Breakfast Tune: Dubliners - banjo medley (reels)

Today in History
 

Breakfast News & Blogs Below

Chelsea Manning Wins Milestone In Years-Long Fight for Gender Rights
March 06, 2015 Sarah Lazare, Common Dreams
 

Famed whistleblower Chelsea Manning just achieved a limited-but important-triumph in her battle for gender affirmation as she serves out her 35-year sentence in Army prison: a court order mandating that the military officially stop referring to her using male pronouns.

Manning, who is a transgender woman, has vigorously pressed the military to use correct pronouns and provide gender-affirming medical care, despite the hostility she has faced from Fort Leavenworth, Kansas prison authorities. While Manning was allowed to legally change her first name to Chelsea last April, the military-which bans transgender people from service-has continued to deny her female identity.

"We should all have the absolute and inalienable right to define ourselves, in our own terms and in our own languages, and to be able to express our identity and perspectives without fear of consequences and retribution," wrote Manning in a December column for the Guardian-a publication she is a regular correspondent for. "We should all be able to live as human beings-and to be recognized as such by the societies we live in."...

Third oil train in less than a month derails in Ontario and starts fire
March 7, 2015 AP
 

Train operator CN Rail said on Saturday a train carrying crude oil had derailed in northern Ontario, setting off a fire at the site. There were no reports of injuries.

It is the third CN oil train derailment in northern Ontario in less than a month, and the second in the same area.
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A CN freight train derailed on Thursday east of Hornepayne; on 14 February 29 cars of a CN freight train carrying crude oil derailed in a remote area south of Timmins, Ontario.

Campaigners against Daylight Saving Time cite increased risk of heart attack
March 7, 2015 Joanna Walters, The Guardian
 

The unwelcome grogginess of the Sunday morning after the clocks go forward is supposed to be a small price to pay for the joyful imminence of spring. Some campaigners, however, say it might just kill you.

Campaigners in a number of US states are lobbying to eliminate the twice-yearly clock change, especially when it involves losing an hour's sleep - as it will overnight from Saturday to Sunday this week.

One argument put forward is that switching to Daylight Saving Time increases the risk of a heart attack - especially on the Monday morning after the change. ...

World run on turquoise gives some Native American artisans the blues
March 6, 2015  Carrie Jung, Al Jazeera
 

...The cost of turquoise has been steadily increasing for the last 60 years, but recently prices for the gem have skyrocketed. Growing demand for turquoise jewelry from Europe and Asia is partly to blame for the shift. The stone is also becoming harder to find and mine.

Geologically speaking, turquoise is a nonrenewable resource, one that took millions of years to form. For those who use the stone to make a living, adaptation seems to be the name of the game for now. But with only a handful of mines still producing, the natural stone's place in the cultures in the Southwest faces an uncertain future.
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A recent survey conducted by the Indian Arts and Crafts Association suggests that nationwide, it could be generating as much as $150 million a year, though association officials maintain that even that is a very rough estimate. As far as the market impact goes, various tribal craft organizations, such as the Zuni Pueblo, say the increasing cost of turquoise is cutting into their artists' bottom line. ...

Iditarod sled dog race to begin in Anchorage despite snow shortage
March 7, 2015 AP
 

If there is one day when mushers in the Iditarod sled dog race don't have to worry about trail conditions, it should be Saturday during the ceremonial start.

A lack of snow south of the Alaska Range created treacherous trail conditions, forcing race officials to move the start of the race to Monday in Fairbanks. A stalled jet stream pushed Arctic air and snow into the midwest and the east coast, but kept Alaska fairly warm and dry this winter.

Despite Alaska's largest city receiving only about a third of its normal winter snowfall, Anchorage is still staging the traditional ceremonial start to the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. City crews overnight delivered up to 350 dump truck loads of snow and spread it out over city blocks so the show can go on. The festivities started Saturday morning in very un-Iditarod like conditions, almost 40 degrees and a light rain fell. ...

Final trumpet sounds for a US institution as elephants say goodbye to the circus
March 7, 2015 Amanda Holpuch, The Guardian
 

Under the circus's big top, acrobats soar through the sky, lion tamers stick their heads into the mouths of big cats and people swallow swords. The danger and daring required for such acts has led to a long tradition of removing, rearranging and introducing new acts into shows.

But this week, Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Circus announced it was ending an iconic part of the three-ring display. Feld Entertainment, the circus's parent company, said that by 2018 its productions will no longer feature elephants, an animal that is practically synonymous with the Ringling and Barnum brands.

The decision signifies the end to a classic, and controversial, element of the American circus as shows around the world do away with the menagerie of animal performers. ...

Blogs
 

• Health care law did not end discrimination against those with pre-existing conditions., by Kay Tillow
• NSA Global Spy Stations Revealed: 'Sniff It All, Collect It All, Know It All, Process It All, Exploit It All', by Jon Queally
• The Cost of Compassion: Why Churches Turn Their Backs on Torture Victims, by Justin Norman
• When it comes to broadband, industry and lawmakers work hand in glove, by Amadou Diallo
• 'There is an Alternative': Progressive Caucus Puts Forth Worker-First Trade Vision, by Deiedre Fulton
• What Trickle-Down Economics Has Done to the US: The Rich Get All the Money, by Dan Riker
• With Clinton emails in spotlight, Cuomo orders New York data purge, by Greg Levine

Something to Think about over Coffee Prozac: