Gil The Jenius

Statehood For Puerto Rico? Nuh-uh

2012-12-11T08:12:00.000-04:00

I'll give you a hint about where this post is going: the first title for it was "Statehood For Puerto Rico? Fuck Off."

Based on the overhyped, overwrought and oversold November 6th referendum, the White House hand an online petition going asking if statehood for Puerto Rico should be considered. I would have added the words "seriously" and "by Congress," but that's just Me: I'm a stickler for actually saying what I mean and doing what I say. I'm funny that way.

In all, the petition had a target number of signatures it needed to make it "official," as in "We'll write up something and give it to someone who will forward it to some person," but--and you know where I'm headed with this--the petition failed to reach its goal and the White House shut the "offer" down. Closed. Cerrado. Fuck off.

Now it's true that a ton of people, a majority I would say, don't believe that online petitions, even from the White House, are truly tools of democracy. On the other hand (a phrase replaced nowadays by "Having said that," which is moronic use of English along the lines of "At this point in time" for "Now." which would make "nowadays" be "atthispointintimedays"...) online petitions have forced policy changes, the reversing of corporate decisions and--yes--swayed referenda. So even if most online petitions are useless, there is plenty of evidence that if you care enough, they can be useful.

Obviously, statehooders don't care enough. And neither do the potential statehood approvers at the government and citizen levels. And this second group, the most important one? They've never cared. Never will, either.

The problem with statehooders--aside from their obvious lack of self-respect, national pride and ignorance about the country they slobber to join--is that they truly, deep down, want the U.S. of part of A. to impose statehood, to simply say "You are mine, now" in the way a stupid addle-headed useless gash of a girl moons over a glittery pasty-faced gutless douchebag vampire. Statehooders don't want to make statehood happen, they want it to happen in the pseudo-magical way that boons are dispensed in fairy tales.

Now here's the thing: that paragraph above, with minor changes, applies to another of Our groups on "political activism":

The problem with independentistas--aside from their obvious lack of self-discipline, cowardice of convictions and total ignorance about the country We could create--is that they truly, deep down, want the U.S. of part of A. to impose independence, to simply say "You are not mine, now" in the way a stupid addle-headed useless gash of a girl moons over a glittery pasty-faced gutless douchebag vampire. Independentistas don't want to make independence happen, they want it to happen in the pseudo-magical way that boons are dispensed in fairy tales.

And yes, some independentistas will say "We have heroes who fought for independence!", but I'll retort that "Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent" and point out that if criminals--people who preyed upon their own brethren--are your heroes, you need new heroes. Or decapitation.

So.

What are the odds now that statehood will be seriously placed before Congress, what with the """61%""" support in the November 6 referendum, which melts to 45% in the light of objective reality? 10-to-1? 25-to-1?

Allow Me to toss this out: how about 50-t0-1?

HAHAHahahahahahahanochanceinhell

The Jenius Has Spoken.

Innovate? Hell No, Imitate!

2012-12-04T08:12:00.000-04:00

Recently-elected (faux)governor Larva Lite--uh, AGaPito...--uh, let Me try again... Alejandro García is working hard----to "reinvent government." Sounds good. Worthy goal. I'd tip My hat to him if I wore one. (That's funny if you know Me.) Let's give him a hand!

Across the face. As in bitch-slap. Because even a Larva Lite knows that this whole "reinventing government" shtick is older than dirt and just as smart. It's a publicity stunt with the agility of a pre-Ramses I mummy...tightly wrapped.

No, it's not about innovation. If We had the capacity to innovate, to truly be creative about reinventing what passes for government, We'd have a penthouse rather than an outhouse. The fact is, We have the creative capacity of a brain-damaged lizard when it comes to making Our government "better": Our lizard-brain jerkwads and fanatical stupidity make government "better" only for greedy assholes who smarmily fuck the rest of Us.

Yeah, that's the kiddie version. You should have read the adult version...

So screw all this hullabaloo about "reinventing" Our government. Larva Lite might as well try to make giraffes sing La Traviata or reunite missing socks with their lonely left-behind sad socks. (That made Me giggle on a couple of levels...) On a scale of "Done" to "Not a fucking chance in hell," Larva Lite is so far from "Done" he'd need the Hubble to even see the outer edges of "Not a fucking chance in hell."

So what is your suggestion, O Jenius of the Potty Mouth? This: imitate.

Two examples. The first is Germany, home of beer, Wienerschnitzel and Wagner's comic touch. Here's their claim for imitation: "Germany says it will achieve (this year) a fully balanced budget across all layers of government this year thanks to a resilient economy, low unemployment, higher tax revenues and low borrowing costs."

Bam! Done. Look at that list! "Fully-balanced budget." "All layers of government." "Resilient economy." "Low unemployment." "Higher tax revenues." "LOW BORROWING COSTS!"

Holy shit. That's like, made-to-order for Us!

What? You don't think that's possible? That list is too, well, pastel en el cielo for Us?

Ukrainian Prime Minister, not half-assed Nazi salute.

Agreed. Larva Lite can only do what a Larva Lite can (barely) do.

So here's what he and his ilk should imitate: Entire Ukraine government resigns.

Yup. They up and quit. Took a look in the proverbial mirror, saw the shitstorm they were in and decided to just turn tail and get the hell out of Donetsk.

Can't blame them. It's the right thing to do. Let other people take over, you know, smart, dedicated, results-focused, talented people. Let the cream rise to the challenge rather than dropping dregs on dregs.

And to those who say We should wait until Larva Lite and his ilk actually get into government before telling them--or demanding--that they quit, here's My response: they won't make a positive difference. Our government is wrecked, no matter who paws the steering wheel and grinds the gears.

I wish We were headed for Germany's example, but the fact is, the Ukraine shows Us Our best path.

I wonder how you say "Ay bendito" in Russian...

The Jenius Has Spoken.

A New Leaf: Philip Newey And His Book

2012-11-28T08:12:00.000-04:00

Things have been quiet lately here in Jenius Land, the blog. Busy elsewhere in Jenius Land, the reality show. To the point where today's post marks a fundamental change in what I do here. I shall, of course, explain.

The Jenius is a writing creation. But it isn't all the writing I do. (I hear sighs of relief from some of you. Go away.) Just peek left and you'll see a cavalcade of colorful covers that represent part of My writings, in fiction.

Yes, I write stories; some longer than others.

Which brings Me--somehow--to one Philip Newey. Author. Reviewer. And like Me, developing his craft and brand as a self-published writer. That's him over there on the right. Say "Hi!"

I met Philip through Reddit, a multi-layered, multi-faceted hyperkinetic expanse in cyberspace that mimics real life the way comic books mimic Olympian gods. He offered to review books and I volunteered My Enter The Phenomenologists. In a couple of days, he came back to Me with a 4-star rating for the book and a review that showed he read carefully, took notes and cared about doing his part right.

Now really, what more could you ask for? Actions speak louder than words and Philip's deeds were thunderous roars of "Right on!" execution.

So when he asked Me to post a link to his blog, I said yes immediately.

But.

My "writer blog," Gil C. Schmidt At Work, has been on hiatus all year. (How's that for irony?) To really help Philip, I would prefer to place his blog link where more people could see it and multiply the effort...

So Philip Newey's blog link goes here. And you can buy his novel, Maybe They'll Remember Me, from Amazon.

That's the book's cover on the right. Racy devil.

And that opens the door to this idea: I just completed NaNoWriMo and noticed that there were several dozen other writers from Puerto Rico engaged in that 50,000-words-in-November challenge. I've highlighted Brethren from many walks of life here, but with one exception, I've seldom presented writers.

It's time to correct that.

So.

If you are a writer, preferably from Puerto Rico, but anywhere else is more than okay and you wish to have your work mentioned/highlighted/presented here on The Jenius, let Me know in the comments to this post.

To the best of My ability, I'll oblige by interviewing you, reading your book(s) (but honestly-reviewed and without a "tit-for-tat" agreement to "trade 5-star reviews") and even writing a review if I like what I've read.

In the meantime, check out Philip's blog, his novel and the works of authors who haven't yet hit bestseller lists but write in genres you enjoy. It could take a few attempts, but I'm sure you'll find a writer you thoroughly enjoy, your very own "hidden gem". Nothing satisfies more than having a great secret...except sharing that great secret so others can enjoy it.

Writers are secrets that are worth more when shared. Indulge.

The Jenius Has Spoken.

The Big Lie, Or "61%" Of Statehood

2012-11-14T08:12:00.000-04:00

"On June 15, 2009, the United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization approved a draft resolution calling on the Government of the United States to expedite a process that would allow the Puerto Rican people to exercise fully their inalienable right to self-determination and independence. Subsequent actions by the governments of the United States and Puerto Rico paved the way for the Puerto Rican status referendum, 2012, scheduled to be held on 6 November 2012."

Okay, Wikipedia is far from the end-all and be-all of reliability, but this brief paragraph manages to confuse an already muddled issue. To wit: "Subsequent actions by the governments of the United States and Puerto Rico paved the way for the Puerto Rican status referendum, 2012, scheduled to be held on 6 November 2012." What amounted to "U.S. government action" was a barely-mumbled "Go ahead." Nothing more. But it sure sounds like the U.S. of part of A. was fully on-board, huh?

Now Let's go to the "Recent Developments" section of the Puerto Rico entry, where We'll find the Big Lie: "For the first question, 54 percent voted against the current Commonwealth status, and in the second question, over 61 percent favored statehood."

As an Anonymous commenter said about My post "33.1% Statehood = Nothing":

"(At the time of the comment) 1,730,245 people voted in the 1st question. In the second question, 802,179 voted for statehood. Therefore you need to divide 802,179 by 1,730,245 to get the % of voters that wanted statehood, which equals ~46%." (Emphasis Mine.)

Anonymous was spot-on, with less than 46% statehood "support". Where did the 61% come from? From the enormous dropoff between the first tier of votes (Yes/No to current status, with over 1.74 million votes) to the status options, where only 1.3 million votes were cast. Yes, over 480,000 people left the second tier blank, or in My case, wrote IMPOSSIBLE across all three options.

[Note: I wrote a lengthy response for the Comments section of that post where I (a) acknowledge that 33.1% is NOT the right figure and (b) indicate that I was trying to play the "numbers lie" that the statehooders were trying to pull, only I did a poor job of giving that context in the post. Where that comment went, I have no idea. But the gist of it is repeated here.]

So the true percentage of statehood votes can be calculated: how many votes for statehood divided by the total number of NO votes. And that comes out to about 45.6% or less.

Not a mandate by ANY stretch of the imagination and another bitter defeat to shove down statehooders' throats. Although given their losing record on Election Day, their throats are way over-jammed with defeat.

