Science in Action.

It's been a while since I watched a program on TV concerning science and technology that is any more intellectually challenging than The Gadget Show, or Top Gear


I watched this programme tonight "Brave New World" Presented by Stephen Hawking no less! I recently read his latest(?) book "The Grand Design" which attempts to give scientific answers on the big questions in life and the origins of the universe. After reading it- although I had to further investigate some of the  terminology- My mind was blown. There are things that We are on the brink of understanding, almost at all times, but according to Professor Hawking we are on the edge of discovering a unified "theory of everything" and lets face it, if that can be concisely, eloquently and simply represented as fact, "God" will be well and truly under the carpet.


Here are the highlights of the programme I watched:-

• A self driving car. Developed by the engineers at some fancy car company? No! By the engineers at Google! Guided by sensors, cameras laser projections and satellite navigation. It can even negotiate an american freeway at speed!
• A wheelchair controlled by the brain. In Switzerland, a team of scientists have developed an interface allowing a person to move and steer an electric wheelchair using only signals from their brain. Prof. Charles Xavier-style.Hawking's co presenter was able to do it after some basic training. If you'll forgive a light-hearted joke, Hawking is probably watching this one with great anticipation! 
• A robot "child" that can learn. Yup. you read that right. It's called the iCub. Not only can it learn, it is also self aware- it learns the ways it can possibly move, the restrictions; the "rules" if you like. The older generation ones can also differentiate between, Indicate and select objects committed to memory that it "sees" when asked via microphone.
• Mechanical Exoskeletons. As well as giving the able bodied person triple their usual strength, Exoskeletal legs are being used in a clinic in Philadelphia to allow paraplegics to walk again.  
• A telescope searching for distant planets. This may seem relatively arbitrary to some compared with some of the others, but this particular telescope can see so far into the universe, so far into time itself, it can see stars, planets and galaxies being formed. One of its main tasks is searching for planets like earth, of which the chances, however astronomical they may seem, aren't forbidding.

It is with regard to things such as this, that I am incredulous as to how some people do not set store by science at all. Think of the possibilities with these five examples alone in mind? Can you imagine perhaps,  being driven home from work after a long shift in complete safety and efficiency after pressing a few buttons? Maybe someone who has been told they would never walk again, being able to pop along to the shop for a morning paper on their mechanised legs.

And yet, all this in an age where faith based groups campaign against vaccination of the Human Papaloma Virus, the sexually transmitted infection that is the main cause of Cervical Cancer. Bridget Maher of the "Family Research Clinic" said she would oppose the vaccine as it emerged a few years ago,  because the girls “may see it as a license to engage in premarital sex."

Get a Fucking Grip.

Lets see your precious faith help someone walk after being paralyzed from the waist down. Lets see you lot find a new planet suitable for life, given that science has now told you the earth is not flat and at the centre of a 6000 year old universe.

So Yeah, Got myself a new Guitar.

It's a Minarik Inferno Studio, which is their sort of "standard" model, in black with Mother of pearl  trim and white edge binding. Orchid and scroll shaped inlays on the fretboard, Tonepros hardware and Seymour Duncan designed pickups which may end up being swapped out for something better. It has a unique chambered body, so it isn't all solid inside and this helps improve the sound (so they say)

> Minarik Guitars - products <

www.minarikguitars.com

As you'll be able to see in the above link- Minarik spare no time or expense on their guitars. When you play one, you'll be glad of that. This is without a doubt one of the best sounding guitars i have ever had the pleasure of owning.

Troll Hunting

Seems they arrested a guy for Trolling. 
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3812056/Troll-who-prowled-Facebook.html


(He sure looks the part doesnt he?! He even has the vacancy in his expression down to a T)

Before anyone leaps to his defence though: He was mocking the tragic and -as I understand it- fairly recent deaths of several young girls.


Words cannot express how disgusted I am. A reprehensible individual with no respect for his fellow human beings. With no respect or consideration for the pain that their families were already in, Ignorant in the highest degree,  but above all:


What an absolute moron.


It is a crime of stupidity, an act of such blinding idiocy that I am having trouble articulating my feelings toward it. Most of these people believe they are anonymous and cannot be tracked down. I hope that this will be an example to set to other such cretins.


 I have blogged previously on the subject of Trolling, and I here reiterate my stance toward it- it  is a shameless cry for attention, with the clear reasoning that "any attention is better than none". I have no time for them and never "feed " them by rising to it. Any Trolls visiting my Youtube channel are promptly blocked and their comments removed, because I refuse to give them a platform for their bile. 


