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

Sunday night I performed a wedding for Abdullah and Labiba a lovely couple from Afghanistan… aaaahhh love was in the air.. One is Christian and the other Muslim. Abdullah had been held previously in the Tacoma Detention Center as he sought asylum. While there a legal program helped him to get bonded out and he was given refugee for two years in the home of a wonderful gay couple. By the way these two men were the witnesses for all the wedding documents and I found out they offer their home to many immigrants in transition from the detention center.

It was a nice ceremony on the deck at sunset.  It was a nice but small crowd at the home of Immigration Attorney Diane Butler. Her younger daughter served as the flower girl…
Abdullah cooked the many delicious Afghan dishes. The toasts to the wedding couple were done in many languages.  The wedding couple will be off to Virginia and will continue to hope and wait for the best from Immigration.
It was an honor to be part of the wedding but had to scramble when they also asked me to bless the food.  Yes I was the minister for four hours..And was happy to be there…
In the past 16 years I have performed many weddings and funerals and in the process have met many wonderful individuals.

NOW FOR MY VIEW OF THE NEWS

a.    American Night
b.    Terminating pregnancy = jail time in Mexico
c.    Eating fruits of harvest

THE ANATOMY OF IMMIGRATION AND AMERICA

RICHARD MONTOYA AND CULTURE CLASH ARE TELLING THE TRUTH …  AND MORE IN A PLAY CALLED ‘AMERICAN NIGHT: The Ballad of Juan Jose.’

Recently I was treated to the most amazing presentation of the history of Immigration in this wonderful one act play.

Montoya, a spiritual rocket and Chicano historian, reached far into his artistic and archeological sides to bring a wonderful story that tells of a chapter of this book called America. In this production he and Culture Clash tell the story of me and of you.. It is a story of greed, race, violence, religion, compassion, hatred, despair and hope. This begins with an immigrant preparing for his citizenship test and then the dreams that enter his mind the night before the big day.

This presentation comes to you at times as a fast large tsunami of truth that fills your everything.. twice. At times it seems to be too much but in a moment you are begging for even more.

You learn of the Klu Klux Klan, heroic black figures, Lewis and Clark, the Japanese Internment Camps, Arizona, town hall meetings, ICE, and about the absurd exam that qualifies one for citizenship.
Richard who has his roots with the famous Culture Clash also performed in the play as did Herbert Siquenza another Clasher. It was good to see these artists introducing their art to others.

This play at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland is there until October and should be seen by all who fight for the rights of immigrants and also serves as a good class room for those who need this lesson of Americana..

And it should be noted that the Acting, costumes, lighting,
Directing, and all aspects of the technical parts of the show blended in as a wonderful mosaic of stories into a seamless cloth.. which gave us reason to enjoy and believe in the characters and the story line…and to hope!!!

AMERICAN NIGHT.. MY NIGHT AND YOURS.

By leno rose-avila
206-618-9909
American Night review
July 5th, 2010 herbert Posted in Press, Schedule |

Play offers offbeat, surreal take on our country’s past

‘American Night’ kicks off OSF’s history cycle of plays with rollicking, insightful satire and occasional pathos
By Bill Varble
for the Mail Tribune

A colored cowboy, a Mexican revolutionary and a Ku Klux Klansman all walk into a saloon …

The premise is put forth by Ben Pettus (Rodney Gardiner), a black cowboy in “American Night: The Ballad of Juan José,” which had its world premiere Saturday afternoon at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s New Theatre.

There’s no punch line, but the setup, with its hint of meta-theater, breaks the tension between three real (in the play) men who fit those descriptions.

It is 1918, and the three are facing off outside El Paso, Texas, where Ben’s wife, Viola Pettus (Kimberly Scott), is selflessly treating victims of the influenza epidemic that killed as many as 100 million people.

It is fitting that she do this, as it jibes with the larger vision of the play, which seems to have been inspired by a belief that often in American history, in the middle of great darkness, somebody steps up to do great good.

The credits say Richard Montoya and Culture Clash wrote the thing, but I don’t believe it.

It plays as if written by the Firesign Theatre and directed by the Marx Brothers, starring Monty Python.

“American Night” is a boisterous, rollicking, surreal, post-modern, postracial (warning: some descriptions may contain irony) journey into American history — and by extension the heart of one man’s American Dream.

Viewing is known to cause unrestrained laughter — and maybe a tear.

Juan José’s (René Millán) journey will take him over mountains and deserts, into wars and plagues, from rock festivals to shlock radio shows to internment camps. He will encounter Teddy Roosevelt, Sacajawea, a Shakespeare-quoting soldier, a bear, Malcolm X, NAFTA, Mormons, Harry Bridges, Bob Dylan, a tea bag lady, Fidel Castro and Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

There will be social commentary, some of it caustic, all of it comic, most of it very funny indeed.

The seed of “American Night” seems to have been “The Citizen’s Almanac,” a sort of Civics 101 booklet published by the government for immigrants trying to become American citizens. Juan José left Mexico, where he was headed for trouble with drug lords and crooked cops, hoping to bring his wife, Lydia (Stephanie Beatriz), and the couple’s baby later.

In the U.S., using flash cards to cram for his citizenship exam, he falls asleep and dreams the play. The narrative has the fractured, disjointed structure of dreams, with one episode segueing into the next outside the normal constraints of rationality or plot.

Juan José finds himself in the Mexican-American War in the 1840s and wants to stop the killing, but the treaty he’s asked to sign will cede a good chunk of North America to the United States at the expense of Mexico, not incidentally making him into an outlaw. What to do?

“Hath not a Mexican eyes?” cries a Mexican soldier, quoting Shylock.

Rim roll.

Sacajawea is a 15-year-old with an attitude. T.R. never sees an animal he doesn’t shoot at. A Klansman with nowhere else to turn brings his baby to black Viola — and the infant has a tiny, little, pointy Klan hood.
Flash forward a bit and it’s a world in which America is ever more Mexican, and Mexico is ever more American, and Nike sneakers can rain from the skies. All this is painted by Montoya and director Jo Bonney in very broad strokes indeed. Scenic designer Neil Patel’s thrust stage fills the entire playing space, with Shawn Sagady’s projections filling in and/or commenting on much of the action: landscapes, the Lewis and Clark expedition, the Manzanar internment camp for Japanese-Americans, the 1969 Woodstock festival, vintage postcards, the inevitable moving train, the Caribbean.

For a world of NAFTA there are giant projections of industrial gears and cogs filling the back of the stage like that famous scene in Chaplin’s “Modern Times.”

Much of the story involves stereotypes, with Culture Clash coming down on the side of the argument that says when we laugh at them they are undercut and lose power.

And laugh we do. Mostly. You can’t tell this story without ugly. There is a sign, of a sort once common, that says “No dogs, negroes, Mexicans.” But in the end the satire is the big-hearted, inclusive, Horation sort.
There is Woody Guthrie claiming this land is his land, and ours, and Harry Bridges organizing workers against the bosses, and a stoner Boy Dylan copping song lyrics to inject into loopy dialogue.
The surreal anarchy of the climax reminded me of “Duck Soup,” but Juan José is no Rufus T. Firefly. Millán plays him, brilliantly, as a straight man with a good heart in the midst of comic chaos, as befits what is essentially a zany but profound civics lesson.

“American Night” lasts but 90 minutes, and tickets should be impossible. Give it stars all the way off the page. And note that it debuted exactly 75 years after the first-ever OSF plays. It is the first of Bill Rauch’s “American Revolutions: The United States History Cycle,” 37 commissioned plays that will tell America’s story. It is a rousing, heartfelt beginning.

Bill Varble writes about arts and entertainment for the Mail Tribune. He can be reached at varble.bill@gmail.com.

Six in Mexico get 25-30 years in jail for abortion

/EFE) Six Mexican women have been sentenced 25-30 years in prison on homicide charges for terminating their pregnancies.

The women have already served between three to eight years of their 25 to 30 year sentences handed down by state courts in Guanajuato state, activists said.

Veronica Cruz, director of the Centro Las Libres, which provides assistance to over 160 women facing abortion-related charges, said the organisation would appeal to the federal judiciary.

Of the six cases, one was a spontaneous abortion, two others were undertaken because of rape and the rest were for accidental pregnancies, Cruz said.

‘All the men who got them pregnant abandoned them’, she said.

Since the beginning of the decade, over 40 women have been put on trial for abortion, which is punishable by up to three years in prison under the penal code.

The legislation regarding abortion varies in Mexico’s 32 separate jurisdictions. While in Mexico City it is legal, some states continue to treat abortion as a criminal offence.

——————————————————————————————————

EATING THE FRUITS OF HARVEST

This past weekend I was enjoying, berries, cherries, plums, and will soon begin on the fresh melons. There is a large fruit and vegetable market near my house that is my source of most of my fresh products.

While enjoying these products I need to remind myself that these are harvested by farm workers who are paid almost nothing and live in minimal shelters. They do not share in the profits and do not have a union that will protect them.

It is a union that will protect  your farm products from abuse of pesticides and ensure that workers are paid what they deserve.

At the same time I appreciate all those who provide services to farm workers year in and year out. One of my sheros is Rosalia Ginsburg who for many years in Oregon has gone out to help the farm workers in her area.

We all can do something… please help those who feed us .

My Jalapeno best
leno

SAVE THE DATE: September 12th 3-5 pm

New Holly Community Center in Seattle
Leno’s birthday and WRITE-TIREMENT CELEBRATION …
For more details contact Aviva Rose-Avila at aviva.roseavila@gmail.com

Today I dream of Micronesia .. I dream of jumping into a warm ocean… sinking down with all scuba gear on my back and with my regulator releasing oxygen into my mouth as I look around with my eyes through my mask. I continue to sink slower now as I adjust the air in my BC (buoyancy compensator) this is a life jacket to which is attached your tank of oxygen, your regulator, your depth and time gauges…soon I am at what you call NUETRAL BOYUANCY which is when you are neither going down or up. You are stable and floating as if you belonged in the ocean. I was Peace Corps Country Director there from 2000 to 2003. And it is then that I learned to scuba dive and enjoy all it had to offer.

