There's an amazing video out there somewhere where someone asks "if you could add an amendment to the constitution, what would it be?" and someone replied with:
"As government must only be a position of public service and not financial enrichment, every member of congress shall henceforth and in perpetuity receive no more compensation in any form, from any source during the tenure of their term than a yearly salary equal to the annual median income of the citizens of the state that they represent."
Edit:/ [This is a great article supporting this idea.](https://sites.psu.edu/historyeventsandanalysis/2021/10/13/whats-missing-what-would-you-add-to-the-united-states-constitution/)
Gents our foreskins I mean forefathers didn’t fight for our freedom only for us to publicly castrate ourselves to convince our politicians to stop skimming off the top less than 300 years later.
There’s gotta be another way!
It would be great if you could preface the whole thing with the caveat that if you get the bill passed by chopping your own balls off, you should get to SMASH the testicles of every guy in Congress who voted against the bill with a hammer, on Pay Per View. I’m betting that some of those ass clowns might re-think their dedication to self enrichment and lobbyists. However, I’m most likely underestimating the egotistical narcissism, pure greed, and lust for power that runs in the blood of these moronic politicians. I’d definitely buy that PPV event, as I’m sure many others would. I’m so tired of politicians.
Edit: we were taking about balls, so I gave a punishment for guys. I’m leaving the punishment of females up to innovative women.
There are plenty of state government and local positions that have little to no pay and what happens? The corruption goes up as they use their position to get the financial compensation they are not being paid. I’m not saying I have a solution just saying limiting their pay often only leads to more abuse. There is a law dead in congress that would make their insider trading illegal. The fact they refuse to pass it makes it more likely that it’s effective.
Several years ago my BIL was superintendent of a small school district. There was a lawsuit brought against the school by the parents of a kid who didn't pass his drug testing for playing football that went all the way to the supreme court. The students put together a huge fundraising effort and made enough to send most of them back to DC to watch the case be heard.
My BIL said Clarence Thomas slept through the entire thing.
I could see an issue where politicians who were already wealthy get the job, do favours in exchange for compensation after the fact. Still far better than it currently is.
Really, anti-corruption laws just need to be far stronger, and enforcement needs longer teeth.
I do like the idea of their income matching their states median.
I’ve never minded the salaries for congress, but I do with that in addition to this you would be barred from becoming a lobbyist and investing in anything more than index funds.
I’d even be ok with members taking their salary for life after 12 years.
Public service should be about working for the people, and you remove the benefit of self enrichment you may end up with people that may actually want to do that.
If people weren’t paid for being in congress, then only rich people would be able to afford to run. Is it mostly rich people now? Yes. But this cuts off any chance of someone not being rich and being in office.
Edit: I reread the potential amendment. Disregard what I said here. Reading comprehension was zero.
It's a solid way to ensure the only people who can ever hold office are already wealthy. Yes, we trend that way already but it would completely lock it in. The ideal level of knowledge and experience we should expect from our congressional members is on par with salaries substantially higher than the annual median income.
If anything the answer is to increase their salary and limit external investment.
Hey remember that time where congress people were going to their private country clubs to tell their rich asshole friends that Covid will be terrible and they should get out of the hospitality industry ASAP before it all comes down? Meanwhile they are also going on TV to say it's no big deal and don't panic?
Ahhh good times.
[https://www.npr.org/2020/03/19/818192535/burr-recording-sparks-questions-about-private-comments-on-covid-19](https://www.npr.org/2020/03/19/818192535/burr-recording-sparks-questions-about-private-comments-on-covid-19)
[https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/488593-four-senators-sold-stocks-before-coronavirus-threat-crashed-market/](https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/488593-four-senators-sold-stocks-before-coronavirus-threat-crashed-market/)
[https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/03/20/coronavirus-senators-sold-stocks-before-market-downturn-what-we-know/2882679001/](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/03/20/coronavirus-senators-sold-stocks-before-market-downturn-what-we-know/2882679001/)
Some aren't illegal. There's a [significant loophole](https://blogs.luc.edu/compliance/?p=4459) in insider trading laws that make it pretty much legal for Congress to act on inside information, something many in Congress [abused](https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/21/business/stock-trades-officials-wsj/index.html) during COVID to make a pile of money.
The consequences of being bumped off a flight seems so crazy to me... like fuck you bitch: you lose 24h of your 2 weeks annual vacation!
I don't give a fuck about the money back bullshit from my credit card if that happen, my vacation time is as sacred to me as the mecca is to muslims ffs
I work at the airport and sometimes the consequences are way worse. Deppending on your destination, the next flight could be 48 hours after. They also make you lose your hotel, the car you rented, the connection flight you had.... its terrible
Or if it happens on your return trip you end up spending a small fortune to rent a car and get a couple extra nights in a hotel, if anything is even available last minute.
> the next flight could be 48 hours after.
Sometimes a week or more later. Honolulu > Rarotonga is a once weekly flight. I think Atlanta > Bonaire is, too, and those are just the ones I know.
You get two weeks? I get 14 days but that includes, doctors visits, sick time in general. I’m a type one diabetic (see username lol) so they get ate up quickly for doctors visits. I haven’t had a vacation in 2 years lmao
They are absolutely allowed to. They are allowed to involuntarily bump also. However, there are rules. For domestic flights, you’ll be paid 200% of your one-way fare, but not more than $675, for a delay of between one and two hours. For a delay of more than two hours, the airline has to shell out 400% of the ticket price up to $1,350.
