Magdaleno

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