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If we are going to have a war with Russia, perhaps we should determine if our military is actually prepared to fight such a war first.  Unfortunately, as I will detail below, the answer is very clear.  At one time, the U.S. possessed the greatest fighting machine ever assembled, but decades of neglect, incompetence and cultural deterioration have taken a devastating toll.  Just look at what happened in Afghanistan.  After nearly two decades of fighting, we couldn’t even defeat a ragged bunch of drug dealers and goat herders known as the Taliban.  In fact, the Taliban appears to be even stronger today than when we first invaded.  And now we think that we can take on the Russian military?

Sadly, the truth is that we aren’t ready for any sort of a major conflict at this stage.  Earlier this week, I came across an article that explained that only about 7 out of every 10 Air Force planes is even capable of flying right now…

The latest numbers show that the Air Force has made no progress in improving the readiness of its planes with a rate of 71.5% or 7 out of 10 planes in 2021.

The United States Air  Force is supposed to have mission capable rates of 75% to 80%, but about the only aircraft that meet that criteria are the unmanned drones. The high ratings of the drones disguise the fact that the actual numbers, when broken down by aircraft, are worse.

The F-35As, the fifth generation fighters that would be crucial in countering any sizable aerial engagement with Communist China, dropped catastrophically from 76% to 68.8%.

We are supposed to be the most technologically advanced military on the planet.

That is terrible.

And when members of the U.S. Army were asked if their units were ready to fight, the survey results were depressingly low…

In a survey of more than 5,400 soldiers and civilians of different ranks conducted by the U.S. Army in July and August 2020, 14 percent of respondents said their unit would be ready to deploy, fight, and win anywhere in the world immediately. Some 13 percent of those surveyed said they would need more time, while 3 percent said they would be ready to go in a week, and 4 percent in a month.

How can things possibly be this bad?

Our military has one job.  They are supposed to be ready to fight when we call on them.

So precisely how are they spending their time if they have not been using it to do that one job?

The U.S. Navy is not in great shape either.

Right now, our Navy consists of only 296 vessels…

In FY 2022, fleet size stays about the same, at 296 ships. Previously ordered ships arrive in large numbers, but the Navy retires 15 ships, 10 early. Navy active-duty personnel decrease by 1,600 to 346,200.

296 ships may sound like a lot, but for a superpower like the United States it is actually a pathetically low number.

In fact, the number of ships in our fleet has almost been cut in half since Ronald Reagan’s second term in office...

The 600-ship Navy was a strategic plan of the United States Navy during the 1980s to rebuild its fleet after cutbacks that followed the end of the Vietnam War.^[1] The plan, which originated with Republican leaders, was an important campaign plank of Ronald Reagan in the 1980 presidential election, who advocated a larger military and strategic confrontation with the Soviet Union.^[2][3]

The actual number of ships peaked at 594 in 1987, before declining sharply after the end of the Cold War in 1989–1991.^[4]

Looking forward to the future, things look even more grim.

At this point, over 70 percent of young Americans are automatically disqualified from military service for one reason or another…

More than 70% of young Americans remain unable to join the military due to obesity, education problems, or crime and drug records. Turning that around should be an issue of national importance, said Rear Adm. Dennis Velez, the head of Navy Recruiting Command.

“It is something that, as a nation, we should continue to work though … to make sure our children are healthier,” he said.

If that doesn’t alarm you, it should.

And thanks to the soft and comfortable lifestyles that our young people enjoy today, those that make it through the recruitment process are more physically fragile than ever before…

According to a U.S. Army major, America’s youth are living a sedentary life that makes them fragile, prone to injury, and harder to successfully and easily transition from civilian life to the military. The news comes from an official press release posted on the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service, a hub of official pictures, videos, and news published by the Pentagon

When one military official was asked about this, he stated that this generation actually has weak skeletons which “break more easily”…

When asked about the youth of today, Maj. Thibodeau was straightforward. “The ‘Nintendo Generation’ soldier skeleton is not toughened by activity prior to arrival, so some of them break more easily,” he said.

Capt. Lydia Blondin, assistant chief of physical therapy at Leonard Wood Army Community Hospital, detailed the kind of injuries she’s seen in the so-called Nintendo Generation. “We see injuries ranging from acute fractures and falls, to tears in the ACL, to muscle strains and stress fractures, with the overwhelming majority of injuries related to overuse,” she said.

Wow.

But at least our military is extremely good at making diversity videos…

After seeing how “inclusive” we are, I am sure that the Russians must be shaking in their boots.

Sending our sons and daughters off to die in a war on the other side of the globe is not something that should ever be done lightly.

And a war with another superpower is something that we should try very hard to avoid even if our military was in top shape.

Unfortunately, our military is nowhere near ready for such a conflict at this point, and our leaders should be honest with the American people about this.

But of course most of the population is going to continue to assume that the U.S. military is still the mighty fighting force that it once was, but that hasn’t been true for a very long time.

***It is finally here! Michael’s new book entitled “7 Year Apocalypse” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.***

About the Author: My name is Michael Snyder and my brand new book entitled “7 Year Apocalypse” is now available on Amazon.com.  In addition to my new book I have written five other books that are available on Amazon.com including  “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, “Get Prepared Now”, 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 digital copies as gifts through Amazon 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 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 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 ask Jesus to be your Lord and Savior today.

Now we are being told that we are all going to “have costs” for the crisis in Ukraine.  More specifically, the global energy crisis just took a dramatic turn for the worse, and so that means that all of us will soon be hit by dramatically higher energy prices.  It is going to be much more expensive to fill up your vehicle, it is going to be much more expensive to heat your home, and increasing costs to transport the goods that we buy will make the overall rate of inflation even worse.  Up to this point, a large chunk of the U.S. population really didn’t have much interest in following the conflict in Ukraine, but now it is going to have a huge impact on every single one of us.

In response to the Russians moving forces into Donetsk and Luhansk on Monday, the Germans decided on Tuesday to put the Nord Stream 2 pipeline on hold indefinitely…

Germany on Tuesday halted the Nord Stream 2 Baltic Sea gas pipeline project, designed to double the flow of Russian gas direct to Germany, after Russia formally recognised two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine.

Europe’s most divisive energy project, worth $11 billion, was finished in September, but has stood idle pending certification by Germany and the European Union.

Will this hurt Russia?

Of course it will.

But it is also going to hurt Europe.  Following Germany’s announcement, the price of natural gas in Europe shot up by about 10 percent…

But on Tuesday the European benchmark gas price, currently the Dutch March contract, was up 9.8% at 78.95 euros per megawatt hour (MWh) at 1607 GMT, much like the price for the fourth quarter, when Nord Stream 2 had been expected to start.

And this is likely just the beginning of another natural gas price shock in Europe.  Dmitry Medvedev is warning that Europeans “are very soon going to pay €2.000 for 1.000 cubic meters of natural gas”…

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has issued an order to halt the process of certifying the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. Well. Welcome to the brave new world where Europeans are very soon going to pay €2.000 for 1.000 cubic meters of natural gas!

If the price of natural gas actually gets that high, it will be completely and utterly devastating for Europe.

The Europeans never should have allowed themselves to become so dependent on natural gas from Russia, and now a tremendous amount of pain is ahead.

Meanwhile, the price of crude oil surged once again on Tuesday and has now almost reached 100 dollars a barrel…

U.S. crude surged more than 3% at one point to a high of $96. The contract ended the session 1.4% higher at $92.35 per barrel. Brent traded as high as $99.50, before settling at $96.84 per barrel for a gain of 1.52%.

It won’t be too long before the global price of oil goes well beyond the $100 per barrel threshold.

Needless to say, that won’t be good for the global economy at all.

On Tuesday, JPMorgan specifically warned about what an “energy price shock” could mean…

As oil rapidly approaches $100 a barrel, JPMorgan warned Tuesday that a spike in energy prices and other ripple effects from the Russia-Ukraine crisis could hurt both the stock market and the economic recovery.

“An energy price shock amidst an aggressive central bank pivot focused on inflation could further dampen investor sentiment and growth outlook,” JPMorgan strategists wrote in a note to clients.

But Joe Biden says that all of the bad things that are about to happen are necessary because we are “defending freedom”…

“Defending freedom will have costs, for us as well, and here at home,” he said during a speech at the White House. “We need to be honest about that.”

The president specifically warned of higher gas prices as a result of the sanctions but promised he would use “every tool” possible to reduce gas and energy prices.

“I want to limit the pain the American people are feeling at the gas pump,” he said.

Of course higher energy prices won’t cause much pain for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris because they are both multi-millionaires.

What Biden should have admitted is that you will be paying the price for his administration’s horrific foreign policy decisions.

On Tuesday, it was being reported that the price of gasoline in downtown Los Angeles has already risen above six dollars a gallon…

Fuel customers in California were in for a shock this week as gas prices at the pump hit upwards of $6 in downtown Los Angeles.

In a report by Bakersfield ABC affiliate KERO-TV, gas station customers expressed being overwhelmed by the extremely high gas prices.

“They’re too damn high,” one customer told reporters, adding it’s made commuting much more difficult as she normally fills her tank three times a week.

I remember a time when I could fill up my vehicle for less than a dollar a gallon.

And just a couple of years ago, the average price of a gallon of gasoline was less than three dollars a gallon.

Sadly, this is just the beginning.

Once a major global conflict erupts, we could eventually see the price of gasoline go beyond ten dollars a gallon.

I know that may sound crazy right now, but remember where you heard it first.

Of course higher energy prices filter through every level of our economy, and we are already in the midst of the worst inflation crisis that any of us have ever experienced.  In fact, we just learned that home prices increased by a whopping 18.8 percent last year…

Home prices rose 18.8% in 2021, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller US National Home Price Index, the biggest increase in 34 years of data and substantially ahead of 2020’s 10.4% gain.

All regions saw price gains last year, but increases were strongest in the South and the Southeast, each of which were up over 25%.

The stage has been set for the sort of hyperinflation that I have been warning about for a very long time.

But even though Biden’s absolutely disastrous domestic and foreign policy decisions have brought us to this point, the mainstream media and millions upon millions of “sheeple” will continue to cheer Biden on.

Despite so much evidence to contrary, they will continue to believe that Biden and his minions can guide us through this mess somehow.

Unfortunately for all of us, Biden and his minions are completely and utterly incompetent, and the worst is yet to come.

***It is finally here! Michael’s new book entitled “7 Year Apocalypse” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.***

About the Author: My name is Michael Snyder and my brand new book entitled “7 Year Apocalypse” is now available on Amazon.com.  In addition to my new book I have written five other books that are available on Amazon.com including  “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, “Get Prepared Now”, 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 digital copies as gifts through Amazon 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 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 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 ask Jesus to be your Lord and Savior today.

This is not a game.  As this crisis has been unfolding in Ukraine, I have been seeing people all over the Internet cheer for either side like they would cheer for their favorite football teams.  But these people don’t understand what is at stake.  If World War III erupts in Ukraine, it will very likely lead to nuclear war between the United States and Russia down the road.  So we should all be deeply grieved over what is happening, because we are getting really close to a point of no return.

