Archive for December, 2013
How Addicts Help Trigger Riots: the Case of Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman
In the criminal justice system, both perpetrator and victim—and others, including supporters of one side or the other who are most adept at fomenting rage, which can lead to mob violence/riots*—are frequently addicts. The George Zimmerman-Trayvon Martin case is no exception. Let’s look at the odds of addiction in each of those involved in this case.
In 2005, George Zimmerman was charged with "resisting [an] officer with violence" and "battery of [a] law enforcement officer." The charges were reduced and waived when he entered an alcohol education program. Around the same time, he was accused of domestic violence and fired as a private bouncer for being too “hot-tempered.” Because ...
Aaron Hernandez, New England Patriots former tight end: a poster boy for the alcoholic rocket to the moon and subsequent flame-out ending in tragedy.
Runner-up for top story of the month:
Aaron Hernandez, 23, former tight end for the New England Patriots, charged with first-degree murder of semi-pro football player Odin Lloyd. The heavily-tattooed Hernandez (the more tattoos, the higher the odds of substance addiction) has also been charged with five firearms-related violations and is being investigated for multiple other murders in Florida and Massachusetts. Despite having received the lowest possible score, 1 out of 10, in the category “social maturity” on a personality test and psychological profile given by an NFL scouting service and being selected in the fourth round of the 2010 NFL draft, the Patriots recently signed him to a five-year extension, which included the largest signing bonus ($12.5 million) ever given ...
Codependent mom of kid responsible for triggering ’65 Watts Riots dies; she likely never understood it.Typical codependent.
Codependent of the Month:
Rena Price, who inadvertently contributed to the start of the 1965 Watts riots, died recently of natural causes at 97. Her son, Marquette Frye, had been stopped by officers after driving erratically. After he failed sobriety tests, his mother, who had been summoned by a neighbor, scolded him about drinking and driving. Frye suddenly turned from being “good-humored and cooperative” to uncooperative, as he suddenly blew up at the officers. Accounts vary as to subsequent events, but after Frye’s arrest someone shoved Price, Frye was struck on the head by a patrolman’s baton and Price and her stepson (who was in the car with Frye) jumped on an officer. After rumors of the arrest and police abuse ...
Alcoholism explains odd and horrific behaviors; friends, family and even the addict often don’t make the connection. Gandolfini and Sgt. Robert Bales (who murdered 16 Afghan civilians).
Quotes of the month:
“The star regularly lavished castmates and crew with expensive perks to make up for his maddeningly odd behavior.”
So wrote Rebecca Rosenberg, Jamie Schram and Dan Macleod for the New York Post, describing actor James Gandolfini’s attempts to make up for his alcoholic antics like disappearing from the set of “The Sopranos” for days at a time. “All of a sudden, there’d be a sushi chef at lunch,” one crew member told reporters. “Or we’d all get massages.” These are classic alcoholic-on-bended knee attempts at reconciliation, promising “I’ll never do it again.” Alcoholism must be at the top of likely explanations for “maddeningly odd behaviors” that make us shake our heads and wonder, “what is he thinking?”
“There ...
Beware alcoholic DAs. They are capable of horrifying false accusations. The case of Bernard Baran, accused of daycare sex abuse and, 20 years later, exonerated.
Retrospective find of the month:
Numerous clues revealing likely addiction are disclosed in How to Spot Hidden Alcoholics. Clue # 16, “Has ever knowingly made a false accusation” in the chapter, “A Supreme Being Complex,” describes how false accusations, an especially vile subcategory of lying, are often made by addicts. Turning facts and reason on their head, addicts “play an instigating and continuing role in most crowd psychology,” turning crowds into mobs, which can result in riots and witch-hunts*. These include the spate of daycare sex abuse “witch-hunts” of the late ‘80s and early ‘90s.
While the hysteria had largely died down by the time I began researching addiction, I thought it would make a fascinating study and add to the massive ...
Erin Brockovich proves she has alcoholism; therefore, her claims cannot be trusted.
Retrospective look of the month:
When I first saw the 2000 feature movie Erin Brockovich, with Julia Roberts playing the “environmental” activist, I speculated that the real Erin Brockovich might be alcoholic. I don’t recall what led me to this tentative diagnosis based on a mere portrayal and what would, for many, seem to be flimsy evidence. It could have been the willingness to (arguably) stretch the truth, which is often rooted in alcoholic confabulations; it might have been her foul mouth and cigarette-smoking —hypocritical for a purported anti-cancer crusader. Because alcoholism is often locked behind closed doors, I’ve learned patience is a virtue and things take time to see the light of day. In the case of the real Erin ...
Murder, manslaughter, violence, lies and alcoholism go hand-in-hand. The case of Michael Kane, Pamela Devitt (killed by an addict’s pit bulls), and a child, unprotected by social workers.
