Money

We did it Joe!  It took a tremendous push down the stretch, but the U.S. national debt was able to hit the 34 trillion dollar mark before the end of 2023.  At this moment I am just so overwhelmed that I don’t know who to thank first.  Over the past few years, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Chucky Schumer, Nancy Pelosi, Kevin McCarthy and so many other hard working spenders have been instrumental in helping us reach this remarkable achievement.  And we never would have gotten here without the relentless help of CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, the New York Times, the Washington Post and all of the other mainstream news outlets that kept assuring the American people that it was okay to steal trillions of dollars from our children and our grandchildren.

Of course I am being quite facetious.  The truth is that what we are doing to future generations of Americans is beyond criminal.  We are literally committing national suicide, but each election cycle most of the same big spending politicians just keep winning over and over again.

Those on the other side would argue that it has been absolutely necessary to borrow and spend so much money.

If we had not propped up the U.S. economy with giant mountains of borrowed money, it would have collapsed long ago.

In addition, spending so much money allows us to project military and economic power all over the planet.  If we only spent what we brought in, America’s standing in the world would be greatly reduced.

Having the primary reserve currency of the world is an enormous source of power, but now that power is fading.

Nations all over the globe are starting to move away from using the U.S. dollar in international trade, and they are becoming a lot more hesitant to buy our debt.

You can only borrow and spend so much before the entire Ponzi scheme collapses, and at this moment we are more than 34 trillion dollars in debt…

US national debt has reached a record high – hitting $34 trillion for the first time in history.

Data published by the Treasury Department Tuesday showed that outstanding federal borrowing soared to $34.001 trillion on December 29, just weeks ahead of Congress deadlines for new federal funding plans.

The staggering figure, which is a major point of contention between Republicans and Democrats, is equal to $101,233 in federal debt for every person in America, according to the Peter G. Peterson Foundation.

So if there are four people living in your household, your share of the national debt is more than $400,000.

And every day the debt gets even larger.  As Wolf Richter has pointed out, the size of the national debt has increased by 2.5 trillion dollars in just the last seven months…

The total US national debt spiked by $1.0 trillion in 15 weeks since September 15, to $34.0 trillion, according to the Treasury Department’s figures this afternoon. In the seven months since the debt ceiling was lifted, the national debt spiked by $2.5 trillion.

These are huge gigantic numbers that are piling up as a result of the incredible hard-to-fathom daredevil reckless shake-your-head deficit spending by Congress.

Overall, the U.S. national debt has grown by $6.25 trillion since Joe Biden entered the White House.

It took the first 225 years of U.S. history for the U.S. national debt to reach the 6 trillion dollar mark, and now we have added more than 6 trillion dollars to the debt in less than 3 years.

This is what the endgame looks like.

We are in a debt spiral that is totally out of control, and there is no way that this story is going to end well.

And despite the fact that we are endlessly pumping colossal piles of cash into the economy, our economic conditions continue to deteriorate.

On Wednesday, we learned that U.S. job openings have fallen “to the lowest level in more than two years”…

U.S. job openings dropped in November to the lowest level in more than two years, the latest evidence that the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate hike campaign is continuing to cool the labor market.

That is a sign that the economy is getting worse.

And more large companies continue to lay off workers.  For example, Xerox just announced that it will be laying off 15 percent of its workforce…

Xerox on Wednesday announced it will cut 15% of its workforce as part of a plan to implement a new organizational structure and operating model.

Xerox, which offers digital printing and document management technologies, had about 20,500 employees as of Dec. 31, 2022, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Based on this figure, Wednesday’s layoffs will affect about 3,075 employees.

Shares of Xerox closed down more than 12% following the announcement Wednesday.

So what can we do to “get the economy going again”?

Well, we can follow the example of the federal government and borrow and spend even more money.

Of course much of the nation is already drowning in debt.  According to one recent survey, only about half the country will be able to pay off their December credit card balances in full…

Only half of America’s credit card customers believe they can pay off their December balance in full, according to an industry index, signaling a low ebb in “credit card confidence” as the nation emerges from the holidays.

The LendingTree Credit Card Confidence Index, a monthly survey published since 2018 by the personal finance site, dipped to 51% in December, an all-time low.

In a nationally representative survey of 1,514 cardholders, only 51% voiced confidence that they could pay off their card balance this month. In November, the Confidence Index stood at 58%.

Our forefathers handed us the keys to the greatest economic machine in world history.

But that was never enough for us.

We always had to have more, and so we just kept borrowing and spending.

Now the endgame has arrived, and it is going to be excruciatingly painful.

U.S. consumers are drowning in record levels of debt, U.S. corporations are drowning in record levels of debt, state and local governments are drowning in record levels of debt, and the federal government is drowning in record levels of debt.

America’s empire of money was nice while it lasted, but now the jig is up and the collapse that is looming is truly going to be one for the history books.

Michael’s new book entitled “Chaos” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can check out his new Substack newsletter right here.

About the Author: My name is Michael and my brand new book entitled “Chaos” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.  In addition to my new book I have written seven other books that are available on Amazon.com including “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”. (#CommissionsEarned)  When you purchase any of these books you help to support the work that I am doing, and one way that you can really help is by sending copies as gifts to family and friends.  Time is short, and I need help getting these warnings into the hands of as many people as possible.  I have also started a brand new Substack newsletter, and I encourage you to subscribe so that you won’t miss any of my articles.  I have published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and the articles that I publish on those sites are republished on dozens of other prominent websites all over the globe.  I always freely and happily allow others to republish my articles on their own websites, but I also ask that they include this “About the Author” section with each article.  The material contained in this article is for general information purposes only, and readers should consult licensed professionals before making any legal, business, financial or health decisions.  I encourage you to follow me on social media on Facebook and Twitter, and any way that you can share these articles with others is definitely a great help.  These are such troubled times, and people need hope.  John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  If you have not already done so, I strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.

