30 January 2008

Economic Convergence

This won't take long...

There are several trade agreements in place around the world, most notably the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). Trade agreements link the U.S. of part of A. with Chile, while Chile is a trade partner through CARICOM, the Caribbean Commercial agreements set.  

In short order, a Central American-Caribbean Basin agreement is expected to be signed linking seven economies to the European Community. And a Far East Compact is in the works to provide a direct trade platform between Asian Tigers and the Caribbean.

All this focus on the Caribbean region, aimed at uniting trade concerns in order to do one thing: Sell to the largest market in the world: The U.S. of part of A.

And guess who's been IN that market--as buyer, seller, partner, twage slave, colony and profit launderer--AND sits smack freakin' dab in the belly of the Caribbean?

Think "experience" plus "location" plus "infrastructure" and see if you reach My conclusion.

Oh, add "vision" and "will".  Otherwise, you'll be basing your assessment on The Fools' idiotic notion that the status quo can only be changed through whinier begging.

NOW see if you're thinking what I'm thinking...


The Jenius Has Spoken

28 January 2008

Inertia Bad and Good

Inertia: n. 1) Physics. The tendency of a body to resist acceleration; the tendency of a body at rest to remain at rest or of a body in straight line motion to stay in motion in a straight line unless acted on by an outside force. 2) Resistance or disinclination to motion, action, or change: the inertia of an entrenched bureaucracy.

Nothing new there. Here's what's new: Conversations with mid-level agency officials who are practically demanding that changes be made.

I know!

When the head donkey of an agency says "We want change," you can rest assured it is nothing but pifflegabble of the odious kind. But when several of the permanent members of that agency look you straight in the eye and say they want to do more and want to do it now, you sit up and take notice.

What they're saying is that money is available, but that it is blocked by incompetence or malice. That they have the tools to expand their assigned roles, but again, blocked by incompetence or malice. And that what they want is a path out of this bureaucratic prison, in essence, a jailbreak from the outside, for they have lost hope of being able to do it from the inside.

Not one or two agencies, either; in My recent experience, it's up to seven. Not a huge number when you realize there are over 200 in Our wasteland called government, but when you see a 7-for-7 trend, you should take notice.

And then there's this: I am not the first person they have spoken to. (A kick to the ol' ego, huh?) When I ask what happened to the previous contact, I get the same response: They said they'd help, but did nothing.

So after a dud or two (and in one agency, four), the agency's true leaders are sitting across from Me, in conference rooms and offices with framed pictures of smiling Fools, and they are telling Me about seeking services for their needs and being ignored.

I have been tempted to point out the irony of "they won't do anything" coming from a government agency, but (in a rare fit of maturity) I haven't. The trend is positive, and the chance for Me to do something that not only creates benefits but also shows up My so-called competition is just too good to pass up.

Inertia: n. Making use of an unusual property to prevent capsize.


The Jenius Has Spoken.

 

25 January 2008

Venting

Since what I wrote was destroyed by Blogger incompetence (No, I didn't do anything wrong: Blogger has been hiccupping and it swallowed My post between "Preview" and "Publish"), I'll vent about this: Why do Our schools suck so badly?

I've said before (you may look it up) that one problem is that teachers are generally too stupid and too lazy to do other work. I've blamed the Department of (Mis)Education for having no standards, no guts, no brains and too many vegetables in the pantry.

I've blamed The Fools and their idiocies, greed, malice aforethought and even economic conspiracy. But I must add to that list a key culprit: Us. More specifically, the parents of school-age children.

Uh-huh. That includes Me with a second-grader who asks tons of questions and thinks school is a waste of time. This despite a mother who is constantly vigilant about school issues, from homework and grades to events and policy changes. And yes, despite Me, who answers all his questions, asks "What did you learn today?" and makes the boy treat homework like batting practice or free throw drills.

Despite this support, this presence, he's still bored, unchallenged and often frustrated.

So now I'm blaming Me. Here's why:

---The curriculum sucks, with too much "faith" and too little "facts."

---The principal sucks, 20 years past her prime and unaware that the 21st century is well on its way.

---The teacher sucks, being bilingual in the sense that she is utterly incompetent in two languages.


Given all this, the blame lies squarely on Me for not preparing My son to face this pathetic wasteland and understand that if he is to learn--and he must--then it is up to Me to teach him what he's missing to learn well.

