(This article originally appeared in the May 1, 2012 edition of the Century City News)
By Anita De Francesco, MA
Relationship Specialist
Some of us are still wondering when that true soul mate will enter our lives and help complete the wholeness that we so desire. It can take a lifetime and going through many failed relationships to finally connect with the right one. I often wonder how people even know what a true soul mate is. I hear some folk talking about their relationship they are still in which began at age 16. And how so many of us wanted to stay with the sweet sixteen lover forever. What makes a soul mate so special and how do we attract this person? Yes it has been a long journey for some of us and so long that we’ve forgotten what it was like to be desired, wanted, to have a man pull the sweater over your shoulder and have a woman look you in the eyes and say she loves you and means it. Some are in relationships because they have stopped growing and basically just exist with someone. After being married for so many years you may wake up one day and find yourself wanting a new relationship.
One thing about love is that you have to be ready or you will attract temporary and sometimes trouble. Soul mates are all around you, your best friend, your parents, your co-workers and so on but romantic soul mate is deeper and more of a yearning. I believe romantic soul mate requires us to go deep inside and face ourselves with love and understanding before we can attract our true mate. It is important to have healthy, bonding loving relationships with those around you. This is a pre-requisite for the soul mate to enter your life. The quest for love and happiness is really a yearning for wholeness. Having a soul mate can help you open up to a new exploration of the heart and find real true love that is beyond the ordinary. Sounds like the fairy tale but why do some of us get it and others continue to suffer.
The law of attraction is the new way to get what you want from love to career and so on. So how do we attract this power? One thing first is to identify your patterns in your last relationships. When we break patterns all kinds of possibilities show up. Let’s start by changing the places we go. Explore new territory and make new friends. Invite yourself in to connect with others. Go to different meet-up groups and try different types of dance places like ballroom or salsa. All of these things are to help you break patterns and make change, so we have begun. Sex sails with a partner when you have things in common. If you like to golf then go to those places, do things that you like to do and connect to people this way. If you like drama then join a theatre group. Start doing things that turn you on, stop following what your friends like.
Next let’s identify our challenges, insecurities and fears; begin to make a list. It is important to be honest with your challenges and facing them so that you don’t get into the habit of projecting onto your partner. Look at why your last few relationships have failed. Also make a list of what you past lover found irritating about you. Focus on the things you don’t like so that they don’t outweigh the things you do like in a mate. There should be some sort of balance.
Next let us focus on communication, openness and honesty. Begin with trusting yourself and cultivating this within and you will in turn begin to trust your mate. Learn to accept criticism and truth. Be upfront and communicate just what you need and want and where you are in your life. Be adaptable and open until you mesh as one with your mate. Be open to try new things your mate introduces to you.
Know your preferences such as what you want in a mate. If you want a non-smoker than put that out there. Make a list of what you will put up with. If you like to travel, best to find someone who does as well or you will be alone. Know what you like and find that in your mate. If you get someone who matches you at 40 percent it could work with some adjustments.
Let go of the past lovers that you still think about. Remove those energetic hooks that keep you connected. Energetic hooks in you or in someone else can prevent you from meeting someone. Before you can attract your soul mate you need to be ready on an emotional and physical level. You need to have your home ready as if this soul mate is already living in there. I suggest clearing the bedroom and make this area nice and ready. Get some real nice sheets and fancy curtains and rugs. Adorn it with flowers and candles and talk as if this person was in the room there with you. Write him/her poems about your feelings and how you can’t wait to be together one day. Use your imagination to create what you want, that is what it is for. Oh and go out and buy a new bed and fancy it up, and keep it sacred and pure for that soul mate to arrive.
Do you feel stuck and in a rut, depressed or anxious or overall sluggish? I practice Reichian, Gestalt, somatic movement, and counseling/bodywork integrative therapies which involves focused breathing to help stimulate the emotions thus re-patterning the nervous system. I help you to focus on the negative voices and thoughts that create the stress and to resolve those unwanted interruptions that get in the way of your life process. Those stiff armored muscles that block sensation and energy flow will eventually soften.
The rage sitting in the muscles will unfold allowing more feelings of pleasure, more creativeness, freeing blocked energies and sexual dysfunction. Modern society has forced the human character to live in unnatural ways holding back basic needs and instincts. This process of breathing deeply sends messages to the brain which is an effective way to release anger, to let go of baggage, and to feel more alive and trusting thus living in a higher self esteem.
Anita De Francesco, M.A.
www.tantrawisdom.com
info@tantrawisdom.com
310-210-1464
Tuesday, April 8, 2014
A Piece Of My Mind
(This article originally appeared in the May 1, 2012 edition of the Century City News)
By Jim Grant
My friends and neighbors, I thank you for this opportunity. You know, we are friends and neighbors. Grant’s makes its offices on Wall Street, overlooking Broadway, a 10-minute stroll from your imposing headquarters. For a spectacular vantage point on the next ticker-tape parade up Broadway, please drop by. We’ll have the windows washed.
You say you would like to hear my complaints, and, on the one hand, I do have a few, while on the other, I can’t help but feel slightly hypocritical in dressing you down. What passes for sound doctrine in 21st-century central banking—so-called financial repression, interest-rate manipulation, stock-price levitation and money printing under the frosted-glass term “quantitative easing”—presents us at Grant’s with a nearly endless supply of good copy. Our symbiotic relationship with the Fed resembles that of Fox News with the Obama administration, or—in an earlier era—that of the Chicago Tribune with the Purple Gang. Grant’s needs the Fed even if the Fed doesn’t need Grant’s.
In the not quite 100 years since the founding of your institution, America has exchanged central banking for a kind of central planning and the gold standard for what I will call the Ph.D. standard. I regret the changes and will propose reforms, or, I suppose, re-reforms, as my program is very much in accord with that of the founders of this institution. Have you ever read the Federal Reserve Act? The authorizing legislation projected a body “to provide for the establishment of the Federal Reserve banks, to furnish an elastic currency, to afford means of rediscounting commercial paper and to establish a more effective supervision of banking in the United States, and for other purposes.” By now can we identify the operative phrase? Of course: “for other purposes.”
You are lucky, if I may say so, that I’m the one who’s standing here and not the ghost of Sen. Carter Glass. One hesitates to speak for the dead, but I am reasonably sure that the Virginia Democrat, who regarded himself as the father of the Fed, would skewer you. He had an abhorrence of paper money and government debt. He didn’t like Wall Street, either, and I’m going to guess that he wouldn’t much care for the Fed raising up stock prices under the theory of the “portfolio balance channel.”
It enflamed him that during congressional debate over the Federal Reserve Act, Elihu Root, Republican senator from New York, impugned the anticipated Federal Reserve notes as “fiat” currency. Fiat, indeed! Glass snorted. The nation was on the gold standard. It would remain on the gold standard, Glass had no reason to doubt. The projected notes of the Federal Reserve would—of course—be convertible into gold on demand at the fixed statutory rate of $20.67 per ounce. But more stood behind the notes than gold. They would be collateralized, as well, by sound commercial assets, by the issuing member bank and—a point to which I will return— by the so-called double liability of the issuing bank’s stockholders.
If Glass had the stronger argument, Root had the clearer vision. One can think of the original Federal Reserve note as a kind of derivative. It derived its value chiefly from gold, into which it was lawfully exchangeable. Now that the Federal Reserve note is exchangeable into nothing except small change, it is a derivative without an underlier. Or, at a stretch, one might say it is a derivative that secures its value from the wisdom of Congress and the foresight and judgment of the monetary scholars at the Federal Reserve. Either way, we would seem to be in dangerous, uncharted waters.
As you prepare to mark the Fed’s centenary, may I urge you to reflect on just how far you have wandered from the intentions of the founders? The institution they envisioned would operate passively, through the discount window. It would not create credit but rather liquefy the existing stock of credit by turning good-quality commercial bills into cash— temporarily. This it would do according to the demands of the seasons and the cycle. The Fed would respond to the community, not try to anticipate or lead it. It would not override the price mechanism— as today’s Fed seems to do at every available opportunity—but yield to it.
My favorite exposition of the sound, original doctrines is a book entitled, “The Theory and Practice of Central Banking,” by H. Parker Willis, first secretary of the Federal Reserve Board and Glass’s right-hand man in the House of Representatives.
Writing in the mid-1930s, Willis pointed out that the Fed fell into sin almost immediately after it opened for business in 1914. In 1917, after the United States entered the Great War, the Fed set about monetizing the Treasury’s debt and suppressing the Treasury’s borrowing costs. In the 1920s, after the recovery from the short but ugly depression of 1920-21, the Fed started to implement open-market operations to sterilize gold flows and steer a desired macroeconomic course.
“Central banks,” wrote Willis, glaring at the innovators, “…will do wisely to lay aside their inexpert ventures in half-baked monetary theory, meretricious statistical measures of trade, and hasty grinding of the axes of speculative interests with their suggestion that by doing so they are achieving some sort of vague ‘stabilization’ that will, in the long run, be for the greater good.”
Willis, who died in 1937, perhaps of a broken heart, would be no happier with you today than Glass would be—or I am. The search for “some sort of vague stabilization” in the 1930s has become a Federal Reserve obsession at the millennium.
Ladies and gentlemen, such stability as might be imposed on a dynamic capitalist economy is the kind that eventually comes around to bite the stabilizer.
“Price stability” is a case in point. It is your mandate, or half of your mandate, I realize, but it does grievous harm, as defined. For reasons you never exactly spell out, you pledge to resist “deflation.” You won’t put up with it, you keep on saying—something about Japan’s lost decade or the Great Depression. But you never say what deflation really is. Let me attempt a definition. Deflation is a derangement of debt, a symptom of which is falling prices. In a credit crisis, when inventories become unfinanceable, merchandise is thrown on the market and prices fall. That’s deflation.
What deflation is not is a drop in prices caused by a technology-enhanced decline in the costs of production. That’s called progress. Between 1875 and 1896, according to Milton Friedman and Anna Schwartz, the American price level subsided at the average rate of 1.7% a year. And why not? As technology was advancing, costs were tumbling. Long before Joseph Schumpeter coined the phrase “creative destruction,” the American economist David A. Wells, writing in 1889, was explaining the consequences of disruptive innovation.
“In the last analysis,” Wells proposes, “it will appear that there is no such thing as fixed capital; there is nothing useful that is very old except the precious metals, and life consists in the conversion of forces. The only capital which is of permanent value is immaterial—the experience of generations and the development of science.”
Much the same sentiments, and much the same circumstances, apply today, but with a difference. Digital technology and a globalized labor force have brought down production costs. But, the central bankers declare, prices must not fall. On the contrary, they must rise by 2% a year. To engineer this up-creep, the Bernankes, the Kings, the Draghis—and yes, sadly, even the Dudleys—of the world monetize assets and push down interest rates. They do this to conquer deflation.
But note, please, that the suppression of interest rates and the conjuring of liquidity set in motion waves of speculative lending and borrowing. This artificially induced activity serves to lift the prices of a favored class of asset—houses, for instance, or Mitt Romney’s portfolio of leveraged companies. And when the central bank-financed bubble bursts, credit contracts, leveraged businesses teeter, inventories are liquidated and prices weaken. In short, a process is set in motion resembling a real deflation, which then calls forth a new bout of monetary intervention. By trying to forestall an imagined deflation, the Federal Reserve comes perilously close to instigating the real thing.
The economist Hyman Minsky laid down the paradox that stability is itself destabilizing. I say that the pledge of a stable funds rate through the fourth quarter of 2014 is hugely destabilizing. Interest rates are prices. They convey information, or ought to. But the only information conveyed in a manipulated yield curve is what the Fed wants. Opportunists don’t have to be told twice how to respond. They buy oil or gold or foreign exchange, not incidentally pushing the price of a gallon of gasoline at the pump to $4 and beyond. Another set of opportunists borrow short and lend long in the credit markets. Not especially caring about the risk of inflation over the long run, this speculative cohort will fund mortgages, junk bonds, Treasurys, what-have-you at zero percent in the short run. The opportunists, a.k.a. the 1 percent, will do fine. But what about the uncomprehending others?
I commend to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York Financial History Book Club (if it doesn’t exist, please organize it at once) a volume by the British scholar and central banker, Charles Goodhart. Its title is “The New York Money Market and the Finance of Trade, 1900-1913.” In the pre-Fed days with which the history deals, the call money rate dove and soared. There was no stability—and a good thing, Goodhart reasons. In a society predisposed to speculate, as America was and is, he writes, unpredictable spikes in borrowing rates kept the players more or less honest. “On the basis of its record,” he writes of the Second Federal Reserve District before there was a Federal Reserve, “the financial system as constituted in the years 1900-1913 must be considered successful to an extent rarely equaled in the United States.” And that not withstanding the Panic of 1907.
My reading of history accords with Goodhart’s, though not with that of the Fed’s front office. If Chairman Bernanke were in the room, I would respectfully ask him why this persistent harking back to the Great Depression? It is one cyclical episode, but there are many others. I myself draw more instruction from the depression of 1920-21, a slump as ugly and steep in its way as that of 1929-33, but with the simple and interesting difference that it ended. Top to bottom, spring 1920 to summer 1921, nominal GDP fell by 23.9%, wholesale prices by 40.8% and the CPI by 8.3%. Unemployment, as it was inexactly measured, topped out at about 14% from a pre-bust low of as little as 2%. And how did the administration of Warren G. Harding meet this macroeconomic calamity? Why, it balanced the budget, the president declaring in 1921, as the economy seemed to be falling apart, “There is not a menace in the world today like that of growing public indebtedness and mounting public expenditures.” And the fledgling Fed, face to face with its first big slump, what did it do? Why, it tightened, pushing up short rates in mid-depression to as high as 8.13% from a business cycle peak of 6%. It was the one and only time in the history of this institution that money rates at the trough of a cycle were higher than rates at the peak, according to Allan Meltzer.
But then something wonderful happened: Markets cleared, and a vibrant recovery began. There were plenty of bankruptcies and no few brickbats launched in the direction of the governor of the New York Fed, Benjamin Strong, for the deflation that cut an especially wide and devastating swath through the American farm economy. But in 1922, the first full year of recovery, the Fed’s index of industrial production leapt by 27.3%. By 1923, the unemployment rate was back to 3.2%. The 1920s began to roar.
