Power(balling) Our Economy, Boricua Style

Look, it's no secret My island is deep in debt. Bankrupt, even. Forty-plus years of political pillaging stacked atop a colonial economy trying to play 3D chess with tic-tac-toe tools and a populace more focused on gossip and innuendo than gains and innovation makes for a sad portrait of heavily-despairing economic distress.

So what does the syphilitic hyena pack of an excuse for an alleged government We have (elected) do to try to clean up the fetid muck of Our economy? Powerball Us.

Yes, Powerball. A lottery. Or in Our case, another lottery that balls Us.

No, Let's be precise: another fucking lottery.

We have the traditional Puerto Rican lottery, sold mainly by elderly folks sitting on stools outside supermarkets, mall entrances, drug stores and alongside roads with major traffic. We have scratchers, with maybe two dozen variants, all of them with prizes that almost certainly don't match the printed odds. (Am I implying that the government is cheating Us? Hell yeah I am. Try to find the actual payout data on these scratch lottery games. Go ahead.)

We have the Pega 3 and Pega 4 to go with the Loto Electrónica, a Pick 6 game. These are now twice a day, so you can get your gaming fix a little more often. Yeah.

Then We have that abortion of fiscal policy known as the "IVU Loto," a lottery based on the sales tax. We already know this lamebrain excuse for a tax collection system is corrupt, so Let's move on, shall We?

Just to be thorough, I'll add the illegal numbers game known as bolita, played by many of My Brethren and the reason Pega 3 was introduced. If you count scratchers as individual games of $1-$5 each, We have 10 legal lotteries ($1, $2, $3, $4, $5, traditional, Pega 3, Pega 4, Electrónica and IVU Loto; you're welcome, staheooders...) and bolita. So in an """economic policy""" that can only be ascribed to the "cheaper by the dozen" school of useless blathering (a.k.a. economics), We now have Powerball.

Of course, to make it different from Loto Electrónica, it has to be BIGGER, BOLDER and MORE LOADED with MONEY. Our Powerball is linked to other Powerball lotteries Stateside, proving that (1) politicians in other places are also greedy bottom feeders and (2) taxes on stupidity have huge participants.

Lotteries have been accurately described as "taxes on stupidity" because they prey on people who eschew rationality and common sense in favor of being consumer drones. Or to state it briefly, folks who choose stupid over smart. The sales pitch for these games is basically "Why not you?" to which the smart response is "Because it's not bloody likely, pal." The irrational, knee-jerk absence of thought reaction is "Yeah, why not?" To which the numbers reply: "It's not bloody likely, pal."

Here's the short version, for Loto Electrónica (Pick 6, numbers from 1 to 42): 6/42 x 5/41 x 4/40 x 3/39 x 2/38 x 1/37. Let Wikihow give you the basic process while I give you the end result: 1 in 5,263,158.

You have 1 chance in 5,263,158 of winning the $2 million prize. (The Powerball format has even worse odds.) And have you noticed that the chances exceed the prize by more than 2-to-1? In casinos, that's called "the house's edge," but in state-run lotteries, it's called "even better stealing from the stupid." .

People play lotteries for "the easy win," and the ads for these games play right into that fantasy. Yes, somebody is going to win the prize--eventually--but the odds clearly say that millions of players will lose and mostly one will win. Now realistically, what group do you think you will be in: the millions who play and lose or the handful that wins?

Most people think they will be in the "lucky handful." That's stupid. And they pay for the privilege of being so stupid.

And Our government--hack cough retch--feeds ravenously off Our stupid people. We vote them in, let them run Our Island into the proverbial wretched hell of financial insolvency and We keep throwing money best used for Our growth to temporarily line their colons. (Yeah, I'm implying that they are shitting Our money away.)

Instead of seeking solutions that call for Us to take clear-eyed stock of where We are and start making the hard choices needed to get on track, We are told to bend over 'cause the Powerballing is about to begin!

To quote a funny guy from long ago: I wish I had a tank.



The Jenius Has Spoken.

Observations On 3 Men I See Almost Every Day

There are three men I see almost every day. One of them, the one I encounter most often, spends 9-14 hours a day at the light near McDonald's, asking for money. He is invariably polite, fairly well-dressed in skateboarder faux-chic and offers quick advice, such as "Drive calmly" and "See the good around you." He is an admitted drug addict, looks the part, and I suspect he's using again.

The second sits on steps outside a couple of local stores night after night and aggressively asks for a quarter or half a dollar. He acts churlish if you give him a soft answer. There are no needle tracks on his arms, he seems well-fed and healthy, his eyes and skin are clear. If prompted to speak, he will quickly shift from a hard tone to a wheedling nasal whine, the proto-bully quickly morphing into victim mode. He once tried to block My path to re-ask for a dollar. I was carrying several small bags after leaving the drug store and maybe based on that, he made a move at Me. I dropped the bags and took a step forward. His eyes locked with Mine and he took off, nearly getting creamed by a passing car. He doesn't talk to Me anymore.

