This is the 528th edition of the Spotlight on Green News & Views (previously known as the Green Diary Rescue) usually appears twice a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Here is the Sept. 27 Green Spotlight. More than 27,925 environmentally oriented stories have been rescued to appear in this series since 2006. Inclusion of a story in the Spotlight does not necessarily indicate my agreement with or endorsement of it.
OUTSTANDING GREEN STORIES
ExpatGirl writes—"People Are Dying Here." Trump Golfs While Puerto Rico Dies. ”’People are dying here.’ — San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz. After a week of tweeting about the NFL, Trump is going golfing this weekend. Meanwhile, PUERTO RICO IS DYING. The US Congress has done nothing. The MSM has dropped the ball as well. We. Have. To. Keep. Screaming. Please, DKos community, don’t let up.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—What Might Pruitt’s Clean Power Plan Replacement Look Like? A Traditional Liberal Policy, Actually: “On Monday, the Trump administration will announce a new regulatory agenda. Coincidentally, next Saturday, October 7th, is a deadline for the EPA to provide details on what it’s doing with the Clean Power Plan (CPP). [...] But what might that replacement plan look like? As it turns out, we have some clues. While Pruitt has been hesitant (at best) to engage with mainstream media, he has done plenty of interviews with conservative outlets. [...] In one interview with the Washington Examiner from last week, Pruitt suggests that those wondering about what’s to come with the CPP “take a look at the Oklahoma plan” he released in 2014 as an alternative to other state’s thinking on how to meet climate goals. With considerable prescience, the NYTimes posted this plan earlier this year, so if you want all the details, here they are. With the CPP, the EPA set science-based emission goals for states and let them figure out how best to meet that goal. By contrast, Pruitt’s Oklahoma plan would have each state doing only that which is convenient for the power plants, asking for efficiency upgrades based on their boiler design, coal type, plant age and other factors. So instead of the CPP’s free market-based mechanism which would allow for states to meet emission reduction goals by transitioning to clean, cheap renewables and away from dirty old coal, Pruitt’s plan is actually more in the vein of traditional liberal command and control regulations that create define specific actions that should or should not be taken for each individual polluter.”
CRITTERS AND THE GREAT OUTDOORS
OceanDiver writes—Dawn Chorus: At long last, RAy the Oystercatcher has a Family! “RAy is a very special oystercatcher. RAy and I both hang out at a nearby beach and I’ve been following his doings for the past 4 years — at least those I’ve had the chance to see, since neither of us is at the beach all the time. I call him RAy because he bears a red-and-white plastic band on his left leg that reads “RA”. He also wears a more typical metal band that has much more information but those are only readable when a bird is in hand: captured or dead. Fortunately, the lettered color band was enough information for me to track down who he is. After submitting my observation to the North American Bird Banding program (more detailed account in this Daily Bucket), I eventually received an email in December 2013 from Ruth Milner, the local WDFW Wildlife Biologist who banded him: ‘Thanks for photographing and reporting the Black Oystercatcher. This is a male who was banded with his mate on Iceberg Island in May 2009 as part of a winter movements study. It’s good to know he’s still around and that his red band is still readable.’ Iceberg Island is an offshore rock half a mile from this beach! He’s a local. Oystercatchers in Washington don’t migrate. Oystercatchers are monogamous over many years so it appears that sometime after the pair were banded RAy lost his mate.”
Besame writes—Daily Bucket: conservation is complicated - longer flowering season doesn't mean happier bees: “As global warming causes earlier spring warmth and later fall frosts, the flowering season lengthens. This would appear to benefit pollinators dependent on flowers for food. A casual examination of longer flowering periods suggests this results in an abundance of food sources for pollinators like bumble bees. Snow melts earlier, plants begin growing sooner, produce flowers earlier, and can continue to grow longer before being killed back by frost. Bumble bees flourish and their colonies increase. Makes sense, right? A study of three subalpine bumble bees in the Rocky Mountains, however, contradicts this simplistic assumption and instead shows that a longer growing season can lead to bumble bee population declines. The study found that the critical factor isn’t floral abundance, it’s sufficient temporal floral distribution throughout the season. Spring plants flower first and then set seed as summer plants begin to bloom. We don’t have the same plants flowering in spring, summer, and fall as most species have a particular flowering period. Ideally these flowering periods overlap and offer a continuous food supply for pollinators.”
ban nock writes—The Wildlife Society: “With all the various groups and organisations it’s often hard to tell which one is which, they all sound the same. The Wildlife Society is the National Organisation for Wildlife Biologists. If someone is a certified Wildlife Biologist, it’s the Society who certified them. The org is old school, begun in the days of Leopold when science was first being used to manage wildlife. The society advocates for science based policy and conservation. They publish peer reviewed studies in their Journal and they also publish position statements on various issues topical to the management of wildlife. I often read their position statements and find myself being convinced as to the validity of whatever stance the Society is taking on a particular issue. I don’t always like it, but mostly I agree with what is being said as their reasoning is based not only the best scientific knowledge available, but also on what is best for the species and the ecology of all the species in that particular habitat. [...] The reason I write today is because the Society sent me a membership, and I’m extremely grateful. I’ve no idea why they sent me a membership, certainly not because I’m in any way deserving. The cost of membership at $80 per year was way beyond my means, and now not only can I read the magazines online but they send them to me also. The Society publishes The Wildlife Professional, The Journal of Wildlife Management, and the online Wildlife Society Bulletin, the last two publications are of peer-reviewed studies.”
owktree writes—Daily Bucket: Mirror Alphabet - "L": “Today’s letter in the Mirror Alphabet is ‘L’. Time to get our ducks in a row.”
Besame writes—Daily Bucket: how much wood does a woodchuck chuck and other nomenclature glitches: “A change of pace today due to info I learned in a past Bucket: acorn woodpeckers don’t prefer to eat acorns. I’ve been watching woodpeckers embedding acorns in trees for decades and have met some amazing acorn granary trees. Imagine — all that work and acorns aren’t their main diet! Started me wondering how often does a name accurately describe wildlife or plants and does it matter if it does? What do woodchucks do with wood? How about anteaters and bee-eaters? What flowers do you expect for baby blue eyes or butter ‘n eggs? Let’s begin with an easy one — woodchucks don’t chuck wood. Marmota monax have other common names: whistle-pig (they do make a whistling alarm call but are rodents not pigs) and groundhog (while they spend most of their time on or under ground, they also can climb trees but are still rodents not hogs). Woodchuck comes from wuchak, their Algonquian name.”
OceanDiver writes—The Daily Bucket - here's how you otter eat a sculpin (with pictures): “Salish Sea, Pacific Northwest. September 2017. It might not have come up yet, but if it does, you’ll want to be prepared: how properly eat a freshly caught raw BIG fish. Luckily I got a tutorial recently, and will share it with you. First, you find a table. Usually River Otters just surface with their catch and munch it down floating there before diving back down for the next fish or crab. But when their prize is too big for that, they need a solid surface to dispatch and dismember it. This Otter considered using the beach but saw a good-size flock of gulls down the way, and picked this rock a little ways out, surrounded by water there being a medium high tide, with a ledge on the far side for privacy. When the tide’s higher it’s a breeze climbing on board, but this time Otter had to choose the easiest spot to climb up onto the ledge.”
Dan Bacher writes—2017 Groundfish Depth Regulations Will Go Back To 2016 Regs: “The Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) on September 18 voted to bring groundfish depth restrictions for the balance of 2017 back to 2016 depths in California from Pt. Conception to the Oregon border. The restrictions will go into effect after the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) publishes an official notice of the regulation changes. ‘We expect the regulation change to be published in the Federal Register on or before October 16,’ said Marci Yaremko, the CDFW Designee on the PFMC. The CDFW was expected to issue a press release as this publication was going to press.”
