Wednesday 16 May 2018

LEVESON 2, WHO'S LOOKING FOR PROTECTION?

 
I used to describe myself as a Marxist Feminist which for those I posted with at the time conjured up an image of some ballbreaking, dungeree wearing feminist activist circa Greenham Common.  That wasn’t what I was going for all, I am much more genteel than that, more cream tea than Molotov cocktail.  
 
Nowadays I suppose I am far Left, as much as my heroes Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell and then some, except for a few fundamental issues, the idea of a Leveson 2 Inquiry for example, is a bit like shutting the door after the horse has bolted. And #Metoo, which I will save for another day.
 
The News of the World is now defunct, and it’s stable mate The Sun is on it’s last legs.  Sensationalist tabloids no longer make the news or influence elections, the public have moved on.  We have a worldwide web full of honest and reliable journalists, who are bringing us genuine news that we are interested in. Who would opt for a Sun reporter as their news source? If Leveson 1 achieved anything, it laid bare the grubby relationships between those who rule over us and those who feed us government propaganda via soft porn and scandal.
 
Some might blame the change in the paradigm on the case of missing Madeleine McCann.  As the UK mainstream media fed us the story of heroic British parents fighting back against the unjust third world police skills of the Portuguese, the Portuguese newspapers were telling an entirely different story.  A bit of a Homer Simpson ‘doh!’ moment there as Team McCann realised news (and books) can no longer be contained by borders. All those who looked beyond the headlines in this case, could quickly see that the UK MSM were lying - long before Leveson came on the scene.
 
Leveson 1 made Rupert Murdoch a household name, a Bond villain moving world leaders around on a chess board.  Rupert Murdoch rules the UK some might say.  He is the mighty power behind whatever government he told us to elect.  Just as chummy with Tony Blair as he was with David Cameron, well, up until the whole wife thing.  And what of Ed Milliband? He was shrieking like a woman scorned, why does he want the heads of media moguls so badly?  Why are Labour so keen for a Leveson 2, the tories, not so much.
 
I should be on the side of my fellow lefties, calling for the rich and powerful moguls and their minions to be brought to justice, but the reality is, nothing can ever hurt them as much as their huge drop in sales and ratings. They no longer have the undivided attention of the masses, the masses have iphones and access to great websites like The Canary and Bill Palmer. Karma is catching up on all those who thought it was OK to deceive us, and it is hurting them in ways we never could have imagined. The public have reached the indifference stage of the relationship, no love, no hate, we just don’t give a shit.  
 
The mere threat of a Leveson 2, I should imagine, has done much to clean up the murky goings on between all those controlling the news cycles.  OK, lol, who am I trying to kid, corruption is everywhere and always will be, it is as it is. Excuse me for a moment whilst I find an appropriate Buddhist chant to calm me down.  I’m back.  Made do with a couple of Seinfeld ‘Serenity Now’s’.
 
The time to tackle the Media moguls and the abuse of power, was at the time, as it was happening, before they had a chance to spring clean and shred anything incriminating.  And of course, while they still had influence. Leveson 2 is about retribution and grudges. An opportunity to say that smart comment you thought of, 5 minutes after you left the room. What can it achieve, other than a change in the Law? Ah, right, gotcha now, laws to protect the privacy of those who find (or make) themselves newsworthy.  
 
Don't get me wrong, my heart went out to the family of Milly Dowler, the behaviour of the journalists was scummy, not just on professional level, but as human beings.  Most of us know that, and most journalists know that, but as with every demographic and profession, there will be always be unscrupulous people who exploit tragedy. Those who go too far and interfere in police investigations should be punished, those wrongly accused should receive apologies.  Beyond that, what more can be done? New laws to punish investigative reporters, financial penalties for those papers who stick their noses where they shouldn’t? Tom Watson wants news outlets to pay all the costs of litigation, whether they win or lose, making it easier for ordinary people struck by tragedy to sue the Goliaths.  
 
But the big lie is, it’s not ordinary people who need protection from the press, or those investigative journalists, because most ordinary people have nothing to hide.  They are rarely caught up in a sensational news story. Most victims of crime, I would like to think, are treated kindly by the media, Gerry and Kate certainly were, and for a long time they worked with press enthusiastically, giving hundreds of interviews and photo opportunities. Unfortunately, the relationship soured.  Was it the lurid headlines? Their condemnation of the press at Leveson 1, or the McCanns penchant for large libel payouts.
 
The idea that the MSM are a threat to ordinary people is a LOL myth, because ordinary people don’t need the protection of privacy laws, they don’t usually have something unscrupulous or heinous to hide.  Privacy laws are for the wealthy and the elite, and to pretend otherwise is an insult to our intelligence.  Hacked Off did well in acquiring the names of so many ‘ordinary’ people, but they were ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. There is very little chance that the rest of us will have tabloid journalists going through our bins or trying to hack our phones. Be in no doubt, the Laws sought by Milliband and Watson are laws that will directly benefit the rich and those up to no good. Those who live in fear that their true characters will be exposed.  
 