Scuba Diving is a great feeling… It is as close as you will come to flying

Think for a minute about this.. 2/3‘s of this world of ours is under water. That means that we have in our life times have only seen part of our world.

While I Micronesia I got to see pristine fish sanctuaries where sea life is protected.. Often you can go to these areas with just a mask and snorkel and see enough wonders of the world that it will make you appreciate the ocean even more than you did the day before. But if you can go down 30-50 feet with scuba gear you will see even more details of this wonderful ocean of ours. You will see fish and plant life that will amaze me. A friend who did many drugs in the 60’s claimed that drugs could not create what he saw and experienced in the ocean. I had to smile… perhaps that’s how we get folks off of drugs and alcohol by giving them a good natural experience.

In Micronesia to many I was known as the Samoan… and I am sure that many are waiting for this Samoan to return.

NOW FOR MY VIEW OF THE NEWS

1. Armed Forces at the Border
2. Changes in the wind for Leno
3. Some brief notes
4. American Night a play in Ashland, California ..Culture Clash
5. Roy Rodgers

DON’T BE SURPRISED.. IF ARMED FORCES CLASH ON THE BORDER IN ARIZONA

There is new wacko patrolling the border … he is Jason J. T. Ready and has declared war on the Narco-Terrorists..And is supposedly keeping an eye out for illegal immigrants. His group is well armed and part of National Socialist Movement. They believe that only non-Jewish, white heterosexuals can be the true Americans. Well that leaves out a lot of us. And he believes that anyone who is non white should leave the USA peacefully or be forced out. I also read that they are wearing military clothing with bullet proof vests. They soon will find out how hot the desert really easy and be down to their under clothes trying to keep cool.

It is possible that J t might face some other armed groups who protest this silly group of racists. And he and his merry band of NAZI’s should know that if the Narco-Trafficantes wanted to target them that the NARNO’s would not only easily wipe the desert with them but might even visit their families. These vigilantes are not prepared for the Narco’s. Seems that the Narco’s in Mexico are now using car bombs and that is not good.

So I would suggest to the local police and HOME LAND SECURITY that they send these folks home before someone gets hurt. The media and police are doing nothing right now .. But what will be their reaction when some 50 well armed Latinos show up to protect the innocent immigrants???… It is at that time that the media, in particular Fox Noise and the police will get worried. Nothing more bothersome than some people of color armed to the teeth.

CHANGES IN THE WIND FOR LENO… BREAKING NOCTICIAS OR NEWS.

I will be leaving the Social Justice Fund in the next couple of months. I will be going into Write-irement.. Which means that I will take time to concentrate on my books that need to be finished. So Oct. 23 will be my last official day. SJF will announce its new ED soon who will take over on August 1^st. And I will stick around to be of assistance to the organization for the next couple of months.

The Fund is onto a new generation direction which I think you will find most innovative and exciting.

In the meantime…

I will be looking for some half time work or short term projects … just think … you can hire this Mexican to do some work with you … Or you can just pay me to sit there and be pretty. Now… I will also be available to come and speak to your group. But first and foremost is to do a lot of writing and finishing up my books.

In September there will be a celebration of my birthday and my jumping off the ledge to finish my writing.. If you want to help with this celebration you can contact Aviva Rose-Avila at aviva.roseavila@gmail.com. You don’t have to live in Seattle to be able to help. We will accept long distance assistance. DON’T BE SHY CONTACT AVIVA.

SOME BRIEF NOTES

1. A HIMALAYAN MARRIAGE CUSTOM FADES

It seems that in some far away regions women could have more than one husband. These were all prearranged. The women would be the final word as to who was the father of any child born. There was never a DNA test. Now this custom of multiple husbands is disappearing..

1. THE WELL IS CAPPED FOR NOW

But will it remain capped and what o what will happened to all the oil floating down in the far reaches of the Gulf of Mexico. How much poison has been released and what will be the damage to our environment and economy?

1. MUSIC IS GOOD FOR THE SOUL

I think we should all listen to some music every day. It helps us smooth over the rough spots in our life and can help us to dream again and then we will be ready to do something good for this world of ours. Perhaps the music will get you up and cause you to dance and smile.

1. MY BROTHER MICHEAL FOUND HIS AND LUCINDA’S GROVE

Michael is the last of 12 children .. the baby of the family. He has moved to Seattle to be with the love of his new life and her name is Lucinda. They visited me today and we went for coffee. Lucinda is an Engineer and may soon be working for the State Department. But she is also an artist and brought me a beautiful bowl that she had made.

1. LYNNE STEWART GETS 10 YEAR SENTENCE

Many of us know Lynne and are amazed by all the good legal work that she has done over her 30 year career. Lynne is 70 years and ill and may end up dying in Jail. She originally had a 28 month sentence. The judge was striking down Stewart who has been a clear voice for justice and when giving the harsher sentence lectured about Stewart giving voice to ideas of what are by the Justice Department considered to be radical and not to be tolerated. Stewart was the lawyer for Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman, an Islamic leader who was accused of plotting attacks in Egypt and New York. She was accused of smuggling message from him that gave directions to his supporters.

The 10 year sentence was an attack at all progressive and radical attorneys. I know Lynne and am afraid that she will die in prison. She does should have been given house arrest if anything at all.

1. MET A WOMAN WHO LIVES IN BOULDER

I was sharing a moment at a coffee shop with my friend Candace Inagi who works for the Mayor when I met a new friend. When Candace went to the bathroom, I began talking with the lady seated behind me who turns out lives in Boulder, Colorado and had lived in Nederland where my good friend Scott Harrison has built the most incredible Carousel. I hope she connects with Scott and tells him that she met the man who saved his life in Viet Nam. I never went to Nam but Scott was a Marine and was wounded in Viet Nam … but I always tell folks who will listen that I saved his white butt…LOL

Just so you know I am an introvert so this was out of character for me to start up this conversation with this woman who originally was from England but now lives in boulder.

AMERICAN NIGHT starring Richard Montoya in Ashland, California..

Written by Culture Clash.. and that makes it hot and good..

Play offers offbeat, surreal take on our country’s past
‘American Night’ kicks off OSF’s history cycle of plays with rollicking, insightful satire and occasional pathos

By Bill Varble
for the Mail Tribune

A colored cowboy, a Mexican revolutionary and a Ku Klux Klansman all walk into a saloon …

The premise is put forth by Ben Pettus (Rodney Gardiner), a black cowboy in “American Night: The Ballad of Juan José,” which had its world premiere Saturday afternoon at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s New Theatre.

There’s no punch line, but the setup, with its hint of meta-theater, breaks the tension between three real (in the play) men who fit those descriptions.

It is 1918, and the three are facing off outside El Paso, Texas, where Ben’s wife, Viola Pettus (Kimberly Scott), is selflessly treating victims of the influenza epidemic that killed as many as 100 million people.

It is fitting that she do this, as it jibes with the larger vision of the play, which seems to have been inspired by a belief that often in American history, in the middle of great darkness, somebody steps up to do great good.

The credits say Richard Montoya and Culture Clash wrote the thing, but I don’t believe it.

It plays as if written by the Firesign Theatre and directed by the Marx Brothers, starring Monty Python.

“American Night” is a boisterous, rollicking, surreal, post-modern, postracial (warning: some descriptions may contain irony) journey into American history — and by extension the heart of one man’s American Dream.

Viewing is known to cause unrestrained laughter — and maybe a tear.

Juan José’s (René Millán) journey will take him over mountains and deserts, into wars and plagues, from rock festivals to shlock radio shows to internment camps. He will encounter Teddy Roosevelt, Sacajawea, a Shakespeare-quoting soldier, a bear, Malcolm X, NAFTA, Mormons, Harry Bridges, Bob Dylan, a tea bag lady, Fidel Castro and Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

There will be social commentary, some of it caustic, all of it comic, most of it very funny indeed.

The seed of “American Night” seems to have been “The Citizen’s Almanac,” a sort of Civics 101 booklet published by the government for immigrants trying to become American citizens. Juan José left Mexico, where he was headed for trouble with drug lords and crooked cops, hoping to bring his wife, Lydia (Stephanie Beatriz), and the couple’s baby later.

In the U.S., using flash cards to cram for his citizenship exam, he falls asleep and dreams the play. The narrative has the fractured, disjointed structure of dreams, with one episode segueing into the next outside the normal constraints of rationality or plot.

Juan José finds himself in the Mexican-American War in the 1840s and wants to stop the killing, but the treaty he’s asked to sign will cede a good chunk of North America to the United States at the expense of Mexico, not incidentally making him into an outlaw. What to do?

“Hath not a Mexican eyes?” cries a Mexican soldier, quoting Shylock.

Rim roll.

Sacajawea is a 15-year-old with an attitude. T.R. never sees an animal he doesn’t shoot at. A Klansman with nowhere else to turn brings his baby to black Viola — and the infant has a tiny, little, pointy Klan hood.

Flash forward a bit and it’s a world in which America is ever more Mexican, and Mexico is ever more American, and Nike sneakers can rain from the skies. All this is painted by Montoya and director Jo Bonney in very broad strokes indeed. Scenic designer Neil Patel’s thrust stage fills the entire playing space, with Shawn Sagady’s projections filling in and/or commenting on much of the action: landscapes, the Lewis and Clark expedition, the Manzanar internment camp for Japanese-Americans, the 1969 Woodstock festival, vintage postcards, the inevitable moving train, the Caribbean.

