Money

This Is What The Early Stages Of A Severe Recession Look Like

February 25, 2024February 25, 2024 by Michael

It is definitely starting to look a lot like 2008 and 2009 again. Those years were such a painful time for our country, and in many ways we still haven’t fully recovered from the damage that was inflicted upon us during that era. Unfortunately, so many of the exact same things that we experienced back then are starting to happen in our time. For example, the Great Recession brought us the greatest foreclosure crisis in the history of our nation, and now foreclosures are really starting to spike here in 2024. In fact, the number of new foreclosure filings in the U.S. just jumped 10 percent in a single month…

Home foreclosures are on the up across the US as Americans continue to battle against soaring interest rates and rising costs.

Last month, 37,679 properties had a foreclosure filing, according to fresh figures from real estate data provider ATTOM – up 10 percent from the month prior.

According to the pundits, that wasn’t supposed to happen.

But it did.

Interestingly, Joe Biden’s home state of Delaware actually experienced the fastest increase in foreclosure filings last month.

Nevada was second, and that was due to the large number of foreclosure filings in Las Vegas…

Nevada’s position in the ranking is largely due to foreclosure filings in Las Vegas, where many people lost their jobs when tourism crashed during pandemic lockdowns.

According to ATTOM, Las Vegas had a foreclosure filing on one in every 1,923 housing units in January.

This is a really troubling sign.

When the economy is booming, Las Vegas is booming even more.

But when hard times arrive, times are even harder in Las Vegas.

So let’s watch and see if this trend continues.

Meanwhile, it is also being reported that the number of completed foreclosures in the U.S. was up 13 percent compared to the previous month.

In Michigan, the number of completed foreclosures actually shot up by “a huge 200 percent”…

Michigan saw the fastest rise in completed foreclosures – up a huge 200 percent. This was largely down to high rates of foreclosure filings in Detroit.

I remember writing articles about how some homes in Detroit were literally selling for one dollar when things were at their worst.

Has another housing crash begun?

We are certainly ripe for one. Thanks to painfully high interest rates, buying a home has become out of reach for most of the population.

Unless interest rates go down dramatically, home prices have got to fall, and that is going to cause all sorts of problems.

Of course a horrifying commercial real estate crisis is already here.

Prices have crashed all over the nation, and now many office buildings that were once worth millions of dollars are simply being torn down.

In fact, in Los Angeles there is a plan to tear down a very large office building in order to build just 30 EV charging stations…

This is absolutely crazy…

An owner of an office building in LA is seeking approval to tear down the building and construct 30 EV charging stations

I don’t know what’s crazier…this headline or seeing office properties drop 80-90% in just a few years

The commercial real estate recession (primarily office) has gone from scary to a meltdown in many cities across the US and it seems as though the damage is permanent

If we really are heading into a major economic slowdown, we would also expect retailers to be shutting down stores all over America, and that is precisely what we are witnessing right now.

Incredibly, even Walmart reduced the number of stores that it operates by 102 last year…

Walmart last year closed 23 stores across the US, eight of which were in Illinois, it emerged this week

Overall, its total number of stores fell by 102, from 4,717 in January 2023 to 4,615 a year later.

That’s because in addition to the 23 closures, Walmart sold a combined 79 Moosejaw and Bonobos locations after selling the two retailers.

If even Walmart sees a need to batten down the hatches, that is a really bad sign.

On top of everything else, large employers continue to conduct mass layoffs from coast to coast.

Last week, many were saddened to hear that Vice Media Group is laying off hundreds of workers as it continues to spiral toward oblivion…

Vice Media Group plans to lay off hundreds of employees and stop publishing on its flagship news website, the company’s chief executive said in a memo to employees Thursday — a stunning setback for a digital media pioneer that ascended to cultural prominence more than a decade ago.

“It is no longer cost-effective for us to distribute our digital content the way we have done previously,” Vice CEO Bruce Dixon said in the memo, which was seen by NBC News. Vice Media did not immediately respond to emails requesting comment on Thursday’s news.

Everyone knew that Vice was in dire straits, and so those layoffs are not exactly a shock.

But why has Google suddenly decided to give the axe to thousands of workers?…

Google has initiated significant layoffs across its various teams, including the Voice Assistant, hardware, engineering and ad sales teams, marking a continuation of the tech industry’s trend towards reducing workforce expenses. The layoffs have affected hundreds of employees within the Voice Assistant unit; hardware teams responsible for Pixel, Nest and Fitbit products; and a considerable portion of the augmented reality (AR) team. This move is part of Google’s broader effort to streamline operations and align resources with its most significant product priorities.

According to The Verge, the total number is in the thousands. This comes at a time when Google parent, Alphabet Inc., reported record profits in late January. The company reported $20.4 billion in net income in Q4.

Google is one of the most successful companies in the entire world, and they are swimming in cash.

If they feel the need to ruthlessly cut workers, what kind of sign is that for the rest of the economy?

Sadly, the truth is that it has become quite apparent that big trouble is ahead.

2024 is going to be such an important turning point for the economy, and it is also going to be such an important turning point for the nation as a whole.

The state of the economy will certainly be a central issue during the upcoming election season, but there are no easy answers for the problems that we are now facing.

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

About the Author: Michael Snyder’s extremely controversial new book entitled “Chaos” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com. He has also written seven other books that are available on Amazon.com including “End Times”, “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”. (#CommissionsEarned) When you purchase any of Michael’s books you help to support the work that he is doing. You can also get his articles by email as soon as he publishes them by subscribing to his Substack newsletter. Michael has published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and he always freely and happily allows others to republish those articles on their own websites. You can connect with Michael on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, and sharing his articles on your own social media accounts is definitely a great help. These are such troubled times, and people need hope. John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” If you have not already done so, we strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.

Was America Just Attacked? We Have Now Been Put On Notice That Our Communication Infrastructure Is Extremely Vulnerable

February 22, 2024 by Michael

What would we do if we suddenly couldn’t use the Internet or our phones any longer? For a lot of people, such a scenario would be unthinkable. In fact, it felt like the “world is ending” for many AT&T customers on Thursday. The disruption to AT&T’s network only lasted for a few hours, but it created quite a frenzy. If we are going to see this much panic for an outage that happens for just a few hours, what would our society look like if Internet and phone communication was down for days, weeks or even months?

Once the outage began, federal authorities moved very rapidly to determine whether it was a cyberattack or not…

Federal agencies are ‘urgently investigating’ whether the massive cellular outage that plagued Americans on Thursday was a cyberattack.

The Federal Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) are on the hunt to track down what disrupted service AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile and a dozen other cellular providers.

While the agencies have not shared details, a security expert told DailyMail.com that the outage has hallmarks of a hack.

