Fight for Cain supporters begins (Politico)

Herman Cain?s rivals scrambled Saturday to start picking up his support ? though most analysts expect Newt Gingrich to be the biggest beneficiary.

Gingrich has replaced Cain as the latest anti-establishment frontrunner, thanks to his surging popularity with many of the same tea party backers who?d flocked to the former Godfather?s Pizza CEO. With Cain promising that he?ll make an endorsement in the race, his years-long friendship with Gingrich could give the former House speaker a leg up ? and if he gets it, an important boost going into the last month before the Iowa caucuses.

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Already, according to a Public Policy Polling average of surveys in eight states released earlier this week, 38 percent of Cain backers listed Gingrich as their second choice.

?Cain?s supporters absolutely love Gingrich,? PPP pollster Tom Jensen wrote on his blog this week. ?And they absolutely hate Mitt Romney.?

But Romney ? who tied with Michele Bachmann as the second choice of 13 percent of Cain supporters in that PPP survey average ? may get a boost as well. Before the scandals overtook Cain?s campaign, Romney often remarked on how they were both appealing to voters eager to see business experience to the White House.

Plus, with one fewer candidate who?d been drawing anti-Romney sentiment in the race, Cain?s departure might give the establishment candidate a chance to coalesce more support.

That?s how Romney?s campaign has tried to play the development, predicting earlier this week as Cain?s departure became clearer that the former Massachusetts governor will pick up a significant portion of Cain?s support.

?We?ve always been everybody?s second choice,? a Romney strategist said. ?Go back to the ABC-Washington Post poll, right when Palin and Christie didn?t get in. The second choice for Palin voters was Romney. ? I imagine Romney would get more than anybody else from Cain. Sure he would.?

Mickey Carroll, the director of the Quinnipiac Polling Institute, agreed that Romney stands to benefit from the dispersion of Cain supporters.

?They?ll go to whoever is the next flavor of the month,? Carroll said. ?Couple of months ago it would have been Christie, before that it would have been Bachmann. And they?ll probably wind up with Romney unless something happens.?

Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry, though, could both regain some of the anti-establishment, anti-Romney and anti-Washington support they had earlier in the race, before being supplanted by Cain. In Iowa, where they?re both in need of strong performances, there are a lot of former Cain fans to pick up.

Bachmann was also the second choice of 13 percent of Cain supporters in the PPP survey average, while Perry was at 11 percent.

Indeed, immediately after Cain left the stage in Atlanta on Saturday, Perry?s media coordinator, Will Franklin, invited supporters to join the Perry campaign via Twitter.

?I would urge any Cain fans looking for a true outsider with a solid conservative record and a clear vision for America to give Perry a look,? Franklin wrote.

Dave Funk, the co-chairman of the Polk County, Iowa, GOP, said while he expects about half of Cain?s support going to Gingrich, though Rick Perry?s organization been working hard to court Cain?s Iowa staff and influential supporters in the state.

That squares with results earlier this week from Iowa pollster J. Ann Selzer, who said Gingrich and Perry will be the chief beneficiaries of Cain?s departure.

?They are working very rapidly,? Funk said.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/politico_rss/rss_politico_mostpop/http___www_politico_com_news_stories1211_69702_html/43794859/SIG=11m3n56sa/*http%3A//www.politico.com/news/stories/1211/69702.html

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219-pound boy shows growing problem of extreme obesity (Reuters)

CLEVELAND (Reuters) ? The case of a 219-pound 8-year-old boy taken from his mother for health reasons spotlights a problem that has almost tripled in the U.S. in the last 30 years -- cases of extreme child obesity.

"Not only do we have a higher percentage of kids who are obese but a higher percentage of children who are severely obese," said Dr. Garry Sigman, director of adolescent medicine and associate professor of pediatrics at Loyola University Medical Center near Chicago, in an interview with Reuters.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 17 percent or 12.5 million of children and adolescents aged 2 to 19 years are obese, as opposed to merely overweight.

