The Breakfast Club: (May The Fourth Be With You)

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.

Deadly shootings at Kent State during the Vietnam War; Margaret Thatcher becomes Britain’s prime minister; Chicago’s Haymarket Riot; ‘Freedom Riders’ head South; Birth of the outfit behind the Oscars.

If you obey all the rules you miss all the fun.
Katharine Hepburn

UN demands protection for war zone hospitals after ‘epidemic of attacks’

The UN security council has unanimously adopted a resolution intended to protect hospitals, medical professionals and patients from “an epidemic of attacks” on health facilities in war zones.

The resolution, which was drafted by New Zealand, Spain, Egypt, Japan and Uruguay and adopted on Tuesday, comes days after 55 people died when a hospital was bombed in the Syrian city of Aleppo.

It demands that “all parties to armed conflicts fully comply with their obligations under international law … to ensure the respect and protection of all medical personnel and humanitarian personnel exclusively engaged in medical duties, their means of transport and equipment, as well as hospitals and other medical facilities”.

The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, told the council that such attacks had to end.

“When so-called surgical strikes end up hitting surgical wards, something is deeply wrong,” he said.

Aleppo hospital hit as city faces humanitarian catastrophe

A maternity hospital in a government-controlled area of Aleppo has been badly damaged by rocket fire, killing at least three people, according to the state news agency. It was the sixth attack affecting a medical facility in nearly two weeks of fierce fighting that has left more than 250 people dead and the ancient city on the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe.

A shell struck the fuel tank of a military vehicle near al-Dabeet hospital, which exploded and badly damaged the building. Images of the hospital showed that many of its windows had been shattered by the blast, which was blamed by the government and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights on rebel forces.

It was not possible to independently confirm the origin of the shell.

Global water shortages to deliver ‘severe hit’ to economies, World Bank warns

Water shortages will deliver a “severe hit” to the economies of the Middle East, central Asia, and Africa by the middle of the century, taking double digits off their GDP, the World Bank warned on Tuesday.

By 2050, growing demand for cities and for agriculture would put water in short supply in regions where it is now plentiful – and worsen shortages across a vast swath of Africa and Asia, spurring conflict and migration, the bank said.

Medical error is third biggest cause of death in the US, experts say

Medical error is the third leading cause of death in the US, accounting for 250,000 deaths every year, according to an analysis released on Tuesday.

There is no US system for coding these deaths, but Martin Makary and Michael Daniel, researchers at Johns Hopkins University’s school of medicine, used studies from 1999 onward to find that medical errors account for more than 9.5% of all fatalities in the US.

Only heart disease and cancer are more deadly, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Georgia governor will veto bill allowing concealed carry on college campuses

Georgia governor Nathan Deal said Tuesday he has vetoed a bill allowing concealed handguns on college campuses, rejecting the proposal that was easily approved by a legislature controlled by his own party in an election year.

The bill would have allowed anyone age 21 and over to carry a concealed handgun with the proper permit on a public college or university campus. The veto decision comes weeks after the Republican governor rejected a bill shielding opponents of same-sex marriage. That measure was backed by conservative groups but blasted by more than 500 Georgia companies as discriminatory

How Jobs Disappear, Through the Eyes of an Indianapolis Factory Worker Charles Pierce, Esquire Politics

Prominent Democratic Consultants Sign Up to Defeat Single Payer in Colorado Lee Fang, The Intercept

I Can’t Imagine Why This Florida Republican Is Shying Away From Trump Steve M., No More Mister Nice Blog

Wonder What Donald Trump And Clinton Conspiracy Loon Ed Klein Chatted About Over Lunch Doktor Zooom, Wonkette

The Proper Channels For Whistleblowers Are Still A Joke Tim Cushing, Techdirt