Discrimination

[WeaponofMassInstruction]

In an essay titled DISCRIMINATION AT LARGE, Jennifer Coleman wrote, "Fat is the last preserve for unexamined bigotry." This resonated with me as there is virtually no other group that tolerates or can be abused without sanctions. Homosexuals? Try calling a coworker a "fag" and see what happens. You will be accused of a hate crime and certainly, at the least, lose your job. Different races? Um... not unless you want the Anti-Defamation League crawling up your ass or the NAACP or some other quasi political faction picketing or calling for your blood. Midgets? You cannot even SAY "midget" anymore. It is considered "hate speech". The current nomenclature is "little people," which I would think would be far more insulting, almost as if to say they are like regular people only snack size. Religion? Suuuure. Those Muslims have a GREAT sense of humor!!! Remember that cartoonist who dared to depict Allah in Europe? That didn't go too well now, did it? The Disabled? Nope. In fact, you cannot even use the term "disabled" anymore. The present term du jour is "differently abled," as in they are able to do what YOU do, just in a different way. I know, WOMEN! Not unless you want to be slapped with a sexual harassment suit. I remember a group of Fortune 500 employees who recalled an episode of SEINFELD at work, the one where Jerry dated a girl whose name rhymed with a sexual body part. Well, a female coworker overheard, sued saying they "created a hostile environment" and won 5 million. They lost their jobs. So who can you make fun of??? FAT PEOPLE!!! I guess that is why we are laughed at, mocked, teased, called "big guy," and generally made to feel like less than a human being. What we need are advocates and organizations that protect and preserve OUR rights. After all we are a larger group (pun intended) than ALL those others AND we do not discriminate. There are fat gays, blacks, whites, browns, yellows, little people, dwarves, religous types, differently abled, women, and all walks of life. Rise up, my fellow chubsters, and revolt against this tyranny. Besides, we could use the exercise!!!

[Truffles]

There is a difference, though, between discrimination towards race, sex, or sexual orientation, and obesity, though. The former cannot be helped, whilst obesity can be changed.

Just because I was fat doesn't entitle me to protection from the law. It might have been unpleasant and not fair to be made fun of, but it was my choice to be fat. I did, however, do something about it.

Discrimination laws are meant for people who cannot "do something" about whom they are.

[WeaponofMassInstruction]

It was comical; however, that can be debated as well. With regards to race, there are bleaching techniques to change color, surgeries to change ethnic features, etc. I mean, look at Michael Jackson. He was born a black man and died a white woman. So if surgery can change race and change weight, then maybe there is a slight similarity? And I used to believe that obese people could do something about it, too, until I attended a seminar by one of the top surgeons in NYC and started working with an international cardiologist (Sweden/America) who informed me that the most recent studies in Stockholm show that anyone 50lbs or more overweight has a 3% chance of ever losing the weight and actually keeping it off!!! He mused, "Mention that at your next Weight Watchers meeting where they created a billion dollar industry on a 3% margin for success." Dr. Gustafson also informed me the Swedish studies have adopted the belief that it IS genetics and individuals are PREDISPOSED to obesity in many cases (like being predisposed to race) and "cannot do anything about it. I am one such individual, For 20 years, I have tried everything from Deal A Meal (remember that?) to Weight Watchers, lost and regained. Hit the gym, lost and regained. I still walk at least 2 miles a day ( I live in NYC where we walk EVERYWHERE) and cannot lose from teh activity despite days where I have a very low caloric intake. So I must agree to disagree with you. I cannot "do" something other than opt for surgery,

[WeaponofMassInstruction]

And there are various people who believe sexual orientation is a choice as well! (I am not one of them.)

[WeaponofMassInstruction]

Oh and sex??? Sexual reassignment surgery is ALSO an option. Look at Chasidy Bono. Born a woman now a man.

[WeaponofMassInstruction]

There is a difference, though, between discrimination towards race, sex, or sexual orientation, and obesity, though. The former cannot be helped, whilst obesity can be changed.

Just because I was fat doesn't entitle me to protection from the law. It might have been unpleasant and not fair to be made fun of, but it was my choice to be fat. I did, however, do something about it.

Discrimination laws are meant for people who cannot "do something" about whom they are.

It was comical; however, that can be debated as well. With regards to race, there are bleaching techniques to change color, surgeries to change ethnic features, etc. I mean, look at Michael Jackson. He was born a black man and died a white woman. So if surgery can change race and change weight, then maybe there is a slight similarity? And I used to believe that obese people could do something about it, too, until I attended a seminar by one of the top surgeons in NYC and started working with an international cardiologist (Sweden/America) who informed me that the most recent studies in Stockholm show that anyone 50lbs or more overweight has a 3% chance of ever losing the weight and actually keeping it off!!! He mused, "Mention that at your next Weight Watchers meeting where they created a billion dollar industry on a 3% margin for success." Dr. Gustafson also informed me the Swedish studies have adopted the belief that it IS genetics and individuals are PREDISPOSED to obesity in many cases (like being predisposed to race) and "cannot do anything about it. I am one such individual, For 20 years, I have tried everything from Deal A Meal (remember that?) to Weight Watchers, lost and regained. Hit the gym, lost and regained. I still walk at least 2 miles a day ( I live in NYC where we walk EVERYWHERE) and cannot lose from teh activity despite days where I have a very low caloric intake. So I must agree to disagree with you. I cannot "do" something other than opt for surgery,

[PunaGirl]

Personally I really enjoy reading your blogs/rants/posts. But you sure do push boundaries. I imagine you're the trouble maker wherever you go.

