12 May 2015

Living Hawaii: The Jones Act Pays Off — in Politics

Civil Beat






The state’s delegation in Washington, D.C., enjoys outsized donations from maritime lobbyists, but several members told Civil Beat this doesn't affect their stances.
By ERIC PAPE 

People have argued over the impact of the Jones Act — a 95-year-old piece of protectionist maritime legislation — for many years.


Is it good or bad for the economy? National security? Or jobs? The answers often seem to depend on who you talk to and which data they cherry pick to make their points.

Remarkably, there has been no definitive, objective study on the Jones Act’s impact on prices in America’s most expensive state, as three of Hawaii’s representatives in Washington, D.C. — Sen. Brian Schatz and Reps. Tulsi Gabbard and Mark Takai — noted in recent interviews with Civil Beat.

So there is no way to know whether people in Hawaii pay a reasonable price for the Jones Act, or whether the state should ask Congress for permission to grant these remote islands an exemption from the law’s cost-boosting requirements for cargo transportation.

In at least one way, though, the Jones Act is a moneymaker. Supporting it is good business — for politicians.

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Critique on the Puerto Rican documentary "The Last Colony"

Compañeros Unidos para la Descolonización 

de Puerto Rico





Yo vi el documental, The Last Colony, sobre nuestra relación colonial con el gobierno de Estados Unidos. Yo felicito al director Juan Agustín Márquez por tomarse la iniciativa para sacar del closet nuestro colonialismo. Sin embargo, hay 2 temas muy importantes que no se tocaron. Yo creo que ambas están a la raíz de nuestra solución al problema.

Juan terminó su documental diciendo que, “La última palabra sobre nuestra descolonización la tiene el gobierno de Estados Unidos. Y hasta entonces, Puerto Rico continuará siendo la última colonia.” Juan después le pide a la audiencia que voten por su preferencia entre 4 alternativas de estatus político utilizando su teléfono inteligente.

No importa en esta etapa del proceso de descolonización lo que los puertorriqueños prefieren como su estatus político final. Esa conversación se tendrá después que el gobierno de Estados Unidos le estregue su soberanía a los puertorriqueños. El gobierno de Estados Unidos no quiere hacer eso. Y por eso es que el gobierno de Estados Unidos sigue insistiendo que los puertorriqueños tienen que ponerse de acuerdo para aparentar que está interesado en la descolonización de Puerto Rico. El gobierno sabe que mientras retenga la soberanía sobre Puerto Rico, los puertorriqueños nunca se pondrán de acuerdo sobre nada.

Eso, por supuesto, le favorece al gobierno de Estados Unidos porque podrá mantener su colonia para siempre. ¿Quién realmente cree que el gobierno de Estados Unidos está interesado en descolonizar a Puerto Rico después de 117 años de explotación? La mayoría de la gente desconoce que el gobierno de Estados Unidos la saca 14 veces más dinero de lo que invierte en Puerto Rico. ¡Eso también lo tenemos que sacar del closet!

Los puertorriqueños tienen su derecho a la auto-determinación e independencia según el derecho internacional. Por eso es que la Organización de Naciones Unidas (ONU) celebra todos los años una vista sobre la descolonización de Puerto Rico. Este año será el lunes 22 de junio de 2015, y se podrá ver el día siguiente en la página cibernética de la ONU (webcast).

Pocas gentes saben que en el 1960, la ONU determinó que el colonialismo es un crimen en contra de la humanidad, porque representa una amenaza a la paz mundial. Desde entonces, la ONU ha emitido 33 resoluciones pidiéndole al gobierno de Estados Unidos que descolonice inmediatamente a Puerto Rico.

Es importante señalar que la ONU nunca le ha pedido al gobierno de Estados Unidos que determine que estatus político prefieren los puertorriqueños. Nunca lo ha hecho, porque la ONU sabe que los puertorriqueños decidirán eso cuando se le entreguen su soberanía. Soberanía es la capacidad de un país decidir lo que quiere sin interferencia de otro país.

¿Cuál ha sido la repuesta del gobierno de Estados Unidos a las resoluciones de la ONU? ¡El gobierno de Estados Unidos ha ignorado la voluntad democrática de la comunidad internacional! Eso quiere decir que el gobierno de Estados Unidos se cree por encima de la ley internacional. Y esto me lleva al otro problema del documental sobre quien tiene la última palabra. Nosotros tenemos la última palabra sobre la última colonia del mundo. Me explico.

Vamos a suponer que mañana mismo todos nosotros protestamos en algún lugar en Estados Unidos pacíficamente y permanentemente por nuestro derecho a nuestra auto-determinación e independencia. El gobierno de Estados Unidos estaría obligado, obviamente arrastrando sus pies, a eventualmente descolonizar a Puerto Rico. Seguramente, necesitaremos un tsunami de gente para que eso ocurra.