I don't mind a little bit of it injected into banter between friends now and again, because in that form its just intended as humour. But in acceptable cases, it's known as sarcasm, cynicism, satire, or feigning ignorance.  In the case of the internet Troll The moniker  is all too fitting:- a knuckle-dragging, drooling intellectually-challenged wretch, who has only the capacity to blunder through the web waving around  words as blunt and thoughtless as his namesake's characteristic club.

He, and other trolls like them are nothing but cowards in dark rooms venting their own inadequacy. Hiding behind their screens trying to cause controversy and get a rise out of people. If you are targeted by one, don't give them the satisfaction; don't even respond. Contact the relevant web- administrators or send them through the relevant complaints/flagging procedure, and encourage others to do the same. It is bullying  and calls to be punished. It is also against the law, Sending messages or data which are "grossly offensive or of an indecent, obscene or menacing character" is a offence whether they are received by the intended recipient or not, under the Communications Act 2003 - Section 127.


I am in no way advocating censorship of comedy, just as I refused to when Frankie Boyle was going through his spat of trouble over edgy jokes made on TV and DVD. Boyle made it quite clear on his DVD (If I could reach through the television and strangle you, I would) that although his performance was not going to get any "nicer" in the slightest, that it was all "just jokes and that I couldn't possibly mean it." He is blowing it up to cartoonish proportion and is injecting the "cringe" factor into his comedy.  Something that many of his predecessors and contemporaries do and have done for years, often to much lesser controversy. 


So, Ladies and Gentlemen, with the obvious coincidental movie release in mind- commence Troll Hunting! If you are offended by Trolling, don't stand for it.


'Cause I wont be.


It's fucking open season. Bitches.

I'm totally Confused.com

This is not an advertising plug for the website. (tbh, when it was car insurance time last time, I used the meerkats)


Con-fused-dot-com's adverts have caught my attention recently- for all the wrong reasons.


When the adverts come on, something happens. As newer adverts appear, it only increases. that something, ladies and gentlemen, is:


Boobs.

Bouncing cartoon breasts. I don't know why they are doing it, but they are. and every new advert has one or two more pairs of tits than the last... observe-  the advert above came out a few months ago. and here is the brand new one just out, down below.

Why the bosoms?


I'm all for a nice pair, don't get me wrong, but why here? Why now? Why Car insurance? And surely I am not the only one who has noticed this!


I really am Confused.com

Life, the Universe and Anything.

We've all heard the tired cliches.

"Life is what you make it"

"You never know what you've got 'til it's gone"

"Live for the moment "

"Laife is leik a bawks of chaw-clets (ya never know what you're gon' get)"

Well, as for the last one, it maybe helps if you pay attention to the menu, Forrest. But sometimes, I suppose it's true- life doesn't always have a menu- there are some things that just cannot be avoided or undone. There are wounds that run too deep, words that are too corrosive, actions that leave a never fading scar. 


That said, I still do not believe in Fate or Karma. 


As for the latter, I feel it is rather an empty gesture. I do kind things for people because I like to make people happy and I value the friendship of others. I do not pretend to understand the workings of a sociopathic mind. I don't do it because I believe "what goes around, comes around" at least not beyond the simple interplay between people (i.e. " you scratch my back.." etc)


Fate I've always thought is a rather depressing concept. It's like  you're on a train track, chuntering along from birth to death and there is nothing you can do about it. The path stretches out before you, all laid there, but the next turn is always shrouded by the hills and mountains of doubt and uncertainty. You can't change your destiny, no matter how many times you walk up and down the narrow confines of the carriages that always seem so much larger until you squint. 

That isn't what life is! Life is more like the London Underground. It's a complete irrational mess until you give it a moment's lateral thought. There are many paths that you can choose, that overlap and cross, and based upon the decision you make, you'll end up somewhere completely different. In addition, (as anyone who has misread a LU map will know) Your destination may not be the one you wanted, but it's the one you're at, and you can either make the best of it, or choose another path. Life can also be trial and error in this respect, you learn the "routes" that are necessary to achieve the more you make use of what you have in front of you. Every day's a School-day (yet another tedious cliche, I know.

