I haven't made fanvids for a long, long time. I used to enjoy it but I just stopped doing it. Now in just the last few weeks I have made two:
Both of them BBC Merlin as you can see. I just had the ideas and decided to put them together on Movie Maker. I think I will polish off the old Sony Vegas Pro skills too and make some vids with that. I mean, why not? It's only a little bit of fandom fun to entertain anyone who would read them.
Saturday, 27 August 2011
Sunday, 21 August 2011
YT: More Fanvids
And I have finally got used to Sony Vegas Pro, so I did a very short vid with Doctor Who:
Monday, 15 August 2011
Politics Needs to Wake Up and Admit they Have FAILED
I think I speak for a lot of people when I say we're a little fed up of the politicians using these riots as an excuse to score points off each other. The Conservatives try to make every attempt that Labour makes at explaining the root cause of the riots as a condoning of the riots. I'm thinking in particular of Diane Abbot's comments being chopped up to make it look as if she did exactly that, which she very clearly didn't - and they refused to apologise to her for it. Ken Livingstone, former Mayor of London, appears to be the only person who knows how and why the riots kicked off. He rightly called Boris Johnson out about his flip-flopping; Johnson agreed to the cuts in police, and has only changed his mind with the benefit of hindsight. Livingstone would never have done that.
David Cameron as can be expected seems more interested in spouting out meaningless rhetoric. He calls for firmer penalties for breaking the law, he calls for harsher police tactics and has even called in a US ‘supercop’ who - no offence to my American friends - does NOT reflect the needs of the British public diddly-squwit. Moreover the US police force are not really the ideal people to be asking on riot control, and while I have never liked to defend the British police, I can understand out police's frustration at Cameron's pointless and potentially harmful actions statements about their inability to handle the situation. It was them who ultimately put down the riots, not him. Even if they were slow to react to the situation, the best response Cameron can expect from his empty statements about the police are "pot. kettle. black."
Where was he and the rest of the cabinet when these riots were going on? On holiday! While London was literally burning, he was playing his fiddle on a beach in Italy. Many of us haven't been able to afford a holiday in years. But I don't envy them because I'm happy to go without a holiday to pay for other things I need and if I were to choose a holiday, it would be to visit my family in Scotland or Lancashire, not a fancy villa in Italy. It's the fact that Cameron, nor the rest of the cabinet, chose to come back until it became so serious that to have no come came would have been more damaging to THEM rather than us. The damage has already been done TO US.
Ed Miliband has been shaky at best. His initially reaction was to do as Cameron did and parrot the horror and disgust that all of us had. He managed to do it with a considerably greater level-headedness and calmness than Cameron did, not appears to be trying to mimic the public reaction in a bid to make us feel as if he is "one of us", but his words were ultimately as meaningless. After all who here ever denied that a lack of responsibility was what drove the rioters to commit their crimes? It was basically stating the bleeding obvious and any moron who believes what they read in the Daily Mail could have said the same thing.
In his defence Miliband, unlike Cameron, has moved on from this point and is trying now to bring us the question of what led to these riots happening. Is it to do with the cuts? Is it to do with the lack of services and welfare for young people now the coalition government have cut them to save money? Is it due to a lack of responsibility in the upper classes amongst the politicians and the bankers, who likewise gambled people's money and stole from the public purse for their own greed? Is it due to the fact that the under-class have been neglected and ignore for the past 30 years since Thatcher closed down the factories? How many of these factors have led to the production of careless, disenchanted young people who have no respect for society or law?
At least these are the questions you feel that Ed Miliband wants to ask but feel he can't at the risk of offending the middle-classes or walking into a trap by the Conservatives that any attempt to find reasons for why the riots started equals condoning the riots. Yet no one ever denied that smashing up shops was wrong - and Miliband, and the Labour MPs of affected areas, and the rest of the Labour Party need to point that out. There is no doubt that criminal activity was the primary concern of some of the rioters. The riots that took place in Manchester is particular seemed to be motivated by just that. But the initial riots in London started when a peaceful protest over the shooting of a man named Mark Duggen in Tottenham got out of hand. There is no doubt in my mind that class struggle and anger at the current government's actions at least partly contributed to the riots. Even if they didn't, the issue has risen now and will not go away no matter how many times David Cameron appeals to mindless rhetoric about tougher crime. Ed Miliband needs to embrace the question of the link between lack of opportunities and crime, and show more clearly that he is willing to address it.
Ed Miliband said there needed to be an inquiry, and their does. It is the only language that politicians seem to understand. He said he would start it if Cameron didn't - so get starting Miliband because Cameron is no closer to moving away from his rants about lawlessness and punishing the people who rioted by taking away their council houses, which is a frankly counterproductive action to take to keep people off crime. Ed Miliband needs to call on the support of the working class and under classes who did not riot. They need help organisations protesting peacefully against government sanctions that Labour have gone on record as condemning, such as the harshness of the government cuts. They need to rally these people who feel that they have previously been abandoned by all governments and made it clear that they are the party willing to work on improving society on all levels.
I wrote this comment on the Labour Party Facebook feed when Ed Miliband made his statement about responsibility:
If I were to recommend anything to Ed and the Labour Party, it would be for them to come out and confess that the under-class of British society has been ignored by them (and that their conditions have been worsened more than ever under the current government) - and this lack of opportunity, of purpose and of pride has led to development of emotionally crippled young people who lack the respect for society that most people have... because society has abandoned them and so they take pleasure in smashing up society.
Yes, yes - there is no excuse for criminality but happy people don't riot. These people take pleasure out of criminality because they have nothing else and putting them in prison is nothing more than an occupational hazard. It is time the government tackled poverty in this country and created more jobs for these young people; skilled, unskilled and professional jobs for ALL the classes, so we do not create another generation of young people with a weak work ethic. And I say that as a young person myself, fearing the prospect of not being able to find work once I leave university... imagine what it’s like for teenagers from poor families who barely got their GCSEs. Where are the jobs for them?
An attitude of conservativism, to simply lock up these people and then forget about them, will not help society overall. Those in power need to look at the lives these people lead and ask themselves "what has gone wrong and how do we fix it?"
