Stigma of Cervical Cancer Puts Ethnic Women at Risk

SACRAMENTO— Susan Carrillo of Redlands, Calif., remembers how her husband reacted when he found out she had cervical cancer soon after their second child was born. She was 23 at the time.

“He just flipped out when my doctor told him it was a sexually transmitted disease,” recalls Carrillo, who is now 32 and divorced. “Then he began abusing me. After I was cured, he once said, ‘I wish the cancer had killed you.’”

The shame and stigma associated with cervical cancer is what makes this disease, usually caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV), so difficult to eradicate despite the development of vaccines that are effective and widely available. That was the takeaway message at a conference on the disease organized by the California Medical Association (CMA) Foundation in Sacramento earlier this month.

“There’s a certain stigma about cervical cancer that doesn’t exist with other cancers,” says Marlene von Friederichs-Fitzwater, director of the UC Davis Cancer Outreach Research and Education Program.

Friederichs-Fitzwater was diagnosed with cervical cancer at age 38, when she was a journalist at the Los Angeles Times. After she was cured, she changed careers and began educating medical students about cancer prevention.

Speakers agreed that more parents would be willing to get their daughters vaccinated if the embarrassment surrounding the cause of cervical cancer were reduced.

“Let’s make the cervix equal partners with the breast,” urged Jennifer S. Smith, director of the Cervical Cancer-Free Initiative at the University of North Carolina. She said cervical cancer should not be characterized as a sexually transmitted disease.

The CMA Foundation has launched a cervical cancer education and prevention campaign targeted at women who are at greatest risk, including those with low rates of screening and prevention.
Cervical cancer is the tenth-most common form of cancer among California women, according to figures from 2008, the first year statewide data was available. Each year, about 400 women in California die from the disease, says Dr. Eileen Yamada, a public health officer at the California Department of Public Health.

In the United States, about 30 percent of sexually active 14- to 19-year-olds are infected with HPV at any given time. In some girls and women, persistent HPV can eventually lead to cervical cancer. If diagnosed early—for example, with a Pap smear—cervical cancer is almost completely curable, but if caught at the most advanced stage the five-year survival rate plunges to as low as 15 to 20 percent.

Hispanic women in Los Angeles, Riverside and Fresno counties have the highest rates of cervical cancer in the state, says Sara N. Cook, CMA Foundation’s Cervical Cancer and HPV project director.
In Los Angeles County, older Korean women also have a high incidence of the disease, consistent with rates in South Korea, says Victoria Cortessis, assistant professor of preventive medicine at the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine.

The HPV virus is highly infectious, experts say. Vaccines marketed in the United States protect against four strains of the virus, only two of which are associated with cervical cancer.

The L.A. County Public Health Department’s cervical cancer prevention initiative, launched in 2000, has proved highly successful, notes Dr. Rita Singhal, medical director of the department’s Office of Women’s Health. The initiative’s toll-free number, with a multilingual staff, has fielded around 25,600 calls so far.

Such public health programs have reduced the incidence and mortality rates of cervical cancer in the state. But cancer rates remain higher in black and Hispanic women, says Dr. Gary A. Richwald, a clinical virologist and communicable disease expert in Los Angeles.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that 11- and 12-year-old girls be targeted for the vaccine, before most are sexually active and, therefore, before they have been exposed to HPV.

“Incidence is highest in women in their 20s,” Richwald, says adding: “No one knows why there is a solid decrease of the disease after age 30. Our guess is women have fewer sex partners after that age.”

Although studies have shown that the HPV vaccine is safe and effective, just one-third of teenagers and young women who start the vaccine process receive all three doses, and almost three-quarters don’t bother to get vaccinated at all, according to data recently presented at the American Association of Cancer Research.

Yet despite the vaccine’s effectiveness, experts warn that patients and health professionals should not place too much confidence it. Pap screening is just as important, they note.

Detection remains a challenge, as most HPV infections have no obvious symptoms, Richwald notes.
That was the case for Carrillo.

She learned she was infected with HPV at age 19, during a routine examination by her ob-gyn to find out if she was pregnant. Because the doctor told her the virus would go away, “I didn’t think it was a big deal and didn’t do anything about it,” she says.

She had no clue that the cancer was growing in her cervix, until she had a Pap screening four years later.

Now cured and healthy, she has joined the National Cervical Cancer Coalition in Los Angeles. She is determined to educate young women, especially immigrants, about how they can protect themselves.
“‘Go and get your Pap,’ I tell them. Cervical cancer is preventable.”

“I also tell women: ‘Just because you got it, doesn’t mean you’re a piece of s - - t.’”
“About 40 percent of women said they heard about our campaign through TV,” Dr. Rita Singhal, medical director, Los Angeles County Dept. of Pub. H, office of women’s health. “For Latinas, TV is the main news source.

Slug: hpv

By Viji Sundaram
SACRAMENTO— Susan Carrillo of Redlands, Calif., remembers how her husband reacted when he found out she had cervical cancer soon after their second child was born. She was 23 at the time.
“He just flipped out when my doctor told him it was a sexually transmitted disease,” recalls Carrillo, who is now 32 and divorced. “Then he began abusing me. After I was cured, he once said, ‘I wish the cancer had killed you.’”
The shame and stigma associated with cervical cancer is what makes this disease, usually caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV), so difficult to eradicate despite the development of vaccines that are effective and widely available. That was the takeaway message at a conference on the disease organized by the California Medical Association (CMA) Foundation in Sacramento earlier this month.
“There’s a certain stigma about cervical cancer that doesn’t exist with other cancers,” says Marlene von Friederichs-Fitzwater, director of the UC Davis Cancer Outreach Research and Education Program. Friederichs-Fitzwater was diagnosed with cervical cancer at age 38, when she was a journalist at the Los Angeles Times. After she was cured, she changed careers and began educating medical students about cancer prevention.

Speakers agreed that more parents would be willing to get their daughters vaccinated if the embarrassment surrounding the cause of cervical cancer were reduced.

“Let’s make the cervix equal partners with the breast,” urged Jennifer S. Smith, director of the Cervical Cancer-Free Initiative at the University of North Carolina. She said cervical cancer should not be characterized as a sexually transmitted disease.

The CMA Foundation has launched a cervical cancer education and prevention campaign targeted at women who are at greatest risk, including those with low rates of screening and prevention.
Cervical cancer is the tenth-most common form of cancer among California women, according to figures from 2008, the first year statewide data was available. Each year, about 400 women in California die from the disease, says Dr. Eileen Yamada, a public health officer at the California Department of Public Health.
In the United States, about 30 percent of sexually active 14- to 19-year-olds are infected with HPV at any given time. In some girls and women, persistent HPV can eventually lead to cervical cancer. If diagnosed early—for example, with a Pap smear—cervical cancer is almost completely curable, but if caught at the most advanced stage the five-year survival rate plunges to as low as 15 to 20 percent.
Hispanic women in Los Angeles, Riverside and Fresno counties have the highest rates of cervical cancer in the state, says Sara N. Cook, CMA Foundation’s Cervical Cancer and HPV project director.
In Los Angeles County, older Korean women also have a high incidence of the disease, consistent with rates in South Korea, says Victoria Cortessis, assistant professor of preventive medicine at the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine.
The HPV virus is highly infectious, experts say. Vaccines marketed in the United States protect against four strains of the virus, only two of which are associated with cervical cancer.
The L.A. County Public Health Department’s cervical cancer prevention initiative, launched in 2000, has proved highly successful, notes Dr. Rita Singhal, medical director of the department’s Office of Women’s Health. The initiative’s toll-free number, with a multilingual staff, has fielded around 25,600 calls so far.
Such public health programs have reduced the incidence and mortality rates of cervical cancer in the state. But cancer rates remain higher in black and Hispanic women, says Dr. Gary A. Richwald, a clinical virologist and communicable disease expert in Los Angeles.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that 11- and 12-year-old girls be targeted for the vaccine, before most are sexually active and, therefore, before they have been exposed to HPV.
“Incidence is highest in women in their 20s,” Richwald, says adding: “No one knows why there is a solid decrease of the disease after age 30. Our guess is women have fewer sex partners after that age.”
Although studies have shown that the HPV vaccine is safe and effective, just one-third of teenagers and young women who start the vaccine process receive all three doses, and almost three-quarters don’t bother to get vaccinated at all, according to data recently presented at the American Association of Cancer Research.

Yet despite the vaccine’s effectiveness, experts warn that patients and health professionals should not place too much confidence it. Pap screening is just as important, they note.

Detection remains a challenge, as most HPV infections have no obvious symptoms, Richwald notes.
That was the case for Carrillo.
She learned she was infected with HPV at age 19, during a routine examination by her ob-gyn to find out if she was pregnant. Because the doctor told her the virus would go away, “I didn’t think it was a big deal and didn’t do anything about it,” she says.
She had no clue that the cancer was growing in her cervix, until she had a Pap screening four years later.
Now cured and healthy, she has joined the National Cervical Cancer Coalition in Los Angeles. She is determined to educate young women, especially immigrants, about how they can protect themselves.
“‘Go and get your Pap,’ I tell them. Cervical cancer is preventable.”
“I also tell women: ‘Just because you got it, doesn’t mean you’re a piece of s - - t.’”


“About 40 percent of women said they heard about our campaign through TV,” Dr. Rita Singhal, medical director, Los Angeles County Dept. of Pub. H, office of women’s health. “For Latinas, TV is the main news source.

Slug: hpv

By Viji Sundaram
SACRAMENTO— Susan Carrillo of Redlands, Calif., remembers how her husband reacted when he found out she had cervical cancer soon after their second child was born. She was 23 at the time.
“He just flipped out when my doctor told him it was a sexually transmitted disease,” recalls Carrillo, who is now 32 and divorced. “Then he began abusing me. After I was cured, he once said, ‘I wish the cancer had killed you.’”
The shame and stigma associated with cervical cancer is what makes this disease, usually caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV), so difficult to eradicate despite the development of vaccines that are effective and widely available. That was the takeaway message at a conference on the disease organized by the California Medical Association (CMA) Foundation in Sacramento earlier this month.
“There’s a certain stigma about cervical cancer that doesn’t exist with other cancers,” says Marlene von Friederichs-Fitzwater, director of the UC Davis Cancer Outreach Research and Education Program. Friederichs-Fitzwater was diagnosed with cervical cancer at age 38, when she was a journalist at the Los Angeles Times. After she was cured, she changed careers and began educating medical students about cancer prevention.

Speakers agreed that more parents would be willing to get their daughters vaccinated if the embarrassment surrounding the cause of cervical cancer were reduced.

