Re: UK Riots
 

Yep;

BBC News - Police appeal for calm after Bristol disorder

I was in Birmingham City Centre late on Sunday and there was no sign of any major disturbance there, either. Now the area I was in is cordoned off with police all over the place. Pretty astounding how quickly these incidents sprang up.

Re: UK Riots
 

Like all riots, the media will focus on the violence and looting, but they will do their best to ignore the tensions that sparked it in the first place. Sure, there was an altercation with the police, as there was the same with the LA Riots when Rodney King got beat by the LAPD, but it ignores what tensions were there bubbling for some time. Economic distress, dissatisfaction with current policy, tension between the police and the community, and so on.

It just takes a spark to bring it all out in the open. For instance, the protests that have been swarming the Middle-East have roots in discontent with economic disparity, corruption, and the recent spikes in food prices and unemployment. All it took was the young man in Tunisia setting himself on fire to make that nation go up in arms, and from there it spread into Egypt and elsewhere.

It goes with out saying that those in London probably won't go to that level because of different social terrains, but after the riots boil over, there'll be a lot of questions to be asked about public policy. I believe just a few days earlier Vince Cable said something along the lines of “Britain is an oasis of calm” in regards to how the people were weathering the depression and justifying their response to it.

Edit: Now I'm not saying that I support people burning shit down and looting. Rather we shouldn't look at the event itself, but at its roots and why it occurred in the first place, and not just the shooting.

Re: UK Riots
 

Obviously it has been the main topic of the news today and yesterday (followed by the stockmarket and problems with the euro, dollar etc.) though I haven't bothered to really read into it alot. It sounds a lot like the riots in Paris and other places where there was an incident with the police, which sparked tentions and problems that have been boiling under the surface for a long time.

As for the guy that was shot dead and apparantly unarmed... that really doesn't really give enough information to say whether or not there was any misconduct. Can't jump to conclusions without knowing if other people involved were armed, extremely hostile etc. basically if there was a life threathening situation or not.

Back to the riots, it might be due to lack of camera footage but I haven't seen much of a police anti-riot force (with tear gas, armoured or semi armoured vehicles, water guns, rubber bullets, battons, dogs) respond in any force. I've heard about people saying they didn't see any at all or were there just not enough and/or in the right locations. I'd imagen calling up 200-300 riot police in a few hours shouldn't be a problem. Certainly not after all the changes to tighten public safety. But a force of a few thousand strong might take a day or more.

Re: UK Riots
 

It has to come to violence before anyone notices that something just might be wrong with society. And then rather than worrying about the problems that cause it people want to beat the symptoms over the head with a truncheon and go back to business as normal.

This is just two tribes going at it. What can you hope to do to these people? What can you take from them? You're going to jail for six months - I'm sure you'll miss your job at McDonalds. :lulz: Please.

What investment do these people have in society's future?

You can only control people when they've got hope. You can't do much to people with little left to lose; not unless you're prepared to round them all up and kill them. And frankly if the deal being offered to them boils down to shut up and live off benefits/ a McDonalds job without any pride or hope whatsoever, or we'll shoot you -- well I'm not sure I'd be on the same side as the government.

It'll cool down in a bit, but I doubt very much anything will change. It'll just be a matter of holding the lid down on a pressure cooker until it boils over again.

Sixteen thousand police on the streets of London tonight. Other cities are kicking off. Most of it seems to be theft and property damage.

Apparently Blackberry Messenger is being used a lot for coordination of rioters movements. Some police nob has asked for it to be shut down and Blackberry have refused. With the knowledge that it's being monitored now though many of the rioters seem to be moving to messenger services in other jurisdictions.

Re: UK Riots
 

If the public finds that beating the symptoms over the head with a truncheon is remotely effective in alleviating said symptoms then it is certainly the only thing we are going to see happening as a result of all this.

It's not as though this kind of indiscriminate violence and criminality isn't a constant on the streets of the UK already. Everyone knows why it happens, including those with the ability to change the situation. As damaging as these events will be, they don't reach high enough to alter the status quo in any positive way.

Re: UK Riots
 

Riots have also broken out in Wolverhampton. Nobody could tell the difference, though. Some people are worried about them breaking out in Telford too, but the population of Telford is too stoned / drunk to do anything like that. It hasn't stopped all the stores closing early today though. I can't get fags for love nor money.

Hey, these rioters may actually help me to quit smoking. If I knew that all it would take to quit was thousands of angry chavs causing millions of pounds worth of damage all across the entire nation, I'd have orchestrated something years ago...

Re: UK Riots
 

Why do these events happen and how could the status quo be altered in a positive way? I'm not trying to troll, I'm honestly asking what are the societal ills plaguing Britain and how could they be so easily fixed?

Re: UK Riots
 

Rumours just started up here ( Norfolk) that Norwich is going to be hit, I dunno if it's mere rumours or it actually will. I could do with some new nikeys, so hopefully they will :lulz:

serious note:

The media is nothing but a pain. They are throwing words around constantly like "thug" "yob" and "hoodie" which is just making us look bad.

At the moment there seems to be no real cause, people are apprently trying to make a cause but it won't happen. It's just people angry for whatever reason looking to blow shit up. Hell if they started here I would probably get my blow against the torries.

Re: UK Riots
 

Nemm's, don't take this the wrong way, cause it isn't a jab just a realization. But, wasn't socialism suppose to fix all this? It would seem the system many young people put their hopes into has failed them. Some of the articles I've read said that the riots were primarily fueled by young people who are angered by the decline or lack of social services and by the...heat. Seriously, the heat? Really, try living in the US where the heat is killing people, wiped out food supplies and hasn't dropped below 90 degrees in 13 states for over two months. Thankfully, at this point, we have refrained from burning our infrastructure, homes and business to the ground. They only do that in L.A....cause they are all nuts out there anyway. It's tough Nemmerle - everywhere right now. Be safe over there.

Re: UK Riots
 

Well, being a london resident myself, there is no actual clear reason for these riots, and i'm not joking at all. i never saw this coming at all, the Mark Duggan case is just being used for a face for the riots, but mainly it is because the people have seen how inneffective the police were in containing the riots in tottenham, and so decided to have a crack at it themselves. thus leading to mondays events where basically the entire city went up in flames.

Honestly, there is no clear and easy way of dealing with this. The majority of the rioters are ill-educated and drop outs, chavs and the relatively poor. its mainly youths mixed with a few young adults and older people trying to get in on the looting.

I find it very frustrating that people moan that the police are not doing enough, yet when the police crack down and crush riots, there is always one complaint that they were to hard on the rioters.

The social ills? Just the usual money problems, and the massive strain on the government to commit to its promises on social security and the NHS.

In short. there is no reason. just youths taking advantage.