I still think that argument is true. These poverty issues have been hoodwinked for too long and people from more privileged backgrounds have taken advantage of the majority for a long time while completely blocking out even the existence of Britain's underclass. I agree that crime should pay - but there is no denying that this type of disorder has been going on in poorer communities and ignored by the ruling elite for too long. Moreover the middle classes have not helped as there seems to be this assumption amongst some people that once you earn more than the average person does (about £20,000 a year) you are no longer of the same thinking as you were when you only earned £15,000 a year and therefore have more to gain by voting Conservative at the next election. In reality most floating voters like these, and member of the working class who also vote Conservative, are really voting for policies like anti-immigration and anti-EU than anything else, in which case most of them would probably vote UKIP under any other voting system than first-past-the-post. In some cases people just vote for the Conservative Party because people feel that Labour has "had their turn" and now it’s their turn.
It is understandable why the social question has come up following the riots. When the lower classes are caught between the whims of the centre-left Labour movement that spends money to increase services and the centre-right who cut services to save money, it is understandable also that ordinary people have grown to resent government as a whole regardless of who they are or what they do.
These riots should serve as a wake-up call to everyone that we need to look at our society and wonder why it has come to be that children think it is fun to smash up shops. Don’t be lazy and say ‘Blame the parents!’ because odds are on these parents are just as down and out and disenchanted as their kids are. Where do you think these kids got it from? And it is wrong to stereotype the whole class. When I say these riots need to make people think about where most of these kids come from, I’m talking about learning from it to try and prevent these kids from doing it again. You can’t expect to treat them rough now and think they will learn from their mistakes. David Cameron’s meaningless, empty words do nothing to help society – and will help people even less if his council house, benefits and harsher sanctions ideas (which he appears to have dreamed up as a result of looking at one of those annoying e-petitions).
Take away people’s homes and livelihood but don’t look into the problem that festers underneath it all – you are going to generate more crime than you already have. It will generate more distrust and hatred of the police, and the fear of them will lead to people reaffirming the rule that ‘you don’t grass.’
But this is all meaningless at the end of the day. Eventually people will forget about this and become angry at something else. David Cameron will decide another policy is his top priority and nothing will change – unless someone else in a high authority forces the changes to be made.
David Cameron as can be expected seems more interested in spouting out meaningless rhetoric. He calls for firmer penalties for breaking the law, he calls for harsher police tactics and has even called in a US ‘supercop’ who - no offence to my American friends - does NOT reflect the needs of the British public diddly-squwit. Moreover the US police force are not really the ideal people to be asking on riot control, and while I have never liked to defend the British police, I can understand out police's frustration at Cameron's pointless and potentially harmful actions statements about their inability to handle the situation. It was them who ultimately put down the riots, not him. Even if they were slow to react to the situation, the best response Cameron can expect from his empty statements about the police are "pot. kettle. black."
Where was he and the rest of the cabinet when these riots were going on? On holiday! While London was literally burning, he was playing his fiddle on a beach in Italy. Many of us haven't been able to afford a holiday in years. But I don't envy them because I'm happy to go without a holiday to pay for other things I need and if I were to choose a holiday, it would be to visit my family in Scotland or Lancashire, not a fancy villa in Italy. It's the fact that Cameron, nor the rest of the cabinet, chose to come back until it became so serious that to have no come came would have been more damaging to THEM rather than us. The damage has already been done TO US.
Ed Miliband has been shaky at best. His initially reaction was to do as Cameron did and parrot the horror and disgust that all of us had. He managed to do it with a considerably greater level-headedness and calmness than Cameron did, not appears to be trying to mimic the public reaction in a bid to make us feel as if he is "one of us", but his words were ultimately as meaningless. After all who here ever denied that a lack of responsibility was what drove the rioters to commit their crimes? It was basically stating the bleeding obvious and any moron who believes what they read in the Daily Mail could have said the same thing.
In his defence Miliband, unlike Cameron, has moved on from this point and is trying now to bring us the question of what led to these riots happening. Is it to do with the cuts? Is it to do with the lack of services and welfare for young people now the coalition government have cut them to save money? Is it due to a lack of responsibility in the upper classes amongst the politicians and the bankers, who likewise gambled people's money and stole from the public purse for their own greed? Is it due to the fact that the under-class have been neglected and ignore for the past 30 years since Thatcher closed down the factories? How many of these factors have led to the production of careless, disenchanted young people who have no respect for society or law?
At least these are the questions you feel that Ed Miliband wants to ask but feel he can't at the risk of offending the middle-classes or walking into a trap by the Conservatives that any attempt to find reasons for why the riots started equals condoning the riots. Yet no one ever denied that smashing up shops was wrong - and Miliband, and the Labour MPs of affected areas, and the rest of the Labour Party need to point that out. There is no doubt that criminal activity was the primary concern of some of the rioters. The riots that took place in Manchester is particular seemed to be motivated by just that. But the initial riots in London started when a peaceful protest over the shooting of a man named Mark Duggen in Tottenham got out of hand. There is no doubt in my mind that class struggle and anger at the current government's actions at least partly contributed to the riots. Even if they didn't, the issue has risen now and will not go away no matter how many times David Cameron appeals to mindless rhetoric about tougher crime. Ed Miliband needs to embrace the question of the link between lack of opportunities and crime, and show more clearly that he is willing to address it.
Ed Miliband said there needed to be an inquiry, and their does. It is the only language that politicians seem to understand. He said he would start it if Cameron didn't - so get starting Miliband because Cameron is no closer to moving away from his rants about lawlessness and punishing the people who rioted by taking away their council houses, which is a frankly counterproductive action to take to keep people off crime. Ed Miliband needs to call on the support of the working class and under classes who did not riot. They need help organisations protesting peacefully against government sanctions that Labour have gone on record as condemning, such as the harshness of the government cuts. They need to rally these people who feel that they have previously been abandoned by all governments and made it clear that they are the party willing to work on improving society on all levels.
