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

New Holly Community Center 5-8 pm

On a Sunday afternoon in September there will be a fun filled celebration in Seattle. This will be a celebration of leno’s birthday and his Write-Tirement. Meaning he will soon be concentrating on his books and perhaps will work part time.

Message from Aviva Rose-Avila:

I would like to invite you to be a part of my father’s Write-Tirement celebration by accepting this invitation, by attending or just helping in whatever way you can. My dad, Leno, would like you; those with whom he has worked and known to be part of this event.

As many of you know he took out his retirement funds 14 years ago to start a unique organization called Homies Unidos to work with youth at risk and Gang members in El Salvador and Los Angeles. Now we ask you to help us raise some funds to allow him to return to Micronesia where he served as Country Peace Corps Director so that he can concentrate on his writings.

I hope you will still be able to attend or be of assistance from a distance. In any case this will be a wonderful event that we would like you to be a part of in some way. You can send any donation to (Att: Aviva Rose-Avila, 1358 4th Street, PHA, Santa Monica, CA 90401) written out to Magdaleno Rose-Avila.

Please let me know how you will be able to participate .

Hugs!

Aviva Rose-Avila
786-368-5756
Aviva.roseavila@gmail.com

NOW FOR MY VIEW OF THE NEWS

a.Three women Supremes
b.Proposition 8
c.Neshoba
d.Asylum victories
e.Latinos and justice system
f.El beso de adios
g.Tans and getting darker

THREE WOMEN ON THE SUPREME COURT

I celebrate this historic milestone but we have a long ways to go yet.. The balance should be 5 women to four men and amongst them we should have an Asian and a gay or lesbian. The Court is still to right wing and is a threat to our very Constitution.
Today the Republicans are holding up two good Asian candidates for Federal Judgeships because they think they are too liberal… I think that is good thing to have a few liberal judges given the right wing politics of so many other federal judges…please pressure your elected officials to keep the names of Liu and Chen in the process.

GOP blocks two federal judges’ nominations

The Senate adjourns, sending back to the White House the nominations of Goodwin Liu and Edward M. Chen to the federal bench in California. Both are perceived as liberal

PROPOSITION 8

I have yet to read the decision but it seems to be good.. The arguments for Proposition 8 were weak and often most absurd. While we celebrate for the moment; just know that this fight is far from being over… So let us keep organizing and building our coalition…

NESHOBA: THE PRICE OF FREEDOM

opens in New York on Friday, August 13th, at Cinema Village.

The Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner families, and Tony and I, will be at the 7:15 p.m. screening for a Q&A with the audience.

We’re showing the new release cut for the first time and are very excited about that too. We hope some of you can be there to celebrate with us the release of our film and that NESHOBA continues to provoke honest dialogue about race in America.
NESHOBA runs from Friday, August 13th through Thursday, August 19th. Check the Cinema Village website for ticket information and show times. Please spread the word to your friends and contacts.

TIME OUT NEW YORK REVIEW
Neshoba: The Price of Freedom
FOUR STARS
Dir. Micki Dickoff and Tony Pagano. 2010. N/R. 86mins. Documentary.

More than four decades after the Neshoba County murder of three civil-rights activists (the same crimes dramatized in Mississippi Burning), one would expect a new doc on the subject to play like yesterday’s news. But with the surprising 2005 indictment of octogenarian hatemonger Edgar Ray Killen, filmmakers Micki Dickoff and Tony Pagano recast the tragedy in the light of a community forced to confront past wounds. Interviewing residents from across the spectrum, Neshoba reopens the debate: How was this allowed to happen? How do we move forward? Some questions, this compelling movie reminds us, still require answers.
(Opens Fri; Cinema Village.)—S. James Snyder, August 9, 2010
————————————————————————–

Two Asylum Victories

Every now and then I am asked to be an expert witness on a Central American gang related Asylum case. Most often we do not win and it is tough to get the bad decision. But this last week I was notified by attorneys on two separate cases that we had won .Now that makes you feel very good.

When the client has money I am paid a small fee but on most occasions I am dealing with a law firm that is doing the case Pro-Bono and often the firm can’t pay for expert testimony. So more often than not I’m doing the case pro-bono…no money .but at least I have the satisfaction that I have been a part of the case and often become a cheerleader for the attorney who on occasion can get frustrated or depressed as the process moves slowly forward.. We should always do are best and if that is not enough then we will appeal the beans out of them.

LATINOS-CHICANOS-HISPANICS and the so Called Justice System

Latinos numbers in prison and ultimately on Death Row continue to grow. This is a problem for us all because it is a product of the socio-economic system that is failing this community.

The high school dropout rates of 20 years ago remain about the same. In the mid sixties when we fought for College Scholarships and programs we thought we had found the medicine that would help so many more to get an education and give back to their communities. The problem is that most never make it to college. These high school drop outs become the targets of police wanting to fill their jails and eventually the prisons…

Today the Judicial process is a key weapon being used against the Latino Community. We become easy targets …especially our youth who before they know it they are finger printed, and become part of the long road to judicial never-never land. A land of legal files that outline the pain and despair of our communities…And if the youth happen to be undocumented they are soon on the road to deportation…

Once in jail or prison your life begins to change. In order to survive you end up doing things you would have never imagined. And this can get you into even more problems.

The men and women with families leave behind children and a family that often begins to unravel as the head of the family begins serving a long sentence. Most of those in prison are not violent criminals or a real danger to society. But it seems Society wants to be tough on crime and not smart on crime.

While they correctional systems say that they want to transform the prisoners they somehow manage to move them from one prison to another without rhyme or reason. This makes it more difficult for loved ones to stay connected.

I hope to begin a dialogue with you that while we will begin with Latinos this injustice also affects all prisoners and a system that has gotten out of control. In the process we need to talk about this industry that chews up prisoners and helps to destroy families.

Please write to me at leno@magdaleno.org and just title it HISPANICS AND THE JUSTICE SYSTEM if you want to be involved with this issue… that way I can keep these conversations organized.
I hope that many of you will join me in this just cause

“El Beso del Adios” (Kiss Bessemer Goodbye)

A play written by Tencha Avila

If in the New York Area you must see this “stirring comedy” of the search for
the American dream is still in repertory at Repertorio Espanol
Theatre. 128 East 27th Street —  Tel. 212-225-9920. Tickets begin at
$25.  For more information, visit: www.repertorio.org.  Group rates
are available.

The New York Times:  ”A warm, funny, realistic circle of characters
that it’s a pleasure to spend time with.”

The Village Voice: “A delicately crafted Spanish-language piece that
delves wittily into the domestic dramas of a middle-class Mexican
American family living in Bessemer, Colorado in the 1970s.”

SYNOPSIS:  ”Kiss Bessemer Goodbye”

It’s April, 1970, in Bessemer, a steel mill town in southeastern
Colorado. A Mexican American family is roiled by problems:

Lupita, the first family member to attend university, is about to
graduate, a cause for celebration. Uncle Chuy, a boisterous, self-made
man who regards himself as the unchallengeable head of the family,
arranges for her to teach in a local school, but she’s got more
distant plans with a Japanese American boyfriend who arouses old
family ethnic antipathies.  Uncle Joe, out of work for four months
because of the strike at the steel mill, is severely depressed.
Lupita’s aunt and mother add their problems and solutions to the mix.

The play brings to life a Mexican American family in Colorado four
decades ago and dramatizes the universal themes of love and conflict
in a family undergoing generational and social change.

While it is a drama with serious themes, the cast of distinctive,
complex characters with their own personalities, foibles and
contradictions bring humor to their serious predicaments. In the end,
all works out for the best, but the issues raised will resonate with
the audience long after the curtain falls.

————————————————————————-

TANS AND GETTING DARKER

During the summer months many try to get a good tan. But those of us with natural coloring just enjoy our skin tones but we all have to be cautious with the hot sun and a thing called skin cancer. Slap on some sun block if you want to enjoy your summer
Many are able to achieve a good brownness and sometimes they look almost deportable.LOL… but one person who sports the worst and strangest colors is Congressman John Boehner.

His skin color ranges from a muddy yellow to a deep red to orange. Part of the coloring I assume is because he drinks a lot .but his current coloring is over the edge… is he still going to a strange tanning salon or could he be the first Alien from another planet and if so he must be a so called ILLEGAL ALIEN… but where or where can we send him ..??

My best
leno

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

I had first met Hilda Solis when she was a state legislator from the Los Angeles area. As that point I was the Regional Director of Amnesty International. It was exciting to see a good pro Labor Latina in the State Legislature…

Then she became a Congresswoman and I got to visit her several times in her office in our nation’s Capitol. And I would see her on television at the Democratic Conventions with UFW CO-FOUNDER Dolores Huerta.

And then finally I got to watch her be nominated and then finally confirmed as the Secretary of Labor. Now that was most exciting.

So there I am this past Friday arriving on a early morning flight from Seattle to Denver. I am in no hurry I have no one to meet and the family reunion does not begin until the early evening…

In Denver you have to take a train to the main terminal and baggage.. I am just starting for the escalator when I see someone who looks like Secretary Soliz.. Yep my minds computer confirms.. IT IS HER… I scoot around two men in dark suits.. And jump on to the escalator one step behind Hilda when I feel a strong hand on my left shoulder and a voice saying you can’t go there..

I AM JUST TRYING TO SAY HELLO TO HILDA SOLIS..

She turns and smiles at me .. Probably not recognizing me ..From so many other Latinos …

I thanked her for all the good work that the administration is doing especially the Labor Dept.

And she responded smiling… EVERYTIME WE TAKE A STEP FORWARD THE WACKOS COME OUT OF THE WOODWORK

OH BY THE WAY …I responded I APPRECIATE THE RECENT ACTION YOU TOOK ORDERING BUSINESSES TO GIVE GAY EMPLOYEES EQUAL TREATMENT UNDER A LAW  PERMITTING WORKERS UNPAID TIME OFF TO CARE FOR NEWBORNS OR LOVED ONES..