I've tried to steer clear of the R word in this one, cause I do mention it a lot in my blogs and rants. But to the believers in afterlife, I would answer thus to the yes/no question:


An afterlife is a nice idea. But as with the life we have now, it isn't certain. If such a thing does exist, it may not be the sort of thing you are hoping for either. And that is why I care not for the afterlife. This life is the only one that I know I have. If there is something to move onto after death, then  fair enough; but I am content to wait.
The French Philosopher and Mathematician Blaise Pascal coined a "reasoning" known as  "Pascal's Wager"

1. "God is, or He is not"
2. A Game is being played... where heads or tails will turn up.
3. According to reason, you can defend neither of the propositions.
4. You must wager. It is not optional.
5. Let us weigh the gain and the loss in wagering that God is. Let us estimate these two chances. If you gain, you gain all; if you lose, you lose nothing.
6. Wager, then, without hesitation that He is. (...) There is here an infinity of an infinitely happy life to gain, a chance of gain against a finite number of chances of loss, and what you stake is finite. And so our proposition is of infinite force, when there is the finite to stake in a game where there are equal risks of gain and of loss, and the infinite to gain.

In short, what he is saying is, that the risk is a lot higher for unbelievers than for believers in God.
For Believers, If what they believe is true, they will go to heaven, and if what they believe is false, then there will be nothing.  For unbelievers, if the believers are wrong, then nothing happens, but if they are right, they risk eternity in hell.

I will not life my life, as many do, in subservience to a higher power in order to get a "good seat" in the afterlife, regardless of this. Subscription to a wager such as this is nothing more than moral cowardice- believing because you think it is the "safe" option. If that is indeed the only reason you are a kind, patient and tolerant individual, then you are quite frankly immoral, deceitful and despicable at heart, and nothing will change that. It also makes the false assumption that one could  make oneself believe in something. You either do, or you don't. Just like you either like a colour or you don't, or are heterosexual or not (a truth that some people have trouble swallowing) 


So, live your life like your time is running out- because it is. I don't see this as a depressing thing,  I see it as a time frame to accomplish things. The things that make me happy may not be infinite, but neither am I, and I'll enjoy them while I am here to do so, whatever time I have left. After all, I could get totalled by a jackknifing HGV on the way to work tomorrow.


But lets hope not, as I  have Jammin plans for tomorrow night!

So I've not Blogged in a while...

I feel like a bit of a shitbag, truth be told!


I started this Blog with a view of being more independent and outlandish, as well as posting frequently, but it has kinda fallen to one side.


I have been spending an awful lot of time on the following:-

• Writing music-     I'm now in two bands, good times, but time ain't half consumed.
• Work-        Ick.
• Decorating the Living Room-    It looks amazing now it's finished! it'll be time for a sexy party soon I think.
• Trying to stay on top of my finances- When you have to eat, keep a car on the road, pay a mortgage and run a house, it doesn't half disappear
• Cleaning and tidying- ENDLESS!!
• Spending quality time with Elaine. - 'Cause she's truly wonderful
• Trying to reconnect with my friends, in some way- because I've been skint and struggling, my social life has taken a bit of a knock, hopefully i can devise cheap and cheerful ways to spend time with folk.

I've also been looking into getting onto some kind of course to expand my abilities, and also give me some form of skill I can make a little funds from on the side. I have recently been inspired by my girlfriend who is starting her own Photography buisness http://www.elainegraham-photography.co.uk/ and since
I work shifts which leave me with a lot of time off, I feel I could be doing something more productive and/or creative with it.

 I'll not say too much now, but I DO have a plan!

A bit "Cross" with Sectarianism.

Let's be honest for a second- If  the world were devoid of delusional beliefs of archaic organised religions, there would be no such thing as Sectarianism.


But, here in Scotland it is a blight. It is one of the most major issues we face individually as a country, and something really has to be done about it. Worst of all, it is centralised around FOOTBALL, which is wholly disconnected from religion. The only religious element at all, is that one  club happened to be founded by an Irish Catholic and one by a Protestant Christian. Regardless of what additional history there might be, I don't really care. It's caused quite enough suffering.  That is why I loudly applaud proposals for  new laws to be drafted in regarding the imprisonment of individuals for sectarian behaviour in public. The singing of these disgusting songs, and waving Irish Loyalist/Nationalist flags at "Old Firm" games brings shame on us all. We can  shout as profusely as we like about free speech, but when it causes this level of violence, hooliganism, outrage, discord and disorder then something has to be done.


