Trouble at the video shop

[mockney piers]

We nicknamed him stooge.

Mark and I will now splurge our new found wealth on one and a half tickets for one of saturday's premiership games.

[MadWorld74]

I agree fractionlater...!!!!! My father who was in WW2, says that no man when faced with the threat of death in war, wants to be in that situation; however courageous they may have felt at the start. Put these idiots in a real gun situation where no one cares what crew they come from. Brings 'live by the gun, die by the gun' into a whole new meaning.

[Mark]

I have met gangsters in the past and subtlety is the best approach apparently, although hectic-ness is best for security van jobs and when the old bill are coming on top.

[ChavWivaLawDegree]

I'm not sure how you guys can be surprised really, with Peckham next door. At least you don't all live in the middle of the North Peckham Estate (is it still called that?) or the Wooddene.

I know many of the youths in Sydenham are also trying to compete with the Lewisham Ghetto boys, so we are pretty much surrounded! If we don't accept the need to address the disenfranchisement and inequality in our society that encourages people labelled as worthless, to find the means to climb up an alternative (violent criminal) system, we will see more and more of this kind of thing happening.

[MadWorld74]

ganster in my mind are The Krays, who despite being bloody violent, were gents. These school kid scum need to be dragged out of the streets and made to do National Service. We can talk about them not having father figures until we're blue in the face.

[fractionater]

either that or put them on hard labour!

[MadWorld74]

hard labour? Nah, there's anti-hard labour groups about that wouldn't allow that. The criminal it would seem has far more human rights than the victim. Make a criminal do hard labour! This isn't Victorian London! outcry outcry.

[ChavWivaLawDegree]

Alternatively we could all carry guns.

[MadWorld74]

Alernatively we could all move to the States.

[Brendan]

Somehow I don?t feel comfortable with the concept of carting the criminal element off to the army. That?s all we need, criminals who are trained and capable. They are bad enough as drug addled neanderthals.

[Asset]

is that the criminals or the soldiers?

[MadWorld74]

The person(s) who held up the vid shop? the person(s) who help up the co-op, William Hill, Willow, HSBC, the newsagents on Goodrich....have they all been caught?

[Mark]

or we could remember that this has happened only a few times in the last year in East Dulwich (as I recall) and they were by kids and a scag-heads doing robberies on shops. Fortunately we're not in a gun crime hot spot and there haven't actually been any shootings, touch wood, but it may happen. Shootings happen really infrequently and we should appreciate that and not freak out when something like this happens

[MadWorld74]

See my point made yesterday about us being conditioned by all this."at least no one's been shot yet, we can be grateful for that" Bollocks. We shouldn't have to even be talking about guns.

Oh if only I could travel back in time to when gents dualled on the heath to rectify there quibbles.

[Asset]

what's the difference between running each other through with swords and shooting?

[Mark]

but I am grateful that no-one's been shot

[Brendan]

Mark Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> or we could remember that this has happened only a

> few times in the last year in East Dulwich (as I

> recall) and they were by kids and a scag-heads

> doing robberies on shops. Fortunately we're not in

> a gun crime hot spot and there haven't actually

> been any shootings, touch wood, but it may happen.

> Shootings happen really infrequently and we should

> appreciate that and not freak out when something

> like this happens

I have to disagree. You have to freak out about things like this. If you just accept them where are you going draw the line? If one person is mugged a year that is one too many and it is cause for concern and action because rather that than finding yourself standing at a graveside wishing there was something that could have been done.

[Mark]

Asset Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> what's the difference between running each other

> through with swords and shooting?

swords are recyclable and can be used again

[MadWorld74]

being run through is a set up agreed on both sides. And no one else gets hurt.

[mockney piers]

Brendan you've reminded me of an article I read last year about how the US army is so desperate for recruits that they're turning a blind eye to gang membership which was once a big no no.

These gang members get military training, often explosives know how, even ship AKs back the states,and then return to train up their buddies on their return.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/10/01/ING42LCIGK1.DTL

So Brendan's probably spot on in suggesting that actively using this as a policy for scaring a bit of sense into kids isn't exactly the way forward.

[Mark]

I'm not saying don't address the situation, I'm just saying act rationally and effectively rather than freak out.

[MadWorld74]

oh dear....I can hear it now..."bring back capital punishment that'll learn 'em..."

[Brendan]

No that's a silly idea. I had my education beaten into me and it didn't do me any good at all. It just hurt.

[Keef]

A couple of years ago poor old George who ran the little post office on the corner of Pellat Road got shot about a week before they were due to close up and retire! Fortunately he was okay, but if ever there was a nice shop keeper who didn't deserve that sh!t it was him!

As an aside, I love the way a lot of these older shop keepers from India have names like George, Michael and Harry ;-)

[Brendan]

That was intended to be a joke, before I get chastised. Something along the lines of 4 hangings for not doing your geography homework.

Ok... not a very good joke. :-S