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http://mashable.com/2013/05/27/gawker-r ... ckstarter/
Gawker successfully raised $200,000 on Monday to bankroll the purchase of an iPhone video that allegedly shows Toronto mayor Rob Ford smoking crack cocaine. But with an AWOL seller, the media company is losing faith in completing the transaction.
At the time of writing, the Indiegogo campaign — dubbed "Crackstarter" — has raised just over $200,000 — the king's ransom demanded by drug dealers who say they smoked crack with Ford. But with the sellers MIA, just if and when we see the footage is very much in question.
Gawker editor-in-chief John Cook, who says he's seen the tape, describes the video as follows:
Rob Ford, the mayor of Toronto, is the only person visible in the frame. Prior to the trip, I spent a lot of time looking at photographs of Rob Ford. The man in the video is Rob Ford. It is well-lit, clear. Ford is seated, in a room in a house. In one hand is a a clear, glass pipe. The kind with a big globe and two glass cylinders sticking out of it. In the other hand is a lighter. A slurred voice off-camera is ranting about Canadian politics in what sounds like an attempt to goad Ford ... Ford, pipe in one hand and lighter in the other, is laughing, and mildly protesting at the sacrilege. He seems to keep trying to light the pipe, but keeps stopping to laugh. He is red-faced and sweaty, heaving with each breath. Finally, he finds his moment and lights up.
In addition to Gawker, journalists from The Toronto Star say they've seen the tape — and that it's real.
Joe Hillshoist » Mon May 27, 2013 9:39 pm wrote:This story just made mainstream midday news in Australia possibly including alleged stills from the alleged video. Or else they were just photos of him hanging with black people. (Which must be sus cos everyone knows they're all criminals.)
Canadian_watcher » 28 May 2013 16:40 wrote:Joe Hillshoist » Mon May 27, 2013 9:39 pm wrote:This story just made mainstream midday news in Australia possibly including alleged stills from the alleged video. Or else they were just photos of him hanging with black people. (Which must be sus cos everyone knows they're all criminals.)
I know the picture you're referring to and I have to say that I was completely offended by it when I first saw it for the very reasons you articulated above. I still am. Just what are they trying to get at with it, I wonder, since I am not under the impression that it's a still from the video - and why did they blur out some faces - is it because they were of non black people??
Don't get me wrong, from everything I can see Rob Ford is not a decent human being and if he is guilty he should FINALLY, after all his quasi-criminal and ignorant behaviour be removed from office but that photo itself bothers me for its seemingly racist overtones.
Jerky » Tue May 28, 2013 12:48 pm wrote:People, don't be gooey about how "racist" the picture is.
It isn't.
It's a fact.
AND it shows the mayor in the company NOT just of black people, but of known drug dealers, including two (a whole 2/3ds of the non-Ford individuals posing!) who were GUNNED DOWN shortly after videotaping the mayor smoking crack.
That photo needed showing, there are no two ways about it.
Jerky
Jerky » Tue May 28, 2013 1:23 pm wrote:But this is the picture that has been submitted to the media BY the individuals holding the video, and it was taken on the same night. They submitted it as part of the evidence package. Just because evidence isn't nice sometimes doesn't mean we look away, right?
Jerky
Jerky » 29 May 2013 03:48 wrote:People, don't be gooey about how "racist" the picture is.
It isn't.
It's a fact.
AND it shows the mayor in the company NOT just of black people, but of known drug dealers, including two (a whole 2/3ds of the non-Ford individuals posing!) who were GUNNED DOWN shortly after videotaping the mayor smoking crack.
That photo needed showing, there are no two ways about it.
Jerky
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