Gil The Jenius

Independence (Some?)Day

2008-07-04T22:12:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday, Don!

Independence Day. Celebrated here with a big "hee-haw" of holiday effervescence, but mention "independence" to the average Puerto Rican and watch a dodo appear. For in this land of oft-jingoistic ¡Yo soy boricua! vociferousness, the thought of actually being boricua without the aegis of Uncle Sam turns a ranting rouser into a panting poser.

Think "14-year old boy" and you'll get the picture.

Oh yeah, We can celebrate the Independence Day of Uncle Moneybucks because We get the day off, but ask Us to actually work on Our own independence--as a nation--and the "lesiure time" mentality rears its ugly head. Then again, there are other factors involved:

--Historical: Due to Our island's size and distance from gold mines and shipping routes, We were largely ignored by the Spanish overlords. Our only tactic was to cry "Wolf!"--actually, "Pirates!"--and thus get some pesetas. Victim mentality and learned helplessness, anyone? But that was 500 years ago, and to continue to think that We are "too small" and "too helpless" to help Ourselves is tantamount to stupidity.

--Speaking of stupidity, the Partido Independentista Puertorriqueño is a prime example of style over substance, a party more concerned with ideological idiocies along the lines of "Supporting Castro," "Fostering Socialism," "Lionizing criminals," "Worshipping the feeble past" and "Pursuing the free electoral monies every four years" instead of answering the basic practical questions around "How do We grow up as a nation?" Exactly like a 14-yeard old, the PIP wanted gain with no pain, shying away from the unadorned and unavoidable fact that growing up is never easy. You take the plunge, navigate the difficult times and with determination, vision and energy, you overcome and succeed. All the PIP is good for now is to occasionally stir its carcass for a handout.

--Uncle Sam himself doesn't give a rodent's lower colon about Puerto Rico, except where money is concerned. The century-long tactic of "You decide and tell Us what you'd like to do" has served the gaunt geezer quite well, for We--as 14-year old boys--can't make up Our minds. We're caught between wanting to be The Man (with all the responsibilities and duties thereof) and the sense that "Without what I'm given, I'm nobody." So We rush about, all energy and verve, Our head full of fantasies and envy, wishes and doubts, accepting what We're given with resentment-laced glee and think only for the now, for after all, tomorrow is someone else's concern, right?

So while We're chugging Our beers, roasting hot dogs on a grill while the radio and TV blare their cacophony and invading Our beaches with a surfeit of trash, while We celebrate some other country's independence, how about We take a moment and acknowledge that Our independence is the corpse in the corner, the one We have buried so badly it raises a stink that--sadly--few of Us can perceive?

The Jenius Has Spoken.

We're Number 2!

2008-07-02T21:12:00.000-04:00

Something called the World Happiness Survey came out and Puerto Rico slipped from Number 1 to Number 2, upended by Denmark, where drugs are legal and prostitutes display themselves in public windows.

Oh, wait, that's Amsterdam. But it's closer to Denmark than We are, so thus they are happier.

Then again, another such survey says that Nigeria is actually Number One. Nigeria? Are they serious? In that survey, Mexico ranks Number Two and Puerto Rico Number Five. Mexico is nice, but mariachi music always makes My teeth ache.

Then there's a study that says that "world happiness is rising," implies that (a) We are happier; (b) We are caught up in the idea of being happier or (c) We're deluding Ourselves. I vote for a combination of -b- and -c-, with a dash of paprika for that exotic twist.

According to that "rising happiness" survey, the fastest rising level of happiness is seen in India. That bodes well for a country of 1.2 billion people speaking some 350+ languages and dialects, engaging in religious strife and possessing nuclear weapons. I say We encourage them to be happier!

As far as We go in terms of happiness, it seems inextricably linked to getting on an airplane and booking the hell out of here. Why else do We have so many of Us leaving Our emerald pearl (just work with Me here, okay?) and fleeing for the much-less-happier U.S. of part of A.? 'Cuz none of the happiness surveys ranks the U.S any higher than 14th and most place it in the middle of the pack.

So. Are We happy here or are We happy because We can go there? Let's ask a Dane in Nigeria who's traveling to India. She should know.

The Jenius Has Spoken.

Sombrillita

2008-06-30T20:12:00.001-04:00

When I first saw him, he was a slim, gray-stubbled man wearing a fading brown suit--vest and all--and a folded paper bag hat, atop a broad-backed horse. He rode with shy dignity as some kids called out to him: ¡Sombrillita! ¡Sombrillita! He sat atop his large horse, surveying the growing midday traffic jam and humphed softly as the policeman made a hash of the situation.

When traffic had snarled to a standstill and with some drivers yelling at the policeman to let Sombrillita handle this, the slim man sighed, came down off his bareback ride and held out his hand to the policeman. Without hesitation, the policeman handed over his whistle and Sombrillita started directing traffic. Within ten minutes, the parking lot had become city streets with moving cars. He surveyed the movement, nodded in quiet satisfaction and after cleaning the whistle with a bright white handkerchief, Sombrillita got on his horse and rode away.

He collected newspapers, carefully folded into burlap sacks and slung on his horse, or later, after his horse died, carried in a heavy embrace through the streets of Cayey, a central mountain town on My Island. He walked with a steady, almost regal pace, eyes straight forward, his small face a picture of concentration. But ever so often, he'd wince at the catcalls and slurs. I never saw him react in any other way to them. And, surprisingly, I never called out to him.

My dad did, as Sombrillita had a habit of walking past Our house in the late afternoon, with either newspapers or his trademark umbrella collection in his arms. The exchanges between them began after a few months, when they nodded to each other, a blip of shared time. After a few weeks, Sombrillita said "Buenas tardes" to My dad, and a couple of weeks after that, a shy "¿Cómo está usted?"--How are you?

My dad wasn't very sociable, so I was surprised to see him standing at the low fence in front of Our house at about 4:15, in time to greet Sombrillita as he walked by. As I watched from a living room window, they exchanged greetings and suddenly, Sombrillita carefully set down his newspapers and umbrellas and started talking to My dad. He spoke with a soft voice and a rhythmic cadence that sounded both old-fashioned and elegant. Slowly, his gestures grew more expansive and animated and that rarest of sights, a smile, dropped years from his stubbled face. After a few minutes, he shook My dad's hand, gathered his belongings and walked away.

My dad watched him go, then came inside. I asked him about Sombrillita and he said "You never really know about people. That man is well-read, a lover of classic literature and history. He isn't a bum." I waited for more, and when nothing came I asked "Will you talk to him again?" My dad shook his head slightly and said "He wants privacy. But if he wants to talk to me, he'll know he can."

I saw them talking a few more times. A few months later, I left for a boarding school, then college and a few years later found out that Sombrillita had died. When and how I didn't ask. What I remember are his conversations with My dad and his knack for clearing traffic jams in minutes.

When I started this post, I wanted to end it by saying We need more of Sombrillita's "oddness" to help Us sort out Our Island's jams, but now I simply want to remember a quiet man of strong intellect and goodwill who did his best despite his flaws...and Sombrillita.

The Jenius Has Spoken.

Special Bulletin: Eat Shit, Americans

2008-06-19T19:12:00.002-04:00

From The New York Times:

Deal Reached in Congress to Rewrite Rules on Wiretapping
By ERIC LICHTBLAU

WASHINGTON — After months of wrangling, Democratic and Republican leaders in Congress struck a deal on Thursday to overhaul the rules on the government’s wiretapping powers and provide what amounts to legal immunity to the phone companies that took part in President Bush’s warrantless eavesdropping program after the Sept. 11 attacks.

The deal, expanding the government’s powers in some key respects, would allow intelligence officials to use broad warrants to eavesdrop on foreign targets and conduct emergency wiretaps without court orders on American targets for a week if it is determined important national security information would be lost otherwise. If approved, as appears likely, it would be the most significant revision of surveillance law in 30 years.

The agreement would settle one of the thorniest issues in dispute by providing immunity to the phone companies in the Sept. 11 program as long as a federal district court determines that they received legitimate requests from the government directing their participation in the warrantless wiretapping operation.

With some AT&T and other telecommunications companies now facing some 40 lawsuits over their reported participation in the wiretapping program, Republican leaders described this narrow court review on the immunity question as a mere “formality.”