So what the statehood party did was to quickly embrace "The Big Lie." Grab a number that somehow puts the best face on denying reality and run with it. For recent expertise on this propaganda technique, reference FoxNews(hit); for historical perspective, track down one Joseph Goebbels.

What it all boils down to is knowingly lying loudly and repeating the lie as often as possible to make people believe it is the truth.

But it didn't take long for media outlets to catch on that "61%" was another example of--in Twain's words--"Lies, damn lies and statistics." From ABCNews to Yahoo! to The Huffington Post and even some dim-bulb backwater like Red State figured out that, no, Puerto Rico had not asked for statehood; that in fact, it hadn't even come close, since after all, the referendum or plebiscite or whatever was non-binding. Again.

And yet...they kept repeating The Big Lie, that "61%" that made it all seem like Puerto Rico was marching on Congress to pound the doors down with their "Our statehood demand." Dramatic story. Stirs emotions, both pro and con. Is all a lie.

The goal of The Big Lie is to frame context, to force-fit an issue in an angle and perspective that benefits the propagandist. It is a deliberate distortion, a bare-faced fib aimed at tricking the unwary, the mentally lazy, the largely-indifferent and inflame the fanatical base. That's why it works: because most of Us fall into one or more of those categories. Harsh, but true.

Ultimately, The Big Lie either becomes its own reality--see FoxNews(hit) and the "America" they present--or comes crashing into Truth and pops like a soap bubble. Either way, The Big Lie is a short-term strategy, aimed at tilting a battlefield to preserve or extend or steal an advantage. It cannot win a war, much less when the battlefield, like Ours, is neither defined nor powered by will.

For The Big Lie to work, it has to matter to enough people to act upon it, rightly or wrongly. When it comes to Our status, We don't care enough to want to act, even to make a firm decision, much less see it through. And when it comes to statehood, well, neither We nor the U.S. of part of A. gives anything close to a damn about it. If anything, too many of Us are willing to debase themselves to achieve "dignity" and "self-respect," a Big Lie that has led to the "61%" Big Lie...that will lead to another in this chain of political fibs.

The Jenius Has Spoken.

[Update: 15 Nov 2012: U.S. of part of A. Republicans in the House are "doubting" the plebiscite results, basically doing the "When you make up your minds" shuffle-dance that's been the staple cover-up for decades. Sadly, the only men that can dance well enough to hide the truth are named Astaire or Kelly. And they're dead.]

Happy Birthday To Me!

2012-11-12T08:17:00.000-04:00

Yes, it's that glorious tiME of the year when I can say--and actually MEan it--Happy Birthday to ME!

However, unlike years past where I write soMEthing clever and enjoy the attention I place on ME, I've decided to be more subtle this tiME. Yes, that's a sign of maturity, so Let's celebrate that, too.

I want to thank Mrs. Jenius for making every day We have together a delight and Jenius Son Kaleb for being an actual Genius in ways I haven't yet mastered.

And now, My MoMEnt of subtlety:

Definitely, subtle is an improveMEnt.

The Jenius Has Spoken.

Stephenson Billings: This Is Your Life

2012-11-10T08:12:00.000-04:00

Stephenson Billings, an anonymous coward, laughingly describes himself this way: "Investigative Journalist, Motivational Children's Party Entertainer and Antique Soda Bottle Collector all in one special, blessed package!"

He pecks at a keyboard for The Daily Bleach, a satirical website filled with useless content aimed at distorting minds, and ChristWire, The Daily Bleach's retarded step-brother. From his faux biography, We get that Stephenson Billings--the homunuclus with no first name--was "Born Again in the Blood of the Lamb at the age of 33. 'I didn’t realize how hurt, how wrong I was until Jesus reached out and drew me close,' Stephenson has noted. 'He held me and I wept, I wept such hot, messy tears like a child.'"

Apparently this homoerotic fantasy was his interview entry to ChristWire, for Stephenson-in-hiding has proceeded to muck up screens there and at his other part-time latrine with articles that run the gamut from stupid and racist to racist and stupid.

His versatility eventually focused on Puerto Rico--or as he spells it, "Peurto Rico"--in an attempt to be satirical about the Island's non-request for statehood, based on a non-result from non-aware losers. Stephenson's article redefines crap to the extent that crap itself is insulted by being compared to Stephenson Billings...and his writings.

After glancing through the article and making peace with the new, lower, more disgusting definition of crap, I decided to respond. So here now, Stephenson Billings, This Is Your Life:

Stand-in for a coward

Stephenson, I fully expect to read about your arrest and trial for collecting child pornography, which, sadly, will interrupt your daily ritual of ass-fucking yourself with your favorite antique bottles, several of which are actually old maple syrup jugs from Eastern Vermont. Your lack of success is evident in that you'd rather use a 4-word Orwellian double-speak lie rather than "clown," which is intrinsically more accurate.

Your inability to write with any sense of style bespeaks of a wasted 7th grade education and an early marriage, most likely to a first cousin or half-sister, thus depriving you of any semblance of higher (for your tribe) education. It might also explain why you butt-fuck yourself with bottles as this early departure from school may have been caused by the unexpected death of your daddy, your first lover.

As for the self-proclaimed lie of "Investigative Journalist," it is also obvious that whatever investigations you undertake are of the "imagination slash animal porn" variety, ones where you greedily inhale a horse cock to satisfy Freudian urges you cannot even begin to fathom.

On the "journalist" side, your obvious ignorance of spell-check means you write your love letters to the stable denizens up the road from your hovel along the lines of "Fukc me horsy."

I applaud your attempt at satirical humor in the same way I applaud a monkey in a business suit: cute, but stupid and the monkey still plays with its shit. I suggest a new career for you in the field of security, where you use your ass and mouth as vaults to hide the dissected sex organs of random farm animals your wife/half-sister has fucked for the satisfaction you cannot give her. You'd get a kick out of it, I know, plus you'd be concealing evidence of your crimes of passion.

And yes, you are "blessed," in the exact same way a wet turd is "damp." Take pride in what little you can, Stephenson Billings, for it is so very little.

All in satirical fun, right?

Riiiight.

The Jenius Has Spoken.

Thoughts On Statehood...

2012-11-08T08:12:00.000-04:00

...that aren't Mine. Here, for the unwashed, uninformed and unimpressive statehooders that insist on begging/whining for inclusion in the U.S. of part of A., is a sample (errors and all) of comments from a Yahoo! News article about the recent plebiscite:

Discombobulation Incorpor... • 5 mins ago
The majority of the residents on the island are under some sort of government help (just like the Puerto Ricans in N.Y. City). Even among other Spanish speaking nationalities, Puerto Ricans are considered "lazy" and "inefficient". They're dominance of the Spanish language is considered the worst.

David • 5 mins ago
Just what the US needs; an island that has 13% unemployment!

Antoni • 5 mins ago
THATS ALL WE NEED - MORE CRIMINALS

OU812 • 6 mins ago
Do I get to vote not to let them become a state? 1 Million new liberals looking for the next government check.

H • 6 mins ago
great 437,000 more people on welfare we have to pay for

Mack • 8 mins ago
Hey...here we go again. Just what we need to stabilyze the economy. A few more million people on food stamps!!!!

Robert • 9 mins ago
Why would they want Statehood??? They have all the benefits without the Taxes!!!

Bolden • 10 mins ago
Thanks, but we don't need MORE division. Cut them loose and let them be a free independent nation of the Caribbean.

PaulS • 10 mins ago
I have always felt that Puerto Ricans wish to have all the benefits of statehood without any of the obligations and duties, i.e. the way things are now.

Coigne • 13 mins ago
This is crazy. We don't need to incorporate non-English speaking countries into our union. What for? Divorce Puerto Rico and let it find it's own way among the Spanish Cultural heritage of Latin America. It is our decision to make.

Charles H • 15 mins ago
why would we want the toilet bowl of the world to be a state? Isn't there enough of them here already. Selling drugs, stealing and breeding like roaches.

Now one can say that these comments--many of them blatantly racist and stupid--are not an accurate reflection of what all "Americans" feel about Puerto Rico becoming the 51st state. That would be correct. Many people in the States actually believe Puerto Rico can and should become a State.

But they aren't--by ANY stretch of the imagination--a majority.

Look at those comments above. They represent ignorance and indifference of and to Puerto Rico. The comments may not represent the majority, but the attitudes most definitely do.

Remember, it takes 38 States to approve a new one, a super-majority of 75%. To most "Americans," Puerto Rico is a tiny infrequent blip on their U.S.-of-part-of-A.-centric view of the world, one that is myopic about anything other than "U.S.A.!" To a majority of the population, Puerto Rico is simply not something they think about at all, or give a damn about.

But if the topic of statehood for the Island comes in, they will. And what do you think will be their reaction after years of ignorance and indifference to Us, Brethren?

Read those comments and tell Me--with a straight face--that they won't have a significant impact on forming public opinion. Read them and tell Me that a smear campaign--a Republican Party specialty--won't make the idea of statehood for Puerto Rico tantamount to treason, fiscal disaster, unwanted miscegenation and pandering to welfare bums. Tell Me there won't be an overtly racist knee-jerk reaction by many who are forced to come face-to-face with the possibility of Us becoming the 51st state. Go ahead: tell Me.

It won't matter if you do, because you'll be wrong. You can deny it by being willfully blind or criminally stupid, but you'd be wrong anyway. This isn't about Me or any of Us feeling "like a victim": it's about people reacting to a concept by making a snap judgment on it. Human nature being what it is, that snap judgment will be hard to change and will carry enormous weight for years to come.

Oh, you want proof? Okay. Do a little Googling to find out what "Americans" thought of Puerto Ricans circa 1898-1908, Our first decade together. Go ahead. Then stick this in your pipe dream and smoke it: when it comes to statehood for Puerto Rico, it's been 114 years and counting.

The Jenius Has Spoken.

[Update: 9 Nov 2012: Over at the Latino Rebels Facebook page, I've been exchanging barbs with some spineless grub named Julio Fig Figueroa, a statehood supporter. Yes, I understand that most of you knew what he was after "spineless grub." I'm consistent that way.]

[Update: 10 Nov 2012: And the stupidity, the racially-oriented gut-level shit-for-brains stupidity continues, even under the lying guise of """satire""". I won't even bother giving the title, to avoid adding to the Google juice, but stop a moment, statehooders, and notice how quickly and how vitriolic this response is. Your party lies about "statehood winning" and the response has covered the gamut from "No, not really" to "Uh-uh" to "Fuck y'all brownies." Are you listening? Have you ever listened? That's the root of My problem with your "kneeling/open-mouthed/servile" stance: it lacks any sense of dignity, integrity and self-respect. And yes, I am implying exactly what that stance implies. Deal.]

