Wrwest

Because that has a lot to do with research on completely different subject matter? It is interesting, looks like "politicslly corrupt" has switched sides ...

"... a great president... ". You are not going to be happy with the continuing documented history.

We don't need no stinkin higher education research ... we got common sense.

Including interstate air/water pollution ... oops. Sorry but I lived in both the Delaware River and Ohio River ares where interstate pollution needed both the state and federal regulations ... but now we are free from those health protective pesky regulations inhibiting the free market!

Richest country on the globe with trump declaring the USA has been ripped off. I agree, what goes around comes around I thus I have trepidation of what follows the trump/Project 2025 fiasco.

As an oenophilist (wino) that was my first hope. 0% import taxes on wine! Hey! It's heart medicine ... both the red wine chemical benefit and putting me at ease with a smile on my face!

Movie, "The Deer Hunter" will come to mind for some. Bit of a different context though ...

Appears SCOTUS is taking a wait and see approach. While I would hope for an ultimate trump smackdown on the limits he is pushing, I grumpily understand waiting to see how the cases play out while moving up to the SCOTUS definitive decision. At least with this latest pause, the Court did order that some "due process" must take place before they deport us!

Hmm, confused. I use my synced iPhone, iPad, MacBook Air even an old iPod and I am far from being a millionaire (OK, unless we use Thai baht equivalent). Happy camper. Full disclosure, I also own a very few shares of Apple stock.

What I shake my head at, Mike is ... trump says all these other countries have taken advantage of the USA robbing us of income while by most measures, we are the wealthiest country on the globe. And now ... more ... "America First" we want even more wealth while cutting off medical aid/food/water from those suffering. We are rightfully becoming a pariah nation even among those who, while recognizing our faults have remained friends.

Thanks, but I think I will prattle on as the 1 million baht spent here brought in from the USA is taxed, whether that be at the food stores, restaurant, gasoline, house maintenance fees, etc. Now, if you want to specify income tax? Bit of an issue as that is already taxed and covered by mutually beneficial tax treaty.

Tell the diversity issue to Dory Miller or all those returning US military who fought in WW I, WW II only return to voter literacy tests (hmm, might discuss the need for this applied to all voters), Jim Crow Laws and lynchings. Yes, authoritarian dictates are the most effective governing in the short term. Criticize the government policy and we will arrest, deport you. Does make me ponder ... and I am an American.

One of my cross cultural lessons here. Drive the car off the lot in USA and value immediately drops as a used car. Here prices relatively high but used cars keep their value longer and maintenance considerably lower. But then, I am American and so comparative costs are widely different.

Oh yes, I thank you Trump as you are forcing more around the globe to face the worst of the American character. many have observed but have also faced some good along the way from Americans. thank, so much, of removing any of our saving graces ...

We don't need no stinkin DEI. Let us return to the days of yore when blacks were to be cooks/mess employed, and there were no stinkin female midshipmen. For those ignorant of history there was a need for forcing change against the "redlining", lynchings, education segregation, etc. Yes, I would agree, there should be no racial, ethnic, sexual, etc. discrimination in the USA but ... anyone ready to deny that white males appear to be attempting to turn back to their historic hold as they become increasingly a minority feeling they are being discriminated against? Should we expect any difference from the earlier minority reactions against feeling discriminated against? Never mind that a little thought makes one face the reality of difference in the circumstances. Get back to me when we see white males being lynched, being limited in the Navy to serving in mess roles, to hitting a "glass ceiling" forbidding white males becoming officers or heads of corporations ...

So many thoughts rush at me from my study of history, being an American growing up in the multi-ethnic Philly area and having spent my working life as an educator in Western Kentucky (I was introduced to culture shock going off the college there at age of 18). Having additional study in seven countries but ... sorry, an deep and exhausting topic ... and it is time for a nap ...

Recommend all to watch, fascinating and will give a better balance concerning "Chinese style". Perhaps a qualifier ... like "modern" or "current" Chinese style?

