Demonstrators swarm central London to protest spending cuts

[tallywacker]

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/europe...ion/index.html

London (CNN) -- Scattered violence broke out Saturday as tens of thousands of demonstrators marched through central London to protest proposed austerity measures and public-sector spending cuts.

Police arrested 214 people for criminal damage, public order offenses, aggravated trespass and violent disorder after several businesses were vandalized, police said.

Thirty-one police officers were hurt during the protests, with one being treated in the hospital, they added. Police said another 53 people were injured, at least 15 of which were taken to the hospital.

The Trades Union Congress (TUC), which organized the demonstration, said nearly half a million people were taking part, far exceeding their original estimate of 100,000 participants. London's Metropolitan Police would not give an estimate of the number of participants.

"Banker's greed or people's needs -- Cut bonuses not benefits" read one placard at the protest. "Strike together to bring down the government" read another.

The march was largely peaceful apart from isolated skirmishes between protesters and police, authorities said.

"The main TUC march has been going well. We have had more than a quarter of a million people with hardly any problems," Police Commander Bob Broadhurst said.

"Unfortunately we have had a group of approximately 500 criminals committing some disorder ... and scaring the public who are trying to shop. That has been concerning but we are on top of it."

He said some of the protesters threw paint at a clothing store on Oxford Street and at the police. Protesters also threw light bulbs filled with ammonia at officers after they intervened to stop paint and bottles being thrown at store windows, police said earlier.

Protesters also damaged branches of the HSBC and Santander banks and overturned trash cans. Protesters then made their way to Piccadilly Circus and the nearby Ritz Hotel, where they swarmed the famous entrance arcade.

They smashed a nearby Starbucks Coffee window and spray-painted anarchy symbols on the front. Police lined up at the sandwich shop next door to stop further damage.

Police also set up a so-called "containment" area Saturday night in Trafalgar Square, where police said officers were coming under "sustained attack." Protesters were later being allowed to leave the square in small groups.

[Particle Man]

Their message would have been stronger if they hadn't destroyed property. Once they crosses that line they just became an angry mob.

[Captain Morgan]

Governments do need to get spending under control, but so do people. Problem is, too many people have come to rely on government aid, rather than getting an actual job and working for a living. Granted, government seems to cause all of that by putting tons of rules on businesses, making said businesses go elsewhere to set up shop. It's a never-ending cycle. Governments should only be there to keep order and set up infrastructure. MAYBE healthcare, but I don't trust the government to run that right now. People need to be responsible for themselves, stop feeling so entitled, and actually start earning what they need. We've all become a society of excess, and think we "need" things that we actually just "want."

[Kaneman]

Originally Posted by Particle Man

Their message would have been stronger if they hadn't destroyed property. Once they crosses that line they just became an angry mob.

That may be exactly what the opposing Government wants you to think...

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/03/2...lag-operation/

An Indiana prosecutor and Republican activist has resigned after emails show he suggested Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker stage a fake attack on himself to discredit unions protesting his budget repair bill.

The Republican governor signed a bill on March 11 that eliminates most union rights for public employees.

In an email from February 19, Indiana deputy prosecutor Carlos F. Lam told Walker the situation presented "a good opportunity for what’s called a ‘false flag’ operation."

[Particle Man]

Originally Posted by Kaneman

That may be exactly what the opposing Government wants you to think...

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/03/2...lag-operation/

It's what I think without any outside influence. I lose respect for people the second they start destroying something that belongs to someone else. What right do they have to violate someone ELSE's rights just to prove their point? That just screams hypocrisy.

[Captain Morgan]

Originally Posted by Kaneman

That may be exactly what the opposing Government wants you to think...

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/03/2...lag-operation/

Originally Posted by Particle Man

It's what I think without any outside influence. I lose respect for people the second they start destroying something that belongs to someone else. What right do they have to violate someone ELSE's rights just to prove their point? That just screams hypocrisy.

I think he's claiming these people were "plants" that were put there specifically to put a bad name on the rest of the protestors.

[Particle Man]

Originally Posted by Captain Morgan

I think he's claiming these people were "plants" that were put there specifically to put a bad name on the rest of the protestors.

Ah. Gotcha.

Viva La RevolutÃ*ón!

[Papa_Complex]

Originally Posted by Kaneman

That may be exactly what the opposing Government wants you to think...

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/03/2...lag-operation/

They were claiming the same thing about the G20, in Toronto. It was crap. They've nailed a bunch of people for it.

Bloody Poll Tax riots in the making, all over again. What do they expect, when their government is on the brink of bankruptcy? Raise taxes, and they scream. Cut services, and they riot. The government just can't win, whether or not they're responsible for the current British financial crisis.

[Kaneman]

Originally Posted by Papa_Complex

They were claiming the same thing about the G20, in Toronto. It was crap. They've nailed a bunch of people for it.

Bloody Poll Tax riots in the making, all over again. What do they expect, when their government is on the brink of bankruptcy? Raise taxes, and they scream. Cut services, and they riot. The government just can't win, whether or not they're responsible for the current British financial crisis.

Maybe they expect their Government to quit shitting their money down the toilet on bullshit wars and police state enforcement and to actually use it for the public good....presumably by NOT cutting said services.

Just a guess.

[Papa_Complex]

Originally Posted by Kaneman

Maybe they expect their Government to quit shitting their money down the toilet on bullshit wars and police state enforcement and to actually use it for the public good....presumably by NOT cutting said services.

Just a guess.

Then perhaps they should have better considered the results of actually going to war, which the majority of Britons seemed to have supported at the time, rather than just jumping on the jingoistic band wagon? Buyers' remorse?

Just a guess