Jennings is NOT discredited and is in fact one of the few journalists who does not bow down to FIFA or the IOC. Neither organization is confortable with him asking questions about their corruptibility.

Hall was one of the few people to take on the old corrupt Soccer Australia and report the terrible gongs on there. His reports helped get the Crawford enquiry up. Guess hwta came out of that? Lowy and the FFA and Hargitay’s latest pay day. How ironic.

If Hargitay (and Joey Gaetani) are not happy for some quetions to be asked about where out money is being spent then maybe he can take his consultancy to another country that doesn’t care.

However to claim that your piece was your own opinion is nonsense and anyone who believes it hasn’t read your article properly. Here is the basic structure of your piece:

*Intro – Speaking negatively of agenda’s, leading into the topic of the piece on TWG and your opinion on that
*Pre-Body – this is how you lead in: “So who is Hargitay? Well you can read about him on this site and this piece but here are a couple key facts about him. “
*Body – negative facts about Hargitay
*Conclusion – you ask the readers for their opinions

So you fill us up with some negative “key facts” about Hargitay and then tell everyone that you’re “genuinely curious to know how [we] feel about it.” You haven’t given us your opinion on anything other than that you think journo’s shouldn’t have agendas, you have “regurgitated” some facts – all of which were negative -, asked a few rhetorical questions to excuse writing the piece and then asked Roarers to draw their conclusions from that.

I urge everyone to re-read the article, no-one can possibly agree with this statement Davidde: “No agendas masked by the pretense of unbiased reporting, simply opinion”.

How is it unbiased to use terms like “Spin Doctor”? The term “Spin” itself is a pejorative term by definition, a “Spin Doctor” therefore is also a negative term for someone whose job it is to “spin” things in a positive light.

That you double-checked your facts with reliable sources I would expect of someone who makes a living from writing but you only put one very negative set of facts out there and then put your own “spin” on them (which is different from giving us an opinion) for us to read and allowed us to base our opinion on them.

Chinatown – User rating 8.5

70,028 IMDb users have given a weighted average vote of 8.5 / 10

The Pianist – User rating 8.5

115,239 IMDb users have given a weighted average vote of 8.5 / 10

So there you go both excellent film according to the hoi polloi

Freud – The Pianist is as a very good piece of fillm making.
But, Polanksi’s best film is Chinatown.

List off Hargitay’s crimes and I don’t mean doing his job, being a “Spin-Doctor” for a company responsible for the worst chemical mishap ever.

Hmmn, car crash eh? You should always check the brakes carefully on those rented cars.

http://imagine-contact.com/usenet/fetchMsg.php?id=111002

TEARS were being shed yesterday as word spread that Count Roffredo
Lovatelli Gaetani – the handsome former boxer who dated a string of
beautiful women, including Ivana Trump – was dead. The 50ish Ferrari
dealer drove off the road in a rented car as he was driving solo
Thursday night toward Argiano, his ancestral home in Tuscany, one of
the oldest castles in Italy. He’ll be buried there by his family, which
produced two popes. Roffredo’s brother Christofero died years ago when
his parachute didn’t open. He is survived by two brothers, Gelazio and
Luca. His longtime girlfriend, Svetlana, was home in Lithuania when she
learned of his death. Taki Theodoracopulos – who famously boxed
Roffredo for three rounds in the 1980s (and lost by decision) at an
Upper East Side match attended by Claus von Bulow and Reinaldo Herrera
- was mourning in Paris. Roffredo, who used to go sailing with Gianni
Agnelli, was also good friends with Giuseppe Cipriani, Sylvia Martins,
Laura Steinberg, Ramona Ridge and Silvano Marchetto.

