It was getting tough in 2006 and the workhouse still threatens us in 2011

greent

Morning all - was watching/ listening to the riot reports until 1am this morning (zzzzzz) - sat there alternately speechless and ranting at the mindless vandalism going on. There's no protest going on - people are jumping on the rioting bandwagon as an excuse for their destructive behaviour. The cost will be massive - you have the cost to businesses - the family/ smaller ones may well not recover with the time out needed to repair buildings/ replace stock etc - it's not lack of profit that'll kill a business quite often, it's the lack of cashflow to pay suppliers & staff. You can run for years at a loss if you have access to funds to keep it going (think of it on a personal scale - those spending far more than they earn because they have access to credit cards etc)

Then there's the cost to taxpayers - road & buildings damage, police/ fire overtime, NHS overtime, increased benefits for those made jobless by businesses closing.... The poor families of police and fire(wo)men who will be having their leave cancelled - during teh school holidays, so many families will have their holiday plans scuppered by the yobs....

The cost to anyone who buys insurance - premiums for businesses in those areas may increase (are very likely to increase for those making a claim) - costs incurred by the insurance companies in paying claims have to be passed on - so will be passed on throughout the product range (house/ car etc)

There's no argument to use to justify such behaviour - there's no rage against the corporate machine/ government - how does that explain the 100+ year old family furniture firm razed to the ground in a fire so intense the fire brigade weren't allowed to attend at first because their safety couldn't be confirmed?

On the whole I love England/ Britain and its quirks - at times like this I truly despise some of the population

Morning rant over... off to get food and another cuppa before waking the big children ;-)

catznine

Morning!

Had a rotten night last night as the thugs got to within 2 roads of where dd and sil live!:eek: Thankfully they are ok but were obviously concerned and following the local journalists on twitter to get any information! Still waiting to hear how her friends have got on, one was trying to get away to visit her in laws in NI but all trains to Gatwick were cancelled because of Croydon. Another lives in Croydon so worrying time for all! Thinking of Churchmouse, Nicki and others living in London and the inner cities! (((hugs))) It was utter madness and very frightening! I found this quote from Martin Luther King which sums up how I feel:-

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction....The chain reaction of evil - hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars - must be broken, or we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation." - Martin Luther King Jr

Hoping for better days and am awaiting a parcel from app foods today, Penny will be pleased as I ordered some doggy chews!

Catz x

Ellidee

catznine so sorry that you and your family have been affected by this disgusting behaviour. Thank you for the fantastic quote, I am going to borrow it and post it on fb.

3v3

Got a little lump in my throat after watching BBC News Live. No, no, not from the rioting images - although I find those very disturbing - this is from the other side of the coin

A group has set itself up via 'tweets' called "Riot Clean Up" calling upon local residents to bring a broom and volunteer some time to meet at a designated place to get started on clearing up.
Bravo!!! :T:T:T:T

This is what I was talking about in my earlier post about supporting one another through the difficult times - we do it on a "virtual" level, this lot are getting their backs stuck into it IRL. True OS attitude!

If I were nearer, I'd be off with my pinny, marigolds and Stardrops! (Actually, if I were nearer, I'd be more inclined to tackle the rioters!)

___________________________________________________________________________

ETA: http://www.channel4.com/news/londoners-rally-for-riot-clean-up

ceridwen

Also found:

http://londonist.com/2011/08/wombles-needed-how-to-help-with-the-riot-cleanup.php

http://twitter.com/#!/search/riot%20wombles



Checked out:
www.riotcleanup.co.uk

and their account comes up as currently "suspended".

juliettet

HariboJunkie wrote: »

Morning everyone. I've been up most of the night watching the riots unfold and hoping against hope that the innocent remain safe.

What I have been left with is a sure and certain sense that there is NO excuse for this behaviour. It isn't the civil uprising of a dissaffected youth, nor is it because of the economic situation or racial tension or any of the other catalysts for violence we have seen over the years. Remember the Toxteth and Broadwater Farm riots anyone?
Rioting isn't new. It happens in parts of this country every year. The fact that these riots are being carried out by people without any semblance of a cause, is.

These are the f eckless, greedy, lazy generation of young people whose sense of entitlement used to just encompass a career on benefits. Now it consists of the need to tweet and message eachother about when and where to steal en masse, taking down peoples' homes and businesses and probably lives before we are through. What possible excuse could any sane person give for that? Compare them to the young police officers who are of the same generation in time but a world apart in attitude. I'm hearing commentators say that this youth have no hope or money or sense of community. Well it takes no money at all to teach a sense of right and wrong to your children. And they are ripping the heart out of communites themselves. Hardly the act of people who are just fed up with the way the world is heading and feel they have to make their voices heard.

And so the conspiracy theories and waffle have started with people on the soap boxes, foaming at the mouth about "rivers of blood" and even that this has been instigated by the police in protest at their cuts. Some people seem to be happy this has happened as it gives credence, in their mind, to the doom and gloom they have been peddling in no usful way for years. Almost laughable if it were not so sad.

Mr Cameron et al need to show us they mean business this morning and a very clear message about civil disobedience needs to ring out.
I fear that the appeals to the parents will fall on deaf ears in the main but there must be some mothers who are distraught at the thought of their sons or daughters looting and setting fire to hard earned businesses. I don't pretend to know the answer but by God things have just got very much tougher for London in particular and I just hope the situation can be calmed before it snowballs.

