VIDEO: Air India 171: NOT a tragic accident?

Ed. had trouble composing just the right headline for this post. We don't want to be accused of racism or of suggesting that the horrific crash of Air India Flight 171 on June 12th wouldn't have happened had the pilots been white. The worst aviation disaster of all time was the collision at Tenerife airport, on 27 March 1977, of two Boeing 747s belonging to KLM and PanAm. Still...

Flight 171 was a scheduled international passenger flight operated by Air India from AMD (Ahmedabad Airport) in India to LGW (London Gatwick Airport) in the UK. The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner operating the flight crashed approximately thirty seconds after takeoff into the hostel block of B. J. Medical College in Ahmedabad. 

Shortly after liftoff, the aircraft began losing altitude while maintaining a wings-level, nose-up attitude. The flight crew issued a mayday call reporting a loss of power and thrust. The crash caused multiple explosions on impact. The aircraft was carrying 230 passengers and 12 crew members; all but 1 passenger were killed. The crash also killed 19 people and injured at least 60 more on the ground.

The Wall Street Journal has just released a report that changes the direction of the investigation into the disaster. According to sources familiar with the FDR (Flight Data Recorder, one of two "black boxes") data, both fuel cutoff switches were found in the "cutoff" position. That means both engines were shut down. In this video Captain Steeeve gives the reasons for his opinion that this could not have been an accident.  

The focus of the investigation is now on the pilots.The flight was commanded by Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, 56, who had logged approximately 15,600 flight hours, including nearly 8600 hours on the Boeing 787, was the pilot monitoring. The first officer, Clive Kunder, 32, who had around 3400 flight hours, with over 1100 hours on the 787, was flying the plane on takeoff. Either one of them could have thrown the cutoff switches. Why they would do so is the unsolved mystery.

UPDATED: Vancouver motor manslaughter the work of a madman?

Canada has a large and vibrant Filipino community. Hundreds of thousands of Pinoys and Pinays have immigrated in recent years, settling mostly in larger cities Vancouver in the west to Toronto in the east. They are not "refugees" or asylum-seekers, but economic migrants, who came to Canada in search of a better life.

The Filipino community is largely peaceful. They are too busy working to cause trouble, and, being mostly Catholic, they haven't brought with them any religious or political strife from their homeland. When they're not working (typically in service industries like hospitality and health care), they love to take part in fiestas. Singing, dancing and street food are a major part of Filipino culture.

Filipinos are regarded by other Canadians as "good immigrants". There is almost no anti-Filipino sentiment in Canada. So most Canadians will be shocked, when they wake up this morning, to hear that a ramming attack on the Lapuj-Lapu street festival in Vancouver BC killed at least nine people, and injured scores of other party-goers.

Interim Vancouver Police Chief Steve Rai says a 30-year-old Vancouver man has been arrested for the early-morning attack in which an SUV plowed through a crowded South Vancouver street at high speed. The exact number of casualties won’t be released until families have been notified.

Vancouver police say on "X" that they are "confident" the incident was not an act of terrorism. How so? And why did Chief Rai say nothing about the identity of the perp now held in custody. [He hasn't been released on bail yet? Ed.] His citizenship status (if any) and ethnicity have not been revealed. Nor has his religion. He might well be a white, born-in-Canada Quaker. That's why we haven't put up the usual "Allahu akbar!" headline... yet.

UPDATED ADDED at 1138: 

In a presser at 0930 PDT, a spokesthingy for the Vancouver police said "I can tell you that the person we have in custody does have a significant history of interactions with police and health-care professionals related to mental health."

A video clip seen on network TV shows a young white man with curly blonde hair sitting up on a gurney as he was loaded into an ambulance. There was no voice-over but we infer he's the allegedly mentally disturbed individual who was behind the wheel. 

So: white, Canadian-born (likely), but probably not a Quaker. That's 2 out of 3. We're now down to a mass killing by a lone wolf -- one of the many individuals with "issues" loose on our streets. That's our sick society. Does any "leader" have a plan to address this problem? Anyone? ... ... ...

FURTHER UPDATE ADDED at 1850:

Whoa! The name of the "suspect"  now charged with eight (count `em, 8) counts of second-degree murder is Kai-Ji Adam Lo. Not white, and possibly not Canadian-born. Try Chinese. When things like this happened in southeast Asia in the days of the Empire, we used to say that someone of the Asian persuasion had "run amok". Now we just say they "have issues".

"Poor, wandering one..."

That's an aria from The Pirates of Penzance, my favourite Gilbert & Sullivan operetta. If I were more skilled at creating videos, I'd dub part of it onto Senile Joe's performance at a sky-diving show in Italy yesterday. Check this out. 

According to the respected Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera, this group of dignataries was watching a demonstration by the Italian Air Force, when the Leader of the Free World (TM) started to wander off to gawd-knows-where. 

"Doctor" Jill Biden apparently didn't notice, so it was up to the horrible right-wing Prime Minister of Italy, Giorgia Meloni, to turn Senile Joe back t the group. Why she bothered is anyone's guess.

