Curfew restrictions: Is it legal to leave your house?

Rebecca Peterson94 said:Around here, they're always parked in the same spots on the main highway (like near the roundabout, Mutogras, Sućurac, etc.), but there's zero chance they can monitor all those backroads and side paths. People are basically cruising right past them using those shortcuts, just like you described.🙂

Most of my predictions actually end up coming true, quite consistently.
I’m seriously considering a career change. Maybe I should open a Tarot reading booth... ☕

Joseph Taylor11 said:Most of my predictions actually end up coming true, quite consistently.
I’m seriously considering a career change. Maybe I should open a Tarot reading booth... ☕

And then you can just read everyone's fortunes, I guess.🍿

Joseph Taylor11 said:Most of my predictions actually end up coming true, quite consistently.
I’m seriously considering a career change. Maybe I should open a Tarot reading booth... ☕

Astro show! You should probably try casting some spells too, just like that Boris-Crveni magician.🙏
Look, there are just way too many naive, easy-to-manipulate people out there. And honestly? With this recession hitting everyone like a freight train right now, nobody can afford to turn down a side hustle. Even if it’s a grind, extra cash is extra cash when things are this tight. 👍

So, while we're sitting around waiting for this whole lockdown thing to wrap up, I gotta ask—how much longer do you actually think we're stuck in this mess? Give me your best guess. Since you're clearly an expert on the subject, here's your chance to shine. 😁

Jack Cook7 said:

I haven't seen anything from tessaa lately! Where'd they go? Anyway, what's up everyone? kaže:
I shut off the gas and water at the apartment. Left the electricity running though—mostly because I couldn't be bothered to empty out the freezer... so, whatever happens, happens! Bills should just reflect whatever we actually end up using.

Now I’m just sitting here waiting for the city to finally get its act together with Waste Management. Seriously. Waste Management Just got hit with that trash bill. Seriously?

Oh, he absolutely will, don't even sweat it.

I mean, seriously? How am I supposed to ask them how someone could have possibly made any mess at all if they weren't even allowed to stay in the apartment for a month because they didn't officially live there? Like, come on! 🤦

I’m honestly terrified this is just going to be another act in this massive theater of the absurd.

And don't you dare think for a second that one of those city-run agencies is actually gonna send you a bill! Seriously, did you catch how Bloomberg reacted when that reporter asked if Washington, D.C. was finally gonna stop charging for parking like other major US cities? He basically lost it! He was like, "That question is more dangerous than a global pandemic!! I'm not just some politician, I am an institution—I've been elected mayor six times! Don't play games with me!"

It's because the public is essentially sheep—easily bribed with a cheap breakfast sandwich, a shot of brandy, or a small student grant.

Meanwhile, money is being drained from your pocket twice over—funneled into vanity projects and megalomaniacal schemes designed solely for money laundering. Look no further than the last silver coin scandal.

Plus, there's the blame to be shared by those boycotting local elections; they're partially responsible for keeping this filth in power in the capital... Boycotting actually does more harm than good.

stormybadger8 said:Božinović🙏
Local officials already tried to pull a fast one by saying you don't need permits just to move between three damn suburbs that used to be one single area...
Well, they got slapped down, so as of today, yeah, you'll need them. 🤣

God, what a massive mountain of paperwork this is going to be.
The main city is where everyone actually works, since those two surrounding suburbs basically have zero industry...
That means at least 2,000 people are going to have to scramble for permits just to get to work.
And let's not forget the endless list of small business owners who now have to deal with this nonsense too...

How are the folks from those two idiot suburbs supposed to go shopping? They barely have anything there—maybe a tiny corner store and a private bakery, but not even a gas station...

If the cops actually bother enforcing this, they're definitely going to take bribes and then spread the corruption further. It’s a perfect recipe for disaster. 🤦

I'm just waiting for this to blow up so the mob shows up at the mayor's house with pitchforks and torches, burns the place down, and hunts down anyone else brave enough to run for office...

Now we're finally going to see how pathetic and broken those suburbs really are, and just how vital it is to scrap this whole thing.
And if they actually get rid of it, let's start a GoFundMe to build Božinović the biggest monument ever seen among Americans. 🙏

In Seattle, they already streamlined the process for getting permits via mobile apps—I have no idea what everyone else is waiting for.

Does the online residency registration via e-ID actually work?

I’ve seen plenty of cases where people—mostly because of the whole pandemic mess and the fear of bringing something home to their families—decided to temporarily bunk up in empty apartments owned by relatives.

A lot of these places are just 10-9.3 miles minutes outside the city limits, but technically they fall under a different municipality.

So, what happens with folks in that spot?
From what I gather, the law says you don't even need to register your residence if you're staying somewhere for less than three months, but what are you supposed to do now with all these pass requirements hanging over our heads?

Keith Barrett2 said:Does the online residency registration via e-ID actually work?

I’ve seen plenty of cases where people—mostly because of the whole pandemic mess and the fear of bringing something home to their families—decided to temporarily bunk up in empty apartments owned by relatives.

A lot of these places are just 10-9.3 miles minutes outside the city limits, but technically they fall under a different municipality.

