Look up cover in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Cover or covers may refer to:

Science and technology[link]

• A covering, usually one that completely closes the object
  • Lid
  • Mechanical seal
• The outside of an object, not necessarily enclosing the object
  • Album cover
  • Book cover, or magazine cover
  • CD and DVD packaging
  • Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package
• Protection
  • Cover system, a system of protection in video games
  • Cover (military), a form of protection in combat
• Engineering
  • Concrete cover, distance between reinforcement and the outer surface of element.
• Geology
  • Sedimentary cover, overlies a basement (geology) or crystalline basement

Deception and concealment[link]

• Official cover
• Non-official cover
• Something fake used in a cover-up, untrue explanation for a situation or untrue reason for an action, to hide what is really going on or is the real motive, possibly including real actions and objects related to the story to make it plausible
• Cover (telecommunications), a communications concealment technique

Mathematics[link]

• Cover (topology), the mathematical concept of a collection of subsets of a set whose union is the whole set
• Cover (algebra), the concept of an algebraic structure that maps onto another structure in structure-preserving fashion
• A pair in the covering relation of a partially ordered set, or the greater element in such a pair
• A covering space, in the theory of Riemann surfaces and topology
• A (universal / double) covering group, a covering space with group structure, common in theoretical physics
• Cover, an equivalent set of constraints in database theory

Television, film, and music[link]

• Cover version, a new version of a previously recorded song, also called simply a "cover"
• Cover band, a musical band that performs mostly cover versions
• Cover, an understudy in opera
• Cover (TV series), a 1981 television drama series
• Cover (film), a 2007 film directed by Bill Duke

Music: records[link]

• Covers (The Autumns album), an EP by The Autumns
• Covers (Placebo album)
• Covers (Show of Hands album)
• Covers (James Taylor album)
• Covers (Fayray album)
• Covers (A Camp album)
• Covers (Deftones album)

People[link]

• Franklin Cover (1928–2006), an American actor
• Robert Cover (1943-1986), an American law professor, scholar, and activist
• Thomas M. Cover (1938-2012), an American scientist

Sports[link]

• Cover, a fielding position in cricket
• Cover 2, a class of defensive play in American Football

Business[link]

• Cover charge, an entry fee
• Cover (law), a remedy for the breach of a contract for the receipt of goods
• Cover (finance), repurchasing a short order made on the stock/equity, forex or futures markets

Military dress[link]

• Cover is a United States Marine Corps term for any type of uniform hat, as in utility cover and campaign cover

Other uses[link]

• Mating of animals, e.g. a stallion covers a mare

See also[link]

• All pages beginning with "Cover"
• All pages with titles containing "Cover"
• Covering (disambiguation)
• Overall, a synonym for coverall
• Undercover, disguising one's identity to gain the trust of targeted individuals

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

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Gerald Celente (born November 29, 1946) is an American trend forecaster,^[1][2] publisher of the Trends Journal, business consultant^[3] and author who makes predictions about the global financial markets and other events of historical importance. Celente has described himself as a "political atheist" and "citizen of the world".^[4] He has appeared as a guest on television news shows such as The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Today Show, Good Morning America, CBS Morning News, The Glenn Beck Show, NBC Nightly News, The Alex Jones Show and Russia Today.^[5][6][7]

Background[link]

Celente was born in The Bronx, New York City, New York. He had early political experience running a mayoral campaign in Yonkers, New York and served as executive assistant to the secretary of the New York State Senate, which Celente called the worst job he ever had.^[8] From 1973 to 1979 Celente traveled between Chicago and Washington D.C. as a government affairs specialist.^[8] In 1980 Celente founded The Trends Research Institute (at first called the Socio-Economic Research Institute of America), now located in Kingston, New York, publisher of the Trends Journal which forecasts and analyzes business, socioeconomic, political, and other trends.^[9]

Forecasting[link]

His forecasts since 1993 ^[10] have included predictions about terrorism, economic collapses and war. More recent forecasts involve fascism in the United States, food riots and tax revolts.^{[3][11][12][13][14][15]} Celente has long predicted global anti-Americanism, a failing economy and immigration woes in the U.S.^[11] In December 2007 Celente wrote, "Failing banks, busted brokerages, toppled corporate giants, bankrupt cities, states in default, foreign creditors cashing out of US securities ... whatever the spark, the stage is set for panic in the streets" and "Just as the Twin Towers collapsed from the top down, so too will the U.S. economy ... when the giant firms fall, they’ll crush the man on the street." He has also predicted tax revolts.^[16][17] In November 2008 Celente appeared on Fox Business Network and predicted economic depression, tax rebellions and food riots in the United States by 2012.^[18] Celente also predicted an "economic 9/11" and a "panic of 2008."^[19]

