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3 New Polls Show That They Are Going To Need To Cart Out Much Bigger Doses Of “Hopium”

The mood of the nation has dramatically changed.  Survey after survey has shown that Americans are much less optimistic than they were during the first half of 2021, and that could have enormous implications for the economy as we roll through the second half of this calendar year.  When consumers are pessimistic about the future, they tend to hold on to their money more tightly, and they also tend to allocate money to different priorities.  Earlier this year, so many pundits were telling us that a new golden era of prosperity was ahead because the worst of the pandemic was behind us and Joe Biden was now in the White House.  But now the Delta variant is causing another wave of mass panic, and an increasing number of Americans are losing faith in the Biden administration.  Needless to say, the honeymoon is over, and Americans are not pleased with what they see as they peer into a very bleak future.

Let me start by discussing the Gallup survey that just came out.  In June, Americans overwhelmingly thought that the worst of the pandemic was in the past, but now the numbers have completely changed…

In a dramatic shift from last month, more Americans now say the coronavirus situation in the U.S. is getting worse (45%) rather than better (40%). In June, a record 89% said the situation was getting better, while only 3% said it was getting worse.

I can’t remember the last time I saw poll numbers move that much in such a short period of time.

The Gallup survey also found that a whopping 42 percent of all Americans anticipate that “societal disruptions related to COVID-19” will continue to be around beyond the beginning of the new year…

Americans now expect societal disruptions related to COVID-19 to persist at least through the end of the year, or longer. Whereas in June, nearly half of Americans expected COVID-related disruptions in society to last only a few more weeks or months, now just 17% believe they will end by then.

Instead, 41% expect the COVID-19 disruptions to persist through the end of the year, and 42% — up from 17% in June — believe they will stretch into 2022.

Joe Biden’s job approval rating is also shifting quite rapidly.

In fact, a different survey just found that Biden’s approval rating has dropped a total of 10 points since June…

President Biden and Congress’s job approval are taking a hit amid a resurgence of the coronavirus.

A Harvard CAPS-Harris Poll survey released Monday found Biden’s approval dropping to 52 percent. He may still be above water — only 43 percent of respondents disapprove of the job he’s doing in the Oval Office — but he’s down 10 points from where he was in June, when his approval was at 62 percent.

Without a doubt, this has not been a good summer for the Biden administration.

If Biden keeps fumbling the football over and over, it won’t be too long before his net approval rating turns negative.

A third survey that I wanted to mention recently found that the percentage of Americans that are “pessimistic about the direction of the country” has risen by 19 points since May 2nd…

As President Joe Biden completed 100 days in office, the country was optimistic about the coming year, but now, just after hitting the six-month mark, Americans’ optimism about the direction of the country has plummeted nearly 20 points, a new ABC News/Ipsos poll finds.

A majority — 55% — of the public say they are pessimistic about the direction of the country, a marked change from the roughly one-third (36%) that said the same in an ABC News/Ipsos poll published May 2.

That is a 19 percent shift in just 3 months!

Have we ever seen a “direction of the country” poll move that much in three months?

I don’t know, but this certainly is not good news for the Democrats.  When Americans are in a bad mood, they tend to gravitate toward the party that is currently out of power.

Of course one of the biggest reasons why Americans are in such a sour mood these days is all of the new restrictions that are currently being implemented around the nation.

For example, we just learned that Louisiana Governor Bel Edwards has decided to institute a statewide mask mandate…

Today, Gov. John Bel Edwards has temporarily reinstated Louisiana’s statewide mask mandate indoors for all people age five and older as COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations continue to rise across Louisiana, threatening the ability of Louisiana’s hospitals to deliver care during this fourth surge of COVID. Louisiana is currently in the worst surge of the COVID-19 pandemic so far in terms of case growth rate, percent positivity and hospitalizations.

In recent days, our corporate news outlets have been packed full of stories about the Delta variant.  On Monday, the country was shocked by news that U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham has tested positive even though he has been “fully vaccinated”…

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Monday that he had tested positive for the coronavirus, even though he was fully vaccinated.

“I was just informed by the House physician I have tested positive for COVID-19 even after being vaccinated,” he said.

This wasn’t supposed to happen.

And it turns out that lots of “fully vaccinated” people have been catching the virus lately…

Fourteen of 24 vaccinated friends who visited the Cape Cod town of Provincetown, Massachusetts, in July caught COVID-19, Bloomberg reported on Sunday.

Millions of people raced out to get vaccines because they were promised immunity, but now the CDC is releasing new numbers that are deeply upsetting lots of Americans…

In a study released on Friday, the CDC tracked 469 cases among Massachusetts residents who visited the town.

They found that 74% of those were fully vaccinated. An overwhelming majority of the cases were caused by the Delta variant, the study reported.

Let us hope that the number of new cases starts to fade, because this latest wave of the pandemic is causing a tremendous amount of fear and panic right now.

And the more fear and panic that we see, the less optimistic Americans are going to be about the road ahead.

Of course even if this pandemic disappeared tomorrow, there would still be a great deal for Americans to be concerned about as we roll into the next stages of “the perfect storm”.

I know that most Americans just want life to “return to normal”, but the truth is that the past couple of years have changed the U.S. and nations all over the globe on a permanent basis.

The troubles of 2020 and 2021 should have brought us together, but instead they just keep tearing us apart.

Meanwhile, we continue to see national governments around the planet move in an authoritarian direction, and that is a deeply, deeply alarming trend.

***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.

Paying Attention Yet? Here Are 10 Plagues That Our World Has Had To Deal With So Far This Summer…

This is a summer that none of us will ever forget.  There has been one apocalyptic disaster after another, and we haven’t even reached the halfway point yet.  At the same time that historic flooding has been absolutely devastating parts of Europe and China, unprecedented heat, drought and wildfires have been hitting portions of North and South America extremely hard.  On top of all that, countless numbers of birds are suddenly dropping dead, hundreds of millions of sea creatures have been wiped out, the COVID pandemic is experiencing a major resurgence and we are starting to see famine break out in parts of Africa.

