Bareassed Hypocrisy

Oh.

Hell.

Pictures, self-taken from a cell phone, appear on a gay website. In a couple of them, a man is naked, on all fours, revealing his... base assets.

Point One: There is no doubt--no doubt at all--that the pictures are meant to be an invitation to sex. The pictures show a man, deliberately covering his face for that very important "sense of mystery," but revealing his body (one picture is of his naked torso), to the extent of "offering his wares" with his "doggy stance."

Point Two: What a person does in private is private and should remain that way, barring a greater good (solving a major crime, for example.) But what a person posts to the digital world is NOT private. It is NOT. Posting a picture to a website or tweeting a pic is NOT a private matter, simply because it spreads outside of anyone's control the moment you hit "Enter." Any position that doesn't acknowledge this basic truth is wrong.

The pictures were almost immediately linked to local senator and majority speaker Roberto "Me Espickin Inglich" Arango, notorious for his support of a statehood he can't define in the "official" language of the country he wants to become a part of.

His first reaction: That's not me. This is a political smear. Or words to that effect. Hell.

His second reaction, when shown the photos: He looks at them and then says That isn't Me.

Oh hell.

Here's the natural reaction of the totally innocent: It doesn't matter what photos you have, I don't have to see them because I'VE NEVER DONE THAT.

His third reaction: Yeah, that's me, but they were pictures taken of my weight loss efforts. But I don't remember those pictures.

Oh fucking hell.

Of course, the liar has already said he won't resign. Why should he? It's not like ethics or morality or integrity or dignity have ANYTHING to do with being a hyena-level thief in Our government. Hell, those are the "deal killers" that keep you from getting (s)elected.

The added twist is that Espickin Inglich has openly supported the proposed amendment to make marriage heterosexual only. So in a pattern that is very very familiar to observers of the Republican Party, the Moral Majority and other hypocrisy-required-for-membership groups, Espickin Inglich wants to legislate against those he wants to join. Carnally, to go Biblical on his ass.

Another day, another scandal, another dollop of barefaced--well actually: bareassed--hypocrisy.

Hell.


The Jenius Has Spoken.

[Update: 28 August 2011: Espickin Inglich resigned his ass from the senate.]

[Update: 9 February 2012: Espickin Inglich photographed kissing a man on a Miami beach. Not a crime, but for an ex-public official who made it a point to mock homosexuals and try to persecute them, it simply confirms hypocrisy. And homosexuality, if you're counting.]

The GasoDildo Down Our Throats

The president of the government board of the local power authority is front-page news in one of Our puppy-trainer rags because despite the deep drop in oil prices since May, she stated that the fuel charge on Our bills will not be adjusted for at least a year, by which time the proposed 93-mile natural gas pipeline they call "Vía Verde" and I accurately define as the GasoDildo, is expected to be operational.

Okay, that was the Vaseline.

At the same time, she pointed out that Our electric bills could not be expected to drop as "(O)ur agreement with (bond)holders is that losses are passed on to (Our) customers, not to them."

<Theme from "Shaft" goes here.>

GasoDildo, anyone?

The (non)government is spending an estimated 2 million dollars on advertising the "Vía Verde," the """"""green"""""" natural gas pipeline that will """"""save"""""" Us money and make Us less dependent on oil. Every electric bill comes with a blatant, bare-faced lie: how much money We "could" have saved with the green dildo project. So in one simple press conference, the whole scheme is revealed:

A) Our electric bill is being politically jimmied to force Us to accept the green dildo. This is known as the "Vaseline Gambit", and...

B) We're going to get screwed up the ying-yang to where it says "Made in Japan" when the whole green dildo thing blows up...either financially (a given) or literally (a distinct possibility with ignoramus engineers in charge.)

And Our protest is...where? It's like the whole thing is a green dildo crammed down Our throats: We know it's uncomfortable, We know it's hateful, but We can't seem to do much more than gag a feeble "ackh". If that.

So now what? The GasoDildo is revealed for what it is--exactly--and We...ignore it? Wait until it's ripped from Our throats and in the split-second before it plugs Our fundament We utter a feeble cry of protest, drowned out by the sounds of illegal and immoral profiteers pig-cackling at Our expense?

If the GasoDildo were truly a cost-saving, infrastructure-enhancing project, the electrical authority would continue business as usual because they already offered the bonds needed to pay for the damn thing. They wouldn't have to keep gouging Us. And if the project were truly cost-effective and the (non)government truly believed it would make a strong positive difference, We wouldn't be on the hook for it. Why? Because then the (non)government would have either raised a hell of a lot more money or they would have received a much higher bond rating (and pay a lower interest to investors.)

