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Why Is An Epidemic Of Thievery Sweeping America?
Submitted by Michael Snyder of The Economic Collapse blog,
Desperate people do desperate things, and it appears that Americans are rapidly becoming a lot more desperate. An epidemic of thievery is sweeping across America, and authorities are not quite sure what to make of it.
Down in Texas, cattle thieves can get up to $1,500 per head of cattle, and cattle rustling was up nearly 40 percent last year. As you will read about below, cargo hijacking is becoming much more sophisticated, and it is being estimated that losses from cargo thefts will total about $216 million this year alone. And for some reason, Tide laundry detergent has become a very hot commodity among common criminals all across America. In fact, it is being reported that some grocery stores are "losing $10,000 to $15,000 a month" as a result of Tide thefts.
So why is all of this happening? Well, as I have written about previously, crime is on the rise in the United States, and poverty is absolutely exploding. In fact, according to the latest numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau, 49.2 percent of all Americans are receiving benefits from at least one government program each month. Over the past five years, we have seen an unprecedented rise in the number of people that cannot take care of themselves without help from the government. Millions upon millions of Americans that have been forced into poverty are becoming increasingly angry, frustrated and desperate. And what we are watching right now is only just the beginning - all of this is going to get a whole lot worse.
When people think of the "social decay" that is happening to America, most of the time Texas and Oklahoma would not be the first places that come to mind. But according to NPR, there was nearly a 40 percent rise in the theft of cows and horses down in that area of the country last year...
Ranchers saw a sharp jump in cattle rustling last year in Texas and Oklahoma. Over 10,000 cows and horses were reported missing or stolen. That’s an almost 40 percent increase from the year before. It’s a trend that’s surprised some in law enforcement.
And this is happening even though the penalties for cattle rustling have gotten much stronger...
Penalties against rustlers were toughened by Texas lawmakers in 2009. Now, the crime could put you in prison for up to 10 years. But ironically more and more cattle have gone missing or stolen since that law was passed.
Another trend that is baffling law enforcement authorities is the huge wave of cargo hijackings that they have been seeing. According to a recent CBS News article, cargo thefts are becoming a lot more elaborate these days...
To steal huge shipments of valuable cargo, thieves are turning to a deceptively simple tactic: They pose as truckers, load the freight onto their own tractor-trailers and drive away with it.
It’s an increasingly common form of commercial identity theft that has allowed con men to make off each year with millions of dollars in merchandise, often food and beverages. And experts say the practice is growing so rapidly that it will soon become the most common way to steal freight.
You may not think that stealing truckloads of walnuts or cheese is a big deal, but the truth is that the dollar values of some of these thefts are absolutely staggering...
News reports from across the country recount just a few of the thefts: 80,000 pounds of walnuts worth $300,000 in California, $200,000 of Muenster cheese in Wisconsin, rib-eye steaks valued at $82,000 in Texas, $25,000 pounds of king crab worth $400,000 in California.
And this is not just happening in a few isolated locations. We are literally seeing an epidemic of cargo theft that stretches from coast to coast...
Although cargo thieves prey on companies across the nation, the hot spots are places with shipping ports or rail hubs. California leads the nation. Large numbers of thefts have also been reported in Texas, Florida, New Jersey, Michigan, Illinois, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Tennessee.
Perhaps most fascinating of all is the wave of Tide thefts that is sweeping the nation. The following is an excerpt from a New York Magazine article from earlier this year...
The call that came in from a local Safeway one day in March 2011 was unlike any the Organized Retail Crime Unit of the Prince George’s County Police Department had fielded before. The grocery store, located in suburban Bowie, Maryland, had been robbed repeatedly. But in every incident the only products taken were bottles—many, many bottles—of the liquid laundry detergent Tide. “They were losing $10,000 to $15,000 a month, with people just taking it off the shelves,” recalls Sergeant Aubrey Thompson, who heads the team. When Thompson and his officers arrived to investigate, they stumbled onto another apparent Tide theft in progress and busted two men who’d piled 100 or so of the bright-orange jugs into their Honda. The next day, Thompson returned to the store’s parking lot to tape a television interview about the crimes. A different robber took advantage of the distraction to make off with twenty more bottles.
So why are criminals so interested in Tide detergent?
Well, apparently it is heavily used as currency in the drug trade...
Southern California authorities say it’s a dirty business and a bizarre trend – drug users trading Tide detergent for crack.
The Riverside Press-Enterprise says it’s a nationwide problem – people are stealing the popular but expensive detergent and trading it for marijuana and crack cocaine.
San Bernardino police Sgt. Travis Walker says detectives raiding dope houses in recent years were puzzled when they found lots of Tide. Turns out it wasn’t being used to make drugs but to buy them.
We live at a time when an increasing number of Americans will do just about anything for money.
