Geert Wilders receives death threats over film about the Qur'An

"Dutch member of parliament Geert Wilders is working on a provocative tv movie on the Qur'an. It is Mr Wilders' next step in his fight in what he sees as highly dangerous islam. He recently pleaded for a ban of the Qur'an, which he calls fascist. Wilders compared the Holy Book of Islam to Hitler's Mein Kampf. The politician says his film shows similarities with Submission, a film made in 2004 by Theo van Gogh and Ayaan Hirsi Ali."

http://www.groepwilders.com/default.aspx

Geert Wilders has received as many as 40 death threats in a single day and is now under 24 hours/day security.

"December 21, 2007 - San Francisco, CA - PipeLineNews.org - Dutch MP and leader of Holland's "Party for Freedom," Geert Wilders, is being denied his right to freedom of expression by a coalition of Islamists and leftists who wish to stop the production of his upcoming film, which takes a critical look at Islam. Mr. Wilders has been the object of death threats for years made by extremist Muslims - he sometimes receives as many as 40 in a single day. As a result, he must have 24 hour security and is being forced to live under near house arrest in his own country.

The threats on Mr. Wilders' life must be taken seriously, they are real and ongoing. The inciteful actions of his opponents - including those who have now started an anti-Wilders ["Stop the de Verwildering"] movement, outrageously labeling him as "evil," - are putting his life in even further jeopardy.

In November 2004 Dutch film maker Theo van Gogh was assassinated while on his way to work by Mohammed Bouyeri, the son of a Moroccan Muslim immigrant family. During his trial Bouyeri claimed that he brutally murdered van Gogh, shooting and then nearly decapitating him with a butcher knife because he thought van Gogh's film, "Submission," slandered Islam. Bouyeri stated that the penalty for such an offense must be death."

http://www.pipelinenews.org/

Wilders film, which will be about 10 minutes long will analyse particular parts of the Qur'An, which he claims are encouraging the radicalisation of young Muslim men and encouraging terrorist activity. If no TV company in the Netherlands will show the film, it will be available on Wilders' party's web site and on YouTube.

"Wilders hopes the film will demonstrate that the Koran, the holy book revered by Muslims, is a "terrible and fascist" book that continues to inspire people to commit atrocious acts. The cabinet voiced its concerns last November about possible repercussions that the film could have in the Netherlands and abroad."

Expatica.com articles

In response to the proposed film by Wilders, the Muslim ex-Ambassador to the Netherlands, Noor Farida Ariffin said this week, "The ‘Film of Geert Wilders will unavoidably cause extreme violence' and 'if the film is shown the Dutch can expect numbers of dead Dutch people'. 'The uproar about the Danish cartoons will be nothing in comparison"

Dutch Labour Party politician, Bouchra Ismaili, is quoted in Pipeline as saying that the native Dutch people are the foreigners in the Netheralnds!

"January 16, 2008 - San Francisco, CA - PipeLineNews.org - The European press is reporting an incident in which Moroccan born Dutch councilwoman Bouchra Ismaili responded to an email query by a native born citizen, suggesting that he, "drop dead convert to Islam...you are the foreigners here."

The email sender Jos Parbleu, told Holland's Algemeen Dagblad newspaper that he was "shocked," adding that "this is a sign of what a disastrous situation has hit the country."

Ismaili said she wrote the comments "in a surge of anger" after hearing someone yell anti-Moroccan comments during the day."

On an internet forum, a Dutch woman wrote this,

"In an unbelievable tirade of hatred in response to an e-mail she received from a Dutch person who wrote nothing more literally than quoting what two fundi muslims had said: 'YOU DUTCH DESERVE A HUGE BOMB ATTACK'.
Therefore keep your eyes on The Netherlands around the 28th of January when Geert Wilders' film/video will be shown wherein 'The Big Bad Wolf 'Allah' of the Quran and the horrific effects he and 'his messengerboy Muhammed' have - worldwide.

And please come and help us should the need arise to defeat the Islam hordes - and hit them back home to wherever they came from."

Watch out for Wilders' film. Remember, if Dutch TV will not handle it because of threats of Dutch people dying as a consequence, the film will be available on Wilders' Freedom Party's web site and on YouTube.

http://www.groepwilders.com/default.aspx

What kind of religion is so sensitive to criticism that people are threatened and people are killed for taking a critical look at it? Surely in the 21st Century, people of faith could be responding with, "My faith is not shaken by your criticism." Not Islam, though. A few cartoons and its loyal followers are out on the streets, burning flags and torching buildings. The religion of peace?

Iran chops off hands and feet of five robbers.

"Using strict enforcement of Islamic law, the judicial authorities in southern Iran amputated the right hands and left feet of five convicted robbers this week."

Daily Mail January 11th, 2008

"The double amputations came as it was revealed there have been 23 public executions since the start of the year as part of what the government said was an effort to "deter other troublemakers". The amputations were believed to be the first in Iran for many years. The courts ordered the right hand and left foot cut off, in line with ancient custom so that it is difficult, if not impossible, for the condemned to walk, even with a cane or crutches"

So, not really into rehabilitation, then, the wonderful Islamic state of Iran? I heard on Radio 4 on Monday, in "Beyond Belief," a Muslim man describing Islamic Law as God's Law. Well, it is surely a savage God who does not allow for a person to change, to redeem himself. How does the man who cannot walk, even with a cane or crutches earn a living? Is that man condemned to beg on the streets for the rest of his life? I don't suppose the Islamic state will provide him with a wheelchair, a prosthetic foot, or a car adapted for his use to get to a job of work.

So, if the five robbers owe a debt to society, as some might say they do, how do they ever repay that debt? I guess their only use to the society of Iran may be as that deterrent to other troublemakers, though I would doubt it. It's that old adage I think, "Rather be hung for a sheep as a lamb," and as in England hundreds of years ago when people could be hanged for stealing a lamb, the robber who knows that capture may result in double amputation, may just decide that he might as well kill any witnesses.

While I believe that people who commit serious crime should be punished, I also believe that everyone deserves the opportunity to change and to show that they can become a useful member of society.

Retardo3 Do it Again!

A brief quote from a Spanish newspaper today.

Madeleine is not in Morocco or Bosnia or Belgium and she is not at the bottom of the lake. She's in Spain (again!)....or maybe Belgium, according to the latest theory from Metodo3, the agency hired by the McCanns.

"The private detective agency from Barcelona Method 3, contracted by Gerry and Kate McCann, are investigating thoroughly the Costa Blanca, from Valencia to Alicante. According to Francisco Marco, head of Method 3, Madeleine was selected by "spotters" in circles of paedophiles and then abducted "to order". She was later carried via Morocco to Spain or Belgium, a country with a sad record on child prostitution. "

(The above unashamedly lifted from the DM forum, with thanks to, "Ern.")