That means I teach him that "Mary and Jane does go to school" is not a misprint, it is an example of "too lazy and too stupid."

That means I teach him that four practice problems in math are not enough, especially when the teacher does two of them... and one of them is wrong.

That means I teach him that Betsy Ross never made a flag, that Columbus didn't arrive in Puerto Rico on the Niña, the Pinta or the Santa María and that Our Taíno Indians did not wear feather bonnets, and that the fact that the teacher and the principal don't know this is not a misunderstanding, but a total cock-up along the lines of building dirigibles filled with hydrogen.

Is My spleen plastered all over this? Yeah. Blame Me for part of it, blame Blogger for the other part. My original post was thanking teachers. My how the mood can change...

But going back to My second-grader: It's My job to do what the school can't. Everything else is hot air, also known as "My son's teacher's subsititute for brains."

I can't wait for Blogger to screw another one of My posts!


The Jenius Has Spoken.

23 January 2008

Good and Barely Good Intentions

As always, My Thanks to Janine Mendes-Franco for picking up another of My posts for Global Voices Online.


While I ponder some heavier topics, a little on the light side...

Two incidents, no common denominator other than My presence.

Incident the First: A gas station "quick shop" with a cafeteria area. I ask for My food and notice the woman tending the counter is sniffling. I toss out My usual "I hope you're not allergic to Me," remark only to hear "No. What I have isn't contagious. It's in the heart." Jenius that I am, I didn't get it until she repeated it softly, more to herself than to Me. She was crying.

I didn't want to leave her isolated, so I said "Those are pains that you can make lighter by sharing." She gave Me a long look and then told Me how her daughter, now a lawyer, was ashamed of her, an employee at a gas station food counter. "She doesn't care about the effort and struggle that helped her get what she has now," said the woman. She went on, and I simply listened. And what got to Me was that not once--not once--did she utter that stupid word "sacrifice."

She was hurt because of the rejection based on illogical shame, not because her "sacrifice" had led to seeing her attorney daughter become a rabid ingrate. As a mother and as a woman, she was doing her best, what she always did, and now it was a source of shame to a loved one. Her pain definitely wasn't contagious: It was uniquely her own.

She wrapped My food to go and tossed in some extras. I smiled at her. She smiled back. But I knew her tears would start again after I'd left. The best I could do wasn't--could never be--enough.


Incident the Second: Very late night, a couple at an ATM. They are arguing, she with the shrill voice of long practice and he with the whiny lisp of the dependent. I consider going to another machine...

"You know how this works?" The lisp is gone. Against My initial instinct, I nod. I'm a Jenius; of course I know how this works. As I approach, the woman smiles and I can see, like a faded photograph past her tired expression, the face of a young shrew.

"We don't know how to get money from this," she says, patting her sticky hair in place. I give them instructions, but every step is a pas de deux of "she bossy-he whiny." They mess up the PIN. They don't know if the money's in Checking or Savings. They screw up the amount. They argue, or rather, she attacks and he lisps in retreat. In the end, no money. Their transaction can't be processed.

They get into a nearby car, where there's another woman slumped in the front passenger seat. The car is new, maybe a year old. Newer than Mine, certainly. But it looks faded, abused, like it was a gift from an unloved relative.

I move to the ancient ATM next to the modern shiny one. I flick through it and--uh-huh--it works. My cash comes out, but try as I might, they notice I had completed My transaction.

They come back. And instead of fleeing, I give them instructions, watch them argue and retreat, screw up the numbers and have to repeat the whole process again to retrieve their money. On My way home, I stop at the gas station where I'm sure a mother works while still feeling an indescribable pain. Coming out with bags in hand, I notice that My best intentions here fell short of what I'd wished, whereas at the bank, My barest of good intentions was more than enough.

Funny how often things work out that way.


The Jenius Has Spoken.

21 January 2008

Stances and Irony

I found some notes I made earlier this year to Myself. Here's the wrap-up of the interrupted thought process:

While wondering about My reactions to certain political stances, I analyzed what was happening:

---I don't listen to so-called pundits or analysts. For one, they don't know shit from Shinola. For another, they have their own axes to grind and I don't care for that.

