Current thinking on MH370

On Wednesday, in "Wreckage of MH370 (?) surfaces" (updated yesterday), Walt expressed doubt -- great doubt -- as to the probability of a piece of debris from Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 having drifted more than 3000 miles westward across the southern Indian Ocean to the island of Réunion, where a B-777 "flaperon" has washed ashore. (Yes, Walt has now learned that a "flaperon" is a part of the trailing edge of an aircraft's wing.)

Turns out, now, that the party line being put out by the Australian and Malaysian "authorities" responsible for the search doesn't say that. They deny the suggestion made by Walt [and others! Ed.] that they've been looking in the wrong place, off the coast of western Australia. No, they say, the debris (the flaperon and possibly a beat-up suitcase) could have drifted considerably farther, in a counter-clockwise fashion north following the Western Australia current, then west along the South Equatorial current, then southwest with the Moçambique (Mozambique) current to La Réunion. Do I have to draw you a picture? Voilà!

Yes, I've taken a map of the Indian Ocean and drawn on the currents named and a couple of others. No, I didn't make those up. The source for the location and direction of the warm (red), cold (blue), and luke-warm (I guess, in black) currents is "Currents and Tides", on the Marinebio website.

The spokesthingies for the governments involved are certainly correct in saying that the currents of the southern Indian Ocean move counter-clockwise. And yes, it's possible that if a plane fell into the sea -- "made a water landing", as the airlines would say -- in the search area (highlighted in yellow), pieces of debris could have gone all the way around from, say, 4 o'clock, counter-clockwise to 9 o'clock.

What the "authorities" aren't saying is that it's even more possible that the plane came down -- accidentally or on purpose -- closer to 12 o'clock, which I have starred in red because it's the location of Diego Garcia, site of a huge US military (air and naval) base.

From Diego Garcia, the Americans control virtually the entire Indian Ocean and the airspace above it. Suppose for a minute that a paranoid US radar operator and/or a trigger-happy US pilot mistook MH370 for an enemy aircraft and shot it down. Would the Pentagon (and the Prez) admit and say, "Gee, we're really sorry but you have to understand that we're protecting the world from terrorism and there's bound to be a bit of collateral damage, every now and then?" Walt thinks not.

Further reading: In "MH370 - Just fancy that!" (18/12/14), Walt reports on the theory of French author Marc Dugain -- a former CEO of Proteus Airlines -- that there has been a cover-up in the disappearance of the airliner, which could have been hacked and then shot down by the Americans! IMHO, the finding of debris on the shore of La Réunion adds strength to M. Dugain's version of what happened, the "official" version notwithstanding.

Anonymous threatens to reveal John Baird's "secret"

The group (?) of hackers which styles itself "Anonymous" has members/colleagues/friends in Canada. The Anonymous Canucks are upset because the Mounties shot and killed one of their members a few days back, during a confrontation in Dawson Creek BC. (See? Canadian police shoot unarmed people too!)

The National Post reports today that the hackers are threatening to release decrypted text messages from former Foreign Affairs Minister John "Nancy" Baird which allegedly reveal the real reason why he abruptly left his position [assumed position? Ed.] in early February.

The warning was made in the Twitterverse from an account which the Post says is one that has been operated by activists responsible for previous leaks of confidential information from the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service [sic]. Here's the Tweet.

Whatever could they be talking about?! The Post says the hacktivists presented no evidence to support their claim. Johnboy, of course, declined to comment, as did the buggers at the Department of Foreign Affairs. So, it's up to Walt to poke a hole in their rubbers.

The reason why Mr. Baird, who was one of the highest-profile members of Steve Harper’s cabinet, quit suddenly to join the private sector was revealed right here on WWW in February. See "Canada's Foreign Minister finally comes out of the...errr... cabinet".

That Mr. Baird is as gay as 18 balloons has been an open secret in Ottawa for years. That's why his appointment as Foreign Minister made so much sense. The Department of Foreign Affairs Etc. is home to a large and influential gay mafia, so putting Johnboy on top was, errr, a natural fit.

