DEM not gonna CON dis NATION: Rolling UK politics in the short-lived post-Murdoch era

I actually don't understand the Nando's thing. Are they taking the chicken home and cooking it?

There were reports that people broke into the Wood Green branch of McDonalds and started preparing their own food, although that's a little difficult to believe.

xp to Marcello. Fair point. Bad phrasing - I don't mean they were intellectually incapable of knowing or caring about sweatshops, just that it's a huge stretch to assume that was a significant factor. Matt DC said it better than I can.

I'd have thought that people who cared about caricaturing or patronising the poor or deprived would want to make a clearer distinction between them and a minority of looters TBH.

The Nando's thing does kind of throw that argument, though, Lex, because there's nothing in the shop to steal, loot or sell on. It does seem to be something which is specifically directed at a lifestyle. I dunno, maybe I've misread how Nandos is perceived due to how it's discussed/represented in my part of South London (I've never been to one, my entire understanding of it is based around how it's represented by bus talk and twitter) that it's something somehow both aspirational and "ghetto" at the same time? (I feel uncomfortable using that word but it describes the class-race intersectionality.) That whether it's seen as coded "up" or "down" really depends on who is describing it.

But there's this stratified class and race faultzone right down the A23, so that might not have the same implication elsewhere.

the nando's thing is weird, i always got the impression that nando's was fairly beloved? maybe they were hungry. not being flippant there really, if you get into the mob mindset whereby you're doing whatever you want and no one's stopping you, why not go get some of your favourite food?

also the weird testosterone-driven love of smashing things up for just the love of smashing things up that i've never understood, whether it's bullingdon style antics or football fans celebrating or something like this

they were cooking their own burgers in mcdonalds so i hear.

I think a lot of anger (in this or any situation) is subconscious and unfocussed - kind of unsure about people prescribing very black and white motives, when its likely to be a mix of all the different things being stated, and not necessarily in a coherent manner

and yeah, there is the mob-mentality "smash it up, chuck a fire extinguisher out the window" thing. a lot of it seems quite unfocused.

There were reports that people broke into the Wood Green branch of McDonalds and started preparing their own food, although that's a little difficult to believe.

They broke in, fired up the ovens and cooked the food they'd brought with them?

nando's is beloved. also cheap as fuck, you can afford a meal there on the broo no bother.

does nandos really come with lifestyle marketing? honestly i think its popularity in areas with big non white populations is simply down to what they serve sitting well with the general diets of most non english people. nandos is deeply liked i far as i know. more than somewhere like mcdonalds. and nandos isnt that expensive. i think youre reading too much into the attack on one isolated branch. its just testosterone and people lashing out at pretty much anything. its def about consumerism and poverty and so on but looking at individual places or chains i think might be a bit of a red herring.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg described the second night of rioting as "needless opportunistic theft and violence"

So whereabouts is he on holiday then?

riots are basically just unfocused destruction, this seems fairly simple to me, there is nothing political in the targets of desctruction and looting, it's basically what's there, corner shop or hmv, doesn't matter a jot, they'll get done.

"I think a lot of anger (in this or any situation) is subconscious and unfocussed - kind of unsure about people prescribing very black and white motives, when its likely to be a mix of all the different things being stated, and not necessarily in a coherent manner"

otm

Anger can be subconscious and unfocused, but still have legitimate reasons behind it?

I think it is an and/both situation, and there may be as many different motivations as there were rioters. I'm just saying that one motivation does not necessarily preclude the others.

i think people who eat at nandos have kind of a love/hate relationship with it.

MSNBC: LONDON -- As political and social protests grip the Middle East, are growing in Europe and a riot exploded in north London this weekend, here's a sad truth, expressed by a Londoner when asked by a television reporter: Is rioting the correct way to express your discontent?

"Yes," said the young man. "You wouldn't be talking to me now if we didn't riot, would you?"

well what did he have to say after that?

i think people who eat at nandos have kind of a love/hate relationship with it.

― caek

footballers fucking love it. joey barton tweeted the other day "stereotypical footballer tweet, i'm off to nando's then the cinema".

The TV reporter from Britain's ITV had no response. So the young man pressed his advantage. "Two months ago we marched to Scotland Yard, more than 2,000 of us, all blacks, and it was peaceful and calm and you know what? Not a word in the press. Last night a bit of rioting and looting and look around you."

http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/08/07/7292281-the-sad-truth-behind-london-riot

I think a lot of anger (in this or any situation) is subconscious and unfocussed - kind of unsure about people prescribing very black and white motives, when its likely to be a mix of all the different things being stated, and not necessarily in a coherent manner

Yes and no, there's one obvious focus of anger - the police - but a whole range of other causes and contributory factors. I agree, I don't think it's particularly conscious or directional in many cases, there are a lot of people involved and it's hardly a hivemind.

my guess is nando's was sort of a "because it's there" thing.

Quite different to how it's being reported in the local press, which is all "opportunistic chaos"

http://www.streathamguardian.co.uk/news/9183106.UPDATE__Looters_cause_chaos_in_Streatham_and_Brixton/

so who knows.

It's a bit weird reading about your own city from the POV of foreign reporters acting like it's "the middle east", how different the tones are from how it's reported here. What's NBC's general politial alignment? I can't remember.

there's more fat and calories in a nando's than a kfc

^^^ the real reason

you can get a lot of good sauces from nandos, hot, medium, mild, garlic, herb, and so on. id like to get them all for free if i could.

my impression is the descent of europe into anarchy due to economic management is part of a narrative in parts of u.s. politics, so events tend to be overstated/misinterpreted to fit in with this.

oh god yeah the sauces are incredible. nando's and pizza express sauces man. makes me proud to be british.

there's more fat and calories in a nando's than a kfc

Is this true? The chicken's grilled and not fried so the sauces must be made out of pure lard or something. Admittedly a Nando's is much bigger than a KFC.

white middle class ppl as a rule do not eat at nandos btw. eg - the lack of replies in my post about nandos on this board.

My boss is about as big a food/restaurant snob as you can get and he's fucking crazy about Nando's.

a "meal" at nando's is different to kfc so it's kind of apples and oranges, but yeah, the sauces are the thing that does it.

i feel like we've discussed nando's before. i think i remember matt's boss being a fan.

Anger can be subconscious and unfocused, but still have legitimate reasons behind it?

I think it is an and/both situation, and there may be as many different motivations as there were rioters. I'm just saying that one motivation does not necessarily preclude the others.

― Aphex Twin … in my vagina? (Karen D. Tregaskin), Monday, August 8, 2011

Yes! my post probably wasn't clear enough but this is what i mean

LOL I'm a white middle class vegetarian, why on earth would I go to Nando's?

basically people who hate nandos are racist.

― doop snobby snobb (history mayne), Wednesday, June 9, 2010 12:08 AM (1 year ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

their veggie burgers are highly praised by my veggie brethren. chips are nice tho the chicken can be dry sometimes.

But then again, Morley's and Chicken Cottage, totally untouched. Just sayin' like.

Speaking as a white middle class 40something vegetarian I went to my first Nando's in Croydon with the kids a couple of weeks ago and found it remarkably pleasant, compared to the alternatives in Croydon town centre! The veggie options are actually pretty good.

Holy shit. I was just about to gripe about how this Nandos you all have sounds so good (as someone who is constantly in search of good vegetarian options) and I went and looked them up and there's one in my mall!

Located at the Westfield Entrance between Sears and Borders.

So stoked.

I see no point in going to a chicken restaurant when I have several perfectly good totally vegetarian restaurants within walking distance. (Actually one less now that Kastoori has closed, but still.) But then again, I don't live in Croydon.

ok ok so white middle classers like nandos too. i just dont see them whenever i hit nandos. though ok maybe cos my nandos is in a not very white m/c area. funny how i never see nandos ads anywhere but they still seem to be expanding.

There are Nandos ads all over the Tube! Come on!

i must be blind.

veggieburger at nando's is probably the best i have ever had tbh.

i mean it's still a veggieburger, and there are 100 tastier things you could eat, but sometimes you just want something salty/herby/flavourful in bread, with chips. they do it best.

make no promises about u.s. nando's though kkgvz. the vegetarian option at burger king in the uk will do in a pinch (e.g. forgot to eat dinner, at paddington station at 11.30pm), but the veggie burger you get at BK in the US is disgusting.

I just view veggieburgers in general as disgusting, revolting, only option in the service station last resorts, rather than anything I'm going to go out of my way to experience. Like, I'd rather resort to a cheese and onion Ginster's than a veggieburger. But you disgusting savages may think differently.

This is ILX, we start with discussing Capitalism, and end up squabbling over sandwiches. Is it lunchtime yet?

"Yes," said the young man. "You wouldn't be talking to me now if we didn't riot, would you?"

Fair point. When MLK visited Watts after the riots someone told him "We won." "How can you say you won?" asked King. "We won because we made the whole world pay attention to us." I have sympathy with both men in that scenario.

i basically agree, a really good veggie burger is never going to be as good as really good real food, but the nando's veggie burger is great for what it is.

i take it back though, the best i ever had was earlier this year in minneapolis.

13.23 BST so in answer to your question...YES it's time for lunch. Which tell you all you need to know about subconscious desire.

hahaha caek, as it's a town full of carnivores who happily eat 'mock duck' at Vietnamese restaurants, where was the Mpls veggieburger?

in the same way that the broadmoor riots got the local people a swimming pool, i hope these riots result in nandos offering discounted meals so teenagers can eat there too.