Is the Head of the IMF a Sex Criminal?

He may end up president of France after all!!!!!!!!!!

Banon says she long hesitated to come forward to file charges with authorities that Strauss-Kahn attempted to rape her during a Feb. 2003 interview because she dreaded the invasive probing, attacks, and media attention sure to follow. Previously, however, she rarely shied away from laying other sensitive autobiographical information out on the written page for anyone interested to look over. Indeed, it's because she's used so much of her own past to create the anguish, deprivation, ambition, promiscuity, and psycho-drama that inhabit her novels that DSK backers will have a hard time claiming to unmask her as a flake or emotionally scarred woman, or triumphantly discover unsavory skeletons hidden in her closet. Banon's life and emotions are, literally, open books.
"(It's) lost, as my father is,” Banon writes in one of her novels of a birth certificate that vanished—as her father did—hours after she came into this world. “Lost, from now on, as I'll be for the rest of my life.”
If that sounds melodramatic, it isn't uncharacteristic of Banon's based-on-herself fictional characters—though it would also be insensitive and unfair to claim the woman is a gratuitous whiner or wimp. Born June 17, 1979 in the posh Paris suburb (and political stronghold of current President Nicolas Sarkozy) Neuilly-sur-Seine, Marie-Caroline Banon—who later started using the name Tristane as perhaps more evocative of her existential melancholy—did not exactly fall into the protective, nurturing parental arms most children do. Father Gabriel Banon, a businessman who once advised French President Georges Pompidou and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat on economic and industrial issues, left his newborn baby's hospital bed to fetch the never-to-materialize birth certificate, and remained virtually absent from his child's life from there. Recently, Banon was quoted as saying she wasn't even sure he was still alive—an apparent detachment that her writing suggests was either affected or imposed. “Fatherless 27 years out of 27 implies lots of mental disorder,” the female character in Banon's third novel, the 2008 Daddy Frenzy, laments.
Maternal support wasn't exactly stifling either, recent biographical portraits of Banon suggest. Mother Anne Mansouret—a driven businesswoman who has since become an elected regional official from the Socialist Party—was so focused on her career, social pursuits, and male callers, Banon's writing indicates, that she also was largely absent from her child's life. Banon says the occupied Mansouret entrusted her daughter to a nanny that Banon describes as an alcoholic who regularly beat her ward. On one occasion, Banon writes in her first autobiographically-inspired 2004 novel, one of the nanny's male friends wound up sexually abusing the child. Perhaps not surprisingly, that book's title, I Forgot to Kill Her, is a dark reference to Banon's care-taker—though she's far from the only adult to come away looking negligent, brutally uncaring, and irresponsible


Read more: http://globalspin.blogs.time.com/2011/07/07/tristan-banons-writering-offers-bio-background-on-dsks-french-accuser/#ixzz1RkrQarPz

The new details about the how the French president’s office found out about Strauss Kahn’s detention, have surfaced at a time when his accuser is also making startling headlines.

The latest issue of Journal de Dimanche also carried a report that the chambermaid, a West-African immigrant, was placed into her hotel job with the help of the International Rescue Committee (IRC), a reputable humanitarian organization.

The group helps asylum seekers, like Strauss-Kahn’s accuser, find work in their host countries

The International Rescue Committee responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and helps people to survive and rebuild their lives. Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, the IRC offers lifesaving care and life-changing assistance to refugees forced to flee from war or disaster. At work today in over 40 countries and in 22 U.S. cities, the IRC restores safety, dignity and hope to millions who are uprooted and struggling to endure.

If I was a voter in France Hawkeye I would by this time be so outage concerning this whole matter that I would vote for him even if I would not normally do so.

Le schéma le plus probable est que l'enquête préliminaire se termine par un non lieu, sans saisine d'un juge d'instruction par le Parquet, en raison de la prescription de 3 ans, s'appliquant à d'éventuels faits de tentative d'agression sexuelle qui se seraient produits en 2003 (et non de tentative de viol, comme relaté au § 13).

