٩(●̮̮̃•̃)۶ Anger is a signal, and one worth listening to

Madeleine

2012-02-08T00:47:00.001-08:00

What really happened

to Madeleine McCann?

10 key reasons which suggest

that she was not abducted

Madeleine McCann was reported missing by her mother, Dr Kate McCann, at 10pm on Thursday 3^rd May, 2007. Since then, Madeleine, who was then nearly four, has become the best-known ‘missing child’ in the world. The McCanns claimed she was abducted, by an abductor who has never been traced. They said they were wining and dining in a Tapas bar 100 yards away from where they had left their three young children in their holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, on the beautiful Algarve coast.

The Portuguese police believed the McCanns were involved in the disappearance of Madeleine. They were made official suspects on 7 September 2007 - and remained so until July 2008. Then, the Portuguese Attorney-General announced that there was insufficient evidence for any person to be charged in connection with Madeleine’s ‘disappearance’, though he added that there was evidence that Madeleine was dead. The McCanns’ spokesman, Clarence Mitchell, who used to head the government’s 40-strong Media Monitoring Unit, whose function Mr Mitchell said was ‘to control what comes out in the media’, claimed that the McCanns had been ‘cleared’.

In October 2007, the senior detective in charge, Goncalo Amaral, was replaced, claiming British government interference in his investigation. A few years earlier, he solved another ‘missing child’ case - that of 8-year-old Joana Cipriano. Her mother and uncle were convicted for her murder, having initially claimed she was abducted. Goncalo Amaral has since written a book, ‘The Truth About A Lie’, showing that Madeleine died in Praia da Luz. A documentary he made about Madeleine’s death can be seen on YouTube, here:

This leaflet gives 10 key reasons which suggest Madeleine was not abducted. It is a shortened version of a 64-page booklet published in Britain in December 2008, titled: “What Really Happened to Madeleine McCann? - 60 Reasons which suggest she was not abducted”. Information on how to obtain this booklet is on the back of our leaflet.

Reason 1: Statistics show that the vast majority of young children reported abducted from their homes are already dead

Time after time, when young children die or are killed in their own homes, parents claim their child has really been abducted. The death may be from an accident, negligence, neglect or deliberate act. We can simply say: young children are almost never kidnapped from inside their own homes. The Portuguese police were bound to be suspicious of the parents’ claims that Madeleine had been abducted. But these statistics, though very persuasive, do not prove anything. So let us look at nine other reasons which suggest that she was not abducted.

Reason 2: The world-renowned British sniffer dogs, Eddie and Keela, detected the scent of a corpse in 10 places which strongly suggested Madeleine died in the McCanns’ holiday apartment

Here are the main facts about the findings of the two British springer spaniels, Eddie and Keela:

they were trained by expert dog-handler Martin Grime and are internationally famed for being able to detect the presence of a corpse (Eddie) or blood (Keela)
Grime said that Eddie had never ever given a ‘false alert’ in 200 previous outings
Eddie alerts only to human cadaverine - the scent of a human corpse. This is usually only produced in a corpse when the body has been dead for over 2 hours
Eddie alerted to the scent of a corpse in the following places: the living room, the McCanns’ bedroom, the veranda and the garden of their holiday apartment, on two of Dr Kate McCann’s clothes, on a T-shirt belonging to Madeleine or brother Sean, and on the pink soft toy, ‘Cuddle Cat’ (despite the fact that Dr Kate McCann had already washed Cuddle Cat at least once)
Eddie also detected the smell of death in the McCanns’ hired Renault Scenic car
Keela found blood at some of the same locations
Eddie and Keela were taken to many other apartments and cars in Praia da Luz, but did not alert anywhere else
checks were made by the Portuguese police as to whether anyone else had died in the McCanns’ apartment or in their car. No-one had
a neighbour made a witness statement saying that for weeks she saw the McCanns’ hired car with its boot open all night long.