In 2009 Celente predicted turmoil which he described as "Obamageddon" and he was a popular guest on conservative cable-TV shows such as Fox News Sunday and Glenn Beck's television program.^[6] In April 2009 Celente wrote, "Wall Street controls our financial lives; the media manipulates our minds. These systems cannot be changed from within. There is no alternative. Without a revolution, these institutions will bankrupt the country, keep fighting failed wars, start new ones, and hold us in perpetual intellectual subjugation."^[20] He appeared on the Glenn Beck show and criticized the U.S. stimulus plan of 2009, calling government controlled capitalism "fascism" and saying shopping malls in the U.S. would become "ghost malls."^[21] Celente has said, "smaller communities, the smaller groups, the smaller states, the more self-sustaining communities, will 'weather the crisis in style' as big cities and hypertrophic suburbias descend into misery and conflict," and forecasts "a downsizing of America."^[14]

Revolution in the USA[link]

On Russia Today, he predicted that the USA would face a revolution.^[22]

Neosurvivalism[link]

Celente's website has stated that:

Predictions[link]

2009[link]

"The Crash of '09 was as dramatic as the crash of '29. The New Depression had begun." (Trends Journal, Summer 2008, pg. 12)

2010[link]

Some areas of the U.S. are experiencing resurgences in real estate values due to highly localized factors, and some investors profit from this. However, the rises will almost all stop and reverse with time, and the overall national trend in real estate values is downward. (T.J. Summer 08, pg. 8)

Ghost malls have become a common sight across America. Especially hard-hit are big chain stores (Sears, Home Depot, etc.). (T.J. Summer 08, pg. 8)

2011[link]

Developers have begun rehabbing some of the ghost malls for more productive uses. (T.J. Summer 08, pg. 9)

2012[link]

The economic policies of the U.S. government over the past few years have failed to fix America's fundamental problems and have merely papered over them and in fact made them worse. By 2012, the "American Empire" is collapsing. In the U.S., basic staple goods like quality food and water are too expensive for most people to afford,(T.J. Summer 08, pg. 1) and "food riots" happen across the country (T.J. Summer 09, pg.1). Major American cities look like disaster zones, and mass homelessness exists across the country. Crime is rampant, with much of it being directed at the rich. (T.J. Summer 08, pg. 1) Kidnappings and ransomings of rich people are on the rise. Average people fed up with big government, high taxes and out-of-control spending join tax revolts. (T.J. Summer 09, pg. 1) The world is also experiencing major environmental problems and "the blackest of plagues." The global financial system has also "melted down" and the situation is very bad outside the U.S.(T.J. Summer 08, pg. 1) The advanced industrial economies collapse first, and their sagging consumer spending drags down the export-based economies of emerging economies next.(T.J. Summer 09, pg. 2) The economy is as bad as it was during the Great Depression in many ways. In spite of all this, the U.S. government, power elites, and mainstream media continue to insist that the fundamentals of the world economy are sound, and that official policies can lead to a recovery. A growing number of average people, however, doubt this. (T.J. Summer 08, pg. 1)

While the Mayan and Hopi prophecies of global destruction do not come to pass, 2012 is indeed a watershed year that sees the death of an ailing and unsustainable global economic system and lifestyle and its replacement with something better. (T.J. Summer 08, pg. 2)

By 2012, Obama is viewed by most as a stale president who sold himself as a fresh, visionary candidate in 2008 and instead proved to be a servant of the big corporations and the military-industrial complex like his predecessors.(T.J. Summer 09, pg. 5) His economic policies only delayed disaster and in fact have made the situation worse: Expansionary monetary policy and the various government bailouts and stimulus programs create a "Bailout Bubble" that invariably bursts in a cataclysm for the U.S. and world economy.(T.J. Summer 09, pg. 11) Obama blames other factors for this and might have even tried to start a war by 2012 to distract attention from the domestic misery.(T.J. Summer 09, pg. 12) Obama's foreign policy has also failed to accomplish anything significant on the world stage, and Pakistan is a mess and the Afghan war continues to drag on without hope of conclusion.(T.J. Summer 09, pg. 12)

In the 2012 U.S. elections, online news sites, bloggers and independent journalists wield as much influence on voters as mainstream media outlets (TV, cable, magazines, newspapers) for the first time. This breaks the corporate and moneyed stranglehold on American politics and allows a third party to attain nation-level recognition. (T.J. Summer 08, pg. 5)

Broad future trends[link]

Americans will adapt to lower standards of living and will travel less, both on a daily basis and for vacations. Higher fuel costs, advances in telecommuting and an aging American population will push many more people to work from home or close to home. Walking-distance communities will be constructed and will become popular. (T.J. Summer 08, pg. 7)

Geographically isolated resort destinations like Las Vegas will wither due to higher fuel costs, lower American incomes and increased overseas competition while vacation spots closer to population centers will revive. (T.J. Summer 08, pg. 9)

Government-run lotteries, on the other hand, will thrive. (T.J. Summer 08, pg. 9)

In America and to a lesser extent overseas, consumer spending habits will be motivated out of fear and escapism. Businesses that capitalize upon this will succeed. (T.J. Summer 09, pg. 24)

Publications[link]

• Trend Tracking: The System to Profit from Today's Trends (1991), ISBN 978-0446392877
• Trends 2000: How to Prepare for and Profit from the Changes of the 21st Century (1997), ISBN 978-0446519014
• What Zizi Gave Honeyboy: A True Story about Love, Wisdom, and the Soul of America (2002), ISBN 978-0066212661

