Also, to the shame of American "journalism", we had to wait until this article to find out -- scratch: confirm -- that yes indeed, the "getaway" plane ticket was purchases days in advance.
I think that this world needs a news source that builds a reputation investigating conspiracy in a neutral tone. For me, the problem with this article, which we find may have been spot on, is the approach and tone it takes. The emotional of the article plays into the hands of conspirators that it seeks to point out. For example: "The spectacle of this shattered destiny is suggestive of ancient tragedy. The Roman saying: "Arx tarpeia Capitoli proxima" comes to mind: the Tarpeian Rock from which a convicted person was hurled to his death was close to the Capitol, the symbol of power and greatness. Leaving aside any considerations of his innocence or guilt, the steamrolling of such a high-profile personality can only provoke anguish in the ordinary citizen. If someone like him is unable to defend himself, then how can we hope to succeed if we were to be accused like him?" This essay is making at least two arguments: 1) It smells like DSK was set up, and 2) We should be afraid of these powers that be. IMHO, if the first argument is made successfully, there is no need to make the second. I am imagining a source that lays out possible interpretations of events, and assigns verifiable facts to each interpretation. Or, possibly a Wikipedia of events. Wikivents. Wouldn't that be an interesting edit history?
The wikievents is a great idea, certainly worth a try! Simply having certain interesting historical facts -- such as RollsRoyce giving Soviet Union a functional jet engine for their MiGs just in time for dog fights with USAF over Korea -- available will require a re-evaluation for the thoughtful reader. I also fully agree we certainly do need more balanced news reporting. (There are those who would point to AlJazeera and PressTV. IMO, these are both phony opposition outlets. PressTV is practically produced in UK.) Wondering if a crowd-sourced news agency can be put together? (We can not rely on the handful of feeds produced by Reuters, AP, etc. That is one of the main problems.)
It’s an interesting thought. My feeling is that it is not only the source that is currently problematic, but the analysis. IMHO news analysis is the Achilles heel of traditional media. Although an entity can put together a large number of quality threads, they cannot compete with crowd-sourced analysis. For example, not long ago, you pointed out the Spanish Revolution here on Hubski. I had just happened to be in days before Istanbul and was wondering what some student signs that read ‘Spanish Revolution’ meant. We communicate, and I learn what the Spanish Revolution is, and you learn that it has touched Turkey. Anyone reading our conversation can learn both. -It’s multi-dimensional, unpredictable, and dynamic. IMHO, the perfect news source would provide a large cross-section of information with competing analyses. I am not saying that Hubski ought to be a news source. However, I would like it to be a platform for that type of unfettered exchange. I do like the notion of a Wikivents. Wikipedia has some rules that would exclude that type of coverage.
I know Gin dobre and dobre naat (however you spell it.)
10 of the 12 citations in this article are from the same paper that published the article. None of the citations are from any kind of primary source, just media taking to media. Almost none of the sensational accusation in the story are sourced, they are just lonely accusations unparented and unsubstantiated. The introductory paragraph show's that there will be no attempt to make an unbiased examination of the what has happened with DSK. Just some slander against the U.S. and Israel. Sets the tone, show's what you are going to consume is the mirror world version of fox news. The first sentence of the piece makes the assertion that DSK is the highest paid civil servant in the world. This is incorrect. The highest paid civil servants in the world are in Singapore, the top of the pay scale there makes over 1 million dollars a year. I believe that many employees there in excess of 1 million dollars, but hell I'm not putting my ass on the line as a "journalist" so I don't really think I need sweat the details on who makes what aside form they make a lot more than DSK. Was this error important? I think so, the author whole piece is a collection of unsubstantiated assertions of fact, he