Sadly, yes, 100%. Plastic. Tires.
I saw Vaclaw Smil, a professor at the University of Manitoba, and recognized expert on energy/oil, on TV pffft... 10-15 years ago. He said at that time that his research shows 85-90% of the world's economy can be traced back, directly or indirectly, to oil mining, oil products, and industries that support all that.
I was shocked, the panelists pushed back, but he said that was his finding.

We are talking about translations from original texts/languages that always result in some drift in words. Here
https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.io?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.goodreads.com%2Fquotes%2F8564683-the-art-of-war-teaches-us-to-rely-not-on

You don't want to see the wisdom of Sun Tzu. Your choice.

Just head over to Facebook and ask to chat with a robot friend. Also, while you're there, did I not read on this august site recently that there are lots of unlicensed AI therapist bots on Facebook now? Get for sure very good advice, Free!

This is so sad, I almost feel bad making fun of my tribe getting laid off, even if they did work for a company I've despised for 20 years. If they were Adobe employees, though, I'd probably chuckle, they are the worst.

Bingo! no mod points rn, but that's reality.
Settlement in dollars is how they do it and the reason Iran and Russia are constantly trying to find proxies and workarounds.
According to ChatGPT:While precise current figures can vary depending on sources and recent developments, estimates suggest that approximately 80-90% of global trade finance transactions are conducted in USD

I'm not sure you've ever seen details on oil mining and trading, but the numbers add up into the billions FAST. It's insanely profitable. So I would guess that a good chunk of that 80-90% is crude oil.

In a Slashdot first, they are giving you this prestigious award, you will treasure for all time.

SLASHDOT PEDANTIC CUNT OF THE YEAR 2025
WINNER: DAMN OREGONIAN

Now you can get back to finding typos and trying to make them sound really important and deliberately misinterpreting what people say on slashdot. I'm sure that's a big part of your very very important position doing something or other.
I got to admit, you really deserve this, Seriously, Congratulations Bro.
Keep it up, I'm sure you'll be a strong contender for the 2026 award too.
You might want to start by complaining to EditorDavid that they capitalized your handle and put a space in.
I bet you find that really irritating. I noticed that too. But you still won. Impressive.

I just couldn't add anything more.

Heyyyy.... I'll say more.... about 5 blade razors :-)

I use a 5 blade wet razor... and it's excellent. No idea what brand it was I bought a 12 pack so long ago I can't remember. I have a heavy beard and those 5 bladers last ridiculously long and give a nice close shave.
Shaving every 2 days, I'm getting as much as 12 months of use from single cartridge, so something like 150-170 shaves before first blood. That's insane.

Without any doubt. I was Catholic once myself. But for all the ummm. lets say modern regular people who like to have sex with birth control, there's still plenty of people who don't break those rules, and really the key point is that we are hypocrites in general who don't have a big problem with professing one thing in public and doing something different in private. I'm told that a lot of Muslims like Johnny Walker Whiskey, too.
But the leaders of the Faiths, the pope, the imams, they set the doctrines, and officially both of those religions are really strongly opposed and offended by the mere suggestion that YOU could limit THEIR procreation in any way.

Remember Monty Python, Every Sperm is Sacred? I suggest there are probably a majority of Catholic and Muslims who agree with that, no matter their actual practices in the bedroom. The people who write the rules certainly do.

We already have PRISM, so this is more or less a moot point for LEOs. The only difference I see, is, if they get legal access via court cases and precedents, then this practice will be fully on display as public knowledge and regular daily operations. The bridge too far for me is normalizing trawling by third parties. The problems are 1. who watches the watchers, and 2. this is a slippery slope eroding privacy (ha!) further and further and further.

Blow me, pedantically, and think of my big hairy cock in your mouth.
Think of it frequently. All day long actually, since you have the time.

That is their business. But the employee is doing side business with his employers client. That's conflict of interest, at least.

Barring the expense, why wouldn't a company retain data that could likely be or become a revenue stream ?

Like, who isn't drooling over gathering data these days ?

The article at ARS leads more towards the notion that there is no consideration for end users privacy.

Far be it that I would defend OpenAI, but the idea that third parties should be given access to troll thru customer data, is a bridge too far. LEOs would love to see what you're up to next.

Pro tip: don't use AI to plan your next crime.

> It is an objective statement that bans on marriage under 18 years of age is considered an attack on Islam.

Thank you for that acknowledgment, I hope any zealous downvoters read it.
Christianity also doesn't agree with birth control, maybe the new pope will change that, not that any of this is my fight.
I applaud your attitude for seeking solutions, but there's the showstopper right there, for a preponderance of religious people.

A lot of guys would want a Double D licence. Would that cost more? For access to the dark web, I guess.

Note to self: post anon more often.

Birth control? Sorry, its against my religion, I might have to kill you now. That is so offensive to me, my 4 wives, and 40 children.

You smug Americans probably think we should have democracy next... oh wait, that's so last year...

Don't take this personally, I posted it as an example of how some people in other countries think .

Why do I sense incoming down votes? How is that not an objective statement?