"(P)ublic and commercial services work badly, the average person is becoming poorer rather than richer, the economy has been pulled horribly out of shape and government in the widest sense is hopelessly dysfunctional, with different branches of the state frequently at loggerheads with one another.”
Yeah, welcome to My Island...England? Okay, the quote above is from this book review in The Economist, the magazine Our """leaders""" should read if they knew how to read. Fact is, they can't, so they don't.
The book's premise is that England could have a Third World economy by 2014(!) based on the quoted description above. Now I've argued (way back in 2005) that We were not a Third World country, but could become one...and so We have. Don't agree? Then answer this:
Question the First: Are Our public services better now than in 2005? Or 1995? Or 1975?
Question the Second: Are We getting richer, as in increased income per capita in real dollars, not inflation-adjusted accounting smoke?
Question the Third--World (sorry, had to do it): Is Our economy in better shape than in 2005? Or 1995? Or even 1975?
Question the Fourth: Is Our government less bureaucratic and less contentious, thus more effective than it was before?
The answer to all four questions is a resounding "No." You can argue the points if you're a pluperfect moron or worse, a member of the misnamed LIBREInitiative, a group with an extra B and R in their names for reasons that have to do with abject idiocy.
Now in the case of England, they were once an empire, so it is appropriate to say they are and have been in frank decline for decades. But can We say We are in decline? For doesn't "decline" imply that there was an "up" and thus one is headed "down"?
The way I see it, We are in a black hole, where up/down mean nothing because We've long been sucked into a hellacious sucking nadir. We can't be in decline because We flatlined into sheer suckitude (yes, that's a word; I used it, it's a word) about 20 years ago and all We've done since is corkscrew around in swampy suckiness.
So yes, We are a Third World economy because We have allowed Our """leaders""" to shred what solid economic foundations We had through serial incompetence and prolonged graft, power-up the "government as nepotism central" surge to mollycoddle almost 30% of Our "workforce," allow national debt to pile up to the tune of over $60 billion in a country that produces about $57 billion...and where 64% of the profits We produce--at least--are sent out to the U.S. of part of A.
When you have a weak economy propped up and abused by an outside nation, governed through patronage, nepotism and graft, with the "haves" becoming a smaller, more powerful group and the "have nots" becoming the vast majority and where a clear majority of business profits leave the nation to line the pockets of the dominant country, you have a colony. Pure and simple.
And when the colony is stuck in a black hole of suckitude, it is nothing more than a Third World country.
We aren't going "down": We are are already there. Which means We have a huge potential to go "up." If We choose.
And as I said in 2005: We must choose.
The Jenius Has Spoken.
30 July 2012
26 July 2012
Puerto Rico Needs Me
Go ahead: read the title again. "Typical Jenius," you might say, "As self-centered as ever." Maybe you shake your head. "Thinks that all this messed-up Island needs is Him! Like He's going to wave some sort of Jenius wand and fix it all!"
Yes, I do have a magic Jenius wand and yes I do think I could eventually fix what's wrong with My Island, but it would take the kind of dictatorial effort that is (a) anathema to My general inclinations and (b) ridiculous to think could ever come true.
No, I mean what the title says: Puerto Rico Needs Me...referring to You.
You who sees what the problems are and are already hard at work making solutions happen.
You who sees what the problems are and can spare the brain-time to seek solutions.
You who can see the problems and can spare the time to tell others where the solutions are coming together.
You who can perceive the problems and wish with all your heart that someone would let you help with the solutions.
You who perceive the problems and would help if a practical solution would be presented to you.
You who perceive the problems and would help only when its convenient, meaning when your chips are in the fire...as they are or soon will be.
And you who only occasionally perceives a problem, but gets all riled up about it and wants to do something now. You at least have a form of monkey-rage that can be useful, if properly guided.
As for the rest of you, those who perceive the problems and shrug their shoulders, shake their heads or make plans to live in Orlando, We don't need you. Those of you who perceive the problems and are waiting for "someone" to fix them, We don't want you. If the "someone" you expect to fix the problem is from the U.S. of part of A., do Us a favor and drop dead. And if you don't perceive any problems, but complain and moan and bitch that everything sucks while cashing your unearned checks...well, I already suggested another group drop dead, so why be redundant?
It is an inescapable fact: We are Puerto Rico, We are Our problem and thus We need Us to solve it. Too few of Us see that, fewer if Us accept this basic Truth and woefully--pitifully--very few of Us are trying.
But We are trying. It is a hard thing to do, this saving of a nation from itself, from its indifferences and biases and venalities. Nobody has to do it, but all of Us are required to.
The Jenius Has Spoken.
Yes, I do have a magic Jenius wand and yes I do think I could eventually fix what's wrong with My Island, but it would take the kind of dictatorial effort that is (a) anathema to My general inclinations and (b) ridiculous to think could ever come true.
No, I mean what the title says: Puerto Rico Needs Me...referring to You.
You who sees what the problems are and are already hard at work making solutions happen.
You who sees what the problems are and can spare the brain-time to seek solutions.
You who can see the problems and can spare the time to tell others where the solutions are coming together.
You who can perceive the problems and wish with all your heart that someone would let you help with the solutions.
You who perceive the problems and would help if a practical solution would be presented to you.
You who perceive the problems and would help only when its convenient, meaning when your chips are in the fire...as they are or soon will be.
And you who only occasionally perceives a problem, but gets all riled up about it and wants to do something now. You at least have a form of monkey-rage that can be useful, if properly guided.
As for the rest of you, those who perceive the problems and shrug their shoulders, shake their heads or make plans to live in Orlando, We don't need you. Those of you who perceive the problems and are waiting for "someone" to fix them, We don't want you. If the "someone" you expect to fix the problem is from the U.S. of part of A., do Us a favor and drop dead. And if you don't perceive any problems, but complain and moan and bitch that everything sucks while cashing your unearned checks...well, I already suggested another group drop dead, so why be redundant?
It is an inescapable fact: We are Puerto Rico, We are Our problem and thus We need Us to solve it. Too few of Us see that, fewer if Us accept this basic Truth and woefully--pitifully--very few of Us are trying.
But We are trying. It is a hard thing to do, this saving of a nation from itself, from its indifferences and biases and venalities. Nobody has to do it, but all of Us are required to.
The Jenius Has Spoken.
23 July 2012
Whiny Bag Of Shit
Long-time readers of The Jenius will remember--despite their best efforts, I assume--the myriad stupidities of former senator Jorge "Il Castrao" De Castro, a pathetic sub-weasel waste of space who "defied" the FBI when he was under investigation and is now a convicted criminal facing even more charges.
In his pitiful defense efforts, Il Castrao is whining--again--that he ratted on everybody he could way back in 2008 and that nothing, but nothing, has been done to these other people. He even points out that his current tax evasion charges should be dismissed because he brought them to the Justice Department's attention.
Oh. In other words, I told you I committed a whole slew of crimes, so you can't prosecute me on all of them because, well, you know, I'm already going to prison.
What a moron. Want to parade your """innocence""" in front of the feds now, O Castrated One?
So who's on the shit list Il Castrao threw to the feds?
--Businessmen such as Antonio Luis Ferré, president of El Nuevo Día, the largest newspaper chain in Puerto Rico; Jaime Fonalledas, president of Plaza Las Americas, the largest mall empire in Puerto Rico and highly-prominent corporate leaders such as Arturo Díaz, Miguel Vázquez Deynes and Rolando Cabral.
--Political figures such as ex-(out)house members Edwin Mundo and Angel Cintrón (currently highly-paid """government consultants"""; prominent lobbyists Alfredo Escalera and Guillermo Zúñiga; former senate president and now secretary of state(lessness) Kenneth McClintock and even current (non)governor Luis "The Larva" Fortuño.
There are more names, as many as 90 more, including The Larva's wife (she of the $500,00 annual income from a law firm that does the majority of mortgage closings on the Island...since 2008), current senators and representatives, advisors at the highest level and whatnot.
A cursory reading of the testimony Il Castrao spews leaves you with only two possible impressions: either he has a very vivid imagination...or he is telling the truth.
The devil, as they say, is in the details. And Il Castrao, pursued and persecuted for prosecution on so many fronts, spilled verbiage like Niagara Falls. He dropped names, dates, times, amounts, connections, events, activities, habits, routines and assignations like there was no tomorrow...and there wasn't. Not for him. For you see, he'd been under investigation for at least 2 years, amassing an evidence file with over 13,000 items (phone calls, e-mails, videos, etc.)
Let's take this one step at a time: Is it any surprise that given the weight of evidence and his public attitude of defiance and smarmy, shit-eating grins, that Il Castrao is going to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law? Nuh-uh.
And is it any surprise that despite his many claims, the verbal diarrhea flung by the pathetic Il Castrao has yet to culminate in another series of charges? No, not really.
There is a precedent here, one where a stupid, greedy, feckless bag of shit goes nuts raking in ill-gotten gains, dipping fingers in practically every corruption pie the statehood party ("Bakers of Large-Scale Corruption Since 1992!") could develop and then spilling his shitty guts when caught, only to discover that the (corruption) party turns its back on him and nothing much happens after that.
The precedent was then-secretary of (mis)eduction Victor "Delictor" Fajardo, going from fundraiser to felon. Did his lengthy accusations lead anywhere else? Not immediately.
Let Us remember that Delictor was part of the Pedro Stupid Rosselló (mis)administrations, 8 years so filthy in graft that no less a public entity than El Nuevo Día labeled them "the most corrupt in Puerto Rico's history" in a fiery editorial signed by...Antonio Luis Ferré.
Yes, the same guy accused by Il Castrao of paying about $10,000 a month to the party. You see, there's corruption and then there's corruption, at last that's how "Tony Two-Faced" appears to see it.
Is there evidence to substantiate Il Castrao's claims? Maybe, but the feds wouldn't sit on hard evidence for very long. To be able to nail more prominent local people would be a two-fold godsend involving crime-busting and power-mongering. The feds love that shit and would do everything they can to play that game over and over and over.
So the conclusion is: wait and see. Il Castrao, like every moral defective in history, is more likely to lie when the chips are down, but even a stupid animal like him knows when to fight to survive. Il Castrao was caught as blatantly red-handed as can be and his days as the defiant walking bag of shit have now been limited to being a whiny bag of shit.
But that doesn't mean he's wrong about his fellow fecal-filled future felons. It just means that, unlike Il Castrao, their time hasn't come. Yet.
The Jenius Has Spoken.
In his pitiful defense efforts, Il Castrao is whining--again--that he ratted on everybody he could way back in 2008 and that nothing, but nothing, has been done to these other people. He even points out that his current tax evasion charges should be dismissed because he brought them to the Justice Department's attention.
Oh. In other words, I told you I committed a whole slew of crimes, so you can't prosecute me on all of them because, well, you know, I'm already going to prison.
What a moron. Want to parade your """innocence""" in front of the feds now, O Castrated One?
So who's on the shit list Il Castrao threw to the feds?
--Businessmen such as Antonio Luis Ferré, president of El Nuevo Día, the largest newspaper chain in Puerto Rico; Jaime Fonalledas, president of Plaza Las Americas, the largest mall empire in Puerto Rico and highly-prominent corporate leaders such as Arturo Díaz, Miguel Vázquez Deynes and Rolando Cabral.
