LA Riots

There's a special on VH1 right now called "Uprising: Hip Hop and the LA riots."

Interesting watchin'. Seems as though there are a lot of folks who get really happy and excited; nostalgic even, talking about how awesome it was for people to steal, assault, and destroy property. My brother lived in LA at the time. It was not cute.

Goes to show ya. Cant fix stupid.

On a completely unrelated note, it took me several weeks to realize that your avatar is some sort of Richard Petty Transformer and not a black pimp from the 70's.

Wow...

I thought the black pimp Superfly Transformer was the perfect follow up to the pink unicorn.

My bad.

In reply to poopshovel:

I was there too...actually, my Dad was in the hospital, mom was stuck at home. The Cops had the whole area on lockdown. I was able to BS my way through road blocks by flashing my mil ID. Got to my parents house and kept Mom company until things cooled down. My command didn't bat an eye when I dropped a leave chit for "yesterday". Fortunately, nothing happened in our imediate area, but the smoke from the arson fires and the gunfire was unsettling.

My dad taught school in Compton. He went through both riots. After the 60's riots, all the, ahh, "ethnic" people, including people employed as high school principals and administrators, talked about how "next time, they weren't going to burn down their own neighborhoods, but next time, they were going to go burn down Whitie's neighborhoods." And, yes, it was nostalgic.

He drove to work on the day of the Rodney King riots. A car stopped in front of him, everyone jumped out and ran to a store and started looting it.

I had a friend in college who's family was one of the ones on the roof of their shop with guns, keeping the looters away. The same thing happened recently during the London riots, but since the UK makes it difficult to own guns, the turkish shop owners had to beat the tar out of the looters with baseball bats to keep them at bay
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/aug/09/london-riots-fighting-neighbourhoods

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXFuf5Cjy-A

I know the media seems so nostalgic for the mayhem.

DoctorBlade wrote: I know the media seems so nostalgic for the mayhem.

I'm not talking about "the media," I'm talking about the people interviewed in the documentary: "Hey, do you remember the time 50-something people were killed and a billion dollars worth of private property damage was done? That E36 M3 was HEEELARIOUS!!!" was my take-away.

I don't know anyone who thinks Rodney King getting the E36 M3 kicked out of him by a gang of cops was funny, but apparently the riots were.

It's worth watching. I was too young for the depravity to really sink in.

i wonder how nostalgic Reginald Denny is for those days?

novaderrik wrote: i wonder how nostalgic Reginald Denny is for those days?

Probably not so much. The dude that beat him with a brick is though. He's one of the "stars" of this culturally enlightening masterpiece.

JoeyM wrote: The same thing happened recently during the London riots, but since the UK makes it difficult to own guns, the turkish shop owners had to beat the tar out of the looters with baseball bats to keep them at bay http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/aug/09/london-riots-fighting-neighbourhoods http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXFuf5Cjy-A

Outside of the US, Canada, and Japan, are baseball bats sold with sports gear or hunting knives?

We need to direct our anger towards the people who cause the problems. complaining it's wet won't stop the rain.

Sublime-April 26, 1992

I remember when that happened. Sat in front of the TV horrified. NPR has been talking about it all week, I never knew about all the undercurrents that led up to it.

Mitchell wrote:

JoeyM wrote: The same thing happened recently during the London riots, but since the UK makes it difficult to own guns, the turkish shop owners had to beat the tar out of the looters with baseball bats to keep them at bay http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/aug/09/london-riots-fighting-neighbourhoods http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXFuf5Cjy-A

Outside of the US, Canada, and Japan, are baseball bats sold with sports gear or hunting knives?

Last time I checked, hunting knives were sold in sporting goods (...just like everything else involved in the sport of hunting.) Of course, the last time I tried hunting, I successfully demonstrated that it's really just a form of hiking where you are required to wear orange. There's no need for me to bring guns, knives, bow, etc.....the animals have all decided to vacation in Aruba that weekend instead of hanging out where I'm hiking.

I'm in the USA. YMMV.

Fit is slo gets eleventeen points for awesome!

Also, Im reminded of a particularly telling meme from the more recent London riots. Different geography, exactly the same point:

people, in general, suck

We all get caught up in stuff. Basic instincts, pack mentality, stick with the group, go with the flow.

It's like yelling "Fire!" or "Wolf!", there are things in life that just incite panic and fear. Throw consideration and intellect out the window, because "we're mad as hell!"

This mob mentality isn't just limited to violence. Consumerism, suburban sprawl, religion and politics. All are based on the idea that we've got to join a movement, even if we don't completely understand it.

Thanks Mitch I needed a laugh today

Mitchell wrote: Outside of the US, Canada, and Japan, are baseball bats sold with sports gear or hunting knives?

At the time I was working inside Baltimore City when the E36 M3 hit the fan, I remember wearing a long black trench coat and blacked out sunglasses for a few weeks. No one started or even said anything to me, not sure why

Paul B

Careful what you say. For some, rioting is a "lifestyle choice" and is protected by the gubmint.

I was in college when the Rodney King verdict came down. Every thug--- wannabe thug in the country used it as an excuse to cause havoc. Even in Champaign IL there was random violence and theft. My girlfriend (at the time) had a 1966 Mustang. Punks (probably college kids) turned the car up onto it's side while she was at work. Dented the car all over the place, and sort of wrecked it as it was just barely presentable beforehand. It flat out crushed her as she loved that machine.

The kids that did it probably had no idea of why they were doing it......it was just an excuse to mis-behave and get away with it.

Ya'll know that George Soros announced last year or early this year that this year, OWS is going to go violent, right? He funds and staffs their HQ (indirectly, of course), so I'd say he has inside info.

^^^If they're that dumb, they deserve to get squashed by the cops. The whole operation messed up.....they might have gotten popular support if, when they were in the spotlight, they stated some clearly defined goals. Now nobody cares what they think.

poopshovel wrote: There's a special on VH1 right now called "Uprising: Hip Hop and the LA riots."

Well there is your first problem.

I'm not sure which is worse. The people fondly remembering the riots because they enjoy the idea of smashing things, or the people hoping for more riots so they can "kill people" (I put that in quotations cause I doubt most of the people hoping for more riots would have the intestinal fortitude to actually kill someone).