The Weekly Journal - Wednesday, November 30, 2022

plan to include Migrant workers in

puerto rico’s reconstruction

still in place

t a time when the administration is initiating the island’s reconstruction projects, the Associated General Contractors of America – Puerto Rico Chapter (AGC-PR) still continues its lobbying with the White House for the approval of a program that would allow thousands of resident immigrants be included in the island’s workforce.

Under the ‘Significant Public Benefit Parole Program’

more than 20,000 workers living in Puerto Rico since November 2020, who are qualified and available to work in the reconstruction projects, but whose immigration status is undefined, could be added to the local workforce.

Currently, there is an allocation of $55 billion in federal funds for reconstruction (only in construction work), for which at least 50,000 additional workers will be needed to complete the investment in a 10-year period, or at a rate of $5 billion annually. According to data provided by the

Efraín Montalbán Ríos,

Juan A. Hernández, The Weekly Journal

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Una de estas también

a week in review

After an outstanding premiere, the Puerto Rican Institute of Culture (ICP, for its Spanish acronym) announced the return of Cuatro, A Musical. The stellar cast includes actors Magali Carrasquillo, Aidita Encarnación, Michelle Brava and Miguel Difoot, among others. Cuatro, A Musical tells the story of four Puerto Ricans from the diaspora whose paths cross when their flight back to the island is delayed for four hours. Stranded at the airport — between conversations over coffee, unexpected encounters, and strong emotions— life will put them to the test and together they will discover that the important thing is not the destination but the journey. Written and directed Miguel Rosa López, the musical returns to the stage for just two performances on December 3 and 4 at the Francisco Arriví Theater in Santurce.

nissan Z Makes it to the top three for 2023 Car of the year

The Nissan Z is one of the three finalists at the top of the list ‘2023 Car of the Year for North America’s awards. Those selected are benchmarks in their segments based on various factors that include innovation, design, safety, handling, driver satisfaction and value. The Nissan Z represents the ultimate expression of emotion and the legacy of more than 50 years captivating a global base of sports car fans. The new Z has a fresh and elegant exterior design, with a silhouette that communicates respect for its lineage through its long hood and a lower back position. The winner of this award will be selected on January 11, 2023, by a jury of 50 prominent independent automotive journalists from the U.S. and Canada.

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baCardí at the feria de Cataño

The Feria de Cataño, returns this Saturday, December 3 and Sunday, December 4, after a 14-year break. The show begins at noon on Saturday with musicians, artisans, and the best of local gastronomy. First in the musical lineup is Julio César Sanabria, followed by the participations of Los Pleneros de la Cresta, Luis Vázquez. The musical party continues through Sunday, with the long-awaited troubadour competition and shows from the groups Areyto, Moncho Rivera, Algarete, Plenéalo and La Secta. Millie Quezada will close the program. “Puerto Ricans missed this tradition and in the Municipality of Cataño we have put all the effort to return to one of the most beloved and crowded festivals on the whole island” said Cataño Mayor Julio Alicea Vasallo.

FROM PAGE 1

ACG-PR, the construction industry has just over 30,000 employees.

ACG-PR president Eduardo Pardo pointed their lobbying is “for people who are already living here [Puerto Rico],” and can demonstrate so, to give them first, the opportunity to enter into the formal economy and, second, the opportunity to legitimize their immigration status.

According to ACGPR calculations, the average number of construction workers required for every million dollars in reconstruction projects is 8.81 employees.

Pardo stressed that, if the number of workers required for the reconstruction projects is not reached, the deadline for completing the reconstruction and modernization of the infrastructure will be delayed by an additional four years, for a total of 14 years.

The benefits of the Parole program are offered for, but not limited to, humanitarian reasons, law enforcement and national security reasons, or foreign or national policy considerations. If approved, this would the first time the program is used for reconstruction purposes.

Pardo added that, since would be beneficiaries currently live and work in Puerto Rico, they would not represent a burden for the government because they already have a place to live and would have a source of income.

“Using these people is not an additional burden to our infrastructure.

Bringing in people from abroad would be more difficult because of the lack of housing. It would be difficult finding where you are going to house the people you are bringing,” Pardo said while acknowledging that the focus will be mainly on the Dominican community in Puerto Rico.

The largest group of immigrants in Puerto Rico is made up by the Dominican community. According to the Dominican Consulate in Puerto Rico, there are some 225,000 Dominican immigrants residing in the island, of which 60,000 have obtained the American citizenship.

Also, some 100,000 are legal residents. If the Consulate’s calculations are correct, there are 165,000 eligible migrants for the Parole program.

In order for the Significant

Public Benefit Parole Program to be approved, a permit granted by President Biden is required, to allow people living in an American jurisdiction with an undefined immigration status to become part of the formal economy.

Pardo further explained that, although there is the H2-B visa, which provides for the bringing of foreign labor, “it is not functional for the construction industry, due to the magnitude, urgency and extent of the need that Puerto Rico has for its reconstruction.

He added that H2-B visas must be obtained more than six months in advance of need, a process not coinciding with construction bidding procedures.

Secretary of the Department of Labor and Human Resources (DTRH, for its Spanish acronym), Gabriel Maldonado, is not surprised by the slowness of the process in Washington, since such authorization would be an exception to what has been granted to migrants from other countries.