The only reason that Walt can think of for CSIS to take an interest in the Mr. Baird's "alternative lifestyle" is the possibility that he was risking not just getting AIDS, but blackmail by a jilted lover or even a queer spy.

Such things are not unknown, even in staid old Canada. In 1963, the Associate Minister of National Defence, Pierre Sévigny, was forced to resign when it was disclosed that he had had an affair with Gerda Munsinger, an East German prostitute who lived in Ottawa and worked as a spy for the Soviet Union. M. Sévigny's dalliance with the beautiful Gerda was heterosexual, of course, but that was half a century ago, before homosexuality was made not just acceptable but, in certain circles, mandatory!

@OpAnonDown has not given any timeline for the release of this not-so-hot news flash. Perhaps they won't bother. Or perhaps Mr. Baird will preempt them by outing himself. Remember, you read it hear first. Lifetime pct .976.

UPDATED: Wreckage of MH370 (?) surfaces

Walt found it hard to believe that no trace of the Boeing 777 being flown by Malaysian Airlines as flight MH370, which vanished in March of 2014, would ever be found. Regular readers of WWW will remember that Walt maintained from the get-go that searchers were looking in the wrong place, and that if they really wanted to know where to look, they should ask the US military.

Before saying "I told you so", I'll summarize today's news, as reported by the BBC. Then I'll ask a couple of pertinent questions.

La Réunion is a small island in the Indian Ocean, located just to the east of Madagascar. It is technically a part of France, a relic of the French Empire. So, when something that looked like part of an airplane wing washed up on its shores, it was a matter for the local gendarmerie.

Experts, including at least one American, were called right sharpish, and are conducting tests to ascertain whether the single piece of debris was in fact a wing component from a 777. There have been a number of crashes much closer to the island than the sport west of Malaysia where MH370 was last "seen" on radar.

Malaysia is sending a team to investigate the debris discovered today. Australian investigators, who are leading the hunt, are also reported to be in touch with manufacturers over the find. However, an anonymous US official told Associated Press that investigators had a "high degree of confidence" that the part was a "flaperon" unique to a Boeing 777 wing.

BBC News also quotes an aviation expert, Xavier Tytelman, as saying it presented "incredible similarities" to a Boeing 777 flaperon. [Perhaps Agent 17 could e-mail us an explanation of what a "flaperon" is. "Ailerons" we've heard of, but "flaperons"? Errr, no.]

French experts, however, say it is too early to tell. An anonymous member of the French Air Force told CNN it was "way too soon" to say if it was from the missing flight. BBC News points out that La Réunion is over 3700 miles west of the search area, in the southeastern quadrant of the Indian Ocean, off the western coast of Australia.

That's way off, a long way off indeed. Have a look at this map, which shows the Indian Ocean and its currents.

Madagascar is the large island east of Africa. La Réunion is just to the east of Madagascar, at the tip of the long red arrow extending southwest from the middle of the Indian Ocean. Australia... well, you know which landmass is Australia, right? The area which was being searched for the remains of MH370 is close to the black arrow pointing northeast, next to the number 14. Diego Garcia, site of a huge US military base, is located about at the foot of the "A" in "INDIAN". So let me ask...

* Would debris found on Réunion more likely have floated there from the search area or from somewhere in the centre of the Indian Ocean? Note the direction of the currents represented by the black and red arrows.

* Why were American "experts" called in by the French at the first moment? The search was being carried out mainly by the Australians and Malaysians.

* Who told the searchers to look in the location represented by "14", to the exclusion of the northeast and central parts of the Indian Ocean, in spite of considerable doubt expressed by Walt [and others! Ed.] as to why MH370 would have made a turn of some 270 degrees away from its last observed course?