And do you know that the biggest nationally chartered bank to fail during this deflationary collapse was the First National Bank of Cleburne, Texas, with not quite $2.8 million of deposits? Even the forerunner to today’s Citigroup remained solvent (though for Citi, even then it was a close-run thing, on account of an oversize exposure to deflating Cuban sugar values). No TARP, no starving the savers with zero-percent interest rates, no QE, no jimmying up the stock market, no federal “stimulus” of any kind. Yet—I repeat—the depression ended. To those today who demand ever more intervention to cure what ails us, I ask: Why did the depression of 1920-21 ever end? Given the policies with which the authorities treated it, why are we still not ensnared?
If you object to using the template of 1920-21 as a guide to 21st-century policy because, well, 1920 was a long time ago, I reply that 1929 was a long time ago, too. And if you persist in objecting because the lessons to be derived from the Harding depression are unthinkably at odds with the lessons so familiarly mined from the Hoover and Roosevelt depression, I reply that Harding’s approach worked. The price mechanism is truer and enterprise hardier than the promoters of radical 21st-century intervention seem prepared to acknowledge.
In notable contrast to the Harding method, today’s policies seem not to be working. We legislate and regulate and intervene, but still the patient languishes. It’s a worldwide failure of the institutions of money and credit. I see in the papers that Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena is in the toils of a debt crisis. For the first time in over 500 years, the foundation that controls this ancient Italian institution may be forced to sell shares. We’ve all heard of hundred-year floods. We seem to be in a kind of 500-year debt flood.
Many now call for more regulation—more such institutions as the Treasury’s brand-new Office of Financial Research, for instance. In the March 8 Financial Times, the columnist Gillian Tett appealed for more resources for the overwhelmed regulators. Inundated with information, she lamented, they can’t keep up with the institutions they are supposed to be safeguarding. To me, the trouble is not that the regulators are ignorant. It’s rather that the owners and managers are unaccountable.
Once upon a time—specifically, between the National Banking Act of 1863 and the Banking Act of 1935—the impairment or bankruptcy of a nationally chartered bank triggered a capital call. Not on the taxpayers, but on the stockholders. It was their bank, after all. Individual accountability in banking was the rule in the advanced economies. Hartley Withers, the editor of The Economist in the early 20th century, shook his head at the micromanagement of American banks by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency—25% of their deposits had to be kept in cash, i.e., gold or money lawfully convertible into gold. The rules held. Yet New York had panics, London had none. Adjured Withers: “Good banking is produced not by good laws but by good bankers.”
Well said, Withers! And what makes a good banker is more than skill. It is also the fear of God, or, more specifically, accountability for the solvency of the institution that he or she owns or manages. To stay out of trouble, the general partners of Brown Brothers Harriman, Wall Street’s oldest surviving general partnership, need no regulatory pep talk. Each partner is liable for the debts of the firm to the full extent of his or her net worth. My colleague Paul Isaac, who is with me today—he doubles as my food and beverage taster— has an intriguing suggestion for instilling the credit culture more deeply in our semi-socialized banking institutions.
We can’t turn limited liability corporations into general partnerships. Nor could we easily reinstate the so-called double liability law on bank stockholders. But what we could and should do, Paul urges, is to claw back that portion of the compensation paid out by a failed bank in excess of 10 times the average wage in manufacturing for the seven full calendar years before the ruined bank hit the wall. Such a clawback would not be subject to averaging or offset one year to the next. And it would be payable in cash.
The idea, Paul explains, is twofold. First, to remove the government from the business of determining what is, or is not, risky—really, the government doesn’t know. Second, to increase the personal risk of failure for senior management, but stopping short of the sword of Damocles of unlimited personal liability. If bankers are venal, why not harness that venality in the public interest? For the better part of 100 years, and especially in the past five, we have socialized the risks of high finance. All too often, the bankers who take risks don’t themselves bear them. By all means, let the capitalists keep the upside. But let them bear their full share of the downside.
In March 2009, the Financial Times published a letter to the editor concerning the then novel subject of QE. “I can now understand the term ‘quantitative easing,’ wrote Gerald B. Hill of Stourbridge, West Midlands, “but . . . realize I can no longer understand the meaning of the word ‘money.’”
There isn’t time, in these brief remarks, to persuade you of the necessity of a return to the classical gold standard. I would need another 10 minutes, at least. But I anticipate some skepticism. Very well then, consider this fact: On March 27, 1973, not quite 39 years ago, the forerunner to today’s G-20 solemnly agreed that the special drawing right, a.k.a. SDR, “will become the principal reserve asset and the role of gold and reserve currencies will be reduced.” That was the establishment— i.e., you—talking. If a worldwide accord on the efficacy of the SDR is possible, all things are possible, including a return to the least imperfect international monetary standard that has ever worked.
Notice, I do not say the perfect monetary system or best monetary system ever dreamt up by a theoretical economist. The classical gold standard, 1879-1914, “with all its anomalies and exceptions . . . ‘worked.’” The quoted words I draw from a book entitled, “The Rules of the Game: Reform and Evolution in the International Monetary System,” by Kenneth W. Dam, a law professor and former provost of the University of Chicago. Dam’s was a grudging admiration, a little like that of the New York Fed’s own Arthur Bloomfield, whose 1959 monograph, “Monetary Policy under the International Gold Standard,” was published by yourselves. No, Bloomfield points out, as does Dam, the classical gold standard was not quite automatic. But it was synchronous, it was self-correcting and it did deliver both national solvency and, over the long run, uncanny price stability. The banks were solvent, too, even the central banks, which, as Bloomfield noted, monetized no government debt.
The visible hallmark of the classical gold standard was, of course, gold—to every currency holder was given the option of exchanging metal for paper, or paper for metal, at a fixed, statutory rate. Exchange rates were fixed, and I mean fixed. “It is quite remarkable,” Dam writes, “that from 1879 to 1914, in a period considerably longer than from 1945 to the demise of Bretton Woods in 1971, there were no changes of parities between the United States, Britain, France, Germany—not to speak of a number of smaller European countries.” The fruits of this fixedness were many and sweet. Among them, again to quote Dam, “a flow of private foreign investment on a scale the world had never seen, and, relative to other economic aggregates, was never to see again.”
Incidentally, the source of my purchased copy of “Rules of the Game” was the library of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. Apparently, President Lockhart isn’t preparing, as I am—as, may I suggest, as you should be—for the coming of classical gold standard, Part II. By way of preparation, I commend to you a new book by my friend Lew Lehrman, “The True Gold Standard: A Monetary Reform Plan without Official Reserve Currencies: How We Get from Here to There.”
It’s a little rich, my extolling gold to an institution that sits on 216 million troy ounces of the stuff. Valued at $42.222 per ounce, the hoard in your basement is worth $9.1 billion. Incidentally, the official price was quoted in SDRs, $35 to the ounce—now there’s a quixotic choice for you. In 2008, when your in-house publication, “The Key to the Gold Vault,” was published, the market value was $194 billion. Today, the market value is $359 billion, which is encouraging only if you personally happen to be long gold bullion. Otherwise, it strikes me as a pretty severe condemnation of modern central banking.
And what would I do if, following the inauguration of Ron Paul, I were sitting in the chairman’s office? I would do what I could to begin the normalization of interest rates. I would invite the Wall Street Journal’s Jon Hilsenrath to lunch to let him know that the Fed is now well over its deflation phobia and has put aside its Atlas complex. “It’s capitalism for us, Jon,” I would say. Next I would call President Dudley. “Bill,” I would say, pleasantly, “we’re not exactly leading from the front in the regulatory drive to reduce the ratio of assets to equity at the big American financial institutions. Do you have to be leveraged 89:1?” Finally, I would redirect the efforts of the brainiacs at the Federal Reserve Board research division. “Ladies and gentlemen,” I would say, “enough with ‘Bayesian Analysis of Stochastic Volatility Models with Levy Jumps: Application to Risk Analysis.’ How much better it would please me if you wrote to the subject, ‘Command and Control No More: A Gold Standard for the 21st Century.’” Finally, my pièce de résistance, I would commission, staff and ceremonially open the Fed’s first Office of Unintended Consequences.
Let me thank you once more for the honor that your invitation does me. Concerning little Grant’s and the big Fed, I will quote in parting the opening sentences of an editorial that appeared in a provincial Irish newspaper in the fateful year 1914. It read: “We give this solemn warning to Kaiser Wilhelm: The Skibbereen Eagle has its eye on you.”
By Jim Grant
My friends and neighbors, I thank you for this opportunity. You know, we are friends and neighbors. Grant’s makes its offices on Wall Street, overlooking Broadway, a 10-minute stroll from your imposing headquarters. For a spectacular vantage point on the next ticker-tape parade up Broadway, please drop by. We’ll have the windows washed.
You say you would like to hear my complaints, and, on the one hand, I do have a few, while on the other, I can’t help but feel slightly hypocritical in dressing you down. What passes for sound doctrine in 21st-century central banking—so-called financial repression, interest-rate manipulation, stock-price levitation and money printing under the frosted-glass term “quantitative easing”—presents us at Grant’s with a nearly endless supply of good copy. Our symbiotic relationship with the Fed resembles that of Fox News with the Obama administration, or—in an earlier era—that of the Chicago Tribune with the Purple Gang. Grant’s needs the Fed even if the Fed doesn’t need Grant’s.
In the not quite 100 years since the founding of your institution, America has exchanged central banking for a kind of central planning and the gold standard for what I will call the Ph.D. standard. I regret the changes and will propose reforms, or, I suppose, re-reforms, as my program is very much in accord with that of the founders of this institution. Have you ever read the Federal Reserve Act? The authorizing legislation projected a body “to provide for the establishment of the Federal Reserve banks, to furnish an elastic currency, to afford means of rediscounting commercial paper and to establish a more effective supervision of banking in the United States, and for other purposes.” By now can we identify the operative phrase? Of course: “for other purposes.”
You are lucky, if I may say so, that I’m the one who’s standing here and not the ghost of Sen. Carter Glass. One hesitates to speak for the dead, but I am reasonably sure that the Virginia Democrat, who regarded himself as the father of the Fed, would skewer you. He had an abhorrence of paper money and government debt. He didn’t like Wall Street, either, and I’m going to guess that he wouldn’t much care for the Fed raising up stock prices under the theory of the “portfolio balance channel.”
It enflamed him that during congressional debate over the Federal Reserve Act, Elihu Root, Republican senator from New York, impugned the anticipated Federal Reserve notes as “fiat” currency. Fiat, indeed! Glass snorted. The nation was on the gold standard. It would remain on the gold standard, Glass had no reason to doubt. The projected notes of the Federal Reserve would—of course—be convertible into gold on demand at the fixed statutory rate of $20.67 per ounce. But more stood behind the notes than gold. They would be collateralized, as well, by sound commercial assets, by the issuing member bank and—a point to which I will return— by the so-called double liability of the issuing bank’s stockholders.
If Glass had the stronger argument, Root had the clearer vision. One can think of the original Federal Reserve note as a kind of derivative. It derived its value chiefly from gold, into which it was lawfully exchangeable. Now that the Federal Reserve note is exchangeable into nothing except small change, it is a derivative without an underlier. Or, at a stretch, one might say it is a derivative that secures its value from the wisdom of Congress and the foresight and judgment of the monetary scholars at the Federal Reserve. Either way, we would seem to be in dangerous, uncharted waters.
As you prepare to mark the Fed’s centenary, may I urge you to reflect on just how far you have wandered from the intentions of the founders? The institution they envisioned would operate passively, through the discount window. It would not create credit but rather liquefy the existing stock of credit by turning good-quality commercial bills into cash— temporarily. This it would do according to the demands of the seasons and the cycle. The Fed would respond to the community, not try to anticipate or lead it. It would not override the price mechanism— as today’s Fed seems to do at every available opportunity—but yield to it.
My favorite exposition of the sound, original doctrines is a book entitled, “The Theory and Practice of Central Banking,” by H. Parker Willis, first secretary of the Federal Reserve Board and Glass’s right-hand man in the House of Representatives.
Writing in the mid-1930s, Willis pointed out that the Fed fell into sin almost immediately after it opened for business in 1914. In 1917, after the United States entered the Great War, the Fed set about monetizing the Treasury’s debt and suppressing the Treasury’s borrowing costs. In the 1920s, after the recovery from the short but ugly depression of 1920-21, the Fed started to implement open-market operations to sterilize gold flows and steer a desired macroeconomic course.
“Central banks,” wrote Willis, glaring at the innovators, “…will do wisely to lay aside their inexpert ventures in half-baked monetary theory, meretricious statistical measures of trade, and hasty grinding of the axes of speculative interests with their suggestion that by doing so they are achieving some sort of vague ‘stabilization’ that will, in the long run, be for the greater good.”
Willis, who died in 1937, perhaps of a broken heart, would be no happier with you today than Glass would be—or I am. The search for “some sort of vague stabilization” in the 1930s has become a Federal Reserve obsession at the millennium.
Ladies and gentlemen, such stability as might be imposed on a dynamic capitalist economy is the kind that eventually comes around to bite the stabilizer.
“Price stability” is a case in point. It is your mandate, or half of your mandate, I realize, but it does grievous harm, as defined. For reasons you never exactly spell out, you pledge to resist “deflation.” You won’t put up with it, you keep on saying—something about Japan’s lost decade or the Great Depression. But you never say what deflation really is. Let me attempt a definition. Deflation is a derangement of debt, a symptom of which is falling prices. In a credit crisis, when inventories become unfinanceable, merchandise is thrown on the market and prices fall. That’s deflation.
What deflation is not is a drop in prices caused by a technology-enhanced decline in the costs of production. That’s called progress. Between 1875 and 1896, according to Milton Friedman and Anna Schwartz, the American price level subsided at the average rate of 1.7% a year. And why not? As technology was advancing, costs were tumbling. Long before Joseph Schumpeter coined the phrase “creative destruction,” the American economist David A. Wells, writing in 1889, was explaining the consequences of disruptive innovation.
“In the last analysis,” Wells proposes, “it will appear that there is no such thing as fixed capital; there is nothing useful that is very old except the precious metals, and life consists in the conversion of forces. The only capital which is of permanent value is immaterial—the experience of generations and the development of science.”
