Another Reason the United States is Terrible

[Nessus]

The Supreme Court gave corporations a major win Wednesday, ruling in a 5-4 decision that companies can block their disgruntled customers from joining together in a class-action lawsuit. The ruling arose from a California lawsuit involving cellphones, but it will have a nationwide impact.

In the past, consumers who bought a product or a service had been free to join a class-action lawsuit if they were dissatisfied or felt they had been cheated. By combining these small claims, they could bring a major lawsuit against a corporation.

But in Wednesday's decision, the high court said that under the Federal Arbitration Act companies can force these disgruntled customers to arbitrate their complaints individually, not as part of a group. Consumer-rights advocates said this rule would spell the end for small claims involving products or services..

The place is a shit hole. They want to make this a tourist destination? Piece of advice for everyone, everywhere. Don't ever travel to the United States. The culture there is pathetic. Their system of laws is almost non-existent. In some ways its even worse then South Africa the rape capital of the world.

[wiggin]

Dude, we all know Lewk is a dick, you don't need to belabor the point.

[Nessus]

Whimsy aside, we could discuss the news at hand!

[Dreadnaught]

I dislike the proliferation of class action law suits and the lawyers they fund, but this doesn't seem to really be in the best interest of consumers at all.

You also haven't been here Nessie. We eagerly await your inevitable interactions with Amerika!

[littlelolligagged]

Do you actually have to go somewhere to know you won't like it or that it isn't a nice place to live, Dread?

I mean, I don't need to experience life in Darfur to know I don't want to go there.

[Dreadnaught]

Yeah, but that's Darfur. It's obviously not a place anyone wants to go. The US is clearly different. Hundreds of thousands aim to immigrate to the US each year.

Nessie's hyperbolic language is exactly that, which is why it's amusing.

[Flixy]

Yeah, but that's Darfur. It's obviously not a place anyone wants to go. The US is clearly different. Hundreds of thousands aim to immigrate to the US each year.

Nessie's hyperbolic language is exactly that, which is why it's amusing.

I notice how you did not post this in the threat about the middle east, while a lot of people choose to visit that place. Just sayin'...

[wiggin]

I notice how you did not post this in the threat about the middle east, while a lot of people choose to visit that place. Just sayin'...

Actually this isn't a bad point. Dubai is a pretty big immigration destination (at least for guest workers) inside the Middle East. That being said, it isn't exactly high on the list for the broader world.

As for tourism, plenty of people tour in shitholes on a regular basis so I don't think it's a very good metric. Aiming to stay somewhere is a better one, but UAE doesn't do too badly there from a regional standpoint.

[Flixy]

Actually this isn't a bad point. Dubai is a pretty big immigration destination (at least for guest workers) inside the Middle East. That being said, it isn't exactly high on the list for the broader world.

As for tourism, plenty of people tour in shitholes on a regular basis so I don't think it's a very good metric. Aiming to stay somewhere is a better one, but UAE doesn't do too badly there from a regional standpoint.

I don't think you have to have been to a place to say something about it in the first place. And 'been there' includes tourism. For what it's worth, I've been in the USA and it didn't change my views on the USA. Well, my views on Washington DC have changed - I did not expect, even in the USA, to have bums, hookers, and rats on the streets only three blocks or so from the white house (and there were quite a lot of beggars in all cities, but that's to be expected in big cities). So I guess that's not a positive change of my view on the social-economic side of the US Other than that, not really anything very surprising or view changing.

Plus I think a bigger point is that Lewk's thread (and some reactions) are fairly stupid, first of all the case seems to be nothing like the OP, second, if it's just an incident, there's tonnes of those in the USA too. I mean, you can criticize Dubai on a lot of things, but that thread is nothing better than this. In fact, this thread is about something in the system, not an incident. Which is more worthwhile to discuss.

[GGT]

I Well, my views on Washington DC have changed - I did not expect, even in the USA, to have bums, hookers, and rats on the streets only three blocks or so from the white house (and there were quite a lot of beggars in all cities, but that's to be expected in big cities). So I guess that's not a positive change of my view on the social-economic side of the US Other than that, not really anything very surprising or view changing.

They probably didn't let you go into the seedier parts of DC either. Stark contrast.

[EyeKhan]

I thought Nessus had visited the US some years ago. Vague memories.... not sure. Nessus, didn't you once have a finance that lived in the US?

[Nessus]

I thought Nessus had visited the US some years ago. Vague memories.... not sure. Nessus, didn't you once have a finance that lived in the US?

She was here, I was never there.

