This page has been archived and commenting is disabled.
Walmart Shopping Stampede Ensues When Foodstamp Glitch Removes EBT Spending Limits
On Saturday, tens of millions of Americans across 17 states found themselves in an unfamiliar situation: they couldn't rely on the US government for their daily foodstamp-funded bread. The result was anger, confusion and sometimes, outright panic, as shoppers left their full shopping carts in stores, and departed their favorite general retailer in a daze. However, while most outlets that accepted EBT were experiencing a one-day, non-recurring hit to their EPS, several Walmart stores in Louisiana decided to brave through the Xerox-induced blackout for several hours by eliminating the spending caps on EBT cards, leading to nothing short of shopping stampedes. The result, as CBS reports, is that "Walmart and local police in Springhill and Mansfield ... were called into the stores to help maintain order Saturday as shoppers swept through the aisles at two stores and bought as much as they could carry."
Walmart workers phoned their corporate headquarters to ask how they should handle all the shoppers with unlimited, government-funded spending limits, and were told to keep the registers ringing.
"We did make the decision to continue to accept EBT cards during the outage so that they could get food for their families," Walmart representative Kayla Whaling told KSLA. She added that Walmart was, "fully engaged and monitoring the situation and transactions during the outage."
Shoppers gave mixed reactions to the incident, with one man in the Springhill store told KSLA it was simply "human reaction" to stock-up when given the opportunity. Shopper Stan Garcia was more critical of the unscrupulous shoppers, however, saying that taking advantage of the brief glitch in the benefits system amounted to "plain theft. That's stealing, that's all I got to say about it."
The police disagreed:
Police spokesmen in both locations told KSLA that no arrests were made during the spending sprees.
After all, why arrest when all the public is doing is taking advantage of government generosity taken to its logical extreme: unlimited spending cards funding by either other taxpayers or America's creditors, the largest of which is now the Federal Reserve. Isn't that what the Fed enables Congress to do on a daily basis anyway?
Naturally, once the glitch was fixed, the stampede quickly ended:
Amateur video taken on shoppers' cell phones shows dozens of shopping carts, piled high with merchandise, abandoned in the aisles of one Walmart after the announcement was made that EBT cards were once again showing accurate spending limits.
There's that. Or perhaps it was all just a test run for what will happen when the Fed finally waves a white flag, and gives every American an unlimited-spending debt card in a desperate last-ditch effort to finally enact Bernanke's monetary helicopter paradrop wet dream.
»
- 54610 reads
- Printer-friendly version
- Send to friend
- advertisements -
Small critters are easy. I can clean a cottontail in under 2 minutes when I'm practiced. And they breed like, well, rabbits. They're dumb too. People who look to hunt and kill their own meat like the big kills, but wabbits and the like should not be overlooked. You just have to watch out for the ticks and fleas.
The first problem is, though: In a truly SHTF scenario, all it takes for me (hypothetical) to get not only everything you have stored to eat, but all your other preparations (of whatever kind), is that I can defeat you.
Now, presume for the moment that I pretty much know I'm dead anyway, no matter how this basically ends...
Nice job Alabama !!!
Buy bullion cubes and learn to make a roux and you can put those glass jars to better use.
I prefer to use my glass jars for corn distilled spirits and some green sticky stuff.
Best barter stuff ever.
BPA in glass jars with metal lids?
Bullshit meter just pegged.
It seems some preppers just can't leave the processed food world of ConAg. Curious way to prep IMHO.
I also store Spelt and Kamut. ConAg has nothing to do with it.
It's true, it's in the rubber grommet dealios that seal the lids.
Just keep putting more green sticky stuff in them and it covers it up, problem solved.
Or buy BPA free and still put green sticky stuff in them.
dogs. They keep watch, they need to be fed but not like hungry, traitorous humans. They can also smell intruders that you can't, probably hear them better than you too.
Love me my big scaremongering piece of a shit of an article on ZH ,this one is big fail on low news time.
Where do all the former middling-classes end up right now?
Food stamps. And this is the devastated state of mind of folks you should be trying to pick up on your popular revolutionary talk.
I`m still with you Tyler and all the best of breed postings on your site, just food for thought with the ever increasing
welfare recipient bashing of no sense of wrong direction.
