Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

He really is that stupid.

They love authoritarianism, but only when they get to be the authoritarians.

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

Peak wingnut was a lie.

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

You are here: Home / Economics / C.R.E.A.M. / Saturday Morning Pictures Open Thread: Puerto Rico Edition

Saturday Morning Pictures Open Thread: Puerto Rico Edition

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(Interview with the editor at the link.)
 

Electricity has been restored in Puerto Rico following an outage on Wednesday that left the island in darkness. It was the first island-wide blackout since Hurricane Maria swept through the U.S. territory in September.

A transmission line was accidentally damaged by an excavator, reported The Associated Press…

By Thursday afternoon, the energy provider tweeted that service had been restored to 97 percent of its customers — the same level as before Wednesday’s blackout. Some 40,000 people still lack regular electricity seven months after Hurricane Maria, according to the AP.

Following the outage, Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló called for the cancellation of a contract with D. Grimm, the subcontracting company responsible for the accident, reported El Nuevo Día.…

All of Puerto Rico could have its energy restored by late May, according to an AP report citing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The Corps announced in early April that it would provide additional resources to expand power restoration efforts in Puerto Rico, increasing an existing contract by $140.5 million, to $510.6 million…

Hurrican season, incidentally, starts June 1st!

… Living under the specter of a delicate power grid has forced many to adapt. Residents have sunk thousands of dollars into buying and fueling generators. But the situation has also forced subtler changes to everyday routines.

Ms. Ortiz, who makes a living caring for the elderly and children, no longer stocks her refrigerator or pantry with much food beyond the emergency hurricane supply. She buys only a few days’ worth of, for example, meat at time…

Many Puerto Ricans have left the island completely, including one of Ms. Ortiz’s clients, an older woman whose family moved her to the mainland. That meant Ortiz’s work schedule dropped to two days a week from six…

A few blocks away, Jorge Piris, 70, the owner of Nueva Vida Car Care, was busy catching up on work because of a backlog created, in part, by Wednesday’s blackout. Nine cars in his shop needed work, and he was late for an appointment with an accountant…

The power went out at Piris’s shop around 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday while he was under the hood of a car. He quickly unplugged expensive equipment in his shop, such as a computer and air compressor, to prevent any damage. By the time the power was restored, his three employees were getting off work. A day was lost.

Then he pointed to the cars jammed into the two-garage shop, which needs $14,000 worth of repairs — part of the roof and a back wall are missing.

“Look at all that we’ve got to do,” Mr. Piris said.

The generator he used during the four months he was without power after Hurricane Maria was simply too expensive to use. Asked how much business he lost in that span, Piris estimated over 50 percent. “Easily,” he said…

Reader Interactions

119Comments

  1. 1.

    satby

    I’m still waiting for Habitat for Humanity to start setting up build teams, I signed up right after the hurricane. I think a lot of the delay is due to the constant infrastructure problems. But I wish they’d get on it and realize most of their volunteers are ready to go, power or not.

  5. 5.

    rikyrah

    Could you imagine if this had happened during 44’s term?
    Would have been wall to wall coverage.
    Covering up for the pure malice and incompetence of this Administration.
    The curve for Unqualified White Men is REAL ?

  6. 6.

    Anne Laurie

    @rikyrah:

    They are trying to kill these American Citizens ??

    Not “deliberately”, they’d claim, but I have to agree with you.

    Saving links for another post later this week — our fellow citizens from Puerto Rico are aware of this, and both those who’ve stayed on the island and those who’ve been forced into exile here in the mainland are plotting how best to make the Repubs pay.

  7. 7.

    Cermet

    Not at all surprised – not a State=no rep’s and no power: in both the literal and figurative sense. Puerto Rican’s need to get on to Statehood and pass it ASAP with an over whelming majority. Then they will get a lot more aid and assistance. This half way statehood is really worthless; tax breaks now work against them – being an island means that everything is far more costly – especially food and fuel so independence would be an unmitigated disaster. They need to organize now and get out the vote and then have some real political power! That is the key to their long term best interest

  8. 8.