We are just a little bit more than three months away from what many believe will be the most dramatic total solar eclipse in U.S. history.  It is being called “the Great American Eclipse of 2024”, and millions of Americans will take time off in order to travel so that they can personally see it.  Between now and April, the mainstream news will be filled with stories about this eclipse, and so it is going to be difficult for anyone to ignore what is going on.  In this article, I am going to share 14 things that everyone needs to know about the Great American Eclipse of 2024…

#1 It is a total solar eclipse that will occur on April 8th, 2024.

#2 The path of the eclipse will travel through portions of the states of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.

#3 The path of the eclipse will also travel through parts of Mexico and Canada.

#4 It is being projected that this eclipse will be the most viewed astronomical event in the entire history of our country.

#5 According to the Washington Post, more than 30 million Americans will simply be able to walk outside of their homes and experience this eclipse…

“This is going to be the most populated eclipse in the U.S. with 31.5 million people able to just walk outside of their homes and experience this event,” Kelly Korreck, NASA program manager for the 2024 total solar eclipse, said in a news conference at the American Geophysical Union conference.

#6 We are being told that this eclipse may be “the single-biggest mass travel event” of 2024…

The event may also be the single-biggest mass travel event in the United States, according to the Great American Eclipse website. Several large cities very close to the path of totality are St. Louis, Cincinnati, Detroit, Toronto and Quebec. Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, D.C., are also within 200 miles of the direct path.

#7 Those that are in the direct path of the eclipse will discover that the air temperature suddenly becomes approximately 10 degrees cooler once the moon is fully blocking the sun.

#8 The path of the Great American Eclipse of 2024 will cross the United States on the very first day of the year on the Hebrew calendar.

#9 If you put the path of the Great American Eclipse of 2024, the path of the “Ring of Fire” solar eclipse of October 14th, 2023 and the path of the Great American Eclipse of 2017 all on a map, they combine to form a giant paleo-Hebrew “Aleph” over America…

#10 If you just put the path of the Great American Eclipse of 2024 and the path of the Great American Eclipse of 2017 on a map, they combine to form a giant paleo-Hebrew “Tav” over America…

#11 The heart of the paleo-Hebrew “Tav” forms a giant “X” that falls directly over the New Madrid fault zone.

#12 One of my readers pointed out to me that we have seen a giant “X” like this before.  The path of a solar eclipse that occurred on June 16th, 1806 combined with the path of a solar eclipse that occurred on September 17th, 1811 to also form a giant “X” over the New Madrid fault zone.

#13 Three months after the solar eclipse that happened on September 17th, 1811, a series of absolutely enormous earthquakes began to happen on the New Madrid fault…

The New Madrid earthquakes were the biggest earthquakes in American history. They occurred in the central Mississippi Valley, but were felt as far away as New York City, Boston, Montreal, and Washington D.C. President James Madison and his wife Dolly felt them in the White House. Church bells rang in Boston. From December 16, 1811 through March of 1812 there were over 2,000 earthquakes in the central Midwest, and between 6,000-10,000 earthquakes in the Bootheel of Missouri where New Madrid is located near the junction of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers.

In the known history of the world, no other earthquakes have lasted so long or produced so much evidence of damage as the New Madrid earthquakes. Three of the earthquakes are on the list of America’s top earthquakes: the first one on December 16, 1811, a magnitude of 8.1 on the Richter scale; the second on January 23, 1812, at 7.8; and the third on February 7, 1812, at as much as 8.8 magnitude.

#14 The next total solar eclipse visible from the United States will not happen until 2044, and the path of that total solar eclipse will only touch three states.

I believe that the Great American Eclipse of 2024 is a really big deal, and so I put it on the cover of my new book.

Others may disagree with me, and that is okay.

I don’t know anyone that agrees with me 100 percent of the time.

But what everyone should be able to agree on is that 2024 is going to be quite a crazy year.

So far this year, we have already seen a historic earthquake in Japan, a major escalation of the conflict in Ukraine and an assassination which could take the war in the Middle East to an entirely new level.

Each day is going to bring more new surprises, and I expect things to get really wild as we get closer to the election in November.

So buckle up and hold on tight, because chaos is here and it isn’t going away any time soon.

Michael’s new book entitled “Chaos” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can check out his new Substack newsletter right here.

About the Author: My name is Michael and my brand new book entitled “Chaos” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.  In addition to my new book I have written seven other books that are available on Amazon.com including “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”. (#CommissionsEarned)  When you purchase any of these books you help to support the work that I am doing, and one way that you can really help is by sending copies as gifts to family and friends.  Time is short, and I need help getting these warnings into the hands of as many people as possible.  I have also started a brand new Substack newsletter, and I encourage you to subscribe so that you won’t miss any of my articles.  I have published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and the articles that I publish on those sites are republished on dozens of other prominent websites all over the globe.  I always freely and happily allow others to republish my articles on their own websites, but I also ask that they include this “About the Author” section with each article.  The material contained in this article is for general information purposes only, and readers should consult licensed professionals before making any legal, business, financial or health decisions.  I encourage you to follow me on social media on Facebook and Twitter, and any way that you can share these articles with others is definitely a great help.  These are such troubled times, and people need hope.  John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  If you have not already done so, I strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.

We didn’t even make it through an entire day in 2024 before our planet sent us some enormous reminders that it is becoming increasingly unstable.  Unfortunately, the earthquakes that we just witnessed in California and Japan are just the beginning.  2024 will be a year of historic natural disasters, and in many cases there won’t be any warning at all.  In Japan, people were preparing for an ordinary New Year’s Day when all of a sudden the shaking began.  So far, Japan has been hit by more than 100 significant earthquakes, and that includes one that measured magnitude 7.6 on the Richter scale…

Four people are confirmed dead while there are fears further victims could have been buried alive under rubble after more than 100 tremors rippled through Japan, including one 7.6 magnitude quake, sparking a major search and rescue operation.

