Strauss Kahn: Is he being framed?

Chuck Stone

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/15/us-strausskahn-france-idUSTRE74E3LG20110515

IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn's arrest on sexual assault charges, weeks before he was expected to announce a presidential bid, looks set to scar France's political landscape and remold its coming election campaign.


While Strauss-Kahn -- a Socialist viewed until now as the strongest contender for France's 2012 election -- sat in a cell in New York, talk raged in his home country of whether he is guilty, how bad the fallout will be, and even whether he might have been set up.


With the Socialist Party facing a huge setback to its dream of winning its first election in 24 years, party deputy and Strauss-Kahn ally Jean-Marie Le Guen said everyone should reserve judgment until the IMF chief's lawyers spoke publicly.


"This has fallen on our heads in a terrible way. Clearly there will be political consequences which we cannot yet calculate," he told television late on Sunday.


"We are in an extremely different moment that requires a lot of prudence. It's his life and his honor that are at stake."
Strauss-Kahn's wife Anne Sinclair said on Sunday she had no doubt he would be proved innocent of the charges.


Political pundits asked how this could have happened just before Strauss-Kahn was expected to announce his bid for the Socialist candidacy, and some speculated he might have been framed.


"I think it's very likely a trap was set for Dominique Strauss-Kahn and he fell into it," Christine Boutin, leader of the Christian Democrat Party and a former housing minister under Sarkozy, told BFM television.


"There could be many, many origins," she said. "It could come from the IMF, it could come from the French right, it could come from the French left. But if it is the case, playing like that with France's image is not acceptable. Mr Strauss-Kahn's image is very compromised, but that is nothing next to the damage to France's image today."

Kinda stinks don't you think?

jackiebaron

Chuck Stone wrote: »

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/15/us-strausskahn-france-idUSTRE74E3LG20110515



Kinda stinks don't you think?

Whenever there are sexual assault charges levelled against someone then I'm always initially sceptical e.g. Spitzer, Assange, Beckham, etc. Likewise with Strauss-Kahn...either he did or he didn't. If the charges are spurious then why are they being made? Who would want to railroad him and why? If he's the IMF chief he's already bought and paid for.

prospect

jackiebaron wrote: »

Who would want to railroad him and why?

This is why.

* - Link to story regarding drop in Euro on markets.

Monty Burnz

This one may have legs. The Assange case is intriguing too - just too convenient for his enemies.

By the way, I heard on the radio that the hotel that the hotel he was staying in was part of the massive Fench Accor group. Now, they own an awful lot of hotels, and he may have been 'buying French' like a good patriot/poltician, but it's one more thing to add to the pot.

Of course, the most likely explanation is that he did try it on with the maid - but I certainly wouldn't be surprised if it turned out to be dirty tricks.

jackiebaron

prospect wrote: »

This is why.

* - Link to story regarding drop in Euro on markets.

Kinda glad I closed my long position on the Euro last week (after having lost 250 quid).....BASTARDS!!!!!:mad:

jackiebaron

Mike Whitney seems to think it's a fit-up:

IMF chief Strauss-Kahn caught in "Honey Trap"

By Mike Whitney

May 15, 2011 "Information Clearing House" --- I have no way of knowing whether the 32-year-old maid who claims she was attacked and forced to perform oral sex on IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, is telling the truth or not. I'll leave that to the braying hounds in the media who have already assumed the role of judge, jury and Lord High Executioner. But I will say, the whole matter smells rather fishy, just like the Eliot Spitzer story smelled fishy. Spitzer, you may recall, was Wall Street's biggest adversary and a likely candidate to head the SEC, a position at which he would have excelled. In fact, there's no doubt in my mind that if Spitzer had been appointed to lead the SEC, most of the top investment bankers on Wall Street would presently be making license plates and rope-soled shoes at the federal penitentiary. So, there was plenty of reason to shadow Spitzer's every move and see what bit of dirt could be dug up on him. As it turns out, the ex-Governor of New York made it easy for his enemies by engaging a high-priced hooker named Ashley Dupre for sex at the Mayflower Hotel. When the news broke, the media descended on Spitzer like a swarm of locusts poring over every salacious detail with the ebullient fervor of a randy 6th-grader. Meanwhile, the crooks on Wall Street were able to breathe a sigh of relief and get back to doing what they do best; fleecing investors and cheating people out of the life savings.

Strauss-Kahn had enemies in high places, too, which is why this whole matter stinks to high-Heaven. First of all, Strauss-Kahn was the likely candidate of the French Socialist Party who would have faced Sarkozy in the upcoming presidential elections. The IMF chief clearly had a leg-up on Sarkozy who has been battered by a number of personal scandals and plunging approval ratings.