33.1% Statehood = Nothing

2012-11-07T08:12:00.000-04:00

Yeah, some people won, some people lost in yesterday's elections. Big boo-hoo either way because the system--like Our economy--is broke, so We end up picking dregs no matter who We choose.

The news aside from parasites was that in the two-tiered Yes/No """status""" plebiscite, the current status was "ejected" by 54% of the voters, leading to a second result where statehood was "selected" by 61.3% of those same voters. (Numbers still not official.)

Seeing as The Larva was fired and the statehood party was dumped from several major positions, their lame-brained focus will be on how statehood "won" the plebiscite. Two objections make this a """win""" rather than a "win", and in the Jenius' Thesaurus, based on hard-nosed objectivity, a """win""" is exactly a loss.

First objection: The numbers say statehood is a minority position. Do the math. No, really, do it. At the first level, Yes or No, the rejection of the current status gained 54% of the vote. A majority, indeed, but not a super-majority. From that 54%, some 61.3% chose statehood as their preferred new status. Woo. And hoo. What it really means is that 33.1% of Our voters support statehood: 54 x 61.3 = 33.1%.

There's no other way to look at it. Screw around all you like with that 61.3%, but that number won't fly: the number that will is 33%. Guaranteed.

Second objection: This plebiscite--like the others--was non-binding. Hey! Let's hold a beauty pageant and count the votes and then give no prizes! Yay! Only instead of a beauty pageant, We get a freak show that even P.T. Barnum would have blanched at selling more than once. In a desperate move to bolster his precarious position, The Larva came up with this scheme, hoping the statehood vote in the plebiscite would spill over to the general vote and give him four more years to (non)govern.

Didn't work. He was fired anyway and may have done more harm to the silly statehood whining than any of his predecessors. All in all, a very typical Larva sequence.

There are two more takeaways from this pathetic plebiscite that, in fact, carry more weight, but are bound to get short shrift:

1) The "commonwealth myth" is dead. The idea, the very very stupid idea, that Our current status is "dignified" and "worthy" is dead. It was fatally wounded in the 1980s and lingered like a brainless cockroach until yesterday, when the open rejection of it was made manifest. We are a colony, plain and simple, and the commonwealth status We have makes Us so. To state otherwise is to be dumber than flat-earthers who believe in creationism... and there's already way too many of those idiots around.

2) When it comes to independence, We are tit-sucking toddlers. I used to say We were teenagers, but the fact is that Our reaction to standing on Our own two feet and tackling the world on Our terms is exactly that of terrified toddlers who haven't learned to walk and are still sucking tit. Only Uncle Sam's tits don't give milk, so I can tell you exactly what body part of Uncle Sam's body We suck to make him and Us happy.

That's why the 33.1% """statehood support""" number equals nothing. We still suck Uncle Sam's co--congressional funding, incapable of believing in Ourselves, unable to muster the integrity to stand up to him and say "Screw you, I'm doing this My way," oblivious to the 114-year-and-counting message of "We don't want you" and playing little plebiscite games to amuse the masses while the parasites suck Us dry.

It may be "Our national sport," but We suck at politics because We suck at being adults in politics. At its most base, at its worst, politics is about greed and power-mongering. That's where We live, like pigs in shit. The highest level in politics is nation-building, the forging of a stronger future for almost everyone. We simply never get there. Never have, and based on the miserable moronic plebiscite vote, We never will.

Bring on Larva Lite and his parasites. The loathsome cycle of Our national Special Olympics for scared babies is about to begin again.

The Jenius Has Spoken.

[Update: 8 Nov 2012: From ABC News, a clear-eyed look at the blatant lie that is "statehood won", as propagated by Liars Central, a.k.a., the statehood party. And for a revealing discussion that (a) predicted this report and (b) reveals how My post and its reactions gave context to My writing and the plebiscite's results, check out the Comments section. Yeah, We're on it.]

[Update: 16 Nov 2012: Three more analyses, one of which, surprisingly, barely even bothers to look at the issue. The superficial one is from the otherwise reliable Economist. A deep dissection smack-down of the numbers comes from the Movimiento Independentista Nacional Hostosiano (better English users than the statehood party...by far) and the third from ProEnglish, calling the vote "rigged." Discuss amongst yourselves.]

"Dead First"

2012-11-05T08:12:00.000-04:00

Hey, apropos of the mock elections tomorrow, here's a bit of worthy news you can shove into your political piehole and smoke.

From the Economic Policy Journal comes this dreadful list of the 20 worst-funded State and Local Pension Plans in the U.S. of part of A.. We'll just focus on the Worst 10 at the State level:

The 20 Worst Funded Government Pension Plans:

State Plans
1. Illinois SERS (State Employee's Retirement System)--only 37.4% funded.
2. Kentucky ERS (Employee's Retirement System)---only 40.3% funded.
3. Missouri DOT and Highway Patrol---only 42.2% funded.
4. Indiana Teachers---only 44.3% funded.
5. Connecticut SERS---only 44.4% funded.
6. Illinois Universities---only 46.4% funded.
7. West Virginia Teachers---only 46.5% funded.
8. Oklahoma Teachers---only 47.9% funded.
9. Illinois Teachers---only 48.4% funded.
10. Rhode Island ERS---only 48.4% funded.

Illinois, take a bow! You have three of the worst 10 state pension funds in the nation!

But wait!

I tweeted the above list link to Ms. Cate Long, of MuniLand fame, and asked her where Puerto Rico's State Pension Fund would rank.

Her response: "Dead first".

Why? Because Our State Pension Fund is--only 9% funded.

Nine. Percent.

Nine, people.

Makes Illinois look like Warren fucking Buffet when it comes to investing, huh?

Now Ms. Long has been posting on her blog about Puerto Rico's debt overload and the numbers add up to impending doom. The fact that The Larva, Our current pathetic excuse for a (non)governor has increased that debt load to far beyond sustainable is a crime he should pay for in blood.

But he won't; We will.

For it doesn't matter a cockroach's spindly rotted dick who We fraudulently pretend to elect tomorrow, the fact remains that We are headed for a fiscal disaster that will change Our puny little status quo in ways We can't even begin to imagine.

Our mutant economy--and by mutant I mean "genetic disaster," not "X-Men superpowered"--is bolstered by billions of federal dollars pumping life to welfare parasites (known in other parts of the world as "politicians") and a huge herd of lazy people who can't ever be bothered to scrape up even a tiny shred of self-respect, dignity and integrity. Less than 40% of Our working-age adults do so, and Our men--a term used loosely in many cases--practically lead the world in abject laziness.

So when it comes to somehow prospering Our way out of debt, We have syphilis-ravaged pigs raping Our future by increasing debt and undermining growth, a workforce that is neither and a status that says We are property at best to keep Us from making Our own self-interested decisions.

Where does that leave Us on the path to impending economic disaster?

Dead first.

Yeah, go out and vote for your syphilitic pigs now.

The Jenius Has Spoken.

Government Against The People

2012-10-30T08:12:00.000-04:00

This...won't take long.

From the usually useless local stink tank """Center for the New Economy,""" a frequent shill for established interests in all their old forms, comes their Budget Analysis for 2012-2013. Two charts from said Budget Analysis stand out, and represent in a nutshell how Our government has visibly, existentially and operationally turned against Us.

Here's the first chart, indicating the percentage of federal funds that prop up this vermin horde slash zombie necropolis We call Our government:

Thanks to the purposeful use of a slanted scale, it seems that Our federal funding has varied greatly since 2009. Pifflegab. The low was 23.17%, the high 24.95%, a difference of 1.78%. The average over the 5-year period was 23.96%. Trace a mental line just barely beneath 24.00% and you'll see how stable that funding has truly been, remembering that 2009 was an odd year for that was skewed somewhat by Obama's American Recovery (ARRA) funding program.

So Our budget for 2012-2013 is about $8.75 billion, an increase over the 2011-2012 budget, is still receiving federal funds at an "average" rate. Seems the Asshole Beggar up in D.C. can be the Absent Beggar for all the good he does.

Now here's the chart indicating investment in public improvements versus debt service:

Yes, soak it in. See how the pink line has trended upward, but never below 11.2%? And you obviously see how the purple line, starting at 14% (just like the debt line) took a dramatic turn upward to 16.8%, and since then has nose-dived like a lead balloon?

Oh, and statehooders? The high mark on this chart for public investment came during Sila "Quitter" Calderón's (fake)administration, while the hideous and continuous drop from 8.9% to 5.4% is all under The Larva. Thought you needed to have that pointed out to y'all.

Now why is this significant? Because given that the budget and federal funds have remained roughly the same, the drop in public improvements is due to 3 undeniable factors:

1) Choice: The Larva and his parasitic fecal-filled horde have chosen to eschew investment in Our public infrastructure. Think water systems, roads, power plants and the myriad things We bitch about that don't work or are shoddy beyond contempt.

2) Debt creation: The pursuit of loot has made even lip service to "the public good" a waste of thieving time. And We get saddled with the "pay the piper" onus every time, because...

3) We've abdicated Our responsibility to chastise and punish the vermin.

Look at that second chart again. The Thieves are covering their tracks with Our taxes to the tune of about $2.61 for every dollar they spend on doing their jobs. And even that is being exploited and pilfered and stolen and fraudulently mishandled.

Ballots, people. We can use ballots to stop these people.

But I'm sure We won't. So in the end, it will have to be done with bullets.

Deal.

The Jenius Has Spoken.

Our Men Are #2! (From The Bottom)

2012-10-25T08:12:00.000-04:00

I wanted to write about his last week. But frankly, other things got in the way, 'cause when it comes to crap, We're the Niagara Falls of shit.

Weekly rag Caribbean Business had this article stating that Our unemployment level dropped to 13.5% , yet somehow, Our labor-force participation rate had dropped to 39.2%

Let Me rephrase that: 39.2% of Our TOTAL population aged 15-64 was working or looking for a job.

39.2%. Working. Or looking for work.

Meaning 60.8% of Our adults 15-64 are not. And yet, thanks to convenient definitions, this means that though fewer people are actually working, the unemployment rate has dropped to 13.5%.

Yeah. Pull the other one.

Here's the quote from the article that made Me want to write about this:

"In 2010, data from the World Bank showed only seven countries had a lower labor-participation rate than Puerto Rico."

Okay. Had to do some research and found out that the World Bank actually has Us at 44% for 2010, tied with Iran. Here are the 6 countries We smoked:

Algeria --- 43%
Syria --- 42%
Iraq --- 41%
Jordan --- 41%
Moldova --- 41%
West Bank - 41%

Uh, notice a trend there? With the exception of Moldova, frequent tail end on several lists of "The World's Happiest Countries," all the other countries are Middle Eastern and/or dominated by religions who treat women like property, restricting their right to do just about anything on their own, such as getting a job. Want proof? Here's the list of female labor-force participation rates, again for 2010:

Iran --- 16%
Algeria --- 15%
Syria --- 13%
Iraq --- 14%
Jordan --- 15%
Moldova --- 38%
West Bank - 15%

With the exception of Moldova, the rest of the countries with lower participation rates than Puerto Rico keep roughly 85% of their women away from jobs, a substantial part of their population. For comparison, what was Our rate in 2010? 35%.