None of those things are true. The GasoDildo is not meant to benefit Us: it's meant to rape Us while a few pimps make out like...pimps.


The Jenius Has Spoken.


[Update: 25 August 2011: Brazilian wind power cheaper than natural gas. And Brazil doesn't have to import natural, like We do. Alternative technologies--solar, wind, tidal--are cheaper in the long run than a 93-mile shaft. The problem? Our Fools can't figure out how to make oodles of money using them to screw Us. If they could, they would...and benefit Us. By mistake, but I'd take it.]

Who's Saving Us From Us?

[Once again, Global Voices Online gives wings to My words, this time about My blogger ethics. It's like Janine Mendes-Franco is a wizard or something. Or is she a witch? Okay, I should stop right there...]

I had an uncle who once told Me: "If you get slapped, turn the other cheek. But if you get slapped again, beat the shit out of the bastard because Jesus didn't say anything about what to do after turning the cheek."

I did put his words into practice a few times, with mixed results. Often, I was unable to turn the other cheek. When I did, and got hit again, I'd always go off and though I tried to win every fight, I lost a few. My bottom line was: I'd fight even if the reason was wrong.

Now I look at My Island and I see a people that turn the other cheek 3-4 times, pretend their neck is a cheek, offer up butt cheeks, use their kids' cheeks, write "cheek" on their hands and offer those up for beatings, anything to avoid the "Fuck it, it's time to fight" moment.  As Jenius commenter (and outright Genius) Prometeo stated in his blog, We're "soft." (He used a different word; I'm letting you discover which one.) I called Us "cowards." Time to revisit that insult.

Within days of arriving in Puerto Rico, a person will be confronted by an island awash in problems. Here's a partial list: sub-standard (and sometimes sub-human) education; rampant political corruption; enormous unemployment; welfare recipients by the hundreds of thousands; overwhelming crime and underachieving law enforcement; consumerist mentality linked to a stagnant economy; religious leaders that act like criminals; media that acts like traitors and a self-image that seems to be based more on delusion and id than on pride and self-confidence. In short, We are fucked up.

But are We really doing anything about it? About anything on that list?

We are. We have to be. Somebody, somewhere, in some way, is doing something, however small, to plug the crumbling dam of Our society. It's impossible, even for Us, to have everyone being corrupt, for everyone to be a slacker, for all of Us to be parasites, for each of Our people to be a walking waste of human flesh, like Our politicians. Some of Us are saving Us...from Us.

But in the math of social disintegration, it isn't necessary for everyone to be a crook, thief, rapist, murderer, abuser, pederast or politician: it's enough that the good let the bad flourish. In short, the bad grows when the good allow it.

I don't have to be a bad person or engage in bad acts to aid and abet in the disintegration of My society: I simply have to be indifferent. To the bad. And even to the good, for if I don't acknowledge the good, and thus offer it support, I am "dis-encouraging" it as an acceptable path.

Now I can claim I'm too busy or too important or too caring about My family or too tired or whatever to try to excuse My indifference. Any way you choose to try to excuse it, all you're really doing is choosing to turn the other cheek.

Again. And again. And again. And again. And again. And again.

At what point does one look at this behavior, where in the face of active attempts against a person that person does nothing, and say "S/He is soft"? At what point, as this non-reaction continues, does someone say "S/He is a coward"? At what point does someone say "S/He deserves every bit of pain they get, for they have done nothing to reject it"?

I passed the point of calling Us "cowards" long ago. I'm pretty damn sure I'm very close to looking at My Brethren and saying We deserve everything We've had and have coming to Us.

Or maybe I passed that point already and I'm too soft to acknowledge it.

We'll see.



The Jenius Has Spoken.

The Jenius' Blogger Ethics

[Global Voices Online. The Jenius. Janine Mendes-Franco. Thank you!]


Some time ago, I wrote about My Intellectual Honesty and concluded I deserved a B. Tough self-critic, I am. Now comes this Blogger Code of Ethics, as suggested several years ago by Charlene Li in a Forrester Research Report titled "Blogging: Bubble or Big Deal?".

Now in the spirit of My earlier self-examination, Let's tackle this one, shall We?


 1) I will tell the truth.  A. Can't give Myself an A+ because I never have all the facts and quite frankly, nobody does.