“It is not surprising that something like this takes time to materialize because of its magnitude and impact. This would be the first time that it would be given a twist to tie it to the need to have the necessary workforce to carry out the reconstruction after a major disaster,”

Construction of the new bridge over Río Blanco in Naguabo. Naguabo, PR. >Nahira Montcourt / The Weekly Journal

Repairing of the bridge over Cano Martín Pena on John F. Kennedy Avenue (PR-2) on Dec. 2021. San Juan, PR. >The Weekly Journal

Using these people is not an additional burden to our infrastructure. Bringing in people from abroad would be more difficult because of the lack of housing.

Eduardo Pardo, ACG-PR president

As part of the measures directed at increasing the construction workforce in the island, the government increased the minimum wage for skilled and nonskilled workers.

In fact,

Maldonado said.

The official emphasized that his agency will prioritize impacting the one and a half million Puerto Rican residents who are out of the labor force.

“There are always initiatives that attend to the Puerto Rican worker which, for me, is always a priority. Of course, with such a broad reconstruction process, we know we need to hire local workers, as well as having to import labor from abroad,” Maldonado acknowledged.

As part of the measures directed at increasing the construction workforce in the island, the government increased the minimum wage for skilled and non-skilled workers to $15 and $11 per hour, respectively.

In a press release distributed earlier this week the DTRH announced it will be sponsoring a forum directed at construction industry employers on

how to bring and hire temporary foreign workers to the U.S. and its territories for non-agricultural work.

“Puerto Rico’s reconstruction and the thousands of millions of dollars destined for that purpose depend greatly on the existence of enough labor to culminate the different construction projects… Therefore, we are advising employers in the construction sector on the process of how to acquire H-2B Visas for foreign workers and comply with applicable laws and regulations,” said Maldonado.

Department of State Secretary Omar Marrero said on his part, “the goal of this event is to provide additional tools to local contractors so they can hire the necessary labor to execute the reconstruction projects”

In fact,

If the Dominican Consulate’s calculations are correct, there are 165,000 Dominican migrants in Puerto Rico eligible for the Parole program.

In the meantime, Central Office for Recuperation, Reconstruction and Resilience (COR3) director Manuel A. Laboy reported a total of 232 unspecified projects from the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA), the Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority (PRASA), the Department of Education and some projects of the Public Housing Administration are in the “execution phase,” which does not necessarily mean they are under construction. As a matter of

A new building under construction with the use of tower crane.

fact, only 33 of said unspecified projects are under construction. The investment on those projects has a reported total of $172 million.

Regarding completed projects, 43 have been reported with an approximate value of $37 million.

The balance confirms mayor reconstruction projects are still in the pipeline with no apparent deadline set yet.

Huge metal mesh assembled with steel rebar rods to be used as columns in construction.

Puerto Rico’s reconstruction and the thousands of millions of dollars destined for that purpose depend greatly on the existence of enough labor… Gabriel Maldonado, Dept. of Labor Secretary

A Black Friday without crowds and lines

Retailers refer to the event as a regular day

Efraín Montalbán Ríos, The Weekly Journal

Black Friday sales doesn’t seem to include large crowds or endless lines anymore. The event, which has become a cultural shopping experience for Puerto Ricans, seems to have had a change of pace.

The newly appointed secretary of the Department of Consumer Affairs (DACO, for its Spanish acronym), Hiram Torres Montalvo, assured Monday that Black Friday sales went smoothly throughout island businesses.

“Compared to the last few years, it was more crowded, because we don’t have any restrictions due to the pandemic, nor we have any problems with crowds. So, we saw a lot of consumers and a lot of enthusiasm”, Torres Montalvo said.

This year, DACO had 150 inspectors . They visited large and small businesses throughout the island, responded to complaints on social networks and answered calls.

Although Torres Montalvo highlighted the increase of in-store consumers, he pointed out that it was not the same influx of customers as a decade ago. He argued this was due to the increase of online purchases.

“Stores have been quite busy. Obviously, one has to compare the whole thing against how it used to be like 10 years ago, when these digital platforms for online purchases did not exist… Ten years ago you couldn’t buy a 60-inch TV and have it delivered to your doorstep. That option is available now,” Torres Montalvo pointed out.

file a complaint. The calls were about complaints against the stores, and not violations of DACO regulations.

In fact,

“So far, we’ve found only one violation s related to signage issues, which has nothing to do with Black Friday specials sales or shoppers. So, basically, it was an isolated incident and it is the only one that has been reported to us at this time,” Torres Montalvo said Monday. The Secretary estimated this year’s sale exceed those of last year’s Black Friday, and that 60inch and 70-inch TV sets were the most sought-after items.

The DACO Secretary estimated this year’s sale exceed those of last year’s Black Friday, and that 60inch and 70-inch TV sets were the most sought-after items.

In addition to visiting large retail store chains, the agency also emphasized on small and medium-sized businesses. “We wanted to change the dynamics for this year’s visits, and we went and visited small businesses,” he stressed.

No Major Irregularities

Torres Montalvo mentioned the agency received dozens of phone calls in which the immediate mediation policy was implemented, and agreements were reached without the need to

Figures from Sensormatic Solutions, confirm that in the U.S., traffic in retail stores for the last year dropped 28.3% during Black Friday, compared to the levels registered in 2019, before the pandemic. Meanwhile, when compared with 2020 and 2021, in terms of the level of consumption, brick and mortar stores increased 47.5%.

Another Day of Shopping United Retailers Center (CUD, for its Spanish acronym) president Lourdes Aponte characterized customer movement Saturday as “a normal shopping day.”

