The Schadenfreude Post

Creative writing student gives instructor a demonstration of realism

matthew@wasabinoir.com (Matthew Dodson) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 22:42:26 PST

A child's response to a teacher's request for a creative writing assignment on what it was like to be a Chinese immigrant in the 1880s is attached. This kid deserves an A.

Clinton the Clown

matthew@wasabinoir.com (Matthew Dodson) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 22:00:07 PST

REPORTING FROM A LEAKING DHOW IN THE RED SEA--By the time you, dear reader, read this post, a decades-long effort to achieve peace in the Middle East will once again be struck down--not by assassins bullets or geo-politics but by the grossly incompetent acts of our current Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton. To say that Ms. Clinton is a clown would be a stinging insult to those talented individuals who make children laugh at circuses and fairs. Perhaps Ms. Clinton could take clown lessons. It may help her raise her image in the diplomatic world

Let me explain. On October 31, our esteemed Secretary of State stood beside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and agreed with him that he had made "unprecedented" concessions over Israeli settlements in the Occupied Territories. This statement infuriated Arab leaders, who have been expecting the Obama Administration to pressure the Israelis on the settlement issue. What is unprecedented about her comment is that it flies directly in the face her previous statements (and those of Obama on the issue). Her buffoonish actions did create results--the resignation of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, a long-time friend of the West and perhaps the last, best chance for a moderate partner on the Palestinian side to work towards a workable peace. Abbas' replacement will likely be less inclined to sit by idly while the territories take on the aesthetic of Barnum & Bailey.

In the middle of this three-ring circus, with Israel, the Arabs and the United States looking to the ringmaster for guidance, we see rising from the dry ice, an apparition of a clown, done up crudely in the Master's attire and wiggling her butt fatuously at the stunned crowd and dazed Israelis, Arabs and Americans. Bravo, Secretary Clinton.

Swiss arrest Polanski on US warrant

matthew@wasabinoir.com (Matthew Dodson) — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 04:26:25 PDT

The Associated Press is reporting that director Roman Polanski has been arrested by Swiss police on an outstanding warrant from the United States as he arrived in Zurich for a film festival. The Schadenfreude Post has reported in previous posts that Polanski's conviction should be overturned because of judicial and prosecutorial misconduct.

Jim Carroll dies

matthew@wasabinoir.com (Matthew Dodson) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 22:35:02 PDT

PASADENA, Cal.--One of the great poets of post-war America died on Friday and this writer is sad to see his passing. Burning with passion and sorrow, Jim Carroll's poetry spread like wildfire in the late 1960s as the former Catholic boy on a basketball scholarship to Trinity in the Upper West Side degenerated into a junkie and hustler in a few short years. His poetry was sincere and shockingly devoid of restraint. His later music, particularly Catholic Boy, gave many young men the courage to face the world with open eyes, this writer included. His poetry deserves a place in the American pantheon of modern poetry. Search out his work if you get a chance.

Mr. Carroll's tribute poem to Kurt Cobain is attached below.

8 Fragments For Kurt Cobain
by Jim Carroll

1/
Genius is not a generous thing
In return it charges more interest than any amount of royalties can cover
And it resents fame
With bitter vengeance

Pills and powdres only placate it awhile
Then it puts you in a place where the planet's poles reverse
Where the currents of electricity shift

Your Body becomes a magnet and pulls to it despair and rotten teeth,
Cheese whiz and guns

Whose triggers are shaped tenderly into a false lust
In timeless illusion

2/
The guitar claws kept tightening, I guess on your heart stem.
The loops of feedback and distortion, threaded right thru
Lucifer's wisdom teeth, and never stopped their reverbrating
In your mind

And from the stage
All the faces out front seemed so hungry
With an unbearably wholesome misunderstanding

From where they sat, you seemed so far up there
High and live and diving

And instead you were swamp crawling
Down, deeper
Until you tasted the Earth's own blood
And chatted with the Buzzing-eyed insects that heroin breeds

3/
You should have talked more with the monkey
He's always willing to negotiate
I'm still paying him off...
The greater the money and fame
The slower the Pendulum of fortune swings

Your will could have sped it up...
But you left that in a plane
Because it wouldn't pass customs and immigration

4/
Here's synchronicity for you:

Your music's tape was inside my walkman
When my best friend from summer camp
Called with the news about you

I listened them...
It was all there!
Your music kept cutting deeper and deeper valleys of sound
Less and less light
Until you hit solid rock

The drill bit broke
and the valley became
A thin crevice, impassible in time,
As time itself stopped.

