San Francisco Copies Repressive Middle East Protest Policy
In the wake of England’s worst street protests and riots in a generation, British PM David Cameron has called for U.S.-style “gang” policy to repress its restive youth, as well as authoritarian Middle East-style suppression of free speech by blocking cell phone and social media networks.
In San Francisco, famous for its liberal politics and advocacy of civil liberties, the Bay Area Rapid Transit system (BART) actually did shut down cell phone transmission in its train stations for three hours Thursday in order to preemptively squelch a threatened protest, the SF Chronicle reported today.
In England, the riots erupted in response to the police killing of an unarmed black man in a poor neighborhood
Tweedle Dumb and Tweedle Dumber: UK Turns To U.S. To Solve Unrest
Several news media reported yesterday that British Prime Minister David Cameron wants Britain to look to the United States for solutions to gang violence after nights of riots and looting.
The first problem with this, of course, is that the rioting was not caused by gangs and the destruction bore no similarity to gang violence. There are substantial differences in both quality and quantity between drive by shootings, assassinations of competitors and street brawls on the one hand, and looting, arson and vandalism on the other. There are also significant differences in motive.
But let’s ignore all that, since the politicians have and they will do what they wish anyway. What they want is