Victims of the month:
Michelle Kane, 43, who was stabbed to death while trying to flee her estranged husband Michael Kane, 46, on a suburban street in the West San Fernando Valley, CA. While she was granted a restraining order a couple of months earlier, to an addict this is like poking a stick in the eye, which may cause him to react and lash out in much more destructive ways. Kane, a teacher at a Los Angeles Unified School District elementary school (in the process of protecting worthy members, unions enable the worst ones), had already committed a number of malicious acts and made numerous threats, including a promise to cut her throat. While she knew enough to describe her ...
Sniffing out the kids’ drugs is a great idea.
Disenablers of the month:
Richard Stannell and his K9 named Joe, who work for RK Agency Investigations in Granbury, TX. Parents can call on Joe to sniff out heroin, marijuana, meth and cocaine to see if their kids (or spouses) have drugs stashed in and around the house. Some parents say they’ve found some drugs and want Joe to see if there are others in locations ordinary trusting humans wouldn’t think of—in air conditioning vents, under carpets, in linings of clothes and beds and anywhere else young addicts dream up to protect their perceived “right to use.”
Once Joe “locates” the drugs, it’s up to the parents to either turn in the kids or deal with it privately. Firms all over the ...
Sometimes, it takes an addict. James Gandolfini, RIP.
James Gandolfini, best known for his role as Tony Soprano, dead of a heart attack at age 51. Whenever someone dies so young, addiction should be suspected. I knew little about him and his alter-ego (I was not a fan of The Sopranos), but quickly found a history of substance addiction in the actor (not to mention the character). During a nasty divorce in the early 2000s, Gandolfini went public about his drug use. However, he was arguably in damage-control mode, deflecting accusations by his then-soon-to-be ex-wife, Marcy Gandolfini, that he was a cocaine and booze binger who had “kinky sex with multiple mistresses” during their brief marriage. His chief enabler and representative, Dan Klores, claimed that “to bring [up ...
Gabrielle Glaser’s “Her Best Kept Secret” perpetuates numerous myths of addiction.
“Why She Drinks”
An article in The Wall Street Journal entitled “Why She Drinks,” which is an adaptation from the new book, Her Best Kept Secret by Gabrielle Glaser, begins by pointing out there is a profound difference between how men and women “abuse” alcohol and the purported reasons. While the ideas in the article may have been taken out of context, the myths they extol are dangerous for those looking for real reasons. That the genders are biologically different does not mean the common thread of abuse is any different between the sexes.
According to the article, women are the primary drinkers of wine. Additionally, the number of women arrested for DUI in the decade ending in 2007 rose 30%, but ...
An uninvolved mother and an alcoholic–but I repeat myself.
Biological mom is no mom at all
Dear Doug:
I’ve been involved with a wonderful man who has three children from a previous marriage. I love these kids and don’t mind serving the role of their biological mother, who’s rarely around.
I have a problem with a mother who doesn’t act like one. She had her driver’s license pulled because of her refusal to pay court-ordered child support (the father has full custody). She has had no contact with the kids for nearly a year, while the kids are continually asking when they will see her.
If she ever calls should we tell her to leave us all alone?
Signed,
Concerned would-be step-mother
Dear Codependent,
Other columnists would tell you your role is to offer emotional attachment and ...
Unchecked emotions are nearly always caused by alcoholism.
“Unchecked emotions can lead to irrational behavior.”
So said reporter Julian Kimble in a piece entitled, “Pennsylvania Man Tries to Shoot Wedding Ring Off After Argument with Wife,” in reporting how Alfredo Malespini III, a Federal Correctional Institution guard nearly severed his finger in his failed attempt to shoot off his wedding ring (the subject of TAR Lite # 25). This is yet another half-truth. While “unchecked emotions” can lead to irrational behavior, this doesn’t shed light on the causes of such emotions and, therefore, the source of irrational behavior. As readers of my books know and understand, such behavior is nearly always rooted in alcoholism.
Malespini had been “drinking heavily” the day of the shooting. “Drinking heavily” is a euphemism ...
Alcoholic antics cost us all in either tax dollars or increased health insurance premiums.
Story from “This is True” by Randy Cassingham, with his “tagline:”
“A SOBER ASSESSMENT: When Tom Stilwell, 20, woke up in a hospital, the British man living in Auckland, New Zealand, was told what brought him there. He had arrived at his apartment after a night out with friends to discover he was locked out. Stilwell, who lives on the 14th floor of the building, knocked on the door of the woman who lived directly above him. Despite the hour — 2:00 a.m. — and despite him being ‘a little bit tipsy,’ Geraldine Bautista, 28, let him in. Stilwell's plan: ‘Can you please let me jump off from the balcony? I will not bother you just let me use your balcony.’ ...