Thursday links

I’m mystified by this week’s hullabaloo about Trump threatening to take over the Federal Reserve. He might make it “political”? But as Rothbard knew, few things are already as inherently political as the infamous Fed.
Murder-for-hire charges against Ross Ulbricht have been dropped. Bet most people who know he’s in prison think that’s what he was already convicted of.
That terrible question we always get: What would happen if the government didn’t handle X, Y, or Z?
Srsly? Since when have farmers preferred free trade over federal aid?
What happens when credit cards fail to work.
Got money? Now you can’t leave the U.S. unless the IRS allows you. (Troubling implications; good history of emigration control.)
It’s a great discovery — a large body of water on Mars. But sort of sad that it had to be made by Italians.
Next week should bring some good Mars viewing to us all. (H/T BD)
Hahaha. More on the left eating its own: Lesbians secede from (or get pushed out of) the LGBT movement.
Cuteness of the day. Pit bull carries his blind chihuahua friend wherever he goes.

anonymous July 26, 2018 6:57 am

“What happens when credit cards fail to work.”

See Matt Bracken’s “When The Music Stops – How America’s Cities May Explode In Violence” (2012):

“It’s estimated that the average American home has less than two weeks of food on hand. In poor minority areas, it may be much less. What if a cascading economic crisis, even a temporary one, leads to millions of EBT (electronic benefit transfer) cards flashing nothing but ERROR? This could also be the result of deliberate sabotage by hackers, or other technical system failures.”

“In my scenario, the initial riots begin spontaneously across affected urban areas, as SNAP (supplemental nutrition assistance program) and other government welfare recipients learn that their EBT cards no longer function. This sudden revelation will cause widespread anger, which will quickly lead to the flash-mob looting of local supermarkets and other businesses. The media will initially portray these ‘food riots’ as at least partly justifiable. Sadly, millions of Americans have been made largely, or even entirely, dependent on government wealth transfer payments to put food on their tables.”

“Any disruption in the normal functioning of the EBT system will lead to food riots with a speed that is astonishing.”

“The ransacked supermarkets, convenience stores, ATMs and gas stations will not be restocked during this period due to the precarious security situation.”

“Under those conditions, resupply to the urban areas cannot and will not take place. The downward spiral of social and economic dysfunction will therefore both accelerate and spread from city to city. These delays, in turn, will lead to more riots with the constant underlying demand that hungry people be fed, one way or another.”

5 Comments

anonymous July 26, 2018 6:57 am

“What happens when credit cards fail to work.”

See Matt Bracken’s “When The Music Stops – How America’s Cities May Explode In Violence” (2012):

“It’s estimated that the average American home has less than two weeks of food on hand. In poor minority areas, it may be much less. What if a cascading economic crisis, even a temporary one, leads to millions of EBT (electronic benefit transfer) cards flashing nothing but ERROR? This could also be the result of deliberate sabotage by hackers, or other technical system failures.”

“In my scenario, the initial riots begin spontaneously across affected urban areas, as SNAP (supplemental nutrition assistance program) and other government welfare recipients learn that their EBT cards no longer function. This sudden revelation will cause widespread anger, which will quickly lead to the flash-mob looting of local supermarkets and other businesses. The media will initially portray these ‘food riots’ as at least partly justifiable. Sadly, millions of Americans have been made largely, or even entirely, dependent on government wealth transfer payments to put food on their tables.”

“Any disruption in the normal functioning of the EBT system will lead to food riots with a speed that is astonishing.”

“The ransacked supermarkets, convenience stores, ATMs and gas stations will not be restocked during this period due to the precarious security situation.”

“Under those conditions, resupply to the urban areas cannot and will not take place. The downward spiral of social and economic dysfunction will therefore both accelerate and spread from city to city. These delays, in turn, will lead to more riots with the constant underlying demand that hungry people be fed, one way or another.”
Mike July 26, 2018 8:55 am

What would happen if the government didn’t handle X, Y, or Z? Well, with the way debt is being racked up at all levels of government I suspect that sooner, rather than later we are all going to find out.

What happens when credit cards fail to work? The answer to this question is simple, look to how people survived before credit cards came upon the scene. People will pay cash, barter, do without, or get real stupid. The trick is to have a little cash around to cover the unexpected outages and be vigilant. Pay attention to what’s going on in the financial world.
progunfred July 26, 2018 12:43 pm

NASA probably already knows about the water it’s just classified. America’s dot guv is that stupid.
Mark Call July 26, 2018 5:37 pm

“I’m mystified by this week’s hullabaloo about Trump threatening to take over the Federal Reserve…”

It’s all about the Blame Shift before the inevitable Meltdown and Reset.

If he “takes over”, or just TALKS about it, he takes THAT blame, too. Not like he didn’t already “step in it” by taking credit for the stock market bubble.
larryarnold July 26, 2018 7:13 pm

Back several years I was skimming through our local newspaper when I ran across a story about how the roof of a Tennessee warehouse collapsed under a snow load.

About the time I started wondering why a routine story from Tennessee was in our Texas paper, it turned out that the warehouse held the backup computer running our Texas ATMs, and that was why they were out all weekend.

Thursday links

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