Obesity in children is defined by the CDC as having a body mass index (BMI) at or above the 95th percentile for children of the same age and sex. "Overweight" is defined as a BMI at or above the 85th percentile.

About 2 million U.S. children have a BMI at or beyond the 99th percentile, according to a July article on childhood obesity in the Journal of the American Medical Association, co-authored by Harvard University child obesity expert Dr. David S. Ludwig. The article ignited controversy by saying that in some cases, removing a child from a home may be justified.

An average 8-year-old boy is about 55 pounds, making the boy in question approximately 165 pounds overweight or four times more than average, according to the CDC.

The Cleveland-area boy's mother petitioned a state court two weeks ago to regain custody. But on November 14, a judge agreed with the Cuyahoga County Department of Children and Family Services that the boy, an honor student who gained 60 pounds in about a year, should not be returned to his home due to concerns for his health. The next custody hearing is set for later this month.

Sigman said he usually only sees that sort of rapid weight gain in teenagers, and this along with the sleep apnea is "life threatening."

"That kind of weight gain is a very serious imbalance in both movement and calorie intake," in a younger child, he added.

This is the first time an Ohio child had been removed from a parent's custody primarily due to weight concerns. Court records show that the boy was seen by endocrinologists, nutrition experts, and a sleep clinic in efforts to decrease his weight and remedy his sleeping problems. Medical professionals concluded that the boy's weight gain was due to environmental reasons such as his diet, and there was no medical reason for the gain, according to court records.

Social workers became aware of the boy's situation in spring of 2010 when the 7-year-old was hospitalized for two weeks with severe breathing problems. The child has since been diagnosed with sleep apnea and uses a breathing device and monitor at night, according to court records.

Sam Amata, an attorney for the mother of the child, did not returned repeated calls for comment.

According to social worker reports, the boy had been diagnosed as morbidly obese and lost weight during his two-week hospitalization.

The boy's weight continued to decrease for a short period of time but he then began gaining again at "a rapid pace," according to court documents.

Sigman noted that weight-related health issues like heart and fatty liver disease, usually thought of as adult or end-stage diseases, are effecting children with severe weight problems.

The Cleveland boy, who has a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 60, was enrolled in a hospital program for overweight children. Social worker reports said he frequently missed weigh-ins and appointments, the court document said.

During the year-and-a-half protective supervision of the child, a social worker reported observing the boy out of breath after walking down the length of a short hallway and that some of the boy's breathing problems are, "due to extra skin in his throat."

An 8-year-old boy with a moderate activity level would require about 11,200 calories in one week to maintain his current weight, according to the University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital in Cleveland. For the same child to gain one pound in a week, he would need to consume about 14,700 calories.

The boy is now living in a foster home close to his mother who is allowed weekly visits. He has lost weight while in foster care, according to Mary Louise Madigan, spokeswoman for the Cuyahoga County Department of Children and Family Services.

Sigman warns that any young child with a severe weight problem will need years of care. "Even under the best conditions, it is not always possible to maintain significant weight loss in these children," explains Sigman. "It is going to take years to get that child well."

(Writing and reporting by Kim Palmer; Editing by Mary Wisniewski and Greg McCune)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/weightloss/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111203/us_nm/us_obesity_children

