Those damn dogs...

The onslaught has come to officially mock those damn dogs, we are in the lead up to the book release after all.  Most probably there's a whole chapter devoted to dismissing the creatures who scented cadaver odour and blood in Apartment 5a and on various items belonging only to the McCann family.  The cull has begun on those creatures whose noses are a million times more sensitive than our own and who can sniff out dead bodies and spilled blood at the drop of a hat. 

A recent review uses a kidnap investigation to highlight how dogs have tied up valuable police time and gives details of the Shannon Matthews case in which a cadaver dog was used.  During the search the dog identified the odour of 4 dead bodies and although thankfully it wasn't the scent of the child, the dog had indeed been successful.  Where indicated, it was established that the furniture was second hand and had actually come from the home of a deceased person.  Amazing!

Maybe the book will reveal that the McCanns are keen visitors to their local charity shop and that all of the items which were smitten with eau de cadaver actually came from the home of a deceased person.  All perfectly innocent and a lot more credible than Dr Kildare straddling 6 dead bodies, in her chef's pants with her daughter's cuddly toy in the weeks prior to the fateful holiday.

How do we explain the dog indications in the apartment?  They can't be attributed to a deceased person's second hand furniture.  The dog clearly marked unmoveable objects - inside the wardrobe and on the tiled floor.   Maybe we'll hear that the cadaver odour is different in Portugal, it sticks to places it shouldn't or that it's fused with sardine oil.  Be prepared not to be surprised. 

The review also claims that there is no national standard for accrediting dogs and handlers or record keeping of the success rate they achieve.  I beg to differ, Martin Grimes kept a very accurate record...

Woof woof.  Ask the dogs.

Inciting Racial and Judicial Hatred. The McCann Way...

1.   Take one inaccurate and misleading Google translation.

2.   Place it on your official public Facebook group page.

3.   Turn up heat by sharing with the public and your 15,000 followers.

4.   Add seasoning and watch as the news simmers and bubbles away.

In 2009, the judges and jury at the Court of Faro acquitted the three Polícia Judiciária inspectors that stood accused of torture against Leonor Cipriano (who was sentenced to 16 years for the murder of her daughter, Joana).

The other two arguidos, including Gonçalo Amaral, were condemned to suspended sentences over forgery of documents and false statements, not torture.

The recent news of the appeal decision to uphold the suspended sentences of Goncalo Amaral and Antonio Nune Cardos has been heralded by none other than cookie lawyer, Marcos Aragão Correia.  I am unable to find another report online from any other source.  Is this early news or no news?

After reading "The Court of Appeal upheld the sentence of Evora applied to two PJ inspectors in the torture of Leonora Cipriano" on the Official Find Madeleine group page, some comments from followers included...

"Portugal should hang it's head in shame!"

"Shamefull!!!....Name and shame is the way foward"

"i have said all along he could be involved in the dissapearance of these children , including Madeliene, we need answers and we need them now , this little girl needs to be reunited with her family , and this monster needs putting away !"

"But WHY were their sentences suspended ! I think these two evil men should be suspended...NOT their sentences"

How bizarre... are these comments even moderated by the Find Madeleine team?  Well, yes they are... selectively moderated.  The above appalling remarks and others have maximum exposure and at the moment, allowed to remain.  However the following unhelpful comment from J Smith was removed promptly this morning...

"Did you forget to post that the supreme court rejected the mccanns appeal to ban mr amaral's book? why was that then? why did the Mccanns fail in gagging someone? and the translation for this post is totally wrong and misleading. Shame on you misleading all your sheep on here. Even if true what has it got anything to do with Madeleine's disappearance? Nothing at all. Shameful. Just spending the Fund money scapegoating an individual, pensioners and children donated to that fund to search for Maddie not to be spent on targeting people who don't believe the fairy story of abduction."

Have you seen a more blatant smearing attempt to date?  I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot more of this in the next few months as we lead up to the release of both Madeleine books.

Nasty and unprofessional.  If lies like this can be spread so easily and blatantly to their followers, one wonders what lies have already been told.

One also has to question just why the McCanns paid a fortune from the fund for the professional translation of the files when Google was adequate enough for their Facebook needs...