Much the same sentiments, and much the same circumstances, apply today, but with a difference. Digital technology and a globalized labor force have brought down production costs. But, the central bankers declare, prices must not fall. On the contrary, they must rise by 2% a year. To engineer this up-creep, the Bernankes, the Kings, the Draghis—and yes, sadly, even the Dudleys—of the world monetize assets and push down interest rates. They do this to conquer deflation.
But note, please, that the suppression of interest rates and the conjuring of liquidity set in motion waves of speculative lending and borrowing. This artificially induced activity serves to lift the prices of a favored class of asset—houses, for instance, or Mitt Romney’s portfolio of leveraged companies. And when the central bank-financed bubble bursts, credit contracts, leveraged businesses teeter, inventories are liquidated and prices weaken. In short, a process is set in motion resembling a real deflation, which then calls forth a new bout of monetary intervention. By trying to forestall an imagined deflation, the Federal Reserve comes perilously close to instigating the real thing.
The economist Hyman Minsky laid down the paradox that stability is itself destabilizing. I say that the pledge of a stable funds rate through the fourth quarter of 2014 is hugely destabilizing. Interest rates are prices. They convey information, or ought to. But the only information conveyed in a manipulated yield curve is what the Fed wants. Opportunists don’t have to be told twice how to respond. They buy oil or gold or foreign exchange, not incidentally pushing the price of a gallon of gasoline at the pump to $4 and beyond. Another set of opportunists borrow short and lend long in the credit markets. Not especially caring about the risk of inflation over the long run, this speculative cohort will fund mortgages, junk bonds, Treasurys, what-have-you at zero percent in the short run. The opportunists, a.k.a. the 1 percent, will do fine. But what about the uncomprehending others?
I commend to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York Financial History Book Club (if it doesn’t exist, please organize it at once) a volume by the British scholar and central banker, Charles Goodhart. Its title is “The New York Money Market and the Finance of Trade, 1900-1913.” In the pre-Fed days with which the history deals, the call money rate dove and soared. There was no stability—and a good thing, Goodhart reasons. In a society predisposed to speculate, as America was and is, he writes, unpredictable spikes in borrowing rates kept the players more or less honest. “On the basis of its record,” he writes of the Second Federal Reserve District before there was a Federal Reserve, “the financial system as constituted in the years 1900-1913 must be considered successful to an extent rarely equaled in the United States.” And that not withstanding the Panic of 1907.
My reading of history accords with Goodhart’s, though not with that of the Fed’s front office. If Chairman Bernanke were in the room, I would respectfully ask him why this persistent harking back to the Great Depression? It is one cyclical episode, but there are many others. I myself draw more instruction from the depression of 1920-21, a slump as ugly and steep in its way as that of 1929-33, but with the simple and interesting difference that it ended. Top to bottom, spring 1920 to summer 1921, nominal GDP fell by 23.9%, wholesale prices by 40.8% and the CPI by 8.3%. Unemployment, as it was inexactly measured, topped out at about 14% from a pre-bust low of as little as 2%. And how did the administration of Warren G. Harding meet this macroeconomic calamity? Why, it balanced the budget, the president declaring in 1921, as the economy seemed to be falling apart, “There is not a menace in the world today like that of growing public indebtedness and mounting public expenditures.” And the fledgling Fed, face to face with its first big slump, what did it do? Why, it tightened, pushing up short rates in mid-depression to as high as 8.13% from a business cycle peak of 6%. It was the one and only time in the history of this institution that money rates at the trough of a cycle were higher than rates at the peak, according to Allan Meltzer.
But then something wonderful happened: Markets cleared, and a vibrant recovery began. There were plenty of bankruptcies and no few brickbats launched in the direction of the governor of the New York Fed, Benjamin Strong, for the deflation that cut an especially wide and devastating swath through the American farm economy. But in 1922, the first full year of recovery, the Fed’s index of industrial production leapt by 27.3%. By 1923, the unemployment rate was back to 3.2%. The 1920s began to roar.
And do you know that the biggest nationally chartered bank to fail during this deflationary collapse was the First National Bank of Cleburne, Texas, with not quite $2.8 million of deposits? Even the forerunner to today’s Citigroup remained solvent (though for Citi, even then it was a close-run thing, on account of an oversize exposure to deflating Cuban sugar values). No TARP, no starving the savers with zero-percent interest rates, no QE, no jimmying up the stock market, no federal “stimulus” of any kind. Yet—I repeat—the depression ended. To those today who demand ever more intervention to cure what ails us, I ask: Why did the depression of 1920-21 ever end? Given the policies with which the authorities treated it, why are we still not ensnared?
If you object to using the template of 1920-21 as a guide to 21st-century policy because, well, 1920 was a long time ago, I reply that 1929 was a long time ago, too. And if you persist in objecting because the lessons to be derived from the Harding depression are unthinkably at odds with the lessons so familiarly mined from the Hoover and Roosevelt depression, I reply that Harding’s approach worked. The price mechanism is truer and enterprise hardier than the promoters of radical 21st-century intervention seem prepared to acknowledge.
In notable contrast to the Harding method, today’s policies seem not to be working. We legislate and regulate and intervene, but still the patient languishes. It’s a worldwide failure of the institutions of money and credit. I see in the papers that Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena is in the toils of a debt crisis. For the first time in over 500 years, the foundation that controls this ancient Italian institution may be forced to sell shares. We’ve all heard of hundred-year floods. We seem to be in a kind of 500-year debt flood.
Many now call for more regulation—more such institutions as the Treasury’s brand-new Office of Financial Research, for instance. In the March 8 Financial Times, the columnist Gillian Tett appealed for more resources for the overwhelmed regulators. Inundated with information, she lamented, they can’t keep up with the institutions they are supposed to be safeguarding. To me, the trouble is not that the regulators are ignorant. It’s rather that the owners and managers are unaccountable.
Once upon a time—specifically, between the National Banking Act of 1863 and the Banking Act of 1935—the impairment or bankruptcy of a nationally chartered bank triggered a capital call. Not on the taxpayers, but on the stockholders. It was their bank, after all. Individual accountability in banking was the rule in the advanced economies. Hartley Withers, the editor of The Economist in the early 20th century, shook his head at the micromanagement of American banks by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency—25% of their deposits had to be kept in cash, i.e., gold or money lawfully convertible into gold. The rules held. Yet New York had panics, London had none. Adjured Withers: “Good banking is produced not by good laws but by good bankers.”
Well said, Withers! And what makes a good banker is more than skill. It is also the fear of God, or, more specifically, accountability for the solvency of the institution that he or she owns or manages. To stay out of trouble, the general partners of Brown Brothers Harriman, Wall Street’s oldest surviving general partnership, need no regulatory pep talk. Each partner is liable for the debts of the firm to the full extent of his or her net worth. My colleague Paul Isaac, who is with me today—he doubles as my food and beverage taster— has an intriguing suggestion for instilling the credit culture more deeply in our semi-socialized banking institutions.
We can’t turn limited liability corporations into general partnerships. Nor could we easily reinstate the so-called double liability law on bank stockholders. But what we could and should do, Paul urges, is to claw back that portion of the compensation paid out by a failed bank in excess of 10 times the average wage in manufacturing for the seven full calendar years before the ruined bank hit the wall. Such a clawback would not be subject to averaging or offset one year to the next. And it would be payable in cash.
The idea, Paul explains, is twofold. First, to remove the government from the business of determining what is, or is not, risky—really, the government doesn’t know. Second, to increase the personal risk of failure for senior management, but stopping short of the sword of Damocles of unlimited personal liability. If bankers are venal, why not harness that venality in the public interest? For the better part of 100 years, and especially in the past five, we have socialized the risks of high finance. All too often, the bankers who take risks don’t themselves bear them. By all means, let the capitalists keep the upside. But let them bear their full share of the downside.
In March 2009, the Financial Times published a letter to the editor concerning the then novel subject of QE. “I can now understand the term ‘quantitative easing,’ wrote Gerald B. Hill of Stourbridge, West Midlands, “but . . . realize I can no longer understand the meaning of the word ‘money.’”
There isn’t time, in these brief remarks, to persuade you of the necessity of a return to the classical gold standard. I would need another 10 minutes, at least. But I anticipate some skepticism. Very well then, consider this fact: On March 27, 1973, not quite 39 years ago, the forerunner to today’s G-20 solemnly agreed that the special drawing right, a.k.a. SDR, “will become the principal reserve asset and the role of gold and reserve currencies will be reduced.” That was the establishment— i.e., you—talking. If a worldwide accord on the efficacy of the SDR is possible, all things are possible, including a return to the least imperfect international monetary standard that has ever worked.
Notice, I do not say the perfect monetary system or best monetary system ever dreamt up by a theoretical economist. The classical gold standard, 1879-1914, “with all its anomalies and exceptions . . . ‘worked.’” The quoted words I draw from a book entitled, “The Rules of the Game: Reform and Evolution in the International Monetary System,” by Kenneth W. Dam, a law professor and former provost of the University of Chicago. Dam’s was a grudging admiration, a little like that of the New York Fed’s own Arthur Bloomfield, whose 1959 monograph, “Monetary Policy under the International Gold Standard,” was published by yourselves. No, Bloomfield points out, as does Dam, the classical gold standard was not quite automatic. But it was synchronous, it was self-correcting and it did deliver both national solvency and, over the long run, uncanny price stability. The banks were solvent, too, even the central banks, which, as Bloomfield noted, monetized no government debt.
The visible hallmark of the classical gold standard was, of course, gold—to every currency holder was given the option of exchanging metal for paper, or paper for metal, at a fixed, statutory rate. Exchange rates were fixed, and I mean fixed. “It is quite remarkable,” Dam writes, “that from 1879 to 1914, in a period considerably longer than from 1945 to the demise of Bretton Woods in 1971, there were no changes of parities between the United States, Britain, France, Germany—not to speak of a number of smaller European countries.” The fruits of this fixedness were many and sweet. Among them, again to quote Dam, “a flow of private foreign investment on a scale the world had never seen, and, relative to other economic aggregates, was never to see again.”
Incidentally, the source of my purchased copy of “Rules of the Game” was the library of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. Apparently, President Lockhart isn’t preparing, as I am—as, may I suggest, as you should be—for the coming of classical gold standard, Part II. By way of preparation, I commend to you a new book by my friend Lew Lehrman, “The True Gold Standard: A Monetary Reform Plan without Official Reserve Currencies: How We Get from Here to There.”
It’s a little rich, my extolling gold to an institution that sits on 216 million troy ounces of the stuff. Valued at $42.222 per ounce, the hoard in your basement is worth $9.1 billion. Incidentally, the official price was quoted in SDRs, $35 to the ounce—now there’s a quixotic choice for you. In 2008, when your in-house publication, “The Key to the Gold Vault,” was published, the market value was $194 billion. Today, the market value is $359 billion, which is encouraging only if you personally happen to be long gold bullion. Otherwise, it strikes me as a pretty severe condemnation of modern central banking.
And what would I do if, following the inauguration of Ron Paul, I were sitting in the chairman’s office? I would do what I could to begin the normalization of interest rates. I would invite the Wall Street Journal’s Jon Hilsenrath to lunch to let him know that the Fed is now well over its deflation phobia and has put aside its Atlas complex. “It’s capitalism for us, Jon,” I would say. Next I would call President Dudley. “Bill,” I would say, pleasantly, “we’re not exactly leading from the front in the regulatory drive to reduce the ratio of assets to equity at the big American financial institutions. Do you have to be leveraged 89:1?” Finally, I would redirect the efforts of the brainiacs at the Federal Reserve Board research division. “Ladies and gentlemen,” I would say, “enough with ‘Bayesian Analysis of Stochastic Volatility Models with Levy Jumps: Application to Risk Analysis.’ How much better it would please me if you wrote to the subject, ‘Command and Control No More: A Gold Standard for the 21st Century.’” Finally, my pièce de résistance, I would commission, staff and ceremonially open the Fed’s first Office of Unintended Consequences.
Let me thank you once more for the honor that your invitation does me. Concerning little Grant’s and the big Fed, I will quote in parting the opening sentences of an editorial that appeared in a provincial Irish newspaper in the fateful year 1914. It read: “We give this solemn warning to Kaiser Wilhelm: The Skibbereen Eagle has its eye on you.”
Constellation Station or No Station in Century City
(This article originally appeared in the May 1, 2012 edition of the Century City News)
By Michael Douglas Carlin
I attended the board meeting of Metro this past week. I was in awe of our democratic process. The mayor presided with a presidential flare. He made us laugh and he kept the process moving. In the face of very sharp criticism he kept his cool. Whatever you might think of the mayor he is heading on to higher offices and more important roles… this is clear.
The City of Beverly Hills was in full force attempting to stop the subway from tunneling under the high school. Their mayor, city council, and city attorney all spoke during the public comment periods. Their argument was chiefly “it isn’t safe to tunnel under a school.” That didn’t stop the casting of aspersions; “Rich developers are conspiring to place the stop in the heart of Century City.”
This fight isn’t new. Beverly Hills and all incorporated cities within Los Angeles County have been building within their city’s limits at alarming rates. They get tax revenues from these developments. The city of Los Angeles has lagged in approving these buildings and all of the incorporated cities have capitalized on what has been a weakness in Los Angeles. All of this development does spill over onto the streets of Los Angeles that has inadequate infrastructure to handle the traffic as people commute to jobs in these buildings. Beverly Hills has been one of the most prolific cities in capitalizing on the bureaucracy of Los Angeles.
When Century City (The City of the Future) was formed, over 50 years ago, there was supposed to be a freeway to get traffic into and out of this new business hub. The city of Beverly Hills organized to kill this important route that was called the “Beverly Hills Freeway.” This caused developments to slow because Century City was miles away from current freeways and getting to and from the hub proved difficult at rush hour. This subway would make Century City more relevant. Killing the stop at Constellation and Avenue of the Stars would essentially kill the subway for Century City and allow the City of Beverly Hills to continue their development pattern with less competition from Century City.
How many of you remember when Creative Artists Agency moved to Century City? How much revenue did the City of Beverly Hills lose? This isn’t a fight with a rich developer on one side and the people on the other side… this is a fight with rich people on both sides. Isn’t it odd that officials in Beverly Hills would be treating this like they were economically challenged in calling out the Century City developers?
