Saw the “Amy” documentary last night. It was about as heartbreaking as you’d expect, given its tragic subject. The thing that struck me the most were a couple of messages Winehouse left on friends’ voicemail. She was a good friend, or tried to be.
Open thread.
Gimlet
There was a thread yesterday on the failure of a background check when Dylann Roof got his gun.
Given the government’s tendency to be untruthful and forever put itself in the best light, I would take the official explanation with at least some grains of salt.
Baud
@Gimlet:
That same philosophy should apply to all information, no?
Big ole hound
Three new National Monuments were announced today. The Wilderness Society did a great job lobbying to get these areas preserved.
Berryessa Snow Mountain is only 30 miles north of me and a great quiet place for a day trip.
Gimlet
@Baud:
Yes, in the absence of supporting information and independent sources.
Gin & Tonic
@Gimlet: Hmm, if only there were some group of people that were employed in the tasks of finding supporting information and independent sources for statements made by government officials (or those running for governmental offices.)
Gimlet
Spoke to a suburban housewife yesterday that attended a Marco Rubio get together.
No recording, but she said Rubio was outraged and wanting to do something about new mothers with babies that got benefits cut on returning to the workforce while others were just having baby after baby to keep the benefits coming.
Gimlet
@Gin & Tonic:
A kindred spirit!
WereBear
@Gimlet: Yep, because “everyone knows” babies are just pure profit!
MattF
Oh, Amy… I could quote from your songs here, but I’m thinkin’ you already know all that.
Germy Shoemangler
I believe the war on drugs has been a tragic mistake. Stop treating addiction as a crime.
I got into a discussion with someone who is against the legalization of… marijuana! He told me pot is a gateway drug, if we legalize pot, then people will overdose on hard drugs, etc…
And then he brought up Amy Winehouse!
He didn’t know that alcohol is the reason we lost her.
Sweet, legal, socially-acceptable, widely-advertised alcohol.
OzarkHillbilly
‘No one starts with a needle in their arm’: a police chief fights drugs with empathy
“You saved my son’s life,” says one man. “I don’t know if you are a father, but if you are, I’m sure you know what this means to me.”
Chief Campanello – who is a father – has worked in law enforcement for 25 years, seven of which he spent as a plainclothes narcotics detective. During this time, his perspective on drug addiction has changed considerably.
“I have spent a lot of time analyzing the data,” Campanello says. “And the science proves that [addiction] is a disease, not a crime.”
rikyrah
If we had a media worth a crap, they would be at these fairs, and point out that folks COULD HAVE regular healthcare, if Medicaid expansion were implemented.
Put a face on those who just want access to basic healthcare.
But, that would be too much like right, and they can’t do the bullshyt of ‘ both sides do it.’.
No, both sides do NOT do it. This is all about the GOP.
THIS is the healthcare system that they want. THIS Is what they want to go back to. THIS is what would result if those Obamacare repeals actually took effect.
………………………………………………..
What denying Medicaid expansion looks like
By Matt Skeens July 10 at 5:20 PM
When the Virginia-Kentucky District Fair returned to Wise County recently, it brought funnel cakes and whole families smiling — a sight not too common here in the coalfields.
This week, another gathering on the Wise County fairgrounds will see thousands of people standing in the bright summer sun: the 16th annual Remote Area Medical clinic. Some of those same families and their friends will be among those who travel to Wise not for fun rides or local band favorite Folk Soul Revival but for something lacking in this county, this state and this country: access to health care.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/a-cloud-over-appalachia/2015/07/10/0e526cea-15dd-11e5-9518-f9e0a8959f32_story.html?wpisrc=nl_opinions&wpmm=1
OzarkHillbilly
The Notorious RBG gives an interview. The take away:
After that experience, (Bush v Gore) “we agreed,” said Ginsburg, that “when we are in that situation again, let’s be in one opinion.” It’s important, she added, because the public and the lower courts need to know what the court has done or not done. And neither lawyers nor judges will stick with opinions that go on and on.
“If you want to make sure you’re read, you do it together, and you do it short,” she said. Otherwise people will neither read you nor understand what you are saying.
WereBear
@OzarkHillbilly: New research indicates it’s really coping behaviors gone out of control.
The right kind of rehab, with enough support, can do wonders. But when we spend far more on prison than we do even trying to help people, it’s no wonder it’s a terrible mess.
I saw it in high school in the seventies, and I still see it now: people turn to drugs when they see no other way to feel that good. Because when you do have something to give up drugs for, you very often do.
rikyrah
Because this is who they are. This is who they’ve always been.
…………………………………….