La gran pregunta es, ¿queremos crear ese tsunami de gente, o seguir jugando el juego estadounidense dedividir y vencer que tan bien esta explicado en el libro, The COINTELPRO Papers? Necesitaremos sacar del closet nuestra verdadera historia para poder ver la solución sobre nuestro colonialismo. ¡La historia nosenseña que el gobierno de Estados Unidos nunca lo hará, porque los que mantienen colonias no creen en la justicia para todos!

Juan dijo que su propósito en hacer este documental fue poner hablar al gobierno de Estados Unidos con los puertorriqueños para descolonizar a Puerto Rico. Eso no resolvería el problema. Nuestra descolonización dependerá en nuestra habilitad de hablar entre nosotros mismo para exigir al gobierno de Estados Unidosnuestro derecho inalienable a la auto-determinación e independencia.


I saw the documentary The Last Colony about our colonial relationship with the United States government. I congratulate the Puerto Rican director Juan Agustín Márquez for taking the inactive to get Puerto Rico’s colonialism out of the closet. However, there were 2 very important issues totally excluded from this documentary. I believe they are at the core of the final resolution to our colonial political status.
Juan ends his documentary by saying that, “Ultimately, the United States government has the final word in Puerto Rico decolonization. Until that happens, Puerto Rico will continue to be the last colony.” He then asks viewers to vote for one of 4 political status option using their smart phones.

It doesn’t matter, at this particular stage of decolonization, what Puerto Ricans want as their final political status. That conversation will be had after the United States government gives Puerto Ricans their sovereignty. The US government does not want to do that. That’s why it pretends it is interested in Puerto Rico decolonization by insisting that Puerto Ricans decide first what they want. It does this, because it knows that we will never agree on anything, as long as the US government is in charge of the decolonization process.

That, of course, benefits the US government, because that allows it to keep Puerto Rico as its colony forever. Who really believes that the one that is totally responsible for Puerto Rico’s colonial relationship is interested in freeing her after 117 years of exploitation? Most people don’t know that the US government receives 14 times more money than it invests in Puerto Rico! That also needs to be taken out of the closet!

Puerto Ricans have the right to our self-determination and independence as a matter of international law. This is why the United Nations (UN) holds a hearing every year to discuss Puerto Rico decolonization. This year’s hearing will be on Monday, June 22, 2015.

Few people are aware that in 1960, the UN determined that colonialism is a crime against humanity, because it is a threat to world peace. Since then, it has issued 33 UN resolution asking the US government to immediately decolonize Puerto Rico. It is important to note that the UN has never asked the US government to determine what political options Puerto Ricans prefer. The UN hasn’t, because it knows that Puerto Ricans will decide that after the US governments gives them their sovereignty. Sovereignty is a country’s ability to govern herself without any outside intervention.

What has been the US government’s response to these UN resolutions? It has ignored the democratic will of the international community. That is to say that the US government feels that it is above international law! And this takes me to the other omission concerning who has the final word. We do! I’ll explain.
Suppose tomorrow, we all decide to peacefully protest somewhere in the United States for our right to self-determination. The United States government would, of course after dragging its feet, eventually comply with the 33 UN resolutions. We would undoubtedly need a tsunami of people in order to force the US government to do so.


So the question is, do we want to create this tsunami of people, or do we want to continue to play the US government’s game of divide and conquer that is so well explained in the book, The COINTELPRO Papers.

We must continue to takeout of the closet the real Puerto Rican History to make it possible for us to see the way out of our colonialism. US history has shown that the US government will never do that, because those who maintain colonies don’t believe in justice for all!

Juan said that his reason for making this documentary was to foster Puerto Rican decolonization by having the US government talk to the Puerto Rican people. That, however, will not solve the problem. Puerto Rico decolonization will depend on our ability to talk among ourselves in order to demand from the US government our inalienable right to self-determination and independence.

US Virgin Islands workers earn 26 percent below US average


Workers in the U.S. Virgin Islands had an average (mean) hourly wage of $16.81 in May 2014, about 26 percent below the United States average of $22.71, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Chief Regional Economist Martin Kohli noted that, after testing for statistical significance, wages in the local area were lower than their respective U.S. averages in 20 of the 22 major occupational groups, including life, physical, and social science; computer and mathematical; and sales and related.

When compared to the U.S. distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 8 of the 22 occupational groups, including office and administrative support, protective service, and building and grounds cleaning and maintenance. Conversely, 12 groups had employment shares significantly below their mainland representation, including production; healthcare practitioners and technical; and computer and mathematical.

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