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The left wants to get millions of activists into the streets during the months ahead, and just like last time around they are hoping that an incident in Minnesota will be the spark.  Meanwhile, ICE has initiated a “wartime recruitment” strategy and is planning to meet any protests head on.  Both sides absolutely hate one another, and we have already seen so many incidents of violence.  This is such a tragedy, because none of us should want to see Americans fighting against Americans.  Unfortunately, I am convinced that the civil unrest that we are witnessing will greatly escalate as 2026 rolls along.

During an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel’s show, Rachel Maddow revealed what the left’s plan is…

Rachel Maddow Calls for More Protests Against President Trump

“Once you have 3.5% of a population protesting nonviolently against a dictator or an authoritarian, that is essentially an unstoppable force that they can’t oppose.”

If you do the math, that would be more than 10 million people in the United States.

They want to flood the streets with far left activists just like they did in 2020, and they fully understand that there will be widespread violence just like we saw back then.

And now the death of Renee Nicole Good has given them exactly what they needed.

The mainstream media is portraying her as an innocent victim, but the truth is that she had been recruited as an anti-ICE “warrior” and she was simply doing what she had been recruited to do…

Renee Nicole Good, the mom who was killed by a federal agent after veering her car toward him, was an anti-ICE “warrior” and was part of a group of activists who worked to “document and resist” the federal immigration crackdown in Minnesota, The Post can reveal.

Good, who moved to the city last year, linked up with the anti-ICE activists through her 6-year-old son’s woke charter school, which boasts that it puts “social justice first” and prioritizes “involving kids in political and social activism,” multiple local sources said.

“She was a warrior. She died doing what was right,” a mother named Leesa, whose child attends the same school, told The Post at a growing vigil where Good was killed Wednesday.

She never should have been there.

And we all knew that clashes between ICE and anti-ICE radicals would eventually produce this sort of an incident.

In the aftermath of Good’s death, protests immediately erupted nationwide…

Protests have erupted nationwide after an ICE agent fatally shot a woman in Minneapolis Wednesday.

Renee Nicole Good, 37, was killed during an immigration enforcement operation in a residential neighborhood south of downtown.

While heated protests were happening in Minnesota, demonstrations also took place or were expected to Thursday in New York City, Seattle, Detroit, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San Antonio, New Orleans and Chicago. Protests were also scheduled in smaller cities later this week in Arizona, North Carolina, and New Hampshire.

Needless to say, these protests were very well funded.

In fact, we have learned that funding for the protest in New York City came from a very familiar source…

The protest tonight in New York City against ICE is being paid for and organized by ‘PSL New York City – Party for Socialism and Liberation’

They are funded by Neville Roy Singham who lives in China and works with the CCP

He donated over $20 million to entities like the Justice and Education Fund, which supports Party for Socialism & Liberation activities like protests

He also funds groups with heavy Party for Socialism & Liberation leadership overlap

In other words in a huge networks of organization of professional protesters working to take down America

If the left thinks that they can get the Trump administration to back down, they are wrong.

According to CBS News, approximately 2,000 federal agents have been deployed to Minneapolis for a 30 day “surge”…

The Trump administration has begun a massive deployment of hundreds of Department of Homeland Security agents to the Twin Cities area as it escalates its federal crackdown amid a widening fraud scandal in Minnesota, multiple law enforcement officials familiar with the plan told CBS News.

The crackdown could involve roughly 2,000 agents and officers from Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s deportation branch and Homeland Security Investigations, the agency’s investigative arm tasked with fighting transnational crimes, the officials said. They requested anonymity to discuss operations that have not been publicly announced.

The plan is for the agents and officers to oversee a 30-day surge in operations in the Twin Cities area, making the region the first major target of the Trump administration’s expanded immigration crackdown in the new year, officials said.

We heard the word “surge” being used a lot during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Using military terminology is only going to increase tensions.

And the Washington Post is telling us that ICE has begun a $100 million “wartime recruitment” strategy…

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials are planning to spend $100 million over a one-year period to recruit gun rights supporters and military enthusiasts through online influencers and a geo-targeted advertising campaign, part of what the agency called a “wartime recruitment” strategy it said was critical to hiring thousands of new deportation officers nationwide, according to an internal document reviewed by The Washington Post.

The spending would help President Donald Trump’s mass-deportation agenda dominate media networks and recruitment channels, including through ads targeting people who have attended UFC fights, listened to patriotic podcasts or shown an interest in guns and tactical gear, according to a 30-page document distributed among officials this summer detailing ICE’s “surge hiring marketing strategy.”

The Department of Homeland Security has spoken publicly about its fast-tracked effort to significantly increase ICE’s workforce by hiring more than 10,000 new employees, a surge promoted on social media with calls for recruits willing to perform their “sacred duty” and “defend the homeland” by repelling “foreign invaders.” The agency currently employs more than 20,000 people, according to ICE’s website.

If they are preparing for “war”, who do they intend to fight?

I am sure that many of you have seen those ads by now.

There are a lot of unemployed people out there these days, and so I am sure that they are getting a lot of applications.

Vice-President JD Vance says that as ICE hires more people, we will soon see members of ICE going “door-to-door”…

“I think if we’re to see those deportation numbers ramp up as we get more and more people online working for ICE going from door-to-door making sure if you’re an illegal alien you’re going to have to get out of this country and if you want to comeback apply through the proper channels.”

The Trump administration seems to believe that they will be able to get the left to back down.

But instead, the violence just continues to increase.

In 2025, there was a 1,300% increase in assaults against ICE officers and a 3,200% increase in vehicular attacks against ICE officers…

The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released new statistics Thursday indicating a sharp increase in assaults, vehicular attacks, and death threats against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) law enforcement officers over the past year. According to DHS, assaults against ICE officers rose more than 1,300 percent during the first year of the Trump administration. DHS reported 275 assaults between January 20 and December 31, 2025, compared to 19 assaults recorded during the same time period in 2024, which the department characterized as a 1,347 percent increase.

DHS also reported a significant rise in vehicular-related incidents involving ICE personnel. Between January 21, 2025, and January 7, 2026, ICE officers experienced 66 vehicular attacks, compared to two during the same time span the previous year, an increase DHS calculated as 3,200 percent. In addition, DHS said it has recorded an 8,000 percent increase in death threats directed at ICE law enforcement officers, though the department did not specify the underlying totals in the release.

It is going to get a lot worse.

ICE is ramping up their “wartime recruitment” strategy so that they can conduct more operations in 2026, and the left hopes to mobilize millions of people to oppose them.

An internal revolution is brewing.

So many of the things that I have been warning my readers about for so many years are now happening right in front of our eyes.

This is not going to end well.

But most of you already knew that.

Michael’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

About the Author: Michael Snyder’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.  He has also written nine other books that are available on Amazon.com including “Chaos”, “End Times”, “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”.  When you purchase any of Michael’s books you help to support the work that he is doing.  You can also get his articles by email as soon as he publishes them by subscribing to his Substack newsletter.  Michael has published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and he always freely and happily allows others to republish those articles on their own websites.  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, we strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.

