The Mirror Yesterday

[Guest Tibbius]

Who is to blame for gun/nife crime?

im going to blame DTI, when i was 14/15 pirate radio kept me in yard

[abc123]

She won't reply.You worded it too well. She has no argument.

[A Bit Better]

On thinking about it, I think the letter should have gone to the editor. She's gonna tell you she just wrote the article and that the picture choices were not up to her.

[Aquaman]

Who is to blame for gun/nife crime?

theres no easy answer tbh.im not inna that writing essays like "why did world war II start."variety of factors

[A Bit Better]

I personally blame bad policing. If people weren't so sure they could get away with it they wouldn't do it. I'm sure most of us have carried a tool at some point for protection (and solely for protection). If that ever gets used then it's a case of the police failing us. If we felt protected we wouldn't carry it. Would probably cut knife crime by 3/4 if all the people that carry knives just for protection and not for badding up others were to stop.

[Mr Q]

this one 'Not the right sort of person' made me laugh, cos the journalist knows the levels

Good read, shes sick. Says alot aswell about the mentality of those in power.

[That's That Kid]

My response to this thread is simply to say, (aside from how it seems), how many of the black stabbings this year were not gang related?

[Guest Tibbius]

i refuse to believe that these white kids were stabbed for no reason at all

[Trilliam]