For a world of NAFTA there are giant projections of industrial gears and cogs filling the back of the stage like that famous scene in Chaplin’s “Modern Times.”

Much of the story involves stereotypes, with Culture Clash coming down on the side of the argument that says when we laugh at them they are undercut and lose power.

And laugh we do. Mostly. You can’t tell this story without ugly. There is a sign, of a sort once common, that says “No dogs, negroes, Mexicans.” But in the end the satire is the big-hearted, inclusive, Horation sort.

There is Woody Guthrie claiming this land is his land, and ours, and Harry Bridges organizing workers against the bosses, and a stoner Boy Dylan copping song lyrics to inject into loopy dialogue.

The surreal anarchy of the climax reminded me of “Duck Soup,” but Juan José is no Rufus T. Firefly. Millán plays him, brilliantly, as a straight man with a good heart in the midst of comic chaos, as befits what is essentially a zany but profound civics lesson.

“American Night” lasts but 90 minutes, and tickets should be impossible. Give it stars all the way off the page. And note that it debuted exactly 75 years after the first-ever OSF plays. It is the first of Bill Rauch’s “American Revolutions: The United States History Cycle,” 37 commissioned plays that will tell America’s story. It is a rousing, heartfelt beginning.

Bill Varble writes about arts and entertainment for the Mail Tribune. He can be reached at varble.bill@gmail.com.

Leno, Maru and Josefina will go to see this AMERICAN NIGHT on the 27^th of July.. you should make the drive and see it also. The play is running until October.

ROY RODGER’S STUFFED HORSE TRIGGER AND WONDER DOG BULLET were up for sale… HAPPY TRAILS TO YOU UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN (This was the theme song for Roy and his wife Dale Evans)

Seems that someone paid a lot for these two stuffed animals so that they could put them in a museum some place for others to see. I know that Roy Rodgers was before the time of some of my readers but he was sort of a cowboy folk hero and appreciated by many who watched television in those days.

It would be a riot if someone many years from now were to have me stuffed. This way I could be around for all of the events and marches in the community for centuries to come. You could keep my sun glasses on me and change my clothes on occasion.. Just remember that I loved my blue shirts and also my island shirts. My right arm could be directed towards the crowd with my finger pointing the way into the future.. And if possible you could always play some of my shorter speeches.

But since I plan to live for many more decades we will just have to wait. Right now I am stuffing myself with re fried bean, Spanish rice, and Jalapenos.

My best

leno

Perhaps shades of Larry Craig of Idaho…

This past Wednesday while attending a meeting of the MEDC/Minority Executive Directors meeting held at the library on Yesler that I had a most interesting experience. And it happened in the men’s room.
We were in a hot debate about the Police Chief selection process and I did not want to miss the debate.. and as I expected my bladder was calling out bilingually for relief. Finally I saw a break and ran out to the hall and asked the young man at the desk to buzz me ..

As I stepped in my right hand was already searching for the zipper.. it was then that I saw a young and small blond person standing there with a clip board and a plastic box.  This person just looked at me and as I got closer I noticed that it was a woman with her blond hair braided back.

I looked to my left to see if there were urinals and to ensure if I was in the right rest room.

We both just looked at each other for what seemed a long moment as it donned on me that she was wearing a police uniform

AM I BEING ARRESTED ?…I said as I smiled at

NO .. I AM JUST CHECKING ON SOME THINGS … and she returned my smile with her soft voice

GOOD.. NOW I FEEL BETTER … I said almost laughing

DO YOU WANT ME TO STEP OUT FOR A MOMENT.. she asked

YEP .. THAT WOULD BE GOOD..DO YOU MIND?… I responded with relief.. I was in fact having trouble holding back all the coffee that was trying to get out of my bladder.

OKAY… she said walking out the door. I could see a smile in her eyes

Later as I left the bathroom she was there outside about 10 feet from the door waiting with her box of materials.

THANK YOU… YOU KNOW YOU GAVE ME THE MOST PLEASANT SURPRISE ..I explained

YES I GUESS I DID ..smiling she went back into the bathroom as I held the door open.

Thank goodness that she did not arrest me … how would I be able to explain how I ended up in a public bathroom with a 115 lb 5 foot police woman who arrested this rather large Chicano and what did I do wrong?

I should have taken her photo with my i phone.. but me at the moment I was most worried about the potential headlines..

Just remember that no bathroom is safe..

NOW FOR MY VIEW OF THE NEWS

a.    Profiting from lies
b.    Violence from Oil
c.    A Chorus of Bartons
d.    Gardening
e.    Bugleme
f.    Leno’s travels

Profiting on Immigration by Repeating Lies..

Arizona politicians continue to tell a lie about a farmer being killed by immigrants who might be part of the drug smuggling.  And then going on to say how unsafe it has become. And the politicos and the media have used the murder of Robert Krentz a rancher as the face behind the violence and call for the awful actions being taken in Arizona.

Both are lies but the media does not question the validity of these incorrect right wing talking points.. Nobody ..yes nobody knows why the rancher or by whom he was killed.  Police and politicians should not make up information that does not exist. And to tell the truth… one would have to say the Arizona is relatively safe next to other serious hot spots.. and then they should admit to all the weapons sales being done by arms dealers in Arizona to drug runners. And they should admit that no police investigation ties Krentz’s murder to immigrants or drug runners.

But the media keeps repeating the lies.. Even the New York Times is guilty of this. In a article on Sunday June 20th..Randal C. Archibald continued to push these lies in his Times article on page 16.

And now we have Fremont Nebraska passing a anti immigrant law  yhsy punishes immigrants but refuses to address the meat packing plants that employ immigrants to cut up the meats that feed mainstream America.

If we could just get Comprehensive Immigration Reform then we could make a difference for everyone and stop this growing flood of lies and fear.

THE VIOLENCE OF THE OIL IN THE GULF

This is a most serious issue… for us all.. if we didn’t understand before we must now all become advocates for our environment.  We all  will suffer from actions taken by profiteers.. And in the end it is the poor that get the brunt of all criminal actions taken as these companies take lives and destroy jobs….
To be an human rights activist is to be an environmentalist. If you read ..please take the time to inform yourself about this horrific event .. and take some action .

A GOP chorus of Joe Bartons on the BP oil spill

By Eugene Robinson
Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Joe Barton is not alone. The Texas congressman’s lavish sympathy for BP — which he sees not as perpetrator of a preventable disaster but as victim of a White House “shakedown” — is actually what passes for mainstream opinion among conservative Republicans today.

The GOP leadership came down hard on Barton after he apologized to the oil company for the beastly way it was being treated by the White House, saying he was “ashamed” that BP was being pressured to put $20 billion into a “slush fund” to compensate victims of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Barton was reportedly threatened with losing his powerful position as ranking member of the Energy and Commerce Committee if he didn’t retract his words, and pronto.

But Barton was only echoing a statement that Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.) had issued a day earlier in the name of the Republican Study Committee, a caucus of House conservatives whose Web site claims 115 members. The statement groused that there is “no legal authority for the president to compel a private company to set up or contribute to an escrow account” and accused the Obama administration of “Chicago-style shakedown politics.” Just to review: A group constituting roughly two-thirds of all Republicans in the House takes the position that President Obama was wrong to demand that BP set aside money to guarantee that those whose livelihoods are being ruined by the oil spill will be compensated. In other words, it’s more important to kneel at the altar of radical conservative ideology than to feel any sense of compassion for one’s fellow Americans. This, ladies and gentlemen, is how today’s GOP rolls.

To be sure, there are Republicans who realize that this is not the message the party should be sending as the midterm election nears. “I couldn’t disagree with Joe Barton more,” said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. Party leaders insisted that there was nothing to see at the cliff where Barton went through the political guardrails and that everyone should just move along.
But no. Let’s slow down and crane our necks.

Barton’s remarks were no spontaneous gaffe. They came in a prepared statement and represent his genuine view of the situation: that the rights of a private company are absolute even when weighed against the clear interests of the public.

While the party leadership has managed to squelch members of Congress who might have been tempted to weigh in on Barton’s side, the conservative amen chorus can’t help itself. Rush Limbaugh called the agreement on the $20 billion escrow fund “unconstitutional” and accused the administration of acting like “a branch of organized crime.” Newt Gingrich said the White House was “extorting money from a company.” Stuart Varney of Fox News claimed — falsely — that Obama had moved to “seize a private company’s assets” and complained that the action was “Hugo Chavez-like.” Weekly Standard Editor Bill Kristol said that “I have no sympathy for BP,” but then proceeded to be sympathetic, offering that “it’s not helpful for the country, for the economy as a whole, for the president to bully different companies and different industries.” I’d advise these people to get a grip, but they’re just saying what they believe. It just happens that what they believe is absurd.

There is ample evidence that BP, one of the biggest and most profitable oil companies in the world, cut corners in operating the Deepwater Horizon rig that resulted in the worst spill ever to despoil U.S. waters. BP’s assertions about its ability to prevent, contain and clean up any oil leak turned out to be patently false. If we were not dealing with such a tragic situation, the company’s tin ear for public relations would be comic; the unforgettable line from BP’s chairman — “We care about the small people” — sounds like something Mel Brooks might dream up for a sequel to “The Producers.” Meanwhile, thousands of fishermen, shrimpers, oil-rig workers, restaurant owners and others along the Gulf Coast are suffering the economic effects of the spill. The environmental damage, still worsening, will be felt for decades. A mile beneath the surface, that noxious plume of gas and oil continues to billow.

Yes, President Obama used the power of his office to pressure BP to set money aside for compensation. If Republicans believe he shouldn’t have, then by all means they should speak up. Come November, the voters will be able to decide who’s right.

THE GARDEN PLANTS… moving slowly

As you might remember that I started my mini garden some weeks ago and have been very excited about being able to watch them grow. Except for the last couple of days the weather has been rather cool and rainy so we have not had much sun. At the same time some birds have gone after my pumpkin and squash plants.

