Jim Gamble, Your Witness

At around 10pm, the interviewee went to check on the children. She went into the apartment by the side door, which was closed. She noticed that the door to her children's bedroom was completely open, the window was also open, the shutters raised and the curtains open, while she was certain of having closed them all as she always did.
Kate McCann, in a statement to the Policia Judiciária, may 4th, 2007

~

At 10pm, Kate went to check on the children. She went into the apartment, using her key and saw that the bedroom door was completely open, the window was also open, the shutters raised and the curtains open. The doors were locked except the one at the back as already noted above.
Gerry McCann, in a statement to the Policia Judiciária, may 4th, 2007

~

It wasn’t until Kate walked into the villa at 10 and felt a sickening breeze—the front window had been jimmied open—that she realized something terrible had happened. “The scene was stark,” Gerry tells me. On one bed the twins lay sleeping. In the next lay only the plush cat toy Madeleine was never without. That was when Kate came out screaming, “Madeleine has gone!”
Vanity Fair January 10, 2008

~

K: I did my check about 10.00 ‘clock and went in through the sliding patio doors and I just stood, actually and I thought, oh, all quiet, and to be honest, I might have been tempted to turn round then, but I just noticed that the door, the bedroom door where the three children were sleeping, was open much further than we’d left it. I went to close it to about here and then as I got to here, it suddenly slammed and then as I opened it, it was then that I just thought, I’ll just look at the children and I could see S and A in the cot and then I was looking at M’s bed which was here and it was dark and I was looking and I was thinking, is that M or is that the bedding. and I couldn’t quite make her out. It sounds really stupid now, but at the time, I was thinking I didn’t want to put the light on cos I didn’t wanna wake them and literally, as I went back in, the curtains of the bedroom which were drawn,… were closed, … whoosh … It was like a gust of wind, kinda, just blew them open and cuddle cat was still there and her pink blanket was still there and then I knew straight away that she had, er, been taken, you know.
Kate McCann in C4 Cutting Edge documentary - Madeleine was here, april 2008

~

Kate: Yeah, so I thought well I'll just close it over again, and as I went to close it over it slammed shut and I thought and it was like sort of you know a draught had caused it to shut so I turned behind me and I thought are the patio doors open and they were closed and I thought well that's strange so then I opened the door thinking I'll open it ajar a bit again and that was when I kind of looked into the room and when I just looked and it was quite dark and I was just looking and looking at Madeleine's bed and I was thinking is that her that I was looking for why isn't Madeleine there? And then in the end I walked over and thought oh, she's not in bed and then I thought maybe she's wandered through to our bed and that's why the door's open so I went through to our bedroom and she wasn't there and then I kind of see then I'm starting to panic a bit and I ran back into their room and literally as I went back into their room the curtains that were drawn over just "foooosh" flew open and that's when I saw that the shutter was right up and the window was pushed right open. And that was when I just knew that erm someone had taken her. So I, I mean I ran to the window and I didn't know what I thought was going to see but I ran to the window and then I quickly hmm quickly looked through the wardrobes I had I suppose this temporary thought she was cowering in a wardrobe or something anyway she wasn't there and I just ran out and soon as...
Kate McCann on the Oprah show, may 2009.




h/t Kazlux/Joana Morais

Clarence Mitchell "Operational Reasons" and Other Buffoonery

I have on a couple of previous occasions blogged about Mitchell and his "Operational Reasons," the new euphemism for bullshit, lies and deceit. But the subject has recently come up again elsewhere on the net, so I have gathered a few together. I don't doubt there many more examples to be found, but there are sufficient here for purpose.

Why Mitchell, you may ask, the answer is simple enough I suppose?
Having watched and listened to this reptile spew his lies and spin the most ridiculous nonsense thought possible for the last three years, lies and nonsense so inane, so absurd that they would embarrass a stone plinth, nobody has said a word.

Not one word uttered by anybody, not one. Every organisation charged with upholding the law, with decency and morality, and believe me the morality does matter; those organisations, along with every news agency, the BBC included, has never said a word as this abomination played out before our eyes.