“The lawsuits will be dismissed,” Representative Roy Blunt of Missouri, the No. 2 Republican in the House, predicted with confidence.

The proposal — particularly the immunity provision — represents a major victory for the White House after months of dispute. “I think the White House got a better deal than they even they had hoped to get,” said Senator Christopher Bond, the Missouri Republican who led the negotiations.

The White House immediately endorsed the proposal, which is likely to be voted on in the House on Friday and in the Senate next week.

While passage seems almost certain in Congress, the plan will nonetheless face opposition from lawmakers on both political wings, with some conservatives asserting that it includes too many checks on government surveillance powers and liberals asserting that it gives legal sanction to a wiretapping program that they contend was illegal in the first place.

Senator Russ Feingold, the Wisconsin Democrat who pushed unsuccessfully for more civil liberties safeguards in the plan, called the deal “a capitulation” by his fellow Democrats.

But Democratic leaders, who squared off against the White House for more than five months over the issue and allowed a temporary surveillance measure to expire in February, called the plan a hard-fought bargain that included needed checks on governmental abuse.

“It is the result of compromise, and like any compromise is not perfect, but I believe it strikes a sound balance,” said Representative Steny Hoyer of Maryland, the House Democratic leader who helped draft the plan.

Perhaps the most important concession that Democratic leaders claimed in the proposal was a reaffirmation that the intelligence protocols are the “exclusive” means for the executive branch to conduct wiretapping operations in terrorism and espionage cases. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had insisted on that element, and Democratic staff members asserted that the language would prevent Mr. Bush, or any future president, from circumventing the law. The proposal asserts that “that the law is the exclusive authority and not the whim of the president of the United States,” Ms. Pelosi said.

In the wiretapping program approved by Mr. Bush after the Sept. 11 attacks, the White House asserted that the president had the constitutional authority to act outside the courts in allowing the National Security Agency to target the international communications of Americans with suspected terrorist ties, and that Congress had implicitly authorized that power when it voted to use military force against Al Qaeda.

And that's not all, you Bush-fed coprophages:

CNN's Jack Cafferty tells Us about the murderous moron's little pardon deal he just rammed through the House like a high colonic. It's a video, so you can be add "illiterate" to "indifferent" and still find out what I mean.

This has been a Special Bulletin. Like you care.

The Jenius Has Spoken.

P.S.: Here's a third helping of steaming piles, from Freedom Works:

Senate Housing Bill Requires eBay, Amazon, Google, and All Credit Card Companies to Report Transactions to the Government
Broad, invasive provision touches nearly every aspect of American commerce.

Contact: Adam Brandon
Phone: 202-942-7612
Email: abrandon@freedomworks.org

Washington, DC - Hidden deep in Senator Christopher Dodd's 630-page Senate housing legislation is a sweeping provision that affects the privacy and operation of nearly all of America’s small businesses. The provision, which was added by the bill's managers without debate this week, would require the nation's payment systems to track, aggregate, and report information on nearly every electronic transaction to the federal government.

Call Congress and Tell Them to Oppose The eBay Reporting Provision in the Housing Bill: 1-866-928-3035

FreedomWorks Chairman Dick Armey commented: "This is a provision with astonishing reach, and it was slipped into the bill just this week. Not only does it affect nearly every credit card transaction in America, such as Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express, but the bill specifically targets payment systems like eBay's PayPal, Amazon, and Google Checkout that are used by many small online businesses. The privacy implications for America's small businesses are breathtaking."

"Privacy groups like the Center for Democracy and Technology and small business organizations like the NFIB sharply criticized this idea when it first appeared earlier this year. What is the federal government's purpose with this kind of detailed data? How will this database be secured, and who will have access? Many small proprietors use their Social Security number as their tax ID. How will their privacy be protected? What compliance costs will this impose on businesses? Why is Sen. Chris Dodd putting this provision in a housing bailout bill? The bill also includes the creation of a new national fingerprint registry for mortgage brokers.

"At a time when concerns about both identity theft and government spying are paramount, Congress wants to create a new honey pot of private data that includes Social Security numbers. This bill reduces privacy across America's payment processing systems and treats every American small business or eBay power seller like a criminal on parole by requiring an unprecedented level of reporting to the federal government. This outrageous idea is another reason to delay the housing bailout legislation so that Senators and the public at large have time to examine its full implications."

And while you're at it, you can call the Senate switchboard at 202-224-3121 or the House switchboard at 202-225-3121. Hey, it's your country and it's your damn fault it's being stolen from you.

Status and Status Quo

2008-06-18T17:12:00.000-04:00

Over at Dondequiera, MC Don Dees is pissing Me off: First, because he jumped on an incisive Star Trek reference to compare Our status idiocies to and second, because he adroitly encapsulated Our penchant for adhering mindlessly to the status quo.

I hate having to sling adjectives around in other people's favor...

Let Me play catch-up and maybe vault ahead for a few minutes. In tangential form, Our status issue has been woven through this Jenius blog and can be summarized as:

---"Associated Republic" -- Ha!

---"Statehood" -- No way

---"Independence" -- Get real (No, I mean it: Show up and be real, you ghosts)

The U.S position has always been: We're not giving you anything... unless you ask for it specifically. In other words, "No tickee, no laundry." We have no tickee. And We never will.

For as the irritating Dees also points out, We have this asphixiating need for "No change" which leads to the paralyzing shutdown response of "Whatever" when it comes time to actually deal with change. In terms of status We've moved from "Be Our sugar daddy" (literally) to "We'd like to be like a sugar daddy...someday." We've gone from having Our hand out to raising it to get attention, sometimes as a fist, at other times as a wave and quickly putting it down when We'd rather not get noticed.

Our status issue has very little impact on Our daily lives, where Our status quo is best described as resigned despair. Like any sports team will show you, morale is key to improved performance, for only a winning attitude leads to developing a winning tradition. The more We let Our attitude slide, the less We achieve. And in that vicious downward spiral, We lose sight of how much We are actually losing by not deciding Our own status issue.

It biols down to this: The status issue is mishandled by a handful of sub-standard sycophants. Our status quo sucks too many--maybe a majority--into a whirlpool of inaction. We'd be so much better off if only We could switch the many and the few... and then let the few drown.

The Jenius Has Spoken.

Eggplants and "Education"

2008-06-16T16:12:00.001-04:00

Ever so often I'll retry or rethink something I've made up My mind on. Not many things, mind you, for I am a Jenius and there's nothing wishy-washy about that. It's simply a good exercise in rational analysis.

For example: Eggplants. Don't like 'em. They look like a bruise and taste like one. However, about every two years, I'll try some eggplant. I did so recently and My verdict is: Don't like 'em. Taste like a bruise.

So imagine My reaction when I woke up one recent morning with the idea of going back to college. Going back? To Me that's like having your nuts kicked by a donkey, every day, for four years. (Substitute an appropriate genital part if you lack nuts...) But in the spirit of "Give it the ol' college try" (hahaha), I mulled it over, pondered it, pored over the idea from a variety of angles and nine seconds later arrived at My verdict: Donkey kicking nuts, every day, four years, no way.

In less-descriptive terms, college is a game of half-and-half with no strong upside: Fifty percent "Learn what I tell you to" and fifty percent "Shut up." For Me, that adds up to 100% of "Why the hell should I care?"

Now I know there are exceptions to My formula, but even the die-hardest, tweed-jacketed, pseudo-intellectual will admit that they are exceptions. The norm is the "50/50 Formula" under the guise of "classical," "modern" or "career-enhancing education." In My view, listening to claptrap from a dimwad who can't abide by exploration is like...donkey, nuts, daily, years... You get the picture.

Why should I play the narrow-slanted guessing game of test-taking (one at which I was phenomenally successful, so there's no sour grapes here) when I can freely absorb the larger picture to My satisfaction? Why should I accept less--less knowledge, less exploration, less commitment to learning--while investing more time and more energy? Does this make sense to anyone? It didn't to Me back then, and as soon as I could, I closed that door and had only cracked it open a few times (usually because I was offered a scholarship.) I have closed that door firmly and without further thought.

I know in a year or two, maybe three, I'll try eggplant again. But now I know that I will never consider sitting in a college classroom ever again. Unless I actually want to become an eggplant.

The Jenius Has Spoken.