So, what happens with folks in that spot?
From what I gather, the law says you don't even need to register your residence if you're staying somewhere for less than three months, but what are you supposed to do now with all these pass requirements hanging over our heads?

Look, just use the e-visitor system to sign up. Honestly, I'm pretty sure that's the only way to actually get through right now.
So, here's the deal with the transit passes: the employer actually covers them, but there's a catch. They only pay for the commute between your home address and the office, and that's it. No extra perks for running errands or hitting up the mall on the way home—just the straight shot to work and back.

dustymarlin10 said:Pure stupidity.
So you're basically saving some 94-year-old who was probably checking out in two days anyway, all while shaving years off the lives of hundreds of thousands of people? Really?

In a functional country, you’d be behind bars for saying something like that.
Lucky for everyone that you aren't a doctor or running for office.

Jack Cook7 said:This CDC guy is turning into such a massive joke. Look, I don’t have the highest opinion of the CDC to begin with (not that I want to get into why right now), but this whole thing is just crossing the line. It seems like there isn't a single job the political party can't hand out to one of their buddies, but the second they actually have to do something real? Total chaos.

Someone already brought this up, but let me say it again: none of the officials—and I'm looking mainly at Beroš here, since Capak seems way too dim to even answer this—has said:

- Just how much are all these anti-corona measures going to cost this country? First off, in terms of medical bills, and second, in terms of the economy grinding to a halt.

- How many people are going to die or end up permanently disabled compared to previous years, given that most of the healthcare system's resources are tied up fighting COVID? If we save, say, 100 people from the virus, but 500 more people die from other illnesses than they did last year, then the math just doesn't add up.

The only silver lining to crushing the economy is that the political party will finally be forced to start cutting salaries and laying people off in the public sector. Even that idiot Vilim Ribić is out there whining and crying about how cutting pay and firing public workers will hit consumer spending hard, which will lead to layoffs in the private sector because nobody will have money to buy anything... honestly, you can't even laugh at the guy anymore. It's not polite to laugh at people with special needs.

Anyway, Beroš and that little remnant of Capak are stubbornly dodging one specific question. See, incubation basically lasts up to 14 days. That means this stabilization at around 60 new cases over the last three days isn't the result of Capak's "tougher" measures (or his threats of even tougher ones, damn him!) but rather the stuff they did 7 to 15 days ago when they shut down cafes, restaurants, hair salons, and stuff like that. Just to remind them: that mass outing on Sunday, March 22nd in Washington, D.C. because of the earthquake is definitely going to cause a spike in infections in about a week (around April 1st). And Mr. Strict Joke will surely take that as ultimate proof that Americans weren't being obedient enough and need to be disciplined even harder.

Same goes for Beroš—he won't say why he didn't stop travel toward Italy and Austria in time, even though everyone knew those were the new hotspots where our first cases came from. Same goes for why he was letting locals return from Germany without quarantine, allowing them to join the first wave.

Either... or... maybe they actually have no clue what they're doing!!?? 😲

So they just practice being strict by blaming us and throwing around nonsense just to hide their own ignorance, incompetence, cronyism, and total disorganization!?

But nah, it couldn't be that. It's the political party! Hey! Par-ty!

I'd take him over Kalinica or Beros any day of the week.

Rebecca Peterson94 said:Look, just use the e-visitor system to sign up. Honestly, I'm pretty sure that's the only way to actually get through right now.
So, here's the deal with the transit passes: the employer actually covers them, but there's a catch. They only pay for the commute between your home address and the office, and that's it. No extra perks for running errands or hitting up the mall on the way home—just the straight shot to work and back.

Can you actually register your own apartment through e-visitor too?
Like, if the person doesn't officially live there but they actually own the place.

I mean, some people just head over temporarily to stay in an aunt's or a brother's place while they're living out in Europe, leaving their actual homes here in America sitting empty since they only show up for the summer. What are we even supposed to do about those cases?

Keith Barrett2 said:Can you actually register your own apartment through e-visitor too?
Like, if the person doesn't officially live there but they actually own the place.

I mean, some people just head over temporarily to stay in an aunt's or a brother's place while they're living out in Europe, leaving their actual homes here in America sitting empty since they only show up for the summer. What are we even supposed to do about those cases?

It’s not just that you can—it’s that you absolutely have to! And honestly, they give you the option to pay the tourist tax for the entire season upfront instead of doing it day by day. It's exactly like how you used to pay at the local tourism office before e-visitor existed.

stormybadger8 said:Look, I’m basically like your old man here. I don't have any issues when it comes to myself or my family, because right now I've got enough supplies stashed away—assuming the dollar doesn't go completely to hell—to sit around and do absolutely nothing for a few years without breaking a sweat.

Dammit, I'm clearly better at hanging out than I am at running a business.
Why is it that even when I pay everything on time, stay out of trouble, and don't act like some massive social burden, I still get nothing?
Well, that’s because I’m not out here hiring a massive crowd, even if I actually could. In fact, lately, I haven't hired anyone except myself...
I'm not out here looking for more work, even though I probably could handle it... if anything, I actually scaled back before all this madness started because my life is finally sorted. Honestly, at my age, I just don't need that kind of stress or all that extra crap in my life.

