Snippets ...

From the Mad Mahdi's thread ...

kw74

August 27, 2007 6:56 PM

I don't know what planet you live on, Bunting, but it clearly isn't near Earth.

I share a communal garden with three other families, all of whom have young children. It was invaded a few minutes ago by five 12-13 year old thugs. They frightened the children, they tried to wreck their toys and when my neighbour told them to leave they told him to "f*** off", laughed at him and gave him the vs. I came out and shouted at them and told them to get off my property or I was calling the police. They ran off, but I was told by the neighbours:

"You want to be careful about messing with them. Parents are a bad lot, dad of ***** is just out of prison".

You might think this vindicates you. I bloody don't. If you'd seen them wrecking other kids' things and laughing and jeering at the adults who remonstrated with them - they're not deprived (they were all well dressed and carrying toys and gadgets, including a realistic toy gun), what their background has given them is a sense of extra entitlement; the knowledge that because they are feared, and their parents are feared they can do whatever they damn well please. And idiots like you are only making the matter worse.

And if this is what they're like at twelve: what will they be like when they're eighteen or nineteen?

kw74

August 27, 2007 9:10 PM

A thought experiment

Suppose that, tomorrow, with immediate effect it were no longer illegal to give a young person who was engaged in an illegal or anti-social act a swift slap or to forcibly eject them from whatever place they were blighting . Think not about the kids who commit really extreme acts of violence or anti-social behaviour, but kids who bully, who vandalise, who trespass and who verbally abuse passers-by - what effect would it have on their behaviour?

So many times where I live in London I've seen kids do awful things: spit at commuters, behave intimidatingly toward women, trespass on private property, shout at and abuse members of the public, steal milk bottles and smash them on people's doorsteps... And when they were remonstrated with, in every case those children (not youths, children of between 10 and 13 years of age), laughed and jeered at the adults who tried to check their behaviour, because they knew that the adults could do nothing.

What if all those kids, stepping out their front doors tomorrow, knew that now the same behaviour would earn them physical chastisement? And that, when they complained, the first question would be: and what did you do to deserve it? And when their behaviour was uncovered, no would no one sympathise, or call the police or complain to a social worker - instead, the child could expect further punishment from all these figures of authority.

What effect do you think that would have on anti-social behaviour in this country?



The 'thought experiment' existed in reality for most of the 20th century. I think KW74 needs to get out of London, like millions of his countrymen.

endofdays

August 28, 2007 9:58 AM

Every time I leave my house to go somewhere by car or foot I wonder if I will return. Will I get stabbed or shot. I live in Edgware, a nondescript region of NW London, that has become in parts very run down. We used to look at the reports of violence in Brixton and East London and think thankfully we don't live there. Now it has come to our part of town as well.

It will only take a glance in the direction of some of the youths hanging around on the streets to elicit a "What the f*ck are you looking at?"

I wonder, will my daughters get involved in an argument with one or more of these unpleasant individuals who demand respect but refuse to give it to others.

The murder of Rhys like the murder of all the other people by knife or gun wielding youths will not be solved by platitudes or 'social programs'. They are lost to us now and will only be prevented from causing more damage once they are banged up for life. Social engineering whereby estates are 'broken up' and the 'social housing' is provided for new developments will never work. No middle class family is going to want to buy a property near a problem family. The police may catch and society may imprison those who murder for fun or kudos but that won't stop others from doing it. The sense of 'right' and 'wrong' has been lost along with it the hierarchy of respect.

The caretakers who look after the grounds in my mother's block of flats are second generation Caribbean immigrants. They are the most charming, helpful gentle guys you could possibly meet. There's no hint of aggression and they go out of their way to assist the residents. So what has happened to cause some of their grandchildren's generation to descend to such anarchy?

Working in Investment Banking in the city, the office is a melting pot of all colours, religions and races. Admittedly most companies are predominantly white, but not exclusively so. In all cases, the cleaners are black and so are those in catering.