Sylvanus Prince writes—The Daily Bucket. Flickers, frogs and final fall photos. The Bizz Johnson Trail: “ was hoping for exhilarating fall colors along the trail but I was a bit early it seems. So I’ll just share what I did get. I’ll let the photos speak for themselves for the most part. [...] Following the first night’s camp at about the five-mile marker, I pedaled onward (and upward, always upward), toward my turn-around camp at about the 12.5 mile point.
This (first) sighting of a Flicker was a memorable experience. Literally dozens of them exploded out of the pine trees along the trail just ahead of me as I approached on my bicycle. They disappeared back into the pines just as fast. Thankfully this was not the only chance for a Flicker photo; I did better once I finally got to my next camp.”
OCEANS, WATER, DROUGHT
Dan Bacher writes—Yurok Tribal Chair: 'The Klamath River Is Extremely Sick': “The extremely elevated levels of a liver-damaging toxin in the Lower Klamath River is a symptom of a pervasive problem that has far-reaching implications. ‘The Klamath River is extremely sick,’ said Thomas P. O’Rourke Sr., Chairman of the Yurok Tribe. “Algae are a clear indicator of poor water quality, which negatively affects the salmon population and the ecosystem as a whole. It’s frustrating that even with this year’s above-average rainfall and snowpack, the river conditions are still compromised.”The Yurok Tribe Environmental Program, during its weekly water quality tests on September 12 and 13, detected record-breaking levels of microcystin, a contaminant emitted by a toxic algal species called Microcystis aeruginosa. The test results contained 10 to 30 times more of the toxin than common health standards deem safe and were the highest since testing began in 2006. This year, high rates of microcystin first showed up in late August, which prompted Tribal and public health officials to warn residents against contacting a 200-mile stretch of the river below the lower four Klamath dams. In addition to causing injury to the livers of humans and other mammals, exposure to the toxin is also harmful to the eyes, skin and throat.”
ENERGY
Fossil Fuels
poopdogcomedy writes—PA-Gov: Tom Wolf (D) Mounts Pressure On GOP General Assembly To Pass A Gas & Oil Severance Tax: “Despite booming production, Pennsylvania is the only major gas-producing state in the country without a tax on natural gas. Even Texas, Oklahoma, and West Virginia have a severance tax to help fund education and other key priorities. Instead of doing what's right for the people of Pennsylvania, State Senator Scott Wagner, who is also a Republican candidate for governor, was caught on tape conspiring with Republican legislative leaders to block a shale tax all for the purposes of defeating Governor Wolf in next year's election. It represents the worst of what infuriates people about the politicians in Harrisburg. ‘Stan, you cannot let this severance tax get through... because if that happens the governor is going to get reelected. Stan, you take that to the bank.’-- State Senator Scott Wagner (R-York). This quote shows that Republicans like Wagner don't care about balancing our budget, growing our economy, or any of the other pressing issues facing our state.”
Idon’tknowwhy writes—Perry proposes law to force Americans to buy dirtier, costlier power: “So this happened yesterday while Rump was distracting everyone with his tweets. In a brazen move, Energy Secretary Rick Perry has ignored the findings of his own grid study and proposed a new federal rule that would effectively force Americans to buy dirtier, more expensive power. The Department of Energy (DOE) announced Friday morning that Perry has ‘formally proposed that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) take swift action to address threats to U.S. electrical grid resiliency.’ FERC oversees the U.S. grid and regulates interstate electricity transmission.To make his case, Perry has fabricated an economic threat to U.S. grid reliability from cheap renewables and then proposed a rule to account for the imaginary reliability benefit of other electricity sources — all the while ignoring the actual health and environmental costs of carbon pollution from burning coal that aren’t priced in to the market yet.”
Walter Einenkel writes—Republicans are budgeting Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for drilling to pay billionaires billions: “According to Inside Climate News, the Senate Budget Committee released a ‘draft’ that ties their big ‘tax reform’ bill to opening up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). The committee was instructed to submit the legislation under a special process—called reconciliation—that would allow it to pass with a simple majority, instead of requiring a two-thirds majority. This would allow it to pass without any votes from Democrats. The move is similar to what the House did when its budget was proposed in July. [...] ‘There is bipartisan opposition to drilling in our nation's most pristine wildlife refuge, and any effort to include it in the tax package would only further imperil the bill as a whole,’ Sen. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) said in a statement. Republicans and their fossil fuel overlords have been drooling over the money they could make drilling in areas like the ANWR for some time now. Our current orangutan in office has threatened Alaska’s energy industry over their Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s inability to swallow the poison capsule that was the numerous ‘repeal and replace’ bills. Unfortunately, just because Sen. Mukowski made the only humane decision on her party’s death-panel legislation, that doesn’t mean she isn’t living in an oil-rich pocketbook.”
lenamoffitt83 writes—The Arctic: What’s at Stake: “The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is the only refuge designated specifically for wilderness purposes. It’s one of the world’s last untouched wild places-- home to a dizzying array of wildlife uniquely shaped by the extreme environment, picturesque mountains and coastal lagoons, and the Caribou Porcupine herd whose health is tied inextricably to that of the Alaska Native Gwich’in. It’s also a place we cannot take for granted. The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is facing greater risks than ever before; its sensitive coastal plain could soon be handed over to the oil industry. Congress is poised to include a provision its budget bill that would open the Refuge to drilling, even as the Trump administration quietly moves forward with plans to take the first step toward drilling-- seismic testing in the coastal plain.Seismic testing would leave its own lasting legacy, as can be seen by the scars still visible today from the brief testing completed in the 1980’s. But drilling would lead to damage on a grand scale-- for the Arctic Refuge, for the people and wildlife who depend on it, and for our climate. Drilling inevitably brings spilling, and a broad industrial complex that would subsume the wild qualities that make the Arctic Refuge so unique. There is no way to drill in this region without damaging the coastal plain of the Arctic Refuge, and without harming the Porcupine herd of Caribou that use this area to birth their calves.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Perry to FERC: Prop Up Failing Coal and Nuclear With Piles of Cash: “When the Department of Energy’s grid study came out in late August, we said it was obvious that it would be used to justify undeserved handouts to coal and nuclear (even though its contents didn’t actually support that idea). On Friday, fleet-footed DoE Secretary Rick Perry danced around reality to confirm those suspicions by proposing a new rule for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. This new rule Perry wants FERC to consider would make power plants that keep a 90-day fuel supply on hand eligible to receive “full recovery of costs” if they can “withstand major fuel supply disruptions caused by natural and man-made disasters.” In plain language, it would force the public to pay billions to coal and nuclear plants that can’t compete with gas and renewables. The supposed justification for this handout is national security. Perry’s reasoning--directly contradicted by his own agency’s grid study--is that in times of emergency the country needs coal to keep the lights on. In the real world (which apparently the Trump administration can only reach via pricey private jets) natural and man-made disasters often incapacitate the very power plants Perry wants to prop up with ratepayer money.”