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93% 50/50

50/50 is a sweet and dramatic comedy that gave me a much bigger outlook on cancer then I had before, and it made me have much sympathy for them and how much their lives can change from it, but it also told me that it can only depress you if you let it. The story follows Adam (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) a man who has been diagnosed with cancer and is learning to deal with it. His girlfriend is a very odd and desperate woman who who has promised to stand by him through this. His best friend and co worker Kyle (Seth Rogen) feels sympathy for him but also likes to use him to get women, much to Adams dislike, but Kyle is his friend and a good guy at heart. Adam will have to deal with his friends, girlfriend, needy parents, and his therapist who he starts to grow feelings for, and he must learn to deal with whatever life throws at him. The plot of 50/50 is actually very well done and funny, it is a very slow movie witch at times I was enjoying but at other times I wish they could not had made it so bland, but do not take in what I said, its a incredible and emotional story that made me love the characters because they are all good hearted people that want nothing but the best for Adam, it also is a very sweet film for those who had or have cancer, because they can really relate to the title character and his life. The cast is too incredible to describe and by far the highlight of the movie in my opinion. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is just amazing and I think there should be some Oscar talk for him, I mean I really grew to love him and feel for him and that is hard for an actor to do but he pulls it off, I hope to be seeing in many more future films. Seth Rogen is always funny and this film was no exception, he is the same retarded stoner we all love and care about and here he actually proves he can play in a dramatic movie and still make it feel great. Anna Kendrick is such a sweet and loveable actress and after this and Up in the Air I'm starting to slowly love her more and more, even with the drawbacks of her being in the Twilight films. The comedy in the film is in a way what a good comedy should be, they use smart jokes instead of poop and fart jokes that I have been seeing at comedy films lately, and I can truly say say there were many moments I laughed my @ss off. 50/50 is one of the best dramas of the year I think, even though the story was very dul at many times in the films, this is a minor drawback to such an funny and sweet film that will really touch your heart and funny bone.

August 17, 2011

Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/5050_2011/

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The Beaver County Cancer & Heart Association Joins Rob Pratte ...

PITTSBURGH (NEWSRADIO 1020 KDKA) ? This week, KDKA Radio?s Rob Pratte is talking about the Beaver County Cancer & Heart Association.

He is joined in studio by the assocation?s Jackie and Bob Finney to discuss a number of topics.

Listen to Rob Pratte every Saturday morning starting at 5am on NewsRadio 1020 KDKA!

The Beaver County Cancer & Heart Association

Source: http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2011/12/03/the-beaver-county-cancer-heart-association-joins-rob-pratte/

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Report: Google Treading Into Amazon's E-Commerce Waters (NewsFactor)

Never content to rest on its search-engine dominance alone, Google is reportedly moving into yet another industry giant's space. This time, it's Amazon that may have to look over its shoulder.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Google plans to challenge the throne of the e-commerce legend, which has itself branched out into manufacturing products. Google is reportedly in talks with major retailers and shippers about developing a new service that would let consumers shop for clothes, electronics and other consumer goods online and get their order within a day.

Google's move is a direct assault against one of Amazon's competitive advantages: Amazon Prime. Amazon Prime is a membership program that gives Amazon customers unlimited fast shipping, such as free two-day shipping and one-day shipping for $3.99 per item. The annual fee is $79.

What Would Amazon Do?

"The fact that Google is getting in on the retail and shipping business is an indicator that it's a service people are willing to pay for but it's also something that they expect," said Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT. "Offering to deliver goods within a day keeps Google in the ballpark as a direct competitor with Amazon, but it also brings up the subject of what is Amazon doing next to stay ahead of the game."

King makes a valid point. In the early days of e-commerce, Amazon differentiated itself by offering lower prices than bookstores. Amazon later aggregated similar products from various sellers and allowed consumers to choose from various price options. Amazon also gained market advantages with one-click shopping, which allows customers to make online purchases with a single click.

"As more retailers got on the bandwagon, you saw Amazon making some interesting moves in order to stay ahead of the pack. First they offered Super Saver free shipping and then later the offered Amazon Prime," King said. "The e-commerce market is a pretty lively and constantly changing one."

What's at Stake?

Constantly changing is a true assessment, especially when the likes of Google enters the mix. The Wall Street Journal reports that Google is talking with Macy's, OfficeMax and UPS. Google was not immediately available for comment. The Journal reported Macy's confirmed that Google approached it with the concept. Gap and Office Max declined to comment to the Journal.