2) I will write deliberately and with accuracy. A-. I don't write "deliberately" 100% of the times (I do believe you've noticed) and nobody has 100% accuracy in what they write, even though some of Us try very hard. If I were more deliberate, I'd give Myself an A or A+.

3) I will acknowledge and correct mistakes promptly. A+. Easy, since as I mentioned before, I don't make many mistakes.

4) I will preserve the original post, using notations to show where I have made changes so as to maintain the integrity of my publishing. A. Could have been an A-, but the changes I make after posting are almost always to correct spelling (see #8, below.) Not once in 1,037 posts have I changed something to "improve" My presentation or retract what I've written. That's why I place Updates.

5) I will never delete a post. A+. See #4 above. And I've been asked to about 45-50 times.

6) I will not delete comments unless they are spam or off-topic. A+. For one, I have smart people making comments. For two, disagreeing with Me is not a problem. Most likely a mistake on the person's part, but not a problem.

7) I will reply to emails and comments when appropriate, and do so promptly. B. It's the "promptly" part where I fail to achieve excellence. I have improved, but no comment should go unnoticed for more than 24 hours; a few have exceeded that this year.

8) I will strive for high quality with every post – including basic spellchecking. B. I turned off the automatic spellchecker to force Me to read/edit/correct My posts. Worked well for about a month and then a Jenial Reader pointed out that I was making some mistakes. That and The Picky Grammar Lady not being around led Me to sloppiness. Definitely room for improvement, but I still rank at least in the 98th percentile.

9) I will stay on topic. A. My topic is "Puerto Rico," with the occasional foray into other areas. Or actually, the topic is The Jenius and I NEVER stray from that.

10) I will disagree with other opinions respectfully. F. For "Fuck that." Actually, taken as a whole, I tend to disagree with only slight disrespect, though I have outrageously gone off on a slow-witted sociologist, a (miseducation) secretary with more fat than brains and a Korean-American ex-kongresskritter who should have stayed in his kim-chi patch. Balancing that out has been My exchanges with people I know and don't, so I'll settle for a...D. For "Don't expect Me to change too much."

11) I will link to online references and original source materials directly. B. I can do better. I usually do it, but "usually" is not "always" and "always" is the only standard that matters.

12) I will disclose conflicts of interest. A+. I seldom have conflicts of interest because I choose to attack stupidity and stupid and Me don't mix. So there.

13) I will keep private issues and topics private, since discussing private issues would jeopardize my personal and work relationships.  A+. I have touched on some items that I have personal knowledge of and state so. I also discuss some personal issues, but none that I wouldn't discuss amongst colleagues or friends. Like most people, I could blog about some truly juicy stuff, but at the expense of My reputation and people by and large don't deserve to be treated that way. Others, though, are in My sights for when the timing is right--and I am a patient man--they will be discussed. At length.

Okay, adding and dividing gives Me a 3.54 average, an A- if you want to be precise about it. (And for the math teachers in Our local schools: please have someone explain to you how I arrived at that figure...)

The Jenius Report Card: A in Blogger Ethics and a B in Intellectual Honesty. Assessment: The Jenius means well, but he needs to delve a little deeper into the facts and present them more objectively. (Here comes the bummer:) He definitely has room for improvement.

Okay.


The Jenius Has Spoken.

My Beige Cup

Every morning for the past 15 years or so, I drink coffee from a beige cup. Some sort of plastic, thick-walled, but light. For those who know Me and My kitchen utensils, beige is like having a Honda scooter in a Harley warehouse. Most of My stuff is brightly-colored: shiny blue, sparkling orange, dazzling yellow. Beige is definitely not like that.

I have other cups, some in dazzling colors. Given how much coffee I drink, I could go with a bigger mug (I have one with a Steelers logo) or if I want to cut back a little, I can go with a half-sized bone white cup with a deep royal blue edge. No. I stick to the beige cup. It has a couple of chips in it, probably from being a dropped a time or two. (Never thrown. Stop spreading rumors.) The inside has some dark lines that might be warning signals as to the more negative aspects of coffee. It doesn't matter.

The cup is very familiar to Me, more so than almost anything else I have. So much so that when I visit My mom's house and open her cupboard to get a water glass, it stuns Me to see three other beige cups. Like Mine, only newer.

Now those of you who have read "The Little Prince" and loved it know where I'm going with this. Those three beige cups are like Mine, in form and materials. They are newer, brighter even, if beige can be said to be "bright." For My coffee, a cup is a cup. Even if I ignore every other type of cup in the world, a newer beige cup might even be better at keeping My coffee warm for Me, or it might even taste better since the interior would be...unstained.