Inconvenient facts <> scaremongering.
It must be cuntmongering because the mongerers are all cunts.
Agree Gardener. Classic case of divide and conquer. Hedgers can be as malleable as the rest of the sheeple. I imagine a good synonym for "malleable" is "dumb fuck".
I suggest listening to Freddie if you want to dilute that malleability. TOSS OUT THE FUCKING TELEVISION!
People divide themselves; it doesn't take a blog to do it. Dependents vs independents....I know what side I'm betting on.
This is what I am building:
http://ruralretreatdesign.info/
And for those of you with little money, bulk rice and bulk beans can be had at under $1/lb. 2400 calories per day for a year costs ~$500. Add cooking oil for necessary fat. You can definitely have nutritionally complete food stored with some variety for under $1K per person.
It takes a lot of energy to boil dry beans. Will electricity and gas be affordable in a long emergency? Available?
If you soak them overnight (lentils, especially), then rinse and drain, legumes don't take all that much time to cook. You can slow-cook them on top of a woodstove, too.
I'm sure glad every home was built with a wood stove.
What about water? No power, if collapse, then 90% is fucked, forget your woodstove and beans.
Most of these suedo preppers forget the most important thing. Oops!
Look up rocket stoves. They're simple, they're efficient, they use wood and they work.
While I do regularly use a normal kitchen, I've been cooking with wood for years.
As for water, I suppose I am fortunate. I can hit water with a shovel and an hour or two of manual labor, and I know how to drive and set up a well.
2 #10 cans, 3 soup cans and a pair of tin snips (and some dirt/sand or other insulator) will make one fine little rocket stove. And no tell tale smoke to give your location away as an added benfit.
If I pre soak my beans overnight I can cook them in 15 minutes in a pressure cooker. I have a propane camp stove and several 20lb propane cylinders. Enough to last me a year.
Am working on a solar pressure cooker usig a parabolic reflector made from an old 8' wide satellite dish.
golf clap to "joe" who's jumped passed all yall niggas and plans to brew beer and get drunk using the sun once the shit hits the fan
http://www.solarhomebrew.com/
Never considered a solar pressure cooker. Will it fit in a backpack? Aren't you worried the DHS will consider you a terrorist?
Get a fresnel lens, a big one. Make a solar oven, or a solar still to distill water. A fresnel lens is also good in the very late afternoon to fry scum attacking from the east ;}.
Solar is great if living in a sunny area.
I've always had problems with getting red beans soft after they've gone 6+ months or so. Whether or not I've used Oxygen Absorbers/Vaccum sealed them what have you. If they're older than 6 months to a year they just aren't getting soft. I've boiled them for a day and they were still tough. Lentils on the other hand always seem to go soft easily. I've cooked letils I've stored for more than two years and they soften up as quickly as the ones that I buy fresh.
Clean water is the bigger issue here. If the water is clean enough, you boil it on a small alcohol or propane stove, and then dump both the water and food into a thermos, which will then cook things for hours without additional fuel. Alternatively you can slow-cook using a solar oven if you have one and sunlight.
Unfortunately a lot of swimming pools use copper-based algecides, which isn't really conducive to health and isn't easily filtered. Pray for rain.
The real story here is that the stores were cleaned out in a couple of hours. Those that are sitting back thinking there are going to make a mad dash in the next crisis are not paying attention.
#1 place that gets nailed first is the pharmacy... always...
The other issue, practically speaking, is that if the shit really does hit the fan, then the first few folks getting into walmart are going to do their best to defend the food aisles from the rest of the lot... the patrons won't be playing nice with each other... think of the black friday stampedes + guns + even more desperate people. This is why the virtual entirety of prep sites emphatically suggest people stay away from major retailers in these situations... best case scenario, you get to eat some food before the asshole you wouldn't let in sets the building on fire...
Stay light, keep moving, avoid conflict.
sure the cops where there to keep order.
that was one call, from one store.
what happens when all 3 grocery stores in town AND, wal-mart, meijer, county market, sams club, jewel, schnuks, cvs, walgreens, and aldi are all simultaneously under attack, having the shelves looted?
