Financial Times: China seizes disputed reef in the South China Sea (archived)
It comes as the Philippines and its ally the US are conducting Balikatan, their largest annual military exercise, which will include coastal defence and island seizure drills. They will be held from next week on the Philippine territory closest to the Spratlys.
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The U.S. has long been preparing for a drone war with China in the Taiwan Strait, should conflict arise. The head of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command even declared that the U.S. would turn the strait into an ‘unmanned hellscape.’ Yet, China’s new generation of military equipment has already surpassed the U.S. in both cost and quantity.
The U.S. Threatens a Drone War in the Taiwan Strait— Seriously?
Previously:
Countering China with Chinese UAVs backfires, US military faces drone shortage
US Wants To Create ‘Hellscape’ of Drones If China Attacks Taiwan
As the conflict between Russia and Ukraine has escalated, the significance of drone warfare has increased, leading to substantial investments in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) by militaries worldwide.
Countering China with Chinese UAVs backfires, US military faces drone shortage
Previously:
US Wants To Create ‘Hellscape’ of Drones If China Attacks Taiwan
The US military is planning to create a “hellscape” of drones in the Taiwan Strait if China moves to attack Taiwan, the top US military commander in the region has told The Washington Post.
US Wants To Create ‘Hellscape’ of Drones If China Attacks Taiwan
Related:
How American Drones Failed to Turn the Tide in Ukraine
In a new form of censorship, Elon Musk, the CEO of X, claims that “decolonization” implies “Jewish genocide” and as such goes against the platform’s “terms and conditions” and supporters will be suspended.
Musk: ‘decolonization’ against ‘terms and conditions’ of X
The Rise and Reign of the Welfare Queen
Researcher links government assistance program to much earlier origins of welfare stereotypes
How Bill Clinton’s Welfare Reform Changed America
But based on several studies of TANF and its beneficiaries, “it barely reaches even the poorest Americans, and has all but ceased doing the work of lifting people out of poverty,” according to the Atlantic. “‘Welfare reform’ didn’t fix welfare so much as destroy it, and if similar changes were applied to Medicaid and food stamps, they would likely do the same.”
Americans believe benefits fraud is common for SNAP
Experts say that deliberate SNAP fraud is uncommon because of the rigorous application process and multi-step eligibility review. In 2016, the Congressional Research Service determined that for every 10,000 households participating in SNAP, about 14 contained a recipient who was investigated and determined to have committed fraud.
Who Is Really Responsible for Welfare Fraud?
In other words, don’t take a single example or casual observation of welfare fraud and claim it represents the tens of millions of poor who receive welfare benefits.
…
While welfare fraud committed by the poor appears to be low, the federal government has long recognized businesses being the true criminals.
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While these are some of the better known examples of large scale welfare fraud, they are not the only ones. The above cases alone represent over $25 Billion in welfare fraud recovery. The criminals having the greatest impact committing welfare fraud against the government are not the poor, but the privately owned businesses that take advantage of them.
Brett Favre Is The Welfare Queen Republicans Warned Us About
Updates:
Biggest Perpetrators of Welfare Fraud Are Private Companies, Not ‘Welfare Queens’
The House of Representatives is discussing a move that would effectively amount to an act of war if carried out: a naval blockade on China.
House Republicans Propose The Study Of An Oil Naval Blockade Of China
The following is outdated, especially considering the problems with the US Navy’s LCS ships, but I thought that the bold quote was interesting. I highly doubt that Russia would ever submit to the US!
Related:
[2013] Stranglehold: The Context, Conduct and Consequences of an American Naval Blockade of China
In short, Russia would not only be China’s best hope of overcoming an American blockade, but it would also be the United States’ key to closing China’s transit route through Central Asia and preventing China’s two neighboring oil producers from supplying it with petroleum. In an American blockade of China, Russia’s importance as a swing state cannot be overstated, as is borne out by the observation that “no blockade of China in history has succeeded without Russian acquiescence.”
Ms. Cat’s Chronicles 
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