"In a way, Google is trying to step up as knowledgeable partner for retailers and help them compete more effectively with disruptive first movers like Amazon," King said. "Working with a partner like Google may be a better model for some retailers to pursue than to try to create their own online commerce sites. The vast majority of those traditional big box retailers haven't done very well."

One thing is certain: there is plenty at stake. Forrester Research estimates the online retail industry will grow 12 percent, to a whopping $197 billion in 2011. Amazon is the industry giant. If The Wall Street Journal report is true, Google is vying for a piece of that growing pie.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nf/20111203/tc_nf/81228

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Opposition candidates call on Congo to annul vote (AP)

KINSHASA, Congo ? For the past two days, Chantal Pande has set her alarm for 4:30 a.m., putting on her makeup and arriving before first light at the polling station where she's been assigned to vote in Congo's momentous election.

Each day she waited from dawn until dark, queuing at one of the 485 vote centers that as of Wednesday morning still hadn't received ballots in this giant nation attempting to organize its first election since the end of its civil war.

In Africa, it's difficult to pull off a transparent election even in countries that have held them regulary. This is only the third one in Congo's 51-year history. The country straddles the belly of the continent, stretching out over an area the size of the United States east of the Mississippi. Only 2 percent of its roads are paved.

It's polling stations are located on the flanks of mountains inhabited by gorillas; on the banks of rivers where the only mode of transport is by canoe; on islands in the middle of lakes; and deep in rain forests still controlled by rebel armies.

The government missed nearly every deadline leading up to the election. It didn't print enough ballots. Those that were printed weren't delivered in time, forcing hundreds of polling stations to open late. Some didn't open at all, a combustible mix in a country whose back-to-back wars dragged in at least nine neighboring nations.

"I want to vote. I made my choice and I want to express it. It's my right," said Pande, an unemployed mother of four, who sat inside a deserted polling station clasping a yellow purse in which she had carefully folded her voting card. "I've been here every day since 5. I'm discouraged. I'm losing hope. Do you think they'll bring the ballots?"

Congo's body temperature is rising and already three of the 11 presidential candidates have called for the vote to be annulled. In pockets throughout the country, poll workers have been attacked, trucks transporting ballots have been ransacked and vote centers set on fire. Riot police fought back angry mobs with tear gas in the capital, including outside the cinderblock elementary school where Pande is registered.

The vote that began Monday was supposed to mark another step toward peace, but if the results are not accepted by the population, analysts fear it could drag Congo back into conflict. The government decided to hold the vote despite the obvious technical glitches because incumbent President Joseph Kabila's term expires next week.

Since Monday, the election commission has issued two, one-day extensions to allow additional time for porters carrying ballots on their heads to reach the most distant communities.

"The electoral commission had an enormous dilemna dropped in its lap," said John Stremlau, who is heading the 70-member observation mission from the Carter Center. "You either have the election on time, which risks being botched by inadequate preparations, or you violate the constitutional mandate."

The late and uneven distribution of ballots has thrown a cloud of suspicion over the process. Opposition candidates are claiming fraud, and mobs have torn apart ballots being delivered to polling stations after rumors spread they had been filled-in ahead of time.

Observers say they have documented irregularities including possible instances of fraud, though it's not clear whether they are widespread enough to change the election's outcome.

"It's too early to say," said Stremlau. "Is it systemic? Or is it just bad management? At the moment, it would appear to be the product of a rushed election with enormous complexity."

Election commission president Daniel Ngoy Mulunda said that more than 99 percent of voting districts had functioned normally, and as of Wednesday only 485 out of 61,380 polling stations had been unable to complete voting.

The drama is playing out in places like the Boniface elementary school that serves as the central voting bureau in one of the capital's slums. The doors and windows of the classrooms, a section of the school's wall and several wooden bunks were destroyed by voters who finally reached the boiling point Monday after it became clear no ballots were on their way.

