Random Thoughts (Political Edition)

In that case the euro will break up and a new currency will be created, probably a northern euro consisting of Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and maybe France, Finland and Belgium. The big question in that case is, what amount of debt was taken on in the rescue operations of the past.
 
The Germans benefitted greatly from the EURO now do not want to pick up the bill, but they will have to. I do not blame Herr and Frau Schmidt myself, no one told them of the scam.
 
Ohh absolutely the germans profited greatly from the weak partners, who pushed down the value of the euro which was great as a strong exporter, but I would not say that Germany profited the most from the euro, that title will go to Greece or maybe Spain. The policies of the ECB since '99 have been tailored to Germany and to lesser degree Austria and the Netherlands, but the great beneficiaries of those policies were in southern europe, where the low interest rates were the exact opposite of what was needed and created a the problems were are dealing with now.
 
Dear, God I hope the US government gets it right soon. They're fucking us all in the arse right now.
 
Riot hits north London after police shooting death

LONDON (AP) ? The gritty north London neighborhood of Tottenham exploded in anger Saturday night after a young man was shot to death by police.

Two patrol cars, a building and a double-decker bus were torched as rioters clashed with officers in front of the Tottenham Police Station, where people had gathered to demand "justice" for the death of a 29-year-old killed in an apparent gunfight.

"It's really bad," said local resident David Akinsanya, 46. "There are two police cars on fire. I'm feeling unsafe."

Sirens could be heard across the city as authorities rushed reinforcements to the scene. In Tottenham shop windows were smashed as residents looted the stores, pushing shopping carts full of stolen goods down the street.

Officers in riot gear and on horseback pushed up against the demonstrators. Akinsanya put the number of demonstrators at between 400 and 500. Police said there were about 300 people gathered.

Miles from the tourist hotspots of central London, Tottenham is one of the most deprived areas in all of England, with nearly half of all children living in poverty, according to campaigners.

In 1985, Tottenham was the scene of a deadly riot after a local woman suffered heart failure when her home was raided by the police. The Tottenham riots were among the most violent in the country's history, with one officer stabbed to death as he tried to protect firefighters and nearly 60 others were hospitalized.
 
Judge Allows Torture Suit Against Rumsfeld to Go Forward

A federal judge has agreed to allow an Army veteran who says he was tortured during a nine-month imprisonment in Iraq to sue former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld.

The veteran, identified only as John Doe in court documents, traveled to Iraq as a civilian employee of an American-owned defense contracting firm in December 2004. He worked as an Arabic translator and was assigned to work with a Marine Corps Human Exploitation Team, an intelligence unit.

The team operated in Anbar Province, gathering intelligence through local Iraqi contacts. In his suit, Doe maintains that he was the first American to open direct talks with a Sunni Arab tribal leader, Sheikh Abdul Sattar Buzaigh al-Rishawi, who had gathered the Anbar tribes and worked with the Americans to fight jihadist militants in the province. (Sheikh Sattar was assassinated in 2007.)

In his suit, Doe claims that he was abducted by the American military in November 2005, as he was preparing to come home for annual leave. He was handcuffed, blindfolded and held in solitary confinement for 72 hours before being shuttled to Camp Cropper where, according to Doe, he was held in a military jail and subjected to routine abuse.

The government suspected him of sharing classified information with the enemy, the suit says, but he was never charged with a crime before he was released in August 2006. He claims that he never broke the law and that he was risking his life to help his country. (Court document embedded below.)

The Justice Department, which has represented Mr. Rumsfeld, argues that he cannot be sued personally for official conduct. The department also asserted that wartime decisions are the constitutional responsibility of Congress and the president, not the courts. The department also said the case could disclose sensitive information and claimed that the threat of liability would impede future military decisions.

In his decision, Judge James Gwin of Federal District Court rejected those arguments, saying that American citizens are protected by the Constitution at home or abroad during wartime. ?The court finds no convincing reason that United States citizens in Iraq should or must lose previously-declared substantive due process protections during prolonged detention in a conflict zone abroad,? he said.

Doe also named as defendants Janet Napolitano, the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Robert S. Mueller III, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Alan Bersin, the Customs and Border Protection commissioner, and John Morton, assistant secretary of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The lawsuit accuses them of a failure to secure the return of his property seized upon his detention and of violations of his right to travel.
 
Riot hits north London after police shooting death

LONDON (AP) ? The gritty north London neighborhood of Tottenham exploded in anger Saturday night after a young man was shot to death by police.

Two patrol cars, a building and a double-decker bus were torched as rioters clashed with officers in front of the Tottenham Police Station, where people had gathered to demand "justice" for the death of a 29-year-old killed in an apparent gunfight.

"It's really bad," said local resident David Akinsanya, 46. "There are two police cars on fire. I'm feeling unsafe."