One of the good things about the Trump years was that President Trump was not interested in messing with Russia.  So the status quo in Ukraine was respected by both sides for four years, and there was relative peace in the region.

But then Joe Biden took power, and he has surrounded himself with an all-star team of warmongers.  National security adviser Jake Sullivan, Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff General Mark Milley, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken are all card-carrying members of the War Party, and they don’t seem interested in finding a way to have peace with Russia at all.

After having his security concerns mocked and laughed at for the past year, Vladimir Putin finally admitted that negotiations are at “a dead end” on Monday.  It would have been so easy to negotiate a peaceful solution with the Russians that would have kept Russia out of Ukraine, but that isn’t what the War Party wanted.

Now Putin has run out of patience, and on Monday he greatly escalated the crisis by formally recognizing the independence of Donetsk and Luhansk and by announcing that he would be sending troops into the two separatist republics…

Russian President Vladimir Putin recognized two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine as independent on Monday and ordered the Russian army to launch what Moscow called a peacekeeping operation in the area, upping the ante in a crisis the West fears could unleash a major war. Putin told Russia’s defense ministry to deploy troops into the two breakaway regions to “keep the peace” in a decree issued shortly after he announced recognition for Russia-backed separatists there, drawing US and European vows of new sanctions.

I think that Putin wanted to make a move before the Ukrainians did.  According to one Russian official, there were “almost 60K Ukrainian military personnel concentrated near the borders of the Republics of Lugansk & Donetsk”, and I think that Putin decided that the only way to keep Ukraine from overrunning the two republics was to move his own forces in first.

Hopefully that actually works.

Hopefully the Russians will stay in Donetsk and Luhansk, and hopefully the Ukrainians will stay on their side.

If that is the end result, there may still be hope of defusing the situation.

But I wouldn’t count on it.

Putin sounds like a man that is convinced that war is coming.  The following comes from a very rough translation of his speech on Monday…

“from those who took power in kiev we demand to stop any and all military actions against donbass. otherwise, the consequences will be on ukraine. i count on the support of all patriotic forces in russia.”

Russia has essentially issued an ultimatum to Ukraine.

If Ukraine invades Donetsk and Luhansk, the Russians will invade Ukraine.

Of course some western media sources are actually using the term “invasion” to describe Russian troop movements into the separatist republics.

If you have bought into that propaganda, let me ask you a question.  Do the people in this video look like they have just been “invaded”?…

Twitter can be a horrible place at times, but tonight’s decision by President Putin to recognise the Donbass republics is the news people there have been looking forward to for 8 years. I’ll sign off tonight with this video from Lenin Square in Donetsk. #Donbass pic.twitter.com/l8YJVF84tf

— Dean O’Brien (@DeanoBeano1) February 21, 2022

This would be a good opportunity for both sides to take a deep breath and start backing down.

But that isn’t going to happen.

Western leaders continue to use extremely harsh rhetoric and they continue to insist that a full-blown invasion of Ukraine is imminent.  The following is what Jake Sullivan just told the Today Show…

“We believe that any military operation of the size, scope and magnitude of what we believe the Russians are planning will be extremely violent. It will cost the lives of Ukrainians and Russians, civilians and military personnel alike,” Sullivan said during an appearance on NBC’s “Today.”

“But we also have intelligence to suggest that there will be an even greater form of brutality because this will not simply be some conventional war between two armies,” he added. “It will be a war waged by Russia on the Ukrainian people to repress them, to crush them, to harm them.”

And another U.S. official is alleging that Russia has a list of people that they will be specifically targeting once the invasion has been completed…

“Disturbing information recently obtained by the United States that indicates that human rights violations and abuses in the aftermath of a further invasion are being planned,” Ambassador Bathsheba Nell Crocker, the US Representative to the Office of the United Nations and Other International Organizations in Geneva, alleges in a letter to Michelle Bachelet, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

“These acts, which in past Russian operations have included targeted killings, kidnappings/forced disappearances, unjust detentions, and the use of torture, would likely target those who oppose Russian actions, including Russian and Belarusian dissidents in exile in Ukraine, journalists and anti-corruption activists, and vulnerable populations such as religious and ethnic minorities and LGBTQI+ persons,” reads the letter, which was first reported by The Washington Post and obtained by CNN.

So Russia plans to violently round up dissidents, activists and anyone else that is opposed to their rule?

Oh, you mean that it will be kind of like what just happened in Canada with the full approval of the U.S. government?

If the Biden administration actually cared about human rights, they would be condemning the horrific brutality that we just witnessed in Ottawa.

But of course that will never happen.

Let’s watch and see what happens over in Ukraine during the next several days.  One very alarming sign is that the Russians have just closed off much of the airspace over the Sea of Azov…

Russia’s Aeronautical Information Center issued a NOTAM (a Notice to Airmen) on Sunday which will close most of the airspace over the Sea of Azov starting at midnight between Sunday and Monday, as the US continued to warn that Russia intends to invade Ukraine.

I don’t think that this indicates that a full-blown invasion of Ukraine is imminent.

But at this point the conditions for war have been clearly set.

If Ukraine invades Donetsk and Luhansk now, the Russians have made it exceedingly clear that they will invade Ukraine.

So this actually puts a lot of power into the hands of the War Party in Washington.

Joe Biden and his all-star team of warmongers now know exactly what it will take to spark a war.

Will they decide to pull the trigger?

Let us hope not, because once World War III begins nothing will ever be the same again.

***It is finally here! Michael’s new book entitled “7 Year Apocalypse” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.***

About the Author: My name is Michael Snyder and my brand new book entitled “7 Year Apocalypse” is now available on Amazon.com.  In addition to my new book I have written five other books that are available on Amazon.com including  “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, “Get Prepared Now”, 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 digital copies as gifts through Amazon 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 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 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 ask Jesus to be your Lord and Savior today.

