Magdaleno

MY DEAR SISTERS AND BROTHERS

I hope that your holidays have been filled with love and happiness… me I am just glad to be alive and with family and friends… I miss ya all and wish I could see you soon. And I know that this New Year will give us many opportunities to celebrate our dreams and work…

NOW FOR MY VIEW OF THE NEW

a.      Christmas wish

b.      The assassination of Bhutto

c.       The economy

d.      Support SFIWJ

e.       Gangs

f.        Visitors

g.      Iowa and new Hampshire

h.      New years

THE CHRISTMAS WISH

   Have them come to visit

A ten year old young lady Josefina and I were having a discussion about our holiday wishes and gifts that we would like to receive ..this was taking place on the 24^th of December 2007…

 

WHAT WOULD YOU WANT FOR CHRISTMAS she asked?

ME?…I questioned….which gave me time to think about it…

I  WOULD LIKE TO HAVE MY FAMILY MEMBERS THAT ARE DECEASED COME TO OUR CHRISTMAS BRUNCH. I responded ..We have a late brunch Christmas day and eat more than usual and then open gifts… and I thought how wonderful it would be to have these family members show up and share with us…

WHO ARE THEY she asked? /

WELL LET ME SEE… THERE IS MY FATHER MARCOS, MY MOTHER CARMEN, MY SISTERS REBECCA AND CONSUELITO;;;          I WOULD LIKE FOR THEM TO COME AND JUST HAVE BRUNCH WITH US… THEN THEY COULD GO BACK.. I WANT MY FATHER TO MEET HIS GRAND DAUGHTER AVIVA… AND I COULD JUST ENJOY THEM ALL AND SHARE THEM WITH EVERYONE WHO WERE VISITING OUR HOME ON CHRISTMAS MORNING…

I immediately went off to my own day dream land watching my family walk in the front door and being greeted by everyone. ..My dad had on one his famous straw hats (formal wear) …parked on the street was a long old town car. The kind of cars that my sister Consuelito (Connie) liked to drive…

The front door and back door were both open (to cool off the house) so they could just walk in…Becky would be the first one through the door followed by Carmen our mom (my mother) followed by Consuelito and then my dad…

We would give long hugs …tears would flow freely down our cheeks …we would smile a lot and perhaps laugh in joy…

I think that they would like the house and the fact of having a pool in the back yard…

After about 20 minutes of hugging and small talk we would begin sitting down to eat…Aviva would be the queen of the brunch as she sat there close to my dad holding his dark hand …and he talking to her in Spanish and being surprised that she could respond in Spanish …that would bring a big smile to his face……My dad had never met my spouse Carolyn so he was surprised that some one had finally married me and that she also could speak also speak Spanish…

Our out of town guests were in mild shock to see these family members arrive

the first conflict was how to tell my mother and two sisters that they could not smoke in the house… or should I just let them smoke and get them the proper receptacles for their ashes and cigarette butts… after all they were just going to be there for a short while…so would it really hurt us long term if I let them smoke…and was their smoke real of just part of a vision or a dream…

I am sure we would eat slowly making sure that we got in all the hugs and smiles…not to mention all the conversations and updates… at first I guess it could be scary having family who had passed away walking in through the front door…and then having them sitting down for brunch….where to sit them … my dad would have that wonderful smile of his, my mom trying to help serve the food…. My dad liked his tortillas and food hot …so I would be in charge of that since I also have also adopted this habit…Consuelito always had stories to tell and Rebecca or Becky as we liked to call her would be hugging folks and being affectionate…Becky would call any and everyone her BONITO CHIQUITO…

 

What to say … what to ask … would they have questions of us …and would it be polite to ask where they have been hanging out and what its like in the other world.. Or should I just act as if they had just flown in from out of town.. should I call my siblings around the country and have them  talk with our family visitors. .I am sure I would be most confused… how to take best advantage of the time… should I take pictures?//

It would be a most incredible gift to have them come in through the front door… and sitting down to eat and enjoy some time with me, my family and my friends…

It would be hard saying good by at the end of the meal and I would want assurances that they would come by once again …and could they make such a promise… ???

Now having my family visit is the gift of gifts for the holidays….