--Political figures such as ex-(out)house members Edwin Mundo and Angel Cintrón (currently highly-paid """government consultants"""; prominent lobbyists Alfredo Escalera and Guillermo Zúñiga; former senate president and now secretary of state(lessness) Kenneth McClintock and even current (non)governor Luis "The Larva" Fortuño.
There are more names, as many as 90 more, including The Larva's wife (she of the $500,00 annual income from a law firm that does the majority of mortgage closings on the Island...since 2008), current senators and representatives, advisors at the highest level and whatnot.
A cursory reading of the testimony Il Castrao spews leaves you with only two possible impressions: either he has a very vivid imagination...or he is telling the truth.
The devil, as they say, is in the details. And Il Castrao, pursued and persecuted for prosecution on so many fronts, spilled verbiage like Niagara Falls. He dropped names, dates, times, amounts, connections, events, activities, habits, routines and assignations like there was no tomorrow...and there wasn't. Not for him. For you see, he'd been under investigation for at least 2 years, amassing an evidence file with over 13,000 items (phone calls, e-mails, videos, etc.)
Let's take this one step at a time: Is it any surprise that given the weight of evidence and his public attitude of defiance and smarmy, shit-eating grins, that Il Castrao is going to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law? Nuh-uh.
And is it any surprise that despite his many claims, the verbal diarrhea flung by the pathetic Il Castrao has yet to culminate in another series of charges? No, not really.
There is a precedent here, one where a stupid, greedy, feckless bag of shit goes nuts raking in ill-gotten gains, dipping fingers in practically every corruption pie the statehood party ("Bakers of Large-Scale Corruption Since 1992!") could develop and then spilling his shitty guts when caught, only to discover that the (corruption) party turns its back on him and nothing much happens after that.
The precedent was then-secretary of (mis)eduction Victor "Delictor" Fajardo, going from fundraiser to felon. Did his lengthy accusations lead anywhere else? Not immediately.
Let Us remember that Delictor was part of the Pedro Stupid Rosselló (mis)administrations, 8 years so filthy in graft that no less a public entity than El Nuevo Día labeled them "the most corrupt in Puerto Rico's history" in a fiery editorial signed by...Antonio Luis Ferré.
Yes, the same guy accused by Il Castrao of paying about $10,000 a month to the party. You see, there's corruption and then there's corruption, at last that's how "Tony Two-Faced" appears to see it.
Is there evidence to substantiate Il Castrao's claims? Maybe, but the feds wouldn't sit on hard evidence for very long. To be able to nail more prominent local people would be a two-fold godsend involving crime-busting and power-mongering. The feds love that shit and would do everything they can to play that game over and over and over.
So the conclusion is: wait and see. Il Castrao, like every moral defective in history, is more likely to lie when the chips are down, but even a stupid animal like him knows when to fight to survive. Il Castrao was caught as blatantly red-handed as can be and his days as the defiant walking bag of shit have now been limited to being a whiny bag of shit.
But that doesn't mean he's wrong about his fellow fecal-filled future felons. It just means that, unlike Il Castrao, their time hasn't come. Yet.
The Jenius Has Spoken.
20 July 2012
Fortuño = Panderer = Slut
A mental, emotional and moral defective straps on a gas mask and a bullet-proof vest, arming itself with a shotgun, an AK-47 and two handguns. This wretched piece of filth bursts into a movie theater, throws tear gas at the premiere crowd and then proceeds to shoot at them, killing 12 and wounding several dozen. At least one of the fatalities is a child.
Some 2750 miles away, a mental, emotional and moral defective decides that this is the perfect opportunity to grandstand, to pander, to suck up to its own fantasies about who they serve and declares 5 days of mourning for the victims in a Denver movie theater.
Having declared nothing--not a fucking thing--for the 19 killed on its own island last weekend.
The Denver walking bag of hyena shit doesn't deserve to be named here. Our walking bag of horseshit does: (non)governor Luis "The Larva" Fortuño, he of the insipid mind and invisible talent. Not one week removed from being (a useless) part of a major crime summit here--one involving several Federal agencies, such as the FBI, National and Homeland Security--The Larva "acts" now not to curtail crime or offer solutions, but to pander.
Pandering, at its most basic, is what a pimp does, a lowlife living off the efforts of others by catering to base desires.
That fits The Larva to a T. Witness the free-for-all money grab he has the pea-brained nerve to call "Our government."
Pandering also refers to brown-nosing, sucking up, seeking to curry favor through obsequiousness and flattery, relying on hypocritically empty words and gestures to attract positive attention and gain results based on nothing but self-interest.
That fits The Larva to a T. But who is he trying to impress, this spastic trash heap of uselessness?
Republicans. Namely the right-wing style-over-substance idiots who are trying like hell to keep running the GOP like the iceberg ran the Titanic.
Doubt it? Okay, follow Me:
--Declaring 5 days of mourning is not a common act. What happened in Denver is a horrible tragedy, but is it any worse than 19 dead in one weekend in your own fucking back yard? And this after a year in which over 1,100 people were killed, a record in your own fucking back yard?
--Will the 5 days of mourning really express Our solidarity with the folks who lost loved ones and friends in Denver? In a small way, yes, but not when Our own deaths are not only higher in total, but literally closer to home. The Denver killings were the result of crime, so saying--as The Larva's ass-mouth fart does--that their crime "deserves" 5 days of mourning is also saying that Our crime is not worth that much to The Larva and his ilk. That, in fact, The Larva and his ilk care more about Denver than Us. And no, this isn't some whiny form of inferiority complex: it is the only conclusion to be drawn after 3 1/2 years of The Larva's arm's length (non)treatment of the crime surge under his watch.
--So if the 5 days of mourning are not meant to impress Us or really express any extensive and deep solidarity in Our name, that leaves only one reason: public profile in the U.S. of part of A. And the primary--hint and pun intended--reason for this bag of horseshit to take a public stance like this now is to attract mainland party attention. Period.
Not that The Larva is actually worth true consideration, but has the Republican Mormon with millions to hide, Mitt "The NitWit" Romney, picked a running mate yet? (Side note: In 2008, then-candidate John McCain could've picked Romney, but after the background investigation--including taxes--McCain chose Alaska governor Sarah Palin. We all know how that turned out, but doesn't that speak volumes about Romney?)
Now I would love--like I love pepperoni pizza and Slim Jims--for Romney to short-list The Larva as a running mate. Love it! Not only would it confirm how fucking stupid Romney is and how deranged and desperate the GOP is, it would also confirm My conclusion here. As I have a habit of being right, I'd be able to continue My long-established habit.
But even if Romney doesn't short-sell--er, sorry, I've Bain, I mean, I've been having troubles with My keyboard--even if Romney doesn't short-list The Larva, his pandering will be noticed, this bare-faced, shameless attempt to whitewash his reputation "over there" from the roundly-deserved shit-headed reputation he has earned here. For a party that suckles so avidly at the ulcerous teats of misinformation and framing, The Larva just got himself a few brownie(nose) points.
The thing is, the difference between a panderer and a slut is who sells what. A panderer sells others; a slut sells himself. It's ridiculously obvious where The Larva lies on that scale.
The Jenius Has Spoken.
Some 2750 miles away, a mental, emotional and moral defective decides that this is the perfect opportunity to grandstand, to pander, to suck up to its own fantasies about who they serve and declares 5 days of mourning for the victims in a Denver movie theater.
Having declared nothing--not a fucking thing--for the 19 killed on its own island last weekend.
Pandering, at its most basic, is what a pimp does, a lowlife living off the efforts of others by catering to base desires.
That fits The Larva to a T. Witness the free-for-all money grab he has the pea-brained nerve to call "Our government."
Pandering also refers to brown-nosing, sucking up, seeking to curry favor through obsequiousness and flattery, relying on hypocritically empty words and gestures to attract positive attention and gain results based on nothing but self-interest.
That fits The Larva to a T. But who is he trying to impress, this spastic trash heap of uselessness?
Republicans. Namely the right-wing style-over-substance idiots who are trying like hell to keep running the GOP like the iceberg ran the Titanic.
Doubt it? Okay, follow Me:
--Declaring 5 days of mourning is not a common act. What happened in Denver is a horrible tragedy, but is it any worse than 19 dead in one weekend in your own fucking back yard? And this after a year in which over 1,100 people were killed, a record in your own fucking back yard?
--Will the 5 days of mourning really express Our solidarity with the folks who lost loved ones and friends in Denver? In a small way, yes, but not when Our own deaths are not only higher in total, but literally closer to home. The Denver killings were the result of crime, so saying--as The Larva's ass-mouth fart does--that their crime "deserves" 5 days of mourning is also saying that Our crime is not worth that much to The Larva and his ilk. That, in fact, The Larva and his ilk care more about Denver than Us. And no, this isn't some whiny form of inferiority complex: it is the only conclusion to be drawn after 3 1/2 years of The Larva's arm's length (non)treatment of the crime surge under his watch.
--So if the 5 days of mourning are not meant to impress Us or really express any extensive and deep solidarity in Our name, that leaves only one reason: public profile in the U.S. of part of A. And the primary--hint and pun intended--reason for this bag of horseshit to take a public stance like this now is to attract mainland party attention. Period.
Not that The Larva is actually worth true consideration, but has the Republican Mormon with millions to hide, Mitt "The NitWit" Romney, picked a running mate yet? (Side note: In 2008, then-candidate John McCain could've picked Romney, but after the background investigation--including taxes--McCain chose Alaska governor Sarah Palin. We all know how that turned out, but doesn't that speak volumes about Romney?)
Now I would love--like I love pepperoni pizza and Slim Jims--for Romney to short-list The Larva as a running mate. Love it! Not only would it confirm how fucking stupid Romney is and how deranged and desperate the GOP is, it would also confirm My conclusion here. As I have a habit of being right, I'd be able to continue My long-established habit.
But even if Romney doesn't short-sell--er, sorry, I've Bain, I mean, I've been having troubles with My keyboard--even if Romney doesn't short-list The Larva, his pandering will be noticed, this bare-faced, shameless attempt to whitewash his reputation "over there" from the roundly-deserved shit-headed reputation he has earned here. For a party that suckles so avidly at the ulcerous teats of misinformation and framing, The Larva just got himself a few brownie(nose) points.
The thing is, the difference between a panderer and a slut is who sells what. A panderer sells others; a slut sells himself. It's ridiculously obvious where The Larva lies on that scale.
The Jenius Has Spoken.
19 July 2012
The Larva Gives Us Cancer
Doctor comes up to you and says "You have cancer." Serious news with deep and far-reaching implications and you feel...something. Sadness, fear, rage, desperation, need, hope, doubt...
Doctor comes up to you and says "The guy next to you has cancer." Be honest: you don't really care, not that much. Not as much as if it were you that got the diagnosis. Not unless the guy next to you is your father, son, brother, best friend...something like that. Otherwise, you react with a bland "Okay" and move on.
Be honest: it's what most of Us would do.