Japan’s Prime Minister said rescue efforts have been made ‘extremely difficult due to damage to roads’ in the Ishikawa prefecture, near the epicentre of the quake. The main highway through the district has been completely closed, according to reports.

The magnitude 7.6 earthquake “was felt as far away as Tokyo”, and the U.S. Geological Survey is telling us that it the largest earthquake to strike that particular region in more than four decades.

Needless to say, all of this shaking created quite a bit of panic, and footage that is coming out of Japan looks like it has been pulled directly out of a Hollywood disaster movie…

Japanese media footage showed people running through the streets, and red smoke spewing from a fire in a residential neighborhood. Photos showed a crowd of people, including a woman with a baby on her back, standing by huge cracks that had ripped through the pavement.

For the first time since the Fukushima disaster in 2011, the Japan Meteorological Agency issued a “special warning” for the possibility of a tsunami, but fortunately the tsunami that hit the Japanese coast was not as large as originally anticipated…

The Japan Meteorological Agency issued a special warning for a potential tsunami measuring 3 meters or higher in Ishikawa’s Noto Peninsula, and downgraded it hours later. A tsunami measuring 1.2 meters or higher reached Wajima Port in the prefecture, it said.

It was the first time such a special warning had been issued since the 2011 magnitude-9.0 earthquake and tsunami that devastated areas of northeastern Japan and triggered the Fukushima nuclear crisis.

We haven’t seen shaking of this nature in that part of the world for a long time.

As we get deeper into 2024, I will be watching Mt. Fuji very carefully.

Once a full-blown catastrophic eruption of that volcano happens, millions of Japanese could die.

Meanwhile, the state of California is being shaken as well.

Just hours after 2024 began, a magnitude 4.1 earthquake shook the city of Los Angeles…

A 4.1-magnitude earthquake struck Los Angeles on New Year’s Day.

In a rude awakening for revelers nursing hangovers, the quake struck 12 miles off the coast from the city of Rancho Palos Verdes in Los Angeles County at 8.27am.

That quake was not large enough to cause significant damage, but that is not the real issue.

The real issue is that southern California has been shaken repeatedly by earthquakes over the last ten days…

In the last ten days, there has been at least one earthquake of magnitude 3.0 or greater centered nearby.

Scientists keep telling us that the west coast is way overdue for “the Big One”, and that day could arrive without any warning at all.

When “the Big One” finally strikes, large portions of southern California could potentially drop several feet in a matter of moments, and that would allow water from the Pacific Ocean to come pouring in.

This is something that I have talked about extensively in my books, and scientists have warned that someday it will happen.

But most of those that live along the coast in southern California are not interested in such warnings.

Of course it isn’t just natural disasters that we need to be concerned about.  Right now, war is raging all over the globe, famine is spreading, economic problems have started to spiral out of control and several major pestilences continue to spread.

Most people in the general population don’t seem too alarmed by any of this, but many among the elite are feverishly preparing for what is ahead.

For example, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is spending a colossal amount of money to construct a gigantic survivalist compound in Hawaii…

MARK Zuckerberg has been building an underground bunker and it’s led to panic and wild conspiracies on social media.

The Facebook founder’s underground bunker, estimated to be worth around $270 million, is being built on the northeast side of Hawaii’s Kauai island.

Will he actually need to use that compound soon?

So much is going to happen this year.  The most heated presidential election in U.S. history will take place in November, the border crisis has already reached a level that is beyond anything we have ever seen before, and on April 8th the second Great American Eclipse will make headlines all over the world…

There is a reason why the path of this upcoming eclipse is featured on the cover of “Chaos”.  I am entirely convinced that this eclipse is very important, and it just happens to fall on the very first day of the Biblical year that begins in the spring.

Do you think that is just a coincidence?

We have finally reached the year that so many of us have been pointing to for such a long time.

As our society is greatly shaken by one crisis after another, the ground beneath our feet will continue to be greatly shaken.

So brace yourselves for what is ahead, because things are about to get really crazy.

Michael’s new book entitled “Chaos” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can check out his new Substack newsletter right here.

About the Author: My name is Michael and my brand new book entitled “Chaos” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.  In addition to my new book I have written seven other books that are available on Amazon.com including “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”. (#CommissionsEarned)  When you purchase any of these books you help to support the work that I am doing, and one way that you can really help is by sending copies as gifts to family and friends.  Time is short, and I need help getting these warnings into the hands of as many people as possible.  I have also started a brand new Substack newsletter, and I encourage you to subscribe so that you won’t miss any of my articles.  I have published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and the articles that I publish on those sites are republished on dozens of other prominent websites all over the globe.  I always freely and happily allow others to republish my articles on their own websites, but I also ask that they include this “About the Author” section with each article.  The material contained in this article is for general information purposes only, and readers should consult licensed professionals before making any legal, business, financial or health decisions.  I encourage you to follow me on social media on Facebook and Twitter, and any way that you can share these articles with others is definitely a great help.  These are such troubled times, and people need hope.  John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  If you have not already done so, I strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.

Have you noticed a charge on one of your cards that you can’t explain?  If so, you may be a victim of one of the “tap-to-pay” terminals that are being installed all over the nation.  The television commercials that promote RFID technology that allows us to pay just by tapping a card are designed to make us feel warm and fuzzy about this new method of conducting transactions, but it turns out that this technology is not nearly as secure as most of us thought.  The industry insists that cards with these new chips can only be detected four inches away from the terminal, but there have been numerous cases where cards are literally being charged “from across the room”…

Panicked shoppers claim they have been charged for purchases while their credit cards were still in their pockets after in-store tap-to-pay systems read them from across the room.

