What really happened to Flight MH-370 and other eye-catching headlines
If nothing else, the continued conjecture over the disappearance of Malaysian Flight 370 is keeping talk radio hosts busy. I know I griped recently about this getting too much news coverage, but after a full day of little but, I might as well talk about it like everyone else is.
Fact: Radar shows that the plane climbed to a height of roughly 45,000 feet (8.5 miles).
Conjecture: The pilots flew the plane that high to knock out the passengers by depriving them of oxygen.
Reality: Jumbo jets have cabins that are pressurized to maintain the same amount of air pressure that is present at an altitude of less than 8,000 feet. No matter how high a passenger jet climbs, the cabin will have the same air pressure and oxygen level that it did on its initial climb to altitude.
Fact: It took a week for the government of Malaysia to search the homes of the pilot and co-pilot.
Conjecture: Why did they wait so long? It must be indicative of a conspiracy.
Reality: Malaysia is a constitutional monarchy and while I'm not familiar with their specific laws relating to search and seizure, I've read several news reports that are citing sources within the government there that they were looking for an excuse to search those homes. The most recent intelligence information gave them that excuse. So they have now searched.
Fact: Someone had to shut off the transponders and other systems that would have allowed the location of the plane within a very small search area. Also, someone would have certainly had time to make a cellphone call or text once the passengers realized they were being hijacked.
Conjecture: This proves it's a conspiracy. The pilots did it.
Reality: It's true that someone almost certainly disabled the transponders. The failure of multiple systems in that short a period is highly unlikely. However, it is possible. Maybe no one aboard had a satellite phone, and they weren't close enough to a tower to get a good signal? A major catastrophe at altitude, such as explosive decompression, wouldn't allow time to text or phone. Especially at high altitude.
Fact: The plane remains missing and no one can find it thus far.
Conjecture: Maybe someone finally came up with a way to make a jumbo jet disappear.
Reality: Very unlikely but possible. Radar works by sending out a radio wave from a transmitter and bouncing it off of the object being tracked. The signal bounces back, usually to the same transmitter. So in theory if you can find a way to keep the signal from bouncing, like absorbing it, you could create a "stealth" aircraft. However, thus far, stealth technology is not perfected to the point where an aircraft can totally disappear. Even the Prairie Masker system used by U. S. Navy ships to "mask" them from sonar isn't perfect, although it's extremely effective for a surface vessel to prevent detection by a submerged vessel's sonar.
Ultimate reality: Hijackers have a purpose. Controlling 239 people for a period of a week is not easy. Even if someone managed to hijack the plane, where did it land? Who is guarding the hostages? Why isn't there a ransom demand, or claim of responsibility. Until we can do more than just speculate, we don't really KNOW much.
* * *
Comedian David Brenner, who made more appearances as a guest on the Tonight Show than anyone else has died at the age of 78. Even in death he was being funny. One of his final requests was that he be buried with some hundred dollar bills in his sock, "...just in case tipping is recommended where I'm going."
From the "we weren't worried" file: The stripper who was fired for taking photos with Katy Perry and then leaking them to the Internet is back at Spearmint Rhino. The only catch is she had to move to their location in Oxnard as she is no longer welcome in the more upscale Santa Barbara location.
While we're on this topic, let's take a look at the bruise on the ass of the Playboy Bunny who got whacked with a golf club by some guy trying to use her butt as a tee for a golf ball.
Yes, the photo was "borrowed" from TMZ.com but it's easier than putting a link to that exact story. That looks mighty painful. BTW, I make no money from this blog, Harvey, so don't go suing me.
Add actress Kristin Cavallari to the list of celebrities refusing to allow their children to receive vaccinations due to fear of a causal connection between those vaccines and autism. The Institute of Medicine and the Centers for Disease Control both dismiss any such connection as nonexistent.
Britney Spears' younger sister Jamie Lynn (she's only 22) married her boyfriend recently. Her five year old daughter by another man was the flower-girl at the ceremony.
If you look very carefully at a pillar in "Raiders of the Lost Ark", you can see an engraving of Artoo Detoo and See Threepio. Martin Scorsese makes two cameos in different places in "Taxi Driver." The reason Alan Rickman looks so shocked when he's falling in "Die Hard" is that they dropped him a full second before the countdown actually reached zero. The run-time for "Titanic" of three hours and fourteen minutes is the exact amount of time it took the ship to sink after striking the iceberg.