But what about the person to whom the doctor says "You have cancer" and that person says "Okay" and continues his moseying along unperturbed. Deluded? In deep denial? Stupid? Insane? Any of those would apply, but you wouldn't think the person was "right in the head," would you?
Let Me introduce the pitiful excuse for a (non)governor ("Long May He Waffle And Duck Eggs!") Luis "The Larva" Fortuño, he of the pencil-neck geek physique and equally-pathetic intellectual muscle. The Larva has reacted to the downgrading of Puerto Rico's bonds--that his (non)administration used to shove Us into Our deepest debt ever--with a terse "No big deal." This after crowing like an emasculated rooster that Our bonds had "reached their highest rating in 35 years."
For the uninformed, known around here as "statehooders," downgrading a bond means it is a riskier investment and in order for it to be held or sold, a higher interest rate has to be paid. In short, the downgrading is going to cost Us--not The Larva--a ton of money. A $16 billion tumor is now metastasizing and he can't give a fuck.
But even a nano-brained parasite like The Larva has the basal instinct of needing to feed, so his public "Don't give a shit" stance isn't echoed by actions. To wit:
--The Puerto Rico Electrical Power Authority (abbreviation: DILDO) is doing everything in its power (yeah, "power") to keep its fuel surcharge high in order to keep supporting the massive bond issues it has made during this (non)administration. However, political reality means they've announced a "rate drop" for September...in time for the elections.
--The IVU Loto, a lottery based on your numbered sales tax receipt, is desperately trying to bolster its declining revenue by offering a car and 6 iPad giveaways every week. The bonds Moody's downgraded are exactly these (based on the sales tax revenue), and the downgrade was hinted at over four months ago.
Our debt equals Our Gross Domestic Product. That means We owe as much as We "make". If that were you, you'd be paying debts with every dollar you earn. Does that sound like a healthy arrangement to you?
If it does, you are too stupid to breed and should be euthanized. Pity We didn't do that to The Larva back in 2008...because he isn't going to be paying anything for the cancer he's unleashed on Us.
The Jenius Has Spoken.
[Update: 23 July 2012: In this NotiCel article, it seems likely that Our government budgets in the near future will pay more in debt service than what it will invest in health and education. So now Our government is pretty much like many of Our families, paying off loans and interest from overspending and thus incapable of paying a medical plan or sending kids to something other than wretched public schools. The difference? Our families are ALSO paying for this government debt. I have to repeat this: the only good politician is a dead one. The sooner We make more good ones, the better.]
Doctor comes up to you and says "The guy next to you has cancer." Be honest: you don't really care, not that much. Not as much as if it were you that got the diagnosis. Not unless the guy next to you is your father, son, brother, best friend...something like that. Otherwise, you react with a bland "Okay" and move on.
Be honest: it's what most of Us would do.
But what about the person to whom the doctor says "You have cancer" and that person says "Okay" and continues his moseying along unperturbed. Deluded? In deep denial? Stupid? Insane? Any of those would apply, but you wouldn't think the person was "right in the head," would you?
Let Me introduce the pitiful excuse for a (non)governor ("Long May He Waffle And Duck Eggs!") Luis "The Larva" Fortuño, he of the pencil-neck geek physique and equally-pathetic intellectual muscle. The Larva has reacted to the downgrading of Puerto Rico's bonds--that his (non)administration used to shove Us into Our deepest debt ever--with a terse "No big deal." This after crowing like an emasculated rooster that Our bonds had "reached their highest rating in 35 years."
For the uninformed, known around here as "statehooders," downgrading a bond means it is a riskier investment and in order for it to be held or sold, a higher interest rate has to be paid. In short, the downgrading is going to cost Us--not The Larva--a ton of money. A $16 billion tumor is now metastasizing and he can't give a fuck.
But even a nano-brained parasite like The Larva has the basal instinct of needing to feed, so his public "Don't give a shit" stance isn't echoed by actions. To wit:
--The Puerto Rico Electrical Power Authority (abbreviation: DILDO) is doing everything in its power (yeah, "power") to keep its fuel surcharge high in order to keep supporting the massive bond issues it has made during this (non)administration. However, political reality means they've announced a "rate drop" for September...in time for the elections.
--The IVU Loto, a lottery based on your numbered sales tax receipt, is desperately trying to bolster its declining revenue by offering a car and 6 iPad giveaways every week. The bonds Moody's downgraded are exactly these (based on the sales tax revenue), and the downgrade was hinted at over four months ago.
Our debt equals Our Gross Domestic Product. That means We owe as much as We "make". If that were you, you'd be paying debts with every dollar you earn. Does that sound like a healthy arrangement to you?
If it does, you are too stupid to breed and should be euthanized. Pity We didn't do that to The Larva back in 2008...because he isn't going to be paying anything for the cancer he's unleashed on Us.
The Jenius Has Spoken.
[Update: 23 July 2012: In this NotiCel article, it seems likely that Our government budgets in the near future will pay more in debt service than what it will invest in health and education. So now Our government is pretty much like many of Our families, paying off loans and interest from overspending and thus incapable of paying a medical plan or sending kids to something other than wretched public schools. The difference? Our families are ALSO paying for this government debt. I have to repeat this: the only good politician is a dead one. The sooner We make more good ones, the better.]
13 July 2012
Relative Or Not, Poverty Is Real
Over at Microsoft Money there's a slideshow of the "Poorest County in Each State," using data from the Census Bureau. Short version: the poorest county in each state, based on median household income (MHI) have incomes ranging from $56,564 (Windham County, CT) to the lowest, $21,611, in Wilcox County, Alabama.
According to the Census Bureau, Puerto Rico's MHI in 2009 was $18,314. What this means is that the poorest county in the U.S. of part of A. has a roughly 16% higher MHI than Puerto Rico.
No surprise there. We know We don't have the income of Statesiders. But the deep individual economic problems We create for Ourselves stem from the notion that We do.
However, regardless of Our political status or lack thereof, Our economic status is basically one of playing "Monopoly" with 10s and 20s when "the other guys" are playing with 100s and 500s.
And that, My Brethren, is a sure-fire recipe for...problems.
Think about it: the poorest county in Connecticut has a median household income roughly 309% higher than Our MHI. The U.S of part of A. MHI average is $46,723 and the poverty level for a family of four is defined as $22,314.
Or exactly $4,000 more than Our MHI. Which means, you statistical freaks, that at the very least well over 50% of Our households are in poverty.
We knew that already. But the ramifications and implications, though clear, are being debated as if they involved differential equations and higher-order philosophy by lunkheads who can't read without moving their lips or add three single-digit numbers without a calculator.
The ramifications all stem from being the limited-resource stooge at a no-limit game. When "they" can play with everything they have and We can only play with what "they" allow us to, We lose. Eventually and every time. Doesn't really matter who "they" and "We" are: it's just a mathematical certainty when the game goes on long enough.
For the lunkheads, a translation: We are poor because We are playing their game, by their rules and accepting their control. If that sounds like I am accusing the U.S. of part of A. of being a bully, tyrannical and abusive, you are right.
But.
The implication is that if the game is rigged against Us--and it is--then the only two options are to either change the rules or change the game. Given Our situation, changing the rules could only happen if "they" allow it. They haven't and they won't: they are winning. Therefore the only rational, the only effective and the only pragmatic and dignified course of action is to change the game.
Meaning We tell "them" to take a flying leap at the freaking Moon and make Our own game, with rules more favorable to Our side and negotiated with other players in more equitable fashion.
For the lunkheads, a translation: If that sounds like I'm advocating independence for My Island, then what the hell took you so long?
Yet, as We know so very very very well, the notion of being an independent nation, of standing on Our own and shouldering the burdens and joys of Our development, facing the world as equals rather than as semi-obscure adjuncts of imperialism, that notion is as appealing to Us as jumping into a frying pan appeals to largemouth bass.
For the lunkheads, a clarification: Independence is not as agonizing and fatal as a frying pan is to a fish. You just think it is. That's why you're a lunkhead.
And that's why We continue to be poor: because We are playing a rigged game, with limited resources, with rules set to favor "them." And We are stupid enough to try to play the game "their" way.
Their poorest counties average roughly 180% more income than Our "richest" ones. And yet We supposedly play at the same table.
Lastly, for you lunkheads who fart "Well what about statehood to level the playing field?", let Me copy-paste this and have somebody with a modest 2-digit IQ explain it to you: "Changing the rules could only happen if "they" allow it. They haven't and they won't: they are winning."
Now shut up, lunkheads.
The Jenius Has Spoken.
According to the Census Bureau, Puerto Rico's MHI in 2009 was $18,314. What this means is that the poorest county in the U.S. of part of A. has a roughly 16% higher MHI than Puerto Rico.
No surprise there. We know We don't have the income of Statesiders. But the deep individual economic problems We create for Ourselves stem from the notion that We do.
However, regardless of Our political status or lack thereof, Our economic status is basically one of playing "Monopoly" with 10s and 20s when "the other guys" are playing with 100s and 500s.
And that, My Brethren, is a sure-fire recipe for...problems.
Think about it: the poorest county in Connecticut has a median household income roughly 309% higher than Our MHI. The U.S of part of A. MHI average is $46,723 and the poverty level for a family of four is defined as $22,314.
Or exactly $4,000 more than Our MHI. Which means, you statistical freaks, that at the very least well over 50% of Our households are in poverty.
We knew that already. But the ramifications and implications, though clear, are being debated as if they involved differential equations and higher-order philosophy by lunkheads who can't read without moving their lips or add three single-digit numbers without a calculator.
The ramifications all stem from being the limited-resource stooge at a no-limit game. When "they" can play with everything they have and We can only play with what "they" allow us to, We lose. Eventually and every time. Doesn't really matter who "they" and "We" are: it's just a mathematical certainty when the game goes on long enough.
For the lunkheads, a translation: We are poor because We are playing their game, by their rules and accepting their control. If that sounds like I am accusing the U.S. of part of A. of being a bully, tyrannical and abusive, you are right.
But.
The implication is that if the game is rigged against Us--and it is--then the only two options are to either change the rules or change the game. Given Our situation, changing the rules could only happen if "they" allow it. They haven't and they won't: they are winning. Therefore the only rational, the only effective and the only pragmatic and dignified course of action is to change the game.
Meaning We tell "them" to take a flying leap at the freaking Moon and make Our own game, with rules more favorable to Our side and negotiated with other players in more equitable fashion.
For the lunkheads, a translation: If that sounds like I'm advocating independence for My Island, then what the hell took you so long?
Yet, as We know so very very very well, the notion of being an independent nation, of standing on Our own and shouldering the burdens and joys of Our development, facing the world as equals rather than as semi-obscure adjuncts of imperialism, that notion is as appealing to Us as jumping into a frying pan appeals to largemouth bass.
For the lunkheads, a clarification: Independence is not as agonizing and fatal as a frying pan is to a fish. You just think it is. That's why you're a lunkhead.
And that's why We continue to be poor: because We are playing a rigged game, with limited resources, with rules set to favor "them." And We are stupid enough to try to play the game "their" way.
Their poorest counties average roughly 180% more income than Our "richest" ones. And yet We supposedly play at the same table.
