Archive for May, 2007
Phil Spector "
Confused or Crazy, His Antics are Rooted in Alcoholism
After a gunshot rang through retired music producer Phil Spector's home on February 3, 2003 at 5 a.m., he walked outside in a daze and told his driver, Adriano DeSouza, "I think I just killed someone." He didn't say, "I didn't kill anyone," or "I definitely did not kill Lana Clarkson," or anything else denying culpability for the actress's death. Yet, if Spector has the disease of alcoholism, he could either have been confused, or culpable.
Spector, 68, turned rock'n'roll into "symphonies for teenagers." Working with the Beatles, the Righteous Brothers and the Ronettes, he became a multi-millionaire by his early 20s. His main claim to fame until now, the "wall ...
Runners-Up: Cardinals’ Josh Hancock, dead, and HBO’s Chris Albrecht, still alive
Runners-up for top story of the month:
St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher Josh Hancock, killed when he ran his Ford Explorer into a tow truck that had stopped ahead of him in the left lane of a St. Louis freeway at 12:35 a.m. The tow truck had its lights flashing, Hancock was believed to be driving at or barely above the speed limit and there were no alcoholic beverage containers found in the vehicle. However, the fact that he headed straight for the flashing lights suggested there might be more to the story.
Years ago, the California Highway Patrol was baffled over the fact that many DUIs ran smack into patrol cars on which lights were flashing. They finally figured out that ...
Runners-Up: Actor Hasselhoff and Heiress Hilton
In pictures reminiscent of the mug shot of actor Nick Nolte, a video of actor David Hasselhoff taken by his 17-year-old daughter Taylor was, according to Hasselhoff, "maliciously" released by "individuals who are not worthy of mentioning... for their own self purpose." Hasselhoff lies on a floor shirtless, attempting to eat a hamburger while obviously stinking drunk. His daughter, off-screen, begs her father to stop drinking and asks, "Why do you like doing this to yourself?" "'Cause I'm lonely," Hasselhoff responds. "I don't have any children in my life." Videos are an excellent tool not only for interventions, but also as reminders. While the tape was never intended to become public, perhaps it will serve to remind Mr. Hasselhoff what ...
Under watch: Hall of Famer Cepeda, and French past-Pres. Chirac
Hall of Famer and seven-time All-Star Orlando Cepeda, clocked at 83 mph in a 65 mph zone and pulled over by a California Highway Patrol officer, who smelled the unmistakable odor of marijuana emanating from his car. The officer found a white-powder substance that was likely methamphetamine or cocaine, along with marijuana and a syringe, and arrested the 69-year-old Cepeda on suspicion of felony possession. After his playing career ended, Cepeda was convicted in 1976 in San Juan, Puerto Rico, of smuggling marijuana. It is believed that Cepeda, who works for the San Francisco Giants as a community liaison and ironically speaks to at-risk children about the dangers of alcohol and other drugs, was not under the influence at the ...
Co-Dependent of the Month: The people of the central Asian country of Kazakhstan
The people of the central Asian country of Kazakhstan, who likely will now be ruled by "President" Nursultan A. Nazarbayev, 66, until he dies. The Parliament of the oil-rich country of 15 million approved a package of constitutional amendments that remove term limits for the President. Kazakhstan has never had an election that outside observers have judged fair and free. His rise to the top is described by the Russian word, hitryi, which translates roughly as "tricky" or "cunning," like a fox, which describes many alcoholics. How about, "liars"? When opposition leader Zamenbek Nurkadilov was found dead from a gunshot wound to his chest and another through his head, police determined that the cause of death was suicide. Nazarbayev was ...
Enabler of the Month: The U.S. enabled Kim Jong Il (again)
The United States government, again enabling North Korean despot Kim Jong Il. I wrote in the "codependent of the month" section of the July 2006 issue, "The six nations attempting to control Kim Jong Il's North Korea qualify for codependents of the month, and perhaps the decade. Like any other addict, Kim makes numerous promises he never keeps. Like other codependents, those dealing with him try negotiation, logic and reason. As pointed out in Alcoholism Myths and Realities: Removing the Stigma of Society's Most Destructive Disease, 'Attempting to negotiate with a brain affected by alcoholism is like trying to be rational with a reptile....The brain of the practicing alcoholic, soaked in acetaldehyde, is not a rational one. The addict cannot ...