Crack down on these clubs. Have Rangers and Celtic  foot the bill for the obscene level of policing required at their matches, why should  fans  who just love the game, and those like myself who are uninterested by it have to pay to keep bigots in line? And lets face it, if we are paying for it, we want to see some repercussions for them. Have the clubs themselves clamp down on these thugs- and if they can't do that, then we should treat it as we would with any other venue or organisation that allowed this sort of violence to ensue:


Ban the fixture, (as was done with Scotland and England,) or, Close them down. Both of them.


This cancer has to be cut out one way or another and if handing out tougher sentences helps then I am all for it. There is no need for anyone to be "crossing" themselves at football matches, despite there being outcry over the motion to stop it by radicalist Christian groups already. There is no call for singing songs about battles and bloody crusades long since past. Like religion itself, Sectarianism we see in football today is a remnant of the past, it's history. That's the way it should stay, and with any luck this new legislation should help speed this process along.


I am sick and tired of my country being marred by violence that could be so easily avoided. 
I am sick and tired of people getting away with singing about being "up to their knees in Fenian blood" 
I'm sick and tired up of all this talk of IRA and UVF in relation to football when (largely) we aren't Irish and don't live in Ireland. 
I'm sick and tired of hearing the words "hun" "Tim" and "Fenian" when they are taken out of their contexts and mean fuck all.
I'm appalled that young people are still being mugged or stabbed in the street for wearing a football top. 


But do you want to know what I'm most pissed off at?


The people who say "It'll never change"


People like you are the ones who hold it back! It's people like you that just let these things happen. I always challenge discrimination, whether it be towards, gender, sexual orientation, race, belief or any other factor. I would also encourage anyone and everyone to do the same thing. Next time you hear someone talking about "huns" and "tims", point out that it's not only derogatory, but also irrelevant. Next time you hear someone singing a sectarian song, think about if you'd react any differently to it being a racist song, or a song discriminating against homosexuals or women. I hypothesise that the main reason that the clubs haven't yet been shut down or united as one is nothing less than sheer Greed. The amount of money Rangers and Celtic generate must be astonishing. But is it worth what we pay for alongside it? Is it worth young people's lives?


Challenge it, and make it clear that as a person will not accept it regardless of what you believe in. Both sides are as bad as each other,  but I feel it's those in the middle ground that can help the masses see sense. If you don't challenge it, you are allowing it room to breed, and are not a great deal better than the bigot him/her self.


That's what I want to see, and that's the world I would want to live in. Freedom of religion, freedom from religion. I want to live in a country where someone is held accountable for the words of his voice. 


This Hatred must stop.

Realisation.

This Blog is probably going to end up more like a Journal.


Posting every day would be cool but I'd need to find something to talk about. I'll certainly try, but I get kinda busy with work and other things. 


I've also had somewhat of a realisation:


Although this blog at present has no followers, I'm not actually that arsed. on Tumblr I had something like 40, but this isn't a social networking thing. Obviously I'd be pleased if people do follow me, because I stand the chance of making a few more people laugh in the process, but I find I'm less bothered. If anyone knows of any good blogs, please comment them below, or leave your own address and I'll take a look. I don't do straight follow-for-follow; your blog has to interest me first.


I'll leave  you today with a little  joke.

A panda walks into a bar. He asks the bartender how he can get a little action for the night. The bartender motions to a young woman. She talks to the panda, and they go back to her place. After having sex, the panda abruptly leaves.
The next night, the woman goes to the panda's house. "You owe me money," she says.
"For what?"
The woman rolls her eyes and explains, "I'm a prostitute."
The panda pulls out a dictionary and looks it up: "Prostitute: Has sex for money."
The panda says, "I don't have to pay you. I'm a panda -- look it up." She is about to protest when the bear hands her the dictionary.
The woman looks up "panda" in the dictionary. It says, "Panda: Eats bush and leaves."

A Rant in the life.

Well, the last few days have been... yeah.


I've not really been at my most collected when it comes to thoughts. Things have went pretty wrong the past few days in certain places- some I actually embrace somewhat, but others have been making me almost ill-and now and again I've not been like myself at all. 


For example, the other day, my alarm clock failed. I had loads planned in the way of decorating and getting things organised for the flat, but my 9 o'clock alarm failed to sound, and I woke up at 13:50. My dad was supposed to be coming at 10, and because I was unconscious after night shift, I missed 7 calls from him on my silenced mobile downstairs.  I was so angry that I went through to the room from wich i now type to you, and picked up a set of bongo drums. I then proceeded to cave in the alarm clock with it. Smashed it to pieces- which I wouldn't normally have done, cause I'm not an angry person as anyone likely to read this entry will know. I also had a heated argument with my brother that escalated into telling him exactly what I think of him (of which I will make no mention here, because some things are best left unillustrated by words on the internet.) Again, something I perhaps would not have done, but in this instance it was a long time coming.