Down in Florida, one mother was so desperate for money that she was actually prostituting her three teenage daughters. Two of them were under the age of 18...
A St. Cloud mother was picked up Thursday on charges of serving as her three teenage daughters' madam in a West U.S. Highway 192 prostitution ring, according to the Osceola County Sheriff's Office.
At 2:30 p.m., Paula Howard flagged down an undercover detective acting as a "John" in front of a bus stop and arranged for him to have sex with one of her girls, ages 16, 17, and 18, an arrest record states.
The daughter agreed to perform the act for $20 and hopped into the car, telling the detective, "Oh yea. That's my family, but don't even worry about it. They know what I do," the report states.
But haven't you heard?
Everything is just fine in America. Barack Obama and the mainstream media keep telling us that over and over, so it must be true.
Right?
I think that we got a glimpse into the true condition of America last month when a "technical glitch" caused the system that processes food stamp card payments to malfunction for a couple of hours. A Time Magazine article described what happened at one Wal-Mart in Louisiana...
Customers cleared shelves and police were called in to control crowds taking advantage of suddenly unlimited spending allowed on their Electronic Benefits Transfer cards, which are issued to recipients of government food stamps. Spending limits on the cards were reportedly disabled for about two hours.
When a store in Springhill, La., announced over the loudspeaker that the glitch was fixed, shoppers simply abandoned loaded carts, according to Springhill Police Chief Will Lynd.
And similar "mini-riots" happened in a bunch of other locations as well.
For example, customers at one Wal-Mart in Mississippi just started taking groceries out of the store that they hadn't paid for when their food stamp cards were not accepted...
Customers staged a disturbance then walked out of a Mississippi Walmart store with groceries that hadn’t been paid for Saturday night after a computer glitch left them unable to use their food stamp cards.
People in 17 states found themselves unable to buy groceries with their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program cards after a routine check by vendor Xerox Corp. resulted in a temporary system failure.
Shortly after the mini-riot, managers decided to temporarily close the store, citing customer safety.
Keep in mind that all of this was caused by a "technical glitch" that only lasted for a few hours.
What would happen if there was a problem that lasted for much longer?
That is a sobering thing to think about.
And as I wrote about recently, all 47 million Americans on food stamps just had their benefits reduced on November 1st. This is causing food banks all across the country to brace for a huge influx of needy people...
Food banks across the country, stretched thin in the aftermath of the recession, are bracing for more people coming through their doors in the wake of cuts to the federal food stamp program.
Food stamp benefits to 47 million Americans were cut starting Friday as a temporary boost to the federal program comes to an end without new funding from a deadlocked Congress.
Under the program, known formally as the Supplemental Nutrition and Assistance Program, or SNAP, a family of four that gets $668 per month in benefits will find that amount cut by $36.
In fact, the president of the Food Bank for New York City says that members of her organization "are panicking"...
As president of the Food Bank for New York City, Margaret Purvis expects those cuts will draw even more people to organizations that already provide 400,000 meals a day to hungry city folks.
"Our members are panicking," she said as time wound down before the benefit decreases go into effect. "We're telling everyone to make sure that you are prepared for longer lines."
Purvis also told Salon.com that "when people cannot afford to eat food" it has the potential to start "riots"...
“If you look across the world, riots always begin typically the same way: when people cannot afford to eat food,” Margarette Purvis, the president and CEO of the Food Bank for New York City, told Salon Monday. Purvis said that the looming cut would mean about 76 million meals “that will no longer be on the plates of the poorest families” in NYC alone – a figure that outstrips the total number of meals distributed each year by the Food Bank for New York City, the largest food bank in the country. “There will be an immediate impact,” she said.
So will we see riots as a result of these food stamp cuts?
No, I do not believe that we will see riots yet.
But the volcano of anger, frustration and desperation that is simmering just below the surface of this country continues to get hotter.
Someday it will explode.
What will you do when that happens?
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Ask Corzine. Crime pays. There is no Batman. Just the Joker.
47% of americans still believe obama is batman. until those people who harbor such idiotic beleifs wake up (never), crime will continue to pay.
Just a game of Follow The Leaders
Lie, cheat and steal, its the American way!!!
But the horse thieving thing is TX is misleading. You can't give a so-so horse away these days...literally. People are dumping them (and donkeys) off in the country the way they used to with cats and dogs.
Rules for Radicals equals chaos.
They want it, we got it.
Damn them all to hell they will be, establishment replubicans included, that's right I said it, talkin about you McCain and Graham and Rove, but I will taste better than you cause I've been marinating in JACK.
JACK is an elixer to thwart all commie upancomupence (sp).
No retards!!!!