What’s next?  Should we be expecting a plague of grasshoppers to be unleashed soon?

Actually, that has already happened, and I’ve included it in this article too.

The following are 10 plagues that our world has had to deal with so far this summer…

#1 Historic Flooding In Western Europe

Just 10 days after record flooding killed 37 people in western Europe, Belgium was hit by a flood that was so powerful that it literally picked up vehicles and carried them along like little toys…

In Dinant, within Belgium’s Walloon region, a two-hour thunderstorm turned streets into torrential rivers. Footage on social media showed cars and pavements being swept away by a powerful stream of rainwater.

“I have been living in Dinant for 57 years and I’ve never seen anything like this,” Richard Fournaux, the town’s former mayor, told the AP news agency.

#2 “Once-In-A-Thousand-Year” Flooding In China

Last week, more than a million people were forced from their homes by flooding in China that was so extreme that it is only supposed to happen one time in a thousand years…

Starting last Tuesday, storms dropped the equivalent of one year’s worth of water on the city in a 72 hour period before moving northward, flooding large swathes of Henan province in China. Authorities say the rains have displaced more than a million people and at least 63 people dead in what should have been – in theory – once-in-a-thousand-year floods.

#3 Countless Numbers Of Birds Are Dropping Dead

This is something that I have written about before.  Thousands upon thousands of birds are suddenly dropping dead in the eastern half of the United States, and authorities still don’t understand why this is happening…

Thousands of cases of mysteriously ill songbirds have now been reported in at least 10 Eastern and Midwestern states. Scientists from federal and state agencies and wildlife health centers are collaborating diligently to determine the cause, and perhaps find a treatment for what has so far proved to be an untreatable malady.

Hopefully scientists will be able to figure out what is causing this, because once a bird catches the disease death can come very, very rapidly…

Death seems to descend quickly once birds start showing obvious neurological symptoms, says Evans. A neighbor brought him a sick crow and “literally within minutes, it had gone between being living and standing on the street and looking normal but acting confused, to a dead bird in a box.” Other accounts from wildlife centers tell of birds deteriorating and dying within 48 hours.

#4 A Billion Dead Sea Creatures

A few weeks ago, we witnessed the worst heatwave that the Northwest has ever experienced.

Personally, I know how bad that it was, because I was right in the middle of it.

CBS News Meteorologist Jeff Berardelli explained that there was only a “1/10,000+ chance” that a heatwave of this magnitude could happen in the region, and it ended up killing at least a billion sea creatures…

More than 1 billion marine animals along Canada’s Pacific coast are likely to have died from last week’s record heatwave, experts warn, highlighting the vulnerability of ecosystems unaccustomed to extreme temperatures.

The “heat dome” that settled over western Canada and the north-western US for five days pushed temperatures in communities along the coast to 40C (104F) – shattering longstanding records and offering little respite for days.

#5 Megadrought

The western half of the United States is in the midst of a multi-year “megadrought”, and 2021 has been the worst year of that “megadrought” so far by a very wide margin.

As I discussed the other day, about 20 percent of the West was considered to be experiencing “severe drought” at this time in 2020, but today that number is up to 80 percent.

In California, conditions have been so dry and water levels have gotten so low that the drinking water is literally starting to taste like dirt…

Something is off about Sacramento’s water. It smells and tastes a little “earthy,” residents are saying — an effect of compounding climate change crises: extreme heat, little to no precipitation and a historic drought that has gripped the region for the better part of a decade.

Up and down the state of California, rivers, streams and reservoirs are drying up. In Sacramento, that has led to an increase in the concentration of geosmin in its drinking water, one of two organic compounds that give soil its characteristic smell.

#6 A Plague Of Grasshoppers?

The extremely hot and extremely dry conditions in the western half of the country have created ideal conditions for grasshoppers to multiply.

Now millions of these voracious little creatures are gobbling up fields everywhere they go, and the National Weather Service is telling us that some of the grasshopper swarms are so massive that they are actually showing up on radar…

The National Weather Service (NWS) Glasgow says the radar is lighting up, but not with rain.

Instead, the radar is picking up “countless” grasshoppers in the area according to a post from the NWS.

The grasshoppers are flying as high as 10,000 feet above the ground and are being picked up by the radar the NWS said.

#7 Crop Losses

Severe drought in hitting agricultural production really hard in many parts of the globe right now.

I discussed what we are witnessing in the U.S. in this article, and down in Brazil authorities are openly warning that the crop losses this year are going to be “historic”…

“It is going to be a historic crop loss,” Daniele Siqueira from local consultancy Agrural told Agricensus.

The second Brazilian corn crop safrinha has been severely affected by dry and warm weather during key development stages, and crop conditions worsened further in some regions that were hit by frosts for three days in the end of June.

As a result, Agrural has lowered its estimates of Brazil’s safrinha output to 59.1 million mt in early-July, 22 million mt below the initial crop potential and the new frosts could mean these estimates are dampened even further.

#8 Gigantic Wildfires

Dozens of major wildfires are raging all across the West, and they just keep making headlines day after day this summer.

In the last 24 hours, two major wildfires that were totally out of control in northern California ended up merging, and this has created an absolutely giant inferno that is threatening thousands upon thousands of homes…

Thousands of homes in Northern California are under threat from two wildfires that recently merged, as dozens of other fires continue to burn across the western United States.

Officials say more than 10,000 homes are under threat, and evacuations have been ordered around Lake Almanor, a popular resort area, after California’s largest blaze, the Dixie Fire, merged over the weekend with the Fly Fire.

#9 Mammoth Dust Storms

For years, I have been warning that Dust Bowl conditions would return to the western half of the country, and now it has happened.

Some of the dust storms that are being created are so large they can actually be seen from space, and they can be extremely dangerous for those that are driving on our roads.

