Five different stores make sudden announcement, claiming “plumbing” issues

a reply to: tigertatzen

And plenty of evidence exists on this thread suggesting that you are 100% mistaken.

I've read the entire thread and I've not seen anyone post any evidence, please point that out. All I've seen is a bunch of speculation.

m.facebook.com...
this page shows pictures from people who are stopping by these walmarts.
There is also a not her great article
m.facebook.com...
please use translate to read the article. It basically says us is arming Ukraine and mexico?

Fun read. I joined ATS just so I respond to this thread. I grew up near Livingston, Texas, which is why I bothered to read up on the circulating theories of why the only Walmart within a 30 minute drive is now closed. My input on the Livingston Walmart:

1) Livingston does get torrential rain because of its proximity to the Gulf and the Walmart is adjacent to Long King Creek where we used to swim in high school. Could be some plumbing/runoff issues.
2) Lake Livingston is a huge drinking water reservoir for Houston, Texas. I am sure someone comes out and does a lot of testing in the area to make sure Houston's water supply doesn't get TOO contaminated.
3) The town mentality is split between supporting local business and getting stuff cheap. The poorer locals usually buy at Walmart and so do the cheaper out of towners. The Houstonites who come up to the lake houses and the middle class locals like to frequent the small stores.
4) Some big developments were getting a Lowe's and Tractor Supply in town. Walmart may have some competition between the Outlet Malls (clothing), Lowe's (hardware), HEB and Brookshires (grocery) especially when having to price match.
5) Livingston has a small population in town with a lot living out of town in rural areas. Rural peoples may drive towards the bigger cities like Cleveland, Huntsville, Conroe, or Lufkin to shop if they already have to drive anyways.
6) Good old boy mentality. The Polk County courthouse is the LAW and they will exercise their authority when given the chance.

Looking at the big picture for the area, needing to spend on building/plumbing or having to raise wages, I would shut the place down and let the southern half of the county drive to Cleveland Walmart instead, given the drop in gas prices. WM can always reopen the store if need be, no one in town can afford to buy it. WM can hire new younger workers without getting a "black spot" for firing anybody.
I like the theory involving inadequate waste management given that I work in the environmental sector and any of the Walmarts with a Lube Express, at least Livingston and Brandon that I know of, would be under additional scrutiny for environmental regulations and scrutiny. Any leaks into the environment and Walmart would have to hire a contractor to come out and dig out all the contaminated soil and would have to clean any contaminated waterways and would get fined.

As far as the conspiracy with Jade Helm. Given that there are around 27 million people in Texas (Wikipedia), any force treating Texans as hostile is going to need more than 4000 troops.

originally posted by: Char-Lee

I suppose it would be helpful in training if you used stores with all the stuff inside and hired hundreds of actors to run into the store as violent desperate looters who are out of food and water, as would happen in any real event.
The looting during katrina was a mess and the operation was a mess, they do need this kind of practice i am sure.

except for the fact that it was mentioned on the day it happened they were loading up merchandise from the stores. so that does not wash as a reason. there are plenty of empty malls and stores across the US that could be used with far less fuss than this has created, since the merchandise will not be there.

Many keep forgetting that someone at one store said the workers were being offered positions at other stores btw.

they were offered the opportunity to transfer to another store, providing that store has openings. that is not the same thing as being offered positions at other stores. that is more like "you are welcome to apply at other stores". when they layed off my department we were offered the same, that we were welcome to go to another store to work in our department. yet that would have necessitated moving a few hundred miles since they had leased out my department in our entire region. we could also have transferred into another department (with the applicable pay cut, as if we had started in that department then, forget about all the years we worked before), at our store or another store provided they had positions open.

originally posted by: texasgirl

I just can't see a Walmart closing in a day and giving their employees 5 hours notice unless it was some type of emergency. What that emergency is, I don't know.

no "emergency", just Wal-mart's typical behavior. by giving no notice (it's actually strange they gave 5 hours notice), those getting the shaft can't steal or do sabotage. seriously Wal-mart has a serious paranoia complex where theft and sabotage is concerned. shut down a department, typically people show up for work and find out they no longer have a job. store managers or home office managers give their "two week notice", they get escorted off the property and given two weeks pay. they even told us right out when our store manager gave his two week notice and was escorted out of the store, that it was so he couldn't do any sabotage to the store operation or steal stuff.