---I hardly ever (maybe once or twice a year) listen to local news and only occasionally (once or twice a week) do I read a local newspaper. I get most of My general impressions of the zeitgeist from the front pages of those newspapers and from conversations with friends and colleagues whose opinions I respect.

---Because of this, and because I want to take My own stand on issues, I sometimes discover that My stand coincides with one of the three prevailing political viewpoints that suffuse Our miasma.

---If I find that My stand agrees with statehooders, I swallow My pride, for they have none.

---If I find that My stand agrees with commonwealth supporters, I swallow My dignity, for they have none.

---If I find that My stand agrees with independentistas, I throw up My hands and mutter "THAT was a waste of time," because I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that they can't get anything good done.

But more and more often I notice My stand has nothing to do with any of the above three proverbial monkey-stances and everything to do with common sense and a push for progress regardless of political shadings. And I bet I'm not alone in that discovery.

Now if We could only get organized and form a movement or party... Of course, if the leader of that party suddenly started acting like he walks on (purified) water and confuses four random
hellos from street vendors with overwhelming support for his non-existent policies and plans, then We kick him in the bean and pick someone else.

Any resemblance between "him" and PPR President Rogelio Figueroa is strictly use of irony.


The Jenius Has Spoken.

18 January 2008

National Talent Bank

Why don't We create a National Talent Bank?

The Talent Bank would be a database of curricula vitae and self-descriptions tagged and cross-referenced by location, age, gender, and interests. All submissions would be voluntary and perusal of the Talent Bank would cost $1 per name searched, with the funds used to maintain and support the source.

What purpose would Our National Talent Bank serve?

---Identify the willing and capable amongst Us.

---Quantify the level of human resources We can count on.

---Streamline the process of connecting the right people to the right ideas.

---Strengthen the sense of commitment We currently only pay lip service to.

---Allow room for the overall opportunity level to grow: Volunteers want to share and in that sharing, synergy and synchronicity are very common results.

---Provide a human framework for developing vision. Human, not political.

---Help develop a feeling of shared purpose, of hope and inspiration.


Would a National Talent Bank be Our social and economic panacea? It could be. It would certainly be better than what We don't have right now.


The Jenius Has Spoken.

16 January 2008

Dishonest Silence

For what seems like the 945th time in My life, I heard the following:

"I just sit there, let the person talk and when they finish, I ask them to leave me their information and tell them I'll call. Then I don't."

The guy telling Me this is proud about his way of dealing with people he doesn't care about. As he points out: "I can't care about everything people bring me."

No, you can't. But you can be honest.

For some illogical reason, We have this tendency to think that "polite" (in these cases) is equivalent to "non-responsiveness." Rather than take a few seconds and tell the person some variation of "No, that doesn't interest Me," or "I'm sorry, I'm not the right person for this," We opt for chicken-hearted cowardice bordering on immature negligence.

This happens in a country where some people use a phrase that loosely translates as "I'm honest to a fault" (Soy tan feo/a como tan franco/a) and then often proceed to be offensive beyond the pale.

Okay, so there are extremes on both ends of the spectrum. But this "non-confrontational" passivity is killing Us. (Just to annoy some of you, I'll say it's directly related to Our blessed ay bendito syndrome.)  Silence implies consent, in both English and Spanish (El que calla, otorga), but do We take that into account when We let someone blather on? No.

I see this stupid trend in business as often as I see idiocy from the Fools. And of course, My tendency to tell people "No, not interested" in order to save Us both time (okay, to save MY time) is seen as abrupt, even impolite and disrespectful. Bah! Leading someone to believe     
that you are interested and may even act upon that so-called interest when you have every intention of ignoring them once they leave is disrespectful.

So why don't We say what We mean? And don't give Me any of that "cultural differences" malarkey: Honesty is a stronger basis for communicaton than disimulation, regardless of where you come from. To choose silence as a communication tactic to avoid a simple honest exchange is to exacerbate communication problems, creating friction where none need exist and slows Us all down with its cumulative effect.

All for the purpose of saying We are "polite" while the whole shebang goes to Hell in well-mannered hypocritical basket.

Or maybe it's just Me.

It isn't...and I know I'm right.


The Jenius Has Spoken.

14 January 2008

Saving the PIP and PPR

They say you shouldn't kick a man when he's down, but I don't care what they say: It's time to kick some sense into the two local "parties" that are to political feasiblity what dog food is to fine dining.

