberations, awarded $2.2m to six residents eligible for damages. But the towns will only have to pay $1.6m because lawyers negotiated a settlement over that part of the case.
Shipwreck found off North Carolina coast probably dates to civil war
A shipwreck discovered off the coast of North Carolina is likely one of three confederate blockade runners known to have been lost in the area, archaeologists have said.
The remains of the iron-hulled steamer were located on 27 February near Oak Island. It would be the first Civil War-era vessel found in the area in decades, said the North Carolina Office of State Archaeology.
Billy Ray Morris, director of the state’s underwater archaeology branch, said he expected to be able to positively identify the 225ft (68-metre) vessel when he leads a dive team to examine it on Wednesday.
“To turn up a new wreck is a pretty big deal,” he said, adding sonar images showed the vessel to be largely intact.
Breakfast Blogs
Two White People Were Forced to Grapple with Their Whiteness Last Night Charles Pierce, Esquire Politics
No, Turning On Your Phone Is Not Consenting to Being Tracked by Police Alex Emmons, The Intercept
When The Cameras Leave, Michigan Will Still Be Michigan Ramona Grigg, Crooks and Liars
Why Woud The Mobster Story Hurt Trump With His Base? Steve M., Mo More Mister Nice Gut Blog
Defense Department Tells MuckRock It Will Need To Come Up With $660 Million To Cover FOIA Request Fees Tim Cushing, Techdirt
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