“Yes, there was a flow of people visiting the different stores throughout the island, but nothing

impressive. It was another day of shopping where the consumer could find a variety of prices and special offers”, added Aponte, who considers Black Friday has become a cultural event.

She highlighted that many people took advantage of sales that started before Black Friday, so they opted to travel or book hotels around the island during this holiday weekend.

“Since it is a long weekend, you cannot ignore the fact that many people decided to enjoy some ‘paradores’ or travel abroad. That, in a certain way, caused customer flow to remain normal,” Aponte argued.

The president of retailers projected that there will some growth in sales when compared to last year, and recognized DACO’s the efforts of inspecting the country’s businesses.

Yes, there was a flow of people visiting the different stores throughout the island, but nothing impressive. It was another day of shopping.

Lourdes Aponte, president United Retailers Center

Using the five senses in marketing is a must

The industry looks much different from the Mad Men era

of lore

Zoe Landi Fontana, The Weekly Journal

You probably won’t make it to the end of this article. Not because it’s boring per se, but because nothing holds your attention for more than eight seconds.

From 2000 to 2022, average attention span has decreased from 12 seconds to eight seconds — the same as a goldfish’s. Throw in the fact that consumers are bombarded with over 10,000 messages per day and it’s easy to understand why.

As consumers, we get sucked into the currents of constantly changing trends. As creators or marketers, we need to decide how to adapt to and influence them. “Advertising as we know it is dying,” said Raj Rajamannar, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer and President, Healthcare Business, Mastercard. “Traditional ways of telling stories are changing.”

According to Rajamannar, 99% of marketing is based on sight and sound. Touch, taste, and smell are still on the table for creating an unforgettable experience for customers. It’s difficult to increase

consumers’ attention spans, but it is possible to circumvent the issues caused by the lack of it.

By tapping into the three other senses, brands can access more opportunities to engage with customers. And that’s exactly what multi-sensory marketing is about — increasing engagement in innovative ways.

The daily environment is becoming more techenabled, requiring brands to follow suit or risk becoming part of the 90% of business failures that occur due to poor marketing. This ‘fifth paradigm’ of marketing, as Rajamannar calls it, involves all senses. It allows brands to provide large amounts of information through immersive experiences that create brand awareness in an organic way.

Multi-sensory marketing creates limitless possibilities for brands. For example, Mastercard has opened restaurants in Brazil, New York, and Rome. These restaurants, while heavily branded with Mastercard Priceless imagery, are top-rated. A delicious dinner with great service forges a connection in the client’s mind between the concept of high-quality and the Mastercard product.

Trust And Purpose

A growing trust deficit is another influential factor that affects consumer behavior. The Edelman Trust Barometer, a measure based on the results of an annual survey of over 36,000 respondents in 28 countries, reported that twothirds of people don’t trust brands. Consumers trust brands that act with

transparency and integrity, employ ethical practices, and those that are driven by purpose. In fact, according to Rajamannar, purpose driven companies outperform others by 42%.

“People are willing to pay more for products from brands that they trust,” explained Rajamannar. In times of uncertainty, such as during the height of COVID-19, brands need to act sensitively and show their support.

One way Mastercard did this was by collaborating with Waze and grocery chain Carrefour. Virtually everyone was afraid to go out because of the risk of contamination, but unfortunately grocery delivery was not available to everyone. With every trip to the grocery store, people were putting themselves at risk of infection.

To combat this, the Waze app notified users of nearby grocery stores with low traffic, allowing them to shop with peace of mind. Through the collaboration, Mastercard helped to protect consumers while increasing revenue during what would normally be low hours. “When there is economic uncertainty, don’t sell, serve. Play the long game and profits will follow,” Rajamannar said.

People are willing to pay more for products from brands that they trust.

Raj Rajamannar, President, Healthcare Business, Mastercard

The daily environment is becoming more tech-enabled, requiring brands to follow suit or risk becoming part of the 90% of business failures that occur due to poor

In fact,

2 Fed officials favor keeping key rate at peak through 2023

Financial markets could be underestimating the Fed’s aggressiveness

Christopher Rugaber –The Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Two Federal Reserve officials said Monday that they favor raising the Fed’s key rate to roughly 5% or more and keeping it at its peak through next year — longer than many on Wall Street have expected.

John Williams, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, who is among a core group of officials around Chair Jerome Powell, said in a speech to the Economic Club of New York that the central bank has “more work to do” to reduce inflation closer to its 2% target.

And James Bullard, president of the St. Louis Fed, suggested that financial markets are underestimating the likelihood the Fed will have to be more aggressive in its fight against the worst inflation bout in four decades.

when it next meets in mid-December. Though that would represent a reduction in the size of its rate hikes, Fed officials have stressed that they expect to keep their key rate at a historically high level well into the future.

Because the Fed’s benchmark rate influences many consumer and business loans, its aggressive series of hikes have made most loans throughout the economy sharply more expensive. That has been particularly true of mortgage rates, which have risen dramatically over the past year and have severely crimped home sales.

On Wednesday, Powell is scheduled to address the Fed’s policies and their effects on the job market in a speech in Washington.

In an interview with Marketwatch, Bullard suggested that the speed of the Fed’s rate hikes isn’t as important as the ultimate level of its benchmark rate, which he said could exceed the 5% that financial markets have priced in.