How can we figure out exactly what is going on in Ukraine when literally everybody is lying?  Anyone that willingly embraces the propaganda that is being put out by either side without questioning it is simply not being rational.  At a time like this, we must think for ourselves and we must come to our own conclusions.  And we should be doing whatever we can to stop a global war from starting.  For years, I have been warning that the United States and Russia were heading toward war, and now we are almost there.  If we can’t stop it from happening, tens of millions of people could die, and so the stakes are incredibly high.

Do I trust Vladimir Putin?

No way.

He says that the troops that he has massed on Ukraine’s borders are not a threat.

Of course they are a threat.

But is it a threat to invade Ukraine, or is it a threat to strike back if Ukraine invades Donetsk and Luhansk?

Of course I don’t trust the Biden administration either.

You would be amazed at how many otherwise rational people are telling me that even though the Biden administration has not stopped lying ever since they took power that I should now fully believe everything that they are telling us about Ukraine.

What a joke.

Anyone that has unquestioning faith in anything that Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Anthony Blinken or Jake Sullivan has to say is being quite foolish.

I don’t want propaganda.

I just want the truth.

So what is the truth?

Well, that is going to be hard to figure out in an environment where lies are being constantly fired in our direction.

To the best that I can determine, widespread artillery bombardment began less than 24 hours after Russia announced that some troops would start to be pulled back from the border areas.

On Friday, the level of shelling was particularly bad.  According to the OSCE, there were over 1,400 explosions “in the rebel held regions of Donetsk and Luhansk” during that 24 hour period…

Fears of tensions boiling over were backed up by figures released Saturday by the OSCE, which showed there were more than 1,400 explosions in the rebel held regions of Donetsk and Luhansk on Friday.

The OSCE’s Special Monitoring Mission that is deployed in the conflict zone said it had logged 553 explosions in Donetsk and a further 860 in neighbouring Luhansk – adding that it had confirmed one civilian casualty in a government-controlled area of Donetsk.

It put the total number of ceasefire violations on Friday at more than 1,500, compared with 870 the day before, suggesting an upwards trajectory of gunfire and mortars.

What I just shared comes from a British news source, and that is important to note, because western news sources are supposed to be convincing us that the Russians are about to invade Ukraine.

But it is the Ukrainians that appear to be prepping for an invasion as they relentlessly pound Donetsk and Luhansk.

Of course the Ukrainians deny this, and some western media sources are actually trying to claim that the separatists in Donetsk and Luhansk are shelling themselves hundreds of times in an effort to justify a Russian invasion of Ukraine.

So what is the truth?

That is a very good question.

It is certainly true that the separatists have been firing back into Ukrainian-held territory, and the government of Ukraine is calling this “provocative firing”.

But as far as I can determine, it was the Ukrainians that started firing first.

I certainly can’t prove that, because I am just one guy on the other side of the planet trying to figure things out as both sides relentlessly lie to all of us.

However, what should be incredibly clear to everyone is that somebody out there really, really wants a war to happen.

In the weeks ahead, I think that it will become clear who that is.

The Russians are trying to convince us that Ukraine is preparing to invade Donetsk and Luhansk now that they have been armed to the teeth by the U.S. and other NATO countries…

The Kremlin said the supply of weapons and ammunition by NATO countries to Ukraine was pushing Kyiv towards a ‘military solution’ against separatists in the country’s east.

‘As a result, civilians… who have to evacuate to Russia to escape the intensifying shelling, suffer,’ the Kremlin added.

On the other hand, the Biden administration is trying to convince us that Russia is trying to “create a false pretext for invasion” because Putin is a madman that desperately wants to get his hands on Ukraine.  In fact, Kamala Harris says that what we are witnessing is right out of the “playbook of Russian aggression”…

“There is a playbook of Russian aggression,” Harris told the heads of state and government, foreign dignitaries and a large delegation from the United States. “And this playbook is too familiar for us all. Russia will plead ignorance and innocence. It will create a false pretext for invasion. And it will amass troops and firepower in plain sight.”

So who is right and who is wrong?

Just hours ago, we learned that U.S. officials have supposedly gotten new “intelligence” that Putin has issued “an order to go ahead with an invasion of Ukraine”…

The U.S. has picked up intelligence showing that Russian military officials were given an order to go ahead with an invasion of Ukraine, a U.S. official and another person with knowledge of the matter told NBC News.

The intelligence, which was developed very recently, informed President Joe Biden’s startling declaration Friday that the U.S. believes President Vladimir Putin has already decided to invade, the people said.

I don’t think that Russia is going to invade Ukraine today.

Or tomorrow.

Or the next day.

In fact, I don’t think that he wants to invade Ukraine at all.

But I do think that Putin definitely wants to keep Ukraine out of NATO and western missiles off of his doorstep.  Just check out some remarks that he made late last year…

“It is you who must give us guarantees, and you must do it immediately, right now,” he said at his annual news conference late last year. “Are we deploying missiles near the US border? No, we are not. It is the United States that has come to our home with its missiles and is already standing at our doorstep.”

I also think that Putin is very interested in keeping Ukraine out of Donetsk and Luhansk.

If Ukraine invades Donetsk and Luhansk and starts taking lots of territory, I think that Putin will feel forced to intervene.

And then western leaders will have the “Russian invasion” that they have been promising us.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson made headlines all over the globe when he warned that the Russians are planning “the biggest war in Europe since 1945”…

Evidence suggests Russia is planning “the biggest war in Europe since 1945”, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said.

