Magdaleno

Rush Limbaugh a blue pill popping man is a dirty rotten chicken livered pole cat..not to mention that he is a sexist and racist. Do I need to say more?.
Rush is not the only one to blame..it is  also the conservative republicans and some democrats who feel that they should get involved in what happens with a womans’ body .. they oppose birth control then oppose abortions..it seems that they want to do everything that they can to humiliate women.

Sandra Fluke is a strong woman and one to be admired for staying on the high road while Rush degraded her and all women by calling them the worst of names. I wish someone would interview Rush’s former and current wife to see if they agree with his comments. While it is none of my business I wonder if any of them women ever used birth control pills and if any had abortions? I just don’t understand how a woman in her right mind would marry a man like Rush.

Rush is but an angry white man out of control  and is a convenient mouth piece for the extreme right which now seems to be in control of the Republican party. Rush, Fox Noise .. I mean News… Other ultra conservative commentators seem to also express in the most vile things about women, the president, and anyone who would want to help the average citizen..they bend and stretch the truth but most often lie, pull false data of some orifice and then what is worse their listeners believe it and repeat it.

The Republican Leadership and Candidates are afraid of Rush and have failed to sanction him. But were quick to object to those who would question some rather strange candidates that the Republican party has had such as Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachman, the pizza man Herman Cain and others….if someone ever created a Zoo for the strangest voices in American politics they would find most of the cages filled with the extreme right of what remains of the Republican Party.

I am glad the President Obama called fluke to tell her that she is not alone.  And we are all proud of her, her courage and leadership she has shown as she becomes a national voice for the protection of women and their rights.

The Republicans this election cycle are bashing women, gays, immigrants, and unions. Do they think that the Tea Cup movement will energize voters to overcome every one that has been attacked and offended by the spokesmen and women of the Republican party?… For what was left of the moderate Republicans it is no longer a party but a wake ..with the funeral soon to come.

NOW FOR MY VIEW OF THE NEWS

a.    Nicaragaua
b.    ARMED FORCES RADIO
c.    He said Tray was gone
d.    Mississippi churning (anti-immigrant)

NICARAGUA AND BATAHOLA DEL NORTE

On the  week of February I spent in Nicaragua at this most progressive cultural and arts community center. I was invited by the USA BOARD which supports the work of the center. Also each year I am encouraged to attend by my friend Sister Helen Prejean. This time my wife Carolyn who works in Haiti joined us and we put her to work immediately translating for the basketball clinic

The clinic was coordinated by HolliOmari, a P.E. teacher in Los Angeles who has also played and coached at the college level. Over 35 students and teachers participated in this clinic. The enthusiasm was so great that we are now planning a week long training for coaches and P.E. teachers. We will have to raise about $4,000 in the future to make this a reality. There is also a possibility that Holli will also teach some volley ball.

There was a lot of learning and sharing done during the five days at Batahola.

Last year when I was there I tried to get Gerrardo the art teacher to paint my image into one the many murals that grace the center. They have on their walls images of campesinos, children, Carlos Fonseca, Sandino, Che Guevara, Arch Bishop Romero, RigobertaMenchu and many other heroes and sheroes. With every group of visitors they give them a walking tour of the murals to explain the history of this part of the world.  Well much to our surprise on every mural was a copy of a picture of me that Gerrando had drawn, had copied and then pasted up on each mural. It was pretty funny ..and for a day my face was up there amongst the many who have been such strong voices for human rights..

Armed Forces Radio

I hope that you can take a moment and call your congressman and senators to let them know that you want Rush Limbaugh taken off of the programing for our Armed forces..

If you call we can make a difference. Make a phone call.

“He said that Tray was gone.”

That’s how Sybrina Fulton, her voice full of ache, told me she found out that her 17-year-old son, Trayvon Martin, had died. In a wrenching telephone call, the boy’s father, who had taken him to visit a friend, told her that Trayvon had been gunned down in a gated townhouse community in Sanford, Fla., outside Orlando.