Financial markets have projected that the Fed will have to reverse course and start cutting rates by next September.

“Markets are underpricing the risk that the (Fed) will have to be more aggressive rather than less aggressive in order to contain the very substantial inflation that we have,” Bullard said.

to a recession that many economists expect will occur next year.

Williams suggested that there are some positive signs that inflation is easing, noting falling prices for lumber, oil, and other commodities. Supply chains are also loosening, he said: A measure of supply chain snarls maintained by the New York Fed has declined by three-quarters from its pandemic peak.

Yet the job market has stayed stronger than he expected, Williams said, with the unemployment rate, at 3.7%, still near a half-century low.

The Fed has raised its benchmark short-term rate six times this year, to a range of 3.75% to 4%, with each of the last four hikes being a historically large three-quarters of a point. The central bank is expected to raise rates by an additional half-point

The central bank, he added, will likely have to keep its benchmark rate above 5% all through 2023 and into 2024. He also reiterated his view that the Fed should be prepared to raise that rate to the “lower end” of a range between 5% and 7%.

By contrast, financial markets have projected that the Fed will have to reverse course and start cutting rates by next September, presumably in response

“That argues that we’ll need to have a somewhat higher path for interest rates” than the Fed projected in September, Williams said. At that time, the officials forecast that their benchmark rate would reach a range of 4.5% to 4.75% by early next year.

He said he now expects the unemployment rate to rise to 4.5% to 5% by the end of next year, with inflation falling to 3% to 3.5% by then.

At that level, inflation would still exceed the Fed’s target of 2%, thereby extending its inflation fight into 2024, Williams said.

In fact,

Markets are underpricing the risk that the (Fed) will have to be more aggressive rather than less aggressive in order to contain the very substantial inflation that we have.

James Bullard, president St. Louis Fed

Empty streets, cranes: the city built for Qatar’s World Cup

Questions are raising about how much use the infrastructure will get after the event

LUSAIL, Qatar — Less than a month before it was set to host the World Cup final, Lusail City was oddly quiet.

Wide empty streets, idle lobbies and construction cranes are everywhere in the sleek district 20 kilometers (12 miles) north of the capital, Doha, built to accommodate World Cup fans and hundreds of thousands of host nation Qatar’s residents.

But with soccer’s biggest event underway, the empty futuristic city is raising questions about how much use the infrastructure Qatar built for the event will get after more than a million soccer fans leave the small Gulf Arab nation after the tournament.

Elias Garcia, a 50-year old business owner from San Francisco, visited Lusail City from Doha with a friend on a day when there wasn’t a soccer game in the city’s bowl-shaped, golden stadium.

“We came to check it out but there’s not much here,” Garcia said, looking up at a huge crescent-shaped skyscraper behind him designed to look like the curved swords on Qatar’s national emblem.

Across the street, a building site was concealed by a low fence illustrated with desert scenes. “Everything looks like it’s under construction,” Garcia said. “It’s just empty lots with little walls they put up to make you think it’s up and running.”

Driving north from Doha, Lusail City’s glittering skyline and marina are hard to miss. Pastel-colored towers that look like crates stacked on each other rise from the desert. Wide avenues give way to zigzagging buildings, glass domes and clusters of neoclassical housing blocks. It’s unclear if anyone lives in them. Most are advertised as luxury hotels, apartments or commercial office space. Cranes hang above many buildings.

Plans for Lusail City had been around since 2005 but construction was fast-tracked after Qatar won the rights to host the World Cup five years later. Backed by Qatar’s $450 billion sovereign wealth fund, the city was designed to be compact and pedestrian friendly and is connected by Doha’s new metro and a light rail.

Fahad Al Jahamri, who manages projects at Qatari Diar, the real estate company behind the city that’s backed by Qatar’s Investment Authority, has called Lusail City a self-contained “extension of Doha.”

Officials have also said the city is part of broader plans that natural gas-rich Qatar has to build its knowledge economy — an admission of the type of white-collar professionals the country hopes to attract to the city long-term.

But reaching its goal of housing 400,000 people in Lusail City could be tough in a country where only 300,000 people are citizens, and many of the 2.9 million residents are poor migrants who live in camps, not luxury towers.

Even during the World Cup, Lusail City is noticeably quieter than Doha, itself the site of jawdropping amounts of construction over the past decade in preparation for the event.

At the Place Vendome, a luxury mall named for the grand Parisian square, many stores are not yet open. A few tourists snapped pictures of Lusail City’s skyline on a recent afternoon from the

mall while cashiers talked among themselves. At a building downtown housing the Ministry of Culture and other government offices, a security guard said almost everyone had left by 11 a.m.

“Even on the metro, if you go on a day when there’s not a match, there are like five to 10 people on it besides you,” Garcia said.

On the man-made Al Maha Island, a crowd of World Cup fans and locals lounged at an upscale beach club, pulling on shisha tobacco pipes and dipping into a swimming pool.

Timothe Burt-Riley directed workers at an art gallery opening later that night. The French gallery director said Lusail City – or at least Al Maha Island with its amusement park, high-end boutiques, restaurants and lounges, would be a place where locals come to meet.

“This is a totally man-made island,” Burt-Riley said, “it’s pretty crazy what they can do.”

He said Qatar could find a way to make use of the infrastructure it’s built for the World Cup, including seven new soccer stadiums, but admitted, “it might take time.”