I wrote this comment on the Labour Party Facebook feed when Ed Miliband made his statement about responsibility:
If I were to recommend anything to Ed and the Labour Party, it would be for them to come out and confess that the under-class of British society has been ignored by them (and that their conditions have been worsened more than ever under the current government) - and this lack of opportunity, of purpose and of pride has led to development of emotionally crippled young people who lack the respect for society that most people have... because society has abandoned them and so they take pleasure in smashing up society.
Yes, yes - there is no excuse for criminality but happy people don't riot. These people take pleasure out of criminality because they have nothing else and putting them in prison is nothing more than an occupational hazard. It is time the government tackled poverty in this country and created more jobs for these young people; skilled, unskilled and professional jobs for ALL the classes, so we do not create another generation of young people with a weak work ethic. And I say that as a young person myself, fearing the prospect of not being able to find work once I leave university... imagine what it’s like for teenagers from poor families who barely got their GCSEs. Where are the jobs for them?
An attitude of conservativism, to simply lock up these people and then forget about them, will not help society overall. Those in power need to look at the lives these people lead and ask themselves "what has gone wrong and how do we fix it?"
I still think that argument is true. These poverty issues have been hoodwinked for too long and people from more privileged backgrounds have taken advantage of the majority for a long time while completely blocking out even the existence of Britain's underclass. I agree that crime should pay - but there is no denying that this type of disorder has been going on in poorer communities and ignored by the ruling elite for too long. Moreover the middle classes have not helped as there seems to be this assumption amongst some people that once you earn more than the average person does (about £20,000 a year) you are no longer of the same thinking as you were when you only earned £15,000 a year and therefore have more to gain by voting Conservative at the next election. In reality most floating voters like these, and member of the working class who also vote Conservative, are really voting for policies like anti-immigration and anti-EU than anything else, in which case most of them would probably vote UKIP under any other voting system than first-past-the-post. In some cases people just vote for the Conservative Party because people feel that Labour has "had their turn" and now it’s their turn.
It is understandable why the social question has come up following the riots. When the lower classes are caught between the whims of the centre-left Labour movement that spends money to increase services and the centre-right who cut services to save money, it is understandable also that ordinary people have grown to resent government as a whole regardless of who they are or what they do.
These riots should serve as a wake-up call to everyone that we need to look at our society and wonder why it has come to be that children think it is fun to smash up shops. Don’t be lazy and say ‘Blame the parents!’ because odds are on these parents are just as down and out and disenchanted as their kids are. Where do you think these kids got it from? And it is wrong to stereotype the whole class. When I say these riots need to make people think about where most of these kids come from, I’m talking about learning from it to try and prevent these kids from doing it again. You can’t expect to treat them rough now and think they will learn from their mistakes. David Cameron’s meaningless, empty words do nothing to help society – and will help people even less if his council house, benefits and harsher sanctions ideas (which he appears to have dreamed up as a result of looking at one of those annoying e-petitions).
Take away people’s homes and livelihood but don’t look into the problem that festers underneath it all – you are going to generate more crime than you already have. It will generate more distrust and hatred of the police, and the fear of them will lead to people reaffirming the rule that ‘you don’t grass.’
But this is all meaningless at the end of the day. Eventually people will forget about this and become angry at something else. David Cameron will decide another policy is his top priority and nothing will change – unless someone else in a high authority forces the changes to be made.
Saturday, 13 August 2011
Wednesday, 10 August 2011
London is Finally at Rest, So Why the Hell are they Still Cutting the Cops?
London was very quiet last night thanks to the 16,000 police on the street. Oddly enough most of the riots started elsewhere in the country. I have to say I blame the 24 hour coverage the riots got on the news channels, watching the streets all day for something to kick off. People watch that and think, "That's a good idea!" and decide to riot themselves. You have to bear in mind that many of these people are non-too-bright kids who probably think rioting is "cool!" and are following the crowd rather than doing it off their own back.
Essex had some troubles but our police handled it pretty well. Basildon shopping centre had its windows broken and someone started a fire but no looting took place as the police were waiting for them. I think it was only a matter of time before some thickos in Basildon decided to copy-cat the riots in London like other places in the UK quite obviously have.
It's a bloody mess and, like I said before, it makes me feel ashamed to be a young Briton at the moment. None of the images look real when they are shown on the TV or in the papers. I just feel so sad about it. It was rather like what people were saying on the news last night - people don't riot if they're happy, and I'm not surprised by these riots happening because people are angry with the police and the government at the moment. Obviously there is no excuse but the point is that it's gone beyond even that now.
Now it's just thick kids trying it on - and I can't help but notice and remark that David Cameron has failed to address that annoying remark that he made while in opposition, "Broken Britain." He blathered on about while in opposition but does nothing to help the under-classes. Instead he cuts their youth centres more than they were already cut (To my shame Labour ignored the under-class while they were in power too, and it was Thatcher who widened their poverty when the Tories were in power in the 80s) and basically left these kids to the mercy of the peer pressure of gangs and their arse-useless parents.
Studies have shown that when these teenagers have somewhere to go, have people willing to talk to them and help them, and give them something to care about, they have more respect for other people and society. This is something that most of us learn from our parents, who teach us our morals. These children have been dragged up and, when people cry about "where are their parents?" the fact is that their parents are just as rotten as them and don't care that their twelve-year-old is roaming the streets in a pack at midnight looting shops.
It's too late to help the parents but you can still help the younger kids. The elder kids are lost too because soon they will be parents themselves and breed more inconciderate rats who have no respect for other people and society. Unless you put money into helping the less privilaged in this country then you will never get through to them. Many of these kids have since been rounded up (as have a couple of greedy adults who were, I feel, probably leading the riots - as one of them was a graphic designer and few others graduates) and many of them have pleaded guilty to their crimes. I don't think it was greed that fuelled those kids, but simply just the desire to smash up society.
I suppose the best thing you can do is send them to prison and try a reach them while they are away from the poisonous homes they come from. Then once they leave prison, they need somewhere else to go. They need something to care about because sending them to prison isn't going to make a difference to them. To us, it would be a horrible reduction of rights and freedom. To them, it's just a thing they have to go through.
