OT: The new Pope and Canada.

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It would be good to see the Church sticking to it`s guns despite the fall in revenue. As the Pope said "Rules can`t just be changed just because you don`t like them!" (Or words to that effect). If I was a believer I would instantly resume the instruction I started just over forty years ago. I have been disappointed to see even the small amount of "modernisation" that has gone on in the church in recent years - to me the constancy of the Catholic Church has always been of great importance. All other forms of Christianity grew from people`s reluctance to stick to the rules of their Faith.

Pat P

"Pat EAXStitch" wrote in news:WHS9e.604$ snipped-for-privacy@newsfe5-gui.ntli.net:

As Mirjam pointed out, Christianity itself grew from just such a reluctance, so it's hardly surprising that it continues. Although I see it less as a reluctance to stick the the rules of one's faith and more a questioning the ability of others to define those rules for your own faith.

But heck, what do I know, I'm an atheist. :-)

Not to mention that the Catholic church is hardly "pure and unsullied," even pre-Vatican II. Catholicism has been many things over time, even in the mainline church.

Best wishes, Ericka

A butcher who only sells meat slaughtered in the traditional manner for Muslims.

Pat P

Not QUITE. Christianity grew from the belief that Christ WAS the Son of God (the Messiah), whilst the Jewish faith, whilst still the basis for much of it, still to this day does not believe that the Messiah has yet come.

And hey, I`m an atheist too! I wish it could be otherwise, but to me it`s all a beautiful fairy story - but a fairy story none-the-less. I grew out of those a LONG time ago.

By the way, TOTALLY off the subject, has anyone read a fascinatingly strange book called "The Icarus Girl", written by an 18 year-old Nigerian student called Helen Oyeyemi? It`s (put VERY simply) about an eight-year-old half white/half Nigerian girl and her invisible friend (ghost of dead twin sister?) Far too complex to explain, but a "real page-turner". She first comes across her when staying with her mother`s fanmily in Nigeria, and "Tilly-Tilly" miraculously reappears when she returns home to England. I can thoroughly recommend it as something really different.

If Helen Oyeyemi can write as she does at such a young age (she`s only 21 now), I`m awstruck at the thought of what she might come up with in the future.

Pat P

Pat P

Thank You , somebody emailed this to me in private and i checked my dictionary and found that Lahem Halal , is meat Kosher for Muslims, You don`t see it here on our local Shops , even though we are a mixed city. mirjam

This issue has just come up locally. One pharmacist would ask for the prescription, look at it, and then refuse to give it back!!

Others would say "I won't fill it", but not direct the woman to someone who would.

They're talking about legislation to require the objecting pharmacists to maintain a list of other pharmacies within "reasonable distance" who will fill these RXs, but one of the issues is the definition of "reasonable distance" -- in some of our far-flung rural areas, there might not be another pharmacy within 25 miles.

I don't recall if the incident was here or elsewhere, but some pharmacist refused to hand out birth control pills. Problem is, BCP are used for things other than contraception, and it's frankly none of his business whether you're using them for contraception, to regulate an irregular cycle, to control endometriosis, to minimize disabling cramps to only 3 or 4 times a year..... It's discrimination for him to say that I can have them because I'm unpredictable without them, but that someone else can't because she's using them to prevent life.

-- Brenda

The main job of a pharmacist is to NOT diagnose!!! Their job is to make sure the doctors don't kill us by writing improper scripts!!!

Overdoses have been written by doctors ... and it's up to the pharmacist to catch that ... and call the doctor before filling that script.

The commercials on television, etc. are ridiculous ... and should not be taken as fact.

The pharmacist knows the pharmacology of the drugs ... and the deadly amounts ... and how many meds a person is on ... and what might not mix with something else!!! THAT is their job!!!

Commercials are for selling products ... not for informing people.

Watch how many ads there are for Nexium and other antacids!!! But do they ever say to check with your doctor because reflux CAN and MIGHT cause Esophageal Cancer?? No! The ads don't tell the people that. The companies are out to make money ... not to save lives.

Gentle as you go, Marny

My ex is a pharmacist ... and I know that the job of the pharmacist is to make sure the doctors don't kill us with all the prescriptions they write!!

Few doctors know the pharmacology of all the meds they write for ... and it's the pharmacist's job to make sure that the combinations of drugs each person takes are 'healthy'.

If a pharmacist gets the power to not dole out certain things, they might as well close their stores. If birth control is against their religion, they shouldn't be selling prophylactics . . .

And, hopefully, no longer sell cigarettes!

With all the children being taken from their homes and murdered, we in the USA better be paying more attention to the pedophiles we allow out of prison, knowing full-well that they are NEVER rehabilitated!!

The Pope best stop focusing on gay folks ... and pay more attention to what's happening right under his own nose and in his own house!! Are the clergy gay who are molesting boys (usually) or 'just' pedophiles?? Oh and it's a known fact that straight guys are the pedophiles, not gay folks!!!

Gentle as you go, Marny

Marny Fischer wrote: > Commercials are for selling products ... not for informing people.

They're getting better than they used to be at informing people (though they're still not good). I remember when it seemed like most of the ads said, "Ask your doctor if you need our little purple pill," and didn't even tell you *what* the pill was for! Now many of them at least tell you what condition is treated by the drug.

Sue

I love the ones that list possible side effects that are, IMO, worse than the symptoms of what you're supposedly taking the medication to get rid of!

When we lived in UK , i was amazed that whenever the Doc prescribed something , we would get it with a label saying "The pill" , or a The Cream" . when informing about that strange to us habit , the Pharmacist would say, That we won`t understand it anyway ,,,, It still seems strange to me , but i heard they stopped this . mirjam

Yep. Note how they speed up real fast when they get to the part about "our pills may kill you"?

One of the things that I was considering, I read the fine print, which worked out to "this is not one whit more effective than what they've been doing for decades, but may be fatal, which that never was." Yuh-huh, that really inspires me to take your drugs.

This thread should probably be under a different Subject line . . .

Anyway ...

The incidences of Esophageal Cancer are in epidemic proportions in the United States. The commercials are not getting across to people anything more than a person's reflux aka GERD will be cured if they take their pill.

NOTHING is said about reflux aka GERD possibly leading to Esophageal Cancer!!!! EC is the MOST lethal form of cancer, second only to Pancreatic.

NOT the cancer to get, trust me. It's what took the life of my beloved Dale, at the age of 55, in February, 2001.

When I went to my doctor the other day (I've been coughing ala bronchitis) ... I gave her a few upgrades to her education as far as EC is concerned. She will now pay much closer attention to anyone who tells her they have reflux!!!

The ONLY way for a doctor to see if the esophagus has problems, is to LOOK via an Endoscopy. A simple procedure. Of course, the medical insurance companies do not want to pay for tests -- until the patient is already a Stage III or IV.

I also told the doc that EC and the pre-condition called Barrett's Esophagus ... can run in families!!!

One member diagnosed means the entire family better Listen Up!!

Gentle as you go, Marny

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