I read an article entitled “Male Eating Disorder Rise Blamed On Social Pressure”  The article in part states:

“Anorexia may have traditionally been considered to be a “women’s disease” but dramatic increases in the number of male sufferers are being seen by eating disorder experts.  Men now account for between 5 and 10 per cent of all eating disorder sufferers.”  Bulimia, like anorexia, is an eating disorder traditionally associated with women.

Some of the physical problems associated with the Bulimia are:

• Tooth erosion, cavities, and gum problems
• Water retention, swelling, and abdominal bloating
• Acute stomach distress
• Fluid loss with low potassium levels (due to excessive vomiting or laxative use; can lead to extreme weakness, near paralysis, or lethal heart rhythms)
• Irregular periods
• Swallowing problems and esophagus damage
• It is estimated that 10 percent of those suffering from bulimia will die if it goes untreated.

I empathize with any male sufferer being too ashamed and embarrassed to seek treatment.  I went through a three year brutal battle with the disease during my sophomore through senior  years as a student at Penn State University.  If you think that it is a disease under-reported by men in the 21st century  try being a 21 year old male bulimia sufferer on a college campus of Forty-Thousand in 1981.  Its a lonely and isolating affliction.

“One consultant has revealed that for the first time, he has seen more male anorexia referrals than females”  He believed the increase was due to greater social pressure on men to look good.”

A referral to treatment is for the most part not going to be anything a male 18 year old freshman in college thinks about.  I did not even tell my family. I was not about to ask for medical or other help.  Even with the rising report rates this is still very common for male sufferers of the disease.  I went through several emotional battles within myself. There is the overwhelming feeling of shame.  I would have rather told my family I wanted a sex change than I was throwing up after every meal.  You have no context for understanding  what you are going through.  You truly believe that once  you are thin enough to have reached your goal all your social problems will be solved.  You are never thin enough.

The article states that men are becoming more like women in trying to emulate the male model types they see in the magazine.  I never saw it that way.  In the pre-MTV and DIRECTV world of my college days, you were simply not exposed to those types of images to any significant degree. I equated being thinner with being more accepted and popular. I was not comparing myself to television and other media images. I was comparing myself to the people I saw around me on a daily basis. My perception going through high school was that there were no fat popular kids and if there happened to be one in the cool crowd they were always the class clowns. I was too introverted for that. I  was not a model. I was just your average fat kid trying to fit in and wanting to be popular like the thin kids seemed to be. I wanted that life. I wanted any life but mine.  I In order to help my weight along I decided to get into long distance running.  I eventually worked my way up to running  10 -20 miles a day, 7 days a week.  I would run 10 in the morning and the same in the evening. I was always training for one marathon or another. When the day was over I scarf down a 2lb bag of peanut M&Ms.  I would then head straight to my next best friend, the toilet, to puke it all up.  This behavior was repeated with pizza, fast food etc. There were days that between not eating, puking after I ate and running long distances I was too dehydrated and weak to even get out of bed.  No matter how much weight I lost or how thin I became I always saw the same person in the mirror.  It was some beastly kid who still needed to drop a few lbs that had no friends.( I did have friends but was pretty much a loner regardless)

In the span of one year I went from 230 lbs to 165 lbs at 6′2.  As appealing as that may seem to some, it was a brutal, almost deadly ride that I would not wish on my worst enemy. In my mind being thinner  was the only possible route to social acceptance.  I was not trying to reach some unattainable model goal, I was simply trying to fit in.  The problem is that regardless of why you think you need to either starve yourself or binge and purge the reflection in the mirror never ever changes until you are dead.

Fast forward to present day.  Today as I sit here writing this in at 230lbs in 2008 I still hold the battle scars from my struggles over 25 years ago.  While I was able to beat the eating and binging part by replacing it with healthier obsessions such as running and weightlifting, the mental and mirror images stay with you for life.

Copyright 2009

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At My Thinnest 1982-165lbs

2008-230lbs

Jose Luis Gonzalez is 63 years old. His trailer home has been broken into several times.  He is sick and tired of it.  15 year old Jesus Soto, 13 year old Francisco Anguiano and two other teenage boys were prowling his neighborhood one night. They were hungry.  Word must have been out that the Gonzalez trailer was an easy mark for free food. The boys decided to let themselves in and help themselves. They apparently thought  the coast was clear.  Gonzalez was in a nearby building at the time.  He returned home and confronted the boys with a 16-gauge shotgun.  Soto testified at trial that they were all unarmed.  Soto testified that Gonzalez forced them all to their knees.  There was testimony that the boys begged for forgiveness while Gonzalez hit them with the barrel of the shotgun and kicked them repeatedly.  Gonzalez then shot and killed 13 year old Anguiano.  Gonzalez was charged with the murder.

At trial Gonzalez testified that  he thought Anguiano was lunging at him when he fired the shotgun. The medical examiner testified that Anguiano was shot in the back at close range. There was testimony that  two mashed Twinkies and some cookies belonging to Gonzalez were stuffed in the pockets of his Anguianos’s shorts.

