Thursday 1 November 2018

THAT OPEN WINDOW

 
I have to say I was very impressed by a recent Blacksmith blog where he has placed the entries in Kate’s book alongside the entries in Gerry’s blog. Something I have often pondered doing, but never quite got around to, due to it being quite a monumental task.  In a nutshell he has shown us a small sample of all the thousands of lies that can be proven beyond any reasonable doubt. Thanks JB, and thanks for the links, you clearly went to Uni, lol. I somehow wriggled through without ever understanding Harvard Referencing!  But thank you for showing it is OK to revisit old ground, to discuss those huge red herrings that seem to have bypassed all those diehard Gerry and Kate McCann supporters.
 
That open window.  Here’s what I think happened. Just an imagined scenario of course, not an accusation. Ok, that’s pathetic, I’ll go with ‘Some might say’.  Some, those who think like the first two policemen who responded to the call, that an ‘abduction’ scene had been staged. Some might say, the purpose of Gerry’s return to the apartment was to force open the car park window to make it look as though there had been a break in. Unfortunately, he bumped into Jez Wilkins and could not get to the window.  Kate was then left with no option but to open the window herself. Her’s were the only fingerprints found and the window had been opened from the inside not the outside.
 
After Kate raising the alarm, almost the first thing Gerry did was to tamper with check the window.  A strange thing for a doctor to do, especially if he suspected a break in and an abductor. In at least part of his medical training he must have learned about pathology and forensic science. That window, potentially contained the fingerprints and a direct link to whoever took Madeleine.  
 
Bumping into Jez Wilkins was not part of the plan, some might say it threw all their other plans awry.  And by ‘their’, I mean all those who took a collective decision.  Not only did it prevent Gerry from doing his bit, it left Jane Tanner loitering with intent and wearing purple.  
 
I think we all know by now that ‘breaking news’ is the news that sticks.  We are wiser now, but were we in 2007?  The McCanns were.  Not only did they tell the world their daughter was missing, they also told the world how innocent they were. They used the local church for photo ops, and they visited the Vatican. Not only were they displaying their innocence, they were displaying the support they had throughout the world. Well Morocco anyway. Kate’s deluded ‘Rome is preparing itself for our visit’ remains as it is. Deluded. Maybe all the more bizarre and grotesque 11+ years on.  It brings to mind that cringingly embarrassing oscar acceptance speech by Sally Field ‘you love me, you really love me’.  It grieves me to say that about Sally Field, because she should definitely play me should a film of my life ever be made (ok, I fantasize a lot, I also have an Oscar acceptance speech). Not only do I resemble her or she resembles me (especially when playing Sybil) and she can’t hide the crazy behind her eyes, lol.
 
But let’s get back to that window.  It was crucial to the abduction story, it was proof that someone had broken into that apartment with criminal intent.  The ‘break in’ was integral to the parents’ claim that a stranger/abductor had stolen their child.  After all, nobody would be stupid enough to leave 3 vulnerable toddlers alone in an unlocked holiday apartment, judy as they sure as hell wouldn’t leave their money and passports.
 
Gerry changed his statement. Err, alarm bells, major alarm bells.  He didn’t in fact enter the apartment via the locked front door using a key, he entered the apartment via the sliding doors at the back like, err, everyone else.  (how the feck did he get that essential detail wrong?).  Regardless, he later (10 days) remembered that he entered the apartment via the patio doors, no key was involved, but he ‘sensed’ the presence of an intruder, hiding behind the children’s bedroom door. A suggestion Goncalo Amararl demonstrated as ludicrous in his documentary.
 
Of course, had the abductor been in the apartment when Gerry returned to check on the children and use the bathroom, then that window in the bedroom would have been wide open with the curtains whooshing just as they did for Kate. And of course, the bedroom door would have slammed shut.  It didn’t, it remained open through Gerry and Matthew’s checks on the children, it didn’t slam until Kate arrived.
 
In one of their civil actions, I can’t recall just now which one, various witnesses appeared on behalf of Goncalo Amaral. They confirmed that the open window was not an entry or exit point. That is, they proved beyond doubt that the open window was a red herring.  Kudos to Team McCann on that one, they claimed the ‘red herring’ theory as their own. A cunning plan by the abductor to fool the investigators.  What a shame the McCanns don’t have a real enemy to blame for Madeleine’s abduction, there is so much they could project onto him.
 
They daren’t unleash any of their usual anti police spiel on the British detectives charged with investigating this case. It directly contradicts their British police good, Portuguese police bad message.  Up until 2011 the ‘only’ people searching for Madeleine were her parents.  The Portuguese police had given up searching for Madeleine and/or her abductor. The clear message being, they knew who was responsible but (at that time) did not have enough evidence to prosecute.  
 
Madeleine’s parents believe they are intellectually superior to the police, and yeah, it must be said, they believe they are ‘above’ most people.  You could not get a better illustration of that than looking at who they chose for their holiday companions.
 
They are nouveau riche of the worst variety. For me they bring to mind ‘the working class can kiss my ass, I’ve got the foreman’s job at last’ - an amusing little ditty from the 70’s that has become ageless. It pretty much sums up why tories still win elections in the 21st century.  
 
I truly believe that Gerry, Kate and their intellectual equals, thought it would be a piece of cake to outwit the bumbling third world police forces of Portugal and to charm their way into the far reaching protection of Mother England. Sounds delusional, but kudos to them, they pulled it off.  And probably would have pulled it off if they hadn’t been so greedy as to return to the public again and again for donations.  The donations they had already received were beyond anyone’s wildest dreams, Certainly, no single family hit by tragedy has received the global response and financial aid that the McCann parents received.
 
Gerry and Kate are definitely of that demographic who believe ‘if we build it, they will come’.  They imagine what they want, then move hell and high water to get it. ‘We are finishers’ Kate said. And I believed her.  I’m a finisher too, thought I, I have climbed mountains, metaphorically, to tick off the boxes in my ‘things to do before I die’ list.  I attained a degree, tick. I had weekly column, tick. I had a play nominated for a Sony award (twice!) tick, I had a book published, tick, I have freedom of speech, tick, tick and a few Irish jigs!
 
Apologies for turning that into a tickbox list, but while I’m at it get drunk with Jack Nicholson in New Orleans and sleep under the stars in the Valley of the Kings remain blank :(  Oops, also coffee in the Seinfeld cafe :)
 
But back to that window. Was it a good idea for Kate to release that ‘red herring’ statement? Did it make them look more guilty or less?  I tend to think genuinely grieving parents wouldn’t give two profanities as to what the public thought about the finer details of the crime scene.  They wouldn’t give two profanities as to what the public thought of them period. Creating a viewer friendly public image is the last thing on the minds of parents and loved ones who are reaching out to the public for help. They don’t need image consultants, they don’t need to stage public events and invite the press. They appear on our TVs reluctantly, they are always close to tears, and we the audience want to reach out and hug them. Whoever advised Gerry and Kate to show no emotions is a moron. If it comes from the McCanns themselves, then it is chilling.
 
Again I digress, forgive me.  Imagine you (a generic you) wanted to create a scene from which a child was abducted, how would stage the room so it coincided with your story? If I held a poll I think we would all raise out hands for ‘open a window’. A stranger couldn’t just walk in an unlocked door could they? That is preposterous. The co-signatories to the collective decision also saw this as a complete distraction for the intellectually inferior Portuguese Judiciary. An open window and the word of six (British) doctors, case closed.
 
Unhappily for Gerry and the collective co-signatories, the police officers of the original investigation failed to give these God Complex doctors, the respect they believed they deserved. Literally no-one was taken in by the open window.  But it served it’s purpose on the first night.  That is, it enabled Team McCann and all their accomplices to spread the word that the apartment had been broken into.  The first news that hits the stands is the one that sticks.  Bizarrely, Team McCann knew that.  
 
Unfortunately for Gerry and Kate their past media exposure has not stood the test of time.  Perhaps, in a rare moment of clarity, that is something, Kate foresaw in the future when she declared her book ‘an account’ of the truth.  Some solace perhaps for her children, but still not the truth without the word ‘account’ in front of it. It’s halfway to an apology, the rest will follow later.
 
But back to the subject. That window does indeed deserve a blog of it’s own.  It cannot be used as evidence of a break in, because Kate, by her own admission, says it may have been a red herring.  Clearly that window had left Kate et all extremely vulnerable, enough for Kate to break her silence on the matter.
 
The open window was all the McCanns had to support a stranger abduction - that is, until Jane Tanner came forward with her sighting of a man carrying a child at the significant time.  Open window, JT sighting, parents in the clear, case closed.  Kate’s claim that the open window fooled them just as much as it fooled the watching world, didn’t work. Actually, on a scale of what didn’t work for Team McCann, it is right alongside Gerry’s interview with Paxman and pretence that he was invited to a media conference in Edinburgh. ‘Why are you here Gerry?’. Hmmm.  Who knows.
 
Had Gerry been a few moments earlier, or had Jez Wilkins not appeared, the state of the window may have been more convincing as the point of entry.  Instead opening the window was a spontaneous act by Kate who needed more than a missing child to cry abduction.  The McCanns have stated over and over that little Madeleine would not have been capable of opening that window.  Nor indeed, the patio doors and the two garden gates.  And of course, they accept without question that the abductor was courteous enough to close the patio doors and curtains, and the gates at the top and bottom of the staircase.  How thoughtful of him, particularly as he had a child in his arms at the time.  It is easy to see why the McCanns and their friends have been so reluctant to return to Portugal for a reconstruction.  
 
The staging, such as it was, was clumsy and ill thought out - the timeline written on a torn out page from Madeleine’s colouring book, shows how desperate they were. They were not armed with A4 writing pads, subject dividers and colour coordinated folders and post it notes.  They were right slap bang in the middle of a major disaster. All their careers and futures were at stake.  Unfortunately, their preconceived ideas that the Portuguese police were in some way backward soon hit them full frontal, and none have had the guts to return since.  For the record Operation Grange, filming the reconstruction in Spain (wtf?) with actors, screams you do not have the co-operation of the people you are assisting, ie. The parents of the missing child, and of course, those who were part of the holiday group.
 
That open window has of course, been lost in the sands of time. No-one, not even Kate and Gerry believe the intruder came in via the window.  Kate would of course never admit to opening the window herself, but has gone so far as to say, it may have been opened by the abductor as a red herring. Whilst I don’t wish to project any super powers onto this horrendous fiend, he does seem to have the ability to enter and exit buildings without leaving any trace whatsoever. And the two babies who shared the room with Madeleine carried on sleeping soundly.  Madeleine too slept on, even as she was lifted from her nice warm bed, and passed through a window, or carried off by a stranger.  The voice of her daddy close by, yet she did not scream or call out to him.  
 
Blacksmith has opened, or at least led us to the doors of perception.  The foundation lie was the first one we were fully aware of, but how many were there before?  What if, as we, or most of us, believe, it is all a lie, a great big hoax? Does the UK accept that it has been duped, or does it add a few more layers to the web of lies?
 
