I would like to write about my Catholic religion and some amazing and true facts. Other religions have their thoughts written in our wonderful local newspaper, The Transcript. The Episcopalians, Mormons, Methodists, Baptists, etc. write about their religion, so why not a Catholic perspective?

We are approaching a date - October 13 - that will be the 94th year that a tremendous miracle appeared in Fatima, Portugal and parts of Spain. Approximately 100,000 people witnessed the Miracle of the Sun. (See Warner Bros. 1952 film, “The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima.”) Preceding the 1917 miracle, in 1916 a angel from Heaven appeared to Francisco, Juanita and Lucy (the Fatima children) and told them to pray after each decade of the rosary - "O, my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of Hell and lead all souls to Heaven, those most in need of thy mercy.” All Catholics should say this prayer! Especially the lectors at our churches when they say a decade of the rosary before mass.

Other factual items that cannot be proven false by science...

The shroud of Turin, the burial cloth of Jesus that resides in a cathedral in Turin, Italy. (See “Shroud.com,” the terrific website of Mr. Barrie Schwortz).

The head cloth of Jesus - called the sudariun - located in Spain. This cloth matches exactly the stains and blood type of the shroud.

The tilma of Juan Diego that bears the image of our Lady of Guadalupe. This rough catrus cloak has an image of Mary, our Blessed Mother. Nearly 500 years have gone by and this image is in perfect shape in the cathedral in Mexico City. (See “Gloria to the mysterious eyes of our Lady of Guadalupe”).

Finally, I am proud to have Mother Teresa stamps on this envelope - sent to the wonderful family that prints The Transcript. My heroine, along with millions of others! I am proud to have met, in person, Mother in the mid 1980’s in the Bronx, NY.

Sincerely,

Bruce Moorhead

Susquehanna, PA

The real reason for every problem plaguing our country is those astroturf, thug, Nazi, gangster, mosbster, racist, hostage-taking, terrorist TEA Partiers.

Just take a look at their events and rallies. American citizens, grandparents, Blacks, Whites, Latinos, businessmen, farmers, shop keepers, veterans - even some politicians - gather by the hundreds, thousands, hundreds of thousands, carrying American flags and copies of the Constitution. They pray, sing the national anthem, God Bless America and praise American exceptionalism. I can’t think of anything more subversive than that.

There has never been a fight, destruction of property or violation of any law at one of their events. They don’t even leave garbage on the site when the rally is over. That’s downright un-American!

But their message is what really galls me. They actually believe in adherence to the Constitution as the law of the land. Imagine that? Really, who needs that old document when we have that paragon of One World Order, the United Nations?

They believe in limited government. Give me a break! Everyone wants more government. That’s where free handouts come from. And get this, they have the nerve to believe in fiscal responsibility. How stupid is that? Who cares if we’re trillions of dollars in debt? Who cares if Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and other entitlement programs are unfunded to the tune of $130 trillion dollars? We can just print more money, and if that fails, our children and grandchildren can pay off the debt.

Finally, what’s all this about free enterprise? First of all, it’s not “free” if you have to go to work. I think Washington, D.C. does a great job of running the country. Just look at the success of the Post Office, Amtrak, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, “Green” jobs, Government Motors, the EPA, the Department of Education, TARP, Stimulus I, II and III, Cash for Clunkers, etc, etc. and so forth. Each one a success in its own right. And how about those Czars!!!

If it wasn’t for those extremist TEA Partiers, we would probably be on our way to real progress: like Greece, Portugal, Italy, Spain, France, England, Venezuela or Cuba... but I digress.

Aren’t those TEA Partiers descended from the same folks who threw tea into Boston Harbor in 1773? Aren’t these the same SOBs who got rid of that tyrannical King George? I guess they felt they were Taxed Enough Already.

Sincerely,

Bruce Paskoff

Montrose, PA

The United States spends an annual $2 trillion on health care. Isn't it about time we ask ourselves, What are we getting for our money?