This law is the FMLA or Family Leave Act. And the expansion affects a partner or key friend or family who is not a spouse to qualify for this leave.(more on this act at the bottom of this AHORA)
YOU KNOW ABOUT THAT .. IT JUST CAME OUT .. She smiled

The announcement came out the 23 of June and today was the 24th

YES .. I replied.. IT WAS GREAT

ARE YOU HERE FOR THE NALEO CONFERENCE??

NALEO is the National Association for Latino Elected or Appointed Officials and I used to belong to it over 20 years ago..

NO … FAMILY REUNION… WOULD LIKE TO GO TO NALEO BUT GOTS TO DO THE FAMILY RENUION…

She turned to go in one direction once we got to the main landing and I waved and wished her well .. I hope to follow up with a card thanking her for all the work she is doing for the workers of this country.

NOW FOR MY VIEW OF THE NEWS

a.    Lebron
b.    Spies
c.    Cuba
d.    And many other interesting items.

HERE’S SOME BRIEF ITEMS

LEBORN JAMES

He has said that he is going to Miami, Riley has another feather in his cap and if he is happy then I am happy…

SPIES WHO CAME OUT OF THE COLD..OR TO RUSSIA WITH OUT JALAPENOS

We discovered some 10 Russian spies… and before you know it we have a prisoner exchange..This was magician quick.. And there were no Mexicans involved.. And none of these spies came to the USA through the Arizona border..There must be more spies.. I am looking under my bed tonight.. On second thought I will ask my cat Estrella to look under the bed.

Oh yes did you notice that none of them were Muslims… looked like White Folks to me… seems the best way to infiltrate is to get folks who look like the door keepers.. What a novel idea?

CUBA RELEASING PRISONERS

Now Cuba is releasing a number of prisoners to Spain.. Thank goodness they got involved.. Now when is our country going to normalize relations with the Cuban Government..We do business with China and Saudi Arabia … why not Cuba?

AND BP KEEPS POLLUTING

We must come up with a new name for the GULF OF MEXICO.. Perhaps the DEAD SEA OF MEXICO IS MOST APPROPRIATE…oh by the way the Dead Sea in Israel is almost dead.. I am told it is shrinking every day…
And  more misery is being placed on the residents and wild life of the gulf and its neighbors.

ELENA KAGAN

She seems to be very smart and should be confirmed.. I will welcome another smart woman to the court,,,,god knows we have enough dumb men on the court and we could use some more people who understand the constitution and legal history.

I went looking for Jesus and instead found a defensive player for the University of Washington  Huskies football team.

It was getting late and I needed to go to some place of worship so I went to NewBethany which is 5 minutes from my house… I got there and the service was in process.. They had made the church into a theatre in round setting and I couldn’t fine my natural place in the back of the church.. Plus it was full this Sunday so I found a young couple I knew and sat down next to them.

There was a guest minister from South Africa and a large Samoan Choir that sang some good and lively songs. Their voices were great and I loved looking into their island faces.

On my way out after church an older Samoan stopped to shake my hand and ask if I was a lecturer at the University Washington. I said that I did that on occasion. By then a younger tall Samoan came up and said aren’t you the guy who lectured in my Chicano Studies class. I smiled and we began talking about this young man. He is a Nose Guard on the Football team and a starter. He is a junior and looks very strong .. We had a brief conversation about the  football and academic sides of his life.

I found it interesting that he had listened to me when I spoke to his class and would be willing to reach out to me after church..I gave him my email and I hope that he will soon write… his name is Alameda Ta’amu..So now I need to find some tickets for the home games.

THE GIRL WHO PLAYS WITH FIRE

Just finished this book… i found it most entertaining… i was in bed a lot with an owwieee or gash on my leg that i was nursing… so i found time to read a lot …

BUGLEME

Now some of you are receiving some of my bugles and I hope that you are enjoying them and that you will get others to sign up.

LATINOS/HISPANICS AND THE DEATH PENALTY

More Latinos are ending up in prison and our numbers are increasing.. So I will be asking for your help in the days to come to help me organize my educational and outreach efforts..

THE AVILA FAMILY REUNION

The Family Reunion brought family from different parts of the country from Mississippi, California, Oregon, Oklahoma, Washington and various parts of Colorado.
It was and always is a great gathering of family, friends.. many blendings of races and ethnic groups.. The faces and people are all beautiful..

At these reunions we have a talent show where people sing, act dance, read, oral interpretation and some speech making…I am given the role as Emcee …as the night wears on more and more people ask to be given the opportunity to perform…it is wonderful and most inspiring.. I only wish that I had some good entertainment skills to offer…

It is good to be reminded that you have family who loves you more than the moon and cherish you…

As always I bring gifts and this time I taken more immigration shirts and bags and aprons..

It was a great time.. Filled with much love..

My Jalapeno best
leno



WASHINGTON – The Labor Department intends to issue regulations this week ordering businesses to give gay employees equal treatment under a law permitting workers unpaid time off to care for newborns or loved ones.
Labor Secretary Hilda Solis  planned to announce that the government would require employers to extend the option that has been available to heterosexual workers for almost two decades, two officials briefed on the plan said Monday. Neither was authorized to speak publicly ahead of the announcement

When the Family and Medical Leave Act was first passed in 1993, it was a huge step forward in establishing the flexibility and security that the American workforce needed to care for our future generations. It allowed employees to take unpaid leave to care for their kids without the fear of losing their jobs.

But while many are quick to point out that the workplace, workers, and indeed the concept of families have changed, the flexibility to apply FMLA to shifting conditions did not.

Well, the Administration took a major step in recognizing the need for such flexibility on Tuesday when the U.S. Department of Labor issued Administrator’s Interpretation No. 1010-3, which clarifies the definition of “son and daughter” under the FMLA. In doing, so we have expanded FMLA protections to cover loving caregivers that have traditionally been left out.

It’s called in loco parentis, a Latin phrase and legal doctrine that may require interpretation for those of us who are not lawyers: It means “in the place of a parent.” And when applied to the new realities of work and family, it means all employees who have assumed the responsibility for parenting a child, whether they have a biological or legal relationship with the child or not, may be entitled to FMLA leave.

What does that mean in the real world? It means that children can get the support and care they need from the people who love them and are responsible for them.

It means that we’re recognizing the importance of a partner who shares in the parenting of a child in a same sex relationship, and his or her right to FMLA leave. It means that we are recognizing the importance of “Tia” (Spanish for aunt) who steps in to care for her young nephew when his mother has been called to active military duty. And it means that a grandmother who takes responsibility for her grandchild can — when needed — take unpaid time off of work to do it.

It’s an important interpretation and it is a long time coming.

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

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.
————————————————————————————————

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

You have to lived the drug enhanced 60-70’s to find today’s news as real … you just have to listen to the news and say is this Saturday Night Live?

A Right Wing Anti-Gay Minister who is caught coming back from a Vacation trip with a young man who was hired from a male escort group called RENTBOY. And this Rev. Rekers says he hired him to carry his luggage .. Now that is funny . I travel with a lot of luggage and have managed it by myself.. Am I missing something?

Then there is the former moderate Senator John McCain who was previously decent on immigration reform now blaming immigrants for everything but the Vietnam War.  McCain’s recent campaign ad dubbed the THAT DANGED FENCE just shows what some politicos will do to get elected.

And now BP’s oil disaster is blamed as Obama’s Katrina.  And the governor of Texas calls this ecological disaster AN ACT OF GOD..11 workers missing 100 plus workers who survived being intimidated by a company whose oil volcano will pollute the coastlines and ocean waters of the gulf coast and Mexico.. Just because BP and others fought regulations we now have this tsunami of oil..And the Bush Administration supported them all the way to the bottom of the ocean.  Oh by the way were are LA PALIN and here DRILL BABY DRILL cheerleaders…and these same folks who do not like government now seem to want so much government help..

In Seattle police May — A Seattle police officer offered a tearful apology after being caught on camera kicking an innocent man and using a racial epithet.

The video shows a group of officers standing around three men who are lying on the ground. Seattle Police Detective Shandy Cobane shouts, “I’m going to beat the [expletive] Mexican [expletive] out of you homey! You feel me?
The young man was also it seems assaulted by a woman officer.. If this had not been videotaped the officer would not be apologizing.. Racial and Gang profiling are  ALIVE AND WELL in the Northwest.

KEEP LISTENTING TO THE NEWS .. IT WON’T BE LONG BEFORE YOU TEXT OR TWEET SOMEONE SAYING OMG ABOUT SOME STRANGE  THING IN THE NEWS..

NOW FOR MY VIEW OF THE NEWS

a.    Immigration changed called for
b.    Protest Arizona and wear a shirt
c.    Rev. George Rekers has too much luggage
d.    Bill Mahers on mother’s day and immigration
e.    My back was not shovel ready

Immigration Marches Demand Boycott of Arizona and Call for Comprehensive Immigration Reform

I attended and spoke at the March and Rally in Seattle that had over 15,000 and was considered by experts to have been the second largest immigration event since the 65,000 took to the streets in Seattle in 2006.  There were smaller but most important events in about 9 other cities in Washington.

Los Angeles with it’s 250,000 participants was the biggest event.  Dallas, Chicago and many other cities showed that there was a national movement for Immigrant Rights.  It was wonderful that two large demonstrations were held in two Arizona Cities Tucson, and Phoenix.

Now the work at the community level must continue to organize and educate many about how they can support the effort for reform and to send a strong message to Arizona.

Get ready for more work and help to change our world for the better

George Rekers, Anti-Gay Activist, Caught With Male Escort ‘Rentboy’

George Alan Rekers, a prominent anti-gay activist who co-founded the conservative Family Research Council, was caught returning from a 10-day trip to Europe with a male escort he found on Rentboy.com, which is exactly what it sounds like.

Not to worry, Rekers told the Miami New Times, which broke the story: He claims he learned his 20-year-old companion was a prostitute only midway through their trip, they had no intimate contact, and he hired the young man only because recent surgery means “I can’t lift luggage.”

