avogadno's blog

'Twas the night before Christmas, we were all in the club,
Enjoying a meeting, instead of a pub.

The ashtrays were clean, and the coffee was made,
The Big Books were out and then we all prayed.

When out in the lot, there arose such a clatter,
We all jumped up to see what was the matter.

The Chair with his Big Book, and I with my smokes,
Headed outside to find these two blokes.

They came inside and sat at a table;
And said that they'd chair, as soon as they're able.

"Opiate addicts, in particular, are hyper-sensitive to pain after quitting their drug habit."

Orange says that here:
http://www.orange-papers.org/orange-letters220.html

I was an opiate addict and did not endure this. I'm not technically sure, but I think that the same receptors are in conjunction with emotional pain, which I did suffer from. I had an ongoing inability to feel happiness. In other words, I was consistently depressed.

Had to share this here as well as I did at Expose AA:

"There was a Sister in the hospital, a veritable Saint, if you ever saw one. Our beloved Sister Ignatia. Dr. Bob often mentioned her. He told how she would deny beds to people with broken legs in order to stick drunks in them. She loved drunks. She was a sort of female Silkworth, if you know what I mean." ~Bill Wilson

If you know what I mean.

How to Starve the Trolls
By Maia Szalavitz | @maiasz | October

It was a bad week for internet trolls.

News of the tragic suicide of 16-year-old Canadian Amanda Todd after an ugly incident of stalking, bullying and blackmail hit just as Reddit’s biggest troll, responsible for numerous highly offensive postings in sections with names like “rape bait,” was finally outed. Both stories involved nonconsensual distribution of sexualized images of young girls.

"To be doomed to an alcoholic death OR to live on a spiritual basis are not always easy alternatives to face.

But it isn't so difficult. About half our original fellowship were of exactly that type. At first some of us tried to avoid the issue, hoping against hope we were not true alcoholics. But after a while we had to face the fact that we must find a spiritual basis of life - or else." BB p. 44

I've been asked many times by an AA, "Why didn't you just leave?". This usually here on the OP and occurring after discussing some aspect of my personal involvement. I've long since learned that most questions by an AA aren't sincerely asked in order to understand, but actually just an attempt to place blame of a negative experience solely onto me.

A perpetual struggle for the ideal body

"There are likely many different, and complex, reasons that explain why thinking you are fat as a teen– even if you are not – may lead you to become fat when you are grown.

One explanation may be related to psychosocial stress, which can be associated with gaining weight around the waist. Under this scenario, the psychosocial stress related to having (or not having) an ideal body type, along with the perception of oneself as overweight, can result in weight gain.

"Hundreds of people turned out to City Park on Saturday for some food, games and a little bit of drug and alcohol awareness.

The Lighthouse Christian Center of West Reading's Alcohol Chemical Treatment Series Class hosted its third annual anti-drug and alcohol community rally at the park's bandshell, drawing crowds interested in having a bit of fun and learning about drug and alcohol abuse.

"Our goal is that people are set free from addiction," said Angel Palmer, one of the event's organizers.

The abuse problem within the Catholic Church has made me feel like not participating anymore. I haven't been to church in years, other than a celebration that I was invited to attend. I debated for a couple of months on getting back involved and talked it over with some loved ones. I finally decided to give it a go. That very day the front of the paper reported a story of another priest, this one in Indiana, that had been discovered as abusive with children. I changed my mind right there and again.

Strongsville School Custodian Convicted of Sex Offense
July 17th, 2012

"A custodian at Zellers Elementary School was fired by the Strongsville School Board Monday night after he was convicted of sexual imposition and assault involving a 13-year-old girl.

LaDon Perkins, 33, who lives in Rocky River, was also labeled a Tier 1 Sex Offender who will have to register with the sheriff's department annually for the next 15 years.

The school board voted unanimously Monday to terminate Perkins' employment.

Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION By: Chelsea Carmona

"I was 20 when I attended my first Alcoholics Anonymous meeting.

"Hi, I'm Chelsea and I'm an addict," I said, introducing myself to a group of mostly middle-aged men and women.

The room fell silent.

"No!" a discouraging voice bellowed from the back of the room. "This is a meeting for alcoholics!"

Man admits driving drunk to AA meeting

"WAMPSVILLE, N.Y. — A 30-year-old central New York man admits he was drunk when he hit a parked pickup truck on his way to an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting.

The Oneida Dispatch reports (http://bit.ly/MfovA1 ) that Nathaniel Snyder of Sherrill pleaded guilty to a felony count of aggravated driving while intoxicated in Madison County Court on Monday. Police say his blood alcohol level was three times the legal limit when he was arrested March 19.

In the following article by Paul Toth the disease theory and the AA recovery model is examined. He does a great job in evaluating the inconsistencies between the two.

Why would a disease which is of no fault of the infected be "treated" by acknowledging and discussing one's character defects?

Zanesville man accused of cutting dog's throat

"ZANESVILLE -- A Zanesville man, who allegedly cut the throat of a dog Tuesday to get his girlfriend's attention, is facing misdemeanor charges including cruelty to a companion animal."

"Smith appeared Wednesday in front of Judge William Joseph in Muskingum County Municipal Court and pleaded not guilty to one count of cruelty to a companion animal and one count of resisting arrest, court records show. He remains in jail on a $1,500 cash or surety bond."

Pierre Parent heads for a Belleville Police cruiser Tuesday, July 3, 2012 outside the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Belleville, Ont. He pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the 2010 death of Belleville's Catharine Oliver, 87, his Alcoholics Anonymous sponsor, benefactor and former landlord. Justice Richard Byers sentenced Parent to 11 years in prison, but with credit for pretrial custody he'll spend nine years and two months behind bars.

On a different note, my family and I were going to be spending the holiday visiting family near St. Louis. Practically all fireworks displays have been canceled! This is a major bummer but since the conditions in the midwest have been brutal in terms of drought and fires, I can understand the reasoning. It's a shame for all those that have been suffering through the worst of it.

The following is a two page letter written by Bill W. to Dr. Bob, the co-founders of Alcoholics Anonymous.

Dated 1941, the same year that the Alcoholic Foundation (now the GSO) was practically bankrupt, Bill admits to Dr. Bob that he has been using funds from AA for his personal living expenses. Note that hundreds of dollars in the 1940’s is equivalent to thousands of dollars today (2012).

"The seriousness of the psychiatric and social problem represented by addiction to alcohol is generally underestimated by those not immediately familiar with the tragedies in the families of victims or the resistance addicts offer to any effective treatment. Many psychiatrists regard addiction to alcohol as having a more pessimistic prognosis than schizophrenia.

Press Release:
New Faith-Based Treatment for Alcoholism