Re: Toddler 'abducted' during holiday
 

It is the "Madeleine Fighting Fund".

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6662723.stm


Its purpose is "to help cover escalating costs in the search for missing Madeleine McCann."



Only leftover funds not required for successfully finding Madeleine will then be used for others in the same situation.


"It was also announced that any money raised not needed for the search for Madeleine would be used to help find missing children in the UK, Portugal and elsewhere.

'If, as a result of this fund, and as a result of getting Madeleine back, we can help other families in a similar situation that would be fantastic,' Mr McCann added."

Re: Toddler 'abducted' during holiday
 

I cant see how, the fund will help all parents that have lost there children

Re: Toddler 'abducted' during holiday
 

Only if there is any money left after Madeleine is successfully found.

Re: Toddler 'abducted' during holiday
 

Well i hope and pray she is ok.

Re: Toddler 'abducted' during holiday
 

And you can back that number up with what?

I believe the Comic Relief funds and other well known charitable causes go towards in trying to eradicate such devastating crimes.


Well I don't. How disturbing that you feel the usual political infighting that is usually the normal news becomes more important than a childs life, shame on you Matt. :td:


I don't know, why don't you ask Bob Geldof and U2's frontman Bono? Aren't they celebrity enough for you?

Anyway, getting back to the point about the 450+ people who *you* say have gone missing since Maddie went missing, I do hope you can back this figure up and its not some over exaggerated, made up figure by you.

Another point to consider, people who usually vanish or disappear and are classed as missing are usually people who have ran away from home. Maddie is a 4 year old girl, who has been *abducted* whilst on holiday, she is not someone who decided to be in this predicament, so this has created a unique set of circumstances to which the media have decided to take a great interest in. I'm surprised I've had to spell out the obvious really.

Also, those people who go missing everyday, I doubt any of them are 4 year old girls. Or we would be seeing more reports of missing young children don't you think?

The Status Quo usually in this Country, when a young child goes missing, is that it does become headline news. Sarah Payne? Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman?

What needs to be reported? That should be simple - The news about how the Maddie incident is still going on.

"Doh!" What? If you are going to add a response make sure its of meaningful value for a response. :rolleyes:

Re: Toddler 'abducted' during holiday
 

The National Missing Persons Helpline.

http://nmph.underwired.com/news.php?itemid=143


The link came from the MSN article I previously posted.

http://msnukhomepage.spaces.live.com/


... and is only ever briefly in the news once every two years, around the time of Red Nose Day.



I didn't mention "the usual political infighting"...

And I fail to see how the news (or lack of) regarding the abduction of a single child is more important than news about important events which affect this country as a whole, & important events in other parts of the world.

I was not talking about the importance of a child's life. I was talking about the importance of news regarding that child's life.


Personally, I can't stand either of them, however they do both do a lot for very good causes.

Although Live8 was a few years ago, & was more about debt relief etc., plus the G8 seem to have conveniently forgotten their promises.


And, again, there is no major news presence, no real public awareness, of the African child abduction issue, no big campaign in the media with loads of celebs speaking out, etc.

And none either for all the missing people in the UK.


National Missing Persons Helpline (as above).



Of course they've taken a great interest. It sells papers, & it gets TV ratings.

So, as per usual for the British media, they've gone OTT in some crazed media frenzy. Not helped by the Portuguese police having the cheek to actually tend to keep quiet & get on with things, rather than give the constant briefings & leaks that the British media are accustomed to. And not helped by the press being unused to the cultural & legal differences there.

The MSN blog I linked to earlier says more about the media problems. And the Time article someone else linked to earlier makes good points about the story & the national obsession - http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle1811160.ece

Re: Toddler 'abducted' during holiday
 

Not quite sure why you keep bringing the 'Missing' persons arguement into this, as I have pointed out to you which you have appeared to conveniently ignore, perhaps most of these missing people, are people who have run away by *Free Will* this is the difference here between *missing* and being *abducted*.

Being abducted is a more serious problem than someone just being missing, its not the same thing, because one is being held against their own will, missing people may have just decided to run away from their lives and other people, and they may not necessarily be in any immediate danger.

I haven't actually disputed that the media have gone wild over this or have really helped.

Re: Toddler 'abducted' during holiday
 

Sentiment aside I think it's worth pointing out that neither Bob Geldof nor Bono offer financial recompense to anyone with the explicit caveat that the distribution of same is wholly dependant on "the safe return" of anyone. I think the turn of phrase is "hedging your bets".