The dogs’ evidence was therefore very clear: a corpse had been in all those 10 locations, and it could only have been the corpse of Madeleine McCann.

Reason 3: The strange reactions of the McCanns when they became aware of the sniffer dogs’ findings

The McCanns initially reacted by desperately inventing possible explanations for the dogs’ findings. Family members claimed the death smell on Dr Kate McCann’s clothes was due to having attended six corpses at work during the fortnight before her holiday. She even claimed that the death smell on ‘Cuddle Cat’ was because she took Madeleine’s toy to work. Then they claimed the smell of death and body fluids found in the car could have come from ‘rotting meat’ and ‘dirty nappies’ in the boot. Finally, they fell back on claiming the dogs’ findings were ‘unreliable’ and ‘valueless’. These explanations were offered only to the media, not to the police.

Reason 4: The sheer impossibility of the abduction scenario

The McCanns have claimed that the abductor entered through an unlocked patio door, found Madeleine in the dark, then decided to open curtains, window and shutter of the children’s bedroom and climb through a window 3 feet above the ground and barely 2 feet wide. He is supposed to have done this without waking any of the three children. According to the McCanns and their friends, he must have done this within the space of 2-3 minutes, in the dark, without being seen or heard, nor leaving any forensic traces like fingerprints, hair, fibres, skin fragments, shoe prints, or glove marks, nor any trace of abrasion marks on or around the window and window-sill. This scenario is so unlikely that we can simply say: this did not happen. When the window-frame was examined, only Dr Kate McCann’s fingerprints were found on it.

Reason 5: The refusal of the McCanns and their friends to help the police

in September 2007, the police asked Dr Kate McCann 48 questions about Madeleine’s disappearance. She only answered this one: “Are you aware that in not answering the questions, you are jeopardising the investigation, which seeks to discover what happened to your daughter?” She answered: “Yes, if that’s what the investigation thinks".
the McCanns deleted mobile ’phone records, and refused to allow the Portuguese police to examine any of their medical or financial records including credit card records.
the McCanns publicly offered to take a lie detector test, then changed their minds
the McCanns and their ‘Tapas 7’ friends also refused to attend a proposed police reconstruction of the events the night Madeleine was reported missing. Yet they travelled to Portugal for a Channel 4 film which reconstructed their own version of what happened the night Madeleine was reported missing
a Portuguese newspaper, Sol, tried to talk to one of the McCanns’ friends, Dr David Payne, about what had happened. He refused to talk, saying: “This is our matter. We have a pact”. He added that all requests for quotes and interviews must go through Dr Gerald McCann. Why would the group need to have what has been called a ‘Pact of Silence’ about the circumstances surrounding Madeleine’s ‘disappearance’?

Reason 6: Changes of story by the McCanns and their friends

There have been many changes of story by the McCanns and their friends, and many contradictions within their versions of events - far too many to list here. For example:

initially, the McCanns claimed that an abductor forced entry to the apartment by ‘jemmying open the shutters’. The police and Mark Warners’ staff examined the shutters, proving this was untrue. The McCanns quickly changed their story to say the abductor must have come in via the open patio door and exited through a small bedroom window
the description of an abductor by McCanns’ friend Jane Tanner changed several times
until very recently, the McCanns’ website described a moustachioed man, over 6ft tall, as ‘the probable abductor’, when there was no evidence connecting this man, seen by a tourist days before Madeleine was reported missing, to the events the night Madeleine went missing. Further, he looks nothing like the 5’ 7” man described by Jane Tanner.

Reason 7: The McCanns’ rush to appoint lawyers and PR experts

Immediately Madeleine was reported missing, the McCanns appointed many lawyers and public relations experts to help them, including extradition lawyers. What use would lawyers and PR experts be in finding their daughter? Maybe the McCanns knew from the outset that they would need lawyers and PR folk to defend them?