    NorthLeft12

    This might be old news, but Best President Obama once again hits the nail on the head about the Parkland teens and the youth supporting them;

    But they have the power so often inherent in youth: to see the world anew; to reject the old constraints, outdated conventions and cowardice too often dressed up as wisdom.

    The power to insist that America can be better.

    The bolded part of that is what really struck home. I hope all politicians, media pundits, and hell, all adults take that snip to heart.

  15. 15.

    Bruuuuce

    About a month old, but relevant:

    The Los Angeles Dodgers formally announced on Tuesday that the organization and owner/chairman Mark Walter will pledge a $2 million donation to Habitat for Humanity of Puerto Rico to aid in the rebuilding efforts after Hurricane Maria caused serious damage to the area more than six months ago.

    .
    Many athletes and clubs have already donated (and, with so many having roots there, it’s no surprise.) As much as they give, however, it’s not nearly the sort of resources the federal government could have, and should have brought to bear. The crooks in the White House and Congress are killing their own citizens and pocketing the change.

  17. 17.

    Immanentize

    @satby: I didn’t know that was a thing! I am looking for a great trip for the Immp and me this summer. We were signed up to go to Cuba but that trip was cancelled for lack of interest. Do I just call Jimmy Carter, or what, for the Habitat teams??

  18. 18.

    Gvg

    I would not be surprised if some were bitter over their treatment but I see no solution but statehood. This no vote situation is powerless. It’s also left them mute on the national scene for too many years. A lot of the rest of the US has actually never really noticed them.
    I suspect that one issue is language. Another right now is the rise of open racism. A territory has to get other states to vote them in.
    I also wonder about our other territories. US Virgin Islands etc. very small populations.

  19. 19.

    Kay

    @joshtpm
    15h15 hours ago
    More
    Serious point abt Cohen-Trump relationship. Trump notoriously abuses employees. The key is that the level of abuse correlates tightly with self-abnegation. The more they take it, the more obsequious they get, the worse he treats them. We all know this kind of person.

    I agree with this but it doesn’t fit with “Trump will pardon them if they stand up”. He’ll have more contempt for them if they stand up, not less. Trump doesn’t give a shit what happens to Cohen’s family. He’ll consider it a win if he tricks Cohen into taking a prison sentence instead of a deal and then he’ll abandon him. There’s not going to be any gratitude. Cohen should do what the Trumps would do- take care of his own family. All this bullshit about Trump’s “loyalty” is just that- bullshit. They’re not actually like the Mafia as the Mafia is portrayed in movies. They’re just ordinary, run of the mill assholes. The game is who comes out on top, not “win/win”.

  20. 20.

    Another Scott

    ‘morning all.

    Thanks for the Mars book pointer. It’s an easy purchase especially since it’s also for a good cause.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  21. 21.

    Immanentize

    @Gvg: I have wondered why the new State couldn’t be “Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.”. A type of island eco-state. Maybe a bit more spread out than Hawaii? But I’m not even sure that’s true. The problem is, in part, that those islands really have no industry outside tourism. Yes, PR has some industries, including drug manufacturing. But the economies are shrinking, not growing.

  22. 22.

    debbie

    @rikyrah:

    I must say, the speed with which the demonstrable failures of Trump’s tax cuts have become evident is amazing. It took longer for Reagan’s tax cuts to do damage.

  23. 23.

    Immanentize

    @Kay: I agree that Trump demands loyalty but shows none. In fact, I am counting on that as Mueller’s team works to flip Cohen. They know it. And they know Cohen knows it.
    Even the Libby pardon was sour to Trump — “i don’t know Libby, but I’m told he is s good guy.” WTF? That was clearly someone else’s idea and did not impact Trump in any way. Someone close to him flipping? I think that will piss him off more than it will suggest to him dangers and the need to be generous.