The scientists have spoken and proclaimed that Santa Monica and Moreno isn’t a safe site for a subway stop because of two faults that intersect there. They have said that Constellation and Avenue of the Stars is safe. This includes Lucy Jones of the USGS, who was an unpaid volunteer.
So let’s take the rich developer interests out of the equation from both sides of this argument. What is in the best interests of the people? More ridership will embrace the subway at a stop in the heart of Century City. More workers (average people like you and me) will get on the subway and commute. Building on Santa Monica Blvd. isn’t safe. How many high school students could find themselves in that subway station during an earthquake? Let’s not put kids at risk. Experts have weighed in on building a subway under the high school and concluded that it is safe. Perhaps during the actual tunneling process no kids should be in the school. Perhaps the tunneling could be done during Spring Break.
Los Angeles has lagged in the development windfall that has struck our city. They shoulder an inordinate amount of the costs of the infrastructure to support the development of the incorporated cities. The tax base of Los Angeles has also lagged. This has created pressure on the budget of the city. Today we sit at a critical juncture to get it right for Los Angeles by getting it right for the workers in Century City. The subway is an important asset for the most important business hub on the West Coast. Let’s defer to the experts and scientists by building something safe and meaningful for the future… in the city of the future.
Our democratic process is awesome. Everybody gets to be heard, file lawsuits, or stop progress… for a time and when the people rally together to shirk the bullies the right thing gets done. I would hope that all of us get involved to see this issue through to a successful result for Century City and Los Angeles. Century City needs a subway… Los Angeles needs Century City. They majority of the public comments were in favor of the Constellation Station and they all seemed to be making logical appeals instead of emotional pleas. The Metro board approved the subway through La Cienega and Wilshire. There will be a hearing about the Beverly Hills findings and based upon this “new information” the Metro Board will plot the next step.
By Michael Douglas Carlin
I attended the board meeting of Metro this past week. I was in awe of our democratic process. The mayor presided with a presidential flare. He made us laugh and he kept the process moving. In the face of very sharp criticism he kept his cool. Whatever you might think of the mayor he is heading on to higher offices and more important roles… this is clear.
The City of Beverly Hills was in full force attempting to stop the subway from tunneling under the high school. Their mayor, city council, and city attorney all spoke during the public comment periods. Their argument was chiefly “it isn’t safe to tunnel under a school.” That didn’t stop the casting of aspersions; “Rich developers are conspiring to place the stop in the heart of Century City.”
This fight isn’t new. Beverly Hills and all incorporated cities within Los Angeles County have been building within their city’s limits at alarming rates. They get tax revenues from these developments. The city of Los Angeles has lagged in approving these buildings and all of the incorporated cities have capitalized on what has been a weakness in Los Angeles. All of this development does spill over onto the streets of Los Angeles that has inadequate infrastructure to handle the traffic as people commute to jobs in these buildings. Beverly Hills has been one of the most prolific cities in capitalizing on the bureaucracy of Los Angeles.
When Century City (The City of the Future) was formed, over 50 years ago, there was supposed to be a freeway to get traffic into and out of this new business hub. The city of Beverly Hills organized to kill this important route that was called the “Beverly Hills Freeway.” This caused developments to slow because Century City was miles away from current freeways and getting to and from the hub proved difficult at rush hour. This subway would make Century City more relevant. Killing the stop at Constellation and Avenue of the Stars would essentially kill the subway for Century City and allow the City of Beverly Hills to continue their development pattern with less competition from Century City.
How many of you remember when Creative Artists Agency moved to Century City? How much revenue did the City of Beverly Hills lose? This isn’t a fight with a rich developer on one side and the people on the other side… this is a fight with rich people on both sides. Isn’t it odd that officials in Beverly Hills would be treating this like they were economically challenged in calling out the Century City developers?
The scientists have spoken and proclaimed that Santa Monica and Moreno isn’t a safe site for a subway stop because of two faults that intersect there. They have said that Constellation and Avenue of the Stars is safe. This includes Lucy Jones of the USGS, who was an unpaid volunteer.
So let’s take the rich developer interests out of the equation from both sides of this argument. What is in the best interests of the people? More ridership will embrace the subway at a stop in the heart of Century City. More workers (average people like you and me) will get on the subway and commute. Building on Santa Monica Blvd. isn’t safe. How many high school students could find themselves in that subway station during an earthquake? Let’s not put kids at risk. Experts have weighed in on building a subway under the high school and concluded that it is safe. Perhaps during the actual tunneling process no kids should be in the school. Perhaps the tunneling could be done during Spring Break.
Los Angeles has lagged in the development windfall that has struck our city. They shoulder an inordinate amount of the costs of the infrastructure to support the development of the incorporated cities. The tax base of Los Angeles has also lagged. This has created pressure on the budget of the city. Today we sit at a critical juncture to get it right for Los Angeles by getting it right for the workers in Century City. The subway is an important asset for the most important business hub on the West Coast. Let’s defer to the experts and scientists by building something safe and meaningful for the future… in the city of the future.
Our democratic process is awesome. Everybody gets to be heard, file lawsuits, or stop progress… for a time and when the people rally together to shirk the bullies the right thing gets done. I would hope that all of us get involved to see this issue through to a successful result for Century City and Los Angeles. Century City needs a subway… Los Angeles needs Century City. They majority of the public comments were in favor of the Constellation Station and they all seemed to be making logical appeals instead of emotional pleas. The Metro board approved the subway through La Cienega and Wilshire. There will be a hearing about the Beverly Hills findings and based upon this “new information” the Metro Board will plot the next step.
PARK GRILL AT INTERCONTINENTAL LOS ANGELES PRESENTS THE MAD HATTER’S MOTHER’S DAY BRUNCH
(This article originally appeared in the May 1, 2012 edition of the Century City News)
Park Grill will be hosting a spectacular Mad Hatter’s Mother’s Day Brunch in the garden at InterContinental Los Angeles from 11am to 3pm on Sunday 13th May. Mothers are asked to please wear their best hats and the lady with the most fabulous hat (as chosen by our General Manager, Mr Steve Choe) will win a weekend stay in one of the hotel’s fabulous Luxury Suites!
Children are welcome and there will be some exciting games and activities just for them including a face painter and Mad Hatter themed arts and crafts! There will also be live music from the fabulou Des Afinados featuring Jessica Vautor (Bossa Nova with Caribbean flavor).
Park Grill will be serving all of your brunch favorites plus small bites such as Mini Maine Lobster Rolls, Mini Philly Cheesesteaks and Crispy Rice with Spicy Tuna. There will be a carving station with Prime Rib of Beef, Barolo Reduction and Horseradish Cream and a fabulous raw bar serving Snow Crab Claws, Peel and Eat Shrimp, West Coast Oysters in the Half Shell and Peruvian Style Mahi Mahi Ceviche.
Pastry Chef Orlando will provide a delightful selection of his hand crafted miniature desserts to round off this springtime feast!
Please call Park Grill at 310 284 6536 to make your reservations. Prices are: $65 per adult; $80 for brunch and unlimited Mimosas, Bloody Marys and Bellinis; $29 for children 4-12 years and free for children under 4 (tax and gratuity not included).
For full menu and further information, please visit our website www.intercontinentallosangeles.com
About InterContinental Los Angeles
An urban oasis on Avenue of the Stars - The renowned landmark of the InterContinental Los Angeles Hotel is just minutes away from Beverly Hills, major entertainment studios and sun-drenched beaches. The hotel features 361 spacious and stylish guestrooms including 148 suites, all of which offer inspiring panoramic views of Hollywood, Beverly Hills and the Pacific Ocean. Guests can dine in either the Park Grill Restaurant or in the elegant Lobby Lounge which offers tapas style shared plates, including the award winning sushi creations of Bar- Hayama. InterContinental Los Angeles offers 16,650 square feet of meeting space, including the newly renovated Grand Salon with more than 4,000 square feet of divisible space. Additional hotel amenities include
SPA InterContinental featuring Zen-inspired villas, a 24 hour fitness center, rooftop yoga and Zumba, sauna and steam room, as well as an outdoor heated infinity swimming pool. The InterContinental brand is located in more than 60 countries, operating 138 hotels worldwide and 48 hotels in the Americas region.
For more information and to make a reservation please visit www.intercontinentallosangeles.com or call 310.284.6500
Park Grill will be hosting a spectacular Mad Hatter’s Mother’s Day Brunch in the garden at InterContinental Los Angeles from 11am to 3pm on Sunday 13th May. Mothers are asked to please wear their best hats and the lady with the most fabulous hat (as chosen by our General Manager, Mr Steve Choe) will win a weekend stay in one of the hotel’s fabulous Luxury Suites!
Children are welcome and there will be some exciting games and activities just for them including a face painter and Mad Hatter themed arts and crafts! There will also be live music from the fabulou Des Afinados featuring Jessica Vautor (Bossa Nova with Caribbean flavor).
Park Grill will be serving all of your brunch favorites plus small bites such as Mini Maine Lobster Rolls, Mini Philly Cheesesteaks and Crispy Rice with Spicy Tuna. There will be a carving station with Prime Rib of Beef, Barolo Reduction and Horseradish Cream and a fabulous raw bar serving Snow Crab Claws, Peel and Eat Shrimp, West Coast Oysters in the Half Shell and Peruvian Style Mahi Mahi Ceviche.
Pastry Chef Orlando will provide a delightful selection of his hand crafted miniature desserts to round off this springtime feast!
Please call Park Grill at 310 284 6536 to make your reservations. Prices are: $65 per adult; $80 for brunch and unlimited Mimosas, Bloody Marys and Bellinis; $29 for children 4-12 years and free for children under 4 (tax and gratuity not included).
For full menu and further information, please visit our website www.intercontinentallosangeles.com
About InterContinental Los Angeles
An urban oasis on Avenue of the Stars - The renowned landmark of the InterContinental Los Angeles Hotel is just minutes away from Beverly Hills, major entertainment studios and sun-drenched beaches. The hotel features 361 spacious and stylish guestrooms including 148 suites, all of which offer inspiring panoramic views of Hollywood, Beverly Hills and the Pacific Ocean. Guests can dine in either the Park Grill Restaurant or in the elegant Lobby Lounge which offers tapas style shared plates, including the award winning sushi creations of Bar- Hayama. InterContinental Los Angeles offers 16,650 square feet of meeting space, including the newly renovated Grand Salon with more than 4,000 square feet of divisible space. Additional hotel amenities include
SPA InterContinental featuring Zen-inspired villas, a 24 hour fitness center, rooftop yoga and Zumba, sauna and steam room, as well as an outdoor heated infinity swimming pool. The InterContinental brand is located in more than 60 countries, operating 138 hotels worldwide and 48 hotels in the Americas region.
For more information and to make a reservation please visit www.intercontinentallosangeles.com or call 310.284.6500
INTERCONTINENTAL LOS ANGELES LAUNCHES STATE OF THE ART RENOVATED GRAND SALON BALLROOM
(This article originally appeared in the May 1, 2012 edition of the Century City News)
The InterContinental Los Angeles opened its newly renovated Grand Salon Ballroom with an event for around 500 guests last week. The contemporary space with chrome, white and charcoal accents has an extended pre-function area with built-in LED lights, and state of the art technology. Music was provided by the Infusion Experience, from 11H Entertainment, and guests were treated to chair massages and manicures from Spa InterContinental.
The official ribbon cutting was performed by Ms. Susan Bursk, President and CEO Century City Chamber of Commerce, Ms. Mari Miyoshi, Hotel Owner and President Sumitomo Realty Development USA, and Mr. Steve Choe, General Manager InterContinental Los Angeles.
On April 12th 2012, InterContinental Los Angeles launched their newly renovated event space – their Grand Salon Ballroom and Foyer. With chrome, white and charcoal accents, this elegant ballroom space is an ideal backdrop for any event with a modern and sleek look and feel. With built in LED lights, and state of the art technology, the timeless Grand Salon Ballroom is the perfect choice for any wedding, meeting or event.
The hotel was able to keep the integrity of the original structure and many of its unique features including the chandeliers from the original construction in 1988. The brass from the chandeliers has been resurfaced to sparkling chrome and the crystals were preserved and revitalized to create a breathtaking centerpiece. Being situated on the back lot of 20th Century Fox studio and keeping in line with the hotel’s rich entertainment heritage, set designers from local movie and TV studios were brought in to hand paint the woodwork with their ‘scenic art’ for a spectacular and dramatic effect.
In keeping with the hotel’s mission to sustain the environment, and to enhance the design of the Ballroom, LED lighting has been introduced into the space. The lights can reflect any color from the color spectrum allowing clients an infinite number of options for their event. The versatile Grand Salon Ballroom accommodates 400 for a reception, 300 for a seated dinner and 200 classroom style. The adjoining Grand Salon Foyer has also been extended and makes a perfect break or pre-reception area. For all catering and event queries, please contact Robert Nichols, Director of Catering, at robert.nichols@ihg.com or call310 284 6500.
Says General Manager of the InterContinental, Mr. Steve Choe, “I grew up coming to this hotel for some of the most memorable and amazing events having attended the local high school of Beverly Hills. I was always wowed by this hotel and it’s truly a dream come true and an honor to be at the helm of this great property. The staff here are special and the very best I have ever worked with. Our new Grand Salon Ballroom is a wonderful compliment to our staff in assisting our legacy of delivering these memorable and amazing experiences for the generations to come.”
This project was a great experience in working closely with our Owner and President of Sumitomo Realty Development, USA. I realize that in today’s hotel world it is not common to work daily with an owner on such a project, however I have to say it truly made the process much easier than typical renovations and the outcome exceeded our expectations. So a very special ‘thank you’ to Ms. Mari Miyoshi as this entire project would have not been possible without her support.’
About InterContinental Los Angeles
An urban oasis on Avenue of the Stars - The renowned landmark of the InterContinental Los Angeles Hotel is just minutes away from Beverly Hills, major entertainment studios and sun-drenched beaches. The hotel features 361 spacious and stylish guestrooms including 148 suites, all of which offer inspiring panoramic views of Hollywood, Beverly Hills and the Pacific Ocean.