El Semanal Digital

Well, we've recently had hordes of witnesses turning up after eight months, claiming to have seen Madeleine in the clutches of Robert Murat's girlfriend, to have seen Bundleman, or to have seen a child just like Madeleine somewhere in the world. All seem to have been dismissed by the PJ as not credible or have been investigated and not useful and the body in the lake was reported and dismissed some time ago. I suppose if you're being paid £50,000/month, you've got to come up with something, especially if your company has moved to plush new offices! And well, the PJ may be arriving in the UK any day, or if the rumour on the DM forum is true, the PJ flew into Birmingham airport today, Tuesday, around lunchtime. So, I guess there might be a bit of panic brewing and the need to come up with something!

Let's hope the PJ will be interviewing the Tapas Crew very soon. Two new arguidos could be named? Wonder who? I'll put my Pennies Jar on Jane Tanner and Russell O'Brien, based on JT's changing stories, the tapas staff member saying she never left the table and Russell O'Brien's having been absent from the table most of the evening and if JT is involved, then I don't see how he could not be, or at least not know about it. So, folks, there's probably about a fiver in my Pennies Jar. Wonder if the local bookies if offering odds!

The Ocean Club Apartment clips on YouTube

Well worth watching. Video clips of the apartment, the path where Jane Tanner said she saw Bundleman and the route to the Oean club and the tapas bar.

Ocean Club Apartment Clips

New Video on YouTube: "Madeleine McCann - The McCann Infantile Memory"

Madeleine at christmas 2006

A lovely, but very sad new video.

Madeleine McCann - The McCann Infantile Memory

Worth watching.

Eurojust confirms request to re-interview the Tapas group

From the blog written by Paulo Reis, Gazeta Digital, 15the January, 2008

http://gazetadigitalmadeleinecase.blogspot.com/

"A spokesman from Eurojust confirmed to The Press Association that Portuguese authorities made a formal request to the European Union’s judicial cooperation agency to help in the process of questioning again the group of British citizens that was at Ocean Club, with Gerry and Kate McCann, when Madeleine vanished.

A PJ team is scheduled to fly to UK, soon, to follow the questioning by Leicester police, according to Press Association. Eurojust role is to help investigators and prosecutors in European Union for information and assistance in crime cases involving more than one country."

European Judicial Cooperation Unit (EUROJUST)

Gazeta Digital, 14th January 2008.

No evidence of Canary islands connection to the Madeleine case.

"The line of inquiry in Madeleine’s case remains the same and is focused in the group of British citizens that were with the child’s family. There is no indication that the person arrested in the Spanish Islands has been in Portugal”, according to the same source."

Also on 14th January, Paulo Reis asserts that two more people could be named official suspects, arguidos, and that without diplomatic intervention the McCanns would not have been allowed to leave Portugal in September, but would have been arrested and charged.

"If it wasn’t the diplomatic intervention, the McCann wouldn’t be authorized to leave Portugal and would have been charged and arrested on September”, a source from Polícia Judiciária said. With the bureaucratic aspects for a new questioning of the Tapas Group finished, Police admits that two more formal suspects could be named, “if the questioning takes place as we expect."

Paulo Reis quotes a police source as saying that the McCanns publicity campaign was intended to draw attention from Praia da Luz, where, the PJ believe the answer to the disappearance of Madeleine MCann is to be found.

"Clear intention

“The campaign set up in the Media, since the beginning, was planned and had a specific intention: to take the case out from Praia da Luz,” the PJ source said. This intention was already clear months ago, on July last year, when detectives in charge of the investigation told the Portuguese Press that “all clues related to foreign countries have been investigated and dismissed”. At the time, it was also clear to PJ that “the key to solve the case was at Praia da Luz.”

There has been speculation on vaious internet forums about the possible date for the arrival of the PJ in the UK. There has also been speculation that no one is coming, but according to Gazeta Digital and The Peterborough Telegraph, (quoting the Press Association) it has been confirmed that Eurojust has been approached and that the PJ will be arriving on our shores pretty soon!

Peterborough Telegraph

" Portuguese investigators seeking to re-interview friends of Madeleine McCann's parents, from Leicestershire, are in contact with the UK authorities via an intermediary.Portuguese police seeking to re-interview the "Tapas Seven" are reportedly in contact with the British authorities via Eurojust.

They are understood to be poised to fly to the UK to sit in on fresh questioning of the friends by British police.

The seven were on holiday in Praia da Luz in the Algarve with Kate and Gerry McCann when their daughter vanished last year."

Gerry McCann; here's another funny thing!

Well, Gerry there are lots of funny things about the story of how your daughter came to disappear on Mya 3rd, 2007. I'm not going to ask you about any of those at the moment. I'm just going to concentrate here on your comparison of the ways in which missing children cases are dealt with in the US and in Europe. To quote from the recent entry in your blog.

"Clearly Europe has a lot to learn from the US and there has to be change in practice and legislation about how missing children are investigated. We will continue to campaign to effect change in Europe, in the hope that it will become a safer place for our children."

Leaving aside for the moment your comment about a safer place for our children, if you want to campaign for change in Europe, why not support an organisation that already exists and is campaigning for a Europe-wide approach to the problem? You really didn't need to go jetting off to the US. There is already an organisation which is affiliated to the Washington organisation which you visited.

http://www.missingchildreneurope.eu/


"Mission

Missing Children Europe is the European Federation for Missing and Sexually Exploited Children. Missing Children Europe has 21 member NGOs from 15 countries of the EU. These 21 NGOs work every day to prevent and fight the sexual exploitation of children and assist parents and investigators confronted with the disappearance of a child.

As a platform regrouping these 21 NGOs, Missing Children Europe has as primary goals to:

1. share good practices among the members,
2. represent the members towards the European institutions,
3. assure a European presence at the International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children in Washington.

The disappearance and sexual exploitation of children is a global phenomenon, which touches an increasingly worrying but undefined number of children. A European and international approach is essential to tackle the problem efficiently.

See Gerry? A European and international approach. And what about this, Gerry?

"Assure a European presence at ICMEC

Missing Children Europe is the regional representative of the global mouvement of the International Center for Missing and Exploited Children in Washington."

And where this organisation is?

"Where we are

Missing Children Europe represents NGOs from 15 EU Member States: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Romania and the United Kingdom.

The General Secretariat of Missing Children Europe is based in Brussels."

So, even if you had wanted to go to the hub of the enterprise, Brussels is a bit closer to Portugal than is Washington. Missing Children Europe, as you will read above is the regional representative of the international centre based in Washington.

So, Gerry, since there is already a European campaign for Europe-wide change, why do you think it's necessary for you to set up some kind of separate campaign? Why not just support the existing work?