Pants of Ganga anyone?...

It's the pain of not knowing...

It's the pain of not knowing that tears your heart to shreds

For all families of missing children, the heartache of not knowing where they are or what has happened to them is unrelenting.

....my wife suffered a stroke and I have no doubt it was caused by stress. To this day she still asks over and over, 'Is there any news?' First thing in the morning and last thing at night. 'Is there any news?

We believe that somebody ...... knows where his body lies and I am pleading with them to tell us where it is.

We're not looking for justice. We just want to give him a decent burial. There is no closure for us until then.

If that person could contact us anonymously and tell us exactly where to look, it would be very, very much appreciated.

I don't understand how somebody would have the answer and still remain silent.

People find themselves in a no-man's land of not knowing and there is no end to it.

Your imagination runs away with you, thinking of the worst things that could have happened. Families want to know one way or another, not to be left in limbo.

When a parent realises that a child has wandered off in a shopping centre, they feel a pain in the pit of their stomach. That's what some parents feel for 20 years or more.

It's the last thing they think of when they go to bed and the first thing they think of in the morning -- and the thought is always the same: are they being harmed? 

These parents live in a black hole of torment and despair.

A series of comments taken from an article in the Irish Independent by Celine Naughton.  The article centres mainly on the case of Aengus Shanahan who went missing 11 years ago in February 2000.  A family who are stuck in time and unable to move on and a mother who still asks day and night "is there any news?"  Heartbreaking - I would appeal to anyone with any information to telephone 085 209 2119 or email find.gussie@gmail.com in the strictest confidence.

Reading that report has left me shaking with emotion... read it yourself, you'll understand what I mean.  

Lots of things in the news have a profound effect on me - watching the raw pain and grief of the parents of young Rhys Jones made me cry on several occasions.  I cried when I read about Izumi Suzuki's brave dash to save her two children from the tsunami, and her husband Tatsuya's desperate search to find her alive after discovering that she had been swept away.  I get a lump in my throat when watching certain adverts...

I'm not a cry baby, just a sensitive person.

Yet from the McCanns, nothing.

Some surprising comments (which are a million miles away from the above) from the now infamous parents and their friends in the days, weeks and months following Madeleine's mysterious disappearance include...

I bet she's giving whoever she's with her tuppence worth.

If Madeleine had hurt herself inside the apartment – why would that be our fault?

..the fact they are medics and there are four other medics in the group, they would know what to do to resuscitate a child.

It wouldn't be a one year anniversary, it will be sooner than that.

We have to hope and pray that she is being treated like a princess, as she deserves.

It needs only one greedy, unscrupulous character to come forward (for the reward).

He is convinced that little Maddie is imprisoned in a hellish lair.

I have had a long sleeved top on for the first time in over 2 months and it is more pleasant overnight, making sleep easier.

Sleeping through the night, yes. I do actually ..... I haven't had any problems sleeping.

There is nothing in the process to indicate that something bad has happened to her.

There is no evidence to suggest she has come to any harm.

And that's only a small example.  The only comment from the McCanns that has had an effect on me in recent years came in the form of a blog post, in what appeared to be a different hand from the usual tripe...

We, like everyone else, await the results of the forensics from the recent searches. We do not know who has taken Madeleine or why. Sometimes people do things for reasons that even they cannot understand. An act of madness, an accident or sudden impulse can lead to consequences that people may never have imagined or intended. Faced with such a situation we believe any human soul will ultimately suffer torment and feelings of guilt and fear. 

If you have done something you regret, if you find yourself in a situation you never intended, it is not too late to do the right thing.  Please come forward, return Madeleine, leave her in a place of safety.  At the very least, help us by letting us know what has happened to our beautiful little girl.

Apart from this statement (which at the time made my hair stand on end), their comments and demeanor have done nothing to incite sympathy.  Why is that?  The McCanns have shown plenty of emotion in the time they've thrown themselves to the media but perhaps they've been the wrong emotions.  We could be classed as callous for having no sympathy for the people who lost their daughter, but combine the breathtaking comments and photos like this, taken when their daughter had been missing just 9 days?...

