“Jack Kerouac has done something to our immaculate prose from which it may never recover.” – Henry Miller from Brooklyn, Dec. 26, 1891 – June 7, 1980
Author: Leonard Buschel
BROTHERLY LOVE? – Dec. 15, 2025 – Medetomidine, a veterinary sedative, mixed into fentanyl has sent thousands to hospitals, not only for overdose but for life-threatening withdrawal. It is spreading to other cities. At 34, Joseph had been through opioid withdrawals many times — on Philadelphia streets, in jail, in rehab. But he had never experienced anything as terrifyingly all-consuming as this. A new drug has been saturating the fentanyl supply in Philadelphia and moving to other cities throughout the East and Midwestern United States: medetomidine, a powerful veterinary sedative that causes almost instantaneous blackouts and, if not used every…
AND YOUR NERVES… – Dec. 17, 2025 – Having trouble choosing between a cup of tea or coffee on these wintry days? New research says tea might be the better option – at least for your bones. People who reported drinking tea had slightly higher hip bone mineral density than people who did not drink tea, the study found. The difference was small, but even “small improvements in bone density can translate into fewer fractures across large groups,” said Enwu Liu, one of the study’s authors. Compounds in tea called catechins may help promote bone health and slow degeneration…
THE POWER OF THE “F” WORD – Dec. 18, 2025 – Richard Stephens, a psychologist at Keele, became interested in studying the potential benefits of profanity after noting his wife’s “unsavory language” while giving birth and wondered if profanity really could help alleviate pain. “Swearing is such a common response to pain. There has to be an underlying reason why we do it.” See Website
BINGING not BIDLES – Dec. 16, 2025 – From jaw-dropping documentaries to the triumphant return of Alan Partridge … it’s been another brilliant year of television. Our countdown of the very best continues… See Website
READING MATTERS – 12/2025 – BY MARIA POPOVA – Because I read for the same reason I write — to fathom my life and deepen my living — looking back on a year of life has always been looking back on a year of reading. Here are the books I read this year that clarified and magnified my life, that will stay with me for the rest of it. THANKS by Artist and poet Rachel Hébert: Here we are, living these lives bright and perishable as a poppy, hard and shimmering as obsidian. We know that they are entirely improbable,…
ART MATTERS – Dec. 17, 2025 – The designer talked about the challenges he faced during the renovation and credited art with saving his life on multiple occasions. He said: ‘When things were the most difficult and challenging financially, emotionally, spiritually, psychologically, and physically, I knew that I never wanted to part from this incredible property. ‘It was because of this property and the will to want to create in it, the house saved my life. ‘As an artist and a creator having the outlet of designing, my house was the one thing that was keeping me going. This isn’t…
STIGMA SUCKS – Dec. 18, 2025 – From a business perspective, the gap is staggering. “Fifty-four million Americans today suffer from substance use disorder,” Driscoll says. “But there’s only about 12 million that are actually getting any type of treatment.” And most of that treatment is little more than a day or two of services—hardly enough to shift a lifelong disease.In any other industry, this would qualify as a massive, underserved market. “What would you do if you had a product that 54 million people needed, but only at best 20% are accessing?” he asks. “Wouldn’t you say, what can…
DANGER OVER THE COUNTER – Dec. 18, 2025 – Dr Aurelio Rojas, who boasts over 1.1 million followers on Instagram, posted a video explaining what people must be wary of when it comes to Omeprazole, ibuprofen, other painkillers, and even nasal decongestants and antidepressants. This medication can be detrimental to your health, as Dr Rojas pointed out: “If you take it regularly, it may alter the absorption of magnesium, iron and vitamin B12. This affects your energy, your recovery and the health of your heart.” This is often linked to issues with excess stomach acid. While the medication can protect…
VIDEO – PRISONS SUCK – Dec. 18, 2025 – Rana Schmidt remembers her daughter, Elissa Lindhorst, as having a creative soul with a special place in her heart for animals. The 28-year-old died on Feb. 24, 2020, just four days after she was booked into Illinois’ Madison County Jail on an outstanding warrant for unlawful possession of a controlled substance. Lindhorst’s death was brought on by opioid withdrawal symptoms going ignored and untreated by the jail medical staff, according to court records from a civil suit filed by Schmidt in 2022. “They just don’t treat them like they would if…
IT WASN’T DRUGS! – Dec. 19, 2025 – Unlike other diseases where a treatment can reliably keep someone stable, it’s difficult to know what will work with drug addiction. There are a variety of approaches and no simple one-size-fits-all solutions, said Dr. Kimberly Kirby. And the things the family goes through, it’s just heartbreak. It’s not just the heartbreak of seeing a child in trouble but laying out thousands of dollars, depleting retirement funds trying to save their child.” The deaths of Hollywood director Rob Reiner and his producer wife, Michele, set off waves of tributes and memorials, but for…
