One of our readers is a great admirer of Trump, and she defended his response to the humanitarian crisis in Puerto Rico, saying, even the governor of Puerto Rico praised him.
Methinks the governor knows that Trump needs praise. But this is what he really said, in full.
“Gov. Ricardo Rosselló took care to praise Mr. Trump for his concern and optimistic promises, saying, “He has been on top of it.” But the governor wisely emphasized a larger message for congressional leaders and fellow Americans. If aid is not forthcoming on the levels of that for Texas and Florida, Mr. Rosselló warned of “a massive exodus” of Puerto Ricans to the mainland as fully entitled citizens, hurting the island’s chances for a full recovery and — probably to the consternation of Republicans — bringing “deep demographic turmoil” to states like Florida.
“Members of Congress, anxious to visit and stress the need for emergency aid at the scene, complained that the administration had denied them use of military transports. But the White House said the top priority was the human emergency and Mr. Trump would therefore not visit Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands until Tuesday.
“In Puerto Rico, the power grid is devastated, 80 percent of agricultural crops have reportedly been wiped out, 40 percent of the people need drinkable water and communications are inoperable for most of its 3.4 million American citizens. The 103,000 residents of the Virgin Islands are in comparable straits and highly dependent on the choked ports of Puerto Rico for relief. Tourist hotels were reduced to rubble. Officials expect two main hospitals to be torn down and replaced. The islands’ debt-burdened government has been facing the same threat of bankruptcy that had already strapped Puerto Rico with sweeping austerity measures.
“In surveying the extraordinary recovery challenges, Mr. Rosselló made a point that Washington should heed. “We can’t be treated differently,” he said, referring to Texas and Florida. “You can’t build half a house.”
Why not send in the Army Corps of Engineers to rebuild the power grid? Why wait a week for emergency relief?
Diane Ravitch's blog 
“deep demographic turmoil” = “Oh no! Brown people!”
LikeLike
Brown people who will no doubt overwhelmingly vote Democratic if they move to the mainland.
And they have every right to move here, since they are American citizens.
LikeLike
The GOP will find a way to suppress their votes
LikeLike
No doubt, Diane, no doubt.
LikeLike
Not only the brown people leaving the islands, the ones already here who are offended by the flaccid response and the delay in mounting one. Let’s hope they all have long memories and hold grudges.
LikeLike
Blame Trump for real wrongs. With this one, it seems common sense has lost to the desire to speak evil.
Puerto Rico is 1,500 miles away – across water. With Florida and Texas, hundreds of power crews from all over the country were on the road to those locations immediately after the disasters struck.
How do you suggest that gets done with Puerto Rico? Following the news (NPR, hat is), 9,500 containers with aid have arrived. There is NO shortage in fuel or food. There are serious issues with a) truck DRIVERS, b) passable roads.
This happened a number of years ago in another location: material and equipment were unloaded by the day – but no roads to distribute among the locations where needed (Haiti).
The ENTIRE power grid has to be renewed. But you cannot start on that until you can get there. The airport was useless, because the control tower was damaged and unreachable in the beginning. Now it is operational.
Help is getting TO the island, by the boat load (AFTER the port was repaired enough to unload cargo.). Remember that there is no interstate that goes there, not even a two-laner, like in the Keys.
People are comparing apples to oranges in this situation. PR is not part of the continental United States, and that adds an enormous problem to any kind of aid.
LikeLike
I deleted the nasty line to tell you where your comment belongs. .
“Obama has already dispatched a senior member of his national security team, Deputy National Security Adviser Denis McDonough, to the scene. An armada of U.S. warships is steaming toward Haiti, to be joined by at least one Coast Guard cutter en route from the Pacific via the Panama Canal — and manned and unmanned aircraft. Within two hours of the quake, one of the globe’s biggest warships, the carrier USS Carl Vinson, was ordered from off the Virginia coast toward Haiti, swapping its jet fighters for heavy-lift helicopters as it steamed south at top speed. Three ships, including the Vinson and the hospital ship USNS Comfort, boast state-of-the-art medical facilities that will care for injured Haitians. Thousands of troops are on their way to Haiti or already there, running the airport and clearing ports for many more to follow. Up to 10,000 troops will be in Haiti or floating just offshore by Monday. ”
http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1953379_1953494_1954326,00.html
The article is three days later. Hatti is 700 miles from Miami .1300 miles from Norfolk Naval station. Tuesday, 12 January 2010.at 6pm eastern and an aircraft carrier group arrives on Monday January 18th.
You do not need roads to drop supplies from aircraft. Nor ferry them by HELICOPTER .
That was an Earth Quake, lest time I checked we do not predict them Haitians are not American citizens .
This is either profound failure which would not be out of the possibility for the Moron in Chief . Or profound indifference.
So did I tell you to ….. …. …..
LikeLike
Haiti was an earthquake, there was nothing holding back sea going vessels. My comments on the fact that it, too, had a distribution problem had nothing to do with a president, but everything the the enormous damage done to the roads on the island.
We KNOW that food stuff was rotting on the docks – because there was no way move it further inland. NOTHING to do with whoever organised the aid, but EVERYTHING with destruction.
And Haiti is not the only place where that happened. Anywhere there is a natural disaster, the level of damage determines the level of aid that can be distributed. It’s LOGIStics, not POLItics.
But the hurricane hung around, and around, and around. It hit PR for almost 10 straight hours with high velocity winds, increasing the damage and the debris beyond belief. TWO hurricanes hit the island, and that increased the tragedies.
FEMA has been on the island since before the storm, and had started with some prepositioning. But it is STILL an island, and it is STILL 1,500 miles away.
In order for aircraft to fly, you need an operable airfield. It took crews days to even get to the airfield, and then time to get it somewhat useable. Then the airfield itself had to be cleared off, so planes could actually land.
Dropping payloads is not just a matter of, well, dropping payloads. If there is no way for people to GET to where the drop zones are, what have you accomplished?? Helicopters are a far better way to get materials and equipment to out of the way places. Better precision, less damage to dropping.
LikeLike
LOL, Joel! I think I know what you’re thinking, and I agree. 😉
LikeLike
L. Kinyon
Airport was open on the 22nd
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/army-corps-puerto-rico-airport-now-open-to-military-relief-flights/article/2635305
The containers are sitting on the docks. Nobody moves material like the US millatary . From the port to a landing pad . But those heavy load helicopters have to be there. With 4 days notice of a Cat 5 storm they should have been fueled and ready before the storm hit.
HECK OF A JOB DONNIE
LikeLike
Joel, you are my brother. I decided not to respond. My example would have been the Berlin Airlift. And that was with DC-3s. You da man!
LikeLike
No matter how you spin it the Trump administration has not handled the response to the devastation in Puerto Rico well. Several individuals, both civilian and military, who have been involved in responding to large scale disasters in the past give them poor grades. Trump’s inability to admit failure further slowed response. We have more than enough evidence from the recent past to document the ineptitude. Part of me says keep Trump out of Puerto Rico. They do not need to have any of their relief efforts put on hold to entertain him. We don’t need a photo op of him passing out water. It would probably delay the process while they vetted all those brown people who might be terrorists.
LikeLike
What a pathetic excuse for an ineffective, asleep at the switch response from the president. Seeing what was heading toward Puerto Rico, he should have had contingency plans in place well beforehand, ready to go. He quite obviously did not. As to the roads being impassable, the solution to that is dirt simple and fast. The first thing you land at the ports are the biggest bulldozers you have along with fuel trucks to follow behind them so they can be run 24/7. Next in that line is some kind of camper-trailer combo loaded with food etc. to keep the crews healthy and operational. The military has off the shelf solutions for bridging places where the roads might be gone, and a helocopter survey will identify where and what is needed. You clear a path to strategic locations on the island so more trucks and dozers can follow and clear the roads to secondary rally points. A simple, uncomplicated brute force approach to re-establishing supply lines that should have been on its way as soon as the seas were calm and a preliminary survey done from the air to pull the trigger on it. Far easier to get ready for than D-Day. There is no excuse for the failure of the Dumpster administration on this, none.
LikeLike
Carnival Cruise Lines is already picking up evacuees from Puerto Rico and dropping them off in Miami. This could be Florida’s big chance to turn into a blue state. Carnival is also transporting supplies to Puerto Rico.
LikeLike
Because you catch more flies than you do with vinegar and she was priming the pump.
LikeLike
No relief has been sent into any disaster area until the area is stabilized. The risk of a major dam breaking out of necessity put those efforts off.
The power plants are relatively unscathed, but power poles and power lines ALL NEED TO BE REPLACED. There is not one neighborhood where this is not true. There Army Core of Engineers is already there, so are other military support groups. They are working to establish satellite communications, see to medical needs and so much more. One Navy medical ship couldn’t leave until today … two days ago they only had 100 medical personnel on board. Today though they had 800 … this is a ship with SIX surgeries on board, but is useless without personnel. That personnel, in part, comes from reservists, not full-time military.
Then we have the Puerto Rican debt … totally REBUILDING is going to be much more expensive than simply repairing some things. In January, 2016 Puerto Rico and Obama negotiated a plan to pay the island’s $70,000,000,000+ debt. That must be considered in any talks regarding the financing of rebuilding. I hope one of the first moves is to get rid of the government run power entity. It is their corruption and ineptitude at running things in the first place that led to the devastating damage that resulted from two record breaking hurricanes.
Remember Katrina, how there was a power struggle between the governor and the mayor? Well, the same thing is happening again. These guys are the same political party but each is seeking the political high ground … at the expense of the Puerto Rican people.
This is a complex issue and should not be used to gain the “political high ground” with false claims that Trump is not doing enough. Puerto Rico will recover, but it will, of necessity, take time. The pace will be more like the pioneers, rather than the fast-paced recoveries we normally see. Given the business and building savvy of the President Puerto Rico will be better and safer than ever. We will improve our response capabilities just as we always have done. Now we have current data, rather than just computer models, to base our improvements for the future upon. We want things done right and as fast as possible, not just fast.