And, oh dear, Gerry! Making Europe a safer place for our children? So, they do things differently in the US, do they when parents leave their children alone in an unlocked apartment? What do they do? Have some kind of alarm system in every home, hotel room, holiday apartment etc, that lets you know when your children, whom you have left to fend for themselves, are being abducted? Maybe a red light flashes on your mobile phone while you're sitting there at dinner sending text messages?

Well, Gerry, just two bits of advice I'd like to share with you.

1) Children are generally much safer when they are not left alone. So, maybe that should be the basis of your campaign.

2) No need for your European campaign. Just contact Missing Children Europe who, I am sure, will appreciate your support, especially as you are so good at fund-raising and you do appear to have contacts in high places.

Here it is again, Gerry, just in case you missed it!

http://www.missingchildreneurope.eu/?q=node

And Gerry, here's some good news for you, a way in which you can help, since you want to campaign for change in Europe. International Missing Children Day, May 25th.

http://www.missingchildreneurope.eu/?q=node/31

Why not give some publicity to this organisation on your site, Gerry, just in case your readers don't know that there is already a Europe-based organisation for missing and exploited children, campaigning for that Europe-Wide approach?

MySpace subpoened over suicide teen

GRIEVING: Tina and Ron Meier sit in daughter Megan's bedroom in a suburb of St. Louis. Megan killed herself last fall.

(Stephanie S. Cordle / St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

L.A. grand jury issues subpoenas in Web suicide case

"In a novel approach, prosecutors are looking at charging a woman who posed as a boy and sent cruel messages to teen with defrauding MySpace.

By Scott Glover and P.J. Huffstutter, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
January 9, 2008

A federal grand jury in Los Angeles has begun issuing subpoenas in the case of a Missouri teenager who hanged herself after being rejected by the person she thought was a 16-year-old boy she met on MySpace, sources told The Times.

The case set off a national furor when it was revealed that the "boyfriend" was really a neighbor who was the mother of one of the girl's former friends.

Local and federal authorities in Missouri looked into the circumstances surrounding 13-year-old Megan Meier's 2006 death in the town of Dardenne Prairie, an upper-middle-class enclave of about 7,400 people, located northwest of St. Louis.

But after months of investigation, no charges were filed against Lori Drew for her alleged role in the hoax. Prosecutors in Missouri said they were unable to find a statute under which to pursue a criminal case.

Prosecutors in the U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles, however, are exploring the possibility of charging Drew with defrauding the MySpace social networking website by allegedly creating the false account, according to the sources, who insisted on anonymity because they are not authorized to speak publicly about the case.

The sources said prosecutors are looking at federal wire fraud and cyber fraud statutes as they consider the case. Prosecutors believe they have jurisdiction because MySpace is headquartered in Beverly Hills, the sources said.

It's still unclear who created the fictitious account. In a police report, Drew told authorities she, with the aid of a temporary employee, "instigated and monitored" a fake profile prior to Megan's suicide, "for the sole purpose of communicating" with the girl and to see what the girl was saying about Drew's daughter.

The grand jury issued several subpoenas last week, including one to MySpace and others to "witnesses in the case," sources said. One source did not know who else had received subpoenas; the other declined to provide that information.

Thomas P. O'Brien, the U.S. attorney in Los Angeles, declined to comment. Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for O'Brien, also declined to comment.

MySpace officials could not be reached for comment, nor could Drew or her husband, Curt, be reached.

Attorney Jim Briscoe, who represents Lori Drew, said: "We have no knowledge of . . . anything dealing with a grand jury anywhere dealing with this case. . . . The only comment I have is we can't comment on rumors from anonymous sources."

The news came as a shock to Tina and Ron Meier, Megan's parents. Both said they were unaware of the grand jury and had not been contacted by the U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles.

"If MySpace is considered the victim, fine. I don't care at this point," said Tina Meier, 37. "We've been begging for someone -- anyone -- to pick up this case. If the Drews can be charged -- and even get the chance to be convicted -- it would be a day I could be happy with."

Cyber-bullying has become an increasingly creepy reality, with the anonymity of video games, message boards and other online forums offering an outlet for cruel taunts.

Former federal prosecutor Brian C. Lysaght said such a prosecution would be "not as much of a reach as it might appear at first glance." In recent years, he said, Congress has passed a series of statutes that make criminal conduct involving the Internet federal offenses.

Still, it could be difficult to draw the line between constitutionally protected free speech and conduct that is illegal.

Laurie Levenson, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, said the idea of using a fraud charge to tackle the unusual case was "an interesting and novel approach."

"But I doubt it's really going to lead to the type of punishment people really want to see, which is this woman being held responsible for this girl's death," she said.

Levenson, a former federal prosecutor, said that if the grand jury brings an indictment, it could raise 1st Amendment issues and questions about how to fairly enforce such a law on the Internet, where pseudo-identities are common.

"This may be a net that catches a lot of people," she said.

Kurt Opsahl, a senior staff attorney who specializes in privacy and free speech issues for the legal advocacy group Electronic Frontier Foundation, said the potential of this case to set legal precedent criminalizing online speech is worrying.

"The right to speak freely online is hugely important. Whistle-blowers create pseudonyms," Opsahl said. "So do many people who anonymously report on corporate or government bad practices."

In the neighborhood where the Meiers and the Drews live, protecting the 1st Amendment has not been the main concern.

Teenagers and furious neighbors have protested in front of the Drews' one-story, white house. Virtual vigilantes have posted the Drews' home address, phone numbers, e-mail addresses and photos on websites such as RottenNeighbor.com.

Tina and Ron Meier, high school sweethearts, have struggled to deal with their daughter's death; the couple is getting divorced. Their youngest daughter, Allison, now 11, splits her time between the two.

The mounting tension and heated emotions worried community leaders enough that they are having the St. Charles County Sheriff's Department regularly patrol the suburban neighborhood. Late last year, Dardenne Prairie's Board of Aldermen passed a law that makes cyber harassment a misdemeanor -- with a maximum penalty of 90 days in jail or a $500 fine or both for each violation.

A number of area communities have passed similar measures. And Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt pulled together an Internet task force, which put the final touches on a proposal Tuesday that would make it a felony crime for adults who use online technology to harass children.

scott.glover@latimes.com

p.j.huffstutter@latimes.com

Times staff writers Molly Hennessy-Fiske and Ted Rohrlich contributed to this report."

