Federal judge Denny Chin, the man who will decide Bernie Madoff's fate Monday, is many things - marathon runner, Yankees fan, devoted dad. But there's one thing he's not.

"A softie," said former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who was Chin's boss for four years at the Manhattan U.S. attorney's office.

"He's not a softie, he's a very balanced man," Giuliani said.

http://www.nydailynews.com/money/2009/06/28/2009-06-28_for_bernie_madoff_time_to_meet_justice_sentencing_judge_is_touted_as_tough_but_f.html

..... Chin, who was born in Hong Kong and come to the United States at 2 years old, has always been a star, albeit out of an intense spotlight, a self-made man born in absolute poverty who has risen to the top of his profession with a peerless reputation.

A couple of weeks ago, San Francisco Assemblywoman Fiona Ma announced at a Democratic women’s event in San Francisco that she would soon be making a bid to be the next Speaker of the State Assembly.

The current Speaker, Assemblywoman Karen Bass of Los Angeles, is in her third and final term in the State Assembly, having been elected Speaker by her colleagues in May of 2008.

It is not clear when Ma would make her move but there are rumblings from Sacramento that Bass may out of the Speaker’s post as early as the end of this Legislative Year.

Ma, who also represents a portion of San Mateo County including Daly City, Colma and the unincorporated community of Broadmoor, is in her second term. Ma made an unsuccessful bid for Speaker in 2008 but moved aside in favor of Bass.

Ma’s political mentor is the still powerful former State Senator and Congressman John Burton who was recently elected chair of the California Democratic Party.

With such backing, Ma may be in a good position to take the Assembly’s top spot.

Such positioning may be useful for Ma if she considers running to succeed Senator Leland Yee when Yee leaves office.