SHEEPLE!!!

[CharlesHarris]

A story of the dependent welfare class in America....

In the UK you may not know how "food stamp cards" work today. When the poor file for benefits, the government gives them an EBT (electronic benefit transfer) card which works similar to an ATM card. In California, it takes only about an hour for people who qualify to get one, which is worth about $200.00 a month for one person. At the grocery store, the balance remaining on the card is checked automatically when making a purchase. There are people who because of age and disability who need these cards, so I won't go into the politics of their use. What I want to point out is that it only takes a relatively computer glitch to result in store shelves being stripped bare in panic buying. When a serious event occurs in a large city bare grocery store shelves will be the norm, not an aberration. Good reason to store food even in normal times.

http://www.ksla.com/story/23679489/walma...ebt-glitch

MANSFIELD, LA (KSLA) - Shelves in Walmart stores in Springhill and Mansfield, LA were reportedly cleared Saturday night, when the stores allowed purchases on EBT cards even though computers were not showing limits. The chaos that followed ultimately required intervention from local police, and left behind numerous carts filled to overflowing, apparently abandoned when the glitch-spurred shopping frenzy ended......

Evans believes it was natural human reaction that led people to fill up their carts during the glitch, but Walmart shoppers Stan and Judy Garcia feel very differently. "That's plain theft, that's stealing that's all I got to say about it," said Garcia. A dispatcher for Mansfield police also confirms officers were called in for crowd control at the Mansfield Walmart. She said the shelves were cleared out, forcing Walmart to stop selling food at 9 p.m. There were no arrests......


It all happened at the end of a day in which the EBT system went down in several states, including Louisiana. Xerox, a vendor for the EBT system, experienced a power outage while conducting a routine backup test in one of the company's locations. While the system was back up Saturday night, it appears that it was not functioning entirely properly in some areas.

Kayla Whaling, a spokesperson for Walmart, tells KSLA News 12 that the company was "fully engaged and monitoring the situation and transactions during the outage."

"We did make the decision to continue to accept EBT cards (and purchases on WIC and SNAP) during the outage so that they could get food for their families."

Asked whether Walmart would be taking the loss on any food purchased on the cards that did not show limits, or on the perishable food left behind in carts, Whaling would only say that "we monitored transactions during the outage."

A spokesperson for the Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services says they take all allegations of potential fraud seriously, they are aware of the reports and they will be investigating.

According to a notice posted on the LA DSFS website on Saturday:

"While transactional systems maintained by DCFS contractors may have been impacted by today's outage, the systems that DCFS uses to track EBT card usage and identify fraud were still in place. DCFS vigorously investigates all fraud claims. Anyone suspected of fraudulently using public assistance benefits are investigated and prosecuted to the full extent of the law. The public is encouraged to report cases of suspected SNAP fraud by calling the DCFS toll-free hotline at 1-888-LAHELP-U and selecting option 7 from the main menu or by visiting http://www.dcfs.la.gov/ReportFraud."