Go to London..but don't lose your head over it!

[pErvinalia]

Knife laws work very well in the UK, the public generally don't carry knives. It's illegal to carry a kitchen knife in the UK without just cause by the way. You had better be a chef or have just purchased to take home (burden of proof on you)

And they totally helped that soldier from getting murdered, didn't they?

Banning cars might have saved him (which I wouldnt have problem with doing in cities) but nothing else would have done so

You want to ban cars too. You've gotta be shitting me.

Jonno and his authoritarianism vs a libertarian is a funny thing to watch.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

(CNN) -- Wednesday afternoon, former teacher Ingrid Loyau-Kennett was just a passenger on a bus passing through southeast London.
Thursday she was being hailed as one incredibly brave woman who confronted a man seconds after he hacked a British soldier to death in broad daylight.

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/05/23/world ... errorists/

There's something extremely Pythonesque about this.

[MrJonno]

Jonno and his authoritarianism vs a libertarian is a funny thing to watch.

Places in the world where cars are currently banned, includes parts of the US strangely enough high densities cities, very authoritarian not allowing an individual to gas his neighbours

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_car-free_places

[pErvinalia]

(CNN) -- Wednesday afternoon, former teacher Ingrid Loyau-Kennett was just a passenger on a bus passing through southeast London.
Thursday she was being hailed as one incredibly brave woman who confronted a man seconds after he hacked a British soldier to death in broad daylight.

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/05/23/world ... errorists/

There's something extremely Pythonesque about this.

I'm surprised they didn't sit down and have a cuppa and chat.

[pErvinalia]

Car's don't define your authoritarianism, Jonno. All your posts for the last couple of years do that.

[Cormac]

Most Irish nationals are not nationalists.

I have no idea what you been by this.

Most Irish people are Republican Nationalists, but not in the sense that Sinn Fein, the IRA, the Loyalists, or the British mean when they twist these words to suit their own agendae.

[Cormac]

The Irish are on the whole more amusing companions than the English but more slippery to deal with.

Claptrap.

[Svartalf]

Quite true... at least for brit haters like me

[pErvinalia]

.

[Hermit]

I read the attackers are Somalian? What is their background? What happened to them to make them capable of behaving this way? Have they been damaged by a vicious war?

Religious dogma preying on vulnerable, unstable minds .. rationalising horrendous acts in the name of their tyrannical god.

The psychology of it is fascinating, frightening ...


I feel for the attacked man's family, friends and community.

There's been a violent civil war going on in Somalia for 30 years. There are lots of Somali refugees in the UK. We have a large Somali community in Cardiff. I became friendly with a few of them in a previous job, and they were (with few exceptions) the most militant Muslims I've met, more so than the Pakistani Muslims I've known.

Someone earlier in the thread spoke of him as having a definite Brit accent, so he's probably been in Britain since childhood - not a recent immigrant with emotional scars from their violent environment...

So what's the background, then? Raised in the UK, but not fitting in and wanting to identify with something ... something that turns out to be a vicious form of Islamic fundamentalism ... Where does the idea and capacity to butcher another human being come from in the 21st century?

Anywhere, really. There are countless instances of psychotics and otherwise deranged people who attach themselves, limpid-like, to approximate or far-fetched causes, or none at all, and perpetrate inhumane, crazed acts.

[cronus]

Now his family name will be known and many sons will be born to honour his sacrifice. Memes and genes embroiled in a conspiracy to survive? or not?

[Audley Strange]

So what's the background, then? Raised in the UK, but not fitting in and wanting to identify with something ... something that turns out to be a vicious form of Islamic fundamentalism ... Where does the idea and capacity to butcher another human being come from in the 21st century?

I think I have the answer. Fame.

Now I know that sounds trite if not inane but consider this, they demanded their actions be captured. One of them at least had made such an exhibition of himself that he was noticed by the intelligence services. From what I'm hearing the nutjob was too confrontational and aggressive even amongst some radical islamists (would have found a home at A+ if you ask me). I've said this before but we live in an age where fame is the fundamental motivator for many many people, not being famous for their talent, but being famous because of who they are.
The Roman's Gods would be celestial, they would be stars. We do the same, the screen is a hyper-reality in which the immortals reside, the celebrity, the stars. The entire "pics or it didn't" happen culture.

Also too much positive reinforcement of mundanes leads to this. If people with little talent are told they are special, they'll find some way to prove that, whether that be by making a public exhibition of their caterwauling on Rich folk deride the plebs shows like X Factor, or by packing a home made bomb in with their lunch when the go on the tube. They are not serving god or Allah, or striking a blow for anything, they may rationalise it that way, we may for a moment swallow that, but really? They just want attention, for the world to see how special they are.

At this point I am thinking it is a noticable pathology with symptoms. It just manifests through different ideological mindsets in different ways. Some clearly more disastrous than others.

[JimC]

Hermit wrote:

...Anywhere, really. There are countless instances of psychotics and otherwise deranged people who attach themselves, limpid-like, to approximate or far-fetched causes, or none at all, and perpetrate inhumane, crazed acts....

True, but some causes are better than fanning the flames than others...

Seen many Jain suicide bombers lately, or Fabian Socialist mad bombers?

[Hermit]

So what's the background, then? Raised in the UK, but not fitting in and wanting to identify with something ... something that turns out to be a vicious form of Islamic fundamentalism ... Where does the idea and capacity to butcher another human being come from in the 21st century?

I think I have the answer. Fame. ... we live in an age where fame is the fundamental motivator for many many people

That tradition goes back to at least as far as Herostratus. He burnt down the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus in 356BC expressly for the purpose to be immortalised in historical memory. Ironically, his name is known today because the judges who condemned him to death also ruled that anyone who mentions him by name will also be put to death, and quotations of that judgement have survived to this day.

More commonly, many "difficult" children create strife, friction and all sorts of problems simply to garner some sort of attention. Some people just go to extremes to get it. I'm not sure if any of your musings, or my reply apply to the nutters this thread is about, though.

[En_Route]

Most Irish nationals are not nationalists.

I have no idea what you been by this.

Most Irish people are Republican Nationalists, but not in the sense that Sinn Fein, the IRA, the Loyalists, or the British mean when they twist these words to suit their own agendae.

Irish Nationalism is widely understood as embodying an aspiration for a United Ireland.