The Second Amendment should be removed from the Constitution.. It’s killing us and we don’t have to live like this. I don’t care what the founding fathers said or meant in 1791.. It has no practical application in 2024.
If people want to own a gun, they should be required to have a license. Then, they should be required to have it registered and insured. Additionally, people should be required to take gun safety classes every 3 years like they do in Japan. It should be made difficult to own a gun. Not easy. This, plus a ban on military style weapons would end this problem.
EVEN IF THERE WERE NO BAD GUYS, NO MENTALLY ILL PEOPLE, AND NO TERRORISTS, THERE AWAY TO MANY GUNS IN CIRCULATION.
Yesterday, a 15 year old student at a small Christian school in Madison, Wisconsin opened fire inside of a study hall killing a student and a teacher. Six others were injured and 2 of them are in critical condition. The shooter took her own life. More lives taken, families ruined, and another community destroyed by gun violence. The link to this story is in the comment section of this post.
We can all ask how did a 15 year old have a gun in her possession? Well, there are 400 million guns in this country. There are guns everywhere and easy access to them. The Madison Wisconsin shooting comes on the heels of the murder of the United Healthcare CEOjust two weeks ago.
Why does an advanced society like Japan only have 10 gun deaths a year? Because they use common sense to control gun violence. Why does the United States have 37,000 gun deaths a year? Because the US has no common sense with respect to fighting gun violence.
Guns are just bad news. They should not be revered. Guns should be frowned upon. The Second Amendment should be taken out of the Constitution and/or replaced with something sensible in 2024.
Dear Facebook, Instagram and other Communities who have recieved my email today:
Please accept my email and article as a formal complaint against Susan Rubin of Washington DC… I did report this to META Business already, but I wanted to make sure you had access to a more detailed written report. For the past several months, I have been bombarded with Rubin’s scam Facebook accounts, claiming to be from the Facebook Support Team directly.. The scam accounts say that I am vioating community standards, copyright infringement, advertising violations and etc.. These accounts send me messages, post comments in the dialogue threads of my posts, and they also post on the timelines of my pages.. All the comments contain fraudulent phishing links, where if you click on them, they can take control of your pages.. I am asking Facebook and Instagram to investigate Susan Rubin’s personal FB account, and her FB page, “From the Pound to the Penthouse..” She just continues to swim in all sorts of malfeasances, committing fraud and crimes.
I will NEVER stop fighting to bring BabyLady back home to Florida.
You can read the comments from the scam accounts on the left side of the collage images enclosed, including the cover image above. And on the right, you’ll see the actual profile pictures of the scam accounts. I’ve included a few examples throughout this article. None of these accounts are actually with Facebook.. Susan Rubin is now impostering and plagiarizing dozens of Facebook accounts with the intent of stealing digital properties.. The last image in this article portrays the infomercial quack from the Home Shopping Network and NYC dentist Jennifer Jablow.. While I don’t believe Jablow is connected to Rubin’s scam Facebook accounts, I am 100% confident that she participated in Rubin’s fraudulent campaign on GoFundMe from November 2023 through March 2024.. I know this because of Jablow’s cyber attack on me, where she spammed one of my communities for a straight 30 minutes, along with the comments she was making during her raid on February 11th, 2024.. But, I will say this, no matter how many dasterdly acts that I am hit with by Rubin, and/or NYC dentist Jennifer Jablow, I will continue to rise to the occassion and respond with the truth, evidence and facts.
My name is Scott Smith from South Florida.. I am originally from New York.. I am 55 years old, and this not a joke.. I am the founder of the DriveWithCompassion(dot)com movement and website. I will leave my contact information and links to some of my platforms at the bottom of this article.. But,right now, I have BabyLady on my mind.
Before continuing, please note that I am willing to do a screen-sharing session with anyone who would like to see more of Rubin’s scam Facebook accounts.
This is one of dozens of scam accounts Susan Rubin is affiliated with. All of her scam accounts have phishing links in the comments.
To the other communities who have received my email and this article today, I had not planned on reaching out again since I showed you my article on March 6th, 2024, about Rubin and Jablow’s fraudulent campaign on GoFundMe regarding my dog BabyLady.. I also shared Rubin’s false report call to 311 Broward County, where she was caught on a recorded line for 12 minutes. That was the call where she clamined to be a mother from South Florida, who was worried about her CHILDREN….. But, Susan Rubin has no children. She does not even have one child.. And she lives in Washington Dc.. The entire call was a false report. Take a listen from the 6.35 minute mark, to the 6.45 minute mark. Listen to how she referred to her “CHILDREN” that she does Not even have..
What is Rubin’s goal with all these scams and fraud? – Let me answer that for you.
Keep in mind, Susan Rubin has no remorse for what she has done and attempted to do to my family, dogs, and myself. She is only upset that she got caught. And she got CAUGHT, but good!!! – Rubin’s goal is to stop me from shining any more light on her violations of our agreements regarding my dog, BabyLady, and her fraudulent campaign on GoFundMe, where she and Jennifer Jablow used pictures of another dog, not in their possession and unrelated to the dogs she was supposedly raising money for.. Rubin also lied about BabyLady’s physical condition in her fraudulent campaign, asking her community to “keep donating so BabyLady could walk again.” – Which is interesting considering BabyLady was walking and running with me and my pack for six years. She has been walking and running since first being pulled off the street in Morovis, Puerto Rico, by my animal rescue friend, Anitza Burgos, in the summer of 2018.. The entire GoFundMe campaign was a top-to-bottom fraud.
One of dozens of scam FB accounts controlled by Rubin. The commens are on the left. The account profile is on the right.
Making a False Report call is a CRIME in all 50 states
Rubin desperately wants me to take down the false report call that she made to 311 Broward, which was caught on a recorded line. She knows that making an intentional false report call is a crime in all 50 states. In some states, it’s a misdemeanor, and in others, it’s a felony.. This criminal 311 call that Susan Rubin made is lesson in life for all of us. Just because we think we know someone, does not mean we actually know them.. Listen to Susan Rubin tell you herself who she really is for a straight 12 minutes. I understand that she wants the call to disappear. But, what she did, and said, can never be forgetten or unheard.
What is the way out for Susan Rubin?
Rubin must take responsibility for what she has done and hand BabyLady back over to me immediately. She has no legal or ethical rights to BabyLady, and is in violation of everything we agreed upon. Regarding the fraud and criminality that Rubin has already engaged in (her fraudulent campaign on GoFundMe, stealing intellectual property to market her scam campaign, making an intentional false report call to 311 Broward, and now being affiliated with dozens of scam Facebook accounts), well, that’s up to the regulatory agencies. I’m not the law.. However, my family and I do believe that Rubin will end up being arrested for making this false report call.
NYC dentist Jennifer Jablow must also take responsibility for her actions. She is the one who initiated all of this on February 11th, 2024.. Some of you might have seen that right inside one of my communities. Despite Jablow’s position, she 100% participated in Rubin’s fraudulent campaign on GoFundMe.. Remember, they launched their scam campaign in mid-November of 2023, one month before I even gave BabyLady to Susan Rubin for a trial period on December 13th, 2023.. I did not find out about any of this until mid-February 2024.. Had I known earlier, I would have exposed both of them right then and there, instead of March 6th, 2024.
Jennifer Jablow – A racket with Customer Reviews
On the left, Jennifer Jablow is reviewing her own product on Amazon as if she’s a customer. Yet, she is the owner and makes no mention of that. On the right, is a Google review from a patient at some point. It was a negative review. So, Jablow blasted him with the religion card.
In this last section of the article, I am going to highlight some of Jablow’s shady business practices. As I mentioned back in March of 2024, I grew up in the same town on Long Island, New York, as Jennifer Jablow.. She was always a fake and phony person, even back then.. Today, she’s just an older version of her younger phony self.. It is no surprise to me that she goes on Amazon (image above on the left) and gives herself a 5-star review as if she’s a regular customer, without mentioning that she is the owner of the business. Then, heaven forbid, if someone gives her dental services a negative Google review (image above on the right), the good ole doctor will blast you with the religion card. Is that really the fraud of the century? – No, it’s not. But it is unethical as f**k.