Not being a betting man I find it somewhat bizarre, though entirely predictable, that the cult of celebrity has of late been spewing forth do gooders offering money on that basis when, statistically, the chances of Madeline McCann turning up "safe" diminish by the minute.

As far as the McCanns are concerned this is working / will work out to be quite an expensive tapas meal by anyones account - irrespective of the outcome.

I hope the child does turn up safe and well - but, sadly, experience suggests that she wont.

Re: Toddler 'abducted' during holiday
 

https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/...2007/05/24.jpg

Come on Mick - every one of us shares the same pain - you're not the only one heartbroken, it's time you realised that.

This whole Maddy issue is horrible. People have views and opinions though. Right or wrong, no-one on this forum wishes any harm to Maddy. It's full of parents.. children. Real people.
Some may seem mis-led to you. Fair dues.
Some might make a right balls of what they're trying to say, but at least they're here trying to say something, not ignoring it, but you want to stifle that. Ditch the one man quest thing and let people have their say for goodness sake.

I reiterate what I said pages ago - I guarantee no-one wishes Maddy any harm and would like nothing more than to see her returned unharmed. Nads to the semantics. Every single one of us wants that baby home.

You on the other hand are starting to sound a tad unhinged.
You're not helping one bit, I'm afraid - you're just making people argue - just perpetuating it?
:shrug:

Re: Toddler 'abducted' during holiday
 

For goodness sake nothing - I am not on any one man quest thing and I haven't stifled anyones views, so you are infact incorrect there, people have been coming and going and having their say and they haven't been prevented from saying their views and I am having mine! (If you don't mind). This is what a forum is for, a bloody debate and I can be as vocal as I want to be, its not against the rules.

Btw, I haven't been 'Owned' (A real mature term, not :rolleyes:) at all and I certainly don't feel (Owned) - FYI: I am failing to see the relevancy of the Missing persons arguement. Maddie has been abducted, people who go missing in the UK everyday, are more than likely to do so at their own free will, this is the obvious difference.

Re: Toddler 'abducted' during holiday
 

Fine.
I'm done.

Re: Toddler 'abducted' during holiday
 

Perhaps you should of read the post linked below then: As I have already explained myself with that one. This is an old issue you are ressurrecting, do keep up. :rolleyes:

http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/34307807-post261.html

Re: Toddler 'abducted' during holiday
 

Mike im sorry but your posting style in this thread has been very aggressive. You continue to openly dismiss other peoples view sometimes as pathetic ignorant obnoxious. A couple of posts ago you put shame on Matt. I for one have found it very difficult to see the line between you posting as an Admin and a regular poster. Yes you have the right to express your views as forcefully as you wish but you also have to remember you meant to lead from example. I mean no offence and im trying to offer this as a balanced point of view.

Re: Toddler 'abducted' during holiday
 

I fully acknowledge that abduction, especially child abduction, is an extremely serious & heinous crime.

I brought "missing children" into it because IMO it is important - my point about it has been why all the media for Madeleine, & never for all the other missing children?

And the NMPH seems to consider it to be important, too. They've been hoping that the Madeleine story will help raise the overall issue of missing children, & have even been met with by members of the McCann family (who find it "greatly reassuring" that there is "a charity, the National Missing Persons Helpline, looking for all the other missing people...Missing is an issue for every one of us.")

http://nmph.underwired.com/news.php?itemid=145

btw, it seems the number has jumped since the last story I linked to... the no. gone missing since Madeleine was abducted is now "over 750" rather than 450 (above link).



Each of those missing youngsters is going to be someone's son, someone's daughter, etc.


Even if most of them are runaways, there are going to be *some* who did not become missing out of their own free will.

And of those who are runaways, it is not as if it is always simple "free will". Many leave to e.g. escape physically or sexually abusive parents, etc. They don't really have a choice (apart from perhaps a Hobson's choice). And then they end up on the streets, & get abused by someone else...

Re: Toddler 'abducted' during holiday
 

Nope. I have been assertive. Nothing wrong with being assertive. :)

If I was posting as an Admin, I would be making certain requests, this is the obvious difference between Admin mode and my personal views. It's not very difficult at all to know when I am posting in Admin mode and my own personal view mode. But in any case, I cannot really act in ADMIN mode on this thread, due to my heavy participation.

And to clarify my first post in this thread, which some people are repeatedly too quick to keep pointing out - The very first thing I said in this thread was that the blame will stop, yes, then and only then was I acting in official Admin mode, it was my first post, but since I began to participate, I have not at all since then, acted in Admin mode or told anyone to stop relaying their views. But as I said, noone took a blind bit of notice anyway, so not quite sure why some people are throwing this back at me when in the first place, it was ignored.