After months of submitting resumes and filling out applications, many unemployed Americans have given in to despair.  Dozens of large companies all over the nation have been conducting mass layoffs, and the competition for any good jobs that do happen to be available has become extremely intense.  But if you have not lost your source of income, things may still seem fairly normal to you and you may be wondering what all of the fuss is about.  That is why I am calling this “the musical chairs economy”.  If you have been able to hold on to a chair each time the music stops playing, that is a good thing.  But you should also realize that there are millions of Americans that have been forced out of the game and are absolutely desperate to get back in.

Earlier today, I came across a social media post from a discouraged job seeker that really tugged at my heart…

In recent months I have heard so many stories like this.

Very highly qualified individuals feel like they are banging their heads into a wall because they can’t find work no matter how hard they try.

One unemployed worker named Tim Rogers that has been out of work for five months feels like the job applications that he is constantly submitting are going straight “into the abyss”…

I got laid off five months ago. Every morning I drink a pot of coffee while I write cover letters, tweak my résumé, and submit job applications into the abyss, knowing they will likely never be seen by human eyes—only crawled by the cold, lifeless algorithms of an artificial intelligence. I feel like General Zod from Superman, floating off into space trapped inside a two-dimensional phantom zone, screaming in silence about my job qualifications and core competencies.

The job market is a mess. The old system is broken and a functioning replacement has yet to fully emerge. We’re stuck in the between years—a dystopian digital doomscape that has job seekers and hirers picking through a landfill of A.I.-generated garbage and longing for the halcyon days of an analog past.

Some people are firing off hundreds or even thousands of resumes without hearing anything at all.

It can be extremely depressing when you feel like you are trying as hard as you can but you aren’t getting anywhere.

One woman that was laid off by Oracle in November 2023 still hasn’t been able to find work after more than two years…

I started at Oracle in January 2020 as a site reliability engineer. In November 2023, I started hearing that my Oracle coworkers were getting pulled into Zoom meetings and told they had been laid off. I hoped I wouldn’t be next, but I was. My entire team was let go.

I didn’t start looking for work right away because I’d received some severance pay, and I’d heard it was difficult to land a tech role during the holiday season. I took some time to reassess what I wanted from my career and began my job search in February 2024.

I was optimistic at first because most of my prior job searches hadn’t taken too long. As the months dragged on, it became clear I had the wrong impression of the tech hiring landscape.

More than two years after being laid off, I’m still unemployed.

It is January 2026 now.

After being unemployed for so long, her value in the marketplace has declined dramatically.

In this environment, it is so helpful to have a personal contact that can help you land a position.

Because in so many cases, the resumes and applications that job seekers fire off to potential employers are not even looked at by human eyes…

You did everything they told you to do. You earned the credentials, spent hours on your resume and revised multiple cover letters. You worked side gigs, volunteered, learned new software and perfected your LinkedIn profile. Yet, you can’t get a callback for an interview.

It’s as if your application vanished into the abyss of a company database, and the “thank you for applying” emails are piling up. So-called entry-level jobs now need years of experience, and junior roles expect postgraduate degrees.

You are likely wondering what you’re missing, but it’s not you — it’s the system. Across the United States, Canada and United Kingdom, automation now does the screening before a human ever has a look. Companies say they can’t find talent, yet many have stopped training people.

Unfortunately, it appears that conditions will become even harsher during the months ahead because things are certainly trending in the wrong direction.

In November, the number of job postings in the United States was the lowest in 14 months, and it was also the second lowest in nearly five years…

The number of postings in November was the fewest since September 2024. But outside that month, it was the lowest in nearly five years.

Open jobs in November fell sharply in shipping and warehousing, restaurants and hotels, and in state and local government.

As the job market continues to dry up, it is going to have enormous implications for the economy.

Americans just don’t have as much discretionary income as they once did, and as a result large retailers are closing locations all across the country.

And with fewer potential buyers floating around, home prices are starting to fall…

Housing market anxiety is spreading — with 26 of the country’s 50 biggest metro areas now seeing home prices lower than they were a year ago.

For the first time in nearly three years, the median US listing price has also slipped below $400,000, a key psychological level that had held firm since the pandemic boom, according to Realtor.com.

It appears that our housing bubble is starting to burst.

Sadly, home prices are declining the fastest in some of the markets that were once the hottest…

Worst is Austin, TX, where prices have plunged 7.3 percent over the past year to $462,000, the biggest drop of any major metro.

The pain is spreading well beyond Texas. Prices are down 6.7 percent in San Diego, CA slipping to just under $900,000, while nearby San Jose has seen values fall 5.5 percent to $1.19 million.

Needless to say, what we are currently experiencing is just the beginning.

Many of the economic trends that made big news in 2025 will continue to accelerate in 2026.

So if you are out of work right now, I would grab whatever you can, because competition for jobs is only going to get even fiercer during the months ahead.

Michael’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

About the Author: Michael Snyder’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.  He has also written nine other books that are available on Amazon.com including “Chaos”, “End Times”, “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”.  When you purchase any of Michael’s books you help to support the work that he is doing.  You can also get his articles by email as soon as he publishes them by subscribing to his Substack newsletter.  Michael has published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and he always freely and happily allows others to republish those articles on their own websites.  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, we strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.

If we wanted to make Russian President Vladimir Putin and his minions extremely angry, we have certainly accomplished that task. When I learned that the U.S. had seized an oil tanker that was displaying a Russian flag and that was being protected by Russian warships, I was absolutely stunned. I have been relentlessly warning that being extremely aggressive with the Russians will backfire severely. If we truly want peace with the Russians, diplomacy is the only solution. Punching the Russians in the face won’t work, and if we continue to go down this path it could easily lead to the unthinkable.

For those that have not heard yet, the U.S. military just seized two more oil tankers.  One of them was a Russian-flagged vessel…

The United States has seized a Russian-flagged oil tanker in the North Atlantic following a dramatic weekslong chase on the high seas.

The operation to seize the sanctioned vessel, which changed its name from the Bella 1 to the Marinera after fleeing the American blockade of Venezuela last month, was carried out early Wednesday. The U.S. also announced the seizure of another sanctioned tanker, the M/T Sophia, which it said was “conducting illicit activities in the Caribbean Sea.”

The tanker that was formerly known as the Bella 1 had gotten permission from the Russians to register as a Russian vessel.

And the Russians had just dispatched Russian warships to escort it…

Russia has sent a submarine and other naval assets to escort an empty, rusting oil tanker that has become a new flashpoint in U.S.-Russia relations, according to a U.S. official.

The tanker, formerly known as the Bella 1, has been trying to evade the U.S. blockade of sanctioned oil tankers near Venezuela for more than two weeks. The vessel failed to dock in Venezuela and load with oil. Despite being empty, the U.S. Coast Guard has pursued the ship into the Atlantic in a bid to crack down on a fleet of tankers that ferry illicit oil around the world, including black-market oil sold by Russia.

Grabbing an oil tanker that was being protected by Russian warships was an insane thing to do.

And we did it even though the Russians specifically asked us to stop pursuing the tanker…

Russia has asked the U.S. to stop pursuing the vessel, according to three other U.S. officials. On Tuesday, the Russian Foreign Ministry said it was monitoring “with concern” the situation surrounding the tanker, according to state news agency RIA.

