I think that’s kind of the point. How many tourists ACTUALLY go to El Salvador from African nations for simple recreation? The number has to be tiny. I’m guessing the country has analyzed the numbers of people coming in from India and African nations and found that a small number are tourists, and most of those could already afford to make the trip more expensive. The rest are either on business, where companies can either pay for it or have ways to get around it, or they are trying to make their way to other countries.

I seem to remember a famous politician here in the US suggesting the same thing about 8 years ago.

Yes, I’m sure a guy who has works on the “digital team” of a politician has the inside knowledge of what air strikes the military has made.

But most credible sources and eye witness accounts makes it most likely this was a Hamas missile gone astray, not an Israeli strike. So the US didn’t write the check that facilitated the purchase of the weapons.

Now, you can argue that Israel was only able to be in the position to be attacked by Hamas using a missile that went astray because of US funding of their weapons, but that’s a bigger topic.

A) I’m not sure China has had global dominance over the US, but they definitely have dominance over pretty much every other country depending how you measure it.

B) I’m really really not sure I believe the gloom and doom predictions for China’s economy when the government tightly controls all aspects of the economy. Even if they have reached the end of the boom, I don’t see much of a backslide. They are buying up shipping ports around the world to give themselves preferential rates and access. They are buying up natural resources around the world to give themselves better preferential rates. They are doing what the US did for so long in giving out predatory loans to struggling countries in exchange for preferential trade relations.

I’m pretty anti-China in most things, but I’m realistic about the state of the world.

It sounds like the measures the government is taking there will be worthless and only a talking to point to the citizens who are actually being hurt by this. I still applaud any effort, but actions with teeth would be better.

Please provide a source to the contrary.

https://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/17/magazine/how-a-mexican-drug-cartel-makes-its-billions.html

https://www.kpbs.org/news/border-immigration/2011/05/23/how-drug-cartels-move-cash-across-us-mexico-border

https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/drug-use-by-country

Mexico is a PRODUCER and DISTRIBUTOR of drugs, not a consumer. America is a CONSUMER. The cartels don’t sell much cocaine in Mexico outside of to US tourists. Why would they? The same kilo they buy for $2k only gets them $10k in Mexico City vs $30k anywhere in the US… or $100k if they cut it themselves. The US consumes 10 times more opioids per capita than Mexico and 4 times more cocaine per capita, too. So we pay 3 times more for drugs and use 4 to 10 times more. The biggest problems they have are getting the drugs into the US and getting the money back into Mexico. It’s honestly ludicrous that you think a country with a GDP of 1.4 trillion gives more of its money to illegal drugs than a country with a GDP of 25 trillion. If the cartels made most of their money in Mexico, why would they go through all the time and effort to smuggle drugs into the US?

Finally, “luxuries and sex” (which by the way makes you sound like a 14 year old or a 40 year old incel) are common drivers around the world. A culture of putting rich and powerful people on a pedestal is not just a Mexico thing and is common around the world. So if your theory is correct, why do the cartels not have the same power in most other countries? And if you think I don’t have the life experience to understand why people choose to make money, then you are kind of an idiot. Regardless, that doesn’t address my point. I will go ahead and concede the point that “luxuries and sex” are why people make money (ignoring power and self esteem and other drivers… I mean, why do Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk keep trying to make more billions? It isn’t luxuries and sex after your first billion), but you say “take those away, and people will change their behavior to get them back.” Tell me how does the normal Mexican citizen take those away? You say it’s cultural, but do you think women in other countries deny sex to cartel members simply because of their job? I mean, completely ignoring that cartels are also heavily involved in prostitution and human trafficking for sex which is how the lower level members are getting sex, if you have money then there is no country in the world where you can’t get sex. So again, what makes Mexico so special in that regard?

And gangbangers gangbang for money.

Where does that money come from? Hint: it isn’t from Mexican citizens.

start holding people accountable for how they get that wealth

Describe the process that a normal Mexican citizen can use to hold a gang member from the cartel accountable.