Censoring and gagging the press, is practically on page 1 of ‘My first little book on how to be a Despot’, it comes between ‘How to cover up evil’ and ‘How to amass bribes’. Blackmail is more tricky, homosexuals have been gleefully jumping out of closets for the past two decades, so no leverage there, but any hint of paedophilia can be just as life changing as a NOTW front page. And politicians like Tom Watson, want to lead the digging Which begs the question, who’s looking for salacious headlines, the media or the Witch hunter?
 
I should be with and alongside my fellow lefties on a call for a Leveson 2, but on freedom of the press, I fear any moves that interfere with the rights of journalists to root out the truth.  Whilst I wouldn’t be unhappy at a sledgehammer being brought down on The Sun, The Mail and the Express, I would be less happy if these proposed ‘laws’ were used to cripple the new wave of bloggers, vloggers and truth tellers.  And I suspect that’s where the new laws will be focused, a legal way in which to gag the rebels and the subversives.
 
The cries for Leveson 2 come mostly from the Labour Right, or should I say the old ‘New’ Labour, via screaming Ed Milliband and Tom Watson, who for some reason reminds me of Billy Bunter, who’s only thought in life was ‘what’s in it for me’. His eagerness to play Witchfinder General alongside Jim Gamble should send chills through everyone, what is it with him and ancient crimes?
 
What happened to the Dowlings was unforgiveable, but another Leveson won’t put it right. For them and the other victims, it will bring only further heartache.  Their pain is being used to further a political agenda, quite cruelly, I might add.  Besides, the empires of the media moguls are crumbling, there is just too much competition now, by the time they publish a sensational front page story, it’s already 24 hours old.  Neither the Government or the media moguls control the news anymore, they can no longer manipulate public opinion.  I have mentioned the parents of Milly Dowling several times, because their pain, I think, was incomparable to any other, but I see their names are not included in the 'victims' letter to the Prime Minister.  That I fully understand.
 
The McCanns however, are complaining yet again, even though they have been amply compensated several times over.  The apologies and the payouts weren't enough, they want changes in the Law.  They want those who criticise them in the dock and facing prison.  A sort of 'Go Straight to Jail, do not pass Go, and do not collect £200 card' for those journalists or bloggers who cross the line.  They want only one sided reporting on the mysterious disappearance of their daughter, and if it wasn't for Goncalo Amaral and the internet, they would have had it. 
 
You can see why the rich, the famous, the politicians, dodgy professionals, those with murky pasts  and the Mob, etc, demand the full force of the law to cover up their secrets,  but why are the Labour Right getting themselves into such a tiz?  Why do the Labour Right race so eagerly towards a 'Nanny State'?  A State in which they will watch over us so closely, we will feel their vampire breath closing in our jugulars, they were heading towards a DNA bank and ID cards last time around.  Why do they want legislation that will curb the powers of the press?  These politicians don't care about the power of tabloids like the Sun, they care about those new pioneering websites and news outlets that are spreading the Jeremy Corbyn/John McDonnell word to a rapidly growing audience. 
 
I don't care that my  views run contrary to my natural habitat, but in this run down country where people are dying on the streets and children are going hungry, why are Milliband and Watson so intent on punishing the press?  Why are reputations more important than lives?  More important than the lives of those affected by the Grenfell fire or Windrush debacle? The UK is currently in freefall, those who need a Labour government are waiting for those incumbent to step up to the plate, but they are failing them, every time.  They want the Labour party and property portfolio of Tony Blair, with tiffin on the Lawn with Rupert, Jerry and Rebekah, and the privileged lives of their predecessors, before the incorruptible Jeremy Corbyn became leader of the party.
 

45 comments:

  1. 20 March 2018

    'Finally, he [Tony Blair] was asked if he would change anything from his time as Prime Minister, and I think it is worth quoting his answer in full:

    “Yeah, lots. Of course. Because you learn. Post-9/11 we underestimated the deep-seated forces that were fuelling the extremism, and that led us to believe that if we got rid of the regimes in Afghanistan and Iraq the countries would stabilise automatically, and that was not going to happen.

    “In domestic policy it took me a term to realise that we had to drive reform structurally and not just beat the system over the head with a big stick and hope that it reacted better. If you beat the system over the head with a big stick it does react better until you stop beating it and then it goes back to where it was. So yeah, I’d do that.