Needless to say, the Russians are furious.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry immediately released a statement that strongly denounced what the U.S. had just done…

In a statement, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said the ship is sailing in international waters under the Russian flag and is operating “in full compliance with international maritime law.” Moscow added that it expects Western nations to uphold that principle in practice.

This is a major turning point in our relations with Russia.

One member of Russia’s parliament is accusing the U.S. of “outright piracy”…

In response to the interceptions, Andrei Klishas, a member of the upper house of Russia’s parliament said the US actions were ‘outright piracy.’

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth put the world on notice by saying that the blockade of Venezuelan oil is in full effect, and said no ship is safe anywhere in the world.

The Russian Transport Ministry then responded by saying: ‘no state has the right to use force against vessels properly registered in other countries’ jurisdictions.’ It added that US forces boarded the Marinera at 3pm Moscow time, where communications were shortly lost with the vessel after.

And one of the most prominent voices inside Russia, Alexander Dugin, is warning that it is now time for “full fledged war with the West”…

Dugin is extremely influential.

I would not take his words lightly.

Even before this incident, there was zero chance that a peace deal with Russia was going to happen.

But now we are looking at a scenario in which direct conflict between the United States and Russia becomes quite probable.

We should be thankful that the Russian warships that were accompanying the seized oil tanker didn’t intervene.

We might not be so fortunate next time.

The fact that we are seizing oil tankers has also greatly angered the Chinese…

China is livid, and they’re not hiding it.

After Trump announced the U.S. will refine and sell up to 50 million barrels of Venezuelan oil previously frozen under sanctions, Beijing fired back, calling the move a blatant power grab and a direct hit on their interests.

Why? Because that oil wasn’t just sitting there, China had already paid for a big chunk of it, through loan-for-oil deals and state-backed agreements with Maduro’s regime.

China has been buying more oil from Venezuela than the rest of the world combined.

And the Chinese have lent tens of billions of dollars to the Venezuelans.

Is China just going to sit there and watch the U.S. take control of Venezuela and grab all the oil?

Apparently the U.S. is ordering Venezuela to cut off all ties with both Russia and China…

The US authorities demand that Venezuela should sever economic ties with Iran, China, Cuba and Russia as a condition for increasing oil production, ABC News television channel reported.

According to the US-based television broadcaster, Washington put forward several demands to the acting President of Venezuela, Delcy Rodriguez.

Firstly, the Bolivarian Republic will have to “expel China, Russia, Iran, Cuba and sever economic ties” with these countries.

Secondly, Caracas is required to agree to “exclusive cooperation with the United States in the field of oil production,” ABC News reported.

The Chinese have invested an enormous amount of money in the Venezuelan oil industry.

Today, Venezuela possesses the largest proven oil reserves in the entire world, and China needs that oil.

Most people don’t realize this, but China imports about 70 percent of the oil that it uses.

So losing all access to Venezuelan oil would be a tremendous blow.

How far will the U.S. be able to push China before the Chinese decide that enough is enough?

And how far with the U.S. be able to push Russia before the Russians decide that enough is enough?

Many Americans are cheering the fact that we are starting to aggressively push other countries around, but it is only a matter of time before they start pushing back.

Michael’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

About the Author: Michael Snyder’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.  He has also written nine other books that are available on Amazon.com including “Chaos”, “End Times”, “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”.  When you purchase any of Michael’s books you help to support the work that he is doing.  You can also get his articles by email as soon as he publishes them by subscribing to his Substack newsletter.  Michael has published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and he always freely and happily allows others to republish those articles on their own websites.  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, we strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.

The rules of the game have changed. At one time, western bankers could easily pull a few strings and keep the global price of silver within an acceptable range. But now financial centers in Asia are becoming more dominant, and supplies of physical silver are becoming extremely tight. As a result, western bankers are no longer able to exert the same level of control.

At the end of December, CME Group hiked margin requirements twice in a single week.

In the old days, that would have essentially been the equivalent of dropping an atomic bomb on the market.

Of course they were able to drive the price of paper silver back down to about $70 for a few days, but here we are on January 6th, and it is already back to the $80 mark.

That isn’t the result that they were hoping to achieve.

And the gap between the paper silver market and the physical silver market has become extremely alarming.

If you want to purchase an ounce of physical silver in the United States right now, it will cost you close to 90 dollars.

In some countries in Asia, an ounce of physical silver will cost you more than 100 dollars.

Financial institutions that have enormous short positions are freaking out, because they are facing catastrophic losses.

I think that this is going to be a huge story in the months ahead.

The bankers were probably assuming that they could crush this silver rally just like they crushed the rally in 1980.  But the big difference this time around is that global supplies of physical silver have become extremely tight…

Silver has closed 2025 as the best-performing asset after a historic 26% surge in December. Yet market participants warn that this rally is not a replay of the Hunt brothers’ blow‑off in 1980 or the QE panic in 2011.

Back then, with leverage removed, the price could fall back because the metal was available. Today, silver is in a persistent deficit, experiencing surging industrial demand and a tightening geopolitical grip on physical flows.

A silver rally in 2011 also got crushed, but we are in a totally different environment today and western vaults “are getting starved for physical metal”…

In 2011, ETF inflows and investment demand as a hedge against QE propelled the demand. Still, solar and industrial use were smaller, and above‑ground stocks and Western vaults could eventually meet demand once the panic cooled.

Today, these vaults are getting starved for physical metal. For years running, silver demand has outstripped mine supply and recycling, draining inventories. Industrial usage – especially solar, EVs, and electronics – has surged. The changing market dynamics have naturally shifted investment preferences.

Meanwhile, the Chinese have decided to substantially restrict silver exports, and that gives them a tremendous amount of power over the marketplace…

Meanwhile, China has not banned silver exports outright, but reclassified the metal as a strategic commodity. Thus, it controls the outflow through 44 licensed companies. Every outbound ton is now a political decision, not just a price response.

Everything is different now.

One analyst at Bank of America is actually projecting that the price of silver could go as high as $309 an ounce in 2026…

Michael Widmer, Head of Metals Research at Bank of America, stated in the report that gold will continue to serve as an important hedge and primary return driver. The bank forecasts that the average gold price will reach $4,538 per ounce in 2026, with potential to test the $5,000 milestone. Driving factors include tightening gold supply, rising production costs, and strong investment demand.

However, the report particularly emphasizes that silver’s upside potential far exceeds that of gold. Widmer pointed out that the current gold-to-silver ratio is approximately 59:1, while historical extreme lows were 32:1 in 2011 and 14:1 in 1980. A reversion of the ratio towards these historical lows implies that the silver price could surge to a range between $135 and $309 per ounce. This substantial potential appreciation makes silver highly attractive to investors willing to take on higher risk for extra upside.

If the price of silver even goes up to $100 an ounce this year, I think that it is going to create a tremendous amount of pressure on a lot of financial institutions.

The price of copper has also been skyrocketing in recent months.

