Forecast: You will Freeze Your Nipples Off

It was a cold December. Especially for the poor chap with frost-bit fingers who entered the remarcable temperature of: -129 ºC on the left.

Far from 'global warming'...

Have yourself a great start to 2010!

May the temperature be cosy.

Carnation Generation

Second part of the McCanns/Amarals' Court Hearing events.


After the embarrassing PR man the McCanns hired in Portugal, time for a genuine representative of the Portuguese people and their opinion – certainly more than 90%, as the McCanns’ lawyer, Isabel Duarte, admitted.

Some of the freedom-of-expression supporters shied away from the cameras but not my new heroine, Maria Augusta.

She grabbed the bull by its horns and put the record straight.

Embodying the spirit of justice and the courage of our old navigators and warriors of the glorious past, she defended country, people, the institution of the Judiciary Police and Gonçalo Amaral.

She showed the world that, at least for her and others like http://pjga.blogspot.com/, the Portuguese will not be gagged.

Another McCanns' PR Disaster

Breaking News: The long-herald "embarrassment for Portugal" is finally upon us... PR, slash, Bouncer, slash, Jackass, proves that nothing good comes out from under every rock the McCanns (un)turn.

In contrast, Gonçalo Amaral was composed and relaxed.
And Martin Brunt's a true gentleman. Just like PJGA's spokesperson, Luis Arriaga.
Even the lady in the hat comes out looking good, next to that brute PR man.
And she was making more sense too.

Who Let the Dogs Out?

It's staggering to think all of this started with a little girl going missing...
It seems nothing is sacred.
Jill's mother, trust, responsibility... and so many other things that are supposed to be worth something...

Everybody needs to take a step back and think.
Who is really profiting from all of this? Many people, including the media. This sorry-ass affair has become a reality show; one of the worst kind.
Just say "In the name of Maddie" and you have carte-blanch for anything apparently.

When will people wake up and realize that there is just too much noise, too much cacophony going on in public, because there is a defening silence on the only stage where this case should be unfolding: the legal, official investigation, which must be allowed to continue, independent and unpolluted?

I am new at this but still can see my reflection in the mirror.
I know when to back off.
I suggest others do the same.
Peace on Earth to men of good will.

12 Reasons To Re-open Madeleine's Case

To Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Bloguistan

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Members and non-members can read the information available on most of the website.

Any person interested in defending the values of justice and truth is free to join the network.

All views and opinions are welcome and respected.  

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10 Reasons WHY the Case Should be Re-opened

Original here

It's:


 1 - free.

 2 - the only professional, responsible, publicly scrutinised way of looking for missing persons.

 3 - the only LEGAL way in Portugal.

 4- the only way to find out what really happened to Madeleine, and validate it in court.

 5 – the only way to definitely clear the McCanns and their friends of any suspicion.

 6 – the best chance Madeleine has of being found.

 7 – the McCanns private investigation has led nowhere and has no credibility or legal authority

 8 – the McCanns ex-P.I.'s are being investigated themselves

 9 - the only way to prove (or disprove) that Gonçalo Amaral, Eddie and Keela are right.

10 – it’s a moral and civic duty, the only way to do Justice.

The Shroud of Silence - Are you asking WHY?

Original here.

It’s ironic that in the ‘age of information” people are being kept in the dark more than ever. And we’re not talking of Iran or China and their undemocratic control of the press, the media and the internet. Western societies are taking for grated its renowned freedom of expression.

Money and power are the Iran and China of Europe.

If you have one or both, then nothing is sacred or impossible. Even because indifference is rife.

Here’s a screaming example of control of information, apathy and even censorship:

In 2007, a 3 year-old British girl – Madeleine McCann - goes missing in a holiday resort in Southern Portugal. I’m not even going into it – there has been enough talk about the details of the case.

What should have been just another missing person’s case, became not only an international media frenzy but also a political case – almost a political incident, between Portugal and the UK.

The question “why” is certainly pertinent in the aftermath, but nearly 3 years later, not only there’s no answer to that question and others; there isn’t even a scenario where questions can be put.

We are at a stage where posing questions equals “libelling”; where inconvenient questions are quickly met with law suits, and thus, questions are quickly silenced.

Maybe that explains another “whys”:


- Why have the media, namely the British, removed many inconvenient articles for the McCann from the cyberspace?

- Why have the British press suddenly become an “official” organ of propaganda for the McCann?

- Why are the McCann, unlike other parents in a similar situation, treated as starlets and spared “tough”, reasonable questions?

- Why is this preference being given to this couple?

- Why are books, DVDs, TV programs all over Europe being suppressed by the McCanns’ lawyers?

- Why they have so much power?

- Why are they allowed to get away with all this?

- Why has a judicial case been allowed to go out of the judicial sphere?

- Why is this couple and their Tapas friends refusing to go back for a reconstruction to answer the inconsistencies in their depositions?

- Why is this couple apparently above the law?

- Why have they step up a Fund so fast but are unconcerned that no police force is looking for their daughter?

- Why aren’t people outraged that this is happening?

- Why aren’t people reacting to the clear infringement of their right to unbiased information?

- Why aren’t the parents and the people demanding the re-opening of the case, in accordance with the “leaving no stone unturned” mantra?


These are just a few questions off the top of my head. Many more could and should be posed by a responsible society, to a couple who has used the media and the public attention as they pleased.

I hope we will have answers to these and other questions, soon. With your help, we will. Remember the CEOP message: "If you stay silent, you are just as bad".

Please add your "whys" to these in the comments or write your own manifest.

Tags:

VIRAL VIDEO THIS, CEOP

Welcome to "Casa McCann" in PDL, just before they hotfooted back to England, after being made 'Arguidos'.
The Portuguese and British Police were gobsmacked by some of the things they found inside...really revealing stuff,  see for yourself - nothing seems to be ordinary when it comes to these two...
Time to re-open the case.

Who Will Have The Last Word?