  24. 24.

    debbie

    @Kay:

    I agree with this but it doesn’t fit with “Trump will pardon them if they stand up”.

    Of course not. He’s “negotiating” (read “tricking”) them. He has no intention of pardoning anyone other than himself, and he never has intended to pardon anyone. This is just one way to shut people up.

  25. 25.

    Immanentize

    @debbie: Krugman’s op ed in the NYTimes yesterday was on this very topic; but Trump cuts versus Bush II cuts.

  27. 27.

    debbie

    He’s already at it.

    The New York Times and a third rate reporter named Maggie Habberman, known as a Crooked H flunkie who I don’t speak to and have nothing to do with, are going out of their way to destroy Michael Cohen and his relationship with me in the hope that he will “flip.” They use….— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 21, 2018

    ….non-existent “sources” and a drunk/drugged up loser who hates Michael, a fine person with a wonderful family. Michael is a businessman for his own account/lawyer who I have always liked & respected. Most people will flip if the Government lets them out of trouble, even if….— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 21, 2018

    ….it means lying or making up stories. Sorry, I don’t see Michael doing that despite the horrible Witch Hunt and the dishonest media!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 21, 2018

    I wonder who the drunk/drugged up loser is.

  28. 28.

    Kay

    @debbie:

    It’s kind of amazing though- if it pans out that it’s a flop politically it means tax cuts aren’t the magical vote-getter they used to be. That solves a huge political problem for Democrats. The teacher strikes are really about tax cuts. They cut taxes and the voodoo incantations didn’t work and they didn’t increase revenue so they cut education. It finally, finally got thru to people that they have to pay for things they want, like good schools.

    Without cutting taxes what do Republicans have to run on? “LImited government”? No one really gives a shit about that, least of all Republicans. That leaves them with racism, basically.

  31. 31.

    Another Scott

    On the news, I’m not really surprised that Kim is saying that he’ll stop testing nuclear weapons (and stop missile tests), saying that they’ve done all the testing they need. I was wondering what he was going to do after (not-fully-collaborated) reports of tunnel collapse and other damage, and hundreds of deaths, at the main DPRK test site. IOW, he’s smart to try to take maximum political advantage of his (potential) inability to perform nuclear tests now (at least not without heroic efforts at the test site).

    I’m generally in the “jaw-jaw is better than war-war” school of thought, and I think it’s long-past time that we talk with Kim and try to officially end the Korean War. But, in spite of the false starts under Clinton and Bush, it’s clear that Kim and the USA weren’t interested in doing so until the Kims felt they were on a more-equal footing. So, in a way, and unfortunately, it took the DPRK having a demonstrated nuclear deterrent for it to happen.

    I don’t think that it will be at all easy for a lasting and verifiable agreement to be created under Donnie. And there is a risk that Donnie will be bamboozled and give away the store so that he can sign something in his mania to somehow prove that he’s a Great Leader.

    It’ll be interesting to see what Cheryl, and Adam, and all the rest of you jackals, have to say about it.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  32. 32.

    Kay

    @Immanentize:

    I don’t know that Cohen knows it. Cohen is part of the Trump sickness. He plays an active role. I don’t think people inside a dynamic like this see clearly, or at all. Cohen isn’t rich. He had to borrow to pay Trump’s hush money. Cohen hasn’t benefited from his relationship with the Trumps, and yet he stayed. The people inside the sick dynamic don’t see it. They’re incapable of seeing it, because they’re part of it. There can’t be people like Trump without people like Cohen. You need both.

  34. 34.

    rikyrah

    Has anyone informed Senator Heidekamp that she has an out. She doesn’t have to vote for Pompeo. The liar about his military service .easy out.

  35. 35.

    debbie

    @Kay:

    That leaves them with racism, basically.

    Exactly. How long till taking a knee becomes an executable offense?

