AUDIO – STUPIDITY – March 11, 2025 – “Every part of the department will be impacted in some way but this is primarily a streamlining effort for internal facing rules, not external facing roles,” the official said, giving examples such as finding six separate strategic communication functions for different offices that will be consolidated. Advocates were already gearing up to fight to preserve the department through lawsuits and civic action when reports came in that Trump was going to sign an executive order directing the dismantling of the federal agency but then canceled the plans. “I expect that any actions…
Author: Leonard Buschel
AND MAKE YOU HAPPY – March 3, 2025 – How far away is your phone right now? When did you last look at it? For many of us, these digital devices are almost constantly in our hands, and a new study highlights the effects on brain activity that can happen when we cut back on using them. The research involved 25 young adults aged between 18 and 30, who were asked to restrict their smartphone use as much as possible for 72 hours: Only essential communications and work-related activities were allowed. Researchers from Heidelberg University and the University of Cologne…
HOW IT WORKS – March 7, 2025 – Svenja, age 24, works at an artificial intelligence (AI) startup in Berlin, Germany. She is also Germany’s first content creator for sober living. Growing up in the north of the country, drinking alcohol seemed like the norm. Yet Svenja realized that alcohol was damaging her physical and mental health. Two years ago, she made the decision to stop drinking for good. “I just stopped. There was no transition period. I woke up one morning and just decided I wouldn’t do it anymore. I haven’t had a single sip since!” Challenging societal norms…
BOSOM BUDDIES – March 11, 2025 – The actress, 71, opened up to Christina Applegate and Jamie-Lynn Sigler on the March 11 episode of their podcast, MeSsy, saying she “started using drugs and alcohol when I was really young, when I was 15.” “I’m a person that for probably the first 30 years of my life, didn’t deal [with] s—t,” said Sagal. “I medicated myself to where I didn’t really deal with my emotion. My parents died, I had cancer in my 20s, I mean, a bunch of s—t happened, and I didn’t really deal with it. And then, you…
BOOK SUGGESTION – Publication Date, March 4, 2025 – Deserted by her dad, the folk singer legend Donovan, Skye was a ninth-grade dropout who sought solace and validation in the eyes of audiences and dreamy costars like Keanu Reeves, River Phoenix, Matthew Perry, John Cusack, and Robert Downey Jr. Skye’s greatest weakness was musicians. On the heels of a toxic relationship with the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Anthony Kiedis, which began when she was just sixteen and he was twenty-four, the actress leapt into wedded bliss with her first great love, Beastie Boy Adam Horovitz. But marriage was not the…
AUDIO – LOST AND FOUND – March 10, 2025 – (Elena and Vadim live on the street) “This is not a blip. We are on track to return to levels of [fatal] overdose before fentanyl emerge.” Overall drug deaths in the U.S. are down roughly a quarter, according to provisional CDC data. That includes fentanyl and other illicit drugs like cocaine and methamphetamine. Dr. Nora Volkow, head of the U.S. government’s National Institute on Drug Abuse, said the decline in fatal overdoses linked to fentanyl is even greater. Drug deaths in the U.S. have now dropped from a peak of…
AUDIO – LESS SCREEN TIME – March 10, 2025 – Researchers say their findings show that people’s perceptions of body weight are “flexible” and “adult-like” from the age of seven upwards, and have implications for our understanding of body size and the perceptions, and possible misperceptions, of weight in health and well-being. Study lead author Durham University Professor Dr. Lynda Boothroyd conducted the first-of-its-kind study to examine the flexibility of body weight perceptions in children and young adults. The research found that kids as young as seven adjust how heavy or light they rate other people’s bodies after looking at…
WONDER WHEEL – March 13, 2025 – Two years after she started taking Xanax, Dana Bare began having panic attacks like never before. Her memory started slipping. Her husband had to remind her how to make a sandwich. Bare’s ailments cycled her through emergency rooms and puzzled specialists, some of whom thought she was mentally ill or had cancer. No one knew what to do other than up her Xanax dose, to 2 milligrams a day at one point. The popular pills had been a blessing at first when her general practitioner prescribed them for mild insomnia more than a decade…
AUDIO – LOST JOBS, LOST LIVES? – March 13, 2025 – “Cutting SAMHSA employees without understanding the impact is extremely dangerous, given the behavioral health crises impacting every corner of our nation.” Reductions in staff, they argued, could lead to a surge in relapse rates, a strain on the health care system and poorer health outcomes overall. Asked about the pending cuts, a spokeswoman for SAMHSA replied: “The important collaboration facilitated by SAMHSA’s regional offices continues, regardless of personnel changes, and SAMHSA staff remain diligently responsive to partners around the nation.” Proposals to shrink staff sizes across government departments are…
