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24 June 2025

Stuff Americans say
Land of the free

Stuff Americans say

Bar chart of prison population per 100,000 showing the USA towering over the UK, France, Italy, Ireland, Canada, Germany, Norway and Japan

Instagram Reels screenshot composite with Swedish-language interface ("Svara", "Visa oversattning"). Left: video by mishkashoe (verified) showing woman working on a ceramic rain pot outside a brick house. Text overlay: "Upgrading our rain pot & adding a tap to collect rain water". Audio: echo sax end (8d audio). Location: East Riding. Right: comments. exotic_constrictor_designs_ (13t): "It is illegal in most states to catch rain water!" mishkashoe (Author): "@exotic_constrictor_designs_ not everyone lives in the states.. this is in the uk where it is not illegal". bellvvitchh (13t): "It's illegal to collect rain water here in TN". mishkashoe (Author): "@bellvvitchh that's sad"

News article screenshot. Bold headline: "Suburban Mom Handcuffed, Jailed for Making 8-Year-Old Son Walk Half a Mile Home". Source: Free-Range Kids

TV news screenshot. Chesapeake, Virginia municipal code "Halloween Rules" displayed: "Sec 46-8 - Halloween activities restricted. If over 12 years old - guilty of a misdemeanor. If out after 8 PM - guilty of a misdemeanor. Punishable by a jail sentence of up to 6 months and/or $25-100 fine"

Two-part image. Top: News article headline "Ivy League economist ethnically profiled, interrogated for doing math on American Airlines flight" with photo of bearded man (Guido Menzio). Article text describes a woman next to him on the plane seeing his differential equations and alerting a flight attendant, thinking it was foreign script. Bottom: Reddit comment thread discussing the incident. ChocolateSunrise: "The woman reported him to the crew for having 'suspicious notes.'" Reply by Trumpicana: "Dont you think it more has to do with how a person looks? I mean if a middle eastern person is writing in a weird script on a plane I can see the cause for concern."

Four-panel meme comparing police training across countries. Norway: 3 years of training, 4 fatalities in 20 years. Finland: 3 year degree, 7 people killed by police since 2000. Germany: 2 years of training, 267 fatalities since 1990. USA: 21 weeks of training, 1,004 people killed by police in 2019 ALONE. Each panel has a police officer photo and country flag. Social media comment below with Finnish-language interface: "Can't compare those other cities to the US. Not even close comparison."

Reddit post from r/legal by ShiftyPaladin (5h). Title: "What if I get fired because I take the bus to work?" Post text explains the person works in Grand Rapids, MI and their boss learned they take the bus, said it doesn't reflect well on the company. Worker has a valid driver's licence but doesn't own a car.

HuffPost article screenshot. Headline: "11-Year-Old Arrested At School After Refusing To Stand For The Pledge". Photo of an American flag hanging from a ceiling in what appears to be a school hallway

News article thumbnail. Bored Panda headline: "Guy Is Stunned After Receiving A Complaint From The HOA After A Child Burned Their Hand On His Hot Car". Photo of a grey SUV parked in a residential area

NBC News article screenshot. Headline: "Black woman shot and killed after Kentucky police entered her home as she slept, family says". Photo of Breonna Taylor smiling. Article describes the no-knock warrant shooting in Louisville, Kentucky

Twitter/X post. ju (@juuuila). Tweet: "a columbus police officer came to my political science class today and a student defined assault as 'kicking a handcuffed man who's laying face down in the head' and i've never seen anyone's smile drop so fast" 12:22 AM, 7 Dec 2018.

Reddit post from r/driving by Bozocow (16 years old, 3h). Title: "Should I keep my hands visible at all times during a traffic stop?" Post explains they just got their licence and asks about keeping hands on the steering wheel so police don't think they're reaching for a weapon.

