The Top Five

It's always interesting to see what "strikes a chord" with others.  As of today, one of my posts in 2009 stands out way ahead of the pack with 831 page views.  It already has 31 today, so something appears to strike a chord with that one.  Maybe another look at "The Onion Peels In Argentina" is warranted. The web stats reveal that the viewers are U.S. based so the topic of interest probably wasn't Argentina, but the reminder of chaos in our country's past.

Kent State - 40 Years Ago

The Kent State University riot and tragedy occurred forty years ago today.  Are we in that cycle again?
http://randomroving.blogspot.com/2009/04/onion-peels-in-argentina.html

The Shift In Respect

I might have jinxed Kent State with my recent post referencing their riot in the 60's. Last weekend over 60 students were arrested while they started fires during an evening of parties gone wild.

If you want to see mob mentality evolve over a few hours, take 7:38 to watch this video. A total lack of respect for authority. Yes, the easy explanation is drunk college kids, but I don't remember starting any fires or having police fire pellets at me in the 80's.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfYwrZZ6sRQ

The Associate Press reported:

COLUMBUS, Ohio – "An end-of-year college block party spiraled out of control as police fired pellets and used pepper spray to break up hundreds of rioting students who sparked a string of street fires at Kent State University. Video posted on the Internet shows students hurling furniture and street signs into the flames on Saturday night as a SWAT team in riot gear converged on the crowd. Kent police said the party grew violent after one reveler was arrested and students began pelting officers with bottles, bricks and rocks. It was the first violent clash between Kent State students and police in years. In 1970, four Kent State students were killed by Ohio National Guard troops during a campus protest of the invasion of Cambodia. "They were burning pretty much everything," said police dispatcher Rosemarie Mosher. 'They were throwing stop signs on the fires, they were throwing chairs, couches, tree branches. Basically anything they could get their hands on.' "

The mood of the mob doesn't appear that different from the days directly following Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. It doesn't look any different from Thailand over the past few weeks. The Associated Press reported:

PATTANI, Thailand - "At least 78 people were suffocated or crushed to death after being arrested and packed into police trucks after a riot in southern Thailand, officials said Tuesday. The announcement dramatically increased the death toll from the latest eruption of violence in Thailand’s Muslim-dominated south. Officials had earlier said that six people were shot to death during clashes Monday at a police station in Narathiwat province."

Viewing the video on the news showing the rioters attacking the vehicle containing the ousted prime minister was quite disturbing.

The angry and fearful mob behaves the same whether they're charged on beer or political distress.

The Onion Peels In Argentina

The Onion continues to peel away around the world and Chapmans' vision becomes reality. They say that a picture is worth a thousand words, so a video must be worth ten thousand words. Here's a visual of Argentina:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rH6_i8zuffs

There's eleven more parts to the documentary if it informed, shocked, changed, or inspired you.

You say it can't happen here. Don't forget:

Kent State, Ohio - 1968

Civil Rights Movement - 1960's

The New Tea Party - 2009

Hurricane Katrina Looters - New Orleans

Greece - December 2008

Myanmar -2007

Bangkok - April 2009

Suburban Paris - 2005, 2007

"In the U.S., the Tea Parties mentioned above were rather like, well, tea parties. In France, the demonstrations are large, but the tone is not yet violent. According to Time Magazine, millions marched in that country but the disruption was a "comparatively modest nuisance.' In London, the "Financial Fools Day' protest against the G-20 was much larger and more focused than the April 2000 demonstration agains the IMF. And this time things turned ugly fast: 'At first, jazz bands, jugglers and drummers lent a carnival atmosphere to the gathering, but within an hour, anger at the collapse of the financial system turned to violence.' But the protest is a long way from the violent bear market finale that Elliott Wave Financial Forecast was referring to in 2000. At this point, the movement is just 'a vague attack on consumerism, coupled with anti-capitalist rhetoric,' which Daniel Finkelstein of the London Times points out is 'a total dead end,' revolution-wise. When the bottom is at hand or already in place, the rage will be greater and more widespread, and there will be no question what the rebellion is about."

Robert Prechter - Elliott Wave Financial Forecast - April 2009