College Student Protests Weight Discrimination

Jennifer Ramos and fellow students plan protest in Iowa City over incident
Benjamin Roberts / Iowa City Press-Citizen

It's no wonder that America has its' share of bullies. After watching Dr. Drew last night, I was absolutely appalled by the statements made by Me Me Roth, regarding her position on student, Jordan Ramos,

Ramos, 21, was turned away from dancing on a platform at a bar in Iowa City. Ms. Roth's first name all but explains her agenda:

" It isn't like they said she couldn't drink," she said. "This is a girl who wanted the audience to find her beautiful. It didn't find her beautiful, said Roth.

Roth is an anti-obesity activist and founder of National Action Against Obesity. Does she really believe people choose to be overweight? It was reported that Ramos was turned away two-times by a club bouncer, when she approached the club's platform to dance.  Confronting the bouncer, he admitted he was not letting her dance on the platform because of her size:

"It completely made me feel like a worthless human being -- that I wasn't as valuable as somebody who might be prettier or thinner than me," said Ramos.

  

More surprising, was the caller remarks' on Dr. Drew's show. They all seemed to support Ms. Roth's position; which is, the club has a right to limit the platform dancing to slender, attractive people.


There are too many selfish, superficial people that populate this planet. I am ashamed for our country. One would think there is more to the person than what they eat or don't eat. 

I do care about my weight, I struggle like most with keeping it down. However, I would never think to play the blame game with regard to judging why someone is obese. Taking this a step further, there are those that believe  obese people should not have the right to enjoy life in the same way as thinner people. 

This is not so different from how Nazi Germany evolved. If you weren't blond, white, Aryan, Christian, you didn't deserve to live. What a travesty! I never imagined that there is so much discrimination. I gave us far too much credit, and thought we had intellectually evolved much more. 

This particular incident took place at the Union Bar, in Iowa City, Iowa. The owner, George Whitgraf issued a formal apology in the local news paper :Bar Owner Apologizes To Woman Who Felt Discriminated Against Because Of Weight

I can't help but deduce this attitude has to start at home.

What are we teaching our children? Are we instilling values that include compassionate understanding? We place so much value on formal education. I believe we neglect to address the most basic issue, regarding respecting people and their differences. 

The fact is; our morality, integrity, and how we treat others, cannot be taught at school. This has to come from parents.' Our children will mimic our behavior and attitudes. It all begins with taking an inventory of what is projected to children at home. 

If we neglect this fundamental responsibility, we are just as guilty as the offenders' because we failed to do a good job with our parenting. 

Link Between Personality and Frontal Lobe Brain Injury?

From the collection of Jack and Beverly Wilgus (Image laterally reversed to show the features in the correct position since daguerreotype is a mirror image)

Read more: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/Phineas-Gage-Neurosciences-Most-Famous-Patient.html#ixzz1vG54nmtd

I am fascinated by this story: Phineas Gage-Neurosciences Most Famous Patient.  While fascinated, I am not surprised.

Phineas Gage lived in the late 1800's.   He was a railroad foreman, and as such, suffered a bizarre accident that drove a rod through his head, blinding him his left eye and destroying the part of the left frontal lobe.

Phineas was never the same after the accident. His personality and demeanor totally changed.

Once a respected foreman, who was liked by his peers, turned into a nasty ogre who used profanity, could not complete tasks, and was reduced to taking odd jobs to support himself until his death.

Once the frontal lobe is damaged, people can become violent, disorganized, easily frustrated and highly irritable.  Frontal Lobe Injury

I am not surprised by this story, as I have witnessed this in my family. This individual suffered a frontal lobe injury after running into a wall as a child.  Following the mishap, he became angry and impatient.  Similar to the personality change and description of Phineas Gage.

According to the article, once the white matter surrounding the cerebral cortex is damaged, it prevents the brain from making its' neurological connections that account for how we react to our environment.  Because the brain has been traumatized,  people effected can react inappropriately to every day stimuli.

Our family member, whom I will call "Gregg" can lose his temper over the most trivial reason.  If a cup is not put away correctly, or he receives a response from a question that he does not like, he will  lose control.    He appears to enjoy starting arguments; thinks nothing of raising his voice, or even screaming, in public.

This kind of behavior would embarrass most people.  While Gregg is aware of his short temper, and has sought help, he still is not pleasant to be around and not surprisingly, has few friends.

It is not unusual for people who engage in criminal activity to also have this disorder The Criminal Brain: Frontal Lobe Dysfunction Evidence in Capitol Proceedings.  The man in this documented case, suddenly began to read child pornography and solicit prostitutes.

 According to the case study, the individual began to have serious headaches, and after being admitted to the hospital, it was discovered he had a large tumor. Once removed, his impulses subsided.

There are many incarcerated people that have had frontal lobe injuries.  Many of them unaware of why they have strong impulses to commit crime.  For the unlucky people that suffer from Frontal Lobe Injury, medication may help but not cure them of this disorder.

Phineas Gage was the first story documented on the link between personality change and Frontal Lobe injury.  According to the article,  two thirds of  introductory psychology books mention the Phineas Gage case.

A cast of his face, his skull and the rod are housed at Harvard Medical Schools Warren Anatomical Museum.

Elephant Whisperer Speaks No More

Lawrence Anthony:  Camera Press

Two herds of wild elephants in mourning.  They traveled over 12 miles to pay homage to Lawrence Anthony, the conservationist known as "The Elephant Whisperer." Lawrence Anthony, Telegraph.co.uk


Anthony was a native of Johannesburg,South Africa.  He made international news in 2003, when he arrived in Baghdad to rescue animals in Saddam Hussein's zoo. 


Anthony witnessed horrific conditions at the zoo.  Carcasses of dead animals lined the cages.  Parrots were loose, monkeys'  and baboons'  ran wild.  He worked for six months' to restore the original condition of the zoo.  By the time Anthony finished his mission, the animals were well fed, with fresh water, and in good health.


In his native South Africa, he was known for establishing the "Earth Organization," a  conservation effort which established two new reserves.  The first of which The  Royal Zulu Biosphere in Zululand, and The Mayibuye Game Reserve in Kwa Ximba, both in South Africa.  These reserves provided people with jobs, and helped preserve wildlife from uncontrolled development.

So when Anthony learned the fate of two herds of wild elephants, he decided to work with them to save them from certain death.  The elephants had broken out of every enclosure they had been in.  There were nine in all, highly dangerous and and feared by villagers.

Anthony explained that he began to work with them by pleading with them to behave.  He singled out "Nana" first, the matriarch of the group.  At one point, he literally threw himself in front of her, explaining that if she broke through the electric enclosure again, she would be killed.  Remarkably, his effort to try to speak rationally to "Nana" paid off.   He used words and gestures, explaining to her that he knew she couldn't actually understand, but he hoped that his tone would convey what he was trying to say. Gazing at him in anger, she ultimately turned around and walked away.  

So, on March 2nd, when Lawrence Anthony died, two herds of elephants that Anthony had worked with unselfishly to save, made  the 12 mile procession to his grieving family's home.  How they understood is unknown.  But it is said that elephants are fiercely loyal to their families.   The herds mulled about the family property for two days, as if to pay respect and love for sparing their lives.  Then, after spending two days on the property,, turned around returning orderly to the reserve.

To the locals, there is no question that these elephants were in mourning.  They had accepted Lawrence Anthony as their own.  In their own way, they understood his passing.

I treasure this remarkable story, it is another testament of the intense love and devotion animals are capable of expressing.

Lawrence Anthony was one of the privileged few to understand this connection,  Because of his special gifts, he was able to communicate with them in his own way.

It is unlikely the elephants' will every forget his unconditional love and devotion.

Obamacare Not So Attractive

Okay, I admit the package is attractive, health care for everyone, pre-existing conditions are covered, sounds wonderful, right?

Truth is, there are more nuances to the package for students at Franciscan University; a Catholic college in Steubenville, Ohio. Catholic Students Take A Hit Because Of Obamacare


Because of the position of the church on right-to life issues, students will lose their health insurance with the University.  The position of of the University is this: They will not participate in a plan that requires us to violate the consistent teachings of the Catholic Church on the sacredness of life.


The socialized medical plan would require the University to up the the maximum coverage for each student to $100,000.  Students' now paying $600.00 for coverage will have to now pay $1200.00.   So, the University opted out of a student health plan altogether

How sad for students.'   However, as a Catholic myself, I understand.  The college was backed into a corner.  I can see how people would disagree with my view.  However, even if the University did agree to cover contraception and abortion costs, the plan is not flawless as costs to students' will still be exorbitant.

I believe that if this glitch is already effecting Catholic Universities, how will it impact American citizens.

Obviously, someone has to pay for extended coverage and pre-existing conditions.  It all looks good, but how easy will this be facilitated?  This has always been an issue for me with socialized medicine.  While it is very attractive, there a numerous draw backs to the plan: Obamacare: Disadvantages

Other issues include:

• quality of health care
• co-pay expenses for extended or pre-existing coverage
• difficulty in getting appointments
• waiting time for emergency care 

All that glitters' is not gold.  So much of this  is a pipe dream.  I'll admit, Initially I was on the bandwagon, excited about the roll-out.  But with every positive in social medicine there are two or more negatives. 

The reason we love America so much is because of the quality of life in this country.  Americans' never have to compromise when it came to getting premium health care.  This is why people all over the world have come to our country to get treatment for serious health issues.

With that said,  each of us has to examine what issues are important to us.  More important:  We need to examine the package offered by Obamacare.

Is this plan really everything we were promised?