Money has been tight but mainly because I didn't do my sums right, and put aside too much to pay bills and not enough to... you know... live! I'm sure I'll crack this mortgage shit, trial and error. The decorationg feels like it's never going to fucking end, mainly because each coat of paint takes twelvefannygarglinghours to dry- but again, we'll get there, and  my living room will look fanbloodytastic.

Call centres have been plaguing me, and I have threatened Capital One with legal action under the Data Protection Act (1998), if they contact me again despite me giving express instruction to discard the personal information they hold on me as I did not authorise them to have it. They call looking for another individual who does not live at this address, and several times I have told them that individual does not live here, but they dont seem to be able to get that through their heads. Another one I have threatened is MoreThan. They're also on thin fucking ice. I have been thinking of various lengthy tirades of abuse to deal with future telemarketers.

• Is there a canteen in your workplace?  Is there an oven ? How wide is the door? is it large enough to fit your head totally inside?
• May I speak to your manager?.... How many staff do you employ? Why? because between them they have about 4 brain cells!!
• On your way home tonight, why not make a detour off the nearest cliff and make the world that wee bit better?
• Please hold the line. *sets phone down, switches on Rick Astley and walks away.*

Telemarketers are people (I suppose). They are just doing jobs, that's true. But if I am treated like a number, and they insist on wasting my time, and clogging up my phone line, then I shall waste their time and make them feel like idiots. They call me up uninvited unexpected and unwanted to my own home. I think as harshly toward them as I do to Door-to-door salesmen, Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses- Believe me, I am the last person they want to try and share the "good news" with. I've had some fun with them in the past when I still lived at mums, but should they darken my doorway in future, they'll wish they hadn't got up that morning.

To round  this session off, a friend of mine asked me today if I owned bathroom scales. I didn't take offence, but as a general statement; why do people even have them in their homes? Why would someone want to own an object that has the capacity to upset you every time you look at it? Seems like masochism.  At the very least I suppose it would be rather like having a narcoleptic dog- Sometimes I would forget I had it, occasionally I would trip over it, and if one day I did stand on it, I would only look down in sheer, unbridled disappointment.

The Out Campaign

The Scarlet A Located on the left is a link to  Outcampaign.org.


Set up by Profesor Richard Dawkins, the site aims to encourage Atheists to come "out of the closet" and offers encouragement and support to do this. 


This may seem trivial to many of you, but consider this:-


I am an Atheist, very openly so, but I wasnt always. My mother and her side of the family are Christian, and attend church regularly,   and until the age of about 12, I did too. Over time I lost whatever small part of faith I may have had, and eventually decided, after much thought, to tell my mother that I was an atheist, and did not believe in God. It was not easy, telling your parents "no" is hard enough, but this was a belief system that had been (completely wrongfully i.m.o.) imposed on me since birth. It was a big part of my life, or rather it was made to be. No-one wants to upset their family, and this occasion was no different.


I'll never forget what she said and how she reacted. She got very upset, became tearful and told me that she thought that she had failed. She supposedly, at my christening (something which I had no choice in) promised to bring me up "in a certain way". It was quite shocking, how much importance she places on things that cannot be proven. And whatever she might say, I maintain that faith is not a virtue.


 I am fortunate that my family are not stricter, otherwise they probably wouldn't be speaking to me right now, but regardless- I was deeply hurt by that statement. All I could say to it at the time is that there is good without god, and you're looking at it. You don't need to believe in god to be a good person. In fact I know (and know of) a few thoroughly despicable Christians- and lets face it, God isn't much better. Thankfully, me and my mother still get on very well, despite our difference in belief coming up often, even today. She despises debating it although I would quite happily. Belief cannot be exempt from debate.


To an Atheist, if you are in a religious family, coming out can be as difficult as coming out as homosexual. and indeed there are some similarities:-

• A fear of persecution and discrimination
• Fear of rejection by loved ones
• Conflicting ideas with those of your upbringing
• Hiding it can be upsetting

But there's no need to. You shouldn't have to be miserable in the dark- putting up with things and putting on a front for a quiet life. It never did me any favours. which is why I say to all atheists who read this-

Please stand up, speak out and be true to yourselves!