These people - some of them are just greedy tryers who saw something on the TV and thought it would be a good idea - but this whole thing started because a man from the under-class (a possible drug-dealer and carrier of an illegal weapon, if the police are to be believed) was shot dead despite having not fired on police or even, it might possibly be, presented himself as a threat. He was allegedly in a taxi when he was approached by the police. It is a hazy issue but you can see why the under-class turned out to protest...
Because that's what it started out as. A protest.
One thing that did make me giggle was that some of the people looting thought that the police releasing images from the CCTV cameras was against their human rights. *scoff* Babies, when you go out in the streets people can see you. The CCTV cameras are there to catch you at your thuggry... and they always catch you out in the end no matter how many hoodies you wear. I'm pretty left-wing but I'm starting to think France had a point with the law against concealing your face in public areas. If we had a law like that, would nearly as many rioters turned out to steal knowing how many CCTV camreas are around the UK?
Ken Livingstone seems to be the only person making sense. How did we end up with BoJo as Mayor? Yes, he said that we need more police - but hindsight is a wonderful thing. It is the government's fault that they did not anticipate these riots (as everyone KNEW it would happen eventually, they did) and foolishly decided to cut the police force. BoJo is good at hindsight just as much as he's good at getting respect by going against the government. But Ken is right - if he had been Major of London, this might have been dealt with better. Not least because he has more experience with the city's management. Moreover he never listened to party politics like Boris does, and then decide to change his mind once it all goes tits up.
Those hard working people whose shops were destroyed have been let down by a weak system wich has just been getting weaker and weaker over the last thirty years. Like Ken said, the under-class have been left ignored thanks to the death of industry in this country, have nowhere they can get a job regardless of their qualifications when they leave school and now they have no self-respect, nor do they have respect for others.
It's all a mess but its time the parties talked about generating PROPER jobs for everyone, because these are the kids who were NEVER going to do A-levels or degrees or skilled-work like apprenticeships. They are your factory workers, they are your coal miners, they are your primary and secondary work forces who have been patted down and down following the cut of these industries in the 1980s. I'm pro-Europe but I don't think that the EU helped either as France and Germany, it has to be said, are in coohoots against the UK. Story does that they wanted all industry to be wiped out in the UK and for us (and Ireland) to be "service" countries.
Well, sod that! We need to give the under-classes something to do other that live miserably, lose self-respect, lose respect for others and leave off the dole because no proper employer in this climate would ever employ them. They just need to be taken on to do some sort of work - but even the working classes and the middle classes can't find work at the moment.
This country is a mess and I don't see it recovering anymore. We're, for lack of a better word, f-worded. I'm starting to think about plotting an escape route... but it'll be many years before I ever have money to pack up and go somewhere else. I used to think my country was such a good place to live. I still do -- but not in the form it is now. The political system we have here is just destroying the country as we are forced to shift between Labour, Tory, Labour, Tory over and over again and no willingness to tackle the serious issues. Just the Tories cutting everything and destroying the public sector, and then Labour trying to funnel money into it and patch it up again, and then the Tories cut it again.
Cameron is right - this country is sick but it isn't just because these kids happen to be bad. They are the result of 30 years where people have grown-up with no prospects and no place in society, and hence, no respect for defending society from events like this. Britain is sick and these kids are just the rash its come out in.
Sorry for this rant. I'm just a little upset at how far this rioting has gone.
*
Three young men have been killed in a hit and run during the riots last night in Birmingham. A car just came out and hit these poor guys. They were only twenty-year-olds, my own age, and then a car just sped around the corner and hit them. They say it might not be connected but it's hard to believe it isn't.
God, this is making the rest of this country feel so at a loss. I just want it all to end soon.
On a lighter note, at least the violence hasn't kicked off that close to where I am at the moment. Basildon is the only place there have been problems from the sound of it but I'm going to check it out anyway. I swear though if they attack Lakeside that'll be the sky falling in on our heads. If they start kicking-off in Grays, then I'll start to get a little freaked.
Essex had some troubles but our police handled it pretty well. Basildon shopping centre had its windows broken and someone started a fire but no looting took place as the police were waiting for them. I think it was only a matter of time before some thickos in Basildon decided to copy-cat the riots in London like other places in the UK quite obviously have.
It's a bloody mess and, like I said before, it makes me feel ashamed to be a young Briton at the moment. None of the images look real when they are shown on the TV or in the papers. I just feel so sad about it. It was rather like what people were saying on the news last night - people don't riot if they're happy, and I'm not surprised by these riots happening because people are angry with the police and the government at the moment. Obviously there is no excuse but the point is that it's gone beyond even that now.
Now it's just thick kids trying it on - and I can't help but notice and remark that David Cameron has failed to address that annoying remark that he made while in opposition, "Broken Britain." He blathered on about while in opposition but does nothing to help the under-classes. Instead he cuts their youth centres more than they were already cut (To my shame Labour ignored the under-class while they were in power too, and it was Thatcher who widened their poverty when the Tories were in power in the 80s) and basically left these kids to the mercy of the peer pressure of gangs and their arse-useless parents.
Studies have shown that when these teenagers have somewhere to go, have people willing to talk to them and help them, and give them something to care about, they have more respect for other people and society. This is something that most of us learn from our parents, who teach us our morals. These children have been dragged up and, when people cry about "where are their parents?" the fact is that their parents are just as rotten as them and don't care that their twelve-year-old is roaming the streets in a pack at midnight looting shops.
It's too late to help the parents but you can still help the younger kids. The elder kids are lost too because soon they will be parents themselves and breed more inconciderate rats who have no respect for other people and society. Unless you put money into helping the less privilaged in this country then you will never get through to them. Many of these kids have since been rounded up (as have a couple of greedy adults who were, I feel, probably leading the riots - as one of them was a graphic designer and few others graduates) and many of them have pleaded guilty to their crimes. I don't think it was greed that fuelled those kids, but simply just the desire to smash up society.
