Happy National Coffee Day!

September 29th marks the corporate-inspired National Coffee Day yearly celebration in America, and according to this year's survey commissioned jointly by Dunkin' Donuts and CareerBuilder®, a cup of Joe helps in keeping the nation's workforce – particularly younger workers – productive and energetic.

Thirty-four percent of workers stated they need coffee to get through their workday. Forty-six percent of coffee drinkers claim they are less productive without a cup of Joe.

However, I'm sure that one-hundred percent of you already knew that, right?

Neither Starbucks nor Dunkin’ Donuts seem to be doing anything special for National Coffee Day. But, Krispy Kreme Donuts and participating 7-Eleven locations will be giving away free coffee to celebrate the occasion. I'm sure similar deals can be found at your local independent coffee shops.


Source: RingTales.com and Pearls Before Swine

The American Dream

Looks like George Carlin's predictions for The American Dream are becoming realized.

[Original video link removed by source]

The Origin Of Pharmacy Chains

I was searching the video archives to see if I could dig up some information about how the pharmacy chains got started, and what kind of beings could have created such a mess. Unfortunately, what I found was that some heroic pharmacists had already unsuccessfully tried to stop them from taking over the profession long ago.

FDA Approves NME Diet Pill

Hallucex targets the brain's cerebral cortex, stimulating the centers for fear and visual processing.

Take Your Medicine

It's always in your best interest to talk to your pharmacist before you take your medicine.


"Take Your Medicine" by Transfer | Official Music Video from Nader Husseini on Vimeo.

Misbranding In Frontier Arizona

Up until the 20th century, there were few federal laws regulating the contents and sale of domestically produced food and pharmaceuticals. The history of the FDA can only be traced to the latter part of the 19th century and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Division of Chemistry.

Under Harvey Washington Wiley, its appointed chief chemist in 1883, the Division began conducting research into the adulteration and misbranding of food and drugs on the American market. Although they had no regulatory powers, the Division published its findings from 1887 to 1902 in a ten-part series entitled Foods and Food Adulterants.

Wiley used these findings, and alliances with diverse organizations such as state regulators, the General Federation of Women's Clubs, and national associations of physicians and pharmacists, to lobby for a new federal law to set uniform standards for food and drugs to enter into interstate commerce. Eventually, in 1927, these alliances led to the creation of the FDA.

So, who was it protecting the citizens of Arizona from misbranding during the frontier years and long before the FDA came into existence? People like Doc Adams and Marshall Matt Dillon, of course.

A patchwork of state laws provided varying degrees of protection against unethical sales practices, such as misrepresenting the ingredients of therapeutic substances. But, the only real enforcement came from caring local friends and neighbors who experienced the damage first hand.

[Original video link removed by source] Here's a trailer -

The Evolution Of Pharmacists

It seems to me that I've become a dinosaur in the profession.

Pharmacists seemed to be a little tougher when I first started in the profession. Back then, we carried some authority, had individual control of our work environment, and we didn't take a lot of lip or put up with a lot of bullshit. As such, we garnered a lot of respect from our employers and our patients.

But, things seemed to change quickly over the past two decades.

It seems to me that we've become spineless wage slaves, bending like reeds at which ever way the wind blows. Everybody else tells us what we need to do, and we constantly get it from both ends. As such, the attitude of many pharmacists seems to have become - "I don't care, as long as they pay me well, they can do whatever they want". And it often shows in the workplace.

I'm sure that this attitude likely has something to do with the chain pharmacies taking over, the loss of our professional independence, and the insurance industry dictating payment. Many pharmacists (including me) have resigned ourselves to not being in control of our professional destiny anymore.

However, it also seems to me that the personalities of individual pharmacists have changed over the years too. I don't know if it's because of recent dominance of females in the profession, something about the selection process in the colleges of pharmacy, or even just something about society as a whole, but it seems to me that many newer male pharmacists are more metrosexual than when I first started working in pharmacy. And it often shows in the workplace too.

But, don't just take my word for it. Here's a group of recent pharmacy graduates from NJ, discussing how they took off like a flock of seagulls when their pharmacy was robbed by two female robbers.

Conceal N' Carry!

Here's a short educational film for all of you community pharmacists worried about that next dope fiend coming through the door. Always remember your three "A"s.


CONCEAL N' CARRY! from Everything Is Terrible! on Vimeo.

The Patient - A Short Film

Things aren't always what they seem to be in the psych ward.


Potilas (The Patient) from Misko Iho on Vimeo.

Happy Labor Day

Enjoy your Labor Day weekend, that is if you can afford to take it off.


Softwhere music video New Age Wage Slave from Softwhere on Vimeo.