"The Heroin Diaries"

I am a child of both the 80s and 90s. I got to have all the cool toys of the 90s like Nintendo and such, but got the awesome music of the 80s like U2, Eazy E, etc.

When I first remember rock and roll, it had the face of Motley Crue. Then, after their heyday, I started to sheepishly admit I liked the Crue. After all, hair bands were out, grunge was in; things like "Girls Girls Girls" had been replaced by more meaningful songs like Nirvana's "Lithium" and Pearl Jam's "Jeremy."

So, when I came across the Crue's drummer's book, "The Heroin Diaries" (by Nikki Sixx), I was a little embarrassed downloading it. I associate the Crue with partying, but true hardcore drug use? Nah, not so much – but I was wrong.

Turns out, according to many drug rehab counselors who worked with the Crue, Sixx had the worst heroin and coke habit of anyone they'd ever worked with. That includes everyone from the Stones to the Chili Peppers. Sixx was the quintessential junkie-coke to start the day, booze and junk until the wee hours of the morning.

And yet? He's alive to tell the story. And the story is good! I'm about halfway through "The Heroin Diaries" and, let me tell ya, there have been several times when I've felt my stomach lurch with visions of what life was like for Sixx back in 87.

And know the best thing of all? His dedication.

The book starts out with the dedication to all addicts who've kicked booze and drugs. Those who will kick junk, too.

I have an enormous amount of respect for recovering addicts. Truly, I do. It takes so much guts to admit, "I have a bad problem and I want to get better." To do that first step, then go through with the tough follow up of changing one's life altogether is a HUGE thing...I'm glad to see Sixx honoring those who've also made that gutsy move.

3 strikes...-

Wow! As soon as I get done reading the previous article, here's another!
What this shows is one of two things:

Either ol' Ken has a serious problem with alcohol and is a fool who doesn't learn from his mistakes or
(and most likely), DWI laws in the U.S. are so lenient there's virtually no incentive for a man of Ken's status to refrain from driving drunk

Three DWIs is serious, no doubt. But why do DWI offenders get repeat convictions? Because the laws don't punish them hard enough to keep them from doing it again. THIS, faithful reader, is the very first step in fighting intoxicated driving: tougher penalties.

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Stabler Charged With DUI for Third Time
AP
Posted: 2008-06-10 09:40:25
ROBERTSDALE, Ala. (June 9) - Former NFL star quarterback Ken Stabler was arrested and charged with reckless driving and driving under the influence of alcohol.

Stabler, now a radio analyst for University of Alabama football, was released from jail on $1,000 bond nearly 13 hours after his arrest, police said Monday

The 62-year-old ex-Crimson Tide quarterback was pulled over for a traffic offense about 12:30 a.m. Sunday, said Brian Middleton, assistant chief of police. He declined to specify what led police to pull Stabler over in the town near the Gulf coast.

Stabler did not immediately return a message left at his office Monday. University officials had no immediate comment.

Stabler pleaded guilty to drunken driving following a 2001 arrest in Orange Beach. Authorities dropped drug and reckless driving charges under a plea deal. In 1995, Stabler pleaded no contest to a DUI charge in nearby Escambia County, Fla.

Stabler led the Oakland Raiders to a Super Bowl title in 1977, and also played for the Houston Oilers and New Orleans Saints during a 15-year NFL career.

He was on Alabama teams that won two Southeastern Conference titles, a national championships in 1965 and went undefeated in 1966. He has been the Tide's color analyst the past decade.

Star Athletes

America, on the whole, is pretty lousy when it comes to intoxicated driving. We're often shown as the bad example to countries like London and Spain and France, etc. Their rates of intoxicated driving and DWI - related crashes are much, much lower than ours.

You can chalk that up to smaller countries, less area to be required to drive, better public transportation, etc. However, this shows the U.K. certainly isn't immune to intoxicated driving. I hope this athlete's mistake will be seen and felt by the whole of the U.K.-because here in the States, we sure don't make any big ruckus when one of our star athletes does something like this (Case and point, Leonard Little.)

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McCormick Charged for Fatal Crash
AP
Posted: 2008-06-09 17:00:17
LONDON (June 9) - Plymouth Argyle goalkeeper Luke McCormick was released on bail Monday after facing in court the mother of two boys who died in a highway crash.

McCormick's Range Rover was involved in a collision with a Toyota Previa minivan about 5:45AM ET Saturday on the M6 highway in Staffordshire, central England.

At Fenton magistrates' court, McCormick heard charges of causing death by dangerous driving, driving with excess alcohol and driving without insurance.

McCormick was given seven days' conditional bail and will appear next Monday at Stoke Crown Court. He entered no plea.Inside the Stoke courtroom a weeping Amanda Peak clutched a photograph of her sons Arron Peak, 10, and Ben Peak, 8.

