Are you mentioning the Middle East? The guys with their shariah law? cause that's part of the reason for the riots...
You don't have to wait for the aftermath -- the London Evening Standard has blamed Grand Theft Auto. Meanwhile, there are warnings of game shortages because of a Sony warehouse being burned down (haven't they heard of Steam?)
ahh crap sorry about that. I have to get used to typing on this keyboard again. But no, i heard there's was a problem with Islam hitting the streets of London, so that's why i was saying that. Im just as concerned for London for other reasons as well, not just that one.
Islam hitting the streets...O_O.. Anyway, things are finally a bit silent over my area. It seems news is coming in slower which a good sign too..
I don't mean to freak anybody out. But i know since there's been complaints about it before, that it's a good part of the reason why they are rioting. I'm asumming 25% of the rioting is for that reason. Along with gun control,black rights and plenty of others. I hope the rioting stops over there.
It's not a homogeneous situation. Some of it is just as you describe, but there seems to be genuine protest too. Some of it does have a social cause -- some rioters seem to genuinely believe that this is a civil war, a class war, in which case causing millions of pounds worth of damage, burning people out of their homes and mugging people because they're not in your group is par for the course. That makes for a particularly complicated situation. I think that understanding what is really going on can be useful in getting the situation under control. Part of the resentment is because of perceived heavy-handed policing (some of which is probably just because some folks object to being made to obey the law, but some of which is justified) so going in heavy-handed really could make things worse. By the way, the police have been issued with plastic bullets and have authority to use them, but haven't used them because they think they would make matters worse.
The London Turkish community -- Islamic -- is being held up as a shining example of a community coming together to oppose the rioters.
No..actually, I believe people are just doing it for fun and because they have the chance to steal stuff. It was once a protest for a guy who had been shot and it went out of control. These are all copy cat riots. Nothing to do with Islam or black rights (What?)
Some random thoughts: i - The world is not about to end. Nineteenth Century rioters are turning in their graves at the limp-wristedness of it all. ii - Cameron's presence or absence made no difference. Absurd to think otherwise. iii - The army should not be used. The police are doing a pretty reasonable job of it. iv - I can't begin to tell you how wrong you are if you think this problem has arisen because of the complexion of the current government.
I think it's happening because these kids didn't get the ipad they wanted for Christmas. Santa needs to step up his game...
To whoever mentioned Islam, it has NOTHING to do with religion. It is young English yobs just breaking in and getting what they can from wherever they can. It has spread to many of the major cities in England, and even more tonight. There have been alot of reports of Muslim communities defending their streets from rioters, they've been absoloutely amazing. Football firms have been coming together (These are people who would kick the crap out of each other on the weekend) and standing against rioters. This has nothing to do with religion, and very little to do with race, the only reason there were alot of Black rioters in London originally is because it was a mainly black area, nothing more. 'Islam hitting the streets' has saved many British people from being looted/attacked this weekend.
*raises my lime squash to the community leaders of all sorts who've been standing up for crumbling society all week* Maybe this will help mend society once it's done breaking down. :/
This is a circular chicken and egg argument. What difference does it make where it got started if the blacks are the ones rioting? So if a white man was shot in a white area we'd have nothing but white rioters running around? I saw a picture of the man who got shot and sparked all of this. Mark Duggan: he looks like some wannabe American gangbanger. I've seen pictures of rioters, and they don't seem to represent some peachy multi-cultural equal representation of English society. I'm skeptical of the whole idea that its merely hoodlums out to steal things. There is clearly some social or racial aspect that is being swept under the rug by the media. I don't have first-hand knowledge of Britain so I couldn't exactly say what that problem is, or whether there really is a ethnic or social aspect in the first place. However, in America I have learned that putting our social problems in the closet hasn't worked out very well and I hope the U.K. doesn't follow in our stead..
Manchester is a mess this morning. Every shop on Piccadilly Gardens smashed. Almost every on shop on St Anns square the same. King Street, Oldham St not much better, including the Oxfam storefront. Portland St and Deansgate too. Dawson's music looted on Portland, kids on cctv taking out the guitars and smashing them in the street. Afflecks (independent collection of artistic traders) first floor looted. At least 30 stores looted across the city including Vans, Bench, Dr Hermans, Cash Converters, various newsagents, convenience stores and supermarkets, Bang & Olufsen, UGG, Office. Curfew needed immediatley for the under 18s or this could happen again tonight.
