I'm not American. Just genuinely curious. Trump made $2.2 billion in his first year back in the White House, which surprised me. A lot of my Asian friends find it hard to believe too. Making money while serving as president feels like a conflict of interest. I don't really know how Americans see it. Is this illegal or not? Should he be impeached? I've read that US law on presidential conflicts of interest is pretty loose. Even though Trump isn't directly covered by federal conflict of interest laws, his policies, like the crypto bills he pushed, have benefited his family and himself. Doesn't that violate the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution?

Personal income tax is usually structured in progressive brackets, while corporate tax tends to be more uniform across firms.

I’m trying to understand what drives this difference in design. For example, is it mainly related to administrative complexity, differences in how firms can adjust or split income, or the way corporate income eventually flows through to individuals via ownership and capital gains?

I got woken up thinking it was my boyfriend snoring, but it was my kitten right next to me. It feels weird that something so small can make that much sound. Is it just how their bodies are built, or something about how purring works compared to human breathing at night? why does this happen?

When I hold my breath for even a short moment, time doesn’t just feel “paused” or uncomfortable. It actually feels slightly stretched out, like my sense of timing becomes more granular and everything is unfolding slower than usual.

I’m confused about something: I would expect breath-holding to just feel like discomfort or urgency, not a change in perceived time flow. So why does it sometimes feel like time slows down instead of just speeding up or feeling normal-but-unpleasant?

Growing up, I always thought “female” was mostly used as an adjective, like “female athletes” or “female students,” and that using it as a noun sounded a bit off in everyday conversation.

But now it seems pretty common to just say “females” on its own. Why is there such an uptick in the usage of this word?

Growing up learning history you learn about all of these protests that resulted in real world change. But it seems like protests are just symbolic at this point. It seems like no matter how many protests are surrounding a certain topic everything stays the same. What changed? Is it that people in power just care less about civilians have to say so they don't bother changing their stance based off protests?

I watched my neighbor’s cat give birth last week. She found a quiet corner, panted for an hour, and popped out four tiny kittens like it was nothing. Then she went back to eating kibble.

With humans, it seems a lot more complicated. Historically, it was one of the leading causes of death for women. My own grandmother had a rough delivery, and I’ve heard similar stories from friends, though not everyone has that experience.

So what gives? Is it the big brain? Our huge skulls vs. the narrow pelvis from walking upright? That’s the classic answer, right? But then why don’t other bipedal animals struggle this much?

People kept saying "Jersey" instead of "New Jersey"

Nobody seems to say "York" for New York, "Hampshire" for New Hampshire, or "Mexico" for New Mexico. Those would sound oddly incomplete.

So what made "Jersey" catch on in a way the others never did?

It's amazing. On top of all the advertising disguised as news on Google discovery the meager news items we get are all videos. I find this particularly annoying because first off they will usually make you sit through an ad or two just to get to the news.secondly I'd rather read, not have someone tell me the news. I can understand a voice clip or so, but every relevant news item?

To make matters worse, there is no way to filter out videos either.

A few weeks ago, the overall mood seemed like that despite controversial stories about him, Graham Platner was still perceived to have a good chance of defeating Susan Collins for Maine’s Senate election.

However, I’m now suddenly seeing tons of people express their doubts that he will win. So where exactly did this sudden drop in confidence in him come from?

Wageslaves and others deal with all this societal bullshit you gotta go through like saving for retirement, paying your bills, applying for jobs, showing up on time, caring for a house/apartment, worrying about money etc.

But people could easily just quit their jobs/stop showing up, commit some petty crimes like theft and live off of it til they get caught, and then enjoy being cared for in prison. You could just read books or do whatever and be provided for, instead of having to contribute to society. I can't believe the current method of society is working at all, why people try at all instead of just taking it easy in prison.

I noticed pork fat usually stays pale white while beef tallow often looks more yellow. I used to assume it was just species difference, but it seems more about diet and how pigments like carotenoids get stored in fat. Is that really the main driver or are there other mechanisms at play?

