Sunday, October 13, 2013

Drudge, Zero Hedge Picks Up The Tempo On Busted EBT System

Drudge, Zero Hedge Picks Up The Tempo On Busted EBT System
Posted By: Watchman
Date: Saturday, 12-Oct-2013 23:32:18

Panic city if this don't get fixed quick.....
from Drudge: http://www.drudgereport.com/
FOOD STAMPS GO BLANK: GLITCH SHUTS DOWN DEBIT CARD SYSTEM NATIONWIDE...
PANIC...

from: http://www.zerohedge.com/
In the past five years it has become apparent that America can survive a near-fatal financial system collapse, an economy teetering on the edge and kept ticking only thanks to the Fed's now perpetual QE, a collapsing standard of living for everyone but the wealthiest 0.1%, declining wages, zero interest rates, surging food, energy, rent, tuition and welfare costs, and pretty much everything else, as long as the welfare state keeps humming along. Any be welfare state we mostly mean providing the daily bread to the nearly 50 million Americans living in poverty and surviving only thanks to the only thing to have exploded to epic record highs under Obama (in addition to the Fed's balance sheet of course): foodstamp usage. However, the true stability of the US may be tested very soon following reports that due to a "possible computer glitch" the Electronic Benefits Transfer System, aka EBT, ala Foodstamps, is offline. Cue mass panic among the best-weaponized population in the world. Naturally, this latest fiasco involving a country that has grown accustomed to sucking on the government's teat was immediately blamed on a "glitch" - just like everything else that is slowly but surely breaking in the New Normal.
: Abandoned carts full of food were a frequent sight in grocery
: stores Saturday morning, as the EBT food assistance debit
: system stopped working without warning.

According to a Xerox spokesperson, a routine system check by
: the vendor resulted in system failure, leaving assistance
: recipients across the country with no way to buy food.

: Xerox spokeswoman Karen Arena confirmed via email Saturday
: afternoon that some Electronic Benefits Transfer systems
: are experiencing temporary connectivity issues. She said
: technical staff is addressing the issue and expects the
: system to be restored soon. U.S. Department of Agriculture
: spokeswoman Courtney Rowe underscored that the outage is
: not related to the government shutdown. Xerox runs EBT card
: systems for 17 states and all were affected by the outage.
: (source)

: Users of EBT (Electronic Benefits Transfer) cards in
: California, Ohio, Michigan and several other states are
: unable to make purchases due to connectivity issues.

: But it gets worse…
: Xerox is notifying retailers to revert to the manual system,
: meaning SNAP customers can spend up to $50 until the system
: is back online. SNAP recipients should call the 800 number
: on the back of their card, and Xerox will guide them
: through the purchase process. (source)

: However, that system is not working either – it’s “closed for
: maintenance.”

: Shoppers left carts of groceries behind at a packed Market
: Basket grocery store in Biddeford, Maine, because they
: couldn’t get their benefits, said fellow shopper Barbara
: Colman, of Saco, Maine. The manager put up a sign saying
: the EBT system was not in use. Colman, who receives the
: benefits, called an 800 telephone line for the program and
: it said the system was down due to maintenance, she said.

: “That’s a problem. There’s a lot of families who are not going
: to be able to feed children because the system is being
: maintenanced,” Colman said. “No one should put maintenance
: in during the daytime.” (source)

: Despite the fact that government workers report orders from
: the Obama administration to “make life as difficult for
: people as we can”, the nation is assured that the EBT
: failure is in fact due to server issues and NOT due to the
: government shutdown.

: Keep in mind that the truckers are also on a general strike
: this weekend, protesting in Washington DC against high gas
: prices, rampant unemployment, and corruption in the US
: government.

: Between October 11th and 13th they have called for a general
: strike, asking truck drivers around the country to refuse
: to haul freight, a move that could carry with it a
: significant impact on the American economy.

: The protest calls for truckers to make their way to Washington
: D.C. in a massive convoy in an effort to call attention to,
: among other things, the Benghazi cover-up, the recent
: attack which killed 25 members of Seal Team 6, ever rising
: fuel prices, and claims that President Obama has engaged in
: treasonous crimes. (source)

: Things are already starting to get ugly. ZeroHedge posted the
: following Tweets.

: NOBODIES EBT CARD IS GOING THRU AT WALMART
: “@Creamteam_bitch: Government done shut down the #EBT cards in
: Ga… These folks going crazy in walmart lol”swearrrr

: EBT is down so Walmart is complete chaos right now, so glad
: I’m leaving in 2 hours

: EBT down at walmart and MF going crazy!
: THEY DONE SHUT DOWN EBT CARDS IN MISSISSIPPI…… Walmart fulla
: mad motha fuckas right now

: I almost just killed some people at Walmart, EBT is apparently
: down today #madhouse

: This is your 72 hour warning. If you don’t already have a two
: week supply of food and water, now might be a good day to
: go stock up, just in case this is the beginning of a bigger
: crisis. The first three days after a major event are your
: window of opportunity to get prepared, based on the
: just-in-time food supply in grocery stores and the amount
: of food most people store in their homes.

: If the EBT failure continues, look for the situation to get
: progressively worse.

:
: http://www.fromthetrenchesworldreport.com/72-hour-warning-grocery-stores-across-the-country-turn-away-hungry-shoppers-as-ebt-system-crashes/61206


 

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