Sirens could be heard across the city as authorities rushed reinforcements to the scene. In Tottenham shop windows were smashed as residents looted the stores, pushing shopping carts full of stolen goods down the street.

Officers in riot gear and on horseback pushed up against the demonstrators. Akinsanya put the number of demonstrators at between 400 and 500. Police said there were about 300 people gathered.

Miles from the tourist hotspots of central London, Tottenham is one of the most deprived areas in all of England, with nearly half of all children living in poverty, according to campaigners.

In 1985, Tottenham was the scene of a deadly riot after a local woman suffered heart failure when her home was raided by the police. The Tottenham riots were among the most violent in the country's history, with one officer stabbed to death as he tried to protect firefighters and nearly 60 others were hospitalized.

I've seen some articles today alleging that it was all about the economic circumstances, bullshit. It was gangs getting revenge for the police killing their Arms Dealer.
 
For once, I think the police was in the right in a situation like this. From what's been reported, even by the Guardian, a bullet was lodged in the radio of one of the officers. When there's a bullet lodged in the radio of a police officer, that means someone shot at him, that they were a reasonably good shot and that it was legitimate to shoot back.

Rioting was uncalled for.
 
I've seen some articles today alleging that it was all about the economic circumstances, bullshit. It was gangs getting revenge for the police killing their Arms Dealer.

Ah, I wasn't aware of the guys "job", only that the cops had shot someone after being shot at.

I can believe that it was nothing to do with economic cirsumstances nor probably that much to do with the guy who got shot.

More likely the shooting was just a catalyst to having a bit of a riot and a go at the police.

I feel sorry for the majority of the people of Tottenham, some of whom have had their apartments above the shops burned down, the owners and staff of small shops who have lost thier livehoods and eveyone else who have had their town centre trashed.

A resident told the BBC that an new Asda supermarket was burned down, and the TV pictures showed an Aldi supermarket burn out as well. Do you think those large chains will rebuild anytime soon?

No commercial enterprise will now consider investing in a business in Tottenham for decades.
 
These kind of events just makes me sad. Some years ago we had exactly the same in Gothenburg during George W Bush?s visit and the EU summit. I was just 11 yers old and I wasn?t even allowed to walk home alone since my school was very near. I hope they catch these people and make them pay for the damage they have caused. Just because you are poor or bored doesn?t give you the right to riot.
 
They seem to be very inspired by what is happening in South Africa where white farmers are brutally murdered by black mobs. This is also common in Zimbabwe where white farmers farms are taken over by the dictator and given out to the black portion of the country. But hey, who am I to argue? Us white people are all racist anyway, that is what I?m being told constantly by the "un-biased" media.:(
You are comparing semi-violent flashmobs to things happening in South Africa, where people still have to deal with the aftermath of Apartheid and Zimbawne, where a mad violent dictator used the uneducated masses to enforce his political agenda by driving the rich (large parts of what C. W. Mills called "The Power Elite") out of the country or killing them?

The three cases have nothing in common except for some of the people involved being black.

So basically you say all blacks are violent and it's the media that claims you are racist? Right now, I am the one claiming that. And I am not the media, just very frustrated by your attitude.
 
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What happened in Tottenham reminds me of the film "Harry Brown" with Mickael Caine .
For those of you who have watched this film, this a carbon copy of the riot at the end : a local chief gang has been killed by the police and all hell break loose after that.
 
What happened in Tottenham reminds me of the film "Harry Brown" with Mickael Caine .
For those of you who have watched this film, this a carbon copy of the riot at the end : a local chief gang has been killed by the police and all hell break loose after that.

Quite a good analogy, actually.

We need Michael Caine right now to sort these pricks out. The Guardian is now reporting that Boris is possibly returning to London due to the severity of the riots.

 
BBC News has just put out a statement from the Indepentent Police Compliants Commission (IPCC) released a few minutes ago.

Lots of blah, blahs about seeing 14 members of the Duggan family and condeming the riots etc.

It also says that the IPCC has recovered a "non-Police handgun" at the scene, also they are forensically examining a police radio and are interviewing witnesses and whatnot.

Early days for sure, but it is starting to look like a justified shooting.
 
I for one actually believe that economic circumstances do play a part, a large part, in the amount of crime a society gets. So yes, if these people were better off, they might not riot because someone got shot. They were a part of a group of society that might react like this. The middle class people of Middle England are not, generally speaking.

So let's not rule out the economic aspect. But it doesn't explain jack shit alone.
 
So let's not rule out the economic aspect. But it doesn't explain jack shit alone.
People whose material needs are (over)satisfied are unlikely to start a riot (bored spoiled "sports fan" kids excluded).

But not all people who are unsatisfied do actually start a riot.

You are right.
 
Surprising amount of people in Tottenham out and about with their buckets ready to water the old waterwheel and justify the british police's approach to public gatherings. Stupid people. Throw the bucket and go home.
 
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