Well I am, and I shall continue to do so, you will not walk away from this untarnished. It's now just two years gone since I put you on notice, and it is as applicable today as it was then.

When the day comes that the McCanns are stood in the dock, and they will be, if only for fraud; when that day comes you will be stood with them, if I have to find you personally and drag you there by the ear; you will be stood with them.

~ ~ ~

Operational Reasons

Mitchell's version of Judicial Secrecy, something to hide behind, just like you know who.


November 25 2007
Murat urges Madeleine McCann's family to stop smears
A source close to the McCanns said the couple have not and never would speak publicly about Mr Murat or anyone else being investigated.

Clarence Mitchell, the McCann's official spokesman said: “We continue to work closely with Metodo 3 and collectively are always careful about what detail enters the public domain for operational reasons.” Telegraph

Kate McCann: My suspicions over Murat's alibi on the night Madeleine vanished The setting up of Robert Murat.




Dec 14 2007
Madeleine McCann "could be home by Christmas"
The private detective being paid by Kate and Gerry McCann to find their daughter has claimed he knows who took Madeleine and that he could have her back with her family before Christmas.




Francisco Marco, the director general of Metodo 3, indicated that they were closing in on the four-year-old’s abductor and preparing to hand over their “evidence” to police.

Mr Marco also told the Spanish newspaper Metro that the girl, who was snatched from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in the Algarve in May, might never have left Portugal.

He said: “We have proof of her movements after her kidnap and we know she was alive the day after her disappearance. We are not certain she left Portugal.

“I talk of certainties because we know which group may have her or could have kidnapped her to then sell her on to others.”

The detective added: “We know who kidnapped her.




“We believe she is in an area not very far from the Iberian peninsula and north Africa. And we have a fairly certain idea who she is with.

“I cannot say who she is with because we are putting together conclusive proof we can present to the authorities so they can proceed with their arrests.”

He also said: “God willing, I hope that she will be back with her parents before Christmas.”

Mr Marco admitted he had no proof Madeleine was not dead but said he had to believe “100%” that she was because he only knew how to look for people who were still alive.

He told Metro: “One of the things that makes us believe Madeleine is alive is that every day, she’s worth more to them. It’s obviously not a kidnap carried out by professionals for economic reasons.




“A professional kidnapper would have done something by now. He would have given her back or left her.”

He also dismissed allegations that the McCanns could have been involved in Madeleine’s disappearance, saying you only had to spend five minutes with them to know they were innocent.

The McCanns’ spokesman Clarence Mitchellsaid last night that the family was “pleased” the agency was so confident about ultimately finding Madeleine.

He said: “Metodo Three, the private detective agency we are employing to help find Madeleine, retains our full confidence.

“They are continuing to work very hard on all the information that continues to come up. New leads are being pursued all the time.

“Clearly we will not discuss the details of those leads for sensitive operational reasons but we are pleased the agency is confident is that they will find Madeleine in due course.”

The Spanish-based detective agency was hired by Madeleine’s parents to carry out a parallel investigation to the police probe into her apparent abduction.

Mr Marco, who heads up a 40-strong team, vowed to find the missing girl within five months.

The McCanns were dining with friends when Madeleine went missing from their holiday apartment shortly before her fourth birthday in Praia da Luz on May 3.

They were named formal suspects in the case in September but have repeatedly denied any involvement in her disappearance and rejected suggestions they could have killed her accidentally.





Spotty Man enters stage left, looking for someone to love according to Dave Edgar, well he would wouldn't he? Spotty man, not Edgar
May 21 2009
Last night the McCann family’s spokesman Clarence Mitchell said Mr Edgar was following a “potentially vital” new lead.

He said: “For operational purposes I cannot say where Mr Edgar and his team are exactly, but they are following up a very encouraging lead.” Star




Raymond Hewlett's turn.
May 22 2009
" The investigators searching for Madeleine are currently investigating the circumstances surrounding Mr Hewlett and these claims. Hewlett is an individual of interest to the investigation.