“Let’s make the cervix equal partners with the breast,” urged Jennifer S. Smith, director of the Cervical Cancer-Free Initiative at the University of North Carolina. She said cervical cancer should not be characterized as a sexually transmitted disease.

The CMA Foundation has launched a cervical cancer education and prevention campaign targeted at women who are at greatest risk, including those with low rates of screening and prevention.
Cervical cancer is the tenth-most common form of cancer among California women, according to figures from 2008, the first year statewide data was available. Each year, about 400 women in California die from the disease, says Dr. Eileen Yamada, a public health officer at the California Department of Public Health.
In the United States, about 30 percent of sexually active 14- to 19-year-olds are infected with HPV at any given time. In some girls and women, persistent HPV can eventually lead to cervical cancer. If diagnosed early—for example, with a Pap smear—cervical cancer is almost completely curable, but if caught at the most advanced stage the five-year survival rate plunges to as low as 15 to 20 percent.
Hispanic women in Los Angeles, Riverside and Fresno counties have the highest rates of cervical cancer in the state, says Sara N. Cook, CMA Foundation’s Cervical Cancer and HPV project director.
In Los Angeles County, older Korean women also have a high incidence of the disease, consistent with rates in South Korea, says Victoria Cortessis, assistant professor of preventive medicine at the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine.
The HPV virus is highly infectious, experts say. Vaccines marketed in the United States protect against four strains of the virus, only two of which are associated with cervical cancer.
The L.A. County Public Health Department’s cervical cancer prevention initiative, launched in 2000, has proved highly successful, notes Dr. Rita Singhal, medical director of the department’s Office of Women’s Health. The initiative’s toll-free number, with a multilingual staff, has fielded around 25,600 calls so far.
Such public health programs have reduced the incidence and mortality rates of cervical cancer in the state. But cancer rates remain higher in black and Hispanic women, says Dr. Gary A. Richwald, a clinical virologist and communicable disease expert in Los Angeles.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that 11- and 12-year-old girls be targeted for the vaccine, before most are sexually active and, therefore, before they have been exposed to HPV.
“Incidence is highest in women in their 20s,” Richwald, says adding: “No one knows why there is a solid decrease of the disease after age 30. Our guess is women have fewer sex partners after that age.”
Although studies have shown that the HPV vaccine is safe and effective, just one-third of teenagers and young women who start the vaccine process receive all three doses, and almost three-quarters don’t bother to get vaccinated at all, according to data recently presented at the American Association of Cancer Research.

Yet despite the vaccine’s effectiveness, experts warn that patients and health professionals should not place too much confidence it. Pap screening is just as important, they note.

Detection remains a challenge, as most HPV infections have no obvious symptoms, Richwald notes.
That was the case for Carrillo.
She learned she was infected with HPV at age 19, during a routine examination by her ob-gyn to find out if she was pregnant. Because the doctor told her the virus would go away, “I didn’t think it was a big deal and didn’t do anything about it,” she says.
She had no clue that the cancer was growing in her cervix, until she had a Pap screening four years later.
Now cured and healthy, she has joined the National Cervical Cancer Coalition in Los Angeles. She is determined to educate young women, especially immigrants, about how they can protect themselves.
“‘Go and get your Pap,’ I tell them. Cervical cancer is preventable.”
“I also tell women: ‘Just because you got it, doesn’t mean you’re a piece of s - - t.’”

A Doctor's Word: 1-800 Service Offers Cancer Patients a Lifeline

Brenda Bryant learned she had breast cancer while she was sitting alone in her car in the parking lot of her grandson’s day care center. It was early evening on a Friday two years ago, and her surgeon called to tell her the results of a biopsy. “He just gave me my results and that was it,” says Bryant, who is now 47 and lives in Northern Virginia. “It was like there was this big knot in my throat. I was lost, and I didn’t know who to go to. I just started going crazy.”

Searching on the Internet for more information about the disease, Bryant found the telephone number of the National Cancer Institute’s Cancer Information Service (1 800-4-CANCER, or 1-800-422-6237). The woman who answered told her about local support groups and medical specialists in her area and shared her own story of having breast cancer. “The person on the other line was really comforting,” Bryant says. “It made me feel like I might have some hope.”

Despite its 35-year history, the NCI’s free service remains under the radar to many. The help line handles about 78,000 calls a year, in Spanish as well as English. By contrast, in 2007, some 11.7 million Americans were living with the disease.

The service is especially underused in ethnic minority communities, according to Dr. Nancy Burke, a researcher at the University of California, San Francisco. “There’s an issue of awareness, and there’s also the comfort issue of seeking information over the phone,” she says. “But once we introduce people to it, they love it. Cancer patients are often overwhelmed by information, and the line can help them sort through it.”

The cancer line fields a wide variety of queries, including what to expect after different diagnoses; what to ask doctors; where to get help with financial, legal, and transportation problems that might interfere with treatment; the benefits and side effects of different treatment options; and what clinical trials are available for different diagnoses.

Callers are encouraged to share as many details as possible about the exact type and stage of their cancer, so that the staff can tailor the information they provide. “But if they don’t know this, we can help them formulate questions they can take to their doctor,” says Mary Anne Bright, a former oncology nurse who directs the program. “We will spend as much time with somebody as they need.”

Unlike many other toll-free help lines, “we’re not a pharmaceutical company, and we’re not collecting donations,” Bright adds. “We’re all about reporting the most accurate and up-to-date information about cancer and the results of research in a way that people can understand.”

The phone line is open Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern time. Callers aren’t asked for their name, unless they want to receive printed material in the mail, and only their area codes are collected. They are asked some basic demographic questions at the end of the call, but can choose not to answer, and “it won’t have an impact on how we deliver our service,” Bright says.

The Cancer Information Service also handles questions by email and by instant messaging. Recently, the line has been answering more questions about where to get financial help, how to pay for treatment, and where to get free or low-cost screening tests, such as mammograms.

Burke says one unexpected benefit of the call line is the confidence it instills in patients navigating the medical system. “Many people don’t feel entitled to getting good service,” she says. “It was empowering for people to feel they were going into their appointment with questions to ask and information to discuss with their doctor.”

Brenda Bryant called the line a second time, a month after her initial breast cancer diagnosis. Even though she had insurance, she was worried that she wouldn’t be able to afford her treatment, and she also wanted information about a clinical trial that her cancer specialist was pushing. She ended up deciding to go with the standard treatment for her type of cancer, and she reports that she is now doing well.

“They just gave me a lot of information on different services, and they didn’t promote any treatment or trial,” she says. “I just felt that it was a good resource.”

Suarez brace sinks Stoke

A second-half brace from Luis Suarez sent Liverpool through to the quarter-finals of the Carling Cup after a 2-1 win at Stoke.

Both managers named strong teams, and a crowd of just short of 25,000 at the Britannia Stadium were rewarded with a first half full of chances that ended with Kenwyne Jones heading in the opening goal after Jon Walters had robbed Sebastian Coates.

But the night was to belong to Suarez. Nine minutes into the second half the Uruguayan curled an exquisite shot into the corner before, with extra-time looming, heading in the winner five minutes from time.

Global Threats: Rising Prices & Extreme Weather

Get ready for a rocky year. From now on, rising prices, powerful storms, severe droughts and floods, and other unexpected events are likely to play havoc with the fabric of global society, producing chaos and political unrest. Start with a simple fact: the prices of basic food staples are already approaching or exceeding their 2008 peaks, that year when deadly riots erupted in dozens of countries around the world.

It’s not surprising then that food and energy experts are beginning to warn that 2011 could be the year of living dangerously -- and so could 2012, 2013, and on into the future. Add to the soaring cost of the grains that keep so many impoverished people alive a comparable rise in oil prices -- again nearing levels not seen since the peak months of 2008 -- and you can already hear the first rumblings about the tenuous economic recovery being in danger of imminent collapse. Think of those rising energy prices as adding further fuel to global discontent.

Already, combined with staggering levels of youth unemployment and a deep mistrust of autocratic, repressive governments, food prices have sparked riots in Algeria and mass protests in Tunisia that, to the surprise of the world, ousted long-time dictator President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali and his corrupt extended family. And many of the social stresses evident in those two countries are present across the Middle East and elsewhere. No one can predict where the next explosion will occur, but with food prices still climbing and other economic pressures mounting, more upheavals appear inevitable. These may be the first resource revolts to catch our attention, but they won’t be the last.

Put simply, global consumption patterns are now beginning to challenge the planet’s natural resource limits. Populations are still on the rise, and from Brazil to India, Turkey to China, new powers are rising as well. With them goes an urge for a more American-style life. Not surprisingly, the demand for basic commodities is significantly on the rise, even as supplies in many instances are shrinking. At the same time, climate change, itself a product of unbridled energy use, is adding to the pressure on supplies, and speculators are betting on a situation trending progressively worse. Add these together and the road ahead appears increasingly rocky.

Breadbaskets without Bread

Let’s begin with food, the most important and volatile of these commodities. Food prices declined in October 2008 after the onset of the global financial crisis, but that seems to have been an anomaly. The December 2010 index of global food prices compiled by the U.N.’s Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) hit a record 215, one point higher than in the spring of 2008. (In that index, based on a “bundle” of food staples, a baseline of 100 represents average prices in 2002-2004.) In fact, some food products, including sugar, cooking oils, and fats, are now trading substantially above their 2008 levels; others, including dairy products, grains, and meat, are inching perilously close to record levels.

As 2011 begins, food experts fear that, within months, prices for key staples will climb above the 2008 threshold and stay there, causing extreme hardship for poor people around the world. “We are at a very high level,” said a worried Abdolreza Abbassian, an economist at the FAO. “These levels in the previous episode led to problems and riots across the world.”

Of particular concern to Abbassian and his colleagues is the rising cost of corn, rice, and wheat, the staple crops of billions in many of the poorest countries. According to the FAO, by the end of 2010 international corn and wheat prices were already approaching their 2008 peak levels (about $260 and $340 per metric ton, respectively).

Analysts attribute the rise in grain prices to growing demand in both developed and developing nations, along with a number of cataclysmic weather-related events and speculation by investors. An extreme drought and fierce fires last summer destroyed a large percentage of the wheat crop in Russia and Ukraine, while heavy flooding in India and the inundation of 20% of Pakistan damaged significant parts of the grain output of those countries. At the same time, unusually hot and dry weather suppressed production in a number of other key farming areas.

