VIDEO – PARTY DOWN – July 13, 2024 – The Fleetwood Mac singer put on a lavish backstage spread for the former One Direction star which included a number of sweet treats, booze-free drinks and herbal tea. Harry, 30, joined Stevie, 76, as she paid an emotional tribute to late bandmate Christine McVie on what would have been her 81st birthday. Christine tragically died in December 2022 after suffering a stroke as she battled against cancer. And for his unexpected appearance on Friday, Harry flaunted his latest hair choice and showcased his much shorter and curlier mullet, along with…
Author: Leonard Buschel
FROM HEROIN TO HERO – July 14, 2024 – But for someone who battled heroin addiction and came out the other side, a fighting career hanging in the balance is small potatoes. “I really have been through so much (adversity) in my life, with the drugs and substance abuse, going through treatment and getting arrested. If I don’t wake up and have to go find $10 to get high, then I’m winning at life.” With that mindset and a well-constructed game plan, Petroski defeated Fremd 30-27, 30-27, 30-27 as the former college wrestler capitalized on his clear edge in…
VIDEO – WISHED AMY HAD – July 16, 2024 – “I’m not gonna bulls–t y’all, I was drunk last night,” Andress said in a statement on social media. “I’m checking myself into a facility today to get the help I need. That was not me last night. I apologize to MLB, all the fans, and this country I love so much for that rendition. I’ll let y’all know how rehab is I hear it’s super fun.” Andress, 32, was widely panned for her rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, with some MLB All-Stars,…
STREET LIFE SUCKS – July 14, 2024 – Every reasonable person agrees that addiction is a prevalent challenge among the homeless population, whether they base that judgment on scientific research or on the experience of walking the streets of California communities. But there is a sharp disagreement about how to respond to this reality … one that touches on familiar debates about drug use, human rights and the true definition of compassion. Since 2016, California has gone all-in on one side of this debate by requiring all tax dollars used for housing to endorse a “housing first” model. This…
FIRST PERSON ACCOUNT – July 13, 2024 – I did not have one distinct reason for going sober, but upon reflection, it can be attributed to numerous factors that were affecting my mental health and my university work. In hindsight, I was drinking as a form of escapism … As drinking is so deeply entrenched within university culture, it is difficult to fathom the possibility of successfully going sober. Often university is associated with the many newfound freedoms individuals encounter upon turning 18: moving away from home, being surrounded by strangers, and arriving in a culture that finds excessive…
PARLIAMENT-FUNKADELIC – July 12, 2024 – “In the Galérie des Alpes (the restaurant in the Federal Palace) people drink at almost any time of day. Anyone who doesn’t drink is an oddity,” the councillor added. He has suggested that the Swiss parliament has an alcohol problem, claiming that some representatives are known to be heavy alcoholics. “The descriptions seem very accurate to me. I am glad that someone has mentioned it,” Social Democratic Party National Councillor Andrea Zryd told 20 Minuten. “The fact that this is apparently only possible anonymously speaks volumes.” While she doesn’t know who the anonymous…
RULE 62, WE ARE NOT A GLUM LOT – July 14, 2024 – “There is so much more to see in a drop of water than can be seen by the naked eye. The heavens above have an immensity that cannot even be comprehended by the naked eye. There is so much more to emotions than can be expressed by words alone.” I have been a psychoanalytic trained psychiatrist for over 30 years. For the first 10 years of my practice, most of my patients talked to me lying on a couch. After 10 years of listening to them…
IT’S ADDICTIVE – July 14, 2024 – The parallels between social media and smoking are striking. Both began as widely accepted societal habits before their negative impacts became apparent. In the same way that smoking was once ubiquitous and glamorized, social media influencers and highlight reels of a perfect Insta Life offer a shiny allure for young users.Social media platforms designed to keep users engaged through dopamine-triggering algorithms arguably pave the way to addiction similar to nicotine. However, this comparison is flawed. Unlike smoking, social media also offers significant benefits, from connecting people across distances to providing platforms for…
GROWING UP – July 12, 2024 – It’s his 12th studio album,“The Death of Slim Shady (Coup De Grâce),” Eminem lands the proverbial death blow amid 19 tracks – including three skits and a scene-setting opening – with his trademark combination of rhyme-dropping dexterity, decidedly un-politically-correct references and crass humor. He’s a lyrical pugilist throughout – except when he turns misty-eyed dad rapping about daughter Hailie Jade – and salts his insults with sarcasm. “Kendrick’s album was cool, but it didn’t have any bangers/Wayne’s album or Ye’s, couldn’t tell you which one was lamer /Joyner’s album was corny, Shady’s…
WRITE ON – July 15, 2024 – At a bar in Mexico City, Dartmouth’s Devin Corey found himself explaining his recently completed memoir manuscript to a lifelong friend and their colleague when a woman walks in appearing intoxicated and passes out on a sofa. “I realized this woman was overdosing,” he said. He explained his intervention in the situation saved the woman’s life as the emergency services there were not sure what was wrong. “If it wasn’t for my recovery and my checkered past, I wouldn’t have had the ability to save that woman’s life,” he said. Following the…
PAYDIRT – July 15, 2024 – Melody Marr likes to give her testimony with individuals in jail, and she has been invited to speak at churches and rehab facilities. She has a down-to-earth, conversational tone resonating with audiences looking to improve their lives. She credits God for the opportunities she has to witness to others through her life … It’s not easy to change your nature, but through intense training and a lot of hard work, Melody Marr, now 51, overcame her bad habits and discovered how to live outside the boundaries of substance use and incarceration. Melody was…
WE ARE FAMILY – July 16, 2024 – Soul Survivors Living Foundation is a home for veterans, the homeless, and those fighting addictions, turning women who are struggling into women who are survivors. “I realized my life was a hot mess and I had to get my stuff together,” said Survivor home resident Krista. Krista came to the survivor home after years of substance abuse. She has tried other programs but none of them worked for her. “The neat thing about Ms. Ella’s program is she doesn’t call it sober living, it’s supportive living,” said Krista. Requirements for the…
NO WONDER – July 17, 2024 – Grammer’s father was shot to death when the actor was only 13 years old. He had two half-brothers who were eaten by sharks in a scuba-diving accident. His sister was abducted, sexually assaulted, and ultimately killed by a spree killer. Grammer had to identify his sister’s body, notifying his grief-stricken mother afterward. All these tragedies and traumas drove Grammer to abuse drugs and alcohol. With an early life like Grammer’s, it’s hard to blame the actor for going down such a dark path. Through all the pain of his life experiences, Grammer…
VIDEO – MUSICAL INTERLUDE – 1972 – 25,099,259 views Neil Young is a singer-songwriter renowned for his hits “Harvest Moon,” “Needle And The Damage Done,” “Rockin’ In The Free World,” “Change Your Mind,” “Love And War,” “Children of Destiny,” and “Mr. Soul.” He worked with artists like Bob Dylan, Pearl Jam, and Led Zeppelin — amassing billions of global streams and inducted into the “Rock and Roll Hall of Fame” twice. Lyrics: I caught you knockin’ at mycellar doorI love you, baby, can I have some more?Ooh, ooh,the damage done I hit the city and I lost my bandI…
WAY OVER THE COUNTER – July 11, 2024 – Child-protective workers would later allege the evidence showed Tagge not only held onto the child while hallucinating, but shook the child while screaming, “Jesus is the answer,” an allegation Tagge denied. By all accounts, the child was not physically injured. A nurse who says he overdosed on Mucinex and thought his wife was the devil is taking the state to court over his placement on Iowa’s child abuse registry. Ryan Tagge is seeking judicial review of an April 22 decision by the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services to…
VIDEO – TRIBUTE TO BOB NEWHART RIP – July 18, 2024 – Bob Newhart, whose stammering, deadpan unflappability carried him to stardom as a standup comedian and later in television and movies, has died, according to a statement from his longtime publicist Jerry Digney. He was 94. Digney said Newhart died in Los Angeles on Thursday morning after a series of short illnesses. He called the star’s passing an “end of an era in comedy.” Over the course of five decades, Newhart’s popularity rarely waned, whether it was as the recording star of the comedy album “The Button-Down Mind…
TRIPPING UP THE STEPS – July 16, 2024 – He has been showcasing his talents in front of the camera for over two decades. The True Blood star’s personal life has become an increasingly hot topic, and in a new interview the actor opened up about some illuminating past experiences and the valuable lessons he’s taken from them. When asked about the best advice he’s ever received from someone, Manganiello credited his Magic Mike director Steven Soderbergh for imparting some priceless Hollywood wisdom on him. “He said, ‘All anyone does in the entertainment industry is talk. And you jump…
LAPS AROUND THE STEPS – July 12, 2024 – Carrie Bates won three Olympic gold medals in the pool at the 1984 Los Angeles games. At the time, she was just 16 years old. She didn’t even have her license yet, but Carrie was on top of the world. However, things turned very quickly. “The first time I remember drinking for the sole reason of not feeling was after the 1988 Olympic Trials when I didn’t make that team.” Just four years after standing on top of the podium three different times, Bates was standing on the sidelines. She…
GRAVITY – July 17, 2024 – He has used fentanyl for about a year and a half and has found himself in that extreme bent-over position countless times. For him the drug was the only way he could get relief for his injured back and hernia. “That’s the only way you get relief,” he said of the drug.It’s become a ubiquitous sign of the fentanyl crisis unfolding on San Francisco’s streets: scores of seemingly comatose drug users slumped over in extreme positions. Examples of the so-called “fentanyl fold” have been plastered on social media for years as San Francisco…
HELL ON EARTH – July 16, 2024 – “These innocent boys reportedly came into contact with fentanyl, an opioid that has wreaked havoc across our communities.” “The deadly capabilities of fentanyl cannot be overstated, and it is our collective responsibility to protect those who cannot protect themselves. Jestice James, 22, is charged with two counts of murder and two counts of child abuse in the deaths of her sons, Josiah and Jestine … Prosecutors did not release details about what linked the mother to the deadly drugs or the children’s access to them. However, Los Angeles police said last…
THE SAINT OF SPONSORSHIP? – July 14, 2024 – Fr Selva Thomas, one of the Salesian priests who ministers at the Church of Our Lady of Lourdes in Dublin, Ireland where Talbot is buried, says that many people grappling with alcoholism or drug addiction continue to come to Talbot’s tomb to pray nearly 100 years after his death. “Matt Talbot has become the source of inspiration for so many,” Fr Thomas said. People feel that the Matt Talbot Shrine in central Dublin is a place where they can come and experience “spiritual rehabilitation as they undergo other forms of…
VIDEO! – July 13, 2024 – Jared Klickstein wanted to go to jail. After years of experiencing homelessness and suffering from addiction, he says he thought time in a cage would help him kick his physical dependence on heroin. He says the first person he met behind bars was a man with a swastika tattoo on his face. It was then, Klickstein says, he thought his Jewish heritage might be a problem. It’s one of many awkward situations he details in his new book “Crooked Smile.” CONTINUE@YouTube
SUPPORT SOBER ENTREPRENEURS – July 13, 2024 – Valerie Wiener is following her dream by choosing a healing path as an herbalist. Also known as Mother Wanderer Earth Medicine, the mother of two says, “I’m a huge sobriety advocate and I’m very open about my story.” After struggling with addiction and living as a homeless person, she started on a new path of sobriety and simultaneously became interested in herbalism. “There is an abundance of native medicinal herbs. Oh my gosh, it’s my heaven up there. Like, I get lost walking up there,” she said of Oak Glen.…
STIGMA! – July 17, 2024 – Around 66% of studies cited negative social influences – or beliefs about public and community acceptance of addiction care – while 56% of studies cited fear of harming the patient-physician relationship as deterrents for physicians to intervene in addiction. These may represent the manifestation of stigma associated with substance use disorder … The study’s findings point to the need for institution-wide changes to improve the adoption of evidence-based substance use disorder treatment practices among physicians. These changes include increasing organizational support, leadership and staff buy-in, and education and training. The study, published in…
REVOLTING – July 16, 2024 – “Teen Torture, Inc.” is the latest documentary aimed at exposing alleged abuses within the massive “troubled teen” industry, which caters to parents and state agencies desperate to find help for struggling teenagers. The HBO miniseries features programs that are based in Utah. Jen Robison, who was sent to Provo Canyon School in 2003, described in “Teen Torture, Inc.” how she was chemically sedated with Haldol while at the Utah program. Chemical sedation is no longer allowed in Utah programs after a reform bill was passed in 2021 — but it was used so…
VIDEO – JUST SAID NO – July 19, 2024 – “I want to wake up every day feeling my best. Mentally & physically strong enough to face whatever comes my way,” she wrote. Richards ended her post by saying she’s grateful for strangers telling her she has inspired them to quit drinking, saying that “makes me happy and inspires me in return.” One of Richards’ four daughters, Alexia, praised her mom with a supportive message in the comments, writing, “Yes. So proud of you my strong queen. Richards said she has “dropped enough splits and whipped enough pony tails…
STRUTTING THE STRUT – July 15, 2024 – Whether you’re giving up the grog for a mid-year health reset, to raise awareness and funds for those impacted by cancer, or in solidarity with a loved one struggling with their own substance abuse issue or sobriety journey, finding support through the month-long challenge is essential. Luckily, a surprising number of celebrities have walked (and are still walking) the path to sobriety, openly sharing how and why they chose to give up alcohol in hopes of inspiring others. Here are ten beloved celebrities who are sober. CONTINUE@Body+Soul
AUDIO – DON’T BLAME ALBERT HOFFMAN – July 18, 2024 – Dr. Nico Dosenbach had scanned his own brain dozens of times. But this was the first time he’d taken a high dose of psilocybin, before sliding into the MRI tunnel. The results suggest that psychedelic drugs work by disrupting certain brain networks, especially one that helps people form a sense of space, time and self. “For the first time, with a really high degree of detail, we’re understanding which networks are changing, how intensely they’re changing and what persists after the experience,” says Dr. Petros Petridis of New…
“The American dream belongs to all of us.” – Kamala Harris
IT IS A JOURNEY – July 12, 2024 – The soulful and funky pop star, 28, debuted in 2019 and swiftly garnered buzz online, before dropping her debut album, Juno, in 2021 and essentially touring the globe nonstop ever since. Her sophomore album, Big Ideas, was released July 12. Originally from Palo Alto, California, Wolf began playing music as a teenager before auditioning for season 13 of American Idol in high school (where she only made it to Hollywood Week) and later studying at the USC Thornton School of Music — where she became known for performing at raucous…