Fines for picking dandelions—the latest ridiculous news story

Just saw it on the news. Fines up to 200 $0.00. What else is new? Just another way to kick the poor man when he's down.

It’s a protected species, just like violets.

.

Samuel Garcia6 said:Just saw it on the news. Fines up to 200 $0.00. What else is new? Just another way to kick the poor man when he's down.

Please. Those high-rollers have been protected for ages, and those fines were already on the books. Same rules apply to everyone else—the small fry, the nobodies, the guys just trying to get by.

The visibaba is an endemic species—protected by law. It’s like trying to find a wild violet in our forests; you could search with a flashlight and still come up empty. In both the plant and animal kingdoms, there are species that are strictly protected because they're on the brink of extinction. No one should be out there scavenging visibabas to sell. It would be just as absurd as starting a campaign to cull cormorants, hawks, or sparrows. Those species weren't considered "protected" yesterday, and they aren't today. I see grandmothers offering visibabas every time I drive through the valley. If they actually faced the legal consequences, they'd be screaming. Have people ever heard of flora and fauna conservation? Maybe try reading the law for once and checking when it was enacted. I fully support this initiative to protect and preserve our native plants and wildlife.

What does being broke have to do with weeds? Are weeds some kind of dietary staple for the poor folks that this corrupt government is trying to bleed dry? Honestly, if I had my way, along with those extra 200 $0.00, I’d throw in some corporal punishment too, just for the hell of it—screw people destroying the environment. Besides, this whole "picking flowers" thing in nature is such a hillbilly habit to me. You look, you smell, you enjoy, and you move on. What do you actually have that’s growing out there anyway?

Are you guys actually playing dumb, or is this just pure stupidity?
It’s obviously a protected species if there are actual penalties for picking them. The real issue here is how ridiculous the fines are. ExxonMobil gets slapped with a fine $50000 just for tripling their air pollution limits, yet some lady gets hit with $200,000 because she was out grabbing some wild berries???!!!!😵😵 😵

rustywalker42 said:Please. Those high-rollers have been protected for ages, and those fines were already on the books. Same rules apply to everyone else—the small fry, the nobodies, the guys just trying to get by.

What else are they protecting now? Grass? Is mowing my own lawn gonna be considered a hate crime next? 😁

darkfox14 said:Are you guys actually playing dumb, or is this just pure stupidity?
It’s obviously a protected species if there are actual penalties for picking them. The real issue here is how ridiculous the fines are. ExxonMobil gets slapped with a fine $50000 just for tripling their air pollution limits, yet some lady gets hit with $200,000 because she was out grabbing some wild berries???!!!!😵😵 😵

the key part is that "up to"

which means the fine could technically be lower.

So, what’s the actual maximum fine an industrial refinery can face?

.

So, I did a little digging, and apparently, fines for regular folks top out at around $7,000, while corporations can get hit with up to $200,000. It’s honestly kind of a joke when you consider that in a place like Washington, D.C., just dumping trash on a public park could cost an individual up to $500 and a company up to $3000.
The massive fine I actually managed to track down—we're talking half a million dollars—was paid by ExxonMobil for leaking gas oil along the 7.8 miles coastline (and get this, the whole legal mess dragged on for 14 years👍).

Look, there’s no actual penalty for picking them—it’s the selling that gets you in trouble...

The Visibaba isn't some strictly protected species, per se; it's just a protected species...

The whole thing really hinges on whether or not you have "permission" to harvest it...

Robert Hall7 said:The visibaba is an endemic species—protected by law. It’s like trying to find a wild violet in our forests; you could search with a flashlight and still come up empty. In both the plant and animal kingdoms, there are species that are strictly protected because they're on the brink of extinction. No one should be out there scavenging visibabas to sell. It would be just as absurd as starting a campaign to cull cormorants, hawks, or sparrows. Those species weren't considered "protected" yesterday, and they aren't today. I see grandmothers offering visibabas every time I drive through the valley. If they actually faced the legal consequences, they'd be screaming. Have people ever heard of flora and fauna conservation? Maybe try reading the law for once and checking when it was enacted. I fully support this initiative to protect and preserve our native plants and wildlife.

Since you can find cornflowers all over Europe, it's clearly not an endemic species...

Maybe take a moment to actually look up the definitions of the words you're using...

Adam Collins4 said:Look, there’s no actual penalty for picking them—it’s the selling that gets you in trouble...

The Visibaba isn't some strictly protected species, per se; it's just a protected species...

The whole thing really hinges on whether or not you have "permission" to harvest it...

