I've noticed that 99% of people who 'hate' Dubai have never stepped foot in the city.
I believe the mere idea of a high functioning, no/low tax, ultra clean, ultra safe, ultra rich, ultra diverse city in THE MIDDLE EAST triggers a lot of people... Especially in the West.
Imagine if we gave the homeless an ultimatum - go to treatment (since basically all street homeless are mentally ill or drug addicted) or be forcibly institutionalized / taken off the streets - and locked up every petty criminal (and obviously every violent criminal as well). Democrat cities that have become cesspools of filth, crime, and degeneracy (like San Francisco, Seattle, etc) could become great again.
Democrat cities that have become cesspools of filth, crime, and degeneracy (like San Francisco, Seattle, etc) could become great again.
Or, since NYC seems to have figured things out pretty well (though not perfectly), maybe it could be used as a model.
Nevermind that this is advocating a police state that decides how people can live their lives. Incarceration and "training" are expensive. Doesn't maga prefer not spending money on people?
I like it when you don’t waste a bunch of threads undermining your own arguments.
Hegseth texted military plans and takes his wife to meetings. That’s not “caring for soldiers”…that’s more like poorly managing alcoholism
👆trailer trash logic. was an innocent mistake thinking he was on CIA issued lock down security, certainly under the understanding that only cleared individuals were on the chat. Nothing changed but MAGA will be stronger and Trump can identify the mole. Hegseth did nothing wrong.
Drinking may be an issue, valid logic, but he was setup with a water glass posing as Whiskey, so sources so far are useless. we will keep an eye on it
Are you serious? He doesn’t even know what app he is using? That’s not helping your cause.
Democrat cities that have become cesspools of filth, crime, and degeneracy (like San Francisco, Seattle, etc) could become great again.
Or, since NYC seems to have figured things out pretty well (though not perfectly), maybe it could be used as a model.
interesting nugget:
while crime rates in NYC are falling very fast and down 80% from highs, crime rates in cities are always higher than in rural areas.
BUT
In this crazy country overall mortality in rural places is much higher than in the city. Which is not what you'd expect given the difference in crime. The difference is probably mostly from cars and guns. You don't drive in NYC so that is off the plate. And fewer people have guns in the city, so fewer suicides and accidents.
So if you want to reduce your chance of dying, go to a big US city like NYC.
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Stagflation refers to an economy characterized by high inflation, low economic growth and high unemployment. After May 1, 2025, it will be know as a "Trumpcession" !!
Or, since NYC seems to have figured things out pretty well (though not perfectly), maybe it could be used as a model.
Nevermind that this is advocating a police state that decides how people can live their lives. Incarceration and "training" are expensive. Doesn't maga prefer not spending money on people?
I'd rather spend money on jailing criminals than on welfare or woke programs (like funding DEI musicals in Ireland or transgenderism in Guatemala).
Maybe send them to El Salvador as well. It'd be cheaper to house them there than in the US, and El Salvador can profit from it as well.
Notably, this "hot take" is coming from the only military veteran that I know (out of hundreds) who actually believes that Hegseth is well-qualified to be the Secretary of Defense.
It's a civilian position. There is zero requirement for the man to be a retired O-10.
The performance of Austin and Milley under Biden clearly demonstrated that being qualified on paper means literally nothing.
Hegseth cares about the soldiers. Actual soldiers like him. The swamp trash desk jockeys hate him. That's enough for me.
I understand the requirements to be the SecDef, good sir... quite possibly better than anyone else in the LRC community.
It is admirable that he "cares about the soldiers," since military leaders are taught that it is just as important to focus on taking good care of your people as it is to accomplish the mission. But I'm sorry, that just isn't enough.
No, Hegseth was not an O-10, but being an O-4 doesn't cut it. He doesn't have nearly enough years of experience as a whole, and certainly not enough senior command experience.
Beyond that, an officer will typically go through three different levels of advanced Professional Military Education during their career that teaches them how to be a military leader as increasing levels of responsibility. I know was a fact that Hegseth didn't complete the highest level of PME.
Look, the man had a nice military career, but "nice" isn't good enough to be worthy of becoming the Secretary of Defense. He is simply underqualified for the job and was selected because Trump knew that he would be an obedient sycophant based upon his recent history as a talking head on Fox News.
Nothing damns trumpers like their insistence that Trump knows what he is doing and has a well-thought out plan.
This tariff fiasco shows us that he has absolutely no idea what he is doing and is just basking in the attention of the world rather than working a plan.