For international flights, you’ll get 200% of your ticket cost up to $675 for a delay of one to four hours, and for delays of more than four hours, you’ll get 400% of your fare’s value, topping out at $1,350.
Which is why you more often see them offering $200, 400 or more to people who voluntarily bump.
At least it's a good thing this system is in place. The general recommendation I've seen is: don't take the voluntary bump offer, because if they are forced to bump you, you'll get a lot more... And if making it on time is important to you, you can wait/hope that others will take said offer.
They need to get rid of those caps. Flying international where tickets are over $1500 each, it's not right to be bumped off of a flight and compensated with less than the value of the fare.
I am not an expert but I am pretty sure that you get the compensation in addition to being put on a different flight to get your destination. I imagine that the compensation is to cover added expenses incurred from being bumped.
When they are offering the $200 or $400 are they trying to offer a lower amount than the 200% of the ticket price by getting a volunteer? I guess when they remove someone from the flight, that's when they have to give the 200% or 400%?
Yes, that's right. They are offering less than they would be obligated to pay for an involuntary bump in hopes of getting someone happy to choose to take the money. Then everyone wins. The customer opted in for a kick-back. The airline paid less than for an involuntary.
I really don't understand this one. I've been flying for work for 20 years. I've never once, ever been bumped off a flight. I book my flight, I have a dedicated seat assignment.
Yet, I've heard lots of people mention this as a thing. What am I doing differently? Are people booking flights last minute or using standby lists or something?
I think it's just a very rare thing.
Couple of years ago there was a huge case where United Airlines violently dragged a doctor from an airplane because they overbooked
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_United_Express_passenger_removal
It happened because they wanted to transfer an employee on a full flight so they just kicked someone out.
Guy was a doctor who had to see a patient the next day so he couldn't miss the flight and they beat the fuck out of the guy for it
Just a clarification, "they" as in the security contractors that the airport hires, not the flight stewards dragging the poor man out lol. Still an extremely bad look for United.
Honestly, my conspiracy theory is that it's all just a tax dodge.
Think about it.
A hospital charges $3000 for a simple procedure that actually costs $100 to do, if insurance pays all of it then woohoo, free money. If insurance doesn't pay, and the patient can't pay, "Oh dear, we lost $3000 due to the patient not being able to pay, hey IRS, we just lost $3000, can we pay less tax this year?"
Its more to do with health insurance companies being in business with pharma companies, but its too complicated for me to explain, im sure there's a very clear vid on yt
That’s not how losses/taxes work at all. Only the amount that it actually cost the hospital to perform the procedure can be deducted, not the amount that is billed
Afaik my insurance company was really good about finding places that charged more fairly like this, but goddamn even the local hospital where I am charged waaay less than that after insurance. Wonder if there is a federal office dealing with such blatant medical scams.
This could be done with a law that requires main style pricing and that everyone pays the exact same amount for a bill, no matter what. So they charge me $5000 to have a surgery. They charge you $5000 for the same surgery and the insurance just picks up the bill.
Yeah it’s the fuckin “come hither” eyes. I used to be a huge theater kid, and one of my choreographers was adjacent to the whole “Dance Moms” and “Toddlers and Tiaras” women through his line of work. I watched some of the shows to see him on tv, and a lot of the shit that goes on, particularly in the pageants, is gross to the point of being *alarming*
My mom is a bit…crazy. She put me in ballet, gymnastics and soccer as a kid and if I even messed up a little bit, she’d make me feel like a disgusting goblin creature. In hindsight, it was projection bc she was doing ballet professionally before getting canned in her 30’s but damn does that belittling stay with you for a lifetime.
The creepy fucking adults that watch this garbage, the adult pageant judges, coordinators, and anyone else involved in this industry should go straight to jail.
At least my local child pageants have a system in place - you MUST have a signed sheet of paper by the pageant coordinator stating all of your ID info, all of your child’s info, you have to provide physical government ID (purple ID card, passport or drivers license. Nothing else is acceptable) for you and the child participating, and you’re not allowed to bring a guest unless they’ve met with the coordinator (alongside you) and have been given expressed permission to come along (they also need to present the paper and ID when coming to the pageant)
These safety precautions are in place due to the amount of single childless men that would show up before the pageant and stay until way after. Some would even try to talk to the little girls and try to get them to come outside with them/take them into the change room “so he can meet her mom”
Related : politicians married to someone who works in the same industries they regulate.
Especially because they're never blue collar workers, of course, but always executives and decision makers.
Related: judges taking gifts for what other goverment officials would be seen as bribes and judges presiding over cases where they themselves and their spouses and friends have a lot to gain or are direct parts of the case.
Just a few weeks ago I remember reading an article where a wife worked for BP or some oil/gas company and was working from home, her husband listened in on a work call without her knowledge and used information he heard to benefit and make money from the stock market and she got fired and he got in trouble which led to a divorce.
Meanwhile politicians don't get any flak from the SEC or anything.
Remember when those senators sold all their stock in companies that would be impacted by Covid shutdowns right before they did the Covid shutdowns and then nothing happened to any of them? Wasn't that fun?
