| Sabbath Night ~ Gracias for the Lead Hermano Roberto ~ You know what a news and information hound I can be in my 'free' time. I did a simple Google Search and the below article popped up. I kind of like Gustavo's irreverent spin on stuff. Politically correct folks can be such sterile perverts. Fascinating to me as I relate to the concept of La Raza Cosmica ~ The Cosmic Race ~ in an ultimately egalitarian way and if humankind survives long enough we will all merge together. But that can be a big IF! Take it For What It's Worth! FWIW P.S. After work today, Brother Clay and I moved most my stuff from the Chacon Casa to here at the Lopez Sanctuary. Called and Left 'mensaje' on your cell phone. Remember the CASA junta manana! Did you get the canton? Rapped with Langston, Yvette is getting off the hook but she is sticking to her sobriety! >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Come Together and Create! Peter S. Lopez ~ aka:Peta Sacramento, California, Aztlan Email: sacranative@yahoo.com C/S http://www.laweekly.com/la-vida/ask-a-mexican/all-mixed-up-over-la-raza/19356/ All Mixed Up Over La Raza The "cosmic race" celebrates miscegenation, not segregation By GUSTAVO ARELLANO Wednesday, July 30, 2008 - 11:40 am Dear Mexican: What's with calling yourselves "La Raza"? Being Mexicans, Chicanos or whatever isn't enough — now you're THE race? Sounds pretty racist to me. —The Race is On Dear Gabacho: Few things annoy the Mexican more than the Know Nothing Nation's deliberate ignorance with this most nebulous of Mexican idioms. Despite the patient explanations of Chicano yaktivists who say the phrase doesn't exclusively mean "the race" in Mexican Spanish but is a synonym for "community," idiot commentators insist that "la raza" as used by Mexicans betrays their Reconquista tendencies and alludes to a Mexican sense of racial superiority akin to Nazism and white supremacy. No group gets the brunt of criticism more than the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), one of the largest civil-rights groups in the United States, and one in the news recently because both John McCain and Barack Obama addressed the organization during its recent national convention. Professional pendejos like Michelle Malkin hissed a fit, calling NCLR seditious and accusing the two presidential candidates of legitimizing hate by visiting them — all this over two Spanish words. Betcha they've never read the primary source from which "la raza" originated — José Vasconcelos' 1925 booklet, La Raza Cósmica (The Cosmic Race). Vasconcelos — Mexico's first secretary of public education — wrote his piece as a reaction to the race thinking of the time, one dominated by adherents of Darwinism and Herbert Spencer's "survival of the fittest" prism that placed the gabacho above all people. The Mexican intellectual also subscribed to racial stratifications, but whereas others saw unavoidable strife, Vasconcelos imagined something greater. La Raza Cósmica is a classic work of the prophetic tradition, one where Vasconcelos predicted humanity would evolve into a fifth race, one free of the negative attributes each racial group possessed to create a harmonious existence — the cosmic race, la raza cósmica. Crucially, Vasconcelos never stated Mexicans were that race but rather wrote that Latin America's legacy of mestizaje posited "Ibero-Americans" as prime acolytes to spread the gospel of fusion — not through violence, but "the triumph of fecund love." The raza cósmica theory is utopian and even goofy in execution — Vasconcelos cited the Egyptian Book of the Dead, Atlantis, alchemy texts and even the Pythagorean concept of the number eight as possessing divine qualities to bolster his position — but it's ultimately an anti-racist dream. Vasconcelos was by no means perfect — he didn't like ugly people, and was too fixated on the superiority of Spanish qualities — but his ideal is one not that removed from that American standby, the melting pot. He even understood the humanity of gabachos — "The exclusion of the Yankee [from la raza cósmica], like the exclusion of any other human type, would be equivalent to an anticipated mutilation, more deadly even than a later cut." I don't remember Hitler talking about including non-Aryans into his Thousand-Year Reich, or Americans including non-gabachos in Manifest Destiny, for that matter. Needless to say, Vasconcelos' theory gained fans across Latin America — imagine a sociologist stating miscegenation was okay! But it wasn't until the 1960s Chicano movement that the concept of la raza cósmica gained further followers. Like most things they took from Mexico (food, women, the language), Chicanos corrupted Vasconcelos' vision, interpreted "la raza" as referring exclusively