The pattern is most likely that preliminary hearing ends with a non-place, without referral to a magistrate by the prosecution, because of the requirement of three years, applies to any acts of attempted sexual assault that allegedly occurred in 2003 (and not attempted rape, as reported in § 13).

those who have a sadistic need to bend all of us to their will

Prosecutors and Dominique Strauss-Kahn's defense team have agreed to push back the upcoming hearing in the case, to August 1 from July 18, giving Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance, Jr. and his team more time to decide whether or not to dismiss the sexual assault charges against Strauss-Kahn, offer him a plea bargain, or pursue the case full bore. According to the Times, Assistant DA Joan Illuzi-Orbon, who is heading up the Strauss-Kahn case, wrote in her request to the court that the move would "provide both parties with additional time for their investigations." The defense adamantly believes that the case will go away, stating, "We hope that during this time, the district attorney will make the necessary decision to dismiss the case."
Yesterday, supporters of Strauss-Kahn's accuser, including State Senator Bill Perkins and Assemblyman Eric Stevenson, gathered in Harlem to send a message to the DA's office that the case should continue to be "vigorously" prosecuted, despite blows to the woman's credibility and allegations that the she was a prostitute. "This is a powerful white man; this is a very poor African woman. For us to ignore race would not really be looking at reality," Perkins told the paper. Strauss-Kahn's attorney said of the gathering, "It's fine to have a rally, but this woman lied in the grand jury. But the question isn't whether she has political support or is a good person. No number of rallies is going to change the facts."
Meanwhile, Strauss-Kahn's attorneys in France made good on their threats and have filed a defamation suit against the journalist accusing him of sexual assault in 2003. French officials are continuing to review the complaint that the woman, Tristane Banon, made against Strauss-Kahn, alleging that he removed her bra and attempted to remove her jeans, and will ultimately decide whether or not to prosecute him.

Yesterday, supporters of Strauss-Kahn's accuser, including State Senator Bill Perkins and Assemblyman Eric Stevenson, gathered in Harlem to send a message to the DA's office that the case should continue to be "vigorously" prosecuted, despite blows to the woman's credibility and allegations that the she was a prostitute. "This is a powerful white man; this is a very poor African woman. For us to ignore race would not really be looking at reality,"

Kind of remind me of the rallies and the statements of such people in the Duke players so call rape case IE poor black lady working her way through college and rich spoil white kids who raped her.

Faced with a straight choice between Nicolas Sarkozy and Dominique Strauss-Kahn, 54 per cent of French voters would vote for a man accused of attempted rape, a new poll indicates.

Of all the scathing judgements heaped on Mr Sarkozy in his four years as President, a BVA opinion poll published yesterday was the most damning. For the first time since May, when Mr Strauss-Kahn was arrested in New York, French people were asked how they would vote if "DSK" happened to reach a two-candidate run-off against Mr Sarkozy in the second round of the French presidential election next May.

Although Mr Strauss-Kahn's rating dropped sharply from his commanding, pre-arrest position, 54 per cent of those questioned said that they would still vote for the former IMF chief rather than for than the incumbent, Mr Sarkozy. This was, almost certainly, a ringing vote of no-confidence in Mr Sarkozy rather than a genuine declaration of support for Mr Strauss-Kahn.

Sex Scandal , International Monetary Fund , Dominique Strauss-Kahn , Dsk , New York News

The case against former International Monetary Fund Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn appears to be rapidly unraveling; as perhaps it should given what we have learned in the two months since the case first broke. Still, the collapse of an initially-promising, high profile prosecution should be no more a catalyst leading to calls for the head of the prosecutor, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr., than should the initial arrest of DSK on charges of forcible rape, have justified calls for the Frenchman's head.

Lessons are to be gleaned for all sides in the unenviable situation in which Vance now finds himself. Unfortunately, the case has deteriorated into everything a prosecution in the public interest should not be.

Perhaps most distressing has been the politicization of the case against Strauss-Kahn precipitated by the commendable openness of the District Attorney's office in publicizing early and significant weaknesses in its case. I and a number of other legal observers have been critical of Vance's office for his initial handling of Strauss-Kahn, and for apparently failing to conduct sufficient initial investigation of the woman who claimed to be the victim of his alleged assault on May 14th. However, beating up on the prosecutor for considering dropping the charges in light of the new revelations about the alleged victim's past and her demonstrated lack of credibility ill-serves justice in any regard.

Yet, this is exactly what a number of New York political figures are doing; and in the most unfortunate way -- by playing the race card. Democratic State Sen. Bill Perkins made no bones about doing this at a news conference last week in which he appeared with a group of people drawn from his "community." Perkins reportedly was almost proud in declaring that race is an issue, stating that to "ignore race would not really be looking at reality." He and Bronx Democratic Assemblyman Eric Stevenson essentially put Vance on notice, the DA would face a political maelstrom if he succumbed to what may be his ultimate judgment as a prosecutor; which would be to dismiss the charges against DSK because the weakening evidence and mounting implausibility of the chief witness would make it extremely difficult if not impossible to obtain a conviction.