Guests can dine in either the Park Grill Restaurant or in the elegant Lobby Lounge which offers tapas style shared plates, including the award winning sushi creations of Bar-Hayama. InterContinental Los Angeles offers 16,650 square feet of meeting space, including the newly renovated Grand Salon with more than 4,000 square feet of divisible space. Additional hotel amenities include SPA InterContinental featuring Zen-inspired villas, a 24 hour fitness center, rooftop yoga and Zumba, sauna and steam room, as well as an outdoor heated infinity swimming pool. The InterContinental brand is located in more than 60 countries, operating 138 hotels worldwide and 48 hotels in the Americas region. For more information and to make a reservation please visit www.intercontinentallosangeles.com or call 310.284.6500
The InterContinental Los Angeles opened its newly renovated Grand Salon Ballroom with an event for around 500 guests last week. The contemporary space with chrome, white and charcoal accents has an extended pre-function area with built-in LED lights, and state of the art technology. Music was provided by the Infusion Experience, from 11H Entertainment, and guests were treated to chair massages and manicures from Spa InterContinental.
The official ribbon cutting was performed by Ms. Susan Bursk, President and CEO Century City Chamber of Commerce, Ms. Mari Miyoshi, Hotel Owner and President Sumitomo Realty Development USA, and Mr. Steve Choe, General Manager InterContinental Los Angeles.
On April 12th 2012, InterContinental Los Angeles launched their newly renovated event space – their Grand Salon Ballroom and Foyer. With chrome, white and charcoal accents, this elegant ballroom space is an ideal backdrop for any event with a modern and sleek look and feel. With built in LED lights, and state of the art technology, the timeless Grand Salon Ballroom is the perfect choice for any wedding, meeting or event.The hotel was able to keep the integrity of the original structure and many of its unique features including the chandeliers from the original construction in 1988. The brass from the chandeliers has been resurfaced to sparkling chrome and the crystals were preserved and revitalized to create a breathtaking centerpiece. Being situated on the back lot of 20th Century Fox studio and keeping in line with the hotel’s rich entertainment heritage, set designers from local movie and TV studios were brought in to hand paint the woodwork with their ‘scenic art’ for a spectacular and dramatic effect.
In keeping with the hotel’s mission to sustain the environment, and to enhance the design of the Ballroom, LED lighting has been introduced into the space. The lights can reflect any color from the color spectrum allowing clients an infinite number of options for their event. The versatile Grand Salon Ballroom accommodates 400 for a reception, 300 for a seated dinner and 200 classroom style. The adjoining Grand Salon Foyer has also been extended and makes a perfect break or pre-reception area. For all catering and event queries, please contact Robert Nichols, Director of Catering, at robert.nichols@ihg.com or call310 284 6500.
Says General Manager of the InterContinental, Mr. Steve Choe, “I grew up coming to this hotel for some of the most memorable and amazing events having attended the local high school of Beverly Hills. I was always wowed by this hotel and it’s truly a dream come true and an honor to be at the helm of this great property. The staff here are special and the very best I have ever worked with. Our new Grand Salon Ballroom is a wonderful compliment to our staff in assisting our legacy of delivering these memorable and amazing experiences for the generations to come.”
This project was a great experience in working closely with our Owner and President of Sumitomo Realty Development, USA. I realize that in today’s hotel world it is not common to work daily with an owner on such a project, however I have to say it truly made the process much easier than typical renovations and the outcome exceeded our expectations. So a very special ‘thank you’ to Ms. Mari Miyoshi as this entire project would have not been possible without her support.’
About InterContinental Los Angeles
An urban oasis on Avenue of the Stars - The renowned landmark of the InterContinental Los Angeles Hotel is just minutes away from Beverly Hills, major entertainment studios and sun-drenched beaches. The hotel features 361 spacious and stylish guestrooms including 148 suites, all of which offer inspiring panoramic views of Hollywood, Beverly Hills and the Pacific Ocean.
Guests can dine in either the Park Grill Restaurant or in the elegant Lobby Lounge which offers tapas style shared plates, including the award winning sushi creations of Bar-Hayama. InterContinental Los Angeles offers 16,650 square feet of meeting space, including the newly renovated Grand Salon with more than 4,000 square feet of divisible space. Additional hotel amenities include SPA InterContinental featuring Zen-inspired villas, a 24 hour fitness center, rooftop yoga and Zumba, sauna and steam room, as well as an outdoor heated infinity swimming pool. The InterContinental brand is located in more than 60 countries, operating 138 hotels worldwide and 48 hotels in the Americas region. For more information and to make a reservation please visit www.intercontinentallosangeles.com or call 310.284.6500
Monday, March 31, 2014
National Information and Help Resources
(This Article Appeared in the Volume 18, Issue 2 edition of Steps For Recovery)
NATIONAL INFORMATION AND HELP RESOURCES
12 Step Web: 12stepsoberliving.com Email: Joellisa12step@aol.com.
Adult Children of Alcoholics World Service Organization: (310) 534-1815, www.adultchildren.org.
ACA (Adult Child of Alcoholic or Dysfunctional Family) Phone Bridge Meeting Info Line, Toll Free: 877-783-7703 (877-STEPS-03). Web:
adultchildren.org. Contact Lisa at 818-445-9901
ADP California Dept. of Alcohol and Drug Programs (800) 879-2772. www.adp.ca.gov
Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, 475 Riverside Dr, New York, NY 10115, (212) 870-3400. www.aa.org
American Council for Phoenix House Drug Education www.acde.org (800) 488-DRUG (3784)
Bilingual Shelter for Victims of Domestic Violence, (800) 548-2722 (24 Hour).
California Rehab Guide: Free On-Line Rehab Directory - www.calrehabguide.com
Child Protection Helpline, (800) 540-4000 (24 Hour).
National Substance Abuse Treatment Referral Hotline (800) 662-HELP (4357)
Cocaine Anonymous World Service Offices, (310) 216- 4444. www.ca.org
Codependents for friends and family of Sex Addicts, (COSA) (763) 537-6904, www.cosarecovery.org
County of Los Angeles Department of Mental Health (800) 854-7771, has complete listing of mental health providers at www.dmh.co.la.ca.us/providers/allprov.htm
Domestic Violence National (SAFE): (800) 799-7233 Crisis Hotline Bilingual 24 hr.
Families Anonymous (800) 736-9805 www.familiesanonymous.org
Food Addicts in Recovery Anonymous (FA) National Office (781) 932-6300. www.foodaddicts.org
HHS The U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services, (877) 696-6775, www.dhhs.gov
IVDARS Recovery Centers, (free referrals) 800-870-2281. www.inlandrecovery.org
Jason Foundation A Youth Suicide Prevention Program (888) 881-2323, www.jasonfoundation.com
Literacy Hotline (800) 707-7323
Love Addicts Anonymous www.Loveaddicts.org
Marijuana Anonymous (800) 766-6779.
Nar-Anon Family Groups (800) 477-6291 www.nar-anon.org
National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence Headquarters, (All NCADDs provide help & info and other alcohol/drug related services). www.ncadd.org
NCADI National Clearinghouse for Alcohol & Drug Information, (800) 729-6686. www.ncadi.samhsa.gov
NCH National Coalition for the Homeless (202) 462- 4822, www.nationalhomeless.org
Nicotine Anonymous (877) TRY-NICA (879-6422)
Problem Gambling 24-Hour Help Line (Calif.) (800) Gambler or (800) 522-4700.
RAINN Hotline National Sexual Assault Hotline 800-656-HOPE (4673)
Rape Hotline (24 Hours) (800) 585-6231. www.elawe.org
Runaway Hotine (800) RUN-AWAY www.1800runaway.org
Sex Addicts Anonymous (800) 477-8191 www.saa-recovery.org
L.A. & SURROUNDING COUNTY RESOURCE GUIDE
AA Los Angeles (323) 936-4343.
AA Los Angeles (Spanish) (323) 750-2038.
AA Meetings/Ala-non: Temple City (626) 286-9975.
Alcoholics Anonymous (SGV) Central Office (626) 914-1861.
Adult Children of Alcoholics South Bay (310) 320- 3931. www.adultchildren.org
Addicts for Christ Los Angeles (310) 452-4328. www.addictsforchrist.org
www.AddictionSearch.com: Resources & Information.
Al-Anon/Alateen LA County (818) 760-7122.
Al-Anon/Alateen Spanish, LA County, (562) 948-2190.
Alcoholics Anonymous Central Office (818) 988-3001.
Alcoholics Anonymous Santa Clarita Valley Central Office: (661) 250-9922, www.scv-aa.org.
Anorexia & Bulimia - Overeaters Anonymous: (626) 335-3355. Inland Empire
Artists Meeting of Debtors Anonymous www.SoCalDA.org 310-822-7250.
AVYFS, Antelope Valley Youth And Family Services (661) 949-1069.
CCBCDC: California Certification Board of Chemical Dependency Counselors (562) 624-1111. www.CaliforniaCertificationBoard.org
CAARR California Association of Addiction Recovery Resources (916) 338-9460, www.caarr.org
CADCA Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of American (800) 54-CADCA.
CCPG California Council on Problem Gambling www.calproblemgambling.org (800) 522-4700.
Center for Living and Learning Job Search Preparation Program (888) 266-1919. Van Nuys. www.center4living.lle.org
Cocaine Anonymous World Service Office (310) 559- 5833. www.ca.org.
Clutterers Anonymous (310) 281-6064.
Cocaine Anonymous of the SFV, (818) 760-8402
Co-Dependents Anonymous (CoDA) Los Angeles (323) 969-4995.
Compulsive Eaters Anonymous: (562) 942-8161.
Compulsive Eaters Anonymous: (818) 503-7484. www.valleyhow.org
Crystal Meth-Anonymous (213) 488-4455.
Crystal Meth-Anonymous Temple City (626) 286-9975.
Divorce Anonymous (SHARE) (310) 305-8878.
Double Trouble in Recovery (SHARE) (310) 305-8878.
Dual Diagnosis 12-Step Study Thursdays, (310) 305-8878.
Emotional Health Anonymous (SGV) (626) 287-6260.
Emotions Anonymous Info Line (323) 589-3768.
Emotions Anonymous (SFV) (818) 377-4341.
Eternal Grace: Christian Recovery Ministry (818) 769-7627.
Fear of Success Anonymous: FOSA. (818) 628-6873.
Food Addicts Anonymous www.foodaddictsanonymous.org
Food Addicts in Recovery Anonymous (FA) (800) 600-6028. Meeting info at www.foodaddicts.org
Friends helping Friends Inc: Homeless, No Money, We can help - Sober Living. (323) 293-9778.
Homeless Shelter for women Sunshine Mission, (213) 747-7419 www.sunshinemission.org
Gay & Lesbian Alcoholics Alcoholism Recovery Support www.gayalcoholics.com
Gay Treatment of drug alcohol abuse depression mental illness or anxiety. (323) 671-1600. www.AlternativesInc.com
Homeless Health Care Los Angeles www.hhcla.org, (213) 381-0515
INFO LINE community service referrals, shelter, food, medical, (800) 339-6993 or simply dial 211.
Latino Family Alcohol & Drug Abuse (323) 722-4529 www.chcada.org
Life Recovery: 12 Step-Christian Ministry, (310) 463- 4945. www.12steppin2jesus.com.
MADD Mother Against Drunk Drivers, (916) 921-6233.
Marijuana Anonymous Los Angeles (323) 964-2370.
Marijuana Anonymous Van Nuys (818) 759-9194.
Marijuana Anonymous Inland Empire (626) 583-9582.
National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) San Fernando Valley Chapter, Free Meetings (818) 994-6747
Narcotics Anonymous Southern California Regional Office (626) 359-0084.
Narcotics Anonymous (818) 773-9999.
Narcotics Anonymous Greater Hollywood AreaHelpline (323) 850-1624
Narcotics Anonymous of the SFV (818) 997-3822.
Narcotics Anonymous (West Valley) (818) 787-9706.
Narcotics Anonymous Westside (310) 390-0279.
Narcotics Anonymous, Temple City, (626) 286-9975.
Nicotine Anonymous (800) 642-0666
Obsessive Compulsive Support Group (SHARE) (310) 305-8878.
Overeaters Anonymous-Beach Cities (310) 374- 8533.
Overeaters Anonymous LA Intergroup (323) 653-7652. www.oalaig.org
Overeaters Anonymous 24 Hour (323) 653-7499.
Overeaters Anonymous - SFV Intergroup (818) 342-2222.
Overeaters Anonymous San Gabriel Valley Intergroup (626) 335-3355.
Overeaters Anonymous South Bay (562) 493-9030.
Pasadena Mental Health Center-Low fee counseling www.pmhc.org, (626) 798-0907 1495 Lake Ave. Pasadena
Pills Anonymous www.pillsanonymous.com
Parenting and Anger Management classes offered in Long Beach and Rosemead. Individual,Family, group, couples counseling. Court mandates
accepted. Call Dr. Williams (562) 290-7331.
Problem Gambling 24-hour Help (800) 322-8748 (CA only) (760) 320-0234.
Rageaholics Anonymous (310) 877-9899. Ask for Tom
Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic Los Angeles (323) 664-5525 or www.rfbdla.org
Recovery, Inc. Nervous Symptoms, Fears, Anger Management, Anxiety, Depression, OCD (323) 651-2170.
Recovering CouplesAnon. www.Recovering-Couples.org
The Salvation Army Adult Rehab Center, 21375 Roscoe Blvd., Canoga Park, (818) 883-6321.
Salvation Army Long Beach Adult Rehabilitation Center. Men’s residential faith based program. No Cost to Participants,1370 Alamitos Ave., Long Beach, CA, 562-218-2355.
Secular Organization For Sobriety (323) 666-4295.
www.SerenityQuest.org promoting healing & growth.
Sex Addicts Anonymous (213) 896-2964.
Sex & Love Addicts Anonymous (323) 957-4881.
Sexaholics Anonymous (SA) (310) 491-8845.
Sexual Compulsive Anonymous (310) 859-5585.
Sexual Recovery Anonymous (323) 850-8565.
S-Anon (Friends and Families of Sex Addicts) (818) 973-2235 or http://sanonsocal.org
SHARE For all other self-help groups (310) 305-8878.
Sober Living Network (310) 396-5270.