  36. 36.

    debbie

    @rikyrah:

    It will be, er, interesting to see who overlooks that little lie. Also those Christianist remarks he made back when he was in Congress.

  37. 37.

    JMG

    A formal peace treaty ending the Korean War would be de facto recognition of the DPRK as a sovereign state. Same for the Republic of Korea. That’s why nobody wanted one in 1953. If South and North are ready to recognize each other, I don’t see how the US could do much but follow along.

  38. 38.

    Kay

    @debbie:

    Trump’s treatment of the NYTimes is an example of the same dynamic Josh Marshall identified. He has contempt for people who need him. Trump doesn’t hate media. He thinks he uses them effectively – he wins that game- he thinks they are “losers” because they allow him to use them. There’s only winners and losers in Trumpworld and Trump is the winner in that contest.

  41. 41.

    Kay

    @debbie:

    20 years ago though no one thought tax cuts would ever stop working as a political tactic. Racism could stop working too. A heavier lift for the public obviously- racism runs so deep– but recall that in 2004 Republicans won a national election on opposition to same sex marriage. 2004. People change their minds.

  45. 45.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    speaking of drugged out losers, Jared has been in hiding the last few months.

  46. 46.

    Immanentize

    @Manyakitty: I said Nader, but I think you are right — Number. Stone said he was an addict. But then again, Kudlow is a known Coke head….

    I just cannot believe this administration.

  47. 47.

    Another Scott

    @Cermet: DC has the same problems, but even more-so. It would most likely take a constitutional amendment to fix the issues with DC’s representation (unless some sort of retrocession to Maryland could be finessed, and DC and Maryland both hate that idea so it’s probably a non-starter.

    It’s been my opinion for a long time that DC is really a city and shouldn’t be a state, but the counter-argument is that it has a larger population than Wyoming or Vermont, etc., etc. DC has been a special district for a long time, with its own identity, so it probably should be a state.

    There are lots of facilities in DC that have national import but don’t get attention because of the lack of representation in the national government. E.g. it took years for the turf on the National Mall to be addressed even though 33 million people use it every year. Similarly with leaks in the reflecting pools. And the problems at Walter Reed and more recently at the DC VA hospital. Etc., etc.

    It’s long past time that we address the problem of too many Americans not having “Equal Justice Under Law”. DC, US territories, etc., seem to me to have a strong case that there are constitutional issues with the existing arrangements.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  48. 48.

    Manyakitty

    @Immanentize: You’re welcome! I’m always tempted by the idea of a service vacation. Hope you guys find the right spot and make a difference!

  49. 49.

    Immanentize

    @Kay:
    You are right, it takes a village to build a jerk like Trump. But in these cases, as you know, prosecutors often find family members (spouses, children) are extremely helpful in getting the deluded person to see reason. That is what finally got Gates, I’m sure. Cohen has a wife and family. Mobbed up, no doubt, but he does have a wife and kids.

    ETA I am predicting nothing, but these are the situations in which stupid people try stupid things, like discussing hits against witnesses on tape.

  51. 51.

    Kay

    Dana Goldstein
    ‏

    @DanaGoldstein
    16h16 hours ago
    More
    The fourth conservative state to be convulsed by teacher protest this year. It’s an extraordinary, nationwide story about the limits of austerity.

    The “limits of austerity” turn out to be located exactly where it starts to affect huge groups of working and middle class people.

    We found the line. It’s located where magical conservative accounting gimmicks crash into the reality of 50 million kids in public schools.

  52. 52.

    JMG

    “The easiest guy in the world to bullshit is a bullshit artist” — Damon Runyon.
    To me, that’s the essence of all Trump relationships. He’s an easy con due to his narcissism and almost total ignorance of the world outside its fairways, so he attracts grifters to his inner circle like Cohen or Flynn or Pruitt. He doesn’t get that calling names does not make the failing New York Times and Maggie Haberman feel like losers. They are getting way more out of their relationship than he is. The same will happen with Kim and North Korea. The foreign leaders’ book on handling Trump is no secret. Flatter him outrageously, make up some word salad you can persuade him is a “win,” then go home and do what you wanted anyway. It’s not like he’ll catch on.