Several customers have raised the alarm about the glitch which is said to have occurred across stores, restaurants and even a doctor’s office.

One woman said she was at least ‘two feet away’ from the reader when it managed to scan her card information and process a payment.

The local ABC News affiliate in San Francisco interviewed one victim named Edgar Mathews who says that he was billed for his groceries without ever pulling a card out of his wallet…

Mathews was trying to use his debit card to pay for groceries at Safeway — but that never happened.

“I hadn’t tapped it, I hadn’t inserted it, I hadn’t swiped it… and then all of a sudden, out comes a receipt. And I said, ‘How did this get paid for?'” said Mathews.

The cashier couldn’t explain it.

According to the industry, this should never happen.

When Mathews checked his accounts, he discovered that the terminal at Safeway had actually charged a Bank of America credit card that was in his back pocket…

Mathews checked his bank accounts. Turns out, the “tap-to-pay” card reader at Safeway had ignored the debit card in his hand. Instead, it reached into Mathews’s back pocket, through his wallet and charged his Bank of America credit card tucked inside!

The news outlet also interviewed another local resident named Sonya Cesari.

According to her, a tap-to-pay terminal at one store actually read three credit cards that were “tucked in a wallet inside her purse”…

“Three days later at a boutique in Yountville,” said Cesari. She got an even bigger surprise at a little shop.

“The woman said, ‘Oh my, it’s just read three cards,'” said Cesari.

The store’s “tap-to-pay” system charged not only one, but three credit cards tucked in a wallet inside her purse.

Unfortunately, this is a problem that is not going to go away any time soon.

More tap-to-pay terminals are being put in with each passing day, and more tap-to-pay cards are constantly being issued.

So people are going to continue to be charged by mistake.

In some cases victims are actually being charged for goods that someone else is trying to purchase.  Just check out the following example which was recently posted on Facebook…

Of course this sort of technology is going to make it even easier for hackers and scammers to steal from the general population.

Credit cards and debit cards are both extremely vulnerable, and criminals have a variety of methods that they can use to extract the information that they need…

Have you ever thought about how woefully insecure credit and debit cards are? Try this experiment: Plug a USB magnetic strip reader into a computer, open a word processor, swipe a credit card, and boom—you just stole your own card information. It’s that easy.

Now consider that the same technology comes in faster and smaller forms. Tiny “skimmers” can be attached to ATMs and payment terminals to pilfer your data from the card’s magnetic strip (called a “magstripe”). Even smaller “shimmers” are shimmed into card readers to attack the chips on newer cards. There’s now also a digital version called e-skimming, pilfering data from payment websites.

So what can we do to protect ourselves?

There are sleeves that you can get to protect your cards, and there are entire wallets that are designed to block RFID signals.

And it is imperative to always be diligent.

It has been said that “complacency is a killer”, and that is so true.

Try to avoid using ATM machines as much as possible, and if you are making payment at a gas station or some other highly vulnerable location always look for signs that something is out of place.

But no matter how hard you try, the truth is that credit cards and debit cards are never going to be 100 percent safe.

In 2022, credit card fraud surpassed the 34 billion dollar mark…

Credit and debit card fraud losses reached a record $34.36 billion in 2022 after increasing roughly 5% from the previous year.

The final number for 2023 will inevitably be even higher.

We live at a time when theft of all types is on the rise, and it will be even worse during the period of great societal chaos that is directly ahead of us.

2024 is going to be such a crazy year, and as conditions deteriorate people around us are going to become even more desperate.

So always watch your back, and always be diligent.

Predators are constantly on the prowl, and you do not want to be the next victim.

Michael’s new book entitled “Chaos” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can check out his new Substack newsletter right here.

About the Author: My name is Michael and my brand new book entitled “Chaos” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.  In addition to my new book I have written seven other books that are available on Amazon.com including “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”. (#CommissionsEarned)  When you purchase any of these books you help to support the work that I am doing, and one way that you can really help is by sending copies as gifts to family and friends.  Time is short, and I need help getting these warnings into the hands of as many people as possible.  I have also started a brand new Substack newsletter, and I encourage you to subscribe so that you won’t miss any of my articles.  I have published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and the articles that I publish on those sites are republished on dozens of other prominent websites all over the globe.  I always freely and happily allow others to republish my articles on their own websites, but I also ask that they include this “About the Author” section with each article.  The material contained in this article is for general information purposes only, and readers should consult licensed professionals before making any legal, business, financial or health decisions.  I encourage you to follow me on social media on Facebook and Twitter, and any way that you can share these articles with others is definitely a great help.  These are such troubled times, and people need hope.  John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  If you have not already done so, I strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.

If the U.S. economy really is in “good shape”, then why are so many prominent businesses rushing to permanently shut down locations that were once profitable?  As you will see below, U.S. banks are closing thousands of branches and U.S. retailers are closing thousands of stores.  If a new golden age of prosperity is dead ahead, that wouldn’t make any sense at all.  Of course the truth is that most Americans are really struggling in our current economic environment, and conditions are going to get even worse in 2024.

Bank executives can see what is happening, and so they are feverishly trimming costs.

During the first 10 months of this year, banks in the United States closed a total of 2,118 branches…

U.S. banks closed 2,118 branch locations between January and the end of October, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence.

Sadly, branches continue to get shut down at a staggering rate.

For example, it is being reported that Bank of America has decided to permanently shut down “nearly two dozen Bay Area branches or ATMs”…

Bank of America has shuttered or plans to shutter nearly two dozen Bay Area branches or ATMs, according to recent filings.