Survivors of Incest Anonymous (562) 630-6844. www.siawso.org
The Other Bar: free. 12 step based peer recovery network for lawyers and law students with substance abuse problems 800-222-0767; otherbar.org
The Sober Living Network referral service (800) 799-2084.
Workaholics Anonymous (310) 358-6587.
Young People in Alcoholics Anonymous Los Angeles County. www.LACYPAA.org
ORANGE /VENTURA COUNTY
2-1-1- Orange County, referrals for alcohol/drug,shelters for homeless, food, domestic violence, child abuse. Call 211 or 888-600-4357. www.211oc.org
Adult Children of Alcoholics (714) 549-5733.
Alcohol/Drug Education Prevention Team (ADEPT),(714) 834-4058.
AA Central Office (562) 595-7831. www.oc-aa.org
AA Satalite Office Mission Viejo, (949) 582-2697.
AA Central Office of Camarillo, (805) 495-1111.
Al-Anon (714)748-1113.
ASH (Alcoholic Services for Homosexuals) (714) 534-5820 (24 Hour).
Battered Women’s Helpline (714) 891-8121.
CODA (Co-dependents Anonymous), (714) 573-0174.
Family Alcohol/Drug Counseling Center, (805) 988-1031.
HER PLACE: Paths to Recovery for Women: Non-Profit Counseling and Groups, Laguna Hills (949) 707-5111.
Hispanic Alcoholism Services, (714) 531-4624.
Marijuana Anonymous, (714) 999-9409.
Narcotics Anonymous Hotline, (805) 641-0451.
New Beginnings Fellowship Center Sober Club- 12- Step (714) 839-5501.
Overcomers Outreach (Christian 12-Step Support group) (800) 310-3001.
Overeaters Anonymous (714) 953-0900.
Rape Crisis Hotline, (714) 957-2737.
Recovery Solutions: (714) 542-3581.
SPIN: Serving People In Need, Non-profit. Assists homeless or low-income newly recovering alcoholics & addicts, with housing, transportation, medical, clothing, dental, job search, education, etc. (714) 751-1101. www.spinoc.org
SAN BERNARDINO & RIVERSIDE COUNTY
Alcoholics Anonymous (909) 825-4700.
Alcoholics Anonymous, Temecula (951) 695-1535.
Narcotics Anonymous Southern California RegionalOffice (626) 359-0084.
Narcotics Anonymous Helpline (800) 397-2333.
Narcotics Anonymous Helpline (909) 370-3568.
Narcotics Anonymous 24 hr. Helpline (909) 584-7115.
Narcotics Anonymous Desert Empire (760) 255-2045.
Narcotics Anonymous Barstow (760) 346-5800.
Narcotics Anonymous Southwest (951) 652-5326.
Salvation Army Adult Rehab (909) 889-9605.
SAN DIEGO COUNTY
Adult Children of Alcoholics (619) 287-7782.
Alcoholics Anonymous Central Office (619) 265-8762.
Al-Anon (619) 296-2666.
Children of the Night (800) 551-1300.
Co-Dependents Anonymous, meetings (619) 222-1244.
Compulsive Eaters Anonymous HOW (619) 543-8961.
Gamblers Anonymous (GA) Hotline (866) 239-2911.
Narcotics Anonymous Central Office (619) 584-1007.
Nicotine Anonymous (619) 682-7092.
Rape Crisis (858) 272-1767.
San Diego City Help, non-profit support group for persons with herpes. (619) 491-1194.
Salvation Army Rehab Center, (619) 239-4037.
Sex Addicts Anonymous (760) 736-0644.
Sexaholics Anonymous (858) 495-2446.
Suicide/Crisis Intervention (800) 479-3339.
ARIZONA
Alcoholics Anonymous, (602) 264-1341; East (480) 834-9033; West (623) 937-7770.
Cocaine Anonymous, (602) 279-3838.
Domestic Violence Shelter: (800) 799-7739 or (602)263-8900.
E.D.A.(Eating Disorders Anonymous) www.eatingdisordersanonymous.org
Gamblers Anonymous (602) 266-9784.
Gam-anon (480) 893-2729 or (480) 598-1226
Narcotics Anonymous, Meeting info. (480) 897-4636, www.arizona-na.org
National Council on Alcoholism and Drug
Dependence, 4201 N. 16th St., Suite 140, Phoenix 85016, (602) 264-6214.
Overeaters Anonymous (602) 234-1195.
NATIONAL COUNCIL ON ALCOHOLISM & DRUG DEPENDENCE WWW.NCADD.ORG
NCADD San Gabriel & Pomona Valleys, (626) 331-5316.
NCAAD of Pasadena, (626) 795-9127.
NCAAD of Sacramento, (916) 922-9217
NCADD of South Bay Area, (310) 328-1460.
NCADD of Long Beach, (562) 426-8262.
NCADD of Santa Clarita Valley (6661.253.9400 .
NCADD of the San Fernando Valley, (818) 997-0414
NCADD of Orange County (949) 770-0847.
NCADD of San Diego (619) 553-8173.
NCAAD of San Francisco, (415) 296-9900.
NCAAD of San Jose (408) 292-7292.
NCAAD of Santa Barbara, (805) 963-1433
NCAAD of Tulare, (559) 688-2994
INFORMATION & REFERRAL SERVICES
AIM HealthCare Foundation, physical & emotional needs of those who work in adult entertainment (818) 981-5681.
Battered Women/Children Hotline, (818) 887-6589.
Because I Love You, Nationally Known Parent And
Teen Support Group. (818) 882-4881or www.bily.org
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Information (626) 793-7350.
San Fernando Valley Counseling Center, affordable mental health services (818) 341-1111.
Jason Foundation A Youth Suicide Prevention Program (888) 881-2323, www.jasonfoundation.com
Suicide Prevention 24Hour Assessment Center (800) SUICIDE (784-2433).
Suicide Prevention Center (877) 727-4747
The Council of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse (CADA) Drop-In Center (805) 962-6195, www.cadasb.org
DISABILITY SERVICES
Job Accommodation Centers, Toll Free 1-800-526- 7234 (voice & TDD).
RIDE INFO Paratransit Referral Service, transportation voucher program, (800) 431-7882.
Social Security & Medicare Eligibility, Info (800) 772-1213, TDD (800) 288-7185.
FOOD AND FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE
Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services, Info on General Relief, Aid to Families w/Dependent Children (AFDC), Food Stamps, MediCal and other forms for financial assistance, (213) 744-6623.
INFO LINE of Los Angeles, referrals to emergency food programs and emergency housing. (800) 339-6993 Also 211 (24 Hour). TDD (800) 660-4026.
COMMUNITY SERVICES
24 Hour INFO Line Burbank/Glendale (818) 956-1100,
San Fernando Valley (818) 501-4447
HEP C / HIV / AIDS INFORMATION
California HIV/AIDS Hotline (800) 367-2437.Spanish (800) 400-7432.
Friends of AIDS Foundation (310) 401-4755. Referrals to HIV/AIDS programs and services in Los Angeles County.
National AIDS Hotline, (800) CDCINFO. (800) 344- SIDA (Spanish), (800) AIDS-TTY (TTD/TTY for deaf)
REACH (risk reduction education and community health) FREE HIV Prevention education and testing for HIV, HEP B&C and Syphilis. Referrals for substance abuse-etc., HIV+ or HIV- people in need. (866) 33-REACH, (714) 834-7926.
On-Line Resources for Hep C: www.hepcsource.com www.hepcstraightup.com • www.hepatitusc.org • www.hepatitusfree.com • www.hepnet.com • www.hepcnet.com
12 Step & Big Book Study (Hep C): www.hcvanonymous.org
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
BURBANK SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST CHURCH: Christ-centered recovery program. Leaders needed now! Contact LaVivas for more info. (818) 848-7051, outreach@burbanksda.com
PRO-CARE HOSPICE NEEDS VOLUNTEERS to work with Patients and their families and to provide support to those facing a life-limiting illness. Linda Martinez at (818) 895- 8000. Sara Berman Rabbi/Chaplin
SHARE! the Self-Help And Recovery Exchange, a project of the Emotional Health Assoc, a CA. non-profit organization, is looking for volunteers. Bi-lingual English/Spanish helpful. Call Alison Douglas Mon.-Thurs. 10am-5pm (310) 305-8878.
NATIONAL INFORMATION AND HELP RESOURCES
12 Step Web: 12stepsoberliving.com Email: Joellisa12step@aol.com.
Adult Children of Alcoholics World Service Organization: (310) 534-1815, www.adultchildren.org.
ACA (Adult Child of Alcoholic or Dysfunctional Family) Phone Bridge Meeting Info Line, Toll Free: 877-783-7703 (877-STEPS-03). Web:
adultchildren.org. Contact Lisa at 818-445-9901
ADP California Dept. of Alcohol and Drug Programs (800) 879-2772. www.adp.ca.gov
Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, 475 Riverside Dr, New York, NY 10115, (212) 870-3400. www.aa.org
American Council for Phoenix House Drug Education www.acde.org (800) 488-DRUG (3784)
Bilingual Shelter for Victims of Domestic Violence, (800) 548-2722 (24 Hour).
California Rehab Guide: Free On-Line Rehab Directory - www.calrehabguide.com
Child Protection Helpline, (800) 540-4000 (24 Hour).
National Substance Abuse Treatment Referral Hotline (800) 662-HELP (4357)
Cocaine Anonymous World Service Offices, (310) 216- 4444. www.ca.org
Codependents for friends and family of Sex Addicts, (COSA) (763) 537-6904, www.cosarecovery.org
County of Los Angeles Department of Mental Health (800) 854-7771, has complete listing of mental health providers at www.dmh.co.la.ca.us/providers/allprov.htm
Domestic Violence National (SAFE): (800) 799-7233 Crisis Hotline Bilingual 24 hr.
Families Anonymous (800) 736-9805 www.familiesanonymous.org
Food Addicts in Recovery Anonymous (FA) National Office (781) 932-6300. www.foodaddicts.org
HHS The U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services, (877) 696-6775, www.dhhs.gov
IVDARS Recovery Centers, (free referrals) 800-870-2281. www.inlandrecovery.org
Jason Foundation A Youth Suicide Prevention Program (888) 881-2323, www.jasonfoundation.com
Literacy Hotline (800) 707-7323
Love Addicts Anonymous www.Loveaddicts.org
Marijuana Anonymous (800) 766-6779.
Nar-Anon Family Groups (800) 477-6291 www.nar-anon.org
National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence Headquarters, (All NCADDs provide help & info and other alcohol/drug related services). www.ncadd.org
NCADI National Clearinghouse for Alcohol & Drug Information, (800) 729-6686. www.ncadi.samhsa.gov
NCH National Coalition for the Homeless (202) 462- 4822, www.nationalhomeless.org
Nicotine Anonymous (877) TRY-NICA (879-6422)
Problem Gambling 24-Hour Help Line (Calif.) (800) Gambler or (800) 522-4700.
RAINN Hotline National Sexual Assault Hotline 800-656-HOPE (4673)
Rape Hotline (24 Hours) (800) 585-6231. www.elawe.org
Runaway Hotine (800) RUN-AWAY www.1800runaway.org
Sex Addicts Anonymous (800) 477-8191 www.saa-recovery.org
L.A. & SURROUNDING COUNTY RESOURCE GUIDE
AA Los Angeles (323) 936-4343.
AA Los Angeles (Spanish) (323) 750-2038.
AA Meetings/Ala-non: Temple City (626) 286-9975.
Alcoholics Anonymous (SGV) Central Office (626) 914-1861.
Adult Children of Alcoholics South Bay (310) 320- 3931. www.adultchildren.org
Addicts for Christ Los Angeles (310) 452-4328. www.addictsforchrist.org
www.AddictionSearch.com: Resources & Information.
Al-Anon/Alateen LA County (818) 760-7122.
Al-Anon/Alateen Spanish, LA County, (562) 948-2190.
Alcoholics Anonymous Central Office (818) 988-3001.
Alcoholics Anonymous Santa Clarita Valley Central Office: (661) 250-9922, www.scv-aa.org.
Anorexia & Bulimia - Overeaters Anonymous: (626) 335-3355. Inland Empire
Artists Meeting of Debtors Anonymous www.SoCalDA.org 310-822-7250.
AVYFS, Antelope Valley Youth And Family Services (661) 949-1069.
CCBCDC: California Certification Board of Chemical Dependency Counselors (562) 624-1111. www.CaliforniaCertificationBoard.org
CAARR California Association of Addiction Recovery Resources (916) 338-9460, www.caarr.org
CADCA Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of American (800) 54-CADCA.
CCPG California Council on Problem Gambling www.calproblemgambling.org (800) 522-4700.
Center for Living and Learning Job Search Preparation Program (888) 266-1919. Van Nuys. www.center4living.lle.org
Cocaine Anonymous World Service Office (310) 559- 5833. www.ca.org.
Clutterers Anonymous (310) 281-6064.
Cocaine Anonymous of the SFV, (818) 760-8402
Co-Dependents Anonymous (CoDA) Los Angeles (323) 969-4995.
Compulsive Eaters Anonymous: (562) 942-8161.
Compulsive Eaters Anonymous: (818) 503-7484. www.valleyhow.org
Crystal Meth-Anonymous (213) 488-4455.
Crystal Meth-Anonymous Temple City (626) 286-9975.
Divorce Anonymous (SHARE) (310) 305-8878.
Double Trouble in Recovery (SHARE) (310) 305-8878.
Dual Diagnosis 12-Step Study Thursdays, (310) 305-8878.
Emotional Health Anonymous (SGV) (626) 287-6260.
Emotions Anonymous Info Line (323) 589-3768.
Emotions Anonymous (SFV) (818) 377-4341.
Eternal Grace: Christian Recovery Ministry (818) 769-7627.
Fear of Success Anonymous: FOSA. (818) 628-6873.
Food Addicts Anonymous www.foodaddictsanonymous.org
Food Addicts in Recovery Anonymous (FA) (800) 600-6028. Meeting info at www.foodaddicts.org
Friends helping Friends Inc: Homeless, No Money, We can help - Sober Living. (323) 293-9778.
