Fuck It Friday - 1

Fuck It Friday (FIF)! Sporadic news and commentary of no interest to anyone ... FIF! The fucked housing situation in Hawai'i is the primary focus of this edition.

No attempt has been made to contact the possible new Realtor® because more research is required before a list of acceptable properties is compiled. The selection of the Makaha Surfside condominium project was a "knee-jerk" reaction to the crisis at hand and may not be the best choice.

Scrutinizing a handful of on-line reviews of the Makaha Surfside project has raised some doubts about its fitness as a candidate. While not a despicable "condotel," it is heavily subsumed by vacation rentals. There are also a number of fixed-income senior citizens residing there (sound familiar?) as well as locals who cannot afford to purchase anything else. The locals are apparently of the lowest caste along with expected poor behavior associated with the latter.

Gym buddy, Mark, who referred his Realtor®, had recently sold his fee simple condominium in Makiki. He used the proceeds to purchase another Makiki condominium in cash, a leasehold unit. The maintenance fee and leasehold rent runs about $1,500 per month. Mark stated that the lease term was good for over 30 years before renegotiation. "I'll probably be dead by then anyway," he said when queried about the rationale behind the swap.

Leasehold condominium units are now possible candidates for purchase. However, low maintenance fee and leasehold rent are primary objectives. Lease length will approximate possible lifespan. There's no need to worry about the outcome of the property upon death.

The fucked housing situation in Hawai'i is the reason why there are so many homeless senior citizens on the streets and crammed into various homeless shelters. Senior citizen rental housing is not affordable no what claims are made. An "affordable" rental studio apartment runs about $800 per month without subsidies. Income requirement is $1,600 to $2,400 depending on the whim of property management. Most senior citizens cannot meet this requirement.

Senior citizens with assets can purchase property such those available in the Makaha Surfside condominium project. Others with no assets are "shit out of luck." Fuck it!

Rental Housing Availability

As of this date, there are only 13 studio rental units available on the shady Craigslist site for O'ahu that are $800 or less per month. No doubt, there are other similarly priced units available through property managers. However, the majority of the studio rentals command $1,000+ per month ($1,200 per month is common).

Rental prerequisites include the usual 1st month rent plus security deposit of same amount. Verified income is about two or three times the asking rent. For a studio listed at $1,200 per month, an applicant must pay $2,400 prior to moving in. An application fee of $10 to $35 (non-refundable) is also charged to the applicant. Verifiable income must exceed $3,600 per month for the latter example.

In comparison, the 'Nalo studio is a detached "ohana" unit. Rent is $650 per month. Furnished. Electricity, cable TV, wireless Net access, air conditioning, and laundry facility included. No security deposit. No lease. No kitchen, though. Only a "wet bar." The drive to Hawai'i Kai is 20 minutes with no stop-n-go traffic. Except for a few short stretches of poor roads, there is little wear-n-tear on vehicles.

The Makaha Surfside studio condominiums being considered are under $95,000 fee simple. The plan is to make an offer to pay $90,000 or less in cash upon closing the purchase. The maintenance fee is $378 per month. Property tax runs about $25 per month the. Electricity will most likely range from $15 to $25 per month. The major drawback is the commute to town. A secondary problem is the seedy nature of the entirety of West O'ahu. Both issues were discussed in the "blog" when a similar plan was devised about 16 moons ago.

Housing Farce

Extensive research last night and the perusal of the "official" low income and senior citizen housing database provided insight into the housing farce that exists in Hawai'i.

First, some background information. Any single person earning $50,000 annually or less is considered a "low income" candidate. Most of the listed housing projects have suspended new additions to wait lists. Rents at the projects are fairly high (e.g., studio apartments range from $500 to $1,500 per month) and monthly income requirements are between two to three times the asking rent. There are some "sliding scale" units but the details were cryptic. There are also housing projects that offer "30% of income" rent, but details were cryptic. Discounted rent most likely can only be obtained through social services case workers. People who have Section 8 vouchers are in the best position and have top priority. Personal assets are not considered, although some housing projects do not allow residents to own outside residential property. Only income is scrutinized (i.e., a millionaire could reside at the projects as long as verified monthly income is below stated limits).