REGULATIONS & PROTECTIONS
Meteor Blades writes—EPA says it will work more closely with industry. Why not just rent Pruitt an office in Trump Tower? “Top staffers for Environmental Protection Agency-hating EPA chief Scott Pruitt announced the agency’s Smart Sectors program Tuesday. Under this the EPA will work in close partnership with industries it regulates. In a press release, Pruitt said: ‘When we consider American business as a partner, as opposed to an adversary, we can achieve better environmental outcomes” [...] “The Smart Sectors program is designed to effectively engage business partners throughout the regulatory process. The previous administration created a narrative that you can’t be pro-business and pro-environment. This program is one of the many ways we can address that false choice and work together to protect the environment. When industries and regulators better understand each other, the economy, public, and the environment all benefit.’ Golly, that sounds just fantastic. Cooperative efforts to protect the environment arebetter than adversarial ones. And, in fact, there has been quite a lot of agency-industry-environmental-activist cooperation since the EPA was founded nearly half a century ago. But since the guy announcing this program of cooperation was at the forefront of the adversarial approach by initiating or joining 14 lawsuits against the EPA while he was attorney general of Oklahoma, it’s time to break out the salt shaker. What Pruitt is really talking about is making the EPA knuckle under whenever industry raises objections to the mildest agency initiatives.”
WILDERNESS, NATIONAL FORESTS AND PARKS, OTHER PUBLIC LANDS
MorrellWI1983 writes—Expanding the National Parks System- #41 South Dakota: “This is the forty-first diary in my Expanding the National Parks series. Prior diaries are linked at the bottom of the diary. Last time I was in South Carolina, today I’m in South Dakota. South Dakota has 6.2% of its territory federally owned, good for 23rd most in the country, slightly behind Arkansas and slightly ahead of Minnesota and Wisconsin. Currently, South Dakota has 2 national parks, 1 national monuments, 2 national forests, 9 wildlife refuges, and 7 historic sites and other NPS units. I will propose adding 4 additional monuments to South Dakota's tally. South Dakota. Total Area 77 116 sq miles. Land Area 75 811 sq miles. Water Area 1 305 sq miles. Coastline — 0 miles. Additional Monuments- 4.”
AGRICULTURE, FOOD & GARDENING
strawbale writes—PWB Peeps: Family, Food, Friends, Fun on the Farm: “Goats are premier weed-whackers. They also love it when we toss them the weeds we have pulled up. (we won’t mention the young trees they also eat...)(or the bizarre fact that they ate the hair off the mini-horse's tail when they shared pasture). [...] The boy goats have also learned to be pack animals for hiking. They like hiking because it means they get to nibble anything they find, and climb hills. A flock of foraging turkeys can really cut down the earwig problem.”
TRANSPORTATION & INFRASTRUCTURE
Walter Einenkel writes—GM unveils an entirely electric fleet for the future: 20 cars over the next six years: “The future of travel is less and less dependent on fossil fuels. That’s clear, and it’s essential if we are to save ourselves from ourselves. Tesla’s Elon Musk has promised that after almost 15 years of development of very expensive, high-performance electric cars, his company is ready to begin rolling out more consumer-friendly (aka affordable) electric cars. But Tesla is a smaller company with nowhere near the manufacturing infrastructure of major car companies, and it seems that General Motors now believes electric will be the key to their future success. They recently announced that they will be pushing out two new electric models to join their already existing Bolt and Volt, with the promise of possibly 18 new electric vehicles for sale by 2023. That product onslaught puts the company at the forefront of an increasingly large crowd of automakers proclaiming the age of electricity and promising to move away from gasoline- and diesel-powered vehicles.”
m2c4 writes—GOP Policies Put Northeast Transportation Corridor At Risk: “Way back in 2010, when Chris Christie was trying to begin to burnish his conservative credentials in order to some day run for President, he was in a bind. The New Jersey highway transportation fund used to maintain the state’s roads and bridges was woefully underfunded and it would require a hike in the ridiculously low gas tax in order to replenish it. But that would be a tax hike, an anathema to conservatives, and something Christie just could not broach if he wanted to woo the right of his party. So Christie did what all good Republicans do these days. He gutted an investment in the future to pay for his political ambitions today. The program Christie decided to raid was something called the ARC project which would have built two new rail tunnels into Manhattan from New Jersey, potentially completed by 2018 and allowing necessary repair and upgrade work on the two existing tunnels that have been in service for over 100 years. Christie’s decision effectively killed the project. Again, like all Republicans these days, Christie couched his decision to pull out of the ARC project as a bold stroke of fiscal responsibility, claiming, falsely, that New Jersey would bear 70% of any cost overruns when the actual number was 15%. Instead, Christie used the nearly $2 billion from ARC to replenish the state’s transportation fund. That decision proved to be fateful when Hurricane Sandy ravaged those two ancient tunnels, and, at some point soon, Amtrak will be forced to close one of them for extensive repairs, assuming the infrastructure inside the tunnels does not collapse first.”
CLIMATE CHAOS
Pakalolo writes—Ready Or Not, Puerto Ricans Could Be The Newest U.S. Climate Refugees: “Thousands of US citizens have been lining up in the sizzling heat at San Juan’s Luis Muñoz Marín airport and at the San Juan harbor for a ride out of the storm ravaged US territory. Today, thousands of people lined up to board a cruise ship that will take them from Puerto Rico to the US mainland in one of the largest evacuations in United States history. Puerto Ricans and those from the US Virgin Islands will join the ranks of those from southern Louisiana and Alaska’s Bering Strait as America’s newest climate change refugees. [...] Though the need for housing refugees are completely different, FEMA is still struggling with how to house the victims from Hurricane Harvey in Texas. I suspect, Americans that reside in the Caribbean, will come to the states where friends and family are located, and we will need to figure out how to house them long term.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—So Long as Lies About it Persist, Consensus Messaging is Vital: “The concerted effort by fossil-fuel funded propagandists to keep Americans in the dark about our role in climate change has long targeted the consensus, which is why it’s so important to continually reinforce the fact that scientists are nearly unanimous about human activity driving climate change.\That’s the gist of an op-ed that ran on Monday in the Guardian. In the piece, a group of academics, in response to commentary over the summer criticizing consensus messaging, lay out the history of denial’s attacks on science and explained the damaging effects of the gap between what scientists know and what the public thinks they know. Ignoring the fake news about the consensus as opposed to countering it, they explain, further dulls political will to take action.And it’s not like it’s particularly difficult to debunk denial. On Friday, conservative blogger Mark Caserta did his part to propagate the narrative we highlighted a few weeks ago, writing in an op-ed for the FaWest Virginia Herald-Dispatch that progressives are the real threat to America, not climate change. To back up his assertion, he cites a decade-old blog post by John Coleman pushing the classic conspiracy theory that warming is just a cash cow for greedy scientists. But then Caserta points out ‘reputable scientists’ also buck the consensus, and points to perhaps the single worst example of a ‘reputable’ ‘scientific’ voice: Ken Ham.”
ClimateDenierRoundup writes—Dennis Avery Says 2016 Being Warmer than 1998 Proves No Warming Since 1998: “As we wait for Scott “the public pays for me to wine and dine with industries I regulate” Pruitt to announce what exactly the Clean Power Plant replacement will be, the hardcore deniers continue to lobby for a repeal of the Endangerment Finding. And they continue to do so with reassuringly weak arguments. Take Friday’s Town Hall op-ed by Dennis Avery of the Koch/Exxon/etc-funded Hudson Institute, in which he argues that judicial respect for the Endangerment finding means team Trump needs to overturn it. Among the various debunked denier talking points he uses (like CERN’s cloud experiment), Avery cites a WUWT post of Roy Spencer’s University of Alabama-Huntsville satellite data that claims ‘our planet’s temperature has risen an insignificant 0.02 degrees C since 1998.’ That WUWT post specifically says, right in the headline, that 2016 beat out 1998 as the warmest year in the satellite record. Yet Avery doesn’t seem to have read the headline of the post he cites: in the very next sentence, Avery calls that record-breaking heat the culmination of a ‘20-year non-warming’ trend that disproves climate change.”
