samhexum

The ill-fated Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 was piloted by a “lonely and sad” captain who experimented with a flight profile almost identical to the aircraft’s final doomed path — one that left a slim chance of finding remains or clues to what really happened in the skies that calamitous evening, a new report reveals. In the July issue of The Atlantic, writer and aviation specialist William Langewiesche delves into what happened to the missing aircraft, including the disclosure that Malaysian officials knew far more about where the aircraft was the night it went missing and that Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah had “indications of trouble.” The Boeing 777 carrying 239 people from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing vanished March 8, 2014, and is presumed to have crashed in the far southern Indian Ocean. A safety report into the disaster by an international team last July revealed the plane was likely steered off course deliberately by someone and flown for several hours after communications were severed. The night the aircraft went missing, control was seized in the cockpit during a 20 minute period between 1:01 a.m. and 1:21 a.m. and radar records show the autopilot was probably switched off, according to Langewiesche. The Boeing 777 then made a tight turn to the southwest that Mike Exner, an electrical engineer and investigating the disaster as a member of Independent Group, told The Atlantic probably coincided with a climb of up to 40,000 feet meant to “accelerate the effects of depressurizing the airplane, causing the rapid incapacitation and death of everyone in the cabin.” While drop-down oxygen masks may have deployed, passengers would have had little use since they are only intended for 15 minutes of use during emergency descents, not cruising at high altitudes. Whoever was in the cockpit, however, would have had access to four pressurized-oxygen masks with a supply that could last hours. “The cabin occupants would have become incapacitated within a couple of minutes, lost consciousness, and gently died without any choking or gasping for air,” Langewiesche writes. As MH370 kept rocking across the sky, the aircraft appeared on radar while approaching Penang island at nearly 600 mph where the Malaysia air force had F-18 interceptors stationed at Butterwoth Air Base. A former official told the Atlantic that air force officials made sure an accident report was edited last year to say the radar had been “actively monitored” and the aircraft was not intercepted since it was “friendly.” That appears to be far from the truth. Military officials initially searched for MH370 in the wrong body of water to the east, when the aircraft actually flew in the opposite direction. When the report by a 19-member international team was released last July, Chief investigator Kok Soo Chon said during a media briefing there was no evidence of abnormal behavior or stress among the two pilots – Capt. Zaharie Ahmad Shah and co-pilot, Fariq Abdul Hamid – that could lead them to hijack the plane. Langewiesche notes that while the co-pilot had nothing but a bright future ahead and no red flags in his past, Zaharie’s life raised multiple concerns. After his wife moved out, the captain, who was reported to be “lonely and sad,” also “spent a lot of time pacing empty rooms” and obsessed over two young internet models. Forensic examinations of the pilot’s simulator by the FBI also revealed he experimented with a flight profile that roughly matched what’s believed to have happened to MH370, and that ended in “fuel exhaustion over the Indian Ocean.” New York Magazine reported in 2016 that the simulated flight was conducted less than a month before the plane vanished. A fellow 777 captain who wished to not be identified out of fear of repercussions did not offer a possible motive to The Atlantic, but said Zaharie’s emotional state was fragile. “Zaharie’s marriage was bad. In the past he slept with some of the flight attendants. And so what? We all do,” the pilot told the magazine. “You’re flying all over the world with these beautiful girls in the back. But his wife knew.” While Langewiesche notes the idea of “a pilot who runs amok” may be hard to conceive, it has happened before. In a similar incident, EgyptAir Flight 990 crashed off the coast of Massachusetts in October 1999 on its way from John F. Kennedy Airport in New York to Cairo. Audio captured by the co-pilot caught pilot Gameel Al-Batouti say 11 times in Arabic, “I rely on God.” Two years later, the National Transportation Safety Board determined Al-Batouti had been suicidal and purposely crashed the plane while the first pilot was out of the cockpit. Egyptian Civil Aviation Agency adamantly denied the NTSB’s findings, saying the report was “flawed and biased.” The doomed Germanwings Flight 9525, which crashed into the French Alps in 2015, was also determined to be a case of suicide-by-pilot. Officials determined co-pilot Andreas Lubitz, who had previously been treated for suicidal tendencies, flew the airliner into the mountains on purpose. The plane was heading to Dusseldorf Airport in Germany from Spain. Malaysia’s government has said that investigative reports released thus far are not a final accounting because the plane’s wreckage or so-called black boxes haven’t been found. But even when — or if — they are discovered, Langewiesche writes that it may “accomplish little” since the cockpit voice recorder self-erases after a two-hour loop and probably only has the sounds of the final alarms going off. The flight-data recorder may show when the aircraft was depressurized and how the satellite box was powered down, but give no further explanation as to what happened in the cockpit. Scattered pieces of debris that washed ashore on African beaches and Indian Ocean islands indicate MH370 crashed in a distant stretch of the ocean, but a multi-government search by Australia, Malaysia and China failed to pinpoint a location. Additional debris, however, may take a while to locate since the aircraft is believed to have gone into a “vicious spiral” before colliding with the sea in a manner in which the plane “disintegrated into confetti when it hit the water,” according to Langewiesche. Instead of focusing on finding the physical parts of the Boeing 777, the aviation expert believes some of the key parts of the timeline of what happened could be revealed by what authorities in Malaysia know and are keeping from the public. “Unless they are as incompetent as the air force and air traffic control, the Malaysian police know more than they have dared to say,” Langewiesche notes. “The riddle may not be deep.”

