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Police officer tells jury of moment sobbing Shannon Matthews was found under bed in flat

Police who discovered the missing schoolgirl Shannon Matthews after a 24-day search told a jury yesterday that she whimpered and burst into tears on her release from inside a bed drawer, while her suspected kidnapper screamed at officers and tried to bite them.Detective Constable Paul Kettlewell said that a child's voice sobbing "stop it, you're frightening me" had alerted a search party to what they found in what was initially thought to be an empty flat just over a mile from the nine-year-old schoolgirl's home."It was quite surreal," PC Ian Mosley told Leeds crown court, where Shannon's mother, Karen Matthews, 33, and 40-year-old Michael Donovan deny kidnap, false imprisonment and perverting the course of justice by causing a £3.2m police inquiry. "We were not expecting to find Shannon, and then this little girl pulled herself out from the other side of the bed." He said she blinked at the roomful of officers and said: "I'm Shannon."The raid on Donovan's flat in Batley Carr, West Yorkshire, followed a decision by police to check all relatives' homes, still in the belief that they were dealing with a real and potentially fatal child kidnap. Officers had intended only a routine inquiry, but they broke down the door when there was no reply and neighbours assured them that Donovan, whose nephew Craig Meehan had become Matthews' partner, was at home.Kettlewell told the jury that after an initial search, he and four colleagues thought the flat was empty. He said: "I didn't go into the bedroom until I heard a child's voice. A colleague turned towards me and, as I was beginning to think perhaps the voice came from inside the bed, there was a noise as a small girl started to emerge. She was frightened and crying."Julian Goose, QC, prosecuting, asked him: "Did you say to the little girl, whom we now know was Shannon, where Mike was? Did she say 'Mike's where I was, he's under the bed'?" Kettlewell answered: "That's correct."The court heard from a third officer, PC Matthew Troake, who said he spotted Donovan curled up further into the drawer beneath the bed where Shannon had been squashed. He said: "I looked down into the hole where she'd come from and I saw a man, who I now know to be Michael Donovan, looking back at me. He was laid facing me in a foetal position."Donovan was arrested but refused to come out and was eventually dragged from the drawer screaming and trying to bite the police, the court heard. Troake said he continued to struggle as he was handcuffed, and banged his head on the wall as he was hauled down the narrow stairs from the first-floor flat.The court was told that after refusing to walk and being carried to a police van, Donovan subsided and said: "Get Karen down here, we've got a plan. We're sharing the money - £50,000."The officers denied suggestions from Alan Conrad QC, for Donovan, that he had been ill-treated in the excitement of the moment after the unexpected end to a hugely-publicised search. Conrad said to Mosley: "A number of you banged his head against the floor, another officer kneeled on his thigh, all the time shouting at him 'Now we've got you, you bastard'. On the way out, his head was banged against the wall, wasn't it? I suggest he became the focus of hostility by police at that time. The man who was responsible for kidnapping and keeping Shannon in that flat, that's how you perceived it?" Mosley replied "No sir," to each suggestion.The court was told that officers investigated the flat's loft after hearing a thud, and found an elasticated rope with a loop at the end, which is alleged to have been used to restrain Shannon when Donovan was out shopping. The jury has already heard that a list of written rules was found by police, apparently instructing the schoolgirl to keep quiet and obey Donovan at all times. The trial continues today.Shannon Matthews kidnapping trialguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Linda Grant: Israeli cinema comes out of the shadows

A string of powerful new Israeli films feature disturbing animation, surreal comedy - and a battle over a lemon tree. Linda Grant reports

Tales of the Unexpected

From UK Vogue, "Tales of the Unexpected," starring Tim Burton, Helena Bonham Carter, assorted models, and various others in a strange, surreal reenactment of some of Roald Dahl's greatest hits, James and the Giant Peach and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory among them. Shot by Tim Walker, the set includes eyeball play, interspecial love, and a crazy lift. (Via NOTCOT.)...

Bill Ayers: "What a Long, Strange Trip It?s Been."

