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2018 Statistic of the Year: 90.5 Percent of Plastic Waste Has Never Been Recycled (bbc.com)

Two of 2018's best statistics from the Royal Statistical Society are about the environment. "The winning international statistic of the year was 90.5% -- the proportion of plastic waste that has never been recycled," reports the BBC. "And in the UK category, the top stat was 27.8% -- the highest percentage of all electricity which was generated by solar power." From the report: A panel of judges picked the two winners, along with several highly commended statistics, from more than 200 nominations. Entries for 2018 were submitted earlier this year. Judges on the panel included Dame Jil Matheson, former national statistician -- the top adviser to the government on official statistics, as well as RSS president Sir David Spiegelhalter, BBC home editor Mark Easton and the Guardian's U.S. data editor Mona Chalabi.

The environment and plastic waste has repeatedly made headlines in 2018, and "single-use" -- referring to plastic waste -- was named the word of the year. Other highly commended statistics include:

$1.3 billion: the amount lost from the value of Snapchat within a day after Kylie Jenner tweeted: "Sooo does anyone else not open Snapchat anymore?"
85.9%: the proportion of British trains that ran on time -- the lowest for more than a decade
40%: the percentage of Russian men who do not live to the age of 65
64,946: the number of measles cases in Europe from November 2017 to October 2018
82%: the percentage of all British retail shopping that is still in-store rather than online
16.7%: the percentage reduction of the number of Jaffa Cakes in the McVities' Christmas tube
6.4%: the percentage of female executive directors within FTSE 250 companies

92 of 162 comments (clear)

  1. Popcorn time by AmiMoJo · · Score: 4, Funny

    Environmental protection, public transport, women... I'm sure this will be a quiet thread, nothing controversial there.

    --
    const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
    SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    1. Re:Popcorn time by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 1

      Obvious trollbait is obvious.

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
    2. Re:Popcorn time by sheramil · · Score: 2

      Environmental protection, public transport, women... I'm sure this will be a quiet thread, nothing controversial there.

      Did you miss the part about the reduction in Jaffa Cakes?

      HARRRUMPH!

    3. Re:Popcorn time by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Obvious trollbait is obvious.

      Yes, the article is trollbait.

      Nice to know the BBC is continuing the divisive, intersectional, fundamentally racist "progressive" PC tradition, "Asteroid will destroy Earth, women and minorities most impacted!" stories.

    4. Re:Popcorn time by jellomizer · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Well it is too bad most of the discussion on these topics goes into the Stupid Oversimplification category and/or just being Cruel and Heartless, and if the topic is really hard to swallow, then we go into conspiracy theory how it is a made up problem by the "Other"

      We have these problems that shouldn't be ignored, however people don't want to hear about the side effects that can happen from their view. However we need to fully understand these complex problems to help work out a solution. I doubt for problems so large and complex there are going to be many Win-Win solutions. However we can get a Win and a mitigated lost where the value of the win is greater then the lost. But we can't just discredit the people who will be effected by such a solution.
      Lets say we switch for our morning coffee Styrofoam cup, to a paper cup, much greener solution, but the coffee cools down quicker, and it is hot to hold the cup. So lets add that corrugated ring to make the cup easier to hold. We still get a greener solution, and we lost a cup that will keep coffee hotter for longer, but at least we solved the too hot to hold. So it is a mitigated lost, also being that most people will drink their coffee before it gets too cold anyways and the difference between the two will effect a smaller number of people. It isn't a Win-Win but we looked at the solutions and found that there were flaws, some being more serious then others, so we fixed what we can to accommodate the losses, and we end up with a net benefit solution.

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    5. Re:Popcorn time by Nidi62 · · Score: 4, Funny

      By eating popcorn you are just funneling more money and therefore influence to the powerful corn and ethanol/HFCS lobby. Why do you hate the planet and skinny people?

      --
      The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
    6. Re:Popcorn time by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 1

      Did you miss the part about the reduction in Jaffa Cakes?

      HARRRUMPH!

      Reducing the number of Jaffa Cakes in a box should be illegal!
      - unless of course you are reducing the number by taking them out of the box to eat them.

      Forget the NHS- I want a National Jaffa Cake system, "free" Jaffas for all!

      --
      "That's the way to do it" - Punch
    7. Re:Popcorn time by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      Nothing compared to those ridiculous Toblerone though.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    8. Re: Popcorn time by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      What does Venezuela have to do with operational "Socialism" ? Are you confusing the random mouthing of the resident kleptocratic dictatorship with say, what countries like Norway or Finland consider "Socialism" ?

