Friday 3 February 2017

Square One

 1. Introduction

Those who read us know that we’re rarely, if ever, optimistic. That doesn’t make us pessimistic. We like to have as a motto for our attitude to preclude the worst, hope for the best and prepare for the likely.

In the case of the Lisbon trial, the likely was the best. So we were prepared for it.

It was not a ‘not-if-but-when’ instance because it remained vivid in our memory the disappointment we felt when hearing of the 1st Instance Court decision, one only comprehensible if one understands that the judge went beyond what the plaintiffs had argued for and totally beyond what the proven and unproven facts she herself stated and decided to question whether Mr Amaral, taking into account his particular profession, could have legally written the book when he did, which was before the case was officially archived.

When 99.99% said that the decision would be in favour of Mr Amaral, the First Instance court judge hit us with that remainder 0.01% and decided in favour of the McCanns, sentencing Mr Amaral to pay them 500,000€ in indemnity, an amount completely unheard of between private claimants in Portugal.

We first got to hear on Monday at 22:10 that the Supreme Justice Court session was going to take place on the next day, Tuesday.

That would mean a decision (one of many) reached, written up (one of many) and released the next day, on Wednesday.

So we prepared ourselves to spend Tuesday waiting.

So it was quite a surprise when a friend of ours, on Tuesday at 15:13 told us, via my FB message that Mr Amaral had won:


It is quite a memorable experience to try to type when caught by surprise and filled with exhilaration and excitement, so much so that even the simplest copying and pasting becomes a task equivalent to solving a mathematical equation while juggling 3 raw eggs.

It took me 2 whole minutes to write the simplest of posts on FB at 15:15:

http://www.stj.pt/ficheiros/tabelas/Decididas/Civeis/1s-2017-01-31.pdf

Mr Amaral has WON!!!”


2. Winning v Not Losing

With all we shared that mixture of feelings of rejoicing seeing justice finally prevailing and of sadness upon fully realising the unjust distress the man suffered because of such tardiness in the serving of said justice.

It was a day of mixed feelings but what mattered was that finally Mr Amaral had the shackles taken off his ankles. His days on the receiving end of this case before the Portuguese legal system are over.

Not wanting to douse the enthusiasm of anyone, let us say that we were wrong when we said that Mr Amaral had won. In terms of the case, he won nothing and it is very important people realise that.

In fact he has lost much in this case. He has had to pay his lawyers – here a word of gratitude to all who contributed to the GoFund initiated by Leanne Baulch that significantly helped him in this aspect for his legal defense against the appeals in the Appeal and Supreme Justice Courts – but also has lost years of his life in court proceedings.

Yes, he won his assets back, which is immensely important but they were something he should have never lost. But winning back is not the same as winning, it’s just not losing.

Not losing is not the same as winning. We wrote a post about that back in September 2014 called “Losing v Winning”.

Then we said and maintain:

“The McCanns will not lose in the damages trial in Lisbon. In fact, they cannot lose it.

Please read on – it's not what you are thinking.

Before you think we have turned our coats on the issue, we haven’t. Please read again what we have written.

Those words do not state a personal opinion. We’re stating a fact: the McCanns cannot lose as much as Mr Amaral cannot win.

The outcome for the McCann, as they are the plaintiffs, is only one of two: they either win or they don’t win.

The outcome for Mr Amaral, as he’s the defendant, is only one of the two: he either loses or he doesn’t lose.

For the McCanns there’s no losing, for Mr Amaral, no winning. For the first, the worst case scenario is them not winning, for the latter, the best case is not to lose.”

So when we said Mr Amaral had won, what we should have said was that Mr Amaral had not lost. But that wouldn’t be as much fun nor pay justice to the immense happiness we were feeling then.

But the time has come to return to earth and that is what happened: Mr Amaral didn’t lose the Supreme Justice Court decision and that means the McCanns didn’t win it.

Hopefully we soon hope to show the reader why this is so important.


3. Banned v Allowed Book

The reader might say, as the papers have said, that he has won the right to publish his book.

This is wrong because outside the short period between the sentence of the First Instance Court of the Cautionary Action and it being revoked by the Supreme Justice Court on refusing to accept the appeal by the McCanns against the Appeal Court sentence of overturning, the book was never banned.

People have to be aware that on Jan 30 2017, Mr Amaral’s book was not banned in Portugal. The Supreme Justice Court sentence did not change that fact, it confirmed it.

To understand, the statement of banning the book during this process:

- From publication to First Instance Court sentence on the Cautionary Action by the McCanns to ban book, book ALLOWED.

- First Instance Court sentence on Cautionary Action, book BANNED. Because we were dealing with a Cautionary Action, the Court’s sentence takes effect immediately. We explained how a Cautionary Action worked in our post “Dura Lex Sed Lex

- From First Instance Court sentence to Appeal Court sentence on the Cautionary Action, which ruled to revoke the First Instance Court sentence, book BANNED because the McCanns appealed this sentence to the Supreme Justice Court.

- From Appeal Court sentence to the Supreme Justice Court sentence on Cautionary Action, book BANNED.

- Supreme Justice Court sentence on Cautionary Action, upholding the Appeal Court sentence on Cautionary Action, book ALLOWED.

- From Supreme Justice Court sentence on Cautionary Action to First Court trial sentence, which was to ban book, book ALLOWED because Mr Amaral appealed to the Appeal Court.

- From First Instance Court trial sentence to the Appeal Court trial sentence, which was to revoke the lower court’s sentence, book ALLOWED. Not because of this court’s sentence but because, as the McCanns appealed to the Supreme Justice Court, things were kept as when the First Instance Court trial decided, which was book allowed as per above.

- From Appeal Court trial sentence to Supreme Justice Court trial sentence, book ALLOWED.

- Supreme Justice Court trial sentence, upholding the Appeal Court trial sentence of revoking the First Instance Court trial sentence, book ALLOWED.

So, as it can be seen, outside those months in 2010, the book was always allowed.

Unlike with the Cautionary Action to seize Mr Amaral´s assets which was decided at First Instance Court level and only on Jan 31 2017 was a final decision taken – in favour of Mr Amaral – that made it void, so only then could have them back.

