Are you quoting Dole, Reagan, Bush, or Scalise?

I think the fancy phrase for that is psychological projection.

On a massive scale....and bigly too.

Absolutely.

But, it would add extra sting for people who get caught with it, such as the guy last week stopped with a trunk full of guns and ammo.

From my personal viewpoint, the public shouldn't be allowed to buy and own large quantities of ammo. It qualifies as a hazardous material. Sufficient quantities to protect yourself from robbers and go hunting typically would not be considered a danger when properly stored.

That's my view, although highly controversial.

You summed it up quite wisely.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if every citizen around the globe could pitch in 10 bucks for PR? That's about what it would take just to pay off their debt ($72 billion) and start from scratch! Another 10 bucks might rebuild it like new.

That existing debt come to around $21,000 per Puerto Rican citizen (population= 3.4 million), and they have a pre-storm unemployment rate of over 12%.

Another way to see it is if every US citizen pitched in around $220, that would also pay off the debt for a fresh start. Good luck with that, LOL. Add some more to that if we want to help them rebuild.

And, that's not even including paying for the disasters in Texas, Florida, Louisiana, and now some in Mississippi and Alabama.

It's a big, disgraceful mess.

Skittles, I think it's intentional distraction.

A normal prez would tell us the truth about what's going on in PR and have his subordinates provide accurate periodic progress updates to the public - say for water and food, infrastructure, etc. Instead, we're seeing not much more than his tweets in the news which are mean, cruel and mostly lies. As you know, this guy ain't normal. It's like trying to listen to opera with a jackhammer in the room.

I've believed all along that tRump does not orchestrate these responses, but instead has a group of very sharp and coordinated minders that design his responses for maximum confusion, distraction and anger in his opposition (that would be us) and the press, as well as feed red meat to his base.

Therefore, we're constantly distracted from the truth of what's really going on there.

For some relief form his bullshit, here's a link to a guy that really does know the story. His father is in one of the worst-hit areas: https://twitter.com/NelsonMRosario
(scroll down a ways and you can see some reality. Click on his posts and see the included discussions)

Don't think hydro is viable.

cbreezen, hydro requires massive water flow from rivers taking water from very large areas. I suspect (not sure) PR simply does not have the geography for it. If it did, someone would have built one as a first source of power.

Although I'm an engineer, I don't have the background to make a solid call on this. Frankly, it requires knowledge from several disciplines to do a complete analysis, plus all the political factors that must be weighed. But, with the knowledge of power systems I have, I don't see any way other than to repair their existing system. After repairs, they will be far better off than before due to the very poor condition of the poles, lines, metering systems and transformers that were there pre-storm. So, that will become the foundation for future changes - say, to wind and/or solar.

The reason I'm so negative is due to the existing debt PR has, and their doubtful ability to pay off even more debt on top of that. The banking vultures were there eating at them before the storm! I have not read how it is proposed for even the existing infrastructure repairs to be paid for.

If one had a competent company come in and do all the studies, propose the changes and win a contract - if it's not a pay-in-full contract, they will want ownership of a piece of Puerto Rico. And, therein lies the rub - with so much existing debt, plus new debt for repairs and/or upgrades, there may not be any privately owned Puerto Rico left for the citizens!

I wish it could, but I don't think any grassroots efforts can even make a dent toward paying for this work. We're talking several hundred million dollars (of the cuff), and that does not include helping to pay for all the other damages (homes, crops, etc.). Sorry I can't be more positive.

I doubt if Puerto Ricans want billionaires like Bezos or Musk owning their souls, either.

You're right.

Many folks have lost their perspective of what the military is, and what it's for. Far too many never have had that perspective.

What a crime on our democracy...

when local politicians fear retribution for simply relaying any negative facts from the ground in an emergency. I keep reminding myself it's been almost a month since the hurricane struck, and there are people still without adequate food and water.

Republican's attitude of let the cards fall where they may and deal with the consequences later is killing a lot of folks. Laissez-faire is a very nice philosophy to adhere to when you're among the ultra-rich.

Good perspectives, thank you.

It's just strange to us non-political types that we see stories of ground-level suffering that are still significant (and have seen this with almost all disasters), yet the top politicians make it sound like everything's coming up roses. Thanks goodness we have some media organizations to help counter-balance that trend of hubris - particularly with reactionary people like Trump on office.

What about a law limiting the amount of ammo transported or stored?

For example, large quantities of ammo have no business being kept in a hotel. That is a huge fire and explosive hazard to the public. One could keep enough to load one gun for protection, but much more than that is not reasonable in a public area or building.