The Truth About Expensive Rehabs (As I See It...) Addiction is a BIG Business

- Rehabs and Sober Livings are a BUSINESS... And what businesses want are REPEAT CUSTOMERS!

Being an active member of a 12-step program, I see rehab survivors and sober-living residents nearly daily. Most of the people who have come into the program in the last 20-25 years have come from one of these facilities.

However, most of those have come from several of these facilities. . .

Sobriety is the product they are selling, or so they say. Actually, it is relief... from the stress of addiction. And because it is such a toxic cesspool of unnecessary and destructive drama, the public face of being in the treatment business is benevolent. "Angels" among us, really. But are they? Or is that just another myth of the business of treatment?

My anecdotal information is probably similar to the stories you would hear in any big city, from Atlanta, Miami, New York, San Francisco, etc. And the facilities exist in abundance... Especially in Los Angeles and Phoenix, two areas where they sprang up before the onset of regulations and oversight and where the models were often created. Existing locations were grandfathered in with the regulations reflecting what already existed with some modification. In towns like this, the rehab business is contributing heavily to the bottom line, meaning government takes a partnership role, rather than a supervisory role...

So an article that appeared in the Hollywood Reporter 8/8/2013 that pretends to be aghast at the deaths of two people because of alleged lack of oversight and prevention seems so "Unh?" at best.

(Look here for a photo album of celebrities in rehab)

When I got sober in 1978, there were very few facilities that would treat addiction and dependency. The term "dual-diagnosis" was not invented yet. Insurance would not cover addiction - only mental illness; and in those days, it DID cover mental illness! People with addiction problems went to mental institutions and the few places pre-Betty Ford that covered this kind of thing.

I know that - because at the age of 18 I was sent to Del Amo Hospital where I spent a year incarcerated with bonafide lunatics for  my addiction to cocaine. Too bad for me, cocaine was not considered addicting in those days; they just said I was nuts and treated me that way. I was on a locked unit for 10.5 months...

That was the best they could do for me, and fortunately, I was exposed to a 12-step group whose members brought meetings and literature into the hospital. Like so many others, I was loaded within 6 months of leaving the facility. However, it was one of the two psychiatrists I was seeing who recommended that a glass of wine might be helpful for a social lubricant, exhibiting the enormous divide between psychiatric professionals and the addiction problem. For if one drink was too many, a thousand was not enough; I was off and running. It took a few years and several dangerous events but I remembered what I had seen and I returned to the (free) 12-step program when my bottom proved to have a trap door. I have spent my life in it.

As I said, addiction is big business and like any big business, it depends upon repeat business. How better to get that than to provide a cushy environment replete with treats on call, like horse back riding or tennis therapy, massage and meditation, nature hikes and beach volleyball? These rehabs often appear more like Adult Summer Camps than therapeutic environments! Who wouldn't want to check out of life when the heat is on - check into a rehab - and use the excuse, "I'm working on myself" for every perk the place has to offer? Wouldn't that predispose you to do it all over again the next time you got into trouble? Wouldn't anyone want to be a stoner just to get that all over again?

This also speaks to the issue of what to do for the alcoholic or addict who has money. Take the money? Let them keep buying time in 30-day increments? How can a person who can buy his way out ever hope to get sober? That is another dilemma for another blog.

For the record, I did not ride horses or play tennis at Del Amo. I did, however, check out of life, dump my responsibilities and get to spend a year focused on me, my favorite subject. With three squares and a cot, I was pretty comfortable, thanks to daddy's insurance. I got used to the locked doors and the crazies. I learned to deal with institutional living. But I digress.

But the sober living and rehab "fix" is an insidious compromise of good intentions, alchemy and human failings. And apropos of that I don't want to throw the baby out with the bathwater - there are some really good people and places where sobriety does comes first, with compassion and kindness and a healing environment that inspires sobriety. You just have to find them.

Promises, the world-famous hi-end treatment facility in Malibu, has garnered its reputation by being one of the first to promise (no pun intended) luxury facilities - a promise truly delivered. Some other such facilities run by the group are downscale but by no means low-end. Catering to the rich and famous is their business, and in some ways, puts them at risk because of the tendency of the rich to "relapse."(see above, "how does a rich person get sober?") Relapse prevention is a voluntary, post-stay option. For many it is simply not an option, especially if attaining long-term sobriety is not a goal.

There are so many rehabs and sober living homes in West Los Angeles that it is hard to keep up with them. Its so incredibly lucrative! Once a home is leased, certified and active, business is good. In some homes, there are regular pee tests and breathalyzers, depending on the case and payee, but most are relatively unregulated, despite what you think. There are no shortage of drunks and drug addicts. Today's young addicts have a new/old craze - they have resurrected shooting heroin! That and speed. Nice. Bring back the DARE program and Just Say No!

Sober living is post-rehab, and rehab is post-detox. So there are levels of treatment. In the article in the Hollywood Reporter, this hierarchy is referenced. Detox is the first stage when a client begins to dry out from whatever it is that he or she is on. In some cases it is relatively low-key. But when the drugs include alcohol meth, heroin, prescription pain meds and tranqs, cocaine or crack and some other key drugs, detox can be gnarly and absolutely life threatening and would best be handled with medical supervision.

That being said, it is also true that in many cases in my early days in sobriety there were no doctors present when people went through withdrawal. All we had was the ER or an ambulance if things turned bad, but we muddled through it. A drunk would call Central Office downtown and a member would answer. We would get calls anytime of the day or night. It was customary to grab another member and drive out wherever it was and talk to the person about sobriety. We would sit until we could get someone else to come. We called it a 12-step call. They don't do that anymore. We don't need to take that risk today. It is stupid, especially if the client has health insurance that covers it!

Here is the scenario:

Parents come to the rehab with a nineteen year old kid; or a husband comes with his wife of two decades and the mother of his children, or the employer comes with a valuable employee upon whom he depends (think: major star in an upcoming production) and upon whose shoulders rest the livelihood of many people.

Rehab says, "No worries. We will take care of this. We have a great success rate. We know your pain. We deal with this all the time. We will treat your person with total discretion and hands-on individualized care."

In some cases, say the teenager - they even throw in, "No amount of money will ever replace your son's life."So they mortgage the house. Really.

More and more, large corporations are taking over these facilities with the full understanding that they are business. They are run with a strict profit motive and a business model to pay dividends to their investors, often doctors and people who lend their names and reputations to provide leverage in the game of recommendations.