And the walls became cages of brilliant notes
Pressing in...
Pressure
That's how diamonds are made
And that's WHERE it sometimes all collapses
Down in on you

5/
Then I translated your muttered lyrics
And the phrases were curious:
Like "incognito libido"
And "Chalk Skin Bending"

The words kept getting smaller and smaller
Until
Separated from their music
Each letter spilled out into a cartridge
Which fit only in the barrel of a gun

6/
And you shoved the barrel in as far as possible
Because that's where the pain came from
That's where the demons were digging

The world outside was blank
Its every cause was just a continuation
Of another unsolved effect

7/
But Kurt...
Didn't the thought that you would never write another song
Another feverish line or riff
Make you think twice?
That's what I don't understand
Because it's kept me alive, above any wounds

8/
If only you hadn't swallowed yourself into a coma in Roma...
You could have gone to Florence
And looked into the eyes of Bellinni or Rafael's Portraits

Perhaps inside them
You could have found a threshold back to beauty's arms
Where it all began...

No matter that you felt betrayed by her

That is always the cost
As Frank said,
Of a young artist's remorseless passion

Which starts out as a kiss
And follows like a curse

TSP editor's photo found in 1990 file of intelligence agency

matthew@wasabinoir.com (Matthew Dodson) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 23:56:11 PDT

ZAGREB, Croatia--The Schadenfreude Post is requesting clarification from an unnamed European intelligence agency after a 1990 photo of Editor Matthew Dodson was found in the archives of an unnamed country. The photo was taken surreptitiously of Mr. Dodson he was engaged on an academic excursion that required passage through the former Yugoslavian republics of Slovenia and Croatia. Mr. Dodson denies that his inadvertent actions may have contributed to the break up of Yugoslavia as the Eastern Bloc crumbled in the months after his visit.

"I know that I did engage in some outlandish behavior while in the former Yugoslavian republics but I categorically deny any involvement in political activity, which would have been prohibited under my tourist visa," Mr. Dodson said. "However, I did drink lots of beer and lost several cubic feet of recently devalued dinars during strip poker sessions with my fellow American students and Euro trash backpackers who apparently refrained from utilizing deodorants."

The Schadenfreude Post has thus far refrained from filing a diplomatic complaint with the U.S. Embassy of the unnamed country for fear that further digging into the episode will prevent company employees from taking drinking junkets to that particular region.

Democrats desecrate Karl Rove with doctored photo

matthew@wasabinoir.com (Matthew Dodson) — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 00:31:46 PDT

SEATTLE--In what can only be described as a shocking lack of decorum, an anonymous Democratic supporter has posted the attached, apparently doctored, photo of Karl Rove, smoking a cigarette. Earlier today, the Arizona GOP was caught doctoring a photo of Obama smoking a cigarette. This newly discovered photograph of Rove only shows that Democrats are picking on Republicans too.

The photo, above, shows an actual photograph of Karl Rove (in drag as an old lady with no teeth)smoking a cigarette. The cigarette was apparently added because everyone knows that Rove only smokes cherry flavored cigarettes from Thailand.

Barney Frank kills health care zombies with logic

matthew@wasabinoir.com (Matthew Dodson) — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 10:27:12 PDT

BOSTON--Democratic supporters of health care reform have finally discovered a way to kill the ravenous zombie opponents who swarm around town hall meetings--by applying the time-tested principals of logic.