      I laughed because I knew it was another failed petrostate and without American military might, would never have a lasting government.

      Turns out I was right, and like Chile and Panama, they eventually will get CIA'd

    9. Re:Popcorn time by MrLogic17 · · Score: 1

      >Did you miss the part about the reduction in Jaffa Cakes?

      I read that line, and thought - I'm sure those words have meaning to someone, somewhere.

  2. Blokkeerfries by scsirob · · Score: 1

    The word of the year is 'Blokkeerfries', you insensitive cloth!

    --
    To Terminate, or not to Terminate, that's the question - SCSIROB
    1. Re:Blokkeerfries by ls671 · · Score: 1

      "insensitive cloth" ???

      Never hear that term...

      --
      Everything I write is lies, read between the lines.
    2. Re: Blokkeerfries by Provocateur · · Score: 1

      And the phrase of the year is "fookin pencil" as in "Three men! With a fookin pencil!"

      --
      WARNING: Smartphones have side effects--most of them undocumented.
  3. Re:Thanks, America? How about China? by walterbyrd · · Score: 2

    Maybe you are not aware of China's environmental record?

  4. Put water in aluminum cans, no plastic bags by walterbyrd · · Score: 1

    That would probably do a lot to stop single use plastic consumption.

    You may have to carbonate the water.

    Maybe we need some sort of biodegradable plastic?

    1. Re:Put water in aluminum cans, no plastic bags by 110010001000 · · Score: 1

      Water should come out of your faucet. Some US cities have already banned or taxed single use plastic shopping bags. If you could develop biodegradable plastic that really worked you would make trillions.

    2. Re:Put water in aluminum cans, no plastic bags by e3m4n · · Score: 2

      Dasani already makes their bottles out of recycled plant waste. I was reusing the same 4 bottles for a month at a time, refilling with filtered water, until another report came out indicating I was at higher risk of ingesting toxins by doing that.

      No good deed goes unpunished.

    3. Re:Put water in aluminum cans, no plastic bags by Opportunist · · Score: 2

      Biodegradable plastic exists. It's just way more expensive to produce than regular plastic.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    4. Re:Put water in aluminum cans, no plastic bags by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 1

      Some US cities have already banned or taxed single use plastic shopping bags.

      Single use plastic bags have also been banned in the entire state of Hawaii.

    5. Re:Put water in aluminum cans, no plastic bags by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 2

      Dasani already makes their bottles out of recycled plant waste. I was reusing the same 4 bottles for a month at a time, refilling with filtered water, until another report came out indicating I was at higher risk of ingesting toxins by doing that.

      No good deed goes unpunished.

      Make certain you get your minimum daily requirement of Bisphenol-A.

      Glass is probably the least troublesome water storage material.

      This might make you cringe, but locally we have some springs, typically near the tops of mountains, that have some of the most wonderful water you've tasted. Unfiltered, fresh out of the ground. People come from miles around to fill jugs of drinking water.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    6. Re:Put water in aluminum cans, no plastic bags by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 1

      I was reusing the same 4 bottles for a month at a time, refilling with filtered water, until another report came out indicating I was at higher risk of ingesting toxins by doing that.

      Simple solution: Use a glass bottle.

    7. Re:Put water in aluminum cans, no plastic bags by e3m4n · · Score: 1

      I use them for sports but maybe some other material. Metal always has me concerned for similar reasons.

    8. Re:Put water in aluminum cans, no plastic bags by Shotgun · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Funny how that plastic can sit on shelves and hot trucks for months without releasing toxins, but if you refill it and drink the water that day the concentration is high enough to be deadly.

      Also, funny how the hawkers of a product that is nearly free but is packaged for several dollars a gallon don't want you using the free product.

      --
      Aah, change is good. -- Rafiki
      Yeah, but it ain't easy. -- Simba
    9. Re:Put water in aluminum cans, no plastic bags by walterbyrd · · Score: 1

      I think water has to be carbonated for an aluminium can to work.

      The cans need that pressure inside them hold up.

  5. Plastic Waste by skam240 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I like to think I'm a fairly environmental conscience person but I can't bring myself to care about most plastic waste. As long as it's properly disposed of in a landfill I just don't care. We have enough space for landfill to last at least a couple hundred years and at that point we'll probably be disintegrating our trash..