As a kid learning board games, we had a saying, ‘cheats never prosper’, I can’t say that turned out to be true, especially with Monopoly, but in the real world, karma is never far away.
 
 

111 comments:

  1. That open window that none of the press in attendance commented on even when it was proved not to have been jemmied.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Rosalinda,
    Brilliant analysis of the "open window" mystery.
    I believe Mrs McCann had actually tried to wash the window of fingerprints (her own) and likewise scrubbed the floor to erase her daughter's blood.
    However the two guardians of the great secret were not done yet. They fiercely denied evidence found by forensic tracker dogs of their daughter's blood on the apartment floor and evidence of the girl's DNA cadaverine in the back of their rented car three weeks after the incident.

    It's probable in my opinion that the remains of the body are now safely buried somewhere in the green fields of England - or more practically, in an urn full of ashes on the family mantelpiece.
    jc







    ReplyDelete
  3. "It's probable in my opinion that the remains of the body are now safely buried somewhere in the green fields of England - or more practically, in an urn full of ashes on the family mantelpiece."

    If that is your opinion, then it shows what a horrible mind you have.

    Gary from Jersey

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Gary 2 November 2018 at 19:24

      Kate, in her book speculates about what a paedophile might have done to Madeleine.


      "I asked Gerry apprehensively if he'd had any really horrible thoughts or visions of Madeleine. He nodded. Haltingly, I told him about the awful pictures that scrolled through my head of her body, her perfect little genitals torn apart".

      Who has the sickest mind? Those who, like myself, believe that Madeleine is dead and could have been buried anywhere long time ago or Kate, who ”fears” that Madeleine could be kept by a paedophile for the purpose of being sexually abused over and over again?

      Delete
    2. "Who has the sickest mind? Those who, like myself, believe that Madeleine is dead and could have been buried anywhere long time ago or Kate, who ”fears” that Madeleine could be kept by a paedophile for the purpose of being sexually abused over and over again?"

      Without a doubt, you have the sickest mind.

      As a father to a young girl, if my daughter disappeared, and total strangers on the internet made all sorts of accusations and insinuations implicating me in her disappearance even though two different police forces had categorically stated that I was not a suspect in her disappearance, then I would have no option but to believe that those strangers were sick, evil, busybodies with nothing better to do with their lives than to fantasize about their prowess as armchair detectives.

      Delete
    3. Hi Gary from Jersey.
      Subject of discussion "Gerry's Mind"

      Could you figure out what Gerry might have meant, when he talked about Madeleine’s character and claimed, that

      "Whoever Madeleine's with she'll be giving them her tuppence worth”

      As I doubt that Madeleine had ever had or seen a two-pence coin, it must have been something else that he thought Madeleine had to/would give her abductor(s. What could it be? This is, imo, much more than just a linguistic task.

      We’ve learnt from Gerry, that Madeleine could throw a tantrum, but that’s a different thing, much easier to understand and accept. Isn’t it?

      Delete
    4. Anonymous?? 8 November 2018 at 13:58

      Hi Gerry, and thanks for comment, but to be honest I didn't expect to hear from you on social media.

      Delete
    5. ""Whoever Madeleine's with she'll be giving them her tuppence worth”

      As I doubt that Madeleine had ever had or seen a two-pence coin, it must have been something else that he thought Madeleine had to/would give her abductor(s. What could it be? This is, imo, much more than just a linguistic task.

      We’ve learnt from Gerry, that Madeleine could throw a tantrum, but that’s a different thing, much easier to understand and accept. Isn’t it?"

      What on earth are you going on about?

      Gary from Jersey

      Delete
    6. Hi Anonymous at 13:58 Two police forces have not ruled the McCanns out of involvement in their daughter's disappearance. The Portuguese Supreme Court confirmed the McCanns were never cleared. Operation Grange simply left the McCanns and their friends out of their remit. Despite what has been said the McCanns remain suspects.

      Delete
    7. Kate McCann said "I bet she's giving whoever she's with her tuppence worth", because the general public has to believe that Madeleine is "a real, living and findable little girl".

      Kate's words are inscrutable and anything but convincing.

      Delete
    8. Actually Gary, the reality of Madeleine's disappearance is pretty horrible and something most of us avoid, we don't really want to think about the grisly details. A small child disappeared, there is nothing nice about it. Pretending she is living the life of a princess and giving her tuppence worth is delusional and disingenuous.

      Delete
    9. Your logic here is completely skewed, and your conclusions are completely wrong.

      Delete
    10. Actually Bjorn, that was me at 13.58, but once again you just show how your mind works.

      And Roz, at 13.35, where on earth did you get the 'pretending she is living the life of a princess"?

      Gary from Jersey

      Delete
    11. Gerry McCann: "We have no idea whether she is suffering, but we have to hope and pray that she is being treated like a princess, as she deserves."

      They know Madeleine is not suffering, but they have to hope and pray that people believe that her parents believe she is still alive.

      Delete
  4. 4 May 2007

    "Ms Renwick said: "She's obviously been taken as she couldn't have gone out on her own and the shutters had been forced open." However, the manager at the Mark Warner resort, John Hill, said there was no definite physical evidence that the girl had been abducted. "It's still questionable as to whether it's an abduction," he said. "We are hoping that Madeline is found as soon as possible and safe and well."

    https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2007/may/04/markoliver

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

    25 May 2007
    Gerry McCann: "Okay, I think, you know, there was a lot of criticism that came from the media about the police response and that has never come from Kate and I, at any point."

    4 May 2007
    'Speaking to the BBC later, Ms Renwick said the McCanns, who had been holidaying with three other British families, had felt let down by police in Portugal. "I spoke to them this morning and they said the police had done nothing overnight and they felt as if they'd been left on their own. They just don't know where to turn."'

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Rosalinda,
    This is totally off topic but I'm throwing it in just for a "believe it or not" scenario.
    When you mentioned Sally Field as a lookalike actor for you and possible role model to act out the story of your life I thought that sounded OK.
    By a million to one chance I recently picked up a copy of Burt Reynolds' autobiography where he writes a chapter on Sally Field.
    They were close for years apparently plus they made several films together.
    Amazing how some of the old style actors could really write a tale.
    Try Larry Hagman's "Hello Darlin" and Eddie Fisher's "Been there done that".
    Easy reading is the name of the game.
    Have a nice day.
    jc

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi JC, I have been besotted with Hollywood since I was a small child JC, and went through a phase of reading autobiographies and biographies, Vivien Leigh was a Goddess! Ditto Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn.

      My main male crush was Marlon Brando, and the biggest love of my life bore an uncanny resemblance in every way to the brutish (but handsome) Stanley Kowalski. Naturally I was instantly smitten! A Streetcar Named Desire, is one of my favourite movies!

      The divine Marlon was also a bit of a philosopher, I once spent an entire night watching old interviews with him. It took the entire night because he speaks so slowly, lol. Everything he did say however, was deeply thoughtful and well worth waiting for.

      I agree the old style actors could really write a tale, they also had killer wit! I have collected quotes and books of quotes since, well forever. One of the joys of the internet is instant access to all the witty lines of those we admire.

      Always nice to chat to fellow movie lovers JC, you too have a nice day :)

      Delete
    2. Ros, 9 Nov 14.15

      I remember that interview with MB, if it is the one I'm thinking of he was quite young, wearing a white t-shirt and showing off his biceps.

      He was a real hotty then - stunningly beautiful for a man. The oh, my gosh, words come into play just watching him in that interview, he was mesmerising to listen to as well. Very articulate and deep thinking as you say.

      One of my favourite films (as I love musicals) is Guys and Dolls where he romanced a shy, naive Sister Sarah, Jean Simmons. The electricity between them was quite palpable. Whether they got on together in real life, I don't know as apparently he was a very difficult person, but I like to think they did. I'm a bit of an old romantic as well!!

      Delete
  6. In the early days, around the time of the 'open window' I remember Martin Brunt saying the McCanns had been there for two weeks.

    Considering he has form in this case I take everything he has ever said very seriously.

    If they had been in Portugal since the 21/04/07 what could that mean for the case?

    This case is full of mystery, and absolutely nothing about the official narrative makes sense, including Brenda Leyland.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous 4 November at 15:11

      The McCanns arrived in Portugal on Saturday, April 28, 2007.

      Regarding 21 April, 2007:

      "British police are calling on members of the public to help further in the search for Madeleine McCann. If you were at the Ocean Club Resort, Praia da Luz or in the surrounding areas in the two weeks leading up to Madeleine’s disappearance on Thursday 3 May then we would like to have copies of any photographs taken during your stay.

      In particular we would like any pictures that have people in them who you don’t know as opposed to scenery shots or pictures of just your own family. If you have any such pictures then upload them here."

      https://web.archive.org/web/20070523075031/http://madeleine.ceopupload.com/

      We can take it "members of the public" includes McCanns & friends. Did they upload "any such pictures" taken during their stay?

      Delete
    2. Let's not forget on the day of the coroners court hearing Martin Brunt on his Twitter feed said: "that was a hoax".

      Delete
    3. https://twitter.com/skymartinbrunt/status/578974984774651904

      Delete
  7. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6352723/Policeman-led-hunt-Madeleine-McCann-350-000-book.html

    Average Gal, UK
    "There were suggestions last month that the money to pay for these court cases would come from the funds donated to find Madeleine. I hope it's not true - my donations over the years were specifically to look for her."

    ReplyDelete
  8. Jim Torbett of Celtic boys club linked to Celtic FC has been found gulity today of abusing boys.
    Allegedly Gerry Mccann was the club doctor in the late nineties when Torbett was doing some of his abusing.
    Apparently Torbett had been kicked out the club for abuse but later allowed to return and carry on his abuse,so it must have been well known about at tbe club.
    I wonder if Gerry knew.
    John Reid became Celtic chairman too in 2007.
    So many coincidences.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Nothing to see here according to McCann spokesman Verdi on CMOMM.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. John Reid was Home Secretary until 28th June 2007 and became Celtic chairman in November 2007.
      The Celtic job must have been in the pipeline for some time and probably before the Home Secretary stint came to an end.
      So,if Torbett's abuse and top people at the club knowing about it became known before Reid took up the Chairmanship,it wouldn't have got the new job off to a flying start.Might have made it untouchable too.
      Not a nice scandal to have on ones hand I would say.
      I wonder if the knowledge of Torbett ( and others?) would have been enough though to have had any sway over Reid's thinking and actions?
      Not sure myself,but food for thought anyway.And of course assuming that Gerry McCann was actually the club doctor as has been alleged.
      Eleven years later it doesn't matter,but would be useful to clear the decks if OG is legit as any 'knowledge' that might have been once useful,will no longer be.
      As for OG being legit though,
      that's another matter entirely.And one I haven't made my mind up about yet,although leaning further one way than the other.