Recommendations are everything in this business when a vulnerable family with a crisis individual presents itself. Time is crucial - the person is in a one-week detox and afterward, released to the same situation that got them there in the first place. Best to place them in treatment directly from detox. They rush to a solution in the throws of the drama, hoping that their medical professionals will be able to steer them to the right facility for their loved one. It is a devastatingly vulnerable moment. It is about available beds, cost, insurance coverage or price, performance history, desperation, love and hope.

Rehabs themselves are so fallible! They are run by humans. But Sober Living is most vulnerable to human errors.

Rehabs are subject to much oversight. The best of them, such as Betty Ford and Hazeldon, are run by highly competent individuals who are versed in decades of experience in treatment. But cost does not make it better or worse, as many of the lower end treatment facilities are extremely experienced in the business of rehab - but on a scrappier level. Their clients get deloused when they arrive. It is not a resting place for the super-entitled unless - they are court-ordered.

Robert Downey, Jr. is my hero. A died-in-the-wool addict/alcoholic, his addiction took him to prison, nearly got him banned from Hollywood, drove him to the depths of insanity and desperation and eventually ended up in the the most arduous of low-end facilities, the California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility State Prison. He got it. He got sober. But he still had a long, hard climb back up. His success is based on being the person who was always in there under a haze of substances - and the good fortune of having people who believed in him put it on the line for him so he could start over.

More about this human factor in rehabs:

I cannot name names or quote specific people without giving up their anonymity, a critical piece in the puzzle of sobriety, but there are many instances of inappropriate behavior in rehab staff and management.

Part of the problem (or not) is that often, stripped of their former profession, many emerge from treatment gung-ho for bear. On fire about the joys of sobriety and bridges to their old lives burned,  they are infected with the need to spread the word. It is the most natural thing in the world to want to invest in what has saved your life. They get credentials or just get jobs in the industry (and sobriety IS an industry!) And if they have the means, they begin their own sober living facility.

However, being members of the sober community we all suffer some basic, common personality quirks. For example, we are selfish and self-seeking; we minimize and deny our faults; we self-aggrandize; we are self-righteous. Given the power of being the head of a sober living where one is treated to courts' deference and recommended by health professionals to manage people's lives- can be a heady atmosphere.

Once in the throws of believing one's own PR, it is only a matter of time before the bottom will drop out. If we forget that we are all alcoholics among alcoholics, addicts among addicts and that the same rules still apply - we lose perspective. Unfortunately it can also mean loss of sobriety or even another bad behavior cropping up in place of drugs and alcohol - ie., sex addiction, spending, gambling - the list goes on.

(Here I would like to define addiction as this: "A behavior or substance that temporarily relieves anxiety so that when it wears off, the addict will do anything to get again.")

Too often, falling off the wagon for these people threatens to be a public experience and a black eye on sober programs, the profession and the person. Finger-pointing and blame do nothing to relieve the public perception of failure. It is bad for the whole community of rehabs and 12-step programs.

The President's New Gun Laws - The Devil in the Details

The World was shocked by the violence at Sandy Hook. Every parent cried for those parents. Every one of us hugged our children and thanked God for their lives. Every one of us grieved. 

But once again, we, as a nation, willingly give up our freedoms to be part of a nanny state that believes that the government has our best interest at heart. Do we really believe that? Look at their track record!

Perhaps the best legislation would be to make any crime committed with a gun a federal crime. period. Put them in a federal penitentiary if there is a gun. That is a deterrent.

Once more I am aghast at the little bitty details: like Number 2 on this list - another infringement on our privacy, another one of those bits of legislation that over-reaches into the MEDICINE - and makes DOCTORS into LAW ENFORCEMENT officials! Really? why? How does that help my MEDICAL CARE???

Number 3 - "IMPROVE INCENTIVES" is what happens with schools. We will give you federal dollars if you do xxx. And then what happens? Schools, nationwide, stink. No one gets educated. Many federal dollars since the Carter Administration made the Federal Department of Education - and nothing has improved. It has become a behemoth for spending and regulation, a vehicle to empower the teachers unions, and a tool for propaganda for the Democratic party.

How about this one:  "Launch a national safe and responsible gun ownership campaign."

The NRA has been doing that for decades, right? Now it will be administered by the Federal Government, a whole new bureaucracy, a federally legislated and controlled gun-ownership bureaucracy that will take notes, track you down, put chips in you, mark you - because they don't want any stupid upstart citizens with guns to get out of hand. Only criminals can do that! 

Another good one: 

"14. Issue a Presidential Memorandum directing the Centers for Disease Control to research the causes and prevention of gun violence." WTF? Is using a gun a disease? Is it a disease when a subsistance hunter goes out to shoot the elk and deer he puts in his freezer to feed his family through the winter? Oh. I forgot. You live in New York DC LA... You wouldn't know about those guys, nor would you care. 

WHAT THE HELL? THE CDC CAN'T HANDLE THE FLU! Now they are an arm of the ATF? Really?

And this:

20. Release a letter to state health officials clarifying the scope of mental health services that Medicaid plans must cover.

21. Finalize regulations clarifying essential health benefits and parity requirements within ACA exchanges.

22. Commit to finalizing mental health parity regulations. 

OBAMACARE has made a joke of any mental health system that was left. Take a pill. That is the prescription. Pills did not help the Sandy Hook people. His mom was trying to commit him; she was hindered by the state with laws that prevented her from being able to slap a conservatorship on a kid she knew was out of control. She had to go through government channels. And the state legislature struck down laws that would have made it easier for her to do that one month before the massacre. 

Sometimes, people with mental health issues are a danger to themselves and others. Period. Compassion for the patient has to be weighted against the safety of the public and the harm S/he can do to him/herself. 

The following is a list, provided by the White House, of executive actions President Obama plans to take to address gun violence.

1. Issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal agencies to make relevant data available to the federal background check system.

2. Address unnecessary legal barriers, particularly relating to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, that may prevent states from making information available to the background check system.

3. Improve incentives for states to share information with the background check system.

4. Direct the Attorney General to review categories of individuals prohibited from having a gun to make sure dangerous people are not slipping through the cracks.

5. Propose rulemaking to give law enforcement the ability to run a full background check on an individual before returning a seized gun.

6. Publish a letter from ATF to federally licensed gun dealers providing guidance on how to run background checks for private sellers.

7. Launch a national safe and responsible gun ownership campaign.

8. Review safety standards for gun locks and gun safes (Consumer Product Safety Commission).

9. Issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal law enforcement to trace guns recovered in criminal investigations.

10. Release a DOJ report analyzing information on lost and stolen guns and make it widely available to law enforcement.

11. Nominate an ATF director.

12. Provide law enforcement, first responders, and school officials with proper training for active shooter situations.

13. Maximize enforcement efforts to prevent gun violence and prosecute gun crime.

14. Issue a Presidential Memorandum directing the Centers for Disease Control to research the causes and prevention of gun violence.