References[link]

External links[link]

• trendsresearch.com
• geraldcelente.com

Dominique Strauss-Kahn
10th Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund
In office 1 November 2007 – 18 May 2011
Deputy	John Lipsky
Preceded by	Rodrigo Rato
Succeeded by	Christine Lagarde
Minister of Finance of France
In office 4 June 1997 – 2 November 1999
Prime Minister	Lionel Jospin
Preceded by	Jean Arthuis
Succeeded by	Christian Sautter
Personal details
Born	Dominique Gaston André Strauss-Kahn (1949-04-25) 25 April 1949 (age 63) Neuilly-sur-Seine, France
Nationality	French
Political party	Socialist Party (1970s–present)
Spouse(s)	Brigitte Guillemette (m. 1984–1989, divorced) Anne Sinclair (m. 1991–present)
Alma mater	HEC Paris Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris Paris West University Nanterre La Défense

Dominique Gaston André Strauss-Kahn (French pronunciation: [dɔminik stʁos kan]; born 25 April 1949), often referred to in the media,^[1][2] and by himself,^[3] as DSK, is a French economist, lawyer, politician, and member of the French Socialist Party (PS). Strauss-Kahn became the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on 28 September 2007, with the backing of his country's president, Nicolas Sarkozy, and served in that role until his resignation on 18 May 2011 following a sex scandal.^[4]

He was a professor of economics at the Paris Institute for Political Studies ("Sciences Po") and was Minister of Economy and Finance from 1997 to 1999 as part of Lionel Jospin's "Plural Left" government. He sought the nomination in the primaries to the Socialist presidential candidacy for the 2007 election, but he was defeated by Ségolène Royal in November 2006.

Early life[link]

Dominique Strauss-Kahn was born in the wealthy Paris suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine. He is the son of lawyer Gilbert Strauss-Kahn. Strauss-Kahn's father was born to an Alsatian father and a Catholic mother from Lorraine; Strauss-Kahn's mother is from a family in Tunisia.^[5]

The family settled in Agadir, Morocco, in 1951, but after the 1960 earthquake moved to Monaco, where his father had a legal practice. While the family was living in Monaco, Strauss-Kahn went to school at the Lycee Albert 1er. The family later^[when?] returned to Paris, where he attended high school at the Lycée Carnot. He graduated from HEC Paris in 1971 and from Sciences-Po and ISUP in 1972. He sat and failed the entrance examination for École nationale d'administration, but obtained a degree in public law, as well as a PhD and an agrégation (1977) in economics at the Université Paris X (Nanterre).^[6]

Career outside politics[link]

From 1977 to 1981, Strauss-Kahn lectured at the University of Nancy-II, first as an assistant, and later as assistant professor, before taking a position at the University of Nanterre.^{[citation needed]} In 1982, he was appointed to the Plan Commission as head of the finance department, and later as Deputy Commissioner, a position he held until his election to the National Assembly in 1986.^{[citation needed]} After his ousting in the 1993 parliamentary elections, Strauss-Kahn founded DSK Consultants, a corporate law consulting firm. Upon resigning from the Jospin government, he resumed his academic duties, teaching economics at Sciences Po from 2000 until his appointment to the IMF in 2007.^[7]

Political career[link]

Strauss-Kahn was first an activist member of the Union of Communist Students,^[8] before joining in the 1970s the Centre d'études, de recherches et d'éducation socialiste (Center on Socialist Education Studies and Research, CERES) led by Jean-Pierre Chevènement, future presidential candidate for the 2002 election.^[8] There, he befriended the future Prime Minister of France Lionel Jospin (PS).

After the election of President François Mitterrand (PS) in 1981, he decided to stay out of government. He got involved in the Socialist Party (PS), which was led by Lionel Jospin, and founded Socialisme et judaïsme ("Socialism and Judaism"). The next year, he was appointed to the Commissariat au plan (Planning Commission) as commissaire-adjoint.

In 1986 he was elected deputy for the first time in the Haute-Savoie department, and in 1988 in the Val-d'Oise department. He became chairman of the National Assembly Committee on Finances, famously exchanging heated words with the Finance Minister Pierre Bérégovoy (PS).

Minister for Industry (1991–93)[link]

This biographical section of an article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (May 2011)

In 1991, he was nominated by Mitterrand to be Junior Minister for Industry and Foreign Trade^[9] in Édith Cresson's social-democrat government. He kept his position in Pierre Bérégovoy's government^[10] until the 1993 general elections.^[11]

After the electoral defeat of 1993, Strauss-Kahn was appointed by former Prime Minister Michel Rocard chairman of the groupe des experts du PS ("Group of Experts of the Socialist Party"), created by Claude Allègre. The same year, he founded the law firm "DSK Consultants" and worked as a business lawyer.

In 1994, Raymond Lévy, who was director of Renault, invited him to join the Cercle de l’Industrie, a French industry lobby in Brussels, where he met the billionaire businessman Vincent Bolloré and top manager Louis Schweitzer; Strauss-Kahn served as secretary-general and later as vice-president. This lobbyist activity earned him criticism from the alter-globalization left.

