Money

Even The Liberal Media Is Warning Of A “System Collapse” Due To The Failure Of Global Supply Chains

September 29, 2021September 29, 2021 by Michael

If CNN starts sounding like The Economic Collapse Blog, what does that mean? Unfortunately, the truth about what is in our immediate future is becoming apparent to everyone. Global supply chains are in a state of complete and utter chaos, and this is driving up prices and causing widespread shortages all over the country. Over the past couple of weeks, I have written five articles with either “shortage” or “shortages” in the title, and some have accused me of being a little alarmist. If that is the case, then CNN is being alarmist too, because one of their top stories today openly warned of a “global transport system collapse”…

In an open letter Wednesday to heads of state attending the United Nations General Assembly, the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) and other industry groups warned of a “global transport system collapse” if governments do not restore freedom of movement to transport workers and give them priority to receive vaccines recognized by the World Health Organization.

For decades, we have all been able to take our extremely complex supply chains for granted. Things have always been where they need to be when they needed to be there, and many of us just assumed that it would always be that way.

But now organizations that represent 65 million transport workers around the globe are openly warning that “global supply chains are beginning to buckle”…

“Global supply chains are beginning to buckle as two years’ worth of strain on transport workers take their toll,” the groups wrote. The letter has also been signed by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the International Road Transport Union (IRU) and the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF). Together they represent 65 million transport workers globally.

“All transport sectors are also seeing a shortage of workers, and expect more to leave as a result of the poor treatment millions have faced during the pandemic, putting the supply chain under greater threat,” it added.

Things are particularly bad at our ports. Right now, there is a backlog of approximately 500,000 shipping containers waiting on ships off the west coast waiting to be unloaded…

As an estimated 500,000 containers are sitting on cargo ships off the Southern California coast, many are wondering how to handle the backlog.

Needless to say, we have never seen anything like this before.

But what most Americans don’t realize is that the backlog off the coast of China is even worse…

There are over 60 container ships full of import cargo stuck offshore of Los Angeles and Long Beach, but there are more than double that — 154 as of Friday — waiting to load export cargo off Shanghai and Ningbo in China, according to eeSea, a company that analyzes carrier schedules.

The number of container ships anchored off Shanghai and Ningbo has surged over recent weeks. There are now 242 container ships waiting for berths countrywide. Whether it’s due to heavy export volumes, Typhoon Chanthu or COVID, rising congestion in China is yet another wild card for the trans-Pacific trade.

If you are waiting for something to come in from overseas, you may be waiting for a very long time.

Because of all the chaos, we are being warned that this could be a holiday season like no other…

Retailers are sounding the alarm on the upcoming holiday shopping season due to serious supply chain issues that are slowing shipments of manufactured goods around the world.

Chaos theory in it’s simplest form says if a butterfly flaps its wings in China, it means rain in Central Park. Well, that applies not just to weather, but supply chains as well, and in the Bay Area, it will impact everything from computer parts for your car to the gifts and toys on your holiday shopping list.

If there is something that you really want to get your hands on, you might want to order it now, because it may not be available later.

In addition to shortages, supply chain issues are also pushing prices significantly higher.

For example, we just learned that the price of bacon has risen almost 28 percent over the past year…

The average price for that slab of bacon to accompany the Sunday morning spread has jumped nearly 28% during the past 12 months, inflation-adjusted Consumer Price Index data show.

The supply chain issues and inflationary pressures that have become all-too common in these pandemic times certainly have played theirs roles in the pork price hikes, alongside a slew of industry-specific influence.

A lot of people may be forced to stop eating bacon as a result of soaring prices, and from a health perspective that is not a bad thing.

And the price of bacon is going to continue to go higher, because U.S. hog herds are shrinking at a brisk pace…

US hog herds experienced the most significant monthly drop in two decades, according to new data from the USDA. The reason behind the drop is because farmers decreased hog-herd development over the last year due to labor disruptions at slaughterhouses plus high animal feed.

USDA data showed the US hog herd was 3.9% lower in August than a year ago. It was the largest monthly drop since 1999 after analysts only expected a decline of about 1.7%, according to Bloomberg.

Many of you already don’t eat bacon, and so what I just shared may not affect you, but what about a shortage of potatoes?

Incredibly, it is being reported that some fast food outlets are now running out of French Fries. The following comes from Matt Stoller…

My favorite story is quintessentially American, and un-American, at the same time. It’s from a Florida realtor who was in a hurry and stopped at a Burger King for lunch. He saw a sign, “Sorry. No French Fries with any order. We have no potatoes.” At first he thought he was imagining things. What kind of fast food place runs out of fries? Is this, he wondered, a sign of things to come?

It’s a good question. Fast food exists in a land of plenty, of surplus, of mass produced food with a reliable infrastructure of trucks, trains, farms, and distributors. Shortages of everyday goods conflicts not only with most of our lived experiences, but also with our very conception of who we are. There’s a name for this framework, and it’s called affluence.

I really like how Stoller made that last point.

So many of us think that since we are the most prosperous nation on the entire planet that long-term shortages could never happen to us.

But they are happening.

And if you think that what we are experiencing now is bad, just wait until we get a few more years down the road.

From the very top to the very bottom, our entire economic system is being shaken.

If you are expecting our national leaders to come in with some sort of a quick fix to this crisis, you are going to be waiting a really, really long time.

The blind are leading the blind, and the months ahead are going to be very challenging.

***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) By purchasing the books you help to support the work that my wife and I are doing, and by giving it to others you help to multiply the impact that we are having on people all over the globe. 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. During these very challenging times, people will need hope more than ever before, and it is our goal to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with as many people as we possibly can.