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/blame-john-boehner-for-the-house-gops-confederate-flag-fiasco/2015/07/10/8b9c9d34-2707-11e5-b77f-eb13a215f593_story.html?hpid=z2
Zinsky
Amy was another great talent who died way too young, due to the deleterious effects of drugs and alcohol. So sad
WereBear
@Zinsky: I think it’s a mistake to reflexively blame The Drug.
We tried it the Republican Way for decades now. It’s stupid and punitive and it’s from stupid and punitive people. And it doesn’t work.
Let’s fix lots of problems: prisons and institutionalized racism and education and mental health, all in one go. That’s the promise of ending the War on Drugs.
Germy Shoemangler
And Donald Trump loses another deal:
And another one’s gone and another one’s gone and another one bites the dust…
Germy Shoemangler
@rikyrah: Did you see this headline?
“As SC Lowers Confederate Flag, Sobbing Supporter Feels Chants of “USA!” Were A “Slap In The Face”
http://dangerousminds.net/comments/as_sc_lowers_confederate_flag_sobbing_supporter_feels_chants_of_usa_were_a
OzarkHillbilly
@WereBear:
I come from the same era, and most of the people I saw doing drugs (including me on the rare occasion) were just bored. Everyone was just looking for a way to fill the void. As most drugs had little to no discernible affect on me, or absolutely horrific affect, I was blessedly not among those disposed to addiction.
MattF
@OzarkHillbilly: Well, ‘boredom’ is often repressed anger. The question to push towards is “What are you angry about?”
OzarkHillbilly
@MattF: Repressed anger may be a component, but in my experience boredom consists mostly of being bored.
geg6
@MattF:
Whaaaaaaat? If you grew up in suburbia in the 70s, boredom was a given if you had half a brain. You did drugs because that made it more interesting to navigate the tree lined streets and cul de sacs of conformity. I wasn’t pissed (at least, not yet; that came later). It was mind numbing place to come of age.
different-church-lady
I don’t suppose it’s occurred to any of you that different people can have different reasons for choosing drugs, no?
LanceThruster
16 people were killed in Gaza’– How the ‘NYT’ whites out Israeli violence
J R in WV
Poor Amy… so talented – and so unhappy. Even with the adulation of her fans, she was unhappy. Unhappy to death.
I have had two friends, both very talented, one a genius and talented guitar player. Both died of alcohol, quite young. Not as young as Amy, but still. Sad.
MattF
@geg6: Well, so… whatev. [bored]
Big ole hound
@MattF: Bullshit. Boredom is boredom. Anger, repressed or not, has nothing to do with it. If one gets bored they can usually do something about it unless you’re in the military where “hurry up and wait” is the norm.
Cain
@Gimlet:
Yes, let’s get rid of the entire program so that the .4% of women who do this are properly punished.
Mnemosyne (tablet)
@different-church-lady:
Heck, people with drug problems can have different mental illnesses that make it hard for them to quit drugs, which is why 12-step programs only work for a small number of people. A person with bipolar disorder who uses drugs is going to need far different treatment than someone with a personality disorder or with OCD.
Mnemosyne (tablet)
I am not a fan of Russell Brand, but he wrote a really touching essay about Winehouse and addiction when she died, based in part on his own experience with addiction:
http://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jul/24/russell-brand-amy-winehouse-woman
WereBear
@Mnemosyne (tablet): I think a considerable amount of drug use is for the purposes of self-medication.
Without acknowledging that, how can anyone get better?
Linnaeus
@Mnemosyne (tablet):
Russell Brand has his flaws, but he is a talented short-form writer. His essay on Margaret Thatcher really impressed me.
WereBear
@Linnaeus: That was excellent.
Mnemosyne (tablet)
@LanceThruster:
See, this is an appropriate thread to post that since we’re all feeling a little somber anyway.
The guy the NYT interviewed sounds like he would have a very interesting perspective on Gaza since he lives and works there on behalf of the UN. I’m sure he understands WHY the people who pelted him with bottles were enraged after their family members were killed in a supposedly safe zone. But God forbid the NYT make Palestinians understandable or human in any way.
LanceThruster
@Mnemosyne (tablet):
An open thread about dealing with the legacy of a society steeped in notions of racial superiority was also a *most* appropriate thread IMHO.
mclaren
Is this Amy Winehouse person famous? Or supposed to be famous?
Why is that everyone seems to know who these do-nothing know-nothing nonentities are, while great figures like Norman Borlaug remain completely unknown to the general public?
Cervantes
@mclaren:
For people like her: There are powerful industries that make money by selling and/or publicizing what they do.
For people like him: