Critical Mass Illegal! (EDIT: not any more)

[revol68]

Such criticisms only have any weight if critical mass had pretensions of being a 'political' act or something. All I ever thought it was was a semi-organised way to have a bit of car-free road cycling for a change. A nice way to round the month off.

If it is supposed to be 'political' then I think it needs some thought about wha the aims are and how effective it is.

oh it certainly is political, especially in Belfast where some squatters in Copenhagen had to sneeze and some tossers were out with their two makes trying to recreate it.

 

[Chairman Meow]

oh it certainly is political, especially in Belfast where some squatters in Copenhagen had to sneeze and some tossers were out with their two makes trying to recreate it.

I have no clue what this sentence means.

 

[revol68]

so some problems with the organisers of the Belfast CM means you can therefore judge everyone involved in it everywhere else?

you're SUCH a prick

i just don't see the point in it and ironically when it is suppoused to have a political point it's even fecking worse.

I cycle to work quite abit, I don't see the point in critical mass and all the people involved in it's organising in belfast are cluessless hippies.

 

[revol68]

I have no clue what this sentence means.

should be an only in it.

I meant that whatever dippy hippy/ activisty trend is doing the rounds in europe gets aped pathetically by four daft twats in belfast.

 

[editor]

because the people i know who organised it in belfast saw it as a chance to set an example for more sustainable travelling and show motorists the error of their ways.

So you really haven't the slightest clue about the London Critical mass events and you wanted to show everyone what an ignorant, bigoted, insulting and clueless fool you really are?

Thanks. You've done a marvellous job!

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

I think they should arrest all those cars on the motorway all going in the same direction.

 

[revol68]

So you really haven't the slightest clue about the London Critical mass events and you wanted to show everyone what an ignorant, bigoted, insulting and clueless fool you really are?

Thanks. You've done a marvellous job!

so what's the point in them?

if they are political then they are at best niave.

if they aren't political then why should i give two fucks if the cops ban it.

 

[editor]

i just don't see the point in it and ironically when it is suppoused to have a political point it's even fecking worse.

I cycle to work quite abit, I don't see the point in critical mass and all the people involved in it's organising in belfast are cluessless hippies.

Fascinating. And what's that got to do with the London Critical Mass rides and why are all the riders on it - none of whom you've ever met - all "smug" and "pricks", please?

 

[revol68]

Fascinating. And what's that got to do with the London Critical Mass rides and why are all the riders on it - none of whom you've ever met - all "smug" and "pricks", please?

who said all?

anyway with a bit of luck this ruling apply to silly fucks in belfast.

 

[Dubversion]

who said all?

you did, fucko:

who cares it's always been nothing more than some smug pricks showing off what better gwobal citizens they are than the poor fuckers stuck in the traffic behind them.

so if there's nothing more than some smug pricks, that means it's all smug pricks.

 

[editor]

anyway with a bit of luck this ruling apply to silly fucks in belfast.

Yeah! The last thing you need is people taking part in spontaneous actions for fun, eh?

Perhaps you could snitch them up to the police too and really make sure that all the fun stops?

Oh, and why are all the riders on the London Critical Mass rides - none of whom you've ever met - all "smug" and "pricks", please?

 

[Larry O'Hara]

who cares it's always been nothing more than some smug pricks showing off what better gwobal citizens they are than the poor fuckers stuck in the traffic behind them.

the above poster is the archetypal reactionary smug prick, who is (putting it mildly) a waste of good oxygen--if other posters ignore him until he reaches puberty (still a long way off) then he might metamorphose into a human being--but don't bet on it. Like the Bourbons, he knows nothing, learns nothing & is aware of nothing. As Oscar Wilde might have said, youth (or in his case infancy) is wasted on the young (read pre-pubescent).

 

[revol68]

you did, fucko:



so if there's nothing more than some smug pricks, that means it's all smug pricks.

nothing more than doesn't mean to say everyone is a smug prick, it means there is nothing more significant about it, and i say that because the only discernable politics in it are smug 'look aren't we great everyone be like us' whilst the rest of it is just an inane act of 'fun' that does fuck all but slow down traffic.

 

[Larry O'Hara]

nothing more than doesn't mean to say everyone is a smug prick, it means there is nothing more significant about it, and i say that because the only discernable politics in it are smug 'look aren't we great everyone be like us' whilst the rest of it is just an inane act of 'fun' that does fuck all but slow down traffic.

evidently, your grasp of the English language is only equalled by your political wisdom....