The difference between the 2 is that the Cautionary Action on the book was designed to prevent outcomes, the spreading of possible slander and possible profiting from that outcome, while the one on the assets was to prevent Mr Amaral from getting rid of his estate and then not have enough money to pay a possible unfavourable sentence.

Back to the book, one must note that never for a single day, hour or minute was Mr Amaral’s book banned in the UK or in any other country.

Whatever has impeded its publication, it isn’t the Supreme Justice Court’s decision that will change that.


4. Square One

So all those claiming that the McCanns should be arrested because of the Lisbon trial decision is without reason.

To be clear, the McCann v Amaral (& Others) in Lisbon was a legal attempt by the couple to seek financial compensation for damages caused by the publication of a book written by him.

Not once, as we pointed out, was fact discussed. All was based on the right that the assumption (not declaration) of innocence guaranteed the couple and which was breached by the fact the book stated that they were involved in her death and disposal of her body.

Note the discussion was around if Mr Amaral could legally say what he said and not whether what he said was true or not.

On January 31 2017, the Portuguese judicial system declared that he could say what he said but never declared that what he said was true.

The McCann legal team made sure that would never be said.

If Mr Amaral had won he would have proven his point but because he simply had not lost it just means the McCanns were unable to prove theirs.

If one wants to be prejudiced one can say that said decision can be interpreted as Portugal protecting one of its citizens irrelevant of truth in the exact same way the UK has done so blatantly with the McCanns.

Do note that it all came down to a battle of rights, meaning that nowhere was it said the McCanns were wrong and shouldn’t be enjoying the right of a good name derived from their presumed innocence. Or, to say it in other words, for the public the courts to recognise the McCanns had a point and they just favoured Mr Amaral’s.

The slant given to the Supreme Justice Court session by the media, by saying it was a secret one, seems to support clearly this prejudice.

To be very clear, that decision was taken as secretly as were all others that day. In fact, as secretly as any decision taken by that court. The judges meet to decide and they do it behind closed doors as they should.

Interestingly, no one mentioned this sort of secrecy of the Appeal Court decision as it was done in the same manner. And in that spirit one could also say that the First Instance Court judge locked herself up in a secret room to decide in favour of the McCanns. Ridiculous to say the least.

Anyone putting a cloak of secrecy over the Supreme Court Justice decision is clearly inferring an agenda.

Legally, the McCanns are as guilty today as they were on January 30. The court decision cannot be used against them.

So what has changed since the Lisbon trial decision?

The answer is simple, after that decision, we are in Square One of the game.

Note, we did not say we were BACK on Square One. We are saying that we are finally on it.

All these years, what has happened is that the players have been choosing the colour of the pieces they wanted to play with, deciding on tactics to use when the game began, setting up the board to that effect but they never actually played the game.

Now that there are no more loose ends in Portugal, the players can line up at the starting line, grid, square or whatever one wishes it to call it.

We have called it Square One.

That’s why all these years we have linked the outcome of the Lisbon trial to the outcome of the Maddie case. We said that only then would the game begin.

The fact that it hasn’t started before Tuesday has proven us right.

The Ben Needham game, which has been played alongside Maddie’s for years – although we must confess that we only realised that last October – is also on its Square One.


5. Hypothesis

Both games have the same possible outcomes:

#1 – Silence: Stop speaking about case. Archival in Maddie’s case – which leaves things as she being abducted and that’s it – and continuance of status quo in Ben’s.

A very realistic outcome in both cases. In Ben’s, it seems that the very vague official death by accident in farmhouse proximity served together with the media’s that the digger did it, seems to have comforted the British public – after 3 months and a half no one but us is questioning the official thesis – so why not use the same arrogance and haughtiness with Maddie?

With Ben it was, he’s dead, and now we promise to look for his body if something new comes up; with Maddie it will be we tried really hard but… and now we promise to look for her if something new comes up. Now go home.

#2 – Patsy:  In Ben’s case, South Yorkshire police would confirm officially that it was Dino Barkas whodunnit at the farmhouse even if it goes against logic, reasoning and above all, common decency.

In Maddie’s case would be the Third Option, we suppose in its latest version, the child trafficking gang. That or some other invention depending on which direction the sick winds of inspiration happen to be blowing at the moment.

#3 – Truth: Expose the real culprits of the cases.


6. The reaction

Although the game has only started now, it is its final stretch.

It‘s expected for all sided to pull out all their big guns.

So it’s very important to watch attentively for each move. Please keep in mind that not to move is a move, so one has to keep an eye on what is moving and on what is not.

In terms of moving ‘stuff’ what we have seen up to now was the media reporting on the trial decision, Kate McCann and the Missing People Choir on Britain’s Got Talent and the threat of libel to anyone daring to publish the book in the UK.

a. Media reporting

Not very good for the McCanns.

The media made it very clear that Mr Amaral, the detective who was responsible for the investigation of Maddie’s disappearance in Portugal says in the book that the parents were involved in covering-up her death.

It also made very clear that the McCanns are broke as we spoke about in our post “Follow the money”. But this has a slight twist to it. As the articles are about legal proceedings it is making it clear that the McCanns are spending the money donated to them on this instead in what it was intended for. Wasting donated money and going bankrupt while doing so.

Also the media is making it seem the McCanns have accepted  that this the end of the road for them on what concerns Mr Amaral. It’s ridiculous to think that they didn’t consider a possible negative outcome from the court when they submitted the appeal to it, so them now showing the need to consult with their lawyers is ludicrous. They went after Mr Amaral with donated money and have come out of it with a hand filled with air and penniless.

Not saying, as was said previously, that Mr Amaral is to receive anything from them. He doesn’t have to and the media has that clear by saying that while a court sentenced the detective to pay a ridiculous amount to the couple, which was overturned by 2 higher courts. It also makes clear the McCanns face humongous court costs.

Not a word, as far as we could see, of Mr Amaral getting anything from the McCanns.

This silence makes Mr Amaral less the bad guy that has been portrayed in Britain for years. Him not being the bad guy, someone or some people must take that role in the plot. There is always a bad guy or guys in a narrative.

b. Britain’s Got Talent

Kate McCann’s participation in Britain’s Got Talent has all the hallmarks of being a staged event. No, not an event on a stage, but a staged event.