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    I ignore Anonymous Coward posts. If you want to discuss something, that's awesome. Log in.
    1. Re:Plastic Waste by Opportunist · · Score: 2

      The problem about plastic is not the part that remains on land.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    2. Re:Plastic Waste by internerdj · · Score: 1

      I care but meaningful changes are institutional not individual. Microbeads and straws and fast food sauce containers need some industry group finding suitable replacements before we can just get rid of those things. I'm not going to put my lips on the rim of a glass handled by some McDonald's drive thru window clown. I'm gambling enough that the people handling the food actually washed their hands, much less the guy who is doing hand to hand transactions with hundreds of people prior to handling my cup. McDonald's can't hand me a steel straw with every purchase nor does my getting fast food put me in the use case for transporting and cleaning a reusable straw.

    3. Re:Plastic Waste by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Today's landfills are tomorrow's robotic mines. Labor is just too expensive now.

      --
      My God, it's Full of Source!
      OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
    4. Re:Plastic Waste by cascadingstylesheet · · Score: 1

      I like to think I'm a fairly environmental conscience person but I can't bring myself to care about most plastic waste. As long as it's properly disposed of in a landfill I just don't care. We have enough space for landfill to last at least a couple hundred years and at that point we'll probably be disintegrating our trash..

      But ... but ... it will just lay there and do nothing!

      Oh ... yeah, I can't be too bothered about it either.

    5. Re:Plastic Waste by AmiMoJo · · Score: 2

      Even if you ignore the problems with landfill, there are other issues.

      Plastic waste gets into the food chain. It gets into places where animals live and kills them. A lot of it is simply not properly disposed of.

      And even if we fixed that, it's better to recycle plastic than it is to create new plastic in many cases. Less energy and pollution required. It would be even better if we avoided creating some of that plastic in the first place, and make the stuff we did create easier to recycle (less dye, using the right kind of plastic etc.)

      We could also get a hell of a lot more use out of what we have before making more. Plastic bags are the classic example, they can be re-used but it wasn't until shops started charging for them that most people make much of an effort.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    6. Re:Plastic Waste by skam240 · · Score: 1

      Well the two of us can certainly agree on that but there are plenty out there who have very strong feelings about plastic going into landfill.

      --
      I ignore Anonymous Coward posts. If you want to discuss something, that's awesome. Log in.
  6. Re:Thanks, America? How about China? by e3m4n · · Score: 1

    Good point. Counterfeiting is so bad there that infants have died from malnutrition because they even counterfeit baby formula. Thats a special kind of fucked up right there. A few years ago they found one of their pork producers was dumping dead pigs in their rivers. Hundreds.

  7. Re:Thanks, America? How about China? by Opportunist · · Score: 3, Insightful

    We are. And we're deathly afraid of the time when the average Chinese has the same environmental footprint the average American has.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  8. Re:Other interesting statistics by Opportunist · · Score: 1

    3/4 of all movies are remakes. So in other words, pretty much every movie worth making has already been made.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  9. Re:Other interesting statistics by e3m4n · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Talk about made-up, on the spot, fake-ass statistics.

    68.4% of sexual assaults against women went unreported

    If they are unreported then you cant do the math on them dumbass. How do you know if there were only 17 or 17,000? The only thing worse than a pansy-ass liar who hides behind AC postings is a pansy-ass liar that isnt even smart enough to make his lies at least somewhat believable. Lets hope Darwin comes along and removed you before you fuck the planet up further by reproducing. Its a shame your mom missed woty that coathanger.

  10. Re:Other interesting statistics by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

    3/4 of all movies are remakes. So in other words, pretty much every movie worth making has already been made.

    Alternately, 3/4 of all producers could be turned into Soylent green with zero negative impact to society.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  11. Re:Other interesting statistics by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    I'm not an american, but you have the constitution, so if you want to do gun legislation you need to change the constitution. Unfortunately that would mean that (ban)trigger-happy/omniphobic people will take it very far from any common sense legislation. People keep calling semi automatic guns assault weapons for fuck's sake.

  12. Re: Other interesting statistics by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    100% of your statistics are politically derived, and therefore are just part of the bullshit mix.

  13. 64,946 by hipp5 · · Score: 1

    The measles one is the one that really gets my goat. That number should be 0. F*** you Andrew Wakefield and Stella McCartney and all the Karens of the world.

    1. Re:64,946 by Aristos+Mazer · · Score: 2

      It is non-zero... that's really all that matters for this number. You don't need a percentage to know that we have outright failed to kill the damn disease. We had a shot at it, but generations of hard work are being undone.

    2. Re:64,946 by hipp5 · · Score: 1

      First, that number is meaningless without knowing what it was in past years. Actually I guess that could apply to all numbers. But second, it is the only number not represented as a percent.

      It was 17,584 the same period the year before. So to represent it as a percent: measles cases increased 369% from the period (Nov 16 - Oct 17) to (Nov 11 to Oct 18).