" Beyond that I cannot go into any further operational detail." The alarm was raised about Hewlett by Alan and Cindy Thompson (We found Bin Laden's cave) who met him while on an extended holiday in Portugal. Mirror




May 28 2009
The McCanns’ spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: “Investigators continue to follow up four to five credible leads but for operational reasons I cannot divulge any details.” Star



Aug 6 2009
Mr Mitchell would not reveal what she said for operational reasons, but said it was "potentially significant" to the little girl's disappearance. Sky




7 August 2009
Mr Mitchell said the source of the information had been "checked out" and stressed there were "good operational reasons" for not disclosing exact details of the evidence.
"We specifically have not revealed the contents of the conversation this woman had with the new witness for good operational reasons," he said. independent





Edgar seems to have caught it now, mind you there's a lot of it going round.
7 August 2009
The private detective leading the search for Maddie, ex-cop Dave Edgar, refused to reveal the contents of the pair's two-minute conversation "for operational reasons". Sun




If you have never read this account of the Barcelona debacle in full, treat yourself. I can't decide which is the funnier of the two, Edgar's antics or Mitchell's pathetic attempts to spin them.
16 August 2009
So why did Madeleine McCann detectives ask so few questions after major breakthrough?

Last night the McCanns’ spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: ‘The private investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance is being conducted entirely professionally and thoroughly under the direction of Dave Edgar.




‘Upon receipt of the new witness information, two members of the investigative team travelled to Barcelona to conduct preliminary inquiries during a brief initial visit.

‘This included identifying the exact marina where the witness had been and all relevant locations within it. At that stage, the precise bar involved had not been identified by the witness. Nevertheless, inquiries were conducted at a number of bars, with staff members being interviewed.

‘However, not all of the bars were open during the investigators’ visit. Because of the transient nature of bar work, it was also found that many of the workers who were spoken to were not present at the marina in May 2007.

'Other relevant personnel in the area were also interviewed, although we will not
discuss the detail of who was spoken to for operational reasons.

‘The information, once gathered, including photographs, was brought back to the UK for witness confirmation. Both British and Portuguese police were kept fully informed of the investigators’ visit to Spain.

‘The news conference was then held for the simple reason that public assistance was needed once the e-fit had been drawn up from the witness account. The public appeal does not preclude further enquiries being conducted in Barcelona as appropriate.’




He declined to say how much the private detectives were being paid, adding: ‘We will not discuss contractual matters concerning the investigation costs nor the investigator remuneration.’ the wail





And of course the latest nonsense three years on.
May 26 2010
Clarence Mitchell, a spokesperson for Gerry and Kate McCann, tells PEOPLE, "Yes, we are aware of Mr. Moreira's account. People from the private investigation have spoken with him and are continuing to liaise with him. We will not go into further detail for operational reasons. But he has done the right thing in coming forward." the people




May 26 2010
"I cannot go into any further detail for operational reasons. He has done absolutely the right thing in coming forward with his information despite it being so long after the event." Guardian



And the result of all these operations?

~ ~ ~

These below were considered for, but didn't make the post, so having gathered them, I'll post them. I suppose I should one day, gather up all those of Mitchell and post a dedicated gallery. Dedicated to what I wouldn't know.

In no particular order, perhaps save the last one.

Lewis PR, This Is Your Clarence Mitchell

.
Edited and truncated in response to a request.

Spokesman for the McCanns, Clarence Mitchell.

McCanns spokesman regrets the reaction of Juan Cortés and says that the couple only wanted to help"Is shameful that Mari Luz's father presents complaints"It is "surprising and shameful that Mari Luz's father presents complaints about us in a press release".

This was the reaction of Clarence Mitchell, spokesman for the McCanns when he was informed by the 24 Horas that the father of Juan Cortés does not authorise the distribution of the 18 thousand posters with the images of Maddie and the Spanish girl in Spain and Portugal."We regret the confusion.

We only wanted to help Mari Luz's family and honestly we thought we had permission from the girl's father to this joint campaign", said Clarence Mitchell. The problem is that the 18 thousand posters were already sent by post, last Thursday to Spain."Our only hope is that the owners of schools, restaurants and other public places are aware of the reaction of Mr. Juan Cortés and do not display the posters", said the spokesman of Kate and Gerry McCann."As I explained to you newspaper last Saturday, we did believe to have the permission of the Cortés family.