Congressman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) unveiled the new strategy (in consultation with Centers for Disease Control scientists) a few hours ago when he approached a woman holding a poster of President Obama with a Hitler mustache drawn in with a Sparpie pen.

"On what planet do you spend most of your time?" Frank asked the woman, who had stepped up to the podium at a southeastern Massachusetts senior center to ask why Frank supports what she called a Nazi policy.

"Ma'am, trying to have a conversation with you would be like trying to argue with a dining room table. I have no interest in doing it," Frank replied.

He continued by saying her ability to deface an image of the president and express her views "is a tribute to the First Amendment that this kind of vile, contemptible nonsense is so freely propagated."

In previous encounters with zombies, Congressional representatives have appeared overwhelmed by the large number of health care opponents, some of whom appear to be out of work actors and homeless persons looking for cash to buy fortified wine. Unable to reason with the infected protesters, legislators backed down in the face of the onslaught.

Barney Frank appears to have pierced the veil of the insurance industry scam to stop health care reform at all costs. In zombie movies, the infected can only be killed by piercing the brain with a blunt instrument or bullet. These zombies, believed infected with an insurance industry-created form of mad cow disease can similarly be killed by piercing the brain with logic. Hopefully, other health care reformers will take up Mr. Frank's approach to this very serious problem.

Rove fired U.S. Attorney Iglesias due to Navy service

matthew@wasabinoir.com (Matthew Dodson) — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 13:12:20 PDT

SANTA FE, NM--Documents released by the House Judiciary Committee today prove unequivocally that Bush advisor Karl Rove played a critical role in the firing of several U.S. attorneys in 2006, allegedly for political reasons, despite his frequent and recent public denials. However, former Bush Administration sources told the New York Times that at least one Attorney, David Iglesias, was fired due to frequent absences as a result of his military service in the Navy Reserves.

In July, 2008, The Schadenfreude Post reported that Karl Rove and Donald Rumsfeld engaged in peyote and Ecstasy parties with Brazilian prostitutes and young Congressional interns. Rival bloggers accused TSP of engaging in a political hit job. TSP admits that it engaged in questionable behavior to obtain a Rove pubic hair from the dental work of a Brazilian "model." However, the intercepted letter, to a Congressional committee has been authenticated by handwriting expert Alcofribas Nasier.

"If I had to make an educated guess, a Congressional intern, probably one from Idaho, was ummmm, plowing Mr. Rove's ummm back field, shall we say, while he was, uhh, airing the orchid of the young Brazilian," Alcofribas told TSP.

Mr. Alcofribas would not explain his methodology for determining such specific behavior from a single writing sample other than to say that his handwriting analysis was patented by the John Hancock School of Handwriting Analysis in Hoboken, New Jersey.

The letter included the following statement:

I can almost imagine that Rummy and I are on floating, sanctimonious fortune telling. Please give me a life jacket Rummy. And I never fired the bang bang. It was Gonzalez who done it. Man, I'm flyin'. Just get me down to the ground and I'll teach the dog to sing. Purple Haze, going round my nose. Turbulence, turbulence. (unintelligible words.)

TSP has now learned that Mr. Rove told the closed door session of the House Judiciary Committee that he was involved in the firing of Mr. Iglesias but he aggressively pursued the firing because New Mexico's U.S. Attorney was spending too much time involved in superfluous activities in the Navy Reserves.

A Democratic source who witnessed Mr. Rove's testimony said that the former political strategist looked genuinely angry when he talked about how Mr. Iglesias had the audacity to play little sailor games instead of conducting witch hunts of Democratic politicians in New Mexico.

"What has the Navy ever done for America," Rove was alleged to have testified. "We needed some whoop ass prosecutions of Democratic electeds and Iglesias was off preparing for war. Further, I would like to tell the committee that that horrible communist rag, The Schadenfreude Post, printed lies about my unique letter to the committee last July. I had a stomach ache and Mr. Iglesias had his spies get the dirt on Rummy and me in New Mexico. He passed his incredibly libelous information to the editor of that toilet paper rag.