“It’s so easy to look around and notice what’s wrong. It takes practice to see what’s right.” – Melody Beattie, Born: May 26, 1948, Ramsey, MN, Died: Feb. 27, 2025, Los Angeles, CA
REDUNDANT? – March 3, 2025 – The stash house property also contained 23 firearms, including a shotgun kept where the drugs were stored, and the pills manufactured. In his car, Slocumb kept several firearms including a loaded .40 caliber pistol behind the front seat. In a suitcase in the trunk were a 9mm handgun with a high-capacity magazine and an AR-15 type rifle with a folding shoulder stock and a loaded 115-round drum magazine. Also in the suitcase was a 9mm firearm silencer. During this conspiracy, law enforcement intercepted Slocumb and the ringleader Bryson Gill discussing kidnapping a rival drug…
VOLUNTEERS? – March 7, 2025 – A hood will be placed on his head. A target will be over Brad Sigmon’s heart. The three volunteers with rifles about 15 feet away will complete his punishment, the United States’ first firing squad execution in 15 years. The bullet is designed to shatter on impact sending fragments meant to destroy the heart… CONTINUE@CBSNews
EVEN GENIUSES QUIT – March 3, 2025 – He’s a legend, and sober. Three years sober on his birthday. How did this impact his life. Read about it here! CONTINUE@MHZ
IT’S HOLLYWOOD FOLKS – March 4, 2025 – “I just want to let people know this is a really, really tough disease and it’s a really tough sickness,” Jax added. “I’ve been doing it for so long and you can say hiding it, lying about it forever and I’ve just had it. Enough’s enough.” Brittany Cartwright said she’s “skeptical” of ex Jax Taylor’s treatment plan for his cocaine addiction: “I’m glad that he finally admitted to what was really going on,” Brittany told People in a March 4 statement following Jax’s bombshell confession. “For the first time, I can speak…
THE PUCK IS ALWAYS ROUND – Feb. 28, 2025 – It all began with a bad decision at a Manhattan bar in 1993. Fresh off back-to-back Stanley Cup championships and a first-team all-star nomination, Pittsburgh Penguins power forward Kevin Stevens was on top of the world. At 6-foot-3, 230 pounds, nothing had ever stood between him and success — until he was offered narcotics. Stevens wrestled with the decision in his mind for a moment before deciding to accept the white powder offered to him. He didn’t really know what it was or what it could do, but he’d soon…
TO EACH HIS OWN – March 23, 2025 – I’m almost at five months sober now, and I’ve found myself getting tired and less motivated with AA. I did 90 in 90 and was so keen on it, and then I just hit a wall. I find myself just kind of bored with it all. I got a sponsor and started step work but to be entirely honest with you, I got sick of him calling. I have found myself ghosting his calls the past two weeks! I just can’t be bothered to talk about my sobriety. It’s not that…
AUDIO – HELP IS HERE – March2, 2025 – Spurred by a teacher who has seen the issues wrought by substance use among local teens, the proposal hinges on getting funding from the state’s pool of opioid settlement money. During the week, eight students would live in a dormitory on the University of Maine Fort Kent’s campus, supervised by two or three staff members, eat meals in a dedicated dining hall… The program administrators would work with outside service providers, like Aroostook Mental Health Center, to provide support services, and help students coordinate medical and dental appointments, including medication management,…
DOWN THE HATCH – March 4, 2025 – Despite the research that points to alcohol acting as a “gateway drug,” researchers from organizations like the National Institute of Health also argue that alcoholism — or alcohol use disorder, as medical professionals call the disease — also has plenty of environmental causes, such as drinking at a young age, genetics or mental health conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder stemming from childhood trauma. Research has long found that one extremely popular drug can lead to further substance use — and experts are now saying that that this popular item might be acting…
MISSION TO EMPOWER – March 7, 2025 – The TTC Learning Portal brings decades of expertise in mental health treatment, substance use disorder recovery, and healthcare services to a broader audience. With a mission to empower professionals through high-quality, relevant training, the portal ensures that users can complete courses at their own pace, making it an ideal resource for busy professionals. more@EIN
VIDEO – DRUGS MIGHT KILL YOU – March 3, 2024 – Watch Now CONTINUE@WILX
