PM Confirmed: MH370 lost in Indian Ocean

"After 17 days of extensive search for the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, authorities have finally concluded that the aircraft can only be in the southern region of the Indian Ocean.

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak revealed this tonight in a hastily convened press conference at Putra World Trade Centre, Kuala Lumpur.

Najib said the confirmation is based on "a type of analysis never before used" on Immarsat's satellite data."

More:
http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/258084

How British satellite company Inmarsat tracked down MH370:

"Inmarsat’s role in the search for Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 began immediately after the aircraft disappeared. Although the main aircraft communications addressing and reporting system (which would usually transmit the plane's position) was switched off, one of Inmarsat’s satellites continued to pick up a series of automated hourly 'pings' from a terminal on the plane, which would normally be used to synchronise timing information.

By analysing these pings, Inmarsat was able to establish that MH370 continued to fly for at least five hours after the aircraft left Malaysian airspace, and that it had flown along one of two 'corridors' – one arcing north and the other south. The plane was reportedly flying at a cruising height above 30,000 feet.

"We looked at the Doppler effect, which is the change in frequency due to the movement of a satellite in its orbit. What that then gave us was a predicted path for the northerly route and a predicted path the southerly route," explained Chris McLaughlin, senior vice president of external affairs at Inmarsat. "That’s never been done before; our engineers came up with it as a unique contribution."

More:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/10719304/How-British-satellite-company-Inmarsat-tracked-down-MH370.html

We have yet to retrieve any item which can be identified conclusively to MH370.

It is vital to find the black box in order to know more about what actually happened. With today's technology, the information in the black box can be used to reconstruct in 3-D form what could have happened. Here's an example:


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Congratulations to Kak Wan!

PKR - 16,741
BN - 11,362

Majority - 5,379

Malaysiakini's report...
http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/257966

Lim Kit Siang suggested she could be our first female PM. Zahid Hamidi replied that he should not be day-dreaming. Someone commented that if someone like Zahid can be a minister, then Dr Wan Azizah can be PM.

Anyway, we shall see whether the eye doctor can help Malaysia achieve perfect vision of 20/20 by the year 2020.
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Kajang by-election: That Wan Azizah shall win is just a formality?

Sakmongkol AK47: On Political Platforms in the Kajang by-Election. Manifesto vs MONEYfesto

Excerpt:

"Last night, I attended the launching of Reformasi 2 at Kajang stadium. The stadium was filled to the brim. It was a huge crowd. As usual this morning, after waking up with arithmetitis, mainstream media will downplay the size of the huge crowd. Maybe 232 attnded.
There were so many speakers. So we end up mostly making rallying calls. The political platform has been explained widely throughout  the campaign period.
That Wan Azizah shall go on to win this by-election is just a formality. The question is how big will her majority be."

"The non-Malays will come out in big numbers to vote Wan Azizah. They are motivated by one reason only. The UMNO people can challenge them to explain their conduct and ask once again what do the Chinese want- that will be an irrelevant question. The question will be simply ignored. The basic desire and motivation is just to see BN get its butt kicked. They don’t like BN and its a subjective choice. Nothing much to explain."

"...The Malays who did not vote Pakatan the last time because they didn’t want to vote a CC Lee will  come out to vote this time. They will vote Wan Azizah."

Rest of the article:
http://sakmongkol.blogspot.com/2014/03/on-political-platforms-in-kajang-by.html

This is no ordinary by-election. That Anwar created it so that he could be Menteri Besar of Selangor was known. That BN hastily put an end to his ambition is also generally accepted by the public, despite BN's denial. That Wan Azizah has to take Anwar's place as candidate is a reaction to BN's malicious scheme of things, not of her choice. Could it be a blessing in disguise that Wan Azizah shall benefit from sympathy votes, and as a result, become MB of Selangor? Highly possible, given the turnout of Reformasi 2. It is also possible that we might get to have Wan Azizah as first woman PM of Malaysia at the next GE.