“It was the perfect hors d’oeuvre for the evening: A desiccated core dressed in cloying sweetness, at once irresistible and slightly lethal. Mr. Gaetani stood at the bar of Mortimer’s. Even though this was his crowd, he did not seem to be relishing the new attention coming his way. He had been in this situation once before. Several years ago, Mr. Gaetani had come to the defense of the model Carré Otis at a time when she was having relationship troubles with the actor Mickey Rourke. Mr. Rourke had crashed Vogue magazine’s 100th-anniversary party in 1992, which Ms. Otis attended. When things got ugly between them, Mr. Gaetani stepped in to aid Ms. Otis. Two years later, Mr. Gaetani, an accomplished pugilist, challenged Mr. Rourke to a boxing match. Alas, the gossip columnists were denied the opportunity of seeing the socialite punch out the lights of the actor, although Mr. Gaetani did assert that when Mr. Rourke “hears my name, he quivers like a dog in a storm.” Perhaps Mr. Gaetani remembered this moment in the limelight as The Transom asked him what had brought him and Ivana together. “The Red Cross Ball in the South of France,” he almost mumbled…”

http://www.observer.com/node/39723

http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20133628,00.html

http://www.flickr.com/photos/11400916@N07/2202086310/

Just asking….

He then led the U20 socceroos in the AFC youth championship. Lost to China in the group stages which meant that Australia finished second in the group and had to face South Korea in the quarter finals instead of Jordan. They lost to South Korea and hence failed to qualify to the World Cup (semi finalist qualify to that tournament)

Really two failures like that and Ange really should get sacked

Now Foster was incredibly rude in that interview and was over the top as usual.

However he was right that ange should have fallen on his own sword after two debacles like that.

Hargitay alledgedly according to this article moved to another country to avoid paying for the court order the money owed to by the government.

Both party committed wrong doing. One ran away from it and the other faced up to it.

No, I australia ldid lose to the Chinese team. There was nothing factually wrong with that statement

It was australia who drew to Laos and were eliminated and hence failed to qualify to the U16 Asian Cup that Foster mistakenly said that we lost to. However saying that, Australia really should never draw to Laos and that draw was as good as a defeat.

Ange asked fozz “if we brought in a technical director, would he say the way we develop players is good or not.”

Foster replied direct quote “He would say it’s good enough to beat Laos and good enough to beat China. He would also say it would need serious improvement like we all say. So we agree with you”

So I don’t think there’s much of a contradiction for him blaming about lack of technique to compete at the world stage and yet saying our technique is good enough to beat Asian oppositions. Jan Versleijen’s qualification kind of proved that.

Check out these retractions.

Keep up the good work Joey

http://www.marcrich.ch/mrh_corrections.php?id=26

Sunday Independent (IRL)
CORRECTION APPENDED

In our edition of 18th June we incorrectly suggested that American billionaire, Mr. Rich, had spent over a decade “on the run” and that he had “escaped jail” following an alleged Presidential pardon for “fraud” conviction in the US. It has been pointed out to us by Mr. Rich’s attorney, and we fully accept, that Mr. Rich was never tried or convicted for fraud and consequently was never “on the run” and never “escaped jail”. We apologise unreservedly to Mr. Rich for our error”.

(Published on June 25, 2006)

The Evening Standard

MARC RICH

In an article on 3 October 2005, we reported that Marc Rich was convicted in the US of racketeering, tax evasion and other offences. In fact, he was charged but never convicted – and was subsequently pardoned. We apologise for the error.

(Published on October 20, 2005)

I can’t remember his exact quotes but Foster seemed to be somewhat positive towards Ange when commenting on the Bne Roar match.
Perhas Foz is aware that the video of him having a go at Ange about “results” makes him look stupid when he now praises the current regime. Especially as Ange used the same excuse “lack of technique” that the Dutch use.
Ange was coping it for having a draw with a Chinese team “someone we should never lose too” according to Foz and yet we still do at various levels and recently with our supposed best ever crop of young players technique wise (the current u16’s) we drew at home with someone far further down on the totem pole than China.

1. Its irrelevant that Hargitay has a black wife, no one here has accused him of racism. He looks like a person who operates in a moral vacuum. Now, you might find nothing wrong with that, but many people do feel uncomfortable about him helping Australia’s bid for the WC.

