Absolutely anything else

Tourism is potentially one of PR's comparative advantages.  Agriculture is another.  There may be more, but those two strike me as the best things PR has going in terms of her economy.

I think the challenges in developing the PR tourism sector are largely cultural.  There simply isn't a commitment to customer service in PR.  This isn't to say that you can't find employees who will "hustle", but as a general rule, that's not part of the culture.

The second challenge is language.  Last time I checked, the overwhelming majority of tourists to PR come from the mainland (roughly 95% if memory serves).  English, like it or not, is the language of business, yet many Puerto Ricans refuse to speak it, if they learn it at all.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting that they abandon Spanish, or that expats shouldn't learn Spanish.  But if you want to succeed in what is by definition an international business, you better learn the languages that your customers will speak.

Apart from these two problems, I think PR suffers from a different "PR" problem -- that is public relations.  Most folks on the mainland don't think of Puerto Rico when they think of an exotic Caribbean vacation.  And when they do think of Puerto Rico, they think of crime and poverty.

Oh, to tekrider's point, I agree that "economic" issues play a role.  PR must abide by federal minimum wage, inflating costs relative to the other islands.

In order to be competitive, all inclusive resorts have to be priced according. With PR been part of the US and having to pay more in labor than other countries, it is harder to have these types of resorts.

Need a home fast?
Check this: https://www.facebook.com/HGTV/videos/1369049503144975/

Here is a question about the interpretation of the vote for the next plebiscite.

As an example: what If statehood gets 47% of the vote, Colony gets 46%, and independence gets 7% of the vote.

a) You could say that the will of the people was not for statehood even if the bucket with the most votes was for statehood because the other opising options together are equal to or greater than 51% of the votes.

b) or You could also look at it like a regular mayorial election where the winner is the bucket with the most votes period, regardless of what portion of the population voted for it. under this rule statehood would win since it was the bucket with the most wins even if it represented less that 51% of the population.

Which interpretation do you think Congress would choose to follow or do you have another way to tally up the results?

I have not heard what the rules for interpreting the result are, that is why I am asking.

By "colony" I'm assuming you mean the current status, that of U.S. Territory. The official name is; The free associated state of Puerto Rico.

the category with the most votes is the one that wins... that's like saying, if Dems win 41%, and independants win 12%, and the Rep wins 47% that means 53% of the voters didn't want the Rep nominee, so let's put in... who? a Dem/Independant hybrid? NO, the one with the most votes.

mac00677 wrote:

the category with the most votes is the one that wins... that's like saying, if Dems win 41%, and independants win 12%, and the Rep wins 47% that means 53% of the voters didn't want the Rep nominee, so let's put in... who? a Dem/Independant hybrid? NO, the one with the most votes.

I perfectly see your point but this is a potential change of goverment, should it not be required to get 51% and above to rule? Under that simple majority, most of the people are getting screwed. What if it was 34%, 33%, and 33%? Clearly 2/3rds are against it. I would think that a goverment type change would require a clear 51% win. On a normal election you can change the fool in 4 years, this decision could mean forever.
Very worried about this.

Because the status of the island is in the hands of the U.S. Congress, nobody "wins" this vote.  It is a plebiscite, merely an expression of the desires of those who cast votes.

The results of the plebiscite will be determined by Congress.  Unless an overwhelming percentage of eligible voters actually cast ballots, and an overwhelming percentage of those are for independence, I expect Congress to do nothing.  Statehood given the current fiscal crisis is not an option.

To me this is a big waist of money. Money that the island can use for more important things. But as always politicians love to waist money in loss causes to divert the people's opinions. Instead of working for the progress and stability of the island, let's waist money and resources in a loss cause.

What is this, 4-5 plebiscite already? What have changed?

In all previous cases the ELA has won, that is the big difference. 2012 does not count, people voted weird

adlin20 wrote:

Well, we are going to be back at the island first week of May. My employer has agreed to let me work remotely, I will still have to travel to California every 5-6 weeks for a few days. I was going to retire this year but this way I am thinking I can work a few more years. I am looking forward to getting re adjusted to living in the island permanently.

1st of May, how are preparations going?

so whats good today?

A nice soup or some meat on the grill at home

ReyP wrote:

adlin20 wrote:

Well, we are going to be back at the island first week of May. My employer has agreed to let me work remotely, I will still have to travel to California every 5-6 weeks for a few days. I was going to retire this year but this way I am thinking I can work a few more years. I am looking forward to getting re adjusted to living in the island permanently.

1st of May, how are preparations going?

Hi Rey!

It's been an experience! We drove back to Texas to drop my wifes car at my daughters house. Spending the last week in Texas shipping boxes (20 so far). Most of it sentimental stuff and stuff we "may" need(wife wise words) ;-)

We have a one way ticket to the island for this Saturday!

