I was just talking to a friend who moved there a couple years ago. She is a massage therapist. She has been waiting six weeks just for an approval of benefits. She was in tears at having no income for so long. She said at least the stimulus check covered her May rent. But Damn.....6 weeks? 6 weeks and no telling how many more it will take. Here in Mass, my bf was approved immediately when he did his application online.

Source: New York Times

American warships have sailed into disputed waters in the South China Sea, according to military analysts, heightening a standoff in the waterway and sharpening the rivalry between the United States and China, even as much of the world is in lockdown because of the coronavirus.

The America, an amphibious assault ship, and the Bunker Hill, a guided missile cruiser, entered contested waters off Malaysia. At the same time, a Chinese government ship in the area has for days been tailing a Malaysian state oil company ship carrying out exploratory drilling. Chinese and Australian warships have also powered into nearby waters, according to the defense experts.

Despite working to control a pandemic that spread from China earlier this year, Beijing has not reduced its activities in the South China Sea, a strategic waterway through which one-third of global shipping flows. Instead, the Chinese government’s yearslong pattern of assertiveness has only intensified, military analysts said.

“It’s a quite deliberate Chinese strategy to try to maximize what they perceive as being a moment of distraction and the reduced capability of the United States to pressure neighbors,” said Peter Jennings, a former Australian defense official who is the executive director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/21/world/asia/coronavirus-south-china-sea-warships.html

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I came across this because my nephew is on the Bunker Hill.

I have a theory on why.

If he get everyone back to work too soon it will just keep springing up. If he can push things into the fall then people will be too afraid to go vote. Less voters always favors the Republicans.

The increase would be one that brings all snap recipients up to the maximum benefit if they were not already receiving it. For a single person the max is 194 a month so all single recipients would now receive 194 on the first of April.

I am generally a pretty laid back person. I don't get mad easily. These days I find myself being brutally blunt to people on social media.