We have deep social problems in this country. The old norms of hierarchical respect that existed died away after WWII as the social upheaval of that event still exists today. Morals and guidance that were provided by religion have by and large been lost because Christianity has largely been abandoned in this country.

Speaking to all in our circle of friends, the main conversation is who can sell up first and move elsewhere, perhaps abroad. If we were in a position to do so then I'd leave tomorrow.

Go Large

Some bits of music get hold and never let go, and I've always been a sucker for slightly over the top vocals.

When I first heard this on the radio in 1976, I dismissed the country guitar, and the lyrics - sexist, crass or what ?

"I must have been through about a million girls
I'd love them and I'd leave them alone"

Macho country boilerplate. I was listening to Vaughan Williams and roots reggae at the time.

But something happened half way through, when the guitar solo kicked in. Vocalist Mickey Thomas (no relation) came on for the second half as if all nine Muses had chucked sugar in his tea, whooping and hollering to transform the song. It wasn't my kind of music at all, but by the third or fourth hearing I was hooked, waiting to hear him give the phrase 'love's got a hold on me' a good shaking.

Ladies and gentlemen, with suitably cheesy video, Mr Elvin Bishop.




Completely different and yet strangely similar, this is just another clever, tasteful bit of Wyclef Jean, complete with Marleyesque vocals - until Mary J Blige comes on to wind the whole thing up into a call-and-response shouting match with no vocal limits. Wonderful. 911.

Little Lamb, Who Threw Thee Onto A Bonfire ?

Some wee Scots scumbag, that's who :

The father of one of the group, who asked to remain anonymous, said a crowd of boys and girls had gathered for a drink and a barbecue and were camping overnight on May 27. But the revellers were suddenly stunned by the actions of one teenager, believed to be a 17-year-old, when he threw the lamb on to the fire.

He said: "It is common knowledge around Cannich and, as far as I have been made aware, people have been giving the boy's mother a real hard time. I think it is terrible a 17-year-old is doing that to animals. What is he going to be like in five years' time? He also hog-tied a baby lamb the next morning and threw it into the River Glass after the girls in the group were getting on to him the night before."

In totally unrelated news : Essays written for GCSE English have this year produced "sickeningly violent" stories, according to examiners who have raised concerns over the standard of English. The title The Assassin, was one of the most frequently used for creative writing coursework, according to the latest examiners' report on GCSE English from the Edexcel board.

Rhys Jones Murder - "We Have Failed His Killer"

The Mad Mahdi (aka Sobbing Abbess) once more attempts to render satire redundant.

Liberal Democrats Call For Illegal Immigrant Amnesty

In the Guardian (where else ?)

Bestwood Riots - Student Grant Speaks

No idea who Indymedia poster 'FTP' is, but he sees the actions of an organised criminal gang (who produced a 'spontaneous' riot when their leaders were banged up) as a hopeful sign of a community rising in solidarity against State oppression - which of course it was !

The Bestwood story was covered here and more answers revealed here.

Recent news reports have revealed an incident of unrest in Nottingham in which people built barricades and fought police - prefiguring the mass revolt which could become more frequent in the face of widespread repression ...

The kinds of societies where this kind of thing happens more often than in Britain - societies like France and Greece for example - generally have far more liberties and less neoliberalism than here. Hence, to create a world worth living in, the state must be forced to "tolerate" this kind of thing more and more often.

Let us hope this kind of unrest from each and every aggrieved group becomes more frequent; the state can only lose, and our rights and welfare can only gain as a result ...

Reading between the lines, it's probably more complicated than the coverage allows - this particular group probably feel singled out, perhaps they were on the receiving end of a moral panic, or perhaps the proof of guilt is dodgy or mitigating circumstances were not recognised. Maybe on some level they see through the justifications for the state itself, and simply view a violence by the state against their own as an attack by an external agent. All this is just speculation however - the voices of the insurgents have been elided from the coverage.

More broadly though, I think insurrections will become more common because people are increasingly prevented from protesting and taking direct action by other means, and large swathes of people are denied a voice in society - so they seize the only voice they can. (This is what I'm referring to as repression). These people are obviously very aggrieved about something, and yet this isn't even being explained really in the media, as to why they're revolting ...