originally posted by: generik

originally posted by: texasgirl



I just can't see a Walmart closing in a day and giving their employees 5 hours notice unless it was some type of emergency. What that emergency is, I don't know.

no "emergency", just Wal-mart's typical behavior. by giving no notice (it's actually strange they gave 5 hours notice), those getting the shaft can't steal or do sabotage. seriously Wal-mart has a serious paranoia complex where theft and sabotage is concerned. shut down a department, typically people show up for work and find out they no longer have a job. store managers or home office managers give their "two week notice", they get escorted off the property and given two weeks pay. they even told us right out when our store manager gave his two week notice and was escorted out of the store, that it was so he couldn't do any sabotage to the store operation or steal stuff.

Sure, I can see that happening to a few employees at a time but an ENTIRE store closing in a day? I know you're a Walmart employee so I'm asking if you've ever heard of a Walmart giving a 5 hour notice to its entire staff and closing the whole store in one day? Maybe you can help clear this up for me.

originally posted by: Crowdpsychology
I want to emphasize one thing. I'm not saying that DHS, FEMA or military personal are going to roundup people in the empty Walmart stores while grabbing their guns and gold, all I'm saying is that there is a chance that Walmart is going to be apart of the exercise because they play an important role for the government when it comes to preparedness and supply/recovery capabilities.

But there are no reasons for a private corporation to lose out on millions of $'s of revenue, over a 6 month period, putting hundreds of people out of work, just for an exercise that could be conducted at any one of thousands of vacant locations across those regions. There are thousands of appropriate empty locations suitable for this purpose, you would not need to close down 5 stores for 6 months to achieve this.

There is absolutely no reason whatsoever for Walmart to close down these locations to "help out" with a military exercise, none, nada, zero. There is no evidence to suggest that is in any way connected, and no logical reason to believe that it would be.

You're talking about logic, but then completely ignoring your own totally illogical belief that they would need to use operational sites like this (but then make them non-operational for months?!) when there are hundreds of alternatives they could use without costing Walmart millions, and without making hundreds unemployed, and without causing such inconvenience to the local populations.

If they want operational stores, why close them down for months? If they don't need operational stores, why not use any other already vacant building?

a reply to: Rocker2013

You surely are a colorblind one-note pony!

It genuinely seems too hard for you to grasp that there could be a number of reasons involved, including the things you so eagerly are trying to convey, but like I said, that doesn’t contradict the possibility of the already ”empty" stores being a (vital) part in the Jade Helm 15 exercise.

Like I said in the comment you quoted me from, and which you conveniently ignored:

Let's say Walmart have a problem with either money, tax, labour union (one is confirmed).

We know the government is going to have their 8 week exercise during the 6 month bogus closing of 5 stores.

And lets say that the government have included private companies which are considered RSFs (which Walmart among others are) (Read my comment on page 18) in the urban style exercise..

Wouldn't it be a pretty convenient to take care of more than one problem in one single occasion, and at the same time live up to their role as a recovery support function?

Please explain (after reading and understanding Walmart's, among others role in; disaster recovery, emergency management, crisis management and so forth) why it's far more likely that tax advantages is the ONLY genuine reason, behind 5 stores conveniently closing at the same time, before the exercise (preparation) as well as during the whole exercise!? Because according to me and my pal logic, which already know that the stores fit almost perfectly with the deployment during the exercise as well as Walmart's role regarding preparedness, it could be a mix of reasons, including being a contributing (vital?) factor in Jade Helm 15.

Have you read the documents and do you understand Walmart’s role in this?
Do you understand why the government as well as companies have drills?
Isn’t it logical that Walmart needs to be apart of drills someway or another so both the company and the government can develop and fine-tune their preparedness?

Like I have stated before, If Walmart felt like they needed to take actions against labour unions or taxes (which they would have known a while back if it's true), wouldn’t it be pretty damn convenient to take this opportunity to practice their and the governments disaster/crisis management skills?

Rocker2013: You're talking about logic, but then completely ignoring your own totally illogical belief that they would need to use operational sites like this (but then make them non-operational for months?!)

Lol, yeah, you don’t grasp it.. That’s for sure.
They need to have ”open” (electricity, internet, etc) and real sites to practice with, a abandoned and fully emptied industrial complex in a rural area will not give the results they are looking for, the effectiveness of a real and functioning store is key. They are conducting an REALISTIC urban style exercise!!

drive.google.com...

Rocker2013: Without making hundreds unemployed, and without causing such inconvenience to the local populations.

Like that matters. This has to do with national security, and like I stated before. If Walmart have planned on closing stores (reason is of no importance) why not use these in the exercise?

Rocker2013: If they want operational stores, why close them down for months? If they don't need operational stores, why not use any other already vacant building?

I have also addressed this a couple of times.
Could be a decision from Walmart (like you and other stated, tax, union etc), could be because the government need time to prepare the sites, could have to do with psychological effects, could be a mix of them. Like I said above, vacant buildings is not beneficial for this kind of exercise, neither for the government nor Walmart's preparedness.

As soon as the news about the closing of 5 Walmart stores in states connected to Jade Helm 15 got out, conspiracies started to build up. This fact have been addressed in major news outlets and this could be tied to psychological effects and the intelligence gathering that probably already is going on in connection to the exercise.

It wouldn’t surprise me if parts of the government (intelligence services) have been composing some of the early conspiracies posted online which were connecting Walmart to Jade Helm 15. After that was done, they leaned back and started to analyze how people react to these news through forums like these, and keywords used in google.

originally posted by: Crowdpsychology
You surely are a colorblind one-note pony!

It genuinely seems too hard for you to grasp that there could be a number of reasons involved, including the things you so eagerly are trying to convey, but like I said, that doesn’t contradict the possibility of the already ”empty" stores being a (vital) part in the Jade Helm 15 exercise.

The problem here is that you have absolutely no data which even begins to suggest that Walmart is a part of any governmental operation. Period!

All you have is kiddy "Doom Porn"...and poorly conceived at that.

a reply to: masheengunz

Livingston, Texas
www.city-data.com...

Population: 5,200
Households: 2,048
Poverty level: 25.0%
Workers who live and work in this town: 69.4% (70%)
Unemployment rate 2014: 6,7%

5200 x 0,067 = 348 unemployed people out of the 5200
5200 - 348 = 4852 (people with jobs in Livingston in 2014)
422 x 0,7 = 295 (people who worked at Walmart and live in Livingston)
4852 / 295 = 16,5% (additional unemployment rate after the closing)

Current unemployment rate in Livingston: 6,7% + 16,5% = 23,2%
(Feel free to correct if I made any mistakes)

Food stores :
Z Food Mart - small grocery store
Timewise food store, gas station (mostly chips, soda, sandwiches etc)
Super stop food mart, gas station (mostly chips, soda, sandwiches etc)
Brookshire brothers - medium-sized grocery store
H-E-B - medium-sized grocery store
Walmart supercenter - closed

The 400 (422 actual number) employees at the store were notified Monday through a series of meetings. Those who were not working Monday were notified by phone. All the food at the store will be donated to a local food bank.

www.mrt.com...

Polk County Food Assistance - Food bank
setxfoodbank.org...

"The Southeast Texas Food Bank and these agencies have partnered to fight the crippling effects of chronic hunger in the communities of Ace, Barnes, Barnum, Blanchard, Camden, Carmona, Corrigan, Dallardsville, Goodrich, Holly Grove, Indian Springs, Leggett, Lily Island, Livingston, Marston, Moscow, New Willard, Ollie, Onalaska, Pleasant Hill, Pluck, Providence, Schwab City, Segno, Seven Oaks, Snow Hill, Wakefield, West Livingston, and West Tempe.”

Lastest newsletter from this food bank
setxfoodbank.org...

November 2014 and September 2014 (seems a little outdated) Why haven’t they releases any additional newsletters?

Reactions from citizens in Livingston regarding Walmart:
www.polkcountytoday.com...

Donna:
Instead of discounting their meats and other items, Walmart should have given the workers the food to feed their families. That would be the least that they could do since they are losing their jobs. I really feel sorry for these people as we know jobs in livingston are scarce. I think there is more to this story than plumbing problems.