Their's a hold-up in the Bronx
Brooklyns broken out in fights
Their's a traffic jam in Harlem
That's backed up to Jackson Heights
Their's a Scout troop short a child
Obamas due in a little while
Car 54 where are you!
Go to secondary and tertiary locations before the herd. Convenient stores, small shops, specialty stores, restaraunts, etc. with cash (assuming there is still civility going on). The primary targets (big boxes, warehouse stores, and the like) will get hit first and be dangerous.
Better yet, just prepare now, when there's no lines and no risk. Then when it happens, stay home, close the blinds, and eat well.
While they claim that it has a shelf life of 27 years, their own site in a different area says that they recommend that the food be consumed within 6 to 12 months. How is that different from any other canned food?
Freeze dried is very compact, and light weight, because the water has been removed. It is also very expensive.
Stuff is expensive.
Here's a place to save.
http://thebulkstoretaylor.com/2015613.html
The food with 20 year shelf life is sooo gross. Doubtful that anyone will be able to digest it for more than 3 weeks. I would buy ALOT of canned goods instead (shelf life 2-3 years).
I can't speak for all brands, but most Mountain House products are more edible than food served at lower-tier restaurants, though a bit salty.
Freeze-dried is an appropriate solution for people with money that want a buy-and-forget solution and/or that don't want to be bothered with rotating normal foods. Ideally I'd suggest all three approaches, freeze-dried, canned, and cheap bulk food with rotation on the last two.
$2,400 for 100 cans = $24 per can...wtf!
I can't wait for the next healthcare.gov glitch so I can get unlimited health insurance!
FSA! FSA! FSA!
Let me tell you what I've heard from some people who have info in Walmart this morning, and it makes me laugh pretty hard, if true!
The EBT cards were not working from a balance standpoint, but the card has the person using its, info embedded in it, exactly like a visa card, debit card, etc! So the corporate cats at Walmart did two brilliant things, ONE they slowed down the theft, by making everyone go thru the checkout lines which are under video monitoring and limited the damage to the stores, hense giving the computer more time to reboot and get back up, SECOND they scanned every item being stolen and ran the idiots EBT card associtaed with that theft!!
So they have a receipt for the items stolen, a name, address, and SS# associated with those items stolen, right down to the sales tax owed, and they have the sheeple idiots on camera, calmly waiting to steal the items!!
So now they can simply send a letter to the thieves, asking for the items back, or a collections notice, or a lean to the .GOV or company responsible for the the glitch, and let them collect for every item "SOLD" that day! Walmart essentially will get paid for every item stolen, like it was sold that day!
Welcome to Wonderland, but congrats to Walmart exec's, brilliant boys, truely brilliant!!!
America needs to stop shopping at Wal Mart, that is the core issue here. We are buying all of our stuff from China who owns us now. We need to go local whenever possible.
The only thing your locals have is from china too, you moron.
One of our good friends challenged herself to live without "China" for a month.
She didn't last but a few days...
My favorite acquisition from China is...my wife. Best deal I ever made.
OK, so we switch to HEB.
Best choice for good pricing, great cross section selection, and without the privacy invasion card scam.
I'm pretty sure the groceries at Walmart don't come from China.
Dude, you will find food at the farmers market from China. Don't kid yourself....
The Chinese can grow and process Garlic and then ship it to your grocery store at 1/10 the the cost a farmer down the road can do it for.
Now all your chicken will be coming from China soon. It's a fucked up world. Only way to be sure where it comes from is to grow or pick it yourself.
In dirt poor Nicaragua, garlic is imported from China!
this can is from 1965. well it still taste like creamed corn. yeah, but it's supposed to be deviled ham. hahahahahahahhah
it's NOT STEALING when the retailer says "no limit"
It's billing. Right to the provider of the funds. The government. It's up to Walmart & the government to decide what to do about re-inforced limits. Walmart may be at fault for offering senselessly an "unlimited" amount to what is always limited in reality, OR, the government may decide to hold the card-users at fault while forking over cash to walmart. After all, walmart like many powerful corporations dictates policy to government, not the other way around.
and what happens when you get caught scamming meidcare, unemployment or snap beneifts?
you have to pay a it back, + a fine.
do you think the states attorney or even the state attorney general is going to drag every one of these cardholders into court?
rico or even conspiracy to commit fraud? how many texts or FB or tweets were spreading the word about unlimited snaps?