Lastly, for you lunkheads who fart "Well what about statehood to level the playing field?", let Me copy-paste this and have somebody with a modest 2-digit IQ explain it to you: "Changing the rules could only happen if "they" allow it. They haven't and they won't: they are winning."
Now shut up, lunkheads.
The Jenius Has Spoken.
12 July 2012
Pirate Fever! Catch It!
As the second half of the marathonic baseball season is about to begin, the Buccos are riding high, 11 games above .500 (48-37), a peak they haven't achieved since their last winning season...in 1992.
Yes, 1992.
It's been 19 years since the Pirates have ended a season with a winning record, a streak so futile it has eclipsed the previous record 16-year streak (Phillies) by a margin long enough to launch "Game of Thrones." For a franchise that dates itself back to the origins of the National League, this 19-year streak has practically ripped the Pirates into oblivion.
Last year, they were in first place until a--get this--19-inning game was lost on a clearly-blown call by the home plate umpire. The loss put the Pirates into a tailspin and once again, as they have since George Bush Sr. was piddling in the Rose Garden, they finished under .500.
That the blown call was against the Atlanta Braves, the same team that beat the Pirates in the 1992 playoffs with another close call at the plate just made the whole thing worse.
So what makes Me think they'll really break the streak this year?
1) Schedule: The Pirates have the second-easiest National League schedule from here on in, meaning they've achieved their lead playing their toughest opponents in most series. Counterpoint: The Cincinnati Reds, in 2nd place, have the easiest schedule, but that just means the Pirates could miss the playoffs and still win 88-92 games.
2) Andrew McCutchen: The 25-year old All Star centerfielder is racking up big numbers, hitting .362 (1st in the league), slugging at a .625 pace (1st), with 18 home runs (4th), having scored 58 runs and driven in 60 (3rd in both categories). Unlike previous Pirates teams, this superstar is signed through the 2018 season, so the "Sell the star now" crap the Buccos used to make other teams great has (apparently) ended.
3) Pitching: The Pirates are not the old "Lumber Company" they've been historically, but are winning with pitching. The staff is well-balanced and isn't relying on one big arm to keep it in the hunt.
4) Mindset: The players now feel they can challenge for a division title and management is making noise to bring in the kind of players that make a layoff run a virtual certainty. By signing former Yankee A.J. Burnett and giving McCutchen a big extension, Pirate ownership is literally putting money where their mouth wasn't even flapping for almost 20 years.
For once, I'm looking forward to catching a baseball game soon. Since My Dad died, and with My Pirates deep in a losing streak, I'd lost interest in the games, barely catching even the playoffs. My lifelong love of the sport remains, but banked from a touch of sorrow, the loss of My only true fellow baseball fan and the bad decisions My team made year after year. Maybe this year I'll reconnect with the joy of a game I started playing with Dad when I was 3, in a tiny patio, with a hollow plastic ball and a hollow plastic bat almost bigger than Me.And even if I don't reconnect yet with that little boy and his father's love of baseball, I'll still get to cheer as My Pirates win game 82 this year...and many more.
The Jenius Has Spoken.
Update: 16 Sep. 2012: The Pirates finally broke a 7-game losing streak today, edging the Cubs 7-6. The Bucs' record is now 73-71, a far cry from the heady two-digits-above-.500 they had in July. Pitching and offense have both declined, and the race to 82 wins in 2012 is now tight. Because the second picture's URL was deleted, I uploaded a different picture, one from when the Pirates were in good stead, heading into the playoffs with a still-dangerous Bobby Bonilla and a super-talented, pre-steroids Barry Bonds.
05 July 2012
Puerto Rico 2016
Four years from now, We'll be four years deeper into Our interminable political-campaign-from-Hell, this misbegotten Patán Death March of Our collective soul or whatever We have floating inside Our bellies. Since this year's edition of the election-from-Hell features The Larva, current (non)governor Luis "Can't Find My Ass With A Map" Fortuño and The Slug, Alejandro "I Can't Get My Ass In Gear" García, I say We write the damn thing off as the largest example of human waste since New Math and try to figure out what might be coming at Us down the pike.
--Will We still be paying an abusive "fuel surcharge" in order to pay off enormously useless political debts that basically lined thieves' pockets?
--Will We still have a crumbling leaky morass of a water and sewer system virtually incapable of either collecting water, storing it, distributing it or charging rationally for it?
--Will Our tourism standing keep slipping by continuing to allow American Airlines ("Screw Puerto Rico: We're American") to throttle competition and serve as the strong-arm element of the major hotel cartel that blocks true innovation in Our services and marketing?
--Will We still have daily newspapers more akin to pure propaganda hogwash than information gazettes, radio "news" shows more akin to the campaign-from-Hell than discussion forums and TV news more akin to skanky gossip than actual information?
--Will We still have a crime rate eating at Our entrails like cancer eats colons?
--Will We still be years behind in developing Our educational system, or will We have made the plunge to being decades behind?
--Will We reorient Our economy to the quick-acting, quick-thinking realities of the early 21st century or will We still be party(politick)ing like it's 1959?
--Will We have an even more bloated government wasteland pushing 30% total Island employment or will We have the bloated 26% beached whale We have now?
--Will We slow down or stop the brain drain that enriches "them" rather than Us?
--Will We stop or reverse the welfare sump pump that sucks the life out of Our society?
--Will We come even a millimeter closer to actually giving a damn about these things?
Puerto Rico 2016: It's closer than you think.
The Jenius Has Spoken.
--Will We still be paying an abusive "fuel surcharge" in order to pay off enormously useless political debts that basically lined thieves' pockets?
--Will We still have a crumbling leaky morass of a water and sewer system virtually incapable of either collecting water, storing it, distributing it or charging rationally for it?
--Will Our tourism standing keep slipping by continuing to allow American Airlines ("Screw Puerto Rico: We're American") to throttle competition and serve as the strong-arm element of the major hotel cartel that blocks true innovation in Our services and marketing?
--Will We still have daily newspapers more akin to pure propaganda hogwash than information gazettes, radio "news" shows more akin to the campaign-from-Hell than discussion forums and TV news more akin to skanky gossip than actual information?
--Will We still have a crime rate eating at Our entrails like cancer eats colons?
--Will We still be years behind in developing Our educational system, or will We have made the plunge to being decades behind?
--Will We reorient Our economy to the quick-acting, quick-thinking realities of the early 21st century or will We still be party(politick)ing like it's 1959?
--Will We have an even more bloated government wasteland pushing 30% total Island employment or will We have the bloated 26% beached whale We have now?
--Will We slow down or stop the brain drain that enriches "them" rather than Us?
--Will We stop or reverse the welfare sump pump that sucks the life out of Our society?
--Will We come even a millimeter closer to actually giving a damn about these things?
Puerto Rico 2016: It's closer than you think.
The Jenius Has Spoken.
28 June 2012
Puerto Rico Hangs Itself
"Puerto Rico’s financial condition is far worse than any U.S. state’s, and a default – though unlikely in the immediate future – is a possibility over the next few years."
"Puerto Rico is unique in its extensive use of public corporations to deliver public services. It directly and indirectly manages 48 public benefit corporations. This governance structure has tended to limit transparency and fiscal accountability in its public sector."
"The Puerto Rican economy entered recession in late 2006, and it has yet to emerge."
"...(M)edian household incomes in Puerto Rico remain at $15,000, and only 35% of Puerto Ricans are employed."
"Poor financial management has contributed to the length and depth of Puerto Rico’s recession. The Commonwealth is burdened by large annual deficits, a high debt burden, opaque financial practices, and severely underfunded pension plans, among other problems."
"Unlike healthy municipal issuers, the Commonwealth requires market access to meet payroll and other obligations."
"Annual deficit financing has caused the island’s debt-to-GDP ratio to rise. It is now 90%, compared to 57% in 2001. In fiscal years 2011 and 2012, the Commonwealth’s debt load grew while the economy contracted."
"Puerto Rico’s debt structure is less flexible than other municipal issuers’. The Commonwealth repays only 21% of its debt within 10 years."
"Puerto Rico consistently adopts aggressive economic and financial forecasts. The Government Development Bank has missed economic growth forecasts for three consecutive years. Politicians continue to tout progress on relatively weak financial and economic data."
"The Commonwealth’s major public corporations have significant and opaque financial relationships to each other and to the Commonwealth. These intra-governmental capital flows represent a significant portion of the island’s financial activities, and they are beginning to impact the island’s larger issuers. Last year, almost 28% of PREPA’s (Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority’s) unpaid bills were owed by delinquent public sector organizations."
"The Commonwealth’s vital Government Development Bank (GDB) is under stress. Roughly 35% of the GDB’s assets comprise loans to the Commonwealth and its public entities, and most of these loans are paid late. While the bank’s liquidity is ostensibly strong, it is weakly monitored. The GDB is unregulated by the Federal Reserve or Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation."
"The GDB’s loan book has become a bit politicized. In recent years, the GDB has entered into “fiscal oversight agreements” with several of the island’s large public corporations. These agreements require the public corporations to implement expense reductions, rate hikes, or submit to increased oversight to ensure the GDB is repaid. The bank’s intervention into areas traditionally reserved for policymakers increases its repayment risk."
"Puerto Rico’s public pension funds were 14% funded in FY 2010, and a staggering 22% of the funds’ assets include loans to members of the fund. The Employees’ Retirement System may deplete its net assets by FY 2014 despite recent reforms. The Commonwealth’s pension funding shortfall is far worse than any U.S. state."
"Conclusion: Although the threat is not imminent and the risk remains slim, Breckinridge believes the possibility of a default by Puerto Rico is sufficient to warrant the attention of municipal investors."
"We end with a graph that illustrates just how different Puerto Rico is compared a distressed U.S. state: Illinois. Illinois compares very favorably even though it faces several years of large structural deficits and large pension and retiree healthcare liabilities."
Taken from the Breckinridge White Paper, "Puerto Rico's Challenge," published in March on this year. All emphasis Mine.
The bad news is all Ours.
The Jenius Has Spoken.
Note: Due to a website change, the URLs for the images used had to be reloaded; 16 Sep 2012.
"Puerto Rico is unique in its extensive use of public corporations to deliver public services. It directly and indirectly manages 48 public benefit corporations. This governance structure has tended to limit transparency and fiscal accountability in its public sector."
"The Puerto Rican economy entered recession in late 2006, and it has yet to emerge."
"Poor financial management has contributed to the length and depth of Puerto Rico’s recession. The Commonwealth is burdened by large annual deficits, a high debt burden, opaque financial practices, and severely underfunded pension plans, among other problems."
"Unlike healthy municipal issuers, the Commonwealth requires market access to meet payroll and other obligations."
"Annual deficit financing has caused the island’s debt-to-GDP ratio to rise. It is now 90%, compared to 57% in 2001. In fiscal years 2011 and 2012, the Commonwealth’s debt load grew while the economy contracted."
"Puerto Rico’s debt structure is less flexible than other municipal issuers’. The Commonwealth repays only 21% of its debt within 10 years."
"Puerto Rico consistently adopts aggressive economic and financial forecasts. The Government Development Bank has missed economic growth forecasts for three consecutive years. Politicians continue to tout progress on relatively weak financial and economic data."
