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Posted on 04/19/2006 5:32:55 PM PDT by Uncledave
Your two favorite roles Brit bashing and American ass kissing
You can blame a lot of the problems in England (and elsewhere across the pond) on hip-hop culture. I was deeply depressed last time in London over how much it has filtered into their youth society.
Gangsta machoism, glorification of stupidity, foul-mouthed nihilism, abuse and degradation of women... all the lovely baggage that comes along with it. A cancer, plain and simple.
By saying "shell" I'm certainly hyperbolizing. But I have to say the city felt quite different to me in ways I didn't like. Friends of mine who live there tell me the same thing - many wanting to leave. They talk to me of immigration woes, increased drug use (in public view, that is), more aggressive youth, apathy of various public services, political correctness gone awry (eg Livingston's lily-livered comments after the subway bombing)
I do have a fond place in my heart for the Brits and England. Marvelous people and country. I've even kept up my overseas Viz subscription!
The problem is that these are subjects that are discussed more in the papers but are they worse than before.
Every one has a political correctness story that has happened to someone else not them.
More aggressive youth, I don't think they are any more aggressive than when I was there age.
Rowdy and noisy I agree but so were we.
And most youth are still polite, its easy to paint them all with the same brush.
There are more immigrants that I will agree. My Mums local pub is full of Poles and Russians.
As for Ken Livingstone he has always been mealy mouthed, he was a IRA supporter in the 70s/80s when we were fighting them.
We have a problem with drugs, although I don't think its a problem since those who went to raves and dropped pills were not so violent, in fact drug taking is dropping and drinking is on the up.
Thats the new problem binge drinking and the violence that goes with it.
As an aside when I was serving in West Germany, I saw the green book American soldiers were issued with, and they were warned about the drunken aggressive and violent nature of the British sqaddy and this was in the early 80s.
Where did you go unie.
LOL although its becoming a favorite place for young aggressive British male binge drinkers.
I have to agree. What has happened to the Docks is nothing short of amazing.
You can't deny, however, that crime is on the increase. And would be more so, if the statistics weren't crook. I have a friend who used to be a copper out in Buckinghamshire, and according to thim they are routinely cooking the books to make their statistics more palatable to the public.
-ccm
I went to school there through Boston Univ which had (probably is still there) a small outpost they ran out of a brownstone in Kensington, near the Glouster St stop.
Following classes, students had an internship. I had mine with IBM at their South Bank office. The group I worked with sold into the petrochem industry and many of their clients were US energy firms: esso, texaco, etc. The IBM lads were invited to participate in their clients' softball league (it's like baseball) and as the only American on the team most of my interneship was spent teaching them how to play.
I remember telling people all day, "No, running after you hit the ball is NOT optional!" or "No, you can't bounce the ball towards the batter!" or "Take of those silly Jumpers!".
"Probably" is the word I have trouble with.
If you don't have the right to defend yourself in your own house against an intruder, your other rights aren't worth very much.
Where I live, the law is that you have the right to use deadly force to defend yourself or an innocent victim against an attacker who intends death or great bodily harm. The law further presumes that an intruder inside your house intends death or great bodily harm, no matter what he does.
Ha Ha, I suppose that's true, I forgot about that part. There were quite a few, however they stayed around the main pub crawl at night and were very pleasant around sunset when they were looking for breakfast.
A person may use such force as is reasonable in the circumstances for the purposes of:
self-defence; or
defence of another; or
defence of property; or
prevention of crime; or
lawful arrest.
In assessing the reasonableness of the force used, prosecutors should ask two questions:
was the use of force justified in the circumstances, i.e. was there a need for any force at all? and
was the force used excessive in the circumstances? .
Hope the link helps
Libertarian ping! To be added or removed from my ping list freepmail me or post a message here.
LOL wearing or wrapped round the shoulders preppy style.
As an aside I think Viz has gone down hill a bit, but my faveirite is still Modern parents, Student Grant, Jack Silver Spoilt bstard and Art Critics
Viz does put a noticeable effort in trying to bring in new characters. I suppose there's only so many ways Biffa can get his "head kicked reet in" or San and Tray can stuff their faces and orifices.
I like the new guy who draws Harry Bestial and Drunken Bakers. It's amusingly cynical, dry, abstract, creepy.
Modern Parents and Student "Gwant" indeed take great stabs at the culture. I'd add Millie Tant to that list.
Sorry.
If you have been robbed repeatedly, then shooting the @$$holes is just a little common-sense prevention. Since the law will do nothing about them, Martin would be at their mercy when they decided to return. Martin was engaged in self-defense against potentially violent invaders who repeated invaded his home.
The fact they fearlessly invaded his home while he was there is, by itself, proof that he was justified.
I was there from February to June of 1990. I remember a prison riot, and then I had friends who got accidentally caught up in the Poll Tax riots in Piccadilly (May '90?). When did the miners strikes, race riots and Notting Hill riots take place?
You're very correct, no time is ever perfect, and I admit even then, there were some rough patches. Our dorms were right in Bloomsbury, on Gower Street, and even in such a ritzy neighborhood, there were some nasty elements. The IRA was very active at that time--so we were always on the lookout for suspicious packages in pubs, on the tube, etc. In fact, a year later, my friend was just a street over when a bomb took out a couple of store fronts. When I call it a golden age, I admit that a lot of my perception of London is colored with that rosey glow of youth.
Although, being a kid raised in a scruffy little Florida beach town, I was struck at how incredibly polite people were in the UK. I'd spent considerable time before going to London in NYC and Philly, so when I came to the UK--I was flabbergasted at how formal (which I liked) and polite so many Britons were, from bricklayers to Barristers. Now, it may have been because, at the time (sigh...) I was a cute twenty-something coed, but I always found complete strangers to be helpful and friendly.
And going out into the country, to the small towns, was such an incredible treat. I can't remember what town we'd gone to--but I spent several hours talking about Tobey jugs (yeah, I know they're goofy...) with a pub owner. I found England to be incredibly welcoming.
From the mid-90s onward, I noticed the little niceties had started eroding. I used to get a giggle out of hearing people say, "Sorry..." when they'd invade your personal space on the Tube (again, I was used to much more brusque behavior). But, as the decade progressed, I'd encounter ruder and ruder behavior on my trips to the city. And, yes, while we have them in the states, the white kids pretending to be hard core 'gangsta rap' criminals with their gold chains and track suits just depressed me when I encountered them in the UK.
Although, I was really impressed with how they'd fixed up the areas south of the Thames (like around the museum of Science and Industry, the now-closed MOMI, etc.) and up around Islington.
I hope I am wrong, and that London still has that 'spark'. It holds such a special place in my heart. Now... if you tell me where I can find a decent pint of Websters Bitters, I'll be forever greatful.
We're actually really interested in eastern europe these days. I've heard great things about Prague, but Poland as well.
LOL you know and I know that wont wash in a court of law in America never mind Britain, it would be nice if it could, taking them out before or after they commited a crime, but then we would not need the police and courts, and while you (maybe) and I would not abuse the system, there are many who would.
The problem is the law is the law and while criminals don't mind breaking the law that is what makes them criminals.
What we need is a tougher sentencing structure.
(Blush) I admit I get more aggressive on the journey to work, just shattered on the way home.
Lager drinker myself, but will ask around.
Cheers Tony
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