People get in trouble for scamming medicare, unemployment or snap benefits? How unfair! I mean, if investors can be scammed without risk...I'd want equal protection under the law.
Doesn't Occam's Razor (or however the hell you spell it, I'm not looking it up right now) indicate that the feds will just pay WM and be done with it?
This shows the morality of the uS public now...when something does happen..EXPECT your house to be robbed of anything of value..be it food if there is a shortage or items wanted like TV´s and stereos...these people think they deserve it..so prepare to defend your family and your posessions.....and your life...this is what the USA is coming to....sick..this is just sick...this is free money these people are getting from people that work to give it to them...makes you feel sick inside as this country disintigrates....
Glad I had my orange juice, just not my car.
I guess the people thought they where given a present by the govt. or something, who knows but it sure was funny.
Bullish! Imagine how awesome Wal-Mart is going to do when hyperinflation kicks in!
Stuff be flying off the shelves!
In the interest of self preservation, I purposely stayed away from Walmart on Saturday because of the EBT failure. Walmart is a dicey proposition at the best of times.
Forward (over the cliff)!
This was a test run for when the government really shuts down and can't affortd to fund the EBT system. You will have riots within days Imagine Wallmarts nationwide being looted for food. It'll happen like a firestorm.
I'd be looting for ammo...if they ever had any!!!!
Lootie says: "Earning it is for suckas!"
http://night-up.com/wordpress/wp-content/lootie-803.jpg
No, Stompy Feet will shut it down even if the EBTs are affordable. Just to be an asshole. Just to cause mayhem. Just to become Caesar.
Some people just like to watch the world burn.
Mofo
Days? This was, what, 12 hours in the middle of the month?
Seriously... If Obama has to go on TV (or the Eastern Time Zone learns) that EBT/SS/SSI/SSD can't be paid for November 1, we're in martial law by sunup on November 1.
I don't always shop WalMart....but when I do, it's late Tuesday evening. Keep stacking, my friends.
Bad Additude hit the nail on the head, going anywhere near these big box store, EBT clearinghouses during any kind of crisis is a security risk no one should dare take. Talk about purposefuly putting yoruself in a bad situation.
my brother in Florida said stay away from wal-mart on ANY Saturday, if you dont speak Spanish.
THe people of walmart.
http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/
The future is nigh. WHo said high fructose corn syrup made from genetically modified plants didn't do a mind andnbody good?
Sorry dude, this is full devo:
http://youtu.be/g4-2onb62y8
Way ahead of their time.
"Are we not Men? We are DEVO!"
Jocko Homo - Original Video, Circa 1977: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRguZr0xCOc
(link opens in new window/tab)
@slaughterer
More like full retard! lol
Like the Fedcoats need any more dry runs to see what happens when the Free Shit Army is denied their goodies.
it more of a stress test to the bottom line.
Never go to Wal-mart unarmed...you've been warned.
These will be the same people rioting, looting, and killing people in a few days if the debt ceiling isn't raised again. Isn't great that we mortgage our childrens fiscal futures to fund this type of shit now? I really cannot wait for this benefit driven socialistic country burns to the fucking the ground. I'd love to watch all the fucking stupid people who voted for Obama see what the fuck they have done.
I do not think they have any idea at all what a 'debt ceiling' or phony 'default' means.
mofo.
I'm kinda 50-50 on that one.
If we lost order in about 72 hours (and that's about all we have left until X-Date), then they might as well just call it all off now.
I'm 50-50 on whether we lost it at X-Date or whether it holds off until it's announced that payments for 11/1 - 11/3 won't be made.
You see, this is where I think the Default comes in -- not on an immediate basis, but what happens to tax revenues when 60-120 million angry hungry people basically fuck shit up hardcore coast to coast?
you're mostly right, except those are the people that are going to be getting shot for trying to loot and kill decent citizens. take a good look at where this happened.
full retard, mofo.
hey! gibs me dat!
The o-phone has replaced the quaint jungle telegraph for the natives.
No white Americans were harmed during the making of that video.
