Some observations ...

I am trying to understand exactly how mindless these riots are.

At first I just thought - well, the Arab Spring and demos in greece have very clearly been about conflict between people and the government. These riots are not so clearly like that, as they appear to be people destroying their own locality's.

In addition, the political movements in the Middle East have been undeniably popular and representative of the people.

These Riots seem to represent a small minority ...


But then I thought - can I see a pattern?

99% of the violence has been directed at three targets - The police, Journalists and chain stores.

It may be possible to deduce a method in the madness..

Here in this part of south east London - Small businesses and private individuals have been pretty much left alone. The Curry's and Sainsbury's at the end of my street have been ransacked, but the small shops, Indian and chinese take-aways and restaurants and kebab shops have remained open throughout - I've just finished a chicken Bhuna that I went and collected without any hassle - and though there were clashes with the police, local residents, including myself, black white etc, have been ignored.

Some of these guys are gangsters according to some reports, whilst others may be trying to make a genuine point.

They clearly aren't educated or informed, and rioting is clearly counter-productive in so many ways - and their actions are undemocratic as the will of a tiny minority imposes misery on the majority.

But their targets do seem to reflect the three things that make many of us angry - the state (police), The media (journos) and big business and banks.

Nobody can tell me anything about the consequences and dangers of the riots - I live in the middle of it - but because I live here, I don't want it to get worse or to happen again. I therefore want someone to pay attention and try and learn something about it rather than to simply take a judgemental stance, use force to quell it, and have it come back another day.

Those lessons were learned in the 80's and Britains police is probably the best in the world at handling these kinds of events.

Lets hope they aren't forgotten.