They ought to be handing out awards for finding visi-baba 😁

instead of punishing people for something that's going to be common practice very soon.😁

Robert Hall7 said:The visibaba is an endemic species—protected by law. It’s like trying to find a wild violet in our forests; you could search with a flashlight and still come up empty. In both the plant and animal kingdoms, there are species that are strictly protected because they're on the brink of extinction. No one should be out there scavenging visibabas to sell. It would be just as absurd as starting a campaign to cull cormorants, hawks, or sparrows. Those species weren't considered "protected" yesterday, and they aren't today. I see grandmothers offering visibabas every time I drive through the valley. If they actually faced the legal consequences, they'd be screaming. Have people ever heard of flora and fauna conservation? Maybe try reading the law for once and checking when it was enacted. I fully support this initiative to protect and preserve our native plants and wildlife.

Sparrows are actually protected birds, and the fine for intentionally killing one is $1667. 👍

There is an old proverb that feels particularly relevant to this situation:

An idle priest might baptize even the lambs.

My vote goes to the Republicans and Jacqueline Kennedy. 🙏

It looks like grandmas running scams at local markets is one of the biggest issues in this country, with millions of dollars just sitting there on the table... Big players swoop in and grab it all without any consequences. Is that what we call a nation of laws?

Where on earth is an old lady from a small town getting that kind of cash? Besides, our jails are already packed to the brim anyway. Just another law that’s basically impossible to enforce.

Then again, she doesn't have the money, but she's got her life. You want to see someone acting high and mighty? Well, there you go. 🙂 :baba:

If we did things that way, we'd also shrink the retiree population—you know, the group that acts like a total drag on this country's progress. They just eat, burn through prescriptions, leave trash everywhere, shove people around on the subway, and do nothing but trample over every flower in sight.

Tyler Bishop56 said:Where on earth is an old lady from a small town getting that kind of cash? Besides, our jails are already packed to the brim anyway. Just another law that’s basically impossible to enforce.

Then again, she doesn't have the money, but she's got her life. You want to see someone acting high and mighty? Well, there you go. 🙂 :baba:

If we did things that way, we'd also shrink the retiree population—you know, the group that acts like a total drag on this country's progress. They just eat, burn through prescriptions, leave trash everywhere, shove people around on the subway, and do nothing but trample over every flower in sight.

👍
How are we even supposed to handle this? Look, you absolute legends, Man, they really haven't even thought about this—like, wouldn't it be awesome if they actually let women get into growing those protected species just to give them a little nudge and some real incentive to start?
Let them go ahead and stick their heads out of the window if they want to, but I'm telling you right now—it's definitely not the grandmas doing the heavy lifting anymore! 😁

Tyler Bishop56 said:Where on earth is an old lady from a small town getting that kind of cash? Besides, our jails are already packed to the brim anyway. Just another law that’s basically impossible to enforce.

Then again, she doesn't have the money, but she's got her life. You want to see someone acting high and mighty? Well, there you go. 🙂 :baba:

If we did things that way, we'd also shrink the retiree population—you know, the group that acts like a total drag on this country's progress. They just eat, burn through prescriptions, leave trash everywhere, shove people around on the subway, and do nothing but trample over every flower in sight.

What about it? You got grandparents?

Charles Lopez3 said:👍
How are we even supposed to handle this? Look, you absolute legends, Man, they really haven't even thought about this—like, wouldn't it be awesome if they actually let women get into growing those protected species just to give them a little nudge and some real incentive to start?
Let them go ahead and stick their heads out of the window if they want to, but I'm telling you right now—it's definitely not the grandmas doing the heavy lifting anymore! 😁

Watch it with those kinds of ideas before you end up swallowed whole by the darkness. It’s just repression, repression, and more repression. History is supposed to be life's greatest teacher, and honestly, we all know things were better under Joseph Stalin.

So, word on the street is that Jacqueline Kennedy actually went to school in a little small town in the US. 😍

Samuel Garcia6 said:What about it? You got grandparents?

Nah, mine passed away for the homeland a long time ago. We’re patriots, through and through—it’s just how we were raised. It runs in the family.

Tyler Bishop56 said:Watch it with those kinds of ideas before you end up swallowed whole by the darkness. It’s just repression, repression, and more repression. History is supposed to be life's greatest teacher, and honestly, we all know things were better under Joseph Stalin.

So, word on the street is that Jacqueline Kennedy actually went to school in a little small town in the US. 😍

Nah, mine passed away for the homeland a long time ago. We’re patriots, through and through—it’s just how we were raised. It runs in the family.

maybe Maddox will notice me—he's out there looking for an entrepreneurial vibe😁
and what kind of backward ideas are you even pushing, acting like we're living in a democracy🤣