.
Rumors are that this was a planned event to evaluate how people will react when stuff hits the fan, but what do rumors know?
Bullshit
What?
Would not surprise me one bit.
Everything is not a conspiracy.
No, it isn't. But nowadays, almost everything seems like one.
Hanlon's razor isn't lost on me! lol. Is usually the truth.
Nonetheless, I can't help but question most things today that affect public opinion. The spin is everywhere.
Look at all these rumours, surrounding me every day. I just need some time, some time to get away from, from all these rumours, I can't take it no more.
Nice....Good tune
Speaking of rumors... I have a theory that all this debt ceiling drama is simply to delay so that we go past the deadline and Obama can try his hand at dictatorial decree to raise the debt limit with executive action. Like Cyprus, the powers need to acclimate the sheep so that when full tyranny comes America just rolls over.
No one is rolling over. Didn't you see the vets surround the White House yesterday? Obama would be a fool to try it, he wouldn't last out the week.
Didn't last long enough. I tend to lean towards alternative news but I think the official story of a fucked up systems test holds water. If it had stayed down over 24 hours it might be more plausible as a planned reaction event.
This does show, however, that there are some pretty critical single points of failure in the system.
Considering the banks want the debt ceiling raised, and JPM is taking torpedoes broadside lately... wouldn't it be something if a few insiders at JPM sort of tied up the EBT system for a moment for the sake of doings God's work and all that. A little demonstration of how fast the FSA can be unleashed. Push button riots.
"Rumors are that this was a planned event to evaluate how people will react when stuff hits the fan..."
Probably explains why this "no limit" glitch occurred in Louisiana. It's Katrina, Part II Spawn of Malevolence.
Doing a bang up job Brownie...
I need to prepare for the inevitable event EBT crashes permanently and the welfare zombies come out to play. This will become ugly to say the least.
Zombie horde to some, target rich environment to others.......
Save ammo with the zombie weed eater
http://www.break.com/pictures/20-zombie-items-modified-weed-eater-2331932
I had a friend come look at my preps. I've got too many guns, enough ammo, but not enough mags. I thought 40-50 AK mags would be good, but he says I need at least 100 and gave good reasons for it. Damn! Back to buying on the gun side. The wife is not going to be happy with this...
Rather than buy more mags, consider getting more trigger time with the wife. Odds are that she will appreciate the attention.
I'd rather have Mrs. Horseman on my rear with her rifle, than have her in my ear about my rifle.
Wouldn't you prefer to be on her rear with your "rifle?"
Oldie but goodie military training jingle:
"This is my rifle...this (point to pants) is my gun. This one's for fightin'...this one's for fun."
"I've got too many guns"
I'm having a hard time understanding this statement.
Perhaps you can share why you need 40-50 magazines, let alone 100. Marines only cary six magazines in to combat. If you cant find time to reload every 180 rounds, you made some pretty shitty decisions leading up to that point, imho.
Something I learned while I was an Infantryman. 7 magazines in a combat load is half the way there. You should be carrying double that for one reason and one reason alone, if you get in a prolonged firefight and burn through 4-5 magazines, that leaves you with only 2-3 for the next firefight before you can resupply. You can not predict how long it will be before you can replenish your ammo, so it's usually a better idea to carry double what they say is SOP. I have never ran out of ammo, and many of my buddies came back likely because we never ran out of ammo.
After any major firefight you should balance the ammo load around the unit so everyone has some, or the close to equal amount. That way you all have some. Another good rule of thumb is to carry a lock out mag, this is a mag that you never use, ever. It's loaded and clean, but you never lock it in until it's apparent that you're not going to make it. I think you can figure out what this magazine is for.
Due shutdown:
DC Lottery: No Winning Tickets Will Be Cashed Until Further Notice
http://homment.com/dclottery-cash
They should make them all winners.
For the self-esteem of the children!
oh-fuck.
how does that happen, lottery is a state run gig?
just go stand in ANY convience store.
oh-fuck.
