Oolite Bulletins

To all the BB members in and around London: I hope you and your loved ones are all safe.

We're all good. Don't worry. Most of the press reports of the end of civilisation as we know it are more than a little exaggerated.

Rioting has spread across London on a third night of violence, with unrest flaring up in other English cities.

An extra 1,700 police officers were deployed in London, where shops were looted and buildings were set alight.

Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Bristol also experienced disturbance.An extra 1,700 police officers were deployed in London, where shops were looted and buildings were set alight.

Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Bristol also experienced disturbance.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-14450248

Busy night last night it seems.

I wonder that the authorities haven't seen this coming, then again those at the top in the UK are rather blinkered to say the least. No jobs for younger folk, youth services decimated by budget cuts, contempt for the political class, and a general antipathy towards police who are commonly regarded as corrupt and thuggish following their poor behaviour G20, student riots, stop and search, and NoW bribery allegations.

i'd fkn execute the lot of them. should send in the Tokyo riot police for a couple nights, that'd give them something to cry about on Twatter.

Allister Heath has a good opinion piece at City AM. If the powers that be can't get Law and Order right, what hope is there for the rest.

Killer Wolf wrote:

should send in the Tokyo riot police for a couple nights, that'd give them something to cry about

+1

Hmm, I wasn't expecting to start a political debate.

I just wanted to make sure everybody on the board who might be affected were OK.

Well organised but opportunistic thuggery (an oxymoron?) is difficult to suppress once it has taken hold.

Last night's events have certainly taken the shine off the Olympic Dream - I was also deliberately following the news on CNN and Aljezeera until the small hours, curious (and now saddened) and what the rest of the world (from this small snapshot) think of last night.

As much a social debate as political, maybe? Society does seem very sick at the moment, with large swathes of the population feeling excluded and disenfranchised.
Having said that I seem to remember similar events happening frequently in the past (usually at this time of year!), even back in my childhood in the 60s - remember the Mods and Rockers 'riots'?
The only difference now being the scope of reporting (live video footage all night on the TV), the 'nature' of the disturbances (looting and destruction rather than just mass-battles!) and perhaps the numbers involved, but then there are a lot more people these days.

I think this is largely a product of available technology and the school holidays. The initial protest became a riot with some opportunistic looting after some windows got smashed ... after that, a collection of (mostly) bored teenagers have realised that, if they act in large enough groups, co-ordinated by phone, they can get themselves a free TV. Combine it with a hugely commercialised consumer culture which, from top to bottom, glorifies a grab-what-you-can free-for-all attitude, add in warm weather, pocket-money alcohol and a dash of poverty of expectation ...

Still, though, to support DH's original intention: to those in London, Birmingham, Liverpool, Nottingham, Bristol and anywhere else it might kick off, I hope you and yours stay safe!

Working in London at the moment. There were noticeable plumes of smoke still rising to the North and West of the city when I arrived this morning.

Cheers,

Drew.

Hope you are safe to all. Well here in the Netherlands there was also a lot of debate at the news sites. I think that riots are of all times but the media exposure in combination with the speed of Internet make these riots worse. And of course the media are searching for these stories.

The breakfast DJ on Worthing's Splash FM had the solution to this right at the start. His advice was for the Prime Minister to stand up and say:

"One more day of this and I'm re-opening the schools first thing in the morning."

Your breakfast DJ sounds like a sensible man - call him and tell him to stand as an independent at your next elections.

Unfortunately the next round of additional austerity will actually see the number of weeks of the school year reduced and teaching staff forced to take unpaid leave through the vacations to try and save further money....education minister says that pupils whose parents can't afford private education rarely learn to read and write as it is so why bother trying......

-- well you never know - nothing would surprise me

Capt. Murphy wrote:

...education minister says that pupils whose parents can't afford private education rarely learn to read and write as it is...

I find this hard to believe, Cap'n Murphy. (Or, I'm blind to the pop-culture reference being alluded to?)

Just a little left-wing satire of perceived attitude of current right-wing governbent.......ignore me.

edit to add - as a little explanation - I'm a public-sector worker whose role involves advocacy for the vulnerable, dispossessed and socially-excluded in UK society. It is more than possible that my role will be made redundant in the next 6 months due to central-government funding cuts to 'non-essential' (i.e. non-statutory) services so if I want to continue to do this really rather satisfying work it'll probably be on a voluntary basis, and only if I manage to get another paid job that gives me enough time to do it and allows me to pay the mortgage and therefore keep a roof over my head. I'm therefore a little cynical.

Anyway enough of that, I don't think this is the place for political discussion.

Capt. Murphy wrote:

Just a little left-wing satire of perceived attitude of current right-wing governbent.......ignore me.

edit to add - as a little explanation - I'm a public-sector worker whose role involves advocacy for the vulnerable, dispossessed and socially-excluded in UK society. It is more than possible that my role will be made redundant in the next 6 months due to central-government funding cuts to 'non-essential' (i.e. non-statutory) services so if I want to continue to do this really rather satisfying work it'll probably be on a voluntary basis, and only if I manage to get another paid job that gives me enough time to do it and allows me to pay the mortgage and therefore keep a roof over my head. I'm therefore a little cynical.

Anyway enough of that, I don't think this is the place for political discussion.

Good luck with that Capt. Murphy.