I speak, of course, of the Partido Independentista Puertorriqueño--the "independence" party--and the party of Puerto Ricans for Puerto Rico, known in Spanish as the PPR and around here as "the mess Rogelio Figueroa made."

Let Me punt the older would-be party first, the one with the so-called tradition of independence. Under the brilliant leadership of Rubén "Tsar-for-Life" Berríos, this party went from full-fledged opposition to pseudo-intellectual joke, barely pulling in 2.5% of the total votes cast in 2004. With any luck, it will pull that percentage again, but I expect it will barely crack the 2% barrier.

The problem with the PIP (as it abbreviates in Spanish) is that (a) Tsar-for-Life happened; (b) he never came up with any viable solutions for Puerto Rico and blocked anyone else's ideas from coming to the fore; (c) they all played footsie with Castro like butt-buddies in a prison cell and (d) eventually settled on seeing the party as a money-maker that required a year of work every four.

Yeah, the PIP raises its empty head come election time, grabs its millions as if it were an actual political party and then fades gently into the background, intent on patriotic karaoke night at the local bohemia bar.

Solution: With the inside track gained over the past few decades, the PIP could set its mission to unveil the incestuous calamity Our government has become, in all its wretched, nauseating detail. Sure they'll get burned for being part of it, but if Tsar-for-Life is really good for anything it's obfuscating his plethora of errors and magnifying his paltry successes. This gig would be like a walk on the beach for him. Again.

Now on to the non-factor that is the PPR. Under Rogelio Figueroa, the PPR has made as much of an advance as a brick in a wall. And given that the brick has more political savvy than Rogelio, that's treating the brick rather harshly.

Having thrown away the advantage of the outsider with an eye on reality in favor of being a laughingstock wannabe, what Rogelio and the PPR can do is shift the focus from what leadership they don't have to the leadership they actually can provide.

Solution: Take the money you will eventually get for the 2008 campaign and use it to monitor the government for the next four years. Use something like My Scorecard to keep track of the Fools and their idiocies and make this sobering information part of Our daily lives. You have the people, you'll have the money, all you need now is the will to do something instead of just pretending to play politics. Badly.

Imagine the impact of these two parties between now and 2012. One exposing the barrel of retarded snakes We have allowed to creep into positions of governmental power and the other forcing the government--and Us--to take responsibility for the day-to-day effectiveness and productivity of what is now a clannish den of thieves. Wouldn't you then feel more inclined to support either party, or at least acknowledge its existence?

And for those who still profess some emotion for either party, at least a modicum of newfound pride will seep into the connection, and who knows if this helps one or the other achieve that magical 5% level that means they've made it to the big leagues.

But I feel the little league mentality of both parties has become institutionalized. And as they say, don't send a boy to do a man's job.


The Jenius Has Spoken.

11 January 2008

A Sad Anniversary

A year ago today, My Dad died.


After several tries, with words pouring from Me and receding, sadness and anger and grief tumbling hard, it all comes down to this: I miss you, Dad. But then again, I've been missing you for several years...


The Jenius Has Spoken.

09 January 2008

Jellyfish Sting

I've been saving this one up for a long time...

Imagine you are the beleaguered governor of a state in open crisis, with fierce opposition and a lunatic fringe hounding you at every step.

Imagine you come into office on the heels of the lamest administration in the state's history, one where the "leader" outright quit and just let the whole ship of state be cast adrift.

Imagine that you have--and you know you have--an uncanny sense of political strategy, and that you may be a colossal dud as a governor, but you can seriously kick ass in a campaign.

Welcome to Metaphor Manor. Your Jenial host presents Aníbal Acevedo Vilá, a.k.a The Jellyfish, a spineless wonder that is never given a chance...and yet keeps floating along. For as you might have noticed with sea-dwelling jellyfish, it isn't when they are in sight that they hurt you, it's when you forget about them and don't see them that they sting.

Jellyfish (the governor) is facing either Pedro Stupid Rosselló--he of the mad dog demeanor and absolute lack of integrity at every level--or Luis "Nimrod" Fortuño, a pale imitation of a leader and an outright lock for "Unmanned of the Year" awards. Now who do you think Jellyfish wants to face: The Stupid mad dog with enough corruption barnacles to sink the Lusitania or the Nimrod with no personality?