In 1977, James Robert Jones escaped from the prison at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas. This past week, he was captured and is being held in Florida, awaiting transfer back to Leavenworth. He had been living in Florida under a fake name. His wife, whom he married in 1983 had no idea he was living under an assumed identity.
The Dodgers are showing off their penchant for landing pitching talent, again. 17 year old Julio Urias pitched one inning of a spring-training game, striking out two and retiring all three batters he faced. He's that young and he's already hitting the range of 92-95 mph on the radar gun.
Jennifer Hudson will no longer do commercials for Weight Watchers.
Walmart is angry that the following photos were posted to the web by a financial reporter. http://www.thestreet.com/story/12530078/7/24-pictures-from-a-walmart-that-make-sears-look-classy.html
That diplomat from India who caused the uproar in relations between the U. S. and her home country has been indicted again by the Feds. But now that she's in India, it's doubtful she will ever be prosecuted.
A female student at Wesleyan University is suing a fraternity and a number of its members, alleging she was raped at a frat party. No, it wasn't the local chapter of Delta Tau Chi (if you don't get the reference, there's a movie you really need to watch).
The university newspaper at UC Davis may wind up being just an online publication, due to a lack of funding. A student election appeared to pass by a wide enough margin to fund the paper, but a legal challenge has overturned the result.
Walter, a partner at the Scottsdale, AZ law firm of Goldman and Goldman saw right through a scam check he received in the mail. Considering he's a dog, with only an honorary law degree (should that be paw degree?), that's pretty impressive.
Glenn Edward McDuffie has died. You may not recognize the name, but you've almost certainly seen his photograph.
He was positively identified as the sailor in this iconic image from post-WWII, shot in Times Square. He died at the age of 86, in Houston. He did not know he woman before kissing her.
In Far Rockaway, Queens, a woman found a "giant silverfish" in her bowl of soup. The restaurant offered her a refund. She's going to find a lawyer and sue. The restaurant has a pending health department rating of only "C", with 44 violation points found during the most recent inspection. No, the waiter did not tell her to "keep quiet about the bug or everybody will want one."
Fact: Radar shows that the plane climbed to a height of roughly 45,000 feet (8.5 miles).
Conjecture: The pilots flew the plane that high to knock out the passengers by depriving them of oxygen.
Reality: Jumbo jets have cabins that are pressurized to maintain the same amount of air pressure that is present at an altitude of less than 8,000 feet. No matter how high a passenger jet climbs, the cabin will have the same air pressure and oxygen level that it did on its initial climb to altitude.
Fact: It took a week for the government of Malaysia to search the homes of the pilot and co-pilot.
Conjecture: Why did they wait so long? It must be indicative of a conspiracy.
Reality: Malaysia is a constitutional monarchy and while I'm not familiar with their specific laws relating to search and seizure, I've read several news reports that are citing sources within the government there that they were looking for an excuse to search those homes. The most recent intelligence information gave them that excuse. So they have now searched.
Fact: Someone had to shut off the transponders and other systems that would have allowed the location of the plane within a very small search area. Also, someone would have certainly had time to make a cellphone call or text once the passengers realized they were being hijacked.
Conjecture: This proves it's a conspiracy. The pilots did it.
Reality: It's true that someone almost certainly disabled the transponders. The failure of multiple systems in that short a period is highly unlikely. However, it is possible. Maybe no one aboard had a satellite phone, and they weren't close enough to a tower to get a good signal? A major catastrophe at altitude, such as explosive decompression, wouldn't allow time to text or phone. Especially at high altitude.
Fact: The plane remains missing and no one can find it thus far.
Conjecture: Maybe someone finally came up with a way to make a jumbo jet disappear.
Reality: Very unlikely but possible. Radar works by sending out a radio wave from a transmitter and bouncing it off of the object being tracked. The signal bounces back, usually to the same transmitter. So in theory if you can find a way to keep the signal from bouncing, like absorbing it, you could create a "stealth" aircraft. However, thus far, stealth technology is not perfected to the point where an aircraft can totally disappear. Even the Prairie Masker system used by U. S. Navy ships to "mask" them from sonar isn't perfect, although it's extremely effective for a surface vessel to prevent detection by a submerged vessel's sonar.