Lee McKnight, associate professor at Syracuse University in New York, said the widespread nature appears to be ‘a massive Distributed Denial of Service (DDOS) attack on core Internet infrastructure.’

I have a feeling that they will assure the general public that it was not a cyberattack no matter what they discover.

In situations such as these, keeping everyone calm is often deemed more important than telling them the truth.

Interestingly, pharmacies all over the U.S. were also having major problems on Thursday due to a cyberattack against “one of the biggest healthcare technology companies in the nation”…

Pharmacies all over the country are experiencing delays in prescription orders due to a cyberattack on one of the biggest healthcare technology companies in the nation, Change Healthcare.

Change Healthcare first noticed the “cyber security issue” affecting its networks on Wednesday morning on the East Coast.

According to Change Healthcare, it appears that a “nation-state associated cyber security threat actor” was involved in that attack…

In a statement the firm says it had ‘identified a suspected nation-state associated cyber security threat actor had gained access to some of the Change Healthcare information technology systems.’

Are the issues at AT&T and the issues at Change Healthcare related?

I have a feeling that they are, but I certainly cannot prove that.

In any event, the truth is that we have just been put on notice.

Our communication infrastructure is extremely vulnerable, and it can be attacked at literally any moment.

Today, there are a number of foreign powers that possess very robust cyberattack capabilities.

One of them is China, and the Washington Post is reporting on a trove of leaked documents that show that the Chinese “are attempting large-scale, systematic cyber intrusions against foreign governments, companies and infrastructure”…

A trove of leaked documents from a Chinese state-linked hacking group shows that Beijing’s intelligence and military groups are attempting large-scale, systematic cyber intrusions against foreign governments, companies and infrastructure — with hackers of one company claiming to be able to target users of Microsoft, Apple and Google.

The cache — containing more than 570 files, images and chat logs — offers an unprecedented look inside the operations of one of the firms that Chinese government agencies hire for on-demand, mass data-collecting operations.

Of course I have no idea if China was involved in the incidents that we witnessed today.

But without a doubt the Chinese have some of the most advanced cyberattack capabilities in the entire world.

On Thursday, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio ominously warned about what China could do to us if a full-scale war breaks out…

‘I don’t know the cause of the AT&T outage,’ said Sen. Marco Rubio, Fla., top Republican on the Intelligence Committee.

‘But I do know it will be 100 times worse when #China launches a cyber attack on America on the eve of a #Taiwan invasion. And it won’t be just cell service they hit, it will be your power, your water and your bank,’ he went on.

He is right.

But the Russians have similar capabilities.

So do the North Koreans.

Needless to say, it isn’t just our enemies that we need to be concerned about. An article that USA Today just posted explained that there are many ways that natural disasters could cause communication disruptions “for an extended period of time”…

While cell service in the U.S. is typically fairly dependable and Thursday’s issues were limited in scope, there’s a long list of potential emergency situations when cell phones could become unreliable, according to Alyssa Provencio, professor at the University of Central Oklahoma who oversees the disaster management certificate program.

Communication issues are the norm in a disaster, not an anomaly, Provencio said. Some scenarios like snow storms, strong wind, torrential rain, fire, and tornadoes may affect a small number of people. Others, like major earthquakes, solar flares or cyberattacks, have the potential to disrupt communications for millions of people for an extended period of time.

Let’s talk about solar activity for a moment.

Because it is just a matter of time before a massive solar storm fries our communication infrastructure, and our politicians have not been preparing for such an event.

The Earth experienced a direct hit from an enormous solar storm in 1859, and if such a storm hit us today the consequences would be catastrophic…

AT&T fell victim to a solar flare in 1972 that interrupted landline services.

The storm that hit Earth was compared to the event in 1859 known as the Carrington Event, which saw the most intense geomagnetic storm in recorded history.

If such a solar storm were to happen in today’s world, the effects would be catastrophic on our communications systems.

A meteorologist shared online that a solar flare had erupted from the sun around midnight on Thursday, noting that the ‘timing is interesting.’

This is one of the reasons why many of us are watching solar activity so closely.

On Thursday, the most powerful flare of Solar Cycle 25 was unleashed, and if scientists determine that it is heading directly toward Earth we could have a major problem on our hands…

Earth-orbiting satellites have just detected an X6.3-class solar flare from sunspot AR3590 (Feb. 22 @ 2234 UT). This is the strongest flare of Solar Cycle 25, and the third X-flare the sunspot has produced in a 24 hour period. Stay tuned for updates about this explosion, especially whether or not it has hurled a CME toward Earth.

Hopefully we will not have to face such a scenario any time soon.

But USA Today says that there are some things that all of us should be doing to prepare for the day when some type of emergency does cause extended disruptions…

Cash: It’s a good idea to have cash on hand in case you can’t use mobile payment options or ATMs are down, said James Kendra, co-director of the Disaster Research Center at the University of Delaware.
Paper copies of important documents: “One of the things that I stress to everybody is to have paper copies of all of your important documents,” he also said. That means a printed out bank statement so you have all your account numbers, a printed insurance statement, phone bill and mortgage or rent documents, so that you have the numbers available you might typically go online to get.
Landline: If you don’t have a landline, you might still be able to use your cell to send SMS text messages or use Wi-Fi to send messages or make calls.
A radio: This is always a good thing to have to receive emergency updates, Provencio said, but if you don’t have one in your home, chances are you do have one in your car.

I think that having a solar-powered radio is so important.

When global events spin wildly out of control, you will want to have access to news and information.

We really are living in unprecedented times.

In all of human history, there has never been a “cyberwar”, and so we don’t know exactly what one would look like.

But it is clear that our communication infrastructure is extremely vulnerable, and what we just witnessed should definitely be a wake up call for all of us.

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

The Average U.S. Household Is Spending $1,019 More A Month Just To Buy The Same Goods And Services It Did 3 Years Ago

February 21, 2024February 21, 2024 by Michael

It seems odd to talk about 2021 as “the good old days”, but the truth is that the cost of living was far lower just three short years ago. Earlier today, I did an interview with Sam Rohrer of Stand In The Gap Today in which we discussed how food prices have gotten wildly out of control. One example that I brought up was the fact that a Big Mac “value meal” can cost up to 18 dollars in some parts of the country. There is no way that I would shell out 18 bucks for a burger, some fries and a drink at McDonald’s. But this is the economic environment that we live in today.

Has your income gone up by more than a thousand dollars a month over the past three years?

If not, you are falling behind.

According to economist Mark Zandi, the average U.S. household is now shelling out an additional $1,019 a month just to purchase the exact same goods and services that it did three years ago…

The typical U.S. household needed to pay $213 more a month in January to purchase the same goods and services it did one year ago because of still-high inflation, according to new calculations from Moody’s Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi.

