Bristol protests

[Lencoboy]

I just read on the BBC website that further 'Kill The Bill' protests kicked off again in Bristol tonight.

I'm a bit baffled as to why said protests currently seem to be centred on Bristol and not as yet happening in other cities and towns throughout the country like last year's BLM protests, the XR protests in 2019 and of course, the August 2011 riots, though I suppose it's possible said protests could still hit other places in due course, which I really hope they don't.

I know there were protests in London last Saturday but they were anti-lockdowners and not linked to this 'Kill The Bill' malarkey AFAIK.

There was also another series of protests in London the weekend before but they were more to do with the Sarah Everard thing, which now seems to be water under the bridge as the national news headlines have since moved on.

Like I said, I just can't comprehend any direct links between 'Kill The Bill' and the city of Bristol specifically, when the subject of said protests is allegedly being instigated by the govt in Westminster.

[pulisa]

Are you ok, Lenco? I know that all this must be very triggering for you. Do you feel safe in your hometown?

[Lencoboy]

Are you ok, Lenco? I know that all this must be very triggering for you. Do you feel safe in your hometown?

Generally speaking, I do feel safe most of the time, but if I lived in a big city, I might not feel quite so safe.

But anything can happen in this day and age, with the growing influence of social media, plus the MSM in many ways becoming increasingly sensationalist.

Hence the old expression 'If it bleeds, it leads'.

[Lencoboy]

Generally speaking, I do feel safe most of the time, but if I lived in a big city, I might not feel quite so safe.

But anything can happen in this day and age, with the growing influence of social media, plus the MSM in many ways becoming increasingly sensationalist.

Hence the old expression 'If it bleeds, it leads'.

Also, my town was labelled as one of many 'chav' towns back in around 2003-04, when the word suddenly started being used en masse, though its reputation as such a town generally appears to have lessened over the past ten years or so.

Even the word 'chav' itself hasn't appeared in our local newspaper since about 2011 or 2012.

I think it was very much a localised moral panic, similar to the 'Shottingham' panic about the city of Nottingham and gun crime around the same era, though thankfully gun crime has always been virtually unheard of in my town, despite its fairly close proximity to the Birmingham/West Midlands conurbation.

Murders in general don't happen very often either.

I do however recall neighbouring Lichfield going through a bit of a bad patch during the latter half of the 2000s.

[Lencoboy]

Just read some rather interesting and thought-provoking articles on the BBC website about the situation in Bristol.

First of all, the latest article said that yesterday protests were actually tamer compared to those on Sunday as the police seemed to have the situation under greater control, plus it was also mentioned that the protests both yesterday and Sunday were mostly peaceful initially, but as per usual got hijacked by factions of extremist troublemakers who were obviously out for a scrap with the police. And I wouldn't mind betting you that a sizable proportion of those rabble-rousers were far-righters who seem to be the most vocal, angry and confrontational these days.

Secondly, I read another article that was first published yesterday that said Bristol has historically been notorious for confrontational, militant and riotous events going back centuries, and mentioned a timeline of such events up until last summer's BLM protests.

They actually missed out a couple of notable riotous events in said city, such as disturbances in one of their suburbs in the summer of 1992 (I think the name of said suburb was Highcliffe, but please correct me if I'm wrong), and of course the August 2011 riots.

Plus there was the EDL incident in the city centre there in the summer of 2012, where those who took part went on the rampage in nearby Brean Sands later that day.

[WiredIncorrectly]

The world is being hit with some wickedness at the moment. It's almost biblical. As a species we could end up wiping ourselves out. Probably not in my lifetime.

I didn't know about these protests. I didn't know about the US shootings until moments ago. It's best to switch off the news, and the forum posts, that perpetually feed the mental health beast.

I've accepted that the pandemic is likely going to continue for the foreseeable future. People all over the world need to start making changes to the old system we lived in. It's a great opportunity for a great change globally for the better. But, it won't happen. The powers that be are intent on trying to make the old systems work and trying to revert to normality.

Sorry mate, I sort of went off on a womble and a ramble there.

I've been addicted to Youtube videos recently were people walk from Mexico to Canada. It's at times like this I just want to get up and walk, for miles and miles.

[Lencoboy]

The world is being hit with some wickedness at the moment. It's almost biblical. As a species we could end up wiping ourselves out. Probably not in my lifetime.

I didn't know about these protests. I didn't know about the US shootings until moments ago. It's best to switch off the news, and the forum posts, that perpetually feed the mental health beast.

I've accepted that the pandemic is likely going to continue for the foreseeable future. People all over the world need to start making changes to the old system we lived in. It's a great opportunity for a great change globally for the better. But, it won't happen. The powers that be are intent on trying to make the old systems work and trying to revert to normality.

Sorry mate, I sort of went off on a womble and a ramble there.

I've been addicted to Youtube videos recently were people walk from Mexico to Canada. It's at times like this I just want to get up and walk, for miles and miles.

Trouble is, I think there are a lot of people who simply don't want to change, plus also a sense of 'can't be bothered'-ness to a certain extent.After all, it's very much a case of 'old habits die hard'!