Sustainable monthly income $2400 a month usd ($1605 of that from SS). So, as an American approaching retirement in 2011, with cholesterol issues (5 by-passes in US 2005) I determined I could not enjoy a working middle class retirement in the USA. Started doing background reading, and after four monthlong trips in 2009 & 2010, decided on Thailand. Lower cost countries are also indicative of lower per capita income and without the western financial security nets, especially for females ... seemed like a good fit. Happy here after 14 years (in July). Comfortable working middle class lifestyle, 3 bed, 2 bath, new "bungalow, 2 cars, motorbike and able to do some travel ... oh, with a cute Thai Wife 26 years my junior. The 3 of us are able to enjoy life on my 65K+ retirement income per month. I would add that while economics are critical, whether one can be happy living in another culture is also critical.

"Now, Disney has become the latest focus of this campaign. Bob Carr, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), announced that he had instructed the agency’s enforcement bureau to launch an investigation into Disney and ABC, the broadcast network under its ownership. In a letter to Disney’s chief executive, Bob Iger, Carr raised concerns about potential violations of FCC equal employment opportunity regulations, accusing the company of engaging in “invidious forms of DEI discrimination." Just observing that I thought these were those that opposed government regulation interference in private business and that all should let the market decide?

Nope.

You stated he is "scum'". I replied that I recognize your personal opinion. He is not the first president to have a White House affair ... "Ma, Ma, where's my Pa? He's in the White House, Ha, ha, ha" comes to mind (oops). The history so notes his affair, his attempted defense "what is is"? It also recorded such things as: - From the National Archives (I post for others to learn as well). Longest economic expansion in American history The President's strategy of fiscal discipline, open foreign markets and investments in the American people helped create the conditions for a record 115 months of economic expansion. Our economy has grown at an average of 4 percent per year since 1993. More than 22 million new jobs More than 22 million jobs were created in less than eight years -- the most ever under a single administration, and more than were created in the previous twelve years. Highest homeownership in American history A strong economy and fiscal discipline kept interest rates low, making it possible for more families to buy homes. The homeownership rate increased from 64.2 percent in 1992 to 67. 7 percent, the highest rate ever. Lowest unemployment in 30 years Unemployment dropped from more than 7 percent in 1993 to just 4.0 percent in November 2000. Unemployment for African Americans and Hispanics fell to the lowest rates on record, and the rate for women is the lowest in more than 40 years. Raised education standards, increased school choice, and doubled education and training investment Since 1992, reading and math scores have increased for 4th, 8th, and 12th graders, math SAT scores are at a 30-year high, the number of charter schools has grown from 1 to more than 2,000, forty-nine states have put in place standards in core subjects and federal investment in education and training has doubled. Largest expansion of college opportunity since the GI Bill President Clinton and Vice President Gore have nearly doubled financial aid for students by increasing Pell Grants to the largest award ever, expanding Federal Work-Study to allow 1 million students to work their way through college, and by creating new tax credits and scholarships such as Lifetime Learning tax credits and the HOPE scholarship. At the same time, taxpayers have saved $18 billion due to the decline in student loan defaults, increased collections and savings from the direct student loan program. Connected 95 percent of schools to the Internet President Clinton and Vice President Gore's new commitment to education technology, including the E-Rate and a 3,000 percent increase in educational technology funding, increased the percentage of schools connected to the Internet from 35 percent in 1994 to 95 percent in 1999. Lowest crime rate in 26 years Because of President Clinton's comprehensive anti-crime strategy of tough penalties, more police, and smart prevention, as well as common sense gun safety laws, the overall crime rate declined for 8 consecutive years, the longest continuous drop on record, and is at the lowest level since 1973. 