Puerto Rico is mostly mountainous with large coastal areas in the north and south. The main mountain range is called “La Cordillera Central” (The Central Range).
The highest elevation in Puerto Rico, Cerro de Punta. 1,339 meters (4,393 ft), is located in this range.
~Wikipedia~
EL PUERTO RICO OLVIDADO
“Comparto con ustedes un poco de lo que hemos visto en el centro de Puerto Rico para cuando traten de venderles que todo se está normalizando sepan que no es cierto.”
“I’m sharing video of a bit of what we have seen as we traveled to the center of Puerto Rico. I do so because I want you to know that when they try to tell you that things are getting back to normal, you can see that they are not.”
Alexandra Lúgaro
~~GRAPHICS SOURCE~~
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No intention of taking credit.
If anyone knows the owner of any, please advise and it will be corrected immediately.
This is a post written by my very dear friend Suzy P., who currently lives in Illinois. She spent plenty years in Puerto Rico while her husband Grant worked there.
Suzy absorbed the Puerto Rican culture and ways as second nature.
Today, from a distance, she feels like we do.
Her soul and her heart ache as much as mine.
This is a thread written by her husband’s boss just one day ago.
Today, Oct 6th, Grant and I finally heard from Grant’s former boss in Moca, Puerto Rico. Frank was the plant manager for the Baxter Fenwal plant in San Germán for many years.
Frank is one of the most calm, capable, resourceful men that we know.
Grant spoke to Frank the night before Hurricane Maria hit and he was well prepared for the hurricane.
He tells us today that the past two weeks have been truly an exercise in survival.
Here is the series of text messages we got from Frank today
“Devastation here. No drinking water, running generator, gas supply (on the island) still stabilizing, cell signal now intermittent. We are OK. Bank access limited. Supermarkets having generator issues.
These first two weeks have been an exercise in survival.
Prioritization, focus, luck.”
“Difficult environment. Eye passed over Moca, 35 minutes, second half horrible. Wind damage extensive in all west coast towns, Aguada, Aguadilla, flooding on coasts, massive erosion.
I’ve lost 11 pounds. Dehydration.
Nightmare scenario – we got nuked.
People helping each other.”
“I have never seen or felt anything like this. During the height of the storm, I thought a few times we were history. It felt like a concussive force. And it wouldn’t stop. Rincón sustained significant damage.
Downed power lines, land slides, flooding.
Roads still marginal.”
After Grant offered to come down and help, Frank wrote:
“Don’t come here, you’ll never get out”.
(Some airlines report they have waiting lists of over 20,000 people wanting to leave the island).
Please keep Puerto Rico’s ongoing humanitarian crisis in the news.
Send donations & prayers.
Many whom we love are there.
~~GRAPHICS SOURCE~~
Google Images
DISCLAIMER
No intention of taking credit.
If anyone knows the owner of any, please advise and it will be corrected immediately.
Drumpf’s Puerto Rico hurricane relief visit revealed his true colors, and they’re not pretty
You have to hand it to Drumpf.
The man knows how to take advantage of a crisis: by making it all about him.
Drumpf, however, rubbed salt in the wounds of proud Puerto Ricans on the island and scattered around the world. He not only failed to empathize with the hardships that storm survivors are experiencing, he basked in praise like a preening puppy.
Looking back at Drumpf’s four-hour-long visit to the island, it’s clear that this trip embodies the governing philosophy of this reality-TV president.
… a mental condition characterized by delusions of persecution, unwarranted jealousy, or exaggerated self-importance, typically elaborated into an organized system.
It may be an aspect of chronic personality disorder, of drug abuse, or of a serious condition such as schizophrenia in which the person loses touch with reality.
~Wikipedia~
I feel this is important information about what is happening in the Republican Administration lead by Drumpf and what we need to be aware of.
Keith Olbermann series called “The Resistance” continues.
From Trump’s Mar-a-Lago to Facebook, a National Security Crisis in the Open
WASHINGTON
President Drumpf and his top aides coordinated their response to North Korea’s missile test on Saturday night, February 11, in full view of diners at Mr. Drumpf’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida – a remarkable public display of presidential activity that is almost always conducted in highly secure settings.
The scene – of aides huddled over their computers and the president on his cellphone at his club’s terrace – was captured by a club member dining not far away and published in pictures on his Facebook account.
The images also show Mr. Trump conferring with his guest at the resort, Shinzo Abe, the Japanese prime minister.
“As it appears in … full read/full credit”
I feel this is important information about what is happening in the Republican Administration lead by Drumpf and what we need to be aware of.
Keith Olbermann series called “The Resistance” continues.
Donald Trump is our next president, which means Keith’s not going anywhere. Catch every episode of his new GQ show, The Resistance, and then come join the fight.
Schools in Puerto Rico have been closing down due to the debt crisis, but hedge fund managers like Mark Brodsky continue to take advantage of the situation. Urge elected officials to put the lives of Puerto Ricans above interests of hedge funds.
Puerto Rico needs action in Washington that respects local authority, fairly restructures the debt, puts people over hedge fund profits, and protects the environment.
We are counting on our elected officials to promote shared prosperity, not austerity for Puerto Rico.
An American Musical’s Lin-Manuel Miranda explains the economic crisis in Puerto Rico.
And it’s amazing.
This is a very urgent matter. Time is rolling by, no actions are forthcoming. There’s a tsunami headed for Puerto Rico and people are idly standing by.
I can’t stress enough how important this is.
