CAMP RIPLEY, MINN. (07/09/2012)(readMedia)-- Soldiers with the Illinois National Guard began arriving at Camp Ripley, Minn., July 6 to support and train the 33rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team (IBCT) through the Army National Guard's premier training program for brigade combat teams.

Units from all major commands in the Illinois National Guard are involved in the training event that includes the 33rd IBCT in Urbana, the 108th Sustainment Brigade in Chicago, the 65th Troop Command Brigade in Springfield, the 404th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade in Chicago, and the Joint Forces Headquarters in Springfield. At the peak of operations there will be more than 3,200 Soldiers from Illinois at Camp Ripley.

Brig. Gen. Johnny Miller, Assistant Adjutant General for the Illinois Army National Guard, and the Task Force Illini commander for the exercise, said this is an opportunity to highlight the quality of the Illinois Army National Guard and its Soldiers.

"This exercise will demonstrate the high caliber of our organization to key decision makers at the national level and the community leaders where our armories are located," said Miller.

The 33rd IBCT is the primary training audience during the 21-day exercise, which will certify the brigade's companies and platoons on the ability to perform mission specific tasks. Completing the three-week training exercise ensures the 33rd IBCT will be ready for potential future deployments in 2014 when the brigade will be in the available force pool.

Col. Paul C. Hastings, the 33rd IBCT commander said the exercise will be intense and challenging for all units in the 33rd IBCT.

"Over the next three weeks we will train to be the most lethal and survivable IBCT in the National Guard. Our execution of this exercise will be the most aggressive and complicated ever contemplated by an IBCT in this program," said Hastings.

The 33rd IBCT last completed the same Army National Guard program in 2008 before the unit deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

The Army National Guard program, the eXportable Combat Training Capability (XCTC), was created in 2005 to reduce training overhead for National Guard brigades without sacrificing quality, standards, or outcomes. It is designed to build upon fundamental doctrine while integrating tough, realistic training. The XCTC program provides a cost-effective and readily available alternative to the Army's Combat Training Centers.

Grassley, Issa concerns about whistleblower retaliation under investigation

Inspector General reviewing ATF placement of Fast and Furious whistleblowers

WASHINGTON -The Inspector General for the Department of Justice has initiated an investigation into the situation described in a June 29 letter from Senator Chuck Grassley and Chairman Darrell Issa about two whistleblowers who testified before Congress about the Fast and Furious matter under the supervision of an individual who allegedly threatened to retaliate against them.

In a letter to Grassley and Issa, Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz said, "This Office takes seriously any situation where a whistleblower may face possible retaliation, and it is important that the Department ensure that whistleblowers do not suffer retaliation.  We have carefully reviewed the materials you provided, and we have initiated an investigation into this matter."

In a letter sent last month to Horowitz, Grassley and Issa detailed inflammatory comments made last year about these two high profile whistleblowers, according to a direct eyewitness account.  Grassley and Issa sent the letter after learning the whistleblowers had been placed under the supervision of the ATF official who reportedly made the comments, Scot Thomasson.

Grassley and Issa said the alleged comments by Thomasson had been in public documents since May, and they asked the Inspector General to investigate how the ATF official has been admonished, how the ATF official was elevated and given such supervisory duties, and what steps are being taken to protect the whistleblowers from the campaign of retaliation the ATF official expressed a desire to conduct in his comments.

"It's stunning that the ATF would allow placement of whistleblowers under the supervision of an individual who made the derisive and hostile comments reportedly made in this case," Grassley said.  "The Inspector General's immediate review and response is very necessary and appreciated."

"Congress and the IG must continue to stand up for these individuals, who acted bravely when they saw wrongdoing at the ATF," Issa said.  "In doing so, they exposed the reckless tactics that led to the death of a federal agent.  Protecting whistleblowers is absolutely critical -- it is the right thing to do.  It also ensures that others will have the courage to come forward when they, too, see wrongdoing in federal agencies."

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Speaker registration now open for hearings in Philadelphia and Sacramento, Calif.

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will hold two public hearings on the proposed updates to the national air quality standards for fine particle pollution (PM2.5). A federal court ruling required EPA to update the standards based on best available science. The proposed updates, which meet that requirement, build on steps already taken by EPA to reduce pollution in communities across the country.

WHAT: Public hearings on proposed updates to national air quality standards for fine particle pollution.

