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	<title>Crucians In Focus &#187; Uncategorized</title>
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	<link>http://cruciansinfocus.com</link>
	<description>&#34;We knew the job was dangerous when we took it.&#34;</description>
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		<title>&#8220;The Story That Will Not Die&#8221; Is Good Reading &#8211; But Is Not The Most Important Issue On The Senate Agenda This Week!</title>
		<link>http://cruciansinfocus.com/2012/02/07/the-story-that-will-not-die-is-good-reading-but-is-not-the-most-important-issue-on-the-senate-agenda-this-week/</link>
		<comments>http://cruciansinfocus.com/2012/02/07/the-story-that-will-not-die-is-good-reading-but-is-not-the-most-important-issue-on-the-senate-agenda-this-week/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 07 Feb 2012 04:49:51 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Website Administrator</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://cruciansinfocus.com/?p=13926</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The slanderous (or is it libelous?) tale of the alleged bribing of Governor John deJongh, his Attorney general and a number of Senators basked in the national spotlight on Monday as the Story That Will Not Die got new energy on the airwaves of the mainland, as a featured segment on the Lou Dobbs Show and in a follow up story in The Daily Caller (DC), the internet newspaper that started it all with the story last Thursday. For a while Monday afternoon there was so much happening one was torn as to where to look. Around midday, word started to spread that the latest Virgin Islands Humiliation was going to get some big time airplay on the Lou Dobbs radio show. And sure enough, around 5:30, Dobbs was interviewing Matthew Boyle, the Daily Call reporter who broke the story that has held many in thrall since its revelations last Thursday. In short, Boyle wrote that in the course of the dismemberment and sale of Innovative Communications some $20 million in cash bribes were reportedly paid to deJongh, AG Vincent Frazer and several as yet unnamed Senators to make sure the company landed in the hands of the   Rural Telephone [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>16</slash:comments>
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		<title>The Pitfalls Of Panic</title>
		<link>http://cruciansinfocus.com/2012/02/05/the-pitfalls-of-panic/</link>
		<comments>http://cruciansinfocus.com/2012/02/05/the-pitfalls-of-panic/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 05 Feb 2012 15:40:57 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Website Administrator</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://cruciansinfocus.com/?p=13904</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[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 has been building for the past five years finally imploded and when we needed it least came the crippling blow, the closure of the Hovensa Refinery. And the politics of panic are in full swing – from the closed caucus meetings by a Legislature that can’t find its feet to the irresponsible ravings of the Governor in the State of the Territory Address. The more we fan the flames of this turmoil, the more quickly it will escalate into an inferno from which none of us will recover. So let’s shut down the fan, shut off all the hot air, and get down to work. We must approach our situation as a blank slate – we have never been here before so the first rule is that the old ways must go out the window – and we need to start from scratch. In his book, [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://cruciansinfocus.com/2012/02/05/the-pitfalls-of-panic/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>22</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>deJongh, Frazer, Senators Reportedly Named In Sealed Indictment In Bribery Scandal According To Daily Caller Report</title>
		<link>http://cruciansinfocus.com/2012/02/02/dejongh-frazer-senators-reportedly-under-indictment-in-bribery-scandal-according-to-daily-caller-report/</link>
		<comments>http://cruciansinfocus.com/2012/02/02/dejongh-frazer-senators-reportedly-under-indictment-in-bribery-scandal-according-to-daily-caller-report/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 02 Feb 2012 14:25:36 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Website Administrator</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://cruciansinfocus.com/?p=13882</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[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 U.S. Justice Department source has told The Daily Caller that at least two DOJ prosecutors accepted cash bribes from allegedly corrupt finance executives who were indicted under court seal within the past 13 months, but never arrested or prosecuted. Based on information in the DC story, it appears the criminal behavior is connected to the well-publicized takeover of and eventual forced bankruptcy of Innovative Communications Corp. and its owner, Jeffrey Prosser. According to the article, &#8220;The sitting governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands, his attorney general and an unspecified number of Virgin Islands legislators also accepted bribes, the source said, adding that U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is aware prosecutors and elected officials were bribed and otherwise compromised, but has not held anyone accountable.&#8221; The bribed officials, an attorney with knowledge of the investigation told The DC, remain on the taxpayers’ payroll at the Justice Department without any accountability. The [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://cruciansinfocus.com/2012/02/02/dejongh-frazer-senators-reportedly-under-indictment-in-bribery-scandal-according-to-daily-caller-report/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>205</slash:comments>