8 oz tomato juice
1 tbsp Everclear (add another tbsp if very cynical)
1 tsp vinegar
1 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp horseradish
1 tsp powedered sugar
1/2 tsp molasses
1/2 tsp lime juice
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp Thai fish sauce
1/2 tsp celery salt
1/2 tsp onion power
1/4 tsp dill weed
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/8 tsp white pepper
1/8 tsp ginger
1/8 tsp cloves
1/8 tsp wasabi
NINE.
9.
WHY NINE? 9?
Thats how many meals away from - ANARCHY!
speaking as a cynic, that drink looks like it takes way too fucking long to make. how about the first two ingredients and leave it at that. or replace the tomato juice with a needle and just start mainlining everclear.
It really is as simple as this.
For everyone from the most destitute to the super wealthy.
No money = you die.
With this in mind is there ever enough?
Everyone knows there is no such thing as enough and for every tale of rags to riches there is a tale of riches to rags.
Until we change this simple little fact of life nothing will change and this heinous game of ultimate musical chairs to the death will go on and on becoming more and more ugly.
"establishment replubicans included,"
Don't forget Cruz whose wife is an executive at Goldman Sachs. Don't let him baffle you with his bullshit.
And Rand Paul. Look up his donors. Most are unrevealed corporate contributors. It's no coincidence that he champions their causes. But he talks a good game.
Has or has not, Cruz been proven absolutely correct, in trying to bring the sheeples attention to the fascism that is ObamaCare? Whether or not he was successful then is no matter now, their attention is certainly glued to this POS, the jack booted thuggery now, watching as their liberty, choice and labor evaporate.
Yes?
And Rand Paul, who committed the other "egregious" fillibuster against the senate establishment. His was over the use of government drones killing American citizens, wasn't it?
Why don't you have a little faith and Hope for Change baby? It may come as shock to you but being anonymous, when fighting the all embracing, suffocating state on its own terms, can be a good thing.
Both of them are correct in their positions and you know it.
Let it go Rand, be what you want to be, not what you've always been.
AIPAC own's the PAID Ho's on both the LEFT, RIGHT, CENTER of the debate.
If its seen or TV, or electable in the USA, then it is 100% owned by AIPAC.
It's theater nmewn. The words accomplished nothing other than getting guys like you to defend and vote for them as intended. You are taking the bait.
Obama had a great speech against raising the debt ceiling as a Senator. If I defended him now because he grandstanded then, would you be convinced that he's really a good guy?
Don't pay attention to what they say. Pay attention to who funds their campaigns. That will tell you what they will do when they have the power to do it.
Let's not forget that, for all practical purposes, the mainstream media funds Obama because they give him what must be worth billions of dollars in media bias. In fact, money could not buy that kind of support. They make personal sacrifices, hide evidence, fabricate evidence, and attack his opponents. Obama can just be the blank canvas onto which they paint the Myth of Obama while they do all of his dirty work. No amount of big donors could overcome that kind of cronyism.
Ted Cruz and Rand Paul are on the opposite side of that bias. The media have a pathological hatred of them. We must adjust our perspective accordingly.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghcsrblhn7A
what other choice does rand have? he needs the money to play the game. his dad, my personal hero, did a tremendous job getting the ball rolling. everything the good doctor did had a great effect outside of washington, but very little effect inside. rand has to get sufficient campaign contributions to stay in office and fight the good fight. so really the question is, what other choice do we have? we can either wait until the oh shit moment, preparing accordingly as we wait, or we can put (some) of our hope in the one or two politicians who are still voicing our beliefs and seemingly fighting the mafia that is our political and financial system. cynicism is a good trait until we take it too far. we need to be optimistic that there is a brighter tomorrow, and if that means putting potentially misplaced trust in a couple people who seem to be on our team, then so be it.
The great man of the people, the darling of the Tea Party is, wait for it, Ted Cruz?? Elitist Harvard graduate with a wife who is in senior management a Goldman Sacks. Too funny! It shows how easily these Tea Party buffoons are manipulated and deceived.
"And Rand Paul. Look up his donors. Most are unrevealed corporate contributors. It's no coincidence that he champions their causes."
He champions their causes? Such as what? The best friend of big business is big government. Much better to have oppressive regulation that you can trust your legal department to deal with, than having to navigate a free market and compete against upstarts on a level playing field.
nobody seems to be totally clean. everyone seems to have a tentacle in their business one way or the other. but the house continues to show some separation from 'the party'(d/r). worth watching. i continue to fascinated with the take no prisoners, one option, ends will justify the means urgency of the whole globalization project. the snakeheads running this thing are amazingly nimble, and completely deaf to any constraint. sure there is plenty of greed and disregard for law and decency, but we all thought europe would have crashed and burned by now. still standing, somehow. don't underestimate, the gold team has some smart fuckers calling the shots.
Horsemeat is a delicacy in some parts of Dade County, Fla. Coming soon to a fast food restaurant near you, until supplies run out.
