'Batman' hits the mean streets of Gotham City!

Holy Cow! Commissioner Gordon is in trouble again! The Bat signal is emblazoned across the skies and the Caped Crusader has to step into the breach once more! Well when we say the 'mean streets of Gotham City' what we actually mean are the relatively quiet byways and highways of Whitstable. And when we say 'Batman' we are of course referring to Harry K, the self appointed saviour of ALL of AA in East Kent. Harry, it would seem, graced the Whitstable Wednesday meeting last week with his presence and gave yet another resounding rendition of that time honoured cult mantra: “We - or in Harry's case – I am always right and you (AA members generally) are always wrong!”. The meeting was treated to yet another by now infamous harangue on Harry's favourite subject - 'de Big Book' - whilst simultaneously affording him every opportunity to show off his rather eccentric choice in street wear together no doubt with his extraordinarily over-bloated ego! Still the show must go on and there is no doubt that Harry is a trooper of the old school – he never misses an opportunity to 'perform' especially in front of a nearly captive audience (although we do hear that a couple of members quite overcome (by nausea) were obliged to leave the venue before the entire performance was finished). Having reduced his listeners to a near comatose state our hero returned triumphantly to the Bat Cave where he doubtless met up with his side-kick Robin (aka Harry A or Harry the Handbag) who rather mysteriously was absent from the main event. We can only assume that Wednesday is Harry's' night for staying in to wash his super hero outfit – or maybe he sorts out his handbag – who can say!. But 'Batman' is very much in demand not only in AA but also CA - so we hear - carrying the sickness (oops sorry!) … carrying the MESSAGE to all and sundry (whether they want it or not). Of course the private life of this bane of those who fail to 'follow the ordained path' is, as you would expect of a super hero, somewhat shrouded in mystery. However we have through our tireless investigations managed to elicit some few titbits which we are only to happy to share with you our indefatigable readers. Apparently – no word of a lie – Harry K used to drink …. SAKI! We're not quite sure if this establishes 'Batman' as an alcoholic of the more discerning type or whether there was simply nothing else available. Either way this surely must demonstrate that he is after all rather 'special and different' and not to be included amongst the rest of us, the mere 'hoi polloi'! Perhaps it was this diet of Japanese rice wine which had an especially deleterious impact subsequently on his powers of discrimination. Unfortunately 'Batman' suffers from occasional lapses which lead to an inability to distinguish between other people's property and his own. Indeed such an oversight led to him being dismissed by an employer for shop lifting not so long ago. Ah well! But perhaps Harry should not be judged like other men. Indeed it may well be the case that he has attained to such a lofty spiritual height he now falls into the antinomian category – those who are not longer bound by mere conventional morality! Ah if only …...! This moral blindness also seemingly extends into other spheres of Harry K's life but we are far too gentleman/womanly to go into those here … or for the time being anyway! 

Cheerio 

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous …. zap!.... kaboom!!.... wam!!!)

Whitstable (East Kent)/Ealing (West London)/Cambridge

The word is that the “pointy headed ones” from the Tankerton Tuesday cult group are 'sniffing' around Whitstable Wednesday AA meeting again. They've tried before to gain control of this group when one of their members became secretary, and shortly after which a whole succession of clones turned up at the meeting with the usual scripted sharing which went something like this: “blah blah …. my sponsor ….... blah blah blah … always do what my sponsor says... blah blah.....my sponsor took me through the steps...blah blah blah … happy, joyous and free.. blah blah blah.. sponsor this.....blah blah.... sponsor that.....blah blah...” and so on ad infinitum and ad nauseam. Otherwise the infestation in East Kent seems to be largely contained with the cult groups either stagnating or in decline. There is now a clear delineation between the cult (referred to variously as “Step Nazis”, “Taliban”, “Visions” (or even “Visionaries” … God help us!) or just plain “cult”) on one hand, and genuine AA on the other, a trend which we hope will continue long into the future.... And now ... talking of infestations....

