Rob Ford's Toronto

[Dilla]

Why be so convoluted? Just hire a lawyer. The parties can each send their consideration to the lawyer to hold in trust. When he's received and verified both the video and money, he will release them to the other party. It's a pretty simple transaction. They don't need to do any of this James Bond stuff.

Fair enough. Perhaps I was thinking too much in the context of working with drug dealers.

EDIT: I don't assume it's illegal, but I do assume it's with some shady people who may not want to come out of the shadows at the moment. Gawker does have to make sure they get the video, and these guys for sure want their money. There will have to be some kind of assurance for both parties.

 

[innsertnamehere]

there is still 84 of the $150 dollar items left, so we shall see.

 

[Firthient]

Oh that sucks. $200 was a really popular donation amount. They need to add more perks in the final stretch.

It's now passed the $144K minimum it needed to hit to maintain on pace to making $200K by the deadline. With a full after work and dinner time period left in the day, it's not stretching to say that it could hit $155K by tonight. That puts us on track to finishing on Saturday.

They really need some new mid-range perks with both the $200 and $25 options gone. The flags aren't moving.

 

[Ramako]

Oh that sucks. $200 was a really popular donation amount. They need to add more perks in the final stretch.

It's now passed the $144K minimum it needed to hit to maintain on pace to making $200K by the deadline. With a full after work and dinner time period left in the day, it's not stretching to say that it could hit $155K by tonight. That puts us on track to finishing on Saturday.

I think "I smoked crack with Mayor Ford" t-shirts would be a massive hit. I bet people would pay $50 a pop for those. It might be their ace in the hole.

 

[TonyV]

My source tells me "Rob is raging mad right now". Towhey's firing is looking like a heated argument reaching a boiling point. It's going to be harder and harder to contain the Mayor. We might just see Councillor Ford come out before this is all done.

I would love to see Ford "raging mad", it would be unforgettable.

 

[TOareaFan]

They really need some new mid-range perks with both the $200 and $25 options gone. The flags aren't moving.

Are people doing this (donating) to get perks/goodies or do they think it is the right thing to do to get the video out there?

 

[spider]

Why be so convoluted? Just hire a lawyer. The parties can each send their consideration to the lawyer to hold in trust. When he's received and verified both the video and money, he will release them to the other party. It's a pretty simple transaction. They don't need to do any of this James Bond stuff.

Yes, the lawyer takes a fee and the transaction is now in the public realm subject to income tax, sales tax and other unwanted scrutiny. Great idea.

 

[MetroMan]

I would love to see Ford "raging mad", it would be unforgettable.

Voilá:

[video=youtube;yOi2wIUCTnA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOi2wIUCTnA[/video]

 

[TOperson]

City TV news just mentioned the crackstarter and Gawker, with a screenshot of a recent count (over $144K). They must know they are helping to keep the contributions flowing.

 

[W. K. Lis]

From Twitter:

Natalie Alcoba ‏@nataliealcoba 3m

Mark Towhey done as chief of staff of Rob Ford. He says he did not resign

Jackson Proskow ‏@JProskowGlobal 25s

"I am no longer the chief of staff. I did not resign" said Towhey as he was escorted out of city hall by security.
___

What?! This is truly ****ed up. Did he ended up being a sacrificial lamb? Decoy? A bad argument?

AoD

The reason Mark Towhey was fired: Mark is not a blood relative of the Ford family.

 

[Firthient]

Are people doing this (donating) to get perks/goodies or do they think it is the right thing to do to get the video out there?

The latter...particularly given the number of donations involved. IMHO the perks help up some individual donation levels.

 

[jje1000]

A note found on Kinsella's website on legalistics and the like. Just found it interesting.

May 23, 2013 at 3:29 pm

He doesn’t even have to sue.

If this is libellous, he needs to issue a defamation notice within 6 weeks of become aware of the alleged defamation. He is not required to do anything after that, but it is a notice to the Star and the world that he genuinely thinks he’s been defamed.

In fact, since defamation is about reputation, a court will hold it against you if delay in giving a defamation notice. The longer you let a defamation hang out there without challenge, the more likely a court will conclude it wasn’t a big deal and your lawsuit has no merit.

http://warrenkinsella.com/2013/05/why-hasnt-rob-ford-sued-the-star/#comments

 

[Ramako]

Yes, the lawyer takes a fee and the transaction is now in the public realm subject to income tax, sales tax and other unwanted scrutiny. Great idea.

First of all, the fee for such a simple and straightforward transaction would be minimal. Secondly, I'm not sure how the transaction ends up in the "public realm" given the pretty iron-clad nature of solicitor-client privilege. I have no idea what you're implying there.

With respect to sales taxes on the transaction, the parties would theoretically be obligated to pay those, but that would be the case whether or not a lawyer is involved. The lawyer isn't under any duty to collect taxes on behalf of the government.

So, yeah, it is a great idea.

 

[MetroMan]

Towhey made an ultimatum. Ford fired him.

 

[achender]

Here is my conspiracy theory of the day. Or at least how I'd write the loosely-based-on-a-true-story movie script.

* Rob Ford is the one in possession of his own crack smoking video.
* All this crackstarter stuff is him just securing himself financially before his inevitable sacking.

It would certainly make his actions of the last few days more understandable.
"Donations are slowing down, quick fire somebody!"