Impossible to talk about anything else

Rioting continues and spreads

‎"When you cut facilities, slash jobs, abuse power, discriminate, drive people into deeper poverty and shoot people dead whilst refusing to provide answers or justice, the people will rise up and express their anger and frustration if you refuse to hear their cries. A riot is the voice of the unheard." - Martin Luther King Jr

I have seen that quote appear on Facebook a couple of times over the last few days and I wish it was actually relevant to the revolting riots happening around the country. The sad fact is that in contrast, most of those responsible don't even know what a Tory is, never mind have an accurate knowledge of the details of the Government's austerity measures. As I said in my reply to these posts, what it boils down to is that unfortunately, it's 'cool' to be a dickhead these days. These yobs are opportunistic copycats that have seized the opportunity to overrun the police and sense the power in numbers that allows them to do whatever they like. It is the thrill of committing crime with minimum chance of punishment, and has nothing at all to do with the tragic death of Mark Duggen, whose family must now struggle to grieve in these circumstances, with their local community falling apart around them.

For example, are these people making a political point or just being scum because they can?

Sport Affected

Sensibly, sporting organising bodies have liaised with the police to swiftly postpone Carling Cup matches as well as the international friendly between England and Holland, not only to minimise the chance of trouble marring these events, but also to free up much-needed police numbers. Football should be a form of entertainment you can enjoy safely and introduce your children to. It would have been severely negligent to allow these events to take place in the current circumstances, and whilst it's a shame that the crimes of few are destroying the enjoyments of the many, some things are just more important than football.


Think before you speak

What many have been calling for as a solution to the problem is something I feel very strongly about. I appreciate that we would all enjoy seeing some of these nutjobs take a rubber bullet to the face, or even lose their sight to a water cannon, but I have seen far too many supposedly responsible adults - who have the power to vote in this democracy - call for military action on the streets of London and other cities affected. "What's Cameron doing, get the army on 'em" is the average cry from these idiots.

First of all, our resources are already stretched to the limit. We have thousands of troops out in the middle-east fighting real terrorists and contrary to popular belief, there aren't thousands of trained soldiers sat at home twiddling their thumbs.

Secondly, although admittedly the Police could do with the extra bodies on the street to prevent them being outnumbered everywhere, a trained soldier's job is to work on the frontline operating machines of war, not stopping yobs stealing trainers from the local shop. This is the police's duty - they will sort this out.

And finally, not only is it completely insane and barbaric for the state to open fire on it's own, history should teach us that this does nothing but only add fuel to the fire. If the government decided to follow the advice of these idiots that are ironically describing the individuals involved as 'mindless', then the situation would only spiral into complete anarchy. Although it's hard for the average man to imagine how this could possibly get any worse, it most certainly would if we used such force to end this. Do we really want a civil war? I don't.

More encouraging scenes

Some rather more encouraging words can be heard in this video from a brave woman speaking the truth, although sadly I presume her calls will fall on deaf ears.

These people are showing what can be done if you stop tweeting condemnation and updating your facebook status to express your shock and get out there to help put this right. Quite an iconic photo, don't you think:

Stay safe, people.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

P.S. This is not an attempt to make a joke of the obviously serious nature of what is happening but let us not have our British sense of humour be lost. My UK riots playlist so far consists of:

Panic - The Smiths
I Predict A Riot - Kaiser Chiefs
Riot Van - Arctic Monkeys
Balaclava - Arctic Monkeys
Anarchy in the UK - Sex Pistols
For Reasons Unknown - The Killers
White riot - The Clash
I Need a Dollar - Aloe Blacc
Burn Baby Burn - Ash








More suggestions welcome - please leave a comment