It really does astound me that many people are having hissy fits about being unable to have holidays abroad for the immediate foreseeable future and regarding it as a blatant violation of their human rights.

As for the Colorado shootings in the USA, surely guns has been part and parcel of American culture since time immemorial, even though it doesn't necessarily make it right, nor are 'all' Americans trigger-happy.

I think what makes a lot of things seem far worse nowadays than ever before is mass communication technologies, which has become increasingly apparent over the past 20 years or so.

Many tragic events that went on in other countries pre-2000 often never really registered here in the UK, unless they were of a mega extreme nature, of course. For instance, last year's BLM movements that originated from a singular incident in the USA probably might not have registered here in quite the same ways had it been 20+ years earlier, though I don't in any way mean to trivialise it all.

There were probably many other things that went on pre-2000 that many of us never really made that big a deal over at the time, but seem to more so now than ever before, and probably quite rightly so, in the latter case.

[WiredIncorrectly]

Trouble is, I think there are a lot of people who simply don't want to change, plus also a sense of 'can't be bothered'-ness to a certain extent.After all, it's very much a case of 'old habits die hard'!

It really does astound me that many people are having hissy fits about being unable to have holidays abroad for the immediate foreseeable future and regarding it as a blatant violation of their human rights.

As for the Colorado shootings in the USA, surely guns has been part and parcel of American culture since time immemorial, even though it doesn't necessarily make it right, nor are 'all' Americans trigger-happy.

I think what makes a lot of things seem far worse nowadays than ever before is mass communication technologies, which has become increasingly apparent over the past 20 years or so.

Many tragic events that went on in other countries pre-2000 often never really registered here in the UK, unless they were of a mega extreme nature, of course. For instance, last year's BLM movements that originated from a singular incident in the USA probably might not have registered here in quite the same ways had it been 20+ years earlier, though I don't in any way mean to trivialise it all.

There were probably many other things that went on pre-2000 that many of us never really made that big a deal over at the time, but seem to more so now than ever before, and probably quite rightly so, in the latter case.

The overly anxious folk like ourselves are more cautious and rational for the most part. At least I am, and I know you're a very wise owl.

The globe is trapped at the minute. 365 days (give or take) isn't a very long time at all. I remember like it was yesterday when this time last year we were running around like headless chickens.

It's crazy how people are acting about holidays. It's for peoples safety that they don't fly away, yet they want to fly away anyway even though they know the EU is facing rising cases.

It all became real when a friend died from it a couple of weeks ago.

Bristol had an awesome drum and bass scene way back in the late 90's. The city pretty much carried the Dubstep genre too. It's a beautiful place. I went once to pick up a keyboard. I under estimated the weight and had to lug this heavy old keyboard through the city to the train station.

The whole chav thing was pretty much a nationwide "meme" back before memes existed. But yes Bristol did get it rough. Remember the Burberry caps?

[Lencoboy]

The overly anxious folk like ourselves are more cautious and rational for the most part. At least I am, and I know you're a very wise owl.

The globe is trapped at the minute. 365 days (give or take) isn't a very long time at all. I remember like it was yesterday when this time last year we were running around like headless chickens.

It's crazy how people are acting about holidays. It's for peoples safety that they don't fly away, yet they want to fly away anyway even though they know the EU is facing rising cases.

It all became real when a friend died from it a couple of weeks ago.

Bristol had an awesome drum and bass scene way back in the late 90's. The city pretty much carried the Dubstep genre too. It's a beautiful place. I went once to pick up a keyboard. I under estimated the weight and had to lug this heavy old keyboard through the city to the train station.

The whole chav thing was pretty much a nationwide "meme" back before memes existed. But yes Bristol did get it rough. Remember the Burberry caps?

Thank you for your words about me being a 'wise owl'.

I do vaguely remember the Burberry caps, but would never be seen dead in one, nor a hoodie. Not even now, some 10 years after the chav culture mostly petered out of the mainstream, as such garments are cursed.

I don't specifically recall Bristol being labelled a 'chav' town/city though back in the day, even though it obviously had its fair share of them at the time.

Of course there's good and bad in pretty much all towns and cities, plus I fully acknowledge that Bristol has its marvels as well as it's problems, so I don't entirely write off said city as a full-on 'hellhole'.

Let's face it, Liverpool has had more than its fair share of bashing and stereotyping over the years, and like Bristol, has often historically been associated with militancy and confrontational culture, plus like Bristol, has also been a hotbed for riots and anarchy for centuries.

But it's also had its respective marvels such as The Beatles, Brookside, and many other things.

[WiredIncorrectly]

Brookside! Now that is a memory I remember. And the Daz adverts ... I can't believe I'm already this old. Where has time gone lol.

You have Banksy. I don't mean to be horrible to the guy but I'd love to spray over his work with "LOL". What he does isn't really talent it's basic stencil work with card and layering. Did you ever see the documentary on Banksy and Robbo? RIP Robbo.