Do you doubt anything he wrote?
http://fortune.com/2017/09/22/puerto-rico-hurricane-maria-help-recovery/
https://www.cnbc.com/2015/07/02/like-greece-puerto-rican-debt-is-all-about-socialism.html
http://www.europac.com/commentaries...ed_puerto_rico_and_how_capitalism_can_save_it

Umm, maybe the central claim to the NY Post story. Notice there is no, I mean NO claim of corruption or ineptitude in any of the other three articles. So, I disagree with that part of the NYPost piece.

I also would like to note that the other pieces go out of their way to say the economic state of affairs are not the fault of the PR government or people. It is mostly a comes of errors from the federal government. An entity the PR people cannot influence. They get no vote for president, no vote in congress or Senate.

They get things like federal minimum wage, the Jones Act, the tax free status for pharmaceutical manufacturers (so the Fed incouraged them to build up infrastructure for companies like Abbott and Pfizer), the the Fed killed the tax exempt status so Abbott and Pfizer left and PR is paying the loans on that infrastructure.

The story in the Post is crap, the guy they interviewed is suffering from the Pharma exodus and crying sour grapes. Note his company sells process automation in PR. His LinkedIn account says greater NYC area. I'm not sure he has been back since the Hurricane.

 

@GopherT,

Your reaching way back for that Post front page. Koch hasn't been mayor since the mid 1970s. Then again, the post reminded everyone at election time, "Don't be a Koch sucker."

 

@GopherT

The NYT talks about the financial side of PR ... https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/03/business/dealbook/puerto-rico-debt.html

The article preceded Maria.

 

@GopherT

The NYT talks about the financial side of PR ... https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/03/business/dealbook/puerto-rico-debt.html

The article preceded Maria.

I’m sorry, but I don’t recall disagreeing on the fact that they’ve been in financial trouble for nearly 100 years (Oh, wait, the Jones Act is 100years old).

If you could please focus on what I said instead of what you think I said, you would realize that my objection was with the NYPost article saying there was corruption and ineptness in PR.

 

The Jones act, allowing foreign flags into a unincorporated territory, is irrelevant when the harbor is closed. U.S. Flag ships couldn't get into a closed harbor. The channel markers still needed to be placed to allow safe navigation. These are things that take time. You can't get from the mainland to PR by sea in microseconds. You can't make a harbor safe in atto seconds.

You cite a newspaper page from the 1983 calling it ridiculous. Yet, I remember when Koch was attempting to put 1000 cops on the street. I remember bizzare murders in NYC, so a headless body in a topless bar is reality.

from http://nypost.com/2015/06/09/new-york-post-editor-and-film-critic-vincent-musetto-dies-at-74/
A psycho had invaded a Queens after-hours joint, shot the owner to death and then — on learning a female customer was a mortician — ordered her to cut off the victim’s head, which cops later found in the madman’s car.

Sensationalism and sex still sells. It's been amplified 1000 fold since the advent of the internet.

 

The Jones act, allowing foreign flags into a unincorporated territory, is irrelevant when the harbor is closed. U.S. Flag ships couldn't get into a closed harbor. The channel markers still needed to be placed to allow safe navigation. These are things that take time. You can't get from the mainland to PR by sea in microseconds. You can't make a harbor safe in atto seconds.

You cite a newspaper page from the 1983 calling it ridiculous. Yet, I remember when Koch was attempting to put 1000 cops on the street. I remember bizzare murders in NYC, so a headless body in a topless bar is reality.



Sensationalism and sex still sells. It's been amplified 1000 fold since the advent of the internet.

What is your point?

 

What is your point?

That you have joined me in the "always wrong club"?

 

That you have joined me in the "always wrong club"?

I think he is trying to say the NYPost is a legit news paper? After all, so many hack newspapers have become mainstream over the years. Especially after Rupert Merdoch buys them.

Maybe he is trying to pick up Wayneh's weak claim that it is the corruption and ineptness of the PR people that caused the slow FEMA response.

Or that a 10-day lift of the Jones act is plenty to reinvigorate the PR economy.

I'm just not sure.

 

Notice there is no, I mean NO claim of corruption or ineptitude in any of the other three articles.

I'll accept your point that the guy probably has an axe to grind.

To some, socialism is synonymous with corruption and ineptitude. Just different words.

As with any government, there is plenty evidence of corruption:
https://apnews.com/ae02babe736f4ffcbe1b48fd5faad228/4-guilty-1-puerto-ricos-biggest-corruption-cases
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/02/puerto-rico-police-department-abuses-reform/
https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CREC-2003-03-11/html/CREC-2003-03-11-pt1-PgH1725.htm

 

Maybe he is trying to pick up Wayneh's weak claim that it is the corruption and ineptness of the PR people that caused the slow FEMA response.

I think FEMA is doing a fine job, and it's the government of PR I blame, not the people. I know the government has serious flaws, but I don't know that about the people. It's like Illinois: Is it fair to blame the people for Mike Madigan? In Illinois I think it's fair to place some of the blame on voters. I don't know enough about to PR to make that judgement.

