11 ms·
Indiegogo fund raises enough money to buy video of Mayor Rob Ford smoking crack
- iharris 13y agoSome context: Rob Ford is the mayor of Toronto, the most populous city in Canada. This is the newest of numerous controversies during his time in office. Edit: it's also worth noting that Mayor Ford's relationship with the media has been... colorful. Some funny cases include him calling 80% of journalists "maggots" (1) and lying about a drunken outburst back in 2006 (2). (1) http://read.thestar.com/#!/article/51a27b477b1eacc589c3f4ae-rob-ford-there-s-no-video-reporters-are-a-bunch-of-maggots http://read.thestar.com/#!/article/51a27b477b1eacc589c3f4ae-... (2) http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2006/05/03/tor-ford060503.html http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2006/05/03/tor-f...
- muratmutlu 13y agoThanks, I added a bit of context
- HorizonXP 13y agoThe fact that this is getting such widespread attention is making Toronto look like a farce, and as someone from there, it really upsets me. Now when I tell people I'm from Toronto, it will be, "Oh, that's the city with the crack smoking mayor right?" Really unfortunate and despicable. Cannot believe we voted this idiot into office.
- soperj 13y agoTo be fair, this: "Oh, that's the city with the crack smoking mayor right?" Could also refer to Washington DC.
- spamizbad 13y agoWashington DC would be "Oh, that's the city with the crack smoking mayor who was reelected, right?"
- toyg 13y agoWelcome to the club! I come from the country that voted one Silvio Berlusconi to head the government. Multiple times. For 20 years.
- yogo 13y agoI find that it makes Toronto more interesting. A mayor smoking crack? It doesn't get better than that, and it was about time someone turned it up a notch--having multiple mistresses is for the rookies. This guy knows how to party and I would expect him to be reelected :D. Plus from what I can tell he wasn't busting crackheads left and right while doing the drug himself. That gets more respect than uh, let's say a guy busting prostitution rings while banging prostitutes himself lol.
- soperj 13y agoMore than that, his brother (Doug Ford - also a counselor) is being accused of being a high level hashish dealer in the 80s. 2 of his staffers have now quit, and one was fired for apparently telling him to go to rehab. He's been told that he's no longer wanted as a volunteer high school football coach. Also has been kicked out of a hockey game for being too intoxicated and was arrested for dui & possession of marijuana in florida before he became mayor. It's a circus. Also he was almost kicked out of office at Christmas time this year for voting on something in which he had a vested interest.
- afterburner 13y agoHere's an interesting overview of Rob Ford's shenanigans in 2012: http://torontoist.com/2012/12/2012-villain-rob-ford/ http://torontoist.com/2012/12/2012-villain-rob-ford/
- quinndupont 13y agoAnd, there's a good chance that the video will not surface because Rob Ford (or, you know, the way mob bosses wink) ordered the murder of the video owner: http://gawker.com/ford-staffer-tells-police-about-tip-linking-crack-video-509995085 http://gawker.com/ford-staffer-tells-police-about-tip-linkin... [Edit: uhm, tongue in cheek, obviously. But Rob Ford is pretty clearly messed up with some dodgy people doing dodgy things.]
- muratmutlu 13y agoCrazy, I've never thought about crowdfunding in this way before, feels like some sort of interactive scandal
- bob13579 13y agoYou're already convicting him for murder based on contradicted conjecture?
- quinndupont 13y agoThat the "CP24" (<-- not real journalists) released information attempting to nullify the claims isn't quite "contradicted conjecture". And really, humour anyone?
- alan_cx 13y agoAt the risk of my karma, they don't do humour here. No sense of humour what so ever from what I can work out. Lost more karma due to humour than anything else here. Fair enough and all that, not ever where has to go with humour, but be warned. Of course I guess I'll now be told that is my fault, my humour doesn't work, how dare I suggest a lack of humour, and get down slapped, but there you go. Of course, I will then have to say that proved my point, as some sort of reply, that will also get down voted. And so on... So, there is is in one post, figured it would be more efficient!!!! Now, can the humourless work out any of that is supposed to be funny?
- Cushman 13y ago
- Apocryphon 13y agoYou know, I had been previously thinking about crowdfunding competitors to Kickstarter. Like Google, that company has pretty much cornered the market in mindshare to the point that kickstarting is synonymous with crowdfunding. Good on Indiegogo, the West Coast/Silicon Valley alternative, for establishing itself with this, I guess.
- shawnc 13y agoIndieGoGo has nothing to do with this, aside from it being on their site. It's a poorly written headline. If anything it should say 'Gawker fund raises enough money...' But yes, i'm very happy to see others succeeding at crowdfunding outside of KickStarter, and I firmly believe those with large followings don't even need to be using an outside source, but could be doing it on their own websites.
