Where have manners, class, decorum, sensitivity and humilty gone?

I came across the following, which is (supposed to have been) the keynote address at a meeting of the World Economic Forum. It was (partially) delivered by Manka Bros. Studios Chairman and CEO Khan Manka, Jr.

Having been out of corporate life for the past 10 years or so, the last five or so of which I watched in sadness and indeed horror, at the descent into insanity of management at all levels and also of the grunts they chose to wallow with in the muck that has become typical business behaviour.

This is what now passes for a keynote speech by a "captain of industry" at an international business conference.


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Freedom of speech or simple hate?

In the midst of the "Everybody Draw Mohammed Day" fiasco, defenders of their right to free speech often write that the exercise of it should never be self restricted because of what those who object to various manifestations of it see as highly offensive. Many of them assert that it is a noble right worth defending at all costs because anything less would be giving in to pressure to a lessening of personal rights and freedoms.

My question to them is: When was the last time you lost a right or freedom simply because you didn't exercise it? How many times did you lose your right to travel because you stayed home for too long a period? When was the last time you lost your right to vote because you didn't go to the polls for three elections in a row? When was the last time your freedom of speech was suspended because you didn't offend someone for six months? You are not obligated to exercise each and every right you have to it's fullest degree.

Freedom of speech is assured. I don't see it being revoked any time soon. Taunting Muslims, or anyone else under the guise of exercising the right of freedom of expression is in practical terms bull shit. It serves only one purpose: to spread hate. Not only to spread hate, but to solicit support in the spreading of that hate.

It costs you nothing to refrain from purposely offending Muslims. If you disagree with facets of Islam, fine, start a debate--you may learn something. Rights and freedoms are not like muscles--they do not need to be exercised so that they don't atrophy and lose their power. Please, stop this ploy because it amounts to nothing but hate mongering. It does nothing to cement our rights while at the same time, it pisses off a whole lot of people. So, what have you gained? Was that the real objective? Simply to piss people off? Congratulations--it succeeded. Now, try doing something positive.


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Moooo!

In following one news item, yesterday, I came across another that described Canada's Speech From the Throne from just over a month ago. For those unfamiliar with the term, there is no throne involved and it sometimes barely qualifies as a speech at all. Like most things in government and law, it's steeped in tradition, much of it silly in this day and age...like men wearing blonde, braided, powder wigs in courtrooms.

The speech is used to outline what the government of the day intends to do in the near future. This one was fairly brief considering the economic climate here at home and around the world. But it did mention that they would put stimulus money into various programs to kick start the economy. I briefly surveyed them and found a couple of interesting ones, one of which I'll share.

For the benefit of those who are unfamiliar with Newfoundland, it would help if I described it a bit before explaining the funding that is to soon take place. Newfoundland is one of the most impoverished areas of Canada. It was bad enough even before all the codfish were taken from the Atlantic, which was one of its main occupations, so you can imagine what it's been like since.

So, to help out our poor brethren on The Rock, what do you suppose the federal government of Canada has committed to do? Build a state of the art research centre? Relocate a government ministry to St. John's, Newfoundland? Perhaps, commit money for retraining of unemployed fishermen? Actually, the feds say they will make available about $200,000 so that peat moss can be developed into an alternate bedding material for dairy cows. Go ahead--read the previous sentence again, but I guarantee it won't sound any less bizarre. Maybe the thinking is that if those big, fat dairy cows can sleep more comfortably, they might be persuaded to produce cappuccino or other exotic drinks more lucrative than plain milk. I'm all for making animals comfortable, but how, exactly, will this stimulate the local economy?

Test cow with peat moss bed: