The Brit Thread

POSTED BY: peacekeeper
UPDATED: Monday, December 15, 2025 22:01
VIEWED: 6928
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NIKI2

Thursday, October 11, 2012 4:48 PM

I hear what you're saying and it's pretty much what I was thinking:

Quote:
demonstrates what can happen when societies get too large, inequity becomes too great and you have in place some pretty zany gun laws (or lack of them).

Amen.

PK, rather than a Brit thread, I just wish more people from outside the U.S. would just pop up now and again and give us news from their country. I for one would certainly read it! At any rate, since BBC News is one of the sites I have bookmarked and wander over to in order to try and find interesting threads, I'll try to do so more often--I, like others, have been too obsessed by our own idiocy recently to check out all my "sources" regularly.

NIKI2

Thursday, October 11, 2012 6:52 PM

Speaking of which, and again on the subject of free speech in the U.K.:

Quote:
Barry Thew jailed for T-shirt mocking PCs' deaths

A man from Greater Manchester who wore a T-shirt daubed with offensive comments about the killing of two police officers has been jailed.

Thew was arrested wearing the T-shirt hours after the PCs were killed

Barry Thew, 39, was arrested wearing the top with the words "one less pig perfect justice" hours after the deaths of PCs Fiona Bone and Nicola Hughes.

He admitted a public order offence and was jailed for four months at Minshull Street Crown Court in Manchester.

Insp Bryn Williams said after the case that the T-shirt had been "appalling".

A police spokesman said Thew, of Worsley Street, Radcliffe, had been arrested after being seen wearing the T-shirt in Radcliffe town centre "just hours" after the constables died in a gun and grenade attack in Mottram on 18 September.

Mr Williams said: "While officers on the ground were just learning of and trying to come to terms with the devastating news that two colleagues had been killed, Thew thought nothing of going out in public with a shirt daubed with appalling handwritten comments on." http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-19911943

Seems there IS quite a difference between our Constitutionally-protected right to free speech and what free speech is "legal" across the Pond. I can't imagine anybody ever being arrested for a t-shirt over here, however offensive. Not just "not as respected", as you wrote earlier, but not even LEGAL apparently!

What is this "public order offence"?

OONJERAH

Saturday, October 13, 2012 11:10 AM

Scottish independence referendum: PM expects to sign deal next week

Agreement will give Scottish parliament legal power to stage 'yes or no'
referendum on whether Scotland should stay in UK

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/oct/10/scottish-independence-r
eferendum-pm-deal

PEACEKEEPER

Saturday, October 13, 2012 10:26 PM

Niki,it's a public order offence because it is a deliberate act to cause distress in a public place.If the police did nothing about this, then chances are it could have caused a public disturbance.I for one would not have walked past him without pulling his spleen out via his arsehole. So rather than allow a public disturbance to take place, they took him off the street. The concepts of free speech differ immensely between our cultures, that is obvious.
It's a difficult one to judge, I grant you, and I see your problem. Maybe we aren't as free and accepting as our US counterparts, but I don't have a problem with this one.Any sane, respectful person wouldn't dream of parading such a T-Shirt in public.

Oonj, The Scots are welcome to have a referendum on their future, but it's a total sham. The Scots will never go for it.It's a huge step and there is no need for it. The Scots may be proud of their identity and rightly so, but the majority of the people will understand that being part of the UK is far more beneficial than standing alone. And the last thing that our two nations want is to have another Northern Ireland, which would be a very real possibility if the Union was to fall into dispute. Anyway, it's not like they are some downtrodden inferior cousin.
The Scots already have their own parliamentary Assembly, that English people have no input into, yet Scots politicians still have a say on issues that affect England. So, in reality, it is The English that should have more of the beef.!!!

With the grace of age, commander, we learn to accept.

FREMDFIRMA

Sunday, October 14, 2012 3:44 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Niki2:
What is this "public order offence"?

Kinda like what we call Disorderly Conduct, or Disturbing the Peace - catch all for when they wanna arrest you for something, but got nothing real to charge you with.

-F

NIKI2

Sunday, October 14, 2012 7:43 PM

Actually, PK, I agree with you. While I recognize the "slippery slope" of censoring or punishing some free speech, I, too, would like to see it slightly less black and white. But that's just me.

I see you've got another similarity to us:

Quote:
Some of Britain's most influential former military figures are under investigation after allegedly boasting about their ability to secure arms contracts for private firms in violation of British law.

The "generals for hire" scandal broke late Saturday following the publication of a Sunday Times investigation that used hidden cameras to capture the alleged claims by the men, all recently retired military officers.

The Ministry of Defense moved quickly Sunday to distance itself from the alleged actions of the retired generals, saying an investigation was under way.

"Equipment is procured in the interests of our Armed Forces and not in the interests of retired personnel. Former military officers have no influence over what (defense ministry) contracts are awarded," Philip Hammond, the defense secretary, said.

In Britain, military personnel are required to wait two years after leaving the service before taking a job where their former position may give their employer or clients an advantage.

According to the Sunday Times, its three-month investigation focused on "the revolving door between the Ministry of Defense and private arms companies."

Lt. Gen. Sir John Kiszely allegedly confided to a reporter posing as a representative of an arms firm that he could use his role as president of the Royal British Legion to push his clients' agenda with the prime minister and other senior officials.

Another retired military official, Lt. Gen. Richard Applegate -- a former defense ministry procurement chief -- was captured on video allegedly describing a secret lobbying campaign in parliament on behalf of an Israeli arms company. http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/14/world/europe/britain-generals-for-hire/i
ndex.html?hpt=hp_t2

Sad to see that over there; we're steeped in it, so I'm sad to see it happening in any other country, too.

PEACEKEEPER

Tuesday, October 23, 2012 1:40 AM

It seems that the Jimmy saville accusations are increasingly becoming justified, according to an expose programme this evening. Cover ups going back 40 years. I'm embarrassed I defended him in the first place.
But the question still remains, "What is the point of investigating after the death???" If you can't come forward when alive and prosecutable,you will get no closure????"

With the grace of age, commander, we learn to accept.

NIKI2

Tuesday, October 23, 2012 1:43 AM

I agree about investigations after death...somehow it just doesn't seem right to a degree. I'm sure it does to those harmed, tho', so I won't try to stand in their shoes. Just damned, damned sad...

RIONAEIRE

Tuesday, October 23, 2012 6:34 AM

Of interest to me in this thread: I hope they figure out where that little Welsh girl is and who did it. And that Scottish independence thing got my attention. I'm the type of person who is notoriously predictable, for instance the reasons I thought those stories stood out are so apparent, I'm quite transparent I'm afraid. And I see nothing wrong with that.
I like knowing what else is going on, all the stuff here gets old after a while and its fun to be informed about the rest of humanity instead of living in a little bubble.

Niki, I find it odd, and always have, how surprised you are that there is crap anywhere one goes. You always seem so surprised by that concept, why? People are people and I know you know that, so I'm perplexed by the idea that the less desirable side of humans in any way surprises you.

"A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya

RIONAEIRE

Tuesday, October 23, 2012 3:54 PM

Oh, Peace and KPO, and anyone else in the know, I was wondering about something I saw on TV the other day. On Secret Princes, a reality show I watch, they were showing lord so-and-so on his estate shooting at targets and having a jolly time. If the Everyman in Great Britain can't own firearms why can lord so-and-so? Maybe you can own guns if you go through lots of paperwork etc.? I'm confused.

"A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya

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