John Drake

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

France and Thailand the same.555

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.

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.

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.

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.

The America Party, aka The H1B/Abolish Social Security Party. Elon needs to shut up and get back to building rockets.

Because it's a tourist area, a big one. Lots of attractive camping, trails, and nature centers around places like Fredericksburg, New Braunfels, Kerrville, et. al. Everybody knows it's dangerous and prone to flash floods. If you've ever driven through it you would realize it without being told. But the spring rains in Texas usually end by the first week or so in June. July is usually pretty safe. That said, I'd never camp near the river, just as a precaution.

I support most of Trump's immigration policies, except for the new amnesty he wants for ag and hospitality workers. But none of them will stick. And the $37 trillion dollar debt will. And even the implementation of his immigration laws have been so hamfisted and the gloating so offputting that I feel he will engender a backlash because of it. Trump cannot resist posing as a tough guy. And the truth is he is soft. TACO is real. Look at his fat doughy belly and face. And the younger Trump was maybe not as fat but just as gooey as the about to be octogenarian version. He's had soft all his life. Tough guy poseur. And the only people he got really tough with, actually, ended up being his rural voters who will lose on his tax cuts and see their medicaid facilities closed or cut back. Trump is all NDWD--Nothing Done With Dignity.

Teaching at an exclusive private school, which is why we didn't get the name of it?

Imagine how I feel. I listen to Al Bowlly.

No. But Grok has.

Yep. Remember the Covid stimulus checks he insisted go out with his name on them? Every lowlife move possible.

Yea, I got that, too. It's unnerving.

Nut stuff.