For example, eight people were just killed during a series of accidents that were caused by a colossal dust storm in Utah…

Eight people — four adults and four children under 15 — were killed in a multiple-vehicle crash near Kanosh on Sunday, as drivers were blinded by a sandstorm.

The Utah Highway Patrol reported Monday that 10 people were taken to local hospitals Sunday after the series of crashes, which involved 22 vehicles.

The dust stoms in China can be even worse.

In fact, the city of Dunhuang was just hit by a dust storm that was more than 300 feet tall…

A Chinese city is engulfed by a gigantic wall of sand hundreds of feet high in footage straight out of a disaster movie.

A video shows the city of Dunhuang vanishing between the more than 300 feet wall of sand that blew in from the Gobi Desert on Sunday.

The apocalyptic scene was filmed by a resident who shared the scary clip on Twitter.

#10 The Delta Variant

We were dealing with COVID at this time last year too, but now the pandemic is making a major resurgence thanks to the Delta variant.

Many people don’t realize this, but scientists are telling us that those that catch the Delta variant can have viral loads that are more than 1,000 times higher than those that had the original strain…

In a preprint posted 12 July, the researchers report that virus was first detectable in people with the Delta variant four days after exposure, compared with an average of six days among people with the original strain, suggesting that Delta replicates much faster. Individuals infected with Delta also had viral loads up to 1,260 times higher than those in people infected with the original strain.

The COVID pandemic and everything associated with it has already killed millions, and now authorities are threatening us with more lockdowns and more mandates.

And on top of everything else, studies continue to show that any “immunity” is very temporary.  Here is another example that I came across just a little while ago…

Antibodies triggered by Sinovac Biotech’s COVID-19 vaccine decline below a key threshold from around six months after a second dose for most recipients, although a third shot could have a strong boosting effect, according to a lab study.

Chinese researchers reported the findings from a study of blood samples from healthy adults aged between 18-59 in a paper published on Sunday, which has not been peer reviewed.

This is quite a list, and we still have more than half of the summer still to go.

Before I end this article, there is one more thing that I wanted to mention.  Famine is now erupting in parts of Africa, and things are particularly bad on the island of Madagascar…

The southern part of the island nation of Madagascar, off the east coast of Africa, is experiencing its worst drought in four decades, with the World Food Program (WFP) warning recently that 1.14 million people are food-insecure and 400,000 people are headed for famine. Hunger is already driving people to eat raw cactus, wild leaves and locusts, a food source of last resort. The WFP, which is on the ground helping with food distribution, describes scenes of unimaginable suffering, with families bartering everything they have—even cooking pots and spoons—for the paltry tomatoes, scrawny chickens and few bags of rice still available in the markets.

So why are so many apocalyptic events suddenly happening all over the globe?

Is it just a coincidence?

That is what some people think.

But I would suggest that it is time for all of us to start paying attention, because our world is being shaken like never before, and what we have experienced so far is just the tip of the iceberg.

For decades, we have grown accustomed to living our lives in an environment of great stability, but now everything is changing.

Everything that can be shaken will be shaken, and 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 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.

Elderly Americans Are Increasingly Being Targeted As Violent Crime Soars To Crazy Levels In Major U.S. Cities

Those that prey on elderly people just because they are easy targets should be deeply ashamed of themselves.  Unfortunately, we live at a time when violent criminals are roaming the streets of our major cities in packs, and many of them seem to have no sense of honor at all.  Women are being attacked, children are being attacked, and those that are advanced in age are often specifically targeted.  Reading that may make your blood boil, but they don’t care what you think.  Many of these criminals don’t have respect for anyone or anything, and a lot of them have hearts that are as cold as ice.

Let me give you an example of what I am talking about.  A 68-year-old man in Brooklyn was beaten to a pulp and had his skull stomped on just because his much younger attacker wanted to rob him…

A Brooklyn man has been seen pummeling a 68-year-old victim and stomping on his skull, before going through his pocket as he lay unconscious on the street in a shocking daylight, as the New York City crime wave continues.

In a disturbing video released by the New York Police Department, shows a black man wearing a hoodie and a blue disposable face mask launching the vicious attack at 9am on Saturday morning in the East New York neighborhood.

Even more disgusting is when a group of criminals decides to gang up and physically attack an elderly victim.  Last week, a 61-year-old woman in Harlem was violently assaulted by one man and three women…

The incident occurred at about 8:18 p.m. local time on Tuesday in Harlem at the corner of 8th Avenue and West 151st Street, police said. The altercation began with a verbal disagreement that police said the group started with the 61-year-old woman as she was standing at the corner. The incident quickly escalated and became physical.

The group, composed of three women and one man, began kicking and punching the victim, who was tackled to the sidewalk by one of the attackers. The individual who fell to the ground with the victim, a woman seen in the video wearing a yellow T-shirt and light blue pants, continued striking her as the others beat her while standing.

When I was growing up, it was very rare for women to commit violent crimes.

But since then something has dramatically changed in our society, because now we often see gangs of crazed young women commit violent crimes collectively.

And sometimes the packs of violent criminals are so large that they can’t be accurately counted.  On Friday, a 44-year-old off-duty New York City firefighter was viciously attacked by “at least 100 kids”…

The 44-year-old victim said he was strolling with his 3-year-old Labradoodle Dylan in Juniper Valley Park in Middle Village at around 9:55 p.m. Friday when he was suddenly targeted by the mob.

“There were at least 100 kids … I was walking my dog. They just picked me out and approached me,” the still-shaken victim, who asked to remain anonymous, told The Post Saturday afternoon.

Thankfully an ambulance was nearby, because otherwise he may not have survived that encounter…

The victim continued: “They didn’t care at all. The kids were going crazy. They were as high as a kite. I got hit, turned around, that’s when the kids started coming at me …. Then I was on the floor, holding one kid and an ambulance pulled up. They were waiting by the park … If they weren’t there I would have been in much worse condition.”

