Flying Banana

Silly me, as it's just one innocent bloke who dozed off after a few beers who got set on fire for the amusement of some half wit with a video phone it doesn't matter, and as it's only one girl who got shot in the leg with an air rifle it's not worth getting upset about.

As mentioned above the Guardian are not renowned for sensationalising stuff and they found it newsworthy.

It has a lot more to do with the attitudes of these kids than any single incident. The fact a teenager feels it is funny and acceptable to approach a stranger in the street and assault them (however minor a slap, it is still an assault) for the amusement of them and their brain dead friends speaks volumes about British society. In 21st century Britain these ferals know everything about their rights but care little about their responsibilities to others and society at large. It's not media hysteria that violent assaults have risen and continue to rise rapidly in the UK, those are Government figures and it's a fact.

Yes every country has crime and problems, however, here in Aus I haven't felt threatened or worried for my safety once since I've been here just going about a normal day to day existence. In the last year of living in the UK I was mugged, regularly had to run the gauntlet of foul mouthed groups of yoof at our local Tescos and in every town cetre I visited, our disabled neighbour had the temerity to ask a bunch of yobs to move thier scooters out of the disabled parking space they were in and in reply they smashed his windscreen in whilst he was sitting in the car, a friend was beaten up by a gang of 12-15 year olds who he confronted when he caught them keying his car outside his house, a work colleauge was too scared to let his 9 year old walk to school after a number of air rifle attacks on his son's classmates, another friend called the police when the local kids tried pulling his sky dish off the side of his house, turns out one of them had a history of vandalising property as long as your arm and ended up with an ASBO, my friend's reward - getting punched in the face at his front door by the kids father for 'getting his son in trouble with the police'. And this is all in and around the 'sleepy' seaside town of Worthing.

There was an article in the Times (last year I think) about a teacher from Soweto who was going back to South Africa as she could no longer cope with being assaulted (by pupils and parents) and abused by the out of control kids she was trying to teach. In contrast the English teacher who had gone to Soweto in exchange was full of praise at the kids there, who despite living in one of the most impoverished and disadvantaged places in the world were well behaved, keen to learn and improve themselves to get out of the ghetto and make something of themselves.

I could go on but I really can't be bothered because it's making me get angry like I haven't been since I left the UK. Every time one of these incidents goes unpunished or unreported it's another message to the low life that they can carry on regardless, meanwhile normal decent people have to put up with this sort of behaviour whilst Bliar and his cronies do precisely nothing to reverse the situation.

I can only go on personal experience and that is that the UK is rapidly being overrun by a generation who are violent, aggressive, selfish, arrogant, have zero respect for authority and think the world owes them a cosy existence. I certainly wouldn't want to be bringing kids up over there, let's wait another ten years and see what sort of place to live the UK has become. God help everyone when todays children start to breed and pass on their 'values' to their offspring.

ROBnCAZ

Was watching a programme on Bangkok the other night.....a hotel night receptionist cleaned £5K belonging to some guests out of a safety deposit box. He was caught the next day and immediately sentenced to 20 years in a cell (they showed it) designed for 15 people but currently with 120 in it!! They are banged up 24/7 and eat sh*t everyday, almost literally. They crap into plastic bags and pee into coke bottles and leave them on the floor outside the cell...imagine the stench.

THAT'S what I call justice..........by god would the crime figures dop if this were the case over here.

And all of you that are gonna start bleeting on about human rights being violated, think of this - you give up your right to human rights teh moment you violate someone elses rights!!!!!

Rant over

Jellybean

Abso-bloody-lutely....couldn't have said it better myself.....you get karma for that speech

Scossie

Not a rant at all mate! Well said!
Karma from me as well.

Seabird

Absoutely. Just most Brits lack confidence in this department.

darkless

This is the sort of manefestation of the decline in respect for authority and lax attitude to discipline etc which the UK has been sufferring for a number of years. It seems to be me it has started with schools and teachers not getting the respect they once did. Schools have always battled against kids, but now it seems they are battling against kids, parents, government legislation and political correctness. So much so that I know now that some schools just don't bother with discipline.

As these kis grow older, then that lack of respect is transcending to the law and everyone around them. I think that the UK government need to take a long hard look at this with a much greater priority than they currently are, because like someone else said, I dread to think what the UK will be like in 10 years.

However, just to give an OZ perspective as well. Last week I was walking from my car to the pub with 2 other guys after playing a game of football (soccer) and some Aussie guy pushed my mate, and shouted that he was gonna kill us all, that he would take all three of us now, beacuse we were f**king soccer poof and pommie b*stards. Now I think he had just been thrown out of the pub and therefore was probably well drunk. But this was in Joondalup and area where many are heading for. I also heard from a friend that he was mugged (almost had he not got away and ran) in Joondalup a few weeks ago (again it has to be said this was about 3am in the morning after most people has a skinful).

Fortunately I don't think that there is the same general lack of respect here, but sh*t still does happen.

Once last thought for the day - I think that the availability of information and the ease of spreading 'the word' through MSN, chatrooms and forums is not a good thing and that this new medium helps to contribute to a downfall in society.

Grayling

So these things don't happen in Australia.

Here's one or two from today's news:

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117...1-1242,00.html

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117...6-1245,00.html

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117...8-1242,00.html

There are plenty more.

G

Three Legs

It's been around for donkeys here on the Isle of Man...

Thirty and forty odd year old single mums out at the weekend drinking Blue WKD in white stillys...

Happy slappers...

fantastic !

Three Legs

Grayling

Any town..any weekend

Now that is scary :scared:

G

ABCDiamond

No one is saying that crime doesn't happen here.

But this particular "happy slapping" with it being recorded on video phones has "so far" not been noticed here.

Badge

sometimes people are so hard to promote balance they forget that
a)people are feelin hurt
b)picking up on something that has nothing to do with aus vs UK
c)having a good old vent

It's almost as bad as the "tell-tales".

People see Australia as ''better'' because they can afford to move, and have seen, low crime areas - it's as simple as that. There's no need for all the usual circular arguments.

badge

MrsDagboy

Congratulations Grayling - I think thats the first time I have ever seen ABC roll his eyes at anyone on here!

jad n rich

Imagine if the daily mail got its hands on this one

http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/...645838018.html

Seabird

Would you get into a lift with a man dressed in a blanket? Or is this standard Australian atire that we should ensure we have packed in out cases before leaving the UK? I know that when you're travelling the galaxy a towel in indispensible, but a clad blanket??? I also note that people actually cam to see if she was okay... Wow!!

I had to stand in the middle of a road last year redirecting traffic and call the Police/ambulance because there was a guy who had fallen off his bike and was lying unconcsious in the middle of the road and everyone was driving round him and leaving him there!! It turned out he was drunk and had fallen trying to turn the corner into a road on the right. Nonetheless his life could well have been at stake and so many people didn't even gave a s**t. Whilst I stood there only about 1 in every 3 cars bothered to offer help. There was one guy who was just SO brilliant, possibly a soldier as we were close to the barracks that he almost made up for the rest. So not all folk are bad and not all are good the world over.

Think the issue here is about a wave of teenage crime rather than the diverse incidents that have been put on here via links to Oz press articles where it seems to be idividuals rather than the groups involved in "hapy slapping".

So good on the guys that went to see her.

Grayling

I aim to please

G