Banks are legally required to report closures to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency at least 90 days before their scheduled shuttering, so customers will know if they’ll be impacted.

Another way that banks are cutting costs is by laying off workers.

According to Zero Hedge, twenty of the largest banks have combined to eliminate 61,905 jobs so far this year…

A new report from the Financial Times shows twenty of the world’s largest banks slashed 61,905 jobs in 2023, a move to protect profit margins in a period of high interest rates amid a slump in dealmaking and equity and debt sales. This compared with the 140,000 lost during the GFC of 2007-08.

“There is no stability, no investment, no growth in most banks — and there are likely to be more job cuts,” said Lee Thacker, owner of financial services headhunting firm Silvermine Partners.

FT noted that corporate disclosure data and its independent reporting did not include smaller regional bank cuts, indicating total job loss could be much higher.

The banks are not okay.

In fact, I expect the big banks to make lots of headlines in 2024.

Meanwhile, problems continue to pile up for the retail industry.

CNN says that Nike is “a bellwether for the global economy”, and so the fact that the company is planning to cut costs by about 2 billion dollars is not a good sign at all…

Nike, a bellwether for the global economy, sounded a warning sign Thursday as the sneaker giant sees consumers becoming more cautious.

Nike slashed its revenue outlook for the year and announced cost cuts amid growing concerns that consumers are slowing their spending around the world. The company said it’s looking for as much as $2 billion in cost savings in the next three years, which includes laying off employees.

But at least Nike is still in business.

2023 was a year when U.S. retailers closed thousands of stores, and a number of well known chains actually had to file for bankruptcy…

Twenty major retailers axed 2,847 locations between them in 2023, according to Business Insider – as more and more shoppers buy their products online

The issue has been exacerbated by rampant spates of crime which have forced many companies to lock up their products. Earlier this year, Target alone said it was losing as much as $500 million a year to theft.

It is little wonder then that retailers are struggling to cope. Bed Bath & Beyond, Rite Aid and Party City are among the major chains to have filed for bankruptcy in the last 12 months.

Some of you may be thinking that those retailers are hurting because of the growth of the online retail industry.

But online retailers are going belly up too.  For example, Zulily just announced that it will be permanently going out of business…

Online retailer Zulily is shutting down.

The company announced on its website it has made the “difficult but necessary decision to conduct an orderly wind-down of the business.”

Zulily said it will “strive to continue to provide everyone with the best service possible during the holiday season” and it will try to fulfill all pending orders and ensure that orders that could not be filled are canceled and refunded.

Of course the mainstream media will continue to insist that these are just isolated incidents and that the overall economy is doing just fine.

One of the primary reasons why they try to slant economic news in such a positive direction is because most of them are Democrats…

A new study from Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Public Communications found that just 3.4% of American journalists are Republicans.

The study is based “on an online survey with 1,600 U.S. journalists conducted in early 2022” and is the latest in a series of studies stretching back to 1971 that take the temperature of the fourth estate’s partisan lean, job satisfaction, and professional attitudes.

When the first iteration of the study came out over 50 years ago, 35.5% of respondents said they were Democrats, 25.7% said they were Republicans, and 32.5% said they were Independents.

Since a Democrat is currently in the White House, they want you to feel good about the economy so that you will vote for Democrats in 2024.

But everyone can see that the economy is coming apart at the seams all around us, and most Americans do not have a good feeling about what is coming during the year ahead.

I am entirely convinced that the economic trends that we have witnessed in 2023 will greatly accelerate in 2024.

Needless to say, that will not be good news at all.

Michael’s new book entitled “Chaos” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can check out his new Substack newsletter right here.

About the Author: My name is Michael and my brand new book entitled “Chaos” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.  In addition to my new book I have written seven other books that are available on Amazon.com including “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”. (#CommissionsEarned)  When you purchase any of these books you help to support the work that I am doing, and one way that you can really help is by sending copies as gifts to family and friends.  Time is short, and I need help getting these warnings into the hands of as many people as possible.  I have also started a brand new Substack newsletter, and I encourage you to subscribe so that you won’t miss any of my articles.  I have published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and the articles that I publish on those sites are republished on dozens of other prominent websites all over the globe.  I always freely and happily allow others to republish my articles on their own websites, but I also ask that they include this “About the Author” section with each article.  The material contained in this article is for general information purposes only, and readers should consult licensed professionals before making any legal, business, financial or health decisions.  I encourage you to follow me on social media on Facebook and Twitter, and any way that you can share these articles with others is definitely a great help.  These are such troubled times, and people need hope.  John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  If you have not already done so, I strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.

A “perfect storm” is raging all around us, and our world is so close to plunging into a complete and utter state of chaos that even the mainstream media is talking about it.  The past several years have been a time when multiple major wars have begun, pestilences have paralyzed the entire planet, the worst global food crisis in modern history has erupted, and we have been hit by a seemingly endless series of natural disasters.  But there is a growing consensus that even more difficult times are ahead of us.  During a roundtable discussion on “Face the Nation” on Sunday, CBS News correspondent Catherine Herridge actually confessed that she is concerned that “2024 may be the year of a black swan event”…

CBS News’ “Face the Nation” held a roundtable on Christmas Eve, affording various talking heads an opportunity to make predictions for 2024. While most of the predictions were relatively banal, one among them stood out, prompting critics to puzzle over its possible significance.

Network correspondent Catherine Herridge, the wife of a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Air Force, suggested that “2024 may be the year of a black swan event. This is a national security event with high impact that’s very hard to predict.”

I agree with her, but I don’t think that it will be just one “black swan event” that we will be facing.