My dad was Jewish by the way. He died in 1984.. He would be rolling over in his grave if he read such rubbish.. I am not Jewish as my mother is Italian Catholic.. But, it’s behavior like this, that ‘sometimes,’ gives Jewish people an UNDESERVED bad reputation. As a humanitarian, I am offended on behalf of Jewish people around the world, who are constantly under siege, that a NYC quack would exploit their plight in the name of her dental services and/or BS teeth whitening products on the Home Shopping Network.
I will never stop fighting to bring BabyLady home to Florida with the truth, evidence, and facts.
Thank you for hearing me out. I really appreciate it.
Susan Rubin of DC is the lady who ran a fraudulent campain on GoFundMe from Nov 2023 through March of 2024.
It is a crime in all 50 states to make a false report call. In some states, it’s a misdemeanor, and in others, it’s a felony.
We finally received the transcription of Susan Rubin’s false report call to 311 Broward from March 6th, 2024 at 4:23 pm. As you may remember, Rubin is the lady from Washington, DC, who was caught on a recorded line making a false report call to 311 Broward. She called in claming to be Maria Sanchez, a worried mother living in South Florida.. Here’s the thing, Susan Rubin lives in Washington DC and she has No children. Rubin was not even able to pronounce the city she claimed to be living in. We have the recording, and below is the transcription of the recording.
This is the same lady who ran a fraudulent campaign on GoFundMe with her friend, New York City dentist Jennifer Jablow, from November 2023 to March 2024.. They used pictures of a dog not in their possession and unrelated to the dogs they were supposedly raising money for. Additionally, Rubin and Jablow lied about the physical condition of one of the dogs in their scam campaign.
Now, it is advised to listen to the call and read the context surrounding it before reading the transcript. Nonetheless, the transcript is below:
————————————————————————————————————————————-
Operator: This is Pam, how may I help you?
Caller: Ah, yeah. I want to report, ah, someone, um, I think some of the dogs have rabies. None of them have vaccines, ah, and they run around the neighborhood wild.
Operator: So, are they owned animals by any chance?
Caller: Yeah, they’re owned. The man who owns them is, ah, crazy. He’s mentally ill.
Operator: Okie-doke. What, um, where is this at? What city in Broward County is it located?
Caller: North Miami. I know he’s been given several, um, citations, police have been called to his house.
Operator: All right. Ma’am, I need to give you the North Miami call center number.
Caller: Okay, listen. I have called, uh, 954-834-1000, 954-493… Operator: 95… Caller: 95477… Operator: Ma’am… Caller: I’ve called like four different numbers. Operator: But…
Caller: How does nobody care that there are dogs with rabies?
Operator: All right, if you let me finish my sentence. The Miami Beach call center is a completely different telephone number than area code 954. They have a different area code, which is… Caller: I just want to talk to… Right, but you deal with animal issues, right? Operator: We do in Broward County, not in North Miami. I can get… Caller: So, I was told that… Can I give you the address? Operator: I can’t look it up, ma’am. Caller: I was told… I was told this is Broward County, okay? I called… Operator: Let me have the address. Let me have the address, ma’am. What is…
Caller: 805 Northeast 4th Street. It’s in… Or is it Hamdale? Hamdale Beach.
Operator: Hallandale maybe? Okay.
Caller: Yes.
Operator: That would be us. Well, you’re saying North Miami, so that’s different altogether.
Caller: Okay, sorry, I was wrong. I was wrong. We call it North Miami, but never mind.
Operator: Okay. Hallandale Beach it is. Okay. Let’s get this in. Now, for me to get this into the database for animal care to come out and get these dogs, I need your name, your telephone number… Caller: Right. Operator: And your address. Are you willing to give me that? Caller: Yes. Operator: Okay, good. Hold on. One second. All right. Your last name, please, is what? Caller: Sanchez. Operator: S-A-N-C-H-E-Z?