In June 1995, he was elected mayor of Sarcelles and married Anne Sinclair, a famous television journalist working for the private channel TF1 and in charge of a political show, Sept sur Sept. She ceased presenting this show after Strauss-Kahn's nomination as Minister of Economics and Finance in 1997 to avoid conflict of interest, while Strauss-Kahn himself would cede his place as mayor to François Pupponi in order to avoid double responsibilities.

Minister for Economics, Finances and Industry (1997–99)[link]

This biographical section of an article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (May 2011)

In 1997, Prime Minister Lionel Jospin (PS) appointed Strauss-Kahn as Minister for Economics, Finance and Industry, making him one of the most influential ministers in his Plural Left government.

Although it was in theory contrary to the Socialist Party's electoral program, he implemented a wide privatization program, which included among others the IPO of France Télécom; he also implemented some deregulation policies in the research and development sector. The French economy achieved an excellent performance during his term of office: the GDP increased, whereas unemployment and public debt decreased (creation of 300,000 jobs in 1998, a level not seen since 1969). This helped to strengthen his popularity and managed to win the support of former supporters of Lionel Jospin and Michel Rocard, making him the leader of the reform-oriented group Socialisme et démocratie. Strauss-Kahn has been originally a proponent of the working time reduction to 35 hours, a measure implemented by Martine Aubry, Minister for Social Policies.

In 1998 he became one of the leaders of the Socialist Party for the regional elections in the Ile-de-France region (Paris and suburbs), which were won by the PS. But as Strauss-Kahn refused to exchange his ministry for the executive leadership of the Ile-de-France, Jean-Paul Huchon became the president of the regional council.

In 1999, he was accused of corruption in two financial scandals related to Elf Aquitaine and the MNEF, a student mutual health insurance, and decided to resign from his ministerial office to fight these charges, in agreement with the "Balladur jurisprudence". He was replaced by Christian Sautter. He was acquitted in November 2001, and was reelected in a by-election in the Val-d'Oise.

As Minister of Economics and Finance, Strauss-Kahn succeeded in decreasing VAT to 5.5% for renovation works in construction, thus supporting this activity. At the same time, he decreased the budget deficit, which was more than 3% of GDP under Alain Juppé's center-right government (1995–97). He thus prepared France's entrance in the euro zone. Strauss-Kahn also repealed the Thomas Act on hedge funds and launched the Conseil d'orientation des retraites (Orientation Council on Pensions).

Strauss-Kahn succeeded in combining followers of Jospin and Rocard in the same political movement, Socialisme et démocratie, but failed to make it more than an informal network.

Speaking at a socialist rally in May 2007

In opposition[link]

After Jacques Chirac's success in the 2002 presidential election and the following Union for a Popular Movement (UMP)'s majority in Parliament, Strauss-Kahn was reelected deputy on 16 June 2002, in the 8th circonscription of the Val-d'Oise. He first declined in taking part in the new leadership of the PS, then in the opposition, in the 2003 congress of the party. But he joined the party's leadership again at the end of 2004, and was given overall responsibility for drawing up the Socialist programme for the 2007 presidential election, along with Martine Aubry and Jack Lang. During the summer meeting of 2005, he announced that he would be a candidate for the primary elections of the Socialist Party for the presidential election.

At the same time, Strauss-Kahn co-founded the think tank À gauche en Europe (To the Left in Europe) along with Michel Rocard.^[12] He presided jointly with Jean-Christophe Cambadélis over the Socialisme et démocratie current in the PS.

Strauss-Kahn was one of the first French politicians to enter the blogosphere;^[13] his blog became one of the most visited, along with Juppé's, during his stay in Quebec.^[14]

Strauss-Kahn then campaigned for the "Yes" at the French European Constitution referendum, 2005. More than 54% of the French citizens refused it, damaging Strauss-Kahn's position inside the PS,^{[citation needed]} while left-wing Laurent Fabius, who had campaigned for a "No" vote, was reinforced.^{[citation needed]}

Strauss-Kahn sought the nomination for the Socialist candidacy in the 2007 presidential election. His challengers were former prime minister Laurent Fabius and Ségolène Royal, the president of the Poitou-Charentes region. Strauss-Kahn finished second, behind Royal. On 13 April 2007, Strauss-Kahn called for an "anti-Sarkozy front" between the two rounds of the forthcoming presidential election.^[15] Following Ségolène Royal's defeat, Strauss-Kahn criticized the PS's strategy and its chairman, François Hollande.^[16] Along with Fabius, he then resigned from the party's national directorate in June 2007.^[17] Strauss-Kahn had been widely expected to seek the Socialist nomination for President of France in 2012,^[18] and was considered an early favorite.^[19]

IMF Managing Director (2007–11)[link]

On 10 July 2007, Strauss-Kahn became the consensus European nominee to be the head of the IMF, with the personal support of President Nicolas Sarkozy (member of the right UMP party). Former Polish Prime Minister Marek Belka withdrew his candidacy as it was opposed by the majority of European countries.^[20] Some critics alleged that Sarkozy proposed Strauss-Kahn as managing director of the IMF to deprive the Socialist Party of one of its more popular figures.^[21]

