According to CBS, reports of looting in the wake of Hurricane Sandy are “scattered”: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-57543677-504083/hurricane-sandy-aftermath-scattered-reports-of-looting-in-areas-of-new-york-new-jersey/
In some info attributed to Glen Beck, it may be uglier than that. This from a well-connected friend and correspondent: “They said they have received several calls from members of the church who had boarded themselves in their own apartments and are afraid to come out because of these roving gangs of kids, which are now already being named ‘wolf packs,’” Glenn Beck explained on his show this morning. “They’re terrorizing the neighborhood.”
Please review reader commentary in my last couple of blog entries, paying particular attention to reports from those actually “on the ground” in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. Our nation is simply not geared to quickly feeding and warming large segments of the population on a rapid-response emergency basis. Hunger, cold, and desperation and deprivation have not yet hit with the full force that long-term unavailability of food and shelter may bring in the aftermath of this “Frankenstorm.”
And…another “storm” brews. For many weeks now, there have been indications that the outcome of the Presidential election only days away may trigger significant civil upheaval. It ain’t just “Twitter talk,” which has definitely been there for some time, and can’t be ignored for reasons recently stated in this blog. Before Hurricane Sandy hit, law enforcement was already quietly planning for such a post-Election Day contingency. Law enforcement agencies don’t do that unless they have solid intelligence indicating a genuine risk.
Be on high alert next Tuesday and Wednesday, particularly if you’re in metropolitan areas. And, if you’re in the areas devastated by Sandy, you don’t need me to tell you that it might get more dangerous before it becomes less so.
Thanks for posting that Mas. There is such a thing called personal responsibility. Get out and vote next Tuesday. The future of our country and our kids depend on it!
Already, Bridgeport, Connecticut – a LONG troubled city – ended up in rampant attacks with eggs on power linemen after that city’s mayor publicly claimed that the power company was helping “the rich” in the suburbs first.
Power crews refused to work in Bridgeport then – until that city gave them police to protect them.
For many weeks now, there have been indications that the outcome of the Presidential election only days away may trigger significant civil upheaval.
Quit teasing us, Mas. Be more specific, please. Is the rumor that angry Liberals will take to the streets if Obama loses, or that Tea Party Conservatives will riot if he wins?
I had lunch today with a friend who is a uniformed officer with the Portland, Oregon police bureau.
I specifically asked him if the bureau has any plans in place for any possible uprisings due to the election. He said “no”.
The bureau will be operating as if it was just any other day. So we will just have to wait and see if anything goes down.
They aren’t even going to man the emergency operations center ‘just in case’.
I’ll eat the words of my earlier post and say…if you live in a troubled area, the aftermath of disaster may lead to further trouble.
I forget who said that if you live in an area where you need to sleep with a gun under your pillow, you’re living in the wrong area.
Unfortunately, the right areas can be the wrong area in a second.
Perhaps to eventually confirm or deny the extent of looting, the media should check with the insurance companies? Are the claims related to storm related losses or to theft / looting? Maybe check how many pharmacies have been targets? The truth will eventually come out, of course, but after the looming national elections no doubt. Then again during Katrina President Bush was in charge, but for Sandy the media seems to be taking a different empasis with President Obama at the helm a week before we vote… Just sayin’… Be safe as the next forecast storm rolls in on the already devastated region coping with cold temps to boot…
@Joshua: Tea Party member *do not* riot.
Yes the media with the exception of non main stream media i.e. roku Fox news are so in invested in Barry that they will not present and accurate representation of Hurricane Sandy or Libya. Recently the Good People at An Alabama power company headed up there to help and were turned away by union thugs and told t go home. While Generators were in place that would power 400 or so homes in the area, But wait they were not in place to help the citizens they were in Central park to provide power to the Marathon, which was finally cancelled after back lash! Really this storm must have been George Bush’s fault. i just can not believe this. We have people who are searching dumpsters for food after 3 days! really! What ever came of self reliance and being prepared for short term emergency’s ? But I guest that is what you get when you have Nanny Bloomberg. My Prayers go out for those effected.
Certain commonality of riots involve a lot of young males, substance abuse including alcohol, risk taking behavior which includes prior arrests and other disregard of the law, and large crowds able to hide the provocateurs seeking disorder.
None of these markers are representative of the Tea Party demographic.
Rex Applegate has a pretty good summary of rioters in his Kill or Be Killed book. You might want to read it albeit Applegate is clearly not sympathetic with rioting y’utes.
“0” flies in to New jersey for a big fat photo-op, leaves one of his usual “high-priority-promises” of aid and flies off to campaign in Nevada where the book has his opponent at 8-5.
Meanwhile vote early if you still can, vote on Tuesday if it’s all the opportunity you have left. But vote.
We’ll be staying home Tuesday and Wednesday.
Hopefully we won’t have to make an ammo-run on Thursday….
I wonder if this going to cause the election to be thrown?
Our wise Dear leader should immediately declare martial law, “temporarily confiscate” all privately owned firearms, and institute other “reasonable” gun control measures to protect protect his loyal subjects in case of civil unrest after the presidential election. We don’t want any trigger happy cowboys recklessly shooting some innocent looters, rapists, terrorists, or gangbangers because they’re members of the Shop-At-Home program (shopping at someone else’s home, that is). With the proliferation of evil black rifles like the AR-15 with their diabolical high capacity magazines in civilian hands, huge numbers of criminals could be terminated when they innocently wander onto other people’s property. We cannot have such wanton violence. We should be more like England where’s it’s illegal to defend oneself with any weapons. Imagine how terrible it would be to see on TV how hundreds of club wielding Black Panthers were mowed down by middle-aged housewives, teenaged girls, and elderly retirees? The horror!
Hanza and William: take it easy. Should my sarcasm have been even more obvious? I wasn’t intending to dig at Tea Party members OR liberals. Your objection to my (non-existent) mis-characterization of Tea Party members has been duly noted.
“Can’t we all just get along?” (Rodney G. King, 1992 Los Angles riots) Under the right conditions even animals can “just get along”. Perhaps Mr. King should have said, “Can’t we all conduct ourselves as civilized human beings instead of animals?” Unfortunately too many communities allow “leadership” that breeds, aids and abets violent criminal and antisocial elements. Our communities are at greatest peril when they then rely on that same leadership for all aspects of safety, security and well being. Such leadership often fails to deliver. Here’s to self reliance. In my opinion it is time for a leadership change. Hopefully it will occur in a civilized manner.
Relying on the government to provide “aid” in a natural or other disaster is silly, they are not ready to respond. Americans need to take responsibility for them selves. To me that means a minimum of 30 days of food and water, the ability to generate my own power as required. Most important is the ability and the will to protect my family and home as required.
TOM606 YOUR LAST POST WAS FABULOUS! SHOULD BE WRITTEN IN LETTERS OF GOLD!
I live in Sussex County, NJ, the northernmost county. My town is middle class and upper middle class. We are 50 miles from NYC. Lots of downed trees. One neighbor had a tree demolish his daughter’s car. Having listened to Glenn Beck’s warnings two years ago, and having read, “Emergency Preparedness and Survival Guide” this past Spring, I was in pretty good shape. I expected my basement to flood, and I live there, but it didn’t. Every thing is always up on bricks just in case anyway.
I was without power for three days. My parents live in the same town, and went without for five days. They were fine, and took showers here. Of course they could have stayed here. I have a friend staying with me. He lives in this town and is still without power. Today is Sunday.
One thing I did right was to turn my refrigerator into an icebox. I bought ice before the power went out, put it into aluminum trays which are probably meant to bake turkeys, and put one tray in the ‘fridge, and one in the freezer. The freezer tray froze and never needed to be replaced. The refrigerator tray needed to have some water drained out of it after every 24 hours, then replenished with new ice. Everything in the ‘fridge and freezer made it through the three days, including milk.
Food was available around here for those who did not prepare. Grocery stores were open soon after the storm, and also restaurants. We are thankful. The Jersey shore, Long Island and Staten Island were hit much worse than we were.
I enjoy the posts here and would say they are accurate.
I put this in the “tough love” catagory that alot of America needs in order to “wake up” and grow up. I hope that the short term problems help people improve in the long term.
Mas,
I would not be suprised if more looting, and or rioting, occurs after the election.
