UK’s Top 10 Attractions – Guest Post by Serena

English: The new LED fountains of Trafalgar Square in London, England, showing the some different colours that it can project. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

What are the best attractions in the UK to see when you visit? As with any of these lists, it’s always difficult to narrow down the best, but there are a few places that shouldn’t be avoided. While a few days in London should be the priority for any trip, getting around most of the UK to take in the attractions is do-able, if not perhaps in the same trip. From Stonehenge to the National Space Centre, and including the Eden Project and the Giant’s Causeway, the following list represents some of the UK’s top 10 attractions:

How to enjoy your theatre break in London – Guest post by Angelina

 

I love the theatre, and I’m sure many of you do too. Although nothing quite compares to the experience of going to a West End Production in London. Today Angelina shares some useful tips for getting the best out of your London Theatre trip…

UK Riots – Update #ukriots

Image by http://www.edufiend.com via Flickr

A week on from the event said to have triggered the riots across the UK (The shooting of Mark Duggan) and the country is still in outrage. Last night things were much quieter with less incidents nationwide, but the Police are still on alert, with leave cancelled, lengthened shifts for officers and PCSO‘s and high visibility presence even in areas where there has been trouble (such as my own town centre). The cleanup operations are bringing community’s together and we mourn the deaths of those caught up in the violence.

Questions are being raised by bloggers everywhere as to ‘who‘ or ‘what’ is responsible for the disgraceful behaviour of those involved in the violence and stealing that has blighted our nation.

In my first blog about the riots I reported the ‘cuts in youth clubs and family breakdowns’ were amongst the things being blamed for the actions of the rioters. Since then I have read and heard many talk about ‘disenfranchised youth’, them being ‘angry’, then you get the political and social agendas. There are reports of ‘well-dressed’ ‘professionals’ being arrested for looting, parents ‘taking’ their children to loot yet all we see on the TV is ‘gangs’ of mainly black youths, thus giving the impression that this is yet another ‘race’ issue. So much side-winding media bias all aimed at blindsiding us from the facts that those involved are not all on the ‘poverty line’, not all ‘young people’ and certainly not all black!

As I said on the first day, and I stand by this:  “This is unacceptable behaviour, that can not be blamed on any outside force other than a disgusting intent to destroy and taking advantage of a knowledge that if the police are stretched in one area then other areas are vulnerable and accessible to be targeted by these scum!!”

The one comment on my blog that really sparked my interest though was this (from George Rolph in conversation with another person)

“The police shot a popular local youth in Tottenham in order to spark trouble. They then used infiltrators in various cities to spread that trouble around the country. The purpose of the operation was to create outrage in the population at large, as a psychological tool to prevent the people overthrowing the House of Commons and its system, which is what they fear the most. Their propaganda machines in the media were all ready to go and their script written before the “trouble” kicked off. Social media programs like Twitter and Facebook were then used to control the reactions/actions of the people. The whole thing is one big black psy-ops experiment carried out in rehearsal because something bigger is in the pipeline.”

Note: The man saying this to me did NOT say overthrow the government, but overthrow the House Of Commons. When I asked why he said, ‘That is the seat of the system. If that falls it all falls. It does not matter which government is in power because that is all an illusion anyway.’

This was followed up by the sharing of the following video clip:

The suggestion being that ‘provocateurs’ were used to incite the rioting from the start of these events, the ‘peaceful’ gathering to mark the death of Mark Duggan on Saturday.

What do you think?

Were ‘provocateurs’ planted amongst the peaceful mourners?

Is this whole situation a government orchestrated event?

Whatever the reality, lets just hope the worst is over now and tonight people across the UK can stay safe and not cower behind their curtains as their neighbourhood goes to the dogs…

Thank you for reading!  If you have enjoyed reading this post please share it with others who may be interested and I always enjoy receiving feedback and comments

Related articles

• Are the Riots justifiable? (boymeets.wordpress.com)
• Disenfranchised? Let down by Society? Don’t make me laugh #londonriots (Birdsontheblog.co.uk)
• Birmingham: 2% Attack Majority As Anti-Social Elements Organize Rioting, Looting – For A Fourth Night (lostchildreninthewilderness.wordpress.com)
• UK riots: don’t deal with them in the way Greece did | Matina Stevis (guardian.co.uk)
• Those Scumbags in London – guest post by Ed (showard76.wordpress.com)
• Sometimes a riot is just a riot… (exile.wordpress.com)
• UK Riots (showard76.wordpress.com)
• London riots: “Evil did it” (cubiksrube.wordpress.com)
• Britain’s rioters: young, poor and disillusioned (sfgate.com)
• UK riots – my thoughts on who, what and why (angel14.com)
• Birmingham Riots 2011 – Watch How It All Began (femaleimagination.wordpress.com)

Those Scumbags In London – Guest post by Ed

Image by James Cridland via Flickr

Guest Post by Ed from
http://www.unluckysun.com/

I think it’s sick.

There are people in the city of London, and indeed other cities, who are ruining this country. Their attitude right now is so counter-productive to what this great nation needs that I just cannot grasp their motives or how they seem to be getting away with it. The systematic destruction of the inner city areas, the problems on the streets, the obvious shortcomings of our police force, and perhaps most significantly the obvious implications of their actions on the financial and commercial aspect of what makes a nation are all laid bare for the world to see. We just can’t let them keep getting away with it time and time again.

I am, of course, talking about the banks and their elected lackeys, our “government”.

In the light of all the rioting that’s dominating the headlines, it seems we’ve forgotten what a bunch of utter shits the people that run this country are. Worried about gangs running amok in Peckham? Then worry about large corporations moving their manufacturing overseas, so none of the kids in those gangs even get a remote hope of working in one of their minimum wage factories. Cars being set on fire in Birmingham? Worry about those families who no longer have a wage from the Rover factory in Longbridge. Oh, and that brave police force that’s valiantly fighting back scores of brick-throwing chavs: the same force that took money from our so-called free press to pass on case details for nothing better than tabloid sensationalism.

It would be cynical of me to suggest that what’s happening now is a distraction to other things going on in the country. It’s simply ironic coincidence that the police and media are the cornerstone of the biggest news story of the year. No one’s thinking about police bribery. No one’s thinking about phone hacking dead children or fallen soldiers. That’s a good thing too, because they’re unbelievable betrayals of national pride, mourning, and the privacy we all hold dear.

These kids running riot aren’t protestors. They’re just brazen vandals who loot shops for the things we all work hard for. That’s right. We work hard for these things, in the jobs we have. Jobs they don’t have, I’ll warrant. Jobs that aren’t there any more. But they don’t want to work, you see? They’re too lazy. Well, too lazy to get a job. Not too lazy to raid Currys and make off with a 48″ plasma telly and a new Nintendo 3DS that’ll be in a pawn shop next week, to the joy of a drug dealer who’s had a bit of a quiet time since Amy Winehouse passed away, bless her.

It’s all so very very wrong, and it’s all so very unbelievable. Apparently. Yet over the last two days I’ve read comments on news websites, twitter, facebook, and even Yahoo’s Questions section that not only point out that the killing of Mark Duggan might not be the reason for the riots, but that the riotous connection with his death is little more than a match being struck in a powderkeg that had been shaken vigorously for over a year.

Whatever you think of what is happening on the streets right now, never forget what is going on in the offices of our apparently beloved Capital. There may be people in tracksuits and hoods wrecking your car or smashing your window, but somewhere high above, there are people in Armani suits and Rolex watches wrecking your economy and smashing your children’s dreams.

If you’re horrified by the riots, please try to find the time to be horrified by the way this country is run.

Thank you for reading!  If you have enjoyed reading this post please share it with others who may be interested and I always enjoy receiving feedback and comments

Related articles

• UK Riots (showard76.wordpress.com)
• Miliband: ‘Action Now’ For Victims Of Riots (news.sky.com)
• London riots: ‘we can’t cope’, police admit (telegraph.co.uk)
• Riot yobs mug injured child (thesun.co.uk)
• Help or hinder – social media in the face of the London riots (ikroh.com)
• What to do in London on a Saturday Evening? (showard76.wordpress.com)

UK Riots

Looters in London

What has our society come to?

Cities across the UK are being looted, trashed and burned by our own youths.

Why?

It all started with a single man being shot dead by police in Tottenham, London.  An investigation is being held as there are conflicting reports as to whether the man shot at the police first or not, but a gun was recovered at the scene. A peaceful protest about the incident on Saturday was followed by an outbreak of violence which spread across London over the weekend and last night. Then in what is being blamed as ‘incitement’ by Social media copy cat incidents of violence and looting began to break out in Birmingham City Centre yesterday evening. There are also reports of trouble in Liverpool, Bristol, Nottingham and other cities across England.

Social Media has played a part in spreading fear as people began spreading rumours on Facebook and Twitter of incidents breaking out in areas that were unaffected, including claims of trouble in other areas of the West Midlands, Birmingham Children’s Hospital under attack and buildings were on fire, when at the time West Midlands Police and Fire Service were reporting on their twitter accounts:

 @WMPolice Contrary to rumours there we have not received any reports of disorder in Coventry or Wolverhampton

@WestMidsFire We can confirm that we have not attended any fires or incidents related to the disturbances in Birmingham.

The whole thing is disgusting, the is no real reason for any of this behaviour and parents were being urged to find out where their children were and get them home as the majority of incidents are believed to involve teenagers.

To do my bit to help dispel some of the rumors I re-tweeted the WM police and Fire tweets and reported ‘facts’ I heard on the news and from a source within the police force.

The majority of people are sickened by the lack of respect for our own country that these acts of criminality and violence are demonstrating. My friends and I were sharing  Facebook ‘status updates’ such as -

“Ok enough is enough just call in the TA put up tannoys and announce “USE OF LIVE FIRE IS AUTHOURISED – DISPERSE TO YOUR HOMES IN 15 MINUTES AND YOUR HUMAN RIGHTS WILL BE RESPECTED” then fire over there heads – anything not walking away in a rational manner after 15 is good target practice for afghan – simple”

“Parents of Birmingham… Should son or daughter have a nice new phone or pair of trainers tomorrow… You know what to do… March them to the police station… Its your duty…”

“Message to all the rioters ………. . You wanna be big men and fight to the death, well get your sorry little arses on the next plane to Afghanistan and stand alongside real men, they’re called soldiers and they are fighting a war unlike you bunch of pathetic wastes of space !!!!!”

“The terrorists will be laughing, they don’t need to do anything to destroy our country – our own youths can do it for them :/”

And while none of it is excusable, it just gets worse when they moved on from taking it out on shops to taking it out on people’s homes, I bet they were no where near their own homes, or if they were it would be so they can claim the insurance for their home being burnt!? People’s homes, businesses and livelihoods are being destroyed.

Blaming Social Media is not accurate or helpful, apparently people used Twitter and Blackberry Messenger to ‘mobilise’ groups into the rioting behaviours, but far more one can easily see from a quick search and the use of hashtags (#) how Twitter is playing a part in organising people getting together to help clean up the mess - #riotcleanup

Furthermore apparently the police have people monitoring twitter to help with the arrests of those involved in the incidents – as they are foolish enough to ‘brag’ about these things on Social Media. If anything, social media has probably been a greater help than it has a hindrance in this situation.

This morning, things seem fairly quiet in most of the areas reported to have incidents last night. Let’s hope it stays that way!

OMG -  I just heard on BBC news (08.57am) that they are blaming cuts in youth clubs, family breakdowns etc for this! NO WAY it has nothing to do with ANY thing like that – this is plain and simple COPY CAT CRIMINALITY, for no excuse or reason at all, as just reported on Touch Radio a youth had said “We are targeting areas with electrical stores to loot TV’s”

This is unacceptable behaviour, that can not be blamed on any outside force other than a disgusting intent to destroy and taking advantage of a knowledge that if the police are stretched in one area then other areas are vulnerable and accessible to be targeted by these scum!!

And parents, keep your young people at home tonight! Do not allow them to jump of the band wagon of unjustifiable, violence, looting and criminality!

Thank you for reading!  If you have enjoyed reading this post please share it with others who may be interested and I always enjoy receiving feedback and comments

Related articles

• Birmingham hit by riots as internet campaign encourages violence (telegraph.co.uk)
• How Blackberry, not Twitter, fuelled the fire under London’s riots (politics.ie)
• On the London Riots (Night 3) (ketik06.wordpress.com)
• Riots and looting spread to Birmingham (birminghamurbannews.wordpress.com)
• Violence Spreads in Britain (stevebeckow.com)
• Britain Burns: Riots Spread Through U.K. Cities (foxnews.com)
• AUDIO: Violence breaks out in Birmingham (bbc.co.uk)