Dread, I never wrote up a trip report about Grenoble, either. Suffice to say that voyage did not convince me of the superiority of the French people. I find your attitude insults all those US-based figures before and with me, sharing my ideas but not (in your eyes) suffering from this caustic malady of not having been there. I must, yet again and to my utter frustration, air my objection and offence at your suggestion that I'd be suckling GOP tit soon as I saw the splendors of the US first-hand. I have seen the handi-work of Communism first-hand, and yet my anti-Bolshevist sentiment felt not one twinge of regret, you think seeing Trump hotels would have an effect opposite? Ugh.

[Dreadnaught]

Dread, I never wrote up a trip report about Grenoble, either. Suffice to say that voyage did not convince me of the superiority of the French people. I find your attitude insults all those US-based figures before and with me, sharing my ideas but not (in your eyes) suffering from this caustic malady of not having been there. I must, yet again and to my utter frustration, air my objection and offence at your suggestion that I'd be suckling GOP tit soon as I saw the splendors of the US first-hand. I have seen the handi-work of Communism first-hand, and yet my anti-Bolshevist sentiment felt not one twinge of regret, you think seeing Trump hotels would have an effect opposite? Ugh.

I don't expect you to suckle at the GOP teat. I don't do that either.

I just think life here would seem less "alien", because you clearly think I live on another planet.

Just like in two days I will go to Spain and learn a lot more about it, and yonder it will be interesting and fun.

[Nessus]

I don't expect you to suckle at the GOP teat. I don't do that either.

I just think life here would seem less "alien", because you clearly think I live on another planet.

Just like in two days I will go to Spain and learn a lot more about it, and yonder it will be interesting and fun.

See, an integral part of that 'alien' business is that I don't assume you are me, and you cannot share my experiences. Sadly, the converse is not true and you have childish hopes about my tourism, of all things!

[GGT]

I don't expect you to suckle at the GOP teat. I don't do that either.

Yes, you do.

[Lewkowski]

The place is a shit hole. They want to make this a tourist destination? Piece of advice for everyone, everywhere. Don't ever travel to the United States. The culture there is pathetic. Their system of laws is almost non-existent. In some ways its even worse then South Africa the rape capital of the world.

Wait so your upset that two parties make an agreement and one party now can not unilaterally break the agreement? And you compare that to the rape capital of the world the cesspool called South Africa? Rape vs. EULA? Perspective. Get some.

[Dreadnaught]

I notice how you did not post this in the threat about the middle east, while a lot of people choose to visit that place. Just sayin'...

Yes, but I think visiting the Middle East is great, I've done it several times and only wish I could visit more countries (the trip I was going to take to Turkey next week got switched to a trip to Barcelona). Unlike Nessie, I'm not dismissing anywhere as being unworthy of a visit. Except Darfur.

[Flixy]

Yes, but I think visiting the Middle East is great, I've done it several times and only wish I could visit more countries (the trip I was going to take to Turkey next week got switched to a trip to Barcelona). Unlike Nessie, I'm not dismissing anywhere as being unworthy of a visit. Except Darfur.

Yeah, because Ness totally, in all seriousness, dismissed visiting the USA as unworthy. It wasn't a parallel to any particular American on this board who dismissed visiting an entire geographical area or anything. Are you really that dense?

[earthJoker]

Yes, but I think visiting the Middle East is great, I've done it several times and only wish I could visit more countries ...

That doesn't matter, did the OP of the other thread visit the ME (in particular Dubai)? That's the question.

[Dreadnaught]

I know, I was mostly playing along. It was Lolli who took it semi-seriously.

[Dreadnaught]

Not that it actually matters, but the OP of the other thread lived in Turkey for several years.

Why is everyone getting so riled up?

[Timbuk2]

Why is everyone getting so riled up?

Probably because of statements like ...

the rape capital of the world the cesspool called South Africa?

Filled with bile, hate and ignorance.

I am half South-African, I was born there and my mother was South-African. I have lived there, happily.

Tourism is thriving there. It is a beautiful country to visit. Spectacular scenery and wonderful cities.

There are problems, large ones, which need to be overcome. The transition from apartheid has not gone smoothly.

So I have hope for the country, for my mother's family who live there in Port Elizabeth, Stellenbosch and Cape Town.

Does calling it a cesspool, the rape capital of the world help? In any way at all? No. Lewk is really quite an unpleasant person.

Besides, South Africa is not the rape capital of the world. But don't let facts stand in the way of your bigotry.

~

I have spent four years living in Sharjah, the Emirate next to Dubai. Happy years. It's an unusual country, transformed by oil wealth, towering crystal cities and astonishing projects.

~

See, Lewk, you need to visit these places. Speak to the people. Make up your own mind.

