Positively horrifying.
October 8 / September 23, 2017
19,000 + federal employees + volunteers and military personnel vs. Hollywood.
Who's doing more?
It’s been a while and we apologize if anyone has been feeling a little out of touch; if anyone hasn’t been able to keep up with the news that grabbed all the headlines two weeks ago. (Does that even make sense?) But nonetheless, we have neglected the updates for a few weeks and there’s a reason.
The fact is, we’re not even sure where to go anymore. It might be easier to start with the two-weeks-old news, then list the things we don't know and the things we know – then we’ll offer another thought or two.
What we don’t know:
No, we couldn’t understand why in the world President Trump thought that throwing paper towels to a crowd gathered at a shelter in Puerto Rico was a good idea. The island’s residents had endured a destructive storm and were at the very beginning of determining how they would rebuild when the President paid a visit. But throwing them towels? What the….how is that helpful?
It’s not. But it’s also not much more than a poor choice, especially given how the news appears to cover his every activity. And like every other questionable choice the President has made – at least in terms of photo ops – we were subjected to relentless and impassioned outrage about how out of touch he is and how he could possibly insult and demean the people in the room who had already endured so much misery - by mocking their despair; by tossing them rolls of paper towels.
Why couldn’t he have just shown up and served meals, like President Obama did to the people in a Texas shelter, after Hurricane Harvey? (Except he didn’t. The President Obama image of service and compassion that thousands of people retweeted had nothing to do with Texas or a storm. It was from a visit to a Washington, D.C. soup kitchen, several years ago. Kind and generous certainly - and it did the job: It outraged everyone who needed one more reason to hate the President and what he does, or doesn’t do and when he does or doesn’t do it.)
Because we can’t help ourselves, we watched the Puerto Rico video. Go ahead; take a look. In it, you’ll see that the President was standing behind a table filled with supplies of all kinds, including rice, flashlights, water, and paper towels. He was talking with the people who came to the shelter; and handing things out as he did. In the clip we saw, he was discussing the merits of a water purification product; although it was clear he wasn’t at all convinced of its efficacy.
And yes, he tossed paper towels out to the crowd. As we see it, he did it in the moment. Was it a bad idea? Probably. Was it meant to inflame so much hatred? Doubtful, but it did anyway. Was it simply a spontaneous choice given the room and the object at hand? Possibly. Something people could take away with them – the towels and the story of catching them from the President.
Bottom line: Because we have an IQ that’s higher than your average body temperature, we’re almost 100% positive that the President didn’t believe that people would leave with the towels he tossed them, and go back to their homes that were destroyed by the storm, and simply rip off a few pieces to sop up the mess that had been left behind. Quite frankly, we’re concerned about the thousands of people who believed just that after watching this on the news. Really? We know you hate President Trump and all but you really believed that? Wow.
What we don't know, part 2:
No, we can’t explain why on earth people in need of shelter from the storm would be asked about their citizenship. We read all about it. Outrageous. Opening a shelter to all in need is called being a compassionate human being. This is called doing the right thing.
Relax, everyone. Turns out, no one was asked about their citizenship by any of the shelters in either Texas or Florida. Didn’t stop us from being outraged about it though!
What we do know:
This was the headline we read on BET regarding Puerto Rico: ‘Sadly, Trump has done nothing to help the island, which — let's not forget — is a part of the United States of America.’
...has done NOTHING.
Placing headlines and placards and tweeting messages of hate and disparagement on websites and social media is so pointless. There were dozens of stories like the one on BET and if we read one, we read a couple dozen that posted the same kind of outrage. "What is the President doing about Puerto Rico?” The usual, colorful responses from the echo chamber followed. We tried to respond to a friend with some facts that were roundly rejected. So because this is our forum, we’ll address the spirit of that question here, with a little TWAN quiz (it’s been a while since we had one):
# 1: You know who knows a lot about the federal government’s relief efforts in Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands?
a. Ivanka Trump
b. FEMA
c. President Trump
d. Lin Manual Miranda
# 2: You know who is working very, very closely with the governors, mayors and other officials on site about how to best provide the supplies, personnel and expertise needed in each of the communities affected by the storm, and was helping them prepare even before the storm hit land?
a. Judd Apatow
b. FEMA
c. President Trump
d. Jennifer Lopez
# 3: You know who has the latest updates, understands the challenges, and is working toward resolution on all of the devastation suffered as a result of these storms, even after the story left the headlines?
a. Rosie O’Donnell
b. FEMA
c. President Trump
d. Josh Gad
You got it. FEMA. Not the president. Not the celebrities who tweeted “Please send water!” to beverage companies, along with other helpful ideas.