He told the BBC’s Sophie Raworth in an interview: “All the signs are that the plan has already in some senses begun.”

Intelligence suggests Russia intends to launch an invasion that will encircle Ukrainian capital Kyiv, Mr Johnson said.

No, I don’t think that is what the Russians truly want.

But if neither side backs down, I think that is exactly what we are going to get.

Nobody should be invading anybody.  The Russians should not invade Ukraine, and the Ukrainians should not invade Donetsk and Luhansk.

Ultimately, everybody should just take a step back and relax.

But it appears that is not going to happen.  Thanks to all of the shelling in Donetsk and Luhansk, the Russians have announced that they will be extending their “military drills” in Belarus indefinitely…

Russia will extend its military drills with Belarus because of rising violence in Ukraine’s Donbas region, the government in Minsk said, as Russian President Vladimir Putin accepted a new round of talks with Kyiv amid warnings of an imminent Russian invasion.

If war starts, that will plunge the U.S. and Russia into a permanent state of conflict.

Of course missiles would not start flying back and forth immediately.  At first, both sides would use other measures to put pressure on the opposing side.

But eventually a breaking point would be reached, and someone would go for the jugular.

We must not allow things to get to that point.

Because if we do cross that line, tens of millions of people could die in a war that nobody wants.

***It is finally here! Michael’s new book entitled “7 Year Apocalypse” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.***

About the Author: My name is Michael Snyder and my brand new book entitled “7 Year Apocalypse” is now available on Amazon.com.  In addition to my new book I have written five other books that are available on Amazon.com including  “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, “Get Prepared Now”, 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 digital copies as gifts through Amazon 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 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 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 ask Jesus to be your Lord and Savior today.

It has become exceedingly clear that there will be war in Ukraine.  In fact, some would argue that the war has already begun.  On Wednesday evening, widespread artillery bombardment of Donetsk and Luhansk started, and it hasn’t stopped since.  It is being called “the most intense artillery bombardment for years”, and it should be making front page headlines all over the globe.  According to one diplomatic source, “everyone and everything” is being targeted…

A diplomatic source with years of experience of the conflict described Friday’s shelling in east Ukraine as the most intense since major combat there ended with a 2015 ceasefire. “They are shooting – everyone and everything,” said the source.

It is also being reported that mobile phone service is down throughout Donetsk and Luhansk.

Needless to say, a communications disruption often occurs just before an invasion.

Of course all of this is happening as accusations of “false flag attacks” continue to fly back and forth.

When the vehicle of a top separatist leader exploded in Donetsk, western media sources immediately labeled it as a “false flag operation” by the Russians, while the Russians immediately blamed pro-Ukrainian forces…

An explosion has rocked the pro-Russian separatist capital Donetsk in eastern Ukraine in what appears to be the start of Putin’s long-awaited false flag operation. A Russian invasion of the country is expected to follow.

Russian media claim the explosion was a car bomb which was intended to assassinate a top Russian separatist official – who was unhurt – and it came hours after Putin’s allies in the breakaway regions announced they would evacuate 700,000 civilians over fears of an attack by Kiev.

And just a day after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned that the Russians could launch a “false flag” attack using chemical weapons, the Russians were claiming that an attack on chlorine tanks was foiled by separatist forces…

Earlier in the day, rebel forces claimed to have thwarted a ‘sabotage’ attack earlier in the day by Ukrainian forces, including Polish nationals, on chlorine tanks. The US had warned just the day before that rebels might stage a faked chemical weapons attack.

It certainly appears that somebody out there is trying really hard to create a pretext for war.

As the shelling continues hour after hour, leaders in Donetsk and Luhansk have decided to evacuate large numbers of their own citizens to Russia…

Ukrainian forces and the pro-Russian separatists they’re fighting in the country’s east reported a second day of increased shelling on Friday, as the leaders of the rebels’ self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics accused the Ukrainian government of planning an imminent attack. The rebel administrations in the two breakaway regions announced plans to evacuate thousands of civilians into neighboring Russia.

In fact, Donetsk alone plans to evacuate up to 700,000 civilians to Russian territory.

The only reason why you would do such a thing is if you believe that a full-scale war is imminent.

And we have also just learned that Vladimir Putin has decided to call up his military reserves…

Putin signed a decree to mobilise his reserve last night as more than half his army is committed to Ukraine and the west has warned thousands will die if he unleashes a planned bloodbath.

This is beyond serious.

War is in the air, and the Wall Street Journal is reporting that U.S. officials expect a Russian invasion “in the next few days”…

U.S. officials say they expect a Russian attack on Ukraine in the next few days that could involve a broad combination of jet fighters, tanks, ballistic missiles and cyberattacks, with the ultimate intention of rendering the country’s leadership powerless.

These officials said prospects for averting war now appear very dim, while adding that the Biden administration will continue to try to keep open the window for diplomacy.

Needless to say, other such predictions by U.S. officials have not exactly been accurate…

“However, US officials caution they do not know if Putin has made a final decision to invade and note he may delay action or not order it at all,” CNN notes. And importantly, “Earlier assessments forecasting military action by Russia this week did not bear out.”

But what we do know is that Donetsk and Luhansk are being relentlessly pummeled by Ukrainian forces right now.

Just a little while ago, we learned that there has been “a massive gas pipeline explosion” near the city of Luhansk itself…

In the overnight hours local time a massive gas pipeline explosion is being reported, with a fire raging at the site. Early unconfirmed reports suggest the powerful explosion rocked a part of the pipeline in the pro-Russian separatist region, in or near the city of Luhansk.

And there are numerous reports that Ukrainian ground forces have now engaged separatist ground forces at various points along the front.