Americans are paying on average $605 more each month compared with the same time two years ago and $1,019 more compared with three years ago, before the inflation crisis began.

In the old days, I actually enjoyed going to the grocery store.

But now it has become such a painful experience.

I am sure that many of you can identify with that statement.

On Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal published an article that explained that George H.W. Bush was in the White House the last time Americans were spending such a high proportion of their incomes on food…

The last time Americans spent this much of their money on food, George H.W. Bush was in office, “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” was in theaters and C+C Music Factory was rocking the Billboard charts.

Do you remember what life was like in 1991?

It was a good year for me, but it was so long ago…

According to the Wall Street Journal, Americans were spending 11.4 percent of their disposable incomes on food in 1991, and in 2022 that figure was sitting at 11.3 percent…

In 1991, U.S. consumers spent 11.4% of their disposable personal income on food, according to data from the U.S. Agriculture Department. At the time, households were still dealing with steep food-price increases following an inflationary period during the 1970s.

More than three decades later, food spending has reattained that level, USDA data shows. In 2022, consumers spent 11.3% of their disposable income on food, according to the most recent USDA data available.

I can already tell what a lot of you will be thinking when you read that.

2022 was two years ago.

Food prices have continued to soar since that time, and so how high would that number be today?

Personally, I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that Americans are now spending 15 percent of their disposable incomes on food.

But if you think that is bad, just wait until it gets into the 30 or 40 percent range eventually.

Because that is where things are heading.

Of course grocery prices are already at absurd levels. On a very popular Internet forum, one user recently complained that his grocery bill for the week has now hit $250…

$100 used to be the total, when we really stocked up or picked some extras.

Prices started climbing and we trimmed the extras, it hit $120-130.

At $150 we started bitching.

A month ago it hit $180. Hell it may have only been two weeks since we hit $180.

Today it was $250 and we didn’t even get everything.

Actually, if you can get out of the grocery store for just $250, you are doing really well.

For many others, a grocery cart full of food can run a lot higher than that.

And major companies are openly warning us that more price hikes are on the way…

Oreo maker Mondelez said in January it would continue raising prices on some of its products this year, largely because of cocoa prices, which earlier in February surged past a 46-year record. Hershey said this month it expects more expensive cocoa to cut into the company’s profit this year. Kraft Heinz said inflation is moderating but that its costs are still higher, driven in part by pricier tomatoes and sugar.

Let’s talk about the price of cocoa for a moment.

Global supplies of cocoa have gotten very, very tight, and we are being warned that the price of cocoa “could reach as high as $10,000 per ton”…

The commodities analysts said some forecasts suggest the cost of cocoa in New York could reach as high as $10,000 per ton.

What’s imminent is the West African cocoa shortage will be felt across supermarkets worldwide.

If you love chocolate, you should try to hoard as much as you can while prices are still relatively low.

I am quite serious about this.

Because chocolate prices are going to accelerate quite rapidly from this point forward.

Sadly, car insurance rates are going up even faster than food prices are…

If you think your food bill is high, take a look at your car insurance.

The average cost of full coverage car insurance increased by 26% to $2,543 in 2024, up $529 from a year earlier, Medora Lee reports. That’s six times faster than overall inflation and more than any food item at the grocery store, including eggs, over the past three years.

I honestly don’t understand how most people can afford to pay such exorbitant rates.

Just making it from month to month has become such a struggle for tens of millions of Americans.

Needless to say, things are particularly rough for young people that are just starting out in life.

A video in which one young woman complains about how oppressive the cost of living is has already been viewed more than 18 million times…

“Why is it that I have to work 40 hours a week just so I can have a place to live?”

A young woman’s TikTok video, in which she makes a now familiar complaint about young people having to spend most of their time working for just a sliver of free time which they then have barely enough money to enjoy, is now going viral.

“40 hours a week makes me $2,000 a month and my rent is $1,660,” the woman continued in a video that has amassed 18 million views on Twitter. “So I work 40 hours a week so I can have a 2 bedroom apartment and an extra $300 a month that doesn’t cover my phone or my internet or food.”

She doesn’t have the time, energy, or cash to enjoy her life outside of work pic.twitter.com/9hFWMnngho

— wilder😎🇺🇸 (@wilderpatriot) February 1, 2024

She feels trapped, and I can totally get that.

But what she doesn’t understand is that what she is going through right now is the direct result of literally decades of incredibly bad decisions.

Of course many of our politicians want to strangle our economy even more. For example, Barbara Lee actually wants to increase the minimum wage to 50 dollars an hour…

Despite liberal media cheerleading and Biden’s assurances of a strong economy, Americans feel much different. Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA), a U.S. Senate candidate, complained in a recent debate about the “affordability crisis” in her state. She referred to a survey that showed “$127,000 for a family of four is just barely enough.” While she is right about the “affordability crisis” facing Americans, her solution is ludicrous. Lee proposes a minimum wage of $50 per hour.

Such a minimum wage would create massive unemployment as companies would lay off non-essential workers. It would also lead to higher prices for consumers and an even higher inflation rate, which has been a persistent problem during the Biden administration.

Why don’t we just raise it to 100 dollars an hour?

Then everyone would be swimming in money, right?

Unfortunately, that is not the way the real world works.

More money is not the answer, and more debt is definitely not the answer.

What we need is a productive economy that makes stuff of real value.

Getting people to consume as much as possible will not lead to anywhere good.

But getting people to produce at a high level will lead to lasting wealth.

The historic debt bubble that we have been enjoying has created an illusion of short-term prosperity, but now it has almost reached an end.

Everyone knows that a crash is coming, and that crash is going to create a tremendous amount of chaos throughout our society.

It appears that Jeff Bezos understands that things are about to change, because he has been selling off tens of millions of Amazon shares…

Jeff Bezos has been busy this month selling a massive amount of Amazon stock.

The Amazon founder and executive chairman’s sales have occurred in three separate sales and involved nearly 36 million shares to date, filings submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) showed.

The shares in the e-commerce giant were collectively worth $6.15 billion after Bezos sold them at a range of prices across six different days.

Why would he do that if he thought that bright days are ahead for the U.S. economy?

It would not make any sense at all.

Of course the truth is that very challenging economic times are in our immediate future.

I understand that things are not good for many of you right now, but it won’t be too long before economic conditions become much more harsh than they are at this moment.

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

They Thought That Going Soft On Crime Would Make Our Society Better. They Were Wrong.

February 20, 2024February 20, 2024 by Michael

The radicals that run most of our major cities thought that going soft on crime was the way to go. So they reduced police budgets, they legalized a lot of things that used to be serious crimes, they decided to stop prosecuting numerous low level offenses, and many hardcore criminals found themselves getting sent back into the streets time after time after getting arrested by the police. For example, even though the city of Chicago is experiencing a massive crime wave, the jail population in Cook County is “at the lowest level in 40 years” thanks to policies that are extremely soft on crime…

One thing Chicagoans can’t help but notice when scrolling through news feeds: the number of violent crimes committed by defendants while they were out either on parole, probation or awaiting trial.