What makes the picture look so worrisome today are indications that the severity and frequency of extreme weather events appear to be on the rise. In the past few weeks alone, several such events point the way to serious supply problems ahead. Most significant has been the unprecedented rainfall and flooding in Australia that put an area more than twice the size of California largely underwater, significantly disrupting wheat cultivation there. Australia is one of the world’s leading wheat producers. Unusually dry conditions in the American Midwest and Argentina have also hinted at future problems in grain and corn output. It’s still too early to predict the size of this year’s grain and corn harvests, but many analysts are warning of a shortfall in supplies, along with sky-high prices.

Mainstream analysts and government officials are loathe to attribute this traffic jam of extreme weather events to global warming. Huge variations in rainfall can be normal, especially in places like Australia that are susceptible to El Niño/La Niña ocean-temperature oscillations, and politicians are fearful of assuming responsibility for a problem as massive as climate change. But climate change theory has long suggested that the warming trend -- 2010 tied 2005 for the warmest year on record and nine of the 10 warmest years have come in the last decade -- will be accompanied by an increase in the frequency and severity of storms. It’s hard to escape the conclusion that recent events, including those Australian floods, are tied to rising global temperatures.

The Energy Crisis Returns

Soaring food prices are being driven as well by speculative investments and the rising price of oil. Partly in response to the diminishing value of the dollar, some investors are sinking their money into food futures (along with gold and silver) as a speculative hedge. At the same time, the price of oil is edging toward the $100 mark, making it increasingly profitable for farmers to switch from growing corn for human consumption to growing it for the manufacture of ethanol, which in turn reduces the amount of farm acreage devoted to staples. Oil would have to fall below $50 per barrel to make the cultivation of corn as a food product competitive with ethanol production -- and that’s not likely to happen. So even if more corn is produced this year, less will be available for food purposes and the price of what remains is bound to rise.

The precipitous rise in oil prices has startled the experts. Not so long ago, the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) was projecting a price range of $70-$80 per barrel in 2011, but as the year began oil was already trading above $90 a barrel and some analysts predict that it will reach $100 before the year is out. A few are even talking about the $150 barrel and gas prices at the pump of $4 or more. If prices climb above $100, global consumer spending could take another nosedive.

“Oil prices are entering a dangerous zone for the global economy,” says Fatih Birol, the chief economist for the International Energy Agency (IEA). “The oil import bills are becoming a threat to the economic recovery.”

As with food, the rising cost of oil is a product of growing demand, insufficient supplies, and speculative investments. According to the most recent projections from the IEA, daily global oil consumption in 2011 will average 87.4 million barrels, an increase of about two million barrels from the first quarter of 2010. Much of the extra demand is coming from China, where a newly-minted middle class is buying automobiles at a record clip, as well as from the United States, where previously cautious consumers are slowly returning to pre-2008 driving habits.

At a time when the oil industry is experiencing declining rates of output at many existing oil fields and finding it ever more difficult to add production, even two million extra barrels per day can be a daunting challenge (and greater demand is expected in the coming years). In the United States, for example, much hope was placed in oil exploration in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico and offshore Alaska, but in the wake of the BP disaster, this seems like a forlorn prospect. Production in Mexico and the North Sea, two bright spots of recent years, is facing a sharp decline, while other key producers, including those in the Middle East, are struggling to maintain current output levels at existing fields.

Many energy analysts believe that the world is at (or will soon reach) peak oil -- the moment when global petroleum output achieves a maximum sustainable daily rate and begins a long-term, irreversible decline. Others contend that higher levels of output are still possible. Whatever the truth of the matter, at this moment the oil industry is finding it increasingly difficult, and ever more costly, to boost output above current levels. This, combined with insatiable demand, is driving prices skyward.

Under these circumstances, speculators are again being drawn into the oil market as a rare sure bet. Such speculators helped push oil prices to a record $147 per barrel back in 2008, but fled the market when prices crashed as the American economy headed to a meltdown. Now, they’re coming back. “Hedge funds and private investors are buying up financial instruments tied to the price of crude, and thereby helping push up oil prices,” the Wall Street Journal reported in late December.

Most analysts are expecting a price surge this spring or summer when American motorists hit the road. “We will have a spring rally that will take us to between $3.10 and $3.50 a gallon for gasoline at service stations in the United States,” predicted Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst at the Oil Price Information Service.

The rising price of gas will, in turn, hurt consumers just as they show signs of opening their wallets again. No less worrisome, oil-importing countries like the United States, Japan, and many in Europe will face soaring bills for fuel imports, further enfeebling economies already suffering from profound weakness.

According to some calculations, oil prices added another $72 billion to America’s mammoth balance-of-payments deficit last year. Europe had to cough up an additional $70 billion for imported oil and Japan $27 billion. “It is a very telling story,” says the IEA’s Fatih Birol of recent oil-price data. “2010 rang the first alarm bells and 2011 price levels could bring us to the same financial crisis times that we saw in 2008.”

Rising food prices leading to riots, protests, and revolts, mounting oil prices, mammoth worldwide unemployment, and a collapsed recovery -- it looks like the perfect set of preconditions for a global tsunami of instability and turmoil. Events in Algeria and Tunisia give us just an inkling of what this maelstrom might look like, but where and how it will next erupt, and in what form, is anyone’s guess. A single guarantee: we haven’t seen the last of resource revolts which, in the coming years, could reach an intensity we scarcely imagine today.

Real romp keeps pressure on surprising Levante

A first half exhibition of attacking play set Real Madrid up for a 3-0 win over Villarreal on Wednesday but they still trail surprise leaders Levante who earlier came from behind to beat Real Sociedad 3-2.

Real are in blistering form and have now scored 28 goals in their last seven games in all competitions, an average of four a match, but they are a point adrift of Levante.

Karim Benzema sent Real on their way with a clinical finish after just three minutes and then Kaka fired in the second minutes later against Villarreal whose coach Juan Carlos Garrido is under pressure with the side having not won in seven games.

Angel Di Maria finished off a fine team move for the third after 30 minutes and with the game won Real relaxed in the second half while Villarreal offered little threat.

A sensational injury time winner against Sociedad kept Levante in pole position.

Ruben Suarez' injury-time winner allowed Levante to retake top spot in La Liga off champions Barcelona.

The modest side from Valencia are sweeping all before them at the moment in a superb start to the season.

Sociedad went ahead after just three minutes when a poor clearance from the keeper fell to Daniel Estrada who slotted the ball home.

It looked as though it was going to be Sociedad's night as they then hit the post through Alberto De la Bella and had the better of the first half.

Levante came back strongly though after the break with goals from Nano Rivas and Valdo Lopes but it appeared as though they would have to settle for a draw with Inigo Martinez equalising with three minutes to go.

However, four minutes into injury time Suarez gave Levante a stunning victory with a free-kick from distance which went in off the post.

"We are not used to playing three games a week. The run we are on at the moment is almost impossible and in this game we could have easily dropped points," said Levante coach Juan Martinez.

"When we were behind, the team had to respond and they have confidence at the moment and a small amount of luck which you need."

A Jordi Alba goal after 82 minutes gave Valencia a 1-0 win away to Real Zaragoza and was a welcome victory after a poor run of just one win in seven matches.

Malaga, though, failed to bounce back from their 4-0 thrashing by Real Madrid at the weekend as they lost 2-0 to Rayo Vallecano while Getafe drew 2-2 at home to Osasuna.

On Tuesday a Xavi Hernandez free-kick gave a lacklustre Barcelona a 1-0 win over nine-man Granada 1-0 which extended their club record run to seven games without conceding a goal.

The visitors dominated possession from start to finish but lacked a finishing touch. Messi and Pedro Rodriguez went close before Xavi hit a fine free-kick from distance after 32 minutes which flew into the top corner.

They still couldn't wrap the game up with a second goal despite a man extra after Jaime Romero was sent off

In injury time Daniel Benitez was also red carded after being cautioned for a second time.

Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola said that fatigue had been behind his side's unusually ineffective display.

"We didn't play the ball around very quickly and we tried to have more control of the game but this is all understandable when you play so many matches," said Guardiola.

"With the score at 1-0 anything can happen. Any mistake against a side as quick as this (Granada) can be very costly."

Messi's ex-: Barcelona star's Mum came at me with frying pan!

Macarena Lemos, a 20-year-old model from Rosario who briefly dated Messi, says she was out shopping with her mother and her aunt when she noticed the player's parent was following her and taking photographs.

"She was following me and taking photos until I turned around and asked her what was going on," the model explained on Telenoche.

"That's when she started insulting me. What was she doing there in the electronics section, with a frying pan in her hand? She was following me with a telephone and a frying pan."

Lemos was bemused by the actions of Mrs Messi, claiming she has never gone on record with any details of their relationship.

"I have never came out and said whether I had slept with her son. I was 14 and he was 18 - and I didn't reveal anything about our relationship," she added.

"She treated me like I was nothing, as if I were hanging from her son's ribs. She seems to think I said something to a magazine, but I never did. They are confused.

"It shocked me because I wasn't expecting something like that to happen on a Sunday afternoon, especially with my mother and my aunt present.

"He has bodyguards, but I don't. I go out on the street and meet my friends like a normal person."

Mancini wants more from AJ

Johnson scored the equaliser and created the second goal for Samir Nasri as City booked their place in the quarter-finals with five goals in a 27 minute spell.

But Mancini believes the former Middlesbrough player can still do better and was critical of his role in Wolves' second from Jamie O'Hara.

He said: "Sometimes he thinks, 'Okay, in this game I scored one goal, I did an assist, that is enough.'

"I think Adam, because he is young, can improve a lot. He needs to think in a different way.

"He needs to think, 'I scored one goal, I did one assist, I should continue because I want to score another goal and another assist, and run back to defend'.

"He can do this if he wants. My opinion is this, he has everything to become one of the top wingers."

Mancini added: "Adam is young, he is in his third season in the Premier League. I am disappointed when he doesn't put everything on the pitch.

"Tonight he played well, but for the second goal Wolves scored, he never followed his opponent.

"Adam is the only one winger we have in the team.

"He cannot play every game, it is impossible, but if he wants to improve, he can have a lot of chances to play."

Mancini laughed off suggestions that unused substitute Mario Balotelli had been involved in a row with a member of his coaching staff after the game.

When asked about a possible incident, Mancini only said: "Who Mario? No, no (laughs). For a fire on the bench!"

The media were not permitted to ask questions about striker Carlos Tevez who has been fined four weeks wages by City.

Edin Dzeko's brace and an own goal from Dorus de Vries completed City's haul with Nenad Milijas and Jamie O'Hara replying for Wolves whose manager Mick McCarthy took consolation from their performance.

He said: "That was an abject lesson in finishing. But I was pleased with our performance.

"That sounds crazy when you've just been beaten by five, but I was happy.

"We started well, and deserved the lead. The fact we didn't hang on to the lead was nothing to do with defending badly.