If the Ukrainians begin taking large chunks of territory from the separatists, I think that the Russians are going to feel compelled to act.

And once the Russians intervene, Joe Biden and other western leaders will finally have the “Russian invasion” that they have been relentlessly warning us about.

On Friday, Biden insisted that the Russians are about to make a major move…

In a televised speech today, Biden said: “We have reason to believe the Russian forces are planning to and intend to attack Ukraine in the coming week, in the coming days.

Joe Biden sure seems quite confident that war is coming.

Of course Biden is not exactly all there mentally or physically these days.

It takes a strong president to keep the national security apparatus and the military industrial complex at bay.

And Biden is definitely not a strong president.

Now our warmongers are about to get what they want, and soon we will cross a line that will make it impossible to have peace with Russia.

We do not want to be in a perpetual state of war with Russia, because it will likely end in the sort of horrifying conflict that I have been warning about for years.

But most Americans do not understand what is at stake.

Most Americans just assume that our leaders are competent and that everything will work out okay somehow.

Sadly, everything is not going to be okay, and our world is about to be plunged into a nightmarish conflict that will not have any winners.

***It is finally here! Michael’s new book entitled “7 Year Apocalypse” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.***

About the Author: My name is Michael Snyder and my brand new book entitled “7 Year Apocalypse” is now available on Amazon.com.  In addition to my new book I have written five other books that are available on Amazon.com including  “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, “Get Prepared Now”, 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 digital copies as gifts through Amazon 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 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 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 ask Jesus to be your Lord and Savior today.

Well, that sure escalated quickly.  Early on Wednesday, it was being reported that Russia was moving forces away from the Ukrainian border and that both sides would try to give diplomatic talks another chance.  But somebody out there must not have been too pleased with that, because by Wednesday evening everything had changed.  The Ukrainian military and the separatists in eastern Ukraine started shelling one another relentlessly, and according to the latest information that I have been able to find it is still going on as I write this article.  In previous articles, I have expressed my opinion that war in Ukraine will not begin this month, but it appears that somebody out there is trying to get it going as soon as possible.

I think that this is a good time to remember that both previous world wars were sparked in eastern Europe.

The assassination of Austrian archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914 is generally recognized as the event that initiated World War I.

And the invasion of Poland in 1939 is generally recognized as the event that initiated World War II.

So will a conflict in Ukraine by the event that initiates World War III?

As far as I can determine, the widespread shelling in Ukraine began some time on Wednesday evening.

On Thursday, photos of a kindergarten class that had been hit by a shell were being widely circulated by western media…

A “Kindergarten” junior school in Stanytsia Luhanska, Ukraine, was struck by shellfire that impacted several villages and towns near the Donbas region in Eastern Ukraine on Thursday morning. According to the Ukranian government, as of Thursday afternoon, there had been “42 cases of shelling” recorded which had not caused any deaths, but had seen buildings damaged and seen several people injured, including at least four civilians and one soldier.

Western news sources are focusing on the shelling that is being done by the separatists, but Russian news sources are claiming that it was actually the Ukrainians that started shelling first…

The Russian government provided their own take on events, saying in a release from state media service TASS that the shelling was not by Russian forces but from “forces of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic” — in other words forces loyal to and equipped by Moscow — and was initiated in response to Ukraine shelling them first.

I wish that I could prove to you which side started shooting first.

But what we do know is that both sides are now firing at one another.

Could all of this shelling be a prelude to something bigger?

During a discussion with reporters on Thursday, Joe Biden made some rather startling claims…

President Biden on Thursday said the U.S. has reason to believe that Russia is “engaged in a false flag operation,” and said he believes that an invasion into Ukraine “will happen in the next several days.”

After all of the false flag operations that the U.S. has been involved in over the years, it is quite ironic that the U.S. is now publicly accusing the Russians of doing the same thing.

And we shall see if Biden is correct about “the next several days”.

I don’t think that he will be.

But I do think that the possibility of a major conflict in the region happening this year has just gone way up.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin says that the Russians now have more than 150,000 troops in the region…

‘We see them add to the more than 150,000 troops they already have,’ Defense Sec. Lloyd Austin. ‘Even in the last couple days.’

‘We see some of those troops edge closer to that border. We see them fly in more combat and support air craft. We see them sharpen their readiness in the Black Sea. We even see them stocking up their blood supplies,’ Austin said.

‘You don’t do these things for no reason. You certainly don’t do them if you’re getting ready to pack up and go home,’ the secretary said.

U.S. officials certainly seem to be acting as if they believe that we are on the brink of war.

But are they trying to prevent it, or are they actually trying to make it happen?

During a meeting of the UN Security Council on Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken raised tensions by warning that the Russians may be plotting a “false flag” chemical weapons attack…

Russia accused Secretary of State Antony Blinken Thursday of raising tensions in Eastern European after he issued a warning that Moscow’s plans for a ‘false flag operation’ may include a chemical weapons attack to manufacture a pretext for invading Ukraine.

Blinken used a meeting of the United Nations Security Council to set out the fullest account yet of what Washington knows about Russia’s plans.

Needless to say, the Russians were not pleased by such a wild accusation…

In response, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin said Blinken’s scenarios were ‘regrettable.’

‘I would even go so far as to say that they are dangerous because they bring in more tension into the unready tense atmosphere,’ he said, before repeating Moscow’s discredited claims that some troops were already heading home after completing drills.

Of course the Russians are taking actions that are raising tensions too.

For example, the second most important U.S. diplomat in Russia was expelled from the country on Thursday…

Russia has expelled the second-most senior American diplomat at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow as tensions between the two countries continue to rise over a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine, the State Department said Thursday.

