Riots all over the states.

Ummm, I think I'll stay home tonight... I'm in a relatively small city, but there are neighbourhoods where I really stand out as a minority.

I heard over 100 cities plan to stage support for Ferguson tonight

There are more cities every night. This could be the beginning of TSHTF. Staying in with something like this is a good idea. It's spilling over into canada too. Anywhere there is a US embassy.

There are more cities every night. This could be the beginning of TSHTF.

Really? ....minor.. they are punters by comparison....2011 Stanley cup..5 million in damaged property, 140 injured, 17 police cars set on fire, 1200 criminal charges, in one of the most affluent cities in Canada..all because a hockey team lost..oh yea I am real worried, wake me when it starts, or when they get to the 20 cop car torched

There are more cities every night. This could be the beginning of TSHTF.

Really? ....minor.. they are punters by comparison....2011 Stanley cup..5 million in damaged property, 140 injured, 17 police cars set on fire, 1200 criminal charges, in one of the most affluent cities in Canada..all because a hockey team lost..oh yea I am real worried, wake me when it starts, or when they get to the 20 cop car torched

I have to agree with respect to the context only. I don't think there's a need to be sarcastic in terms of Peppercorns response (unless you have a personal vendetta or you've been greatly offended by the individual in question).

Tiger27, I get emails all the time from people that just get into prepping and they are in what I like to call panic mode because they turned on the light to prepping. I get it. I was there once as well. They're overwhelmed with the information and a sense of panic ensues because they've realized how much they have to do and learn. I also get emails from people seeking advice on what actions to take with something as recent as the Ebola virus. There is a careful, yet subjective, scale of awareness and fear that you have to take into account. One person may bugout on day 5 while others may do so on day 10. There is no right or wrong answer to this. However, I so see some people that are extremely paranoid to the point where they must listen to the news all the time to ensure they know what's going on.

There's prepping from a point where it's an obsession and you don't enjoy your life. I call this worry-mode preppers. And then there's a prepping lifestyle in which you're able to be happy, content and take things as they come. I call this logically prepping. If there's a need to bugout or if SHTF then you'll know and only you will know when is appropriate to actually bugout. People should not spend their time worrying about something that may never happen in their lifetime. There are many more productive things you can do with your life above and beyond worrying about prepping.

This could be the beginning of TSHTF.

You're right. It could be. So could the EMP that we experience next week that we'll learn about in a few days. Or what about some rouge virus going air bourne with a 100% death rate upon infection. I don't know. We don't know. And there's no one out there with a magical crystal ball or book to tell us otherwise. I'm not going to spend my time thinking about it. I have much better things to do with my time. If and when it does occur then I'll take action. Until then, I'll prep but I'll also make certain I'm taking the time to actually enjoy my life.

Very wise response Che!

I try to stay alert to what is around the world but stopped worrying about "this could be it!?" situations on the news. A healthy balance between prepping and enjoying life is really important!

Riots where very much centralized on Ferguson - St Louis and are subsiding rapidly in scale, other locations mostly had peaceful protests. I saw somewhere a post along the lines that sadly, all the chaotic riots served nothing but support the cliche of gettho lifestyle.

Keep a sense of history too. Race riots are just a fact of coexisting in the same geography.

In 1980, 18 died in riots in Miami. In 1965, 34 died and over a thousand were injured in the Watts riots. In 1982, 53 killed and 2000 injured in Los Angeles. In the Tulsa riots of 1921, between 55 and 300 died, the numbers being uncertain as thousands fled. Untold thousands of people die or are injured each year targeted for who they are, the statistics simply labeled "ordinary crime".

Local events are mere pinpricks to the greater system, which runs on its own inertia. Even a major event like 9/11 is like a mosquito bite on an elephant.

Only an interruption of currency, such as a sudden collapse of world banking, can bring down the beast.

Nicely said, and I've seen riots, police corruption, tonnes charged, but what I haven't seen before was the police, and national guard just standing back and letting 95% of the people get away with purely criminal behavior, and sure, I remember the Stanley cup riot but I never saw it spread to more rhan half a dozen different cities within days of the announcement. And yes, I'm new to this site but been prepping my whole life just as a way of life, but now I want to expand to different areas of prepping to be totally self sufficient. And as far as bugging out, that will be the very very last choice and only if there is no other choice.

Well, here we go again...
Will we see riots in New York tonight as a grand jury refuses to indict a police officer after a suspect dies from being placed in a police banned cholk hold.

Don't know Denob, time will tell I guess. I think something should have happened to the cop for using a "prohibited" choke but thes people need to learn not to resist arrest. A man that size I'm not surprised they used whatever force was necessary to take him down, but I think they should have told him to move on rather than try to arrest him.

Oh for sure...I'm not trying to say if the cop in question should have been indicted of not...did he use a banned cholk hold...yup...should he lose his job over it...maybe...that's not what I'm trying to say though.
Simply...will there be riots?
You're right about one thing....time will tell.

Well, here we go again...
Will we see riots in New York tonight as a grand jury refuses to indict a police officer after a suspect dies from being placed in a police banned cholk hold.

I did a little research into this:

WARNING: The latter part of this video shows the raw footage of the incident in question captured on a cell phone. It may be disturbing to some viewers:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=En5linhM7Qo

I find it difficult to see how someone could not support a group of people that are angry because a New York Police officer killed a man for selling cigarettes illegally. However, meaningless violence and destruction of property always leads to no where. Most people don't know this and never will. The only rational way to stand up to this is to either join them or disconnect from the system. Everything else is a waste of time in spite of the fact that I can totally understand why New York will have many citizens in a state of rage this evening.

Just dreadful. What is this world coming to? My heart just dropped when you could hear the poor guy saying "I can't breath" multiple times.

I take the fact that we haven't seen any riots yet as a good sign that they may not occur at all. I always wonder how destroying your own neighborhood was supposed to fix anything. We'll just have to see what the deep night brings. I feel for the people who may be affected by the aftermath.

I'm not one to normally vouch for CBC, but I have to say they put forth a good editorial on the topic of policing in (certain locations of) the USA. This helps contextualise things IMHO.

From what I have seen, many officers are not at the same standard than what you would expect in Canada. An ad in the local newspaper (smaller south-east USA city) for police officer only asked for a grade 12, a drivers licence and not be prohibited from using a firearm. The pay is also commensurate and therefore significant less than a Canadian officer. Further, unlike Canada, officers are not expected to make a lifetime career out of policing so depending on departments, it may be a bit of revolving door.

Not saying it's better or worse than Canada, it's just "different."