Magdaleno

Last night I went to an event at an Ethiopian Restaurant called HIDMO where many activist meet….This night it was an evening of Fandango.. Latina American, music, dancing and some rappers integrated to this wonderful event.

I love the dancing and decided to go alone (which means I couldn’t get a date).. And enjoy myself.. Before I knew it a young man was sitting down at my table and soon he began to unravel his story. Turns out that his father is Anglo and mother Lebanese. An interesting combination.

Then he looks at me ..And says I HAVE SEEN YOU SOME PLACE
WHERE ?.. I ask

YOU TESTIFIED AT CITY COUNCIL ON THE TUNNEL

The tunnel is this huge project to direct traffic under the city and I was raising financial concerns about costs over runs.

Later this young man Deric was telling me about how he traveled on a bicycle through Africa.. I was impressed. Then he told me that the other day as he was peddling across a bridge in Seattle when he saw a woman who was going to jump. Deric stopped, stayed and talked with her until the authorities arrived. Now I was very impressed. What a great act of humanity!!

He would have never noticed her if he had been in a car and was driving by to his meetings… Something to be said about riding a bicycle.

NOW FOR MY VIEW OF THE NEWS

a. Johnny Cash
b. Why expand the death row in California
c. Leno’s Write-Tirement
d. Alex Sanchez update
e. Johnny Cash … when I wear all black…

On occasion I dress in all black.. I sort of like this costume.. I think it could be an image of a minister, a sinister or perhaps Johnny Cash. When folks mention Johnny Cash I respond by saying in my best CASH VOICE….. HELLO I’M JOHNNY CASH.. And then begin singing .. I HEAR THAT TRAIN A COMING… COMING ROUND THE BEND… I AINT SEE NO SUNSHINE SINCE I DON’T KNOW WHEN …I AM STUCK IN FOLSOM PRISON AND TIME KEEPS ROLLING ON…

Editorial: What price is too high for death row?

The Sacramento Bee

Published Sunday, Aug. 15, 2010
In a twisted sense of timing, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has placed the exorbitant cost of California’s theoretical death penalty squarely before the public again.

The Schwarzenegger administration announced last week that it plans to borrow $64.7 million from the state’s cash-strapped general fund to accelerate construction of a new death row at San Quentin State Prison.
The administration’s call for bids to build new digs for condemned inmates comes as the governor’s lawyers seek court approval to furlough state workers and cut their pay to minimum wage, and as he pushes to end safety net services for some of California’s poorest and most vulnerable citizens.

Schwarzenegger needs to reconsider his priorities and focus on what is truly important as his time as governor ends – such as engaging in negotiations with legislative leaders to resolve the budget impasse.
The $64.7 million is merely a down payment. Construction would cost about $360 million. Interest payments on 20-year bonds the state ordinarily would sell to finance the construction could add another $150 million or more to the final price tag.

The state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation wants to borrow the $64.7 million because the state is prevented from selling the bonds. Like so much else in the death penalty system, there is litigation. In this instance, a suit by Democratic lawmakers has tied up the bond sale.

We cannot imagine the governor decided to press ahead with the construction out of spite or because he is upset with Democratic legislators. That would be extremely petty. We prefer to think the administration is being driven by its vision of what is best for the state, although its priorities are seriously askew on this one.

Administration officials note that lawmakers authorized a new death row in 2003. Prison officials want to move forward now because contractors are hungry for work, which is cutting construction costs.

Officials say the $64.7 million will be repaid once the state can issue the bonds. But that assumes the governor will win the lawsuit. As Schwarzenegger ought to know by now, it’s foolish to second-guess courts.
The plan to build a shiny new 541,000-square-foot death row within San Quentin’s boundaries underscores fundamental problems with capital punishment. So long as there is a death penalty, the state will need to house, clothe and feed the inmates at huge costs.

San Quentin sits on prime bayfront property in Marin County. It could be sold for a fortune and turned into housing, a transit hub, a ferry port and much more.
However, lawmakers cannot agree to close San Quentin. Nor are they prepared to abolish capital punishment, given that Californians support it by a wide margin. The U.S. Supreme Court and California Supreme Court seem willing to permit the process to continue, knowing that it is more likely that someone will be struck by lightning than die by lethal injection or gas.

California has 706 condemned inmates, by far the largest condemned population of any state. Since capital punishment was reinstated in California in 1978, 13 men have been put to death at San Quentin. Another 73 others have died of suicide, drug overdose and natural causes, including one last week.

The longest serving inmate, Douglas R. Stankewitz, has been on death row since Oct. 13, 1978. The oldest, David J. Carpenter, the “Trailside Killer,” became an octogenarian this year. There hasn’t been an execution since January 2006, and there’s no certainty there will be any executions any time soon.

In California, the death penalty is conceptual. There simply are too many smart attorneys who can mount too many arguments that will persuade too many judges to place executions on hold. So long as we retain this broken system, taxpayers will be condemned to pay the price – in this instance, about $500 million for a new death row.

© Copyright The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved.

WRITE-TIREMENT

JUDGE POSTPONES ALEX SANCHEZ GANG TRIAL TO FEBRUARY 14, 2011

By Tom Hayden

In a surprise development Friday, US Judge Manuel Real delayed the start date of the gang conspiracy trial involving Alex Sanchez until next Feb. 14. Until now, the trial was scheduled to begin on October 15. No reason was given for the four-month delay but the parties are swamped by some 20,000 wiretaps that must be translated, transcribed and evaluated. Only 800 transcripts have been delivered to defense counsel thus far.

At a previous hearing July 28, Judge Real several times accused defense lawyers of “sandbagging” him, “playing games”, and going on “fishing expeditions” in their demands for documents, and planning “vacations in El Salvador” under the pretext of research. When he accused them of “playing games” at Friday’s hearing, he met a strong rebuke from an exasperated defense attorney, Ellen Barry, who enumerated the documents yet to be translated and asked the judge, “where is the gamesmanship in that?” The judge, who has received the most reversals of any federal judge, told those present that he’d “heard it all.”

Rhetoric aside, the judge on Friday for the first time asked the attorneys when they might be free in the first six months of 2011. He also has granted Alex Sanchez’ attorney, Kerry Bensinger, funding for a trip to El Salvador this week to take depositions and conduct interviews.

Some of the issues contained in court documents, but not yet reported, may be the most explosive yet in revealing the government’s globalized war on gangs. See www.The Nation.com next week for the new developments. #



KISS THE MOON WIND AND SUN

Enjoy the beauty of the world and give up a kiss now and then

My best
leno