Reason 8: The strange reactions of the McCanns and their friends after she claimed to have found Madeleine missing

What is one to make of these reactions of Dr Kate McCann on finding Madeleine missing and stating she noticed the shutter and window open?

she searched the apartment ‘for 10 minutes’, despite on her own evidence the probability that she was not there
she left the twins in her apartment whilst she ran to the ‘Tapas Bar’ to raise the alarm
she failed to check on the twins’ well-being. The first thought through most mothers’ minds would have been whether they could also have been interfered with.

In addition:

in the days after Madeleine went missing, the McCanns were apparently happy to leave the twins in the crèche whilst they courted the media. If they were genuinely distraught by losing one child, would they not stay protectively close to the two they had left?
the McCanns admit they never physically searched for Madeleine
despite the claim of Jane Tanner that she had seen a man walking with a child in a certain direction, the McCanns and their friends failed to organise a concerted search in along the route he might have taken.

Reason 9: Making long-term plans to mark Madeleine’s alleged abduction - whilst claiming she was alive and could still be found

From the early days, the McCanns made plans for events to mark the day Madeleine went missing - a sign they didn’t expect to find her:

just a month after she ‘disappeared’, Dr Gerald McCann said: “We want a big event to raise awareness that she is still missing. It won’t be a one-year anniversary, it will be sooner than that”
then, on 28 June 2007, he said: “I have no doubt we will be able to sustain a high profile for Madeleine’s disappearance in the long-term”
the McCanns trade-marked the name ‘Madeleine’s Fund’ and highlighted Madeleine’s eye defect - the coloboma - boasting that her eye defect was ‘a valuable marketing ploy’. This was against the advice of the Portuguese police. You can view where Dr Gerald McCann says this at:

Why make long-term plans if Madeleine could be found at any time? Strangely, Madeleine’s eye defect doesn't figure in ‘Missing Person’ descriptions of her on the Portuguese police or Interpol websites. In March 2009, before a Parliamentary Committee, Dr McCann claimed British media made Madeleine ‘a commodity'. Yet just a fortnight after Madeleine went missing, he and his advisors set up a website, a private company to raise money (note: not a charity), and produced goods for sale.

Reason 10: Dr Kate McCann washing the toy ‘Cuddle Cat’

The McCanns claimed Madeleine always took her favourite soft toy, ‘Cuddle Cat’, with her. They then said the abductor had handled ‘Cuddle Cat’, placing it on ‘a high shelf or ledge’. The abductor could have left valuable forensic traces on the toy. So why did Dr Kate McCann decide to thoroughly wash it, something most mothers say they could never do to the soft toy of their missing child. Later, despite Dr Kate McCann washing Cuddle Cat, cadaver dog Eddie detected the smell of death on it. The smell of death remains on items long after they have been thoroughly cleaned.

WHAT YOU CAN DO NOW

If Madeleine McCann was not abducted, and died in the McCanns’ apartment in Portugal, as the original senior detective in the case has very good reason to believe, then those that caused or allowed her death have - so far - got away with it. To read more about what really happened to Madeleine McCann, you can order “What Really Happened to Madeleine McCann? - 60 reasons which suggest she was not abducted” from our website: www.madeleinefoundation.org or from the address below. Or visit one of these three websites which also have further information:

www.mccannfiles.com www.truthformadeleine.com www.the3arguidos.net

To join our campaign for justice for Madeleine McCann, contact The Madeleine Foundation, 66 Chippingfield, HARLOW, Essex, CM17 0DJ Tel: 01279 635789 e-mail: ajsbennett@btinternet.com website: www.madelelinefoundation.org

Second edition published and printed by Supporters of The Madeleine Foundation, 15 August 2009