I suppose the best thing you can do is send them to prison and try a reach them while they are away from the poisonous homes they come from. Then once they leave prison, they need somewhere else to go. They need something to care about because sending them to prison isn't going to make a difference to them. To us, it would be a horrible reduction of rights and freedom. To them, it's just a thing they have to go through.
These people - some of them are just greedy tryers who saw something on the TV and thought it would be a good idea - but this whole thing started because a man from the under-class (a possible drug-dealer and carrier of an illegal weapon, if the police are to be believed) was shot dead despite having not fired on police or even, it might possibly be, presented himself as a threat. He was allegedly in a taxi when he was approached by the police. It is a hazy issue but you can see why the under-class turned out to protest...
Because that's what it started out as. A protest.
One thing that did make me giggle was that some of the people looting thought that the police releasing images from the CCTV cameras was against their human rights. *scoff* Babies, when you go out in the streets people can see you. The CCTV cameras are there to catch you at your thuggry... and they always catch you out in the end no matter how many hoodies you wear. I'm pretty left-wing but I'm starting to think France had a point with the law against concealing your face in public areas. If we had a law like that, would nearly as many rioters turned out to steal knowing how many CCTV camreas are around the UK?
Ken Livingstone seems to be the only person making sense. How did we end up with BoJo as Mayor? Yes, he said that we need more police - but hindsight is a wonderful thing. It is the government's fault that they did not anticipate these riots (as everyone KNEW it would happen eventually, they did) and foolishly decided to cut the police force. BoJo is good at hindsight just as much as he's good at getting respect by going against the government. But Ken is right - if he had been Major of London, this might have been dealt with better. Not least because he has more experience with the city's management. Moreover he never listened to party politics like Boris does, and then decide to change his mind once it all goes tits up.
Those hard working people whose shops were destroyed have been let down by a weak system wich has just been getting weaker and weaker over the last thirty years. Like Ken said, the under-class have been left ignored thanks to the death of industry in this country, have nowhere they can get a job regardless of their qualifications when they leave school and now they have no self-respect, nor do they have respect for others.
It's all a mess but its time the parties talked about generating PROPER jobs for everyone, because these are the kids who were NEVER going to do A-levels or degrees or skilled-work like apprenticeships. They are your factory workers, they are your coal miners, they are your primary and secondary work forces who have been patted down and down following the cut of these industries in the 1980s. I'm pro-Europe but I don't think that the EU helped either as France and Germany, it has to be said, are in coohoots against the UK. Story does that they wanted all industry to be wiped out in the UK and for us (and Ireland) to be "service" countries.
Well, sod that! We need to give the under-classes something to do other that live miserably, lose self-respect, lose respect for others and leave off the dole because no proper employer in this climate would ever employ them. They just need to be taken on to do some sort of work - but even the working classes and the middle classes can't find work at the moment.
This country is a mess and I don't see it recovering anymore. We're, for lack of a better word, f-worded. I'm starting to think about plotting an escape route... but it'll be many years before I ever have money to pack up and go somewhere else. I used to think my country was such a good place to live. I still do -- but not in the form it is now. The political system we have here is just destroying the country as we are forced to shift between Labour, Tory, Labour, Tory over and over again and no willingness to tackle the serious issues. Just the Tories cutting everything and destroying the public sector, and then Labour trying to funnel money into it and patch it up again, and then the Tories cut it again.
Cameron is right - this country is sick but it isn't just because these kids happen to be bad. They are the result of 30 years where people have grown-up with no prospects and no place in society, and hence, no respect for defending society from events like this. Britain is sick and these kids are just the rash its come out in.
Sorry for this rant. I'm just a little upset at how far this rioting has gone.
*
Three young men have been killed in a hit and run during the riots last night in Birmingham. A car just came out and hit these poor guys. They were only twenty-year-olds, my own age, and then a car just sped around the corner and hit them. They say it might not be connected but it's hard to believe it isn't.
God, this is making the rest of this country feel so at a loss. I just want it all to end soon.
On a lighter note, at least the violence hasn't kicked off that close to where I am at the moment. Basildon is the only place there have been problems from the sound of it but I'm going to check it out anyway. I swear though if they attack Lakeside that'll be the sky falling in on our heads. If they start kicking-off in Grays, then I'll start to get a little freaked.
Tuesday, 9 August 2011
The UK Riots, Continued...
These riots are making me hate my own country.
What started out as a peaceful demonstration against what has turned out to be a potentially unfair shooting of a father of four by police has turned into a greed-driven robbing fest for the under-classes and a group of greedy thirty-year-olds, it seems, taking advantage of the tragedy in Tottenham. It's now spread to Manchester and Nottingham. London seems quiet due to the heavy police presence but there have been a few fires in Tottenham and Canning Town (which isn't far from my stop on the Jubilee line).
I admit I felt a little scared earlier when I heard a large group of youths running past my window. I doubt they were going to do anything as nothing has kicked off here but it just shows how the bias of the news can scare the living day lights out of people.
There have been a couple of scandals today. Not surprisingly the two least tasteful ones were from the Tories, who first tried to make it look as if Diane Abbot (Probably one of the most liked politicians around and the Labour MP for Hackney, one of the trouble areas) condoned the violence by cutting a part of her speech which (*coughs*) condoned the riots, and then another Tory MP said that the riots couldn't have a political issue for young people by cutting their services, EMA and raising tution fees because "They haven't looted Waterstones." Twat.
I have to say that as usual the BBC reporters are as brave as ever. They seem to have gone out into potentially scary areas where the rioters are roaming through the narrow streets looking for a place to loot where there are no police in Manchester. In Nottingham a police station has been firebombed. It's strange -- it seems that while some rioters seem to genuinely still be targetting the police as a result of the killing of Mark Duggen while most are just taking advantage of the situation.
The police had this coming for a very long time because of their conduct, no one can deny that. However it's just spiraled completely out of control now. People are just taking advantage of a genuine reason toriot protest (Sorry, I was tired). As the Independant's front cover says today -- this will force the government to finally think about the under-class. They have been forgotten for too long. The governments of the past have been more interested in pandering to the lower-middle class and the working class than trying to help the poor in this country... because there is genuine poor. The Labour Party tried to ignore them while the LibDems and Tories have damn-well pissed over them with the cuts. They go on about how we are all in this together but the under-class are outsiders in society...