Look at the list again. Are any of these countries powerhouse economies? Two are wracked by war and one of them is an occupied territory under constant attack. These are all obviously badly-damaged or stagnant economies, with external factors that limit job opportunities and growth.

What the hell is Our excuse? Are We being bombed? Are We fighting insurgents? Are We being harassed and shot at by high-tech armed forces backing a regime intent on genocide and apartheid? Nuh-uh. So what the hell is Our excuse?

Look over here.

Here's the bottom 7 list of male labor-force participation rate in the world, in 2010:

Belgium --- 61%
Bulgaria --- 60%
Italy --- 60%
Bosnia-Herzegovina - 59%
Hungary --- 58%
PUERTO RICO --- 54%
Moldova --- 45%

Yee-haw! We got Ourselves a #2!

Only two countries appear in "Overall Lowest Rate" and "Lowest Male Rate": Moldova and Us. Moldova ranks as one of, if not the most unhappy nation in the world and yet We have "happily" ranked near the top. Their lack of employment and opportunities makes them miserable, while Our non-desire for employment and lack of respectable, dignified opportunities is covered up by a thick layer of government handouts.

And corruption.

How else can We explain an economy where roughly 55% of Our working-age adults don't and still manage to be high-volume consumers, unless We point out welfare, the underground economy and illegal activities? The gap in labor-force participation is obviously caused by Our men, who not only have fallen far behind Our women in education levels, they are consequently dropping in earning power.

And lest you think this is some recent phenomenon, as in last year or so, here are statistics from Nation Master showing that in 2008 Puerto Rico ranked 172 out of 175 countries in Overall Labor-Force Participation Rate, with Our men coming in 173rd out of 175 countries.

Unlike most of those other countries, with real economies, Puerto Rico's "upwardly mobile" middle class is basically a tiny sliver of the working population, composed primarily of single women and young married couples where both work, the so-called DINKs (Double Income, No Kids.). The rest of the workers are government drones, part-timers, professionals, political skanks and freelancers, with a smidgen of academics thrown in.

We don't have enough workers to make things happen. We don't have enough opportunities to make dreams come alive. And We don't have enough men willing to do the right thing, to earn their way and build a better tomorrow.

In this, Our women are closer to the top...and Our men are stuck at the bottom, where #2 belongs.

The Jenius Has Spoken.

Burning Our Trash & Our Cash

2012-10-24T08:12:00.000-04:00

Energy Answers, a company seeking to build a waste-to-energy plant in Arecibo, has just been handed a sweetheart deal that involves Our taxes, Our power bills and the verb "fornicate" in ample measures.

I won't belabor the point; the facts speak for themselves. Energy Answers gets to build its plant and the 30-year contract specifies that:

1) The government is obligated to provide Energy Answers enough garbage to be profitable. Now, sure, Our government (and Our society) produces enough garbage to sink an Island, but "obligated"? When the State serves the Corporation, it is Fascism. And no, the article doesn't state that the amount of trash ensures profitability, but do you think Energy Answers would ask for anything less? Unlike Our government, they are greedy, but not stupid.

2) Energy Answers will raise electrical rates by 8-20% over current rates. Now, the fact is, Energy Answers may raise the rates, but the real power--pun intended--to do this rests with the Puerto Rico Electrical Power Authority, THIEF. They have a complete monopoly over the transmission of electricity over the established infrastructure, so if anyone is going to raise the rates, it will be THIEF.

Disclosure: I worked a waste-to-energy project earlier this year with a Texas-based company. Their contract with THIEF specified selling the electricity at 15 cents a kWh, where THIEF would then sell it at 26-29 cents. I doubt Energy Answers is getting more than 19 cents and thus there is NO REASON for THIEF to raise its rates. None except that they are a monopoly, are going broke and the dealmakers with Energy Answers are cackling thieves on their way out to live off Our dollars.

3) If a municipality doesn't pay its power usage, Energy Answers can obligate the government to collect the payment from the municipality itself or its residents. When the State serves as bill collector for the Corporation, there is only ONE word for that: Fascism.

4) Energy Answers can raise its rates by 2.5% yearly and the government can only stop the rate increase if it is deemed "highly unreasonable." Whatever the fuck that means. Remember, the power authority is a government-owned utility, a de facto monopoly. When the State hands over control of tis resources to the Corporation, that is Fascism.

5) The Environmental Quality Board, Our local "protection agency" that is neither environmental, nor quality nor even a board, is forcing municipalities to close their waste landfills ahead of schedule and blocking any effort to extend their use, even when such extensions are completely legal. Why? Because extending the use of landfills reduces the amount of trash that can be funneled to Energy Answers. When the State becomes the legal violator in favor of the Corporation, that is Fascism.

6) In fact, the contract has Our government serving as guarantor for Energy Answers' financing of the plant, to the tune of no less than $500 million.

To wit: Our government is guaranteeing investment money, raw materials to achieve profitability, rate increases to sustain profitability, debt collection to maintain profitability and illegally blocking competition to guarantee profitability to a corporation. That, My Brethren, is a textbook example of Fascism.

And here's the kicker: the deal was put together by one Jorge San Miguel, party platform director in 2008 and 2012 for...the statehood party...currently gutting Our government.

Whee!

But Let's not forget that Energy Answers is not stupid. They wangled some support from the other side as well, as their Communications Director is one José Julio Aparicio, internal auditor of the commonwealth party. There's enough thieving for everyone to join the pillaging!

We do have a trash problem in Puerto Rico. There's hardly any more space to dump it in. Our electrical grid is barely competent enough to hold its own and can't help Us grow as it should. Yes, these are all problems.

But.

These problems cannot be allowed to be """solved""" by forcing Us, the taxpayers and consumers, to pay for the financing, pay for the trash hauling minimum, pay the increased rates, pay for municipalities' non-payments, pay for illegally blocking other solutions and pay for the reckless looting of Our pockets by vermin whose total value is less than that of a cockroach's fetid fart.

People, I keep telling you: The only way to put an end to this is either with ballots or with bullets. A rabid predator is a savage beast who can only grasp one concept in its disease-addled brain: pain means death.

Unless We hurt these beasts--hurt them badly, even fatally--they will continue to rape Our pockets, Our present and Our future.

They are burning Our trash and Our cash. It is way past time We burn them. To ash.

The Jenius Has Spoken.

PREPA(id) Failure Imminent

2012-10-23T08:12:00.000-04:00

Power failure up ahead.

The Puerto Rico Electrical Power Authority (THIEF) is in trouble. No, not the kind where it is running at 99% capacity with 1970s leftover technology: it's in financial trouble. Now before you mouth-fart some sort of "Awww," it is the agency's fault. And that of the (non)government that runs it down.

According to Efraín O'Neill, the spokesperson for the Energy Dialogue Commission, the Power Authority is "nearly bankrupt" and that "We're headed off a cliff."

Oh yeah.

Now his two-part "explanation" for this debacle begins with the spitball that the basic rate (charge per kilowatt hour--kWh) has not been adjusted since 1989, and therefore the agency can't generate enough money to cover its operating costs.

The hell with spitball: that's bullshit. For three reasons:

1) The basic rate has been a frequent cockfight with the government, who keeps the rate low to appease voters. (Even the lame-brained """Center for the New (We Lie) Economy""" can see that.) The rate is not even one rate: there are several rates, including a $3.00 per household charge regardless of usage and a special rate for public housing residents that charges them $0.001 per kwH--that is ONE-TENTH of a fucking PENNY per kWh. Guess how many votes that comes out to?

2) There are two surcharges that pad out the bill. One is the "energy purchase surcharge," an accounting label, that supposedly covers the "cost" of buying electricity from itself. This fraudulent siphoning is best described as "what We could finagle to cover the basic rate limitation." The second suction hose is the controversial "fuel adjustment surcharge," tied to the price of oil in the exact same way that My haircuts are tied to the price of cinnamon in Bangladesh. Between these two rates, the THIEF has created a cozy little electrical cottage industry, as pointed out by economist José Alameda. Here's the comparison of electrical power agency incomes, in 2011:

Note how PREPA (okay, I'll use that) ranked first in total revenue ($3.699 million) and yet ranked 6th in megawatt hours sold (18.7 MWh, behind NYPA, Salt River, Santee Cooper, LADWP and CPS Energy.) PREPA had higher income than a primary power supplier for New York (population: 8.24 million) and Los Angeles (population: 3.82 million) (Our population is about 3.86 million).

Toss in this extra bit of data: both cities have enormously higher household incomes than We do: Los Angeles comes in at $46,901; New York at $48,631 and We come in at $20,212. So THIEF (I have to go back to that) isn't doing so bad in the "gouging its market" department, right? Comes from being a monopoly, no doubt, an advantage none of the other listed power companies has.

3) There is no question that THIEF is mismanaged up the yin-yang. Horribly, horribly mismanaged. Serially-concussed-Keystone-Kops-on-bad-acid mismanaged. Long-ago-would-have-been-broke-if -it-had-any-competition broke. Once again, a little chart, courtesy of José Alameda, that I will then explain to statehooders:

This is the fascinating chart of revenue-per-employee in each electrical power agency. Quickly note PREPA/THIEF at the very bottom, the absolute nadir, with a measly $2,125 of revenue...per employee. With an average salary of $40,560 per employee and an average executive salary of $109,200, is it any wonder that THIEF is a fucking failure when it comes to making money--as a goddamn monopoly?

And don't get Me started on the sweetheart corporate deals for zero-rate power usage and outright electricity theft, mainly perpetrated by statehood party members and appointees, like an Education Secretary, an (out)house representative with multiple lapses and even including one who was actually fired as THIEF's Executive Director for an illegal electrical connection.

Government fraud, cronyism, nepotism, political shenanigans, corporate fraud and the protected status that makes a monopoly have kept Our power agency from being an engine and turned it into a sump pump. But the second part of O'Neill's statement...well, that's just diarrhea on the turd-cake.

O'Neill said that in 1997, the agency's debt was $3.7 billion, that it "later rose to $4.7 billion, then $6.5 billion and now stands at $8.5 billion." Glance back at the first chart and see an agency revenue of $3.7 billion. Now pair that up with an $8.5 billion debt. As the voluble Mythbuster says: "There's your problem, right there!"

What O'Neill fails to address--what he totally doesn't say--is that the 1997 debt began in the Pedro Stupid Rosselló (mis)administration and rose to $4.7 billion in the following 11 years, under two commonwealth-supporting governors that were (a) feckless and (b) reckless.