LikeLike
No relief until the area is stabilized?
You mean, no relief until more people have died?
No relief workers, no relief.
That’s not what Trump said in Houston or Florida.
That’s not what George W Bush said after Katrina.
Who will provide relief?
LikeLike
It seems your hatred for trump is making you lose all sense of reality, Unless NPR is sending out fake news, the government is doing everything it can to help PR and the Virgin Islands.
And this help is mentioned every time there is an interview with authorities on the islands. Only recently local authorities have started complaining about the lack of help from the local government.
But what the local government does not mention, is that it is impossible to do any kind of large scale help due to blocked roads etc.
Again, unless NPR is sending out fake news, boatloads of goods are arriving daily on the islands – but that gets stuck in the port. A logistics problem, not a problem of not enough help. The help is there, but the roads are not in any shape to move goods along.
I know that some of the journalists of NPR are, like you, doing everything they can to try and get the local authorities to say that there is not enough being done by the U.S. government – but none of the local authorities acknowledge that – because the help IS there – but logistics are too much of a problem.
Like I mentioned earlier, the same happened with the aid to Haiti. LOTS came in – but local circumstances prevented that same aid to get to where it was most needed, due to logistic problems.
You want to make it about politics – but unfortunately the facts are against you
LikeLike
Funny, I just saw the mayor of San Juan on national TV, pleading for help. She said “I’m begging! We’re dying here!”
Why would she say that?
LikeLike
NOT because of your fantasy. You don’t seem to have any idea about logistics
http://nypost.com/2017/09/28/aid-sent-to-puerto-rico-not-reaching-desperate-residents/
http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/27/us/puerto-rico-aid-problem/index.html
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/09/puerto-rico-hurricane-maria-relief-trump-federal/541122/
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/09/27/trump-administration-denies-request-ease-shipping-fuel-deliveries-puerto-rico/707448001/
So, unless all of the above are fake news sites, you are wrong. Prove the above to be fake news sites, and I will gladly step back and apologize
LikeLike
So the mayor of San Juan is a liar? She said “it’s May Day in Puerto Rico.” “People are dying here.” She’s there. Has a BA from Boston University and an MA from Carnegie Mellon. Smart woman. Sounded credible to me. I assume you know more than her.
LikeLike
San Juan mayor disputes administration: ‘This not a good-news story when people are dying’
In an emotional response to an upbeat assessment by acting Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke, the mayor of San Juan denied that Puerto Rico’s recovery from Hurricane Maria was a “good news story.”
Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz was being interviewed by CNN Friday morning when the network played a clip of Duke saying she was pleased with how things were going for the 3.4 million American citizens on Puerto Rico.
“I am very satisfied,” said Duke in a statement outside the White House Thursday. “I know it’s a hard storm to recover from, but the amount of progress that’s been made — I’d really appreciate any support we can get. I know it is really a good-news story in terms of our ability to reach people and the limited number of deaths that have taken place in such a devastating hurricane.”
Cruz paused before responding, becoming emotional as she spoke.
“Well, maybe from where she’s standing it’s a good-news story,” said the mayor, who has been pleading for help since Maria hit the island over a week ago. “When you’re drinking from a creek, it’s not a good-news story. When you don’t have food for a baby, it’s not a good-news story. When you have to pull people down from their buildings — I’m sorry, but that really upsets and frustrates me. I would ask her to come down here and visit the towns and then make a statement like that, which frankly is an irresponsible statement and contrast with the statements of support that I have been getting since yesterday when I got that call from the White House.”…
San Juan mayor disputes administration: ‘This not a good-news story when people are dying’ https://www.yahoo.com/news/san-juan-mayor-disputes-administration-not-good-news-story-people-dying-134225479.html?soc_src=social-sh&soc_trk=ma
LikeLike
At this point in time the death toll is still unknown, which is common in such disasters. It is interesting to note that the numbers speculated so far are less than actual numbers from Harvey in Texas.
Occasionally I run across a hand wringing number like “70,000 could die”. That is possible, but not likely. Advances in building technologies and life saving techniques make such claims inflammatory, not a reality. Such claims work better as a tool to frighten, rather than a fact to assist, in this situation.
LikeLike
Let’s such let people die and then do the count.
Like the healthcare debate. What does it matter if “only” 10 million lose health insurance? That’s better than 15 million, right? But isn’t every life precious?
LikeLike
Jump to the methodology used to compute the CBO scores. It is flawed. Does it differentiate between those that do NOT WANT INSURANCE, those that want it but cannot afford it, those that would not qualify for whatever reason. No that number has no detail.
The number that might die is subjective as well. How are the numbers going to be based?
LikeLike
The advocates of repeal-and-replace don’t really care how many lose their insurance so long as Obamacare is repealed.
Whether it is one million or ten million, it is just numbers, right? Not like real people. Not like children or parents. Just numbers.
LikeLike
That statement is only worth shutting down conversation since it is untrue. You cannot say “everyone” since different people have differing ideas on the subject.
LikeLike
How about just referring to them as “opinion” sources of news that just happen to be very biased against the current administration?
LikeLike
The mayor of San Juan is one of those that feels the government should do it for them. In this point she and the governor differ. We will be providing expertise and materials and assistance. We will not and should not do it for them.
LikeLike
What does the mayor of San Juan know about Puerto Rico? Just looking for a hand-out and King Donald ignores indigents.
So what if she has a BA from Boston U and an MA in public policy from Carnegie Mellon? So what if she is there, on the ground? Breitbart knows more than she does.
LikeLike
How many billions in government aid did we send to Texas and Florida? Why should the citizens of Puerto Rico be treated any differently? So handy of you to mimic the President’s latest tone deaf response about lazy Puerto Ricans standing around with their hands out.
LikeLike
Would there have been an outcry if tRump and insisted that citizens in Florida and Texas needed to do more for themselves? They obviously also wanted a ‘federal handout’.
It is a disgrace to tell people who have no food, clean water, medicine, electricity and exist with destroyed homes that they need to help themselves more. It shows the compassion level of someone who has never had to work to get everything he ever needed. These are Spanish speaking people and we know what tRump thinks of them…worthless rapists and thieves who are also lazy.
LikeLike
The Jones Act has been waived for 10 days. With the destruction level that has occurred on this island, that is ridiculous. Puerto Rico will take months if not years to rebuild and to reinstate the Jones Act would force the island to divide their limited shipping capacity between basic goods and the materials the island will need to rebuild.
LikeLike
I believe the Virgin Islands are subject to the Jones Act as well. Lest we forget, they got whacked by two Category 5 hurricanes. I have heard that they have been dependent on Puerto Rico’s shipping industry. I guess their imports routinely come through PR(?)
LikeLike
This is what I got when I Googled: (I’d read that they were exempt.)
Application of US Coastal Laws to Virgin Islands
Briefing Paper for Senior Plenary Session of the Interagency Group on Insular Areas March 1, 2011
Merchant Marine Act of 1920 Placed VI Outside US Custom Zone: The Merchant Marine Act of 1920 also knows as the Jones Act excluded the Virgin Islands from the application of all US coastal laws. Specifically, SEC. 21. COASTWISE LAWS EXTENDED TO ISLAND TERRITORIES AND POSSESSIONS (46 App. U.S.C. 877) states the following:
“And provided further, That the coastwise laws of the United States shall not extend to the Virgin
Islands of the United States until the President of the United States shall, by proclamation, declare that such coastwise laws shall extend to the Virgin Islands and fix a date for the going into effect of same.
LikeLike
I found info saying the Virgin Islands are subject to the Jones Act (https://transportationinstitute.org/jones-act/) and as well as that they are not. Go figure. In any case, they are in really bad shape and have seen a rather slow response as well. I guess Trump didn’t have a golf course resort there either.
LikeLike
In some ways Puerto Rico has a much more expensive response than Texas or Florida because of the distance and method aid must travel to get to Florida.
There is a Bar & Grill owner from Puerto Rico that has been collecting food and supplies in a warehouse to be sent to family and friends Puerto Rico. It is a logistical nightmare. After Texas people were able to quickly gather donated items and drive to the area and help. Some rented trailers, while some rented trucks. Everyone was close by so helping was easier. Everything for Puerto Rico must go by sea or air THEN by land.
LikeLike
No, we can’t help Puerto Rico because it is an island, the people speak Spanish, and they are brown.
And the island is surrounded by “big water, ocean water,” as Trump said.
So, sorry, American citizens of PR. You are out of luck.
LikeLike
Much of the effort there was hijacked by the Clinton Foundation whose people raised money, but according to Haitians did not pass it on to the islanders that it was raised to help.
LikeLike
When in doubt, blame the Clintons!
LikeLike
Read commentary from the people of the island of Haiti. They complained bitterly about foundation people staying in undamaged hotels collecting money from around the world and yet none of it going to those in need. But that’s different because they are democrats.
LikeLike
Linda,
The people of Puerto Rico are American citizens. Do you care about what happens to them?
LikeLike
LKinyon
Please stop the crap about blocked roads the whole island is 35 x 100.
If the US millatary had to move a battalion of tanks over those blocked roads they would have been clear enough in a day or two.
The problem seems more to be the lack of drivers . How can that possibly be a problem . Do they drive on a different side of the road .(not)
Prove the above to be fake news sites, and I will gladly step back and apologize
Well I am glad you said that here is your first source for those who may not be familiar with the Rupert Rag .
https://www.google.com/search?q=&tbm=isch&tbs=rimg:CUU7C731tADKIjgTZUfL3kgSuS20sSB-QOps8dg91QM4mUAc9XVJPwcEFk-uwa9izKpoFiVMYffLm-Bbc_11kk3iQfCoSCRNlR8veSBK5EQhyf7cKo-gSKhIJLbSxIH5A6mwR-tZgL-jFg3QqEgnx2D3VAziZQBH61mAv6MWDdCoSCRz1dUk_1BwQWEaQ2219Y_17GbKhIJT67Br2LMqmgR5OkBsl9CTX8qEgkWJUxh98ub4BHkzlpUeqOTUyoSCVtz_1WSTeJB8EV05SGamrHZ6&tbo=u&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj30MO1_8zWAhXPaCYKHd1XCecQ9C8IHw&biw=1280&bih=557&dpr=1.5#imgrc=7LIK3X7NePfhVM:
And being that you quoted USA today
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2017/09/28/puerto-rico-relief-lacks-urgency-editorials-debates/711583001/
LikeLike
The instability of the dam meant allowing in additional people would be put in danger. There were American’s already there when the hurricane hit. Immediate access is always limited to prevent increased liability. This is SOP and has always been in the FEMA Operations Manual. The Jones Act, in part, limits the liability exposure of the U.S. during times of disaster. We don’t need or want untrained people entering a dangerous situation and becoming victims that need to be rescued as well.