We Are On The Verge Of The Greatest Shortage Of Healthcare Workers In U.S. History

September 28, 2021September 28, 2021 by Michael

It didn’t have to be this way. After sacrificing so much over the past couple of years, thousands of heroes of the COVID pandemic are now being forced to make a heartbreaking choice. Either they will have to violate very deeply held convictions and beliefs, or they will have to give up their careers. The way that our healthcare workers are being treated is utterly shameful, and it is a stain on this nation that will not soon be erased. And thanks to these “mandates”, the next time you go to the hospital the lack of workers may mean that you don’t get the treatment that you desperately need.

We already had a shortage of healthcare workers before the pandemic came along, and this is something that I have written about multiple times over the years. When COVID started sweeping across America, many healthcare facilities were absolutely overwhelmed, and there were some healthcare workers that couldn’t handle the pressure. Many ended up leaving, and that resulted in the shortages getting even worse.

Of course countless numbers of healthcare workers have been faithful to keep showing up for work day after day throughout this entire crisis, and now thousands upon thousands of them are being ruthlessly discarded. Mandates that have been instituted by major healthcare providers, state governments and the federal government are going to force the firing of countless numbers of COVID pandemic heroes.

I can’t even begin to describe how heartless this is.

And considering the fact that we are already experiencing shortages of healthcare workers all over the country, this appears to be a really, really foolish thing to do. According to Fox Business, healthcare institutions all over America “are bracing for worsening staff shortages”…

Hospitals and nursing homes around the U.S. are bracing for worsening staff shortages as state deadlines arrive for health care workers to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

With ultimatums taking effect this week in states like New York, California, Rhode Island, and Connecticut, the fear is that some employees will quit or let themselves be fired or suspended rather than get the vaccine.

I really don’t know what leaders in these states are thinking.

You can’t just create more healthcare workers out of thin air. It takes years of training to become a doctor or a nurse, and so you can’t just hire random people off the street to fill empty positions.

In many states, officials have no idea how they are going fill all of the empty positions that they are creating, but they are moving ahead anyway. For example, this just happened in North Carolina…

A North Carolina-based hospital system announced Monday that roughly 175 unvaccinated employees were fired for failing to comply with the organization’s mandatory coronavirus vaccination policy, the latest in a series of health-care dismissals over coronavirus immunization.

Novant Health said last week that 375 unvaccinated workers — across 15 hospitals and 800 clinics — had been suspended for not getting immunized. Unvaccinated employees were given five days to comply.

Good luck filling those jobs.

In New York, a statewide mandate just went into effect, and hundreds of healthcare workers are on the verge of losing their jobs…

Hundreds of unvaccinated health care workers across New York were suspended Tuesday and could soon lose their jobs entirely as the state’s Covid-19 vaccine mandate for health care workers went into effect overnight.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul appears to be a particularly delusional politician. She says that she will steal medical professionals from other states to fill empty positions, and if that isn’t good enough she seems to think that she can just plug in members of the National Guard…

New York state officials are bracing for staffing shortages when the state’s health care worker vaccination mandate takes effect on Monday, and could be looking to the National Guard — as well as medical professionals from other states and countries — to help address them.

Gov. Kathy Hochul released a plan on Saturday, outlining the steps she could take to increase the workforce in the event that large numbers of hospital and nursing home employees do not meet the state’s deadline.

Needless to say, the biggest mandate is the one that is going to be instituted on the federal level.

The Biden administration is attempting to force 17 million healthcare workers that are employed by institutions that accept Medicare and/or Medicaid to be vaccinated.

That is going to result in the largest loss of healthcare workers that we have ever seen, and that will likely mean that the national shortage of healthcare workers will soon grow to epic proportions.

Sadly, the Democrats are not backing down.

In fact, just look at what they are trying to sneak through in Congress…

Buried on page 168 of the House Democrats’ 2,465-page mega bill is a tenfold increase in fines for employers that “willfully,” “repeatedly,” or even seriously violate a section of labor law that deals with hazards, death, or serious physical harm to their employees.

The increased fines on employers could run as high as $70,000 for serious infractions, and $700,000 for willful or repeated violations—almost three-quarters of a million dollars for each fine. If enacted into law, vax enforcement could bankrupt non-compliant companies even more quickly than the $14,000 OSHA fine anticipated under Biden’s announced mandate.

These people are playing for keeps.

Earlier today I was reflecting on the events of the past couple of weeks, and it made me very sad.

There is no going back. Very dark times have arrived, and there is no light at the end of the tunnel.

I know that sounds really bad, but I’m not going to sugarcoat things for you.

Some of you are going to have to find new jobs. Others will have to find entirely new careers.

Of course a lot of you are going to have to move out of the states that you are living in right now entirely.

Sadly, there isn’t anywhere that you can go inside this country to escape the federal mandates.

And all over the nation, we are going to see very serious shortages of healthcare workers. As our healthcare institutions are flooded by the incapacitated and the dying, there simply is not going to be enough people to treat them all.

It is going to be a complete and utter nightmare, but as I said in the opening paragraph, it didn’t have to be this way.

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

Where Did All The People Go?

September 14, 2021 by Michael

Why are companies all over the world suddenly desperate for workers? In my entire life I have never seen anything like this. When the labor shortage started in the United States, a lot of people blamed overly generous government handouts, but that doesn’t explain why the exact same thing is happening in nation after nation all over the globe. There aren’t enough factory workers, there aren’t enough truck drivers, there aren’t enough port workers, there aren’t enough employees to properly staff our stores, and the shortage of doctors and nurses is becoming a major crisis in some areas. During normal times, we were always told that the global economy was not producing nearly enough jobs for everyone, but now for the very first time we are facing an enormous worldwide labor shortage. It is almost as if millions upon millions of people suddenly disappeared from the system.