Who has ever heard of secret auditions in a program where contestants thrive on publicity? One just has to see all the backstage clips from those shows to see how eager everyone is to get their 15 minutes of fame.

Then, it’s supposed to be a part of a campaign to get visibility for a Missing People campaign and they do it secretly?

Lastly, it’s was, supposedly on Sunday but the media only decided to report it late Tuesday, after the unfavourable verdict had come out from Lisbon. Coincidence, we think not.

Kate’s talent, as far as we could understand, was not to sing but was to read a speech. Really? Read a speech in a secret audition? To whom? To the jury and no one else? Where is the visibility in that?

By having such an odd secret audition, one can be led to think that it was something that never happened but was written up to be fired off as soon as any news came from Lisbon.

That Missing People has no qualms in lending their name to the McCanns is not exactly a novelty. They have been warned plenty of times but continue to insist on keeping Mrs McCann as an ambassador. So it’s unsurprising it seems to have no shame dragging in the names of Claudia Lawrence, Lee Boxell, Luke Durbin, Sandra Hall, Lucia Hawkins, Charles Horvath, Quentin Godwin and Alice Gross to support the Maddie hoax.

Interesting to see that within a campaign called ‘Find Every Child’ of the 9 cases listed 6 are of adults: Quentin Godwin (18), Luke Durbin (19), Charles Horvath (21), Claudia Lawrence (35), Lucia Hawkins (42) and Sandra Hall (56).

If Britain’s Got Talent has also decided to lend their name to this hoax is up to whoever is responsible for deciding about this show. However, one cannot set aside the possibility of the secret show having taken place.

What matters is that the message is clear: Oh woe is me!

The McCanns pleading – or someone for them – that they are to be spared because their name is joined at the hip with such a noble cause. A plea for clemency.

If cringing was measurable, its measuring unit a ‘pathetic’ and the scale went from 1 to 10 ‘pathetics’, we would say this effort rated around 422 pathetics.

Also, taking into account that this is the time to call for the big guns, with all due respect for Mr Cowell, we think that he’s rather insignificant when compared with the firepower the McCanns – or someone for them – were able to muster back in 2007 and in the following years.

The sympathy campaign did not go well on Loose Women either. The overall feeling was that it distanced itself from the McCanns.

c. Libel threat

We think the Daily Star article has been put together using some old info. There are no direct quotes from McCanns or anyone else about the court case.

The quote by Clarance Mitchell goes back a long way and forgetting that he has been publicly fired by the McCanns.

The Sun echoed the article and added the inaccuracy that the funding for Operation Grange was given up to August.

Having the Daily Star and the Sun as the platform to issue a threat is not the best way to have it taken seriously.

The book has been read by millions and if need be, it can be published outside the UK in English and be purchased online. All publicity helps but how many other books wished to have all the good publicity this one already has?

We are divided between this being someone stirring the pot or an orchestrated effort to make the McCanns look even guiltier. Or both.


7. Not moving

If we have observed what has moved, so to speak, one must notice what hasn’t.

Now that the game has really started, is the time to show the true colours.

One particular corner of the internet has remained strangely quiet. A corner of the internet in which Operation Grange is to it as Scientology is to Tom Cruise.

For years, even before Operation Grange was set up, it has been a very reliable gauge as to what the establishment was up to.

Its silence tells us that no decision has been taken as to what Operation Grange will or can do next.

Silence is something that has the ability of not telling whether they will pounce or if they will just start to whistle singing in the rain and archive the case.

And if Operation Grange is in the balance so is everything else.

The media doesn’t exactly know what to do or say, so plays safe and doing what the Portuguese say “uma no cravo outra na ferradura” or, translated, one on the horseshoe nail the other on the horseshoe.

It says that the parents are involved in Maddie’s disappearance and simultaneously continues to fiddle play the trafficking gang tune.

The first, they say, was said by Mr Amaral and the second they say was said by Scotland Yard.

The first statement is true and the second is not. Mr Amaral has said in his book that the McCanns were involved in her disappearance but Operation Grange has never mentioned the gang, very much like South Yorkshire police never having mentioned that Barkas did it.


8. Milestone

If in the Ben Needham case, silence, or total lack of action is a real, not to say likely possibility, in the Maddie case it simply isn’t.

Operation Grange has to come to a conclusion. No way around that.

Even if to say they will dissolve and go silent. And that has a very limited timeline: end of April.

That’s when – according to British criminology science – the crime is no longer of interest because there are no more public funds for it.

We are counting that by then all will be clarified.

The players are on Square One but the decision is on one person and one person only: Theresa May.

She, and only she has to decide between 2 options, in our opinion.

The first is how much she needs the British elite for Brexit – with this we are not implying the elite has voted for Brexit or Remain, what we are saying is that we think she may feel she needs the elite,  irrelevant of vote, for what she has decided to do.

As we have explained there is no way to nail the McCanns and T7 alone. To go for the truth she will have to judge if only hitting those with a social status below Freud will antagonise those above him and who she needs support from in these times of uncertainty.

The second, is to balance between the credibility the UK will gain if it transparently goes for the truth and the lack of by maintaining this malignant farce.

If she decides on the first she will have opted for silence, if she opts for the second she will decide for truth.

That simple. All up to her.

But we have skipped option #2 – Patsy.

If the 2 mentioned above, #1 – Silence and #3 – Truth, are possible (we would say the only ones possible) in a scenario of logic and reason, option #2 – Patsy has suddenly become a possibility with the new age we’re living in.


9. Alternative fact

The problem with options #1 – Silence and #3 – Truth is the current era we live in.

It hasn’t been called anything yet, so we will call it the “Alternative Facts Era”.

Everyone has heard about it but we doubt that many have really thought about the implications and the reasons why it has happened.

One day we might write about it and how the Maddie case played a very important role in the blooming of this new era.

But for now, we have gone from distrusting the media to disbelieving it. Before, the media told some lies, now it tells only lies. The truth is selectively chosen by each one.

The movement that had the objective of fighting the establishment’s use of the media to manipulate has just been manipulated into welcoming that exact same manipulation.

We will try to explain by using colours. Some, like red, blue, green, orange, yellow and pink already have political connotations. So we will use shades of purple: lavender, violet, mauve, raisin, grape, thistle, magenta, mulberry, wine and eggplant.

