Recent Comments

"When that Navy goes away. Shipping will have to start utilizing ships that move FASTER to be a target for a smaller amount of time. Those ships will have to charge more to protect themselves. All Prices go up. Availability of things drops.

It is a FAR more nuanced situation than you are giving it. Also, we've all but lost the ability to make these ships. "

No, we have not we still make them. They just aren't economically competitive even when you ignore piracy - which is rather geographically limited. Nor is your assertion about why we have these big container ships correct.

Container ship size is driven by:
- Port depth and infrastructure (your ship is useless if it can't dock)
- Canal constraints (Panamax, New Panamax, Suezmax classes exist for a reason)
- Economies of scale in cargo handling and fuel consumption
- Interest rates and capital costs (larger ships = more capital outlay)

Even if global piracy was zero, shipping ships would still be the size they are today. Economies of scale and fuel efficiency -> Big ships -> Low per-unit costs - this is the reason. Annual operating costs per TEU (Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit - basically a standard shipping container) drop by more than one-half when moving from Panamax to larger vessels. That's not piracy protection - that's pure physics and infrastructure optimization. Pirates don't factor into naval architecture decisions at all.

If they did, we'd still have larger ships but they'd have anti-boarding features built into them. In fact, your argument that big and slow is easier for pirates is inverted from reality. Modern pirates use fast skiffs. Container ships cruise at 12-20+ knots. The differential isn't the issue. You simply are not going to get fast small container ships that a small, fast pirate skiff can't catch. What actually matters is freeboard height (how high the deck is above water) and armed guards. The largest ships are harder to board, not easier.

Even with that aside, recall I mentioned piracy is geographically constrained. Piracy is geographically concentrated in a few chokepoints. The vast majority of shipping routes have zero piracy risk. The idea that the entire global fleet architecture is optimized around piracy avoidance is not how shipping economics works. Standard war-risk premiums hover at 0.3–0.5 percent of vessel value per transit - but only for high-risk zones. Most shipping routes carry essentially zero piracy-related insurance cost.

The zones where this applies are:
- Gulf of Aden (Somali piracy zone): 0.3-0.5% per transit
- Strait of Hormuz: ~0.2% per transit
- Red Sea during Houthi attacks: 0.6-1% per transit (spiked dramatically)
- Gulf of Guinea: 0.3-0.7%

The global total of war-risk premiums is close to $1 billion. That sounds large until you realize global container shipping moves ~$14+ trillion in goods annually. War risk is not even a rounding error in global shipping economics. Ship stores and lubricants is far greater of a cost, and that comes in at about 4% of operating costs for a typical 10k TEU ship. Fuel is half of operating costs. And fuel costs go up on smaller ships for teh same amount of cargo (physics, again). A lot.

Say you had a fleet of ten 10K TEU ships and you switch to 40 2.5K TEU ships. Your daily fleet fuel consumption would from about 1,750 tons to about 2500 tons - for moving the same amount of cargo. Call it roughly 30-40% more fuel for the same cargo capacity.

That will drive you to the larger ships all on its own. But that is before accounting for:

- 40 crews instead of 10
- 40 sets of port fees instead of 10
- 40 insurance policies
- 4× the maintenance

This is why the industry relentlessly pushed toward larger ships until they hit the physical constraints of ports and canals, not because the USN has big warships to fight pirates.

Frankly that wouldn't matter in any good way. The entitlement spending is so far beyond out of control it dominates anything else budget and spending-wise. Yes even, and especially, defense. Until you address that grave abomination and wrangle it down, anything defense related is irrelevant.

This is especially true for naval ships - arguably one of the few net benefits at a monetary/asset level.

And surely you're not suggesting a modern navy doesn't need aircraft carriers - the largest of naval warships? Which makes your recommendation even less meaningful.

Around here I carry my ID when hiking. That's because I'm carrying my CCW. That's because I'm carrying either a 40 Shield or a Taurus 357. That's because of the big kitty cats! Haha... Really beautiful once I get a couple miles into the Sierra from my house. Big pine trees whistling in the wind...

No problemo! It's a Trump class, LOL!

But Boone's farm was cheaper (by a nickel) where I was at the time.....

Second that motion!

Yeaaaa!! for the refugees from Veneuzuela!

Love the Trump Battleship - with a Flux Capacitor!

Two Republicans in a truck - lets get them all moved!
Excellent job OGC! Thanks again!

I saw the number of "troops" that were being deployed and realized that there was no serious way to protect the valuable deterrent that Greenland is without US maintaining it.