      Also, apologies to Stella McCartney. I meant to curse Jenny McCarthy but got them mixed up.

    3. Re:64,946 by Aristos+Mazer · · Score: 1

      More data adds information, no question, but the reason this statistic makes the list of interesting statistics is because of its non-zero value.

    4. Re:64,946 by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      The anti vaccine crowd is strong. Even in Europe.

      There are doctors that encourage concerned mothers: "If you feel uncomfortable, just don't do it. Chances your child gets it (now) is only 1 in 10,000" ... But if it gets it as an adult later there are concrete chances of life time damage or even death.
      They argue: it is less healthy for the mother and the child to fire fears, than having the child get the disease.

      I'm lucky, I'm old enough to have suffered through all those "child sicknesses" during my early child hood, as have my siblings. But honestly: my sister is 9 years younger than me. It was no fun to see her every year going through one or two of those sicknesses. My own I obviously don't remember that much as I mostly was in high fever.

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
  14. Re:Other interesting statistics by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    You're an idiot. It's not only feasible to obtain statistical data on unreported crimes, but it's a fairly common practice, and very easy to do. These don't quite jibe with the OP but they're close.

    https://www.rainn.org/statisti...

  15. Re:Other interesting statistics by CrimsonAvenger · · Score: 1

    A woman was the victim of gun violence every 12 minutes

    That's a pretty loose definition of "gun violence" you're using there. ALL Firearms deaths in the USA, including suicide, didn't happen that often. Or were you counting "gun violence" to include "someone pointed a gun at someone else"?

    --

    "I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
  16. Act locally by petes_PoV · · Score: 1
    The crucial point to remember about the 90% of plastic not being recycled is where than plastic is. If it is not in your country then there is very little you can do that will affect the outcome. Many countries have far better records on recycling. So for people there to assume this figure applies to them is unhelpful and misleading.

    Worry about things you can do, not about those you can't change.

    --
    politicians are like babies' nappies: they should both be changed regularly and for the same reasons
    1. Re:Act locally by Trailer+Trash · · Score: 1

      It also doesn't make sense to recycle plastic simply because it's cheaper to make new plastic. The best thing you can do with used plastic is mentioned in this article:

      http://sciencenordic.com/why-s...

      Spoiler: burn it for energy.

    2. Re:Act locally by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      Idiot very much?
      Obviously recycling is cheaper ... you have the ready made plastic just there and only need to melt it into a new form.

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
  17. Who or what to blame ? by fluffythedestroyer · · Score: 1

    I can't say about Canada, US or other countries, states or provinces but I know in Québec we got 2 big major problems. The first one is everything that is about our recycling system is just too old. From infrastructure to systems. Its old and not even up to date. So they need to update everything to have better recycling systems. Multiple times in the last year we had to do major dumping in the St-Laurent River. tons of waste in nature. This kind of behavior and decision is simply unacceptable

    companies that do product packaging are not doing packaging that are recyclable in my city. Yet goverment love to give a message to either blame me or point fingers at their own citizens and tell them its their fault. Sometimes, some cities taxes citizens for this kind of situation. Sorry but I don't feel bad in this. Companies should be fines for not making packages that are not recyclable in my opinion.

    1. Re:Who or what to blame ? by Red_Forman · · Score: 1

      Why are PLA-based bio-degradable plastics not more popular?

    2. Re:Who or what to blame ? by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 1

      HAD TO dump in the River? Wait, what?

      When I go to Montreal I notice huge funding for public art displays and potholes that can consume a subcompact car. This seemed, ummm, shortsighted before you mentioned dumping waste in the River. Jeeze.

      --
      My God, it's Full of Source!
      OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
    3. Re:Who or what to blame ? by fluffythedestroyer · · Score: 1

      yup. once in 2015 and another one this year. Montreal dont give a crap about environment

  18. Re:Other interesting statistics by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 2

    I'm not an american, but you have the constitution, so if you want to do gun legislation you need to change the constitution.

    That would be a good step, but unrealistic. Any constitutional amendment requires 3/4 of states to ratify it. There are a lot more low population, rural gun-friendly states than there are larger population states that are less friendly to guns.

    Even if a large majority of the population wanted the constitution changed (and I'm honestly not sure what % want it changed), it wouldn't happen. There are too many sparsely populated states that don't want "gub'munt tushin' ma guns". You're not going to see a gun control amendment to the constitution in your lifetime.

    More realistic would be a reinterpretation of the current constitution:

    A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed

    I think gun-control proponents are more likely to get their way by examining the phrase "A well regulated Militia". Which honestly, how that is interpreted will always depend on who is in the Supreme Court at any given time.

