Update: Plymouth (mostly cult) intergroup

From our correspondent:

“This Intergroup session was held on Sunday 14th February.

Wow! Just wow!

Over half the meeting was spent revisiting the minutes of the last Intergroup - every, tiny, insignificant detail had to have the R-T-R stamp on it.

This wouldn't be a problem, unfortunately the R-T-R GSR has the most horrific breath you can imagine. So aside from the usually crap that he, Matthew, speaks, those within a 4 foot radius were subjected to some pretty nasty halitosis. Maybe it's the shit he speaks souring his mouth? Who knows..........

So after King Halitosis had nit-picked we could finally get on with the meeting!

Service was at Intergroup was brought up - AGAIN!! (See last intergroups write up for that fiasco) What doesn't seem to be understood is that there are people willing to do service, but - they either don't want to do service with R-T-R or, R-T-R block any attempts.

The last candidate for Vice Chair was denied the opportunity, and quote King Death-Breath "I don't think turning up to help put out a few chairs at the convention, is worthy of the definition of service." Which is a far from welcoming, giving or trusting stand-point for AA, but that's allowed to ride, after all R-T-R dominate Plymouth Intergroup by a HUGE majority - 50% of those with a service position within Plymouth Intergroup are from R-T-R.

R-T-R are very quick to point the finger and claim that nobody wants to do service, and defend criticism that they re always taking over - but the FACT is that they have a substantial majority and will not give that up, even if it means the various large numbers of positions go empty, in some cases (and I have had a lengthy involvement with Plymouth Intergroup over many years) for years - meaning that potentially a non-R-T-R candidate will be set up to fail IF they are allowed to take position in the first place as there might not be the support to sponsor them in to service, whereas, as has happened before, an R-T-R member failing at a service position will be protected by R-T-R members, even if those actions fall outside of the law - see the fraud and embezzlement episode from last year!

It is a terribly rotten Intergroup, I hold a position as I believe in the founding principles, and that of carrying the message, and to give outside honest perspective. Unfortunately Plymouth Intergroup has developed a truly shocking reputation across the country - it is not within living memory that anyone has ever heard of the threat of suspension or expulsion from a Region, but we are looking down the barrels of that loaded gun, and I believe that all it will take is one more step out of line and we will be ousted. And it's with a heavy heart that I hope this will happen, despite all the time, work and effort that I and many others have put in over the years - as there seems to be no other way of GSO taking the reigns, disbanding, breaking up and realigning the Plymouth structure.

Aside from that it was the normal banality- Share and Where to finds are being updated, with the hope/knowledge that now that Martin S takes no part in it - that it will be accurate and printed in a timely manner.

And that the loss-making Convention team are already planning, and no doubt hashing-up, this years meeting.

So, there we have it, bureaucracy, belligerence and banality.

As always

InTheKnow”

Cheers

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)

PS Our thanks to our correspondent

Higher Rates Of Alcoholism Reported From Bisexual Community, Study Says

“Bisexuals are more likely to report mental health issues and alcoholism than others, according to a study that looked at mental health and alcohol use among gay, lesbian and bisexuals living in Canada.” 

See here

Plymouth Road to Recovery (cult) group - claiming the moral high ground?

Usually the juxtaposition of these two phrases would send us into paroxysms of near hysterical laughter. The association of Plymouth Road to Recovery with even the most vestigial moral code is too ridiculous even to contemplate. But following our entries of 16^th and 20^th March we've received a slew of comments and emails (generally abusive) from members (clearly) of the aforementioned group who seem to want to claim that very position. They all follow a common pattern: how wonderful the R2R are ….. and how awful, sick, twisted blah di blah we are.. How can we sleep at night? We must be child molesters etc etc … we think you get the general idea ….. But the problem is that we're NOT the ones screwing (and impregnating) newcomers .... moreover we're NOT the ones ripping off literally thousands of pounds from the local intergroup … finally we're NOT the ones systematically bullying and abusing newcomers under the guise of so-called 'tough love' sponsorship. Nope .. not at all. In fact we ARE the ones who advocate the guidelines and principles of AA, and who regularly point out that there's absolutely NO mention in any of these of AA members being authorised to direct or control others, bully them, con them, let alone screw them or rip them off.

Thus should any of our regular cult audience feel the need to direct their moral outrage in our direction you may as well save yourselves the time... We're not going to put any of your comments on our blog (why should we bore AA members with your mad rants??). Your emails are simply consigned to our trusty bin (water of a duck's back!)... In fact the more you bluster the more evident becomes your own moral bankruptcy.

It must be very frustrating for those who are so used to controlling others being absolutely UNABLE to do anything to stop us. How does it feel? Not good we'd guess from your response.... something to think about maybe!! But unlikely given the bigoted mind set of the average cult member ...

Cheers

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous .. and - it would seem – occasionally rather annoying!)

By the way …... we sleep fine at night!

'13 Stepping' at the Plymouth Road to Recovery (cult) group (update)

We've received information that suggests the young woman referred to in our last entry had retracted her original (reported) accusations (although a number of sources have already suggested to us that pressure may have been placed upon her to do so). Unfortunately we'll probably never know the truth of the matter because Debbie – that was her name – was found dead on Friday night. She was due to go into a treatment centre tomorrow.