The third appears at the light where Our local two large supermarkets intersect with a hardware store. He is very quiet, rarely speaking. Tall, he looks like a junior college shooting guard. He wears a cap and fairly fashionable sneakers. He makes eye contact with about half the people in cars, but never reacts when he gets ignored or turned down. He'll spend 2-3 hours a day at that, sometimes skipping a day, but usually not more than 2 in a row.

I'm sure the first one, call him Juan, is essentially homeless. However, he bathes twice a day, using a friend's house for that. The second guy, call him Edward, is not homeless, but he pretends to be. He has keys in his pocket and I once saw him use one of them to enter a local apartment building. The third guy, call him Luis, is not homeless. He lives across from the local gun range, the one that punctuates My days with distant pop-pop-pop or rattatatatat sounds from morning to night.

Are they lazy? Not really. They seem to work hard for their money, to almost-quote a disco goddess. Juan sometimes sells produce at "his" light, or hands out flyers, scrupulously limiting the handouts to one per person. Edward acts like work is punishment. Luis seems indifferent to work or anything other than his own thoughts.

Are they addicts? Juan was and probably has fallen back into that lifestyle. (Yes, it is a lifestyle, based on choice. Not a good one, but a choice nonetheless.) Edward and Luis don't fit the profile, at least physically. I'd say the odds are against either one being addicted to illegal drugs.

Are they useless? Most of the arguments against helping the homeless or those begging at large are based on (a) they deserve their situation, (b) they could get out of it if they wanted to and (c) they are simply parasites seeking more to freeload on. All three arguments are wrong, as most blanket statements tend to be.

No one "deserves" anything: it is either earned or imposed. Does a person "deserve" cancer, even if they smoke 2 packs a day? Actions and decisions have consequences, and many of them are accidental. Yes, you are more likely to end up homeless if you are an addict, but did the person "deserve" to be an addict?

The problem with "deserve" is that it implies a direct causal relationship where none might exist. Most people who end up homeless do so from events far beyond their control, so no, they didn't generally "deserve' it.

Unless they've been out there, living on the streets, a person will have no idea how hard it is to get out of that situation. When survival becomes the primary daily activity, how and where to get food, water, shelter and comfort (if possible), notions of "upward progress" are not options. Even if you wanted to climb out of that abyss and live a "normal" life, you would find it hard to take care of yourself, search for a job, rent an apartment or do any of the myriad things a person takes for granted when survival is not an immediate concern.

As for parasites, there is a large degree of that in folks who panhandle and beg. But job and work options are often denied to people who most need it because they look slovenly (having no place for shelter and to bathe does have its consequences),.have no permanent address or valid I.D. and have difficulty adhering to a schedule since, you know, surviving on the streets is not exactly subject to workshift patterns.

Does this excuse someone like Edward? Hell no. He's a punk with the chutzpah to con money out of people rather than making a living. I don't know about Luis, but I know Juan will work if you ask him to. I've seen it several times and he delivers to the best of his ability every time. But he won't accept being treated like a bum. He was selling newspapers for two weeks and the agent tried to keep the gas money Juan earned  (about $22 all told) because, of course, Juan doesn't own a car. So Juan quit.

If you react like Juan should have kept his trap shut and thus keep his menial job, you are a blithering idiot. Would you have taken that "deal"? Of course not. You won't let someone brazenly steal your money like that. And if you say "Yes, I would have," you are both a blithering idiot and a liar.

Our problem with the homeless, the panhandlers and the beggars is not them: it's Us. We act like their situation is a personal failing when in fact, it is Our collective failure as a society. We have failed to provide enough opportunities, enough support, for everyone to find their path to stability.

Can We "save" everyone? Hell no. Some people are self-destructive and there's nothing We can do to stop someone who simply insists on wrecking their life with alcohol (by far the most common addiction), drugs, violence, video games or any other of the thousands of potential obsessions humans can focus on.

But We can help more of Us by developing the kind of society that fosters self-growth, self-motivation and rewards honest effort fairly. Yes, I know I'm asking for My Island to change almost exponentially, but asking for less is part of the problem: We ask for less because We really don't think We deserve more.

That sucks.

As for what I'll do with the three guys I've mentioned: I'll still give Juan rides to and from his friend's house when the opportunity arises and maybe buy him a burger on the days he's selling produce; I'll wat to see of Edward is anything but a punk, and I'll watch Luis a couple of times to see what his deal is.

Can I help more than I am doing now? Certainly. Do I want to? Depends on what's needed and how much effort I have to make to pitch in and lend a hand. No one can truly help another if that help exceeds the capacity for helping. In other words, if it doesn't cost Me much, I'll make the effort.

It won't be enough, I know, but at least it's honest.



The Jenius Has Spoken.

What Our Indifference Hath Wrought

What were you doing Saturday? Do you remember? Maybe it was fun.

Here's what The New York Times did, a piece titled "Economy and Crime Spur New Puerto Rican Exodus."

