--No pardon for outlaw Billy the Kid--

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The rehabilitation of Billy the Kid lies dead in the dust.

In one of his last official acts — or non-acts — before leaving office, New Mexico's governor refused to pardon the Old West outlaw Friday for one of the many murders he committed before he was gunned down in 1881.

Gov. Bill Richardson cited ambiguity surrounding the pledge of a pardon 130 years ago as the reason.

"I felt I could not rewrite history," Richardson told The Associated Press, hours after announcing his decision on ABC's "Good Morning America" on his last day in office.

The prospect of a pardon for the notorious frontier figure drew international attention to New Mexico, centering on whether New Mexico territorial governor Lew Wallace promised Billy the Kid a pardon in return for testifying about killings he witnessed.

Richardson concluded Wallace did make a deal, "but it's uncertain why he did not keep his promise," said the former U.N. ambassador and Democratic presidential candidate.

He said he could not pardon Billy the Kid given that ambiguity and the fact he killed two deputies when he escaped in April 1881 from the Lincoln County jail, where he was awaiting hanging for the 1878 killing of Sheriff William Brady.

A pardon document was even drafted, "but in the end, I didn't use it," said Richardson, adding that he didn't decide until Thursday night.

The proposed pardon covered only the killing of Brady, and not the deaths of the deputies or any other killings. According to legend, Billy the Kid killed 21 people, although the New Mexico Tourism Department puts the total closer to nine.

He was shot to death by Sheriff Pat Garrett in July 1881.

Albuquerque attorney Randi McGinn, who petitioned for a pardon after studying the issue, said she won the battle in proving there was a promise but lost the war over the pardon. She said, however, she didn't regret "one iota being Billy the Kid's lawyer."

Garrett's grandson, J.P. Garrett, of Albuquerque, sent an e-mail to The Associated Press: "Yea!!! No pardon! Looks like it will be a great new year!!!!"

Wallace's great-grandson, William Wallace, of Westport, Conn., said Richardson "followed the correct, rational track in forgoing a pardon for a convicted murderer."

Both men had expressed outrage Richardson would even consider a pardon, arguing there was no proof one was ever offered.

The historical record is unclear, Richardson said. His staff told him in August there are no written documents "pertaining in any way" to a pardon in the papers of the territorial governor, who served from 1878 to 1881.

Richardson's office set up a website in mid-December for public comments following McGinn's petition. The survey that ended Sunday brought in 809 e-mails and letters from all over the world — 430 favoring a pardon and 379 opposed.

McGinn argued Lew Wallace promised to pardon the Kid, also known as William Bonney. She said the Kid kept his end of the bargain, but the territorial governor did not.

McGinn said Friday she was disappointed by Richardson's decision but thrilled the pardon question sparked interest. She said she hoped people would come to New Mexico, see letters Billy the Kid wrote to Wallace, walk Lincoln's single street and decide for themselves whether Billy the Kid was "the Robin Hood of the West or a notorious killer."

Richardson, who said he's read countless books and seen numerous movies about the Kid, said the issue gave the state great exposure and prompted discussion over "one of those historical issues that deserves debate and hadn't been tackled before."

Robert Utley, author of "Billy the Kid: A Short and Violent Life," said he was glad Richardson decided against a pardon.

"Governor Wallace was a romantic, and the few press interviews he granted, at the time and 20 years later, cloud the issue. He exaggerated for literary effect, and the reporters probably took it from there to more exaggeration. I don't believe a pardon was promised, only an effort to exempt him from prosecution — a promise he couldn't deliver," Utley wrote in an e-mail to the AP on Friday.

"If Billy deserves a pardon, it will be granted by history, not the governor of New Mexico."

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~http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40861736/ns/us_news/?gt1=43001

--Japanese New Year Song--

The Japanese celebrate New Year's Day on January 1 each year on the Gregorian Calendar. Before 1873, the date of the Japanese New Year (正月, shōgatsu?) was based on the Chinese lunar calendar, just as the contemporary Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese New Years are celebrated to this day. However, in 1873, five years after the Meiji Restoration, Japan adopted the Gregorian calendar, so the first day of January is the official New Year's Day in modern Japan. It is considered by most Japanese to be one of the most important annual festivals and has been celebrated for centuries with its own unique customs. Due to the importance of the holiday and the preparations required, the preceding days are quite busy, particularly New Year's Eve, known as Ōmisoka.
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~http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_New_Year

--2011--

2011 (MMXI) is a common year starting on Saturday in the Gregorian calendar and is the current year in Oceania, East Asia, Southeast Asia, India, and Eastern Russia, while 2010 is still ongoing in the rest of the world. It is the 2011th year of the Common Era/Anno Domini designation; the 11th year of the 3rd millennium and of the 21st century, and the second year of 2010s decade.

The United Nations has designated 2011 the International Year of Forests and International Year of Chemistry.

~http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011
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~http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_in_film
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--往事只能回味 1970 (尤雅) Good Bye 2010--

--牌九--

牌九是古代中國傳統骨牌遊戲的一種，玩法是依據兩扇骨牌點數的不同組合，來比較大小，以決勝負。據說牌九始於宋代。舊時主要以牌九來賭博，因此中華人民共和國建立後政府將其取締。

牌九，即排出九的數目之意。牌九最大的對牌「至尊寶」，兩牌點數相加就是九點。近代有人將牌九這遊戲演化，以撲克牌來玩，玩法與骨牌牌九類似。

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~http://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-tw/牌九

--The Mafia Italian [Cosa Nostra & Camorra] --

The Mafia (also known as Cosa Nostra) is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid 19th century in Sicily. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct. Each group, known as a "family", "clan", or "cosca", claims sovereignty over a territory in which it operates its rackets – usually a town or village or a neighbourhood (borgata) of a larger city. Their primary activity is protection racketeering, but they are also involved in drug trafficking, loan sharking, and liquor and cigarette smuggling.
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Offshoots of the Mafia emerged in the United States, during the late 19th century, following waves of Italian emigration (see American Mafia) but also in Canada and Australia. The term "Mafia" is also employed to name Mafia-type organizations operating under a similar structure, whether Sicilian or not; such as the Camorra, the 'Ndrangheta, the Stidda or the Sacra Corona Unita, as well as foreign organized crime groups.
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However, Giovanni Falcone, the Antimafia judge who was killed by the Mafia, objected to the inflation of the use of "Mafia" to organized crime in general: "While there was a time when people were reluctant to pronounce the word 'Mafia,' … nowadays people have gone so far in the opposite direction that it has become an overused term … I am no longer willing to accept the habit of speaking of the Mafia in descriptive and all-inclusive terms that make it possible to stack up phenomena that are indeed related to the field of organized crime but that have little or nothing in common with the Mafia."
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~http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mafia
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~http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camorra

--Boxing Day 2010--

Boxing Day is a bank or public holiday that occurs on 26 December, or 27 December, and is observed in Australia, Austria, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and in some Commonwealth nations that have a mainly Christian population. In South Africa, the public holiday 26 December is called Day of Goodwill, in Ireland St Stephen's Day or Lá an Dreoilín, and in continental European countries the "Second Christmas Day."

Though not an official holiday in the United States, some Americans use the term "Boxing Day," particularly those who live near the Canada – United States border. In Canada, Boxing Day is listed in the Canada Labour Code as an optional holiday. Only the province of Ontario has made it a statutory holiday where all workers receive time off with pay.

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~http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boxing_Day