Tag: blogs

The Breakfast Club (Darts)

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.

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Breakfast Tune: Leyla McCalla sings Rosemarie (Live)

Today in History

Breakfast News Below

The Breakfast Club (Waist Deep in the Big Muddy)

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.

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Breakfast Tune: Waist Deep in the Big Muddy (Featuring Tom Morello, Taj Mahal)

Today in History



Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suffers a massive stroke; Louis Braille, inventor of the reading system for the blind, is born; Former pro wrestler Jesse Ventura is sworn in as the governor of Minnesota.

Breakfast News & Blogs Below

TBC (What Did You Learn in School Today?)

Breakfast Tune:  What Did You Learn in School Today? – Pete Seeger, Tom Paxton



What did you learn in school today,

Dear little boy of mine?

What did you learn in school today,

Dear little boy of mine?

I learned that Washington never told a lie.

I learned that soldiers seldom die.

I learned that everybody’s free.

And that’s what the teacher said to me.

That’s what I learned in school today.

That’s what I learned in school.

What did you learn in school today,

Dear little boy of mine?

What did you learn in school today,

Dear little boy of mine?

I learned that policemen are my friends.

I learned that justice never ends.

I learned that murderers die for their crimes.

Even if we make a mistake sometimes.

That’s what I learned in school today.

That’s what I learned in school.

What did you learn in school today,

Dear little boy of mine?

What did you learn in school today,

Dear little boy of mine?

I learned our government must be strong.

It’s always right and never wrong.

Our leaders are the finest men.

And we elect them again and again.

That’s what I learned in school today.

That’s what I learned in school.

What did you learn in school today,

Dear little boy of mine?

What did you learn in school today,

Dear little boy of mine?

I learned that war is not so bad.

I learned of the great ones we have had.

We fought in Germany and in France.

And some day I might get my chance.

That’s what I learned in school today.

That’s what I learned in school.

Today in History

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.

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Breakfast News & Blogs Below

The Breakfast Club (Memphis Moon)

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.

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Breakfast Tune: Mean Mary “Memphis Moon” (live session)

Today in History



Pilgrims land in Plymouth Massachuesttes; Pan Am flight 747 explodes over Lockerbie, Scotland; Apollo 8 lifts off on first manned mission to the Moon; Actress Jane Fonda is born. (Dec. 21)

Breakfast News & Blogs Below

The Breakfast Club (Ruby Are you Mad at Your Man?)

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: Carolina Chocolate Drops – Ruby Are you Mad at Your Man?

Today in History

U.S. Supreme Court upholds the relocation and detention of Japanese-Americans during World War Two; U.S. begins 12 days of heavy bombing of North Vietnamese targets; Steven Spielberg is born; Tchaikovsky’s ‘The Nutcracker’ – publicly premieres.

Breakfast News, Blogs, and Cuban Two Step Rag below

The Breakfast Club (Rollin’ and Tumblin’)

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.

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Breakfast Tune: Valerie June, Rollin’ and Tumblin’ (live session)

Today in History


George Washington dies at age 67; Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen and his group reach South Pole; Leaders of Bosnia, Serbia and Croatia sign an internationally-brokered peace treaty. (Dec. 14)

News

Operation Socialist

By Ryan Gallagher, The Intercept

12/13/14

Inside a row of gray office buildings in Brussels, a major hacking attack was in progress. And the perpetrators were British government spies.



Last year, documents from National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden confirmed that British surveillance agency Government Communications Headquarters was behind the attack, codenamed Operation Socialist. And in November, The Intercept revealed that the malware found on Belgacom’s systems was one of the most advanced spy tools ever identified by security researchers, who named it “Regin.”

The full story about GCHQ’s infiltration of Belgacom, however, has never been told. Key details about the attack have remained shrouded in mystery-and the scope of the attack unclear.

Now, in partnership with Dutch and Belgian newspapers NRC Handelsblad and De Standaard, The Intercept has pieced together the first full reconstruction of events that took place before, during, and after the secret GCHQ hacking operation.

Based on new documents from the Snowden archive and interviews with sources familiar with the malware investigation at Belgacom, The Intercept and its partners have established that the attack on Belgacom was more aggressive and far-reaching than previously thought. It occurred in stages between 2010 and 2011, each time penetrating deeper into Belgacom’s systems, eventually compromising the very core of the company’s networks.

Heaping serving of news & blogs below. Coffee, Prozac & Snowden’s Jig

The Breakfast Club (Judge Cliff Davis Blues)

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.

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Breakfast Tune: Papa Charlie Jackson – Judge Cliff Davis Blues



Spoken: Oh yes, oh yes

I now declare this court, City of Memphis open

Lets have it quiet in the court room please

Everybody be seated

Open the courts Mister Officer

First case on the docket is the case against Mr. Crew

The other afternoon I was sitting, in the court house room

I was listening, to what was going on

After every case was tried, The prisoners were all led inside

As they passed by, I thought somebody cried

I’m on my way to jail, that’s why you hear me wail

I’ve got the Judge Cliff Davis blues

I’m through with doing wrong, just listen to my song

I’ve got the Judge Cliff Davis blues

I told the judge my tale of woe, he heard that fairy tale before

That’s why you hear my wail, I’m on my way to jail

I’ve got the Judge Cliff Davis blues

Memphis gave us

The Judge Cliff Davis blues

Good lawd save us

Today in History, Breakfast News & Blogs Below

The Breakfast Club (Ran So Hard The Sun Came Up)

It doesn’t feel like a Sunday… because it isn’t.

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.

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Today in History


President Johnson names commission to investigate JFK’s assassination; U.N. passes resolution calling for the British Mandate of Palestine to be partitioned; First flight over the South Pole; Natalie Wood, Cary Grant and George Harrison die. (Nov. 29)

Breakfast Tune: Otis Taylor – Ran So Hard The Sun Went Down

Breakfast News & Blogs Below

Another Unpopular Essay

(or why the left blogosfero is bankrupt).

This doesn’t really qualify as an essay. It’s just an observation about the left blogosfero and its many blindspots.  In this case the blindspot is the California Prisoners’ Hunger Strike, which is today on its 18th day.  These prisoners deserve our support. No doubt about it.  So I put up an essay about it at the Great Orange Satan.  How else to get the situation before a zillion people quickly? Would the denizens of the left step forward and fight for prisoners?  Cue: crickets.

My point: the prisoners need support, and they need it soon to bring about a humane and peaceful resolution of their grievances.  They need expressions of support.  From bloggers.  From blog readers. They need our help.  Otherwise many of them will be seriously injured by the fasting, and they may ultimately be force fed by the prison officials in scenes reminiscent of Northern Ireland.

Of course, you won’t be able to watch that.  It will be done “privately.”  But I digress.

The way GOS works now virtually assures that nobody will see,  much less react to the call for support.  See for yourself.

And the smaller blogs?  Let’s see.

Sorry, Ariana and Markos, No More Free Content For You

I know all too much about writing for free.  I do it here all the time. It’s a labor of love.  I’ve been at it for more than 900 blog posts and more than 5 years.  I know about writing without being paid for it.  Despite that, and despite my understanding that when I post at group blogs I know I won’t get paid, I am absolutely furious about the AOL-Huffington Post Deal.  Why?  Because the writers are getting screwed, and they’re not going to get a cent out of the deal. Not a sou.

The news this morning–  I’m sure you haven’t missed it–  was that that beleaguered, dinosaur of dial up AOL has bought Huffington Post and made that doyenne of self promotion and faux progressive politics, Arianna, an AOL executive.  Here’s the essence of the story from the New York Times:

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