I'm not sure any of those have anything to do with it. Islamophobia has nothing to do with these riots. Gun control is never and never has been an issue in the UK. And I don't think this is a racial thing either. Race has nothing to do with it. Mark Duggan was black. That's about as far as it goes. The rioters have been all ethnicities, and just because some people think "Oh, it must be race!" doesn't make it true. I do believe that it is a product of frustration at social inequality, as the areas where it kicked off are all very poor. I think it's partly that poverty, a perceived lack of interest in them from the government, a poor relationship with the police, and one catalytic incident which resulted in the frustration being ignited, and turning into this disgusting rioting and looting.
Yes social network sites are being used by the culprits (more so blackberry than the sites mentioned above - blackberry being harder for the police to follow) IMO; The the British media stupidity has played a part in these troubles - TV channels mainly. TV goes out to millions of viewers instantly. Yes their is a need for public info. but, when well respected news reporters are showing the news live and saying the police are so far stretched the they cannot cope, and before it did escalate - news men were saying it was going to break out in other parts of the country, what do you expect? I saw a news reporter being interviewed on TV and she said 'I can't believe it on the radio just this morning I was saying that there was a chance that it could spread to Birmingham and I've just been told that there is trouble now in Birmingham!' - (well I never!) If you are of a criminal mind and you can see a chance to loot shops and have a good chance of getting away with it, what do we expect? I believe (news worthy story or not - in the interest of public safety) the media should have kept a low profile and only reported the news on the main news channel times 6pm & 10pm. There is no need for 24hr constant reporting. I believe that, in the interest of public safety, the media should tone down its reports and report this news after these events are under control. Another reason for the escalation is imo. is the police softly, softly approach. We are sending our young brave police officers out to do a man's job with their hands tied behind their backs. The police could use plastic bullets and water cannons but, they are out there trying to bring back law and order without resorting to brute force - if it works, all well and good, if not then they may have to use these options. These thugs and criminals are only getting away with this behavior because they are being allowed to do so, by the powers that be. If the police were allowed and encouraged to use whatever means necessary to bring the situation under control, these thugs and opportunist would not know what had hit them.
It isn't just black people rioting, it's black and white rioting alongside each other. You could call it multiculturalism in action, although it's not the best example. Yes, but looking that way is not a capital offence in the UK. Then you haven't seen as many pictures as we have here in England. The social aspect certainly isn't being swept under the rug by the UK media, which is bursting with pundits blaming it on social deprivation and exclusion. And they're probably right for some of the rioters, but it certainly doesn't account for all of them. And far-right racist organisations have certainly been trying to turn this into a racial issue, but with little success so far. I don't think our social problems are kept in the closet, but I think that most of the analysis of them is over-simplistic and driven by politico-social dogma.
No, you don't know that. There have been Islamophobic riots in the past, but these riots are in the wrong places for that and have the wrong targets. These are much more like various anti-capitalist and anti-globalisation riots that we've had. And as others have pointed out, gun control is not an issue, although the fact that one person has been shot in the riots (possibly -- there are suggestions that the riots might have been used as a cover, but maybe people have been watching too much CSI) does suggest that enforcement isn't all it might be.
Personally, I don't think a curfew is going to help. The rioters/vandalists/whatever you want to call them are still going to go out. London was relatively calm, but I heard it was really bad in Manchester and the West Midlands so they've seemed to move their vandalism/rioting to there. 250 police officers have been dispatched from Scotland to the Midlands and North of England. It's good people are being charged and there seems to be action to stopping and dealing with this with more police and preparations. Reading on BBC News page: And also there are contingency plans for water cannon to be available at 24 hours' notice.
Agreed. They were ignoring the police anyway. Which might be related to the fact that they publicised that they were moving police from Manchester to London. So I expect the trouble will be in Scotland tonight. I think that's a political gesture; the police have said that water cannon are of little use against disturbances of this sort.
Yeah, you would've thought that they'd be a little more discrete with information like that. 17,000 police offers are available for duty tonight in Scotland. Yeah. It might be just to warn the rioters too, showing that we're prepared to do what it takes.
Finally, an accurate summary of what went down last night. On another note, the curfew won't be needed as the famous Manchester rain will put off a lot of people tonight. The heavens are currently wide open. Trouble is guaranteed somewhere tonight however. Hope I'm wrong.
Well, it beats Sky News, who the night before were running a banner showing town centres that didn't have a police presence. Still, I expect it was good for newspaper sales.
That's awful what happened in Manchester. Sadly, probably yeah but hopefully not. Fingers crossed rain hits the most likely places. Oh the stupidity. *sigh*