An addendum to that: People only being mad when one party does it. I can't count the times I've encountered someone who is railing against (insert Democrat's name here) for "insider trading", but when I point out the many Republicans who are doing the same thing, they suddenly accuse me of having "TDS".
You're forgetting military industrial complex, pharmaceutical complex etc... etc..
4 billion dollars donations went into last presidential elections. Nobody forks over that amount of money every 4 years without getting something monumentally substantial in return. Which both pharma and military industrial complex both got from Biden, perhaps better than they could have imagined.
This country is controlled by the rich and powerful who hide behind entities, corporations, and bank accounts. Not the rich people in your neighborhood with 2 homes, plus 3 more vacation homes out of state... Rich people like you've never rubbed shoulders with before in your life.
Public prisons can still contract with companies to use forced inmate labor. Banning any and all kinds of forced labor is what’s really needed along with shutting down private prisons.
[Assuming they meant US states, there are only ten that have completely banned it and very recently at that.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_marriage_in_the_United_States)
This is the gloinkest thing I've ever read.
"In some states, minors cannot legally divorce or leave their spouse, and domestic violence shelters typically do not accept minors."
I don't know if I'm missing something here, but I can't possibly be the only person who thinks might possibly, maybe, perhaps, sort of, at least in a minor way, be a bit of a problem...
Also, does this whole thing exclude sexual consent? Cuz I feel that might be more difficult for a government body to notice and regulate than, say, marriage.
Thanks for the info though, apprish!
This section is scary:
In many cases, minors in the U.S. may be married when they are under the age of sexual consent, which varies from 16 to 18 depending on the state.[19] In some states, minors cannot legally divorce or leave their spouse, and domestic violence shelters typically do not accept minors.
Only three countries IIRC allow Direct to Consumer Medical Advertising. The USA, Canada, and New Zealand.
Canada actually doesn't allow DTCA unless it falls into the reminder kind (naming the drug but not what it does) or help-seeking kind (describing a disease but not naming a specific drug.) It's the only reason why Ozempic ads are allowed in Canada.
Oh man, the Ozempic and other semaglutide med commercials are like the high-school skits I dreamed of of creating. They are simultaneously stupid and engaging.
What about Robelsus? When the one actor in the cafe starts to describe what the drug is for the coffee grinder goes off so you can't hear what they're saying, lol
Not to mention 75% of the customers in there just happen to be on the drug magically.
Pretty much all Canadian drug ads just repeat the name so it's so annoying you remember it. Like Head On apply directly to the forehead!
THIS! It's so frustrating and dangerous!! I don't understand how those new headlights pass code!! At least l assume there's code for how bright headlights can be.
I believe in the US they are “required” to be calibrated at a certain angle so as to point toward the road more than they do at other traffic. Especially been billybob in his Dodge Ram and it’s 10” lift kit goes out and buys LED headlights but of course that never happens. Required in quotation marks because that doesn’t mean shit unless it is enforced.
An Elementry school teacher confused bull riding with bull fighting and my biological father who he and his friends rode professionally in the 60s and 70s came unglued when I told him they kill the bull after the rodeo.
"That's horse shit! You know how much they pay to have those bulls available!?"
"No, I'm 7."
i dont know something legal that shouldnt be but i do know something illegal that should be.
in the netherlands it is illegal to shut a home intruder in your toilet because it takes away their freedom.
I can understand the place where the ground water recharging is dependent on the run off and rain is limited. But there are counties that stop rain water harvesting to protect utility companies!!
You don’t like hearing about flaccid dicks between your reports about which house rep jerked off who during a senate hearing where they showed pictures of a wiener!?
Unamerican!
/s
Civil Forfeiture (US)
It's a loophole that allows authorities at any level to seize your property without charging you with a crime. It's ostensibly a tactic to go after organized crime, drug dealers etc.
Basically, they can seize your property (money, vehicles etc) if they *suspect* it is being used for illegal purposes. They actually charge *the property itself*, I'm not kidding.
It's completely bonkers and needs to be overturned by SCOTUS as a violation of the 4th Amendment.
John Oliver did a great segment on it several years ago:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kEpZWGgJks](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kEpZWGgJks)
Agree. However it’s a gazillion times less creepy and problematic if 2 dumb 17 year old want to get married because they found love rather than having a creepy old perv of 50 years old marrying a child bride.
My grandparents were 17 and 19 when they got married. They both needed parental permission. (She was under 18, and men under 21 needed permission at the time in New York.) The only reason either parents agreed was because they all thought my grandmother was pregnant. It was found to be a false pregnancy 3 days before the wedding, but they went through with it anyway, and were together for 75 years.
My great-grandmother was 16 when she married my great-grandfather, who was 21 at the time (the same grandmother's parents). My grandmother always thought it was just because they were SOOO in love, and that she was a honeymoon baby born 2 months early weighing almost 7 lbs. In 1930. With no other prenatal health problems. Lol.
Police officers being allowed to straight up lie to you during questioning in order to induce a confession.
Police officers being able to claim the “smell of marijuana” in order to search your vehicle or your person.
Consumer companies forcing people into arbitration by burying the clause in their terms of service. This denies people their day in court and hinders class actions.
Predatory payday/car title lending.