R.E. If you care about the under-representation of black youths who have lost their lives to street crime..Forward this to your entire address books.Forward this to your entire address books. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/20...me.youthjusticeArticle by Sunny Hundal: What Knife crime 'epidemic'The knife crime "epidemic" is almost a god-send for the Conservative party, mostly because it enables them to bash the government for its apparent ineffectiveness on reducing crime, while making bland statements that they would take "tough action" – which always plays well with voters.I realise it's not very fashionable to say in our media environment, but can we please have some sense of perspective on this issue? For a start, as Angela Phillips pointed out this morning, the figures don't actually bear out the reality of a crisis. Secondly, the coverage and the tough words are much more likely to increase the problem. And lastly, I hate to say this, but there is a strong undertone of "What are we going do about the black boys?" to all this.This week, the Independent on Sunday splashed its front page with the statistic that knife crime accounts for more than 14,000 victims a year. But, as the BBC's Mark Easton said in his blog, that also includes "accidental injuries from knives and other sharp implements". Take that out and it drops by half. According to the annual British Crime Survey, overall violent crime has decreased by 41% since a peak in 1995, of which knife crime forms 8% and has largely remained constant over the past decade. What has happened is that newer victims have become younger and, in London, overwhelmingly come from black families.That gives newspaper editors a familiar crusading editorial line. Remember only a few years ago when "black music" in the form of UK garage was to blame for crime and the So Solid Crew were being harassed everywhere? Yes, we're back to that again."If you look at the figures for the past 10 years, the number of knife victims has remained relatively stable – although there have been spikes – at 200 to 220 a year," says Richard Garside, director of the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies at Kings College London, in an article by BBC news.The same article then quotes one Scottish police officer as saying: "If you think you've got it bad down in London, you should take a look at Glasgow." According to statistics, there were 73 murders in the Strathclyde Police Force area, 40 of which involved knives. Knife crime levels in Scotland are 3.5 times higher than in England or Wales.And yet we don't hear any of that in our media. Is it because they're mostly white teenagers? Or is it because London editors are more concerned about what is happening around the corner than in Scotland? Probably a mixture of both. I'm neither trying to play down the fact that knife crime is a problem (I don't exactly live in a leafy suburb), nor defend this Labour government's record (they don't really have a clue either).But there is more than a whiff of idiocy to all this, watching the press posture over it. The Sun has clearly descended into farce, demanding "more arrests, stiffer sentences and more jails", because this has clearly solved the problem in the past. Add to that the endorsement of the view that these "evil people" should be packed off to join the army (because that's just what the army needs) and enforced national service, and you have the makings of a tabloid-driven political frenzy. And if that wasn't enough to make you cry, then read Daily Mirror columnist Polly Hudson's thoughts on the subject. All the press want is something to get angry about, and if its crime with black kids involved, all the better.If the media faux-outrage wasn't bad enough, remarks by politicians should surely put you off. Yesterday, David Cameron unveiled his big idea – lock up everyone with a knife – and blamed Labour's "broken society". Full marks for vacuous political posturing Mr Cameron, the kids from the streets will surely be quaking in their boots.In practice, that means certain "suspicious-looking" (read: black) kids will be harassed, who in turn will become even more suspicious of the police and cooperate less when people get murdered. Cameron is merely adding to the vicious circle. The more politicians and newspaper editors get outraged over knife crime, the more cool it makes the act of carrying one – will no one point out to Paul Dacre that he doesn't exactly carry much street cred?The Conservatives are so on the ball that when the violent crime reduction bill came up in 2006, they barely bothered to show up to vote. Should we really applaud a state of affairs where politicians only bother paying attention to an issue when it will generate them accolades in the Daily Mail? In a few months, when the news agenda has moved on, it won't be them who will keep dealing with the young kids. It's the necessity to jump on a bandwagon and display the right credentials that led Boris Johnson's team to do insufficient checks on Ray Lewis's background – that he was authentic and make them look good in the diversity stakes was good enough. That's not to say we don't need more people like Ray Lewis, who have experience in working with problematic kids, to deal with the problem. But give black families some credit please. Plenty of them have been speaking out against knife crime (and gun crime, remember that?) for years. It's neither new, nor an "epidemic". And I'm sure we could deal with the problem a lot better if it wasn't turned into a frenzy that required constant announcements of half-baked initiatives and strong words for the sake of purring sounds from tabloid editors. If the blue hyperlinks do not work then click the article and you can access them through there.http://www.liberalconspiracy.org/2008/06/1...sort-of-person/Article by Laurie Penny: Not the right sort of personYesterday, on emerging from the bowels of the Picadilly line as is my wont at half six on a Thursday, I was dismayed to see a wall of armoured police surrounding a pair of electronic weapons-detecting barriers through which the good residents of Wood Green were being made to walk. So I took it upon myself to engage a couple of members of Her Majesty’s Constabulary in conversation.