The Decline of Western Civilization in One Tweet

 

I hope we never get this bad, but I fear we might:

Instead of trying to ban basic household tools, maybe, just maybe, the answer is more policing. This:

Is a good start, but many are saying it’s far from enough. The BBC reports,

The money will mainly go to the seven forces where violence is highest.

But the fund – announced by Chancellor Philip Hammond in his Spring Statement – falls short of the £200m to £300m requested by police chiefs last week.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan said the extra money was “a drop in the ocean” after years of decreasing police budgets.

“Cuts have consequences and the government needs to urgently give our police the funding they desperately need,” he said.

Funding to police forces – which comes from central government and council tax – fell by 19% in real terms between 2010-11 and 2018-19, according to the National Audit Office.

Officer numbers have fallen by around 20,000 since 2010.

Knife crimes are at an all-time high, and the U.K. seems incapable and unwilling to get to the bottom of why.

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  1. EJHill Podcaster
    EJHill
    @EJHill

    Western Chauvinist: No! That’s too good to check.

    The original number I typed was wrong. It’s 500,000 bats, one baseball (and two gloves.)

    • #31
  2. James Gawron Inactive
    James Gawron
    @JamesGawron

    EJHill (View Comment):

    Stad: “It’s not a weapon, officer. I’m on my way to a cricket match.”

    You’re late to the game, Stad. Eight years ago AmazonUK reported a huge surge in sales of aluminum baseball bats in 2011.

    Other countries have followed suit. In 2016 Amazon sold 5,000 bats in Russia – and exactly one baseball.

    EJ,

    Regards,

    Jim

    • #32
  3. Clifford A. Brown Member
    Clifford A. Brown
    @CliffordBrown

    SkipSul (View Comment):

    Manny (View Comment):

    Is anyone aware of the demographics of these crimes? I’m suspecting immigrants. Anyone know? That’s why I think it doesn’t want to get to the bottom of this.

    Actually, it’s a pretty broad-spectrum crime issue, with racial gangs only part of the problem. I actually know a London cop, and off the record he’s been quite forthright on the matter. It’s really more a systemic problem the UK has had brewing for decades with regards to law enforcement, prosecution, laws against self-defense, etc.

    From the PMQ I embedded in Through the Wormhole with the DNC, the Prime Minister answered Labour’s “knife” with “drug gang.” If they are operating like US gangs, then I would assume that drugs are at the core of the business but other lucrative criminal lines are also managed in the gangs’ portfolios.

    • #33
  4. Manny Coolidge
    Manny
    @Manny

    SkipSul (View Comment):

    Manny (View Comment):

    Is anyone aware of the demographics of these crimes? I’m suspecting immigrants. Anyone know? That’s why I think it doesn’t want to get to the bottom of this.

    Actually, it’s a pretty broad-spectrum crime issue, with racial gangs only part of the problem. I actually know a London cop, and off the record he’s been quite forthright on the matter. It’s really more a systemic problem the UK has had brewing for decades with regards to law enforcement, prosecution, laws against self-defense, etc.

    Can you prove it to me?  I’m skeptical it’s native English that are knifing each other.

    • #34
  5. SkipSul Inactive
    SkipSul
    @skipsul

    Manny (View Comment):

    SkipSul (View Comment):

    Manny (View Comment):

    Is anyone aware of the demographics of these crimes? I’m suspecting immigrants. Anyone know? That’s why I think it doesn’t want to get to the bottom of this.

    Actually, it’s a pretty broad-spectrum crime issue, with racial gangs only part of the problem. I actually know a London cop, and off the record he’s been quite forthright on the matter. It’s really more a systemic problem the UK has had brewing for decades with regards to law enforcement, prosecution, laws against self-defense, etc.

    Can you prove it to me? I’m skeptical it’s native English that are knifing each other.

    The British underclass has a serious violent crime problem on its own, and then there are the gangs.  Skinhead gangs there are very very real, and very territorial.  The London cop I know won’t go on record (for obvious reasons), but last time he was here in the US he bought himself a bullet-proof vest for duty use since his own department was still very lax on body armor.

    • #35
  6. Manny Coolidge
    Manny
    @Manny

    SkipSul (View Comment):

    Manny (View Comment):

    SkipSul (View Comment):

    Manny (View Comment):

    Is anyone aware of the demographics of these crimes? I’m suspecting immigrants. Anyone know? That’s why I think it doesn’t want to get to the bottom of this.