A few fillips from said piece:

* Our debt exploding to over $70 billion (it was under $28 billion in 2008).
* A downgrade of the bond-based debt to junk by Standard & Poor's and Moody's.
* Unemployment listed at 15.4%, which is as accurate as saying I'm 2'8" tall (I'm 5'10").
* Rapidly-rising cost of living, especially in terms of utilities.
* Lousy public schools.
* Rising crime.
* A pathetically-limited workforce. (The article doesn't note that the government accounts for almost 40% of all direct and indirect labor on the Island.)
* Increasing exodus, causing about a 14% population drop in the past decade.
* Increased taxes hitting small and medium-sized businesses hardest.
* A per capita income of $15,200, lower than it was in 2008 and less than half of Mississippi's.

Now if you read--or will read--My previous post, and the whore-mongered piece it is based on, you might see some of the same fillips in that """report""" as in the article. So why was I so negatively harsh on Meacham the Bicho and will be appropriately neutral on Times correspondent Lizette Alvarez?

Because Ms. Alvarez stuck to the facts while Carl El Pendejo Republicano is trying to stick it to Us.

Look, I won't argue the facts. My Island is ears-deep in a shithole and no amount of demagoguery is going to erase that reality. But being stuck in a horrible situation is a far cry from saying that those who seek to remove themselves from it will fuck up another country.

Carl's mom may be Chilean and he may speak fluent Spanish, but that doesn't give Carl Mama-Bicho any special insight to what We are in Puerto Rico, who We are as Puerto Ricans or what We are capable of as individuals or a people looking to make progress. He is entitled to his opinion, but when he acts to make that opinion some sort of policy prediction and hires a spineless troll to try to give it legitimacy, he is wrong, he is an asshole and he is worthy only of Our most blistering contempt.

As for the spineless troll cum economist-for-hire Joaquín Villamil, the sooner he drowns in his own slippery scum, the better.

Beyond that, here's the bottom line: We are in this shithole because We let it happen. I repeat: We. Let. It. Happen. It's Our fault. 

We let the Fools play Us and far too many of Us cheered them on. We let the Fools rob Us of Our present and future and cheered on the ones We saw as being "Our thieves" and voted against those We saw as "their thieves." 

We bought the shit sandwich that government jobs were economic growth and that party politics mean more than economic and social progress. And We allowed a double-handful of blood-sucking parasites to multiply into a veritable army of insatiable leeches gnawing at every level of society.

We let it happen. Our bad.

But that doesn't mean that We are now in the business of being drug-addled criminals, Carlambetranca. As Ms. Alvarez noted in her article, much of Our recent exodus is from the middle-class and with professional occupations. People who take their kids and parents and are moving to the States with what little money they can recover from selling in a true buyer's market. Folks who want to build, to create, to forge a new life for themselves and the next generation. People who simply want the chance to do what they were trained, educated and prepared for. 

Will as many as one million of My Brethren leave Puerto Rico, flooding into states beyond Florida, Texas, New York and New Jersey? It's possible. Not likely, but possible.

And will this influx be a crime wave smacking the U.S. of part of A. shores like a hurricane?

No. 

It will be an influx of people focused on making a better life because there's a chance, a decent chance, that things will get better in 10-12 years and coming back to the Island will then become a reasonable option. It happened before: the 1940s-1950s exodus of Puerto Ricans to the States is the example--the only example that matters. The situation is virtually the same, a mass of workers looking to create a stronger and brighter future for themselves. The vast majority of these folks aimed to work and most of them made their mark in a positive fashion. To ignore that historical tendency is to be willfully blind.

Then again, willfully blind is the default ocular stance of Republicans like Carl "Mamao" Meacham.

And sadly, of Us when it comes to making sure the Fools aren't raping what We have and need for a better future.



The Jenius Has Spoken.

Beware Our Cooties

"But the Puerto Rican economy does matter for the United States—and particularly for U.S. security. Given the island’s proximity and ties to the United States—not to mention the perennial (and highly controversial) debate over Puerto Rico’s status as a U.S. commonwealth and the ease of entering the United States once on the island—drug trafficking and violent crime in Puerto Rico have direct implications for U.S. security policy in the region. In the absence of a healthy economy and given the shrinking private sector in Puerto Rico, the growth of informal activities—drug trafficking and organized crime chief among them—is the unfortunate consequence."

That little fillip comes from a recent publication titled "Shit! The 'Ricans Are Comin'!" The actual title of the butt-wiper is "Why Puerto Rico's Economy Matters for U.S. Security," written by local economist José Villamil and with a forward by the above-quoted Carl Meacham.

The report was issued in last week just as the junk-bond bomb of Our overwhelming debt was starting to become a palpable reality to folks who are too dense to absorb news other than from Our gossip-rag media, lamebrain talk radio or the corner bar.

The report itself is a typical Villamil production: up-to-date with data, leaning more on style than substance and the finest expression of the economist-as-whore. When you pay Villamil to write a report for you, he writes the report you want. Satisfying clients is very high on the Villamil short-list of priorities.

As an example of his sloppiness as window tint, here's this quote, from page 5: "Even this complacency came to an abrupt end in 2005, when rating agencies raised an alarm concerning the high level of appropriations debt with no source of repayment. And in May of the following year, the Puerto Rican government had to close for two weeks because of budgetary difficulties."

