Society's ChildS


Boat

Indian Navy seizes ship from Somali pirates and rescues 17 crew

Shipfolk
© ReutersPeople with weapons standing onboard the Maltese-flagged bulk cargo vessel Ruen, seized by Somali pirates and then intercepted by the Indian Navy, on March 16, 2024.
Indian naval forces including special commandos seized a cargo vessel that had been hijacked by Somali pirates, rescuing 17 crew members, a spokesperson for the navy said on March 16.

The navy said in a post on social media platform X that all 35 pirates aboard the ship, the Maltese-flagged bulk cargo vessel Ruen, had surrendered, and the ship had been checked for the presence of illegal arms, ammunition and contraband.

The Ruen had been hijacked in 2023 and the navy said it had intercepted the vessel on March 15. The vessel may have been used as the base for the takeover of a Bangladesh-flagged cargo ship off the coast of Somalia earlier this week, the European Union naval force said.

The hijacking of the Ruen was the first successful takeover of a vessel involving Somali pirates since 2017, when a crackdown by international navies stopped a rash of seizures in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean.

Comment: Meanwhile, a half-globe away, China's Coast Guard is seen in Taiwan's 'prohibited waters':
Chinese Coast Guard vessels have entered what Taiwan calls "prohibited waters" near the Kinmen Islands, effectively controlled by Taiwan. Taiwan's media say it is the first time China Coast Guard ships, which fall under the command of the country's military, have entered the waters.

The Coast Guard reported on its website on Friday that it conducted patrols in waters near the islands based on Chinese law. It posted a photograph of the area with a red line indicating a shipping route. Local Taiwan media said four China Coast Guard vessels entered the prohibited waters for the first time. Earlier in February, a Chinese marine surveillance vessel was also spotted in the region.

China is demanding that Taiwan apologize and take responsibility for a mishap involving a Chinese fishing boat off the Kinmen Islands on February 14. Two Chinese fishers died after their boat capsized while being pursued by Taiwan's coast guard.

The China Coast Guard has announced that it will continue to strengthen its patrols for law enforcement, suggesting further Chinese navigation within the waters. China is mounting pressure on Taiwan's government led by the Democratic Progressive Party.



Attention

The Elon Musk-Matt Taibbi ugly divorce

And oh yes, the Musk spy satellites; and, that time Musk accused Substack of theft.
Twitter
© CNN
Musk stands for free speech? Really?

Journalist Matt Taibbi worked for Musk on the Twitter Files project. This was Musk's purported effort to uncover Twitter-government collusion in censoring all sorts of Twitter posters.1

But Taibbi now says:2
I do believe that Elon proved to be very disappointing on the free speech issue. All of us who worked on the Twitter Files felt the same way. We went in feeling tremendously optimistic that he actually meant a lot of the things that he said about being in favor of all legal speech and, being a free speech absolutist and all these other things.

That proved not to be the case. He's currently disenfranchising thousands of Substack writers, including me. And no one seems to care in the press.
Taibbi published exchanges between Musk and himself.3
TAIBBI: Elon, am I being shadowbanned [on Twitter/X]?

MUSK: We went on lockdown after discovering that Substack had stolen a massive amount of our data to prepopulate their Twitter rip-off. Looks like there is still a blanket search ban. Should be fixed by tomorrow. Going forward, tweets with Substack will not appear in For You unless it is paid advertising...

TAIBBI: Elon, I've repeatedly declined to criticize you and have nothing to do with your beef with Substack. Is there a reason why I'm being put in the middle of things? This really seems crazy.

MUSK: You are dead to me. Please get off Twitter and just stay on Substack.
Does that conversation sound like Musk is a free speech champion, as he's claimed?

Recycle

Best of the Web: Yet again! Boeing 737 flight departing San Francisco with 139 passengers loses external panel mid-air


Comment: At this point, one starts wondering whether sabotage is afoot...