A half-Portuguese, half-English writer, generally known as MEC, once said that the Portuguese hate the past because it's gone and the present because it's not the past.
I don't know which of his halves said that, but they're both right.
Portugal has indeed a glorious past but those glory days of being a major world player are over.

The nearest thing we can expect to achieve currently, is winning a major football competition. At least, that's what every Portuguese thinks is the greatest thing that could happen to this country.
So what if Portugal is again the poor man of Western Europe?
We could turn around and show those snotty neighbors our wonderful, gilded trophy.

The fact is that the Portuguese have a hard time accepting that we are just over 10 million, roughly the population of many big cities, like London.
We still believe we can rub shoulders with the front-runners - and in many fields, we actually do.
However, sometimes we live between a certain schizo-megalomania "of being the best in the world" quickly followed by "we're the pit of the word"...

This schizophrenia is, IMO, the product of many years of political abuse. On one hand we have the government and the politicians sucking up to our deluded side of grandeur, promising us a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow; on the other hand, these same people who are suppose to represent the people and the country to the best of our interest, end up selling us out and leave us fetching sticks for our European "masters".

That has been the case in the Madeleine McCann case.
What other country would take all that abuse, all that defamation, all that xenophobic character assassination?
I hate to say it, but I don't think any other European country would!

Being made look like we couldn't tie our own shoes without our "colonial" superiors' aid, was, I think, the worst insult of all. A deliberate one, no doubt, to thwart the course of the investigation. One that shouldn't be allowed at any cost.

There was a reaction from some outraged individuals in the internet, but the silent majority was too much busy getting on with their lives, making a living on the lowest salaries in the EU. People expected the government to handle it, and they were quite right in expecting that they take care of their responsibilities.

So what about the government? The government caved to foreign pressure once again and turns out, people were quite wrong to trust their own government. No wonder Portugal is the European country with lower self-esteem, according to recent studies.

Not only the government let down one of its own, not to mention the entire national institution of justice and the authority of the Police, they let down the victim of an uncertain fate, Madeleine; the country, and the world.

But they are not alone in their ignominy.
The people who contributed to these pressures and to the incident that victimized Madeleine are also to blame, although they all remain pretty satisfied with themselves.
But while there is still people, albeit anonymous, who can see them for what they are and not let these events slip into oblivion, they will never have a moment of peace.

Madeleine McCann's Youtube Poll

VOTE!

Don't Get Mad - Get Active

The proof that this country, to some extent, doesn't deserve the slime-balls representatives it has, is in little-big gestures such as this ones:

- It all started with a comment left on a news website, where someone basically said:
"I'm done with words - if someone wants to DO something about this, here's my email address".
That message generated hundreds, later thousands of emails.
Did it sort out the problem, correct the situation? So far, no it didn't. To decide what's best for a young girl incomprehensibly uprooted from everything she knew, it's out of their hands. But they did contribute to keep the story alive and help fund a more than likely return of Alexandra.

- Just a few days ago, as I reported here, a hand-full of individuals started a movement to help and deffend Gonçalo Amaral's civic rights, against the powerful forces that have launched an unprecedented attack on our freedom of expression. As the CEOP video states, "if you stay quiet, you are just as bad as them".
Let's make some noise then. For Gonçalo, for justice and for the truth. Follow the example.

You're NO Sherlock...

The following are quotes from a new SE article:

“It is astonishing and disgraceful that the Portuguese have not assigned a specific team to scrutinise leads which could provide a breakthrough in the world’s biggest child abduction case.


“It is frankly outrageous that the parents of this poor child should be hiring private detectives to conduct an investigation which should have been taken on by the Yard in the first place."

Who else thinks this dude has a bug up his arse?

If this news are true (coming from such "reliable" source as James Murray, "Investigations Editor") =)) then Dai Davies needs to be informed that it's up to the McCann to ask the re-opening of the case; spending money on PI's has nothing to do with the PJ and quite frankly, he sounds like an idiot.

What kind of cop he is/was, if he doesn't even have a clue of what he's going on about?

As a man he can't be much as well, given the disrespectful way he addresses foreign colleagues.

He's got to be a disgruntled Everton fan (lost to Benfica 7-NILL on aggregate) :))

The only bit I agree, is that the Investigation should and must be re-opened.

Doggy Style McCann No Likey?

Gerry is ok with reporters asking the dogs' opinion about a question he does not want to answer... seems to me the dogs are not the ones unreliable in this story.


They may sniff crotches but they surely don't lie.

ALL FOR AMARAL

It's time we lend a hand to Gonçalo Amaral, in his fight for justice and against censorship .
He is target nr.1 for "Mctermination".
He has given up many things but he hasn't given up principles and values, that we, as a society, only pretend to hold sacred.
Let's follow this great man's example.
Sign the Petition (Portuguese)/(English) against censorship and for the respect of Gonçalo Amaral's civic rights.

Deutschland Uber Alles - Just for Germany :D

Das ist Spot the Differences - Erkenne die Unterschiede


Find more videos like this on Justice and Truth

Blocked in Youtube, frei im Bloguistan fur Germany :D

Blitz This

Amazing how little you need to say the truth.
Some paper, a pen, and to have nothing to hide.

Not the Bloody McCanns on the Telly Again

Ye, but this time has a "happy ending"... the problem with lying is that sometimes the truth slips out....
Spot the Differences - will you go with the "if we say it many times, then has to be true", or with the "highly specialized trained dogs that are worth more than your friggin flat screen TV"?
Undecided? Let the professionals decdide for you the - make the McCanns re-open the Investigation like it's their right and obligation!

Happy Horrid Halloween - Warning! This May Traumatise You!

Two of my favourite worse things put together - crappy food and crappy people.

Just awful.

Have you ever seen 'grieving victims' so happy-go-meal?

No wonder so many people still gobble up their baloney - people stuff theemselves with crappy food all the time! But it's not alaways peoples's fault; that's what they are fed by the media and by the best advertising money can buy...

