Madeleine McCann: Britney Spears, Lolita And Birthday Cards
MADDYWATCH - Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann
DAILY MAIL: “Woolworths forced to withdraw LOLITA bedroom furniture range for girls”
The Lolita Midsleeper Combi, a wooden bed with pull-out desk and cupboard designed for girls aged around six, retails on the Woolworths website for £349.99
The name has “sexual connotations”. A “mother” sees it and writes: “Am I being particularly sensitive, or does anyone else out there think it’s bad taste for Woolies to have a kiddy bed range named ‘Lolita’?”
Well, you don’t have to buy it…
A spokesman for the company says: “What seems to have happened is the staff who run the website had never heard of Lolita, and to be honest no one else here had either. We had to look it up on Wikipedia. But we certainly know who she is now”
Trusting Wikipedia for information has its own dangers. (And look out for an article on the state of British education.) But no danger is bigger than a bed named, perhaps, in honour of a charcter in a novel by Vladimir Nabokov
Or Lolita Fatjo, pre-production coordinator for Star Trek
Or many other women called Lolita
“On-line parent power has been growing in recent years. In 2006 Tesco stopped selling a pole-dancing kit on its website over accusations it was destroying children’s innocence. And last summer an on-line campaign by Mumsnet resulted in a cinema advert about the disappearance of Madeleine McCann stopped from being screened before the children’s film Shrek the Third”
THE TIMES: “Staff at Woolworths baffled by fuss over the little girl’s bed called Lolita”
“Woolworths has withdrawn bedroom furniture for young girls bearing the sexually charged name Lolita after a campaign waged by a mothers’ online chat room”
An internal company e-mail seen by The Times goes: “As discussed, we’ve got the product below on our website. Can it be hidden as soon as is possible? Then I really need to find out how it came about being on our site and who bought it. Lolita is a word that means sexually active young teenagers, so a young girls’ range of bedroom products is in very poor taste. We’ve had an approach from a website who are clearly a little disturbed by this”
THE SUN: “Gift from Maddie for twins”
No, not furniture
“Twins Sean and Amelie McCann will get a special present from their missing sister Maddie today on their third birthday. Parents Kate and Gerry got the gift for the pair who, at three, are the same age as Maddie when she vanished last May”
Sad. But is it relevant to the case? Is it news?
Grandmother Eileen McCann tells us: “Of course Madeleine being there would be our dream but we’ll do our best to make sure the twins have a lovely day”
DAILY TELEGRAPH: “Card from Madeleine at McCann twins party”
The twins are getting a gift in the Sun…
“Gerry and Kate McCann will throw a birthday party for their twins tomorrow - complete with a card from their missing four-year-old daughter, Madeleine”
DAILY STAR: “MISSING MADDIE’S SPECIAL PREZZIE”
“Little Sean and Amelie McCann will open a special present from their big sister as they celebrate their third birthday today”
With a card?
Says Eileen McCann: “There will be presents galore, lots of fun and games, lots of food and a big cake. Of course, Madeleine being home would make it complete and we continue to pray for that blessing”
SUR (Spain): “Marbella suffer their first loss of the year against Linares”
A football match: “Wearing T-shirts to raise awareness of the disappearance of Madeleine McCann and Mari Luz Cortés, the children playing in the tournament accompanied the players onto the pitch as mascots at the beginning of the game”
RADAR: “Theater of Cruelty, Carnival of Souls”
“British rags hardly pretend to be providing straightforward news. What they are doing is what used to be the job of popular fiction; namely, processing myth out of characters sucked in from real life. Right now the cast list includes such durable regulars as Kate Moss—with or without Pete Doherty—Princes Harry and Wills, Posh and Becks, and Kate and Gerry McCann, whose daughter Madeleine’s kidnapping/disappearance in Portugal made them last year’s headliners”
ALISTAIR CAMPBELL (TIMES): Britney Spears: person or news commodity? She’s a great singer but obviously ill: we in the media have to decide to leave her alone”
Britney Spears and Madeleine McCann..?