to Mexicans and forgot the whole brotherhood bit. "It is true that mestizaje is one of the central concepts of the Vasconcelos essay," states the introduction to Didier T. Jaén's excellent translation of La Raza Cósmica, "but, of course, it is also clear that the racial mixture Vasconcelos refers to is much wider, much more encompassing, than what can be understood by the mestizaje of the Mexican or Chicano." Like Vasconcelos, however, the Chicano definition of "la raza" was rooted in its turbulent time. It was during this era that the organization that preceded NCLR incorporated that term to its name in 1972. But over the decades, the cósmica part of la raza was largely dropped, as was the ethnocentrism, and what remained was a benign synonym for Mexicans. People can disagree with NCLR's policies — amnesty for illegals, better education for Latinos (not just the Mexis), funding other nonprofits — but to classify them as the Tan Klan because of their name is like a prude getting offended over the name of the titmouse. By the way, coming haters: Don't paint me as an NCLR apologist. I think the organization's president, Janet Murguia, is stupid for trying to get right-wing pundits off the air, mostly because they're so easy to prove wrong. Besides, the only raza that truly matters is mine: the Nerd race. Por mis Nerds todo; fuera de mis Nerds, nada. Click here for the Mexican on YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiPFUDB4l7U --- On Sat, 8/2/08, Robert Lopez <robertslopez14@yahoo.com> wrote: From: Robert Lopez <robertslopez14@yahoo.com> Subject: To: "sacranative@yahoo.com" <sacranative@yahoo.com> Date: Saturday, August 2, 2008, 9:19 AMjose vasconcelos 1925 booklet la raza comica look up |
Saturday, August 02, 2008
Read: All Mixed Up Over La Raza: By GUSTAVO ARELLANO
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Report Credits Drop in Illegal Immigrants to Enforcement: Wash Post
| Study Was Based on Census Data That Indicate Number of Less-Educated Hispanics Has Declined By N.C. Aizenman Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, July 31, 2008; A16 A report released yesterday by a Washington think tank that advocates stricter limits on immigration says the number of illegal immigrants in the country appears to have declined significantly over the past year, at least partly because of the chilling effect of stepped-up enforcement. The study by the Center for Immigration Studies based its findings on census data that indicate that the number of less-educated, working-age Hispanic immigrants, defined as 18-to-40-year-olds with a high school diploma or less, has dropped by more than 10 percent, or about 830,000 people, since last August. Previous research suggests that a large share of less-educated foreigners is in the country illegally and that it makes up the bulk of the illegal immigrant population. Furthermore, although earlier declines in the number of these Hispanic immigrants have been linked to a rise in their unemployment rate, the current drop-off began last year almost immediately after Congress abandoned legislation to legalize undocumented immigrants and six months before any significant rise in their unemployment rate had occurred. During the same period, the number of foreigners who were more educated or non-Hispanic, and therefore far less likely to be illegal immigrants, continued to rise or hold steady. "The evidence is consistent with the idea that at least initially, more robust enforcement caused the number of illegal immigrants to decline significantly," said Steven A. Camarota, one of the study's authors. "Some people seem to think illegals are so permanently anchored in the United States that there is no possibility of them leaving. . . . This suggests they're not correct. Some significant share might respond to changing incentives and leave." Several demographers who specialize in estimating the illegal immigrant population expressed concern about the limits of the study's methodology but said they found the possibility that the illegal immigrant population is decreasing plausible. Determining the actual amount of that decline, however, is far more controversial. The census does not ask about immigration status. Instead, government and independent researchers use a variety of techniques to estimate the number of immigrants in the country illegally. One way is to subtract the number of visas, permanent residency permits and naturalizations granted each year from the total number of foreigners counted by the census. The difference between the number of foreigners who can be accounted for through such records and the total number tallied by the census is considered to be the size of the illegal immigrant population. Camarota