  53. 53.

    debbie

    @Kay:

    OMG, he was on the local NYC news and on Page Six practically every day! That he hates media is his biggest lie, believe me! “The Donald”!

  56. 56.

    Gin & Tonic

    @debbie:

    a third rate reporter named Maggie Habberman, known as a Crooked H flunkie who I don’t speak to and have nothing to do with

    The question really is why *she* puts up with this. Trump and Haberman talk every day – he knows it, she knows it, you and I and all of B-J know it. Why she tolerates this and doesn’t call bullshit will always remain a mystery to me.

  58. 58.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    The New York Times and a third rate reporter named Maggie Habberman,

    He misspelled Haberman.

    He might as well called her Wendy.

  61. 61.

    Kay

    @Immanentize:

    He’s been in the sick dynamic so long. Decades. I’m generally pro-defendant so I hope he has a good lawyer who can talk some sense into him. He’s a fool if he relies on Trump. His duty is to his own family, not the Trump family. He probably has no self-respect left after 20 years in that relationship, but maybe you’re right- maybe he can be reached by appeals from family members who haven’t been engaged in this humiliation dance with a psycho for 20 years. Maybe they see. Kids see abusive relationships that go on between their parents much more clearly than the adults in the relationship do, so it’s possible.

  62. 62.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    Donald J. Trump
    ‏Verified account @realDonaldTrump
    10h10 hours ago

    James Comey illegally leaked classified documents to the press in order to generate a Special Council? Therefore, the Special Council was established based on an illegal act? Really, does everybody know what that means?

    Such panic from a person who insists he’s innocent.

  63. 63.

    Gin & Tonic

    @rikyrah: Heitkamp is an idiot if she thinks she will swing a single R vote her way in N.D. by this vote. She’s giving it away for nothing.

  64. 64.

    boatboy_srq

    Open Thread, so:

    Interesting read from Benen over at Maddowblog on how FundiEvangelists are loving them some Thrice-Married Ethically-Challenged White Man so long as he sticks it to Those People the way they want. Something something 700 wives and 300 concubines going on there, methinks. (BTW the SBC chair stepping down over a “morally inappropriate relationship” makes an interesting counterpoint: their own leaders may have something resembling morals, but their hero can go without them and they Just. Do. Not. Care.)

  65. 65.

    JMG

    @Gin & Tonic: There’s a Pulitzer on her mantelpiece today is why. Look, access journalism isn’t pretty and requires the reporter to do things that involve submerging their self-respect. That’s true if you’re covering the President or the town high school football coach (in many ways a tougher beat). But it’s a valid form of journalism. We’ve learned stuff about Trump we wouldn’t otherwise know because of Haberman’s ability to manipulate him.

  67. 67.

    Kay

    @David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch:

    I think the Trump misspelling of names is deliberate. They’re not important enough to get their names right. Like “special council”- it’s a classic- a childish, petty expression of disrespect. Trump is really small. Whatever the lowest road is, he takes it. He’s a garden variety asshole.

  70. 70.

    JMG

    @Kay: He got elected because millions of Americans wanted a garden variety asshole to live out their fantasies of acting on their worst impulses without any fear of consequences. Most people do not act like Trump. Most of those are because they’re not assholes. But a not inconsiderable number want to but can’t. They’d get fired. They’d get punched out. So they sit in traffic, listen to hate talk radio, and dream.

  72. 72.

    Amir Khalid

    It kind of bothers me that comic-book artists draw male superheroes to look like athletes, but they still draw female superheroes to look like fashion models.