Specifically, Herridge gave several reasons for why she felt the need to issue such a “dark” prediction…

Herridge told the other CBS News panelists Sunday there were a number of concerns that factored into her “dark” prediction, including that “this sort of enduring heightened threat level that we’re facing, the wars in Israel, also Ukraine, and we’re so divided in this country in ways that we haven’t seen before. And I think that just creates fertile ground for our adversaries like North Korea and China and Iran.”

Hmmm…

It seems like I have heard all of this somewhere before.

I just can’t seem to put my finger on it…

Of course she is right on target.

So much is going to happen during the new year that is about to start.

CNN is getting in on the act too.  The following comes from an article that they just posted entitled “How 2023 has been the ‘year of the brink’ and 2024 could be worse”…

It could have been immeasurably worse. But holding back from the brink in 2023 has simply deferred vast crises to 2024. The post-Covid world is exhausted, cash-strapped, but ultimately more fraught than for decades.

Overshadowing it all will be a flagging hyperpower, at best distracted with presidential elections, at worst tearing itself apart in voting disputes and political extremism.

The likelihood the United States will be occupied by its own traumas amplifies each risk. The geopolitical given of a US response will be absent, fuelling authoritarian ambition, or a radical upending of the global order. 2024 could make 2023 seem rational and sober.

Very well said.

When CNN starts publishing articles that sound like they could have been written by me, that is clearly a sign that time is very short.

Just like Herridge, the author of the CNN article is also deeply concerned about the current state of the conflict in Ukraine…

Having spent two weeks around the frontlines, it is clear Kyiv faces an existential crisis in the coming winter. It will not survive without Western help. It cannot admit to the scale of challenges it faces without being dubbed by some US Republicans a loser, unworthy of US funding.

It is true.

Ukraine will not survive without western assistance.

And even if funding is restored to previous levels, the Russians will continue to gain ground.

At some point the government in Ukraine is going to become extremely desperate, and that is when things will start to get very “interesting” over there.

Meanwhile, the war in the Middle East just continues to heat up.

On Tuesday, the U.S. military conducted a series of strikes on Iranian-backed forces in Iraq…

At President Joe Biden’s direction, the U.S. military carried out the strikes in Iraq at 1:45 GMT, likely killing “a number of Kataib Hezbollah militants” and destroying multiple facilities used by the group, the U.S. military said.

“These strikes are intended to hold accountable those elements directly responsible for attacks on coalition forces in Iraq and Syria and degrade their ability to continue attacks. We will always protect our forces,” said General Michael Erik Kurilla, head of U.S. Central Command, in a statement.

A U.S. base in Iraq’s Erbil that houses U.S. forces came under attack from a one-way drone earlier on Monday, leading to the latest U.S. casualties.

Iranian-backed forces have already attacked U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria more than 100 times.

Whether the Biden administration is willing to publicly admit it or not, the truth is that the U.S. is already at war in the Middle East.

Could we soon be at war with China as well?

Chinese President Xi Jinping just issued quite an ominous statement about Taiwan…

President Xi Jinping vowed on Tuesday to resolutely prevent anyone from “splitting Taiwan from China in any way”, the official Xinhua news agency reported, a little more than two weeks before Taiwan elects a new leader.

China views democratically-governed Taiwan as its own territory, despite the strong objections of the government in Taipei, and has ramped up military and political pressure to assert its sovereignty claims.

The Chinese will not invade before the upcoming election in Taiwan.

And I don’t think that the Chinese will invade during the early months of 2024.

But an invasion is most definitely coming.

For years, I have been urging my readers to watch Russia, China and Israel.

Now a time of global conflict is upon us, and many believe that 2024 will be the year when we finally pass the point of no return.

Michael’s new book entitled “Chaos” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can check out his new Substack newsletter right here.

About the Author: My name is Michael and my brand new book entitled “Chaos” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.  In addition to my new book I have written seven other books that are available on Amazon.com including “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”. (#CommissionsEarned)  When you purchase any of these books you help to support the work that I am doing, and one way that you can really help is by sending copies as gifts to family and friends.  Time is short, and I need help getting these warnings into the hands of as many people as possible.  I have also started a brand new Substack newsletter, and I encourage you to subscribe so that you won’t miss any of my articles.  I have published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and the articles that I publish on those sites are republished on dozens of other prominent websites all over the globe.  I always freely and happily allow others to republish my articles on their own websites, but I also ask that they include this “About the Author” section with each article.  The material contained in this article is for general information purposes only, and readers should consult licensed professionals before making any legal, business, financial or health decisions.  I encourage you to follow me on social media on Facebook and Twitter, and any way that you can share these articles with others is definitely a great help.  These are such troubled times, and people need hope.  John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  If you have not already done so, I strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.

The ominous trends that we see all around us are taking us somewhere.  Needless to say, 2023 was not a good year for our country.  Hunger and homelessness have been absolutely exploding, the suicide rate just continues to go even higher, and there is chaos in the streets on an almost nightly basis.  It is in this environment that the election of 2024 will happen.  I expect election season to add an additional level of strain to our society, and I don’t think that our society will be able to handle it.  We are headed for a nightmare, and at this point everyone should be able to see that.

When conditions deteriorate, it is often those at the bottom of the economic food chain that feel it first.

And right now food banks all over the nation are dealing with a tsunami of hunger…

Food bank leaders from all corners of the country tell USA TODAY their neighborhood pantries are serving more people while using less resources, as economic pressures continue to ravage the budgets of low-income Americans and service providers alike.

Since pandemic-era boosts to government food aid ended earlier this year in many states, families are turning to food banks to close a gap in need that feels like it has no end in sight.

Susannah Morgan, the president of Oregon Food Bank, says that she is literally witnessing “the worst rate of hunger in my career”…

“This is the worst rate of hunger in my career,” said Morgan, who has worked at food banks in Boston, San Francisco and Anchorage, Alaska. “It’s so large, it’s hard to wrap your head around.”

