I am glad this has finally come to pass. He got what he deserved.
So I may appear to be prejudiced against him, but then again I have reason to.
I was a former acquaintance of someone who used to work for the Toronto Star as a columnist several years earlier. While I may have different political and economic views from her, I respect the fact that she is a columnist and the fact that a private paper has the right to publish the views of its reporters.
Said acquaintance drew the ire of Mr. Black at one point after publishing an article that he apparently didn't like. She doesn't understand it, the article was about a possible currency tax and had nothing to do with Black at all. But I heard that Mr. Black was on the warpath. Normally such people who post logical criticism of said views and perhaps get on with their lives.
Not Mr. Black. From several news sources, I read that Mr. Black demanded that the reporter "be taken to City Hall and publically horsewhipped" (or something like that). And not once too. Repeatedly.
Same Mr. Black apparently also criticized the Jury for not being an appropriate selection of his peers and criticizing the selection of "common folk". I'm assuming that none of the Jurors were named Trump.
Since 1997, I've had an interest in Mr. Black and his dealings, stopping to look at papers to see what is going on. And not just me too. Another acquaintance lost a substantial amount of money in Hollinger Stock. So it was with glee when we heard of Black being charged.
And now he's guilty. For being such a pompous ass, he gets what he deserved.
Maybe if he mingled with us "common folk" things would have turned out differently.
Posted by Jeff Raven (Member # 20) on :
I have no idea who this man is or what the case is about or what he did wrong, and that article didn't seem very clear in the first 3 paragraphs. Perhaps you could summarize? Being a pompous ass isn't a crime as far as I know.
Posted by Fabrux (Member # 71) on :
Maybe it should be.
Posted by Ritten (Member # 417) on :
We'd lose too many members.
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
"...that article didn't seem very clear in the first 3 paragraphs."
I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought it was poorly written. I mean, the fourth paragraph mentions that there was apparently a saint in the courtroom, and it isn't until the eleventh paragraph that we finally find out that "St. Eve" is the last name of the judge.
Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :
It's another when you are charged with defrauding your company and sending it down to the ground a la Enron and WorldCom (although the magnitude is not that bad).
Put the two together, toss a conviction in the mix and you get a man whom I believe richly deserves what is coming to him.
Posted by Saltah'na (Member # 33) on :
The general consensus up here appears to be "Good riddance"......
Posted by Da_bang80 (Member # 528) on :
Is this the same guy who tried to hire someone to kill his wife a few years ago, or am I thinking of some other guy with the last name of "Black"?
I haven't really followed the story with a great deal of interest, but I will say I hope he gets made someones prison bitch.
Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :
A case of indiscriminate rape being the best policy, I take it. Good on you.
Posted by Saltah'na (Member # 33) on :
Here in Canada, we have an honour called the Order of Canada, for Canadians who have done great benefits to not only the Canadian People, but to around the world.
Black is a member of the Order of Canada. How he got it, I will never know. But now there is a push to have Mr. Black stripped of said honour given his criminal conviction. It must be done. He should also be stripped of his House of Lords Peerage.
I'll also point out that Black's conviction came out on the same week that Ed Mirvish passed away. Like Black, Mirvish was a successful entrepreneur. Unlike Black, Mirvish actually mingled with common folk (Black would probably say "SACRILEGE"!!!!) and did things for said common folk as a gesture of his appreciation (i.e. turkey giveaways, public parties, etc).
No surprise that a lot of people were sad when Mr. Mirvish passed away. A lot of letters to newspapers mentioned praise for Mr. Mirvish at the same time as heaping scorn on Mr. Black.
You reap what you sow. And I hope Mr. Black becomes a common man's bitch in prison, where he belongs. A pompous ass is about to have a good time in prison.
Posted by Ventriloquists Got Shot (Member # 239) on :
HEY RICH MAN YOU TRIED TOUCHING MY BUM NOW YOU GONNA GET YOURS TOUCHED
The problem, inherently, with the kind of righteous indignation that, perhaps the population at large suffers for Mr. Black here, is that, calling for pitchforked lynch at the cathedral doors, while entirely dramatic and surely cathartic, certainly, I don't know, makes everyone blind for lack of the eyes they've all exchanged in a one to one deal.
Mr. Black will go to prison and have a lack of the amenities he enjoyed in his regular life. He will serve his time.
Wishing for buttsecks simply encourages the kind of behaviour he was guilty of in the first place, again, simply in a form that seems to be more palatable to people with such irate disgust for this Mr. Black fellow. Certainly he shouldn't be guilty, if the things he is guilty of are encouraged from others?
Posted by Not Invented Here (Member # 1606) on :
quote:Originally posted by Saltah'na: He should also be stripped of his House of Lords Peerage.
Hahahaha. Good luck on that one. What with that bastard Lord Archer and indeed Lady Shirley "I've got no money honest don't look at my horrendously expensive new house" Porter running around. God I love the UK Establishment and it's blatant hypocrisy.
