By Michael J. Springer, Jr., President, Crucians In Focus The pitfalls of panic are that all decisions become reactive, reason is clouded with fear, and logic takes a back seat to petty bickering and personal insecurities. The events of the past few weeks have illustrated this phenomenon in sharp relief. The financial meltdown that...
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Gov. John P. deJongh, Jr. Attorney General Vincent Frazer and an unspecified number of Virgin Islands Senators accepted cash bribes from allegedly “corrupt finance executives” who have been under a sealed federal indictment for the past several months, according to The Daily Caller, a Washington, DC based online newspaper. According to the article, a...
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If nothing else, the closure of the Hovensa refinery has given government officials fertile ground to raise the specters of panic and haste to resolve our energy crisis. Just last week, we heard that if the latest round of borrowing was not approved, the lights would be out the next morning. And when panic...
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After careful consideration, we at CIF have decided to treat the Governor, and his disgraceful, irresponsible, juvenile performance during the State of the Territory Address the same way you treat a recalcitrant child. We’re pretty much going to ignore it. But not entirely. Sure, we’ve got the audio, painful as it is to review...
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Join us here to begin blogging on activities surrounding Operation Yellow Cedar and subsequently the 2012 State of the Territory Address. The blog will open at 6 p.m. The Address is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. Tell us what you see and hear, both before and during the address, as we listen to...
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There will be “good news” and “highlights” of this past year’s accomplishments in tonight’s State of the Territory Address, according to published reports. And as we await this belated 2012 address, we wonder what can they possibly be? This time last year he told us “I believe that we must work hard to improve...
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What is the Hovensa refinery required to provide to the Virgin Islands now that it has shut down its operations? Nothing. What provisions are there in the Third Extension Agreement that define any compensation Hovensa owes the Virgin Islands if it decides to stop refining oil? None. It’s not a lease. It’s not a...
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Just what did the Legislature accomplish yesterday? They authorized one hundred and twenty million dollars in new borrowing – taking the Territory into more than one billion dollars of collective debt and supported with no revenue stream the Governor found acceptable to collateralize it – and what problems will it solve? And why borrow it now? ...
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That’s what we know about “BR12-1287- The Employment Relation & Economic Recovery Act of 2012, and for other purposes” that the Legislature will be considering today. After five days of closed door meetings, their reported solution is another $120 million in borrowing that includes $69 million owed to Hovensa by the Water and Power...
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How do you “earn” a bachelor’s and a master’s degree on the same day without attending a single class? You do it the Alicia Hansen way – you buy it. How long has it been since Hansen told the truth? And how long is it going to take before this documented prevaricator is removed...
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At your request, we’re launching this Open Forum for suggestions to our Government (which is clearly having trouble coming to agreement on how to get out of this latest mess), about what needs to happen when they come back from “recess” on Tuesday. In a move that left all of us shaking our heads...
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Update: After a three hour delay in the start of this pivotal meeting, Senate President Ronald Russell delivered this message from the Legislature in St. Thomas. ecess! This action not only defers resolution on the financial issues facing the Territory, but also disrupts the planned Operation Yellow Cedar demonstration that has been long planned...
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If there has been a more critical Legislative session, we can’t remember it. Before all eyes turned to Hovensa and its impending closure, the issues of government terminations, fiscal mismanagement and the Alpine Energy Group proposal were top of mind. And Hovensa notwithstanding, those issues remain critical, may in fact be even more critical,...
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Dr. Eddie Donoghue, a vocal opponent of the Alpine Energy Group, has filed a letter of complaint with US Inspector General Mary Kendall outlining what he calls “fraudulent conduct and perjury revealed in testimony” from the principals in the Alpine deal last week before the Legislature. The letter, printed here in its entirety, addresses...
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Commentary by Michael J. Springer, Jr., President, Crucians In Focus It is impossible to imagine how Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, would think of us in the Virgin Islands today. His was a life of service, courage and sacrifice given in the spirit of humanity. How different might our lives be if our elected...
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As the Chairperson for the Committee on Education, Youth and Culture, first-term Senator Janette Millin-Young has received more notoriety for her travel preferences than for any substantive actions to address the glaring issues in our educational system.
Thought of initially as one who would quietly follow, Millin-Young has shown recent faint glimmers of enlightenment, but our jury is still out on where she will fall as we enter a phase where all elected officials will be called upon to take a stand – on one side of the line or the other.
But for now, it’s your opinion we’re interested in. If the election was held today…
As many of you heard recently, CIF President Michael Springer, at left, delivered the first in a series of radio announcements that will target specific issues and offer analysis on our most pressing concerns.
The feedback on the comments was extremely positive, so CIF will sponsor then as often as possible, and we thank those of you who have already donated! But airtime costs money and we're seeking your help.
If you'd like to help keep our voices on the air, please donate whatever you can using the PayPal button below. We thank you in advance for your support.
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