      Delete
    2. 6 Nov 22:45
      It's spokeswoman actually or to be more correct spokesperson.
      Either way around however, Verdi is a trumped up self important character who likes the sound of their own voice.
      Very like her hero Bennett in fact.
      A right pair of prats both of them and their words should be treated with the utter contempt they deserve.
      Leading members of the Usual Suspects,as Blacksmith calls them.And add Textusa in to that and all!

      Delete
    3. If Grange is straight up- why hasn't the person who left the resort early on the Friday morning been questioned?-As far as I know they haven't.Even by the PJ.
      Why haven't the Tapas 9 been re-interviewed too?
      This is the problem I have when people tell me to have faith and trust Grange.
      If I was leading the investigation they would have been the very first tasks carried out.
      Time will tell I suppose.Or not as the case may be.

      Delete
  10. Hi Rosalinda,
    Unless I'm getting my information all wrong the McCanns ARE taking their appeal of their treatment by Amaral and the Portuguese judiciary to the European court of human rights in 2019 (better hurry up before Brexit) to try and recoup more than 400 million Euros(Daily Mail and Mirror Nov 3rd). Even though it will cost them about the same amount of money in lawyers`fees to launch the charade.
    But still, the Find Madeleine Fund is estimated to be worth more than 750,000 Euros so the McCanns should come out ahead, win or lose.
    Apparently they cannot sue Detective Amaral directly, he is out of the picture. The Portuguese government are the defendants.
    The couple`s reputation is the only thing that counts for the duo but it could work out badly for them.
    Except for the lawyers and others trying to cash in on the spectacle, this couple are never going to be rewarded by the return of their daughter unless they tell us where they buried her.

    On your review of `That Open Window`you note that the Tapas crowd all gathered together in the Tapas Bar to exchange alibis for their behaviour that night on pages torn from Madeleine McCann`s colouring book.
    How cute is this. What monster could reject this example of the true love of parents and friends even at that moment establishing an alibi for themselves.
    A paper napkin, back of a menu, or reams of paper lying around a restaurant would have done.
    Once again it`s the fake icing on the cake which shows this crowd of failed liars up for what they really are.
    jc

    ReplyDelete
  11. 1578 “I think this was the point where you mentioned a timeline”.

    Reply [Russell O'Brien] “Oh right. So we kind of started to describe that. Yeah, it just seems to, it seems to, okay, well, I’ll, I’ll remember bits and just see if it seems to read in order. Okay, yeah, I think”.

    1578 “Chronologically”.

    Reply “Chronologically, in order, erm, Matt had got up, as has already been said, just to check on the rooms and also to, erm, maybe worth I suppose to say ‘Around nine o’clock Matt was going to check on Grace and the other windows as well’, because he did, he did a, he actually did a check”.

    1578 “So in there then you want'”

    Reply “’Did a check on Grace’, erm, ‘and’”.

    1578 “’To check on Grace’'”

    Reply “’And listen at the other windows, at the other apartment windows’, because that’s, as we said on Tuesday and in that very hastily scribbled timeline on the back of the, the kind of kids book, he was very adamant at that point that all of the external shutters appeared to be in, in the, in the down position, untampered with”.

    http://www.mccannpjfiles.co.uk/PJ/RUSSELL-OBRIEN_ROGATORY.htm

    Doesn't ROB (on 10 April 2008) know who "the kind of kids book" belongs to?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So he (Matthew Oldfield) "was very adamant at that point that all of the external shutters appeared to be in, in the, in the down position, untampered with”.

      All the external shutters eh?

      Much as Rachael Oldfield told police on 15 May:

      'The window shutters of the McCann's apartment were closed. The patio door that they used to enter the apartment also had its shutter closed. In order to enter they had to raise the shutter.'

      Did Oldfield raise those shutters in order to check on the McCann children? I wonder why he's never mentioned it? Of course, if he didn't raise the shutters then he didn't go inside, which might account for his description of the interior matching an apartment other than 5A.

      Delete
    2. It seems unlikely that Matthew Oldfield raised the shutters although Kate McCann makes room for more commitment, in her account of the truth:

      “Gerry was there [police station in Portimão] for thirteen hours. When he finally returned to the apartment he related how Matt had been almost hysterical during his interview. Gerry had heard him shouting and crying. Apparently, it had been put to Matt that he’d handed Madeleine out through the window to a third party. It was like something out of Life on Mars.

      Kate summarises Gerry’s 13-hour experience at the police station, giving only the main points, I presume.

      Delete
    3. I wonder how Matt felt about the description given of him in Kate's book? Whilst the intention was to highlight the terror they were enduring at the hands of the Portuguese police, it makes Matt sound like a wuss.

      The parents bizarrely, cannot and will not accept that any of their friends could have been involved in their daughter's disappearance. They have 100% faith in their friends Kate said.

      But why? I ask. That kind of trauma would make a parent suspicious of everyone, even their nearest and dearest. They can't vouch for each other for the whole of the night because several of them left and were absent from the table for varying lengths of time. There are plenty of reasons to suspect the friends.

      I suspect them, because like the McCanns, they put their young children into the resort creche the very next day. With a child missing and a 'predator' on the loose, what were they thinking? How could they bear to let their children out of their sight, let alone hand them into the care of strangers?

      I think the idea that the McCanns and their friends have not and are not, being investigated is naïve, wishful thinking on the part of the parents and their supporters, and wishful thinking on the part of those who will accept nothing other than a conspiracy.

      If we think of Operation Grange as the good cops, and there is nothing to say they aren't, the idea of covering up a child's death would be an abomination to them. Madeleine is the victim here, she is the reason Goncalo Amaral stood up to the parents, and no doubt, the reason OG keeps getting more funding.

      The parents would like us to believe they are being protected by the media and the establishment, but I don't believe they are. In a rare moment of truthfulness (that Vanity Fair interview), Clarence admitted that they could not get Labour hierarchy to listen to their [the parents] case. 'All they were offered was mid level Consul'. I think once out, there is no way back in, as we have seen with Mr. Mitchell's floundering career.

      continues

      Delete
    4. As for the mainstream media, it's all about 'bums on seats', the Madeleine story has been good for selling copy and catching the eye on the front of the tabloids. There is nothing moral or immoral about what they do, it's all about the money. When the McCanns were the media darlings, they were given headlines and middle page spreads, and they made the most of it. How things have changed. They were not able to transfer their money making abilities to other charities. They were never hailed as sporting heroes and their sponsorship was so poor, their friend Hugh Grant had to make large donations to top them up.

      Curiously I feel sorry for them. They had such high hopes in the summer of 2007. You can kind of see how their enthusiasm caught on. Not so much high hopes of getting Madeleine back, but high hopes of making her newly patented brand go global. Pop concerts, sports events, something in 'the arts', an annual Madeleine day for everyone.

      In those days however, it was completely taboo to point out how fecking weird the parents' behaviour was. They had achieved hero status, their bravery never seen before, Kate got flowers, Gerry got a standing ovation from the police!

      The greatest and most deplorable achievement of these neglectful parents, was persuading the world, especially young parents, that the 'bogeyman' is real. Yes, strange men do climb in windows and steal sleeping toddlers.

      Meanwhile the real message, just how dangerous it is to leave young children unattended, has been brushed aside. The checking system was not a good idea, despite the McCanns claim that it had worked perfectly for the previous 4 nights. They were directly putting their children in danger, and yes I am saying it that strongly.

      All 3 of the McCann children, and indeed all the tapas children, could at any time have climbed out of their beds, ingested pills that were lying around, drank toxic liquids in the loo or kitchen, or fallen after climbing on furniture. Two year olds may look cute and harmless, but you can't ever turn your back on them. I clearly remember when both of my sons discovered ways in which to climb out of their cots. On both occasions, it started with a big bang. After that I just left the cot sides down. They were going to do what they were going to do but with a smaller fall. First son drew Jesus fish all over my Laura Ashley wallpaper and doused his rocking horse with bottle of Chanel No. 5. Jerry Seinfeld (a God) said having a toddler was akin to leaving the top of the liquidiser. Quite. All those who rushed to support Gerry and Kate's naïve decision to leave the children on their own (we've all done it)was shameful. As Gerry once said, what if ALL 3 children were taken? Hmm, what if indeed.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous 8.11 @22:00

      Kate McCann's observation is irrelevant to the question of whether MO lifted the PATIO shutters, which his other half confirmed were DOWN. No one saw him do it. No one heard him do it. He makes no mention of having done it. In all likelihood therefore he did not do it. Therefore he could not have entered apartment 5A that night as he claimed.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous at 17:11

      Agreed. I just wonder why Kate McCann thought there was any need to share Matthew Oldfield’s hysterical shouting and crying with the world. Was that the high point of Gerry’s 13-hour stay at the police station?

      Just like Rosalinda I wonder how MO feels about the description given of him in Kate's book. Are the McCanns holding something over his head?

      Delete
  12. Hi Rosalinda

    Crystal clear analyse of the staged abduction. Those who, before having read your excellent post, may have thought that the open –window scenario could comply with the hypothesis about a stranger abduction must now see how preposterous that would be.

    However, it’s quite logical to believe, that the McCanns needed it for their first version of the events that “disastrous” night, but as there wasn’t any forced entry, we can bring the whole story about the open window and the “red herring” to the record as one of the McCanns’ many lies.

    Hi jc

    The McCanns may already have lodged an appeal with the ECHR, but I have nothing to support my guess. If they have, it is its admissibility that will have to be examined in the first place.

    Anyway, Gonzalo Amaral’s book can now be sold, at least in Portugal. His assets are no longer frozen and the McCanns’ are not convicted of anything by any Portuguese Court, so there shouldn’t really be anything that the ECHR has the authority to deal with or correct, unless the McCanns’ appeal would be about how the law about freedom of expression should be interpreted in a general sense by all the ECHR states, which have ratified it, but why would the McCanns be authorized to pursue such an issue?


    The McCanns seem to believe that they have a kind of universal right to be believed, whatever they say. Skeptics on the internet don’t, and are therefore labelled “trolls”by them. Gonzalo Amaral don’t believe them either and the Portuguese Supreme Court even allowed him to publish his thoughts of doubt.

    So from the McCanns’ perspective, there must be very evil and extremely nasty trolls within in the Portuguese judicial system as well. They have from the very first days after Madeleine’s disappearance tried to change the world with regards to freedom of speech and a lot more, with the sickly pretentious intention to make the WORLD adjust to their own needs and to all their lies about an abduction. I wish it would’ve been the other way round.




    ReplyDelete
  13. Hi again Rosalinda ref.7 November 2018 at 18:40

    In the first sentence, I wanted to say a "crystal clear ANALYSIS", but unfortunately I spelt it wrongly.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Reverend T. Ben. Nit8 November 2018 at 15:44

    Good God!

    Tables,tables,tables!

    Tablecloths too and fancy ones with nice pictures even!

    I prefer pews and altars myself,but what's it all about?

    Well I had to scratch my head and seek spiritual guidance,although I think I now know.