The dead boys' 37-year-old father sustained a suspected broken neck and back. Three other people in the same vehicle were unharmed.

The 24-year-old McCormick, a former England youth international, plays in English football's second-tier League Championship. He was not injured in the accident.

You're 4 Today! Have A Cold One!

Tonight, I was picking up a few things at Target. We happened to walk down the birthday aisle; all the stuff that makes a Bday so cool for kids! Streamers, cone hats, confetti, wrapping paper, napkins bearing big numbers, that sorta stuff.

There was also a collection of the big candles in the shape of numbers. Remember those? You're turning four, so there's a giant quatro number stuck in the cake and icing, ready for you to aim your breath it's way and accidentally blow spit all over everything (except, of course, the candle itself.)

Well, in the midst of these numerically shaped candles, there were a few oddballs. One was a question mark (we put this one on my Grandma Bernie's Bday cake before she finally revealed her age to we four grandkids), but that wasn't the disturbing one.

There, in the midst of everything which makes a kiddo's eyes light up on their big day, were candles shaped like beer cans and bottles.

Is there anything wrong with a 21 year old having beer can candles on his/her Bday cake? Not in my opinion. The law says you're legal at 21 and that's good enough for me.

Take a second to think of the message those candles send to little kids...

Doesn't it hurt your soul just a little to think of a kid, so young and innocent and longing for his/her birthday, being confused by the presence of beer can candles? Don't those seem a little out of place there with so much childhood innocence?

Adults need to be very, VERY careful about the images linked to alcohol consumption. If Dad has a beer every time the family goes bowling, kids learn to associate being an adult to beer and bowling. What happens when beer isn't involved with bowling? Is it still fun?

Or what about Christmas? If Mom and Dad get all excited about the spiked eggnog, but everything else about Christmas seems an irritant, what message does that send to kids?

Target-you have an area for beer and wine. Why not put the beer birthday candles there? I can control how alcohol is perceived in my household, but in the outside world, I'd prefer not to have innocent birthday fun of children tainted by the message of alcohol in celebration.

Are We Really This Blatant?

I'm a huge fan of music, as you may know. Most specifically, I like real music; not that Top 40 crapola like Brittany Spears and the like. True rock and old country and stuff that has some heart and soul - that's what I dig!

I scour the net looking for places to get great concert footage. The best, most extensive site for finding some of the best rock shows of all time is, hands down, Wolfgang's Vault.

I've been checking out the Vault for a good long while now. Every week or so, I get an E mail update about what's new in the vault. The following is the message that came out today:

This Weekend in the Concert Vault
What's up loyal Friday newsletter readers? Get your crazy baldhead over to the local "legal" distributor of the green stuff and tell them we sent ya. Yourmission is to get loose with a little kind and laze away to today's Buried Treasure. Yup, the emperors of reggae, the immortal Bob Marley and the Wailers.

We're also gonna drop some B-Side and Indie Monday knowledge on you this week. Due to your surprisingly positive response to Treasure, we're bringing outsome more. We're rascals here in the Vault (I couldn't resist) and we know that Felix and his band of Treasure buddies will push the soft-yacht-rock allthe way into Saturday. Stick that in your pipe and smoke it!

For those who want to hear a band that is seriously blowing minds right now, you cannot miss the White Denim Daytrotter concert. These dudes are for real.

Cheers - Your Friday newsletter installment. It's miller time!
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Ya know, marijuana consumption has become so widespread these days. I don't necessarily subscribe to legalization, but any substance abuse expert will surely inform you the dangers of marijuana aren't nearly as damaging as those of excess alcohol consumption.

And yet? Pot is still illegal. You can write your Congressman if you want to change that... but this kind of message? It's just sticking it in the face of all law-abiding citizens: Hi! I'm here! I smoke weed! I'm proud of it! I don't care what you think!

I always tell my stepkids: I don't make the laws-I just obey them.

I wish more people would realize the message we send when substance abuse is encouraged, not unlike in this newsletter. Yes, it's veiled in words like "green" and "kind", but is there any musical group more known for marijuana consumption (okay, okay, ganja) than Bob Marley? Unlikely.

Whether it's veiled or blatant, is it too much to ask people to obey the law?

Parents-this is the kind of message kids get all the time. You've worked hard, it's the weekend, get loose, it's all good. This is why it's so, SO important to discuss the general use of pot with kids-you don't make the laws, it's just our job to obey them.

Whose Life?

Take an intro to psychology or sociology course and you'll learn the name Kitty Gennivisie (sp?). Kitty was a woman who was attacked in New York decades ago, on the street in broad daylight. Her attacker beat the living snot out of her; all the while she was screaming and calling for help. The attacker left her for dead-but she didn't die. Instead, she continued to call for help, lying on the street corner in broad daylight in front of several apartment buildings. The attacker came back, saw she wasn't dead and completed the job.