IMPEACH The Murderous Moron

2008-06-12T16:12:00.002-04:00

From Dennis Kucinich, on the floor of the House of Representatives, June 10th, 2008.

The 35 Articles of Impeachment against President George W. Bush:

#1: Creating a secret propaganda campaign to manufacture a false case for war against Iraq.

#2: Falsely, systematically, and with criminal intent conflating the attacks of September 11, 2001, with misrepresentation of Iraq as a security threat as part of fraudulent justification for a war of aggression.

#3: Misleading the American People and Members of Congress to believe Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction, to manufacture a false case for war.

#4: Misleading the American people and Members of Congress to believe Iraq posed an imminent threat to the United States.

#5: Illegally misspending funds to secretly begin a war of aggression.

#6: Invading Iraq in violation of the requirements of HJRes114.

#7: Invading Iraq without a declaration of war.

#8: Invading Iraq in violation of the U.N. charter and international law.

#9: Failing to provide U.S. troops with body armor and vehicle armor.

#10: Falsifying accounts of U.S. troops deaths and injuries for political purposes.

#11: Establishment of permanent military bases in Iraq.

#12: Initiating a war against Iraq for control of that nation’s natural resources.

#13: Secret task force for directing national energy policy.

#14: Misprison of a felony, misuse and exposure of classified information and cover up (Plame outing).

#15: Providing immunity from prosecution for criminal conduct for contractors in Iraq.

#16: Reckless misspending and wasted U.S. tax dollars with Iraq contractors.

#17: Illegal detention – detaining indefinitely, and without charge, American citizens and foreign captives (suspension of habeus corpus).

#18: Torture – secretly authorizing and encouraging use of torture, as a matter of official policy.

#19: Rendition.

#20: Bush is guilty of an impeachable offence based on Article 20, imprisoning children. Personally, and acting through agents, has held at least 2,500 children in violation of the Geneva Convention and the rights of children in armed conflict, signed by the U.S. in 2002.

#21: Misleading Congress about threats from Iran.

#22: HAS ESTABLISHED A BODY OF SECRET LAWS THROUGH THE OFFICE OF LEGAL COUNSEL. THE YOO MEMORANDUM WAS DECLASSIFIED YEARS AFTER IT SERVED AS LAW UNDER THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH.

#23: Violated Posse Comitatus Act. ESTABLISHED PROGRAMS FOR THE USE OF THE MILITARY IN LAW ENFORCEMENT. MUST BE AUTHORIZED BY THE CONSTITUTION OF THE CONGRESS SO THAT THE MILITARY CANNOT BECOME A NATIONAL POLICE FORCE.

#24: Spying on citizens violating the 4th Amendment.

#25: Directing telecoms to illegally collect databases on U.S. citizens.

#26: Announcing intent to violate laws with signing statements, and then violating those laws.

#27: Failing to comply with congressional subpoenas, and instructing others to do so.

#28: Tampering with free and fair elections. Corruption with the administration of justice. False allegations of voter fraud in selected districts, immediately preceding elections. Undermining electoral processes.

#29: Conspiracy to violate Voting Rights Act of 1965.

#30: Misleading Congress and the American people in an attempt to destroy Medicare.

#31: Hurricane Katrina and the failures of gross negligence of the administration.

#32: Misleading Congress and the American people by systematically undermining debate and policy about global climate change. Article 2, Section 3: Personally and through subordinates including the Vice-President, for not protecting property of people vis-á-vis global climate change through deception. Failure to ratify the Kyoto Protocol. Editing reports - 294 edits by a lobbyist to add data which called into question the facts by muddying them, or diminishing scientific findings about global climate change.

#33: Repeatedly ignored and failed to respond to high level intelligence warnings of planned terrorist attacks in U.S. prior to 9/11.

#34: Obstruction into the investigation of 9/11.

#35: Endangering the health of 9/11 first responders.

Here's a thought: The murderous moron has thus been accused with more Articles of Impeachement than all other past Presidents combined. He lasted eight years too long.

The Jenius Has Spoken.

Answering My Readers

2008-06-10T15:12:00.001-04:00

In response to reader comments:

To Joe, who commented on My latest education post, here's My response: The basic tools We need to be self-educated--that schools absolutely fail to teach--are:

1) Contextual thinking: The "why" about things and the relationships between facts. In essence, schools fail miserably at providing the connective framework needed to develop knowledge. Yes, Columbus discovered America in 1492; most kids know that. What most kids don't know is Columbus' nationality, the reason he sailed for Spain rather than the mighty sea empire of Portugal and what conditions made this trip anything but a foregone conclusion.

Many of you will say "Who cares about all that crap?" and that proves--beyond a shadow of a doubt--that you're the quintessential product of a stupid factory... in both senses of the term. Without context, without connections between facts, knowledge cannot emerge. The skill needed to develop this tool is the curiosity to ask "why" and add facts as they come into view. Once you learn how to do it, you can learn anything you choose to focus on.

2) Critical thinking: Beginning with logic and running the gamut to include even knowing how to trust your instincts, critical thinking is absolutely vital to self-education. Without it, a comic book and a textbook have the same learning value: None. With it, a comic book and a textbook have immense learning value: Each in their own way. Lack of critical thinking makes an average moron a murderous one, and makes an average person an unwitting dupe to lies, falsehoods and propaganda. Once you learn how to do it, no man or concept is your master

3) Imagination: School does everything it can to quash imagination, because imagination has the power to explore beyond all horizons. The school system wants to act like the end-all and be-all: Imagination places it within its proper context of "tiny wasted space." Imagination, cultivated so it doesn't roam willy-nilly, but soars on currents it can only feel, flows naturally from why, what about, how about and maybe. Think back over your school days and remember the reaction to questions or answers that began with those words. To a hammer, the whole world is a nail. Imagination leaps the gaps--for there are always gaps--and prepares the way for a bridge to "over there." And no, you don't teach imagination: You teach how to use it. Once you learn how to use it, there is no limit to how much you can learn.

+++++++++

Joe asked Me what We can do to "give The Fools what's theirs, sideways and with the sharp corners exposed." Gabriel posted a link to a "furious and indignant" local Fool Cristobal Colón (one of three who voted against freezing the automatic legislative pay raise) who had this to spew about his "reduced" benefits and now-frozen 22% pay raise:

...(P)risoners in Puerto Rico have more rights than legislators because they vote two days before the elections. "If they die that night (of the elections), their vote still counts. If we die the day of the elections, our vote doesn't count."

Are you shitting Me, Colon-Breath? Here's an idea: Drop dead. And take a prisoner with you.

Back to Joe. Here's the simple formula:

A) Vote them out of office.

B) Whoever stays or comes in gets microscopically watched. I'm talking 24/7 colonoscopy of their legislative and gubernatorial actions. The Information Soldier talked about a "political memory" website, and there are a couple of congressional watchdog sites doing their thing. The Internet is perfect for this, We don't need many volunteers (retired teachers would be perfect at this) and the media would slowly pick up on the trend so that it eventually dawns on The Fools that their asses belong to Us... and We are aiming kicks.

In any case, drop by My post "Mass Transit Woes" and check out Joe's lengthy and fascinating comment. To MC Don Dees, who suggested I join a chess club: Good idea. It's a silent game. To The Information Soldier, thanks for the encouragement and welcome back. To The Picky Gramar Lady: No, I don't spell-check. And to the rest of you who call to tell me what you think, thanks for reading.

The Jenius Has Spoken.

Give It to Them

2008-06-09T14:12:00.001-04:00

We're about to get hit with a 22% "fuel adjustment" rate hike in Our next electric bill.

Twenty. Two. Percent.

My nearest neighbor is a 74-year old woman who has a pension, Social Security and one-third the rental income of a four-apartment converted house. By and large, she's pretty much upper middle class when it comes to retirees. Her usual electric bill will rise from $34.00 (a low average for a thrifty couple, but she has respiratory therapy equipment running every other day) to about $41.00. No big deal, right?

She has no car, using public transportation to get around. Rates there have risen about 35%, so that her weekly average of $25.00 in fares is now closer to $34.00. No big deal, right?

Food prices have surged 12-25% on some items. She has chosen to switch to lower-priced items, but cheaper foods are often less healthy. As a diabetic, she has to be careful. Her grocery bills have gone up from $260.00 a month to $325.00...and she eats less. No big deal, right?