This must be two-for-one night. Two tasteless big macs for the price one. But you know that's money wasted - that's not real food, you'll be better off with a nice curry.

Adding Insult to Injury

Shameless cnts! This is bleeding outrageous!

Just stop being obnoxious - if you don't want to come clean, at least have the decency to shut the f. up!

REAL concerned parents cooperate with the Police! 

If my dog, my wallet, my friggin favourite t-shirt was missing, I'd want all the plods in the world on the case, and all the CSIs as well!

I'd gladly do a reconstruction and would make anyone else involved do it as well, at gunpoint if I had to!

Just re-open the investigation once and for all and cut the bull! See my poll on top, the people have spoken!

 
I do agree with one thing though - "If you stay quiet you are as guilty as those who took her". - Thanks to the Smith family, we know who took her, Gerry; and we won't stay quiet. Rest on that.

The Satanic Book 2

Faked Abduction by Brian Johnson/Stevo

"Containing many details from the comprehensive police files, the book highlights the inconsistencies in the various alibis, the ever-changing witness accounts and the lack of police cooperation from the McCanns and their friends, the so-called Tapas 7.


The McCanns have tried to gag people from publishing the truth about the case. In 2007, despite making several public assurances to donors to their “Madeleine Fund” that they would not spend any money on lawyers, they have employed some of the most expensive law firms in Britain to intimidate and suppress those who publicly doubt their abduction story.


While researching the book, the McCanns have declined to answer important questions relating to the disappearance of their daughter.


After reading the book, decide for yourself if this was a Faked Abduction."

I can't wait to see the movie.

The Satanic Book

"Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it."

George Santayana had one of those "stating the obvious" moments when he engraved this famous sentence for posterity.
The problem with the obvious is that it's so on your face, that we miss it completely.

Let me refresh your memory. A few decades ago, Salman Rushdie, a rather unknown British-Indian writer, wrote a book that incensed the Islamic world. It wasn't a great book, but that's not why so many Muslims were angered by it; the book, suggestively called the Satanic Verses, offended the exacerbated sensibility of the Muslims, or so it was claimed.

To make a long story short, there was such a fury over Salman's book, that a Fatwa (sort of a summary death sentence decreed by an Islamic religious authority) was declared on him.

From that moment on, wherever he was, his life was in danger.
Since Salman Rushdy was a British citizen, and in view of the Freedom of Expression right, a value that the then British government held in the highest regard (or maybe for some other more prosaic reason), Her Majesty's Governmeny offered unconditional protection to Salmon Rushdy, exposing itself to the anger of the fundamentalists. However, the British Gov. did not bow down to the pressure, and rightly so.

Many years passed, we have the negative of that picture.
A foreign author is being demonised by some British fundamentalists, and no government is lifting a finger to uphold the once so dear Freedom of Expression...   Why?...

In Portugal, just a few days ago, one respected and well-known Poet/Politician, Manuel Alegre - who had been arrested by the Political Police in his youth, during the old regime, and later forced into exile - came out to speak in defence of Portuguese Nobel Prize Winner, Jose Saramago, whom, on his recent book "Cain", calls the Bible a "book of mischief" and God a "son-of-a-bitch"; fair enough - there was of course some controversy (he should try that with Islam), but nothing comparable to that hot Summer of 2007... and do you think Manuel Alegre or anyone else defended Gonçalo Amaral and his right of free expression? Obviously not. Why not?!

Could it be that these two governments have made a pact to perpetuate a convinient lie?
A lie to hide something that is more dangerous for them than an angry mob shouting "Death to the West", on every street, from Honslow to Islamabad? Maybe one day we'll find out.

Speaking of which, more fluff back in the news. Now we are hearing from the underworld of crime - not so much the Merseyside Sopranos, more of a Desperate Housewives of Liverpool - gangstas...

Right. It would be great to see the rat-pack direct their attentions to Morrocco again, or even better, to Algeria - maybe they will get on someone's nerves down there as well, step on a few toes, insult Islam, and a Fatwa is cast on them... inchAlá! ;D

Uncle Am. Needs You!

As Obama says, "the time for words/games has passed".

Things are getting tough for Gonçalo Amaral, and when things get tough, the tough get going.

It's time citizens do their part and tell the powers that be, that we the people, demand a fair representation of the facts about the Madeleine disappearance, and we will stand up for our civic rights, such as free expression!

We all know that this stopped being about Madeleine, the minute her parents began marketing her missing daughter as a brand. Recent events are the living prove that this is a Marketing campaign that involves lots of money and is being anchored on the media.

Most of the success they have enjoyed so far, comes from the fact that they have been portrayed has victims, while the few brave ones, mediatic enough to stand in their way, have been singled out and labeled as "loonies", "twisted", "heartless", "disgraced", etc. the list goes on forever...

What I believe is that we need to show our strength in numbers; that we want a fair representations of the facts and we are standing up for our civic rights. If they can come up with strategies to play the media game, well, two can play that game, right?
Who's crazy enough to be with me? Join us!
You may email me with confidentiality here, as well.

J' accuse! NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW

Speaking of money, those greedy, selfish, money-grabbing pillocks who are attempting to sue Gonçalo Amaral and render him penniless and silent, can SUE ME as well.
G.A. is not - but I am publicly accusing them of being LIERS and FRAUDSTERS - probably the most contemptible in History!!! The only search they're doing is for MONEY!!!

I am also straightforwardly accusing the McCanns of being responsible of whatever happened to Madeleine! This is no speculation; they have left 3 very small and defenceless children completely alone!!!

They lied to the Police; they lied to the press; they lied and continue to lie to the public!
They lie shamelessly on camera, for goodness sake, and they keep getting away with it!
"There are no evidences that Madeleine is dead, or that we are, in anyway involved in her death". LIES!