Caller: C-H-E-Z.
Operator: First name?
Caller: Maria.
Operator: Thank you. And your telephone number is what? Caller: 305-783-5922.
Operator: Thank you. What is the address? At your home address?
Operator: One minute, please. All right. And the man’s address is 805, right? Northeast 4th. Okay.
Caller: Do you want his name?
Operator: Wait one second. Owner is… Is he elderly or something? Or what?
Caller: No. Who is the owner? Who do you have in your…?
Operator: I don’t know. I have no idea. I’m just putting this in a data system.
Caller: He is… Okay. ah, he’s not the owner, he rents. And there’s three people who live there. He’s one of
them. He’s not elderly. He’s about 50. But he’s mentally unstable.
Operator: Okay.
Caller: And he’s threatened several neighbors.
Operator: All right. So, renter lives at location. Are they his dogs?
Caller: Yes. Seven dogs.
Operator: Oh, my God.
Caller: And it’s a small house. And he has… He’s living with his mother and sister. All are mentally unstable. All of the neighbors want him to leave. The house is disgusting. Smells like urine. It’s awful.
Operator: Okay. um, you’ve called the police, I guess, right?
Caller: They don’t do anything.
Operator: Okay.
Caller: And, in fact, he got a citation two months ago that gave him, I think, 30 days to get the… the dog that bit another dog, a rabies vaccine. And he’s bragging about how he’s… that he’s not going to do it. He hasn’t done it, he’s not going to do it and there’s been no follow-up by the police. There should have been follow-up and consequences for him not getting the dog, as the citation required, their rabies vaccines.
All our dogs and people are in danger from these dogs running around and… and biting dogs. And who knows when they’ll bite people.
Operator: This may be…
Caller: “You know, I have children. And he refuses to do anything.”
Operator: Okay. Are the… Let me ask you this question. I know it’s going to sound insane. Um, but, in terms of the dogs running around, are they all vicious? Are they… are they, ah… is… are they not treated properly?
Caller: No, the one… They’re not… they’re terribly neglected. Ah, I don’t think they’re fed much. Um, you know…
Operator: Okay, all right.
Caller: Like I say, the house smells like urine. You can smell it from outside.
Operator: Okay.
Caller: So, there’s something bad going on. And if dogs are… are allowed to just run around, how much care are they getting?
Operator: I understand.
Caller: [0:07:39.8] [unintelligible] …obviously dirty and it’s really very sad.
Operator: Yeah.
Caller: It’s very, very sad for the dogs. It’s not the dogs’ fault.
Operator: All right. Um, just trying to see what other things could get. Okay. All right. I put the application in for animal care to go out. Ah, the number is A24-152159.
Caller: Hold on, let me write it down again. 824…
Operator: No, no, no. A like in apple. I’m sorry. A like in apple, 24.
My mom is 81 years old today. This picture is from 2012, back in New York City when Sammy was first coming up in the world. He was already 7 years old in this picture.
As many of you know, my mother got COVID in June of 2022.. She’s never been the same. She hardly gets out of bed anymore. My dogs have been very healing for my mother. There is always one or two of my pack lying down next to her. She pets them a lot. They have been really good for my mom, and she has been really good for them.
I think this pictrure is magical. It was a magical time in a magical city with a magical dog. By the way, did I say “magical” enough in that last sentence?
The thing I love the most about my mother, is that she’s knows I love my dogs more than her, and she’s totally cool with that.
Please read until the end of this post. This story will resonate with people from all over the world. You are going to feel great after you read this post. That is my Grasshopper guarantee to you.
It was three years ago when I pulled up to a red light right near the train tracks in North Miami Beach. The exact date was June 23rd, 2021, I saw this little creature bobbing and weaving between the cars stopped at the traffic light. He moved very fast and precisely. I said to myself, “Is that a fox?” He would look up, then pivot in another direction. After a few feet, he would look up and pivot again. I was like, “What is that?”
Then, I got a close look at him. He was a Chihuahua mix of some kind. And he was stuck in a very bad place. Think about it, the little fella was running along the train tracks with traffic flying by in both directions.
