In the UK, because content, context and intent are irrelevant, you could be arrested for some innocent stuff you posted online, like a bad joke even. It wouldn't be the case in the US because your freedom of speech is very well protected by the First Amendment.

@Ryo1 I have not followed this very closely but here is one case. A 51-year-old woman, sole carer for her mum with Alzheimer's got 15 months for a post on FB. On 1st glance, it looks disproportional. However, she called for setting fire to mosques with all the Muslims still inside. Ask yourself what reaction you expect from the police if it was a young Muslim who called for church burnings?
With freedom comes responsibility, if you cannot or will not act responsibly. Then you can expect consequences.

@273kelvin
And what about the consequences burglars should face? We are only 8 months in to 2024, yet England & Wales's police forces have already received 234,200 crime reports about burglary, many of which they are yet to solve.

@Ryo1 Why make this an either/or question?* I`ve been skewed several times and sure as shit I want the bastards caught but all those knobheads destroying our cities did not just appear from nowhere. They were fermented online and whipped up by misinformation. Any police force would be derelict in its duty if it neglected this.

• Reminiscent of a drunk driver asking the cop "why he is not arresting paedos"

@273kelvin
>>Why make this an either/or question?
You started it, mate. Lol
>>>all those knobheads destroying our cities did not just appear from nowhere
I don't condone hate speech nor do I condone violence. The riots we've had on British streets (and I won't be surprised if there are more to come) are a symtom of the crisis of British society. Plebs are angry. Unlike, say, celebs from priviledged backgrounds who can get away with anything they say or do in the public domain most of the time, plebs have difficulties having their voices heard. That's my take. Even my Nan who has always been a labour supporter says she can see where they (protesters, not thugs who are taking the advantage of the protests) are coming from on this occasion. In the general election we've just had, only half of the British adult population cast their votes, and more than half of Brits think the UK is going in the wrong direction. What is the primary cause of all this?

@Ryo1 All societies have problems. The Southport attack was a vile hate-filled crime. But I fail to see where more hate makes it better. Those knobheads voted for Brexit to a man. Now they are pissed off that their little England did not magically appear like they were told it would. Oh, who would have thought that the right-wing tells you porkies?
But all this is mute compared to the question you failed to answer. Why make this an either/or question? Your silence can only infer the drunk driver's motive.

@Ryo1 Oh and you missed out the "but"
"I don't condone hate speech nor do I condone violence. The riots we've had on British streets (and I won't be surprised if there are more to come) are a symptom of the crisis of British society."

@273kelvin
You are the one who is playing the either/or game. Or shall I rephrase it to 'left or right' game? Lol
IMO, the primary cause of the societal crisis we've been having is identity politics. If I must argue in the left vs the right context, the left play it on behalf of the oppressed and the right play on behalf of national pride. 'Divide and conquer' is the strategy palyed by both sides. Off to the pub. Cheers.

@Ryo1 Sorry but YOU tried to equate a failure to clear up burglaries with the prosecution of internet hate crimes. That begs the either/or question and the motive for the inclusion of an apples/oranges proposition.
You say that you do not condone hate speech yet you infer that you would not want it prosecuted. So how would you curb the incitement to violence that has seen so many of the police attacked?

@273kelvin only in the carer's situation she did not actually go out & set fire to the mosque. She typically however would appear to have been influenced by others who equally didn't think it through - any burned in the mosque would have been proclaimed martyrs & therefore given instant entry into heaven, if had merely been the mosque to be burned would result in far greater outrage.
Do you know if her influencers were pursued & prosecuted?

@273kelvin, @Ryo1 how many burglaries are committed by the police themselves?

@273kelvin, @Ryo1 What is the primary cause of all this? - how about people wakening to the realisation that they have been conned all their lives by governments feathering their own pockets at the expense of the common people?
And that their parents, grandparents & greatgrandparents were all similarly conned & defrauded not only of living standards but of their lives also!