On Tuesday when porters finally arrived with bundles of ballots on their heads, skirting a pool of black mud surrounding the school, the crowd cheered.

Inside, however, were just 600 ballots for a center serving 13,000 registered voters, said the president of the voting district, Jacques Kabombo.

"The people rebelled," he said. "They pulled apart the wall of the school with their hands. I even lost the shoes on my feet."

It was finally Wednesday afternoon that a jeep arrived carrying the missing ballots. Pande was among the first to vote.

When night fell, they discovered what else was missing. The jeep had brought them the ballots, the necessary paperwork, the ink. The electric lanterns were there too. One per polling station in this nation where most of the capital is unlit after dark. But there were no batteries.

At nearly midnight, voters were using their cellphones to see the names on the ballot. In one classroom, they had stopped going behind the voting screen.

When their turn came, they picked up the ballot and walked to the opposite end of the room. The only thing you could see looking in their direction was the square of light emanating from their cellphone screen.

___

Associated Press writers Saleh Mwanamilongo contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111130/ap_on_re_af/af_congo_election

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Ready for the Hall of Fame

The Hall of Fame ballot came out yesterday. One does not get to vote unless one has been a member of the Baseball Writers Association of America for a decade. I am not a BBWAA member, of course, so my voting will have to be imaginary. That?s OK, though, I do a lot of pretend things. ?Anyway, if I had a ballot, here would be my slate:

Barry Larkin
Jeff Bagwell
Edgar Martinez
Mark McGwire
Tim Raines
Alan Trammell

The Shortstops

Trammell and Larkin should be no-brainers. Superior defensive shortstops who, it just so happened, also happened to be superior-to-elite hitters through much of their careers. We got spoiled by the brief shining moment in the 1990s and early 2000s when some shortstops hit 40 homers and batted .350, but that?s a crazy-aberration. A-Rod in his prime is not the standard for a shortstop making the Hall. Both Trammell and Larkin are above the standard ? way above the standard ? and until the A-Rod/Jeter/Tejada/Garciaparra blip occurred, you could argue that the only better ones were Honus Wagner, Arky Vaughn and Cal Ripken.

Larkin will likely get in this year. Trammell won?t, despite the fact that they are basically identical players. This is a travesty. If I ever fully flip out and take the to streets as a costumed avenger, there?s a decent chance I?ll be wearing a Tigers number 3 jersey.

Raines

Tim Raines was the best player in baseball for about four or five years in the 1980s. People don?t believe this, but it?s true. He suffers because he had similar skills to Rickey Henderson who is an all-time elite, and that?s just as unfair as comparing those shortstops to similar outliers. ?He also suffers because so much of his value was about getting on base and people just didn?t appreciate that as much at the time as they should have and still don?t, really. He also suffers because some people hold him to a different standard with respect to his cocaine use than they held Paul Molitor, for example, and that?s some ugliness I don?t think anyone wants to explore. But Raines is easily a Hall of Famer in my view.

The Designated Hitter

Edgar Martinez was a DH. And his career started late, meaning that his raw numbers aren?t as impressive as a lot of Hall of Famers. But his rate stats were astonishingly good. He had an OPS+ of 150 or greater eight times. ?Sure, you have to hit at a higher rate than your average Hall of Fame hitter if you want to get in with no defensive value, but I think Martinez did that.

The PED?Casualties?

As for McGwire and Bagwell, I don?t think anyone disputes that their numbers make them Hall of Fame first basemen. What people are doing with them is knocking them out because of steroids. In McGwire?s case because he has admitted to their use. In Bagwell?s because people ? for reasons no one has yet had the information or the guts to explain ? assume he used them. What they?re doing to Bagwell is outrageous, by the way, but we?ll save it until someone writes his ?I have questions ?? column about him later this month.