(Los Angeles Times 9th January, 2007)


I was very pleased to read the above article in the Los Angeles Times. Cyber-bullying and grooming for sex have become major problems for young people online. My Space and Bebo have given young people opportunities to create an online presence, to stay in touch with friends and to make new friends, but they have also created opportunities for the bullies and the emotional inadequates perverts sitting by their computers who cannot form meaningful relationships in the real world. These hosting companies need to take responsibility for and more control over the content of their hosted sites. The young person presenting herself on Bebo as, "Sexy*****," may be the vulnerable girl with learning difficulties who always has a teaching assistant with her in the classroom. She may be flattered by the messages she receives from males who sign up as her friends, but does she know who they are? Do parents know who their children are in touch with and possibly being influenced by?

The brilliant computer you have provided for your daughter, may be a wonderful way to help her with her school work. It may also be creating a way into your home and your life, over which you have no control and which could change the lives of your family for ever. So, what do we do? Actually, I don't know! The internet is a wonderful resource, and I do feel that being able to set up a personal web site can help a young person to grow in confidence and self-esteem. The problem is how to avoid/stop the bullies and the perverts who also find the internet a wonderful resource for being able to contact and influence young people under an assumed identity. My Space and Bebo can do something by taking responsibility, voluntarily or perhaps they will need to be forced into it. The prospect of huge financial penalties might be one way of encouraging self-policing for these online hosting companies. I shall be interested to see the results of the Grand Jury subpeonas in the tragic case of 13-year-old Megan Meier.

Vanity Fair: Unanswered Prayers.

Interior of the bedroom at apartment 5A, where Madeleine and the twins slept.

Viewing the front page headlines last night on Sky News web site, several of the dailies were leading with Gerry and Kate McCann's regrets about the events of the evening in May 2007 when their daughter Madeleine disappeared. This looked like new news and there was speculation of various online forums that the timing of the expressed regrets had something to do with the imminent visit to the UK of Portuguese police officers to re-interview the seven friends the McCanns went on holiday with. Or maybe, as some suggested, it was an attempt to regain public sympathy and bring the cash rolling in for the depleted Find Madeleine fund.

The UK dailies were, in fact, quoting an article in Vanity Fair magazine about an interview Kate and Gerry gave in October 2007. It is not unusual for magazines like Vanity Fair to have such a long period between interview and publication.

The newspapers that were leading with Gerry's regrets seem to have journalists who have done very selective reading of the Vanity Fair feature.

Vanity Fair

"I wish I hadn’t gone to the tapas bar. I wish I’d stayed in the apartment that night. I wish I’d stayed in the room when I checked on her five minutes longer,” Gerry recalls thinking in the days that followed his child’s disappearance."

Later in the interview, though, it seems that Gerry is not quite so regretful.

"On the couple’s return, there was further pain to contend with. More than 17,000 people had signed a petition suggesting that Leicestershire social services investigate them for leaving their three small children completely alone in the villa.

‘At the time we did it, it was not irresponsible!” Gerry snaps. It is the one subject on which he is quite defensive, arguing first one way, then conceding the opposite: “Of course we feel guilty about not having been there, and that is just something we have to deal with for the rest of our lives. You are not asking anything we don’t think about on a daily basis. We live this 24 hours a day.”

So, Gerry said he wished he had not gone to the tapas bar, but thought it was not irresponsible to do so? I guess there is some kind of logic there. He's not admitting to having been in error, in fact in other interviews Gerry said he had been assured by Social Services that his behaviour had been well within the bounds of, "reasonable parenting." He didn't say he wished he hadn't left the kids alone and he didn't say he wished he had hired a babysitter, just that he wished he hadn't gone to the tapas bar.

Clarence Mitchell was interviewed by Jon Gaunt of The Sun and Talksport, on Wednesday 9th January. Clarence was asked if Kate and Gerry thought it had been wrong to leave the children alone. The answer was that Kate and Gerry were sorry that they were not with her when she was taken and that they had made a mistake on the night. What mistake? Not being there? Well, all we have is that Kate and Gerry were sorry they were not there when Madeleine was taken. Strange! If Madeleine was abducted, surely this would not have happened if they had been there at that moment? And a mistake on the night? What about all the other nights when, by their own admission, Kate and Gerry left the children on their own?

Clarence Mitchell talks to Jon Gaunt

The Vanity Fair article is a very long one and ploughing one's way through, it might be easy to miss at least one contradiction to reports elsewhere. Herein lies one of them; Gerry talking about what was found at the apartment when Kate returned at 10pm to check on the children.

" On one bed the twins lay sleeping. In the next lay only the plush cat toy Madeleine was never without."

The twins were lying together on one of the beds? Surely all other witness statements about the scene say that the twins were in cots?

From the Times Online, quoted on the web site, The McCann Files

"Silvia Batisa, head of administration at the complex, helped to comfort the family and interpret their interviews with the police: "The parents were devastated, in a panic. They wanted more police and dogs immediately. Kate said all the time, 'Please find my daughter’ and ‘Madeleine is beautiful'."

She recalled that the twins were still asleep in their two cots and there was the small, bright pink wool blanket that Madeleine likes to hold when she sleeps. "We walked out quickly so as not to wake up the twins. The parents immediately said, 'She’s been kidnapped'," said Batisa."

Considering that the interview was done in October, 2007, it seems strange to see that there is reference to the window of the apartment having been, "jemmied," when very early on the police and the Mark Warner management both stated that the neither the shutters nor the window had been tampered with.

There is mention of Madleine's distinctive right eye, the coloboma. This quite rare feature would make Madeleine immediately recognisable.

"Although initially reluctant, the McCanns finally informed the media of Madeleine’s unique right eye—a risky revelation. Whoever had taken the child now held a universally recognizable little girl.

Gerry understood that. But, he says, the iris “is Madeleine’s only true distinctive feature. Certainly we thought it was possible that this could potentially hurt her or”—he grimaces—“her abductor might do something to her eye.… But in terms of marketing, it was a good ploy.”

A good marketing ploy? Good God! You'd think he was selling double-glazing, not risking a child's life! And let's not forget how Kate and Gerry courted publicity, in an attmept they say, to keep Madeleine's profile high in the media.

"The media were constantly sought out. Reporters followed the McCanns on trips to Washington (where then U.S. attorney general Alberto Gonzales met with the couple); to Morocco—just in case Madeleine had been taken there—where they met with Charki Draiss, director-general of national security; and to Amsterdam, where the McCanns had once lived. If the networks needed fresh footage, they would be told the exact time the McCanns might be walking to church in Praia da Luz."

Kate, having said that she would not leave Portugal witout Madeleine, she and Gerry left within a couple of days of having been made arguidos. Perhaps the lease on their rented villa had run out, but it did seem like a rather hasty exit, and well covered by the media.

"It was time to go home, Gerry decided by September 9. But not alone.When Gerry and Kate were about to go home to Britain, Gerry phoned Sky News and said, ‘We’re going home on EasyJet, be on it!’ ” recalls Esther Addley, who has written incisively about the McCanns for The Guardian."