  

Very difficult to have sympathy for anyone other than the poor daughter they let down.

It's the pain of not knowing that tears your heart to shreds... words from Kate McCann or the author of the Irish Independent article.  You decide...

A War of Words?...

FORMER Portuguese police chief Goncalo Amaral is set for a new legal battle with Kate and Gerry McCann after writing a second book about their missing daughter Madeleine.

Mr Amaral’s book will be published in Portugal next month shortly before Kate McCann publishes her fundraising book called Madeleine.

by James Murray and snipped from today's Sunday Express

I'm sick to the back teeth of the constant fight of who is right and who is wrong.

Too much time has been devoted to court cases, appeals and trying to stop freedom of speech and opinion.  Nobody is right or wrong until the child is found, case solved and the person/s responsible for her disappearance are found guilty in a court of law.  Whoever they are.

Why does there have to be a battle?  Or a dramatic war of words...

Anything that will help bring this little girl justice or home is a good thing, irrespective of who the author is or which side you're on.

After all, Madeleine McCann is the victim and the one who needs found. No-one else.

I heard a rumour...

Rumerz /ˈruː.mər//-mɚ/

Definition : an unofficial interesting story or piece

of news that might be true but likely to be invented,

which quickly spreads from person to person.

A rumour is very similar to a lie. However, where a lie has a definitive source, a rumour is unsubstantiated. People find it easier to discuss and spread rumours, absolving themselves of guilt by using the excuse that it may just be true.  These people are known as rumour-mongers.

The latest rumour to cause a stir in forumland is the state of Goncalo Amaral's marriage. It was heralded overnight on one of the popular Madeleine forums as 'Have Goncalo and Sofia Separated?'... why this rumour was given it's own discussion thread which ran to several pages is another matter but it seems that the relationship status on a Facebook page prompted the discussion as Senor Amaral appeared to reveal himself as separado...

It didn't take long for the buzz to begin, questions here and there. Rumour abound, much speculation as the jungle drums beat in the background.  Mouths frothed and stitches were dropped over on the mentally challenged Knitting Circle forum, as their resident maritime legal-beagle declared Sofia Leal "fair game" (to the three or four knitters who normally populate their threads).

At face value, it does sadly look as if the Amarals have separated. However, what about the other conflicting rumour circulating that this Facebook profile is fake and created by individuals simply to cause trouble?  There are a couple of points to add colour to this particular rumour - neither his wife or children have confirmed him as family and it seems that Senor Amaral has vetted and added 900 friends in under 4 weeks. 

A closer look reveals no posts to show before 14th February, has the account only recently been set up?  And hark, is that a familiar name I see 'liking' the above post and giving a thumbs up?  That woman certainly does get around (or so she says).  Has the man suddenly become a techy wizard, and decided after almost 4 years to keep his follower's updated, not on his agenda or the case but of his relationship status?  What to believe eh?!...

Should we take the word of the popular Portuguese moderator, close friend and confidente of Team Amaral?  Always checking her sources and 'getting back' to us once she's confirmed things.  This friend was so close, she had to ask if the 'separado' snippet was acurate.  Would a close friend and confidente with their ear to the ground really have to ask?  I question this because of the rumour doing the rounds that this moderator and her back-up posse are all 'in bed with the McCanns'... 

Rumours over on another forum, of inacurate statements, sleepers and pot stirrers.  On this forum, the lights are always on but there's nobody home... the absentee owner leaves things to run with the moderator who rules with an iron fist. Claims from this moderator that this Facebook group consists of invited friends only, is not a rumour but a blatant lie.

During times where news is either slow or non-existent, there will always be rumours.  There have been many over the years which have simply died a death, from the swingers B&B in Lincolnshire to the common assault reported in a Leicestershire street.  Whether the Amarals have separated or not, it has no bearing on the case, opinions and won't find Madeleine.  Rumours, unless publicly declared or confirmed are nobody's business and should be taken with a large pinch of salt, not speculated upon.

Sadly this won't stop the rumour-mongers or those who take satisfaction from hearing and spreading bad news.  Or those who are not who they claim to be.