Homeless Shelter for women Sunshine Mission, (213) 747-7419 www.sunshinemission.org
Gay & Lesbian Alcoholics Alcoholism Recovery Support www.gayalcoholics.com
Gay Treatment of drug alcohol abuse depression mental illness or anxiety. (323) 671-1600. www.AlternativesInc.com
Homeless Health Care Los Angeles www.hhcla.org, (213) 381-0515
INFO LINE community service referrals, shelter, food, medical, (800) 339-6993 or simply dial 211.
Latino Family Alcohol & Drug Abuse (323) 722-4529 www.chcada.org
Life Recovery: 12 Step-Christian Ministry, (310) 463- 4945. www.12steppin2jesus.com.
MADD Mother Against Drunk Drivers, (916) 921-6233.
Marijuana Anonymous Los Angeles (323) 964-2370.
Marijuana Anonymous Van Nuys (818) 759-9194.
Marijuana Anonymous Inland Empire (626) 583-9582.
National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) San Fernando Valley Chapter, Free Meetings (818) 994-6747
Narcotics Anonymous Southern California Regional Office (626) 359-0084.
Narcotics Anonymous (818) 773-9999.
Narcotics Anonymous Greater Hollywood AreaHelpline (323) 850-1624
Narcotics Anonymous of the SFV (818) 997-3822.
Narcotics Anonymous (West Valley) (818) 787-9706.
Narcotics Anonymous Westside (310) 390-0279.
Narcotics Anonymous, Temple City, (626) 286-9975.
Nicotine Anonymous (800) 642-0666
Obsessive Compulsive Support Group (SHARE) (310) 305-8878.
Overeaters Anonymous-Beach Cities (310) 374- 8533.
Overeaters Anonymous LA Intergroup (323) 653-7652. www.oalaig.org
Overeaters Anonymous 24 Hour (323) 653-7499.
Overeaters Anonymous - SFV Intergroup (818) 342-2222.
Overeaters Anonymous San Gabriel Valley Intergroup (626) 335-3355.
Overeaters Anonymous South Bay (562) 493-9030.
Pasadena Mental Health Center-Low fee counseling www.pmhc.org, (626) 798-0907 1495 Lake Ave. Pasadena
Pills Anonymous www.pillsanonymous.com
Parenting and Anger Management classes offered in Long Beach and Rosemead. Individual,Family, group, couples counseling. Court mandates
accepted. Call Dr. Williams (562) 290-7331.
Problem Gambling 24-hour Help (800) 322-8748 (CA only) (760) 320-0234.
Rageaholics Anonymous (310) 877-9899. Ask for Tom
Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic Los Angeles (323) 664-5525 or www.rfbdla.org
Recovery, Inc. Nervous Symptoms, Fears, Anger Management, Anxiety, Depression, OCD (323) 651-2170.
Recovering CouplesAnon. www.Recovering-Couples.org
The Salvation Army Adult Rehab Center, 21375 Roscoe Blvd., Canoga Park, (818) 883-6321.
Salvation Army Long Beach Adult Rehabilitation Center. Men’s residential faith based program. No Cost to Participants,1370 Alamitos Ave., Long Beach, CA, 562-218-2355.
Secular Organization For Sobriety (323) 666-4295.
www.SerenityQuest.org promoting healing & growth.
Sex Addicts Anonymous (213) 896-2964.
Sex & Love Addicts Anonymous (323) 957-4881.
Sexaholics Anonymous (SA) (310) 491-8845.
Sexual Compulsive Anonymous (310) 859-5585.
Sexual Recovery Anonymous (323) 850-8565.
S-Anon (Friends and Families of Sex Addicts) (818) 973-2235 or http://sanonsocal.org
SHARE For all other self-help groups (310) 305-8878.
Sober Living Network (310) 396-5270.
Survivors of Incest Anonymous (562) 630-6844. www.siawso.org
The Other Bar: free. 12 step based peer recovery network for lawyers and law students with substance abuse problems 800-222-0767; otherbar.org
The Sober Living Network referral service (800) 799-2084.
Workaholics Anonymous (310) 358-6587.
Young People in Alcoholics Anonymous Los Angeles County. www.LACYPAA.org
ORANGE /VENTURA COUNTY
2-1-1- Orange County, referrals for alcohol/drug,shelters for homeless, food, domestic violence, child abuse. Call 211 or 888-600-4357. www.211oc.org
Adult Children of Alcoholics (714) 549-5733.
Alcohol/Drug Education Prevention Team (ADEPT),(714) 834-4058.
AA Central Office (562) 595-7831. www.oc-aa.org
AA Satalite Office Mission Viejo, (949) 582-2697.
AA Central Office of Camarillo, (805) 495-1111.
Al-Anon (714)748-1113.
ASH (Alcoholic Services for Homosexuals) (714) 534-5820 (24 Hour).
Battered Women’s Helpline (714) 891-8121.
CODA (Co-dependents Anonymous), (714) 573-0174.
Family Alcohol/Drug Counseling Center, (805) 988-1031.
HER PLACE: Paths to Recovery for Women: Non-Profit Counseling and Groups, Laguna Hills (949) 707-5111.
Hispanic Alcoholism Services, (714) 531-4624.
Marijuana Anonymous, (714) 999-9409.
Narcotics Anonymous Hotline, (805) 641-0451.
New Beginnings Fellowship Center Sober Club- 12- Step (714) 839-5501.
Overcomers Outreach (Christian 12-Step Support group) (800) 310-3001.
Overeaters Anonymous (714) 953-0900.
Rape Crisis Hotline, (714) 957-2737.
Recovery Solutions: (714) 542-3581.
SPIN: Serving People In Need, Non-profit. Assists homeless or low-income newly recovering alcoholics & addicts, with housing, transportation, medical, clothing, dental, job search, education, etc. (714) 751-1101. www.spinoc.org
SAN BERNARDINO & RIVERSIDE COUNTY
Alcoholics Anonymous (909) 825-4700.
Alcoholics Anonymous, Temecula (951) 695-1535.
Narcotics Anonymous Southern California RegionalOffice (626) 359-0084.
Narcotics Anonymous Helpline (800) 397-2333.
Narcotics Anonymous Helpline (909) 370-3568.
Narcotics Anonymous 24 hr. Helpline (909) 584-7115.
Narcotics Anonymous Desert Empire (760) 255-2045.
Narcotics Anonymous Barstow (760) 346-5800.
Narcotics Anonymous Southwest (951) 652-5326.
Salvation Army Adult Rehab (909) 889-9605.
SAN DIEGO COUNTY
Adult Children of Alcoholics (619) 287-7782.
Alcoholics Anonymous Central Office (619) 265-8762.
Al-Anon (619) 296-2666.
Children of the Night (800) 551-1300.
Co-Dependents Anonymous, meetings (619) 222-1244.
Compulsive Eaters Anonymous HOW (619) 543-8961.
Gamblers Anonymous (GA) Hotline (866) 239-2911.
Narcotics Anonymous Central Office (619) 584-1007.
Nicotine Anonymous (619) 682-7092.
Rape Crisis (858) 272-1767.
San Diego City Help, non-profit support group for persons with herpes. (619) 491-1194.
Salvation Army Rehab Center, (619) 239-4037.
Sex Addicts Anonymous (760) 736-0644.
Sexaholics Anonymous (858) 495-2446.
Suicide/Crisis Intervention (800) 479-3339.
ARIZONA
Alcoholics Anonymous, (602) 264-1341; East (480) 834-9033; West (623) 937-7770.
Cocaine Anonymous, (602) 279-3838.
Domestic Violence Shelter: (800) 799-7739 or (602)263-8900.
E.D.A.(Eating Disorders Anonymous) www.eatingdisordersanonymous.org
Gamblers Anonymous (602) 266-9784.
Gam-anon (480) 893-2729 or (480) 598-1226
Narcotics Anonymous, Meeting info. (480) 897-4636, www.arizona-na.org
National Council on Alcoholism and Drug
Dependence, 4201 N. 16th St., Suite 140, Phoenix 85016, (602) 264-6214.
Overeaters Anonymous (602) 234-1195.
NATIONAL COUNCIL ON ALCOHOLISM & DRUG DEPENDENCE WWW.NCADD.ORG
NCADD San Gabriel & Pomona Valleys, (626) 331-5316.
NCAAD of Pasadena, (626) 795-9127.
NCAAD of Sacramento, (916) 922-9217
NCADD of South Bay Area, (310) 328-1460.
NCADD of Long Beach, (562) 426-8262.
NCADD of Santa Clarita Valley (6661.253.9400 .
NCADD of the San Fernando Valley, (818) 997-0414
NCADD of Orange County (949) 770-0847.
NCADD of San Diego (619) 553-8173.
NCAAD of San Francisco, (415) 296-9900.
NCAAD of San Jose (408) 292-7292.
NCAAD of Santa Barbara, (805) 963-1433
NCAAD of Tulare, (559) 688-2994
INFORMATION & REFERRAL SERVICES
AIM HealthCare Foundation, physical & emotional needs of those who work in adult entertainment (818) 981-5681.
Battered Women/Children Hotline, (818) 887-6589.
Because I Love You, Nationally Known Parent And
Teen Support Group. (818) 882-4881or www.bily.org
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Information (626) 793-7350.
San Fernando Valley Counseling Center, affordable mental health services (818) 341-1111.
Jason Foundation A Youth Suicide Prevention Program (888) 881-2323, www.jasonfoundation.com
Suicide Prevention 24Hour Assessment Center (800) SUICIDE (784-2433).
Suicide Prevention Center (877) 727-4747
The Council of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse (CADA) Drop-In Center (805) 962-6195, www.cadasb.org
DISABILITY SERVICES
Job Accommodation Centers, Toll Free 1-800-526- 7234 (voice & TDD).
RIDE INFO Paratransit Referral Service, transportation voucher program, (800) 431-7882.
Social Security & Medicare Eligibility, Info (800) 772-1213, TDD (800) 288-7185.
FOOD AND FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE
Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services, Info on General Relief, Aid to Families w/Dependent Children (AFDC), Food Stamps, MediCal and other forms for financial assistance, (213) 744-6623.
INFO LINE of Los Angeles, referrals to emergency food programs and emergency housing. (800) 339-6993 Also 211 (24 Hour). TDD (800) 660-4026.
COMMUNITY SERVICES
24 Hour INFO Line Burbank/Glendale (818) 956-1100,
San Fernando Valley (818) 501-4447
HEP C / HIV / AIDS INFORMATION
California HIV/AIDS Hotline (800) 367-2437.Spanish (800) 400-7432.
Friends of AIDS Foundation (310) 401-4755. Referrals to HIV/AIDS programs and services in Los Angeles County.
National AIDS Hotline, (800) CDCINFO. (800) 344- SIDA (Spanish), (800) AIDS-TTY (TTD/TTY for deaf)
REACH (risk reduction education and community health) FREE HIV Prevention education and testing for HIV, HEP B&C and Syphilis. Referrals for substance abuse-etc., HIV+ or HIV- people in need. (866) 33-REACH, (714) 834-7926.
On-Line Resources for Hep C: www.hepcsource.com www.hepcstraightup.com • www.hepatitusc.org • www.hepatitusfree.com • www.hepnet.com • www.hepcnet.com
12 Step & Big Book Study (Hep C): www.hcvanonymous.org
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
BURBANK SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST CHURCH: Christ-centered recovery program. Leaders needed now! Contact LaVivas for more info. (818) 848-7051, outreach@burbanksda.com
PRO-CARE HOSPICE NEEDS VOLUNTEERS to work with Patients and their families and to provide support to those facing a life-limiting illness. Linda Martinez at (818) 895- 8000. Sara Berman Rabbi/Chaplin
SHARE! the Self-Help And Recovery Exchange, a project of the Emotional Health Assoc, a CA. non-profit organization, is looking for volunteers. Bi-lingual English/Spanish helpful. Call Alison Douglas Mon.-Thurs. 10am-5pm (310) 305-8878.
The Underground Publication Steps For Recovery
(This Article Appeared in the Volume 18, Issue 2 edition of Steps For Recovery)
This isn’t a mainstream publication. You won’t find it at Seven Eleven, in grocery stores, at the library or in the bookstores. It is not meant to be everywhere. We are underground. You will find us at meetings and in places where people are looking for help to combat their addictions.
We need your help to get this publication into the hands of those that need it. We have filing cabinets filled with letters thanking us for the information that has connected with those seeking a better - addiction free life. When they need information we need all of you to put this newspaper in front of them. Leave it behind as a subtle suggestion. You never know when they might pick it up and read something that will connect at a time when they are open to change.
The newspaper can be recycled. It can be passed around to those that want to read the articles and many of them never lose their relevance. Once you have read it, don’t throw it away, pass it on. Keep this information being passed throughout the community.
I would like to enlist all of your help for our project to eradicate addiction. We would like to publish this newspaper in 60 cities throughout America. If you know of someone that would be a great publisher in Southern California, please get them in contact with us. We would like to have 10 editions in the Southern California area first and then we want to reach out to Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.
The purpose of the Steps publication is to provide information to those in recovery so that they stay the course and to help those get on the path to recovery that have become open to making a change.
Additionally, we would like to video tape a million stories of addiction that we can post on-line for kids to be able to understand fully the choice they are making when they choose a life of addiction. We want you to tell them first hand why they shouldn’t embark upon the path.
We are also working on the demand side of addiction by lobbying for Congress, the President and local government officials to seal the border and curtail the amount of drugs coming into America.
Our plan also calls for a number of PSAs about addiction to help kids make positive choices. We plan on raising money to get those PSAs aired.
I know how many people roll their eyes when we say the words: Eradicate Addiction. Nobody expects that addiction will disappear overnight. The fact is that if we are able to have any effect at all our efforts will have been worth the effort.
We can’t do it alone. We need your help.
This isn’t a mainstream publication. You won’t find it at Seven Eleven, in grocery stores, at the library or in the bookstores. It is not meant to be everywhere. We are underground. You will find us at meetings and in places where people are looking for help to combat their addictions.
We need your help to get this publication into the hands of those that need it. We have filing cabinets filled with letters thanking us for the information that has connected with those seeking a better - addiction free life. When they need information we need all of you to put this newspaper in front of them. Leave it behind as a subtle suggestion. You never know when they might pick it up and read something that will connect at a time when they are open to change.
The newspaper can be recycled. It can be passed around to those that want to read the articles and many of them never lose their relevance. Once you have read it, don’t throw it away, pass it on. Keep this information being passed throughout the community.