Ceratin elements of our society have become conditioned to not having to do for themselves as the Nannystate has replaced self reliance and pride. There is no shame in needing help but there is plenty of shame, in my eyes, in taking help that is not needed.
For the record, Tea Party types don’t riot. We have rebellions. 🙂
Vince
@Joshua: Based on your previous comments to various topics, there was absolutely no way to tell that your Tea Party riot comment was sarcasm.
Therefore it was taken at face value.
Mas,
Have to agree with a previous comment. Please, if you are going to talk about potential civil unrest, give us some idea of the genesis of your concerns. Since you’re making this claim as a law enforcement officer, your readers assume that you have something beyond the reasonable concerns that all of us have re-post election nonsense.
As for me, I doubt I’ll see anything here in the Maryland suburbs. That said, we’ve got enough supplies put in that we’ll be ok if problems arise.
Interesting article that could have used a little more detail. A number of us down here in Houston have been watching the Sandy Wrap Party with some interest, but not with any surprise.
The average peep simply does not understand what normal grocery supply chains have devolved into. For those that pay attention, the most often repeated line: “Most of us are nine meals away from anarchy.”
One of the earlier replies mentioned Nanny State, etc. I was a little unclear who he was talking about: The Too Big To Fail corporations (ConAgra, Monsanto, and ADM immediately come to mind for this discussion) with lobbyists writing legislation that gets passed (along with the money that gets passed out), or the citizenry who is (so far) non-violently watching their options dwindle…
Cuium vobis?
Thanks for the recommended reading a/a. I also recently picked up another, simply and directly called, “Save Your Ass” by Alexander Stillwell , Ulysses Press, 2010. Mas, I appreciate your warnings, heck, I’ve been reading you religiously since I was 21 (no, it wasn’t yesterday either,lol), but I agree-please be more specific when you do them. I kinda live in the middle of nowhere, in a small city out in WA state, but if I were in Seattle, you’ve already said enough to make me nervous about Tues-Weds.
I really don’t know why I bother to make this comment because Mr. Ayoob is far too full of himself to read anything beyond what he writes.
I have always been of the opinion that I should investigate all sides of a question before making a decision. About 4 years ago I searched for, and found, Massad’s Cell phone number ( probably by accident). But I had a question and thought he might have some input.
I’m no stranger to guns and weapons. I was raised hunting and fishing with my dad and older brother who did his service tour in WWII in the Army Air Force in the Philippines. I was in Vietnam in the 1960’s as an Army helicopter flying crew chief.
That being said: my question was simple:
What is your opinion of people that carry CCW badges and are they worthwhile?
Massad’s answer was condescending at best and sometimes it’s not what is said but more important, how it was said… I haven’t bothered to read or recommend anything to anyone that Massad Ayoob has written since that phone call. I can only assume he has a ghost writer like Obama.
Mas;
I live on Staten Island and the next day “Wolf Packs” attacked the Lowe’s, Kohl’s and the Gas station on the corner. The ran into the stores and ran out. A friend of mine at 911 said they were backlogged with calls and some waited 24 hours for a response.
Currently there is significant looting that is being under reported my the police and the victims of Sandy. Signs have sprung up saying “Protected by Glock” or “Nothing inside is worth dying for” or the best one I have seen is “protected by my 2 friends Smith and Wesson”. This isn’t a dream it’s happening now! Fights on gas lines and people robbing gas from tanks is a daily occurrence. After the first 24 hours without power or gas there was no brotherly love. In the supermarket the shelves were selectively bare. I became the invisible man/house.
I had small propane heater and propane lights, with propane to last several days.
At night we used a oil lamp on low and listened to a AM radio.
Although NYC is a non-ccw I have a Premise Permit and was armed at night.
People beware, in this situation it very quickly became dog eat dog. The bad element came out as soon as the wind stopped. Be armed, be aware and be prepared.
@Doug Page: Did you ever consider that your calling Mas on his cell phone might have pissed him off, and that is why he sounded as he did?
Your writing him off (no pun intended), based on that one thing just shows how shallow your thinking is regarding firearms issues. Mas has long been a major resource for the firearms owning community.
As for CCW badges I wouldn’t ever wear/carry one. I wouldn’t want to be mistaken for a LEO.