United Kingdom 01 (Dec 10 to Jan 12)

[winston]

Now you can understand why the Americans wants to have the right to arm themselves.

[LenaHuat]

The mayor of London has spoken out against neighborhood vigilante corps taking the law into their hands. The police has also asked residents not to do so. The fear is that vested interest groups could take advantage of the situation and carve our territories and create political issues and friction on the group. They fear adding oil to the fire.
In short, leave it to the police to reclaim the streets of UK.

[kennynah]

thankfully.... it seems safe here....

gave chocs to the passnig by police officers on the road.... they seem calm.....

spoke to two officers who came to my building...they too seem ok...

it seems...its calmed down....

[winston]

gave chocs to the passnig by police officers on the road.... they seem calm.....

1) The battle between the haves and have-nots, are not as emotional as the racial battles.

2) Did the police made sure that you also ate some of the chocs before they ate their portion ? Personally, I will not accept food or drinks from strangers

[winston]

thankfully.... it seems safe here....

Good, I was worried that they may invite you for some kopi, when you were back recently

[kennynah]

Oh... I'm a nobody. They aren't keen on a small potatoe

[winston]

Good excuse for China to continue restricting the internet. And does this guy know what's a proxy server ? Idiot ..

British PM proposes social media ban for rioters By Doug Gross, CNN

In wake of UK riots, Cameron says he's considering blocking Facebook, Twitter for some

Free-speech advocates say Cameron's words could have "frightening consequences"

(CNN) -- British Prime Minister David Cameron thinks he's found some culprits to blame in the recent riots that have rocked London and other cities -- Facebook and Twitter.

Saying the "free flow of information" can sometimes be a problem, Cameron's government has summoned those two social-networking sites, as well as Research In Motion, makers of the BlackBerry, for a meeting to discuss their roles during the violent outbreaks.

"Everyone watching these horrific actions will be struck by how they were organized via social media," Cameron said Thursday during an address to Parliament. "Free flow of information can be used for good. But it can also be used for ill. And when people are using social media for violence, we need to stop them."

Cameron said that government officials are working with authorities "to look at whether it would be right to stop people communicating via these websites and services when we know they are plotting violence, disorder and criminality."

More than 1,200 people have been arrested nationwide, Cameron told lawmakers. One estimate found that UK retailers lost more than than £100 million ($161 million) in stolen goods and property damage over four nights of rioting.

London to hold night court sessions Cameron, a Conservative, seems to have support for a potential crackdown, even from members of the opposition Labor Party.

"Free speech is central to our democracy, but so is public safety and security," said Ivan Lewis, the shadow secretary of culture in the House of Commons, according to London's Guardian newspaper. "We support the government's decision to undertake a review of whether measures are necessary to prevent the abuse of social media by those who organize and participate in criminal activities."

Home Secretary Theresa May has called for meetings with the three companies in the coming weeks, according to British media.

Many UK rioters reportedly used BlackBerry Messenger, a free, private instant-messaging tool, to organize. A recent survey found that 37% of British teens prefer BlackBerrys to other smartphones.

Twitter and Facebook have been used as well, although those sites also have been used to organize cleanup efforts and calls for peace in the wake of riots that started in London's Tottenham district on Saturday after police shot and killed a man.

Representatives of Facebook and Twitter said they're happy to meet with the government, although both would presumably object to being censored or shut down in the UK.

Twitter has said it has no intention to block accounts or delete posts, while Facebook has said publicly that it already shut down pages that explicitly incited violence.

Research in Motion's Inside BlackBerry blog was hacked Tuesday after the Canadian smartphone maker suggested it would cooperate with London police to help identify rioters who may have used BlackBerrys to plan mayhem.

Open-Web and free-speech advocates immediately objected to Cameron's language.

"It may be tempting to smother that kind of speech when a government feels it is under siege, as Britain seems to feel that it is," wrote Matthew Ingram of tech blog GigaOm. "But doing this represents nothing less than an attack on the entire concept of freedom of speech, and that has some frightening consequences for any democracy."

Ingram questioned whether the government would be cracking down on telephone use or people talking about the unrest at their local pub if social media didn't exist. "That seems unlikely (although not impossible). But the British government's apparent willingness to consider shutting down or blocking access to Twitter and BlackBerry's BBM falls into the same category."

On ReadWriteWeb, writer Curt Hopkins said Cameron "joins the long line of powerful men who totally miss the point of social media."

"Banning those convicted of crimes from accessing social networks (the idea being that they used such access to organize criminal activities) is no different than banning the same criminals from accessing goose quills and ink pots," Hopkins wrote. "It will have zero effect on crime, aside from criminalizing social media itself."

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/TECH/social ... index.html

[iam802]

Mooncake festival coming out soon. It was said that mooncakes were used to organise and coordinates rebellions.

We should ban mooncakes also.

Now, they try to ban Facebook..what else will they ban. It will be worse if folks start using private social sites instead of Facebook.

Wars on other countries are not even organised via Socia Media networks.

[kennynah]

The situation here on Monday is calm.

I notice a markedly less human traffic along the streets and we spotted an increase in police personnel walking about. Otherwise, it appears normality has resumed.

[kennynah]

cameron wants to implement a

National Citizen Service for 16 year olds... like our National Service, but minus the uniforms...

i seriously doubt he will have the political strength to see this into reality...