A TSP employee admits being in New Mexico in July of 2008 but would not reveal the source of the information for the expose on Mr. Rove's drug and sex parties.

TSP: Karl Rove drug fueled sexcapades

matthew@wasabinoir.com (Matthew Dodson) — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 22:25:59 PDT

SANTA FE, NM--(This is a reprint of an article that was originally posted on July 11, 2008.) The Schadenfreude Post has learned that former Bush Administration adviser Karl Rove refused to testify before the House Judiciary Committee, not due to assertions of executive privilege, but because he was coming down off a drug cocktail of peyote buttons and Ecstasy. TSP investigators have discovered a hidden love den on the outskirts of Santa Fe, New Mexico where Mr. Rove and former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld frequently partake in drug-addled sexcapades with Brazilian prostitutes and Congressional interns.

Mr. Rove was expected to testify before the Judiciary Committee to answer questions about the firing of U.S. Attorneys for political purposes. An aide to Mr. Rove sent a hastily written handwritten note to the committee, announcing his intention to ignore the subpoena, based on White House Counsel's advice that Rove's testimony on the issue is subject to executive privilege, a nebulous legal concept that has been used by the Administration to ignore court orders and otherwise obfuscate its secretive agenda.

The handwritten note to the committee is reproduced here verbatim:

Dear Judiciary Committee:
It has come to my attention that squirrels with antennae are being sent by the liberal media to my friend's ranch in New Mexico for the express purpose of catching me and my friend Rummy in the act of committing hankie pankie and unexplained drug use. For the record, my medicine man has been giving me peyote buttons to treat my migraines for sometime. It is consumed purely for medicinal purposes. Due to my ailment, I am unable to fly to Washington to answer your questions. I would like to say, however, that I love every one of you and hope that I can give you a big hug sometime soon. I do feel a little guilty for encouraging my former boss to accidental go to war because of false propositions. And, while I'm at the helm, I want to say that the sunset is just beautiful out here in New Mex. I'm seeing tracers in the sky and it's all purple and shit. I can almost imagine that Rummy and I are on floating, sanctimonious fortune telling. Please give me a life jacket Rummy. And I never fired the bang bang. It was Gonzalez who done it. Man, I'm flyin'. Just get me down to the ground and I'll teach the dog to sing. Purple Haze, going round my nose. Turbulence, turbulence. (unintelligible words.)

Members of the Congressional press corp are attempting to analyze the above letter under the assumption that Mr. Rove was writing in some obscure coded language. TSF has learned from a young Brazilian prostitute, however, that Mr. Rove and Secretary Rumsfeld were "high as a kite" as the letter to the committee was being drafted. According to the source, the two former Bush intimates were also talking about world domination and methods of imperial rule based on the "time-tested principles of Risk," presumably referring to the popular board game.

It is now thought that Mr. Rove's handlers will take him to a state-of-the-art detox facility in Santa Monica, where he will undergo colonic cleansing in an attempt to expel any residue of the peyote and Ecstasy before he is forced by a court to testify before the committee. TSP will continue to report on this breaking story.

Free market zombies attack heath care reformers

matthew@wasabinoir.com (Matthew Dodson) — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 15:48:52 PDT

FEMA BUNKER (somewhere near Cleveland, Ohio)--Centers for Disease Control scientists are warning law enforcement personnel and emergency responders throughout the country tonight to be prepared for a breakout of free market zombie terror in response to Democratic Party attempts to reform health care by allowing all Americans access to basic coverage and to lower costs. Earlier in the day, Senator Arlen Spector (D-Penn) was almost infected by several zombies who invaded a town hall and attempted to feed off of his flesh. Security personnel held back the horde but are ill prepared to this new kind of infection.

CDC spokesperson Alcofribas Nasier told TSP that scientists are attempting to track down the source of the fast-acting infection and have a few preliminary theories.