Sometimes, it takes an addict: Boris Yeltsin
Former Russian president Boris Yeltsin, dead of cardiovascular problems at age 76. Except for the fact that he didn't seem to crave totalitarian power--but given Soviet circumstances, he may have not been in a position to wield it--he exhibited many of the classic symptoms of middle- to late-stage alcoholism while in power. He was erratic and he thrived on crises, seemed bored by normalcy, was guided not so much by reason as gut instinct and was defiant. He went into tirades during which he publicly criticized communist party leadership during Gorbachev's perestroika, including Gorbachev and even his wife Raisa, resulting in his expulsion from the Politburo. When elected president of the Russian Federation in 1991, he wasted little time in ...
Prior bad acts should be admissible
Allow Admission of Prior Bad Acts
The judge in the Phil Spector case, Larry P. Fidler, has allowed admission of testimony by four women whose stories appear similar to that which Lana Clarkson might have told had she lived. However, he rejected prosecutors' requests to introduce six other incidents into evidence. Two misdemeanor gun charges from the 1970s were considered too old; others, including one in which Spector allegedly pushed the barrel of a gun into a woman's cheek were ruled too dissimilar to be "relevant." The law generally proscribes the introduction of evidence of prior bad acts.
It should not.
Prior bad acts can show that a defendant has a propensity to commit crime. This is particularly true if the person was ...
Mommie Dearest comes the wedding
Dear Doug: Mommie Dearest
Dear Doug:
My mother and I have not gotten along since my early school years, when she frequently embarrassed me in front of my friends. Unfortunately, this made me hesitate before inviting her to my upcoming wedding, but since she's my only living relative I felt she should give me away.
She was so excited she had me invite her friends. When she found out about the open bar we will have at the reception, her friends turned out to be her drinking buddies.
My mother is volatile and unpredictable. In one recent fit of anger, she made ugly remarks about my wedding; a week later, she acted as if such comments were never made. I don't know how to ...
Poor work ethics: is it the smoking? or the alcoholism?
"Smokers Take More Sick Leave, Make Poorer Workers."
So said a Bloomberg headline, reporting what we already knew--smokers are less healthy than non-smokers. A Swedish study found that smokers took an average 34 sick days a year, with 20 taken by those who never smoked. The overall average of 25 days a year far exceeds the United States average of nine.
Let's assume that the percentage difference is similar in the U.S., and the far higher number of sick days is a result of the disincentive effect of Swedish socialism. Is it really the smoking-- or is the smoking an indication of something else that instead may be the underlying cause of less healthy and productive workers?
A study of almost 5,500 women ...
The firefighter in a bikini and other tales of the bizarre
Story from "This is True" by Randy Cassingham, with his "tagline:"
"PUBLIC HUMILIATION IN THE INTERNET ERA: Visitors at a park in Mason, Ohio, called police after an apparently drunk man climbed into his pickup truck and started driving around, including near the children's play area. When an officer arrived, "I observed [the suspect] to be wearing a very skimpy woman's ... bikini with two tan water balloons taped to the top to simulate two woman's breasts and a pair of pink Speedo flip-flop sandals," Officer Scott Miller said in his report. Steven S. Cole, 46, a volunteer firefighter who had emergency lights on his truck, was also wearing a blond wig, and allegedly had a blood alcohol level of .174 ...
How can a child be used as a wake-up call for the addicted parent
A journalist asks whether children can sometimes provide the wake-up call an addicted parent needs?
Sure, a child can serve as a wake-up call to an addicted parent--particularly if there's a credible threat of the child being taken away. Since we never know how great the pain a particular addict must endure, this promise (the active addiction must stop, or...) should always be made.
By the way, clue # 10 in the chapter entitled "Poor Judgment" in my book "How to Spot Hidden Alcoholics" is out-of-control children. They are an excellent clue to alcoholism in a parent you may not even know.
Whitney Houston's mother threatened to take Whitney's child from her in the intervention that seems to have put Whitney on ...
The causes of White Collar Crime
A journalist asks: "I'm exploring a case of husbands and wives who together have been charged or convicted in white-collar crimes. How often does this happen? Are spouses involved in this type of crime more likely to face conspiracy charges? Do they often work at the same company, and what are some of the dynamics (emotional, marriage) that might drive spouses to conspire in white-collar criminal activities?"
Almost ever convict has had problems with alcohol and/or other drugs. Since ex-cons in recovery rarely commit crimes, we can generally assume most convicts are alcohol or other-drug addicts. Why would white-collar crime be any different from other crime?