So, that was the big news, as reported by several of the UK's daily newspapers today, Gerry's regrets or lack of them! Then there was that film...and Clarence telling folks that if they wished to contribute to the fund, they could just, "..put a cheque or anything into an envelope," and address it to the McCanns, Rothley, as many people from around the world were already doing.
There you have it folks! We've had articles about blood found in the McCanns holiday apartment and in the hired car having been identified as Madeleine's and reports that the Portuguese police will be returning soon to the UK to re-interview the seven friends of Kate and Gerry with whom they went on holiday to Praia da Luz.

We've had denials about making a movie, but an admission that the McCanns want to make a film about Madeleine's disappearance. (Listen to the Clarence interview with Jon Gaunt) And now the Vanity Fair feature. Anyone else wondering if maybe there are some attempts to distract from the important news about DNA tests, police visits and the resignation of several directors of the Find Madeleine fund?

Still, as far as the McCanns and the fund are concerned, I guess there is an upside to all this. As Clarrie said, "Every time Gerry and Kate do any media, the money comes in."

Transcript of Kate and Gerry's first interview May 25th

Photographs in and around apartment 5A and forenesic officers at work

The McCann Files

Madeleine McCann - The Movie (And some other videos!)

Well, here is a man called Randy Lawford, telling us what he thinks about the proposed/categorically denied that we have any plans for...movie!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14qqtBrS7Ck

Here's that woman from Rothley in her first video!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6e3nGQ3C8M

Again:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1y3lvlVH8Q&NR=1

And again!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APTUmKY-7Zw

Happy Talk: Gerry and Kate McCann

YouTube

That interview with Philomena McCann, saying that Kate was offered a deal to confess.

YouTube

South Park Style confession.

YouTube

The original appeal video-Mother's Day after church.

YouTube

The real Madeleine Mccann story. Questions that need answers

YouTube

Gerry McCann denies using sedatives. Note the ear scratching, said to be a sign of lying!

YouTube

Spanish Antena3 Interview.

YouTube

Audio: the Anthony Bennett interview with James Whale.

YouTube

Brief Robert Murat interview.

YouTube

Cadaver dogs.

YouTube

I have coded the links which were very long so that the page is not distorted. Will add more videos to the list that I think are interesting and seem to be the most popular ones that often people are asking for links to.

Moita Flores, the Tapas1 and Portuguese TV News

News from Portugal is that on that country's TV channel sic this morning, Moita Flores and a journalist announced that the latest DNA results in the McCann case were already back in Portugal and that the DNA from the hired car was definitely identified as Madeleine's. That was the Renault Scenic hired by the McCanns 25 days after Madeleine disappeared.

Perhaps all this guff about the film or no film is an attempt to divert attention from the news about blood and DNA evidence.

Moita Flores is a former PJ Chief-Inspector and Criminologist, whose opinion is well-respected in Portugal.

As usual, if this hits the UK press it will be 24 hours later! The articles in Sol journal took quite some time to hit the UK press, but that was when our UK journalists were all heaping sympathy on the McCanns and telling us that thousands of people leave their children on their own and how this could have happened to anyone.

The latest rumour on the Tapas1 is that he is on his way back from Lisbon! Let's hope that's true. It only needs one of the Tapas Crew to break ranks and tell a different story...oh dear! We have had quite a few different stories so far!

By the way, now accepting sterling and American dollars in those envelopes! Merci d'avance!

Please Send Cash In An Envelope!

I have just been reading details on the Daily Mirror forum about what Clarence Mitchell has said on Talksport!

"That is what Mr Mitchell has just said.

I kid you not. He has just been on the radio and encouraged people to bypass the relatave accountability of the fund and just send cash to Kate and Gerry in an envelope like "people all round the world are doing"

I am flabbergasted."

(Posted by, "TiredOfTheBS")

Ok, if it's alright for the McCanns, it's alright for me! Here's why I think I deserve your cash! I was a lone parent as my children grew up, never left them on their own and did all sorts of low-paid jobs while they were at school so that I could be at home when they were. Now, I am back in teaching, but at my age (mind your own business!) I haven't got much chance of a permanent job. So, I work for an agency; no sick pay, no holiday pay and no pension.

I have never regretted being a stay-at-home mother, but I think I deserve to receive cash in envelopes as much as the McCanns do. So, please leave messages and I will give you my Paypal ID or address for those lovely envelopes!

Thanks Clarrie! Oh and by the way, any good money-laundering tips? I really don't want to have to pay tax on my well-gotten gains!

TiredOfTheBS on the DM forum

US Supreme Court Argues Lethal Injection Issue

On the day that the Supreme Court was due to start the debate on the constutionality of death by lethal injection, the Chicago Tribune published a very interesting article.

Chicago Tribune 7/01/08

"By James Oliphant |Washington Bureau

January 7, 2008

WASHINGTON - Angel Diaz died. And died. And died.

Several minutes into his execution in 2006, the Florida inmate's mouth was moving and he was gasping for breath. Twenty minutes later, he was still breathing.

That same year, Ohio inmate Joseph Clark took even longer to die. As he was injected with the drugs to first anesthetize him, then paralyze him and then finally kill him, he raised his head and exclaimed: "It don't work." According to the medical examiner's report, Clark was conscious for almost an hour."

"At issue is the three-drug sequence. The first drug, sodium thiopental, is an anesthetic intended to cause unconsciousness. The second, pancuronium bromide, is a neuromuscular blocking agent that causes paralysis. The third, potassium chloride -- which is found in road salt -- is used to cause cardiac arrest and death.

Effective application of the drugs is critical. If the anesthetic doesn't function properly, the next two drugs cause excruciating pain. The neuromuscular paralyzer produces the sensation of suffocation in a conscious person. And an effect of the second agent is that the inmate cannot speak or relay that the anesthetic did not work. Advocates for changing the procedure have pushed for a single drug protocol involving a barbiturate, but no state has adopted it."

Chicago Tribune January 8th

"Court weighs lethal cocktail
Justices' reactions range from derisive to deeply concerned"

"WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court grappled with detailed questions of medical science and the pharmacology of death Monday, all against the backdrop of a larger, more overriding concern -- whether inmates have a constitutional right to an execution that is as painless as possible.

The justices heard a challenge brought by two condemned Kentucky prisoners contesting the state's lethal injection procedure. The inmates contend that the protocol, which involves the sequential use of three drugs to numb, paralyze and kill the prisoner, carries with it an unconstitutional risk of extreme pain.

The claim met with hostility from several members of the court, with Justice Antonin Scalia openly ridiculing it. "This is an execution, not surgery," he griped.