WORTH EVERY HEARTACHE – March 5, 2025 – The path forward from brokenness and inconsolable sorrow is not about “moving on,” “recovering,” or “getting over” our loss, but about patiently allowing our brokenness to become part of a deeper, more self-compassionate part of our wholeness. Loss shatters us. It brings us to our knees, leaving us raw, vulnerable, lost and uncertain about how to go on. Yet, in the depths of grief, there is the possibility of summoning newfound courage and honoring ourselves and our loved ones by fighting our way back into life. The path forward from brokenness and…
TOO SAD – March 6, 2025 – Tears welled in Rich Scheib’s eyes as he thought of his son, Wade, who died of a drug overdose on Dec. 7. Scheib said the first time he realized his son was using drugs was when he suffered an overdose four years earlier. “I just didn’t think he was that type of person. I just never thought that he would go down that road,” Scheib said. “The first time was in my mom’s living room. And my mom called me frantic, saying he wouldn’t wake up. I rushed over there and I instantly…
AND SO WE ARE – March 7, 2025 – Now, a new study from Amazon Kindle has revealed just how dire our screen habits are, showing we’re more addicted to our devices than we might think. “Every time we receive a notification – whether it’s a ping, vibration, or visual alert – our brain perceives it as something requiring immediate attention,” neuroscientist says Dr Mark Williams. “This activates our cognitive control network, diverting focus away from what we were doing.” Once distracted, he explains, it takes anywhere from 60 to 90 seconds to fully regain focus and engage with the…
WATCH – SAVE LIVES – NOW – All-star ensemble features Grammy performer Mika Newton, Eurovision stars @alyonaalyona @JERRY_HEIL @MikeGarsonProductions The piece is directed & produced by Grammy winner Rupert Wainwright, and edited by President Zelenskyy’s longtime film collaborator, David Dodson CONTINUE@YouTube
VIDEO – MUSICAL INTERLUDE – 3,000,000 Views in 13 years – From Russia With Love. The Second Bond Film from 1963. The Music Composed by Sir John Barry and Lionel Bart. CONTINUE@YouTube
VIDEO – MUSICAL OBITUARY – Born: September 10, 1940, Los Angeles, CA. Died: March 6, 2024, New York City 2,591,393 views Mar 8, 2018 – Roy Ayers arrived at his Tiny Desk performance beaming with positivity. The 77-year-old funk icon and vibraphonist sauntered through the office with a Cheshire grin on his face, sharing jokes with anyone within earshot. Accompanying him was a trio of brilliantly seasoned musicians. The set began with one of Ayers’ more recognizable hits: an extended version of “Searching,” a song that embodies the eternal quest for peace and love. During “Black Family” (from his 1983…
STICK WITH THE WINNERS! – March 11, 2025 – Barbara Nicholson Brown is the owner of Together AZ Newspaper, published monthly in Arizona, focusing on addiction recovery and behavioral health resources for the community. She is the coordinator of CARE, Celebrate the Art of Recovery Expo during National Recovery month as well as the coordinator of the Bill Brown Memorial Golf Tournament each September. Q. If you are in recovery, what was your drug(s) of choice and when is your sobriety date? A. Alcohol was my choice. Sobriety date June 17, 1990, it was Father’s Day – there is a…
LADY SINGS THE BLUES – Feb. 28, 2025 – To outsiders, Tania Gomez was the glamorous 33-year-old owner of a dog rescue centre in Stockholm, who had moved to Lanzarote for a quieter life. Now, after four years on the run, she has been captured, and is facing extradition back to her homeland on suspicion of drug trafficking and money laundering. If convicted, she faces a potential prison sentence of 14 years. Charges were brought against Gomez in 2021, after a huge drugs bust led Swedish prosecutors to accuse her of smuggling consignments of cannabis into Sweden as well as…
ANSWERS – March 4, 2025 – Stigmatization of addiction can hinder individuals from recognizing their suffering and pursuing necessary treatment. People may feel isolated and shamed for their addiction so they resort to these substances as a means of coping. This stigma often permeates communities and causes a reluctance to discuss addiction openly. Addiction is a challenge that affects individuals and communities globally. It’s not just limited to illegal substances but encompasses gambling, alcohol use, and even technology. In recent years, addiction has created a multifaceted issue that society struggles to address. From a broader point of view, addiction generates…
12-STEP METHODS – March 8, 2025 – He is, he tells me from a hotel room in San Francisco, “a nine-times convicted felon”. His drug of choice was “eight balls of meth”. Addiction is everywhere, and affects everyone, he says: “Nicotine, caffeine, alcohol, food, video games, work, heroin, social media, porn, television, cocaine, gambling, cannabis, pain pills, shopping, methamphetamine – you can likely find yourself, and many people you know, somewhere on the list.” Jaffe came from a privileged, affluent background – when he got out of jail, this meant that despite nobody wanting to employ him, he was able…