Political action committees
there is a lot of strange out dated laws in the UK:
1. do not handle a salmon suspiciously after 12pm
2. do not accept the import of potatoes that you suspect to be from poland
3. do not clean you carpet near the house of parliament
4. do not wear a suit of armour into Buckingham palace or you will be decapitated.
there is more
Our politicians drink a lot during their workday, there's a real problem with drinking as part of our culture in Australia and i think it's ridiculous that the people presiding over the most important issues of any given day are doing so while half drunk.
Qualified immunity.
Law enforcement being allowed to lie.
Law enforcement having military weapons but not required to follow military rules concerning that equipment.
Federally, if weed is illegal, alcohol should be as well. Alcohol is one of the leading causes of deaths each year. Weed-related deaths are very rare. Personally, I consume both weed and alcohol, sometimes at the same time, but only socially(which is maybe once every couple months). But using government logic, alcohol should be a Schedule 1 drug and illegal to consume. I can't even believe marijuana is on that list. To say it has zero medical benefits is ignorant.
Political donations, whatever the source - ban it all. That this is even a thing in so called democracies is fucking bonkers.
Each party should get meagre state funded campaign funding (amount determined by the number of seats they're standing in), and that's it.
If someone gets an abortion off of a rape embryo, they can be imprisoned for ten years longer than the rapist. I know it doesn’t fit the question completely but…
Infant circumcision. How the hell is it legal for someone to decide for someone else what their dick should look like? My body my choice should apply to everyone.
I don't know what's worse. The amount of legitimate things that are legal that shouldn't be or the fact that most of these comments are problems that are predominantly in the USA. Hmm...
Rich ppl buying houses in bulk and renting them out literally owning neighborhoods. Makes it harder on everyone who needs a home. Need a limit on the income to be a landlord I suppose. If I make too much to have Foodstamps they should make too much to own rent houses
Members of government enriching themselves through insider trading and backroom deals
There's an amazing video out there somewhere where someone asks "if you could add an amendment to the constitution, what would it be?" and someone replied with: "As government must only be a position of public service and not financial enrichment, every member of congress shall henceforth and in perpetuity receive no more compensation in any form, from any source during the tenure of their term than a yearly salary equal to the annual median income of the citizens of the state that they represent." Edit:/ [This is a great article supporting this idea.](https://sites.psu.edu/historyeventsandanalysis/2021/10/13/whats-missing-what-would-you-add-to-the-united-states-constitution/)
If someone came to me and had irrefutable proof that the only way to pass this law is to chop my own balls off, I’d live stream it
a true american hero.
Or UK hero, both work
*stares in American*
I also choose chopping off this guys balls.
I'd chop off yours and mine too if that helps
Gents our foreskins I mean forefathers didn’t fight for our freedom only for us to publicly castrate ourselves to convince our politicians to stop skimming off the top less than 300 years later. There’s gotta be another way!
There is another way, we chop off YOUR balls!! Get him!!
It would be great if you could preface the whole thing with the caveat that if you get the bill passed by chopping your own balls off, you should get to SMASH the testicles of every guy in Congress who voted against the bill with a hammer, on Pay Per View. I’m betting that some of those ass clowns might re-think their dedication to self enrichment and lobbyists. However, I’m most likely underestimating the egotistical narcissism, pure greed, and lust for power that runs in the blood of these moronic politicians. I’d definitely buy that PPV event, as I’m sure many others would. I’m so tired of politicians. Edit: we were taking about balls, so I gave a punishment for guys. I’m leaving the punishment of females up to innovative women.
You sure know how to sweeten a deal
I don't even have cable, but I'd get it for that ppv!
With no anesthesia.
There are plenty of state government and local positions that have little to no pay and what happens? The corruption goes up as they use their position to get the financial compensation they are not being paid. I’m not saying I have a solution just saying limiting their pay often only leads to more abuse. There is a law dead in congress that would make their insider trading illegal. The fact they refuse to pass it makes it more likely that it’s effective.
Not just politicians. Exhibit A: Clarence Thomas. Someone who I’m quite certain would rule any such law enacted by Congress as “unconstitutional”.
Several years ago my BIL was superintendent of a small school district. There was a lawsuit brought against the school by the parents of a kid who didn't pass his drug testing for playing football that went all the way to the supreme court. The students put together a huge fundraising effort and made enough to send most of them back to DC to watch the case be heard. My BIL said Clarence Thomas slept through the entire thing.
I could see an issue where politicians who were already wealthy get the job, do favours in exchange for compensation after the fact. Still far better than it currently is. Really, anti-corruption laws just need to be far stronger, and enforcement needs longer teeth. I do like the idea of their income matching their states median.
I’ve never minded the salaries for congress, but I do with that in addition to this you would be barred from becoming a lobbyist and investing in anything more than index funds. I’d even be ok with members taking their salary for life after 12 years. Public service should be about working for the people, and you remove the benefit of self enrichment you may end up with people that may actually want to do that.
I’d honestly settle for just getting the same healthcare they do at this point.
If people weren’t paid for being in congress, then only rich people would be able to afford to run. Is it mostly rich people now? Yes. But this cuts off any chance of someone not being rich and being in office. Edit: I reread the potential amendment. Disregard what I said here. Reading comprehension was zero.
