Amy’s Blog!!!!!

On May 3, 2007 Gerry and Katie McCann left their three children asleep in their Portugal hotel room while they went to eat dinner with some friends less than 120 meters away.  When they returned to their hotel room to check on the three kids they were horrified to see that their three-year-old daughter Madeleine was missing.  It has been four months since all of this occurred and Madeleine is still gone.  Despite police investigation and a nearly six million-dollar reward, answers as to what happened to young Maddy are still unknown.

Somehow this case has evolved into a multi-national media phenomenon.  Many papers have compared it to the Jon Benet-Ramsey case simply because of the amount of media attention that is surrounding it.  Endorsements from mega-stars such as J.K. Rowling, and David Beckam haven’t persuaded anyone to reveal information leading to the return of Madeleine McCann.  The parents have created a website, Bring Madeleine home, where they post blogs about what is happening in the case of their daughter and their personal thoughts and opinions.

Although many people have criticized the parents for leaving their young children behind, I would have to defend the parents in this situation.  Although it is never right to leave young kids alone I can see how the parents could’ve made a mistake.  They were on vacation in a supposedly safe place, they were eating in the same building that the children were in, and were checking on the kids every half-hour.  Personally, I find it sad that parents can’t even eat dinner without worrying for their children’s safe being. 

It has recently surfaced that the police in Portugal have named Katie and Gerry McCann as official suspects of this case.  Could it be possible that the police have struck a dead end and don’t know what else to do in order to put this case behind them?  Are they being pressured to get rid of unwanted media attention that is affecting their economy?  I believe that whoever did abduct Madeleine McCann is still on the loose and police are wasting their time by accusing the parents.  False accusations aside, Madeleine McCann is still missing and all I can really hope for is that she is returned to her parents soon.

Recently microwave popcorn has been getting lots of unwanted attention for containing diacetyl in the butter flavoring.  Diacetyl has been brought to our attention before when factory workers in popcorn factories came down with the disease assumed to be caused by diacetyl called Bronchiolitis Obliterans, or “popcorn lung.”  If you read into this article, from msnbc, you will see that until very recently, the disease has only affected factory workers.  After years of settling lawsuits and trying to keep this rare disease quiet there is a confirmed case of a consumer getting popcorn lung.  After hearing about this story I started wondering why everyone wasn’t running down the streets, throwing away all of their unwanted microwave popcorn!  After researching the topic I realized that as long as you aren’t eating two or three bags of popcorn every day you will probably be okay.  The man in this case said that for ten years he had been eating two or three bags each day, and he said that he always liked to open the bag up and smell it, which is where the diacetyl comes into affect.  Diacetyl, which is shows up in cheese and fruits naturally, is used in the butter flavoring and is the suspected cause of popcorn lung.  Many manufacturers are now making promises to replace this additive with something with less potential in causing any harm.  Although some people are making a big deal about microwave popcorn, I really don’t believe that the average consumer is in any immediate danger whatsoever!  As for me… well I do have a craving for some microwave popcorn.

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