Britain burns - Chavs ruin civilization

[Ed Anger]

[Languish attitude]can I buy the popcorns for evening TV?[/Languish attitude]

Well, can I?

[Barrister]

Oh shit.

IPCC say man was arrested at Northwick Park tube station in possession of offensive weapon and drugs and became seriously ill shortly after. Appeals for calm amid heightened tensions in Northwick Park. IPCC working quickly to establish details of arrest incident.

"Arrest incident" generally means he died when they sat on him after he wouldn't drop his weapon.

IPCC = Independent Police Complaints Committee

[Languish attitude]can I buy the popcorns for evening TV?[/Languish attitude]

I am sorry, truth is I am rather disturbed by the whole thing. Not "only" because I know a couple of you guys from there, but also that while I have never had any illusions about the British lower classes, it is unbelievable to me that such sheer greed and lack of respect for society can / is allowed to surface so violently there.

But as we're seeing, this isn't just the "lower classes" rioting.

[Tamas]

But as we're seeing, this isn't just the "lower classes" rioting.

yeah, which makes the whole thing all the worse

[Martinus]

The Facebook page of the Enfield rioter. All you need to know, really.

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=776392700&sk=wall

Other   
I <3 CHICKEN, Cathall E.11, when your in a relationship, everyone adds your bf/gf..WHYY?, Girl:Bbz dnt tell any1 about this. Boy:'of course' (NXT DAY) Man Caned Dat!, LOOOOOL: Laugh out out out out out Loud :/, Your So Gassed'KMT ; YOUR THE CAUSE OF GLOBAL WARMING !!, I DONT GIVE A FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCKK, Vybz Kartel, Oreo, Why can't people spell when they create a fan page??, Wankin Off, But Are You Gonna Dildoe??, Going Swimming But Are You Wearin Speedos!?!?!?, Official Mixtape Awards, more guys have been in out and out of her than public transport fam!, The chinese people who sells pirate DVD's down at leyton Mills ASDA!and 2 more

wut?

Sounds like something Vicky Pollard would say.

[Martinus]

I am utterly shocked by the waves of dumbness just storming into my face from that page. Of course I cant understand half of what she is writing, but, ugh.

If at least 10% of your population is like that, you are fucked.

I think more than 10% of their population is like that, and the same goes for every other nation in the world.

To quote Stanislaw Lem, "I hadn't known there were so many idiots in the world until I started using the Internet."

[Martinus]

Oh shit.

IPCC say man was arrested at Northwick Park tube station in possession of offensive weapon and drugs and became seriously ill shortly after. Appeals for calm amid heightened tensions in Northwick Park. IPCC working quickly to establish details of arrest incident.

"Arrest incident" generally means he died when they sat on him after he wouldn't drop his weapon.

IPCC = Independent Police Complaints Committee

[Languish attitude]can I buy the popcorns for evening TV?[/Languish attitude]

I am sorry, truth is I am rather disturbed by the whole thing. Not "only" because I know a couple of you guys from there, but also that while I have never had any illusions about the British lower classes, it is unbelievable to me that such sheer greed and lack of respect for society can / is allowed to surface so violently there.

I seem to recall your neonazis staging a similarly violent riot few years ago against the socialist government.

I think your shock at the mediocrity of human condition is misplaced. Most humans are scum. That's why we gave the state an exclusive right to use force in the first place.

[Barrister]

Oh shit.

IPCC say man was arrested at Northwick Park tube station in possession of offensive weapon and drugs and became seriously ill shortly after. Appeals for calm amid heightened tensions in Northwick Park. IPCC working quickly to establish details of arrest incident.

"Arrest incident" generally means he died when they sat on him after he wouldn't drop his weapon.

IPCC = Independent Police Complaints Committee

[Languish attitude]can I buy the popcorns for evening TV?[/Languish attitude]

I am sorry, truth is I am rather disturbed by the whole thing. Not "only" because I know a couple of you guys from there, but also that while I have never had any illusions about the British lower classes, it is unbelievable to me that such sheer greed and lack of respect for society can / is allowed to surface so violently there.

I seem to recall your neonazis staging a similarly violent riot few years ago against the socialist government.

I think your shock at the mediocrity of human condition is misplaced. Most humans are scum. That's why we gave the state an exclusive right to use force in the first place.