Here?s my thing on PEDs and the Hall of fame. I don?t totally ignore them. ?My inclusion of McGwire shows that. However, my exclusion of Rafael Palmiero shows that I do consider it to some extent. ?Yes, I know it?s not a perfect system, but my approach is (a) if the PED use is established; (b) to determine whether, roughly speaking, the guy was a Hall of Famer even if he never used PEDs. Yes, that?s subjective as hell, but I see it preferable to either assuming a player?s entire record was fraudulent because he took drugs, which would be silly, or alternatively assuming that PEDs had zero impact on his career performance. because we know neither of those things is the case. ?I give guys like McGwire and Palmiero a discount, and in my mind that slips Palmiero below the Hall of Fame line and doesn?t do the same for McGwire. Have at me.

The Exclusions

  • Fred McGriff: McGriff continues to be really hard for me. I go back and forth on him all the damn time. ?I?ve argued for and against his candidacy on alternate occasions. I?m a basketcase when it comes to him. I think there?s a good argument that he was the best first baseman in baseball for a few years there in the late 80s and early 90s, and usually if you were the best in baseball at your position for a few years, that?s enough for me. ?Maybe I?m making a big mistake here. Someone help me out. Convince me one way or the other on him. ?If I had a real ballot I think I?d be spending most of my December considering Fred McGriff?s candidacy. I don?t rule out changing my mind here and putting him on.
  • Jack Morris: He is not a Hall of Famer. I?ve spilled a lot of virtual ink on this. Short version:?Morris didn?t prevent the opposition from scoring runs at anything much greater than an average clip. ?He didn?t ?pitch to the score? (or, if he tried to, he was not particularly successful at it), as so many well tell you when trying to explain away his pedestrian ERA. ?Apart from one game in the 1991 World Series, he was nothing special as a playoff pitcher. ?Despite his ?best starter of the 80s? reputation, he was rarely thought of as special by Cy Young voters, who gave him?the same number of Cy Young votes over his career as Mike Hampton and Dontrelle Willis. That title is a function of him putting his best ten year stretch together in a way that corresponded with the decade beginning and ending, not by being the best pitcher in the decade most of the time. He wasn?t. Just cut it out, OK?

?

So that?s my ballot. Have fun.

Source: http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/12/01/my-imaginary-hall-of-fame-ballot-3/related

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Acer's 27-inch HR274H monitor promises to do 2D-to-3D conversion on the fly

It likely won't win over anyone who isn't too fond of 3D to begin with, but those looking for some additional quasi-3D content beyond the standard fare now have a new option to consider in the form of Acer's 27-inch HR274H monitor. It not only includes a set of passive, polarized 3D glasses, but what Acer describes as its own "chip-based solution" that promises to convert all 2D content to 3D in real time (it can be switched on and off on the monitor itself). Unfortunately, there's no word yet as to how well the effect works, and the monitor's specs are otherwise decidedly ordinary for the rather high $599 price tag -- you'll just get a TN panel with a standard 1920 x 1080 resolution. Additional details can be found in the press release after the break.

Continue reading Acer's 27-inch HR274H monitor promises to do 2D-to-3D conversion on the fly

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Drug war sends emotionally troubled kids to Texas (AP)

EL PASO, Texas ? The classroom falls silent as the teacher explains that victims of violence go through specific psychological stages in the aftermath of an attack. Most of these students, though, don't need a lecture to understand the lesson. It's part of their everyday lives.

Many of the teens came to the U.S. seeking refuge from Mexico's drug war, which made violence a constant companion since childhood.

"I've been through all three stages: impact, recoil, reorganization of my life," 17-year-old Alan Garcia told the class before breaking down in tears. "My mom goes in and out of recoil stage."

As the war enters its sixth year, it's bringing a new problem to Texas schools: Thousands of students suffering from emotional troubles not unlike those endured by soldiers returning from battle. In response, some districts have started offering the type of classes and counseling more common to the military.

"What you see happening in Iraq or Afghanistan is the same that's happening here in the border. This is not a war like those, but still you have people fleeing their country," said Clara Contreras, coordinator of the Safe and Drug-Free School and Communities program at the Texas Education Agency in Edinburg, Texas.