I don’t know what I have to do to convince some people that things really are this bad.

I keep sharing fact after fact in my articles, but some people out there are just not convinced.

One out of every five children in the U.S. does not have enough food to eat, but the reality of the suffering that is now taking place just isn’t sinking in for many of those that are still living the high life.

Meanwhile, homelessness in the U.S. is increasing at the fastest rate ever recorded…

The United States experienced a dramatic 12 percent increase in homelessness as soaring rents and a decline in coronavirus pandemic assistance combined to put housing out of reach for more Americans, federal officials said Friday.

About 653,000 people were experiencing homelessness during the January snapshot. That’s the highest number since the country began using the yearly point-in-time survey in 2007 to count the homeless population.

There are many out there that feel that such people need to “get a job” or “work harder”, but the truth is that most Americans are living on the verge of economic disaster because most Americans are living paycheck to paycheck.

At the same time, Americans continue to get even lonelier.

According to USA Today, “Americans are lonely and it’s killing them”, and at this point things are so bad that this crisis is being called “a new epidemic”…

America has a new epidemic. It can’t be treated using traditional therapies even though it has debilitating and even deadly consequences.

The problem seeping in at the corners of our communities is loneliness and U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy is hoping to generate awareness and offer remedies before it claims more lives.

“Most of us probably think of loneliness as just a bad feeling,” he told USA TODAY. “It turns out that loneliness has far greater implications for our health when we struggle with a sense of social disconnection, being lonely or isolated.”

It is especially bad during this time of the year.

There are so many people out there that are deeply, deeply hurting because they are so lonely.

They are trying their best to face a world that has gone completely mad, but that can be really difficult to do when you don’t have anyone to lean on for support.

Speaking of a world gone mad, retail theft has absolutely skyrocketed in many of our largest cities since 2019…

Crime-ridden New York City has seen the biggest impact with a 64 percent increase in retail theft, followed by Los Angeles with a 61 percent jump and Virginia Beach, Virginia, which has seen a 44 percent rise.

Each month, more Americans are descending into poverty and more Americans are turning to crime.

And it certainly doesn’t help that vast hordes of illegal immigrants are constantly being added to the mix.

Chaos in the streets has become an almost constant state of affairs in this country, and this year in Oakland there was even rioting on Christmas Eve.

Of course our leaders continue to exist in a bubble where none of these problems constitutes a serious crisis.

To them, everything must be just fine because they are doing such a wonderful job.

When he was recently confronted about the reality of the economic crisis that we are now facing, Joe Biden bluntly told the press to “start reporting it the right way”…

President Biden criticized news coverage of the U.S. economy as he faces growing backlash from voters over his handling of inflation.

In brief remarks Saturday before boarding the presidential helicopter, Biden expressed confidence in the economy and ripped the reporters for the way it has been portrayed.

“All good. Take a look. Start reporting it the right way,” Biden said when asked about his economic outlook for 2024, according to a transcript released Sunday by the White House.

He wants the press to continue to spin things in a way that will make him look good as they always have done in the past.

But we have reached a stage where all of the charades are finally crumbling.

Conditions are bad now, and they are going to get even worse in 2024.

So brace yourself for what is ahead, because we are going to experience so much chaos during the year that is in front of us.

Michael’s new book entitled “Chaos” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can check out his new Substack newsletter right here.

About the Author: My name is Michael and my brand new book entitled “Chaos” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.  In addition to my new book I have written seven other books that are available on Amazon.com including “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”. (#CommissionsEarned)  When you purchase any of these books you help to support the work that I am doing, and one way that you can really help is by sending copies as gifts to family and friends.  Time is short, and I need help getting these warnings into the hands of as many people as possible.  I have also started a brand new Substack newsletter, and I encourage you to subscribe so that you won’t miss any of my articles.  I have published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and the articles that I publish on those sites are republished on dozens of other prominent websites all over the globe.  I always freely and happily allow others to republish my articles on their own websites, but I also ask that they include this “About the Author” section with each article.  The material contained in this article is for general information purposes only, and readers should consult licensed professionals before making any legal, business, financial or health decisions.  I encourage you to follow me on social media on Facebook and Twitter, and any way that you can share these articles with others is definitely a great help.  These are such troubled times, and people need hope.  John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  If you have not already done so, I strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.

One of the biggest bombshells of the entire year just dropped, but now it has almost entirely disappeared from the news cycle.  NBC News is reporting that during their recent summit meeting in San Francisco, Chinese President Xi Jinping told Joe Biden to his face that a decision has been made to “reunify Taiwan with China” one way or the other.  Normally the Chinese keep their cards very close to the vest, and so this was a very unusual move.  My guess is that the Chinese wanted to see how Biden would respond to such a direct statement.  Xi Jinping expressed his desire to take over Taiwan peacefully if possible, but we all know that isn’t going to happen.  So war is coming, and the only thing that needs to be decided now is the timing…

Chinese President Xi Jinping bluntly told President Joe Biden during their recent summit in San Francisco that Beijing will reunify Taiwan with mainland China but that the timing has not yet been decided, according to three current and former U.S. officials.

Xi told Biden in a group meeting attended by a dozen American and Chinese officials that China’s preference is to take Taiwan peacefully, not by force, the officials said.

The Chinese leader also referenced public predictions by U.S. military leaders who say that Xi plans to take Taiwan in 2025 or 2027, telling Biden that they were wrong because he has not set a time frame, according to the two current and one former official briefed on the meeting.

I kind of expected the White House to deny that this exchange took place, but that did not happen…

The White House didn’t deny the exchange, which occurred during a Nov. 15 summit outside San Francisco that was attended by a dozen US and Chinese officials.

