thedailywhat:

Photo of the Day: A woman leaps from the fourth floor of a building set on fire by rioters in Croydon, South London.

[wenn via times / @williamsjon.]

See Also: London riots: Before-and-after images.

(via motherjones)

2011 London riots, an introduction

1. Trying to figure out what’s happening in London, and why no one over here (the US) appears to care supermuch. From the Guardian, it appears that largish sections of London are on fire, and Graham Linehan at least initially appeared upset. Good enough to pique my curiosity.

2. On Thursday, August 4th, the police (you know, the guys who recently made news for collaborating with Rupert Murdoch’s people) shot and killed a 29 year old man named Mark Duggan. Duggan, a father of three, was allegedly connected to one or more gangs. Duggan (based on photos a not-white man) was initially said to have opened fire on the police, though it’s looking more and more like whoever says that is in fact incorrect. The circumstances of his death remain in question. He was under investigation for his alleged gang ties, but it’s unclear why he was shot to death. It’s possible he was being watched because his best friend was stabbed to death this spring; police may have feared Duggan was out for vengeance. The only thing clear at this point is that Duggan was killed with a hollowpoint bullet. (Is that what the police in London usually use?)

3. Duggan was in a taxi when he was shot, heading home. Shortly before he was killed, he texted his partner (girl he’s been dating since high school, mother of his children) that the police were following him. These particular police were part of Operation Trident, an initiative formed in 1998 by members of the black community in response to an upsurge in gun violence within their communities. The director of Operation Trident is Claudia Webbe. According to Wikipedia, in 2004, of the 300 officers involved in Operation Trident, 16 were black.

4. Tottenham, the area of London where the riots started, maybe the most ethnically diverse area in Europe. Tottenham residents speak at least 300 different languages. The area is also said to be home to a variety of gangs, however it does not (as has been reported) have the highest unemployment rate in London - that honor goes to East Ham.

Tottenham is no stranger to riots.  Twenty-five years ago, when Mark Duggan was 4, the Broadwater Farm area of Tottenham was engulfed in riots also sparked by the actions of white police officers in relation to black victims suspects people.  That year, police raided Cynthia Jarrett’s home in connection with an investigation into her son, who did not live with her. She keeled over and died of heart failure or a stroke, depending on what you read. The community, already pissed at police who had, just the week before, shot Dorothy “Cherry” Groce while searching her home, for her son,* broke out in riots. 

6. On October 6, 1985, rioters overwhelmed police and beat and hacked to death 40 year old Officer Keith Blakelock when he tripped and fell as the police retreated. Blakelock died of dozens of stab wounds, probably committed by dozens of people. Several people were arrested for the murder and apparently few to none of them were given anything resembling due process. Police tactics included stripping teens naked and questioning them outside of the presence of any attorney. Investigations into the Blakelock murder investigation revealed an array of ethical and legal lapses on the parts of the police. Based on the ineptitude/criminality of the investigation, several suspects were released. 

The investigation into Blakelock’s murder was reopened in the early 2000s, which resulted in approximately a dozen men from the Tottenham area being brought in for questioning in late 2010.  

7. NB: This is just an introduction.  The first riot looks like it was sparked by Duggan’s shooting and fueled by one particular community’s history of mistrust of the police.  However the further looting and riots that have gone on over the past few nights likely have little connection, other than opportunism.  I’m at the very least still curious about broader racial and economic issues, the alleged “gang” ties, and the problems this causes for the 2012 Olympics.  More soon.

*Mrs. Groce was paralyzed as a result of the police shooting her. Defying doctors’ predictions that she had 10 years max, she died this year, on Easter Sunday.

Other people’s emails (2)

I got this one today.  If you know a Sean in Georgia who’s trying (hard - he bought two copies) to raise a modern day knight, please let him his order shipped.

Dear Sean XXXXXXX, 

Thank you for shopping with us. 

Your order is scheduled to ship. All the details of your order appear below. 

We are glad we could be of service and look forward to your next visit.

— Barnes & Noble

Ship To: Sean, who lives in Georgia

Shipping Method: Express Delivery (1-3 business days) 

Product Description: Raising a Modern-Day Knight: A Father’s Role in Guiding His Son to Authentic Manhood

Quantity: 2 

Expected Ship Date: 07-13-2011

Price: $16.86
Sub Total: $16.86

Shipping & Processing: Paid in Store

Total Shipment Price: Paid in Store

Other people’s emails - a series

Because Gwenzilla gave me a gmail invite back in the beginning of time, I have a really easy email address.  Because I have a really easy email address, I get other people’s emails all the time.  Here’s one of the first ones.  It came from Canada.

