You know the old saying about the Filipinos: 300 years in a Spanish convent, then 100 years in an American brothel - what could possibly go wrong?

Replies: @Marina Kirchens, @Marina Kirchens

And since California is a hop skip and jump away, it’s only logical that most tourists come from California.

Quite the contrary.

Much of the natural beauty you can see in Arizona you can also see in California, so I doubt there's a lot of tourism from there to here. You want beautiful weather in the winter? California already has that. You want scenic desert landscapes? California already has those, too. You want the San Francisco Peaks? California has the Sierra Nevada, which is even more beautiful.

There is certainly some tourism coming here from California, to be sure, but not so much that it explains the scads and scads of California plates I see on the road every fucking time I go out. I have never seen this many California plates here before in my entire life, and I've lived here my entire life. This many Californian retards did not all of a sudden just up and decide that they all wanted to see the Grand Canyon, all at the same time, after showing comparatively little interest for decades. Also, it would stand to reason that a goodly percentage of tourists from Retardville (California) will be in rental cars, having flown here, and will not even have California plates to begin with.

Not only that, I see just as many California plates in July as I do in January. Arizona is not exactly a top tourist destination when it's 117 degrees out. Even you Californians are not stupid enough to take a summer vacation in Phoenix metro.

Replies: @Marina Kirchens, @anonymous, @Oldtradesman

Uh ... sarc. tag?

Replies: @Marina Kirchens

You know the old saying about the Filipinos: 300 years in a Spanish convent, then 100 years in an American brothel - what could possibly go wrong?

Replies: @Marina Kirchens, @Marina Kirchens

It's actually more the opposite. Filipinos won't fight. Their military is beholden to the US ever since it was given it's independence after being a colony. Duterte couldn't run again - but he was immensely popular for two things.... he went after drug dealers and he refused to take part in US hegemony operations. The new Marcos was elected on a similar platform... But his family is still beholden to US interests because the US gave his father refuge when he had to flee the country. They also have hundreds of millions in lawsuits against them.

But yeah - Japan has to do what it's told.

But those US military types are nutcases. Russia never planned to take over Ukraine. It's holding the 4 regions it wanted to. The only question is whether they take Kharkov and Odessa for good measure. Ukrainian "soldiers" are being slaughtered daily. They call that a success???? Strange barometer...

Replies: @Marina Kirchens

Most of the Whites left in CA are either older folks who got in when things were much cheaper (and pay super low property tax thanks to prop 13), their offspring trying to get by with a lot of help, younger people drifting around because it's cool to be in CA, but who can't afford to buy a home and raise a family here, or elites with plenty of money to throw around. There is not much of a middle class when average homes cost a couple million bucks. LAUSD, for instance, boasts of 90% "minority" enrollment. Not surprisingly, private schools aren't quite as "diverse".

Even relatively successful young people can't afford to buy a home and live a basic middle-class lifestyle here without significant family support and it is only getting worse (there is no evidence that this trend will reverse anytime soon, with even greater levels of immigration on the horizon). White boomers still have a huge amount of control here, and they have been keeping the wheels on, but they are on their way out.

This piece seems to imagine things can drag on like this for at least another half century in this country with only gradual changes. I don't see it working out that way. Once there's a true economic crash (e.g., involving debt default), things are likely to change a lot and quickly--and no one has explained how we avoid an economic crash as the debt vs GDP begins to hockeystick. I would guess it happens in the next 10-20 years (if not sooner, e.g., due to nuclear war).

Replies: @Marina Kirchens, @anon

I hate cold winters
 

Replies: @CelestiaQuesta, @Truth, @Marina Kirchens

US military “setting the theatre” for war with China

Peter Symonds
9 January 2023

In a remarkably frank interview with the Financial Times yesterday, the top US Marine general in Japan declared that US-NATO successes against Russia in Ukraine were a product of advance planning and preparations—“setting the theatre” for war in military jargon. That was exactly what the Pentagon was doing in Japan and Asia, he explained, in preparing for conflict against China over Taiwan.

“Why have we achieved the level of success we’ve achieved in Ukraine?” Lieutenant General James Bierman asked rhetorically. A big part of it, he explained, was that after what he termed “Russian aggression” in 2014 and 2015, “we earnestly got after preparing for future conflict: training for the Ukrainians, pre-positioning of supplies, identification of sites from which we could operate support, sustain operations.”

“We call that setting the theatre. And we are setting the theatre in Japan, in the Philippines, in other locations.” In other words, the US is setting a trap for China by goading it into taking military action against Taiwan in the same way that it provoked Russia into invading Ukraine following the US-backed coup in 2014 that toppled a pro-Russian government.

Lieutenant General James Bierman is commanding general of the Third Marine Expeditionary Force (III MEF) and of Marine Forces Japan…

The aim is far closer integration of American and Japanese forces. Instead of Japanese military groups being rotated to operate alongside US forces in Japan, specific units have now been designated as part of the “stand-in force” alongside their US Marine, Navy and Air Force counterparts.

Bierman also pointed out that similar preparations are being made in the Philippines where the government intends to allow the US to preposition weapons and other supplies on five more bases in addition to five where it already has access. “You gain a leverage point, a base of operations, which allows you to have a tremendous head start in different operational plans,” he enthused...

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/01/10/fads-j10.html

 

Replies: @Passing By, @Wade Hampton, @CelestiaQuesta, @Anonymous, @Marina Kirchens, @Marina Kirchens, @showmethereal, @beavertales, @true.enough

US military “setting the theatre” for war with China

Peter Symonds
9 January 2023

In a remarkably frank interview with the Financial Times yesterday, the top US Marine general in Japan declared that US-NATO successes against Russia in Ukraine were a product of advance planning and preparations—“setting the theatre” for war in military jargon. That was exactly what the Pentagon was doing in Japan and Asia, he explained, in preparing for conflict against China over Taiwan.

“Why have we achieved the level of success we’ve achieved in Ukraine?” Lieutenant General James Bierman asked rhetorically. A big part of it, he explained, was that after what he termed “Russian aggression” in 2014 and 2015, “we earnestly got after preparing for future conflict: training for the Ukrainians, pre-positioning of supplies, identification of sites from which we could operate support, sustain operations.”

“We call that setting the theatre. And we are setting the theatre in Japan, in the Philippines, in other locations.” In other words, the US is setting a trap for China by goading it into taking military action against Taiwan in the same way that it provoked Russia into invading Ukraine following the US-backed coup in 2014 that toppled a pro-Russian government.

Lieutenant General James Bierman is commanding general of the Third Marine Expeditionary Force (III MEF) and of Marine Forces Japan…

The aim is far closer integration of American and Japanese forces. Instead of Japanese military groups being rotated to operate alongside US forces in Japan, specific units have now been designated as part of the “stand-in force” alongside their US Marine, Navy and Air Force counterparts.

Bierman also pointed out that similar preparations are being made in the Philippines where the government intends to allow the US to preposition weapons and other supplies on five more bases in addition to five where it already has access. “You gain a leverage point, a base of operations, which allows you to have a tremendous head start in different operational plans,” he enthused...

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/01/10/fads-j10.html

 

Replies: @Passing By, @Wade Hampton, @CelestiaQuesta, @Anonymous, @Marina Kirchens, @Marina Kirchens, @showmethereal, @beavertales, @true.enough

Replies: @Marina Kirchens, @Kim, @showmethereal