“Russia’s action against our [deputy chief of mission] was unprovoked and we consider this an escalatory step and are considering our response,” a State Department spokesman said after U.S. deputy chief of mission Bart Gorman was ordered to leave the country despite having a valid visa.

In the coming days, the U.S. and Russia will trade lots of accusations of blame.

I just wish that we could find a way to stop the process that has now begun.

As I have stated previously, if Americans truly understood what was at stake the streets of our major cities would be filled with protesters.

Because once World War III begins, nothing will ever be the same again.

The time to stop it is now, and the window of opportunity is very narrow.

Unfortunately, somebody out there really seems to want this war to happen, and I have a feeling that whoever it is will eventually get their wish.

***It is finally here! Michael’s new book entitled “7 Year Apocalypse” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.***

About the Author: My name is Michael Snyder and my brand new book entitled “7 Year Apocalypse” is now available on Amazon.com.  In addition to my new book I have written five other books that are available on Amazon.com including  “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, “Get Prepared Now”, 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 digital copies as gifts through Amazon 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 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 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 ask Jesus to be your Lord and Savior today.

If you are less than 40 years old, you have never seen inflation like this in the United States.  Despite all the warnings, our politicians in Washington just kept borrowing and spending trillions upon trillions of dollars that we did not have.  And despite all the warnings, the Federal Reserve just kept pumping trillions of fresh dollars into the financial system.  Now we have a giant mess on our hands, and anyone that believes that this is going to be easily fixed is simply being delusional.

Of course most Americans weren’t going to start paying attention to all of this until it started to affect them personally.

Now it is affecting all of us personally, and there are millions of people out there that are becoming increasingly frustrated about the current state of affairs.

Unfortunately, this crisis appears to be just in the early stages.  The following are 5 numbers that indicate that the inflation crisis in the United States continues to get even worse…

#1 The producer price index has risen at a rate of 9.7 percent over the previous 12 months.  According to CNBC, that is close to a brand new record…

The producer price index, which measures final demand goods and services, increased 1% for the month, against the Dow Jones estimate for 0.5%. Over the past 12 months the gauge rose an unadjusted 9.7%, close to a record in data going back to 2010.

Last week we learned that the consumer price index has risen by 7.5 percent over the previous 12 months.  Of course if the consumer price index was still calculated the way that it was back in 1980, the real number would actually be more than double the official number that we were just given.

#2 Truck trailer prices in January 2022 were 29.6 percent higher than they were in January 2021…

A shortage of parts and labor has sent the prices of truck trailers through the roof.

Truck trailer prices jumped 3.1 percent in January, data from the Department of Labor showed Tuesday. That followed a 3.8 percent increase in December. Compared with 12-months ago, trailer prices are up 29.6 percent, by far the biggest one-year jump in records going back to 1980.

#3 The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics is telling us that the price of used vehicles rose by an astounding 40.5 percent from January 2021 to January 2022…

According to data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics on Thursday, the consumer price index for used cars and trucks jumped up by 40.5% from January 2021 to January 2022. That means within a year, the average price of used cars and trucks for urban consumers has gone up by 40.5%.

#4 You may have noticed that you are paying a lot more at the pump these days.  If you can believe it, the price of gasoline has actually shot up 40.8 percent since Joe Biden first entered the White House…

Between January 2021 and January 2022–President Joe Biden’s first year in office–the price of unleaded gasoline increased 40.8 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

#5 The price of lumber has really been surging once again.  According to the National Association of Home Builders, this most recent surge has “added more than $18,600 to the price of a newly built home”…

That is adding to the cost of both building a new home and remodeling an older one. The National Association of Home Builders estimated the recent price jump added more than $18,600 to the price of a newly built home. It also added nearly $7,300 to the cost of the average new multifamily home, which translates into households paying $67 a month more to rent a new apartment.

Ouch.

I sure wouldn’t want to be trying to build a new home in this environment.

Pressure has been building on the Federal Reserve to take action, and it is being anticipated that the “geniuses” at the Federal Reserve could raise interest rates by 50 basis points next month…

The hot inflation readings led financial markets to price in a better-than-even chance of a 50 basis points interest rate hike from the Federal Reserve next month.

Inflation is running well above the U.S. central bank’s 2 percent target. Economists are expecting as many as seven rate hikes this year.

Just recently, a reader sent me an email which pointed out that we shouldn’t have a system where an unelected group of bureaucrats gets together and determines what our interest rates are going to be.

And he is exactly right.

In a free market system, interest rates would be determined by the free market.

But we don’t have a free market system anymore.

In fact, we haven’t had one for a long time.

Of course when it comes to the economy, the guy in the White House is going to get more of the credit or more of the blame for what is going on than anyone else.

And a brand new poll that was just released has Joe Biden’s approval rating sitting at just 34 percent…

The president’s approval rating nationally sits around 40 percent, according to several tracking averages, but a new CIVIQS poll showed it sitting at 34 percent from the 165,786 respondents surveyed.

That is a shockingly bad number, and what should alarm Democrats even more is how bad Biden’s numbers are in the most important swing states…

Swing states of Georgia, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin all voted narrowly blue in the 2020 election, but the new poll shows their approval of Biden sits in the low 30 percentages.

Arizona has the biggest split with 32 percent approval to 61 percent disapproval. Georgia sits in second with 31 percent approval to 59 percent disapproval; Pennsylvania’s split is 36 percent to 57 percent; Michigan is 33 percent to 59 percent; and Wisconsin has 36 percent approval and 56 percent disapproval of Biden.

Unfortunately, Biden isn’t going to resign no matter how low his numbers go.

That means that we are going to have at least three more years of either Joe Biden or Kamala Harris running the country.

