Evo said:
Did you read about the 50 year old woman on crutches, trying to get off a bus, they doused her with gasoline and set her on fire.
Yes, that was horrific. It was around about that point I stopped giving one about their living conditions - at least they weren't being set on fire.
This whole thing is starting to appear more than discontent. The fact that it's happening in so many places around the country, all at once, seems a little too organised.
The so-called 'motive' - the two boys electrocuted - is not even close to a likely reason for the violence to increase. Now hundreds of cars, trucks, buses, etc are being set alight each night, and the rioters are taking the battle straight to the riot police.
The rioting is getting nearer and nearer to the capital too. The question is, if the police can't contain the violence in these suburbs, what happens if it reaches central Paris, which could feasibly be very soon?
The other worry, for me, is that the same environment could easily spring up in the UK. It has a lower proportion of Arab immigrants and the New Labour government hasn't been quite right-wing enough to cause quite so much discontentment in the Muslim youth, but it is definitely there. We also have the same gang warfare that caused the zero tolerance approach in the French suburbs earlier this year which, I think, is the real reason for the exponential increase in rioting there.
This is pretty bad because it is the exact hand needed by the European right-wing parties. The BNP, a white supremecist party, are increasing in popularity in some cities in Britain, their main goal being the deportation of non-white immigrants and the ceasation of further immigration. The next generation of immigrant families would not doubt be next, and so on. Something like this in the UK would be all their Christmasses coming at once.
In fact, there is some credibility to the notion that they are provoking gang warfare in the UK. In Birmingham, a rumour was put around the black community that a black girl was gang raped by an Arabic gang. A few days ago, thirty graves, all for Arabs, were destroyed and/or toppled and a note was left claiming to be the work of Black Nation. Given that nothing else has really kicked off too much, it does look like both could be the work of some white supremacist group.
This may end up being quite important, beyond death toll and car insurance.