Posted by Daniel Butler (Member # 1689) on :
One only hopes he has seen a hot dog before.
Posted by Saltah'na (Member # 33) on :
I don't think that Mr. Black knows what the actual food fare is.
Irate Disgust? Fine, I have irate disgust for this man, a man with no care for whatever happens to anyone except himself. He dishes out bile like there is no tomorrow, and when anyone has the gall to question his views, out come the libel lawsuits.
The fact remains is that this man thought himself higher than anyone else in society. He believed himself to be THE Upper Crust and those who weren't to his level were ingrates. Philanthropy just wasn't his thing, since it involved mingling with the dreaded "common folk".
If Conrad Black would suddenly roll over and die tomorrow, there wouldn't be any mourning. No one would care for the fate of such an indignant person. When Mr. Mirvish died, his funeral had a lot of coverage, as walks from across society came to honour the man who was indeed Toronto's philanthropist. Even Kenneth Lay, who died after being convicted received some sympathy. Despite the aura of criminality around Lay, the common thing between Mirvish and Lay was that they both came from poor families and earned their wealth.
Truth be told, when Jeffrey Skilling and Bernie Ebbers were convicted on white collar crime and sentenced to jail, some people wondered how they would end up. Like Mirvish and Lay, both Skilling and Ebbers came from simple families. However, Mr. Black came from a rich, and privileged family, that and his lifestyle gave birth to his harshly negative attitude towards "common folk". He never had a real opportunity to work for his riches, it was already handed to him.
Simply put, to many people, including Canadians, Conrad Black is the epitome of the worst in corporate greed. He acted as if his company was his oyster, without regard to the people who were actually running it. Lay, Skilling and Ebbers may have brought down bigger companies, but it was Black who defined the absolute notion of Greed in society. It is no surprise that there are a lot of people who would agree to hope that Mr. Black SUFFERS in prison.
Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :
Canada!
Only I guess this is a U.S. case. So, weird.
Posted by Ventriloquists Got Shot (Member # 239) on :
There are so many things that are way better to think than some rich dude that we're all jealous of.
Rollerskating girls, for example.
Not being crazy gits, for another.
Posted by Saltah'na (Member # 33) on :
Ventriloquist: You have your opinion, I have mine. And I say that I am happy at the prospect of Mr. Black rotting away in prison.
Sol: Conrad was born a Canadian but gave up his Canadian citizenship to become a British Lord. Conrad also owned a large number of newspapers in this country, which is why the Canadian media has an interest in this case.
Now the possibility of him returning to Canada has pretty much gone up in smoke as Canada would never allow a convicted felon in their country. Ah such bitter irony!!!
Posted by Not Invented Here (Member # 1606) on :
quote:Originally posted by Ventriloquists Got Shot: There are so many things that are way better to think than some rich dude that we're all jealous of.
Rollerskating girls, for example.
Not being crazy gits, for another.
Whilst I would love to share this opinion, there is rather relevant quote from someone far wiser than I that is relevant:
All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing
I thought this one was a Jefferson quote, but apparently it's not him and in fact is a mis-attribution to Edmund Burke. Still true though.
Posted by Ventriloquists Got Shot (Member # 239) on :
But the good men already like, tried and convicted him? Go get worked up over something else, kids.
Posted by Daniel Butler (Member # 1689) on :
Like Jerry Falwell? Remember that? Is it just me or does the imprisonment and/or death of bad people *really* make people wax philosophical?
Posted by Not Invented Here (Member # 1606) on :
quote:Originally posted by Ventriloquists Got Shot: But the good men already like, tried and convicted him? Go get worked up over something else, kids.
I think you miss the point entirely. One bad guy down, next one please.
Posted by Saltah'na (Member # 33) on :
He's not down yet. Black just got bail.
I'll be happy once he gets put into jail.
Posted by Ventriloquists Got Shot (Member # 239) on :
"One bad guy down, next one please."
I miss nothing. If you're so devoted to wasting your own life in the mediocre "pursuit" of "bad guy(s)", then, by all means, and this is the point, move on to the next one, spread the love, and work the ladder down.
It seems like there are, at the very least, scathing indictments of men not-yet-indicted could be made in the time a circle jerk o' anger busts it's fiery loads all over a man already caught breaching social grace.
That, indictments, or at least some nice Jerry Yarnell landscapes. Art is good.
Posted by Saltah'na (Member # 33) on :
Why does the jail system condone this special treatment crap? He should be sent to General Population.
Posted by Daniel Butler (Member # 1689) on :
Should, should, should. As much as we recognize what people/authorities should or should not do...it's the fact that he's rich that matters here. Not morality or fairness.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
So the rich guy made his celmate his bitch: nothing unusal about that. Dont know about that "upgrade" to the library though- only trustee cons get that in the states.