But if Strauss-Kahn was set up, then it was probably by members of the western bank coalition, that shadowy group of self-serving swine whose policies have kept the greater body of humanity in varying state of poverty and desperation for the last two centuries. Strauss-Kahn had recently broke-free from the "party line" and was changing the direction of the IMF. His road to Damascus conversion was championed by progressive economist Joesph Stiglitz in a recent article titled "The IMF's Switch in Time". Here's an excerpt:

"The annual spring meeting of the International Monetary Fund was notable in marking the Fund’s effort to distance itself from its own long-standing tenets on capital controls and labor-market flexibility. It appears that a new IMF has gradually, and cautiously, emerged under the leadership of Dominique Strauss-Kahn.

Slightly more than 13 years earlier, at the IMF’s Hong Kong meeting in 1997, the Fund had attempted to amend its charter in order to gain more leeway to push countries towards capital-market liberalization. The timing could not have been worse: the East Asia crisis was just brewing – a crisis that was largely the result of capital-market liberalization in a region that, given its high savings rate, had no need for it.

That push had been advocated by Western financial markets – and the Western finance ministries that serve them so loyally. Financial deregulation in the United States was a prime cause of the global crisis that erupted in 2008, and financial and capital-market liberalization elsewhere helped spread that “made in the USA” trauma around the world....The crisis showed that free and unfettered markets are neither efficient nor stable." ("The IMF's Switch in Time", Joseph Stiglitz, Project Syndicate)

So, Strauss-Kahn was trying to move the bank in a more positive direction, a direction that didn't require that countries leave their economies open to the ravages of foreign capital that moves in swiftly--pushing up prices and creating bubbles--and departs just as fast, leaving behind the scourge of high unemployment, plunging demand, hobbled industries, and deep recession.

Strauss-Kahn had set out on a "kinder and gentler" path, one that would not force foreign leaders to privatize their state-owned industries or crush their labor unions. Naturally, his actions were not warmly received by the bankers and corporatists who look to the IMF to provide legitimacy to their ongoing plunder of the rest of the world. These are the people who think that the current policies are "just fine" because they produce the results they're looking for, which is bigger profits for themselves and deeper poverty for everyone else.

Here's Stiglitz again, this time imparting the "kiss of death" to his friend Strauss-Kahn:

"Strauss-Kahn is proving himself a sagacious leader of the IMF.... As Strauss-Kahn concluded in his speech to the Brookings Institution shortly before the Fund’s recent meeting: “Ultimately, employment and equity are building blocks of economic stability and prosperity, of political stability and peace. This goes to the heart of the IMF’s mandate. It must be placed at the heart of the policy agenda.”

Right. So, now the IMF is going to be an agent for the redistribution of wealth.... (for) "strengthening collective bargaining, restructuring mortgages, restructuring tax and spending policies to stimulate the economy now through long-term investments, and implementing social policies that ensure opportunity for all"? (according to Stiglitz)

Good luck with that.

Can you imagine how much this kind of talk pisses off the Big Money guys? How long do you think they'd put up with this claptrap before they decided that Strauss-Kahn needed to take a permanent vacation?

Not long, I'd wager.

Check this out from World Campaign and judge for yourself whether Strauss-Kahn had become a "liability" that had to be eliminated so the business of extracting wealth from the poorest people on earth could continue apace:

"For decades, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has been associated among anti-poverty, hunger and development activists as the poster child of everything wrong with the rich world's fiscal management of the rest of the world, particularly of poor nations, with its seemingly one-dimensional focus on belt-tightening fiscal policies as the price of its loans, and a trickle-down economic philosophy that has helped traditional wealthy elites maintain the status quo while the majority stayed poor and powerless. With a world increasingly in revolution because of such realities, and after the global financial crisis in the wake of regulatory and other policies that had worked after the Great Depression being largely abandoned, IMF managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn has made nothing less than stunning observations about how the IMF and the world need to change policies.

In an article today in the Washington Post, Howard Schneider writes that after the 2008 crash led toward regulation again of financial companies and government involvement in the economy, for Strauss-Khan "the job is only half done, as he has been leading the fund through a fundamental rethinking of its economic theory. In recent remarks, he has provided a broad summary of the conclusions: State regulation of markets needs to be more extensive; global policies need to create a more even distribution of income; central banks need to do more to prevent lending and asset prices from expanding too fast. 'The pendulum will swing from the market to the state,' Strauss-Kahn said in an address at George Washington University last week. 'Globalization has delivered a lot . . . but it also has a dark side, a large and growing chasm between the rich and the poor. Clearly we need a new form of globalization' to prevent the 'invisible hand' of loosely regulated markets from becoming 'an invisible fist.'" (Link---http://wcampaign.org/issue.php?mid=625&v=y)

Repeat: "...a fundamental rethinking of economic theory".... (a greater) "distribution of income"...(more) "regulation of financial companies", "central banks need to do more to prevent lending and asset prices from expanding too fast".

