Jones act hurting Puerto Rico?

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

glinda,
The details of the ongoing disaster relief in Puerto Rico can be seen as a parallel to what might happen here in Hawaii in the event of a future emergency. There are similarities as well as differences that we might discuss here.

You may think your comments address that issue, but they don't, not really. As pointed out by kalakoa, there's effectively no real difference between parties. It's not black and white, it's two shades of medium gray, one with a little red mixed in, the other a little blue.

One difference between Puerto Rico and Hawaii is that we have massive military infrastructure available across the islands. After Hurricane Iwa hit in 1982 (from Wikipedia):

President Ronald Reagan declared the islands of Kauai, Niihau, and Oahu as a disaster area. The declaration allocated federal funds to aid the affected citizens.[11] The state Department of Education decided to close all schools on Kauai indefinitely.[10]

The thousands of residents without power celebrated Thanksgiving by cooking turkeys on outdoor grills or smokers. Army and Air Force planes delivered 20,000 Thanksgiving rations to the thousands left in temporary shelters. The United States military also airlifted generators to Kauai due to several days of power outages

The Donner Party really wasn't that great of a party, was it?

[glinda]

quote:

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Originally posted by punaticbychoice

whats wrong here?

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Not enough white supremacist in Puerto Rico

[Tom.Yost]

A nuclear submarine could, and has in the past, provide several MW's of power to shore if it had a place to dock. With so much of the U.S. budget being spent on the military, it would be nice to see more of the resources being utilized for domestic disasters. Hospital ships and MRE distribution come to mind. This seems a bit off topic for a Hawaiian forum though.

[leilanidude]

Example: Military ships with supplies and helicopters (sorry Punawebbers) could dock off Puerto Rican metro areas, then fly food and water to small multiple landing and staging areas.
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They are already doing that. As mentioned though, suspending the Jones Act won't help because the ports are damaged and the ships with the "goods" on them are container ships. not many helicopters can lift full, 40 foot containers and they would have to locate specific containers on each ship that contains the products needed, then somehow move containers around while still on the ship, open the container up, unload it, etc.

This has nothing to do with the president, despite glinda's rants. President has already released $1 billion in disaster money to Puerto Rico.

[leilanidude]

A nuclear submarine could, and has in the past, provide several MW's of power to shore if it had a place to dock.
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2 problems.
No place to dock and power infrastructure is completely destroyed.

[glinda]

quote:

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Originally posted by HereOnThePrimalEdge

there's effectively no real difference between parties

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I agree. But the guy in the WH isn't a member of either. Yes he used one of them to stage his takeover but in fact he's rogue. And favors, or lack thereof, is the tune of the day. Unfortunately Puerto Rican are the wrong ethnicity to gain any favor from him.

[PaulW]

One problem is that PR doesn't have any votes. Another is that about 50% of Americans (NYT) don't even realize that Puerto Ricans are Americans.
The latter is also the case in Hawaii but not to such an extent.

Over 3 million people with no power and it could stay that way for months.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

Example: Military ships with supplies and helicopters
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They are already doing that.

Clearly it's not enough, at least for people who live there.
The military budget is what, 45% of our national budget? If we can't use that funding to speed up the relief efforts for people in need, when necessary, then that money is squandered even more than the $3 trillion spent in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The military responded quickly in Hawaii in 1982. Soldiers and sailors may not be trained for this type of work, but I trust they could learn on the job.

The Donner Party really wasn't that great of a party, was it?

[leilanidude]

Clearly it's not enough, at least for people who live there.
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Would you have them pulled from the Florida and Texas areas?

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

Would you have them pulled from the Florida and Texas areas?

No. With a defense department budget of $597 Billion for 2016, there should be more than enough to go around. If there's not, maybe somebody should look at where that money is going.

I would hope Hickam Air Force Base and Pearl Harbor could help us if it became necessary.

The Donner Party really wasn't that great of a party, was it?