It was up about 50% in 2025, and on Tuesday it hit yet another brand new record high…

Global copper prices hit an all-time high Tuesday, extending a run for both the industrial metal and its peers, as investors scrambled to secure supplies amid a surge in expected demand and uncertainty tied to tariffs and geopolitical risks.

In our high tech economy, copper is such a key commodity.

President Trump has been threatening to impose substantial tariffs on copper imports, and this is happening at a time when the AI data center construction boom is really ramping up…

Copper prices have powered more than 20% higher over the past two months, topping $13,000 a ton on the London Metal Exchange for the first time earlier this week, as supply disruptions increased the value of the key industrial metal and amid the threat of new levies from the Trump administration later this year.

President Donald Trump, according to reports, has been mulling tariffs of around 15% on all copper imports in 2027, with the levy increasing to 30% in 2028, just as demand tied to data-center construction, electric-vehicle production, and power grid projects accelerates. That has led to a surge in U.S.-based copper stockpiles as investors import the metal to avoid tariff charges and a resultant depletion of supplies in markets around the world.

Close to 3,000 new data centers are either being planned or are already under construction in the U.S. alone.

That is crazy.

Globally, it is being projected that data center construction will consume over half a million metric tons of copper each year by the end of this decade…

Data centers currently consume about 1.5% of global electricity supply, roughly the same amount as the entire U.K., according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). The organization believes that, by 2030, demand will more than double, with AI responsible for much of the increase. That means data centers could be consuming more than half a million metric tons of copper annually by the end of the decade.

As executive chairman of HIVE Digital Technologies, I’ve watched this transformation firsthand. The infrastructure needed to power this new digital economy—whether it’s Bitcoin mining, AI training or cloud computing—is staggering. And it all runs on copper.

As long as the AI boom continues, demand for copper will continue to rise.

Of course the construction of AI data centers consumes a lot of physical silver as well.

This is something that is outside of the control of western bankers.

They are still trying to pull the strings, but they simply do not possess the same level of power that they once did.

That is really bad news for them, but it is exceedingly good news for silver investors.

Michael’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

About the Author: Michael Snyder’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.  He has also written nine other books that are available on Amazon.com including “Chaos”, “End Times”, “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”.  When you purchase any of Michael’s books you help to support the work that he is doing.  You can also get his articles by email as soon as he publishes them by subscribing to his Substack newsletter.  Michael has published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and he always freely and happily allows others to republish those articles on their own websites.  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, we strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.

After years of heading in the wrong direction, nobody can deny that the United States is facing overwhelming problems.  So why don’t we focus on fixing those problems first?  The truth is that we can’t do everything because our resources are very limited.  U.S. households are more than 18 trillion dollars in debt, and the federal government is more than 38 trillion dollars in debt.  Even though we have literally stolen trillions upon trillions of dollars from future generations, our major cities are rapidly decaying, our infrastructure is crumbling, corruption is rampant, the middle class is shrinking, most of the population is struggling to even afford the basics each month, mass layoffs are happening all over the nation, our streets are teeming with hordes of drug addicts and homeless people, large numbers of Americans are selling images of themselves online just to make ends meet, and millions of others are living in their vehicles.

So why don’t we use what limited resources we have to fix our own problems?

If you don’t understand the point that I am trying to make, just go take a stroll through downtown Seattle.

The new mayor has decided that it will be her policy to allow people to openly do drugs in the streets…

Seattle’s new ultra-woke mayor has triggered chaos by ordering police not to arrest people doing drugs on the streets of the city plagued by crime and homelessness.

Democratic socialist Katie Wilson, 43, was sworn in as the city’s 58th mayor on Friday.

The progressive politician who co-founded the Transit Riders Union has already taken steps that concerned residents and law enforcement officials say will destroy Seattle.

The president of the Seattle Police Officers Guild, Mike Solan, is warning that this will make the lawlessness in the streets of Seattle even worse…

‘We’ve all seen how our streets can be filled with death, decay, blight and crime when ideology like this infects our city, Solan continued in his statement.

‘Now with this resurrected insane direction, death, destruction and more human suffering will be supercharged.’

Lawmakers and residents have reacted to this news in horror, as the city already has a raging homelessness epidemic that they believe this lax drug policy will only amplify.

Once upon a time, Seattle was one of the most beautiful cities on the entire planet.

So what in the world happened?

Of course it isn’t just Seattle that has been transformed into a crime-ridden, drug-infested hellhole.

All over the nation, chaos reigns in the streets of major American cities.

In fact, last night a “hammer-wielding maniac” destroyed a bunch of windows at the Cincinnati home of Vice President J.D. Vance…

A hammer-wielding maniac who smashed four windows at JD Vance’s Cincinnati home has been arrested by the Secret Service after an overnight break-in.

William DeFoor, 26, was charged early Monday morning with one count each of obstructing official business, criminal damaging or endangering, criminal trespass and vandalism.

Secret Service agents heard a loud noise at the home around midnight and spotted DeFoor running from the home, which is the secondary residence for Vance, his wife Usha and their three young children, who were out of town at the time.

Meanwhile, lawlessness also continues to run rampant in high places all over the country.

So what is being done about it?

After all this time, how many corrupt members of past administrations have been arrested and put in prison?

After all this time, how many corrupt corporate executives have been arrested and put in prison?

After all this time, how many of Jeffrey Epstein’s associates that also sexually abused young girls have been arrested and put in prison?

How can we tell the rest of the world how they should be doing things when we can’t even get our own house in order?

We have been getting hit by crisis after crisis, and economic conditions are steadily deteriorating.

In fact, we just learned that U.S. manufacturing activity has contracted for a 10th consecutive month…

US manufacturing activity contracted for a 10th straight month in December, a survey indicated Monday, pointing to a continued drag in sentiment from tariffs and trade policy uncertainty.

The Institute for Supply Management’s (ISM) manufacturing index fell to 47.9 from November’s 48.2 reading, the lowest of 2025 despite modest improvements in employment and some other categories.

Our artificially-inflated stock market continues to hover near record highs, but at the same time the number of large corporations that are going bankrupt just continues to rise…

Between January and November 2025, at least 717 companies filed for Chapter 7 or Chapter 11 bankruptcy, according to data from S&P reviewed by The Washington Post.

That marks a 14% jump compared to the same period in 2024, and the most filings seen since 2010, the tail end of the Great Recession.

According to the Daily Mail, we are also seeing a very alarming surge in bankruptcies among small businesses too…

A frightening recession indicator is flashing red — and Americans can see it all over Main Street.

Experts told the Daily Mail that a sudden surge in bankruptcies and store closures — hitting mom-and-pop shops, small restaurants, and local retailers — could be an early warning sign that the economy is starting to crack.

One expert that was interviewed by the Daily Mail is warning that this surge in bankruptcies is a clear indication that a recession is coming…

‘The little guys are going to start falling first,’ Joe Barsalona, a Delaware-based bankruptcy lawyer at Pashman Stein Walder Hayden, said.

‘A recession is coming. I agree with economists that the increase in small business bankruptcies is a canary in a coal mine.’

Of course many would argue that a recession is already here.

In recent months, I have written a lot about the mass layoffs that have been occurring all over the country.