    --
    "That's the way to do it" - Punch
  19. Re:Other interesting statistics by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 1

    A woman was the victim of gun violence every 12 minutes

    That's a pretty loose definition of "gun violence" you're using there. ALL Firearms deaths in the USA, including suicide, didn't happen that often. Or were you counting "gun violence" to include "someone pointed a gun at someone else"?

    I don't know the source of his statistic or whether it is accurate or not; however being a victim of gun violence doesn't have to mean death. If you are shot in the leg or the arm for example, you will most likely survive. I would suspect a large number of victims of gun violence don't actually die.

    --
    "That's the way to do it" - Punch
  20. Re:Smoke and mirrors waste disposal by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 2

    Its a feel good attempt at making people think they are actually doing good by recycling. Much of my neighborhood has given up on recycling for a lot of stuff. Around me most just put out garbage and not recycling containers. Our disposal company has over the years become more picky about what they accept as recyclable material. Its getting harder to find companies making products that will buy the raw material and many are getting finicky about the quality. Last I read only around 30% of what is received is ever recycled properly. Maybe its time to reconsider all the plastic we use rather then trying to recycle something nobody wants.

    I'd much prefer we went back to paper and cardboard... at least if someone fails to recycle them then it at least decomposes pretty quickly if left to the elements. Naturally, this would depend on sustainable forestry techniques to be "Better"... which might actually serve as a carbon sink if we add to the woodlands we already have to grow paper.

    --
    "That's the way to do it" - Punch
  21. I get it... by argStyopa · · Score: 3, Insightful

    ...the point is to leverage western guilt into recycling their water bottles or some shit.

    But isn't the BULK of ocean plastic waste pollution (90%+) coming from 10 rivers? (https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/stemming-the-plastic-tide-10-rivers-contribute-most-of-the-plastic-in-the-oceans/)

    2 are in Africa, 8 are Asian. The Yangtze alone dumps more than all the other rivers/sources combined.

    Let's be objective then: wealthy suburban Starbucks customers could literally throw every scrap of plastic they use into the ocean directly, and they wouldn't even tickle the needle vs the megatonnage pouring from these 10 rivers. Carry all the stupid stainless-steel straws you like, you're at least giving people an idea of a cheap dumb gift they can give you at Christmas...but you're not doing *anything* for the environment.

    So these sorts of public flagellation programs - if they're produced in English, basically - amount to nothing more than virtue-signaling guilt-assuagement.

    --
    -Styopa
    1. Re:I get it... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Yup. But remember, those conditions are entirely the fault of straight, white men.

    2. Re:I get it... by Solandri · · Score: 4, Informative

      But isn't the BULK of ocean plastic waste pollution (90%+) coming from 10 rivers? (https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/stemming-the-plastic-tide-10-rivers-contribute-most-of-the-plastic-in-the-oceans/)

      If you read the article you've linked carefully, those 10 rivers account for 93% of the plastic waste entering the oceans from rivers. But they only account for ~25% of all plastic waste entering the oceans. About 73% comes from sources other than rivers if I did my math right.

      A recent study estimates that more than a quarter of all that waste could be pouring in from just 10 rivers, eight of them in Asia.

    3. Re:I get it... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      Then this article will set everyone straight. American produces 0.9% of all mismanaged plastic waste entering oceans. Cites are provided within the article.

      https://www.earthday.org/2018/04/06/top-20-countries-ranked-by-mass-of-mismanaged-plastic-waste/

      The 19 countries that produce more waste account for 82.2% of all mismanaged plastic waste entering oceans. Almost all of those 19 countries have an access point to those 10 rivers.

      How does that strike you?

    4. Re:I get it... by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Well you can start by not exporting your waste to these rivers to be dumped. Also doing something about a general problem rather than pointing at someone else and saying "but look they are worse" is not virtue-signalling.

  22. Negativity bias much? How about the good news? by Wrath0fb0b · · Score: 2, Informative

    There's an interesting quirk in human psychology that makes negative facts and news seem more salient than positive ones. For media that thrives on reader attention (and that's both new and old media), this naturally leads to more emphasis on the negative.

    I think this is a bias worth noting and pushing back on. The world is pretty far from perfect, but there's also huge helpings of good news all around us.

    Most of these (Daesh not withstanding, but threw them in just because they were really vile) follow the same pattern: slow but steady progress. It's hardly clickbait -- in fact these are not even specific events you can point to, they are trends seen on the scale of decades. And on the scale of decades, the world is consistently becoming a less-bad place.