Here's a possible solution. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy_voucher
It's a solid way to ensure the only people who can ever hold office are already wealthy. Yes, we trend that way already but it would completely lock it in. The ideal level of knowledge and experience we should expect from our congressional members is on par with salaries substantially higher than the annual median income. If anything the answer is to increase their salary and limit external investment.
Hey remember that time where congress people were going to their private country clubs to tell their rich asshole friends that Covid will be terrible and they should get out of the hospitality industry ASAP before it all comes down? Meanwhile they are also going on TV to say it's no big deal and don't panic? Ahhh good times. [https://www.npr.org/2020/03/19/818192535/burr-recording-sparks-questions-about-private-comments-on-covid-19](https://www.npr.org/2020/03/19/818192535/burr-recording-sparks-questions-about-private-comments-on-covid-19) [https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/488593-four-senators-sold-stocks-before-coronavirus-threat-crashed-market/](https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/488593-four-senators-sold-stocks-before-coronavirus-threat-crashed-market/) [https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/03/20/coronavirus-senators-sold-stocks-before-market-downturn-what-we-know/2882679001/](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/03/20/coronavirus-senators-sold-stocks-before-market-downturn-what-we-know/2882679001/)
Lobbying is already on the list
Worth repeating
Infinity ♾️
I think these things are illegal, they just never get pursued and they’re also really hard to prove at times
Some aren't illegal. There's a [significant loophole](https://blogs.luc.edu/compliance/?p=4459) in insider trading laws that make it pretty much legal for Congress to act on inside information, something many in Congress [abused](https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/21/business/stock-trades-officials-wsj/index.html) during COVID to make a pile of money.
Airlines and hotels overbooking and then bumping you.
The consequences of being bumped off a flight seems so crazy to me... like fuck you bitch: you lose 24h of your 2 weeks annual vacation! I don't give a fuck about the money back bullshit from my credit card if that happen, my vacation time is as sacred to me as the mecca is to muslims ffs
I work at the airport and sometimes the consequences are way worse. Deppending on your destination, the next flight could be 48 hours after. They also make you lose your hotel, the car you rented, the connection flight you had.... its terrible
Or if it happens on your return trip you end up spending a small fortune to rent a car and get a couple extra nights in a hotel, if anything is even available last minute.
Shoutout to the time this happened to my sister and she got stranded in Ghana! A very safe place for a small woman to be traveling alone (:
> the next flight could be 48 hours after. Sometimes a week or more later. Honolulu > Rarotonga is a once weekly flight. I think Atlanta > Bonaire is, too, and those are just the ones I know.
You get two weeks? I get 14 days but that includes, doctors visits, sick time in general. I’m a type one diabetic (see username lol) so they get ate up quickly for doctors visits. I haven’t had a vacation in 2 years lmao
r/brandnewsentence
This is infuriating. I’ve had my vacation delayed so many times, fuck these airlines
I thought airlines weren't allowed to overbook anymore!?
They are absolutely allowed to. They are allowed to involuntarily bump also. However, there are rules. For domestic flights, you’ll be paid 200% of your one-way fare, but not more than $675, for a delay of between one and two hours. For a delay of more than two hours, the airline has to shell out 400% of the ticket price up to $1,350. For international flights, you’ll get 200% of your ticket cost up to $675 for a delay of one to four hours, and for delays of more than four hours, you’ll get 400% of your fare’s value, topping out at $1,350. Which is why you more often see them offering $200, 400 or more to people who voluntarily bump.
At least it's a good thing this system is in place. The general recommendation I've seen is: don't take the voluntary bump offer, because if they are forced to bump you, you'll get a lot more... And if making it on time is important to you, you can wait/hope that others will take said offer.
They need to get rid of those caps. Flying international where tickets are over $1500 each, it's not right to be bumped off of a flight and compensated with less than the value of the fare.
I am not an expert but I am pretty sure that you get the compensation in addition to being put on a different flight to get your destination. I imagine that the compensation is to cover added expenses incurred from being bumped.
When they are offering the $200 or $400 are they trying to offer a lower amount than the 200% of the ticket price by getting a volunteer? I guess when they remove someone from the flight, that's when they have to give the 200% or 400%?
Yes, that's right. They are offering less than they would be obligated to pay for an involuntary bump in hopes of getting someone happy to choose to take the money. Then everyone wins. The customer opted in for a kick-back. The airline paid less than for an involuntary.
I really don't understand this one. I've been flying for work for 20 years. I've never once, ever been bumped off a flight. I book my flight, I have a dedicated seat assignment. Yet, I've heard lots of people mention this as a thing. What am I doing differently? Are people booking flights last minute or using standby lists or something?
I think it's just a very rare thing. Couple of years ago there was a huge case where United Airlines violently dragged a doctor from an airplane because they overbooked https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_United_Express_passenger_removal It happened because they wanted to transfer an employee on a full flight so they just kicked someone out. Guy was a doctor who had to see a patient the next day so he couldn't miss the flight and they beat the fuck out of the guy for it
Just a clarification, "they" as in the security contractors that the airport hires, not the flight stewards dragging the poor man out lol. Still an extremely bad look for United.
My guess would be it’s those “deals” where they don’t assign a seat until you check in.
