Thorne Blogs.

Just read this on BoingBoing, and was nauseated, horrified.

“He was bum-rushed by 200 people,” co-worker Jimmy Overby, 43, told the Daily News. “They took the doors off the hinges. He was trampled and killed in front of me.”

Also, inspired, in an angry sort of way:

The nose of a mob is its imagination. By this, at any time, it can be quietly led. – Poe

Poe is not the only person who refers to mobs as an individual. Nobody is confused if I refer to ‘the mob’ as an entity. So, if mob behaviour leads to damage, injury or death, why not change and try the mob as a single individual?

i.e. If John Farkhwitt  is caught on camera, jostling for position at the edge of a mob which tears the doors off a Walmart and crushes a hapless door-guy to death, then he can be charged with manslaughter, and so can everyone else present!

This might seem harsh, but only if it were retroactive: If Mr Farkhwitt knows that becoming part of a mob makes him liable for the actions of people he may never meet, on the far side of the throng, maybe he wouldn’t be so keen to jostle for position in the first place.

Obviously this needs a little fine-tuning; we don’t want to impact freedom of association, or the right to peaceful protest.

If you disagree with this idea, please try to suggest an alternative: If the guilty party in this story is the crowd, and not just the individuals in it who passed over the shop assistant, how else could they be held accountable as a group, for killing a man? If you don’t think the group are to blame, who is and why?

So much for updating this regularly. Not only have I not posted updates to my mo-growing campaign, I haven’t posted anything else either. Criminial Blogligence?

I have some reviews and stuff coming, just need to find a little time. In the mean time, here’s some horrific facial hair:

Just a reminder, to sponsor me, go here. Funds raised support mens health and the treatment of depression.

This year, for (N/M)ovember, I’m using charity as an excuse to make a terrible facial mistake, and growing a Moustache. To this end, I will be posting updated farcicalfacial pictures of the experiment as it gains mass and conquers steadily greater expanses of the universe.

What follows is the standard Movember explanatory blurb:

The money raised by Movember is used to raise awareness of men’s health issues and donated to the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia and beyondblue – the national depression initiative. The PCFA and beyondblue will use the funds to fund research and increase support networks for those men who suffer from prostate cancer and depression.

Did you know:

Depression affects 1 in 6 men….most don’t seek help. Untreated depression is a leading risk factor for suicide.
Last year in Australia 18,700 men were diagnosed with prostate cancer and more than 2,900 died of prostate cancer – equivalent to the number of women who will die from breast cancer annually.
For those that have supported Movember in previous years you can be very proud of the impact it has had and can check out the details at: http://au.movember.com/outcomes/content/Fundraising-Outcomes/.

To donate to my Mo you can either:

Click this link and donate online using your credit card or PayPal account, or write a cheque payable to ‘Movember Foundation’, referencing my Registration Number 1546281 and mailing it to:

Movember Foundation
PO Box 292
Prahran VIC 3181

All donations over $2 are tax deductible.