Unitee Airlines
Literally, not a day goes by without Boeing suffering some major incident, whether it is doors and tires falling off, runway excursions, engine fires, hydraulic leaks, pilot seats flailing around the cockpit and slamming the yoke and, OH YEAH, a "suicided" whistleblower who told a close friend if anything happened to him, it most certainly wasn't suicide. Well, we can now add one more: a United Airlines flight - because it's never American or Delta... always United - that took off from San Francisco International Airport Friday morning landed in Oregon with a missing external panel, abc7 reported citing to officials.

As the NY Post notes, United Airlines Flight 433 departed from San Francisco around 10:20 a.m. local time and landed safely at its intended destination, Rogue Valley International-Medford Airport, about 70 minutes later, according to airport officials and flight data.

Once the plane reached the gate, an external panel was found to be missing, halting operations at the airport while a runway safety check was conducted, airport director Amber Judd told The NY Post.

Amazingly, there was no indication of a problem and no emergency was ever declared during the flight, which had 139 passengers and 6 crew members on board, according to United.

Comment: Boeing might be forced to come out with a new PR campaign with words like "Trust the experts" and "safe and effective". As the article suggest, we might also see another whistleblower 'commit suicide'.

For more of the recent Boeing woes, see:


Toys

Elon Musk cancels Don Lemon's X show after multiple demands - likens him to 'spoiled child'

don lemon elon musk interview
© @donlemon/XElon Musk has compared the former CNN anchor Don Lemon to a spoiled child from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory after it was revealed the TV host had an alleged series of demands before his new show streamed on X
Elon Musk has compared the former CNN anchor Don Lemon to a spoiled child from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory after a report claiming the TV host made a series of contractual demands before his new show streamed on X.

Lemon is alleged to have requested a Tesla Cybertruck, an $8 million salary, an equity stake in X together with a $5 million upfront payment on top.

In a posting to X on Friday night, Musk simply wrote, Don 'Veruca Salt' Lemon, in reference to the character from the 1970 film, that sees the youngster making clear her wants as she belts out 'I want it now!'

Lemon is alleged to have demanded a flight on a private jet flight together with a suite for him and his fiancé, according to the New York Post.

In addition it is claimed Lemon asked for X to pay for a day of drinking and massages, The Post is reporting. Lemon's list of demands went on and are alleged to have included executive assistants plus a budget for marketing of up to $15 million.

Comment: You can take the man out of CNN, but you can't take CNN out of the man. Especially if there was nothing much else there to begin with.


No Entry

McDonald's suffers GLOBAL IT 'system failure', stores from Canada to Australia forced to close

McDonalds
© Reuters / Yves Herman
McDonald's restaurants across the world have been forced to temporarily close, and other branches around the world have reported a widespread technological issue which means customers cannot pay for food.

Internal systems in Australian restaurants were offline since about 3:10 p.m. local time, according to a report by News.com.au.

IT issues have also been reported online in China including Hong Kong, Japan, Canada, South Korea, Taiwan and Germany.

Comment: The number of services failing for due to 'unspecified' issues is in the news a lot more often lately:


Cut

Internet outage hits several African countries as multiple major undersea cables 'fail'

ship laying subsea cable
© SSEN/PAFILE: A ship laying subsea cable off the coast of Caithness in Scotland in July.
A dozen countries across Africa suffered a major internet outage on Thursday, March 14, as multiple undersea telecommunication cables reported failures, network operators and internet watch groups said. The cause of the failure was not immediately clear.

The MTN Group, one of Africa's largest network providers, said the ongoing disruptions were a result of failures in multiple major undersea cables. "Our operations are actively working to reroute traffic through alternative network paths," the South African company said in a statement.

Network disruptions caused by cable damage have occurred in Africa in recent years. However, "today's disruption points to something larger (and) this is amongst the most severe," said Isik Mater, director of research at NetBlocks, a group that documents internet disruptions around the world. NetBlocks said data transmission and measurement shows a major disruption to international transits, "likely at or near the subsea network cable landing points."

Comment: See also:


Black Magic

Ex-Nickelodeon coach who sexually abused child star kept signed painting of serial killer Gacy at home

John Wayne Gacy
© Bureau of Prisons/Getty; Steve Eichner/WireImageJohn Wayne Gacy, left, and a self-portrait.
Brian Peck, the former dialogue coach who pleaded no contest to sexually abusing former Nickelodeon star Drake Bell, had a signed self-portrait painting of infamous serial killer John Wayne Gacy that he flaunted in front of another child star.