‘Why are the scanners up again?’‘It’s a deterrent. You know, knife crime. You watch the news, don’t you?’‘So what are they for?’‘Well, to see if anyone’s carrying a knife.’‘Is it against the law to refuse to go through, then? Say, what would happen if I just walked right round the edge?’‘Well, you’re not exactly carrying a knife, are you?!’ Sner sner, oi lads look at the sweet little white girl in her cardie trying to be clever.I tried a different tack. ‘So, how do these barriers tell if you’re carrying a knife rather than just, say, any old metal?’‘They don’t. They’re quite neanderthal really. They just flash red when someone’s got metal.’‘But hang on. The lights are flashing red for every other person. Why aren’t you stopping all those people?’‘Well…’ indulgent little police-officer smile turns into get-rid-of-this-member-of-the-public grin ‘look, we just use our judgement - say, if someone like your good self set off the buzzers, well,’ looks me up and down ‘you’re clearly not the sort of person to be carrying a knife, are you?’‘So what sort of people would you stop and search, then?’‘Well, you watch the news.’‘Of course I watch the news. What sort of people would you stop?’‘You know, the sort of people who commit crimes. You watch the news.’‘You haven’t answered my question.’‘Are you a journalist?’‘Absolutely.’‘My colleagues and I aren’t trained for this. Bugger off and call the press office and go through those barriers while you’re about it.’Stunned, I marched through the ancient plastic barriers, the metal buckles on my boots winking.And the lights flashed red.And nobody stopped me.From Top to Bottom, Ben Kinsella, Jimmy Mizen, Rob Knox and Paul Mcmillan.From Left to Right, Alf Hitchcock, Danny Mizen, Ayisha Grant, Brooke Kinsella,Sally Knox.From Left to Right, Tony McNulty, Alan Mains, Gordon and Christine Sharp, June Sarpong, Elijah Kerr. Alf Hitchcock - Deputy Assistant Commisioner who speaks about knife crime. Danny Mizen - Eldest brother of Jimmy Mizen,16. Who was killed at a baker'sAyisha Grant - Used to carry a knife after seeing stabbings in Bristol. Brooke Kinsella - Actress who is grieving kid brother BEn. 16 who was killed on june 29.Sally Knox - Mother of Harry Potter star Rob, killed aged 18.Tony McNulty - Police Minister warned blade kids will end up dead or in jail. Alan Mains - Ex rop cop in Northern Ireland who cut crime. Gordons & Christine sharpe - Parents of Paul,19. Killed by a knife blow to the chest as he walked with girlfriend in Dagenham, East London. in 2006.June Sarpong - TV star who helps troubled youths through princes trust. Elijah Kerr - Former gang leader who encourages kids to reform. "Something I saw just pushed me even further towars thinking that the entire mainstream press are racist, to varying degrees. I'm sorry I can't get any scans from the Mirror, but I just can't find any, so if you care about this kind of thing then please be patient and read on.I just saw yesterdays Mirror - On the front page were pictures of three people. Ben Kinsella's Sister, Rob Knox's brother and Jimmy Mizen's mother. They were underneath a banner about a petition against knife crime, pointing to an article on inside the paper.On this article inside the paper, there are more family members, and there are also black faces. So I thought, fair enough, perhaps they aren't totally ignoring all of the murdered black kids... Then I looked closer and realised that they were not relatives of any of the Black victims, but were either celebrities (June Sarpong) or were involved in tacking knife crime in some way.To the left of this article are four pictures of some of the murdered teens going down the page (in order) Ben Kinsella, Rob Knox, Jimmy Mizen, and another murdered white kid.This has really got my back up. I don't know if this is intentionally being done or not - whether is because these Kids weren't in gangs themselves, whether it is unintentional because they are what their target audience can relate to. I'm just totally baffled by it.So anyways, I've written an email to the person who wrote the article:" "Dear Ms Neil,First and foremost, I will say that all of the murders of the young people this year have all been a tragic and dreadful waste of potential. And whilst I may not agree with the Mirror's demands, we strive for the same goal.I only just today happened to pick up a copy of yesterday's Daily Mirror whilst in a waiting room.I immediately noticed the front page pointer to your article regarding the anti-knife crime message. The picture on the front page was of (please correct me if I am wrong) Ben Kinsella's sister, Rob Knox's brother and Jimmy Mizen's Mother. Whilst I recognise the very serious and valid point you are making with the family members depicted in this way, I am curious to know why you chose the parents of these three murdered teens out of the now more than 20 murdered young people this year?Upon looking at your article, I was suprised to see that you had actually selected which of the murdered young people you would actually display alongside your article. It looks like four of them only made it through this vetting process. What made you chose the pictures of the murdered young people that you chose?I just can't get my head around how it may have worked. Did you sit down with pictures of all of the murdered young people, and pick out the deceased that would best suit your article?I hope the tone of this email does not come across as rude in any form, but I am desperately curious to know how you came about deciding the content (in terms of images) for your article.I hope you find the time to respond to this email,Best Regards,"Prologue and Letter written by ?E-Mail I'm gonna send to my entire address book, is that ok you reckon?