I would like to enlist all of your help for our project to eradicate addiction. We would like to publish this newspaper in 60 cities throughout America. If you know of someone that would be a great publisher in Southern California, please get them in contact with us. We would like to have 10 editions in the Southern California area first and then we want to reach out to Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.
The purpose of the Steps publication is to provide information to those in recovery so that they stay the course and to help those get on the path to recovery that have become open to making a change.
Additionally, we would like to video tape a million stories of addiction that we can post on-line for kids to be able to understand fully the choice they are making when they choose a life of addiction. We want you to tell them first hand why they shouldn’t embark upon the path.
We are also working on the demand side of addiction by lobbying for Congress, the President and local government officials to seal the border and curtail the amount of drugs coming into America.
Our plan also calls for a number of PSAs about addiction to help kids make positive choices. We plan on raising money to get those PSAs aired.
I know how many people roll their eyes when we say the words: Eradicate Addiction. Nobody expects that addiction will disappear overnight. The fact is that if we are able to have any effect at all our efforts will have been worth the effort.
We can’t do it alone. We need your help.
Fast Food As Addictive As Heroin, Study Confirms
(This Article Appeared in the Volume 18, Issue 2 edition of Steps For Recovery)
The latest study, published March 28 in “Nature Neuroscience”, likened the affects of high-fat, high-calorie food to those of cocaine or heroin, in animals at least.
The researchers showed that the pleasure-center in rats brains were overstimulated from the fast food similar to an addict’s cocaine binge. Eventually, the pleasure centers became so overloaded that rats needed more and more food to feel normal, according to Paul H. Kenny, an associate professor of molecular therapeutics at the Scripps Research Institute.
Throughout the study, Kenny and his co-author studied three groups of lab rats for 40 days. The first group ate healthy food. The second ate a limited amount of junk food. The third group, however, was allowed to gorge on high-fat, high-calorie foods and became obese.
The startling side effect? The brains of the obese rats changed.
“The body adapts remarkably well to change -- and that’s the problem,” Kenny said in a Press Release: “When the animal overstimulates its brain pleasure centers with highly palatable food, the systems adapt by decreasing their activity. However, now the animal requires constant stimulation from palatable food to avoid entering a persistent state of negative reward”.
During the study, the rats lost complete control over the ability to regulate whether they were hungry, often eating despite electric shocks. When the obese rats were put on a healthy diet, they refused to eat, starving themselves for two weeks.
In another study, researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City showed that feeding rats a diet high in saturated fat, calories and sugar -- which is the typical make-up for a fast-food menu item -- lowered the rats ability to respond to leptin, a hormone that helps regulate eating behavior by controlling how full one feels.
As rats grew fatter, the amount of leptin in their bodies increased signaling that they were dangerously close to starvation. They continued to overeat and gain weight.
Those who yo-yo diet face similar problems than those going through withdrawal do, Boston University researchers proved last year. According to Pietro Cottone, an assistant professor in the Laboratory of Addictive Disorders at BU, dieters seek out foods to avoid the negative feelings that they experience if they are deprived of their favorite comfort foods.
“These findings confirm what we and many others have suspected,” Kenny said, “that over-consumption of highly pleasurable food triggers addiction-like neuroadaptive responses in brain reward circuitries, driving the development of compulsive eating.
“Common mechanisms may therefore underlie obesity and drug addiction.”
The latest study, published March 28 in “Nature Neuroscience”, likened the affects of high-fat, high-calorie food to those of cocaine or heroin, in animals at least.
The researchers showed that the pleasure-center in rats brains were overstimulated from the fast food similar to an addict’s cocaine binge. Eventually, the pleasure centers became so overloaded that rats needed more and more food to feel normal, according to Paul H. Kenny, an associate professor of molecular therapeutics at the Scripps Research Institute.
Throughout the study, Kenny and his co-author studied three groups of lab rats for 40 days. The first group ate healthy food. The second ate a limited amount of junk food. The third group, however, was allowed to gorge on high-fat, high-calorie foods and became obese.
The startling side effect? The brains of the obese rats changed.
“The body adapts remarkably well to change -- and that’s the problem,” Kenny said in a Press Release: “When the animal overstimulates its brain pleasure centers with highly palatable food, the systems adapt by decreasing their activity. However, now the animal requires constant stimulation from palatable food to avoid entering a persistent state of negative reward”.
During the study, the rats lost complete control over the ability to regulate whether they were hungry, often eating despite electric shocks. When the obese rats were put on a healthy diet, they refused to eat, starving themselves for two weeks.
In another study, researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City showed that feeding rats a diet high in saturated fat, calories and sugar -- which is the typical make-up for a fast-food menu item -- lowered the rats ability to respond to leptin, a hormone that helps regulate eating behavior by controlling how full one feels.
As rats grew fatter, the amount of leptin in their bodies increased signaling that they were dangerously close to starvation. They continued to overeat and gain weight.
Those who yo-yo diet face similar problems than those going through withdrawal do, Boston University researchers proved last year. According to Pietro Cottone, an assistant professor in the Laboratory of Addictive Disorders at BU, dieters seek out foods to avoid the negative feelings that they experience if they are deprived of their favorite comfort foods.
“These findings confirm what we and many others have suspected,” Kenny said, “that over-consumption of highly pleasurable food triggers addiction-like neuroadaptive responses in brain reward circuitries, driving the development of compulsive eating.
“Common mechanisms may therefore underlie obesity and drug addiction.”
WHAT IS ANIMAL ASSISTED THERAPY?
(This Article Appeared in the Volume 18, Issue 2 edition of Steps For Recovery)
The most common pets used are dogs and cats, but fish, rabbits, guinea pigs, horses and other farm animals are also used. Some programs take the animals directly to the patients; others take those with behavioral issues out of their normal surroundings and introduces them to a farm setting.
Dogs and cats in particular, however, go through a screening process to ensure that the animal has the right temperament and obedience training before being introduced into a therapeutic environment.
The Effect of Animals
While science still works to explain how animals affect a person’s emotions and health, psychologists have learned the following:
1) Animals foster and teach empathy. People are able to relate to animals because an animal’s world and perspective of the world is really simple. Their moods are easier to read than humans.
2) Animals draw those with mental illness or low self-esteem issues out of themselves by encouraging them to focus on someone or something other than themselves.
3) Animals bring out a nurturing instinct. Normally this ability is learned from parents, but even those who did not have a nurturing upbringing can learn to nurture from caring for an animal.
4) Animals foster an emotionally safe, non-threatening communication between a client and their therapist. The impression is given that the therapist can be trusted because the animal trusts him or her.
5) Animals accept people as they are. They don’t base their affection on looks or money or possessions. An animal’s affection is unconditional and they do not play head games.
6) Animals are a source of entertainment. Anyone who has watched a dog romp with a ball or a cat play with a ball of yarn or laser pointer or other pet interactions can make people laugh.
7) Animals make people feel good.
8) Animals provide mental stimulation through increased communication with others, memories and entertainment. Animals brighten the atmosphere and decrease people’s feelings of isolation or alienation.
9) Studies have shown that animals actually decrease heart rates and blood pressure.
10) Studies have also shown that animal owners live healthier, longer lives than non-pet owners.
Animals have been shown to have calming effects on children with learning disorders and encourage learning, social interaction with other children, and attention.
Clearly, more research is necessary to figure out exactly why animals have such an impact on our lives, but it doesn’t take a scientist to tell us that animals can positively affect many lives in ways that we would never have thought possible.
The most common pets used are dogs and cats, but fish, rabbits, guinea pigs, horses and other farm animals are also used. Some programs take the animals directly to the patients; others take those with behavioral issues out of their normal surroundings and introduces them to a farm setting.
Dogs and cats in particular, however, go through a screening process to ensure that the animal has the right temperament and obedience training before being introduced into a therapeutic environment.
The Effect of Animals
While science still works to explain how animals affect a person’s emotions and health, psychologists have learned the following:
1) Animals foster and teach empathy. People are able to relate to animals because an animal’s world and perspective of the world is really simple. Their moods are easier to read than humans.
2) Animals draw those with mental illness or low self-esteem issues out of themselves by encouraging them to focus on someone or something other than themselves.
3) Animals bring out a nurturing instinct. Normally this ability is learned from parents, but even those who did not have a nurturing upbringing can learn to nurture from caring for an animal.
4) Animals foster an emotionally safe, non-threatening communication between a client and their therapist. The impression is given that the therapist can be trusted because the animal trusts him or her.
5) Animals accept people as they are. They don’t base their affection on looks or money or possessions. An animal’s affection is unconditional and they do not play head games.
6) Animals are a source of entertainment. Anyone who has watched a dog romp with a ball or a cat play with a ball of yarn or laser pointer or other pet interactions can make people laugh.
7) Animals make people feel good.
8) Animals provide mental stimulation through increased communication with others, memories and entertainment. Animals brighten the atmosphere and decrease people’s feelings of isolation or alienation.
9) Studies have shown that animals actually decrease heart rates and blood pressure.
10) Studies have also shown that animal owners live healthier, longer lives than non-pet owners.
Animals have been shown to have calming effects on children with learning disorders and encourage learning, social interaction with other children, and attention.
Clearly, more research is necessary to figure out exactly why animals have such an impact on our lives, but it doesn’t take a scientist to tell us that animals can positively affect many lives in ways that we would never have thought possible.
Animal Assisted Therapy an Option for Addiction Counseling
(This Article Appeared in the Volume 18, Issue 2 edition of Steps For Recovery)
There is a saying that a dog is a man’s best friend. According to Rachel Howard, if a friend can be someone you can turn to when you need to talk, that saying very well could be true. To test that theory, she and the Cherokee Nation are trying it out as a way to help adolescents combat drug and alcohol addiction.
Howard is an alcohol and drug counselor for the Cherokee Nation Jack Brown Center, an adolescent co-educational facility that provides treatment for chemical dependency in a residential setting to Native American youth. Howard and her dog, Lulu, work with youth at the center helping them overcome not only their addictions, but other issues as well.
“Animals are non-judgmental,” Howard said. “They want you to feel better. Petting and talking to animals help the kids open up. Their attitudes seem to be lighter and we usually get a better response during our counseling session.”
Lulu, a one-year-old English bulldog, is not just an ordinary dog, however. She, too, had to go through special training to be a part of the animal-assisted therapy program. She received her certification in Kansas City, Mo., in November of 2009 and is registered through the Delta Society, a national nonprofit organization whose mission is to advance human health and well-being through positive interactions with animals.
Howard said during a counseling session, Lulu serves as a comforting presence and will come to the patient and lay by them.
“She will get on the floor and lay as close to the patient as she can get, especially if they are upset,” Howard said. “Often, the kids will begin talking to her as if the counselor isn’t there at all. It’s hard for them to stay angry about something if she is looking at you. She really helps the kids with anger issues.”
Howard said many different types of animals are used in therapy, including dogs, cats, birds, rabbits and other small animals. Animal-assisted therapy has been used since the 1800s when doctors noticed patients seemed to heal better and more quickly when animals were close by. Animals are now used for different types of therapy, including physical therapy and occupational therapy.
Both the kids and center staff members seem to be in better spirits when Lulu is on-site. The staff often keeps treats on hand to offer when Lulu comes by to visit.
“She’s almost as good for the staff as she is the kids,” Howard said jokingly.
Director of Cherokee Nation Jack Brown Center Darren Dry said that to his knowledge, there was not another treatment center in Oklahoma or any other residential treatment center for Native American youth that offered this type of program.
“This type of program is new for us,” Dry said. “I’m excited for our clients to have another resource to help them. I hope this is something we can expand in the future.”
Dry continued by saying animals often feel compassion for those suffering or who are less fortunate, and that many of the animals used in this type of program come from local humane societies.
“Often, someone gave up on them, too, and that is how many of our kids feel,” Dry said. “It helps instill the compassion component in our clients.”
There is a saying that a dog is a man’s best friend. According to Rachel Howard, if a friend can be someone you can turn to when you need to talk, that saying very well could be true. To test that theory, she and the Cherokee Nation are trying it out as a way to help adolescents combat drug and alcohol addiction.
Howard is an alcohol and drug counselor for the Cherokee Nation Jack Brown Center, an adolescent co-educational facility that provides treatment for chemical dependency in a residential setting to Native American youth. Howard and her dog, Lulu, work with youth at the center helping them overcome not only their addictions, but other issues as well.
“Animals are non-judgmental,” Howard said. “They want you to feel better. Petting and talking to animals help the kids open up. Their attitudes seem to be lighter and we usually get a better response during our counseling session.”
Lulu, a one-year-old English bulldog, is not just an ordinary dog, however. She, too, had to go through special training to be a part of the animal-assisted therapy program. She received her certification in Kansas City, Mo., in November of 2009 and is registered through the Delta Society, a national nonprofit organization whose mission is to advance human health and well-being through positive interactions with animals.
Howard said during a counseling session, Lulu serves as a comforting presence and will come to the patient and lay by them.
“She will get on the floor and lay as close to the patient as she can get, especially if they are upset,” Howard said. “Often, the kids will begin talking to her as if the counselor isn’t there at all. It’s hard for them to stay angry about something if she is looking at you. She really helps the kids with anger issues.”
Howard said many different types of animals are used in therapy, including dogs, cats, birds, rabbits and other small animals. Animal-assisted therapy has been used since the 1800s when doctors noticed patients seemed to heal better and more quickly when animals were close by. Animals are now used for different types of therapy, including physical therapy and occupational therapy.
Both the kids and center staff members seem to be in better spirits when Lulu is on-site. The staff often keeps treats on hand to offer when Lulu comes by to visit.
“She’s almost as good for the staff as she is the kids,” Howard said jokingly.
Director of Cherokee Nation Jack Brown Center Darren Dry said that to his knowledge, there was not another treatment center in Oklahoma or any other residential treatment center for Native American youth that offered this type of program.
“This type of program is new for us,” Dry said. “I’m excited for our clients to have another resource to help them. I hope this is something we can expand in the future.”
Dry continued by saying animals often feel compassion for those suffering or who are less fortunate, and that many of the animals used in this type of program come from local humane societies.
“Often, someone gave up on them, too, and that is how many of our kids feel,” Dry said. “It helps instill the compassion component in our clients.”
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)