
Millions of Water Bottles Left on Puerto Rico Runway for 1 Year - subcosmos
https://www.thedailybeast.com/hurricane-maria-millions-of-water-bottles-left-on-runway-for-over-a-year
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donkey-hotei
Who would've thought that we might need a logistical supply chain?

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8bitsrule
A very recent podcast by historians entitled 'After Hurricane Maria' will help
those unfamiliar with Puerto Rico's history to understand what happened. It's
"a look at the historical relationship between Puerto Rico and the United
States."

A transcript is also available.

[https://www.backstoryradio.org/shows/after-hurricane-
maria/](https://www.backstoryradio.org/shows/after-hurricane-maria/)

PR is not a state, and it has no Senators or Congresscritters to represent it.
It is what in other countries is called a 'dependency'. And deliberately kept
that way for over a century.

~~~
pasbesoin
It has one seat in the House, carrying the title of Resident Commissioner (as
opposed to Delegate, which is how most other territorial members are titled).

As I understand it (very limited), the position's voting rights/opportunities
are severely constrained and, in most or all significant matters, non-
existent.

[Addendum: Depending upon committee memberships, arguably, being able to vote
in/on committee matters -- particularly, to move legislation out of committee
-- may be a significant power in particular circumstances. As well perhaps,
again in particular circumstances, the ability to introduce legislation.
Occasionally, the latter exerts significant political influence regardless of
the success or failure to pass of said legislation.]

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Current_members_of_the_United_...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Current_members_of_the_United_States_House_of_Representatives#Delegates)

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jenniffer_Gonz%C3%A1lez](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jenniffer_Gonz%C3%A1lez)

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delegate_(United_States_Congre...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delegate_\(United_States_Congress\))

 _are representatives of their territory in the House of Representatives, but
who do not have a right to vote on proposed legislation in the full House but
are nevertheless able to participate in certain other House functions. Non-
voting members may vote in a House committee of which they are a member and
introduce legislation._

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delegate_(United_States_Congre...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delegate_\(United_States_Congress\)#Expanding_\(and_contracting\)_voting_rights)

\--

Separately, note also:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delegate_(United_States_Congre...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delegate_\(United_States_Congress\)#Resident_commissioner)

 _Similar to delegates are resident commissioners, who represented the large
areas acquired during the Spanish–American War, and for much of the 20th
century were considered colonies, not territories and unlike the previously
acquired areas which would become the contiguous U.S. or Alaska and Hawaii,
did not have residents with the rights of, or to U.S. citizenship.[13] Unlike
incorporated territories, they have the right to secede from the Union, and in
the case of the Philippines, they have._

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stephengillie
Why didn't someone raid this water supply? Was it heavily guarded, or just
extremely remote?

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warriormonk5
Since 1 million is totally meaningless to me, this is roughly speaking 17 semi
trucks full of water per million.

It's obvious that it's a failure of logistics, but missing 17 semi truck loads
doesn't seem insane to me.

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jessaustin
TFA links to longer original:

[http://uk.businessinsider.com/puerto-rico-water-bottle-
fema-...](http://uk.businessinsider.com/puerto-rico-water-bottle-fema-
hurrican-maria-2018-9)

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mullen
Who to blame when the incompetence of the Trump administration runs up against
the incompetence of the Puerto Rican government?

~~~
stevenwoo
Generally speaking, the federal emergency response is an adjunct to the state
emergency response and is supposed to help fill gaps, so we can blame both for
their parts. The extenuating circumstance of the debt crisis of Puerto Rico
means there is a lot of federal oversight of the budget of Puerto Rico for
decades, the subsidies we might see prop up states in a similar circumstance
have been drying up for Puerto Rico over the same time period, but that blame
can be extended over many sessions of Congress and administrations prior to
Trump.