Are you kidding me? Read that passage again and I think you'll agree with me that Strauss-Kahn had signed his own death warrant.

There's not going to be any revolution at the IMF. That's baloney. The institution was created with the clear intention of ripping people off and it's done an impressive job in that regard. There's not going to be any change of policy either. Why would there be? Have the bankers and corporate bilge-rats suddenly grown a conscience and decided to lend a helping hand to long-suffering humanity? Get real.

Strauss-Kahn broke ranks and ventured into no man's land. That's why he was set up and then crushed like a bug.

(Note: Strauss-Kahn has been replaced by the IMF's number 2 guy, John Lipsky, former Vice Chairman of the JPMorgan Investment Bank. How's that for "change you can believe in"?)

loldog

Apparently he has a bit of previous with the whole "sex-crazed" thing.

.

listermint

And why would one run straight to a first class flight outta new york leaving all / most of your personal belongings behing....

jackiebaron

listermint wrote: »

And why would one run straight to a first class flight outta new york leaving all / most of your personal belongings behing....

Good question. If it is true that he was apprehended on the plane and brought back then it doesn't cast him in a very good light. It's always fairly damaging once you've been charged or even just arrested no matter how innocent you are and maybe Strauss-Kahn felt he might have a better chance of fighting this if he was not in US custody but rather on French soil even if an extradition order was issued for him.
From what I can gather though guys like Strauss-Khan are protected from up on high by the Prince of Darkness if they are "on-side". Just take a look at Wolfowitz and the shït he got away with with his girlfriend. No efforts made to railroad him. So too with Paulson.
Strauss-Khan may have tried it on with the maid. All those French guys are sluts but if the powers that be were happy with him they would have stone-walled or white-washed this. They would have shut her up or bought her off. Nice anonymous out-of-court settlement and he would have been told to keep his damn pistol in his pocket in future.

Cork boy 55

Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Tim Geithner And The IMF


Geither ordered this black op false flag.

Geithner an 'utter failure at IMF' DSK

http://dailybail.com/home/dominique-strauss-kahn-tim-geithner-and-the-imf.html

Chuck Stone

I'm beginning to think that there is no conspiracy - appears he's simply an aggro-perv.

Sarkos Secret Army

According to his defence attorney he rang the hotel to ask for his phone and informed them he was at the airport. Hardly the actions of a man on the run is it.

Mahatma coat

what does this mean for Ireland, Will the new softer and friendlier aproach that we have experienced from the IMF vanish and be replacved by the old Nasty nation crushing IMF of yore???????

Mahatma coat

it does smack of a Set up tho, dosent matter now if the maid recants or not he has been ousted from his position.

Chuck Stone

Yeah, looks like he's just a dirty old man.

jackiebaron

listermint wrote: »

And why would one run straight to a first class flight outta new york leaving all / most of your personal belongings behing....

Having said that, he's not exactly some anonymous guy who got into a bar-fight, punched up someone and then fled the country after charges were pressed. What could he possibly hope to gain by quitting the country? He's the head of the IMF ffs. It's not like he can just hide under the stairs at his aunt's house until this all blows over. ..... unless he's completely lost his mind.

If he did do it, what's fleeing going to accomplish? Shït, it's like the Queen of England fleeing to the Isle of Man because she nicked a hat. It's bizarre. Either he raped the maid or he didn't. If he didn't then why would he flee? Cristiano Ronaldo, the footballer, was accused to have raped a girl in a club in Manchester and once he heard of the (bogus) accusation he immediately reported to the local cop-shop and made himself available for all questions.

All I know is that if I was falsely accused of something like this I would stick around and fight the charge. If I was CORRECTLY accused of it I would sit down and say "FFFFÜCCCCKKK".....but I would know that running wouldn't save my hide, especially if I was head of the IMF.

jackiebaron

Chuck Stone wrote: »

Yeah, looks like he's just a dirty old man.

As is Berlusconni but he's NEVER lifted ..... and he's a head of state.

theboss80

Sarkozy wins second term from this allegation, that's enough for me to think there is something a miss here.

tricky D

And Sarkozy was one of the sayanim, helper of Mossad. Handy for them to keep their friend in the palace and banning burkas among other matters.

Talk E

RT news.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMMkxyYQdjU

HavingCrack

jackiebaron wrote: »

Having said that, he's not exactly some anonymous guy who got into a bar-fight, punched up someone and then fled the country after charges were pressed. What could he possibly hope to gain by quitting the country? He's the head of the IMF ffs. It's not like he can just hide under the stairs at his aunt's house until this all blows over. ..... unless he's completely lost his mind.
.

