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
Josef Stalin consolidates power in USSR; World War II’s naval Battle of Guadalcanal begins; Women’s rights pioneer Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Actress-turned-royalty Grace Kelly and singer Neil Young born.
Breakfast Tunes
Something to Think about over Coffee Prozac
The Bible and the Church have been the greatest stumbling blocks in the way of women’s emancipation. Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Breakfast News
‘Not Safe to Consume’: Insiders Blow Whistle on Pork Inspection Regime
Damning undercover video footage, combined with new affidavits from U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) whistleblowers, reveals disturbing food safety issues and animal abuse at Hormel’s largest pork processing plant, one of five in the country to employ a controversial high-speed slaughter program.
The video footage, posted Wednesday in edited form on YouTube (warning: graphic content), was covertly filmed by a contracted employee of Compassion Over Killing, a nonprofit animal rights group that claims to have infiltrated an Austin, Minnesota, facility run by Quality Pork Processors (QPP). The plant is a supplier of Hormel Foods, the maker of Spam and other processed meats, and also distributes pork to retailers like McDonald’s and Famous Dave’s.
How Govt Crackdown on Whistleblowers Betrays Public Interest: Report
The U.S. government is not doing enough to protect national security whistleblowers, leaving those who expose corruption vulnerable to prosecution, undermining valuable information exchange for journalists and the public, and allowing government abuse to run rampant, a new report by a free speech advocacy group published Tuesday has found.
In its report, Secret Sources: Whistleblowers, National Security, and Free Expression (pdf), PEN American Center analyzed government policies and discovered while there are “at least 57 U.S. federal laws with whistleblower or witness protection provisions,” these laws “are not consistent” in terms of who they apply to and protect.
Montreal begins controversial sewage dump into St Lawrence river
Montreal, Canada’s second-largest city, began dumping untreated sewage into the St Lawrence river on Wednesday, angering environmentalists with a repair operation that could release as much as 8bn litres (2.1bn gallons) of wastewater into a major waterway.
The city has said the dump, expected to last up to a week, is necessary while work is carried out to replace ageing parts of the waste treatment system that could create a greater environmental hazard if it unexpectedly broke.
Earth-like world could be ‘most important planet found outside solar system’
A rocky Earth-sized planet that circles a small, nearby star could be the most important world ever found beyond the solar system, astronomers say.
The planet lies in the constellation of Vela in the southern sky and is close enough for telescopes to observe any atmosphere it has, a procedure that could help spot life on other planets in the future.
Named GJ 1132b, the alien world is about 16% larger than Earth, and at 39 light years distant, is three times closer than any other Earth-sized rocky planet yet found around another star. At that distance, it is hoped that telescopes will be able to make out the chemistry of its atmosphere, the speed of its winds and the colours of its sunsets.
Canine PTSD: how the US military’s use of dogs affects their mental wellbeing
From 2008 to 2009, Gina served a six-month tour of duty in Iraq. She was tasked with going door to door and flushing insurgents out after US marines threw flash-bang grenades in before her.
She became jittery and panicked, and was unable to perform her duties. So she was returned to the United States and a meeting was called to consult experts on the matter. While Gina’s symptoms lined up with those of post-traumatic stress disorder, a mental health condition triggered by traumatic events, she was experiencing something the world wasn’t as familiar with: canine PTSD.
Wednesday marks Veterans Day, a time to honor all those who have served the US – including military dogs. The American Humane Association usually sponsors a float in New York City’s Veterans Day parade in honor of military working dogs, although this year it concentrated on its push for Congress to pass the National Defense Authorization Act, to ensure dogs are brought home after their service overseas.
Must Read Blog Posts
Surprise! The New Trade Deal Is Written for and By Corporations Charles Pierce, Esquire Politics
Another War Crime Because We Relied on Unreliable Allies emptywheel aka Marcy Wheeler, emptywheel
Introducing The Next Cold War Dan Wright, ShadowProof
America has built the equivalent of 10 Keystone pipelines since 2010 Gaius Publius, Hullabaloo
Police Department Says It Would Rather Have A Good Relationship With The Community Than Cheap Military Gear Tim Cushing, Techdirt