To whom should these questions be addressed? Walt suggests... again... asking the US military, particularly those authorities responsible for operations at the US base on Diego Garcia. Of course the buck doesn't stop at the Pentagon. If no answers are forthcoming from that quarter, perhaps the Republican presidential candidate [Donald who? Ed.] could ask Hellery Clinton.

Previously on WWW: "MH370 - Just fancy that!" (18/12/14) and "Search for MH370 being quietly scaled down" (3/6/15)

"Fancy that!" Dept: Dawn is breaking to the east of Walt's cabin in the pines. CBC News has an update titled "MH370 search: Indian Ocean currents could have deposited debris on Réunion Island, experts say". Perhaps some of the experts have read this post. Erik van Sebille, an oceanographer at Imperial College London, is quoted as saying that, if the debris on Reunion was indeed from MH370, "this westward drift from near Australia all the way across the Indian Ocean can really only happen if the plane went into the water relatively close to the equator."

Or perhaps not. All that Charitha Pattiaratchi, Professor of Coastal Oceanography at the University of Western Australia, could add is that the point of origin of the debris "will definitely be in the Southern Hemisphere." Mind you, "the southern Hemisphere" could include the island of St. Helena and the Andes mountains, so no matter where the decide the "flaperon" came from, the good doctor will be proven right! Brilliant!

25 worst places to be a Christian

The British newspaper The Guardian has published an overview of the persecution of Christians worldwide, accompanied by a list of the 25 worst places to be a Christian. "Christians are facing growing persecution around the world," they wrote, "fueled mainly by Islamic extremism and repressive governments, leading the Pope to warn of 'a form of genocide' and for campaigners to speak of 'religio-ethnic cleansing,'."

Click here to read The Grauniad's list, with their reasons. Walt's "Reader's Digest version" follows. The list is not in bad-worse-worst order because, well... I don't need to explain, do I?

North Korea - Asia, Communist dictatorship. Believers meet in secret "house churches", risking imprisonment, torture and martyrdom.
Somalia - Horn of Africa, officially Muslim, lawless and chaotic. Christians often executed on the spot.
Iraq - Middle East sandpit, officially Muslim, but which kind of Muslim? Shi'ites and Sunni Muslims are fighting it out in a Muslim civil war, in which the USA and its reluctant allies are meddling for no good reason.
Syria - Like Iraq, only worse.
Afghanistan - Like Syria, only worse.

Sudan - Northern Africa, officially Muslim, Sharia law. Converting to Christianity punishable by death. Blasphemy gets you the lash.
Iran - Middle East, officially Muslim. Safer for Christians than Iraq or Syria, and that's about all you can say.
Pakistan - Asia, officially Muslim. Christians are second-class citizens. Blasphemy (against the Prophet or the Holy Qu'ran) punishable by death.
Eritrea - Horn of Africa, pseudo-Communist dictatorship, Muslim majority. See North Korea.
Nigeria - Africa, divided between Muslim north and nominally Christian south. Sharia law in the north. Boko Haram abducts girls, kills Christians by the thousands.

Maldives - Never heard of it, right? Beautiful little islands in the Indian Ocean, southwest of India. Great tourist destination. Officially Muslim. Converting from Islam means forfeiting Maldivian citizenship, and owning a Bible is punishable by death. Churches are banned; Christian migrants and tourists also have to meet in secret and cannot own Bibles.
Saudi Arabia - Middle East, feudal kingdom. Officially Muslim and we're talking Wahabi, the most extreme branch of Sunni Islam. For their faith, Christians may be arrested, imprisoned, tortured and deported.
Libya - North Africa, officially Muslim. ISIS hotspot, going through a civil war following a pointless Western invasion. The new Somalia.
Yemen - Middle East, feudal, officially Muslim. Christians treated as in Saudi Arabia, and caught in the middle of a civil war, with Saudis intervening on the side of Islamic fundamentalists.
Uzbekistan - Central Asia, pseudo-Communist dictatorship. As in China [How did China get left off this list?! Ed.], all churches must be registered with the state. Converts from Islam face imprisonment, beatings and sometimes banishment.