15. Direct the Attorney General to issue a report on the availability and most effective use of new gun safety technologies and challenge the private sector to develop innovative technologies.

16. Clarify that the Affordable Care Act does not prohibit doctors asking their patients about guns in their homes.

17. Release a letter to health care providers clarifying that no federal law prohibits them from reporting threats of violence to law enforcement authorities.

18. Provide incentives for schools to hire school resource officers.

19. Develop model emergency response plans for schools, houses of worship and institutions of higher education.

20. Release a letter to state health officials clarifying the scope of mental health services that Medicaid plans must cover.

21. Finalize regulations clarifying essential health benefits and parity requirements within ACA exchanges.

22. Commit to finalizing mental health parity regulations.

23. Launch a national dialogue led by Secretaries Sebelius and Duncan on mental health.

WTF? Who is Jill Kelley and Why Did This Happen?

WHO DO THEY THINK THEY ARE?

Here we have it, the true seedy side of perverted privilege, a side affect of being the Beautiful People, where the rules don't apply to you. Or do they?

Up until a week ago, General George Patraeus was an exalted bureaucrat and a puppet of the Obama administration, heading the CIA. As a general he served with distinction and achieved the highest honors. And as a politician, as all generals are, his ambitions had taken him to the head of the nation's most important clandestine service.

But who is Jill Kelley? and -

Who is Paula Broadwell?

They are that kind of women: beautiful, sexy and ambitious. . . And they knew how to use their assets to ensnare the most powerful men they could find and leverage their relationships.

Paula Broadwell had no prior experience writing biographies. And Kelley had no business having breakfast at the White House, being "Honorary Consulate General to South Korea" and brokering deals for coal in Korea!

And what is the link to Benghazi?  Charles Krauthammer says the link is that Patraeus thought that if he towed the White House line on the video being the cause of the spontaneous riot that killed Ambassador Stevens and three others - he could keep his job?

And what of the President's defense of Rice? In yesterday's rather unsatisfying and brief press conference, the president was furious at the notion that Rice knowingly lied to the public when she went on FIVE different Sunday news shows to tell this fiction. While spitting in anger, he stumbled over his response and stated plainly that HE was the guy who told her to go out there and tell lies.

Whatever the case, as the days go by it gets worse.

Today's headlines reflect the true unemployment figures, revised upwards, including especially Ohio and New Jersey.

What else has been hidden until after the election? Geesh... What a seedy mess! This is disgusting!

For those of you who voted for this guy, I commend you. You will get what you wanted. We will all pay higher taxes, struggle for jobs, succumb to obamacare, be subjected to the realities of a smaller, stupider military (and maybe even a John Kerry Secretary of Defense!), a shrinking economy, burgeoning deficits and who knows? The affects will continue long after we are all dead and gone.

But we live in a world where entitlement is the rule, rather than the exception. A whole generation of Americans is graduating from  high school, college and graduate school anticipating welfare and unemployment, without shame. This generation feels entitled to receive such "benefits," despite the fact that people like you and me are paying for it. And our ranks are shrinking. In addition, we have a whole nation of state, federal and local employees who are overpaid and pensioned; union workers; and teachers unions that we, the taxpayers are indebted to - for pensions and health care that we didn't bargain for. The politicians did it and that is how they keep getting elected. 

A nation that is dependent on the government for all their basic needs, from medical care to food stamps - is a nation that is doomed. It is entirely unsustainable. But with such a deficit, and so few of us footing the bill anymore, it will have to fail before we see what we gave up.

Raw Video: Watch President Obama's Al Smith dinner s... - YouTube

Raw Video: Watch President Obama's Al Smith dinner s... - YouTube: ""

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Mitt Romney Jokes and One Liners at Al Smith dinner with President Barack Obama - YouTube

Mitt Romney Jokes and One Liners at Al Smith dinner with President Barack Obama - YouTube: ""

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Townhall Debate Results

I'm not a pundit, and I have not listened to the post-debate news, but I have an opinion.
I sat in a mixed public audience at the Hammer Museum in West Los Angeles. I heard the mostly liberal audience applaud politely when they thought Obama scored and one woman, with a big mouth, who vocally chastised Romney whenever she felt he was wrong.
Otherwise, it was myself and my two friends, being extra-polite and keeping our mouths shut.
And I saw the CNN audience reaction graph. (see Luntz Focus Group results here)

So, here is what I saw:

Obama and Romney ran a close tie. Again, like the election, this is a close race.

A tie favors Obama. All he had to do was better his last performance.

BOTH candidates looked presidential.

When they got into it, I watched the CNN audience response slide into the negatives. Bantering is a negative. Politeness is a positive. So when anyone held back from comments, they won points with that undecided audience, especially among those women, who are the main target audience.

Obama did not hold back. He attacked Romney with claims that Romney was telling falsehoods. Each time he did, which was EVERY time he spoke, he went into the negative territory with women.

Obama and Romney had one job last night. It was simple. Convince undecided voters to cast their vote for that candidate. Obama failed. He once again, spoke ONLY to his base.

LIBYA

That, in a nutshell, will be the takeaway from this debate. The rest is blah, blah, blah.

Crowley handed it to Obama. "Didn't Secretary Clinton take full responsibility for that?" The moderator fed the president an "out" from the seriousness of this situation.

The President stood up with self-righteous anger, claiming that he was "friends" with the whole diplomatic corps. Sure he is! Those were his plumbs, handed out for good fund raising in the election four years ago. AND HE GOT HIS TOP FUNDRAISER KILLED!

It was the ONLY time I have EVER seen Mr. Obama register that deep-seated, self-righteous anger that is born of a conviction. The conviction, however, is based on his lie- that he did "all he could" to insure their safety. No way he did.

Self-righteous anger is the worst kind to reason with. There is a basis in truth, but it is smeared with a big story to build it into a wall of lies. And here we are again...

The WH is involved in a controversy of lies. This is about a coverup. It has progressed now to a coverup of a coverup. The WH and POTUS are trying to tell us that they didn't tell us what they told us.

The state department turned him down when he asked for security. They ignored 9/11. They blamed a video and threw that man in jail!

But the Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton and the President of the United States, Barak Obama, went out and taped advertisements to run in foreign countries to apologize for a video that had NOTHING TO DO WITH LIBYA! Obama spoke to the United Nations and APOLOGIZED over and over again to the world about a video that had nothing to do with the attack!

They went out there to bolster up their lie. And we all know it. We saw it. You cannot tell a lie over and over and make it anything more than a lie. Especially when four people are dead!