WHEN: July 17, 2012 (Philadelphia) 9:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m. EDT   
July 19, 2012 (Sacramento) 9:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m. PDT

WHERE: July 17, Philadelphia

William J. Green Federal Building
600 Arch Street
Philadelphia, Pa. 19106

July 19, Sacramento, Calif.

California Air Resources Board
1001 "I" Street
Sacramento, Calif. 95814

To register to speak at the hearings, contact Alan Rush at rush.alan@epa.gov or 202-564-1658. Members of the public also may register in person at the hearing and will be accommodated as time allows. EPA also will accept written comments on the proposed standards until Aug. 31, 2012. EPA will issue the final standards by December 14, 2012.

Note: Please bring picture identification and allow additional time to enter the buildings and go through security.

More information on the hearings and instructions for submitting written comments: http://www.epa.gov/pm/actions.html

ST. LOUIS, MO (07/09/2012)(readMedia)-- Randi Luxmore, daughter of Deborah and Bradley Luxmore of Rock Island, Illinois (61201), earned a graduate degree from Washington University in St. Louis on May 18. Luxmore graduated with a doctor of audiology from the School of Medicine.

Luxmore was among the 2,800 students who received degrees at the university's 151st Commencement ceremony, which was held in Brookings Quadrangle on the Danforth Campus. Mike Peters, the 1981 Pulitzer Prize winner for editorial cartooning and creator of the award-winning cartoon strip Mother Goose & Grimm, delivered the Commencement address. Peters received an honorary doctor of humane letters.

Luxmore is a 2008 graduate of University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in Champaign, Illinois.

Washington University is counted among the world's leaders in teaching and research, and it draws students and faculty to St. Louis from all 50 states and more than 110 nations. The total student body is nearly 14,000 undergraduate, graduate and professional students.

The approximately 3,400 faculty teach in seven schools: Arts & Sciences, Brown School, Olin Business School, Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts, School of Engineering & Applied Science, School of Law and School of Medicine. Twenty-three Nobel laureates have been associated with Washington University, with nine doing the major portion of their pioneering research there.

The university offers more than 90 programs and almost 1,500 courses leading to bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees in a broad spectrum of traditional and interdisciplinary fields, with additional opportunities for minor concentrations and individualized programs.

DES MOINES -- On Tuesday, July 10, President Obama will travel to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where he will visit the home of Jason and Ali McLaughlin to discuss the need for Congress to extend middle-class tax cuts that would prevent a tax hike on all families earning less than $250,000. The President believes our economy grows from the middle out and that's why his plan would prevent a $2,200 tax burden on families like the McLaughlins. Currently, as a result of the tax cuts President Obama has already signed into law, the McLaughlins will receive a total of about $4,900 in tax relief over the President's first term.

In addition to the President's call to extend middle-class tax cuts, his plan would also ask millionaires and billionaires to pay their fair share and let the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthiest expire, which would help families like the McLaughlins send kids to college, buy new homes, pay for health care and child care, and help the economy recover from the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. This is part of the President's plan to cut the deficit by more than $4 trillion and make investments that strengthen the middle class while cutting spending and ensuring that everyone pays their fair share.

Following his roundtable with the McLaughlins, the President will deliver remarks at a grassroots event at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, where he will continue to outline his plan to build an economy that is grown from the middle out, not from the top down, where everyone has a fair shot to succeed and plays by the same set of rules.

Washington, D.C. - Congressman Dave Loebsack will host a Telephone Town Hall TOMORROW, Tuesday, July 10th at 7pm CDT.  Loebsack will take questions and talk with Iowans about the issues that matter to them.  People interested in participating in the call are urged to visit http://Loebsack.house.gov to sign up.

"Hearing from directly from constituents is critical to my job," said Loebsack.  "Please join me for a conversation about the issues that matter most to you and your family."

Congressman Loebsack Hosts Telephone Town Hall

 

Tuesday, July 10th

7pm CDT

To register, visit http://loebsack.house.gov/ and click the Teletown Halls sign up icon on the right hand side of the website.

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The 2012 Blackhawk Chamber Music Festival presents three unique performances, including a benefit for the festival entitled FLUTE FIESTA on July 21 with flutist Jeffrey Cohan, BEETHOVEN TO MODERN BIX on August 4 with soprano Anne Harley, harpsichordist Gregory Hand, violist Christine Rutledge, lutenist and viola da gambist Oleg Timofeyev and flutist Jeffrey Cohan.

