Saturday Sultress - Jennifer Lopez

Jennifer Lopez (born July 24, 1969), also known by her nickname J.Lo, is an American singer, actress, dancer and fashion designer. Lopez was born in the Castle Hill neighborhood of The Bronx, New York, to Puerto Rican parents Guadalupe Rodríguez and David Lopez.

She was star in the adventure horror Anaconda (1997) and crime comedy Out of Sight (1998), later establishing herself as the highest paid Latin actress in Hollywood.

Lopez has released eight studio albums, two compilation albums, one extended play, three box sets, and 63 singles (including 13 as a featured artist, nine promotional singles and four charity singles). Lopez has sold over 75 million records worldwide, including 40 million albums.

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The Boy Next Door

Bankrupt Puerto Rico Votes to Become a State

Statehood - Yea or Nay?

• I come down as a no. We cannot bring in a state where Spanish is the language of 95% of the population.
• Puerto Rico has had over 100 years to adopt English as the primary language and they have either failed or refused to do so.

(RT News)  -  With a record low turnout of 23 percent, Puerto Ricans have voted to join the US as the Union's 51 State. The US Congress will now have to decide whether it wants to expand the nation’s borders and accept the poverty stricken Caribbean island into the Union.

Some 97.18 percent of the people who voted in Sunday’s non-binding referendum said they want to become part of the United States, the State Elections Commission (CEE) commission announced.

Only 1.5 percent of voters said they would choose independence, while 1.32 percent said they want to remain a self-governing territory within the US commonwealth.

But despite the clear ‘Yes’ vote to join the US, the plebiscite only registered a 23 percent turnout of 2.25 million eligible voters. Sunday’s referendum was boycotted by opposition parties, including those which support independence.

“Today, sadly, this [election] process leads this country to present to the world that democracy failed, the call to participate in democracy failed,” Delgado said.

“What we have seen here is the result of manipulation, the predetermined action of not seeking consensus on the core issues of the country,” he added.

The final decision on whether or not to accept Puerto Rico as the 51st state lies with the US Congress. Article IV, Section 3 of the American Constitution grants the US Congress authority to grant statehood.

It is believed that Republicans, who now control the majority of seats, would be reluctant to support statehood for a territory that is likely to lean Democrat. It would also mean more federal spending on what would become the poorest state in the US.

Puerto Rico is suffering from a large deficit, public service cutbacks, and a 12 percent unemployment rate and public services 64 percent more expensive than in the US mainland. The crisis has led to half a million Puerto Ricans migrating to the mainland over the last decade.

Puerto Rico has been under the control of the US since 1898 when it was taken in the Spanish-American war. Despite gaining US citizenship in 1917, the island has been stuck in a legal limbo between being a colony and a full-on state.

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On the other hand Puerto Rico is a beautiful
place with so much to offer America.

Kimberly Guilfoyle to be Trump Press Secretary?

I can think of two good

reasons to appoint her

(Infowars)  -  White House sources tell Infowars that Sean Spicer could be fired within the next week as President Trump begins a purge of establishment advisers who he feels have failed to properly investigate leaks coming from within the administration.

Speculation is already swirling as to whether or not Spicer will return after he was “benched” and temporarily replaced with Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

Spicer has behaved like a “deer in the headlights” in recent weeks and is not able to handle the pressure of the job, according to one source.

They add that Spicer will be gone by next week and that former prosecutor and current Fox News host Kimberly Guilfoyle, who was previously considered for the role, is currently the favorite to replace him.

However, these assertions are being disputed by other insiders who insist that Spicer will return to his current role within the next week.

White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus could also be on the chopping block as President Trump begins a purge of moderate advisers whom he feels have performed poorly when it comes to investigating the source of leaks that have proved embarrassing for the administration.

Having been guided by moderate advisers for the last 6 weeks, Trump tried working with the Washington establishment but has come to the realization that they do not want to compromise on any issue, don’t care about the country, and are merely concerned with blocking his policy agenda.

Trump is set to take the gloves off, sidelining those within his inner circle who he feels he cannot fully trust and going back to the approach he took for the first 50 days of his administration.

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Puerto Rico's Governor: "We cannot repay our debt"

Beautiful Puerto Rico

The island is a land of natural beauty, but 

they can't balance a checkbook.

(The Guardian)  -  Puerto Rico’s Democrat governor, Alejandro García Padilla, told the US Senate on Tuesday that the troubled Caribbean island has “no cash left” and can no longer repay its $72bn debts.

The territory announced it would honor a $354m debt payment due on 1 December as Padilla was testifying, but Padilla said austerity measures had not only eaten into essential services but caused tax revenues to crater. With more than $900m due in January, the governor said his options were restructuring or disaster.

Padilla gave the Senate a deadline of Dec. 11 to provide Puerto Rico a viable restructuring plan.
“The consequences of a default without any legal framework to restructure our liabilities are so disastrous that for the past six months we have been executing emergency measures to continue meeting our obligations with our creditors and avoid a disruption of essential services to our citizens,” Padilla said in a prepared statement. “These emergency measures are unsustainable.”