Strauss-Kahn became the front runner in the race to become Managing Director of the IMF, with the support of the 27-nation European Union, the United States, China and most of Africa. On 28 September 2007, the International Monetary Fund's 24 executive directors selected him as the new managing director. Strauss-Kahn replaced Spain's Rodrigo Rato.^[22] On 30 September 2007, Dominique Strauss-Kahn was formally named as the new head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The only other nominee was the Czech Josef Tošovský, a late candidate proposed by Russia. Strauss-Kahn said: "I am determined to pursue without delay the reforms needed for the IMF to make financial stability serve the international community, while fostering growth and employment".^[23] Under Strauss-Kahn the IMF's pursuit of financial stability has included calls for a possible replacement of the dollar as the world's reserve currency. An IMF report from January 2011^[24] called for a stronger role for special drawing rights (SDR) in order to stabilize the global financial system. According to the report, an expanded role for SDRs could help to stabilize the international monetary system. Furthermore, for most countries (except for those using the US dollar as their currency) there would be several advantages in switching the pricing of certain assets, such as oil and gold, from dollars to SDRs. For some commentators that amounts to a call for a "new world currency that would challenge the dominance of the dollar".^[25]

In 2008, the IMF Board appointed an independent investigator following allegations that Strauss-Kahn had had an affair with a subordinate, Piroska Nagy, who was married at the time to economist Mario Blejer. Nagy alleged that Strauss-Kahn had used his position to coerce her into the affair.^[26] She was later made redundant and Strauss-Kahn assisted her in getting a new job.^[27] The IMF board issued the findings of the investigation; while noting that the affair was "regrettable and reflected a serious error of judgment on the part of the managing director", the board cleared Strauss-Kahn of harassment, favoritism or abuse of power, and indicated that he would remain in his post.^[28][29] Strauss-Kahn issued a public apology for the affair. Le Journal du Dimanche dubbed him "le grand séducteur" (the Great Seducer).^[30]

Strauss-Kahn made comments that could be perceived as critical of global financial actors, in an interview for a documentary about the late-2000s financial crisis, Inside Job (2010). He said he had attended a dinner organised by former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson in which several CEOs of 'the biggest banks in the U.S' had admitted they (or perhaps bankers in general) were 'too greedy' and bore part of the responsibility for the crisis. They said the government "'should regulate more, because we are too greedy, we can't avoid it.'" Strauss-Kahn said he warned the officials of a number of departments of the U.S. government of an impending crisis. He also said: "At the end of the day, the poorest – as always – pay the most."^[31]

Referring to his diplomatic efforts to secure IMF aid for Europe following the 2010 sovereign debt crisis, economist Simon Johnson described Strauss-Kahn as "Metternich with a BlackBerry".^[32][33] In May 2011, referring to the IMF's change of heart in favour of progressive rather than neoliberal values, Joseph Stiglitz wrote that Strauss-Kahn had proved himself to be a "sagacious leader" of the institution.^[34] Following Strauss-Kahn's arrest for sexual assault in New York, economist Eswar Prasad said that should he be forced to step down, the IMF "will find it hard to find as effective and skilful an advocate for keeping the institution central to the global monetary system".^[32]

John Lipsky, the IMF’s second-in-command, was named acting Managing Director on 15 May 2011.^[35]

Strauss-Kahn resigned from the IMF on 18 May 2011, after being arrested by NY police on 15 May over allegations of sexual assault.^[36][37] The charges were later dropped, although the woman involved filed a civil action against Strauss-Kahn.

In February 2012, Strauss-Kahn was detained for questioning by French police as part of an investigation into a suspected prostitution ring.^[38]

Timeline[link]

Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, 2007–2011 (resignation – sexual assault case)

Governmental functions

• Minister of Industry and Foreign trade, 1991–1993.
• Minister of Economy, Finance and Industry, 1997–1999 (resignation).

Electoral mandates

• Member of the National Assembly of France for Val d'Oise (8th consituency) : 1988–1991 (he became minister in 1991) / Reelected in 1997, but he became minister / 2001–2007 (resigned on becoming Managing Director of the IMF in 2007). Elected in 1988, reelected in 1997, 2001, 2002, 2007.

• Member of the National Assembly of France for Savoie : 1986-1988.

Regional Council

• Regional councillor of Ile-de-France, 1998–2001 (resignation).

Municipal Council

• Mayor of Sarcelles, 1995–1997 (resignation).
• Deputy-mayor of Sarcelles, 1997–2007 (resigned on becoming Managing Director of the IMF in 2007). Reelected in 2001.
• Municipal councillor of Sarcelles, 1989–2007 (resigned on becoming Managing Director of the IMF in 2007). Reelected in 1995, 2001.

Agglomeration community Council

• President of the Agglomeration community of Val de France, 2002–2007 (resigned on becoming Managing Director of the IMF in 2007).
• Member of the Agglomeration community of Val de France, 2002–2007 (resigned on becoming Managing Director of the IMF in 2007).