Watergate, Whitewatergate and Benghazigate

The biggest difference in all these scandals here is that in Benghazi people were killed and their families want answers. So do the American people. "Dead" is a permanent condition.

It is only a matter of time before the videos from those terrorists start to surface. The Ambassador was dragged through the streets, tortured and sodomized by foreign objects. You and I know that there are videos of those savages performing that torture on this man. Its only a matter of time before those iPhone pics come out.

Results of the Debate?

All I can say is that the President may have won on points. He may have won because a tie is all he needed. But he opened the door to hell with Benghazi and Crowley, in her efforts to aid him, only gave leverage to the concerns of Americans across the country. He lied, people died. 

Next week, the debate is on foreign affairs. Whoooa! With his history with Netenyahu and Israel, and this scandal in Benghazi, I would not want to be him.

What I predict is that he will say he is winning the war on terrorism and act superior to Mitt because he knows so much more. It won't fly. He will say he killed OBL. So? Got out of Iraq. So? Drawdown in Afghanistan. So?

Can he say that America is more well-loved across the world because he is in office? No. He said that would happen, but he may be liked by other countries, but he is not respected by our enemies. I almost expect him to say, "Give me that flexibility and I will show you!" The flexibility he said he would have AFTER the election into a hot mike in Russia. . .

And this is where the rubber meets the road on Benghazi. We shall see.

Obama And Romney Lawyers Protest Debate Moderator Candy Crowley Expressed Intention To Violate Contract « Pat Dollard

Obama And Romney Lawyers Protest Debate Moderator Candy Crowley Expressed Intention To Violate Contract « Pat Dollard:

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Candy Crowley believes that the debate is about her; I'd be willing to bet that she also thinks it is her job to rescue her candidate (President Obama) from himself. After all, the poor guy is going to be absent a TelePrompTer.

The President has demonstrated that he suffers from a fatal dose of ego; that is, hubris, the stuff of Greek tragedies. The mighty fall prey to themselves through hubris...
And the President has taken a few days off his campaigning to study debating - but if a man is not teachable, a man cannot be taught. To be teachable, one has to recognize that they do not themselves, have all the information.

THAT, my dear friends, is going to be a challenge for this guy.

Imagine being the Obama debate coaching team! What a f-g nightmare!

Everyone knows working with entitlement junkies is a disaster. I cannot think of anyone who seems to be more entitled except maybe, Lindsay Lohan.

Anyhow, I am keeping my eyes on the moderator. Looks like both these guys are afraid she is going to color out of the lines!

UPDATE: Crowley did rescue Obama. Lead-in on Libya and cutting off Romney; giving him more time; insulting Romney's intelligence

What is in a debate?

Under normal circumstances few Americans watch the presidential circus. They just vote - or mostly, they do NOT vote. Few are involved, passionate or even interested enough to show up at the polls. But the first presidential debate drew over 67 million viewers and the Vice Presidential debate drew over 51 million. Why?

Hope or/and Change

Because this election year we are looking at a clear distinction in governing styles between Romney/Ryan and Obama/Biden. And because the electorate is about as unhappy and unconvinced as it can be that governance is anything more than spending our tax dollars on getting more votes with callous disregard for the consequences to hard-working Americans.

People were looking for Hope - the one thing they thought that Obama represented four years ago. That being said, he still has that icon around his neck, and for many, it will continue to ring. But for the disillusioned, the under or unemployed, those who have lost their homes or are in foreclosure, people who have seen their net worth drop by a quarter - many think this is the "new norm." Some - among the undecided, uninvolved and undeclared - are looking for a reason to hope. They watch the debates with an eye to the future, what's in it for me? or what's in it for my children? Do we see a road ahead with failed schools, poorly performing educators, bigger classrooms, shrunken Universities? Do we continue to see lawmakers vote state workers and themselves higher pay and benefits? Do we see more corporate handouts that fund unions and bosses, banks and Wall Street, with funds that end up in the pockets of CEOs and Union Leaders and leave the worker's in the hole? Do we continue to struggle in the maize of insurance companies, a situation that has gone from the best in the world to the most broken, with more people uninsured and health care more out reach than ever? What about the failed foreign policy that berates our ally Israel and elevates Muslims, who so viciously attacked us on 9/11 here and now, abroad? What of the endless lies and cover-ups - is the truth ever going to come?

And worse, what about this uncivil partisanship that rips the country apart, making whole areas of industry, states and cities where people cannot even state their political preference without facing political blacklisting? What happened to an open mind, civil discourse and compromise?

These Debates

What we hear in the press is that Romney won Round One. He was strong, persistent and totally unfazed by the President. His interruptions were polite but still, interruptions.

Biden came back and used that tactic with a vengeance! He never let Ryan get a full thought out and he had the help of the moderator, who also ripped on Ryan. Ryan did extremely well for two-on-one! BUT - he lost.

Both said a lot of things that the fact-checkers are not buying. Do Americans care? Not really. Only us political junkies rip apart the details of budget, medicare or Benghazi.

What matters most is how people PERCEIVE things - and how did they perceive the debate? Women who are not "true believers" (meaning, affiliated with a political party) by and large turned it off. Yelling and interrupting and rolling eyes and inappropriate laughter do NOT play well with people. It looks like bullying - because it is. Old Joe was establishing his Old Joe-ness credentials. He did well and he established that he is an old, mad, entrenched politician who thinks he DESERVES to be Vice President - and that this business of getting ELECTED- is just a waste of his time!

So, why did they watch in such large numbers?

I do not believe that it is because Americans are happy with the current administration and the direction that the country is going in. They are not. They are trying to find some minuscule reason to vote for either one or the other candidate in the hope that somehow, something will change.

What did this accomplish?

I do not think that many people were swayed either one way or the other, but it won't take a lot. I believe that Scott Rasmussen is correct. The famous pollster says that it is a "begrudging" switch, from one to the other in a close race - that made this so-called 'surge' for Mitt Romney.

The fact that I support Mitt Romney and that I have worked hard this year in many capacities does not make him the winner just coz they said it was so, so many times. Mitt Romney does NOT have a secure lead, and the race is still breathtakingly close.

Given that there are two debates still to go - I believe that they may indeed, this time, sway voters. Like the famous Nixon/Kennedy debate in 1960, this may be the most important thing.

The Libya Factor

The death of our Ambassador and three other Americans in the terrorist attack on the Embassy in Benghazi is really getting headway. Will it make a difference? Its possible. During the Nixon/McGovern campaign, Nixon won EVEN THOUGH WATERGATE WAS HAPPENING!
It was still small, but as a kid in High School growing up - I was using the issue of the missing minutes in the tape in speech tournaments the year before the November election. I worked for McGovern; I went door-to-door canvassing for him. People slammed the door in my 14-year-old face stating that Nixon was not guilty. He resigned a year later after being reelected in a landslide.