Former Weather Underground member Bill Ayers says the experience of being made a political prop during the recently completed American presidential campaign was not unlike a vivid LSD trip. In the current issue of the left-progressive publication In These Times, his suggestions on what those swept up in the current wave of hope following Obama's election might do to harness that excitement. Snip: In a robust and sophisticated democracy, political leaders?and all of us?ought to seek ways to talk with many people who hold dissenting, or even radical, ideas. Lacking that simple and yet essential capacity to question authority, we might still be burning witches and enslaving our fellow human beings today. Maybe we could welcome our current situation?torn by another illegal war, as it was in the ?60s?as an opportunity to search for the new. Perhaps we might think of ourselves not as passive consumers of politics but as fully mobilized political actors. Perhaps we might think of our various efforts now, as we did then, as more than a single campaign, but rather as our movement-in-the-making. We might find hope in the growth of opposition to war and occupation worldwide. Or we might be inspired by the growing movements for reparations and prison abolition, or the rising immigrant rights movement and the stirrings of working people everywhere, or by gay and lesbian and transgender people courageously pressing for full recognition. Yet hope?my hope, our hope?resides in a simple self-evident truth: the future is unknown, and it is also entirely unknowable. History is always in the making. It?s up to us. It is up to me and to you. Nothing is predetermined. That makes our moment on this earth both hopeful and all the more urgent?we must find ways to become real actors, to become authentic subjects in our own history. We may not be able to will a movement into being, but neither can we sit idly for a movement to spring full-grown, as from the head of Zeus. We have to agitate for democracy and egalitarianism, press harder for human rights, learn to build a new society through our self-transformations and our limited everyday struggles. At the turn of the last century, Eugene Debs, the great Socialist Party leader from Terre Haute, Ind., told a group of workers in Chicago, ?If I could lead you into the Promised Land, I would not do it, because someone else would come along and lead you out.? In this time of new beginnings and rising expectations, it is even more urgent that we figure out how to become the people we have been waiting to be. Looking back on a surreal campaign season (In These Times, thanks Ned Sublette)...

Nick Knight's Fantasia

UK photographer Nick Knight's latest surreal SHOWstudio online fashion film is "Fantasia," "a mesmerising, full-throttle trip around the most sensational sartorial propositions of the past ten years," including Alexander McQueen's football fetishisms and Hussein Chalayan's remote-controlled dress. Related: Hussein Chalayan: future couture Hussein Chalayan's awesome animatronic fashion Tech couture roundup: Chalayan, McQueen, android beauty Hussein Chalayan's latest tech couture is lovely. Hussein Chalayan and Kristin Baker...

Amazing Al Capp At AnimationArchive.org

Stephen Worth says: Today, we posted more amazing "Cappiana" from the collection of cartoonist, Mike Fontanelli at the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive, including... ? Al Capp's infamous "Jack Jawbreaker" story -- a devastating satire of the notorious exploitation of Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster by DC Comics. ? More than a dozen rare Wildroot Cream-Oil strips, as well as original artwork and Nat King Cole's version of the jingle. ? Two complete Fearless Fosdick stories, including Capp's over-the-top masterpiece of surreal violence, "The Case of the Chippendale Chair (or Kiss The Blood Off My Springs)" Capp's sense of humor was decades ahead of its time, predating the sort of sick humor that is so popular in comics and cartoons today. It's amazing what he got away with in "family newspapers" during the 50s! CAPPtivating Heroes: Jack Jawbreaker and Fearless Fosdick Fight Crime...

Bath Blues In Cardiff

On a freezing cold night in Cardiff, I found myself in a rather surreal situation- dressed in my Halloween costume ready to go out after the match (I live in Cardiff now- itÂ’s a long story but it means that I was pretty jolly keen to win the game - I wouldnÂ’t be able to cope with the comments on Monday morning).

Peace and Tranquility in the Heart of the City (lower nob hill) $750 1bd

Peace and Tranquility in the Heart of the City Fully Furnished 1 Bedroom Apartment with Private Garden Available for Vacation or Corporate Rental Charming, elegantly furnished, 1 bedroom apartment. Decorated with antiques, original works of art and San Francisco memorabilia of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Hardwood floors, queen bed, large walk-in closet, updated bathroom and kitchen, cast iron gas fireplace and steam heat. Bright bay windows and French doors provide ample light and overlook enchanting, quiet, private redwood deck and surreal garden with magical fountain. “A peaceful oasis in the center of the city.” TV, DVD, stereo, CD, Cable TV, DSL & wireless internet. All utilities included. Fully equipped and appointed kitchen includes gas stove, dishwasher, full size refrigerator & microwave. Laundry facilities available in building. Complimentary coffee and tea. This very quiet, beautiful apartment is located at the rear (away from street) of a well-maintained, recently renovated 22 unit building originally constructed circa 1910. There is a cozy little cafe at the ground floor of the building located in a safe, clean and friendly Lower Nob Hill neighborhood. Close to Union Square, Financial District, Downtown Shopping District and the Theatre District. There are many coffee shops, art galleries and restaurants in the neighborhood. Roof deck has spectacular city views and provides an opportunity for sun bathing. Muni bus lines 2, 3, 4, 27, 38 and others stop within one block of the building; BART and MUNI trains are within a short walking distance. $2,500 per month $750 per week Security deposit required. Exact street address: 754 Post St. at Leavenworth

Surreal Synecdoche Was Hot

In filmmaking, a "hot set" is one on which filming is continuing and nothing should be touched. In Charlie Kaufman's new movie, Synecdoche, New York, the term takes on a whole new meaning: In once scene, a house burns perpetually while actors work around the flames.