The rental income she shares with her two sisters is what keeps My neighbor off the public dole. She doesn't receive food stamps or any other government aid. Her pension was earned through 28 years of factory work and she paid for her Social Security. The rental income she receives every month adds $370.00 to her fixed benefits, enough for her to buy medication and an occasional trip to San Juan to visit the Old City.

Now the government is asking her to pay the 7% "consumption" tax on that income, claiming it is not her "primary income." That's right: The Fools want her to fork over $26.00 every month of her "secondary income."

No big deal, right? It's just $26.00 a month.

While gas prices rise, making her electric bill, bus fares and groceries more expensive. Her added expenses for those basic necessities is already about $110.00 and rising. But why worry! She can just charge more rent, right? No big deal.

Two apartments were vacated in the past month as both tenants lost their jobs. The apartment above mine is rented to her niece, who pays half-rent. Her $370.00 "secondary" income is now only $200.00. She's lost $170.00 a month while adding $110.00 in expenses, a $280.00 negative swing. On a fixed income of about $1,050, that's almost a 30% loss. That is a big deal.

But who cares, right? The government has to make up its shortfall in some way, right? The same government that has steadfastly refused to find alternative energy sources to crude oil, that mismanages Our utilities to the point of criminal indictments, that dithers and dallies as Our economic prospects dwindle to mere pinpoints and represents Our best interests in exactly the same way AIDS represents a healthy immune system... Yeah, they have to get theirs, don't they?

Well I say We give it to them. Sideways. And with all the sharp corners exposed.

The Jenius Has Spoken.

Mass Transit Woe

2008-06-06T13:12:00.002-04:00

Once again, M(an)y Thanks to Janine Mendes-Franco for posting Jenius on Global Voices. This time it was in the Elections blog. Always an honor.

Is it possible for Us to develop an effective mass transit system? We do have a high population density (1,000+ persons per square mile) on a land mass that's barely 3,600 miles in area. We have a main hub (San Juan) whose population more than doubles by day, as roughly 800,000 people move into and through it on weekdays. And We have an elevated train/bus system in place with a population that has relatively low income per capita to pay for ever-rising expenses, such as gas and acquiring heavily-taxed new cars.

But We have more roads per square mile than any place in the U.S. of part of A.

So We're doomed. Because those roads are proof positive of two things:

1) Not enough centralized destinations to increase population density, and...
2) An ingrained culture of getting there at leisure.

The only places where mass transit works are where population density is enormous (Tokyo, New York City, Central London), traffic is slow and/or expensive (same cities) or where incomes are too low to buy and service cars (Mexico City.) San Juan's lack of urban planning has created a city where hundreds of thousands of people need to gather (work, services, entertainment), but in a scatter-shot way. So you get a relatively high density (close to 11,000 persons per square mile), but they must move in too many disparate directions.

The two solutions would have been to build up (as in height) so as to concentrate more people in smaller areas or plan for a hybrid "long distance/short shuttle" system that reached out to extend San Juan's "reach" while cutting down walking distances to most locations to under 8 minutes. The first solution is engineering; the second is social engineering.

The local Urban Train/Metro Bus systems fails to become a true mass transit option for many reasons, but the two basic ones are that it continues to force people to drive into San Juan for access (so you might as well keep on driving) and it truly covers only 35-40% of the final destinations passengers may have. Yes, it does "pass through" about 75% of the City, but when you have to walk 20 minutes to reach an office or store, you aren't close enough to use mass transit: You're better off using a car.

The old público system, "public cars" that drove set routes between outlying areas in towns and between towns worked well when cars were uncommon. On an Island where the average family owns 1.9 cars, this system is obsolete. Taxis are tourism-oriented in San Juan, thus they are expensive. Over the rest of the Island, taxis are públicos with a higher price; that's not a mass transit solution, either.

To create a mass transit system for San Juan would require tearing up most of the City's current structure and dropping a train/shuttle hybrid network in its place. That network would have to reach out about 10-12 miles from San Juan, so that commuters can drive quickly to access points and get into the City easily, while still being able to ride to within a short walk of their destination. (And if you think I'm harping too much on proximity, you're wrong and I'm right. When was the last time you walked 10 minutes through an urban area to get somewhere?)

Combine a high numbers of cars, a high number of paved miles and a high population density and you have a formula for gridlock. Toss in rising gas prices, increased taxes and government gouging in the form of penny-ante bureaucracy and you have a formula for road-based rage.

It's going to happen. If this Island's so-called leadership was stupid enough to let truckers block most of San Juan's traffic for one day over a mere dispute over license fees, imagine what will happen when truckers and cab drivers and private citizens fed up with feeling helpless while trapped in their vehicles for hours a day decide they want to make themselves heard?

Carmaggedon is too harsh a word...but it won't be far from the mark.

The Jenius Has Spoken.

Hillar(it)y and Ba(r)ack(o)

2008-06-04T10:42:00.004-04:00

Hillary Clinton won the local Democratic primary.

By a landslide.

Two-to-one margin over Barack Obama.

The fate of the presidential election of 2008 in the U.S. of part of A. hung in the balance and We were at the crux of the matter, at the center of political primacy, at the very tipping point of it all as the power brokers to and of the most-watched election in history...

And We don't mean jack-shit to any of it.

Not to Hillary.

Not to Barack.

Not to Democrats.

And not to the U.S. of part of A.

Will Hillary come back to campaign here in her potential run for President? Hell no.

Will Barack come back to campaign here in his potential run for President? Hell no.

Is this an argument for statehood for Puerto Rico, the idea that We should have a vote for President? Hell no.

It's an argument for waking up and smelling the fucking coffee: To the U.S. of part of A., to Hillar(it)y and Bar(r)ack(o), to the Democrats and the Republicans who deign to notice Us and to the rest of the nation, We mean nothing more than easy cash.

Once We acknowledge that, and act upon it like responsible, self-respecting adults, We'll make some progress. Until then, We'll continue to wag Our tails and tongues like lapdogs while desperately hoping someone from "up there" will scratch Our ears so that We can keep pretending it means We're "partners".

It's hell to bark up the wrong tree, ain't it?

The Jenius Has Spoken.

In Black and White

2008-06-02T12:12:00.000-04:00

I never thought I'd see it during My lifetime: A black man--an African-American man--running for President of the United States.

Does this mean that the U.S of part of A. is "over" racism? Is the Pope Jewish? There is, however, a sliver of light for other paths of progress, and that brings Me back to Willie "Too Dark" Miranda, Caguas Mayor and close-but-not-quite candidate for Governor for the misnamed Popular Democratic Party.

Around here the thinking usually goes "If it's done in the States, it can be done here," especially when it comes time for unions to negotiate salary and benefits. Sometimes that "monkey see-monkey do" thought process leads to potential, as in "If a dark-skinned man could break whitey's hold up there, maybe a dark-skinned man could do the same here." And the answer is: Not a chance, compai. Not a chance.

Taken as political talent (an oxymoron, but flow with Me here), Senator Obama and Mayor Miranda can be considered comparative equals. Obama has very few years in Congress, but has crafted a reputation for original thought and straight-speaking that matches Miranda's lengthy (12 years) of successful administration in a growing city. Let's call that level ground.

Like Miranda, Obama is trying to overcome the political muscle of an incumbent, but Obama is doing so as an equal whereas Miranda has to topple the party's "leader." (Hold on a sec... I just ruptured My dictionary by calling The Jellyfish a leader... Hadn't happened since I called Stupid Rosselló an asset to Us... Oh, that's right: I never did that.) On the other (dirty) hand, Miranda's local opponent is facing 19 federal charges.

Quick conclusion based on these elements: Yes, what happened up north could happen here.

Except.

The issue of race--based on skin color--is acknowledged in the States and covered up in Puerto Rico. And you cannot change a situation until you acknowledge it exists. Though there are other reasons that Miranda will not be the gubernatorial candidate, some of them, perhaps the main ones, will be related to "He's not white." Some might add "enough" to that sentence: The Party doesn't.

Why do I insist on this? Why do I pick at this possibly-unseen scab? I've been told that there is no racism in Puerto Rico, which is akin to claiming there is no lying in the media. Of course there's racism in Puerto Rico. Of course it affects politics. But if you pretend it isn't happening, that it simply doesn't exist, then of course We're going to continue to limit Ourselves and Our future.

