Glimpse of things to come?

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kbot
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Glimpse of things to come?

Post by kbot » 10-13-2013 07:54 AM

I saw this story earlier today on the news, and people were saying that if this went on long-term, that there'd be rioting.

Given that the PTB are pushing for a cashless society, I'm wondering if this is a look at our future.....

States report food stamp card problems



People in Iowa, Illinois and 15 other states found themselves temporarily unable to use their food stamp debit-style cards on Saturday, after a routine test of backup systems by vendor Xerox Corp. resulted in a system failure.

Xerox announced late in the evening -- around 9 p.m. -- that access had been restored for users in the 17 states affected by the outage, hours after the first problems were reported.

"Re-starting the EBT system required time to ensure service was back at full functionality," spokeswoman Jennifer Wasmer said in an email.

An emergency voucher process was available in some of the areas while the problems were occurring, Wasmer said.

U.S. Department of Agriculture spokeswoman Courtney Rowe underscored that the outage was not related to the government shutdown.

Shoppers left carts of groceries behind at a packed Market Basket grocery store in Biddeford, Maine, because they couldn't get their benefits, said 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 are a lot of families who are not going to be able to feed children because the system is being maintenanced," Colman said. She planned to reach out to local officials. "You don't want children going hungry tonight because of stupidity," she said.

Wasmer said the states affected by the temporary outage also included Alabama, California, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas and Virginia.

Ohio's cash and food assistance card payment systems went down at 11 a.m.

http://www.thonline.com/news/national_w ... ca7e7.html

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Post by Cherry Kelly » 10-13-2013 09:49 AM

It's fixed -- seems it was some major card company glitch.

BUT I could see this happening in a lot of places...

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Post by HB3 » 10-13-2013 10:04 AM

Very interesting timing...

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Post by Diogenes » 10-13-2013 04:20 PM

UH don't you think suspicious would be a better word?:tonguesmi
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Post by kbot » 10-13-2013 05:43 PM

I'm more concerned with the possible preview. Imagine this - our society is becoming increasingly dependent on being cashless. Many people now have direct deposit, ATMs' debit/ credit cards, etc.

What happens when one day, this system doesn't work on a large scale?

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Post by Cherry Kelly » 10-14-2013 09:50 AM

kbot -- back to checks on banks -- or gee cash.

go back in time - what did they do then? :)

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Post by kbot » 10-14-2013 09:56 AM

Ever since I saw a run on the bank of New England back in the mid-80s, with lines stretching around the block, I've been afraid of what can happen when banks fail. I've also seen computers and ATMs fail at local banks and people were upset when they weren't able to access their money. My preference is to use cash whenever possible.

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Post by voguy » 10-14-2013 07:49 PM

kbot wrote: What happens when one day, this system doesn't work on a large scale?


This is why everyone should have coins, and know how to barter for goods and services.

Or learn to beg.
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Post by kbot » 10-15-2013 11:04 AM

What's interesting is doing a Google search and seeing how many communities have a provision where in order to beg, you must have a license.....

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Post by voguy » 10-15-2013 04:24 PM

Sure. There is good money if you have a good location and have the ability to get people to pay.
"I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them." - Thomas Jefferson

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Post by voguy » 10-15-2013 04:37 PM

Image
"I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them." - Thomas Jefferson

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Post by kbot » 10-16-2013 09:27 AM

:D

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