Earlier today, I was stunned to learn that a new survey has discovered that 69 percent of global companies are having a hard time finding enough people to hire…

A survey of nearly 45,000 employers across 43 countries showed 69 percent of employers reported difficulty filling roles, a 15-year high, according to employment-services provider ManpowerGroup Inc. At the same time, 15 countries — focused in Europe and North America — reported their highest hiring intentions since the survey began in 1962.

Just a few years ago, any company that was willing to pay decent wages would be absolutely flooded by job applications.

But now everyone can’t stop talking about the “shortage” of workers.

So where did all the people go?

Normally, global supply chains run as smooth as butter, but now they are in a complete and utter state of chaos.

And the biggest reason why they are in a complete and utter state of chaos is because there simply is not enough workers for them to operate as they usually would.

On a very basic level, we need people to make stuff, pack stuff, ship stuff, transport stuff, unload stuff and sell stuff.

Every step along the way, shortages of workers are causing major headaches, and now we are being told that this supply chain crisis “will last well into next year”…

A supply chain crunch that was meant to be temporary now looks like it will last well into next year as the surging delta variant upends factory production in Asia and disrupts shipping, posing more shocks to the world economy.

Manufacturers reeling from shortages of key components and higher raw material and energy costs are being forced into bidding wars to get space on vessels, pushing freight rates to records and prompting some exporters to raise prices or simply cancel shipments altogether.

But if we had enough people to do all the jobs that needed to be done, this crisis could be resolved very rapidly.

So where are they?

As inventories get tighter and tighter, that is invariably going to drive up prices.

Earlier this week, one of my readers emailed me about the shortages and price increases that she is seeing in her local area. I asked her if I could share this with all of you, and she said that I could…

You can’t find frozen turkeys, frozen hens, frozen cornish hens…the supply chain HAS indeed been cut. There was 1…just one box of oatmeal on the shelves of our local food store that are normally stocked through the gills with food. Prices are higher…tomato sauce, in a can: what used to cost $0.99 cents last year now costs $1.50. Chicken drumsticks—we usually throw a bunch in a crockpot with some bbq sauce and put it over rice for our kids, they love it….chicken drumsticks, last year were $0.89/pound….now they are $ 1.39 per pound. We only buy meat that has been reduced….a rump roast, for instance, was marked down from $18 dollars to $7….that’s a huge price cut, so we look for deals like that. But they are hard to find!!! Everything is higher, packaged in smaller boxes and cups and there is not much of it. We all knew this was coming….it’s going to get worse, for lots of people who don’t know what’s happening. We have goats for goat milk and meat if we need, chickens for eggs and we’ve put back lots of produce we found on sale over the summer, in the freezer to booster our garden. It’s shocking how much just is not there…the shelves are empty, moved closer together, and bare spots are everywhere in grocery stores these days.

Unfortunately, what we have experienced so far is just the beginning. Global food supplies are going to continue to get tighter, and that is going to continue to drive up food prices.

Another sector of the economy where the labor shortage is having a big impact is in the healthcare industry.

Lately, I have been coming across lots of stories about people dying because they can’t get the care that they need. Just before I started writing this article, I came across a heartbreaking story about a 70-year-old woman in Canada that dropped dead after a six hour wait in a local emergency room…

Bonnie Marie Hall was with her 70-year-old mother — Susan Tasson — when she died early Wednesday in a Kamloops, B.C., hospital emergency waiting room after a six-hour wait for care.

Hall says her Ontario-born mother had an infectious laugh and a “warrior” spirit. She had three sons and two daughters, loved her grandchildren and had lived in Kamloops since 1987.

“Nobody wants to die in a waiting room. Nobody,” said Hall.

Nobody should ever have to die that way.

But it is going to keep happening, because there is an acute shortage of healthcare workers right now.

All over the nation, the shortage of nurses has become a really big deal, and new mandates are just making things even worse…

Hospitals are struggling to comply with the state’s nurse staffing requirements as pandemic-induced burnout has exacerbated an already chronic nursing shortage nationwide.

But burnout isn’t the only thing compounding California’s nursing shortage: The state’s new vaccine mandate for health care workers is already causing headaches for understaffed hospitals before it is even implemented. Some traveling nurses — who are in high demand nationwide — are turning down California assignments because they don’t want to get vaccinated.

There is a serious shortage of doctors as well, and this is a phenomenon that we are witnessing all over the globe.

For example, over in the UK it is being reported that there is a “shortfall of more than 50,000 doctors” right now…

The NHS may be unable to cope this winter because of a “frightening” shortfall of more than 50,000 doctors, the head of the British Medical Association has warned.

Here in the United States, our healthcare system has never been so close to a state of collapse.

In fact, one doctor recently wrote an article in which he claimed that it has “already collapsed”…

As a resident physician who has only trained in an era of COVID—I was asked to consider graduating from school early in April 2020 to help with medical staff shortages—my time as a doctor has been defined by working in a system that has already collapsed. The American health system I work in has featured limited personal protective equipment, oxygen shortages, and the construction of field hospitals in convention centers and parking garages. Last winter, many hospitals across the country instituted crisis standards of care, forced to ration health services based on criteria that few people envisioned would be used outside of a mass casualty event, like a terrorist attack. Today, hospitals are full in much of the country, with patients requiring an ICU being airlifted thousands of miles in search of a staffed bed. These are not features of a health system that is approaching failure. These are features of a health care system that has broken down spectacularly, forcing doctors and patients to climb through the rubble looking for help.