- kmfrk 13y agoMore like cornered it like Apple, since there is an approval process for all projects. IGG is an open barn door by comparison, which is what drives a lot of project creators there.
- sethbannon 13y agoThis isn't exactly great attention for Indiegogo. With the most recent update that "Our confidence that we can consummate this transaction has diminished." this only serves to make the Kickstarter model of filtering submissions look even better.
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- bob13579 13y agoSeems like a bait-and-switch. Horrible.
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- kmfrk 13y agoThey will donate any surplus money to a charity relevant to dealing with drug addiction.
- dmix 13y agoUgh... > UPDATE-- MAY 27, 2013, 9:46 AM EASTERN EDT: We have had no further contact with the people we believe to have custody of this video since the last update. IMPORTANT UPDATE: Our confidence that we can consummate this transaction has diminished.
- themstheones 13y agoThe fallback position of giving the money to addiction and mental health charities was arguably a better outcome than giving the money to dealers. And one of the reporters who saw the video was on the radio this morning saying that three other copies are floating around.
- mladenkovacevic 13y agoSo it's a win-win-win.. the supposed drug-dealers are 200k short, the people who originally donated money to defame and ruin a man's political career now feel noble and charitable again because it turns our they donated to a good cause after all, and Rob Ford's political career is ruined forever. Couldn't have asked for a more wonderfully humanitarian outcome.
- krrrh 13y agoIt seems likely to me that other members in their gang or community must have taken care of these guys by now. Who would buy drugs from anyone associated with these guys after such a major leak of personal information? The "Somali" brand has undoubtedly taken a huge hit now that its clear that, like so many young operations experiencing growth, they didnt take security seriously enough from the start. The guys at the top must be in full damage-control mode, because they're going to lose a magnitude more revenue than a measly $200k. I don't know who their competition is, but there's a big opening for a mid-sized crack dealer to rapidly expand their marketshare if they can convince their customers that they take the security of their personal information seriously. As for the guys with the video, think what happened to David Barksdale http://gawker.com/5637234/gcreep-google-engineer-stalked-teens-spied-on-chats http://gawker.com/5637234/gcreep-google-engineer-stalked-tee... ...but cross it with what happened to D'Angelo Barksdale. It's so ironic and weird that Gawker was involved in poisoning David Barksdale's employment opportunities, and is also involved in the Rob Ford case, while still living under the shadow of the millions of passwords they leaked last year.
- borgchick 13y agoPerhaps the drug dealers got smart, "hey, if we hand over the video showing Ford smoking the crack we sold him, doesn't that prove we are drug dealers? damn mo-fo, we outta here!"
- sbarre 13y agoWell I had actually wondered as well about the simple logistics of accepting a $200k payment. Clearly Gawker would need some kind of paper trail before making that payment, not just for tax purposes but simply because I'm pretty sure there are laws that govern transfers that large.. So the recipient would have to declare that income at tax time (and possibly even file paperwork on receipt) to at the very least pay taxes on it, which would put them on the government's radar, which is something they may want less than they would want $200k..
- robotresearcher 13y agoIt's still legal to use cash to pay for things. Let's not assume that we've lost that ability until it happens. It's an important privacy we shouldn't give up easily.
- sbarre 13y agoI'm not sure that a US business can take out $200k from the bank, bring it across the border into Canada undeclared, and give it to a random person without any kind of paperwork or tracking.. Maybe I'm wrong! I'd just be pretty surprised about it..
- robotresearcher 13y agoYou're right about the border crossing. I didn't consider that. Canada wants documentation after $10K. http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/publications/pub/bsf5052-eng.html http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/publications/pub/bsf5052-eng.html
- jaredmcateer 13y ago
- mladenkovacevic 13y agoI'm a Torontonian, and definitely not a fan of Rob Ford, but somehow it feels like there is an ongoing, organized effort to get him out of the office and out of politics (whether by the opposing parties, or some other organization). Sometimes he really doesn't help the issue by somehow managing to charge head first into even more trouble, but the string of various things he's been charged/accused of can't be coincidental. Now there's a video of him smoking crack (which it looks like nobody will see, but trust us - it's there!), then there are some anonymous drug dealers who swear that Rob's brother Doug was a major drug-lord back in the day (which for some reason, just surfaces now). I don't know... it's all a bit convenient and yet ethereal.
- themstheones 13y agoHe fired his chief of staff last week for telling him to go to rehab. This is according to the Sun which, as newspapers go, has been his cheerleader for the past ten years. So you can't claim there's no substance to the drug allegations when his highest ranking staff-member is advising him to get help.