I have. It's called having an open mind. A tolerant one.

Stop focussing on singular, negative issues, and come to the terms with the fact that every country has problems. Just as every country has beauty.

[Lewkowski]

Probably because of statements like ...



Filled with bile, hate and ignorance.

I am half South-African, I was born there and my mother was South-African. I have lived there, happily.

Tourism is thriving there. It is a beautiful country to visit. Spectacular scenery and wonderful cities.

There are problems, large ones, which need to be overcome. The transition from apartheid has not gone smoothly.

So I have hope for the country, for my mother's family who live there in Port Elizabeth, Stellenbosch and Cape Town.

Does calling it a cesspool, the rape capital of the world help? In any way at all? No. Lewk is really quite an unpleasant person.

Besides, South Africa is not the rape capital of the world. But don't let facts stand in the way of your bigotry.

I have spent four years living in Sharjah, the Emirate next to Dubai. Happy years. It's an unusual country, transformed by oil wealth, towering crystal cities and astonishing projects.

So the article you linked to had a date of 04/28. They just decided that, previously by doing a simple google search, South Africa had been called the rape capital of the world.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/258446.stm

A new survey carried out in the South African city of Johannesburg has uncovered an alarming picture of sexual violence.

One in three of the 4,000 women questioned by CIET Africa, non-governmental organisation, said they had been raped in the past year.

CIET researchers trying to find ways of arresting the alarming growth in sexual violence in South Africa said they were shocked by the finding.

Gang rape 'fun'

In a related survey conducted among 1,500 schoolchildren in the Soweto township, a quarter of all the boys interviewed said that 'jackrolling' - a South African term for recreational gang rape - was fun.

More than half the interviewees insisted that when a girl says no to sex she really means yes.

Many of those interviewed also expressed little knowledge about the need to use condoms and to practise safe sex.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_in_South_Africa

Rape and hijacking rates, however, showed no signs of slowdown. Hijackings and cash-in-transit heists, particularly, have been shown to be on the increase. The incidence of rape has led to the country being referred to as the "rape capital of the world"

http://minglecity.com/group/conspira...e-rape-capital

1/4 of all the women in South Africa are raped by the age of 16. And the rape of lesbian women is called "Corrective Rape".

http://lostgirlssa.org/index.php/facts/

A study by Interpol, the international police agency, has revealed that South Africa leads the world in rapes. A woman was raped in South Africa every 17 seconds. This did not include the number of child rape victims. It estimated that one in every two women would be raped. Between 28 and 30 percent of adolescents reported that their first sexual encounter was forced. Of South African men who knew somebody who had been raped, 16 percent believed that the rape survivor had enjoyed the experience and had asked for it.

http://djzeke.com/2011/03/11/capetow...-of-the-world/

Human-rights organizations estimate that over 40% of South African women will be raped in their lifetime and say that only 1 in 9 rapes are reported — which is to say that the average South African woman is more likely to be raped than complete secondary school. A survey by South Africa’s Medical Research Council in June 2009 found that 1 in 4 South African men admitted to having “had sex with a woman when she didn’t consent,” and 46% of those said they had done so more than once.

Seriously what is your argument? Not as bad as another country? Its pretty fucking terrible. Its a good thing you were not a girl or there would be even odds you would have been raped while in South Africa.

[Aimless]

I've always wondered how many rapes are really committed in the US vs. South Africa. Esp. when you account for uneven distribution eg. Johannesburg

[Dreadnaught]

Like rapine per capita? I thought I remembered reading South Africa is the top at some point...

[Aimless]

It's a common belief and no doubt they're one of the worst countries when it comes to sexual violence or violence in general. Of course, nothing is particularly reliable in the realm of rape statistics. And, if it were, we'd have to wonder about the prominent position of the US. And Sweden, of course.

[Aimless]

bahahaha


http://www.salon.com/news/media_crit.../09/journalism

http://webcache.googleusercontent.co...www.google.com

[GGT]

About the OP article---does that mean a corporation like Microsoft can block a class action suit by customers whose PlayStation Live accounts (and personal info) got hacked?

Does it also mean a corporation like Walmart can block a class action suit brought by its employees (like the one currently underway)?

[Nessus]

And it's a good job he's white, too, because there's a good chance that were he a black man in America, he'd be imprisoned and raped in a for-profit institution. So, better than some other country?

[LittleFuzzy]

And it's a good job he's white, too, because there's a good chance that were he a black man in America, he'd be imprisoned and raped in a for-profit institution. So, better than some other country?

By which you mean lows odds, but higher than you'd like (of course, what you'd like would be zero, so the thrust of your complaint is effectively tautological. . .)