France does not extradite its citizens to stand trial abroad, end of (from what I can gather). The French apply this most strenously to the United States in particular. Look at Polanski for example. If Strauss Kahn had committed a crime he would have been safe in France. Granted, he would lose his role as IMF chief and any chance at running for French president but at least he would be a free man rather than sitting in an American prison.

conscious

innocent until proven guilty..thats how i role

FarmerMartin

conscious wrote: »

innocent until proven guilty..thats how i role

I think he is guilty, if he did what is alleged, then string him up, he's a rapist that thought he was above the law, he was pulled off a plane heading for france, although there is also the fact he was number 1 for the french presidency, so maybe some outside influence.

Johnny Favourite

stitch up..... complete stitch up........

barney4001

He is just another dirty old pervert who thinks he is entitled to these forays against vulnerable young women,i hope he gets his come uppance,$3000 a night room and him handling high finances could a cheaper room not have satisfied him,he could even have got himself a hooker instead of putting this woman through an ordeal,now the lawyers are saying a set up,well a drowning man will clutch at straws
Be interesting to see what else comes out of the cupboard

jackiebaron

HavingCrack wrote: »

France does not extradite its citizens to stand trial abroad, end of (from what I can gather). The French apply this most strenously to the United States in particular. Look at Polanski for example. If Strauss Kahn had committed a crime he would have been safe in France. Granted, he would lose his role as IMF chief and any chance at running for French president but at least he would be a free man rather than sitting in an American prison.

Yes I'm aware that no extradition treaty exists between France and the US. Although Noriega was recently extradited TO France from the US.

And lay off the "end of". You don't have the authority to shut other people up.

jackiebaron

barney4001 wrote: »

He is just another dirty old pervert who thinks he is entitled to these forays against vulnerable young women,i hope he gets his come uppance,$3000 a night room and him handling high finances could a cheaper room not have satisfied him,he could even have got himself a hooker instead of putting this woman through an ordeal,now the lawyers are saying a set up,well a drowning man will clutch at straws
Be interesting to see what else comes out of the cupboard

Hope you're never on jury duty. You'd want to skip the trial completely and move straight to conviction and execution.

Di0genes

HavingCrack wrote: »

France does not extradite its citizens to stand trial abroad, end of (from what I can gather). The French apply this most strenously to the United States in particular. Look at Polanski for example. If Strauss Kahn had committed a crime he would have been safe in France. Granted, he would lose his role as IMF chief and any chance at running for French president but at least he would be a free man rather than sitting in an American prison.

Incorrect. French Citizens must obey French Law abroad. If you commit a crime that the French consider illegal (such as rape) you can find yourself facing charges.

In France Polanski wasn't tried because the victim didn't want to press charges and viewed the sex as consensual. The French do at least have rather relaxed laws about stationary rape, if it's consensual. They gave us Vanessa Paradis

In Straus Kahn's case the sex wasn't consensual, and it clearly was rape, (or more precisely, alleged rape) so he most likely would face charges.

If Kahn had made it to France he would have faced at least a extremely serious police investigation, and most likely face a trial. France doesn't want the reputation that is a safe haven for powerful billionaire rapists.

Chuck Stone

barney4001 wrote: »

He is just another dirty old pervert who thinks he is entitled to these forays against vulnerable young women,i hope he gets his come uppance,$3000 a night room and him handling high finances could a cheaper room not have satisfied him,he could even have got himself a hooker instead of putting this woman through an ordeal,now the lawyers are saying a set up,well a drowning man will clutch at straws
Be interesting to see what else comes out of the cupboard

Pretty much this ^^.

I was really suspicious when the story broke because of the timing, his 'socialist' leanings and left of centre leadership of the IMF.

Now it seems as if he's just a common or garden powerfull ol' perv.

Cork boy 55

Geithner is behind all of this
Today he just twisted the knife a bit more.




http://www.breakingnews.ie/archives/2011/0518/world/geithner-dsk-not-in-a-position-to-run-imf-505497.html

The US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has said Dominique Strauss-Kahn is "not in a position to run" the International Monetary Fund after his arrest over an alleged sexual assault.

humanji

He's in a prison on suicide watch. I too believe he's not in a position to run the IMF.

humanji

barney4001 wrote: »

He is just another dirty old pervert who thinks he is entitled to these forays against vulnerable young women,i hope he gets his come uppance,$3000 a night room and him handling high finances could a cheaper room not have satisfied him,he could even have got himself a hooker instead of putting this woman through an ordeal,now the lawyers are saying a set up,well a drowning man will clutch at straws
Be interesting to see what else comes out of the cupboard

Guilty until proven innocent, eh? Ever been on holiday in a hotel? Why choose a hotel when you could have slept in an allyway for free? Maybe it's because you could afford a hotel? And maybe this guy can afford a more expensive hotel, him being rich and all.

digme

Strauss-Kahn faces HIV test as 60 per cent in France believe he is victim of plot

• Alleged Victim Of Dominique Strauss-Kahn Has HIV
• It has emerged the 32-year-old and her 15-year-old daughter were being housed in a Bronx apartment block by Harlem Community Aids United. The charity has not revealed the medical status of the maid, who is a migrant from Guinea, west Africa, but did confirm it only rents apartments for adults with either HIV or Aids.

xoxyx

I think this is such a weird one. Was his flight back to France already pre-booked and arranged? If so, then he was not necessarily fleeing the country - he was just catching his flight! If, however, it was only booked on the day, then that looks a lot worse.