Vietnam - Asia, Communist dictatorship. Not quite as bad as China, since the Roman Catholic Church still has a large following, the legacy of the colonial days. As in China and Uzbekistan, churches must be officially registered. As in China, many churches have been destroyed, and Christians attacked and imprisoned.
Central African Republic - Africa [Duh! Ed.], chaotic, lawless. The militant group Séléka, (= CAR rebels + Muslims from neighbouring countries), have raped, tortured and killed Christians throughout the country. Unlike in other countries on this fecal roster, defence groups made up of people claiming to be Christians are fighting back. Victims, Christian or Muslim, may be eaten.
Qatar - Middle East, Islamic kingdom. Converts to Christianity face banishment and death. Large population of migrant workers have to keep their faith to themselves.
Kenya - Africa. Like Nigeria but substitute Al Shabaab for Boko Haram. If you're a white, presumably Christian tourist, keep your head down.
Turkmenistan - Central Asia, quasi-dictatorship, officially Muslim. See Uzbekistan.

India - Asia. Officially a secular state but under the ruling BJP effectively "Hindustan". Like Pakistan, only with the persecutors being Hindus. In some states there are anti-conversion laws, and attacks on Christians and church buildings occur frequently. Indian Muslims are recommended to move to Pakistan or Bangladesh.
Ethiopia - Horn of Africa. I don't agree with The Guardian on this one, as the majority of Ethiopians are Coptic Christians. But there are Muslim-dominated areas, where Christians report harassment for their faith. The Grauniad says there were 60 violent incidents reported in 2014.
Egypt - Northern Africa, officially Muslim. There is a large(ish) minority of Coptic Christians who were largely left alone until the US-supported overthrow of the Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, which was followed by a sharp increase in anti-Christian violence, with 65 churches, convents, Christian bookshops and schools attacked. There are fears these attacks will increase as radical Islamist groups gain power in the region.
Djibouti - Horn of Africa, officially Muslim. You'll find it on the map next to Eritrea, which it greatly resembles. That's all you need to know.
Burma - Asia, quasi-dictatorship, officially Buddhists. Included in The Guardian's list (I guess) to show that it's not only the Islamists who have it in for Christians. There has been a rise in nationalist religious movements in the past few years, with nearly two dozen Christians killed in clashes with the army in 2014. Buddhist nationalist groups are putting pressure on the government to adopt laws that would make life harder for Christians, such as limiting conversions and restricting interfaith marriages.

So there you have it -- the 25 worst countries in which to be a Christian. OK, 26 if you count China, which you definitely should. And The Guardian says nothing of the persecution of believers in the True Faith by the secular humanists who have triumphed in post-Christian Europe and North America.

Dear Christian readers, please keep in your minds and hearts the words of St. Paul:
2 Timothy 3:12 - And all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
Romans 8:35/37 - Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or persecution, or sword? / But in all these things we overcome, because of Him that hath loved us.

Further reading: "Dying for Christianity: millions at risk amid rise in persecution across the globe" (Companion piece to The Guardian's list)

Walt explains why Americans like The Donald

Walt loves watching the liberal lamestream meeja explain to Americans why they're all wrong in supporting Donald Trump's bid for the presidensity. One of the more ridiculous analyses I've seen was that of the CBC's Neil Macdonald, who opines that Americans "don't take people like Donald Trump seriously" and are enjoying the spectacle purely for the entertainment value. Wrong, Neil! Wrong!!!

A better view is taken by Lexington, the Economist's observer of things American. In "El Donald", he (or she) says "What is clear is that he will not win the Republican presidential nomination.... America’s two-party system offers him a bleaker choice: to stay on and heckle in the primaries or to play wrecker as a third-party candidate. Yet the Trump slump, when it happens, will not spell the end of the forces that have propelled him so far. Anti-politics rage is buffeting rich democracies across the world, and America is not immune to it." [Walt's emphasis.]