In the near future I will plant some garlic .. Garlic does well and makes one a proud gardener. One of my chili plants has flowers as do two of my tomato plants.
I will be traveling for about 10 days so I have to ensure that the plants get watered while I am away.

Gardening is good for the soul .. so plant anything and care for it and it will help you to relax and heal.

BUGLEME

Some of you will begin receiving some calls and notices from a wonderful system called Bugleme.. you will get messages from me and my activities..it helps us to stay connected… I have signed some of you up for a 30 free test period.  If you are interested in getting my Bugles then please write to me.

Traveling with El Chicano .. leno

June 25-27 Colorado for Family Reunion
June 28th – July 2nd  Washington DC ..Vigil and Fast for Abolition
July 2-4th Washington DC family and friends

My best
leno

In the past months I had noticed that my clothes were shrinking and this has had me most worried. Is the shrinking of my clothes affected by a change in the climate.. Or is it the clothes dryer that is shrinking everything I own… Everything has gotten tighter. Nothing fits well..I have gone on the internet to see if others were suffering the same as me.

I know that those who make appliances plan for them to only last for a limited period of time.. Thus the machine will begin breaking down and soon you will have to purchase a new one. so I began to think that perhaps the Clothing Manufacturers were putting something in the clothes so that after a year that they might begin to shrink…I was and am worried .or could it be other circumstances that would make my clothes fit tighter .. Could somebody have exchanged my clothes for a size smaller..???

Thinking this was possible I quickly went to my closet to check out all of the sizes of my shirts and pants…

Then one day my friend Heri came to visit .. took one look at me and said LENO YOU ARE GETTING FATTER..

WHAT? I questioned.

SI, MAS GORDO.. MUCH FATTER! JUST LOOK AT YOUR FACE AND YOUR STOMACH… YOU LOOK AS IF YOU ARE GOING TO GIVE BIRTH

BUT I HAVENT HAD SEX I said and smiled at her

LOOK IN THE MIRROR she insisted

So I went to the Mirror and asked MIRROR MIRROR ON THE WALL WHOSE THE FATTEST OF THEM ALL

The mirror showed me the awful results.. A chubbier face and a very large stomach

I was in shock!!!! There in the mirror I saw my baked potatoes, salt, chips, steak, burritos and tamales.. They had slipped down my mouth and decided to take up residence in my body

What a shock!!!! I could not blame the clothes that were getting smaller… it was me that was getting larger…

I will be on a fast in DC for four days at the end of June to protest the Death Penalty. This will take place on the steps of the Supreme Court… But before then I must begin cutting out some items that are making me larger. I also decided to go swimming more often. Perhaps this will help..Oh yes I will also drink more water and eat more Jalapenos.

HOW ARE YOUR CLOTHES??? ARE THEY GETITNG SMALLER??

NOW FOR MY VIEW OF THE NEWS

1. What to do
2. Bugleme
3. Initiative 1098
4. Planting for Peace
5. World coalition against the death penalty

What to do..WITH BP

This is the most horrific disaster of our time and we can’t figure out what to do .. For years we did not regulate the industry and now we are paying for years of neglect. The republicans have led the charge to give these polluters a free license to destroy our world…

Some of the most disturbing images is of birds suffering covered with oil.. what we don’t see is what gives me the biggest night mares is at the bottom of the gulf and in the various currents that will destroy ocean animals and plant life for years to come . Not to mention the marsh lands and poisoning the people who work and live near the gulf.

I wonder why we have not heard from the government of Mexico? Why are they silent when their beaches and fishing industry will also be damaged?

The effects of this Oil Tsunami will be felt for years both by the environment and the economy.

Some small businesses will receive some compensation for their losses but the workers of these businesses will probably not receive anything.. They will just have to sit and starve. When Crops have been devastated by a storm Farmers have crop insurance or get aid from the government but the farm workers get nothing… And the same will happen to the workers who will lose their place of employment due to the BP DISASTER.

The White House needs to do more and/or let us know what is being done. We don’t and shouldn’t trust BP.

Perhaps we should camp outside the homes of the officers of BP and outside their office building.. And perhaps we should follow their family members where ever they go and remind them that their parents are destroying an important part of our world.

Bugleme ..Its new and exciting way to communicate

I want to introduce you to a new and exciting program called Bugleme. By joining up on this system you can get my actual voice and get a backstage pass into my activities on a regular basis. I will be telling you what I am doing and in many cases asking you to help me to work on behalf of Human Rights. Please go to the Web page listed below and accept the one month free trial period. Once you have received some Bugles let me know what you think. Below is the link for you.

http://magdaleno.bugleme.com/celebrity/home

Why Faith Leaders Support Initiative 1098

sponsored by Washington Association of Churches and Lutheran Public Policy Office of Washington

As people of faith we are called to protect the vulnerable, to change systems that are unjust, and to create a world in which everyone is treated fairly and equitably. Washington State’s tax system fails on all of these values. That is why the Religious Coalition for Tax Reform is organizing support for Initiative 1098.

We have a chance right now to put our faith values into practice. After decades of inaction — as our state falls further and further behind in our ability to fund core priorities — Bill Gates Sr. and many other faith and civic leaders are stepping forward to help lead a campaign to enact real tax reform in Washington State. This proposal will not just make our tax code fairer, empower small businesses, and create jobs; it will raise more than $1 billion per year to fund core education and health care priorities – priorities the faith community values.

Dedicated Funding for Quality Education and Health Care

Initiative 1098 will raise $1 billion per year to help us build a more vibrant economy and better opportunities for our children. That new revenue will go to a special trust fund dedicated to funding education and health care priorities like reducing class sizes, lowering tuition costs at our colleges and universities, and funding the voter-approved basic health plan and long-term care for vulnerable seniors and people with disabilities.

For more information please contact YES ON 1098 by calling 206-225-4610 or by email at infor@yeson1098.com. Petitions needed before July 2^nd.

World Coalition Against The Death Penalty

This important conference will be held this weekend at the Hastings Law School in San Francisco. For information contact http://deathpenatly.org/june12

Leno along with Michael Radelet, Mike Farrell and many others will be speaking.

PLANTING FOR PEACE

Yep, I got some plants into the ground… I almost had a heart attack digging and planting… I planted cucumbers, tomatoes, cilantro, jalapenos, bell pepper, squash and pumpkins. Now will see how they do.

Why is it called a Peace Garden?? One reason is because I am doing something good and it helps me come to peace with my world when I am out there digging and doing… better than going to a shrink… in about 2 weeks I should get some flowers and then by mid July I should have some production of something…

This is the first time in Seattle where my plants can get a lot of sunlight… and this is good. My roommate Maru and her daughter have their own plot going… and while we are not competing… I do want my plots to do well.. After all somewhere in my life I was a farm worker…

My best

leno

A week or so ago I was in the Catholic Cathedral looking for Jesus…it was at this service that one of the ushers an elderly Filipino gave me a fist bump when we were supposed to be giving each other the sign of peace (normally a handshake).. Now that was super cool.

I go to a variety of places of worship hoping to find God. I often think I see him/her on the streets begging for money… or perhaps it is the woman helping those with some incurable disease. Or perhaps it is a truck driver taking another load of hope down the highway. Or an immigrant farm worker…I am told to be ready for God and that he/she might just be whom you least suspect.

Once a few years ago when I was Peace Corps Country Director in Paraguay that I had to admit that I thought that I WAS GOD…..(when I told this to my sister Roberta .she said
WHEN DID YOU STOP TAKING YOUR MEDICINE? And I had to laugh) Now there I was in Paraguay having my weekend coffee and eggs when my house keeper who had just came from answering the bell that was at the gate to the residence interrupted my peace and quiet,

SENOR, Irma my housekeeper urged, THERE ARE TWO MORMON BOYS HERE AND THEY WANT TO TALK TO YOU

WELL TELL THEM I AM NOT HERE.. And I returned to my coffee

BUT I TOLD THEM THAT YOU WERE HERE AND THAT YOU SPEAK ENGLISH AND THEY GOT VERY EXCITED… SO PLEASE GO TALK TO THEM.

The Mormon Church has one of the best language programs and trains it missionaries to go to any part of the world with the proper language. And then they send off these youth on door to door excursions to convert the unsaved. When the CIA and FBI were looking for language trained agents many a Mormon was hired…

I went to the gate…Grumpy… nothing worse than a grumpy Mexican who is pulled away from his breakfast.

Yep there they were standing just the other side of the rust colored gate and fence..
GOOD MORNING …WHAT ARE DOING HERE TODAY? I asked… there they were in their white shirts with ties in the early morning heat.

They said their names and said they were with the Mormon Church…

BUT WHY TODAY? WHY DID YOU COME TODAY?? I continued to question

WELL TODAY IT WAS ON OUR SCHEDULE FOR THIS NEIGHBORHOOD the lead missionary said.

WELL… I MUST TELL YOU THAT THIS MORNING I WOKE UP AND DISCOVERED I WAS GOD… YES GOD! I BET YOU ALWAYS WONDERED WHAT GOD WOULD LOOK LIKE… WELL THIS IS HOW HE LOOKS TODAY…

They were in shock…they didn’t know what to say …

AND OH BY THE WAY… IN MY BOOK YOU WERE NOT SUPPOSED TO ARRIVE HERE UNTIL TUESDAY…SO PLEASE COME BACK ON THE PROPER DAY…

As I turned to go in… I said

AND BY THE WAY I GIVE YOU MY BLESSING. As I said these words I held up both hands in the air over my head sort of bent in their direction and fought the temptation to make the sign of the cross.

I am sure that they had a most interesting story to give their supervisor at the end of the day. But I do hope that God looks better than me .. Wouldn’t it be funny if there were places of worship that had my or your picture all over the walls? And that people worshipped us.