"They [City] are all top players. They won't be made to work harder than they were tonight, that's for sure."

Quy định xây cất trường học lỏng lẻo tăng thêm nghi ngờ về an toàn

Giới chức thẩm quyền của tiểu bang đã thường xuyên thất bại thực thi luật an toàn động đất các chỗ mấu chốt California cho những trường công, cho phép học sinh và giáo viên vào các toà nhà với cấu trúc sai sót và tiềm năng hiểm hoạ về an toàn được báo cáo khi đang xây.

Quản trị cấp cao của Sở Kiến Trúc Tiểu Bang - vị giám đốc quản trị tiêu chuẩn xây dựng của trường công - từ nhiều năm đã không làm gì cho 1100 dự án xây dựng khi mà giám thị các công trình này đã báo động đỏ về khuyết điểm an toàn. Vấn đề được ghi chép và lưu trữ nhưng không được tiểu bang theo dõi.

Luật California đòi hỏi văn phòng kiến trúc sư tiểu bang thực thi Field Act (Luật Công Trường) - điều lệ địa chấn cho trường học ban hành gần 80 năm qua. Luật được xem như tiêu chuẩn vàng về xây dựng, và đòi hỏi sự giám sát từ giới chức thẩm quyền tiểu bang để đảm bảo kỹ thuật và phẩm chất chuyên môn từ giai đoạn thiết kế đầu đến ngày học thứ nhất.

Field Act cho giới chức này “quyền lực cảnh sát của tiểu bang” trong việc xây cất trường công.
Nhưng trong hai thập niên qua, việc thực thi Field Act đã bị hỗn loạn thủ tục hành chánh cản trở, qua điều tra của cơ quan California Watch. Hàng chục ngàn trẻ em đến học ở những trường không có chứng nhận của Field Act đòi hỏi.

Tài liệu cho thấy những trường không có chứng nhận với vách không gắn móc, đèn nguy hiểm lơ lửng phía trên đầu trẻ, hàn dối trá, lối thoát hiểm cẩu thả cho học sinh khuyết tật, và báo động cháy hư hỏng. Những vấn đề này được thanh tra học khu và giám thị công trường của tiểu bang báo cáo và sau đó thất lạc trong vũng lầy của thủ tục giấy tờ.

Trong nhiều trường hợp, tiểu bang không biết giới chức thẩm quyền trường có sửa chữa những vấn đề này không. Thay vào đó, văn phòng kiến trúc sư tiểu bang gửi thư khuyến cáo cho ban quản trị và nhân viên hành chánh trường, và quay lưng đi.

“Đây là một khủng hoảng,” Steve Castellanos nói. Vị kiến trúc sư của tiểu bang California từ năm 2000 đến 2005 nhìn nhận rằng văn phòng mà ông từng quản trị cần một sự kiểm tra toàn bộ. “Tôi nghĩ là đã có thất bại trong hệ thống.”

Năm 2006, văn phòng kiến trúc sư tiểu bang phát hiện kiểm tra vật liệu xây dựng không thoả đáng, kiểm tra không được chấp thuận và không đủ tiêu chuẩn các trường, và các toà nhà “hoàn tất với hiểm nguy vì xây dựng cẩu thả” tăng lên, theo báo cáo và điện thư của ban công tác nội bộ.

Tiểu bang không thể bảo đảm an toàn cho học sinh và giáo viên tại mỗi trường mà không tháo mở hàng ngàn dự án xây dựng. Điều này đòi hỏi liên lạc với vô số kiến trúc sư và nhà thầu, viếng thăm những trường học, và duyệt lại từng xấp dầy tài liệu dự án đã cũ từ nhiều năm, và ngay cả từ nhiều chục năm qua.

Giới chức thẩm quyền từ văn phòng kiến trúc sư tiểu bang nói rằng học khu đã tránh né Field Act, nêu lên cách lưu trữ hồ sơ cẩu thả của các nhân viên hành chánh nhà trường và sự truyền thông yếu kém với giới chức thẩm quyền của tiểu bang.

“Chúng tôi chắc chắn có thấy thiếu ghi chép tài liệu. Chúng tôi thấy thiếu đồng nhất trong một số các tài liệu đệ trình,” Howard “Chip” Smith, người trở thành trưởng phòng kiến trúc sư tiểu bang từ tháng 8 nói. “Nhưng chúng tôi chưa thật sự thấy một trường hợp nào có hiểm nguy đáng kể cấp thời trong những dự án này.”

Hồ sơ của trường Southeast Middle chúng tỏ rằng sự thất bại trong quy định đã đưa tới sự báo động như thế nào.

Người trả thuế đã chi trả 52 triệu để xây dựng trường trên xưởng cũ của General Motors ở South Gate, gần Los Angeles. Trường khai trương năm 2004,nằm trong vùng đất lỏng có thể trở thành bùn sệt trong một trận động đất, theo báo cáo của một cơ quan địa chất do học khu Los Angeles Unified School District thuê.

Cả hai kiến trúc sư trưởng và thanh tra công trường này đã nhấn mạnh rằng đại đa số cửa sổ trung tâm toà nhà lớp học lắp đặt không đúng cách. Bây giờ, hơn 1300 học sinh trung-tiểu đã trà trộn, gửi tin nhắn và lắng nghe các giáo viên ngay bên cạnh những cửa sổ mà các giới chức thẩm quyền nhà trường đã khuyến cáo, có thể rơi ra và vỡ tung trong một cơn động đất.

Được biết sự việc này, văn phòng kiến trúc sư tiểu bang đã từ chối không cấp chứng chỉ Field Act cho nhà trường, và đã xếp dự án vào hồ sơ mà không có theo dõi chi tiết cho đến khi có liên lạc của cơ quan California Watch.

Văn phòng kiến trúc sư tiểu bang nói họ không tin đang có “vấn đề an toàn trong dự án.” Trong một cuộc phỏng vấn, giới chức thẩm quyền học khu Los Angeles Unified School District nhấn mạnh trường Southeast được xây dựng theo tiêu chuẩn Field Act và những giai đoạn thiết kế quan trọng đã được văn phòng kiến trúc sư tiểu bang phê chuẩn

Nhưng một cựu thanh tra L.A. từng làm việc với nhà trường tiếp tục đặt nghi vấn những cửa sổ bị kiếm khuyết có được sửa chữa hay không. Để biết chắc, ông nói, học khu sẽ phải tháo mở vách và kiểm tra những mối giao nối các cửa sổ - và không có chứng minh việc này đã được thực hiện.

“Tôi có đưa các con tôi, hay các cháu tôi, đến học ở đây không?” Không, tôi sẽ không làm, thanh tra David Bridi nói. “Các cửa sổ đó rất to.”

Field Act trở thành luật ban hành sau thảm hoạ động đất Long Beach năm 1933 phá huỷ và làm hư hại nặng 230 toà nhà lớp học gần trung tâm địa chấn. Giới chức thẩm quyền cho rằng hàng ngàn trẻ em có thể đã thiệt mạng nếu trận động đất xảy ra trong giờ học.

Sứ mạng trọng tâm của Sở Kiến Trúc Sư Tiểu Bang là thực thi Field Act và quá trình thanh tra học khu. Văn phòng này phải duyệt xét thiết kế và kỹ thuật xây dựng cho những dự án xây cất và tân trang trường để đoan chắc rằng các toà nhà có thể chịu đựng được những cơn rung chuyển trong một trận động đất.

Nếu một nhà thầu đổ bê-tông trên hàng loạt mối hàn trong một cột chống, một thanh tra do học khu thuê phải chứng kiến việc làm này và xác minh các mối hàn và bê-tông đáp ứng tiêu chuẩn Field Act. Một kỹ sư công trường của văn phòng kiến trúc sư tiểu bang phải giám sát các thanh tra này.

Các nhà phê bình tin rằng Field Act là bản sao chép của bộ luật xây dựng địa phương. Các nhà thi hành luật đã cố gắng một cách vô hiệu để huỷ bỏ nó, cho rằng luật này nặng nề và phức tạp. Nhiều nhà xây cất nói rằng luật tạo ra quá nhiều thủ tục giấy tờ vô bổ - và những đình trệ tốn kém khi họ chờ đợi hành động từ văn phòng kiến trúc sư tiểu bang.

Nhưng các chuyên gia địa chấn nói rằng luật cung cấp một hệ thống trách nhiệm quan trọng và là một lý do để không trẻ em nào bị thiệt mạng khi trường bị hư hại vì động đất ở California.

“Luật Field Act - bảo đảm họ có thông tin này và sẽ dùng nó một cách hiệu quả,” Peter Yanev nói. Ông là một kỹ sư địa chấn của World Bank (Ngân Hàng Thế Giới) với hơn 40 năm kinh nghiệm nghiên cứu những khuyết điểm địa chấn của các toà nhà. “Nếu không, sử dụng nó vào việc gì?”

Cho đến nay, những chuyên gia như Yanev nói họ tin rằng hầu hết các dự án trường học ở California đã được chứng nhận.

Mùa xuân vừa qua, khi cơ quan California Watch hỏi về các trường không được chứng nhận, Kỹ Sư Tiểu Bang lúc đó, David Thorman, một người do Schwarzenegger bổ nhiệm, ra lệnh cho văn phòng của ông kiểm tra hơn 1000 dự án xây dựng trường học mà, theo hồ sơ, đã hoàn tất trong khi những vấn đề an toàn không được giải quyết.

Qua các cuộc phỏng vấn và theo các hồ sơ, không lâu sau đó, văn phòng kiến trúc sư tiểu bang bắt đầu đổi những dự án không được chứng nhận qua một chỉ định kém hơn, mà không có viếng thăm các trường. Giới chức thi hành luật chỉ xem xét lại vài thủ tục giấy tờ trong hồ sơ dự án, theo một điện thư của Masha Lutsuk, một nhân viên hành chánh văn phòng kiến trúc sư tiểu bang.

Sở bắt đầu lo lắng về phản ứng của công chúng. Năm qua, trong một buổi họp của những kiến trúc sư, kỹ sư, và chuyên gia xây cất có tiếng tăm, khi đang bàn luận về vấn đề chứng nhận và điều tra của California Watch, một quản lý vùng của sở đã nói, “Chỉ là vấn đề thời gian trước khi sự việc này nổ tung vào mặt tất cả chúng ta.”


Phóng viên Erica Perez, Anna Werner, Kendall Taggart, Agustin Armendariz và Krissy Clark đóng góp vào báo cáo này.

Bài do Robert Salladay và Mark Katches tổng-biên.
Nikki Frick chỉnh sửa.

