204 replies to this topic

[Trojan]

Having worked in France, I think I'll just say it again. The French are fundamentally idle.

A pedant writes (not a teacher)
Idle means having nothing to do. Is this what you mean about the French - they have nothing to do?

Edited by Trojan, 29 September 2010 - 06:39 PM.

[Steve May]

I thought it worth resurrecting this thread given the news that Military Police are crawling around the MoD trying to find out who the whistleblower was that leaked Liam Fox's letter to David Cameron.

New politics eh?

[shrek]

One thing that has struck me in recent weeks is having seen first hand the security requirements required at the Liberal Democrat party conference compared to that on display at the Labour parties in Manchester, the latter really was a police state!

The relaxed state of security in Liverpool did surprise me given the presence of cabinet minsters.

[Methven Hornet]

I thought it worth resurrecting this thread given the news that Military Police are crawling around the MoD trying to find out who the whistleblower was that leaked Liam Fox's letter to David Cameron.

New politics eh?

That same thought crossed my mind this afternoon...

Live by the leak, die by the leak

[Steve May]

I thought it worth resurrecting this thread again on the day the Tory/Lib Dem government has used riot police to detain children late into the night in city centres.

[sam]

I thought it worth resurrecting this thread again on the day the Tory/Lib Dem government has used riot police to detain children late into the night in city centres.

lets hope they got a good kicking, obviously not to ian tomlinson levels.

Earlier a small group of young protesters, many of school age, tried to break through police lines. Others seized on an unattended police van, smashing windows and scrawling graffiti along its side.

[bigred]

lets hope they got a good kicking, obviously not to ian tomlinson levels.

Who are you referring to, the children or the police?

[sam]

Who are you referring to, the children or the police?

the children. if they want to peacefully protest, great. if they want to destroy property that i'll end up paying for, then i'm all for them getting a shoeing. hopefully, the cops will have learnt a bit of restraint since labour were in power so we won't have them killing anyone.

[bigred]

I'm with you on the peaceful protest - anyone who commits acts of violence loses any legitimacy they may have. However, the problem with the police giving people a 'good shoeing' as you put it, is that it tends to end up with people being beaten indiscriminately!

[bigred]

I'm with you on the peaceful protest - anyone who commits acts of violence loses any legitimacy they may have. However, the problem with the police giving people a 'good shoeing' as you put it, is that it tends to end up with people being beaten indiscriminately!

[sam]

However, the problem with the police giving people a 'good shoeing' as you put it, is that it tends to end up with people being beaten indiscriminately!

no it doesn't, invariably those who get a smack are those closest to the cops, and in pretty much every single protest i've seen on tv, the ones closest to the cops are the ones who are there for a fight themselves. plus, when someones hoiking bricks at you, you're not going to give that much of a toss about who you clobber.

i've just watched some footage on the bbc, the vast majority of youths who were 'kettled' simply milled around with their mates, sat around camp fires and generally did what kids do ie, not a great deal. then there was a reporter talking to a group of people (they had masks on so couldn't tell their age), one of them had a iron bar in his hand. why?

[nadera78]

You think the police should give schoolkids a good beating? Just about sums you up.

[JohnM]

A debate winning riposte, if there ever was.

[Steve May]

the children. if they want to peacefully protest, great. if they want to destroy property that i'll end up paying for, then i'm all for them getting a shoeing. hopefully, the cops will have learnt a bit of restraint since labour were in power so we won't have them killing anyone.

Sam, forgive me but it appears that you condone sending riot police with shields and batons to beat up children.

Would you care to consider what you've written because on the face of it you're sounding like a complete ****.

[sam]

Sam, forgive me but it appears that you condone sending riot police with shields and batons to beat up children.

Would you care to consider what you've written because on the face of it you're sounding like a complete ****.

what's to consider? are you suggesting police just stand idly by and let people destroy property that doesn't belong to them? do you want me to shed crocodile tears for masked people armed with iron bars who are joining a so called peaceful protest?

[Griff9of13]

the children. if they want to peacefully protest, great. if they want to destroy property that i'll end up paying for, then i'm all for them getting a shoeing. hopefully, the cops will have learnt a bit of restraint since labour were in power so we won't have them killing anyone.

Perhaps you should read this

Looks like the kids you advocate the police giving a 'kicking' are capable of acting much more sensibly than you.

[sam]

Perhaps you should read this

Looks like the kids you advocate the police giving a 'kicking' are capable of acting much more sensibly than you.

i've read all about them. they should be proud of their actions.

the ones who should get the 'shoeing'

Masked young men, one carrying a piece of twisted metal, tried time and again to smash up the van.

weren't acting at all sensibly. you want me to ramp up some faux moral indignation if the like of these plebs get hurt. sorry. never going to happen.

just a few other choice cuts from your link

Police were standing well back, not interfering with peaceful protest.

But when the crowd reached Whitehall, the atmosphere turned from carnival to chaos.

The crowds surged back and forth. Some were there for high jinks. Others were palpably angry. And some were more clearly set on violence, and had little time for protest chants.

One man armed with a spray can daubed anarchist symbols on a bus shelter - although half an hour later the glass was kicked out by another masked individual.

Another group were attempting to start the engine of a digger that had been left at roadworks on Whitehall.

Time and again, men like these were encouraging each other to move from hotspot to hotspot in search of confrontation with the police.

Some masked young men carried a massive crowd barrier and attempted to launch it at the police, backed up by a rain of wooden missiles.

Then minutes later, it subsided. Police at one end of Whitehall felt sufficiently in control to stick to baseball caps rather than riot helmets, a psychological attempt to calm things down.

Edited by sam, 25 November 2010 - 10:34 AM.

[JohnM]

Exaclty what were children in school uniform doing there? Why were they there, who allowed/encouraged them?

[bigred]

Exaclty what were children in school uniform doing there? Why were they there, who allowed/encouraged them?

So you don't think children have a right to peacefully protest about government policy that will directly impact upon them in their very near future?
Or should they be seen but not heard?

[JohnM]

That doesn't answer the question though, does it. There are rules about this sort of thing.

Take your kid out of school and the headmaster will want to know why.

Take your kid out of school and parade it in front of the camera at say a football match and the headmaster will also want to know why.

Why is this any different..unless the headmaster or someone has sanctioned it. If so, that would be politically motivated.

Given that most of the protesting students don't even know what they are protesting about, 11 year old kids are hardly likely to understand , either. They should be in class learning to read, write and count. Now wouldn't THAT make a change!