Boehlert: Nothing funny about Star Tribune's treatment of Franken

The Minneapolis Star Tribune closed the barn door a little last week. On Thursday, the newspaper's editor Nancy Barnes distributed a newsroom memo announcing that the paper's columnists should refrain from political commentary until November 5. She thought it was best if the paper's cadre of opinion makers "refrain[ed] from partisan political commentary in their columns ... at least until after the election." And that columnists would "'stand down' on the kind of column that's an overtly partisan take." I always thought columnists were paid to express their opinions and to share with readers unvarnished insights on the issues of the day, electoral politics being just about at the top of that list. But if that's how the editor of the Strib (as it is known locally) wanted to handle the home stretch, to go ultra-civil, than that's certainly her right. What raised eyebrows in the land of Minnesota Nice was that Barnes' memo landed on desks (or in inboxes) the day after newspaper columnist Katherine Kersten uncorked a sidewinder that tagged Al Franken, running for the U.S. Senate in the state, as being anti-Christian, and specifically anti-Catholic. Cherry-picking from his three-decade career as a comedy writer and satirist, Kersten highlighted a handful of cracks and claimed he was unfit for the Senate because he was a "slanderer of Christianity." ("Vulgar mockery of Christians: Is this what we want in a U.S. senator?" read the headline.) For instance, Kersten was deeply offended by a skit idea for Saturday Night Live, which never aired, in which Franken suggested a series of dogs, played by cast members, confessing to a priest. (I'm Catholic, and just the premise of that skit made me laugh.) In another book, Franken described greeting a New York audience with the words, "Isn't Cardinal O'Connor an asshole?" (Trust me, in New York in the 1990s, that was not as provocative a statement as it seems today; O'Connor was an extraordinarily political and, at times, divisive figure.) Then, in a deceptive bit of wordcraft, Kersten wrote, "In today's surreal political climate, a guy who lobs insults like these has a shot at one the highest political offices in the land." Note the verb tense: "lobs," as in the present tense. As in, Franken's still in the comedy business and looking for punch lines at the expense of Christians, and especially Catholics. (Franken's daughter quickly reminded readers in a Star Tribune online forum that her father had been married to a Catholic for 33 years.) In a state where just 0.9 percent of the population is Jewish (like Franken), the implications of Kersten's column -- that Christian slanderer Franken might not be able to represent Minnesota's citizens -- was likely not lost on many readers. It was a loaded and wildly unfair accusation to make. And yet, it was only after that vicious attack had been unfurled in the Star Tribune -- and unfurled during the closing weeks of an extremely tight senatorial race -- that the newspaper's editor decided it was time to muzzle any further campaign commentary from the paper's columnists. Adding to the irony (or the double standard; take your pick) was the fact that Please, people, no partisanship memo was distributed the very same day the Star Tribune printed a front-page article about GOP operative Jeff Larson, who found himself at the center of the Sarah Palin shopping spree scandal. (It was Larson's credit card that got burned up by Neiman Marcus to the tune of $75,000, courtesy of the Palin camp.) Larson just happens to be one of the closest and most-connected Minnesota political allies of Franken's Republican opponent, Sen. Norm Coleman. But rather than present the story as an embarrassment to Coleman, the Strib's article about Larson was a valentine, complete with "Clark Kent" in the headline. As the local blog MNpublius noted: It is an unbelievable puff piece. Here's some excerpts: "smart Clark Kent," "Superman," "low-profile guru," "entrepreneur," "just the guy who arranges the phone calls," "rising star," "visionary," "nothing mysterious about him," "practices his Beltway-centered trade far outside the Beltway," "disciple of Ronald Reagan," "shoots straight," "honest," and "keeps his nose clean." The story included only friendly quotes from Republicans, even though the operative has been tied to sleazy campaign practices in the past, including misleading robo-calls. From the Strib: He denies any involvement with the nationwide spate of "robo-calls" trashing Obama, although he acknowledges that FLS Connect is behind the live-operator calls Minnesota residents have received in the past week on behalf of Republican presidential candidate John McCain. Larson denied any involvement in the robo-calls despite the fact he owns the company that been placing the robo-calls? The role of the dailies Even with their dwindling circulation, big-city newspapers can still exert tremendous influence during local election season, especially in a state like Minnesota that has just a handful of major newspapers. But are they being fair? Blogger Matt Stoller recently made a compelling case that The Seattle Times had its thumb on the scale while covering the very close race between netroots candidate Darcy Burner and an established Republican Dave Reichert. The same may be happening in Minnesota. Like lots of major dailies, the Strib has been buffeted in recent years by staff cutbacks and accusations of a liberal bias. It seems that the effects of