“He said, ‘Somebody shot Trayvon and killed him.’ And I was like, ‘Are you sure?’ ” Fulton continued in disbelief. “I said ‘How do you know that’s Trayvon?’ And he said because they showed him a picture.”
That was Feb. 27, one day after Trayvon was shot. The father thought that he was missing, according to the family’s lawyer, Benjamin Crump, but the boy’s body had actually been taken to the medical examiner’s office and listed as a John Doe.

The father called the Missing Persons Unit. No luck. Then he called 911. The police asked the father to describe the boy, after which they sent officers to the house where the father was staying. There they showed him a picture of the boy with blood coming out of his mouth.

This is a nightmare scenario for any parent, and the events leading to Trayvon’s death offer little comfort — and pose many questions.

Trayvon had left the house he and his father were visiting to walk to the local 7-Eleven. On his way back, he caught the attention of George Zimmerman, a 28-year-old neighborhood watch captain, who was in a sport-utility vehicle. Zimmerman called the police because the boy looked “real suspicious,” according to a 911 call released late Friday. The operator told Zimmerman that officers were being dispatched and not to pursue the boy.

Zimmerman apparently pursued him anyway, at some point getting out of his car and confronting the boy. Trayvon had a bag of Skittles and a can of iced tea. Zimmerman had a 9 millimeter handgun.

The two allegedly engaged in a physical altercation. There was yelling, and then a gunshot.

When police arrived, Trayvon was face down in the grass with a fatal bullet wound to the chest. Zimmerman was standing with blood on his face and the back of his head and grass stains on his back, according to The Orlando Sentinel.
Trayvon’s lifeless body was taken away, tagged and held. Zimmerman was taken into custody, questioned and released. Zimmerman said he was the one yelling for help. He said that he acted in self-defense. The police say that they have found no evidence to dispute Zimmerman’s claim.

One other point: Trayvon is black. Zimmerman is not.

Trayvon was buried on March 3. Zimmerman is still free and has not been arrested or charged with a crime.

Yet the questions remain: Why did Zimmerman find Trayvon suspicious? Why did he pursue the boy when the 911 operator instructed him not to? Why did he get out of the car, and why did he take his gun when he did? How is it self-defense when you are the one in pursuit? Who initiated the altercation? Who cried for help? Did Trayvon’s body show evidence of a struggle? What moved Zimmerman to use lethal force?

This case has reignited a furor about vigilante justice, racial-profiling and equitable treatment under the law, and it has stirred the pot of racial strife.

As the father of two black teenage boys, this case hits close to home. This is the fear that seizes me whenever my boys are out in the world: that a man with a gun and an itchy finger will find them “suspicious.” That passions may run hot and blood run cold. That it might all end with a hole in their chest and hole in my heart. That the law might prove insufficient to salve my loss.

That is the burden of black boys in America and the people that love them: running the risk of being descended upon in the dark and caught in the cross-hairs of someone who crosses the line.

The racial sensitivity of this case is heavy. Trayvon’s parents have said their son was murdered. Crump, the family’s lawyer, told me, “You know, if Trayvon would have been the triggerman, it’s nothing Trayvon Martin could have said to keep police from arresting him Day 1, Hour 1.” Even the police chief recognizes this reality, even while disputing claims of racial bias in the investigation: “Our investigation is color blind and based on the facts and circumstances, not color. I know I can say that until I am blue in the face, but, as a white man in a uniform, I know it doesn’t mean anything to anybody.”

Zimmerman has not released a statement, but his father delivered a one-page letter to The Orlando Sentinel on Thursday. According to the newspaper, the statement said that Zimmerman is “Hispanic and grew up in a multiracial family.” The paper quotes the letter as reading, “He would be the last to discriminate for any reason whatsoever” and continues, “The media portrayal of George as a racist could not be further from the truth.” And disclosures made since the shooting complicate people’s perception of fairness in the case.

According to Crump, the father was told that one of the reasons Zimmerman wasn’t arrested was because he had a “squeaky clean” record. It wasn’t. According to the local news station WFTV, Zimmerman was arrested in 2005 for “battery on a law enforcement officer.”

