tonrob

OP has a history of popping here occasionally to post odd and seemingly ill-thought out statements and then not bothering to follow up when challenged. I would also highly doubt that he will respond to any questions about his newer post on this thread that seems to condone racial profiling.

Hold on - I'll give it a whirl...

tonrob

What in God's good name are you on about, man?

Tarkak9

OMG.... The riots have spread to Ireland!
Paddy smashed his computer screen up trying to nick a pair of trainers from eBay.

Steerpike

Interesting article, but - in Oakland, CA, the black community rioted in their own back yard recently over the issue of the cop who killed the black guy on the BART station. They trashed the very community they grew up and lived in.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BART_Po...of_Oscar_Grant

Maybe people riot where they are comfortable - where they know what to trash, and where to run.

paulward50

If you read the full quote, I was replying to the lady that wrote she feels sorry for Black people who get stopped and searched all the time in London.

Leslie

That was no lady.

Octang Frye

When people tweet from Libya, it's good enough for us to send in the military. When people tweet pictures of Basij thugs in Iran, we support them and decry attempts to shut them down.

When rioting breaks out in England, Cameron says services such as Twitter and Blackberry Messenger could be shut down "to avoid co-ordinated unrest".
Are you kidding me?

randomgirl

Couldn't agree more!! The government needs to get a backbone and deal with the yobs appropriately - they have to get tough on them or it will only happen again! I just read a news report that stated a guy who assaulted a police officer (tried to gouge his eyes out, no less!) was jailed for just 20 weeks (I thought assaulting police was a major crime, obviously not!). Meanwhile, someone who stole £175 worth of clothes was jailed for 8 months.

Leslie

I agree. Very disturbing.

Octang Frye

Ugh, it's the typical UK mindset. More legislation! Curtail freedoms!
From dangerous dogs to gun control, a litany of knee-jerk legislation.

It's the only way the politicians can show how outraged they are!
Morons.

materialcontroller

Respectfully, the current legislation regarding issues such as dangerous dogs or gun controls tend to be widely supported by the UK population. You won't find many people here trying to argue that having guns or dangerous dogs are "rights" which must be protected, or that any legislation to the contrary is an erosion of "freedoms". Despite the recent trouble the UK still has a far more civic minded society than the USA, and measures like these are considered very carefully before being implemented. It's far from being a haphazard knee-jerk response by desperate politicians. They invariably carry the will of the people on such matters.

Furthermore the very first e-petition to attract 100,000 signatures on the British government's website, and therefore becoming eligible to be debated in parliament, is one calling for rioters to lose access to all state benefits. This is the very essence of democracy at work, akin to Switzerland and it's unique system of direct democracy. There may be many things wrong with the UK, but "more legislation" isn't one of them!!!

Giantaxe

In general, I think the British are way too flippant about giving up rights under the perception that in return they will get more security. It's funny how latter doesn't always follow from the former though.

UK more civic-minded than the US - how are you measuring that? I don't think your statement is obviously true at all.

tonrob

And if you read my post, I wasn't asking her what the dickens she was on about.

materialcontroller

The statement about a civic-minded society is my own personal opinion, based on my belief that British people are far more inclined to seek solutions through their elected representatives in councils and government. Now I appreciate that this also happens in the USA but overall, as a bit of a generalisation, people in the US tend to be more individualistic and see government as part of the problem rather than the solution.

I'd be interested to hear you expand on your idea that the British are too flippant to give up rights for the perception of greater security, and where you feel this has had detrimental effects.

Giantaxe

I think you are incorrect to assume that a more "civic-minded" society is one that necessarily seeks its solutions through government. There are many ways that a society could be construed as being civic-minded including, for example, volunteerism and philanthropy, two areas where the US is ahead of the UK imo.

The lack of opposition to the modification of the common-law right to remain silent comes to mind - a principle enshrined since the early middle ages. The retention of DNA of anyone arrested as opposed to those convicted of an offence (although I think the European Court of Justics may have overturned that one). And the sprouting of security cameras in every major city and town, with increasing reliance made on them by the police instead of having actual police out in the street.