California Watch, nhóm điều tra báo cáo rộng rãi nhất của tiểu bang, là một dự án của trung tâm độc lập, vô vị lợi Center for Investigative Reporting. Liên lạc với phóng viên qua mạng cjohnson@californiawatch.org.

느슨한 학교 건축물 규정 안전성 의문 제기

가주의 공립학교 지진 안전 강화 규제에 실패를 거듭해온 감독관들은 건설 중에 보고된 구조상의 문제점과 잠재적인 안전성의 위험에도 불구하고 학생과 교사들이 이러한 건물을 부득이 이용하고 있는 실정이다.

주 건축부 관리공단과 공립학교 건설 기준 감독관장은 여러 해 동안 건축 계획 감독관들이 안정성 결함이 제기된 1,100여개의 건물 계획과 관련 아무런 조치도 취하지 않은 상태로 건물들을 설립했으며 별다른 후속 조치가 없었다.

가 주법에 따르면 주 건축부는 80년 전 지정된 공립학교 지진관련 건축물 규제법인 필드법(Field Act)을 집행하도록 요구하고 있다. 필드법은 건축의 기준으로 여겨지며, 전문적인 기술과 질적인 관리를 통해 초기 설계 부터 건물이 완성될 때 까지 주 감독관들의 감독하에 설립되도록 규정되어 있다.

필드법은 이러한 감독관들이 공립학교 건축관할 상의 "주 경찰"과 동등한 권한을 부여하고 있다.

그러나 지난 20년 간 필드법의 시행은 복잡한 법적 절차 등으로 혼란을 겪어왔다. 캘리포니아 왓치에 따르면 수 만명의 학생들이 필드법의 인가를 받지 않은 상태의 건물에서 수업을 받고 있는 상황이라고 보고했다.

관 련 문서에 의하면 필드법의 인가를 받지 못한 학교 건물에는 사라진 나사못 앵커들과 아이들 머리위의 위험한 조명 및 형편없는 용접을 비롯해 장애학생들을 위한 무성의한 비상구, 기능을 상실한 화제경보기 등 위험요소들이 곳곳에 산재해 있다고 한다. 이러한 문제점들은 지역구 학교 조사관들과 주 관련분야 감독관들에 의해 보고되었지만 서류 과정에서 흐지부지하게 되었다.

대부분의 경우 주 정부는 공립학교 관계자들이 이러한 건물의 위험 요소들을 보수했는지 알 수 없으므로, 대신 주 건축부는 관련 학교의 이사진을 포함한 업무관련자들에게 경고문을 발송하는 것으로 책임을 회피해왔다.

전 가주 건축부장관 (2000-2005년)을 지낸 스티브 카스텔라노스는, "굉장한 재난" 이라며, "체계적인 문제 점"을 인정하고 재 점검을 해야 한다고 강조했다.

2006년 주 건축부는 자체 조사팀의 이메일과 보고서 조사결과 "다른 위험한 건축 결함에도 불구하고 완공을한 학교 건물들 및 부적격한 건축 자제를 비롯한 미승인, 부적격한 건물의 설립이 증가하고 있다고 드러났다.

수 천 가지의 결함있는 학교 건물의 문제를 해결하지 않고는 주정부는 모든 학교의 학생과 교사의 안전을 보장하기 어렵다. 건축가와 건설업체의 평가를 한다거나 학교부지의 방문 및 수 년 또는 수 십년 씩 재고된 서류와 설계 자료를 검토하도록 해야 한다.

주 건축부 관계자에 따르면 교육국등은 지역학교 업무관리자들의 엉성한 서류 관리나 주 정부 검사관들과의 열악한 의사소통을 핑계로 필드법 관련 사항들을 이제껏 피해왔다고 한다.

"확실한 서류 부족과 이미 제출된 몇 서류들의 모순점" 을 지적하며 지난 8월 주 건축부장관으로 지명된 하워드 칩 스미스는 "상당히 위험한 재난이나 위험 요소가 이러한 필드법 규정 아래 제기되었다는걸 본적이 없다" 고 말했다.

예를들어 사우스이스트 중학교의 사례는 건축규제 실폐의 경고 메세지로 볼 수 있다.

LA 인근의 사우스 게이트의 전 제너럴 모터 공장부지에 학교를 설립하는데 납세자들은 520만 달러를 소비했으나, LA 통합교육국에 의해 지정된 지질학 기관의 보고에 따르면 2004년도에 설립된 이 학교부지는 지진 발생시 곤죽으로 변하는 액상화 지역에 위치해 있다고 한다.

건설현장의 건축가와 검사관 모두 학교의 중심 건물의 많은 창문이 부적격하게 설치되었다고 지적했다. 현재 1,300여명의 중학생들이 수업을 받고 있는 건물의 창가에는 건축관계자들이 경고했듯이 지진 발생시 유리창이 창틀 밖으로 튀어나오거나 무참히 부서질 것이라고 한다.

이렇게 보고된 문제점을 감안하여 주 건축부는 필드법의 규정에 따라 건축물 승인을 해주지 않았으며, 캘리포니아 왓치가 조사하기 이전 까지 자세한 후속 조치가 없이 건축 계획이 무한정 보류되었다.

주 건축부는 "건설 계획에 관한 특별한 안전성 문제"가 있지 않다고 했다. LA 통합 교육국의 관계자는 인터뷰에서 사우스이스트의 학교는 필드법 규정에 준하여 설립되었으며 또한 논란이 되었던 디지인관련 부분도 주 건축부의 인증을 받았었다고 주장하였다.

하 지만 사우스이스트 학교를 관활했던 전 LA 학교 지역구 감독관인 데이비드 브리디는 창문의 결함이 수리되긴 했지만, 보다 철저한 관리를 위해서 시 정부는 교실의 벽을 허물고 창문이 제대로 연결되어 있는지를 확인하는 것이 바람직하다고 지적했다.

"내 자식이나 손자를 절대 그런 학교에 보내지 않을 것" 이라며, "그 창문들은 또한 매우 무겁기 때문에 위험하다" 고 브리디씨는 우려했다.

가 주의 공립학교에 적용되는 특별 건물 법규인 필드법(Field Act)은 1933년 롱비치의 강진으로 230개의 학교 건물이 파괴된 후에 제정되었다. 관계자들에 따르면 당시 수업 중 지진이 발생했다면 수 천명의 학생들이 사망할 수도 있었다고 한다.

주 건축부의 핵심 임무는 필드법 규정을 준수하고 철저한 검사 과정을 통해 강도 높은 지진에도 학교의 건물이 쉽게 파손되지 않도록 빌딩의 디자인 설계 및 증.개축안을 상세히 검토해야 한다.

학교지구의 검사관은 건축 시공자가 건물의 기둥에 콘크리트 용접이 필드법의 규정에 맞게 시공되었는지 검사하며, 또한 현지 시공자는 주 건축부의 감독하에 시공을 하게 되어있다.

어 떤 비평가들은 필드법은 지역 건축법 상 중복되는 규정이 많으며, 어떤 의원들은 이 법은 복잡하고 부담스럽다는 이유로 폐지하고자 했으나 실패하였다. 어떤 건축가들은 필드법은 너무 불필요한 서류 작정을 요구하고 주 건축부의 인증을 받는데도 많은 시간이 소요된다고 지적하였다.

한편 지진전문가들은 이 필드법은 상당히 중요한 시스템이며, 특히 가주의 어린이들이 지진으로 붕괴된 학교 건물에 의해 사망하는 일이 없도록 방지하는 법으로 그 중요성을 강조했다.

월드뱅크의 지진 기술자로 40년간 지진으로 붕괴된 건물의 오류를 연구한 피터 야네브는 필드법은 가주의 거의 모든 학교 건물 프로젝트에 적용되었다고 한다.

지 난 봄 필드법의 규정을 따르지 않은 학교에 관련하여 캘리포니아 왓치(California Watch)가 지적한 후, 전 주지사인 슈월츠제네거는 주 건축가인 데이비드 톨먼을 지명하여 1,000여개가 넘는 학교 건축 프로젝트를 대상으로 조사를 하였다. 그 결과 안전 문제가 해결되지 않은 상태에서 학교 건물들이 건축되었다고 보고되었다.

그 이후, 주 건축부는 공식 인가를 받지 못한 학교 건축 프로젝트와 관련하여 학교를 직접 방문하여 검사를 하는 대신 인터뷰나 관련 기록에 따라 인증하도록 일부 변경되었다고 건축부 관계자인 마샤 루트석은 이메일을 통해 전했다.

대 중들이 이러한 변화에 대해 어떻게 반응할지 우려하며, 지난 해 필드법관련 세미나에서 유능한 건축가들과 기술자 및 건축가들은 학교 건축물 인증에 관련한 이슈를 토론하였고, 캘리포니아 왓치의 지역관계자는 "지진은 시간 문제다" 라고 말하며 철저한 대비를 해야 한다고 강조했다.

The Hack Heard Around the World

The recent arrest of a 19-year-old man in London in connection with a number of high-profile hacker attacks against international businesses and government agencies is not likely to cripple two hacker collectives. In fact, efforts by law enforcement to clamp down on the “hacktivists” have only provoked more payback cyber attacks.

Before the hacker collectives called Anonymous and Lulz Security (known as LulzSec) hit other businesses and government agencies, they centered hacker attacks on corporate giants of the world of online gaming.

Those actions won support from gamers. As the hacker collectives target other companies, though, their supporters in the gaming community are questioning their motives.

In what historians might remember as the “Hack Heard Around The World,” Sony’s PlayStation Network, which had been running for five years with no interruptions, suddenly shut down April 20. A few days later, Sony announced that “an external intrusion on our system has affected our PlayStation Network and [video/music on-demand] Qriocity services.”

Gaming Alone

Over the course of the next few weeks, the PlayStation community would experience an abbreviated version of the current NFL lockout debacle. Yes, gamers were locked out of playing games online with their PlayStation 3.

Affected gamers were livid, of course. But, that had little to do with their stolen personal data that made headlines or with Sony’s questionable security measures. What hit many was the sudden realization that they would have to play alone for the foreseeable future.

Gamers would not be able to download those nifty new add-ons to their digital entertainment or hang out with their avatar buddies in PlayStation “Home." That’s Sony’s version of “Second Life,” a 3D virtual world where user can socialize in real time.

That may not make any sense to readers who don’t play video games. To understand how this works, imagine if someone took your smart phone away--but not while you’re in the mountains or on vacation in Costa Rica. Or think of what happens when your Internet and cable shuts down, say, during the NBA finals or VH1 television show Mob Wives.

The hack on Sony and its effect on their community of gamers was certainly a tabloid-heavy topic while the service was down. In the end, though, it worked out for all parties involved, and most gamers were happy about the free stuff they got from Sony as a part of their “welcome back” program.

However, the Ocean’s 11-scale hack on the PlayStation Network was only the beginning. Since then, the gaming industry has been the target of a hacking free-for-all that no one has ever seen before -- a virtual cyber World War I.

In the last few weeks, video game companies, such as Bethesda Softworks, Nintendo, BioWare and Epic games, as well as publisher Codemasters, Escapist magazine, EVE Online, and League of Legends have all been hacked. And, those are only a handful of the recent victims.

Most companies have reported that personal data have been stolen. Others were subject to “distributed denial of service” (DDoS) attacks, an attempt to make a computer resource unavailable to its intended users.

Like sitting in a whites-only café in the Jim Crow South, hackers consider this to be the equivalent of a peaceful protest, and some fully expect to get pummeled in the process.

Protesting Corporate Arrogance – and for Laughs

The reason behind the hack on Sony is an easier discussion topic. Sony has always had a reputation amongst the gaming community as an arrogant company.

Especially egregious, they feel, is Sony’s handling of the famous iPhone hacker George Francis Hotz (aka, Geohot). The corporation had his social networking accounts seized, after a judge allowed Sony to view all IP addresses that visited him.

Geohot had to agree never to tamper with any Sony products. In January,  he  “jailbroke” the PlayStation 3 console and released a “how-to manual” on the Web showing hackers how to do it on their own.

“If not for people like this, technological advances would be even more repressed than they already are,” said one posted article discussing the Geohot hack. “Don't forget that it's nerds and geeks that gave you the technology to be able to come here and comment in the first place,” wrote the poster.

Because a large group of gamers were sympathetic to Geohot -- who came off in the public eye as a nerdy kid, who never grew out of LEGOs -- the hack of the PlayStation Network didn’t bother people much. Sure, it was annoying, but many felt Sony had it coming.

The subsequent hacks on Sony, however, are a different matter.

To be clear, there are two groups are thought to be at the center of the hack attacks: Anonymous and LulzSec. The former has admitted to conducting DDoS attacks on Sony Computer Entertainment, even one as early as two weeks before the big hack.

Anonymous has repeatedly admitted, however, that they had nothing to do with the attack that has resulted in the identity theft of 25 million Sony Online Entertainment members, 77 million PlayStation Network (PSN) members and 10,700 debit cards in Austria, Germany, the Netherlands and Spain. In a recent interview with VG24/7, a person who could “not speak for Anonymous or as Anonymous, but [could] speak as Anon,” stated:

Our intention with our initial attacks on the PSN was that of a sit-in, preventing traffic to their service in order to protest their actions. We didn’t want to piss off the consumers, as they were the ones whose rights we were campaigning for. Sony were removing true ownership of the console, as well as prosecuting hackers, and we were trying to spread this information to the consumers.

Although Anonymous appears to focus on attacks against dictatorships and corrupt institutions, LulzSec, which has attacked about five companies in the past week, says they do it for different reasons. Like little minions of The Joker (the Heath Ledger version in Batman: The Dark Knight) or the teenage anarchist rap group Odd Future, they do it for the lulz, an Internet colloquialism that translates to: For the laughs.

To celebrate their 1,000th tweet, a statement allegedly from LulzSec was posted on Pastebin stating:

This is the lulz lizard era, where we do things just because we find it entertaining…. We've been entertaining you 1,000 times with 140 characters or less, and we'll continue creating things that are exciting and new until we're brought to justice, which we might well be. But you know, we just don't give a living [blank] at this point -- you'll forget about us in 3 months' time when there's a new scandal to gawk at, or a new shiny thing to click on via your 2D light-filled rectangle.

After the latest attacks, and particularly the recent statements from Anonymous and LulzSec, the opinion from gamers has shifted dramatically.

The VG24/7 comments section was filled with opinions of users, who felt the Anonymous apology was too little too late. Copal, a user of Joystiq, went the comedic route with my personal favorite quote of the week: “I'd like to send out an open offer to all future prison cellmates of the LulzSec crew. I do not believe that anyone deserves to be sexually assaulted. But, if things just end up happening that way I will arrange for 20 cartons of cigarettes to be delivered to you if you tell them you did it ‘for the lulz.’”

Operation Anti-Security

So, what’s next?

The answer seems to be more of the same. Although recent arrests have been made of three Anonymous members in Spain (the website of the Spanish police was hacked soon after), 32 members in Turkey and two members of LulzSec in the United States and U.K., the hacking incidents have only escalated.

Recently, the hacker groups Lulzsec and Anonymous have joined forces to implement what they call “Operation Anti-security.” The groups will target government and corporate systems in and effort to "tear them limb from limb."

According to CBC News, LulzSec just released 62,000 private Internet accounts, including Facebook, PayPal, Twitter and Xbox Live.

As Anonymous, which does not condone the actions of LulzSec, puts it: “For every Anon they arrest, 10 more will step into their place… Anonymous is the manifestation of an idea, and ideas are bulletproof.”

Simoncelli's funeral to be held on Thursday in Coriano

The body of Marco Simoncelli arrived at Fiumicino airport this Tuesday morning following the tragic accident that took the rising star's young life at the MotoGP race in Sepang last Sunday. Representatives of several sporting organizations—among them Gianni Petrucci, Secretary of the Italian National Olympic Committee and Paolo Sesti, President of the Italian Federation of Motorcycling—awaited the arrival of the casket, along with a crowd of fans who gathered in Rome airport facilities to greet the arrival with prolonged applause.

The late rider’s father, Paolo, and Marco Simoncelli's long time friend and compatriot, Valentino Rossi, traveled together on the same Alitalia flight from Kuala Lumpur with the fallen rider’s casket.

A public viewing of Simoncelli's body is planned for Wednesday in the city theatre of his hometown, Coriano, with the funeral scheduled for Thursday, October 27 at 3:00pm in the church of Santa Maria di Coriano. The Italian will be buried in the cemetery of this town, near Riccione, where he was born 24 years ago.

Aoyama expresses thoughts on loss of Marco Simoncelli

“My team mate Marco crashed during the race yesterday. He was fighting hard for his life but unfortunately he passed away. I can not think of any words to describe this tragic loss.”

“He has been my rival since the 250cc’s and since we both started in MotoGP class, I could feel the tension in between us and we were always aware of each other as rookies. And now, we have been competing in the same championship as a team mate. He is such an openhearted person, no matter where he is. I know everyone had a high expectation of him since he has been performing so well. He is loved by so many people and I know why. Last week he came second and was on the podium. And this week again he was so powerful on his bike.. but why..? How..? That is all I can think right now.”

“I would like to give my condolences to Marco’s family, fans, teams and staff.”

“Rest in peace Marco.”

Hundreds turn out to bid Marco Simoncelli farewell

Large numbers of people turned out on Wednesday morning in Coriano, the hometown of Marco Simoncelli, to bid the MotoGP rider a final farewell before his funeral takes place on Thursday.

Fans, friends, members of the public and figures from the world of sport came to the Municipal Theatre in Coriano, close to Riccione in the Italian province of Rimini, to pay their respects to the 24 year-old rider who passed away on Sunday following a crash in the MotoGP race in Malaysia.

A long line of mourners formed early this morning at the chapel, which will remain open until 10pm this evening, and where Simoncelli’s body is resting prior to his funeral on Thursday. Behind the Italian rider’s coffin the Gilera bike, on which he won the 2008 250cc World Championship title, and the Honda RC212V, on which he competed in the MotoGP class, were presented.

Amongst those in attendance were recognised Italian sporting figures such as former basketball player Walter Magnifico and Marco Melandri, a close friend of Marco Simoncelli’s and his team-mate in the Gresini team during the young rider’s debut season in MotoGP in 2010.

The funeral, which will take place tomorrow (Thursday) at 3pm at the Santa Maria Assunta church in Coriano, is expected to be attended by close friends of Simoncelli’s and fellow riders including Valentino Rossi, Andrea Dovizioso, Jorge Lorenzo and Sete Gibernau. To ensure that all those who attend the funeral can follow the ceremony two large screens will be installed outside the church, and a large screen will also be installed at the Misano circuit nearby.

U.S. Women’s Soccer: Not Quite America’s Team

CHICAGO -- What a thrill. What pride. What a show of skill and prowess by the U.S. women's national soccer team in the 2011 Women’s World Cup even as they lost in penalty shots to Japan on Sunday.

Too bad that this fabulous squad does not yet look like America.

Wambach made magnificent header goals; Rapinoe, great centers; Boxx, streaking shots from outside the box. I cheered them along, as they deserved to be cheered, and relished their hard-fought battle on behalf of a nation.

But my feelings were bittersweet. In a roster of 21 players, there are only two Latinas and no Blacks or Asians. In the team picture of bright, young, exuberant and inspiring faces, the hues and shades of an increasingly multicultural America are quite limited.

There is something deeply amiss in the lack of diversity on both the women's and men's national soccer teams—not only because one-third of the nation is missing in their composition, but because when we look at the age range of those who play soccer professionally, the gap is even more striking: 40 percent of this age group are people of color.

Given soccer's popularity, particularly in the Latino community, the lack of diversity cannot be excused. While it can be said legitimately about golf, tennis, and swimming that the pipeline of diverse talent iis significantly limited given low participation numbers by minority children, the same cannot be said about this most populist of sports, futbol.

Yes, golf, tennis, and swimming must find ways to get more minorities involved, not only for the sake of these marginalized communities, but also for the sake of the vitality of these sports. By limiting the talent pool, is it any coincidence the United States has not dominated in golf or tennis in the past decade? Soccer has a huge built-in advantage over these other sports, even as the U.S. Tennis Association (USTA) significantly steps up its efforts to introduce tennis to 10-year-old kids of color. But colleges, the U.S. soccer teams, and pro-soccer farm systems are bypassing the massive number of female and male players of color in soccer .

As one looks at the player roster both in women's and men’s soccer, how is it that diversity in this sport has been whitewashed?

When I played varsity soccer at Northwestern University,  I was the only Latino on the team—and a walk-on from South America, not a Hispanic American—and Floyd was the only black. Granted, Northwestern's student body was not especially diverse to begin with, but surely in the soccer subculture there should had been some sort of over-indexing of diversity.

To increase the diversity of the U.S. teams—not only be truly America’s team, but to ensure that U.S. teams remain competitive—an all-out diversity effort must be launched.

First, more minority children must be enrolled in the largest soccer youth programs. When I coached my daughter’s soccer team, the $100 fees were out of reach for many working-class Latino families. To the league's credit, it began instituting a sliding-scale fee funded by local individuals and companies. But while this increased Latino participation a bit, the lack of relations between the white and Latino communities made it hard to spread word about the program.