But just like every other industry, if we had enough people to do the jobs that needed to be done, we would be fine.

In all the years that I have been writing about the economy, finding enough workers has never been a problem.

Yet here we are in the middle of 2021, and all of a sudden there are millions and millions and millions of empty jobs all over the globe.

Once again, there is a question that I must ask.

Where did all the people go?

This is a question that everyone should be asking, because the people that are currently running things are not telling you the truth.

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

Why Are Food Prices Going Up So Rapidly?

September 8, 2021September 8, 2021 by Michael

For a long time I have been warning that global food prices would rise dramatically, and that is precisely what we have witnessed over the past 12 months. Unfortunately, global wages are not rising nearly as quickly as global food prices are, and so this has pushed millions and millions more people into poverty and hunger. Here in the United States, nobody is currently in danger of starving to death, but many Americans have been getting a severe case of sticker shock when they go to the grocery store. Not since the Jimmy Carter era of the 1970s have we seen prices escalate like this, and people are starting to get angry.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, global food supplies have been getting tighter and tighter. When I first started writing about this, certain individuals derisively dismissed what I had to say, but now the truth is becoming apparent to everyone.

Very tight supplies and growing demand have pushed global food prices 32.9 percent higher over the past year…

Central banks and mainstream media continue to peddle the notion that soaring food inflation is temporary and the average Joe and Jane should not worry about it. But in a new report via the Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), global food prices are on the rise, once again, and back to near-decade highs.

FAO released a statement Thursday that detailed after two consecutive months of declines, world food prices in August jumped due to solid gains in sugar, vegetable oils, and cereals.

FAO’s food price index, which follows international prices of globally traded food commodities, averaged 127.4 points in August, up 3.9 points (3.1%) from July and 31.5 points (32.9%) from the same period last year.

Unfortunately, experts are telling us that food prices are going to continue to climb.

In fact, one is estimating that food prices will continue to go up like this “for the next two years or so”…

Grocery prices have been on an upward trend for most of the year, and some experts say that this will continue for at least the next several years.

“We’re going to continue to see price increases, probably for the next two years or so,” says Phil Lempert, an analyst and food trends expert perhaps best known as the Supermarket Guru.

This is really bad news.

So why is this happening?

Well, the Biden administration is blaming the greed of the meat processing industry…

During Wednesday’s press briefing, National Economic Council Director Brian Deese and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack spoke about the actions the administration was taking to help alleviate what Deese called ‘pandemic profiteering’ from the top meat processing companies.

‘One of the interesting findings of the report that we put out today, is that about half of the overall increase in grocery prices can be attributed to significant increases in prices in three products – in beef, in pork and in poultry,’ Deese said from the podium.

Certainly greed is playing a role, but as Zero Hedge has pointed out, a whole host of other factors are contributing to this crisis as well…

A combination of global droughts, volatile weather, labor shortages, and supply chain disruptions persisting from COVID, among others, have contributed to the rapid rise in food prices over the last year.

Heading into fall, soaring food inflation shows no signs of abating and may worsen. This may cause socio-economic turmoil in emerging market economies, mainly because people in those countries allocate more of their daily budgets to food.

The pandemic was supposed to be subsiding by now, and so by this time of the year prices were supposed to be starting to stabilize.

But instead the Delta variant is causing widespread panic, and this is causing more disruptions throughout our entire society…

The summer that was supposed to mark America’s independence from COVID-19 is instead drawing to a close with the U.S. more firmly under the tyranny of the virus, with deaths per day back up to where they were in March.

The delta variant is filling hospitals, sickening alarming numbers of children and driving coronavirus deaths in some places to the highest levels of the entire pandemic. School systems that reopened their classrooms are abruptly switching back to remote learning because of outbreaks. Legal disputes, threats and violence have erupted over mask and vaccine requirements.

We already had a shortage of nurses and other health care workers before this pandemic, and now all of the various mandates that have been instituted threaten to cause a meltdown of the entire system…

Fortune.com reported last week that about 39 percent of U.S. hospitals have announced vaccine mandates for staff members.

“It’s not just nurses at stake with vaccine mandates. Respiratory techs, nursing assistants, food service employees, billing staff and other health care workers are already in short supply. According to the latest KFF/The Washington Post Frontline Health Care Workers Survey, released in April, at least one-third of health care workers who assist with patient care and administrative tasks have considered leaving the workforce,” according to Fortune.

I can’t even begin to describe how foolish it is to institute mandates that could potentially force thousands upon thousands of health care workers to leave their jobs right in the middle of a pandemic.

But that is what we are now facing.

The way that we have responded to this pandemic has been a complete and total nightmare, but those running things seem entirely convinced that they are on the right track.

Moving forward, there is going to be more panic, more chaos, more shortages and more price increases.

So even though food prices are already ridiculously high, now is the time to stock up, because food prices are only going to go higher from here.

I have been doing my best to sound the alarm, but sometimes I feel like I am pounding my head into a wall.

Most people just have an absurd amount of faith in the strength and durability of our system, and so they refuse to believe that it could ever fail.

But it is failing, and what we have experienced so far is just a preview of coming attractions.

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

This Is What Is Going To Happen Nationwide In The Not Too Distant Future

August 31, 2021August 31, 2021 by Michael

When order really starts breaking down in this country, we know exactly what is going to happen. And the reason why we know exactly what is going to happen is because the exact same pattern keeps playing out every time there is a major disaster or crisis in one of our large cities. Just think about it. Over the past couple of years, violent social justice protests in our major cities have often been accompanied by widespread looting. When the Texas power grid went down last winter, there was looting. When wildfires force people from their expensive homes in California, the looters are often the first people that show up. And just about every time there is some sort of a major storm, the looters come out of the woodwork.