Horse steak is excellent. Not the 15 year old sickly abandoned horse, but the 3 year old horse raised as meat. Germans and eastern europeans still like their horse medium
"I slaughtered this horse last Tuesday. I'm 'fraid she's starting to turn."
How could anyone in the U.S. eat Mr. Ed unless they were starving, on food stamps, out of work, homeless and destitute? Oh, wait.
10 years? Hell, they used to HANG horse thieves.
The thieves are just following the new immoral standards set by our stealing immoral government. I mean what is wealth redistribution if not theft? I expect the crime to get a lot worse. This is a trend that has legs. Just wait till some of the Mexican traditions, like kidnapping, make it up here north of the border.
Corzine most likely will try a run for president in '16. Nothing would suprise me now.
Can't believe anyone downvoted you. Must be the libtards that have infiltrated ZH.
Yep, the "junk & run" Lib cockroaches are infesting the site!
Tyler... are you listening?
Obama lied - healthcare died!
Democrats lied - healthcare died!
Spread the word!
Proof...
Yep, the "junk & run" Lib cockroaches are infesting the site!
I find libtards and conservatards equally amusing...and useless.
Thievery has been going on for a long time in this country. Read up on Ida May Fuller and you'll see that "the greatest generation" has been doing it for years.
Double tap.
It's coming...
http://www.khou.com/news/crime/Burglary-suspect-shot-by-15-year-old-son-of-deputy-97430719.html
That's nothing compared to her medicare contributions/benefits ratio.
Free Jon Corzine! Obama should pardon him!!
Corzine - Weiner 2016.
Monkey see, monkey do.
Banks get away with it, as does .gov. $1 trillion 'lost' by our friends at the pentagon.
1. Our culture literally worships the god of money (Mammon), in spite of lip-service to their 'official' deity ('God').
2. Corporate Governance has gone to Hell, exec compensation plans have changed drastically (tied to stock price) and it's a free-for-all: "Drive up stock prices" above all things, doing whatever it takes. "Do what thou will" is the Luciferian commandment.
3. The "Checks & Balances" have been gradually and systematically removed since 1980, and been repackaged and promoted/sold as "Deregulation".
Since 1980?! You must be terribly young/misinformed! Been going on a long damn time!!! Try the rise of the progressive movement (TR!) and the nefarious Wilson and the BS that spawned in 1913!!!
"Why Is An Epidemic Of Thievery Sweeping America?"
1. People are fucking broke.
2. When you are hungry all bets are off.
3. Our government leads by example so why not...
Land is over-priced. There are no jobs and therefore not even any hope of acquiring land. If you can't grow your own food, then you gotta get it from somewhere.
The fish rots from the head.
(edit: I see I'm not the first to say that ;-))
London, UK is not much better... if it isn't nailed down these days, its gone. As for owning a motorcycle these days, forget it - it's just an insurance claim waiting to happen!
This article encapsulates the actions of the Fed and the moneymasters.
It is hard now to tell the welfare cheat that their breaking the rules is bad when Jamie Dimon's is being given billions....
When rules are not followed, there are no rules.
I guess you could justify almost anything with that defense........
Works especially well for financial crimes, apparently
one of my friends owns a smokeshop and it has been broken into a few times. we watch the video feed of the actual break in and it is really phuckin' creepy. they pull up in their car. noncholantly walk up to the building and smash a large rock through a small window and just take whatever they want. and... they are not in a hurry. the alarm is loud enough to wake the dead, and they are just takin' their sweet time and not running or making fast movements... like they know they have ample time anyway, to stay on point, crime will get worse and theives evermore brazen. and it is not just limited to the dirt poor. we are in for quite a ride with no end in site.
A fish may rot from the head, but America apparently rots from Chicago down. The head of the executive branch sets the example.
He's the new Kingfish!
Nonsense. We have rules. Of course we don't know what rules the FISA court makes, but we have lots of rules that Barry issued. Those, apparently, are the only ones that matter.
Wasn't talking about freedom of information. I was talking about financial crimes. Little people are looking at the big people and seeing no rules being followed and asking why should they follow rules when the big people don't?
Plus it is a slippery slope for them just like it is for the WS criminals. First it is parking in the handicapped parking-place; then getting the scooter, then buying the wrong shit with welfare card....
Bullshit. I'd really like to see a poll taken of people arrested for B&E, larceny, theft, etc asking the question: "who is John Corzine?" or,
"Who is Jamie Dimon?" or,
"Who is Hank Paulson?"
9 out of 10 won't know. These are crimes of opportunity committed by low IQ, low impulse control, high time preference retards, not people who observe, think, and create a moral justification for stealing shit.
Long story short: they're not Zero Hedge readers. Probably the ubiquitous urban 'youfs' & 'teens' you hear so much about today.