Notice how the bond debt crisis is juxtaposed directly with the government shutdown, a gross over-simplification of what was undeniably a party politics shitfest between a dickhead governor and a dickhead senate president. (No. No capital letters for these assholes.) Was the debt part of the problem? Yes. But the shutdown was totally unnecessary and caused mainly by an infantile bout of dick-swinging between guys with microcephaly and micropenises.

But of course, what Carl pays for, Carl gets. He wants to paint a picture of Puerto Rico as a rogue narco-estadolibreasociado whose millions of cocaine-infested criminals are poised to swarm the pristine shores of the U.S. of part of A. in a mindless rampage of raping and pillaging. It will come as no surprise to smart folks that Carl is a true-blue Republican. Or as their ilk is known in Jeniusville, a dickwad.

Carlitos, whose mom is Chilean, speaks fluent Spanish, so I can make My point to him in a language We both can enjoy: Cágate en tu madre, cabrón.

Google Translate for the rest of you.



The Jenius Has Spoken. 

 

  

The "World Peace Game"

I'll get to the truly important fact about the World Peace Game: the recent well-received book about it mentions Me in the Acknowledgements.

Yeah, Me. Makes Me proud.

The World Peace Game was developed by John Hunter, as a teaching tool in the areas of problem-solving, creativity and current events. John's TED talk about it is amongst the most-viewed videos of that ever-growing series of events.  Here it is, and it's well worth 20 minutes of your day:

In his talk, John describes how he developed a simulation involving four countries and what is now over 50 major problems that the world faces, from hunger, epidemics, bigotry and destruction of the rain forests to lack of water, pollution, religious strife and economic inequality. The countries have different resources, random events can alter the game in drastic fashion, and to win, every problem has to be solved and all countries must show progress.

Oh, and the players? Fourth graders.

Yeah, what were you doing in 4th grade?

In his over 30 years of using the World Peace Game, John has made changes to the game, to not only reflect new realities, but also to accommodate the impact of new technologies. In early versions, John provided the students with binders filled with information on the problems to be solved. Now, the players do most of their own research, working off a descriptive list of the problems. What hasn't changed is the immersive nature of the game, as the players come face-to-face with new concepts and have to develop strategies to not only understand problems, but find ways to fix them.

I learned about the game through a blog post and was immediately taken by the concept. I sent John e-mail and he was kind enough to respond. In a few exchanges, I addressed issues I saw might be pertinent to expanding the game so that other teachers could host it. As much as I wanted to jump in and help John and the World Peace Game organization, I couldn't stretch enough to do it. Didn't matter, as John and his organization expanded workshops and the Game to reach a much broader audience.

The book (did I mention I was thanked in it? Okay.) is a wonderful read, packed with experiences that good teachers thrill about, those that have students reaching far beyond their expectations to explore their greatest potential. I defy any teacher who thinks they are goof to read about the World Peace Game and not come away prouder of their profession and inspired to do more.

One thing John learned early in the Game--and that he still has to challenge himself with--is to sit still and let the students do. The urge to jump in and "correct" them is ever-present, and the Game's overwhelming success--and it is an overwhelming success--is due to this "the students learn through their efforts" process. The current education system is a top-down, fully-imposed, authoritarian, command-center, conformist, shut-up-don't-ask, memorize-and-vomit sausage factory (My words, not anybody else's) while the World Peace Game is a "Here, experience this directly" journey.

There are only two things I regret not being able to participate in as a kid: parkour/free running (although We did do "run away through obstacles to avoid getting beaten up" a lot) and this Game. I love strategic games, the more complex the better, and I can only imagine what it would be like to face the challenges John places before his students. Workshops and Games are held often, for students and teachers, but time and travel constraints can limit participation.

Now the game is more accessible, as the online version allows players to join in from around the world, even using cell phones. The format is adapted to asynchronous play, and though I'm sure that the challenges are as riveting, in many ways the direct and personal sharing involved in classroom or workshop play adds a rich dimension to the entire experience.

You can see the results yourself in the film about the Game, a companion piece to the book (where My name appe--Oh, you know that already...).  If you have kids, want to have kids or were ever a kid, I urge you to see the film, read the book, watch the video...and support similar projects.

Our children's education is far too important to leave in the hands of government. We need to do more to support dedicated teachers, visionary principals, community resources and Our own talents in order to make education less destructive. (Yes, I said "destructive." It is.) John Hunter has his way of improving education, but he'd be the first to say that his way is certainly not the only way. Whether it is through a game, dance, journals, music, lab experiments, robots, painting, making films, building castles or making costumes, kids will learn better when they are (a) engaged in activity and (b) allowed to explore their solutions and their mistakes.

And no, not everything has to be a game. But it helps if the lessons are merged with a sense of excitement that can be treated as fun. And kids can tackle more than you think, as John has shown over and over again in his Game.

All of the world's major problems solved, and everyone making progress together. Sounds utopian? Most great ideas do, and through the World Peace Game, fourth graders are getting a chance to experience that maybe, just maybe, Utopia is not as impossible as adults believe.



The Jenius Has Spoken.

