Archive for October, 2009
I was blown away by the near-perfect portrayal of two alcoholics and of alcoholism in last night's Law & Order: SVU entitled "Hammered." Lucky for all of us--it's being repeated on NBC this Saturday night, October 17 at 10pm and again on USA network on October 27th at 11pm.
If you view the three previous episodes of the series first ("Unstable," "Sugar" and "Solitary"), you'll get even more out of watching the latest entree. You'll see what I mean. Let's just say that someone ordered a copy of Drunks, Drugs & Debits: How to Recognize Addicts and Avoid Financial Abuse for Christine Lahti in July.
Although it requires registration, we believe you can view all of the episodes here: www.prepelix.com
It is truly ...
There’s an addict behind almost every heinous crime: the case of Jaycee Lee Dugard’s kidnappers Phillip and Nancy Garrido
There’s an addict behind almost every crime, especially heinous ones. Phillip Garrido, who kidnapped and raped 11-year-old Jaycee Lee Dugard, is no different from the rest. The only question is whether he was a dry or active drunk.
Phillip Craig Garrido, 58, a registered sex offender and parolee, was recently arrested for having abducted 11-year-old Jaycee Lee Dugard in 1991 and holding her in captivity ever since. While their Antioch, California neighbors knew something was “off” about him, they saw only an overgrown backyard filled with sheds and tents and never detected the wailing or screaming one might expect of an abductee. Instead, they occasionally heard children, who “sounded normal.” The neighbors had no idea that Dugard gave birth to these ...
Runners-up for top story: Adam “DJ AM” Goldstein, Representative Henry “Hank” Johnson, Todd Palin (which helps to explain Sarah Palin’s bizarre resignation as Alaska’s governor), former major leaguer Matt Keough, white supremacist Buford Furrow Jr. and rapper Kanye West
Runners-up for top story of the month:
Celebrity disc jockey Adam “DJ AM” Goldstein, 36, found dead with eight undigested OxyContin pills in his stomach and a ninth in his mouth, along with cocaine, hydrocodone (Vicodin), Ativan, Klonopin, Xanax, Benadryl and Levamisole (a drug use to cut cocaine) in his system. Goldstein was famous for spinning records for as much as $25,000 for a three-hour set at some of the world’s most exclusive parties, including private events for Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lopez and Ben Stiller. Throughout his early 20s he struggled with drugs and his weight, reaching 300 pounds before getting sober and undergoing gastric by-pass surgery. After surviving a fiery Learjet crash barely a year ago on the runway of ...
Vampire girls and Raymond Clark, charged with murdering Annie Le, must be under watch for alcoholism.
Under watch:
Five actresses from the CW’s “The Vampire Diaries,” arrested in Georgia for dangling from the side of a bridge and exposing their breasts to passing motorists. A Sheriff’s deputy spokeswoman (we’ll pass on the obvious jokes about “under watch” and “spokeswoman,” not “spokesman”) said that “one girl was holding another girl’s ankles and hanging her over the bridge like she was going to drop her.” Nina Dobrev, 20, Sara Canning, 22, Kayla Ewell, 24, Krystal Vayda, 23 and Candice Accola, 22, were arrested along with cameraman Tyler Shields, whose footage confirmed (to the spokeswoman) several dozen drivers’ accounts of the escapades. The idea that none of the above may have been sober is supported by the fact that Canning ...
Maybe this explains the ills of Detroit.
Alcoholic victims of the month:
Residents of the motor city, Detroit, Michigan, who suffer with the likes of Renee Jason Beavers, 33, arrested with a 24-ounce can of beer between her legs on charges of auto theft and driving without a valid license—for the 45th time; and Ahmed Malik, 31, arrested for having an improper license plate—the latest in his transgressions that include 52 license suspensions and 18 warrants for his arrest.
Enablers of the month: sister says “no way” that her brother would wield a hatchet; neighbor to bank executive partygoer-house squatter asks “how many bank exec’s would do that?” and a judge and psychiatrist think financial fraudster Marcus Schrenker is a narcissist–without mentioning likely alcoholic.
Enablers of the month:
Marsha Polk-Townsend, who described her brother Brownie Polk, 46, as not being “a violent guy” after causing a disturbance at a liquor-store and confronting police with a hatchet. After ignoring “numerous” commands to drop the weapon, he held the hatchet over his head and advanced on the officer, who shot him several times, killing him. While Polk-Townsend disputes the story, a security camera recorded the entire incident and corroborates the officer’s account. Polk-Townsend claims, “He would never charge at police with a hatchet.” No, Ms. Polk-Townsend, the brother you knew would never do that. Meet Mr. Hyde, who would.
An un-named resident of Malibu Colony, referring to Cheronda Guyton, who was responsible for Wells Fargo Bank’s foreclosed commercial ...
Disenabler of the month: an 83-year-old misses a wedding to help a DUI get arrested.
Disenabler of the month:
Frank Canale, 83, and his daughter, who were on their way to a wedding when Canale’s car was rear-ended by a hit-and-run driver. Canale, realizing the man was under the influence and fearing he “could kill someone,” called 911 and followed the culprit for 15 miles from New York into the man’s Danbury, Connecticut driveway, where Canale remained until police arrived. By the time they finished filing police reports in two states, the wedding was over.
