London [All Cities] Riot 2011

[drake_259]

time to rename it uk riots

[bedub1]

time to rename it uk riots

Why can't they protest peacefully? They need to learn a thing or two from Egypt.

[drake_259]

time to rename it uk riots

Why can't they protest peacefully? They need to learn a thing or two from Egypt.

simple because there not protesting, its all about looting and causing chaos

[DAZMCFC]

about 500 scroats just down the road from my house(probably all white). my wife said the police were there early, but have now left. papershops, off-licenses and supermarkets are being targeted. shit load of people are just out watching it all unfold. cars being set alight and maybe Lidl.


oh by the way this is all happening in sunny Salford.

[Gypsys Kiss]

about 500 scroats just down the road from my house(probably all white). my wife said the police were there early, but have now left. papershops, off-licenses and supermarkets are being targeted. shit load of people are just out watching it all unfold. cars being set alight and maybe Lidl.


oh by the way this is all happening in sunny Salford.

When I saw it on the news, I wondered if you'd turn up

[Pedronicus]

about 500 scroats just down the road from my house(probably all white). my wife said the police were there early, but have now left. papershops, off-licenses and supermarkets are being targeted. shit load of people are just out watching it all unfold. cars being set alight and maybe Lidl.


oh by the way this is all happening in sunny Salford.

Oh the irony of it all. Manchester police vans in London, whilst the riots are in Manchester.

[DAZMCFC]

about 500 scroats just down the road from my house(probably all white). my wife said the police were there early, but have now left. papershops, off-licenses and supermarkets are being targeted. shit load of people are just out watching it all unfold. cars being set alight and maybe Lidl.


oh by the way this is all happening in sunny Salford.

When I saw it on the news, I wondered if you'd turn up

no sat in my house with a glass of rose wine. got my booze this morning before they shut tesco's and the rest of the precinct. a load of fucking idiot's all out on the blag. probably all of them man ure fans.

[Lord and Master]

LoL Nah it's your lot making up for disappointing weekend

Anyone else think Sky kind of hyped it up for tonight? Pitched as the night the real police show up, surely that wouldn't inspire scrotes to ramp it up? No, the media are hardly irresponsible enough to do that, and Sky wouldn't bait the met either, nor will they be rubbing their hands together at this snowball of a story...

[DAZMCFC]

this is getting out of order. no one can defend these actions of mindless scroats. apparently they are ripping the shutters of the shops on Salford precinct(a little mini-mall) and set fire to parts of it, i wouldn't mind but there is a 24 storey block off flats right bang in the middle of it. what are all the old dears and people who have not got a car going to do about their food shopping. their fucking complete idiots who want out for nowt and don't really think about what will happen when they don't open up again.

[IcePack]

Anything happen in Hendon?

[comic boy]

Anything happen in Hendon?

Ever do you mean

[PLAYER57832]

Just for comparison's sake, here is what NPR is saying about it. The link has some photos.

http://www.npr.org/2011/08/09/139233715 ... -uk-cities

Those I heard inerviewed definitely describe the rioters as "kids".

[Pedronicus]

This photo of some guy getting robbed of all his clothes reminds me of a funny line I heard a while back.

Give a black man a fish and he'll eat for a day.
Give him a fishing rod and he'll attack you with it and steal your fish....

[Phatscotty]

what a pussy

Crawl back in your holes before you get hurt, I have rubber bullets.

[comic boy]

Forget the bullets Phatty its rubber underwear you would need

[Iliad]

Understand that the barbarians are at the gate.

I was waiting for you to disregard a complex issue completely and reduce it to a cliche.

Never mind the socio-economic reasons behind the hatred of the youth, the reason that they feel disenfranchised enough to start looting and rioting given the opportunity. Never mind that the high unemployment, austerity measures, the education sector, the closing down of youth centers that have led to the youth having no investment what so ever in the status quo. Never mind the interesting reflection of the consumerist culture, that spends billions on convincing the population that its objects are invaluable and now it appears is more than successful. Never mind the police's response, the mindset of whom has led to a murder of 29 year old father of four, whose response has been completely unable to stem the youth. Never mind what this could mean for possible cuts for the police or whether their response has been shaped to highlight to the government that they are invaluable.

The riots and looting are reprehensible but to simply shut off your brain, which does seem to be your default status, and to call them barbarians misses a great deal what these riots have revealed.

Some things are apparent here, based on Pedro's descriptions (and I would hardly call Pedro a conservative, pro-elite, pro-status quo kind of guy):

(1) The original riots started as a response to the police shooting a man.
(2) The riots are now the avenue by which youths have taken advantage, criminally.

So, I ask you the following questions:

(1) Who among the rioters are disenfranchised?
(2) What makes you think that the reason for the riots is disenfranchisement and not, as Pedro suggests, trying to steal stuff?
(3) What makes you think the riots are a response to high unemployment and austerity measures?

I additionally offer the following - If these young men were rioting to change the system, I would have sympathy for them. Instead, they are rioting (can we even call it rioting) because they want free shit. Therefore, although Phatscotty is quick with the one liners that don't make sense, it's ridiculous for you to posit that these riots are anything more than a way for people to steal things. I mean, really... disenfranchisement? Are you suggesting there is some sort of comparison between these people and the people in Egypt or Libya? Knock it off.