I just don't get why a guy, who would have known the maid most likely told the hotel what happened, would ring that hotel for his phone and give away his location - unless there was stuff on the phone that he didn't want coming out. A huge risk though. I mean, didn't the maid manage to escape from the room? It's not like he had her around to convince her that she'd be in major trouble if she told anybody.

At first I thought he had probably done it, especially because of his checkered past, but then again, wouldn't it be the perfect crime to set him up for because of that past.

Weird, weird, weird!!

kazzdee

barney4001 wrote: »

He is just another dirty old pervert who thinks he is entitled to these forays against vulnerable young women,i hope he gets his come uppance,$3000 a night room and him handling high finances could a cheaper room not have satisfied him,he could even have got himself a hooker instead of putting this woman through an ordeal,now the lawyers are saying a set up,well a drowning man will clutch at straws
Be interesting to see what else comes out of the cupboard

Apparently he is a notorious letch, he nearly attacked a french reporter in 2005 but she wouldnt report it as she would never work in france again as they love a good cheating so n so in france. Shur it probably would be easier to name politicians who DONT have a mistress! He may well have thought he has diplomatic immunity also. Stinger! Pity he wasnt on official IMF business, poor DSK.

HavingCrack

jackiebaron wrote: »

Yes I'm aware that no extradition treaty exists between France and the US. Although Noriega was recently extradited TO France from the US.

And lay off the "end of". You don't have the authority to shut other people up.

Eh, I think you misunderstood my post. I wasn't trying to shut anyone up . I was trying to say (mistakenly according to DiOgenes) that if he fled to France he was safe.

Di0genes wrote: »

Incorrect. French Citizens must obey French Law abroad. If you commit a crime that the French consider illegal (such as rape) you can find yourself facing charges.

In France Polanski wasn't tried because the victim didn't want to press charges and viewed the sex as consensual. The French do at least have rather relaxed laws about stationary rape, if it's consensual. They gave us Vanessa Paradis

In Straus Kahn's case the sex wasn't consensual, and it clearly was rape, (or more precisely, alleged rape) so he most likely would face charges.

If Kahn had made it to France he would have faced at least a extremely serious police investigation, and most likely face a trial. France doesn't want the reputation that is a safe haven for powerful billionaire rapists.

Can plying a 13/14 year old girl with quaaludes and alcohol and then having oral, vaginal and anal sex with her be considered consensual??? I would say no but then again I'm not French.

Fair enough on the other points though, I presumed if he fled to France he was safe.

Hookah

Di0genes wrote: »

The French do at least have rather relaxed laws about stationary rape, if it's consensual. They gave us Vanessa Paradis

They're pushing the envelope with those sort of lax laws.

Di0genes

Hookah wrote: »

They're pushing the envelope with those sort of lax laws.

Age of Consent in France is 15. It's 13 in Spain.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ages_of_consent_in_Europe#Albania

kazzdee

xoxyx wrote: »

I think this is such a weird one. Was his flight back to France already pre-booked and arranged? If so, then he was not necessarily fleeing the country - he was just catching his flight! If, however, it was only booked on the day, then that looks a lot worse.

I just don't get why a guy, who would have known the maid most likely told the hotel what happened, would ring that hotel for his phone and give away his location - unless there was stuff on the phone that he didn't want coming out. A huge risk though. I mean, didn't the maid manage to escape from the room? It's not like he had her around to convince her that she'd be in major trouble if she told anybody.

At first I thought he had probably done it, especially because of his checkered past, but then again, wouldn't it be the perfect crime to set him up for because of that past.

Weird, weird, weird!!

Apparently he has an arrangement with Air France that he can just board whatever flight he wants and fly first class.

Pat Mustard

Strange things about the DSK case:

1. He packed his bags and left the hotel. He claims he had lunch with someone afterwards - (his daughter?) we will hear more about that during the trial. Then he rang the hotel for his phone when he was on the plane to France.

This phone call enabled detectives to track him to the airport.

Why would an intelligent fugitive ring for his phone and give away his position, if all he is thinking of is getting out of Dodge?


2. He had been considered to be the most likely next President of France, but apparently he has been so damaged by the allegations that have been made, that his candidacy is effectively over.

People mention Sarcozy as a political enemy. However, Sarcozy is an unpopular President and not at all assured of being returned, regardless of who stands against him. Maybe we should take a look to see who would benefit from DSK's demise within his own party?


3. In recent times he has had policies in mind for the IMF which conflict with the goals of powerful political and economic groups.

These ideas are now unlikely to come to pass.


4. He had a reputation as le grand séducteur or the great seducer. Apparently, he has had a number of extra marital affairs.

Not only does that make him seem a sleazy old man type, it makes him a softer target in the media in relation to allegations of sexual offences. Even if he raises a successful defence to the charges, his reputation will still be irreparably damaged. Look at all of the 'perp walk' pictures that have already circulated. Not what one looks for in a President, is it?

Further, if he is le grand séducteur, as per his reputation, wasn't it a complete change of tack to use physical force in this instance?

I am aware of the other allegation by Tristane Banon, relating to an alleged incident several years ago. Her timing is also interesting. In terms of a trial by media, she could not have chosen a moment which would have been worse for Strauss Kahn's reputation.


5. The RT news video clip posted above shows an interview with a man who makes an interesting point. He says that he never had a maid walk in on him when he was in the shower when he stayed at a hotel. Maids generally leave the room if they realise that it is occupied.

Of course it is possible that the maid entered the room and didn't realise that he was in the shower.


There are a number of strange things about the case. I'm not saying that Dominique Strauss Kahn is a nice guy. I'm just saying that I am sceptical about this whole series of events - especially after the Julian Assange case.

Di0genes

HavingCrack wrote: »

Can plying a 13/14 year old girl with quaaludes and alcohol and then having oral, vaginal and anal sex with her be considered consensual??? I would say no but then again I'm not French.

F.

Not to go into this (because I'm not about to defend Polanski) but case is as follows.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Polanski_sexual_abuse_case

As I understand it, Polanksi fled because the judge decided to overturn the original plea bargain

Chuck Stone

Di0genes wrote: »

Age of Consent in France is 15. It's 13 in Spain.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ages_of_consent_in_Europe#Albania

Wow. I didn't know that. How the hell can a 15-yr-old (let alone a bloody 13-yr-old) enter into a non-coercive relationship with an adult.

FML!

HavingCrack

Di0genes wrote: »

Not to go into this (because I'm not about to defend Polanski) but case is as follows.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Polanski_sexual_abuse_case

As I understand it, Polanksi fled because the judge decided to overturn the original plea bargain

I wouldn't expect you to and we're dragging the thread off-topic so I will stop.

Chuck Stone wrote: »

Wow. I didn't know that. How the hell can a 15-yr-old (let alone a bloody 13-yr-old) enter into a non-coercive relationship with an adult.

FML!

Actually, the idea that a 15 year old (or indeed a 13 year old) can be considered a 'child' or legal minor is a relatively modern one by historical standards.

In the ancient world 11 or 12 was the common age of marriage for girls. The age was roughly similar in the medieval period in Europe. In fact the age of consent remained in and around 12 in most European states and the United States and Canada from the 1600s up until the 1890s or so.

Interestingly, boys generally didn't have sex until closer to 17 but it was ok for 12 year old girls to do so, which is seriously messed up.

It was only the changing social attitudes and gradual revival of puritan values in the early 20th century that the age of consent rose to 16 and above. In fact in Ireland I believe the age of consent for marriage remained at 14 for girls and 15 for boys until the 1960's??? (If I'm wrong someone correct me).

Basically, 12-14 was considered the normal time for marriage for much of history as adolescence did not exist, people began working as soon as they finished the equivalent of primary school (if they attended school at all).

Chuck Stone

But the 11-12 year olds were gettin married to 14-15 year olds.. no?

Hookah

Di0genes wrote: »

Age of Consent in France is 15. It's 13 in Spain.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ages_of_consent_in_Europe#Albania

Stationary rape offenders deserve to be thrown in the pen.

jackiebaron

Chuck Stone wrote: »

Wow. I didn't know that. How the hell can a 15-yr-old (let alone a bloody 13-yr-old) enter into a non-coercive relationship with an adult.

FML!

Doesn't necessarily have to be a relationship with an adult. Could be with another 13 year-old. And there are restrictions in that stipulation. If it's deemed that an under-16 year was pressured, deceived or unwittingly coaxed then charges can be levelled.

jackiebaron

Di0genes wrote: »

Incorrect. French Citizens must obey French Law abroad. If you commit a crime that the French consider illegal (such as rape) you can find yourself facing charges.

In France Polanski wasn't tried because the victim didn't want to press charges and viewed the sex as consensual. The French do at least have rather relaxed laws about stationary rape, if it's consensual. They gave us Vanessa Paradis

In Straus Kahn's case the sex wasn't consensual, and it clearly was rape, (or more precisely, alleged rape) so he most likely would face charges.