    “I would pay more attention – but this is easy to say with hindsight – to making absolutely sure that after I left the politics of the Labour Party were more likely to stay in the position in which I put it, because I honestly do believe that the Labour Party will only govern again for a substantial period of time if it’s back as a modern social-democratic party.”

    https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/tony-blair-murdoch-right-wing-press-alastair-campbell-a8263816.html

    1 Comment
    RegEdit
    Have the legendary WMD's been found yet?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well he would say that wouldn't he, to quote Mandy Rice-Davies. Tony Blair is a haunted man, tormented by the ghosts of all those who died as a result of his actions. All those dead Iraqis and all those victims of the 7/7 London bombs. He was a socialist Prime Minister who left office with a legacy of war crimes and a clutch of title deeds. He will never be loved and revered as a great leader, his 'New' Labour hasn't worked in over a decade, his supposed neutrality between bosses and workers has been rejected. He sold us Blue Labour, Tory Lite, for himself friendship and access to the illuminati and for the masses, loss of employment protection and ATOS.

      All leaders, good or bad, want history to remember them as Great. As in Peter and Catherine, legendary rules of Russia. Blair is more Tony the Toad, the poodle to George 'Yo Blair' Bush. Strangely, time and Donald Trump, have erased Dubya's dark and incompetent history, he, like his father and recently deceased mother, has become a National Treasure, something that will never happen to Tony Blair.

      He claims extremism is a far bigger problem than he thought, again, over to Mandy R-T. The Whitehouse are claiming those attacking the Gaza border were Hamas, when it was quite obvious, they were desperate people with nothing more than sticks and stones against automated rifles and drone attacks. How to turn a massacre into the fault of those massacred. A ploy often used by those covered in the blood of their victims, a bit like a blood spattered Jack the Ripper standing over his victim's corpse, knife in hand, saying 'she asked for it'.

      Tony Blair looks haunted. His conversion to Catholicism and religious icons in all his homes are doing nothing to salve his conscious. His punishment is here on earth, in this life, the daily reminders of the hell he unleashed on the innocent.

      Past Labour leaders will be remembered for their compassion, their fighting spirit and the huge advances they brought to ordinary working people. Blair will be remembered for an illegal war.

      Delete
  2. Hi Rosalinda,
    Great to read your blog again.
    Re: Blair and British Prime ministers in general,(excepting Winston Churchill) have always had a hard time making an impression in America it's true.
    Blair was basically the Patsy to George W Bush as per a Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis comedy on his visit to the US president's ranch in the early 2000's.
    The families even ended up going to church together.
    God help the Iraqi people.
    As far as the visit by Theresa May went. If Trump was ever expecting an encounter with a Stormy Daniels lookalike he was sorely disappointed this time.
    But you have to take what you get.
    (I stand corrected - Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan were an item. These two really hit it off. The pheromones were working overtime here).
    jc

    ReplyDelete
  3. 2 Oct 2014

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/oct/02/leveson-gerry-mccann-media-stories-before-truth

    "If in another year’s time the press still rejects the royal charter – itself already a compromise – then it will be time for parliament to deliver on the promises the party leaders made, and ensure that what Leveson recommended is actually delivered. Otherwise elements of the press will go on treating people with total contempt. This time, once again, it was Kate and I who were the targets. Next time it could be you."

    --------------

    http://www.mccannpjfiles.co.uk/PJ/MATTHEW-OLDFIELD-ROGATORY.htm

    "I think the media side of things, which we, erm, I think a lot of people informed the media straight, erm, sort of fairly quickly, because we know James LANDALE who does BBC News twenty-four, erm, sort of personally, and his wife, and we did ring them. I mean, you know, I think we were asked not, you know, people suggesting that it wouldn't be a good idea to the Press, but, and they may be right, but, as a group, we thought that you need some exposure on this because if you need to get it out there. And that was sort of as much a criticism, erm, it wasn't sort of a criticism of the Portuguese Police, it was just that it felt like the right thing to do and it just seemed like a good idea at the time, you know, to sort of try and get some exposure. And I think we rang up James or his wife, Kath LANDALE, and asked, you know, how we, how you could do that and they gave us a number. And then I think, we hadn't, erm, I think then there was phone contact between Rachael and the desk, saying, you know, do you want to go forward with this, because we, we mentioned it but didn't sort of authorise anybody to sort of to go, because we hadn't spoken to the Police yet, we didn't know what they wanted to do, erm, and how they'd feel about it, so we held it back, but I think there were people within the group and it sort of got out pretty quickly'."

    ReplyDelete
  4. Who are the Dowlings?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. "Gemma tells their story and that of the real Milly. Above all, in this book the family want to bring back to life their incredible daughter and sister. Now, finally, the truth about Milly Dowler can never be denied."

      https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/297065/my-sister-milly/

      Delete
  5. Leveson 2: government to be taken to court over cancelled inquiry

    https://www.theguardian.com/media/2018/may/21/leveson-2-government-taken-court-over-cancelled-inquiry

    "Campaigners working with the Hacked Off group, including the former Bristol schoolteacher Christopher Jeffries and the parents of the missing child Madeleine McCann, have successfully convinced the high court that the decision should be subject to a judicial review.

    The court will consider in October whether Hancock’s decision to cancel the second part of the inquiry, which would have focussed on governance issues at media groups and the relationship between newspapers and the police, was correct."