 

THE ASSISNATION OF BENAZAIR BHUTTO

            Who had the most to gain?

Iam told that the one person who had the most to gain by the death of Bhutto was President (dictator) Musharaff… he feared her coming back and taking away his power…

I understand that he denied Bhutto the increased security that she had asked for. I wonder why  ???

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has not moved one inch towards establishing a  democracy ….and has not been working to eradicate Al Quaeda  or the Taliban from Pakistan…we have spent billions of dollars on him and his government and they are no closer to democracy or ridding the border area of terrorists… I am sure that much of our money is by now in personal bank accounts in some of the countries waiting for Musharraf.

There are now many questions about the autopsy for Benazair Bhutto and I think that we will soon see that the Musharraf government is not telling the truth again…wait till the real truth comes out.

Musharraf must step down and we must quit giving them one penny more and pull back our support and treat him as a threat to our government…

THE ECONOMY

If it’s gotten better for you …then you might be in the upper 10% of our population that has a ton of money and not many worries. The poor are suffering  and there is no hope in sight. You must keep track of the working poor in your community and be available to help them …

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SUPPORT FOR MIAMI  

 

 

WISHING YOU A HAPPY HOLIDAY SEASONS TO YOU AND YOUR FAMILY!

 MAY THIS JOYOUS OCASSION BRING YOU ALL THE JOY AND HAPPINESS YOU DESERVE!

 

AS YOU BEGIN THIS NEW YEAR, PLEASE REMEMBER THOSE WHO ARE STRUGGLING EVERYDAY TO MAKE ENDS MEET.  MEN, WOMEN, MOTHERS, AND FATHERS THROUGHOUT SOUTH FLORIDA ARE FACED WITH MANY DILEMMAS:  SHOULD THEY BUY MEDICINE FOR THEIR KIDS OR PUT FOOD ON THE TABLE; SHOULD THEIR TEENAGE SON GO TO SCHOOL OR WORK FULL-TIME TO HELP WITH THE OVERPOURING AMOUNT OF BILLS; SHOULD THEY TAKE A SICK CHILD TO THE DOCTOR WHEN THERE IS NO HEALTH INSURANCE TO PAY FOR THE VISIT?  THESE ARE COMMON PROBLEMS IN OUR COMMUNITIES.

 

SOUTH FLORIDA INTERFAITH WORKER JUSTICE PROVIDES A VOICE TO EDUCATE, ORGANIZE, AND MOBILIZE THE RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY TO SERVE LOW-WAGE WORKERS IN MIAMI-DADE AND BROWARD COUNTIES.  PLEASE HELP WITH A TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATION TO SOUTH FLORIDA INTERFAITH WORKER JUSTICE.

 

SEND YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS TO

SFIWJ

150 SW 13^TH AVE

MIAMI, FLORIDA, 33135

 

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GANGS AND THE PRLOLIFERATION OF VIOLENCE AND DRUGS..

            What is the truth?/

In the past months I have heard officials from both the USA and Central America claiming that the gangs now are controlling the drug trade, trafficking of humans,( such as in Coyotes), dealing in weapons trade and now ethnic cleansing in Los Angeles.

In Los Angeles they say that  the gang Florence 13 has targeted blacks in their neighborhoods and are killing or urging other blacks to move out. Turf battles have been around for years …even back to the early days of New York as immigrant groups fought for recognition and still exist racially in many cities in the USA.  While Sherriff Lee Baca of Los Angeles Count asserts that there is this ethnic cleansing he can not tell us how many blacks were killed by Latino gang members as part of this ethnic cleansing… In fact most violence is between Latino gangs as opposed to other community groups…

While there are many accusations against gangs I am still searching for data that would show that gangs had become the major drug dealers or the major coyotes.  I think this is more hype so that governments can get more money to fight gangs…

I would ask the DEA whom have they busted in their major drug busts and then to Home Land Security who have they arrested as major smugglers of people and how many of them have been gang members?????

We do have a social issue that we are not solving ..Our schools and society push more youth out into the streets and many into the gang structure. We have an opportunity today to invest money in our youth and families, in programs that do prevention and recover instead of just putting 99% of our money into  law enforcement and incarceration.