A municipal worker walks in a street in Lusail downtown, Qatar,. >AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin

Suman Naishadham – The Associated Press

Even on the metro, if you go on a day when there’s not a match, there are like five to 10 people on it besides you.

Elias Garcia, business owner visiting Qatar

Officials have also said the city is part of broader plans that natural gas-rich Qatar has to build its knowledge economy.

In fact,

Hilera, M.P.S.

Eduardo Hilera, M.P.S. Emergency Management and Homeland Security Expert

The Storms of September

Responding to Emergencies amid Twitter Chaos is a Disaster

he news of chaos at Twitter, including the laying off of thousands of employees and the resignations of hundreds of others, is cause for concern to many. The instability of the communications giant will have a negative impact on the world of social media and communications.

TThe Atlantic hurricane season— the one that impacts Puerto Rico—runs from June 1 to November 30. The peak, however, occurs from midSeptember to mid-October, which has already started, folks.

The hurricanes permanently recorded in our memories all made landfall in September. Hugo on September 19, 1988; Hortensia on September 10, 1996; Georges on September 21, 1998; and Maria on September 20, 2017. There is a clear trend here.

In the last decade enormous fires have torn through California, mass shootings have terrorized the United States, earthquakes have shaken parts of the country, and hurricanes have made it hard for all of us to sleep peacefully. One of the most useful tools in ensuring that information reached the most vulnerable populations, essential emergency management and law enforcement authorities, were social media platforms.

9-1-1 call of sorts without the need to speak out loud. Twitter allowed a broader conversation that allowed others to provide veracity to stories. It raised a red flag to authorities and news outlets about breaking stories.

While Twitter has most certainly been used in the past to spread lies and create panic, it has also given many a platform to voice necessary messaging.

Abraham Lincoln said: “If I only had one hour to chop down a tree, I would spend 45 minutes sharpening my axe.”

Athletes, influencers, politicians, and state and local governments turn to their social media accounts to announce everything from business decisions to time-sensitive matters such as emergencies and other important issues that need to be communicated to the audiences that follow them.

Applying Honest Abe’s wise logic to hurricane season, we should do everything possible to get ready before a disaster.

News and media sources have always required subscriptions. From the time when our grandparents used to pay to receive their newspaper membership and when printed magazines required a subscription, news sources still require some sort of payment in order to receive a full version of a newspaper piece. Therefore, social media platforms have become one of the most important sources of up-to-theminute information. While information may be fragmented, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram provide a quick source of information that provides for awareness in a crazy world.

All it takes to get ready is a little creativity, logic and a few bucks. Being prepared makes our communities more resilient.

The most basic emergency management concept is planning. Emergency managers agree that the first 72 hours after a disaster are crucial— it takes that long for help from first responders to reach those in need. In the spirit of planning, below is a checklist of the steps we can all take to be prepared for those first 72 hours. It doesn’t involve sophisticated equipment, just a few things we can do by ourselves.

The Washington D.C. Metro Rail, Amtrak, the NYPD and others to be specific, and thousands of local and state governments, cell phone carriers and independent journalists throughout the globe to be more general, all rely on these platforms to communicate last minute news. From a train derailing, to a cell coverage outage, people rely on the information shared through these platforms.

Now, that has changed. The platform that allowed information-sharing now is allowing hate groups and controversial groups and organizations to provide twisted views of “reality.” The result is confusion and chaos. Twitter once confirmed legit accounts with a blue checkmark. The checkmark was a sign of legitimacy. Now the checkmark is a sign of membership. The checkmark went from proof of validity to a sign of sponsorship. This is dangerous.

Twitter once served as a platform for the initial reports of important events. Emergencies have been first reported through the platform on countless occasions. The platform substituted a

Now, however, Twitter is at risk of becoming a platform for hate, inaccurate reports, and disorderly communications.

Ultimately, in a world where our reality is communicated on social media platforms that are at times plagued by questionable messaging from even more questionable sources, it is dangerous to see that the very leaders of the platforms that should be striving for accuracy and fairness in their messaging are now the very source of confusion and chaos.

This irresponsibility in the face of the disasters and emergencies that we face on a daily basis should concern all of us.

Inspect Your Home—Look around your home at doors, windows, potentially hazardous objects, and anything easily repairable. Address whatever you find and can fix immediately. Look for loose doors, exposed windows, and non-tempered glass windows or panels. Fix or secure everything you can.

In fact,

Bottom line, unreliable social media means one thing—emergency managers are in for a serious challenge.

Prepare Your Car—If you own a car, keep the tank full. Set a reminder on your phone. In an emergency, a full tank of gas will get you wherever you need to go. In addition, identify a safe spot where you can park your car.

The hurricanes permanently recorded in our memories all made landfall in September. Hugo on September 19, 1988; Hortensia on September 10, 1996; Georges on September 21, 1998; and Maria on September 20, 2017. There is a clear trend here.

The platform that allowed information-sharing now is allowing hate groups and controversial groups and organizations to provide twisted views of ‘reality.

Medication—If you or your family take medications, make sure you have a full week’s supply.

First Aid Kit but may not keep them all in the same place.

Keep enough money on hand to pay for basics following the disaster.

Eduardo

Emergency Management and Homeland Security Expert

Damage from Hurricane Maria in Sept. 2017

viernes, 9 de diciembre de 2022 de 7:00 pm a 12 medianoche Friday, December 9th, 2022 | 7:00 pm to 12:00 midnight en / at Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico

La música de Milly Quezada. MIusic by Milly Quezada.