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hello Rosalinda
    "Who's looking for protection". It's a good question to ask in the context of the Leveson Inquiry and you've answered it well.

    ”Privacy laws are for the wealthy and the elite, and to pretend otherwise is an insult to our intelligence”

    I fully agree, Rosalinda. Laws of the said kind are not worthy of civilized democracies.

    This elite who you’re referring to,consists of media-oriented celebrities of all kinds, and other public figures, who have unlimited financial resources to successfully sue individuals or any newspapers, for just being insulted or misunderstood. Paradoxically, their own rotten morals and ethics are often not much better than that of the papers they’re suing.

    The McCanns, in virtue of their celebrity status and their seemingly inexhaustible private fund, nothing of which they would have achieved without the support of the press, are just some of society’s “happy few”, who’ve got a disproportionate large influence on the establishment, allowing them, among other things, to utilize and to control MSM.

    Isn’t it, therefore, reasonable to assume that the actual initiative of the Leveson Inquiry into the ethics of the British press must have come from a limited but well-established social category of British citizens, who were just acting in their own interest, but under the pretext of wanting to protect other non-privileged citizens?


    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The interference by certain journalists in the investigation of Milly Dowling's murder was, I believe, the catalyst. They actually sent texts I believe to the poor girl's phone, causing the parents enormous distress.

      Until Hacked Off drew in a few ordinary people affected by press intrusion, they were just a bunch of peed off celebs on whom the media had turned sour.

      The private lives of the rich and famous has been the 'soma' for the masses since time began. The sexual shenanigans of ancient civilisations are carved in stone, the cartoon pornography of Marie Antoinette pinned to billboards and the madness of King George ridiculed in comics. Gossip is as lucrative now as it ever was.

      Unfortunately for those who long to be splattered across the front pages, there is little left to shock us. That creature in the Whitehouse has trumped every salacious headline and scandalous expose with a tweet. 'You think that's bad, wait til you see what I one'. You can't top that.

      Newspaper sales were nosediving anyway, the Maddie story was probably their last big pay day. Since 2007, most people now read their news online. Never again will we spend an entire Sunday reading about a bed hopping tory with a penchant for oranges and whiplash. Do we really care anymore? Even David Cameron and a pig's head only caused a minor stir.

      The Trump Effect has spread far and wide, we are unshockable, desensitised to the hatred that is creeping through society, from the top down. These are historic times, and not in a good way
      ...continues

      Delete
    2. I can't help but wonder about people's need for legislation to protect their privacy. Especially those who employ agents to keep them in the news.

      The McCanns' relationship with the media has been a roller coaster ride, first they loved them, now they despise them. The internet is filled with pictures of happy and smiling Gerry and Kate, accompanied by words approved by their spokesman.

      Who turned on who is a tough one to figure out. 'Was it me, was it you, was it both of us?'. I suspect for the media moguls who were called to give evidence at Leveson, it was the McCanns who turned on them, having received massive damages and unlimited publicity.

      Gerry and Kate were used by the media, undoubtedly, but it was naïve of them to think the media would remain tame. Especially, as all the information they want to supress is freely available online. Our antiquated libel laws are useless in the face of the new Freedom of Speech we now have. We are all too fixated on ourselves to give two hoots about the antics of the rich and famous, even the juiciest of gossip has less lifespan than a moth. Just how narcissistic do you have to be, to believe that affront to your reputation is as important to the rest of us as it is to you? It isn't, we've moved on.

      What I can't understand is why victims of press intrusion, want to re-open all those old wounds. With Leveson 2, they are inviting press intrusion all over again - and for stuff the rest of us had forgotten about. Why?

      I know the media are far from perfect, and in recent times, appearing more 'state' controlled than any previous time in history, but we must never restrict their ability to get to the truth. Some journalists are now known for their political bias, and their reporting is best taken with a large pinch of salt. News and information is available from multiple sources, those disingenuous journalists now have very real competition, that exposes their alternate facts for what they are. In the ultimate battle, truth will win over lies.

      For genuine journalists and iconoclasts, I have nothing but the greatest respect. They are the fourth, or is it the 5th? estate, the public's last line of defence against Autocracy.

      As much fun as it may have been for the knitting hags with front row seats to the guillotine, public disgrace is this century's grisly execution. The exposure of fraud and corruption, the abuse of power, the penchant for hookers and deviant sex. All as life changing as the lopping off of a head. They want their dark secrets to remain private.

      Delete
  7. 'McCann’s mother Kate has spoken of the “anguish” of life with a missing child ahead of International Missing Children’s Day.'

    https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/madeleine-mccann-news-kate-mccann-reveals-anguish-of-life-with-missing-child_uk_5b054fe8e4b07c4ea10396e6

    Some comments:

    These two revile the press but use them shamelessly for their own ends, just as they did when Maddie went "missing".