    On the one side we have the lovely young transgender Lady Textusa and on the other we have the wicked NT.

    Textusa with her loyal till death disciples says the 9 devils ate their Last Supper in downtown PDL's red light district.
    Good God,the Lord have mercy on their souls I say.

    And the wicked NT with his band of merry agents and assets says the 9 angels had the Last Supper around a very big round table (BRT) in the Tapas bar.
    Good God assetts?
    I've heard on the grapevine that Jules has a nice pair of those.
    Actually, I do a little amateur photography of the human kind in between God's work,so my studio is open Jules anytime except Sundays if you are interested.
    I'm sure the church donations could stretch to your doubtless high cost.
    You pay cheap you get cheap and you look one classy lady.
    I hear too a bodybuilding chappy is trying to woo your affections on twitter.But beware.Those types with their steroids are often big up top and small down below.You look like the sort of girl who likes a man with attributes the other way around.

    But I digress.

    I see my old stomping ground is in the news again.
    I was a trainee chaplain back in the nineties at a football club in Glasgow. Not sure which one, although there is only one team there isn't there? At least that's what the chairman told me.
    I worked with a young upcoming doctor whose name I can't remember now.Dashing fellow though.He did the medical checks on the players and I gave spiritual guidance to them.Usually one to one,but after a big match we sometimes had a group session.
    The good doctor once asked me if he could examine me.I said of course,how much,you know what these Scots are like eh,but he said it was free and he wanted to check if I had benign hyperplasia.
    God knows what he meant,but that night my voice was so high I could have sung soprano in the church choir.Sounded like a choirboy again I did!

    But anyway digressing again, where was I?
    Ah tables.Big ones too!

    Not sure who is right and who is wrong here...Lady Sextusa or the angry young old man NT.. Tough one that!

    Tell you what.

    I will spend the next few days praying to our Lord for spiritual inspiration and will hopefully have
    the answers for you all,my faithful congregation,in time for my next sermon.


    Amen to that!






    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The horse has spoken with its mouth:

      “Big. Round. Fucking. Table.
      Enough of this nonsense

      https://nottextusa.blogspot.com/2018/11/big-round-fucking-table.html

      You don’t mind me telling you, Rev, do you?

      Delete
    2. T and NT fighting over a table is pathetic.
      Sums the pair of them up.

      Delete
  15. Apologies Bjorn and others for my temporary absence. I toyed with the idea of using 'Cristobell is unwell' in tribute to the late great Jeffery Bernard*. In truth, I am probably no more or less well than usual, I am still fighting those demons who threaten to eat me alive on a daily basis. The key to my 'relief' is filling my head with alternate thoughts, or indeed actions. I have now taken up knitting, sadly in my usual OCD way, I have made so many woolly hats I am trying to find a way to ship them to a refugee camp!

    I have also been totally engrossed with the US elections. I am permanently shocked by the gross out behaviour of their President. Hitler seems rational and well balanced by comparison.

    I guess my view of America is based on apple pie movies, which is why I am gutted Trump has any support whatsoever in the Land of the Free. Regardless, we are watching history in the making, Trump is steering the US towards an autocracy, he is steam rolling the constitution and preparing an army to fire on immigrants. I am astonished that a country like the US would allow this to happen.

    continues






    *columnist for the Spectator who's err, alternate lifestyle sometimes led to him not producing his column and the headline 'Jeffrey Bernard is unwell' appearing in it's place.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. But back to that window. Unfortunately the narrative given by Gerry, Kate and their friends might just as well be carved in stone. There is no leeway, no room to manoeuvre, whatever they said on the morning of 4th May is the framework around which their case is built.

      I am sure most of the real detectives who have read those statements would agree that those statements don't stand up to scrutiny, and indeed, given the opportunity to interviewer witnesses, the statements could easily be disproved.

      I strongly suspect that the parents and their friends have hidden behind lawyers all these years. That is, they have never been re-interviewed and have never co-operated with Operation Grange. Why weren't they in the Scotland Yard reconstruction? Why was it filmed in Spain with actors?

      The foundations of the abduction story, the 'break in' and the sighting by Jane Tanner have both been disproved. That we know. The collective storybook timeline and narrative doesn't stand up to scrutiny and never has. Jane Tanner's sighting, the most important event of that timeline, was added as an afterthought. They were more concerned with getting their alibis straight than they were with the man seen walking away with a child!

      I suppose Kate wouldn't have had much of a story if that window hadn't been opened. Running to the tapas bar screaming Madeleine had been taken, would have been bizarre without that physical sign of a crime having taken place.

      Of course as soon as it was proven that the window was not the point of entry or exit, Gerry then remembered that he had entered the apartment via the rear patio doors. Along with his new memory of entering via the patio doors, was the feeling that someone was inside the apartment, possibly hiding behind the door in the children's bedroom when he went to do his check. Before returning to the tapas bar (and bumping into Jez), he had his proud father moment at the children's bedroom door. He saw Madeleine alive and well and sleeping on top of the blankets - which begs the question why didn't he cover her up as most parents would do?

      Regardless, if, as he suggests the abductor was already in the apartment, the window should have been open. Kate's story about the door slamming made no sense, even without all the meteorological reports on CMoMM. If the window was open the door would have slammed shut long before Kate got there. Both Gerry and Matthew had returned to the apartment during the time the window was supposed to be open.

      Kate like Gerry, made no reference to the state of the patio doors when they went to do their checks. A burglar or intruder would not have the time to put the patio curtains back in their place and close the doors behind them. Not just the patio doors, but also the two gates that led out to the road. I watched an interview once (Irish TV)where Kate pointed out how ludicrous it was to imagine a 3 year old closing doors and gates behind her, oblivious to the fact that it is equally ludicrous that an abductor carrying a child would close them either. Stealing a child I imagine is a very stressful business, especially when that father of that child is standing in the road chatting to his 6'4" buddy.

      I suppose the front door would be the most likely option for exit, except, the door may have been double locked by the parents to prevent the children getting out. In any case, I don't think anyone has pushed an exit via the front door. Bizarrely, Team McCann want us to consider only the open patio doors. I don't know why, because Gerry was standing in the road opposite the steps to his apartment, making the rear patio doors useless as an exit.

      Delete
    2. @ Ros
      May I suggest something that helps?
      Cycling,running or even fast walking makes the body release chemicals that fight depression and anxiety.
      Much better than knitting.
      It's not a cure but it has helped me at various stages of my life.

      Delete
    3. Bless you 15:58, you are right of course. My last big health boost came about with the ten minute warm up from a Jane Fonda video each morning. Unfortunately I drove myself demented with it, my excuse just now is the lack of a female power anthem.

      I jest, but I hear you. The only way to get those endorphins is to do something that makes you sweat! Happily I am very fond of walking, and am presently looking for a gentle, walking getaway. Avoiding anything that involves spiked boots and walking aids.And hopping on the back of a Sherpa appears nowhere in my bucket list.

      My knitting I cannot yet give up. I get a real sense of pleasure in creating something beautiful - now have a set of pom pom makers :) Though should add, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, lol. In any event, knitting does not allow any kind of deep thinking lol, wander off and you drop a stitch! However it works perfectly for the American news programmes I watch, but there is always the danger of a dropped stitch when Jim Acosta comes on. I have a huge crush on him and hate Trump even more for his thuggish behaviour.

      Anyway, bless you for lending me your ear and thank you for your kind wishes.

      Delete
    4. Hello Rosalinda

      Trump ought to be critised for much more than his behaviour. He has a very odd view and vision of the world.

      In 2015, an average of 3000 asylum seekers per week came to Sweden. This meant that every two weeks the number of incoming refugees was just as high as that of the current army of poor people, which is now on its march towards the southern border of the United States and scares the hell out of Trump.

      I’m not always so proud of my country, but in this case I am. All of those people got a chance to apply for asylum and on the whole everything seems to have worked out quite well for most of them. No-one pointed a gun at them, not even figuratively. As for the U S President, Rosalinda, I don’t expect so much anymore in terms of empathy from a man, who has recently made friends with the world’s most cruel tyrant, who totally disrespects the rights of his own people.

      Delete
    5. The man is an absolute monster but I can't stop watching him. If this is a reality show, it's the most nail biting yet.

      I am absolutely astonished that he did not go to the US cemetery on Saturday and kind of hoping that he has finally crossed a line with his deranged supporters.

      I find Vladimir Putin intriguing, in a scary sort of way. But he clearly showed the world he had Trump in his pocket with today with that thumbs up and backslap. Trump looked like a smitten teenager, think that's the first time he has smiled in days.

      Like everything Trump does, his Paris trip was a disaster. It began with his ill advised tweets asking if there was something better to celebrate (neither he nor his best people having the word commemorate in their collective lexicon).

      Even as Air Force 1 landed on the tarmac, he accused his host, Emanuel Macron of having insulted the US. I wonder is it Trump's claims to be a billionaire that has enabled him to bulldoze his way through American high society? Does everyone in his path ignore his boorish ways? his lack of civility and social graces? How do those in his company tolerate his appalling manners and total lack of tact and diplomacy? Have all those sycophants around him made him what he is? Is he the classic rich kid who's parents never said no?

      Regardless, it was immensely pleasing to see Trump sat next to Macron, squirming like Billy Bunter outside the headmaster's office. Macron's reassuring pat on Trump's knee, I am sure, made it all the more excruciating for him!

      Well done to Sweden for taking a compassionate and humane approach to refugees and immigrants. I truly do not understand why or how people can get so worked up about the issue. Immigrants are the ones who breathe new life into stagnant communities, they start up the new businesses and they put their hearts and souls into them. I think of my own parents who came to England as immigrants in the 1950's. Strictly speaking my dad wasn't an immigrant, but with his thick Scottish accent, he might as well have been. He along with my mother faced the same 'No dogs, no blacks, no Irish' prejudices of the boarding houses. They came for work, and for the chance of better lives.

      I saw a documentary a couple of years ago about a town in Germany who welcomed thousands of refugees from Syria. And I mean, literally welcomed. As younger generations had moved away, they needed people to take over all the services and professions they had left behind. They were an ageing population, they needed young people!

      I often ask those who fear immigrants, if they intend staying in their homes for the rest of their lives and do they expect all their neighbouring families to do the same? Do they want their street, their town, their nation, to be caught in a time warp?

      The body language of Trump and Putin today is fascinating Bjorn. Putin is a cruel tyrant for sure, but the man is genius. He knew the world's eyes would be on him and Trump today, that 'thumbs up' spoke volumes.

      Delete
    6. Hi again Rosalinda, and thanks for comment on my thoughts

      Putin wants to make Russia as "great" as the Soviet Union was at its height in the middle of the Cold War. He’s always, due to his KGB -limited perspective claimed that the collapse of the Soviet Union was a geopolitical "catastrophe", but not a liberation of the East European countries, as most of us see things.