Needless to say, both the Grand Theft Nation and Grand Theft Auto committed by the banksters and the gangsters respectively are reflections on the decay of Western Civilization. A healthy body does not become overrun with parasites.
And there is the rub. When confidence is lost in the system, all that is left is anarchy.
Our office has been broken into 3 times in less than 3 years. Every time they ignore everything and rip into the walls and power service feeds coming off the poles for the copper. Takes some balls to cut a 400amp service feed while it is hot
On the bright side any collapse in the economy will kill the price of copper. What they go for next is an open question. What's in your fridge and liquor cabinet?
Big problem with counterfiting of bills also at least around here. I've noticed bigger retailers that would normally check $50 or $100 for fakes are now not even accepting any bills of those denominations unless they have scanners at the registers like Target does for example. Lower rent the clientle the lower the denominations they check for fakes now. All the supermarkets around here check $20 now for fakes. At the dollar store they were checking $1 bills for counterfits at the cash registers. You never see anyone checking singles for fakes unless there is some sort of problem. Anecdotal evidence of that great fucking economic recovery going on because a higher incidence of counterfits being pushed through the system is always correlated with economic recoveries when everyone is doing well.
I was a cashier at a grocery store in the late 80's early 90's and we were checking $20 and up bills with special pens even then. This is nothing new.
Oh yeah, cattle rustlin...count me in, just gotta get me a hat.
Best hope you don't get caught.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/25/texas-man-gets-99-years-f_n_936841.html
When I was 13 I bought a Charolais Bull for 4-H. Went to the ranch, talked to the foreman running the place and he arranged to have it delivered. I paid $400 for it.
I was raising it for beef, so the 4-H advisor brought out the FFA instructor from the High School and castrated it. I then worked it for the next month or so.
A guy pulls into the the house and asks my Dad where we got the Charolais. He said his son had bought it for 4-H from some place out near Barstow. The guy checked the ear tag and said, this is a bull. Dad said, not any more.
Well, I'm the son of a bitch that owns that ranch, and I didn't sell any damned bulls!
He asked what I paid for it, Dad told him. The bull was worth a couple of grand easily...back in the early 70's.
A day later the area Deputy Sheriff shows up. Charges me with Cattle Rustling, but says the owner would rather I testify against the foreman if they ever catch up with him. I said sure thing. The Deputy said that the owner doesn't want the steer back, and since I agreed to testify I could keep it.
A year later they had the foreman in the courthouse and he saw me and immediately confessed.
So, at 13, I was a cattle rustler.
The fish rots from the head.
Ahh, now I get the Tide thing.
You have Tide in your house, you are either a drug user or dealer.
Makes total sense.
We've finally found the common denominator way to frame everyone.
.... Why?
Because the biggest thieves (of all time) are in charge and by now just about everybody can see crime pays very well. The white collar criminals are having a fucking field day, everyday. What are you going to do about it? Pull a Snowden?
I'm a commie, I use Arm & Hammer.
Me too but because I am cheap like that.
Bankers and politicians get away with it. That is what they are teaching the new generations.
Thieves.
Now there's an interesting concept. What if the thieves banded together and made thievery legal?
The premise for law & order is long gone.
Pssst.....yo nmewn...
I gots a full tub from Costco. Mountain Fresh....
...you holdin'?
Mmm, mountain fresh thought control...I'll take two! ;-)
What if?... WTF man it already happened, its the whole "Two Party" thing.
Is it theft
If 1 man breaks into your house. If 20 men break into your house. If 51% of the town .....,,,
Two wolves deciding to steal from a sheep, his property or his life...is a democracy.
Two wolves deciding to do the same against an armed sheep...is a republic ;-)
If it's 20 men breaking in, it's probably a SWAT team mistaking your residence for that of a woman delinquent on her student loans.
that's anarchy for you ;-)
The thieves have already banded together, they call it "government", but its really a conglomerate of the large corporations,the media (owned by the large corporations) and the public officials (also owned by the large corporations) - oops did I mention the banks (also large corporations) ooooh I think I see a pattern emerging here........
As repulsive as it sounds, the case for support of eugenics seems clearer. I don't believe those that have been "helped" can be made whole again.
I think the answer is to stop "helping" them so much
Once the government begins paying people to reproduce, you will get a de facto eugenics or dysgenics program, depending on the structure of the incentives. I prefer the former, if we absolutely have to run a social engineering program..
Right now, we have "Cash for Bastards", which must be stopped.
Trickle down morality........
...Purvis also told Salon.com that "when people cannot afford to eat food" it has the potential to start "riots"...
Check out the big brain on Purvis! Wow.did he put that together all by himself?
I'll give him a freebie.
When people riot they have the potential to catch large quantities of buckshot.
Hi my friend,
just thought you should it's Margaret Purvis. The dude's a woman. Bet you feel pretty stupid now...