Well, now Newsweek is reporting that over 100 companies have filed WARN notices for mass layoffs that will be taking place in January…

More than 100 companies have filed WARN notices indicating plans to lay off workers in January 2026, according to WARNTracker.com. The following companies have filed a notice.

I tried to warn my readers that a tsunami of layoffs was coming.

Now it is here.

The following is the full list of 119 companies that have filed WARN notices for this month…

AARP
AbbVie
Adams County Public Hospital
AeroFarms1526 Cane Creek
Amazon
Amentum
American Signature, Inc.
Apogee Architectural Metals
Archer Daniels Midland Company
Atkore Plastics Southeast
Augusta Sportswear, Inc.
Bechtel National Inc.
Best Dressed Chicken, Inc.
Blue Plate Oysterette LLC
Blue Shield of California
Bond 45 National Harbor Restaurant
Braga Fresh Foods, LLC
Building Materials Manufacturing LLC
BWW Law Group, LLC
Catalent, Maryland, Inc.
Charles River Laboratories
Clari Inc.
CNO Financial Group
Colonial Savings, F.A.
ColWyo Coal Company LP
CommUnify
Consolidated Hospitality Supplies
Corteva
CoStar Group
Couchbase, Inc.
CRST Expedited, Inc.
Dental Benefit Management, Inc.
Dillard’s Inc.
Dometic Corporation
DRT, LLC
DSV Air & Sea Inc.
enDevelopment Logistics, LLC
FedEx
FreshRealm
Fresno Economic Opportunities Commission
Galleher LLC
General Motors
Giesecke + Devrient ePayments America Inc
Gilead Sciences
Grand Lux Café, LLC
Great Floors
H&M Fashion USA, Inc.
HD Supply
Heibar Installations Inc.
Henkel Corporation
HRL Laboratories
Hudson
Huntington National Bank
Illumina
ImmunityBio
Inline Plastics
Institute of International Education
International Paper
Invincible Boat Company
Kloeckner Meals
Lakeshore Learning Materials, LLC
Louis Vuitton USA Inc.
Lumileds
Maritime Applied Physics Corporation
Marshalls of CA, LLC
Mattel
McDonald’s
MDWise
Meteorcomm LLC
Mettler-Toledo Rainin, LLC
Michigan Sugar Company
Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey
Nationstar Mortgage, LLC
NIKE Retail Services, Inc.
Nordstrom Portland Rack
Ojai Valley Inn
Palo Verde Hospital
Panasonic Well LLC
Peraton’s Environmental Integration Services III
Post Consumer Brands, LLC
Presbyterian Home for Central New York, Inc.
Providence Health & Services
Rad Power Bikes, Inc.
RATP Dev and Midtown Group
Raytheon Technologies
Rebel Restaurants, Inc.
Red Run Corporation T/A Food Depot
Regional Medical Center of Central Alabama
Retail Services WIS Corporation
Revity, Inc.
Roads Express, LLC
Saddle Creek Logistics Service
SC Industrial Holdings, LLC
SDH Education West, LLC
SDH Service East, LLC
Shell Recharge Solutions
SLO Brewing Co. LLC
Smokin Bear LLC
Smurfit Westrock
Sodexo
Spirit Airlines, LLC.
Synopsys, Inc.
Takeda Development Center Americas Inc.
Terzo Enterprises Incorporated
The Cheesecake Factory
The French Gourmet, Inc.
The Taubman Company
TJX Companies, Inc.
TransAlta
United Supermarkets
Van Law Food Products, Inc.
Verizon
Virginia Mason Franciscan
Warner Music Group
Wells Fargo
West Fraser, Inc.
White Coffee Corporation
WIS International
WWL Vehicle Services America, Inc.

That is quite a long list, isn’t it?

The American people are not stupid.

They can see what is happening, and one recent survey found that 52 percent of U.S. adults actually believe that a recession has already started…

According to the ARG data, 52% of Americans believe the economy is already in a recession, and 64% say it’s getting worse.

These numbers suggest that many Americans are feeling the squeeze, even if official metrics don’t yet reflect a recession.

Only 11% think the economy is improving. Just 22% rate it as excellent, very good, or good, while 73% call it bad, very bad, or terrible, showing a clear gap between public sentiment and political narratives about economic strength.

Looking ahead, 60% believe the national economy will be worse a year from now, and just 16% say it will be better.

Yes, things are certainly bad now.

But they are not even worth comparing to what is further down the road.

So why don’t we use our limited resources to address the historic challenges that we are facing in our own nation?

If we love this country, we should try to fix it.

Michael’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

About the Author: Michael Snyder’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.  He has also written nine other books that are available on Amazon.com including “Chaos”, “End Times”, “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”.  When you purchase any of Michael’s books you help to support the work that he is doing.  You can also get his articles by email as soon as he publishes them by subscribing to his Substack newsletter.  Michael has published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and he always freely and happily allows others to republish those articles on their own websites.  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, we strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.

The dramatic events that just occurred in Venezuela have shocked the entire world.  But almost everyone is missing the bigger picture.  A very tense geopolitical game of chess is playing out right in front of our eyes, and the stakes are incredibly high.  The Trump administration would love to push the Chinese and the Russians out of the western hemisphere, and setting up a new western-friendly government in Venezuela would be a huge step in that direction.  Most people do not realize this, but Venezuela actually has more proven oil reserves than anyone else on the entire planet, and that includes Saudi Arabia.  President Trump and his team are gambling that the Chinese and the Russians will stand down and allow them to do whatever they want with Venezuela.  But what if they don’t?  The Chinese and the Russians have both spent decades developing very deep ties with Venezuela, and now they are both absolutely furious.

Over the past two decades, the Russians have sold the Venezuelans approximately 20 billion dollars worth of military equipment, and they just signed a major strategic partnership agreement on May 7th.

The Chinese have lent the Venezuelans approximately 60 billion dollars over the last couple of decades, and China has been purchasing more oil from Venezuela than the rest of the world combined.

An emergency session of the UN Security Council has been called for Monday, and I am sure that the Russians and the Chinese are both going to have plenty to say…

The United Nations Security Council is due to meet on Monday after the US attacked Venezuela and deposed its long-serving autocratic President Nicolas Maduro, a move that UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres views as setting “a dangerous precedent.”

Colombia, backed by Russia and China, requested the meeting of the 15-member council, diplomats say. The UN Security Council has met twice — in October and December — over the escalating tensions between the United States and Venezuela.

Venezuela had essentially become a full-blown economic colony of China, and it took a great deal of time for the Chinese to accomplish that.

So if you look at things from a Chinese point of view, it is easy to understand why they are so upset.

A foreign ministry spokesperson has announced that China “strongly condemns” what the U.S. has just done…

China said it’s “deeply shocked” by the US’s military strikes on Venezuela and its capture of President Nicolas Maduro.

China “strongly condemns the US’s blatant use of force against a sovereign state and action against its president,” a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said in a statement late Saturday. “Such hegemonic acts of the US seriously violate international law and Venezuela’s sovereignty, and threaten peace and security in Latin America and the Caribbean region. China firmly opposes it.”