Sorry for the rant folks. I hope all our families in the areas affected are safe and well. I don't do praying but they are most certainly in my thoughts.

Hear Hear!:T

shelley_crow

Wow, has anyone seen the thread on the Family and Relationships board by a poster who is annoyed that her parents have *only* spent £1000s of pounds on a holiday for her and her family but have spent more money on her sister? Jeez, I can imagine the OP flinging herself on the ground and stamping her feet in a fit of pique. Apparantly, the numerous posters who are just telling her to be grateful for what she has been given just don't get it and she shouldn't be made to feel bad because of the sums of money she is talking about.

On another note, I've heard a rumour that the underground has been closed. I hope this is the case. My aunt live on the outskirts of London and commutes in, it will be a pain for her but hopefully an extra day will make things clearer.

I'm feeling disillusioned with human nature today, I saw a video someone had taken during the riots. A young (late teens) bystander had got caught up in the ruckus and flung on the floor. He was bleeding out of his nose and a couple of people stopped to help him up. Oh great I thought! Or not. They helped him onto his feet so they could rifle through his backpack. They took a few things, he was oblivious. He seemed really disorientated, hope he got some medical attention.

I wonder if I can convince my OH to move to a remote Scottish Island....

suzid

The news has been dreadful, I couldn't believe what I got up to see this morning. It's wanton criminality, there's no course or misplaced belief that they are rioting because of injustice. I hope no one died in those awful fires, it will be a while before anyone can go in and find out. My thoughts are with anyone caught up in the troubled areas.

I've just been tackling 'the room of doom' and discovered there is even mould growing inside the wardrobe. Softstuff it sounds like you are an authority on all things mouldy , (sorry) living in a humid climate. Have you any idea of a UK inequivalent to the product you mentioned I could use on furniture? This particular wood is teak and it's been prone to green mould for years, is it particularly susceptible? Today I've wiped it all down with a mild bleach solution but I've previously used tea tree oil which is supposed to kill mould. Currently so fed up with it I feel like getting rid of the lot and looking on freecycle for a good old oak wardrobe or similar. DS asthmatic so no wonder he was coughing.

Got to take him to the dietician at the hospital re the Coeliac diet later. Thereby hangs another tale of woe. The prescriptions we've been getting have been ludicrous. Got 10 packs of pizza bases and six packs of biscuits, 12 packs of baps and one of pasta last month. 30 units in total and we're only allowed 18 and it bore no relation to what we actually asked for including missing out his inhalers. As he'll soon be moving doctors when he goes to Uni there's no point moving surgery yet, but come Sept I'm moving too as not at all impressed. This has been going on for months. MIL cut out an article from the paper saying the NHS has be paying £32 a loaf for gluten free bread - who the hell sanctioned that - and our Assembly Minister is furious saying it can be bought in supermarkets for £2 and that the numbers of Coeliac prescriptions has risen dramatically in recent years and the NHS can't afford it. We get it free in Wales and I feel that this ridiculous squandering of resources is putting the help Coeliacs receive at risk. I was so incensed that I sent him an email (whats got into me? ) saying it would be far better to have a voucher to be spent in supermarkets to cover the 'additional' cost of breads and pasta as opposed to over priced products requiring monthly trips to get prescritions, getting it dispenced at the chemists and a whole lot of additional costs. I realise my ideal is too simpistic but my OS side gets very cross at the waste when money is so tight.

Rant over.

Gigervamp

Morning all. Well, finally spoke to my daughter last night and she's fine. The rioting wasn't near to where she is luckily.

Mum's ok too.

It's really good to hear that the communities are banding together. There were Twitter reports last night of a large Turkish community in one part of London that was affected, stopping the rioters from causing more damage, and I heard about the clean up operation at Clapham Junction last night via Twitter too.

Because I know a lot of the areas affected so well having spent most of my life living there, seeing them up in flames and being trashed is a bit surreal.
And seeing people just standing around watching what's happening is odd. Back in the '81 riots, I got caught up in one that kicked off by us just as my bf and I were walking home. We didn't hang around to watch but quickly crossed the road and got away as fast as our legs would carry us. Good job too, as one poor guy got murdered during that riot.

I agree with other posters. These riots are not like the others. There is no *cause* other than greed and criminality and I despair of what our society has become.


Anyway, changing the subject, I made some plum jam yesterday with plums from hubby's aunt's garden. Nom nom!

starsandmoon

Ive been clearing clutter too. Have cleaned out the cupboard of doom and thrown lots of carp out and serviced the tumble drier ready for the winter onslaught. Have pegged out washing today though in hope it stays dry. Also sorted out DD's room and bought a new bookcase for her and now have a box of books to sell at a carboot. A lot of her outgrown clothes are only fit for the bin. Gone are the days of pottering to the Next sale and buying willy nilly, now its charity shops, car boots and Primark. Have got a lot of her winter stuff in the sales, car boots etc and it is ready under her bed for winter.

These riots are a worry. I live 3 miles from Liverpool town centre and there has been trouble here including Toxteth (which is 3 miles from me) which is were the riots from the 80's where. Hopefully Im out of the way. Its just an excuse for criminal damage and stealing.