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Oct. 30, 2005 Whenever someone dares to have an opinion that someone else disagrees with it is right and proper that it should result in discussion and debate. I welcome such disagreement and I welcome debate. One way to learn about things is to hear all sides of the issues and to listen as much as one speaks (or writes in the case of UK). I would never be so presumptuous as to think that my opinions are always right and there is no room for other ideas and thoughts. I was a debater in college and it is one of my great loves to engage in this sort of dialogue. There are also rules when debating and if they aren't followed than chaos reigns and everything is lost in the sound of angry voices and unfounded claims. I have written a lot about the Holloway case because that's what I do and it fascinates me. It has also gotten to me in an emotional way that I didn't anticipate. I began to feel the frustration of the parties involved on all sides and I began to want the answers to the why's and wherefores of what happened to this girl. I have NEVER stated in any of my articles that it's my way or the highway or that I am in possession of knowledge that no one else has. I have asked questions in my articles and have even received some answers via private email. I have learned about far more information than I started with. I have learned about the personalities involved and about some of their motivations. It has been enlightening as well as frustrating and I do not regret my original search for answers or writing about them on here. This is the ONLY place where I discuss this case or write about it. I DO NOT write or post on other sites or message boards where this case is widely discussed but I have read some of them and came away dumbfounded at the complete lack of empathy I have observed. I have seen people grasping at straws and believing that they are speaking to Joran van der Sloot (which may or may not be the case), and I have seen people fawning over him as if he were some kind of unsung hero. I have seen people absolutely attempting to destroy Beth Twitty's reputation and Natalee's as well. I have seen people make cruel and unthinking comments about things that they know nothing about. I have no answers as to why this is going on other than that people are fascinated with the case and the circumstances surrounding it. It reads like a fictional mystery and has all of the ingredients to satisfy the most voracious mystery buff. A pretty, young girl from an affluent family on a lovely graduation holiday on a beautiful Island; a young man who is tall and nice looking who remains somewhat of a mystery himself. The connection between the boy and his father to the very people who are charged with investigating the girl's disappearance, the loss of evidence, the lack of proper police procedure and a prosecutor who remains silent because she must under her countries law. A mother who is determined to find answers and uses both the media and anyone else she can to get answers even if some of the people she has chosen to associate with have questionable backgrounds, motives and possible hidden agendas, makes the mystery deepen. Throw in the powerful Secretary of State of the world's most powerful Country and a Senator for good measure and the recipe is complete. We now have a movie of the week that rivets one's attention until the very end. The problem is that there seems to be no end. There are no clues, no evidence and no obvious leads. As my esteemed colleague, Pat Hurley eluded to, even Colombo couldn't solve this one easily. I found that besides the frustration and the desire to find answers I would open myself up to personal attacks by writing about this case. Why? I am not a person in a position to have any effect on the outcome. I am not a member of the family nor am I a member of the investigating team on Aruba. I am just me. No false face here, no claims to know what other's do not know....just me. I have been fortunate during this process to have met some people who have information regarding the case but even they don't have the answers. They have SOME of them but not enough to solve the puzzle. I have learned a LOT about Aruban and Dutch law and other than the Holloway case I doubt that I will be able to put this information to good use, but I am grateful for the time that others have taken to try an educate me. It is complicated and difficult to decipher when you are used to a certain set of rules and you live by those rules. It is not easy to turn things on their ear and look at them from an entirely different and sometimes confusing prospective. I came here to have a voice and to share my thoughts and I have been attacked for doing so. I probably will never understand the need for someone to do that because it is a foreign concept to me to try and destroy a person because they don't agree with you. That is so anti everything that I have been taught and it certainly doesn't comply with those rules of debate that I referred to above. It is simply petty and childish and tells more about the attacker than the attacked. I have considered not writing here anymore because I don't need the aggravation in my life and because I don't like to hear that I am being painted as someone who isn't honest. I pride myself on writing only what I believe and not embellishing or adding headlines that are for the sole purpose of getting attention. I don't like to begin my articles with a repetitious mantra that goes on and on and makes no sense and bores everyone to tears when in the end it accomplishes nothing and informs no one. This article is my way of telling all of you what my purpose is and why. I have no other agenda nor do I have any hidden reasons for writing about the Holloway case. I heard from students from Mountain Brook but I can't be 100% sure that they are who they say they are. I do know that they had information that hasn't been publicized and that they seemed to be honest. It's interesting, it's a mystery and it's about a lost child. Those are reasons enough for me to remain interested. It's about human suffering and frustration and foreign concepts that are not easy to understand and those are enough reasons for me to remain interested. I won't be scared away and I won't silence my voice because someone wants me to. I won't fall into the trap of being intimidated by bullies or frightened by those of lesser intelligence and a total lack of compassion for other human beings. Let them go talk to Joran and worship at the alter of that boy with so many flaws. Let them wind up with egg all over their faces when he re-offends or is discovered to be less than the demi-god that they have turned him into. I just hope that I am around the day that this revelation happens. That will be justice enough for me. Now, if we could only find some justice for Natalee Holloway.... ------------ About the author: Meri has a Medical/Legal background and is a former forensic researcher specializing in psychological profiling. https://www2.xlibris.com/bookstore/bookdisplay.asp?bookid=27335 Email: writers2@cox.net Tell a friend about this site! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com. Please link to this article rather than copying and pasting it onto your site (which would be unauthorized and illegal). |
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