"We know that most of the infected persons are former investment bankers and laid off Republican staffers, so that gives us a starting point," said Nasier. "We speculate that many of those currently infected were tainted by a nasty strain of mad cow disease that appears to trace back to conservative writers David Frum and Bill Kristol."

Nasier warned that it is too early to point fingers but this virulent strand of mad cow disease appears to metastasize in hours as opposed to decades with previous strands of the illness. Young suburban kids are going off to college and engaging in unprotected intimacy with seductive writers like Kristol.

"He has some almost hypnotic effect on middle class kids who feel that they can throw off the yoke of class and race guilt that prevented them from externalizing their deepest urges to spurn the working poor and minorities," said Nasier. "Once the disease takes hold, its progression appears unstoppable."

Scientists are working on a vaccine for what is being characterized as "Mad Cato Disease" after the celebrated think tank. Unfortunately, Congress appears unlikely to appropriate funds for the new vaccine for fear they will have their hearts torn out by angry infected persons.

This is a developing story and TSP will continue to update as allowed by FEMA administrators.

Irish immigrant rocker opposes health care reform

matthew@wasabinoir.com (Matthew Dodson) — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 10:09:03 PDT

BROOKLYN--In a TSP exclusive, Irish punk rocker Shane MacGowan had declared his opposition to all health care reform legislative proposals that are coursing through the mottled veins of legislative committees before both both houses of Congress. Mr. MacGowan has long been known for his powerfully sensitive lyrics, sardonic wit and heavy drinking. He recently explained his opposition to health care reform in a short interview at a Brooklyn pub.

TSP: Mr. MacGowan, one of your signature traits has always been your blackened teeth and Olympian drinking ability, which surely has put a strain on your liver and other body functions. Have you always placed preventative medicine and health care on the back burner, as it were?

SMG: Fuck no. When I was a wee lad, my Mum would take me to the dentist and I would see the look of fear in the man's eyes. Real fear. As a child I liked sweets and then later my tastes moved more towards beer, wine and spirits. Of course it took a toll on me body. But when I emigrated to America, I couldn't afford doctors and dentists, what with my hard fought wages as a punk rock musician. I remember my manager laughing uncontrollably when I asked if the band could get a group insurance policy. So I said, fuck it. If I'm gonna enjoy the fruits of American soil, I'll just have to factor in about 10 to 12 less years of life expectancy.

TSP: But wouldn't your lack of medical care make you more inclined to support basic health care for all Americans?

SMG: Not at all. You see, mate, American medical care is like a whiskey sour made with cheap rubbing alcohol. It smells medicinal but leaves you shitting your pants in an alley after you've had a few. I remember once in Cleveland when they wheeled me in on a gurney and they made me lay there in my own filth for hours because I didn't have an insurance card. In Ireland, they celebrate poets. In America, you celebrate investment bankers. In Ireland, the old and sick are treated with compassion and care. In America, the old are institutionalized and the sick are medicated and thrown on to skid row. I say, why bother having health care reform. You need to reform your whole way of life. You are a sick nation. That is why I love you all so much. You're sick and revel in your debasement. Now let's drink.

Dan Cooper, de Gaulle hitman and hijacker

matthew@wasabinoir.com (Matthew Dodson) — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:45:31 PDT

This French cartoon, penned by Belgian Albert Weinberg, holds the key to political assassinations in the 1960s, de Gaulle's exit from NATO, a mysterious 1971 hijacking and the ascendancy of Texas oilmen at the expense of Franco-German companies.

Court rules for Franken in contested election

matthew@wasabinoir.com (Matthew Dodson) — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 12:01:31 PDT

ST. PAUL, Minn.--After months of delay and bluster from former Senator Coleman, the Minnesota Supreme Court moments ago ruled in favor of Al Franken. Governor Pawlenty has said previously that he would seat Mr. Franken if the state's highest court rules in his favor. Franken will be the mythical 60th vote and help Democrats in tight situations as Senators Kennedy and Byrd are rarely in chambers due to medical conditions. While this decision is great, it is unfortunate that Mr. Coleman dragged his feet instead of graciously conceding in the days after he knew that Franken had the votes to win.