He's right - it wasn't fully explained at the time because Colin Gunn's name was still withheld, as enquiries into his bent police contacts continued.

The problem here is that closed-minded people assume their own ethical preferences to be obvious, and use these pseudo-obvious preferences as a basis for violence against others (such as prison sentences). It is this very closed-minded exclusion of the voice of the other which makes social insurrection inevitable - these bigots are causing the very problems which they then jump up and down in rage about.

If you aren't shocked by the utter irrationality and closed-mindedness of this judge's comments - with his utter incapacity to even conceive of what an ethical relation to the other might involve - then chances are you're similarly trapped in your own conception and similarly complicit in reproducing the necessity of social violence.

I wonder if Blithering Bunny knows the identity of 'FTP'. If he doesn't teach sociology he's obviously been exposed to it, with devastating mental consequences. This chap makes John Hutnyk look like The Dumb One.

Liverpool Echo - Fighting Gang Culture ?

According to this board the Liverpool Echo on the day Rhys Jones was shot carried memorial notices for deceased Liam "Smigger" Smith.

Posted: Thu Aug 23, 2007 3:30 pm Post subject:
It was one year ago today that 'smigger' was killed Its partly because of gobshites like him that guns are openly being made available to kids in crocky and norris green now Just look at the obituaries in the Echo tonight "RIP SMIG TRUE NOGGA DOG SOLDIER"

These Are Our Rulers

David Puttnam is a film-maker and Labour peer. In the best tradition of the liberal elite, he doesn't actually pay any of the high taxes he votes for in the Lords, preferring to live in Ireland where there's a low-tax regime for 'creative artists'. Greg Dyke is a neighbour.

Gordon Brown's high UK tax ? That's for the little people to pay.

That's not to say the low-tax deal is completely free, though. It helps keep things friendly if you can step up to the rostrum and apply the tongue to the posterior of a national icon - and cold blooded killer.

"An Isolated Incident"

Lancashire, kicking a girl to death : "It's important to remember that this is an isolated incident".

Letchworth : Police said the shooting was an isolated incident.

Carlisle murder : "Cumbria police would like to reassure people that this is an isolated incident and a full investigation is underway".

Swindon : The police are treating the attempted abduction of a young girl in the Oakhurst area as an isolated incident.

Newcastle stabbing : Det Insp Jim Hetherington offered reassurance to people living in the area. He said: “I would like to reassure people that this appears to be an isolated incident.

Cardiff : Police are investigating an "horrific" sexual assault on a woman walking her dog near school fields. The 25-year-old woman was attacked on Tuesday, 31 July, near St Bernadette Primary School in Pentwyn, Cardiff. South Wales Police said it was "an isolated incident" and they were appealing for witnesses.

Maidenhead murder : Windsor and Maidenhead local police commander Superintendent Mike Ismay reassured residents of the town that it was an isolated incident.

Wycombe shooting : Ch Insp Stuart Craik, of Thames Valley Police, said: "This is an isolated incident which is uncommon to the Wycombe area.

Winchester double murder : "I would like to reassure members of the community that this is an isolated incident".

Or take a look at the 39 pages of isolated incidents at BBC News.

"Law And Order"

The Guardian has some interesting background to the murder of Liam Smith, which took place exactly a year before the murder of 11 year old Rhys Jones.

His funeral last September saw scores of shops and businesses on the estate close for the day amid fears that they would be attacked if they failed to show sufficient "respect". Even at St Teresa's, the infants' school next door to the church where the funeral was held, children were prevented from playing outside, according to the local newspaper.

A police helicopter hovered overhead while officers in bullet-proof vests watched, from a distance, as the funeral procession wound its way through the streets of the 1930s-built council estate. Lining the streets were fellow gang members, all wearing ski caps and black T-shirts bearing the slogan "Smigger - Nogzy Soldier". The only shop to remain open posted security guards on the door.