“I’m not gonna get into the specifics of the discussion between the two leaders,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Air Force One en route to Milwaukee.

Wow.

So why isn’t everyone in America talking about this?

Why has this almost entirely disappeared from the news cycle already?

This is one of the biggest stories of the year.

War with China is coming, and the Chinese have been feverishly preparing for it.

For example, the Chinese just imposed export controls on rare earth processing technology…

Following the meeting between President Joe Biden and President Xi Jinping at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation event in San Francisco last month, the hopes for de-escalation in Sino-US relations seem to have fallen apart after China announced export controls on rare-earths technologies.

China is the world’s top processor of rare earths and has placed an export ban on technology to extract and separate rare-earth metals, according to Bloomberg, citing a document from the Ministry of Commerce.

The move comes as Washington and its allies try to reduce reliance on China’s stranglehold of the global rare earths market. There are 17 rare earth metals, and Beijing controls about 85% of the global refining capacity. These metals are found in everything from electric vehicles to wind turbines to military hardware.

Expect to see more dramatic economic moves by the Chinese in the months ahead.

China has also been working on a whole host of new weapons systems.

Reportedly, this also includes weapons that employ “advanced brain warfare technology”…

China is working on advanced brain warfare technology which is said to include devices that can send enemies to sleep and control their thoughts, according to an uncovered report.

Researchers have found two recent studies by China’s People’s Liberation Army that show the military is increasing its ‘hard power’ weapons with new technology to win wars without conventional weapons.

The biological weapons are designed to induce sleep, impair cognition and alertness as well as impact decision making, The Washington Times reports.

In addition, Chinese hackers have been feverishly hacking into “critical U.S. infrastructure” in anticipation of the coming conflict…

President Joe Biden’s administration warned that Chinese hackers have been positioning themselves inside critical U.S. infrastructure to cause “societal chaos” from within should war break out.

According to reports, the Communist Party of China’s military has burrowed into more than 20 major utilities suppliers in the last year including a water utility in Hawaii, a major West Coast port and at least one oil and gas pipeline. They reportedly also bypassed elaborate cyber security systems by intercepting passwords and log-ins unguarded by junior employees.

This project they are conducting amid growing tension over Taiwan was codenamed Volt Typhoon. Analysts commented this could unplug U.S. efforts to protect its interests in the South China Sea. “It is very clear that Chinese attempts to compromise critical infrastructure are in part to pre-position themselves to be able to disrupt or destroy that critical infrastructure in the event of a conflict,” said Brandon Wales of the Department of Homeland Security‘s (DHS’) Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).

Meanwhile, it appears that the war in the Middle East could soon go to the next level.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the “buffer zone has moved south of the border, and the IDF faces daily mortar attacks from Hezbollah.”

And Newsweek is telling us that “Israel has edged closer to an all-out war with the Lebanese Hezbollah movement”…

Israel has edged closer to an all-out war with the Lebanese Hezbollah movement amid a worsening round of hostilities playing out as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is already engaged in its most intensive conflict to date in the Gaza Strip, an IDF official has said.

IDF spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus told reporters Monday that Hezbollah has fired “more than 1,000 different types of ammunition, rockets, missiles, drones, mortars and others toward Israel” since October 8, the day after the Palestinian Hamas movement led an unprecedented surprise attack against Israel from Gaza.

Conricus warned that “Hezbollah, who as everybody knows is a proxy of Iran, is dangerously dragging Lebanon into an unnecessary war that could have potential devastating consequences for the state of Lebanon and for the people of Lebanon.

Even though I have not been writing about the war in the Middle East much recently, it is just a matter of time before it absolutely explodes.

The Israeli government has decided to push Hezbollah beyond the Litani River, and Hezbollah will not ever allow that to happen willingly…

Israel is planning to invade Lebanon to push Hezbollah back from its northern border, according to reports, amid a barrage of rocket attacks since the war in Gaza broke out and fears that the terror group is ‘worse than Hamas’.

After weeks of exchanging cross-border fire, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) are said to be keen to launch a ground offensive into southern Lebanon which would aim to push the terror group north past the Litani River.

Elsewhere, the Russians are attacking on “six fronts” in Ukraine, and Kim Jong Un just threatened the United States with nuclear war…

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un warned Pyongyang will not hesitate to launch a nuclear attack on the US if ‘provoked with nukes’, state media said Thursday.

Kim’s warning follows a meeting between South Korea and the United States last week in Washington, where they discussed nuclear deterrence in the event of conflict with the North.

Without a doubt, we are living at a time of wars and rumors of wars, and I fully expect 2024 to be a year of war.

So I would encourage all of you to get prepared for the chaos that is ahead, because global events will soon spiral completely out of control.

Michael’s new book entitled “Chaos” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can check out his new Substack newsletter right here.

About the Author: My name is Michael and my brand new book entitled “Chaos” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.  In addition to my new book I have written seven other books that are available on Amazon.com including “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”. (#CommissionsEarned)  When you purchase any of these books you help to support the work that I am doing, and one way that you can really help is by sending copies as gifts to family and friends.  Time is short, and I need help getting these warnings into the hands of as many people as possible.  I have also started a brand new Substack newsletter, and I encourage you to subscribe so that you won’t miss any of my articles.  I have published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and the articles that I publish on those sites are republished on dozens of other prominent websites all over the globe.  I always freely and happily allow others to republish my articles on their own websites, but I also ask that they include this “About the Author” section with each article.  The material contained in this article is for general information purposes only, and readers should consult licensed professionals before making any legal, business, financial or health decisions.  I encourage you to follow me on social media on Facebook and Twitter, and any way that you can share these articles with others is definitely a great help.  These are such troubled times, and people need hope.  John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  If you have not already done so, I strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.