And so it should not surprise anyone that New Orleans is being plagued by looters in the wake of Hurricane Ida.

One pair of enterprising looters decided to try to break into an ATM machine, but thanks to a drone they now have become famous all over the country…

It is not clear if the pair from the drone video were apprehended or got away with any cash from the ATM machine they are seen in the footage trying to pry open.

One of the men in the video is seen toying with the machine. Another stands beside him and sees the drone before turning his back and leaving the destroyed business.

The video, which was posted to Twitter by WXChasing (Brandon Clement), has yielded 19,100 views and is captioned, ‘The moment looters realize a drone is watching them try to break into an ATM [machine] in burned down St. Claude market in the lower 9th ward.’

In other cases, looters were taking a more conventional approach….

In another incident, witnesses used their cell phone to record several people looting a store in New Orleans East.

Looters often take advantage of disasters like Ida and New Orleans is all too familiar with this as it became a hotbed of criminal activity in the wake of Hurricane Katrina 16 years ago.

How many times have we seen this sort of chaos break out over the past few years?

It is more than I can count, that is for sure.

On Tuesday afternoon, authorities in New Orleans pledged to do their best to try “to deter mass looting”…

New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell and Police Superintendent Shaun Ferguson held a press conference Tuesday afternoon at City Hall regarding a citywide curfew to deter mass looting and an update on the power situation.

Cantrell told reporters, effective immediately (8 pm local time), a citywide curfew will be enforced until 6 am Wednesday. New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) has deployed an anti-looting task force with National Guard members to protect business districts.

Sadly, virtually every major city in America is just one major crisis away from a total breakdown of law and order.

And when a truly nightmarish national emergency strikes, law and order will break down all over the country.

Our blood-soaked culture has become increasingly violent as moral standards have deteriorated across our land, and in many of our core urban areas brutal cold-blooded attacks by groups of heartless criminals have become way too common.

A particularly vile attack that happened in Chicago the other day is a perfect example of what I am talking about…

The video, first posted by the crime website CWB Chicago, initially shows three men beating up another man as traffic crawls past. Another man walks by and is sucker-punched and falls to the pavement.

The group keeps attacking the other man until both are down on the pavement. The attackers then rummage through their pockets, walking with a bag, shoes and other items, the video shows.

Women dance in the street while people appear to record the fight.

More specifically, the women were “twerking” as they celebrated the robbing of the innocent victims.

If hearts are this cold already, what will things be like when economic conditions get really bad in this country?

Yes, there are still millions of Americans out there that try to respect the law, but there are also lots and lots of really twisted people out there.

Just today, I came across a news story about how “hundreds of decapitated goats” have been getting dumped into the Chattahoochee River…

Channel 2 Action News is investigating headless goats found floating in the Chattahoochee River. Someone has dumped hundreds of decapitated goats over the past few years.

Channel 2′s Dave Huddleston cruised up the Chattahoochee River with Jason Ulseth, who works for the environmental group the Chattahoochee Riverkeeper.

More than one person has got to be involved in this terrible crime, because on one recent Friday a total of 30 decapitated goats were found in the river…

As they approached the Interstate 20 bridge near the Fulton County and Cobb County border, “There’s a goat,” Ulselth said.

Channel 2 found a headless goat in the river, then another and another.

“Lately it’s become a lot more frequent, and on Friday we were out here and saw 30 of them floating down the river,” Ulseth said.

Why aren’t CNN and the other big networks covering this story?

You would think that something like this would be good for ratings.

Of course the truth is that it doesn’t fit any of the agendas that they are currently trying to push.

But without a doubt we will hear more about the Delta variant from the major news networks tomorrow, and apparently all of that fear is starting to cause another major run on toilet paper…

Please don’t run straight to the supermarket, but some shoppers are buying up all the toilet paper – again.

Why is toilet paper always such a high priority when Americans decide that it is time to do some more panic shopping?

I will never understand that.

In any event, it is being reported that the fear of new lockdowns is causing many to start hoarding toilet paper “in bulk”…

This latest rebound in toilet paper demand comes as the delta variant drives COVID-19 cases and deaths up across the U.S., with some folks foreseeing another lockdown. Many Americans have used up their stockpiles and some have begun buying again in bulk, The Wall Street Journal reports.

If Americans are going to get this crazy over a relatively minor threat like the Delta variant, what in the world are they going to do when truly apocalyptic events begin to take place?

COVID is not the worst thing that can happen to us.

Not even close.

If our society can’t even handle COVID, what kind of meltdown would transpire if a much bigger crisis suddenly erupted?

You might want to think about that, because many believe that it won’t be too long before we actually find out.

***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 others 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) By purchasing the books you help to support the work that my wife and I are doing, and by giving it to others you help to multiply the impact that we are having on people all over the globe. 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. During these very challenging times, people will need hope more than ever before, and it is our goal to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with as many people as we possibly can.

A Very Odd Confluence Of Events

August 29, 2021August 29, 2021 by Michael

August has definitely been a “turning point”, and in recent weeks we have had the opportunity to watch some incredibly shocking events unfold which will change the course of history permanently. At this moment, Hurricane Ida is the biggest story that everyone is discussing. As I warned about on Friday, Ida went through a period of “rapid intensification” in the Gulf of Mexico before coming ashore in Louisiana on Sunday as an absolutely monstrous storm. It hit New Orleans exactly 16 years to the day after Hurricane Katrina did, and many are pointing out that this seems to be a really “strange” coincidence.

