Is China Searching for MH370?

 

See here for essential background: https://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com/2025/03/malaysia-has-not-signed.html.
Armada 7806 has abandoned the MH370 search. Ocean Infinity have pledged to continue the quest to find the missing airliner no matter what, but right now that means after the southern winter, November at the earliest. However, almost as soon as Armada headed home to Singapore something very strange happened. Another ship approached the area, a ship that looks remarkably similar to Armada; it's illustrated above. It left Wellington, New Zealand on the 23rd of March and arrived at the seventh arc on the 7th of April. It is currently very close to where the OI vessel was searching. The ship is Chinese and called 探索一号 "Tan Suo Yi Hao"; which translates as "Explorer Number One". As you can see she is similar in design to Armada 7806 which means her purpose is also similar. The difference is she's a lot bigger and probably better equipped. According to her registry she does have ARV's and the ability to launch them; as well as a manned submersible. Her destination is currently listed as Sanya, a port in China, although she's clearly in no rush to get there. Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YoTLRighlI. What is that ship doing there? Could there be any other purpose than the obvious? It looks like China has decided to begin its own search for MH370. Beijing has said nothing about doing their own search so far, but there's no reason why they shouldn't. Nobody needs anybody's permission to try. The search area is not private property or in anybody's territorial waters. If you have the ability and equipment, you could head there and have a go yourself. Assuming this is an unacknowledged attempt by China to find the lost aircraft then it stands as good as chance as any we've seen so far. Chinese submersibles, ROV's and ARV's hold the world records for depth, endurance and other capabilities.

What will happen if they succeed? As far as we're aware Malaysia knows nothing about this operation and has not offered China any money to do it. Obviously, deals could have been done in secret or perhaps Beijing hope Malaysia will give them a generous post-hoc tip out of the goodness of their heart in the massive publicity celebration following success. 153 of the 239 people on board MH370 were Chinese citizens and there have been massive protests in China by the relatives and their supporters. It takes a lot to induce the Chinese to carry out street protests because the government takes a very hard line against them; like in Tiananmen Square. The inevitable question is whether this means China is aware of the alternative ideas related to MH370; the distinct possibility that MH370 is not in the Indian Ocean at all. Back in 2014 they published a satellite photograph of what was said at the time to be plane wreckage in the Gulf of Thailand. This was before the theory that the plane crashed soon after it vanished was discounted in favour of the suicidal pilot flying south theory that prevails today; except by alternative MH37-tologists like Jeff Wise, Florence de Changy and Ashton Forbes. Source: https://time.com/22542/malaysia-airlines-flight-mh370-images-vanished-jet/. Ashton Forbes commented that he thought this was actually a photo of the orbs "zapping" the plane. It was China's way of telling the United States "We know what you did!" Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTFyGNA9qtY. You might wonder why I am taking so much interest in the Indian Ocean searches when I'm fairly sure the plane did not crash there. The simple answer is, in case I'm wrong. The Indian Ocean suicide hypothesis needs to be explored and eliminated. I expect the Chinese government feels the same way.
See here for background: https://hpanwo.blogspot.com/2024/05/mh370-portal.html.

Powergen Bob

 

See here for essential background: https://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com/2025/03/scary-tv-ad.html.
Some TV adverts are memorable for reasons other than the macabre and sinister. In the early 2000's Powergen ran a series of ads that I have never forgotten and have been searching for online. "Mystic Bob" was loveable middle-aged hippie was played by Simon Day who is best known for his comedy programmes, especially The Fast Show. He also played a hospital porter in Holby City and I'll be saying more about that soon on the HPWA, see links column. Bob is a spiritual New Age preacher who both amuses and bemuses his colleagues as they travel around working in their white van. He has a dog called Gandalf who only appears in one of the ads. His tagline is "positive energy from Powergen". The initial film in the campaign is forty-one seconds long and can be seen here: https://adsspot.me/media/tv-commercials/powergen-bob-energy-saving-plan-c1ba18dbebb6; sorry, but this is the best quality copy I know of. When Powergen earned the sponsorship on ITV's weather reports a series of shorter ones were made. They are on YouTube, see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XP4kQ819gWQ and: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQlhq0FUSNY and: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vgn67I-svzU. The Powergen Bob adverts were so funny and sweet that I used to look forward to the ad breaks in case one of them appeared. They used to cheer me up... Those were in the days when I actually watched television. I identified with that character quite distinctly. I saw myself in him and I still do. Powergen changed its name to E.ON UK when it was acquired by the German energy multinational and then the Bob adverts were dropped in favour of some new far more conventional and boring ones. Apparently I was not the only one to write in and complain about the loss of "Mystic Bob", see: https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/adwatch-powergen-mystic-bob/461896. I think they should have given Bob a series or even a movie. TV ads have been adapted into films before, such as Rowan Atkinson's Johnny English trilogy; they were a James Bond spoof based on a long ad campaign by Barclaycard, for example see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4Yn6vPZrGU. Things on TV that make me happy are sometimes found in places as unexpected as those which make me feel scared. The amount of skill and artwork needed to make an impression does exist in the commercial milieu. Is there an equivalent of the Oscars for adverts? If so then I have a nomination for the best horror and the best feel-good comedy.