Maybe there are no parallels because we have the New Media vs. Old Media. Unfortunately, I think the New Media is not trusted by the majority and unless it is endorsed by the MSM, no one is listening.

And worse, there has to be tweeted, 5-second soundbyte to reach people. No one READS the paper, except old guys (like me); and most of us do not wait to watch the evening news.

October Surprises

In a tight race like this, October surprises are common things. I'm sure the Administration and its surrogate Super Pacs are doing their damnedest to find something that will stick to Romney-Ryan. And I know the same is true of the GOP ticket. I remember when Bruce Herschensohn ran against California State Senator Barbara Boxer, a woman who should never be allowed to speak or hold public office - The race was so close - and an operative accused Herschensohn of frequenting strip clubs. He lost. That's all it took. And of course, GOP candidates are held to higher standards. Who cares if someone goes to a strip club? The inflamed electorate, after the press gets to them. The candidate had made one visit on a double date with his girlfriend because the other couple had insisted. The other couple was working for Boxer... And they took pictures.

This election is going to be fraught with overtones of election fraud in every area, be it 'same-day registration," online registration, voter ID requirements - Its going to be horrendous. I have joined the Election Integrity Project to poll watch and to do the hard work of validating ballots after the election. I know I will be slammed by the press for it, but I don't care. This is the most precious privilege of a Democratic society, and I aim to protect it.

Contrary to the media-induced fog, the truth is that most fraud occurs in Democratic-controlled districts, and represents entrenched political interests, be it he Rainbow Coalition, ACORN or La Raza. Anyone who has read Saul Alinsky's Rules for Radicals understands how this is done and why there is such a full-court press against anyone who is a whistleblower. Think "Lance Armstrong doping scandal," and you will see what we are up against. Entrenched political machines and entrenched politicians that "own" whole districts...

Conclusions

What will happen? Don't get complacent. Keep moving it forward, because this is a nail biter. Which

Think the fourth quarter of a tight football game. USC vs. Notre Dame. Its 21-21 and Notre Dame has the ball. They fumble. USC gets it on the 40 yard line. Are they gonna run it or kick it? They run it. Third down. One yard to go, they fumble. Here we are.

US Ambassador to Libya killed - live - Telegraph

US Ambassador to Libya killed - live - Telegraph

In this article there is a timeline for the attack and the subsequent failure of both the administration and the Romney detail to adequately respond to a situation that is no longer smoldering. It has been smoldering far too long. It is now fully ablaze.

As the days stretch forward during an election that is heated and as close as it can get - it remains to be seen what the current administration can do to stop another debacle, such as that seen during the Carter administration.

Carter had only one country to deal with - Iran - and he did so poorly, leading to fall of the Shah, the rise of Khomeini, the exodus of Iranian Jews, the rise of Islamic extremism and the deaths of thousands. To this day Iran lives under the religious control of Islamists, leading the rest of the Middle East to the same.

What has happened in Libya, Egypt Tunisia, Yemen and countries across the Middle East is no less than terrifying. As an American, a Catholic, a woman, and a person of Jewish extraction, I am fearful.

It should be noted that this is from a UK journal, that the reporting is decidedly Pro-Obama; the most common position of the British press.

I wait to see what will happen with baited breath. I fear not strength, but weakness.

For More Information
The other side of the argument
And this Eyewitness account

Why Are People Mean?

Meanness is abundant.

It lives in the car at the intersection, the checkout line at the grocery, the cop on the beat.
It lives under burkhas and in churches, in alleyways and mansions.

But meanness is a peculiarly human institution. Dogs are not mean, unless they are mistreated by humans. The animal world is not unkind to itself. They do not take potshots at other individuals just for fun. They don't have egos. They don't hold grudges. They don't kill for sport.

Fidel Lopez endured unbearable cruelty at the hands of his attackers at the flashpoint at Florence and Normandy during the LA Riots of 1992. He has lived a subdued life, without bitterness; but his life was irrevocably altered, from promising, to difficult. He has suffered the after-affects and his family have born the years of desperation and recuperation that resulted from their losses.

Rev. Bennie Newton, saved his life. Holding a Bible aloft, he warned rioters: "Kill him, and you have to kill me too."

Another story that caught my attention today, the same day, was a brief about a woman who was starved, beaten and tortured in Afghanistan AT THE AGE OF 15 - so that her in-laws could force their new daughter-in-law into prostitution. The girl had her nails pulled out, among other things, before she was finally rescued.

Afghan child bride Sahar Gul, 15; mutilated for refusing prostitution and rescued from a toilet-prison.

And lastly, there is the story about Junior Seau, a man who is close to my heart because at one time, my deceased husband helped finance his football scholarship at USC... Seau is remembered as kind, generous and warm-hearted to a fault. What happened to him?

Cruelty exists and is tolerated, even encouraged by governments.

For the last seven months, at the end of each day, and first thing in the morning, I pray to be kind today. It is the hardest thing I have ever done, and the best.

May we all be kind to one another today.

Thoughts On Taxes, Health Care and the Politics of Dependence

First, the Presidential Election.
How in the world can there be a virtual tie in this race?
The country is in the can. No one is hiring. People are becoming wards of the state, claiming unemployment insurance, disability, food stamps, section 8 housing - in droves. Our national debt exceeds our current GDP! How can that happen? Welfare spending is up 41% under Obama!
Where is America? Who are we? Are we dependents for life? Are we a people who give up hope and turn in our independence for a shekel? When did that happen?
How do we get past this and create jobs? Do we continue to expand the government? Is the government the only acceptable employer anymore? I think that is BS!

The president gave a speech yesterday in which he said congress should only extend the Bush-era tax cuts to those who earned under $250,000. Excuse me, but aren't those so-called "wealthy" the people who will hire Americans and put them back to work? We need to lower taxes, provide incentives for hiring and free up businesses from all this tax and regulation so we can get people back to work!
Lose the taxes, baby!
Give incentives!
Freedom from all these burdens would ease businesses back into business!
What is wrong with this picture? If I could afford more gas, I would drive more, but taxes are too high.
And if employers are penalized for hiring - ie, have to pay taxes and fees; if they are penalized for being successful in business and therefore earning more, and forced to pay higher taxes; if employees cost more to hire, ie. healthcare and payroll taxes, regulations and entitlements, liability and other compliance issues - why would anyone who is in business to make money hire?
And let me add this:
There is no reason to hire someone who is over 45. Why should they? That person will cost between two and three times more in health care benefits. Their experience is usually not that valuable when compared to the benefit of hiring a young whipper-snapper with social media skills and techno-savvy, au-courent with trending culture - who can do the job, albeit from another perspective that is perhaps, more aligned with the modern young consumer.