People who have gone back on their word "We will stay in Portugal until Maddeleine is found" and "will fully cooperate with the Police", contradicted themselves "Krugel, of the University of Bloemfontein,...spent four days in Praia da Luz following a request for assistance from Madeleine's parents, Kate and Gerry McCann.

'He clearly identified an area of the beach where Madeleine may have passed through or was buried,' a close friend of the McCanns said yesterday.
Krugel's report of his findings to Portuguese detectives eventually led to British officers being asked to bring in sniffer dogs to supplement the search for Madeleine. The subsequent reaction of the dogs to Kate's clothing - the so-called scent of death - led to the couple being declared formal suspects over the death of their daughter." - people who have not a shred of evidence to support an abduction whatsoever but insist on that point like there's no tomorrow... well, what credibility this sort of people have?
Why should we take their word without questioning?
Why shouldn't we trust the official report and its conclusions, gathered after months of diligences by the police and forensic forces of Britain and Portugal?
Why not re-open the investigation instead?

Isn't that what the Police is for?

I swear - If Gonçalo Amaral is forced to pay a cent to those suspects, that will be day of total discredit for Portugal. I will leave the country and move to Spain.

Ps - SLB has given a good-old drumming to Everton. The toffees proved to be too sweet for the Luz red-devils... 5 - Nill was the hefty result that put to shame the indecent marketing of Madeleine's disapearence.
Evertonians drinking in Lisbon, wearing a few t-shirts with an outdated photo,  is NOT the way to move forward. There is only one way - make the McCanns re-open the Investigation.

Offer and Demand vs Small minded, Jealous People

I can understand harworking-people's reactions at the obscene amount of money being thrown at Ronaldo, but it's not really fair to hate the lad for it.

We do live in a system that is many times obscene, but people hardly make a fuss unless "ronaldo" comes up next to the trail of zeros.
Would this people prefer a communist system instead?

People saying that this money should go to the poor people in Africa, should be glad - this is the perfect fairy tale: boy is born poor (not that far from Africa) - boy works hard - boy gets rich. The part where everybody hates the boy, apparently never gets told...

Personaly, I'm not offended by the amount of money going to Ronaldo's pockets - just as long the pockets are not on those awful pink shorts and chav hats he tends to wear... that's a big hint when someone has wayyy too much money... but is it really their fault?

If there are some loaded oil-magnates tired of camels and dunes, who don't mind splashing the money they make from selling you petrol at inflated prices, why should you blame Ronaldo?

What would you do?

I happen to know about a lot of people who Ronaldo has helped selflessly, through the years, in Portugal and beyond.

So, like the saying goes in my country, "obscene? obscene is to steal".

Discover the Discovery of the Discoverer

Gonçalo Amaral is not the only Portuguese who is having trouble publishing his book in English - yet for diferent reasons.

A man who has dedicated 18 years of his own private time and funds, to the study of one of the most famous but yet less well known man in history, has been trying for over 3 years to publish an English version of his now two books.

Without giving out too much information that could spoil your pleasure of discovery, the books are about the Discoverer of the New World - the man known as Cristopher Colombus.

The author's name is Manuel Rosa, he was born in the Azores but has been living in the States since he was 12.
His first book, in Portuguese, was a success and is currently sold out. His second book is going to have a Spanish edition, but he's still to find a publisher willing to do an English edition.

So what's the beef?
Well, his is not a conventional history of the famous navigator that re-discovered America in 1492. His findings are actually threatning to shake the foundations of American History and everything we thought we knew about the Age of Discoveries.

Well, not everybody was that surprised - some people in Portugal had an idea of the truth - and not only scholars. Oral tradition has kept the story of the Navigator alive, around the place of his alleged birth.

The real shock, however, is reserved for the Americans, and the Italians, in lesser degree.
After all, they've been celebrating a lie and an erroneus version of the events for over 500 years...

Some times the truth, can be inconvinent and hard to handle...

Watch a presentation here, while we wait for the book.

Read Mour's Lips - Stick your tongue out to Censorship

Talk is cheap, but it's also a dear right and a sacred one, to most of us.

Someone had the excellent idea of starting a Petition to support Freedom of Expression.
This is the same as to say, Ruck you, censorship!

I think picking a photo of Gonçalo Amaral for the cover of the petition was a nice touch!

Please sign!
Recent events have demonstrated that we cannot take freedom of speech and freedom of press for granted!
Support the fundamental right to open your mouth, and roll your tongue inside, freely.
Thank you!

"Is it because I is black?"

The world certainly is a strange place.

When things don't go your way naturally, there seems to be unnatural ways to achieve what you want.
One of the oldest strategies in history, is still pretty much alive and kicking... with a modern twist:

A man in Spain, said he's been paid a nice sum of money to cripple Ronaldo. Well, maybe not cripple, but get him seriously injured; injured enough for him to spend more time recovering than playing.

Well, nothing new there, one may think - after all, there are many rival players keen to send CR to the infirmary, if they get the chance. However, this man is not a footballer. He is not even going near a Stadium. He also does not intend on running him over or whacking Ron on the kneecaps with a baseball bat - no, not this man.

This man is a warlock, or so he claims. Thus, according to this Spanish video, he will be using a much more horrifying weapon against the Real Madrid start and current best football player in the world - a black DILDO...

I guess that's why they call it "black-magic". I'm not sure which part of  Ronaldo's body his voodoo is aiming at but this is no laughing matter - Ronaldo has been injured for a couple of weeks, played last week for 25 minutes and is out again for about 3 to 4 weeks. It seems to be working. If only the sdark sorcerer could take care of the mccs too...

UPDATE 21.10.'09

According to this, Xamans in Peru are fighting back the black magic from the Spanish warlock, with their best xamanic magic - a few photos, candels, pan-flutes, and lots os cheering for Ronaldo and jeering for the man-witch...

Who Ya Gonna Call?

If there's something strange

in your neighborhood

Who ya gonna call?

SKY NEWS

If there's something weird

and it don't look good

Who ya gonna call?

CLARENCE MITCHELL


I ain't afraid of no McCANN
I ain't afraid of no McCANN

If you're seeing things

running through your head

Who can ya call?

CARTER RUCK

McBusters make me feel good.

फुक्क यू

Mourinter's Haka

Gotta love the special one!

The world Deserves an Apology

Socrates and his Socialist Party have won another term - 4 more years of sham and interference in the judiciary.

Socas, as he is known, is a douche, but so is the leading opposition - therefore, it's Portugal's loss, yet again.


This is bad news for Sr. Amaral and those in general that would like to see Justice done in the Maddie case, specifically.

Nothing will change, as the socialist grip over the judiciary will continue, albeit the douche bag minister may be, hopefully, replaced.

So how could the people of Portugal re-elect a man that is under suspicion of corruption (Freeport case) and persecuting the journalists that aren't "nice" to him and his Party? A man that has bowed down to Gordon Brown and allowed foreign interference in the Madeleine case? A man that has spent more time dealing with scandals and incidents than caring for the country, which is in disarray even after he enjoyed a parlimentary majority during his 4 years of undisputed rule?

Well, the problem is that many of the Portuguese voters can't even pronounce the PM's name (Socrates); Manuela F. Leite, the leader of the largest opposition Party is something akin to John Kerry (even physically) and the Head of State is just as inept - so how can we expect people to vote for things to change?


I tell you who I would vote for, without hesitation: Goncalo Amaral.
I for one, would love to see G.Amaral run for mayor as an independent, since his Party let him down; I think he could win, but am not sure how would he balance his job with his activism in fighting for justice for Madeleine...

You Shuttapa Your Face!!!

WTF is going on? No bloody way some stuck up foreigners will tell me what I can or not say, read, etc. and whatnot!!!

I actually think Mark Hollingsworth can stick his opinion of the Portuguese Police up his arse, but fair enough, it's his opinion and he's entitled to it! So, if anyone has a problem with this article, take it up with Mark Hollingsworth and stick your gag up yours too!!!

NO TO CENSORSHIP!!!!!!!!!!!!


Mark Hollingsworth Investigates The McCann Files


Disillusioned with the Portuguese police, Gerry and Kate McCann turned to private detectives to find their missing daughter. Instead the efforts of the private eyes served only to scare off witnesses, waste funds and raise false hopes. Mark Hollingsworth investigates the investigators.


by Mark Hollingsworth*



It was billed as a ‘significant development’ in the exhaustive search for Madeleine McCann. At a recent dramatic press conference in London, the lead private investigator David Edgar, a retired Cheshire detective inspector, brandished an E-FIT image of an Australian woman, described her as ‘a bit of a Victoria Beckham lookalike’, and appealed for help in tracing her. The woman was seen ‘looking agitated’ outside a restaurant in Barcelona three days after Madeleine’s disappearance. ‘It is a strong lead’, said Edgar, wearing a pin-stripe suit in front of a bank of cameras and microphones. ‘Madeleine could have been in Barcelona by that point. The fact the conversation took place near the marina could be significant.’



But within days reporters discovered that the private detectives had failed to make the most basic enquiries before announcing their potential breakthrough. Members of Edgar’s team who visited Barcelona had failed to speak to anyone working at the restaurant near where the agitated woman was seen that night, neglected to ask if the mystery woman had been filmed on CCTV cameras and knew nothing about the arrival of an Australian luxury yacht just after Madeleine vanished.



The apparent flaws in this latest development were another salutary lesson for Kate and Gerry McCann, who have relied on private investigators after the Portuguese police spent more time falsely suspecting the parents than searching for their daughter. For their relations with private detectives have been frustrating, unhappy and controversial ever since their daughter’s disappearance in May 2007.



The search has been overseen by the millionaire business Brian Kennedy, 49, who set up Madeleine’s Fund: Leaving No Stone Unturned, which aimed ‘to procure that Madeleine’s abduction is thoroughly investigated’. A straight-talking, tough, burly self-made entrepreneur and rugby fanatic, he grew up in a council flat near Tynecastle in Scotland and was brought up as a Jehovah’s Witness. He started his working life as a window cleaner and by 2007 had acquired a £350 million fortune from double-glazing and home-improvement ventures. Kennedy was outraged by the police insinuations against the McCanns and, though a stranger, worked tirelessly on their behalf. ‘His motivation was sincere,’ said someone who worked closely with him. ‘He was appalled by the Portuguese police, but he also had visions of flying in by helicopter to rescue Madeleine.’



Kennedy commissioned private detectives to conduct an investigation parallel to the one run by the Portuguese police. But his choice showed how dangerous it is when powerful and wealthy businessmen try to play detective. In September 2007, he hired Metodo 3, an agency based in Barcelona, on a six-month contract and paid it an estimated £50,000 a month. Metodo 3 was hired because of Spain’s ‘language and cultural connection’ with Portugal. ‘If we’d had big-booted Brits or, heaven forbid, Americans, we would have had doors slammed in our faces’ said Clarence Mitchell, spokesperson for the McCann’s at the time. ‘And it’s quite likely that we could have been charged with hindering the investigation as technically it’s illegal in Portugal to undertake a secondary investigation.



The agency had 35 investigators working on the case in Britain, France, Spain, Portugal and Morocco. A hotline was set up for the public to report sightings and suspicions, and the search focussed on Morocco. But the investigation was dogged by over-confidence and braggadocio. ‘We know who took Madeleine and hope she will be home by Christmas,’ boasted Metodo 3’s flamboyant boss Francisco Marco. But no Madeleine materialised and their contract was not renewed.



Until now, few details have emerged about the private investigation during those crucial early months, but an investigation by ES shows that key mistakes were made, which in turn made later enquiries far more challenging.