This seems highly dubious, not least because the New Times reporters spotted the retired professor pushing his baggage cart through Miami International Airport. It would be extremely difficult to stumble upon the Rentboy.com homepage, which features young well-muscled men rubbing each other’s crotches on grainy video loops, and not figure out what the site means by “rent boy.”

The site’s pages aren’t indexed by Google, either, so we’ll need to take the New Times’ word for it that the profile page for Rekers’ escort advertised his “smooth, sweet, tight ass” and “perfectly built 8 inch cock.” The young man denied that he and Rekers had sex, but he did confirm that they met via his Rentboy profile.

With the scandal flaring in the wake of the New Times expose, Rekers published a statement on his personal website that decries the story’s “misleading innuendo.” He confuses libel with slander, but he doesn’t deny any specific element of the story, only repeating his claim that he needed help carrying luggage and averring that family and friends will back that claim.

Rekers, who is also a professor emeritus of neuropsychiatry at the University of South Carolina and a Baptist minister, recently testified against gay adoption in Florida, where he resides. Raw Story flagged a particularly jarring article in which he claims that children adopted by gay couples are more likely to commit suicide.

The retired professor has remained far less high-profile than his Family Research Council co-founder James Dobson, but he is an extremely prolific author of books like Who Am I? Lord and Growing Up Straight: What Families Should Know About Homosexuality. He has also advised members of Congress, the White House, and the Department of Health and Human Services, according to the New Times story, which is worth reading in its entirety.

NEW RULE ON IMMIGRATION and Mothers Day

BY BILL MAHER

New Rule: This Mother’s Day, all Americans must pause and extend a special thanks to the women who maintain our homes, who take care of our kids, and who still make time for sex with Dad. I’m talking, of course, about our nannies. Lost in this whole immigration debate is why Americans want to be so harsh on the people who, in so many and varied ways, enable them to sit on their fat asses. Nannies, valet parkers, gardeners, all the people who do the things we’re a little too busy or important to do. There are plenty of people to be mad at our there — the jerks at Goldman Sachs, the idiots at BP, the guy who charged you fifty bucks for these tickets — why set our crosshairs on the humble, servile people?

I’ll tell you why. Because we’re bullies. Instead of confronting real threats, like the debt or the environment or Utah, we pick out the poorest, most defenseless kid on the block — illegal immigrants — and say, “What are you looking at?” But I’ll tell you something, you anti-immigrant hoopies — as usual you’re mad at the wrong people. It was corporate America that busted your unions and didn’t keep your pay up to the cost of living, causing your wife to have to go to work and Esmeralda to have to come in to watch the kids. Your problem is low wages, not low riders. A middle class life can now only be maintained with the presence of an underpaid underclass. In the 1940s, fewer than one in five moms worked outside the home. Ironically, mostly in bomber factories, to beat Nazi Germany, a place, like Arizona, where you always had to show your papers. I kid, that’s an unfair comparison. The Germans knew how to dress.

All this anger that we see aimed at the Mexican underclass might be more understandable if illegals came here with a bad attitude and sent the crime rate soaring — but they don’t. The Justice Department says violent crime in Arizona is at its lowest point since 1971. Property crime is at its lowest since 1966. There is no problem. There’s only dicks and the politicians who pander to them.

I know this is anecdotal, but I’ve hired several immigrant housekeepers — legal immigrants, I might add, in case anyone at the White House is considering me for a Cabinet position — and they’ve all done great work. Especially on my monologue. While the one American-born Caucasian guy I hired to do some handyman work stole my tools. You know who you are, Stephen Baldwin.

And when I drive home every day and see maids trudging up a steep hill to the mansions where they work, and I offer them a ride, I’m astounded: they never refuse, because they’re so exhausted that they’ll accept a ride from a mysterious gringo blasting rap music, even though that’s the beginning of every slasher movie ever. You know, neighbors, you’re trusting these women to clean your homes, feed your pets, and give your kids their daily dose of Ritalin — the least you can do is not make them walk up the hill.

Some time in the distant future, brown people are probably going to — and I say this without judgment — breed their way to power in both Europe and America. Arab populations are growing in countries like France and Holland, and I think we all see where this Mexican thing is going in America. That’s right, because they fuck more, the darker skinned people are going to rule the world, and white people, for their own self-preservation, should get a start on being nice to them now! Nice! Just be nice, to the poor and desperate people who change our Depends and cook our food, hopefully not in that order.

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HURT MY BACK AND GOT HELP and then went to help others..

Today my back was not shovel ready…

I love gardening .. It is good therapy … and  I love plants.. Well this morning I awoke to this huge pain in my lower back and had to pay a friend to help me begin some of the work on the yard.. But once my back is better I promise to take up the shovel and begin putting out some plants..

Later in the afternoon I could walk a bit with a ton of Advil in me so I went to support UFCW 21 (UNITED FOOD AND COMMERCIALS WORKERS) at a demonstration outside of a Safeway’s. There  I ran into members and friends of my work at the Social Justice Fund.. All of them were there supporting a good union contract for the workers.

Then I was soon home where I managed myself slowly into bed for a nap. Naps are free and seem to do us a lot of good.



My best
leno
Arizona shirts can also be purchased through me and Ahora

On their April 15th tax day gatherings.

