The Breakfast Club (A Young Person’s Guide)

So instead of what I should have been doing, which was writing a kick ass Breakfast Club, I spent last night watching a movie called Moonrise Kingdom with my family and a few friends.

I think their intention was that I should like this movie, which I do.  It’s a coming of age love story between two quirky misfits set in the Penobscot Islands, just about the best place on the planet as far as I’m concerned.  It features Bill Murray, one of my favorite actors, and Bruce Willis, in one of his less objectionable roles.

Things work out well in the end, most of the jerks come to the realization that they are being jerks and stop it and become inspired to aid the course of true love.

If it’s still available on YouTube I’ll put it up tonight as a Sunday Movie Spectacular, but I’ll warn you in advance that unless you want to spend between .99 and $2.99 for an Amazon stream or a month or two rooting around the remainder bin, you’ll want to install this tool (Free YouTube Downloader) and grab a copy for yourself.  It comes with the usual load of bloatware, so choose ‘custom install’ and decline where possible.  View on YouTube, Share, copy the http:// code and paste it in the downloader, hit the downward pointing arrow on the right.

The rest of the audience felt it was terrifically uplifting and funny, but it left me kind of sad and depressed.

I haven’t quite worked that out yet which is why I’ll have to watch it again, but I think a part of it is that I am 120+ years old and no longer have the innocence and enthusiasm of youth and true belief.  Instead I am trapped in the ashes of past decisions, mostly good but some bad, along with the awful certainty that things never really change for the better and the best and most heroic you can hope to do is keep sticking your fingers in the dike until the tide overwhelms you.  The closest thing to actual excitement I can muster is a rather cynical and insincere quote from a better known Bill Murray movie-

Excuse me Egon?  You said crossing the streams was bad!  You’re going to endanger us, you’re going to endanger our client – the nice lady, who paid us in advance before she became a dog…

Not necessarily.  There’s definitely a very slim chance we’ll survive.

…

I like this plan!  I’m excited to be a part of it!  Let’s do it!

But how does this relate to Art Music?

Well, most of the music in the movie comes from the pen of Benjamin Britten, a central figure of mid-20th Century British Art Music which the female lead plays incessantly on a battery powered record player she stole borrowed from her brother.

This is not surprising, among the works he’s best known for is The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra which if you are of a certain age and cultural background will fill you with instant nostalgia.

But he wrote other, more serious, things too and while he has a resume that proves his mastery of all the conventional forms, he’s best known by older students for his vocal compositions which include many popular Operas (“according to Operabase, they are performed worldwide more than those of any other composer born in the 20th century, and only Puccini and Richard Strauss come ahead of him if the list is extended to all operas composed after 1900.”) and many, many complicated and difficult a cappella pieces sadistic Choirmasters use to torture their Choruses and expose their vocal weakness in front of the public (have I mentioned I spent 5 years in purgatory Choir and am a natural, but very bad, Tenor?).  I suppose this is only to be expected given his Edwardian, Public School education.

Once upon a time there was a prep-school boy. … He was quite an ordinary little boy … he loved cricket, only quite liked football (although he kicked a pretty “corner”); he adored mathematics, got on all right with history, was scared by Latin Unseen; he behaved fairly well, only ragged the recognised amount, so that his contacts with the cane or the slipper were happily rare (although one nocturnal expedition to stalk ghosts left its marks behind); he worked his way up the school slowly and steadily, until at the age of thirteen he reached that pinnacle of importance and grandeur never to be quite equalled in later days: the head of the Sixth, head-prefect, and Victor Ludorum. But – there was one curious thing about this boy: he wrote music. His friends bore with it, his enemies kicked a bit but not for long (he was quite tough), the staff couldn’t object if his work and games didn’t suffer. He wrote lots of it, reams and reams of it.

He was very conscious of the tenuous hold Art Music had on the public and did many film scores and live appearances as a featured performer (pianist) or conductor to pay the bills.  Many of his pieces dealt with alienation, existential angst, and the corruption of innocence.