Great quotes on the value of ultimatums, how awful the behaviors of a practicing addict can be v. their true self, and on paying amends.
Quotes of the month:
“I have never had anyone call me or e-mail me to say they wished they wouldn’t have given someone an ultimatum. But I have a couple of dozen times had some[one] contact me to tell me that they wish they wouldn’t have backed down or waited, because now the person is dead.” So said interventionist Jeff Van-Vonderen matter-of-factly in a newspaper article on whether traditional intervention, in which the addict is given an ultimatum, might have worked on Michael Jackson. This pretty much puts to rest the idea that ultimatums should not be given and that they should, instead, be offered at every opportunity.
“My father was not a bad man. He was a very sick man….He was ...
Understanding Ted Kennedy requires that we understand alcoholism. And sometimes, it really does take an addict.
Sometimes, it takes an addict:
Senator Edward “Ted” Kennedy, dead from brain cancer at 77. Kennedy’s life was filled with the conflicts, inconsistencies and enigmas that are rarely explained by anything other than alcoholism. Although he reportedly sobered up in the 1990s, to the end he continued to manipulate the system wherever he could and maintain he was not drunk the night he left a party in 1969 and drove his chauffeur’s limousine off a bridge on Chappaquiddick Island into Poucha Pond, leaving Mary Jo Kopechne to drown. However, the facts belie the claim: he swam to shore and walked back to the party, past several houses and a fire station. (Kopechne had scratched the upholstered floor above her head in ...
Employers need to screen out alcoholics. A credit check, while imperfect, is one way that can protect them–and help the addict to his or her bottom.
Public Policy Recommendation of the Month
A bill that would prohibit credit checks for most California job applicants is on the governor’s desk. Many think a credit check uncovering poor credit is unfair to honest hard-working people who have had a streak of bad luck. Many prospects, who might be perfectly decent employees, find it more difficult to get a job. Pulling credit reports discriminates against the young and immigrants who haven’t yet built any credit. Divorce and identity theft can contribute to a low credit score, which can make getting a job more difficult.
However, the damages from errant employees far outweigh these concerns. Destructive employees are usually alcohol and other-drug addicts. Employers already have very little protection against them and, ...
Don’t send a Veteran who’s an alcoholic to the VA. Send him to an AA meeting and rehab.
Veteran finds good jobs and gets fired...What might explain that?
Dear Doug:
My significant other, Allen, has no trouble finding good jobs. Then he gets depressed, drinks too much and gets fired, or decides the job isn’t right and quits. He spends his money wantonly and often gets evicted for non-payment of rent, ending up on my doorstep. I think Allen, who is a veteran and eligible for Social Security, needs more help than I can give him. What should I do?
Signed,
Baffled
. . . . .
Dear Codependent,
Other columnists might tell you that Allen needs professional help to learn why he sabotages his jobs and spends his rent money. They’d suggest that he head straight to his local VA for assistance and that ...
CEOs with an over-sized ego are more likely to commit fraud. Ok, so where did that oversized ego come from? Hello?
“The biggest risk factor for fraud is a CEO with a truly oversized ego.”
So found an academic review of 15 Canadian corporate fraud cases between 1995 and 2005, which pointed out that a list of common warning signs of potential fraud is missing this most important item, which includes being “lauded by the media or by analysts.” According to Janet McFarland in Toronto’s The Globe and Mall, Michel Magnan, one of the report’s authors, argues that “generous doses of external praise can lead an egotistical executive to [result in] an exaggerated sense of self-confidence that leads CEOs to believe they can do whatever they want and get away with it.” Magnan, a business professor at Concordia University, seemed surprised that ...
A variation of “My addict would never do THAT!”: the case of father John and daughter Mackenzie Phillips
Mini-myth of the month:
“He was incapable, no matter how drunk or drugged he was, of having such a relationship with his own child.”
So said John Phillips’ third wife, Genevieve Waite, in response to the claim by stepdaughter Mackenzie Phillips that John raped her when she was 19 and carried on an incestuous affair with her for much of the next 10 years. Sorry Ms. Waite, but addicts are capable of anything. That includes things that make the rest of us recoil.
She also said, “John was a good man who had the disease of alcoholism and drug addiction.” You’d think, then, that she’d know better. We need to remember one thing when dealing with practicing addicts: we cannot predict how destructive ...
Exotic animals at home can be a clue to underlying alcoholism
Story from “This is True” by Randy Cassingham, with his “tagline:”
“NICE DOGGIE: Pat Yoes, a spokesman for the St. Charles Parish, La., Sheriff's Office, says he doesn't know where Terron D. Ingram, 38, got the alligator, or what he was planning to do with it. But deputies saw Ingram riding a bicycle down the street with the 3-foot-long animal resting on his shoulders. When deputies stopped him, he ran -- leaving both his bicycle and his leathery friend behind. The gator was caught and released into a nearby marsh; Ingram was caught and housed in the jail, charged with resisting arrest, cruelty to animals, and possession of drug paraphernalia. (New Orleans Times-Picayune) ...Yeah, it's no surprise to me that the ...