[roberz999]

i refuse to believe that these white kids were stabbed for no reason at all

more fool u then

[Guest Tibbius]

i refuse to believe that these white kids were stabbed for no reason at all

more fool u then

there mustve been provocation somewhere

[Afroman]

Could it be a class thing rather than a race thing?Remember how th Mcans got the royal treatment by the media & public?Then again it could be both..

[carpedeum]

R.E. If you care about the under-representation of black youths who have lost their lives to street crime..Forward this to your entire address books.Forward this to your entire address books. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/20...me.youthjusticeArticle by Sunny Hundal: What Knife crime 'epidemic'The knife crime "epidemic" is almost a god-send for the Conservative party, mostly because it enables them to bash the government for its apparent ineffectiveness on reducing crime, while making bland statements that they would take "tough action" – which always plays well with voters.I realise it's not very fashionable to say in our media environment, but can we please have some sense of perspective on this issue? For a start, as Angela Phillips pointed out this morning, the figures don't actually bear out the reality of a crisis. Secondly, the coverage and the tough words are much more likely to increase the problem. And lastly, I hate to say this, but there is a strong undertone of "What are we going do about the black boys?" to all this.This week, the Independent on Sunday splashed its front page with the statistic that knife crime accounts for more than 14,000 victims a year. But, as the BBC's Mark Easton said in his blog, that also includes "accidental injuries from knives and other sharp implements". Take that out and it drops by half. According to the annual British Crime Survey, overall violent crime has decreased by 41% since a peak in 1995, of which knife crime forms 8% and has largely remained constant over the past decade. What has happened is that newer victims have become younger and, in London, overwhelmingly come from black families.That gives newspaper editors a familiar crusading editorial line. Remember only a few years ago when "black music" in the form of UK garage was to blame for crime and the So Solid Crew were being harassed everywhere? Yes, we're back to that again."If you look at the figures for the past 10 years, the number of knife victims has remained relatively stable – although there have been spikes – at 200 to 220 a year," says Richard Garside, director of the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies at Kings College London, in an article by BBC news.The same article then quotes one Scottish police officer as saying: "If you think you've got it bad down in London, you should take a look at Glasgow." According to statistics, there were 73 murders in the Strathclyde Police Force area, 40 of which involved knives. Knife crime levels in Scotland are 3.5 times higher than in England or Wales.And yet we don't hear any of that in our media. Is it because they're mostly white teenagers? Or is it because London editors are more concerned about what is happening around the corner than in Scotland? Probably a mixture of both. I'm neither trying to play down the fact that knife crime is a problem (I don't exactly live in a leafy suburb), nor defend this Labour government's record (they don't really have a clue either).But there is more than a whiff of idiocy to all this, watching the press posture over it. The Sun has clearly descended into farce, demanding "more arrests, stiffer sentences and more jails", because this has clearly solved the problem in the past. Add to that the endorsement of the view that these "evil people" should be packed off to join the army (because that's just what the army needs) and enforced national service, and you have the makings of a tabloid-driven political frenzy. And if that wasn't enough to make you cry, then read Daily Mirror columnist Polly Hudson's thoughts on the subject. All the press want is something to get angry about, and if its crime with black kids involved, all the better.If the media faux-outrage wasn't bad enough, remarks by politicians should surely put you off. Yesterday, David Cameron unveiled his big idea – lock up everyone with a knife – and blamed Labour's "broken society". Full marks for vacuous political posturing Mr Cameron, the kids from the streets will surely be quaking in their boots.In practice, that means certain "suspicious-looking" (read: black) kids will be harassed, who in turn will become even more suspicious of the police and cooperate less when people get murdered. Cameron is merely adding to the vicious circle. The more politicians and newspaper editors get outraged over knife crime, the more cool it makes the act of carrying one – will no one point out to Paul Dacre that he doesn't exactly carry much street cred?The Conservatives are so on the ball that when the violent crime reduction bill came up in 2006, they barely bothered to show up to vote. Should we really applaud a state of affairs where politicians only bother paying attention to an issue when it will generate them accolades in the Daily Mail? In a few months, when the news agenda has moved on, it won't be them who will keep dealing with the young kids. It's the necessity to jump on a bandwagon and display the right credentials that led Boris Johnson's team to do insufficient checks on Ray Lewis's background – that he was authentic and make them look good in the diversity stakes was good enough. That's not to say we don't need more people like Ray Lewis, who have experience in working with problematic kids, to deal with the problem. But give black families some credit please. Plenty of them have been speaking out against knife crime (and gun crime, remember that?) for years. It's neither new, nor an "epidemic". And I'm sure we could deal with the problem a lot better if it wasn't turned into a frenzy that required constant announcements of half-baked initiatives and strong words for the sake of purring sounds from tabloid editors. If the blue hyperlinks do not work then click the article and you can access them through there.http://www.liberalconspiracy.org/2008/06/1...sort-of-person/Article by Laurie Penny: Not the right sort of personYesterday, on emerging from the bowels of the Picadilly line as is my wont at half six on a Thursday, I was dismayed to see a wall of armoured police surrounding a pair of electronic weapons-detecting barriers through which the good residents of Wood Green were being made to walk. So I took it upon myself to engage a couple of members of Her Majesty’s Constabulary in conversation.