As The Trial of Conrad Black morphs into a blog that might better be titled The Incarceration of Conrad Black (sources for which, let’s face it, could get a little thin on the ground), I’ll be shifting my efforts to a more general blog examining media, business and the business of media. The new blog—titled Spectator and launching today—will have a regular feature called Black Watch, through which will continue this blog’s purview with the promise of a richer offer besides. In reflecting on the course of this blog’s life to date, I have only this to say: keep it coming. Rollicking, raunchy, incisive, intelligent, funny, bad tempered, mean spirited, galling and appalling—just keep it coming. Speech, free and even otherwise, is what separates us from the beasts—and Conrad Black, love him or hate him, is an avatar of same. He gets me up in the morning and incites me (and from the looks of this crowd, every other dog and his dog) to speak. So Keep. It. Coming.
February 25, 2008 | 11:52 am | Douglas Bell
Radler’s prison bound
A Canadian Press story reminds us that today is the day David Radler reports to prison at the Moshannon Valley Correctional Facility in Pennsylvania. Oddly, his inmate number hasn’t turned up on the Bureau of Prisons’ Web site (whereas Black, Boultbee and Atkinson’s all have); an indication, perhaps, that he’ll soon be heading back to B.C. to finish his sentence as a guest of the Crown. Beyond that, the article afforded somebody named James Morton, president of the Ontario Bar Association, the opportunity to spout off as follows: “This is really a tragic saga and we’re seeing the final chapter; it’s sort of the march to the Tower of London.” This, in turn, affords me the opportunity to point out that,
February 22, 2008 | 9:38 am | Douglas Bell
Hollinger three: Circling the drain
With Conrad Black et al. jointly asking for an “emergency” stay to keep them out of prison—at least until the appellate court in the 7th circuit decides the matter of their application to remain free on bail—I am struck by the supreme irony of the Hollinger three tying their fate to common application in this matter. I’m making my way through Steve Skurka’s new book on the trial titled Tilted and came across the following passage, and believe me there’s plenty more like it:
February 19, 2008 | 10:46 am | Douglas Bell
Perhaps Conrad Black was just not loved enough
With a mere two weeks to go before his scheduled self-surrender, Conrad Black could take solace of a sort in the words of three relatively well meaning chroniclers over the weekend. The Irish columnist Ruth Dudley Edwards—long a bona fide FOB—elicited the following stiff-upper-lip missive:
February 15, 2008 | 12:37 pm | Douglas Bell
Convict him of arrogance, pomposity and verbosity!
At various stages throughout Conrad Black’s trial I was fortunate to correspond with an august British author and pillar of The City whose views I counted on for their insight, wit and wisdom. With the trial a long way behind us, he agreed—“strictly not for attribution”—to comment broadly for publication on the case and its ramifications. Here are the choicest remarks:
February 13, 2008 | 4:29 pm | Douglas Bell
Ken Whyte, Conrad Black and a conflict of interest
On a day when the Hollinger three filed joint papers with the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in a final effort to delay their imprisonment, I am going to rewind the tape to reprise a peripheral issue in the trial of Conrad Black—one that may, in the long run, have even more profound consequences than the demise of the great man himself.
February 11, 2008 | 4:59 pm | Douglas Bell
Babs goes batty
The opening sentence of Barbara Amiel’s latest offering in Maclean’s proves beyond a shadow of a shadow of a doubt that, whatever else you might say about her, the lady is as good as her word: “As we face the next round of tribulations, there are distinct signs that I am turning slightly batty.”
February 8, 2008 | 4:07 pm | Douglas Bell
The fag-end days for Black et al.
Now are frayed fag-end days for Conrad Black et al. Having decided to roll together their appellate court applications for bail, the Hollinger three are damned with faint praise. The Canadian Press reports:
February 6, 2008 | 3:58 pm | Douglas Bell
Irony’s alive and well at the Sun-Times
“History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce.” Marx said it. Now it’s safe to say Conrad Black et al. are living it.
February 4, 2008 | 3:21 pm | Douglas Bell
A Bone to chew on
After his Lordship’s repudiation last Thursday, the weekend’s coverage dwindled away to almost nothing. One happy exception was James Bone in The Times (of London). Among Crossharbour’s antagonists, Bone is the most erudite and mischievous. Earlier in the proceedings, he reported on Black’s likely schedule on a typical day in the slammer. Saturday he reported on Black’s recreational options should he end up at FCI Coleman, which, along with a federal work camp in Miami (Black’s first choice), is his probable destination. “Coleman, with a population of 5,000 in low-, medium- and high-security facilities, is the largest prison in the United States. It offers inmates activities such as shuffleboard, exercise bicycles and bocce ball, the Italian version of bowls.”
