Archive for June, 2008
Austrian monster Josef Fritzl: he could be simply crazy, but…
Statistics and anecdotes recounted in "Drunks, Drugs & Debits" provide a wealth of evidence that monstrous behaviors are generally rooted in alcoholism. While journalists often fail to mention that their subjects had prior arrests for behaviors directly linked to heavy drinking or drugging, when able to dig deep enough we usually find this connection. Whenever we shake our heads and wonder, "How could anyone engage in such conduct?"we should suspect alcoholism. As the "note to readers"below says, we not only give the benefit of the doubt without excusing, but also make sense of the nonsensical and point to the cure.
Josef Fritzl is one such case. While the only known indication of ...
A state senator, an actor, an Olympic gold medalist, several more sports figures and a fan. Alcoholics come from all walks of life.
Runners-up for top story of the month:
Hawaii State Senator Ron Menor, 52, arrested for DUI while "weaving in a snake-like motion"20 miles under the speed limit. The arresting officer saw that Menor's eyes "were red and watery, and he emitted a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage…[and his face was] flushed and he appeared extremely tired."While failing to mention drinking, he told the officer he was "on pain medication"and later said the medication "might"have been Vicodin. Menor, in a feigned mea culpa to the public, admitted he had "one to two glasses of wine"with dinner after a Chicago concert ended. He may have forgotten about his consumption at the concert preceding the late-night dinner, but his sons, ages 17 and ...
Sometimes, there could be addicts everywhere–so you’re not sure who is and who isn’t.
Under watch:
Chicago Bears running back Cedric Benson, 25, charged with operating a 30-foot boat on Lake Travis, near Austin, Texas with 15 passengers aboard while allegedly intoxicated and for resisting arrest after being stopped for a "random"safety check. He was pepper sprayed when according to police reports he refused to come ashore for additional sobriety tests, after allegedly failing tests applied on the police cruiser. Once in custody, he refused a breath test. Benson invited scrutiny by choosing to park his boat inside the lake's most popular cove for drinking and partying and putting himself in the middle of an ongoing police crackdown on drunken boaters in the area. Misdemeanor "drug and alcohol"charges against Benson were dropped in 2002 and ...
A city council, a judge and a soon-to-be ex-wife disenable.
Disenablers of the Month:
Detroit's City Council, which has begun the process of removing Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick from office for (allegedly) lying under oath to cover up an extramarital affair with his Chief of Staff, Christine Beatty. The mayor, a Democrat, whose story was chronicled in the Top Story in last month's TAR says the City Council is persecuting him for political reasons. However, the entire council consists of Democrats. Maybe lying under oath really does matter, even if the subject is "only"about sex. On the other hand, the council members may be simply sickened by Kilpatrick's multiple shenanigans.
Porter, Indiana Superior Court Judge David Chidester was fed up with Stephanie Pochron's repeated arrests for DUI, the latest one of which resulted ...
Addict writer experiences addiction and lives to tell about it: goodby to Elaine Dundy.
Sometimes, it takes an addict:
Writer Elaine Dundy, born Elaine Brimberg and married (1951-1964) to theater critic and New Yorker writer Kenneth Tynan, dead from a heart attack at age 86. Dundy was best known for her novel, The Dud Avocado (1958), and her memoir, Life Itself! (2001). The former chronicled a young woman coming of age through a series of alcoholic-fueled sexual misadventures in the decadent Paris of the 1950s, while the latter revealed, among other frothy anecdotes, her sexual exploits with Tynan, including having sex while being caned. She explained she stayed in the relationship partly because of a fear he would commit suicide if she left him and partly because of her own "sickness,"which she described as "the ...
“Prison Break,” pill-popping Agent Mahone and a terrific assortment of other likely addicts add to great television.
Review: "Prison Break"Seasons 1 and 2: Great Television
Many say we must be willing to suspend belief to appreciate "Prison Break."I'm not sure that the numerous plot twists, coincidences, contrived sub-plots and absurd cliffhangers are any more incredible than the imprisonment of his daughter and their children by the Austrian, Josef Fritzl, for over two decades. It's only when so much is combined into one riveting and mind-numbingly suspenseful series that we need to be willing to say, "To hell with reality."Unless you prefer biographies, this is what great cinema is all about.
And "Prison"is great. The cinematography, writing, character development, plot progression and acting are superb. The suspense is on par with that of "24,"which is to say it's something few ...
Don Juan braggart is a likely alcoholic. Get out of his way.
Brags about sex
Dear Doug:
I've been seeing a man who occasionally tells me about his past loves and the number of women he's been with. Once in a while he tells me how great sex is when you're high, even though he knows I don't do drugs. When we're not in bed every night, he tells me he is "used to having sex and lots of it."I've told him I don't want to hear this sort of talk, but he foams at the mouth anyway. We're both in our 50s and have grown children from previous marriages. What's your take?
Signed,
Unimpressed
. . . .
Dear Codependent,
Some observers may suggest the fact that your boyfriend is desperate to impress you with his sexual history ...
Bad cop. Alcoholic cop. But I repeat myself.
Asked by U.S. District Court Judge Gary A. Feess why he became involved in a robbery ring of rogue LAPD cops, Gabriel Loaiza responded, "I have no excuse. Just plain stupidity.â€
Loaiza's cousin Ruben Palomares, the ringleader, told Feess that he failed to face up to "problems"as a young police officer. Palomares, now 38, told the judge, "Instead of facing my problems, I ran from them.â€
So wrote Scott Glover in an L.A. Times piece, "Rogue LAPD cop gets 13 years,"on the sentencing of both Loaiza and Palomares. As usual in the media, the focus is on symptoms ("stupidity"and "problemsâ€) rather than root causes. Even recovering addicts years into sobriety make this mistake.
The trouble is journalists are limited in terms of offering ...
Alcoholics need babysitters.
Story from "This is True"by Randy Cassingham, with his "tagline:â€
"SOMEHOW, THEY REMINDED HIM OF MOM: Dancers at a strip club in Tampa, Fla., called the sheriff about a customer. ‘It was the way he was acting,' one said -- not just that he was intoxicated, but it was the baby. ‘I asked, 'Where's the mom?',' the dancer said, but the man was ‘evasive' about why he had the 6-month-old, and what he was doing with it. Finally, the man blurted out his plan: ‘I need someone to watch the baby for a week or two,' he told the dancer, Minouche Eliasin. ‘I'll come back,' he promised. ‘You guys are so nice. Thanks, I appreciate it.' By then deputies had arrived ...