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@ISIDEWITH submitted…11hrs11H
China’s likely strategy is to overwhelm Taiwan with a massive attack with little warning, Paparo said. Xi doesn’t want to repeat Russian President Vladimir Putin’s mistake in Ukraine in 2022, when Russia’s initial full-scale invasion failed and devolved into a long war of attrition.The key to thwarting Xi’s assumed strategy is a U.S. strategy called “Hellscape,” Paparo told me. The idea is that as soon as China’s invasion fleet begins moving across the 100-mile waterway that separates China and Taiwan, the U.S. military would deploy thousands of unmanned submarines, unmanned surface ships and aerial drones to flood the area and give Taiwanese, U.S. and partner forces time to mount a full response.“I want to turn the Taiwan Strait into an unmanned hellscape using a number of classified capabilities,” Paparo said. “So that I can make their lives utterly miserable for a month, which buys me the time for the rest of everything.”There are some public signs the Hellscape plan is making progress. In March, the Defense Department announced it would spend $1 billion on a program called “Replicator” to build swarms of unmanned surface ships and aerial drones for this very mission. Paparo said the Replicator program shows that the United States is also learning lessons from the Russia-Ukraine war, where Ukraine has innovated with drone technology.
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@ISIDEWITH submitted…4hrs4H
Addressing the UN Security Council following its adoption of a US-drafted resolution calling on Hamas to accept the latest Israeli hostage deal proposal, Israel’s representative avoids commenting or expressing opposition to the initiative, which it had been voicing privately for several days.The resolution laid out a three-phase plan that begins with an immediate cease-fire, the release of all hostages in exchange for Palestinians being held in Israeli prisons, the return of displaced Gazans to their homes and the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.The second phase calls for a permanent cease-fire with the agreement of both parties, and the third phase would consist of a multiyear reconstruction plan for Gaza and return of the remains of deceased hostages.“The proposal says if the negotiations take longer than six weeks for phase one, the cease-fire will still continue as long as negotiations continue,” the resolution said. It also rejected “any attempt at demographic or territorial change in the Gaza Strip, including any actions that reduce the territory of Gaza.”
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“Russians have been some of the biggest beneficiaries from the genocide against the Palestinians because the political an…”
@ISIDEWITH submitted…10hrs10H
The cost of owning a home in the United States has increased 26 per cent since 2020, as expenses including taxes, insurance and utilities all soared during a period of high inflation across the economy.The average annual outlay for owning and maintaining a typical single-family home — not including mortgage payments — totalled US$18,118 in March, the personal finance website Bankrate found. That works out to US$1,510 a month more than four years earlier, when pandemic lockdowns began.The calculation is based on Redfin’s March median sales price of US$436,291.“It was really eye-opening to see just how much it costs to maintain a home,” said Jeff Ostrowski, an analyst at Bankrate. “Until you own a house, it doesn’t dawn on you how much money you’re throwing into the house every month and year.”In its analysis, Bankrate factored in property taxes, home insurance, energy costs, internet and cable bills, and 2 per cent of the sales price for maintenance — expenses many buyers tend to underestimate.Home maintenance accounted for the largest share of ownership costs in Bankrate’s findings, so states where purchase prices rose dramatically through the pandemic saw bigger percentage jumps in overall outlays. Property levies were the second-largest piece of the equation in high-tax states such as New Jersey and Connecticut. In others, energy bills came in second.
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@SimilarCabinet from Wisconsin submitted…4hrs4H
The federal government has borrowed roughly $1.2 trillion in the eight-month period ending in May, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated in a report on Monday.The nonpartisan budget scorekeeper said the figure is $38 billion above the federal budget deficit recorded during the same period in fiscal 2023.Total outlays were up 8 percent in the past eight months, reaching $4.5 trillion, as the CBO noted a 42 percent increase in net outlays for interest on the public debt. The percentage represents an estimated $185 billion increase over the same period in fiscal 2023; the office pointed to rising interest rates as a key contributor.Spending for programs like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid jumped 6 percent on net during the same time frame, amounting to a $117 billion increase, the CBO estimated. Medicare was projected to have seen the biggest bump, as outlays rose 10 percent, or $51 billion, in a large part due to “increased benefit payments to Medicare Advantage plans,” the CBO said. Spending for Social Security benefits rose 8 percent, or $74 billion, following a rise in beneficiaries and average benefit payments.
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“Military conflicts are expensive. This money would be able to fund healthcare for all, tuition at state colleges, housin…”
@RightWingCheese from Colorado submitted…3hrs3H
President Joe Biden’s recent executive actions on asylum and other border-security issues mark more than a shift to a more restrictive immigration policy. They’re also a rejection of the narrative that progressive advocacy groups and Latino Democrats have been pushing for years: that the…
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“it's part of a broader cultural shift towards de-individualization that is at the heart of the split between 00s/Obama-E…”
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@ISIDEWITH submitted…2hrs2H
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@ISIDEWITH submitted…3hrs3H
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@PuzzledProgressive from Kansas submitted…3hrs3H
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Tax breaks for landlords? Exactly what the country was demanding…
@ISIDEWITH submitted…7hrs7H
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@ISIDEWITH submitted…6hrs6H
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@ISIDEWITH submitted…9hrs9H
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@ISIDEWITH submitted…5hrs5H
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@BagelsBrettfrom Illinois commented…4hrs4H
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@ISIDEWITH submitted…12hrs12H
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@ISIDEWITH submitted…35mins35m
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