He was an out homosexual in a long term relationship with his protégé and partner Peter Pears and because of his orientation and his interest in educating young people (as well as his habit, unfortunately common among people of a personality type I share, of simply writing off relationships that don’t work) was the subject of many scurrilous rumors about pedophilia which extensive historical analysis has shown to be no more justified in his case than that of Charles Dodgson, and a secret syphilis infection that was dismissed as “complete rubbish” by his Doctor and the Hospital where he died in 1973 of complications after cardiac surgery.

Rather than the overplayed Young Person’s Guide, today I offer Gloriana, an Opera in 3 Acts written in celebration of Elizabeth II’s Coronation in 1953.  It’s one of a few works of his that was not a critical success, probably because Elizabeth I (Gloriana) is portrayed “as a sympathetic, but flawed, character motivated largely by vanity and desire.”

Obligatories, News and Blogs below.

Obligatories

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.

I would never make fun of LaEscapee or blame PhilJD.  And I am highly organized.

The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings.

–Julius Caesar (I, ii, 140-141)

This Day in History

News

US to Slow Down Troop Withdrawal from Afghanistan as White House ‘Rethinks’ Mission

by Nadia Prupis, Common Dreams

Saturday, February 21, 2015

The U.S. is slowing down its withdrawal from Afghanistan, despite long-held promises that the military would be out of the country by 2016, new Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said on Saturday.

Carter told reporters in Kabul that the Obama administration is “rethinking” its counter-terrorism mission in Afghanistan and that the U.S. military wants to ensure that “progress sticks” in the country after its withdrawal. In his first trip to Afghanistan since being sworn in as Pentagon chief, Carter said a new plan could change the original schedule, which would have seen the U.S. halving its troops this year and establishing a “normal” embassy presence by 2016.

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The news follows a series of developments in the military’s involvement in Afghanistan. In January, it was revealed that military officials had classified information about how they were spending $65 billion appropriated since 2002 to train Afghan forces.

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Recent reports have highlighted the continued toll of war on Afghan civilians, who face record casualties and high levels of displacement, despite promises from the White House that the “longest war in American history is coming to a responsible conclusion.” According to the United Nations, nearly 3,700 civilians were killed in 2014, a 22 percent increase from the previous year.

Alexis Tsipras: Greece has won a battle but the real difficulties lie ahead

by Helena Smith, The Guardian

Saturday 21 February 2015 12.14 EST

“We kept Greece standing and dignified,” said Tsipras, adding that the deal had ended the unrealistic primary surpluses demanded by the previous bailout plan signed by his predecessor. “In effect it cancels austerity … In a few days we have achieved a lot but we have a long road. We have taken a decisive step to change course within the eurozone. Now negotiations enter a new, effective stage.”

But Tsipras, whose left-dominated coalition won power almost a month ago, is also likely to face a backlash from within his own Syriza party.

The bailout programme extended for four months under the agreement reached late on Friday has prevented Greece from being shown the euro exit door but has come at a heavy price.

Despite the government’s positive spin, Athens was forced to make significant concessions, including reneging on demands for a writedown of its monumental debt load.

UK admits unlawfully monitoring legally privileged communications

by Alan Travis and Owen Bowcott, The Guardian

Wednesday 18 February 2015 11.41 EST

The regime under which UK intelligence agencies, including MI5 and MI6, have been monitoring conversations between lawyers and their clients for the past five years is unlawful, the British government has admitted.

The admission that the activities of the security services have failed to comply fully with human rights laws in a second major area – this time highly sensitive legally privileged communications – is a severe embarrassment for the government.

It follows hard on the heels of the British court ruling on 6 February declaring that the regime surrounding the sharing of mass personal intelligence data between America’s national security agency and Britain’s GCHQ was unlawful for seven years.

