Category Archives: Alcoholism

Conrad Black’s Richard M. Nixon: A Life in Full 29

On page 912 of Richard M. Nixon: A Life in Full, Conrad Black calls Nixon “This most suspicious, morose, generally joyless of men…”  I thought about this characterization as I was reading Don Fulsom’s anti-Nixon book, Nixon’s Darkest Secrets.  Fulsom … Continue reading

Posted in Alcoholism, Life, Social Skills | Comments Off on Conrad Black’s Richard M. Nixon: A Life in Full 29

Leaders 3

A theme that came up more than once in my latest reading of Richard Nixon’s Leaders was alcohol.  Here are some stories that Nixon tells: —-Page 143: “[German leader Konrad Adenauer] had other weapons besides the cold steel of logic, … Continue reading

Posted in Alcoholism, Asperger's, Autism, Church, Family, Life, Politics, Prayer, Religion, Social Skills, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Television, West Wing | Comments Off on Leaders 3

Ambrose’s Nixon: Ruin and Recovery 9

I have two items for my blog post today on Stephen Ambrose’s Nixon: Ruin and Recovery, 1973-1990.  Both of them revolve around Nixon’s coping through Watergate. 1.  On page 252, Ambrose gives his opinion about Nixon’s drinking: “Was drinking a … Continue reading

Posted in Alcoholism, Movies | Comments Off on Ambrose’s Nixon: Ruin and Recovery 9

Completing The Different Drum

I finished M. Scott Peck’s The Different Drum: Community Making and Peace. My latest reading had a few paradoxes, even if Peck may not classify them as such.  He wants for groups to be inclusive, even politically, for he states … Continue reading

Posted in Alcoholism, Asperger's, Community, Political Philosophy, Politics, Social Skills | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

A Place Where People Can Be

I started M. Scott Peck’s The Different Drum: Community Making and Peace.  I’d like to use as my starting-point something that Peck says on page 103, as he describes a hypothetical group that has entered into a state of community: … Continue reading

Posted in Alcoholism, Asperger's, Community, Social Skills | Tagged , | Comments Off on A Place Where People Can Be

Continuing the Dialogue

Although I’ve already finished the book, I’d like to talk in today’s post about something in M. Scott Peck’s Further Along the Road Less Traveled: The Unending Journey Toward Spiritual Growth.  Peck has a chapter about Alcoholics Anonymous, which he … Continue reading

Posted in Alcoholism, Asperger's, Religion, Social Skills | Tagged , | Comments Off on Continuing the Dialogue

Spiritual Experiences: Discipline and Quiet

On page 286 of Circle of Life: Traditional Teachings of Native American Elders, James David Audlin talks about attitudes to avoid when one wants to receive a vision: “If we decide in our own minds, ‘I am never going to … Continue reading

Posted in Alcoholism, Buddhism, Church, Greco-Roman, Life, Religion | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Spiritual Experiences: Discipline and Quiet

Ceremony, Structure, and Mindfulness

On pages 211-212 of Circle of Life: Traditional Teachings of Native American Elders, James David Audlin talks about the importance of ceremony: “Among traditional peoples worldwide, the philosophy is, as one Grandmother put it to me: ‘Let everything you do … Continue reading

Posted in Alcoholism, Church, Life, Religion | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Ceremony, Structure, and Mindfulness

Cleansing Others, and the Thankless Job

I have two items for today, both of them related to my daily quiet time in the Book of Numbers: 1.  In Numbers 19, we see the law concerning the red heifer, whose ashes are mixed with water to purify … Continue reading

Posted in Alcoholism, Bible, Daily Quiet Time, Hebrews, Numbers, Preaching, Religion | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Cleansing Others, and the Thankless Job

Blinded by Might 3: Can Legislation Work?

In my latest reading of Blinded by Might: Why the Religious Right Can’t Save America, by Cal Thomas and Ed Dobson, Dobson points to the ineffectiveness of Prohibition as an example of the limits of laws in making the United … Continue reading

Posted in Alcoholism, History, Political Philosophy, Politics, Race, Religion | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Blinded by Might 3: Can Legislation Work?