"The Commonwealth’s major public corporations have significant and opaque financial relationships to each other and to the Commonwealth. These intra-governmental capital flows represent a significant portion of the island’s financial activities, and they are beginning to impact the island’s larger issuers. Last year, almost 28% of PREPA’s (Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority’s) unpaid bills were owed by delinquent public sector organizations."
"The Commonwealth’s vital Government Development Bank (GDB) is under stress. Roughly 35% of the GDB’s assets comprise loans to the Commonwealth and its public entities, and most of these loans are paid late. While the bank’s liquidity is ostensibly strong, it is weakly monitored. The GDB is unregulated by the Federal Reserve or Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation."
"The GDB’s loan book has become a bit politicized. In recent years, the GDB has entered into “fiscal oversight agreements” with several of the island’s large public corporations. These agreements require the public corporations to implement expense reductions, rate hikes, or submit to increased oversight to ensure the GDB is repaid. The bank’s intervention into areas traditionally reserved for policymakers increases its repayment risk."
"Puerto Rico’s public pension funds were 14% funded in FY 2010, and a staggering 22% of the funds’ assets include loans to members of the fund. The Employees’ Retirement System may deplete its net assets by FY 2014 despite recent reforms. The Commonwealth’s pension funding shortfall is far worse than any U.S. state."
"Conclusion: Although the threat is not imminent and the risk remains slim, Breckinridge believes the possibility of a default by Puerto Rico is sufficient to warrant the attention of municipal investors."
"We end with a graph that illustrates just how different Puerto Rico is compared a distressed U.S. state: Illinois. Illinois compares very favorably even though it faces several years of large structural deficits and large pension and retiree healthcare liabilities."
Taken from the Breckinridge White Paper, "Puerto Rico's Challenge," published in March on this year. All emphasis Mine.
The bad news is all Ours.
The Jenius Has Spoken.
Note: Due to a website change, the URLs for the images used had to be reloaded; 16 Sep 2012.
20 June 2012
PREPA Screwing Us Daily...Twice
Here, Brethren: Name the largest money-making, profit-centric agency in Our government?
Now those of you who passed PoliSci 101 will know that a democratic government such as Ours (chuckle) is not profit-oriented. Sigh. Theory is so wonderful, isn't it?
Those of you who get your news from the shoe-sized IQ of Primera Hora's front 8 pages will say "Hacienda, coño," and you would be partially right, as Our Treasury Department is set for collecting money. But technically it doesn't make money because it doesn't produce anything...of value to Us, that is. Plenty of pettifoggery and corruption, though, to serve syphilitic hyenas.
And for those of you "Brethren" who get your news mainly from a 6 o'clock closet gay puppet-brain with barely the morals of a back alley ghetto crack whore, you aren't reading this anyway, so screw all of you and the horses' asses you vote for with reptilian passion.
The answer is the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, PREPA for short. It makes money through its monopoly on electricity. It makes huge amounts of profits because it is a monopoly of electrical power. And those profits fuel the bond issues--the rising tide of long-term debt--that powers (pun intended) the current cash-grab We call government.
How does PREPA screw Us daily? Let Me repeat Myself:
1) By creating debt: Since 2009, as sales tax based (IVU) bonds were declining because (a) sales tax revenue was getting farther and farther away from projections and (b) the debt limit there was reaching the breakdown point, PREPA and its bonds emerged as the primary shafting device to mortgage Our future as the diseased hyenas raked in their gains now. Whether pretending to reinvent government and economic policy or trying to shove a GasoDildo through the Island, PREPA's bond issues have exceeded former limits by at least $1.8 billion and helped push Our national debt level to equality with our Gross Domestic Product. In other words, We owe as much money as We take in, while Our debt rises and Our "income" falls. You know what a recipe that makes.
2) By overcharging Us in the "fuel surcharge adjustment": I'll keep this simple, because it is. Regardless of how much PREPA lies--blatantly and consistently--about what the adjustment formula is and how it applies, the basis for it is simple: We are paying an extra fee based on one part of the electricity production cost. Why? Because the electrical rate is regulated, more for political reasons than economic ones. So rather than adjust the rates (fair, but costing whatever poopyheads are in power votes), We get the adjustment fee.
Look at the scanned bill. Yes, it's My bill. Actually, Mine and Dr. Mrs. Jenius'. It says We used 400 kilowatt/hours (kWh) of electricity in a 17-day period. (We moved recently.) The fuel adjustment charge came out to $70.65. The electrical rate was only $15.17, or $35.25 if you want to toss in the "basic charge."
We paid $70.65 for fuel, for 400 kWh. How many kWh does a barrel of oil produce?
1,700 kWh.
And what is the current rate (as of today) of a barrel of oil?
$84.03.
So how the fuck does PREPA justify """adjusting""" the fuel rate to make $299.64 a barrel?
Now, it's true that the oil they bought was purchased several months ago. Let's check what the price of oil was averaging 6 months ago: about $104 a barrel. In any case, it topped out at $111 or so over the past year. Does that in any way """justify""" making close to 200% mark-up profit?
HELL no.
Unless of course, your primary goal is to rake in as much cash to sustain a severely bloated workforce, pay for executive-level compensation in the $200-300K each a year for a dozen or more lackwits, some of whom are actually stealing electricity and furthermore being the economic engine of graft, corruption and thievery know as the (non)government.
Who controls the electrical rate We pay? The government, """for the public good."""
Who controls the fuel surcharge We pay? PREPA, against the public good.
I'd say We should strap them all to an electric chair and throw the switch, but that would overload the system.
Let's set them on fire, instead.
The Jenius Has Spoken.
Now those of you who passed PoliSci 101 will know that a democratic government such as Ours (chuckle) is not profit-oriented. Sigh. Theory is so wonderful, isn't it?
Those of you who get your news from the shoe-sized IQ of Primera Hora's front 8 pages will say "Hacienda, coño," and you would be partially right, as Our Treasury Department is set for collecting money. But technically it doesn't make money because it doesn't produce anything...of value to Us, that is. Plenty of pettifoggery and corruption, though, to serve syphilitic hyenas.
And for those of you "Brethren" who get your news mainly from a 6 o'clock closet gay puppet-brain with barely the morals of a back alley ghetto crack whore, you aren't reading this anyway, so screw all of you and the horses' asses you vote for with reptilian passion.
The answer is the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, PREPA for short. It makes money through its monopoly on electricity. It makes huge amounts of profits because it is a monopoly of electrical power. And those profits fuel the bond issues--the rising tide of long-term debt--that powers (pun intended) the current cash-grab We call government.
How does PREPA screw Us daily? Let Me repeat Myself:
1) By creating debt: Since 2009, as sales tax based (IVU) bonds were declining because (a) sales tax revenue was getting farther and farther away from projections and (b) the debt limit there was reaching the breakdown point, PREPA and its bonds emerged as the primary shafting device to mortgage Our future as the diseased hyenas raked in their gains now. Whether pretending to reinvent government and economic policy or trying to shove a GasoDildo through the Island, PREPA's bond issues have exceeded former limits by at least $1.8 billion and helped push Our national debt level to equality with our Gross Domestic Product. In other words, We owe as much money as We take in, while Our debt rises and Our "income" falls. You know what a recipe that makes.
2) By overcharging Us in the "fuel surcharge adjustment": I'll keep this simple, because it is. Regardless of how much PREPA lies--blatantly and consistently--about what the adjustment formula is and how it applies, the basis for it is simple: We are paying an extra fee based on one part of the electricity production cost. Why? Because the electrical rate is regulated, more for political reasons than economic ones. So rather than adjust the rates (fair, but costing whatever poopyheads are in power votes), We get the adjustment fee.
We paid $70.65 for fuel, for 400 kWh. How many kWh does a barrel of oil produce?
1,700 kWh.
And what is the current rate (as of today) of a barrel of oil?
$84.03.
So how the fuck does PREPA justify """adjusting""" the fuel rate to make $299.64 a barrel?
Now, it's true that the oil they bought was purchased several months ago. Let's check what the price of oil was averaging 6 months ago: about $104 a barrel. In any case, it topped out at $111 or so over the past year. Does that in any way """justify""" making close to 200% mark-up profit?
HELL no.
Unless of course, your primary goal is to rake in as much cash to sustain a severely bloated workforce, pay for executive-level compensation in the $200-300K each a year for a dozen or more lackwits, some of whom are actually stealing electricity and furthermore being the economic engine of graft, corruption and thievery know as the (non)government.
Who controls the electrical rate We pay? The government, """for the public good."""
Who controls the fuel surcharge We pay? PREPA, against the public good.
I'd say We should strap them all to an electric chair and throw the switch, but that would overload the system.
Let's set them on fire, instead.
The Jenius Has Spoken.
14 June 2012
Enslaving By Debt
One of My first posts to gain traction, as they say, was one where I incisively accuse My Brethren of falling all over themselves to become debt slaves, pursuing consumerism to the point of losing any chance at growth, prosperity and even happiness.
A gentleman in South Africa picked up on the title, I suppose, and accused Me of being over-dramatic. I excused his ignorance, since I am fully aware that for Me to consider a remark about his South Africa as "over-dramatic" I would have to actually know something about South Africa beyond "where it is, Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, the Boer War, diamond mines and apartheid." I gather the gentleman from South Africa can't locate Us on a map, can't name two of Our leaders (and for you partisan pukes, governors and head beggars in D.C. don't count...ever) and can't name any of Our resources or major concerns. So there.
But look at this nifty quote worthy of reflection even if it is smeared on a redneck billboard:
Tell Me, Brethren O'Mine, that this doesn't make a ton of freaking sense in describing what has happened on Our little patch o'green since 1898. (Yeah, I'm going there...and more.) In fact, it's been happening since 1508. (See?)
Try--try, I ask you--to think back to the pathetic, nauseating, fecal-brained excuse for History of Puerto Rico classes We were subjected to over the years. You know, the ones where We went from Christopher Columbus (a guy many teachers implied was Spanish rather than Italian) "discovering" Us in his second voyage (ignoring the dramas and background of his other 3 voyages) and Ponce De León becoming Our first governor, then leaving to die in Florida (the only smart exit We've ever had at that position), to dead Taínos and the 19th century, then 1898, and zoom! The "American" years, blahblahblah. You know, the (Offthe)Cliff Notes version, sans any sense of culture.
Maybe there was a 10-minute segment somewhere, once in grade 4 or 7 or 11 when a teacher would yak about jornaleros, the practice of giving workers little booklets to keep track of their work. Without a jornal, you could be arrested for vagrancy, treated as a non-entity, so getting a jornal was key to making it in Our society. So of course, the system was abused.
One of the many abuses was the eventual development of vales, payment in scrip that wasn't real money anywhere except at the stores the jornalero selected, usually his own. Of course, the prices in these stores were high and thus the poor obrero was stuck having to go into debt to cover the needs of himself and his family, a condition exacerbated by the fact that without his jornal, he couldn't find a job elsewhere.
Debt slavery in its nascent form.