@273kelvin, @Ryo1 "identity politics" FFS when are you going to wake up to the fact that the only good politician is one who has been dead for more than 50 years & some even longer is required.

@FrayedBear Again I fail to see how a situation caused by hate can be made better with more hate.

@FrayedBear
When granddads and grandmas who have lived in the same streets all their lives say something like 'My street used to be filled with the smell of roasr dinners every Sunday, but now, all I can smell is curry. Where's my good old English town gone?', they are not expressing hatred towards their Asian neighbours; they are simply feeling the loss of their identity. I don't know what we can do about it (and it's certaily not the Asian neighbours' fault), but there is room for sympathy, I think. And when people like them take frustration and anger to streets, because they feel that they have been marginalized and unfairly treated by the authorities, and join peaceful protests, they are taken over by thugs and get tarred with the same brush and labelled as 'far-right' by the mainstream media. (The same thing happens to LGBTP+ protesters - they are all seen as woke when many of them are not.) People protest against the government for all sorts of reasons and their right to protest is protected by law in the UK. Protests are always about justice, not about hate. IMO, people who see protests as hate marches are somewhat misinformed and mislead by those who have political agendas, including MSM.

@Ryo1 do I understand you correctly in that you are talking of ego driven nostalgia for the smell of roast beef, lamb or pork on Sunday by people so constrained by their indoctrination that they cannot enjoy a curry? I would also suggest that such prejudice is also prevalent through a failure of newcomers to help integration by sharing their beautiful humanity with the original inhabitants by inviting them to participate in the curry or national dish that differs from the roast or steak & kidney. It is not just racially different migrants who experience xenophobia.I moved from NSW to W.Victoria in Australia about 15 years ago & then several years later moved across town. I issued RSVP invitations to 60 people to be dined at my expense in order to introduce myself to neighbours & mainly people whom I had already encountered in daily life. Out of 60 invitations I only received 2 replies accepting but sadly neither could eventually attend - one died & the other moved interstate. I contrast this to an alfresco event in winter that I held in NSW after inviting 50 people to a 5 course banquet. 47 turned up including one great crasher & the party went on for 6 hours without complaint as to food quality or quantity. Nor was any animosity expressed amongst the 47 largely disparate guests who ranged in age from 21 through to 98. The difference between the Victorian & the NSW guests IMO being that the Victorian had larger chips on their shoulders resulting in personal insecurities caused by greater isolation from main city life\influence together with extreme religiosity.

@Ryo1 I believe that the influence of migration, TV & radio exposure has now had considerable effect in reducing the variation in English accents from the days when I grew up there. I used to be able to hear the subtle change of accent that usually occurred about every 5 miles out from my hometown. In more densely populated places like London I'm led to believe that it could change from suburb to suburb which led to the old hoary acting joke of the response to the director's instruction for "a London accent" to result in the query something like "is that a Pimlico, Limehouse or Stepney accent?" I always posited that the accent changes were not just due to localised influence resulting in everyone wanting to sound the same as the neighbour but also in s time when people travelled little from their birthplace was a very rapid means of stranger danger warning.
So the question is "should migrants attempt to assimilate more than they do or is it up to the hosts to ensure that ethnic ghettos are not allowed to form?

@FrayedBear
>>do I understand you correctly in that you are talking of ego driven nostalgia for the smell of roast beef, lamb or pork on Sunday by people so constrained by their indoctrination that they cannot enjoy a curry?
No. Nostalgia, yes, but not ego driven. I'm talking about the elderly and their sentiments about the happy past they fondly talk of and the current societal changes which they find too quick and feel they are too old for. They don't hate immigtants. In fact, many of them are immigrants themselves. They went through a lot together, didn't they, not to mention the war, and they became united to rebuild the contry together. Not so much about us vs them then. Integration was a more natural process. This kind of stories are sometimes told by the elderly I know or knew. Of course, they see life through their lenses, and some are rose-tinted.