Few days after the disappearance of Mari Luz, a Kate's friend that speaks Spanish contacted the father of the Spanish girl and told him about the intention of the McCanns in printing a poster of both children. At that time Mari Luz's father said he would appreciate everything that the McCanns could do". Clarence Mitchell will now talk with Kate and Gerry about the situation and also with the volunteers that cooperated in the poster campaign.

"How can someone be furious with another person for wanting to help to find the daughter?", said an outraged Mitchell. source

Isn't he lovely, do enjoy him?

Got Gyppos? Better Call Mitchell Then

And this week's Booker prize for fiction goes to Sun editor, Dominic Mohan. (pictured)

Have you ever read so much fucking tripe in all your life?

Clarence Mitchell and his Gyppos. Stop!

Clarence Mitchell: Sophisticated PR Guru or Just a Stupid Twat?

Madeleine McCann: The Case Files Reveal - Wot No Gypsies?

A DRAMATIC sighting of missing Madeleine McCann the day after she vanished is being urgently followed up by private investigators.

A man has reported seeing a girl he is now sure was Maddie lying in the back of a van.

She was wearing pyjamas identical to the pair Maddie had on when she was abducted.

The vehicle was white - and other witnesses have recalled seeing a white van near the holiday apartment in Portugal from where she was taken.

A child in pyjamas was also seen being carried by a man at the resort. (By Tanner no less.)

New witness Carlos Moreira, 65, has told investigators the little girl he saw was with a man and woman who looked like gipsies.

When shown a previously-unpublished e-fit of a suspect, he identified it as being the van's driver. (Stop FFS)

A source close to Maddie's parents Kate and Gerry said last night the sighting was "highly significant" and added: "It could be a key breakthrough."

Maddie, of Rothley, Leics, was three when she disappeared on a family holiday in Praia da Luz, on the Algarve, on May 3 2007.

Portuguese Mr Moreira said he only recently connected his sighting with the Maddie hunt because it was 160 miles from where she vanished.

He was driving from Carregado, near Lisbon, to Alentejo on May 4 when he stopped at a snack bar in the Benavente region at 8am.

He told The Sun: "I saw a white van with the back door open. I saw a girl, lying on a pile of clothes in the back. She was wearing a two-piece pyjama set, pink and white, or yellow. I saw her back, I could see her hands and feet.

"She moved one of her fingers but she was deeply asleep. When the van door was opened, she did not wake up, as if she was drugged."

"This girl was blonde and looked around four. A woman came out of the back of the van. I noted that a strong and tall man, wearing a suit, was in front of the snack bar.

"He looked like a gipsy. He was with the woman from the van, he was younger than her. He told her off for leaving the van."

Mr Moreira said the experience stuck in his mind - but he only realised it could be useful when he saw a cop being asked on TV why roads to the north or to Spain were not blocked after Maddie vanished.

He explained: "The road I saw the van on was such a route."

He said the man he saw was clean-shaven, aged 40 to 42, fat but good-looking. The woman was 60 to 65, fat with grey hair.

The McCanns' spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: "His account is being looked into. He has done the right thing in coming forward." the sun

In Answer To Your Question, I Don't Know Any Either. And Other Bits

When your a parent and you go out drinking.... Dontcha just love that line?

When your a parent and you go out drinking and leaving your babies at home to fend for themselves, you have only your self to blame when harm comes to them. A parent’s job is to put their children first and themselves last. When a disaster happens and you do wrong, the least you can do is beg forgiveness and say sorry for messing up.

Arming yourself with spin doctors and campaign managers whilst swanning all over the world in private jets laughing and joking when its only been 50 days at the expense of a fund set up by people who seem too care about your child more than you ever did puts the good people of the world’s back up.

The limited company may bite them on the bum in years to come. Every expenditure will have to be listed for tax reasons and I bet every safety pin and shoe lace for the McCann’s and their entourage is paid out of the fund. These people are living a paid for lifestyle on money which should be going solely on finding Madeleine. That's my take on it.

