PamRotella.com

Pam's Rants
As a child, I was always amused by old-timers who complained about everything, especially the government. They were funny and informative at the same time, and most had really good points to make. Of course, the government gave them plenty of outrages for material.

As I get older, rants flow easily on a daily basis. And so I've finally decided to start typing some of them to humor my readers. I'll start by ranting about current events, with other issues and older items occasionally sprinkled in:

As War Rages in Israel and Lebanon, Republicans Demand... Coffin Denial
As the Mideast's only nuclear power suffers casualties from its seemingly perpetual war on native peoples in that region, Republicans here in the states are working on their diplomatic response to... a commercial they found on the internet. That's right, the Republican 'Diplomacy... WHAT'S THAT?' Party is pretty much ignoring the Mideast's latest new war, and instead is choosing to fight the easy battle of phoney indignation."

Independence Day 2006 and The San Francisco Defense
"And on Independence Day, there's an additional question -- is this what the founding fathers had in mind for us? Is this why they entrusted the ability to declare war to Congress, the largest part of the largest branch of government they built, apparently hoping that so many people couldn't all be wrong at the same time? Would they be happy with Congress' vote handing warmaking authority over to the President? Would they be happy about what happened to this little girl? Or was preventing it closer to what they were trying to do... over the course of their entire lives?"

Virginia Politics -- "We don't have any Kennedys!"
"This is a horrible oversimplification, but both men agreed on so many of the issues that I'm going to try to differentiate between the two anyway. (By the way, both say they'll work to gracefully pull the US out of the Iraq War, so the most popular issue is covered.) I think Miller's strongest argument is that he's the real Democrat, that he'd best represent traditional Democratic causes. And that's probably true -- case in point, the Hybrid his campaign uses. Miller's opponent Webb doesn't say this directly, but his campaign is very clear on the point that they feel he's the one who could defeat Senator Allen, and it's easy to see why. He'll get the Republican vote! And if Webb takes the primary, who else can Democrats vote for? So he'll have all of the Democrats and a good portion of Republicans voting for him, at least a good number of the McCain, Reagan, and disaffected Bush Republicans. Allen will put up a fight, but it's true that Webb will be tough to beat with the Democrats backing him."

Memorial Day in America
"In America today, disinformation agents in the press and government will exploit any death for their own purposes, labeling VICTIMS as HEROES to make it seem as though people killed by their political policies actually died for a valid reason, and wouldn't mind doing so. The military in America is a volunteer army, but they're youngsters, kids usually not bright or rich enough to make it into college, not aware of the world enough to make well-informed decisions, and stuck in a bad economy with limited job opportunities. They're easy to lie to in some cases, easy to manipulate in most. They're bound by the contracts they've signed, giving their lives over to the military for a number of years. It's what they call a 'poverty draft,' forcing people into service by economics instead of legal obligations. They're not fighting for freedom at all, except for the artificial freedom promised by wartime propaganda. In reality, they're fighting for greedy men's oil wars, and to avoid being jailed for not showing up when their units were called to active duty. Yes, some of them really do believe that 'Arabs' did 9-11, but those kids are usually the ones who don't question the official government line EVER, who never did well in school and had never even seen the words 'Unocal,' 'Iraq,' or 'Afghanistan' before any of this went down. They certainly had no idea of where the countries involved were located, or the politics of oil surrounding them."

American Creativity confronts Bush on offshore drilling
"Now, Bush doesn't like hearing about the suffering his actions have caused the American people, or anyone else for that matter. So normally he has 'free speech zones' set up miles away from his speaking engagements, arresting protesters who dare come within earshot or visual site of the man, lest his 'baby feelings' be hurt by the harsh consequences of his actions. But ingenuity is still in good supply here in America, and somebody hired a plane to breach any 'free speech zone' and advertise their concerns in the sky, to the entire Virginia Beach community... America has finally come to this -- the President has become so inaccessible that people need to fly a plane around town to be seen and heard. It took me a while and several calls to track down the geniuses responsible for this stunt... Mr. Low confirmed that the Sierra Club had paid for the banner and airplane. He told me that the Sierra Club was aware of Bush coming to Virginia Beach for the fundraiser, and also that Bush was a big proponent of offshore drilling along Virginia's coast. The Sierra Club's position is that offshore drilling would spoil the area's environment, waterways, and Virginia's natural heritage. Annie Strickler of Sierra Club's San Francisco Headquarters confirmed this information, and also mentioned that the Sierra Club is concerned with Virginia Beach's tourism economy, and the potential for possible oil spills from offshore drilling in the area."