The revelation surfaced in an upcoming ID docuseries, Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, premiering March 17. The show uncovers the price many former child actors say they paid while working long hours in an emotionally manipulative and sometimes sexually charged environment.

In an exclusive clip shared with PEOPLE, former All That cast member Kyle Sullivan, then 14, talks about seeing the inside of Peck's home, which included a shrine to Planet of the Apes and — most notably — a painting of a clown holding balloons, which seemingly had nothing to do with the famous sci-fi franchise.

Comment: There's every reason to suppose that is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the criminals and perverts in the US media industry. Although, in recent years, more people than ever are now coming forward to expose just how Hollywood itself is riddled with, if not inextricably linked, to sexual predators: Music producer latest to accuse Sean 'Diddy' Combs of sexual misconduct in federal lawsuit


Gold Seal

Basketball legend John Stockton and censured doctors sue Washington Medical Commission over suppression of free speech on Covid

John stockton
Children's Health Defense, basketball hall-of-famer John Stockton and physicians targeted by the Washington Medical Commission on March 7 sued the commission for allegedly violating doctors' First Amendment right to criticize the "mainstream COVID narrative" and denying the public the right to hear such criticism.

Basketball legend John Stockton and Children's Health Defense (CHD) are among the plaintiffs suing the Washington Medical Commission, alleging it violated doctors' First Amendment right to criticize the "mainstream COVID narrative" and denied the public the right to hear such criticism.

Stockton v. Ferguson, filed March 7 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington, seeks "to protect the right of physicians to speak, and the right of the public to hear their message."

Stockton, a basketball hall-of-famer and Olympic gold medalist, also co-hosts the "Voices for Medical Freedom Podcast." According to the lawsuit, Stockton joined the lawsuit to advocate in favor of the public's right to access "soapbox speech."

Comment: Listen to Dr. Pierre Kory discuss his own being fired from 3 positions as he attempted to treat patients for vaccine injury:




Airplane

Boeing whistleblower John Barnett warned family friend 'It's not suicide' before death

John Barnett boeing whistleblower found dead not suicide
© CopyrightJohn Barnett. Barnett was found dead while in the middle of a legal case with Boeing regarding his time in employment with the aircraft manufacturer.
John Barnett, the 62-year-old Boeing whistleblower discovered dead with a gunshot wound in South Carolina Saturday, had previously told a family friend not to believe what authorities would say if he was found dead, according to local network ABC News 4.

The Context

Police are investigating after Barnett was discovered in a hotel car park in Charleston with a single gunshot wound to the head, along with what officers described as a "silver handgun" and a "white piece of paper that closely resembled a note." A coroner's report said he died from a "self-inflicted" wound, though the Charleston Police Department is still making inquiries.

After retiring in 2019 Barnett accused Boeing, his employee of 32 years, of cutting corners and using sub-standard parts to build planes. He claimed to have reported this to management and been ignored, though Boeing has denied this.

Comment:


Binoculars

Florida gov DeSantis sending soldiers, aircraft to protect Florida from illegal immigrant boats amid Haiti unrest

florida coast guard illegal immigrants
© Joe Raedle/Getty ImagesA U.S. Coast Guard boat pulls up next to a sailboat containing approximately 150 migrants on July 21, 2022, in Islandia, Florida.
Haiti is engulfed in what some experts have called a low-scale civil war

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced on Wednesday that he is sending over 250 additional soldiers and officers, as well as aircraft and boats, to "protect" the state from vessels carrying illegal immigrants from Haiti - as gang violence has brought additional turmoil to the Caribbean nation.

The development comes amid ongoing unrest in Haiti, where the country's powerful gangs have burned police stations, attacked the main airport and raided two of the country's biggest prisons in the capital of Port-au-Prince.

Prime Minister Ariel Henry announced Tuesday that he will resign once a traditional presidential council is created, bowing to international pressure to do so.

Comment: