Deja vue Katrina

[tw]

John McCain is openly commenting about an extremist. An extremist did not have decency to console or even send a letter to widows of four dead Green Berets. And then made disparaging remarks during a phone call. That phone call only happened because a reporter asked about his 'zero response' 12 days later.

A liar will double down on his lies. He then accused other presidents of being just as disrespectful. IOW he lied. Even CBS News and the BBC said so. His lies are so blatant that news sources all over the world are still reporting on his impertinence. Putin loves to have an adult, acting like a child, as his adversary.

This man has lied more in six months that Nixon did in one and a half terms. So much that both George Jr and Obama today (a first for both men) commented on his narcissistic behavior.

It is never that a former president criticizes a sitting president. But this one is that egotistical; with an over-inflated IQ. Who is winning the IQ contest between he and Tillerson?

Tom Hanks recently noted that we have had brilliant and fools for president. He was then asked which was Trump. He diplomatically stated (with a smile on his face) that Trump was not a brilliant one.

[sexobon]

The deceased soldier, who's family is complaining about Trump's phone call, was not a Green Beret. There are pictures of him online showing him wearing a maroon beret, the generic headgear of those assigned to airborne units.

He was assigned to the 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne); however, he was in an organic support element. He was working as a driver. Junior mechanics are often detailed as drivers. He should have been airborne (parachutist) qualified; but, not Special Forces qualified (i.e. not a Green Beret).

You're probably familiar with some conventional Army structure like a company, x 3 = battalion, x 3 = brigade, x 3 = division. A Special Forces Group (which is geographically oriented) is like a supersized brigade with organic supporting elements including a Service Company (doctor, dentist, assistants, motor pool mechanics, mess hall food service specialists, supply specialists), a Signal Company (radio communications, maintenance, audio-visual), and a Military Intelligence Company (intel, counter-intel).

There are a lot of service members assigned to Special Forces Groups who are not Green Berets. They need only be airborne qualified to fill those support positions. Neither those in the military nor those outside the military with any knowledge of Special Forces unit structure refer to a soldier who isn't Special Forces qualified as a Green Beret just because the soldier is assigned to one of the Groups.

[Undertoad]

It appears P.R. protestors have carried a (symbolic) guillotine to the Governor's mansion

It turns out that a warehouse of emergency supplies was just now recently discovered

Pristine water bottles and baby food and diapers and whatnot

The suggestion is that the gummint withheld the emergency aid from the people or at least mismanaged it.

[Clodfobble]

My guess is they forgot about it. Malice makes no sense; profound stupidity, on the other hand, fits into most disaster-relief models.

[sexobon]

My guess is that there where those who were hoping it would be forgotten about. They were perfectly willing to let the perishables expire and go to waste in order to keep the cache concealed until the emergency was over and they could then sell the expendable-durable items.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Stuff was flooding in so fast they had half the trucking on the East Coast tied up waiting to unload. They were scrambling to find space to stash it so I'm not surprised they lost track of some, there's probably more out there.

[sexobon]

From the information in the linked article, it doesn't sound like this was an improvised or hasty storage arrangement that would just fall through the cracks.

… He does not know why the supplies were not immediately distributed to people after the earthquakes.

Having obtained the contracts for the warehouses, the head of the national guard told Begnaud that Puerto Rico's emergency management agency had been paying another state agency to rent these spaces for about three years.

In total, the state paid $890,000 itself to stock these facilities with things like milk, generators, baby supplies, and water, Reyes confirmed.

[tw]

85% or all problems are directly traceable to top management. it does not change.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Ah, Puerto Rico... nevermind.

[Clodfobble]

Originally Posted by sexobon

From the information in the linked article, it doesn't sound like this was an improvised or hasty storage arrangement that would just fall through the cracks.

The supplies were not originally delivered for the earthquakes, though--they were surplus deliveries from Hurricane Maria. So once the hurricane emergency had passed, they were stored nicely, and had been sitting there ever since. After the earthquakes happened, roughly 3 weeks went by before this stash was remembered/discovered. If they were going to sell it, surely they would have done so in the intervening years?

[sexobon]

It takes years of good times before pilfered items from a cache like that can be sold off without the source being questioned.

There was a major CONUS city that had millions of dollars worth of medical supplies warehoused for emergencies. Enough years went by without a need for them that accountability fell through the cracks. When somebody finally noticed the storage facility was still on the books and went to check on it, they found the warehouse was nearly empty. It was suspected that the contents were sold off little by little by corrupt warehouse caretakers. It took a decade to do it and stay under the radar. It wasn't a get rich quick scheme, just supplemental income. It happened a number of years ago and I don't remember the specifics of where or when; but, that is was successful even where it shouldn't have been.

With the corruption in PR, they probably have it down to a science where they can do it and still stay out of jail. We don't know whether or not a little of it had already been sold off.