John Drake

1 hour ago, annotator said:

Notorious sex predator Jeffrey Epstein didn’t keep a supposed “client list,” and he was not murdered during his short-lived stay in a Manhattan lockup, the Justice Department and FBI reportedly concluded in a joint probe.

Then why was Epstein in jail, if there were no apparent victims to cite?

9 hours ago, Tug said:

Well he just moved the trade deals deadline from July 9th to August 1th.guess nobody’s folding to donalds threats.

He can probably just keep extending the deadline until it gets to 2028

This should resonate with different meanings in Thailand and the US as far as Elon's H1B Party goes. 

This article says Thailand is promising to buy 80 more Boeing jets. P-R-O-M-I-S-I-N-G. Agree to buy while Trump is president. Extend the order date and cancel when Trump is gone. Any agreement has to be fixed with 50 percent down. https://stocktwits.com/news-articles/markets/equity/with-trump-tariff-clock-ticking-thailand-extends-more-concessions-to-us/chFthoRR5dk

16 minutes ago, DezLez said:

Why?

And, besides, the Philippines just bought 20 F-16s, while Thailand chose the Gripens. Want to trade with US? Then Thailand should buy things from the US.

9 hours ago, Pouatchee said:

 

what new markets? the re already buddy buddy with xi and putin.  somalia maybe... congo... sudan?

That's the issue. Every place that could take Thai exports is likely already taking them. The US is Thailand's largest export market by far. I hope the US reorients its trade and beneficial tariffs to the Philippines.

1 minute ago, Magictoad said:

How do you recognise a digital nomad? Do they have a specific style or 'look'?

If so; why don't they just disguise themselves and dress like a city gent or a peasant?

From what I've seen the tats and tennis shoes are dead giveaway.

Mark Cuban is interested. This thing is going to be the party of H1Bs.

17 hours ago, MalcolmB said:

Have to ask why didn’t they build the cabins on the higher ground?

Idiots.

Why not bother to look at a video of the campsite? They're easily available. The camp was on a wide flood plain. This time of year is usually past the heavy storm season. Personally, I never camp near rivers, precisely because of this danger. But had I or anyone else been camping on "higher ground" the 30ft high wall of water would still have got me.

20 hours ago, Yellowtail said:

I would take a legal, English-speaking Indian engineer in the country to over no-skilled often illiterate non-English speaking people that come illegally, and end up on the public teat for life. 

 

I managed a few plants in India and generally liked the people. 

India is colonizing the US. They could put 2 million people in every state and nobody would notice a difference in India's population level. Say what you will about Mexicans. They do share a Western cultural tradition. I can speak, read, and write their language. They in large part can do the same with mine. Meanwhile, their immigration numbers are actually declining--it's Central and South Americans, along with South Asians and Central Asians were crashing the border under Biden. As Mexico has become wealthier and more advanced the pull of the US has declined. And then there is the ultimate test: I could imagine a social and political merger between Mexico and the US. There are places there I would like to live. I cannot imagine for even the tiniest moment wanting live in India or bring their culture in any meaningful way into mine.

6 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

 

H2A farmworker visas are easily available. Big Ag avoids them, however, because they don't want to pay the $15 to $25 per hour it would cost them.

6 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

Look who is talking about nonsense. Mexico is the 12th largest economy in the world with a gross output of nearly two trillion dollars. 

Correct. And Mexico should be one of the most desirable places on earth. It has a temperate climate with enough variation to make for interest among tourists. It possesses gold and silver and oil in abundance. It has a favorable location right next to the world's biggest economy and serves as a chokepoint for land travel to and from South and Central America. It has modernized successfully in many of its cities. Public education just might be safer and better than in many big cities in the US. But it's still a mess, because of the cartels. There is something in the water, because feudal warlords resembling today's cartels have been in place since independence, down through Villa. The one time they got it right seems to have been with Porfirio Diaz.

6 minutes ago, NorthernRyland said:

 

Neither but I'd choose Mexicans still. Their numbers are drying up so they're now targeting Indias 1.4B people. It's a horrific bio weapon being unleashed upon Americans.

As Mexico has modernized, its birthrate has declined. I remember the 70s and 80s, when it used to be almost 6 per woman until today, when it's less than replacement population, below 2.0

Just now, NorthernRyland said:

 

That has nothing to do with what I posted. Also when counting Mexican you need to include their anchor babies over decades now. It's 10's of millions of people.

Who would you rather have come to the US, Mexicans or endless H1B Indians? I think I opt for Mexicans. I could easily live in a Mexican neighborhood. Don't know what  Indian/Pakistan one would be like.

1 minute ago, Quentin Zen said:

That's a cool name.  Great topography and food.  Music is good.  Culture overall is good.   

 

I've never met an American who didn't like Mexicans to their face.  Behind closed door, sure, we joke.  But that's just some weird bonding stuff that probably every country does.  After I turned 25, nobody cares unless it affects you directly.