Solving Puerto Rico 002: María José de Mata

The second Gil The Jenius: Solving Puerto Rico vidcast features a talented young lady who is looking to make her way in films and multimedia. Although Puerto Rico is a huge consumer of entertainment, the only genre with a great number of projects is music. Local films are few and far between, and the obstacles We face to increase their number are many.

Some folks might consider that government monies used in supporting films are wasted, when there are drug addicts on the streets, battered women without shelter and politicians needing a late-model Lexus. But it isn't a matter of "or," but of "and." We should have the flexibility and support systems to foster films, decrease the number of addicts, protect battered women and run politicians over with their current Lexus.

María focuses on the film side of the equation, and the chance to develop Our own stories. Use the direct link or just click below.

On the off-chance that you might ask, the cat's name is "Sally."

The Jenius Has Interviewed.

33.1% Statehood = Nothing

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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



The Jenius Has Spoken.


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

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

Government Against The People

This...won't take long.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

Deal.



The Jenius Has Spoken.

Our Men Are #2! (From The Bottom)

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

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

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

39.2%. Working. Or looking for work.

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

Yeah. Pull the other one.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Look over here.

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

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

 Yee-haw! We got Ourselves a #2!

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

And corruption.

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

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

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

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

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



The Jenius Has Spoken.

Prison Rape

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


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

From another source:

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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



The Jenius Has Spoken.

You Would Think...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And that's all you would do.


The Jenius Has Spoken.


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

Memorize This...And Act Accordingly

This definitely won't take long...

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

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

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



The Jenius Has Spoken.


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

Free Speech FTW

This won't take long...for a change.

There's a law now in Puerto Rico where protests that "interrupt or disrespect the Legislature and/or its legislative functions" carry an automatic 3-year prison sentence.

You read that correctly.  Just "dissing" these chancre-coated tapeworms is enough--according to them--to shut your ass in jail.  For 36 months.

So.

They are wrong. Short of bodily harm or structural damage, ANY protest by citizens concerning the functions of ANY branch of government is protected by the 1st Amendment, as free speech and the right peaceful assembly. The whole raison d'etre of a protest is to draw attention to a perceived problem, so what other function does a government branch, agency, department or office that is more important than paying attention to its citizens--who OWN the government in the first place?

There is none. Case closed.


Here's the idea: take the so-called "massive protest" slated for someday in October, gather thousands of people (good luck with that) and then silently march the entire crowd into the Capitol building. All of them. Have them pack the place like a hot nightclub doing a Viagra 2-for-1 Happy Hour on a Saturday night. And coach each person to respond to any "official" inquiry/order/threat/mouth fart with a gentle "I am engaging in free speech. Thank you."

"If a law is unjust, a man is not only right to disobey it, he is obligated to do so." -- Thomas Jefferson


This law is unjust; it is wrong and evil.


Let's show the pus-brained slimebags We elected what right is and who truly holds the power.



The Jenius Has Spoken.

And Justice For None

Somewhere there's a T-shirt that reads: "If you want peace, work for justice."

The Puerto Rican version would be: "If you want a piece of the loot, work for Justice."

The justice system We have is composed of three main parts: law enforcement, the court system and the penal system. Let's examine each one, briefly:

Law enforcement: Subject to FBI raids and U.S. of part of A. Justice Department investigations. Plural on both accounts.

Court system: Plagued by political cronyism, sloppy legal "work" and inexperienced (and uncaring) prosecutors, leading to a 21% drop in crime charges filed, at a time when major crimes have increased close to 31%.

Penal system: Overcrowded, under control of local gangs, used as political muscle (the statehood party knows all about this) and riddled with drugs and their related violence.

Now before I go on, let Me say something to those who dismiss all this with a casual "It's those drug folks killing each other over there, that's all." My response: Shut your fucking piehole. One, because you are definitely taking the easy, lazy, scummy way out of not thinking about what's going on. Two, because you're too stupid and too lazy to realize that on an island, everybody is connected to everybody else...per force. Your refusal to acknowledge that is as idiotic as saying "The gangrene in my foot is just an infection over there." You and your attitude make Me want to puke. In your face. Twice.

It isn't an "over there," caserío y barriada de mala muerte problem. It isn't about puntos or bichotes: it's about all of Us. Here's a brief breakdown:

Why did the FBI have to engage in a huge police raid here? Because the level of corruption in the police force and the local Justice Department meant that We couldn't do it Ourselves.

Where did this level of corruption come from? The drug trade and political cronysim. Proof? Prosecutors, judges and high-ranking police officers have long been selected by political affiliation more than by merit. Toss in millions of dollars in drug money with self-serving rapacious vermin who owe no allegiance to anything even remotely resemblimng a value or an ideal and you have...corruption. Deep and broad.

Where do these cancerous worlds of drugs, influence and violence come together? In the "Justice" system, where cops on low pay take payments for protection, prosecutors kiss ass ro engage in political favoritism, judges make rulings based on dollars and cents rather than legal precedents and prisons become centers of influence to put more lipstick on the leprous pig it all is.

So you have drug dealers cozying up to elected officials who use the police to monitor their illegal business while prosecutors are slotted into jobs as favors and ordered to waste their time in frenzied political persecution and judges look the other way when facts tell them to stare at the Truth, their angle of look-away directly related to monetary gain they enjoy in doing so.

Justice is not blind here, not even close. It has eyes and hands everywhere, perverted from a system of checks to a cash-based free-for-all. You might think it's all happening "over there," but think about how far "over there" is when you hear about a shooting in a shopping center you visit, or in front of a restaurant you like, or when a cop pulls you aside for no reason you can discern. Because at that point, "over there" is "right here," and do you trust the Justice system We've allowed to rot to treat you fairly?

If you do, you're headed for a huge, maybe even fatal, disappointment.



The Jenius Has Spoken.

We're #1! We're #1! (In Corruption)

Riding the crest of public corruption, Puerto Rico cements its place as #1 with an astonishing 130 corruption convictions--convictions, people--in 2011. That works out to almost 11 a month, or almost 3 a week, making Us the absolute bomb when it comes to being jackass thieves in public """service""".

This little nauseating factoid is contained in the U.S. of part of A. Justice Department's Division of Public Integrity report for 2011. (HTML here; PDF here). Now Let's look more closely at this, shall We?

It wasn't easy to get to 130 in one year. No señor. We had to push the envelope and redefine scumbucket by lifting Our annual count from 17 in 2010 to that magnificent 130 last year. How impressive was Our criminal victory? As defined by the USDoJ, the second-place district--Maryland--had 58 convictions and 3rd place--Eastern Virginia--had 57. Pikers! Even adding up their scurrilous crimes We got them beat 130-115! ¡Yo Soy Boricua Pa' Que Tú Lo Sepas!

Another point of putrefied pride for Us: since 2002, only two times has a district reached the triple-digit level in convictions for one year. And yes, you guessed it! We won that too! In 2002, We got Our asses nailed 101 times, a veritable "leap to another level" that took Us years to surpass. But it did set the bar out of reach for anyone but Us.

Oh, and statehooders? Don't go crowing that that happened during Sila "Quitter" Calderón's (partial)administration and that it means populares were getting nailed. Do a little research (have your dog teach you how) and you'll find that was the year of the Stupid Rosselló "Cavalcade of Criminals." Funny how you forgot that, isn't it? Even your dog is laughing at you.

Now, Let's stop looking at the past and look to the future. We can't rest on Our latrines, so We have to find a new goal. If We take the conviction rate by state-level instead of districts, We learn that since 2002, California has been killing Us 665-396, Texas is clobbering Us 635-396, Florida's walloping Us 618-396, New York's winning 553-396, Pennsylvania outscores Us 518-396, Illinois is handing Us Our hats 490-396, Ohio's outpacing Us 475-396, New Jersey (New Jersey!) is ahead 429-396 and Louisiana just clipped Us at the finish 403-396. Damn.

We can't allow that to continue. You mean to tell Me We're getting outscored by the alien likes of California, the wrinkly geezers in Florida, lowbrow guidos from New Jersey and mossy swamp critters from Louisiana? No señor.

So do We focus on sheer numbers? Well, We do have two 100+ years under Our corrupt belts, so We can certainly crank out several more and leave them all in the dust. But that would be asking so much more of Our disgusting vermin, part of a dwindling population of roughly 3.7 million, to take on the likes of the 7 most-populous states and 2 outliars--I mean, outliers.

Based on population, here are the convictions-per-residents of the Top 10 Corruption Bungholes:

California: 1-in-56,030
Texas: 1-in-39,528
Florida: 1-in-30,421
New York: 1-in-35,081
Pennsylvania: 1-in-24,517
Illinois: 1-in-26,122
Ohio: 1-in-24,421
New Jersey: 1-in-20,513
Louisiana: 1-in-11,166
PUERTO RICO: 1-in-9,343

Oh yeah! Number One, Baby! ¡Yo Soy Boricua Pa' Que Tú Lo Sepas! Here's the thing: with a proven performance level of 130 a year, or even staying at Our Top 2 Years' Average of 115.5, We can surpass California's mush-headed amateurs just by staying at Our current level of public thievery, fraud, graft and malfeasance! Hell, We can even drop 30% off Our current pace and still kick California's New Age smoking, plastic surgery-infested, techno-babble roulette-poking ass from here to Canada.

Why? Because We got the putrid talent and have yet to tap into the 1-in-5,000 range, where Our numbers would jump to levels that not even the U.S. of part of A. Congress could ever hope to match (unless every member were Republican, but in that case, they'd steal from each other.)

And speaking of Our numbers and where they come from, here's a list of highly-questionable contracts, breaching ethics, nepotism, legality and common sense, that are part of this (non)administration within the legislative assembly. Let Me point out that at the bottom of the list (literally) is one Christian "Chemito El Pendejito" Soto, son of a mayor and brother of a senator, who was """earning"""" $3,000 (more than twice Our average income per capita) as an """advisor""" to a security commission. "Was," because he was arrested for selling drugs and will apparently plead guilty.

In another related story, a senate employee working with senate president Thomas "Mad Dog" Rivera was arrested for--uh-huh--selling drugs. Funny how this time, the "Mad Dog" ain't barking...