That’s not surprising given the long-term decarceration trend in Cook County that’s left the county’s jail population at the lowest level in 40 years. Cook County Chief Judge Tim Evans started a no bail/low cash bail policy in 2017, resulting in a growing number of pretrial defendants out on bond who are then charged with new crimes, as we reported here. The state’s new SAFE-T Act has taken that policy even further. In September 2023, Illinois became the first state in the country to eliminate cash bail altogether, while the law also reduced the types of crimes for which defendants could be detained before their trial.

So how is that working out?

Has putting violent criminals back into the streets made things safer?

Of course not.

In fact, hardcore criminals that get released just keep committing even more crimes…

January 2 – A 21-year-old man shot another man in the face while on bail for one gun case and on probation for another. According to CWB, he was the “30th person accused of shooting, killing, or trying to shoot or kill someone in Chicago in 2023 while awaiting trial for a felony.”
January 7 – A 31-year-old man and former CVS employee robbed a CVS while on probation for robbing and burglarizing a CVS.
January 14 – A 19-year-old gang member shot and critically injured another man in Little Village just three months after getting probation for head-butting a Chicago cop. Prosecutors also dropped a felony gun case on the day he pleaded guilty to the battery.
January 18 – A 19-year-old man killed his girlfriend while on probation for a gun charge.
January 27 – An 18-year-old man with gang ties gunned down an airport employee while on juvenile probation for gun possession.
February 4 – A 56-year-old man killed ex-girlfriend while on parole for strangling his previous partner.
February 6 – A 32-year-old man and previous 8-time felon burglarized a restaurant while on probation for burglarizing a nail salon.
February 6 – A 16-year-old male allegedly stabbed and killed a man while on parole for attempted murder. Earlier, he was found in possession of a stolen motor vehicle while on that same parole. That case was dropped.
February 7 – A 20 year-old man was charged with ‘brutal attack’ of a woman at Chicago Union Station after being released on similar charges under cashless bail law.
February 12 – A 33-year-old tow truck driver with two counts of attempted murder after he opened fire on two competitors over a job, while on felony pretrial release.
February 13 – A 19-year-old man was caught carrying three guns on CTA less than a month after being placed on “first-time weapon offender probation” for another felony gun case.
February 14 – An 18-year-old man killed an Uber driver while on juvenile probation for robbery. He also previously served time in the juvenile justice center for carjacking in 2021.

Unless something changes, the future of Chicago is extremely bleak.

There has been a mass exodus out of the city, and businesses are shutting down at a staggering rate.

For example, we just learned that three KFC locations in Chicago are being permanently closed.

KFC abandons Chicago.

3 KFC locations join other businesses leaving due to rampant crime.

This is what happens when leftist policies destroy a state.

🤡 🌎 🚨 pic.twitter.com/yVSnDbR1Aa

— Wall Street Silver (@WallStreetSilv) February 20, 2024

It is really hard to run a profitable business in an environment of complete and utter lawlessness.

Of course similar things are happening all over the nation.

It is being projected that retail theft will be well above the 100 billion dollar mark this year, and organized gangs of thieves are especially having a good time in areas that are soft on crime.

In the Big Apple, a gang of thieves just robbed a Gucci store and were able to run off with $51,000 worth of goods in broad daylight…

Dramatic footage shows the heist unfolding in a matter of minutes at the store in the city’s ritzy Meatpacking District on Monday. Video shows one of the three thieves walk in and point a gun towards a security guard before ransacking the shelves.

The group helped themselves to the designer suitcases and bags, before stuffing them into a stack.

One of the thieves is so over encumbered he trips and falls whilst trying to make his exit.

Many Americans are choosing to avoid the stores altogether, but theft is also a major problem for those who prefer to shop online.

If you can believe it, 90,000 packages a day are stolen in New York City alone…

NYC has the highest number of package deliveries in the country. With the rise of online shopping, the number of stolen packages in the city has increased significantly. Over 90,000 packages are stolen or go missing daily, causing frustration and anger among customers. This highlights the urgent need for effective measures to combat package theft.

Package theft has become rampant in New York City, with thieves commonly called “porch pirates” targeting unattended deliveries left outside homes and apartment buildings. These criminals strike quickly, snatching packages within seconds of delivery and leaving unsuspecting residents empty-handed.

Because package thefts are not considered to be “violent crimes”, doing something about the problem is not considered to be a priority.

But somehow the NYPD is able to find the resources to promote their dance team.

The other day, a performance by that dance team on local television station PIX11 created quite an uproar…

The New York City Police Department (NYPD) is under fire for promoting its dance team as residents raise concerns over a wave of migrant-involved crime.

The NYPD dance team performed on local television station PIX11 Thursday. The team, formed in 2022, describes itself as a group “staying mentally and physically well through dance” on social media.

The team has performed at various city events and schools, according to photos shared to its Instagram page. Both community members and lawmakers criticized the team following its Thursday performance, arguing it represents misplaced priorities.

Why are they spending so much time prancing around when they should be fighting the horrible crime wave that is plaguing the city?

If you have not seen them perform yet, you can watch them right here. But I must warn you, once you have seen this video you will never be able to unsee it.

I have seen a lot of cringeworthy videos in my time, but that definitely has to be near the top of the list.

Most of us don’t want law enforcement officers to dance.

We just want them to do their jobs.

Unfortunately, there are some out there that seem to believe that we haven’t gone far enough in getting soft on crime.

In fact, during an appearance on MSNBC lawyer Ben Crump actually suggested that we should just go ahead and basically legalize all crime…

The most insane thing you have ever heard from@MSNBC

Celebrity Black activist lawyer @BenCrumpLaw
says that criminal behavior in America is just Black culture. Demands the legalization of crime.@TheRevAl and other Black racial activists all express agreement. pic.twitter.com/bfEQr0b7AU

— National Conservative (@NatCon2022) February 17, 2024

It is frightening that there are prominent people in our society that actually think this way.

And it is even more frightening that one of our largest news networks would give air time to such opinions.

If we stay on the path that we are on, the chaos in our streets will just continue to get worse and worse.

We don’t have to live this way.

Just look at El Salvador. They got really tough on crime and it worked.

We could do the same thing, but so far we have chosen not to do so.

