"A riot is the language of the unheard.", so said the late Martin Luther King.
Perceptive guy.
Tuesday, 9 August 2011
London Riots - Words of sense from Patrick Mercer MP
Patrick Mercer was one MP making sensible comments to the media this morning.
He firmly rejected the idea of putting the Army on the streets of London.
After all why invite another Bloody Sunday?
Patrick Mercer had personally seen the outcome of soldiers out of control which incensed a community.
If the Army were to shoot a few rioters in London there is a very real risk that London would see years, perhaps decades, of civil war on the streets.
That's an outcome which any sensible person would want to avoid.
He firmly rejected the idea of putting the Army on the streets of London.
After all why invite another Bloody Sunday?
Patrick Mercer had personally seen the outcome of soldiers out of control which incensed a community.
If the Army were to shoot a few rioters in London there is a very real risk that London would see years, perhaps decades, of civil war on the streets.
That's an outcome which any sensible person would want to avoid.
Monday, 8 August 2011
London Riots - Evidence of the Disunited Kingdom
One effect of the riots, I anticipate, will be to further highlight the disunited nature of society in the so-called United Kingdom.
What is the "solution" to the riots?
Condemn them as "mindless" criminality or violence? Send in the Army to supress the riots?
Or consider that such riots have causes? And sensibly address those causes?
But if the riots have causes it requires some radical thinking and political dexterity on the part of Government.
Sadly, I suspect that Cameron and Clegg are incapable of anything other than political fudge and cover-up.
What is the "solution" to the riots?
Condemn them as "mindless" criminality or violence? Send in the Army to supress the riots?
Or consider that such riots have causes? And sensibly address those causes?
But if the riots have causes it requires some radical thinking and political dexterity on the part of Government.
Sadly, I suspect that Cameron and Clegg are incapable of anything other than political fudge and cover-up.
London Riots - The Royal Wedding Year "coincidence"
In 1981 there was a Royal Wedding and urban riots in London.
In 2011 there was a Royal Wedding and urban riots in London.
Coincidence?
Or is something about pampered, pretty patricians poncing around in public deeply provocative?
Just a thought.
In 2011 there was a Royal Wedding and urban riots in London.
Coincidence?
Or is something about pampered, pretty patricians poncing around in public deeply provocative?
Just a thought.
London Riots - The Olympic Games is a provocative obscenity
London's burning. At least parts of it have been.
And the forthcoming Olympic Games is burning bright in the imaginations of the British media.
So far at least, I have heard nothing in the media about the spending of billions on a mere sporting event as being a provocation.
But is it?
People like Seb Coe can wet themselves with excitement, no doubt.
But what message does the Olympic indulgence send to the poorer communities of London?
One message is that the ego of Seb Coe and his ilk is much more important to the powerful of this country than they, mere poor human beings, are.
The desires of an athletic few are indulged.
The needs of the poorer, deprived masses are ignored.
The "natural naziism" of David Cameron and those who preceded him is grotesquely expressed.
In my mind the Olympic Games of 2012 are an obscenity.
No, don't worry. I haven't been rioting and I won't be. But that doesn't make the Olympic Games any less obscene as a way to spend public money.
And the forthcoming Olympic Games is burning bright in the imaginations of the British media.
So far at least, I have heard nothing in the media about the spending of billions on a mere sporting event as being a provocation.
But is it?
People like Seb Coe can wet themselves with excitement, no doubt.
But what message does the Olympic indulgence send to the poorer communities of London?
One message is that the ego of Seb Coe and his ilk is much more important to the powerful of this country than they, mere poor human beings, are.
The desires of an athletic few are indulged.
The needs of the poorer, deprived masses are ignored.
The "natural naziism" of David Cameron and those who preceded him is grotesquely expressed.
In my mind the Olympic Games of 2012 are an obscenity.
No, don't worry. I haven't been rioting and I won't be. But that doesn't make the Olympic Games any less obscene as a way to spend public money.
London Riots - The "mindless" commentary from senior politicians
One of the most shameful aspects of the reaction among politicians to the disturbances in London is the repetitive and vacuous use of the term "mindless" to refer to those taking part in the riots.
Contrary to the lies peddled by people like Nick Clegg and Simon Hughes in the media the participants in the riots are not "mindless".
They are angry and they are alienated from a corrupt and dishonest political system in the United Kingdom.
Alienated from a corrupt political system whose self-indulgence leads it to spend billions on a mere sporting event while ignoring the much more basic needs of their fellow human beings.
Yes, Mr Clegg, the poor, alienated black youth are human beings.
They are angry at a corrupt, dishonest and racist Metropolitan Police Service.
It's all very well for people like Clegg and Hughes to pontificate about how things are "better" than in the 1980s (when racist Police thuggery was rife in London).
Tell that to a black kid searched for the umpteenth time.
Does he think "Oh, it's much better than 20 years ago. Back then I'd have been beaten up too."
I don't think so.
He is outraged by repeated, casual Police racism.
As the Chinese curse apocryphally says, "We live in interesting times.".
Contrary to the lies peddled by people like Nick Clegg and Simon Hughes in the media the participants in the riots are not "mindless".
They are angry and they are alienated from a corrupt and dishonest political system in the United Kingdom.
Alienated from a corrupt political system whose self-indulgence leads it to spend billions on a mere sporting event while ignoring the much more basic needs of their fellow human beings.
Yes, Mr Clegg, the poor, alienated black youth are human beings.
They are angry at a corrupt, dishonest and racist Metropolitan Police Service.
It's all very well for people like Clegg and Hughes to pontificate about how things are "better" than in the 1980s (when racist Police thuggery was rife in London).
Tell that to a black kid searched for the umpteenth time.
Does he think "Oh, it's much better than 20 years ago. Back then I'd have been beaten up too."
I don't think so.
He is outraged by repeated, casual Police racism.
As the Chinese curse apocryphally says, "We live in interesting times.".
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