LikeLike
Gosh, no, it would have been awful,to send in the troops, as Trump did in Texas and Florida. Best to let the PR people starve or die for lack of medicine.
LikeLike
Linda Giffin
Helicopters don’t give a crap about dams . But you right wing loons are failing geography and simple math .
70 ,000 people were ordered to evacuate in the vicinity of the dams potential flooding . That leaves 3,340,000 people who were not in that hazardous flood zone . Those 70,000 have long evacuated the path of potential destruction. . Next pathetic excuse please. Like most of the clap trap from the right wing media machine . It fails the stink test .
http://thehill.com/policy/defense/353137-not-enough-troops-equipment-in-puerto-rico-says-general-in-charge-of-relief
“Nor the right mix of troops and equipment” .
This fat sob can not be hanging from the flag pole in front of the White House soon enough . (After a trial of course for treason}.
LikeLike
You WANT Trump to fail, I get that. But to put on blinders and refuse to acknowledge anything positive is the very reason the left is doing so badly right now.
LikeLike
Linda Giffin
It does not matter what I want. He is a failure, a fraud, a liar, a demagogue, a narcissist. Who is mentally unstable and should be hanging from the White House flag pole for treason . As for his response to the crisis in Puerto Rico it was a profound failure.
LikeLike
Joel, unfortunately, you are never going to change the minds of Linda Giffin and other similarly inclined right-wingers.
They have drunk the Trump Kool-Aid and they will not be convinced otherwise.
And, to tell you the truth, I really think that many of these Trumpistas are people who do not care how much other people suffer. They are for themselves, and people who think like and look like them; everyone else can go f*ck themselves, at least, that is what they really seem to be saying.
LikeLike
“The risk of a major dam breaking out of necessity put those efforts off.”
Horse manure! Pure BS!
LikeLike
Thank you for your enlightened input but it is true. The dam was only part of it. It took a couple of days to restore limited service to airports and ports. Even now they can get supplies to those points of entry, but there are bad roads, not enough trucks to haul things and definitely not enough truck drivers. Truck drivers on the island are busy saving their families and friends.
The double whammy that struck Puerto Rico has never been experienced before … anywhere. It is not like Harvey in Texas, or Irma in Florida where help was a couple hundred miles away.
The power plants survived, but the grid did not. The corrupt governmental power company had not maintained, or improved the grid. There is not one block that does not have damage to it on the island. That is what put Puerto Rico in a more dangerous situation and has made this recovery unlike any other.
LikeLike
No, your statement wasn’t true as written. Therefore I and others called you on it.
And I fully understand the current situation, and yes the POTUS could be doing a hell of a lot more, a hell of a lot more than he has done.
LikeLike
The National Weather Service station on the island was destroyed during the storms. Currently there is a tropical storm forming that could put the island in danger again from flooding. Since some areas are still flooded it will make a bad situation worse. They could receive 1-4″ of rain in some areas.
That same storm could dump up to 18″ on Orlando. It is a juggling act and Puerto Rico’s heavy debt load make financing things more complicated. It is always a factor. A business run power company would find getting loans difficult, but not impossible. Puerto Rico’s government run power company will not find it as easy to get funds to rebuild because they had $9,000,000,000 in debt BEFORE the storms.
Going forward the question of whether it will be better to remain a commonwealth, or become a state must be answered. The Governor prefers statehood, the Mayor of San Juan wants to remain a commonwealth. Which will be better for Puerto Rico? Which will be better for all of the citizens of the U.S.? Lots of questions that need to be answered while recovering. Puerto Rico isn’t the only island that suffered. It is not the only disaster. There are multiple disasters in the U.S. and Mexico that are being worked for the good of humanity.
LikeLike
So no one who has debt should receive aid? I guess that cuts out all those people without flood insurance. Stop helping all those freeloaders in Texas and Florida from receiving help. And while we’re at it, I’ m sure all those Mexicans that lost their homes and belongings in the recent earthquakes weren’t insured for such losses. Anyway, why are they living in an earthquake region?. And those people who lost property in the wildfires out West. Hey, don’t expect fire fighters to try to save them. You shouldn’t have built houses there. I certainly don’t wish that you get trapped in the middle of a natural disaster, Linda, but I won’t worry about you because you don’t need any help. Heck, you shouldn’t have been there anyway.
LikeLike
Critical thinking is a lost art. No one has said no help should go to PR. What some have argued and shown with evidence, is that a lot of help is already there, a lot more help is on the way.
What also has been argued is that PR is not like Texas or Florida. There is no interstate between here and PR. There are no hundreds of power companies that can send road crews.
And seeing the mayor complaining that people are starving – with pallets of food and water behind her seems to have escaped many on this list.
You don’t like trump. You’re not the only ones. But government people like FEMA workers have risked their lives on PR by being there before the storms hit. Forget trump. Think of the people, government workers who are there and are working day and night.
And by the way, whoever suggested sending tanks over to “clear roads?” I guess you don’t know the destructive powers of driving a tank across the roads. It destroys more than it helps, increasing the road problems even more.
LikeLike
I agree with Krugman’s assessment of Trump’s performance: “In short, Trump truly is unfit for this or any high office. And the damage caused by his unfitness will just keep growing.”
………………………………..
Paul Krugman article “Trump’s Deadly Narcissism”…NYT
“According to a new Quinnipiac poll, a majority of Americans believe that Donald Trump is unfit to be president. You have to wonder how much higher the number would be if people really knew what’s going on.
[It] isn’t just what he’s doing, but what he isn’t. In his mind, it’s all about him — and while he’s stroking his fragile ego, basic functions of government are being neglected or worse.
Let’s talk about…The deadly neglect of Puerto Rico, and …[how] millions of Americans are going to suffer, and thousands die, because Trump and his officials are too self-centered to do their jobs.
[Concerning] Puerto Rico and the neighboring U.S. Virgin Islands:
When Hurricane Maria struck, it knocked out power to the whole of Puerto Rico, [for] months. Much of the population still lacks access to drinkable water.
In [Puerto Rico] many will die because hospitals can’t function, or because of diseases spread by unsafe water.
The longer this goes on, the worse the humanitarian crisis will get. You’d expect bringing in and distributing aid to be the U.S. government’s top priority. [But] none of the extraordinary measures you’d expect to see have materialized.
The deployment of military resources seems to have been smaller and slower than it was in Texas after Harvey or Florida after Irma. Until Thursday the Trump administration had refused to lift restrictions on foreign shipping to Puerto Rico,[which was] waived for Texas and Florida.
Why? According to the president, “people who work in the shipping industry” don’t like the idea.
[And] the Trump administration has yet to submit a request for aid to Congress.
And where’s the leadership? There’s a reason we expect visible focus by the president on major national disasters, including a visit to the affected area as soon as possible.
But Trump spent days after Maria’s strike tweeting about football players. When he finally said something about Puerto Rico, it was to blame the territory for its own problems.
[Here’s] a massively self-centered individual who can’t bring himself to focus on other people’s needs, even when that’s the core of his job.
LikeLike
Here is a statement made by the Mayor of San Juan:
“Actually, I was asking for help. I wasn’t saying anything nasty about the president. But don’t take my word for it. General Buchanan, a three star general, has said as one of the first comments he’s made about the Puerto Rico situation that he doesn’t have enough troops to get the situation under control. So, who am I? I’m just a little mayor from the capital city of San Juan. This is a three star general telling the world right now he does not have the appropriate means and tools to take care of the situation.”
LikeLike
IF this mayor wants help so badly WHY is she the ONLY mayor that has NEVER contacted the FEMA office in San Juan. Other mayors are in constant contact via satellite phone. The FEMA office is IN San Juan where she is the mayor. This is where the supplies are bottlenecked because she is not getting trucks and truck drivers to distribute supplies to her area like other mayors are doing.
In May, 2017 Puerto Rico filed for bankruptcy protection. ALL forms of disaster relief have always had caps on the amount of assistance that can be provided as well as a co-funding requirement for rebuilding. Because of the bankruptcy filing all of the islands financial matters are handled by an oversight and management board. The board (outside of Trump’s control and designated by the courts) has asked for the caps and co-funding requirements to be waived, but since this is a legal matter it takes some time to happen.
It does NOT mean the President and his team are waiting on that decision. He is currently working on getting the 16,000 MILES OF POWER LINES AND POLES repaired. Since the Puerto Rican governmental power company has proven to be inept ($9 billion in debt and the bankruptcy filing for the island in excess of $70 billion) it is an even more complex issue. But, the discussions are taking place to see if a plan with Governor Rick Scott and the Florida Power companies might be put in charge of rebuilding the power grid. Privatization of the power on the island will be necessary.
Does no one question the validity of Mayor Cruz from San Juan. The US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico all suffered the same destruction, yet she is the only one complaining. But, then again, she is the only one not working with FEMA people on the ground in Puerto Rico.
LikeLike
Mayor Cruz must be so misinformed. Just because she lives in Puerto Rico and was elected mayor is no reason to think she knows more about what’s happening in Puerto Rico than Trump, even on his private golf course in NJ.
LikeLike
Don’t blame anyone else BUT the mayor for failure to do her job. How dare she speak of starvation when standing in front of thousands of cans of food!
