Gift Hub

Conrad Black's Journey

Joseph Fosco on Lord Conrad Black, our Brother in Christ, now teaching history in the penitentiary:

Martha Stewart, Governor George Ryan, Scooter Libby, Dick Cheney and many of our Presidents (late and living), including our current President (and so many other people) can surely sympathize with Lord Black's disappointment in America's flawed Justice System.

May God shine over all who have been unjustly accused of a crime. On a personal note, I am grateful that our fine country allows for the wrongfully convicted to seek pardons, that they may find redress for their just grievances. Through God and with God, may Father Raymond and all of the many supporters continue to stand by our dear brother-in-Christ, Lord Black.

What has disappointed me most in this whole sordid saga is that Hudson Institute has not stood by our Brother in Christ,  Lord Conrad Black, at least not publicly, as far as I know.  Joseph Fosco should not have to engage the press alone in this unequal combat, while the heavy hitters at Hudson write about donative intent and other metaphysical topics that provide Conrad with not a single day's freedom, let alone a full Presidential Pardon.  Those thinkers who served Conrad and Christ when he (Conrad) was on the Board at Hudson might now step forward with at least a half-hearted screed in his (Conrad's) defense.  As nonconsensual, pro bono, Morals Tutor to Lord Black, I have stood by him in his time of need, offering The Consolations of Philosopy, and pouring salt into the wounds, lest they become inflamed.  Upon his pardon, or parole, I hope to be rewarded for my efforts. Ah, just imagine it, "Phil Cubeta, Senior Fellow."  Maybe I can get Scooter Libby's old office.

Morals Tutor to the Gates Foundation?

Gateskeeper, in a post entitled, See What Phil Cubeta Says About Bill Gates and Rosa Parks:

Philanthropy is, Phil reminds us, not only about money, metrics, solving problems, and technology. The Gates Foundation should ask him to speak to their Board, Panels, and staff.

I am definitely available to serve as a Morals Tutor for the Funders, Board, Panels and Staff of the Gates Foundation. Candidly, my business is still a little slow. Since 2004, when I went into full time pro bono morals tutoring, I have had no consensual clients.  No prospects in the pipeline either. I am thinking of becoming a ball room dancing instructor instead. Maybe I could get a gig on a cruise ship. First, though, I will have to learn how to dance.

Will Trade Meaning of Life For Beer

"What wine is best?," Diogenes was asked. "The wine another buys you," replied the Master. Please, if this blog has opened your eyes to your sinful way of life, if I have made you see how corrupt is our Bondage to Wealth in our so-called Free Market, or Social Capital Market, please pay your enlightenment forward by buying this poor Beggar a beer!

I am so thirsty - as thirsty, Dear Potential Client, for beer as you are for meaning in your God-forsaken life. Give me the beer and I will give your life meaning. But give me the beer first.

No Full Service Bank, no matter how well staffed with Senior Philanthropic Consultants, no matter how dedicated to the public interest, will make this offer. One Goddamn beer! Who else will give your life meaning that cheap? No takers? OK. Forget the beer. I will plan the meaning of your life, Mr. Bigshot, for nothing. I have an open space on my calendar, as it happens. Just let me sit in the limo while we do it, ok? It is cold out here on the street.

Is Moral Philosophy Sustainable in Today's Economy?

Since 2004, I have stood in the street, naked in all weather, by the Dumpster out behind Wealth Bondage, providing values based planning to any wealthy person who passes by, and to many who don't. I operate on a pay-it-forward model. That is, I give away my moral advice pro bono publico, in the hopes that the wealthy person who has a mind shift (i.e. repents of his or her Bondage to Wealth) will see fit to double back and give me some kind of award, maybe a genius grant, or at least enough for a cup of coffee. So far, having counseled (by chasing their limos or yelling at the television set in the department store windows, or talking quietly and reasonably to their picture in the newspaper) Presidents of Great Nations, CEOs of Fortune 100 Companies, the Strumpets of the Media, and my fellow Advisors in Philanthropy my net receipts are $0 dollars, three bottles thrown at me, and more beatings than I care to count. This in a nation that prides itself on family values, and in a profession where aligning meaning with money is the name of the big dollar game.

Why do people give alms to the merest beggar, but not to a moral philosopher down on his luck? Asked that question, Diogenes replied, "Because they think they may one day be lame or blind, but never expect that they will turn to philosophy." I myself am sometimes aghast that I have sunk so low. If I get clean and sober maybe I can get a job mentoring wealthy convicts in some half way house. "Well," say the rich, when I ask for a handout, "virtue is its own reward." Meaning,  "Get lost!" I should have gone for the MBA.

Richard Mellon Scaife: Please Call Me for a Free No Obligation Morals Consultation

Washington Post:

Why a billionaire would shack up at Doug's Motel, of all places, is a mystery.

For Scaife's role in funding the family values right see Right Web and SourceWatch. Tiny Revolution cites a rude Mr. Scaife putting down a reporter.  I guess my issue is not the human frailty evident in the story but the way some billioniares use think thank to push an agenda. Joel Orosz has taught us that working in a foundation the staff's daily goal is (sadly enough) not to embarass funders or boards.  Can you imagine being a real thinker, someone with intellectual integrity, who worked at, say, Heritage, or Cato, or AEI, Hoover, or Hudson  and had to worry about an essay or article possibly embarassing this character?  What a shame that the intellectual life of a nation, and its public policy, runs across the desk of funders so frail.  I am sure therapists and doctors and attorneys and personal trainers and tennis coaches  and interior decorators and plastic surgeons and publicists, let alone private detectives,  abound in the world of Richard Mellon Scaife, but whoever serves as his Morals Tutor has let the side down.