Not so much the Road to Recovery for Debbie... more the Road to Ruin …

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)

'13 Stepping' at the Plymouth Road to Recovery (cult) group

A recently received allegation.

We quote: 

“Poor …..., a young vulnerable girl who had the misfortune to cross the threshold of the so-called Road to Recovery meeting in Plymouth.

Whilst early in recovery she was summoned to the home of …....... who wished to discuss AA service with her. …....'s idea of service is vastly different to that of sincere AA members.

Sexual advances were made by …..... to …......, who to her credit declined ….....'s offer.

Shortly after this incident …...... sent …...... an on-line photograph of his dick. 

One of ….......'s clones (…..... …...) soon made his move on …....... and poor ….... became another R2R mum.

Following the birth …..... struggled to come to terms with her situation and picked up the first drink again. The first drink lead to the second, etc, etc. Then she found herself shoplifting and that resulted in her being arrested.

She was banned from RTR and is now under the care of the local health care unit.

Poor …......., used, abused and dumped by Plymouth R2R.”

(edits to preserve anonymity .... for now!)

These events are all reported to have taken place within the last year.

This is not the first time we've been advised of sexual predation (and other abuses) at the R2R cult group. As our correspondent notes this kind of conduct is not exclusive to this group but the degree and extent of the abuse is almost without parallel (but see the Midtown groups, Washington DC).

Any further information from members in the area would be appreciated before we proceed to the next stage (see here for our new 'public relations' policy)

Cheers (although there isn't much to cheer about here!)

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)

PS Our thanks to our correspondents in Plymouth

New Book Takes the First Sober Look at FDA-Approved Medications

Alcoholism: A Prescription for Alcoholics

“Alcoholics Anonymous accused of discrimination”

According to the above article Larry Knight (apparently an agnostic/atheist AA member) is taking “AA World Services and its GTA Intergroup (GTAI) to Ontario’s human rights tribunal, alleging discrimination on the basis of creed.” The fact that the agnostic/atheist groups are themselves acting in breach of the traditions/guidelines goes slightly unmentioned by the author of the article (who clearly knows sweet FA about how AA operates. But then opinions such as hers are cheap, and therefore correspondingly valueless). It occurs to us that it's something of a shame that there's no Human DUTIES tribunal. You can be damn sure the queue for those wishing to assert their responsibilities towards others would be considerably shorter. Finally though the argument presented by Mr Knight is to say the least disingenuous if not transparently perverse (ie. a clear case of someone 'trying it on'). Still good luck to him. If it keeps him off the booze …...

Of course as always There Is A Solution. The atheist/agnostic groups are at complete liberty to set up their own fellowship, produce their own literature, and design their own programme of recovery. This would seem preferable to clinging to AA in a somewhat parasitic fashion and moaning about the fact that the word “God” is used a lot (as in 'for God's sake', 'God help us', 'God .. get me out of here!' etc etc … you get our meaning!). Naturally the same option is open to all those groups who use the Lord's Prayer in their meeting formats. Feel free to go forth (and indeed multiply) and leave the rest of us - who don't give a monkey's either way - in peace. God (of your understanding – including NO understanding) save us from all those with a chip on their shoulder!

Cheers

The Fellas (Friends of a non-affiliated Alcoholics Anonymous)

PS Our usual thanks to the member who drew our attention to this

Study: Alcoholism, Depression Major Problems For Attorneys

"The report published earlier this month (Feb 2016)  in the Journal of Addiction Medicine showed that the rate of problem drinking among attorneys is three times that of the general population: It was found to be 20.6 percent among lawyers, while the National Institutes of Health estimated a rate of about 7 percent for adults in the U.S."

Clueless! London South West Intergroup...

And so the saga drags on and on and on and …...

Yet again the subject of the so-called “London Calling” International Convention (or is it Gathering?) has come up .. and yet again London South West fumbles the catch! This intergroup serves as a prime example of what happens where members are guided by personalities rather than principles, and where ignorance of the traditions (especially Tradition Four) is the norm. Led (if that's the right word) by a chairman whose knowledge of the traditions - and for that matter guidelines – is virtually zero (which almost unbelievably makes her slightly more enlightened than her predecessor) this intergroup continues to flounder around as they desperately try to avoid taking responsibility for their own actions. London Calling may have been the precipitating cause but this Intergroup has done nothing to mitigate the effect. However what did come out of their deliberations was further evidence that London Calling is no more than a front for a Christian fundamentalist movement populated by yet more completely unnecessary Big Book 'experts'. Apparently they're seeking (according to one member) to get “people into the UK to give a different experience of AA”... ie. missionaries. Moreover they advocate (contrary to both AA traditions and guidelines) an anti-medication stance. Membership of AA in the UK is currently static if not declining . The last thing we need is this kind of “different experience”.

If London South West intergroup had been guided by AA tradition in the first place they would have refused to endorse this dubious crew and would have largely avoided the mess they're in now. Instead they've elected yet again to invite this gang to attend the next IG meeting to explain themselves …. again! What's that well worn definition of insanity? Doing the same thing over and over ….. and expecting a different outcome! It's almost pitiable to witness them once more being led by the nose 'up the garden path'! But then if nothing changes nothing changes!

Cheers

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous.... and rather fond of the Traditions as well!)

Bill Wilson talking about the Traditions - Tradition Six

Cheers

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous ...and rather fond of the Traditions too!)