      Moreover, he exercises power in a way that despots did in earlier times, that is "le pouvoir absolu”. However, Russia has become a more and more open society despite Putin and I've no doubt about him sooner or later being peacefully replaced by someone in his own party, who sees Russia's role in the world differently.

      I, actually, had terrible tyrant Kim Jong Un in mind, and his newly established friendship with Trump. His “Kingdom” must be the most oppressive and closed society in the world, but after the so called negotiations and the woolly agreement about a denuclearisation, the world now seems to have forgotten all the imprisoned and suffering North Koreans, who’ve no chance whatsoever to escape unbearable and inhumane living conditions in the search for a better life.

      Delete
  16. More Blacksmith.
    A double helping this time.
    Trial of the century. Townsend v Textusa .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And what a load of rubbish it is - not funny - not clever - not anything.

      Delete
    2. "I must say, I am distinctly unimpressed with what blacksmith has to say in his recent blog". It is currently straight out of Pseuds corner in Private eye. Firstly a 'witty little courts report sketch' backed up with a latin strapline. We use English in England BS! Moreover the little quote from Virgil;'Flectere si nequeo superos acheronta movebo' may be a quote from Aenid by Mr.'I once studied latin smarty pants', but was also a quote from Sigmund Freud's book 'the interpretation of dreams'. Yes, the grandfather of Clement Freud, convicted paedophile, resident of PDL aand provider of strawberry daquiris to Kate Healey Mccann. And yet BS professes to seek the unadulterated truth away from the distracting paedophile innuendo surrounding the Mccanns. Agreed, so research operation grange's outcomes, drop the pseudo latin quotes old boy and don't make it difficult for us in this Machiavellian sea of smoke and mirrors [PS one who deceives will always find those who allow themselves to be deceived - a quote from the italinate speaking prince for ya BS]

      Delete
    3. 12 Nov @11:27

      I love you… A sigh… Are you free to buy me dinner tonight?

      Verily, verily I say unto thee our johny, master of tedium and pomp, is assiduously trying to re-model himself after the one he cannot hope to emulate.

      Delete
    4. yea, right. thanks for the ass smoke blowing. Now lets get back to the day job and conclude on the status and the "review" findings of operational grange eh?.They have had 8 years and 12 million quid and still no outcomes. It stinks of either ineptitude or a dereliction of duty. Over to you smoke blower.

      Delete
  17. Blacksmith Sat 10th Nov
    Conclusion to case.
    Wandering through sewage.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. JB wearing his braces and Doc Martins and putting the boot in again.
      Right old bovver boy isn't he!

      Delete
  18. Me me me "Mccanns" me me me "Mccanns liars" me me me "window" me me me "not well" me me me "sympathy for me" me me me "knitting" me me me "who I fancy"me me me "my favourite films" me me me "more sympathy for me"

    What a load of rubbish you are Ros.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You do make me laugh Unknown, but not for the reason you think. My blog is clearly titled - Cristobell Unbound, and I muse. I make no claims to be an investigative journalist, nor would I be so pompous as to describe myself as a researcher. Those who claim to be researchers I'm afraid, I see as stalkers and peeping toms, sticking their hooters where their hooters do not belong.

      As for my anecdotes and wandering off, I'm afraid it is all part of me and not something I can switch off. Nor do I want to, I always hope my words, whatever they might be, will resonate with someone, somewhere.

      I love movies, I love politics, I love knitting (at the mo) and I love discussing random subjects with random people. If I were more organised I would have separate 'pages' for separate topics. I keep teetering on the edge of politics, but not quite got the courage to jump in, but who knows.

      Well I am sorry you do not like the personal side of my blog Unknown, but I think that is actually part of my blog's appeal. I am to entertain as well as inform, that's why so many of my readers return.

      I'm not asking for sympathy, in fact if you read my column regularly, you will know how vehemently opposed I am to being described as a victim. I would prefer to lose a battle than win with a sympathy vote. I have never in my life presented myself as a victim, I have way too much pride. In fact those traits in educated people like the McCanns, disgust me. Almost as much as those pink buckets they left around Warners resort asking for donations.

      I don't discuss my manic depression because I want sympathy, I discuss it because I hope it will offer some solace to others who suffer similar symptoms. I want them to know they are not alone.

      I make no apologies for my love of movies, movie stars and famous quotes, or wander off into the streams of unconsciousness. As the great Marilyn Monroe once said '.....it is better to be absolutely ridiculous, than absolutely boring'.

      Delete
    2. Hi Rosalinda

      I shouldn’t really waste any time commenting on what ”Unknown” says, but has she ever expressed her opinion on the Madeleine case in a decent way by referring to facts or hypothesis? She just seems to be a bully, one of the kind with whom you find it so difficult to socialise or argue with in real life, at least in a proper manner. So much anger and contempt aggregated in one single soul, or perhaps in a soulless person, just makes me sad.

      Now back to the Open Window, a far more interesting topic of discussion imo.

      If you wish to be successful in making up an untrue story, you must make some kind of research regarding the circumstances you intend to lie about. Kate often fails in this respect.

      As for the mysterious gust of wind, though it was exceptionally calm that night in PDL, Kate first thought that it must have come from the door, through which she’d just entered. So she looked behind her to see if she had forgotten to close it, but she hadn’t. She therefore decided to open the door to the children’s bedroom, to see what it was that made it “slam shut”.
      As a matter of fact, that was the only reason she mentions as to why she decided to take a closer look inside.

      Given that it was almost windless and only the alleged open window, but no other open doors or windows in the apartment, there couldn’t possibly have been any draught at all causing a door to “slam shut”, unless it had happened at the very same moment as Kate entered the apartment, but according to her own “account of the truth” that was not the case.

      A true scenario of the kind that Kate describes would at least have required an open patio door. I’ve here referred to what she said on ”Skavlan” in Sweden 2010. Whether Kate’s story about the slamming door is true or false, would’ve been so easy to verify in a reconstruction of this specific event in PDL on a night with similar weather conditions. Was it ever done? Easy detective work, I’d say.

      Delete
    3. I'm not sure Kate discusses the door slamming in her one and only statement Bjorn, I have a feeling that story came about in later interviews.

      Like you, I find it very odd that Kate wasn't going to look into the children's bedroom. Why not? Who walks all the way up that hill, two gates, patio doors and curtains etc, and doesn't bother to physically check on the kids.

      I'm trying to imagine a scenario where all, or some, of the key players gave the open window, slamming door effect, a few trial runs. As you say, generally when an interior door slams, it is because two outside doors are open at the same time. Or in this case, a window. But, Kate says it didn't happen as she opened the patio doors, and she checked that she had closed them.

      The window I think, was a very bad idea altogether for the McCanns. Which is why I think the whole, let's call it collective decision, was thrown together in a hurry. It led the first police on the scene to believe an abduction was being staged.

      That window is an anchor around the neck of the parents' defence. Kate's fanciful story about a gust of wind and a slamming door was merely to add drama to the situation. An empty bed was not enough - proof was needed of a stranger abductor in order for Kate to go running down the hill screaming.

      I think CMoMM have done masses of 'research' on the open window Bjorn, including checking the meteorological reports!

      Kate's statement doesn't, of course, stand up to scrutiny, which is why she answered 'no comment' when she was called in a second time. Eg. Why did she immediately assume Madeleine had been 'taken'. Her reply 'because the window was open'. A child of Madeleine's age could not open that window. The open window shuts down an theories that might involve Madeleine wandering off, or even been taken in by a neighbour.

      If was crucial for Team McCann that the first news reports should state there had been a break in. And the only physical sign of a break in was that window. By the time it was proved there had been no break in, the original story had taken hold. And of course the McCanns were pushing it everyone, SOMEONE they said, with malicious intent, BROKE INTO that apartment.

      No-one corrected them, just as no-one, or very very few, question them on anything outside their approved press releases. Why Kate, for example, did you run back to the tapas bar, leaving your twin babies alone, knowing that one child had already been 'taken'? And yes, the divine Sandra Felgueires did ask that very question. Gerry answered iirc, something along the lines that that's what doctors are trained to do. Go get someone else.

      I don't believe any mother in the world would leave her babies alone in those circumstances. That run to the tapas bar created the drama and the chaos they needed to enact their cunning plan. Maybe they wanted witnesses to remember seeing them at the Tapas bar at a certain time by creating a scene? A sort of look over here, not over there distraction? It's more or less, one of the oldest tricks in the book.

      Delete
  19. 7 Nov 15:28

    "Left the resort early on the Friday morning".
    IMO this person, because of his powerful connections, could be the reason for any cover up.
    If indeed there is one and I know some people say there isn't including the blog owner here.
    Too many oddities for me however,so I lean towards the cover up theory.
    Someone leaving a possible crime scene and not being interviewed (AFAIK) is beyond me I'm afraid.
    Whether he was involved or not,to not be questioned even as a witness is incredible IMO.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Examine this statement very carefully:

    "We founded this Bureau in 2009 with one aim only: not to sleuth, not to "be there for the child", not to put forward theories but to destroy the public reputation of Kate and Gerry McCann by proving beyond doubt over the long term that their reputation rested on lies and deceit. That is what the motto at the head of the page means."

    It is a direct quote from The Blacksmith Bureau Saturday, 10 November 2018, "Court reports - wandering through sewage" http://blacksmithbureau.blogspot.com/

    What sort of person sets up a blog to "destroy the public reputation of Kate and Gerry McCann" - people who have never been arrested, charged, taken to Court and convicted of any crime?

    Can somebody explain that?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Unknown 12 November 18:24

      Are you lost? Here is jb's explanation:

      http://nottextusa.blogspot.com/2018/11/not-important.html?showComment=1542059745407#c6263945341523369939

      Unknown?

      Delete
    2. "Can somebody explain that?"

      Blacksmith has attempted to do so elsewhere.

      As for "That is what the motto at the head of the page means", you will find this to be an extraordinarily liberal interpretation of a line from Virgil's Aeneid (written long before the McCanns appeared on the scene).

      Never mind Kate and Gerry's reputation resting on lies and deceit, Blacksmith's is itself perched on sandy soil.

      Delete
    3. Hello. And thank you for your appreciation of the Bureau, Ros.

      I am unsure why it was stated in the post above that I "attempted" to explain.I made a clear statement of my motives, my intentions and the progress so far.

      The key phrase is "by proving beyond doubt". That is, the accusations I make are specific and evidence based, unlike the fantasies daily expressed by the mainly anonymous enemies of the McCanns (the supporters have nothing to say anymore).

      My accusations do not include any assertions of parental guilt in the death or disappearance of the child - and accept the fact, which so much troubles Bennett, that abduction is perfectly possible, as anyone with knowledge of probability will be aware.

      My concern is with the now crystal clear fact that the McCanns have attempted to bypass the justice system using the public, which includes me, and doing so with lies and deceit. That I was not prepared to accept.

      There is no possible answer to my accusations so far: the proofs are given by their own words, court judgements, witnesses and the words of the head of their criminal defence legal team. My reputation doesn't come into it since I'm not asking anyone to take my word for it.