I looked for television clips, and photos in news papers for this diversity.

I saw lots of grey hair, men, women, some standing and some sitting. In their diversity they had tall folks and short folks.. Some whose signs showed they could spell and some not. And that is also a form of diversity.. I did see a few folks in the crowd that were not eligible for Social Security. More age diversity… And in the east two events rumor has it found a black person to get up and speak but no other people of color were seen in those crowds.

The diversity was as good as it was when their ancestors landed on the shores of this great land and the Native Americans watched them come in some small boats from some bigger ships. Those Natives should have arrested them on the spot for coming to this country without proper documentation.

Now if you are of Indian heritage you must be getting angry when you hear Tea Baggers saying they WANT THEIR COUNTRY BACK.. the only one’s who have right to say this are Native Americans.. not some invader who took the land and oppressed the Native People. Yes let’s take our country back and give it to its rightful owners.

While these tea baggers have gone off the deep end on Health Care, many predict that they will even go even crazier once the immigration debate in Congress begins.

In the meantime lets ask them to join a particular tribe or quit this garbage about
I want my country back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

NOW FOR MY VIEW OF THE NEWS

a. May 1st immigration march in Seattle
b. Living while brown in Arizona
c. Social Justice Fund Reception
d. Shadow becomes a lawyer
e. Mother earth responding
f. Who gets what representation
g. Stand for Judge Chin

Join us for the 10th Annual May 1st Immigrant Rights March and help us spread the word by sending this email to your family and friends!

Event Details
: Saturday May 1st, 2010

Rally 12:00PM at Judkins Playfied (behind St Mary’s Church- 611 20th Ave S)

March 12:30PM 
March will end at 1:30pm followed by a program with elected officials and music at Memorial Stadium in the Seattle Center (401 5th Ave 98109)

RSVP: Email maru@washingtoncan.org

Unite to show the solidarity of our communities and the power we are ready to use to benefit our country. Call on Congress to protect and promote immigrant and worker rights.

We are all workers!

Join Washington CAN! on May 1st! RSVP today, email Maru@washingtoncan.org

LIVING WHILE BROWN IN ARIZONA ..GOV. JAN BREWER SIGNS BAD LAW

Them anti-immigrant politicians got themselves a new law.. that law gives police the right and power to stop and demand proof of citizenship of anyone in 
Arizona.. and we know what that means.. Stop folks that look like Mexicans and if they can’t pull up a valid passport or a picture of their ancestors coming over on the Mayflower boat then they probably be turned over to immigration.

The legislation, sent to the Republican governor by the GOP-led Legislature, makes it a crime under state law to be in the country illegally. It also requires local police officers to question people about their immigration status if there is reason to suspect they are illegal immigrants; allows lawsuits against government agencies that hinder enforcement of immigration laws; and makes it illegal to hire illegal immigrants for day labor or knowingly transport them.

“There are serious criminal issues that Arizona faces and police chasing brown folks will take away from the work they should be doing. It will swell the populations of the jails and the detention centers. All this costs money and it will break the local policing budget.”AP

In addition they will in the process vilolate the rights of many and there will be multiple lawsuits at a huge cost to local cities and the state.

Now while some are calling for a boycott of the state. .. I would first like to try a couple of BROWN TUSNAMIS for Arizona. Let us pick a couple of weeks and take all us brown folks and their friends and descend upon Arizona and visit the counties where they are enforcing this law. Let us go to the jails, police departments and line up asking about missing persons.. Brown persons.

If you can’t go to Arizona perhaps someone could get some phone numbers to certain police stations and we could call for days asking for information to see if it is safe to travel there .. this will tie up their lines and get their attention.

I would also suggest that we do a massive voter registration drive this summer in key districts and throw some of these folks out of office,

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JOIN THE SOCIAL JUSTICE FUND FOR A SUMMER SOCIAL

Yep come and share a smile and build a community of change

Join SJF on Tuesday May 11th for a Social Hour!  Come mix and mingle with other SJF members.  Bring your friends!

Where:   O’Asian Kitchen, 800 5th Ave Suite Plaza 1, Seattle, WA 98104
When:  May 11th from 5:30-7pm

Contact: uma@socialjusticefund.org

Now if you don’t live in the Seattle area go to some local gathering where you can celebrate HUMAN RIGHTS.
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SHADOW BECOMES A LAWYER … from being a Homie to becoming a Lawyer

Today I was in a meeting with some Latinos when I get a call from El Salvador . It is Juan Javier Duran (SARCO) and Jorge Rosales (SHADOW). The are two of the 22 original founding members of Homies Unidos. They are helping me and some Seattle lawyers who are working on an immigration case.

I met them both in the summer of 1996 in El Salvador. Both were deported members of La Mara Salvatrucha. Both were tough street wise brothers. And now both have been out of violence for about 7 years. Juan Javier found religion (Jesus) and has a family and is doing good and Jorge just recently graduated and is a full fledged lawyer in El Salvador..

