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“Woolworths has withdrawn bedroom furniture for young girls bearing the sexually charged name Lolita after a campaign waged by a mothers’ online chat room”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 2nd, 2008 at 12:04 am
887
Christine Says:
February 1st, 2008 at 10:45 pm
“The family portrait. The mother(don’t know which one KM or GM) referred to the black and white photo and at the time I thought it was very odd because I’ve seen that photo in colour and I’m fairly certain that when it was first released it was a colour portrait.”
****
Yes. I’ve seen it in colour too, but cannot find it anymore. Strano …. and for what reason?
February 2nd, 2008 at 12:04 am
I’ve found a pic of Alex Woolfall talking to the media in PDL…
Mark Warner representative Alex Woolfall reads out a statement on behalf of the McCann family in Praia Da Luz, Portugal, following the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.
Picture date: Wednesday, May 9, 2007.
______________
So, stories of him leaving PDL on the Tuesday are untrue.
February 2nd, 2008 at 12:03 am
#
929
firestar Says:
February 1st, 2008 at 11:54 pm
Anyone heard from Chenier?
————-
Mods and Admin
Carmen emailed her Sunday, and there was a ‘medical intervention’to be done, and we haven’t heard further
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hope she’s ok she’s one of the best posters on here.
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I might be way off the mark here BUT is it possible ? that chenier was Jeremy Beadle ?
February 2nd, 2008 at 12:02 am
933
slyfox Says:
February 1st, 2008 at 11:58 pm
Sheesh!
while I still remember…
In the sky interview on youtube in October Kate says to the tune of ‘we haven’t seen M since she was four’
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i don’t think this sounds sinister, it’s like saying ’she had her fourth birthday and we missed it’ in liverpuddlian.
February 2nd, 2008 at 12:01 am
931
firestar
Yeah…true. It could be a scan from that whole pool pic. Strange why the other one isn’t an exact digital camera size though.
February 2nd, 2008 at 12:01 am
#
931
firestar Says:
February 1st, 2008 at 11:55 pm
3. The pic of Madeleine by the pool which looks like a crop from the main pic is a whopping 2668×4096 size. Clearly this is bigger than came out of any camera and again, does not match a known resolution.
you can do this by scanning a pic
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After photoshopping then the scan would edit out imperfections ??????? if you see what I mean?
February 1st, 2008 at 11:59 pm
in fact, you can do it by putting a picture in a scanner and only scanning part of the original.
February 1st, 2008 at 11:58 pm
907
gillyflower Says:
Earlier posts talking about the family and Gerry’s comments about Children of own own etc.
Struck me as odd sometime ago someone interviewing Kate, may have been Woman’s Hour, and they were talking about her pregnancy. She gloosed over it and said something along the lines of
“and suddenly there she was. Perfect.”
Bloody funny way of describing childbirth. I been there, done that, got the tee shirt. And that’s not how I’d describe it!
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and Christine
919
Christine, I have a friend who is as rail thin as KM despite having borne twins to 35.5. weeks.
However -
Do we know for sure that KM carried MM (or the twins, for that matter)?
I have no doubt that KM is M’s mother (ie. her egg) as they do look alike but, as to the father - well, what of the genetic origins of colombona… anyone?
I read (and occasionally comment on) a ’site where the 60 year old father is expecting triplets. Other commenters seem to be under the apprehension that Mrs C is carrying them, wishing her well, at her advanced age of about 50, etc. Me, I have very little doubt (altho’ no proof) that Mrs C is using a surrogate, and this idea does not seem to have seeped thru’ to others at all.
Nae sure of this is relevant…?
February 1st, 2008 at 11:58 pm
Sheesh!
while I still remember…
In the sky interview on youtube in October Kate says to the tune of ‘we haven’t seen M since she was four’
It should be three. M was missing on her 4th birthday.
Has K not ’seen’ her since her 4th birthday? Not the sort of slip of the tongue you make when your child disappears. I can’t be bothered to go and find a link sorry.
OFF to bed.
February 1st, 2008 at 11:56 pm
Cheers
February 1st, 2008 at 11:55 pm
3. The pic of Madeleine by the pool which looks like a crop from the main pic is a whopping 2668×4096 size. Clearly this is bigger than came out of any camera and again, does not match a known resolution.
you can do this by scanning a pic
February 1st, 2008 at 11:55 pm
923 Châtelaine Says:
February 1st, 2008 at 11:46 pm
STEVO: I really think you might have found a very serious link, which would explain a lot.
Thanks Chatelaine. I can’t take all the credit for it - I only took up the reins and did independent checking. Certainly a productive day though…found out so many loose ends and some new ones too.
night
February 1st, 2008 at 11:54 pm
Anyone heard from Chenier?
————-
Mods and Admin
Carmen emailed her Sunday, and there was a ‘medical intervention’to be done, and we haven’t heard further
——————-
hope she’s ok she’s one of the best posters on here.
February 1st, 2008 at 11:53 pm
921
Châtelaine
Before I sign out…
What I’ve found out from finding the pool picture in the press gallery is this:
1. It seems to exist as 2 distinct images as far as what was given to the press.
2. The landscape (full) version is 2653×1997 so was already cropped before the press got it - images don’t have odd-sizes like that from digital cameras. It is also slightly off from a 4:3 ratio so isn’t a “correct” size.