So why should they respect it? That's what it has come down to. It has literally become a case where people are so unhappy with their lives that the only pleasure they can find is setting fire to and smashing up other people's livelihood. It is a disgrace to this country that this children - yes, children - have been completely abandoned by society. They have rubbish parents, bad schools, light-weight teachers, no chance of getting a degree, no chance of getting a job and earning a living, services have been cut by the government...
It has all become an excuse for the anti-social to take their revenge on high street shops. I don't care about them - they're rich enough already. However it's the ordinary small businesses I feel for. They have lost their livelihood, and it's the police and government's fault because they were all on their holidays, they were all ignoring this problem... and now it's gone too far. It's too late.
You know the image of Nero fiddling while Rome burns. Replace the image with Boris Johnson (who got yelled at by the victims of the riots, and so went off to find a publicity stunt where people were cleaning-up Croydon), George Osborne, David Cameron and Nick Clegg (who got heckled by the victims of the riots when he went out) - playing Guitar Hero next to a burned out bus and looted branch of Primark.
What started out as a peaceful demonstration against what has turned out to be a potentially unfair shooting of a father of four by police has turned into a greed-driven robbing fest for the under-classes and a group of greedy thirty-year-olds, it seems, taking advantage of the tragedy in Tottenham. It's now spread to Manchester and Nottingham. London seems quiet due to the heavy police presence but there have been a few fires in Tottenham and Canning Town (which isn't far from my stop on the Jubilee line).
I admit I felt a little scared earlier when I heard a large group of youths running past my window. I doubt they were going to do anything as nothing has kicked off here but it just shows how the bias of the news can scare the living day lights out of people.
There have been a couple of scandals today. Not surprisingly the two least tasteful ones were from the Tories, who first tried to make it look as if Diane Abbot (Probably one of the most liked politicians around and the Labour MP for Hackney, one of the trouble areas) condoned the violence by cutting a part of her speech which (*coughs*) condoned the riots, and then another Tory MP said that the riots couldn't have a political issue for young people by cutting their services, EMA and raising tution fees because "They haven't looted Waterstones." Twat.
I have to say that as usual the BBC reporters are as brave as ever. They seem to have gone out into potentially scary areas where the rioters are roaming through the narrow streets looking for a place to loot where there are no police in Manchester. In Nottingham a police station has been firebombed. It's strange -- it seems that while some rioters seem to genuinely still be targetting the police as a result of the killing of Mark Duggen while most are just taking advantage of the situation.
The police had this coming for a very long time because of their conduct, no one can deny that. However it's just spiraled completely out of control now. People are just taking advantage of a genuine reason to
So why should they respect it? That's what it has come down to. It has literally become a case where people are so unhappy with their lives that the only pleasure they can find is setting fire to and smashing up other people's livelihood. It is a disgrace to this country that this children - yes, children - have been completely abandoned by society. They have rubbish parents, bad schools, light-weight teachers, no chance of getting a degree, no chance of getting a job and earning a living, services have been cut by the government...
It has all become an excuse for the anti-social to take their revenge on high street shops. I don't care about them - they're rich enough already. However it's the ordinary small businesses I feel for. They have lost their livelihood, and it's the police and government's fault because they were all on their holidays, they were all ignoring this problem... and now it's gone too far. It's too late.
You know the image of Nero fiddling while Rome burns. Replace the image with Boris Johnson (who got yelled at by the victims of the riots, and so went off to find a publicity stunt where people were cleaning-up Croydon), George Osborne, David Cameron and Nick Clegg (who got heckled by the victims of the riots when he went out) - playing Guitar Hero next to a burned out bus and looted branch of Primark.
The UK Riots
I got a message from a friend of mine in Oz asking me (and I assume the rest of us Merlin fans who live the UK) whether we are alright/safe due to the riots sweeping the UK. I just want to assure people that I am fine, and that yesterday (the second day of the riots) there ARE parts of London that are safe and untouched. It is mainly depressed areas that have kicked up. The only concerning thing is that it kicked off in Hackney too... where the Olympic games are due to be held.
So I feel I should also fill everyone in on what is ACTUALLY happening here in the UK with the riots:
The riots have been going on mainly in London but last night (the third night) have spread to other areas of the country like Birmingham, Bristol and Liverpool. It started when a police officer shot a man in Tottenham. People came out to protest against police brutality and it soon turned into a riot that has spread across the city. They are now becoming something of an anti-government movement, or at least anti-establishment and stealing products from shops. Some parts of the tube have been closed down due to them being unsafe. In Birmingham they set fire to a police station. According to the news it all comes down to people egging on what they're going to do via Twitter.
I went to Acton yesterday to pick up my new kitten (<3) but there was nothing going on there. However as we were driving along the A406 (Northern Circular) there were a few junctions and turn-off points closed because police have been trying to close off areas to the riots. But there hadn't been any riots there.
But basically all these riots have one thing at the back of their mind; the police are the enemy. This riot has been bubbling up for some time as the police have committed some terrible acts against the public in the past which have then been covered up. A couple of years ago the policemen pushed, hit and killed a man who wasn't even part of the protest but just walking home. The unprovoked shove to the ground caused internal bleeding, and then the police tried to cover it up by saying he was a protestor and he has attacked the police first. However a bystander caught the attack on camera (which was made illegal due to the police being embarrassed by getting caught doing this). Then a year or so later at the student protests a disabled boy was dragged from his wheelchair by two police and dumped on the pavement. Together with the reveal that Murdoch's papers helped cover up a lot of what the police got up to and that top offices in Scotland Yards had accepted bribes to sell information to journalists... it was only a matter of time for this all to kick off.