Because DC is not a state...it's federal enclave, a federal plantation if you will. DC's mayor was pleading w/ML Reid the other day for them to release DC's locally raised taxes (property, etc.) so they could pay their local workers. Reid told him "don't screw this up." Im sure that meant something political, just not sure what the "this" is.
it looks like O is trying to encourage his "army" (FSA) to attack his other army (DHS) so he can call in his OTHER army (NORTHCOM).
this seals the deal for me. no more walmart ever. what if i'm accidently in one when the shtf? i'll be murdered.
Unless you have a ccw. Then you can take a few with you!
don't worry Becky, Warren will protect you in there
if you stand there freaking out, sure, you are dead meat.
grab some shit, start yellin, an start givin people "The Eye".
sharks dont attack one another. professional courtesy.
Sharks are also good eating and easy to catch if you are patient and don't mind handling rotten crap to attract them with.
Did the newscaster at 00:07 say "Walmarts", with the added "s" on the end? Yes she did.
That's not far off from a Shirley Q. Liquor performance... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4eejsXr3b4
So? Don't you shop at Walmarts with your Moms?
She was using the plural form and not the singular Ebonics form, my bad as they say.
I take it back, she was using the Ebonics form. We've got one on the local news who adds an additional "r" to "water" and comes up with "warter". They have a way with the language.
As if it is not bad enough to have to use EBT/SNAP, they also want to game the system, this sinks to a new low.NO LIMITS and the scum steal all they can,while they can.
where mah gib me dats? Mofo.
Damn, I could've had salt-loaded steaks and been a vulture to the system at that Walmart!
mainstreet and Wall street...both getting free money and ripping everybody off.
How can people use a debit card that isn't working? Did Wal-Mart log the transactions and expect to be paid by SNAP?
That is the part that bothers me. The cashiers at Walmart are really going to manually do anything? I doubt it.
Corporate stores these days cant do jack shit without the 'puters up and running. They'd sooner just close up shop for the day.
I wonder about this too. Wall-Mart is not a charity giving in the hope they might be receive compensation later.
If somebody can explain this, I would love to hear.
There's a back-up paper voucher system in place for system failures. Apparently they're supposed to call a 1-800 number to verify funds, fill out a reimbursement form, and send it in when it's back online. The 1-800 system was down as well, so they simply didn't verify funds..
My understanding is that some stores picked a fixed limit (like $149) and allowed check-out up to that, while others just went unlimited, and still others wouldn't process EBT.
The glitch in LA was handled by taking off limits rather than by shutting down the system. This lead to gaming of the situation. "I gots no limits. We're eating Cheetos and Dr. Pepper tonight!!!! Mmmm mmmm...balanced meal while watching the American Idol!"
They knew if they shut the system down they would lose everything in the store.
I expect they figured it'd be safer to try to claim it back from the gov't later than to risk having to deal with stores full of angry mobs. You can just imagine the rampage of looting and destruction that might have ensued.
Not sure why they'd remove all limits, though. A cap of, say, $500 should buy enough food for even a really big family. It's all very twisted, from whichever direction you look.
don't worry people, Walmart is TBTF. The gubmint will take care of them.
Exactly, they're just looking for a bail-out.
Walmart: Now providing bread AND circus at selected stores.
The circus part comes from the cctv which will soon be appearing on ppv sites.
The "People of Wal-Mart" + EBT + CCTV/PPV = The mother of all reality shows.
Got popcorn?
They could call it "Ow, My Bowels!" ...h/t to f_s
When you are stupid enough to give people free things, the feral are not so stupid to take you for everything they can.
wham, bam, and no thanks from this rabbel scum.
Greatest Country in the WorldTM.
Cue slow-motion happyface doing a rollback...
Ha! That police chief looks terrified.
I hope they will suspend the limits on possible future glitches. Otherwise it can get ugly.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4KRRE0DPqg
One word, shame.
The EBT, Free Shit Army knows how to follow the lead of Mrs DebtFire...and they call it a "Debt-Ceiling" LMAO
QE 7 beta testing
I took advantegs of the situation on Saturday.
Knowing the EBT cards were't working, I went to Walmart to buy ammo and found the lines to be half what they normally are.
Picked up some Federal 5.56. Winner, winner, chicken dinner.
I don't see a lot of EBT being spent at the gun/ammo counter, so I doubt the EBT blackout really affected your purchase. Kudos on your three box purchase though!