Monday, May 14, 2007

Some questions about the McCann kidnapping:

Like millions of other people around the world, I am praying and hoping that they find four year old Briton Madeleine McCann, who was apparently abducted from a hotel room at a resort in Portugal on May 2. Or if it turns out she is dead already, we may hope that at least the perpetrators are brought to justice.

However, there are some hard questions that need to be asked.

For one, it is hard to criticize grieving, concerned parents, but it is a fact that while Madeleine was abducted, she was watching her brother and sister. Both aged two. Her parents had sauntered off for a leisurely lunch, leaving a four year old in charge of two two year olds (and in a foreign country, at that). To be honest, if they get her back I hope the next thing that happens is that Madeleine and her siblings are immediately taken into protective custody by the state. I mean, even forget about the possibility of such an abduction. There are plenty of kids that age who die just in accidents, drowning in the bathtub or pulling an appliance down on top of them while trying to climb on it. Or they could figure out a way to unlatch the door and wander out onto a busy street. Or they could guzzle down a bottle of liquid Drano. I could go on with a lot more, but you get the idea. This is parental negligence of the first magnitude, and I guarantee you that had Madeleine been found safely within a short time, today none of the kids would be living with the parents.

For another, I have to (once again) point a finger at the media. Are there likely to be any people in the United States who will know information that may help the police in Portugal, that justifies this kind of blanket coverage? It is sensationalist media at its zenith. And Madeleine is exactly who they like to cover-- a young, pretty blonde girl. If you got all your information from the news media, you'd think that only pretty blonde girls ever disappeared. But that simply is not the case.

To begin with, a 2002 study of missing kids sponsored by the Justice Department found that 54% of missing children are white. That means that 46% are not. But the missing children shown on television are almost all white. Is it more important to find a white kid than a black or Hispanic kid? Apparently so, according to a lot of news stations because they invariably show you the picture of the white kid.

Also, it turns out that 53% of missing children are male. But missing boys aren't usually as pretty so they tend to focus almost exclusively on missing girls. That is one reason wny child sex predator Michael Devlin was able to live with a kidnapped boy right in the middle of an apartment complex in Missouri for four years, and only got caught when he was seen abducting another boy.

I have no problem with coverage of missing children in general. But what I'd like to see is a local focus on missing kids that someone around here actually might know something about.

7 comments:

thephoenixnyc said...

i agree bad judgement on the parent's part

Kizmit said...

You make me sick with your "comments" when a child goes missing who cares if they are white or coloured its not a matter of colour it a matter of a small defenceless child out there not knowing what or why these things are happening to them.

So scared they are inconsolable, no-body knows what is happening to Madeleine apart from Madeleine and the sick sick people that have taken her.

I do hope and pray that she is ok, people these days think too much about money and not about an innocent Childs life.

If the people that have got Madeleine read this, my question to them is not why did you take her but why not give her back, take the money that is on offer, its far far more than she is worth to you far far more.

If I hope to god she is not dead but if so, just tell someone where to find her, at least give that much to her parents and family.

Madeleine was an IVF child, a very much wanted and loved child that has so much to give the world and life, so why take that away ?????

If god forbid you have killed her let her body come home.

Its not just the McCann family this is affecting it is also affecting the rest of the world.

My final thought is for the people who took Madeleine or anyone who know of her whereabouts please remember that when you are taking your last breath from this life you will have to stand in front of god and explain your actions and what you have done or what you know and have not come forward you will have to explain to god why you are so evil and then God will explain to you that you will not enter the gates of heaven he will explain to you that because of your actions you will spend the rest of eternity in the pits of hell suffering far far more than you have every put Madeleine or the McCann's through you will have to stand in judgement and pay not only for the pain of Madeleine and the McCann family but also the world pain.

Jed said...

I hope the world is saturated with the photo's of Maddys eye defect and the kidnappers are not all evil, maybe they will then hand her over we should all pray they don't get spooked by the media coverage and harm her. Let maddy come home. please!!!

Anonymous said...

For Goodness sake, "world pain"? Madeleine Mccann is a stranger to you and me not a relative. The world also has other missing children to worry about not just one. The world also has the pain of wars and torture and horrific murders and famine. Yes, it is a tragic story as are others equally deserving and never mentioned. The pain I feel for Madeleine is no more than I would feel for any suffering child.I would be so delighted if you and the others like you would use this emotional spillage to concentrate efforts to find all missing children.

Anonymous said...

The doctor parents of (then) 3 year old Madeleine and the two, 2 year olds left them all alone in an UNLOCKED room while they went and had a meal some 80 yards away. They say they left the patio doors UNLOCKED for THEIR convenience (on checking them every half hour or so), not locking them for the young children's safety. The parents clearly set up an easily observable pattern of behaviour which made the kidnapper's objective still easier: unlocked doors, pattern of parental behaviour. Moreover, the parents did not avail themselves of the baby sitting services which are abundant at that resort-they said the children might not like a strange face. Really?? What a crass remark. Why go to a child friendly resort and not use the well oiled child safety amenities??
The McCann orchestrated media circus has been created to take the attention away from their gross parental negligence-for which they should find themselves in court. They are typical products of Blair's Britain-grossly selfish and full of spin.

Lou said...

It's very clear that murat and Malinka are somehow involved. Their stories haved made no sense since he kidnapping.

First Malinka says he hasn't talked to Murat in six months, then he says three months. Then the phone records show he indeed had spoken with him several times late in the evening of the abduction.

He said that he was only a "business" associate of Murat?! Why would a "business" associate regarding computer websites call someone at 11:45 pm? If it was related to some computer issue that Murat had related to a website or something, then what was the exact reason/issue that he would call at such a late hour?

Why did Malinka find it necessary to wipe large numbers of files from his computer just hours before the Portuguese authorities arrived? What were these files? Was is child porn? If it was legal pornography--of an adult nature--he wouldn't have had to get it off his computer's hard drive!

Murat's lying about the reason he rented the car seems very suspicious. Why would he need a rental car if he already has two? He said that his others were being used to look for Maddie. Is that true? Were his cars part of a search, or was that just another lie?

How man miles were put on that rental car? If it was 100 kilometers, for example, then he may have been able to drive 50 kilos to hide Maddie's body. This information should greatly help them with their search.

The Portuguese police did a worse job than the police in the Oj Simpson and Joan Bennett Ramsey murder investigations combined.

I hope they find her. With passing day it gets less likely she will be alive.

Anonymous said...

Wow dad I truly think those are some souios nugets of wisedom. I also think you are right. (As always)