• 2 Posts
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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: June 10th, 2023

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  • Having elected officials makes sense for politicians since their job is to represent the interests of the people but it’s terrible for other types of public office.

    What do you want from a judge or a sheriff? Someone who’s experienced and competent. Who can best judge that? Would it be the hierarchy of their peers who they work with every day or would it be random members of the public who’ve barely even heard of them?

    Edit: and no, I’m not suggesting political appointments. That’s also a recipe for disaster. Do it like Commonwealth countries: make the civil service independent of the political process and make appointments be part of the usual process of promotion.













  • zik@lemmy.worldtoMildly Infuriating@lemmy.worldPlastic tea bags
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    7 months ago

    You appear to be arguing that even if microplastics are present in the environment it’s not a problem. That’s a brave stance to take given the wealth of information to the contrary.

    Even if they did break down it’s bad. Plastics have additives in them which are used to improve their material properties. These additives include BPA and PFAS (and similar). We know that these compounds cause problems in humans and the environment. So if they were “easily digestible by the body” that would absolutely be a big problem.

    There’s no world in which “nothing will be harmed” by plastic decaying. Some people even argue that conventional plastics are less dangerous in landfill than bioplastics because at least they don’t release dangerous by-products like microplastics or “forever chemicals”.



  • zik@lemmy.worldtoMildly Infuriating@lemmy.worldPlastic tea bags
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    7 months ago

    Despite claims to the contrary, PLA does usually break down into microplastics. It’s possible that under certain conditions (such as those found in industrial composters) those microplastics might be broken down into starches and consumed by bacteria, but most teabags will just end up in landfill and won’t break down beyond microplastics.



  • zik@lemmy.worldtoWorld News@lemmy.mlSweden officially joins NATO
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    7 months ago

    Kaliningrad’s fairly strategically useless to them now that every surrounding country’s NATO though. The Suwałki Gap between Kaliningrad and Belarus used to be pivotal in potentially re-taking control of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. It would have been very difficult for NATO defend them if Russia took the gap. But now those countries are protected by NATO countries all around so Kaliningrad’s a lot less useful strategically. Not to mention that there’s a strong Kaliningrad independence movement so they’re struggling to control it internally as well.

    More here.