California Would Be Less Stupidly Run If We Let Chimps Vote Instead Of People
Because chimps would vote at random, we'd at least have some chance of having sensible choices made -- unlike those so often by our idiot electorate.
For example, there's an annoying plastic bag ban here in California -- annoying because we've always reused plastic bags...for dog poop, for storing food in the refrigerator, etc.
As the SacBee story by Taryn Luna notes:
Grocery stores, retail stores with a pharmacy, convenience stores, food marts and liquor stores ... no longer provide single-use plastic carry-out bags to customers.
So...if we all have to buy bags to pick up the poop and store stuff in...we're saving on plastic how?
And guess what: There was a study done in Denmark, and the results? You have to use an organic cotton bag 20,000 times for it to be better for the environment. Regular cotton? Just 7,100 times. Plastic bags are actually best for the environment. (Scroll down for the English version of the study.)
And a caveat (because the argument's made that the plastic bags are fouling the ocean):
Interesting. (For Denmark, where plastic bags are typically reused then incinerated for fuel, not thrown out) https://t.co/xHfQ0Wli52
— Emily Deans MD (@evolutionarypsy) March 17, 2018
Oh, and about that ocean fouling thing (from Reason Foundation's Julian Morris and Brian Seasholes).
And about the storm drains (also from their same paper):
While clogging of storm drains is a potentially serious problem, it is important to focus on the most significant causes of such clogging. The KAB survey did find plastic bags in storm drains--but noted that they represented just under 1% of litter items in storm drains. By contrast, plastic drink containers represented about 2% and other plastic items represented over 10% (see Figure 5).23 On the basis of this evidence, it would not be appropriate to single out plastic bags, let alone plastic shopping bags, for particular attention. Rather, as noted above, it would seem that the underlying problem is the fact that people litter. Banning plastic bags would do little to reduce the problem of clogged storm drains, so attention should instead focus on ways to reduce the production of litter or mitigate its effects regardless of the product.
And then there's this from Reason's Katherine Mangu-Ward:
You know what's gross? Reusable grocery bags. Think about it: You put a leaky package of chicken in your cloth or plastic tote. Then you empty the bag, crumple it up, and toss in the trunk of your car to fester. A week later, you go shopping again and throw some veggies you're planning to eat raw into the same bag. Ew.
And this:
One common justification for bans is that using less plastic means using less oil. But the lightweight plastic bags we are accustomed to using--high-density polyethylene bags--are actually made almost entirely from natural gas, not oil. Meanwhile, a popular kind of reusable totes--non-woven polypropylene (NWPP) bags--are derived from oil.
Facts! Terribly inconvenient -- and P.S. I think you just stepped in some dog poo. What -- did you expect somebody to pick it up with their reusable bag?
"Plastics."
Crid at March 18, 2018 4:49 AM
Bonus: when the politicians do something dumb, the chimps can fling poo at them.
I R A Darth Aggie at March 18, 2018 5:39 AM
Austin enacted this ridiculous bullcrap too..thank God we not only dont live there now, we almost never even go in for the day. While I no longer have kids in diapers that I need to tie up in grocery sacks, I do have dog poop, and a litter box, that I reuse the bags for. You can take my free plastic grocery bags from my cold, dead, NOT pet-poop covered, hands.
Momof4 at March 18, 2018 7:22 AM
You sure about that? Remember the story about the monkeys and the ladder.
Although an urban legend, it is illustrative. All you'd need is some cold water and you could turn the monkey electorate any way you wanted - not unlike the human electorate today.
Conan the Grammarian at March 18, 2018 7:58 AM
I almost always reuse plastic bags for small trash cans. If you wash your cloth bag after every use, you are harming the environment even worse.
It is the same issue with disposable diapers that people were going nuts about some years ago. We went the cloth diaper route for a while but the smell and mess and cost just aren't worth it.
Another great example of idiocy is Seattle stopping the use of salt for melting ice on roads in the city because the salt was running off....into the ocean. The ocean! Salt water! So when the got their next storm, they tried to use sand which promptly clogged up the storm drains. The police could not respond to emergencies.
cc at March 18, 2018 12:13 PM
I almost always reuse plastic bags for small trash cans. If you wash your cloth bag after every use, you are harming the environment even worse.
It is the same issue with disposable diapers that people were going nuts about some years ago. We went the cloth diaper route for a while but the smell and mess and cost just aren't worth it.
Another great example of idiocy is Seattle stopping the use of salt for melting ice on roads in the city because the salt was running off....into the ocean. The ocean! Salt water! So when the got their next storm, they tried to use sand which promptly clogged up the storm drains. The police could not respond to emergencies.
cc at March 18, 2018 12:22 PM
In a state-by-state analysis of elected idiots, let's take a look at one of the geniuses running Texas.
Science is bullshit because Jesus and hell you abortionists!
Side bet: closet case of some sort.
Gog_Magog_Carpet_Reclaimers at March 18, 2018 6:06 PM
Remember, nearly all of the plastic in the ocean comes from just ten rivers worldwide, none of which are in Europe or North America.
(An aside: It took me a while to find something that I could link to that didn't have either a stupid slide show or an annoying autoplay video.)
Things that I've re-used plastic bags for:
1. Lunch bag
2. Liner for small trash cans
3. Scooping the cat box (not the same ones as the lunch bags!)
4. Preserving paint brushes and rollers overnight
5. Keeping loose parts together when working on something
6. Put your wet swimsuit in it when you drive back home from the pool or beach
7. Dust cover for small items
8. Disposing of the packages that uncooked chicken/fish comes in
9. Gathering stuff from the garden
10. Temporarily plugging up open drains, vent lines and ducts
11. Protect your hands when you can't find any rubber gloves
12. Make UFOs using birthday candles
13. Put over the heads of annoying people until they shut up
(Okay, maybe not that last one. Although...)
Cousin Dave at March 19, 2018 6:49 AM
Here you go Dave
https://youtu.be/xMKkcMP1Adk
https://youtu.be/JstGuF2Y0IY
lujlp at March 19, 2018 9:05 AM
You know what's gross? Reusable grocery bags. Think about it: You put a leaky package of chicken in your cloth or plastic tote. Then you empty the bag, crumple it up, and toss in the trunk of your car to fester.
___________________________________
Anyone who's that ignorant about the dangers of salmonella should not be living independently. Or at least needs some serious education. I doubt I know anyone who would be that careless with anything that had touched raw chicken. Even a knife has to be washed carefully before using it on anything else, after all - right?
ANY bag that's had raw chicken in it should go straight under the sink, to be used as a trash liner later. Soapy water will not make it good for anything else, I'm sure. (I do the same with any visibly dirty bag, unless I really need to wash and use it for something else.)
lenona at March 20, 2018 11:50 AM
Whilst I agree with much above, I would note that you can't (easily) reuse supermarket carrier bags for dog poop because they are made with holes to prevent suffocation. In an emergency I might be forced to use one but, in general, not practical.
Good for bin liners though (except for when the kids put food waste in them).
The problem is, do-gooders don't see solutions as part of a trade off. They are blind to unforeseen consequences. Any mention of possible adverse effects is met with ad-hominem abuse.
TDK at March 26, 2018 4:23 AM
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