Cheers!
Not at all fuckface
That's Mr. Fuckface to you.
Lets try to keep a civil fucking tongue in our heads or pretty soon it'll all be fuckin anarchy and shit like that and stuff.
It's one thing to catch large quantities of buckshot. It's another thing to figure out how to cook it.
I can cook what the buckshot caught or let the crows have it.
A foreclosure on my street had all of its copper piping and wiring ripped out last week. Cars are being broken into in the early hours of the morning, and daylight burglaries have become somewhat the norm over the past several months. Even this past summer two private residential gardens located closer than most to a busy town street had been pilferred more than a few times for tomatoes and other veggies. This is a complete 180 from last year. One thing we have had is excellent police response to suspicous persons, cars, etc. - call 24/7 and a cruiser will be there in under 5 minutes! Sure, everything is getting better. LOL.
It would be wise to recall the saying that "Every country is only nine meals away from revolution."
Well, you know the saying, right? When seconds count, the police are only five minutes away.
Your post is useless as an anecdote without telling us where you live...
Stealing from corporate America good. Stealing from individuals bad.
I live in downtown Indy and have had my jeep broken into 3 times this year. One time we got the little prick on security camera.
Cop taking report wasn't interested in the video.
You are on your own.
I'm thinking about keeping a tub of Copperheads in the jeep at night.
Pat- snakes have no loyalty (like politicians and bankers). Get a dog. I know that doesn't come up on the usual list of "home defense" gadgets but those sons of bitches have alerted me to or outright saved me from a bad situation enough times (since I was a little kid) they're well worth the food and vet bills. I prefer German Shepherds because that's what I grew up with, but there are many good breeds for this type of "dual duty" family pet/guard dog. Their look is "all business," they WILL jump in and tear somebody up if they threaten you, not just bark at them (if properly trained- VERY important) and the "bad guys" are usually scared shitless of them for some reason.
Nothing like owning your very own guided missile with an encrypted launch code that can't be hacked.
I have a mangy ol railroad dog that followed me home and wouldn't leave. Looks like the dog from that Eastwood film. Love him to death, but he's so good natured and mentally challenged, he'd probably offer to help carry the loot.
I've thought about getting a shepherd after the mutt crosses the rainbow.
Did he growl when you spit tobacee on his snout?
Higgins, Magnum PI.
Over.
Got two fluffy foo foo dogs, great personalities, great with the kids. The little one will bite an intruder and is a really good watchdog. The bigger one barks scary but not sure she'd attack even when the little one was attacking. She'd hurt you if she did, large, sharp teeth. I've always wanted a shepherd but their personalities can be a bit testy for little kids. Either way they will wake up the Glock owner
I'd take a trained German Shepard first over a Glock around the house. I have never seen a Shepard be testy with kids either. I'd be willing to bet more unattended Glocks have harmed a child than have unattended Shepards. Not knocking guns at all, I own several and am quite proficient with them. Just sayin if I had to take one over the other that's easy. I have watched plenty of thugs look down a gun n not even show a reaction. You put a growling dog in front if them and they completely lose their shit it is priceless.
Shepherds are high on the dog bites list despite not being one of the most popular breeds. Not knocking them, they're brilliant dogs, my aunt had one and she was great. Carried my toddler cousin back when he got too close to the road. I prefer a dog I know is real easy going when the littles were little. Next dog will be a shepherd. I think they look awesome.
Dogs are a great first line of defense. They're an alarm and will decrease your chances of being burglarized as the perp knows they can't get in unannounced. Perp probably doesn't know yo uhave a gun. Dog wakes me up, informs me someone's there and I can take care of the rest.
BTW my little fluffy dog did help me out once. Started acting crazy barkking at the outisde. When I went to check it out he showed me where the teenager was hiding behind some brush I couldn't see through.
You know the cops always shoot the dogs first. I'm certain the professional theives will follow the same modus operandi, since many of them will be ex police/military.
still you will wittle out the amateurs, though it might cost you a few dogs.
I say lock them all up.
Coming up. Fema camps.
Here in Minneapolis the Tide thing started a few years ago. My neighborhood hardware store put up gates on both ends of the aisle with all the name-brand cleaners;not just Tide. One thing that was going on here was small independent corners stores were buying stolen product from thieves for maybe half-price, then selling it in their stores. The thieves were incredibly brazen.
People fail to acknowledge how clever it has benn to automate SNAP and other programs. If 1 out 6 Americans had to stand in a bread line, there would be blood in the streets already. Having everyone "sequestered" in their homes with cable TV and various amusements, while money is automatically credited to digital accounts has kept the collapse of our system off most people's radar.
If you're losing thousands of dollars in tide then put a freaking tracking device in one of the bottles. Technology isn't just for depositing food stamps.
