The Breakfast Club (Covered In Sunshine)

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 10:00am (ET) (or whenever we get around to it) 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

“Star Wars” — the classic sci-fi movie written and directed by George Lucas — premieres; Former Enron execs Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling are convicted of conspiracy and fraud; Comedian Jay Leno begins his run as host of N-B-C’s “The Tonight Show .

Breakfast Tunes

Something to Think about over Coffee Prozac

A Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defense, never for attack.

Frank Oz

Breakfast News

US News

Navajo Nation reports 2 new COVID-19 cases, but no deaths

Las Vegas officials hold pop-up vaccine clinic at strip club

Chicken plant in California cited over past virus outbreak

Amtrak restores service on routes following COVID cutbacks

Biden signs bill opening door for Alaska cruises to resume

NYC mayor: Public schools will be all in person this fall

Puerto Rico ends pandemic curfew after a year in force

Families urge legal changes to prevent more police killings

AP: Top cop in Black man’s deadly arrest withheld cam video

Floyd killing prompts some states to limit or ban chokeholds

Military contract aircraft crashes in Vegas near Nellis AFB

2 ex-California officers charged with bribery in car scheme

Police capture man wanted in 4 killings after week on run

Grim western fire season starts much drier than record 2020

Woman gets back $1M lottery ticket she had thrown away

Hundreds in California line up for blooming ‘corpse flower’

Wolves scare deer and reduce auto collisions 24%, study says

US Politics

US warns against all travel to Japan as Olympics loom

Biden doubling spending to prepare for hurricanes, storms

Watchdog: US forced deported parents to leave kids behind

White House, Kremlin aim for Biden-Putin summit in Geneva

Democratic Iowa farmer running for GOP Sen. Grassley’s seat

US Judge: Saipan casino builder must pay 7 ex-workers $5.4M

Jokes abound over Yang’s choice for favorite subway station

Fantasy sports industry says bill will put games on hold

International News

The Latest: Haiti imposes curfew, mask use for pandemic

Japan opens mass vaccine centers 2 months before Olympics

India virus death toll passes 300,000, 3rd highest in world

EU leaders agree on Belarus sanctions after plane diversion

Blinken off to Mideast to secure Gaza truce, push for aid

UK Black activist critical in hospital after shooting

Gaza-based journalists in Hamas chat blocked from WhatsApp

Mali’s president and PM arrested by mutinous soldiers

Death toll from Congo volcano eruption rises to at least 32

Sports

Rays win 11th in a row, score 7 in 11th to beat Toronto 14-8

Vaccinated section opening for Portland Trail Blazers’ games

Court order would allow 15-year-old to sign with NSWL team

One more thrill: Phil Mickelson wins at 50 in raucous PGA

CHILD’S PLAY: Young new talent takes Indy 500 by storm

Breakfast Blogs

Daniel Ellsberg Is 90 Years Old and Still Causing Trouble Charles P. Pierce, Esquire Politics

Steve Bannon’s Mueller and Mueller Aftermath Interviews, with Backup emptywheel aka Marcy Wheeler, emptywheel

Are kitchen table issues going to be enough? Not bloody likely. digby aka Heather Digby Parton, Digby’s Hullabaloo

Sometimes victors don’t write the history. They bury it. Tom Sullivan, Digby’s Hullabaloo

Why Prosecutors Need to Prepare the Country for Donald Trump’s Trial Jonathan Chait, New York Intelligencer

Arizona County’s Voting Machines Rendered Unusable By OAN-Financed Vote Auditors Tim Cushing, Techdirt

US Telecoms Keep Getting Wrist Slaps For Repeatedly Ripping Off The US Government Karl Bode, Techdirt

Rep. Zoe Lofgren Recognizes The Nuances And Complexities Of Regulating Internet Companies Mike Masnick, Techdirt

Sotomayor Dissents in Death Penalty Case, Calls Out Kavanaugh and Conservative Justices for Turning ‘This Court’s Words’ into an ‘Empty Gesture’ Colin Kalmbacher, Law & Crime

Supreme Court Justices Again Unanimous Twice in the Same Day Elura Nanos, Law & Crime

Cancel Culture Telephone Scott Lemieux, Lawyers, Guns and Moeny

Clean Beef: The New Clean Coal Erik Loomis, Lawyers, Guns and Money

Too Many Lifeboats, Not Enough Thermite driftglass, at his blog

HOW TO ARGUE WITH YOUR RIGHT-WING RELATIVES ABOUT THE LAB-LEAK THEORY Steve M., No More Mister Nice Blog

GOP Just Can’t Find Perfect Way To Ignore An Insurrection Michael Mora, Wonkette

Maxine Waters Will Not Be Rolling Over On Qualified Immunity, Please And Thank You Robyn Pennacchia, Wonkette

Louisiana Cops Beat The Crap Out Of Ronald Greene, And Then He Died Stephen Robinson, Wonkette

Republicans Fight For Sacred Prerogative Of Rich To Commit Tax Fraud Liz Dye, Wonkette