I’ve never even bothered chasing those massive career moves. I just never had the appetite for that kind of investment. Honestly, what I have right now is more than enough for me. In fact, I actually turned down some huge opportunities while everyone else was looking at me like I was some clueless kid.
Personally, it worked out great for me. But for everyone else and the local community? It’s a total bust. There's zero progress, no new jobs being created, and honestly, in today's economy, it's just straight-up garbage.

It’s pretty obvious, and honestly, it makes anyone in the public sector furious—there’s a massive crowd of parasites among us who don't do a single lick of work.

Private sector folks shouldn't be out here preaching about pay cuts and mass layoffs for everyone in the public sector. If they actually pull that off, the first people getting screwed over will be those of us without political connections or any kind of leverage. And trust me, there are way more of us than the private sector realizes.

That's on you, and honestly, it's your own fault.
Because you guys are part of that whole system and just stay quiet about it. You know damn well who’s just there for a paycheck and who’s actually useless, yet you all just keep your mouths shut...

When that massive corporate hack Sever starts whining about tangerine prices at the market or grumbling about salaries, you guys should just get out there on the street and tell him, "Screw you, Sever. You make more than the Prime Minister. You've been talking trash for 30 years and haven't done a single damn thing for us public sector workers—everything you do is just for yourself and lazy freeloaders like you."
Not you folks who actually put in the work and deserve a raise, parading around in a group just to beg for a measly 2, 3, or 5% bump. If it were up to me, wouldn't you be walking away with a solid hundred?$67And let’s be real—you all know he’s going to walk away with a few thousand bucks, and in the end, we're the ones footing the bill for the whole damn thing. People like him aren't exactly rare, unfortunately.

The Secretary of Commerce doesn't deserve a bigger paycheck than some guy driving pavers at a construction site in Germany.

Spot on, just like all the other ministers...
There's the catch. There's the catch right there. 😉

Because we’re clearly expecting top-tier experts to work for the salary of some guy driving a dotting machine...
Oh yeah, absolutely. I’m sure we’ll get top-tier experts for that kind of money. 🙂
You have to wonder—it’s exactly because they pull those kinds of salaries that we end up with "experts" like this. We've got guys who are so economically illiterate that not even a small business owner would trust them to manage a warehouse or run a cash register for minimum wage, let alone handle anything more important than that.

Some parts of the system are insanely overcrowded, while others—mostly where you actually need people, like Healthcare, higher ed, and science—are completely bone-dry.

Partially right...
The truth is, they're facing a massive shortage of actual experts over there, yet somehow they've still got a huge surplus of people because the whole system is chronically disorganized.

Even in those systems, you’ve got a sick amount of people—way too many people in all the wrong places.
And at the same time, you’ve got a massive shortage of people exactly where they actually need to be... damn it.
And that’s especially true in those systems you mentioned.

Well, there you have it... Washington, D.C. is just being itself.
So, there are like 20 hospitals currently operating out of old, run-down barns. Does that mean we also have 20 directors, 20 secretaries, 20 accounting departments, and all that other blah blah blah?
Instead of building one actual, decent hospital a long time ago and hiring a single director, we basically just threw all that money into a bottomless pit and spent it fixing up some old barns. If we had done things right, maybe we’d actually have 20 directors by now.
Do some math and figure out how many redundant employees are actually in that system. Then calculate how many more doctors or nurses we could hire with the money being wasted on all those completely useless people.
How much did it even cost just to maintain and patch up those potholes in the first place? And now, how much is it going to run to fix everything after the earthquake? Even if they patch it up, it’s still going to be that same old crumbling eyesore. Every single one of those hospitals is just an old wreck, no matter how much they try to mask it with drywall or whatever else they use to hide the damage.

It's the exact same story when it comes to the school system...

Of course they’re useless. But hey, that’s public administration for you—just one part of the massive public sector machine. Now everyone’s out here pushing for pay cuts and layoffs across the entire public sector. Typical.

They aren't any more or less useless than those other directors and whatever else...
At the end of the day, they're both being hired using the exact same playbook—and let's be real, half those job positions are probably just made up anyway.
I mean, wouldn't there just be room for some party buddies, good friends, cousins looking for a handout, and blah blah blah...
Same kid, same tools, provided by the same people.

It's basically a public service that’s completely useless and should have been scrapped ages ago. I know a guy at one of these agencies who barely scraped through college after ten years of studying—guy's as dim as they come—and he landed a job there immediately after graduation just to spend his days producing nothing but pure nonsense.

Those guys don't even have a clue why they're there.
Honestly, it would’ve been cheaper just to pay them to stay home and do absolutely nothing instead of having them show up to work at all.
If we weren't wasting electricity, water, and gas while paying for space and doing useless busywork along the way, it would be a massive saving.

Even though everyone would probably lose their minds over it, realistically, that would still be better than having 🤦

The bottom line is it would be great if private companies didn't just go on indiscriminate firing sprees. Go ahead and call out the incompetent government and bloated public administration—that's a nest of cronies—but don't blame the entire public sector. There are plenty of people in there who have nothing to do with the slackers or the political hires.