‘Why are the scanners up again?’‘It’s a deterrent. You know, knife crime. You watch the news, don’t you?’‘So what are they for?’‘Well, to see if anyone’s carrying a knife.’‘Is it against the law to refuse to go through, then? Say, what would happen if I just walked right round the edge?’‘Well, you’re not exactly carrying a knife, are you?!’ Sner sner, oi lads look at the sweet little white girl in her cardie trying to be clever.I tried a different tack. ‘So, how do these barriers tell if you’re carrying a knife rather than just, say, any old metal?’‘They don’t. They’re quite neanderthal really. They just flash red when someone’s got metal.’‘But hang on. The lights are flashing red for every other person. Why aren’t you stopping all those people?’‘Well…’ indulgent little police-officer smile turns into get-rid-of-this-member-of-the-public grin ‘look, we just use our judgement - say, if someone like your good self set off the buzzers, well,’ looks me up and down ‘you’re clearly not the sort of person to be carrying a knife, are you?’‘So what sort of people would you stop and search, then?’‘Well, you watch the news.’‘Of course I watch the news. What sort of people would you stop?’‘You know, the sort of people who commit crimes. You watch the news.’‘You haven’t answered my question.’‘Are you a journalist?’‘Absolutely.’‘My colleagues and I aren’t trained for this. Bugger off and call the press office and go through those barriers while you’re about it.’Stunned, I marched through the ancient plastic barriers, the metal buckles on my boots winking.And the lights flashed red.And nobody stopped me.From Top to Bottom, Ben Kinsella, Jimmy Mizen, Rob Knox and Paul Mcmillan.From Left to Right, Alf Hitchcock, Danny Mizen, Ayisha Grant, Brooke Kinsella,Sally Knox.From Left to Right, Tony McNulty, Alan Mains, Gordon and Christine Sharp, June Sarpong, Elijah Kerr. Alf Hitchcock - Deputy Assistant Commisioner who speaks about knife crime. Danny Mizen - Eldest brother of Jimmy Mizen,16. Who was killed at a baker'sAyisha Grant - Used to carry a knife after seeing stabbings in Bristol. Brooke Kinsella - Actress who is grieving kid brother BEn. 16 who was killed on june 29.Sally Knox - Mother of Harry Potter star Rob, killed aged 18.Tony McNulty - Police Minister warned blade kids will end up dead or in jail. Alan Mains - Ex rop cop in Northern Ireland who cut crime. Gordons & Christine sharpe - Parents of Paul,19. Killed by a knife blow to the chest as he walked with girlfriend in Dagenham, East London. in 2006.June Sarpong - TV star who helps troubled youths through princes trust. Elijah Kerr - Former gang leader who encourages kids to reform. "Something I saw just pushed me even further towars thinking that the entire mainstream press are racist, to varying degrees. I'm sorry I can't get any scans from the Mirror, but I just can't find any, so if you care about this kind of thing then please be patient and read on.I just saw yesterdays Mirror - On the front page were pictures of three people. Ben Kinsella's Sister, Rob Knox's brother and Jimmy Mizen's mother. They were underneath a banner about a petition against knife crime, pointing to an article on inside the paper.On this article inside the paper, there are more family members, and there are also black faces. So I thought, fair enough, perhaps they aren't totally ignoring all of the murdered black kids... Then I looked closer and realised that they were not relatives of any of the Black victims, but were either celebrities (June Sarpong) or were involved in tacking knife crime in some way.To the left of this article are four pictures of some of the murdered teens going down the page (in order) Ben Kinsella, Rob Knox, Jimmy Mizen, and another murdered white kid.This has really got my back up. I don't know if this is intentionally being done or not - whether is because these Kids weren't in gangs themselves, whether it is unintentional because they are what their target audience can relate to. I'm just totally baffled by it.So anyways, I've written an email to the person who wrote the article:" "Dear Ms Neil,First and foremost, I will say that all of the murders of the young people this year have all been a tragic and dreadful waste of potential. And whilst I may not agree with the Mirror's demands, we strive for the same goal.I only just today happened to pick up a copy of yesterday's Daily Mirror whilst in a waiting room.I immediately noticed the front page pointer to your article regarding the anti-knife crime message. The picture on the front page was of (please correct me if I am wrong) Ben Kinsella's sister, Rob Knox's brother and Jimmy Mizen's Mother. Whilst I recognise the very serious and valid point you are making with the family members depicted in this way, I am curious to know why you chose the parents of these three murdered teens out of the now more than 20 murdered young people this year?Upon looking at your article, I was suprised to see that you had actually selected which of the murdered young people you would actually display alongside your article. It looks like four of them only made it through this vetting process. What made you chose the pictures of the murdered young people that you chose?I just can't get my head around how it may have worked. Did you sit down with pictures of all of the murdered young people, and pick out the deceased that would best suit your article?I hope the tone of this email does not come across as rude in any form, but I am desperately curious to know how you came about deciding the content (in terms of images) for your article.I hope you find the time to respond to this email,Best Regards,"Prologue and Letter written by ?E-Mail I'm gonna send to my entire address book, is that ok you reckon?