But then came The Larva and his fecal coliform parasitic disease-addled (non)administration and almost doubled the debt. PREPA/THIEF bonds have been the leading debt-maker for Puerto Rico since 2009, as sales tax bonds and Water Authority bonds maxed out.

And what have these PREPA/THIEF bonds provided Us? Here's the complete, updated list:

1) Debt
2) Nothing else.

The funds from this sell-out frenzy have been channeled to largely private sources. The bonds themselves are increasingly suspect, requiring major adjustments to keep them rated high enough to find buyers. The THIEF fuel surcharge, according to Alameda, over-charged consumers by almost $1.99 billion between 2008 and 2010, 28.8% above the cost of oil. But even so, THIEF is "losing" money, with over 8,800 employees clogging up the works, an annual revenue level per employee that equals what the local hot dog stand makes a month and a debt load lining vermin's pockets at Our expense. Twice.

Yes, there's a legislative (out)house push to eliminate the agency's fuel surcharge. But that's to bolster the moronic GasoDildo project, a huge useless tube filled with methane that serves as the perfect metaphor for the current (non)administration.

THIEF is in danger of going bankrupt. Our electrical system is in the hands--and has been for decades--of totally useless cost units. Tack on greedy cockroaches selling Our future to feed their greed and you have Us facing a blackout.

Not if: when.

The Jenius Has Spoken.

[Update: 24 Oct 2012: A preliminary report from the Energy Dialogue Roundtable indicates that the power agency's problems are due to far more than an unadjusted basic rate. So after seven months of "work" so far, when is the final report due? February 2013. ]

Censoried Stories = Proof

2012-10-20T08:12:00.000-04:00

Saturday Special here. Free of charge.

From Project Censored's Top 25 Censored Stories of 2013 (they are in a hurry), come these Jenius-selected facets of Truth that provide Proof about topics Moi has covered recently. And lest you think Project Censored is just spouting off, each story has multiple links for reference and further research.

Here We go, with all emphasis Mine:

1. Signs of an Emerging Police State: As per My recent posts--1, 2 & 3--about fascism.
"The 2012 passage of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) has allowed the military to detain indefinitely without trial any US citizen that the government labels a terrorist or an accessory to terrorism, while President Barack Obama’s signing of the National Defense Resources Preparedness Executive Order has authorized widespread federal and military control of the national economy and resources during 'emergency and non-emergency conditions.'”

4. FBI Agents Responsible for Majority of Terrorist Plots in the United States: See above.

"The agency has developed a network of nearly 15,000 spies to infiltrate various communities in an attempt to uncover terrorist plots. However, these moles are actually assisting and encouraging people to commit crimes. Many informants receive cash rewards of up to $100,000 per case."

9. Prison Slavery in Today’s USA: See yesterday's post, "Prison Rape."
"The US comprises less than 5 percent of the world’s population, yet US prisons hold more than 25 percent of all people imprisoned globally. Many of these prisoners labor at twenty-three cents per hour, or similar wages, in federal prisons contracted by the Bureau of Prisons’ UNICOR, a quasi-public, for-profit corporation, which is the US government’s thirty-ninth largest contractor."

10. HR 347 Would Make Many Forms of Nonviolent Protest Illegal: Memorize this...and act accordingly.
"The (Federal Restricted Buildings and Grounds Improvement Act of 2011) specifies as criminal offenses the acts of entering or remaining in areas defined as 'restricted.' Although pundits have debated to what extent the new law restricts First Amendment rights or criminalizes Occupy protests, it does make it easier for the Secret Service to overuse or misuse existing laws to arrest lawful protesters by lowering the requirement of intent in the prosecution of criminal activity."

[Jenius note: Years ago, Jenial Friend Kevin Shockey told Me that Puerto Rico was "a test case" for Republican-spawned policies. I agreed. The local legislative (out)house and The Larva enacted a law like this just before HR 347 went into effect. I applaud Kevin's perspicacity, for the evidence is mounting that his observation back then can only be described as very astute and accurate.]

19. New York Police Plant Drugs on Innocent People to Meet Arrest Quotas: Go ahead and verify what races these "innocent people" are, then accept that the """war on drugs""" is not about drugs at all.
"The NYPD’s controversial “stop and frisk” program has invested seventy-five million dollars to arrest suspects for possessing minimal amounts of marijuana. Each arrest costs approximately $1,000 to $2,000. Although NYPD use of unlawful restraints and disproportionate force to arrest peaceful Occupy protesters has received some news coverage, police brutality directed against people of color continues to go underreported."

20. Stealing from Public Education to Feed the Prison-Industrial Complex: Once again, a brain-dead march to prison rape. Jenius note: I haven't touched the topic of the education system "feeding" the prison-industrial complex. It's time I did, right?
"A systemic recasting of education priorities gives official structure and permanence to a preexisting underclass comprised largely of criminalized, poor people of color. The rise of corporate-backed charter schools and privatized prisons cannot be understood apart from the record closures of public schools across the country."

21. Conservatives Attack US Post Office to Break the Union and Privatize Postal Services: One of the 14 characteristics of fascism; number 10, to be precise, with a dash of #9 thrown in.
"The US Postal Service has been under constant assault for years from conservative Republicans who aim to eviscerate the strongest union in the country. Under the 2006 Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act, USPS must fully fund retiree health benefits for future retirees—including the retirement packages of employees not even born yet. No other organization, public or private, has to pre-fund 100 percent of its future health benefits. Thus, the post office’s oft-reported nine-billion-dollar deficit is largely a result of government-imposed overpayments."

22. Wachovia Bank Laundered Money for Latin American Drug Cartels: Yeah, the """war on drugs""" makes money from its racist, nearly genocidical, roots. Even a local bank gets in on the fun...and probably still does.
"Between 2004 and 2007, Wachovia Bank handled funds totaling $378.4 billion for Mexican currency-exchange houses acting on behalf of drug cartels. The transactions amount to the largest violation of the Bank Secrecy Act, an anti-money-laundering law, in US history. This case is not exceptional; Wachovia is just one of several US and European banks that drug cartels have used to launder money."

24. Alabama Farmers Look to Replace Migrants with Prisoners: Stupid anti-immigration laws being used to try to reduce wages to 23 cents an hour. "Land of the Free" or "Land of the (Almost)Free Labor"?
"Alabama’s expansive anti-immigrant law, HB56, has been so economically devastating that farmers in the state sought legislation to force hard labor on prison inmates eligible for work release programs, to 'help farms fill the gap and find sufficient labor.'”

Yeah, I might only be a Jenius, but I'm on it.

The Jenius Has Spoken.

Prison Rape

2012-10-19T08:12:00.000-04:00

"Consider the numbers. In the United States today, there are about 314 million people. One percent of the U.S. population, therefore, is 3,140,000. In our prisons today are 2.2 million people. We have a higher percent of our people in prison than any other country in the world and the percent of our population in prison has, shockingly, more than doubled since 1980. The people in prison make up over two thirds of one percent of the U.S. population."

"Some of these prisoners do make income, but their income is tiny, according to a study done in 2002 by the Washington-based Economic Policy Institute. Its author, Heather Boushey, found that Federal Prison Industries (FPI), which employs inmates in federal prisons, pays them between $0.23 and $1.15 per hour, with the average federal prisoner making $0.92 per hour. She noted, however, that from this gross pay, the government deducts funds for restitution, to offset the high cost of incarceration, and for other purposes, leaving the average federal-prison employee with a measly $0.18 per hour."

From another source:

"Unicor is a government-run enterprise that employs over 13,000 inmates -- at wages as low as 23 cents an hour -- to make goods for the Pentagon and other federal agencies.

Unicor, also known as Federal Prison Industries, is part of the U.S. Bureau of Prisons. It has been preparing inmates for jobs after they get out since 1934. The program has 83 factories and makes goods in seven industries -- apparel being the biggest ticket. Unicor made over $900 million in revenue last year...

Unicor is not required to pay its workers minimum wage... It doesn't have health insurance costs. It also doesn't shell out federal, state or local taxes."

What a sweet deal. Unfair competition using a burgeoning prison population, of which over 560,000--almost 25%--are in for drug-related, non-violent "crimes." And this little niche of fraud is clearing close to a billion dollars a year.

Billions of dollars wasted on a """drug war""" that has had ZERO--I repeat--ZERO impact on drug usage rates in 40 years.

Billions of dollars wasted pursuing minorities in order to create the LARGEST PRISON POPULATION IN HISTORY. Shove that up your patriotic ass, """Land of the Free."""

Billions of dollars in profits from a prison-industrial complex that links government, big business, the military, state governments and law enforcement, including the Justice Department, in a concerted attack against some of the citizens of the over-rated U.S. of part of A.

"Who is being punished here?" John Palatiello, president of the Business Coalition for Fair Competition, said. "The inmates who have committed a crime against society, or the employees of private companies who play by the rules?"

Both, Mr. Palatiello, both. Which means We all are getting punished.

The Jenius Has Spoken.

You Would Think...

2012-10-18T08:12:00.000-04:00

You would think...that in a country where diabetes is an epidemic, there would be a major initiative to reduce it.

You would think...that in a country with little knowledge of the world, there would be a rising tide of voices to combat "belly button vision".

You would think...that in a country where less than half the adults are working, there would be a push to community service.

You would think...that in a country with the murder rate at 19 killed a week, there would would be a concerted effort to reduce the carnage.

You would think...that in a country where politicians are brazenly stealing Our taxes, at least one of the 19 killed last week would be an elected thief.

You would think...that in a country where taxes are lotteries that have 75% of the winnings unclaimed, there would be a strong movement to reduce the tax itself.

You would think...that in a country where the electrical system is held together by spit and tape--and overtime to under-qualified baboons--there would be a true plan for restructuring.

You would think...that in a country where the water system leaks like a ragged sock and cannot provide 100% service ever, there would be a focused re-engineering development already in place.

You would think...that in a country where the national debt has surpassed national revenue, there would be a mass of people--say, voters--ready to drop the hammer on the unethical and disgusting vermin who perpetrated the damage.

You would think...any of this was on the verge of happening. You would think.

And that's all you would do.

The Jenius Has Spoken.

[P.S. -- I have removed AdSense ads from this blog until after the elections. If Google insists on shoving political crap at Us, then I reserve the right to tell Google to piss off until they stop doing it. And no, I make no money off of AdSense: their presence here is to amuse Me as they match My content to whatever lame-ass ad they can find to barely fit.]

Name Your Poison

2012-10-17T08:12:00.000-04:00

The Larva...or Larva Lite?

Asshole Beggar with 4 years' worth of callouses on his knees or Asshole Beggar with no callouses anywhere? (Yet.)

