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93 thoughts on “A Day Off Politics

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  • A Node

    If the McCanns are guilty, one has to wonder what is their motive in keeping the case in the public eye. Without their ceaseless pressure on the police and media, the case would have been forgotten long ago. It would be the most elaborate and sustained double-bluff in history.
    I don’t buy it, Craig.

  • nevermind

    Why in hell would one want to use these three cases for a story and one outcome? The need to shine? is there something that has any relevance for us here, re: Pistorius?

    Is it not enough that the mass/tabloidally challenged media, this includes the BBC, off course, is spinning this every possible way?

    Go ahead create another tabloid. How about a Neill Adams column and how NCFC will stay in the doldrums for the next three years?
    And you could put anon in charge of the crime column. Then there are multiple applicants for the stargazer/astrologer spot and we could officially adopt Habby as our collective pet.

    Worst idea ever, imho, and beware those experienced in libel.

    My best to nadira and the family, enjoy the weekend.

  • Jemand

    I hope you’re being ironic, Craig, regarding the McCanns. Or that you have reliable information that justifies the statement that they are guilty. We had a woman called Lindy Chamberlain whose baby was taken by a dingo. Hilarious, i know. The jokes keep getting better. Anyway, she was dragged to hell and back for the crime of failing to act like the distraught mother that TV has taught us is to expect of an innocent mother who has suddenly lost her child. Looking forward to your post.

  • Tony_0pmoc

    I have reached no conclusions about any of these events, except that they are all massive media distractions. Children go missing in vast numbers all the time, and enormous numbers of people are murdered – usually by Governments in foreign countries. We rarely hear the details of any of this, and instead are distracted and terrorised by multiple methods such as these.

    I am now totally convinced that some major media events are totally fabricated. I completely believed in The Moon Landings until about 15 years ago, then I saw a video of men walking on the moon – projected in a pub – by a Police Cover Band…Having recently done a lot of video work…and knowing about one sixth gravity…My mouth just gaped wide open…This simply does not look right…

    Why does this photo look like it does? This thing has supposedly just landed on the moon – yet the concrete dust has not in the slightest bit been disturbed. Strange that.

    http://www.davesweb.cnchost.com/Apollo5.html

    Tony

  • Ben-LA PACQUTE LO ES TODO

    Maybe influential types can convince the EU to enact a universal legal system as good as Italy’s. Double-jeopardy could be just as effective as doing away with the jury system. A Star Chamber might manipulate the correct tone in the politics of fear with a well-placed cudgel rather than a level-playing field for both the State and the Defendant.

  • Habbabkuk (La vita è bella) !

    I suggest that commenters exercise just a little self-restraint (I know it’s a big ask) and await Craig’s post. It might not be exactly what they’re expecting.

  • Richard

    I’ll look forward to the post tomorrow, since I enjoy this site.

    I’m a bit sceptical of calling people guilty who have never been called to trial, though. Call me old-fashioned or just call me a ‘typical middle class socialist’ (one of those is fairly accurate) but for all it’s many faults, the justice system is all we’ve got. None of its faults can be rectified by arbitrary nomination of who is and who isn’t guilty. (It’s the McCanns I’m thinking of).

  • Herbie

    Well, he’s already done a post on Foxy Knoxy and she was found guilty, so unless he’s changed his mind on that it’s hard to see how he might otherwise relate the three.

    Can’t really see what the McCanns are supposed to guilty of.

  • Ben-LA PACQUTE LO ES TODO

    Well Amanda Knox had a trial, but she is certainly guilty of being American.

  • Tom

    Sadly, probably true. What they all have in common is friends in high places.

  • Kurtan

    Bored Craig? Designed to provocate.The McCanns? In a place that is not their own ,in a foreign land,they murder or kill their own daughter and manage to hide all the evidence whilst keeping the case in front of the eyes of the police very much alive.We are talking about a mother here,not just Mr McCann.Knowing as much as you I firmly disbelieve that it is possible.
    Pistorius without any shadow from a doubt.
    Foxy Knoxy? That is a conundrum. Gut feeling says njet,the behaviour after the event said yes.The whole story was sensationalized from the first beginning.I used to think that the Police were interested in finding the murderer,but now I know they desire to close the case asap.

  • Resident Dissident

    Habba

    I suspect you may be right – the question is who is guilty in those cases. Believers in liberty are usually strong supporters of the presumption of innocence.