i love it when newspapers are disected to show bias like that by others, when i do it i sometimes think im a bit obsessed. that was well done, but the points i made yday still stand. that was a long ass read..and tony, maybe there WAS provocation, but one that wouldnt have ended in death if they didnt carry knives, or had respect for life. just cos i might call u a prick in a bar/club doesnt mean i should be stabbed to death. swing and re arrange my jaw if you can....not end a life over it.

[Trilliam]

The images don't work apparently when I send them with tags through hotmail.com, should I just attach them?

[Guest Tibbius]

R.E. If you care about the under-representation of black youths who have lost their lives to street crime..Forward this to your entire address books.Forward this to your entire address books. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/20...me.youthjusticeArticle by Sunny Hundal: What Knife crime 'epidemic'The knife crime "epidemic" is almost a god-send for the Conservative party, mostly because it enables them to bash the government for its apparent ineffectiveness on reducing crime, while making bland statements that they would take "tough action" – which always plays well with voters.I realise it's not very fashionable to say in our media environment, but can we please have some sense of perspective on this issue? For a start, as Angela Phillips pointed out this morning, the figures don't actually bear out the reality of a crisis. Secondly, the coverage and the tough words are much more likely to increase the problem. And lastly, I hate to say this, but there is a strong undertone of "What are we going do about the black boys?" to all this.This week, the Independent on Sunday splashed its front page with the statistic that knife crime accounts for more than 14,000 victims a year. But, as the BBC's Mark Easton said in his blog, that also includes "accidental injuries from knives and other sharp implements". Take that out and it drops by half. According to the annual British Crime Survey, overall violent crime has decreased by 41% since a peak in 1995, of which knife crime forms 8% and has largely remained constant over the past decade. What has happened is that newer victims have become younger and, in London, overwhelmingly come from black families.That gives newspaper editors a familiar crusading editorial line. Remember only a few years ago when "black music" in the form of UK garage was to blame for crime and the So Solid Crew were being harassed everywhere? Yes, we're back to that again."If you look at the figures for the past 10 years, the number of knife victims has remained relatively stable – although there have been spikes – at 200 to 220 a year," says Richard Garside, director of the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies at Kings College London, in an article by BBC news.The same article then quotes one Scottish police officer as saying: "If you think you've got it bad down in London, you should take a look at Glasgow." According to statistics, there were 73 murders in the Strathclyde Police Force area, 40 of which involved knives. Knife crime levels in Scotland are 3.5 times higher than in England or Wales.And yet we don't hear any of that in our media. Is it because they're mostly white teenagers? Or is it because London editors are more concerned about what is happening around the corner than in Scotland? Probably a mixture of both. I'm neither trying to play down the fact that knife crime is a problem (I don't exactly live in a leafy suburb), nor defend this Labour government's record (they don't really have a clue either).But there is more than a whiff of idiocy to all this, watching the press posture over it. The Sun has clearly descended into farce, demanding "more arrests, stiffer sentences and more jails", because this has clearly solved the problem in the past. Add to that the endorsement of the view that these "evil people" should be packed off to join the army (because that's just what the army needs) and enforced national service, and you have the makings of a tabloid-driven political frenzy. And if that wasn't enough to make you cry, then read Daily Mirror columnist Polly Hudson's thoughts on the subject. All the press want is something to get angry about, and if its crime with black kids involved, all the better.If the media faux-outrage wasn't bad enough, remarks by politicians should surely put you off. Yesterday, David Cameron unveiled his big idea – lock up everyone with a knife – and blamed Labour's "broken society". Full marks for vacuous political posturing Mr Cameron, the kids from the streets will surely be quaking in their boots.In practice, that means certain "suspicious-looking" (read: black) kids will be harassed, who in turn will become even more suspicious of the police and cooperate less when people get murdered. Cameron is merely adding to the vicious circle. The more politicians and newspaper editors get outraged over knife crime, the more cool it makes the act of carrying one – will no one point out to Paul Dacre that he doesn't exactly carry much street cred?The Conservatives are so on the ball that when the violent crime reduction bill came up in 2006, they barely bothered to show up to vote. Should we really applaud a state of affairs where politicians only bother paying attention to an issue when it will generate them accolades in the Daily Mail? In a few months, when the news agenda has moved on, it won't be them who will keep dealing with the young kids. It's the necessity to jump on a bandwagon and display the right credentials that led Boris Johnson's team to do insufficient checks on Ray Lewis's background – that he was authentic and make them look good in the diversity stakes was good enough. That's not to say we don't need more people like Ray Lewis, who have experience in working with problematic kids, to deal with the problem. But give black families some credit please. Plenty of them have been speaking out against knife crime (and gun crime, remember that?) for years. It's neither new, nor an "epidemic". And I'm sure we could deal with the problem a lot better if it wasn't turned into a frenzy that required constant announcements of half-baked initiatives and strong words for the sake of purring sounds from tabloid editors. If the blue hyperlinks do not work then click the article and you can access them through there.http://www.liberalconspiracy.org/2008/06/1...sort-of-person/Article by Laurie Penny: Not the right sort of personYesterday, on emerging from the bowels of the Picadilly line as is my wont at half six on a Thursday, I was dismayed to see a wall of armoured police surrounding a pair of electronic weapons-detecting barriers through which the good residents of Wood Green were being made to walk. So I took it upon myself to engage a couple of members of Her Majesty’s Constabulary in conversation.