A legislative (out)house with statehood thieves running rampant or a legislative (out)house with commonwealth apologists scheming to set up bigger scams?

Or how about a combination: Larva Lite plus Asshole Beggar with 4 years' worth of callouses on his knees and a even bigger legislative (out)house still dominated by statehood thieves being watched by rookie parasites?

Let Me put some names on these bags of pigcrap. The Larva is current (non)governor Luis Fortuño, he of the pencil neck and lead charm. Larva Lite is his opponent from the commonwealth party, Alejandro García, who like The Larva is a technocrat with the leadership skills of runny moss, but less experience.

Asshole Beggar is what Our Constitution calls the Resident Commissioner, the non-voting member of Congress whose only job is to suck...up to gringos and try to wheedle more money for welfare and party pockets. The current Asshole Beggar is Pedro Pierluisi, who acts like being at his party's events is like being a judge at a fart-smelling contest. His challenger is some non-cipher called Robert Cox and no, I will not use his last name to make a joke about sucking...up to Congress.

The legislative (out)house is roundly dominated by the statehood party, but has always been at loggerheads with The Larva, so it's actually like two bands of thieves fighting over loot. Given that The Larva is running far behind in polls (actually, he never runs: he kind of waddle-slides) and that 3 new parties have tossed their filthy underwear into the ring, We might be headed for a gang-bang poison chug-a-thon of historical proportions.

You see, one of the quirky brainfarts in Our Constitution is that if one party gains a "super-majority" in the legislative (out)house, members from other parties, based on the voting percentages garnered, are added to the (parasitic) body in order to reduce the "super" and leave just a majority.

So here's what could happen to have Us staggering like pole-axed oxen come January 2, 2013 (the day all hell will break loose):

--Larva Lite gets elected as (faux)governor with barely 50% of the total votes cast.

--Asshole Beggar with Callouses On Craven Knees (ABCOCK) wins with an easy majority of the votes, around 55%, meaning he--the "Washington Whiner"--is "more powerful" than the "Fortaleza Feeb."

--Of the 4 remaining parties, one gets enough votes to validate members in the legislative (out)house (the independence party), but at least one other party reaches the magical 2.5% voting percentage to trigger participation in...

--Balancing a legislative (out)house that again shows a "super majority" of statehood party vermin, proving again that Our voters are the stupidest creatures on Earth.

End result? A split government with the (faux)governor of one party having to square off against the experienced COCK...Asshole Beggar of the other, while the legislative (out)house blocks as many (faux)governor actions as it can and tries to rebalance its shenanigans with 3-4 new members as loose cannons...until the cash flow is properly resettled.

Oh, and to add rotting fish and spoiled veggies to the mix, while We're at the voting booths there will be two plebiscites: one to decide whether We want to amp up the status noise to 11 for a year or two and the other a repeat vote on whether to reduce the size of the legislative (out)house.

You know, there are slow ways to commit suicide and fast ways. We are choosing a very very slow way...

The Jenius Has Spoken.

This Is Our Brain(Dead) On Drugs

2012-10-15T08:12:00.000-04:00

Let's say your house has termites. You want to get rid of the termites so you hire an exterminator who checks the place out and reports that there are about "200,000 termites" in your house.

Whoa.

He sells you this package deal where he will come back every month and rid your house of termites for $25 a month. You decide that sounds fair and the exterminator unleashes his attack on the termites and leaves.

Comes back the next month, does the same, collects $25. The third month he tells you that he's got a new solution to rid your house of termites and it will now cost $35 a month. You say yes and the exterminator does his thing. But now, every month, the price is going up $5-$10, and then $20-$30 and then for some spastic reason, the monthly rate goes up $80-$100 at a time, so that 40 years later, you're paying $1,000 a month to get rid of the termites in your house.

And how many termites do you have? "About 200,000." Still.

Would you pay someone 40 TIMES the original estimate to do a job that the evidence shows is NOT GETTING DONE?

Well then, welcome to the fantasy horror that is the U.S. of part of A. """drug war""". Here's a table of the budgets assigned to this 4-decade long attack on minorities--I mean--assault on illegal drugs.

Note the green line: rising.

Note the blue line: steady.

There you have it: The """drug war""" as sociopolitical poison.

Why am I yapping about this? Because the """war on drugs""" has another function, aside from suppressing minorities and skewing """the justice system""": it is a near-bottomless pit of money for power-building purposes.

Simple example: Politician A, a highly-connected hookworm sucking the blood out of the body politic, rages against crime and how "the public deserves protection" and thus lobbies for more police funding. Gets a buttload of cash, of which maybe--maybe--20% goes to actual cops, who largely use it to attack minorities. Crime stays about the same, Politician Hookworm looks good in the polls, the cops get some walk-around money to harass citizens and pocket some of the stuff they decommission and We? We get screwed. Over and over and over and over and over and over. And over.

Proof? Let Me quote this comment appearing on the BoingBoing post:

If addiction rates increase, drug warriors need more money to increase their efforts, or to use new and more expensive methods.

If addiction rates decrease, drug warriors need more money because their methods are effective, and more money will eliminate addiction entirely.

But addiction rates have held steady...for 40 years. So why the 4,000% hike, why a 4,000% increase, why a 4,000% drug-addled tax-fueled """war""" that can claim NO positive results on its "target"?

Because it isn't a """drug war""": it's a sociopolitical assault to increase power bases.

So the next time you read or hear The Larva or one of his buttworm buddies mouthfart about "decreasing crime" while hundreds of "drug-related" murders bloody Our streets, think about this: the murders fuel fear and that fear is exploited to get monies to keep the fear going.

Our fear for Our safety is being exploited by the assholes We elect to preserve and improve Our safety, but who prefer to wall themselves off from Our scrutiny--from Our Constitutional right to tell them what to do and how to do it--to engage in illegal self-serving machinations in order to loot Our taxes for their benefit.

"""War on drugs"""? No. War on Us? Oh, yes. Most assuredly.

It's time We fired back.

The Jenius Has Spoken.

The Numbers Add Up...To Disaster

2012-10-12T08:12:00.000-04:00

Once again, from Cate Long's insightful blog MuniLand, comes this numerical picture of Our bond issues. The report, written by Alan Schenkel, ws posted on MuniLand on July 27, 2012. Bringing this up right now is just perfect for the upcoming farce of Our elections:

"About half of the ($60 billion) debt is general obligation or otherwise tax backed, while most of the remainder is secured by revenues, including electricity sales, water and sewer utility charges and highway tolls, with all bonds to varying degrees dependent on the fortunes and stability of the island’s economy." (All emphasis Mine.)

Wondering why Our "electrical savings" this month are nothing but a 20% credit, to be charged to Us after the elections? Just read that quoted paragraph again.

"Current general obligation credit spreads, with yields about 200 basis points above AAA benchmarks, do not reflect bondholder risk.

(Cate Long) Translation: An investor is not getting paid enough interest to cover the risk of owning these bonds. Prices need to come down, and yields need to go up."

See that gap, with a green arrow going up and one going down? That gap means that the risk of Our bonds is rising and the revenue backing them is dropping. Which means We'll have to offer more interest to investors = more debt = bigger disaster down the road if Our economy doesn't get stronger... a lot stronger. Not that The Larva give's a slug's ass: he'll be long gone by 2013.

"The pace of debt growth exceeds that of economic growth, an unsustainable proposition."

You know what it's called when your debt growth exceeds your income growth? Bankruptcy. Or suicide.

Ms. Long then comments:

"I have one quibble with Schankel and the broader market in how they view Puerto Rico’s debt and pension liability load. This data is always presented as debt per capita, but I think it’s more realistic to examine debt per worker, since ultimately the debt must be repaid with revenues generated by the state. Debt/pension liability per capita is $13,449, but per worker, the debt/pension liability figure is about $90,000. This is more than triple the average 2010 wage of $26,870. How are the citizens of Puerto Rico ever going to pay back all this debt?"

If you work in Puerto Rico, think about having a $90,000 you didn't ask for slamming your future earnings. Rough, right? If you don't work because you get welfare, what the hell do you care, right? Here's the thing, worker and parasite: when the economy collapses, We all get slammed. And all of Us are to blame because the thieves We elected are escaping while We have to pay...again.

The numbers keep adding up against Us. You'd think We'd note the tally and do something about this, right?

You'd think.

The Jenius Has Spoken.

[Update: 17 Oct 2012: Huge investment brokers are dumping Puerto Rico bonds.]

Memorize This...And Act Accordingly

2012-10-11T08:12:00.000-04:00

This definitely won't take long...

The People should not be afraid of the Government: the Government should be afraid of the People.

El Pueblo no debe temerle al Gobierno: el Gobierno debe temerle al Pueblo.

Go ahead. Make the T-shirts. It's time We got the message out to make things right.

The Jenius Has Spoken.

[Update: 18 Oct 2012: Along the same lines, one more:]

40-Year Flying Fuck: Revisited

2012-10-09T08:12:00.000-04:00

Sometimes these things just write themselves...

I wrote about the idiocy and open thievery of the """privatization""" of Our International Airport, calling it--accurately, of course--a 40-Year Flying Fuck.

Move forward some weeks. Over at MuniLand, Cate Long's often-incisive blog about topics financial, with occasional glimpses in Our direction, comes this analysis of the "giveaway" of the Luis Muñoz Marín Airport deal. As ever, all emphasis is Mine:

"...The lease deal lasts 40 years. However, studying the financial terms of the deal, it is not clear that Puerto Rico will really benefit much financially from privatizing the airport."

"Looking at the financial data, which is sparse and hard to find, the deal is unlikely to generate any substantial cash for Puerto Rico. From the FAA application (page 9): Aerostar will make a one-time cash payment to the PRPA of $615 million (the “Leasehold Fee”) at the time of closing the Lease.

The deal is structured with tiny annual cash payments from ASUR to Puerto Rico for the first five years. ASUR will pay $2.5 million per year for five years, for a total of $12.5 million. In years six through 30, ASUR will pay Puerto Rico five percent of gross airport revenues. It will pay ten percent of gross airport revenues in years 31 through 40. ASUR will also reimburse Puerto Rico $2.8 million per year for the costs of police and fire services. This amount will be adjusted once actual costs have been determined.

The airport lease also calls for “General Accelerated Upgrades” to the airport, but it does not require any major capital improvements. ASUR is not obligated to offer employment to airport employees. If the conditions are worked out, then ASUR can take control of the Puerto Rico Air National Guard facilities also."

"Juan Carlos Batlle, President and CEO of the Government Development Bank for Puerto Rico (GDB), was asked at the Bloomberg State & Municipal Finance Conference about the transaction. He said that the $615 million upfront payment would go to retire airport debt, and he did not know how financially advantageous the deal was for the buyers.

