Dark Rantings

Time for us to put our money where our mouths are. Time to boycott the entire Walgreens chain. Online, offline, whatever, just don't shop there. Any corporation that would place lives at risk by allowing pharmacists who are NOT medical doctors, to decide what medications are appropriate based solely on what they believe their invisible friend tells them, should not receive our money.

This is not a christians vs. others, or a choice vs. anti choice, or even a women's rights issue. This is instead a medical rights and a human rights issue. In a world where we already watch our doctors medical advice questioned and countermanded by insurance companies, now we go through a second gauntlet, while HOPING our pharmacist is professional enough to fill legally and medically valid prescriptions.

The result of these "ad hoc" decisions based on the misplaced morality of certain pharmacists is not limited to women's health. Nothing in these Walgreens guidelines says that if a pharmacist decides that she doesn't have to dispense Viagra if she considers impotency to be a punishment from God. How about AIDS drugs? Anabuse for alcoholics? Herpes medications? Where does it end?

It is time to show these companies and these pharmacists that they cannot substitute vague personal ides of what others may and may not do, for doing their jobs, i.e filling valid prescriptions written by state licensed medical doctors. It's time to end this HERE.

Walgreens Allows Pharmacists To Not Dispense Drugs They Object To: "A WISN 12 News investigation has discovered that a Milwaukee-area pharmacist has refused to fill prescriptions for women citing religious reasons. A Milwaukee mother of six walked into a north side"

(Via Witchvox - RSS Feed - News from the Nest.)

Posted by mikki at 03:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This could be an interesting fight between the judicial and executive branches of our government. It will be quite interesting to watch Ashcroft attempt to wiggle out of this one.

The Supreme Court announced yesterday that it wants the Bush administration to defend the secrecy that enveloped lower federal courts' proceedings involving one of the 1,200 Arab and Muslim men detained by federal authorities after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. [Washington Post: Nation and Politics]

Posted by mikki at 10:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We have POWER!!!!!! 139 hours later, but we have power. WOO HOO.

Posted by mikki at 01:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Well, the latest recording on the Dominion Virginia Power site says that we will be out of power until TOMORROW NIGHT AT 11 PM. That would be power going down on Thursday, 9/18/03 at 7PM and up Wednesday, 9/24/03 at 11PM. In a suburb of Washington, DC, the Nation's Capital of the supposedly most powerful country in the world. Meantime, Ocracoke Island, ground zero for Hurricane Isabel's landfall, has been enjoying power for days.

So what's wrong with this picture? I'll tell you what's wrong. Two trucks were sitting in the yard of someone up the street from us, for HOURS getting THEIR power on. Those two trucks could have done something about the whole area, perhaps. They say they allocate help depending on what will bring the largest number of people up at once, but somehow I have to wonder.

Psycho Sensei must speak at an International Trademark Association luncheon today. Thank the gods that a friend has power and has offered his shower :-). Otherwise, there could be a health concern for the spectators.

Posted by mikki at 01:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

To the dismay of the many millions of Dark Rantings fans, our site has been up and down quite a bit over the past four days, and it has not been fun. Hurricane Isabel has pounded our little area of Northern Virginia, causing significant damage to the ABOVE GROUND lines that they were too cheap to bury.

A pole a block away went down, the transformers all over the road, and a pole two blocks to the other side went down. When we saw many crews there last night, we hoped that our power would be up soon. Alas, 8 loud explosions later, we surmised that we did not have the "A" team. When they sped away in a short yellow school bus, our worst fears were realized. Another night without power.

This lovely outage has wreaked havoc with our servers, our hygiene and just about everything else. We have a small generator running some things, but it can't handle the hot water heater, and can't run continuously because it spits fire out it's exhaust. Try pouring more gasoline into a flaming wreck like that why don't cha?

So we are physically fine, but emotionally frazzled.

Posted by mikki at 01:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This is just patently unfair. After all these years I NEED GLASSES!!!! This is TERRIBLE! It's another sign I'm getting old. Who the HELL made up these lame and stupid rules? I feel like an old granny or something. For the first time in my life, I need GLASSES! Oh the indignity of it all!

Posted by mikki at 03:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

One of the most fun things I have found in a long time is the Google search for ancient Usenet postings and otherwise naughty things. I have found many thus ancient posts of mine, in which I can snicker and snerk at some of the things that I've said in older days. Enjoy

Smoking Rant

Subject: Re: Smoking

View: Complete Thread (60 articles)

Original Format
Newsgroups: alt.drugs
Date: 1990-10-06 14:21:15 PST
In article <8031@gollum.twg.com> lefty@twg.com ("Lefty") writes:
>In article <270941EE.192C@intercon.com> ooblick@intercon.com (Mikki Barry)
>writes:
>> [further silliness elided]

Do you think that it can be possible to have a discussion about issues
instead of trying to characterize other people's concerns as "silliness"?

>Mikki, GO TO A _DIFFERENT_ RESTAURANT. Get all your friends to go to a
>different restaurant. Put the bastards OUT OF BUSINESS, if you can.

Yepper, that's right! I never THOUGHT of THAT! America, love it or
leave it, but certainly don't try to change it for the better!

>By sitting next to me, you are forcing me, against my will, to suffer
>nicotine withdrawal, which I find nauseating...

Cancer is a great cure for nicotine withdrawl. I, however, object to
your taking ME with you.

>Sweet Jesus, how can people be so dense?!

Hey, if you don't like me puking on your food, just go to a different
restaurant! Sweet Jesus, how can people be so dense?!

Stop and THINK for a minute, ash tray breath! Your habit STINKS. AND, it
HARMS other people around you. And your response is "go to another
restaurant" and then think *I* am dense?

Are you sure you weren't having a nicotine fit when you wrote this?

Mikki Barry

Posted by mikki at 03:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)