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

This Is A Tale Of Two Americas, And Those At The Bottom Of The Economic Food Chain Are Being Hit Extremely Hard

February 19, 2024 by Michael

If you have plenty of money and you are able to shield yourself from what is happening to the tens of millions of people that are wallowing in poverty, life in America is still good in 2024. Stock prices have been hovering near record highs, and companies that cater to the rich and famous have been raking in the cash. But for most of the rest of the country, things are not going so well. Homelessness has been rising at the fastest rate we have ever seen, crime is out of control all over the nation, and large companies are laying off workers at a very frightening pace.

If you live in the version of America that is still living the high life, good for you.

But if you live in the version of America that the rest of us live in, conditions are rapidly deteriorating.

Earlier today, I came across an article in the San Francisco Standard that detailed what life is like in Oakland, California these days…

A Prius hanging out of a dumpster. Stripped-down cars. Burning trash cans. These are some of the East Oakland sights set to a new catchphrase that’s blowing up on social media: “Oakland, California, … donde la vida no vale nada.”

Even cops, government officials, firefighters and kids are repeating the catchphrase on social media and on the streets of the Town.

That catchphrase was created by a man named Gregorio Ramon.

He has posted hundreds of videos on social media that document what is happening to the city where he has his home…

It’s all because of Gregorio Ramon, who coined the saying in videos on his Instagram @oakland_california_2023 and TikTok @gregorio1976 accounts documenting crime and mayhem in the East Bay city. Since mid-2022, Ramon has been capturing footage of everything from police chases to cars on fire and the boarded-up Denny’s that closed last month due to public safety concerns.

In every video, he says, “Oakland, California, … donde la vida no vale nada, donde la cuidad nos tiene abandonados.” The phrase translates to English as, “Oakland, California, … where life is worthless, where the city has abandoned us.”

Of course the same thing could be said about our nation as a whole.

While the elite are swimming in money, homelessness in the U.S. has reached “the highest level on record” and it also has been rising at the fastest pace ever recorded. The following comes from the Wall Street Journal…

The U.S. count of homeless people surged to the highest level on record, reaching more than 653,000 people early this year as Covid-19 pandemic-aid spending faded, new federal data show.

The increase reflects a collision of factors: rising housing costs; limited affordable housing units; the opioid epidemic; and the expired pandemic-era aid that had helped keep people in their homes, federal officials said Friday. A surge of migrants into shelters in places such as New York City, Massachusetts and Chicago also contributed to the challenge.

The data released by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development show a 12% gain since last year, marking both the biggest increase and highest tally since the U.S. first published comparable data for 2007.

Homelessness didn’t even increase this fast during the Great Recession of 2008 and 2009.

On top of those that are living in the streets, millions of other Americans are living in cars, trucks, vans and RVs.

In some of our wealthiest cities, you can see such vehicles lined up on the side of the road for miles.

Areas that are right along a river or a lake are particularly popular for those living in their vehicles because that gives them easy access to water.

Of course millions of Americans that actually have homes are also living in poverty.

Today, approximately one out of every eight Americans is on food stamps.

Just think about that for a moment.

One-eighth of the entire country relies on the government for food every month.

Sadly, things are only going to get worse as economic conditions continue to deteriorate.

The cost of living just continues to become even more oppressive, and at this stage buying a decent home is out of reach for most Americans.

As a result, “mini-homes” and “tiny homes” have become extremely popular.

One 23-year-old man that recently purchased a 600 square foot one-bedroom “mini-home” from Amazon was very excited that he was able to get it “for just under $27,000”…

A man has taken people inside a house that he bought off Amazon after it was delivered to his doorstep.

Last month, Jeff Bryant, 23, of Los Angeles, decided to purchase a prefabricated, one-bedroom mini-home off the online marketplace for just under $27,000.

‘B**ch I didn’t even think twice about it, I just did it!’ he admitted in an initial TikTok video about the buy.

‘I don’t even know where I’m going to put the house!’

It certainly beats living in the streets.

But this is not what “the American Dream” is supposed to look like.

In some parts of the country, entire subdivisions of small homes are popping up…

Robert Lanter lives in a 600-square-foot house that can be traversed in five seconds and vacuumed from a single outlet. He doesn’t have a coffee table in the living room because it would obstruct the front door. When relatives come to visit, Mr. Lanter says jokingly, but only partly, they have to tour one at time.

Each of these details amounts to something bigger, for Mr. Lanter’s life and the U.S. housing market: a house under $300,000, something increasingly hard to find. That price allowed Mr. Lanter, a 63-year-old retired nurse, to buy a new single-family home in a subdivision in Redmond, Ore., about 30 minutes outside Bend, where he is from and which is, along with its surrounding area, one of Oregon’s most expensive housing markets.

Mr. Lanter’s house could easily fit on a flatbed truck, and is dwarfed by the two-story suburban homes that prevail on the blocks around him. But, in fact, there are even smaller homes in his subdivision, Cinder Butte, which was developed by a local builder called Hayden Homes. Some of his neighbors live in houses that total just 400 square feet — a 20-by-20-foot house attached to a 20-by-20-foot garage.

Much earlier in my life, I actually lived in an apartment that was about 400 square feet.

It wasn’t pleasant.

But in this economy, people are just trying to survive.

And things are not going to get any easier in 2024. In fact, CNBC is warning that large companies all over America are focusing on cutting costs this year…

Corporate America has a message for Wall Street: It’s serious about cutting costs this year.

From toy and cosmetics makers to office software sellers, executives across sectors have announced layoffs and other plans to slash expenses — even at some companies that are turning a profit. Barbie maker Mattel, PayPal, Cisco, Nike, Estée Lauder and Levi Strauss are just a few of the firms that have cut jobs in recent weeks.

Department store retailer Macy’s said it will close five of its namesake department stores and cut more than 2,300 jobs. JetBlue Airways and Spirit Airlines have offered staff buyouts, while United Airlines cut first-class meals on some of its shortest flights.

So many people are going to lose their jobs during the months ahead.

It is going to be such a difficult time, and even Citi’s chief economist is publicly admitting that it appears that the U.S. is heading into a recession this year…

The soft-landing dream is over; instead, the US economy is headed for a recession in the middle of 2024, Citi says.

“There’s this very powerful and seductive narrative around a soft landing, and we’re just not seeing it in the data,” Citi’s chief US economist, Andrew Hollenhorst, said in a CNBC interview.

He is quite right.

The numbers are telling us a very troubling story.

If you think that things are bad now, you will definitely not like what is coming.

With each passing day, more Americans are going to be falling out of the middle class.

And with each passing day, more Americans are going to be falling into poverty.

But if you are wealthy, there is still a little bit of time left to live the high life.

Unfortunately, the clock is ticking, and a day of reckoning is rapidly approaching for all of us.