    @Anne Laurie:
    Trump has done a lot of things as President for which he deserves removal from office, but I think the most heinous is his refusal to come to the aid of Puerto Ricans.

  76. 76.

    MomSense

    @NotMax:

    I saw her photo yesterday in her NASA flightbsuit costume and my heart melted. I saw a photo this morning if another first grader who was the only one to walk out and she had such a fierce expression on her face. This generation of girl is not being raised to be pleasing to others. I’m in the amen corner for them.

  80. 80.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @rikyrah:
    It would have been wall to wall coverage for Bush II. Katrina was. Then a black man was elected president, and the old white men who run national journalism realized that maybe the better dressed Nazis have a point.

    @JMG:
    This is so freaking on the nose.

  83. 83.

    Immanentize

    @NotMax:
    I meant to thank you yesterday. My son loved the Quest birthday viddy. I also sent it to my friend at work with the same b-day. She said it sounded just like her grandmother. She loved it too!

  89. 89.

    NorthLeft12

    @rikyrah: Yeah, as if any corporation would just keep people employed or pay them more just because they were suddenly flush with cash. They are not built that way.That’s not what they do.

    Now if the employees were the ones responsible for that windfall, then maybe. I guess they could make the argument that because Ohio went Trump and Republican, they are responsible for that windfall. Okay, good luck with that.

  94. 94.

    Another Scott

    @Ramalama: Yup. As the story says, Vlad is upset with Telegram (an encrypted communications app) and is trying to block it, but in the process taking a chainsaw to lots of other IP addresses.

    Android Police has another take on it.

    HTH.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  95. 95.

    Spanky

    @NotMax: I blame the parents.

    Havana speaks eight languages, and has already started a book club and fundraiser for the African-American children in her choir so they can have books at home. She wanted to participate in Friday’s walkout after she participated in the March for Our Lives rally in Washington, D.C. last month. She says another reason she decided to walk out on Friday was the 2009 death of her cousin, Tony, who was shot and killed on the way to school.

    Her mom said after Havana’s walkout Friday, she knows her daughter understands “what it means to be a leader, even in the most simple of terms.”

  96. 96.

    Elizabelle

    @Currants: Problem with your link, I think. (Got to remove the http stuff in the link box before you paste.)

    Here’s the Hammerstone/PRico link. They’ve completed their mission, but still have a GoFundMe page up, and are looking about for other funding.

    ETA: Had never heard of that org. Construction skills Carpentry for women, based out of Trumansburg, NY. Great idea. (Apparently the Finger Lakes area; around Ithaca.)

  97. 97.

    Immanentize

    @Elizabelle: thanks for the fixed link — great story! Thanks, Currants.

    ETA Heading to the nursery so I have something to say in tomorrow’s garden thread!

  98. 98.

    Barbara

    @Immanentize: Re: Libby pardon — consider it to be John Bolton’s unfinished business from the Bush era. I’m sure he pushed Bush hard for the pardon.

  100. 100.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @Ramalama:

    “David Brooks is filling in for Vice Principal at Downers Grove North High this week.”

    Downers North? Son #2 went to Downers South. No one but the ex remains in DuPage County.

  101. 101.

    Cermet

    @Another Scott: When you have constructed and tested an optimized hydrogen bomb and ICBM missile based on mature russian technology and parts, what exactly is there left to do except negotiate a sweet deal and give nothing of value in return? The bloody kim is in talks with a stupid moron fart cloud – exactly where and how could that mass murdering pus ball kim lose?

  102. 102.

    tobie

    This is off topic but since we’re in an open thread, I wanted to say that I got my first order ever from Penzey’s today. I would never have heard of this company were it not for BJ, so thank you to all! In a similar vein, I would not have known about UnitedforPuertoRico.com, so I will turn there next.