Ultimate reality: Hijackers have a purpose. Controlling 239 people for a period of a week is not easy. Even if someone managed to hijack the plane, where did it land? Who is guarding the hostages? Why isn't there a ransom demand, or claim of responsibility. Until we can do more than just speculate, we don't really KNOW much.
* * *
Comedian David Brenner, who made more appearances as a guest on the Tonight Show than anyone else has died at the age of 78. Even in death he was being funny. One of his final requests was that he be buried with some hundred dollar bills in his sock, "...just in case tipping is recommended where I'm going."
From the "we weren't worried" file: The stripper who was fired for taking photos with Katy Perry and then leaking them to the Internet is back at Spearmint Rhino. The only catch is she had to move to their location in Oxnard as she is no longer welcome in the more upscale Santa Barbara location.
While we're on this topic, let's take a look at the bruise on the ass of the Playboy Bunny who got whacked with a golf club by some guy trying to use her butt as a tee for a golf ball.
Yes, the photo was "borrowed" from TMZ.com but it's easier than putting a link to that exact story. That looks mighty painful. BTW, I make no money from this blog, Harvey, so don't go suing me.
Add actress Kristin Cavallari to the list of celebrities refusing to allow their children to receive vaccinations due to fear of a causal connection between those vaccines and autism. The Institute of Medicine and the Centers for Disease Control both dismiss any such connection as nonexistent.
Britney Spears' younger sister Jamie Lynn (she's only 22) married her boyfriend recently. Her five year old daughter by another man was the flower-girl at the ceremony.
If you look very carefully at a pillar in "Raiders of the Lost Ark", you can see an engraving of Artoo Detoo and See Threepio. Martin Scorsese makes two cameos in different places in "Taxi Driver." The reason Alan Rickman looks so shocked when he's falling in "Die Hard" is that they dropped him a full second before the countdown actually reached zero. The run-time for "Titanic" of three hours and fourteen minutes is the exact amount of time it took the ship to sink after striking the iceberg.
In 1977, James Robert Jones escaped from the prison at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas. This past week, he was captured and is being held in Florida, awaiting transfer back to Leavenworth. He had been living in Florida under a fake name. His wife, whom he married in 1983 had no idea he was living under an assumed identity.
The Dodgers are showing off their penchant for landing pitching talent, again. 17 year old Julio Urias pitched one inning of a spring-training game, striking out two and retiring all three batters he faced. He's that young and he's already hitting the range of 92-95 mph on the radar gun.
Jennifer Hudson will no longer do commercials for Weight Watchers.
Walmart is angry that the following photos were posted to the web by a financial reporter. http://www.thestreet.com/story/12530078/7/24-pictures-from-a-walmart-that-make-sears-look-classy.html
That diplomat from India who caused the uproar in relations between the U. S. and her home country has been indicted again by the Feds. But now that she's in India, it's doubtful she will ever be prosecuted.
A female student at Wesleyan University is suing a fraternity and a number of its members, alleging she was raped at a frat party. No, it wasn't the local chapter of Delta Tau Chi (if you don't get the reference, there's a movie you really need to watch).
The university newspaper at UC Davis may wind up being just an online publication, due to a lack of funding. A student election appeared to pass by a wide enough margin to fund the paper, but a legal challenge has overturned the result.
Walter, a partner at the Scottsdale, AZ law firm of Goldman and Goldman saw right through a scam check he received in the mail. Considering he's a dog, with only an honorary law degree (should that be paw degree?), that's pretty impressive.
Glenn Edward McDuffie has died. You may not recognize the name, but you've almost certainly seen his photograph.
He was positively identified as the sailor in this iconic image from post-WWII, shot in Times Square. He died at the age of 86, in Houston. He did not know he woman before kissing her.
In Far Rockaway, Queens, a woman found a "giant silverfish" in her bowl of soup. The restaurant offered her a refund. She's going to find a lawyer and sue. The restaurant has a pending health department rating of only "C", with 44 violation points found during the most recent inspection. No, the waiter did not tell her to "keep quiet about the bug or everybody will want one."
posted by me at 7:47 PM
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