    Actually, it’s a pretty broad-spectrum crime issue, with racial gangs only part of the problem. I actually know a London cop, and off the record he’s been quite forthright on the matter. It’s really more a systemic problem the UK has had brewing for decades with regards to law enforcement, prosecution, laws against self-defense, etc.

    Can you prove it to me? I’m skeptical it’s native English that are knifing each other.

    The British underclass has a serious violent crime problem on its own, and then there are the gangs. Skinhead gangs there are very very real, and very territorial. The London cop I know won’t go on record (for obvious reasons), but last time he was here in the US he bought himself a bullet-proof vest for duty use since his own department was still very lax on body armor.

    Scrolling down the various lists of knife attacks, it seems like the overwhelming majority of names listed are not Anglo Saxon. 

    • #36
  7. Clifford A. Brown Member
    Clifford A. Brown
    @CliffordBrown

    SkipSul (View Comment):

    Manny (View Comment):

    SkipSul (View Comment):

    Manny (View Comment):

    Is anyone aware of the demographics of these crimes? I’m suspecting immigrants. Anyone know? That’s why I think it doesn’t want to get to the bottom of this.

    Actually, it’s a pretty broad-spectrum crime issue, with racial gangs only part of the problem. I actually know a London cop, and off the record he’s been quite forthright on the matter. It’s really more a systemic problem the UK has had brewing for decades with regards to law enforcement, prosecution, laws against self-defense, etc.

    Can you prove it to me? I’m skeptical it’s native English that are knifing each other.

    The British underclass has a serious violent crime problem on its own, and then there are the gangs. Skinhead gangs there are very very real, and very territorial. The London cop I know won’t go on record (for obvious reasons), but last time he was here in the US he bought himself a bullet-proof vest for duty use since his own department was still very lax on body armor.

    Skinhead gangs occasionally identified as “football (soccer) hooligans?” 

    • #37
  8. Stad Coolidge
    Stad
    @Stad

    Bethany Mandel (View Comment):

    Stad (View Comment):

    Western Chauvinist (View Comment):
    Oh, for heaven’s sake. London has already outlawed (regulated) knives! That’s why (Muslim) gangs have started committing acid attacks.

    I’d like to suggest maybe it’s the immigrants who should have GPS trackers installed, but I’m scared London’s major would issue a Fatwa on me . . .

    That would, I fear, make things a lot worse. The more immigrant communities in Europe (I’m most familiar with France & Belgium because I lived there), the more extreme its members become. This was a disturbing story when I lived there and contributes a lot to the radicalization of France’s immigrant population.

    My comment was a bit tongue-in-cheek, but I agree.  I visited Europe with my parents in my mid-teens.  I’d love to go back, but will I be run down by a Muslim truck driver or have acid thrown in my face?

    The only solution is to expel the immigrants, to send them back.  If that happens, stand back and watch Europe turn into a battlefield . . .

    • #38
  9. Stad Coolidge
    Stad
    @Stad

    Manny (View Comment):

    SkipSul (View Comment):

    Manny (View Comment):

    Is anyone aware of the demographics of these crimes? I’m suspecting immigrants. Anyone know? That’s why I think it doesn’t want to get to the bottom of this.

    Actually, it’s a pretty broad-spectrum crime issue, with racial gangs only part of the problem. I actually know a London cop, and off the record he’s been quite forthright on the matter. It’s really more a systemic problem the UK has had brewing for decades with regards to law enforcement, prosecution, laws against self-defense, etc.

    Can you prove it to me? I’m skeptical it’s native English that are knifing each other.

    Google it.  It’s both.  Anyone who can’t get a gun can buy a knife – or cricket bat – or golf club – the Brits will have to outlaw everything until only fists are left.  And believe me, fists are a pretty darn good weapon too . . .

    • #39
  10. Mr Nick Inactive
    Mr Nick
    @MrNick

    Clifford A. Brown (View Comment):

    Stad (View Comment):

    David Carroll (View Comment):
    This is a clear demonstration that outlawing guns is the government demanding knife violence in preference to gun violence.

    Outlawing knives will result in England’s Muslims taking up cricket:

    “It’s not a weapon, officer. I’m on my way to a cricket match.”

    If you follow cricket, you know that it has been huge in former colonies and possessions for many years.