 

I'm just glad I can still trigger some snowflakes online.  great comedy for me.  Most stories don't need comments, we aren't adding any value. 

 

 

Agree. I like most Mexicans I meet (as I like most Chinese I meet), and I love things Mexican. Tried to get a hacienda style house built in Isan once. Didn't get anywhere.

8 minutes ago, Quentin Zen said:

I'll say it again...love Mexican food, but I'm not living there.  It is state by state.  They say Mexico City is Level 2, which I guess is fine for a city that huge.  

 

S. Africa, Brazil, Central America, most other places.....hard pass.     Mexico, not yet.    I wouldn't recommend many cities in America, either.  

 

I'll stay in my gated community in the middle of Montana.  

 

Mexico's crime rate is high, with the country ranking among the most crime-ridden globally. Specifically, it's considered the fourth most crime-ridden country worldwide and the second most dangerous in the Americas. In terms of homicide rates, Mexico ranks among the highest globally, with a rate of 24.9 per 100,000 people in 2023

 

If we get this thread to 103 pages it will be read on the Senate floor.  lol

There are some good spots, such as Aguascalientes. But the tourist areas seem to have gotten a lot worse, and the one time luxury spot, Cuernavaca, is high crime now, too. Lots of Americans have retired to Mexico and live in retiree ghettoes. Things could soon get hot for them.

43 minutes ago, Colonel_Mustard said:

And one group is pushing the prices up for citizens of that country, while the other group is helping keep prices down with cheap labour.

That's part of the equation. But both groups are pushing up the price of housing in both countries. The norteamericanos through paying high rents and the mexicans through contributing to the US housing demand, reduced availability, and housing costs.

47 minutes ago, NorthernRyland said:

 

According to this poll our good Indian friends are the most racist. Also not surprising Thailand is more racist than the US.

 

France and Thailand the same.555

8 minutes ago, Nick Carter icp said:

Americans complaining about Mexicans going to the USA as cheap labour and Mexicans complaining about Americans going to Mexico and pushing prices up 

Mexico City residents have been complaining for awhile, I think. I remember seeing similar stories (not at the kill a gringo stage) right around the time of Covid.

"Kill a gringo" going up on the walls. 

9 minutes ago, fredwiggy said:

I was born in New Jersey but lived in Texas for 32 years and it'll again be my home as soon as I can find a home for myself and my daughter. Miss it daily. Never saw a tornado as they rarely got that far south (San Antonio area). The closest was in Jarrell, about 1 1/2 hours north, which took a whole subdivision away. The worst I ever saw was heavy rain and wind, with some large hail. When I move back I'll be around my daughter's area, which is southeast of Hunt, where the flood was. The Guadalupe isn't far, but doesn't flood in that area. Some live too close to that river and pay the price when this happens. I love the 4 seasons, and it's actually hotter there on average than Thailand, but the Spring, Winter and Fall are really nice. The only problem in Texas has been the over development there in the last few decades.

I'm originally from North Texas, but if I ever went back, which I'll never do, it would probably be to some place like Goliad or Victoria. Central Texas where this flood took place is overrun. And any disaster there is now compounded with the increasing population, especially of newcomers to the state who have little experience with just how extreme the weather can get.

Just now, fredwiggy said:

Yep. that's the normal level for July there. I went hunting in that area many times and the river is usually low in the Summer. Same thing in 1987. It rises so fast it's ridiculous.

I haven't been back to the US since 2012, and I haven't been back to the Hill Country in several decades. I remember the area around Boerne in particular being susceptible to flash flood. Lots deep gullies where you could see the water trail and realize the danger. Lots of things to get you in central and north Texas, flash floods, tornadoes, hail storms, wind storms, ice storms. Makes you realize just how peaceable Thailand is--and, yes, even with my house being under 80cm of water from the end of October 2011 to the beginning of January 2012.

1 minute ago, fredwiggy said:

A main camping area with many camps along the Guadalupe River, on ground that doesn't soak up water easily but lets it runoff into creeks feeding the Guadalupe. That flood in 1987 was also in July, as was a flood in October and December in other years. Texas gets little rain for many months but a lot all of a sudden in hours. Just a couple months ago San Antonio has a lot of rain in a short time and there was a flood along Perrin Beitel Road which killed some. Another in August of 2022 around Dallas. I saw a few while living there and mainly in the Guadalupe River, where I saw houses floating down the river off IH 35 in New Braunfels and also in Blanco County. Many dry creeks throughout the Hill Country that are torrents after heavy rains. People die every year trying to bypass closures in moving water of creeks. 

You can look at video of the affected campsite today. It's a wide area with a river almost trickling along at the bottom, and I can see why people lulled into complacency. Today, the river is back to being 2 ft deep. Yesterday, it was over 30 ft.

Elon's pet issues are endless H1Bs, slashing Social Security and Medicare, and placating China. Any Elon Party is DOA.