Boat race protester gets six months prison for upsetting the elite.

reply to post by ANOK


What happens now, is that we have political advisors, who have never worked a day in their lives. Fresh from oxbridge after studying the same course, then they work themselves into safe constituency seats. I don't remember a time when the political class has been so out of touch with the man on the street. You are right. There is no Labour party in the true sense of the word. Labour stopped representing labour when tony Blair took over and continued the neo liberal policies implemented by thatcher. At least you know what your getting when you vote Conservative. New labour on the other hand, have sold the working class down the river. An utter disgrace who will never get my vote again.

The three parties all represent the same neo liberal ideology. They are almost indistinguishable from one another, both in appearance and policy.

Originally posted by SimonPeter
reply to post by Phage

 

Next time you could be that idiot protesting something that is important to you like eating . Things are going to come down on the commoners . Commoners , thats you and me .

Phage is not a commoner. He is a man with ALL the answers.
There are no conspiracies anywhere, ever.
It must be true. Phage says it.
And he is not common.

Oxford and Cambridge can take their oars and stick them up their collective
elite arses, blade-side first.

Originally posted by woodwardjnr

The three parties all represent the same neo liberal ideology.

That is exactly what they are, the same as in the US, neo-liberal.

Liberalism is the big con-trick played on us by the elites themselves. The more control they have over government the more liberal it will become. Sounds backwards, but the elites treat us like idiots and throw shiny things at us to keep us dumb and happy, while they continue to rape the country for all they can leaving us with nothing but shiny worthless things. They know it's easier to keep people passive with shiny things, than it is at the end of a gun. Why does America and Britain not have Gulags? They don't need them. Liberalism keeps the 'commoners' from being a threat.

When I see people like Prescot upper cut someone on camera and walk off with impunity, police killing and nothing happening, Chancellors who won't pay their 1st class train fare and refuse to sit with the aforementioned commoners, Mitchell swearing and talking down to low ranking police because he couldn't do what he wanted, (he's gone but he'll be back; they all do!) blind people being tasered because their white cane looks like a samurai sword (ridiculous, even a blind person wouldn't make that mistake), government talking of fairness whilst bankers sit in their luxury villas in far off lands and they strip disabled and very poor people of their benefits because they want them to work (who can tell me where jobs for disabled people are, they've taken away public service and workshops! What chance for the lower class elderly people who've worked themselves into ill-health?), newspapers openly distorting the truth and covering up others, the rich literally laughing in the face of those less fortunate, high rankers protecting each other over and over again, and no, some of us will never be allowed to make it no matter how much we try, It shows me an irretrievably broken down country.

I don't agree with what this guy did because it was ineffective, but I feel sorry for him wasting his anger.

Originally posted by Phage

What an idiot. About as much sense as the occupy movement and just as productive.

really? the occupy movement was senseless? a civil protest to bring attention to the unfair distribution of wealth is senseless?

one drum circle too many sullies the whole movement, i guess.

if nothing else, the OWS movement served to quell the bombast of the Tea Party movement.
see... the Left can be just as irate and loud as the Right. the two LOUD forces seemed to neutralize each other like some sort of matter/anti-matter scenario.

senseless? that seems to be a matter of opinion and speculation... something i would normally reserve for us Mulder tin-foil hat wearing folks, and not the even handed Scullies that keep us in check.

Originally posted by Phage

Six months for jumping in a river is crazy and we can't let this continue because what rights we have left will disappear.

His rights end where those of the racers and spectators began.

What an idiot. About as much sense as the occupy movement and just as productive.

edit on 10/19/2012 by Phage because: (no reason given)

May the punishment fit the crime? Six months is not to extreme for being a public nuisance?

I agree let's load up the prison with these yahoos!

Jaywalking 6 months to a year! You are disrupting traffic for business purposes mostly!

Littering mandatory 3 months possible 10! Stop making my city dirty you hooligan scum! with your cig butts!

Disruptive music at least 1 year with possible time off for quality of music, rap automatic 1 years...

Panhandling (I AM SO SICK OF THIS!) Mandatory 1-2 years!

Public speaking without a permit 10 months and again possible time off for content! MY EARS HURT FROM THIS!

Public assembly without a permit (OCCUPY I AM LOOKING AT YOU!) 1-2 years and clean up your messes!