I agree on the pacification of the mobs though. I just wonder what would happen if food stamps became only for food that you had to make.. no soda, frozen pizza, etc.
|Does that mean we can't call them dirty rotten thieves anymore?
Food stamps should be just for food ingredients you turn into meals. But unfortunately that kind of food is a lot less profitable for well-connected corporate interests. The recipient adds the value on their own time, rather than buying it and paying RJR-Nabisco or whomever for it. And a whole lot of people can barely boil water, much less actually prepare a meal from food. But they'd be a helluva lot healthier if they could.
How would I find time to watch the Kardashians if I had to cook?
Invest in an electric steamer: Healthy, fast and very little washing-up after. Also comes with a timer, so you can watch your favourite programming whilst your dinner cooks.
i bought one and I can't even pick up the damn weather channel on it. Worst thing I ever purchased, wish I had the 5 jugs of Tide it cost me back.
I think that is the opening line in Plato's diaolgues entititled "Deep Thoughts".
BTW I up arrowed you cause its true.
also BTW who the fuck are the Kardashians? Watching Dead Lawyer's families spend the old man's proceeds from a lifetime of lawsuits hardly seems like entertainment. Can they juggle while riding a bicycle?
" Can they juggle while riding a bicycle?" no they jiggle while riding a bike
We created a new morality. The Ten Commandments have been replaced by a Victims' Code for Seeking Fairness in Wealth. I am the victim who wants. Someone else has. Therefore, I deserve.
It's trickle down morality from the TBTF and the Too Connected To Punish policies of our AG, Holder. Theft is redefined as wealth sharing for the needy at all wealth levels. Is it fair that Buffet has more than Corzine and Dimon? Aren't thieves and governments just semantically different?
The sexual improprieties of Hollywood in the 1930s weren't particularly well received by my parents' generation. Even JFK had to rely on the MSM to keep his philandering secret. Gradually the morality (I use the term loosely) put forth by the Playboy crowd seeped into the rest of society, until now we don't think twice about seriial monogamy interspersed with various temporary dalliances. It isn't only theft that trickled down. All things considered, it almost makes me want to break into a rendition of The World Turned Upside Down.
Oh yes!!!! The Financial and Mortgage industry moguls and their henchmen were so desperate! Let's talk about "Thievery"....serioulsy. Stop posting more bullshit that blames the wrestless hoards for doing what their "leaders" showed them acttually "pays" to do.....JFC!
Why not breaking bad? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyZqYAlOjaQ
Now back to reality which often is more bizarre: Ultimate Thrill Seeking http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCKyeckKmSc
Kinda ironic that game-play mimics reality in a way while reality often wins in bizarreness.
I Know Why I Shouldn’t Work for the NSA ;) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrOZllbNarw
So, what did I think? I am holding out for somtin better. I figure Fuck it while I am at it why not just shoot my buddy, take his job and give it to his sworn enemy, hike up gas prices, bomb a village, club a baby seal, hit the hash pipe and join the National Guard. I could be elected President. You feel like you’re alone, Will? – What?TPTB want to bring down America to third world status and have succeded.
commonwealth ab chao
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1tmkAFb_Os
Ladies & Gentlemen, if this isn't a wake up call to what is going to happen when the free-shit checks stop in a financial breakdown, then I do not know what is.
Well let's see...
1) Our fearless leaders of Obamanation dont give a fck aboutbthe law - so why should we?
2) Lots of wonderful cities like Chicago no longer respond to property crimes - so takin other peoples shit cant be a big deal.
3) Did I mention our community organizer in chief came from Chicago?
4) Our fearless leader lies about everything and people still vote for him - maybeit's something in the water?
5) Our goobrrmint falls over backwards to find clearly unconstitutional laws like bamy-care constitutional so who gives a fck.
I need another drink.
Cheer UP, the 'Tide' is turning... we've got Mrs. Clean, aka, Hillary... too wash the countries dirty laundry the next four years?!?
Sooner or later, you give up on the idealistic thought that things will get better - and deep down you know they are only getting worse. You start to see it locally, and you see some shit that you never saw before, and you say "holy fuck". Thats when you know that the horror isn't in some populated city or urban center - but that its everywhere. And when you start to drill down on available options under "what if" scenarios - the conclusion is pretty basic. Look after yourself, your family and if you can, your neighbor - make some preparations - keep working doing anything, and try to be as fucking invisible (or destitute) as possible.
indeed on the destitute. I deliberately wear out my clothes, don't wear a watch, and do my best to skulk along. Look poor but able to fuck someone up. Practice sprints.
This mess has to play itself out. Stay camouflaged and underestimated while it does.
rumrunner and geewhiz. great advice. let it play out. don't be a target. survival is job one. see you at FEMA camp.