Personal life[link]

Strauss-Kahn has four daughters,^[39] one by his second wife, Brigitte Guillemette, whom he married in 1984.^[40] He has been married to his third wife, French journalist Anne Sinclair, since 1991. Sinclair is the heiress to part of the fortune of her maternal grandfather, Paul Rosenberg. The couple have a house in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C.,^[41] two apartments in Paris,^[42][43] and a riad in Marrakesh, Morocco.^[44] He is an accomplished chess player, and he enjoys practising either chess or math problems for hours every day.^[45] Strauss-Kahn is also known to have attended sex parties where prostitutes were paid to indulge in sexual activities, although Strauss-Kahn claims to have not known of this.^[46][47][48] In March 2012, Strauss-Kahn came under investigation in France over his alleged involvement in a prostitution ring. The allegations relate to his supposed involvement in hiring prostitutes for sex parties at hotels in Lille, Paris and Washington.^[49]

[edit] New York v. Strauss-Kahn

On 14 May 2011, a 32-year-old maid, Nafissatou Diallo,^[50][51] at the Sofitel New York Hotel alleged that Strauss-Kahn had sexually assaulted her after she entered his suite.^[52]

Strauss-Kahn was formally indicted on 18 May and granted US$1 million bail, plus a US$5 million bond, the following day. He was ordered to remain confined to a New York apartment under guard.^[53] A semen sample was found on the maid's shirt, and on May 24 it was reported that DNA tests showed a match to a DNA sample submitted by Strauss-Kahn.^[54] He was arraigned on June 6, 2011, and pled not guilty.^[55] On June 30, 2011, the New York Times reported that the case was on the "verge of collapse" because of problems with the credibility of the alleged victim, who had, according to sources within the NYPD, repeatedly lied to the police since making her first statement.^[56] According to prosecutors, the accuser admitted that she lied to a grand jury about the events surrounding the alleged attack.^[57] Diallo claims that the translator on June 28, 2011, misunderstood her words.^[58][59] Strauss-Kahn was released from house arrest on 1 July.^[60]

After completing a lengthy investigation, prosecutors filed a motion to drop all charges against Strauss-Kahn, stating that they were not convinced of his culpability beyond a reasonable doubt due to serious issues in the complainant's credibility and inconclusive physical evidence, and therefore could not ask a jury to believe in it.^[61][62] The motion was granted by Judge Obus in a hearing on August 23, 2011.^[63][64] In a TV interview in September, Strauss-Kahn admitted that his sexual encounter with the maid was "a moral fault" and described it as "inappropriate" but that it "did not involve violence, constraint or aggression".^[65]

Works[link]

• Inflation et partage des surplus; le cas des ménages. Cujas, 1975. (with André Babeau and André Masson).
• Économie de la famille et accumulation patrimoniale. Cujas. 1977.
• La Richesse des Français- Epargne, Plus-value/Héritage. (with André Babeau). Paris: PUF, 1977. Collection « L'économiste » ed. Pierre Tabatoni. Enquête sur la fortune des Français.
• Pierre Bérégovoy: une volonté de réforme au service de l'économie 1984–1993. Cheff, 2000. (with Christian Sautter)
• La Flamme et la Cendre, Grasset, 2002, (ISBN 2-01-279122-0)
• Lettre ouverte aux enfants d’Europe, Grasset, 2004, (ISBN 2-246-68251-7)
• Pour l'égalité réelle: Eléments pour un réformisme radical, Note de la Fondation Jean Jaurès, 2004
• DVD pour le Oui à la constitution, 2005
• 365 jours, journal contre le renoncement, Grasset, 2006

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Dominique Strauss-Kahn

• IMF Official Biography
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William Patton "Bill" Black, Jr. (September 17, 1926 – October 21, 1965) was an American musician who is noted as one of the pioneers of rockabilly music. Black was the bassist in Elvis Presley's early trio and the leader of Bill Black's Combo.

Early life[link]

Black was born in Memphis, Tennessee, to a motorman for the Memphis Street Railway. He was the oldest of nine children^[1] His father played popular songs on the banjo and fiddle to entertain the family. Black learned to play music at the age of 14 on an instrument made by his father—a cigar box with a board nailed to it and strings attached.^[2] At the age of sixteen, Black was performing "honky-tonk" music on acoustic guitar in local bars.^[2]

During World War II, Black was stationed with the U.S. Army at Fort Lee in Virginia. While in the Army, he met Evelyn, who played guitar as the member of a musical family. They married in 1946 and returned to Memphis. Black worked at the Firestone plant.^[2]

Career[link]

Black began playing the upright bass fiddle. He modeled his "slap bass" technique after one of his idols, Fred Maddox of Maddox Brothers and Rose.^[2] Black also developed a "stage clown" persona in the same way that Maddox entertained audiences. Black performed as an exaggerated hillbilly with blacked-out teeth, straw hat and overalls. According to his son, Black said his goal was always to give his audience "a few moments of entertainment and maybe a little bit of humor that'll tickle 'em for a while."^[2]