3. The pic of Madeleine by the pool which looks like a crop from the main pic is a whopping 2668×4096 size. Clearly this is bigger than came out of any camera and again, does not match a known resolution.
Basically it looks like the image was cropped at the very least before being distributed to the press. This naturally suggests it was played around with first…and NOT by the press.
February 1st, 2008 at 11:53 pm
919
Christine Says:
February 1st, 2008 at 11:39 pm
907 Gilly Flowers
I mentioned this ages ago, that KMc doesn’t look like she’s had any children at all - all IMO of course.
If a mother has had one child and then went onto having twins, her body would surely know about it and it would be reflected in her boobs for one and her tum and bum for another. Would she look like KMc. Or, the alternative is, she is a totally amazing woman. Posh take note.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Precisely.
Someone else carried them for her?
We’ve discussed this before I thinK!
Mods and Admin…
Please can you pass on my good wishes to Chenier for a swift recovery?
Thanks
February 1st, 2008 at 11:53 pm
Excuse my ignorence but coould someone explain the significance of Stevo find?
February 1st, 2008 at 11:52 pm
892 Christine and your response Mods and Admin
Thanks very much appreciated.
February 1st, 2008 at 11:49 pm
if you paste the youtube address into the box on this website it’ll download the video as an flv file, which you can either play back in vlc plater, or change to a windows video.
http://www.techcrunch.com/get-youtube-movie/
February 1st, 2008 at 11:46 pm
STEVO: I really think you might have found a very serious link, which would explain a lot.
February 1st, 2008 at 11:45 pm
910 Pilimary Says:
February 1st, 2008 at 11:10 pm
Proud of you, Stevo
____________
Thanks…I’ve gone goggle-eyed looking at so many photos. I’ve learned a lot though. Signing out for now….Goodnight all
February 1st, 2008 at 11:43 pm
836
Stevo Says:
February 1st, 2008 at 9:46 pm
“[...] we need to stage a photo to make it look like it was taken on May 3.” So, it may be just Gerry and Amelie sat there - hence Gerry’s unhappy face and then this half of the photo was stitched to the other half - containing Madeleine who had been snapped days before?
****
Claro. To me it’s always been that MM was the insert.
If doubling comments, OMG, am still reading like mad to catch up
February 1st, 2008 at 11:42 pm
As pilminary
Thanks Stevo, that is pretty impressive research! you certainly joined a lot of dots! Night.
February 1st, 2008 at 11:39 pm
907 Gilly Flowers
I mentioned this ages ago, that KMc doesn’t look like she’s had any children at all - all IMO of course.
If a mother has had one child and then went onto having twins, her body would surely know about it and it would be reflected in her boobs for one and her tum and bum for another. Would she look like KMc. Or, the alternative is, she is a totally amazing woman. Posh take note.
February 1st, 2008 at 11:39 pm
915
Christine Says:
February 1st, 2008 at 11:27 pm
911 Chatelaine
Do you remember the exact quote and where it was from - from my memory it was on Youtube - and GMc definitely delivered the line - driving me nuts now.
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I’ve been trying…….too many youtube videos!
I think it was recent. Has to be pre christmas. Just checked sky news vid in October and most recent antenna 3. Plus typed in numerous variations of ‘McCanns youtube our own children’.
Horribly, it could be something just happened upon in a blog.
Anyway hopefully I will turn up. Will keep trying.
night
February 1st, 2008 at 11:37 pm
All this has been discussed before about drug company involvement before the christmas season, something definately fishy going on here, there are far too many healthworkers ,doctors, and people involved with medicine one way or another,its now starting to show and thats why the pj are taking things at their own pace, I think they know too……imo..
February 1st, 2008 at 11:27 pm
I have forgotten to say, their weirdest story is that they left the children in an unlocked appartment. I can’t buy that. I can see that they are able to do stupid things like leaving the children alone to go out with their friends. If what we read in the tabloids is true, they drink too much. But even so, you would lock the children, for feer they wake up, don’t know where they are, and wander away.
They are completely nuts, or they lie. Or both
February 1st, 2008 at 11:27 pm
911 Chatelaine
Do you remember the exact quote and where it was from - from my memory it was on Youtube - and GMc definitely delivered the line - driving me nuts now.
February 1st, 2008 at 11:25 pm
897 Chloe Spain
Well that’s it then! Poppy! But when????????
February 1st, 2008 at 11:20 pm
1.1.3 To provide support, including financial assistance, to Madeleine’s family.
ooooh, nice
February 1st, 2008 at 11:16 pm
832 Ian
In the present case, what makes it suspicious is, among other things, them offering “innocent explanations” for anything. And I tend to think the PJ has a lot of stuff on them. But we’ll have to wait. And I think Stevo is right in trying to understand why so many business people spend a lot of money on them.
Everything is weird : the priest giving them the keys to go and pray in the church. That is crazy, they could pray in their room - . The money making. The campaign with the bracelets. The pope. Metodo 3, their bragging, their lies. Clarrie and his press conferences. They have accumulated a number of bizarre stories. Everything jars, from A to Z.