But knowing the advantages of the deal seems to be a basic fiduciary responsibility for the official in charge of the government agency that did the analysis of the deal. Batlle eventually conceded that Puerto Rico essentially receives no benefit from the upfront payment other than retirement of debt. He fudged his answer on any longer term benefits."

"The key to understanding the deal is knowing how much ASUR will earn. The company will receive $62 million per year from airlines that use the airport’s gates and facilities. ASUR will also earn approximately $36 million per year from “Passenger Facility Charges...

According to the financial statements of the Puerto Rico Port Authority for 2011, LMM generated $99 million in total revenue, including $70 million of operating revenue. Earnings (EBITDA) were approximately $40 million. 2011 was also the lowest year for passenger traffic (see chart above). 2012 numbers have already rebounded and are tracking to reach nine million passengers. This means that revenues and earnings will earn ASUR an even better deal."

"It was hard for me to do any deeper analysis because the financial statements of the Port Authority combines the activities of the airport and the marine terminals that provide bulk freight and cruise ship services. But the LMM deal is being lauded in financial circles, which means that investors will likely do very well."

So Cate does her thing and reaches the conclusion that We are being ungently screwed by The Larva's verminous horde of chancre-pocked thieves. (I use more colorful language...) Of course, investors are going ga-ga over the deal because--and this is a subtle point that My Brethren tend to miss--the deal is a steal.

On her blog, Juan Carlos Batlle, ol' "Mr. Waffle (Out)House" himself, piped in with a response. Here it (largely) be, with one comment, Mine:

"I am writing to clarify certain information on Cate Long’s October 5 MuniLand blog post, “Puerto Rico’s Airport Giveaway,” regarding remarks I made at the Bloomberg State Municipal & Finance Conference. With all due respect, her reference to my comments are, in fact, highly inaccurate, misleading and defamatory.

As a transcript of my remarks at the Bloomberg State Municipal & Finance Conference on October 3, 2012 clearly reflects about the Public-Private Partnership for the Luis Munoz Marin International Airport:

- It provides important and tangible financial benefits to the government of Puerto Rico and its citizens; to the tune of $615 million upfront cash payment, annual revenue sharing of over $550 (sic; or actually, quite accurate) and investment in capital improvements of $1.4 billion over the life of the lease

- Enables Puerto Rico to retire approximately 45% of the Ports Authority’s debt;

- Sets up funds to support regional airports and other purposes; and

- Helps reestablish the financial stability of the Puerto Rico Ports Authority.

As I said at the Conference, given Puerto Rico’s high debt load, among the main objectives of our Public-Private Partnership Program are to reduce overall debt levels and reactivate infrastructure investment.

This transaction allows us to accomplish both objectives at the Ports Authority: “tackle the issue as we have to start lowering our debt load,” and “invest $1.4 billion over the life of the lease.” (these quotes taken directly from such transcript)."

Oh, brother, can you spare a whine? Let Me fire a few verbal bullets your pin-headed way, Mr. Waffle (Out)House:

1) You were accused--rightly--of incompetence for not knowing how this deal benefits the investors. Anything to say there? My thoughts are: Ms. Long was absolutely right and you are a baboon with a calculator. In any case, your time to answer that point was at the Conference, not some time later when you've had a chance for a flunky to draft your ape-like grunted response.

2) Who--who, goddammit--created the "high debt load"? Your so-called boss has limp-wristed his way to overseeing a massive increase in Our national debt, most of which has gone who-knows-where... but We've seen how a lot of it has gone to The Larva's cronies and party parasites. So you're saying the LMM deal is to "reduce overall debt levels" that were basically created by your own hyena pack's greed, corruption level and incompetence? Well isn't that special.

3) Your transcript quotes are ridiculous, lame and pusillanimous at best. "(T)ackle the issue as we have to start lowering our debt load,” is mealy-mouthed farting in the wind when the subject matter is facts and figures, dollars and cents, Waffle (Out)House, even when--or especially when--the cash seems to be going to crooks. And “(I)nvest $1.4 billion over the life of the lease” is merely a number anyone can toss out: where are the specifics? If you knew the amount (which I doubt, I'm sure a flunky gave it to you later), then why the hell didn't you have a breakdown of how it would or could be invested? Do you have ANY freaking idea how to do your job properly? Or are you just another lower primate in the monkey (out)house We laughingly call "Economic Development"?

4) And Let's be honest, Waffle (Out)House: you're supposed to be a banker. Ha-ha. You are writing a response to what you feel is an inaccurate portrayal of your presentation, on a government matter involving millions of dollars, you are responding in a public manner to said portrayal and you don't notice you have a humongously inaccurate number in your very own response? What are We to deduce from that?

That you're an idiot. That you don't know your job. That you were placed in it to facilitate financial shenanigans beyond your woefully-limited ken. And that the airport deal is just one of the many screwings We are having inflicted upon Us by your government cronies, ignorantly blessed by the full-scale incompetence of your fellow morons in """Economic Development."""

Ms. Long says it one way; I use more colorful--and truly--more accurate language.

The Jenius Has Spoken.

[Update: 19 Nov 2012: The Mexican half of the airport takeover, Grupo Aereopuerto del Sureste (ASUR), has been linked repeatedly to drug kingpins and trafficking. Hmm, seems like Our airport is part of some other business agenda...]

Time To Topple: Banco Popular

2012-10-08T08:12:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday, Sis!!

Unrelated to that announcement:

"Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Richard Carrión’s sister and two of his nephews, one of whom is also a Popular director, have delinquent property loans to the San Juan-based lender, according to a regulatory filing. The bank has also restructured the loans of another director, the board’s head of corporate governance, and classifies his debts as “troubled,” the filing shows.

'The disclosures are seriously problematic,' said Orin Kramer, whose Boston Provident Partners LP hedge fund owns about 2 million Popular shares. 'The role of the board is to protect against credit losses, not create them.'”

From another source:

“'This deal does smell like rotten fish,' said (James) Post, who was co-author of “Redefining the Corporation,” a study of governance and accountability. “It immediately raises the question: Have there been other deals of this sort that have gone on, and are shareholders entitled to know about that?”

The loan is among the latest “related-party transactions” between (the nephew of Uncle Richard, José) Vizcarrondo and Popular, which paid companies linked to him at least $33 million since 2004, regulatory filings show. The bank posted $1.87 billion of losses from 2007 through 2009 under Carrión, who has been Popular’s CEO since 1994 and a director of the Federal Reserve Board of New York since 2008."

From the same source, further down:

"Desarrollos isn’t the only company linked to Vizcarrondo to gain from Popular contracts. The bank paid $33 million from 2004 through 2006 to Metropolitan Builders SE, a firm in which Vizcarrondo is a partner, proxy filings show. This company was awarded construction contracts valued at $52 million in 2002, the filings show."

And for losing $1.87 billion, how much does Uncle Richie Wretch make? "Carrión’s overall compensation, including stock, increased 67 percent last year (2010) to $1.8 million, according to the proxy filing." Woo-hoo! A 67% raise and rampant nepotism, too! Way to go, Richie Dead Meat! ("Carrion" as it is properly defined, in this case...)

Another little fillip of rotting meat: Banco Popular still owes $935 million to TARP, the second-highest such debt in the U.S of part of A. banking system. They're #2! They're #2!

But then there's more back-office butchering going on here...

"Manuel Morales Jr., Popular director and chairman of the board’s corporate governance committee, owes the bank about $1.5 million through different lines of credit, according to a filing. The board agreed to restructure his debts in December, changing most of them to three-year term loans. While Morales is “current” on his obligations, the loans “would be classified as troubled debt restructurings,” according to the bank."

Oh. So if you're IN the bank, you don't have to deal with the pesky little rules of actually running the bank properly. That's good to know. Especially since the Feds noticed long ago (well, last year, at least) and placed Banco Popular under its direct scrutiny "due to failings in the bank’s management of documentation concerning property loans."

Gosh. It almost makes you forget the time Banco Popular's Old San Juan branch "forgot" to properly report $25 million in laundered drug money...

Banco Popular is the largest local bank, with over 40% of all Our deposits; its closest rival is at 17%. As an economic pillar, Banco Popular is more like a ragged toothpick, using its local weight to squat and crap on Our growth with its near-monopolistic powers.

Want a mortgage? Banco Popular handles over 55% of them (and The Larva's wife, Lucé "I Met 'Meat' Romney" handles over 2100 of them...for a cool $900,000+). Car loan? Ditto. Personal loan? Same. Credit card? Yeah. Construction loan? Uh-huh, especially if Uncle Richie Wretch is kin.

Banco Popular is weak, troubled and run by nincompoops. TARP cash kept them afloat and because no other bank in their right mind would deal with the Dr. Moreau-like scenario here, the Feds handed Banco Popular pretty much all of WesternBank's cherry-picked "good assets," in a deal that shut down a weakened bank and propped up another.

Some analysts are touting buying Banco Popular shares. One even compares that purchase to that of buying lottery tickets. But that same "lottery gamble" source thinks alternative good buys are Doral Financial Group (DRL) and First Bancorp (FBP), numbers 2 and 3 amongst local banks. So it's not that Banco Popular is a hidden gem: it's that Puerto Rico's hybrid faux-economy could yield good deals if it kicks back into high-consumption gear.

I'll repeat Myself: Banco Popular is an obstacle to Our growth. It is a massive financial roadblock sitting squarely in key industrial and business sectors: construction, commercial loans, mortgages and personal loans. It dominates a weakened economy that was weaker than it should have been because Banco Popular--through its near-total control of 936 funds--used that money to build a national base (now rebranded as "Popular Community Bank") rather than truly build Our Island. In effect, it colluded with Stateside firms to zip profits back home, rather than invest them locally, as Section 936 intended.

Given that Banco Popular has long been run like a friquitín's greasy cash box, where any José, Julio or Manny can grab a handful of dollars and waltz away, that its economic base has been self-eroded, that its strategy is more "survival" than "revival" and that it believes Uncle Richie is worth more than $1.8 million to lead them exactly nowhere, I say it's time to topple Banco Popular.

The sooner the better. For Our Island's best and brightest sake.

The Jenius Has Spoken.

How Fascist is Puerto Rico? Part II

2012-10-04T08:12:00.000-04:00

If you missed Part I, you know where to find it.

Continuing the list of 14 Characteristics of Fascism, as applied to Puerto Rico. The definition followed by My Comments:

8) Religion and Government are Intertwined. Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government's policies or actions.

CHECK. But the form it takes in Puerto Rico is that of religious and political leaders coming together to form coalitions. Think of Jorge Raschke's annual political rally in front of the Capitol Building or Archbishop Roberto González becoming a de facto advisor to government agencies. Religion and politics are two faces of the same hypocritical coin used to fleece the flock.