With the objective of discrediting the media as it has been achieved, all the establishment has to do is place a magenta news item in a magenta newspaper and that will make all the magenta people even stauncher in their magentaness.

It is completely irrelevant if it’s true or not.

As colourless truth no longer exists, whatever the magenta newspaper publishes is for the magenta people the magenta truth to be followed by the magenta believers.

Whatever the lavender, violet, mauve, raisin, grape, thistle, mulberry, wine and eggplant media publish will be a lie, even if it’s true. And to these, whatever the magenta media says is a lie, even if it’s true.

And if whatever the avender, violet, mauve, raisin, grape, thistle, mulberry, wine and eggplant media publish that disproves what the magenta media has, that proof will be disbelieved by the magenta people and just taken as the effort of others to propagate falsities against them.

For the other purples to send the magenta people to look for fact is as useless throwing a stone into a lake and hoping it will float.

And do spare the magenta as the same happens in lavender, violet, mauve, raisin, grape, thistle, mulberry, wine and eggplant communities.

It’s a delirious situation whereby the other side only tells the truth when their words agree with us, and in all the other areas where they don’t, which just happens to be the most, then they’re just being utterly stupid.

No need to check facts. If what is said is in accordance with what one believed before it was said, it’s true, if it doesn’t, it’s not.

Everyone refuses to adjust their filters.

To establish a parallel between this and the Maddie case, and because we do have the experience of what we’re talking about, we have repeatedly and exhaustively sent the pro-McCanns to read the PJ Files, to read facts.

Have they? We know they have but have publicly denied ever doing that except when those facts benefit them. Have facts that we told them to check ever changed the opinion they express publicly about the case? No, it hasn’t.

They have acted like the described of the magenta people above all these years and we watched, and now suddenly the world has become filled with pro-McCanns on all subjects.

People have closed themselves in a personal reality wherein whatever the media reports that is pleasing is true and whatever isn’t is a blatant lie. As said, no fact checking needed, it’s either truth or lie simply because it is what one wants to read.

And when challenged what is the most common response? “Trust me, all you read is not true, I KNOW”.

When one asks another person, what would it take for you to think the way the other side does, the answer always is “Oh God, NOTHING, nothing on this earth would!!” showing the flexibility of one’s receptivity to listen. But always expecting the other side to do so.

And the establishment smiles and manipulates.

It will continue to publish magenta news in magenta papers and lavender news in lavender papers irrelevant of what truth or fact is because they have the certainty that the lavender people won’t check facts and if they do, they will set aside whatever is inconvenient.

All this to say that if the establishment decides to go for an “alternative fact” conclusion to the case, it is free to do so.

Note how the Britain’s Got Talent episode is within the parameters of what we have just said above. It’s as if Kate read her speech and the tears she is said to have caused the judges are from an alternative world.

The reader will say that it can’t happen because the reader will be there to protest tirelessly. Sorry to douse enthusiasm but to protest today is so common and expected that it is almost like saying that one is extraordinary because one is able to write.

In this scenario, option #2 – Patsy is feasible. It has already been tried and with apparent success with Ben Needham.

All the establishment has to do is put out a version of events that is vague enough that will be impossible to confirm and then simply not listen, much less respond to any question anyone has to ask.

The only thing stopping it is the credibility the United Kingdom is to feel it needs at this point in time with both the world and its citizens.


10. Conclusion

The Lisbon trial decision has put an end to loose ends of the case in Portugal.

Now the real game has begun, and indeed it has.

In all of the above we have not mentioned the current PJ investigation. For us it will simply follow whatever suit is decided in the UK.

All the pieces are set to pounce on the McCanns, however that is only a possibility which weighs as much as the others.

For us, there’s only one certainty: the Maddie case has to have a conclusion before the end of April.

As for us, we will again return to observation perch and watch. Return when and if we think necessary.

To do, for example a post on the real importance of the make-up picture and evidently it has nothing to do with paedophilia. We don’t want to but if we have to, we will.

Our lasts words on this post, could not be other than congratulating Mr Amaral on the outcome of the trial.

Sir, please try to overcome the best way you can what has been taken away from you and cannot be returned.

We have fought in your corner all these years and your plight deserves that we continue to do so.

44 comments:

  1. Thought provoking article ladies! The Britains Got Talent article was utter drivel except to those who knew what it said?? Have i got that bit? And then they are appealling to the other side....saying hear what she has to say ...have some humanity?
    Of course they have no humanity and will act as they see fit.....as to the outcome they want.
    Is that about it?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Kate and the BGT stunt is truly bathetic, rather than pathetic.
    It's a show featuring amongst other items magicians who make things disappear and talented dogs. Light entertainment for the masses, with lots of schmaltz.
    The Missing People choir didn't deserve the last minute coup by K.

    ReplyDelete
  3. If Number 2 - Patsy is decided - what about Portugal? Will Portugal go along with such an outcome do you think?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Yes , a very interesting article. I would like to put my faith in Mrs May but a small part of me already anticipates bitter disappointment.
    I am intrigued by your reference to the 'makeup' photo and look forward to reading any subsequent post you make regarding it - I think I am right in understanding that you will use it if necessary.
    It's good to know you are there on your perch...observing - many thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Textusa, 1000 mercis pour votre travail, et toutes ces bonnes nouvelles.
    "It took "me" (you) 2 whole minutes to write the simplest of post : "Mr Amaral has WON". I can imagine. I am with you, Textusa as much as you are (were) during all these years with Sr AMARAL, the TRUTH, and all of us wanting JUSTICE, in general and for little Madeleine in particular. You will be forever in history books (and many others),and in my heart, because knowing your are here on earth to defense such nobles causes is very important to me.
    Thank you Sr Amaral.
    I feel today as if I had neither win nor lose but I feel just hope and gratitude. Proud to meet you on this corner of Internet where you allow me to read such beautifull TEXTs, full of logic, déductions, sentiments, émotions, humour, etc... Quelle patience, Textusa.
    Merci.
    2 questions please, can you enlighten me :
    First : why 422 ????? pathetics ?
    Second : How can we continue to help Sr Amaral ? Can it help him buying dozens books ?
    It seems to me not enough (but it's me) to stay here at home in Bruxelles knowing so many good people have, up to 2007, loose so much. Principally Sr Amaral. Yes, "what has been taken away from you and cannot be returned" and "your plight deserves" to be compensated in my opinion.
    This night, we will sing with my choir en l'honneur de Sr Amaral, en grand secret (CHUT ! shhh !)and for Theresa May too, to give her inspiration and courage. Après tout, after all she represents a so magnifique country, so many beautifull people. Congratulations, Sr Amaral. Congratulations, Textusa, with you FINALLY in Square ONE et bonjour au Portugal.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Textusa, I just write to you,
    it took me 2 hours. Hard for me. I am francophone from Bruxelles. It does not appear yet on your blog. I try again with this one and if it works, I'll recommence another time, my rough copy is in my head. Much to say to you, dear Textusa about Hope, Truth, Justice you promote. Brigitte. and I am not a robot.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Brigitte
    I am in the UK and share your sentiments. It is so wonderful to see that people of different countries unite over this case. Let us hope that Theresa May understands what it means to us.

