"European Spring"

[darwinslair]

I have friends in the UK who are frankly scared shitless, seeing some of what is going on there firsthand.  The media accounts of fears of race riots apparently is unfounded.  What they are seeing is just groups of dissafected youth, of which europe has a lot.

Things are dissolving quickly.  Not a lot of attention being paid to it here, but the UK has a lot on their news.

Tom

[darwinslair]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/uknews/8691148/London-riots-Telegraph-readers-photos-of-the-rioting-and-looted-areas-of-the-city.html

[Dame]

We are seeing reasonable coverage by the Canadian media.

The media are starting to show some skepticism around their reporting criticism of government responses to rioting disaffected youth outside of Europe and the criticism of the rioting youth in UK.  

It looks like, to me here far away from either, that our democracy lovers in Syria etc., are ideologically the brothers and sisters of the looters in UK.

When it is my house they are burning I want the swat team to show.  Swatting a bunch of 2 year old butts about 20 years ago may have worked better.

[darwinslair]

Much of the US is armed well enough to prevent this from spreading outside of city centers.

If the citizens are allowed to defend themselves.

Tom

[Dame]

Enforcing curfews on our own teenagers is likely the most effective place to start.  And I am aware of how much easier this is to do in a very rural setting. 

[Atash Hagmahani]

We're definitely having some riots, scattered across the country. The national media is squelching coverage of them, but they end up in the blogosphere which is how I have been hearing about them.

Riots unlikely in rural areas simply because the rioters tend to go after highly visible targets, especially ones that they connect to...like shopping malls!! Also, you need enough population density to create a quorum--riots happen because people feel safe doing "what everyone else is doing". You could have one in a rural area if there is a crowd converging on a specific event (like the concerts at the Columbia Gorge), but very unlikely otherwise.

I suggest staying away from any shopping malls and downtown shopping districts that have a history of being targets. If you have to go shopping, give preference to areas with no history of riots.

The riots in Wisconsin are happening at the State Fair. Contrary to the spokeswoman, who claimed that the riots and attacks were confined to the neighborhood outside of the fairgrounds, witnesses claim that there was an attack on the arcades on the fairgrounds. Entertainment venues like sporting and rock concerts could be targets as well. There was a riot in Hollywood recently outside a private screening.

[Mike]

I remember what caused the Martin Luther King Riots and the Rodney King riot.  But what caused the London riots?  Is it just flash rioting by anarchists?

[Atash Hagmahani]

The police killing of Mark Duggan.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/8690855/London-riots-Mark-Duggan-died-from-single-gunshot-to-chest-post-mortem-reveals.html

Was the immediate cause, but bloggers in London say that the situation has been simmering for a while now.

If I had to guess, the realization that unrest is going on in one country, gives people ideas in other countries.

[Mike]

So a Scotland Yardster shot a young man in the chest and claimed it was in an exchange of gunfire as evidenced by a bullet found in a police radio.

And bloggers say the situation had been simmering...

"Simmering" I would take to mean a general disgust with the police that has developed over quite some time.  Take the mutuallyassuredsurvival forum.  There is a definite anti-cop attitude, for good reason.  For me it occurred over 50 years of bad experiences.  This is the rule, not the exception. 

Is "simmering" happening in America?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14470772
The link has four short videos:
#1 Riot Girls with a heavy brogue:
"Showing the rich we do what we want'" 
"Showing the police we do wha' we wan'"
reporter: "Why are locals being targeted?"
"We are targe'ing rich people"

The best video is the Sikhs defending their temple.  No fire, no visuals, just a bunch of Sikhs. 
Reporter: Isn't this just vigilante-ism?  Shouldn't you be letting the police do their job?
Sikh: The police can not be everywhere.  We are helping the police.

A friend told me that baseball bat sales are up 1600 percent.  Gun control has unexpected consequences.  Who woulda thought!?

Take away:
This is the breakdown of the nanny state: hate the rich; rely on the state for protection and wealth distribution.

Conclusion:
Give me a population of armed Korean shop-keepers.