Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

The hijacking of rare Japanese KitKats

straitstimes.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

161–170 of 180 posts

Re: The hijacking of rare Japanese KitKats

#161

Post by burnerburnito »

keepamovin wrote: post #126
riffraff wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's the picture in the article that really sells this theory. I assume Mr Taing to be a stand up honest person but why the heck did they put a picture of him half smirking in penumbra in a Dr Evil pose?

That’s another great point. I noticed that too, and the suggestion that it makes. However, besides the image, in the article they don’t exactly sell the theory that he does anything suspicious at all. I don’t think they even suggested it. It seems he’s painting entirely as the victim. This seeming contrast raises a fascinating point. I totally agree with you of the importance of image messaging. Image analysis in the…

How come white's the only group not capitalized? Just funny to spot.

Re: The hijacking of rare Japanese KitKats

#162

Post by Legogris »

keepamovin wrote: post #126
riffraff wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's the picture in the article that really sells this theory. I assume Mr Taing to be a stand up honest person but why the heck did they put a picture of him half smirking in penumbra in a Dr Evil pose?

That’s another great point. I noticed that too, and the suggestion that it makes. However, besides the image, in the article they don’t exactly sell the theory that he does anything suspicious at all. I don’t think they even suggested it. It seems he’s painting entirely as the victim. This seeming contrast raises a fascinating point. I totally agree with you of the importance of image messaging. Image analysis in the…

A reporter wrote the text; a photographer took the photo; an editor arranged the final composition.

They don't always perfectly align on big nor small.

Re: The hijacking of rare Japanese KitKats

#163

Post by qingcharles »

leobg wrote: post #160
qingcharles wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm just bummed I was left out from the recent Beanie Baby movie and the the documentary that came out a while back. I was easily the biggest, most ridiculous vendor in the world. Even Ty (the owner) tried to bribe me out of existence. I have picked up a lot of stories over the years. Like the time the Secret Service were after me thinking that I was trying to assassinate Bill Clinton o_O

Can’t we do thing where you just tell all these stories to a voice recording app on your phone. And then we use GPT/Whisper to transcribe and convert it into a book. Not gonna win any fiction award. But sometimes it’s better than a thing exists than that it is perfect.

One day! The story isn't over (yet).

Re: The hijacking of rare Japanese KitKats

#164

Post by 3np »

zoky wrote: post #71
unyttigfjelltol wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Easy to find out since half are still at the warehouse....

It occurred to me though that it could also be a “double-dipping” scam. The fake shipping company supposedly “loses” the merchandise, an insurance claim is filed, then the Kit Kats are quietly retrieved and resold. In that case, even if the insurance company refuses to pay out (as they did) it's not a total loss, as they're only out a few grand in storage fees. It'd be fairly low risk as well, as there wouldn't be an…

One factor could also be the scammer getting bad conscience when realizing they weren't just skimming off a corp but screwing over a small-timer. Maybe they were drunk or high at the time of the call.

Seems like there was more than one independently scheming entity in some way, and at least one scheme didn't pan out as planned. The Big Lebowski reference doesn't seem too far-fetched...

Re: The hijacking of rare Japanese KitKats

#165

Post by keepamovin »

burnerburnito wrote: post #161
keepamovin wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s another great point. I noticed that too, and the suggestion that it makes. However, besides the image, in the article they don’t exactly sell the theory that he does anything suspicious at all. I don’t think they even suggested it. It seems he’s painting entirely as the victim. This seeming contrast raises a fascinating point. I totally agree with you of the importance of image messaging. Image analysis in the…

How come white's the only group not capitalized? Just funny to spot.

Haha that's a good catch! I agree it's funny to spot. I don't know. I wonder why?

It may seem like a small thing but I think you raise a fascinating and important point!

Could you advise on what a possible "correct" capitalization should be? I don't know! Here's what I think:

It would feel weird to capitalize white. I think because I see it as a descriptive color, not an identity. But in English text I've often seen Black capitalized when it's referring to people's skin color, so perhaps I'm just reflecting that.

But I don't think you can not-capitalize "Asian", as Asia is a proper name for a region, same for Middle East, tho probably can lowercase black? Haha I don't know ! :)

Maybe it's my skin color is what people call "white" in these simple distinctions, so using capitalization for other groups is a sign of respect, or a form of difference signaling, which would seem weird to apply to my one.

I suppose you could consider such distinctions as racist, but indeed by that definition then noting any racial distinction is racist.

So even the labels of Black/black or asian/Asian or white would be considered racist, and indeed they are racist because they connote racial distinctions.

However noting distinctions that are factual, descriptive, and not fabricated negatives is not "negative racism". So, while I think it's valid to call any denoting of racial distinctions racist, I think there's further nuance! A distinction between negative racism (using racial differences to send fabricated negativity), and positive racism (respecting and noting differences or positive characteristics).

Perhaps it's possible to think of the capitalization difference in a similar way to addressing others you can use "Mr/Ms/Mrs" or, in Chinese, "nin". Some kind of respect marker, formality signal perhaps, or an extension of common convention in other areas to this one... haha :)

It seems the names we have in english for different racial groups are not exactly consistent, like many "inconsistencies" in English.

Or, all of this might just be my own inconsistency in spelling, a natural variation which is not to be underestimated! haha ! :)

Re: The hijacking of rare Japanese KitKats

#166

Post by keepamovin »

nocoiner wrote: post #156
keepamovin wrote: post #105

This was fascinating, but also terrible! I'm no expert, but this struck me as suspicious: In possibly the strangest twist on the KitKat trail, Bokksu announced in September that it had acquired Japan Crate. But NYTimes discovered that the acquisition had actually been completed back in June. So Bokksu, through a wholly owned subsidiary, had in effect overseen the loading of its own KitKats onto the original two fraud…

I sort of wonder how the Times would have ascertained that the acquisition had been completed in June. I’m wondering if the deal signed in June and closed in September. Maybe they found a merger sub formation doc for “Japan Crate Acquisition Corp.” or something and thought that meant the deal had been completed when the entity was formed. Still a weird story. And man, that freight broker is either the unluckiest man…

I know right? The freight broker! It's like: Trust random guy who replied on Craigslist -> seems legit! Haha.

It is weird certainly to interested but uninvolved readers like us. Yet by the sound of it, to insiders in the industry, this strategic theft is surprisingly common! It must not be weird to insiders, but rather than unfortunate reality of logistics. :(

The Times may indeed have been sloppy in their fact checking and reporting, it would be good if they posted the basis for their conclusion. However, it's just as valid to consider they conducted proper due diligence and reported accurately. Without further information, we have to take what they say at the same value as every other fact reported in the story, or if we cast doubt on the fidelity of their reporting and demand further proof, we should do so consistently for every point.

Once we begin to doubt that, we can begin to create alternative facts for every point they make--combinatorially increasing the number of possible story interpretations! Haha :)

Re: The hijacking of rare Japanese KitKats

#167

Post by keepamovin »

kuschku wrote: post #157
keepamovin wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, that sounds reasonable. Well said! But the niggle is that the issue covered in the article occured after the acquisition. What do you say about that? :)

This wouldn't be the first supply chain disruption. Only a short while back Covid disrupted global supply chains. It'd absolutely make sense for this company to get the supply chain in house for a safer supply chain. If something like this happens while such an acquisition is still ongoing, that wouldn't be suspicious, it'd just be a sign you made the right call.

Yeah, that's reasonable. Without further information we don't really know what prompted the purchase, but it's reasonable to speculate it is as you say: in response to pre-existing supply chain issues.

Taking it further, it would seem a pretty dumb fraud if the trail could be traced back so easily via ownership, making that suggestion less likely perhaps.

Indeed your defense of Tiang via the alternate interpretation of it being a sign he'd made the right call if the theft occurred during the acquisition, is also plausible.

It's good to keep in mind the different possible interpretations!

It's interesting how much we don't know given limited information. For example, I would never have considered that this kind of strategic theft would be so common a thing that it would touch a guy doing a "subscription box" service. So sad!

But then, we don't really know whether it was fraud or not by him. The timing of the acquisition suggests that as a possibility, indeed, but it's hard to say how likely that is.

I think this interesting discussion has highlighted how inadequate our knowledge of a remote situation really is to be able to judge it at a distance with any surety or authority. None of us are really equipped to make any judgements on this, and hopefully none of us have that intention. Discussing possibilities is okay, as long as we keep in mind our limitations! :)

Haha...I think this highlights the importance of carefully considering the evidence, and withholding judgement until you reach a very clear standard. It seems we have not yet reached that here. You have to consider the possible violations, for sure, but presumption of innocence is also very important!

Re: The hijacking of rare Japanese KitKats

#168

Post by keepamovin »

Legogris wrote: post #162
keepamovin wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s another great point. I noticed that too, and the suggestion that it makes. However, besides the image, in the article they don’t exactly sell the theory that he does anything suspicious at all. I don’t think they even suggested it. It seems he’s painting entirely as the victim. This seeming contrast raises a fascinating point. I totally agree with you of the importance of image messaging. Image analysis in the…

A reporter wrote the text; a photographer took the photo; an editor arranged the final composition. They don't always perfectly align on big nor small.

Completely agree! It's hard to pin down intention or suggest coordination. Sometimes it could simply be accidental.

But it's also possible to argue that, in aggregate, the average media expression of a culture would likely reflect its unconscious biases. And I think the evidence of this in media imagery is clear.

Surely there may sometimes be a deliberate agenda carefully projected through manipulations of imagery, but other times the same end effect may occur simply through a "culturally unconscious" process.

Re: The hijacking of rare Japanese KitKats

#169

Post by mike_d »

ChuckMcM wrote: post #113
mike_d wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is probably a lot more money in that. The cargo will still be an insurance loss, but recovery of loads that can cause damage to marine environments are subject to mandatory reporting and fines. If you could build a device to detect the potential for conditions leading to parametric rolling and warn crews to make adjustments I would invest in that. https://www.marineinsight.com/marine-safety/what-is-parametr...

Interesting article! This would certainly be amenable to signal processing algorithms if you could get reliable wave height/frequency data. I suspect flying a kite doing SAR above and behind the ship (looking forward) would likely be to complicated. I was thinking more along the lines of a ship that was outfitted with a container retrieval bay sailing back and forth along the trade routes.

Retrieval is the easy part. Locating the containers (which are often not found to be missing until arriving at port) is a MH370 scale problem.

Re: The hijacking of rare Japanese KitKats

#170

Post by ChuckMcM »

mike_d wrote: post #169
ChuckMcM wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting article! This would certainly be amenable to signal processing algorithms if you could get reliable wave height/frequency data. I suspect flying a kite doing SAR above and behind the ship (looking forward) would likely be to complicated. I was thinking more along the lines of a ship that was outfitted with a container retrieval bay sailing back and forth along the trade routes.

Retrieval is the easy part. Locating the containers (which are often not found to be missing until arriving at port) is a MH370 scale problem.

I could believe that, that also presumes that they stay reasonably close to the surface. If they sink in the Pacific retrieval would be very unlikely.
Post reply on HN