Posted via email from amayita's posterous

Untitled

2012-01-14T10:11:00.001-08:00

Posted via email from amayita's posterous

2011-11-25T05:04:00.001-08:00

Manifiesto contra la Violencia Machista http://ping.fm/u2kE1

2011-11-24T05:20:00.001-08:00

Rosa Díez: Ansias de poder http://ping.fm/dezLv

2011-11-24T03:58:00.001-08:00

QuePollasBuscas.es - El Buscador Granaíno - Motor de busqueda Que Pollas Buscas http://ping.fm/7XexZ

2011-06-15T00:29:00.001-07:00

Jono Bacon: Metal Free Software Song 2: This Time It’s Personal http://ping.fm/xeyFA

2011-06-03T01:48:00.001-07:00

Lo queremos todo.
Que nos den la hipoteca aunque no nos lo podamos permitir.
Si los pisos suben y a los dos días lo venden por unos kilos más no protestan.
Si se van al paro que pague la deuda rita.

Eso sí no le preguntes a nadie si ha considerado si se lo pueden permitir, por que eso no pasa por su cabeza.

Untitled

2010-12-07T11:24:00.001-08:00

La Yogourtera: El Soylent Green es gente. http://ping.fm/2JVB8

via Ping.fm

Posted via email from amayita's posterous

Untitled

2010-12-07T11:08:00.001-08:00

Escolar.net » Controlemos también a los notarios http://ping.fm/yQU8W

via Ping.fm

Posted via email from amayita's posterous

Untitled

2010-12-07T10:54:00.001-08:00

Dos islas hundidas por la banca · ELPAÍS.com http://ping.fm/hhx9x

via Ping.fm

Posted via email from amayita's posterous

“Carta de un trabajador de una perrera”

2010-07-21T03:48:00.001-07:00

Entre 9 y 11 millones de animales mueren a diario en las perreras

via chuequita.com

Posted via email from amayita's posterous

Untitled

2010-07-19T08:16:00.001-07:00

Piden un año de cárcel por apuñalar a su perro y dejar que se desangre http://ping.fm/dmZzy

via Ping.fm

Posted via email from amayita's posterous

Untitled

2010-07-19T08:04:00.001-07:00

Público.es - Piden un año de cárcel por apuñalar a su perro y dejar que se desangre http://ping.fm/8DmGo

via Ping.fm

Posted via email from amayita's posterous

Untitled

2010-07-19T07:30:00.001-07:00

The Spanish cooking oil scandal | The Guardian http://ping.fm/MarSC

via Ping.fm

Posted via email from amayita's posterous

Territorio Vergara » El metro de Madrid en huelga

2010-07-01T07:49:00.001-07:00

via blogs.publico.es

Posted via email from amayita's posterous

Racist Cat

2010-06-30T03:04:00.001-07:00

via youtube.com

Posted via email from amayita's posterous

Escolar.net » Las profecías de Stiglitz

2010-06-28T00:40:00.001-07:00

Joseph Stiglitz, premio Nobel de Economía: “Si una familia no puede pagar sus deudas, se le recomienda que gaste menos para que pueda hacerlo. Pero en una economía nacional, si se recorta el gasto, decae la actividad económica, nadie invierte, disminuye la recaudación fiscal, aumenta el gasto en desempleo y uno termina sin dinero para pagar las deudas”. “Hay muchos experimentos que lo demuestran gracias a Herbert Hoover y el Fondo Monetario Internacional”, explica Stiglitz en una reciente entrevista en el diario británico The Independent. Se refiere a los ‘éxitos’ de las recetas de recorte del déficit que aplicó el FMI en Argentina, en Tailandia o en Indonesia; y a la decisión de aquel presidente estadounidense, Hoover, que con su tijeretazo al gasto público convirtió el crack del 29 en la terrible Gran Depresión.