Para información de auspicio o compra de boletos ($300 pp), favor de comunicarse a mperez@mapr.org, 787 977-4449 o 787 376-4317.

For information of sponsorships or to buy your tickets, please send message to mperez@mapr.org or call at 787 977-4449/787 376-4317.

Vestimenta cóctel | negro y dorado. Dress code: Cocktail | Black and Gold.

2022

Promotions lead to newly appointed

Helder Cruz Audit Partner Ángel Rivera Audit Partner

Effective November 1st, 2022, Silvia Bonet, Helder Cruz, Omar Mues, and Ángel Rivera were promoted to Partners at Kevane Grant Thornton.

Bonet Audit Partner

are proud to announce the promotions of these partners, who have been excelling in the industry for many years. They bring all their years of experience and knowledge in the assurance and tax departments to strengthen the Firm’s capability to best serve our clients.

Silvia

Omar Mues Tax Partner

High-flying balloon characters star in Thanksgiving parade

But it was Snoopy that especially caught the eye of Brenner Chenenko, 8, even more so than the more contemporary pups.

“It’s one of the classics,” said the youngster from Rochester, New York, who lined the parade route with his father Nate and grandfather John Wopperer.

Adam Devine, Sarah Hyland and Flula Borg. Jimmy Fallon & The Roots were on a float celebrating Central Park.

NEW YORK (AP) — Throngs of spectators lined the streets of New York on Thursday as colorful, high-flying balloons helped usher in the holiday season during the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

The annual tradition, which dates back nearly a century, packed streets as a procession of giant inflatables and floats streamed for more than 40 blocks from Central Park to Herald Square.

Children balanced atop metal barricades and hung from scaffolding to watch the balloons amid mostly sunny skies and a slight breeze.

“Blue, Blue. There’s Blue,” yelled Divyam Kumar, 6, as his father helped balance him and his 4-yearold brother Aanu Aryan on a metal rail.

The youngster was referring to the star of the animated show “Blue’s Clues” — not to be confused with the international cartoon sensation Bluey, an Australian cattle pup making her parade debut.

Bluey’s balloon towered as tall as a four-story building and stretched as wide as seven taxi cabs. Stuart, the one-eyed Minion, was also there to thrill the crowd.

It was the first time the father and son had seen the parade in person. Wopperer last saw a parade live three years ago, before the pandemic sidelined the event for a year.

Snoopy, dressed as an astronaut, was followed by another old-time favorite, Papa Smurf.

This year’s parade featured 16 giant balloons, 28 floats, 40 novelty and heritage inflatables, 12 marching bands, 10 performance groups, 700 clowns and one Santa Claus.

The procession of characters were joined by singer Paula Abdul, in her first parade appearance; indie pop band Fitz and the Tantrums; boy band Big Time Rush; “Blue’s Clues & You!” host Josh Dela Cruz; singer Gloria Estefan; gospel singer Kirk Franklin; actor Mario Lopez; reggae star Ziggy Marley; and Miss America 2022 Emma Broyles.

Singers Joss Stone, Jordin Sparks and Betty Who were also part of the festivities, as were the stars of Peacock’s “Pitch Perfect: Bumper in Berlin” —

President Biden and Jill Biden called into the parade, as he did last year. Biden thanked firefighters, police officers and first responders, saying, “They never take a break.”

They thanked the troops and Biden said he would be reaching out to speak to some Thursday.

Asked about their plans for the day in Nantucket, Massachusetts, the Bidens said it would involve family, and some time spent locally, thanking first responders.

In Plymouth, Massachusetts, the English settlement founded by the Pilgrims who arrived on the Mayflower, two annual events were being held to embrace “all aspects” of the holiday, town officials said.

Costumed participants were re-enacting their annual Thanksgiving Day “Pilgrim Progress” procession, representing the 51 survivors of that first brutal winter of 1621 — although Thursday’s crew had better conditions, with sunny skies and temperatures in the 40s.

There also was a “National Day of Mourning” honoring indigenous ancestors and protesting against racism and oppression. “We are not vanquishing, We are not conquered, We are as strong as ever,” a sign behind the speakers read.

Handlers pull the Smokey Bear balloon down Sixth Avenue during the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, Thursday, Nov. 24, 2022, in New York. >AP Photo/Jeenah Moon

The event helped usher in the holiday season

Bobby Caina Calvan – The Associated Press

fact,

The Tom Turkey float leads the way down Central Park West during the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, Thursday, Nov. 24, 2022, in New York. >AP Photo/Jeenah Moon

‘Gaslighting’ is MerriamWebster’s word of the year for 2022

It was a word looked up frequently every single day of the year

NEW YORK — “Gaslighting” — behavior that’s mind manipulating, grossly misleading, downright deceitful — is Merriam-Webster’s word of the year.

Lookups for the word on merriam-webster.com increased 1,740% in 2022 over the year before. But something else happened. There wasn’t a single event that drove significant spikes in curiosity, as it usually goes with the chosen word of the year.

The gaslighting was pervasive.

“It’s a word that has risen so quickly in the English language, and especially in the last four years, that it actually came as a surprise to me and to many of us,” said Peter Sokolowski, MerriamWebster’s editor at large, in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press ahead of Monday’s unveiling.

“It was a word looked up frequently every single day of the year,” he said.

There were deepfakes and the dark web. There were deep states and fake news. And there was a whole lot of trolling.