If Kahn had made it to France he would have faced at least a extremely serious police investigation, and most likely face a trial. France doesn't want the reputation that is a safe haven for powerful billionaire rapists.

When did he say that French citizens don't have to obey the law abroad? Why are you constantly getting the wrong end of the stick? EVERYONE must obey the law. You make it sound like he suggested that French citizens abroad enjoy some sort of blanket "diplomatic immunity". He stated that France doesn't EXTRADITE its citizens to stand trial abroad. Simple as that and as far as I know this is not "incorrect".
Can you provide us with an instance whereby France extradited a citizen to the US or anywhere else to answer charges?


And what the fcuk is "stationary" rape?? You rape someone while remaining still?
The term is STATUTORY rape.

jackiebaron

kazzdee wrote: »

Apparently he is a notorious letch, he nearly attacked a french reporter in 2005 but she wouldnt report it as she would never work in france again as they love a good cheating so n so in france. Shur it probably would be easier to name politicians who DONT have a mistress! He may well have thought he has diplomatic immunity also. Stinger! Pity he wasnt on official IMF business, poor DSK.

Plenty of "woulds" in this moronic conjecture. Do you bay for blood for everyone before they've even stood trial?

jackiebaron

Strauss-Kahn simply had to be eliminated. The Amerikan Police State Strides Forward
By Paul Craig Roberts


May 18, 2011 "Information Clearing House" -- The International Monetary Fund’s director, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, was arrested last Sunday in New York City on the allegation of an immigrant hotel maid that he attempted to rape her in his hotel room. A New York judge has denied Strauss-Kahn bail on the grounds that he might flee to France.

President Bill Clinton survived his sexual escapades, because he was a servant to the system, not a threat. But Strauss-Kahn, like former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, was a threat to the system, and, like Eliot Spitzer, Strass-Kahn has been deleted from the power ranks.

Strauss-Kahn was the first IMF director in my lifetime, if memory serves, who disavowed the traditional IMF policy of imposing on the poor and ordinary people the cost of bailing out Wall Street and the Western banks. Strauss-Kahn said that regulation had to be reimposed on the greed-driven, fraud-prone financial sector, which, unregulated, destroyed the lives of ordinary people. Strauss-Kahn listened to Nobel economist Joseph Stiglitz, one of a handful of economists who has a social conscience.

Perhaps the most dangerous black mark in Strauss-Kahn’s book is that he was far ahead of America’s French puppet, President Sarkozy, in the upcoming French elections. Strauss-Kahn simply had to be eliminated.

It is possible that Strauss-Kahn eliminated himself and saved Washington the trouble. However, as a well-travelled person who has often stayed in New York hotels and in hotels in cities around the world, I have never experienced a maid entering unannounced into my room, much less when I was in the shower.

In the spun story, Strauss-Kahn is portrayed as so deprived of sex that he attempted to rape a hotel maid. Anyone who ever served on the staff of a powerful public figure knows that this is unlikely. On a senator’s staff on which I served, there were two aides whose job was to make certain that no woman, with the exception of his wife, was ever alone with the senator. This was done to protect the senator both from female power groupies, who lust after celebrities and powerful men, and from women sent by a rival on missions to compromise an opponent. A powerful man such as Strauss-Kahn would not have been starved for women, and as a multi-millionaire he could certainly afford to make his own discreet arrangements.

As Henry Kissinger said, “power is the ultimate aphrodisiac.” In politics, sex is handed out as favors and payoffs, and it is used as a honey trap. Some Americans will remember that Senator Packwood’s long career (1969-1995) was destroyed by a female lobbyist, suspected, according to rumors, of sexual conquests of Senators, who charged that Packwood propositioned her in his office. Perhaps what inspired the charge was that Packwood was in the way of her employer’s legislative agenda.

Even those who exercise care can be framed by allegations of an event to which there are no witnesses. On May 16 the British Daily Mail reported that prior to Strauss-Kahn’s fateful departure for New York, the French newspaper, Liberation, published comments he made while discussing his plans to challenge Sarkozy for the presidency of France. Strauss-Kahn said that as he was the clear favorite to beat Sarkozy, he would be subjected to a smear campaign by Sarkozy and his interior minister, Glaude Gueant. Strauss-Kahn predicted that a woman would be offered between 500,000 and 1,000,000 euros (more than $1,000,000) to make up a story that he raped her.