All concerts will take place at 7:30 PM at Trinity Cathedral at 121 West 12th Street in Davenport.

On Saturday, July 21, 2012 at 7:30 PM, flutist and artistic director Jeffrey Cohan will present FLUTE FIESTA, a flute extravaganza featuring 13 flutes from the renaissance, the time of Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and the present day which Jeffrey Cohan performed all over China last month. The program will include a Chinese piece modeled after a well known ancient Chinese melody and an American work with no notes but plenty of music. Proceeds from this unique program showcasing six centuries of flute music will benefit the remaining concerts.

On Sunday, July 22, 2012 at 7:30 PM in BEETHOVEN to MODERN, flutist Jeffrey Cohan and guitarist Oleg Timofeyev will perform works from Beethoven's time, the golden age of the guitar-flute duo, on an 8-keyed flute and guitar made in the early 19th century, and the jazz-inspired works of modern times on modern instruments.

On Saturday, August 4, 2012 at 7:30 PM in BACH for BIX, soprano Ann Harley, flutist Jeffrey Cohan, violist Christine Rutledge, harpsichordist Gregory Hand and guitarist and viola da gambist Oleg Timofeyev will perform an innovative program of transcriptions for new instrumental combinations including the exquisite cantata entitled Ich habe genug by the incomparable Johann Sebastian Bach, who like Bix Beiderbeck was an improvisational master.

The suggested donation (a free will offering) will be $10 or $15, and those 18 and under are free. For further information the public may call Trinity Cathedral at (563) 323-9989 and see www.bhcmf.org. Tickets are available at the door and through www.brownpapertickets.com.

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Canadian soprano ANNE HARLEY is a specialist in both baroque and contemporary music and has premiered works by many composers. She performs in North America, Europe and Asia as a recitalist and has appeared as a soloist with Opera Boston, The American Repertory Theatre, The Handel & Haydn Society, Boston Camerata, the Banff Centre for the Arts, the North Carolina Symphony and at the Tanglewood Festival. She débuted in Europe at Amsterdam's Concertgebouw as the lead in Handel's Acis and Galatea and created leading roles in the modern-day première of Royer's Le pouvoir de l'Amour in conjunction with the Centre de
Musique Baroque de Versailles. The Boston Globe acclaimed her performance as "vocally and dramatically outstanding." The Village Voice described her performance with the Finnish Tero Saarinen Dance Company and the Boston Camerata as transmitting a "heart-wrenching purity."

In 2009-10, she performed the lead role of Margaret Mead in the world and US premières of Evan Ziporyn's A House in Bali with Bang-On-A-Can in Bali, Boston and New York (BAM). Her latest project, VoicesOfThePearl, commissions artists and composers to create song cycles and multimedia pieces to texts by and about female mystical experience from traditions around the world.

She obtained the doctorate in Historical Performance at Boston University, and is codirector of Russian early music ensemble,TALISMAN, which won the Noah Greenberg Award in 2001 and released its first CD on Dorian to acclaim in Gramophone and EMA. They have since released several more recordings of early Russian and Russian Roma (Gypsy) music with major labels. Her solo performances are available on Hänssler Profil, Naxos, Sony Classics, Dorian, Canteloupe, Musica Omnia and BMOP/sound. Please see www.anneharley.com.

Artistic director JEFFREY COHAN can "play many superstar flutists one might name under the table" according to the New York Times, and is "The Flute Master" according to the Boston Globe. He has received international acclaim both as a modern flutist, and as one of the foremost early flute specialists. The only person to win both the Erwin Bodky Award (Boston), and the top prize in the Flanders Festival International Concours Musica Antiqua (Brugge, Belgium), he won First Prize in the Olga Koussevitzky Young Artist Competition, and has performed in 26 countries, having earned the highest rating from the National Endowment for the Arts. Many works have been written for and premiered by him, including five new flute concerti by American and Slovene composers in the new millennium.

