Vancouver riots: the Internet is forever, idiots

Mom must be so proud

Full disclosure: I grew up in Winthrop, Massachusetts - home to Mike Eruzione (captain of the 1980 US Olympic Hockey Team) and a boatload of Boston Bruins fans.  I'm not a huge hockey fan - I'm more of a baseball guy - but I've been to my share of games and I'm happy the home team won.

However, this isn't a post about hockey.  This is about those absolute morons in Vancouver the other night.

No, not the real Canucks fans.  They showed some class when the Bruins held the Stanley Cup on Vancouver's home ice.  And not the vast majority of Vancouver residents.   And not even the anarchists who clearly came to Vancouver prepared to torch the place, win or lose.

This is about the idiots who took pictures of themselves standing in front of wrecked or burning cars. This is about the ridiculous posers who wanted to immortalize their "I was there" moment - maybe they thought it was funny, maybe they thought it was cool, but all of them wanted to be seen.  Flashing gang signs.  (And probably not even knowing what those gang signs mean.)

Make sure you get the flames in the background...

Real anarchists generally don't pose for pictures.  They hide their faces and wear disguises. They infiltrate drunken crowds, stir up trouble, then retreat to the back to watch it grow out of control.  If they get caught, they resist arrest, and view it as a badge of honor or a reasonable price to pay for what they've "accomplished."

But these morons - the ones who probably don't have the guts to commit these crimes but want to look like they do - would probably cry hysterically at the first sign of accountability.  Frankly, I'm having a lot of trouble thinking of anything more pathetic than a faux anarchist.

And of course, here's what makes them such chuckleheads - their pictures are now all over the Internet and will never, ever be removed.   People are already using social media to help police track down the real culprits, but it's just a matter of time before someone starts collecting these pictures and videos too.  Now since Facebook has launched that creepy facial recognition "feature" and made it opt-out, all it takes is for someone to post a picture they took from the riot and you're identified automatically.  Google has similar technology, too.  And they own YouTube.  

Attach this pic to their resumes

So when these kids apply for jobs - many no doubt in the Vancouver area, and maybe even for companies on Georgia Avenue - they'll probably be subject to Google searches and watch potential employers ask to "friend" them on Facebook.   And employers will learn these kids were posing in front of their office's shattered windows.  And they'll know that these kids bragged about it not simply to a small group of friends, but to everyone they could think of and more.  And they'll know these kids aren't simply classless - they're amazingly, staggeringly, profoundly, outrageously stupid.

I grabbed these screen shots of YouTube videos.  But of course, these kids have already posted pics of themselves to their Facebook accounts, or left status messages bragging about it. There's already a website called Identify the Vancouver Rioters that helps us all say "hey - I know that guy."

Can't wait to see their resumes.