Extreme Weather & Natural Phenomena
jrooth writes—The Tropics: Time To Start Watching the Western Caribbean: “The 2017 Atlantic hurricane season is already one for the record books. The report card for September is particularly remarkable: [...] For the first time in recorded history, we’ve had three United States landfalls of category 4 or stronger hurricanes in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico. The previous record was one. The leeward islands suffered two direct impacts of category 5 hurricanes Irma and Maria. Irma set the all-time global record for sustained category 5 intensity. I could go on and on with the records this season has already broken. Lately, we’ve had a much-needed respite from worrying about activity in the tropics. But the season is far from over. And in October, the focus shifts from the central Atlantic to the western Caribbean.”
Pakalolo writes—Thousands of Caribbean hurricane evacuees arrived at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale today: “And are they ever happy. The Royal Caribbean Cruise Line ferried 3,800 storm weary passengers from Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands to the cruise line’s home port in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. A crowd was there cheering the 1,791 passengers from Puerto Rico, 866 from St. Croix, and 560 from St. John and St. Thomas. The Sun-Sentinel reports: The Adventure of the Seas, with a capacity of up to 3,807 passengers, sailed into the Broward County seaport after concluding a humanitarian relief mission that delivered essential supplies to residents in the hurricane-ravaged U.S. territories. The cruise ship then was used to transport many island residents with medical and special needs to the U.S. mainland for treatment and better living conditions. From the U.S. Virgin Islands, priority was given to high risk pregnant women, the elderly and those with urgent medical needs, Governor Kenneth E. Mapp said. Many other passengers had commitments from family members to stay with them in the U.S.”
Puerto Rico
Pakalolo writes—María’s dead in Puerto Rico are underreported: “Investigative Reporter Omaya Sosa Pasqual, has published a piece on her blog about the rising death rates in PR. The number of dead is so much higher than the official count according to multiple sources on the island. The Miami Herald republished the article in full. Below is an excerpt. Donald Trump is a monster. He golfs while Puerto Rico literally dies. Where are the marines and the navy? The dead are at the hospital morgues, which are at capacity and in remote places where the Government has yet to go, and in many cases, their families are unaware of the deaths. The Demographic Registry certifies the deaths so bodies can be removed by funeral homes, many of which are also not operating for a lack of resources and fuel. They barely began certifying some of the dead on Monday, as Health Secretary Rafael Rodríguez-Mercado confirmed in an interview. Public Safety Secretary Héctor Pesquera told the CPI that the names of the dead due to the hurricane will not be revealed, as the lack of communication has kept many people from knowing the whereabouts of their families.”
Denise Oliver-Velez writes—Aguadilla, Puerto Rico: 60,000 people—only 2000 meals. Trump keeps on lying: “Let’s call Donald Trump’s boasting and bluster about the good job being done in Puerto Rico by the U.S Government what it really is. More lies. Something he is really good at doing. 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. Does this mean no U.S. aid is there? No. Is it too little given the time span of 10 days? Yes. Is the USNS Comfort on the way finally? Yes. However, the situation on the ground, not the fake news being ground out by Trump, and his flunkies and flacks tells the real tale. The Mayor of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, Carlos Méndez Martínez, was very direct when talking to CBS news reporter David Begnaud. ‘This is an emergency. For God sake, the food has to get into my people's hand.’ Begnaud said (see clip below) ‘60,000 people live in his town, and he had 2000 meals to serve’.”
Denise Oliver-Velez writes—Copout-in-Chief Trump attacks San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz for his own fail Maria leadership: "Way to go cobarde Trump. You get an F for fail rating for your lack of leadership responding to an epic disaster in Puerto Rico and USVI and instead of taking the weight for your fuck up — you turn on the heroic Mayor of San Juan who has been working tirelessly to save and secure help for her people.
We love you Mayor Cruz and the people of Puerto Rico.”
Denise Oliver-Velez writes—Feeding Puerto Rico: “Trips to visit my godfather in Puerto Rico were not just a simple matter of packing a suitcase and heading to the airport. Before leaving New York City, he’d give me a call to tell me what he wanted me to bring. He had lived in the Bronx, (the county in the United States with the largest number of Puerto Ricans) for more than three decades, working hard as a hospital and nursing home maintenance person, eventually working his way up to supervisor. He saved his money and while still working bought a home in Santa Isabel, which is on the southern coast of the island. When he retired he moved “home” to Puerto Rico. This, the dream of many mainland Puerto Ricans, is not always realized. He was elated to be able to garden for real, and was planting fruit trees all around the new house. His apartment in the Bronx was always overloaded with plants. There were, however, problems in his retirement paradise, and on phone calls he would talk constantly about the costs of food and how expensive everything was there. He had always been a thrifty shopper in New York, and knew every spot in the Bronx where platanos were 12 for a dollar and where other staples were on sale. So during our phone calls before I headed to the island, he would say, ‘Bring me coffee.’ Coffee is a staple for most Puerto Ricans, brewed with either scalded milk for cafe con leche, or black and strong with spoonfuls of sugar served in a small cup. I have never entered a Puerto Rican home where I was not offered coffee. The first time I went down after he had moved back to the island, I found the request really weird. Why would anyone have to bring coffee to an island famous for its coffee? This article titled ‘Puerto Rican Coffee: The Bittersweet History & Rise of Specialty’ provides some of the answer.”
bobstandard writes—Trump bungles chance to help Puerto Rico and our military: “The disaster in Puerto Rico presents the American military with an incredible opportunity. Not only can they test how good they are at moving shit around, they can also save American lives. Good practice. Good pr. Real good all around. We hear today that the current biggest obstacle to Puerto Rican relief is getting containers off the docks, onto trucks, and into communities. There are generals in the Logistics Commands who would love to know how long it would take to get, say, 75% of all the qualified truck drivers in the Army, Marines, Air Force and Navy into a particular theatre. How long would it actually take to get enough trucks into that theatre? Enough fuel. Enough support staff and materiel.”
jamess writes—"You're doing a Heckuva Job there, Trumpie!" “Our humanity, or lack thereof, is measured by our societal response to Events like this. Puerto Rico: Could Hurricane Maria Become ‘Trump’s Katrina?’ by John Patrick Pullen, Fortune.com — Sep 26, 2017 Now, a week after Hurricane Maria hit, some observers are starting to wonder if the administration is mishandling the storm—and indeed, whether it could become Trump's equivalent of Hurricane Katrina, the storm that became a focal point for criticism of George W. Bush's presidency in 2005. As Representative Nydia Velazquez, a Democratic Puerto Rican from New York warned Trump on Tuesday: ‘If you don’t take this crisis seriously this is going to be your Katrina.’ GW Bush learned the hard way, that his apparent lack of concern over the Katrina disaster, harmed his presidency, in deep and lasting ways ...”
ExpatGirl writes—Acting DHS Secretary Calls Puerto Rico "A Good News Story": “Acting Secretary of the DHS, Elaine Duke, gave a press conference Thursday about Puerto Rico in which she stressed that the Trump Administration’s post-hurricane response has been a good news story! ‘I am very satisfied. I know it's a hard storm to recover from but the amount of progress that's been made, and I really would appreciate any support that we 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.’ This certainly came as news to Carmen Yulín Cruz, the mayor of San Juan: San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz reacted with shock and anger to acting Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke on Friday, saying Puerto Rico's recovery is ‘not a good news story.’ ‘This is a 'people are dying' story,’ she said in disbelief.”
