John Roman On the Possibility of U.K.-Style Riots Happening in This Country

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It has been a bad week in the United States in a bad year marked by remarkable international turmoil. The recession and high unemployment persist at a time when the powerless seemed poised to fight back, creating a recipe for insurrection—as happened first  in the Middle East and now in Great Britain. According to Wednesday’s (August 9) Washington Post editorial, “the common factors [sparking the riots] include high unemployment, resentment toward a prosperous and seemingly impenetrable upper class and hatred of the police.”
All that sounds only too familiar, so should the United States expect riots here next? Are recent instances of mob violence in Philadelphia, Milwaukee and Montgomery County Md.,  leading edges of a wave of violence here? I think the answer is probably not, at least not on the scale of what has happened in London.

Cutting Access to Social Media is Not the Answer in U.K. Riots

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It was 5:34am when the hideous screech of the alarm finally woke me up. My wife was already in the kitchen on her second cup of coffee, clutching her iPad with determined eyes fixed to the screen. I kissed her on the head before pouring myself a cup as she glanced up at me quickly and without a word. Something wasn't right. "Whatcha reading," I asked casually in an effort to seem unaware of her obvious discomfort.