That doesn't match with your Lem quote.

Most humans are fine.  Only a small minority are scum.  This just shows how a small minority can cause big problems for the rest of us.

[HVC]

Most are scum, but few are motivated enough to show the world what scum they really are. They prefer to keep it at home, as it were.

[Valmy]

That doesn't match with your Lem quote.

Most humans are fine.  Only a small minority are scum.  This just shows how a small minority can cause big problems for the rest of us.

Marty's views on who is scum is pretty famously liberal though.

[Syt]

[Tamas]

I think your shock at the mediocrity of human condition is misplaced. Most humans are scum. That's why we gave the state an exclusive right to use force in the first place.

a few bullet points:

-as I described, my shock was to see this kind of thing being allowed to happen in the UK, not the existence of such attitude

-the 2006 thing was purely political, the only thing which was looted was the canteen of the state TV building. Plus once the initial surprise wore off of them, the police punched back hard.

[Berkut]

46 pages. I haven't been paying much attention. Can someone sum up what is actually going on?

[Valmy]

46 pages. I haven't been paying much attention. Can someone sum up what is actually going on?

London is the new Detroit.

[garbon]

46 pages. I haven't been paying much attention. Can someone sum up what is actually going on?

London is the new Detroit.

Worse. Has anyone suggested preventing IM communication in Detroit?

[Warspite]

46 pages. I haven't been paying much attention. Can someone sum up what is actually going on?

Drug dealer/nice family man (depending on who you ask) shot at police/was shot unarmed (latter seems, now, more likely) by armed police.

Family and friends stage protest in Tottenham (poor area of north London). Officer in charge of the station in Tottenham refuses to meet family. Apparently, gang members related to the dead chap are also in the protest.

Protest passes peacefully until, apparently, some police start battering a black youth. Protest turns violent. Tottenham smashed up. Some buildings on the High Street are burnt down.

Day after, family of dead fellow call for calm and insist they do not want this becoming an issue of race, but complain that police have treated them rather badly. Police withdraw allegation that dead chap shot first. Initial ballistics results show both bullets were police issue. Gun was found, but in a sock (ie unused).

Violence kicks off in Enfield (mixed but generally middle class area of north London. Not known for simmering discontent), looting of shops. Brixton (sight of one of the UK's worst riots in modern times) also kicks off. Quickly obvious that looters are of mixed race, so the racial dimension falls of people's analytical radar (ie newspaper op-ed pages). Police accused of not going in hard enough; they seem to be following their usual method in such situations of trying to let the situation defuse itself somewhat.

Violence then spreads to other parts of London - Hackney (generally poor area with significant hipster population), Clapham (once poor now gentrified area), Notting Hill (full of Americans who loved the film), Colliers Wood (riot damage was an improvement, tbh), and a bunch of other districts. IT is clear that a lot of looting is going on and that the rioters are coordinating sudden gatherings via telecommunications technology (mostly Blackberry Messenger). Police are very stretched to respond to all these incidents of disorder. Rioters observed reacting to police presence by buggering off to loot somewhere else.

Next day, 16,000 police turn up in London after the Prime Minister flies back from holiday to take all the credit steady the nation's nerves. London quiet, but other cities in the UK have incidents of looting and arson.

Next day, rain dampens things (ho ho ho) and no serious incidents reported. The Man starts laying the smackdown as 24-hour courts start a conveyor belt of charging and sentencing.

Britons turn on themselves in violent introspection, offering a all-you-can-eat buffet selection of permissive factors. They can be summarised thusly:
- Broken society. Parents are the problem
- Consumerism. We give these kids ideals of wealth and ownership they can't meet
- Tories. The Cuts(tm) are destroying the fabric of this country
- Poverty. These kids feel they have no way out or up
- Police cuts. The Cuts(tm) are destroying the fabric of law enforcement
- Police. The Police didn't use baton rounds/water cannon/grapeshot soon enough
- The Guardian. Something is wrong, and it's Margaret Thatcher's fault
- Ann Coulter. Britain is addicted to welfare and has become a nation of slovenly libruls
- Arsenal. Arsene Wenger simply hasn't strengthened the squad for this season's title challenge.

I hope that helps.