Allow me to alienate myself once and for all from the human race

dong20

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i just didn't see that attitude here.

people weren't posting angry at the parents. they were posting "wtf?" at the scenario.

With justification. As for anger, I don't quite agree - one poster went as far as implying (in a vaguely veiled manner) their complicity in the crime. Others expressed suprise that the parents were not immediately arrested. You said yourself "what sane parent leaves children that age alone?" That's fine but read a few posts up from there and reflect.

No one, except myself and DaveyR have touched on their suffering in this matter. Did they screw up? - certainly, but does that negate their right to feel terrible? I know it's hard to think rationally when such things happen, especially where children are involved and I know if something happened to someone close to me it would drive me crazy - but while it may seem cold, in this detached forum I'm just trying to separate my anger from a consideration of the events.

Some here don't like that, and it's plain to see, but then I'm not running for Mr. congeniality.
 

dolfette

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With justification. As for anger, I don't quite agree - one poster went as far as implying (in a vaguely veiled manner) their complicity in the crime. Others expressed suprise that the parents were not immediately arrested. You said yourself "what sane parent leaves children that age alone?" That's fine but read a few posts up from there and reflect.

No one, except myself and DaveyR have touched on their suffering in this matter.
thinking the parents might be involved...well...it's the cynical result of so many of those cases.

the police deliberately give parent suspects a media rope to see if they'll hang themselves with it.

as for the suffering...
if i let my mind wander in that direction, as a parent, i'll fall apart.
i can't think about it without getting more emotional than is healthy.
it's self preservation.
after the initial empathy our minds close the door.

had you asked the day after it hit the news there would be emotions aplenty.
 

dong20

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thinking the parents might be involved...well...it's the cynical result of so many of those cases.

the police deliberately give parent suspects a media rope to see if they'll hang themselves with it.

I know, and it's understandable. The Police noose, yes it's standard practice. Do you recall the Sarah Payne case where the culprit was 'overtly' helpful.....?

as for the suffering...
if i let my mind wander in that direction, as a parent, i'll fall apart.
i can't think about it without getting more emotional than is healthy.
it's self preservation.

I feel the same, perhaps my threshold is a little higher in the abstract is all. As I said, I just hope she is found, soon alive and well. The extreme media coverage may help there, if only every missing child were to get the same attention such things may happen far less.
 

dong20

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but while this is grabbing front pages for weeks on end, other worthy cases are left ignored.

Indeed, and in reality, the problem is more of our making than the media's. After all we buy the papers in our lust for sensation, and in doing so we (perhaps unconciously) feed the frenzy - a generalisation I know but not I think a huge one.

My sentiment was echoing JA but I don't know that there's an easy answer, if there is one at all.
 

D_Al_K_Celtzah

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Ok, time for the Portuguese fellow here to drop a comment =)

It's a fact that we have been flooded with news coverage on this case. Yes, it is a bit revolting to know that this case is being so mediatic while others, from Portuguese children, don't get that much attention. The problem isn't that Maddie is being talked about everywhere, but the difference of "importance" given to all the other cases.

"And how exactly is the kidnapper going to have ferried his victim over the border into Spain when every law-enforcement agency in that country is looking out for her?", said the guy who started this post. Well, keep im mind that the report to the police for the dissapearing of Maddie took place only 2 hours after the parents noticed it. That is more than enough time to take a child by car to Spain; it's more than enough time to take her to a dock and have her "shipped" in some yatch (Algarve is full os such docks, with lots of neat looking boats); it's more than enough time to drive to some aerodrome, where no one coltrols departures and arrivals from private jets. So, it makes sense that the word is being spread all over. Yesterday non the news, a Norwegian (or Danish, I can't recall) claimed that she HAD seen Maddie a couple of days earlier... in MORROCO. That seems far enough for the messages of "have you seen this girl" to go over borders.

As for arresting the parents, well, I don't think we have that kind of punishment here in Portugal, at least when we're talking about missing persons. Besides, if we consider that the parents aren't involved in the child's missing, I don't think that jail would make them feel any worse than what they must be feeling right now... or be a harsher punishment.
It was reckless of them, no doubt about it. From what I've heard, they were having dinner at a restaurant across the street and would come to check on the kids every 15-20 minutes. This kind of event is very rare in Portugal, so I guess they must of felt like it was enough.
Besides all this, what is most intriguing is that whoever done it only took the girl and left the 2 twins in the room. If we are to think of human traffic... once again: "WTF???"

Anyway, the fuss is all starting to dissipate, mediawhise that is. Reporters and news teams are starting to flock out of the scene. There are no developments in the case that justify their presence there, or at least such an intense coverage.