True, but it’s pretty stupid to expect private businesses to be the ones cleaning up your sector or pointing out exactly what’s broken within it.
YOU are the ones who should be the first to scream about what’s working and what isn't in the public sector. YOU are the ones who need to shout about where the cuts should happen...instead of burying your heads in the sand and hoping everything stays exactly the same.
Because YOU are the ones who actually know these people, YOU are the ones who understand how that sector works, and YOU are the ones who need to speak up.😉

Think about it: I know exactly where I can cut costs in my own business because I damn well know what I'm spending, where it's going, and why.
YOU have no clue about that, so you shouldn't be philosophizing about it either. Sure, you might know (like the IRS) what my income and expenses are, but you have no idea if those expenses are actually rational.
It's the same for us; we don't know which specific costs in your system are too high or why, but we damn well know they are, and that's exactly why we yell at the whole sector.
We don't know it well enough to point a finger at one specific spot and say, "Cut there, right there..."
...whereas YOU know exactly where that spot is, yet you stay quiet as a mouse.😳

It's the exact same thing for us, let's be real.
We know damn well who the black sheep are in our own ranks, but we stay quiet instead of shouting it from the rooftops.
We know exactly who's cutting corners and how they're doing it, but if we start calling people out, we'll be the ones getting screwed, not them.
The guy cutting corners has a hundred connections, and in the end, he'll be the one stepping on us, leaving us to take the fall.
So, it's easier to just suck it up and keep our mouths shut...

I guess that's just the problem with all of us Americans—we were raised to keep our heads down and not make waves.
And then we just mutter under our breath that it's someone else's fault because, hey, they're staying quiet too.😁

Nah, that's actually a good thing. There are plenty of people in the public sector who realize private businesses are the backbone of everything—as long as they aren't abusing their power (like bribing judges, building illegal mansions, or political lobbying) and acting like total thugs.

But then you look at the private sector, where you've got these insane gamblers making questionable moves or just feeding their own egos—where do they get the nerve to lecture us about cutting the public sector?

stormybadger8 said:Look, I’m basically like your old man here. I don't have any issues when it comes to myself or my family, because right now I've got enough supplies stashed away—assuming the dollar doesn't go completely to hell—to sit around and do absolutely nothing for a few years without breaking a sweat.

Dammit, I'm clearly better at hanging out than I am at running a business.
Why is it that even when I pay everything on time, stay out of trouble, and don't act like some massive social burden, I still get nothing?
Well, that’s because I’m not out here hiring a massive crowd, even if I actually could. In fact, lately, I haven't hired anyone except myself...
I'm not out here looking for more work, even though I probably could handle it... if anything, I actually scaled back before all this madness started because my life is finally sorted. Honestly, at my age, I just don't need that kind of stress or all that extra crap in my life.

I’ve never even bothered chasing those massive career moves. I just never had the appetite for that kind of investment. Honestly, what I have right now is more than enough for me. In fact, I actually turned down some huge opportunities while everyone else was looking at me like I was some clueless kid.
Personally, it worked out great for me. But for everyone else and the local community? It’s a total bust. There's zero progress, no new jobs being created, and honestly, in today's economy, it's just straight-up garbage.

It’s pretty obvious, and honestly, it makes anyone in the public sector furious—there’s a massive crowd of parasites among us who don't do a single lick of work.

Private sector folks shouldn't be out here preaching about pay cuts and mass layoffs for everyone in the public sector. If they actually pull that off, the first people getting screwed over will be those of us without political connections or any kind of leverage. And trust me, there are way more of us than the private sector realizes.

That's on you, and honestly, it's your own fault.
Because you guys are part of that whole system and just stay quiet about it. You know damn well who’s just there for a paycheck and who’s actually useless, yet you all just keep your mouths shut...

When that massive corporate hack Sever starts whining about tangerine prices at the market or grumbling about salaries, you guys should just get out there on the street and tell him, "Screw you, Sever. You make more than the Prime Minister. You've been talking trash for 30 years and haven't done a single damn thing for us public sector workers—everything you do is just for yourself and lazy freeloaders like you."
Not you folks who actually put in the work and deserve a raise, parading around in a group just to beg for a measly 2, 3, or 5% bump. If it were up to me, wouldn't you be walking away with a solid hundred?$67And let’s be real—you all know he’s going to walk away with a few thousand bucks, and in the end, we're the ones footing the bill for the whole damn thing. People like him aren't exactly rare, unfortunately.

The Secretary of Commerce doesn't deserve a bigger paycheck than some guy driving pavers at a construction site in Germany.

Spot on, just like all the other ministers...
There's the catch. There's the catch right there. 😉

Because we’re clearly expecting top-tier experts to work for the salary of some guy driving a dotting machine...
Oh yeah, absolutely. I’m sure we’ll get top-tier experts for that kind of money. 🙂
You have to wonder—it’s exactly because they pull those kinds of salaries that we end up with "experts" like this. We've got guys who are so economically illiterate that not even a small business owner would trust them to manage a warehouse or run a cash register for minimum wage, let alone handle anything more important than that.

