Another scary bit of news out of the United Kingdom, which has been overtaken by riots in the past three days: The sale of baseball bats via the UK branch of online marketplace Amazon has risen over 5,000 percent in the last 24 hours, according to amazon.co.uk's Movers & Shakers chart, which Amazon explains tracks "the biggest gainers in sales rank in the last 24 hours":
The £17.15 Rucanor aluminum baseball bat jumped from 6,500th in sales to 125th overnight, for the 5,000 percent improvement in sales that Amazon's UK site is reporting.
This August 9th, 2011, Amazon customer review by Harry Fish in Bristol, England even explicitly mentions the unrest:
This bat is perfectly weighted and will suit any UK shop-owner looking to protect their property.
Thanks to the ergonomic handle, one easy swing should be enough to shatter patellas, skulls or any other bone on your targeted looter. Personally, I would recommend also investing in some fingerless gloves for extra grip.
Also posting huge jumps in sales are the Military Police Telescopic Tonfa, an all-metal police baton, and 5 other kinds of both metal and wooden baseball bats. The top 7 "Movers and Shakers" in Amazon.co.uk's "Sports & Leisure" category are all weapons that could presumably be used in riots, or as defense against looters:
Technology has played an important role both in organizing and recovering from the London riots.
Tottenham MP reportedly asked Research in Motion to suspend its BlackBerry Messaging service in the UK, as rioters were said to be communicating over BBM. London police have also arrested rioters boasting about their looting and destruction on Twitter, and clean-up after the riots has been coordinate via various social media services.