2. Here is another bit of information for the Roar readers in regards to Marc Rich.

All this cut and pasting must drive you nuts

http://www.salon.com/opinion/conason/2009/01/16/holder/

“Meanwhile the fugitive financier, as he is still known, has never returned from his lair in Zug, Switzerland, to the United States. (The mainstream press never mentions that, either.) In other words, he has never used the pardon — perhaps because he would first have to pay up tens of millions of dollars he owes in back taxes, a condition set by Clinton.”

Now maybe to you Joey, avoiding tens of millions dollars in taxes is as serious as a kid stealing a lollipop from the candy store, but for ethical people this a serious breach of “social” responsibilty.

People like Hargitay and Rich just have connections that see to it that they don’t end up in the wrong place.

Anyway – good to see someone sticking up for the “dark side”

But, Joey, tell us how did you get to stumble across this website?

I would say that more damage has been done to local football by Australian journo’s pushing their ‘mates’ agendas, than could possibly be done by one hired PR type. Mike Cockerill still hasn’t recovered the demise of of his beloved Kosmina regime at Sydney. SBS happily push the coaching credentials of any of their favoured insiders and equally denegrate anyone who doesn’t pay them due homage. Whilst the sadist in me is really looking forward to seeing how they treat Postecoglou, their lack of balance damages the local game.

As to your question: What price the world cup? Frankly any price that doesn’t compromise our sovereignty or economic prospects is likely to be the answer. That’s the nature of the beast at a global level. There’s no doubt that hosting the world cup will significantly change Australia for the better – not just our football industry, the entire country. There will be many uncomfortable compromises – there always are (there certainly were for the Olympics), but on balance, hiring Blatter’s confidant is a smart move and if it gets us one of the two world cups on offer, then it will be 100% worth it.

Cheers
md

There are many instances of big corporations behaving immorally – Ford with their “Pinto’s” in the 70s; Nestle etc. Carbide’s was particulary bad. Being tainted by association might be unfair in that respect. Spin doctoring (thinking of such alumini from Goebells to the fictitious “thankyou for smoking” have a hired morality that politicians and business crave.

Re Marc Rich – why is tax evasion acceptable? Whie collar crime still has amassive detriment to society even if there is no identifiable victim such as in rape or theft. It is serious enough for disciplinary action for example in the legal profession, and if the US deems it to be an indictible offence, does it still not go towards character? Just because Clinton pardoned him (the same impeachable president?) doesnt mean much. Ford pardoned Nixon. So what is a pardon? It’s a na dministrative action which you apply for. According to the US Dept of justice:

“you should bear in mind that a presidential pardon is ordinarily a sign of forgiveness and is granted in recognition of the applicant’s acceptance of responsibility for the crime and established good conduct for a significant period of time after conviction or release from confinement. A pardon is not a sign of vindication and does not connote or establish innocence. ”

So let’s not attach a lot of wieght to the pardon.

lastly, for me a good post or a good article is one that generates discussion and at times thought provoking. As such Davvides has been good, as has your post, but delusions of expecting pullitzer standard and researched commentary is a bit much. ultimatley what you stumbled across is a forum where people waste a few minutes from work to smack up their thoughts on sport and occassionally issues like this, connected to sport. dont judge so harshly, no one is claiming to be Walter Cronkite. In any event, and not to dismiss an overarching need for journalistic integrity or the ability of people to think/research for themselves, but I am not sure Walter and his peers would care to muse 1000 words every other day on Pim using a dour 4-2-3-1 or an exciting 4-3-3. Especially now he is dead anyway. (dont they play Rugby in heaven anyway?)

Sigh…

The article on The World Game is a news article and that is why it’s approach is noteworthy. This is an opinion piece. No agendas masked by the pretense of unbiased reporting, simply opinion like all the comments which have followed it. That didn’t stop me from double checking my facts with reliable sources though.

In the meantime I think the debate on here has been insightful and for one I’m glad there is a variety of opinions on such an important issue.

Davidde, I can honestly say without needing to kiss any arse I have found your articles to be quite insightful, in fact I’ve preferred your recent stuff to the same boring stuff Jesse Fink writes (Lucas Neill this, Nicky Carle that) but you really have put your credibility on the line by mentioning agendas and then writing such a one-sided argument.

