Fairy tales

by frank zappa 10.08.11 0:33

Just spotted this on a yahoo Q&A site posted over two years ago.

If they had answered the questions and not hindered the police
investigations every step of the way then an alternative theory would
have come to light. Katie should take up a new career....writing fairy
tales.

Writing fairy tales.....indeed.

I prophesy disaster and then I count the cost....
I shine but, shining, dying,
I know that I am almost lost.
On the table lies blank paper,my tower is built on stone,
I only have blunt scissors.I only have the bluntest home
I've been the witness, and the seal of death..... Peter Hammil (1971)

by ROSA 10.08.11 0:45

Did Kate write Kates book i dont think so
who did?

by tellusanother1 10.08.11 1:46

Oh Oh I know!

Initials are CM and CR.

That is all.

Fairy tales 259100

by lj 10.08.11 2:23

If CR had any involvement in the book Kate should get her money back. There are too many obvious and dangerous lies in there.

by ROSA 10.08.11 6:29

Who is CR ?

by Gillyspot 10.08.11 6:41

Carter Ruck I presume.

I can't see them having any involvement in the book as in my opinion it is clearly libellous of the Portuguese Police and Goncalo Amaral in particular. They would never let this happen if they had read the book prior to publication.

by ROSA 10.08.11 7:00

Thankyou Gillyspot roses

by **PeterMac** 10.08.11 9:22

Did Katey write the book ? No.
Katey is still unable to write gramatically correct English
This is from their own FindMadeleine website, 2nd May entry.
"The tangible warmth and support present also gave Gerry and I and all our family an essential boost."

(For non native and educated English speakers, take out "Gerry", and "all our family" and you are left with 'the warmth gave I an essential boost.')

It is a common mistake that they both make, all the time. It was in the statements to the press, in the blogs and continues to this day. It is related to the educational and intellectual and therefore the social status of the parents, who reinforce poor grammar during the child's formative years. It can be educated out.
So far I have not detected this mistake in the book.
So Katey did not write the book as it now stands. It has clearly been proof read, and then heavily corrected, though by someone who is unable to advise on commas.

by HotlipsHealy 10.08.11 9:33

But Katey must also have proof-read/approved it because she allowed the reference to her daughter's genitals to remain.

If not, then I assume she is in the process of instructing Carter Ruck to sue the ghostwriter, who I hope is not Gerry or David.

by Guest 10.08.11 9:50

PeterMac, you and I are of the same vintage (polite speak for getting on a bit!) and the need for good grammar and spelling was very much part of our education. Times change and it certainly doesn't have the same importance now and I suppose that as, long as we can understand each other, it doesn't really matter. That doesn't stop me cringing over apostrophes that appear in the wrong places though!

It's hard to believe that anyone other than Kate could have written such a sugar-laden load of old baloney; no doubt her masterpiece was checked for grammatical accuracy by someone else. Goodness knows how the infamous passage on page 129 and details of her sex life were ever thought fit for publication but that's another matter.

by yadda_yadda 10.08.11 10:05

Marian wrote:PeterMac, you and I are of the same vintage (polite speak for getting on a bit!) and the need for good grammar and spelling was very much part of our education. Times change and it certainly doesn't have the same importance now and I suppose that as, long as we can understand each other, it doesn't really matter. That doesn't stop me cringing over apostrophes that appear in the wrong places though!

Do you cringe when commas are put in the wrong place too? whistling

by Guest 10.08.11 10:11

I'm not sure that, in view of all that's going on in the world, we should be worrying too much about punctuation but I'll just say that, in my opinion, the commas in this message and my previous one are in the right place!

by **PeterMac** 10.08.11 14:49

Marian wrote:PeterMac, you and I are of the same vintage (polite speak for getting on a bit!) and the need for good grammar and spelling was very much part of our education. Times change and it certainly doesn't have the same importance now and I suppose that as long as we can understand each other, it doesn't really matter. SNIP

Generations of young people taught by teachers who themselves lacked the training have been told that correct grammar and spelling does not really matter, and that the ability to communicate is, or should be, of far greater importance.
And a generation of young people now find themselves functionally innumerate, illiterate and inarticulate. When they go for interview for University or for a job they find that those places are granted to people who can speak, read and write properly and coherently. My secretary knew the difference between "Gerry and I" and "Gerry and me", and how and when to use each form. It was not necessary for her to know that the former was nominative and the latter accusative or genitive, but she knew how to use her language.
If schools do not teach correct grammar and vocabulary, then the only effective teachers are the parents.
And if that is the case then social class becomes the deciding issue.

by The Shelfstacker 10.08.11 15:18

PeterMac wrote:
Marian wrote:PeterMac, you and I are of the same vintage (polite speak for getting on a bit!) and the need for good grammar and spelling was very much part of our education. Times change and it certainly doesn't have the same importance now and I suppose that as long as we can understand each other, it doesn't really matter. SNIP
Generations of young people taught by teachers who themselves lacked the training have been told that correct grammar and spelling does not really matter, and that the ability to communicate is, or should be, of far greater importance.
And a generation of young people now find themselves functionally innumerate, illiterate and inarticulate. When they go for interview for University or for a job they find that those places are granted to people who can speak, read and write properly and coherently. My secretary knew the difference between "Gerry and I" and "Gerry and me", and how and when to use each form. It was not necessary for her to know that the former was nominative and the latter accusative or genitive, but she knew how to use her language.
If schools do not teach correct grammar and vocabulary, then the only effective teachers are the parents.
And if that is the case then social class becomes the deciding issue.