Furthermore, ABC News reported on Tuesday that one of the responding officers “corrected a witness after she told him that she heard the teen cry for help.” And The Miami Herald published an article on Thursday that said three witnesses had heard the “desperate wail of a child, a gunshot, and then silence.”

WFTV also reported this week that the officer in charge of the scene when Trayvon was shot was also in charge of another controversial case. In 2010, a lieutenant’s son was videotaped attacking a black homeless man. The officer’s son also was not initially arrested in that case. He was later arrested when the television station broke the news.

Although we must wait to get the results from all the investigations into Trayvon’s killing, it is clear that it is a tragedy. If no wrongdoing of any sort is ascribed to the incident, it will be an even greater tragedy.

One of the witnesses was a 13-year-old black boy who recorded a video for The Orlando Sentinel recounting what he saw. The boy is wearing a striped polo shirt, holding a microphone, speaking low and deliberately and has the heavy look of worry and sadness in his eyes. He describes hearing screaming, seeing someone on the ground and hearing gunshots. The video ends with the boy saying, “I just think that sometimes people get stereotyped, and I fit into the stereotype as the person who got shot.”

And that is the burden of black boys, and this case can either ease or exacerbate it.

What Everyone Should Know About Trayvon Martin (1995-2012)

By Judd Legum on Mar 18, 2012

On February 26, 2012, a 17-year-old African-American named Trayvon Martin was shot and killed in Sanford, Florida. The shooter was George Zimmerman, a 28-year-old white man. Zimmerman admits killing Martin, but claims he was acting in self-defense. Three weeks after Martin’s death, no arrests have been made and Zimmerman remains free.

Here is what everyone should know about the case:

1. Zimmerman called the police to report Martin’s “suspicious” behavior, which he described as “just walking around looking about.” Zimmerman was in his car when he saw Martin walking on the street. He called the police and said: “There’s a real suspicious guy. This guy looks like he’s up to no good, on drugs or something. It’s raining and he’s just walking around looking about… These a**holes always get away” [Orlando Sentinel]

2. Zimmerman pursued Martin against the explicit instructions of the police dispatcher:

Dispatcher: “Are you following him?”

Zimmerman: “Yeah”

Dispatcher: “OK, we don’t need you to do that.”

[Orlando Sentinel]

3. Prior to the release of the 911 tapes, Zimmerman’s father released a statement claiming “[a]t no time did George follow or confront Mr. Martin.”[Sun Sentinel]

4. Zimmerman was carrying a a 9 millimeter handgun. Martin was carrying a bag of Skittles and a can of iced tea. [ABC News]

5. Martin weighed 140 pounds. Zimmerman weighs 250 pounds. [Orlando Sentinel; WDBO]

6. Martin’s English teacher described him as “as an A and B student who majored in cheerfulness.” [Orlando Sentinel]

7. Martin had no criminal record. [New York Times]

8. Zimmerman “was charged in July 2005 with resisting arrest with violence and battery on an officer. The charges appear to have been dropped.” [Huffington Post]

9. Zimmerman called the police 46 times since Jan. 1, 2011. [Miami Herald]

10. According to neighbors, Zimmerman was “fixated on crime and focused on young, black males.” [Miami Herald]

11. Zimmerman “had been the subject of complaints by neighbors in his gated community for aggressive tactics” [Huffington Post]

12. A police officer “corrected” a key witness. “The officer told the witness, a long-time teacher, it was Zimmerman who cried for help, said the witness. ABC News has spoken to the teacher and she confirmed that the officer corrected her when shesaid she heard the teenager shout for help.” [ABC News]

13. Three witnesses say they heard a boy cry for help before a shot was fired.“Three witnesses contacted by The Miami Herald say they saw or heard the moments before and after the Miami Gardens teenager’s killing. All three said they heard the last howl for help from a despondent boy.” [Miami Herald]

14. The officer in charge of the crime scene also received criticism in 2010when he initially failed to arrest a lieutenant’s son who was videotaped attacking a homeless black man. [New York Times]

15. The police did not test Zimmerman for drugs or alcohol. A law enforcement expert told ABC that Zimmerman sounds intoxicated on the 911 tapes. Drug and alcohol testing is “standard procedure in most homicide investigations.” [ABC News]

The Martin case had been turned over to the Seminole County State Attorney’s Office. Martin’s family has asked for the FBI to investigate.