Unless Perkins is somehow privy to confidential information from the police or the District Attorney's office, his assertions in support of the hotel housekeeper's side of the story are no more a basis for demands on the DA than are calls for DSK's immediate and total exoneration by his supporters in France. Yet Perkins huffs and puffs indignantly that Vance has not responded to his exhortations to plow ahead with the prosecution no matter what. Vance is entirely correct in not bowing to such pressure with a political figure clearly lacking knowledge of the case, other than what he has read publicly and what the alleged victim's supporters might have told him.

Strauss-Kahn's detractors "across the pond" in France, perhaps also bowing to political pressures, seem to have convinced a female writer to come forward and file a complaint against DSK for an alleged sexual attack on her, eight years after the fact; and as to which she filed no report at the time of the alleged 2003 incident. Whether any of the pressure for France to join in beating Strauss-Kahn like a piñata comes from this side of the Atlantic, is not clear; but it would not cause much surprise if such linkage were discovered.

The good news in all this is that both Ben Brafman and William Taylor, Strauss-Kahn's attorneys, as well as Vance appear to be handling the case exactly as they should -- quietly and professionally, and divorced from the shrill calls to destroy either DSK or Vance in the process. If the DA exercises his discretion to drop the charges because they are unsustainable legally, he is virtually certain to be the target of continued political attacks; but he will have gained a great deal of credibility for his office and for his stature as an attorney

People can -- and do -- say anything they want in a nasty custody or divorce battle. And as a society, we often tend to assume the worst about men. But what if we're wrong?

We're used to men being violent. Literature, movies and video games are full of heroes and antiheroes who kill and maim their way into our hearts and nightmares. At the same time, we tell boys to "suck it up" instead of expressing pain, leaving them few emotions but anger. Then we chastise them when they actually get angry -- or live in fear of their anger. And sometimes we use the one emotion we've allowed them to our advantage.

Men, of course, aren't the only ones who can do damage; statistics show that women can be just as violent as men. But while the Violence Against Women Act provides millions of dollars for shelters for abused women, you don't see too many shelters -- any, actually -- for abused men. "It's often been taken for granted that women can't really do that much damage, so it's OK to maybe slap your boyfriend or do something of that nature," says Kellie Palazzolo, an assistant professor at Arizona State University's Hugh Downs School of Human Communication who is overseeing research on how college students perceive female and male perpetrators.

That may be why so many women applauded Elin Nordegren's alleged golf club attack on then-hubby Tiger Woods -- we just don't like to think of women being violent except in self-defense. He cheated on her; he made her do that!

And in the "he said-she said" of so many marital breakups, like that of Hulk and Linda Hogan, where she claims he was violent and abusive and he says she's "delusional," or of actress Meredith Baxter, who claims in her memoir, "Untitled", that she was physically and psychologically abused by ex David Birney, while he says her book's "an appalling abuse of the truth," whom do we believe?

Same when it comes to sexual violence. In the "he said-she said" of former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who was released from house arrest last week, and the 32-year-old hotel maid he allegedly raped, the maid has a history of lying and Strauss-Kahn has a history of sexual predation. Whom do we believe?

Hélène Périvier, co-director of the gender program at Paris' Institut d'Etudes Politiques, worries the fallout of the DSK case may hurt women; while false reports of rape and sexual violence are statistically rare, she says, "it suffices to cement doubts and discredit the word of women going to the police in the future."

But women, like men, lie, and the results can be devastating. And false reports of rape and sexual violence are not as statistically rare as Périvier and others may believe, according to many experts, including Dr. Warren Farrell, chair of the Commission to Create a White House Council on Boys to Men, who details the results of numerous studies in his books "Father and Child Reunion" and "The Myth of Male Power." In fact, they occur often during divorce.

As Farrell writes:

"Men are about 19 more times more likely than women to say they have been falsely accused of sexual abuse. About 85 percent of these abuse allegations are made by women during battles over parent time, during the throes of divorce, or when a live-in situation is failing. ... "(A) sex-abuse charge -- even if false -- often costs the father his job, his health, his friends, his reputation, and his relationship with his child."
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As a society, we don't typically think of men in the role of a victim. We can't even recognize it when we're confronted by physical evidence," Palmatier writes. "On the other hand, we're inclined to believe accusations about men."

Not only is it unfair and dishonest, she says, but it's "damaging to boys and young men, gender relations, relationships, families and 'the best interests of the children.' And it gives the women who are predators a free pass."

Automatically assuming the worst of men is a form of discrimination, she, Farrell and others say. And they're right.

She has two sons hawk. A few of them change their minds about these things once they have sons to worry about.

I thought I was commenting on Vicki Larson's article.

I hadn't noticed hawk.