Tuesday, May 05, 2009

Welcome to the Panopticon

Finally,
they're going to film the mayhem. The council will have "mobile CCTV" deployed in the Holyland.

What do they hope to achieve? The cops have regularly filmed what goes on on Halloween, or St Patrick's Day, and done nothing. They had loads of footage of the recent riot, and, we're told, they're trawling through it to get faces, addresses etc. I wish the media wouldn't buy into such patent horseshit. There will be no arrests or prosecutions based on the filming. As I've discussed previously, the universities will do fuck-all.

CCTV is a weapon used by one group of people who have power against those without. Ultimately that means the vast majority of the population. Big Brother is watching and "the innocent have nothing to fear". This is the first cry of the tyrant.

It is interesting that when police assaulted Ian Tomlinson, very probably causing his death, the footage from neighbouring cameras became unavailable. It was the public, using their mobile phones and camcorders who exposed the truth.

You would think that the cameras in police stations record. They probably do, but when it suits the cops they suddenly don't. I'm speaking from personal experience.

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

You needn't look to the IPCC in England or the Ombudsman's office here for accountability. Once again I speak from experience.

In England there is a call for the panopticon to be pulled down. The death of Ian Tomlinson has exposed it's moral bankruptcy. It watches us, but not power or its servants.

The "mobile CCTV" will acheive nothing for residents. Their activities will probably be its primary focus. No more writing on walls will be permitted.

It will, however, provide endless amusement to "students". They will play cat and mouse with the camera vans using their mobiles. It's very kind of the Council to provide them with a new game to while away the night.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

The direct approach: I've found a quite satisfying way to tackle the student problem here in the holylands. For years I tried the Police, University complaints etc etc....none of them are worth a fuck

So for the last few weeks I've simply been going up to students and asking them what they're playing at when they've been kicking doors or throwing bottles about. Most of the time students actually say sorry or accept that they're in the wrong and stop doing it.

There have been a few violent responses but they were few and dealt with promptly [and legally]

Directly challenging students....it's the way forward.

belfast samizdat said...

I did that for years. Getting out of bed at 3am to shout at people. They usually respond well to a direct confrontation.

However, your life, especially your nights become dominated by dealing with the Holyland. You've no energy left for luxuries like sleep and study.

There's also the fact that the danger of violence from these people is ever present. Don't expect the police to protect you.

Standing up to these people makes you a target. If you can live with the consequences fine.

However living in that environment is a slow process of mental erosion. It will eat away at your physical health and fray your nerves to tatters. It doesn't happen overnight, but everybody suffers from it.

When I moved out I couldn't believe the luxury of silence. How had I lived without it? It's only when you compare being in that place with being out of it that you understand that no-one should be expected to live in such an environment.

long time resident, first time blogger said...

"Getting out of bed at 3am to shout at people." You see, herein is where the problem lies. Act like a cunt and you will be treated like one. Treat someone like a human and you will get a sorry or im wrong back 90% of the time. If you go on like that, shouting all the time what sort of answer can you expect back? Im guessing a f**k you or no way would be the response.

I think its time you cleaned this blog up, starting with your language. F**k this and f**k that shows you have little respect and subsequently you will be shown little respect. I have to laugh at all the answers to your blogs you get. They are all self created, or rather a good 75% are taking the mickey out of you because of guff you have wrote. Maybe if you more couth you would get a higher, more dignified response your blogs.

I think you would be shown more respect if you used language properly, after all you claim to be highly self educated.

Boobfeatures said...

Alan you tit

That you scrawling

Nice place, shame about the students

on some wooden board in biro. Alan the great activist, the defender of the residents.

You dont even live in the holylands so why are you seen daily marching up and down it. Your a man with a voice no one listens to, not the residents who live here, not the police and deffinetly not the students.

Stay out of the holylands. HOLYLANDS FOR STUDENTS

belfast samizdat said...

"Nice place, shame about the students "

I think you'll find loads of people feel that way. It wasn't me.

""Getting out of bed at 3am to shout at people." You see, herein is where the problem lies. Act like a cunt and you will be treated like one."

What are people to do? Politely ask their tormentors to act like human beings? Perhaps make them a nice cup of tea and a biscuit?

I don't know why "students" keep up the pretense of being innocents abroad. Should we have politely asked the rioters on St Patrick's Day to stop burning cars?

"You don't want to do that. It's not nice to throw bottles or wave pizza boxes"

Or is it always someone else who does these things?

Anonymous said...

man stabbed to death on fitzroy

nice residents we have here

Anonymous said...