My question is that so many people seem to be supporting The McCanns why not look at it from the eyes of the people who are asking questions wondering what a doctor with a missing little girl is doing writing blogs and out jogging. How many fathers who genuinely loved their children would carry on like this pair. I don’t know any. source

Neither do I lass, neither do I. But then my acquaintances tend to be Homo Sapien.

Nor do I know many societies where mothers ask questions like this.

And receive answers!

i am a mom of two babies and a husband that travels a lot. i am looking for something only for protection. and of course planning learning the proper way to use it safely. i do not need or want any answers from anti-gun activists. this is something i feel i need for my safety and the safety of my children especially with the horror stories you hear today with the crazy people out there. another note i currently know nothing about guns regarding different kinds or types. thanks for the help!!!!! source

More like this.

If I do the writer a disservice, my apologies, but I can't decide weather or not this is a faux blog and it's true purpose is being a vehicle to carry advertisements.
Hence, both articles pasted in full.

~

In what now appears to be my second career, sending a message, through what now must be a multitude of pics, and if you will forgive me saying so, some have been quite brilliantly spot on, inspired if you will.

Having modestly awarded myself such an accolade and presented myself with a bouquet of flowers for the "quite brilliant" ones, what then does it say of the rest?

Well, having set that kind of metric, I suppose the only way from there is down, downward yes, but by degrees, you would afford me that surely?

Degrees that have covered the full spectrum, top to bottom, from close, but no cigar, to totally off the mark. I do however, in my own defence say, I did have a little help with the graphics that fell into this category, Paulo Rebelo for one, and the Express for another. Need I say more?

This first picky below I think typifies those in the "close, but no cigar" category. Why so you may ask, it's not a million miles from the truth as you or I might see things? Perhaps at the time you might have even thought the thing worthy of a cigar, perhaps it was.

But things change, that's if they don't stop as they are of course, but change they do, or perhaps develop and progress might be a more accurate way of putting things. Ever since the Express rolled over, delighting us all with a display of its true colours ever since, we have seen increasingly the attempts to gag the ungaggable, the internet.

Such attempts, and some enjoying local success it must be said, but such attempts, in reality, are futile. Not to understand this futility, that no one person can censor the net, though making numerous attempts to do so, is I think, a measure of the world that said person inhabits.

Though I could, and have done so on numerous occasions past, describe Adam Tudor in numerous and far from pleasant ways, I would never think to call him things that would question his intelligence. That is simply something I cannot do for reasons obvious.

So with this in mind, and in light of ever increased threats, accompanied by a cacophony of Sabers rattling, makes me but wonder if Adam Tudor is giving his client the best advice possible, or heaven forbid, his love of Mammon supersedes the interests of his client?

Shurely not, shurely shome mishtake? But a question nonetheless that brought about a subtle change in our featured piccy.

~

And lastly, my man Montoya. It took me a long time to forgive Juan Pablo Montoya his brutal act of betrayal, buggering orf as he did from Formula One to go boogity boogity boogity racing.

For me F1 was never the same after JPM's departure, but I followed him into Nascar and much like Montoya, learned a new trade, him driving and me watching.

Now I have to admit that I wouldn't be natural NASCAR fan material, I don't pray to Jesus and I don't keep guns racked up in a truck I don't have. Nevertheless I stayed with the man, and over the three and a bit years I have been doing so, have come to appreciate there is a lot more to Nascar than just turning left. Going so far I might add, to declare something I never thought I would, Nascar gives better and more exciting racing than F1. Mind you, that wouldn't be hard these days, it's not a motor race anymore, it is, thanks to the FIA, an obstacle race.

Anyway after all that, look what fell into my inbox. Argh!





Montoya passing Raikkonen

As the title.

A bit of everything in this one, it's not a "wreck video," there are plenty on Youtube if that's your bag.





A brilliant archival film of the 1960 Daytona 500. Err, no thanks.
On the minuscule chance you're a devotee of the golden era of
car design, catch the 60 Electra duece and a quarter pace car.

1960 Buick, but not the 225.