Born in Davenport, Jeffrey Cohan graduated from Rock Island High School and performed solo concerti with the Tri-City Youth Symphony under the direction of James Dixon, with the Clinton Symphony under William Henigbaum, and with the Rock Island High School Band under Donald Kruzan. He was Artist-in-Residence at Augustana College from 1983 to 1988, during which time he also taught flute at Indiana University in Bloomington and gave many performances in Ascension Chapel and yearly Candlelight Christmas Concerts. He has also taught at the University of Northern Iowa and at Grinnell College. His mentor while in the Quad Cities was and continues to be flutist Walter Haedrich of Moline. Jeffrey performs each year in Europe, most recently in Germany, Ukraine and Slovenia, and he performed and gave masterclasses throught China last month (June, 2012). He lives with his wife and three children in Washington State's Skagit Valley, where he also directs the Cascade Early Music Festival and the Capitol Hill Chamber Music Festival in Washington, DC.

OLEG TIMOFEYEV plays the renaissance, 10-course, and baroque lutes, 19th-century guitar, viola da gamba and recorder, and is one of the world's foremost authorities on the Russian seven-string guitar. He was an Artist in Residence for the School of Music at the University of Iowa, where has been Visiting Assistant Professor for the Department of Russian since 1999. He also has taught at Grinnell College and Cornell College. Mr. Timofeyev has a Ph. D. in Performance Practice from Duke University and has received many fellowships, grants and awards, including two separate Fulbright grants for recent research into the Russian guitar in Moscow and for teaching early plucked instruments in Ukraine. His editions have been published by A-R Editions, and his articles have appeared in the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians and in the Lute Society Quarterly among other periodicals. In Moscow he founded and directed the still active early music group Pratum Musicum for the Moscow Palace of Culture. He is guest lecturer/ performer with the annual Vanamuusika Päevad, an Estonian early music festival, and directs the annual International Russian Guitar Festival and the International Academy for Russian Music, Arts, and Culture, both in Iowa City, Iowa. He has made many solo recordings for Dorian Recordings.

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The Black Hawk Chamber Music Festival, founded in 2000, aspires to provide new perspective through chamber music by famous as well as little-known composers, illuminating many unusual aspects of musical performance from the Renaissance through the present, sometimes performing these early works on exact replicas of the instruments with which the composers were familiar and occasionally premiering new works. Festival repertoire ranges from classical favorites and new works written for the performers to unpublished musical gems from libraries around the world. The festival brings together artists from the region and other world-class musicians from around the country.

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Governor's Initiative to Increase Hiring Veterans Tax Credit; Provides Property Tax Relief for Spouses of Fallen Heroes

CHICAGO - July 9, 2012.  Governor Pat Quinn today signed a new law that will help more Illinois Veterans find employment following their service to our country, an important measure he proposed during his State of the State address in February.

The Hiring Veterans Tax Credit will provide a significant additional tax credit for every unemployed Veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan a company hires, which will help businesses create jobs and give those jobs to the Veterans who have sacrificed so much in serving our state and our country. Unemployment for young returning Veterans in America was 30% in 2011.

"Veterans are committed, disciplined and experienced, and they know how to accomplish a mission," Governor Quinn said. "We need these heroes in our workplaces, and increasing the Hiring Veterans Tax Credit will create more jobs for veterans and grow the economy in Illinois."

Senate Bill 3241, sponsored by State Sen. John Sullivan (D-Rushville) and State Rep. Jerry Costello (D-Belleville), raises the Illinois Hiring Veterans tax credit from 10% to 20% of annual wages and more than quadruples the annual cap from $1,200 to $5,000. Many of these post-9/11 Veterans struggle with higher rates of unemployment compared with their civilian counterparts.

In addition, the new law also honors Gold Star families of fallen heroes across Illinois by making them eligible for the same property tax-relief available in some communities to the families of fallen firefighters and police officers. The law allows counties or municipalities the option of reducing or eliminating property taxes for a surviving spouse of a fallen Illinois soldier killed in Iraq or Afghanistan in the way some choose to honor the families of fallen firefighters and police officers.

"We have a tremendous responsibility to honor the service and sacrifices Veterans and their families have made since 9/11," said IDVA Director Erica Borggren. "These measures will go a long way towards helping Veterans and the families of fallen service members begin the process of rebuilding their lives."

President Obama recently announced that more than one million service members will leave the military between now and 2016, with many thousands returning home to Illinois. Many of these young post-9/11 Veterans will be returning to sectors of the economy that were hardest hit by the Great Recession including construction, manufacturing, and transportation industries. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Veterans ages 18-24 nationwide have an unemployment rate roughly twice as high as their civilian peers.