9) Corporate Power is Protected. The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.

CHECK. CHECK! Business and industrial leaders here are in up to their hairlines with both major parties. In fact, it's considered "sound business strategy" to do so, and the slope from "contributor" to "crony" is just a matter of a few more dollars and mutual greed.

10) Labor Power is Suppressed. Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed.

CHECK. But again, with a variant: the leaders of major labor unions "jump ship" and form close ties with government and business leaders, thus enriching their own pockets by staying in power and weakening the overall labor movement. It isn't rare to see a union have a president/council made up of people who've been in power for a decade or more. Their lot improves visibly, while the colleague they represent wonder why their union dues are increasingly worthless.

11) Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts. Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia. Free expression in the arts is openly attacked, and governments often refuse to fund the arts.

CHECK. Although this one could be more cultural than political as My Brethren have long had an anti-intellectual streak, seeing "smarts" and "book learning"--usually related to mastery of English--as a denial of being Puerto Rican. (Yeah, I said it.) What We worship is "cunning", which sees arts and intellectual pursuits as worthless. Thus the decades-long fight about funding the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture (seen rightly as a hotbed of anti-government, patriotic pursuits), the decades-long use of Education as a political pigpen/slush fund and the disdain of government for the protection and respect due to higher education and its related endeavors (Ricky Rat and Supertube Scumbag being the latest in a long list of examples.)

12) Obsession with Crime and Punishment. Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws.

CHECK, but in a different way. The recent "revamped" Penal Code is the perfect example, as it increased penalties for a wide variety of crimes, but left punishment for "white collar" and "political" crimes pretty much where they were. Tack on the recent plebiscite to deny the right to bail (which rightly failed), the Justice department so riddled and stunted by political appointees that (A) cases and convictions have dropped despite a 21% increase in crime and (B) the whole police/Justice system is under investigation at the federal level, plus how much the "Fools in charge" fear Us and only then do you have a clearer picture of what kind of obsession the Fools have with crime and punishment: it is a tool to control Us to protect themselves. Let's not forget, either, how much the prison population vote gets courted here...

13) Rampant Cronyism and Corruption. Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability.

CHECK! CHECK! CHECK! OH SHIT! CHECK! The level of corruption and cronyism in Puerto Rico is so wide and deep, it isn't isolated, it's systemic. It's not skin cancer: it's AIDS. A Comptroller official two administrations ago estimated that corruption cost Us about 15% of Our roughly $9 billion budget: he was wrong. It's closer to 40% and may be even higher. The Larva's wife and several close friends are on the take. Senate president Mad Dog has his father and several close friends on the take. House president Gluttonny has her family and lesbian support group on the take. Go on down the line and the numbers grow, the cronyism spreads, the corruption rots wider and deeper. And oh yes, it involves the commonwealth party as well. We're deep into denial about this, making fun of it, but if We were truly pissed off about it (and not benefiting or wanting to benefit from it in some way), We would have Mussolinied these crapbags a long time ago.

14) Fraudulent Elections. Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.

CHECK, barely. Our crapbags are not much into subtlety here, preferring the "O'Neill Method" of fake voters/fake votes to steal elections. And rather than turn the judiciary openly, We have the Electoral Commission, a quasi-judicial forum where the cheating can be coordinated and the trick is to get your cheating scheme in at the very last minute so the opposition can't trump it.

That's 7-of-7 today, and using My 1 (Utopia) to 100 (Totally screwed) scale, I'd put this half at 86... and rising. With yesterday's 74 and averaging, We're at 80 on the Fascist Scale.

80.

Just My opinion, but you tell Me, Brethren: Am I wrong? Is the number really much lower? And if it is higher, then when do We Mussolini these bastards?

The Jenius Has Spoken.

How Fascist Is Puerto Rico? Part I

2012-10-03T08:12:00.000-04:00

Way back in the dawn of time--2004, to be exact--I commented on an article titled "The 14 Characteristics of Fascism," by Lawrence Britt. I posted My comment to a forum, amidst the horrified reaction of the murderous moron stealing another election and Tullyvision Studios picked up the post. Still has it on their website, too.

Now back then, I applied the "fascism prism" to the U.S. of part of A. Still do, which is why I can tell you that Obama has done practically nothing to reverse the trend. (Keep that in mind in November, okay?) And though I had a couple of "Hmmm" moments concerning this topic and My Island, only now does it seem imperative I apply Britt's description to Puerto Rico. You'll see why.

Here are the first 7 characteristics of fascism and My comments:

1) Powerful and Continuing Nationalism. Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottoes, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia.

CHECK. We are, to put it mildly, as jingoistic as the worst colonial outpost or the defeated Deep South can be. We don't know exactly why We act that way, but We do and think it's a really good thing.

2) Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights. Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of "need."

NOT YET. What keeps Us out of CHECK (get it?) is the federal government watching over Us, but We're not far from clipping rights: the legislature already has--on the books--a mandatory 3-year sentence for disrupting their """work""" or disrespecting them. Whittling away at rights never makes them stronger.

3) Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause. The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe.

CHECK. "They" are evil. "They" are crooks. "They" are ruining Us. Everybody says that, whipping up a frenzy of largely political smokestorms that obscure the real problems We have, to the benefit of those basically creating and gaining benefits from those problems.

4) Supremacy of the Military. Even when there are widespread domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.

CHECK. "But Jenius, We don't have an army." Yes We do: the police. Under The Larva (there's an image...) the police have received more funding than ever before and--pay attention to this--a larger advertising budget than they've ever had. Despite this, crime is rampant and corruption in the police force is endemic. But does the government tackle that as a problem? No chance in hell.

5) Rampant Sexism. The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Opposition to abortion is high, as is homophobia and anti-gay legislation and national policy.

CHECK. Women do hold positions of power here--visibly--but are often cut out of the real power structure (cut to house president Jenniffer "Gluttonny" González nodding her head...) Opposition to abortion is opposition to a woman's choice, homophobia is widespread in government to the point of wanting to needlessly and stupidly amending the Constitution to define marriage as "between man and woman," an intrusion into personal lives that has no politically rational basis.

6) Controlled Mass Media. Sometimes the media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives.

CHECK. I've made My position very clear about the Ferré-Rangel cartel, but other media are equally compromised to the point where they are nothing but puppets. In one case, that of Antulio, who cross-dresses up like a puppet, the metaphor is reality, as his colon houses the elongating arm of one Thomas "Mad Dog" Rivera.

7) Obsession with National Security. Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.

CHECK. We don't have "national" security here: what We have is "power structure" security. Watch the current campaign closely and see how fear is the primary motivator of almost every ad. Listen to press conferences to see how fear is used as the stick to make you stand where they want you to. Notice how fear permeates the public discourse. Those in power are afraid of Us, so they use fear against Us. Seeing how corrupt, venal and useless they are, one can glimpse how fear becomes their god, their shield and their weapon.

In this first half of the list, We're 6-for-7. On a scale of 1 (Utopia) to 100 (Utterly fascist), I'd say that on these characteristics, We're at about 74. Certainly nowhere near good, but not so lost that We have to go all French on the government's ass and take to the sewers to start killing the rats.

But that's the first half. Just the first half.

The Jenius Has Spoken.

Bitter, Fraudulent Medicine

2012-10-02T08:12:00.000-04:00

One of the "series" in The Jenius, several posts related to a topic, is about the astonishing incompetence, hypocrisy and fraudulent behavior of one Yocasta Brugal, a walking waste of space at the San Juan Bautista School of Medicine.

But emerging as an even filthier latrine of incompetence, hypocrisy and criminal behavior is the University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine. In recent days, they hired--to a fully-tenured position--the youngest son of Pedro Stupid Rosselló, former asswipe governor, one Ricardo "Ricky Rat" Rosselló. Ostensibly, Ricky Rat is some kind of stem cell researcher and he "sold" the UPR on the idea of hiring him as they had no one with that specialty on their staff.

But thanks to Luis J. Villanueva, We have a clear picture of what Ricky Rat is, in a beat-down so fucking thorough I wet Myself in admiration. The lowlights: Ricky Rat is not a qualified researcher in any field, his few accomplishments are inflated beyond reason and there are easily 80-100 better qualified professors and candidates than the Rat.

Toss in that the UPR publishing arm will release a book by Ricky Rat and that within a month of his fraudulent and disgusting hiring he was given paid leave and you have a case where the Rat is not a single repulsive creature: he's part of a huge sewage pack.

Hundreds of UPR professors toil under temporary contracts for years, but Ricky Rat oozed right in, like the well-greased douchebag he is, to gain what he isn't even remotely close to earning. But there is one thing you can say about Ricky Rat (for now): he ain't no criminal.

In the category of "Hiring Criminals Any Way You Can," the UPR School of Medicine gives a job to one René Vazquez Botet, alias "Supertube Scumbag," a man who was convicted and sentenced to 5 years for fraud and corruption charges while he was working the aqueduct project locally known as the "Supertube." Two points need to be stressed here:

1) Supertube Scumbag is--ostensibly--a pediatric ophthalmologist. What the fuck was he doing working with an aqueduct project? Well, We know the answer: stealing.

2) Under whose (mis)administration was this whole Supertube scam? Pedro Stupid Roselló's. Uh-huh.

Last year, within weeks after being released from prison to house arrest in Puerto Rico, Supertube Scumbag is hired on a part-time basis by the UPR School of Medicine. That means that a convict--a fucking criminal bag of political pigshit--is hired to teach future doctors at what is supposed to be the premiere medical school of the Island.

You mean to tell me there was NO OTHER FUCKING PERSON better-qualified for this part-time teaching position than Supertube Scumbag? No one?

What's bringing this up to a boil now is that later this week, Supertube Scumbag is coming up for tenure--for the third time. Yes, the UPR School of (Fraudulent) Medicine is thinking about making Supertube Scumbag a permanent member of their faculty by violating due process, because, you know, criminals make awesome teachers.

If any of you get the impression that Stupid Rosselló is some sort of master manipulator, you might be on the right path. His two (mis)administrations are the most corrupt--by far--in Our history and nearly every major player in the current (non)administration, from The Larva and Mad Dog and Mouth Fart (Marcos Rodriguez, The Larva's pet retarded pig) and many others were part of Stupid Rosselló's fraud squad...including Il Castrato, the prison pansy whose convictions are now history.

How deep and wide and severe is the corruption on My Island? I've shown you a facet of the tip of an iceberg, maybe 1% of the visible 10%...and 90% buried in the shitty muck of what used to be Our Future. Hard to swallow, that is.

Bitter medicine indeed.

The Jenius Has Spoken.

P.S. UPR president Dingbat Jones, or whatever his name is, says he will not approve the nomination of Supertube Scumbag for a tenured position. Yeah. Okay.