They nabbed another old guy at my local Walmart trying to steal a few cans of tuna fish. Poor sap. The manager let him go with a warning I heard but it's sad commentary on the State of the Union.
Tide: for MILFs on crack.
Probably related to the thievery of Wall Street and Washington since 2003.
We could go back further for certain, to 1913, but the past decade is indicative and illustrative.
"Do as I say, not as I do" does not work for Societies any better than Families and Parents.
The Free Shit Army is leveraging...after all, the cuts are going to be deep. Can you blame them?
If you like your SNAP card, you can keep it. Wink Wink.
Gubbermint...out of control.
Shred & wipe with the founding documents from which you derive your political power. Destroy the free enterprise economy with central banking/planning, while dumbing-down the sheeple into thinking gubbermint is the solution to the resultant poverty. Allow your corporations to buy-n-pay-for career politicians wearing elephant/jackass costumes who then buy the dependent sheeple's votes with money stolen from working producers. Tell your regulators to ignore multi-tillion dollar bond fraud & market manipulation and allow front-running & high-frequency trading to turn your exchanges into crooked casinos. Use the bloated law enforcement/court/prison complex to kidnap & rob people for victimless "cuz I said so" "crimes," while looking the other way like a referree on TV wrestling as real crime explodes. Spend billions for hundreds of military bases & expensive machines to terrorize brown people all over the world, then use their hatred as an excuse to spend more to "fight terror." Leave your borders wide open, but cavity-search & irradiate your grandma & kids when they travel in their own country. Spy on your own citizens, lie about everything you do, then persecute those who expose your corruption as "terrorists." Etc, etc.
Then "act surprised" at the **cking mess you've caused.
A few months ago I did some due diligence on a discount grocer near me.
Good gross but the shoplifting losses made me think I would need armed guards patrolling the aisles.
When the food stamp riots hit I bailed. The margins aren't worth it.
Might be worth it to do by co-op.
Tide theives? The whole Fight Club "make soap out of their fat asses" meme was prophetic.
I'm still trying to figure out why Tide is being used as currency. That boggles my mind.
Anybody want to go long on Tide? At least you can buy "pain killers" in the apocalypse with Tide...
It was explained in TFA. It's highly liquid.
maybe obama will turn desparate and go off on somebody and be aquitted when the glove doesn't fit.
I asked a friend of mine from Nigeria 15 years ago why nigeria was known for scammers.
He said "nigeria used to be a middle income country. We had a lot of oil money and got used to the good life. All the people are highly educated and got used to a middle class life. When the economy crashed due to oil prices bottoming and government corruption most of the educated middle class lOst their jobs. What do smart educated middle class people do when they no longer have decent jobs? They started scamming the world and running drugs"
We are going to face immorality and corruption like we have never seen before.
THe Trans-Pacific Partnership 'free-trade' agreement that Obama is working so 'diligently' on should be just the ticket to send the country over the cliff. It's referred to as Nafta on Steroids
VERY interesting...never had thought about that
don't forget that the chinese imported their own labor on top of that situation.
bullshit, immorality like you have never seen before. i don't think the gas chambers are coming to the us.
but, camps surrounded by barbed wire....weeeeeeelllll....
Yup - just dropped another 200.00 on ammo at the gun store. The lovely lady ringing me up commented to me" Preparing for Armagedon?" I replied: "Nope - preparing to fend off two legged locusts"
Soon to need the services of Snake Plisskin, joking aside it's just the beginning and you still have a little time to prepare.
Spent two days stacking 4 cords of wood with a colleague so he could heat his house this winter. Learned earlier today at the office that some asshat stole about 30 pieces of wood right from the guy's woodpile. It's not even cold yet and they are taking shit that isn't their's.
Could be a long winter.
Saw 1/2 in sections of the end off a couple logs n load en with some 12ga shells in a bored out space. Glue end pieces back on. That MF will never come back again.
I'd pay to be a fly on the wall when that log gets burned! ;-)
Good one.
Blame the free market for increased dependency upon the guvernment I guess...
2000 years ago, the CEO of the leading financial conglomerate, when asked why he didn't go through with an important merger replied "But he said I could keep my old plan!!"
People applying for SNAP should be made to prove they can cook just like people who apply for a drivers license have to prove they can drive.
People who run Corporations along wiith 2 million emp should go bankrupt and thrown out in the street when they build shitty cars.
The Guy on food stamps didn't cause the problem, he didn't know the elitist were crooks, he just did his job.
Got an email notice from my Golf Club a few weeks ago cautioning members to lock their cars after a series of breakins in the parking lot. Most members are clueless about what's going on out there.
I used to think the armed revolution talk was fantasy, then Obamacare came along. I fully expect within a year some poor desperate health insurance victim of Obamacare with nothing to lose will take a shot at some congressman who voted for it.
but, not the capitalist scum fuck insurance co. that cut the person's plan?