Let's imitate the lousy History of Puerto Rico crap We've been force-fed and skip to 1898, the Year the U.S. of part of A. treated Us like war booty then got all nasty on Our asses. Huge plantations went up, sugar cane as King of Crops, with workers doing six months of work and then being laid off for six months. No jornales, but every big Americuchin plantation had one thing: a big-ass general store. And if you worked for that company, you were expected--very much expected--to buy at that store.
Some of these haciendas even had their form of vales, though they didn't call them that...of course. But the function of the store and work system was the same: create debt to control the worker.
Now those were the bad old days, when Puerto Rico was under-funded and lacked a general infrastructure for growth. Now We are over-funded (We are; topic to revisit another day) and We have a general infrastructure for--cough cough--growth. And yet, look around, Brethren: how many of you and the people you know are on a treadmill of "I have to keep this job because I have debts to pay?"
Now remember, please, that less than half of Our adults are in the workforce. So half of Our "labor force" is pretty much dead weight for whom debt slavery would be a step up. Of the other half, how many are in debt slavery? 10%? 30% 50%?
I'm estimating that close to 80% of Our workforce--small as it is--is in debt slavery. I'm basing it on two simple principals: observation and the Pareto Rule. Yes, I'm saying that 80% of Our working folks are debt slaves. Want additional proof? Check out Our use of credit and shopping habits: they're not all driven by "welfare-dependent non-producers."
Wrapping up, are We enslaved? Hell, yeah. But back to the premise of My original post, now We are choosing the enslavement, rather than knuckling to overwhelming pressure.
In a time when the power of the individual is at its highest (in Our part of the World), the capacity to see and use that knowledge must be developed, and the basis for it is to ground the individual in a culture and society where making one's own choices are more important than ignorance and following the crowd.
When--if ever--were you told that?
Yeah, I know. There's a first time for everything, eh, Brethren?
The Jenius Has Spoken.
[Update: 5 July 2012: From EconMatters, Americans are "Enslaved to the Debt System." Well la-di-dah.]
A gentleman in South Africa picked up on the title, I suppose, and accused Me of being over-dramatic. I excused his ignorance, since I am fully aware that for Me to consider a remark about his South Africa as "over-dramatic" I would have to actually know something about South Africa beyond "where it is, Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, the Boer War, diamond mines and apartheid." I gather the gentleman from South Africa can't locate Us on a map, can't name two of Our leaders (and for you partisan pukes, governors and head beggars in D.C. don't count...ever) and can't name any of Our resources or major concerns. So there.
But look at this nifty quote worthy of reflection even if it is smeared on a redneck billboard:
Tell Me, Brethren O'Mine, that this doesn't make a ton of freaking sense in describing what has happened on Our little patch o'green since 1898. (Yeah, I'm going there...and more.) In fact, it's been happening since 1508. (See?)
Try--try, I ask you--to think back to the pathetic, nauseating, fecal-brained excuse for History of Puerto Rico classes We were subjected to over the years. You know, the ones where We went from Christopher Columbus (a guy many teachers implied was Spanish rather than Italian) "discovering" Us in his second voyage (ignoring the dramas and background of his other 3 voyages) and Ponce De León becoming Our first governor, then leaving to die in Florida (the only smart exit We've ever had at that position), to dead Taínos and the 19th century, then 1898, and zoom! The "American" years, blahblahblah. You know, the (Offthe)Cliff Notes version, sans any sense of culture.
Maybe there was a 10-minute segment somewhere, once in grade 4 or 7 or 11 when a teacher would yak about jornaleros, the practice of giving workers little booklets to keep track of their work. Without a jornal, you could be arrested for vagrancy, treated as a non-entity, so getting a jornal was key to making it in Our society. So of course, the system was abused.
One of the many abuses was the eventual development of vales, payment in scrip that wasn't real money anywhere except at the stores the jornalero selected, usually his own. Of course, the prices in these stores were high and thus the poor obrero was stuck having to go into debt to cover the needs of himself and his family, a condition exacerbated by the fact that without his jornal, he couldn't find a job elsewhere.
Debt slavery in its nascent form.
Let's imitate the lousy History of Puerto Rico crap We've been force-fed and skip to 1898, the Year the U.S. of part of A. treated Us like war booty then got all nasty on Our asses. Huge plantations went up, sugar cane as King of Crops, with workers doing six months of work and then being laid off for six months. No jornales, but every big Americuchin plantation had one thing: a big-ass general store. And if you worked for that company, you were expected--very much expected--to buy at that store.
Some of these haciendas even had their form of vales, though they didn't call them that...of course. But the function of the store and work system was the same: create debt to control the worker.
Now those were the bad old days, when Puerto Rico was under-funded and lacked a general infrastructure for growth. Now We are over-funded (We are; topic to revisit another day) and We have a general infrastructure for--cough cough--growth. And yet, look around, Brethren: how many of you and the people you know are on a treadmill of "I have to keep this job because I have debts to pay?"
Now remember, please, that less than half of Our adults are in the workforce. So half of Our "labor force" is pretty much dead weight for whom debt slavery would be a step up. Of the other half, how many are in debt slavery? 10%? 30% 50%?
I'm estimating that close to 80% of Our workforce--small as it is--is in debt slavery. I'm basing it on two simple principals: observation and the Pareto Rule. Yes, I'm saying that 80% of Our working folks are debt slaves. Want additional proof? Check out Our use of credit and shopping habits: they're not all driven by "welfare-dependent non-producers."
Wrapping up, are We enslaved? Hell, yeah. But back to the premise of My original post, now We are choosing the enslavement, rather than knuckling to overwhelming pressure.
In a time when the power of the individual is at its highest (in Our part of the World), the capacity to see and use that knowledge must be developed, and the basis for it is to ground the individual in a culture and society where making one's own choices are more important than ignorance and following the crowd.
When--if ever--were you told that?
Yeah, I know. There's a first time for everything, eh, Brethren?
The Jenius Has Spoken.
[Update: 5 July 2012: From EconMatters, Americans are "Enslaved to the Debt System." Well la-di-dah.]
07 June 2012
Health As In HELLth
I had surgery yesterday, for an umbilical hernia I aggravated more times than I care to admit. It wasn't as traumatic an event as one might think for three very good reasons:
1--This was My third operation, the first occurring when I was 3 years old.
2--I wanted the operation, since My overall health was being compromised.
3--My Wife is a medical doctor.
What struck Me most about My surgery was several seconds after having an anesthetic dropped into My IV, while watching the nurse place a blood pressure cuff on My arm, I went blank. Out like a light. Zap. Woke up about 3 hours later with Dr. Mrs. Jenius sitting next to Me and within an hour of that I was getting into the car to go home.
All's well that ends well, right?
Not exactly. For although My surgical experience was relatively painless, the whole procedure leading up to it was a sidewalk in the upper levels of Hell.
It took a total of eleven visits to doctors' offices to get the required paperwork, seven of them to the same fat toad of a bitter bitch who after the fourth visit "suddenly remembers" at 3:00 o'clock that I need an X-ray done that day... with the radiology center closing at 4:00. If I had followed My instincts, the fat toad's bitter box of an office would have harbored My arrest for vandalism, but Dr. Mrs. Jenius' wisdom and practicality prevailed.
The problem, as several doctors took the time to tell Me, is that Our health system is a shambles, where insurance companies make out like bandits, specialists are being used primarily to pad medical records (in attempts to ward off lawsuits) and general practitioners are treated like wage slaves. And since the focus of the health system is on treatment rather than prevention, We as patients get less-than-stellar service that borders on fostering addiction rather than enhancing health.
Nothing new, right? Well then Why do We put up with this? I see 3 reasons:
1--Health care as politics: The overwhelming vision about Our society's health system is that it is a political issue rather than a medical one. In other words, health care is manipulated to garner votes, not to actually improve health services. And since We are what We are, the political side invariably leads to corruption, so hospitals are sold in sweetheart deals, insurance companies play merry-go-round with health services and medical personnel are respected yet treated like peons.
2--The business of health care is business: If mechanics worked on Our cars the way the health system works on Us, they'd staple, glue, tape or jury-rig autos to run for a few miles and then break down again in order to create a steady stream of clientele. Insurance companies count as profit the money they don't spend on Our health, so the system is set up to generate revenues by not really curing a patient and not really treating a patient. That's where the real tug o'war emerges, further pushed by pharmaceutical companies and laboring under the weight of potential lawsuits...that raise the already-crushing insurance rates for doctors.
3--We believe in "magic cures" rather than taking care of Ourselves: Take Me. Knowing I was already injured, I kept indulging in sports, hell-bent on competing. I knew surgery was needed to patch the break in My abdominal wall and kept putting it off until it wasn't optional anymore. Many of Us do the same with Our diet, alcohol, drugs, laziness and more. In short, We do what We want and then expect the health system to fix Us up so We can go back and do what We want again. Because We don't take care of Ourselves, We care very little about the system. Because We don't take care of Ourselves, We end up needing the system, especially when it comes to diabetes, high blood pressure and heart conditions. And because We don't take care of Ourselves, We end up being held hostage by fat toads with bitter bitchiness spewing from every pore.
I'm feeling fine now, somewhat sore and walking in a hunched manner. I already know I'm going to very careful in the next several months, exercising to get back into shape, but making sure I don't let My competitive side take over and push Me too far. What's crystallized in My Mind is that to every extent I can, I will not be held hostage by another fat toad of bitchy bitterness. That's part of hell I don't want to visit again (or have Dr. Mrs. Jenius do for Me.)
Odd, but the very hellish nature of the system make actually be My strongest incentive to focus on prevention. That and avoiding another look at the ugly toad's sour wreck of a face.
The Jenius Has Spoken.
1--This was My third operation, the first occurring when I was 3 years old.
2--I wanted the operation, since My overall health was being compromised.
3--My Wife is a medical doctor.
What struck Me most about My surgery was several seconds after having an anesthetic dropped into My IV, while watching the nurse place a blood pressure cuff on My arm, I went blank. Out like a light. Zap. Woke up about 3 hours later with Dr. Mrs. Jenius sitting next to Me and within an hour of that I was getting into the car to go home.
All's well that ends well, right?
Not exactly. For although My surgical experience was relatively painless, the whole procedure leading up to it was a sidewalk in the upper levels of Hell.
It took a total of eleven visits to doctors' offices to get the required paperwork, seven of them to the same fat toad of a bitter bitch who after the fourth visit "suddenly remembers" at 3:00 o'clock that I need an X-ray done that day... with the radiology center closing at 4:00. If I had followed My instincts, the fat toad's bitter box of an office would have harbored My arrest for vandalism, but Dr. Mrs. Jenius' wisdom and practicality prevailed.
The problem, as several doctors took the time to tell Me, is that Our health system is a shambles, where insurance companies make out like bandits, specialists are being used primarily to pad medical records (in attempts to ward off lawsuits) and general practitioners are treated like wage slaves. And since the focus of the health system is on treatment rather than prevention, We as patients get less-than-stellar service that borders on fostering addiction rather than enhancing health.
Nothing new, right? Well then Why do We put up with this? I see 3 reasons:
1--Health care as politics: The overwhelming vision about Our society's health system is that it is a political issue rather than a medical one. In other words, health care is manipulated to garner votes, not to actually improve health services. And since We are what We are, the political side invariably leads to corruption, so hospitals are sold in sweetheart deals, insurance companies play merry-go-round with health services and medical personnel are respected yet treated like peons.