The World After Amazon

 

I've come across a literary project called The World After Amazon. I found it via Cory Doctorow whose book I recently reviewed, see: https://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com/2024/05/the-masque-of-red-death.html. It brings together thirteen employees or ex-employees of Amazon who have written short stories. In this way they can express themselves in a manner they otherwise never could. Amazon is truly the mega-corporation of mega-corporations. It dominates the retail world like no other organization in history. Like many giant corporate multinationals it often recruits the poorest people it can find and pays them the lowest wages possible. Because of this, I was not surprised to find that all the stories have a futuristic dystopian setting and rather grim themes such as societal collapse, anti-humanism, cyberpunk technocracy and ecocide. As always, futuristic fiction describes the present more than it predicts the actual future. Some of the authors are anonymous, presumably because they might face repercussions at work as a result of their involvement in the project which has an irreverent policy towards Amazon, to say the least. All the entries in the anthology are worth reading, but I think the best by far is Thalia in Albios by Cory Gluck. It is about a young woman called Thalia who lives in a post-apocalyptic city which consists of shanty towns of poverty in which there are little pockets of opulence, gated communities where the wealthy live in seclusion. Thalia works as a maid for one of the rich households and her employer is an older woman called Linda who lives in a mansion with her family. She is a very two-faced person who treats Thalia either with kindness or cruelty dispending on her mood. Sometimes she reprimands Thalia for damages and messes caused by her children that are not Thalia's fault. This story, and some of the others, are very revealing about what it is like to be a low status citizen in a harsh and conformist world; something that really spoke to my heart, being a former hospital porter. (Have I mentioned that before? Maybe once or twice perhaps.) The anthology is available as a free ebook or audio-book, see: https://afteramazon.world. However, you can buy a paperback copy if you prefer. Ironically, this can also be purchased on Amazon.
See here for more background: https://hpanwo-tv.blogspot.com/2023/12/leave-world-behind-review.html.
And: https://hpanwo-bb.blogspot.com/2024/05/everything-for-everyone-piw-in-fiction.html.
And: https://hpanwo-tv.blogspot.com/2024/02/doomsday-bunkers.html.

Based Keanu

 

The actor Keanu Reeves has just turned sixty years old. It seems hard to believe and is perhaps another sign that the predicted "reverse quickening" has not yet appeared, see: https://hpanwo-radio.blogspot.com/2014/02/programme-78-podcast-2012-redux.html. I remember him well as a young actor in teen flicks like Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure and Parenthood. He did graduate to more mature cinema as he aged and eventually starred in his definitive adult role, Neo in the Matrix series. Now officially elderly, the actor has featured in a short documentary that has astounded me. It reveals a lot of details about his personal life and the history of the Matrix movies that is almost as dramatic as the films themselves. He was born in the Middle East to Canadian parents and when he was three years old they divorced; his father left his life and made no effort to contact him. Keanu only met him again at the age of thirteen. After that, the two hardly ever saw each other again. Sadly the tragedies of his life did not end there. His only child was stillborn at eight months and shortly afterwards his wife was killed in a car crash. Emotional pain on that scale might be why he became a very shy eccentric person. Unlike many Hollywood stars he does not live the playboy lifestyle and instead spends most of his time working for charities and collecting motorcycles. However, he has done a few interviews where he talks candidly about his observations on life, and this includes the profound mystical ideas at the heart of the Wachowskis' famous franchise. The documentary explains, partly through Keanu's testimony that the films were a labour of love for both the creators and himself, but they were also a monumental struggle; and this reveals a lot to me. I always sensed there was something missing from them; not so much in the original, but definitely with the first two sequels. (I have not seen Resurrections, the most recent.) It turns out that the project was almost cancelled. Keanu and the rest of the cast and crew donated funds to keep it going and they were locked in a constant battle with the studio over content. The cast and Wachowskis wanted to centre the story on its renowned spiritual themes, but the studio wanted an action movie. This would explain why the first two sequels feel so watered down. Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJbjkw-jwgA.