That's for the tribute here. He was a huge hero, role model, and mentor to me. And source of comedy relief and sanity in a world gone mad. In so many scenarios and occasions, over decades! His genuine (and effective) search for truth and understanding must be why The System had to attack him with all their might. But his positive impact and contributions will last forever.

He did listen. He knew there were unknowns and tradeoffs. He got the vax so he could go on a honeymoon with his bombshell wife (about 30 years younger than him) to an exotic resort location and have an amazing honeymoon. He was quite rational about it, considering those values.

Very true! I also found out that NPCs programmed by the corporate media go into a meltdown when you say you admired him. "But he's a racist!!! Reeeee!" So pathetic and sad.

Here is only, some of the back story leading up to this one, one of the final pieces. I'm sure you'll catch some of the stuff we've learned already.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HH7m...

Yeah. She grew up in a lib household, but she was always much more like a moderate conservative in most of her thinking. After listening to my rants for over 33 years and then doing her own research to see things for herself, she's pretty solidly planted on the right side.

Ah yes...step 1 from the Dem voting handbook.

You bet. I found it very entertaining.

That's right. Vote early and often!

He has chipped away at it's support mechanisms.

Our unseen burdens are slipping away, I've been feeling lighter lately, now I know why.

Glad you won and remain with us and Happily so.

Good one!!!

I didn't expect that "more" either, but after a think or two it has the ring of truth and facts. Now if he can only take down the un.

What a bag of giggles and guffaws! Thanks Carl, I really needed that after three days in the hospital. I stopped a flash pulmonary edema flat in its tracks by catching it early, so the three days of confinement felt like a vacation. With nearly 10" of snow on the ground here, I can finally catch up on my reading :) Edited for autocorrect.

Yes. But like Scott Adams. AND our forefathers/founders. At some point. You have to draw the line in the sand and say "Not on my watch!".

Never before in the history of the world, has the average person had the ability to step OUTSIDE the criminal Financial System, in order to protect themselves.

Today, we have BTC. And the reason I own it (along side of G&S) is because of what is happening now. As the Dollar Falters and "Hyperinflation" starts coming our way. The metals will be so expensive NOBODY will be able to buy them.

That's the TRAP. Because THOSE are the signs you MUST Buy them. Not for a trade, but to protect yourself.

BTC is proof that there NEVER has to be a BANK between YOU and YOUR ASSETS/CURRENCY/MONEY.

Having been debanked once... Trust me. People need to wake up. I don't trust banks. They take huge risks, and keep the profits and share the losses. They create the inflation and enable the government to print whatever they need.

Imagine trusting the USD when Musk found MORE than ONE magic money printer, that basically wrote cashable checks that did not have to clear against another account. (It would be called counterfeiting if we did that).

It takes only ONE of those printers to corrupt the USD into hyperinflation. He found Multiple.

And the media stayed so far away from it...
Strange...

But the point was that the Gulch has yet to embrace that we NEED a blockchain based money system outside of the control of the bankers.

FWIW, STRC has paid me THOUSANDS in dividends for which I OWE ZERO taxes! (In about 9-10yrs, I will start owning ONLY LTCG on the dividends I collect).

Paid Monthly.
This will start encroaching on the lousy bonds wall street likes to sell, and gets a piece of!

Yes. FFA. The markets are fundamentally RIGGED. They can keep the prices down. They can see their CLIENTS stop orders. Push the asset into the stops. And buy the stop loss sales.

Because the penalties are SO LOW, they keep doing it. Also, if the MINING Companies catch a BID, it gives the CEO some Liquid Courage to hold out for higher SPOT prices. Or sell their silver AROUND the COMEX market.

Can't be having that. Rumor is that many mines are foregoing the Comex and selling silver for $100+ /oz directly to consumers.

And the bankers are probably net short the miners, and have been for years.

Notice how silver USED to behave. They would sell 1 YEAR Supply of paper silver, on a Sunday in the wee hours, and knock the silver price DOWN for months.

But it is no longer working. It barely lasts HOURS nowadays.

Does it make ANY Sense that CORN Futures are selling for the SAME $ they sold for 30 years ago? No! But the paper "controllers" can force it down, manipulate it, and guarantee THEY make the money.

not my problem, not my circus. We should just allow them to handle it themself... I do agree, we don't want China and/or Russia getting their hands on it; maybe the extra dog sled will do the trick.

Now I understand why Trump freed Venezuela.