So you see, My Brethren, We are definitely on the right path to not only hold on to the Annual #1 Bunghole of Public Corruption Award, We are setting the stage to take over the Bunghole of the Decade Leaden Shaft from those addle-headed twinkies in California.

Oh yeah. ¡Yo Soy Boricua Pa' Que Tú Lo Sepas!




The Jenius Has Spoken.

Do You Feel Lucky?

The title is best-known as a line from "Dirty Harry," that quintessential 70s flick featuring a less-wrinkled Clint Eastwood, gritted teeth and such. He utters it as he--the San Francisco rogue cop who's a loose cannon no one can control and stays on the force because he's so awesomely copperific...yadayadayada--points a .44 Magnum at some low-life's face, letting the perp know that although bullets were fired from said gun, there might or might not be another one ready to fire.

Of course, the punk don't feel lucky, man, and Harry don't get to blow the low-life to Pasadena or El Segundo, depending on which way the wind is blowing. And We all know the punk was right: it's too big a gamble on mere luck when your life is at stake.

But.

Take murder in Puerto Rico. (No, I will not do the Henny Youngman line...please.) As of June 2012, there were approximately 2,280 unsolved murders committed in the past 4 years alone. That averages out to about 570 a year...on an Island averaging almost 1,000 murders annually over the same time period.

First conclusion? That roughly 58% of Our murders are going unsolved.

Second conclusion? There's a lot of punks who are feeling increasingly lucky.

Now I'm not saying the solution is to put .44 Magnums in the faces of every perp or suspect around. No, We should do that to every craven parasitic politician We have until they get it through their nanoparticle brains that the crime wave is literally killing Us.

Like with every growing trend for an erstwhile forbidden behavior, the more unsolved murders (or rapes or robberies or fraud and corruption processes) We experience, the easier it becomes for others to do the same and up the ante. It's a feedback loop to Hell.

In terms of murders, as the numbers rose to surpass 1,100 in 2011 and will match that in 2012, what We are seeing is the shredding of Our society by bullet-flinging animals and the largely abusive, corruption-riddled police force that can't stop them. Can't or won't, out of personal gain, indifference or following orders.

(Yes, I said following orders. There's a really good chance that the crimes We see hitting Our communities are aided and abetted for personal and political gains. Thus, there could be orders to "let it happen". Counter-intuitive? Think this: We have a Republican (non)governor intent on making a name for himself as a "conservative's conservative" and the deepest federal funding pockets he can readily access are for fighting "the drug war." Think about it, although certainly rampant incompetence could easily lead to the exact same result as what We have now.)

Given that there have been thousands of murders in the past 4 years, do you feel lucky? That you haven't been targeted, or that you have and escaped? Is this feeling of "being lucky" something new, from the last couple of years, or--sorry--something you'll have in mind from this point on?

On the other hand, Brethren Mine, when faced with a situation where murder is an option--and you know you can imagine those easily nowadays--is said potential murder an act that scares the bejeezus out of you with the threat of capture and punishment? Or does your mind wander to the "easy" paths of getting away with it? And does that surprise you...enough?

Because when to comes to this rampant and growing crime environment We wallow in, it boils down to that simple question: Do you feel lucky?

Because everything you do after pondering it will depend on your answer. You know it will.



The Jenius Has Spoken.

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.

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.

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.]

Money Matters: Idea 001

I've read several ideas about changing society's relationship with money, from giving people lump sums (from gift to zero-interest loan, $10,000 to $10 million) to canceling debts (student loans, mortgages) to invading a big country with enormous resources (that one was aimed at you, Canada.)

But Let's take the basic concept of fundamentally raising a society's economic average with barely one stroke and apply it to My Island. To frame the possible solution, We have to take into account that by global standards, My Brethren live in relative wealth, but by "Our standards," We are the poorest bananas in the bunch.

The reason I write "Our standards" is that We seldom compare Ourselves to Ourselves (how much progress We make or don't make versus Our past performance); We compare Ourselves to the 50 States of the richest, most powerful nation in history (even if it is in decline, it was all that.) So "Our standards" are skewed from "Our Island" to "Their Global-Motor Economy," a comparison akin to saying "Our electric fan versus that hurricane."

The fact is, We are not the U.S. of part of A., they treat Us like property, pillage profits from Us at a rate that would absolutely warm a pimp's heart and We are so wrapped up in Our desperate need to be taken care of that We fail to understand and thus act in Our own best interests.

But I digress. What's My plan to insert money into Our economy and make that "one wave of the magic wand" change?

Every adult in Puerto Rico is to receive $50,000 a year, non-taxable, for 10 years.

Before the why, here's the how:

At age 18, a person leaves fingerprints, retinal scans and a DNA sample and can begin receiving $50,000 a year at that time or any other time they choose. Shades of Big Brother, but it cuts down on fraud when you have that much ID evidence.

The money is given in one annual sum, the month of your birthday. Once you start receiving it, you have to continue receiving it, for any stoppage (death or request) ends the sequence. You are free to use the money in any way you choose.

At the same time this $50,000-a-year program begins, welfare--all welfare--is phased out over a 3-year period. No PAN, WIC, federal subsidies or any other social support, except unemployment, which is reduced every year by 10% until it is 40% of what it is now and then rises according to cost-of-living and capped at a maximum of 24 weeks. Health reform programs would continue and be expanded.

No one--no one--is allowed to receive more than 10 years, nor is it allowed to change the length of the 10-year sequence nor the amount of money given yearly. This is a de facto $500,000-over-10-years and it will not change until the first decade is complete. Then the amount given increases by the lesser of 10% or the inflation rate as evidenced by "Cost of basic goods" prices (food, gasoline, clothing, basic health care, rent, etc.)

If a person runs for elected office at any level, s/he cannot receive the $50,000 and renounces receiving it if still within their 10-year period. If still receiving the $50,000, any government employee, appointee or contractual hiring has his/her salary/fee capped at $50,000.

Prisoners cannot apply for their money while they are in prison. Once out, they can receive their money, but if they return to prison, they lose their future monies. And only residents of Puerto Rico with at least 5 years of proven residence are eligible, or can become eligible, to receive the money.

Now the whys:

1) Why $50,000? Because according to federal studies, a family of 3--notice the number--needs at least $44,700 to begin "climbing the economic ladder," rising from "lower class" to middle and upper. With $50,000, a local family could make that ascent, given that Our cost of basic goods is about 11% higher than Stateside.

2) Why 10 years? Because it focuses the person on doing something now with the money, or establishing it as a savings account to improve their future. Risk-takers could take their chances and the less risky can play it safe, but the money would be an incentive either way. If you want to start a business, great: you have a basic cashbox. Want to invest in mutual funds and use compound interest to become a millionaire? Great. Want to take your money and travel the world? Fine. Want to blow it all on drugs, gambling and drinking? Perfect. Hopefully you'll die before the decade is up.

3) Why non-taxable? Because it frees up use of the money for active investment or savings and forces the government to come up with ways to enhance the use of money in order to tax the increased revenue. Governments need taxes to function, but the incentive now is "tax whatever and spend whatever." With so much untaxable money, the incentive becomes "How to attract and support growth" rather than "How can We slice this pie to death?"

4) Why 5 years of residence prior to getting the money? Do you, Brethren, want to see an influx of millions of people just coming here to cash in on Our cash investment? Thought not. If you don't spend 5 years here, you can't say you have enough experience or concern for this Island to accept Our money and be trusted to use it wisely. Not that there;s any way to ensure it's used wisely, but why give it to Juanitos-come-lately who'll take it someplace else?

5) Why "No more if you say 'Stop'? The purpose of this money is to transform the economy now, not serve as some stop-gap measure when you get in trouble. That's called welfare and it doesn't work as a long-term economic solution. For another, becoming successful enough to not need the money becomes a badge of honor and a major pre-requisite for elected office, so We cut down on the "do-nothings" that use politics to line their pockets. And lastly, even a benefit should not be unilaterally imposed on anyone.


Where is the money coming from?

To give every adult in Puerto Rico $50,000 a year amounts to roughly over $116 billion a year. Round it up to $120 billion what with all the support systems. Heck, crank it up to $135 billion to cover future expenses. Who has that kind of money?

Banks. With an interest rate of 2%, banks would be receiving $22-28 billion a year, and the principal can be repaid from...wait for it...taxes and fees collected in Puerto Rico.

Not new taxes, but some new fees. The tax base stays the same (not very likely, but play along), but the revenue rises as there is more money spent, invested and created in and through the Island. And what new fees would We add? Let's add by subtraction, eliminating current incentives, which give away practically-free power and water to major companies. When the business world hears that a major--and I mean, MAJOR--consumerist society like Us is getting $50,000 per adult to spend as s/he wants, Our doors will be battered by frantic knocking.

Will We generate enough tax revenue to cover roughly $130 billion a year? Why not? Think of what will happen with an injection of roughly $115 billion into Our economy in one year. That alone roughly triples Our Gross National Product (GNP), which means a major change in the Island's socioeconomic profile. Can you imagine the buying spree unleashed as most of Us turn this money into empty wish fulfillment?  I daresay every major retailer in Puerto Rico would quickly adopt a 24-hour schedule and roughly double its employment base. Not to mention Disney World would see profits rise 20-25%.

Note I mentioned a buying spree. Corporations here are woefully under-taxed now and get free rides on other expenses to boot, so under the new system, with a greater number of purchases, more tax money would come into government coffers. Not to mention that personal income, even without counting the $50,000, would rise as the average income increases from the lack of welfare "stay-at-home" incentives and business expansion. And the current federal transfers could be eliminated in exchange for a more liberal trade policy, allowing Puerto Rico a better chance to expand its market reach and economic potential, instead of crawling along its belly as it does now.

WiIl this plan work? Why not? And if you disagree, what's yours?


The Jenius Has Spoken.

[Update: 26 April 2012: Happy Birthday, Zoila! From the good people at LearnVest comes this little tidbit: the new "price" of happiness is a $50,000 salary. I claim no psychic powers.]