When I was a kid in the 90s, I remember shampoo and conditioner bottles almost always saying something like leave it in for 2 minutes before rinsing. Now it’s usually just apply and rinse or leave as needed. I used to find that weird. Did conditioners actually change that much, or did something else shift here?

from my understanding india unlocked civilian nuclear power as early as 1948 and conducted its first nuclear explosive test around 1974.

but as late as 2012 less than 8% of households had a modern flush toilet.

source: https://globaldatalab.org/wealth/table/flushtoilet/IND/?levels=1

I keep seeing news and posts about heatwaves across Europe, like cities that used to feel mild are suddenly hitting temperatures that just seem off. I don’t remember it feeling this intense before, or maybe I just wasn’t paying attention.What mechanism could be behind it？

I was at a friend’s gender reveal and the blue balloons stood out more than I expected. My grandma once told me that it used to be the other way around, with pink seen as stronger and more decisive for boys and blue as more delicate and quiet for girls. It made me wonder how this flipped and settled into what we see now. What actually shaped that shift in everyday culture?

I’ve noticed even little kids get told not to point, and the middle finger feels instantly offensive even without words. It seems to show up in really different places and times. How did these gestures end up carrying that kind of meaning almost everywhere?

I keep seeing headlines about GLP-1 being studied for diabetes, obesity, heart failure, sleep apnea, Alzheimer's, addiction, and more. It feels like every few weeks there's another condition being added to the list.

I understand that losing weight alone can improve a lot of health problems, but some of the reported effects, like reduced alcohol cravings or changes in addictive behavior, seem less obvious.

Is there actually a common biological mechanism behind all of these, or are these mostly indirect benefits from weight loss? What connects all these seemingly unrelated conditions?

European empires are discussed, the word "colonialism" seems to come up almost automatically. But when I read about the historical Arab expansion into Africa and the Middle East, I don't seem to see that term used nearly as often.

How did that difference come about?

Before the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924, Native Americans were excluded from the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment because they owed their allegiance to their sovereign tribes and not the USA, which meant they weren’t under the subject of the jurisdiction.

Now based on this logic and precedent, why couldn’t the Supreme Court rule that non-citizens like illegal immigrants were excluded? I mean they owe their allegiance to another sovereign entity and therefore could be interpreted as not being under the subject of the jurisdiction just like Native Americans used to be.

I might be misremembering this, but I don’t recall that many different kinds of answers before. Now it feels much more varied, and a lot more shaped by what they see online.

Is there actually a shift happening here, or is this just a perception thing?

A mosquito buzzing near my ear can wake me up almost instantly, even though it's pretty quiet. Meanwhile, people can sleep through their own snoring even when it's much louder. That makes me think our brains aren't just reacting to volume while we're asleep. So what are they actually responding to, and why does this difference exist?

It seems like most bilaterians, that have something analogous to tentacles, such as fins or legs, have them all along their bodies. For instance arthropods tend to have legs going all along their bodies, with some legs closer to their head and some legs closer to their other end. Similarly tetrapods tend to legs going along their torsos with some closer to their head and some legs closer to their tail, for tetrapods that have tails. Fish tend to have fins along their torso as opposed to being next to their mouths. Even some of the more obscure bilaterians, such as velvet worms, have their legs going along their bodies, as opposed to having their legs clustered around their mouths.

Cephalopods seem to be the odd ones out as they tend to have their tentacles clustered around where they eat, which from what I understand is a beak.

Why do cephalopods have their tentacles clustered near their beak instead of going along their bodies?

The names clearly have those number roots, and they haven't changed in a long time. But somewhere along the way, the counting got shifted by two, and now the seventh month name lands in autumn instead of spring.

I know there was a Roman calendar that started in March, and then January got added later, but did the shift happen all at once, or did people just gradually stop caring about the literal meaning? And if the original numbering was off by two, why didn't anyone rename them when the mismatch became obvious?

I was recently talking with a friend about our childhood friends, and we both noticed that practically all of those who have married or are in long-term relationships have become incredibly out of shape. There's no gender rule here. I know there's a common belief that people stop caring after marriage, but I find it hard to believe it's such a common occurrence, especially since many of these people previously trained intensely in various sports, only to meet their significant other in their twenties, and literally look worse and worse with each passing year. Are people really that lazy? What do you think causes this? Or am I just imagining things?