Conviene escuchar a Stiglitz, ex asesor de Bill Clinton, ex vicepresidente primero del Banco Mundial. Este economista fue casi el único que predijo la tremenda crisis económica que ahora sufrimos, el primero que advirtió del riesgo de un colapso del sistema financiero internacional. También fue él quien avisó, hace ya 20 años, del peligro de revender las hipotecas como títulos de inversión, ese genial invento que estalló con las subprime. Y el Nobel se lo ganó, en el año 2001, con una investigación que demostraba que cierto grado de intervención gubernamental en la economía, ese tabú neoliberal, conseguía mejores resultados para todos que la desregulación total. Como quedó patente en septiembre de 2007, Stiglitz volvía a tener razón.

“Sabemos lo que ocurre”, dice sobre los recortes que están aplicando todos los gobiernos europeos. “Las economías van a debilitarse, se reducirán las inversiones y se producirá una terrible espiral descendente”. Ayer, los países del G-20 se reafirmaron en su compromiso de reducir a la mitad su déficit antes del año 2013. Ojalá Stiglitz se equivoque esta vez.

via escolar.net

Posted via email from amayita's posterous

"Hackers" at 25 - O'Reilly Radar

2010-06-27T00:10:00.001-07:00

"Hackers" at 25

It's been 25 years since "Hackers" was published. Author Steven Levy reflects on the book and the movement.
by Mac Slocum | @macslocum | comments: 3

Steven Levy wrote a book in the mid-1980s that introduced the term "hacker" -- the positive connotation -- to a wide audience. In the ensuing 25 years, that word and its accompanying community have gone through tremendous change. The book itself became a mainstay in tech libraries.

O'Reilly recently released an updated 25th anniversary edition of "Hackers," so I checked in with Levy to discuss the book's development, its influence, and the role hackers continue to play.

Writing "Hackers"

Do you remember the original pitch for "Hackers"?

Steven Levy: I don't remember it, though I can tell you that it didn't wind up being what the book was. I thought I was going to embark on a series of magazine articles.

Soon after I started researching, it seemed like it was going to be a two-part book starting with the Homebrew Computer Club and then the game hackers and that emerging industry. But then I realized that the whole hacker culture started at MIT. That was where I had to go, and it turned out to be a key section of the book.

Of all the stories and profiles in the book, which resonated most with you?

SL: The MIT story was just amazing. I stumbled upon this important history and no one else had chronicled it. It's difficult to overestimate how important that community was to hatching the culture of hacking, and really the culture of computing. It had ripples far beyond the hacker community that went out to the way we all use computers.

I would learn about these people like Richard Greenblatt and Bill Gosper, that no one ever heard of. The way they expressed themselves and the reverberations they created were very influential. They were legends within the walls of MIT.

It's a little bittersweet that the book itself wound up defining them to a larger audience. From a journalistic and psychological perspective, it was interesting to talk to Greenblatt and Gosper. They had mixed feelings about sharing with me. Gosper had the biggest vacillation. He was okay with the book, but he never went to a Hacker Conference. And there's things in the book that were a little embarrassing for Greenblatt, but he was okay. He felt: "Well, that's just journalism. The more important thing is hacking, and if the book is good for hacking, that's all right."

Some of the people who grudgingly talked to me ended up appreciating the book. Marvin Minsky, for example, was a mercurial character. He'd get up and walk away and you didn't know whether the interview was over. I would follow him and keep asking questions. I ran into him at a Science Foo Camp last summer, and he said such nice things about the book. I had never heard these things from him. That was just super for me.

Is there anyone you wish you had included?

SL: I didn't set out to create an exhaustive chronicle of all hackers. Some people have told me I should have included them in the book. But I was following a narrative. Just because someone isn't in the book, doesn't mean they're not important.

The "Hackers" impact and the 25th anniversary edition

How has the definition of "hacker" changed over the last 25 years?

SL: The original term was upbeat. The MIT people adopted it for computer wizards who took systems to the limit. It was a badge of pride, but it became associated with vandals and thieves. There was a lot of consternation in the mid-'70s when the word became synonymous with a destructive element. I never thought that was something to spend a lot of time worrying about, though. The original definition was still lurking there. The movement always went forward, and the people who were inclined to be hackers -- the ones who had the "hacker gene" -- they just kept on.

