Britain burns - Chavs ruin civilization

[Martinus]

@RH: TheBrain already pointed that out with his usual humor, but to enunciate: there you have it. We have policemen with guns, you have 4 days of looting riots. I'd take policemen with guns please.

[Martinus]

Saw the session of Parliament on this while on vacation. All parties involved seemed much more dignified and competent then those who currently reside in Congress.

Must have been a bad day then. Calling a session of the British Parliament a dignified affair is quite... unusual. 

[Richard Hakluyt]

@RH: TheBrain already pointed that out with his usual humor, but to enunciate: there you have it. We have policemen with guns, you have 4 days of looting riots. I'd take policemen with guns please.

The riots were not caused by the fact that British police are typically unarmed. In fact it appears that the initial trigger was bad firearms discipline on the part of a Met officer.

[Richard Hakluyt]

Saw the session of Parliament on this while on vacation. All parties involved seemed much more dignified and competent then those who currently reside in Congress.

The Economist has an article about this, might make interesting reading for you :

http://www.economist.com/node/21525911

[Warspite]

@RH: TheBrain already pointed that out with his usual humor, but to enunciate: there you have it. We have policemen with guns, you have 4 days of looting riots. I'd take policemen with guns please.

There of course being no riots and looting in countries with guns.

Really, you've outdone yourself here.

[Ed Anger]

http://www.facebook.com/pages/US-Day-of-Rage/199185230105826

GATHER YOUR ARMIES

3,775
people like this

LOL

[Richard Hakluyt]

Scary stuff Ed, luckily da feds are armed 

[jimmy olsen]

http://www.facebook.com/pages/US-Day-of-Rage/199185230105826

GATHER YOUR ARMIES

3,775
people like this

LOL

These guys are gonna rocked hard if they try any of that bullshit.

[HisMajestyBOB]

For anyone interested, there is a slew of rather interesting articles about the riots in this week's The Economist.

It appears the British police did nothing wrong per se - it was simply devoid of tools to combat the new "flash mob" style rioting (thanks to Black Berries the rioters turned themselves effectively formless, a'la Sun Tzu's teachings).

My personal, rather disturbing, conclusion from all this is that there will be stronger than ever pressure on breaching online communication privacy by the police from now on.

I really think that only minor tinkering with the police is necessary.........and even that tinkering should be on the operational side of things, such as how to rapidly increase numbers if a situation is escalating. The cops should be able to make the required changes themselves.

The real problem is that part of the underclass that totally lack any of the moral inhibitions that turn the vast majority of us into law-abiding citizens. To sort this out will be a long term project requiring great clarity of thought and action.

One hypothesis, that I have not seen advanced so far, is that the English mob is merely the first to have latched on to the opportunities for more effective rioting provided by the new media. (Correction.........maybe some of the "Arab Spring" events have used it). Maybe the banner "coming to your country soon" should feature on the video clips of the rioting and looting. FWIW I still think that Britain is further down the road of social changes caused by industrialisation than nearly anywhere else in the world, the disconnection and anomie of at least parts of the underclass seems to have gone further than elsewhere. Interesting times.

Actually, that seems to be one of the conclusions from The Economist's articles too - that police is simply not equipped to deal with a "flash mob style" tactics from the rioters (and this is why I formed my prediction that this may lead to greater calls for internet control, as social media etc. are the main means of communication for flash mobs of various kind).

I think the "blame" on social media is misplaced. Riots can and have appeared almost spontaneously in the past. The biggest problem is that the British police simply can't respond fast enough to any incident for some reason.

[CountDeMoney]

The biggest problem is that the British police simply can't respond fast enough to any incident for some reason.

Whistles, bobbie helmets and RIGHT WOTS ALL THIS THEN is no way to run a modern metropolitan police force.   What fags.

[Martinus]

You guys don't get that no matter which 19th or 20th century method of law enforcement they would have used, it would be useless against the style employed by the rioters.

Flash mobs are just that - they communicate via social media, appear at the spot, loot and by the time the police arrives they disperse and are gone.

They do not attack the police, they do not occupy a single space - in Sun Tzu's words, they are formless. It takes 2+ policemen to run down and catch a single looter if he is running alone through backstreets.

[Martinus]

I think the "blame" on social media is misplaced. Riots can and have appeared almost spontaneously in the past. The biggest problem is that the British police simply can't respond fast enough to any incident for some reason.

It's not just that they appear spontaneously but they also disappear fairly quickly and reconvene at a different spot. This ability is something made uniquely possible via means of mass instant communication offered by social media.

[Ed Anger]

Mayor Nutter in Philly shows you how to do it. Give 'em a sermon, curfew the bastards and let the cops loose.

[Richard Hakluyt]

I've always said we need more nutters in England.

[Tamas]

You guys don't get that no matter which 19th or 20th century method of law enforcement they would have used, it would be useless against the style employed by the rioters.

Flash mobs are just that - they communicate via social media, appear at the spot, loot and by the time the police arrives they disperse and are gone.

They do not attack the police, they do not occupy a single space - in Sun Tzu's words, they are formless. It takes 2+ policemen to run down and catch a single looter if he is running alone through backstreets.

-you were a loud advocate of stronger police action. I am glad The Economist enligthened you on what you ought to think

-keeping to use Sun Tzu allegories to a mob for which the only organization is tweets like "k lets go to enfield now lolz" is rather annoying