I agree entirely PeterMac. Except that "university" is not a proper noun. Fairy tales 302873

by Guest 10.08.11 16:32

Humour an old dear please but there's an easy way to remember whether you need to write "its" or "it's" in a sentence. The latter is short for "it is" so does that make sense in what you're saying?

Examples. It's a load of sugar-laden claptrap. Correct as "it's" is short for "it is".

The dog wagged its tail. Correct as "it is" makes no sense in this context.

As promised, I will now go away!

by **PeterMac** 10.08.11 17:49

Marian wrote:Humour an old dear please but there's an easy way to remember whether you need to write "its" or "it's" in a sentence.- SNIP- As promised, I will now go away!

You make the point perfectly. There are ways in which all these rules can be taught to children, so that they remember them. There / their / they're ; its / it's ; greengrocers' apostrophes ; Gerry and me / Gerry and I ; commas, 7 x tables, and so on.
That there are students who emerge after twelve years of compulsory education by teachers who consider themselves the best in the world, but who are unable to string together a sentence in any known language is, frankly, a scandal.

by ROSA 10.08.11 22:40

Kate can write a book of info but Kate does not know what Maddie did at creche

by **tigger** 11.08.11 13:41

ROSA wrote:Kate can write a book of info but Kate does not know what Maddie did at creche

There was nothing in the flat (look it's just a jumped-up Butlin's, I'm not calling it an apartment) to show there were children present. The scene as set for the GNR was tidy. No drawings stuck on the wall (3 children?) no toys around.
But Kate made much of the fact that Maddie had learned a little dance and on the night of the 3rd she said she would demonstrate this dance the next day.

An appointment? For the next day? No child could wait to show Mummy how clever she was, what new thing she could do. Waiting till tomorrow is a concept hard to explain to a four year old. And was there no time in the evening to have a little dance?

I think the book is definitely written by someone else, with the personal bits by Kate, such as: 'why was I so calm? -- I looked at him with contempt - ' not to mention page 129, pasted in by her. As soon as it gets boringly personal, it's Kate all over. When it matters, there are words used she would never think of herself. The whole thing is a weird mix between a semi-legal document and 'Kate's diary'.

Blacksmith (bless him) has called it the longest suicide note in history. The literary value is about the same as the average suicide note but the content is far more informative than she could possibly have intended.

by pauline 11.08.11 14:06

tigger wrote:
But Kate made much of the fact that Maddie had learned a little dance and on the night of the 3rd she said she would demonstrate this dance the next day.

An appointment? For the next day? No child could wait to show Mummy how clever she was, what new thing she could do. Waiting till tomorrow is a concept hard to explain to a four year old. And was there no time in the evening to have a little dance?

That's a really good observation, tigger, Children of that age cannot wait.

But as we have seen, getting the children to bed as soon as possible, was Kate's priority. So if the story of the new dance is true, then it would surely be Kate scheduling the demonstration for the next day rather than Madeleine, so she could relax in the tapas bar after her busy day.

by **PeterMac** 12.08.11 7:54

pauline wrote:
tigger wrote:
SNIP. Waiting till tomorrow is a concept hard to explain to a four year old. And was there no time in the evening to have a little dance?
That's a really good observation, tigger, Children of that age cannot wait. "

Nor do they have a concept of 'My life so far', in which "This has been the best day ever".

by ROSA 12.08.11 11:32

The best day ever yes i hope SY gives the Mccanns the best day ever byebye

by Gillyspot 12.08.11 12:54

On the 4th May 2007 Katey cant remember whether shutters were jemmied or not but remembers drinking a glass of New Zealand white wine. Not just a glass of wine??

"Yesterday, after the daily routine, Madeleine and the twins went into the bedroom and were put in their beds at around 7.30. The witness and her husband stayed in the apartment, relaxing, until 8.30pm. She took a bath, did her make-up and drank a glass of New Zealand wine with her husband. "

http://www.mccannfiles.com/id192.html

by Guest 12.08.11 12:59

Gillyspot wrote:On the 4th May 2007 Katey cant remember whether shutters were jemmied or not but remembers drinking a glass of New Zealand white wine. Not just a glass of wine??

"Yesterday, after the daily routine, Madeleine and the twins went into the bedroom and were put in their beds at around 7.30. The witness and her husband stayed in the apartment, relaxing, until 8.30pm. She took a bath, did her make-up and drank a glass of New Zealand wine with her husband. "

[url=http://www.mccannfiles.com/id192.html

http://www.mccannfiles.com/id192.html[/quote[/url]]

I could never understand the mention of 'New Zealand' white wine. Why not just say a glass of wine. Isn't there also a mention of this somewhere else, where GM goes to the supermarket to specially get this New Zealand wine. Must be a reason for this.

by pauline 12.08.11 13:16

candyfloss wrote:

I could never understand the mention of 'New Zealand' white wine. Why not just say a glass of wine. Isn't there also a mention of this somewhere else, where GM goes to the supermarket to specially get this New Zealand wine. Must be a reason for this.

kate and gerry worked in New Zealand where they may have developed a taste for NZ wine. Kate often gives great (and irrelevant) detail in the book whereas she doesn't mention, or skims over matters that she doesn't want to go into. This is all part of the plan to confuse and to perhaps prove to the reader how good her memory is that she can remember such a trivial thing as the wine she drank that night. When she mentioned the NZ wine I wondered why she would not try Portuguese wine as they have some great ones and would be cheaper than wines imported from so far away. When I am on holiday I normally drink the wines of that country.

by Guest 12.08.11 13:24

You've taken the words (or the wine?) out of my mouth Pauline. I was about to say that I feel that the trivial details are to encourage us to believe that she remembers every little thing that happened and that they all must be true.