In 1952, Black began playing club and radio shows with guitarist Scotty Moore. Along with two other guitarists and a fiddler, they performed country music tunes by Hank Williams and Red Foley in Doug Poindexter's band, the Starlight Wranglers.^[3] Black and Moore also played in a band with Paul Burlison, Johnny Burnette, Dorsey Burnette on steel guitar, and a drummer.^[4]

In 1954, Black and Moore were formed into a trio with Elvis Presley.^[5]

The Blue Moon Boys[link]

In July 1954, Sam Phillips of Sun Records asked Black and Moore to play back-up for the as-yet-unknown Elvis Presley. Black played slap bass with guitarist Scotty Moore, while Elvis Presley played rhythm guitar and sang lead.^[6] Neither musician was overly impressed with Presley, but they agreed a studio session would be useful to explore his potential.^[7]

On July 5, 1954, the trio met at Sun studios to rehearse and record a handful of songs. According to Moore, the first song they recorded was "I Love You Because", but after a few country music songs that weren't impressive they decided to take a break.^[8] During the break, Presley began "acting the fool" with Arthur Crudup's "That's All Right (Mama)", a blues song.^[9] When the other two musicians joined in, Phillips taped the song. The upbeat sound was original.^[10] Black remarked, "Damn. Get that on the radio and they'll run us out of town."^[11]

The group recorded four songs during that session, including bluegrass musician Bill Monroe's "Blue Moon of Kentucky", which he had written and recorded as a slow waltz. Sources credit Bill Black with initiating the song, with Presley and Moore joining in. Moore said, "Bill is the one who came up with "Blue Moon of Kentucky."...We're taking a little break and he starts beating on the bass and singing "Blue Moon of Kentucky," mocking Bill Monroe, singing the high falsetto voice. Elvis joins in with him, starts playing and singing along with him..."^[2] They ended up with a fast version of the song in 4/4 time. After an early take, Phillips can be heard on tape saying: "Fine, man. Hell, that's different—that's a pop song now, just about."^[12]

Phillips took several acetates of the session to DJ Dewey Phillips (no relation) of Memphis radio station WHBQ's Red, Hot And Blue show. From August 18 through December 8, "Blue Moon of Kentucky" was consistently higher on the charts, and then both sides began to chart across the South.^[13]

Black and Moore became Presley's back-up group, earning 25% of his takings.^[14] Moore and Black left the Starlight Wranglers after the success of "That's All Right", jealousy within the group forcing them to split.^[15] Their recordings at Sun were released with the credits as "Elvis Presley, Scotty and Bill". The group was later billed as "Elvis Presley and the Blue Moon Boys".

Over the next 15 months, the trio released five singles, toured across the South, and appeared regularly on the Louisiana Hayride. They had originally auditioned for the Opry in October 1954, but they failed to impress the people in charge, or the audience, and were not invited back.^[16]

In 1955, Black went to RCA along with Presley and Moore when Presley's contract was sold to that company. Except for the RCA reissue of "Mystery Train" and "I Forgot to Remember to Forget" ('with Scotty and Bill'), they were no longer credited on record labels.^[17][18]

Black played on early Presley recordings including "Good Rockin' Tonight", "Heartbreak Hotel", "Baby Let's Play House", "Mystery Train", "That's All Right", and "Hound Dog", and eventually became one of the first bass players to use the Fender Precision Bass (bass guitar) in popular music, on "Jailhouse Rock" in the late 1950s.

Black, Moore and drummer D. J. Fontana toured extensively during Presley's early career. Black continued his on-stage "clown" persona and developed comedy routines with Presley. Black's on-stage personality was a sharp contrast to the introverted stage presence of Moore. The balance fit the group's performances.

According to Black's son Louis, Moore said, "Elvis used to just stand up there and not move, and Bill would jump around on the bass. Your daddy would come down through there and get everybody to laughing and loosen them up."^[2] Fontana called Black the mainstay of the band in the early days. "He was a comedian who could warm up a crowd. That was necessary for us because we played for a lot of country crowds that weren't used to people jumping up and down on stage."^[19]

Although both the crowd and Presley enjoyed Black's clowning, Presley's manager Colonel Parker declared that there be no more showing up Elvis. Gordon Stoker told Black, "Hey, man, you've got to cut this out. You're not the star. Elvis is the star."^[2] Black and Moore left Presley on September 21, 1957. Although Black continued to record with Presley until 1958, he and Moore discontinued the band because of poor wages.^[2]

Bill Black's Combo[link]

In 1959 Black joined a group of musicians which became Bill Black's Combo. The lineup was Black (bass), Joe Lewis Hall (piano), Reggie Young (guitar), Martin Wills (saxophone), and Jerry Arnold (drums). There were several personnel changes. While Young was in the army, his position was filled by Hank Hankins, Chips Moman and Tommy Cogbill. Ace Cannon replaced Wills on sax. Carl McVoy replaced Hall in the studio, while Bobby Emmons replaced him on tour.