Yeah, you got it: The Stupid mad dog, because Jellyfish beat him once and he can beat him again and again like rented mule (pun definitely intended.) The Jellyfish strategy against Stupid Rosselló is simple: Pound him on corruption and integrity issues. Sit back and wait for the re-election.

With Nimrod, Jellyfish has to work, and spend, and take a chance that some people will read something into Nimrod’s blandness and think he may have leadership potential. At that point, if Jellyfish isn’t at the top of his game, he could end up rehearsing a concession speech after the 6-week recount.

So what will Jellyfish do? He will help Stupid win the primary. Stupid, who “isn’t running”, but will go to almost every freaking town on the Island before the March vote, is somewhat behind in a variety of polls. And if you think Stupid Rosselló won’t accept the Jellyfish’s help, you are dead wrong: Of course he will. Above all, he knows that his only chance to return to power and save his worthless ass is to regain La Fortaleza. He figures that once it’s down to a two-man (two-creature) race, anything can happen.

But if things hold true to form, the something that will happen will be another nothing, another four years of fierce opposition, an increasing lunatic fringe and more retrogression.

Unless The Jellyfish is undermined by his underlings, who figure that four years with “the enemy” in charge may posit a better chance for Our growth than a limp-wristed rerun.

Politics: The only game with no winners.


The Jenius Has Spoken.


 

07 January 2008

Slugs to Scrubs

In the U.S. of part of A., it costs more to house a prisoner than to educate a university student.

The U.S. of part of A. has the largest prison population and the largest percentage of its population in prison of any country in the world.

And Puerto Rico follows along like a lolly-tongued puppy...


Okay, We have a problem here. Let's toss in a few more isolated facts:

There is an estimated shortage of some 280,000 nurses in the (you guessed it) U.S. of part of A., and the shortage is getting worse.

Beginning in 2008, the first of the Baby Boomers, the largest single generation in U.S. history, will begin to retire and already makes up the largest segment of the population in need of health care.

The estimated need for health care workers is some 600,000 more than the available right now, and the gap is growing at an estimated 10% a year.


Yeah, I'm going there: Let's train prisoners--men and women--to become health care workers, medical therapists and nurses.

First objection dismissed: Not all of them. With a prison population rapidly climbing to the 3 million mark (despite Texas' desperate need to kill some of them), one can be choosy.

Second objection dismissed: Recidivism will always exist, but even clean-record civilians show a double-digit tendency to drop out of health care, police forces and fire/rescue services. At least by training prisoners, We're looking to make use of human resources for a greater good instead of fattening them up for economic slaughter when they get out.

Third objection dismissed: Online education services. Forget moving them out of the prison: Just habilitate a computer room and only those who excel at their studies (both in grades and pace) are rewarded with on-the-job education and training.

End result: A reformative penal program that clearly addresses multiple key social needs, from rescuing those who've made a mistake to offering hope to the marginal to providing services to the needy to saving money.

Discuss amongst yourselves.


The Jenius Has Spoken.

04 January 2008

Our New Economic Miracle

The 1940s: A World War ends, the U.S. reigns supreme as economic and military power and in a tiny corner of its nascent empire lies a veritable cul-de-sac of misery. And they have to look up the spelling to correctly write "Puerto Rico."

Too harsh? Go back and check to see how We were described and you will quickly encounter comparisons to "the Black Hole of Calcutta" and "lice-infested villages of Africa." It’s how We were perceived, rightly or wrongly and totally indifferent to Our current “politically-correct” (addle-brained) mentality.

We were dirt-poor. And yet, within one generation, Puerto Rico went from Calcutta to Cadillac, an economic miracle so successful and startling that it became an industrial, commercial and academic cul-de-sac, a dead-end just large enough for studious idiots of all stripes to get lost in because the “miracle” was nothing more than the application of money to exploit an opportunity. Nothing more, nothing less.

That Puerto Rico’s economic transformation was historic is without question. That what made the transformation a reality should remain as it was 40 years ago is—amazingly—still being debated. (The answer is, of course, no. Now stop debating it, Fools.) That successful models based on Our experience have been designed, implemented and gained great success is also without question, but We refuse to properly emulate any of them.

We persist in seeing Our new economic miracle as being based on “Someone else’s money to exploit what We have,” when We should see it as “Our money to develop what We want.”