    1. Re:Negativity bias much? How about the good news? by swell · · Score: 2

      (Score:3) ?

      Good news doesn't sell, especially on /. Sarcasm is best, or just plain angry diatribes. Vile, vulgar, vapid verbosity might up your Score. But Good News? Someone here will find a dark side to the best news. Is there any popular forum where good news is welcome? Still it was nice of you to try.

      --
      ...omphaloskepsis often...
    2. Re:Negativity bias much? How about the good news? by Wrath0fb0b · · Score: 1

      There are, but sadly the market for good new on the internet is like "Little boy surprised by neighbors with boy" or "firefighter rescues women from fire, finds out she was nurse at his childbirth".

      Good news on the scale of civilization-level progress over decades, not so much. . .

  23. Re:Who is "Kylie Jenner"? by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 1

    If Snapchat is relevant to you, you've heard of Kylie Jenner.

    --
    My God, it's Full of Source!
    OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
  24. Re:Other interesting statistics by cayenne8 · · Score: 1
    When you take the gun deaths put out by the US Feds themselves...if you remove things like suicide, and the gang shootings (criminals shooting criminals), you find that yourself as a normal citizen, has about the same chances of getting killed by a gun as you do winning a part of the lottery.

    You have a better chance of dying in a car than by gunshot.

    --
    Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
  25. Vodka by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 1

    Wow, my goodness. Imma stop stereotyping shots of vodka as something manly Russians do.

    --
    My God, it's Full of Source!
    OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
  26. Talk the talk, walk the walk... by bradley13 · · Score: 1

    Sometimes one really doesn't understand. People talk about reducing plastic usage, but then they do just the opposite. Recent example: There's a particular brand of cat litter that I usually buy. Cat litter is basically fancy dirt, nothing special, and this brand packed it in a paper bag, which was fine. I went to buy another bag last week, and: they've changed to a heavy-duty plastic bag. WTF?

    I now buy a different brand of fancy dirt...

    --
    Enjoy life! This is not a dress rehearsal.
  27. Re:Other interesting statistics by JesseMcDonald · · Score: 1

    I think gun-control proponents are more likely to get their way by examining the phrase "A well regulated Militia".

    They can examine that phrase all they like; it doesn't have any bearing whatsoever on the actual restriction placed on the government, which is simply that "the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed".

    Even if it were restricted to the Militia, that wouldn't do much: the Militia includes every able-bodied male citizen between 17 and 45 years of age, plus females who are members of the National Guard. Trying to restrict firearm ownership to the Militia is basically equivalent to barring older male citizens and all females who are not in the Guard from owning weapons. I'm sure that would go over real well...

    --
    "The state is that great fiction by which everyone tries to live at the expense of everyone else." - Bastiat
  28. Re:Other interesting statistics by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 1

    They can examine that phrase all they like; it doesn't have any bearing whatsoever on the actual restriction placed on the government, which is simply that "the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed".

    Even if it were restricted to the Militia, that wouldn't do much: the Militia includes every able-bodied male citizen between 17 and 45 years of age, plus females who are members of the National Guard. Trying to restrict firearm ownership to the Militia is basically equivalent to barring older male citizens and all females who are not in the Guard from owning weapons. I'm sure that would go over real well...

    That is your interpretation, and other people have other interpretations... hence my point it comes down to the interpretation of whoever is in the supreme court. Many people would interpret the law as meaning, that whereas they intended to allow guns, they also intended the use of them to be regulated and not just for lone-wolf ownership and application.

    --
    "That's the way to do it" - Punch
  29. Yeah but isn't that because by rsilvergun · · Score: 3, Insightful

    we've been shipping our plastic waste to China? At least until recently. Given how poverty stricken those nations are I somehow doubt they're generating that much waste plastic themselves.

    --
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    1. Re:Yeah but isn't that because by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      Poverty is relative.
      E.g. monthly earning in $US is meaningless. So is GDP etc.
      And then again "rich" white people fly into "poor" countries and produce plastic waste. Thailand had 35.38 million visitors 2017. Population 70million. Obviously tourists only stay a few weeks.

      Thai people produce a huge amount of plastic waste, probably easily 10 times as much as a german. And so do tourists coming here.

      Even my GF who lives rather frugal, produces here more than 10 times the waste I do in Germany.

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
  30. Re:Other interesting statistics by Shotgun · · Score: 2

    93% of workplace deaths were men.

    This is the America we live in.

