That fight is in the appendices, but not the Hobbit itself.

Take this article with a big grain of salt. The source is Kpler (specifically their Marine Traffic program). I have multiple enterprise accounts and my trading platform integrates to Kpler via API.

I will admit that Kpler have, by far, the most AIS data, but they are the worst at scrubbing it and filtering it, showing more wholesale hallucinations (e.g., ships circling far inland) than any other program like this.

My other programs like Pole Star, AIS Live (S&P energy), etc do show a rise in dark transits but no where near what this article claimed. If you have enterprise access and are quite bored you can watch this in realtime.

Also Kpler are attention whores in my industry placing stories in every two dudes and a cat publication that will run them.

The only way to know this for sure it to look arrivals at Indian and PRC terminals/refineries four to six weeks from now.

Meaning absolutely no offense, there are several topics here. One, the article from Informa (not a very reliable company - I worked for them when they owned Lloyd's List Intelligence where I was an analyst) says the ship was unmanned, but not that it was an unmanned ship, i.e., they more likely mean abandoned.

But for the sake of argument let's assume someone is using unmanned cargo ships. Then this became a problem of scale. The tankers that take crude/LNG from the Gulf are the largest type in the world. A VLCC (very large crude carrier) goes from 200k dwt (deadweight, how much a ship can carry) up to 400k. Even if unmanned cargo vessels were in use, there is absolutely no way the IMO, let alone the P&I clubs, would allow a ship that big to be unmanned.

You could use smaller ships, but the economics would not work at all.

All that said people are working very hard to get unmanned cargo ships to be a thing, so you are right about that.

Am a Dutch. I agree this is bad and I agree we should move as fast as possible toward digital sovereignty / FOSS.

That said, NL is the only country that's an "unofficial" full member of the "Five Eyes." This seriously complicates any move away from US tech.

Not an excuse; just one of the big reasons.

Have not yet made the decision! Still pondering. But this helped :)

Related method, HK diner style egg sandwiches: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpgVmLMAOzs

Thanks for posting this - I have a parallel (but different) dilemma and the answers here are insightful.

I am no Hunter apologist by any means, but this doesn't look like an LLM wrote it to me.

Not saying Hunter himself wrote it either; just doesn't look like a machine.

"They are Belgian, not AI." Going to have to start incorporating this into my speech.

Why here, of course: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Northwest_tree_octopus

I hope you find the peace and balance you are looking for. Please know that I think most people here really appreciated hearing about your whacky antics; they often brought a bit of sunshine to an otherwise dull day.

Godspeed.

If healthcare were decoupled from employment, Americans could protest in much larger number and for a longer period of time.

A general strike would become viable.

I think this was the plan* all along. This is why all the techbros went fascist. PE was just more quiet about it.

The Epstein class wants a global crash so they can buy up what they don't already own for pennies on the dollar. Life becomes a subscription service supported by full governmental capture.

• I don't think there was any actual conspiracy - the people all just saw the same opportunity to wreck things and jumped aboard the let them eat cake boat.

I Left a long time ago (for the second time) and will never go back. My kids got a far better education, my income prospects greatly improved, and life here is just ...easier. Mind you I left from NYC which is everything except easy. Still love NYC but will not go back to visit under these circumstances.

My wife and I fought actively for change on the local level. It changed nothing.

As the others said, food. Specifically unsalted cashews. I called our (Dutch) bird rescue center and they said that's the healthiest "human" food to give them.

I have three crow friends (and sometimes their buddies) who light on my balcony railing and wait for me to come out. One will eat it there while I'm watching; the other two fly it across the street to their stashes. All three will just sit on the railing and watch me work sometimes.

Sometimes the magpies show up, but they are super, ultra cautious around The Human. I can tell they know me though when they fly through the street. They make the happy magpie sound they make to their mates when one of them steals a cashew intended for the crows instead of being silent.

I get that this is illegal, but you do not have to give them a lot or make it obvious . One or two a day. You may not see them, but they will see and remember you as Cashew Guy/Gal/Nonbinary Pal.

Also alas, Unidan, where did you go?

He didn't say Middle EAST. He said the Middle, as in the middle of the field or in the middle on issues.

If you are tired of reading of grandma's hardships in the great depression here is a trick:

Add "cooked.wiki/" (without the "") to the beginning of any recipe URL, and it will strip away everything but a column with the ingredients and a column with the recipe.

You have to make an account to store recipes, but that's totally optional.

"You just ain't never had it done right."

Old musician's joke "Do it once, it's a mistake; do it twice, it's jazz."

Yes bassmang.

And over the last two days the Ukrainians have more or less driven all the ships supporting Russia out of the Sea of Azov, hitting at least 113 of them. See: https://youtu.be/yhFiDv4P5S0