PdL - The Game Board

A Scotland Yard agent looking for Maddie in Praia da Luz

As we said over 3 years ago in our “Blogeditorial Decision on the "Maddie McCann Case"” post (18Feb11), churnalism does not set the agenda in our blog.

We have also said that the most apparently nonsensical thing about this case has to be looked at attentively. Very little is random and what is intentional most of the times escapes the common eye as we have shown repeatedly here.

Now with all this transforming Praia da Luz into a huge “Where’s Wally?” game board to look for Maddie’s body we witnessed a hysteria beyond our understanding.

This whole Let’s–dig–PdL–up is ridiculous. Everyone knows it’s ridiculous and yet hysteria has led people down the path of discussing how ridiculous it is. As useless as discussing how wet water is.

What has to be discussed and never is, is why these episodes are ridiculous. Why is SY so shamelessly exposing itself to absolute ridicule by selling dog poo for chocolate mousse? Because that is exactly what SY is doing, isn’t it?

Why is the question that needs to be asked and be answered. Not the quantification of ridiculousness. That it’s ridiculous is evident to everyone.

As we have said before, this has become a game. A sickening one but one nonetheless. To understand the latest move one must understand the game, or at least the stage where it is at currently.

When Portugal reopened the process, it opened a whole new battlefront for UK. We don’t think this front came as a surprise to Britain. We think it was even Britain who asked for it as it would be the only way to legitimise whatever “findings” would result from its Homeland front.

What surprised UK was that the 2013/2014 PJ wasn’t as “tame” as the 2007/2008 one had been. What Britain in its imperialistic arrogance failed to understand was that the 2007/2008 PJ hadn’t been tame at all.

It had acted the way it did out of good-will, out of respect that higher British interests were at stake and tolerantly understood that the case had little relevance to Portugal but was critical to UK.

So instead of firmly pursuing the completion of the task, Portugal “let it go” as a comprehensive gesture to the British. It was basically Britain's problem, let Britain solve it.

But Britain was ungrateful. Very ungrateful. It humiliated Portugal beyond comprehension and belief. Portugal became a 4th world country with a 5th world investigative police.

So now Portugal, understandably, doesn’t trust Britain. Not on this issue at least. Humiliated back in 2008 it won’t allow itself to go through the same experience again. Whatever pressure.

Britain wants to know what is going on and Portugal just tells Britain not to worry, it is doing its job so Britain has just to be patient.

So now Britain has two battlefronts: the Homeland and the Portuguese one.

We have stated clearly what we think is the desired end result for UK in our “Rats” post (10Jan14): to contain “truth” as such to only the T9 if possible, preferably to the McCanns alone.

The objectives may change due to circumstances and the most important one is the result of the Portuguese investigation as it must be minimally coherent with the results from the one in UK.

But the Portuguese investigation is out of Britain’s control and UK is doing all it can to gain it.

So, for UK this game is being played with two goals in mind:

Internally, on the Homeland front, to explain that Maddie died that evening and then see how narrow the “fall hole” can be. First have Maddie dead, then mould “truth” to convenience. The bringing over the dogs again may have to do with that.

Externally, on the Portuguese front, to control the PJ investigation.

Do you remember how ridiculous Binman was? It was ridiculous to the public eye but very serious in intention: Maddie didn’t leave the apartment alive and there’s decisive forensic evidence from Maddie’s crime scene (Homeland front) and to initiate pressure on PJ to force close cooperation with SY (Portuguese front).

Do you remember how ridiculous the 18-sex-assault-on-minors-spree was? It was ridiculous to the public eye but very serious in intention: to desperately pressure PJ in allowing SY into the secrecy of PJ’s current Maddie case (Portuguese front) as we exposed that in our “Blackmail” post (25Apr14).

In terms of Homeland front, the 18-sex-assault-on-minors-spree had little relevance which meant that taking control of the PJ investigation was priority. It wants in and will suffer whatever public humiliation to get in. It will overlook pride, it will overlook legality and it will overlook anything that is possible to overlook.

Now we have the ridiculous Let’s-dig-PdL-up episode. Absolutely ridiculous to the public eye. But let’s see how serious it is.

On the Homeland front we are witnessing a phenomenon in all similar to the one that happened with negligence: a campaign to influence the general public as to what happened.

A massive media campaign to decisively influence public opinion.

To influence it about what? To assume as fact that Maddie is dead. It started with Binman. Then, for the first time UK conceded that Maddie was dead. Now it confirms by allegedly spending so many resources looking for a body. UK must really have lots of money lying around and not knowing what to do with it.

The difference between the current campaign and the negligence one in 2007 is that the latter was to implant a false fact while the first is to remove a falsity implanted (that Maddie was abducted/alive) and replace it with the truth.

Maddie is dead, a truth media was decisive in distorting and now undoing the hoax it made up about Maddie being alive.

Do note that these two campaigns, negligence and Maddie-is-indeed-dead, share one similarity: the unwilling cooperation from Kate and Gerry. Them saying that they are prepared for the blow the truth represents that very well.

Like when they had to accept the burden of having been “negligent” they now have to accept that Maddie for the authorities is dead. In both, they don’t want to but have to. Accept to having been negligent when they weren’t and accept that Maddie is taken as dead when all pretended she was not.

But what is to be retained is that the Let’s-dig-PdL-up has the intention, on the Homeland front, to “officialise” Maddie’s death. The next step will be to officialise it.

It’s on the Portuguese front that the Let’s-dig-PdL-up is really interesting and really, really not ridiculous.