More recently, the positive version of "hacker" has made a big comeback. I'm happy to see that.

You mentioned a "hacker gene." Is there a connection across hacker generations? Does the book tap into that?

SL: There definitely is. It's been so gratifying to hear people say the book changed their lives. Other times, I'll be reading a biography or an article about someone prominent in the computer world, and they'll mention "Hackers." Some have told me "I recognize myself in this book, and I didn't know those other people were out there."

If you were writing the book today, how would you approach it?

SL: It's hard to say because so much now is taken for granted that wasn't even thought of back then. One of the precepts of the hacker ethic -- which I tried to codify based on what I saw as the implicit assumptions of hackers for various generations -- was that you can create art and beauty on a computer. That was a crazy idea back then, but now it's pretty obvious. The super edgy ideas at that time are now so mainstream you don’t even think about them. So, now, it would have to be a really different kind of book.

The 25th anniversary edition contains updated material. What did you add?

SL: I went back to some of the people originally in the book. I also talked to people who, if I were writing the book now, would've been in it.

Working behind the update was the idea that we had all gotten older. That just happens after 25 years. Everyone was still as enthusiastic as before, though. Take Bill Gates. Even though he has a different job, he's still as hardcore as he was. He's hacking vaccinations, now. And don't think for a minute he's lost track of what happens with Microsoft.

The new people were great. Mark Zuckerberg, to me, is the person who embodies the kind of hacker who doesn't see the conflict so much between commerce and computer creativity. It's all at peace to him.

Hacking in the present day

Are we in a position now where low-cost storage and pay-as-you-go resources will unlock a level of innovation similar to what you encountered when you were writing "Hackers"?

SL: It's a continuation. At the time, creating a program that lived on a paper tape and that was shared among a dozen people was as revolutionary and as dramatic a change as these cloud-based application centers are now. That same sort of flexibility and launching pad for creativity snowballed into something that the masses now participate in.

Is Apple's success with closed products (iPhone, iPad, etc.) an ominous sign for hacking?

SL: Even though Apple has an iron hand in executing the limits that they've set, there's a lot of creativity that happens on the iPhone and the iPad. Setting those limits isn't a very hackerish thing to do. But certainly if you're a hacker and you're so inclined, you could work within those limits and you could write something that Apple would approve. And people have. Just because Apple has top-down regulation, doesn't mean there's no room for creativity.

What is the next frontier for hacking? Physical goods? Biological? Something else?

SL: I don't think we're done with computer hacking. It's more important than ever to have creative ways to make use of this unbelievable infrastructure that we've created.

Any time you think it's all been done, someone comes up with something that changes everything. Look at Napster. There was this period where people thought all the big companies would make all the big decisions, and then Napster came out of a dorm room and knocked everything upside down. We're going to see more of those. Facebook came from a dorm room, right? A great idea that's well implemented can go farther than it's ever been able to go before.

This interview was condensed and edited.

Related:

Geek Power: Steven Levy Revisits Tech Titans, Hackers, Idealists

tags: hackers, hacking, hacks | comments: 3
submit:

via radar.oreilly.com

Posted via email from amayita's posterous

BBC News - Bionic feet for amputee cat

2010-06-26T23:58:00.001-07:00

Advertisement

Oscar gets to try his new feet

A cat that had its back feet severed by a combine harvester has been given two prosthetic limbs in a pioneering operation by a UK vet.

The new feet are custom-made implants that "peg" the ankle to the foot. They are bioengineered to mimic the way deer antler bone grows through the skin.

The operation - a world first - was carried out by Noel Fitzpatrick, a veterinary surgeon based in Surrey.

His work is explored in a BBC documentary called The Bionic Vet.