    ----------

    What you have to ask is ' How does this Couple 'Have the Ear of the Police and Government' with limitless money available to them, whilst other children die daily.

    ReplyDelete
  8. "Campaigners claim that the original Leveson Inquiry was merely in response to journalists’ bad behaviour. In fact, it was an attempt to shackle the press that was spearheaded by powerful and wealthy individuals, many with personal axes to grind against the newspapers. The alleged crimes of journalists should be dealt with by the courts – not a state-backed regulator or another unnecessary inquiry.

    Leveson II is not about protecting victims from the powerful, it is about protecting the powerful from the press. In a letter to The Times last week, Mark Stephens, a senior lawyer who represented phone-hacking victims, accused a ‘small and affluent privacy lobby’ of trying to hijack data-protection legislation to impose tighter regulation of the press. More inquiries and regulation would serve only those who hope to shackle newspapers they dislike.

    Leveson II would further jeopardise press freedom, fuelling the calls for mandatory state-backed regulation, for the first time in the UK in 350 years. What’s more, Leveson II, which would examine the press’s relationship with the police, politicians and public officials, runs the risk of chilling investigative journalism by obstructing the relationships between reporters and sources necessary to expose official corruption."

    http://www.spiked-online.com/newsite/article/a-minute-of-your-time-to-help-defend-the-press-lords-leveson-2

    The alleged crimes of journalists should be dealt with by the courts – not a state-backed regulator or another unnecessary inquiry.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Good post 13:06, I agree. I find it a tad sinister that certain parties are demanding legislation that will curb the powers of the press. It is not too far away from Trump 'taking away the credentials' of journalists who won't lie for him.

      Whilst I dislike the tories as much as the next sane person, this is actually a bipartisan issue, strangely it is Labour hierarchy (of the Blair mould) who are shouting the loudest.

      There are a lot of occupations and products where we like the end results but don't really want to know the nitty gritty of how they got there. Eg. beefburgers and salacious stories about the rich and famous. We accept the image of the gumshoe reporter doing whatever it takes to get a story, while thinking rather him/her than me. Those reporters who stick their necks out and put their lives at risk, bring us the award winning stories.

      The McCanns wanted to create for journalists a code of ethics, similar to the Oath taken by doctors, as if the two professions were comparable. But do we really want ethical journalism? The newspapers with the scoops are those that go that extra mile. Rupert Murdoch did not get his nickname 'the dirty digger', by emulating a church newsletter.

      Digging is the heart, soul and substance of reporting news. Those with more detail and different angles will get higher ratings. And in this bizarre Trump world, it's all about the ratings.

      continues....

      Delete
  9. Matt Hancock and his crony cohort MP's have always wanted to demolish any arguments to a Leveson 2.
    The main reason is the Conservative Party and its entanglements to one Rupert Murdoch and his business empire Sky News Corporation with the Un-solved Murder of Mr Daniel Morgan 31 yrs ago,involving corrupt payments to Police Officers for stories,NoTW,Scum News Paper?
    Let alone the phone hacking of Milly Dowlers phone,then there is Andy Coulson,Rebekah Brooks,dodgy Dave Cameron and his Brother representing her in Court on Phone Hacking charges,wher Rebekah couldn't be found guilty as , fragrant Rebekah had appeared before the select Committee, to give evidence of what she had known about Phone hacking,think about "double Jeopardy" rules and how she escaped being found Not guilty?

    Do you really think the UK government wants to wash its small in open view of a Court room,No F**king chance old Bean.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Daily Mirror,Lord Hague and Linklaters used to hide oligarchs funds within the UK,Oleg Depreska and his Business empire via Mr Putin,so once again well respected Conservative Officionados caught with their trousers around their proverbial ankles?

      Boris Johnson Tennis promotions?

      Gavin Williams,dinner dates?

      What a truly dispicable bunch of cretins must have formed this last Conservative Government,now,three in a Bed Gove,want's to depose of Theresa May,then replace himself with Ruth Davidson as a safer proposition than Oily little Twonk Gove?
      You really couldn't make this shit up and they are paid to run the Country,Two years after the referendum and the Marie Celeste is still on course for Brexit?

      Enough said, Leveson 2.

      Delete
    2. Jacob Rees Mogg admitting his former company had assets of over £7.50 billion in accounts on behalf of at least Two Russian oligarchs and at the end of the day your supposed to have respect for these parasites fleecing the UK with their off shore accounts in Bermuda?

      Jacob Rees Mogg Not wanting to be the next UK Prime Minister,as kylie would say,"He should be so lucky"?
      Another Eton Educated person who got Philip Hammond to give grants totalling £11 Million to his wife's Family estate for its up keep,whilst the plebs are left in corridoors on trolly's awaitng for treatment in the cash sstrung NHS,well done Jacob old Bean!

      Wake up people and smell the coffee!