So, it was time to get serious. I opened the passenger door and said, “Little buddy, hop in the car.” He was looking at me, then back at the train tracks and all the traffic, then back at me. I said, “Little buddy, don’t worry. You are in good hands. Let’s get you out of here.” He hopped up into the truck from a standstill position on the ground. That’s when I named him Grasshopper.
Grasshopper is very sweet, bossy, pensive, observant, in everybody’s business, controlling, and smart as all hell. He also loves to touch everything with his paws. He’s very similar to a raccoon in that sense.
We went from the picture on the left in the collage posted, to the picture on the right pretty quickly. And the rest is history.
I think out of respect for the Hopster, you should all join our Grasshopper Club. Below is how you join:
1. In the comment section of this post, you have to write “I want to be a Grasshopper.” 2. You have to sing the song “Sledgehammer” in your head. But, instead of singing the word “Sledgehammer,” you have to replace it with “Grass-Hopper.”
Once your comment is posted, and you’ve sang Sledgehammer/Grass-Hopper in your head, congratulations, you’ve become a grasshopper.
This is the greatest club I’ve ever belonged to. I can tell you that.
My father was Jewish—he died in 1984. I am not Jewish—I was raised by a Black man and an Italian Catholic mother.
As for me, I am a humanitarian and an atheist. I would remind everyone: if you were born into the lives of those you oppose, you would feel exactly the same way the opposing side does. Remember that. In reality, your beliefs are an accident. You only believe what you believe because your parents had sex in a certain part of the world and you were conceived. I will repeat this paragraph at the end. Stay with me, please:
I remember my biological Jewish father used to say to me in the late 1970s and early ’80s, “Scott, if the shit ever hits the fan in the world, run to Israel for safety.” While it was a well-intentioned comment from my late father, it was a dead wrong (pun intended) assessment. Israel is the last place on earth I would run to for safety. Quite the opposite, if I wanted to bring extreme danger into my life, sure, then I would run to Israel. And I have said the same many times in my life, way before October 7th, 2023.
If I were a young man coming up in the world in Israel, whether an Israeli or Palestinian, I would NEVER bring new life into that region. It’s not fair to bring them into a region with such violence, hostility, and volatility. If you are born a Palestinian, you will live in destitution and despair with no hope. And if Hamas commits atrocities like they did on October 7th and will do again, you will be slaughtered by the tens of thousands. No point in that life.
If you are born an Israeli, there’s a good chance you will get blown up by a suicide bomber or violently killed with the many more October 7th type attacks that will happen over and over again. It’s not a question of “if” this will happen again. It is a question of “when” this will happen again. No point in that risk.
That is where Scott Smith gets off the train. Because I know the truth, when it comes to Israel/Palestine, “The only winning move is not to play.” Translation: don’t have kids. It’s not fair to them. If you must have a family, move to another country. If you can’t afford to move to another country, adopt a child and/or rescue an animal. There are plenty of them in need in Israel/Palestine/Gaza.
Retribution City—A Cirle of Hate
This conflict will never end in this life or the next 10,000 lives. October 7th was Israel’s 9/11. No question about it. But, October 7th is going to happen again and again. And Gaza will be turned to dust again and again. And the beat goes on and on and on. Again, I can only speak for myself, I would NEVER EVER bring new life into that region whether I was an Israeli or a Palestinian.
My late biological Jewish father is turning over in his grave right now. We have campuses all over the United States where Jewish students don’t even feel safe anymore. Life will be much harder for young Jewish people coming up in the United States for a long time to come. I wish it was not the case, but it is until otherwise noted.
As for me, I am a humanitarian and an atheist. I would remind everyone: if you were born into the lives of those you oppose, you would feel exactly the same way the opposing side does. Remember that. In reality, your beliefs are actually an accident. You only believe what you believe because your parents had sex in a certain part of the world and you were conceived.
What’s the point in me saying this? – The point is to say that we are really all the same. But somewhere along the line, ideals became more important than actual lives. And now, blood, death, and violence are running rampant.