Walter Einenkel writes—Germany steps up to help rebuild power grid in Puerto Rico's emergency relief centers: “A German energy provider says it will be installing microgrids in Puerto Rico to help power emergency centers around the island. According to Bloomberg, Sonnen GmbH is a “energy-storage” systems provider and will be shipping smaller systems every week as ports reopen. Puerto Rico’s electricity grid was completely knocked out when Hurricane Maria slammed into the island Sept. 20, and repairs are expected to take months. That’s generating interest in microgrids, small-scale systems that combine solar panels and batteries that can be installed quickly to restore power to a few buildings at a time. Tesla Inc. is sending hundreds of its Powerwall battery systems to the island, and Sunnova Inc., Puerto Rico’s largest rooftop solar provider, plans to install batteries to complement its systems. [...] Sonnen is donating equipment for the 15 relief centers. It also expects increased demand for its systems with Puerto Rico consumers and will donate profit from local sales to build as many as 35 additional microgrids on the island. Sonnen has installed more than 20 storage systems in Puerto Rico since 2016 and has at least 90 more on order or on their way to the island. The batteries are produced at the company’s recently opened factory in Atlanta, and the first microgrids will be operating in less than a month.”
Walter Einenkel writes—The numbers are in and both Republicans and Democrats don't think Trump is doing well in Puerto Rico: “Polling done by the Associated Press and NORC pollsters show that less than a third of those asked—32 percent—believe that unpopular gameshow host and president Donald Trump has handled the crisis in Puerto Rico well. That’s worse than the less than half that believe he handled hurricanes Harvey and Irma well—48 percent. Interestingly, views of his handling of Maria vs. Harvey and Irma drop about the same amount regardless of political party. Republicans are much less likely to think Trump handled Maria well, as are Democrats. It’s hard to spin Trump’s blatant incompetence and his Atlantic City greeter act, even for Republicans. This may in part be due to Trump’s Twitter attacks on black athletes the same weekend that Maria was devastating Puerto Rico.”
Walter Einenkel writes—Trump opens his trip to Puerto Rico by saying 'you've thrown our budget a little out of wack': “Unpopular President Donald Trump and the first lady threw on their safari gear to go out and make a very controlled press conference in Puerto Rico. Trump’s entire interaction with the world is based on the depth of an Atlantic City casino greeter in the 1980s and his sense of “humor,” is equally inappropriate and ill-informed. Like most of his appearances in front of live microphones and the press, Trump spent a considerable amount of the press conference chewing up time by thanking everybody doing a great job—while saying he was doing a great job himself. Talking about the man in control of “a thing called budget,” Trump made a hilarious statement. Trump: Now, I hate to tell you this Puerto Rico, but you’ve thrown our budget a little out of wack. Because we’ve spent a lot of money on Puerto Rico and fine, we’ve saved a lot of lives. I’m going to give myself a concussion if I keep smacking my forehead with my hand so much.”
brianwolf writes—Trump says there is nothing to work with in Puerto Rico: “Shameless Trump told reporters that his team at Puerto Rico is is doing a great job despite having ‘nothing to work with.’ [...] He said, "And a very big question is, what are we going to do with the power plant? Because the power plant is totally wiped out. There is nothing. The power grid is gone."This is while officials are saying that the condition is so bad that power might not be restored for 6 months.”
woodguru writes—Relief Prioritization Between Texas, Florida, St Croix, And Puerto Rico Will Be A Priority Itself: “Nearly half of Americans do not know Puerto Ricans are our fellow citizens. This is going to affect the way we allocate and prioritize relief efforts and FEMA funding. I think this is a huge deal, and I can see where we are going to be looking at a total disparity between Texas, Florida, St Croix, and Puerto Rico. Meanwhile it is a worse problem in terms of how many and how lives are affected. The damages and impact on the people that live there is going to be subjected to ridiculous applications of funding and relief efforts. Funding should be allocated from Congress as an aggregate fund that is distributed on a priority need basis.”
Victor Klemperer Respawned writes—Mr. President, meet Salvador Gomez Colon, a 15-year old Puerto Rican not waiting for your help: “The president can sneer at Puerto Ricans and say “They want everything to be done for them.” But that is because he has not met Salvador Gabriel Gomez Colon. This ninth grader from San Juan is not waiting for anyone. He’s making things happen. Ten days after Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico, 15-year-old Salvador Gomez Colon and his family are hunkered down in their apartment in San Juan, rationing food and water they stored before the storm hit. His mother Marta has been eating just one meal a day and small ‘tidbits’ after that to ensure Salvador, his father, and his 80-year-old grandparents have enough to eat. Even though this family lives in a building with a generator running intermittently, the simplest things have become impossible. Without running water they can only clean their laundry once a week. Still Salvador knows he's better off than many others on the island that was devastated by Maria.”
DocDawg writes—BREAKING: USNS Comfort now underway to Puerto Rico. Fair winds and following seas, Sister of Mercy: “Real-time vessel monitoring provided by MarineTraffic.com reveals the hospital ship USNS Comfort has just cast off from its berth in Norfolk VA, and is currently making 11 knots as it exits the harbor to begin its mission of mercy to Puerto Rico. So ends a tumultuous week for the hospital ship and its civilian crew and medical staff of about 1,000 souls — a week that began with the Department of Defense refusing to send the desperately needed vessel. But thousands...perhaps tens of thousands ...of us (including Hillary Clinton) raised holy hell across social media and in phone calls to Congress, and late Monday afternoon the Trump administration relented, ordering Comfort to sail for San Juan. Much — too much — has been made in the intervening days by armchair seamen regarding why it should take the aircraft carrier-sized hospital ship and its enormous civilian crew a few days to actually cast off after receiving orders to sail (including, unfortunately, here at Daily Kos). While that’s certainly not an unreasonable question (and a question that was answered in full in my previous diary), the way in which some commenters cast it came sadly close to impugning the honor of Comfort’s heroic crew.”
Jen Hayden writes—San Juan mayor blasts Trump admin: 'This is a people are dying story! Where is the good news?' “CNN New Day host Alisyn Camerota interviewed San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz about the slow relief efforts in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria. Mayor Cruz first began the interview by saying she was thankful for a call from the White House and was hopeful rescue efforts would begin taking shape and then Camerota asked Cruz how she felt about Homeland Security Acting Director Elaine Duke’s comments that relief efforts were going well and it was a ‘good news story.’ A visibly stunned Cruz paused for a moment and said, ‘he said that?’ Camerota played the clip for Cruz and her response decimated the ‘good news story’ that the Trump administration has been pushing. This is truly a must-watch interview. The people of Puerto Rico need and deserve every single resource we have available.”
Meteor Blades writes—Mr. Trump, you skeevy blowhard, shut the hell up about Mayor Cruz in San Juan: “Early this morning, from his luxury resort in New Jersey, on his 61st day of golfing this year, Pr*sident Donald Trump blasted the mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico, Carmen Yulín Cruz, who has been living in a shelter since Hurricane Marla slammed the island. [...] This juvenile outburst was prompted by the mayor’s heart-rending plea for help late Friday that included criticism of the White House response after Trump and another member of his regime said how great things are going thanks to their efforts. [...] From the beginning of this disaster, Donald Trump has proved himself incapable of providing the kind of leadership needed. Indeed, for four days after his lame tweet on Sept. 20 to Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello telling him “We are with you and the people of Puerto Rico. Stay safe!” Trump proved he wasn’t with Puerto Ricans and had nothing at all to say about the unfolding catastrophe. Instead, in one wretched tweet after another, he focused his bile on the silent, anti-racist, kneeling protests of some NFL players. Priorities!”