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

Chaos Erupts! We Are Witnessing Riots, Protests And Civil Unrest All Over The Western World In 2024

February 18, 2024February 18, 2024 by Michael

Order is breaking down all over the western world as governments lose control of their populations. Farmers have been holding angry protests throughout Europe, enormous groups of migrants have been rioting on a regular basis, looting has become a way of life in many communities in the United States, and now truckers are calling for a historic boycott of New York City. We are witnessing very alarming explosions of anger and frustration all over the western world right now, and there are no easy answers because most of us have lost faith in those that are governing us.

I would like to start by discussing the rioting that just took place in the Netherlands. A fight between two rival groups of Eritreans resulted in a massive riot which transformed the streets of the Hague into a war zone…

A violent riot erupted on the streets of the Hague last night, as ‘migrants’ attacked cops with bricks and torched police cars.

Dozens of rioters were filmed surrounding the Opera conference hall along Fruitweg in the Netherlands, as multiple police vans drove to the scene.

Another clip also showed the aftermath. The building had several smashed windows and parked vehicles were on fire, with the street left looking like a warzone.

A fight broke out between two groups of Eritreans. ‘It got seriously out of hand,’ The Hague Municipality spokesman Robin Middel said last night.

“Seriously out of hand” is a major understatement.

It is going to take a very long time to repair the immense damage that was caused by the rioters.

Eritrean African immigrants devastate The Hague and attack Dutch police. pic.twitter.com/Ns7ygY5ICK

— RadioGenoa (@RadioGenoa) February 17, 2024

Elsewhere in Europe, there were “angry clashes between police and demonstrators” when a couple hundred thousand pro-Palestinian protesters flooded into central London on Saturday…

A video has shown angry clashes between police and demonstrators during a pro-Palestine march in central London today which is estimated to have attracted between 200,000 and 250,000 to the capital.

A total of eleven people have been arrested, including at least on suspicion of support for a proscribed organisation, with the demonstration scheduled to end near the Israeli embassy, with pictures showing police lined up in front of it, apparently to guard it.

Needless to say, such a sizable protest never would have happened 20 years ago.

But in recent times millions of migrants have been pouring into Europe, and the EU just passed a “migration pact” which will completely open the floodgates…

The EU has passed a migration pact dubbed “the suicide of Europe” which could lead to the continent being flooded with as many as 75 million new migrants.

The European Parliament’s LIBE committee passed the act on Wednesday, which formalizes the distribution of migrants to member states and punishes those that refuse to take them.

Because cultural enrichment and diversity is “our greatest strength,” countries that try to maintain their national identity without being subsumed by migrants will be hit with severe financial penalties.

Marine Le Pen, the leader of National Rally’s parliamentary wing, previously said the pact would lead to “the suicide of Europe,” adding that it was a deal with the devil and represents an “organized plan of submersion of Europe and the nations which compose it.”

Of course it isn’t just migrants that have been taking to the streets.

In recent weeks, vast numbers of farmers throughout Europe have been expressing their deep displeasure with those that are ruling over them…

Farmers are holding protests across Europe, clogging the streets with their tractors, blocking ports and pelting the European Parliament with eggs over a long list of complaints from environmental regulation to excessive red tape.

“We are no longer making a living from our profession,” one aggrieved farmer in Paris told CNN.

While some of the most dramatic protests have been in France, similar action has been taking place in a host of countries including Italy, Spain, Romania, Poland, Greece, Germany, Portugal and the Netherlands.

Normally farmers are not radical activists.

But they have been pushed way too far, and they have decided that enough is enough.

Here in the United States, truckers that are infuriated by the verdict that was just handed down in New York City are pledging to boycott the Big Apple from this point forward…

Some Trump-supporting truckers are refusing to transport loads to and from New York City after the former president was fined $355 million and had his ability to run businesses in the state suspended in Friday’s civil fraud verdict.

A pro-Trump truck driver known as “Chicago Ray” posted a video to X following the verdict, sharing that he and several of his colleagues are declining NYC delivery jobs due to Manhattan Judge Arthur Engoron’s ruling.

“I’ve been on the radio talking to drivers for about the last… hour and 15 minutes… I’ve talked to at least ten drivers… they’re going to start refusing loads to New York City starting on Monday,” Ray said.

Will this boycott be widespread enough to make a huge difference?

I don’t know.

But if enough truck drivers joined the boycott, it could certainly cause a lot of pain.

As Zero Hedge has pointed out, truck drivers move “between 70% to 73% of all freight in the United States”…

Truck drivers transport between 70% to 73% of all freight in the United States. Therefore, when truckers begin discussing plans on social media to boycott loads to progressive hellhole New York City, it’s important to pay attention.

Following the verdict, many business owners in New York City were concerned that they could receive the same treatment that Trump just received.

In response, New York Governor Kathy Hochul explained that business owners have nothing to fear as long as they are “law-abiding and rule-following”…

New York Governor Kathy Hochul attempted to reassure business owners in New York that they have nothing to fear after the state’s Attorney General fleeced $355 million from President Trump for running a business in the state.

Hochul told John Catsimatidis on “The Cats Roundtable” on WABC 770 AM where she was asked if other New York businesspeople should be worried that if “they can do that to the former president, they can do that to anybody.”

According to Hochul: “I think that this is really an extraordinary unusual circumstance that the law-abiding and rule-following New Yorkers who are business people have nothing to worry about because they’re very different than Donald Trump and his behavior.”

Do you think that such a statement will make anyone feel better?

Of course not.

There is so much anger over what just happened. At this point, Wayne Allyn Root is calling for a nationwide boycott of the entire city…

All 100 million of us must boycott New York City. No more vacations there. No business trips. No more attending conventions. No Christmas trips to see the Rockettes and the tree at Rockefeller Center. No more clothes shopping on Fifth Avenue. No Broadway shows. No more spending at hotels or fancy restaurants. Just say, “NO!”

Ask every store or online site you buy from, “Are you based in New York City?” If they are, find someone else to buy from.

All of the examples that I have shared in this article share a common theme.

The elite are losing their grip and are having a very difficult time maintaining order.

This is happening despite a very sophisticated campaign to censor the Internet and control what we think.

Ep. 75 The national security state is the main driver of censorship and election interference in the United States. “What I’m describing is military rule,” says Mike Benz. “It’s the inversion of democracy.” pic.twitter.com/hDTEjAf89T

— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) February 16, 2024

It just isn’t working.

They are trying to pull our strings, but most of us are no longer obeying.

And in many of our communities, social order is totally breaking down. As I mentioned earlier, there are some parts of the country where looting has become a way of life…

By now it’s a familiar scene: a group of seven men walked into a a clothing retailer Thursday wearing face coverings and robbed the place blind in broad daylight, walking out with armloads of merchandise while the store was still open. But this wasn’t San Francisco or Los Angeles, it was in Memphis last week, and the retailer says this was one of more than 60 similar incidents to happen in the last year in their Memphis area stores alone.