The cat, named Oscar, was referred to Mr Fitzpatrick by his local vet in Jersey, following the accident last October. Oscar was struck by the combine harvester whilst dozing in the sun.

The prosthetic pegs, called intraosseous transcutaneous amputation prosthetics (Itaps) were developed by a team from University College London led by Professor Gordon Blunn, who is head of UCL's Centre for Biomedical Engineering.

Professor Blunn and his team have worked in partnership with Mr Fitzpatrick to develop these weight-bearing implants, combining engineering mechanics with biology.

Mr Fitzpatrick explained: "The real revolution with Oscar is [that] we have put a piece of metal and a flange into which skin grows into an extremely tight bone."

"We have managed to get the bone and skin to grow into the implant and we have developed an 'exoprosthesis' that allows this implant to work as a see-saw on the bottom of an animal's limbs to give him effectively normal gait."

Professor Blunn told BBC News the idea was initially developed for patients with amputations who have a "stump socket".

"This means they fix their artifical limb with a sock, which fits over the stump. In a lot of cases this is sucessful, but you [often] get rubbing and pressure sores."

The Itap technology is being tested in humans and has already been used to create a prosthetic for a woman who lost her arm in the July 2005 London bombings.

"The intriguing thing with Oscar was that he had two implants - one in each back leg, and in quite an unusual site," Professor Blunn told BBC News.

He said that the success of this operation showed the potential of the technology.

"Noel has some brilliant ideas," he added. "And we're continuing to work closely with him to develop new technologies."

The Bionic Vet is on BBC 1 at 2245 BST on Wednesday

via news.bbc.co.uk

Toomany bullfighters, so few good vets. Read story for cat's video

Posted via email from amayita's posterous

Sinergia sin control

2010-06-22T22:32:00.001-07:00

via 4.bp.blogspot.com

El Gobierno podría optar por una solución intermedia entre la libertad actual para utilizar redes P2P y descargar todo tipo de material y el propuesto por las leyes francesas, que amenaza con desconectar a los usarios reincidentes: limitar la velocidad de la conexión ADSL.

baquia.com

Posted via web from amayita's posterous

When Animals Resist Their Oppression « Animal Visions

2010-06-22T16:48:00.001-07:00

The gorilla as she attempts to escape (Photo courtesy: Erica Bullins/June 3, 2010

The headlines read “Curious Gorilla Attempts Several Escapes at NC Zoo“. Today in Asheboro, NC, local news reported that a gorilla after multiple attempts climbed to the top of her fence enclosure with the aid of a fallen tree limb. The spectator filming her attempt to escape called 911 and zoo authorities came and shut down the exhibit in order to “check the enclosure for safety and integrity” and to reassure the public that a gorilla attempting to escape her captivity won’t happen again at the North Carolina Zoo.

However, this is not the first time an animal attempting to escape a zoo made the news. In 2007, a tiger attempted escape from the San Francisco Zoo and her efforts resulted in the death of her and a 17-year old young man.

Often when an animal uses force (sometimes deadly) to escape, the police kill him because his escapes are perceived as attacks, and often time they are. Therefore, he poses a threat to society and to the zoo that is supposed to be a safe enclosure where human adults and children can “enjoy nature” without having to step outside the concrete buffers of civilization. The way civilized society stands, the animal’s sheer desire for freedom is a threat.

After the attempted escape, the zoo officials can make sure that it’s reduced to “human error” and rest assure that the error will be mended–never mind that the individual has attempted escape more than once. The media never reports credit towards the animal. Because if they did, the zoos and the people who enjoy their exhibitions would have more to fear.

Stories like these will always happen so long as wild animals are forced into captivity and put on exhibition. Though the individual struggles are not globally organized, their attempts to leave their cages are powerful stories reflecting their will to live free and to escape their oppression. This is more than a fictional account to entertain children like the movie Madagascar. This is real life, with real individuals, many of whom have died trying to escape. This is a global phenomenon.