My biological father died in 1984 at 45 years old. I was only 14 years old at the time of his death. I really did not know much about him and was not connected to him at all. A few months after his death, my family and I met Dennis Brown, who was in charge of the moving company we were going to use to move.
We became very close to Dennis during this process. He became a father figure to me when I needed it most. He and I remained very close until I was 27 years old. He was the father I was meant to have. Life threw me a gift when Dennis Brown came into our lives. He was also my friend. We had a lot of fun together. I guess he was like my Genie in the Bottle.. Only he was real and not in a bottle.
My biological father and I had nothing in common. He loved watching sports, going skiing, and he thought sleep-away camp was the greatest thing ever for kids. I despised all three of those activities. As such, I never really enjoyed my time with him. Today, I would not go for a beer with him if he were alive. We would have nothing to talk about. I don’t give a shit who won the Super Bowl.
Dennis taught me to be a man. A good and strong man. He was a beam of light in a sometimes very cold world. Whenever people were around him, they lit up like a Christmas tree. He was so positive about everything and always carried a big smile on his face. Some beings are so lit up on the inside that they shine on their exterior. Dennis Brown was like that.
Sadly, he died of cancer on October 5th, 2015.. I was in Puerto Rico at the time. I spoke to him on the phone the day before he died. He was telling me that he was getting better every day. He remained positive until his very last breath.
I don’t believe in God or Heaven at all. But, if I’m wrong, I would ask that God send me to wherever Dennis Brown is.
If they ever tell my story, let them say I walked with giants. Let them say I lived in the time of Dennis Brown.
Sammy was inducted in the United States Army in 2012.
– Memorial Day 2024
Sammy put smiles on millions of faces around the world. He lifted people’s spirits from all walks of life. His alter ego, Dr. Harp Seal had the same effect on people. So much so, Sammy caught the attention of the United States Army. And most particularly, the attention of retired veteran, Enrico Dexter.
Mr. Dexter put in a request for the US Army to customize a soldier uniform for Sammy. I am pretty sure that Sammy is the only 10 pound Pomeranian to ever be inducted into the United States Army. I was so proud of my boy and grateful to Soldier Dexter. It was an incredible moment and honor for the Everybody Loves Sammy Community.
Only once in a thousand years or so do we get to hear a Mozart or see a Picasso or read a Shakespeare. Sammy was one of them. (Quote from Billy Crystal on Muhammad Ali).
In Observance of Memorial Day, the DriveWithCompassion.com and Everybody Loves Sammy online communities salute Mr. Enrico Dexter, Army dog Sammy and to all members of the military, who are serving, have served and those who sacrificed their lives for our freedoms today.
Lucky is my forever heart. I will always be lucky in love with Lucky.
Sometimes you just walk out of the house and your life changes forever. You don’t remember your life before that day. That is what happened seven years ago on May 10th, 2017 when I first encountered Lucky on the street in Puerto Rico. This boy took my breath away. I was electrified by him from the onset. Today, is the 7 year rescue anniversary of Lucky and I rescuing each other. Lucky is my forever heart.
Let me tell you our story:
It was a ordinary Wednesday evening on May 10th, 2017 in Puerto Rico. I was feeling kind of restless and hungry and went to a local eatery for a sandwich. As I was eating, I started gazing out the window very spaced out and preoccupied. I felt agitated and unsettled. Then I noticed this sweet boy in the cover picture with me living alone on the street.
I brought him some food and sat down with him. I was so enamored with him that my head was spinning. Meeting this boy was a life changing experience. I decided to pull him off the street and have him boarded at a very fun place for 5 weeks with a lot of other dogs. Every Saturday and Sunday I would go visit him. I started to realize that he and I were forever. Now, I just had to convince my wife at that time in order to bring him home. But, luckily for Lucky (pun intended), the only answer I was willing to accept from my wife was, “Yes.” Guess what her answer was? You got it. The next day Lucky moved in with my human family and pack.
The truth is, the world wasn’t big enough for Lucky and myself to not find each other. This had to happen.