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		<title>Report Verifies VI Barely Produces Enough Trash To Meet Alpine Requirements &#8211; Leaving No Room For Recycling Even Harmful Pollutants</title>
		<link>http://cruciansinfocus.com/2012/01/31/report-verifies-vi-barely-produces-enough-trash-to-meet-alpine-requirements-leaving-no-room-for-recycling-even-harmful-pollutants/</link>
		<comments>http://cruciansinfocus.com/2012/01/31/report-verifies-vi-barely-produces-enough-trash-to-meet-alpine-requirements-leaving-no-room-for-recycling-even-harmful-pollutants/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 01 Feb 2012 01:18:21 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Website Administrator</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://cruciansinfocus.com/?p=13839</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[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 rules the day, the truth often gets lost in the dust. So we are watching with keen interest the workings of the Legislature’s Committee on Governmental Operations, Energy and Veterans Affairs. While it is not on their agenda for their Wednesday meeting, it is highly likely that one of the topics they will address is the ever-present proposal for waste to energy from the Alpine Energy Group, a proposal that would drain a minimum of $20 million a year from our already depleted coffers. You know the basics of the proposal, but a fundamental requirement is that the Virgin Islands Waste Management Authority (WMA) MUST provide a minimum of 400 tons of solid waste daily on average to meet its contract obligations to Alpine. WMA Executive Director May Adams Cornwall has testified repeatedly that the VI can meet this obligation and in the most recent hearings [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>47</slash:comments>
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		<title>Follow Me &#8211; Into The Jaws Of Hell</title>
		<link>http://cruciansinfocus.com/2012/01/31/follow-me-into-the-jaws-of-hell/</link>
		<comments>http://cruciansinfocus.com/2012/01/31/follow-me-into-the-jaws-of-hell/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 31 Jan 2012 23:25:16 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Website Administrator</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://cruciansinfocus.com/?p=13846</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[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 with all the garbled pronunciations in an already atrociously written speech.  (Seriously John, in times of trouble you at least need a decent speech!) And yes, we, like you, shook our heads in disgust, but not in surprise, at his accusations toward the Legislature who, if he were to be believed, are primarily responsible for all the ills we face. To be honest, there were times when we wondered if he’d make it through the address, what with all the shortness of breath he exhibited. Was that adrenaline brought on by his public appearance, or the manifestation of his distress after walking the gauntlet of the jeering protesters outside of the Legislature? We chuckled when he insisted once again that he was surprised at Hovensa’s departure and just shrugged our shoulders when he assured us that he would spearhead the negotiations around the refinery’s departure – [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://cruciansinfocus.com/2012/01/31/follow-me-into-the-jaws-of-hell/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>85</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>The Blog Is Open For The State Of The Territory Address &#8211; Tell Us What You Think Before, During And After</title>
		<link>http://cruciansinfocus.com/2012/01/30/the-blog-is-open-for-the-state-of-the-territory-address-tell-us-what-you-think-before-during-and-after/</link>
		<comments>http://cruciansinfocus.com/2012/01/30/the-blog-is-open-for-the-state-of-the-territory-address-tell-us-what-you-think-before-during-and-after/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 30 Jan 2012 22:10:33 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Website Administrator</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://cruciansinfocus.com/?p=13827</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[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 hear what the message will be as we go into one of the most unstable years in the history of the Virgin Islands.’ Join us – beginning at 6 p.m. Share on Facebook]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://cruciansinfocus.com/2012/01/30/the-blog-is-open-for-the-state-of-the-territory-address-tell-us-what-you-think-before-during-and-after/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>138</slash:comments>
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		<title>What Can He Possibly Say?</title>
		<link>http://cruciansinfocus.com/2012/01/30/what-can-he-possibly-say/</link>
		<comments>http://cruciansinfocus.com/2012/01/30/what-can-he-possibly-say/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 30 Jan 2012 04:29:44 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Website Administrator</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://cruciansinfocus.com/?p=13813</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[There will be &#8220;good news&#8221; and &#8220;highlights&#8221; of this past year&#8217;s accomplishments in tonight&#8217;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 our relationship with HOVENSA. We must sit with them, and we must work with them. They are an important part of our history, and it is critically important that they be an important part of our future.&#8221; That &#8220;relationship&#8221; has been in trouble for a while and, even if we believed that the recent closure of the refinery was a surprise, what kind of leadership leaves us with no contingency, no Plan B, when all indicators were that this was an inevitable conclusion. Relationship management isn&#8217;t a strong suit in this Administration and as we review the events since the last address we wonder what can he possibly say? Will he talk about the Broadband borrowing for a high speed internet system that’s supposed to run on power provided by a utility that is so deep in debt that the government is attempting to borrow more [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://cruciansinfocus.com/2012/01/30/what-can-he-possibly-say/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>46</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>What Part Of &#8220;Hovensa Doesn&#8217;t Legally Owe Us Anything&#8221; Don&#8217;t We Understand?</title>