New Orleans mayor must have been her mentor. Refuse to do your job and blame others.
LikeLike
General Who Turned Around Katrina Response Criticizes Puerto Rico Efforts
By Christopher Flavelle
September 28, 2017, 3:00 AM CDT
The general credited with turning around the government’s response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005 said the Trump administration is bungling its efforts in Puerto Rico.
Russel Honore, a lieutenant general named to oversee Katrina operations by then-President George W. Bush, joined a growing chorus of criticism from Congress about the response to Hurricane Maria.
“It’s kind of like Katrina: We got it. We got it. Oh, s–t, send in the cavalry,” Honore, now retired from the military, said in an interview Wednesday. “This is a hit on White House decision making.”
He said more people and equipment should have been sent to the island in advance of the storm, and the Department of Defense should be given far greater authority over the response.
Only the military has the ability to move supplies quickly onto the island as many ports remain closed, he said — what he called “expeditionary logistics,” a mix of specialized ships, aircraft and other equipment that the National Guard can’t match. Before the storm hit, the federal government should have positioned more personnel in Puerto Rico, he said.
A week after Maria slammed into the U.S. commonwealth, most of the island’s 3.4 million residents still lack electricity, and just 11 of 69 hospitals have fuel or power. That’s increasingly putting the administration on the defensive as the humanitarian crisis grows.
“The model you want is what was done in Florida” before Hurricane Irma, he said, where “every town had National Guard in it” — opening shelters, helping direct traffic and doing similar tasks.
Trump should direct the military’s Northern Command, created after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 to respond to major disasters in the U.S., to take charge of the response, Honore said.
The U.S. needs to stop assuming that hurricane seasons like this one will be the exception.
“The government has to be prepared now to handle three Category 4 storms a year,” Honore said. “The government cannot depend that next year will be a slow year.”
LikeLike
Mayor Cruz caused the hurricane too. Nasty woman!
Hillary=Nasty woman.
Elizabeth Warren=nasty woman
Kzir Khan=Whiner
Mayor of London=Loser
Democrats=Losers!
Scotland Yard=Clueless
Putin=Great guy
Nazis=Some fine people
LikeLike
Once again, I am shocked at the lack of logical reasoning.
LikeLike
No reason to believe FEMA would be complaining because she is not in contact with them, especially since she is the sole complainer. Long, the Director of FEMA, was on television this morning asking for her input but she is still not in contact with them and that is her JOB AS MAYOR.
LikeLike
You would think that it would be standard practice for FEMA to get in touch with her, not the other way around. How could they have done anything without consulting with local authorities? All of the bickering just points to a poor plan of attack and/or command structure although the situation seems to be improving in the last couple of days. Bottom line is no one was prepared to deal with the devastation caused by these two recent hurricanes, and the pre-planning and response time to territories in the Caribbean was lousy.
LikeLike
Sorry, the mayor is not available at this moment. Please leave a message, and I promise I will make sure she knows you called
THAT is how the mayor can avoid communication. And if I were the FEMA staff?
I’m sorry, ms mayor, but I don’t have time for political games; I have a job to do.
Amazing. You can think of all sorts of evil behavior of the people risking their lives, but find all sorts of excuses for someone who politices suffering.
LikeLike
How hugely, fantastically wonderful to be reminded that the Atlantic is a really big ocean and that we can’t drive trucks to any of the islands. He remembers a tremendous amount about geography. [Or did an aide tell him that?] Perhaps he needs a map. Maybe an aide can show him one with big pictures of people with signs praising how great he is.
…………………………..
“This is an island sitting in the middle of an ocean — and it’s a big ocean, a really, really big ocean,” Trump told reporters.”It’s out in the ocean. You can’t just drive your trucks there,” Trump said. “This is tough stuff.”
There is, in fact, a thing called the Atlantic Ocean, but Puerto Rico is not in it. Under International Hydrographic Organization borders universally accepted, the Atlantic Ocean does not start until the “eastern edge” of the Caribbean, which is roughly 550 miles east of Puerto Rico.
As such, the island is definitely in the Caribbean Sea — which is not an ocean — and is a two-and-a-half-hour flight from Miami.
LikeLike
Don’t you find it curious that Maria was the SECOND hurricane and she had not reported into FEMA? Maybe you do not realize that EVERY governmental agency, business, school, etc has written POLICIES AND PROCEDURES MANUALS. Those manuals contain the steps required to be taken in the event of a disaster, fire, robbery, hostage situation, etc. Everything is choreographed IN ADVANCE. When the one hurricane hit she still had not performed due diligence and contacted FEMA … THAT WAS HER JOB!
Overnight there was a mass shooting in Las Vegas. The response not only law enforcement, but the people at the concert pitching in to do what needed to be done. Ordinary citizens using police barricades and vendors tables to carry out the now 400+ wounded and 50 dead. The young kid that had ripped up his shirt to cover the eyes of the dead out of respect.
Just from the optics of the situation she looks bad. Compare her reaction to Vegas and she really comes off as uncaring and ineffectual. You may not like it but it IS HER JOB to contact FEMA, NOT the other way around.
LikeLike
There is no comparing the people in Las Vegas with the destruction of people in Puerto Rico. People in Las Vegas can still access their phones. They can easily get drinking water. They can go to the hospital if they need to. They can access food and medicine. They have not sat shivering in some shelter wondering if they will ever have a home again…only to find out that they don’t. Puerto Ricans do not have access to money since the ATM’s are down. They have no idea of when they’ll get adequate food and many are drinking out of rivers to get water. Many are on the verge of dying because of having nothing. They are frightened and have no idea of when help will come or if it ever will come. They sit and watch their friends and relatives nearing death. They hear infants crying for lack of food.
Are they supposed to walk miles to containers of goods and carry it back to their homes that are gone? Exactly how are they supposed to do to ‘help themselves’?
It is very sloppy thinking to say that the people in Las Vegas are doing the right thing to help themselves but the people in Puerto Rico are lazy expecting handouts. Is this what the R wing media is now saying?
LikeLike
Think in terms of response. Think in the abstract. Don’t be so linear.
LikeLike
I’ll let you think in the abstract. I think of people suffering. I’ve been to Puerto Rico and I’ve done extensive traveling throughout the world. I’ve seen suffering and I’ve seen lack. I’ve traveled through jungles and seen the destruction that ‘modernization’ has done. I’ve been to big cities in many countries and seen shoddy construction as well as magnificent structures.
I worked for two years at a school that had electricity for four hours a day.
I don’t think in the abstract and have no idea of what exactly that means.
LikeLike
Dang! I had no idea that disaster relief people would run around in circles if the local officials didn’t contact them. The FEMA people on the ground did what they could given the resources available to them. Little fault falls on the heads of those left to contend with a situation far beyond their ability to respond. The fault lies in the amount of time it took to put together a coordinated response.
LikeLike
You must be an extremely blessed person….
LikeLike
Tzatziki Sauce
1 large cucumber
3 cloves garlic (or more, to taste)
2 cups Greek whole milk yogurt
2 fronds of fresh dill, finely chopped
1 teaspoon fresh mint, finely chopped
Salt
Ground black pepper
Ground white pepper
Ground cayenne pepper
2 T. olive oil
2 T. fresh lemon juice
1/3 c. sour cream
1/3 c. mayonnaise
Peel and seed the cucumbers (leave a few strips of skin on, for color). Chop into very small pieces (use a food processor). Place into colander and allow to drain 15-30 minutes, then squeeze out any excess water. Crush garlic into a pulp. Mix together cucumber, garlic, yogurt, dill, mint, oil, lemon juice, sour cream, and mayo. Add salt and a dash of black, white, and red peppers, to taste.
This is a good dip to serve with wedges of grilled pita bread and crudités. It’s also good on the dolmades, which I posted a recipe for in a previous thread. You can use it on grilled meats. If you have leftover grilled meats, serve some on pita bread with lettuce, onion, tomato, feta, and tzatziki sauce.
LikeLike
I copied your recipe. It sounds yummy.
LikeLike
This is the sauce that Greeks use on gyros, but we use it for other things, as well.
LikeLike
Zorba,
Today is a very bad day. We may need another recipe!
LikeLike
{{Sigh}}
Yes, Diane. Between Puerto Rico, and now the mass shooting in Las Vegas (latest figure as I write this is 58 dead), I just don’t know.
It’s getting so depressing.
OTOH, people have to eat, and if they are interested in cooking at all, they can make my recipes.
LikeLike
Paul Krugman: “According to a new Quinnipiac poll, a majority of Americans believe that Donald Trump is unfit to be president. You have to wonder how much higher the number would be if people really knew what’s going on.”
LikeLike
Polls can be slanted how ever you want them to be. I have always watched the response of the stock market myself. The sector that is more likely to ensure prosperity, investors big and small, vote there. Last quarter the GDP was 3.1%. New jobs since his inauguration are over 1,200,000. Things are getting done in spite of RINO’s and democrats dragging their feet.
Some of us look at results, which are up, rather than polls.
LikeLike
Sounds like the mayor of New Orleans. Failed to do his job – and blamed the federal government.
Had hundreds of school busses available to evacuate people – used a precious few, causing many people to be stuck.
It’s easy to blame others when you failed to do your own job.
I wait, sounds like ms Clinton. Did not do her job as a candidate by ignoring part of the electorate to come for a personal visit. And now blames literally everybody – except herself – for losing the election.
So let’s see what these three have in common: all democrats!
This is the kind of reasoning used in this line.
LikeLike
We KNOW there is not enough help yet. And there won’t be for a long time. There is a logical progression that needs to be worked out. You can’t frame a house when the foundation is not laid yet.
You cannot send pier crews out when the roads are not there, bridges are gone. All of that takes time and assessments.
And part of that assessment is finding to get the RIGHT people to the RIGHT places. Just getting people there to have people there makes no sense. All that happens then is the use of resources by people who are not yet needed.
