Robin Williams’ death by suicide has caused an outpouring of love from the public. He brought laughter to the world as a comedian and he will be greatly missed. How could this man who made us laugh be so unhappy that he would take his life? Ninety percent of all people who die by suicide […]
Every now and then we hear on the news of mothers who kill their newborn children. This is a tragedy that most people find especially abhorrent. How can a mother kill her own baby? This counters our assumptions of maternal instincts. So how do things turn so horribly wrong? Postpartum depression is a type of […]
I have a confession to make. I spanked my niece. She had been misbehaving so badly during lunch that I gave her a swat on the behind and put her to bed. When I checked on her later, she was sound asleep. In fact, she had immediately fallen asleep when her head hit the pillow, […]
Sometimes we need a friend to redeem us. If we’ve made a mistake, let our dark side show, we can be paralyzed by humiliation. Our closest friends love us in spite of ourselves. Jerry Seinfeld has a web show “Comedians in Cars having Coffee.” You can find it on Crackle. Each show is an interview […]
You may have watched the TV show, Man V. Food, on the Travel Channel. Adam Richman was the host of the show in which he was challenged to eat enormous portions of food at various restaurants across the country. As you might expect, he was not a thin man. He was set to host a […]
I read an article by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar entitled Collective Wisdom in which he made a good point. He quoted Duck Dynasty’s Phil Robertson who said that African Americans were happy in the era before civil rights. Mr. Robertson said “I never, with my eyes, saw the mistreatment of any black person.” Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s point of […]
The oldest man in the world died on Sunday, June 8 in Manhattan. Alexander Imich was 111 years old. But he was not the oldest person to live. There are 67 women who remain living who are older than he. A 116-year-old Japanese woman, Misao Okawa, is the world’s oldest living person. The world’s oldest […]
I was surprised to learn that gambling revenues are greater than revenues of film and recorded music and cruise ships and sports and live entertainment. I heard Jon Grant, MD, speak at the 20th Annual Summer Institute on Addictions. He is a Professor of Psychiatry & Behavioral Neuroscience and is the author of ten books […]
I attended the Haymarket Center’s 20th Annual Summer Institute on Addiction last week. One of the keynote speakers was Delbert Boone, an engaging presenter, who specializes in addiction and criminal justice. He began by saying that the number one cause of crime is addiction. The number one cause of domestic violence is addiction. The number […]
In a recent CNN news article, a student reported that her substitute teacher taped her mouth shut, as well as other students. “We were talking too much.” The tape was so wide that breathing was difficult, causing fear in the young girl. Her father contacted her regular teacher, who contacted the school vice-principal. They notified […]