What a quantum leap for Our poor, oh-woe-is-me, welfare-for-everyone-but-especially-me mentality! Let’s break down how big a leap this is for Our p.o.w.i.m.w.f.e.b.e.m.m.:

Our money? Huh? We have money? Yes, We do. We have plenty of money. More than enough to place Our own bets on Ourselves. Do We have enough to do everything? Of course not. That’s why it’s called economic development and not spending (a vital distinction the Fools need to have hammered into their vacuous skulls. Hammered. Hard.)

Develop? Uh-huh. From the French développer, meaning to bring from latency to or toward fulfillment; to expand or enlarge; to aid in the growth of and/or to improve the quality of. You got a problem with that?

What We want? "Ay-ay-ay! Make it difficult, willya, Jenius? We never know what We want!" Wrong: We do. We know what We want; We’re just not willing to work for it. Once We’re shown how We can get what We want, though, We work very hard to achieve it. So the trick is to start the changes We know can work best to develop a new economic miracle, such as changes in education, business laws, investment scenarios and infrastructure and let the process organically reveal the opportunities created.

Our New Economic Miracle isn’t going to be an “outside-in” thing: It will be “inside” job first. No other starting point exists. There is no other initial tool than “Our money.” And there is no other path except that which We walk Ourselves.


The Jenius Has Spoken.


 

02 January 2008

Charity, Not Community

You most certainly didn’t see it: The Guayanilla School Band was in the 2008 Rose Bowl Parade. Hooray for Us, right?

Partially. You see, for the Band to get there, it had to start buying plane tickets--190 in all--at about 5:00 p.m. on Christmas Eve. That slapdash process reportedly ended at 2:00 a.m., Christmas morning. So while the other--more organized--Bands were traveling as a group to the Rose Bowl, the Guayanilla School Band was flitting and flopping across North America, coming together eventually in Pasadena.

Here’s a Band that has appeared—purely on merit alone—not only in the Rose Bowl, but also in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade. It was the first Band outside of the 50 States to do so in each parade. It has a track record worthy of inclusion amongst the best Bands in the land. So why, when the Rose Bowl invitation was extended in early 2007, was the Guayanilla School Band buying tickets on Christmas Eve? Because they personify the "Charity, Not Community" handout mentality that holds Us back.

For you see, I was able to secure 240 plane tickets--the orginal number of Band members--in October, through Continental. The catch was that those tickets had to have a deposit and be fully paid by November 27th, and the Band was in the process of waiting for the local Department of Education to pay $240,000 to cover the entire trip.

Yes, the same Department of Education that has been under Federal scrutiny and multiple reviews since 2003. The same Department of Education that doesn't support the Band during its regular endeavors. The same Department of Education that has repeatedly offered to “cover” activity-related expenses for all sorts of school groups and at the last minute (literally) fails to do so.

Instead of certifying the Band as a 501(c)3 organization, an IRS designation that allows seamless tax-free donations, the Band chose to wait for their “sugar(less) daddy” to whip out his empty checkbook and (not) pay for everything. Instead of working for a long-term corporate support structure in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, the Band’s Board of Directors (parents) preferred bingo days and Talent Shows for a few hundred dollars, pinning their hopes on “someone”, or loans, to make up the huge difference.

I was that someone. And I failed to get the Band to see that their role in the community, in a declining town with over 30% unemployment and no solid economic structure, was to BE the community, to become the town’s engine and attract the monies they deserve because they DO deserve support. On an Island where a couple of hundred companies have Community Investment Plans with funds sitting idle because they can’t find qualified organizations, the Guayanilla School Band could have become a cause célèbre, a beacon of community development led by teenagers, their parents and a love of music.

And they still can be. But they won’t. As long as the Mayor, the Band’s founder, is willing to buy votes by extending a loan to the Band for their trip, a loan that the Department of Education is “expected” to pay, then the Band won’t change a thing about their handout mentality. Oh sure, they work very hard, but they’re like lions chasing mice instead of antelope: Too much effort for much too little reward.

I offered them an alternative and they passed. It happens, even to a Jenius. But since you didn’t see the 2008 Rose Parade appearance of the Guayanilla School Band, don’t mark your calendar for 2009. Or 2010. They won’t be there. Yes, they’ll most likely be invited, but they won’t be able to go.

Beggars can’t be choosers, you see.



The Jenius Has Spoken.