The Intellectualist news article screenshot. Category: Politics/Causes. Headline: "Iowa School Districts Roll Out Mandatory Gun Training For Middle Schoolers". Photo shows children in a classroom with an adult instructor demonstrating with a blue training gun while a young girl holds one. Credit: CBS Evening News/YouTube

Reddit composite. Top: r/technicallythetruth post about "Malia Obama spotted with rose" (underage drinking story). Bottom: comment thread discussing restrictive US laws. Key comment: "Meanwhile, the US ranks 15th on the Freedom Index." Reply: "15th?? I've seen 62nd..." Further reply: "depends on the index"

Satirical meme titled "SWAT TEAM HAND SIGNALS" with 6 panels. Each panel shows a tactical hand signal with a humorous label, all relating to shooting dogs: "SHOOT THE DOG", "I'LL SHOOT THE DOG", "DOG OVER THERE, SHOOT IT", "SHOOT THAT DOG OVER THERE", "THERE'S TWO DOGS, SHOOT THEM", "DOG BEHIND THE DOOR, SHOOT IT"

Screenshot from HBO's Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. Caption: "Wyoming Legislature, February 14, 2019". Photo of a State Senator (R) Wyoming (name redacted). Quote displayed: "The greatest man who ever lived died via the death penalty for you and for me. I'm grateful to him for our future hope because of this. ... If it wasn't for Jesus dying via the death penalty, we would all have no hope." Last Week Tonight watermark tiled across background

Facebook/social media composite. Top: post about a cashier not being allowed to sit down during a shift, with shocked reactions. Bottom: comment (username redacted): "Ah yes let's promote laziness and pay people who want to be lazy more money!!!" with angry-face reaction

News article screenshot with photo. Bold headline: "A Georgia High School Suspended Two Students For Posting Photos Of Crowded Hallways". Photo shows a packed school hallway full of students with backpacks, shoulder to shoulder, barely able to move

TikTok screenshot (username redacted) from inside a school cafeteria. A police officer in dark uniform sits elevated on a lifeguard-style high chair, overlooking students eating lunch. American flag artwork on the wall behind. "Maximum Occupancy Not To Exceed 2400 Persons" sign visible. "Join Student Council - Everyone is Welcome" banner. Caption: "POV: the cops at ur school sit on lifeguard chairs to watch for fights at lunch"

Twitter/X post (username redacted). Tweet: "wait other countries didn't have to sing their national anthem everyday at school for 12 years?????" 2:14 PM, Jun 4, 2020.

Photo of a handwritten poster taped to a classroom wall next to an alphabet chart. The poster is a lockdown drill poem written in coloured marker: "Lockdown, Lockdown / Lock the door / Shut the lights off / Say no more / Go behind the desk / and hide / Wait until it's safe inside / Lockdown, Lockdown / it's all done / Now it's time to have / some fun!"

TikTok/Instagram comment thread with Danish-language interface ("Sog", "kommentarer", "Svar"). Video thumbnail: "How many beers can we drink in IKEA before we get kicked out (Part 2)" with Swedish flag emoji, showing people drinking at an IKEA counter. bizonator (16t): "thats a crime yk?" Krissa (13t): "where is this a crime" with crying emoji. bizonator reply: "alcohol in a public place". Krissa reply: "is not a crime in most countries. I hate to inform you, but most people don't live in the US & this video, also, wasn't taken in the US."

Instagram/TikTok comment thread. Four comments with username redacted, green and pink. First (1w): "imagine killing someone and your punishment is living in a 3 star hotel on the taxpayers' tab?" Second (black, 1w): "It works. It's called rehabilitation. Finnish re-arresting rate are under 35%. The USA is 77%". Third (green, 1w): "We also have like 70% more population than them". Fourth (pink, 1w): "do you know what a rate is"

Photo of a classroom whiteboard with teacher's handwritten message in cursive. Text reads: "HOMEROOM: THINK: We had about a half million Americans die in our Civil War, which was largely to get rid of slavery. There are no longer separate water fountains and bathrooms in Jacksonville for 'White' and 'Colored,' as Mr Goodman remembers from the 1960's. We had an amendment to the U.S. Constitution allowing women the right to vote. We have had a Black president. The superintendent of Duval Schools is a Black woman. Mr Fluent, our principal, replaced a Black man, Mr Simmons, who now is a DCPS administrator. MY POINT? You are all extremely lucky to be living in the U.S.A. If you refuse to stand during the Pledge of Allegiance or our National Anthem, are you revealing maturity and wisdom? Actually, you are displaying the opposite." Additional note about pampered arrogant celebrities and athletes. Motivational signs and framed artwork visible above the whiteboard

Prison population rate per 100,000 of national population

Chart showing the USA's extraordinarily high per capita encarceration rate

Tags:US land of the free·SAS·USA