IMHO, Lexington has put his (or her) finger on the root of Mr. Trump's popularity. While the likes of Mr. Macdonald are already writing obituaries for his "The America We Deserve" campaign, a CNN/ORD national survey (conducted after The Donald's nasty remarks about John McCain) showed Mr. Trump leading the GOP pack, with the support of 18% of Republicans. "Jeb" Noname had 15% and Scott Walker 10%.

Mr. Trump's star is rising, and shows no signs of falling before next month's debate of the top ten contenders. Why is this?

Part of it is The Donald's reputation for business acumen. "I'm a smart guy," he tells us. "I went to Wharton Business School." The second statement is true. As for the first, Mr. Trump has had some spectacular business successes. He's had a few colossal failures too, but anyone who can boast that he could finance his own multimillion-dollar campaign if he wanted to is clearly no slouch at managing the elusive sponduliks. And, according to the same CNN poll, 44% of Republicans think healing the economy is the ballot issue for the next election.

Then there's the celebrity factor. For decades now, Mr. Trump has been plastering his name on everything he touches, from New York towers to California golf courses to airplane tailfins. Walt even flew on the Trump Shuttle, back in the day. Leatherette seats in coach - for decades. He was the star of his own "reality" television show, and his catchphrase -- "you're fired" -- is a commonplace of American dialogue. [You're fired! Ed.]

Mr. Trump has name and face (read: hair) recognition up the yingyang. A recent Gallup poll puts his name ID among Republicans at 92%. But who's John Kasich? Who's Bobby Jindal? Who's... that other guy?
The Trump name demands media coverage (even if it's just in the Entertainment section), which boosts his poll numbers and leads to more media coverage.

We turn now to the Top Two Reasons for Donald Trump's lead in the polls.

His stance on illegal immigrants resonates with the majority of Republicans and, dare we say it, the majority of Americans. Lots of people who were born in the USA, or followed the rules to come in legally, are sick, sore and tire of being branded as racists and extremists. They see no reason to give the queue-jumpers a fast track to resident alien status, or amnesty of any kind. What they want, according to that CNN/ORC survey, is for them to be deported -- immediately if not sooner.

In "Revenge of the Radical Middle", Matthew Continetti, neocon editor of The Washington Free Beacon, writes: "It is immigration -— its universally celebrated benefits and its barely acknowledged costs -— that is the third rail of U.S. politics.... Trump didn’t step on the third rail; he embraced it, he won’t let go of it, and in so doing he’s become electric. Republicans, Democrats, journalists, corporations all want to define themselves against him, and their flaunting of their moral superiority only feeds the media monster, only makes Trump more attractive to the dispossessed, alienated, radical middle."

Which brings us to the undeniable fact that The Donald has become the spokesman for the silent majority. Mr. Continetti calls Trump supporters the "radical middle", who in years past embraced Ronald Reagan, Pat Buchanan and Newt Gingrich. Mr. Trump, you see, is not a conservative, or even a mainstream Republican. He is a populist, more akin to Ross Perot (another wealthy businessman who ranted about the Mexican threat) or George Wallace than to Messrs Gingrich and Reagan.

The voters to whom Mr. Trump appeals (continues Mr. Continetti) "don’t give a whit [Ed., please check spelling] about corporate tax reform or TPP or the capital gains rate or the fate of Uber, they make a distinction between deserved benefits like Social Security and Medicare and undeserved ones like welfare and food stamps, their patriotism is real and nationalistic and skeptical of foreign entanglement, they wept on 9/11, they want America to be strong, dominant, confident, the America of their youth, their young adulthood, the America of 40 or 30 or even 20 years ago.

"They do not speak in the cadences or dialect of New York or Washington, their thoughts can be garbled, easily dismissed, or impugned, they are not members of a designated victim group and thus lack moral standing in the eyes of the media, but still they deserve as much attention and sympathy as any of our fellow citizens, still they vote."