Missing word of the day: MERCURY
"Despite the fact that awareness of the mercury-autism link has reached all the way up to Congress, the word MERCURY was entirely absent from CNN's article. And so MERCURY is my word of the day. CNN's article even threw GENETICS into the mix, a frequent scapegoat of the medical industry. The article claimed that the disease was considered to be a mix of environmental and genetic triggers, using the example of identical twins -- children who no doubt are usually vaccinated at the same time, by the same doctor, with the same batch of vaccine."

Oops! I was wrong... So sorry your kid is dead now
"Yet nearly all of the mainstream media continued to make Bush's case for war every day on the TV, radio, and in print. I'm sure Remnick didn't have nearly the effect of Fox News, but ultimately all 'commentators' hyping the war share some responsibility for the death and suffering in Iraq. Certain poorly-informed Americans hear people like Remnick and make judgments based on their claims, rarely questioning how these 'journalists' obtained their 'facts'. Eventually the propagandists' names are forgotten after their mission is accomplished and then discredited, like roaches disappearing into the walls at daylight. But the results of their work remain forever. According to the most scientific estimates, hundreds of thousands of people are dead (so far) because of the Iraq war, thousands of American soldiers among them (although unlike rabid right-wing commentators, I don't pretend that those American lives are the only ones that matter). Yes, all individuals supporting the war share some of the responsibility, but those using their access to the media in order to mislead the gullible are certainly only a step below the Bush Administration in ultimate responsibility for the death and destruction of their 2002-03 disinformation project, the Iraq War."

A good time to reflect on Resignating Nookyalur Terra-ist Presidents
"And Reagan's veep, Duh-bya's father, was no genius. If the economy's in the toilet, you know there's a Bush in the White House. It was kind of in the toilet when Reagan was President, but you see, Bush was only Vice-President then. The full flush didn't happen until the elder Bush was actually President. And that's when Iraq-Nam started, too."

Questions about Dick Cheney's little "accident"
"And so I wasn't surprised at all last week when Alex Jones did an excellent job of debunking Cheney's little 'accident story.' First of all, it was kind of obvious that something was up, because it took so long for them to report the accident -- both to the police and the press. Cheney no doubt needed that extra day to manufacture a story, and make sure that everyone knew the story line well enough to stick to it."

Dick Cheney "accidentally" shoots his friend
"I've known a couple of hunters who used hunting as a way to live off of the land -- who really needed extra food, and hunting was a way to get it. But many other hunters only hunt for 'sport', like Dick Cheney. Hunting for 'sport' just means killing animals for fun. There's no intention of using the animal for food or anything other than a trophy. Obviously, Dick Cheney can afford his own food. In fact, the big problem of his life is too much rich food giving him heart attacks. The shooting of Cheney's friend was yet another unnecessary injury, caused by careless shooting while hunting for the joy of killing things. Supposedly Cheney's friend isn't talking about the accident out of respect for Cheney, but in reality this accident and hunting in general need to be talked about a lot more."

Pam's Rant on the Martha Stewart Case
"Now the big question is -- will Ken Lay walk, or serve at least as much time as Martha?"

George Santayana, Ibn Khaldun, King, and Hillary
"I think Americans will be led down this path many times, at least as many times as we forget our past. The problem these days is, how many people remember much about the Vietnam War? How many bothered to educate themselves about the Iraq situation before we were sucked into that war? And as a related issue, how many kids are NOT spending a good bulk of their time on TV and video games?"

Samuel Alito, "Ghetto" Italians, and corporate-sponsored gas
"Italian-Americans need to learn something from African-Americans here. I've never heard any African-Americans praising Clarence Thomas. Maybe they do exist, but I've never come across a single person who said that he or she admired Clarence Thomas because of his ancestry, or for any other reason. So why would anyone feel proud of Alito and Scalia? Being proud of sold souls like Scalia and Alito is like praising any other person who prostitutes his soul for money, power, or a place in history -- even a really bad place in history, as anyone affiliated with the Bush Administration provides."