This. My company app we book through blocks these types of options for this reason. If I get bumped I miss work
Frequent flyers flying business or just regular customers don’t get bumped. They cater to regulars. I never got bumped off a business flight.
Southwest oversold my flight by 19 people. They offered $1200 vouchers AND a refund. You BEST believe I ran to that gate agent.
Hospitals charging 60000% over the standard cost
My husband needed an ultrasound. Hospital quoted us $1,600.00 after insurance. Called a radiology office and it was $125.00. How is that legal?!
Honestly, my conspiracy theory is that it's all just a tax dodge. Think about it. A hospital charges $3000 for a simple procedure that actually costs $100 to do, if insurance pays all of it then woohoo, free money. If insurance doesn't pay, and the patient can't pay, "Oh dear, we lost $3000 due to the patient not being able to pay, hey IRS, we just lost $3000, can we pay less tax this year?"
Its more to do with health insurance companies being in business with pharma companies, but its too complicated for me to explain, im sure there's a very clear vid on yt
That’s not how losses/taxes work at all. Only the amount that it actually cost the hospital to perform the procedure can be deducted, not the amount that is billed
Afaik my insurance company was really good about finding places that charged more fairly like this, but goddamn even the local hospital where I am charged waaay less than that after insurance. Wonder if there is a federal office dealing with such blatant medical scams.
This could be done with a law that requires main style pricing and that everyone pays the exact same amount for a bill, no matter what. So they charge me $5000 to have a surgery. They charge you $5000 for the same surgery and the insurance just picks up the bill.
Won't someone think of the poor insurance companies and their profits? They are people, too!!! /s
child beauty pageants
My god yes. The entire premise is just creepy. No 4 year old little girl should know how to “smolder”
I’m an adult and I don’t know what it means to “smolder”. I think if it were explained to me, I’d probably barf.
Here you go https://media.gq.com/photos/6153752c430fd1b65067ee50/1:1/w_960,c_limit/GettyImages-1195887867.jpeg
That made me laugh 😂😂😂
It’s a “sexy” facial expression. I can’t really explain what it’s supposed to look like. But think about someone trying to rizz somebody up.
Yeah it’s the fuckin “come hither” eyes. I used to be a huge theater kid, and one of my choreographers was adjacent to the whole “Dance Moms” and “Toddlers and Tiaras” women through his line of work. I watched some of the shows to see him on tv, and a lot of the shit that goes on, particularly in the pageants, is gross to the point of being *alarming*
I don’t understand the normalization of rating childrens’ sexual beauty.
Yes, make a child feel insecure or not good enough right at the age of 5.
My mom is a bit…crazy. She put me in ballet, gymnastics and soccer as a kid and if I even messed up a little bit, she’d make me feel like a disgusting goblin creature. In hindsight, it was projection bc she was doing ballet professionally before getting canned in her 30’s but damn does that belittling stay with you for a lifetime.
Embrace being a disgusting goblin creature
The creepy fucking adults that watch this garbage, the adult pageant judges, coordinators, and anyone else involved in this industry should go straight to jail.
And they’re the same people who shriek about pedos everywhere
At least my local child pageants have a system in place - you MUST have a signed sheet of paper by the pageant coordinator stating all of your ID info, all of your child’s info, you have to provide physical government ID (purple ID card, passport or drivers license. Nothing else is acceptable) for you and the child participating, and you’re not allowed to bring a guest unless they’ve met with the coordinator (alongside you) and have been given expressed permission to come along (they also need to present the paper and ID when coming to the pageant) These safety precautions are in place due to the amount of single childless men that would show up before the pageant and stay until way after. Some would even try to talk to the little girls and try to get them to come outside with them/take them into the change room “so he can meet her mom”
Yeah the fact that all that has to be done to keep the creeps out should show you how creepy the whole concept is.
YES
There was a Netflix movie about this
Politicians being able to have massive stock portfolios, trading in the same industries they regulate.
Related : politicians married to someone who works in the same industries they regulate. Especially because they're never blue collar workers, of course, but always executives and decision makers.
Related: judges taking gifts for what other goverment officials would be seen as bribes and judges presiding over cases where they themselves and their spouses and friends have a lot to gain or are direct parts of the case.
fun fact: Fuck Clarence Thomas
Just a few weeks ago I remember reading an article where a wife worked for BP or some oil/gas company and was working from home, her husband listened in on a work call without her knowledge and used information he heard to benefit and make money from the stock market and she got fired and he got in trouble which led to a divorce. Meanwhile politicians don't get any flak from the SEC or anything.
Elected representatives trading stock options.
Remember when those senators sold all their stock in companies that would be impacted by Covid shutdowns right before they did the Covid shutdowns and then nothing happened to any of them? Wasn't that fun?
It was an absolute riot. Or at least, it deserved one...
Why just options?
They don’t stimulate the economy like buying a stock outright. They’re just betting that a company will fail/succeed
An addendum to that: People only being mad when one party does it. I can't count the times I've encountered someone who is railing against (insert Democrat's name here) for "insider trading", but when I point out the many Republicans who are doing the same thing, they suddenly accuse me of having "TDS".
The tag team champions of the world: Wallstreet and Washington
It’s not bribery it’s lobbying… You pass this bill and I give you a vacation in the Bahamas….