Some parts of the system are insanely overcrowded, while others—mostly where you actually need people, like Healthcare, higher ed, and science—are completely bone-dry.

Partially right...
The truth is, they're facing a massive shortage of actual experts over there, yet somehow they've still got a huge surplus of people because the whole system is chronically disorganized.

Even in those systems, you’ve got a sick amount of people—way too many people in all the wrong places.
And at the same time, you’ve got a massive shortage of people exactly where they actually need to be... damn it.
And that’s especially true in those systems you mentioned.

Well, there you have it... Washington, D.C. is just being itself.
So, there are like 20 hospitals currently operating out of old, run-down barns. Does that mean we also have 20 directors, 20 secretaries, 20 accounting departments, and all that other blah blah blah?
Instead of building one actual, decent hospital a long time ago and hiring a single director, we basically just threw all that money into a bottomless pit and spent it fixing up some old barns. If we had done things right, maybe we’d actually have 20 directors by now.
Do some math and figure out how many redundant employees are actually in that system. Then calculate how many more doctors or nurses we could hire with the money being wasted on all those completely useless people.
How much did it even cost just to maintain and patch up those potholes in the first place? And now, how much is it going to run to fix everything after the earthquake? Even if they patch it up, it’s still going to be that same old crumbling eyesore. Every single one of those hospitals is just an old wreck, no matter how much they try to mask it with drywall or whatever else they use to hide the damage.

It's the exact same story when it comes to the school system...

Of course they’re useless. But hey, that’s public administration for you—just one part of the massive public sector machine. Now everyone’s out here pushing for pay cuts and layoffs across the entire public sector. Typical.

They aren't any more or less useless than those other directors and whatever else...
At the end of the day, they're both being hired using the exact same playbook—and let's be real, half those job positions are probably just made up anyway.
I mean, wouldn't there just be room for some party buddies, good friends, cousins looking for a handout, and blah blah blah...
Same kid, same tools, provided by the same people.

It's basically a public service that’s completely useless and should have been scrapped ages ago. I know a guy at one of these agencies who barely scraped through college after ten years of studying—guy's as dim as they come—and he landed a job there immediately after graduation just to spend his days producing nothing but pure nonsense.

Those guys don't even have a clue why they're there.
Honestly, it would’ve been cheaper just to pay them to stay home and do absolutely nothing instead of having them show up to work at all.
If we weren't wasting electricity, water, and gas while paying for space and doing useless busywork along the way, it would be a massive saving.

Even though everyone would probably lose their minds over it, realistically, that would still be better than having 🤦

The bottom line is it would be great if private companies didn't just go on indiscriminate firing sprees. Go ahead and call out the incompetent government and bloated public administration—that's a nest of cronies—but don't blame the entire public sector. There are plenty of people in there who have nothing to do with the slackers or the political hires.

True, but it’s pretty stupid to expect private businesses to be the ones cleaning up your sector or pointing out exactly what’s broken within it.
YOU are the ones who should be the first to scream about what’s working and what isn't in the public sector. YOU are the ones who need to shout about where the cuts should happen...instead of burying your heads in the sand and hoping everything stays exactly the same.
Because YOU are the ones who actually know these people, YOU are the ones who understand how that sector works, and YOU are the ones who need to speak up.😉

Think about it: I know exactly where I can cut costs in my own business because I damn well know what I'm spending, where it's going, and why.
YOU have no clue about that, so you shouldn't be philosophizing about it either. Sure, you might know (like the IRS) what my income and expenses are, but you have no idea if those expenses are actually rational.
It's the same for us; we don't know which specific costs in your system are too high or why, but we damn well know they are, and that's exactly why we yell at the whole sector.
We don't know it well enough to point a finger at one specific spot and say, "Cut there, right there..."
...whereas YOU know exactly where that spot is, yet you stay quiet as a mouse.😳

It's the exact same thing for us, let's be real.
We know damn well who the black sheep are in our own ranks, but we stay quiet instead of shouting it from the rooftops.
We know exactly who's cutting corners and how they're doing it, but if we start calling people out, we'll be the ones getting screwed, not them.
The guy cutting corners has a hundred connections, and in the end, he'll be the one stepping on us, leaving us to take the fall.
So, it's easier to just suck it up and keep our mouths shut...

I guess that's just the problem with all of us Americans—we were raised to keep our heads down and not make waves.
And then we just mutter under our breath that it's someone else's fault because, hey, they're staying quiet too.😁

Personally, I was against that strike, and I was against giving raises to myself or the public sector. I worked through the strike days, and I've done it in previous years too, by choice... because my business can't afford to sit idle.

stormybadger8 said:Look, I’m basically like your old man here. I don't have any issues when it comes to myself or my family, because right now I've got enough supplies stashed away—assuming the dollar doesn't go completely to hell—to sit around and do absolutely nothing for a few years without breaking a sweat.