So we shouldn’t expect any dramatic policy shifts from Washington.

And the “geniuses” at the Fed are undoubtedly going to find even more ways to really mess things up.  They are the ones that are more responsible than anyone else for getting us into this mess, and now many Americans are desperately hoping that they can get us out of it.

If you are waiting for them to fix the economy, you are going to be waiting a really, really long time.

I have been warning for years that the decisions that were being made would have severe consequences, and now those consequences have started to arrive.

We are on a road to national ruin, and those that are running things are even more blind than those that they are supposed to be leading.

***It is finally here! Michael’s new book entitled “7 Year Apocalypse” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.***

About the Author: My name is Michael Snyder and my brand new book entitled “7 Year Apocalypse” is now available on Amazon.com.  In addition to my new book I have written five other books that are available on Amazon.com including  “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, “Get Prepared Now”, 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 digital copies as gifts through Amazon 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 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 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 ask Jesus to be your Lord and Savior today.

Has it really come to this?  We all knew that shoplifting was getting really bad all over the nation, but does Walmart really need to start locking up the steaks?  I was stunned when I first learned that pharmacies in our core urban areas were locking up toothpaste and deodorant, but I didn’t think that we were already at a point where supermarkets would start locking up the food.  I don’t know about you, but to me this is an extremely chilling omen…

Walmart has started securing high-priced steaks inside locked metal cages amid rising crime rates across the U.S., a new viral video has revealed.

I have never seen anything like this in my entire life.

After a man from Florida took a video of this new “packaging” and put it up on TikTok, it quickly accumulated more than four million views…

Michael Fromhold, from Florida, was stunned when he noticed that the meat at his local Walmart had been locked up in what appears to be a rather dramatic attempt to prevent people from stealing it.

Michael took a video of it and shared it to TikTok where it quickly went viral – gaining more than four million views in a matter of days – and the clip lead some viewers to lament the fact that such measures have become necessary.

If you see something like this at your local Walmart, please take a photo or a video of it.

At this point, it is not clear if these new “security devices” are being rolled out nationwide or just in high crime areas.

As the price of meat continues to go higher, steaks will increasingly become desirable targets for professional looters.

Just last week, one man was spotted stealing 10 packages of steaks from a Trader Joe’s in New York City…

As recently as Tuesday, a man was seen stuffing cans of soda into his pants at a Trader Joe’s in Union Square before casually leaving the store, according to footage captured by the New York Post.

Just one day before that, another man left the same store with a stack of 10 packages of steaks. Employees told the outlet that they were told not to stop the alleged thief.

And it isn’t just steaks that will need to be locked up.

Since Joe Biden entered the White House, just about every category of meat has surged in price…

The price beef and veal products increased 16.0 percent, according to BLS. That included a 13.0 percent increase in the price of uncooked ground beef; a 17.1 percent increase in the price of uncooked beef steaks; and a 19.2 percent increase in the price of uncooked beef roasts.

The price of pork increased 14.1 percent.

The price of chicken increased 10.3 percent.

Of course food prices are rapidly escalating across the board, and major grocery chains are now facing a sustained wave of theft that is unlike anything that they have ever experienced before.

In fact, things have gotten so bad that the CEO of a major grocery chain in New York says that his company will be hiring retired police officers to help crack down on shoplifters…

A major New York City grocery chain is buckling down on security measures following a string of brazen retail thefts targeting supermarkets in the Big Apple.

John Catsimatidis, the CEO of Gristedes, told FOX Business that the company plans to place retired police officers outside its stores and even offer rewards to customers who provide information on shoplifters.

We certainly aren’t too far away from “armed guards on food trucks”, are we?

Everyone agrees that food prices will continue to escalate in 2022, but if Russia invades Ukraine that could take things to an entirely new and dangerous level…

Concerns about an imminent Russian invasion of Ukraine are roiling the market for agricultural products like wheat at a time when global food prices are already near 10-year highs.

Russia is the world’s top exporter of wheat. Ukraine is also a significant exporter of both wheat and corn. That’s sending prices for grains on a bumpy ride as investors assess the potential for conflict.

In addition, we are being warned that a conflict in Ukraine could result in a “global energy shock”.

Energy prices have already begun to spiral out of control, and CNN is telling us that a war in Europe would push the price of oil “above $100 a barrel sooner than earlier projected”…

A Russian invasion of Ukraine could further disrupt supplies of crude, potentially leading prices that are already their highest in seven years and approaching $100 a barrel, to even loftier levels.

“The conflict between Russia and Ukraine is likely to push crude oil prices above $100 a barrel sooner than earlier projected,” said Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst with AvaTrade, in a report Monday. “The potential jump in oil prices depends on what sort of sanctions the United States of America and its allies are likely to impose on Russia if it actually invades its neighbor.”

We have reached such a dangerous moment in our history.

Once war begins, there will simply be no going back to “normal”.

The Biden administration is about to drag us across a line that nobody will ever be able to uncross.

As I stated yesterday, if the American people truly understood what was at stake they would be flooding the streets in protest all over the nation.

But the American people don’t understand what is at stake.

Most people simply assume that global leaders couldn’t possibly be foolish enough to start World War 3.

Unfortunately, global leaders are far more foolish than most people realize, and we are on the verge of plunging into a conflict that nobody will win.

***It is finally here! Michael’s new book entitled “7 Year Apocalypse” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.***

About the Author: My name is Michael Snyder and my brand new book entitled “7 Year Apocalypse” is now available on Amazon.com.  In addition to my new book I have written five other books that are available on Amazon.com including  “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, “Get Prepared Now”, 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 digital copies as gifts through Amazon 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 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 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 ask Jesus to be your Lord and Savior today.