      The latest such proof to emerge from that work, unmentioned in either the House of Commons statements or the Leveson inquiry and never yet revealed in the UK MSM, is that the McCanns became unambiguous and official suspects on August 6 2007, as proved by the designation ("suspeitos")on the Case Files search warrant I posted up some weeks ago. The "arguido confusion" rubbish claims, which the pair attempted to use in their lies for nine years, are now exposed.

      As I said in the reply you referred to, I am heartened that when my claims have been tested properly - in court, not in the newspaper fodder that so many anti-McCanns feed on - every legal judgement in the case so far has confirmed the accusations I've been making.

      So the "what sort of a person" question, implying presumably that I am acting like a psychopathic bully against a poor little couple who've done nothing wrong, is clearly misplaced. The facts are speaking for themselves, as I always hoped.

      Untruths or unprovables aren't any use to me: it's the facts that destroy.





      Delete
    4. Unknown 12 November 2018 at 18:24

      Before you asked, ‘john’ had written:

      “[My emphasis] … to destroy the public reputation of Kate and Gerry McCann by proving beyond doubt over the long term that their reputation rested on lies and deceit.”

      Nothing to do with ‘john’ as a person, dear, nothing to explain. Credit must be given where it’s due.

      T

      Delete
  21. Sandy soil?
    Astroturf more like!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Hi, to whom it may concern

    RE:
    ”Never mind Kate and Gerry's reputation resting on lies and deceit, Blacksmith's is itself perched on sandy soil”

    Those, who’re seeking the truth about Madeleine’s disappearance stand on solid ground I’d say, unlike the McCanns, who have resorted to a remote swamp somewhere in nowhere land and can be swallowed by it as soon as they make a move in any direction.They'd better stand still and be quiet in order to just survive, but do they?

    I cannot help questioning the Met/SY and especially the investigation into the Madeleine case. It becomes more and more absurd to me for each day.

    As for the detectives, who were and the few who still are "committed" to the "Operation Grange", they'll soon drown deep down in their own muddy waters of corruption and of unethical loyalties, leaving nothing behind, not even a hint about what they’ve been doing all these years. The only exception being DCI Andy Redwood’s spiritual moment of revelation, when he received a telephone call from Dr Totman, who’d just woken up from a coma.

    What about a new version of Crime Watch in which professional actors could play the roles of some of the suspicious paedophiles, who have been identified since 2013. Wouldn’t that be entertaining? What could the remaining few operation-grange detectives be doing nowadays, apart from sitting and waiting for the only two suspects in the case to call and provide them with new lies about “suspicious” strangers?



    ReplyDelete
  23. Sky News Breaking

    Sky Sources: the Home Office has agreed to provide a further £150,000 for the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann

    https://twitter.com/SkyNewsBreak/status/1062388386546233345

    ReplyDelete
  24. "The Home Office will provide an extra £150,000 for the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, say Sky sources.

    Funding for the investigation - dubbed Operation Grange - ran out at the end of September, prompting London's Metropolitan Police to apply for resources to extend it until March 2019.

    "We have confirmed that Special Grant funding of £150,000 will be provided to the Metropolitan Police Service for the six-month period to 31 March 2019," a Home Office spokesperson said."

    https://news.sky.com/story/madeleine-mccann-search-home-office-to-provide-extra-150k-for-investigation-11553455

    ReplyDelete
  25. Holly Christodoulou and Tracey Kandohla, struggling to contain their glee over the recently announced advance of a further £150k in support of Operation Grange, show their Freudian slip and undies to boot in The Sun 13th November 2018, 5:58 pm
    Updated: 13th

    "Maddie would now be a teenager and this computer generated image suggests what she might have looked life" (sic).

    Wrong tense girls. And that typo at the death (pun intended) doesn't help either.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Good heavens I feel my life is being notched up in six monthly funding for Operation Grange. Not so much Prufrock's coffee spoons, but regular media flurries of rage and sympathy for the McCanns.

      Sick indeed 19:35, in the vomit sense also, not for Kanhola's usual grammatical errors, but sick that the poor child's image is still being used so shamelessly. Even as chilled as I am on most matters, as a mother, even I would be kicking bed frames and punching walls at the grotesque distortion of my child's image. Is nothing sacred to that woman?

      Delete
    2. Rosalinda.

      With respect, you have missed the point completely.

      Unlike some who visit here (and the two demoiselles, Christodoulou and Kandohla) I can spell. I did not write 'sic' to imply vomit, but as a conventional abbreviation of the Latin, 'sic erat scriptum', drawing attention, or so I thought, to the interesting spelling error that appears at the close of the original text.

      Perhaps you would care to read the comment again and digest more carefully the implications of the authors' reference to what Madeleine 'might have looked like'(in the past) rather than what she might look like now (if she were alive) coupled with the (subconscious?) substitution of the word 'life' for 'like'.

      It appears very much as if the authors were as conscious of Madeleine's passing as they were of her appearance.

      Delete
    3. No, I got your point, you were quoting verbatim, the two authors unwittingly implied Madeleine was dead. I made a point of the fact that my sound alike 'sick' was related to something entirely different.

      They slipped up, they often do, it sounds as if they can't even convince themselves anymore.

      Delete
  26. And in other (?) news (Tracey Kandohla and Charlie Moore For Mailonline)....

    "The McCanns have around £4million saved in a public fund to help find their daughter."

    So that's where the money went!

    ReplyDelete
  27. Hi Rosalinda,
    If this is true that the Home office has funded another 150,000 pounds this must mean that a British investigation is still under way - unless the McCanns are donating the cash from their 4 million pound fund to create a smokescreen. 150,000 would probably just pay for 3 police officers and a fax machine.
    This move would be strongly supported by the McCann couple to make it look as though their daughter was still alive - which she has to be in order for them to keep raking in donations to the "Find Madeleine Fund".

    The couple are caught in a vicious circle of their own making never being able to admit their daughter is dead. Something they have been trying to hide since they witnessed her death on the night of May 3rd 2007.

    Does anyone on this blog who is internet savvy know if the McCann's "Find Madeleine Fund" is accountable to anyone but the parents and their four cohorts, all directors of the fund.
    Is there some kind of accounts ledger to see where the millions in cash have been stashed.

    My guess to that question is like when Mr McCann was asked: "Did you kill your daughter" and he replied, "that's an emphatic no".

    And as an afterthought - their pals, the smiling Tapas friends made a "Pact of Silence". How cooperative is that? These people know how to play the legal angles. It's easy; Just keep your mouth shut.

    The public's only hope in this matter is if one of the Tapas nine cracks. Maybe Scotland yard is working on this where the Portuguese police would be lost in the English milieu.
    jc

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi JC, there are excellent financial reports online by forensic accountant (I think that's the correct title?)Enid O'Dowd. She has gone through the accounts available (very few) with the eye of an auditor, and her findings are pretty astounding. Outside of Enid, I do not know of any official body looking into the way the Fund has been run. As we know it is not a charity, so I don't know what, if any, governing body covers it. It would be pretty astonishing if OG or agents on their behalf have not delved into the Fund accounts.

      Keeping quiet has helped the Mccanns and their friends for 11+ years JC, but it has not stopped the police, both British and Portuguese from pursuing the matter. They are continuing, and, as the latest funding shows, they have no intention of giving up. Most won't see this as good news, but it is terrible news for the McCanns. Look how happy they were the last time the police investigation of them was shelved? (Expresso interview).

      I don't think it is a case of waiting for one of the friends to 'crack' JC, and it is not the stance OG have taken. They are proactively investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. Can you imagine being a suspect and hearing the news that the investigation goes on?

      They may publicly that they are grateful to Operation Grange, but privately it must hell. In the case of Sabrina Aisenberg, the FBI obtained audio evidence against the parents, by bugging their home. The police, I am sure, watch the behaviour of the McCanns, far more intently than we do.

      Delete
    2. Hello. I worked with charities for a time.

      Before a charity is registered it must have a history and bona fides to prove it's a reputable body that can be trusted with public donations.

      To do that means it must be in some way "incorporated", i.e. made into a body, or legal group, so that it, rather than individuals, is responsible for its actions.

      The way this is done is always the same: you incorporate as a limited, not-for-profit company, which makes you "exist" as a group. But you are limited by "guarantee": each member agrees to put in some money if a failure occurs.

      The whole point is that it's an interim measure on the way to becoming a registered charity that enables you to perform with the legal rights and responsibilities (insurance, employment etc) of a group. On application, the Charity Commission then studies you and the financial and directorial structure.

      The way that the MF acted is unusual, in that it failed to turn itself into a charity. As we know, a charity cannot exist for a single named person basically because it can be used for personal enrichment and tax evasion.

      A trust fund is the normal method of looking after named individuals - but that normally requires non-public donations. And the beneficiaries cannot directly control the money that assists them. But that is precisely what has happened with the MF beneficiaries.

      Freezing a fund by keeping it a limited company means that the only oversight of the money is company law and the tax systems etc. As long as it has a council or board of directors it can do more or less what it likes as long as it acts within its "terms of incorporation", laid out in its documents at the beginning.

      The problem here is this: the board of a charity is meant to be independent, i.e deliberately chosen from outside - an "arms length" from the potential beneficiaries. It has a moral and legal duty of care to ensure that decisions, restructurings and so on do not benefit anyone except clients.

      None of these protections apply in the MF case. Changes have been made to directors and financial allocations that would not be possible in a charity. The reason for all this is that in the climate of hysterical support for the parents in early 2007 its incorporation terms were extraordinarily beneficial to the family of the child, rather than the child herself or other missing children.

      While millions in donations have gone out of the fund, the child at the centre of it never received a penny.

      All legal. All provided not by shadowy backers but by the people who sent in their envelopes. And all just so, so unsavoury.


      Delete
  28. Just read the Daily Mail story about extra funding. A couple of interesting comments quoting taxpayers are angry & want to know why money is being spent on a case that has already cost over £11.5 million. The other comment copied as follows

    Three-year-old Maddie vanished from a holiday apartment in Portugal's Praia da Luz in May 2007.

    She had been left alone sleeping with her younger twin siblings while her parents were dining with pals in a nearby tapas restaurant.

    I'm wondering if the media tide is beginning to turn?

    Hi Ros, sorry for not commenting for a while but going through a divorce after 25 years. I have been following your posts when I can.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, John100, I've been thinking of you. So good to see you back. Sorry to hear your news. These things happen. It’s very difficult, I know. Bless you, my old son, and good luck!

      T

      Delete
    2. Ah John, you should be careful in giving information like that to a wanton woman like moi. I cannot now be held responsible for any unsolicited flirting should I overdo it on the falling down water ;) On the plus side, statistics favour the male in the senior dating range, so expect to be mobbed the next time you venture down to the Dog and Duck. I jest of course, watersheds are traumatic, life changing, but when you reach the other side you know it was worth it.