      Delete
  10. I think that there are many indications that the early posters of - allegedly - Madeleine McCann looking like a child much younger than nearly four and with an obvious coloboma - which her parents later said she didn't have - were taken out to Portugal. If this is the case then we are looking at a pre-arranged scam. I do believe it was, but it was botched at the last minute or perhaps sabotaged. The very early notification of the press also indicates this. Surely if it had been a genuine abduction the parents would not want to do anything that might lead to her being harmed? Thy would follow police advice.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't think Madeleine's disappearance was pre-meditated, the whole abduction story is so convoluted and slapdash, it was more an act of desperation than a rational thought out plan. There are too many errors - Jane Tanner's sighting for example, was added onto the timeline drawn up by the tapas group, an afterthought to counter the sighting of the Gerry lookalike.

      That Gerry and Kate didn't act like parents of a missing child was their failure and downfall. The public were suspicious from the off at their lack of emotion and their endless efforts to raise money for their non transparent Madeleine Fund (not a charity). They blame Goncalo Amaral for the fall in their popularity, but the red flags were there long before GA wrote his book.

      Genuine parents would not have released details of Madeleine's distinctive eye, they would have listened to the police. The chilling way that Gerry described the risk to Madeleine as 'a good marketing ploy' was sickening, it put his daughter at horrendous risk, but he and his wife were OK with that.

      The toddler pics of Madeleine were probably already in their cameras, and they were released because they were cuter and more endearing than any up to date pictures they may have had. Those pictures were not an attempt to find Madeleine, they were 'marketing' pure and simple. If they had really wanted to find Madeleine they would produced pictures of what she actually looked like when she went missing.

      Delete
  11. The case was a 'good' story to bury 'bad' news, imo, and has all the hallmarks of a scam from start to finish. I believe Dr Amaral - Madeleine died. However I do not believe it was a tragic accident. Unfortunately I think it is darker than that. I think that to those in on the scam it was presented as a tragic accident. I suspect that the actual cause of death was over-sedation which I think would have been administered by Madeleine's father. This really is a despicable case, imo.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Operation Grange are obviously looking in all the wrong places trying to find Madeleine.
    How else can it take so long to find her?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't think they are looking for her anymore 17:16, it is far more likely that they are building a case against the former arguidos, and it is taking this long because none of the witnesses are co-operating.

      As an avid watcher of real crime docu-dramas, there are many cases that drag on for years, far more than most of us are aware of. And suspects are never really off the hook, they know that investigators are just waiting for the opportunity to arrest them.

      It is clear to anyone who reads beyond the headlines that there was no abductor and that Madeleine is dead. It is eleven years since the blood and cadaver dogs alerted in the McCanns apartment, and Madeleine hasn't been seen since, so the abduction story, which wasn't very convincing in the first place, hasn't stood the test of time.

      Delete
    2. Rosalinda 29 May 13.46

      I'm an avid watcher of those real crime docu-dramas on TV as well, it amazes me how much time and effort the police put into solving very difficult crimes. I was watching one a few evenings ago, I can't remember what the actual crime was as I watch so many, but the perpetrators were caught 15 years after the crime was committed. It may have been a cold case which was re-opened although I can't recall now. The McCanns and the Tapas friends came to mind and I thought "oops, I wonder if they sleep well at night, wondering, wondering...."

      Delete
  13. Hi Rosalinda,
    It is true that the territory called Britain/England - (Can we dare to say who we really are,) English, Irish, Scots and Welsh is headed into a controlled police state.
    Great Britain (or the "UK", - if you like fake acronyms) is a washed out monarchy headed for a police state exacerbated by the news of today about the instant jailing of a man taking photos in the road outside a courthouse.
    No mention by any British newspapers of the incident, the media being constrained by "D" notices. Usually enforced by governments when troop ships sank with all hands in WW11. In other words national emergencies.

    How long will it be before the Internet becomes Pay per view. You can guarantee government toadies are working on a plan right now.

    Which brings me to the protection the McCanns received from the British government. They were a couple of know-nothings, supposedly without influence on holiday in Portugal - except when disaster struck and their daughter disappeared.

    One of their friends happened to be a next door neighbour of the then British Prime minister - and like another well known person of infamy this man intimated - "Don't worry, Gordon will fix it" - and he did. And here we are now stuck in the most amazing web of deception the world has ever seen.

    This story is more than The truth of the lie, this is the truth of a national conspiracy which all hangs on the people who own and control the counties and lands and economic system of the country.

    Who can not be ashamed of crazy titles and privileges given to human beings just because they boot lick to the monarchy. Lords, Dukes, Earls, Knights, OBE's etc. It would be absurd if it were not true.