		<link>http://cruciansinfocus.com/2012/01/26/what-part-of-hovensa-doesnt-legally-owe-us-anything-dont-we-understand/</link>
		<comments>http://cruciansinfocus.com/2012/01/26/what-part-of-hovensa-doesnt-legally-owe-us-anything-dont-we-understand/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 27 Jan 2012 02:27:14 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Website Administrator</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://cruciansinfocus.com/?p=13777</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[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 contract. It’s an agreement. And that agreement does not speak to any of the issues that the Senators insisted on asking repeatedly today in their hearing with refinery officials.  All it really says is that as long as the refinery operates, it will benefit from certain tax and other benefits awarded to it by the Virgin Islands. So the bottom line is this. Hovensa is going to store the products that other facilities refine.  Some 1,100 full time and between 700-900 contract employees will be out of work. And, according to Commissioner of Labor Albert Bryan, the unemployment rate on St. Croix will rocket to 18%. And what can the Virgin Islands government do about it? Not a blessed thing. There were times when it was embarrassing to listen. It was as if the Senators were being deliberately obtuse about the simple fact that the Agreement [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://cruciansinfocus.com/2012/01/26/what-part-of-hovensa-doesnt-legally-owe-us-anything-dont-we-understand/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>57</slash:comments>
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		<title>What Did The Senate Accomplish On Tuesday?</title>
		<link>http://cruciansinfocus.com/2012/01/25/what-did-the-senate-accomplish-on-tuesday/</link>
		<comments>http://cruciansinfocus.com/2012/01/25/what-did-the-senate-accomplish-on-tuesday/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 25 Jan 2012 17:30:59 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Website Administrator</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://cruciansinfocus.com/?p=13743</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[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 &#8211; and what problems will it solve?  And why borrow it now?  Despite evidence to the contrary, those who supported the borrowing used threats of imminent disaster to try to bully the public into believing that if they did not do this, right now, that today the lights would be out.  After a late start, the Senate spent another two hours bashing the media for protesting their three days of secret meetings; bashing Sen. Craig Barshinger with accusations of comments that no one in their right mind believes he made; rambling on through a resolution about solar panels that the Delegate to Congress Donna Christensen later said was a waste of their time (but included conversation about the task force they’d need to put together to go to Washington to help her explain the initiative); and resolving to hold an “economic summit’ later this year – for what? What economy?  And then there were the two bills – [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://cruciansinfocus.com/2012/01/25/what-did-the-senate-accomplish-on-tuesday/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>69</slash:comments>
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		<title>$120 Million In New Borrowing (With A Reported $60 Million For WAPA&#8217;s Hovensa Bill?) May Be On The Table In Senate Session &#8211; The Blog Is Open</title>
		<link>http://cruciansinfocus.com/2012/01/24/120-million-in-new-borrowing-with-a-reported-60-million-for-wapas-hovensa-bill-may-be-on-the-table-in-senate-session-the-blog-is-open/</link>
		<comments>http://cruciansinfocus.com/2012/01/24/120-million-in-new-borrowing-with-a-reported-60-million-for-wapas-hovensa-bill-may-be-on-the-table-in-senate-session-the-blog-is-open/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 24 Jan 2012 14:10:58 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Website Administrator</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://cruciansinfocus.com/?p=13737</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[That’s what we know about “BR12-1287- The Employment Relation &#38; 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 Authority. The other $60 million is supposed to be earmarked for salaries and tax refunds. Last we heard, the Governor wanted $90 million to close the budget gap. Now it’s $120 million and half of that goes to WAPA? Once again, the blog opens at 10 AM.   Share on Facebook]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://cruciansinfocus.com/2012/01/24/120-million-in-new-borrowing-with-a-reported-60-million-for-wapas-hovensa-bill-may-be-on-the-table-in-senate-session-the-blog-is-open/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>255</slash:comments>
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