UK Riots - Solution

A lot of the analysis and debate sparked by recent events has unfortunately suffered from one fatal error rendering most attempts futile and meaningless.

People have attempted to address and package the issue as if there were one archetypal rioter:

Some claiming it's a "black issue" - where are the role models/fathers? Let's blame Hip-Hop and rap music!
Others claiming it's a "class issue" - it's the underprivileged, "deprived", downtrodden, all lashing out.

Truth is, people who have fallen into this trap could not be more wrong. The events over the past few days are a evidence of a moral issue. People from all walks of life, all ages and shades have been caught on CCTV, are turning up at court and are occupying prison cells across the country. However, the one thing they all have in common is a damaged or non-existent moral compass.

So how do we address this? I would propose a compulsory enlisting of all offenders into aid agencies and charities and that they serve their sentences with them, or face triple the time in a prison, with weekly positive social-cognitive rebuilding therapy sessions as mandatory, if the placement is not acceptably upheld or abandoned.

Learning to help others and seeing the direct benefit that personal sacrifice and positive action can have on other people WILL assist in preventing future transgressions, the nature of which we've seen this week. This would probably be the first time in many of their lives, experiencing the phenomenon of doing good for nothing in return and changing other people's lives for the better; a shocking, but paradoxically unsurprising likelihood.

My proposed solution is one size and would fit all. I challenge anyone to find a better and more progressive solution.

- Mr Devo

UK Riots - West Lodon - Nottinghill area

Much was said about the alleged destruction in the Nottinghill area, here's what we saw on the streets.



Sloane Square Money Exchange




Hugo Boss in Sloane Square


Office on Portobello Road



There were a couple of stores with smashed windows (at random)


Minimal damage in the Bayswater/Queensway area - Best One


Office on Queensway

All-in-all, the reports hearsay of major havoc in the Nottinghill area, was largely overblown. The streets were dead, bar a few small groups of children who were allegedly "tooled up."

Really glad the damage in the area was minimal, really feel for those less fortunate. Regardless of the anger/frustration/lack of connection these people animals feel, shattering the lives of your neighbours and destroying your hometowns will make life worse for everyone*

*As I wrote this, I realised perhaps, this is subconsciously exactly what they want...

But regardless of the motivations behind the destruction being dished out, the fact remains that good, innocent people are suffering as a result, and that is unforgivable.


- Mr Devo

Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes

I'm surprised by anyone who says they didn't see this destruction coming. You thought tuition fees were an issue for the young people in Britain? The people causing this destruction weren't there because they didnt believe they had University prospects - be serious - and after the protests failed and the fees rose, they believe it even less. This is what happens when the rich get rich and the poor get poorer.

- Mr Devo

Mother Father

MOTHER FATHERED ME. SHE'S TWICE THE MAN MY DAD WAS, BUT HALF THE FATHER I'LL BE ONE DAY, THANKS TO HER LOVE, SUPPORT & STRENGTH.

~ Mr. Devo

Thought of the day

"Same day different shit. Same chains, different whips."
- (@jonisms)

Although I wouldn't describe myself as a pessimist, I wrote that when I was 13. To be fair it was in reference to the worship of celebs and the blind pursuit of fame pedalled by western society and particularly in "Hip-Hop culture". Seems in 2011, not much has changed.

This comment I read on a BBC article today says a lot of what I'm thinking right now:

EazilyGrizly

IMO The increase in mental illness is more a symptom of the illusion of how much control we are told we have in our lives. We are given expectations of success, health/employment/life, to find that reality may fall short and there is little that you can do. As success is reflected by ownership, the threat of the loss of ownership is hard/impossible to comprehend (be it physical or emotional).

- Mr Devo

Pina 3D - An unassuming visual masterpiece

Whether you're a dance fan or not, if you're a fan of beautifully crafted visuals, this is definitely something worth seeing. I went to see this at one of my favourite cinemas, The Gate in Nottinghill and I was simply stunned throughout.

The movie's director Wim Wenders, effortlessly weaves through some of the most sublime and magical scenery ever to grace the big screen without the use of CGI.

The film poses itself as a documentary about award-winning dancer and choreographer Pina Bausch, and the documentary aspect is perhaps the only weakness of this wonderful film. Much of the documentary elements feel after the fact, and shallow - appearing more like add-on tributes to the late great Pina, rather than a well thought through piece of documentary work.

However, these elements are small blips in what I would only describe as a ground-breaking, spine-tingling, emotive masterpiece. Definitely worth a butchers and the 3D aspect of the film is some of the best use of the technology I've ever seen, far from the merely gratuitous and increasingly cliche 3D shots typical of Hollywood-style blockbusters; Wim Wenders, 3D producer Erwin M. Schmidt and the 3D Supervisor François Garnier do a fantastic job of utilizing the technology to push the boundaries of 3D and truly add to the visual experience.

Pina 3D is a rare gem, check here for listings.

- Mr Devo

The Barber's speech - One of the most inspiring movie moments of all time

I'm sorry, but I don't want to be an emperor. That's not my business. I don't want to rule or conquer anyone. I should like to help everyone, if possible, Jew, gentile, black man, white. We all want to help one another. Human beings are like that. We want to live by each other's happiness — not by each other's misery. We don't want to hate and despise one another.

In this world there is room for everyone. And the good earth is rich and can provide for everyone. The way of life can be free and beautiful, but we have lost the way. Greed has poisoned men's souls, has barricaded the world with hate, has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed. We have developed speed, but we have shut ourselves in. Machinery that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical. Our cleverness, hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery we need humanity. More than cleverness we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost.

The aeroplane and the radio have brought us closer together. The very nature of these inventions cries out for the goodness in men, cries out for universal brotherhood, for the unity of us all. Even now my voice is reaching millions throughout the world — millions of despairing men, women and little children — victims of a system that makes men torture and imprison innocent people. To those who can hear me, I say — do not despair. The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed — the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress. The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people and so long as men die, liberty will never perish.

Soldiers! Don't give yourselves to brutes — men who despise you — enslave you — who regiment your lives — tell you what to do — what to think and what to feel! Who drill you, diet you, treat you like cattle, use you as cannon fodder. Don't give yourselves to these unnatural men — machine men with machine minds and machine hearts! You are not machines! You are not cattle! You are men! You have the love of humanity in your heart. You don't hate! Only the unloved hate — the unloved and the unnatural!

Soldiers! Don't fight for slavery! Fight for liberty! In the 17th Chapter of St. Luke it is written: "the Kingdom of God is within man" — not one man nor a group of men, but in all men! In you! You, the people have the power — the power to create machines. The power to create happiness! You, the people, have the power to make this life free and beautiful, to make this life a wonderful adventure.

Then, in the name of democracy, let us use that power! Let us all unite! Let us fight for a new world, a decent world that will give men a chance to work, that will give youth the future and old age a security. By the promise of these things, brutes have risen to power, but they lie! They do not fulfill their promise; they never will. Dictators free themselves, but they enslave the people! Now, let us fight to fulfill that promise! Let us fight to free the world, to do away with national barriers, to do away with greed, with hate and intolerance. Let us fight for a world of reason, a world where science and progress will lead to all men's happiness.

Soldiers! In the name of democracy, let us all unite!

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I hope you can relate, if only we could all act on these words.

- Mr Devo