Face to face with the Senate judiciary committee, however, he was more blunt: “Absent an orderly process, [the default’s] effects will be catastrophic. That is why, starting today, the commonwealth of Puerto Rico will have to claw back revenues pledged to certain bond issues in order to maintain essential public services. We have taken this difficult step in the hopes that Congress will act soon, but let us be clear: we have no cash left.”

The troubled territory, where 45% of its 3.5 million population live in poverty, looked almost certain to miss its latest debt payment on Tuesday as the US Congress discussed ways to save Puerto Rico from being crushed by its $72bn debt.

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Puerto Rico has so much to offer the U.S.

Bank may slash 30,000 jobs - Welcome to Internet Poverty

The Coming Economic Clusterfuck

• The Internet is causing the banking industry to fire tens of thousands of people.
• A permanent Great Depression is coming as the Internet, robotics and "free trade" outsourcing abolishes tens of millions of jobs forever.
• Welcome to a future of eternal poverty, EBT cards and government housing.

(Breaking News)  -  Barclays boss John McFarlane has signalled more job cuts to come at the bank as he set out plans to ramp up earnings growth and squeeze costs after half-year profits jumped by 25% but returns for shareholders remained low.

The executive chairman would not confirm reports that 30,000 jobs at the bank are to go but admitted that its new strategy of slimming down its international presence and streamlining executive decision-making would take its toll on numbers.

Barclays is already undergoing a major cost-cutting programme which saw 14,000 posts slashed last year and is expected to see 5,000 more axed by 2016.

Since Mr Jenkins’s departure there has been speculation that the group plans to shrink its workforce further, taking it from 132,000 to below 100,000 by the end of 2017.

Though he did not spell out where the axe would fall, he singled out “hierarchical, bureaucratic and group-centric” decision-making and hinted that parts of business outside core markets in the UK, US and South Africa looked set to be slimmed down.

Branch numbers fell to 1,448 at the end of June compared to 1,546 a year before at a time when the industry is scaling back costs by using automated services for customers while online and telephone banking is growing.

Many customers were “voting with their feet – in terms of using their fingers” by increasingly banking over the internet.

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Robots and computers replacing human wage earners

Is Puerto Rico Ground Zero?

• Meaningful jobs are not being created on the mainland U.S. and they are certainly not being created in Puerto Rico.  
• With fewer and fewer taxpayers the government of Puerto Rico jacks up taxes and goes deep into debt to try and keep schools, police, etc functioning.

.

(Associated Press)  -  Nearly 10 years into a deep economic slump, Puerto Rico is no closer to pulling out, and, in fact, is poised to plummet further. The unemployment rate is above 12 percent. Some 144,000 people left the U.S. territory between 2010 and 2013, and about a third of all people born in Puerto Rico now live in the U.S. mainland. Schools and businesses have closed amid the exodus. The population of 3.5 million is expected to drop to 3 million by 2050.

The government has tried to boost revenue by hiking the sales tax to 11.5 percent, higher than any U.S. state, and closing government offices. Its debt-burdened power utility already charges rates that on average are twice those of the mainland, and is under pressure from bondholders to raise them higher.

A $58 million bond payment due Saturday went unpaid. If defaults continue, analysts say Puerto Rico will face numerous lawsuits and increasingly limited access to markets, putting a recovery even more out of reach.

A list of cost-cutting measures proposed by a group of hedge funds that holds $5.2 billion of Puerto Rico's debt has riled islanders: laying off teachers; cutting Medicaid benefits; and reducing subsidies to the main public university.

Meanwhile, a report commissioned by the government called for wage levels to be set below the federal minimum, paid holidays cut, and energy costs reduced.

Some economists warn that measures like new taxes could further depress the economy, a concern shared by small business owners.

"They're going to keep going until the people can't take it anymore," said Ignacio Veloz, who owns a condominium administration business.

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The Collapse is Coming
Business are "saving" money using the Internet, robotics and outsourcing to replace American workers.  But at some point there will not be enough wage earners to buy the products and services of Wall Street businesses.  At that point the economy goes into a Death Spiral of permanent unemployment, EBT cards and government housing.

Feds Consider Puerto Ricans Disabled Because They Speak Spanish

WWTSD?

• What would the Stooges do?  -  I do know that even the Stooges would not be as stupid as the drone workers in the Social Security Administration.

(Washington Free Beacon)  -  The Social Security Administration (SSA) approved disability benefits for hundreds of Puerto Ricans because they do not speak English, despite the fact that Puerto Rico is a predominantly Spanish-speaking territory.

According to a new audit by the Office of Inspector General (OIG), the agency is misapplying rules that are intended to provide financial assistance to individuals who are illiterate or cannot speak English in the United States. Under the rules, Puerto Ricans are allowed to receive disability benefits for their inability to speak English as well.

“We found the Agency did not make exceptions regarding the English-language grid rules for claimants who reside in Puerto Rico, even though Spanish is the predominant language spoken in the local economy,” the OIG said.

