Is John Boehner hitting the bottle?

Mon, 14 Jan 2013 19:36:00 +0000

Five days before Christmas, House Speaker John Boehner stood before the Republican-controlled Congress—his Plan B alternative for avoiding the fiscal cliff defeated by lack of votes from his own party, a public humiliation and repudiation of the Speaker’s authority, rare in House history. Choking back tears, Boehner faced his colleagues and surrendered himself to a Higher Authority: “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference,” Boehner intoned.

The Serenity Prayer was an odd choice for a guy whose drinking had drawn years of public and private scrutiny (there’s even a blog called DrunkBoehner dedicated to chronicling his meltdowns).

Greek tragedy: Austerity and addiction

Tue, 26 Jun 2012 14:36:00 +0000

Polina Patsi is bracing for a summer of overdoses.

The 33-year-old outreach worker in Athens, Greece, told The Fix that the country’s austerity measures, which have eviscerated social welfare programs and curbed access to drug treatment, will lead to more deaths this season, as it has each year since the country’s economic crisis began in 2007. “It’s hot here, the addicts are dehydrated, and they pass out in the direct sun, which is dangerous,” Patsi said. “We end up calling the ambulance two or three times a month. But with the cutbacks, they don’t always make it in time. The safety nets are tearing apart.”

Salon.com > Kevin Gray

Is John Boehner hitting the bottle?

Greek tragedy: Austerity and addiction