and co-author Karen Jensenius took a different approach, calculating the previous ratio between the number of less-educated Hispanic immigrants counted by the census and the total illegal immigrant population estimated by government researchers, and then applying that ratio to the new, lower number of less-educated, working-age Hispanic immigrants to come up with a new estimate for the total illegal immigrant population. According to their calculations, from August of last year to May, the illegal immigrant population declined by about 11 percent, to about 11.17 million from a high of 12.49 million. One drawback of Camarota's and Jensenius's method, noted the Pew Hispanic Center's Jeffrey S. Passel, a widely regarded expert on estimating the illegal immigrant population, is that "it tracks something that correlates with the number of illegal immigrants rather than the actual number of illegal immigrants, and it assumes the correlation remains the same." "If the ratio [between the number of less-educated Hispanic adults and the total number of illegal immigrants] has changed, then the trend could be very different," Passel said. Even more contentious is the question of what, if anything, the study's findings indicate about the impact that recent national and local immigration policies might have had on the size of the illegal immigrant population. Since December, the unemployment rate of less-educated, working-age Hispanics has risen to 7.06 percent from 4.93 percent, making it that much more difficult to determine whether the continued decline in their population during this period was the result of anything beyond basic economics. But Camarota and Jensenius suggest that the six-month decline that occurred after the failure of the legalization legislation and before the rise of these workers' unemployment rate is one of several examples of a link between immigration policy and immigrant choices. They note, for instance, that starting in May of last year, when Congress's consideration of the legalization plan began receiving widespread media attention, the number of less-educated, working-age Hispanics began to rise. "I call it the amnesty hump," Camarota said. He noted that the population increase during this period might not have been statistically significant, but "it seems that what was happening was that fewer illegal immigrants left than might otherwise have done so because they were hoping to qualify for legalization." Also up for interpretation is the degree to which the drop in the number of less-educated Hispanic adults (and, by inference, illegal immigrants) was the result of fewer foreigners entering the country or more of them leaving. The U.S. Border Patrol reported a 20 percent decline in apprehensions along the southern border over fiscal 2007, a possible indication that fewer illegal immigrants attempted to enter the country. Camarota and Jensenius note that census data do not answer the question. But the authors suggest that if less-educated Hispanic adults were not leaving in greater numbers than before, their total population would merely grow more slowly, not decline steeply. Among those who are leaving, the vast majority are probably doing so on their own. Despite a surge in work site raids and other enforcement measures, as well as decisions by various state and local governments to train their police to identify illegal immigrants, only 285,000 immigrants were removed from the United States last year, and many of those were formerly legal immigrants who lost their status after committing a crime. Camarota and Jensenius said they take this as possible evidence that tougher enforcement can have a multiplier effect, scaring many more illegal immigrants into leaving of their own accord than authorities can pick up. And the authors suggest that if the trends they identify are sustained, "it would cut the illegal population in half within just five years." However, Randolph Capps, a researcher with the Urban Institute who has studied the number of U.S. children born to illegal immigrants, cautioned against such reasoning. Even if all the findings in the study by Camarota and Jensenius prove correct, he said, it is probable that the first million illegal immigrants to leave were those who had arrived more recently and had the weakest ties to the United States. The remainder, including the more than half of illegal immigrant adults who have children in the United States, Capps said, are less likely to leave unless they are removed by the government. "Having a kid in school provides a really strong incentive to stay," he said. In addition, "People who are more settled in the United States have more options. They can move to another [state or county] where enforcement is not as strict. If they lose a job, they can find another. If one member of the family is arrested and deported, they can find other relatives to stay with." >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Peter S. Lopez ~ aka:Peta Sacramento, California, Aztlan Email: sacranative@yahoo.com C/S |
Cervical cancer toll high in Latin America: Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/lifestyle/chi-cervical-cancer-wn-0730jul30,0,1911135.story Cervical cancer toll high in Latin America By Donald G. McNeil Jr. | New York Times News Service July 30, 2008
Cervical cancer, which can be prevented by a vaccine or detected early by Pap smears, kills 33,000 women in Latin America and the Caribbean a year, according to a recent study. Better screening and an affordable vaccine for girls could reduce the deaths, which could increase to 70,000 a year by 2030 if nothing is done, the authors said. The study, sponsored by the Sabin Vaccine Institute, the Pan American Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and others, compiled 15 years of research. It is the first major assessment of the effects of the human papillomavirus in the region. The virus, which is sexually transmitted and causes most cases of cervical cancer, infects 20 percent to 30 percent of young women in the region. Because too few cases are detected early, it is a common cause of cancer death. In the United States, where Pap smears are a routine part of medical care paid for by health insurance, just 2.5 percent of all cancer deaths among women are cervical cancer. In Haiti, 49 percent are. The countries with the highest rates included Haiti, Bolivia, Paraguay, Belize, Peru, Guyana, Nicaragua and Venezuela. A vaccine that prevents infection by the most dangerous strains of the virus costs $360 in the United States, far more than the health systems of most Latin American countries can afford. The study's goal was to estimate the disease's burden on the region and calculate how many years of life could be saved in each country with Pap smears or affordable vaccines. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Related Link: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> |
UN report: 140,000 new HIV carriers in Latin America in 2007
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-07/30/content_8857753.htm
2008-07-30 15:46:40 MEXICO CITY, July 29 (Xinhua) -- A total of 140,000 people were infected with HIV last year in Latin America, bringing the total number of HIV carriers in the region to 1.7 million, according to a UN report published Tuesday. Some 63,000 people died in 2007 in the region as a result of AIDS caused by HIV, said the director of the Joint UN Program on HIV-Aids (UNAIDS) for Latin America, Cesar Nunez, at a press conference in the United Nations office in Mexico City. The situation was the worst in two of Latin America's most populated countries, Brazil and Mexico, which reported 730,000 and200,000 HIV-positive people in 2007, he added. In Brazil, some 184,000 people are currently under anti-retroviral treatment, with 30,000 new cases registered and some 11,000 deaths annually, according to the Global Report on the AIDS Epidemic 2008. Eduardo Barbosa, coordinator of the Brazilian Program of Sexually Transmitted Diseases, said the Brazilian government faces challenges in widening AIDS testing and treatment to a larger scale, and in ending prejudice that leads many infected people to avoid looking for medical help. However, Nunez said the HIV epidemic is more or less stable in Latin America, with few changes in the past 10 years. But he added that HIV was still spreading in the region, mainly through same-sex intercourse, prostitution and use of intravenous drugs. HIV carriers worldwide numbered an estimated 33 million in 2007. Editor: Sun Yunlong >>>>>>>>>> Health News PREVIEW: AIDS conference chief: Prevention still best hope August 3-8 in Mexico City By Itzel Zuniga Jul 29, 2008, 5:08 GMT Mexico City - The scientist who will serve as co-president of the XVII International AIDS Conference from August 3 to 8 in Mexico City says it is high time the biennial conference comes to the region - and emphasizes the importance of the theme, 'Universal Action Now.' 'The last word is important, because we all have to act together and we have to act now,' Luis E Soto-Ramirez told Deutsche Presse- Agentur dpa. Soto-Ramirez, head of molecular virology at the department of infectious diseases in Mexico's National Institute of Medical Science, stressed the need to get priorities right in the fight against AIDS, and noted that 'the world has wasted a lot of time.' 