Lucky and Scott at the edge of the Atlantic Ocean in Puerto Rico
In September of 2017 Hurricane Maria pummeled Puerto Rico. As many of you might remember, I launched the “Lucky In Love Relief Fund for Stray Animals in Puerto Rico.” We raised $7,000 and bridged a fair amount of stray animals back to life. When Patrick was killed in August of 2018, Lucky would press his head into my chest several times a day. He knew that’s where the pain was. He did the same when Sammy died on January 30th, 2020.
I am so in love with Lucky that I coined the phrase and created a t-shirt that says “I Love My Dog Like A Crazy Potato” on the front. And on the back it says, “Love Doesn’t Have To Make Sense.
We have been through some tough times together. Hurricane Maria, the loss of Patrick, the loss of Sammy, Covid, losing our home in 2021 and so on and so on. Lucky is a professional escape artist as you all remember from back in Puerto Rico. Well, he continued the same here in South Florida. He has serious separation anxiety with me when I leave the house. He has been this way since I pulled him off the street back in Puerto Rico on May 10th, 2017. When I left him in Puerto Rico for 6 months in 2019 while I was getting set up in Florida, it hurt him very badly. I was absolutely destroyed leaving him, Rocky and Polar Bear behind during that time also. I did find a family to take them in at that time for $800 a month.
Lucky and Scott in Florida. We share the same heart.
A lot of people would have said goodbye to them right then and there. But, the second I landed in South Florida on March 28th, 2019, I had one thing and one thing only on my mind: To bring my boys over to Florida. Six months later, I pulled off mission impossible and had us all back together under one roof in Florida. As such, Lucky’s seperation anxiety was very continued his escape artistry here in South Florida. He’s calmed down a lot at this point. But, one day in December of 2023, he got out and got himself in a very serious predicament. I was actually in discussions about giving him up. As I have gotten older, It was becoming more difficult keeping up with him. Fortunately, I backed out of those discussions because I could never live without him. Lucky is my forever heart. We will finish our lives together as a family. And that includes BabyLady too.
Seven years ago I told the world, “This is No ordinary Love.” And that still holds true today. Lucky is my soulmate. I did not say soulMutt. No. I said “Lucky is my soulmate.” – I will always be lucky in love with Lucky.
Happy 7 year Rescue Anniversary Lucky. Thank you for rescuing me.
Puerto Rico can have a Fresh Start with a Stroke of a Pen:
The U.S can afford anything it desires. The only catch is that it has to be a priority to them. Whatever the U.S. wants, the U.S. gets. If the United States wanted to go to war with Iran, how fast would they find a few trillion dollars? If Greenland would be willing to sell itself, how fast would the U.S. find billions of dollars?
Let’s look at two actual examples:
1. When the U.S. wanted to invade Iraq in 2003, was money an issue? Nope. A blank check was thrown at the war. And Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11. According to Brown University’s highly respected Cost of War Project, post 9/11 wars have cost trillions ofdollars, and worse, killed hundreds of thousands of people.
2. In 2008 during the banking crisis, congress came together in a blink of an eye and authorized a $750 billion check for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, aka TARP. It was literally a bailout for the banks and the auto industry. Additionally, the Federal Reserve pumped more than $4 trillion of stimulus into the economy from 2010 through 2014.
Remember, the U.S. can print its own currency. They can create money faster than a magician can say “Shazam.” It’s time for the U.S. government to wave its magic wand at the 3 million plus American citizens residing in Puerto Rico. We have a humanitarian crisis for both people and animals over there.
This is not a U.S. bashing article. I’m presenting an opportunity to bring Puerto Rico back to financial life.
The people of the Puerto Rico Triumphed in July of 2019 with peaceful protests for 12 straight days forcing the resignation of the Governor. Photo Credit, Valeria Martiro.
The people of Puerto Rico have suffered enough. “No Mas” they said taking to the streets in July of 2019 with the biggest protests in the Commonwealth’s history, forcing the resignation of Governor Ricardo Rosselló. The protests were a long time in the making. Puerto Rico has been plagued with corruption (from healthcare, to education, politicians themselves and recently, a FEMA arrest was made), reckless spending and policies set forth by the U.S., stifling their economy for decades.