ES has spoken to several sources close to the private investigations that took place in the first year and discovered that:



•The involvement of Brian Kennedy and his son Patrick in the operation was counter-productive, notably when they were questioned by the local police for acting suspiciously while attempting a 24-hour ‘stake out’.

•The relationship between Metodo 3 and the Portuguese police had completely broken down.

•Key witnesses were questioned far too aggressively, so much so that some of them later refused to talk to the police.

•Many of the investigators had little experience of the required painstaking forensic detective work.

By April 2008, nearing the first anniversary of the disappearance, Kennedy and the McCanns were desperate. And so when Henri Exton, a former undercover police officer who worked on M15 operations, and Kevin Halligen, a smooth-talking Irishman who claimed to have worked for covert British government intelligence agency GCHQ, walked through the door, their timing was perfect. Their sales pitch was classic James Bond spook-talk: everything had to be ‘top secret’ and ‘on a need to know basis’. The operation would involve 24-hour alert systems, undercover units, satellite imagery and round-the-clock surveillance teams that would fly in at short notice. This sounded very exiting but, as one source close to the investigation told ES, it was also very expensive and ultimately unsuccessful. ‘The real job at hand was old-fashioned, tedious, forensic police work rather than these boy’s own, glory boy antic,’ he said.



But Kennedy was impressed by the license-to-spy presentation and Exton and Halligen were hire for a fee of £100,000 per month plus expenses. Ostensibly, the contract was with Halligen’s UK security company, Red Defence International Ltd, and an office was set up in Jermyn Street, in St James’s. Only a tiny group of employees did the painstaking investigative work of dealing with thousands of emails and phone calls. Instead, resources were channelled into undercover operations in paedophile rings and among gypsies throughout Europe, encouraged by Kennedy. A five-man surveillance team was dispatched in Portugal, overseen by the experienced Exton, for six weeks.



Born in Belgium in 1951, Exton had been a highly effective undercover officer for the Manchester police. A maverick and dynamic figure, he successfully infiltrated gangs of football hooligans in the 1980’s. While not popular among his colleagues, in 1991 he was seconded to work on MI5 undercover operations against drug dealers, gangsters and terrorists, and was later awarded the Queen’s Police Medal for ‘outstanding bravery’. By all accounts, the charismatic Exton was a dedicated officer. But in November 2002, the stress appeared to have overcome his judgement when he was arrested for shoplifting.



While working on an MI5 surveillance, Exton was caught leaving a tax-free shopping area at Manchester airport with a bottle of perfume he had not paid for. The police were called and he was given the option of the offence being dealt with under caution or to face prosecution. He chose a police caution and so in effect admitted his guilt. Exton was sacked, but was furious about the way he had been treated and threatened to sue MI5. He later set up his own consulting company and moved to Bury in Lancashire.



While Exton, however flawed, was the genuine article as an investigator, Halligen was a very different character. Born in Dublin in 1961, he has been described as a ‘Walter Mitty figure’. He used false names to collect prospective clients at airports in order to preserve secrecy, and he called himself ‘Kevin’ or ‘Richard’ or ‘Patrick’ at different times to describe himself to business contacts. There appears to be no reason for all this subterfuge except that he thought this was what agents did. A conspiracy theorist and lover of the secret world, he is obsessed by surveillance gadgets and even installed a covert camera to spy on his own employees. He claimed to have worked for GCHQ, but in fact he was employed by the Atomic Energy Authority (AEA) as head of defence systems in the rather less glamorous field of new information technology, researching the use of ‘special batteries’. He told former colleagues and potential girlfriends that he used to work for MI5, MI6 and the CIA. He also claimed that he was nearly kidnapped by the IRA, was involved in the first Gulf War and had been a freefall parachutist.



Very little of this is true. What is true is that Halligen has a degree in electronics, worked on the fringes of the intelligence community while at AEA and does understand government communications. He could also be an astonishingly persuasive, engaging and charming individual. Strikingly self-confident and articulate, he could be generous and clubbable. ‘He was very good company but only when it suited him’ says one friend. He kept people in compartments.’



After leaving the AEA, Halligen set up Red Defence International Ltd as an international security and political risk company, advising clients on the risks involved in investing and doing business in unstable, war-torn and corrupt countries. He worked closely with political risk companies and was a persuasive advocate of IT security. In 2006, he struck gold when hired by Trafigura, the Dutch commodities trading company. Executives were imprisoned in the Ivory Coast after toxic waste was dumped in landfills near its biggest city Abidjan. Trafigura was blamed and hired Red Defence International at vast expense to help with the negotiations to release its executives. A Falcon business jet was rented for several months during the operation and it was Halligen’s first taste of the good life. The case only ended when Trafigura paid $197 million to the government of the Ivory Coast to secure the release of the prisoners.



Halligen made a fortune from Trafigura and was suddenly flying everywhere first-class, staying at the Lansborough and Stafford hotels in London and The Willard hotel in Washington DC for months at a time. In 2007 he set up Oakley International Group and registered at the offices of the prestigious law firm Patton Boggs, in Washington DC, as an international security company. He was now strutting the stage as a self-proclaimed international spy expert and joined the Special Forces Club in Knightsbridge, where he met Exton.



During the Madeleine investigation, Halligen spent vast amounts of time in the HeyJo bar in the basement of the Abracadabra Club near his Jermyn Street office. Armed with a clutch of unregistered mobile phones and a Blackberry, the bar was in effect his office. ‘He was there virtually the whole day,’ a former colleague told ES. ‘He had an amazing tolerance for alcohol and a prodigious memory and so occasionally he would have amazing bursts of intelligence, lucidity and insights. They were very rare but they did happen.’



