Luv2play

Anyway, Roman Todd would not be my pick for best versatile. I would give that the Josh Moore. With runner ups to Derek Kage, Max Arion, and Logan Stevens.

Barring a wildfire.

Not by a long shot, imo.

I see being in jail didn't hurt Roman Todd who won as best versatile. I wonder what his wife thinks of that.

Gee Cade Maddox received the favorite awards for best body , cock and top. Those three awards probably mean his escort rates will go ever higher.

As usual the lawyers end up doing very well out of it as well. They apparently racked up millions of pounds in fees as Harry wended his way through the legal system.

That would be in the range I gave given I was using British pounds. On your list of his sources of wealth, he did quite well by his book I imagine and his other self employment ventures.

I imagine he got somewhere between 5 and 10 million pounds as a settlement. The fact that his mother's situation was cited would add to the damages since it impacted him at an early and impressionable age. The Sun admitting to having invaded her privacy will invoke a lot of sympathy for Harry.

On RM since 2022 and no reviews yet. Hmmm

I am amazed you haven’t heard of Nikola Tesla! Do you think Elon pulled that name out of thin air? Lol

What are you talking about? Don’t see a link to an abuse story. The entry to which he referred had been hidden.

Just off the top of my head, Ford and Rockefeller.

So there you are; life imitating art.

It hasn’t attracted much comment in this thread but one aspect of the firefighting is the toll it takes on the firefighters involved in the fight. Obviously in a fire of this scale and duration, many reinforcements have been deployed both from other American jurisdictions and those helping out from other countries, including Mexico, Canada and Australia. Even prisoners are getting involved from local prisons. There is an informal international fraternity of firefighters and it is gratifying to see it on display in L.A. A key factor is the need for firefighters to get enough rest to be effective over the longer haul and outside assistance is what helps that to be accomplished.

I think where a private residence is being rented out by its owner, it no longer is their “home” in the sense of providing shelter to them. Personal use homes get special tax treatment from governments practically everywhere. For instance here in Canada they are exempt from capital gains taxes. The US has a different type of tax treatment but it is also preferential. Rental properties are treated differently by governments. We have seen municipalities move recently to control airb&bs to maintain some balance in the rental markets. In extreme cases like referenced above they can also introduce anti gouging measures. We live in civilized societies and governments sometimes need to enforce rules that go against a free for all in human behavior.

That’s why government has to step in at times to regulate the market. I know some will say that’s socialism but an unfettered market can in some instances lead to social chaos.

The regulations are there for a purpose. By waiving them you are inviting future disasters made worse by corners cut in reconstruction.

Gov. Newsom has just signed an executive order waiving all permitting regulations for rebuilding in the damaged zones. This is just the opposite of the Canadian approach of building better in disaster areas. We’ll see how that goes.

The fine is only $10,000 ( apart from a penal penalty) and I read of a case in the NYT today where someone jacked the monthly rent on a house in LA from $30,000 to over $50,000 a month as a result of the soaring demand from people being forced to relocate quickly. Apparently there are many in LA with the resources to pay.

I read about a woman who lost her trailer home in Pacific Palisades Park that was insured for $400, 000, including possessions. She said she intends to rebuild, despite having lost her home in the same park 2 decades ago in a similar fire. What she might not have thought about is that the next fire could be in 5 or 10 years given the acceleration of climate change.

Stunning.

He's been around a long time. Expat American in London. Never met him though so nothing to add.

Quoting from the NYT “measured against home values, insurance costs are cheaper in Palisades than in 97 percent of US postal codes.” There are a number of reasons for these low rates but I shouldn’t have cited low risk being one of them. The regulatory environment appears to have been the largest reason. Going forward it appears to me that high risk areas are no longer going to be shielded by rules that invite moral hazard. Of course billionaires can always self insure and don’t need insurance on their homes since they have no need of mortgages. It means though that communities such as Pacific Palisades won’t be the home to mere millionaires or those who are house poor.

I just read in the NYT that Californians pay the lowest insurance rates in the country, a median rate of $2,200 or thereabouts. In Pacific Palisades, it was $4,500 or thereabouts. (I'm recalling from memory) It also noted that many households had been dropped from private coverage in the last few years and were now covered by the more limited state insurance plan, which is also covered by the insurance industry. Obviously this fire is going to result in more losing coverage privately and probably sharply increased rates for those who can still get the private coverage. Re-insurers will see to that. I think this has implications for many other areas which up to now have been deemed low risk of wildfires such as Pacific Palisades.

Canada is also a large consumer of California fruits and vegetables. And our population now exceeds California’s, which I just saw from the population graph above.