The press is already going for the Nero angle on the Prime Minister, David Cameron:

David Cameron was on Monday night still refusing to cancel his family holiday in Tuscany, where he is embarking on a second week of tennis lessons at his rented villa. The PM is due to return home next Monday.

I thought Cameron was returning. If not....damn.

London's mayor and the Home Secretary were also both out of town on holiday.

I'm with Dana. I heard this morning he was returning.

Having been in Miami for two riots I can predict the narrative going forward.

Over the short term it will cause some damage to the ruling policies of the Conservative party in power, but long term the poorer black neighborhoods where the riots started will really suffer. They'll become economic black holes where absolutely nobody will reinvest their money, particularly the small, local shop owners who don't have the resources to start from scratch.

Riots happen when people feel completely disenfranchised, if they see the ruling structure as grotesquely unjust and without hope of equitable treatment. But the riots themselves are like microeconomic nuclear bombs. Those neighborhoods will be economically radioactive for decades.

yep.

see: Detroit

Consuela, any chance that the screw of your job filling could leave you with the opportunity to pull out all the stops wrt pointing out nemesis failings?

Texas people, RIGHT HERE!

The heat has become a weight. Everyone is just exhausted and there is still no sign of it breaking.

Riots happen in the absence of some meaningful political outlet to channel the anger. Not disagreeing the Hec on the outcome.

A note on renter's insurance: it does not cover flooding; you have to get a separate rider for that. If you're on the tenth floor, I guess it doesn't matter, but it's wise to check when you're buying exactly what they will and will not cover. (This is true for homeowner's as well.)

Also, IME, if your insurance company does not make it easy for you to get renter's insurance, they aren't likely to make it easy to get paid if you have a claim, either. It should be a matter of one simple phone call to add it to your existing policy (or to get a policy if you have no others).

The coverage in Britain keeps coming back saying the riots seemed organized on the second and third nights. People arriving in groups in cars etc.

I suspect that we're seeing a kind of Twitter riot, as news gets out immediately that there's unchecked looting in a particular area then people descend on particular neighborhoods or specific stores knowing beforehand that the situation is uncontrolled.

Ugh, London. So upsetting.

The heat has become a weight. Everyone is just exhausted and there is still no sign of it breaking.

Bleh.