Archive for January, 2011
Arizona Shooter Jared Lee Loughner: Angry Political Rhetoric—or Alcoholism?
Various reasons have been cited for the attempted murder of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, the murder of six other innocents and the serious injury of over a dozen more. The 22-year-old shooter, Jared Lee Loughner, has been described as a socialist, a right-winger and a left-winger. Bloggers and radio talk show hosts are accused of having angered Loughner. Some say such bloodshed was only a matter of “when” given these “hateful” times. The blame game is rampant. These comments disregard the fact that most “angry” people, right-wingers, left-wingers and even socialists and other statists don’t go out and kill people. Such comments ignore the evidence that 99.999% of those writing and reading blogs, ...
Actor Rip Torn, some sheriff deputies, a federal judge, an unknown kills a publicist and a student dies.
Runners-up for top story of the month:
Actor Rip Torn, pleading guilty to breaking into a bank and carrying a loaded weapon while so drunk that prosecutors stipulated he believed he was at home and had left his hat and boots by the door. Torn, who has repeatedly been bailed out of his alcoholism-fueled misadventures by fame and money, was given a two-and-a-half year suspended sentence, three years of probation and is required to undergo random alcohol and other-drug testing. Who knows, at 79 maybe, just maybe, Rip Torn will finally get clean and sober. As many older alcoholics have said near death, they were very happy to have the opportunity to die sober.
Seven Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies ...
A doctor, Andrew Wakefield commits fraud in studies blaming autism on vaccines, and a mayor commits suicide while under investigation for fraud.
Under watch:
In an early 2009 piece on white collar crime, The Economist magazine suggests there may be some truth in something those who have read my books would predict: “Many [Club Fed and other white collar] prisoners suddenly discover, post-conviction, that they had a drinking problem….” I would add that those who don’t figure this out might benefit from greater introspection. In the spirit of The Economist’s discovery, a couple of recent stories follow for which the evidence of alcoholism is in the behavior itself.
British doctor Andrew Wakefield, whose 1998 study linking the widely used measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine to autism was found by the British medical journal The Lancet to have been an “elaborate fraud.” ...
Schwarzenegger and journalists enable Esteban Nunez and John du Pont.
Enablers of the month:
Outgoing California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who reduced the sentence for the son of his good friend Fabian Nunez (who happens to be a business partner of his chief political adviser), Esteban Nunez, in the stabbing death of San Diego State University student Luis Santos after a night of heavy drinking. Even The Los Angeles Times editorialized the partial commutation smelled, pointing out that although Nunez didn’t make the fatal wound, he stabbed two other victims who survived. As The Times reported, “Schwarzenegger issued only 10 commutations during his tenure, and it strains credibility to suppose that Esteban Nunez would have been found worthy of such consideration if his father didn’t have a personal relationship with the ...
The University of Notre Dame enables a football player and insures things will get worse.
Enabler of the year:
The University of Notre Dame. Lizzy Seeberg told authorities an unnamed Notre Dame football player fondled her against her will and that he became so aggressive in his assault she froze in terror. Ten days later, she committed suicide. Five days after that, authorities finally interviewed the player. The mother of a former classmate of the player told reporters that even in elementary school her daughter often came home complaining about something that player had done, such as picking up a girl in their fifth grade class and throwing her. “He was bigger than everybody else, and violent.” The accused player reportedly regularly bullied other students and was expelled in the 7th grade for threatening ...
Brooke Mueller, Charlie Sheen’s co-addict, opens her mouth. Lies. Opens her mouth. Lies….
Co-addict of the month:
Brooke Mueller, Charlie Sheen’s estranged wife with whom he has two children, checking into rehab a week after calling reports she had already re-entered rehab “ridiculous” and saying, “I am healthy and happy.” Which reminds me of a question: how can you tell if an addict is lying? She opens her mouth.
Kudos to Butch Patrick’s agent Jodi Ritzen, producer John Rose and Patrick’s family.
Disenablers of the month:
Jodi Ritzen, who told former child star Butch Patrick (who played Eddie Munster in the mid-‘60s TV show, “The Munsters”), “Get in the car, I’m taking you to rehab—and I’m not taking no for an answer.” The intervention worked in terms of getting him into rehab, but despite Ritzen’s hope that this would be “the start of a whole new life for him,” Patrick quickly checked himself out of rehab and again began boozing and drugging. Fortunately, his family, apparently with the help of John Rose, the producer filming a new A&E series “Life’s a Butch,” staged a formal intervention and got him to check back in.
Sometimes, it takes an addict: addiction explains the lives of Blake Edwards, Bambi Bembenek and Pete Postlethwaite.