  103. 103.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @Baud: Good morning, you get a Milky Way pic! I drove up into the local mountains, to the ol’ Boy Scout Camp Road(there’s a Boy Scout camp at the end I went to a few times in my lost youth). It was FREEZING up there! I don’t mean under 60, which is cold for my thin blood, it was literally freezing(28 degrees when I left).

  104. 104.

    Another Scott

    @Cermet: He hasn’t gained anything yet, except for maybe a little status. His people are still starving, the DPRK is still under sanctions, etc.

    The details of any agreement, and how it’s verified and enforced, and the consequences for breaking it, matter of course. I’m not at all sanguine about Donnie’s ability to get the details right.

    But talking in and of itself has no downside that I can see (in this particular case, given the history with the DPRK). I’m not sure that our historical position – the US is too important to talk to monsters unless we get what we want before we even start talking – has served us that well…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  106. 106.

    Formerly disgruntled in Oregon

    @Another Scott: I’d like to see three new states, to get the US completely out of the territory business:
    1. Puerto Rico & Virgin Islands (pop. ~ 3.5 million)
    2. Columbia (formerly Washington DC, pop. ~ 700K)
    3. United Pacific Islands (pop. ~ 250K, including Guam, American Samoa, and Northern Mariana Islands)

    The Americans living in these “insular area” territories should have the full rights and privileges of Statehood, including representation in Congress and to vote for President.

  107. 107.

    Ramalama

    @O. Felix Culpa: I grew up in the near environs and….family friend was involved with one of the Downers (Vice Principal, Principal, School Counselor, Superintendent? who knows) and he had a certain weird Panache that sometimes makes me think that David Brooks is aiming for but could only dream about having. Because Brooks sucks. Sucks Donkey.

  108. 108.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @Ramalama: Yes he does. It drives me crazy that some of my dearest friends, kind and otherwise intelligent people, still think Brooks says anything of meaning.

  112. 112.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Formerly disgruntled in Oregon: FWIW 53 stars on the flag would work nicely (8/7/8/7/8/7/8) as would 52 (7/8/7/8/7/8/7 or 7/6/7/6/7/6/7/6) but 51 might be a bit of a shoehorn unless the blue field was widened (9/8/9/8/9/8?)

    (And FTR I am heartily sick of typing out a long comment & hitting submit only to be told that “balloon-juice is not responding” & having the whole f’ing thing lost. Starting to wonder why TF I bother.)

  113. 113.

    PJ

    @Another Scott: Besides the lack of votes in Congress, another huge problem with the lack of statehood is that Congress routinely overturns DC law when it suits them (notably, a few years ago, medical marijuana legalization).

  116. 116.

    satby

    @Immanentize: it’s still not set up, but I wanted to maybe get a group of us together if there was interest. Hit me up at my Etsy store and I will try to follow up with HfH next week for an EtA for build teams.

  117. 117.

    satby

    @Manyakitty: @Immanentize: Global Volunteers is the org I went to Haiti with after the earthquake, and a subsidiary is Bamboo, who I went to Thailand and Cambodia with. I intend to do this project too, but they only have summer and fall weeks, so I have to get a substitute arranged at the Farmers Market. I recommend them.

  118. 118.

    currants

    @Elizabelle: Thanks for fixing that–had trouble attaching a link on my phone. Without my glasses.

    Yes, they’re a GREAT org–if I remember correctly, the woman who started it was at Cornell for a post-grad IT degree, stopped to think about what she was doing and what she wanted, and this is the result. They do good work re: educating women about how to do basic things around one’s dwelling, and after the 2016 election, decided to add work specifically with immigrants (I have one of their “ReSisterhood” T-shirts!). The fundraising site is still up because they’re not finished their PR work. They’ve made one trip, and are planning at least one more this summer (or maybe April, I don’t remember).

  119. 119.

    currants

    @Immanentize: Yes, Elizabelle fixed it. By the way, I replied to your question about currants on last week’s garden chat. Comment on tomorrow morning’s thread if you can’t find it and I’ll post it again.

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