LikeLike
Gee, you have all the WH talking heads explanations memorized! Somehow their reality and the reality of the FEMA workers on the ground don’t quite match up, and when the military chimes in with criticism of the “relief” effort it should be obvious that Trump and his minions haven’t the faintest idea what they are doing.
LikeLike
Since pretty much my only source for live news is NPR, I guess they too are considered talking heads?
Apart from that, I happen to be able to find information from the NYT, the WSJ and the WP. I know, nothing but talking heads for the far right. O wait, sometimes I get to watch NBC, too.
Is that far right too??
Like a few others in this list, I’m able to look past my dislike for the current president, and look what is actually happening.
LikeLike
From general Buchanan. I know, he’s only saying this to protect his job, right??
General in Charge of Puerto Rico Response Pushes Back on Criticism of Trump
Paul D. Shinkman • Sept. 29, 2017, at 2:46 p.m.
The three-star general overseeing hurricane relief efforts in Puerto Rico pushed back Friday against criticisms that the Trump administration acted too slowly to respond to the devastation of Hurricane Maria and that his deployment there was designed to compensate for perceived White House inaction.
“That’s absolutely inaccurate,” Lt. Gen. Jeffrey S. Buchanan, the commander of U.S. Army North, told U.S. News in an exclusive phone interview. “It’s certainly not a symbolic thing. As the land component commander, we’re now shifting to a more land-based response, so it’s appropriate that my command is appointed command for it.”
“I have to go wherever it is that I need to be to best provide the leadership required,” Buchanan says.
Ten days after Maria first made landfall on the U.S. territory as a Category 4 hurricane, thousands in Puerto Rico are still without food, water or power, and the island’s interior remains largely inaccessible by road, prompting widespread criticism that the White House did not do more to prepare for and then respond to the effects of the storm.
“The federal response has been a disaster,” local lawmaker Jose Enrique Melendez, a member of Gov. Ricardo Rossello’s New Progressive Party, told the Associated Press. “It’s been really slow.”
Lawmakers on the mainland have been equally critical. Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida, a Democrat, said in a statement, “As was said after Hurricane Andrew: ‘Where the hell is the cavalry?'” Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, also of Florida, has been among the most vocal, saying the military should take over distributing aid after days of what he considers an inability to do so by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, currently the lead government agency for the response.
White House officials also cite separate catastrophes in Texas, Louisiana and Florida caused by storms that further complicate response efforts, as well as Puerto Rico’s distance, more than a thousand miles from the U.S. mainland.
Some have pointed out, however, that the federal response pales in comparison to that of the U.S. action in 2010 for the earthquake in Haiti. Two days after, the U.S. deployed 8,000 American troops, ultimately sending 22,000 troops and 33 support ships within two weeks.
“I think it’s a fair ask why we’re not seeing a similar command and response,” retired Lt. Gen. P.K. “Ken” Keen, who oversaw the U.S. military response to the Haitian earthquake, told The Washington Post. Rajiv Shah, who served as director of the U.S. Agency for International Development when it oversaw the Haiti response, also told the Post he could not understand the delays to Maria relief.
On Wednesday, the Defense Department confirmed that a one-star general – Army Brig. Gen. Richard Kim, one of Buchanan’s deputies – would deploy to Puerto Rico to coordinate the military support to FEMA. U.S. Northern Command also sent Buchanan, announcing his trip to the island on Thursday. Buchanan previously deployed to San Antonio, Texas, to oversee what the government designated a largely land-based response to Hurricane Harvey.
[ READ: Trump Praises Puerto Rico Aid, Mayor Says It’s ‘Killing Us’ ]
Buchanan dismisses the comparison of Maria to the 2010 earthquake or any other disaster and says that just because the U.S. knew a storm was heading for the island doesn’t mean it could predict how to respond. He points out that Hurricane Irma passed over two weeks earlier and had minimal effect on the island.
“Then Maria comes by and has devastating impact,” Buchanan says. “Sometimes we don’t know what’s going to happen until we see what happens.”
U.S. Northern Command, including its chief, Gen. Lori Robinson, was also concerned about deploying too large a military response to Puerto Rico before it knew what the island needed, Buchanan says.
“We can sometimes cause more problems than we solve if we flood an already-crowded port – seaport or airport – with things that have not been requested,” he says. “We’re working in direct support of FEMA. The military is not in charge here. The governor is in charge. They’re supporting the governor, and we’re supporting FEMA.”
As for Rubio’s suggestion the military take over, Buchanan says the system is working as it is designed to and should stay that way.
“The military does not take charge of these kinds of operations in the homeland,” Buchanan says. “We’re housed in the same facility, working together, making sure we’re accomplishing it all.”
“This is not a dictatorship. We’ve got great teamwork going on with them. When they say they need more help with distribution, we’re able to respond to it and make it happen.”
U.S. News & World Report
LikeLike
Apparently not far enough since you are missing the reports critical of the relief effort from reputable sources. How come we don’t hear the Republican majority in the Congress trumpeting how great relief efforts have been?
LikeLike
Because people like you and many others on that list be critical of them for other reasons.
I wonder how many of you have actually been involved in providing aid under similar circumstances. You all seem to be such experts on the topic. Surely that is based on experience, right??
LikeLike
Was Trump ever a first responder? That’s the relevant question. There is no record of his ever being involved in any emergency services in any capacity. There is a record of five deferments from the draft during Vietnam.
You need not be a first responder to recognize that people are in need of food, water, medical supplies.
Another commenter quoted Michael Moore, who gave an excellent overview of the resources of the US government, which Trump has not mobilized.
LikeLike
And there you go again. No matter what, you WILL find a way to criticize.
How many presidents have had experience as first responders? None. Nada. Zero. Not any of them. Null.
Since when did that become a requirement to be president? You just disqualified your friend, ms Clinton if that is one of the prerequisites.
PROFESSIONALS were put in place. BEFORE the storm hit. Unfortunately even the professionals are able to predict the future.
NO ONE, not even the weather professionals were able to predict the storm hanging over PR for that many hours.
The same professionals who wrongly predicted doom and destruction for Florida’s east coast – and hat to change their prediction in the middle of a large scale evacuation, forcing people to turn around.
And before you go off on that rant, no, I don’t blame them for that. It is part of our inability to correctly predict nature’s behavior.
PR was hit by Irma earlier – comparatively, that was “but a tap.” Note the quotation marks!!!!!
The moment YOU, dr Ravitch, are able to accurately predict such outcomes, you have the right to criticize first responders – any of them, and tell them they are going about it all wrong.
Until that time, have an opinion all you want. But you have not earned to criticize those who are actually out there, putting their lives in danger.
LikeLike
Presidents don’t have to be first responders. You are twisting my words. They are judged by how they respond to emergencies. They control vast resources. During the hurricane, instead of organizing a relief effort, Trump was obsessed with the NFL. This weekend map, he is vacationing at his golf resort. He is indifferent to suffering. That is how he will be judged. He is a miserable selfish entitled billionaire and a narcissist.
LikeLike
Riiight – i misquoted and twisted when you said, “in response to dianeravitch:
Was Trump ever a first responder? That’s the relevant question. There is no record of his ever being involved in any emergency services in any capacity. There is a record of five deferments from the draft during Vietnam. You need not be a first responder to recognize that people are in need of food, water
If it does not matter, what makes it a “relevant” question??? Read again what you wrote. “Was trump ever a first responder? That’s the relevant question…”
But hey, I’m twisting your words???
LikeLike
Do not remember seeing that as a requirement for the job of President. Hillary was sure never a first responder.
LikeLike
Having a sense of decency and history is a requirement to be president. Trump has neither.
LikeLike
Really? Than how did Clinton ever become president?? Or, for that matter, Eisenhower, Nixon and I’ll stop there.
You cannot make up job requirements tonYOUR liking. If that were the case, many would never have made it.
I think those indeed are good qualities. But that is not the issue here. You are looking for ways to slam trump. As said before, stay with the facts. And that seems to be difficult for you, being blinded by your strong dislike or even hate for him.
LikeLike
People have been grateful for his generosity for decades. Until he ran for president on the republican ticket democrats used to sing his praises the loudest. Talk about “fairweather friends”.
LikeLike
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/how-donald-trump-retooled-his-charity-to-spend-other-peoples-money/2016/09/10/da8cce64-75df-11e6-8149-b8d05321db62_story.html?utm_term=.05a15895bf16
LikeLike
Update from CNN – I know, can’t believe they write…
Puerto Rico public schools may not reopen for weeks
Updated 6:34 PM EDT October 1, 2017
Twelve days after Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico, officials said only 5% of the island has electricity and its schools are not close to reopening.
Julia Kelleher, Puerto Rico’s secretary of education, told CNN on Sunday that some public schools might not resume classes until October 16 because of storm damage, though decisions will be made on a regional basis.
There are 1,113 public schools and a student population of 350,000 on the island but only 400 schools have been assessed for damage, she said.
“I have come up with a target date of October 16th,” Kelleher said. “We used to make system-wide decisions before, but this time we’re going to allow the different regions to make their own decision as to when they can reopen.”
Schools started classes August 14 but students have already missed two weeks because of Hurricane Irma, which lashed the island only days before Maria hit.
The report on schools came one day after President Trump took to Twitter to criticize the leadership of island officials, especially the mayor of San Juan.
Trump, who plans to visit the island Tuesday, criticized San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz and the “leadership ability” of some in Puerto Rico who “want everything to be done for them when it should be a community effort.”
Cruz earlier had criticized the distribution of aid to the island and said federal authorities needed to do more. In addition to widespread power outages, many people have limited access to gas, cash and running water.
FEMA said Sunday it has expanded its delivery of food and water throughout Puerto Rico, though officials stressed that many people still lack the essentials.
The federal emergency agency has delivered food and water to all 79 municipalities in Puerto Rico, Alejandro De La Campa, FEMA federal coordinating officer in Puerto Rico, told reporters Sunday. He said 1 million liters of water and 1 million meals had been delivered as of Saturday.
