For our British Head-Fi brethren (and sisters)

Thanks for thinking of us.

It's cool, all a bit mental though. I live in Hackney so it was pretty close by. Went for a little wander to see what was happening then stayed in doors all night once I realised it was getting serious. Saw smoke, heard helicopters and sirens but wasn't really affected by any of it. Place is a mess.

It's nothing to do with protest, that's how the ones in Tottenham started but this is just kids smashing things up and stealing things, burning innocent people's cars and shops who've done nothing to them. You could probably write ten essays on the sociological factors that led to this state of affairs but it's nothing recent.

It doesn't seem to be staying in any one area for too long, it's almost like a fashion - none of them want to come back from summer holidays without a video of them breaking a window to say "they were there". Idiots.

Absolutely I support the right to protest and protest myself when I believe in the cause (I've been quite prolific in that area in the past and had my fair share of experience of the thuggish side of British policing) ... but this is not protest. Not what's happening now. 

What started in Tottenham was a peaceful protest that got out of hand, the rest of it is un-realated copycat thuggery.

This is kids smashing things, stealing things and burning things because they think it's cool.

A shop that has been family owned for five generations in my home town Croydon was burned to the ground last night - I saw burnt out cars in Hackney just belonging to normal people, the neighbors of the people who were doing the burning. There's no political point, I doubt any of them could tell you Mark Duggan's name.

Yeah there are a thousand sociological problems that led us to the point where kids were ready to lash out like this is not a political protest.

It has been a quiet night in London.

We are in Muswell Hill, north London which is not far from Tottenham. My wife was told by a policeman in the afternoon that the rioters are planning to start something in Crouch End and Muswell Hill, which is a bit worrying. So far nothing has happened. The trouble seems to be up north only today. We'll see.

I did pick a good time to return to London from Sunny California, didn't I?

I've seen enough rioting around here to know that it's not pleasant, so hopefully you brits will be able to continue avoiding the worst of it. The closest I've ever come to a riot personally is that a police car was overturned and burned a few streets away during one of the Cedar Village riots we used to have.

I've locked myself away for the past 4 days as its been like a war zone where I live in SE London, I have been sickened by what I have witnessed.

Cameron (the ******) [edit: really, you censor the word ******?] has been quoted as saying:

"Free flow of information can sometimes be a problem"

and

"We are looking at the possibilities with ristricting social media during times of unrest"

Quite a different tune to their attitude on it during the middle east riots.

Mindless criminality or not ... a riot is a riot.

/rages/

Glad to hear the London based head-fi'ers are ok. My Sister lives in Hackney too, just off Mare Street. My parents managed to persuade her to go home to theirs the second night things got bad in that area.

To be fair, our riots consist of pregnant teens stealing Adidas trainers and trashing their own streets

Not that i'm downplaying the impact on people ... but British riots do have their own ... character.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uncle Erik 

So sorry to hear about the riots over there. I lived through the LA riots and have nothing but empathy.