Pakistan's allies draw Indian military to China border

matthew@wasabinoir.com (Matthew Dodson) — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 12:18:35 PDT

NEW DELHI--Military sources tell The Schadenfreude Post that Western nations are cooperating with China to relieve pressure on Pakistan's border by drawing Indian forces to its disputed border with China; thus easing pressure on the Zardari government to focus its attention on defeating Taliban forces in the lawless Western provinces. News reports are reporting that an Indian Air Force plan is missing at the China front. Sources say that the United States and China, two long-time Pakistan allies, are attempting to support the Pakistan military by relieving pressure on the Indian border. The strategy appears to be working.

West, Gulf States are winners in Lebanon

matthew@wasabinoir.com (Matthew Dodson) — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 10:43:04 PDT

BEIRUT--The victory of Harari's March 14th Alliance over Hezbollah-backed candidates in Lebanon's June 7th election is a major victory for the West and moderate Sunni Gulf States. From a strategic view, the methods used by the United States and Saudi Arabia to neutralize Hezbollah's grassroots support offer proof that diplomatic activity, accompanied by financial, military and intelligence support, are valuable tools to neutralize bad actors without using the heavy hand (e.g., Iraq) which creates blow back on America's long term interests. We got it right in Lebanon and the democratically elected government is slowly rebuilding the damaged nation and replacing chaotic militias and NGOs with governmental institutions. Hopefully, we will learn from this victory.

Bill Maher skewers Republican nail-biters

matthew@wasabinoir.com (Matthew Dodson) — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 21:34:54 PDT

PASADENA, U.S.A.--Political pundit and provocateur Bill Maher offers a cogent, if snarky, analysis of why Republicans are acting so peculiar with regard to President Obama--they are out of touch with reality.

The conservative base is absolutely apoplectic because, because ... well, nobody knows. They're mad as hell, and they're not going to take it anymore. Even though they're not quite sure what "it" is. But they know they're fed up with "it," and that "it" has got to stop.

The truth is that the right flank of social issue Republicans are not so much concerned with what Obama HAS done, they are apoplectic about what he MIGHT do. They worry about tax increases when he just lowered the taxes for at least 95 percent of them. They worry that he will take away their guns when he has repeatedly declined to re-up the Assault Gun ban.

The GOP base is convinced that Obama is going to raise their taxes, which he just lowered. But, you say, "Bill, that's just the fringe of the Republican Party." No, it's not. The governor of Texas, Rick Perry, is not afraid to say publicly that thinking out loud about Texas seceding from the Union is appropriate considering that ... Obama wants to raise taxes 3% on 5% of the people? I'm not sure exactly what Perry's independent nation would look like, but I'm pretty sure it would be free of taxes and Planned Parenthood. And I would have to totally rethink my position on a border fence.

I might have to agree with Mr. Maher's ambivalence about the fence.

Loser Norm Coleman should go quietly into the night

matthew@wasabinoir.com (Matthew Dodson) — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 21:36:14 PDT

Politico is reporting that the still contested 2008 election of Al Franken to the U.S. Senate may drag on to the fall, as knucklehead Norm Coleman refuses to accept the will of people and, instead, chooses to use procedural manoeuvring to prevent the Senate from operating at full capacity.

When Republicans used fake riots (by Republican staffers flown in from Washington) to lay siege to vote centers in 2000, manipulation of ballot boxes and suspicious maneuvering from the Republican Secretary of State, the Republican mantra was that Vice President Gore should concede for the good of the country. Robert Kennedy Jr. documented how the 2004 election was stolen as well. We know how that race ended and we also know the consequences that decision had on our democratic institutions and Constitution.

We now have another contested election and Texas Senator John Cornyn is threatening "WW III" if Democrats seat Franken before Coleman has a chance to play out the procedural tactics to their conclusion.

