That’s the first thing that alarmed me… but then again, the Red Cross has been found cooking their books and using the donatons received to pad their bottom line. Everything else is corrupt nowadays, it certainly would not surprise me that the Red Cross is just one more symptom of late stage capitalism.
Honestly, lots of people don’t vote, because they either can’t (people who served time in states where they don’t reinstate voting rights) or because they feel as if it’s not going to do them any good, it won’t change anything. Looking around at the current situation we’re in, can you say that they are wrong? Especially with the gerrymandered districts, among other things?
I go vote, but even I’m not sure it’s doing much good, honestly. All my state and federal districts are democratic and I’m in fact represented by African Americans all the way down (I think even in my county now, which was previously an all white county board).
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If one had the means, it would be interesting to cook up ways to harass Blackwater without direct face-to-face ground engagement. Honeypot traps rigged with pink exploding dye pack, for starters?
Itching powder in the laundry facilities or urishol (poison ivy) in the porta-potties?
Whatever could be done without direct risk of getting shot.
Just pipe dreaming here. Really not looking for an armchair treatise on sabotage and warfare.
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Glitter. Lots and lots and lots of glitter.
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That’s the spirit!
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There are few organizations I would wish the herpes of craft supplies on.
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Unmarked mercenaries smells similar to Russia’s invasion of Crimea. Perhaps Trump wants to invade Puerto Rico, and hasn’t yet realized it is already US soil.
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It’s often worth asking: Who’s benefiting? True we have an army (and a navy and an air force and marines and the national guard…) and we are already paying quite handsomely for them. But if we pay for mercenaries, think of the profits! This is crony capitalism. This is outsourcing jobs that are traditionally done by the governemnt to the private sector.
There are people who genuinely believe that such outsourcing will save money because of the alleged efficiencies of the private sector. We’re seeing that all over the place. There are also people who couldn’t give a fuck whether it is more efficient, because it will line their own pockets, or the pockets of their friends. And we’re seeing a lot of that too.
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I mean, really, can you blame them for not knowing who they work for, this week? It can’t be easy keeping track when your paycheque always says something different. /snark
They’re there to help, alright. Help ensure that Puerto Ricans remember their place as colonists and don’t get any ideas of demanding anything like humane treatment. /bitter
It’s also the perfect test. If the majority of Americans are okay with it in PR, then you move to getting them used to it closer and closer to home. To quote The Doctor: “America isn’t under attack. America has already been occupied.”
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Imperialist history aside, can anyone cite contemporary documents indicating the current US govt wouldn’t be thrilled if PR decided to declare independence? As I understand it, the statehood issue never having traction in congress is because PR would be a new blue state with no potential red state to balance it.
This new state “balance” has been a problem since antebellum times. Most recently AK balanced HI. The only other potential new state is DC, also blue. You’d have to split a red state like TX in 2, or slice populous but regionally divided states like CA, NY or FL make a new red state. Downstate NY would LOVE to be cut free from Albany.
The avenues covered in brush, without working lights?
I think you mean by that they can “hit the road”?
Not accurate. They’re losing the right to remain in Puerto Rico AND live.
That’s how all this started, that’s how it ends.
And rather than ask displaced people in need to solve the worlds problems as I see them, maybe I will instead ask them what they need, and offer to help the best I can?
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The moral of the current US political story is not: “It does not matter if you bother to vote, or for who.”.
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Been true in Puerto Rico for about 100 years.
Do you think we could solve two problems at once by making them a state (since with 3.41 million citizens, they would be the 29th largest - and that would seem pretty fair to me, or maybe we could just call all the states smaller than (and including) Iowa “territories” and strip them of congressional representation. Do you think that would help any?
Any ideas?
It even mattered there. They have a governor, for example.
Yea, sure. It should be a state. DC too. And in the long run the US constitution breaks under the strain of the electoral college and senate misreperesentation.
Here are some facts for you. And some conjecture that sticks to the topic at hand, with references to back it up.
Have been googling this and the only references I can find are this article, the original referenced article, and the exact same same article in Spanish on a different website. Also there are various people linking to this BB post but quoting it as the source. There’s even some video on youtube of a guy basically reading this post with a few things changed. But basically nothing to back up the idea that PR’s streets are “crawling” or that it’s some kind of governmental action. But definitely information about who hired them, and enough data to allow some conjecture as to why.
First, the linked to article states one of the mercenaries says he “…works for a private security firm hired by Nicholas Prouty, the owner of the Ciudadela complex.”
Ciudadela is, “…a mixed use real estate development in Santurce and Puerto del Rey, the largest marina in Puerto Rico” according to http://www.naaonline.org/nicholas_prouty. Nicholas Prouty is a very big investor in it. Prouty actually moved to PR and has invested over $100 million into the Ciudadela complex according to http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/09/18/new-york-developer-to-invest-108-million-in-puerto-rico-apartment-commercial.html.
So I guess my reading of this all is a rich guy (Prouty) who lives in PR and invested millions in a development has hired private security guards to guard that space. He isn’t some offshore money guy who’s just sending in thugs to protect his assets. He lives there. He’s there to make Puerto Rico better, not wring money out of it. Read http://newsismybusiness.com/prouty-puerto-caribbean/ to get a sense of his thoughts on the place.
In other words, this is essentially FUD. Yea it’s scary that such “bad hombres” are out there and can be hired, but my gut feeling here is that Prouty has put many millions into an investment of a complex that he lives in, and he wanted it protected. Realistically he couldn’t get local people to hire to do it (too busy getting their own lives together), so he hired from offshore.
Guessing that the next thing to be questioned is Prouty’s own character and politics, he contributed $15,250 last year to US politics - all to democrats. $5,400 of that went to Hillary Clinton. You can see his contributions listed at https://www.campaignmoney.com/political/contributions/nicholas-prouty.asp?cycle=16
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if the senate and electoral college have a more accurate representation of the people in it, how will that break the Constitution? Sounds like it would restore balance not throw it off the track.
This is truly the story of the U.S. from the beginning, dating back at least to the Articles of Confederation[1] and becoming even more noticeable in the debates that led to the Constitution with the 3/5ths compromise, then the Missouri Compromise, and Bleeding Kansas.
It’s been all about that balance of power (between rich white guys) ever since before the beginning. What’s really interesting is that as much as things have changed over almost a quarter of a millenium, political power remains so closely balanced that with completely different parties dealing with completely different issues, we still remain fairly close to an even balance regardless of what’s current.
[1] Jefferson’s proposal for a Senate to represent the states and a House to represent the people was rejected, but a similar proposal was adopted later in the United States Constitution. One issue of debate was large states wanting a larger say, nullified by small states who feared tyranny. – Second Continental Congress - Wikipedia
they would be providing security services for water transportation.
I liked this story better when it was called Dune.