“In some sections of the media, Madeleine McCann and her family are there. As I said in the Cudlipp Lecture on Tuesday, her disappearance was an interesting and important story, the stuff of every parent’s nightmare. But it quickly became a commodity in which most of the media got close to hysteria, and some have remained there. Let us not pretend the coverage was driven by concern for the child - there are many missing children - or compassion for the parents - certainly not once the mood shifted - or regard for the truth. It has been the worst example of recent times, on a par with Diana, of some newspapers thinking that the word “Madeleine” sells, and finding literally any old nonsense to keep her name in that selling position on the front”
THE GUARDIAN: “Mechanics of the McCann campaign - Professional media management may have generated coverage of Maddy’s disappearance, but it hasn’t helped with public sympathy for the family”
“Try as they might neither Clarence Mitchell nor Justine McGuinness could quite shake off the sense that the way they’ve managed this case might have contributed to some negative public sentiment towards the family. In place initially as what Mitchell described as “a buffer” between the shocked and distraught parents and the world’s media, hungry for news about Madeleine, it’s clear that what developed was a professional media management operation. With city PR firm Bell Pottinger on hand - primarily, we can assume, to defend the interests of their clients Mark Warner Holidays - as well as Justine and, latterly, Clarence with all their experience of Westminster spin, the McCanns could not have wanted for more professional advice. But as time went on media management itself - and once you’ve started feeding stories to the press to get control of the agenda, you really can’t stop - began generating negative reaction from other parties”
Madeleine McCann: Making news and sensation from grief
Posted: 1st, February 2008 | In: Madeleine McCann Comments (1,022) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink
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February 1st, 2008 at 9:13 am
Brandon Flours,
It looks like you have been already celebrating it a lot (looking at the number of posts). Careful, there is the evening to look forward to yet!
Happy birthday!
February 1st, 2008 at 9:12 am
Brandon
Very very happy birthday
February 1st, 2008 at 9:09 am
54
SteveT Says:
February 1st, 2008
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Better safe than sorry, the slightest hiccup in serving legal papers could ruin a case.
February 1st, 2008 at 9:07 am
Brandon,
Happy birthday!
February 1st, 2008 at 9:05 am
Rockhopper,
It’s a complete joke. I thought that how the request should be made had been discussed by both goverments. Maybe the UK officials are being ultra cautious as they know the McCann legal team will be looking for any technicality to avoid being questioned/sent back to Portugal
February 1st, 2008 at 9:03 am
2 hrs 29 mins if you prefer ‘Anorak time’
February 1st, 2008 at 9:01 am
Two hours thirty three minutes and counting!
February 1st, 2008 at 9:00 am
35
SteveT Says:
February 1st, 2008 at 8:55 am
28
temporary
I certainly hope there were safeguards.
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It seems that the letters were returned because they had not gone through the correct channels, in that case I would have thought they would be returned unopened, it wouldn’t look too good if they have been opened, read and then returned because of not being ‘properly served’
February 1st, 2008 at 8:55 am
28
temporary
I certainly hope there were safeguards.
February 1st, 2008 at 8:49 am
32
Saturn Says:
——————
good point.
the statement from GM “we have been advised our behaviour was legally well within the bounds of responsible parenting” doesn’t mean they met their responsibilities but could well mean mean they accept they are reponsible for what happened to maddie.
February 1st, 2008 at 8:48 am
32
Saturn Says:
February 1st, 2008 at 8:35 am
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Remember a while ago they wanted a high level pow wow with GB and they were turned down, I think Observer might be right, the Govt know who the Mc’s legal team are and how they would seize on any technical loophole.
February 1st, 2008 at 8:35 am
7
an observer Says:
GM - “we have been advised our behaviour was legally well within the bounds of responsible parenting”.