'We do not have a vaccine, we do not have a cure. But with the weapons we have today we can do a global campaign for prevention first and treatment second. That is something the world is unfortunately looking at the wrong way around, and that is a serious mistake,' Soto-Ramirez said. Scientists have tried new things and learned from mistakes, he said, but he admitted there is 'stagnation' and that the current vaccine research is based on the wrong ideas. His comments echoed the recent decisions by Merck pharmaceuticals and the US publicly-funded AIDS research institute to suspend further testing of two unconventional vaccines which aimed to reduce the HIV count in people who became infected. Those vaccines emerged after decades of frustration in the search for a traditional vaccine to induce antibodies against the virus. 'If you inject HIV in millions of people, they are going to 'misbehave,' to have irresponsible sex, because they feel protected. This is going to lead to re-combinations of the virus, and (the vaccine) stops working,' Soto-Ramirez told dpa. The conference co-chair called for an equilibrium between private and public initiatives, so that they would continue to fund crucial vaccine research. 'In apocalyptic scenarios, if you create an effective vaccine you are going to sell it to Europe, the United States and Canada. And what about everyone else? The creators are going to end up giving the patent to the World Health Organization for free, because African governments will not be able to buy it for all their inhabitants. So it is not a (private) business, it is a business for humanity.' The United Nations says the numbers of AIDS deaths and infections have declined in the last decade, but new infections worldwide have far outpaced efforts to provide anti-retroviral treatment to patients. UN health programmes provided anti-retroviral treatment to an additional 1 million people in 2007, but in the same year a total of 2.5 million people became infected with the AIDS virus. Africa still has the lion's share of the world's 33.2 million HIV/AIDS cases, and 'the data that are issuing from India and China really are shocking,' Soto-Ramirez noted. But he is critical of the fact that it has taken so long for the conference to come to Latin America, which he says is 'half way' compared with the rest of the world. 'We are not Africa, with virtually no access to treatment and so many cases. But we are also not the developed country which has open access to medication, with no cost impacts,' he said. 'We are in an intermediate part with very particular problems. Migration and AIDS and HIV is one of them.' 'Given that so many in Latin America and the Caribbean have died from HIV/AIDS and have fought this disease with the same enthusiasm and passion as in any part of Africa and Asia, there seems no justification for this lack of attention,' he wrote in a recent editorial in Science magazine. Latin America's AIDS epidemic varies by country and population - a reflection of the cultural, ethnic and geographic diversity of Latin America and the Caribbean. The largest number of HIV cases are through sexual transmission, generally among the most vulnerable populations, such as prostitutes in Honduras, Suriname, Guyana, Guatemala and El Salvador. Men who have sex with men represent a quarter of the new infections in Latin America and half of the new cases in Brazil, while the Caribbean countries have a mainly heterosexual epidemic partly due to the demand for sexual tourism, according to the non- profit Kaiser Family Foundation. The Caribbean is the second-most affected region in the world after Africa, with an HIV prevalence of 1 per cent of the population. That same rate prevails in smaller countries in the region such as Honduras, Panama, El Salvador and Guatemala. The region as a whole grapples with complex issues related to poverty, migration, absence of leadership in some countries, homophobia, gender-based violence, little research on HIV transmission patterns and the resistance to promote condoms. Since HIV is largely sexually transmitted, condoms are 'the only functioning method' of prevention, Soto-Ramirez said. 'Therein lies the first factor that blocks all efforts - the individuality of each person's sexuality. Everyone exercises sexuality in a different way. Sex is instinctive, and it sometimes pulls us away from logical reasoning,' he said. 'To this, you have to add other aspects that surround sexuality, like moral aspects, religion, social stigmatization. Homosexuality remains very stigmatized still.' He saw a 'greater danger' in what he termed 'non-permissive societies,' among which he singled out the Muslim world, because they provide 'fewer chances for protection.' Come Together and Create! Peter S. Lopez ~ aka:Peta Sacramento, California, Aztlan Email: sacranative@yahoo.com C/S |