 

[revol68]

evidently, your grasp of the English language is only equalled by your political wisdom....

here Larry someone's told me that Nick Griffin is hiding a dirty bomb up his arse, why don't you go investigate.

 

[Larry O'Hara]

here Larry someone's told me that Nick Griffin is hiding a dirty bomb up his arse, why don't you go investigate.

such precision: thank you for illustrating in one short post exactly how apposite my description of you in the two posts above is.

 

[editor]

here Larry someone's told me that Nick Griffin is hiding a dirty bomb up his arse, why don't you go investigate.

My, there's a hugely relevant comment.

revol: take my advice and get off this thread as you've already made a total arse of yourself with your ignorant claims.

You've never been on a Critical Mass and you don't know anything about it, so why bother parading your stupidity any further?

 

[bluestreak]

if they aren't political then why should i give two fucks if the cops ban it.

easy now, i don't think you want to be advocating support for cops banning things that are inconvenient to them just because it doesn't effect you.

 

[laptop]

Amongst all the officers I know who have been involved with Critical Mass rides, I have never heard any views that it should not take place, just frustration over the randomness of it and the practical problems that creates.

The nub of the matter, I think.

Inspector to random protesters supporting Liverpool Dockers: "So who's in charge here, then?"

Protesters in unison: "We are!"

 

[citydreams]

Such criticisms only have any weight if critical mass had pretensions of being a 'political' act or something. All I ever thought it was was a semi-organised way to have a bit of car-free road cycling for a change. A nice way to round the month off.

Yes and no. Critical Mass grew out of a protest at the closure of the GLC, and has been used effectively as a means of protest on many other occasions - MayDay, StoptheWar &c.. But I think your description is probably the most apt.

However, given that the police are likely to come in heavy handed now, I'd say it's just got political again.

Some more reasoned discussion here: http://bikereader.com/forum/index.php?topic=34227.msg463702

 

[Radar]

Some more reasoned discussion here: http://bikereader.com/forum/index.php?topic=34227.msg463702

I tried, but it keeps spewing mysql errors at me

Is it a wobbly board normally ??

 

[citydreams]

I'm new to that board. Strangely though, it only appears to be that thread that's closed.
http://bikereader.com/forum/index.php?board=23.0

 

[Radar]

Shame, I'd really like to read a decent discussion by cyclists about CM, get a feel for what they're about and see how non-activist cyclists regard them. We're unlikely to get one here without the usual agendas, jealousies and point-scoring, ffs its already started

I was getting errors on threads other than the CM thread, but I was viewing as a guest. I'll try again when I get home.

 

[Final]

I've never been to a critical mass before. Fuck 'em. See you on Friday.

 

[Miss-Shelf]

I'm not sure the police's concerns are to do with public disorder - They have an obligation to conduct a risk assessment of any policed event as, by policing it, they take on a duty of care to both participants and others. In order to do that effectively they need to have some information in advance.
.

by what process does an event become a policed event? a genuine question

 

[detective-boy]

by what process does an event become a policed event? a genuine question

When the police have advance awareness of something and plan for it they would be expected to include a risk assessment.

If something happens spontaneously and is reacted to as it happens, there should still be a risk assessment process but the police would not be expected to exercise as much control / be able to secure safety, etc. as with a pre-planned event. As soon as they help themselves to a role they inherit some duty of care, but it is far, far less than with a pre-planned event where they have legal powers to do / not do certain things.

 

[detective-boy]

The nub of the matter, I think.

Yes. The police are not good with randomness ...

 

[Emerald Toucan]

I've never been to a critical mass before. Fuck 'em. See you on Friday.

Me neither.

I'm going to dust off my bike, oil the chain and pump those tires.

I'll keep a look out for peeps.

 

[Janh]

"Cyclists to ride through London" BBC London reports

Cyclists to ride through London

Headline on BBC London report today

No shit Sherlock!

 

[tippee]

'I never went on one because I don't see the point in disrupting traffic so you can give yourself a pat on the back about what great eco warrior you are, i tend to have more sympathy for the parent just out of work and trying to get home to her kids.'

Exactly. The problem is cyclists are the most 'holier than thou' of all road users.

Why don't you all just take your bikes on a train to a station in the sticks and go for a ride in the countryside? Because you prefer to piss people off who are working / going home/ in need of an ambulance etc.

Critical mass = selfish, holier than thou twits.