*****************
Clearly Gerry McCann was saying that they the parents had been advised that legally they are responsible for what happened to their daugheter. That is what he means by “responsible parents”. imho
21
an observer Says:
maybe the uk “powers that be” want “it” done right. what a thought. ie not letting the suspects “off the hook” because of a technical balls up in paper work.
****************
Yeah, maybe the UK government is only pretending to protect the McCanns, but are actually setting them up, while protecting someone else. Strange, how the drama of this case is largely about whether or not the UK government is going obstruct and subvert justice, and if so, to what extent. In the end, the most exciting action will probably take place back stage.
February 1st, 2008 at 8:29 am
see you all later.
gone fishing for the truth, which is more than can be said for some who have merely gone fishing.
ha ha ha
February 1st, 2008 at 8:26 am
inspector gadget,
do you think fang would get along with eddie and keela?
February 1st, 2008 at 8:25 am
all
anyone who thinks the MC’s are really grieving or really searched for maddie would be well advised to go back thru the old anorak posts from inspector gadget.
gadget, please come back. this forum could do with your insightful observations and comments, and pitty’s too of course.
***********************************
GM - “we have been advised our behaviour was legally well within the bounds of responsible parenting”
February 1st, 2008 at 8:24 am
16 An important question is: Could the procedures so far have given the british the opportunity to take a peek before returning the letters or was this safeguarded against?
February 1st, 2008 at 8:22 am
IF the story about the birthday card / present is correct the twins are going to have a terrible adolescence.
It is bad enough finding out that your parents have deceived you about Father Christmas, though usually a child works it out gradually and goes along with the charade for some years to humour the parents and to keep up the spirit of Yuletide.
But when they discover that their parents gave them a card purporting to be from a sister who was at that moment dead/ being horribly abused/ incarcerated in a silver tower being treated like a princess (choose your own version) they will never, in my view, be able to forgive it.
The discovery will play in their minds, and I would not be surprised to see in future years their becoming very close to each other, overprotective of each other, and gradually closing out the parents from their lives.
The parents neglected and abused all three children. They should not be permitted to further abuse the remaining two. Leicester Social Services should take an opinion from a Child Psychologist and act.
February 1st, 2008 at 8:20 am
observer 24. Okay.. sorry for jumping! Still a bit early for me to be to be on Anorak!
February 1st, 2008 at 8:16 am
21
an observer Says:
“a magistrate from the British Home Office unauthorized her colleague at Eurojust”, this is a delay tactic.
February 1st, 2008 at 8:15 am
17
coolandcalm Says:
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no, not you.
i have scroll button on my mouse.
i just seems i have to use it too often when “you know who” is around
February 1st, 2008 at 8:12 am
?????????
February 1st, 2008 at 8:11 am
16
xklamation Says
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maybe the uk “powers that be” want “it” done right. what a thought. ie not letting the suspects “off the hook” because of a technical balls up in paper work.
February 1st, 2008 at 8:08 am
16
xklamation Says:
February 1st, 2008 at 7:58 am
Carlos Anjos, the president of ASFIC, the Criminal Investigation Officers’ Union, was laconic: “At this moment, the ball is not in the PJ’s court.”
^*****************
It will be soon enough when they stop putting obstacles in the PJ”s way…
Let them celebrate the twins birthday…
February 1st, 2008 at 8:07 am
second try to post this article, don’t know what happened?!? If double posted I apologize.
McCanns will search “up to the day of her death”
http://joana-morais.blogspot.com/2008/02/mccanns-will-search-up-to-day-of-her.html
(Correio da manhã article the previous was from 24 Horas)
Detectives of the Metodo 3 are back again in Praia da Luz
In the day that the detectives of the Metodo 3 went back to the Ocean Club, in Praia da Luz, in England the McCann’s spokesman guaranteed that Kate and Gerry will search Maddie “up to the day of her death”.