Gloria has died at 95.

Florida man thought he bought a villa, actually paid thousands for tiny 100-by-1 foot strip of land This Florida man thought he bought a villa for $9,100 in an online auction, but in reality he just won the patch of grass between two of them. And it turns out the 100-foot-by-1-foot strip of land Kerville Holness purchased is valued at only $50. His new property starts at the curb where two mailboxes sit, goes under a wall separating the garages of two adjoining villas and goes through the back lot — and officials said there’s no way he’s getting a refund. Holness claims photos linked to the auction site showed the villa as being what he was bidding on, but the appraiser’s site and county’s tax site shows the negligible value of the property, no building value and that the land is only 100 square feet, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported. Looks like there’s room for a lawn chair and portable grill though, so maybe Holness will make the most of his new property. Here's what Kerville Holness actually bought at an auction: a 100-foot-by-1-foot strip of land. From the front of the house, the strip goes right down the middle of a garage, and through the backyard.

Sounds kinda expensive for a hand job!

... and prevent forest fires.

I've always been a dog person, but have loved 3 cats in my life, and all looked like they wore grey tuxedos with white shirts and shoes. 2 belonged to friends, the third belonged to a woman I worked for who ran a company out of her home. She had a cat named Willie that had belonged to her son, & thought he was a dog. Every time I'd go there I'd play with him. He'd come when I called, roll onto his back so I could scratch his belly, and grab my hands with his paws and meow when I stopped. One day I just plopped down on the floor in the middle of the office to play with him and she said "I've never seen him respond to anybody like that before." Right on cue, he climbed onto my lap and curled up.

Yup, this past Sunday.

Queens cop adopts kitten after rescuing it from drainage system An animal-loving Queens cop has a new addition to the family after rescuing a quartet of kittens while on the job — and taking one home with him as a pet. New cat dad Officer Rich Wong said he and his partner, Officer Shawn MacDowell, were sitting in their patrol car near Harvard Playground on 179th Place in Jamaica around 10 a.m. on June 1 when a panicked man rushed over. “He found a group of kittens in the drainage systems of his house,” Wong, 30, told The Post. The officers immediately followed the man to the scene and found four blue-eyed kittens had slipped through an iron grate in a basement well window and fallen 4-to-5 feet to the ground below. Wong got onto his stomach and retrieved each of the four cats, placing them into a crate. “Once the kittens were okay and we pulled them out, it was an uplifting moment,” he said. Wong, who already had two cats at home and was looking to adopt a third, decided it was the perfect opportunity to rescue an animal in need. “It was luck and perfect,” Wong, who has just over a year on the force, recalled. “I told my girl and she was excited about it.” They named the kitty Gulu, which is the Chinese word for a cat’s “purring,” the self-proclaimed “animal lover” explained. While MacDowell was unable to take one of the cats home with him, a different officer from the same precinct also adopted one of the kittens and named her Parzival. The two remaining kittens were taken to the Animal Care Center in Queens.

