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By Brian, January 26, 2010 12:58 pm

This story dates back to December 10th, 2009 but has only just now come to my attention. The Governor General of Canada has stripped Mr. Stephen Fonyo Jr. of his Order of Canada due to his criminal convictions.
You can see the notice on the GG’s website here: http://www.gg.ca/document.aspx?id=13497.

I agree that if someone is a recipient of our highest award in the country and they prove themselves morally unfit of that honor they should not have it. However, if Mr. Fonyo Jr.’s award is being stripped due to his criminal convictions, shouldn’t Mr. Conrad Black also be stripped of his Order of Canada? He’s currently halfway through a 6.5 year sentence in a US Federal prison in Florida for millions of dollars of corporate fraud.

From the Governor General’s website:

According to the Article 3 of the Policy and Procedure for Termination of Appointment to the Order Of Canada, a revocation is considered when:

a) the person has been convicted of a criminal offence; or

b) the conduct of the person

(i) constitutes a significant departure from generally-recognized standards of public behaviour which is seen to undermine the credibility, integrity or relevance of the Order, or detracts from the original grounds upon which the appointment was based; or

(ii) has been subject to official sanction, such as a fine or a reprimand, by an adjudicating body, professional association or other organization.

I do believe that being convicted of fraud, paying a $125,000 fine, 78 months in prison, and $6.1million dollars in reparations to Hollinger International (the company he siphoned the money from) counts for all points of consideration listed above. Strip his Order of Canada too!

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By Brian, September 16, 2008 6:25 pm

I realize these clips are old, but I only just stumbled upon them today. I’ve caught a few of the Late Show episodes over the years and love the top ten list, but I’ve not really been a follower of it.

In these clips, David Letterman makes some very good points about the USA’s invasion of Iraq, and boils it down to what it’s all really about. Oil. It’s definately worth watching the whole thing.

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWOGMKQ1aHo
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_LO-BuhxW0

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By Brian, August 23, 2007 8:00 pm

In modern western civilization there is a ruling class, although it is not generally acknowledged as such. We have a government – made up of politicians. These people determine things such as national and international policies and of course laws. They have enforcers – judges, lawyers and police officers. These things, taken in context, are not necessarily a bad thing. I scarcely think such a codependent culture like ours could function from day-to-day without them. So many people are taught in public school to conform, to obey, to respect and to depend on governmental services. Without those services, those who depend on them (as they have been raised) would be lost.

Some nations enjoy government sponsored health-care, which I dare say is a very noble undertaking in a capitalist society. It is far more humanitarian to decree that all shall have free access to doctors and surgeons than to charge them for these services. It is a very alarming thing indeed that in other countries health care providers would rather let another human being suffer or die over money. What a selfish and foolish concept – applying monetary value to saving a fellow being’s life!

My point is that to say “all forms of government sponsored social services are evil” is a reckless and fatal attitude to hold. However, blind faith and dependence on these services leaves the average soul in a weakened position. One has access to the social infrastructure, but only if one subscribes to it’s cultural values. Fall out of line and you risk arrest, or denial of these same services. Essentially it is a self-supporting codependent relationship.

Children raised to trust government because it does some good might fall into the trap of accepting that all that a government does is good. And why not? We live in a democratic society, do we not? We voted for these people, as a majority, so they have our best interests in mind, don’t they?

History tells us no, at least not always. One merely has to look at the rise of the Nazi Party in Germany last century to see that. What started as a campaign of social reform and rejuvenation for a battered country was steered drastically into World War II. It was done through propaganda and the government’s realization that they could influence and orchestrate cultural changes for their own ends. By the time it was realized at large that something very evil was going on – the Nazi’s had a stranglehold on popular culture, and the strength to shut down distention.

Counter culture can serve as a check of sorts, against the masses being led astray. It questions the authority of the government and it’s actions, and the wisdom of doing something just because everyone else is. It promotes a civilization’s people to look within their own selves and find meaning, instead of chasing the neatly packaged goals set out before them. Furthermore, as long as you can find individuals living by their own terms, freely, perhaps it can be gaged that not all is lost.

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