… the news is that the Ealing Tuesday Green Man Lane (9.45am) cult meeting has closed due to lack of support. This is one of the thirteen or so (at the last count) meetings that 'Happy Dennis' (so-called) had started up to propagate his bizarre version of AA and its programme. Happy Dennis himself is sponsored by David “The Icon” C (successor to David B, founder of the Visions cult in the UK), “The Icon” being the author of a cult website promoted by Dennis in his very own printed literature (in probable breach of copyright), this “Little Yellow Book” being distributed not only in the Ealing meetings but even further afield eg. Eastbourne. We are informed that his efforts seem to focus rather on quantity than quality but even here many of the Ealing cult meetings fail to attract more than a handful of punters. The viability of the operation rests finally on the low rents charged for the use of the facilities. The landlords of the Bayham Rd location (Ealing Centre for Independent Living: http://www.ecil.org/) for example charge a mere £5.00 per session which makes it an attractive proposition for anyone wishing to start up their own franchise. We have also received evidence that Dennis is using contact information derived from Share magazine to further propagate his “message”. Incidentally we observe that the Happy One's response to the Eastbourne letter (see below) - when it was communicated to him as an email attachment – clearly demonstrates his irresponsible and arrogant attitude with regard to all matters pertaining to AA and its traditions. We quote:

“... the text [Eastbourne letter] you attached to the email has nothing to do with me. I don't see any reason why this is a matter I should be involved with in any way”

(This sounds like a response you'd get from a “Murdoch testimony” doesn't it! We know nothing, see nothing, hear nothing! Nothing to do with us!! A bad case of DENIAL perhaps!).

He goes on to argue that the 13 groups included in his very own Where to Find (printed and distributed in breach of the traditions) are “independent” groups. Now does he mean “autonomous” groups (but leaving out the second part of Tradition Four - a much favoured cult tactic!) or does he mean completely independent of AA (in which case why are these groups still presented in the local and national Where to Finds if they are in fact not AA groups at all? Another question for South Middlesex Intergroup to consider perhaps?)

.. and continuing with our whirlwind tour of GB (note: the cult is not a localised issue!)..... a communication from Cambridge. We quote from some email correspondence (with that individual's permission):

“Ok, so I was a bit nervous of letting you know about the Saturday meetings in Cambridge, but now I feel I have to - I went there in February as I was convinced nothing else would work. I was called by a seemingly very lovely lady and encouraged to attend the 'A Vision For You' meeting that night. Well! How loved I felt! How understood! How cared for! I continued going for a few weeks and attended the womens meetings on a Tuesday, the 'beginners' meetings on a Sunday and one 'Primary Purpose' meeting on a Monday night. It all seemed wonderful and I felt 'blessed' to have them, until...at one of the 'womens'' meetings, a clearly, very distressed and unhappy lady told about how she had succumbed to drink and how ashamed she was. Oh My God! I felt so sad for her but all she got were dagger glares, tuts and no sign of help whatsoever. That scared me to be honest. However, I continued. Surely it was just a bad night for everyone? The 'lovely lady' who had called me became my 'sponsor' and I began to go to her house for 'big book' study. Hmm. Interesting. she was full of 'love and laughter' but something felt wrong. This is about me stopping drinking yes? Not you telling me that the only way is God? Not you making me do 'homework' and telling me that there are 'many people who are not alcoholics as they do not have a spiritual issue'? These people must be ignored, hated, kept out of 'our meetings'. I was frankly terrified by the passion. I read the Big Book, I tried to understand these mad people. I couldn't. I was 'loved' by some, sneered at by others. I was hugged, ignored...I told everyone that I had been diagnosed as 'bi -polar, I was told that is wrong, you have nothing but a disease called 'alcoholism' stay away from these doctors. I had to leave. I cannot believe that such people are allowed to peddle their nonsense. I am never ever going anywhere near AA again. How can this be happening. I am more than happy for you to publish this.

…......”

(edited to preserve anonymity)

Cheerio

(our usual thanks to all contributors)

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)