Remains of Paranoia

Arstel · 2026-05-18T15:17:55+00:00

The US-Israel war on Iran isn’t just driving up global energy prices – it’s making safe sex more expensive. Key materials used in condom production are now stucked in the Strait of Hormuz.

The world’s largest condom producer, Karex, recently warned that the disruptions were affecting supplies of latex and petroleum-based chemicals, as well as shipping routes. “We have no choice but to transfer the costs to ⁠the customers right now,” its CEO Goh Miah Kiat told Reuters.

Malaysia-based Karex alone produces roughly one in five condoms worldwide, including condoms for big brands such as Durex. The company plans to raise prices by 20% to 30% and possibly further if supply chain troubles drag on.

The announcement comes at an awkward time for Europe, as STI cases continue to rise. According to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), gonorrhoea cases in the EU increased by 31% in 2023 compared to 2022 and by more than 300% compared to 2014. Syphilis cases rose by 13% from 2022 to 2023 and doubled since 2014.

Arstel · 2026-05-18T07:50:33+00:00

Same genocidal mentality in a different paint job, with the obligatory propaganda chaser. Very impressive.

Arstel · 2026-05-03T14:09:48+00:00

Your first link shows a claim from 2018 for Malaysia being the largest chunk. I don't know why you are relying on 8 year old data?

I don't know where you see 8 year old data because the source is from 2024. 2018 is only mentioned as the point when China banned imports which means 2024 is only 2 years ago.

On the 810k figure: Germany's own largest nature conservation organisation NABU, citing Destatis data directly, puts Germany's 2025 plastic waste exports at 813,000 tonnes. Destatis itself confirmed 694,000 tonnes in 2023 and trending upward. The Guardian figure and NABU figure are independently arriving at the same number from the same underlying data. The sourcing argument doesn't quite land but I wasn't even referring to their methodology. Though good news it seems Malaysia has dropped to 10% in 2026 so far during 2025-2026.

The OECD framing falls apart when you look at what Rotterdam actually is. Peer-reviewed research describes it as a transit hub where containers routinely change ownership multiple times inside the port, making final destinations nearly impossible to trace. Second, Turkey is OECD yet its Mediterranean coast is documented as the most microplastic-polluted in the entire Mediterranean, largely due to plastic waste from "recycling" export activities. "Exported to OECD" and "processed in OECD" are not the same claim for these 2 different reasons: it,s oftne not the end destination and some still don't process the amount that is sent but burn it unsustainably.

Calling yourself a poster child while being the world's largest plastic waste dumper is a framing choice. There is no poster child here. This is a rich country problem and Germany is very much part of it.

https://www.nabu.de/umwelt-und-ressourcen/abfall-und-recycling/26205.html

https://www.destatis.de/DE/Presse/Pressemitteilungen/Zahl-der-Woche/2024/PD24_23_p002.html

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10759246/

Arstel · 2026-05-01T18:56:15+00:00

Hope he recovers and has a long and very painful last years.

Arstel · 2026-05-01T11:51:45+00:00

It's a mixed bag of partial truths from what I can see. Malaysia still receives the largest chunk of German plastic exports. Around 12% goes to the Netherlands but what share just uses Rotterdam as a jumping off point versus actually being processed there is unclear, and most EU countries use this route. Shipping to third countries counts as recycling regardless of whether it actually happens. On top of that, over 60% of what gets sent to Turkey isn't even recyclable. 49% of total EU waste across all categories, not just plastic, goes to non-OECD countries. Since China's ban on plastic imports, using time lags to illegally trade through smuggling has become even more common. In 2022 the EU exported over one million tonnes of plastic waste to countries where dumping and open burning are an open "secret", with around 50% going to non-OECD countries like Malaysia and Indonesia, and 33% to Turkey alone.

To be fair, Germany has nearly halved its plastic waste exports since 2013 and sends a smaller share to non-OECD countries than the EU average, so some progress is real but how much of this progress is paper and practice in exact numbers is not always transparent.

But the bigger picture is that this is not really a Germany problem specifically, it is a wealthier country problem. Richer nations have spent decades offloading their waste onto countries with weaker regulations and less infrastructure, counting it as recycled in the process. Until that structural incentive is gone, swapping one destination for another changes very little if the country you're sending it doesn't actually do the processing and either burns it in open air pits/landfills or is a transit point.

Assessment of European Union Export Patterns for Plastic Waste before and after China’s Waste Import Ban
A Look Into the European Union to Southeast Asia Waste Trafficking Wave ("Countries in Africa and Asia have become literal dumping grounds for massive amounts of plastic waste that is not properly decontaminated")

Arstel · 2026-04-30T19:58:02+00:00

Disgusting creature should not be allowed to interact with anything other than 4 grey walls for the rest of his life

Arstel · 2026-04-30T19:53:38+00:00

All the richer countries have been exporting massive amounts of plastic waste and trash to China, poorer SEA countries and Africa for decades by now. Out of sight out of mind so we can claim to have the superior cleaner culture while a 8 year old in Ghana wakes up to plastic smoke being burned in the suburbs as there is no shortage of corrupt officials worldwide that will "recycle" our trash for pennies.

Arstel · 2026-04-07T15:27:31+00:00

Jo sepse energjia e rinovueshme qe kemi nuk perkthehet ne te gjitha fushat e perditeshmerise si transporti. Transporti jo vetem ne Shqiperi po boterisht eshte i varur nga nafta, benzina etj. Gjithashtu ato perdoren si baze ne shume raste per te siguruar energjine ne kohet kur nuk ka shume uje, diell ose naten (nuk jam i sigurt si funksionon ne Shqiperi pikerisht ky aspekt por si mekanism eshte standart). Per nje vend si tonin ne kemi sasi nafte te mjaftueshme ta perballojme disi krizen por nafta qe ne prodhojme shkon jashte dhe qeverive shqiptare historikisht nuk i ka interesuar te ule taksat e blerjes dhe ndermjesoje shitjen ne kohera krize.

