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While spreading pockets of Britain burn and are looted by, to quote the Washington Post, "rage [that] has appeared blind, apolitical and profoundly selfish," we continue to be isolated from the mayhem. Many of you have emailed to ask, so let me say Cambridge remains (for now?), an idyllic university town crammed with tour buses and ice cream stands and summer holiday retreats. Cambridge is in East Anglia, far enough from the troubles. For vivid coverage of the attacks, visit the London Times.
After a siege in Notting Hill last night (diners' jewelry was ripped from their necks and wedding rings taken..the chefs battled back with rolling pins....I'm not making this up), you can bet we're putting off our first trip into London for a while.
As one who was in the thick of the LA Riots as a young reporter, I can tell you that looting looks like looting. While both conflicts were touched off by a police action, this event is being fueled on Twitter and Facebook by a criminal element. Depending on who you listen to, it is a clash spurred by anger, race and/or the have-nots upon the haves.
My admiration goes out to the "broom brigades," collectives of hundreds of Brits, who have arrived at the scenes of the aftermath to help clean-up. The local market, Sainsbury, provides them with, yes you'll be shocked, tea for their efforts.
After a siege in Notting Hill last night (diners' jewelry was ripped from their necks and wedding rings taken..the chefs battled back with rolling pins....I'm not making this up), you can bet we're putting off our first trip into London for a while.
As one who was in the thick of the LA Riots as a young reporter, I can tell you that looting looks like looting. While both conflicts were touched off by a police action, this event is being fueled on Twitter and Facebook by a criminal element. Depending on who you listen to, it is a clash spurred by anger, race and/or the have-nots upon the haves.
My admiration goes out to the "broom brigades," collectives of hundreds of Brits, who have arrived at the scenes of the aftermath to help clean-up. The local market, Sainsbury, provides them with, yes you'll be shocked, tea for their efforts.
1 comment:
Leef –
Thanks for your riot info. I’ve been following the events on BBC and The Telegraph. (Do you really put money into Murdoch’s pocket by paying for a subscription to The Times?)
I was curious to get an idea of the racial makeup of the rioters, and from the pics & films (which of course could be somewhat selective, intentionally or not) it appeared that a clear majority were black or “of color”) but there were plenty of whites as well as a surprising number of females. One 3-minute film showed a group of blacks supposedly helping an injured very young brown boy who was lying on the street streaming blood from his head. They sat him up against a wall and then went through his backpack, took what they wanted and left him there semi-conscious. Although under attack itself a couple of times, BBC managed to do some good interviews with the thugs. I have a pretty good ear for Cockney, etc. but most of what came out of their mouths was barely identifiable as English. It was comparable to the English spoken by rural African kids whose teachers barely speak the language themselves. As with the L.A. riots (and most black riots everywhere) a lot of the physical damage was done to shops in their own communities.
Given the racial/immigrant tensions in much of Europe and the ever-worsening economic straits of the young and the poor, I think we’re seeing only the early stages of anarchy in several Euro zone countries.
I suppose that Cambridge is mostly white, with a handful of dusky professors, restaurant & domestic workers; I hope the cops don’t mistakenly bash one of them and trigger a blow-up.
We are not immune here. House- and car breaking are growing, even in supposedly safe places like Cape Cod where several police departments say they are overwhelmed this year by property crimes against the rich summer people. And, like London, stressed municipalities are cutting back on police to save money. Time to join the NRA? =Bill=
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