The admission that the regime surrounding state snooping on legally privileged communications has also failed to comply with the European convention on human rights comes in advance of a legal challenge, to be heard early next month, in which the security services are alleged to have unlawfully intercepted conversations between lawyers and their clients to provide the government with an advantage in court.

Yemen’s western-backed president flees house arrest in Sana’a

AFP

Saturday 21 February 2015 17.31 EST

Yemen’s beleaguered western-backed president escaped house arrest and fled the capital to friendly territory on Saturday, labelling as a coup the grab for power by the Shia militia that had held him.

An aide said presidential guards had sneaked Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi out of his residence in Sana’a, and that he later made it to the main southern city of Aden.

His supporters there have refused to recognise the authority of the presidential council installed by the Houthi militia to replace him, and Hadi himself called on world powers to “reject the coup”.

In a statement, signed as president, he said all measures taken by the Houthis since they seized Sana’a in September and began a push to extend their control farther afield were “null and illegitimate”.

The aide said Hadi will call on parliament to meet in Aden, 260 miles from Sana’a, as powerful tribes in the southern provinces of Marib, Jawf and Bayda urged him to declare Sana’a an “occupied city”.

Turkish Military Enters Syria to Evacuate Soldiers and Move Tomb’s Remains, Reports Say

By SEBNEM ARSU, THe New York Times

FEB. 21, 2015

The Turkish Army launched an operation into Syria to evacuate soldiers guarding the Tomb of Suleyman Shah, which has been besieged by Islamic State militants, and move the tomb’s remains, an official and Turkish news media reported on Sunday.

The military then destroyed what was left of the site to prevent the militants from using the enclave, and one soldier was killed by accident during the operation, CNN Turk said Sunday, citing military officials.

The operation, called “Sah Firat,” began on Saturday and involved a large convoy of tanks and other heavy weaponry that entered Syria through Kobani, the Kurdish territory in Syria that has recently been freed of Islamic State militants in an American-led military operation, according to the Turkish newspapers Milliyet and Yeni Safak. The reports were pulled from the Internet almost immediately after being posted.

The military operation was conducted in correspondence with Enver Muslim, the leader of the Syrian Kurdish group in control of Kobani, and aimed to evacuate around 40 soldiers, including 20 elite troops from the Turkish special forces who guarded the tomb. Suleyman Shah was the grandfather of the founder of the Ottoman Empire. His tomb is considered by the government here to be in Turkish territory, and it has been guarded by Turkish soldiers.

‘Liberty is the Rule’: Federal Court Blocks Immigrant Detainment Policy

by Nadia Prupis, Common Dreams

Saturday, February 21, 2015

A U.S. federal court on Friday put a temporary halt on the so-called “no release” policy to detain immigrants seeking asylum from violence in Central America.

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The Obama administration’s “incantation of the magic word ‘national security’ without further substantiation is simply not enough to justify significant deprivations of liberty,” Judge James E. Boasberg wrote in his decision.

Boasberg’s ruling came in response to a lawsuit filed by the ACLU and the University of Texas. The civil liberties group launched the suit “on behalf of mothers and children who have fled extreme violence, death threats, rape, and persecution in Central America and come to the U.S. for safety.”

Judy Rabinovitz, deputy director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project, stated, “The court held that it was illegal to detain families based on deterrence. It made clear that the government cannot deprive individuals of their liberty merely to send a message to others.

“This ruling means that the government cannot continue to lock up families without an individualized determination that they pose a danger or flight risk that requires their detention.”

Austerity in Illinois? Critics Slam ‘Morally Reprehensible’ Budget Proposal

by Deirdre Fulton, Common Dreams

Friday, February 20, 2015

With its deep cuts to higher education, Medicaid, pension benefits, and social services, Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner’s proposed budget is being called “reckless,” “heartless,” and “morally reprehensible.”

Rauner, who won a decisive victory over incumbent Gov. Pat Quinn in November, announced his budget plan before the Illinois General Assembly earlier this week. It lays out $6 billion in cuts in state spending on universities, health care, and local governments while calling for sharply reducing pension benefits for state workers-in keeping with Rauner’s recent attacks on public sector unions.