There are clearly two sides here and for a fair portrayal we, the readers of this article, should have received both without having to search the web for the rest of the facts. That we didn’t is typical of the Australian media that unfortunately many people here on The Roar see and read on a daily basis, biased and self-serving and with little regard for the whole truth, putting one side out there and hoping the other is never mentioned.

That Hargitay’s “dark side” was focused on, that his misdeed in the Bhopal incident was working in the PR department after the fact (you managed to call him a “Spin Doctor”) and that strikingly similar cases ala “Aussie Guus” Hiddink’s tax evasion have not been mentioned tells me far too many people will buy whatever you sell them if you put a name on it.

Hargitay’s ethics aside, the article has given us no insight into what his purpose is and has simply “regurgitated” tidbits from other sources. I’d be genuinely interested to see a neutral perspective on the issue. If you are going to take a side then at least open your eyes to the hypocrisy of what you’ve written and don’t mention agenda’s in the same space as that where you put someone’s past under the microscope and only found dirt.

Davidde, how on earth do people feel comfortable with calling you a ‘journalist’ when all you did is simply regurgitate (in parts even verbatim) the utter nonsense a lunatic, discredited, disrespected, “journalist” with an agenda has invented. You say ‘you can read all about him/facts on Jennings’ site’. How can you honestly be comfortable with repeating and refering to what a wholly discredited (multiply convicted, gun for hire – see his deal with Sheik Salman) journalist publishes on his website ? I take it that you also believe every entry on wikipedia ? And every article published in ‘The Sun’ ? Great.

How is what you write fact ? Its so utterly compromised and one-sided I’m amazed nobody picked up on that.

Agendas, anyone ?

So, Hargitay may have had some ‘interesting/controversial’ clients in his past. Fair enough. But, lets assume the below;

- what if he was employed by Union Carbide 2 years before the Bhopal catastrophy as a financial PR consultant (not for crisis management) ? What if, 2 weeks after Bhopal, he quit the assignment because he was unhappy with Carbides conduct regarding Bhopal ?

- Do your readers know that Marc Rich was wanted by the US Government for tax evasion ? Not murder, not rape, not paedophilia. Tax evasion. Alleged tax evasion. He was and is free to live anywhere in the world as its only the twisted US system that puts people to jail for 300 years for filing wrong tax declarations. Also, how about you mention that Marc Rich was pardoned by Bill Clinton ? Furthermore, it may have escaped your oh-so factual “copy & paste” ‘journalism’ that Hargitay is married to a black woman since decades and has a child with said woman. Clearly he must be a hardcore racist & pro-apartheid in that case.

- What if what Hall & Jennings write regarding Miami & Jamaica is so utterly selective and one-sided that viewed from only their angle it clearly makes Hargitay look like a criminal ? Did Hall & Jennings ever choose to include the fact that both governments sent him a official governmental letter of apology ? Did they ever choose to mention that he received massive amounts of money from said governments for false detention ? Funny that. Its not a headline grabber, is it ?

The story looks slightly different now, does it not ?

Why are you readers not more critical of what you read ? Why is what Corran, Hall and Jennings write gobbled up as gospel ?

Because its‘anti establishment’ ? Because FIFA is corrupt anyway so anyone associated with FIFA is corrupt ? Because a hungarian refugee like Lowy built an empire and made billions of dollars from nothing, on his own, and therefore must clearly be corrupt ?

Or is it maybe that these three journalists are jealous, utterly sad underachievers with a chip on their shoulder and all they want is to be relevant somehow, no matter how.

And any route to relevance/fame will do, no matter how unfounded, bias and ignorant the crap they write is.

And finally, I’m amazed that you Australians have adopted that classic (and very odd) trait the english have of self depreciation and self-dismantling. Well done. How about supporting what your country is doing ? Boring ? Yeah, I guess its more exciting to take people down.

If the posters here would represent the australia I know and have lived in for two thirds of my life, I’d be ashamed.

fifa will wan’t to be able to say they have held their event on every continent before the IOC has.