We can all see who controls the streets of Norris Green then - and who doesn't. Some interesting background on the state of our prisons too.

The court heard how Smith had died after visiting a fellow gang member who was being held on drug charges at Altcourse prison, which was opened in the area 10 years ago and now holds large numbers of youths from Croxteth, Norris Green, and other parts of Liverpool and the north-west.

Another inmate, Ryan Lloyd, a member of the Croxteth Crew, spotted Smith in the visiting area and an argument immediately broke out. Lloyd ran back to his cell and grabbed a contraband mobile phone. The jury was told that he was overheard shouting: "Quick, quick, give us the phone, I'll get the boys up here to pop 'em."

By the time Smith emerged from the prison, gang members had arrived from Croxteth and were crouching in bushes next to the car park. One witness said that among the group he saw a 15-year-old boy armed with a shotgun. Smith was shot moments later.

The court was told that a number of Altcourse inmates helped the gang by smashing up Lloyd's mobile telephone and swallowing the Sim card.

Words fail me - almost.

Lancastrian Gothic

She had the facial ironmongery and the skeleton t-shirt. I'm not sure being kicked to death by chavs in a Bacup skateboard park is up there with consumption in a garret though. Poor girl.

Another everyday story of Brown's Britain. But what's this ?

Acting assistant chief constable of Lancashire Police, Jerry Graham added that care must be taken though not to "demonise" all young people and that there were people of all ages determined to cause trouble.

Why exactly must we take care ? And what's it got to do with him ?

"There is a significant proportion of young people who do not engage in this kind of behaviour and are victims themselves," he said.

Yor point being ? He talks about not demonising the young and the best he can say for them is that a "significant proportion" don't kick girls to death ? Very comforting, that.

"Here in Lancashire, we think it is important not to negatively stereotype all of our young people when this kind of incident occurs."

Your point being ?

Here in the West Country, we think it is important to point out that acting assistant chief constable Jerry Graham is making himself sound like a politically correct wazzock. He'll go far.

Let's Go Round Again

I watched the distressing interview with Melanie and Stephen Rhys last night, then sat down to read about something completely different. My eldest came in, and fired up the online news - the same interview. I (somewhat unfairly to him) snapped at him to turn it off.

"OK, calm down, Dad. What's the problem ?"

"I've seen it already and it upset me. But what really upsets me is that I know nothing will be done about it. Everyone will say how awful it is, and something must be done, and in six months we'll be watching a different set of relatives. I've seen so many of these interviews in the last thirty years, and the crimes get just that little bit worse. It makes me feel angry - and helpless."

Gordon Brown is quoted as saying : "The people responsible will be tracked down, arrested and punished."

I think it's quite likely that the perpetrator will be tracked down, arrested - then given several years of one to one education in a secure unit (complete with PS3, snazzy furniture, computer et al) at vast public expense, before being released, a 'reformed character' after six or seven years. If he's young enough he'll get anonymity too. There'll be a public outcry, and he'll still be released - the usual suspects coming to his defence.

Eleven years ago the murder of Philip Lawrence was the 'something must be done' du jour. Looks like his killer may not only get his freedom, but anonymity too. Words fail me.

All together now :

"Let's go round again
Baby we'll turn back the hands of time
Let's go round again
One more time"



UPDATE - the Croxteth-based murderers of Norris Green gang member Liam Smith (see this post) have been convicted. That poor boy was shot on the anniversary of the killing. It starts to look like an extremely sick 'revenge' attack.

UPDATE2 - "Police said the arrested boy was held on Broadway in nearby Norris Green." This time last year Merseyside police and the local council were worrying about 'the grieving process' for Liam Smith. Looks like that's going just fine.

Only White Liberals Can Do This

Magnificent. An EU anti-racism leaflet that manages to stereotype EVERYBODY.

Shortage of Youth Facilities Noted In Croxteth

According to Labour Councillor Rose Bailey on the Today Programme, that's a possible reason for any anti-social behaviour there might be.