The governor called it a “turnaround budget” for a state facing budget shortfalls in the years ahead.

But Democrats, who hold veto-proof majorities in both chambers of the legislature, came out strongly in opposition to Rauner’s proposal. State Senate President John Cullerton, for example, said the plan would bring “pain” to working families in the state.

Lawmakers Nationwide Launch Concerted Assault on Women’s Rights

by Deirdre Fulton, Common Dreams

Friday, February 20, 2015

Already, 57 percent of American women of reproductive age live in states that are considered ‘hostile’ or ‘extremely hostile’ to abortion rights, according to the Guttmacher Institute, which studies sexual and reproductive health and rights around the world.

That percentage could go up if recent proposals are enacted into law.

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It’s not just Republicans who are to blame for the latest wave of attacks on women’s rights.

In the West Virginia state House, a bipartisan majority, including a majority of Democrats, passed a bill Wednesday that would ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy-similar to extreme legislation withdrawn by Republicans in the U.S. House earlier this year.

US Effort to Crack Down on Terrorism Funding is Choking Humanitarian Lifeline: NGOs

by Andrea Germanos, Common Dreams

Friday, February 20, 2015

In the name of cracking down on terrorism funding, the U.S. imposed new regulations affecting banks that handle money transfers to Somalia.

But that effort has dealt a devastating blow to ordinary people in the Horn of Africa country, a trio of nonprofit organizations has charged, as U.S. banks have stopped operating with Somali money transfer operators (MTOs), effectively severing a vital lifeline that funded the most basic necessities.

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Somalia, the report states, “does not have a functioning commercial banking system,” and 40 percent of the population relies on these money transfers to meet their basic needs.

“This is not just extra money; this is money that I need to survive on a daily basis,” the report quotes Hawa Abdullahi Warsame, a Somali woman living in northern Somalia, as saying. “Not only am I dependent on it, but over 10 relatives-my entire extended family-are as well. I have sick relatives who need medication, and children that I am trying to provide an education for. This money is vital for that.”

Eastern US reels as Siberian Express and polar vortex bring snow and fierce cold

by Martin Pengelly and Nicky Woolf, The Guardian

Saturday 21 February 2015 11.26 EST

The eastern US remained in the grip of fierce cold on Saturday, as forecasters warned of yet another winter storm amidst the ongoing effects of the polar vortex and the almost equally sinisterly named “Siberian Express”. The extreme cold, which has set records and even frozen over Niagara Falls, is expected to last into next week.

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Much of New England is also having a punishing winter of epic and ruinous proportion. On the scenic Cape Cod island of Nantucket, hurricane-force winds and an ice storm blacked out power for more than 12,000 people for several days, after transformer boxes in a substation became coated with ice.

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In Virginia, the national guard flew food, medicine and mail to Tangier Island, which has become ice-locked in the middle of Chesapeake Bay. In New York City, the Hudson and East Rivers were partly frozen.

Record low temperatures were set around the country on Friday. The NWS said Washington DC’s Reagan National Airport hit 6F (-14C) while Baltimore’s airport recorded a record February low of 2F (-17C). In New Castle, Pennsylvania, the low was an astonishing 18F (28C); New York City returned a record monthly low for Central Park, of 2F.

Republican governors support DHS shutdown in immigration battle

Associated Press

Saturday 21 February 2015 19.22 EST

A department shutdown would have a limited impact on national security. Most workers across agencies, including the Secret Service, Transportation Security Administration and Customs and Border Protection, fall into exempted categories of workers who perform work considered necessary to protect human life and property and would stay on the job in a shutdown.

Most workers would not get paid until the shutdown ends, however. And all personnel involved in administering grants would be furloughed, including Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) workers who make grants to state and local governments, fire departments and others to help them prepare for or respond to various threats and emergencies.

