Gizmo after Maria
2/16/2018 Gizmo was a shipwright in Ponce Puerto Rico. He was hard at work when Hurricane Maria killed almost 3,000 Puerto Ricans, cut off the entire island’s electricity and cell-phone communication, damaged more than half a million houses and nearly all hospitals, made roads impassable and blocked ports.
For three months he closed his shop and worked to get his Barrio in Ponce operational. While he was closed, the orders piled up.
Some say the United States abandoned its Puerto Rican territory. Others point out this was just the first disaster for which there were not sufficient recovery resources.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was widely criticized for its slow response to the hurricane. Maybe. The agency gave $4bn to Puerto Rican citizens, either directly to rebuild their homes or in the form of Small Business Administration loans.
Mike Byrne, who runs FEMA in Puerto Rico, points out, "At the peak of the hurricane 19,000 soldiers worked for FEMA on the island. The real villain was 30 inches of rain and winds of 180mph,” says Mr Byrne. “Maria pushed our limits.”
It took over a year, but power was restored to the island. Even six months later they were still buying gas by the jerrycan.
In the meantime, people left, and left, and left, over 200,000, leaving the economy with reduced tax receipts to pay some of the $120bn it owes to bondholders and pensioners. In the end, they had to write off 70% of its debt, by reissuing bonds.
Bondholders, most large banks, grouped their accounts to spread the losses. And that was not a permanent solution, it depends on municipalities continuing to make payments out of the property tax they collect. Property values have been hit by large-scale migration off the island. Economic death spiral.
Pensioners, mostly teachers and municipal workers were left with nothing.
Gizmo knew the limited resources part was true whatever the reason. He was torn, helping his Barrio seemed good, noble, and passed the Catholic smell test; but orders for his smuglarines were piling up.
There are a number of shipbuilders in the small, submersible boating space, but Gizmo's subs were akin to Bob Dozier's hunting knives; highly sought after.
Gizmo reached out to an old friend. A rancher in the 4 corners states of the US. Instead of an answer, he received a question in response. Gizmo, can you start an Up and Out in and around Ponce? Such an odd question. Gizmo, fired up his Facebook Portal + and reached out to his amigo.
PORTAL: Another one? We are already in one of the barrios, let me check my records, here, Sabanetos, focus is on graduating health care professionals. They are doing well, 2 went on the become MDs, a number of registered nurses.
We need one to focus on fire and protection, hopefully PSEs. Gizmo has purchased a couple pieces of property that could host a campus including one next to ITEC. It's already off the grid, solar shingles, powerwalls, rainwater catchment. And outside the reaches of deep state, other than signals intercept.
END PORTAL
Who are these PSEs and why are they important?
The vaulted Physical Security Expert, (PSE) certification was designed after the murder of Jamal Khashoggi.
The world is a very dangerous place.
But there are also some wealthy people in it, call them the 1% for now, that want to be safer.
+++
"That being said, we may never know all of the facts surrounding the murder of Mr. Jamal Khashoggi. In any case, our relationship is with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. They have been a great ally in our very important fight against Iran. The United States intends to remain a steadfast partner of Saudi Arabia to ensure the interests of our country, Israel and all other partners in the region. It is our paramount goal to fully eliminate the threat of terrorism throughout the world!" - POTUS 45
+++
And with property prices depressed. Now, was the moment to make an investment. With his rancher friend's money, Gizmo, bought several properties in his barrio that could support Physical Security Expert, (PSE) training and certification. Candidates flew in, trained and certified over the next few months and flew out. However 1/10th of all the seats were for locals. They were receiving the best physical security training available for nothing.
Gizmo was pulling into the famed Caribe Hilton parking lot when he saw a girl dressed in a US Flag and a Puerto Rican flag and nothing else. As he drove by her, she dropped the flag for a second.
Wardrobe malfunction?
Hot day, hot Gizmo, hot girl. He was a serious Catholic, but this temptation was too much to bear. Pedro, his first born son, arrived 9 months later. When his client heard the reason he blew off the meeting, all was forgiven and Gizmo received and filled an order for 3 boats; enough to get the new family off to a fine start.
For three months he closed his shop and worked to get his Barrio in Ponce operational. While he was closed, the orders piled up.
Some say the United States abandoned its Puerto Rican territory. Others point out this was just the first disaster for which there were not sufficient recovery resources.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was widely criticized for its slow response to the hurricane. Maybe. The agency gave $4bn to Puerto Rican citizens, either directly to rebuild their homes or in the form of Small Business Administration loans.
Mike Byrne, who runs FEMA in Puerto Rico, points out, "At the peak of the hurricane 19,000 soldiers worked for FEMA on the island. The real villain was 30 inches of rain and winds of 180mph,” says Mr Byrne. “Maria pushed our limits.”
In the meantime, people left, and left, and left, over 200,000, leaving the economy with reduced tax receipts to pay some of the $120bn it owes to bondholders and pensioners. In the end, they had to write off 70% of its debt, by reissuing bonds.
Bondholders, most large banks, grouped their accounts to spread the losses. And that was not a permanent solution, it depends on municipalities continuing to make payments out of the property tax they collect. Property values have been hit by large-scale migration off the island. Economic death spiral.
Pensioners, mostly teachers and municipal workers were left with nothing.
There are a number of shipbuilders in the small, submersible boating space, but Gizmo's subs were akin to Bob Dozier's hunting knives; highly sought after.
Gizmo reached out to an old friend. A rancher in the 4 corners states of the US. Instead of an answer, he received a question in response. Gizmo, can you start an Up and Out in and around Ponce? Such an odd question. Gizmo, fired up his Facebook Portal + and reached out to his amigo.
We need one to focus on fire and protection, hopefully PSEs. Gizmo has purchased a couple pieces of property that could host a campus including one next to ITEC. It's already off the grid, solar shingles, powerwalls, rainwater catchment. And outside the reaches of deep state, other than signals intercept.
END PORTAL
Who are these PSEs and why are they important?
The vaulted Physical Security Expert, (PSE) certification was designed after the murder of Jamal Khashoggi.
The world is a very dangerous place.
But there are also some wealthy people in it, call them the 1% for now, that want to be safer.
+++
"That being said, we may never know all of the facts surrounding the murder of Mr. Jamal Khashoggi. In any case, our relationship is with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. They have been a great ally in our very important fight against Iran. The United States intends to remain a steadfast partner of Saudi Arabia to ensure the interests of our country, Israel and all other partners in the region. It is our paramount goal to fully eliminate the threat of terrorism throughout the world!" - POTUS 45
+++
And with property prices depressed. Now, was the moment to make an investment. With his rancher friend's money, Gizmo, bought several properties in his barrio that could support Physical Security Expert, (PSE) training and certification. Candidates flew in, trained and certified over the next few months and flew out. However 1/10th of all the seats were for locals. They were receiving the best physical security training available for nothing.
Wardrobe malfunction?
Hot day, hot Gizmo, hot girl. He was a serious Catholic, but this temptation was too much to bear. Pedro, his first born son, arrived 9 months later. When his client heard the reason he blew off the meeting, all was forgiven and Gizmo received and filled an order for 3 boats; enough to get the new family off to a fine start.
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