Wait lists are pretty much a joke. Time period can span from two to seven years. Wait list candidates must routinely call or submit in writing their intention to remain active on the wait lists. Case workers for homeless clients, by the way, can completely bypass wait lists.

Several of the housing projects were described as "transitional housing/shelter" aimed primarily at the homeless. The locations sounded familiar. And, rightly so. The formerly-homeless buddy always seems to know where many of the other formerly homeless end up. The approximate cited apartment locations are coincident with the "transitional" projects. Thus, the homeless in traditional homeless shelters (e.g., Kaka'ako, Iwilei, Sand Island) are placed into the "transitional" projects. Housing First funding is used to subsidize the rent for one or two years, which is the maximum length of residency for tenants. Once the two-year limit is up, where do the residents go? Back on the streets?

It is also fairly easy to understand why there are so many homeless on the streets. Even so-called "low income" rental housing requires tenants to earn a multiple of the rent each month. For an "affordable" studio apartment of, say $800 per month, an applicant must earn between $1,600 to $2,400 per month. Little wonder why so many people are working at two or three wage slave jobs concurrently.

Sand Island Blues

Sand Island Homeless Shelter

Really? No, not really. The ploy to stall the intake into the Sand Island homeless shelter backfired ... sort of. Contact has once again been cut off, but there is no loss of sleep over the matter. Who really wants to subsist in a degraded fashion for months? Thus, the long drawn out homeless plans decision is dead. No resurrection is possible.

Homeless Decision Redux

After several days of silence, an e-mail was received from the case worker at the Sand Island homeless shelter. There is an opening available now. Deadline for acceptance is April 10th.

Confusion abounds. What about the application that was discarded? All relevant information including income verification was provided. How can an offer be made without the application? A TB test is also required before residency. How can the offer be made when the missing TB test documentation was made clear to the case worker?

And, of course, the big issue is the matter of assets. No attempt has been made to hide assets as discussed in a previous footnote. Assets are going to be very difficult to explain. Eviction from the Sand Island homeless shelter could be the result.

Sock Puppet

A few weeks ago, a “tweet” was issued from the current Twitter® stating that the metamorphosis of "Donald" into a "same ol' shit" politician. Now, only three months as ruler of empire, "Donald" has become a sock puppet of the Neo-Con(vict)s of the so-called "Deep State."

“Donald”

The entire short tenure of "Donald" was marred by smear campaigns and dirty tactics launched by both corporate-owned political parties and the "Deep State" itself. Gradually, "Donald" capitulated to their demands. However, only a few days ago, the entire "Donald" administration made an abrupt policy change on-line with the "Deep State." What happened?

An abrupt change, including that of appointees and personnel, in a bureaucratic environment can only be provoked by coercion or by forceful means. The "Deep State" may have uncovered "dirt" on "Donald" and forced change by extortion. Or, there may have been allusions to a contrived in-house assassination in the immediate future. In any case, "Donald" is now a full-on sock puppet of the real powers-that-be. He may end up being worse than "Hillary" would have been.

Nihilism 2017

The article by Andre Vltchek is officially titled, "Love and Western Nihilism" and can be found on various on-line archives. The associated “tweet” on Twitter® references one such site. Please read the article in its entirety.

"Western" nihilism and its associated general malaise can be strongly equated to the failed "civilization" paradigm (as discussed in the "blog"). Inequality of all forms, rampant fraud and corruption, insatiable greed ... all lead to narcissism and, eventually, total alienation. Over 70% of citizens of empire are taking prescription analgesics and/or anti-depressants. Only Molech knows how many are abusing illicit drugs, cigarettes, and cheap booze.

The only forms of expression remaining for rank-and-file peons of empire (i.e., lower "ninety-nine percent") is the motor vehicle (read: 4,000-pound motorized chair) and the gun, both of which are used in aggressive and threatening ways (often in combination). Both the latter and former venues give the "owner" a sense of power in the form of road rage and homicidal acts, respectively.

