Mistaken Identity, by Harry Slaven...

This morning the papers were awash with front pages declaring that Maddie might be in Morocco, publishing a picture of a blonde girl with a Moroccan family. Now we all know (in our Caucasian ignorance) that there are no blonde girls in Morocco, they are all dark haired, so it must be her!!! Indeed The London Paper had an interview with the person who took the photo, who said she was certain it was Maddie. But then she would say that, cos she probably sold her story and her photo for a lot of money, and the papers paid, and we buy it.
The amazing thing was that within 4 or 5 hours of the story hitting, there were already stories writing it off, with "proof".

Its not Maddie

This shows everything that is wrong, not only with the whole Maddie saga, but also our gossip society in general. People will believe anything, jump on any bandwagon, and form opinions based on nothing.
Sadly, Maddie is almost certainly dead. In almost all cases of child abduction the victim is either killed by a stranger within 48 hours, or they are taken by a family member who takes them far away. This however has become very hard to swallow for many people who want to believe that she is still alive, because the press need her to stay alive as she is selling their papers. Anything, any new development is exploited, blown up, given a sensational tag and people lap it up.
If the press knew she was in the picture they wouldn't have published it, because the police would not have let them, simply bacause they wouldn't want the 'abductors' to panic and go back into hiding.
And this need for gossip does not help anyone. People believe what they read, no evidence is needed and it is a very dangerous thing. Fanaticism and fundamentalism thrives on ignorance. If people are left to believe something that has no evidence to back it then what is going to stop them when they come to their own 'evil' conclusions.

I could go on, and I actually drafted a whole new section but couldn't be arsed to finish it. But if you do want to know more, read 'The God Delusion' by Richard Dawkins, which provides some very interesting opinions on the dangers of belief without evidence and its consequences.

My thoughts go out to the McCanns, I hope their daughter is still alive, and a fuck you goes out to the press for torturing this poor family, giving them false hope and exploiting the memory of their little girl.

Believe everything you're told and you'll learn nothing for yourself.... [read the comments here..]