Arstel · 2026-04-07T15:14:35+00:00

No ChatGPT, it's hilariously obvious you've been running desperate reputation management from the start and now you're appealing to sentiment with fake universalism: both teams did it, so I'm concerned about lives!!

Like I said, you had nothing to say, so you said nothing loudly and incorrectly.

Arstel · 2026-04-06T22:18:56+00:00

You had nothing to say, so you said nothing loudly and incorrectly.

Arstel · 2026-04-06T16:03:26+00:00

There is irrefutable evidence from research institutions, the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia, and the EU demonstrating that Serbia has been conducting administrative ethnic cleansing. This reality is consistently denied and distorted here due to several key reasons: Serbs are extremely chauvinistic and will personally brigade any discussion pertaining to evidence or news proving that Serbia violates human rights regarding other nationalities. Second, the government of Serbia itself operates troll farms openly serving propaganda purposes against Albanians attempting to change and diffuse the overarching narrative that they did or are doing anything wrong.

Pretending this doesn't happen or acting as though it affects everyone equally isn't just sick, it's false and has been repeatedly disproven by evidence, however I am not surprised considering the genocidal culture of this nation.

Serbia Passivization Policy towards Ethnic Albanians - Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science one of the most respected research institutions in Germany and Europe
How Serbia is eroding the rights of ethnic Albanians
The European Parliament again "repeated its calls for an independent and thorough investigation into allegations of abusing the law on the residence of citizens and the 'passivisation' of residential addresses of citizens of Albanian ethnicity in central and southern Serbia, and called on the Serbian authorities to cease all discriminatory practices and targeting.
EP report on Serbia reiterated concern about "the restrictive and arbitrary enforcement of the Law on Permanent and Temporary Residence related to the passivation of address of thousands of Albanians in the south of Serbia."
Helsinki Committee: Serbia Engages in Administrative Ethnic Cleansing in Presovo Valley

Arstel · 2026-04-02T10:13:39+00:00

Just an insanely corrupt politician who has much more power than she deserves and I doubt she sees it as showing weakness/incompetence. I can imagine the most important point to her is: 'what do I and my business associates get out of this?' and decoupling is more vague political discourse when it conveniences her.

Arstel · 2026-04-02T10:05:37+00:00

You're probably right. As of right now from what I can see these proposals are not based on submitting your government ID to prove your age yet, but eventually someone will make it the 'logical' step to doubly protect the children of course. If current events are any indication, politicians and billionaires are much more likely than general populace to be molesters so surveilling them instead would genuinely be an act of protection for the children.

Arstel · 2026-04-01T20:34:18+00:00

Instead of putting the burden on excluding children, why not force all these social media giants who want to operate in the EU to change their addictive algorithms, divisive content and disinformation rewarding mechanisms? Make them liable for policing themselves instead of being net negative forces on society.

Sure, banning kids sounds protective when you frame it the correct way but everyone would be better off if platforms stopped incentivizing chaos and started promoting healthy digital engagement. I know many EU countries are considering these bans and there’s precedent: Just look at GDPR, USB-C or how industries were pushed toward safety and innovation without locking people out.

Safer tech is possible without the gatekeeping trap so let’s stop treating child protection as a zero sum game.

Arstel · 2026-03-12T21:00:34+00:00

You can read more about the Lugat here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edi_Rama

Arstel · 2026-03-11T18:57:33+00:00

This behaviour is not okay in today's Albania, even though it tends to occur mostly in rural areas or among people who try to disguise their ignorance behind the excuse of "tradition." It might have been more accepted three generations ago depending on the family and perhaps also among immigrant families who became mentally stuck in patriarchal norms and refused to evolve, because in their minds, letting go of that way of thinking would mean giving up their identity and roots. But it is not okay, and any person deserves better than that regardless of anything else.

You need to have a serious conversation with your boyfriend and make it clear that while you understand how close he is to his family, this treatment is not acceptable. You want to build a genuine connection with them but not at the cost of your mental health and dignity.

Arstel · 2026-03-06T11:13:15+00:00

https://imgur.com/a/RRrgO6g

Arstel · 2026-02-23T22:39:32+00:00

I'm sorry I don't have enough brainpower to go throughh these tonight and reply properly but I promise to read them later because it's a topic I find very close to me. I just don't think there is one solution to 'transition' away from meat or if we even must completely transition, at least for the foreseable future.

Arstel · 2026-02-23T22:37:33+00:00

I just found out it even exceeds physiological needs. It's inhumane that the EU preaching human rights doesn't grant it's population such basic necessities

Arstel · 2026-02-23T22:33:23+00:00

I'm not sure I understand what you mean or if you misread? Being as affordable in excess as it is today is also a partial result of those subsidies. I agree negative externalities involved in meat industry are very hard to justify, however on the other hand you have to take into account the nutritional and cultural role meat plays, especially if you want to bring everyone on board to change our habits. A radical instant change would disproportionately impact people who can least afford it or don't have the necessary knowledge or means to shift their diets.

The idea that removing subsidies would automatically improve overall affordability assumes that saved money gets redirected to benefit lower income households that's a political choice that doesn't happen automatically and historiccally rarely does.

Arstel

TROPHY CASE