The inmates, Ralph Baze and Thomas Bowling, argue that Kentucky uses poorly trained personnel to administer the drugs, creating an unnecessary risk of harm. The key to the process is effective application of the first drug, sodium thiopental, a barbiturate intended to anesthetize the inmate in advance of the second and third drugs, which can cause excruciating pain otherwise.

The inmates' lawyer, Donald Verrilli, contended that Kentucky, as an alternative, could use a shot of the barbiturate without the other drugs. Death might take longer, he said, but there would be no risk of pain.

But that was where Verrilli ran into trouble. Several justices complained that the science behind Verrilli's statement wasn't borne out in the lower court record.

"There's a risk of harm generally when you're talking about the death penalty," said Justice Stephen Breyer. He said he was bothered by studies that said the single dose wasn't as effective as the three-drug protocol. "I'm left at sea," Breyer said.

Breyer also was concerned about Verrilli's contention that medical personnel needed to be involved in the executions. (The state forbids it by law.) He noted that doctors consider such work a breach of medical ethics and wondered if anti-death penalty forces were trying to halt executions altogether by insisting on a procedure that could not be carried out in a practical way.

Thirty-six states use a procedure similar to Kentucky's, and a de facto moratorium on executions has in been in place nationwide since the court agreed to hear the Kentucky case.

Arguing for the state, lawyer Roy Englert conceded that if sodium thiopental was administered incorrectly, the prisoner would indeed suffer extreme pain. But, he said, the state had training and procedures in place to guard against it. He said that close monitoring of an inmate by medical professionals during the execution wasn't necessary because if the anesthetic didn't work properly, the inmate "would be awake and screaming."

But critics of the three-drug protocol say the second drug, pancuronium bromide, is a muscle-paralyzing agent that prevents inmates from alerting authorities to their pain. And Englert was pushed by Justice John Paul Stevens to explain why the paralyzer was even necessary.

"It does bring about a more dignified death," Englert said, "for the inmate and the witnesses."

"The dignity of the process outweighs the risk of excruciating pain?" Stevens shot back.

Stevens conceded that the lack of evidence in the record about risks in Kentucky's procedure -- the state has executed only one prisoner since it instituted the lethal injection regime -- meant it was unlikely the court would rule against the state. But, Stevens said, "I'm horribly troubled by the fact that this second drug causes a risk of excruciating pain."

That left the justices in a bit of a bind. At the end of the argument, there appeared to be two roads the court could take. The first involves sending the case back to the original trial court in Kentucky for further proceedings on the state's methods, including whether there might be a better pharmacological alternative.

That idea was not palatable to Scalia, who complained that it would cause a "nationwide cessation of executions while the trial court finishes its work."

The second would be for the court to rule in favor of Kentucky, holding that its procedures are constitutional. That, warned Justice David Souter, would invite another challenge from a state with a more extensive history involving flawed executions.

"We want some kind of definitive decision here," Souter said.




----------

joliphant@tribune.com

Stop the Mccanns Movie Deal

OK folks. There is a new petition if you want to make it known that you object to Maddie The Movie! The original has become so infested with filth that another has been set up.

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/stopthemovie/

Sky News confirms that talks about a movie deal took place in December and that this will be discussed at the scheduled meeting of directors in Rothley tomorrow, Wednesday 9th January.

Sky News

"Her parents are considering giving permission for IMG to make a movie or documentary.

Their spokesman confirmed to Sky News Online that a meeting with the firm took place last month.

But he said Gerry and Kate McCann did not attend and stressed nothing has yet been agreed.

Clarence Mitchell said a film would only be considered if the McCanns believed it would help raise awareness of the case or help fund the private search for Madeleine."

What private search? In an interview soon after Madeleine disappeared, Jane Hill of the BBC told Kate that some of the local people of Praia da Luz had been off work for a week searching the surrounding area for Madeleine and did she, Kate, feel like getting out there with them. Kate's reply was that she was doing other things, making posters and organising publicity.

And what of the sightings? The early sightings in Morocco were apparently judged by the McCanns as the most credible, but rather than head off there first, they flew around Europe in a private jet, "raising awareness." When they did manage to reach Morocco, how much searching did they do? Did they trawl the areas where Madeleine had supposedly been seen, showing photographs and asking people if they had seen Madeleine or to keep a look out? Did they go round the market places, where there might have been people from all over Morocco, handing out posters? No! They had meetings with dignitaries, they complained about the plane sent to transport them and they accepted flowers from small children!

Then there was the letter sent to a newspaper in the Netherlands, with a detailed map of where a psychic thought the body might be. Wouldn't any parent in that situation be at least a bit worried, especially as the letter appeared to come from the same person who had given accurate details of where to find a body the year before? No, Gerry was busy fetching friends from the airport!

By the way, there is a rumour circulating that one of the Tapas Crew is in Portugal, making a new statement.

Has the Tapas1 broken ranks and decided to spill the beans? If so, who could it be?

Another excellent forum!

http://the3arguidos.makeforum.org/

This forum is excellent for archives of articles from the Portuguese press and for news items you might not find anywhere else.

Say no to the McCanns' movie about Maddie!

A petition set up by DM forum member.

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/justiceformaddie/

The fund, the online shoppe and now the movie! The Panorama programme revealed that the McCanns have been keeping a video diary since Madeleine disappeared. There is also Gerry's blog, most of which has been deleted, but which has been archived and saved by a canny individual and can be accessed by clicking on the link on this page under, "Blogs of Interest." Most of the entries in Gerry's blog from day 1 are there.

The blog, the video diary? Set up with the book and the movie in mind?

Daily Mirror forum for more details!

Addendum: carlymichelle's thread, linked to above, seems to have disappeared and the petition has been invaded by the usual crowd who try to crowd out genuine signatories by posting obscene comments. We know who you are, you trolls! Listed by Paulo Reis. The only place this petition has been listed, apart form here, as far as I know, is the DM forum. So, it's got to be the usual suspects!

Daily Mirror Forum: The hunt for Maddy

McCanns: the movie, the book and directors jumping ship!

Madeleine the movie!

" The McCanns are set to turn the story of their daughter into a film.

Kate and Gerry are in negotiations with the world's largest talent and entertainment agency, IMG, in a deal which could be worth millions.

The money would help fund the search for Madeleine amid fears that the £1.2 million raised from public donations will soon run out."

Daily Mail Tuesday 8th January

The Find Madeleine Fund was set up just a few days after Madeleine disappeared and was denied charity status as its scope was not wide enough. The fund is a business, but I am sure that many people thought they were contributing to a charity. A young girl apparently sold her toys on e-bay and contributed the proceeds, augmented from £80 to £100 by her mother. And what have the McCanns done with the cash? They have paid out £50,000/month to Metodo3, an agency in Spain more used to dealing with corporate fraud than finding missing persons. They have also paid the salaries of their PR people and made two months' payments on their mortgage. A meeting of the fund's directors made the decision that the McCanns' legal fees could be paid out of the fund, but on a guilty verdict if the case went to trial, the money would have to be paid back. How? Fifty pence a week from prison earnings?

