Random News Stories

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Damn, this plane story got weird in the last 24 hours.  Highlights:

- One transponder-like device turned off early in flight, just on the edge of the Malaysian land border.  Another turned off over the water.
- Mayalsian military believe the plane turned around and flew back over the Malaysian landmass and into the Straits of Malacca
- Satellite evidence (comms/transmissions, not photos) shows the plane being in the air for at least 4 hours after this.

This sounds like a hijacking.  The Malaysian authorities certainly seem to be hinting at that, without outright stating it.  But if so...why no demands, after a week?  Did it crash before the hijackers could make demands?  And if not a hijacking, then what could induce someone on the plane to turn off those transponders and fly in the direction they did?

It is really, really creeps-inducing weird.

[Cain]

It is.  Even if this is resolved, it could end up being considered - if only temporarily - one of the greatest aviation mysteries ever.

In fact, it's already starting to remind me of an airborne version of the Dylatov Pass Incident.

There's also this oddness:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/15/world/asia/malaysia-military-radar.html?pagewanted=all

Investigators have also examined data transmitted from the plane's Rolls-Royce engines that showed it descended 40,000 feet in the span of a minute, according to a senior American official briefed on the investigation. But investigators do not believe the readings are accurate because the aircraft would most likely have taken longer to fall such a distance.

"A lot of stock cannot be put in the altitude data" sent from the engines, one official said. "A lot of this doesn't make sense."

You can say that again.

And there is this as well:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/14/us-malaysia-airlines-radar-exclusive-idUSBREA2D0DG20140314

Two sources said an unidentified aircraft that investigators believe was Flight MH370 was following a route between navigational waypoints when it was last plotted on military radar off the country's northwest coast.

This indicates that it was either being flown by the pilots or someone with knowledge of those waypoints, the sources said.

The pilot seems on the level.  Remarkably so, in fact.  Unless something comes up to contradict this, he looks like a seasoned professional, competent in his job and experienced enough to deal with most emergencies.  Nevertheless, Malaysian authorities raided his home, and that of his co-pilot - no doubt working on the theory that coercion played a role in the plane's odd route.

[Telarus]

Whoa, craziness. Thanks for re-porting this Cain.

[Telarus]

Boy Scout Leaders kill a "Golbin", may face federal felony charges. (Ook Ook)

http://www.mercurynews.com/crime-courts/ci_24335439/boy-scout-leaders-destroy-ancient-formation-utahs-goblin

NOPE. Misdemeanors.

http://www.sfgate.com/news/science/article/Utah-men-avoid-jail-time-in-ancient-rock-toppling-5328858.php

[Telarus]

Pennsylvania Attorney General Kane Threatens to Sue People If They Continue Accurately Reporting That She Dropped Prosecutions of Democrats Caught Taking Bribes
[Headline from ace.mu.nu, but links to original sources]

http://articles.philly.com/2014-03-17/news/48269239_1_investigation-kane-ali
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/state/20140321_Kane_hires_Sprague_to_review__sting__probe_-_and_perhaps_sue.html

[Telarus]

http://www.opposingviews.com/i/society/teen-wins-70000-settlement-after-school-searches-through-her-facebook

The Minnesota teenager who was forced to tell school officials her Facebook password was awarded $70,000 in damages.

[Sita]

http://www.opposingviews.com/i/society/teen-wins-70000-settlement-after-school-searches-through-her-facebook

The Minnesota teenager who was forced to tell school officials her Facebook password was awarded $70,000 in damages.

I wasn't too rebellious as a kid, but that damn sure would've made me so.

[Junkenstein]

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/04/02/az-democrat-accuses-gay-state-senator-of-dishonesty-and-demands-he-act-more-gay/

In a move that stunned many in the Arizona state Senate, Democratic Sen. Olivia Cajero Bedford called for a vote to remove openly gay state Sen. Steve Gallardo (D) from his post as Senate minority whip on Tuesday.

According to Queerty.com, Cajero Bedford accused Gallardo — who came out as gay last month — of questionable ethics, saying that he is an arriviste who only came out as gay to curry political favor and call attention to himself. She also said to the Arizona Capitol Times that Gallardo should not remain in a leadership position while he runs for U.S. Congress.

Her motion to unseat him as whip failed on an 8-to-3 vote.

"She said that I should be more gay and she questioned my integrity. She said she was glad I came out (of the closet), but that I should be more gay," Gallardo told the Times. "I'm more offended that she questioned my integrity."

With regards to her comments about his orientation and personal comportment, Gallardo said that "what the hell that has to do with anything, I don't know."

Oh, Arizona.