- mladenkovacevic 13y agoIs this the article? http://www.torontosun.com/2013/05/23/rob-ford-told-to-go-to-rehab http://www.torontosun.com/2013/05/23/rob-ford-told-to-go-to-... Here's how that accusation starts: "But a source familiar with the situation told the Sun...". So again, no names, no factual evidence, nothing concrete. Just for the record I'm not saying that Rob Ford didn't smoke crack or that his brother wasn't some kind of drug lord... in fact it wouldn't surprise me at all. I'm just commenting on how relentlessly someone seems to be trying to ruin their political careers. As far as the Sun being Ford's cheerleader, yes it's true they are the token "conservative" media outlet. Just as Fox News is the conservative source in the US. But here's what I believe about their role in the media landscape. As the most prominent conservative media, their job is to be so ludicrous and untrustworthy that only the most hard-core conservatives would actually listen to them. The John Stewart show is quite good at highlighting just how ridiculous Fox News is, for example. This way you are left with other more-or-less liberal mainstream media as the most accessible and most credible source of news. This way you can channel all kinds of propaganda along with the other "trustworthy" news. And that's how wars and surveillance-drones are sold to tax-payers. Sorry for the conspiracy theory rant.
- ronnier 13y agoI have no idea who Mayor Rob Ford is, but I assume he must be to the right of center for this to be the top item on HN.
- chollida1 13y agoIf only there was a way for you to look this up... http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Rob+Ford http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Rob+Ford
- ronnier 13y agoIt's more of a comment about the predictability of political articles on HN.
- gadders 13y agoAlthough Toronto local politics is supposed to be non-partisan, he is indeed a right-wing politician.
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- gyardley 13y agoUnless my memory's completely shot, the Globe and Mail didn't endorse Ford. Did you read the endorsement article you linked to? It ends with "The electors of Toronto should guardedly opt for George Smitherman."
- manishsharan 13y agoOoops ! You are right. My bad.
- Oculus 13y agoAs a Torontonian, this is just embarrassing. Someone get this guy out of office already..
- CoachRufus87 13y agoObviously a lot of you guys don't like Mr. Ford and he doesn't sound like a decent person, but why is this on HN? I fail to see how this relates to tech or entrepreneurship.
- Tyrannosaurs 13y agoIt's an interesting, if potentially worrying, development in crowd sourcing - I think that makes it tangentially related.
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- eli 13y agoHN frontpage sometimes strays rather far off-topic on weekends (today is a holiday in the US).
- weisser 13y agoThis is, to my knowledge, the first time a crowdfunding platform has been used as a way to raise money in an attempt to buy a video of alleged misconduct by a politician from a drug cartel.
- quinndupont 13y agoTrue true. But, while we're at it, can we stop posting articles about how higher education sucks, and how veiled libertarian ideals rule? Politics belong somewhere else, or, there's simply no membrane careful enough to prevent this.
- TruthElixirX 13y agoShows how tech is shaping the world around us? I don't think anyone has ever crowdsourced a black mail video before, have they?
- unreal37 13y agoI'm from Toronto and have been following this story closely. But even I am surprised to see this at the top of HN... You know, it only take a small amount of votes in a short period to get to the top...
- cmbaus 13y agoThis somewhat off topic, but I just got back from Toronto last week. Great city. It has been 20 years since I've been up there and a lot has changed. There are concerns about the development that is going on, but seeing new urban housing going up is refreshing compared with many US cities which effectively have no growth policies. Based on the number of units that seemed ready to hit the market, I suspect Toronto could see significantly lower housing prices in the future. I just hope it doesn't end in financial ruin for the banks.
- afterburner 13y agoOn the other hand about 60,000 immigrants move to Toronto every year, so there's plenty of people who want housing.
- cmbaus 13y agoI think it good that developers in the city are able to meet the demand rather than ignore it. I'd like to see this level of development happening in US cities. It looks like progress.
- bsims 13y agoIs anyone else bothered by the fact that if the [Insert Kickstarter project here] doesn't materialize there are few things holding the founder/creator accountable? In this case, if they don't obtain the video they are simply going to donate $200k to a charity that they will "figure out what that is later if it comes to it."
- cmnzs 13y agoInterestingly, another candidate (George Smitherman) who ran against Ford for the 2010 municipal election in Toronto admitted to being addicted to "an illegal drug" before running for political office. I wasn't living in Toronto when the election was going on so I didn't really pay attention to the media re: the election, but I wonder how they portrayed him at the time
- sinemetu11 13y agoThis is definitely interesting. It makes me wonder if there is a possibility to crowd-fund more "information retrieval" like this.
- phaus 13y agoWeren't they originally claiming that his drug dealers shot the video? If so, isn't it actually more harmful to society to give a bunch of crack dealers $200,000 than it is for the mayor of Toronto to smoke crack?
- xxchan 13y agoCompare who has more influence and therefore potential for harming the public - two dealers with $200k or a crackhead mayor of a city with 2.6M inhabitants.