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5000% Increase in the sale of baseball bats on Amazon.co.uk

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Re: 5000% Increase in the sale of baseball bats on Amazon.co.uk

#51

Post by yid »

amitparikh wrote: post #18
rberdeen wrote: post #10

4000% increate in the sale of Coleman PefectFlow 1-Burner Stoves on Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/gp/movers-and-shakers/sporting-goods It must be significant.

No, you picked an outlier. OP pointed out a trend -- 8/10 of the top "Movers and Shakers" are bats/batons. That is significant.

With the ease with which the burner can be turned into a bomb, it's portability (like a large Molotov), and the $15 price tag, I would be really surprised if it were genuinely an outlier (in the sense of being a chance correlation with current events).

Re: 5000% Increase in the sale of baseball bats on Amazon.co.uk

#52

Post by srgseg »

ChuckMcM wrote: post #47
srgseg wrote: post #40

Just to balance out the nightmarish images of London, here is a video of the community rallying together to clean up the mess the day after http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iz7WGzsaHQE

Hmm, no offense but that looks a bit staged (or perhaps its just near the end of the cleanup) a few people sweeping with brooms, most people milling about and watching them. A sad thing for me is when I start to tell a young person about a riot that I experienced and they think its 'cool.' There is nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing, 'cool' about a riot. You can read about mob dynamics, you can imagine heroic act…

I think it's the result of people wanting to do something to show that the community cares, and realising that actually the local councils had already done a good cleanup job overnight.

Nevertheless, I thought it was a heart warming gesture.

Re: 5000% Increase in the sale of baseball bats on Amazon.co.uk

#53

Post by NathanKP »

hugh3 wrote: post #42
chriserin wrote: post #34

UKers, just make sure you get ash bats, not maple. A shattered bat on the ball field is embarrassing. A shattered bat on the streets is dangerous. Likely there will be no bat boy to hand you a replacement.

Surely aluminium is the way to go?

An aluminum bat to the head would greatly increase the chance that the person will be killed rather than just knocked out. I certainly disapprove of the looters and rioters, but I don't think they deserve to die.

Re: 5000% Increase in the sale of baseball bats on Amazon.co.uk

#54

Post by petenixey »

ChuckMcM wrote: post #47
srgseg wrote: post #40

Just to balance out the nightmarish images of London, here is a video of the community rallying together to clean up the mess the day after http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iz7WGzsaHQE

Hmm, no offense but that looks a bit staged (or perhaps its just near the end of the cleanup) a few people sweeping with brooms, most people milling about and watching them. A sad thing for me is when I start to tell a young person about a riot that I experienced and they think its 'cool.' There is nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing, 'cool' about a riot. You can read about mob dynamics, you can imagine heroic act…

It wasn't staged, it was happening all over London - people were out in Clapham, Peckham and Tottenham too. There were a lot of people out making a lot of difference both literally and psychologically

Re: 5000% Increase in the sale of baseball bats on Amazon.co.uk

#55

Post by jtbigwoo »

hugh3 wrote: post #42
chriserin wrote: post #34

UKers, just make sure you get ash bats, not maple. A shattered bat on the ball field is embarrassing. A shattered bat on the streets is dangerous. Likely there will be no bat boy to hand you a replacement.

Surely aluminium is the way to go?

Metal bats are long lasting, but ash bats can last a long time, too, especially if you can avoid getting jammed (hitting something with the thin part of the bat just above where your hands go.) I have a child-size ash bat that's just starting to crack after being used by three generations of my family. The parent is probably referring to maple bats which are used by about half of major league baseball players. According to conventional wisdom, maple is harder and tends to shatter more easily.

Or you could try to track down a Tidal Wave softball bat. The Tidal Wave was a metal bat with a cap in the handle so you could fill it partially with water. The momentum and non-compressibility of the water made those bats crazy-powerful. (And illegal in any semi-organized game.)

Re: 5000% Increase in the sale of baseball bats on Amazon.co.uk

#56

Post by brianleb »

yid wrote: post #51
amitparikh wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, you picked an outlier. OP pointed out a trend -- 8/10 of the top "Movers and Shakers" are bats/batons. That is significant.

With the ease with which the burner can be turned into a bomb, it's portability (like a large Molotov), and the $15 price tag, I would be really surprised if it were genuinely an outlier (in the sense of being a chance correlation with current events).

I hadn't thought of that. When I think of people buying little propane stoves, I always think of them doing it for survival. What I thought was that some people are getting their last minute emergency supplies just in case things get worse.

Re: 5000% Increase in the sale of baseball bats on Amazon.co.uk

#57

Post by arethuza »

inovica wrote: post #26
itg wrote: post #5

Are the rioters buying these or the people and shop owners who want to protect their property?

I suspect many of these will be for home owners in these affected areas. Remember that whilst the shops are being targeted, that there are often many people cowering behind locked doors hoping that this will come to an end. This is a just a means of protection for them, should they need it. In the UK people are not allowed to own fire arms, but baseball bats are a different thing altogether.

"In the UK people are not allowed to own fire arms"

That isn't strictly true - just that the licensing schemes are very strict and licenses will only be given for certain types of guns (e.g. shotguns) for certain reasons (hunting or work).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_politics_in_the_United_King...

Re: 5000% Increase in the sale of baseball bats on Amazon.co.uk

#59

Post by jh3 »

dpapathanasiou wrote: post #31
patio11 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

27,000% percent increase in flashlights in Japan. Clearly the rioters threaten our power plants. http://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/movers-and-shakers/378-9075017-80...

Awful; neither funny nor relevant, and disrespectful to boot.

I'm pretty sure that's the joke.
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