Jorge said that he was sorry that I could not have been in at his graduation and went on to say that I was the inspiration that led him to believe enough in himself that he could make this huge change. I must tell you that I wanted to hug Jorge and cry in joy for his graduation. And I also wanted to weep for all the other Homies who are started out with us in 1996 and are now dead knowing that they too could have accomplished peace and new lives just like Juan and Jorge.

I am so happy that I met Jorge and Juan in 1996 and that together we helped each other down this road of life.

Double Fudge.. yep ….JORGE IS A LAWYER…

MOTHER EARTH IS RESPONDING…

In the past 6 months we have see a number of earth quakes around the world, we have seen areas where there rain and snow fall have decreased while others have seen flooding and incredible snowfall.

On top of all this there have been huge earthquakes that have taken place in Haiti, Chile, Mexico, China, the USA and many other locations .. and we will see many more before the end of the year.

Now we have glaciers coming apart in Latin America and a volcano in Iceland is spewing tons of ash and closing many airports.
Something is going on with Climate Change and Mother Earth is responding.
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WHO DID NOT RECEIVE ADEQUATE REPRESENTATION? The Death Penalty

Prior studies on representation indicate that many death row inmates did not receive adequate representation:

In Texas, nearly 1 in 4 condemned inmates were represented at trial or on appeal by court-appointed attorneys who have been disciplined for professional misconduct at some point in their careers. (Based on an examination of 461 capital cases, Dallas Morning News, September 10, 2000).

In Washington state, one-fifth of the 84 people who have faced execution in the past 20 years were represented by lawyers who had been, or were later, disbarred, suspended or arrested. (Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Aug. 6-8, 2001).

In North Carolina, at least 16 death row inmates, including 3 who were executed, were represented by lawyers who have been disbarred or disciplined for unethical or criminal conduct. (Charlotte Observer, Sept. 9, 2000).

Texas death row inmates faced a 1-in-3 chance of being executed without having their case properly investigated by a competent attorney on appeal and without having any claims of innocence or unfairness presented or heard.” (Lethal Indifference: The Fatal Combination of Incompetent Attorneys and Unaccountable Courts Texas Defender Service, 2002).
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Appeals Court Judge DENNY CHIN

The United States Senate voted on Thursday to elevate Denny Chin, a Federal District Court judge in Manhattan, to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

Times Topics: Denny Chin | Loretta E. Lynch

The confirmation, by a 98 to 0 vote, came on the same day that the Senate confirmed by unanimous consent Loretta E. Lynch as United States attorney for the Eastern District of New York.

Judge Chin has been involved in many prominent cases, including that of Bernard L. Madoff, whom he sentenced in June to 150 years in prison for his enormous Ponzi scheme. He is also considering a pending settlement of a class-action lawsuit filed by authors and publishers over Google’s book-scanning project.

Judge Chin, 56, who was born in Hong Kong and came to the United States with his family when he was 2, will become the sole Asian-American to fill an active judgeship on a United States Court of Appeals.

His father worked as a cook in Chinese restaurants, while his mother worked as a seamstress in Chinatown garment factories. He graduated from Stuyvesant High School and Princeton, and obtained his law degree at Fordham University.

President Obama nominated Judge Chin to the Second Circuit in October. The circuit is known in particular for its decisions in financial and white-collar cases. It is also the court from which Justice Sonia Sotomayor was chosen for appointment to the United States Supreme Court.

Note.. we should all be excited about this appointment!!!

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

I went to work for the union as an organizer in 1970-74 and worked for $5.00 week for wages and $10 for food. It is amazing that thousands of individuals worked for this paltry sum of money.  And we performed miracles with little or no money. Cesar and all the union leadership received the same compensation.

Later in 1992 while working for Amnesty International in Los Angeles I was invited to a UFW convention in Delano. Cesar introduced me to the workers as one of his great organizers from the old days.. I was proud to be recognized by Cesar in this way .. While I did do some good organizing .. I was also a stubborn young man who then had more ego than brains.

Later that day we were picketing a Safeway store in Delano and for a moment I was walking along side with Cesar. He turned to me and said WHY DON’T YOU COME BACK AND WORK FOR US ..I looked at him and asked WHY WOULD I WANT TO DO THAT ???

He smiled at me and said WE DOUBLED THE WAGES

WOW CESAR YOU DOUBLED THE WAGES.. FROM $5 to $10

YES He replied .. By that time he was holding onto my elbow keeping me close to him

Then I was suddenly rescued by an older woman in a flowing colorful skirt and sporting a mane of white hair who wanted to speak with him.. It was great .. I had escaped Cesar without giving him an answer.

The next year Cesar died unexpectedly..Those of us from the farm worker movement were in shock at this loss
I and my daughter Aviva like 50,000 others went to his rosary and then the funeral in Delano. It was the most incredible event. I saw people from my many years with the union.

Some months after the funeral I was invited to meet with the leadership of the Union and some of Cesar’s family. As we ate lunch in Los Angeles I was asked to help them start a foundation in Cesar’s name. After much conversation they asked if would take the job as Director of the foundation.

WHAT ARE THE WAGES??? I asked

$10  a week they responded and they all  smiled.. .