And the Chinese are also demanding that Nicolas Maduro and his wife be released immediately…

Beijing’s stinging rebuke expressed “serious concern over their transfer out of the country”.

It claimed the military operation was “in clear violation of international law and the basic norms in international relations and the purposes and principles of the UN Charter”, adding: “China calls on the US to ensure the personal safety of President Maduro and his wife, release them at once, stop toppling the Government of Venezuela, and resolve issues through dialogue and negotiation.”

Of course that isn’t going to happen.

Now that President Trump has Maduro, he is never going to let him go.

What makes all of this even more embarrassing for China is that a Chinese delegation actually met with Maduro just hours before he was grabbed by U.S. forces…

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro received a Chinese government representative at the presidential palace in Caracas on Friday, hours before US President Donald Trump claimed Maduro had been captured following American military strikes.

Maduro met Qiu Xiaoqi, special representative of the Chinese government on Latin American affairs, at the Miraflores Palace.

“I had a pleasant meeting with Qiu Xiaoqi, Special Envoy of President Xi Jinping,” Maduro said on Telegram. “We reaffirmed our commitment to the strategic relationship that is progressing and strengthening in various areas for building a multipolar world of development and peace.”

Can you imagine how we would feel if the roles were reversed?

To the Chinese, Venezuela is not just another country.

It was supposed to provide large amounts of oil for China’s growing economy for decades to come, and the Venezuelans currently owe the Chinese tens of billions of dollars…

Venezuelan oil takes an unconventional route to end-users in China. Transport typically takes more than two months and involves multiple ship-to-ship transfers to mask the origin of the cargo. Close to half of the tankers storing Merey are sitting in waters off China and Southeast Asia, according to ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg.

Meanwhile, public data supports estimates that Beijing lent upwards of $60 billion in oil-backed loans to Venezuela through state-run banks until 2015, reaching a level of diplomatic and financial investment unmatched elsewhere in Latin America and perhaps the world.

By making a move to take control of Venezuela, we have essentially punched the Chinese in the face.

Our relationship with China will never be the same after this.

For years, experts have been talking about a coming war with China, and the U.S. military is actually “working around the clock” to prepare for such a conflict…

Across sleepy and remote islands in the Pacific, U.S. military engineers are working around the clock to revive strategically important airstrips that American troops first built under fire over 70 years ago during World War II.

The reconstruction effort is being led by a designated office within the U.S. Air Force, whose Agile Combat Employment, or ACE, doctrine has identified dozens of airfields that will be used to house and launch fighter jets, aerial refuelling tankers and weapons during a war with China. A trilateral force of the Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force is now converging with a single goal in mind: re-establish a presence on the airfields once used to deliver decisive combat power for the United States during the last great power war.

The Russians are also extremely upset about what has just transpired in Venezuela.

In fact, Russia’s Foreign Ministry says that what we just witnessed “warrants condemnation”…

The US committed an act of armed aggression against Venezuela, which gives rise to deep concern & warrants condemnation.

The pretexts used to justify these actions are untenable.

Russia reaffirms its solidarity with the Venezuelan people.

And Russia’s Foreign Ministry is also calling for the immediate release of “the lawfully elected president of a sovereign country and his wife”…

Russia’s Foreign Ministry on Saturday called for the release of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife from U.S. custody after President Donald Trump announced that they were captured during military strikes on the capital city of Caracas.

“We firmly call on the U.S. leadership to reconsider this position and release the lawfully elected president of a sovereign country and his wife,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement, stressing the need to resolve the dramatic confrontation through diplomacy.

In a separate message, the ministry said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke by phone to Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez Gomez, during which he expressed his “solidarity with the Venezuelan people in the face of armed aggression.”

After what we just witnessed, how are the Russians supposed to trust any promises that we are making about Ukraine?

I just don’t see any possible way that there is going to be lasting peace with Russia now.

I think that the “peace plan” that the Ukrainians and the Europeans have been working on will eventually be presented to the Russians, and the Russians will immediately reject it because it is filled with provisions that the Russians could never possibly accept.

Once the Russians have rejected the “peace plan”, we will be told that there is no choice but to escalate the conflict in Ukraine.

Needless to say, that will put us in very dangerous territory.

As for Venezuela, there is a possibility that the U.S. Senate could step in next week and prevent President Trump and his team from taking any further military action…

The Senate will vote next week on a bipartisan war powers resolution to block President Trump from continuing military action against Venezuela — a vote that takes on heightened importance after U.S. forces attacked the South American nation and arrested President Nicolás Maduro early Saturday.

The resolution to block the administration from engaging in further hostilities against Venezuela is privileged, which means Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) cannot stop it from coming to the floor.

The measure is sponsored by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) and Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.).

It will be very interesting to see how that vote goes.

Several Republicans will need to back that resolution in order for it to pass.

Of course President Trump will be extremely displeased with any Republicans that choose to do so.

But even if this resolution passes, the U.S. has still crossed a line that will never be able to be uncrossed.

We have reached the part of the story that will eventually lead to war with both Russia and China, and that should deeply alarm all of us.

Michael’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

About the Author: Michael Snyder’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.  He has also written nine other books that are available on Amazon.com including “Chaos”, “End Times”, “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”.  When you purchase any of Michael’s books you help to support the work that he is doing.  You can also get his articles by email as soon as he publishes them by subscribing to his Substack newsletter.  Michael has published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and he always freely and happily allows others to republish those articles on their own websites.  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, we strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.

Are we on the brink of a worldwide nightmare? Many have described what we are currently experiencing as a “perfect storm”. We have been getting hit with one crisis after another as global events have greatly accelerated in recent months. But now it feels like the next chapter that we are entering is going to take things to an entirely different level.

On New Year’s Eve, something very unexpected happened at our most important landmark in the middle of the country.  You will want to read all the way to the end of this article to see what I am talking about.  This year is already off to a very unusual start, and I fully expect a lot more craziness in the months ahead.  The following are 10 very important trends to watch as we enter 2026…

#1 The Price Of Silver

The price of silver is telling us that there is big trouble under the surface of the global financial system.  Even though there was a dramatic attempt to suppress the price of silver this week, it was still up about 140 percent in 2025.

And the difference between the price of paper silver and the prices that physical silver is going for around the world has become extremely alarming…

Silver at $130 in Japan, $106 in Kuwait, $97 in Korea, and “$71” on Western screens is not a market; it is a confession. The numbers read like a crime scene diagram: in the real world where bars change hands and coins disappear into safes, silver has quietly migrated into triple‑digit pricing, while the supposed “global benchmark” in New York and London is still stuck in a fantasyland of leveraged promises.​

In Tokyo shops and Japanese bullion counters, you are not buying silver in the 70s; you are paying the equivalent of $120–130 an ounce because that is what it costs to replace inventory once you factor in tight wholesale supply, shipping, insurance, currency chaos, and the growing sense that the next shipment might not show up on time, or at all. Kuwait tells the same story in a different language: retail bars priced around $100+ an ounce are not a fat merchant’s greed; they are the market’s answer to a simple question—what will it really take to pry physical metal out of the pipeline in a world where everyone suddenly wants the same scarce asset at the same time.​

#2 The Affordability Crisis

In 2025, I wrote about the affordability crisis in the United States a lot.