But.

My cup is Mine. Scarred and stained, a bit lopsided now that I look at it more closely, it is Mine. Its sheer presence in My hand, as part of My days, has made it special to Me. Unique. Mine.

My point is not about possession. Seeing as how My cup is just some kind of plastic in a neutral shade, if possession were the motivation, I would want to have all four of the beige cups and many more. Start a collection! Reach double digits and soar! Use a different one for every time I drink coffee until I reach the end of the lot and then start again. Cuts down on the staining, Methinks.

No, that's not the point. The point is that this beige cup, the one I just set down, has Me invested in it. Unaware, My simple choices added up to what can only be called a bond. I can use anyone of 19 other cups at hand (and about 2 dozen more stored for fancy-shmancy events I don't intend to hold), but I don't. I choose a plain beige cup. Correction: My plain beige cup.

In obvious and subtle ways, Our choices define Us. We can't escape that, so it has the force of a natural law. But We often act like Our choices don't really matter, that they are really nothing more than random acts, even ascribing some or many of them to "outside forces." If it weren't so sad I'd say it was droll. Yes, some choices are out of Our hands, but most are not. And that's how it is, whether We acknowledge it or not.

I'm having more coffee. You already know what cup I'll be using.


The Jenius Has Spoken.

Okay, When Do We Riot?

A man is shot by police in Tottenham, a suburb in North London. Rioting ensues. And continues, probably for another day or more.

Although Fools and eyes-in-their-asses """experts""" are saying that "criminal elements and thugs" are rioting, any glimpse at closed-circuit TV cameras (of which England has thousands) and pictures of the riots show that a generous cross-section of the population is rioting. They make up an uncontrolled and uncontrollable mob, a ferociously angry beast spurred to violence because a man was shot by the police. And because enough is enough.

The police represent the domestic muscle of government. It is the police that have pushed for CCTV cameras to be placed all over England. When the guardian says he wants to watch you more closely, the vast majority of people, who are innocent and law-abiding, have only two reactions: why? and fuck you. Toss in the police acting more brutally (333 killed, zero convictions), enforcing their muscle to suppress the natural reactions of people under economic and social stress (look up kettling...go ahead; I'll wait...) and you reach a point where people simply decide that enough is enough. Rioting ensues.

The reasons vary across nations: Tunisia, Spain, Egypt, Libya. But it boils down to two basic factors: a population that feels dissatisfied with its government and a government trying to suppress the populace. Oppression can only be taken so far.

So where's Our rioting? Where's Our "Enough is enough!" moment? If you're stupid enough to say We had that last year,  let Me point out that the """""protest""""" ended up with many of the sheep making a detour to Plaza Las Americas Mall...to go window shopping. Now you may criticize Me for pushing the idea that maybe We should loot, pillage, burn and even harm innocent people and I'll state unequivocally that your criticism is valid.

But We should riot anyway. Short of property and personal harm, We have to riot.

How much are We going to tolerate before We either collapse into anarchy or literally take arms and wrench this fucking putrid system into a more positive direction?

-- We're on pace for over 1,050 murders this year, product of a drug war that floods Our streets with products largely meant to feed the bottomless addiction of Uncle Sam's nephews and nieces up north?

-- Our economy is subservient to Uncle Sam's, whose economy is being run into the ground by bankers and finance manipulators, fucking parasites that produce nothing but hardships for the rest of Us?

-- Our employment is dropping as jobs are not being created, they are being divided. The number of part-time workers has risen nearly 14% in the past 3 years, but overall employment has dropped. How? More 20-30 hour a week jobs paying little or no benefits. And yet, retail chains keep flocking to Our cities and towns because when it comes to buying, We are like Uncle Sam's drug-addicted nieces and nephews.

-- Our (non)government has increased Our debt, failed to reduce the size of the over-bloated tumor of an employee force, seeks to shove idiotic projects down Our throats and up Our asses, acts like it is a separate class from voters and We are still so MOTHERFUCKING stupid to keep electing these shitbags?

-- Our public education system is so bad, so pluperfect putrid, We'd be better served by eliminating the whole thing and spending 2-3 years engaging in "ad hoc schooling." How--how, damn it--can it be any worse than the turd-infested latrine collection We have now?

-- Lest We forget, Our police force is under congressional investigation for brutality, they have demanded--I repeat: demanded--the """""""right""""""" to record public gatherings for their own use and according to a 2010 poll are considered the least-trustworthy public servants We have.