LMAO (whatever that means)

NOW FOR MY VIEW OF THE NEWS

a. Israeli commandos
b. Exodus ship 1947
c. Boycott is growing
d. Memorial day whom do we honor

ISRAELI COMMANDOS BOARD A FLOTILLA OF SHIPS CARRYING HUMANITARIAN AIDE AND ACTIVIST HEADED FOR PALESTINE

This is a huge story and needs to be followed closely…it is absurd that the Israelis’ think that they can board a ship in international waters and shoot people…none of the violence would have happened if they had not boarded these ships commando style.. More details will be coming out and none of it will be good for Israel. International pressure is needed and a UN investigation needs to begin now and the Red Cross needs to be visiting all being held by the Israeli government.
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May 31, 2010, 2:48 pm

Echoes of Raid on ‘Exodus’ Ship in 1947

By ROBERT MACKEY

The New York Times The “Exodus 1947 ,” a ship filled with Jewish Holocaust survivors who wanted to immigrate to Palestine, after it was seized by the British Navy in a deadly struggle at sea and brought to Haifa in July, 1947.

Updated | 8:51 p.m. To some Israeli observers, it was impossible to miss the parallels between Monday’s killing of pro-Palestinian activists by Israel’s military in international waters, as commandos intercepted a flotilla of ships trying to break the Israeli naval blockade on Gaza, and a seminal event in the Jewish struggle for an independent homeland.

Noam Sheizaf, an Israeli journalist who is rounding up reports and commentary on the attack on his blog, “Promised Land,” points to a post in Hebrew by Rafi Man of the Israel Democracy Institute which asks: “Will This Be the Palestinian Exodus?”

Mr. Man was referring to the story of the “Exodus 1947,” a ship filled with Jewish Holocaust survivors who wanted to immigrate to Palestine in July 1947. That month, the British Navy intercepted the ship to enforce a ban on Jewish immigration to the territory, which was then under British control.

As my colleague Margalit Fox wrote in December — in an obituary for Yitzhak Ahronovitch, the captain of the Exodus 1947 — the violent way the British Navy seized that ship and deported the refugees backfired, creating global sympathy for the plight of stateless Jews. Ms. Fox explained:

The refugees had no legal authority to enter Palestine, and the British were determined to block the ship. In the battle that ensued, three Jews aboard the Exodus were killed. The ship’s passengers — more than 4,500 men, women and children — were ultimately deported to Germany.

The attack and its aftermath, which focused attention on the plight of many European Jews after the war, made headlines worldwide and helped marshal support for an Israeli state. [...]
Captain Ahronovitch was 23 when he took the helm of the Exodus. On July 11, 1947, he picked up the refugees at Sète, in southern France. On July 18, as the ship neared the coast of Palestine, the British Navy intercepted it. Captain Ahronovitch tried to break through, but two British destroyers rammed the ship.

Several hours of fighting followed, with the ship’s passengers spraying fuel oil and throwing smoke bombs, life rafts and whatever else came to hand, down on the British sailors trying to board, The Times reported at the time. Soon the British opened fire. Two immigrants and a crewman on the Exodus were killed; scores more were wounded, many seriously. The ship was towed to Haifa, and from there its passengers were deported, first to France and eventually to Germany, where they were placed in camps near Lübeck.

According to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, when refugees from the Exodus 1947 were forced into displaced persons camps in Germany by the British military:

Large protests erupted on both sides of the Atlantic. The ensuing public embarrassment for Britain played a significant role in the diplomatic swing of sympathy toward the Jews and the eventual recognition of a Jewish state in 1948.

THE BOYCOTT IS STILL GROWING AND BECOMING STRONGER

Alfredo Gutierrez now in his mid-60’s a former legislator is now the lead person in Arizona for the boycott. In interviews he has said that the marches are great but not all of the answer. He reminds us that we have to do voter registration, voter turnout and pressuring of everyone to boycott Arizona. I met Alfredo in 1984 when we were part of a delegation to the middle east and even then I was impressed by his political knowledge.

The recent gathering of activist culminated in about 20,000 marching in the streets of phoenix while across town in Tempe the BUYcott movement of Minutemen, Tea Baggers and others held their rally in DIABLO STADIUM.. yep Diablo means Devil.. so I think they chose a good place with an appropriate name for their rally.

While tens of thousands bused and flew into Arizona for the BOYCOTT demonstrations .. the pro SB 1070 could only draw a very much smaller crowd of locals who came to vent about the immigrants. Some say that his BUYcott rally was organized by the Tea Party of Texas and did draw some folks from Missouri and California. But the BUYcott event was dwarfed by the BOYCOTT march and rally. Later many of the local BUYcotters would go home to their manicured lawns, clean homes and cooked meals all done by undocumented immigrants.

The BUYcott team has a most uphill battle trying to convince many new conventions and meetings to come to Arizona… these meetings and conferences are planned years in advance and cannot be changed and moved so easily. So while the BUYcott sounds good, it is more smoke and mirrors than a reality. I am sure that today many business people are praying that a law suit prevails that puts this law into legal limbo.

Businesses in Arizona like in most states have suffered during this economic recession and there are still many small operations closing down as more people continue to lose their homes. Now a boycott makes it even more difficult for marginal tourists businesses to survive.

Even the big hotel and restaurant chains will begin complaining. Their boards want a profit and will demand that the governor and legislature stop this foolishness. And soon they will begin to hear from the Airlines who are losing money as well as the auto rental companies. At first these businesses will complain within closed meeting rooms but soon after that they will make their pleas public. Everyone will lose economically including the farmers and farm workers. But the rich love their profit line more than they hate undocumented workers. And if they have to choose they will chose profit over silly laws.
So my plea is that you help to continue to expand the boycott and in addition send in teams of folks to do voter registration. Arizona is our Mississippi.

MEMORIAL DAY WHOM SHOULD WE HONOR????

I honor the heroes and sheroes of our country… I include not just those who served our country in uniform but that those who also fought for peace and were demonized for raising the questions about senseless wars.

Many buried in government coffins and graves were cannon fodder for the politicians of the moment who wanted to raise their sabers in the air and then stay home and let others go to war.

We have Memorial Day, Veterans Day, the 4th of July and many more where we celebrate battles and those who fought them. And this does not include the many statues and monuments in honor of war. And we don’t even give lip service to Peace.

We need to have a DEPARTMENT OF PEACE, a National Day of Peace and monuments to all those voices of reason…to all the peace makers.

So this Memorial Day I honored all the heroes and sheroes.. Just remember that dying with a uniform on does not automatically make you a hero.. I know many a hero and sheroes who never wore a uniform and did the most amazing acts of humanity. Recognizing them all will give us a better future
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SEND AHORA YOUR STORIES AND GET YOUR FRIENDS TO SUBSCRIBE

You too can give your thoughts and ideas for AHORA…Write your news and thoughts… share your life with others… and then get your friends to subscribe… all they have to do is go to magdaleno.org and fill out the info requested on the mailing tab.

You can send your short essays, poems or links to stories, u tube and other interesting items… It just takes a minute and you can perhaps reach someone who needs the information you have in your mind or heart…

My best
leno

The other evening I was sharing some Mexican Food at El Gallito with Delila Leber and Ramon DelCastillo of Denver when I began doing my imitations of some notable figures. I was doing MLK, Ali, Malcolm X, Marlon Brando’s Don Vito Corleone (from the god father) and Howard Cosell. I like doing them on occasion.. And am told I can do a good Black South African Voice and a reasonable Johnny Cash on occasion.

There was a young couple who as they were leaving came over to say hello… the husband had a carrier with their infant child safely tucked away… they looked like a wonderful young family… the young wife smiling, her long black hair swaying leaned over as she came to our table ..

She looked at me and said “we were listening to you and we loved hearing your voice, and my husband (who was also smiling by then) said I should come over and tell you”

I was taken aback.. What my voice had charmed them?

Thank you… I am glad you like it…” I have been told by others that I had a distinctive voice.

We liked your god father and think you should have radio program… and do you do any voice over’s” the young woman asked

No I don’t do voice over’s but I do speak at a lot of events and do radio on occasion”

We talked some more, I gave them my card and told them to connect with me and that I will go visit them and read to their baby in my best of voices..

Since college I have often been told that I have a good voice.. I personally don’t like my voice…and wish that I could sing… but I can’t carry tune…

Why didn’t God give me a singing voice, good looks.. Or a better brain..But then .. I should not complain too much .. Since on occasion I can give a good speech.

NOW FOR MY VIEW OF THE NEWS

• Immigration rallies and marches
• Ya basta … enough
• Aung San Suu Kyi
• A week for planting..

IMMIGRATION RALLIES ON APRIL 10TH

AND ON MAY 1ST THERE WILL BE MORE MARCHES AND RALLIES.

The New York Times had a photo of an Immigration Rally being held in Nevada last Saturday. It was one of the 8 or so rallies held on this date in different parts of the country. The photo shows a crowd that looks to be 8-10,000 and they had many speakers including Senate Leader Harry Reid and Arturo Rodriquez President of UFW. The photo looked wonderful.

In Seattle One America coordinated a coalition that held an energetic rally of several thousand individuals with a wonderful representation from the Asian and Island communities. There were many speakers and video messages from the two senators. One great part of the event was the voices of youth that was presented by Washington Can. These events are food for the soul. While often I am asked to speak it is also just good to be part of the crowd cheering and chanting and not being one of the speakers.

On May 1st in Seattle and in many other cities organizations will celebrate workers and immigrant rights. I again will be there with my best voice cheering and chanting. In Seattle this May Day event has always been coordinated by EL COMITE. They are planning a large march and rally. You can coordinate with Juan Jose Bocanegra and contact him at bocajj1@comcast.net.
My thought is that we need to have multiple events and actions that keep our issue in the face of the elected officials and the media.