Speaking last week in South Carolina, Mr. Trump said, "There's a silent majority out there. We're tired of being pushed around, kicked around, and acting and being led by stupid people." To which Walt can only say, "Ain't it the truth!"

Just between us retailers, customers are a pain in the ass

Walt doesn't have a whole lot of followers in France. [Possibly because we rarely post anything en français? Ed.] So it's not likely you, dear typical reader, will have heard of French high-tech retailer Boulanger. They sell lots of cool electric and electronic stuff though. They have a website and a blog and of course they sell online as well as their bricks-and-mortar magasins.

You might want to think twice, though, about buying from them, if you're the kind of person who believes the customer is king... or queen... or flaming queen.... The friendly sales and service reps at Boulanger don't always see it that way. We know this because the company apologized yesterday for vitriolic comments about its customers found in its computer files by France's CNIL (Commission nationale de l'informatique et des libertés).

CNIL is an independent administrative regulatory body whose mission is to ensure that data privacy law is applied to the collection, storage, and use of personal data. Let's just call them the "privacy police". Naturally to do their job they have to access all the data, including very personal data, collected by the French government, businesses, ISPs, and... well... everybody!

In the course of snooping in Boulanger's database, CNIL found over 5800 instances of "inappropriate" comments about clients, including "stupid", "fat bitch", "ball-breaker", "retard", "Jew", "strong African accent", "alcoholic" and "nutcase". [The comments were in French, of course. Translations by Agence France Presse. Ed.]

After a public upbraiding by the watchdog, which gave the company three months to ensure its files contain only pertinent information about clients, Boulanger apologized. Managing Director Etienne Hurez said, "They were rare occurences, but did happen and we shouldn't try to not own up to this serious failure."

So, if you're a Boulanger customer, you must feel better now. Right? But what if you buy from other retailers -- American, British, Canadian, Dutch or whatever? Do you think the French are the only types who would vent their frustration by putting rude remarks on your file? Hm? Wouldn't you like to know what your providers of goods and services are saying about you? LMAO.

HKG woman convicted of assaulting cop with her breasts

Walt apologizes sincerely and profusely for not being able to find a video or at least a better picture to go with the following true story from the Mysterious Orient. [Actually, I'm the one who should be apologizing. But in WWW (unlike Washington DC) the boss carries the can for whatever happens... or doesn't. Ed.]

The South China Morning Post reported on Friday that Ms Ng Lai-ying, aged 30, has been convicted of assaulting a police officer with her breasts during a violent protest in Hong Kong. She was taking part in a demonstration on the streets of Yuen Long against parallel trading (sort of a black market for mainland Chinese) when the incident took place last March.

Ms Ng claimed that Chief Inspector Chan of the Hong Kong police had tried to grab her bag but instead touched her left breast. However, Inspector Chan insisted that it was Ms Ng who bumped her breasts into his arm in order to falsely accuse him of assault.

The presiding magistrate sided with the cop -- surprise, surprise! -- telling the accused, "You used your female identity to trump up the allegation that the officer had molested you." And, he added, Ms Ng's "malicious" claims were damaging to the CI’s reputation. Officers policing protests "should be protected", he said. "There were two groups of people expressing different points of view at the protest. Without police officers there to maintain order, it is not surprising that there was commotion, or even clashes."

Walt has seen a picture of Ms Ng, taken following her arrest, which show her face (only) with a bloody nose, which she said she got when the cops pushed her to the ground. We have chosen instead this photo, which appeared on the Net within minutes. Agent 78 translates the caption as "Big or small, your boobs can be a weapon!"

Ms Ng is to be sentenced later this month. However, Agent 3 recommends an appeal on the grounds that the alleged weapons were not produced and identified in court.

Walt would like to know the calibre of the "weapons". Assuming they were, say, 34A -- typical for a 30-year-old Chinese -- surely the maxim De minimis non curat lex would apply!