Green with envy

ReyP wrote:

Green with envy

Your time will come soon enough!!

My husband and I will be there Monday, May 8, to begin our serious house-hunt on the eastern side of the island. We're packing boxes for our daughter to ship after we buy a home. A lot of work, but we're looking forward to our move!

Glad you made the commitment, happy house hunting, let me know if you need help.

Thanks, Rey. You've already been very helpful. We would love to meet you when you're in PR.

Nanraughley wrote:

Thanks, Rey. You've already been very helpful. We would love to meet you when you're in PR.

Free food and booze and I am there. 
I'll be a while, but I will be close by in Ceiba by PR 975

OK, Rey. It's a deal!

So a couple of my students have started an effort to provide textbooks to children in the developing world (beginning with Haiti).  As there is some commercial exchange (they are selling shirts and sweatshirts), I've done the best I could to put the information up in the "Business" section, but I wanted to mention it here.  Don't want to violate the forum rules, and all that, but thought that some of you might be interested in their efforts.  PM me if you can't find the information under the Business section (it's listed as an "apparel  company").

EDIT:  So I looked to verify, and it seems that the moderators didn't approve the business.  Frustrating.  I assure you, I get nothing out of this.  This is a charitable organization that wants to provide textbooks to kids in Haiti.  Since there is no record in the Business section, PM me if you want to learn more.  I'm rather proud of these young men.

If you thought the crime in PR is bad, you may want to see these numbers for Mexico, they get a lot of tourists and Expats. http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN18529T

This is so weird, I switched my computer language to Spanish and it is weird, it is going to take me a while to get used to all the menus being in Spanish and all the Spanish technical terms. I always used a computer in English so this is weird.

It is like those movies and TV shows that are DUB into Spanish and you are used to a particular actor having a nice deep manly voice and the Spanish Voice actor they use for him has an almost girly voice. That kind of weird.

I never changed my computer language, always used English (in the Netherlands, Germany and now in PR).
I must admit though that I used German keyboards in Germany in order to easily type ü, ö, ä and ß. Strange enough the Z and Y keys are exchanged on German keyboards.
Anyway, I'm happy to be back on English keyboards,

I just wanted to see given that I will be heading to PR and may need to help someone with their computer and most are likely using Spanish.
I have no real issue with the switch, but it is weird.

FWIW 99% of the computers I encounter at my clients are in  English. The odd one in  Spanish is easy to fix: change the language to English, fix, change back to Spanish.

Gary wrote:

FWIW 99% of the computers I encounter at my clients are in  English. The odd one in  Spanish is easy to fix: change the language to English, fix, change back to Spanish.

English business yes, others who know. But natives I can only assume Spanish for the most part.

My next laptop will have a Spanish keyboard. Probably next October when the new MacBook Pro comes out. I want 32 Gig of memory as I run several VMs in my systems.

Your google seach engine will switch to spanish, specially if you are looking up places in PR. Mine does that in the house from time to time. It's weird getting use to it.

UBER permit was cancelled in PR.

Ongoing debate about US citizenship http://www.elnuevodia.com/english/engli … p-2320293/

I don't see how the children born in an independent PR to parents of pre-independence PR (with US citizenship) are also US citizens.  That is, if I am reading the article correctly, I think Professor Santiago is incorrect.

US citizenship is based on jus soli and not on jus sanguinis.  That is, it is the place of your birth that confers citizenship, not the status of your parents.  The US Constitution is abundantly clear on that point.

As a result, anyone born in an independent Puerto Rico would not be a US citizen, regardless of the citizenship of their parents.

Hmmm,
I have two cousins who were born outside of the United States, one in Venezuela and one in New Zealand, and they are both full-fledged US citizens. Their parents were living abroad because of the father's job.  To put it in delicate terms, they were both conceived stateside but were not "Born in the USA".

Their parents were residents of the US, even if living abroad for the purpose of employment.

Nanraughley wrote:

My husband and I will be there Monday, May 8, to begin our serious house-hunt on the eastern side of the island. We're packing boxes for our daughter to ship after we buy a home. A lot of work, but we're looking forward to our move!

How is the search going?

This showed up in my FB feed this morning -
it's a great list!

https://www.photonomadicjourney.com/blo … uerto-rico

Wow... love this site... I will share with l my clients when they relocate to the Island.
Lynn Stravecky

ReyP wrote:

UBER permit was cancelled in PR.

The governor turn the decision around and even granted permission to pick up passages in all tourist areas due to the "dead line" the taxi drivers gave the government.

Hey Frogrock,
I just heard on the news that somebody broke into Palmas Academy

Oops, that was in April, they broke in twice in a week.