    Indeed: ‘The beard that is feared’

    If  a handful of Brits once governed Muslim majority countries, the only reason to fear a Muslim minority in a British majority country is a lack of faith in British values by the governing class.

    • #40
  11. Mr Nick Inactive
    Mr Nick
    @MrNick

    Stad (View Comment):

    Manny (View Comment):

    SkipSul (View Comment):

    Manny (View Comment):

    Is anyone aware of the demographics of these crimes? I’m suspecting immigrants. Anyone know? That’s why I think it doesn’t want to get to the bottom of this.

    Actually, it’s a pretty broad-spectrum crime issue, with racial gangs only part of the problem. I actually know a London cop, and off the record he’s been quite forthright on the matter. It’s really more a systemic problem the UK has had brewing for decades with regards to law enforcement, prosecution, laws against self-defense, etc.

    Can you prove it to me? I’m skeptical it’s native English that are knifing each other.

    Google it. It’s both. Anyone who can’t get a gun can buy a knife – or cricket bat – or golf club – the Brits will have to outlaw everything until only fists are left. And believe me, fists are a pretty darn good weapon too . . .

    Excellent research on gangs by Harriet Sergeant. Don’t worry, she is from Lady Thatcher’s CPS think tank. They are actually ‘our peeps’. James Delingpole has a podcast with her here.

    • #41
  12. Manny Coolidge
    Manny
    @Manny

    Stad (View Comment):

    Manny (View Comment):

    SkipSul (View Comment):

    Manny (View Comment):

    Is anyone aware of the demographics of these crimes? I’m suspecting immigrants. Anyone know? That’s why I think it doesn’t want to get to the bottom of this.

    Actually, it’s a pretty broad-spectrum crime issue, with racial gangs only part of the problem. I actually know a London cop, and off the record he’s been quite forthright on the matter. It’s really more a systemic problem the UK has had brewing for decades with regards to law enforcement, prosecution, laws against self-defense, etc.

    Can you prove it to me? I’m skeptical it’s native English that are knifing each other.

    Google it. It’s both. Anyone who can’t get a gun can buy a knife – or cricket bat – or golf club – the Brits will have to outlaw everything until only fists are left. And believe me, fists are a pretty darn good weapon too . . .

    Ok. I’ll trust you and Skip. But I couldn’t find it.

    • #42
  13. SkipSul Inactive
    SkipSul
    @skipsul

    Manny (View Comment):

    Stad (View Comment):

    Manny (View Comment):

    SkipSul (View Comment):

    Manny (View Comment):

    Is anyone aware of the demographics of these crimes? I’m suspecting immigrants. Anyone know? That’s why I think it doesn’t want to get to the bottom of this.

    Actually, it’s a pretty broad-spectrum crime issue, with racial gangs only part of the problem. I actually know a London cop, and off the record he’s been quite forthright on the matter. It’s really more a systemic problem the UK has had brewing for decades with regards to law enforcement, prosecution, laws against self-defense, etc.

    Can you prove it to me? I’m skeptical it’s native English that are knifing each other.

    Google it. It’s both. Anyone who can’t get a gun can buy a knife – or cricket bat – or golf club – the Brits will have to outlaw everything until only fists are left. And believe me, fists are a pretty darn good weapon too . . .

    Ok. I’ll trust you and Skip. But I couldn’t find it.

    It’s tough to sort out because different news outlets have their different biases.  Some will loudly proclaim “it’s the immigrants!” while others will gleefully accuse “it’s the whites!”, or others will claim “it’s the grandchildren of immigrants”.  Sadly, it’s subclasses of all, and that makes it really more a systemic cultural problem, which is the hardest of all to admit. 

    • #43
  14. Mr Nick Inactive
    Mr Nick
    @MrNick

    SkipSul (View Comment):

    Manny (View Comment):

    SkipSul (View Comment):

    Manny (View Comment):

    Is anyone aware of the demographics of these crimes? I’m suspecting immigrants. Anyone know? That’s why I think it doesn’t want to get to the bottom of this.

    Actually, it’s a pretty broad-spectrum crime issue, with racial gangs only part of the problem. I actually know a London cop, and off the record he’s been quite forthright on the matter. It’s really more a systemic problem the UK has had brewing for decades with regards to law enforcement, prosecution, laws against self-defense, etc.

