Puerto Rico = Gangster's Paradise

As I eat a plain hot dogs with ketchup I think about my island’s economy. Yesterday as I talking to a friend I realized how closed are the economic circles of my island. Funding rarely reaches its destination and proposal money stays in the hands and projects of a few that don’t share the information so others don’t get the opportunity to be granted money. It’s really frustrating to see how the rich keep getting richer at the expense of the working class while the poor keep growing poorer and ignorant by the millisecond. There is no money to fix the economy, no money to fix the school system, no money to fix the public health insurance system and yet there is money for political campaigns and televised advertisements that are meant to encourage us to work for a system that does not work for us.  Puerto Rico used to be a paradise, now, all that remains is the nostalgia of better days. Today it is just a sick commonwealth that is becoming sicker and sicker by the minute. The cancer of poverty continues to spread, the social abyss keeps getting wider and wider and the people keeps getting more violent and hopeless. We need a glimmer of light, but it is going to be a monumental quest to find it within all this dirt and corruption that lies beneath the surface. Tourists, don’t let yourselves be fooled, the island is not safe, even police officers are abusing tourists and locals, it’s not paradise, (slaughter of animals and dirty beaches) and it is not a happy place to be right now, (if you don't believe me, ask the mother of the 18 year old boy who was killed in a car jacking a few days ago or the family members of the fast food manager who got shot in the head in an armed robbery on Thursday[I think]).

About family

I love couple night with my parents (just so you can have an idea of what couple night is, my husband and I go out bar hoping with my parents and end up in a nice restaurant having a late supper). They like to travel around the island, eat in good restaurants, drink the good stuff and share a good time without being judgmental. And that takes me to today's topic; family. As anyone could tell you, there is nothing more important in life than family. When you cultivate good family relations, you can always count on having a majestic support group, to help you and comfort you but also to have fun with. To have a supportive and trustworthy relationship with your family can mean the difference between feeling happy and fulfilled versus feeling lonely and depressed. People should always try to be close to at least their immediate family, you know, mom, dad, brothers and sisters, after all they are the people who saw you and supported you while you soared towards the success lined skies, and that should count for something, I know that in my book it does.

Today is Sunday and I have a horrible migraine, it feels like my brain want to explode from inside my head and my eyes will just pop out. So I guess no post today. Sorry.

On Animal Sanctuaries and Puerto Rico

I’ve always thought that a man’s character is defined by the way he treats animals, but I never thought that it would actually come to define not just one man, but a whole country. Puerto Rico is coming to be defined by their constant abusive, unpleasant and elitist behaviors of abandoning the weak and innocent while feeding the arks of the rich and rotten. 

Not so long ago, it made it made headlines all over the world how a bag full of live dogs was dumped over a bridge and into a crowded street here in the island of Puerto Rico, well, what is happening now with the animal shelters and sanctuaries feels exactly like that is happening all over again. Thousands of animals are suffering a cruel and uncertain fate because of the ignorance of the human race.The political parties and the government are so entangled in their own shady amoral agendas that they are forgetting who they work for and why were they placed in their stations in the first place. Animal shelters flooding and losing everything, the government ignores them, animal sanctuaries being used as pet dumpsters, the authorities do nothing. Laws to protect animals are passed but not acted upon. Illegal breeding mills and dog fights happening all over the island, the authorities prefer to ignore them. And then we dare to have a tourism slogan that reads "Puerto Rico does it better".

 But I don’t wish to dump all the guilt unto the government’s hands; that would be like blaming the sun for being hot and lethal for I believe the key element here is people. Our actions as individuals are defining and marking the image and fate of our beloved country. Pet owners who are constantly acting in irresponsible ways, treating animals as is they were property that can be bought and disposed of at will when you no longer feel like owning it.  He who owns a pet and is capable of disposing of it like disposing of a bag of garbage is capable of abandoning a child at any moment, no remorse felt.

More than sad I believe it to be shameful, and it takes to say that I am ashamed to live in a country where life is not respected, where humans think themselves superior to any other creature in the planet, but treat each other like scum. a place where animals are not respected but humiliated, mistreated, abandoned and killed without hesitation. It is time to stop worrying about political affiliations, if X candidate visits sex shops or if Y candidate loves to eat donuts, and start thinking about quality of life, the state of our morality, of our souls  and whether or not we have lost of our true purpose on Earth.

On confrontation and independence

The last couple of weeks have given a very loud and clear message; some people hate confrontation. They hate to be confronted or to confront others around them, even if those people’s actions are affecting your life for the negative. As I was talking to a friend today, I got a plausible reason for this evasive behavior. It’s simple, it’s just a matter of manners, and you don’t want others to perceive you as hostile, aggressive and impolite. Therefore, you prefer to suffer in silence that which is killing you softly.

 I disagree. No, I will not deny that confrontation is a hard thing to do (especially if you are a woman who has been raised to be polite and obedient, you know, to be a “good girl”), but it is necessary for you to live YOUR life. By confronting those who make us uncomfortable we are removing obstacles from our lives and at the same time standing our ground, something that will let other know clearly, specially to those being confronted, that you will not tolerate manipulation, thrash talk and/or abuse. In life, part of growing and being an adult is claiming your independence, and personal independence starts by loving, supporting and respecting yourself and your decisions.