When not imbibing in St James’s, Halligen was in the United States, trying to drum up investors for Oakley International. On 15 August 2008, at the height of the McCann investigation crisis, he persuaded Andre Hollis, a former US Drug enforcement agency official, to write out an $80.000 cheque to Oakley in return for a ten per cent share-holding. The money was then transferred into the private accounts of Halligen and his girlfriend Shirin Trachiotis to finance a holiday in Italy, according to Hollis. In a $6 million lawsuit filed in Fairfax County, Virginia, Hollis alleges that Halligen ‘received monies for Oakley’s services rendered and deposited the same into his personal accounts’ and ‘repeatedly and systematically depleted funds from Oakley’s bank accounts for inappropriate personal expenses’.



Hollis was not the only victim. Mark Aspinall, a respected lawyer who worked closely with Halligen, invested £500,000 in Oakley and lost the lot. Earlier this year he filed a lawsuit in Washington DC against Halligen claiming $1.4 million in damages. The finances of Oakley International are in chaos and numerous employees, specialist consultants and contractors have not been paid. Some of them now face financial ruin.



Meanwhile, Exton was running the surveillance teams in Portugal and often paying his operatives upfront, so would occasionally be out-of-pocket because Halligen had not transferred funds. Exton genuinely believed that progress was being made and substantial and credible reports on child trafficking were submitted. But by mid-August 2008, Kennedy and Gerry McCann were increasingly concerned by an absence of details of how the money was being spent. At one meeting, Halligen was asked how many men constituted a surveillance team and he produced a piece of paper on which he wrote ‘between one and ten’. But he then refused to say how many were working and how much they were being paid.



While Kennedy and Gerry McCann accepted that the mission was extremely difficult and some secrecy was necessary, Halligen was charging very high rates and expenses. And eyebrows were raised when all the money was paid to Oakley International, solely owned and managed by Halligen. One invoice, seen by ES, shows that for ‘accrued expenses to May 5, 2008’ (just one month into the contract), Oakley charged $74,155. The ‘point of contact’ was Halligen who provided a UK mobile telephone number.



While Kennedy was ready to accept Halligen at face value, Gerry McCann – sharp, focused and intelligent – was more sceptical. The contract with Oakley International and Halligen was terminated by the end of September 2008, after £500,000-plus expenses had been spent.



For the McCanns it was a bitter experience, Exton has returned to Cheshire and, like so many people, is owed money by Halligen. As for Halligen, he has gone into hiding, leaving a trail of debt and numerous former business associates and creditors looking for him. He was last seen in January of this year in Rome, drinking and spending prodigiously at the Hilton Cavalieri and Excelsior hotels. He is now believed by private investigators, who have been searching for him to serve papers on behalf of creditors, to be in the UK and watching his back. Meanwhile, in the eye of the storm, the McCanns continue the search for their lost daughter.



in ES Magazine (London Evening Standard)– Paper edition only, 28 August 2009



*Mark Hollingsworth is best known for his investigations into Mark Thatcher and also MI5. He worked for Granada TV’s ‘World In Action’ programme for five years. He is the author of nine books, notably ‘Thatcher’s Fortunes: The Life and Times of Mark Thatcher’, ‘Defending the Realm: MI5 and International Terrorism’ and ‘Saudi Babylon: Torture, Corruption and Cover-Up Inside the House of Saud’. His new book, ‘Londongrad: From Russia with Cash, The Inside Story of the Oligarchs’, will be published in July 2009. He also contributes regularly to the London Evening Standard and most national newspapers.

Portuguese lessons for the McCann-impaired

So, Gonçalo Amaral is to defy the gagging order and publish a new book in October 3rd - what massive balls this great man has!
It does compensate a bit for the complete lack, from our government. If we had more people like him, the sackless bastards that head this country would not extent their stay; but hélas, looks like they're staying at least two more friggin' years...

PORTUGAL'S REPLY TO GAGGING

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/please-re-open-madeleine-mccanns-case

Not OK In My Book, Mate

Gerry McCann suggested that "Portuguese people are not looking for Madeleine" because of Gonçalo Amaral's book and documentary.

Here's my reply in an open letter to the McCann.

I don't need to be told what to think. I was lucky to get to read the book, but that, Mr. McCann, did not influence me at all, because I had already made up my mind just by following the case and using common sense. I am ashamed of my country for having twice betrayed Mr. Amaral and the search for the truth. I don't need a book to see that you and your wife seem to be unquestionable and are more concerned with yourselves than with Madeleine.

What I need is to see YOUR evidence that there was an abduction. All your efforts to prove that there was an abduction are more than vague... they are contradictory and not credible - not grounded on any evidence whatsoever.

As for the evidence that Madeleine is dead - it may be insufficient to prosecute you, but it is certainly there - under "Eddie and Keela mark spots where body was" - on the case files, which are public - and that you cannot deny.

How would I feel, if I was a father of a missing child, some misinformed people always ask.

I and anyone I know, would fully cooperate with the Police Investigation and answer all their questions and do the reconstruction so vital for finding out what happened. What I would not do, is hire some rent-a-cops and harass people who happen to think differently.

I would definitely ask the re-opening of the official investigation.

I think all those police books you've been reading while you were in Praia da Luz, messed up your head.

But it's still not too late to do the right thing.

Re-open the Investigation.

HAVE WE HIT THE BOTTOM?

Or have the ludicrous McCann?

What do you expect from a country that as a long tradition of "archiving" high-profile judicial cases?

It started in 1908 when the King and the Crown Prince were assassinated in public, right before a crowd; everybody knew who was behind the crime, who ordered it, who paid for it, etc.

And what happened to them? They became the government, after they overturned a wounded Monarchy to impose a Freemason Republic.

What happened to the judicial process? All copies disappeared after the Republican "revolution", which took polace just days from the revelation of the Investigation findings.

The last known copy was stolen from deposed King Manuel’s home, in his exile in Twikenham. A rather unusual commodity for a thief, or a rather peculiar thief. They are still around, believe it or not.

It’s up to the people to do something and put a stop to this vile people working in the background. We need to make ourselves heard loud and clear.

But first, let’s get the football out of the way.

Allies in Shame

All we are saaaaaying, is, give TRUTH a chance;
All we are saaaaaying, is, give the INVESTIGATION a chance!
Sing along folks... http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/please-re-open-madeleine-mccanns-case
Maybe one day we will know why politicians interfered with an investigation.
Maybe one day we can all sing "Arguidos Para Sempre"...

Flag This

A few nights ago, two ballsy lads took a leader across downtown Lisbon, and climbed onto the balcony of the Town Hall.

Wearing Darth Vader masks, they went on to substitute the Municipal flag with the old Portuguese flag up until 1910, when a bunch of republicans, carrying the red and green flag of the Republican Party, proclaimed the Republic from the same balcony.


These lads made a video of it and post it on the web. It was meant as a joke - a publicity stunt, to call attention to a number of issues. An obvious one, was the lack of security which allowed them to succeed on their peaceful plan.


There were other issues. One probably not on their list was to embellish the Town Hall, but they made that happen as well. :D


There was the issue of lack of discussion on the Portuguese society about the coming celebrations of the 100 years of the Republic, where the State is ready to spend a bundle; the lack of democratic legitimacy of the said Republic which subverted a Lawful State, not to mention the assassination of the Head of State and his oldest son...


Anyways, this kind of public protest in a humoristic way, is not really common is Portugal - a Country that takes it self too seriously.

Taking that in consideration, there was a surprisingly positive reaction from many people, even some who aren't monarchists; but eventually, we had those, who don't bat an eye-lid when reminded of the bloody days of the Republic, foaming at the cheek of those boys.


In a perfect example of how this incipient democracy works - guess what - the authorities didn't like it one bit, and when one of the "Dart Vaders" went voluntarily to return the flag, he was taken by the cops, questioned and made an Arguido - a term you may recall from the McCann case.


Like the Police has no real criminals to chase and nothing better to do...

I don't think this was what George Lucas had in mind when in Star Wars they say "use the force" or "may the force be with you"...


Anyhow, it was the most fun this country had in years!
Just to think of those old republican farts foaming in disbelief, ranting like mad ayatollahs, yes, it was totally worth it!
Obrigado Darth Vaders do 31 da Armada!

To show my solidarity with those brave boys, I am raising the most beautiful flag, here on Bloguistan!

Blunder from Downunder

There has been more fluff on the media about a possible suspect in yet again the Madeleine McCann case.


I have read many things, including G.Amaral's book; all things considered, I believe the forensic evidence recovered in PDL is enough to state beyond doubt, as much as it pains me to say it, that Madeleine died that night.


Weather you accept it or not, there is no evidence of abduction; just of a cover up.


1- There is forensic evidence (haematic and corpse scent) related to a member of the Mccann clan.


2 - Credible witnesses that saw Gerry carrying Madeleine towards the beach that night.


3 - Contradictions and lack of cooperance from the parents & friends.


4 - Inadmissible political and media pressure over the investigation.


5 - A neverending list of suspects that lead nowhere but to a wild goose chase to keep the public opinion misinformed and the money running to their pockets.


6 - They are NOT the only parents to loose a child, but they are probably the only who's acctions contributed to that end.


7 - They are all about themselves. The only person going to the end of the world for Madeleine, is G.Amaral.


8- Just this week the Police released the figures of the expenses on this case - they are the lawful channel to conduct an investigation. The Mccanns can ask them to re-open the case - it's the only way they can clear themselves of any suspicion.


9 - The Mccans created a media monster that had a negative impact on the investigation; but this monster is getting out of their control and will end up devouring them.


10 - Stop discrediting the PJ. Innocent people have been sent to jail by UK's finest with less or no evidence.



As a matter of a fact, one of the English Police agents that took part in the investigation said that he had sent people to prison in the UK with less. So to claim that Amaral somehow "framed" the parents is acctually claiming that the Scotland Yard is an accessory to Mr. Amaral - a man, btw, that contrary to the Mccann, had nothing to lose; and rather than conceal is "trick", he writes a book about it...



That's why people resent the McCann. We want justice for Madeleine.


Recently I have seen something that added another piece to the puzzle.


Why did Gordon Brown get involved in this case? Why did others, not pertaining to the investigation?


I found a reference to the Masonry that could in fact explain a lot.


A secret society where men dress in aprons and get together to do anything but cooking, is always going to smell fishy to me.



Being Portuguese, I know very well how subversive they can be, as they were responsible for the Regicide in 1908 and the subsequent overturn of the Monarchy.


However, I believe not in a larger conspiracy re the Mccann affair, but more in fashion with what is suggested on the Handbook of Masonry, page 183, which I take the liberty to replicate: "You must conceal all crimes of your brother Masons...and should you be summoned as a witness against a brother Mason be always sure to shield him...It may be perjury to do this, it is true, but you're keeping your obligations."



Does it sound crazy? Well, I've seen more crazy stuff coming out with the McCann’s blessing. Why isn't the world press questioning and discrediting the Mccanns stategy of shooting in all directions, but actually getting nowhere? Their smokescreen tactics will have to backfire one day...


The difference between the so called "Team McCann" and the rest of the world (let's call it Team Justice for Madeleine), is someting akin to the difference between the middle-ages and the Renaissance. I did a little experiment, aimed at finding out why some people blindly stick with the McCann version of the story; the results are not groundbreaking, rather very much the expected - their opinions are based on the supernatural - love the one that links the desapearence of Maddie with the Apochalipse - tarot, faith, hope, and lots of misinformation.
Ultimatelly, the difference between "Team McCann" and "Team Justice for Madeleine", will be defined by the outcome of this story (if ever) - if they are right and Madeleine is alive and well (little chance), Team Justice for Madeleine will be happy for her; if Team McCann is wrong, they will have nothing to be happy about...

UPDATE 16.08.2009

Seems like the leaflets with 10 reasons suggesting Madeleine was not abducted, may have been inspired by this post ;D

I hope the McCs won't call the coppers on me too. After all, last time they seemed to be running from them...