The Daily Mail reports that Strauss-Kahn’s suspicions are supported by the fact that the first person to break the news of Strauss-Kahn’s arrest was an activist in Mr Sarkozy’s UMP party – who apparently knew about the scandal before it happened. Jonathan Pinet, a politics student, tweeted the news just before the New York Police Department made it public, although he said that he simply had a ‘friend’ working at the Sofitel where the attack was said to have happened.
The first person to re-tweet Mr Pinet was Arnaud Dassier, a spin doctor who had previously publicised details of multi-millionaire Strauss-Kahn’s luxurious lifestyle in a bid to dent his left wing credentials.
Strauss-Kahn could just as easily been set up by rivals inside the IMF, as well as by rivals within the French political establishment.
Michelle Sabban, a senior councillor for the greater Paris region and a Strauss-Kahn loyalist said: ‘I am convinced it is an international conspiracy.’
She added: ‘It's the IMF they wanted to decapitate, not so much the Socialist primary candidate.
‘It's not like him. Everyone knows that his weakness is seduction, women. That's how they got him.’
Even some of Strauss-Kahn’s rivals said they could not believe the news. ‘It is totally hallucinatory,’ said centrist Dominique Paille.
‘If it is true, this would be a historic moment, but in the negative sense, for French political life. I hope that everyone respects the presumption of innocence. I cannot manage to believe this affair.’
And Henri de Raincourt, minister for overseas co-operation in President Nicolas Sarkozy's government, added: ‘We cannot rule out the thought of a trap.’


Michelle Sabban is on to something when she says the IMF was the target. Strauss-Kahn is the first IMF director who is not lined up on the side of the rich against the poor. Strauss-Kahn’s suspicions were of Sarkozy, but Wall Street and the US government also had strong reasons to eliminate him. Wall Street is terrified by the prospect of regulation, and Washington was embarrassed by the recent IMF report that China’s economy would surpass the US economy within five years. An international conspiracy is not out of the question.

Indeed, the plot is unfolding as a conspiracy. Authorities have produced a French woman who claims she was a near rape victim of Strauss-Kahn a decade ago. It would be interesting to know whether this allegation is the result of a threat or a bribe. As in the case of Julian Assange, there are now two women to accuse Strauss-Kahn. Once the prosecutors get the odds of two females against one male, they win in the media.

It has not been revealed how the authorities knew Strauss-Kahn was on a flight to France. However, by arresting him aboard his scheduled flight just as it was to depart, the authorities created the image of a man fleeing from a crime.

The way Amerikan justice (sic) works is that prosecutors in about 96 percent of the cases get a plea bargain. US prosecutors are permitted by judges and the public to pay for testimony against the defendant and to put sufficient pressure on innocent defendants to coerce them into making a guilty plea in exchange for lesser charges and a lighter sentence. Unless the hotel maid has a spell of bad conscience and admits she was paid to lie, or gets cold feet about perjuring herself, Strauss-Kahn is likely to find that Amerikan criminal justice (sic) is organized to produce conviction regardless of innocence or guilt.

On May 16, the day following Strauss-Kahn’s arrest, the US Supreme Court threw its weight behind the Amerikan police state by destroying the remains of the Fourth Amendment with an 8-1 ruling that, the U.S. Constitution notwithstanding, Amerika’s police do not need warrants to invade homes and search persons.

This ruling is more evidence that every American is regarded as a potential enemy of the state, not only by Airport Security but also by the high muckety-mucks in Washington. The conservatives’ “war on crime” has created a police state, and conservatives, who originally stood for limited government and civil liberty, are euphoric over the expanded and unaccountable powers that a conservative Supreme Court has handed to the police.

On the same day the federal government reached the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling, which forced the Treasury to “borrow” money from federal employee pensions in order to continue funding Amerika’s illegal wars and crimes against humanity. The breached debt ceiling serves as an appropriate marker for a country that has squandered its constitutional heritage and has arrived at moral as well as fiscal bankruptcy.

UPDATE - In the several hours since I wrote this article, authorities have announced that Strauss-Kahn, who was refused bail on specious grounds, has been put on suicide watch. Why announce it unless it serves an agenda? From the beginning every statement and action of the authorities is designed to convey the impression of guilt. Is putting Strauss-Kahn on suicide watch a way to paint a picture of a person who can't face the public humiliation of his crime? Is it a way to use the humiliation of constant interruption to break down his character and resolve? Or might it be to plant the idea that should he expire in prison, suicide is the explanation?

jackiebaron

Strauss-Kahn tendered his resignation today. So they got what they wanted. What are the odds now that this doesn't go to trial, hence avoiding having the maid perjure herself in court?

They'll release DSK under a ridiculous plea bargain agreement where he'll plead guilty to some misdemeanor like "menacing" ... maximum term in the US 1 year. They'll suspend the sentence and send him packing to France where he'll be placed under house arrest and a gag order will be placed on him. His career is over now and the regulation that he was going to place on the Wall Street gangsters is history.

A good man has been well and truly stitched up.

barney4001

jackiebaron wrote: »

Hope you're never on jury duty. You'd want to skip the trial completely and move straight to conviction and execution.

in this case rightly so