Dammit, I'm clearly better at hanging out than I am at running a business.
Why is it that even when I pay everything on time, stay out of trouble, and don't act like some massive social burden, I still get nothing?
Well, that’s because I’m not out here hiring a massive crowd, even if I actually could. In fact, lately, I haven't hired anyone except myself...
I'm not out here looking for more work, even though I probably could handle it... if anything, I actually scaled back before all this madness started because my life is finally sorted. Honestly, at my age, I just don't need that kind of stress or all that extra crap in my life.

I’ve never even bothered chasing those massive career moves. I just never had the appetite for that kind of investment. Honestly, what I have right now is more than enough for me. In fact, I actually turned down some huge opportunities while everyone else was looking at me like I was some clueless kid.
Personally, it worked out great for me. But for everyone else and the local community? It’s a total bust. There's zero progress, no new jobs being created, and honestly, in today's economy, it's just straight-up garbage.

It’s pretty obvious, and honestly, it makes anyone in the public sector furious—there’s a massive crowd of parasites among us who don't do a single lick of work.

Private sector folks shouldn't be out here preaching about pay cuts and mass layoffs for everyone in the public sector. If they actually pull that off, the first people getting screwed over will be those of us without political connections or any kind of leverage. And trust me, there are way more of us than the private sector realizes.

That's on you, and honestly, it's your own fault.
Because you guys are part of that whole system and just stay quiet about it. You know damn well who’s just there for a paycheck and who’s actually useless, yet you all just keep your mouths shut...

When that massive corporate hack Sever starts whining about tangerine prices at the market or grumbling about salaries, you guys should just get out there on the street and tell him, "Screw you, Sever. You make more than the Prime Minister. You've been talking trash for 30 years and haven't done a single damn thing for us public sector workers—everything you do is just for yourself and lazy freeloaders like you."
Not you folks who actually put in the work and deserve a raise, parading around in a group just to beg for a measly 2, 3, or 5% bump. If it were up to me, wouldn't you be walking away with a solid hundred?$67And let’s be real—you all know he’s going to walk away with a few thousand bucks, and in the end, we're the ones footing the bill for the whole damn thing. People like him aren't exactly rare, unfortunately.

The Secretary of Commerce doesn't deserve a bigger paycheck than some guy driving pavers at a construction site in Germany.

Spot on, just like all the other ministers...
There's the catch. There's the catch right there. 😉

Because we’re clearly expecting top-tier experts to work for the salary of some guy driving a dotting machine...
Oh yeah, absolutely. I’m sure we’ll get top-tier experts for that kind of money. 🙂
You have to wonder—it’s exactly because they pull those kinds of salaries that we end up with "experts" like this. We've got guys who are so economically illiterate that not even a small business owner would trust them to manage a warehouse or run a cash register for minimum wage, let alone handle anything more important than that.

Some parts of the system are insanely overcrowded, while others—mostly where you actually need people, like Healthcare, higher ed, and science—are completely bone-dry.

Partially right...
The truth is, they're facing a massive shortage of actual experts over there, yet somehow they've still got a huge surplus of people because the whole system is chronically disorganized.

Even in those systems, you’ve got a sick amount of people—way too many people in all the wrong places.
And at the same time, you’ve got a massive shortage of people exactly where they actually need to be... damn it.
And that’s especially true in those systems you mentioned.

Well, there you have it... Washington, D.C. is just being itself.
So, there are like 20 hospitals currently operating out of old, run-down barns. Does that mean we also have 20 directors, 20 secretaries, 20 accounting departments, and all that other blah blah blah?
Instead of building one actual, decent hospital a long time ago and hiring a single director, we basically just threw all that money into a bottomless pit and spent it fixing up some old barns. If we had done things right, maybe we’d actually have 20 directors by now.
Do some math and figure out how many redundant employees are actually in that system. Then calculate how many more doctors or nurses we could hire with the money being wasted on all those completely useless people.
How much did it even cost just to maintain and patch up those potholes in the first place? And now, how much is it going to run to fix everything after the earthquake? Even if they patch it up, it’s still going to be that same old crumbling eyesore. Every single one of those hospitals is just an old wreck, no matter how much they try to mask it with drywall or whatever else they use to hide the damage.

It's the exact same story when it comes to the school system...

Of course they’re useless. But hey, that’s public administration for you—just one part of the massive public sector machine. Now everyone’s out here pushing for pay cuts and layoffs across the entire public sector. Typical.

They aren't any more or less useless than those other directors and whatever else...
At the end of the day, they're both being hired using the exact same playbook—and let's be real, half those job positions are probably just made up anyway.
I mean, wouldn't there just be room for some party buddies, good friends, cousins looking for a handout, and blah blah blah...
Same kid, same tools, provided by the same people.

It's basically a public service that’s completely useless and should have been scrapped ages ago. I know a guy at one of these agencies who barely scraped through college after ten years of studying—guy's as dim as they come—and he landed a job there immediately after graduation just to spend his days producing nothing but pure nonsense.

Those guys don't even have a clue why they're there.
Honestly, it would’ve been cheaper just to pay them to stay home and do absolutely nothing instead of having them show up to work at all.
If we weren't wasting electricity, water, and gas while paying for space and doing useless busywork along the way, it would be a massive saving.