Loitering damn teenage kids! 6 months!


I am sure I am missing like about 10,000 other laws that we seriously need to re-evaluate the prisons terms for and increase of fines to pay for the financial mess we are in. Plus once we give these so called 47% criminal records they will be much easier to handle later on! right? RIGHT???


Oh and get off my lawn...Right?


Sorry to direct this at you Phage, but come on 6 months for stopping or prolonging a stupid boat race??? Yeah he was an idiot but what are we doing with our freedoms?

Originally posted by Phage
reply to post by Bilky

 

all they had to do was lift their oars

Why should they have to do that? Just because a fool jumps in the river?

edit on 10/19/2012 by Phage because: (no reason given)

By the same token,why should I swerve my car to avoid hitting a "fool " who jumps out in front of me while i'm driving,it's generally called common sense,maybe something that you and the elitists that you seem to be defending lack?

reply to post by nake13

By the same token,why should I swerve my car to avoid hitting a "fool " who jumps out in front of me while i'm driving,it's generally called common sense,maybe something that you and the elitists that you seem to be defending lack?

Yes, it is common sense to avoid hitting someone. But you have to see them first. I keep my eyes open for fools on the side of the road. No one is looking for a fool in the river during a race

I'm not defending anyone, I'm calling a fool a fool.

I'm amazed that there are ATS members who think 6 months is appropriate for temporarily disrupting a rowing race with no actual harm or loss being suffered by anyone apart from half an hour required to re-start the race.

Aside from the multiple UK court cases which can easily be found where much more severe offences have resulted in community service/punishment, I am concerned about the waste of money due to the costs of a custodial sentence.
UK Ministry of Justice prison costs per prisoner category per annum
Add to this the potential costs to society if he loses his home and job only to fall into taxpayer funded benefits on release from prison.
A community service/punishment order could have had him cleaning graffiti off walls or doing gardening for old folk etc, every weekend for 6 months - he would have remained in employment while being punished, and importantly, paying taxes at the same time.

I have been surprised by the comments of some members who I previously considered quite reasoned while declaring their opinions. I accept the guy who protested may well have been unwise in his choices, but 6 months expensive jail when street robbers get community service and a suspended sentence?

...I suspect when the emotionally charged folk who've replied here calm down and look at the wider picture they'll see that the punishment does not fit the crime in this case.

Originally posted by Phage
reply to post by nake13

 

By the same token,why should I swerve my car to avoid hitting a "fool " who jumps out in front of me while i'm driving,it's generally called common sense,maybe something that you and the elitists that you seem to be defending lack?

Yes, it is common sense to avoid hitting someone. But you have to see them first. I keep my eyes open for fools on the side of the road. No one is looking for a fool in the river during a race

I'm not defending anyone, I'm calling a fool a fool.

I think you`ve made your point in this guy being "stupid " and a " fool ".
This thread is about an over the top sentence for someone who staged a protest and how the real criminals get away with actual crimes against the people of this nation.

Some of the excuses that have been posted here in favour of the six months sentence are pathetic and it`s a shame some of you have come across as pro establishment.

Originally posted by lambros56Some of the excuses that have been posted here in favour of the six months sentence are pathetic and it`s a shame some of you have come across as pro establishment.

Agreed, this particular topic has influenced my view of a few members here.
The guys tactic of jumping in the river, without even a protest sign to tell the TV masses why, could easily be considered foolish, but there was no material harm or loss to anyone as a result so the blood thirsty dogs calling for 6 months jail confuse me - especially while his disagreement with the 'elitist' society so embedded in the UK is of course a valid observation to make.

Originally posted by lambros56
Six months for jumping in a river is crazy and we can't let this continue because what rights we have left will disappear.

On a similar note, I'm old enough to remember when people in the UK used to say 'He can say what he likes, its a free country".

British people don't say that anymore.

Originally posted by ollncasino

On a similar note, I'm old enough to remember when people in the UK used to say 'He can say what he likes, its a free country".

British people don't say that anymore.

I also remember people saying that, maybe we just collectively realise that the freedom is riddled with conditions these days?
...I'm glad some of the people posting in this thread are not advisors to the judiciary regarding fit punishment for protests which result in no loss or injury to anyone, would they be calling for 10 years if an expensive oar had been broken?!