And even when more Latino kids did participate, coaches— many new to the sport of soccer themselves— did not know how to reconcile the differing expectations from Latino parents when practice schedules conflicted with work schedules at the family store or other business. The “no practice, no play” principle killed any nascent enthusiasm among working-class and immigrant kids and parents.

The barriers to entry in the more competitive youth travel soccer leagues are even higher, given the $1,000 fees and faraway road games that assume parents have cars and free weekends to schlep their cleat-clad kids.

But the institutions that truly have no excuse for the lack of diversity on their soccer teams are colleges. Thousands of girls and boys nationwide are playing in soccer at their public middle and high schools. Here participation is free, school buses transport the teams to their matches, and Immigrant parents have at least some working knowledge about school culture that they don't have about para-organizations such as AYSO (American Youth Soccer Organization) and travel soccer.

Title IX, which demanded the playing field be evened out for collegiate women in terms of budgets, facilities and scholarships, is the No. 1 reason women’s sports in the U.S. have risen to the world-class caliber we saw in Sunday’s World Cup finals match. But as in corporate America, women’s gains in soccer have unfortunately ended up being white women’s’ gains, with Black, Latina, Asian, and Native American women conspicuously absent as beneficiaries of powerfully important gender-diversity programs.

To break through, we need U.S. Soccer, college soccer scouts and parents to shift their assumptions and behaviors.

In machista societies like the Latino one, girls have to be seen as legitimately able to compete in sports for fun or career, just as boys are. Scouts need to get comfortable going into the barrio and inner-city schools and to suburbs dominated by immigrants, just as football and basketball scouts started doing a generation ago.

And U.S. Soccer can up the ante by insisting that its scouts and coaches source greater diversity for players considered to be called on to wear the U.S. uniform.

Motorbiking From San Francisco to Pakistan: One Man's Journey

In this post-September 11th decade, the idea of "us versus them", as it was verbalized by American leaders, left an unsettling atmosphere for many Americans. But not everyone believed the divisive rhetoric.

Moin Khan is a Pakistani-American who decided to take things into his own hands and show the world an image of the goodness of the human spirit. He decided to take a motorbike journey from San Francisco to Lahore, Pakistan to meet ordinary people along the way -- showing them another side of Pakistan and seeing for himself another side of others. He spoke with New America Now Host Shirin Sadeghi having just reached his 4,000 mile mark in Iowa.

They Might Be Gigantes—Latino Ballers Mum on Immigration

SAN FRANCSICO – Baseball’s Bruce Bochy, manager of the world-champion San Francisco Giants, uncovered a gaping hole in the modern American civic discourse when he defended his Dominican-born relief pitcher Ramon Ramirez against a racially and politically charged tweet from nationally syndicated sports broadcaster, Tony Bruno.

No one expects Latino baseball players to emulate Jackie Robinson -- who publicly expressed his views on the volatile civil rights issues of his time. Robinson was giant not just because of what he did on the field but what he stood for.  But the relative silence among ball players of Latin American decent on the current human-rights battle in the United States is untenable when immigrant rights have emerged as a critical flashpoint of the struggle for social justice in the United States and worldwide.

Bruno, in a tweet he says he almost immediately deleted, wrote that the Giants were "gutless" and Bochy a "coward for having his illegal-alien pitcher hit a guy." Bochy fired back calling Bruno’s tweet “racist.”

Bruno was referring to an incident during a Giants game with the Philadelphia Phillies. Ramirez hit a Phillies batter with a pitch during the 9-2 Phillies romp over the Giants. Ramirez’s pitch caused a benches-clearing brawl between the rival teams. The Giants took down the Phillies in the National League championship last year, punching their ticket to the World Series.

Many in progressive political circles lauded the Giants manager for standing up for his player and calling out Bruno for his ridiculous tweet.

What is interesting is that Ramirez himself had little to say about the brouhaha. According to ESPN.com “[Ramirez] has declined to discuss the brawl but said Sunday he is in the U.S. legally and wouldn't be able to work in the major leagues otherwise.”

Ramirez is quoted as saying, "Everyone says what they feel in their heart, but I feel that isn’t right.”

Bochy deserves some credit for calling Bruno out. Ramirez’s reaction, though, should give those who support the undocumented and identify with their struggle cause for pause, if not alarm.

Many believe that the immigrant-rights movement is the new front for civil-rights. They draw parallels between the plight of African Americans under Jim Crow apartheid and the undocumented immigrants living in America treated as legal and de facto inferiors.

Athletes in no small part embodied the mass movement of black people and our allies, who fought and defeated Jim Crow. Sports legends, such as Jackie Robinson, and the first wave of black pioneer players broke baseball’s color barrier in the 1940s, long before the political wins of the Voting Rights Act and affirmative action of the 1960s and ‘70s.

Baseball has led America to a greater understanding and tolerance of race and class and justice in this society and that it doesn’t do that now is perplexing to a student of the game and of racial politics in America.

Adrian Gonzalez, the slugging first baseman for the Boston Red Sox, is the leading hitter in majors this year. The son of Mexican parents, he grew up between Tijuana, Mexico, and Bonita, Calif. Gonzalez hails from a true baseball family with a brother in the majors and a father, who was a member of the Mexican national baseball team.

In 2010, Gonzalez caused a stir when he threatened to boycott the 2011 All-Star game to be played in Arizona. Arizona passed SB 1070, which – at the time – was the harshest legislation against undocumented people in this country.

Later in the year, Gonzalez was traded to the Red Sox and given a huge contract, seven-years for $154 million. He was also voted onto the American League (AL) All-Star Team. He led off scoring in the game by belting a home run in a losing effort for the AL.

That American League team started players with last names like Canó, Rodriguez, Bautista and Ortiz. The Giants' Bochy managed the winning National League team.

The same week Bruno wrote his unfortunate and revealing tweet an immigrant-rights march of hundreds crawled through San Francisco’s historically Latino Mission District. These kinds of demonstrations happen all of the time in this Sanctuary City by the Bay. Many of those folks had on Giants gear, requisite garb in a championship year.

Unless there is a real connection between the people on the street and the players on the field – maybe until a Latino Jackie Robinson steps up to home plate -- peoples’ fight for dignity will take that much longer. For African Americans, leading figures in sports and entertainment gave them heart, a sense of solidarity. Time will tell if Latinos can overcome their national, class and racial
hurdles to change the discussion in this country from one about legality to one of civil rights – and human values.

The Giants are hated on for many reasons: They represent a town that has weed stores, ID cards undocumented people can use, gays, Chinese, Filipinos and hippies. San Francisco is the town that produced Nancy Pelosi and Willie Brown, Ed Lee (the second Chinese American mayor of a major city), and it houses the spirits of writers from Alan Ginsberg to Herb Caen.

The Giants, too, are a true reflection of this city: Tim Lincecum – the unorthodox pitcher and mixed-race local dank smoker from Mendocino (the heart of California’s marijuana country), and the crazy-fabulous, over-the-top hurler, Brian Wilson, who loves to done his prodigious beard over a spandex faux tuxedos.

The team so interesting Showtime is running a reality series following them in their post-championship season.

This year, though, the G-men are struggling in a weak National League West, as the Arizona Diamondbacks stand in their way of getting to the 2011 post season -- and their chance to repeat as champs. This duel isn't exactly Joe Louis vs. Max Schmeling in it's symbolic magnitude, but it's all we've got in 2011.

On Los Gigantes roster are names like Cabrera, Casilla, Lopez, Ramirez, Sandoval, Tejada, Torres – and three Sanchezes.

So in the absence of an individual major-league voice for reform (the MLB player’s association has come out against SB 1070), those who support and empathize with the undocumented community might root for the Giants to knock off the Diamondbacks and with them Arizona and the laws that state represents. True sports giants transcend the game and impact politics in this country, another pennant for my hometown San Francisco Giants over the D-Backs would be justice. 

No Messiah for Indian Football, But At Least There’s Messi

There is no news in Kolkata these days except Messi-spotting. The problem is the Argentine football superstar says next to nothing.

So after 600 words in a front page story we only learn that Lionel Messi smiled as the elevator doors closed.

The real story is happening outside. Outside the plush hotel where Messi and team are ensconced. Outside the Yuba Bharati Krirangan where Argentina and Venezuela will play in front of thousands of football crazy fans this evening.

That’s where you’ll find the real diehard fans. Like Barun Biswas, an Apollo Clinics employee who says he’s actually just waiting for a bus. But he’s wearing Argentina’s blue and white colours. “Just in case I see them,” he smiles. Or twelve-year old Biswajit Gayen and his friends who have been hanging out outside the Hyatt since early morning. “No bathing, no eating, nothing,” he says. “Some uncle gave us a Thums Up.” Or Sabuj Sarkar who’s propped up a homemade poster of Messi on his bicycle. It reads “Argentina and Venezuela are great. We are sorry. Play, India, play.”

“Our team Mohun Bagan defeated the British in 1911 but now we cannot even qualify for the World Cup even though we are such a big country,” says Sarkar. There are more football fans in West Bengal alone than the entire population of Argentina.

In a way the madness about Lionel Messi is also a story about the failure of Indian football.

“If Argentina had played India that would have been such a great gain for us,” says a teenager standing outside the hotel.

“Oh are you crazy?” scoffs the man standing next to him. “We would have needed twenty players on the field just to keep up.”

In fact, when Pele had come to Kolkata in 1977, he had played against Mohun Bagan at Eden Gardens.

“There definitely was that Mohun Bagan spirit then,” admits Utpal Ganguly, the general secretary of the Indian Football Association. “But there is a different excitement about seeing two high profile teams. I don’t think Argentina would have come all the way here to play India.”

“This 90-minute match won’t improve the standard of Indian football,” he says. “We have the passion. But we need to get our act together.” He wants to start an IPL-like football league in West Bengal next year.

What has also changed since the Pele days are the viewers. Back in those days, Kolkata football was all about its two arch-rival teams, East Bengal and Mohun Bagan. As a Kolkatan you had to peg your identity to one or the other. When the two teams clashed, life came to a standstill. The price of hilsa went up if East Bengal won. The price of prawns shot up if Mohun Bagan prevailed. Football agnostics, like my family, just happily ate the losing side’s fish.

Everyone knew about the kings of football — the Peles and the Maradonas. But now television has brought the rest of world football into Indian homes. Nineteen year old Rudra Pratap Roy says he’s a “great fan of East Bengal.”

“But I am a die-hard fan of Liverpool,” he says. “Ever since I saw Robbie Fowler’s three minute hat trick against Arsenal.”