Now is the time for former Norm Coleman to concede the election and go gracefully into retirement. Comity and patriotism should dictate no less. The memory of Senator Paul Wellstone's sweat and blood remains quietly in the background. His honor deserves no less than the speedy resolution of this farce.

Speaker Pelosi knew about Harman wiretap

matthew@wasabinoir.com (Matthew Dodson) — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 16:36:38 PDT

WASHINGTON--House Speaker Nancy Pelosi admitted today that she was briefed years ago about a wiretap of a suspected Israeli spy; one who allegedly pressured Congresswoman Jane Harman to help stave off an FBI prosecution of two American Israel PAC lobbyists for espionage. In the NSA-intercepted call, the spy allegedly offered to get Harman the sought-after post of Intelligence Committee chairmanship in return for helping the AIPAC lobbyists.

Ultimately, Pelosi denied Harman the Chairmanship, presumably because of personal animosity. Today's revelations, however, seem to indicate that the chairmanship denial may have been partially a result of the NSA intercept.

Congresswoman Harman denies the accusations and has requested that Attorney General Holder release any transcripts of the purported phone conversation. She also denies contacting any relevant public officials in support of the two AIPAC lobbyists. The New York Times is reporting that former Attorney General Gonzalez allegedly quashed an FBI investigation of Harman's intercepted call. ABC is reporting today that the case against Steve Rosen and Keith Weissman may be dismissed in the near future.

What is forgotten in the immediate scrutiny of the situation is that Rosen and Weissman were originally arrested after meeting with Pentagon analyst Lawrence Franklin, who was closely associated for neo-conservative diehards working as civilians in the Pentagon. Was Franklin a conduit of secret information from Vice President Cheney to contravene the Joint Chiefs and Executive Department by passing secret intelligence on Iran to support Israel's proposed attack on the Persian nation's nuclear facilities? If the case is dropped, we may never know the truth.

Chinese banking model could spur jobs, business

matthew@wasabinoir.com (Matthew Dodson) — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 15:37:04 PDT

PASADENA, USA--BusinessWeek reporter Ann Lee writes in the current edition of the magazine that China offers an interesting model for public/private banks that would be designed to a specific social task (e.g., job creation, small business incubators, etc.). Her thesis makes sense. Since the government is already deeply immersed due to the global banking crisis, why not use some of that new equity to ameliorate some deep social issues.

Innovation bank branches could be opened across the country in offices vacated by bankrupt companies. Unemployed workers in every sector could finally get a shot at becoming entrepreneurs with an equity investment from the government. The government would in turn receive a share of the profits.

China has problems of its own, but we can learn from other countries' successes. The current system is failing Americans. Innovation in banking is not only possible, it is imperative.

Cheney assertions on torture are untruthful

matthew@wasabinoir.com (Matthew Dodson) — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 14:56:17 PDT

PASADENA, USA--The Plum Line, a blog, recently refreshed the memory of former Bush Administration officials who have repeated the canard that torture in the months after 9/11 produced actionable intelligence about impending terrorist attacks. Those assertions are false.

Robert Mueller, Bush's FBI director, was quoted in the December edition of Vanity Fair as stating that no attacks were prevented as a result of the application of torture to suspected terror suspects. The steaming pile of mendacity coming from the mouths of former Bush officials is as unseemly as it is despicable. Repeating a lie a million times does not make it the truth.

Obama should support new South African leader

matthew@wasabinoir.com (Matthew Dodson) — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 12:37:57 PDT

PRETORIA, S. Africa--Jacob Zuma appears headed to a resounding victory in South Africa's presidential election to replace Western-backed Thabo Mbeki, who was ousted as ANC party leader in 2008. While Zuma has shown a lack of judgment in the past (financial and sexual scandals), he has the heart of his people and a mandate to improve the lives of the nation's millions of impoverished citizens.

President Obama should reach out to Zuma and help him put together the infrastructure and social services to sustain Africa's best hope for a stable future. If we lose South Africa, we lose Africa. If we help sustain a stable, prosperous South Africa, the whole continent can build a generation of citizens to a better future... and America will gain, economically and politically, from that potential.