Lest you think this is some veiled form of support for Rogelio "I'm Hiding Something" Figueroa, the black candidate of the PPR, I'll summarize My analysis of him this way: Rogelio is as useful to Our politics as a baby bottle is to an auto mechanic.

That the U.S has a historical candidate and a potential historical precedent as its Commander in Chief is a marvelous happening. Watch it closely, especially you numb-brains called statehooders. If you're capable of learning, you'll learn a lot. The rest of Us would do well to use it as an imperfect mirror to see what We can do to make Our society stronger.

The Jenius Has Spoken.

Fire Up!

2008-05-30T11:12:00.000-04:00

Whether they call it that or not, the economy is in a recession, and Puerto Rico's has the look and feel of an untreated dengue-fever victim with a broken leg.

Just soak in the imagery...

Citizens, pundits, offal and Fools (notice the descending order) offer tons of potential solutions, but the Key for Fixing Puerto Rico's Economy is a very simple concept: Reduce the number of government employees.

Nothing new there, right? Hell, I've kicked that old coconut around several times. What else can be said about a bureaucratic tumor that absorbs over 40% of direct and indirect jobs? (Call them what they are: votes.) How can an economy improve when a little over 81% of its total government budget is set to pay salaries and benefits? Let's just hope that the estimated 10-12% of "corruption loss" is in that 81% or otherwise Our government would be running a huge deficit and not getting things done...

Oh.

Having whacked around the old notion (old because it's been valid for five decades), here's the new twist, the Jenius touch that you have unknowingly been waiting for: Turn it into an economic stimulus program by matching funds for new businesses.

The gist is simple: Dump 50,000 government workers, beginning with "advisors." That takes care of some 18,000-23,000 high-priced contracts and doesn't require any type of severance package. Complete the 50,000 cutdown with "permanent" workers who receive the equivalent of a two-year salary-plus-benefits package as a lump sum. (Easily affordable after chopping the numbnut advisors down to size.) Then, have the government match funds for those ex-employees who want to start a new business.

Sure, a lot of the downsized folks will up and leave the Island. Bye-bye! But by making the next step another government investment in new businesses, We can slash the tumor by 10-20%, save government money (short-term and long-term) and launch--what?--500-800 new businesses in a truly far-reaching method.

Here's the kicker: With that much at stake, how much do you bet that idiotic procedures and general bullpuckeyness to start a new business gets slashed dramatically?

Okay, I'm done for today. Tell The Jellyfish (you know I means da guv) and The Fools to get cracking on this... and make sure they understand I mean "to get cracking," not "to get more crack."

The Jenius Has Spoken.

Education Quotes

2008-05-28T22:12:00.002-04:00

Courtesy of My Wonderful Friend, The Picky Grammar Lady (TPGL, for short), a series of quotes about education:

"A fool's brain digests philosophy into folly, science into superstition, and art into pedantry. Hence University education." (George Bernard Shaw)

"College isn't the place to go for ideas." (Helen Keller)

"Bachelor's degrees make pretty good placemats if you get 'em laminated." (Jeph Jacques)

"A university is what a college becomes when the faculty loses interest in students." (John Ciardi)

"Education is a method whereby one acquires a higher grade of prejudices." (Laurence J. Peter)

"I have never let my schooling interfere with my education." (Mark Twain)

"Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten." (B.F. Skinner)

Nice selection, with a strong emphasis on the idea that college is not the end-all and be-all We tend to think it is. (Lest you wonder, TPGL graduated summa cum laude.) The problem, blamed here at colleges and universities, is actually shared by schools at all levels and that is based on the silly notion that "learning" is "school-based." In other words, that schools are the centers of learning in Our lives.

Pifflegab.

At a generous estimate, I think I learned about 20-25% of all I know from being in a classroom. My gut feeling is that 10-15% would be more accurate. If objectively measured, it could actually be less.

I'm far from average in that I read constantly (the average American reads one book a year; I'm averaging 128 a year), skim through 3.7 magazines a month (I go through over 90, most of them biz-tech) and I read 40-50 articles a week off the Web. (Yes, I spend a lot of time alone. Surprised?) The "Great Teacher" for most people is TV; for Me it's a sports channel, with an occasional side of comedy. (TPGL watches no TV and grew up without one. That she lived in Louisiana has no bearing on that fact. I think.)

Concomitant to that silly notion of "school-centric learning" is the sillier notion that educators know what's best for Us to learn. (Hold on...I'm practically wetting Myself with laughter...) Teachers have as much a grasp on education for life as psychologists have on sanity, with both professions coming together like frogs and locusts as plagues upon Our learning potential. Learning for life--the true reason one needs "education"--cannot be in the hands of people who see a restricted time span or thought process limits: Learning happens at all times and in an infinite variety of ways. Saying it belongs in "school years" and in "approved intellectual methods" is condemning the process to needless interruptions and obstacles and thus to widespread failure.

Is it a coincidence that the rise of "psychological" influence in education has turned the whole system into a cesspool of failure? Nuh-uh. It's simply the natural consequence of the unbalanced leading the unqualified.

So, Jenius, who should be in charge of education? Look up at Mark Twain's quote. Each of Us should be in charge of Our own learning, with the knowledge that Our educators will be parents, teachers, neighbors, coaches, clergy, clerks, tellers, and yes, the whole damn village. And with the world being a global village, the whole world teaches each of Us, every day of Our lives

If We choose to learn.

What the educational system needs to do now is teach Us to understand how We learn and provide Us the tools to determine what Our best learning options are, including the tools to analyze and weigh learning sources. The educational system has been saying that for decades, but it's been doing the opposite, marginalizing the learners in ever-narrowing labels while centering ever-greater influence on the frogs and locusts. They're ravaging Our present and Our future.

Enough is enough.

The Jenius Has Spoken.

P.S. If you thought I'd end this post with "Let My people go!", you're sadly mistaken.

P.P.S. From TPGL herself:

TPGL's family did have a TV when she was growing up- it was just black & white and only received one station clearly (TPGL was in high school before she knew that NBC's peacock had a multi-colored tail...).

TPGL's current household doesn't miss TV - although Verizon calls regularly to offer its many cable options. TPGL doesn't miss the endless pharmaceutical commercials for ills she doesn't have, the endless food commercials for processed stuff she doesn't consider "food" and the endless toy commercials for things she doesn't plan to buy for her 8-year-old...

And for the record- TPGL's father was the principal of an elementary school and taught at both elementary and junior high levels in the public school system for 26 years. Education and learning (not just "school") were priorities in the household.

Happy 8th Birthday, Kaleb!

2008-05-26T21:42:00.001-04:00

Over the past year, your defense helped your basketball team win a championship while going undefeated, you drew (and sold) comic books, you became a huge fan of Star Wars, Indiana Jones and Albert Einstein, read something like 20 books (and told Me all about them) and blazed through second grade with a straight-A average. But I also noticed you laughed less. Maybe I'm not funny (I doubt that) or maybe you're getting more sophisticated in your sense of humor or maybe it's that you're seeing the world around you in a larger context, and the joyful laugh of 6 has given way to the tight smile of--now--8.

It hasn't been an easy time for you, as the changes you saw last year have become a working pattern. You haven't said anything, but you were hoping the new house would make a difference. It hasn't. If anything, it seems as if the house has taken on a life and weight like that of a surly uncle, squatting through daily activities as a shadow. Sad to say, but there's nothing you can do about that.

You've started "tuning out" as a defense mechanism. It's not the best tool, but it's the only one you have at hand right now and I know that barring a miraculous leap in self-awareness that I never saw and don't expect, you'll simply perfect it and the cause of it will choose to blame Me rather than see and acknowledge who the real culprit is. That's okay, so long as you and I make sure you learn to use other tools equally well.

And that should be easy because you're learning that it is up to you to learn. You are trying to navigate the difficulties created by your home environment by tackling some of them head-on rather than waiting for them to keep pushing you. You see that school isn't the only teacher, that you can and must teach yourself. So now your questions range from history to science, from Spain's hero to Franklin's kite, from a meteor in Siberia to how metals are mined. You ask and expect an answer. I'm happy to say I've never stopped you from asking, no matter how many questions you come up with (and that I've almost never had to say "I don't know.")

