Not So Jolly Old England

[Chas]

I acknowledge the risk of starting something of a poop storm here (as politics are taboo in the FL), but I have to ask the question.

"What in the blue hell is going on over there?"

 

[ButteMT61]

Yeah, we were planning on going there this fall, but now I'm not so sure. I thought it was only us unsavory Yanks that had such problems.
Bring the hammer down on these criminals. That's all they are. And do it quickly.

 

[Edward]

Let's just leave this one alone, eh? It's explicitly and intrinsically political.

I'm sure events of the last week will put off a lot of tourists, most particularly from the US. US tourism into the UK dropped very markedly after the UK became involved in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars too. In reality you're probably no less safe at home in any big city half the time than when something like this happens, but whatever.

Can we drop this one now before it gets nasty?

 

[Rudie]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cbVW_QS2eE&feature=player_detailpage

I love the English sense of humour.

 

[Fly Boy]

We're scratching our heads up here over the border.

 

[jamespowers]

We're scratching our heads up here over the border.

They have let it get out of hand. Giving the police real bullets, tear gas and water cannons could disperse the mob pretty darned fast. They have burned down and detroyed enough----in their own neighborhoods too.:eusa_doh:

 

[Tomasso]

If those kids keep misbehaving they're going to loose thier social media.

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

Let's just leave this one alone, eh? It's explicitly and intrinsically political.


Can we drop this one now before it gets nasty?

I agree, 100%.

 

[davidraphael]

As a Brit, I am appalled by what's happening.

But it also doesn't surprise me - it's a very English kind of mindless violence. albeit exaggerated in this case.
When I lived in LA I found that violence was largely restricted to certain neighbourhoods and mostly committed by certain groups. It's not like that in the UK; it can break out for no reason, at any time, anywhere.
When I lived in Manchester I'd be dodging street fights every time I went out for a drink, even in small suburbs.

I remember in the 70s, they brought gang leaders from the New York projects over to the Manchester projects...and they were too scared to get out of the car...
'nuff said...

We Brits are odd. One minute we're Cary Grant, the next we're Don Logan (Ben Kingsley in Sexy Beast...)

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

I would think that police in the UK have far more extensive riot control experience than their counterparts here in the US. It seems like under normal circumstances World War III erupts whenever there's a football match.

[video=youtube;K9kf19AZWEg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9kf19AZWEg&feature=related[/video]

On the other hand perhaps they should deputize a few firms of football supporters.

http://www.soccerfanatic.com/blog/world-soccer-news/english-premier-league/eltham-saved-riots/

No One Loots Us: Millwall Fans Praised for Protecting Eltham
http://www.101greatgoals.com/videos-no-one-loots-us-millwall-fans-praised-for-protecting-eltham/101851/

 

[angeljenny]

Luckily there were no riots near where I live. It is a scary time and for once I don't feel proud to be English. Watching the news has been surreal almost like watching a film.

Listening to the rioters being interviewed I was ashamed. They really have no justification at all. They are trying to make it far more political than it is.

This week it isn't such a Great Britain after all.

 

[C-dot]

I don't see good things coming of this discussion...

 

[Tomasso]

I remember in the 70s, they brought gang leaders from the New York projects over to the Manchester projects...and they were too scared to get out of the car...
'nuff said...

Well, that's because they didn't have thier guns.

 

[Kabel]

I also agree, even though I do have an opinion about this. Maybe it's best to let this one rest.

 

[Undertow]

Let's just leave this one alone, eh? It's explicitly and intrinsically political...Can we drop this one now before it gets nasty?

Aye, another vote to close.

 

[Tomasso]

Yes and hurry before somebody brings up Enoch Powell. :eeek:

 

[Louise Anne]

What you might not have seen with the press reports was the ordinary local people out the next day cleaning up the streets.
In bigger numbers than those who made the mess in the first place, the community spirt come through in bucket loads.

 

[Cobden]

I think we can avoid closing the thread if we all promise to shy away from the question of what caused it and how to stop it happening again.

With that in mind, I think it is perhaps best to focus on the reports of the men dressed entirely in white looting wickets at Edgbaston...

 

[Tomasso]

reports of the men dressed entirely in white looting wickets at Edgbaston...

That's not cricket!

 

[Kabel]

men dressed entirely in white looting wickets at Edgbaston...

Very peculiar at the least. Could be something that would have been written in 'the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy' books.