This is what our country has become.

Large packs of violent criminals are just randomly assaulting people in the streets.

The police are supposed to protect us, but way too often they are getting attacked too…

Aurora police said the officer was struck repeatedly in the head and body during the June 21 attack before he was strangled by a female passenger to the point where the officer lost the “ability to breathe.”

Following an investigation into the incident, the three suspects, Jennifer Taylor, 24, of Chicago; Sheba Taylor, 26, of Aurora; and Paul Sherrod, 28, of Aurora, were indicted by a grand jury last week and charged with attempted first-degree murder, aggravated battery, and aggravated assault, police said.

The numbers that are coming in from all over the nation are simply appalling.

In Philadelphia, the murder rate is up 35 percent so far this year, and at this point Philly has “the highest murder rate in the country per capita of the country’s 10 largest cities”…

As of Thursday, the number of homicide victims in Philadelphia this year is up to at least 314 people. That’s up 35% from this time last year.

Philadelphia now has the highest murder rate in the country per capita of the country’s 10 largest cities.

It was going to take a special effort to top Chicago, but Philly has done it.

Of course violence is surging everywhere.  According to Zero Hedge, the number of mass shootings in this country so far this year is up by a total of 21 percent…

To date, the number of mass shootings in the U.S. is 21% higher than the same period in 2020 (Jan.1 – July 20), which is 30% higher than the previous high, according to nonprofit research group Gun Violence Archive (GVA).

GVA’s data so far shows the U.S. has recorded 375 mass shootings in 41 different states (and Washington D.C.) in the first 200 days of 2021. Putting that in perspective, the country had 310 by this date last year.

Most mass shootings barely make a blip in the news before the next one comes along.

We are now known around the globe for the blood that runs in our streets, and our leaders seem powerless to do anything about it.

Of course our problems extend well beyond violent criminals.  As Business Insider recently noted, it seems like a significant portion of the general population is in a constant state of anger these days…

Violence on airplanes is spiking. Retail and fast-food workers say they’re being harassed and assaulted. And small business owners report experiencing frustrated customers whose patience has evaporated.

Have you noticed this too?

I definitely have.

This is one of the reasons why I just like to stay up in the mountains most of the time.

According to a psychiatrist from Harvard Medical School, the pressure that has been building up in our society is causing a lot of people to finally crack…

All of this behavior is the result of a year and a half of fear and anxiety, according to Luana Marques, an associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.

“We’ve been skating thin ice in the past year, and if the weight [becomes] too much, the ice cracks. I think that’s what we’re seeing,” she said.

If things are this bad already, what is our society going to look like when economic conditions become extremely harsh for an extended period of time?

For a couple of months after Biden was inaugurated, most Americans were feeling pretty good about the future, but now that is changing in a major way.

In fact, ABC News discovered that the percentage of Americans that are feeling pessimistic about the direction of the country rose by nearly 20 points since their last poll…

A majority — 55% — of the public say they are pessimistic about the direction of the country, a marked change from the roughly one-third (36%) that said the same in an ABC News/Ipsos poll published May 2. In the early May survey, Americans were more optimistic than pessimistic by a 28-percentage point margin. Optimism is now under water by 10 points. Looking ahead to the next 12 months, fewer than half — 45% — now report feeling optimistic about the way things are going, a significant drop from about two-thirds (64%) in the May poll.

Of course the truth is that Americans should be feeling pessimistic, because things are only going to go downhill from here.

So if you think that the violence in our major cities is bad now, just wait, because much worse is coming.

***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.

What Will This New Wave Of Lockdowns Do To The Global Economy?

For a few months a lot of people were convinced that humanity’s efforts to defeat COVID were being successful, and many believed that the pandemic would soon be behind us for good.  But now the “Delta variant” is spreading like wildfire all over the globe, and this is prompting national governments around the world to institute a new wave of restrictions and lockdowns.  Needless to say, the restrictions and lockdowns that we witnessed in 2020 were absolutely devastating for the global economy, and many areas of the planet remain economically depressed as a result.  As the “Delta variant” continues to spread, will this new wave of restrictions and lockdowns push the world economy into another major downturn during the second half of 2021?

I am extremely concerned about how some national governments are choosing to respond to this new variant.  In particular, I think that officials in Australia have gone completely nuts.  Now that a third state has implemented new restrictions, more than half of the country is currently under lockdown…

More than half of Australia’s 25 million people were under lockdown on Tuesday after a third state adopted movement curbs to rein in the highly contagious Delta variant of coronavirus.

Australia’s infections and deaths are well below other developed nations, but its use of lockdowns, prompted by a sluggish vaccination campaign, is putting pressure on the national government, with polls at their lowest in a year and just months before elections are due to be held.

Once upon a time, I used to recommend Australia as a potential relocation destination.

But I don’t think that I will ever be able to recommend Australia again after what we have witnessed during this pandemic.

Things have gotten really crazy in Japan as well.  Because they are hosting the Olympics, officials have instituted extremely strict restrictions, and this is definitely rubbing a lot of people the wrong way.

Savannah Guthrie is in Japan right now, and she says that it is like “stepping back in time”…

“They have very strict protocols here,” Savannah said. “In a way it’s like stepping back in time. At least for those of us in (the United States), at the height of the pandemic, we remember the washing of the hands, the mask-wearing, all of that. It’s just like that here. It’s really locked down here in Tokyo.”

I don’t usually use the word “paranoia” very much, but in this case I believe that it is justified.

Those that are traveling to Japan for the Olympics are being forced to be tested for COVID over and over again…

Savannah said that the protocols began before she even left the United States. International visitors to Japan have to take two coronavirus tests before they get on a plane. The first has to be taken about 96 hours before travel, the second 72 hours before.

After landing in Tokyo, visitors have to test again at the airport, and then take a daily test for the first three days in the country.

But even with such dramatic restrictions, the “Delta variant” just continues to spread, and the head of the Tokyo games is openly admitting that he is “prepared to discuss a last-minute cancellation” of the Olympics…

As Games-linked Covid cases continue to rise in a city rising in indignation at the Olympics taking place, Tokyo 2020 chief Toshiro Muto said he was prepared to discuss a last-minute cancellation.

Isn’t that insane?

According to Muto, officials are watching the number of new cases in Japan very carefully…

“We can’t predict what will happen with the number of coronavirus cases. So we will continue discussions if there is a spike in cases.

“We have agreed that based on the coronavirus situation, we will convene five-party talks again.

“At this point, the coronavirus cases may rise or fall, so we will think about what we should do when the situation arises.”

Over in France, the implementation of new “health pass” rules is creating a giant uproar…

From July 21st, health passes are required to enter public cultural and leisure venues that welcome 50 people or more. This applies to venues such as theatres, cinemas, libraries, theme parks, concert halls, festivals, museums and monuments, and takes effect ahead of a wider extension of the health pass rules from August 1st.

From now on, those that have not been vaccinated will be relegated to second class status in France, but the truth is that “fully vaccinated” people are catching the “Delta variant” too.

In fact, a “fully vaccinated” White House official and a “fully vaccinated” aide to Nancy Pelosi both just tested positive for COVID.

The “Delta variant” is taking the U.S. by storm, and Los Angeles County has become one of the epicenters of this new outbreak…

Los Angeles County is now recording more than 10,000 coronavirus cases a week — a pace not seen since March — an alarming sign of the dangers the Delta variant poses to people who have not been vaccinated and heightening pressure on health officials to reverse the trend.

A Los Angeles Times data analysis found L.A. County was recording 101 weekly coronavirus cases for every 100,000 residents, up from 12 for the seven-day period that ended June 15. That means the county has surpassed the threshold to have “high” community transmission of the disease, the worst tier as defined by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Mask mandates are back, and that certainly will not help the California economy, but what many small business owners are deathly afraid of is another long-term lockdown…

“In general, nobody likes wearing masks – I don’t know anyone that cheers having to wear one – but if the choice is another 15 months of shutdown or wearing a mask inside, then I will be happy to wear a mask,” said Cache Bouren, owner of Haberdasher in San Jose.

“Facing the idea of another six to eight months without any real revenue coming [is] a very scary thing,” admitted Bouren, who is set to open up a new bar called Cash Only soon.

In 2020, countless small businesses in the United States shut their doors on a permanent basis, and countless others barely survived.

In fact, one recent survey found that approximately 20 percent of all the small businesses that actually survived “came frighteningly close” to shutting down for good…

One in five small business owners came frighteningly close to shuttering their business for good during the COVID-19 pandemic. A new survey polled 1,000 small business executives to analyze the impact the pandemic had on their businesses and how they’re planning to recover moving forward.

Three in four respondents agree the past year was the hardest they’ve ever had in business. Those challenges include dealing with decreased sales (46%), fewer customers (42%), and lower production (37%). Two in five small business executives had to take a pay cut to keep their companies afloat during COVID. Other areas bosses cut down on in 2020 include the cost of supplies (40%) and marketing budgets (37%).

We simply cannot afford another round of lockdowns here in the United States.

And the same thing is true for countries all over the globe that have previously experienced lockdowns.

But as the “Delta variant” continues to spread, it appears to be inevitable that more new lockdowns will continue to be rolled out.

Is this going to be the answer every time a new health crisis erupts?  Because I believe that we have now entered an “era of pestilences”, and I also believe that the health threats that are ahead of us are going to be far worse than what we have already been through.

The world economy was just getting back to some semblance of “normalcy”, and now things are starting to get completely nuts again.

This pandemic is like a nightmare that never seems to end, and the way that officials have reacted all over the world has just made things even worse.

***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.

There Have Been More Than 300 Mass Shootings In The United States So Far In 2021

Did you know that the U.S. has averaged more than one and a half mass shootings a day so far this year?  I know that sounds crazy, but it is true.  Monday will be the 200th day of the year, and according to Wikipedia there have been 327 mass shootings up to this point in 2021.  And actually the information on Wikipedia does not include all of the most recent mass shootings, and so the true number is actually a little higher.  But you can’t really blame Wikipedia, because it is extremely difficult to keep up with all of the mass shootings that are happening these days.  In fact, each one barely even makes a blip in the news before the next one happens.  We have become a nation that is filled with violence from one end to the other, and many believe that what we have experienced so far is just the beginning.

On Saturday night, headlines were made all over the nation when a baseball game between the Washington Nationals and the San Diego Padres was halted due to a mass shooting that took place right outside the ballpark…

Three people were shot outside of Saturday night’s Nationals game during the 6th inning, causing players to run off the field and fans toward the exits. According to Washington Nationals on Twitter, a shooting was reported outside of the Third Base Gate at Nationals Park.

Sadly, mass shootings are becoming way too common in D.C. these days.  Just the night before, there was a mass shooting in the city that took the life of a 6-year-old girl…

Police are pleading for information after a 6-year-old girl was killed and five others were injured in a shooting late Friday night in Washington, D.C.

The shooting took place shortly after 11 p.m. in the neighborhood of Congress Heights, according to the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia.

Not since the days of Marion Berry have we seen such extreme violence in the nation’s capital.

Carjackings in D.C. are up a whopping 74 percent so far this year, and the police union is admitting that the city has become a place where “violent crime permeates everything”…

The police union, however, heaped blame on the ‘elected officials’ who they said allowed DC to become lawless.

‘Welcome to Washington, D.C. Where violent crime permeates everything,’ they tweeted on Sunday morning.

‘It is a tragedy that elected officials won’t let us do our jobs.’

Mass shootings are becoming increasingly common in other large cities as well.  For example, Portland is rapidly becoming one of America’s most violent cities, and over the weekend there was a tragic mass shooting in the city in which eight people were shot…

On Saturday, July 17, 2021 at 2:10 a.m., Central Precinct officers responded to a report of multiple people shot in the 300 block of Southwest 3rd Avenue. When officers arrived they found many people injured. The officers initiated lifesaving measures and secured the scene for paramedics to respond. So far 8 patients have been located and transported to the hospital by ambulance. At least one is considered life threatening. There appeared to be both male and female adults hit by bullets.

The suspect or suspects left the scene before police were called and no one has been arrested. No suspect descriptions are being released at this time.

Portland was once such a beautiful place.

What in the world has happened to that city?

Of course Portland still has a long way to go before it gets as bad as Chicago.

On Saturday night, there was a mass shooting in Chicago that resulted in four children being hit…

Four children were among six people shot and wounded Saturday night in a drive-by shooting that targeted a group mingling outside a house party in Chicago, police said.

The shooting happened about 11:40 p.m. in the Austin neighborhood on the city’s West Side, according to the Chicago Police Department.

It should break all of our hearts when we hear of innocent young children getting shot.

In the old days, criminals had higher standards than this.  In most cases, they would at least wait until there were no children present to start shooting at their enemies.

But these days, hearts are so cold that people will start shooting whether children are around or not.

In fact, some gang members are so twisted that they actually relish the thought of taking down the children of their rivals.

At this point, I don’t know why anyone would still want to live in Chicago, because a drive by shooting could literally occur at any moment.  Here is an example that happened just last Wednesday…

Autry Phillips runs a community outreach center on a block in Gresham where people like to gather on the street and catch up with each other.

“It’s a good thing to do,” Phillips said. “We want people hanging out on our block.”

And that’s what people were doing Wednesday, standing and talking near a food mart at 79th and Justine streets when a silver car pulled out from an alley and three gunman opened fire shortly after noon.

And that wasn’t even the first mass shooting in the city that day.  A few hours earlier, a shooter gunned down four women and a man…

Hours earlier, four women and a man were shot in West Garfield Park on the West Side. As in Gresham, they were gathered on a sidewalk in the 4600 block of West Monroe Street when someone approached with a gun and shot them shortly after midnight, police said.

Once upon a time, a mass shooting like that would make headlines all across America.

But these days they are so common that each one barely gets noticed.

In order to make headlines these days, a mass shooting has to have an unusual element to it.  If the shooting that just happened in D.C. had not stopped a baseball game, it probably wouldn’t have gotten much notice at all.

If we are seeing this much violence now, what will this country look like once economic conditions become extremely harsh for an extended period of time?

The fabric of our society is literally being ripped to shreds all around us, and we are headed for a very, very painful future.

***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.

Now They Are Saying That The Republican Party Is The #1 “National Security Threat To The United States Of America”

When one major political party starts labeling the other major political party as a “national security threat”, that should set off major alarm bells because that means that total tyranny is very near.  Needless to say, Democrats and Republicans have always had bitter words for one another, but when you start calling the other side a “national security threat” that is taking things to an entirely different level.  Al-Qaeda was a “national security threat”, and so we invaded Afghanistan.  ISIS was a “national security threat”, and so we bombed them into oblivion.  The full weight of U.S. power is often used to “neutralize” national security threats, and so when a former Department of Homeland Security official went on MSNBC and said that the Republican Party is now a more serious national security threat than either Al-Qaeda or ISIS, that sent chills down the spines of a whole lot of people…

Miles Taylor, a former Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official, made the comment during a Thursday interview on MSNBC’s “The Reid Out.”

“I’ve spent my whole career not as a political operative. I’ve never worked on a campaign in my life other than campaigning against Trump. I’m a national security guy. I’ve worked in national security against ISIS, al Qaeda and Russia,” Taylor said.

“And the No. 1 national security threat I’ve ever seen in my life to this country’s democracy is the party that I’m in — the Republican Party. It is the No. 1 security national security threat to the United States of America,” he said.

I couldn’t believe that he actually said that.

In the past, members of the Biden administration have labeled certain political subgroups as national security threats, but now Miles Taylor is saying that the entire Republican Party is the number one national security threat that our nation is facing.

Just think about what that means.

When we would capture a member of Al-Qaeda or ISIS, we would ship them off to Guantanamo Bay and torture them for months or even years.

I always spoke out against such torture, because it was morally wrong.

And I knew that eventually the same tactics would be used against Americans.

With each passing day, the U.S. is getting closer and closer to becoming an authoritarian regime.  On Friday, we learned that the Biden administration has been regularly working with social media companies to censor the speech of people that are concerned about the safety of the COVID vaccines…

President Biden on Friday accused Facebook of “killing people,” just after White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the Biden administration is “in regular touch” with the platform to ensure correct “narratives” are promoted — elaborating on her Thursday admission that the White House is “flagging problematic posts” for the social media giant to censor.

Social media companies are private entities, and so they can theoretically argue that they have the right to determine what is allowed to be posted on their platforms.

But when the federal government colludes with social media companies to censor speech, that is a crystal clear violation of our First Amendment rights.

As Glenn Greenwald has noted, if you support the Biden administration’s attempts to censor speech on social media platforms, that also makes you an authoritarian…

In an eight-tweet thread posted Thursday afternoon, Greenwald said this idea that a president’s administration can remove content it deems ‘problematic’ is dangerous.

‘If you don’t find it deeply disturbing that the White House is “flagging” internet content that they deem “problematic” to their Facebook allies for removal, then you are definitionally an authoritarian. No other information is needed about you to know that,’ Greenwald tweeted.

Not only is the Biden administration actively involved in censoring speech, they are also specifically demonizing 12 particular individuals that the Biden administration claims are responsible for “65% of anti-vaccine misinformation on social media platforms”…

The White House turned up the pressure on Silicon Valley to get a handle on vaccine misinformation Thursday, specifically singling out 12 people one group dubbed the “disinformation dozen,” saying they were responsible for a great deal of misinformation about Covid-19.

