CoCo_Goldstein

probably because of lack of currency for imports

That makes sense. Russia is saving its money to pay smugglers to smuggle in weapons components.

Not mentioned in the article, but mentioned elsewhere - trains. Russia relies heavily on trains to move things. One part of train maintenance is the replacement of bearings. Russia can't manufacture bearings for its trains and it can't import them either because of sanctions. Russia has fewer and fewer operational trains and train cars. One very important thing that the trains haul is grain. There are reports that Russia could face starvation by the end of the year if it doesn't get its trains repaired because they will be unable to haul food to the cities. Russia doesn't have enough trucks and roads to replace the trains.

"Love is love".

You can't judge.

Eh, banks give out loans for people to start restaurants all the time

** Citation needed.

I did some deeper looking in Art Station. The artist's name is Jun Yun.

It sounds like you aren't making much money, so you probably don't owe much, if any, in taxes. For the year 2024, if you got a W-2 from your employer, you should file. What you did in previous years won't affect your ability to file this year. Who knows? perhaps you will get a refund.

People heard about the original, now discredited study, which came out around the time autism diagnosises were increasing. People then either didn't hear or chose not to believe that the OG study was discredited.

That could be solved with a standard deduction of whatever income level the bottom 25% start at. So, assuming 40,000 is the start of the bottom 25%, you only start paying taxes on income over 40,000. I.E. the first 40k are free, you start paying taxes on the first dollar over 40k. No other deductions. There is nothing magical about my 40k number, it could be set at what ever society deems to be 'solidly middle class', therefore giving the poor and working poor a much needed tax break.

I believe food stamps are a subset of the US Department of Agriculture spending.

that does look pretty tasty

At least part of the reason is the people captured in the war on terror occupied a legal gray area. They are sort of like soldiers, so they are not subject to American civil or criminal law. But they don't belong to a military organization with a formal chain of command, so they are not signatories to the Geneva Convention or any other treaties concerning conduct in war.

Even if they were tried and found guilty in a military court for 'being terrorists', eventually their prison sentences would end. So what do we do with them now? A lot of their home countries didn't want them back (although now the Taliban government of Afghanistan will probably take back their citizens).

Basically, the entire Gitmo internment of fighters captured in the war on terror was a great big mess. It was really easy for Obama and Biden to say on the campaign trail that they would shut down Gitmo, but actually dealing with the prisoners in a politically acceptable way was very, very difficult. It was easier to hope people would forget about them.

BTW - some Gitmo detainees did get released over the years.