both are on display in the Franken/Coleman campaign. Newsroom cutbacks make it more difficult to provide smart, in-depth election coverage. Perhaps more telling at the Strib, though, has been the long-running war conservatives have waged against the paper, led by bloggers such as Ed Morrissey, Hugh Hewitt, and those at Power Line. Their relentless cries of liberal media bias appear to have paid off. As one Strib veteran put it last year: The right-wing blog voices that were bashing the paper a couple of years ago, Hugh Hewitt and the rest, have gotten pretty much everything they wanted. They wanted to get rid of people like [editorial board members] Jim Boyd and Susan Albright and their editorial policy, and they've succeeded at that. Now there won't be editorials about the war and global warming; they'll write about local issues like zoning conflicts in Coon Rapids instead. They wanted the paper to hire a conservative columnist, and they got that. From here on out, it looks like the Strib becomes the conservative, suburbs-oriented paper. Indeed, "The [editorial] page has shucked its rep as a lefty lightning rod," wrote David Brauer, a Strib-watcher at MinnPost.com. A recent Star Tribune editorial opposing the pro-labor Employee Free Choice Act signaled the sea change at the newspaper. So did the paper's support for offshore drilling. That raised even more eyebrows because the Strib's parent, Avista Capital Partners, is heavily invested in offshore drilling, although the cheerleading drill-baby-drill editorial did not disclose that fact. Also note that the newspaper's editorial page has not condemned the remarks of local Republican Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann, who recently went on MSNBC and claimed she was concerned about Barack Obama's "anti-American views." The comments erupted into a campaign-changing controversy, with Bachmann's challenger banking nearly $1 million in donations that flooded into his coffers after Bachmann's outburst. The Strib's editorial page, though, has remained mum. In fact, it has moved so far to the right that the debate online among Minnesota pol-watchers was whether the paper would endorse Coleman or independent candidate Dean Barkley. Franken, the conventional wisdom went, had little chance of landing the Trib nod. (And they were right; Coleman won the newspaper's endorsement.) Unfortunately, that tilt seems to be spilling over into the Star Tribune's news coverage. There was the way the newspaper buried Hillary Clinton's recent visit on behalf of Franken on page B4 even though her rally appearance garnered huge local television coverage. The way it included a disparaging quote from Coleman's spokesperson in its article about Clinton's visit, yet when Rudy Giuliani recently came to town to rally support for Coleman, the Franken campaign was not quoted in that article. And there was the way the daily recently published an anti-Franken letter to the editor that claimed he was not "good for the country" or good for Christians, and the letter writer lived in Tennessee. (Talk about casting a wide net from Minneapolis.) The paper has also looked away from Coleman's woes. Over the summer, when it became known Coleman was renting an apartment in Washington, D.C. from Jeff Larson (the same guy from the Palin shopping spree story) and that Coleman's rent appeared to be well below market value, the Strib ran a front-page story about the apartment but never mentioned Larson's name or addressed the question of whether the rent represented a sweetheart deal. (Readers had to go to page B7 for a separate article that day to read those salient details.) At the time, there were also questions about whether Coleman had paid his utility bills for the apartment or whether they had been comped by Larson. A Coleman campaign spokesman told reporters in August he would try to produce one of the bills to curious reporters who wanted to know if the bills were in the name of Larson or even his company. But three months later, no utility bill has been produced, and the Strib appears to have stopped asking. Meanwhile, the paper pretty much ignored Coleman's embarrassing Suitgate when it popped up earlier this month. The story erupted when Harper's Ken Silverstein claimed that wealthy Coleman donor Nasser Kazeminy had, over the years, bought expensive suits for the politician at Neiman Marcus. (Again with the Neiman Marcus?) The campaign refused to respond to the report, and the story peaked when Coleman's spokesman appeared at a press conference and 12 times in three minutes refused to answer directly whether Kazeminy had ever purchased expensive suits for Coleman. The Washington Post quickly named the cringe-inducing back-and-forth with reporters "perhaps, the most awkward press conference in the history of politics." Did the story border on the trivial? Sure. Was it the kind of story that can change a campaign? Absolutely. Polls since Suitgate broke have shown momentum moving in Franken's direction. In fact, it quickly became a national story online and on cable TV, and one of the Strib's reporters was invited onto MSNBC to discuss the details and the campaign implications. The irony was the reporter had only mentioned the kerfuffle in two paragraphs at the very bottom on a campaign update. The Strib didn't really care about Suitgate. To this day, those two paragraphs, 53 words in total, represents the Star Tribune's entire print news team coverage of that story -- an embarrassing tale that could cost Coleman his Senate seat.