Even though everyone would probably lose their minds over it, realistically, that would still be better than having 🤦

The bottom line is it would be great if private companies didn't just go on indiscriminate firing sprees. Go ahead and call out the incompetent government and bloated public administration—that's a nest of cronies—but don't blame the entire public sector. There are plenty of people in there who have nothing to do with the slackers or the political hires.

True, but it’s pretty stupid to expect private businesses to be the ones cleaning up your sector or pointing out exactly what’s broken within it.
YOU are the ones who should be the first to scream about what’s working and what isn't in the public sector. YOU are the ones who need to shout about where the cuts should happen...instead of burying your heads in the sand and hoping everything stays exactly the same.
Because YOU are the ones who actually know these people, YOU are the ones who understand how that sector works, and YOU are the ones who need to speak up.😉

Think about it: I know exactly where I can cut costs in my own business because I damn well know what I'm spending, where it's going, and why.
YOU have no clue about that, so you shouldn't be philosophizing about it either. Sure, you might know (like the IRS) what my income and expenses are, but you have no idea if those expenses are actually rational.
It's the same for us; we don't know which specific costs in your system are too high or why, but we damn well know they are, and that's exactly why we yell at the whole sector.
We don't know it well enough to point a finger at one specific spot and say, "Cut there, right there..."
...whereas YOU know exactly where that spot is, yet you stay quiet as a mouse.😳

It's the exact same thing for us, let's be real.
We know damn well who the black sheep are in our own ranks, but we stay quiet instead of shouting it from the rooftops.
We know exactly who's cutting corners and how they're doing it, but if we start calling people out, we'll be the ones getting screwed, not them.
The guy cutting corners has a hundred connections, and in the end, he'll be the one stepping on us, leaving us to take the fall.
So, it's easier to just suck it up and keep our mouths shut...

I guess that's just the problem with all of us Americans—we were raised to keep our heads down and not make waves.
And then we just mutter under our breath that it's someone else's fault because, hey, they're staying quiet too.😁

Agreed. That should have been public knowledge a long time ago.

Does anyone know if I can head back home from Washington, D.C. to Cleveland without that magic pass? My registered residency is in D.C. until November, but my permanent home is in Cleveland. I just got permission to work remotely—mostly office stuff—so I’d really like to work from home in Cleveland instead. Do I still need a pass for a situation like this?

Matthew Jackson2 said:Look, the private sector is looking for relief, plain and simple, and if the government doesn't step up to provide it, there just won't be any money left for those public sector salaries—those folks in government jobs need to understand that reality clearly.

But, at the same time, the private sector has already come forward with very specific, very precise proposals on how this can actually be handled. Honestly, there’s really no reason to keep re-typing these exact same measures every single time someone calls for them, just to avoid bruising the egos of people who think they'll be affected, even though they're supposedly contributing to society.

So, what about cutting social spending from the federal budget?
Or taking out loans at those favorable rates the IMF, World Bank, and European banks have been offering lately?

Not saying these are "good" moves, just saying they're actually doable without screwing over the real economy...

Casey Flores said:Are you talking about roles like "advisor to the advisor of the agency director"? Or maybe an assistant secretary for some pointless office? A junior clerk for the head stamp-presser? Sure, those kinds of positions only exist in government service and you won't find them in the private sector. So, what's actually your point here?

Don't try to hide behind professions that are actually essential to the state service—roles without which the world would stop spinning. We aren't all idiots in this backwater town...

Actually, you're proving the opposite. You can't get certain medical specializations in the private sector. Same goes for intellectual property, standardization, and metrology. Even most roles in energy, robotics, and materials science fall under that umbrella.

And don't even get me started on pure science. Before the 90s, industry actually had R&D, but now that’s all been gutted along with our tiny industrial base. Most science happens in the public sector now, unfortunately...

The people I'm talking about aren't just some bureaucrat wasting time at a Department of Mining. They're the ones pulling 12-hour shifts without asking for a dime of overtime. I'm one of them.

What would we do? Throw them out on the street or just Decrease their pay? It's still technically the public sector...

Jose Scott3 said:Nah, that's actually a good thing. There are plenty of people in the public sector who realize private businesses are the backbone of everything—as long as they aren't abusing their power (like bribing judges, building illegal mansions, or political lobbying) and acting like total thugs.

But then you look at the private sector, where you've got these insane gamblers making questionable moves or just feeding their own egos—where do they get the nerve to lecture us about cutting the public sector?

Personally, I was against that strike, and I was against giving raises to myself or the public sector. I worked through the strike days, and I've done it in previous years too, by choice... because my business can't afford to sit idle.

Agreed. That should have been public knowledge a long time ago.

The foundation of a healthy economy can be built exclusively on micro-businesses, small companies, and local trades. Just ask Austria or Switzerland for a tutorial.

Alongside the evils of the state apparatus, we shouldn't allow the evils of massive corporations either—though, of course, those two things often go hand in hand.