This generation of fans knows as much, if not more, about the strikers and midfielders of Manchester United and Newcastle as about the local teams that play in Kolkata’s muddy maidan. That’s good news for the organisers and sponsors of the Argentina-Venezuela showdown. The fans standing outside the hotel and the stadium are passionate not just Messi, but also Pablo Zabaleta and Xavier Mascherano and Gonzalo Higuain.

On the other hand, many are just happy to watch it on television. Roy says he cannot make the match. The teenager is also a punk rock guitarist and he has a concert on Friday evening. But someone will probably tape the match.

That’s been the nagging worry for people like Bhaswar Goswami from the Celebrity Management Group which bought the rights to the Messi games in Kolkata and Dhaka for Rs 22 crore. There are 1.2 lakh seats to fill in Kolkata. On Tuesday Goswami was ruing that only 55,000 tickets had been sold. The prices are on the higher side, ranging from Rs 700 to Rs 5000. There are more hyperbolic television headlines about: “Messi madness” and “Messi unmadona (craze)” than there are lines at the freshly painted ticket counters of the Yuva Bharati Krirangan. But ticket sales have picked up since Messi actually landed. The lower denomination tickets have sold out.

“I came to buy two tickets,” says Sanjay Basak. “But I only had enough money for one.” His friend might just have to watch on television.

“I don’t mind seeing the replay on television but it’s a different excitement to watch it on the field,” says Indranil Pal. He works for Rose Valley, one of the sponsors of the game. He remembers going to a neighbour’s house to watch the Pele match 24 years ago. Now he cannot wait to watch this match live.

As for ticket sales, with typical Bengali sang-froid, he says “Ticket sales hoye jaabe (will happen). At least 85-90 percent.” But then he adds, “You have to remember this is not cricket. Women don’t come to watch football the way they come to see IPL.”

That is true. Two middle aged women in salwars and sneakers show up for their afternoon walk in the stadium. When the security guard tells them that it’s closed for Messi and they’ll have to come back on Saturday, they are nonplussed.

“Who’s Messi?” says one indignantly. “But we come here every day for our walk.” Parimal Das, an auto driver standing near the gate shakes his head. He says he doesn’t understand all this hoopla about Messi. He doesn’t understand how people are spending 2,000 rupees to watch a football match.

He complains that ever since the new government came to power he hasn’t been able to ply his auto even though he has a permit. “I used to belong to CITU,” he says. “So now the Trinamool boys won’t let us get our cars on the road. We are just wandering on the streets. I have gone to every politician I can find, from the MLA to the police to the mayor, but nothing happens. I am close to suicide.”

“The journalists are here to cover Messi not auto rickshaws,” laughs the security guard.

“But they are all here, newspapers, TV,” he says hopefully “Everyone will be here. Maybe even Didi. I have to get this to her ears.”

Parimal Das might be out of luck. The newspaper reports today that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is skipping Kolkata’s match of the decade.

Craig Thompson's Habibi

If you see Craig Thompson's new book, Habibi, you will think it is a sacred book. It is bound is what looks like hardened brown leather and its spine and cover are gilded with ancient trims. But it's not a holy book -- it is, in fact, a graphic novel about Islam, Islamophobia, the environment and modern day slavery.

And it's all written by a young man whose own background as an evangelical Christian would seem to be the farthest thing from an artist who gracefully re-creates ancient Koranic verse. Thompson spoke with New America Now Host Shirin Sadeghi.

Dental Care Crisis Draws Thousands to Free Medical Clinic

OAKLAND, Calif.—Her dark blue hoodie pulled over her head, and wearing many layers of clothing, 25-year-old Justice (who would give only her first name) stood shivering in the cold night air last Friday, waiting for the gates of the Oakland Coliseum to open.

She would have to wait for another five hours for that to happen and another three-and-a-half hours from then to get a token that will ensure her a spot in a dentist’s chair on Saturday. It was the start of a first-come-first-served, four-day medical, dental and vision clinic in the Coliseum.

The wait, asserted Justice, who lives on food stamps in San Francisco, would be well worth it.

“I have a tooth that is rotting and several that are infected and I am in pain,” said the young African American woman, drawing on a cigarette. “I went to San Francisco General some time ago and told them I could die if my teeth are not checked and they told me, ‘Ninety-four dollars, please.’ I turned around and left.”

In Mexico, Tweet and Die

NUEVO LAREDO, Mexico – “No news is good news,” goes the old adage, but in the city of Nuevo Laredo, where two mutilated bodies were found hanging from a pedestrian overpass, citizens know that if the media doesn’t report it, it’s because the drug cartels want to send a message.

The two – a young man and woman -- were found Tuesday, their bodies half naked and displaying signs of torture, with the letter ‘Z’ representing the drug cartels, known as Zetas, painted across their chests. Nearby were messages containing warnings to users of two Web sites that report on criminal activity.

"This will happen to all Internet busy bodies," one read. Another poster warned in menacing tones, "Shape up, I am on to you."

For a media that has been cowed into silence by the escalating violence, spectacles such as these serve as a sort of cart blanch from the cartels themselves, whose message then reaches those who are turning to social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook to alert each other about sudden street shootings, or blocked streets and highways.

“They are so well organized that in a matter of seconds they will highjack street buses, get passengers down and block the streets to impede the passage of police vehicles,” said a fellow reporter from the neighboring city of Reynosa, who for obvious reasons requested anonymity.

Needless to say most civilians in the area believe the cartels also count on the help of moles within the police force.

“How can you explain that they patrol the city 24/7 but always get to the scene of the crime after it happens,” asked one eyewitness rhetorically. “Yesterday a lot of people were tweeting that there were a bunch of armed men trying to hang the bodies,” said the witness, who lives in the area.

Others told local media that the bodies were initially hanged in a less busy street but that the culprits then decided to “make them more visible.”

The killings follow a state of the nation address delivered a week earlier by President Felipe Calderon, in which he told crowds gathered in the Mexican capital’s central square that, “Mexico is better off now than ten years ago.”

While mainstream media outlets played repeated broadcasts of the president’s statements across the country, customers at a Nuevo Laredo comedor -- Mexico’s equivalent of a greasy spoon -- jokingly asked to have whatever it was the president was drinking.

Scenes like those at the bridge have sadly become common ones for any ten-year-old in Mexico today. Outside of the Presidential mansion, on the streets and cities of Mexico, the reality is a far cry from the President’s rhetoric.

The Zetas started as ex-elite army officers working as hitmen for the Gulf cartel in the 1990s. A split between the two is blamed for some of the country's most gruesome drug violence in recent years, with the death toll topping 15,000 in 2010 alone.

For journalists, Mexico has become one of the most dangerous countries in the world, with 40 killed since 2004.

“I know that if my cell phone rings after midnight it is them,” says a publisher that also requested anonymity. “Sometimes they will send you a press release and demand that it be run. Or they call you to demand not to report on some specific news… what do you do? Call the police? The police work with them… they have patrol cars, blinded vehicles and a network of informants all over the place… you can’t move without them not knowing where you are,” he said.

Mexico Leans to the Right on Abortion

JUAREZ, Mexico – A recent ruling by Mexico’s supreme court on right-to-life amendments in two northern states has pro-choice supporters fearful of a dangerous precedent that could fly beneath the radar of the country’s upcoming presidential elections. The decision by the eleven-member court, after just two days of deliberation, essentially criminalizes abortions -- even if the pregnancy involves rape or is a threat to the mother’s life.

In a legal challenge raised by the Catholic Church and several conservative groups, seven members of the Supreme Court of Mexico ruled last week that anti-abortion amendments in Baja California and San Luis Potosi are unconstitutional. Mexico’s constitution, however, requires a minimum of eight votes in order to overturn state law.

Margarita Beatriz Luna Ramos is one of two female justices on the court. In 2008, she ruled in favor of legalizing abortions in the capital, Mexico City, which makes her ruling in this most recent case all the more perplexing. Ramos, who was appointed in 2004 by former President Vicente Fox, reversed herself by ruling in favor of Baja’s anti-abortion law.

Explaining her position, which sided with the court’s conservative wing, Ramos argued that Mexico’s constitution has yet to establish a legal definition for the moment of conception, and therefore cannot pinpoint with certitude the exact moment when life begins.

Olga Maria del Carmen Sanchez-Cordero Davila, appointed in 1995 by former President Ernesto Zedillo, is the only other female on the court. During the hearings, she raised concerns that allowing such laws to stand could lead to questions over the legality of contraceptives like the “morning after pill.”

Such fears echo those of pro-choice activists, who see this latest decision as leading to a slippery slope of anti-abortion legislation across the country. Currently, 16 of Mexico’s 31 states have adopted right-to-life amendments.

There is also concern that with the upcoming elections, scheduled for July of 2012, national attention will turn to whoever is most likely to replace the incumbent, Felipe Calderon. Many say the push to ban abortion could gain traction and fly under the radar of presidential politics.

Under Baja’s amendment, punishments for women who have an abortion could include sentences of up to three years, as well as fines totaling $5,000, an amount equal to two years salary for the average woman in Mexico.

According to progressive-leaning Party of the Democratic Revolution, which currently controls the capital, there are over 100 cases now pending across the country involving women being tried for abortions.

“This decision makes no sense and only harms one of the most vulnerable segments of the population,’’ Ana Laura Magolini, a legal scholar and researcher from Madrid Autonomous University, said on national television after the decision was announced.

Speaking to the press, Magolini noted aside from requiring doctors to report women who request an abortion – even if the woman’s life is in danger -- the ruling endangers single mothers, who will be forced to raise a family in an economic climate that will condemn them to decades of poverty and struggle.

Francisco Sanchez Corona, a congressman from the state of Baja California and an opponent of the amendment, described the ruling as “an affront to women’s human rights.”

Conservatives, meanwhile, cheered the ruling.

Jose Isidro Romero, Archbishop of Baja California declared victory after Thursday’s ruling, crediting a call from Pope Benedict to an unnamed Mexican official as a partial factor in the outcome.

Members of the Supreme Court were quick to deny any outside pressure, though rumors are circulating that President Calderon, head of the ruling National Action Party, influenced the court’s thinking on the matter.

Calderon, an open conservative, has previously tiptoed around the issue of legalizing abortion, only going so far as to say that he is pro-life. While remaining largely out of the limelight in this debate, political analysts speculate about the possibility that he played a behind-the-scenes role in Magistrate Ramos’ about face.

As for Mexico’s 40 million women, aside from hard-core activists there’s been a muted reaction on the street. Whether or not this decision will drive more women to the polling booth come election time remains a key question.