“There’s about 12 people who are producing 65% of anti-vaccine misinformation on social media platforms,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Thursday.

At this point, freedom of speech is virtually a dead right in the United States of America, and that means that all of our other rights are in danger of being completely stripped away as well.

Because once freedom of speech is gone, the government will be free to take away the rest of our rights at their leisure.

Never before in U.S. history have we seen such a massive attempt by one side of the political spectrum to silence the speech of the other side of the political spectrum.

And ultimately, they won’t just be satisfied with shutting people up.  In fact, there are some activists that are already wishing death upon their political opponents…

“Let them die,” Fairfax County NAACP First Vice President Michelle Leete said about people against her leftist ideology during a speech to protesters at Luther Jackson Middle School Thursday evening.

Parents and concerned citizens had gathered in Fairfax, Virginia, prior to a school board meeting to protest Fairfax County Public Schools teaching Critical Race Theory (CRT), while others had come to support CRT and the LGBT agenda in schools. It was the final meeting before the school board’s summer break.

There is so much hatred on both sides of the political spectrum right now, and that makes me extremely sad.

As I discuss in my brand new book entitled “7 Year Apocalypse”, we are moving into a very troubled chapter in American history, and we are doing so at a time when most people are absolutely filled with rage.

Everywhere you look, people are extremely angry.  Our nation has become a tinderbox that can literally erupt in flames at any moment, and we have seen quite a few examples of this over the past year.

We used to be such a civilized country.

What in the world has happened to us?

Freedom is such a precious thing.  Previous generations of Americans sacrificed so much to win it for us, and now we are on the verge of losing it for good.

***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.

Plague Of Biblical Proportions: A Billion Sea Creatures Have Been Cooked To Death By The Blazing Heat

Did you know that a billion sea creatures were just wiped out on the west coast?  And they did not die pleasantly.  The historic “heat dome” that hit the Northwest like a freight train literally cooked them to death.  Needless to say, this is not normal.  In fact, we have never, ever seen anything like this before.  Weather patterns all over the planet are going absolutely nuts, and this is having a devastating impact on many highly vulnerable ecosystems.

I knew that the recent heat wave was really bad, but I didn’t know that it had caused this much destruction.  According to NPR, it is being estimated that the record high temperatures along the west coast killed at least a billion sea creatures…

With the Pacific region hitting record-setting temperatures in the last few weeks, a new study from Canada shows the heat waves’ enormous impact on marine life: An estimated 1 billion sea creatures on the coast of Vancouver have died as a result of the heat, a researcher said.

It is hard for me to wrap my mind around a billion sudden deaths.

Why isn’t the corporate media making a much bigger deal about this?

Can’t they take a break from obsessing over the latest political scandals for just a little bit so that they can report on the things that really matter?

A billion deaths is an unimaginable loss, but Professor Christopher Harley says that the true death toll is probably even higher than that…

But that number is likely to be much higher, said professor Christopher Harley from the University of British Columbia.

“I’ve been working in the Pacific Northwest for most of the past 25 years, and I have not seen anything like this here,” he said. “This is far more extensive than anything I’ve ever seen.”

Harley is comparing a mussel trapped on the beach to “a toddler left in a car on a hot day”.  When the record heat came along, there was nothing that the mussels could do…

“A mussel on the shore in some ways is like a toddler left in a car on a hot day,” Harley told the CBC. “They are stuck there until the parent comes back, or in this case, the tide comes back in, and there’s very little they can do. They’re at the mercy of the environment. And on Saturday, Sunday, Monday, during the heat wave, it just got so hot that the mussels, there was nothing they could do.”

Millions upon millions of sea creatures were literally cooked to death, and the scene along the coast is nothing short of horrifying…

Dead mussels and clams coated rocks in the Pacific Northwest, their shells gaping open as if they had been boiled. Sea stars were baked to death. Sockeye salmon swam sluggishly in an overheated Washington river, prompting wildlife officials to truck them to cooler areas.

This is truly a disaster of biblical proportions.

When are people finally going to start waking up?

According to Harley, when he surveys the immense carnage along the coastline it “feels like one of those postapocalyptic movies”…

“It just feels like one of those postapocalyptic movies,” said Christopher Harley, a marine biologist at the University of British Columbia who studies the effects of climate change on coastal marine ecosystems.

Of course we have witnessed a lot of bizarre “plagues” lately, haven’t we?

Just last week, I wrote about how countless birds are suddenly dropping dead from a “mystery disease” in Washington D.C. and nine eastern states.

And last week I also wrote about the millions of grasshoppers that are relentlessly eating crops in seven western states.  Colossal hordes of voracious grasshoppers are on a rampage, and some of the swarms are so large that they are actually being picked up on radar.

But don’t worry.

We are being told that it is just a “coincidence” that so many bizarre things are happening all at once, and we are being assured that everything will go back to “normal” very soon.

You can believe that if you would like.

On top of everything else, now we are learning that “mosquitoes that carry West Nile virus” have been detected in six different states…

Mosquito bites are annoying at best, and, at worst, can lead to illnesses like malaria, Zika virus and West Nile virus. New reports show at least six states are detecting mosquitoes that carry West Nile virus — and humans have contracted the disease in four of these places.

And in four of those states, there have already been confirmed cases of humans testing positive for the virus…

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Arizona, Arkansas, Illinois and Iowa have confirmed cases in humans.

In New York, officials informed residents on July 2 that two groups of mosquitoes tested positive for West Nile virus in Rockland County. No humans have been reported as contracting the disease in New York.

So let me get this straight.

Mosquitoes are testing positive for West Nile virus as far east as New York and as far west as Arizona, and this is the first that we are hearing about this?

What in the world is the corporate media doing?

I just went to the front page of CNN, and I couldn’t find a single story about this.