CEREAL ADDICTION – Dec. 19, 2025 – Many researchers and health professionals are recognizing sugar addiction is a real and harmful phenomenon. And the addiction isn’t our fault: it’s hidden in nearly every kind of food, including yogurt, spaghetti sauce, and whole-wheat sandwich bread.Sugar doesn’t just live in desserts. It’s baked into everyday holiday foods like candied yams, muffins, cranberry sauce, pasta, and potatoes. It shows up in brownies, pound cake, fudge, sugar cookies, and other seasonal treats. And it flows freely in sodas, wine, and cocktails. While sugar is hidden in everyday foods, like yogurt or breakfast cereal, sugar…
VIDEO – THE ANGELS AMOUNG US – Dec. 18, 2025 – “My little brother was a big part of my life, and we miss him a lot”, Bryant said. “I think calling it Adam’s House of Hope will help me know that maybe people can avoid feeling the way that he felt during his stay in jail.” Recovery Cafe is trying to turn the building into a mental health facility that can help people struggling with their mental health. Kryslin Kendall and Sarah Bryant are the Co-directors of Recovery, a place for those facing addiction, trauma, and mental health challenges.…
MUSICAL INTERLUDE – 5,219,445 views since Dec 17, 2023 – Billie Eilish performs Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas on Saturday Night Live in 2023, for the Christmas episode. See Website
STICK WITH THE WINNERS! – Dec. 23, 2025 – I was born a lower middle-class kid from the broken glass streets of A town in New Jersey. I loved watching Saturday morning cartoons and for many years Bugs Bunny was my childhood hero. Always had a line. He understood what the f**k was happening around him. He realized early on he was going to be dealing with some people who really didn’t have his best interest at heart. So he had to be one step ahead at all times and he found this process very draining and repetitive. Q. If…
ROYAL HIGH – Dec. 18, 2025 – This redefines “high” society in ancient Egypt. Yale University researchers have found trace amounts of opium jars in an ancient Egyptian vessel, proving that opium use was widespread in the land of the pharaoh — including during the time of King Tutankhamun. The druggy study was published in the Journal of Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology. “Our findings combined with prior research indicate that opium use was more than accidental or sporadic in ancient Egyptian cultures and surrounding lands and was, to some degree, a fixture of daily life,” said the lead author, Andrew J.…
AUDIO – FASCINATING!!! – Dec. 17, 2025 – The 47-year-old program is one of Europe’s best-known rehab centers. It requires long-term stays, and patients work at the facility, without pay, as they undergo care. “San Patrignano was oppressive,” Severi said. “It was a total institution, controlling every aspect of my life.” “This is the only place in Italy, and maybe in Europe, where people are working for free, not even in jails.” Under what’s known as a “therapeutic community” model, San Patrignano offers years-long residential addiction treatment led by peers in recovery, rather than medical experts. Work and being part…
CHUMP CHANGE for RCA – Dec. 10, 2025 – Recovery Centers of America (RCA) has agreed to pay $1,000,000 to resolve allegations that it failed to comply with provisions of the Controlled Substances Act that are designed to prevent the diversion of controlled substances for illegal uses, and an additional $1,000,000 to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by billing the government for drug and alcohol treatment services that it failed to adequately provide. The United States’ allegations under the CSA arise from audits and investigations the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) conducted at RCA facilities in Pennsylvania…
NOT BROCCOLI – Dec. 15, 2025 – Health authorities expect by 2050, more than 60 percent of Americans will have some form of heart disease. In a recently resurfaced TikTok video, Dr London highlighted four food and drink categories that he doesn’t eat or drink, including one beverage touted as healthy. Dr. London said: ‘If we are working so hard to optimize our health, the least you could do is stop actively poisoning your body.’Dr London warned that alcohol is ‘absolutely toxic to every cell in our bodies’ and said ‘even moderate and occasional use’ can raise heart disease risk. …
IT’S ALL IN YOUR HEAD – Dec. 13, 2025 – High hopes for medical cannabis are going up in smoke. “While many people turn to cannabis seeking relief, our review highlights significant gaps between public perception and scientific evidence regarding its effectiveness for most medical conditions.” Long-term studies suggest that adolescents using high-potency cannabis face higher rates of psychotic symptoms, with 12.4% affected compared with 7.1% of those using low-potency products. They were also more likely to develop generalized anxiety disorder, with 19.1% experiencing it versus 11.6% of their peers using weaker cannabis. Notably, the researchers found that about 29%…