Later, when interviewed, the police had over 30 eyewitnesses who watched the beating or heard Kitty's cries for help. And not a single one did anything. No 911 calls, no assistance given to the dying woman-nothing.

Kitty's attack took over 30 minutes-and no one even lifted a finger to help. This Hartford case is almost as troubling; especially since passersby saw him and disregarded the injured man.

Any time there's some sort of emergency, please think of the Kitty G. story-and pull out your cell phone. From a personal standpoint, had no one pressed 911 into a pay phone the night of my crash, I'd not be writing to you now. You never know whose life you may be saving.

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Bystanders Ignore Hit-and-Run Victim
By STEPHEN SINGER,
AP
Posted: 2008-06-06 07:09:34
Filed Under: Nation News
HARTFORD, Conn. (June 5) - A 78-year-old man is tossed like a rag doll by a hit-and-run driver and lies motionless on a busy city street as car after car goes by. Pedestrians gawk but do nothing. One driver stops briefly but then pulls back into traffic. A man on a scooter slowly circles the victim before zipping away.

The chilling scene - captured on video by a streetlight surveillance camera - has touched off a round of soul-searching in Hartford, with the capital city's biggest newspaper blaring "SO INHUMANE" on the front page and the police chief lamenting: "We no longer have a moral compass."

"We have no regard for each other," said Chief Daryl Roberts, who released the video this week in hopes of making an arrest in the daylight accident last Friday that left Angel Arce Torres in critical condition.The hit-and-run took place about 5:45 p.m. in a working-class neighborhood close to downtown in this city of 125,000.In the video, Torres walks in the two-way street just blocks from the state Capitol after buying milk at a grocery. A tan Toyota and a dark Honda that is apparently chasing it cross the center line, and Torres is struck by the Honda. Both cars then dart down a side street.

Several cars pass Torres as a few people stare from the sidewalk. Some approach Torres, but most stay put until a police cruiser responding to an unrelated call arrives on the scene after about a minute and a half.The police chief told The Hartford Courant that he was unsure whether anyone called 911."Like a dog they left him there," said a disgusted Jose Cordero, 37, who was with friends Thursday not far from where Torres was struck. Robert Luna, who works at a store nearby, said: "Nobody did nothing."One witness, Bryant Hayre, told the Courant he didn't feel comfortable helping Torres, who he said was bleeding and conscious.

The accident - and bystanders' callousness - dominated morning radio talk shows."It was one of the most despicable things I've seen by one human being to another," the Rev. Henry Brown, a community activist, said in an interview. "I don't understand the mind-set anymore. It's kind of mind-boggling. We're supposed to help each other. You see somebody fall, you want to offer a helping hand."

The victim's son, Angel Arce, begged the public for help in finding the driver. "My father is fighting for his life," he said.

The hit-and-run is the second violent crime to shock Hartford this week. On Monday, former Deputy Mayor Nicholas Carbone, 71, was beaten and robbed while walking to breakfast. He remains hospitalized and faces brain surgery. "There was a time they would have helped that man across the street. Now they mug and assault him," police chief said. "Anything goes." Councilman Matthew Ritter said police can do only so much."The citizens are the city," he said. "Everybody has a part to play. Call 911 and reach out."


http://news.aol.com/story/_a/bystanders-ignore-hit-and-run-victim/20080605164309990001?icid=1615988631x1203765497x1200411077

Family Pharmacy Teams With Marcus!

Well, it's finally happened! Ever since the release of my books in the fall of 2006, I've looked for a retailer in my hometown. You'd think this wouldn't be so challenging, but it sure was!

Then, a retailer found me! In March, I was honored to be the key note speaker at the National Honor Society induction at my alma mater, Montgomery County R-2 in Montgomery City, MO.

Attending the induction of their daughter, Ellie, were Jack and Janet Holtman, owners of Family Pharmacy in Montgomery City. Mr. and Mrs. Holtman (and Ellie) purchased my books and passed them along to several others after they read them. As always, I'm humbled and honored when anyone passes my book along with the recommendation, "Hey, you should read this!"

Well, Jack and Janet also decided to inquire about becoming a retailer of "After This..." and "The Other End of The Stethoscope." I, of course, was ecstatic to be able to offer books to readers in my hometown by way of a local retailer!

Family Pharmacy is located on North Sturgeon in Montgomery City, MO. I hope folks from my home area will stop in, say HI to Jack and Janet, and maybe pick up a book while they're at it!

Special thanks to Jack and Janet Holtman for their desire to help me spread my message!