UK wants to control both investigations. It has begged, pleaded and sobbed tears of blood for a “joint” investigation to see all refused.

Here one has to wonder why SY doesn’t ask for PJ’s presence in Operation Grange as demonstration of really wanting joint investigation teams on Maddie’s case.

Why not first invite PJ over and share with them all the work done by SY over these last 3 years?

Show PJ all documentation that SY has on the subject. Share everything. SY wants joint, let's have joint then, starting with who wants it joint. 

That would be a sign of goodwill and intention.

But no, SY just wants joint operations in Portugal. Why? Because apparently UK has more money and “better” dogs than Portugal has. And according to the UK, obviously better police. PJ is apparently just not cut out to work on cases of such complexity and importance such as a missing girl in its own territory.

It seems that all the asking and pressuring have not resulted in the desired cooperation, SY has played its final card: monitoring.

If it can’t influence the investigation directly, it can at least to try and influence indirectly. And from there worm its way in to influence it directly, finally.

They will now populate the field with their people who aren’t digging after all but using ground screen radars. One has to wonder how long it will be before the bat-signal calling for Batman will light up PdL’s night as if SY’s suspicions are correct only a supervillain could have abducted Maddie.

And the SY operationals on the field will be using very discreet radars at that. You know, they won’t be seen looking.

How convenient. They will be there looking but won’t be seen doing that.

But they will be looking. Not for Maddie’s body but monitoring everything that happens in PdL. They have found an excuse to be there.

And when there they can stick their noses everywhere, find out who PJ has talked to, discover what places PJ has visited and those who it has revisited.

Exert pressure by presence. You don’t want us here but here we are. And today we have come up with this excuse, tomorrow we will find another. As you can clearly see, we couldn’t care less how ridiculous it may seem or be, but we cannot let go of this bone.

The poster sofieellis at JH, here, describes things very adequately: “Martin Brunt says Andy Redwood and co want to interview 8 witnesses. He mentioned the suspects, whose homes they have been denied the right to search. Detectives may go on to look at some of the sites which are to be searched. He says the detectives were filmed having breakfast in a cafe this morning, which caused a media melee and Brunt described this as a PR disaster! They are now believed to be talking to Portuguese detectives. "This is certainly the start of a new and dynamic phase in the Madeleine McCann investigation, so for the first time we are seeing Scotland Yard Detectives on the ground in Portugal, ready to join their colleagues here in the search for tangible evidence of Madeleine McCann. Quite when that's going to start, it's not clear."”

Hope you can now see the logic and see the direction SY is taking things.:  “Well, as long as we are here, why don't we question 8 witnesses? You know, joint investigation buddies... I  tell you what, today we question these 8 and tomorrow you can come with us to question another 2, the one's we tell you to question, ok? How's that? Digging? What digging? Oh, yes... we are doing that too! Bob is out there with the machine right now... on the cliffs,  I think... not sure. but is that really important now that we're working so well together?”

Like visiting you for tea and then starting to tell you what dinner is going to be in your own house.

If you wanted a better proof of this, all you had to do was to see how yesterday, 08May14, on arriving in Algarve, SY hired a Portuguese Air Force helicopter to allegedly recce 3 locations (the only ones they were authorised to search) which are very near Apartment 5A.

Wasn't that  just a spectacular entrance in Luz? Literally. Pure showing-off.

And what about SY asking for aerial photos that can be easily obtainable with Google Maps?

From the media, we have been told 2 of those 3 places: one is between Rua da Escola Primária and Rua Primeiro de Maio and the other near the church in front of Chaplins.

Wasn't the spectacle put on yesterday just SY showing work and shouting on top of their lungs “Look how we're doing our job... soon the Portuguese won't be able to refuse our help and are going to investigate with us!”

It doesn't matter why we are here, what matters is that we are here and that's all what matters to UK.

By the way, involving the cooperation of the Portuguese Air Force, by the use of its helicopters and its aerial photographs, is very far from having any sort of cooperation from any investigative authority in Portugal.  

Unfortunately for UK, PJ’s attitude towards SY is more like “sorry, thanks but no thanks, tough luck, mate” than the one UK is so shamelessly hard striving for.

To be fair, Redwood has a very tough job ahead in Portugal. He's like a man who has been ordered to be intimate again with a woman who he had a one night stand with and then paraded himself through the streets of the entire neighbourhood telling everyone, with a megaphone, what an easy slut she had been.

Next week, if there aren't any surprises, we will show you how really very uncooperative PJ has been with SY. How do we know? Because the media has told us, that's how. 

Last notes.

image from video here

The British and Portuguese general public know that Maddie is dead. They have known since the dogs in 2007.

The proof was that, although Maddie was in the centre of media attention, PdL’s ceremony on 03May14 went completely unnoticed. The Rothley one can be summarised by the McCanns dress code and the amount of people present.

Everyone knows Maddie is dead and what is being done to her memory is cruel and disrespectful.

What the public, in UK and Portugal, wants to know are 2 things and they will demand an answer to both: how did Maddie die and why were the McCanns so protected all this time.

And please, please do resist any and all temptation about finding anything. That would be the most stupid mistake ever and would only make things worse for you.

There is one very strong indication on how much SY/Maddie is becoming popular in Portugal: every news service yesterday, including SIC, was careful to highlight that all expenses related to this Let’s-dig-PdL-up thing is to be paid by Britain.

To our readers, we have been informed that the Portuguese Air Force helicopter was paid for. Very far from being a free ride.