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.
AP’s Today in History for April 3rd
Martin Luther King gives last speech; Execution in Lindbergh baby case; Truman signs Marshall plan; Jesse James killed; Pony Express begins service; Marlon Brando born.
Breakfast Tune Darin Parise-Anita Parise- Pony Express-Gibson RB-6 conversion, 1933 5 string banjo
This banjo was originally a rare PT-6, with optional checkerboard-pattern trim. It features a low-profile flat-head tone ring. Chuck Erickson made the five-string neck for influential California player John Hickman, who signed the inside of the resonator. …
Something to Think about, Breakfast News & Blogs Below
German Television Pulls Satire Mocking Turkey’s Erdogan
Robert Mackey, The Intercept
GERMANY’S STATE BROADCASTER, ZDF, apologized on Friday for what it called satire that had crossed the line into slander and removed video of a comedian reading an obscene poem about Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan from its website and YouTube channel.
The poem, which was read by the German satirist Jan Böhmermann on Thursday’s edition of his late-night show “Neo Magazin Royale,” described Erdogan in vile, obscene terms — even comparing him, at one stage, to Josef Fritzl, an Austrian man who fathered seven children with a daughter he held in a cellar for 24 years — but the text was presented as part of a comic demonstration of the difference between satire and slander.
Although video of the entire show has disappeared from ZDF’s official channels, an excerpt of the segment, with Turkish subtitles, can be viewed on the website of Bild, the German tabloid. The clip includes a reaction shot of Ralf Kabelka, Böhmermann’s sidekick, frowning at one particularly egregious line. …
FBI Won’t Tell Apple How It Hacked iPhone, but Vows to Help Local Police
Deirdre Fulton, Common Dreams
Just as privacy and civil liberties experts warned, the temporary truce between Apple and FBI hasn’t diffused the U.S. government’s efforts to fight encryption.
“We are in this together,” the FBI told law enforcement agencies around the country on Friday, promising to help local police access locked phones or other devices as much as “legal and policy constraints” allow.
According to news outlets, the bureau has faced a deluge of requests for assistance since announcing on Monday that it did not need Apple’s help decrypting the iPhone belonging to one of the alleged San Bernardino shooters. The FBI has not said publicly how it hacked the phone, or who helped it do so.
In response to such demands, the FBI issued an advisory to state and local authorities that that the Wall Street Journal said “seems to be aimed at reassuring police and prosecutors that while they don’t have much to tell them now, they hope to provide more information and possibly help in the near future.” …
Greece on brink of chaos as refugees riot over forced return to Turkey
Helena Smith, The Guardian
The Greek government is bracing itself for violence ahead of the European Union implementing a landmark deal that, from Monday, will see Syrian refugees and migrants being deported back to Turkey en masse.
Rioting and rebellion by thousands of entrapped refugees across Greece has triggered mounting fears in Athens over the practicality of enforcing an agreement already marred by growing concerns over its legality. Islands have become flashpoints, with as many as 800 people breaking out of a detention centre on Chios on Friday.
Some 750 migrants are set to be sent back between Monday and Wednesday from the island of Lesbos to the Turkish port of Dikili. …
Japan sub makes first call to Philippines in 15 years amid China tensions
Peter Blaza
A Japanese submarine made a port call in the Philippines, the first in 15 years, on Sunday in a show of growing military cooperation amid tension triggered by China’s growing assertiveness in the South China Sea.
One of the newest and largest submarines in the Japanese navy, it was escorted into the former U.S. Navy Base at Subic Bay by two Japanese destroyers on a tour of Southeast Asia.
“This is just an exercise and the main objective is to train the officers,” Captain Hiraoki Yoshino of Japan’s Maritime Self-Defence Force told reporters. …
- Armed hate group met at Texas mosque protest by gun-toting worshipers
Bethania Palma Markus
- Bum steer: Freedom has a price for NYC bull saved by Jon Stewart
Barbara Goldberg
Something to Think about over Coffee Prozac – RI Edition
Man with 13 dead chickens in trees draws neighbor’s ire
TIVERTON, R.I. (AP) — A Rhode Island man who has 13 dead chickens hanging from trees outside his home is drawing complaints from a neighbor and a police inquiry.
The Newport Daily News (http://bit.ly/1SBeIbn ) reports that the Tiverton man told police Wednesday that he is simply drying the chickens out before properly disposing of them.
Chief Thomas Blakey says the man hasn’t been charged with a crime, but police are continuing to investigate whether there are any potential health risks or if the homeowner is violating any town ordinances.
The man keeps live chickens. Town Administrator Matthew Wojcik says animal control workers inspected the property and found that those animals are healthy.
Tiverton officials became aware of the hanging dead chickens Monday after a neighbor called to complain.
Rhode Island Marketing Chief Quits Over Tourism Video Showing Iceland
BOSTON (Reuters) – A botched promotional campaign for Rhode Island that included a video that showed Reykjavik, Iceland, rather than the state capitol of Providence, has led to the resignation of a top marketing official, Governor Gina Raimondo said.
The smallest U.S. state will also recoup $120,000 it spent on the development of the video, which was released this week and was quickly mocked on line for a brief clip showing a skateboarder outside Reykjavik’s iconic Harpa concert hall.
“It’s unacceptable how many mistakes were made in this roll-out and we need to hold people accountable, because Rhode Islanders deserve better, taxpayers deserve better,” Raimondo told reporters late Friday.
Raimondo earlier in the week had played down the significance of the mistakes in the campaign, but reversed course after state residents lambasted the ad, and its slogan “cooler and warmer”, on Twitter and in local media.
Betsy Wall has resigned as marketing director of the Rhode Island Commerce Corp, which developed the campaign, Raimondo said. Wall could not be reached for immediate comment.
Raimondo said the state would seek out more public feedback before moving ahead with the promotional campaign.
“‘Cooler and warmer’ is not a tag line that Rhode Islanders like,” she said. “That much is clear.”
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