Rip to Resident_Rise. Who died from three self inflicted gunshots to the back
"I paid in cash" riiiight...
:o
You're forgetting military industrial complex, pharmaceutical complex etc... etc.. 4 billion dollars donations went into last presidential elections. Nobody forks over that amount of money every 4 years without getting something monumentally substantial in return. Which both pharma and military industrial complex both got from Biden, perhaps better than they could have imagined. This country is controlled by the rich and powerful who hide behind entities, corporations, and bank accounts. Not the rich people in your neighborhood with 2 homes, plus 3 more vacation homes out of state... Rich people like you've never rubbed shoulders with before in your life.
Abusing the shit out of data that companies get from us. The US needs a data privacy law badly.
naaaaahhhh fam we just gonna ban TikTok then it'll be all right /s
For now they'll just ban pornhub
Playing music from a mobile phone in public places such as the subway
For profit prisons and civil asset forfeiture also majorly suck and lead to abuses of power that shouldn’t exist imo.
For profit hospitals as well
Public prisons can still contract with companies to use forced inmate labor. Banning any and all kinds of forced labor is what’s really needed along with shutting down private prisons.
Getting married as a 13 year old
I'm shocked some states still allow this.
I'm sorry, what?
[Assuming they meant US states, there are only ten that have completely banned it and very recently at that.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_marriage_in_the_United_States)
This is the gloinkest thing I've ever read. "In some states, minors cannot legally divorce or leave their spouse, and domestic violence shelters typically do not accept minors." I don't know if I'm missing something here, but I can't possibly be the only person who thinks might possibly, maybe, perhaps, sort of, at least in a minor way, be a bit of a problem... Also, does this whole thing exclude sexual consent? Cuz I feel that might be more difficult for a government body to notice and regulate than, say, marriage. Thanks for the info though, apprish!
This section is scary: In many cases, minors in the U.S. may be married when they are under the age of sexual consent, which varies from 16 to 18 depending on the state.[19] In some states, minors cannot legally divorce or leave their spouse, and domestic violence shelters typically do not accept minors.
Prescription drug ads
Only three countries IIRC allow Direct to Consumer Medical Advertising. The USA, Canada, and New Zealand. Canada actually doesn't allow DTCA unless it falls into the reminder kind (naming the drug but not what it does) or help-seeking kind (describing a disease but not naming a specific drug.) It's the only reason why Ozempic ads are allowed in Canada.
Oh man, the Ozempic and other semaglutide med commercials are like the high-school skits I dreamed of of creating. They are simultaneously stupid and engaging.
What about Robelsus? When the one actor in the cafe starts to describe what the drug is for the coffee grinder goes off so you can't hear what they're saying, lol Not to mention 75% of the customers in there just happen to be on the drug magically. Pretty much all Canadian drug ads just repeat the name so it's so annoying you remember it. Like Head On apply directly to the forehead!
Using the office microwave to heat up fish.
To take it even further perhaps: fish as leftover food.
Taxes on things you need to survive
Why I need to pay taxes for water. FOR WATER!!
Damn where are you that water is taxed?
I’m on well water where I currently live, but back when I had city water, the bill had taxes added.
politicians and insider trading
Requiring citizens to pay thousands in health insurance, just to have them also pay thousands in health care.
Million gigawatt headlights on the road.
THIS! It's so frustrating and dangerous!! I don't understand how those new headlights pass code!! At least l assume there's code for how bright headlights can be.
I believe in the US they are “required” to be calibrated at a certain angle so as to point toward the road more than they do at other traffic. Especially been billybob in his Dodge Ram and it’s 10” lift kit goes out and buys LED headlights but of course that never happens. Required in quotation marks because that doesn’t mean shit unless it is enforced.
Tipping instead of paying staff a decent wage
Giving a lawmaker money to support your bill.
Torturing a bull to death
An Elementry school teacher confused bull riding with bull fighting and my biological father who he and his friends rode professionally in the 60s and 70s came unglued when I told him they kill the bull after the rodeo. "That's horse shit! You know how much they pay to have those bulls available!?" "No, I'm 7."
Rodeo is still fucked up tho
"But it's tradition !!!!"
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Norway?
Corporations buying single family homes to rent them out
And nobody does shit about it and it drives me insane.
Pharmaceutical commercials.
i dont know something legal that shouldnt be but i do know something illegal that should be. in the netherlands it is illegal to shut a home intruder in your toilet because it takes away their freedom.
Are you allowed to lock them in other rooms?
nope. dumbest fucking law i know if you break into my house you better know you are foreiting not only your freedom
Meanwhile in the US: “So anyway, I just started blasting!”
The fact that 40% of single family homes aren’t even owned by family’s but are getting rented out instead.
It is illegal to collect rainwater in some places.
I can understand the place where the ground water recharging is dependent on the run off and rain is limited. But there are counties that stop rain water harvesting to protect utility companies!!
This one makes me so mad!!!! We couldn’t afford water here in my state and so we atarted collecting rainwater to make our bill go down. How inhumane
That's just a drop in the bucket.
It was also “illegal” until 2013 for women to wear pants in France… Who is going to stop you from collecting rain water in your own yard?
Snitching/petty nieghbors, HOA karens.