Hi Alan - trying to get in contact with you. Have you an email address?

belfast samizdat said...

I'll set up a sock-puppet email. If you can leave a comment with your email address I'll delete it rather than publish it and get back to you.

Anonymous said...

Have you heard the latest about Jerusalem Street?

Some, how would I put it?.....ah....rough diamonds from West Belfast have moved in....

The other night a student smashed their window so they went out and challenged a group of students [hurley bat in hands] they detained a student who did the damage....cops arrived and arrested the aforementioned residents for posessing offensive weapons....the student who broke the window was let off altogether.....
[should mention there was a protracted street fight between the residents and a group of students...it was vicious and nasty stuff]

Story gets better though....next evening the student's house in Jerusalem Street goes up in flames....the cops are still sitting outside it now

Maybe we do need to import undesirables from other parts of Belfast to tackle the student problem...

Anonymous said...

All that is going on is the natural progression of things.....

The state of the Holylands has created the perfect conditions to hide all sorts of assorted criminals/misfits/sex offenders etc etc

If you're put out of any other part of Belfast you go to the Holylands, if you're just out of prison....go to the holylands etc etc

It's so annonymous nobody knows anyone else anymore....you see people walking about all the time and have no idea who they are or what they're up to and think nothing of it....because this is the Holylands....everyone keeps themselves to themselves

However it's getting so bad that the next progression will be the students being displaced entirely by the rough elements.

What happened the other night in Jerusalem Street is a microcosm of what will happen in the area in general. It only takes a couple of incidents before the students will start moving away....the area still hasn't recovered from the last time cars were burnt out in Jerusalem Street...some students still think the Holylands is too rough

This deterioration may however be the saviour of the Holylands....students start moving out....families start moving in

Or alteratively it could just become the worst crime ridden Hell hole in the UK and Ireland

belfast samizdat said...

Families should NEVER move into the Holyland.

There will never be a community there again.

How can you ever restore the balance? 50 to 80 residents remain. How can you expand that into a stable population? You would need more than 90% residents before the area is stable.

This is why the constitution of the "Regeneration Association" is a cruel obscenity. For six years they and the fools in City Church and the universities that have raped the community to death have acted out the lie that you can turn the situation around and a sustainable mix of residents and students can be created. It could never have happened and the universities knew it.

The cynicism of the University of Ulster in inventing a "Regeneration Association" is beyond your common or garden evil. The pious hypocrisies of City Church turn my stomach.And the selfish stupidity of those recruited to run the thing, silencing the pain of their neighbours, is the venality of the prison trusty.

Imprison no more families in that place and offer those who remain new homes nearby. They deserve peace. They deserve nights of overwhelming silence.

Anonymous said...

whats your plan then?
since everyone trying to do something is retarded?

Anonymous said...

Who decides? How did you get out?

Anonymous said...

Unbelievable that you actually write anything at all you are a ridiculous character. i'd love to know what it is you do apart from stalking about the streets and writing nonsense on this site. do you love to play the victim? do you have a job?

It appears quite evident that you are a bully and when you say you get up out of bed at 3am to shout at students i find this hard to beleive as it would be impossible to take the likes of you seriously.i have been woken up also at early hours in the morning with residents fighting amongst themselves and with students. the students continuously get the blame no word of the residents behaviour.

Having lived in the holylands for 3 years, foolish in hindsight. I have seen first hand the reign of terror residents have imposed upon students, in reference to the comment over that 'incident' on Jerusalem street i also seen first hand what went on and was at boiling point when i seen the residents attacking them students. always acting the victims. piece of advice get a job and try to rear your family thats if you even can. Basic manners cost nothing, dont think they hand them out with benefits!
also the comment about the cars being burnt out on St Patricks day, what about the cars burnt out in Jerusalem Street by a resident? i also have video footage of young boys aged between 15 to 17 coming up agincourt avenue on St Patricks Day armed with glass bottles and attacking the police!

belfast samizdat said...

It amazes me that 50-80 residents, most of them elderly, can terrorize 7,000 "students".

It is obvious that you're not that interested in studying what with you having spent your entire 3 years in the Holyland.

"i also seen first hand what went on and was at boiling point when i seen the residents attacking them students."

After doing a degree you have yet to master the English language.

There are differing accounts of what happened in Jerusalem Street, suffice to say that putting bricks through residents' windows shows a certain lack of respect.

I don't condone car burnings by residents, but if you push people to the wall they're going to hit back. It's not mere entertainment as your friends were kind enough to show us on YouTube.