      As for the tide turning, I think that has been happening for a long time. If the purpose of Operation Grange was to lift suspicion from the McCanns, it has achieved the opposite. They have suggested Madeleine may have died in the apartment,[at the time of the PDL digs] not Goncalo Amaral, not the Portuguese police. No matter what Martin Brunt tried to conjure up (a burglar with a shovel), Madeleine's death in the apartment, puts the parent firmly in the frame, just as it did in July 2007.

      Anyway, kind wishes to John, and many thanks for dropping in.

      Delete
  29. David Baddiel
    Most people don't know what it's like to lose a child and should shut the fuck up.

    @Baddiel
    Now imagine all the families that know exactly what it feels like and don't get 100th of that money spent on looking for theirs.

    https://twitter.com/MDKelly93/status/1062421901048455169

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. David Baddiel: "I tend to feed the trolls because it gives me material for my work. I’m sometimes taken aback by the racist and antisemitic abuse I get, but most of the time I’ll get angry for a second, and then remind myself, ‘This is material.’ The trick is not to be too reactive."

      https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/mar/04/david-baddiel-social-media-is-just-people-saying-stuff-im-used-to-hecklers

      Trick of the trade.

      Delete
    2. Having considered the matter in, of course, all its aspects, I have decided that that tiny-brain-big-tongue-I’m-funny Dave Bordel is…

      A wise old owl once lived in a wood, the more he heard the less he said, the less he said the more he heard, let's emulate that wise old bird, Dave.

      Myles na gCopaleen

      Delete
    3. https://twitter.com/FlannQuotes/status/322802494600273920

      Delete
    4. I am not on twitter, but the person, who obviously is, quoted me correctly. It is gratifying that you either knew or took the trouble to find out who I was. A*

      Let’s keep smiling.

      Yours

      Myles na gC

      Delete
  30. Meanwhile over at Havern's hovel Bennett is dissing Sonia Poulton over the extra funding almost as if it's her fault.Ros gets a name check too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is bizarre that all those who have dedicated years of their lives trying to discover the fate of Madeleine McCann, are now so irate that the police investigation is continuing. How irate would be they be if the files were closed with no result? Or is that what they were hoping for?

      This is another one of those cases where the extremist 'antis' and extremist McCann supporters, come together, neither wants to accept reality. Without an official conclusion, both sides are free to put out their own versions of what happened to Madeleine.

      An investigation that is going nowhere doesn't keep receiving extra cash. The idea is absurd. Clearly OG have good cause to carry on doing whatever it is they are doing. What do we imagine their requests for more funding look like 'well we have no leads, and not a hope in hell of solving this, but we can we have some more cash anyway?'. Or how about 'we must prepare for prosecution?'.

      This new injection of cash does not appear to have been given so freely this time. Funding ran out in September, but it is only now that it has been granted. Those requesting more funds must have argued their case successfully - that is, proven they are expecting results.

      continues

      Delete
    2. In fact all the arguments that Operation Grange is a cover up are absurd. Our democracy does not allow the government or VIPs to use the police as their own private army. And 30+ British homicide detectives would not conspire to cover up the death of a child. Not only does it go against every law they have sworn to uphold, it goes against their basic sense of decency and humanity. And for what it's worth, I think it absolutely appalling that these officers are abused online simply for doing their jobs. If those doing the abusing took a moment to reflect, they will see they are doing to the British police, what the McCanns did to Goncalo Amaral.

      Gerry and Kate McCann are not that important, certainly not worthy of the kind of cover up the loony toons envisage. Not even Putin would go to the kind of lengths they believe have been invoked on behalf of Gerry and Kate. They whisper some VIP was flown out of PDL under cover of the Secret Services, to add weight to their ridiculous fantasies of swinging and deviant sex.

      All nonsense of course. Keep it Simple Stupid, KISS, sometimes a spoon is just a spoon and sometimes what see in front of your eyes is exactly what it is. This case has never needed to be sexed up - and sadly, in the case of Madeleine, that is literally what some of the more deranged McCann sceptics have done.

      I'll finish with KISS. For all those who haven't done so, I suggest they spend the next rainy afternoon reading Goncalo Amaral's book, The Truth of the Lie.

      Delete
    3. Hi Rosalinda
      clarification of my thoughts about “Operation Grange”

      Gonzalo Amaral is undoubtedly an honest former police detective, who dedicates his life to finding the truth about what happened to Madeleine. Andy Redwood, Mark Rowley and whoever succeeded the latter have never done that. They’ve all had the chance to start from where GA was forced to leave the Portuguese investigation, but none of them has ever had the guts to do so. They should’ve tried their best to make the PJ reinstate the McCanns’ arguido status and the cancelled reconstruction should immediately have been carried out in PDL.

      As you may know Rosalinda, the Palme case here in Sweden (the murder of our Prime Minister Olof Palme 30 years ago) has now officially become a forever case, which means that it will never be closed and that there’re and always will be detectives actively working on it, though the investigation is now scaled down. Naturally there’re infinitely many theories and leads that’re still being pursued, as there’re so many people who’re still taking interest in the case. Having said that, I believe that the Madeleine case is still going on for similar reasons, but not because the Met/SY suspect the McCanns or intend to investigate them. It’s just that the case has attracted the interest of so many people, whose sightings and fantasies about traffickers, gypsies, monsters and paedophiles having taken Madeleine are constantly being passed on to the police authorities, compelling them to go on investigating useless and false leads, which is the reason as to why “Operation Grange”is still being granted more funding. So I don’t claim that the “Operation Grange” detectives are corrupt, just busy pursuing worthless leads. On the whole, however, it’s all so sad and of course the biggest crime case scandal of the century so far.
      .

      Delete
    4. Hi Bjorn, I don't think the Portuguese and British police are wasting any more time following worthless leads, though that is the impression they are trying to give.

      This case always has the potential to cause a massive media storm and huge embarrassment to those members of the police and establishment who backed the McCanns over the Portuguese Judiciary. The British police agencies who flew out to PDL were at odds with each other,CEOP were looking for an abductor, Leicester police and Mark Harrison suspected the parents.

      When the Portuguese shelved their files they were not looking for anyone else. That is they were not looking for an abductor because they knew there wasn't one. It could also be said, that they were not going to be sent on any more wild goose chases by Team McCann and their cohorts.

      Before Operation Grange began, sightings of Madeleine were a regular, almost weekly, feature in our tabloids. I remember one commentator who claimed to have seen a child with the exact same nose as Madeleine. I remember being quite baffled, I've never thought of childrens' noses as being that distinctive, but said commentator was following the advice of Gerry, Kate and US Centre for missing children, and scrutinizing pictures and children above and beyond. That 'nose' may have been among the 100+ leads OG were obliged to follow up.

      Operation Grange have kept their cards very close to their chests Bjorn. I suspect they are operating under Portuguese Judicial secrecy and of course under their own 'battle plans' - they are not going to let their suspects know what they are up to. Detectives and suspects are often, drawn into cat and mouse games. See the FBI's pursuit of the parents of Sabrina Aisenberg.

      The injection of £150k says 'we aren't going away' - it is a chilling message to those who have a guilty secret, and for them the 6 month deadline says that's all the time you have left.

      I think if OG were still chasing leads we would have seen some activity Bjorn. People being brought in for questioning and perhaps even some more digs, but it has been spookily quiet for some years now. That fact alone screams there is not a predator out there.

      Delete
    5. Hi Rosalinda
      Thanks for your comment. I hope for the sake of justice that you're right here, as there're so many people on the internet who're now able to detect all of the McCanns' lies and essetially they base their opinons on what they've read in the pj files and on what they've heard the McCanns themselves say. So common sense tells us that the detectives working on the case must see what the "outside world" has seen for so many years.Let's therefore wait and see Rosalinda. "Who waits for something good does not wait in vain", as we say our country.

      Delete
  31. Nice comments, Ros.

    Could I just remind people that while I carry the legal can for the Bureau - gladly and willingly – I do not claim its achievements, for whatever they’re worth, as my own. Yes Ros, it was hard work, for example, to match and compare the McCann lies of 2008 with those of 2011.

    But that depended on knowledge originally provided by people who had offered to help or work with, or in Nigel Moore’s case, sometimes fact-check, sometimes edit, the Bureau.

    More than half a dozen of them are Portuguese. Some of the latter, BTW, are ferociously pro-conspiracy, which if you know anything about twentieth century Portuguese history - Kissinger was making plans to overthrow their government as recently as the late 1970s - is more than understandable. But that didn't stop them providing crucial information time after time and has never stopped us working together. One day, with luck, and their permission, I'll be able to acknowledge them more fully.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, I had an inkling it was a mammoth task JB, which is why I am immensely grateful that you did it. I wonder just how much Kate relied on her 'diary' and Gerry's blogs. Both give false accounts of what was happening during the summer of 2007 - do they have a real, truthful account, or are they relying on memory? I tend to think they are relying on memory and their ability to yada yada over the truth. Of course, if you are telling the truth you don't need a good memory as Mark Twain tells us, but these two don't. I suspect there are dozens, if not hundreds of detectives who would love a few moments interrogating them. Tying them in knots would be so easy.

      I think Portugal have a lot more respect for their new democracy, than we do for our rather worn and enfeebled one here in the UK, JB. Who knew the Portuguese would release their police files? Certainly not the McCanns or their English police helpers.

      The transparency of the Portuguese investigation scuppered any chances the McCanns had of turning their Fund and Madeleine's name into a multimillion child finding organisation. Whilst the MSM overlooked the fact that the parents were never cleared of their involvement in Madeleine's disappearance, you and I didn't JB. The Portuguese Supreme Court not only highlighted that fact, but it was widely reported in the British press.

      I think we should all be grateful to friends such as yours JB, for all they have done to get the truth about this case across the British borders. The UK public would have been none the wiser if the McCanns had been successful on the European front. That is, despite having a reputation management agency working for them in Lisbon, they are under more suspicion than ever.

      Delete
    2. To the writer of the most recent poison pen missive, you do not deserve to be published. Your cruel, spiteful little mind immediately correlates sex, drugs and rock and roll with all that is evil in this world, no doubt you too believed John Lennon was a terrorist.

      I happen to like people with 'pasts', in fact I am highly suspicious of people who have never been high, the strait laced and the God fearing. From what I have seen of US murder documentaries, it is the evangelicals and the pillars of the community who opt for murder rather than divorce. But just to rub it in a bit further, Lance Armstrong and Jimmy Saville.

      Delete
  32. Hi Rosalinda,
    Thanks for the information about Enid O'Dowd's analysis of the McCann's "Leave no stone unturned" charity.
    Although written a few years back it clearly shows the corruption, expenditure, and filtering of millons in donations into the fund by heartfelt donors.
    As a financial administrator of charities O'Dowd was surprised by the bad practices and late filings of the fund.