Vetwife writes—Dead Green Bodies ...Health Issues...Still going down there 45? YOU built this: “This is not getting reported in most media. I am wondering what other catastrophic event 45 will create between now and Tuesday if he knows about the green bodies and the stench. These are children, elderly, veterans. These are Americans. From Mother Jones: This level of risk is inescapable. As we drove into the town, we noticed a dumping site for garbage and debris that the community has started because there’s nowhere else to put everything. Luis Ruíz, who was talking with us on Calle Pedro Albizu, tells us the debris pile, which occupies an area roughly the size of a football field, includes rotting meat and dead animals. It smells exactly how you think it would. The town’s problems even follow the dead. Edwin Falú owns and operates Funeraria Falú, a funeral home in Campanilla. He tells us that he runs the only funeral home in the area (there are two operating in nearby Levittown), and that he’s been busy. Luckily, he has his own water tower and his own generator, so he can keep operating, but diesel fuel costs double what it did before the storm. The biggest problem for him, though, is that the bodies he gets are already decomposing—something he’s never seen before. ‘The bodies are coming in green,’ he tells us. He further explains to David Ruíz that part of the problem is that the refrigerators at the morgue at the hospital are not cold enough to keep the bodies from decomposing.”
hpg writes—Ana Navarro rips into Trump for his incompetent arrogant Puerto Rico behavior calls it disgusting: “Ana Navarro rips into Trump for his incompetent arrogant Puerto Rico behavior and calls it disgusting. It starts when the CNN anchor women ask Ana Navarro: What makes this attack different then others in the past? Ana Navarro says Everything, everything. The fact that he is attacking … First of all the fact that he is the President of the United States and should be uniting people. And a single laser focus right now should be on how to help the three and a half million American citizen who live in Puerto Rico and are in great distress. Second of all did you realize he is doing these attacks while sitting on his golf course in New Jersey and people are waiting to water up to there waste and people have no food and people have no electricity and people have no water and they can’t feed their children and from his golf course he got the gall to pick up his twitter and criticize the people in Puerto Rico and say they want everything done for it how dare he HOW DARE HE waste that kind of attack on those people who are American citizens in the middle of distress.”
News Corpse writes—Trump Whines About 'Fake News' From His Golf Resort While Reporters Are Knee Deep in Puerto Rico: “The pattern is unmistakable. Something significant happens somewhere in the world. The people affected make relevant, heartfelt comments. Then Donald Trump manages to make it all about himself. His victimhood dominates the discourse. He lashes out at the real victims. And then casts the blame for everything on his favorite enemies, Democrats and the media. The latest example of this psychosis came Saturday morning. In response to a gut-wrenching appeal for help by the mayor of San Juan, Trump dismissed her remarks and attacked her and the people of Puerto Rico for requesting aid and not helping themselves. It was a blatantly racist tirade that portrayed these suffering Americans as lazy and dependent. And after insulting the local officials as poor leaders, he praised himself for the ‘amazing’ job he was allegedly doing. Then Trump turned his Twitter tantrum to the media.”
dyna writes—Hurricanes+Florida= Teachable Moments Missed! There’s a teachable moment here- South Florida damn well should have been left undeveloped and future development stopped. Human induced global warming has turned “hurricane alley” into the “hurricane express lane”, as we look forward to hurricane seasons that have a double digit impact on federal spending and the GDP. Yet Florida governments are already cranking up taxpayer funded tourism promotion ads to play in northern markets assuring us that Florida is open for tourists… What hurricane? That's been Florida’s business plan for decades… Lure the northern middle class and their life savings down and don’t tell them about the brutal summer heat and unaffordable insurance ‘til they’re dumped said life savings into a cheaply built home. And we let the developers and big oil get away with this fraud!”
annieli writes—Triggered Trump, proud of "incredible loss of life results" in PR, can't control his temper: “16 tweets later, thin-skinned Trump can’t let San Juan’s mayor speak the truth about a higher death toll ahead...
The official death toll from the storm was 16, but like Harvey’s final death toll, it will be higher. That didn’t stop Giant Yam from trying to take credit for its ‘success’.”
Dartagnan writes—Trump's Katrina? No, It's Much Worse Than That: “Juliette Kayyem is a former Assistant Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security in the Obama Administration. In that role she was responsible for ‘coordinated and consistent planning between the Department and all of its state, local, tribal, and territorial partners on issues as varied as immigration, intelligence sharing, military affairs, border security, and the response to operational events such as H1N1 influenza outbreak, the December 25th attempted terrorist attack, the Haiti earthquake, and the BP oil spill.’ She is a professor at Harvard’s Kennedy School and a national security analyst for CNN. [...] In some ways, I had convinced myself that Trump was a bit player in this tragedy. No longer. A good man who has empathy, or even knows how to pretend to have it, would not make the unfolding tragedy about himself. A confident President would not accuse Puerto Ricans of wanting ‘everything done for them.’ A self-reflective leader able to critically assess would question and push his team to send more resources and get the federal response moving. A strong Commander-in-Chief would know that his main duty is not to praise himself or lash back because of a bruised ego, but to use his global platform to provide two key needs: numbers (responders, commodities, ships, food, water, debris removal, etc) and hope.”
Lefty Coaster writes—Donald Trump announces he's dedicating a Golf Trophy to Hurricane Maria's victims in Puerto Rico: “Donald trump spent the day watching a golf tournament. This is probably the most tone deaf gesture I’ve ever witnessed any American president make. President Trump on Sunday dedicated a golf trophy to the victims of recent powerful storms that tore through Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico, all the while defending the government's response to the disasters. "On behalf of all of the people of Texas, and all of the people -- if you look today and see what is happening, how horrible it is but we have it under really great control -- Puerto Rico and the people of Florida who have really suffered over this last short period of time with the hurricanes, I want to just remember them," the president said.”
Mark Sumner writes—Trump very happy after 'fantastic visit' to Puerto Rico, now Las Vegas's turn to feed his ego: “Donald Trump will visit Las Vegas on Wednesday but the day isn’t starting well. ‘It's a very, very sad day for me personally.’ Can Las Vegas manage to cheer up Trump? On Tuesday, Donald Trump dropped in on San Juan, Puerto Rico, where his primary activity was gathering a crowd of people, and making them say good things about Donald Trump. Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselo was called out for praise for ‘appreciating what we did.’ The island's representative in Congress, Jennifer Gonzalez-Colon, was thanked for saying ‘such nice things’ — and asked to repeat her praise on Tuesday. And the result was that Trump had such a positive, positive visit. Everything in Puerto Rico is great.”
Mark Sumner writes—Donald Trump goes to Puerto Rico for the love ... for the love: “Donald Trump landed at San Juan, Puerto Rico on Tuesday, where he immediately headed up the most critical operation on the island—praising Donald Trump. In a round-robin meeting reminiscent of Trump’s summer cabinet session butt-kiss-a-thon, Trump prompted arranged people, gave himself an ‘A plus’ for hurricane operations in both Texas and Florida, the proceeded to force people to say, in their own words, how great he is. With the Mayor of San Juan sitting to his side, Trump pointedly ignored her. Instead he turned to Puerto Rico’s sole Representative, Jenniffer González, and asked he to repeat compliments he claimed she’d made earlier. And he praised the governor of Puerto Rico for praising Trump. ‘Right from the beginning, this governor did not play politics. He didn’t play it at all. He was saying it like it was.’ Like the emcee at a Kiwanis Club picnic, Trump went around the room asking each person to add their own slab of praise—including making a bizarre sidetrip into the cost of the F-35 fighter, during which Trump repeated his (false) claims.”
Mark Sumner writes—As Trump travels to Puerto Rico, the White House leaks their strategy: “Puerto Rico may have had enough ‘spin’ to last many lifetimes, but as Donald Trump limbers up his hoagie hand and Melania gets ready to sink her stilettos into San Juan, the White House has planned out an approach for the day … The storm caused these problems, not our response to it. We have pushed about as much stuff and people through a tiny hole in as short a timeframe as possible. So, in addition to the shocking reveal that Puerto Rico is an island, the plan is to release the little-known news that the island was hit by a storm. Donald Trump did not visit to personally rip out the electric lines and turn off the water—so he can’t be blamed. Ok. Job done.”