can't even get get his shit together for the first sentence, why should I believe anything he has to say about really complicated things? "Leaving aside any considerations of his innocence or guilt, the steamrolling of such a high-profile personality can only provoke anguish in the ordinary citizen. If someone like him is unable to defend himself, then how can we hope to succeed if we were to be accused like him?" If this rich powerful guy can't get off a rape charge, who can the little guy ever hope to get a fair shake. I"m mean we are leaving aside any consideration of innocence or guilt, this is just a power proposition, DSK is powerful and should thus be above the law. I don't feel terribly anguished for the guy, I hope he gets a fair trial, I"m sure he'll have all the benefits of the best defense that money can buy. "At that game, the first name that comes to mind is that of Nicolas Sarkozy. It is impossible not to think of him knowing that he became president by pressing charges against his chief rival, Dominique de Villepin, and entangling him in a forgery scandal just as convoluted as the current one. Therefore, why not another plot to move a new competitor out of the way?" Don't really feel like getting out the my logic book, but just a bald logical fallacy. Just because the author asserts that Sarkozy has committed other smiler acts, Sarkozy's interest in this person means that he has done the same to this person. The author should have just deleted this paragraph, it's a piece of shit bit of writing and argument. From DSK "I deem that every diaspora Jew must support Israel. For that reason, it is important for Jews to take up political responsibilities. In short, in my functions and in my everyday life, in everything I do, I endeavor to make my modest contribution toward the construction of Israel." He loves the Jews, he can't be trusted to represent the intrest of france. I like how the author is confused throughout the piece about the culpability of the American Israeli conspiracy in DSK's downfall and DSK as a secret Israeli agent. I don't know if he is just an anti-Semite or an anti-Zionist, he will defiantly slander Israelis any chance he gets, and that is so much easier to do when you don't need sources and can just make shit up. The idea that DSK could put a a world currency into effect all on his lonesome is ridiculous. The IMF gets 17% or so of it's funding from the U.S., I believe that the U.S provides at least 3 times the funding of any other nation. Under the IMF $ = Votes for the most part, the equation is modified a bit so that the U.S. has somewhere between 16-17% of the votes. Putting a new world reserve currency into action would take a ton of work and planing, there was no master plan that was about to be unveiled by DSK that the world would instantly get behind, and if there was the U.S. has more then enough power in the IMF to get it sidelined without hanky panky conspiracy. The reasons for China suggesting this a new world wide currency was probably more to light a fire under the U.S.'s ass to get their finances in order as it was to really do such a thing. Anyways the authors assumptions about what was about to go down are pretty fantastical and once again totally unsupported by any outside data or analysis of any substance. As a brief aside. There are many economist in the U.S. who think that the idea of an alternate world currency has some merit. Capital flooding into the U.S. has some pretty undesirable consequences that are unavoidable if you print the worlds reserve currency. I've heard interviews and panels with high level government officials that think the idea has some merit and should be examined. And finally. Maybe he did try to rape this girl. Maybe a low wage maid at a hotel lived through a short bout of terror as a lager stronger man, of obvious power and wealth tried to force himself on her. It's a terrible situation to be in, if it happened that way I hope DSK pays an appropriate price in an American prison. This possibility is never considered by that author, I find that contemptible. If the acusations are credible than DSK will to a grand jury, and if the carges seem to have merit he will get a jury trial. That seems pretty fair to me. I think that this piece is garbage on the level of Fox News. It's paranoid, the facts seem manufactured by fantastical presuppositions and it's part of the authors personal echo chamber. If you think it holds weight, please tell my why, I'd like to know.
