No, there have not been skirmishes by Chinese forces with those countries. There have been maritime standoffs regarding atoll disputes, mostly notably involving the Philippines. And there have been fishing boat disputes.

Are you getting your information from The Epoch Times? They're biased.

The CCP is a garbage institution but needlessly demonizing anything related to China doesn't serve the interests of anybody.

I had thought about living in the Philippines for a while with my wife (who was born in China) after retirement but I fear for her safety now.

There is some serious sino-phobia going on in the Philippines and I ponder what would happen if some biased idiot heard her speaking Mandarin.

I'm over 50. Where I grew up in the Midwest anyone over 35 was addressed as 'sir' or 'ma'am'. Didn't matter whether it was the bank president or the janitor. He was 'sir'.

I'm in my 50s now and I've been called 'dude' by 12 year olds and it makes me not want to pay my taxes even harder.

Prescott Valley is worse. ;-)

I used to live in Prescott and asked myself that question all the time. So many huge trucks everywhere.

Bro-dozers galore, tailgating you whenever possible.

Around Thanksgiving I seem to recall Amtrak selling out last train (from downtown), but it was infrequent occurrence.

I know the feeling... it's a weight that just drags you down. But it doesn't have to be this way.

Know that in the darkest hour you can be another creature's light, and that will sustain you. People like you have been given a great gift of empathy and understanding. Your burden is also your joy.

Do something about it. You'll feel immensely better not just about the dogs but about your entire existence as a human being.

If you're in Lake Forest you can take the Metrolink or Amtrak from Irvine and don't need to drive to Fullerton. At Union Station you'll take the Red Line (now Metro B). Amtrak has fewer stops and also has refreshments (beer on return trip!) but is pricier and on certain days bracketing holidays it can suddenly get very crowded. I used to buy 10-ticket Amtrak passes on their app and alternate with Metrolink.

Train trips are so much less stressful and you can get some work done.

Whuh? 90% of the construction workers in California are Hispanic.

I can't imagine anywhere except a small town in Vermont where 93% of the workers are white.

BLE?

Yeah this sounds ideal for cannabis, kind of like /r/SuperGreenLab/

This is garbage information. Why does it keep getting reposted.

It's not of course, but the hike is one of the best parts of the experience. The views along the way are fantastic.

I hiked down into Supai 29 years ago without a permit during a storm. Dumb, I know but not many people were besieging Supai back then. The tribal officer graciously accepted my cash apology.

I hated seeing the condition of the horses & mules being used on the trail.. some of them had open sores and were treated quite poorly. The tribe has caught some flak on that and I hope have changed their ways.

Yup, many states used to have a thriving seasonal vegetable sector. New Jersey wasn't called 'The Garden State' for nothing.

I think a lot of California farmers will be paid by the federal government and state not to farm, and just let fields lie fallow. Others will be adding solar & wind... some might water less intensively for pasture grass.

Unfortunately if many of them sell off acreage it might spur rampant urban sprawl. In any case, the days of planting endless rows of almonds are over. You can already see vast mounds of ripped up trees along Interstate 5.

people moving out to areas not previously occupied

This. People keep building, building, building... of course eventually the amount of asphalt and tile roofs will create huge fire-free zones where there's nothing left to burn.

And the continued drought will kill off the trees. A bleak, uglier but likely less fire prone future.

We could hold almonds, grapes, cabbages, strawberries, etc hostage.

Of course, that's what uses 90% of our water in the first place. Eventually agriculture will lose the fight for water resources but the political struggle with be epic.

I grew up in Phoenix and the 'expanding so fast' gets old. Growth brings a lot of gross.

Not sure I follow what you mean. My two shots of Moderna have clouded my thinking a bit.

Thanks but Mom's ghost knows I'm going back onto AngelList to troll Silicon Beach douchebags so I can take their money.

American privilege in action.

Nice! What application did you use to draw your EDC.

Yes. r/digitalnomad aka trust funders chasing their tropical MBAs?

This is only true for the types of Americans who choose to become digital nomads.

I can take you on horrifying tour of homeless junkies with bleeding face sores and chronic poverty just a few miles from the $1.5m/house neighborhood where I'm renting here in Southern California.

Meanwhile, the birth rate in the upper middle class demographic here is below 1.5 children per woman. So whoever you think these rich Americans are, they're barely reproducing.

I ponder who will replace them.

That is definitely a strategy. We also have huge amount of land devoted to frontage roads.

And of course, we can ask Elon Musk to build some transit tunnels.

Oh man a trip through Mideast airports... SO many obese people. It's not just Saudi Arabia.

Sad but true.