2--The business of health care is business: If mechanics worked on Our cars the way the health system works on Us, they'd staple, glue, tape or jury-rig autos to run for a few miles and then break down again in order to create a steady stream of clientele. Insurance companies count as profit the money they don't spend on Our health, so the system is set up to generate revenues by not really curing a patient and not really treating a patient. That's where the real tug o'war emerges, further pushed by pharmaceutical companies and laboring under the weight of potential lawsuits...that raise the already-crushing insurance rates for doctors.
3--We believe in "magic cures" rather than taking care of Ourselves: Take Me. Knowing I was already injured, I kept indulging in sports, hell-bent on competing. I knew surgery was needed to patch the break in My abdominal wall and kept putting it off until it wasn't optional anymore. Many of Us do the same with Our diet, alcohol, drugs, laziness and more. In short, We do what We want and then expect the health system to fix Us up so We can go back and do what We want again. Because We don't take care of Ourselves, We care very little about the system. Because We don't take care of Ourselves, We end up needing the system, especially when it comes to diabetes, high blood pressure and heart conditions. And because We don't take care of Ourselves, We end up being held hostage by fat toads with bitter bitchiness spewing from every pore.
I'm feeling fine now, somewhat sore and walking in a hunched manner. I already know I'm going to very careful in the next several months, exercising to get back into shape, but making sure I don't let My competitive side take over and push Me too far. What's crystallized in My Mind is that to every extent I can, I will not be held hostage by another fat toad of bitchy bitterness. That's part of hell I don't want to visit again (or have Dr. Mrs. Jenius do for Me.)
Odd, but the very hellish nature of the system make actually be My strongest incentive to focus on prevention. That and avoiding another look at the ugly toad's sour wreck of a face.
The Jenius Has Spoken.
31 May 2012
DOCTOR Mrs. Jenius Now
Today, My Beloved added "M.D." to her name. So Mrs. Jenius is now Dr. Mrs. Jenius and she earned it every step of the way.
One aspect of many that I admire about Dr. Mrs. Jenius is that she knew from a very early age that she wanted to be a doctor, to help people get better. Her sense of purpose was evident early, and despite the hundreds of innocent and not-so-innocent remarks about her perceived chances, today is proof that she was right all along. For although it is true that Mrs. Jenius didn't have close relatives who were doctors, didn't study in some fancy private schools, wasn't rolling in moneyed circles and didn't have any sort of patronage, it is also true that she succeeded brilliantly in spite of--or actually because of--those "shortcomings."
Dr. Mrs. Jenius did it by focusing on the part of medicine she loves best: patients. Where most of her colleagues were focusing on books, tests, social amenities and future hubris, she was making a name of herself as a medical student who grokked the people she was treating. Whether it was a baby in distress, an elderly post-op patient or a drug-addled homeless person, Dr. Mrs. Jenius connected with them, finding a way to alleviate their pain and concerns. Her fellow students largely ignored this; her future colleagues couldn't and didn't.
Now Dr. Román Delgado steps forth on the career she envisioned as a child. I have no doubt it will be a glorious career, touching thousands of people from all walks of life. A true doctor's career, focused on service rather than self. Not the easiest path, but then again. Dr. Mrs. Jenius has never taken or had the easy path.
I love you, Mrs. Jenius. And I'm so very happy for you.
The Jenius Has Spoken.
One aspect of many that I admire about Dr. Mrs. Jenius is that she knew from a very early age that she wanted to be a doctor, to help people get better. Her sense of purpose was evident early, and despite the hundreds of innocent and not-so-innocent remarks about her perceived chances, today is proof that she was right all along. For although it is true that Mrs. Jenius didn't have close relatives who were doctors, didn't study in some fancy private schools, wasn't rolling in moneyed circles and didn't have any sort of patronage, it is also true that she succeeded brilliantly in spite of--or actually because of--those "shortcomings."
Dr. Mrs. Jenius did it by focusing on the part of medicine she loves best: patients. Where most of her colleagues were focusing on books, tests, social amenities and future hubris, she was making a name of herself as a medical student who grokked the people she was treating. Whether it was a baby in distress, an elderly post-op patient or a drug-addled homeless person, Dr. Mrs. Jenius connected with them, finding a way to alleviate their pain and concerns. Her fellow students largely ignored this; her future colleagues couldn't and didn't.
Now Dr. Román Delgado steps forth on the career she envisioned as a child. I have no doubt it will be a glorious career, touching thousands of people from all walks of life. A true doctor's career, focused on service rather than self. Not the easiest path, but then again. Dr. Mrs. Jenius has never taken or had the easy path.
I love you, Mrs. Jenius. And I'm so very happy for you.
The Jenius Has Spoken.
26 May 2012
Happy Birthday, Kaleb!
Today you turned 12. Aside from it being My favorite number, and that you are My Favorite Son (hee hee), turning 12 is important: it means this is your last year as a pre-teen.
But those teenage years--however they will be--are yet to come. For this last year, I've noticed a growing admiration of you...in Me. Most parents would state unequivocally that they love their children, as I do, but "admire"? And at such an early age? Not often.
One incident will do. Think back to the championship basketball game We were in last year. Down 18-17 (what an astonishingly low score) and with 9 seconds to go, We lost the ball on a turnover. I called timeout and I could see that the team was devastated. Even you were chagrined at the situation. Though I spoke to the team, I was looking at you: We need a steal. I repeated it to get the boys to think that with 9 seconds left, getting the ball back meant We had a chance. And We did.
You all took your positions and I watched as you crouched against the boy you were guarding, intent on him and the inbound pass. The tableau seemed to freeze and once again, I felt calm. Secure. I knew...because I'd seen it before.
The pass almost took too long and the other team's boy nearly panicked as his target--the boy you were guarding--had no chance to get free and receive the pass. The ball came out and you pounced. Without hesitation, you passed cleanly to Our top scorer, hitting him perfectly in stride. He drove to the basket, rose for a floater...and got grabbed, pushed off-balance by his defenders. The ball rattled out and the buzzer sounded.
We lost. No whistle. No call. No win.
It was hard to accept. But all I could think about was how once again, when the game was on the line, you made the play. Like you did in your first year when you guarded the biggest kid in your league, almost a foot taller than you and held him scoreless in the last period, including a key "non-defense" move that saved a technical foul in a one-point victory. Or in your first All Star Game, which you were supposed to be picked for and got passed over, then invited as a last-minute replacement: an MVP performance with 4 points, 10 rebounds and the key steal to seal the game. Or your second All Star Game when I sent you in with a minute left in a 22-20 game to "get rebounds" and you did--twice--to seal the victory.
You see, Son, not everyone can come through in pressure situations. In fact, most people don't. They shy away from the "Put up or shut up" moments, they make excuses and deny making excuses. They blame the world and never step up...but you do. And you deliver.
That's rare, and precious. You do it in sports and I'm seeing you do it in other areas as well. It's like you're expanding your skills in ways that took Me years to even fathom, much less improve. A part of that is due to your mother, stepfather and their relatives, a part of it from your cousins, aunt, stepmother and friends, and I know a part of it is from My being your father, but in the end, all of it is You.
Your successes are your own and as much as We may feel pride in them, whatever you achieve should be for your own reasons. Like playing defense with the ferocious intensity that makes your teammates want you to guard someone else or tackling math with high-energy skill or adapting to the moment and situation while remaining essentially You, these are all praiseworthy, yet keep doing them for yourself rather than for anyone else. You're on the right path to being happier than most, and more successful as well.
Maybe this year We'll win a championship together. You know I want that very much. But whether We do or don't, I'll be proud of you and your effort, admiring of your skills and determination and pleased beyond reason that My Son is well on his way to becoming a better man than I.
However, I still play chess better.
For now.
I love you, Kaleb. You're a gift of love every day of the year.
The Jenius Has Spoken.
But those teenage years--however they will be--are yet to come. For this last year, I've noticed a growing admiration of you...in Me. Most parents would state unequivocally that they love their children, as I do, but "admire"? And at such an early age? Not often.
One incident will do. Think back to the championship basketball game We were in last year. Down 18-17 (what an astonishingly low score) and with 9 seconds to go, We lost the ball on a turnover. I called timeout and I could see that the team was devastated. Even you were chagrined at the situation. Though I spoke to the team, I was looking at you: We need a steal. I repeated it to get the boys to think that with 9 seconds left, getting the ball back meant We had a chance. And We did.
You all took your positions and I watched as you crouched against the boy you were guarding, intent on him and the inbound pass. The tableau seemed to freeze and once again, I felt calm. Secure. I knew...because I'd seen it before.
The pass almost took too long and the other team's boy nearly panicked as his target--the boy you were guarding--had no chance to get free and receive the pass. The ball came out and you pounced. Without hesitation, you passed cleanly to Our top scorer, hitting him perfectly in stride. He drove to the basket, rose for a floater...and got grabbed, pushed off-balance by his defenders. The ball rattled out and the buzzer sounded.
We lost. No whistle. No call. No win.
It was hard to accept. But all I could think about was how once again, when the game was on the line, you made the play. Like you did in your first year when you guarded the biggest kid in your league, almost a foot taller than you and held him scoreless in the last period, including a key "non-defense" move that saved a technical foul in a one-point victory. Or in your first All Star Game, which you were supposed to be picked for and got passed over, then invited as a last-minute replacement: an MVP performance with 4 points, 10 rebounds and the key steal to seal the game. Or your second All Star Game when I sent you in with a minute left in a 22-20 game to "get rebounds" and you did--twice--to seal the victory.
You see, Son, not everyone can come through in pressure situations. In fact, most people don't. They shy away from the "Put up or shut up" moments, they make excuses and deny making excuses. They blame the world and never step up...but you do. And you deliver.
That's rare, and precious. You do it in sports and I'm seeing you do it in other areas as well. It's like you're expanding your skills in ways that took Me years to even fathom, much less improve. A part of that is due to your mother, stepfather and their relatives, a part of it from your cousins, aunt, stepmother and friends, and I know a part of it is from My being your father, but in the end, all of it is You.
Your successes are your own and as much as We may feel pride in them, whatever you achieve should be for your own reasons. Like playing defense with the ferocious intensity that makes your teammates want you to guard someone else or tackling math with high-energy skill or adapting to the moment and situation while remaining essentially You, these are all praiseworthy, yet keep doing them for yourself rather than for anyone else. You're on the right path to being happier than most, and more successful as well.
Maybe this year We'll win a championship together. You know I want that very much. But whether We do or don't, I'll be proud of you and your effort, admiring of your skills and determination and pleased beyond reason that My Son is well on his way to becoming a better man than I.
However, I still play chess better.
For now.
I love you, Kaleb. You're a gift of love every day of the year.
The Jenius Has Spoken.
04 May 2012
We're #27...That's Great!
You've probably never heard of The Founder Institute. Some of you may have, but I bet most of you haven't. Don't feel bad: I only learned about them last year. But since that day, I've been a fan.