If not clear, my posting this article is not a ringing endorsement; I found it an interesting point of view. The strong bias against US is (even) superficially evident, but I didn't sense "anti-semitic" sentiments. Point regarding accuracy and self-references are well taken. I agree with you in that regard. In context of "power proposition", my read of this was simply this: The author actually very much accepts that DSK very likely did something, with the implication that this was per his usual pattern and nothing out of the ordinary (for him or men like him). What was out of the ordinary was the fact that he was arrested and the manner in which he was arrested (including the treatment in the press). In other words, DSK was a member of the elite and this group typically gets away with murder, but strangely enough, not in this case. Thus: why? If you recall, the story presented initially to us by media was that he "left his cell phone behind in haste" as he tried to 'get away'. But he apparently had a scheduled meeting with Merkel, and to date no one in the press has produced records of a hasty purchase of a getaway ticket, nor has there been effective corrections (that I have seen). So the question remains as to why the press presented this scheduled trip as a hasty getaway to the public. It wasn't. He further points out that DSK is very well connected and is a zionist. You seem to have read this as an anti-semitic remark, but I merely read that as an additional establishment credential e.g. this man is very well connected and very much an insider. And given the Zionist influence in US establishment, this is the 3rd nail in the coffin of: things like this simply don't happen to untouchable men like DSK. I further fully agree that the notion of DSK as an independent actor affecting global change is complete non-sense, but that was never asserted (in such strong terms). My read of this was that DSK is the public face out there pushing for the agenda of a specific power clique who are pushing for certain changes. And, this purported 'surprise! you are accountable to law after all' move was a power play by an opposing power clique. DSK's alleged clique naturally got the message of the level of confrontation they can expect regarding this matter. Power games, effectively. Also please note that the press did in fact use this incident to open a front on IMF itself. What does the IMF have to do with the fact that DSK did or did not attack a maid in his hotel room? Why the linkage in the press? Obviously, if you are of the opinion that the power elite do not enjoy any special considerations (even here in US), then there is really nothing to see here. I will admit that I do not believe we are all held to the same legal standards. That is not as a statement regarding the judicial process but everything that precedes the actual application of the law. I do support your position that if in fact guilty he should suffer the consequences but I am not holding my breath. In fact, we should revisit this thread when this matter is settled. I would be very surprised if this guy ever sees the inside of a jail cell again. Finally, the thought that DSk, or any man of his position, is so completely thoughtless -- stupid in fact -- that they would actually openly commit violent crimes knowing that they will be held accountable simply doesn't compute for me. He would have to be a complete idiot, or alternatively lack any self-control. That then, is the basis of my interest in an alternative view on this story: what would explain this disconnect between status quo treatment of power elite and this specific case? The author -- who has an agenda just like the rest of his kind -- is making the argument that it wasn't personal, and certainly not because we are all held to the same standard, but that this is merely the public tip of an power-elite iceberg involving the matter of U$$ titanic. IMF, as you correctly point out, is hardly independent of USA and part and parcel of post-war global order. But I think what you are discounting is that US establishment itself may be divided regarding this matter. As you yourself point out, there are certainly voices in this country that support a new world currency. Is it possible that a clique here decided to resort to power available to them to send a message to the other side (whether in US or in Europe) as they have run out of an economic argument? A recent example of this sort of internal 'dialogue' between cliques in establishment was a couple of years ago: the intelligence power elite decided to throw cold water on the notion that Iran is developing nukes and published an assessment that completely deflated the sky is falling propaganda of another group. (Remember that?) That clearly was an out of band move to undermine the political power elite clique (neocons) that were strongly pushing for a confrontation. And it worked, and the process of reversing the PR impact of that event is still ongoing. All that said, thank you again for pointing out the red herrings and elephants in the room.
No doubt there is some wild speculation in this article, and it does the authors theories serious disservice. However I do have to ask: If DSK was setup, for whatever reason. How would that come to light? And, would he stand a chance? Whatever the case may be. The man is in the grinder: http://patriotpost.us/opinion/suzanne-fields/2011/06/03/the-...
http://blogs.ajc.com/bob-barr-blog/2011/05/30/in-french-or-e... His enemies can rest easy.
If I had to wager, I would think that DSK has a vice, and the US took much advantage of it, perhaps before, and definitely after the alleged incident. The US 'news' is garbage even in the rare instances when it isn't manipulating, and it doesn't surprise me that I had to go elsewhere to learn that the plane was booked days in advance. Those idiots wouldn't report the fact for the very reason that it made the story less exciting. I'd love to hear more about the international reserve currency. That is the biggest challenge to US hegemony I can imagine. As a result, the US would be willing to destroy much more than one man's life to prevent it from developing out of their interests. A world currency seems inevitable to me (bitcoin?), and the US will suffer for it. I doubt that the situation in Libya is fueled by it more than in a small part, however. There are a number of solid reasons why the US would like to replace Gaddafi. Nothing wrong with adding icing to the cake.