    It's all realistic indeed if you are living as a serf in 13th century England. Watching this stuff happen in modern times from your arm chair 8 centuries later in period piece TV dramas is one thing but luckily by going to social media everybody with a living brain is reminded of the huge state controlled inequalities we live in.
    jc

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi JC, yes Britain is a diverse society, and all the better for it. Imagine how dull and bland our food would be for example, if we hadn't been invaded by so many foreigners lol. I'm afraid if the man you are referring to is Tommy Robinson, then I'm glad he has been locked up. His mode of fascism is exactly what Britain fought against in WWII, racism and Nazism does not sit well with the majority of the English. In WWI, my great great Scottish grandmother, had 6 sons on the Western front, only two survived. I would kind of like to put Tommy Robinson in a room with those 6 sons.

      You are right, that the Madeleine McCann case is a source of National shame. New Labour under Blair were acting like imperial masters slapping down the Portuguese justice system, as if they were a third world colony.

      Some might say, the interference of the British government and agent for the British Government and Tony Blair, Jim Gamble prevented the Portuguese from completing their investigation into Madeleine's disappearance. It was certainly bizarre to see the Head of CEOP appearing on the breakfast TV sofas alongside the two former arguidos pitching the abduction story.

      As for the landed Aristocracy and the Monarchy, as a lover of history, I find the system endlessly fascinating. Bizarre perhaps that it is still going strong in the 21st century, but I feel historians of the future will look back at the wedding of Harry and Meghan in the same way, we look back at the weddings of Henry VIII. The description of Henry's wedding to Anne Boleyn for example, tells of an unhappy wedding parade with the serfs turning their backs on the hated concubine who deposed the rightful Queen.

      It certainly doesn't feel as if we the serfs have made any advances, but we have. The internet for example, gives us all a voice, though friend of the McCanns and Blair operative Jim Gamble would take that away from us in a nanosecond, if his glittering career hadn't ended under Theresa May.

      Britain can keep putting off the 'shame', but it won't ever go away. The Portuguese didn't capitulate, or at least they stopped capitulating when they re-opened their file. No matter what the British do to bury this 'shame' it won't ever go away, the truth cannot be buried forever.

      Delete
    2. Independent and Leeds Live win legal challenge to report EDL founder Tommy Robinson's jailing for contempt after video live stream

      'A spokesman for The Independent said: “After Robinson’s arrest was broadcast live on social media and his assistants reported his imprisonment, the reporting restriction was effectively made redundant.

      “The British media was left in the uncomfortable position of watching international outlets and members of the public spread inaccurate information and conspiracy theories that it was powerless to correct.

      “It is a position we fear journalists will find themselves in more frequently in the years ahead, unless contempt of court law is urgently brought up to date.”'

      http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/independent-and-leeds-live-win-legal-challenge-to-report-edl-founder-tommy-robinsons-jailing-for-contempt-after-video-live-stream/

      Delete
  14. Thanks for your reply at 13:33 Rosalinda,
    I just watched the MGTV video of the Jim Gamble/McCann couple interview you mentioned and it is truly amazing. The support that this man is giving the couple goes way beyond anything a policeman should be doing.
    Actually the comments below the video say it all - not a single viewer believed it.

    Incidentally the TV interviewer was pretty shrewd and handles the interview well. A smile always plays around his lips. No one is fooling him.
    Have a good day.
    jc

    ReplyDelete
  15. Is Textusa male or female?
    Some say she is a spinster or one of a trio of spinster sisters, while others, including Tony (King Loon) Bennett,say Textusa is a cross dressing male swinger.
    Either way of course she/he is completely bonkers with that swinging lark theory ( or cleverly winding us all up), but I'm curious anyway.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. @ Lord Loon1 June 2018 at 12:38
      "Is Textusa male or female?"

      I know the answer to your question but:

      If male would it make any difference to "completely bonkers with that swinging lark theory"?

      If female would it make any difference to "completely bonkers with that swinging lark theory"?

      Now to answer your question "Is Textusa male or female?" - yes.

      Delete
  16. Hi
    I dont know about Textusa but i think that Not Textusa character who is always having a go at Textusa is the ziggy sawdust troll that used to post here before he got kicked out the door with his tail between his legs.
    Would be funny though if Textusa was a man dressed up as a woman.
    Swinger too lol. Probably where they got that swinging idea from.
    But as you say are they really being serious or just having a laugh.
    If i had to put my life on it i'd say the latter. No one can be that stupid surely.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ziggy ( myself) walked away because of your sort and that kind of post.

      ZS

      Delete
  17. No, but you are if you think NT is ziggy soredust.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Textusa is an elderly spinster from Idaho who goes by the name of Maria Santos.
    If that is their real name I dont know,but I think their swinging theory comes from being hung up on sex or rather lack of.

    ReplyDelete
  19. @ 2nd June 20.49 and others

    As someone has pointed out it doesn't really matter if Textusa is male or female, it is their theory that counts.
    Not many people as far as I can tell go along with swinging and even the ones who say they do, I doubt actually believe it.
    Something however is making Textusa stick with it to the point of obsession.
    She/ he may have painted themselves into a corner now and have no where to go of course.
    If that is the case then they must hope the mystery is never solved.