UPDATE

MISSISSIPPI CHURNING UP ANTI-IMMIGRANT CHANTING AT A BASKETBALL GAME

From: Dave Zirin on March 15, 2012 – 8:52 PM ET

Welcome to the New South, which at times can look and act one hell of a lot like the Old South. The NCAA Men’s basketball tournament staged a first round matchup between Kansas State and Southern Mississippi and KSU won, as expected, 70-64.

The story of the game, however, was the members of the Southern Miss.school band who gave us all another lesson that the past is not always past, by starting a chant as racist as it was ignorant.

They engaged in a chorus of “Where’s your green card” aimed at Kansas State guard Angel Rodriguez. Imagine being Angel Rodriguez and having that chanted in your direction at full volume, while trying to play a basketball game. This has about as much in common with normal rowdy fan behavior as a glee club has with a lynch mob. Rodriguez’s four free throws in the closing moments of the contest helped seal the victory, but that’s not nearly enough of a response given both the behavior of the fans as well as the exploding anti-immigrant climate in the state.

The chant, first and foremost, was both racist and stupid, given that Rodriguez is actually from Puerto Rico, and therefore has citizenship if not voting rights. But given that the state of Mississippi’s Republican electorate just voted for Rick Santorum, who recently said that Puerto Rico could only be a state if everyone learned and spoke English, their actions should anger but not surprise.

It also shouldn’t surprise given the fact that today – of all days – Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant saw his deeply punitive, racial-profiling anti-immigration House Bill 488 pass the state house. The bill will deal with what Bryant calls the “massive, uncontrolled” influx of “illegals.” It also gives local and state police the powers to demand the immigration papers of anyone they choose to stop. “If we pass this bill, it will set Mississippiback 60 years,” said Rep. Sonya Williams-Barnes, D-Gulfport. “Let us show America we are not the narrow-minded people they say we are.” Nice try, but instead Bryant celebrated the bill, saying, “Perhaps it’s boat-rocking time in Mississippi.” Perhaps the students were just taking his lead, and trying to rock some boats.

Southern Mississippi School President Martha Saunders issued a statement a mere two hours after the gamewhere she wrote,

“We deeply regret the remarks made by a few students at today’s game. The words of these individuals do not represent the sentiments of our pep band, athletic department or university. We apologize to Mr. Rodriques and will take quick and appropriate disciplinary action against the students involved in this isolated incident.”

Yes, she misspelled Rodriguez’s name. And yes, treating this like an isolated incident is, pardon the expression given Mississippi’s history, a whitewash. Defenders of the Magnolia State will no doubt say that the state has changed dramatically from the days gone by. But given Bryant’s scapegoating, anti-immigrant agenda and given the extraordinary efforts taken by the state to deprive minority voting rights, it is, as Al Sharpton said, a change from Jim Crow, to James Crow, Jr. Esq. In other words, the depriving of rights and the threats to citizenship have erupted, yet now assume the language of legal niceties. But sometimes the bile rises to the surface, and from the mouths of Southern Miss. students, amidst a basketball game, the bile did runneth over.

[Dave Zirin is the author of “The John Carlos Story” (Haymarket) and just made the new documentary “Not Just a Game.” ]

WAITING FOR SPRING

It is still pretty cool up here in the Northwest and we are waiting for more sun and warmer temperatures.. I need to plant my cilantro and jalapenos… are you involved in a garden project? If not you should consider it …even if it is small

My best
Leno

Travel for Leno

March 29-April 2nd Denver, Colorado
Amnesty International Annual General Meeting
Plus I will add some other meetings to my agenda