But I'm OK - a friend of mine however had the place she works at looted. That's what they've mainly been doing; smashing up windows and lotting stores. Then another guy I know actually *lives* over a shop in Birmingham. He said they just smashed the windows but he also hid. He's going back to his family home in Essex today - it hasn't kicked off here yet *touch wood*. A couple of my other friends also know people who live in Hackney and they say the streets are a mess.
I really hope it doesn't spread to where I am, though. I live in a small town but they are known for jumping on bandwagons... and I think our police have been called in to deal with the London riots.
So I feel I should also fill everyone in on what is ACTUALLY happening here in the UK with the riots:
The riots have been going on mainly in London but last night (the third night) have spread to other areas of the country like Birmingham, Bristol and Liverpool. It started when a police officer shot a man in Tottenham. People came out to protest against police brutality and it soon turned into a riot that has spread across the city. They are now becoming something of an anti-government movement, or at least anti-establishment and stealing products from shops. Some parts of the tube have been closed down due to them being unsafe. In Birmingham they set fire to a police station. According to the news it all comes down to people egging on what they're going to do via Twitter.
I went to Acton yesterday to pick up my new kitten (<3) but there was nothing going on there. However as we were driving along the A406 (Northern Circular) there were a few junctions and turn-off points closed because police have been trying to close off areas to the riots. But there hadn't been any riots there.
But basically all these riots have one thing at the back of their mind; the police are the enemy. This riot has been bubbling up for some time as the police have committed some terrible acts against the public in the past which have then been covered up. A couple of years ago the policemen pushed, hit and killed a man who wasn't even part of the protest but just walking home. The unprovoked shove to the ground caused internal bleeding, and then the police tried to cover it up by saying he was a protestor and he has attacked the police first. However a bystander caught the attack on camera (which was made illegal due to the police being embarrassed by getting caught doing this). Then a year or so later at the student protests a disabled boy was dragged from his wheelchair by two police and dumped on the pavement. Together with the reveal that Murdoch's papers helped cover up a lot of what the police got up to and that top offices in Scotland Yards had accepted bribes to sell information to journalists... it was only a matter of time for this all to kick off.
But I'm OK - a friend of mine however had the place she works at looted. That's what they've mainly been doing; smashing up windows and lotting stores. Then another guy I know actually *lives* over a shop in Birmingham. He said they just smashed the windows but he also hid. He's going back to his family home in Essex today - it hasn't kicked off here yet *touch wood*. A couple of my other friends also know people who live in Hackney and they say the streets are a mess.
I really hope it doesn't spread to where I am, though. I live in a small town but they are known for jumping on bandwagons... and I think our police have been called in to deal with the London riots.
Thursday, 4 August 2011
10,000 People in Britain Go Mental (Question of the Death Penalty)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-14400246
This is disgusting. I agree that MPs shouldn't ignore important e-petitions about relevant issues that concern people - but bringing back the death penalty is nothing short of barbaric and pointless, not least because we already got rid of it in the 60s. The people who believe it is a good idea and that it will deflect people from committing crimes only have to look at death row in America to know that's not true. There is just as much crime in countries that have the death penalty than there is countries that don't.
I don't believe that any human action justifies the taking of even the most disgusting of human beings. It is better to make them suffer with life then end with death. Anyone would tell you that child killers and molesters are considered the lowest of the low even amongst other criminals. Men who have murdered their wives, girlfriends or just random adults take the moral high ground and make those who harm children felt like the dirt most people would agree they are. By executing them they escape living a long and miserable life in prison.
But that is an argument that ALL anti-capital punishment believers argue.
The reason I oppose it is simply because the outcry against it in this country back in the 1960s when it was outlawed. Roy Jenkins oversaw its final end, but many other people who had campaigned to end the death penalty in the UK for decades before it finally ended. It was decided that the practise was barbaric, and it is. I don't see why organised murder is any better than disorganised murder. Seeing as the only practical application the death penalty has is to free up prison space, you could do that by giving people who commit more petty crimes lighter sentences. I know that's an unpopular thought with a lot of people - but frankly nicking a couple of packets of pasta from ASDA isn't really a crime at all when you consider 1.) How rich these supermarkets are and 2.) That crimes like this make up the majority of crimes committed in the UK, and yet we indulge the rich companies by allowing them to seek the harshest penalty.
Surely it's the government's fault if things have got so desperate people have taken to being kleptomaniacs in order to get by. Punishment should fit the crime - and so when such a person is caught but never spends time in prison, I seriously couldn't care less.
Back to the death penalty, I think it would be idiotic and naive of the government to indulge such an argument when people, in general, are collectively as thick as two planks of wood. It makes no difference to the British people whatsoever whether there is capital punishment or not, so why waste money and time debating a non-issue that was cleaned up years ago. I'm one of those people who doesn't even thik terrorists should be executed if they are caught in the practise of committing a crime, not just because given they set bombs the idea of dying doesn't bother them (At least, that's the case with the Al-Qaeeda terrorist, the RIRA terrorists are just backwards thinking twats who think it's a good idea to kick up a fuss in Northern Ireland by shooting people and doesn't do a thing to promote republicanism) and also because executing people is the practise of these people, and therefore we should hold ourselves above it. They want to be with God so much, they can bloody well wait until He kills them. I don't see why we should give any man or woman who commits an unthinkable crime the penalty of death.
I also don't see why the government should consider such a backwards thinking policy that doesn't help anyone. People argue that it helps the victims families by giving justice - but to execute someone for killing someone else dates back to a very old fashioned 'eye for an eye' way of thinking. That's not justice, that's revenge. Justice should come with the proving and convicting of the person who commits the crime. The acting of executing someone is just worthless revenge. It benefits no one. I don't believe that executing someone for a crime would make the victims or their families feel any better about what happened. Killing them doesn't altar things.
The bottom line is that I disagree with capital punishment, and I believe so on grounds of having actually read the history of it and thought about it. Most people who sign these petitions haven't thought about it, they just think its a good idea. Bring it back and almost immediately you would have people take the streets demanding it be reversed. We went through the argument on capital pubishment, and decided to outlaw it. The country is no worse off without it and would not be better off with it.