Merriam-Webster’s top definition for gaslighting is the psychological manipulation of a person, usually over an extended period of time, that “causes the victim to question the validity of their own thoughts, perception of reality, or memories and typically leads to confusion, loss of confidence and self-esteem, uncertainty of one’s emotional or mental stability, and a dependency on the perpetrator.”

More broadly, the dictionary defines the word thusly: “The act or practice of grossly misleading someone especially for one’s own advantage.”

Gaslighting is a heinous tool frequently used by abusers in relationships — and by politicians and other newsmakers. It can happen between romantic partners, within a broader family unit and among friends. It can be a corporate tactic, or a way to mislead the public. There’s also “medical gaslighting,” when a health care professional dismisses a patient’s symptoms or illness as “all in your head.”

Despite its relatively recent prominence — including “Gaslighter,” The Chicks’ 2020 album

In fact,

featuring the rousingly angry titular single — the word was brought to life more than 80 years ago with “Gas Light,” a 1938 play by Patrick Hamilton.

It birthed two film adaptations in the 1940s. One, George Cukor’s “Gaslight” in 1944, starred Ingrid Bergman as Paula Alquist and Charles Boyer as Gregory Anton. The two marry after a whirlwind romance and Gregory turns out to be a champion gaslighter. Among other instances, he insists her complaints over the constant dimming of their London townhouse’s gaslights is a figment of her troubled mind. It wasn’t.

The death of Angela Lansbury in October drove some interest in lookups of the word, Sokolowski said. She played Nancy Oliver, a young maid hired by Gregory and told not to bother his “high-strung” wife.

The term gaslighting was later used by mental health practitioners to clinically describe a form of prolonged coercive control in abusive relationships.

“There is this implication of an intentional deception,” Sokolowski said. “And once one is aware of that deception, it’s not just a straightforward lie, as in, you know, I didn’t eat the cookies in the cookie jar. It’s something that has a little bit more devious quality to it. It has possibly an idea of strategy or a long-term plan.”

Merriam-Webster, which logs 100 million pageviews a month on its site, chooses its word of

Peter

the year based solely on data. Sokolowski and his team weed out evergreen words most commonly looked up to gauge which word received a significant bump over the year before.

They don’t slice and dice why people look up words, which can be anything from quick spelling and definition checks to some sort of attempt at inspiration or motivation. Some of the droves who looked up “gaslighting” this year might have wanted to know, simply, if it’s one or two words, or whether it’s hyphenated.

“Gaslighting,” Sokolowski said, spent all of 2022 in the top 50 words looked up on merriamwebster.com to earn top dog word of the year status. Last year’s pick was “vaccine.”

Gas lamps illuminate St. Louis’ Gaslight Square on April 2, 1962. “Gaslighting” — mind manipulating, grossly mis leading, downright deceitful — is Merriam-Webster’s word of 2022. (AP Photo/JMH, File)

Leanne Italie – The Associated Press

Gaslighting is a heinous tool frequently used by abusers in relationships — and by politicians and other newsmakers.

It’s a word that has risen so quickly in the English language, and especially in the last four years, that it actually came as a surprise to me and to many of us.

Sokolowski, Merriam-Webster’s editor at large

Museums’ daring feat brings major Ukraine art show to Spain

The exhibit features some 70 works mostly from the Kyiv gallery, and the country’s theater, music and cinema museum

MADRID (AP) — Against a backdrop of Russian bombardments, border closures and a nail-biting 3,500-kilometer (2,150mile) truck journey across Europe, Spain’s ThyssenBornemisza National Museum has teamed up with the National Art Museum of Ukraine to secretly bring dozens of 20th century Ukrainian avantgarde artworks to Madrid for a unique exhibition and a show of support for the war-torn country.

“In The Eye Of The Hurricane. Modernism in Ukraine 1900-1930s,” opened to the public Tuesday, featuring some 70 works mostly from the Kyiv gallery and the country’s theater, music and cinema museum. It will run until next April.

The show constitutes the first time that such a large body of modern art has left Ukraine. The circumstances under which it has been organized make it a feat of cultural defiance.

“This is super important for us as a way to protect our heritage, that we managed to take the works out of the war zone,” says Katia Denysova, one of the exhibition’s curators.

The show is the brainchild of Swiss-born art collector and activist Francesca ThyssenBornemisza, founder of the Museums for Ukraine support network, and her friend, Ukrainian art historian and curator Konstantin Akinsha. They came up with the idea following Russia’s invasion of its neighbor last February.

The central concept was to counter Russia’s narrative that Ukraine doesn’t rightfully exist and that its art is really Russian.

“We wanted to act as a protector of these works that are extremely unique and rare, but also to do it by celebrating the value of Ukraine’s immense legacy that has been completely forgotten and

appropriated by Russia over the last decades,” said Thyssen-Bornemisza, a daughter of the late Dutchborn industrialist and baron whose collection formed the basis of the Madrid gallery when it opened in 1992.

An international art exhibition of this type would normally take several years to organize. This one, with the blessing of Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, came together in a matter of months.

Getting the paintings to Madrid was the stuff of wartime drama.

After months of preparations, the works were packed into two trucks in the early hours of Tuesday, Nov. 15, just hours before Russia unleashed a wave of attacks on the Ukraine capital and key national infrastructure targets.

Organizers had not been banking on Russia attacking that day, saying the attacks normally occur on Mondays. But with a military escort, the trucks left the city safely.