It’s been over 2 years since Hurricane Maria pummeled Puerto Rico. Financial relief has been slim and slow. Over 250,000 people have left the island since the hurricane hit. A total of 600,000 people in the last 10 years. Maria’s damage is estimated at $100 billion. A staggering figure. Just to put that in perspective, the annual GDP for Puerto Rico is about $100 billion.
That’s on top of Puerto Rico being in the financial doldrums since 2006 thanks to Congress abolishing section 936 of Puerto Rico’s corporate tax code, a law that gave huge tax breaks to U.S. corporations in Puerto Rico. When it expired in 2006, manufacturing and big pharma started leaving. The island has been in a recession for 13 years now.
Puerto Rico is $75 billion in debt with another $50 billion in underfunded pensions. Bankruptcy negotiations are still pending. In July 2019, the oversight committee and bondholders apparently struck a $35 billion restructuring deal. The Fiscal Agency of Puerto Rico did not agree with one word of the deal. Additionally, some bondholders are calling the selection of the oversight committee unconstitutional. So, it’s anyone’s guess how this will play out.
The 94th Infantry during WW1. Puerto Ricans have served the U.S. Armed Forces for over a century now. Photo Credit: Center for Puerto Rican Studies.
It’s time for U.S. to step up for the people of Puerto Rico. No longer should the U.S. allow Puerto Ricans to die on the front lines of American wars, as they have for more than 100 years, and not be permitted to vote in the general election. Nor should they remain financially shackled by the Jones Act, established in 1920, costing Puerto Rico over $500 million a year. The cost of living in Puerto Rico is the same as the average state in the U.S. Yet, If Puerto Rico were a state, it would be twice as poor as the poorest state of all, Mississippi. How can any society have a balanced budget with that logic?
Pretense and Solution –
The U.S. should write a check to Puerto Rico in the amount of $125 billion. Wipe out the $75 billion in municipal bond debt and fully restore the $50 billion in underfunded pensions. The monies should be distributed directly to the bondholders and pension accounts bypassing all politicians and oversight committees. $125 billion is not a lot of money for a $22 trillion economy. To be precise, it’s 1/20th of 1%. Essentially nothing.
Let’s use the 2008 banking crisis as a precedent. The U.S. deployed almost $5 trillion to prevent the oncoming 2nd Great Depression, which was caused by Wall Street’s gambling addiction to derivatives and mortgage backed securities. That’s not even including the massive budge deficits they were running, which would take the figure well over $10 trillion. But, for the sake of argument, let’s use $5 trillion as the example. $125 billion is only 2.5% of $5 trillion. Aren’t the people of Puerto Rico worth that?
Dr. Daniel Nina, professor of Business Administration and Social Sciences at the University of Puerto Rico Humacao Campus explains that whether Puerto Rico becomes a state or not, or receives some sort of bailout, they have to become more self reliant. Puerto Rico imports 85 percent of consumable goods. At the turn of the 20th century Puerto Rico was only importing 15 percent. For the past 120 years they’ve been moving in the wrong direction, forcing them to become more and more dependent on the rest of the world. According to professor Daniel, Puerto Rico’s agricultural and household chemical sectors are fully self-reliant. Other important sectors of the economy are nearing self-reliance. Ultimately, Puerto Rico must become more self-sufficient in most sectors of its economy in order to prevent becoming a welfare state again.
In order for this to start to happen, the 100 year old Jones Act needs to lifted permanently. It’s blatant protectionism for American shipping companies at the expense of consumers. In this case specifically, the people of Puerto Rico. In addition, Section 936 of Puerto Rico’s tax code should be reinstated to incentivize manufacturers and pharma companies to come back to Puerto Rico. This would put them on equal footing with the rest of the United States. It would give the Puerto Rican people a fresh start to rebuild their economy.
So, the multibillion-dollar question is, when will Puerto Rico become a priority for the U.S.?