    ReplyDelete
  8. https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/2779529/madeleine-mccann-family-tv-10th-anniversary/


    MADDIE BIDDING WAR
    Madeleine McCann’s family at centre of TV chat show rights scrap on 10th anniversary of tot’s disappearance

    A friend claims Kate and Gerry McCann have been offered huge bids for an exclusive interview

    Exclusive
    By TRACEY KANDOHLA
    3rd February 2017, 4:55 pm

    KATE McCann has been thrust into a global bidding war as TV chat shows and news giants battle to try and sign her up for talks on the 10th anniversary of daughter Madeleine’s disappearance.

    The anguished mum, who has no idea if Maddie is dead or alive after nearly a decade, has been offered huge bids for an exclusive interview, a friend said today.

    But Kate, still reeling from her shock libel defeat against a former Portuguese cop this week while trying to enjoy her younger twins’ 12th birthdays, has not yet considered any deal.

    The ex GP and heart doctor husband Gerry now face sizeable court costs after losing their civil action on appeal and previously-won but not paid £360,000 damages which they had been ring-fencing for the ongoing search for Maddie.

    The brave parents are bracing themselves for the heart wrenching 10th anniversary of Maddie’s kidnap in just 12 weeks.

    Breakfast telly queen Lorraine Kelly and a pal of Kate’s could be a firm favourite although ITV would probably only pay a fraction of a fee being offered by brash American broadcasters.

    One has told Kate and husband Gerry: “Name your price!”

    A close friend of the McCann’s said: “They have been bombarded with offers from media around the world.

    “They’re already got 30 sitting on the table and are getting new bids every other day particularly from the big American networks.

    Kate did her last TV sofa chat with Scottish presenter Lorraine, a former Sun columnist, nearly three years ago.

    Her pal said: “Kate likes Lorraine’s softly, softly approach and feels comfortable with her.

    “She never asks too many searching questions.”

    Maddie’s mum’s last print interview was with The Sun a year ago as the newspaper helped promote a new child rescue alert campaign on behalf of her charity Missing People.

    It is believed the McCanns from Rothley, Leics, are being offered many thousands of pounds to relive their torment in a milestone 10th anniversary chat.

    (cont)

    ReplyDelete
  9. (cont)

    After three-year-old Maddie vanished during a family holiday to Portugal in May 2007 Kate and Gerry were in a £1million bidding war by two of America’s biggest chat show stars at the time – Oprah Winfrey and Barbara Walters.

    The McCanns, for an undisclosed fee, finally chose Oprah and in May 2009 told in a heart breaking interview how they felt their snatched daughter was still alive.

    The family source said: “Kate and Gerry get weary from all the demands for interviews, especially in the run up to the anniversary.

    "The tenth one is a significant one and there is tremendous interest, not just from Britain and America but Australasia and Europe and of course Portugal.

    "Talk shows, news channels, glossy magazines, newspapers – everyone’s after them!”

    The pal added: “America has always had a fascination with Madeleine. And they’ve had their own high profile stories of missing children with happy endings after after being found alive and well years later.”

    Just last month Kate and Gerry were given fresh hope and “buoyed up” when a kidnapped girl Kamiyah Mobley was found alive in the US after an incredible 18-year search.

    Maddie, if alive, would turn 14 in mid May just nine days after the anniversary.

    The McCanns have been left “bitterly disappointed” after losing on Tuesday an eight-year libel battle against Goncalo Amaral, an ex detective they had tried to silence but who defeated them.

    They now face big court costs which they will take from but will eat into the dwindling Find Maddie Fund.

    It is made up of public donations and proceeds from Kate’s best-seller book.
    The friend added: “Gerry said ‘It’s not good news. We’ve gone to the pinnacle of the Portuguese legal system and we’ve lost. We now have to pay a sizeable amount in costs.’ ”

    The McCann’s spokesperson Clarence Mitchell said today: “No firm decision has been made about any 10th anniversary interview.”

    He has previously said: “Kate and Gerry would only ever agree to a deal which would widen the search for their daughter.”

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We would strongly recommend to the McCanns that they don't book anything yet.

      Who knows if at that time Kate won't be busy singing for BGT??

      Delete
  10. - “Kate likes Lorraine’s softly, softly approach and feels comfortable with her.“She never asks too many searching questions.”

    - They now face big court costs which they will take from but will eat into the dwindling Find Maddie Fund.

    Tracey - this article is not exactly designed to endear them to the general public, is it?

    ReplyDelete
  11. Have just read through the comments at the bottom of the Bidding War article in The Sun - and there is much negative feeling towards the Mc Canns, expressed by the public.
    It does seem that there is an effort being made to drum up 'negative feeling'

    ReplyDelete
  12. Love that - Lorraine Kelly "never asks too many searching questions"!! None at all that I have ever heard! But how could that be a good thing unless the parents had something to hide?

    ReplyDelete
  13. http://epmundo.com/decision-de-un-juez-revive-sospechas-sobre-los-padres-de-madeleine-mccann/
    Decisión de un juez revive sospechas sobre los padres de Madeleine McCann

    ReplyDelete
  14. En "Detrás de la Verdad", 13TV, la noticia del juicio de los McCann. Lo plantean como que vuelve a despertar las sospechas sobre los padres.
    http://www.13tv.es/13-tv-directo/

    ReplyDelete
  15. I don't know how anyone could interpret GA not losing to the McCanns as Portugal looking after their own. The kindest thing you could say Is that at an snails pace justice prevailed. The award by the first judge of over half a million pounds and the time it took to get him this far were clear examples of how they at times badly let him down. I would love to see an interview with the original damages trial judge to explain her actions.