In a nutshell, The Founder Institute helps create "meaningful and enduring technology companies." It does so using a four-month "idea to execution" process that even allows entrepreneurs the capacity to launch their new venture while working a job. Their process is not for the wishy-washy toe-dipper: it requires a healthy dose of commitment and sweat. But the results are often fantastic.
Given the paucity of entrepreneurial resources on My Island--a situation akin to finding monkeys in the Arctic--it is a true pleasure to learn that The Founder Institute is now launching its 27th chapter in Puerto Rico. For what can be considered the first time, We will have a world-class entrepreneurial resource helping Our high-energy start-up folks truly reach their potential. It's like the arrival of Major League Baseball to a sandlot park that looks more like a cattle yard.
Okay, maybe Our entrepreneurial environment is not that bad, but it certainly ain't anywhere near being average. Say a 2 on a scale of 1 to 10. But as Jenius Friend Ramphis Castro--he of TedX San Juan fame--said, this is a game-changer.
Now for those of you who want to participate in The Founder Institute development process, you have until May 13th to complete your submission. Yes, Mothers Day; deal. If you really believe you can create a new company that will change the world, or help others change it substantially, then I urge you to believe in yourself 100% and make your way to the Founder website and toss your name into the ring.
The Founder Institute's goal is to create 1,000 new tech companies a year in 30 cities worldwide. Only those of us who have slogged and slugged and struggled with what passes for an entrepreneurial "process" here can appreciate what this means: a chance to finally stand on the global stage as equal partners. We always had the talent to do so: now We have the toolkit to make it happen.
Let's make it happen, over and over and over again.
The Jenius Has Spoken.
In a nutshell, The Founder Institute helps create "meaningful and enduring technology companies." It does so using a four-month "idea to execution" process that even allows entrepreneurs the capacity to launch their new venture while working a job. Their process is not for the wishy-washy toe-dipper: it requires a healthy dose of commitment and sweat. But the results are often fantastic.
Given the paucity of entrepreneurial resources on My Island--a situation akin to finding monkeys in the Arctic--it is a true pleasure to learn that The Founder Institute is now launching its 27th chapter in Puerto Rico. For what can be considered the first time, We will have a world-class entrepreneurial resource helping Our high-energy start-up folks truly reach their potential. It's like the arrival of Major League Baseball to a sandlot park that looks more like a cattle yard.
Okay, maybe Our entrepreneurial environment is not that bad, but it certainly ain't anywhere near being average. Say a 2 on a scale of 1 to 10. But as Jenius Friend Ramphis Castro--he of TedX San Juan fame--said, this is a game-changer.
Now for those of you who want to participate in The Founder Institute development process, you have until May 13th to complete your submission. Yes, Mothers Day; deal. If you really believe you can create a new company that will change the world, or help others change it substantially, then I urge you to believe in yourself 100% and make your way to the Founder website and toss your name into the ring.
The Founder Institute's goal is to create 1,000 new tech companies a year in 30 cities worldwide. Only those of us who have slogged and slugged and struggled with what passes for an entrepreneurial "process" here can appreciate what this means: a chance to finally stand on the global stage as equal partners. We always had the talent to do so: now We have the toolkit to make it happen.
Let's make it happen, over and over and over again.
The Jenius Has Spoken.
27 April 2012
Yocasta Brugal: Still MenDacious, Still Screwing The SJBSOM
Imagine you haven't been paid for a month, despite working in a chaotic, hectic, almost demeaning situation. Part of the scenario is that the "primary company" sold another part--at a loss--and part of the transaction entailed having ALL 300+ employees fired by the new owners. Many of the now-fired employees were owed back-pay dating back several months.
Now you're in the "primary company"--which is under investigation--and you're getting very familiar signals. Your pay? No, it isn't happening. Instead of a check, you get a memo. And the latest one says...well, Let's be more specific, shall We?
Yocasta Brugal is the demonstrably-incompetent and proven liar """leading""" the San Juan Bautista School of Medicine (SJBSOM). Here's a rundown of topics The Jenius has highlighted that place Brugal MenDacious and her lying liars squarely in the category of "Serial Useless Bullshitters":
--This Is My Business Now...wherein the whole Brugal MenDacious and lying liar horde are thrust into The Jenius's sights, where they never should have been in the first place.
--Yocasta Brugal: SJBullshitter?...wherein I suggest--clearly--that Brugal is an MD as in MenDacious.
--Yocasta Brugal: Incompetence Recognized...wherein the MenDacious Moocher is defined as a useless lackwit and her "hidden" flaws are becoming apparent to The Jenius.
--If True, Then Kick Yocasta Brugal & The Board Out NOW...wherein the cracks in Brugal's leprous leadership leatherface are defined--correctly--as oozing the pus of corruption.
--Yocasta Brugal Should be Fired...wherein Bullshitter Brugal is revealed to be running (into the ground) the SJBSOM with a revenue that is 17.5 times less capable than the average private medical school.
--22,848,733 Reasons To Fire Yocasta Brugal & The SJBullshitters...wherein the SJBSOM's very suspicious lack of federal research funds and very suspicious profits are revealed as more aspects of the absolute incompetence and bullshitting that have become the hallmark of Brugal MenDacious and her lying liars.
--Bitch-Slapping Yocasta Brugal, The SJBullshitters And The LCME...wherein The Jenius pinpoints--no, nails--the horrendous performance of Brugal MenDacious and her whole hyena horde to the wall and accurately spreads some of the blame to the Liaison Commission on Medical Education (LCME), who were hypocritical at best in striking down the SJBSOM's accreditation.
--Memo to Yocasta Brugal: I Was Right...wherein I rub, smack, stomp, scrape and crush Brugal and the SJBullshitters with the fact that I was RIGHT about them, their shady actions and negligence.
--Yocasta Brugal: Fire Her Now...wherein even after the LCME was forced to reverse its decision and re-instate the SJBSOM's accreditation, I point out--with 100% accuracy--that nothing would improve until Brugal MenDacious and her lying liars were fired with prejudice...and by "fired" I didn't rule out actual flames.
--Stiff Yocasta Brugal & Her Lying Liars...wherein I suggest the students avoid registering because the Hospital sale seemed...odd. Quite odd.
--Yocasta Brugal Has Screwed 570 People...And Counting...wherein the Brugal Bullshit Bus of Thieves sells the Hospital the SJBSOM needs to provide what few clinical resources they have, not only screwing the 300 Hospital employees (fired), proving Me right again, but also the 270 students, many who lost interviews and positions in residence programs.
Now back to the latest memo that "pretends"--in an openly dishonest and lying way--to "explain" why the employees of the SJBSOM are not getting paid. Again.
According to a comment left in the Comments section of Yocasta Brugal Should be Fired, the reason employees didn't get paid this time was...the global economic situation.
NOT Brugal's undoubted and irrefutable incompetence, NOT the useless passivity and irrefutable cowardice of the SJBSOM Board of Directors (Long may they hang from the highest yardarm!), NOT the total and irrefutable negligence of the SJBullshitters, NO, none of that: it's the world's fault SJBSOM employees have to go home-again--unpaid.
When the evidence is added up, it is beyond any shadow of a doubt--any whatsoever--that Yocasta Brugal in her role as SJBSOM """leader"" is incompetent, negligent and a liar.
Period.
The phrase is well-worn by now, but it is unbelievably more relevant now than it was in October 2011: Fire Yocasta Brugal MenDacious. Fire her.
The Jenius Has Spoken.
Now you're in the "primary company"--which is under investigation--and you're getting very familiar signals. Your pay? No, it isn't happening. Instead of a check, you get a memo. And the latest one says...well, Let's be more specific, shall We?
Yocasta Brugal is the demonstrably-incompetent and proven liar """leading""" the San Juan Bautista School of Medicine (SJBSOM). Here's a rundown of topics The Jenius has highlighted that place Brugal MenDacious and her lying liars squarely in the category of "Serial Useless Bullshitters":
--This Is My Business Now...wherein the whole Brugal MenDacious and lying liar horde are thrust into The Jenius's sights, where they never should have been in the first place.
--Yocasta Brugal: SJBullshitter?...wherein I suggest--clearly--that Brugal is an MD as in MenDacious.
--Yocasta Brugal: Incompetence Recognized...wherein the MenDacious Moocher is defined as a useless lackwit and her "hidden" flaws are becoming apparent to The Jenius.
--If True, Then Kick Yocasta Brugal & The Board Out NOW...wherein the cracks in Brugal's leprous leadership leatherface are defined--correctly--as oozing the pus of corruption.
--Yocasta Brugal Should be Fired...wherein Bullshitter Brugal is revealed to be running (into the ground) the SJBSOM with a revenue that is 17.5 times less capable than the average private medical school.
--22,848,733 Reasons To Fire Yocasta Brugal & The SJBullshitters...wherein the SJBSOM's very suspicious lack of federal research funds and very suspicious profits are revealed as more aspects of the absolute incompetence and bullshitting that have become the hallmark of Brugal MenDacious and her lying liars.
--Bitch-Slapping Yocasta Brugal, The SJBullshitters And The LCME...wherein The Jenius pinpoints--no, nails--the horrendous performance of Brugal MenDacious and her whole hyena horde to the wall and accurately spreads some of the blame to the Liaison Commission on Medical Education (LCME), who were hypocritical at best in striking down the SJBSOM's accreditation.
--Memo to Yocasta Brugal: I Was Right...wherein I rub, smack, stomp, scrape and crush Brugal and the SJBullshitters with the fact that I was RIGHT about them, their shady actions and negligence.
--Yocasta Brugal: Fire Her Now...wherein even after the LCME was forced to reverse its decision and re-instate the SJBSOM's accreditation, I point out--with 100% accuracy--that nothing would improve until Brugal MenDacious and her lying liars were fired with prejudice...and by "fired" I didn't rule out actual flames.
--Stiff Yocasta Brugal & Her Lying Liars...wherein I suggest the students avoid registering because the Hospital sale seemed...odd. Quite odd.
--Yocasta Brugal Has Screwed 570 People...And Counting...wherein the Brugal Bullshit Bus of Thieves sells the Hospital the SJBSOM needs to provide what few clinical resources they have, not only screwing the 300 Hospital employees (fired), proving Me right again, but also the 270 students, many who lost interviews and positions in residence programs.
Now back to the latest memo that "pretends"--in an openly dishonest and lying way--to "explain" why the employees of the SJBSOM are not getting paid. Again.
According to a comment left in the Comments section of Yocasta Brugal Should be Fired, the reason employees didn't get paid this time was...the global economic situation.
NOT Brugal's undoubted and irrefutable incompetence, NOT the useless passivity and irrefutable cowardice of the SJBSOM Board of Directors (Long may they hang from the highest yardarm!), NOT the total and irrefutable negligence of the SJBullshitters, NO, none of that: it's the world's fault SJBSOM employees have to go home-again--unpaid.
When the evidence is added up, it is beyond any shadow of a doubt--any whatsoever--that Yocasta Brugal in her role as SJBSOM """leader"" is incompetent, negligent and a liar.
Period.
The phrase is well-worn by now, but it is unbelievably more relevant now than it was in October 2011: Fire Yocasta Brugal MenDacious. Fire her.
The Jenius Has Spoken.
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