Remember when you vote on November 5th that what you see is what you'll get!

Further reading: "Biden’s condition shocks allies at G7 summit, with one saying it’s ‘worst he has ever been’", by Josh Christenson, in the New York Post, 14/6/24.

VIDEO: Support mental health... or else!

WARNING: This post contains links to animated material which some may find offensive, politically incorrect, disgusting and even... wait for it... unAmerican! 

Walt has been down in the dumps since January 20th, for reasons that should be obvious to anyone who follows the news. Sleepy Joe's Executive Orders suspend deportations of illegal aliens, welcome transgender perverts into the military, and kill KXL at the cost of 1000s of union jobs. 

And that's only the beginning of the Californication of America. Depressing, isn't it? Or it could be that I've just got the January blahs. when I get feeling like this, I dust off the old VCR and plug in my complete collection of Ren & Stimpy cartoons, including this cheerful song by Stinky Wizzleteats. Enjoy!

   

There. Don't you feel better now? All part of Walt's campaign for better mental health! 

Can't understand why Ren & Stimpy didn't last longer. Maybe Nickelodeon wasn't the right platform. [Ya think?! Ed.] Lamestream media... BAH! Footnote: John Kricfalusi, the creator of Ren & Stimpy, was Canadian. From 1989 to 1992, he was heavily involved with the first two seasons of the show in virtually every aspect of its production, including providing the voice of Ren Höek and other characters. He parted ways with the producers due to "creative differences". 

Than, in the late 1990s, he created the first cartoons made exclusively for the Internet: The Goddamn George Liquor Program and Weekend Pussy Hunt. He returned to television with The Ripping Friends and the adult animation spin-off Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon", reviewed (unfavourably) here. The Goddamn George Liquor Program won the 1999 Annie Award for "Outstanding Achievement in an Animated Interactive Production". Good show, John. Get well soon!

Op-ed from the Voice of Truth: The embarrassment that is Trudeau

Narcissistic personality disorder — one of several types of personality disorders — is a mental condition in which people have an inflated sense of their own importance, a deep need for excessive attention and admiration, troubled relationships, and a lack of empathy for others.

The wishes of Rosie Barton and her never-Trumper colleagues at the Canadian Broadcorping Castration notwithstanding, the bombshell story of Canadian Liberal Party leader Just In Trudeau being exposed as an incurable narcissist is not going to go away any time soon. In the aftermath of the shocking revelations (via photos and video) of his penchant for dressing up in fancy costumes that include brownface and blackface makeup, Mr Socks has been called many things, including a hypocrite (Donna Friesen, Global TV national news anchor, and Stephen LeDrew, National Post). Walt is surprised that no-one has yet used the term "narcissist". IMHO, the definition above describes M Trudeau perfectly.

Perhaps no-one noticed that the once and (he hopes) future Prime Minister of Canuckistan lacks empathy for others -- a flaw that would encompass "racial insensitivity" -- because Just In is so good at projecting the opposite image. He's the master of apology, including the shedding of crocodile tears, to everyone (especially "marginalized communities") for every sin, real or imagined, or everyone but himself. Hey, he was a drama teacher, remember?

He has worn for so long the mask and costume of the post-modern, metrosexual champion of feminism, diversity and "wokeness" that I suspect he believes his own stuff! But today many Canucks are saying that there is some truth to the Cuckservatives' campaign message that the very white (except sometimes) knight in shining armor is "not as advertised".

This theme is taken up today by Melissa J. Gismondi, a writer and journalist who holds a PhD in American history from the University of Virginia, in an op-ed piece for the New York Times (aka the Voice of Truth and Political Correctness) entitled "The Downfall of Canada’s Dreamy Boyfriend". The article is too long to reprint in its entirety (besides which the failing Times might sue us), so I'll just recommend it as "further reading".

And in conclusion, I'll just excerpt the last two paragraphs.

"For Canadians, though, the story is different. It also has bigger stakes, coming as it does in the middle of a federal election that has seen the Liberals and Conservatives neck-and-neck in the polls. It's the latest in a series of scandals that have led many liberals to grow disillusioned and, yes, even flat out embarrassed by Mr. Trudeau.

"Sorry, Americans. As Canadians living in the United States, we tried to tell you: That dude you thought was your dreamy boyfriend? He's not all he's cracked up to be. And like you, we're wondering, as Jagmeet Singh, leader of Canada's New Democratic Party and the first person of color to lead a major party, put it: 'Who is the real Mr. Trudeau?'"

Further viewing: "Justin Trudeau is a hypocrite — it's that simple", short video by Stephen LeDrew in the National Post, 20/9/19.

"You disagree with our liberal ideology? You must be insane!"

Speaking of rightist parties led by good-looking women (see below)... there was a disturbing item on the mojo wire a couple of days ago. Seems that Marine Le Pen, the leader of France's Rassemblement National (formerly Front National) has been ordered by magistrates in Nanterre to "undergo a psychiatric examination".

WHY? It's all part of an exercise in political correctness, the mainstream parties' vendetta against her for daring to challenge the liberal orthodoxy which refuses to acknowledge the intrinsic evil of Islamic extremism, as espoused and practised by the Islamic State.

In December of 2015, Mme Le Pen tweeted three pictures of killings carried out by ISIS terrorists, accompanied by the text "Daesh [Arabic term for ISIS] is THIS!" One of the pictures showed the body of James Foley, whom the Muslim extremists beheaded in August 2014.

Mme Le Pen posted the graphic images, since deleted, in response to journalist Jean-Jacques Bourdin, who had compared her nationalist rhetoric to that of the Islamic terrorist group. Speaking to French meeja earlier this year, she said that she is being charged for having "condemned the horrors of Daesh." For that, she said, "the 'justice system' has referred [me] to a psychiatric assessment. How far will they go?!"

That's a good question. A number of politicians have lambasted the magistrates' decision. Matteo Salvini, Deputy Prime Minister of Italy, took to Twitter to express support for the French politician. "A court orders a psychiatric assessment for Marine Le Pen. Words fail me!", he wrote. "Solidarity with her and with the French who love freedom!"

Gilbert Collard, a member of the National Assembly called the order "the psychiatrization of political opinion." And so it is. It comes down to this: Our liberal policies are reasonable and progressive. You disagree with our policies. Therefore you must be insane. Right out of the Soviet and Chinese Communist textbooks on the stifling of dissent.

If you think that equating dissent with insanity isn't part of the liberals' grand strategy, consider the title of Matt Taibbi's recent book, Insane Clown President. Good book, but that's not the point. My point is that if the expression of politically incorrect, "anti-progressive" views can be labelled as a symptom of mental illness, none of us is safe from having our wigs picked by people who are themselves teetering on the brink.

What happens then? No psychiatrist worth his or her $200/hour ever found a subject who didn't need "help". Next thing you know... One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest! And, as the movie (one of my favourites) shows, once you're in the clutches of the "mental health system", you don't get out unless and until those who control the system are good and ready. Mark my words, dear readers. I know whereof I speak.

Happiest people on earth?

You would think that Americans, living in the greatest nation on earth -- if you don't believe that, just ask them -- would be the happiest people on earth. You would be wrong, according to the Earth Institute of Columbia University.

In its first ever "Happiness Report", the Earth Institute says the four happiest countries are all in Northern Europe: Denmark, Norway, Finland and the Netherlands. The four least happy countries are all poor countries of sub-Saharan Africa: Togo, Benin, the Central African Republic and Sierra Leone.

Europe happy; Africa unhappy. No surprises so far. But what of North America? Canada ranks 5th on the survey's "Cantril Ladder" (see page 31), and the USA... errr... 11th. And get this! Although the report finds the world has, broadly speaking, become a “little happier” in the past three decades, as living standards have risen, America is an exception. In the United States, life satisfaction has not improved.

All of which proves that wealth alone doesn’t make people happy. (The USA is not the richest country either, but it's well up there.) Other than income, key factors in defining happiness include: political freedom, strong social networks and an absence of corruption. These things, the authors say, are "together more important than income in explaining well-being differences between the top and bottom countries."

At the individual level, "good mental and physical health, someone to count on, job security and stable families are crucial." What does that last one say about societies where public discourse is dominated by "progressive thinkers" who are actively working against families and family values?

The authors of the "Happiness Report" believe that stable family life and enduring marriages are important for the happiness of parents and children. Yet our "mainstream" politicians and lamestream media keep telling us that gay marriage, divorce and abortion are not just "human rights", but good for our society. Some cognitive dissonance there, surely!

Jennifer Aniston learns a lesson in PC

Yesterday it was Dr. Laura Schlessinger and the N-word. Today it's Jennifer Aniston's turn to feel the wrath of the PC police.

Jennifer was on Regis and Kelly, talking about a recent photo shoot for Harper's Bazaar in which she tried to strike a pose similar to that of Barbra Streisand in an old pic. When R&K said it must be kind of fun to do things like that, Jennifer said, "It's what I do for a living, like a r_____."

To find out what word the blank represents, watch the clip from ABC News. Human rights groups and other Forces for Good and Progress in the community are predictably outraged.

So now you can add "r_____" to your list of "bad words". I'd say "God help us", but someone would probably complain about my putting religion into the story. Good grief...

A brickbat for Canada Post

This week Canada Post Corp issued a special stamp to publicize mental health. "Support mental health or I'll kill you!" -- just kidding.

If you want to buy one, it'll cost you an extra 10¢, which goes (it says here) to the Canada Post Foundation for Mental Health. (Do the words "going postal" mean anything to anyone?)

So far so good, right? But get this. Just as you pay GST on a postage stamp -- Canada is one of about three countries in the world that adds a tax to a tax -- so you have to pay GST on your 10¢ donation! A book of 10 mental health stamps will cost you $6.40 + 32¢ GST, total $6.72. Only in Canada you say?!

If you want to support the struggle for better mental health, Walt suggests you make a donation to a registered charity. You'll get a receipt for income tax purposes...and you won't have to pay GST!