But there were plenty of stories about how much they hate the things that Trump has been saying lately.

West Nile virus is nothing to mess around with.  If you get infected, it can result in serious illness or even death.

Sadly, instead of keeping us informed, the corporate media would rather rehash old political controversies over and over again.

Perhaps they think that is good for ratings, but the truth is that it should make us all sick to our stomachs.

A billion sea creatures have been wiped out, birds are suddenly dropping dead in vast numbers, millions of grasshoppers are eating our crops, and now mosquitoes are spreading a deadly virus all over the country.

But if you rely on corporate media outlets for your news, you might not be aware that any of these things have happened.

This is just one reason why independent news sources are needed more than ever, and I am so thankful for the faithful readers that have supported my work all these years.

***Michael’s new book entitled “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America” 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 “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America” is now available on Amazon.com.  In addition to my new book, I have written four others that are available on Amazon.com including 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, Twitter and Parler, 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 Mystery Plague That Is Killing Countless Birds In 9 States And Washington D.C. Has Gotten A Lot Worse

Large numbers of birds are dropping dead from a “mystery disease” throughout much of the eastern half of the country, and scientists still have absolutely no idea why this is happening.  They have tested the dead birds for a whole host of known illnesses, but those tests have not revealed the cause of this plague.  We are being told that a lot of the affected birds appear to develop neurological problems, and many of them go completely blind before they finally die.  The “mystery disease” has spread to more states since I first wrote about this plague, and at this point the list of affected areas includes Washington D.C., Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, Kentucky, Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana.  If authorities are unable to find a solution, will this plague eventually spread across the entire nation?

I don’t know why the mainstream media is not giving this story more coverage, because this is quickly turning into a major crisis.

The following comes directly from a statement that was posted late last week on the official website of the USGS…

In late May, wildlife managers in Washington D.C., Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and Kentucky began receiving reports of sick and dying birds with eye swelling and crusty discharge, as well as neurological signs. More recently, additional reports have been received from Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana. While the majority of affected birds are reported to be fledgling common grackles, blue jays, European starlings and American robins, other species of songbirds have been reported as well. No definitive cause(s) of illness or death have been determined at this time. No human health or domestic livestock and poultry issues have been reported.

The natural resource management agencies in the affected states and the District of Columbia, along with the National Park Service, are continuing to work with diagnostic laboratories to investigate the cause(s) of this event. Those laboratories include the USGS National Wildlife Health Center, the University of Georgia Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study, the University of Pennsylvania Wildlife Futures Program and the Indiana Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory.

With each passing day, more birds are going blind and more birds are dying.

In Virginia, an animal control professional named Jennifer Toussaint will never forget the first time that she encountered baby blue jays that had been afflicted by this mysterious illness…

Jennifer Toussaint, chief of animal control in Arlington, Virginia, can’t forget the four baby blue jays. In late May, worried residents had delivered the fledglings to her clinic just outside of Washington, D.C., within just a few hours. Each was plump, indicating “their parents had done a great job caring for them,” Toussaint says. But the birds were lethargic, unable to keep their balance, and blinded by crusty, oozing patches that had grown over their eyes.

Toussaint and her staff soon reached a gloomy diagnosis: the jays were the latest victims of a mysterious deadly disease that had emerged in their area just a few weeks earlier and had already killed countless wild birds. There was no known treatment, so they euthanized the jays. “It was difficult to feel so helpless,” Toussaint recalls.

Experts have never seen anything like this before, and they are in a race to try to find some answers.

Whatever is causing this, it appears to be affecting a wide range of species…

Several species of birds have been affected by the mystery illness, according to the University of Pennsylvania: blue jay, European starling, common grackle, American robin, northern cardinal, house finch, house sparrow, Eastern bluebird, red-bellied woodpecker, Carolina chickadee, and Carolina wren.

And at this point, the “mystery disease” appears to have spread very widely.

For example, in the state of Virginia there have been confirmed reports “in the counties and cities of Alexandria, Arlington, Clarke, Fairfax, Falls Church, Fauquier, Frederick, Loudoun, Manassas, Prince William, Shenandoah, Warren, and Winchester.”

In Indiana, cases have now been identified in 53 different counties.

So if this is something that is spreading from bird to bird, it is spreading very easily and it is spreading very rapidly.

But at this point we don’t know for sure that it is some sort of a disease, because so far all of the tests that have been done haven’t come up with much of anything….

Natural resource management agencies in all of the affected states and D.C. are working with the National Park Service to investigate this event.

So far, several infectious agents have not been detected in any of the birds that have been tested, including Salmonella and Chlamydia, avian influenza, West Nile virus and other flaviviruses, Newcastle disease virus and other paramyxoviruses, herpesviruses and poxviruses, and Trichomonas parasites.

Something other than a disease could potentially be causing this plague.

We just don’t know.

At one point it was being theorized that eating cicadas was causing these birds to become ill, but scientists appear to have ruled this theory out…

But the cicadas appear to be blameless. Birds tend to avoid eating fungus-ridden cicadas, and sick birds have been observed in areas where cicadas were rare. “It does not look like it’s a match,” says Brian Evans, a migratory bird ecologist with the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute.

So many strange things have been happening in 2021.

As I discussed yesterday, right now we are witnessing a horrifying plague of grasshoppers in the western half of the country, and at the same time we have a nightmarish plague of dead birds in the eastern half of the country.

On top of everything else, we are right in the midst of a “megadrought” which may end up becoming the worst in the entire history of our nation.

Many believe that it is just a “coincidence” that so many bad things are happening to us all at once, and perhaps they are correct.

But nobody can deny that our world has gotten a whole lot crazier over the last couple of years, and I expect quite a bit more craziness during the second half of 2021.

***Michael’s new book entitled “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America” 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 “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America” is now available on Amazon.com.  In addition to my new book, I have written four others that are available on Amazon.com including 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, Twitter and Parler, 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.

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