Ann McDonald:
We just saw the news and the report had other Walmart stores closing for the same plumbing issues! REALLY? That is what the channel 2 news reported! And why did they build a new gas station if they were closing this store? This town needs the employment. I hope the real truth comes out real soon! As much as I dislike the big corporate mentality, I feel for these people losing their jobs! I will not drive to another Walmart. I hope HEB can handle the flow of customers because most people here can not afford Brookshire prices.

Jasper Jones:
Wow, hate to see this happen.so many people now are without a job and depend on their paycheck every week just to survive. I wish everyone who worked there good wishes and I hope they find another job soon.

Willie Openshaw, editor
www.polkcountytoday.com...
www.polkcountytoday.com...

I recently spoke with people from the Alabama Coushatta Tribe of Texas who spoke on the condition of anonymity. They told me about the tribe and how they believe a police force was put in place to cover up the violations of the law that are committed within the tribe. A huge contributing factor and common theme with the violations (such as public intoxication, driving while intoxicated, and assault/family violence) was alcohol. Other common crimes are disorderly conduct and minors in possession and/or consumption of alcohol. Before the Tribal Police force was created, the Polk County Sheriff's Office would respond to calls out at the reservation. Deputies from the County didn't have to face pressure from the Tribal Council. They would show up and take care of business. Perhaps the tribal council didn't like seeing people from the reservation getting arrested going to jail. Did they create a puppet police force as a way to prevent this?

Reactions from citizens in Livingston regarding the new bill, Alabama-Coushatta Tribe:
www.polkcountytoday.com...

JD Havard:
I, along with many others I'm sure, am generally unaware of the state of things on the Alabama-Coushatta (sic) reservation. If what you're saying is true, and I'm sure it is, you are on point and sure to ruffle some feathers. Alcohol had long been a problem there, and now it seems to be reaching a dangerous level. Is local law enforcement not allowed to enforce laws there? The treatment of native Americans at the hands of our government has an atrocious past, but I believe reparations have, and continue to be made. But you can't have it both ways, all citizens are subject to the same laws. They want a casino, but it seems they are not mature enough to handle the huge impact that having one would create. Good job bringing to light something that has largely been unreported in the past.

So basically by closing this store the unemployment rate in Livingston will be around 23,2% during the Jade helm 15 exercise.They also took away the towns only major supermarket, where the majority of the citizens bought cheap food. The only places that are left within a radius of 31 miles are: 1 small grocery store, approximately 3 gas-station stores and 2 medium-sized stores (Brookshire brothers and H-E-B) one of which is too expensive to buy from according to sources.

Based on the information from Polk County food bank, they are trying to "fight the crippling effects of chronic hunger in the communities” like Livingston. We can also see that a tension is building up between citizens of Livingston and people belonging to the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe. A tribe that also can be found in Louisiana and Oklahoma.

So the questions are: How will the closing of the biggest store in the town effect the pupulation? And how will this manifest itself during the 8 week long Jade Helm 15 exercise?

So I went to see about the "FEMA camp" set up close to big spring. There was a fenced off area with tents inside yesterday. Took some pictures with my phone (couldn't find my regular camera) and this morning they were gone and my phone kept messing up. Bought a new camera and went out there again. Its gone. Makes me feel crazy like I just imagined it. Also we have a security team out of Tennessee/local office in Lubbock guarding the Walmart. They still have items in the store. Still no plumbing trucks or contractors. Big Spring tx held a town meeting to let everyone know about the jade helm exercises happening there. They stated they will not know when the military will be there and they may be in uniform with an arm band or in civilian clothes. We're still watching and will keep you updated as we learn more.

a reply to: tanka418

The problem here is that you have absolutely no data which even begins to suggest that Walmart is a part of any governmental operation. Period! All you have is kiddy "Doom Porn"...and poorly conceived at that.

Haha, so it's "Doom porn" when I simply imply that there could be a chance that Walmart are going to a part of the exercise.. I have also made an entire post on page 18 about Walmart's connection to the government and disaster recovery, emergency management, crisis management and so forth. So yeah, your brain works in mysterious ways my friend. Just to ridicule you and your comment some more, Have I been writing anything connected to martial law, slaying of Americans, seizing of weapons, in connection to the Jade Helm 15 exercise? No that's right, nothing, "none, nada, zero" like your pal said.