    --
    Aah, change is good. -- Rafiki
    Yeah, but it ain't easy. -- Simba
  31. Not necessarily a bad thing by Solandri · · Score: 4, Interesting

    itâ(TM)s thought that around 12% of all plastic waste has been incinerated, with roughly 79% accumulating in either landfill or the natural environment

    Plastic originates from oil, and has the chemical form (C2H4)n for polyethelene, C2H3-x for PVC and polysyrene. When we bury it in a landfill, each C there is carbon which has been sequestered back underground, not combusted with atmospheric oxygen to produce CO2. In that respect, its resistance to biodegradation is a good thing, since it prevents bacteria in the landfill from converting it into CH4 (methane) and CO2. In a landfill locked in the form of plastic, that carbon is well and truly sequestered.

    Unfortunately, TFA does not make a distinction between what percentage of plastic ends up in landfills, and what percentage in the natural environment. I'm also curious if the incineration process is high enough in temperature to yield atomic carbon (soot), or if it converts the carbon into CO2. I'm guessing the latter since that yields more energy, helping defray the cost of incineration.

  32. Re:Other interesting statistics by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    If you can reinterpret the meaning to be anything that isn't referenced in the language, what is the point of a constitution?

  33. Not Ever Recycled? by ripvlan · · Score: 1

    I recycle a lot - it's a mandatory law in these parts. I'm sure that I personally send in more than 10% of my plastics for food containers etc.

    BUT --- does this 90% include Childrens Toys? Cell phones, the dashboard & engine cover of my car? Meaning... Long term items that I'm still using?

    Since this has been the year of anti-plastics I've been mentally monitoring my plastic usage. Food comes wrapped in it, toys, parts of my toilet, carpet fibres, ethernet cables, my laptop, keyboard, monitor etc.

    It's hard to wrap my head around such a low recycle rate. Unless it includes items that are still alive and being used.

  34. Re:Other interesting statistics by fustakrakich · · Score: 1

    they also intended the use of them to be regulated and not just for lone-wolf ownership and application.

    On the contrary. It recognizes the lone wolf's right to have his gun, and for him to form a well regulated militia in order to protect a free state, without a government permit. They didn't exactly define "well regulated". It must have been self evident back in those days. You know, that, and other words like "reasonable" and "speedy" (especially that one, when internet lag was really serious, ping times measured in weeks/months).

    --
    “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
  35. Re:Other interesting statistics by fustakrakich · · Score: 4, Funny

    Alternately, 3/4 of all producers could be turned into Soylent green with zero negative impact to society.

    Yeah, except for all the saturated fats and cholesterol and alcohol and antidepressants/opioids in their system that you'll be consuming. They should call it Soylent yellowish brown.

    --
    “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
  36. Re:2 problems by pr0fessor · · Score: 1

    When I was a kid you could buy a soda for a quarter stand outside the store and drink it then get the refund and buy a few pieces of penny candy.

    Now not only do they not give you the refund on the bottle and there hasn't been penny candy for years, but if kids are standing out in front the store they get hassled and asked to leave.

  37. Re: Free the Jaffa by sheramil · · Score: 1

    "Indeed." - Teal'c

  38. Re:Thanks, America? How about China? by walterbyrd · · Score: 1

    Asia, Africa Cause 90% of Plastic Pollution in World's Oceans

    https://www.acsh.org/news/2018/07/26/asia-africa-cause-90-plastic-pollution-worlds-oceans-13233

  39. Re:Thanks, America? How about China? by walterbyrd · · Score: 1

    Asia, Africa Cause 90% of Plastic Pollution in World's Oceans

    https://www.acsh.org/news/2018/07/26/asia-africa-cause-90-plastic-pollution-worlds-oceans-13233

    Lots more issues with China. For example, China is driving animals into extinction by paying poachers for things like elephant tusks, and rhino horns.

    I could go on. Environmental issues are not high priorities with China.

  40. Re:Other interesting statistics by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

    I would be more concerned about heavy metals ... full soylent jacket?

    --
    Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
  41. Re:Other interesting statistics by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

    If they are unreported then you cant do the math on them dumbass.
    *You* can't do the math, dumbass.

    If I have a TV show inviting females who got sexual assaulted, gathered via FB or mouth in the street, or activists web pages and I ask: who of you did report the assault, and from 100 woman only 32 raise hands; obviously 68% were unreported.

    Idiot ...

    I know 4 woman who either got raped or nearly raped. Only one reported it. Sure: small sample size ...

    --
    Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
  42. Re:Other interesting statistics by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

    Or were you counting "gun violence" to include "someone pointed a gun at someone else"?
    That obviously is gun violence, so why do you ask?