    She also writes that a spokesperson for Team McCann even wrote to ICEAW ( Institute of chartered accountants of England and Wales) of which O'Dowd is a member complaining about her comments.
    jc

    ReplyDelete
  33. "Police have applied for more funding to continue the search for Madeleine McCann."

    https://news.sky.com/story/police-seek-more-cash-in-madeleine-mccann-search-11509274

    "This is not held by the MPS. We do not apply for funding, money is allocated from the Home Office."

    https://www.met.police.uk/SysSiteAssets/foi-media/metropolitan-police/disclosure_2016/september_2016/information-rights-unit---funding-for-operation-grange

    Do the MPS apply for funding or don't the MPS apply for funding?

    ReplyDelete
  34. Operation Grange are clearly not giving up on this case regardless of the amount of time and money it takes.

    Someone must believe they can solve this, despite all the false witness statements and fake photographs.

    ReplyDelete
  35. How you doin’, Björn?

    -------

    On one occasion, when asked about his life, Nabokov replied: “My own life has been incomparably happier and healthier than that of Genghis Khan, who is said to have fathered the first Nabok.”
    Nabokov at Cornell, ISBN 0-8014-3909-4

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello anon 16 November 2018 at 09:33
      I’m just fine, thanks

      Interesting book about Nabokov, definitely worth reading, I’d think.

      Talking about Russian authors and Russia, there’s something not quite tangible in the Russian people's soul beyond the Tsar, Lenin, Stalin, Chrusjtjov, Brezjnev, Yeltsin and Putin, that can be searched both in the classical and in the modern Russian literature, of which Nabokov's work is only a part.

      When I was in St Petersburg a few years ago, I thought about visiting the places where Dostoevsky's main characters in his novel “Crime and Punishment” had lived their lives, but I hesitated, as I feared that the fiction would be too real to me. Revisiting Nabokov’s works, wouldn’t “kindred spirit” or “spiritual togetherness” be an interesting theme of discussion? Just a thought.


      Delete
  36. Hello Bjorn. FWIW I loved Pale Fire but I still think Lolita is a terribly shocking book. Not for the paedophilia as such, more the truly extraordinary cold-heartedness of the writer, a cold-heartedness which he extends to readers as he manipulates them.

    Whenever I think of that book I can hear laughter in the background, the sound of Nabokov laughing at us and the rest of the world, a kind of revenge on everyone for driving him out of pre-revolutionary paradise. Just an opinion.

    Many, many years ago the part Russian Peter Ustinov said on television that Nabokov's flagrantly beautiful, serpentine English style had made him expect the author to be the same in his speech and conversation.

    Ustinov, a brilliant mimic as well as a highly cultured intellectual, then described a typical conversation with him once the two had met, with Nabokov saying, yes...Oom..ah..sure…[grunt] oom...I dink so...oom...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. john blacksmith 16 November 2018 at 15:12

      Hello John, and thanks for your comment. Yes, I believe that you’re right about the ”cold-heartedness” in Nabokov’s writing. I suggested in my earlier post, though it was between the lines, that there seems to be something boundless in the Russian soul in terms of emotions, conventions and morals, which can often be seen in the minds of many Russian artisans and writers. As for “Lolita” it’s perhaps, from Nabokov’s perspective, just a provocation against the western culture, and its view upon sexuality and intellectualism, from which he himself had benefited so much.

      Naturally anyone who reads “Lolita” has to be very much in the mind of an immoral and, in fact, a heartless narrator, who’s a criminal by definition, so it’s inevitable that his (the narrator’s) reasoning affects the reader on many levels, as does the reasoning of Defoe’s narrator Moll Flanders. However, Nabokov himself, as I see it, does not in any way encourage or authorize child abuse or paedophilia in his writing, but on the other hand it’s not so easy to see what his message to humanity would be in “Lolita.”, if it’s not just to make us see how abuse, sexuality and intellectualism are linked together. As soon as I get time to do so John, I’ll revisit “Lolita” to see what more there might be to be found in form of wisdom in it.

      Have I nice weekend John.

      Delete
    2. Hello, Bjorn. You too.

      God, I could never read it again. I am though thinking of buying his eccentric translation and commentary on Eugene Onegin this weekend, tho. It's been out of print and horrifically expensive second hand for decades. Now it's out as a paperback.

      Have you read the Knausgarde stuff? (spelling). I haven't. Yes, yes, I know you're not Norwegian.

      Anyway, cheers.

      Delete
    3. Hello John (ref 17 Nov.2018 23:56)

      No, John I haven’t bothered to read anything by Knausgård, not yet anyway. Now and then he appears on Swedish TV and talks about his real personal struggle of life, which I suppose is an inexhaustible source of “inspiration” in his authorship, which essentially is autobiographical but in a kind of fictional form, if I’ve understood the essence of what he tries to say.

      In Norway he’s perceived as an unethical author, as he uses his closest ones in disclosing his own life, while discussing his own struggle to understand it. His moral character is much more questioned in Norway, than here in our country, where his “intellectualism” and alleged honesty seem to be much appreciated.

      I’ve learnt that, Knausgård nowadays lives a rather harmonious life in a self-imposed “exile” in southern Sweden with a Swedish wife and Swedish children. In an interview some time ago he revealed, that he reads Swedish newspapers and watches Swedish TV, yet, he says, that he still perceives our Swedish culture from an exterior point of view. As for the linguistic part of the culture, that we’ve in common here in Scandinavia John, no Swede, Dane or Norwegian has to take any language course in order to understand one another and this applies to Knausgård as well, so he’ll eventually be perfectly adjusted to our way of living, though in exile, and be well taken care of here, and perhaps he’ll finally be completely understood as an author as well LOL.


      Delete
  37. Пётр Устинов... Владимир Набоков...

    “…the moon's an arrant thief,
    And her pale fire she snatches from the sun…”

    ReplyDelete
  38. According to the DM today the McCanns have had a visit from the police for a "sit down" chat regarding two leads the police are following, hmmm,well at least they weren't dragged kicking and screaming into their local police station, that's if they've still got one.

    I was wondering at the time when GM did that Radio 4 interview if something was in the pipeline behind the scenes and he was getting his excuses in early - he didn't think they ever called Madeleine Maddie (now why would he say that at the beginning of a radio interview if it didn't have any significance - didn't a couple hear people calling "Maddie, Maddie, Maddie" at about 9.30 p.m.). Then he went on to mention mental health problems, why did it take 11 years for him to mention this. Was he throwing himself under a bus in case the police came calling and he would use this as a "get out of jail" card and to protect Kate as he couldn't say they both had mental health problems to save their skins as they would have been seen as unfit to care for the twins.

    I hadn't seen the TV programme "The Cry" so wasn't aware of what it was about before I started reading some of the forums and people were saying GM was trying to bat away criticisms of he and Kate as The Cry seemed to follow Madeleine's disappearance. I think it goes deeper than that and they knew that the investigation was coming to an end and were getting their excuses in before the sh*t hits the fan.

    Just my opinion of course, for what it's worth.

    I see that CMoMM has gone underground, now why would that be. Too many people been asking awkward questions lately perhaps.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for your post 14:17.

      I think the truth is Gerry and Kate have no idea how parents of a missing child would act, and they have relied on their own very limited knowledge. Neither of them are empathetic, so have learned nothing from what they have actually seen in their careers as medics. They presented as hysterical, interspersed with patronising and downright hostile. Kate didn't ask for helicopters, she asked, neh demanded, a priest. Meanwhile her husband and his friends were demanding borders be closed and distributing photos of a two year old Maddie.

      Gerry and Kate were insisting on abduction above all else. She was too small to open the window (later proved to be a red herring) and too small to close the patio doors and outside gates behind her. Someone with malicious intent (Aunty Phil) broke into that apartment and stole that child.

      The bogeyman for sure. Ugly, Smelly, wearing a bullseye on his sweatshirt, looking like an extra hairy George Harrison, he could also have been a woman according to Clarence. If Clarence's experience of women, includes stubble and a hairy chest, I fear he seeks solace in very strange places.

      Your opinion is as worthy as any other 14:17, don't ever your voice doesn't count.

      Does Gerry suffer from mental health problems and depression? Definitely, when it suits him.

      Delete
    2. Hi Anon 18 November 2018 at 14:17

      Yes, I agree with Rosalinda. You made a few good points about the McCanns' smartness.

      Why would the police wish to have a chat with the McCanns now, more than 11 years down the line, if they’re not under suspicion? Do they perhaps want to inform them about what they’ve been doing? If that would be the case, why not tell us all? If the Operation Grange would need to ask them a few complementary questions regarding what they called the daughter, how they treated her, etc, there must at least be British detectives who’re still suspicious about them, which of course would be very promising.

      Unfortunately, I’m afraid, that it could be just another blurry manipulated photo of a girl sent anonymously to the Met by the McCanns themselves in collaboration with others (Clarence Mitcell), as was the case with the photo of the Moroccan girl, which the McCanns are asked to have an “opinion” about. It’s of course just a guess, but the McCanns are just as calculating and cunning as you’re implying in your post.

      Delete
  39. It's been over eleven years since David Payne said to a journalist "we have a pact", one of the questions I have is who exactly are the we? Another question is,
    how many people are actually involved in the pact?

    It would be interesting to know how big this is, and the true number of the pact participants.

    The first place I would start is by not believing anyone.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Maybe pact is another word for hoax.

      Delete
    2. Great question 17:04, and one that has been allowed to slip way beneath the radar. That unholy pact has stood the test of time, whatever they all vowed to keep secret, has remained secret. None of them have spoken, in 11+ years only Gerry and Kate have been the front of their once massive campaign and dare I say it, political movement. Their supporters and even their families have never come out to support them publicly. I am pretty sure they have under anonymity.
      Why the reluctance to identity themselves as supporters of the parents? If theirs' is the just cause, why the need to hide?

      The 'Pact' and the 'Collective Decision' are probably one and the same 17:04. The v.manipulative Gerry I imagine, convinced his friends that having left their children unattended too, they too faced disaster.

      This was a group of ambitious thirty somethings, everything they ever worked for could potentially be wrecked for a 'moment of madness'. And they were selfish, we know that. Read the chilling and callous statement of Rachel as she talks about her sick baby.

      The truth is, the majority of us, 99.9% could not in a million years have walked out of that apartment leaving our babies on their own. Even the thought of it sends chills.

      But these people did. And they appeared on camera, the next day, and for as many days thereafter as they could. They turned their tragedy into a profitable business, manufacturing t-shirts and belt badges as others trekked through the bushes and brambles searching for their child.

      That 'pact' or 'collective decision' 17:04, has, we hope caused all those involved in such an abomination, many, many sleepless nights. Their lawyers can only protect them so far. If the police have enough to prosecute, they are toast.

      It is quite clear by now that the police will not give up. And they have had ample opportunity. For at least the last 3 years it has continued to receive funding in 6 monthly increments. And for those involved in Madeleine's disappearance, every top up is a step nearer to their conviction.

      Have the police come up with two new leads - lol, see my latest blog :)

      Delete