Luigi intensifies…
Holy shit, they get a LAMP?!
Right. Show up and do the needful.
I’ve seen armed “guards” and my polling station before and it’s unsettling to say the least.
Say no words. Just vote.
A real gem. Take a look at “The Studio” on Apple TV. 10/10. I’ll probably rewatch and I never do that.
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)
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
Faraday bag all electronic items; phone, smartwatch; hell, I’d even bag my car keys. Cover your face, especially the eye area. Make your voice heard, but don’t be a data point.
I understand this rhetoric, but one extremely effective way of changing people’s opinions and broadening their world view is travel. Banning people from the US from traveling will only result in more insulation and “othering”.
That said, American tourists are 👏the 👏worst (I say as an American). We should act like what we are: guests. I’ve had the privilege to travel to five nations that don’t speak English as their native language and have learned my P’s and Q’s every time and it’s always paid off. I speak the language terribly, but I’m at least willing to try.
I just got an induction cook top and it’s amazing. WAY more efficient than alternatives, better indoor air quality as compared to gas. One problem: can’t cook if the power is out. Good ideas all around.
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baller_w
joined 3 months ago
In not in favor of providing ID for anything. If a service requires it, I won’t use that service. Also, I can’t think of a verification system like this that hasn’t been bypassed or exploited, so it’s largely an exercise in futility.
However, a compelling argument is to use your phone’s biometrics to perform a challenge and verification. Basically, your device acts as your ID so sites never have it. I think this way better than all websites to keep a copy of the identity.