Turns out, in my research, it isn't. Charles Ponzi was an alcoholic, as were most ...
Can Divorce Ever be Good for the Kids?
A journalist asks whether a divorce can be good for kids?
Since 40% of divorces involve alcoholism on one side or the other, 40% of the children of divorced couples are psychologically, verbally and emotionally abused by one or both parents.
A divorce could be the best thing that ever happened for the child, IF he or she ends up with the right (non-addicted) parent. And, in many instances a divorce is just what the addicted parent needed to inspire in him or her a need to get and stay sober. (Not as frequently as we would like, but it's one more bit of pain the addict so desperately needs.)
One tool for helping us cope with the crazies on the road
"Today's commuters, battling bad drivers and their own hair triggers, need more help, to avoid contusions from baseball bats, fatal car accidents, and even heart attacks from the stress. What might they understand about their fellow drivers to help them better cope?"
They should understand that the drivers who are most inconsiderate of others and the most reckless are probably alcoholics, many of whom are under the influence.
DUIs are the one area of life where the likelihood of being under the influence and poor behaviors have been studied. A National Highway Traffic Safety Administration study showed that 60% of drivers who make obscene gestures are DUI, as are 35% of those who cut in line and 50% of tailgaters. Why would ...
What explains pseudo-whores?
"What explains raunch culture, particularly the psychology of women who embrace things like 'Girls Gone Wild?'"
Early-stage alcohol and other-drug addiction is characterized by an inflated ego and a need to wield power over others and be in control. Last night's repeat of "House" was a classic portrayal of a 15-year-old super-model addict who schtooped her business manager, her agent, her financial advisor and finally, even, her father with the goal of controlling them all. Addicts can be brilliant.
Those less capable resort to other tactics, consistent with their innate abilities, looks, environment and circumstances. Some female addicts become supermodels and actresses (Elizabeth Taylor is a stand-out, having married six times before heading to Betty Ford), while others become whores. The ...
How to keep the kids off the hooch?
A journalist asks:
"Do graphic images of mutilated bodies of DUI victims help stop teens from drinking and driving? If that doesn't work, what does?"
Emphatically Yes and No--Yes, such graphic images do help teens understand they should not drink and drive and No, such graphic images do NOT help teens understand they should be stone-cold sober when driving.
Huh?
Depends on which teens you're talking about--those not predisposed to alcoholism and those who are so predisposed. After all, those predisposed have likely already triggered an incipient alcoholism (average age 13) and, therefore, already think they are more invincible than they already think by virtue of being teenagers. And alcoholics are not easily deterred from engaging in misbehaviors. (Non-addicts can be educated; ...
Mass murderers are almost always addicts. Cho was only the latest.
An Addict's Rage--Mass Murderer Cho
Until recently I often said, "Not every mass murderer in U.S. history has been an alcohol or other-drug addict. For example, Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh may not have been one. On the other hand, I wouldn't be shocked. By far the vast majority, no doubt, have been addicts."
I was wrong. An astute reader passed along a link with brief biographies of the three main perpetrators of the bombing, which disavowed me of the notion that McVeigh was the exception to the rule. Most interesting is that the biography of McVeigh includes no mention of drug use--more evidence that biographers lack an understanding of the importance of addiction in explaining the behavior of their subjects. Instead, ...
“Girls Gone Wild” Joe Francis, and a few others…
Runners-up for top story of the month:
"Girls Gone Wild" founder Joe Francis, 34, indicted on two counts of tax evasion following his arrest on a contempt-of-court citation stemming from a civil case in Florida, where he is being held. The tax charge alleges he deducted more than $20 million in false business expenses on corporate returns in 2002 and 2003, including $3.78 million for building a residence in Punta Mita, Mexico (the northernmost point in the Bahia de Banderas, where Puerto Vallarta lies). The federal grand jury indictment also alleges he used offshore bank accounts to conceal income. His attorney, Jan L. Handzlik, said the indictment was unwarranted and should be, at most, a civil dispute.
The question a Drug Addiction ...
An actor, an actress, a district attorney and a small-town mayor
Under watch:
Actor Alec Baldwin, whose divorce from actress Kim Basinger reads like "War of the Roses," leaving an angry phone message for his 12- er, 11-year old daughter Ireland. Both Baldwin and Basinger have been on my radar for years. I learned long ago that the addict in a familial relationship can easily be misidentified and that in the case of Baldwin v. Basinger, we really can't know if it's him, her or both. However, as recovering alcoholics readily admit, the movie "War of the Roses" starring Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner was a story requiring alcohol or other-drug addiction in either or both. So it likely is with Baldwin/Basinger.
