A good swift kick in the ass? Hell, I've been threated with bodily harm from people who want their medications. I know what particular hell bi-polar patients can go through.

I was talking in the general sense that doctors are all too quick to prescribe a pill for conditions that would possibly be treated better with a combination of therapy and drugs..not just drugs.

I'm not ignorant, nor am I talking out of my ass. I work in a pharmacy and happen to know a little bit about the problem. When you dispense Ritalin, Adderall, Effexor, Prozac, Zoloft, Xanax, and other heavy-duty drugs on a daily basis to people, you just have to wonder how many depressed people we actually have, as opposed to what we used to have.

Is the problem better or worse? Is the diagnosis correct or is the patient really improving?

I haven't seen many people get off the drugs they're using, because they become dependent and need them for life, even if the problem was temporary.

Actual acute mental problems, such as bi-polar, are not temporary, and I was not addressing that kind of illness. I was writing about the over-prescribing of drugs to treat an array of symptoms that possibly could be momentary-only to have the patient become so dependent that they do indeed become addicts.

It is a topic of our daily life in a pharmacy: whether or not we're actually helping people, or just enabling addiction. Believe it or not, many of us do question the validity of studies, the advertising and the information available to the general public.

I read a lot more about problems with medications than most do, and I haven't seen one drug yet that doesn't have incredible and long lasting side effects, including death.

So a temporary problem becomes permanent, one way or another.

If all the candidates wear flag pins, that means they're just posturing to be the "ultimate" patriot-and henceforth, electable.

After all, it worked for Bush and Co, didn't it?

Wrong. It is a symbol of a country gone down the wrong way in so many ways it isn't funny.

It don't mean diddly squat, and it won't despite the media crap with it. It does not mean the candidate is more qualified except to pin it on their lapel-and any monkey can do that!

If that is all the MSM has to comment on, they had all better get other jobs-reporting is not one of them.

Patriotism is not defined by wearing jewelry-but by doing something for your country-not to it!

You want real patriotism? Ask any candidate if they have any of the official military insignia denoting military duty; IE, the 1st Cav insignia, the Airborne wings, the Master Sharpshooter badge, etc-and if they can't come up with those, then the American flag can't be worn at all.

The people who wear those kinds of insignia are the real patriots, and they don't go around wearing them in public life, because they belong on a uniform while on active duty.

Last time I checked, politics didn't qualify as military duty, just a nuisance duty.

I can understand why the Fed wants to stabilize the banks and their credit woes, by any means possible

Who's to say that the Fed has any more money? I understand that the Treasuries themselves are under siege..their value is depreciating, as well, and they're the payout.

What happens when the entire house of cards continues to collapse no matter what the Fed does?

It's not a good thing to dwell on. There's no end to this horrible financial nightmare, and the banks that started it will get away with doing it.

This entire financial meltdown sounds ominously like what happened in the 30's..and look what happened then. Not a very pleasant scenario, and very close to it.

About 8 months ago I wrote in this very same column that the news at that time (which was beginning to trickle out) would get very very bad, and the results astoundingly terrible-and I was proven right 100%. I fear I'm not being a Pandora this time, either.

It sucks to be right.

While she was standing there, (valium induced coma or not), I think she was figuring out very carefully what the costs of a divorce would be, how much she could get from her husband and how much property she can legally claim.

She was a lawyer in her past life. She was trained to think like one, and I'm sure the legal aspects of this whole thing probably flabbergasted her, but she can cope with that.

She can go back to private practice. She can reclaim her life. She knows that if she stays with hubby, he will possibly be prosecuted or fined heavily-but even then, he's rich..and she can take him for nearly everything she wants. She knows the cards are in her hands-and she's got a winning hand.

Every single appearance counts for this one. She's possibly putting together a severance package that will make her richer and happier than she was before. Any judge will grant her that she behaved impeccably throughout this whole ordeal.

Ah, the sins of the rich are lucrative-and at the very least, she's reaped her rewards.

Steve quotes is "SOS" by Abba-lyric for lyric..I can just hear that tune.

Thanks alot! Now I won't be able to get through the day without hearing it in my head every waking moment...damn!

There's one other place where being stoned is not a good idea-at a job interview. Most interviewers can spot a stoner a mile away, and if you even smell like pot, you'll be finished before you start.

Have fun in school, but drop the pot as a full-time job before you get out into the real world-it has a very strict code of behavior for employment.