And btw, I love your and other members tag-teaming in here, it's so cute.

Take care now.

originally posted by: toadsprocket
Ya know. When I worked for Tacamo strat comm in the navy a decade ago. They always said in a real world situation, we would take over a Wal Mart. Perfect cover, and full of supplies. Not saying that is what it is, but it seems eerily similar.

Do you remember any additional information about this? Were there manuals on this and how it should be done, or did you solely hear it through word of mouth?

a reply to: generik

except for the fact that it was mentioned on the day it happened they were loading up merchandise from the stores.

Really I thought people were saying there were no trucks at the stores and nothing being moved.

a reply to: Crowdpsychology

A color blind one trick pony........That is a new one.....A little mean and misplaced but descriptive none the less. I agree this could be many things.


Personally I think something fishy is going on but what it is.......???????. Walmart,Google,Microsoft,Yahoo,All the news media,Monsanto...ETC. These companies can not be trusted and are government controlled to some degree.

a reply to: Char-Lee

originally posted by: Char-Lee
a reply to: generik

"except for the fact that it was mentioned on the day it happened they were loading up merchandise from the stores"

except for the fact that it was mentioned on the day it happened they were loading up merchandise from the stores.

really i thought people were saying there were no trucks at the stores and nothing being moved.

I think he is referring to statements from Walmart officials and the Media, you know the same people who gave us the "plumbing issue" reason and the ones that always tell us the truth.

EDIT:
Like I addressed in my post about Livingston, the media/Walmart claims that "All the food at the store will be donated to a local food bank.” Which in this case should be the "setx food bank". But their latest newsletter is from: November 2014 and September 2014, and I find it strange that they haven’t addressed this latest and enormous contribution from Walmart in a newsletter during these 5-6 days.

www.mrt.com...
setxfoodbank.org...

originally posted by: Crowdpsychology
a reply to: Char-Lee

originally posted by: Char-Lee
a reply to: generik

"except for the fact that it was mentioned on the day it happened they were loading up merchandise from the stores"

except for the fact that it was mentioned on the day it happened they were loading up merchandise from the stores.

really i thought people were saying there were no trucks at the stores and nothing being moved.

I think he is referring to statements from Walmart officials and the Media, you know the same people who gave us the "plumbing issue" reason and the ones that always tell us the truth.

actually i believe it was mentioned on at least one of the news reports. you know the ones that were questioning the whole "plumbing issue" at 5 stores and questioning why they would be shut down for so long. not statements from Wal-mart officials.

a reply to: Crowdpsychology

setxfoodbank.org... Corporate Food Sorting Day...why do you find it odd when they last released a newsletter 6 months ago?

a reply to: Thorneblood

So how does this work.. I answer your comment, and then you ignore mine again because you can't prove that my statements are wrong and then another member jumps in and quotes me on something insignificant, Is that how this works?

On the 3rd Saturday every month we have large groups come in and work together as a group for the Food Bank. They usually sort food but they may also conduct other tasks as needed.

Nothing special with having a food sorting day every 3rd Saturday a month!
I find it strange that the food bank that got ALL the food from a Walmart Supercenter haven't addressed this news in either a newsletter (which they use to send to partners) or under "Latest news" They did however make a update on April 17, 2015, with the title: "Happy Volunteer Appreciation Week!" At this time they should have received more or less all the food from Walmart, but nothing mentioned in that update or any other update. Not strange at all, right..

setxfoodbank.org...

FYI concerning Livingston, TX. Correct me if I'm wrong.

The cities participating in Jade Helm 15 in Texas are: Bastrop/Smithville, Big Spring, Caddo Lake, Caldwell, Christoval, College Station, Dell City, Eldorado, Goliad, Junction, Leakey, Menard, Mountain Home, San Angelo, San Antonio and Victoria.

None of these are near Livingston as far as I have been able to discern. College Station is the closest at around 100 miles. Caddo Lake is up in the northeast quadrant and the rest are toward west Texas. Remember, Texas is almost 700 miles wide and 800 miles long.