There is no doubt that Keanu Reeves is what is commonly known as based. This is probably both a cause and effect of his Neo role. Even before The Matrix, however, he showed symptoms of outside-the-box thinking. As long ago as 1993 he took on the eponymous role in Bernado Bertolucci's fabulous Little Buddha. This was criticized as bad casting, but I think Reeves plays the part with extraordinary gusto and charisma. You can see he is genuinely interested in the life and ideas of Prince Siddhartha. (The director's cut is currently on YouTube; the age of this upload suggests it is authorized, hence I don't mind sharing it, see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UR1C_Z8swU.) As for the Wachowskis, their subsequent film Cloud Atlas, which I also adore, allowed them to express many of the ideas that they wanted to put into The Matrix, but were forbidden from doing so, see: https://hpanwo.blogspot.com/2013/07/cloud-atlas.html. Keanu has also appeared in one scene on Ancient Apocalypse, Graham Hancock's latest series, see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzh7r9MKTew. He has futhermore written a book, co-authored by a writer I'm very familiar with, China Miéville, see: https://hpanwo-bb.blogspot.com/2023/12/piw-in-fiction.html and: https://hpanwo-tv.blogspot.com/2019/08/the-city-and-city-by-china-mieville.html. This is another sign that he is both intelligent and radical in his mentality. Keanu Reeves sits forever in my childhood memory as this scruffy haired teenager breathlessly delivering lines in Californian surfer slang, but this just goes to show you should never underestimate anybody. The most conformist and mundane exterior can sometimes conceal the beating heart of a true maverick and prophet.

Tesco Butlerian Jihad Update

 

See here for essential background: https://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com/2024/03/tesco-butlerian-jihad-continues.html.
The Tesco Butlerian Jihad has reached a crucial turning point and I'm pleased to say humanity has won a significant triumph over the machines. I went to the same branch of Tesco and this time the four human tills were all unmanned. People were sadly trooping obediently into the auto-checkouts so I decided to set a good example. I parked my trolley in front of the human tills and waited. Good job I never chose a basket. After a while a few people joined me and a queue of about five shoppers began to form. I eventually managed to wave to one of the assistants in the auto area. I didn't make a big deal and I never put on an irritated tone. It would be tempting to Karen out at that point, but I kept my cool. I just asked her politely: "Could somebody come and open one of these tills please." She acknowledged me and walked off. I wondered if she had understood me, unlike two of her colleagues in the past, see: https://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com/2023/04/whose-street-my-street.html. No, this time somebody appeared within two minutes, a cheerful old lady. She took her place behind the cash register and invited us to come and pay. She was very nice and friendly. "You want to pay with cash, do you?" she asked rhetorically. I asked: "Where are Beverley and Lemoncini?" These are the two staff members who most often man the cash tills. She told me they were away that day. I asked this question primarily because I wanted to make the point that because I am a cashie who refuses to use the computer checkouts I actually talk to the people who serve me, and I've have even learned their names and have conversations with them. Just for five minutes or so every visit, but it's still enough to develop a basic relationship. This is what the auto-till sheeple are missing out on. They're turning their back on human interaction to save a few minutes before they rush back to their pod or work cublicle. I thanked the old lady who served me and told her that I would always refuse to use the AI card machines. I hope the message is passed along that Tesco should always keep somebody on one of the manned checkouts. So I went in, bought my groceries and left without once dealing with anybody other than a human being. So the machines lose! I don't care how many seconds you give me to comply.
See here for background: https://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com/2023/12/auto-checkouts-are-off.html.
And: https://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com/2025/01/tales-from-cashless-island.html.

If You Can't Beat 'em Ban 'em!

 

Breaking news! France has just done the unthinkable, yet inevitable. It has made a political prisoner out one of its most senior and longest sitting statespeople. No, this is not an April fool joke. Marine Le Pen, many times presidential candidate and leader of the biggest party in the French parliament, has been convicted of embezzlement of EU funds which for politicians is a bit like slapping somebody with a speeding fine at the French Grand Prix. Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy0ylgjew1xo. Like Boris Johnson, her prosecution was selective and has an underlying political motive, see: https://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com/2022/07/why-did-boris-fail.html. The same goes for Donald Trump, see: https://hpanwo-tv.blogspot.com/2023/04/trump-in-court-livestream.html. I predicted this would happen after the elections last year. It left the country with a terrible political crisis and I said back then that they would put it on hold until the Paris Olympics were over; and then all hell would break loose, and it did, see: https://hpanwo-radio.blogspot.com/2024/12/third-rail-radio-programme-194.html. Where they failed with Trump they have succeeded with Le Pen. She has been sentenced to four years in prison with two suspended. So far she has not yet been locked up, pending an appeal; but she is banned from standing in elections for public office for five years, and that is probably the objective of the prosecution. What will happen now? Ironically, like with Trump, her martyrdom will probably add to her popularity. At the same time we must remember that France is a very different kind of political society to Britain. The French do not stop for tea and play games of cricket; they have revolutions instead. France is naturally a very unstable nation. In the background links I describe other aspects that might give clues to what the next outcome might be once the dust settles from this bombshell. Time will tell how this crisis will develop.
See here for background: https://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com/2022/04/french-election-2022-first-round.html.
And: https://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com/2021/05/a-warning-from-france_25.html.