[WeaponofMassInstruction]

I am labeled a troublemaker but I often find that moniker assigned to those who are open to challenging conventional thought, people like you since you are reading this. Ha. Did I cross a line? If I get booted by the system admin, I'll know. This happens to be a topic my college students are addressing and it has spurned some interesting discussions.

[PunaGirl]

I can imagine the discussions this inspires and would actually love to sit in on a class & listen/participate. In these times of extreme political correctness almost anything can be misconstrued including sneezing in the wrong direction. As for me no one can accuse me of being a follower, I live for chaos even if I have to create it.

[WeaponofMassInstruction]

Political correctness was instituted by Clinton and has been used as a band aid solution for all sorts of social ills. It is despicable! I refuse to subscribe. This from a man who was ejaculating on interns then smiling at America while holding his wife. Hm... I would prefer to take a cue from Malcolm X who wished for people to sit down and have real discussions about racial issues and differences than be blindly obeisant to any Clintonian ideology.

[GA400]

Many folks who are favorably and even mildly viewed through the prism of history were in fact the zealots, madmen and troublemakers of their time. Beethoven, DaVinci, Van Gogh, Picasso, most of America's founding fathers, Einstein, the list goes on and on. I won't even crack the seal on the religious zealots that formed most of the basis for modern Western religion - that is an interesting collection of characters :-)
Hooray for those that go against the grain and shake up the establishment!

[GA400]

Bill Clinton has the moral temerity of a wharf rat. I was serving in the military when all that went down, and I will never forget the betrayal we felt from our commander in chief. He betrayed his family, his office, his entire chain of command, and the Americans that he was supposed to be "serving". Had any one of us done such a thing, we would have been stripped of our rank and dishonorably discharged.

[WeaponofMassInstruction]

And Clinton is now hurting the nation's youth by violating not one but THREE federal laws to inculcate a system of national educational standards both he and Hilary brokered for Pearson and other test-making corporations to the education department. In essence, 60 people created a nation-wide series of standards that must be followed by every public school in America (talk about governmental control?) and sadly out of those 60 individuals, only ONE was a school teacher. The corporations then use the data collected from standards-based exams to sell materials (books, software) to schools at a tidy profit, yet NONE of these standards have any empirical data to support their success in any educational setting. I want to quit teaching!

[christine53]

I agree with GA400 I am retired Military and don't even get me started on how thay treat Vets. Hell I know I'm fat but that is nobodies fault but mine.

[GA400]

This is horribly sad, but I am even more sad to say I am not surprised. The American people just roll over and take so many indignities and exploitations from our federal government. Wrap a pretty wrapper on it, make it superficially attractive, and the current generation of Americans have proven again and again they will swallow just about any pill. I feel my soapbox beginning to sneak into this conversation, I am going to try to not go too non-linear here. I wish more Americans would go back to our Constitution, take the time to read it - and make an honest effort to understand what our founding fathers set up here and what kind of oppression and government manipulation they were working so hard to avoid. Again and again they speak about empowerment of the individual and limiting the pervasiveness of government, especially a Federal government. States were supposed run their own affairs and the Federal government was to protect the nation's borders, run a national currency, and do little else. The American insurrection against England and the sacrifices of our founding fathers (my ancestors fought in the Revolution, The Mexican American war, The Civil War, all 20th Century conflicts including myself in Desert Storm) are being undone by current generations of complacent "sheeple".

One of my proudest moments as a father was when my 20 year old daughter came home from college and was ticked about something. I asked her what was under her skin. She had realized that much of her public education history was colored or flat out misrepresented. In doing her own research, she had uncovered unpleasant truths about much of the last two centuries, which led her to double and triple check the contradictions and draw her own conclusions. She is going to make a fantastic journalist

And Clinton is now hurting the nation's youth by violating not one but THREE federal laws to inculcate a system of national educational standards both he and Hilary brokered for Pearson and other test-making corporations to the education department. In essence, 60 people created a nation-wide series of standards that must be followed by every public school in America (talk about governmental control?) and sadly out of those 60 individuals, only ONE was a school teacher. The corporations then use the data collected from standards-based exams to sell materials (books, software) to schools at a tidy profit, yet NONE of these standards have any empirical data to support their success in any educational setting. I want to quit teaching!