John Drake

It will remove the blinders from many people's eyes who make US policy in the region. Many of them still think of Thailand in friendly and favorable ways. A reality check needs to be followed up with sanctions and tariffs that at least match those the Thais apply to the US.

I would think so. This situation has the added benefit of raising awareness of the degree of Thailand being compromised through its links to China.

The newsman states this is for "working class" areas. So I guess not for Pacific Palisades. People in Altadena don't have the money to rebuild and, I guess, had their insurance cancelled like so many others. Palisades OTOH has people wealthy enough to rebuild and even relocate until their rebuilding is done. A crackdown on single family homes for middle class people, while the Hollywooders maintain their zoning laws.

Fires will make it possible to enact zoning reform, replacing single family homes with duplexes, apartment high rises, and increasing housing density.

Out for a year, for repairs. Also down in 2022. Bad incompetent history of maintenance. And, yes, it made a difference. Newsom himself says,

This is not going to happen.

Who wrote this? The Communist Party Central Committee?

How many of the active insurers in LA are still going to be in business after this?

Back in the US, I used to get oranges from Australia at very good prices. Always wondered how this managed to happen, without any illegals to pick their crops.

Incoming from Trump and the US: new tariffs on 19 billion baht x 2 for Thai exports to the US.

I started first grade primary school in 1961, the same year JFK began a drive for physical fitness in the schools. Seemed to work pretty well for most of that decade. Nowadays, I don't know if it's safe to let students go outdoors for PE or other activities. No wonder they look like little whales.

Do you believe that an American working as a cashier at, say, Kroger's deserves to have a home, a car, a family, and maybe take a one week vacation to somewhere different once a year? Or must they live like illegal aliens, ten or fifteen to a house built for a family of four?

Every now and then I'm happy I brought my wool lined winter shoes with me to Thailand.

Forget odd and even SSA numbers, just shut down some departments entirely, such as Education. Keep energy, however. Need to go through the State Dept. and ferret out whatever ngos have set themselves up there. Lots of military reform to cut--way too many generals and admirals. Whatever is going to NPR and PBS can be scrapped too.

If we're going to get a monarch, let's give citizenship to Nayib Bukele, currently the president of El Salvador, and make him king.

You've misread me. I don't favor tax cuts for billionaires being renewed either.

Where does funding for illegals, refugees, and asylum seekers fit in that chart? That was the biggest component of what he was asking about.

An entire military overhaul might be needed. All volunteer military is too expensive. Bring back the draft. Lots of benefits: young people learn discipline; pay is reduced to that appropriate for national service; and best of all deployment to foreign wars becomes much more difficult when the entire society is at risk of seeing family sent to fight instead of just those desperate for military benefits.

No taxpayer benefits to anyone who is not a citizen.

How about DOGE start with eliminating Elon's Tesla tax credits?

Here's some Mexican history for you: the Yaqui extermination war of the 1880s, in which Yaquis ended up seeking refuge from the Mexican army in Arizona and Texas. Northern Mexico has always been unstable; it is today. And wars against Indian peoples has persisted in Mexico from the time of the Spanish conquest on through until today.

Can't really make out what you're saying, here. What is UD? Mexico didn't exist; it was a Spanish colony subject to unstable governance, which is why, for example, Texas gained independence from Mexico in the same way Mexico gained independence from Spain. When were the settlers slaughtering each other? Not all Native Americans were slaughtered. Far from it. I am, for example, myself part Choctaw and Cherokee, native to the area in which I was born, unlike Spaniards and Mexicans.

Except for one congratulations post on X, Vivek has gone completely quiet since December 30. Is he hoping to resurface or is he finished for good? My money is on the latter, because of all the revelations about his Pharma stock scam that came out with his support of H1Bs. I hope this means DOGE is done and finished. I don't want him anywhere near determining what goes into the federal budget. At least for now, on X, nobody's at home. https://x.com/vivekgramaswamy?lang=en

Mexico as a nation state did not exist until 1824. Before 1821, when Spain gave it independence, Mexico was a Spanish possession.

No handbags?