When Hurricane Katrina made landfall in Louisiana in 2005, it was a Category 3 storm, but Hurricane Ida was actually a Category 4 storm when it made landfall near Port Fourchon…

Hurricane Ida’s initial impacts began early Sunday as the outer bands brought heavy rain to the Louisiana coast early Sunday. The Category 4 hurricane, packing sustained winds of 150 mph came ashore at 11:55 a.m. CDT near Port Fourchon, Louisiana.

Ida has become the first landfalling hurricane on United States soil in 2021, and AccuWeather forecasters, expecting extreme impacts for the Gulf Coast, have rated Ida a 4 on the AccuWeather RealImpact™ Scale for Hurricanes.

The extremely high winds have torn roofs from countless homes and buildings, and in some cases power lines have been snapped in two.

At this hour, hundreds of thousands of local residents are without power, and Governor John Bel Edwards is telling the press that Ida could be the most powerful storm to hit Louisiana in over 160 years…

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said the storm could be the most powerful to pound the state in more than 160 years. Hurricane Katrina, which flooded most of New Orleans, killing almost 2,000 people and causing damages estimated at $125 billion, made landfall 16 years ago to the day – as a Category 3 storm.

From an economic standpoint, one of the biggest concerns is that nearly all of the oil production facilities in the Gulf of Mexico have been forced to temporarily close down…

More than 95% of the Gulf of Mexico’s oil production facilities have been shut down, regulators said Sunday, indicating the massive storm is having a significant impact on energy supply.

Six refineries in the New Orleans area — including PBF, Phillips, Shell, Marathon and two Valero refineries — are shut down right now, Andy Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates, a Houston-based consulting firm, told CNN Business. “It’s now a waiting game to assess whatever wind and flooding damage will be caused as the hurricane passes through the area.”

Needless to say, this is likely to cause another supply crunch, and we already being warned to expect significantly higher gasoline prices…

The Gulf of Mexico federal offshore oil production accounts for 17% of the country’s crude oil production and 5% of its federal offshore dry gas production, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Andrew Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates in Houston, said Saturday that if the New Orleans refineries take a direct hit from a Category 4 storm, gas prices would likely rise by about 10 cents a gallon in the Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic markets.

Meanwhile, the greatest foreign policy debacle in modern American history continues to unfold in Afghanistan.

The way that the Biden administration has handled this crisis has been utterly shameful, and it has resulted in the deaths of 13 service members.

As Hurricane Ida was pummeling Louisiana on Sunday, Joe Biden and his minions were overseeing the transfer of the remains of those service members…

In a silence broken only by the sobs of bereaved families, Joe Biden stood Sunday, hand over his heart, to pay tribute as the remains of the US service members killed in the Kabul bombing attack were transferred from a military C-17 cargo plane to a closely parked row of gray hearses.

But Biden grew impatient at one point, and footage of the event actually shows him checking his watch.

If you have not seen this shocking moment yet, you can view it right here.

Did he really think that nobody would notice?

Later on, reporters wanted to ask Biden some questions about Afghanistan, but he abruptly refused…

‘I’m not supposed to take any questions, but go ahead,’ he said as he turned to the travelling press pool.

‘On Afghanistan…’ said a reporter before he cut him off.

He snapped: ‘I’m not going to answer Afghanistan now.’

The president turned away from the press pool to talk to FEMA staff as the reporter continued with a question about whether he still believed ‘there was an extreme risk at the airport.’

This crisis has clearly demonstrated that our new “woke military” has become weak and pathetic, and it is being led by weak and pathetic brass at the Pentagon.

Of course these days “weak” and “pathetic” are words that are often used to describe the man that is currently residing in the White House.

The Biden administration desperately needs a new distraction, and it appears the one has conveniently come along.

We are being told that the most extreme COVID variant yet has been identified in South Africa…

A new coronavirus variant, C.1.2, has been detected in South Africa and a number of other countries, with concerns that it could be more infectious and evade vaccines, according to a new preprint study by South Africa’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases and the KwaZulu-Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform. The study is awaiting peer review.

Scientists first detected C.1.2 in May 2021, finding that it was descended from C.1, which scientists found surprising as C.1 had last been detected in January. The new variant has “mutated substantially” compared to C.1 and is more mutations away from the original virus detected in Wuhan than any other Variant of Concern (VOC) or Variant of Interest (VOI) detected so far worldwide.

There are now dozens of variants running around out there, and each new variant is a threat to cause another new “wave” of this pandemic.

Prior to 2020 I was warning that it would be “one thing after another” once we got into the “perfect storm” that we are currently experiencing, and we are now being told that Americans are developing “disaster fatigue” because of all of the bad things that have happened over the last couple of years.

Sadly, many believe that much more chaos is dead ahead.

These are extremely troubled times, and we desperately need strong leadership from our representatives in Washington.

Unfortunately for all of us, Washington has become a complete and total cesspool, and the whole world is laughing at the endless stream of incompetence emanating from the White House.

***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 others 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) By purchasing the books you help to support the work that my wife and I are doing, and by giving it to others you help to multiply the impact that we are having on people all over the globe. 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. During these very challenging times, people will need hope more than ever before, and it is our goal to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with as many people as we possibly can.

This Is A Moment In U.S. History That Will Forever Live In Infamy

August 26, 2021August 26, 2021 by Michael

There are certain moments that just make you want to cry. The bombings in Kabul that killed 13 U.S. troops and at least 90 Afghans didn’t have to happen. If we didn’t have completely and utterly incompetent political leaders and completely and utterly incompetent military leaders, things could have turned out very differently. The end of a 20 year war is being capped off in humiliating fashion, and nobody is going to be afraid of the United States after this. And that is actually a really bad thing, because fear of U.S. retribution has kept China, Russia, North Korea, Iran and a whole host of terror groups largely in check for the past several decades. Now that the U.S. is seemingly unable to play the “restrainer” role any longer, the stage is set for tremendous global instability.