It was the opinion of the  Assistant District Attorney that the Texas “Castle Law” did not apply. He stated:

“What really took place here was a case of vigilantism. A 13-year-old boy was killed because a man was enraged.“

What is  the Texas Castle Doctrine? Here is an overview:

In 1995, the Texas Legislature created an exception to a 1973 statute, which required a person to retreat in the face of a criminal attack. The exception allowed a person to use force without retreat when an intruder unlawfully entered their home. Is this what happened in this situation? The law also extends a person’s right to stand their ground beyond the home to vehicles and workplaces. The Castle Law allowing the reasonable use of deadly force when an intruder is:

• Committing certain violent crimes, such as murder or sexual assault, or is attempting to commit such crimes;
• Unlawfully trying to enter a protected place; or
• Unlawfully trying to remove a person from a protected place.

The law also provides civil immunity for a person who lawfully uses deadly force in the above circumstances.

It took the jury of eight men and four women three hours Friday to find Jose Luis Gonzalez  not guilty of murdering 13 year old Anguiano. Should Mr. Gonzalez should have been acquitted?  This sounds more like a “gangland” execution than a person afraid for his life.   It is not clear how Aguiano who was on his knees could have “lunged” at Gonzalez and get shot in the back.  Did he rise up and hop backwards at him?   If anyone was afraid for their lives it was the subdued teenagers as they were being kicked and beaten by Gonzalez.

Unfortunately  for Francisco Anguiano the  Texas Castle Doctrine statute does not distinguish between Twinkies,  jewelry or a plasma television.  The statute does not impose any circumstances to define when something transitions from a deadly force situation to the requirement of a non-deadly response.  There is no question that the boys entered his home unlawfully.  Under the statute he had no duty to retreat. He had no duty to ask them  what they were doing there. He had no duty to call the police. He had no duty to ask the to leave.  He had no obligation to anything or anyone but the danger he perceived himself in even if that perception was flawed.   Assistant District Attorney Uriel Druker maintained during his closing arguments that the case was not about homeowners’ right to protect their property, but about when a person is justified in using deadly force to do so.

Druker’s argument seems reasonable but is legislatively flawed.  The legislature passed the Castle Law in part so homeowners would not have to go through that thought process before defending themselves.  If someone enters your home unlawfully  the intent is to do you harm. End of story.  A story however with many unwritten chapters and thousands of possible scenarios in between.  After his acquittal Gonzalez said he was sorry for Anguiano’s death, but “it was a situation in which I feared for my life.”

Did the venue matter?  Laredo is town plagued by cross-border Mexican drug cartel violence.  Fears are high.  Tempers are short. Triggers are quick.  Juries both empathize and sympathize with residents under siege.  It should also be noted that Gonzalez’s attorney Isidro “Chilo” Alaniz, is running unopposed for district attorney.  That  does not bode well for any future hungry kids looking for a free snack.

Motto of Story?  If you live in Texas steal your Twinkies from the local 7-11.  You will live longer.

Here is another example of how far Texas grand juries and juries are willing to go to protect homeowners T In June, a grand jury in Houston cleared a homeowner who shot and killed two burglars outside his neighbor’s house despite the dispatcher’s repeated request that he stay inside his own home.  The video is below.

Man Shoots Thieves Robbing Neighbor’s House; 911 Tapes Released

For those who do not recall, Promote My Site is the “Social Media Management Products Company”  that received negative publicity as a result of my post Confessions of A Banned Digger.  Yesterday I received the following email from them:

Don Draper” redacted@gmail.com>

The other night I attended the Austin, Texas premier of the  film Johnny Got His Gun.   It was a special event for me as a percentage of the gross proceeds from the Paramount Theater premiere and all future showings of the film are going to the Fallen Patriot Fund of which I am the Executive Director.  The Fallen Patriot Fund was established by the Mark Cuban Foundation to help the families of U.S. military personnel who were killed or seriously wounded in Operation Iraqi Freedom.  Financial resources are vital to enhancing the sustainability of the family unit who has suffered a loss because their loved one sacrificed himself/herself for freedom.  The fund has distributed over 3.5 million dollars to eligible soldiers and families in need since the beginning of the Iraqi conflict.

Johnny Got His Gun was written in 1938 by by  novelist and screenwriter Dalton Trumbo. It revolves around the character of Joe Bonham, a young soldier serving in World War I.  Joe awakes in a hospital bed after being hit by a mortar shell. He gradually realizes that he has lost all of his mobility and his senses except for touch. He has lost his arms, legs, eyes, nose, ears, tongue, both jaws and all of his face. He has lost all but his mind and the ability to tap his head on his pillow in Morse code to communicate.

Johnny Got His Gun was first brought to film in 1971.  It starred Timothy Bottoms as  Joe Bonham.  It was nominated for a Golden Globe.

The remake unlike the original is done as a monologue.  It stars Austin native Ben McKenzie as Joe Bohham.  He handles the dificulty of portraying the character and the difficulties of a monologue with ease.  Despite being a one man show he really does draw you into the other characters who he senses around him and dreams of in his past.  I highly reccomend this fllm if it comes to your area.  Please visit the  movie web site to learn more about the movie and upcoming openings.