Why Obama is right to follow Keynesian theory

matthew@wasabinoir.com (Matthew Dodson) — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 13:46:45 PST

Obama and Congressional Democrats are taking blistering attacks from newly minted "fiscal conservatives" over the just passed stimulus bill. Common sense may dictate that government should retract during tough economic times. Such an act would have been disastrous, had Senator McCain won the election. Keynesian economics is based on the notion that governments maintain fiscally moderate policies during good economic times (See Clinton era Rubinomics). During tough times, under this theory, the government steps in to keep economic activity moving until the private sector can recover and fulfill its role. It also serves the critical function of preventing social unrest and uncertainty during bleak times. Future generations will view Obama as the man who saved capitalism, notwithstanding his current vilification from Bush-era spendthrifts.

Senator Feinstein spills the beans on Pakistan cooperation

matthew@wasabinoir.com (Matthew Dodson) — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 14:00:07 PST

Senator Diane Feinstein (D-Ca) potentially damaged national security and ruined a delicate U.S military and CIA operation to kill terrorists in Pakistan via Predator drones flown from Pakistan airbases. Pakistan's new civilian government has vowed to take down Taliban and al-Qaeda terrorists cells, while publicly opposing our "unilateral" strikes on Pakistan soil. This bifurcated policy is necessary due to hard-line elements in that nation's military and intelligence agencies who sympathize with fundamentalist elements in the wild western regions that border Afghanistan. Senator Feinstein chairs the Terrorism, Technology and Homeland Security sub-committee and should know better about spilling delicate national security secrets. One hopes this was a one-off blunder that will not be repeated.

Roberto Bolano's Distant Star is pitch perfect

matthew@wasabinoir.com (Matthew Dodson) — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 21:44:01 PST

PASADENA, U.S.A. -- Roberto Bolano's darkly humorous novel, Distant Star, is a chilling homily to the vile excesses of the Pinochet regime in Chile and the demented fascist aesthetics of a particular pilot/poet of German extraction. Mr. Bolano's prose smokes off the page and the reader is left with the exclamation that art matters; art has consequences. He also more than hints that the creative process is far from a placid undertaking and can lead in dangerous directions.

Distant Star is written in a hard boiled style that follows in the footsteps of the classic noir writers and (as another reviewer noted) post-modern noir-ish writer Paul Auster.

The horrors of the disappeared and the torture warehouses struck down a generation of Chile's youth. Mr. Bolano will not let us forget. This short, pithy novel will keep one thinking about its many layers for a long time to come; it is also clear that a reader will never view the "art" of sky writing in the same way again.

The dust settles in Iraq to US benefit

matthew@wasabinoir.com (Matthew Dodson) — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 21:21:49 PST

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- In the span of a few hours, the symbolism of the U.S. occupation in Iraq has taken a wide turn for open waters as American ground forces turned over security in the Green Zone to Iraqi troops. Further south, the British turned over control of Basra International Airport to civilian Iraqi authorities. These two events are emblematic of the sea change in the broken country and, hopefully, the ceremonies and a host of other developments in the domestic situation will allow the Iraqis to take control of their society and allow U.S. forces to come home.

The pacification of Iraqi society should not be seen as a vindication of President Bush's mendacious imperial adventure but as a wider movement by the foreign policy elite away from Utopian and unrealistic ideologies and towards a new pragmatism. President-elect Obama should continue drawing down U.S. forces and cauterize the deep economic and human wounds wrought by the previous Administration.

Not withstanding the call by some progressives to abandon our commitment to Afghanistan, The Schadenfreude Post believes that we should stabilize the region to prevent the ungovernable regions of eastern Afghanistan and western Pakistan from further deteriorating. While cleaning up the Indian sub-continent mess, President Obama needs to boldly address the Palestine issue and lessen U.S. dependence on Middle East oil.

America looks weak now but the steps being carried out will allow us to step back from the precipice.