Mark Sumner writes—Puerto Rico still without enough water, food, or assistance—but they have a trophy: “Events in Las Vegas have, understandably, absorbed the national media this morning, and Donald Trump has managed to read a speech without giving into the temptation to ad lib. However, none of that has provided a single meal or bottle of water in Puerto Rico. The destruction in Toa Baja is the rule, not the exception, in Puerto Rico, where the recovery has moved at a glacial pace, according to over a dozen interviews with residents, local relief workers and small-town mayors across the island. But other than criticizing the mayor of San Juan for ‘poor leadership’ and simultaneously complaining that Puerto Rico was both ‘completely destroyed’ and not doing enough to fix its own problems, Trump did have one contribution to make over the weekend. The US president dedicated a golf trophy to the hurricane victims of Puerto Rico, Texas and Florida at the Presidents Cup golf tournament in New Jersey.”
ursulafaw writes—WH Calls San Juan Mayor Cruz 'Opportunistic Politician' Doubles Down On 'Fake News' Lies: “If you’re wondering who “the senior White House official” is who broke the story earlier about Mayor Cruz being “too busy with TV” for a photo op with Trump and Melania this coming Tuesday, the culprit is White House Social Media Director Dan Scavino. [...] Meantime, Donald Trump in his most prolonged twitter meltdown to date, apparently thinks Hurricane Maria was an epic movie and the rescue efforts are an awards show.”
ursulafaw writes—WH Escalates Conflict With Mayor Of San Juan, Occupant Blames 'Fake News' For Everything: “The White House has gobsmackingly escalated an already incendiary situation by taking a cheap shot at the Mayor of San Juan. ABC News: Following Trump's tweets this morning, a senior White House official was asked whether the president will meet with Cruz when he visits the U.S. territory Tuesday. The White House official said, ‘Not sure. She has been invited to FEMA command center several times to see operations and be part of efforts but so far has refused to come, maybe too busy doing TV?’ Of course the focus is on TV and what it’s doing, not human beings and how they’re struggling to survive.”
ursulafaw writes—DHS Acting Secretary Walks Back Idiotic Statement About Puerto Rico Being 'Good News Story': “The ‘life is but a photo-op’ mentality of Donald Trump is pervasive throughout his entire regime and nowhere was that more apparent than when acting Department of Homeland Secretary Elaine Duke told the media yesterday that Puerto Rico was ‘a good news story.’ It was no surprise when San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz took umbrage to that grotesque mischaracterization with the following: ‘Maybe from where she's standing, it's a good news story. When you are 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,’ Cruz said in an interview on CNN this morning. ‘I'm sorry, but that really upsets me and frustrates me.’ So while Donald Trump is, per usual, disgracing himself popping off on his morning twitter rant the DHS acting secretary is walking back her own stupid comment. ABC News: Elaine Duke, the acting secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Secretary, said today that while she was ‘proud’ of the federal response in hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico, the situation on the ground is still ‘not satisfactory’.’”
ursulafaw writes—Hospital Morgues Are At Capacity But Fox News Says Nobody's Dying In Puerto Rico: “Donald Trump is right about one thing. The response to Puerto Rico in the wake of Hurricane Maria has been “incredible” — but not the way he thinks. Despite his braggadocio to CNN the other day, “The results that we've had with respect to loss of life, people can't believe how successful that has been, relatively speaking,” the truth is that there are dozens confirmed dead and that number could rise to hundreds. Miami Herald: On Wednesday, the Puerto Rico government, maintained that the official number of deaths as a result of the catastrophe was 16. But the Center for Investigative Journalism (CPI, for its initials in Spanish) has confirmed that there are dozens of hurricane-related deaths and the number could rise to the hundreds. The dead are at the hospital morgues, which are at capacity and in remote places where the government has yet to go. In many cases, families are unaware of the deaths. The government’s Demographic Registry is responsible for certifying deaths so bodies can be removed by funeral homes, many of which are not operating because of lack of resources. The agency began to certify some of the dead Monday, Health Secretary Rafael Rodríguez-Mercado confirmed in an interview.”
jpmassar writes—'There's a medical center down here and everyone that was in the Intensive Care Unit died. Everyone':
“In better news, there’s progress … And pointlessness: President Donald Trump plans to make his first visit to Puerto Rico on Tuesday, after critics on both sides of the aisle accused his administration of a lackluster response to the catastrophic damage left by Maria. Maybe they can find an unspoiled golf course.”
txjackalope writes—How Continental Storms are different: “The reality is that the Federal response to the earlier storms wasn’t nearly as strong as many thought. You may have noticed the Cajun Navy was pulling people out of Houston way before the Helicopters showed up. In this case the people who would be the Puerto Rican version of the Cajun Navy are trying to get medication for their parents and so aren’t out there in skiffs embarrassing the Federal government into action.”
annieli writes—Will Trump get his 'big crowds' when he visits PR or will he get Cholera and blame Democrats: “Desperate spinning has prompted 15 Trump tweets today trying to compensate for trashing the Mayor of San Juan, because deflecting a message by invoking additional names after his first screw-up means that they truly matter...not. OTOH, Trump managed to ignore the mayor of Houston after hurricane Harvey and helped prevent the state government from using sans irony, its rainy day funds. This time, Trump will probably invoke the names of PR celebrities in his public remarks, since that’s what’s more important in his photo-ops. Maybe he’ll work in a new NFL attack, since he did at least one tweet today demanding people stand for the national anthem.”
Dean Obeidallah writes—Trump to Mayor of San Juan: Be Grateful for What I Give You – Now I Have to Play Golf: “Just when I thought it wasn’t possible for Donald Trump to be even more vile, he proved me wrong. On Saturday morning, Trump took to twitter to slam the Mayor of San Juan in a series of tweets because she had dared to tell the world that the people of Puerto Rico were dying because of the Trump’s administration failure to act. In fact, vile is not even the right word to use to describe Trump’s tweetstorm – launched from his exclusive private country club before he’s expected to play golf – attacking the Mayor of San Juan who is currently on an island ravished by Hurricane Maria that has almost no electricity, little safe drinking water, limited functioning hospitals and a growing death toll. Even Marie Antoinette would have blushed.”
Brett Wilkins writes—Trump's Latest Twitterrhea Tirade Against Puerto Rico Is Pure, Unadulterated Racism: “As hurricane-ravaged Puerto Ricans are dying amid what San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz is calling the Trump administration’s “inefficiency and bureaucracy," the president took time during what is at least his 62nd visit to one of his 17 private luxury golf resorts to unleash a twitterrhea tirade targeting the desperate yet determined city leader. Frustrated to the point of infuriation by the government’s shamefully slow rescue and relief efforts, Yulín Cruz had blasted the administration’s repeated assertions that it is doing a “fantastic job” for millions of Puerto Ricans who, 10 days post-Maria, still don’t have anywhere near enough food, water, fuel, shelter or electricity. ‘I'm begging anyone who can hear us to save us from dying,’ Yulín Cruz pleaded on Friday. ‘If we don't get the food and the water into people's hands, we are going to see something close to a genocide.’”
durrati writes—Idiot-In-Chief Called Her Weak, But Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz is Puerto Rico Strong: “drumpf called her weak and a poor leader, but San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz shows strength in ways that weakling drumpf never could, by displaying genuine love and empathy for her people and her native Puerto Rico. Cruz scaled the ladder of success here in the states, matriculating from Boston University and Carnegie Mellon before rising to the top Human Resouces positions at Scotiabank and the Treasury Department, but Puerto Rico called her heart home: ‘I often say to my friends that I felt too Puerto Rican to live in the States; then I felt too American to live in Puerto Rico,’ she said. ‘So when I settled back in Puerto Rico in 1992, I had to come to terms with all of that.’ Cruz plunged back into politics after returning to the island after 12 years on the mainland. She became an adviser to Sila Maria Calderon, then the mayor of San Juan, and who later became Puerto Rico's first and only female governor.’”
durrati writes—"Hamilton" Creator Lin-Manuel Miranda to drumpf: "You're Going Straight to Hell" for Maria Response: “People Magazine: ‘Lin-Manuel Miranda had some pointed words for Donald Trump after the president criticized San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz and other Puerto Rican officials who have been pleading for aid in the wake of Hurricane Maria.The 37-year-old Pulitzer Prize winner — whose father, Luis A. Miranda, Jr., immigrated to the U.S. as a teenager from Puerto Rico — slammed Trump on Twitter Saturday morning, writing, ‘You’re going straight to hell, @realDonaldTrump. No long lines for you. Someone will say, ‘Right this way, sir.’ They’ll clear a path.’ Earlier in the day, Trump had lashed out at what he claimed was ‘poor leadership ability by the Mayor of San Juan and others in Puerto Rico, who are not able to get their workers to help’ with Hurricane Maria relief efforts.’”
teacherken writes—an immigrant does disaster relief better than Trump: “Jose Andres is an immigrant, a celebrity chef, and a mensch. The last makes him a far better human being than Donald Triump. Most Americans first heard of Andres when he backed out of the contract to have a restaurant in the hotel Trump was then building in the Old Post Office Building on 12th Street in Washington DC because of Trump’s Muslim ban. [...] Andres is the founder of The Chef Network (also known as World Central Kitchen) which led by him reacts to disasters. [...] Andrés was among the first responders in Haiti and Houston, and now he and his crew from World Central Kitchen are on the ground in Puerto Rico, improvising ways to feed countless residents who are stranded without electricity, drinking water and food in the wake of Hurricane Maria. With little ability to speak with the outside world, Andrés has used his Twitter feed to keep followers updated on his progress in the U.S. territory.”
Karen Wehrstein writes—Twitter: Trump first intended to do nothing for Puerto Rico. "We were all stunned": “I came across this yesterday, considered doing a diary about it but backed off, as it can be classed as ‘Twitter rumour’ and could eventually prove untrue.However, this morning’s attacks by Trump on Carmen Yulin Cruz, the mayor of San Juan, Puerto, for speaking truth to his power, and his further attacks on Puerto Rican Americans as a whole, lend credibility to what this Tweet user says. Because the first thing people like Trump will do, when they are called out for malfeasance, is attack those who call them out and try to turn the blame on them. Or to put it another way: I have learned from observation that Trump is guilty of whatever he accuses others of doing… though these tweets suggest something far worse than ‘poor leadership.’”
Sidof79 writes—"Excuse me, Mr. President." Dan Rather blasts so-called-Pr*sident on PR blame-the-victim response: “Just when you think our Golfer-in-Chief can’t stoop any lower, he manages to surprise us. Dan Rather responds. Excuse me, Mr. President but your tantrum tweet storm this morning attacking the mayor of San Juan, a fellow American citizen dealing with a real-time life and death struggle for hundreds of thousands of her constituents on an island of millions in crisis, is not only far below the dignity of the office you hold. It fails even the most basic test of humanity. Tweet storm...below the dignity of the office...failing the basic test of humanity...that pretty much sums up the reign of 45 so far.”
Frank Vyan Walton writes—Trump attacks "Nasty" San Juan Mayor implies Puerto Rican workers are Lazy while golfing in NJ: “I gotta say, in a long list of disgusting self-centered tone deaf and logic blind statements that have come from Trump — this is frankly the worst. It’s worst than his attack on the patriotism of ‘sonovabitch’ NFL players, it’s worst than falsely suggesting there were violent Antifa members and ‘nice quiet neo-Nazis’ in Charlottesville. Which is saying something. His ego is this fragile? He’s really this shallow and petulant he thinks Mayor Cruz is only talking about him — not because she genuinely needs help — but because ‘Democrats told her you must be nasty to Trump’? Fuckin’ Really, man? This is not. the. FUCK. about. you. Punk! Ok? This is about the getting the people what they need before it’s too late.”
Vetwife writes—Inspiration and Hope.... They suited up: “Thank you Former Presidents. Thank You. On behalf of Hurricane Relief and humanity that speaks to all…Thank you. It started with Harvey. They are spreading out. Every dime to recovery efforts. “
Colorado Blue writes—People seeking help for Puerto Rico are "politically motivated ingrates" per Guess Who: “OK I am really, really beginning to hate this orange imposter who has invaded our White House. He now echoes comments we frequently see about people of color, women too, saying ‘they’ should be ‘grateful’ ‘we’ have ‘given them’ so much ‘opportunity,’ etc. This unequal treatment of Puerto Rico is appalling and Guess Who just HAD to fire back at people criticizing it. He declares that:
TexMex writes—ShelterBox diary 13: You can do something about it: “ShelterBoxusa. Ok, here I am again! Do you stuff!! You can recommend, tip, share on here, reblog, facebook, tweet, Whatever!!!! (Because of you, I got an email once for a donation for 10,000 dollars for ShelterBoxusa from a watch company!) I am like a street corner Santa ringing a bell. You can throw money in the pot or just walk on, but in this case you can also help ShelterBox by spreading the word. People with deeper pockets come on board when they have a chance to see what ShelterBox does!”
TexMex writes—ShelterBox Diary 12: Please consider for Puerto Rico, Bangladesh: “As the news continues to come from Puerto Rico, we see images of HOMES TOTALLY DESTROYED and NO WATER! Many of you know about ShelterBox and what they do. If you don’t please take sometime to step though the links and see how good they are at disaster relief. So I am reposting this to give people an opportunity do read up on a great organization that is helping people in these difficult times. They are on the ground in the Carribean and in Mexico and in Bangladesh...Their main page. ShelterBoxusa. Donate to ShelterBox here…… www.shelterboxusa.org/… What they are doing for the Irma disaster…….www.shelterboxusa.org/… ”
witgren writes—Got a few minutes and a computer? Want to help Puerto Rico? “Crowdsourced disaster assistance is a thing thanks to the wonder of the internet. One of those efforts is Tomnod, where anyone with internet access can go and help out. You can do as much or as little work as you want, but every little bit helps. How does it work? When a disaster like a hurricane, wildfire, earthquake, etc., hits, Tomnod will acquire aerial photos of areas damaged by the disaster, and aerial photos of the same area from before the event (hopefully not more than a couple of years old). Using these, participants can survey the damage section by section, tagging damaged areas (like damaged buildings, blocked roads, damaged bridges, etc.). Participants can help anonymously, or they can set up an account, which will allow them to keep track of what events they’ve helped with, how many sectors they’ve reviewed, how many tags they’ve made, and so on. [...] So, what does all this accomplish? The data can help rescue efforts and rebuilding by helping them prioritize areas and do preliminary assessments of damage. As you might imagine, getting a good handle on the damage over an area the size of someplace like Puerto Rico is daunting. By marking blocked or damaged road, they can reroute travel or prioritize opening important travel corridors. And so on.”
FiredUpInCA writes—"They Want Everything to Be Done for Them" (with photographic proof):
Meanwhile, in Puerto Rico.
Thyme4Thought writes—Berlin Airlift to Puerto Rico? “If Congress can allow the Trump robber barons to rip-off US taxpayers for million dollar junkets around the world, maybe they could for good reasons support emergency food transport to Puerto Rico. It would be great to see our military doing good and validating a small chunk of the defense budget.”