I remember that during the time of the Chicano Movement that we had many voices calling out racism and asking for change. And in retrospect I am happy that we had so many organizations, voices and approaches. At some point I hope that we will all come together and push for immigration reform like we did for health care.
So get your walking shoes on and get ready for MAY 1ST.

YA BASTA ….ENOUGH

we will not be silent..We will do what is needed.. So be careful and realize that what you sow …you shall also reap.
The right wing , Tea Baggers, Palin, Bachman, Fox News and others are stirring up a lot of folks to fear, hate, and in some case attack people and their representatives. Lou Dobb’s and others stirred for years anti-immigrant feeling that have resulted in more race related violence (hate crimes) against immigrants and Latinos.

At some point organizations and groups in the communities of color will have tolerated more than enough and this right wing racism will be met with an even more active in your face groups that will not be intimidated. While the tea bag movement is grey and mostly retired the reaction that they will inspire will come from a more active and younger crowd. This group will not tolerate the intimidation, spitting on, or the calling of the N WORD or other racist terms. You cannot oppress a people and their spirits with fear and intimidation.

Our history of experiencing lynching’s and racism has demanded that we take actions against the oppressor. Now these radical elements of the right wing have even gone to threatening the lives of elected officials. Most of these new terrorists are on Social Security or some other public assistance.. And they make threats saying that they don’t want the government involved in their health plans.. OOPS the government created their plans and they are benefiting from what they call SOCIALIST MEDICINE…

In the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s were filled with many individuals and groups who stood up for justice and freedom. And those unjust racist attacks of that era were not tolerated nor will today’s racism be accepted. So my caution to the right and the tea bag folks is that they need to be careful..yes be careful about where they go with their hatred … they just might wake a new generation of individuals who while they believe in the best of our society will not allow the current racist attacks and threats to go unanswered. So keep an eye on Tax Day April 15th the Tea Baggers will be at it again in many cities protesting Taxes while benefiting from the fruits of the Tax Tree.

And just to remind you that there will be an additional two rallies on April 19th in both Washington DC and Virginia where they are encouraging demonstrators of this right wing to come and brandish their weapons. I believe that this is dangerous and any gun going off for whatever reason could cause havoc. Now think about this for a minute… what if people of color were to hold a demonstration with guns.. would they be tolerated by the authorities..?

As you know I have worked with gang members and my thought was to have about 2-3,000 gang members to join the NRA and then to show up in masse at one of their conventions. NOW THAT IS WHAT I CALL FUN…

Guns are a dangerous element in our society and we need to be careful about how we keep and display them.
So … I think we are in for a HOT HOT SUMMER and we must seek cooler heads and actions that will find peace and understanding in a political climate that could go ballistic…

AUNG SAN SUU KYI

the lastest news is the Suu Kyi is ill and has been seen by medical staff recently. Rumor is that it might have something to do with her heart. I hope that she can consult with an outside medical expert in order to have a good second opinion.

THIS IS THE WEEK FOR PLANTING

I like planting things in my yard.. My roommates are beating me to the punch … I hope to get into the swing of things this coming weekend. I want to plant tomatoes, squash, cilantro, and jalapenos..

Some weeks ago when in Pasadena I went by my old house to see the tree that I had planted in 1992.. Now it is a tall tree over 60 feet tall and providing the much needed shade. Just think if we all planted some trees every year and helped them to grow strong.. and think about how wonderful our world would be…

So in the weeks ahead take a couple of moments and plant something .. you have to invest in Mother Earth if you want her hug you back sometime in the future..

One day plant a tree and the next an idea on how to make our world better .. but get busy and plant… we need you and your actions..

DREAM AND PLANT… AND DREAM SOME MORE

My best
leno

MEXICO AND ARABS

Once I was attending a conference in El Paso Texas which is just across form Juarez, Mexico where I happened to have many relatives whom I visited almost every night. When you cross the border they randomly search cars for contraband. But my car was being searched each and every time. Sending the men and dogs through my car.
One night I asked the guard…

WHY IS MY CAR ALWAYS BEEN SEARCHED

WELL he replied… YOU ARE AN ARAB AND WE ARE INSTRUCTED TO SEARCH THE VEHICLES OF ALL ARABS (and this was in the early 80’s) WE KNOW THAT YOU ALL ARE INVOLVED WITH ARMS

BUT I AM A CHICANO… I protested…

YA BUT YOU FIT THE PROFILE AND YOU LOOK ARAB SO WE HAVE TO STOP YOU…

I became an Arab in their eyes and no conjugation of Spanish verbs or history would get me out of that bind… so I enjoyed being Arab and often praised Allah in the presence of those who searched my auto…

Suitcases in Detroit.

I was at a major convention in Detroit with the Chair of the Democratic National Committee and in those days I was his special assistant. He had asked me to go down and find our contracted limo driver so that when he came down we could leave immediately for the next meeting across town. He promised to come down in ten minutes… From experience I knew this would not happen knowing the calls he had to make and the complicated conversations that would follow.

I went down to the driveway and located our limo and told the driver to be on the lookout for my signal so that he could then bring our limo to the head of long line of limos which were either delivering or waiting to pick up passengers.

There I was a brown man in a dark suit.. I noticed that the luggage traffic was extra heavy and that there were not enough bell men to handle it all. Some customer seeing me in my black suit assumed that I was a bell man… I whistled to the Bell Captain an African American who was close and when he looked at me I yelled

My brother what should I do …should I take his bags?

HEY WE NEED THE HELP AND GO AHEAD AND DO IT.

I soon was busy taking bags to the registration desk and picking up others and taking them to waiting limousines and getting good tips…

About 40 minutes later the Chairman came down to the drive way looking for me and my limo. Well he found me with two bags under each arm.

WHATS GOING ON LENNIE he asked.

WELL… WHEN YOU GOT TIED UP … I GOT ANOTHER JOB… LET ME JUST TAKE THESE BAGS INTO THE LOBBY AND WE WILL BE ON OUR WAY…

By then I had earned over $200 in tips, made many travelers happy, relieved the bell men and had yet another experience of MISTAKEN IDENTITY.

NOW FOR MY VIEW OF THE NEWS

a.    Who reads AHORA
b.    Rope a Pope
c.    DPF annual dinner
d.    Juan an innocent man Speaks

Who reads the Teachings and Preaching’s of leno?

Every week I find individuals who I did not know who are reading my AHORA messages. I would invite you the reader to send a note to others about why you read my AHORAS and if you have shared these articles with others.
As you know you can invite you family and friends to get their own AHORA by signing up through the “mailing list” tab up on the banner.

The Cardinal and the 2004 Elections..And now he is the pope ..POPE BENEDICT XVI

Today the Vatican and the Catholic Church is again embroiled in the never ending examination of answered questions of the mishandling of sex abuse cases.

I first heard of the Cardinal when we were in the midst of the 2004 elections and had a candidate John Kerry a Catholic as presidential candidate. This was when the right wing church groups still had more power.

So the Bush campaign began lying about Kerry’s military record, and got the Catholic Church to get involved and used Cardinal Ratzinger to fuel the flames about who should or should not receive communion. Ratzinger’s memo on this issue I believe kept certain people from voting for Kerry and involved the church in an American election which is wrong. And the pope at that time should have clipped his wings .. I have attached a news article of years past to help jog your memories of the actions the Cardinal took.

The now Pope should be re-questioned about his politics, about elections and the abuse of children.

The then Cardinal while asking priests to refuse communion to those who are PRO CHOICE  then should have asked priests not to give communion to all those
a.    Involved with sexual abuse ..
b.    Those who promote and believe in the death penalty
c.    Anyone who promotes war and vengeance
d.    Those who take food, healthcare and protection from the hungry, the poor and jailed in favor of the rich and the powerful

Now this list could be expanded to some of the many moral lessons of the bible. If you want to promote the moral authority and involve the church in politics then you should push all of teachings.

Cardinal Ratzinger (known to some years ago as Cardinal Rottweiler) and now known as Pope Benedict is a very political animal who has let his politics guide him instead the heart and the teachings of the church.

Today I do not see the right wing church leaders from the 
Evangelical groups rushing to the defense of the Pope.. They used him and the church in the 2004 elections and now they have abandoned their old ally.

I would like an independent body .. To investigate the current scandal and find out who knew what, when did the know it and more importantly what action did they take.

Cardinal Ratzinger lays out principles on denying Communion, voting

By John Thavis

Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — In a recent memorandum, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger laid out the principles under which bishops or other ministers may deny Communion to Catholic politicians who consistently promote legal abortion.

At the same time, he said it is not necessarily sinful for Catholics to vote for politicians who support abortion, as long as they are voting for that candidate for other reasons.

Cardinal Ratzinger, head of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, sent the six-point memorandum to Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick of Washington, who heads an episcopal task force on Catholic politicians. It was designed to offer guidance to the U.S. bishops when they discussed the Communion/abortion issue at their mid-June meeting near Denver.

The text of Cardinal Ratzinger’s memorandum was published online July 3 by the Italian magazine L’Espresso, and a Vatican official said it was authentic. But it apparently was accompanied by a cover letter that has not been published.

Cardinal McCarrick said in a statement July 6 that L’Espresso’s story was the result of an “incomplete and partial leak” that did not reflect Cardinal Ratzinger’s full advice to the U.S. bishops.

The cardinal said he would not release Cardinal Ratzinger’s “written materials” because the cardinal asked him not to.

”Through this continuing process, the Holy See has constantly emphasized it is up to our bishops’ conference to discuss and determine how best to apply the relevant principles and for individual bishops to make prudent pastoral judgments in our own circumstance,” Cardinal McCarrick said.