On their way west, however, they had to pass through the city of Lviv, which also came under surprise attack. They eventually made it to the Polish border early Wednesday but it was closed following the landing of a stray Russian-made

missile just inside Poland that initially triggered fears of a major escalation of the war.

Eventually the border reopened, and the convoy sped to Madrid where it arrived Sunday, Nov. 20.

The paintings, ranging from figurative art to futurism and constructivism, stem from an exceedingly turbulent period for Ukraine, with collapsing empires, world war, revolutions and the war of independence before the eventual creation of Soviet Ukraine. The show includes works by Mykhailo Boichuk, Davyd Burliuk, Vadym Meller, Kostiantyn Yeleva and Vasyl Yermilov.

“We know what happens when Russians occupy territories and get hold of the museums. They loot everything,” said Denysova, referring to the fate of the art museum in Kherson, a southern Ukraine city which Kremlin forces occupied for eight months until Ukrainian forces recaptured it earlier this month.

In a video message for the inauguration, Zelenskyy said terrible times had returned to Ukraine but there was hope.

“At this exhibition you can see Ukrainian art, which was also created in terrible times,” said Zelenskyy.

“Terror tried to rule then as it does now. But just like in the 20th century, humanity must win and just like then, culture must win,” he added.

In April, the show will move to Cologne, Germany, where it will be on display until September.

Ciarán Giles – The Associated Press

The central concept [of the exhibit] was to counter Russia’s narrative that Ukraine doesn’t rightfully exist and that its art is really Russian.

In fact,

Fidelity Charitable launches NFT raffle amid crypto downturn

But the meltdown of Terra – a stablecoin– brought down a series of major cryptocurrency businesses.

Thalia Beaty – The Associated Press

NEW YORK — Fidelity Charitable is getting into NFTs, the digital images that are registered on the blockchain, despite a torrent of bad news from the adjacent world of cryptocurrencies.

The nation’s largest grantmaker sponsored a raffle that ended Tuesday, where participants can claim one of the NFTs, which stands for nonfungible token, and 50 will win $1,000 to donate through a donor advised fund at Fidelity.

“The reason we’re doing this is we really believe there’s a whole new generation of givers and philanthropists out there,” said Amy Pirozzolo, head of donor engagement for Fidelity Charitable. “We want to be where they are and the channels they use and the formats they use and further encourage their generosity.”

Around 16% of Americans say they invested in cryptocurrencies, according to a poll from Pew Research Center last year. The demographic most likely to invest were men between the ages of 18 and 29, with 43% reporting that they had invested.

The blockchain is the technology that underlies the trading of cryptocurrencies, but it can also record the ownership of digital items like images, videos or Tweets. Fidelity said that 50,000 different wallets, potentially representing that many individuals, have already registered to create an

NFT and potentially win the money to donate.

Contributions in cryptocurrency to donor advised funds at Fidelity exploded last year, growing from the equivalent of $28 million in 2020 to $331 million in 2021, Fidelity has said.

Speaking of the NFT project, Jacob Pruitt, president of Fidelity Charitable, said, “I think it’ll be a unique way to engage with next gen investors. It’s another way that I think Fidelity is innovating and leaning into a new space.”

Donor advised funds allow donors to claim a tax credit for charitable donations, but do not require them to give those funds away within any specific timeframe. Organizations that host DAFs, like Fidelity Charitable, also handle more complex donations, which includes exchanging the assets for cash and producing receipts for donors for tax purposes.

“Many of the nonprofits either can’t take on these assets or they have to hire outside counsel or people to staff to do it,” Pirozzolo said.

One reason for the jump in cryptocurrency donations is that until recently, their value had appreciated significantly. The cryptocurrency market saw a huge boom in 2021 with the price of Bitcoin, the first cryptocurrency, rising to an all-time high of around $68,000 in November last year.

Jacob Pruitt, president of Fidelity Charitable

which facilitates cryptocurrency to nonprofits, including Christian ministries, observed that many people giving cryptocurrencies are making major gifts and that often those happen in the last quarter of the year. That means it’s too early to say how the cryptocurrency market’s fluctuations may impact donations this year. He said he doesn’t see people donating cryptocurrencies as that different from other donors.

16%

according to a poll from Pew Research Center last year.

But the meltdown of Terra — a stablecoin, or a type of cryptocurrency that tries to peg its value to an asset like the U.S. dollar — in May brought down a series of major cryptocurrency businesses. Then, earlier this month, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges, FTX and related entities, suddenly filed for bankruptcy leaving both American and international users unable to access assets they held on the exchange.

James Lawrence, co-founder and CEO of Engiven,

“They just have a different asset to give and they’re going to give the most appreciated asset they can,” Lawrence said.

Of the more than 1.5 million nonprofits registered with the Internal Revenue Service in the U.S., Lawrence estimated that only four or five thousand could receive cryptocurrency donations directly.

“That’s a huge market that still doesn’t,” he said. He also has observed that many giving large donations in cryptocurrency (they facilitated one donation of $10 million in cryptocurrency assets) are the same types of people who give large donations in general, and not necessarily the younger demographics that are more likely to invest in cryptocurrency.

“Many of the largest gifts we’ve processed have been from an older demographic who have a tradition of giving large gifts in multiple asset classes,” he said.

I think it’ll be a unique way to engage with next gen investors.

Around

of Americans say they invested in cryptocurrencies,

In fact,