I just hope the little girl is found safe and sound and that the offenders get crastrated with a bread knife and no anesthesia.
 

D_Al_K_Celtzah

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Just a small correction, so that there aren't any misunderstandings.

I wrote "Yes, it is a bit revolting to know that this case is being so mediatic while others, from Portuguese children, don't get that much attention." I don't mean by this that children (or grown-ups) of any other country are less important. Just wanted to make that clear =)
 

madame_zora

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Dong, you're a twat because you regularly seek out MY posts and try with every fibre of your being to find fault with me, and I'm really fucking sick of it.

Some things are too obvious to really require being pointed out, like the fact that kidnappers are horrible people. I think that's understood in ANY conversation among sane adults that that's a given. In THIS thread, the OP was opining that the case wasn't unusual enough to warrant the huge amount of media attention its been receiving, and I was agreeing, and then just speculating about some random thoughts, in the order they occured to me, not the order of their importance, duh.

Parents ARE responsible for the well being of their kids, and parents often ARE responsible for their disappearances in these high-profile cases. I'm surely not HOPING they "did it" or that she's dead at all, just making some observations. I'm of the opinion that child molestors should get an automatic death penalty, and I've stated that many times. Hard to understand how a supposed pacifist could support the death penalty? Well, let's just say there's no one school of thought to which I subscribe implicitly.

Now please, if it's possible, grow up.

Why that warranted an attack from you is just beyond me. Perhaps you should ask yourself why YOU are so angry at ME lately, when I rarely speak to you at all?
 

dolfette

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Just a small correction, so that there aren't any misunderstandings.

I wrote "Yes, it is a bit revolting to know that this case is being so mediatic while others, from Portuguese children, don't get that much attention." I don't mean by this that children (or grown-ups) of any other country are less important. Just wanted to make that clear =)
if i was a portugese mother of a missing child, i'd be angry!

i'd feel like my child was worth less to the police/media/world.
 

dong20

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Dong, you're a twat because you regularly seek out MY posts and try with every fibre of your being to find fault with me, and I'm really fucking sick of it.

With every fibre of my being? No, I don't think so.

Perhaps I find your posts worthy of comment or critique? I'm not saying I do, any more than I'm saying your assertion is correct. But if you think I seek out your posts especially, you're very much mistaken.

Parents ARE responsible for the well being of their kids, and parents often ARE responsible for their disappearances in these high-profile cases. I'm surely not HOPING they "did it" or that she's dead at all, just making some observations....

If you can find where I said you felt otherwise, please show me, I actually agreed with you on the latter. Please stop putting words in my mouth, that's my birthright. Assumptions can be dangerous that's why I try to avoid making them.

Why that warranted an attack from you is just beyond me. Perhaps you should ask yourself why YOU are so angry at ME lately, when I rarely speak to you at all?

What attack was that then? You take things personally that really aren't. My comments were rather general, not really aimed at you though yes I cited your post because it connected with my thinking - if you read the words in context you may see that. There's no attack there at all - other than the one you imagine.

I'd say calling me a twat is an attack, suggesting I stick a knife in my face is an attack, not to mention infantile - yet I need to grow up?

I was going to write a whole lot more to try and convince you otherwise but to be honest I know you don't care and anyway it doesn't belong in this thread.

As for being angry at you - a stranger, in a penis forum on the Internet...please. :rolleyes:
 

dong20

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if i was a portugese mother of a missing child, i'd be angry!

i'd feel like my child was worth less to the police/media/world.

I don't know where in the UK you live but in London young children go missing in large numbers, yet few if any of them seem to merit more than the odd poster in a newsagent, perhaps a 30 second mention on local radio.
 

homelessmandril

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"It's a much more mawkish, much more pornographic, like reality television turned inside out," he (Frank Furedi, a sociologist from the University of Kent) said. "I think it says we are very much ill at ease with ourselves and we need these symbols to give meaning to our life, to say we are good people and the reason why we're good people is because we wear these ribbons..."

I'm afraid I think he's right, more or less. Our generation's legacy will be coloured ribbons and rubber wristbands. And worse still, Bob Geldof.

Thanks for the link by the way.
 

Onslow

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I'm afraid I think he's right, more or less. Our generation's legacy will be coloured ribbons and rubber wristbands. And worse still, Bob Geldof.

.
It may not be much but at least it's (slightly) better (only slightly) than just sitting around not doing anything at all.
 

homelessmandril

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It may not be much but at least it's (slightly) better (only slightly) than just sitting around not doing anything at all.

It's appalling when people do that, isn't it? Why don't they go and do something that might enable them to contribute to society, say for example studying a course in development economics at a leading UK university?