An article from this summer, before Hurricane Maria.  Puerto Rico is now essentially run by a small committee appointed by the US president:

Puerto Rico’s Problems Go Way Beyond Its Debt

The new law, PROMESA, staves off a financial emergency, but does little to fix the underlying troubles of the island and its people.

My Alt-Facebook is only a few days old, and I have only told two people about it.  I want to get a week or so of use, just to be sure it does all the things I want it to.  So far it works for me, and I will probably keep this going.  The ‘interaction’ part will probably decide how much time I spend on Facebook.  Some comments (in case anyone else is thinking of going this route):

• I seem to be doing most posting from my desktop.  Definitely not a mobile-friendly, but I might just need to try a bit more.  I remember finding Facebook a bit confusing at first.
• I thought I could load photos directly from Google, but can’t seem to remember how that worked.  (Update:  found it.  There is a menu next to the (+) insert photo button).
• I know a few folks not on Facebook.  This gives them a way to stay in touch without having to sign up for Facebook.
• I like the idea of controlling and owning my content more and more.  I wish I had done this sooner.
• I still go out to Facebook daily to see what other folks are up to.  I am liking the political arguing less and less.  Some things about you I don’t want to know (even from some of my old friends).   I suspect they feel the same way about me.

I keep thinking of what another old friend said when I asked why he wasn’t on Facebook.  He said (I paraphrase) that he didn’t think he had much to contribute to the conversation.  I disagree, since he is probably more thoughtful people I know, but it does make you wonder about you own ‘contribution’.

Anyway, here is a photo of the cats taking an afternoon nap in my bed.

An article in Quartz via Ritholtz’s Reads (I am meta-curating): Brace yourself: the most disruptive phase of globalization is just beginning.  I don’t especially agree with much of this, but it is a good read.  One thing it gets right is that part of the equation for a ‘Free Market’ is free movement of labor.  This is what Globalization (and treaties such as NAFTA) miss.  Capital, jobs and even entire factories can move, but the labor can’t.  The thoughts on telepresence are interesting and bold and something I have never heard even from people who work in telepresence companies.