Month: June 2013

New Interview with Future Money Trends: Financial Markets Update and the Liberty Mastermind Conference

by

It’s been a while my last interview with Future Money Trends, so this should be a real treat. As my regular readers know, I rarely write about the financial markets any longer.  The main reason is that I have shifted my focus into a much broader area of activism against the cancerous system we live … Read more

Insanity in Britain: Secret Court Jails Father for Birthday Message to Son

by

The following story is another example of a situation that you might expect to read about in a novel of dystopian fiction, rather than a real life situation happening on the island that brought the world the Magna Carta.

Garry Johnson simply sent his son Sam a happy birthday message on his 21st via Facebook and for this crime was sentenced to jail by Britain’s secret family court system. The most amazing part of this story is that after the divorce from his wife, both of their children choose to live with Garry rather than their mother.  Seemingly out of spite, his ex-wife started to make accusations against Garry, all of which were investigated and shown to be untrue.  Not that this mattered, as Garry was still punished with a gag order that forbid him to ever mention his children publicly for the rest of his life.  I think it’s safe to say secret courts should never, ever be permitted.  From the Daily Mail:

A father has been jailed at a secret court hearing for sending a Facebook message to his grown-up son on his 21st birthday.

Garry Johnson, 46, breached a draconian gagging order which stops him publicly naming his son, Sam, whom he has brought up and who still lives with him.

The order silencing Mr Johnson – which follows an acrimonious divorce eight years ago – means he cannot mention either of his boys, 21-year-old Sam and Adam, 18, in public, even by congratulating them in a local newspaper announcement when they get engaged, married or have children in the future.

The extraordinary gag is set to last until the end of his life, although his boys are now adults. Last night they condemned their father’s jailing as ‘cruel and ludicrous’.

After their parents’ divorce, the two boys chose to live with their father, following a series of rows with their mother over her new boyfriend.

But within a year of the divorce, Mr Johnson’s ex-wife made allegations to Essex social workers that he was neglecting the children and not feeding them properly at his smart family home.

An investigation by social workers cleared him of any wrongdoing and said the boys were fine.

Read more

Like this post?
Donate bitcoins: 35DBUbbAQHTqbDaAc5mAaN6BqwA2AxuE7G


Follow me on Twitter.

Northern Ireland’s Big Lie: Town Gets Cheap, Superficial Makeover Ahead of the G8 Summit

by

In a little over two weeks, the self-important leaders of the Group of Eight (G8) will be meeting at the Lough Erne Golf Resort in Northern Ireland.  There’s a slight problem, however.  The local economy is in shambles and many of the neighboring towns are in horrible shape.  While real economic collapse doesn’t seem a huge concern, the thought of Barack Obama, Shinzo Abe and David Cameron having to confront the realities of poverty while feasting on caviar and foie gras is simply too much to bare.

So what’s the solution?  Simple, just pretend nothing’s wrong by remodeling storefronts long since abandoned just as you would in a Hollywood set.  What about those pesky abandoned buildings and other eyesores of blight and destitution?  No problem, just place colorful murals in front of them.  It makes sense.  After all, the response by the G8 to the financial collapse since the beginning has been to cover it up and pretend nothing happened.  At least the meme is consistent across the Western World.  From the Irish Times:

Hundreds of thousands of pounds have been spent on a Fermanagh facelift as the county prepares for the G8 summit in just under three weeks’ time, but locals complain the work paid for by the local council and the Stormont Executive is little more than skin deep.

More than 100 properties within range of the sumptuous Lough Erne resort which hosts the world’s wealthiest leaders, have been tidied up, painted or power-hosed.

However, locals say the makeover only serves to hide a deeper malaise which US president Barack Obama, German chancellor Angela Merkel, French president François Hollande and others will not get to see.

Two shops in Belcoo, right on the border with Blacklion, Co Cavan, have been painted over to appear as thriving businesses. The reality, as in other parts of the county, is rather more stark.

Just a few weeks ago, Flanagan’s – a former butcher’s and vegetable shop in the neat village – was cleaned and repainted with bespoke images of a thriving business placed in the windows. Any G8 delegate passing on the way to discuss global capitalism would easily be fooled into thinking that all is well with the free-market system in Fermanagh. But, the facts are different.

“That work happened just a few weeks ago,” he said. “The council got that place painted but it went under sometime last year.

Read more

Like this post?
Donate bitcoins: 35DBUbbAQHTqbDaAc5mAaN6BqwA2AxuE7G


Follow me on Twitter.