This year, you face going to a new school, My expanded working schedule and I foresee--with deep sadness--that your closeness with your cousins will barely be a part of your 9th birthday, as their interests diverge from yours. At that point, you will be alone in a way that pains Me, and no matter what I do, that sense of loneliness will remain. When that happens, I'll do My part and I know you will do yours. I'm confident you will do yours better than I will deal with Mine.

Basketball season returns, We have the summer to swat baseballs and tennis balls, We'll go to the beach, We'll explore new places and new topics and ever so often, maybe when I least expect it, you will laugh. I hope We laugh often together, now and in the coming years. You're a wonderful boy, a wonderful son and may your laughter be generous and kind forevermore.

Happy Birthday, Kaleb. I love you.

Dad

Today's 25

2008-05-23T19:12:00.002-04:00

It's not all lemon sour pickles at Chez Jenius. There are some moments of sweetness and light. Here's one, from the ever-growing Zen Habits blog. It's not the best list, but it's better than nothing and you can make it best of all.

25 Ways to Help a Fellow Human Being Today

...(S)trike back against the selfishness and greed of our modern world, and help out a fellow human being today. Not next month, but today.

Helping a fellow human being, while it can be inconvenient, has a few humble advantages:

--It makes you feel better about yourself;
--It connects you with another person, at least for a moment, if not for life;
--It improves the life of another, at least a little;
--It makes the world a better place, one little step at a time;
--And if that kindness is passed on, it can multiply, and multiply.

So take just a few minutes today, and do a kindness for another person. It can be something small, or the start of something big. Ask them to pay it forward. Put a smile on someone’s face.

Don’t know where to start? Here’s an extremely incomplete list, just to get you thinking — I’m sure you can come up with thousands more if you think about it.

1) Smile and be friendly. Sometimes a simple little thing like this can put a smile and warm feeling in someone else’s heart, and make their day a little better. They might then do the same for others.

2) Call a charity to volunteer. You don’t have to go to a soup kitchen today. Just look up the number, make the call, and make an appointment to volunteer sometime in the next month. It can be whatever charity you like. Volunteering is one of the most amazing things you can do.

3) Donate something you don’t use. Or a whole box of somethings. Drop them off at a charity — others can put your clutter to good use.

4) Make a donation. There are lots of ways to donate to charities online, or in your local community. Instead of buying yourself a new gadget or outfit, spend that money in a more positive way.

5) Redirect gifts. Instead of having people give you birthday or Christmas gifts, ask them to donate gifts or money to a certain charity.

6) Stop to help. The next time you see someone pulled over with a flat tire, or somehow in need of help, stop and ask how you can help. Sometimes all they need is a push, or the use of your cell phone.

7) Teach. Take the time to teach someone a skill you know. This could be teaching your grandma to use email, teaching your child to ride a bike, teaching your co-worker a valuable computer skill, teaching your spouse how to clean the darn toilet. OK, that last one doesn’t count.

8) Comfort someone in grief. Often a hug, a helpful hand, a kind word, a listening ear, will go a long way when someone has lost a loved one or suffered some similar loss or tragedy.

9) Help them take action. If someone in grief seems to be lost and doesn’t know what to do, help them do something. It could be making funeral arrangements, it could be making a doctor’s appointment, it could be making phone calls. Don’t do it all yourself — let them take action too, because it helps in the healing process.

10) Buy food for a homeless person. Cash is often a bad idea if it’s going to be used for drugs, but buying a sandwich and chips or something like that is a good gesture. Be respectful and friendly.

11) Lend your ear. Often someone who is sad, depressed, angry, or frustrated just needs someone who will listen. Venting and talking through an issue is a huge help.

12) Help someone on the edge. If someone is suicidal, urge them to get help. If they don’t, call a suicide hotline or doctor yourself to get advice.

13) Help someone get active. A person in your life who wants to get healthy might need a helping hand — offer to go walking or running together, to join a gym together. Once they get started, it can have profound effects.

14) Do a chore. Something small or big, like cleaning up or washing a car or doing the dishes or cutting a lawn.

15) Give a massage. Only when appropriate of course. But a massage can go a long way to making someone feel better.

16) Send a nice email. Just a quick note telling someone how much you appreciate them, or how proud you are of them, or just saying thank you for something they did.

17) Show appreciation, publicly. Praising someone on a blog, in front of coworkers, in front of family, or in some other public way, is a great way to make them feel better about themselves.

18) Donate food. Clean out your cupboard of canned goods, or buy a couple bags of groceries, and donate them to a homeless shelter.

19) Just be there. When someone you know is in need, sometimes it’s just good to be there. Sit with them. Talk. Help out if you can.

20) Be patient. Sometimes people can have difficulty understanding things, or learning to do something right. Learn to be patient with them.

21) Tutor a child. This might be difficult to do today, but often parents can’t afford to hire a tutor for their child in need of help. Call a school and volunteer your tutoring services.

22) Create a care package. Soup, reading material, tea, chocolate … anything you think the person might need or enjoy. Good for someone who is sick or otherwise in need of a pick-me-up.

23) Lend your voice. Often the powerless, the homeless, the neglected in our world need someone to speak up for them. You don’t have to take on that cause by yourself, but join others in signing a petition, speaking up a a council meeting, writing letters, and otherwise making a need heard.

24) Offer to babysit. Sometimes parents need a break. If a friend or other loved one in your life doesn’t get that chance very often, call them and offer to babysit sometime. Set up an appointment. It can make a big difference.

25) Love. Simply finding ways to express your love to others, whether it be your partner, child, other family member, friend, co-worker, or a complete stranger … just express your love. A hug, a kind word, spending time, showing little kindnesses, being friendly … it all matters more than you know.

The Jenius Has Quoted.

Ignore This Too

2008-05-21T18:12:00.001-04:00

There's a tendency We have in Puerto Rico to very selectively ignore issues that are eating Us alive. Some examples:

--Our status vis-á-vis the U.S: The only ones who really focus on this issue are the Fools. However, they focus on it so badly and to such a laughable degree of idiocy that We would be better off if they simply dropped the matter altogether.

--Our deteriorating infrastructure: From schools to roads to public facilities, We're going to hell in a (broken) handbasket. The efforts We make are largely patchwork: What We need is wholesale redevelopment, beginning with communications.

--A monolithic economy: From a Third World-type banking system (one huge central bank and wanna-bes as satellites) to an "all eggs in the pharmaceutical (broken) basket," Our economy has the trappings of a poker game played with ice cubes as chips: It's just a matter of time before the game is all wet...then ends with everyone broke.

--A rising tide of tech-savvy youth: Why is this bad? We have nothing to offer them to keep them involved with Us. We bore them with inadequate resources at school, We oversell them in all media while underselling their talents and We curtail their entrepreneurial spirit with enough red tape to choke a whale. When they start leaving--a trickle in 2010, a flood by 2015--you'll wake up in tardy dismay.

--A political system so warped it actually represents outside interests better than Our interests. Who is "outside"? Check where the money trail leads to. Here's a hint: It doesn't stay in Puerto Rico.

Ignorance is bliss. No wonder We're so happy as a people. At least most of Us are. The minority that sees and feels these issues cannot ever rest easy, but toss restlessly wondering how We came to lay in this (broken) bed.

The Jenius Has Spoken.

Employers "Find" Puerto Rico

2008-05-19T18:12:00.002-04:00

Ha.

That's the most this headlined article from The Atlanta Constitution deserves. Here are the chucklers:

"Puerto Rico is part of the United States, so its residents are American citizens." Yes, let's explain to them good ol' boys what Puerto Rico is, shan't We? And while We're at it, can We also explain why nobody gives a tinker's damn?

"...the latest trend includes a greater variety of industries, such as hotels and resorts, hospitals, and meat-processing operations." Oh, yeah, definitely a brain drain issue We should all be worried about, considering that "hospitals" means "nurses" and everything else is "maintenance and factory floor."

"Cargill Meat Solutions, a pork processor in Beardstown Ill., began recruiting workers from Puerto Rico last year. They now have dozens of workers from the island, according to various news reports." Yeah, don't ask what's in your sausage... or who's making them.

About the Aspen Skiing Company recruitment: "About 20 Puerto Rican men and women were recruited to work as maids, maintenance workers, and other hotel jobs." I rest My "brain drain" case...

"The unemployment rate on the island is about 10 percent, twice as high as on the U.S. mainland, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics." Oh, please. Lies, damn lies and statistics, people, and unemployment statistics take the cowcake. Real unemployment in Puerto Rico is not 10%, or even a hideous 20%: It's closer to 25% and if you chuck in welfare tapeworms and Fools it could be as high as 35%.

Bureau of Labor Statistics: Kiss My black ass. The numbers you purport to sling around are bogus, and when it comes to Puerto Rico, they would need God's blessing to rise to bogus. And Atlanta Constitution, you're so far out to sea on this issue that you just hit land and called it "The New World." Employers didn't "find" Puerto Rico: We found them. Even your own article tells the redneck region how it happens: "The effort started through a Meadowbrook employee in the human resources department from Puerto Rico who helped the company make contacts through her family on the island."

So wise up, Atlanta (Morning) Constitution(al): Employers haven't "found" Puerto Rico since Jesse Fewkes wrote about Our people in the early 1900s. We go to where they--the employers--are and We make the connections. Stop acting like We're some secret stash of menial labor and that your article is some sort of "news" item. Just because you can't hack it anymore or have a history of "whitey-first" superciliousness doesn't mean you can come into My bailiwick and act all snooty and stupid.

Although I'm willing to bet gold chunks to Dixie grits that that's the best you can do. And I hate grits.

The Jenius Has Spoken.

Dis Incentives

2008-05-16T17:12:00.001-04:00

Local business leaders tell Me that what We're cooking in terms of a new Incentives Law is going to make Puerto Rico the most-attractive business spot in the world. They talk about tax-free this and subsidy-based that and not once have I heard any of them tackle the single most important point in the whole discussion:

Why would Uncle Sam allow it?

I'm talking about the Uncle Sam who's facing a recession and a lame president with the leadership skills and moral compass of roadkill. I'm talking about the Uncle Sam who sees his business leadership base eroding faster than a sand castle in a Katrina-ravaged levee. I'm talking about the same Uncle Sam who didn't give a rat's ass about corporate profits under Treasury Section 936 when it came time to choose between "votes" and "Puerto Rico."

What makes these business and industry leaders think that Puerto Rico is going to be able to craft a set of incentives that leave Singapore, Ireland and the other current investment hotspots in Our dust without having the U.S. of part of A. either (a) Rejecting it under federal statutes; (b) Rejecting it under established commercial statutes or (c) Simply slapping it down at the congressional level and doing it themselves?

I'd call these leaders naive if it weren't for the fact that they aren't: They are ignoring the point because if they stop to think about it, We'd have no apparent solution to Our crisis. And delusion is better than despair.

So the words fly, the banalities are uttered and the 800-pound moose in the breakfast nook snuffles all over the doughnuts and We pretend it's the morning breeze. Should We continue to develop new ideas and potential solutions? Of course. Should We do it in a vacuum, in a bubble of Our limited self-interest that refuses to acknowledge the real world?

No. That's what got Us here in the first place.

The Jenius Has Spoken.

Government (Non)Employees

2008-05-14T16:12:00.000-04:00

A couple of things that are bothering Me:

---Despite a binding vote, the local legislature--Fool's Paradise--has moved with the blazing speed of snail poo on the issue of unicamerality. The real issue of that vote, early in the current governor's useless term, was not that We wanted to be like Nebraska, but that We wanted a reduction in the number of idiots running amok. As such, the Fools have no incentive to work on this, Our collective will seldom coalesces for anything other than voting on "talent" shows and the whole exercise becomes one that defines futility.

Here's an idea: Let's shelve the whole unicameral issue and have the Jellyfish governor and the Fool's Paradise request an across-the-board 20% reduction in the number of government employees. THAT will get attention, start a useless debate (useless because them firings ain't gonna happen) and consume another four years of non-action.

---Speaking of government employees, Let's cancel the unions they have. Uh-huh, I said cancel. As in eliminate, terminate and expunge. Why are employees who can't be fired unless they are butt-buddies with another convict in their eighth month in jail "protected" by unions? The government gives these essentially underachieving dolts a level of protection that practically carries their inertia from Day One to Pension, so what are unions doing in the mix? Here's what: Creating another level of widespread graft.

That's it. They have no other function. None. It's all about graft. Unions create a political barrier that is used to extort money and privileges, by politicians, government officials and union leadership. If you think The Jenius is sounding neo-con loony, here's a question: How many judicial cases have local government unions won in defense of their positions?

Here's the answer: None since the 1970s, when the last Employee Protection Act laws were implemented. Coincidence? Hell no. Just the objective (or at least, judicial) confirmation that the local government union is a fiction without a shred of utility... except for quasi-legal and even illegal purposes.

Get rid of the unions and let government employees spend their soft-earned money on other wastes of time and money. Like political campaigns.

The Jenius Has Spoken.

Damning Lies

2008-05-12T15:12:00.002-04:00

According to a National Center for Addiction and Substance Abuse Center study, done in 2005, prescription drugs cause more deaths than a whole slew of other causes:

Cause of Death                                 Annual Death Toll 2005
Prescription Drugs                                       32,000
Suicide                                                            30,622
Car Accidents                                                26,347
Firearms                                                        29,000
Homicide                                                        20,308
Sexual Behavior                                            20,000
HIV/AIDS                                                     17,011
Illegal Drugs                                                  17,000
Anti-Inflammatory                                         7,600
Terrorism                                                            310

I looove the round numbers, the idea that "Sexual Behavior" is a top cause and did you notice where "Terrorism" ranks? Seems there's more American deaths in Iraq "preventing" terrorism and waaay more Iraqi killed by "protection" efforts than Americans killed by prescription drugs and firearms combined.

Okay, where's the Puerto Rico angle, Jenius? Simple: We made most of those prescription drugs.
So, technically, We're accessories to these deaths, right? And see that "Firearms" number? If I remember correctly, We contributed about 785 of those deaths that year. "Suicide"? We put up about 520 of those. "Accidents"? Close to 730.

"AIDS"? About 230. "Illegal drugs?" Anywhere from 240 to 1,600, depending on whether you count just identified illegal drug overdoses or illegal drug-related deaths, like drive-bys and turf wars. "Anti-Inflammatory"? Don't know. "Sexual Behavior"? Who knows? And under "Terrorism," I wonder if they count the F.B.I. killing a bomb-maimed (his own fault) local criminal fugitive?

Now considering that We're one of 54 States and Territories comprising roughly 1.4% of the U.S. of part of A.'s population, We seem to be on the high end of contributing dead people. (You can ignore My "prescription drug deaths accessory" quip since you already have.) And because the range goes from lies to damn lies to statistics, you'd be wrong, because the study quoted above didn't include Puerto Rico. I did, for comparison purposes.

But in terms of the dead in aforementioned Iraq, We've lost 35 of Our own and counting, 35 out of over 4,077...and counting.

Are We contributing "Our fair share" to the current Iraq war? Nobody is. There is no "fair share." There's only the pain of lies leading to the pain of death.

Lies, damn lies, statistics... and murderous moron lies.

The Jenius Has Spoken.

Cloud Humans

2008-05-09T14:12:00.000-04:00

Under what circumstances would a cyborgian "human-cloud computing society" emerge?

The general thrust of that question has a few notions implied:

(1) That cloud computing will grow pervasive, if it hasn't already done so.

(2) That humans would want to "meld" with that capacity.

(3) That the "melding" would be possible for long-term interaction.

The basis of My question is that cloud computing is not so much about technology as it is about the services and benefits that technology provides. Because it is based on the idea of gain rather than an idea of "tools", it would seem natural to see people evolving towards wanting to have those benefits all the time.

(Yes, I'm headed into science fiction territory. Not the first time, you know.)

Here's My checklist:

--A society that sees benefits more than technology, i.e., isn't focused on "the newest gadget," but rather on "what's in it for Me."

--A society that is restricted in some way, either geographically, economically or less likely, politically. (Political restrictions usually limit technology severely.)

--High population density leading to increased social interactions and higher levels of competition.

--A society with a sense of "looseness" or--better term--an indifference to rigidity in terms of what's acceptable. Open-minded.

--Economic incentives based on either marginal income, limited opportunities and/or an impetus to get ahead/get out.