Governor Quinn launched "Operation Home Front" while he was Illinois State Treasurer to give National Guard members and reservists a tool to inform them about their rights during the Gulf War. Most recently, the Governor has expanded Operation Home Front to be a place where active servicemembers and Veterans can learn about the resources available to them and their families, and a place for the public to learn about different ways they can support our troops.

First Lady of the United States Michelle Obama recently joined Governor Quinn as he signed a new law designed to help military spouses more easily find employment when they move to Illinois for military service by granting expedited professional licenses. Illinois is the 23rd state to adopt such legislation.

For more information about benefits for our Veterans, visit Veterans.Illinois.gov or call the Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs at 217-782-6641 or 312-814-2460.

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DES MOINES, IA - Today, six Iowa Mayors and County Officials released a memo expressing their deep concerns about Mitt Romney's record of outsourcing American jobs, both as Governor of Massachusetts and an executive at Bain Capital. As job creators in their cities and counties, local elected officials are standing with President Barack Obama and his vision for a job-creating economy that's built to last, where hard work pays and responsibility is rewarded.

Memo signers are from across the state, representing large and small cities and counties:

  • Mayor Chaz Allen, Newton
  • Mayor Warren Woods, Creston
  • Mayor Buck Clark, Waterloo
  • County Supervisor Lu Barron, Linn County
  • County Supervisor Rick Larkin, Lee County
  • County Supervisor Tom Hockensmith, Polk County

 

MEMO

From:   Mayors Chaz Allen, Warren Woods and Buck Clark and County Supervisors Lu Barron, Rick Larkin and Tom Hockensmith

To:       Interested Parties

Re:       Iowa Mayors and County Officials Concerned with Mitt Romney's Record of Outsourcing

We represent six Iowa cities and counties, large and small, urban and rural. Combined, we represent close to 800,000 Iowans. As leaders in our communities, our mission is to help our businesses grow and create jobs for hardworking middle-class families.

Manufacturing contributes more to Iowa's economy than insurance and finance, construction, and agriculture combined. Iowa ranks sixth in the U.S. for top manufacturing states in terms of GDP (17.8%). Unfortunately, middle class families in our communities have experienced the devastating impact of a company's decision to move manufacturing jobs overseas.

Thankfully, under President Obama's leadership, we have seen jobs coming back to our communities after years of watching them get shipped away. We've seen more than two consecutive years of private-sector job growth, and Iowa manufacturing is growing, adding close to 20,000 jobs since 2009. We are putting Iowa's middle class back to work, and it is the kind of progress we must continue.

Last week, the Obama administration filed an unfair trade case with the World Trade Organization to hold China accountable for unfair trade practices that hurt American workers in the auto industry.  President Obama bet on the American worker when he supported the auto rescue and he knows that?with a level playing field?American workers will always win. That's why we support President Obama and his vision for a job-creating economy that's built to last, where hard work pays and responsibility is rewarded.

On the campaign trail, Mitt Romney has said he knows how to create American jobs, and suggests that his business experience gives him special insight into the economy. But Mitt Romney wanted to "let Detroit go bankrupt", which would have devastated the American auto industry and the millions of jobs it supports.  Romney's record on outsourcing, both as Governor and as the head of a corporate-buyout firm, and troubling comments on job creation, is deeply concerning to us.

A recent Washington Post article revealed that under Mitt Romney's leadership, Bain Capital owned companies that were pioneers in shipping American jobs to countries like India and China - creating profits for Romney and Bain's investors at the expense of middle-class American workers. As Governor, he signed a contract that sent state call-center jobs to India and vetoed a bill that would have prohibited sending state jobs overseas.

We are working hard every day to create economic opportunities for our cities and counties, and policies enacted at the federal level are vital to our success. Mitt Romney's record at Bain and in Massachusetts threatens the work we do to protect the economic security of middle-class Iowans and are not the values we want to see in our President.

We are also concerned about the proposals Romney has said he would enact as President. One of the only plans he has detailed would eliminate taxes on companies' foreign profits, giving companies incentives to send American jobs to other countries. Instead of closing corporate loopholes or giving tax breaks to companies that keep jobs here at home - as President Obama has proposed to do - Romney's policies would eliminate American jobs and weaken middle-class security.

The policies he is advocating for are familiar and troubling to us. It's the same formula that we tried in the last decade that benefitted a few, but crashed our economy and hurt the middle class. We need a President who stands with the American worker and focuses on job creation here at home like President Obama, not policies that would ship American jobs overseas.

