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Cake day: November 20th, 2025

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  • We’ve done it before (violating sovereignty). Kind of a lot. Oh man…I hate this list. Looking at it all (AI generated) at once is a big oof. Several are joint operations.

    Year(s) – Aggressor – Victim – Colloquial name / shorthand

    • 1846–1848 – United States – Mexico – Mexican–American War
    • 1893 / 1898 – United States – Kingdom of Hawaii – Overthrow & Annexation of Hawaii
    • 1899–1902 – United States – Philippines – Philippine–American War
    • 1903 – United States – Colombia / Panama – Panama Secession (Canal Coup)
    • 1912–1933 – United States – Nicaragua – U.S. Occupation of Nicaragua
    • 1915–1934 – United States – Haiti – U.S. Occupation of Haiti
    • 1916–1924 – United States – Dominican Republic – U.S. Occupation of DR
    • 1953 – United States (CIA) – Iran – Operation Ajax
    • 1954 – United States (CIA) – Guatemala – Guatemalan Coup
    • 1958 – United States – Lebanon – Lebanon Crisis
    • 1960–1965 – United States (CIA) – Congo – Lumumba Assassination / Congo Crisis
    • 1961 – United States – Cuba – Bay of Pigs Invasion
    • 1964 – United States – Brazil – Brazilian Military Coup
    • 1965 – United States – Dominican Republic – Operation Power Pack
    • 1969–1973 – United States – Cambodia – Secret Bombing of Cambodia
    • 1960s–1970s – United States – Laos – Secret War in Laos
    • 1970–1973 – United States (CIA) – Chile – Chilean Coup
    • 1976 – United States – Argentina – Dirty War / Junta Support
    • 1979–1989 – United States – Afghanistan – Operation Cyclone
    • 1980s – United States – Nicaragua – Contra War
    • 1983 – United States – Grenada – Invasion of Grenada
    • 1989 – United States – Panama – Operation Just Cause
    • 2001–2021 – United States – Afghanistan – War in Afghanistan
    • 2003 – United States – Iraq – Iraq War
    • 2011 – United States / NATO – Libya – Libyan Intervention
    • 2011–present – United States – Syria – Syrian Civil War (U.S. Intervention)






  • baller_w@lemmy.ziptoMicroblog Memes@lemmy.worldmetastasis
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    15 days ago

    For context, $77 billion is more than most nations spend on their military.

    What we could have bought instead; a list of real problems that money could help significantly with, or fix entirely (generated with AI):

    Universal Healthcare (Medicare for All)

    • Est. cost: $3–4T per year
    • $77B covers ~2–3 weeks of healthcare for the entire US
    • Or ~6–7 million people for one year
    • ~2% of annual national healthcare spend

    High-Speed Rail and Public Transit

    • Est. cost: $50–120M per mile
    • $77B covers 600–1,200 miles of true HSR
    • 3–5 major national corridors plus urban transit upgrades

    Homelessness, Veterans, and Mental Health

    • Est. cost: $150k–300k per housing unit; ~$25k/person/year care
    • $77B covers 250,000–400,000 permanent housing units
    • 10+ years of care for all chronically homeless
    • 100% of veteran homelessness eliminated

    Roads, Bridges, and Infrastructure

    • Est. cost: ~$5M per bridge; ~$1M per mile of road
    • $77B covers 15,000–20,000 bridge replacements
    • ~100,000 miles of roadway rebuilt
    • ~15–20% of all structurally deficient bridges

    Domestic Semiconductor Manufacturing

    • CHIPS Act: $52B total
    • $77B covers 150% of CHIPS Act
    • 3–5 leading-edge fabs
    • Full AI, defense, and automotive supply-chain security

    Fusion and Advanced Energy

    • ITER reactor: ~$22B
    • SPARC program: ~$4B
    • $77B covers 3 ITER-class reactors
    • 10+ SPARC-class fusion programs

    Climate Resilience and Clean Energy

    • Est. cost: ~$1B per GW renewable capacity
    • $77B covers 60+ GW clean power
    • Electrification of ~10 million homes
    • Coastal protection and grid modernization across multiple states

    Public Sector Scale Comparison

    • Equals 3+ years of NASA’s budget
    • Equals 10 years of US homelessness funding
    • Exceeds annual defense budgets of most countries