Rebecca Peterson94 said:Astro show! You should probably try casting some spells too, just like that Boris-Crveni magician.🙏
Look, there are just way too many naive, easy-to-manipulate people out there. And honestly? With this recession hitting everyone like a freight train right now, nobody can afford to turn down a side hustle. Even if it’s a grind, extra cash is extra cash when things are this tight. 👍

So, while we're sitting around waiting for this whole lockdown thing to wrap up, I gotta ask—how much longer do you actually think we're stuck in this mess? Give me your best guess. Since you're clearly an expert on the subject, here's your chance to shine. 😁

It’s going to Decrease gradually... first they'll loosen up the rules about traveling to other cities, then they'll probably just restrict us to moving within our own county.

I'd say the whole thing will last about two weeks. Or, more likely, until Easter.

Anthony Jackson2 said:Look, Božinović is an idiot—just because he’s running the show doesn't change the facts.

Just look back at his track record before all this drama started.

Don't forget how he claimed those traffic cameras had already "paid for themselves" just months after they were installed—even though fatalities on the roads actually spiked during that first year. Of course, he was only looking at the bottom line. Now, suddenly, he's some champion of human life at any cost... give me a break.

He's an idiot, sure. But if he opens people's eyes and we finally clear out all that local government sludge once and for all because of him, then fine—he's a Hero, the biggest one this country has ever seen.

Because honestly, this corruption is the biggest weight dragging this nation down. It’s a bigger disaster than anything else. Compared to this, COVID was nothing...
It ended up costing us dozens, maybe even hundreds of times more than the war, the pandemic, and the economic crisis combined...

George Murphy12 said:Even in our neck of the woods, it's a tiny town where you can only grab the basics at the local corner store...

No meat, no fish, none of that stuff... and getting to a Lidl, Walmart, or Kaufland? Forget it without a pass. You can't just call them up, and if you try emailing, they tell you to fill out a request, sign it, then send it back...

Which basically means print it, fill it out, sign it, and scan it... honestly, how many people even have a printer, a scanner, AND email access sitting around...

I applied for a pass for that exact same reason, and Caity told me I could just head to the bank instead.
The idiots replied saying I should just go to the nearest stores for groceries. Well, there's a Walmart right under my apartment and an NTLA, but what on earth am I supposed to buy there for actual meals? If I shop there, I'll be eating the exact same thing every single day for the next decade. It honestly makes me want to lose it.
Where am I supposed to find decent cat food and litter around here???
Or am I supposed to choose between two brands of pads that cost an arm and a leg $10??
Then Caity sends back a rejection, claiming there are plenty of ATMs in this village. There aren't "plenty" of anything—there is exactly ONE. And he has to physically go to the bank because his account is protected. Trying to explain common sense to these fools is useless.
I'm totally done with this. Honestly, I'll just pack my bags and go wherever the hell I want. As far as I'm concerned, the whole seven billion of them can just disappear. Useless worms...

Harold Bennett86 said:Does anyone know if I can head back home from Washington, D.C. to Cleveland without that magic pass? My registered residency is in D.C. until November, but my permanent home is in Cleveland. I just got permission to work remotely—mostly office stuff—so I’d really like to work from home in Cleveland instead. Do I still need a pass for a situation like this?

You can return to your permanent residence without a pass.

Joseph Taylor11 said:Not without a pass.
Since yesterday, I’ve been going back and forth with everyone: all the local Civil Defense Headquarters in my County—and now I've reached out to the news outlets too.
The media will probably pick up on my specific situation... though whether that actually helps anyone else at this point, I honestly don't know.

I’d suggest anyone living in those weirdly isolated Municipalities who isn't allowed to leave to speak up. Maybe hit up the news, too.

Does it seem right to you that people living in big cities (like Washington, D.C., Rijeka, Indianapolis, or San Jose) can move around freely (even if social contact is still a bit risky)... while someone from a small rural area isn't allowed to go to the next town over just to grab some food or gas?
Especially when that neighboring town is actually halfway closer than their own "center"?

Which political parties were actually pushing for reducing the number of Municipalities in the first place?

Honestly, screw them. I’m telling them I’ll just pack up and go wherever I feel like.
They can try to fine me all they want, but if they do, fine—at least I'll be relaxing in jail just like those fancy politicians.
Sure, let's pretend I infected 50 people with some imaginary virus. If it's all a circus, might as well join the show.

nimblescout50 said:It's funny how it works—everyone from the small towns heads to the big cities to get treated, rather than the other way around.

Honestly, I find myself heading into San Diego too, because let’s face it, there are certain things you just can't get done anywhere else.

But when we're talking about an epidemic, the major hubs aren't actually the bottleneck—it's not like a sudden influx of weekend travelers is going to totally wreck the ventilator ratios in the big cities (though I suppose anything is possible). The real nightmare is having enough general practitioners and epidemiologists on the ground to actually track the spread, not to mention having the logistics ready to move people once they take a turn for the worse. That's where traveling from rural areas becomes a massive headache. Just imagine if an outbreak hits an island community right when a heavy storm rolls in and makes transport impossible.

As for the border restrictions, I actually got clarification that you can travel from a suburb into the city as long as that suburb is administratively part of the city limits.

I'm still a bit confused about how they handled Slatina over on Martha's Vineyard—technically they fall under San Diego, but to actually get into San Diego, you have to cut through three different cities (Savannah, Santa Monica, and San Jose).