However, he said some isolated areas of these municipalities may not have received the commodities, partly because lack of communication systems has hampered distribution efforts.
Officialsprovided an update Sunday morning on recovery efforts and the island’s infrastructure:
Water. 41% of the island has potable water.
Food and water delivery. Eleven regional staging areas are open for food and water distribution but officials hope that number will grow to 25 in coming days. About half the grocery stores are operating.
Electricity. 5% of the island has power. The Army Corps of Engineers has begun a mission to repair the power grid, Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello said.
Gasoline. More than 710 of the island’s roughly 1,110 gas stations were working as of Saturday morning, but lines were long and some stations were closing ahead of the 9 p.m. curfew.
Fuel delivery. Over the next few days, close to a million gallons of gasoline and half a million gallons of diesel fuel will arrive, the governor said. As of Sunday, 470,000 barrels of gasoline were in Puerto Rico.
Communications. 36% of people now have phone service in Puerto Rico, most in the northeast part of the island. All the island’s landlines are operating but only about 11% of the cell towers are operational.
Shelters: 8,800 people remain in 139 shelters. Rossello saw this as an improvement because 500 shelters were operating 10 days ago.
Air travel. 39 passenger flights were expected on Sunday in Puerto Rico, which has a maximum efficiency of 60 flights.
Medical care. 51 of 69 hospitals are running in some capacity now, along with 46 of 48 dialysis centers.
Islanders receiving benefits under Puerto Rico’s Nutrition Assistance program who have been displaced by the hurricanes can apply for benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the USDA announced Sunday. The policy will remain in effect through October 31.
Hurricane Maria struck as a category 4 storm on September 20. At least 16 people on the US commonwealth died, the government has said
===
And how many people died in Florida or Texas??
LikeLike
This is what Michael Moore would do, added by Carolmalaysia:
One Week as President and Here’s What I’ll Do to Save Our Fellow Citizens in Puerto Rico
By Michael Moore, Michael Moore’s Facebook Page
01 October 17
or 11 days Trump has let Puerto Rico wallow in hell, its people — Americans — suffering and dying. Make me Commander-In-Chief for one week and here’s what I’ll do to save our fellow citizens in Puerto Rico:
Send the ENTIRE Army Corps of Engineers IMMEDIATELY to Puerto Rico.They can rebuild infrastructure and restore electricity and cell service.
Send aircraft carriers loaded with helicopters to Puerto Rico. They can easily airlift water, food & medicine to every part of the island.
Fly Air Force cargo planes, criss-crossing over the island, and parachute-drop supplies everywhere to the people.
Send in the 82nd Airborne! They can do anything and everything!
Send in all Army truck drivers to get those trucks full of supplies that are now sitting on the docks moving out to the people.
Send in the Marines! Amphibious landings can easily happen all over the island. They can bring generators and other needed materials.
Tell all of the airlines they must contribute hundreds of free flights for all Puerto Ricans who want to come and stay with relatives and friends in the mainland US.
Send a dozen massive tanker ships filled with gasoline and other needed fuels.
As a US territory, and for the safety and protection of the Puerto Rican people, all rebuilding must be done by following the same building codes that contractors have to follow on the mainland.
When the immediate crisis has been resolved, Congress must respect the wishes of over 60% of the Puerto Rican people and make PR a state. And do the same for DC and the Virgin Islands (which also need the same military aid & response right now)!
Trillions of our tax dollars are ripped from us and sent to the Pentagon. For what? So much wrong has been done in our name. Finally, here’s a chance to use the military to truly save American lives and protect American citizens. If I were in charge, that is what I would do.
LikeLike
And Michael Moore is an expert because?? One of the (few) comments I appreciate from our previous president was his admission that BEING president is a lot more difficult than RUNNING for the job.
That, and he brought in a president that had experience with responding.
A lesson he probably learned from TRUMAN, who brought Hoover in to organize the food bridge to Berlin.
LikeLike
Trump has no compassion for anyone who is suffering. I guess this is what happens when he has been given everything materialistic with no effort on his part.
It demonstrates his abysmal character to Tweet against a desperate, grieving mayor from his luxurious private golf course in New Jersey . People who are without food, water, electricity, ATM machines (no money) and medicine are definitely people who should do more to help themselves.
…………………….
“The Mayor of San Juan, who was very complimentary only a few days ago, has now been told by the Democrats that you must be nasty to Trump,” he shamelessly tweeted early on Saturday morning.
Trump insisted, despite numerous reports, that his administration has done a “fantastic job.”
“Such poor leadership ability by the Mayor of San Juan, and others in Puerto Rico, who are not able to get their workers to help. They … want everything to be done for them when it should be a community effort.”
LikeLike
Facts from Reuters. Of course, hard right too, right??
Forty-three FEMA officials, teams of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and more than 1,600 National Guard members had sheltered in place during the storm.
ADVERTISEMENT
The U.S. military has the USS Kearsarge and Oak Hill, amphibious assault ships, assisting in relief efforts. The USS Wasp, which has completed relief efforts off the coast of Dominica, will soon be joining them.
The USNS Comfort, a hospital ship, is en route to Puerto Rico. The Comfort is equipped to carry up to 1,000 hospital beds, 12 operating room and one of America’s largest trauma units.
Fifty-two tilt/rotary-wing aircraft are taking part in efforts, according to the Pentagon.
A Defense Logistics Agency shipment of 100 trucks with diesel and fuel will arrive in next few days.
The Defense Logistics Agency is preparing to distribute potentially 160 million meals in 30 days.
By Friday, 15,000 gallons of propane were expected to arrive in Puerto Rico.
On Thursday, a C-5C aircraft landed with a generator to help radar approach operations, the Pentagon said.
POWER AND WATER
There are 4,000 people working to restore electricity and private U.S. companies will be bringing in 1,000 additional workers this weekend, the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) said.
About 50 percent of people on the island had access to water on Friday, according to PREPA.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has completed a damage assessment at the Guajataca dam and are consulting on repairs. A flash flood watch is posted this weekend with 1 to 3 inches (2.5 to 7.5 cm) of rain possible.
INFRASTRUCTURE
The Pentagon said that eight airports are open, while one airport is still closed.
Five of the six FEMA-priority sea ports are open or open with some restrictions, according the U.S. military.
ADVERTISEMENT
According to the Pentagon release, citing a federal coordinating officer, 400 out of 676 gas stations are open.
About 90 percent of cell phone sites on island remain out of commission, according to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission.
According to a Pentagon update, which cites FEMA, one hospital was fully operational, 55 were partially open and five were closed. The status of eight hospitals was unknown.
LikeLike
Very apparent he is a movie director and has no actual experience. Dramatic on the big screen, useless in reality.
More people died in DOMINICA than in Puerto Rico. At this point it has not risen, so claims of “people dying” are GROSSLY EXAGGERATED. Right now there are more people at risk of death in the Vanuatu eruption this morning.
Someone had mentioned a poll about Trump’s approval rating, as I sad they are subjective. New Rasmussen poll just put Trump’s approval up … now at 45%.
LikeLike
Is Horse manure stinky enough .
LikeLike
Some outside efforts were delayed, BUT THERE WERE ALREADY PEOPLE MOBIZED AND WORKING ON THE ISLAND. They were there before Maria hit.
There are multiple things happening at the same time as well as many complex things to consider. The people in Texas and Florida were closer to assistance for one thing. Their power grid wasn’t wiped out because it was poorly maintained by corrupt governmental control. It was run by the government of Puerto Rico, not private business.
Every time we mobilize we learn how to do it better…but it does not now, more will it EVER be instantaneous. That has nothing to do with the administration. It is because additional people that respond take time to mobilize because they have other day jobs. Those in FEMA and other first responders were there, ready and working when Maria hit. To disregard that fact belittles their life saving contributions.
LikeLike
I imagine the governor of PR and mayor of San Juan are both cognizant of the need to praise tRump since they have no other way to get needed supplies.
…………………………………….
This article was mentioned in a just received email from the WH:
[Richmond Times-Dispatch] Editorial: Is Trump ignoring Puerto Rico? Don’t be ridiculous.
…Federal and military aid for Puerto Rico, other Caribbean islands, and the coast of Florida in the wake of Hurricanes Irma and Maria has been swift and large-scale. Both the governor of Puerto Rico and the mayor of San Juan have been effusive in their praise of relief efforts….
http://www.richmond.com/opinion/our-opinion/editorial-is-trump-ignoring-puerto-rico-don-t-be-ridiculous/article_f0aa1abc-a5d0-5afb-9a4c-251de7244fc4.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=email&utm_campaign=user-share
LikeLike
Carolmalaysia, they can read and watch the news and they’re apparently smart enough to know that Trump lives for praise and admiration, and he gets p!ssed off when he doesn’t get it. (Sort of like a spoiled three-year-old.)
LikeLike
The statehood petition of Puerto Rico could become part of the negotiations for the near future. I hope this tragedy becomes a blessing in the end.
LikeLike
Linda,
The governor of Puerto Rico said that the disaster there-multiplied by the federal government’ slow reaction-would lead to one million Puerto Rican’s moving to the US. Probably to Florida. They will turn it into a blue state.
LikeLike
And THAT is what you care about more than about the plight of the people on the islands
LikeLike
Diane, you are well educated, but seem to have overlooked the fact that it demonstrates poor communication skills when you try and tell someone else what they are thinking. I did not get that understanding from what she wrote.
Keeping lines of communication open and free flowing is important when seeking to understand the other person’s point of view. It is understanding that will allow growth and unity in the end.
LikeLike
He is entitled to his opinion. The number that move will not be known for some time to come. Your point escapes me since any people moving from the island to the mainland would be free to make his, or her, own choices.
LikeLike
Linda,
Trump’s inaction and indifference will cause an internal migration of the people he hates most: people who speak Spanish! And he can’t stop them. They are American citizens.
LikeLike
If the Boricuas are smart they will use this disaster as an aide to pass a resolution to become an independent country
LikeLike
Unlikely, they have no business to support such a move. They have 80 pharmaceutical companies there, but business decisions would probably push them back to their home country where they could receive tax benefits.
A creative plan will be needed for them to be an income producing entity even to achieve statehood.
LikeLike
Historically, the split among the electorate has been roughly 1/3 for independence, 1/3 for continuing the status quo and 1/3 for statehood.
Considering the historical circumstances of how the US stole Puerto Rico from Spain, and the dominant Spanish speaking heritage it makes sense, at least to this Spanish speaking Gringo for them to become an independent country to control their own destiny. But what do I know?
LikeLike
tRump does have a way with words….’an island surrounded by water, big water, ocean water..” He sounds like a third grader, not an adult. I don’t mean to demean third graders. They are still learning. What is tRump’s problem?
I liked Joel Herman’s comment that showed how much better Obama related to the tragedy in Haiti. Our Idiot-in-chief is a moron.
…………………
Trump: US ‘will not rest’ until Puerto Ricans are safe…CNN
…He offered a defense of criticism that his administration was not working fast enough to provide relief to the millions of Americans on the island.
“This is an island surrounded by water, big water, ocean water. We’re closely coordinated with the territorial and local governments, which are totally and unfortunately unable to handle this catastrophic crisis on their own, just totally unable to. The police and truck drivers are very substantially gone, they’re taking care of their families and largely unable to get involved, largely unable to help,” he said.
Check out this story on CNN: http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/29/politics/trump-puerto-rico-federal-response/index.html
LikeLike
Why Does Trump Keep Praising the Emergency Response in Puerto Rico?
The president’s insistence that he’s doing a great job sits uneasily with stories of desperation in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria.
Amid a roiling humanitarian disaster in a U.S. territory, President Trump has one clear, overriding message for the people of Puerto Rico and the rest of the United States: He, Donald Trump, is doing a phenomenal job.
Read More:
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/09/trumps-uncomfortable-maria-messaging/541542/?utm_source=eb
LikeLike
Hurricane Maria is bringing the impact of PR’s “austerity plan” into focus and accelerating the effects. The PR “austerity plan”, like the ones imposed on Greece by the EU, rewards banks and billionaire lenders at the expense of citizens. The flight of well heeled and well-educated PR residents was happening already… Maria will hasten the exodus. While politicians are spending time pointing fingers at each other we might want to follow the money. As I recall Mr. Trump’s initial tweet referenced the debt crisis and his response to a question regarding the waving of the Jones Act also referenced the adverse effect on the bottom line of the shipping industry.
Finally, I find it perverse that the POTUS and GOP are promoting a tax reform bill that will aid the bankers and hedge funders who own the debt in PR instead of passing a bill that will help the 3+ million US citizens in PR who are suffering now and will suffer for months if action isn’t taken.
LikeLike
The administration did NOT wait. There were people on the ground before the first storm and even more before the second storm hit. It took two days to open land and sea ports of entry. Great idea about lining up the trucks. To bad most were damaged by the storms. Doesn’t matter though since the truck drivers on the island are busy trying to save their own families.
One of the Navy’s hospital ships required more than two days to get the required number of personnel on board to leave. There was already one ship in Puerto Rico aiding hospitals.
Everything has to be built from the ground up.
As a former first responder we ALWAYS educated people to plan for a MINIMUM OF THREE DAYS of being on your own before help arrives. That is reality. That number hasn’t changed and never will.
LikeLike
What pathetic excuses I’ve seen above for an ineffective, asleep at the switch response from the president. Seeing what was heading toward Puerto Rico, he should have had contingency plans in place well beforehand, ready to go. He quite obviously did not. As to the roads being impassable, the solution to that is dirt simple and fast. The first thing you land at the ports are the biggest bulldozers you have along with fuel trucks to follow behind them so they can be run 24/7. Next in that line is some kind of camper-trailer combo loaded with food etc. to keep the crews healthy and operational. The military has off the shelf solutions for bridging places where the roads might be gone, and a helocopter survey will identify where and what is needed. You clear a path to strategic locations on the island so more trucks and dozers can follow and clear the roads to secondary rally points. A simple, uncomplicated brute force approach to re-establishing supply lines that should have been on its way as soon as the seas were calm and a preliminary survey done from the air to pull the trigger on it. Far easier to get ready for than D-Day. There is no excuse for the failure of the Dumpster administration on this, none. As to the personnel issues and other lame excuses, they too should have been made ready beforehand. You DO NOT WAIT until disaster has struck to begin getting ready for it, but that is exactly what we have seen from the Dumpster administration.
LikeLike
Like you said the millatary is built to travel on un passable roads . You and I do not have to tell them how to do it . They have done it for 75 years .
LikeLike
I really have had enough of the right wing BS.
“After an earthquake shattered Haiti’s capital on Jan. 12, 2010, the U.S. military mobilized as if it were going to war.
Before dawn the next morning, an Army unit was airborne, on its way to seize control of the main airport in Port-au-Prince. Within two days, the Pentagon had 8,000 American troops en route. Within two weeks, 33 U.S. military ships and 22,000 troops had arrived. More than 300 military helicopters buzzed overhead, delivering millions of pounds of food and water.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/us-responded-to-haiti-quake-more-forcefully-than-to-puerto-rico-disaster/2017/09/28/74fe9c02-a465-11e7-8cfe-d5b912fabc99_story.html?utm_term=.e16b38302d13
Not even close although I am sure as with everything else, the deplorable dirt bag will ramp things up now.
People have never seen anything like this,” President Donald Trump said. “We’ve undertaken a massive federal mobilization to assist Puerto Rico” to include 10,000 federal civilian and 5,000 military personnel, he said in pushing back on growing criticism of the pace and scope of the response.
Let us go through those numbers. 4,400 are Federalized Puerto Rico National Guard .
The General who handled Katrina, is on the ground , says they will need 50,000 troops .
The head of Northern Command also on the ground basically said that the response was totally inadequate, “not enough troops not the right troops and not the right equipment” . Why was he not sent a week ago . Andrew Cuomo landed on the 23, the general on the 28th. . Enough of the garbage .
Trump is the best , the biggest BS artist on the planet .
LikeLike
This comes from the Sierra Club, asking for donations to help. Private donations are good but they can’t do the work of the US government which is failing these people. “…there’s still no dedicated aid package for Puerto Rico — even as the island’s hardest-hit areas have yet to see any FEMA help at all…”:
………………….
Eleven days after Maria ripped through my island of Puerto Rico, the devastation here has been called “apocalyptic” — and I agree. What I’m seeing is that for the most part, things are getting worse, not better.
Most of the island remains without power. Thousands are waiting in hours-long lines just for a bag of ice to keep what food they have from spoiling — and without working ATM machines, most families can’t access funds to purchase more.
Worse, what food, water and other critical supplies have arrived are stuck in tankers, both because the island’s infrastructure is obliterated and because there aren’t enough truck drivers to transport the aid inland, where it is most needed. And we’ve just received word of a flash flood watch, which could set relief efforts back even further.
The 3.4 million Americans living in Puerto Rico are entitled to the same services as someone living in Texas, or Florida, or New York. Yet while the Jones Act has finally been lifted, there’s still no dedicated aid package for Puerto Rico — even as the island’s hardest-hit areas have yet to see any FEMA help at all. As you’ve probably read, Maria is the worst storm to hit our island in 80 years. But if this year’s hurricane season is any indication, it won’t be 80 years before we get another storm like this.
We can’t let history repeat itself: we must rebuild Puerto Rico in a way that is safe and sustainable — with homes and hospitals actually built to new safety codes. With cooling centers, additional generators, and other measures to protect the elderly, children, and other vulnerable people from future power outages and fuel shortages.
We must also work with our partners to ensure that Puerto Rico’s entire infrastructure is overhauled. Clean-energy microgrids are just one example we’re working on: localized to a geographic area, microgrids would allow critical functions to continue when the “big grid” goes out, and would help power cleaner energy systems like solar, wind, and biomass.
In other words, we see it as our moral imperative to ensure that Puerto Rico’s recovery is engineered in a way that is just, equitable, and enduring.
I can’t stress enough the desperation that pervades every corner of this island.
LikeLike
carolmalaysia
I have solar power and am a member of the Sierra Club and received the same email . Not for nothing a Nor Easter challenged my Solar system causing $2500. in damage to my soffits, from snow slides .
So I hesitate to think what will happen when LI. gets hit with another cat 1 Hurricane. A cat 3 takes my roof off. A cat 4 hits Long Island, I move to Arizona.
But lets ask the real question. When you turn on your TV how many Chinook Helicopters with supplies for a month do you see landing in or near remote parts of Puerto Rico?00000000 . When you turn on the TV why do you see little red imported pick up trucks delivering a day or two’s worth of supplies? Where are the all terrain millatary supply vehicles with that big white star inside the circle.
Last night Anderson Cooper nailed it. A group of NYC fireman volunteers took off on their own with supplies ,to where he didn’t say. His off the record interviews with FEMA first respondents described a situation of frustration. Their description was of crippling miss management . Thing are “F… up” was him quoting FEMA employees.
So no matter how much the fat SON OF A BITCH tries to cover it up . The guy who went bankrupt 4 times is showing us why .
LikeLike
Don’t you get it?
He doesn’t care about Puerto Rico.
He will brag about his great work there while doing as little as possible.
He is focused on his golf game.
LikeLike
The “golf game” was what Obama was during the first days after Katrina. Trump has een very busy taking care of the business of ALL citizens.
LikeLike
“The “golf game” was what Obama was during the first days after Katrina.”
Linda Griffin, GEORGE W BUSH was President during Katrina, not Obama. Get your facts straight.
That certainly serves to make everything else you have posted seem extremely suspect.
Sad.
LikeLike
Sandy … I was reading when I wrote this at 5 am.
LikeLike
Linda Giffin
I do feel sorry for you Katrina was in 2005 . Try again like everything out of you it is rather deranged . Obama did not come into office till January 2009.
LikeLike
I admitted my error earlier.
