I BEG... TO DIFFER.

I hate that feeling of helplessness... when you feel like you're a lone voice struggling under a tide of disbelief and absurdness.  As all around, the madding crowd give airtime and column inches to one of the most bizarre press releases yet in the history of this off the wall case.

This week we've been treated to the well planned press conference in quaint Quorn with wispy, atmospheric photo shots taken in some obscure, leafy grounds.  The details of this press conference and its accompanying choice shots were (in true McCann fashion) delayed and embargoed for release.

Details of this latest appeal included a request for a review of the case because they 'STILL dont have ALL the information', the request that the public sign their online petition for a review and the customary appeal for more money.

There are a few things that niggle me about this latest appeal - one is the statement 'we STILL don't have ALL the information". Why should they? They're not part of the Portuguese or British authorities responsible for the case.  This case is not closed... and even without the 'suspect' tag, they're simply members of the public - there's no way they should have access to ALL the information.  It does make one wonder how Mr McCann knows there's still information there that he wants, and makes one wonder just what it is...

The other niggle I have is the latest news on the fund - the fund which is the McCanns own COMPANY, registered at Companies House and of which has their questionable presence as directors, counting the coins and deciding how they're spent - along with other directorial family and friends.  Anyway, why is the balance of the account such a mystery?  An acurate balance is never readily available, always a round pound.  It's easy enough to do, we all know how much we have in our accounts most of the time, why can't we get a precise figure from them.  If you were laden with such an important bank account as the Madeleine Fund, to aid the search for your beloved missing daughter surely you would be checking that amount on a daily basis.

We've been told how much money is spent on various bits and bobs, from t-shirts to prayer cards, rubber bands to 24hr telephone lines.  But please would someone get to the nitty gritty and tell us how much was spent on those lawyers and how much those mortgage payments were.  The 'transparent' accounts are as clear as mud, and I would really like to know how much Dave Edgar spends on the search. Mr McCann stated in the Channel 4 interview that Mr Edgar was accountable for that side of things.  Is Mr Edgar even aware of this?

We have a figure of £300,000 being bandied around.  The fund will be empty by next Spring and they need more money.  There is forward planning, but they seem to always know in advance that Madeleine won't be found by a certain time. Amongst many, the one year anniversary event springs to mind... the event that was being planned just 4 weeks after Madeleine vanished.  Can we safely say that Madeleine won't be found by next Spring then?  How bloody awful!

The impromptu reappearance of the begging bowl also has strange timing.  The bowl is back only a short time after we online nutters discovered that the banning of Dr Amaral's book, Maddie - the Truth of the Lie had been overturned, was to be deposited back on the shelves and that the McCanns had to pay all court costs.  I say we online nutters, because no news of the unbanning was particularly reported in the media.  In some cynical quarters that could be construed as deliberate timing... they lose the appeal, have to pay court costs then decide to make an appeal for more money? Even though they have over a quarter of £1m in the bank.  According to Channel 4, the book is soon to be on the shelves in the UK.

What are they doing about this depleting money?  Are they doing what most of us would do - making savings and cost cutting here and there?  Doing the local Sunday car boot?  Selling their belongings on eBay?  Has Mr McCann got his own standing order or direct debit from his monthly wage at Glenfield direct into the fund account?  Or what about his other wage with Spire Healthcare at the private Spire Leicester Hospital?  Have any family members remortgaged or sold their houses, like Philomena McCann stated they would way back in the day?  Or is the Madeleine Fund providing support, including financial assistance, to Madeleine's family and allowing them all to stay in their own homes?  Are they doing any of these things to preserve the account, or do they just want everybody else's money? Questions, questions.  Another trend... never answered.

That takes us onto the petition for the review of the investigation.  It's been said before that a review won't help Madeleine, it's simply a paper-pushing exercise. Madeleine is missing NOW, today and needs the official investigation into her disappearance to be OPEN and currently investigating all leads.  I don't understand why the McCanns aren't screaming this from the rooftops and demanding the reopening.  Instead they want a review.  How can you review something that's incomplete?

Wouldn't you expect a petition of such importance to be hosted on the Number 10 petition site, the official government site.  After all, this petition is to be presented to the government.  Bizarrely enough it's not hosted on the official site, but on a basic one whose default settings are set to accept multiple signings from any name, email or IP address.  A comment on the petition states that duplicate names will be removed when the petition closes.  Does this also apply to duplicate IP addresses? Giving the benefit of the doubt, as the Number 10 site doesn't accept non-British signatories, perhaps the McCanns chose this site to appeal to a wider audience. However, wouldn't the rapid count still have been achieved with the 'support' the McCanns claim to have from their fellow Brits.  Or perhaps it would still have been achieved anyway...

I came across another petition whilst I was visiting one of the many forums.  This petition is calling for the reopening of the case instead of a review and I have it on good authority that it's default settings have now been changed to accept unique IP addresses only.  It's plodding away as we speak at just over 200 signatures, which is a small voice gaining momentum and supporting the reopening of the case.

One comment (which has now been removed) was of the opinion that the petition had been set up by the 'enemies of the McCanns' and 'not to waste your time signing' with a link to the McCanns' petition... what a bizarre and slightly unnerving thing to say.  An individual supporting the McCanns yet encouraging people NOT to support the reopening of the case.  There is something quite dark and sinister about that side of things which at the moment cannot be explained.

In the interests of fairness, I'll provide links to both petitions - sign whichever you prefer.

Petition to REOPEN the investigation into Madeleine's disappearance

Petition to REVIEW the case files in the Madeleine's investigation

I'll leave you with this one thought... just how can you review something which is incomplete?