    --
    Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
  43. Re:Other interesting statistics by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

    Trying to restrict firearm ownership to the Militia is basically equivalent to barring older male citizens and all females who are not in the Guard from owning weapons. I'm sure that would go over real well...
    Strangely that is how it is done in civilized countries ...

    --
    Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
  44. Re:Other interesting statistics by e3m4n · · Score: 1

    Thats not a statistic you idiot. Thats a poll. No nobody would ever just go on your show to merely ‘raise awareness’ of assault and ‘for the cause’ show up and go along with your raise of hands survey that was thrown ar them on the spot. The best anyone can say is that its ESTIMATED thst half of all sexual assaults go unreported. Of course those statements also included cases of statutory rapes where both teens were consenting and also did not report it. Lumping teenage sex into the numbers in order to boost the records to ‘raise awareness’ is a stupid and detrimental thing to do. Its as bad as the asshats that altered temperatures because an anomole skewed their paper on faster-than-predicted warming. In fact deliberately inflating these numbers and including things that ‘technically’ count as assault (he grabbed my ass at the company christmas party and i slapped the shit out of him but didnt file a police report) makes the number SO high that it might in fact cause more women to NOT report real cases.

    But 68.4%? Thats complete bullshit. Fractional math only happens when you have REAL numbers of confirmed cases. None of that can happen without an actual report. There is a difference between a poll and a statistic. Your example did a poll. People can claim anything they want in a poll. HRC was ahead 65% acording to some polls, but some people lied to the polsters and voted otherwise. Never take a poll number to the bank. Your check will likely bounce.

  45. Re:Thanks, America? How about China? by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

    For example, China is driving animals into extinction by paying poachers for things like elephant tusks, and rhino horns.

    Incredibly cunty, given that Chinese medicine is a load of fucking shit.

    At least with homeopathy one rhino horn would be enough to last forever.

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  46. Re:Other interesting statistics by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

    I don't argue about the report, I argue about your dismissing the numbers and talking bullshit.

    E.g. a poll is not a statistics, aha. And if you make a statistics and your data is from a poll, what is it then?

    The USA are the only country I know about that has this retarded definition of "statutory rapes" ... what the original numbers include, who knows ...

    --
    Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
  47. Re:Other interesting statistics by e3m4n · · Score: 1

    Whats worse is a 18yo who has a 17yo g/f can find himself forever on the registered sex offenders database. He will never be able to live within 1000 yards of a school, daycare, or church. Do you know how hard it is to live outside 1000yards of one of those in the bible belt? Within 1000yds of my house is a public elementary school, a public middle school, a private religeous school k-12, a daycare, and 3 churches. We dont even categorize them like class 4 vs class 1. Forever the persons life is ruined. It shows up in job interview background checks often without details, so he gets denied jobs because someone assumes he will cause problems with female employees, etc. its not just politics here that is polarized. Jumoing to conclusions is pervasive throughout our news. Everything is guilty till proven innocent, tried in courts of public opinion. Whats worse is that I see this spreading past just the US. Its like a cancer. I read it on the internet so it must be true.

  48. Re:you're like a fish outta water by Wrath0fb0b · · Score: 1

    So citation to the data collected and analyzed by the experts in a given field is now 'flim flam'?

    I mean, who do the CDC think they are pronouncing on public health?!

  49. Re:Other interesting statistics by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

    Well, in Europe sex like that is legal.
    Legal age is 14 if both are under 18, and 16 if one is over 18. Give or take a year depending on country.
    If it is not rape, it is not rape, but well, it is punished. Or can be. But basically only if one feels offended, or the parents are. There is no automatic prosecution, unless it is truly child abuse, then the state attorney would prosecute it. In other words: if a 14 year old girl wants to f***k her 15 year old BF: the parents can not even forbid it. That is illegal. It is a basic human right to have sex.

    Your legal records are deleted after a certain time. Stuff like: not allowed to live close to a church or school is unconstitutional. In a free country you can live where ever you want. 1000 yards is a ridiculous big distance anyway ...
    Background checks going further than the typical deletion periods would require illegal means, and except for extremely rare cases (government jobs, military, security, banking IT, nuclear power plant) no one does them anyway.

    --
    Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
  50. Poverty is not relative by rsilvergun · · Score: 1

    Poverty means two things:

    a. Not having consistent access to basics required for a decent human life (Food, shelter, education, healthcare & transportation).

    b. Being able to be forced to do things you don't want to do because you don't have access to those things (join the military, sell drugs, prostitution, work a job you hate that's also dangerous, etc, etc).

    Poverty is when you don't have enough resources to live a good life and that others with access to those resources can force you to do as they say. That's poverty.

    --
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