According to WREG-TV, police released surveillance video of the alleged shoplifting gang who walked out of a local City Gear store carrying armloads of pilfered merchandise. Police say, after reviewing the footage, that at least seven individuals participated in the organized theft. Neither police, nor City Gear’s parent corporation Hibbett have released an exact dollar amount of the merchandise that was stolen, but it was described as a “large amount.”

At this point, things have gotten so crazy that it really takes a lot to shock me.

But I was shocked by one story that I read earlier today.

One man that had just been released from prison decided to hijack a car hauler truck that was transporting 10 Chevrolet C8 Corvettes…

Fox 10 Phoenix reports that a 23-year-old man, freshly out of jail, hijacked a tractor-trailer loaded with exotic sports cars, telling law enforcement after he was caught, he simply needed a ride.

According to the Cochise County Sheriff’s Department in Phoenix, Arizona, the suspect, Isaiah Walker, “assaulted and robbed” a truck driver at a Willcox Loves Truck Stop.

“Walker grabbed the victim and threw him from the cab,” the sheriff’s department wrote on Facebook.

The suspect then “entered the vehicle, locked the door, stole the vehicle, and drove it from the parking lot,” the sheriff’s department continued, adding the truck was hauling ten Chevrolet C8 Corvettes with an estimated value above $1.25 million.

Sadly, this is just the beginning.

2024 is less than two months old, and I believe that by the end of this year we are going to see far more chaos than we are witnessing now.

So watch your back and keep your head on a swivel, because we are entering a time when danger will potentially be lurking around every corner.

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

All Of The Elements Are In Place For An Economic Crisis Of Staggering Proportions

February 15, 2024February 15, 2024 by Michael

They were able to delay the U.S. economy’s day of reckoning, but they were not able to put it off indefinitely. During the pandemic, the Federal Reserve pumped trillions of dollars into the financial system and our politicians borrowed and spent trillions of dollars that we did not have. All of that money caused quite a bit of inflation, but it also created a “sugar rush” for the economy. In other words, economic conditions were substantially better than they would have been otherwise. Unfortunately, there will be a great price to be paid for such short-term thinking. From the federal government on down, our entire society is absolutely drowning in debt, and now it appears that our economic problems are about to go to the next level.

In early 2024, there are all sorts of signs that economic activity in the U.S. is really starting to slow down.

For example, we just learned that consumer spending “fell sharply” during the month of January…

Consumer spending fell sharply in January, presenting a potential early danger sign for the economy, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.

Advance retail sales declined 0.8% for the month following a downwardly revised 0.4% gain in December, according to the Census Bureau. A decrease had been expected: Economists surveyed by Dow Jones were looking for a drop of 0.3%, in part to make up for seasonal distortions that probably boosted December’s number.

However, the pullback was considerably more than anticipated. Even excluding autos, sales dropped 0.6%, well below the estimate for a 0.2% gain.

Sadly, the truth is that U.S. consumers just don’t have as much money to spend these days.

They are up to their eyeballs in debt, and delinquency rates have been spiking.

Many consumers are tightening up on their finances, and so it shouldn’t be a surprise that Disney+ lost more than a million subscribers during the fourth quarter of last year…

Disney+ Core subscribers (which include U.S. and Canada customers, as well as international users, excluding the India-based Disney+ Hotstar) dropped to 111.3 million from the 112.6 million reported in the previous quarter, according to Disney’s quarterly earnings results released Wednesday.

In early 2024, we have also seen large employers ruthlessly slash payrolls all over the nation.

The following summary of some of the most shocking layoffs that we have seen recently comes from Zero Hedge…

1. Twitch: 35% of workforce
2. Roomba: 31% of workforce
3. Hasbro: 20% of workforce
4. LA Times: 20% of workforce
5. Spotify: 17% of workforce
6. Levi’s: 15% of workforce
7. Xerox: 15% of workforce
8. Qualtrics: 14% of workforce
9. Wayfair: 13% of workforce
10. Duolingo: 10% of workforce
11. Washington Post: 10% of workforce
12: Snap: 10% of workforce
13. eBay: 9% of workforce
14. Business Insider: 8% of workforce
15. Paypal: 7% of workforce
16. Okta: 7% of workforce
17. Charles Schwab: 6% of workforce
18. Docusign: 6% of workforce
19: CISCO: 5% of workforce
20. UPS: 2% of workforce
21. Blackrock: 3% of workforce
22. Paramount: 3% of workforce
23. Citigroup: 20,000 employees
24. Pixar: 1,300 employees

During the pandemic we witnessed a lot of temporary layoffs, but the last time we saw large corporations conducting permanent mass layoffs on such a widespread basis was in 2008 and 2009.

And we all remember what happened back then.

Meanwhile, the cost of living continues to rise faster than paychecks.

For example, it is being reported that the cost of auto insurance has been increasing at “the fastest annual rate on record”…

The cost of auto insurance jumped 1.4% in January, bringing the total annual gain to 20.6% – the fastest annual rate on record. When compared with early 2019, motor vehicle insurance is nearly 40% more expensive. Experts say the problem could soon get worse before it begins to improve.

Needless to say, most Americans have not seen their paychecks increase by 20.6 percent over the past year.

Of course just about everything else has been rapidly getting more expensive too, and that isn’t going to change any time soon.

On top of everything else, we are also facing an unprecedented commercial real estate crisis.

Our financial institutions are sitting on mountains of bad commercial real estate loans, and Kevin O’Leary is warning that “thousands more” will fail within the next three to five years…

Regional banks are doomed.

That’s not necessarily a bad thing… if you’re prepared for it.

It’s been almost a year since Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) collapsed in March – the victim of idiotic management. But the sobering reality is the small banking crisis is far from over.

In the next three to five years, thousands more regional institutions will fail. That’s why I don’t have a dime saved or invested in a single one.

Is Kevin O’Leary right about this?

I don’t know.

We will just have to wait and see what happens.

But without a doubt, things certainly do not look good at this moment.

Needless to say, it isn’t just the U.S. that is experiencing economic turbulence these days.

This week, we learned that the Japanese economy has officially entered a recession…

Japan has lost its spot as the world’s third-largest economy to Germany, as the Asian giant unexpectedly slipped into recession.

Once the second-largest economy in the world, Japan reported two consecutive quarters of contraction on Thursday — falling 0.4% on an annualized basis in the fourth quarter after a revised 3.3% contraction in the third quarter. Fourth-quarter GDP sharply missed forecasts for 1.4% growth in a Reuters poll of economists.

The Germans are facing big problems too.

In fact, Germany is being called the “sick man of Europe” right now.