Based on that, one could say that My proposed "human-cloud" hybrid would emerge in big cities that serve as technology, economic and social hubs. Think mega-cities such as New York, Tokyo, and Hong Kong, or maybe San Francisco what with Silicon Valley tech-heads and venture capital running loose. But there's another potential incubator: Islands. Singapore comes to mind.

And Puerto Rico.

Before you scoff: Thousands of marginalized youths, mostly competitive males, with access to technology, a burning desire to get ahead to get out and a very "open" mind based more on need and greed than on rationale. Access to the deep pool of information and leverage offered by the cloud would be seen as a godsend, if not a basic right.

How many of them would it take--walking human-cloud go-getters hooked into noteworthy levels of success--before the fringe trend starts converting more mainstream folks into hybrids?

Assuming the human-cloud hybrid is possible, of course. And you know it is possible.

All it takes is the desire to move from clod to... cloud.

The Jenius Has Spoken.

Them, Me and Not Us

2008-05-07T13:12:00.000-04:00

Another Thank You to Janine Mendes-Franco for picking up a Jenius post again. Someday, I have to meet her.

They gather just outside the fence that separates the Presbyterian church from the school area. Their ages range from late-40s/early 50s to mid-70s. They greet each other lightly, casually and after routine preliminaries, they begin their conversation. And lord love a duck are they a banal bunch.

The heat. Or the rain. Or yesterday's heat/rain. The price of gas. One or two headlines from a local daily, most often some hideous crime. The governor and how useless he is. The legislature and how useless some of them (usually the governor's men and women) are. Taxes. And whatever happened years ago to one of them that has a passing connection to today's insipidness.

They used to greet Me. They don't bother anymore, for I never answered. Now they refuse to acknowledge My presence, which serves Us all fine. For almost two years, their group hasn't varied very much, the parents and grandparents of My son's classmates. They know I always show up with something to read or jabbering away on My cell phone. I sit near them because there is no space far from them. I wish they'd dry up and blow away. They probably wish Me the same or worse.

My disgust with them is based on the bright children they come to pick up. Fun-loving, sweet kids who ask Me if it's My birthday every day (as I claim) or if My hat was in a movie (as I also claim.) They know I'm kidding. The way I see it, school's out! Time to have fun! But the adults around Me are ass-deep in their own ruts, incapable of a new thought, a new idea or a new way of seeing things. They see Me (most likely) as an alien, a clown, a bad influence and/or someone who's clear proof that not everyone who is a parent should be.

Maybe I'm making too much of these brief encounters, these half-hours of mid-afternoon avoidance We engage in. But I bet I'm right, for after all, their kids and grandkids ask Me if I read so much because I'm in college (because "they" say reading is only for those in school, perhaps?), if I show up early because I lost My job (self-employed professionals only exist in movies, right?) and if My son likes being with Me (I kid you not, pun intended.)

Now you tell Me: Is that the kind of question a kid thinks up to ask an adult all by himself?

I don't think so either. "They," the rut dwellers, can't figure Me out. Maybe I haven't nailed them either. But one thing We're sure of: We don't give a damn for each other.

And yet, that probably means We lose more than We might gain, right?

The Jenius Has Spoken.

THE Technology for Puerto Rico

2008-05-05T12:12:00.000-04:00

What technology--applied wholesale to Puerto Rico--would have the greatest positive impact?

I asked that question (or one very much like it) in My lunch with Gabriel Pagán, of I Can't Spell fame. In any case, the question posed above is the one I'll answer.

My first ideas on this were that the technology in question would have to cover three basic characteristics:

1) User-friendly: Think "cell phone" versus "computer."

2) Economical: Same example.

3) Capable of "trendiness." Harder to define, but the same example applies. Cell phones come out more often with a variety of options and personalizations, much more so than a computer.

That's when I noticed (as you have) that what We're looking for here is "the new cell phone." It's debatable if the cell phone has had a great positive impact, but an opponent to them would have a very hard time arguing against the value of their ubiquitous presence.

I gave this more thought than I estimated I would. In fact, I may have spent more time with this question than with practically anything else I've posted as The Jenius. (Make of that what you will.) I even confirmed the definition of technology to make sure I would leave no stone unturned.

Those of you familiar with My writings and/or personality would assume I went down a few strange side-streets... and I did. And through it all, I kept coming back to one concept:

Accelerated learning.

You can pick your jaw off the desk now. I mean it: Accelerated learning. Here's why.

---Puerto Rico has a stronger tendency to short-term thinking than long-term. Now that's certainly a human trait, but We generally evince it to a higher degree than most. Accelerated learning, if it hits the tripartite sweet spot noted above, would radically alter Our society. The bad side of short-term thinking is opportunism, which We have in spades and nearly idolize as a lifestyle. That's where accelerated learning makes its largest impact: It makes (can make) opportunism an incentive to learn, instead of an incentive to "slide by." The more you know--or the more you can learn--the more you can take advantage of the circumstances.

---Handled by business, it would take the process of education out of the government's hands, also reducing Our witless over-reliance on that Fool's Paradise. Accelerated learning would move education from "class" to "individual," from "sub-standard" to "results-based" and from "propaganda" to "empowerment." How else would it be successful, if it didn't tailor the service and product to Me, gave Me My money's worth and made Me feel better about who I am and what I can do? The positive benefits of that kind of impact are almost staggering to behold.

---And in the ideal world where accelerated learning comes to be as I envision, the simple truth of "The more you learn, the more you can learn" could lift Us to seek Our true place on the world stage, beyond a pretty face wearing a sash, a pair of hips swiveling on a stage or a sweaty hand raised in victory. A place on the world stage where the mind matters, where thoughts make a fundamental difference and Our talents as a People--all Our talents, not just those to entertain--are made manifest.

Okay, Gabriel, MC Don Dees, Soldier and anyone else who wants to jump in: What's your answer? I'm sure they'll be well worth the effort.

The Jenius Has Spoken.

Time for CeaseFire

2008-05-02T11:12:00.001-04:00

The local statistic is staggering: Puerto Rico has more murders per 100,000 residents than any State in the U.S. of part of A.

Spanning the past 15 years, Puerto Rico's murder rate looks more like guerrilla warfare or a putative civil war than just a "crime statistic." The reason it hasn't galvanized a rush to action is because most of the dead are gang members related to the illegal drug trade. They come from the fringes of mainstream society and thus, illogically, their deaths are ignored.

The illogic stems from the incompatibility between the indifference to their deaths as opposed to the vivid reality of their "unperceived" existence. The correlation between illegal drugs and overall crime is beyond discussion and a short drive down any residential street in Puerto Rico shows the reality of that connection: Our houses look like cages. Metalwork all around a house, no matter how elaborate, makes cages.

Current efforts to reduce the murder rate are best described as "lip service," where the lips are frequently applied to some ass, whether it's Uncle Sam's, a Fool's or a media member. And yet, since 1995, the City of Chicago has implemented a successful program called CeaseFire that has dramatically reduced the murder rate amongst gang members. The overall benefits to the communities--and thus the City--are quite likely impossible to define, but are indisputably positive.

The five pillars of CeaseFire are:

--Street-level outreach: Street-smart leaders, often ex-gang members, being vocal and visible leaders for options beyond gang life and death.

--Public education: Not just schools, but communities posting and conveying the messages of change, growth, responsibility and non-violence.

--Community mobilization: Not just the gang-ridden communities, but all communities, coming together to discover "their problem" is "My problem" and "their future" is "Our future."

--Faith leader involvement: Spiritual guidance can often teach what otherwise would never be learned. Churches have held a healing role throughout history, but must be proactive to make a program like CeaseFire work well.

--Police participation: The gang member's enemy is not the policeman, but the idea that a gang is the best way to thrive. It is the police force, as part of the justice system, that has first contact with gangs. It is through them that the first steps for change are made.

How difficult would it be to adapt the CeaseFire program platform to Puerto Rico? After all, there are plenty of Puerto Rican gang members and gangs in Chicago; it's not like We'd be importing more culture shock. And as a response to the cynics who say "You want Us to rely on Our police, Our schools, Our clergy and Our government to get this done?" I say "Of course. We don't need to change everything at once. One gang at a time can be managed by a few good people. And if you don't think We have at least a few good people in all these institutions, then you're no longer a cynic: You're defeated."

The rest of Us, are not defeated. But We have to put up a better effort.

The Jenius Has Spoken.