100,000 more police for our streets As part of the 1994 Crime Bill, President Clinton enacted a new initiative to fund 100,000 community police officers. To date more than 11,000 law enforcement agencies have received COPS funding. Enacted most sweeping gun safety legislation in a generation Since the President signed the Brady bill in 1993, more than 600,000 felons, fugitives, and other prohibited persons have been stopped from buying guns. Gun crime has declined 40 percent since 1992. Family and Medical Leave Act for 20 million Americans To help parents succeed at work and at home, President Clinton signed the Family and Medical Leave Act in 1993. Over 20 million Americans have taken unpaid leave to care for a newborn child or sick family member. Smallest welfare rolls in 32 years The President pledged to end welfare as we know it and signed landmark bipartisan welfare reform legislation in 1996. Since then, caseloads have been cut in half, to the lowest level since 1968, and millions of parents have joined the workforce. People on welfare today are five times more likely to be working than in 1992. Higher incomes at all levels After falling by nearly $2,000 between 1988 and 1992, the median family's income rose by $6,338, after adjusting for inflation, since 1993. African American family income increased even more, rising by nearly $7,000 since 1993. After years of stagnant income growth among average and lower income families, all income brackets experienced double-digit growth since 1993. The bottom 20 percent saw the largest income growth at 16.3 percent. Lowest poverty rate in 20 years Since Congress passed President Clinton's Economic Plan in 1993, the poverty rate declined from 15.1 percent to 11.8 percent last year — the largest six-year drop in poverty in nearly 30 years. There are now 7 million fewer people in poverty than in 1993. The child poverty rate declined more than 25 percent, the poverty rates for single mothers, African Americans and the elderly have dropped to their lowest levels on record, and Hispanic poverty dropped to its lowest level since 1979. Lowest teen birth rate in 60 years In his 1995 State of the Union Address, President Clinton challenged Americans to join together in a national campaign against teen pregnancy. The birth rate for teens aged 15-19 declined every year of the Clinton Presidency, from 60.7 per 1,000 teens in 1992 to a record low of 49.6 in 1999. Lowest infant mortality rate in American history The Clinton Administration expanded efforts to provide mothers and newborn children with health care. Today, a record high 82 percent of all mothers receive prenatal care. The infant mortality rate has dropped from 8.5 deaths per 1,000 in 1992 to 7.2 deaths per 1,000 in 1998, the lowest rate ever recorded. Deactivated more than 1,700 nuclear warheads from the former Soviet Union Efforts of the Clinton-Gore Administration led to the dismantling of more than 1,700 nuclear warheads, 300 launchers and 425 land and submarine based missiles from the former Soviet Union. Protected millions of acres of American land President Clinton has protected more land in the lower 48 states than any other president. He has protected 5 new national parks, designated 11 new national monuments and expanded two others and proposed protections for 60 million acres of roadless areas in America's national forests. Paid off $360 billion of the national debt Between 1998-2000, the national debt was reduced by $363 billion — the largest three-year debt pay-down in American history. We are now on track to pay off the entire debt by 2009. Converted the largest budget deficit in American history to the largest surplus Thanks in large part to the 1993 Deficit Reduction Act, the 1997 Balanced Budget Act, and President Clinton's call to save the surplus for debt reduction, Social Security, and Medicare solvency, America has put its fiscal house in order. The deficit was $290 billion in 1993 and expected to grow to $455 billion by this year. Instead, we have a projected surplus of $237 billion. Lowest government spending in three decades Under President Clinton federal government spending as a share of the economy has decreased from 22.2 percent in 1992 to a projected 18.5 percent in 2000, the lowest since 1966. Lowest federal income tax burden in 35 years President Clinton enacted targeted tax cuts such as the Earned Income Tax Credit expansion, $500 child tax credit, and the HOPE Scholarship and Lifetime Learning Tax Credits. Federal income taxes as a percentage of income for the typical American family have dropped to their lowest level in 35 years. More families own stock than ever before The number of families owning stock in the United States increased by 40 percent since 1992. Most diverse cabinet in American history The President has appointed more African Americans, women and Hispanics to the Cabinet than any other President in history. He appointed the first female Attorney General, the first female Secretary of State and the first Asian American cabinet secretary ever.

Yes, but far too many today seem driven by gut emotions rather than thinking. "Two sources familiar with these talks confirmed that the party wanted to be prepared for every conceivable situation."

Not my circus so ... Just will be interesting watching Abbott defend non-discrimination. Or opposing Shaia Law as the USA has so many "but what about ..." exceptions when it comes to views, actions regarding religions ... Yo! I'm just saying, more entertainment in the greater current circus environment.

Just a reflection of earlier times. When visiting Thailand entertainment areas, there were times when I enjoyed sitting with a pretty Thai girl, buying her lady drinks, talking, flirting, sanuk. Yes, there were also times for a "closer" relationship but ... I suggest there are many instances where the desire is just the attention of being in the bar with so much "eye candy" ...

Brought to mind the Mao and Che T-shirts of an earlier era.