‘Why are the scanners up again?’‘It’s a deterrent. You know, knife crime. You watch the news, don’t you?’‘So what are they for?’‘Well, to see if anyone’s carrying a knife.’‘Is it against the law to refuse to go through, then? Say, what would happen if I just walked right round the edge?’‘Well, you’re not exactly carrying a knife, are you?!’ Sner sner, oi lads look at the sweet little white girl in her cardie trying to be clever.I tried a different tack. ‘So, how do these barriers tell if you’re carrying a knife rather than just, say, any old metal?’‘They don’t. They’re quite neanderthal really. They just flash red when someone’s got metal.’‘But hang on. The lights are flashing red for every other person. Why aren’t you stopping all those people?’‘Well…’ indulgent little police-officer smile turns into get-rid-of-this-member-of-the-public grin ‘look, we just use our judgement - say, if someone like your good self set off the buzzers, well,’ looks me up and down ‘you’re clearly not the sort of person to be carrying a knife, are you?’‘So what sort of people would you stop and search, then?’‘Well, you watch the news.’‘Of course I watch the news. What sort of people would you stop?’‘You know, the sort of people who commit crimes. You watch the news.’‘You haven’t answered my question.’‘Are you a journalist?’‘Absolutely.’‘My colleagues and I aren’t trained for this. Bugger off and call the press office and go through those barriers while you’re about it.’Stunned, I marched through the ancient plastic barriers, the metal buckles on my boots winking.And the lights flashed red.And nobody stopped me.From Top to Bottom, Ben Kinsella, Jimmy Mizen, Rob Knox and Paul Mcmillan.From Left to Right, Alf Hitchcock, Danny Mizen, Ayisha Grant, Brooke Kinsella,Sally Knox.From Left to Right, Tony McNulty, Alan Mains, Gordon and Christine Sharp, June Sarpong, Elijah Kerr. Alf Hitchcock - Deputy Assistant Commisioner who speaks about knife crime. Danny Mizen - Eldest brother of Jimmy Mizen,16. Who was killed at a baker'sAyisha Grant - Used to carry a knife after seeing stabbings in Bristol. Brooke Kinsella - Actress who is grieving kid brother BEn. 16 who was killed on june 29.Sally Knox - Mother of Harry Potter star Rob, killed aged 18.Tony McNulty - Police Minister warned blade kids will end up dead or in jail. Alan Mains - Ex rop cop in Northern Ireland who cut crime. Gordons & Christine sharpe - Parents of Paul,19. Killed by a knife blow to the chest as he walked with girlfriend in Dagenham, East London. in 2006.June Sarpong - TV star who helps troubled youths through princes trust. Elijah Kerr - Former gang leader who encourages kids to reform. "Something I saw just pushed me even further towars thinking that the entire mainstream press are racist, to varying degrees. I'm sorry I can't get any scans from the Mirror, but I just can't find any, so if you care about this kind of thing then please be patient and read on.I just saw yesterdays Mirror - On the front page were pictures of three people. Ben Kinsella's Sister, Rob Knox's brother and Jimmy Mizen's mother. They were underneath a banner about a petition against knife crime, pointing to an article on inside the paper.On this article inside the paper, there are more family members, and there are also black faces. So I thought, fair enough, perhaps they aren't totally ignoring all of the murdered black kids... Then I looked closer and realised that they were not relatives of any of the Black victims, but were either celebrities (June Sarpong) or were involved in tacking knife crime in some way.To the left of this article are four pictures of some of the murdered teens going down the page (in order) Ben Kinsella, Rob Knox, Jimmy Mizen, and another murdered white kid.This has really got my back up. I don't know if this is intentionally being done or not - whether is because these Kids weren't in gangs themselves, whether it is unintentional because they are what their target audience can relate to. I'm just totally baffled by it.So anyways, I've written an email to the person who wrote the article:" "Dear Ms Neil,First and foremost, I will say that all of the murders of the young people this year have all been a tragic and dreadful waste of potential. And whilst I may not agree with the Mirror's demands, we strive for the same goal.I only just today happened to pick up a copy of yesterday's Daily Mirror whilst in a waiting room.I immediately noticed the front page pointer to your article regarding the anti-knife crime message. The picture on the front page was of (please correct me if I am wrong) Ben Kinsella's sister, Rob Knox's brother and Jimmy Mizen's Mother. Whilst I recognise the very serious and valid point you are making with the family members depicted in this way, I am curious to know why you chose the parents of these three murdered teens out of the now more than 20 murdered young people this year?Upon looking at your article, I was suprised to see that you had actually selected which of the murdered young people you would actually display alongside your article. It looks like four of them only made it through this vetting process. What made you chose the pictures of the murdered young people that you chose?I just can't get my head around how it may have worked. Did you sit down with pictures of all of the murdered young people, and pick out the deceased that would best suit your article?I hope the tone of this email does not come across as rude in any form, but I am desperately curious to know how you came about deciding the content (in terms of images) for your article.I hope you find the time to respond to this email,Best Regards,"Prologue and Letter written by ?E-Mail I'm gonna send to my entire address book, is that ok you reckon?

