Rob Ford's Toronto

[W. K. Lis]

Based on the G&M article:

The informant in the mayor’s office purported to know the address and unit number where the video was being held.

So said media allegedly did exist and the Fords may have compromised a homicide investigation.......

If the media are "maggots", what are the police detectives?

 

[syn]

Mayor Rob Ford’s popularity unaffected by drug allegations and denials, poll finds

The bad news is that the scandal hasn't changed his support. The good news is that his support seems to sit at 25-33%, and he loses to Chow, or Tory, or Stinz. It looks like the only real concern is a race with a three-way split among the "left" (which was reported in the earlier poll), where Ford comes up the middle.

I'm quite disturbed that 25% of people in the city would still support him at this point.

 

[MetroMan]

Something isn't right with Gawker. When they posted that they haven't been in touch with the owner of the video, the donations predictably stalled. I can understand why they would do that to be honest and upfront.

But they haven't run any stories and just now posted an update saying "we still haven't heard from them" on the last day. You'd think they'd run a front page story on the final day to help Crackstart reach its goal even if the money were going to charity. It almost looks like they don't want this to get done. Why not attain the goal, and hold the money for 60 days? This video is bound to come up and somebody is going to want money for it.

Even without their promotion, this has gained a life of its own. Somebody just donated $200 and with that Crackstarter is now doing $1300 per hour with 15hr to go. I've noticed some names that I had seen in the first days so people are doubling up on their contributions. I don't see this not making the $200K. At this rate, it'll be finished around dinner time and will make the evening news.

 

[RC8]

I think they are trying really hard to cover their asses legally and reputation-wise so that no one can accuse them of misleading donors if they fail to get the tape.

 

[guitarchitect]

Something isn't right with Gawker. When they posted that they haven't been in touch with the owner of the video, the donations predictably stalled. I can understand why they would do that. But they haven't run any stories and now posted an update saying "we still haven't heard from them" on the last day. You'd think they'd run a front page story on the final day to help Crackstart reach its goal even if the money were going to charity. Why not attain the goal, and hold the money for 30 days or so. This video is bound to come up and somebody is going to want money for it.

This is exactly what I have been thinking/saying - they need the money in hand to use as a bargaining tool. I suppose they could cancel it if they really wanted to, right? Or does IndieGoGo not permit that once it's underway? But regardless, it makes much more sense to get the money and use it as said bargaining tool for as long as necessary... worst case scenario, it's a huge donation to a local charity. Best case scenario, the video comes out.

Where have you heard from Doolittle/Donovan about the Star going after the video - was that recent?

And the radio silence on the part of The Star, regarding staff in the Mayor's office being question by police, is a little strange isn't it? Are they being a bit more quiet/careful becuase they're sitting on something larger?

 

[nfitz]

If the media are "maggots", what are the police detectives?

Paggots? Piggots?

And the radio silence on the part of The Star, regarding staff in the Mayor's office being question by police, is a little strange isn't it? Are they being a bit more quiet/careful becuase they're sitting on something larger?

If the MM's information in this thread is accurate - and it pretty much has been for months - then the Star is indeed sitting on something bigger relating to Ford's drug dealers, which will drop this week.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Tend to agree with vox's assessment of Towhey and Batra - I might not agree with the former's politics, but I do think there is a low he won't go to.

AoD

 

[syn]

No I'm here

Crackstarter has gone on fire since this morning! It's doing $1,000 an hour now. With 16hrs to go and $13K left, it seems that this is going to happen. Robyn Doolittle is saying that there's more than one copy of the video and Kevin Donovan confirms that The Star is trying to acquire the video. Not sure that means that they're now willing to pay for it. Their credibility is at stake here so even an offer of $100K could be enough and it'll be a worthy investment.

Where did you hear this? I didn't see it on her Twitter feed.

 

[Ramako]

Wow, someone just dropped two grand on Crackstarter.

 

[Silence&Motion]

But they haven't run any stories and just now posted an update saying "we still haven't heard from them" on the last day. You'd think they'd run a front page story on the final day to help Crackstart reach its goal even if the money were going to charity. It almost looks like they don't want this to get done. Why not attain the goal, and hold the money for 60 days? This video is bound to come up and somebody is going to want money for it.

I always assumed that Gawker would prefer to have the Crackstarter fail and let everyone get their money back, rather than to have it succeed without being able to acquire the video. There's bound to be accusations that Gawker tricked people into donating hundreds of thousands of dollars by overselling their ability to acquire the video.

 

[RC8]

Indiegogo is down! How dramatic.

Edit: Intermittently working now.

 

[sixrings]

Indiegogo is down! How dramatic.

SMH I was just about to write that... DKM

 

[guitarchitect]

I always assumed that Gawker would prefer to have the Crackstarter fail and let everyone get their money back, rather than to have it succeed without being able to acquire the video. There's bound to be accusations that Gawker tricked people into donating hundreds of thousands of dollars by overselling their ability to acquire the video.

Yes, how devious that they get people's money and then donate it to CAMH.

They have clearly stated from the beginning that they can't guarantee the video, and if the video acquisition isn't going to pan out, the money will go to charity. Every person that has donated knows what's up, unless they are blindly donating without reading (also an option)

 

[Tulse]

I'm quite disturbed that 25% of people in the city would still support him at this point.

Yes, it's depressing, but I believe that's also close to the percentage of support of the hard-core right-wing Republicans in the US. In other words, it may simply be that 25% of North Americans are right-wing ideologues who simply don't care about reality.

 

[sixrings]

its up... but it definitely was down for 5mins