Many of the students were mugged or witnessed a shootout. Others have had family members kidnapped, or they have been extorted by gangs that run rampant in Juarez, a city of 1.3 million directly across the Rio Grande from El Paso.

As Garcia speaks, the class nods. Nearly all of the 17 kids with ties to Juarez have experienced the same anguish.

Kathy Ortega, director of counseling for the El Paso district, said officials do not keep track of how many students traumatized by border violence seek help, but the number includes both kids who have moved to Texas and others who still live in border cities but cross into the U.S. for school.

"Many of the families, because of the fear factor, won't reach out to us," Ortega said. Families are afraid that if their children speak with counselors, they could be identified by the people they escaped from.

Since the Mexican government launched an offensive on drug cartels in December 2006, more than 35,000 people have been killed in drug-related violence. The cartels' terror tactics include hanging people from bridges, beheading enemies and dissolving victims in acid.

Over that time, teachers and counselors on the Texas border have seen scores of traumatized children and teens.

The emotional difficulties affect them "in many areas of academic performance," said Alma Leal, professor of counseling at the University of Texas at Brownsville and coordinator for counseling and guidance of the Brownsville Independent School District. They suffer from poor discipline, lack any sense of security and fear losing loved ones.

Richard Barajas, a former chief justice for the Eighth District Court of Appeals, is director of advanced studies at Cathedral High School, where Garcia's class meets. He started teaching "Principles of Victimology" last year after two students were killed in Juarez.

The focus of the course is to teach students how to help victims, how to understand the process of victimization and how to talk about their experiences.

Mabel Avalos and other El Paso-area counselors have used skills they originally learned to help children of military personnel from nearby Fort Bliss.

Children fleeing from the cross-border violence and those whose parents have been in combat share issues like separation or loss of a parent, she said. But unlike military children, those coming from Mexico have sometimes been exposed to violence or been victims themselves.

"We tackle the problem, but we are not solving it," Avalos said. "I don't see the community realizing it's a problem."

She still has difficulty talking about how she had to explain to two siblings who had bullets lodged inside them why doctors refused to take out the slugs and instead waited for their bodies to push them out.

In Leal's district, counselors talk about how children fear for the safety of their relatives across the border in Mexico.

"I know of a teenager that crosses every day to see if his grandparents are still alive in Matamoros," just across the border from Brownsville, she said.

Susana Jones, a counselor in the El Paso area, said students who have been exposed to violence express their anger by fighting in school and talking back to teachers.

"After my brother escaped an attempted kidnapping, he started having anger issues. He would talk back to his teachers and eventually got expelled," recalls Carlos Gallardo, who graduated from Cathedral last summer.

When the two Cathedral students were gunned down in February, the slayings brought the cost of war back to the classroom.

"One of them sat right behind me, and it felt really weird whenever I'd look back and see the empty desk," said Carlos Gomez, a student who founded a group called Hope Without Borders, which focuses on raising awareness about violence affecting children and teenagers in general.

Many of the children were already struggling with poverty and now must confront "the overwhelming experiences of their worst nightmares and fears coming true," said Steven Marans, director of the National Center for Children Exposed to Violence at the Yale Child Study Center.

In the long term, if the children do not get help, victims can turn into victimizers.

"If you can't concentrate, and you can't do well in school, you can't find mastery in academics, so they find mastery using their strength" upon others, Marans said.

Victims in the drug war are often stigmatized by people who believe they had something to do with the drug trade.

In reality, said Laura Olague, executive director at the Children's Grief Center in El Paso, some of them were targeted for not paying extortion or got caught in the crossfire.

According to a study by the Geneva-based Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, about 115,000 Mexicans have taken refuge in the United States since violence spiked in their country in 2006.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mexico/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111128/ap_on_re_us/us_drug_war_children

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