In our cities and counties - and the rest of Iowa - refuse to go backward. We know we can make the products Americans want right here in our communities. We know our workers are the best in the world. As Vice President Joe Biden said in Iowa last week, "The president and I don't see American workers as part of the problem. We see them as the heart of the solution."

Sincerely,

Mayor Chaz Allen, Newton

Mayor Warren Woods, Creston

Mayor Buck Clark, Waterloo

County Supervisor Lu Barron, Linn County

County Supervisor Rick Larkin, Lee County

County Supervisor Tom Hockensmith, Polk County

 


Physicians Explain How Stress, 12-Step Programs Change the Brain

When Bill W. and Dr. Bob created Alcoholics Anonymous 77 years ago, they borrowed principles learned from a Christian fellowship called the Oxford Group to create their 12-step recovery program.

"They knew that their spiritual program was effective where other 'cures' had failed, and over the years, there have been many theories as to why," says Dr. Harry Haroutunian, physician director of the Betty Ford Center in Palm Springs, and collaborator with Dr. Louis Teresi on the book, Hijacking the Brain: How Drug and Alcohol Addiction Hijacks our Brains - The Science Behind Twelve-Step Recovery (www.HijackingTheBrain.com).

"Now we know that stress is the fuel that feeds addiction, and that stress and drug and alcohol use cause neurological and physiological changes," Haroutunian says. "The changes are primarily in the deep brain reward centers, the limbic brain, responsible for decisions, memory and emotion. These centers are 'hijacked' by substance abuse, so that the addicted person wants the booze or drug over anything else. "

As a scientist and physician applying the 12-step program to his own life, Teresi studied the physiological changes triggered by this seemingly non-scientific treatment.

"One response is that elements of 12-step programs reduce stress and increase feelings of comfort and reward through chemical changes in the brain and body. These changes allow for neuronogenesis - the birth of neurons in the brain," Teresi says.

"As substances of abuse affect the limbic brain, so do 12-step recovery practices."

Teresi says the 11th step in the program, which emphasizes spiritual practices such as prayer and meditation, works for the following reasons:

Chilling out: Addiction is a cycle of bad habits. When something bad happens, an alcoholic drinks to feel better. When something good occurs, he drinks to celebrate. After years of this behavior, a person needs a way to step outside of himself to maintain sobriety. Regular prayer or meditation achieves that and becomes "that other habitual option" for responding to emotions, he says.

• "Mindfulness" meditation: While certain forms of prayer are effective, meditation may be a more direct way to achieve the kind of beneficial self-regulation that makes the 11th step so crucial, Teresi says. Mindfulness meditation incorporates active Focused Attention and the more passive Open Monitoring to raise a person's awareness of his impulses, leading to better self-control.

The three-fold manner: A successful 11th step tends to have the following benefits: First, stress is relieved in both cognitive and emotional reactivity, as evidenced by reduced cortisol (stress hormone) levels and other biological indicators. Second, some forms of meditation are shown to stimulate the brain's reward centers, releasing dopamine - a mood elevator -- while improving attention and memory. Third, an increased sense of connectivity and empathy to others is achieved, satisfying our natural need for social connection and reducing stress.

Sobriety is not so much about not drinking or drugging, Teresi says.

"It's about developing an attitude and lifestyle that brings sufficient serenity and personal reward that drinking, or taking any mood-altering drug, is simply unnecessary."

About Dr. Teresi & Dr. Haroutunian

Louis Teresi earned his medical degree from Harvard, where he completed honors concentration courses in neuroscience. In more than 24 years of practice, Teresi has authored numerous peer-reviewed papers, winning 14 national and international awards for his research, and is a senior member of the American Society of Neuroradiology. He is a grateful recovering alcoholic.

Dr. Harry L. Haroutunian, known as "Dr. Harry," is an internationally known speaker on addiction who has created the "Recovery 101" lecture series. As physician director of the Betty Ford Center, Dr. Haroutunian has contributed to the development of a variety of programs. He is the author of the soon-to-be-published book "Staying Sober When Nothing Goes Right" and collaborated with Dr. Louis Teresi, author of "Hijacking the Brain: How Drug and Alcohol Addiction Hijacks our Brains - The Science Behind Twelve-Step Recovery."

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