And we have no doubt that some decisions regarding how to manage these colossal storms were bad ones. Some relief came too late. Some requests went unheeded. But even if that's the case, here’s a very brief list of the activities inaugurated and managed by FEMA over the last few weeks. And this is just about Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Enjoy. Then we’ll take a tiny break, and next time, come back with a single thought on Kaepernick and friends. Good times.
From FEMA’s website:
All figures as of October 8, 2017
We update these figures daily; for the most current progress of recovery related to a number of critical sectors in Puerto Rico, please visit the Government of Puerto Rico's website: http://www.status.pr
Sailors from the hospital ship USNS Comfort work with Puerto Rican medical professionals to evacuate a patient from Menonita Hospital in Caguas. (Credit: DVIDS)
Federal Force Laydown
Water/Wastewater Impacts
It’s all here should you want to read more. And there is much more. https://www.fema.gov/disaster/4339
FINALLY - we promise - finally! - if we want the bubbles around us to burst, we need to hear each other. Most of the people reading TWAN get plenty of input from the newspapers we read and the broadcasts and cable shows we watch. We imagine this site is a break from the repetitive and predictable "news" we hear daily. So if you know of anyone who might be open to a different point of view on the state of our nation - someone who may have been busy posting outrage about the storms and the paper towels, for example - please share this. It may prove to be pointless as well but we have to start somewhere. May as well be here!
19,000 + federal employees + volunteers and military personnel vs. Hollywood.
Who's doing more?
It’s been a while and we apologize if anyone has been feeling a little out of touch; if anyone hasn’t been able to keep up with the news that grabbed all the headlines two weeks ago. (Does that even make sense?) But nonetheless, we have neglected the updates for a few weeks and there’s a reason.
The fact is, we’re not even sure where to go anymore. It might be easier to start with the two-weeks-old news, then list the things we don't know and the things we know – then we’ll offer another thought or two.
What we don’t know:
No, we couldn’t understand why in the world President Trump thought that throwing paper towels to a crowd gathered at a shelter in Puerto Rico was a good idea. The island’s residents had endured a destructive storm and were at the very beginning of determining how they would rebuild when the President paid a visit. But throwing them towels? What the….how is that helpful?
It’s not. But it’s also not much more than a poor choice, especially given how the news appears to cover his every activity. And like every other questionable choice the President has made – at least in terms of photo ops – we were subjected to relentless and impassioned outrage about how out of touch he is and how he could possibly insult and demean the people in the room who had already endured so much misery - by mocking their despair; by tossing them rolls of paper towels.
Why couldn’t he have just shown up and served meals, like President Obama did to the people in a Texas shelter, after Hurricane Harvey? (Except he didn’t. The President Obama image of service and compassion that thousands of people retweeted had nothing to do with Texas or a storm. It was from a visit to a Washington, D.C. soup kitchen, several years ago. Kind and generous certainly - and it did the job: It outraged everyone who needed one more reason to hate the President and what he does, or doesn’t do and when he does or doesn’t do it.)
Because we can’t help ourselves, we watched the Puerto Rico video. Go ahead; take a look. In it, you’ll see that the President was standing behind a table filled with supplies of all kinds, including rice, flashlights, water, and paper towels. He was talking with the people who came to the shelter; and handing things out as he did. In the clip we saw, he was discussing the merits of a water purification product; although it was clear he wasn’t at all convinced of its efficacy.
And yes, he tossed paper towels out to the crowd. As we see it, he did it in the moment. Was it a bad idea? Probably. Was it meant to inflame so much hatred? Doubtful, but it did anyway. Was it simply a spontaneous choice given the room and the object at hand? Possibly. Something people could take away with them – the towels and the story of catching them from the President.
Bottom line: Because we have an IQ that’s higher than your average body temperature, we’re almost 100% positive that the President didn’t believe that people would leave with the towels he tossed them, and go back to their homes that were destroyed by the storm, and simply rip off a few pieces to sop up the mess that had been left behind. Quite frankly, we’re concerned about the thousands of people who believed just that after watching this on the news. Really? We know you hate President Trump and all but you really believed that? Wow.
What we don't know, part 2:
No, we can’t explain why on earth people in need of shelter from the storm would be asked about their citizenship. We read all about it. Outrageous. Opening a shelter to all in need is called being a compassionate human being. This is called doing the right thing.
Relax, everyone. Turns out, no one was asked about their citizenship by any of the shelters in either Texas or Florida. Didn’t stop us from being outraged about it though!
What we do know:
This was the headline we read on BET regarding Puerto Rico: ‘Sadly, Trump has done nothing to help the island, which — let's not forget — is a part of the United States of America.’
...has done NOTHING.