Ariel Sharon and the good thing about mass murderers of history
"And if anyone has humiliated Israel and Jews everywhere, it's Ariel Sharon. You know it isn't good when a man has massacres on his resume. Yet now that the man is dying, people are a little concerned over who may come to power after his death. That's not to say that anyone seems to be terribly concerned with Ariel Sharon as a person. When you're a mass murderer of history, your personal welfare isn't exactly as much of a concern as the people you have killed or may kill in the future. And Sharon was in his 70s, over 300 lbs., only 5'7" tall, a picture of morbid obesity. No one really expected him to last this long anyway. Yet in that long, unhealthy, grotesque and violent life of his, Sharon managed to finally realize that tit-for-tat violence wasn't working for Israel, and finally gave up the Gaza strip to the Palestinians near the end of his life. It's pretty sad when a country is so violent that someone like Ariel Sharon is suddenly seen as a centrist, but a moderate he became. It only took him 60 years to realize that his strategy of hateful vendettas wasn't working."

Tom Cruise, Brooke Shields, Matt Lauer and TV's pharmaceutical whores
"First of all, postpartum depression is usually nothing more than a deficiency in Omega-3 fatty acids and perhaps certain vitamins & minerals. I remember Matt Lauer making a remark that if Cruise's girlfriend were to develop postpartum depression, she'd better exercise and take her vitamins. I guess that means Lauer still hasn't bothered to read up on the subject, no surprises there. When a woman carries a baby to term, that baby has drained quite a bit of nutrition from the mother. One of the primary things needed by the fetus is Omega-3 fatty acid -- every cell membrane in the human body needs it to function properly, and the brain's development creates an especially ravenous appetite for Omega-3s. That's why leafy greens and fish are reputed to be "brain food" -- the brain, immune, and reproductive systems are all especially Omega-3 dependent. So the baby drains the mother of Omega-3, and most likely the mother hasn't been replacing it fast enough while pregnant. She becomes Omega-3 deficient. Well, one of the most common symptoms of Omega-3 deficiency is DEPRESSION. That's why postpartum depression eventually goes away after delivery -- the woman eventually (hopefully) replaces the nutrients through her dietary intake over time."

Holidays, gay marriage, abortion, & the pseudo-Christian bogus issues machine
"Pseudo-Christians have been on the move lately, making themselves political 'activists' on a number of issues. The latest 'issue' was featured quite a bit on CNN over the past week -- the use of the term 'holiday' versus 'Christmas.' Some of the Christian fringe is upset with President Bush for sending Christmas cards wishing people happy 'holidays' instead of a merry 'Christmas.' I could get into the whole historical timing of Christmas, not actually the time of Christ's birth but instead a period selected to compete with Roman feasts at the time, but that's too much of a diversion from my subject. My point is -- aren't there more pressing things that REAL Christians would be spending their time on? Just look at the number of people killed or disabled on a daily basis in Iraq. Or the poor in this country, with their benefits recently cut yet again by a government hungry for war money. Or hurricane victims whose needs aren't even close to being met by government and non-profit aid."

Bush's latest speech: His tired old excuses for the Iraq War, and Pam's translation
"If Bush had actually bothered to READ history, he would have found a nice little quote about history by President John F. Kennedy: 'History will judge us harshly.' Smart man, obviously read history... because THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT HISTORY DOES. History doesn't CALL people to go BOMB over 100,000 people to their deaths. It just tells everyone that you bombed 100,000 people to their deaths after you've already done it. And then it labels you as, that's right, a MASS MURDERER OF HISTORY. Thank you, George Duh-bya Bush, for admitting you've never, EVER, read any history."

America's holiday shopping madness -- don't we all have something better to do?
"Of course, assuming the bad economy is to blame for this year's sales decrease ignores anti-materialism movements like 'Buy Nothing Day.' As if Americans don't have their homes jammed with enough junk as it is! Some people are deliberately trying to cut down on holiday trinkets, myself included. As I get older and see friends and relatives burdened with so many material possessions -- never used, yet occupying much of their living space -- it seems like the best choice to make. And then... and then... there's the suffering, the pain... of the holiday shopping season."

