The Breakfast Club (Rage against the machine)

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 December 27th

The Soviet Union invades Afghanistan; Charles Darwin sets out on a round-the-world voyage; Radio City Music Hall opens in New York; James Barrie’s play “Peter Pan: The Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up” opens in London.

Breakfast Tunes Rage against the machine / Killing in the name – Banjo, Mandolin U-Bass Cover

Something to Think about, Breakfast News & Blogs Below

Chicago police officer accidentally shoots and kills mother of five
Amanda Holpuch, The Guardian

Chicago police accidentally killed a 55-year-old mother of five early Saturday when responding to a domestic disturbance, according to a police statement late Saturday.

“The 55-year-old female victim was accidentally struck and tragically killed,” the statement said. “The department extends it’s [sic] deepest condolences to the victim’s family and friends.”

Bettie Jones was one of two victims killed by police in the incident. The other victim was Quintonio Legrier, 19, whose father lived in another unit in the building and reportedly called the police. …

Fire at Houston mosque is suspicious, authorities say
The Associated Press

A fire at a Houston mosque is suspicious and may have been intentionally set, an official from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said Saturday.

The fire, reported Friday afternoon at the Islamic Society of Greater Houston, caused major damage to the building but no one was injured.

The blaze had “multiple points of origin,” which is an indicator that a fire accelerant may have been used, according to ATF Special Agent Nicole Strong with the agency’s Houston Field Division. …

Dutch city plans to pay citizens a ‘basic income’, and Greens say it could work in the UK
Daniel Boffey, The Guardian

It’s an idea whose adherents over the centuries have ranged from socialists to libertarians to far-right mavericks. It was first proposed by Thomas Paine in his 1797 pamphlet, Agrarian Justice, as a system in which at the “age of majority” everyone would receive an equal capital grant, a “basic income” handed over by the state to each and all, no questions asked, to do with what they wanted.

It might be thought that, in these austere times, no idea could be more politically toxic: literally, a policy of the state handing over something for nothing. But in Utrecht, one of the largest cities in the Netherlands, and 19 other Dutch municipalities, a tentative step towards realising the dream of many a marginal and disappointed political theorist is being made.

The politicians, well aware of a possible backlash, are rather shy of admitting it. “We had to delete mention of basic income from all the documents to get the policy signed off by the council,” confided Lisa Westerveld, a Green councillor for the city of Nijmegen, near the Dutch-German border. …

• Churches Open Their Doors On Christmas To Immigrants Seeking Refuge From DHS Raids
  Patrick Smith, Think Progress

• A Federal Judge Just Shamed the DEA for Fabricating Sham Cases to Justify War on Drugs
  Justin Gardner, Free Though Project

• We have Lincoln wrong: Our greatest Lincoln historian explains his real Civil War motivations
  Harold Holzer and Norton Garfinkle, Salon

• FOIA Request Shows Govt Lied About Lead in Water, Knowingly Poisoning Countless Children
  Andrew Emett, FTP alternet

• The game is completely rigged: The 1 percent has more than ever — and the system is too broken to deal with it
  Simon Reid-Henry, Salon

Something to Think about over Coffee Prozac

Once again, giant Yule goat burns in Sweden
AP

STOCKHOLM (AP) — In what’s become a Christmas tradition to some Swedes, a giant decorative goat made of straw was set ablaze early Sunday and police arrested a 25-year-old man suspected of arson.

The straw goat is a beloved Christmas symbol in the city of Gavle, in central Sweden. However, it’s also become a tradition of sorts to burn it down.

This year’s edition lasted nearly a month on a downtown square before going up in flames.

Police said they arrested a suspect wearing a balaclava and clothes reeking of lighter fluid. His face was covered in soot and his hair damaged by fire.

Police said he would be questioned once he sobered up.

The goat is an ancient Scandinavian Yuletide tradition that preceded Santa Claus as the bringer of gifts.