Sadly, at this stage approximately two-thirds of the entire U.S. population is struggling to even pay for the basics…

About 7 in 10 Americans polled by CBS News in December said they were struggling to pay for food, housing and health care, underscoring the affordability issues affecting millions of households.

#3 Israel And Iran

This is a big one.

Once Israel and Iran start fighting again, global events will go into overdrive.

Apparently a new round of airstrikes on Iran was discussed during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s meeting with President Trump on Monday, and I am convinced that it won’t be too long before those airstrikes actually begin…

On Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago, during which the two leaders discussed efforts by Iran to reconstitute its nuclear program following the Israeli and American airstrikes in June, and to expand its ballistic missile arsenal.

During the meeting, Netanyahu shared with Trump details regarding Israel’s planning for a possible follow-up air campaign against Iran, should Tehran continue to refuse to halt its efforts to enrich uranium.

According to a US official and two other American sources, Israel is considering airstrikes in 2026.

#4 The War In Ukraine

Russian forces are steadily moving forward on the eastern and southern fronts in Ukraine, and so the Russians will not be inclined to give the Ukrainians and our European allies what they are demanding…

• Russian President Vladimir Putin inspected a command post of the Russian Armed Forces
• Putin received reports from Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov and the commanders of Russia’s Center and East groupings of forces.
• Russian commanders told Putin that their army has captured the cities of Mirnohrad, Rodynske, and Artemivka in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, as well as Huliaipole and Steponohirsk in the Zaporizhzhia region.

#5 Europe Preparing For War

Russia has made it very clear that it does not intend to attack any other European countries.

But for some reason, the Europeans are feverishly preparing for war anyway.

In fact, Germany is now requiring all 18-year-old males to complete a compulsory survey about military service…

Germany is stepping up preparations for war – starting with its teenage boys.

From this week, every German male will be legally required to answer questions from the army the moment he turns 18, as part of a sweeping new military service scheme approved amid mounting fears of a major conflict in Europe.

Tens of thousands of teenagers will be sent a compulsory 14-question survey by the Bundeswehr, asking not only how interested they are in joining the military, but how fit they are to fight and how quickly they could be ready for service.

Ignoring the form is not an option. Young men who refuse to complete the questionnaire – or repeatedly ignore follow-up demands from the army – face fines of up to €1,000 (£800), even though ministers insist the scheme falls short of full conscription.

#6 Venezuela

The Trump administration has been bombing drug boats, seizing oil tankers and threatening the regime of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

This could put the U.S. on a collision course with China.

China does not intend to stop buying oil from Venezuela.  If the U.S. starts seizing Chinese oil tankers that approach Venezuela, that could cause a major international incident.  According to Newsweek, there are two Chinese oil tankers that are expected to arrive in Venezuela very soon…

Chinese oil tankers are pressing ahead with Venezuela-linked voyages despite a U.S. blockade and an escalating campaign of tanker seizures.

Two Chinese-flagged VLCCs are operating near Venezuelan waters, with the Thousand Sunny due to arrive in mid-January and the Xing Ye waiting off French Guiana, according to a new report by Lloyd’s List.

Newsweek has reached out to the U.S. State Department for comment.

#7 Taiwan

The Chinese just concluded military exercises that practiced what a full-blown blockade of Taiwan would look like.

At this stage, tensions between China and Taiwan are higher “than at any point in recent years”…

As 2025 ends, tensions between China and Taiwan are higher — and more overt — than at any point in recent years, fueled by expanded U.S. military support for Taipei, increasingly bold warnings from regional allies, and Chinese military drills that look less like symbolism and more like rehearsal.

Beijing has spent the year steadily increasing pressure on Taiwan through large-scale military exercises, air and naval incursions, and pointed political messaging, while Washington and its allies have responded with sharper deterrence signals that China now openly labels as interference.

#8 Pestilences

The bird flu continues to kill millions of birds all over the globe, various strains of mpox continue to circulate, and the pestilence that erupted in 2020 is still making people sick throughout the world.  Meanwhile, some U.S. states are seeing a historic spike in flu cases…

The ‘super flu’ is exploding across the US, with some states seeing more cases than ever before.

The latest CDC data for the week ending December 20 shows positive flu tests are up 53 percent compared to the week prior. Positive tests are up nearly 75 percent from this time last year.

During the week ending December 20, the number of people hospitalized surged 51 percent, and the number already in hospital has nearly doubled compared to the same period last year.

It is just a matter of time before the next great global pandemic arrives, and scientists are warning us that it could come from a multitude of potential directions…

Scientists continue to discover viruses with worrisome characteristics (Chen et al. 2025). Some experts worry about the potential for a leak from pathogen research labs (Palacios, Garcia-Sastre, and Relman 2025), or AI’s ability, in the wrong hands, to help with the creation of a bioweapon (Tjandra 2025). Out in the open, H5N1 avian influenza continues to spread and infect a wide range of animal species—the virus perhaps just a mutation away from becoming a human threat (Lin et al. 2024). Another pathogen, most likely an influenza or another coronavirus is waiting to break out.

#9 Seismic Activity Along The Pacific Ring Of Fire

Seismic activity along the Pacific Ring of Fire increased dramatically in 2025.

And as we enter 2026, the state of California is being shaken by significant earthquakes on an almost daily basis.

In fact, we just witnessed a magnitude 4.9 quake that really shook a lot of people up…

A magnitude 4.9 earthquake was recorded near the town of Susanville in Lassen County on Tuesday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The quake was centered around nine miles northwest of Susanville at 9:49 p.m. It was downgraded from an initial magnitude of 5.3.

#10 The Greatest Global Food Crisis In Modern History

We are in the midst of the greatest global food crisis in modern history.

But don’t just take my word for it.

The following comes from the official website of the UN’s World Food program…

Yes. Right now, there is a global food crisis – the largest one in modern history. Since the United Nations World Food Program’s (WFP) creation in 1963, never has hunger reached such devastating highs. From the eruption of new conflicts and the escalating impacts of the climate crisis to soaring food and fuel costs, millions of people are being driven closer to starvation each day.

Nearly 350 million people around the world are experiencing the most extreme forms of hunger right now. Of those, nearly 49 million people are on the brink of famine. Behind these massive statistics are individual children, women and men suffering from the dire effects of such severe hunger. Malnourished mothers give birth to malnourished babies, passing hunger from one generation to the next. Children’s physical and cognitive growth is stunted. Farmers are unable to grow enough food to provide for their families and communities. Entire towns are forced to leave their homes in search of food.

We really are living in apocalyptic times.

Sadly, many in the western world don’t seem to understand this since we don’t have war or famine on our own soil.

But for those that are watching carefully, it is exceedingly clear that we have arrived at a truly unique chapter in human history.

So many incredibly strange things are occurring all around us.

On New Year’s Eve, a green meteor dramatically flew past the most important landmark in the center of the United States…

A shimmering meteor was spotted cutting across the sky over the famed Gateway Arch in Missouri hours before revelers rushed to a New Year’s Eve celebration at the monument’s base.