    Can you prove it to me? I’m skeptical it’s native English that are knifing each other.

    The British underclass has a serious violent crime problem on its own, and then there are the gangs. Skinhead gangs there are very very real, and very territorial. The London cop I know won’t go on record (for obvious reasons), but last time he was here in the US he bought himself a bullet-proof vest for duty use since his own department was still very lax on body armor.

    Very true. Funnily enough it has risen with the expansion of government. Crime rates in Victorian times were much lower per capita. James Bartholomew had a great book on this a few years back.

    • #44
  15. Arizona Patriot Member
    Arizona Patriot
    @ArizonaPatriot

    These people are unbelievable.  Here’s what appears to be the official British government webpage on their knife regulations.

    They are treating their citizens like elementary school children.

    You can’t carry a knife in public, unless it has a folding blade less than 3 inches long, “without good reason.”  A judge will decide after-the-fact whether you had “good reason.”  By the way, a locking blade is not permitted.  Even your multi-tool may be illegal.

    I can think of some good reasons to carry a knife, and not a little one, either:

    (1) I might want to split a burrito with a friend.  I mean, if we get 3 burritos between the 2 of us.

    (2) A knife is quite useful for a wide variety of impromptu car and wardrobe repairs.

    (3) My larger buck knife is particularly good at clearing jams from my rifle.  Sometimes the round is just stuck in there, and you need a pretty big knife to generate sufficient leverage to get it out.

    • #45
  16. SkipSul Inactive
    SkipSul
    @skipsul

    This film is several years old now, but it still feels very current, and while a skinhead gang is the nominal enemy in the film, the police (and their PC constraints) constantly loom as the real target of scorn:  Harry Brown.  Excellent Michael Caine film.  You get a real feel for the problems of the Housing Estates – basically large tenement constructs, built by the government, for housing pensioners and such, but neglected and not given much attention.  

    • #46
  17. Clifford A. Brown Member
    Clifford A. Brown
    @CliffordBrown

    The original Italian Job portrayed organized criminals running the prison and running operations all the way to Italy from an English prison.

    • #47
  18. Matt Harris Member
    Matt Harris
    @MattHarris

    Every time I see something like this, I think that this is an impossible task.  All you need is a length of metal and a bit of sharpening. I take it they don’t have metal rulers or nails in Britain. You can’t keep makeshift knives out of prisons – how will they do it in the general population?

    • #48
  19. Mr Nick Inactive
    Mr Nick
    @MrNick

    Matt Harris (View Comment):

    Every time I see something like this, I think that this is an impossible task. All you need is a length of metal and a bit of sharpening. I take it they don’t have metal rulers or nails in Britain. You can’t keep makeshift knives out of prisons – how will they do it in the general population?

    Ban all nail files and letter openers! Someone could get hurt…

    If you don’t believe us, we will quote studies based on the lethality of Frodo’s glow-in-the-dark-sword, from The Lord of the Rings…. (yes, I know it wasn’t actually a glow in the dark sword…)

    (Sorry, it’s been a long day.)

    • #49
  20. Full Size Tabby Member
    Full Size Tabby
    @FullSizeTabby

    Arizona Patriot (View Comment):

    These people are unbelievable. Here’s what appears to be the official British government webpage on their knife regulations.

    They are treating their citizens like elementary school children.

    You can’t carry a knife in public, unless it has a folding blade less than 3 inches long, “without good reason.” A judge will decide after-the-fact whether you had “good reason.” By the way, a locking blade is not permitted. Even your multi-tool may be illegal.

    I can think of some good reasons to carry a knife, and not a little one, either:

    (1) I might want to split a burrito with a friend. I mean, if we get 3 burritos between the 2 of us.

    (2) A knife is quite useful for a wide variety of impromptu car and wardrobe repairs.

    (3) My larger buck knife is particularly good at clearing jams from my rifle. Sometimes the round is just stuck in there, and you need a pretty big knife to generate sufficient leverage to get it out.

    The other day at breakfast with some men from church, the discussion wandered onto the subject of local makers of custom knives (many of which cost several hundred to a thousand or more dollars). The guy next to me (raises longhorn cattle on his ranch) pulls out his custom utility knife to show us the features he finds useful for utility work around the ranch. The conversation then went off into the problems he was having with his new pistol. I’m liking my new home in north central Texas!

    • #50
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