If anyone reads this and feels that they are in a similar situation, please send me an email on ChasingOblivion@live.co.uk where I shall more than happily talk with you privately and offer you help and support, and maybe some advice if you feel you need it. You never see "Atheist pride" marches, (as daft as that might sound) but you should still not be afraid to voice your thoughts and opinions.

In the meantime, please visit outcampaign.org!

Feeling awful funny...

It has come to my attention that I have now been awake for more than 34 Hours


I woke up at quarter past 3 in the afternoon on 9/6/11 for nightshift that night, into today- the 10th. I'm  supposed to go for a nap after nightshift to keep myself level, but for some reason I just didn't. Started to suffer at about 10pm there, once all my caffeine and sugar was starting to wear off, and well, it's now 01:25 on the 11th June.


Glorious.


Actually starting to feel slightly lightheaded, so I'm going to jump into bed now, to go into a temporary coma of sorts. Well, at least until 8am. Need to have breakfast and go a shop at ALDI before dad arrives at 10 to help me with decorating the livingroom.


Ach, fuck-it: plenty of time to sleep when I'm dead. 6 hours is enough!

Maddie-ness (Tumblr)

So, Scotland Yard are to independently open and analyse the Madeleine McCann case again. To hopefully find this wee girl, and find the culprits responsible for her disappearance.
Well guys, if you want to find the latter you need only look at her parents. 

                   

Yes, Kate and Gerry are to blame for the abduction. Not directly- the initial (and probably sub-standard) investigation by the Portugese Police has seen them cleared of actually doing the deed. However, it was through their blatant negligence that this was allowed to happen. While wee 4 year old Maddie was left in a room with her twin siblings completely unattended in an unlocked room, (in a foreign country) her parents were over at the hotel's tapas resteraunt, eating, drinking,  and no doubt, being quite merry also.  What kind of fucking parent does that?  So with that in mind I can say- frankly and without pity- that they brought it upon themselves.
I do hope she's still alive; who doesn't? That said, given the fact that she has now been missing for 4 years, which is the same age as she was when snatched, It doesn't look good. Her parents say  

"There is no evidence to suggest that she has come to any harm, so she must be alive."
               

That statement I'm afraid is a few words too long, there is next to NO evidenceeither way. Having no evidence is not proof she's alive- its not proof of anything! Sorry folks, but that's the way the truth is.
My theory (and sincere hope) is that she was perhaps taken by, or on behalf of a childless couple. If that's the case, and she's abroad, she will likely never be found, or at least not until adulthood. The reasons for this is her "new parents" may well have changed her appearance (even more so than what the  sun may wreak on a white girl living abroad.) and possibly even her name. She may not answer to Madeleine anymore, because young children are notoriously impressionable; If she was told that her new mummy and daddy were her real mummy and daddy, and that they had "rescued her"... if they told her that enough each day, and they treated her well, at that age she'll likely believe it. 
Another thing that has royally pissed me off about this whole four year hunt is how much of a circus it has become. The number of children that go missing in the UK alone, annually, is in the region of 144 THOUSAND. This works out at around 383 per day. This of course is inclusive of "different types of disappearances, including parental abductions, runaways, the disappearance of unaccompanied migrant minors, criminal abductions and lost, injured or otherwise missing children." (Missing Children Europe- Via Wiki) So in that respect  the number of abductions is substantially lower, Madeleine disappeared on the 3rd of may 2007. but several years earlier, in England and Wales alone, according to the NSPCC there were 846Child abduction offences recorded. Many of these were never heard about, why? And why, therefore, has Madeleine had such a massive undertaking? I think the fact that her parents were both professional, well off, white middle class British people, and she is an adorable, pretty little blonde girl, has a hell of a lot to do with it. I mean, fucking  look at this kid.
                               
I really hope she's still safe and well. Perhaps she is actually safer where she is now, away from parents who left her alone long enough for some despicable individual to kidnap her. Kate and Gerry, while not directly guilty, are the ones at fault- and no matter how many times they burst into tears live on television; no matter how many copies of Kate's new book are sold; no matter how many newspapers and magazines and daytime TV shows they share their story with as this huge search continues for this wee lassie- it will not change that fact: that they were unfit as parents. They should count themselves lucky that their twins were not put into care, because I think that's what I would have done, were I in child services. 
There will be a time to shelve this case, eventually, although I know for a fact her parents will never accept it- Perhaps they too feel what I feel is resting upon their heads.