Sodomy I was unprecedented in its aim of denying Anwar a chance to be PM. That Sodomy II was used again seems so lacking in ideas and certainly malicious in intention. We should let the powers be know that whether a person is fit to be PM should be left to the people to decide, not anyone else under the pretext of protecting the country. The Kajang by-election is now like a referendum which the voters shall decide on behalf of the rest of the country's voters. The margin of majority is vital in this context.
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We have learned quite a bit from the ill-fated MH370

With the constant inflow of information from all and sundry, about plausible or probable causes or likely scenarios, we now know about primary and secondary transponders; black box (actually orange in colour) and its uses; satellite images and their limitations; flight simulators and their uses and abuses; capabilities as well as limitations (mainly to safeguard national security) of radar monitors; and so on.

We have learned more about geography, especially where the oceans are and how deep they could be.

We have also learned how unprepared we are in case of hostile aircrafts entering our airspace. This is not unexpected when dealing with security: when nothing happens, it can be boring for those in charge to be constantly on the alert.

Though the incident has shown how cooperative the 25 countries can be in their joint efforts to locate the missing plane, it also highlighted the reluctance to divulge certain information which could undermine each country's national defence capability.

With the daily press conferences given by acting Transport Minister, DCA chief, MAS CEO, and occasionally, by some other ministers or relevant officers, the importance of English as an international language of communication has also been highlighted. Those with foreign education like Hishamuddin and Najib had confidence in putting across their points, though they are hampered by the lack of information to offer and the latter was known to have avoided answering any questions from the floor.

One thing I noticed is that we had been fooled by some TV films and series which gave us the wrong impression that the latest technologies on satellites and the cyberworld could do wonders within seconds. Recently, I watched an episode of Hawaii 5 'O' which showed how easy it was for someone with the right knowledge to hijack a plane using a notebook remotely. It was also easy for someone from 5 'O' to counter the hijack and arrest the culprit in time. Though it is not impossible for such things to happen, the fast-tracking of the scenes in an episode gave us the wrong impression that almost anything could be done with the timely press of the right buttons!

The reality of MH370 is such that the latest satellite images from Australia could not be confirmed immediately, and to get to the right location would take at least 2 to 3 days! A couple of planes tried but could not locate the debris. We were told that planes or ships have to make sure they have sufficient fuel to search and to return back to base! A warship using nuclear power is more helpful where this is concerned.

So far, no cost is spared in the efforts to locate the missing plane. But finance is something which will crop up later. The big brothers like US, Australia and China (almost two thirds of passengers are from China) are obliged to help, in the hope that they can show off their capability if any search is proven positive. In comparison, host country Malaysia is seen as lacking in assets as well as reluctance to use its own submarine, for instance, for this vital search and rescue mission to locate its own plane.

By the way, we taught the world how to be more specific in describing family ties:
Christianne Amanpour, quoting from Anwar’s press secretary, had asked Anwar to confirm if Zaharie was indeed his "son’s wife’s mother’s father’s brother’s son".

We can't be more specific than that, can we? In other words, Zaharie was Anwar's daughter-in-law's uncle, or her mother's cousin, descriptions of which are rather vague to us, Asians.

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Liew Chin Tong: Can Kak Wan become PM?

'Umno strategists believe that jailing Anwar would lead to Pakatan’s downfall, repeating the disintegration of Barisan Alternatif in 2001. Of course, that is what Umno-BN wants, so that it could continue in power forever.

But there could be other scenarios arising if Anwar is jailed...'

'An accidental, reluctant PM

Umno may not have anticipated that barring Anwar from running in elections would mean releasing Kak Wan to realise her full potential.

For the past 16 years, Anwar’s image has been constantly been subjected to vicious attack by the media - from his personal integrity, to allegations against his party. Little by little, the smear campaign has taken effect, particularly among women in semi-rural areas.

On the other hand, Kak Wan’s image is unscathed. For the second time, she steps in to contest on behalf of Anwar, to seek justice. It is a symbolic political image with a strong message.

Her timely ascension could be Pakatan’s hidden weapon. Even more so, in contrast to the vastly different image attributed to Najib’s wife, Rosmah Mansor. As Umno scrambles for “bullets” to take down Kak Wan, the worst that Khairy Jamaluddin could think of is to accuse her of being Anwar’s “puppet”, an allegation easily answered.

I have reason to believe that Kak Wan could become an accidental, reluctant prime minister, inadvertently aided by BN. That reluctance itself is a sign of sincerity and honesty.'

Rest of article in Malaysiakini:
http://m.malaysiakini.com/letters/257358

LIEW CHIN TONG is DAP national political education director and MP for Kluang.
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