    What got the swinging idea going in the first place though could have a bearing if Textusa is either of the two claimed people.
    Both could be correct ( or wrong) and both could account for the obsession.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The thing with Textusa is they haven't spent £millions and wasted yrs pursuing some alleged burglary gone wrong theory,who is the biggest nutters he/she or the taxpayers funding Operation Strange.
      No I don't go with the swinging theory but its no more ridiculous than any other.

      Delete
    2. @ anon 9 June 8.18

      'Operation Strange'

      I like that. Good name for it.

      Delete
  20. I saw a fairly malicious little anti-Ros comment in must-skim Textusa about me not posting here.

    I mentioned elsewhere the “nutters who infested Ros’s blog and drove everyone else away”.

    I stopped posting here after an exchange in which I repeatedly asked one of your favourite posters for the source of a lengthy factual claim. After he had hidden, prevaricated, fibbed, evaded, misquoted and fallen silent, he came back burdened by an emotional breakdown – literally – and a post full of the most crazed and vomit-filled abuse I’ve ever seen on the net. But, more important, still no source. I thought, I’m not wasting any more time on this bullshit.

    Now look, you can’t exchange views when people announce something as a fact and then can’t back it up. To do so, and not be moderated, is a clear invitation for people who wish to play in an Alice in Wonderland world where words, as Humpty Dumpty said, mean “whatever I say they mean”, to descend on you.

    Which is exactly what they've done, isn’t it? But words don’t mean “whatever I say they mean”, do they? Not unless you’re talking to yourself.

    And things stated as “fact” in this world have no meaning when someone can’t show how they became facts. Think about it, because that’s the essence of the issue and the whole question of internet and McCann debate, not “play”: when do things become facts – when I say they are or when I share the sources that show they are? It’s the question that Kate McCann herself, right now and in the real world, is impaled on. Menezes said: “show it to us”. Shared reality is what you can in some way show or demonstrate and that's it.

    It doesn’t help that many of these posters express themselves in extraordinary, textusa-style convolutions as well.

    For whose benefit are they posting? To “express something” may mean to speak or communicate but it can also mean to spout, to spray, to excrete, to squeeze a pimple. If there’s no way of knowing what’s said is true, what’s the incentive to stand under what comes spurting out?

    You’ve had good posters here, Ros, right or wrong, people like Bjorn who seem to want to find their way somewhere and from whom one gets a different view. But I don’t see them here much anymore.

    Some posters, here and elsewhere, when pinned down, often say things to the effect that, “this isn’t a court of law, this is just a debate place…you don’t have to be a policeman to post…don’t be so serious, stop treating it like a trial etc.”

    That’s fine and good luck to them but I personally am not interested in the “expression” of people’s imaginations rather than knowledge, when discussing something important. Why should I be? If I want that I can read professional fiction.

    Your gift, Ros, is a shrewd common sense and a powerful BS or insincerity detector. It's being drowned out here. But I've got no criticism of you at all.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well said Sir, I agree entirely.

      AFAN.

      Delete
    2. @ john blacksmith5 June 2018 at 13:51

      your comment is not proven with facts.

      Delete
  21. Let me get my tissues - isn't life hard!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Where is everyone?

    Mr T, ziggy, Bjorn and the rest, come back please, your country needs you.

    ReplyDelete
  23. We're waiting for an update from Ros to get the ball rolling again.
    jc

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There are plenty of places to post your MCcann hate comments - why don't you use them? How about starting your own MCcann hate blog?

      Delete
  24. Maybe if Ros did a post about the McCann's then people might comment.
    Very few are interested in Leveson as the comments count show

    ReplyDelete
  25. 6 September 2007

    "She [Kate McCann] doesn't know if anyone took photographs that night, however she thinks that Rachel took photos on one of the nights. Fiona also took some photos but she thinks it was probably another night. She doesn't know whether Fiona had a camera with her that night. She remembers hearing a comment that night about a camera being forgotten, but she doesn't know who said this or who the camera belonged to."

    http://www.mccannpjfiles.co.uk/PJ/KATE-MCCANN_ARGUIDO.htm

    --------------

    4 May 2007

    "She [Dianne Webster] adds that that night, and after the occurrence of the facts under investigation, have been in the the apartment on two separate occasions. At the time described above she remained about 10 minutes in the apartment. After this time she returned to the restaurant to get her handbag as well as the camera of the couple McCANN and "baby monitor" of her daughter, and was soon back again in the apartment."

    http://www.mccannpjfiles.co.uk/PJ/DIANNE_WEBSTER_11-MAY07.htm

    "the camera of the couple McCANN" said Dianne Webster, but Kate said "she doesn't know who said this or who the camera belonged to."

    ?

    ReplyDelete
  26. I see Textusa and NT are having a right ding dong.

    They should both be locked in a virtual room until they have 'worked' it out.

    ReplyDelete