Like I said, you, me and individual people are intelligent creatures. People, however, are stupid, thick and make more noise than sense. I despise this government we currently have with every fibre of my being as we have some how ended up with a party committed to destroying the lives of the oridinary people. If this vote went through, I fear it would be because the Tories wanted to vote for something they *think* the public want - not what's good for them. A popularity boost is all they care about, yet they only conceed on things that won't effect them or go against their Tory beliefs (which is to cut things that people actually do need - like a functioning NHS and jobs).
Interesting that only the Tory newspapers seem to have given this argument the time of day. Probably because only Conservatives vote for it. However I feel that capital punishment is not the business of the people. I'm sorry, I just don't. It is the business of the controlling elite and they should no better than jabbering voice boxes who support anything that seems like a good idea without actually understanding it.
It's just a worthless issue that doesn't help anyone nor does it benefit society in any real way. It doesn't.
This is disgusting. I agree that MPs shouldn't ignore important e-petitions about relevant issues that concern people - but bringing back the death penalty is nothing short of barbaric and pointless, not least because we already got rid of it in the 60s. The people who believe it is a good idea and that it will deflect people from committing crimes only have to look at death row in America to know that's not true. There is just as much crime in countries that have the death penalty than there is countries that don't.
I don't believe that any human action justifies the taking of even the most disgusting of human beings. It is better to make them suffer with life then end with death. Anyone would tell you that child killers and molesters are considered the lowest of the low even amongst other criminals. Men who have murdered their wives, girlfriends or just random adults take the moral high ground and make those who harm children felt like the dirt most people would agree they are. By executing them they escape living a long and miserable life in prison.
But that is an argument that ALL anti-capital punishment believers argue.
The reason I oppose it is simply because the outcry against it in this country back in the 1960s when it was outlawed. Roy Jenkins oversaw its final end, but many other people who had campaigned to end the death penalty in the UK for decades before it finally ended. It was decided that the practise was barbaric, and it is. I don't see why organised murder is any better than disorganised murder. Seeing as the only practical application the death penalty has is to free up prison space, you could do that by giving people who commit more petty crimes lighter sentences. I know that's an unpopular thought with a lot of people - but frankly nicking a couple of packets of pasta from ASDA isn't really a crime at all when you consider 1.) How rich these supermarkets are and 2.) That crimes like this make up the majority of crimes committed in the UK, and yet we indulge the rich companies by allowing them to seek the harshest penalty.
Surely it's the government's fault if things have got so desperate people have taken to being kleptomaniacs in order to get by. Punishment should fit the crime - and so when such a person is caught but never spends time in prison, I seriously couldn't care less.
Back to the death penalty, I think it would be idiotic and naive of the government to indulge such an argument when people, in general, are collectively as thick as two planks of wood. It makes no difference to the British people whatsoever whether there is capital punishment or not, so why waste money and time debating a non-issue that was cleaned up years ago. I'm one of those people who doesn't even thik terrorists should be executed if they are caught in the practise of committing a crime, not just because given they set bombs the idea of dying doesn't bother them (At least, that's the case with the Al-Qaeeda terrorist, the RIRA terrorists are just backwards thinking twats who think it's a good idea to kick up a fuss in Northern Ireland by shooting people and doesn't do a thing to promote republicanism) and also because executing people is the practise of these people, and therefore we should hold ourselves above it. They want to be with God so much, they can bloody well wait until He kills them. I don't see why we should give any man or woman who commits an unthinkable crime the penalty of death.
I also don't see why the government should consider such a backwards thinking policy that doesn't help anyone. People argue that it helps the victims families by giving justice - but to execute someone for killing someone else dates back to a very old fashioned 'eye for an eye' way of thinking. That's not justice, that's revenge. Justice should come with the proving and convicting of the person who commits the crime. The acting of executing someone is just worthless revenge. It benefits no one. I don't believe that executing someone for a crime would make the victims or their families feel any better about what happened. Killing them doesn't altar things.
The bottom line is that I disagree with capital punishment, and I believe so on grounds of having actually read the history of it and thought about it. Most people who sign these petitions haven't thought about it, they just think its a good idea. Bring it back and almost immediately you would have people take the streets demanding it be reversed. We went through the argument on capital pubishment, and decided to outlaw it. The country is no worse off without it and would not be better off with it.
Like I said, you, me and individual people are intelligent creatures. People, however, are stupid, thick and make more noise than sense. I despise this government we currently have with every fibre of my being as we have some how ended up with a party committed to destroying the lives of the oridinary people. If this vote went through, I fear it would be because the Tories wanted to vote for something they *think* the public want - not what's good for them. A popularity boost is all they care about, yet they only conceed on things that won't effect them or go against their Tory beliefs (which is to cut things that people actually do need - like a functioning NHS and jobs).
Interesting that only the Tory newspapers seem to have given this argument the time of day. Probably because only Conservatives vote for it. However I feel that capital punishment is not the business of the people. I'm sorry, I just don't. It is the business of the controlling elite and they should no better than jabbering voice boxes who support anything that seems like a good idea without actually understanding it.
It's just a worthless issue that doesn't help anyone nor does it benefit society in any real way. It doesn't.
Probably the best argument against this whole this is that people - like the ordinary people who don't care most of the time - would almost certainly vote against the reintroduction of the death penalty. Like I already said, it seems ironic that only the right-wing papers masterbated over this entire story. The Daily Fail most of all. Idiotic twats.
PS: Just to give you an idea of how stupid it would be for the government to "bend" to the naivity of public pressure - or the empty vassels that make the most noise - take a look at this part of Charlie Brooker's 2009 Review of the year on the horrible C4 show The Execution of Gary Glitter. I always like to use Charlie Brooker's commentary on TV and issues in the news because he breaks it down without dumbing it down.
PS: Just to give you an idea of how stupid it would be for the government to "bend" to the naivity of public pressure - or the empty vassels that make the most noise - take a look at this part of Charlie Brooker's 2009 Review of the year on the horrible C4 show The Execution of Gary Glitter. I always like to use Charlie Brooker's commentary on TV and issues in the news because he breaks it down without dumbing it down.
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