Health Care:
How many times have I heard someone tell me they are going for their colonoscopy at the end of the year because they have met their deductible and it is "paid for"?
The price of healthcare goes up when people don't look at the bill and have to pay it themselves out of their own pockets. With medical insurance, a third party pays for it. If it came out of your own pocket, you would be looking for a better deal. You would be searching for quality, cost, service. 
Now - we are all screwed. There is no incentive to provide any of those things. 
What is more, doctors who will have to contract with the self-limiting insurance companies, and deal with non-physician bean-counters who will determine treatment based on cost - will be leaving the business in droves, reported the Doctor Patient Medical Association.

"Nine out of 10 doctors say medicine is on the worng track, most think about quitting and find it hard to practice ethical medicine. They say government's to blame for the mess, but are quick to add neither Congress nor the President - can be trusted to fix things."

These physicians are thinking of quitting. ONLY 5% are happy about Obamacare. 

"The survey includes 699 doctors, 23% Primary Care Providers, 10% General Surgery, 11% Hospital-based specialists and 56% Office-based specialists in active practice across 45 states."

This is real.

What throws me through a loop is this: when did "health care" become synonymous with "health insurance?"

Health insurance is a product that was designed to pool resources against the possibility of a health care crisis. 

It is not meant to be a pool of money out of which consumers and physicians select the benefits they will take advantage of.

In the former case, health care is determined by the doctor in accordance with the needs of the patient.

In the latter, health care is determined by the services that are covered under a specific health care policy. If what you need is not covered, too bad. You don't get it. 

On the other hand, even if you don't need it, what the hell, its covered! So a smart physician or physician's medical group, will own the facility that you will be sent to for lab work, MRI, CT scan, physical therapy, prosthetics, after care, etc. That way, its kept all in the family. So what if you really don't need that physical therapy? It's covered by your insurance! So what if you need another 6 months of physical therapy after your surgery? You are only covered for ten sessions. Too bad.

And what about your 90-year old mother?

She is a poor return on the investment. Give her pain meds to shut her up and be done with it. Forget the fact that she is mentally alert, capable, fun, a part of your life, your children's life, a brilliant artist and scholar who contributed so much to society -

She is still a bad return on the investment. Her insurance, Medicare, doesn't cover that procedure. Too bad.

But she can have all the pain meds she wants!

One provision of the new PPACA is reporting and measuring. Anyone who has been involved with the health care system in a critical way, when someone had a catastrophic illness, knows that this "measuring" is arbitrary, inhumane and horrendous.

These metrics are standards that set precedents for levels of care. For example, is the patient ambulatory? continent? able to administer their own medications? cognizant of the date and time?

These metrics determine a patient's coverage; as they are met, treatment is revised. From the outside looking in, it may sound like a good idea. But when you are in it, with a patient in critical need of care, it is highly insufficient. 

When the patient is deemed to have met certain standards according to the authority, usually not a physician, they can get kicked out of a facility and returned to the home to be cared for by family members. These are usually people in the home who must work and maintain a household without help for their loved one. They change diapers, help the patient to the bathroom, feed and care for a loved one who is in need of in-patient care that is not covered by their policy. 

In one example, what if a person is suffering from a brain injury, something that is more and more common as the veterans return. Their behavior may be unpredictable; they may have holes in their cognition that are hard to recognize until faced with a specific situation; continued therapy may afford these patients greater resolution of their problems, but it is not available to them.

That the patient would indeed, benefit from continued treatment on a staid course - has no bearing on the decision by the insurance company. 

In our current system, this is indeed the case. It is a problem that will only become worse. 

May I also say this: 

An article today in the Wall Street Journal, The Crushing Cost of Health Care reports once again, that the bulk of medical costs go to a very small percentage of ill patients.

A goodly percentage of health care costs are wracked up by lifestyle choices - including overeating, drug and alcohol use, risky sports and jobs, sitting on the couch watching tv and eating chips and dip while you smoke and drink beer -

Should someone who is conscientious about the maintenance of their health have to go into a pool with people who risk their health on lifestyle choices? Shouldn't we be allowed or afforded the opportunity to opt out and pay for our own health care out of pocket if we want to? Could people be afforded the opportunity to join a collective for catastrophic care only - such as broken bones and ER visits, and catastrophic illnesses? 

Living a healthy lifestyle, exercising and eating well, refraining from habits that are known to cause illness - should allow a person to opt out. This bill provides no incentive for taking responsibility for oneself. It favors the person who opts to take a pill to diet, to control cholesterol, to fight depression, to control heart disease - and taxes the person who uses health providers sparingly because that person prefers to take responsibility for their well-being. It also removes the freedom of the health care savings plans that afford the opportunity for people to spend their dollars where they think the money is best spent, on alternative medicine, such as acupuncture or massage, on therapy or a gym. Instead, it encourages the "take a pill" mentality. Take a pain pill, take an anti-depressant, take a diet pill - 

We saw this coming when we fought off Hillarycare in the Clinton administration. There is a historic link between Big Pharma and the Democratic party that continues in the Obama administration. See this article in the HuffPost. And look at how drug costs have skyrocketed!

I don't know if any political party is interested in the actual welfare of the public. No one seems to care about getting America back to work. No one seems to care about this ridiculous approach to "health care" that is really a big pay off to the insurance companies and a huge tax increase on the American public that will force every American to be dependent upon a third party payer for their most basic health needs, no matter what. 

For me, give me Liberty or Give Me Death!

"If I wanted America to FAIL I would prey on the goodness and decency of ordinary Americans. . .  If I wanted America to fail, I suppose I wouldn't change a thing."

L'Affaire Risky

Just look at this beautiful woman!

So. You are a Secret Service detail for the President of the United States, arguably the most important and influential and powerful man on earth. And you want a little nookie. There you are in Cartagena, Colombia and the pre-work is done; all you have left is time on your hands and you can't really leave the area to sightsee or shop. You're holed up in a hotel with American military personell and those guys have discovered that prostitution is legal in Colombia. What is a boy gonna do??

So, maybe it was a security breach... According to Isikoff's article (linked above):

"U.S. officials have described the agents' conduct as a potential security breach especially because all the agents involved had access to the president's day-by-day, minute-by-minute schedule. But one official familiar with the security arrangements said that there were no specific security threats during the president's trip. Although agents upon arrival were briefed about current activities by leftist FARC guerrillas and local drug cartels, they were told neither had made any specific threats to the president."

Bad Boys!

There they were, hanging at the Pley Club, waiting for the boss to show and watching the military guys going at it, hey - 

Must have been fun! What pisses me off - is the stoopido move of being too cheap to pay the girl what she asked for! Two guys is a lot of work! They actually took advantage of her services and tried to split it like a friggin meal at a restaurant! You know she had to work twice as hard! What were they thinking?







SHAME on the Secret Service! Don't they have any manners? These guys had no integrity. They got what they deserved!

He's Sexy and HE KNOWS IT! I love a POTUS with a sense of humor - BUT - I don't think he made this video.
Have fun! Check it out!

Angels - a Doggie Photo Album

My Golden Retrievers

My dogs are really Angels.
Recently, a friend called me in grief. Her Labrador, Jake, is ill with terminal cancer. He is nearing the end. It struck such a cord with me.

Why, I wonder, do people have to outlive their dogs?
Amidst the sadness, however, it is the joy they bring to our lives that we must celebrate to honor their spirits. There is nothing like a dog.

Marcus and Eliza, 1983

MARCUS
Marcus was my first Golden Retriever. This is Marcus with my daughter Eliza when she was a wee one, probably around a year old. He was remarkable. A gentleman, Marcus would have been Topper if he were a man; a top hat, a cane, spats, bow tie, tails - a martini and a cigar to complete the picture. That was Marcus. He was with us from 1981 to 1993. . .  we got him in Lake Tahoe, during the winter. Our neighbors had a Samoyed; Snowball. Snowball taught him the ropes - how to dig a hole into the snow for warmth, how to pee outside . . . As the snow melted, he was frantic, looking for a patch to pee. He finally figured it out, but it was cute.

My stepson, Darin, Bill and Baby Marcus, ca. 1981

We moved from Lake Tahoe to Hawaii and he did four months in the Joint (quarantine). He owned Kailua Beach. We ran every morning and he knew everyone. He was beautiful.
We returned to the mainland, Malibu, and shortly after that my husband left me for a two-year separation. It was a horrible time. I had been married only five years, with a small child. I felt like a failure. I was too young and too dysfunctional to know a better way to handle my situation. I almost fell apart - but I couldn't. I had to take care of Eliza . . .

So - I ran every day with Marcus, on the trails or on the beach. He guided me to sanity. Eventually my husband and I actually patched it up and stayed married. But it was Marcus who was my rock.

One day, he couldn't walk. His front legs were paralyzed. He had a tumor on his spine that had been undetected. There was nothing they could do.

When he passed away, I felt like the world had ended.

I searched very hard for my next pups. I knew what I wanted. I read and talked to breeders and show-dog owners. I studied everything I could get my hands on. I never wanted to be without a dog again, specifically, a Golden Retriever. So I got two, and we had puppies; it was joy, pure joy.

CHICO

Chico the Man

Chico and the ball

Chico and his baby girl, Ginger

Chico was a gentle giant. He weighed 115 pounds and moved like a tank. He never, ever growled in his life except in play with JoJo and his puppies. He was the most gentle dog that ever lived. His head was as big as a house, with kind eyes and a polka dot black nose. He smiled all the time. His soft golden fur was my halo. His gentle head would tap me on the back of my calf as I worked about the house or at my desk to let me know he was watching over me. He loved stinky stuff and cat poop, dog parks and ladies. My panties were never safe. He was horrible when JoJo was in heat, directed by an other-worldly instinct that brought out the beast in him. Chico would go crazy. He would prowl around looking for a way to get to her. He would run back and forth across the yard, try to take the door down, crawl through a window, smash his way in - anything. He would jump in the pool to cool off and go traipsing about all wet, dripping around the doors and howling.
He was all man, but a gentle man. He was the man I wished I had in my life. If he had been human I imagine he would be the guy who would have loved football and golf, beer and women. He was my man.

JoJo was so beautiful; she was a Saint.

JoJo jumping in after a ball

The way I will always remember JoJo and Chico

JOJO
JoJo was born on my birthday. She was simply a saint. "Saint" JoJo resurrected my husband when he came home after months and months in the hospital with a brain aneurysm. He had been in a coma for a long time, and partially paralyzed on one side. He was in rehab for months to relearn everything, from feeding himself to speech. He lost all of his hand and eye coordination. JoJo forced him to throw a ball until it hurt, made him walk her, attached herself to his thigh and never left his side. She adopted him as his nurse. She made him her purpose. She knew and understood that he was disabled, and when she went through dog training class with him, she made him look good. She was a star; she passed all her show trials with flying colors, except one -

Bill and I watched as the handler took her through her paces. But when she was recalled from a sit-stay, she ran out of the ring to Bill. Same on the down-stay. That night, Bill had a relapse; his eyes stopped tracking. Abnormal activity in his brain showed another aneurysm was active. He was admitted to UCLA again. She knew. She wanted him to know.

JoJo at attention over a ball

She had five litters, each one perfect. She was an awesome mother. In between births she jumped into the pool. She would throw her own ball in - just so she could retrieve it if she couldn't get someone to do it for her.

She was the most beautiful dog in the world to me.

Puppy pile!

Puppy stand-off

JoJo weaning and her puppies

JoJo with her litter

Puppies

I have often been asked if it was difficult to give up puppies to their new families. Never. I can't think of a more joyful thing.

I know that these dogs ring the same joy to their new home that they have brought me. I have never been disappointed. Everyone who ever had a puppy has been delighted. Their lives have been immeasurably enriched, changed for the better. Each puppy has its own doggy-destiny, to be that dog, in that family, and to give that family love. It is the cycle of life and love repeating itself. I had it, and I was passing it on to a new family, who would gain and give love anew.

I learned by my second shot at it that puppies can begin to learn in the fourth week; by then, I began with the basics.

By the time they went to their new homes, they were socialized and prepared for the fundamentals. I mean, by eight weeks old,  in my puppy classes, we were doing "sit," "down" and some "stay" and "come." Using the parents (Jojo and Chico)  as a resource, the pups would do what mom and dad did. In several cases, for various reasons, some puppies stayed with us longer than the eight weeks; one for four months, one for six, and so on. By the time they went to their new families, they were pretty well trained.

Latte and JoJo

I was in heaven. I loved every minute of puppy-breath.
I became dog-lady. All the kids in the 'hood hung out at my house.
My puppies had a ball.

Chico, Latte and JoJo

LATTE

I finally kept one little girl from the last litter JoJo and Chico had. Latte is the pup on the left, looking boldly, right at the camera. She has such a face! She is the perfect combination of mom and dad, but all her own. She is calm and intelligent, sweet and demonstrative. She loves everyone, leans against people she meets on the street, pushes her way into the hearts of strangers who are in distress. She is a healer; she is intuitive.

