Are we crazy?

Does anybody else think this rioting/looting business is actually a clever ploy to divert the attention away from what is clearly a monster story of the huge shift in the financial markets. We'll bombard the news with images of dudes with masks and fighting police, always neglecting to mention the MASSIVE shift in the monumental decisions the powerhouses in global finances will be making over the next couple of days... #justsaying
 
Theodebernacius said:
I'm not sure why you keep saying it's not about economic problems. Is that the bourgeois middle class that's going on a rampage?
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No it's not, but then it would be unfair to say that it's the deprived lower classes.

People need to keep in mind that whatever demographic you draw the rioters from they're still going to be a very small percentage.

This is just opportunistic looting and vandalism.
 
Theodebernacius said:
I'm not sure why you keep saying it's not about economic problems. Is that the middle class bourgeois that's going on a rampage?
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If this were about the economy, it wouldn't be a riot. It might be a protest. Or a heated debate in the commons. If it were about the economy, and these kids understood, or cared about, the economy, they wouldn't be burning places, stealing everything that isn't nailed down and causing hundreds-upon-thousands of pounds worth of damage, all the while ruining the UK's standing in the global markets and ruining our potential when it comes to things such as our hosting of the Olympic games.

The children who claim to be doing this for this country's benefit are either completely misguided or, dare I say it, they are liars.
 
mad_hatter said:
The children who claim to be doing this for this country's benefit are either completely misguided or, dare I say it, they are liars.
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But I don't actually think there's anyone claiming that.

It's just that the international media have seen big protests in the UK and big budget cuts in the UK and put two and two together, whereas there's a general assumption over here that this is all just unprovoked disorder.

I have to share this hilarious photo of my favourite looter:

tumblr_lpmtn5MsN11r1p3wro1_400.jpg
 
I've seen a couple of interviews with the rioters in which they've at least implied that they're angry because of the recession and that they're trying to make the government listen. And Ken Livingstone (granted he's the least impartial man to bring up right now) seems to be backing them up. I'm sure he'll fix everything if he knock Boris out of power!

Don't get me wrong though, I don't believe anyone who may be saying this is true. I agree, this is disorder for the sake of disorder.

And that looter is a genius! Who needs a PS3? :lol:
 
Zensteve said:
That's not what former London mayor Ken Livingstone's sayin'. :hmm:
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Former Mayor Ken Livingstone (and this is coming from someone who is a paid up member of the Labour party) disgraced himself last night by trying to blame the unrest on the Tories. I'm actually very glad that the BBC presenters slapped him down.
 
Oh, I'm sure people will be debating back & forth for quite some time.

Ultimately, though, riots always have an underlying reason which has been festering for a while. It can't be dismissed away, with a wave of one's hand, as simply unprovoked disorder.


Edit: This guy is my fave looter. Badass disguise, too!

http://www.twitpic.com/63mm4z

I bet they'll never catch this one.

.
 
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NickClapper said:
No, the trouble is is that the international media are misreporting this. This is how it happened.

1.) Mark Duggan's friends and family hold a peaceful protest in Tottenham at his possibly unlawful death.
2.) A group of delinquents join this group and start throwing rocks at police and buildings.
3.) This escalates to the point where people set fire to a building and a bus.
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Sorry for the essay I'm writing but I saw the initial riot a little differently and I was an eyewitness. I was in Tottenham on the day of the shooting and want to mention what I personally witnessed. In fact, I was there for all three deaths within 100m of each other - 28th July just in front of Broad Lane, the following week (the motorcyclist in Broad Lane) and Duggan, just off Broad Lane down the road from the Ferry Boat pub. As an idea, I had a lunch in the Ferry Boat Inn two days after the shooting, the day of the fire.

On the day itself, it started with what I think were the Broadwater Farm guys coming down. The reason I think they were Broadwater Farm was because they didn't look or act like locals - they worked in groups - as gangs - organised, not just the usual petty crims. They were able to escalate because they went unchallenged by the old bill who were slow to realise they were dealing with hard crims out to cause real damage. If they'd known they would probably have reacted differently.

Just so you get an idea, I'm a big, big guy. Broad shouldered, ex-rugby player, ex-heavyweight kickboxer and boxer. Stuff that should scare me just p!sses me off (although I'm cuddly really). However, even for me, I found these guys were seriously scary, not like the local Tottenham crims who are opportunist thieves, disorganised crime and quite 'lightweight'. They're cocky but they'll back down and are nothing like the crims present on that Friday who looked heavyweight and frankly gave me and my colleague the impression they were out to cause as much trouble as possible.

Again, this was something I saw myself and maybe my observations were wrong. Different interpretations in stressful situations are inevitable. However, my opinion was the ringleaders were organised, highly aggressive - really aggressive, hard core criminals and were out to cause as much damage as the police would let them.

However, I want to say I am delighted the situation in London has calmed. With 16,000 rozzers on the streets of London with an order from the PM to get stuck in, the crims will lie low in London as they don't want to get hit over the head by batons. The Smoke is safe once again.
 
gorillaonabike said:
Sorry for the essay I'm writing but I saw the initial riot a little differently and I was an eyewitness. I was in Tottenham on the day of the shooting and want to mention what I personally witnessed. In fact, I was there for all three deaths within 100m of each other - 28th July just in front of Broad Lane, the following week (the motorcyclist in Broad Lane) and Duggan, just off Broad Lane down the road from the Ferry Boat pub. As an idea, I had a lunch in the Ferry Boat Inn two days after the shooting, the day of the fire.

On the day itself, it started with what I think were the Broadwater Farm guys coming down. The reason I think they were Broadwater Farm was because they didn't look or act like locals - they worked in groups - as gangs - organised, not just the usual petty crims. They were able to escalate because they went unchallenged by the old bill who were slow to realise they were dealing with hard crims out to cause real damage. If they'd known they would probably have reacted differently.

Just so you get an idea, I'm a big, big guy. Broad shouldered, ex-rugby player, ex-heavyweight kickboxer and boxer. Stuff that should scare me just p!sses me off (although I'm cuddly really). However, even for me, I found these guys were seriously scary, not like the local Tottenham crims who are opportunist thieves, disorganised crime and quite 'lightweight'. They're cocky but they'll back down and are nothing like the crims present on that Friday who looked heavyweight and frankly gave me and my colleague the impression they were out to cause as much trouble as possible.

Again, this was something I saw myself and maybe my observations were wrong. Different interpretations in stressful situations are inevitable. However, my opinion was the ringleaders were organised, highly aggressive - really aggressive, hard core criminals and were out to cause as much damage as the police would let them.

However, I want to say I am delighted the situation in London has calmed. With 16,000 rozzers on the streets of London with an order from the PM to get stuck in, the crims will lie low in London as they don't want to get hit over the head by batons. The Smoke is safe once again.
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What are these things. Is one a gang and the other the police?
 
I think it's global warming, everyone's going mad in the heat. :P

I'm miles away in India, but it's going on in my home of Liverpool and I hope it'll be over soon.
 
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