The audit said a person applying for disability in Puerto Rico who cannot speak English “may increase his/her likelihood of receiving disability benefits.”

The agency does not currently have a system in place to keep track of the number of beneficiaries who receive disability insurance for not being able to speak English.

However, the OIG was able to identify 218 cases between 2011 and 2013 where Puerto Ricans were awarded disability due to “an inability to communicate in English.” Furthermore, 4 percent of disability hearings in Puerto Rico involved looking at the individual’s ability to speak, read, write, and understand English.

Though 95 percent of Puerto Ricans speak Spanish at home, according to the rules a Spanish-speaking nurse in Puerto Rico would be considered “unskilled,” the OIG said.

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A day at work in the Social Security Administration

“Government! Three fourths parasitic and the other fourth stupid fumbling.” 
― Robert A. Heinlein

Our 51st and 52nd States - Jefferson and Puerto Rico

Statehood Movements are Afoot

More states are a good thing.  Bring in both the more Conservative Jefferson and more Liberal Puerto Rico for a good balance.

 

 

The Siskiyou County, California Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 on Tuesday to support the county's split from the state of California.

 

It's the first in a long series of steps to form the proposed state of Jefferson, which proponents of the effort say would bring representation to rural North State counties that currently are beholden to the whims of representatives of the more heavily populated Southern California and free them from burdensome state regulations.

 

”We have to have government that's local, understands our issues and has empathy” for those affected, said Mark Baird, a Scott Valley rancher who's also president for Scott Valley Protect Our Water and vice president of the Siskiyou Water User's Association reports the Times-Standard.

 

Baird is leading the charge to form a new state from rural counties in Northern California and Southern Oregon.

 

 

”Many proposed laws are unconstitutional and deny us our God-given rights,” said Gabe Garrison of Happy Camp. “We need our own state so we can make laws that fit our way of life.”

 

Among those in attendance was Erin Ryan, field representative for GOP Rep. Doug LaMalfa. When asked for the congressman's opinion, she said that she and other LaMalfa staff members supported the effort to secede, but she did not know LaMalfa's thoughts on it.

 

Humboldt County 1st District Supervisor Rex Bohn said he can understand the frustration in Siskiyou County and that he tends to agree with most of the issues that were brought up by the board.   ”I was one of the people who thinks the State of Jefferson wasn't a bad idea,” Bohn said. “There has been a total lack of respect in terms of our water rights and the fire fee. Those things may not be important to the rest of the state, but it's important to us. This is a major thing for everyone that lives rurally.”

 

Bohn said the problem is that only 16 percent of the state is rural, and decisions in Sacramento are sometimes based on the needs or realities of more urban areas.

 

”It's kind of a drastic measure to get someone to listen to you, but I guess they feel like they're not getting heard,” he said.

 

Bohn added that the Humboldt County supervisors will likely meet to discuss the issue.

 

.
Proposed maps of the new state of Jefferson.  Talk of
the new state dates back to 1941.
(The State of Jefferson)

.
Also see Jefferson State.

State of Jefferson - 51st new state of US 

__________________________________

Congress says it is time for Puerto Rican

independence or statehood

Key lawmakers told Puerto Rico's governor that it's time for the island to choose between statehood and independence.

Gov. Alejandro García Padilla has been fighting to retain the island's status as a U.S. territory without voting rights, arguing that it provides the economically troubled island with an advantageous tax status. Leaders of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, which has jurisdiction over U.S. territories and insular possessions, said that's unacceptable.

“After 115 years, it is clearly time for Puerto Rico to determine what political path it will take,” said committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.). “The current status undermines our nation's moral standing around the world,” reports The Hill.

The top Republican on the panel agreed change is in the air.

“It's clear to me the majority of Puerto Ricans don't favor the current status,” said Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who says she's the only sitting senator born in a U.S. territory.



Puerto Rico statehood looks good.

She has called for island residents to have a choice between retaining the current Commonwealth status; statehood; independence; and free association, similar to what the United States has with the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, and Palau.

The debate comes as Obama has asked for $2.5 million for a new referendum on statehood. Puerto Ricans voted last year in a nonbinding referendum in which 54 percent of voters said they did not want to retain the current status.

García Padilla argues the referendum was invalid because it asked voters to weigh in on the island's “present form of territorial status” instead of calling it by its name, “commonwealth.” Statehood advocates say that's nonsense.

“The current status has now lost its legitimacy,” said Pedro Pierluisi, the island's nonvoting member of Congress and president of the opposition New Progressive Party.

Pierluisi introduced legislation in May calling for an up-or-down referendum on statehood. He has threatened to take the statehood issue to the United Nations if he doesn't get his way.

Puerto Rican lawmakers Luis Gutiérrez (D-Ill.) and Nydia Velázquez (D-N.Y.) are urging their colleagues to oppose the resolution, saying Obama's call for a status referendum is a better approach.


The Last Colony

Coming Soon: The 51st State?

Puerto Rico - State 51?