Cardinal Ratzinger’s comments on Catholic voters — in private communication briefly outlining principles for consideration rather than exploring them in depth — came at the end of the memorandum. It touched on an evolving issue that is important to many Catholics during the 2004 presidential election campaign: The presumptive Democratic candidate, John Kerry, is a Catholic who supports legal abortion.

Two U.S. bishops — Archbishop Raymond L. Burke of St. Louis and Bishop Michael J. Sheridan of Colorado Springs — recently said that Catholics who knowingly vote for pro-abortion politicians would be committing a grave sin.

Cardinal Ratzinger’s note underlined the principles involved for the Catholic voter.

”A Catholic would be guilty of formal cooperation in evil, and so unworthy to present himself for holy Communion, if he were to deliberately vote for a candidate precisely because of the candidate’s permissive stand on abortion and/or euthanasia,” Cardinal Ratzinger wrote.

”When a Catholic does not share a candidate’s stand in favor of abortion and/or euthanasia, but votes for that candidate for other reasons, it is considered remote material cooperation, which can be permitted in the presence of proportionate reasons,” he said.

In other words, if a Catholic thinks a candidate’s positions on other issues outweigh the difference on abortion, a vote for that candidate would not be considered sinful.

On the question of Communion for Catholic politicians, Cardinal Ratzinger outlined a process of pastoral guidance and correction for politicians who consistently promote legal abortion and euthanasia. That process could extend to a warning against taking Communion, and in the case of “obstinate persistence” by the politician, the minister “must refuse to distribute” Communion, he said.

After discussing the issue in Colorado, U.S. bishops overwhelmingly passed a statement that sharply criticized Catholic politicians who support legal abortion. The bishops also said denying Communion to those politicians is a complex question involving “prudential judgment” in each case.

The report in L’Espresso and some other media have characterized that as a rejection of Cardinal Ratzinger’s advice. But Vatican sources said the Vatican was generally pleased with the U.S. bishops’ statement, and that Cardinal Ratzinger was not trying to dictate a policy to the bishops.

”It is right to leave a margin for prudential judgment in these cases,” said one Vatican source.

”Cardinal Ratzinger’s point was not that bishops have to use (denial of Communion) in every circumstance, but that there are principles that would allow for this to happen,” the source said.

In his memorandum, Cardinal Ratzinger began by noting that, for any Catholic, the practice of going to Communion simply because one attends Mass is “an abuse that must be corrected.”

He said that in judging their own worthiness to receive Communion Catholics should recognize that abortion and euthanasia are grave sins, and that it is never permitted to cooperate in them in a formal way.

Whatever the individual decides about his or her worthiness to receive Communion, sometimes the minister of Communion “may find himself in the situation where he must refuse to distribute Holy Communion to someone,” Cardinal Ratzinger said.

Citing church law, he said those cases include people whom the church has declared excommunicated, as well as those who show “obstinate persistence in manifest grave sin.”

In the case of abortion or euthanasia, Cardinal Ratzinger said a Catholic politician manifests “formal cooperation” in those grave sins by “consistently campaigning and voting for permissive abortion and euthanasia laws.”

In that case, the cardinal said, the politician’s pastor should “meet with him, instructing him about the church’s teaching, informing him that he is not to present himself for Holy Communion until he brings to an end the objective situation of sin, and warning him that he will otherwise be denied the Eucharist.”

Cardinal Ratzinger then cited a principle of church law that is used to justify the denial of Communion to divorced and civilly remarried Catholics.

”When ‘these precautionary measures have not had their effect or in which they were not possible,’ and the person in question, with obstinate persistence, still presents himself to receive the holy Eucharist, ‘the minister of holy Communion must refuse to distribute it,’” he said, quoting from a 2002 ruling on divorced-and-remarried Catholics issued by the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts.

His apparent implication was that the same principle applies to Catholic politicians who consistently campaign for and vote for legal abortion or euthanasia: that, like Catholics who have divorced and remarried, the public nature of their situation makes possible an objective judgment on their unworthiness to receive Communion.


Cardinal Ratzinger said that denial of Communion in these circumstances is not, properly speaking, a sanction or penalty.

”Nor is the minister of holy Communion passing judgment on the person’s subjective guilt, but rather is reacting to the person’s public unworthiness to receive holy Communion due to an objective situation of sin,” he said.

The 2002 Vatican ruling on divorced Catholics has been a topic of discussion in Rome, in view of the Communion issue in the United States. Some canon law experts think it is more difficult to apply it in a categorical way to Catholic politicians on the abortion issue. They note that the politician’s situation may be much more complex than that of divorced Catholics who because of remarriage are considered to be living in a state of sin.

END
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Death Penalty Focus 18th Annual Dinner

Please share and ask our friends to attend or donate

Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Beverly Hilton Hotel
9876 Wilshire Blvd.
Beverly Hills, California 90210
6:00 p.m. Reception • 7:15 p.m. Dinner and Program • Business Attire

For information, please contact Michael Teta Associates at 818-906-0240 or DPF@mtaevents.com.
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Witness to Innocence Speaker Featured at Portland April 14, 2010 Event

Submitted by trodello on Tue, 03/30/2010 – 02:30

It is hard for anyone to imagine spending seventeen years, eight months and one day on death row for a crime he did not commit.  That is the story that Juan Melendez-Colon will tell when he speaks on Wednesday April 14, 2010 7 PM, at the First Unitarian Church in downtown Portland. Mr. Melendez, one of 139 people exonerated for capital crimes they did not commit, will be the featured speaker at an event focused on the death penalty, sponsored by the Lewis & Clark Law School National Lawyers Guild.

Note: Juan is good a friend of Leno and an important voice you should go and listen.
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The Flowers

The spring flowers are coming out.. enjoy them .. take time to enjoy them and if possible share them with others..

My best
leno

Over the years I learned that you must learn to organize, march, rally and on occasion learn to laugh and to celebrate. Our opposition also often has much to laugh about given some of our statements and actions. Perhaps if we got together and laughed we could actually do good work for our country.

In one political campaign our US SENATE CANDIDATE whose last name was Dick .. We heard during the campaign of the many off color slogans the opposition created using her name. And on occasion over drinks at night our campaign staff tried to outdo our opposition by coming up with even more outrageous innuendos using the candidates last name. She the candidate did not always appreciate our ribald humor. But it was a difficult campaign and laughing helped us to continue the fight for what was right.

Today we have a problem that the statements and actions on one side are so harsh that I am afraid that they could evolve into more violence than just damaging property. In fact we have seen this violence at clinics that serve women who want abortions. I am worried that we will see even more violence. And fear that innocent people will be hurt.

In our response to violent statements and actions should not be more violence. We must be smarter and better that those who flame hatred and violence. We must be an example of the best of humanity.

And we must always be searching for common ground and perhaps if we get there we can laugh and work together…doesn’t mean you always have to agree.. Just be willing to listen…

Below you will find an adaption to a wonderful YES WE CAN u tube video that came out during the presidential campaign. I think that this will make you laugh till tears roll down your eyes..

check this out

NOW FOR MY VIEW OF THE NEWS

a.    They give the crazies the media attention
b.    Spring and violence have sprung
c.    Cesar Chavez according to Martha Garcia
d.    Old man in my bath room

GIVING ATTENTION TO THE CRAZIES AND FORGETTING THE RATIONAL

There were three key demonstrations in Washington DC on the 20-21 of March but only one really got news coverage.
There was the march for Immigration Reform which drew over 100,000, then there was the Anti War March which had 10’s of thousands and finally the Tea Baggers (anti-health bill) Rally which numbers ranged from about 300-1,000.

Fox News obviously gave more coverage to the TB folks but what was even worse was all the attention by other media sources to this small band of demonstrators who had racists and other horrific signs and cat calls coming from what we on another day would see as GOOD GRAND PARENTS.

In today’s environment we cannot get the media to be fair.. Thus we must find a better way to get our news to the public.. Perhaps via the internet and via Ethnic news. Often our movements doing pay enough attention to the Spanish speaking media and other ethnic press.

In the mean time let’s continue to gather our ideas, our supporters and do what we need to do to DELIVER ON CHANGE.

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Spring has Sprung and 
So Has Violence

The shot through his campaign office window and I have received threatening e mails claimed republican Congress man Eric Cantor of Virginia. This he said on the heels of calls and actions taken by elements of the right wing. And another Republican Congress woman has a recording of an awful call to her office

These horrific acts are minimal in number when you look at all those things done against Democrats. These have included racist and homophobic name calling, windows shot out and broken gas lines, vandalizing of homes and multiple threats including a fax with a noose sent to an Afro-American Congressman

Congressman Cantor criticized the Democrats for using these attacks as political canon fodder. At the same time Cantor was not willing to release the threatening emails he supposedly received. Me I don’t think that they exist. And the bullet according to the local police investigation was not shot at the building where Cantors office is located but instead was a bullet on its way down that accidently hit the building…. seems someone shot a bullet into the air and somehow hit the window on the way down. ..I have not heard of any sniper that shoots in this fashion. Recently a Mr. Norman Leboon has been arrested for making a threat on Cantor and his family .. I watched the rambling and bizarre video of Leboon.. he makes threats of harm coming to the President, Speaker of the House, and Leader of the Senate ..This man is nuts but still could be dangerous.. now I am still waiting for all those e mails that Cantor said he received.

Remember when Lou Dobbs claimed that people were shooting at his house and endangering his wife because of his immigration stance. Turns out it was a stray bullet that was far from the living quarters and no evidence that Lou was targeted

During the last presidential campaign we saw the beginnings of outrageous statements, signs and actions by those whose emotions were inflamed by Sarah Palin and others. This should have been curbed then by the leadership of the Republicans. There have been many major threats and property damage to Democrats.