“HEY LOOK, it’s… A meteor saying hi to the Gateway Arch on New Year’s Eve!” The St. Louis Gateway Arch’s X account wrote in a post shared with the breathtaking video.

In the six-second clip, a small white speck appears over one end of the arch. It grows into a green blaze that pulses once before disappearing back into the dark obscurity provided by the predawn sky — right as it reaches the arch’s peak.

The viral video was captured on an Earth Cam situated at Malcolm Martin Memorial Park in east St. Louis. The camera is angled directly towards the city’s skyline all day, every day.

That is something that you don’t see every day.

Of course so many weird things have been happening in the heavens over the last couple of years, and most of the population simply doesn’t care.

Most of us have an unbreakable addiction to entertainment at this point, and getting people to focus on anything other than entertainment is becoming exceedingly difficult.

Most people are just going to continue to stare at their screens as the world falls apart all around them, and that is extremely unfortunate.

Michael’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

About the Author: Michael Snyder’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.  He has also written nine other books that are available on Amazon.com including “Chaos”, “End Times”, “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”.  When you purchase any of Michael’s books you help to support the work that he is doing.  You can also get his articles by email as soon as he publishes them by subscribing to his Substack newsletter.  Michael has published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and he always freely and happily allows others to republish those articles on their own websites.  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, we strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.

They aren’t even trying to pretend to hide what they are doing.  Everyone knows that the meteoric rise in the price of silver in 2025 has put an immense amount of stress on certain financial institutions.  Of course nobody is publicly confirming how much damage has been done, but it must be pretty severe if CME Group is taking such extreme measures to force the price of silver down.  For the second time in less than a week, CME Group has abruptly raised margin requirements on precious metals futures…

Gold and silver prices lost ground on Wednesday as investors booked profits after a historic annual rally and exchange operator CME Group hiked the margins on precious metal futures for the second time in the space of a week.

They probably thought that it was best to pull a stunt like this during the holidays while less people are paying attention.

A statement was released by CME Group which said that this latest move to hike margin requirements was done “to ensure adequate collateral coverage”…

CME Group, one of the world’s largest trading floors for commodities, said Tuesday that margins for gold, silver, platinum and palladium would increase again after the close of business Wednesday.

It said in a statement that the decision was made “as per the normal review of market volatility to ensure adequate collateral coverage.”

Give me a break.

We all know why this was done.

What we are witnessing is literally a conspiracy to force the price of silver down.

They knew that when they suddenly increased margin requirements, it would create a squeeze and force precious metals prices lower…

One reason behind recent declines in silver, including the stark fall on Wednesday, is changes to trading rules implemented by exchange operator CME Group, which hosts widely traded silver futures contracts.

Traders operating in CME’s derivatives market must put down cash to support their trades, with the exact amount or margin required varying. Amid volatile trading, the CME raised margin requirements effective Monday for precious metals including silver, and announced that margin requirements would rise again after Wednesday.

If traders cannot put up more cash, their positions are often forcibly closed, or sold, typically at unfavorable prices. This can cause a wave of selling that pushes prices down further, taking some of the shine out of silver—for now.

I am so disgusted by this.

The first margin hike didn’t get the results that they wanted, and so they did it again.

Shame on them.

We are supposed to be at least pretending that we have some semblance of a free market system left.

But even after this desperate attempt to stop the bleeding, the price of silver is still up more than 140 percent in 2025…

Even after sharp declines on Wednesday, silver prices have gained more than 140% this year and remain relatively close to all-time highs above $82 reached on Sunday.

And most analysts are still projecting that the price of silver will continue to rise in 2026 because the fundamentals for silver are exceedingly favorable…

Yet there are also fundamentals behind silver’s remarkable rally this year.

The precious metal, like gold—up almost two-thirds in 2025 to record levels—is considered a store of value and a hedge against the dollar, which weakened this year amid falling U.S. interest rates.

Silver also benefits from industrial demand typical of the current moment, including uses in solar panels, electric vehicles, and data centers powering artificial intelligence.

If the AI boom were to burst, that could change the outlook for silver.

But right now the AI revolution is steaming ahead.

And the U.S. dollar is probably going to continue to get even weaker in 2026.

In 2025, the U.S. dollar index has fallen by nearly 10 percent…

The dollar continues to face a challenging backdrop in 2026 following this year’s sharp depreciation, Charles Stanley’s Abbas Owainati says in a note. The dollar’s fall this year reflects concerns over long-term fiscal sustainability, an erosion of the currency’s safe haven status amid unpredictable policy, increased currency hedging by non-U.S. investors and changes in capital flows. The dollar could stay under pressure next year as the Federal Reserve is expected to cut interest rates further, he says. A weaker dollar could support emerging markets equities by easing external debt burdens, improving capital flows and boosting local currency returns, he says. The DXY dollar index trades flat at 98.008. It has fallen nearly 10% in the year to date.

The Trump administration doesn’t mind that the dollar has been getting weaker because it makes our exports more appealing to the rest of the world.

But when the U.S. dollar gets weaker, our purchasing power goes down.

A weaker dollar is one of the primary reasons why we find ourselves in an affordability crisis that never seems to end.

So if the U.S. dollar continues to lose value next year that will not be good news for millions of deeply struggling American households, but it will be great news for silver investors.

In addition, Martin Armstrong says that there are a number of geopolitical factors that will help move the price of silver higher during the months ahead…

When it comes to metal, Armstrong says, “People who know war and crisis are coming are buying metals. . .. We have creative destruction. You have AI coming in and you have unemployment rising and you have GDP rising. . .. You have shortages in commodities on top of this. . .. Then you have geopolitical nonsense. Anthony Blinken (Secretary of State in the Biden Administration) put sanctions on Russia. Look at the metals. What did it do? It cut off the supply of gold, silver and platinum coming out of Russia. Now, you have China putting in a ban on exporting silver as of January 1, 2026. This is rather important. China controls about 60% of the supply of silver. . .. This is one of the reasons why silver jumped up dramatically. This is a perfect storm. On top of all this, NATO is there only for war. That is it. . .. Socrates is still saying Europe will lose badly in a war with Russia.”

Armstrong sees a bull market for gold, silver and other metals for years ahead. One big reason is shortages in the metals. Armstrong says, “I don’t see these shortages going away. The bull market is more likely to go into 2032. It will be volatile, and then you’ve got war coming. Once you get into war, prices are going to go up even more. It’s all a mess. This is a perfect storm.”

Yes, we certainly are facing “a perfect storm”, and I am entirely convinced that the year in front of us is going to be absolutely nuts.

In the short-term, there will be plenty of opportunities for savvy investors to capitalize on all of the global chaos that we are witnessing.

Some people will make a lot of money, and of course others will lose a lot of money.

But in the end, the entire system is going to come crashing down all around us.

Michael’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

About the Author: Michael Snyder’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.  He has also written nine other books that are available on Amazon.com including “Chaos”, “End Times”, “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”.  When you purchase any of Michael’s books you help to support the work that he is doing.  You can also get his articles by email as soon as he publishes them by subscribing to his Substack newsletter.  Michael has published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and he always freely and happily allows others to republish those articles on their own websites.  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, we strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.