1) Yes. Mark Duggan, father of four, whose death, most likely unnecessary at the hand of the policy sparked this.
2) Yes, obviously there is a lot of looting occuring. I've heard the figure 157 million but I'm not sure how accurate statistic would be at this stage.

1)I think I've already outlined it's the youth of the inner city, and this is the youth rioting, nearly all the reports agree.
2)You've mistaken my point. It is violence, it is theft. Nevertheless this rioting does reveal volumes about their situation. One can go the simplistic way and simply call them barbarians, or one can look at the underlying reasons of why hundreds/thousands (I'm completely guessing here, but from I do know 1,700 was far too few policemen but the 16,000 deployed has seemed to stop disorder in London) of young kids have absolutely no investment in their community, that they would destroy and ravage it, given the opportunity. One does not need to have a thought bubble above his head in order so others understand the motives. The anger at a police brutality has definitely shifted to one of greed and wanton violence and I'm not saying they're protesting for reforms. Their riots however, do reveal their disenfranchisement from their community and society. That is what I mean by disenfranchisement, not that they aren't in a democracy.

The youth aren't rioting to change the system, but their riots do reveal that they have been completely ignored by the system.
@Saxi: The youth do not have a hivemind, but they are in the exact same situation and without too much surprise acting in very similar ways.

One last thing: The riots are wrong. However I do feel there should be more insightful analysis than that people who either burn or loot shops are morally wrong. Of cour se they are, but that doesn't prevent looking at why so many did not care for either order or their community at large.

[Phatscotty]

Understand that the barbarians are at the gate.

I was waiting for you to disregard a complex issue completely and reduce it to a cliche.

omg were you really!!!

Never mind the socio-economic reasons behind the hatred of the youth, the reason that they feel disenfranchised enough to start looting and rioting given the opportunity. Never mind that the high unemployment, austerity measures, the education sector, the closing down of youth centers that have led to the youth having no investment what so ever in the status quo. Never mind the interesting reflection of the consumerist culture, that spends billions on convincing the population that its objects are invaluable and now it appears is more than successful. Never mind the police's response, the mindset of whom has led to a murder of 29 year old father of four, whose response has been completely unable to stem the youth. Never mind what this could mean for possible cuts for the police or whether their response has been shaped to highlight to the government that they are invaluable.

The riots and looting are reprehensible but to simply shut off your brain, which does seem to be your default status, and to call them barbarians misses a great deal what these riots have revealed.

Excuses! excuses excuses. Cry me a river of excuses. Blow off your steam and cause lots of damage and destroy entire communities because hey, we can justify it! You are just building the hate and violence and crime hotter and hotter with your bullshit.

I will take back the name Barbarians, that was too nice. ANIMALS is more proper.

And greek, it makes sense!

[saxitoxin]

here's some international reactions ... many countries are pulling together to help Britain ...

- I heard on Pacifica Radio a few moments ago that India has offered to deploy peacekeeping troops in Britain to help restore order and says the Madras Rifles can be airlifted to London short-notice. I haven't found anything online yet, though.

- Iran is offering to send human rights observers to help ensure the civil rights of protesters are respected by security forces - http://www.presstv.ir/detail/193083.html.

- In Zimbabwe, President Mugabe said he hopes for the best for Britain and that internal difficulties can be overcome. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hN_g3n_yl78&t=0m10s

- Sinn Fein is calling on the Irish government to provide accommodations for possible refugees from the UK - http://www.sinnfein.ie/contents/21325d

EU countries are being less fraternal ...

- Sweden, Germany, Denmark and Finland are urging caution when considering travel to Britain and to consider other options - http://travel.aol.co.uk/2011/08/09/riot ... s-tourism/

- Latvia has urged citizens to cancel travel plans to Britain and avoid the island completely - http://www.taiwannews.com.tw/etn/news_c ... id=1675417

[Phatscotty]

- similar to Iraq and Libya, neighborhood militias are springing up to fill the void left by police - http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/08/ ... 0351.shtml

To live and die in L.A.

[neanderpaul14]

I bet all the police in Britain were wishing they carried guns right now, not just special response teams.

Best of luck to all those over there, well except the rioters.

[jbrettlip]

Is it true that the guy that was shot at the beginnning of this was a known drug dealer, and was in a firefight with the police when he was shot?

[comic boy]

I bet all the police in Britain were wishing they carried guns right now, not just special response teams.

Best of luck to all those over there, well except the rioters.

You would be wrong , they have consistently said that they have no desire to carry guns.

[Phatscotty]

I bet all the police in Britain were wishing they carried guns right now, not just special response teams.

Best of luck to all those over there, well except the rioters.

You would be wrong , they have consistently said that they have no desire to carry guns.

Well I guess things are just gonna have to be allowed to get way out of hand then!

[comic boy]

Is it true that the guy that was shot at the beginnning of this was a known drug dealer, and was in a firefight with the police when he was shot?

There has been speculation that he dealt drugs but nothing concrete has come out yet. There was no firefight , a weapon was found in his car but had not been fired , the bullet that struck an officer was police issue and a richochet.

[comic boy]

I bet all the police in Britain were wishing they carried guns right now, not just special response teams.

Best of luck to all those over there, well except the rioters.

You would be wrong , they have consistently said that they have no desire to carry guns.

Well I guess things are just gonna have to be allowed to get way out of hand then!

Well I guess the British police prefer a few riots every decade to 100,000 gun deaths a year