Not enough? Not enough to stomp up to a public official and demand action. Not enough to scream into his/her weasel face: "You are through!"? Not enough yet? 

Okay, then when? Because your limit of tolerance is hurting Us all.



The Jenius Has Spoken.

[Update: 12 August 2011: From The Guardian, the context of these riots that cannot be ignored. In a nutshell:  an unequal society with abusive tendencies. From CNN, "shock" at who the rioters are. Now I wonder who noticed that in their Jenius post 3 days earlier? Check the Comments of this post for another link that will crystallize what's happening in England. Here's a hint: 333-0. And if you can't be bothered to read for more than 30 seconds, try this statement from a Minister of Parliament that nails the crisis on its head. Notice how it applies to My Island, up to a certain point. You'll clearly see what that point is.]

[Update: 25 August 2011: Man tasered by British police dies, third police-related fatality in one week.]

Venting...Just Venting

Today would have been My Dad's 84th birthday. It would be nice to have him around.

-- Tropical Storm Emily, currently washing away topsoil in the Dominican Republic and Haiti, hit Puerto Rico the same way icebergs crash into Havana. And yet, The Larva We elected as (non)governor gave government employees the day off on Tuesday--before Emily was anywhere near Us--and kept the (non)government, uh, going, by extending the hogwash laziness into Wednesday. Emily, some 120 miles south of Us, dripped rain on about half the island. Not a deluge. Not a storm. Just rain. Like in "It's raining today, take the umbrella." No need to mention Noah or make canoe jokes. No. Nothing like that. And yet, power went out for over a million residents. So to make this perfectly clear: a normal rainfall caused 2 days of government stoppage and a power outage affecting 25% of Our population. I guess that means that if Emily had hit Us yesterday, We would be debating cannibalism by now.

-- The local school year starts Monday. A public report evaluating Our schools was buried in the Department of Education's pisshole of a website. The short version: Our schools suck worse than last year. Fully 88% of Our schools are in "Improvement Status," which means that they have failed to show adequate yearly progress. Now "No Child Left Behind" is to improving education what applying diluted dog shit does to eye infections, but here's the problem: it's the rules of the game. We accepted to play by those rules--for the money, of course--and We aren't playing well. Hell, We aren't playing "below average." We are stinking up the education joint, big-time. The U.S. of part of A. is pouring billions of dollars down a shithole system and doing everything it can to avoid making a bigger deal about it because it opens the door to all sorts of other political problems. If this were a stateside education department, it would have been taken over years ago. As it is, the whole gangrene-corrupt bloated tumor keeps rolling over Our kids and wrecking most of Our future. I can't wait to hear some local Fool make the obligatory "Education is important because children are Our future" remark so I can scheme a way to piss in his coffee. Twice.

-- Hey, Brethren: when was the last time you heard any of Our political leaders discuss taxes? It's been several months, a period of time during which Our lame-ass excuse for a (non)government dropped another $1.7 billion in debt on Our lame asses. Given that the sales tax is not pulling in what was expected, that income tax revenue was already seen to be dropping because of the recession-no!-depression and that the whole IVU-Loto "sales tax as a lottery game" isn't as big a money-maker as deluded, why the silence on taxes? Here's the list of reasons: (1) Politics: it would suuuuck to bring up taxes now, because it would kill the last 3 neurons left in the (non)government's campaign brain trust; (2) Lack of scapegoat: blaming the gringos would be seen as what it is--cowardly--though it would be accurate and the current (non)government cannot blame anyone simply because if the "executive" twig (too feeble to be a "branch") didn't launch some initiative, it was the "legislative" twig, and though they are at cross-purposes since before Election Day '08, they do belong to the same """"party""""; (3) Something else is going on, something that's "generating" money enough to keep the Fools from hinting at taxes. What is that? The so-called Pubic-Private Alliances. From the 93-mile GasoDildo to the shenanigans surrounding the International Airport to under-the-table allotments for rebuilding Our highways, the money is flowing, not like a river--legally--but like the sewer these hideous scum thrive in. Oh you'll hear about taxes...after the elections, when the new horde of whores makes its initial bread grab.

The Jenius Has Spoken.

Weak Bark, Why Bite?

[Jenial Gracias to Ms. Mendes-Franco over at Global Voices Online for picking up My post about the lack of libraries on My Island. While We're here, I do have a book compiling My pre-hiatus GVO appearances, and it is free. Right sidebar, click to download, thank you.]

Bruce Levin posted this on his blog: 8 Ways Young Americans’ Resistance to Domination Has Been Subdued.

I've removed most of his commentary (well worth reading) to apply his observations to My Brethren, older and younger than Me:


1. Student-Loan Debt: For Us, it's all debt. As Levine says: "Large debt—and the fear it creates—is a pacifying force." Our people are owned by the bank and the finance companies, so they are owned by their jobs and own nothing. Our freedom of choice is used--as We shall see below--to give it all away. We are idiots.

2. Psychopathologizing and Medicating Noncompliance. I coach a youth basketball team of 12 kids coming from 11 families (two are brothers). In seven of those families, I have heard one parent or grandparent mention Ritalin or some similar medication to "help" the boy. And several of the fathers and stepfathers cannot imagine spending an outing--with or without the boys--unless there's a few cases of beer to pass the time. We see drugs as a way to control and deal with "reality," easy fixes for what We can't face up to.

3. Schools That Educate for Compliance and Not for Democracy: Levine quotes New York Teacher of the Year, John Taylor Gatto, who said: “The truth is that schools don’t really teach anything except how to obey orders." I've danced around this thought for too long, so here it is: Schools ruin Our children for anything but being victims. Schools are not Our allies, but that of the system that wants to control them. And as for strengthening a democracy, latrines have a higher moral value than Our current schools.

4. “No Child Left Behind” and “Race to the Top”: And here's why: standardization and more standardization. Fit every peg into the same kind of hole. A latrine is morally neutral: these schools We have now are morally evil. 

5. Shaming Young People Who Take Education—But Not Their Schooling—Seriously. Mark Twain said it best: "I never let my schooling interfere with my education." For those who want to learn outside the system, on their own, freely, responsibly, away from the heavy-handed hammer of complacency and obedience, the message is clear: that is bad. Why? Why is anyone's love of learning wrong unless it conforms to that of the State? I'll repeat Myself: education controlled by the government is the same as propaganda. Period. 

6. The Normalization of Surveillance: Here on My Island, the police want to record protests and protesters. Openly. Without legal reason except "We fucking want to." In the States, a person got 15 years--15 fucking years--for recording a police officer making a public arrest. What thrives when the "powers that be" are left to act like hyenas in the dark is not democracy...but do We care, since We weren't taught what it was, have been trained to obey and fear losing Our jobs that turn Us into 1-day rerouters of money? Some of Us do. And We're your only hope, idiots.

7. Television: It has turned too many on My Island into dazed, fearful, useless batches of drooling baboons thisclose to mating with the diseased rhesus monkeys ruining Our crops. And here's another Levine quote about the convergence of TV with other digital image platforms that applies to a few of My basketball boys, especially My nephews: "While playing a video games is not as zombifying as passively viewing TV, such games have become for many boys and young men their only experience of potency, and this 'virtual potency' is certainly no threat to the ruling elite." Yeah, be a killer in "Call of Duty" or "NBA 2k11": real talent lies wasted and the hyenas are definitely not afraid of wasted talent, for that is what they feed on.

8. Fundamentalist Religion and Fundamentalist Consumerism: From Levine: "Fundamentalist consumerism destroys self-reliance, creating people who feel completely dependent on others and who are thus more likely to turn over decision-making power to authorities, the precise mind-set that the ruling elite loves to see." The get-yourself-into-debt movement, the practical application of the "Keep up with the Joneses" mindset has led Us down a path where We are convinced We can't do anything. And when it comes time to do something--and that point was reached over a decade ago--Levine has the reason why We haven't done jackshit: "Fundamentalist consumerism also promotes self-absorption, which makes it difficult for the solidarity necessary for democratic movements." In other words, We want Ours, but We don't want to help you get Yours. Too many of Us are too stupid to see that "I am You," or understand it when We read it.

Remember, O Tweeting Brethren, how last year's protests against the government firings, Law 7 and the university strikes was breathlessly hyped as the "Armapocalypse Goddamit Here IT IS Change Is A-Coming!"? But who said in essence: "No, nothing will change. Nothing."?

Damn right I did. And pinpointed that We wouldn't because of fear. Even a Jenius could make that call.

We've eschewed making the changes needed with ballots. Several times. Are We going to wait until We're cornered like sickly rats to actually do something, or will We merely bare Our teeth as the darkness swallows Us in the long night of the hyenas?

The Jenius Has Spoken.