Lol, maybe you need more life experience then.

What life experience am I missing that you have that would let me understand your point?

This might take the award for dumbest thing I’ve read today, and that includes someone blaming Americans for bedbugs in Europe.

If all of their money comes from the US buying their drugs, and all of their guns comes from the US companies selling them to anyone who can breathe, then how are local Mexican citizens supporting the cartels? You say being “rewarded with luxuries and sex.” You do realize that luxuries and sex come simply from having money, right? Anyone with money can get those things. Once again, the money is coming from the US, not from local Mexicans. The luxury goods are sold by luxury goods stores, which aren’t exactly commonplace in Mexico. The sex comes from prostitutes (usually forced into it), or gold diggers from all over the world, not just Mexico.

The only thing local Mexican citizens care about is not getting shot and killed by the guns smuggled from the US. What do you think would happen if some random shop owner in Oaxaca told a cartel member they couldn’t buy his goods?

Instead of the Indian military stationed there, he’ll have Chinese businesses stationed there after selling their ports to them.

A) Your source is behind a paywall, so I can’t read it.

B) So Disney Land Paris is ONLY popular with Americans? Because if you honestly think that the reason Disney Land gets bedbugs is because Americans visit it, you might be a moron. Just because it is popular with Americans doesn’t mean that no other countries visit it.

In fact, let’s look at the numbers: in 2016, 49% of visitors to DL Paris were from France, 17% from the UK, 9% from Spain, and going down through Europe. The rest of the world (U.S. included) is only 9% of the visitors. In 2011, the numbers were 51% France, 12% UK, 9% Spain, and going down through Europe, with the rest of the world (US included) being 9%. I can’t find any newer numbers than 2016, but if the percentages are almost identical from 2011 to 2016, then I’m guessing they are similar for 2023. So the entire premise of your argument that DL Paris gets bedbugs because of less than 10% of its tourists is so unbelievably stupid that I don’t even know where to go from here.

Because Russia backed down the last time they took over land from Ukraine and gained Crimea… and they backed down the time they took over Ossettia from Georgia.

If you give Russia anything just to stop this war, they’ll only come back to do it again because you will have taught them if they attack they will win something.

Seeing both sides? OK, Russia wants to take over a country that isn’t theirs by murdering, raping, kidnapping, and destroying simply because Russia feels entitled to something it doesn’t have. US doesn’t want Russia to gain strength so they help to prevent/stop the murdering, raping, kidnapping, and destroying.

It’s almost like one side is doing something bad with bad intents while the other is doing something good with bad intents. I’m pretty sure I’ll approve of doing good things even if the motive isn’t pure.

A robot lawnmower costs between $700 and $3000. A fence starts at around $5000 and can get into the $30,000s easily. It’s almost like you have no idea what you are talking about. Additionally, if the person needs a lawnmower then having a robot one isn’t a much bigger expense.

Finally, to really highlight how stupid your responses are, you do realize that cats can jump fences, right? A normal house cat can jump 6ft quite easily, and outdoor stray cats jump onto our 8ft tall privacy wall all the time.

Cats hate citrus peels and red pepper/chili powder or flakes. They will stay away.

Anything we can do to help Armenians defend themselves against Azerbaijan is OK with me.

Right? What if they were in international waters? Is that also not OK? I’m just trying to find the line here.

Ahh, yeah, I can see how that would be annoying.

I love my August smart lock. It auto-unlocks my door when I get home, so I never need keys or to reach for my phone. It also has a key pad to unlock if I dont have my phone. It has alerts and reports status on an app. I can unlock or lock the door remotely for people to check in on things for me while Im away.

Yes, it has issues and eats batteries, but its so convenient.

And most dumb locks can also be picked in under 5 minutes. The difference is a smart lock can alert me when someone who isn’t me opens the door or leaves it open. Of course, most burglars are just going to break a window to get in.