LikeLike
I’m glad to see that SNL is back:
The Chaos President Cold Open – SNL
Saturday Night Live
Published on Sep 30, 2017
President Donald Trump (Alec Baldwin) speaks with Sarah Huckabee Sanders (Aidy Bryant), Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz (Melissa Villaseñor) of San Juan, Jeff Sessions (Kate McKinnon) and Senator Chuck Schumer (Alex Moffat).
LikeLike
One Week as President and Here’s What I’ll Do to Save Our Fellow Citizens in Puerto Rico
By Michael Moore, Michael Moore’s Facebook Page
01 October 17
or 11 days Trump has let Puerto Rico wallow in hell, its people — Americans — suffering and dying. Make me Commander-In-Chief for one week and here’s what I’ll do to save our fellow citizens in Puerto Rico:
Send the ENTIRE Army Corps of Engineers IMMEDIATELY to Puerto Rico.They can rebuild infrastructure and restore electricity and cell service.
Send aircraft carriers loaded with helicopters to Puerto Rico. They can easily airlift water, food & medicine to every part of the island.
Fly Air Force cargo planes, criss-crossing over the island, and parachute-drop supplies everywhere to the people.
Send in the 82nd Airborne! They can do anything and everything!
Send in all Army truck drivers to get those trucks full of supplies that are now sitting on the docks moving out to the people.
Send in the Marines! Amphibious landings can easily happen all over the island. They can bring generators and other needed materials.
Tell all of the airlines they must contribute hundreds of free flights for all Puerto Ricans who want to come and stay with relatives and friends in the mainland US.
Send a dozen massive tanker ships filled with gasoline and other needed fuels.
As a US territory, and for the safety and protection of the Puerto Rican people, all rebuilding must be done by following the same building codes that contractors have to follow on the mainland.
When the immediate crisis has been resolved, Congress must respect the wishes of over 60% of the Puerto Rican people and make PR a state. And do the same for DC and the Virgin Islands (which also need the same military aid & response right now)!
Trillions of our tax dollars are ripped from us and sent to the Pentagon. For what? So much wrong has been done in our name. Finally, here’s a chance to use the military to truly save American lives and protect American citizens. If I were in charge, that is what I would do.
LikeLike
The problem is that tRump gets his news from Fox instead of intelligence briefings. The media didn’t cover Maria as much as Harvey and Irma so Trump wasn’t prepared for this disaster. His lack of attention turned this into a disaster.
……………………………..
Puerto Rico is all our worst fears about Trump coming real
A real crisis comes and Trump can’t handle it.
Updated by Matthew Yglesias@mattyglesiasmatt@vox.com Oct 1, 2017, 9:00am EDT
…“People on TV news shows spoke significantly fewer sentences about Hurricane Maria than about Hurricanes Harvey and Irma,” he writes, and “the spike in conversation about Puerto Rico right as the hurricane hit was also much smaller than the spike in mentions of Texas and Florida.”
Cable producers surely had their reasons for this. But something anyone in the media could tell you is that cable producers’ news judgment is not an infallible guide to the substantive importance of various stories. In particular, a broad range of issues — potentially including natural disasters in outlying US territories — have an asymmetrical quality to them, where if handled appropriately most people won’t care that much, but if botched it eventually becomes a big deal.
This is why traditionally presidents have relied upon staff and the massive information gathering capabilities of the American government for information rather than letting television set the agenda. Trump has a different philosophy, however, and spent the post-storm Saturday glued to his television and letting the hosts of “Fox & Friends” drag him into an ill-advised Twitter spat with NFL stars.
Because Trump wasn’t paying attention, the situation evolved into a catastrophe. And because the situation evolved into a catastrophe, it eventually ended up on television.
The Washington Post reports that by Monday, Trump “was becoming frustrated by the coverage he was seeing on TV.”
Trump can’t un-ring the bell of a slow response
Now that Trump’s inadequate response to Maria’s devastation has become a big issue, the Trump administration is full of excuses for why their response was so inadequate…
A president who was focused on his job could have asked in advance what the plan was for a hurricane strike on Puerto Rico. He would have discovered that since Puerto Rico is part of the United States, FEMA is the default lead agency but it’s the US military that has the ships and helicopters that would be needed to get supplies into the interior of a wrecked island. And he could have worked something out. Instead he didn’t get worked-up about Puerto Rico until over a week after the storm hit when he saw the Mayor of San Juan lambasting him on television. He lashed out with his usual playbook — one that will only make things worse.
Trump turns everything into a culture war
The substantive problem that Trump — and America — is now facing is that you can’t go back in time and do the preparatory work that should have been done. You can’t pre-position satellite phones, schedule timely visits from top administration officials, or quickly dispatch ships and helicopters once you’re starting with an eight-day lag. The best you can do is admit you were too slow and throw everything you’ve got at it.
But admitting wrongdoing isn’t part of Trump’s playbook….
LikeLike
Trump is frustrated because certain media outlets tend to “color” with opinion, rather than facts.
Check your optics … you have one mayor in Puerto Rico claiming Trump was ineffective, when in reality it was she that has not done her job. You want to read about someone doing above and beyond during a natural disaster? The volcanic eruption of Vanuatu is causing the 11,000 inhabitants to be evacuated. All was going as planned getting the ships and standard transportation calls for such an evacuation, but the administrative assistant of the PM did not feel it was enough for the sickest and oldest of the island’s residents. She took it upon herself to hire a plane and pilot to ferry those that would find traveling by boat to taxing.
What has this lone mayor done? She is the only dissatisfied official out of Harvey, Irma, Maria in Puerto Rico AND Maria in the Virgin Islands. Don’t forget while there disasters have been happening Trump is still handling all the requirements of the presidency, traveling to see the damages incurred at each locale, working on tax reform, still working on healthcare, saving taxpayers money, and more. His job is to oversee … agency response from FEMA, or other departments, is automatic. It is PRE-PLANNED and actually practiced ahead of time to make sure it is efficient and not chaotic. Nothing is left to chance. They have learned more from the situation in Puerto Rico because there were two storms and total destruction of 16,000 miles of power lines and poles. Now they have some hard data to go with the planning so next time will be better.
Stop condemning the FEMA response. You are condemning their actions when you falsely blame the president.
LikeLike
“She is the only dissatisfied official out of Harvey, Irma, Maria in Puerto Rico AND Maria in the Virgin Islands. ”
…….
I’ve also read that other mayors in PR are afraid to speak out. They have learned that saying anything critical gets a nasty Tweet back. It will not get anymore help.
LikeLike
Hearsay, just opinion. Why would they be “afraid” to speak out? We do not live in a dictatorship, or a totalitarian society. They are perfectly free to speak out. In fact they are encouraged to speak out. Their input is sought by this administration and it’s various agencies.
LikeLike
It has been proven time and time again that anyone who speaks against Trump is going to receive a nasty Tweet. He cannot take any level of criticism without lashing out.
It is very unfortunate that this mentality has power.
LikeLike
It is a new thing … demonstration that the President of the United States of America has First Amendment Rights like everyone else in the country.
LikeLike
Has someone tried to control Trump’s outbursts? Tweets? News to me.
LikeLike
Diane, here’s a Greek version of chicken soup. Very good for you when you are feeling down or have a cold.
Avgolemono Soup (Greek Egg Lemon Chicken Soup)
One large chicken, cut up
One onion, quartered
Two celery stalks, quartered
Two carrots, quartered
Two cloves garlic
Two–four chicken bullion cubes
One cup rice
Four eggs, separated
Juice of two lemons
Simmer chicken parts in water, adding chicken bullion cubes, onion, carrots, celery, and garlic. When done, skim out the veggies, set the chicken aside, and skim the fat from the stock. (make sure you have about 8 cups—add canned stock or water plus bullion cubes to make 8 cups, if necessary). Bring the stock to a boil. Add 1/2 to 1 cup rice (depending on how “ricey” you like it). Reduce heat and simmer until rice is done. You can add some of the chicken meat, diced, if you want. Remove the pot from the heat. Separate 4 eggs. Beat egg whites until they peak. Add the beaten yolks, then slowly add the juice of two lemons, beating the whole time. Slowly add the stock, a little at a time, until you have added about two cups worth. Then pour the mixture back into the pot, stirring gently. (Take the skin off of the chicken pieces and brown the chicken in butter to serve alongside, or save the meat that you haven’t added to the soup for another use.)
Serve with some crusty bread.
PS Be very slow and careful when adding the stock to the beaten eggs and lemon, otherwise, you will wind up with Greek egg drop soup.
PPS A glass of white wine on the side doesn’t hurt, either.
LikeLike
I think I am going to get some terrific recipes out of this discussion. 🙂
LikeLike
Well, I have a couple of other recipes on other threads, too.
Enjoy!
LikeLike
The Spanish speaking press realizes that Trump always plays to his base since that is all he has left. They are not important.
This was written in WaPo:
..Trump has been pilloried in the Spanish-language press for launching a culture war against the NFL amid the suffering in Puerto Rico. He tweeted more than a dozen times over the weekend about the national anthem, but he was silent and seemed unsympathetic about the damage from the hurricane.
On Monday night, pop star Marc Anthony tweeted angrily at the president: “Mr. President shut the [expletive] up about NFL. Do something about our people in need in #PuertoRico. We are American citizens too.” The post quickly got more than 89,000 retweets and 221,000 likes. Other Latino celebrities like Ricky Martin, Pitbull and Jennifer Lopez also tried to call more public attention to the misery on the ground.
“On Monday when we realized that the president had spent the weekend fighting with football players and their mothers, we realized, ‘Wait a minute. This guy hasn’t said anything about us,’” said Luis A. Miranda, a Democratic consultant in New York who is of Puerto Rican descent. “What crystalized it was Marc Anthony’s tweet. … Trump’s tweets are red meat for the third of the country — his base — that is the only thing that he has left. A tweet about Puerto Rico is not good red meat for his base, so he’d rather fight about the American flag and what African American athletes do to raise consciousness.”
LikeLike