There is no Trump plan. The world is chaos while it waits for what the king decides for us all after his royal game of golf and his makeup/hair session.
Yet trumpies absolutely cannot see any of this. Blind to it.
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It's a civilian position. There is zero requirement for the man to be a retired O-10.
The performance of Austin and Milley under Biden clearly demonstrated that being qualified on paper means literally nothing.
Hegseth cares about the soldiers. Actual soldiers like him. The swamp trash desk jockeys hate him. That's enough for me.
I understand the requirements to be the SecDef, good sir... quite possibly better than anyone else in the LRC community.
It is admirable that he "cares about the soldiers," since military leaders are taught that it is just as important to focus on taking good care of your people as it is to accomplish the mission. But I'm sorry, that just isn't enough.
No, Hegseth was not an O-10, but being an O-4 doesn't cut it. He doesn't have nearly enough years of experience as a whole, and certainly not enough senior command experience.
Beyond that, an officer will typically go through three different levels of advanced Professional Military Education during their career that teaches them how to be a military leader as increasing levels of responsibility. I know was a fact that Hegseth didn't complete the highest level of PME.
Look, the man had a nice military career, but "nice" isn't good enough to be worthy of becoming the Secretary of Defense. He is simply underqualified for the job and was selected because Trump knew that he would be an obedient sycophant based upon his recent history as a talking head on Fox News.
and of course SignalGate is *exactly* what you'd expect from elevating a man to a job he is not prepared to do.
Exactly what an unqualified and inexperienced recruit would do wrong.
Now expand that across all the unqualified people put in important positions.
Imagine if we gave the homeless an ultimatum - go to treatment (since basically all street homeless are mentally ill or drug addicted) or be forcibly institutionalized / taken off the streets - and locked up every petty criminal (and obviously every violent criminal as well). Democrat cities that have become cesspools of filth, crime, and degeneracy (like San Francisco, Seattle, etc) could become great again.
In France the leader of the popular ultra right winged party can no longer be elected as President due to illegal activities that are much less serious than what trump and co is doing. Good that some countries keep their democracies and freedom. Hope US will follow once the country loses it's power due to lack of money
Nothing damns trumpers like their insistence that Trump knows what he is doing and has a well-thought out plan.
This tariff fiasco shows us that he has absolutely no idea what he is doing and is just basking in the attention of the world rather than working a plan.
There is no Trump plan. The world is chaos while it waits for what the king decides for us all after his royal game of golf and his makeup/hair session.
Yet trumpies absolutely cannot see any of this. Blind to it.
Imagine if we gave the homeless an ultimatum - go to treatment (since basically all street homeless are mentally ill or drug addicted) or be forcibly institutionalized / taken off the streets - and locked up every petty criminal (and obviously every violent criminal as well). Democrat cities that have become cesspools of filth, crime, and degeneracy (like San Francisco, Seattle, etc) could become great again.
I have spent some time in Dubai. It is understandable that, to the outsider, it might seem like a wonderful place - very clean, low crime, lots of very impressive buildings/shops/entertainment options.
But the reality is much darker. And it is not just that punishments for crimes might be considered overly harsh.
The reality is that the entire system is built on slave labor. Dubai lures people from poor countries and enslaves them.
Essentially nobody who is a citizen of Dubai works. All work is done by ex-pats. Roughly 80 - 90% of the entire population of Dubai is made up of foreign nationals.
Those ex-pats coming from relatively wealthy nations provide all of the high skill work and generally are treated reasonably well - they can come and go as they please though they are still subject to the draconian laws and punishments of Dubai. For example, there is no real freedom of speech there. Criticizing the government can lead to arrest and time in jail or worse. Speech critical of the government, the royal family or Islam is simply not allowed.
Those ex-pats coming from poorer nations (Philippines, Bangladesh, Indonesia) have it much worse. They are lured to Dubai by pay much higher than they can earn in their own country. However, as soon as they land in Dubai, their passports are taken from them. They are essentially enslaved - unable to leave and with no rights as non-citizens, they are 100% at the mercy of their sponsor/employer.
So, I do not think that Dubai is such a good model. No citizen works (wanna guess what type of citizenry this results in?), everything is built and done by foreigners, one does not have the ability to simply speak their own mind without fear of being arrested, and a large portion of the population are essentially slaves.
The fundamental error in how immigration is being discussed in the courts and media is pretending that what happened to us over the last four years is a routine civil enforcement matter.
NO.
We were invaded and occupied. Entire neighborhoods were conquered.