 

I think FEMA is doing a fine job, and it's the government of PR I blame, not the people. I know the government has serious flaws, but I don't know that about the people. It's like Illinois: Is it fair to blame the people for Mike Madigan? In Illinois I think it's fair to place some of the blame on voters. I don't know enough about to PR to make that judgement.

I’ve never understood why the FIMA Director is a political appointee instead of a logistics and planning expert that has time to make a career and learn from his mistakes and successes and train his successor. Granted, many lower level staff stay on as career people but a job like that needs leadership, a strategic vision and operational excellence - and that takes leadership.

 

OT and Different Hurricane, but I just read of the loss with all hands of a nice ship in Hurricane Mitch of a ship I cruised on for some time.

Always wondered what became of her.
Max.

 

More likely a perspective of the NYPost. Don't you know anything about this NY Tabloid. People read it for the sensationalized humor or daily stories.

View attachment 136407

Why is this news?

Isn't that where one would expect to find a headless body?

 

I’ve never understood why the FIMA Director is a political appointee instead of a logistics and planning expert that has time to make a career and learn from his mistakes and successes and train his successor. Granted, many lower level staff stay on as career people but a job like that needs leadership, a strategic vision and operational excellence - and that takes leadership.

I think FEMA is primarily a bureaucratic body that might be OK with non-emergency functions like training, coordinating funding, infrastructure preparedness, that sort of thing. When bad things actually happen, it seems to me the military is far better equipped to help. Moving stuff around quickly and functioning autonomously without utilities is what they do, and they're good at it.

 

My point is .... that the jones act does not matter if you can't get into a harbor. There are logistical problems to overcome before massive aid can be delivered. I haven't tracked down a story that the union drivers in PR wanted 50 per hour, well above the prevailing wage, to driver a normal shift, but that sounds like price gouging to me. I don't know when the airport was reopened for flights. You can not mount a massive aid without having a way to distribute it.

I do know PR became an unincorporated territory in 1952. I do remember them kicking the Navy out.

I guess they could have done combat offloads from C130s, but I doubt if the San Juan mayor could organize a space to allow such an offload to happen and have the people to distribute them. Her videos and interviews are nice that she is in front of a lot of material that should have been distributed while complaining it's not being distributed as seen on MSM.

What is the locals responsibility in a disaster? Why hasn't the San Juan mayor been to the FEMA meetings? I see she shown up when Trump was there, probably because there would be camera's so she can have some free publicity.

Did you not see the mechanics of the storm? The radii of the high winds? Your expecting too much.

I see you would rather believe the sensationalism of the internet feeds vice looking for the problems. Look for the reasons why things were slowed down. I seriously doubt you could have done better.

Sensationalism sells. If you don't believe me, just watch MSN.

 

I’ve never understood why the FIMA Director is a political appointee instead of a logistics and planning expert that has time to make a career and learn from his mistakes and successes and train his successor. Granted, many lower level staff stay on as career people but a job like that needs leadership, a strategic vision and operational excellence - and that takes leadership.

Maybe your question should be addressed to this person ...

"On April 1, 1979, President Jimmy Carter signed the executive order that created the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)."

I doubt Jimmy would have wanted a bureaucrat in charge of a Federal Agency when he can appoint a crony.

 

My point is .... that the jones act does not matter if you can't get into a harbor

...and the Jones Act has been in effect the entire time - and requiring the people of PR to pay freight prices from US mainland to PR more than 3x higher ($9000) than the cost of moving a container to China ($3000). But good job on misunderstanding the comment on the Jones Act.

Also, the truck drivers are at their homes, waiting for cell phone service to be restored. The few truck drivers within walking distance of the port are saying, hey, supply and demand - free market - republican-style capitalism - if you can’t find anyone else to move the freight, I’m charging $50/hr. I don’t see anything wrong with that as long as Trump can’t send more utility workers to fix the cables. Do you think nanny state should prevent the capitalism? So you think the port managers should be calling for some assistance to get the telephone lines(data lines) fixed so they can contact the rest of their drivers?

Tell me joe, how should this work? What is your point?

 

Maybe your question should be addressed to this person ...

"On April 1, 1979, President Jimmy Carter signed the executive order that created the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)."

I doubt Jimmy would have wanted a bureaucrat in charge of a Federal Agency when he can appoint a crony.

Read Carter’s version of the bill - he did propose a permanent staff. Reagan changed it to a political appointee.

 

@GopherT

Here is the Administrators bio ... not the full bio. I wonder how he snuck past the Senate Confirmation ....

"Brock Long was confirmed by the U.S. Senate and began his service as the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in June 2017. Mr. Long has more than 16 years of experience assisting and supporting local, state, and Federal Governments with building robust emergency management and public health preparedness programs."

How did such a rookie get past the senate?

 

@GopherT

Here is the Administrators bio ... not the full bio. I wonder how he snuck past the Senate Confirmation ....

"Brock Long was confirmed by the U.S. Senate and began his service as the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in June 2017. Mr. Long has more than 16 years of experience assisting and supporting local, state, and Federal Governments with building robust emergency management and public health preparedness programs."

How did such a rookie get past the senate?

Have you seen Betsy DeVos’s bio? Since when in the last 9 months has “qualified” been a requirement to be in the administration? Our FEMA administrator is a hack.