re: Official Thread: Missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370

Malaysian officials are only doing so bc the US probably said why in the hell haven't y'all searched the pilots homes yet.

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This is like something out of a movie....

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If I saw this in a movie I would be thinking "No way could someone make a plane this size disappear in this day & age" and John McClaine or Cyrus the Virus would be a passenger.

This also makes me wonder why we spend eleventy trillion dollars to make planes/jets a fraction of the size "stealth" to radar when apparently flipping a cpl switches can basically make a plane disappear.

I realize this is a more remote part of the world, but you'd think China would have satellites and radars that could keep up with a 650,000 lb plane that 'close' to their country. If we ever need to nuke China or North Korea we just need to send a 777 to do it.

We could run it right up their arse and they would never see it coming.

in a pressurized cabin, would all of the passengers still have passed/died out at just 45,000ft? With all my travels back and forth between Texas and the UK, we regularly cruise at 39,000ft, it would seem 45K wouldn't be high enough to completely make people pass out? (I realise there is a lot less air at 45K than 39K, but can the pilot depressurize the cabin for a while without "cracking a window" so to speak?)

Damn

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@NewsNerve: BREAKING @NewsNerve has learned from Malaysia official that they believe location of #MH370 is on land near Chinese/Kyrgyz border #Flight370

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Here we go people!!!

who is news nerve?

If they are prepping this plane for an attack, anyone think this could be the target?

LINK

Lots of world leaders there, and if they landed and refueled could they make it there undetected (until it was too late)?

LINK

This is a Uighur operation.

LINK

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Who are the Uighurs?


The Uighurs are Muslims. Their language is related to Turkish and they regard themselves as culturally and ethnically close to Central Asian nations.

The region's economy has for centuries revolved around agriculture and trade, with towns such as Kashgar thriving as hubs along the famous Silk Road.

In the early part of the 20th Century, the Uighurs briefly declared independence. The region was brought under the complete control of communist China in 1949.

Officially Xinjiang - a sprawling region that borders Central Asia - is now described by China as an autonomous region, like Tibet to its south.



What complaints have been made against the Chinese in Xinjiang?


Activists say the Uighurs' religious, commercial and cultural activities have been gradually curtailed by the Chinese state.

China is accused of intensifying its crackdown on the Uighurs after street protests in the 1990s - and again in the run-up to the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

Over the past decade, many prominent Uighurs have been imprisoned or have sought asylum abroad after being accused of terrorism.

China is said to have exaggerated the threat from Uighur separatists in order to justify repression in the region.

Beijing has also been accused of seeking to dilute Uighur influence by arranging the mass immigration of Han Chinese, the country's majority ethnic group, to Xinjiang.

Uighurs have become a minority in Xinjiang due to this influx.



What are China's concerns about the Uighurs?



Beijing says Uighur militants have been waging a violent campaign for an independent state by plotting bombings, sabotage and civic unrest.

Since the 9/11 attacks in the US, China has increasingly portrayed its Uighur separatists as auxiliaries of al-Qaeda.

It has accused them of receiving training and indoctrination from Islamist militants in neighbouring Afghanistan, although little public evidence has been produced in support of these claims.

More than 20 Uighurs were captured by the US military after its invasion of Afghanistan. They were imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay for years without being charged with any offence and most have now been resettled elsewhere.



What sparked the 2009 riots?



Nearly 200 people died in ethnic riots in Urumqi, the administrative capital of Xinjiang, in July 2009. Officials said most of the dead were Han Chinese, but Uighur groups denied this.

One of the sparks for the violence seems to have been the deaths of two Uighurs in clashes with Han Chinese at a factory in southern China in June.

On 5 July 2009, Uighurs came out onto the streets of Urumqi to protest about these killings - but how and why these protests turned violent remains a contentious issue.

The authorities blame Xinjiang separatists based outside China for the unrest, and they singled out exiled Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer, saying she incited the violence.

Rebiya Kadeer told the BBC she was not responsible for any of the violence.

Uighur exiles say police fired indiscriminately on peaceful protests - adding that this was what led to the violence and deaths.



What is the current situation in Xinjiang?



During China's economic boom, Xinjiang has received considerable state investment in industrial and energy projects that have in theory benefited the whole region.

China has been keen to highlight improvements made but many Uighurs complain that the Han are taking their jobs, and that their farmland has been confiscated for redevelopment.

The activities of local and foreign journalists are closely monitored by the Chinese state and there are few independent sources of news from the region.

Uighurs interviewed by the press have avoided criticising Beijing.

However occasional attacks on Chinese targets suggest Uighur separatism remains a potent - and potentially violent - force.

Analysts say only when the real culprits - poverty, marginalisation and discrimination - are defeated can the conflict be resolved.

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There is a 777 jet airliner being loaded with explosives to kill a hell of a lot of people.

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Forget explosives. A 777 loaded up with fuel is plenty explosive on its own (keep in mind the 777 is barely a hair smaller than a 747).

I'm thinking more along the lines of an LINK ]Executive Decision scenario: chemical or biological agents, or radioactive material (really big-arse dirty bomb)... anything that could maximize widespread, long-term damage/casualties.