Originally posted by grainofsand

I also remember people saying that, maybe we just collectively realise that the freedom is riddled with conditions these days?

...I'm glad some of the people posting in this thread are not advisors to the judiciary regarding fit punishment for protests which result in no loss or injury to anyone, would they be calling for 10 years if an expensive oar had been broken?!

I suspect that a lot of people who support restrictions on freedom of speech do so because they are happy to muzzle opinions they don't agree with.

They don't seem to consider that it is quite possible that the same laws will be used to muzzle them, if and when the wind changes direction.

Originally posted by ollncasino

Originally posted by lambros56
Six months for jumping in a river is crazy and we can't let this continue because what rights we have left will disappear.

On a similar note, I'm old enough to remember when people in the UK used to say 'He can say what he likes, its a free country".

British people don't say that anymore.


They don`t say it anymore because the british media have conditioned them into believing that protesting is a bad thing and that it`s wrong and against the law.
So whenever someone gets arrested or beaten-up for protesting, the mindset is they deserve it because protesting is bad,

As you can judge for yourself by the ludicrous posts by some here who agree with a mans life being ruined for making a stance.

How else can we be heard in this country when the media blank out our cries for justice ?
And while we have your ordinary man agreeing to these prison sentences, then it`s just going to continue.

Originally posted by Phage

Six months for jumping in a river is crazy and we can't let this continue because what rights we have left will disappear.

His rights end where those of the racers and spectators began.

What an idiot. About as much sense as the occupy movement and just as productive.

edit on 10/19/2012 by Phage because: (no reason given)

If you could step off your pedestal for a moment, I'd like you to explain why you think the actions of such groups as occupy, UK uncut or pretty much any type of protest is considered unproductive?

People are getting trounced, our society is divided by class and every day we are feeling the burn from the cuts. The worst hasn't hit us yet and still we get mocked for trying to do something?

The guy might be an idiot, but at least he TRIED something, yet our conservative government keeps fueling the fire by setting harsh examples on people, whilst people who have committed worse crimes walk away without punishment.

Maybe you'd be less quick to mock when it's your family who are suffering, but then again, that would probably never happen.

Feel free to judge though.

reply to post by ANOK


You almost got that right.

Libertarianism, the whole tea bagger thing, where people support free market capitalism the turns control of our country to the ICs.

I agree, liberal elites are almost as bad as conservative elites.

A true liberal sees individual rights as above the rights of institutions, while the elites see just the opposite.

Originally posted by Phage
reply to post by SimonPeter

 

Next time you could be that idiot protesting something that is important to you like eating .

There are means of protesting which make sense. Jumping in a river is idiotic and demonstrates absolutely nothing. In particular since no one had any idea what the fool was doing.

He was trying to disrupt an elitist race.

I'm sorry you find it so hard to understand.

reply to post by mr-lizard



Great reply.
The points you make are what i was trying to get across in the OP.

You know, I can understand the feelings that bring a man to do something like this guy did. It's counter-productive and foolish...but I'm sure it seemed like a great idea to him at the time. ...it's a shame he didn't accept responsibility for his lawbreaking, such that it was, to take his lumps for standing on his cause with pride and like it all REALLY means something. Having said that....Don't do the crime if you can't do the time. That fits to protesting where it disrupts everyone else's normal life and being busted actually seems to BE the whole point of the effort.

From the other side.. SURE ..Oxford and Cambridge are what I'd call 'Elite' too. The Schools, anyway. I don't know the guys in the boats. Does anyone else who are saying they deserved it or their troubles over this shouldn't matter? How would any of us feel if we worked our butts off and put our hearts into training for this and other races...to have some idiot choose THAT day and THAT event to ruin with a cause totally unrelated in EVERY way to racing a boat down a river?

I'd also note....If this fool did this in the United States and NO ONE was hurt saving him from his try at a Darwin, he's have himself a stack of fines and legal fees to pay for months to come at a min. That's if no one got so much as a stubbed toe in the process of fishing him out of the water and arresting him......However.... If one cop, Fireman or medical responder were seriously hurt or killed in the rescue attempt...he very well could be charged 100% with full liability for THAT too. He'd also deserve it. Every bit of it.