by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist
The American island of Puerto Rico remains in dire straits after last week's devastating Hurricane Maria. Electricity is still out across most of the island, effecting homes, relief centers, and hospitals, and those with generators are having trouble finding diesel to power them. Drinking water is also in short supply. Many of the relief supplies that have made it to the island are stuck at the port without trucks to move them inland where they are desperately needed.
The mayor of San Juan, Carmen Yulin Cruz, has issued calls for immediate humanitarian aid, saying that residents of her city and the rest of the island are dying. The situation is, by all accounts, unimaginably horrible.
Mark Cuban, the billionaire owner of the Dallas Mavericks, this week loaned the team's private plane to Maverick's point guard, J.J. Barea, a native of Puerto Rico, to take emergency supplies the island and to bring survivors back to the mainland.
Rap singer Pitbull also sent his private plane to Puerto Rico loaded with relief supplies. Pitbull will be bringing cancer patients in need of chemo back to the United States in his plane.
Meanwhile, the Boeing 757 which Donald Trump owns sits idle.
Trump initially resisted lifting the "Jones Act" which would have gotten more supplies to Puerto Rico quicker because he didn't want to cause financial harm to U.S. shippers. Trump, who also claims to be a billionaire, has now decided that his most effective course of action in this tragedy is to lash out at Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz of San Juan and accuse her of "poor leadership." Meanwhile, he fantasizes aloud that his administration had organized a response by federal workers who are doing a "fantastic job!"
Donald Trump also used the situation to launch some tweets regarding Puerto Rico's on-going debt crisis, not letting the islanders forget that once they get past the hurricane they will still be in a precarious legal situation. Puerto Rico's debt was made worse a few years back when a Trump-branded golf course on the island went bankrupt there and left Puerto Rico's government holding the bag for nearly $33 million.
Trump will fly into Puerto Rico next Tuesday for a quickie tour. Here's hoping that Melania wears sensible shoes and that The Donald pays attention while he is there. So far the disaster response from Trump and his team has been less than spectacular - to put it charitably. The United States can and must do better in taking care our territory and our people.
God bless our private citizens like Mark Cuban, the Dallas Mavericks, and Pitbull - and everyone else who have reached into their hearts and pockets to save lives in the Caribbean. They are foraging down a path that our government should have already cleared.
Stay strong, Puerto Rico, more help is on the way!
Citizen Journalist
The American island of Puerto Rico remains in dire straits after last week's devastating Hurricane Maria. Electricity is still out across most of the island, effecting homes, relief centers, and hospitals, and those with generators are having trouble finding diesel to power them. Drinking water is also in short supply. Many of the relief supplies that have made it to the island are stuck at the port without trucks to move them inland where they are desperately needed.
The mayor of San Juan, Carmen Yulin Cruz, has issued calls for immediate humanitarian aid, saying that residents of her city and the rest of the island are dying. The situation is, by all accounts, unimaginably horrible.
Mark Cuban, the billionaire owner of the Dallas Mavericks, this week loaned the team's private plane to Maverick's point guard, J.J. Barea, a native of Puerto Rico, to take emergency supplies the island and to bring survivors back to the mainland.
Rap singer Pitbull also sent his private plane to Puerto Rico loaded with relief supplies. Pitbull will be bringing cancer patients in need of chemo back to the United States in his plane.
Meanwhile, the Boeing 757 which Donald Trump owns sits idle.
Trump initially resisted lifting the "Jones Act" which would have gotten more supplies to Puerto Rico quicker because he didn't want to cause financial harm to U.S. shippers. Trump, who also claims to be a billionaire, has now decided that his most effective course of action in this tragedy is to lash out at Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz of San Juan and accuse her of "poor leadership." Meanwhile, he fantasizes aloud that his administration had organized a response by federal workers who are doing a "fantastic job!"
Donald Trump also used the situation to launch some tweets regarding Puerto Rico's on-going debt crisis, not letting the islanders forget that once they get past the hurricane they will still be in a precarious legal situation. Puerto Rico's debt was made worse a few years back when a Trump-branded golf course on the island went bankrupt there and left Puerto Rico's government holding the bag for nearly $33 million.
Trump will fly into Puerto Rico next Tuesday for a quickie tour. Here's hoping that Melania wears sensible shoes and that The Donald pays attention while he is there. So far the disaster response from Trump and his team has been less than spectacular - to put it charitably. The United States can and must do better in taking care our territory and our people.
God bless our private citizens like Mark Cuban, the Dallas Mavericks, and Pitbull - and everyone else who have reached into their hearts and pockets to save lives in the Caribbean. They are foraging down a path that our government should have already cleared.
Stay strong, Puerto Rico, more help is on the way!
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