One possibility is a short-term extension of current funding levels, but House Speaker John Boehner said last weekend the House had done its job and he would “certainly” let a shutdown occur if the Senate did not act. Democrats have resisted any Homeland Security funding bill linked to the immigration order.

In ‘Slap in Face to Democracy’ Wisconsin’s Walker Says Ready to Sign Right-to-Work Bill

by Andrea Germanos, Common Dreamas

Friday, February 20, 2015

Walker’s announcement marks a shift from previous statements on such legislation; the Associated Press says that it’s a move “the likely 2016 presidential candidate initially said should be delayed to avoid re-igniting massive pro-union protests.”

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Explaining the governor’s change in stance, The Nation’s John Nichols writes: “Walker’s in a new race now-a race to win the support of Republican caucus-goers and primary voters who like their candidates to take a hard line on social and economic issues.”

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“Right-to-work rings a false promise for Wisconsin,” said Phil Neuenfeldt, President of the Wisconsin AFL-CIO, local news CBS 58 reports. “Every worker suffers when states enact anti-worker Right to Work laws. Rushing this legislation through in an extraordinary session is a slap in the face to our democracy.”

Drug-Resistant Malaria ‘Huge Threat’ to Global Health

by Nadia Prupis, Common Dreams

Friday, February 20, 2015

Cases of drug-resistant malaria have been multiplying in Southeast Asia, particularly along the border of India and Myanmar, in what health experts are warning is a “huge threat” to global health that will require “vigorous international effort” to contain.

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The medication in question is artemisinin, which is typically given as part of a combination therapy. Resistance to artemisinin would “inevitably” lead to its failure, Woodrow continued. “If this were to spread into India, malaria will continue to affect rural populations there, but there may not be an immediate effect on cure-rate.”

The researchers found that “artemisinin resistance extends over more of southeast Asia than had previously been known, and is now present close to the border with India. This finding expands the area in which containment and elimination are needed to prevent the possibility of global spread of artemisinin resistance.”

According to the World Health Organization, malaria death rates dropped by 47 percent around the world since 2000. In 2013, WHO recorded roughly 198 million malaria cases around the world, with an estimated 584,000 deaths, 90 percent of which occurred in WHO African Region.

Oliver Stone’s Edward Snowden film set for Christmas release

Reuters

Friday 20 February 2015 16.28 EST

Oscar-winning director Oliver Stone’s big-screen dramatisation of Edward Snowden’s mass surveillance revelations will be released on 25 December, distributor Open Road Films said on Friday.

Snowden will star Joseph Gordon-Levitt as the NSA whistleblower who leaked details of US and British surveillance and electronic monitoring programs.

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Snowden’s disclosures were documented in film-maker Laura Poitras’s Citizenfour, which was released last year and is the favourite to win the best documentary Oscar on Sunday.

Blogs

• Rudy Giuliani, American Soviet, by Matt Taibbi, Rolling Stone
• What Rudy Giuliani knows about love – a response to his ‘doesn’t love America’ critique of Obama, by Wayne Barett, NY Daily News
• Sorry, But Working for the Government Is Not a “Get Out of Jail Free” Card, by Kevin Drum, Mother Jones
• John Kiriakou: US Government Lacks “the Guts” to Face Its Crimes, by CTuttle, Firedog Lake
• Torture Supporters have Better PR and Marketing People, by spocko, Firedog Lake
• Loretta Lynch Is A Dubious Nominee For Attorney General, by bmaz, emtywheel
• What Was the CIA Really Doing with Merlin by 2003?, by emptywheel
• Greece Capitulates On Bailout, Reaches Four Month Deal, by Yves Smith, Naked Capitalism
• The Path We’ve Chosen, No End in Sight, by BigAl, caucus99percerent
• Russ Feingold Poised to Seek Senate Seat in 2016, by Cordelia Lear, caucus99percerent
• Open Thread: Lindsey Graham Will Not Be Ignored!!!, by Annie Laurie, Balloon Juice