i love it when newspapers are disected to show bias like that by others, when i do it i sometimes think im a bit obsessed. that was well done, but the points i made yday still stand. that was a long ass read..and tony, maybe there WAS provocation, but one that wouldnt have ended in death if they didnt carry knives, or had respect for life. just cos i might call u a prick in a bar/club doesnt mean i should be stabbed to death. swing and re arrange my jaw if you can....not end a life over it.

theres never a reason to take a lifeim just sayin i think theyre being portrayed too innocently

[A Bit Better]

Jubez, that's too long. None of my contacts will read that. Make a facebook group.Carpe, calling someone a prick is provocation. But when the pictures are painted of these people they're usually walking down the street whistling merrily and are set up on like warthogs by groups of knife wielding lions.

[PopT]

i said the same thing with big brotheri saw ian blair on the news saying knive crime is not iout of control well 20 death and we just about gone over half way through the year 1 death is to many it is out of contol

[PopT]

lets start a myspace movment

[Mr. Martinez]

Facebook time reallysomeone needs to create the group

[That's That Kid]

As I said, how many of the black victims weren't involved in gang crime? Seeing as everyone knows so much about it...

[That's That Kid]

As I said, how many of the black victims weren't involved in gang crime? Seeing as everyone knows so much about it...

[Guest Christophe-Michel]

People are hyping too much?I was at the gym yesterday and my bredrin goes to me..'Violent crimes in London have become worse than those in New York'LolAgain, people need to f*ckin' relax, get thinsg into perspective, then start working towards a solution but TBH, it's deep-rooted.

[Platinum50]

The Gang crime label is bullshit TBHThis needs to be read

‘Why are the scanners up again?’‘It’s a deterrent. You know, knife crime. You watch the news, don’t you?’‘So what are they for?’‘Well, to see if anyone’s carrying a knife.’‘Is it against the law to refuse to go through, then? Say, what would happen if I just walked right round the edge?’‘Well, you’re not exactly carrying a knife, are you?!’ Sner sner, oi lads look at the sweet little white girl in her cardie trying to be clever.I tried a different tack. ‘So, how do these barriers tell if you’re carrying a knife rather than just, say, any old metal?’‘They don’t. They’re quite neanderthal really. They just flash red when someone’s got metal.’‘But hang on. The lights are flashing red for every other person. Why aren’t you stopping all those people?’‘Well…’ indulgent little police-officer smile turns into get-rid-of-this-member-of-the-public grin ‘look, we just use our judgement - say, if someone like your good self set off the buzzers, well,’ looks me up and down ‘you’re clearly not the sort of person to be carrying a knife, are you?’‘So what sort of people would you stop and search, then?’‘Well, you watch the news.’‘Of course I watch the news. What sort of people would you stop?’‘You know, the sort of people who commit crimes. You watch the news.’‘You haven’t answered my question.’‘Are you a journalist?’‘Absolutely.’‘My colleagues and I aren’t trained for this. Bugger off and call the press office and go through those barriers while you’re about it.’Stunned, I marched through the ancient plastic barriers, the metal buckles on my boots winking.And the lights flashed red.And nobody stopped me.

[bex]

I like your letter If she does reply (which she should) then let us know the outcome please.

good articles posted too, will forward them to my msn contacts when i get a chance

[Guest David Braund]

f*ck itwhite or black its a class n how ur seen ting out herea white dude from the same estate liin the same life as a randm black dude will get the same attentionlike the higher classes lives are mre valuablef*ck the mainstream media sameways, bunch of stereotypical hypoctrical cuntbags white or black or asian or whatever us man of the same class background otta stick 2gether n say f*ck these faggotscome we do our our tinginfact, f*ck itimma starta ViP2 campaign againt knife crime n represent the under represententremember when that lil girl went missin around the same time maddie did, like black british girl gt kidnapped in Nigeirai had 2 hear about it on some alternative news site, gt like a lil "and finally.." column at the end of a paperf*ck sake