Study after study show that tough laws do not change the growth of gangs… while creative intervention and prevention programs do provide positive results.  And it should come as no surprise that the best persons to work and run these programs are former gang members. They can relate and show our youth a better way.

But just talking about deaths and violence is not enough…  we could save more lives across the board by working more on young auto drivers and on drunk drivers. And if we concentrated on violence against spouses and children we would do more for our society than getting lost in misdirected law enforcement. The issues I just mentioned are difficult to address but they are issues that we need to address if we really want to diminish violence and deaths.

HOLIDAY VISTIORS        

It is always good to have visitors… this holiday season from Seattle were Josefina Mora, Maru Villapando, and Sheryl Landon. From Colorado it was Danny Vallez an old friend whom I have worked with in behalf of United Farm workers Union and Teatro de Ustedes.

Iowa Caucus and New Hampshire are on the way

 

I have never been comfortable with these two states eliminating certain candidates from the field. These two states don’t have the demographics that represent our country and should not have such a strong influence…

This might be there year for a third party candidate and I ask you to Google UNITY08

NEW YEARS

I hope ya all have a good new year and that we all enjoy 2008 as a time to help to make this a better world for all of us. I send ya all a virtual hug ..My resolutions for the new year are to do more, do it better and be kinder and gentler to all …and I should remind myself to laugh and smile more often…

My best

leno

DEAR SISTERS AND BROTHERS

I want to thank you for all that you have done in the past year to protect human rights for people at home and abroad. I want to thank you for all the work that you have done to eliminate violence and that includes violence against the environment.

I want to thank you for dreaming the impossible and working to make it a reality. I want to thank you for being a reasonable voice in a difficult time

I want to thank you for living for today and fighting for a better world.

NOW FOR MY VIEW OF THE NEWS

            a. women single head of households

            b. CIA tapes destroyed

            c. Fire at the white house

            d. New Jersey does the right thing

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SINGLE HEAD OF HOUSEHOLDS

            Most are women

Today during the holiday season I want you to think of the women who are single head of households… while many poor families suffer the glaring contrast between what their children receive and what the affluent can give; it is even worse for women head of households. They see other children getting so much and their children  getting little or nothing .

Today across our country and the world more and more women are becoming the head of house holds.. They are left as the care takers of the children and struggle just to feed, clothe and house them ..

We all know some women who do the impossible every day with so little money. If you have a moment share some of your time and resources with one of these families, they might be homeless, in subsidized housing or perhaps in a protective shelter.

DESTROYING THE TAPES

It seems that the CIA has destroyed the tapes that showed how they tortured several prisoners… there are several questions to be asked.. again and again until they are answered…

1. who authorized the torture
2. who did the torture
3. Who authorized the destruction of the tapes…
4. And who is covering their tracks…

There probably is another copy of these tapes.. Perhaps made by one of the torturers and hidden in some secure place. Now we just need to find where this personal copy is so that we can see it and see this awful practice and by learning more of it abolish it.

FIRE IN THE OLD OFFICE BUILDING …      

            Was it arson or just a fire…in the White House office building?

This fire could have destroyed key documents and don’t be surprised that when congress asks where certain files are they will be told THEY WERE BURNED IN THE FIRE.

We have seen emails and other documents shredded by the White House and this is not an administration that can tolerate any oversight. Thus they will use any excuse to clean up the evidence.

NEW JERSEY DOES THE RIGHT THING

            Abolishes the Death Penalty

It was wonderful reading all the articles and looking at the pictures of this most wonderful event in the east. I looked for the faces and names of my friends… I was so happy to be part of this movement for human rights.

I am most proud of those who fought the good fight on the ground for these past years and never did give up. They continued to fight, organize and always demanded a high standard for human rights. All of us who have struggled to abolish the death penalty should celebrate and thank god. Then we should get back to work and continue the education of our communities…

Other states while they might be more difficult to change  they are not impossible… we just have to continue to be strategic in our work and never give up on our dreams…

 

WANTING PEACE

 

If I lived in Iraq, Afghanistan, or the Sudan… I would want peace and all that it has to offer.  Too many places in the world have humble people suffering from the vestiges of war and this should not be. Pray, March, sing and dream of peace for all …even our enemies.

My best

leno