Sometimes, it takes an addict:
Writer-Director Blake Edwards, dead from complications of pneumonia at 88. Edwards, who got sober in 1963, married actress Julie Andrews in 1969 and remained sober and married for the next 41 years. Although he had some success after he got sober (“Victor/Victoria” from 1982, “10” from 1979, “The Great Race” from 1965 and, one of the few relatively obscure movies I don’t tire of, 1968’s “The Party” starring Peter Sellers), Edwards directed many of his great movies during a flurry of activity over a few years while drinking alcoholically: “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” (1961), “The Pink Panther” (1963), “Operation Petticoat” (1959) and, incredibly, “Days of Wine and Roses” (1962), which is often billed as one ...
“The Closer” season finale “An Ugly Game”: terrific portrayal of addiction.
“The Closer: An Ugly Game”
The 2010-2011 season finale of TNT’s “The Closer” can be added to the growing list of carefully written and beautifully produced portrayals of addiction. When a USC graduate with an MBA from UCLA is arrested on skid row with rock cocaine in his possession, but arrives at the station without the car keys originally found on him, Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson (Kyra Sedgwick) asks, “How does a college-educated investment broker end up on skid row?” Det. Lt. Provenza (G. W. Bailey) succinctly and accurately responds, “Addiction doesn’t discriminate.”
The addict, Trey Gavin (Riley Smith) appears contrite as he comes down, asking “Why did I do it again?....I tried so hard to straighten myself out…I let ...
What do I do about acquaintances who drink and drive?
Drunk-Driving Couple
Dear Doug:
At a recent block party, a couple of acquaintances revealed that when they go out to dinner, they have two or three cocktails just before leaving their home. They explained they saved money, since they “only need to order one or two more” drinks at the restaurant. We were shocked to hear them admit to driving home after consuming these drinks over just a couple of hours. When we verbalized our concern, the husband, who does the driving, admitted he gets quite a buzz-on. What should we do?
Signed,
Acquaintances of regular DUIs
Dear Codependent,
Other columnists would rightly say the next time you see this couple get into their car while impaired that you call police and ask ...
John Wesley Ewell, like other addicts, are capable of anything. Thinking otherwise could be hazardous to your life.
“I really didn’t think anybody could pretend to anticipate that…[John Wesley Ewell] would suddenly go from stealing things from Home Depot to murdering old people.”
So said Los Angeles County Head Deputy District Attorney John Lynch in excusing the repeated exceptions under California’s three strikes law allowed by L.A. County prosecutors in failing to seek the maximum sentence for Ewell before he allegedly murdered four people in a series of home invasion robberies. Ewell was quite the con artist. He complained to journalists over the unfairness of the three-strikes law, saying he lived in fear that even a small offense, having had two prior convictions for robbery, would land him back in prison for life. When appearing on “The Montel Williams ...
Addicted public charges would be comical if they weren’t so tragic.
Stories from “This is True” by Randy Cassingham, with his “taglines:”
“SO MANY TAX DOLLARS, SO LITTLE TIME: A woman went to a grocery store in Grand Rapids, MI, and purchased 42 bottles and cans of soda. She charged them to her Bridge Card, a federally funded debit card that's managed by the state for use by public assistance recipients. She then took her purchase directly to the store's automated redemption machine, and fed all 42 containers, unopened, into the machine. Inside, they all exploded as they were crushed, spreading soda and debris inside the machine and all over the surrounding floor. She then pocketed $4.20 for the returns, and left. Store manager Steve Holland said he called the state, and ...
Book reviews give clues to alcoholism in their subjects: writer Roald Dahl, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, stock trader Jesse Livermore and Chinese Mao-supporting writer Lu Xun
Biographers and Reviewers Often Miss Possible Alcoholism: Author Roald Dahl, Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, Stock Trader Jesse Livermore and Chinese Writer Lu Xun
There are many descriptive words and behaviors suggesting alcoholism in the subjects discussed by journalists, historians, biographers and book reviewers. “Partier” is an obvious one; “charismatic” less so, but usually every bit as telling. Occasionally the subject is described as having been “reduced to drinking himself to death,” as reviewer Magette Wade in Barron’s described Frank O’Connor while his wife Ayn Rand carried on with her far younger lover Nathaniel Branden, but such clarity in a review usually occurs only in cases of late-stage addiction. Every so often what is to us obvious is disclosed near the end of ...
David Cassidy arrested for DUI. Calling on Danny Bonaduce (and keep Jo-Ann Geffen away)!
Former “Partridge Family” star and teen idol David Cassidy, 60, arrested on suspicion of DUI after he was observed weaving on and off the road a number of times by other motorists at about 8 pm. Cassidy told a trooper he’d had a glass of wine with lunch and a hydrocodone (opioid painkiller) about three hours before the arrest. The fact that Cassidy was “unsteady on his feet,” “swaying while standing,” registered a .14 per cent blood alcohol level on a breathalyzer and had a half-empty bottle of bourbon in his car suggests he forgot to mention the drinks he consumed between lunch and 8 pm (in fact, assuming he’d been drinking since noon and that he weighs about 160 ...