Like Chico, she has a blocky head, a short stop (nose) and wide-set eyes. Like her mom, she is full-coated with a vanilla undercoat. She is bulky and gentle, sweet and smart. She has the most amazing way of communicating...

JoJo purred. She taught all of her puppies to purr. When they are happy, they emit a little friendly growl. But in recent years, Latte has taken it a step or two further.

When she is really happy, really content, safe and secure - she talks. I swear. She makes noises in her throat that I am sure sound the same to her as human speech. She intones and converses. I speak, she answers. She even asks questions and makes statements. She always talks when we get in bed. She starts the minute I get under the covers. She is always there first, right where I am going to get in. I have to lift her up to get under her and then, her head rests on my shoulder. She grunts like a bagpipe when I lift her up and then she starts the talking. I imagine she asking me how the day went, telling me she loves me and I know, without a doubt, she is reiterating that bedtime is the best time of the day, when Latte, Chai and I are all together and everything is good.

After Latte was born, my husband and I moved around a bit until he moved to Hawaii. It was Latte, Chico and JoJo and our Australian Shepherd Pesky. I had four dogs and one cat, Whitey. We rented a tiny house in Thousand Oaks. It was a difficult time, but the house was full of love.

JoJo, Chico, Latte and Pesky in the background -
 he always took the back seat.

Latte at 7 months

My dogs motivated me each day, made me walk them, made me take them to the dog park every day. I made friends. I got along and found a path. They guided me. 

In 2004, my daughter graduated from USC. She left right after graduation. I had never felt so alone. Separated from my husband, my daughter gone, thank GOD I had the dogs. 

Latte

On the day after she left, I took Chico with me to do errands. We went to the dog park and he sniffed and peed. We had lunch with a friend. Then I came home and he jumped out of the car. A few minutes later I was feeding the dogs - and he wouldn't eat. 

I knew right away that he was really sick. I lifted him into the car and ran to the emergency vet. 

He died that night. He had a myocardial tumor on his heart that bled out. I was devastated. 

It was so sad. I am still sad about it. 

I fell totally in love

CHAI
A few months later, Eliza handed me a present. It was all wrapped in blue tissue in a blue bag. I opened it up and there was a photo album in it. It was a baby album. I freaked out. It appeared she was trying to tell me something . . .

But it wasn't a baby human; it was Chai, my baby boy. Chai, my baby boy. . . 

Visiting Chai at his breeder

I visited him several times at his breeder, Bob Rados in San Pedro. He was the most adorable little fella ever! I took him two days shy of his eight week. He came to my house a little cutie-boy with a little case of Coxidia when he came home, a common parasite puppies pick up. It made it very hard to crate train him. He couldn't hold it until morning.
So, we took a page from some of the puppy-owners I had. We put him on the bed with me. That way, he would wake me up every time he needed to go. And he did.

What a little cutie. 

To this day, Chai sleeps on my pillow. As a little guy he slept as close to me as he could. He still does, but he weighs 95 lbs. Chai follows my every move. He is a woosy little Momma's boy, and I love him for it. He makes himself as tiny as he can to get as close to me as he can wherever I am. He has a long nose and a long, slender body, the opposite of Latte. He has golden fur and it is straight as can be. He has a huge ruff - a mane - around his handsome face. One day we were walking down the street and a little boy in a stroller pointed at him. "Look mommy! A lion!" That is my boy. Chai is afraid of chihuahuas and small dogs that bark. He loves everyone and every dog, even though they don't love him. But he tries anyhow, and usually, he wins everyone over.

Chai and Latte in my house in Thousand Oaks

Chai sleeps on my pillow at night

When Chai was little, I had a small park across the street from my house. I would take him late at night to play on the climbing structure. He loved to climb and slide down the slide. It was so cute.
I never imagined he would develop a life-long tree-climbing habit, which he has. He climbs trees. They just have to have low-hanging branches and be strong enough to hold him.

Eventually, we all moved over to Hawaii to join my husband and daughter. Every day we went swimming. I shaved the dogs so we didn't have a hassle with the sand and the heat and the long hair. It was so much fun. JoJo was reunited with my husband. She became his mistress once again, and the two of them grew old together. 

Latte, JoJo and Chai in Hawaii

Although Bill was not really "old," his illness made him weak and vulnerable. He suffered from a lot of illnesses. His life was difficult, but he had a remarkable attitude. He never felt sorry for himself. 

Latte and Chai on my bed

(L-R) MyKey (Front), Latte, Chai and Golda at Peets in Brentwood

But our marriage didn't survive and I moved back to the Mainland with Latte and Chai. It kills me that I didn't bring JoJo with me, but she seemed to want to be with Bill. He certainly felt she should stay with him.

I was in no position to argue, being absolutely broke, so I took my two with me and here we are.

JoJo passed away two years ago in April. She was 13. I think she knew that Bill was terminally ill. He died last January. She had done her job well.

TODAY
I live in Brentwood, a suburb of Los Angeles, California. We share a condo with my 90-year-old mom. Latte is no longer a pup. She is slowing down. But she is a happy old girl, and she lives a good doggie life with me. I walk my dogs four times a day, at least, and over the last five years I have come to know my neighborhood very well. We run into our neighbors every time we walk.

In the morning I wake up with some really happy dogs, anxious to get a bite to eat and go for a walk. And its not just any walk - its a walk to Peets, the coffee place on the corner.

Peets means other dogs, like MyKey and Golda (above), or Henry and Mollie. It means treats and pets from all the neighborhood dog lovers and kids. Its incredibly important to my dogs! On days when I have to run early I know they feel ripped off. But what can I do? They are, after all, dogs.

Through this constan motion, this walking every day, I have learned so much. Small dogs cause problems, most of the time, especially when they are on retractable leashes. Some people hate dogs. Everyone has entitlement issues and most people who hate dogs will try to make other people accomodate them through angry intimidation. Nut-cases exist everywhere.

One night, at 1AM, I was walking my dogs off leash and Chai started sniffing in the flowerbed in front of an apartment building. A woman was standing in the entry of the building eating something. She began to freak out, literally, screaming at me at the top of her lungs. "Get the F-g dog out of here! He's killing the flowers! I'm calling the police! Put him on a leash!" Lights came on throughout the building. I didn't say anything, I just gathered my pups and ran. I don't think she was sober. . .

But there are nice people too. And there are great dog owners. I have come to love my neighbors so much. I often know the dogs before the people. One of the most important lessons I have learned is that kindness matters. Tolerance, patience and love win. My dogs give so much love - and it never fails that they get so much in return. Why can't humans be the same?

Latte and Chai posing at the Laurel Canyon Dog Park.