(Sorta) Spoiler alert... Polly's starting to annoy me. Virginia's grown on me as the show's gone on and it seems like she's gonna get more interesting. Dean, too. And, of course, Desna's tatas continue to impress.

DEAR ABBY: I recently left my job and flew across the country for an internship on a small farm to learn about sustainable farming. I have been here a week. I have met some awesome people and have been having some fun with them in my free time. However, I’m now having second thoughts. This is hard, physical labor, and my living conditions are a lot more rustic and communal than I was led to believe. There is no electricity in our quarters, and we cook our meals outside on a propane stove. Also, the internship is unpaid, and I’ll have to pay to take a summer class. While I feel I am benefiting from this experience, I miss my old job (which I can get back) and the more comfortable lifestyle. Do you think I need to give this internship more time? -- ACROSS THE COUNTRY DEAR ACROSS: You signed on for the internship for a good reason -- to learn. Having done that, it will be not only educational but also character-building to see it through until the end of the summer. This isn’t forever, and the lessons you learn may last a lifetime. No a/c? Get the #@*% out of there ASAP!!! DEAR ABBY: Just months before our 30th wedding anniversary, my husband told me he doesn’t love me and never wanted to marry me. I am beyond devastated. I feel I have wasted the best years of my life. We have two beautiful daughters who are my everything. When he revealed this news to me, it turned my life upside down. I don’t know how to process it or what to do. I have spent years begging him to be more affectionate and loving. I always assumed he just didn’t know how to show love. It never crossed my mind that he has never loved me. I feel naive, betrayed and robbed. -- HOPELESS IN THE MIDWEST DEAR HOPELESS: When your husband handed you that “bouquet,” was he angry or inebriated? It is hard to believe that a man would stay married for 30 years to someone he didn’t love and didn’t want to marry in the first place. (Shotgun weddings are long out of style.) Revisit that conversation with him, and if he tells you he meant what he said, you are justified in feeling the way you describe. The questions then become are you better with him or without him, and what are your legal rights in the state in which you and this man live. (Not referring to him as your “husband” was not an oversight.) Have you ever considered the possibility that you are just unlovable?

Woman accused of stabbing hubby to death used to be his stepdaughter WINTER PARK, Fla. - After the State Attorney's Office released hours of documents and scene evidence Wednesday, Channel 9 learned that a University of Central Florida executive who was allegedly killed by his wife was formerly married to her mother. Family and friends said Michael Redlick fell in love with Daneille Redlick after her mother, Michael's second wife, died of cancer. "In fairness to Mike, Danielle's mother was dying of cancer when they were dating," said a family friend. "She had terrible insurance." Investigators believe Michael married Danielle's mom to help her get better health coverage. After being widowed, Michael fell in love with Danielle, who was 20 years his junior. Family friends soon called investigators to provide them with an outside look at the couple's relationship when they learned the 65-year-old died after being stabbed in the shoulder. "I'd say to him on numerous occasions, 'Mike the consequences are going to get worse here,'" said Jerry Rubacky. "They're going to get more dramatic." Neighbors said Michael would at times move out of the family home so the children wouldn't see them fighting. The two children are expected to testify against their mother during the trial and told investigators they usually witnessed tension between their parents. The 15-year-old girl and 11-year-old boy told officials during an interview that Danielle was usually the aggressor during the fighting. Both children felt the relationship between their parents was improving in recent months up until the last several days before Michael was killed. The boy told officials he knew something was wrong when his parents didn't show up for his baseball game the morning Michael was found dead.