Interestingly, it is at this time that Jeff Bezos has decided to sell off billions of dollars worth of Amazon stock…

Amazon’s billionaire founder Jeff Bezos has sold another $2bn worth of the company’s stock, bringing the total value of shares he has offloaded in the past week to $4bn, according to regulatory filings.

An Amazon filing on Tuesday showed that Bezos, who stepped down as the Seattle-based company’s chief executive in 2021 but remains executive chair, sold 12mn shares for about $2bn between Friday and Monday.

He certainly doesn’t need the cash.

So why is he doing this?

Does he know something that the rest of us do not?

I don’t think so.

Instead, I think that he can see what the rest of us can see.

Stock prices have risen to record highs even as the overall economy is clearly heading into a major downturn.

That makes this the perfect time to sell.

Jeff Bezos didn’t get to where he is by being stupid. He can see what is coming and he is getting out while the getting is still good.

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

Israel’s National Security Minister Ominously Delcares “This Is War” After Hezbollah Unleashes A Barrage Of Missiles

February 14, 2024 by Michael

The countdown to a cataclysmic conflict between Israel and Hezbollah is rapidly picking up momentum. On Wednesday, a missile barrage that was unleashed by Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanon hit multiple targets in northern Israel. If Hezbollah really wants peace like they claim that they do, they have a really strange way of showing it. It is being reported that this missile barrage “appeared to be the fiercest attacks from Lebanon since the confrontation began”…

Tensions between Israel and Hezbollah intensified on Wednesday when Israeli towns and an army base came under what appeared to be the fiercest attacks from Lebanon since the confrontation began four months ago.

The assault, presumed to be carried out by Hezbollah fighters based in Lebanon, prompted Israeli fighter jets to launch extensive strikes on the Iran-backed group’s positions.

At one military base that was hit, a female IDF soldier was killed and eight other individuals were injured…

A female IDF soldier was killed and eight other people were wounded in Tzfat on Wednesday morning in a missile barrage fired by Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon in a clear escalation of the conflict launched on October 8th against Israel by the terror group.

Quite a few other targets in northern Israel were targeted as well…

Other areas in the Upper Galilee were targeted as well, including several IDF bases and the city of Kiryat Shmona, which has been attacked repeatedly since October 8th. The Red Alert incoming rocket siren was not triggered in Kiryat Shmona.

Some of the rockets were aimed at the headquarters of the IDF Northern Command, and some targeted the Meron radar base, Israeli media reported.

We have seen Hezbollah and the IDF exchange fire on a regular basis over the past few months.

But this time was different.

In response to this barrage, Israeli national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir ominously declared that “this is war”…

“This isn’t just a dribble anymore, this is war,” Israel’s national security minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, who’s long advocated a more aggressive stance against Hezbollah, said. “It is time to change the way we think.”

Other officials were more measured, but also implied Israel would retaliate aggressively.

“This morning we experienced a severe attack for which the response will come soon and with strength,” said Benny Gantz, a member of Israel’s war cabinet but who heads an opposition party.

Sadly, there is no turning back now.

All of the Israeli citizens that have been evacuated from their homes in northern Israel can never return until Hezbollah is pushed north of the Litani River.

And Hezbollah will never pull back willingly.

The IDF will be going into southern Lebanon.

It is just a matter of time.

Even now, it is being reported that the IDF is preparing a “significant response” to this latest barrage which will go beyond “just attacking the source of fire”…

The Ynet news site reports that the military is preparing a “significant response” to the deadly rocket barrage on Safed this morning, which it describes as meaning more than just attacking the source of fire.

MK Yuli Edelstein, head of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, says Hezbollah will be moved off the border one way or another.

“Either there will be all-out war and Hezbollah will be moved away, and it will bear responsibility for the results in Beirut and Lebanon, or we won’t let them raise the bar and exact a severe response, and they will be moved away from the border,” he says, according to Army Radio.

Needless to say, every time the IDF responds, so will Hezbollah.

A war on the northern front is already here, and it is going to get really crazy in the months ahead.

By the way, the U.S. is already at war in the Middle East too.

Since the middle of October, 186 U.S. troops in the Middle East have either been killed or wounded…

Roughly 186 troops have been injured or killed in attacks on U.S. personnel in the Middle East since mid-October. Of those, 130 have been traumatic brain injuries, the Pentagon confirmed on Monday.

That means TBIs resulting from the blast impacts of missiles, mortars and drones make up 70% of the total number of casualties, which include three soldiers who were killed in the Jan. 28 attack on Tower 22 in Jordan.

Meanwhile, members of Congress are buzzing about a “serious national security threat” that is apparently related to Russia in some way…

House Intelligence Committee Chair Mike Turner has made information concerning a “serious national security threat” available to all members of Congress to review, the committee said on Wednesday.

While Turner and the White House remained vague on what the threat entailed, two sources and a US official tell CNN the threat is related to Russia. Multiple sources familiar with the intelligence characterized it as “very sensitive.”

One of the sources who has seen the intelligence confirmed that “it is, in fact, a highly concerning and destabilizing” Russian capability “that we were recently made aware of.”

As I write this article, we don’t know what that “serious national security threat” is.

My guess is that it is something that we already know about.

As I have repeatedly warned my readers, the Russians have been feverishly preparing for a nuclear conflict with the United States for many years, and at this point their weapons systems are superior to our own and they have the strategic advantage.

But most Americans have no idea.

The Chinese have also been preparing for the coming global war, and that is why the unprecedented surge in Chinese nationals crossing our southern border is so alarming…

According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), since October 2023, almost 16,000 Chinese migrants have attempted to cross the U.S.-Mexico border — more than doubling the previous fiscal year’s total number of Chinese migrants in a matter of months. These unprecedented numbers are making Chinese nationals the fastest growing population to cross into the U.S. from Mexico.

CBP data reveals that from January to November of 2023, over 30,000 Chinese people were detained by border agents after crossing illegally. In 2021, meanwhile, there were only 323 crossings.

Recently, videos that were posted on social media that apparently show some of these Chinese migrants training with firearms have created quite a stir…

Videos posted to X (Twitter) show Chinese migrants firing pistols. One video is of a Chinese female with a sniper rifle.

There is no Second Amendment in China, and Chinese citizens are not permitted to possess firearms. So is it possible that the shooters in the videos are merely taking advantage of a new-found freedom in their new home country ?

Unlikely.

One of the migrants videoed was in America for only three weeks and arrived in the country with no money and no identification.

If you had just landed somewhere as a migrant with nothing to your name, you would undoubtedly be preoccupied with finding your next meal, getting a place to live, making a livelihood.

You would not, within weeks of entering your new homeland, be sharpening your skills to kill.

Most of our politicians don’t care about national security, because otherwise they would be doing something about this.

We are literally committing national suicide, and at one of the most critical turning points in our history we have a guy in charge that literally doesn’t know where he is much of the time.

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

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