Different attitudes

It is amazing how someone's attitude can affect our opinion of them even if we have never met them...

In the Australia Outback this week a young three year old girl went missing in a suspected abduction.

The child was asleep at home with her siblings when she went missing along with her sleeping bag and cuddly toy.  There was an adult footprint found outside the window.

The parents said that they must have not closed the window properly and if anything happens to her they will never forgive themselves.  An honest mistake that any one of us could make and certainly not one that they should feel guilty about.

As a parent I understand their guilt, even though there is no blame, and my heart goes out to them.

Amazingly... the little girl was found 42 hours later safe and well. 
Fantastic News!!

In contrast....

Five years ago in a holiday resort in Portugal a young three year old girl went missing in a suspected abduction.

The child was asleep at the family's apartment  with her siblings when she went missing.

The parents had left the children alone whilst they went for dinner with friends a couple of hundred yards away.  The parents do not feel any sense of guilt or blame at all.

Tragically the little girl has never been found.

I find it more difficult to feel for these parents.

Is it just Me?

Cynic..or what?

In 2009 Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito are found guilty of the murder of Meredith Kercher in Italy and so are sent to prison.

After a successful appeal in 2011 they are released and she returns to her home in US.
This morning an Italian court reinsated the original verdict and she was sentenced to 28 and a half years in prison.

Now, I haven't followed the court case that closely but she had been found guilty originally even if it was overturned.

Unfortunately Amanda Knox is not a likeable person and so I. for one, find it difficult to engage with her and feel empathy.  She appears very posed and rehearsed although that could just be an unfortunate vibe that she gives off.

What I did find very cynical, however, was that within hours of hearing the life shattering news that she had once again been convicted for murder Amanda Knox is on "Good Morning America" and crying on camera. 

A little bit too staged for me and it leaves me with an unpleasant taste in my mouth.

Whatever the truth about the sad murder of Meredith Kercher, and we will probably never know what really happened, Amanda Knox does herself no favours by courting this publicity and playing victim (which she may well be!)

I have long noted that in the murder or disappearance the families or friends that are the quickest to get behind the camera and be seen to cry are often the ones who are later found guilty. 
Think Ian Huntley, the Philpott murders

May all of their victims rest in peace +

Live by the sword...

I am bucking the trend here...

Paul Walker was a Hollywood star who made millions from films that promoted Speed and Reckless driving.  These films have possibly contributed to the dangerous speeding of a generation of young and impressionable car drivers and possibly added to the death toll on the World's roads.

This weekend all Social Media is full of sad tributes to him and condolences to his family.


This morning the trend is to say "What about the other guy in the car?" 
What!  Do you mean the one who was driving recklessly and speeding in a sports car?
The one that hit a lamppost with such ferocity that the car exploded?  I have NEVER seen this happen in real life.

If the driver of this car had survived, and if the passenger had been anyone else but famous, then he would probably be facing charges for reckless driving.

So I am sorry but NO, I don't have as much sympathy as every one else seems to have.

Last week, in Chelmsley Wood nr Birmingham, an eight year old boy was hit by a speeding driver and killed.  This tragic incident didn't even make the News! 
Where is the sympathy for this driver? 
Of course there isn't any...because it was his fault!

Paul Walker lived by the sword and it is ironic, and yes sad, that he also died by the sword.

In the words of one of his films..

TOO fast, TOO furious!!!

Poor woman

In Lowestoft a young 20 year old woman fell to her death from a car park leaving behind 3 young children.

This poor young woman was almost a child herself yet was heavily pregnant and the police have found the dead bodies of her three young children aged 3,2 and 11 months.  So in 4 years this would be her fourth child?

All clues point to a desperate suicide after having killed her other children, but is it any wonder that this young girl was depserate?

I hope we are wrong because although murder is a heinopus crime the thought of what this mother must have been going through if she did indeed commit these acts is apalling and so upsetting...

RIP all of you x

Perspective people

What happened in Boston was truly awful and for anyone actually involved it is a personal tragedy that I cannot begin to image.
It has put fear into the world that such an atrocity can be carried out on American soil and it is being compared to the massive 9/11 bombings which affected thousands.

Can we keep this in perspective though..
Yesterday, way down the page of the BBC News channel was this...
 
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-22149863

...in which 31 people were killed and 200 injured yet it hardly gets a mention.

WHY?...

The end of the Thatcher Era

Well, who would have thought it?

I politician has lived to 87 years old and died a natural death!

Yes Margaret Thatcher has died and the whole world is alive with hatred or support.  Where was all that hatred and support yesterday?  Did she even figure in the thoughts of most people?

No?  Then why all the fuss?

Please tell me that there won't be a whole raft of documentaries and tributes where she is lauded or vilified, sainted or sataned.  They have not even started and I am sick of them already.

Let's just go back to yesterday....

A good moan

Wow...it seems like ages since I had a good moan but that is probably because it is.

So what has got to me recently?

I am heartily sick of the ham-acting culture that is so prevalent today...

There has been a heart-rending story about 6 children killed in a fire set by their parents and I am sure you have heard enough about these new minor celebrities and I have no wish to increase their coverage but I did notice the other limelight hoggers.

There were two brothers who were genuinely heroic in their attempts to save the children but was I the only one who felt nauseous at their "performance" in front of the camera?  They seemed to have rehearsed lines, poses and even the obligatory tear...
I am not trying to diminish what they tried to do but this strata of the society seem to all think that the "Jeremy Kyle" guide to behaviour is obligatory. 
It just seemed to be so staged and I am seeing this type of behaviour everywhere.  Is it the influx of erality shows like TOWIE?

All I now is that the sooner it goes out of fashion the less nauseated I will feel..