  • BrianFujisan

    I always thought Facial Expressions Re the McCanns told the story.. Guilty big time..If even only for leaving the wee yin Behind… at Base for some hours…

    P.s it happen to Portuguese…kids..and other nationalities ALL the time.., Children abductions..is a big problem in Portugal…So i hear from a native of Portugal

  • Ben-LA PACQUTE LO ES TODO

    “If even only for leaving the wee yin Behind… at Base for some hours…”

    Both being Drs. makes the irresponsibility more profound, but child endangerment is not what Craig refers to when he say’s ‘guilty’. I know this because I used the same intuitive code-ring Craig found in the cereal box.

  • horizonism

    I’ll be more than happy to see what you have to say about the McCann case, Craig. It’s been a very odd ordeal all round. I think much too little attention is given to the class of the McCanns, when compared with similar cases.

    Several missing children cases have been jumped on by the press & MSM to vilify working class parents – or the perceptions thereof – over the past few years, whereas the McCanns were largely given a pass, other than the stupid, (I assume) politically-motivated stuff in the Daily Express.

    Moreover (and obviously related to the class issue), I can’t think of a single other similar case where the parents of the missing children had access to such incredible PR mechanisms, with direct governmental links, to shape public perception of the case.

    The very fact that such mechanisms were deemed necessary only amplifies my own suspicions, and should do so for anyone with an insight into how the public narrative is shaped by the PR industry (which I assume constitutes a large number of the readers here).

    Some background – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Madeleine_McCann#Media_and_the_McCanns

    P.S. I’m a little drunk, so forgive my lack of cogency. 🙂

  • craig Post author

    Horizonism

    Yes, the PR professionals and especially the use of Carter Ruck has been extremely distasteful

  • Brendan

    Controversial!

    I tend not to follow these grim cases. Some people do, each to their own, but it just takes so much effort to get on top of the evidence, and I’ve got many other things to read. I’d make the effort were I on the jury, of course. I will of course posit an opinion for no other reason than I can. My opinion is totally worthless, I agree.

    McCann bloke looks a shifty bugger and no mistake. Every time I see him I think ‘nut job’.

    That Knox bird is cute, but has dead eyes. Is lying about something, but I’m not convinced she did it.

    Oscar Pistorius is so obviously guilty, I’m amazed there is still a trial. Got angry, shot at his cowering girlfriend, bang to rights. Even if it’s possible he wasn’t aiming at her, you can’t go shooting at bathroom doors in a rage. Has to be at least manslaughter, and that’s being generous. I can only assume political interference is keeping the case alive.

    I am available for a tabloid column, and quite cheap.

  • frazer

    The McCaans are seeking the truth about what happened to their daughter..as for the other 2 I agree. Bit tasteless mate.

  • dargle

    On the subject of the McCann case the ‘Pat Brown profiler’ blog is,rightly or wrongly,worth a read imo.

  • Mary

    It was when Broon got on board and seconded Clarence Mitchell to the couple that got me puzzled. Why?

    http://www.mccannfiles.com/id255.html

    http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/417751/McCann-media-man-Clarence-Mitchell-to-stand-for-Tories LOL

    His Twitter profile.
    ‘Clarence Mitchell @mitch_1uk
    Conservative PPC for Brighton Pavilion, Head of Media, EMEA B-M UK. Likes the media, Tory Party, Triumph TRs, photography, BHAFC and Chelsea.’

    B-M UK = Burston Marsteller is a global public relations and communications firm headquartered in New York City. Burson-Marsteller operates 67 wholly owned offices and 71 affiliate offices in 98 countries across six continents.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burson-Marsteller

    Ubiquitous. PsyOps inc Ukraine.

  • Mary

    Note that he was on the high profile cases for the BBC. Jill Dando, the Wests, Diana, etc.
    SIS links?

    From a BBC puffpiece

    ‘Clarence left the BBC quite suddenly, making a move into the Labour government as director of its Media Monitoring Unit. His salary was widely reported to be £70,000 a year.

    Madeleine McCann
    Madeleine was last seen on 3 May

    As the Madeleine McCann story exploded this summer, it became clear that a high level of control and organisation would be needed to cope with the media maelstrom.

    Clarence was plucked from his job, and sent out to handle the media, rather than be part of the media, on a massive crime story. Now he’s left his government job and gone in with the McCanns full-time.

    Setting aside the essential tragedy of whatever happened to Madeleine McCann, I would imagine Clarence is content in his new role as the family’s voice.

    He’s centre stage on a huge story, intimately involved as ever, and on television and in the papers all the time.

    It was extraordinary how, last week, his intervention seemed to eliminate within hours any misgiving about the McCanns in the British media.

    Wouldn’t it be wonderful if he gets to tell us Madeleine has been found safe and well?’

    Profile: Clarence Mitchell
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7010286.stm

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