Placing headlines and placards and tweeting messages of hate and disparagement on websites and social media is so pointless. There were dozens of stories like the one on BET and if we read one, we read a couple dozen that posted the same kind of outrage. "What is the President doing about Puerto Rico?” The usual, colorful responses from the echo chamber followed. We tried to respond to a friend with some facts that were roundly rejected. So because this is our forum, we’ll address the spirit of that question here, with a little TWAN quiz (it’s been a while since we had one):
# 1: You know who knows a lot about the federal government’s relief efforts in Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands?
a. Ivanka Trump
b. FEMA
c. President Trump
d. Lin Manual Miranda
# 2: You know who is working very, very closely with the governors, mayors and other officials on site about how to best provide the supplies, personnel and expertise needed in each of the communities affected by the storm, and was helping them prepare even before the storm hit land?
a. Judd Apatow
b. FEMA
c. President Trump
d. Jennifer Lopez
# 3: You know who has the latest updates, understands the challenges, and is working toward resolution on all of the devastation suffered as a result of these storms, even after the story left the headlines?
a. Rosie O’Donnell
b. FEMA
c. President Trump
d. Josh Gad
You got it. FEMA. Not the president. Not the celebrities who tweeted “Please send water!” to beverage companies, along with other helpful ideas.
And we have no doubt that some decisions regarding how to manage these colossal storms were bad ones. Some relief came too late. Some requests went unheeded. But even if that's the case, here’s a very brief list of the activities inaugurated and managed by FEMA over the last few weeks. And this is just about Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Enjoy. Then we’ll take a tiny break, and next time, come back with a single thought on Kaepernick and friends. Good times.
From FEMA’s website:
All figures as of October 8, 2017
We update these figures daily; for the most current progress of recovery related to a number of critical sectors in Puerto Rico, please visit the Government of Puerto Rico's website: http://www.status.pr
Sailors from the hospital ship USNS Comfort work with Puerto Rican medical professionals to evacuate a patient from Menonita Hospital in Caguas. (Credit: DVIDS)
Federal Force Laydown
- More than 19,000 federal civilian personnel and military service members, including more than 1,395 FEMA personnel, are on the ground in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands engaged in response and recovery operations from Hurricanes Maria and Irma.
- 22 states are supporting 69 requests for mutual aid in Puerto Rico and 14 states are supporting 37 requests for mutual aid in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
- All municipalities of Puerto Rico and all of the U.S. Virgin Islands are eligible for Individual Assistance
- Approximately 56.8% of Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority (PRASA) customers have potable water*
- Approximately 77% of grocery stores are open in Puerto Rico
- Mail pick-up or delivery to P.O. boxes at all 128 post offices including Vieques and Culebra
- San Juan financial district is back on the electrical grid -- 11.7% of customers have electricity*
- Roughly 78% of retail gas stations are operational in Puerto Rico*
- 79 generators installed by USACE for critical infrastructure in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands
- 26% of customers in the U.S. Virgin Islands have electricity
- 392 miles of Puerto Rico's 5,073 miles of roads are open, allowing for passage through the outer ring of the island.
- 95% of roadways in the U.S. Virgin Islands are passable, with no full closures to major roadways as of October 8.
- 100% of federally maintained ports are open or open with restrictions in Puerto Rico
- 100% airports are open or open with restrictions in Puerto Rico
- Normal operations have resumed at airports in St. Thomas and St. Croix
Water/Wastewater Impacts
- 60% of waste water treatment plants are working on generator power in Puerto Rico
- To provide additional surge capacity if needed, the Department of Defense hospital ship USNS Comfort arrived in Puerto Rico on October 3
- The ship offers the full range of medical care with surgical, obstetric and pediatric capability and is equivalent to a level-two trauma center in the United States. The ship is staffed by more than 500 medical personnel and support staff and holds 250 hospital beds.
- 98.5% (66/67) hospitals are open in Puerto Rico*
- 96% (46/48) Dialysis Centers open in Puerto Rico*
- FEMA, working in coordination with federal partners, has provided millions of meals and millions of liters of water to Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands. Additional meals and water continue to arrive to the islands regularly via air and sea.
- As of October 6, the Governor of Puerto Rico established 10 Regional Staging Areas around the island, serving all 78 municipalities. The National Guard is delivering supplies to the regional staging areas around the island.
It’s all here should you want to read more. And there is much more. https://www.fema.gov/disaster/4339
FINALLY - we promise - finally! - if we want the bubbles around us to burst, we need to hear each other. Most of the people reading TWAN get plenty of input from the newspapers we read and the broadcasts and cable shows we watch. We imagine this site is a break from the repetitive and predictable "news" we hear daily. So if you know of anyone who might be open to a different point of view on the state of our nation - someone who may have been busy posting outrage about the storms and the paper towels, for example - please share this. It may prove to be pointless as well but we have to start somewhere. May as well be here!