She gave the impression the whole place was pretty law-abiding with few gang problems. Not the impression I get.

I await with trepidation the inevitable 'Don't demonise the kids' Guardian piece, as it's wheeled out yet again.

The natural horror felt at (insert appalling crime here) should not blind us to the fact that (crime is actually falling/it is all Thatcher's fault/such crimes have always been with us).

If we surrender to (the tabloid agenda/the Daily Mail hysteria/knee-jerk populism/the politics of the soundbite) and take the easy option of (jailing more of our young people/bringing back the birch/bringing back hanging/walling off the cities then bombing them/demonising our young people) we run the very real risk of (actually achieving something/alienating a generation/an invasion of killer bees).

There is only one answer. An enormous increase in the funding of (Sure Start schemes/outreach workers/emotional intelligence mentors/youth projects/anti-racist 5-a-day smoking cessation co-ordinators).

Allahu ...

Ochbar !

Quote of the Day

"Relativist ? Compared with who ?"


(Catherine Bennett)

Dumbing Down Continues ...

Brits Out !

"Record number of people leave UK"

The replacement of the English continues ... and given that to get into US/Canada/Australia/NZ you need to be youngish and qualified, it's good people we're swapping for some not so good.

The Smugglers of Rhossili

A surging sea and a starless night,
And a vessel homeward bound in sight,
And a raging western gale that blew
Good luck to the Rhossili smuggling crew;
For always up on the farthest height
A pile was laid for the beacon light,
The false red light which seemed to say,
‘Twas safe to harbour in Rhossili bay,
Where the treacherous waters roll and flow
And tell no tale of the rocks below.

The wind is high and the tide is in,
And a merchant ship is a prize to win,
And a cargo washed on our shingly shore
Will bring us riches a six months more;
So who will go to the farthest height
To kindle the false red beacon light?
And a laugh went up from that motley group
Of women and men – a lawless troop
With clamorous tongues and gleaming eyes,
And greedy hands for the coming prize.

But one of them mutely stood and heard,
And never a thrill in her breast was stirred,
She had nothing to hope and nothing to win.
From the smugglers lawless life of sin;
They had picked her out of the sea one night
When a vessel was wrecked by the false red light
And for months and years they kept her there
To do their bidding and take no share;
So they bade her now with one acclaim;
“Go up and kindle the lying flame.”

She went at the word of that lawless band;
She plucked from the hearth a burning brand.
She left the cavern and crossed the creek,
And challenged the night wind rough and bleak.
She scaled the rocks and she climbed the hill,
To kindle the flame at her masters will,
To lure a ship to its certain doom
And a score of lives to a certain tomb!

She felt no pity, no shame, nor dread
Nor trembled to think of the life she led
And the ships went by and the ships came in.
And what did she know, poor child, of the sin?
She was one of the Rhossili smuggling crew,
And the thing they ordered she needs must do
A surging sea and a starless night,
But she carried the brand to the farthest height,
A headland of turf where the pile was laid;
When all of a sudden her hand was stayed
By a voice - a whisper – she knew not what,
That said in her heart, “Nay; do it not.”

Oh, can we tell you the doubt arose
The thing she would do was sin?
If an angel stood at her side, who knows
To whisper the thought within?
It was little she knew of love and truth
And nothing of Christian creeds;
And what had she ever heard of forsooth
To hinder from evil deeds?
The law was against them, she had been taught
And the law could make one swing,
But cunning people need not be caught
And that was the only thing

But once in her life, it chanced she strolled
To a chapel, and paused to hear,
And lingered a while, entranced, controlled,
In wonder and doubt and fear;
For the preacher discoursed of right and wrong
And the deeds which are base or true,
Till she shuddered to think she dare belong
To the Rhossili smuggling crew
And here on this wild and windy night,
With the brand to kindle the false red light;
She paused and trembled, for now she knew
‘Twas a deed of sin she had come to do