bupkis

David Mamet has done it again! By which I mean that the out-of-his-mind playwright has appalled, offended and perplexed a packed house of hundreds of people — this time with his comedy about Harvey Weinstein. You read that right. Mamet wants you to have a laugh about one of the most infamous workplace monsters of our time. His new play, called “Bitter Wheat,” started previews Friday night at the Garrick Theatre, and it’s even worse than you would expect. It turns a fat-suited John Malkovich into, wait for it, “Barney Fein,” a ruthless, ravenous Hollywood mogul. Fein is disgusting but charismatic, and Mamet plays his antics for laughs. It’s a tone-deaf treatment of Weinstein, whose alleged sexual misconduct against innumerable women instigated the #MeToo movement. Nobody — nobody! — was looking for a Harvey-har-har. The irresponsible show contains zero insight into a deeply troubling situation and is propped up by staid humor and an overlong run time. “Bitter Wheat” begins in a nondescript, poorly designed office when a young screenwriter pitches his script to Fein. “Your script is a piece of s–t,” he says. If only someone had told Mamet the same. The entire first act then becomes a series of hackneyed Hollywood jabs — “The Writers Guild would drink a beaker of my mucus if I asked them to,” etc. — until a young Korean actress, Yung Kim Li (Ioanna Kimbook), walks through Wein … um, Fein’s door. The pair end up at a restaurant — a Tribeca Grill copycat — and discuss her films, her dreams and her day. Yung dozes off and awakens to something unpleasant. “I loosened your belt,” Fein says. “And now I’m gonna take off my pants.” The British audience politely laughed. The Broadway audience — God forbid there is one — won’t. Perhaps Mamet thinks he’s mocking Weinstein with black satire. The closest he gets: “I don’t think you understand how much money I’ve given to the Democratic Party,” Fein yells at Yung before she agrees to watch him shower. But mostly the play is the writer of “Oleanna” trivializing abhorrent behavior in a boring way. Some of the “zingers”: An organization is creating an award in his honor and Fein wants it to be “a well-built Caucasian man raising up an emaciated third-world child.” To an actress: “Take off your top or I’ll throw us both out of the window.” And: “I have the greatest respect for women. But women are freakin’ people — which means they’re stupid.” In Act 2, Fein’s misdeeds catch up to him. His Oscars are sent back, he’s removed from the boards of museums, his in-the-works projects are canceled. “Yes, I’ve molested various actresses,” he says. “As who else has not?!” Malkovich, who should not have signed onto this project, isn’t bad. The actor does very little English-language stage work these days, so you’ll better recognize his tics and quirks from movies. Fein continuously blames his massive weight for why he needs to lure in women. The last Mamet show to play Broadway was the disastrous “China Doll” starring Al Pacino, who relied on teleprompters to regurgitate Mamet’s abysmal text. Let’s hope the dreadful “Bitter Wheat” doesn’t make a compulsory leap across the pond.

‘Punky Brewster’ sequel in the works, with original star Soleil Moon Frye Punky Brewster star Soleil Moon Frye will return in a TV sequel. The 42-year-old actress will reprise the title character in a reboot in development at UCP, Deadline reported Tuesday. The new series centers on an older Punky, who is now a single mom to three. The character meets a young girl who reminds her of her younger self. Steve and Jim Armogida will write the show and executive produce with Frye, original series creator David W. Duclon and Jimmy Fox. The series marks UCP's first multi-camera/family sitcom. Frye celebrated the news in a tweet Tuesday. "She is back! I am back! #punkypower forever! Yipppeeee," she wrote. The original Punky Brewster had a four-season run on NBC/in syndication from 1984 to 1988. It followed Punky, a young girl being raised by a foster parent, Henry Warnimont (George Gaynes). Punky Brewster previously inspired the animated series It's Punky Brewster, which featured the voices of the original cast. The show aired for two seasons from 1985 to 1986. Frye is also known for portraying Roxie King on Sabrina, the Teenage Witch. She will next appear in the movie Heirloomswith Lynda Carter and Luke Wilson, and most importantly, is the half-sister of Meeno Peluce, who starred with Jon-Erik Hexum in the classic TV series VOYAGERS. Soleil Moon Frye ©, pictured with daughters Poet and Jagger