    Also if there is offers on the table for interviews for them I don't think anyone is interested in hearing again about how while sitting round their big round table some bad man came and stole their lovely daughter. What will be wanted is insight into the minds of people who have perpetrated a hoax about the search for a daughter who they knew wasn't going to be found. Interview footage which will be studied for years after the truth is finally out.

    Textusa the small part of the Internet is surprisingly quiet but has always been very optimistic, not that he has not been prone in the past to changing direction

    ReplyDelete
  16. Truth about MP choir

    First video:
    https://youtu.be/b9bWQoAbw0w

    Correction of first video:
    https://youtu.be/6cslxB8kISw

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Interesting, it seems then that Kate did not read any speech then.

      So we were right in thinking it was all staged?

      That’s what we are getting from the words of Grandpa Pete, someone who was there.

      A word to Grandpa Pete.


      Sir,

      You are a choir member who is obviously annoyed about Kate hijacking the choir story as it could affect votes.

      However, may we remind you that you are singing under the banner of Missing People, an organisation who has welcomed Kate McCann as one of its, if not its most visible, ambassador.

      You cannot benefit from the organisation’s name and then ask for people to disregard completely the choices the organisation has made as to who represents it when it’s inconvenient for you.

      We think that Kate McCann should indeed influence the vote on your choir, independently if participates – singing or reading speeches – in it or not.

      She is the face of Missing People so we think the Missing People choir should assume that very clearly.

      If you think, as it seems you do, that she's a liability rather than an asset, then either get out or take it up to whoever is responsible to make sure that Kate McCann’s name no longer is linked to the organisation you represent.

      Best regards,

      Textusa

      Delete
    2. If you are part of an organisation that uses K for publicity, you have 2 choices
      Stop being part of it
      Object to her position.
      If he continues in the choir, he accepts her position by continuing.

      Delete
    3. If I had anyone missing, I would forbid this organisation from using my name. There is nothing I can see that they do to actually find missing people. They use vulnerable families to front their organisation. It makes money to pay its executives. They never produce any statistics about people they allegedly find. Their accounts aren't made public.
      Many people who go missing are adults who choose to do
      so. A lot are children in care who go missing on repeated occasions.
      Yet another charity where money could be better spent by giving it to charities who work at a local level and know the situation on the ground.
      We are drowning in sentimentality rather than practicality so many of these charities, with their balloons and wristbands.

      Delete
  17. I find it richly ironic that the Mcs, the press and others, that by using the term libel rather than damages, have been hoist by their own petard.
    As I understand, libel is a criminal offence in Portugal and the facts would have to be tested in a criminal court - a route the Mcs avoided, choosing the civil court damages route.
    Had they won, no doubt they would have claimed the facts in GAs book were proved wrong. Even though this wasn't the case.
    Now they can hardly complain if the outcome of the case is being used against them, with some claiming they have lost a libel case, thereby proving what GA claimed was true.
    It would be wonderful if that was the case, but it isn't.
    It only demonstrates that one set of rights prevailed over another.
    But libel is a term still being used.
    That's their problem, not GA's.

    ReplyDelete
  18. https://youtu.be/_hszsDFatkw
    Leicester BBC news

    ReplyDelete
  19. Sorry, it is not up to Theresa May or any UK official to decide about the outcome of this case. It is the full responsibility of the Portuguese justice to do so. But the sad reality is that Portugal has acted as a submissive country for 10 years - and this, I am afraid, is what History will remember. To state otherwise would be to deny Portugal's sovereignty as a country.

    Great to see Gonçalo Amaral win this trial, or not lose it, but let us not forget that this man has been dragged in the mud for 10 years because he did his job and spoke the truth. None of this would have happened had his government and justice system not failed him really badly. I am sick of reading continuous misinformation from the UK about the Maddie case. Where is the "political courage" that Mr Amaral has called for? Enough is enough.

    ReplyDelete
  20. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4192424/Madeleine-McCann-libel-trial-winner-publish-second-book.html

    ReplyDelete
  21. http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/763253/Detective-writing-new-Maddie-McCann-book

    Victorious Maddie McCann detective writing new book on her disappearance

    THE police chief who won a legal battle with the parents of Madeleine McCann is finishing off a second book on the case that criticises the way Scotland Yard handled their investigation.

    PUBLISHED: 00:01, Sun, Feb 5, 2017

    Goncalo Amaral is busy working on the closing chapters while on a break in Switzerland and is looking for a British publisher.

    Last week Portuguese supreme court judges in Lisbon ruled that he could publish his controversial first book on the case, called The Truth Of The Lie.

    After Madeleine, then three, disappeared from apartment 5a of the Ocean Club in Praia da Luz on the Algarve on May 3, 2007, Mr Amaral worked as the investigation co-ordinator, pulling together all the strands of police inquiries and working closely with senior officers.

    However, he was moved off the case and resigned six months later after accusing British police officers of not fully cooperating with the ¬Portuguese investigation.

    He faced financial ruin when the McCanns won legal battles to freeze his assets and stop him distributing The Truth Of The Lie in Portugal.

    Mr Amaral used police files to put forward a theory that Madeleine had died in the apartment. The McCanns took legal action on the grounds the claim was not substantiated by the evidence and was defamatory.

    They believe that Madeleine is still alive and every effort should be made to find her.

    A friend of the author said: “Goncalo took no great pleasure from the court case because he fully expected to win. For him these battles in the courts are important because they protect freedom of expression.

    “He could only afford to pay the legal bills thanks to donations, mainly from people in Britain, who have given more than £50,000. With the support in Britain he obviously thinks his second book on the case would sell well if translated into English and he is actively looking for a publisher.

    “He would also ask any publisher if they would be interested in publishing his first book in English. “For the time being he is working hard on the second book in Switzerland but he wishes to thank his supporters in the UK for supporting his battle to protect freedom of expression.”

    The timeline of events on the evening and night of May 3, 2007, has been examined by Mr Amaral, minute by minute, for a significant part of the book.

    The friend added: “He is aware of the public statements made by Scotland Yard in their review and later investigation

    He gives his views on that approach. He has huge respect for Scotland Yard detectives but is critical of some of the things that have been said and done.”

    Doctors Kate and Gerry McCann, both 48, of Rothley, Leicestershire, have said they will sue if The Truth Of The Lie is sold in Britain.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We inform our readers that we have serious doubts about the following paragraph:

      "Goncalo Amaral is busy working on the closing chapters while on a break in Switzerland and is looking for a British publisher."

      We happen to know someone, who has authorised us to say so, who was in person with Mr Amaral last February 1, the day after the verdict, in Portugal.

      Delete
    2. We would also STRONGLY recommend that the "friend of the author" would simply shut up, if such a person exists.

      Mr Amaral is able to speak for himself.

      We have critised the Mcs for putting out news via "a friend of the family", the least we can do is not do the same!!

      Delete
  22. Textusa, the article looks to be possibly a re-hash of an old article fro the Express dated 1.5.2016. I know that I have read previously the comment regarding Amaral 'working on a second book in Switzerland' and I think it was in the article dated 1.5.16.
    Link shows cover but I cannot find the content yet...
    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ChUOej2WwAEatHU.jpg

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. On line article from 1/05/2016 but no mention of Switzerland.
      http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/666020/Madeleine-McCann-maddie-anniversary-detective-book-Goncalo-Amaral

      Delete
  23. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4193808/Kate-Gerry-McCann-warn-Portuguese-policeman-book.html

    'Our lawyers are watching!': Kate and Gerry McCann warn Portuguese policeman his new book on their daughter's disappearance must NOT be published in Britain

    Goncalo Amaral claims Madeleine McCann's parents covered up her death
    He published a book in 2008 and the McCanns tried to sue him for libel
    They were told they could not by a judge, as it's revealed Amaral is writing another book
    He is said to be looking for a publisher in England, though the McCanns will sue

    By Tracey Kandohla For Mailonline
    Published: 18:31 GMT, 5 February 2017 | Updated: 20:24 GMT, 5 February 2017

    A retired police chief who won victory over Madeleine McCann's parents in a bitter libel case will be warned a second book he is writing about her disappearance must not be published in Britain.

    Kate and Gerry McCann will inform him: 'Beware, our lawyers are watching!' if he tries to sell his new novel or his first contentious one in the UK, family spokesman Clarence Mitchell said today.

    Former Portuguese detective Goncalo Amaral accused Maddie's parents of covering up their daughter's death which they have always vehemently denied.

    After defeating the couple on appeal last week in their eight-year civil battle he is now reportedly looking for a British publisher for his sequel to the Maddie mystery.

    Mr Mitchell said: 'If Mr Amaral's current book about Madeleine or any new one he may be planning to write is published here in the UK Kate and Gerry's lawyers will take immediate action. He needs to know lawyers are watching.'

    Former GP Kate and heart doctor Gerry have on board the country's top libel lawyers, London-based Carter-Ruck, to deal with any grievance they have if they feel lies are being told or if anything is written or said which they believe damages their reputation.

    The couple, both 48 from Rothley, Leicestershire, pay for the costly service when needed from the Find Maddie Fund, which is made up of public donations and proceeds from Kate's own bestseller book 'Madeleine' published in 2011.

    Jubilant Mr Amaral is finishing off the final chapter of his newly-penned book while taking a break in Switzerland.

    He is confident his sequel to Maddie The Truth of the Lie could be a 'big hit,' according to a source in Portugal.

    The insider said: 'Mr Amaral knows that the world is fascinated with the Maddie story and her parents.'

    What he wrote in his first book – which was never sold in Britain – formed the basis of the McCann's libel battle. He said three-year-old Maddie, who vanished from a Portuguese holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in May 2007, had in fact died there.

    (cont)

    ReplyDelete
  24. (cont)

    There had been no kidnap and her parents had hidden her body after an accidental death, he claimed.

    His once-banned book, translated into several different languages but never before in English, can now go back on the shelves again.

    The friend of the McCann's, who are still reeling from their libel loss, said: 'If he thinks his old or new book will appear here he'll have another think coming If that's his intention whoever is responsible will be sued. Carter-Ruck will have no hesitation issuing a writ for defamation.'

    Mr Amaral's 2008 book was never translated into English for publication in the UK because it would have breached strict libel laws.

    The ex police officer, who led the initial bungled hunt for Maddie, may consider suing Kate and Gerry for allegedly 'damaging his reputation' and 'causing him years of anguish.'

    Their friend added: 'If that happens it would be a relentless battle. Kate and Gerry only took civil action against Mr Amaral in the first place to stop him spouting his malicious lies. He has profited from their pain.'

    Mr Amaral, 58, revelling in his libel victory, previously said: 'Truth is simple. It is truth that guides me, and it will continue to do so in its simplicity and greatness.'

    His appeal was funded by online supports, including Brits, and he thanked them saying: 'None of this would have been possible without you.'

    Scotland Yard are busy investigating one 'last throw of the dice' lead in a bid to solve the Madeleine mystery which has gripped the world. But time could be running out as police now have just two months left of guaranteed Government funding to continue to unravel an 'important' new tip.

    Detectives on the Maddie inquiry, codenamed Operation Grange, recently revealed they are working on a final theory that the youngster was snatched by a European trafficking gang. If alive, she would be turn 14 in mid-May.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Interesting to see that Mr Mitchell appears to have been hired again. It's said the couple is struggling financially but has enough money to rehire the man.

    Also very interesting: "Former GP Kate and heart doctor Gerry have on board the country's top libel lawyers, London-based Carter-Ruck, to deal with any grievance they have if they feel lies are being told or if anything is written or said which they believe damages their reputation."

    Very nice to see they have abandoned the story of suing because it hindered the search for Maddie. It is, as we always thought, about them protecting their reputation. Truth, as this proves, always surfaces.

    ReplyDelete
  26. https://www.noticiasaominuto.com/pais/736144/ira-goncalo-amaral-publicar-um-novo-livro-sobre-maddie

    Irá Gonçalo Amaral publicar um novo livro sobre Maddie?

    A notícia surge dias após os pais de Madeleine McCann terem perdido o recurso interposto no Supremo Tribunal de Justiça contra o ex-inspetor da Polícia Judiciária.

    Dias após ter sido noticiado que o livro de Gonçalo Amaral sobre a história do desaparecimento de Madeleine McCann podia voltar às bancas, o britânico The Sun avança com a notícia de que o ex-inspetor da Polícia Judiciária está a preparar-se para lançar em breve um novo livro sobre a história desta criança.

    De acordo com o jornal, Gonçalo Amaral estará à procura de uma editora britânica que publique este novo livro, ao mesmo tempo que alegadamente o autor termina os últimos capítulos da história.

    Agora, resta saber se tal informação está mesmo correta, pois o próprio ainda não fez declarações sobre o assunto, apenas uma fonte próxima de Amaral terá avançado com esta informação.

    No primeiro e, até ao momento, único livro que publicou, o ex-inspetor alega que a criança morreu e que os pais desta esconderam a sua morte. Foi Gonçalo Amaral quem liderou a investigação sobre o desaparecimento de Maddie, mas posteriormente demitiu-se, acusando as autoridades britânicas de não cooperarem totalmente com as portuguesas.

    A mesma fonte adiantou ainda que Gonçalo Amaral estará também a procurar uma editora que queira publicar o seu primeiro livro em inglês.

    ReplyDelete
  27. http://www.theladbible.com/news/uk-cop-who-accused-madeleine-mccanns-parents-of-cover-up-writes-new-book-20170205

    ReplyDelete
  28. The couple, both 48 from Rothley, Leicestershire, pay for the costly service when needed from the Find Maddie Fund, which is made up of public donations and proceeds from Kate's own bestseller book 'Madeleine' published in 2011.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You jest certainly
      We all saw how they struggled to raise 10K for K's cycle ride.
      The book a flop from day 1
      Why don't you throw in the Summers and Swann book too?
      A better justification would have been to say they are already counting with money they are going to receive from the many invitations for chat shows. But for that they have to appear first, don't they?

      Delete
    2. Mcs lashing out in desperation and revealing their true motives
      But they haven't got the guts to say it themselves - always by proxy.

      Delete
    3. No disrespect to GA, but his book is not really necessary to prove that th Mc's are part of a conspiracy. A concerted effort to make the public realise that the 'fraudulent fund' is just that will get them realising they've been duped for ten years...

      Delete
  29. David Beckham appears to have fallen from grace spectacularly after e-mails were leaked. Rightly or wrongly, but it reflects how important image is. It is this 'image shift' that scares VIP's to death. To be respected and then to be outed as a swinger would have a similar effect and I agree this is the reason for the 'cover up' in the Maddie case.

    ReplyDelete
  30. http://portugalresident.com/tabloid-scramble-cranks-up-pressure-on-%E2%80%9Csecond-maddie-book%E2%80%9D

    Posted by portugalpress on February 06, 2017
    Tabloid scramble cranks up pressure on “second Maddie book”

    No sooner had former PJ coordinator Gonçalo Amaral seen his right to freedom of expression upheld by the Supreme Court than UK tabloids have been scrambling themselves into a froth of indignation about a “second Maddie book” in the wings, threatening to pile yet more agony on the pain caused by his first: “Madeleine: The Truth of the Lie”.

    The fact that Amaral revealed he was writing a second book almost a year ago appears to have passed unnoticed (click here).

    Tabloids have been full of the “McCann warning” that lawyers employed by renowned legal firm Carter Ruck “will be watching” in case Amaral publishes anything about the mystery in UK.

    While the Sunday Express claims Amaral is looking for a “new publisher”, the Daily Mail describes him as “jubilant” and “finishing off the final chapter of his newly-penned book while taking a break in Switzerland”.

    The paper also claims that “Truth of the Lie” was “never translated into English for publication in the UK because it would have breached strict libel laws”.

    These are all more than likely to be reports that need to be taken with large quantities of salt.

    Carter Ruck’s lawyers may well be watching, but the reality is that the finding of the appeal court last year - and dismissal of the subsequent McCann appeal by the Supreme Court last month - means that “Madeleine: The Truth of the Lie” is not considered defamatory after painstaking and rigorous legal challenges.

    Indeed the 76-page decision taken by Supreme Court judges shows just how thoroughly the McCann's various claims were studied, and why they were thrown-out as not being sufficient to see Amaral fined vast quantities of money.

    What the flurry of stories is more likely to be about is the fact that no-one really knows what Amaral proposes to do next.

    He has refused requests for interviews, he has neither confirmed nor denied whether he will be counter-suing the McCanns for damages (as he intimated last year that he would), and he has not revealed when his next book will be ready.

    It is the kind of suspense that British media outlets do not enjoy.

    Meantime, bystanders have been predicting a new Madeleine sighting, or indeed sightings “any day now” and “as soon as the weather improves” a new visit to Portugal by officers working on Operation Grange - the Metropolitan Police investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance said to have cost the British taxpayer around €15,000 and which has been working on a “last throw of the dice” for the last three months.

    natasha.donn@algarveresident.com

    Link referred to in above article:
    http://portugalresident.com/maddie-cop-reveals-he-is-writing-second-book-as-ninth-anniversary-brings-rush-of-new-stories

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That €15,000 is losing a digit. Staggering, of course, when you think of it. The immorality.

      Delete
  31. "From First Instance Court sentence to Appeal Court sentence on the Cautionary Action, which ruled to revoke the First Instance Court sentence, book BANNED because the McCanns appealed this sentence to the Supreme Justice Court."
    Are you sure, Textusa ? Isn't a sentence suspended when an appeal is lodged ? If the book was banned, what about the other part of the sentence, the 500 thousand ?

    ReplyDelete
  32. They're not going to like this much...
    http://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/portuguese-prosecutors-never-concluded-mccanns-were-innocent/story-30124763-detail/story.html

    ReplyDelete

Comments are moderated.

Comments are welcomed, but its reserved the right to delete comments deemed as spam, transparent attempts to get traffic without providing any useful commentary, and any contributions which are offensive or inappropriate for civilized discourse.

Textusa