"The Board has taken advice from Bates Wells & Braithwaite London LLP and Christopher McCall QC. The Board has been advised that payment of Gerry and Kate’s legal defence costs would be legally permissible subject to conditions about repayment in the event of a guilty conviction. "

The objects of the fund:

"1.1 The full objects of the Fund are:

1.1.1 To secure the safe return to her family of Madeleine McCann who was abducted in Praia da Luz, Portugal on Thursday 3rd May 2007;

1.1.2 To procure that Madeleine’s abduction is thoroughly investigated and that her abductors, as well as those who played or play any part in assisting them, are identified and brought to justice; and

1.1.3 To provide support, including financial assistance, to Madeleine’s family.

1.2 If the above objects are fulfilled then the objects of the Foundation shall be to pursue such purposes in similar cases arising in the United Kingdom, Portugal or elsewhere."

Part of a statement from the McCanns' legal team:

"What would really help is for the arguido status to be lifted and then a wave of sympathy would lead to more money coming in."

Yes, that's what's needed, another wave of sympathy to swell the coffers! Maybe the, "Best selling items," in the tacky online shoppe are not selling so well!

The online shoppe!

High quality T shirts and wristbands. Buy a wristband, get a poster free!

It would be easy to miss the information about a planned meeting of the fund's directors in Rothley. I missed it on my first reading of the Daily Mail's article on the movie and the book, but it's there. Resignation of some of the fund's directors is on the agenda for tomorrow's meeting.

"The meeting tomorrow follows the resignation of key board members, including the fund's spokeswoman Esther McVey.

The fund agreed a deal in the autumn to pay the Barcelona-based agency Metodo 3 a retainer of £50,000 a month for six months to find Madeleine. Metodo 3 has come in for criticism over comments made by its boss Francisco Marco, including one that he knew who kidnapped Madeleine and a promise to find her by Christmas.

The fund has also been criticised for paying two months' worth of mortgage payments, amounting to a few thousand pounds, on the McCanns' home while they were in Portugal and unable to work."

The Find Madeleine web site was set up within 4 days of her disappearance and the fund, I believe, was fully operational and receiving cash by May 17th, just 14 days after the event. Uncommon haste I would say! I guess we might find out later why several directors have resigned, including the fund's spokesperson.

In the words of that movie star I used to admire, "I'll be back," later with more news. Used to admire? Tookie Williams, Arnie! Tookie Williams!

Madeleine: rogatory letters to be delivered this week

Correio da Manha 8/01/08

With thanks to Li of the DM forum for translation.

Correio da Manha 8/01/08

The rogatory letters, are the formal requests to the UK authorities for the McCanns and their holiday friends to be re-interviewed. If those requests are granted, members of the Portuguese police will travel to the UK. They will not interview the McCanns and the others, but will be involved in setting the questions. The interviews will be conducted by British police officers.

" Letters should arrive at England this week
Rogatory letters delivered

The rogatory letters where the PJ asks to question again the McCanns and the seven friends that dinned with them the night in which the small Maddie disappeared were sent yesterday early afternoon by the Public Prosecutor of Portimão.

The CM found through a source close to the process that the documents followed through the Eurojust - which provides the link between the various departments of Justice of the Member States of the European Union - and that they will only be in the possession of the British police at the end of this week.

Only from there the PJ can initiate the steps in partnership with the British police. However,this does not mean that the Judiciary will comply with all the requests in the documents.

The delay in sending the rogatory letters - which reached the Public Prosecutor on December 7 - was due as the CM reported in the 12, to the need of examining the documents very closely especially the translation work by the Prosecutor.

NEW ARGUIDA DENIED

Francisco Pagarete , the lawyer who represents the Portuguese-British Robert Murat - one of three defendants in Maddie's case - denies the existence of a fourth suspect likely to be involved in the disappearance of British child, Madeleine McCann. "It is false that I have ever said that there is a fourth defendant in the process. It is also untrue that Michaela Walczuch has been constituted an arguida. Only my client [Murat] and the McCanns are arguidos, "said to the CM, denying statements made yesterday by the newspaper'24 Horas 'and adding that now" there is no news in the process. "

Francisco Pagarete says that he is not aware of an extension in the secrecy of justice. "I do not know if the secret of justice has been prolonged or if it was requested the special complexity of the process. I was not yet notified of anything. In relation to my client, everything remains the same, "he says. Pagarete is confident in the outcome of the investigation, however,he does not reveal what he feels about the outcome for Robert Murat.

The Portuguese law with regard to secrecy within the judicial process of investigation was changed last year and means that eight months after a person has been named arguido (formal suspect) the information held by the police must be made available or an application made to extend the period of secrecy. Robert Murat was named arguido on May 14th 2007. It has been reported that an application has been made to extend the period because of the complexity of the case. January 14th marks the eight month time limit.

Madeleine police deny Robert Murat's girlfriend is a suspect

This Is London 7/01/08: 11.22am

This Is London

"A claim that the lover of Madeleine McCann suspect Robert Murat had herself been made a suspect in the case was denied today.

Tabloid 24 Horas reported that Michaela Walczuch was named an arguida - or official suspect - in November and that her alibi is still being investigated by Portuguese detectives.

But today Portuguese police officials denied the story and Mr Murat's lawyer Francisco Pagarete said only his client was an official suspect in the case."

"Mr Pagarete, who has spoken on behalf of Ms Walczuch, told 24 Horas: "In the eyes of public opinion, they both became arguidos in a crime they did not commit. Neither of them is free of suspicion, with all the material and psychological damage that a dramatic situation like this implies. Somebody will have to pay for this."

Mr Pagarete added that Mr Murat will sue the Portuguese and British authorities. Madeleine was three years old when she vanished."

I hear that Mr Max Clifford is waiting in the wings to aid Robert Murat once Murat's arguido status is lifted!

Madeleine McCann: Correio da Manhã 7/1/2008

First thing each morning I go to the Daily Mirror forum's web page, with a mixture of hope and dread, to read the latest news on the Madeleine McCann case. Why the DM forum? Because there are Portuguese people posting there who translate the news being reported in the Portuguese press, which is often not available until much later in the UK press, if at all.

This morning, courtesy of a poster called Li, we have details of an news item in Correio da Manha.
For those who read Portuguese, here is a link to the original.

Correio da Manha 7th January 2008

For the rest of us, here is the translation, with thanks to Li.