Instead they threw gasoline on the fire by organizing screamers to go to the HEALTH CARE TOWN HALL MEETINGS and have these misguided citizens yell out the most incredible things. And this ultimately became the TEA BAGGERS PARTY… who have some of the most horrific signs and statements..And these rallies and actions have been encouraged by the republican leadership and Fox News.

And we will now see the Tea Bag Express .. a bus filled with misinformation and rabid spokespersons making 44 stops and spreading their hate and lies. This tour begins in Nevada targeting Senate Leader Harry Reid and ending in Washington DC on April 15th. At their opening rally near Harry Reid’s home town in Nevada they drew 5-7,000 primarily older Americans to hear Sara Palin and other spew their propaganda and their call to VOTE THEM OUT…

One of the organizers was asked about their rallies encouraging recent violence against Democrats he responded by saying WE ARE CONSTITUTIONALISTS AND THE PREMIER HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANIZATION …and I thought perhaps I should tell Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch that they have serious competition… Perhaps you will get to see this so called premier human rights group in your community.. Please welcome them with the truth and common sense.

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Cesar E. Chavez…a man his movement and his supporters..Celebrate his birthday March 31st

On April 27, 1993, I was at his funeral along with 50,000 other mourners.  It was in Delano California and it was the celebration of the life of Cesar Chavez, President and founder of the United Farm Workers Union.  It was fitting that the funeral consisted of a procession, a march, because of the many marches Cesar had participated in and inspired. We walked from Delano to a place two miles out of town called Forty Acres, which had previously been the headquarters of the Union and where huge white tents had been erected for the ceremony.

I first met Cesar more than 20 years prior to his death when my husband, Jim and I, while on vacation in California, stopped by Delano to visit him.   Jim had known Cesar for several years.  As they renewed their friendship, I felt as if I were in the presence of greatness.

I’ve experienced this feeling one other time when I was fortunate enough to see Nelson Mandela when he spoke in Oakland CA shortly after his release from his 20 year imprisonment at Robin Island.

Like Nelson Mandela, Cesar Chavez was a soft spoken gentle man.  Having suffered discrimination and injustice did not make them bitter but emboldened them to espouse non-violence as their credo.

Cesar’s inspirations were Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi.

Like Gandhi, Cesar participated in several fasts in order to bring attention to his cause.

I had the opportunity to see Cesar again when he visited Denver to give speeches to his supporters and to raise funds for the United Farm Workers.

Denver was a place that was very progressive and we were active in the boycotts of table and wine grapes, picketing liquor and grocery stores that sold these items from California, so Cesar made occasional stops at our city.

Cesar always stayed at supporters homes when he was away from home.  On one of his visits to Denver that had been arranged by Jim, Cesar was scheduled to stay at our house.  Unfortunately, that day he received a death threat, which sadly was not an isolated instance, so at the last minute his lodging location was changed.

Especially in the early days of his fledgling organizational efforts to bring better working conditions to the farm laborers, he and his followers were greeted with much violence in the form of verbal and physical abuses and many other humiliations.  In one instance a farm worker was run over by a truck and was killed right there on the picket line.  Nothing was done by the authorities.

In spite of these atrocities, Cesar remained loyal to his principle of non-violence and was able to influence his followers to follow suit.  His nonviolent standard also led him to oppose the Viet Nam War.

This remarkable stance of non- violence has been an inspiration to me.  If a person who is subjected to such indignities can remain non-violent, anything is possible.

Although it took many years of hard work, The United farm workers have many contracts now and have affected the lives of non-union farm workers as well.  The first union contracts required rest periods, toilets in the fields, clean drinking water, hand washing facilities, protective clothing against pesticide exposure, the banning of pesticide spraying while workers are in the fields, outlawing DDT and other dangerous pesticides.  These are accepted conditions in the state of California today.

The United Farm Workers now enjoy Health insurance and retirement benefits but, what Cesar considered his most valued accomplishment was the abolishment of the short handled hoe.  That infamous hoe forced the workers to bend over continually and subsequently crippled generations of farm workers.  This short handled hoe is in the Smithsonian Institution commemorating the contributions of Cesar Chavez.

Cesar began his career as a community organizer; he coined the phrase, ¡Sí Se Puede! This has been chanted on many a picket line and march.  Another former community organizer in his recent run for the Presidency used the same slogan Yes we can!  ¡Sí Se Puede!

At the funeral, we saw many friends from Colorado, including our great friend Magdaleno, who had been active in the farm labor and peace movements.   Thousands of farm workers from Florida to California attended the service as well as religious leaders celebrities and politicians, (we were sitting next to Jerry Brown and several of the Kennedys).

There were many speakers at the service, some made us laugh, some made us cry.  Cardinal Mahoney from Los Angeles officiated.  It was an inspirational ceremony, just as Cesar’s life was.

His plain pine coffin, built by his brother and carried those two miles by family and friends, was a symbol of his humility and his unassuming character.

It was a great honor and a privilege to have known this exceptional individual, Cesar Chavez, who dedicated his life for the benefit of this oppressed segment of our society, migrant farm workers.

Martha Martínez García
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THERE  WAS AN OLDER MAN IN MY BATHROOM THIS MORNING

Today as I was shaving and getting ready to head off to work on my next book when I looked up and saw a balding man with silver threads of hair in his beard and on his side burns. I wondered what he was doing in my bath room and if I should scream and call for help… instead I smiled at him and he smiled back. I guess he has nothing better to do than follow me around.

My best
leno

At the end of this month leno will go to a final traffic court in Seattle. I was caught supposedly speeding. It was early morning and on my way to work when a motorcycle cop stopped me ..

He was silent and would not talk to me about the process and if given a chance I thought he might give me instead a warning…

After all I was not going super fast, I was sober, and polite. Plus I thought I was going only 23 not 25.. hair splitting and spiting.
So I sent in a form and got a preliminary court date and went. I felt like a criminal there amongst many other criminals all hardened traffic law abusers.. At this community court I tried to question the policeman’s actions and was not allowed and told I would have to regular court hearing .. Before I left the room I asked the judge if I could plead INSANITY… She smiled and said NOT ON A TRAFFIC TICKET.

At my next court date I hope to enter MY TOYOTA DEFENSE… no I do not drive a Toyota… I drive a 2000 dodge caravan.

Okay so why the Toyota defenses you ask? Well I am going to suggest that my knee replacement made of titanium could have been made by Toyota… and that my knee got stuck in an extended position and thus the heavy foot on the medal…
It is not clear that this will be a successful argument but it is the last defense tactic I have as of today in my bag of tricks… WISH ME LUCK.

NOW FOR MY VIEW OF THE NEWS

a. Healthcare
b. Boys and girls clubs
c. The tea baggers
d. Dolores Huerta and census
e. Gear up for 2010

HEALTH CARE … we can’t stop now

Today we must begin our final push to get health care legislation. It will take all of us working together…We will have to all make some compromises in order to get some progress done.
We will all have to be on the phone, sending emails, visiting elected officials, and demonstrating… we must do this Now.
FIRST THE REPUBLICAN SAID THAT IF OBAMA DID NOT GET HEALTH CARE THROUGH THAT IT WOULD BE HIS WATERLOO… AND NOW THEY ARE BEATING THE DRUM THAT IF OBAMA GETS HEALTH CARE THROUGH THAT THE AMERICAN VOTERS WILL TURN ON THE DEMOCRATS AND THAT THEY WILL LOSE CONTROL OF THE HOUSE AND THE SENATE AND EVENTUALLY THE PRESIDENCEY

If the Republicans really thought passing the health care program would destroy the democrats then why are they fighting the passage so much? And why aren’t the media asking the Republicans to clear up this obvious contradiction..
The Republicans and their lobbyist friends have a lot to lose if health care passes… and they know it… they are running scared..
Now we must turn up the heat on congress and get this passed. And let the republicans worry about how to sell their opposition to health care to the millions who will benefit from the passage of this reform bill.

THE BOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS spend too much on their Executives, and support

While I think that every non profit should be careful how much it spends on its Executive and related perks … I at the same time would like my congress to pay more attention to the billions of our tax payer dollars stolen in Iraq and possibly now more in Afghanistan. These same elected officials who bark about the cost of the Boy and Girls Clubs might want to spend some time talking about all those who stole all this money from the Iraq war effort … some of the meaning leaving in duffel bags, and suitcases filled with cash and many contracts paid but not completed.

The right wing of the congress is slow to seek investigations or yell about it in the press because many of their donors and supporters might be indicted if all the truth comes to the surface.

TEA BAG MOVEMENT..a magnet for the uncontrollable and angry element of the right …

Most of the minutemen, the screamers from the town meetings, the anti-immigrant, and the anti abortion crazies, the anti science crowd, and the misguided Medicare recipients (who want government out of their health care) and many other reactionary groups… We know them and have been fighting them and now they are gathering under one tattered umbrella… I believe that they will be a major thorn in the political plans of the Republican National committee. And many Republicans are worried.

As I youth have worked on a turkey farm and they were uncontrollable nor could you organize them … This Tea Bag movement seems to be just another herd of turkeys… DANGEROUS BUT NONETHELESS TURKEYS.

DOLORES HUERTA AND THE CENSUS

This past weekend Dolores was in Washington State to inspire many and talk about the importance of the census. She is almost 80 and is more active and alert than many much younger than her.
She spoke out against racism against Immigrants, people of color and of the right wing media. We need more leaders out speaking to our public and pushing them to be and do more.

GEARING UP FOR 2010

I am hoping that you will take time to find a candidate that you can support this election season… We should take some of our time and money to support good candidates who will stand up for us and our communities.

EARTHQUAKE

Not being a scientist but it seems as if this year there are more  earthquakes than before.  Could it be that we are just better at reporting these quakes or is something going on with mother earth. The most recent was one in Los Angeles. Something is shaking in this world of ours.

My best
leno