@FrayedBear
Assimilation - no. Integration - yes.

@Ryo1 "No. Nostalgia, yes, but not ego driven." I do not see nostalgia as anything other than an ego driven activity - the nostalgic is wanting to re-experience their beloved experience & wants everyone else to be the same ie. Narcissistic desire (an egoistic state) for everyone to be like them.

On the elderly - IMO they have been subjected to greater discrimination by subsequent generations than any immigrants have. . . Senicide is the #1 de facto determinant of policy toward the elderly & also the most prevalent folies en masse of most governments around the world irrespective of that government's political view.

On assimilate vs integration I direct you to the definition of assimilate & point out that ghettos are integrated into the structure & society of cities.

@Ryo1 Can you show me where mass migration has occurred that the migrants have not been herded in effective ethnic ghettos that in fact prevent assimilation & integration but accentuate ethnic differences?

@FrayedBear
My understanding of assimilation is that one culture is absorbed into another (dominant culture) to the extent that the former loses its own idenity. Meanwhile,integration brings both together while respecting each other's cultural elements.

@Ryo1 Most of my life I have celebrated, shared & promoted the folk & traditional music, dances & customs of others different to myself. I suggest that you go to [traditionalfolkmusicorpoetryonthegjbs.blogspot.com] for evidence of that.

In my time broadcasting I've broadcast performers singing in more languages than either the ABC or SBS (the Australian government funded national broadcasters).
Apart from one small grant received 20+ years ago from a local council to buy records, I received no payment for my many hours of public broadcasting or the cost of the library of music to play on air.

@Ryo1 try reading the definition of assimilate that gave previously. I've highlighted the relevant part for you.
Integration is a two way process IMO not a subsuming of one culture\ethnicity into another.

@273kelvin what hate are you referring to Kelvin. I do not hate israeli Jews I just consider that their behaviour is such that they no longer are entitled to a place amongst the human race as they cannot be trusted with their beliefs that have lead to their psychopathic behaviours. Therefore the only humane response is to lobotomise them.

@FrayedBear Fuck off yer barn pot

@273kelvin now there's an expression that I've not heard for a long time. Its vehemence however indicates that I've just stated an obvious truth that your brain is not capable of processing - hence your reaction to a simple logical conclusion that will benefit all of humanity.

@FrayedBear I can only assume that you have tried one of those lobotomies yourself. I am sorry to say this but you finally have earned a block from me. Perhaps you could take that as an indication of just how far your little train has shuffled around the friggin bend lar

@Ryo1 if content, context and intent are irrelevant how can anything you post result in your being arrested. Surely you only get arrested for something that has intent to harm others through criminal slander, threat, blackmail or incitement to unlawful activity?

@Ryo1 as @273kelvin has suddenly blocked me but a friend has supplied me with his response to my last reply but because of the block the system does not allow me to respond directly I ask you to please convey my response to him.
His response to me was "@FrayedBear I can only assume that you have tried one of those lobotomies yourself. I am sorry to say this but you finally have earned a block from me. Perhaps you could take that as an indication of just how far your little train has shuffled around the friggin bend lar"
@273kelvin if I had been lobotomised I would not be able to respond to you. However as I've not been committing apartheid, atrocities & genocide against others for 76+ years nor been an American Vietnam veteran with severe PTSD+ depression why would I be lobotomised? I don't need protecting from myself nor does the rest of the world.

You terminate your response with the word "lar". I do not understand your usage as a lar is a common gibbon found in Malaysia & Thailand.

@FrayedBear
That's his loss. Once anyone resorts to fallacies in a debate and you sense it, that's the end of the debate. Don't waste your time.

@FrayedBear
Like that Scottish guy who got arrested for training a dog to give Nazi salutes only as a joke to amuse his girlfriend is a good example of being arrested for hate crime in the UK. That was utterly out of the context.