WELL LET ME CHECK WITH MY FAMILY AND I WILL LET YOU KNOW …

6 Weeks later I was at the Union headquarters working on setting up the foundation for $10 a week. I could just see Cesar some place smiling and acknowledging that he got me at the wage he wanted.

NOW FOR MY VIEW OF THE NEWS

a.    Immigration reform one taco at a time
b.    March 31st Cesar’s bday
c.    HEALTH CARE PASSES
d.    The Red Rep. John Boehner
e.    Red Rep. Boehner
f.    Meet new friends

Immigration Reform, One Taco At A time

“Through Tacos for Justice the simple act of eating is converted into an act of social justice,” said Erin Glenn, Executive Director of the Asociación de Loncheros L.A. Familia Unida de California. “Our trucks will give a 10 percent discount to every patron as well as donate to the National Immigrant Justice Campaign for every Tacos for Justice coupon used in a purchase of the ‘Justice Menu’ at our participating trucks.” Valley Star, Mar. 17, 2010.

This notice was sent in by Kinza.. Now I am going to LA in April and want to know where to get my TACOS FOR JUSTICE COUPONS..

100,000 plus marched in Washington DC for immigration reform on Sunday the 21st . In addition there were marches in other cities on this day. (mean while the right wing had hundreds in DC under the TEA BAG BANNER trying to stop the historic health care bill) now tell me who represents the people of America.

In Seattle we will have a rally on April 10th and a March and Rally on May 1st.  hope you can participate in events in your community.

We must all raise our voices for COMPREHENSIVE IMMIGRATION REFORM.

MARCH  31ST  THE BIRTHDAY OF CESAR ESTRADA CHAVEZ

On the 31st I will take a moment to celebrate Cesar’s birthday. And in doing so I will be recognizing all the men and women who worked with him so many years ago in CSO Community Service Organization. This was the precursor to the United Farm Workers Union. This is where Saul Alinsky student Fred Ross began organizing Latinos.

I also will be recognizing the many Filipino Farm Workers who were the first to go on strike and then joined by Mexican farm workers being organized by Cesar, Dolores, Gilbert, and others.

I also want to take a moment on this day to honor all the strikers, the boycotters, the donors and the many who prayed for success of the union. Every year I run into many who helped to make the union successful.  These heroes and sheroes come in all shapes and sizes and from every imaginable community. And to think that I was part of this historic movement. The UFW spawned many an organizer and that is gooder than good can be.

In the next Ahora a nice remembrance of Cesar Chavez by Martha Garcia

HEALTH CARE PASSES 120-111

This is a historic moment and we must thank not only those who voted but all those who worked for so many months to pressure our elected officials.

Now the tea baggers and the ultra right wing will have to get shriller and crazier in the months ahead.. but those  who will health protected by this new law will not listen to their lies.

We can take a moment to celebrate and then get back to work.
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Rep. John Boehner ..Why the strange skin color and red nose?

The Alcoholic Nose.. While I am not a doctor .. I have seen this before. In my home town we had an old farm worker who had pretty pale skin and as he went through life his skin got redder as did his nose. And his nose began swelling at the end as he continued his drinking of cheap wine… it seems that alcohol shows up early on the skin and the nose.

Now for a long time I thought that Republican John Boehner the House Minority Leader was spending too much time in a tanning salon… now I am beginning to think that his skin color and nose are a result of alcoholism. Just take a look at the tip of his red nose… either he is coke addict, becoming Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer or he is in fact a stone Alcoholic.

With alcoholics their liver goes and or they do something really stupid while under the influence of Alcohol… well Boehner does stupid things already so now we just are waiting on the liver to start acting up…

Jimmy Luna a dear friend and Huelgista/striker when I was with the farm workers union suffered the same outward appearances on him. Finally his liver stopped working and we had to bury him in La Garrita miles outside of Center, Colorado.

Okay .. okay .. I know what you are saying LENO IS NOT A DOCTOR.. But then you give me an explanation for his red nose and orange skin… and no I do not think that he is an alien from another planet… nope.. He is just one very very strange man from this planet.
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DEATH TO THE DEATH PENALTY.

This week, Virginia executed Paul Powell for murdering a 16-year-old girl and raping and attempting to murder her 14-year-old sister. Reading the details of the crime, your instinctive response is utter revulsion and a cry for justice to be done. But state-sanctioned killing — unless it is for reasons of national security — is not something we as a society should be doing. In America, 139 people on death row have been exonerated. And a study on death penalty appeals found two-thirds of all death sentences were overturned due to serious errors, including prosecutorial misconduct. Then there is the cost: it is much more expensive to execute a prisoner than to send him to prison for life. For example, California could save $125 million a year if it eliminated the death penalty. That’s a lot of money for a state cutting social services to the bone. It’s time for the death penalty to be put to death.

MEETING NEW PEOPLE

This past weekend I was a Global Donors conference where I saw some old friends but met many new potential friends. When I got to this conference I went into my INTROVERT SHELL but soon I was taken out of this bunker and I was meeting many new and interesting individuals.. And I had a good time meeting so many interesting spirits.  The hard part was getting started.

Take a moment and meet someone new.. And open the door to another world.

My best
Leno