Here we go again? Hurricane Maria

[noleclone2]

And yes, I was being sarcastic

 

[ReliableOstrich]

That's because they ain't part of the US of A. We can't be helping no third world countries everytime they have a disaster. We need to look after American citizens first.

Lol sadly way too many folks think your joke is reality...

The Economist-YouGov survey of 2,000 U.S. citizens aged 18 and older, conducted from May 6 to 9, found just 43 percent of Americans knew the citizenship status of Puerto Ricans. And 41 percent said the island’s residents were simply Puerto Rican, presumably assuming the territory is a sovereign country.

Edit: I'm actually surprised 43% knew Puerto Ricans are American citizens. My cynicism about the intelligence of the average American knows no bounds.

 

[seminole97]

As for PR and the USVI, it appears to be turning into a humanitarian crisis. 3.5m Americans without power, dwindling food, water, and communication.

Logistically, it is going to be so much tougher to pick up the pieces from this one.
You can drive in power crews from the rest of the country for FL and TX.

I wonder how much of Air Mobility Command is available (meaning, not actively supporting our participation in overseas wars).
Factor in Military Sealift Command and we possess an enormous capacity to move stuff.
Needs to be mobilized for something useful...

 

[seminole97]

Edit: I'm actually surprised 43% knew Puerto Ricans are American citizens. My cynicism about the intelligence of the average American knows no bounds.

This is why low voter turnout doesn't bother me. I figure most of the folks skipping the opportunity don't know much about what is going on anyway.

 

[ReliableOstrich]

This is why low voter turnout doesn't bother me. I figure most of the folks skipping the opportunity don't know much about what is going on anyway.

I'd say we owe it to ourselves as a proud democracy to fix both of the problems you mention.

And while we're at it, seems like we ought to be giving our island territories statehood.

 

[DanC78]

I'm guilty of girge

I'd say we owe it to ourselves as a proud democracy to fix both of the problems you mention.

And while we're at it, seems like we ought to be giving our island territories statehood.

I was under the impression they did not want statehood, but is an option if they wanted to explore.

 

[seminole97]

I'd say we owe it to ourselves as a proud democracy to fix both of the problems you mention.

Bigger problem to me is that most don't know it's actually a republic, and more importantly what that distinction means. I'd enjoy a discussion on it, but this unfortunately isn't the thread or forum.

And while we're at it, seems like we ought to be giving our island territories statehood.

We're certainly not withholding it. They simply haven't voted in favor.
Nothing like what's going on in Catalonia. I wish we could have a thread on that story.

 

[321Nole]

So you fed yourself a mediocre sandwich in order to troll some people from New York. Appears to me you trolled yourself.

They looked at you like you were stupid because, what you were doing, intentionally ordering asking for a poorly made sandwich, was in fact pretty stupid.

Hope the look on their faces was worth the cotton mouth as you suffered through that sandwich and the money you wasted on it.

It was.

 

[321Nole]

Logistically, it is going to be so much tougher to pick up the pieces from this one.
You can drive in power crews from the rest of the country for FL and TX.

I wonder how much of Air Mobility Command is available (meaning, not actively supporting our participation in overseas wars).
Factor in Military Sealift Command and we possess an enormous capacity to move stuff.
Needs to be mobilized for something useful...

With the recent fervor about Red Cross allegedly not being the greatest stewards of funds, I don't even know where to donate to help. I've seen some GoFundMe accounts from local groups, but are those any better?

They are going to need a massive amount of help, and I'm open to suggestion from the LR.

 

[seminole97]

A bit stunning that we haven't deployed more resources or heard much if anything from the federal government about it -- they were very gung-ho about bragging about their FL and TX responses, yet this one dwarfs those and suddenly everyone is very tight lipped.

It's looking more like we just haven't heard about:

JOHN YANG: Governor, are you getting all the aid you need or getting it fast enough from the states?

GOV. RICARDO ROSSELLO: First of all, we are very grateful for the administration. They have responded quickly.

The president has been very attentive to the situation, personally calling me several times. FEMA and the FEMA director have been here in Puerto Rico twice. As a matter of fact, they were here with us today, making sure that all the resources in FEMA were working in conjunction with the central government.

We have been working together. We have been getting results. The magnitude of this catastrophe is enormous. This is going to take a lot of help, a lot of collaboration. So, my call is to congressmen and congresswomen to take action quickly and conclusively with an aid package for Puerto Rico.

We are in the midst of potentially having a humanitarian crisis here in Puerto Rico which would translate to a humanitarian crisis in the United States. So, I call upon Congress to take action immediately. You know, Puerto Ricans are proud U.S. citizens.

On Saturday, the Associated Press reported:

Rossello and other officials praised the federal government for planning its response in detail before the storm hit, a contrast with what Puerto Rico has long seen as the neglect of 3.4 million Americans living in a territory without a vote in Congress or the electoral college.

"This is the first time we get this type of federal coordination," said Resident Commission Jenniffer Gonzalez, Puerto Rico's non-voting representative in Washington.

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DHS press release goes over some of the resources committed so far.