Oh, pity her there on the high hillside,
So little to help her, so little to guide,
So feeble a light to make things clear,
So little to have and so much to fear;
For if she returned to the Rhossili men,
And the ship rode safe on the sea, what then?
Her life was nought to that smuggling crew
If the thing they ordered she failed to do

“I dare not kindle the false red light!”
She cried aloud to the starless night;
“But what is this fear that bids me stand,
That makes me shudder and hold my hand
From a deed of death I have dared before?
Nay, where is the evil in one time more?
The vessel will never take heed, maybe,
It will stand on its course to the open sea,
And then if it should, is it matter of mine?
I only am here to deliver a sign.
It is not for me that they launch the boats
And steal in the dark when the wreckage floats;
It is not for me that they drag the net
For deeper treasures there may be yet;
It is not for me that the corpses lie
On the shingle and sand when the rocks are dry.
The gold and silver, the kegs of wine,
The bales of goods, they are theirs not mine!
If to kindle the false red light be a sin,
God knows I have nothing to keep or win.”

“No matter of mine? But how will it be
When the shattered vessel has sunk in the sea,
And over the water and up the creek
There cometh a desolate, drowning shriek?
No matter of mine? But will it be use
To sooth myself with a false excuse,
When the gaze of the dead men meet my own
And I dread lest the gaping lips should moan.
As I touch the lips and the clammy hair
Of the corpses stretched on the shore down there?
And, oh! The horror to hear in dreams
The widow’s wails and the mother’s screams!”

“The night is dark and I cannot see,
Has the vessel passed to the open sea?
Oh, sailors watching! You curse the night,
You cry aloud for a ray of light –
‘A ray of light and our ship would live’
Nay, better none than the light I give.
You’re best in the dark if only you knew:
And, sailors, I’ve given my life for you!
Tomorrow at dark I shall find my grave
Unwept, in the Rhossili smugglers cave.
For they warned me once, but they won’t again,
They keep their word, the Rhossili men.

Well, let them do it! ’Tis better so
Than the corpses stretched on the shore, I know:
‘Tis better I die, if so it be
Than twenty sink in the hungry sea.
And something rings in my head this night
Which says, though I cannot remember quite,
How he who to save his life has sought
Shall reckon his trouble in vain;
But he who has counted his life for nought
Shall find it for ever again.

“A strange new saying! I know not how
It cometh so clear to my memory now.
And I cannot tell what the meaning be,
Yet feel in my heart it was meant for me.
A message that saith to my soul ‘be strong,
The false red light is a deadly wrong’
And the vessel shall weather the storm as it may
But it shall not sink in Rhossili bay.
She gave one sweep of her arm on high,
And the brand flashed out in the midnight sky
Like a falling star or a fleeting spark,
Then dropped as a dead thing in the dark

The sun went up over Rhossili bay
And the wind blew soft
In the sails aloft
Of a ship that was riding safe and free!

The sun went down over Rhossili bay –
And a dying shriek
Was heard in the creek
As a life was thrown to the hungry sea.





Photograph of the Helvetia by Geoffrey Kitt.










This poem, a family favourite, was printed in the South Wales Evening Post some time in the 1950s, and my uncle, who loved the wild end of Gower, copied it by hand, cyclostyled the sheets and had them professionally bound. No idea of its provenance, but it's got Victorian morality tale stamped all over it. It came back to me when I climbed Worms Head last week.

I keep hearing that rap lyrics do not influence bad behaviour, but simply reflect something that's there already. I also hear that behaviour isn't really getting worse, because some Greek guy complained about the young a few thousand years back, so that proves it.

If writing reflects society, might there not be a real difference between the world of "Come Into The Garden Maud" and Nate Dogg's "I need a bitch", or between Oliver Twist, where "with all the cruelties and injustices visited upon the young orphan, all the horrors of the workhouse and Victorian poverty, neither the author, nor any authority figure in the book, suggests that stealing is anything other than a great evil which should be punished severely" and a world where a privileged scion of the upper classes argues that those who run stores are greater criminals than those who steal from them ?

If Only It Were True

"Slain teacher's widow flays lawyer"