Internet "Protection" (CIPA) filtering out political criticism
"Why am I not surprised that CIPA is being used as a way of blocking political free speech? It seems logical, when you consider that the Bush Republicans passed the 'Help America Vote' act, stipulating that America must switch over to the same computerized voting machines proven as the culprit in several stolen elections, including the Presidency. So now they're 'helping' parents protect their kids from web sites -- including the ones criticizing their dirty political dealings, of course."

Viagara's good side effect
"At best, Viagara is a perfect example of America's band-aid approach to medicine, where as usual, traditional MDs give patients a quick fix that provides temporary relief... and a need for the patient to keep coming back for more. It certainly doesn't solve anything permanently, other than cash flow for the doctor and big drug companies, making their Mercedes payments much easier to handle. So it's hard to believe that Viagara has any sort of positive impact, other than the occasional ability to have sex, blindness, and heart attacks. But I try to keep an open mind about these things, and it turns out that Viagara has demonstrated a good side effect of global proportions."

Who'd want Dick Cheney?
"The first thing out of her mouth was the settlement of the American West, where she talked about how people could move into this land that no one was using... no one except the Native Americans, of course. Well, I was sickened enough to leave the TV set. Her 'historical' 'writing' is worthless, nothing more than a simpleton's fairy tale. But then you have to consider... she married Dick Cheney."

Tom DeLay finally gets his mug shot
"Yeah, uh, expose the prosecution? DeLay has engaged in a lot of politics over the years, and he's not known for his honesty. A lot of government officials get away with criminal activities for years, but I guess DeLay just doesn't know history. A few people at the top may skate, or be acquitted or pardoned later, but a lot of them also go to jail, or are removed from office in various ways."

Bloomberg terrorizes New York with a tacky Bush ploy
"Everyone was slinging opinions around New York about Bloomberg's decision NOT to participate in the debate at Harlem's famous Apollo Theater. His absence was the top news story the following morning; clearly the black community of Harlem had been snubbed. It seemed Democrat Fernando Ferrer and Thomas Ognibene of the Conservative Party were getting the better of Bloomberg, with the empty podium making quite a visual on local news stories. But then... right around the time of the debate... a 'terror' alert was raised in New York, thus occasionally bumping Bloomberg's decision to chicken out of the Harlem debate from the top story on TV news."

Hurricane Wilma and Global Warming
"Obviously:
1.) The hurricane season isn't even over yet.
2.) We're already up to "W" in the list of hurricane names.
3.) Something abnormal must be at work.
4.) Global warming theories had already predicted these changes.
5.) Global warming is real and will continue to progress.
6.) George W. Bush claims global warming doesn't exist.
7.) George W. Bush is just another crooked oilman and can't be trusted."

Hurricane Katrina: Global warming ends Crawford stand-off
"Off the shore of Texas, in the Gulf of Mexico, a storm the size of the Gulf itself was brewing. It was global warming come knocking, a killer storm in a series of killer storms, in a series of years filled with killer storms, all predicted by scientists over a decade ago when Bush's father was President. Hurricane Katrina represented the global consequences of Bush's policies and the oil companies his family represents. Those consequences weren't to be outdone by the Crawford struggle between peace and war, truth and lies. Global warming threatens to at least make habitation of the Southern and Eastern United States impossible, and at most permanently extinguish life on this planet -- the end of our species and all others."

Shades of Willie Brown and 9-11: London attacked by "terrorists"
"But by far, the most likely and main purpose would have been to derail momentum gained by the G-8 summit. Bush just doesn't like spending money on responsible things. He wants oil wars, with corporate profits directed back to his family and the big donors that give money to his family. Global warming? Doesn't exist, according to Bush. Poverty in Africa? He did promise Tony Blair to raise funding for that, but only after he felt pressured by Blair, who he owes some favors to for Blair's role in foisting Bush's unpopular oil wars on his unwilling nation. Perhaps Tony will forget about that promise if everyone is distracted with another 'terrorist' attack."

London gets 2012 Olympics
...or Being mayor ain't easy when your President's a moron
"Bush is a rare and arrogant variety of stupid, something that just doesn't 'resignate' with men intelligent enough to be world leaders, or even his own countrymen over the age of 10. There's no escaping his moronistic image -- not for us, and not for Mayor Bloomberg."

Latest Republican Plan for Social Security... Work 'til you drop!
"Surviving to 65 without sinking deep into poverty was already a challenge for Americans, with all of the health problems and age discrimination that comes with being elderly in America. The life expectancy of Americans is somewhere around 70 years according to the World Health Organization, and so this latest Republican ploy will give Americans on average 1 year to enjoy their retirement before dying of old age. That's for those lucky enough to make it to 69."

... and What Would Dick Cheney Look Like?
"Of course, taking and publishing photographs for purposes of humiliating POWs is a violation of the Geneva Conventions. The Bush administration is clearly aware of this from their troubles over torture-mills in Cuba, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Yet the Saddam photos were released to the press anyway, and of course right-wingnut Rupert Murdoch was more than eager to put them on the front page of a couple of sensationalist rags that he owns."

Michael Jackson Free... to Sleep with More Boys
"Plus the '93 accuser didn't have the iffy parents of the current accuser. His stepfather owned a car rental company, and his natural father was a 'dentist to the stars,' neither of them apparently hurting for money. After Chandler's natural father won custody of him in '93, Chandler cut off ties with Jackson and reported the sexual incidents at Neverland to police."

British MP George Galloway tells it like it is...
"Senator, in everything I said about Iraq, I turned out to be right, and you turned out to be wrong. And 100,000 people have paid with their lives -- 1,600 of them American soldiers sent to their deaths on a pack of lies. 15,000 of them wounded, many of them disabled FOREVER, on a pack of lies."

Terri Schiavo: Domestic violence and media victim
"But the most damning evidence against Michael Schiavo is the fact that he won't just walk away. Terri Schiavo's parents have wanted to take their daughter home for years. Instead of warehousing their daughter in a hospice, (not because Terri is terminally ill, but because the care is free to Michael Schiavo), Terri's parents could have had appropriate therapies given to Terri, and possibly helped their daughter to recover at least partially. Her husband has already moved on with his life, so why wouldn't he allow his wife's family to take care of their daughter? "

Rat-Mart's Wal-nuts
"'Want more rat nuts?' I offered."
"'Don't remind me,' he laughed."

The GOP on Social Security: "Seniors, drop dead!"
"So let's cover the three main reasons we're having any budgetary problems at all:
1.) Bush gave a huge tax cut to the wealthiest Americans...
2.) The wars, first on Afghanistan and then Iraq, are taking money by the hundreds of BILLIONS to support...
3.) Because Bush doesn't want to fix the economy, and really isn't smart enough to know how anyway, people aren't making as much money to pay into taxes."

Bush can't hold down Iraq, so now he's off to Iran and Syria
"So off Bush trots to Europe last week, trying to sell 'old Europe' on hostility toward Iran. Telling leaders who were smart enough to stay out of Iraq from the outset that they should put aside their 'differences' (integrity), and go along with Bush's really dumb Middle Eastern policy. That's right, forget about Bush ignoring everything your country thinks and wants, every shred of decency your people have, your dedication to human rights after brutal World Wars were fought on your soil -- and just do anything Bush says. After all, look how successful he's been, with people dying in Iraq every day, photos of torture & dead children and whatnot. He must be telling the truth when he says Iran has WMD, after he lied about Iraq having them..."

Bush recycles Honduran war criminal into national "intelligence" director
"As usual, Republican lawmakers are expected to rubber-stamp yet another war criminal into high office. I guess in order to continue with war crimes, you need to surround yourself with people who think that torture and priest-killing are valid daily activities. Otherwise, people might round you up & start the Nuremberg Trials, part 2. Personally, I think another Nuremberg Trial is quite possible, and people in this country will probably be the ones to demand it. Especially if Negroponte puts his HONDURAN DEATH SQUAD experience to use here."

Bush's love affair with Asbestos
"Bush specifically mentioned asbestos when claiming that class actions were often 'frivolous' lawsuits. Asbestos? FRIVOLOUS? Well, if Bush thinks asbestos is so safe, why doesn't he eat it for BREAKFAST?"


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[Original page posted 18 February 2005; Last updated July 2006]
© 2005, 2006 by Pam Rotella

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