A quantifiable measure of the general health of a nation is longevity. The country with the longest average lifespan and presumably the healthiest is Japan. The U.S. placed a dismal 36.

But how can the U.S., with only 5 percent of the Earth's population that consumes 40 percent of the world's “life saving” pharmaceuticals, place so poorly? Consider the following three reports:

1) Last year the British did a study of the top 14 prescription drug consuming nations. It measured the volume of drug use on a per capita basis. The U.S. was far-and-away Big Pharma's spending champion shelling out an annual $300 billion for prescription drugs. Japan did not even make the list. Yet the Japanese outlive the average American by four years.

2) The World Health Organization studied the medical expenditures of the 30 nations with the greatest healthy lifespans. The U.S. ranked last but spends 2.8 times as much as the average of the other 29 nations.

3) According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, every year prescription drugs kill three times as many people as are killed in vehicle accidents.

As shocking as this is, only between 5 percent and 20 percent of adverse drug reactions are reported. The actual number of drug caused deaths could be considerably higher.

Drugs do not seem to be lengthening our lives. In fact, the overwhelming evidence points to drugs - prescription drugs - as life shortening agents.

Drug therapy is based on products that can be patented. A patentable drug must be an artificially created, non-biological molecule. Natural compounds, regardless of how effective they may be, cannot be patented.

The words “medicines” and “drugs” are not strictly synonymous. Medicines are natural, non-patentable, and curative. Drugs are synthetic, patentable, and do not cure; pharmaceutical companies readily admit that. They only lessen or conceal symptoms. But masking symptoms comes at a price, not only measured in dollars and cents.

The human body cannot properly digest or assimilate non-biological or unnatural substances; ingesting them always causes what pharmaceutical companies slough off as side effects. But in reality it is only the non-marketable effects that are shuttled off as side effects, a key term in Big Pharma's self-serving vocabulary.

All synthetic drugs cause a myriad of effects. If one of these effects appears to have commercial value, then the rest of the effects are called side effects even though their biological impact are no less than the desired effect. An example of this is the popular and dangerous drug, Viagra.

Viagra was originally administered to control blood pressure. However, it had the unwanted side effect of causing a sexually stimulating effect. Pfizer Laboratories quickly realized that this undesirable effect was a money-maker.

Viola, the blood pressure drug was repackaged and sold to ameliorate sexual dysfunction, never mind that it can cause strokes, pulmonary hemorrhages, even fatal heart attacks.

Another drug used to treat glaucoma had a peculiar effect on eyelashes; it made them grow longer and thicker. The glaucoma drug was rechristened, Latisse, and marketed for what was formerly a side effect.

Side effects often cause a drug merry-go-round. The side effects of one drug are countered with another drug, then a third drug is prescribed to lessen the side effects of the second. This frequently results in a patient taking a half-dozen or more drugs creating biological havoc in his body.

It is one of the great ironies of our time that the fifth leading cause of death, prescription drugs, goes unnoticed while the imagined positive effects of these same drugs are emphasized. For example, prescribed drugs are usually credited with extending life. It's popularly thought that people who used to die in their 50s now live to be in their 70s or more thanks to drug intervention.

However, longer life is a statical artifact. It is due to a reduction in infant mortality. The average deaths of ten 70-year-old persons is, of course, 70. Now take the average demise of ten 70-year olds and the death of two one-year olds. The average lifespan drops to 58.

The reduction in infant mortality and thus longer average lifespan is not due to drugs but is almost entirely the result of personal and communal hygiene, proper disposal of human sewage, potable water, and food refrigeration.

But the salutary myth of prescribed drugs persists, propped up by a yearly $4 billion advertising campaign. The public is bombarded with ads touting drugs as remedies for every imaginable physical and psychological problem. At the same time, for fear of losing advertising dollars, the truth is conveniently ignored.

Sincerely,

Bob Scroggins

New Milford, PA