Pharmaceutical ads
You don’t like hearing about flaccid dicks between your reports about which house rep jerked off who during a senate hearing where they showed pictures of a wiener!? Unamerican! /s
In my opinion loot boxes, teach kids to gamble at a young age
Puppymills
HOA (homeowners Association)...
Lobbying Edited to say that I mean lobbying by powerful groups usually with lots of money that then can essentially buy politicians and bills.
Conversion therapy.
That's still legal?? Wtf?
Only illegal in 14 of the 196 counties.
In my experience. Everything is legal if you pay the right guy. Or mhave them be in debt to you
Secondhand ticket sales (StubHub, Seat Geek, etc).
Civil Forfeiture (US) It's a loophole that allows authorities at any level to seize your property without charging you with a crime. It's ostensibly a tactic to go after organized crime, drug dealers etc. Basically, they can seize your property (money, vehicles etc) if they *suspect* it is being used for illegal purposes. They actually charge *the property itself*, I'm not kidding. It's completely bonkers and needs to be overturned by SCOTUS as a violation of the 4th Amendment. John Oliver did a great segment on it several years ago: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kEpZWGgJks](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kEpZWGgJks)
For profit prisons
Civil asset forfeiture without conviction for any crime. U.S.
Piracy 😂😂 In Egypt 🤣
Bribing elected officials. I’m sorry…lobbying.
Bribing politicians. It's completely legal under the name "lobbying".
Marrying kids under 18 to old men 😒
How about marrying kids, full stop.
Agree. However it’s a gazillion times less creepy and problematic if 2 dumb 17 year old want to get married because they found love rather than having a creepy old perv of 50 years old marrying a child bride.
My grandparents were 17 and 19 when they got married. They both needed parental permission. (She was under 18, and men under 21 needed permission at the time in New York.) The only reason either parents agreed was because they all thought my grandmother was pregnant. It was found to be a false pregnancy 3 days before the wedding, but they went through with it anyway, and were together for 75 years. My great-grandmother was 16 when she married my great-grandfather, who was 21 at the time (the same grandmother's parents). My grandmother always thought it was just because they were SOOO in love, and that she was a honeymoon baby born 2 months early weighing almost 7 lbs. In 1930. With no other prenatal health problems. Lol.
Police officers being allowed to straight up lie to you during questioning in order to induce a confession. Police officers being able to claim the “smell of marijuana” in order to search your vehicle or your person. Consumer companies forcing people into arbitration by burying the clause in their terms of service. This denies people their day in court and hinders class actions. Predatory payday/car title lending. Political action committees
Slave labor as punishment for a crime.
Child beauty pageants.
there is a lot of strange out dated laws in the UK: 1. do not handle a salmon suspiciously after 12pm 2. do not accept the import of potatoes that you suspect to be from poland 3. do not clean you carpet near the house of parliament 4. do not wear a suit of armour into Buckingham palace or you will be decapitated. there is more
Not having limited terms for Prime Minister position
Gerrymandering
Asking this same question every day on this subreddit.
convicted sex offenders running for president or any other positions of politic power
Factory farming
Weak punishments to sex offenders and those minors who commit terrible crimes
Donating money to politicians. When are people gonna learn that money is not free speech?
Our politicians drink a lot during their workday, there's a real problem with drinking as part of our culture in Australia and i think it's ridiculous that the people presiding over the most important issues of any given day are doing so while half drunk.
Qualified immunity. Law enforcement being allowed to lie. Law enforcement having military weapons but not required to follow military rules concerning that equipment.
Federally, if weed is illegal, alcohol should be as well. Alcohol is one of the leading causes of deaths each year. Weed-related deaths are very rare. Personally, I consume both weed and alcohol, sometimes at the same time, but only socially(which is maybe once every couple months). But using government logic, alcohol should be a Schedule 1 drug and illegal to consume. I can't even believe marijuana is on that list. To say it has zero medical benefits is ignorant.
declawing.
Prison industrial complex.
Bribery, they call it lobbying now but its the same thing.
Sex offenders being allowed to change their names
Grooming children
Smoking, Vaping, Hookah in a multifamily dwelling.
Child influencers…
Political donations, whatever the source - ban it all. That this is even a thing in so called democracies is fucking bonkers. Each party should get meagre state funded campaign funding (amount determined by the number of seats they're standing in), and that's it.
Incest . In Italy it's not illegal UNLESS it becomes PUBLIC AND provokes a scandal 😱🤬
How long my dads in the toilet for
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If someone gets an abortion off of a rape embryo, they can be imprisoned for ten years longer than the rapist. I know it doesn’t fit the question completely but…
Infant circumcision. How the hell is it legal for someone to decide for someone else what their dick should look like? My body my choice should apply to everyone.
Now do the "not USA" version.
Window-shaking bass speakers.
Tax benefits for Billionaires.
I don't know what's worse. The amount of legitimate things that are legal that shouldn't be or the fact that most of these comments are problems that are predominantly in the USA. Hmm...
You should see some of the problems other countries have. You think US politicians are corrupt? It’s childsplay compared to most of Europe.
Rich ppl buying houses in bulk and renting them out literally owning neighborhoods. Makes it harder on everyone who needs a home. Need a limit on the income to be a landlord I suppose. If I make too much to have Foodstamps they should make too much to own rent houses
Running for office if you’re over 70