Riots in England ( Archived) (92)

As riots continue throughout London, British police have threatened to bring charges against those who use social media to incite looting and violence.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Stephen Kavanaugh confirmed to U.K. media that officers were looking at Twitter as they investigated the riots, which began after the police shooting of 29-year-old Mark Duggan in the Tottenham section of North London on Thursday.

But some observers have noted that the social media that has really helped "organize" the looting is not Twitter or even Facebook, so central to uprisings throughout the Arab world earlier this year. Many of the teenagers running through London's streets are communicating by BlackBerry Messenger.

Just before Duggan died Thursday, he sent a final message to his girlfriend via BlackBerry Messenger, "The Feds are following me." Ever since, according to Mike Butcher, editor of TechCrunch Europe, "while Twitter has largely been the venue of spectators to violence and is a handy public venue for journalists to observe, it would appear the non-public BlackBerry BBM messaging network has been the method of choice for organising it."

Butcher notes that BlackBerrys cost less than smartphones and that BBM is both essentially cost-free and invisible to police. In order to communicate, BBM users must exchange PINs, but their conversations are private. They can spread their PINs via SMS, Twitter or other means.

People are still blaming it on poverty. What poverty some of these kids have. The housing estates of social housing here in the main have satelite tv dishes outside each property. If no dishes they most likely have cable tv. These kids have the latest cellphones, have designer trainers, logo-emblazoned clothes, spend their cash on the take-away chicken and fries outlets outside their schools/colleges when they end at 3.30 pm. So not only are they lacking in parental involvement and care, but also what little money they have is not spent wisely. Supermarkets offer junk food for a fraction of the price of fresh nutritious food so they are lacking good care. It is easy to blame the kids but even those in their late teens are suffering from simply being born to parent(s) who have no idea on how important it is to bring a child up properly rather than to drag them up till they can be kicked out and have to fend for themselves. Someone mentioned feral and it is a good word.

"What is happening to our young people? They disrespect their elders, they disobey their parents. They ignore the law. They riot in the streets inflamed with wild notions. Their morals are decaying. What is to become of them?"

Plato, 4th Century BC

I agree. What poverty? We live in the west and have little idea of true poverty.

In my late teens as a struggling musician without money, I still had a roof over my head and food. There are organisations willing to help throughout our societies, unlike some countries I don't care to name.

I think, you should read this article, about Margaret Mead, maybe you can understand better, our currently situation with young people.
Culture and Commitment 1970

Just a thought.
I'm sure many on this site already know about the Government Petitions website but for all of you who are utterly shocked by the state of the UK at the moment with all those idiots starting and participating in riots and looting, please take 30 seconds to "sign" (digitally) this official Direct.gov.uk petition to stop those who are caught from receiving their benefits.

As you probably know if, any petition reaches 100,000 signatures, it becomes a topic to get discussed in the House of Commons. Up to this morning 97,000 odd people had signed up so hopefully some serious consideration would be put into this possibility. Its one way to save the government a fair chunk of money if nowt else as I bet a whole heap of the people participating in this mindless violence and crime are the type who rely on their benefits to live.

Really the priorities are all wrong (although a lot would knowledge would I have). Well yes I have also been on government benefits on a social housing estate bringing up 2 kids on my own. However what little money we did have went on nutritious food and sufficient heating and clothes were bought in thrift shops. (I am only talking about 10 or 15 years ago till just the last few years). Our only tv was a portable one with the basic five channels, my kids didn't have bicycles (something which they still remind me of) but they and I had the basics. Maybe it is the parent(s) who need educating of these yobs convicted of looting but I suppose that is a presumptious statement to make. However seeing the parents interviewed on our local London news they seem nasty pieces of work who are blaming cut-backs but you can tell a lot of them are using the government as a scape-goat. People are not taking responsibility for their own lives and their kids' lives and we all know our kids are so precious that we need to nurture them with all we can.

Until people start be serious and give proper analyst & diagnose to the situation, until that; things will keep deteriorating.

Even though it appears that many here don’t want touch the elephant in the room, but you can see the really impact of indiscipline and irresponsible mindset from the behavior, the talks and the actions of the leaders, so what else you expect from their children?

Although poverty might exacerbate what happen but mindset have more to do with the person, I read that there is a child of a milliner who was arrested stilling in the riot.

If you can see that Tony Blair did what he did, murdering millions innocents women, children and elderly in Iraq & Afghanistan and yet he face no any form of punishment and nobody talk about it, now Cameron arrogantly is already destroyed Libya and killing thousands and creating all kinds of chaos & anarchy without any fear of any law in the world to hold him and his arrogant demon allies accountable then what message you are sending to your children who are learning from you and watching everything you say & do?

Without doubt those Blair-Cameron’s arrogance, aggressiveness and carelessness which led to the distractions they brought to these nations they started from their youth days.

The soon you know that you are above the law or any law on the land or the world, then you start doing such things like those youths and those leaders. So to be persecuted must be in all, and law & order must be in all levels not just on some particular group.

A typical looter unfortunately just lives for today and is not really interesting in what is going on overseas so I don't think what is happening overseas is a cause of the looting, do you?