U.S. Rep Charlie Rangel exhibits numerous behavioral clues to alcoholism.
In an early 2009 piece on white collar crime, The Economist magazine suggests there may be some truth in something those who have read my books would predict: “Many [Club Fed and other white collar] prisoners suddenly discover, post-conviction, that they had a drinking problem….” I would add that those who don’t figure this out might benefit from greater introspection. In the spirit of The Economist’s discovery, a recent story follows for which the evidence of alcoholism is in the behavior itself.
U.S. Representative Charlie Rangel (D-NY), found guilty of violating 11 House ethics rules by the House Ethics Committee. Among the 11 violations was a failure to declare about $75,000 in rental income from a Dominican villa over a several ...
Another “Girls Gone Wild” alcoholic misbehaviors makes the news.
Alcoholic victim of the month:
Lauren Ann Freeman, 21, killed after leaving a concert on the Sunset Strip allegedly by Ryan Bowman, 34, the Australian franchisee for “Girls Gone Wild,” in a hit-and-run. Shortly after buying the franchise rights in 2007, Bowman announced plans to sponsor a cruise for high school graduates who would be “plied with alcohol” and filmed. He claimed he didn’t want to promote nudity, but admitted “that’s a byproduct” of the heavy drinking he intended; he scuttled the plans due to public outrage. Surprise, surprise: Sheriff’s spokesman Steve Whitmore said alcohol “most likely played a role in this tragic event.” Although Bowman and “Girls Gone Wild” founder Joe Francis reportedly haven’t done business in years, the story ...
Codependents and enablers: a judge, and Jo-Ann Geffen trying to protect David Cassidy to his death.
Co-dependent of the month:
Judge DeAnn M. Salcido, who agreed to resign from the San Diego County Superior Court after being censured for a pattern of intemperate behavior toward lawyers and defendants, which included mocking and making rude and off-color comments from the bench. She admitted to making “inappropriate remarks of a lewd nature…[while] proceedings were being filmed” as part of a pitch to a Hollywood producer for her to star in a reality television show. A pattern of such inappropriate conduct and attempts at self-aggrandizement are indicative of alcoholism. However, it’s also possible her long-time codependency to her husband, Edward Salcido, could explain her behaviors. Recall that codependents can, on occasion, appear crazier than addicts as they get lured into ...
There were signs of trouble in oil two years before the BP spill.
Retrospective find of the month:
In the June 2010 TAR Top Story on the BP oil spill, I wrote: “As so often happens, this tragedy may be a result, at least indirectly, of multiple addicts. An Interior Department report alleges that staff members of the Minerals Management Service accepted gifts from oil and gas companies and used government computers to view pornography. It reports a ‘deeply disturbing’ culture of ethical failure and cronyism between government and industry. Two employees have admitted to using illegal drugs and an inspector admitted using crystal meth and said he might have been under the influence the next day.” I recently stumbled upon an article, buried in my files, from September 11, 2008 titled, “Federal Oil ...
Former Bell city administrator Robert Rizzo still gets more than he deserves, but this is much better.
“Invincible” act of the month:
Interim city administrators of Bell, California, who could not provide documentation setting the exorbitant salaries for which the city has become famous because, as Bell’s interim chief administrative officer Pedro Carrillo said, it “simply does not exist.” As a result, eligible salaries for purposes of calculating pensions will drop to those provided for by the city council long before the escalation in salaries. Former city administrator Robert Rizzo will be entitled to retirement benefits based on a salary of $85,200, about one-tenth of his last yearly pay, which results in an expected yearly pension of about $70,000 rather than the $600,000 he was expecting. His former assistant, Angela Spaccia, who made more than $375,000 a year, ...
It took years for golfer John Daly to dig his hole; it’s take years to climb out.
Irony of the month:
John Daly, upset over the fact that restaurants around the country are naming drinks after him (especially one containing sweet-tea flavored vodka and lemonade). This is the same John Daly who, by his own admission, drank a fifth of Jack Daniel’s every day when he was 23, was removed from an airplane by airport security for harassing a flight attendant while drunk, who has been divorced three times since becoming a professional golfer and whose fourth wife, Sherrie Miller, spent five months in the slammer on federal drug charges. According to Wikipedia, where his life reads like a classic in the annals of alcoholism (reports of domestic violence, lawsuits, compulsive gambling, multiple marriages and prodigious charity work, ...
We’ll usually find alcoholism behind great chutzpah, if only we look.
Chutzpah of the month:
David Weaving, 48, who is serving a 10-year sentence for killing 14-year-old Matthew Kenney while the boy was riding his bike, suing Kenney’s parents for letting their son ride without a helmet, which has caused Weaving “great mental and emotional pain and suffering” and inhibited his “capacity to carry on life’s activities.” Weaving was driving 83 mph in a 45 mph zone when he struck Kenney. It should come as no surprise to learn that he has five arrests for DUI over a two-decade span. The fact that he was not “convicted” of drunken driving in the incident doesn’t make it so.
Jackass’s Steve-O says it took 100 clean days to begin to get sober. That’s why early “sobriety” is so tenuous. They don’t yet think they’re addicts.
Quote of the month:
Steve-O, whose real name is Stephen Glover and best known for the extreme stunts he’s performed as part of the crew of MTV’s “Jackass” describes his road to sobriety in an interview with Nicki Gostin at www.popeater.com: “I was out of control. People were starting to say I was going to be dead soon, and they were probably right….Most of the crew of ‘Jackass’…came to my apartment and forced me into a psych ward. …They locked me up…and while I was in there it kind of dawned on me that it was time to do something.
“California has a 51/50 law, where if people are deemed to be harmful to themselves or others you can lock them up ...
So long to Penthouse publisher Bob Guccione and former San Francisco police chief Alex Fagan, Sr., functional alcoholics.
Sometimes, it takes an addict:
Bob Guccione, who founded Penthouse magazine, dead at 79 after a several-year battle with lung cancer. A cartoonist who once attended a Catholic seminary, Guccione started Penthouse in 1965 in England and introduced the magazine to the American public in 1969 at the height of the feminist movement and sexual revolution, taking risks most of us would never consider. He was married four times, which by itself indicates an 85% probability of alcoholism. Guccione was listed in the 1982 Forbes 400 ranking of wealthiest people, having amassed a net worth of $400 million by building an empire under the General Media Inc. umbrella, which included book publishing, merchandising divisions, Viva magazine (featuring nude males aimed at ...
Controlling use of caffeinated alcohol is futile. Addicts will always get their drug until the pain from using is greater than its pleasure.
“FDA Bans Mixing Caffeine, Alcohol”
So read the headlines on the latest attempt of the nanny-state to control the use of drugs, in this case caffeine-infused alcoholic beverages. As usual, they are targeting the wrong thing.
The powers-that-be are attempting to control use. This is futile. Any alcoholic knows he can feel wide awake by drinking a cup of Joe, having an Irish Coffee or simply popping a NoDoz. Yet, the FDA persists, claiming “there is evidence that the combinations of caffeine and alcohol in these products pose a public-health concern.” Memo to the FDA: so does alcohol by itself, especially if the drinker has the disease of alcoholism.
The move follows a series of highly publicized incidents in recent weeks in which ...
How could he do that?! Of course. He’s an alcoholic.
Alcoholic husband dates the wife’s best friend
Dear Doug:
Several months ago I asked my alcoholic husband, John, to leave the house we share with our children. His life continues to spiral out of control even after a stint in rehab.
Throughout, I have confided in my friend Stephanie about our marital woes. Recently, John asked if I’d mind if he began dating. I told him to go ahead—but guess who he asked out: Stephanie. I couldn’t believe it when she agreed; worse, she sent me emails that were filled with inappropriate language in which she described her feelings for him.
After I let them both know of my anger, they broke it off. But neither of them understands why I feel betrayed. Are ...
Suicide is caused by all sorts of things, but the root is usually addiction.
The San Fernando Valley Dental Society newsletter recently included a question, directed to Suicide expert and Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of South Carolina Ronald Maris, PhD: “Dr. Maris, I have heard that dentists have the highest suicide rate. Is this true?” Dr. Maris responded, “Wrong question. Dentistry, or any occupation for that matter, doesn’t make you kill yourself.” That’s true. However, Dr. Maris continued. “What causes suicide is a subtle mixture and interaction over time…of…mental disorder (especially depressive disorder), substance abuse (especially alcoholism)...hopelessness, cognitive rigidity…social isolation or rejection (including divorce…), repeated stress and negative life events…neurotransmitter…imbalances and dysfunctions (mainly in the prefrontal cortex), unemployment, impulsivity, [and] sleep disorder….” While Dr. Maris, to be fair, mentions several other “causes,” ...
Meth addicts do the craziest things.
Alcoholic Antic-of-the-Month
Story from “This is True” by Randy Cassingham, with his “tagline:”
“PLANT MURDERER: Police in Bradenton, Fla., pulled over a suspicious vehicle. The driver, Paul Ewing, 35, admitted to officers he was damaging his neighbor's yard because the neighbor owed him $200. He said he had been tossing water balloons filled with herbicides into the neighbor's back yard, and he used a water gun filled with herbicides to squirt on plants in the front yard. Damage to the landscape was estimated to be at least $250. Ewing was charged with driving with a suspended license, and criminal mischief with property damage. He posted $500 bail. When police asked why the neighbor owed him $200, Ewing confessed it was for drugs. ...