The band released blues instrumental Smokie for Hi Records in December 1959.^[20] Smokie, Part 2 became a #17 pop hit, and made number one on the "black" music charts.^[2] The song made the Top 20 in the Billboard Hot 100 chart. A follow-up release, White Silver Sands (Hi 2021), was a Top 10 hit (#9) and, like its predecessor, topped the R&B charts for four weeks.^[2][20]

Eight of the recordings by Bill Black's Combo placed in the Top 40 between 1959 and 1962. These were "White Silver Sands" (U.S. #9), "Josephine" (U.S. #18), "Don't Be Cruel" (U.S. #11), "Blue Tango" (U.S. #16), and "Hearts of Stone" (U.S. #20). Advertised as "Terrific for Dancing" their Saxy Jazz spent a record whole year in the top 100.^[2][21][22]

The Combo appeared in the 1961 film The Teenage Millionaire^[23] and on The Ed Sullivan Show, where they performed a medley of "Don't Be Cruel," "Cherry Pink," and "Hearts of Stone", and were voted Billboard's number one instrumental group of 1961.^[2]

Albums with themes included Bill Black's Combo Plays Tunes by Chuck Berry, Bill Black's Combo Goes Big Band, Bill Black's Combo Goes West, and Bill Black's Combo Plays the Blues. The Combo's sound of danceable blues became a popular accompaniment for striptease dancers. Another unique characteristics of the Combo was Reggie Young thwacking on the guitar with a pencil.^[2]

Lyn Lou Studio[link]

In 1962, Bill Black opened a recording studio called "Lyn Lou Studio" (named for his son and daughter)^[24] on Chelsa Street in Memphis, Tennessee, with Larry Rogers (Studio 19, Nashville) as his engineer and producer. Johnny Black, Bill's brother and also upright bass player, who knew Elvis at Lauderdale Courts before Bill, recalls visiting Bill at the studio and reported that Bill would be totally absorbed mixing and playing back tracks.^[25] The studio featured a 1958 Ampex 351 mono tape recorder retired from Sun Studios in 1960, basically just like the one Bill recorded on with Elvis in 1954. Sam Phillips replaced the 2 original Ampex 350's with 2 new Ampex 351's in 1958.^[26] Bob Tucker and Larry Rogers purchased Lyn Lou Studios after Bill Black's death in 1965. The studio recorded many Bill Black Combo albums (now billed as "The Best Honky Tonk Band in America" as well as "The band who opened for the Beatles"), and produced number-one country hits for Charly McClain, T.G. Shepard, Billy Swan and others. The house band for these sessions was the Shylo Band, featuring guitarist/songwriter Ronnie Scaife, nephew of Cecil Scaife, famed Sun Studio engineer.

Early in 1963, Black sent from two to five different versions of the Combo to different regions of the country at the same time, while staying off the road himself, wanting to concentrate on his business, family and his health.^[2]

Ill health and death[link]

In 1963, Bob Tucker joined the Bill Black Combo as a road manager and guitar/bass player.

Black himself had been ill for the past year and a half and unable to travel. Nonetheless, he insisted that the band continue without him. The Bill Black Combo created musical history in 1964 when they became the opening act for the Beatles (at their request) on their historical 13-city tour of America after their appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show. Black himself was not well enough to make the tour.^[2][27]

After two operations and lengthy hospital stays, Black died of a brain tumor on October 21, 1965, at the age of thirty-nine. Black died during his third operation that doctors had hoped would eradicate the tumor once and for all. Black was buried at Forest Hill Cemetery in Memphis, Tennessee. Presley received criticism for not attending his funeral; however, he believed that his presence would turn the funeral into a media frenzy. He decided instead to visit the family privately after the service to express his condolences. According to Louis Black, Presley said, "If there's anything that y'all need, you just let me know and it's yours."^[2]

Black's widow sold Bob Tucker and Larry Rogers both the right to use the name Bill Black's Combo. The band changed to country when it joined Columbia Records, and won Billboard's Country Instrumental Group of the Year award in 1976.^[2]

Legacy[link]

Bill Black's Combo cut more than 20 albums, toured the United States and Europe and won awards as the best instrumental group in America in 1966 and 1967. Bob Tucker worked for the University of Memphis as Professor of Music Business as well as being leader of the Best Honky Tonk Band in America.

Black's stand-up bass is today owned by ex-Beatle Paul McCartney, who received the instrument as a birthday present from his late wife Linda McCartney in the late 1970s. The bass can be seen in the video clip to McCartney's song "Baby's Request". In the documentary film The World Tonight, McCartney can be seen playing the bass and singing his version of "Heartbreak Hotel". In 1995, he played it on "Real Love", the last "new" Beatles record (one of two in which McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr overdubbed a full arrangement onto a John Lennon home recording from the late 1970s). In 2005, Clay Steakley portrayed Black in the Elvis Presley biopic miniseries Elvis.

On April 4, 2009, Bill Black was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

See also[link]

• List of bass guitarists
• List of Precision Bass players
• List of artists who reached number one on the Billboard R&B chart
• List of notable brain tumor patients

References[link]

External links[link]

• Rockabilly Hall of Fame
• MSN Entertainment
• AllMusic Guide
• Blackie - Bill Black & Elvis