Durham, North Carolina District Attorney Mike Nifong, roundly condemned by North ...
Director Bob Clark (“A Christmas Story”), dead codependent
Co-Dependents of the Month:
A "codependent" is someone who is or has been in a committed relationship with an alcohol or other-drug addict, or has been severely and negatively affected by one. Director Bob Clark, 67, best known for "Porky" and the holiday classic, "A Christmas Story," and his son, Ariel Hanrath-Clark, 22, unfortunately became such codependents for the instant before they both died in a head-on crash. Hector Velazquez-Nava, 24, was arrested for DUI and gross vehicular manslaughter after driving his 2007 GMC Yukon north in the southbound lanes of Pacific Coast Highway into the Clark's 1997 Infiniti Q30 at 2:30 in the morning. There were no doubt dozens--or hundreds--of incidents for which friends, family or the law could have ...
Playboy Magazine, enabler
Enabler of the Month:
Playboy Magazine, which featured Anna Nicole Smith as the May 2007 cover story, continuing the sort of enabling that resulted in her untimely demise. To their credit, she was described from the start as being "moody, very needy, expecting first-class treatment all the time." According to Playboy's former Director of Public Relations, Elizabeth Norris, the magazine didn't do a publicity tour for her first pictorial because she sounded "silly." Smith, in classic alcoholic fashion, was described as resentful for not getting to do the tour. The story also suggested the need to walk on eggshells when dealing with her (she was "furious" when the centerfold story made her sound like a glutton). Either of these behaviors would ...
Some medical records should be in the public domain
Release the Records
One way by which the public can learn and begin to understand that no rational motive is required for murder, whether mass or otherwise, is to require the release of toxicology reports and all medical records relating to psychotropic drugs of a person charged with murder. Yes, charged with murder--not just for those convicted, since the fact that someone is on psychotropic drugs is relevant to the determination of the likelihood of that person committing such acts. If there are no psychotropics on board, the odds substantially increase that the person arrested is innocent and that someone else is far more likely to have committed the deed. For those who believe that this might increase the odds of ...
He had WHAT disease and spent everything?!
Dear Doug: Big Spender
Dear Doug:
My husband, who recently developed AIDS after being diagnosed with HIV several years ago, wants to ask his family and mine for money to offset the cost of treatment. He thinks family should always be willing to help each other financially, but I'm concerned we will appear greedy since we recently spent all our funds on a swimming pool and several other large purchases. What are your thoughts?
Signed,
Wanting to Keep Good Appearances
. . . .
Dear Codependent,
Other columnists might correctly respond that no one is obligated to help you out of financial difficulties, particularly if you haven't been as frugal as you should have been. However, they might suggest asking anyway, while expressing regret that you ...
The McCoy clan had WHAT disease?!
"He's no addict! The doctor prescribed his meds!" and "He's no addict! He's mentally ill!"
These variations of Myths # 12 and # 64 in Alcoholism Myths and Realities have been debunked in this month's top story. Instead, let's burst another myth:
"Disease aided in notorious feud. Doctors say McCoy clan illness made them violent."
So wrote Marilynn Marchione in an AP headline and sub-heading, in an attempt to explain the infamous feud between the Hatfields and McCoys. While admitting that no one blames the feud solely on the illness"are you ready?"Von Hippel-Lindau disease, she wrote that doctors say it could help explain some of the violent behavior the clan exhibited. Ok, I suppose several of the 28 symptoms, including headaches, dizziness and ...
Meth-heads do the craziest things!
Story from "This is True" by Randy Cassingham, with his "tagline:"
"WHEN YOU FAIL TO PLAN, YOU PLAN TO FAIL: Police in Chandler, Ariz., say the first mistake Jonathan Zaletel, 19, made was using a toaster oven to cook a batch of methamphetamine--in a clothes closet in his condo. He made his second mistake after the closet caught fire: he tried to put out the flames with water and window cleaner. When that didn't work, they say, Zaletel went to a nearby Wal-Mart, where he bought a fire extinguisher; by the time he returned, the fire department had arrived. A sprinkler system had extinguished the fire, and Zaletel was arrested. "From the look of it, he seems pretty new at it," ...