For years, our generals were telling us that the Taliban had been defeated.

Obviously, that wasn’t even close to the truth.

And ISIS had supposedly been bombed into oblivion, but apparently that wasn’t true either.

Everyone knew that having so many evacuees crammed into such a small area would be a really tempting target, and our leaders were depending on the Taliban (the guys we have been shooting at for 20 years) to protect us.

Needless to say, that was a recipe for disaster, and that is precisely what we got.

In the aftermath of the bombings, Joe Biden promised to hunt down those that had attacked us…

Speaking to the American people in the wake of a devastating terror attack at the Kabul airport that left scores dead on Thursday — including numerous U.S. troops — President Biden promised the U.S. would strike back against those responsible.

“To those who carried out this attack, as well as anyone who wishes America harm, know this — we will not forgive, we will not forget, we will hunt you down and make you pay,” the president said in a somber White House address.

Yes, I am sure that they are shaking in their boots.

At this point, nobody is afraid of our “woke military” and the snowflake generals that are leading them.

The head of U.S. Central Command was asked if the Taliban allowed the ISIS terrorists to get close to the Marines, and “there’s a failure somewhere” was the best that he could come up with in response…

The commander of U.S. Central Command said Thursday he did not know if the Taliban — whose members the U.S. was relying on to screen individuals getting to the airport — let Islamic State suicide bombers get through and conduct at least two bombings that have so far killed 12 Marines and injured 15 more.

“Clearly if they were able to get up to the Marines…at the entry point of the base, there’s a failure somewhere,” said Marine Gen. Kenneth McKenzie at a press briefing on Thursday.

We know that more ISIS terrorists are lurking in the vicinity right now.

So will there be additional attacks in the days ahead?

One source told Fox News that it is “likely” that there will be more…

A source briefed on the situation in Kabul told Fox News that some Americans stranded in Afghanistan will likely be left behind after Thursday’s bombings.

The source told Fox News that “hundreds” of ISIS-K fighters remain in the vicinity of the Kabul airport and that the attacks are “likely to continue.”

Hearing that “some Americans stranded in Afghanistan will likely be left behind” should make your blood boil.

What in the world is wrong with our leaders?

Trump was impeached over a phone call. How much more does Biden deserve to get impeached if he leaves Americans behind in the hands of the Taliban?

And what makes things even worse is the fact that the Biden administration has actually given the Taliban a list of Americans and others that needed to be evacuated…

U.S. officials in Kabul gave the Taliban a list of names of American citizens, green card holders and Afghan allies to grant entry into the militant-controlled outer perimeter of the city’s airport, a choice that’s prompted outrage behind the scenes from lawmakers and military officials.

The move, detailed to POLITICO by three U.S. and congressional officials, was designed to expedite the evacuation of tens of thousands of people from Afghanistan as chaos erupted in Afghanistan’s capital city last week after the Taliban seized control of the country. It also came as the Biden administration has been relying on the Taliban for security outside the airport.

Some are calling this a “kill list”, and that is exactly how the Taliban could choose to view it once all U.S. military forces are gone for good.

And thanks to our recklessness, Taliban fighters are going to be armed to the teeth as they begin their new reign…

A government watchdog group says the U.S. military is leaving behind 75,000 vehicles, 600,000 weapons and 208 aircraft in Afghanistan as forces evacuate the country after a 20-year war.

We’ve made the Taliban into a major U.S. arms dealer for the next decade,” said Adam Andrzejewski, CEO of Open the Books. “They now control 75,000 military vehicles. This is about 50,000 tactical vehicles, 20,000 Humvees they control about 1,000 mine-resistant vehicles, and even about 150 armored personnel carriers.”

To make matters worse, you and I paid for all of that equipment.

How can any of the brass at the Pentagon keep their jobs after such a debacle?

I just keep looking at those numbers and I keep wondering how our military leaders could possibly be so grossly incompetent.

And the rest of the world is watching.

If a ragged group of opium dealers and goat herders can absolutely humiliate the once mighty U.S. military, why should anyone else ever be afraid of us ever again?

What the Taliban has pulled off is going to greatly inspire terror organizations all over the globe, and it is going to embolden America’s most prominent enemies.

I think that the Biden administration was hoping that withdrawing from Afghanistan would be a move toward peace, but instead their incompetence has set the stage for more war.

As America is humiliated in Afghanistan, there have been lots of news stories about how China has been practicing for an invasion of Taiwan…

China’s long-standing threats to invade Taiwan would require the biggest amphibious invasion in human history — and analysts say recent military activities, including exercises using commercial ferries, appear designed to practice exactly that.

If you think that global supply chains are messed up now, just wait until that happens.

I know that a lot of people are cheering the fact that things are becoming more unstable geopolitically, but this new period of instability will not end well.

For decades, the United States dealt with everyone else from a position of strength.

But now the rest of the world can see that the emperor doesn’t have any clothes, and a power vacuum will always be filled.

***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 others 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) By purchasing the books you help to support the work that my wife and I are doing, and by giving it to others you help to multiply the impact that we are having on people all over the globe. 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. During these very challenging times, people will need hope more than ever before, and it is our goal to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with as many people as we possibly can.

