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Years ago my ex and I went to PR on vacation. Spent most of our time on Vieques, fantastic trip, but when we were still on the big island I dragged us all the w

Years ago my ex and I went to PR on vacation. Spent most of our time on Vieques, fantastic trip, but when we were still on the big island I dragged us all the way out to Arecibo. My wife was confused, there's nothing out there except some sort of observatory? It turned out to be our favorite part of the trip, they gave a good mini tour but seeing the thing in person was absolutely awe-inspiring.

teachrdan 6y ago
Fun fact: Vieques was a US Navy bombing range for 60 years, which included several cases where Navy planes accidentally dropped bombs on civilian homes nearby. https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/09/vieques-invisible-health-crisis/498428/ https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/09/vieques...
- macintux 6y ago
  West Wing fans are quite familiar with that.
- capableweb 6y ago
  > Fun fact > US Navy bombing range > accidentally dropped bombs on civilian homes nearby > Puerto Rico’s Invisible Health Crisis > military’s activities caused illnesses > The Navy eventually conceded to using heavy metals and toxic chemicals like depleted uranium and Agent Orange on the island We clearly have very different definitions of "fun". But thanks for sharing, interesting reading!
  - morsch 6y ago
    Sometimes people use words and don't really mean what they literally mean.
- 8bitsrule 6y ago
  Starting in 1941. And they left a toxic mess behind. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Navy_in_Vieques,_Puerto_Rico#Health_risk_speculation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Navy_in_Vieques,...
disown 6y ago
I remember watching Contact and then reading the book and thinking I would like to visit the arecibo telescope on day. Didn't know they gave mini tours.
- flatline 6y ago
  Our drive could have been for naught if someone was off that day or they were doing a study, no way to tell in advance. There's not much to give a tour of, just a large viewing room that was open to the public and so totally worth it, but someone did talk for about 20 minutes.

teachrdan 6y ago

Fun fact: Vieques was a US Navy bombing range for 60 years, which included several cases where Navy planes accidentally dropped bombs on civilian homes nearby. https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/09/vieques-invisible-health-crisis/498428/ https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/09/vieques...

macintux 6y ago
West Wing fans are quite familiar with that.
capableweb 6y ago
> Fun fact > US Navy bombing range > accidentally dropped bombs on civilian homes nearby > Puerto Rico’s Invisible Health Crisis > military’s activities caused illnesses > The Navy eventually conceded to using heavy metals and toxic chemicals like depleted uranium and Agent Orange on the island We clearly have very different definitions of "fun". But thanks for sharing, interesting reading!
- morsch 6y ago
  Sometimes people use words and don't really mean what they literally mean.
8bitsrule 6y ago
Starting in 1941. And they left a toxic mess behind. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Navy_in_Vieques,_Puerto_Rico#Health_risk_speculation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Navy_in_Vieques,...

disown 6y ago

I remember watching Contact and then reading the book and thinking I would like to visit the arecibo telescope on day. Didn't know they gave mini tours.

flatline 6y ago
Our drive could have been for naught if someone was off that day or they were doing a study, no way to tell in advance. There's not much to give a tour of, just a large viewing room that was open to the public and so totally worth it, but someone did talk for about 20 minutes.