Hi Honey,

We are babysitting Grayson & Cole at their place and I know grandma sent you an email to skype you  around 8:00.

We may not be home by that time and we don’t know what time once Will and ant Gill be back?

If we are home early, we will try to skype you. Anyway we will find you soon.

Love
Grandpa

2011 running goals

1. Run.

2. Run more than I did last year.

3. Run faster than I did last year.

4. Do a 5K in March.

5. Run Bay to Breakers again in May, but faster.

6. Really don’t bail on that half in July.  Esther will hold it against me forever.  

6b. Ideally run the half in 2:01:6666666….  (That’s a ten minute mile.)  But really, just run the goddamn thing, since I haven’t ever.

(Source: violetinbloom)

I’m a white girl and I like football.

It’s weird. I have no history with the sport.  I went to my first professional game this season.  I’m not a fair weather fan - though my home team made it to the playoffs, according to those in the know, theirs is something of an ignominious victory.  Nonetheless, various forces in the universe have conspired over this season to slowly win me over to the game.  I like the Seahawks and the Packers.  I like Aaron Rodgers and Michael Vick, though my favorite player is Brandon Mebane.

Having no history with the game - just a new and heartfelt love - puts me in the perhaps unusual position of being able to both gush with my brother (a lifelong Miami Dolphins fan) about the genius of Michael Vick and explain to my indie-music-loving girlfriends what’s going on in Friday Night Lights without sounding (to them) like Charlie Brown’s teacher.  Turns out it’s not just violent - football is beautiful, and I will talk about it given any opportunity.  (There is no zealot like the newly converted.)

It feels weird then, to be so in love and at the same time so disillusioned by football’s racism* and sexism.  While whole screeds are written just about the sexist ads played during the Superbowl, what got me going today wasn’t the horrible advertising (in spite of huge numbers of women fans), it was the Roethlisbergers, Favres, and Franklins that really brought me down.  

Why do these assholes get away with what they do?  It’s the 21st century.  Title IX’s been protecting women athletes since before I was born, and Title VII’s been around for even longer to help protect people like ESPN employee Jeannine Edwards.  Rape and sexual assault laws continue to lag behind (in most states I’m still assumed to mean yes if I don’t scream no forcefully enough), but even those laws should help provide protection from (alleged) scumbags like Roethlisberger.  It’s hard for me, as a new fan, to understand how this new object of my affection - football - can provide such care and attention to Michael Vick’s former dogs, but inexplicably gets squeamish in the presence of Favre’s and Roethlisberger’s accusers.  A more experienced fan (and lawyer) puts it well here:

As a female NFL fan, the NFL’s lack of response to these incidents, in combination with no real response to Roethlisberger’s first set of rape allegations, creates an impression that the NFL and its teams aren’t going to consider physical violence against women, sexual assault, or taking advantage of a drunk college girl as particularly serious offenses.  They’ll suspend Michael Vick for dog fighting, and Plaxico Burress for shooting himself in the leg, but all Tom Cable** did was hit his wife “with an open hand.”  That apparently doesn’t rise to the same level.

I’m new, but from where I sit, it’s not just the NFL.  It’s everyone involved in the sport - players, teams, sportscasters, fans - everyone. People like Ron Franklin would, apparently, have people like me “leave [football] to the boys.”  But as far as I can tell, women are not new to football. (This woman, in just one example, strikes me neither as young nor new to football, given her gear and her tailgating skillz.)  Which is why, as a new fan, football’s intransigent clueless white grandfather persona confuses me - it’s an ill-fitting, ignorant, and dated persona for such a beautiful sport.

* A newbie’s perspective on racism in football will be, for the most part, saved til the next installment.  For now I’ll just say that I’m abidingly interested in the fact that Michael Vick is a black guy who served two years for abusing dogs, and Roethlisberger, Favre, Tom Cable, and Franklin are all white guys who (allegedly) abused women in various ways and were never even charged. 

**Tom Cable, coach of the LA Raiders, (allegedly) likes to beat his girlfriends and wives. The NFL had the same squeamishness about the Cable accusations as it did about the Roethlisberger and Favre accusations. 

watermelonandrea:

Thank you!

(Source: andreamaree)