Clarence Mitchell answered like this to the doubts of the journalists about the fund of barely two millions of euros, from where are taken weekly around 70 thousand euros to pay the agency of Spanish detectives, the advertising campaign and the maintenance of the site findmaddie.com.
Mitchell announced even if the British police and the officials of the social security services do not suspect of them regarding the disappearance of their daughter. “The authorities assured me that this is a case of rare and strange abduction”, explained the spokesman.
Meanwhile, the English press classified the Portuguese inquiry as “a fiasco”, after it was known that the request letters are still in Portugal.
Tomorrow the twins Sean and Amelie do three years old, and the McCanns prepare a party in despite of Maddie’s absence .
February 1st, 2008 at 8:03 am
15
Tracy SA Says:
February 1st, 2008 at 7:56 am
********************
She will probably join later but I dont think there are are any news at all…..since the british cops have cleared them
New spin in sight????
The mccMacabre have received a birthday card for the twins from the other world and they are busy reading it to them,poor little children.
February 1st, 2008 at 8:01 am
Observer 12 I’ll talk wherever I like!!! I’m not annoying you am I?
February 1st, 2008 at 7:59 am
McCanns will search “up to the day of her death”
http://joana-morais.blogspot.com/2008/02/mccanns-will-search-up-to-day-of-her.html
Detectives of the Metodo 3 are back again in Praia da Luz
In the day that the detectives of the Metodo 3 went back to the Ocean Club, in Praia da Luz, in England the McCann’s spokesman guaranteed that Kate and Gerry will search Maddie “up to the day of her death”.
Clarence Mitchell answered like this to the doubts of the journalists about the fund of barely two millions of euros, from where are taken weekly around 70 thousand euros to pay the agency of Spanish detectives, the advertising campaign and the maintenance of the site findmaddie.com.
Mitchell announced even if the British police and the officials of the social security services do not suspect of them regarding the disappearance of their daughter. “The authorities assured me that this is a case of rare and strange abduction”, explained the spokesman.
Meanwhile, the English press classified the Portuguese inquiry as “a fiasco”, after it was known that the request letters are still in Portugal.
Tomorrow the twins Sean and Amelie do three years old, and the McCanns prepare a party in despite of Maddie’s absence .
February 1st, 2008 at 7:58 am
http://joana-morais.blogspot.com/2008/02/there-go-letters-again.html
There go the letters again…
24 Horas
The Public Prosecution Office is due today to send the rogatory letters containing the questions that are to be asked from the McCanns, to England
The Public Ministry is due today to send the final version of the rogatory letter that is destined to question the parents of Madeleine McCann and their friends again.
This will be the end of a ’soap opera’ that began after a magistrate from the British Home Office unauthorized her colleague at Eurojust, the European entity which processes the interchange of judicial issues among the various countries. She demanded that the letter is sent through official channels - which means through the Portuguese Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.
José Lopes da Mota, the president of Eurojust, minimizes saying: “The letter was made with the collaboration of a representative from Eurojust. A magistrate from the Home Office decided that the legal procedures for the sending of the document had not been fulfilled and informed the colleague at Eurojust. After everything was duly analysed, we decided to request Portugal to make the letter again and to send it through official channels.”
Pinto Monteiro, the Public Prosecutor, assumes he made a wrong option: “What happened with the rogatory letters is no secret. They were with Eurojust… Some obstacles were raised by the English magistrate. The letters ended up returning, and will now be sent through the international cooperation, which depends upon this Office. They will be sent today [yesterday] or tomorrow [today].”
Carlos Anjos, the president of ASFIC, the Criminal Investigation Officers’ Union, was laconic: “At this moment, the ball is not in the PJ’s court.”
February 1st, 2008 at 7:56 am
Where is Maria from Portugal?????? Maybe she can enlighten us all a bit on what the P papers have to say??
February 1st, 2008 at 7:55 am
9
coolandcalm Says:
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they have nothing of value to add to the debate.
back later maybe.