VEGANOSIS – Dec, 16, 2025 – You may not have heard of orthorexia, but you’ve probably seen it. It’s an eating disorder that’s characterized as an obsession with only consuming “healthy” foods—and it’s on the rise, says Sadi Fox, PhD, a licensed psychotherapist who specializes in eating disorders. We all have that friend who talks a little too much about things like “clean eating,” or that random food group they’re entirely avoiding in pursuit of better health. Think: carbs, sugar, gluten (provided they don’t have an allergy). The problem? Orthorexia can result in nutritional deficiencies, mental health challenges, and social…
WHAT COULD? – Dec, 19, 2025 – by Zoe Adams. I won’t imply that Reiner’s alleged murder of his parents would have been prevented if only he had received different care. But a high-profile tragedy like this one gives us the opportunity to interrogate what our addiction treatment system may be getting wrong. Nick recounted how he had hurled a rock through a window of a rehab facility in a desperate attempt to convince the staff that he needed more medication. Problems exist across the spectrum of rehabs, from expensive, for-profit facilities to nonprofit ones: A 2017 investigation revealed that…
MERRY CHRISTMAS – Dec. 19, 2025 – Victoria would spend the day snorting ketamine, a habit that lost her her children and cost her £40,000. Victoria Vigors was thrown out of her local pub on Christmas Eve and later destroyed her sister’s Christmas tree in a ‘drunken rage’ – here she reveals how she turned her life around. Victoria, who has a son and a daughter, would “tone it down” on the years she had her children over Christmas, but says she often felt like an outsider if she was celebrating without them. She says: “I’d look at other people…
VERY SPECIAL “K” – Dec. 18, 2025 – What sets the program apart is its multi-modal approach that addresses addiction at every level—neurological, psychological, and physiological. At the core of the treatment protocol lies a sophisticated integration of ketamine infusions, a therapy that’s been gaining scientific validation for its remarkable effects on addiction recovery. Research has shown that ketamine treatment can increase one-year abstinence rates from 24% in control groups to 66% in ketamine-treated groups for alcoholics, and the drug has demonstrated the ability to reduce cocaine self-administration by up to 67% from baseline levels. Studies across multiple substances of…
AN ANOMALY! – Dec. 18, 2025 – Nick Reiner, 32, struggled with drug addiction for nearly two decades, something he and his family shared with the public. This week, he was charged with murder in the death of his parents, the director Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner. His ordeal, and its impact on his parents and family, has resonated with millions of people, including Pattie Vargas..Her daughter isolated herself and lived on the streets while battling addiction to alcohol and drugs. Her son developed a heart condition from drug use and died of heart failure in 2017…
WILL TO LIVE – Dec. 18, 2025 – “Will was always the funniest guy in the room,” Cooper said of his earlier memories of Arnett. “The fact he’d even talk to me back then made me feel cool — and then we ended up living next to each other as young actors in Venice and we became really good friends.” Arnett and Laura Dern star in Is This Thing On? as a married couple who are on the verge of divorce as they raise two young sons just outside New York City. Cooper, who wrote and directed the film, also…
“You must give up the life you planned, in order to have the life that is waiting for you.” – Joseph Campbell, 1904–1987
NOT GOOD – Dec. 12, 2025 – The teen brain isn’t fully baked yet. That prefrontal cortex, which handles choices and brakes on impulses, develops until age 25. Drugs hijack this wiring, making highs feel urgent and dangers seem small. Why does this matter? A 16-year-old might think, “One hit won’t hurt,” … but their brain locks in the habit fast. Reward centers light up stronger in youth, turning curiosity into craving. Risk feels abstract to them. They chase the buzz without seeing the crash. Science backs this: fMRI scans show adolescents underestimate overdose odds by half. Education on brain…
GOD HELP HIM – Nov. 30, 2025 – The actor’s fiancée, Johnnie Faye Cartwright, was also arrested and booked at the same jail. She is facing five charges, including one count of driving under the influence, three counts of reckless endangering and one count of attempted first-degree assault. Bryan’s most recent prior arrest came in January. At the time, the actor faced charges of second-degree domestic violence from Myrtle Beach police in South Carolina. In a police report obtained by PEOPLE, the arresting officer said a woman involved in the incident “stated that she was assaulted” by Bryan and the…
MUSIC MATTERS – Dec. 11, 2025 – The hardest part of reducing an entire year of new music down to just 10 standout songs isn’t so much hitting the right balance of genres—say, weighing coke-rap disses against alt-country ballads about getting Reynolds-Woodcocked in a relationship—as it is sorting through the various contexts of singles we’ve heard over the past 12 months. Some tracks gain points for carrying an otherwise-unmemorable release, while others can be… hard to choose among the dozen other equally worthy songs on a likely-to-be modern classic’s track list (here’s further reading on 50 of those). That doesn’t…