Otherwise, the artificially sedated minds of those fools is deeply engaged in the tiny portal of alternative reality, the "smartphone." All day long, intermittently or bingeing, the foolish mind is distracted by social media, games, or other benign digital media in order to mentally disappear from the current reality. Sooner or later, the mind will snap.

The "civilization" paradigm or "society" can only function properly of inequality is of a narrow bandwidth and fairness prevails. When either construct is distorted or removed, then a glaring dichotomy of oppression results. The underprivileged will be treated more and more like animals, which will provoke the "inner animal" to become manifest. The cycle continues with prescribed doses of diversionary venues and Draconian measures, both alternately used by the privileged to control the underprivileged. Eventually, the methodology fails.

Homeless Plan is Dead

The infamous homeless plan is dead after months of planning and procrastination. After communications was cut off with the case worker from the Sand Island homeless shelter, no effort was made to reconnect. Homelessness is an industry, a "cash cow," for the "douchebags" who run the show.

A revelation by Scotty, former homeless guy and gym member, also insured the embalming of the homeless plan. The various fraudulent schemes deployed by the formerly-homeless buddy, Hoang, is a requirement for receiving homeless services. Even Scotty is engaged in fraudulent and dishonest behavior. That's the way the "system" is designed. Only the most crafty and unscrupulous individuals can receive entitlements. Even honest poor people are forced to go with the "Dark Side," or end up dead or clinically insane on the streets.

Immigration Explosion

The study by the Migration Policy Institute is conservative and possibly flawed. As with most other surveys, the numbers are most likely lower than reality. The number of illegal (undocumented) immigrants in Hawai'i most likely is 30,000 upward.

Filipinos top the list of those immigrants. No question about that. Japanese nationals escaping "Abe-nomics" are in second place? Not likely, unless all of them are clustered in Waikiki.

There are myriad young Japanese women staying in Hawai'i with student visas. They are here to "learn English" (read: find an "American" to marry and become a citizen of empire).

There are way more Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese immigrants. There can be little doubt that they are undocumented. A large number of Indian nationals are also residing and working here with H1-B visa.

Micronesians do not count as illegal immigrants because of the Compact of Free Association. There are allegedly about 13,000 Micronesians here. When the sea level rises because of global climate change, expect the entire population of Micronesia to relocate to Hawai'i. People of American Samoa, Guam, and the Marshall Islands are also part of the migration mosaic.

There is considerable support for illegal immigrants in Hawai'i, mainly because the latter provides a cheap labor pool. A moderate amount of tax revenue can also be extracted from them. However, illegal immigrants will always be in limbo. Any adverse situation could immediately transfer them to the ranks of the homeless, if they are not there already.

Homeless Inc.

Homelessness is big business and big money for a select few crafty "douchebags." Homelessness is an industry. It creates endless new jobs, usually administrators and case worker positions. That's why homelessness will never be eliminated.

Lots of money, mostly government funding, is infused into the homeless industry. There is also a lot of money and food donations from private sources and people who feel charitable. Yet, the core of all homeless services is completely corrupt and rotted.

Only the minimum number of homeless are navigated into affordable housing. That minimum is the requirement for government funding. The rest of the homeless are sent scurrying around and seeking invisibility after relentless "sweeps." The authorities are only concerned about long-term "camps."

Even though there are hundreds of new homeless appearing in Hawai'i every month (many of whom are immigrants), the solution to the problem is always Draconian. Keep 'em moving. Keep 'em on the run. Keep 'em in fear. Then, the homeless remain invisible during the daylight hours. Like vampires, they only come out at night ... to sleep on the sidewalk or in the bushes.

Many of the homeless understand what's happening. That's why they take full advantage of any "free" services offered. They learn to lie and cheat, just like the formerly-homeless buddy. That's the vicious circle of the homeless industry.

In summary, the homeless situation cannot be solved because the people who are employed by the latter may ... Molech forbid ... end up homeless.