The Shortages Are Global, And We Are Being Warned That They Will Intensify

August 25, 2021August 25, 2021 by Michael

The global economy was supposed to be getting back to “normal” by now, but instead more problems are erupting with each passing day. As I write this article, supply chains all over the planet are in a state of chaos. The worldwide computer chip shortage is making things very difficult for thousands upon thousands of manufacturers, the process of moving products across our oceans has become insanely expensive and is often plagued by horrendous delays, and a lack of truck drivers is causing enormous headaches when it comes to transporting goods to retailers and consumers in a timely manner. We have never seen anything like this before, and at this point even CNN is admitting that “the disruption to global supply chains is getting worse”…

The vast network of ports, container vessels and trucking companies that moves goods around the world is badly tangled, and the cost of shipping is skyrocketing. That’s troubling news for retailers and holiday shoppers.

More than 18 months into the pandemic, the disruption to global supply chains is getting worse, spurring shortages of consumer products and making it more expensive for companies to ship goods where they’re needed.

Earlier this year, some of the economic optimists were projecting that we would experience a tremendous “economic boom” during the second half of 2021.

But now we are facing empty shelves, shortages and major headaches in the months ahead.

One shipping executive that was interviewed by CNN says that things won’t get any better until “the first quarter of 2022 at the earliest”…

Shipping companies expect the global crunch to continue. That’s massively increasing the cost of moving cargo and could add to the upward pressure on consumer prices.

“We currently expect the market situation only to ease in the first quarter of 2022 at the earliest,” Hapag-Lloyd chief executive Rolf Habben Jansen said in a recent statement.

Here in the U.S., quite a few experts are now making very bleak predictions about the upcoming holiday season.

But we are definitely not alone. Over in the UK, it is being reported that the “worst supply-chain crisis since the 1970s” could potentially “ruin Christmas”.

One of the big problems that the British are facing is an unprecedented shortage of truck drivers and warehouse workers. Business leaders are begging for more EU workers to be allowed into the country, because they believe that will help to alleviate the crisis.

Empty shelves and shortages are now a daily reality in the UK, and some large fast food chains are now being forced to completely drop certain items from their menus…

Gaps on supermarket shelves have been spotted across the country due to a combination of factors, including lorry driver shortages and Covid.

Supplier issues have also led to shortages at fast food chains like McDonald’s, Nandos and KFC, with some items missing from menus and branches closed.

Greggs is the latest to say that it’s short on food faves and Costa Coffee has reduced its menu due to the supply chain chaos.

Could you imagine going into a McDonald’s and not being able to order a milkshake?

Sadly, that has now become a reality at every single location in the United Kingdom…

McDonald’s says it has pulled milkshakes from the menu in all 1,250 of its British restaurants because of supply problems stemming from a shortage of truck drivers.

The fast-food chain says it is also experiencing shortages of bottled drinks.

Here in the United States, we are dealing with similar issues.

At this point, it is being reported that finding new truck drivers to hire in this country is “next to impossible”…

Finding truck drivers is “next to impossible,” he said, while freight costs are rising daily. The company’s orders are arriving late and consequently facing delays in being sent to customers. On the outbound side, on-time deliveries are still above 50% but have fallen from the usual rate of more than 90%.

“We all thought it would be over by now. It’s just one thing after another,” he said. “This is going to be the norm for a while.”

For decades, we have been taking our truck drivers for granted. We pay them poorly, we treat them like dirt, and we make them work ridiculously long hours.

But without truck drivers, our country simply cannot function.

These days, most young people don’t want jobs that require a lot of hard, physical work and that don’t pay very well. Instead, they would rather make money producing Tik Tok videos or becoming Instagram influencers.

Traditionally, truck drivers have been strong, physical men with traditional values. Of course our society likes to demonize such individuals these days, but maybe this crisis will get everyone to understand that we actually need them.

Even if we had enough truck drivers, we would still be facing a wide range of shortages because of the global shortage of computer chips…

A global shortage of computer chips is causing major headaches for American manufacturers.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused the disruption of supply chains and manufacturing the world over. Manufacturers of computer chips in Asia have been especially hard hit. And that means companies that make products that rely on such chips are feeling the pinch.

As I have warned previously, the computer chip shortage is causing massive headaches for thousands of other industries.

We should have never become so dependent on chip production from Asia, and now we are paying a great price.

Yesterday, I discussed the fact that Kamala Harris is warning parents to buy their Christmas presents now because of the severe shortages that are looming on the horizon.

On Fox News, contributor Leo Terrell said that this “sounds like a very dangerous warning sign”…

Fox News contributor Leo Terrell expressed concern on “Fox & Friends” Tuesday that Democrats are aiming to shut down the U.S. economy again after Vice President Kamala Harris advised shoppers to consider buying Christmas presents now due to global supply chain issues.

LEO TERRELL: That scares me because that sounds like shutdown, that sounds like we’re going to expect that the economy is going to basically be locked down again. And that’s frightening. Again, the Democrats have used the pandemic to control Americans. And basically that sounds like a very dangerous warning sign.

Yes, I would definitely categorize her statement as a “warning sign”.

This is not going to be a “normal” holiday season.

And 2022 will definitely not be “normal” either.

We have moved into crazy times, and they are only going to get crazier.

A lot of people didn’t want to listen to warnings from people like me at first, but now seeing empty shelves and shortages is starting to wake some of them up.

Our economic infrastructure is being shaken, and many are starting to realize that the “invincible” U.S. economy is not actually so invincible after all.

***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 others 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) By purchasing the books you help to support the work that my wife and I are doing, and by giving it to others you help to multiply the impact that we are having on people all over the globe. 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. During these very challenging times, people will need hope more than ever before, and it is our goal to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with as many people as we possibly can.

+ More