"Exclusive Correio da Manhã
2008-01-7

Maddie's case

Blood in the flat and in the car confirmed

The final result of the tests that arrived recently from England do not leave any doubts to the researcher of the Criminal Police. The blood found in the McCanns car is from Madeline as well as the vestiges detected in the house rented by the British and from where the three years old child disappeared without a trace. "

" The front cover of the newspaper says:
Confirmed blood in the flat and in the car
Final results of the British laboratory
The risk of confusion between the genetic profiles of the twins and Maddie was eliminated."

I say that I read the news with a mixture of hope and dread because somehow I still retain a vestige of hope that Madeleine is alive somewhere and will found and she will go home. At the same time, I dread that she is dead and will never be found and laid to rest and also dread that she will be found and what is revealed will be details of a death which shocks to the core of what I want to believe about parents.

Also on the DM forum this morning, lullaby reports that the information about the results from FSS has been given out on Portuguese TV news. (RTP) If this is true, then it would seem to be valid confirmation of the news reported by Correio da Manha.

DM forum poster, mrsseagull, has provided a translation of an article in, "24horas."

24 horas

According to this article, Michaela Walczuch, described as ex-girlfriend of Robert Murat, was given arguida (formal suspect) status in November, 2007. This seems to be in contradiction to information published by the UK Daily Star and other newspapers in November.


Daily Star 22/11/07

Writing about Metodo3, the agency hired by the McCanns;

" THE £2,000-a-day private eyes hired by Madeleine McCann’s parents to find her were dismissed by police last night as “irrelevant small fry’’.

They claimed the evidence gathered so far by Spanish-based private detective agency Metodo 3 “lacked credibility’’.

The police detectives scoffed at the private eyes’ claim they “know who the kidnappers are’’ and were “very, very close’’ to catching them.

And they insisted Robert Murat’s German girlfriend – who the investigators allege is linked to Madeleine’s disappearance – was not a suspect in the case."

"Michaela dismissed the private eyes’ allegations as “ridiculous’’ and plans to sue them. Murat, an ex-pat Brit estate agent, remains a suspect, but his mum insists he was with her the night Madeleine vanished. Police have so far found no evidence to link him to the youngster’s disappearance. "

An interesting detail from the 24 horas article, as translated by Li.

" The employees deny

The employees of the Tapas Bar, according to what 24 Horas discovered, guaranteed to the inspectors of the PJ that Jane Tanner was always in the restaurant and that only O'Brien and Gerry McCann and his wife Kate were absent during dinner. O'Brien has never entered in the flat where Maddie slept with the twins as this is stated in the deposition that he gave to the authorities. Jane Tanner only left the restaurant when Kate appeared screaming: They've taken her."

We are being told here that Jane Tanner never left the restaurant, so that she could not have seen Eggman, Bundleman, the man carrying a child in Madeleine's pyjamas. If Jane Tanner had been wandering around in PDL and observing a, "swarthy," man carrying a child, from her statement about where she was when she saw him, she must have been close to where Gerry McCann and Jez Wilkins were having a conversation, but neither of the men saw Bundleman or Jane.

Our very own Daily Star has picked up today on the remarkable similarity between Robert Murat and David Payne.

Daily Star 7/01/08

" WITNESSES who say they saw suspect Robert Murat outside Madeleine McCann’s apartment on the night she vanished may have named the wrong man.

The 34-year-old ex-pat has always denied claims that he was just yards from the flat where the little girl was last seen – and now police believe he could be telling the truth. Detectives think Murat could have been mistaken for one of the McCanns’ friends, 41-year-old medical researcher David Payne. And they say witnesses who claim to have seen Murat actually spotted Mr Payne out searching for the missing four-year-old."

I will end here by mentioning a second article translated by Li from 24 horas. This article reports that Michaela Walczuch,

"..........was heard as witness and became a suspect in Maddie's case
Murat's girlfriend is also an arguida
Michaela Walczuch is suspected of being allegedly involved in the child's disappearance. Her alibi is being investigated by the authorities "

Whether Michaela Walczuch has arguida status or not, the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann seems to be nearing a resolution and conclusion. As many of the posters on the DM forum say; justice for Madeleine.

Smokey The Rabbit Died Last Night

Now, you may wonder why I am telling you about Smokey the rabbit. He was seven years old or thereabouts and that's apparently a good life for a rabbit. Smokey was a well-loved rabbit and he was looked after with great care. Smokey belonged to a teenager called Jack, but I am told that he received most attention from Jack's sister Sammie.

The passing of Smokey the rabbit marks another milestone for the parents of Jack and Sammie. Sammie is Sammie Osborn, who left her family home in April 2007, aged just 15 years and has not returned. She is now 16 and is living in Bristol with the man she met on the internet.

While you've been gone, Sammie, your brother has become a young man. He has probably grown a few more inches in height and a few more bits of fluff on his chin, but to look at him you'd still see that brother you knew and lived with for the whole of his life until April 2007. You would recognise Jack anywhere, I am sure, because he won't have changed outwardly beyond all recognition. Inwardly, though, Sammie, your brother has done years of maturing emotionally since that day you left the home he now shares on his own with your parents. Jack has faced the kind of challenges that most young men of his age don't experience and those challenges have produced a mature young man of your kid brother.

Now, I am not telling you this to make you feel guilty. I am telling you because people's lives don't stand still. Your image of your home and your family may be frozen at April 2007, but things change and people grow and move on, especially young people. Your friends have taken their mock GCSEs and I'm sure they're going to be very busy now getting their coursework out of the way and revising for the real exams. They will all leave school in June and move on, mostly I imagine into further education, studying for their A levels and hoping to go to university. I have read some of the letters your friends sent to you and I can tell you there is still a gap where you once were. But Sammie, that gap will gradually be filled as your friends' lives change, as they meet new people in Sixth Form College and move on to other things. The experiences you should be sharing with them, they will share without you. You will not be forgotten by your friends, but the Sammie they knew will have gone forever, changed by time and circumstance as they are changed.

And now to Smokey. Another change since you were last at home. Your frozen image of your home may include a snapshot of Smokey in his hutch. Alas, Smokey died last night and I am sorry to tell you that Silky has also gone. The hutches are as empty as your bedroom. Another gap and another little bit of grief for those who love you.

I hope you are well and happy, Sammie, because if you ever decide to return to your family, I hope that you go back as a happy and more mature person who has benefited from all the experiences you have been through and that the changes in you are positive changes that you are really happy with. Nine months is a long time in a young person's life and you must have changed a great deal in that time, emotionally and physically. Sammie, please don't let the gaps grow too wide between you and your family and your friends. We only have one family, one mother, one father and you have one brother. There isn't another, ever. Please don't let them go, Sammie. Hold onto them. Please don't be in the position where you look back in a few years time and wish that the changes in your life had been changes you shared in the heart of your family.

For now, Sammie, I wish you well. Take care and whatever you do, be safe.