It was a fun afternoon. Sorry I had to disappear.

AC256, the fact that an elected official does something doesn’t mean we can’t protest against it.

xD.

Dave Cole, Rumbold (Pickled Politics), Laurie (Penny Red, Libcon) Richard (Bartholomew’s Notes), Sadie (Sadie’s Tavern), Adam (Tory Troll, Libcon), Kate (Hangbitch, Libcon), Tom (Boriswatch), Gracchi (Westminster Wisdom, Libcon), Alix (Fabulous Porcupine), Rob Knight, Sonia (Pickled Politics), Michael and me.

Did I miss anyone out?

Thanks for coming everyone!

“The fact that a section of the British police force honestly thought that the problem was Channel 4 and not the hate-preachers …”

Did they ‘honestly’ think that, though, or were they playing politics instead?

Nearer the time, there was some interesting commentary from Andrew Anthony in the Guardian:

So why have the police taken up their case? Here we have to look at how the West Midlands force first became involved. They initially gained a court order to review Channel 4′s footage with the aim of prosecuting the Islamic clerics for incitement. Channel 4′s concern was only to expose the extremist attitudes demonstrated by some supposedly moderate preachers. It never thought there was a criminal case.

And it was proven right. This left the police and CPS with an expensive and time-consuming operation and no prosecutions, much less convictions. It also left them with a number of angry local community leaders able to complain of discrimination and intimidation.

It must be a concern when the police decide what we can and can’t say in such a context (reminds me also of the two recent ‘cult’ idiocies).

Worth noting that no-one has yet been held accountable for the investigation and defamatory comments resulting in a libel action and an out of court settlement – the latter obviously taken from the public purse, not by anyone personally.

ac256, how many drank on the Tube, and of those how many caused trouble on the Tube?

If anyone’s to blame I’d start with whoever thought it was a good idea to bring the ban in on a late spring Saturday night when there was already Rugby at Twickenham, which usually demands a police presence down Richmond/Twickenham way, and regularly fills the buses, tubes and trains up with rowdy fans*. That automatically means fewer police able to deploy elsewhere in the capital if required. The timing was, of course, entirely a decision for the people bringing the ban in, and I think a few questions need to go in that direction.

Great to meet everyone, by the way.

* I used to live in Twickenham, have lots of rugby fan mates and have indeed gone swimming in the Thames after a post-match stag night in the Barmy Arms. It does get a bit fruity down that way regularly.

And I don’t know what kind of pub you’ve been into lately – of course the tube isn’t a pub and it’s pretty hard to confuse the two even when you are off your head, as you seem to be.

much as I hate to rein in your totally unbiased attempt to extrapolate my point far and wide, I am simply pointing out the stupidity of organising a mass piss up on the London Underground. It’s not a pub.

Frankly I’m concerned for your grasp of the language, in which it is clear from even the tube driver you quote that he wasn’t prepared to make the jump in logic which you ascribe to him, namely that the actions of a few reflect upon the conduct of the many.

Sorry ac, your tendency to suffer bias makes you unreliable.

Sunny you have personally and publicly used this blog and PP to encourage people to join in last night, so be a big man and stop trying to deny that you are “to blame somehow for it”. You egged it on.

I didn’t need the media to tell me anything, I had to get off the tube at 5pm and walk because there was already a problem at Edgware Road. The driver of my tube said sorry for the disruption caused by people on the Circle line protesting about the ban on alcohol by getting drunk and acting like idiots.

I’m pretty sure he wasn’t working for the media.

And so what if they have? You’re going to dictate how others spend their free time? That high horse of yours is going nowhere.

*takes Jennie’s alka seltzer graciously*

A response worthy of yesterday’s ‘protest’.

Anyone who thinks it’s a good idea to sit drinking on the Circle line has obviously got time to waste.

* hands you the alka seltzer *

STFU, please. We met, we drank very nicely at a pub, chatted, had a great time meeting everyone, and made our way back responsibly.

Any idiot who falls for the inevitable media hunt for a few idiots, or thinks we are to blame somehow for it, is wasting my time.

“Football has a significant impact on crime and crime and anti social behaviour, not only rendering people more vulnerable but raising levels of aggression. Those under the influence of football are more likely to cause disruption to the service through their physical state and conduct. We have seen numerous* examples of the dangers of football and anti-social behaviour. It is dangerous for those individuals and others.”

*http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/7401814.stm
*http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/2035137.stm
*http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1021060/Riots-London-Chelsea-fans-clash-police-Champions-League-defeat.html

Football: would you ban it?

“Alcohol has a significant impact on crime and anti social behaviour, not only rendering people more vulnerable but raising levels of aggression.
“Those under the influence of alcohol are more likely to cause disruption to the service through their physical state and conduct.

“We have seen numerous examples this evening of the negative impact of alcohol and antisocial behaviour. It is dangerous for those individuals and others.”

How did anyone on this supposedly ‘thinking’ blog expect the outcome of a binge drinking session on the tube to be anything other than violence and vandalism?

Why was it encouraged here?

Short answer is I don’t know – blurb from the back of the paper:

“Dr S Fred Singer is the author (with Dennis T Avery) of Unstoppable Global Warming:
Every 1500 Years (Rowman and Littlefield, 2007), which sets out the evidence for
viewing Global Warming in the context of historic climate cycles. He is the
Convenor of NIPCC and served as the editor of its report Nature, Not Human
Activity, Rules the Climate. An atmospheric and space physicist, Dr Singer is Professor
Emeritus of Environmental Sciences at the University of Virginia. He has received
numerous awards for his research, including a Special Commendation from the
White House for achievements in artificial earth satellites, a US Department of
Commerce Gold Medal Award for the development and management of the US
weather satellite programme, and the first Science Medal from the British
Interplanetary Society. He has served on state and federal advisory panels,
including five years as vice chairman of the National Advisory Committee on
Oceans and Atmospheres. He frequently testifies before Congress.”

A few clues in there suggest he may indeed be the same….

It’s all there in Wiki. Can’t be the same guy though, can it?

Deltoid is quite rude about that Fred Singer, see here:

http://scienceblogs.com/deltoid/2007/04/nobody_should_trust_s_fred_sin.php

I’m sure you can console yourself with the knowledge of how drinkers will feel throughout Johnson’s administration.

In fairness, protests ain’t what they used to be:
http://nme.com/news/my-chemical-romance/37009

And you miss the point, typically, as the protest isn’t against the “massive mandate” of the mayor, it’s against a politician that has worked his way to where he is touting libertarian values, and then told everyone what they can and can’t do. Very hypocritical, but what can you do? Oh..go and drink on the tube while you can

All in the name of protest at the new mayor elected on a massive mandate.

Never mind how non-drinkers around them feel.

Liberal Conspiracy, your sponsorship of this tragic spectacle will stand to your shame.

That’s just an opinion, so please refrain from fascist censorship this time…