“A commonwealth with not a lot of wealth and not quite nation … 3.5 American civilians are on the hook for billions.
Lin-Manuel Miranda performs emotional song about Puerto Rico for John Oliver
The ‘Hamilton‘ star debuted an original rap about the debt crisis on ‘Last Week Tonight’.
By BREANNE L. HELDMAN
Puerto Rico is in a desperate state of crisis as time is running out on the May 1 deadline to restructure its $70 billion debt. Making matters worse, as John Oliver explained on Sunday’s Last Week Tonight, they can’t file for bankruptcy due to an unexplainable, tiny provision in a 1984 law.
But Oliver wasn’t alone in detailing the urgency of the situation — he had a little help from Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda.
“We need to stop treating Puerto Rico like it’s just a tax haven or a place to have terrifying sex with a stranger in a coconut mask, and instead, we have to start treating it like an island of American citizens whose fate is interwoven with ours,” Oliver summarized about 19 minutes into his segment.
“And, look, there are certainly better voices than mine to speak on behalf of Puerto Rico.
Luckily, there is someone with Puerto Rican parents and an amazing voice,” he added before introducing Miranda himself, who performed an entirely new rap dedicated to the situation.
Lin-Manuel Miranda, joins Congressional Democrats at a news conference to announce a new push to address the humanitarian and economic crisis in Puerto Rico
I have found a new hero, I have found a new man to admire.
I first heard about Lin-Manuel when he appeared on Jimmy Fallon’s late night show.
His ability with words and music immediately grabbed me.
Then I learned more about his Broadway his show “Hamilton”.
He’s a source of pride for the Puerto Rican people.
However, why is he my hero now?
Many of you may know that Puerto Rico is going through and experience very tough times.
You may have heard that Puerto Rico isn’t able to pay its billionaire debt.
However, there’s so much more to the situation than that.
Those who have followed this blog may know that the situation is partly because of the political limbo in which Puerto Rico has been since becoming a territory/colony of the USA.
The only Puerto Rican “celebrity voice” who has come out, loud and clear, making a case to help Puerto Rico get back on its feet has been Lin-Manuel.
This past week he visited John Oliver and did an awesome job in spreading this message.
It’s gone viral!!
A Facebook page has posted his intervention with Spanish subtitles as a public service for Puerto Ricans to better understand his message.
“Ante lo viral que se ha tornado la intervención de Lin-Manuel Miranda en el programa de John Oliver, hemos subtitulado su contenido en español para el consumo de todos los puertorriqueños como un servicio público.”
I’m including a short video where Lin-Manuel explains.
Lin-Manuel Miranda Calls On Congress For Puerto Rico Support
MSNBC
Published on Mar 15, 2016
“Hamilton” star and composer, Lin-Manuel Miranda, joins Congressional Democrats at a news conference to announce a new push to address the humanitarian and economic crisis in Puerto Rico.
More than 350,000 refugees have arrived in the 28 nation EU this year. There were 626,000 applications for asylum in 2014. This is in addition to the two million that Turkey has taken in.
Europe is “ground zero” for the refugee crisis.
Frontex, the agency in charge of guarding the EU border, estimates that about 340,000 migrants have tried to sneak into Europe in 2015 so far, almost three times as many as in 2014. Along with the surge in numbers, the demographics of the travelers have also changed.
These days, the bulk of them are Syrians fleeing violence at home, Afghans escaping their own ongoing civil war, Roma from Kosovo looking to avoid discrimination, and Eritreans fleeing a dictatorship comparable to the one in North Korea. Whereas in 2014, the bulk of refugees came to Europe through Italy from Libya and Tunisia, now more people arrive in Greece after crossing Turkey and the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Macedonia and Hungary have also seen a surge in traffic.
Although the reason for this shift remains uncertain, it seems likely that reports of frequent drownings on the long journey from northern Africa to Italy, and the increasingly volatile situation in Libya, have convinced many refugees to try their luck over land. (Kaelin)
Most of these are fleeing the civil war in Syria, but many others are also fleeing conflicts in Iraq, Nigeria, Somolia, and Sudan.
~~GALLERY~~
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Five issues have recently brought the issue to the forefront of media attention
ONE: a growing number of people have drowned attempt to cross the Mediterranean Sea with the support of smugglers in boats. The humanitarian plight was highlighted by photos of a fully-clothed three-year old boy who drowned and whose body washed ashore. Photos of the dead boy laying on a beach were widely distributed across the Internet.
TWO: many refuges who had made their way into Hungary (Hungary is the primary entry point in the EU for refugees) became stranded at the Keleti train station when Hungarian authorities were not letting trains pass to Austria because the refugees hadn’t registered.
THREE: the situation between police and the refugees has turned violent.
FOUR: 71 people were found dead in a smuggler’s truck Southeast of Vienna on August 27th.
FIFTH: there are daily complications from the flow of refugees.
I must say that I wasn’t totally informed about this situation until the picture of the three year old flashed through the internet.
I had heard rumblings about refugees crossing and drowning in the Mediterranean Sea but wasn’t really following the events in that corner of the world.
I’m looking into it now.
What I see is nothing short than massive human suffering caused by conflict, war and major disregard for human rights.
I’ve read that these refugees are victims of US-NATO led wars.
WARS!! INVASION!! GREED!! PROFIT!!
Where is humanity heading?
This senseless violence must stop.
This is the perfect example of “what touches one, touches all”.
As these refugees “move” from home, so many other countries are “affected” as they either ignore the issue or try their hand at compassion.
It Is What It Is 