Don't get confused, in London - it's ALL about looting

[Zax2me]

A police shooting that was possibly justified was just the excuse.

Gangs of looters - who appeared to be teenagers and young adults from a range of different backgrounds - raided hundreds of shops and businesses across London, making off with TVs and other electrical goods, cigarettes, clothes and alcohol.
He said there was a 'changing nature' in the make-up of the rioters, with the profile changing 'dramatically' last night from 14 to 17-year-olds to 'older groups in cars doing organised looting'.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2023874/LONDON-RIOTS-David-Cameron-returns-home-police-face-gangs-petrol-bombs.html#ixzz1UXHT7jzK
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2023874/LONDON-RIOTS-David-Cameron-returns-home-police-face-gangs-petrol-bombs.html

[dkf]

1. I guess this is the righteous fight so many want against the rich.

Sounds about right.

[dipsydoodle]

2. Exact details of the shooting

are due out this afternoon. Some of what has been reported about the incident has turned out to be conjecture by the press.

Meanwhile : "Supporting the Met Police against the London rioters" has picked up a community of over 545,000 in far less than 24 hours on FB.

The other one now gaining support is "Tag a Looter"

[emcguffie]

3. There seems to be some disagreement about the shooting.

Last thing I saw, the type of bullet found in the policeman's radio was a type used by the police, and the dead man's gun was either in his sock or wrapped in a sock, not quite ready to be used.

Of course, that could all be wrong as well. But it doesn't seem to be settled.

[Chorophyll]

4. I tend to agree with this assessment BUT... and this is a big BUT

The Daily Mail is a hideous conservative rag, much of whose content is the print version of a reality show.

ETA: The pictures at the link are pretty stunning. I wouldn't want to live in the middle of that. And these are obviously pretty ordinary neighborhoods. Why not take the "protest" to the Houses of Parliament or Downing Street?

[msongs]

5. cowards are lazy, they prefer mom and pop shops nt

[Chorophyll]

6. It's not even that they're cowards; they're just not even thinking.

Grab a rioter at random and ask him what he's mad at and he'll probably stand there blinking at you.

[Bluebear]

7. Oh ok good thing you were here so we don't get confused!

[The Midway Rebel]

8. It's all about the greed of poor people?

What about the greed of the rich?

[WillowTree]

10. And you know the looters are poor people.......how?

[The Midway Rebel]

13. How do I know?

I read the news, the rich elites are not rioting and stealing TV sets, I know people in London and I know that the very few if any of the rich elite folks live in Corydon, Brixton, Clapham Junction, Woolwich etc.


I guess they could be rich people and middle class people dressed up like poor people and brown people but I kind of doubt it.

[WillowTree]

15. Who said they're "rich elite people"? For that matter...

....bored youths of just about all social strata have been known to run wild.

And where are you seeing film clips that show that the rioters are "dressed up like poor people"? How can you tell from what's being shown of the distant, quickly-moving and poorly-lit people what the quality of their clothing is?

But let's assume for a moment that you're right. How does that justify stealing from and burning down the businesses in their neighborhoods? And how, pray tell, would doing so improve the rioters' lot in life? What kind of moral relativism says that poverty makes theft and violence OK?

And oh, Dear God, how I detest the expression "brown people".

Have a pleasant day.

[The Midway Rebel]

19. You assumptions are no better than mine.

Maybe it is like you say; middle class white kids just wanting a free iPad and a bottle of whiskey.

And, when did I say it was OK? I never did and your attempt to paint me with that brush gives me a clue to your debate tactics.

You have a pleasnat day too.

[Shagbark Hickory]

9. Luckily they have some real gun control there or else it would be a complete blood bath like

it would be here.

[pintobean]

14. Luckily

our rights haven't been taken away. We have the ability to protect ourselves, our families and our property. Americans know about 'enter at your own risk'. It beats the hell out of watch, hope and pray.

[Shagbark Hickory]

20. luckily our rights haven't been taken away?!?! What... were you expecting Obama to take your guns

away?

That's hilarious.

Thanks for the laugh.

[pintobean]

24. Context is very important.

Try to follow the conversation, rather than taking comments in isolation. It's fairly simple, so you should be able to handle it.

[Shagbark Hickory]

29. Did I mix up the context? Please clarify your position.

It sounds like you were expecting Obama to take your guns as so many on the right have predicted.

[pintobean]

35. I guess it's not simple enough

or maybe you're playing dumb so you can throw insults at me.

[Shagbark Hickory]

40. Didn't intend to insult you. But I can take a hint...

you don't want to have a discussion with me. :(

Ok duly noted.

[pintobean]

46. You have an amazing ability to

see shit that just isn't there.

[Shagbark Hickory]

51. Ah. You got me with that zinger.

[slackmaster]

17. The looting wouldn't happen nearly as much here, because we have the right to keep and bear arms

See defenseless UK citizens robbed at will.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2024001/UK-riots-2011-London-Birmingham-people-forced-strip-naked-street.html

This photo was taken in Los Angeles during the 1992 riots.

[Shagbark Hickory]

21. No not defenseless.

There's other ways to defend one's self.
In this case, they lost their clothes but they lived to tell about it.

[slackmaster]

26. I'll keep my clothes and live to tell about it

;-)

[seabeyond]

27. i am with you. i dont see it as a statement against those that oppress when i am the one attacked

clearly, i see it as an attack on me and though i may not pick up a gun, i know my husband will.

[Shagbark Hickory]

30. Whatever you do...

don't ever leave to confines of fantasyland.

You'll be in for a very rude awakening.

[slackmaster]

48. I think "rude awakening" is a wonderful description of what's happening in England right now

And not here.