[Cain]

Well, it's been nice knowing you, Michael Hayden.  Your balls are going to make an awesome trophy in Feinstein's Senatorial office:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2014/04/06/hayden-feinstein-too-emotional-about-cia-interrogation-techniques/?hpid=z3

Former CIA and National Security Agency director Michael Hayden suggested Sunday that Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) might have compromised the objectivity of a report on CIA interrogation techniques because she personally wants to change them.

On "Fox News Sunday," Hayden cited comments Feinstein made last month in which she said declassifying the report would "ensure that an un-American, brutal program of detention and interrogation will never again be considered or permitted."

Hayden suggested Feinstein feels too strongly about the issue on an "emotional" level.

"That sentence -- that motivation for the report -- may show deep, emotional feeling on the part of the senator, but I don't think it leads you to an objective report," Hayden said.

I mean, shit.  Why not just say she's being hysterical.

And, FTR, Feinstein didn't give a shit about torture until it turned out the CIA had been hacking her office's computers.  There's only one motivating emotion here and it's "revenge".  Pure and simple. 

She'll eat Hayden alive, without even pausing to chew. 

[LMNO]

This actually made it onto NPR this morning.  You kind of want to feel sorry for the guy, but then again... Nah.

[Junkenstein]

Mr Johnson, who writes a weekly column for the Daily Telegraph, told the Today programme: "I don't know the facts of the case in great detail but it seems to me she is being hounded quite a lot.

"I suppose my natural sympathy goes out to people being in a hounded situation, how about that? There she is. She's being hounded."

He also said it was "frankly irrelevant" to try to assess the extent to which coverage of the case had politically damaged Prime Minister David Cameron.

The independent parliamentary commissioner for standards, whose job it was to investigate Mrs Miller's expenses, found that she had overclaimed by £45,000.

Although the Commons standards committee, which is the ultimate arbiter, disagreed and decided that she had overclaimed by £5,800, it also criticised her "attitude" to the inquiry, accusing her of supplying the commissioner with "incomplete documentation and fragmentary information".

I really hope at some point this expenses bullshit will get called what it actually is - Fucking Fraud. Seriously, if I claimed £40K+ In bullshit expenses I'd be sacked from anywhere and probably face criminal charges. Of course, it's stupid to expect your government to have more strict rules and regulations than say, every company I've ever fucking worked for.

The other disturbing thing here is Boris. People like Boris. Really like him. To the point where I'm starting to have real concerns if he decides he wants an actual cabinet position or gods forbid higher. It's not that I think he'd be worse at the job(s) than any of the current or previous holders, it's just that enough people think he's some sort of comedy god that all kinds of fucking horrific policies would get passed without any problem. In short, the article may be about Miller, but watch the fuck out for that wanker. He's not as stupid as he portrays himself to be. And his PR department have a lot of clout. The whole broom thing is still playing well despite the fact he didn't actually even use it once.

[Junkenstein]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tees-26937700

Some of you may recall this chap. Continuing examples of idiocy abound:

Convicted canoe death fraudster John Darwin has repaid just £122 of a £679,000 proceeds of crime order, a court has heard.

Darwin, 63, of Seaton Carew, Teesside, faked his own death in 2002 so his then-wife Anne could claim £500,000.

He served three years of a six-year jail term for insurance fraud.

Teesside Crown Court heard he may now have to use a recently matured pension to repay the cash he cheated out of insurance companies.

The father-of two appeared in court after police began fresh proceedings under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

A judge had previously ordered he should repay £679,073, but the court was told divorced Darwin, who is claiming benefits, has only been able to hand back £122.

The Crown has now applied for him to repay more, as a pension has matured. A hearing to decide the matter will be held in May.

Personally I think he should have the proverbial book at him for violations of the cardinal rule - Do not get caught.

Seriously, I'd rate that Panama photo as one of the top examples of stupidity of the century so far.

[Cain]

Given the way the PM is burning through allies and the current disposition of the backbench ("crazy former colonels who believe the solution to everything is a good old-fashioned thrashing"), the probability of Boris Johnson being returned to Cabinet is rapidly approaching 1.

Probably wont happen before the election, but IF the Tories win (unlikely), he'll almost certainly be recalled once his tenure as mayor is up. 

[Junkenstein]

While I'd also consider a tory win unlikely, I've got a horrible feeling that their chances would improve remarkably if people thought they were voting for him. Even around these parts there's an alarming number of people who consider him some kind of living legend.

Yes, the modern UK folks. Where bumbling, apparently good natured idiocy is a vote winner every fucking time.

[Cain]

Thing is, no government has ever been re-elected with a greater majority than it originally got in with.  Even with a new leader, which I don't see happening unless the Tories lose the election and then Dave is ousted in the traditional, cannibalistic manner we've come to expect and love.  Before then, it's too unsure a proposition, and with Osbourne on side, Cameron is secure until then.