[Bluenorthwest]

47. I saw this sort of thing. Also automatic weapons, I would call

AK 47's but I'm not sure they were that, machine guns in citizen hands on roofs of stores.

[slackmaster]

49. Semiautomatic only. Automatic weapons are tightly regulated and extremely expensive, plus...

...California makes it almost impossible to own them.

[GliderGuider]

11. Thank god I can stop thinking now. Why should I waste my beautiful mind thinking about the poor? nt

[Courtesy Flush]

12. I don't think it's that simple

Yes, the rioters just want to loot. Some of them probably would say the same. But what kind of people just want to loot? What kind of people would destroy their own communities just to grab some swag? Well, people who don't have any ownership in their communities. Even when I was a young man, I had plans for a future. I can't say that I wouldn't take the opportunity to grab a bunch of plastic junk too, if I had no other prospects.

You could also say that drug abuse is just about getting high, and many drug abusers would agree with you, without even knowing what it's like to be the guy who doesn't need to get high. Getting high (or looting) is the only game in town.

[Imajika]

25. Oh what utter BS

"What kind of people would destroy their own communities just to grab some swag? Well, people who don't have any ownership in their communities."

Sports fans from even upper class areas will riot and destroy their own neighborhood just for the hell of it - whether their team won or lost a championship. It happens all the time. Mobs generate a certain level of insanity that very often has nothing to do with any particular political cause at all.

These riots are about nothing other than looting, burning stuff down and generally creating mayhem. There is no political message here, other than maybe London needs more police on the streets.

[bemildred]

16. Right, England is a nation of looters now. nt

[NightWatcher]

18. Since you know everything, what are the Powerball numbers this week going to be?

[PVnRT]

22. Daily Fail, huh?

[ljm2002]

23. I don't condone rioting and looting...

...with that said, wouldn't it have been nice if more newspapers had headlines like "Banksters Caught Looting, Stealing The Wealth" during the 2008 financial meltdown and subsequently? Wouldn't that have been honest reporting?

When the elites loot without consequences, that fact is not lost on the great unwashed.

The lower class are portrayed as ignorant. Sometimes they know more about what's going on than the middle class, who have bought into the system and don't want to rock the boat. And sometimes the lower class are just enraged, which is what I think is going on now in London. Once you get an enraged populace and then something sets it off into a riot, at that point all bets are off. The mob mentality takes over.

Again: I do not condone it. I wish they had gathered in large masses and made a peaceful statement. On the other hand, I wish the damned newspapers would engage in factual reporting when it comes to the gigantic humongous financial looting that has been perpetrated by the wealthy elites worldwide. The news media toes the line about how so-called austerity measures are necessary, but they never question the basis of it even in the face of the undeniable fact that the wealthy elites are scooping up virtually everything. They are stealing all of our futures, and the news reports never call it out for the theft that it is.

I see what is happening in London as a harbinger for all of us. The rage is there and all it takes is a match to set it off. As much as I would like to see a populist revolt in theory, I know that populism can take the form of unity, or it can be divisive and violent and play on our lower urges such as racism and hate in general. It is very likely that in the U.S. we would see the latter form of it. It is a frightening prospect.

[fascisthunter]

28. wrong... it's a common result when the rich fuck up people's lives

with their own greed. And the kids of these people are angry... since no one bothered listening to them, they do this to get the elite's attention.

[anneboleyn]

39. Amen. Yesterday I posted that this is 1381 (the Peasants' Revolt) revisited -- harsh gov. taxes and

demands on the poor in England -- the poor and oppressed eventually fight back.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

31. Seems to be the meme.

I only have a peripheral dog in this hunt but it seems memey to me, imho.

[fascisthunter]

32. yee-up!

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

34. Maybe an angry letter.

[nadinbrzezinski]

33. You truly believe that riots just happen?

If this was a riot in oh Bahrain you'd be off your feet.

All riots have a spark (police shooting in this case), but all riots have deep reasons behind them. This is classic reaction of people who cannot see what is in front of them. I do not like to watch coverage on them, I was once way too close to one and they bring back memories, but that does not mean they do not have legitimate gripes.

[fascisthunter]

41. yeah... poor people and their kids are just scum

there was no connection to austerity cuts and abuse of power by the police there.

Rewriting history right before our eyes... too bad, because it won't be enough. I think the rich and powerful are getting scared.

[nadinbrzezinski]

45. You know I doubt they'll have the reactiin we had

in Tijuana.

Yes, some folks were arrested, that kind of goes with the territory, but we started talking with community organizers and the locals mostly informally. And what I learned from that one, tells me that I could almost write the gripes for this one here, because they are similar, from community organizers in London,

The Youth centers were closed
There is less acces to services.
Over the last thirty years these kids have lost access to a lot and a stake in society,
Add to that the police violence against the community (We really did not have that gripe)

I am betting the reaction will not be to go clear a lot and use it for the local soccer field, and opening a local health clinic and a program to take care of the kids during the summer months Just call it a sneaky. I don't think the present Conservative administration will do that... no way no how. THey need the things that they will not do, but if you want to be a cop, it's a good time to apply for the job.

[seabeyond]

36. i agree. nt

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

37. Why?

[seabeyond]

38. why do i agree thisis about looting and criminal activity? really? nt

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

43. Really.

[socialshockwave]

42. Tear Gas, Live Ammunition.

I'm usually not in favor of using them, but these idiots are spreading throughout the country. It could result in sheer anarchy.

In this case, authorize both.

[fascisthunter]

44. that would be the dumbest thing ever

talk about throwing gas on the fire.

[-..__...]

50. And if that type of animal behavior were attempted here...

well... lets just say that they were warned...



:smoke: