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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Did he really think that nobody would notice?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

About the Author: My name is Michael Snyder and my brand new book entitled “7 Year Apocalypse” is now available on Amazon.com.  In addition to my new book I have written five others that are available on Amazon.com including  “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, “Get Prepared Now”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”. (#CommissionsEarned)  By purchasing the books you help to support the work that my wife and I are doing, and by giving it to others you help to multiply the impact that we are having on people all over the globe.  I have published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and the articles that I publish on those sites are republished on dozens of other prominent websites all over the globe.  I always freely and happily allow others to republish my articles on their own websites, but I also ask that they include this “About the Author” section with each article.  The material contained in this article is for general information purposes only, and readers should consult licensed professionals before making any legal, business, financial or health decisions.  I encourage you to follow me on social media on Facebook and Twitter, and any way that you can share these articles with others is a great help.  During these very challenging times, people will need hope more than ever before, and it is our goal to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with as many people as we possibly can.

The post A Very Odd Confluence Of Events appeared first on The Economic Collapse.

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.

The post 3 New Polls Show That They Are Going To Need To Cart Out Much Bigger Doses Of “Hopium” appeared first on The Economic Collapse.

Fox News’ Tucker Carlson ripped “the utter fraudulence of Tony Fauci” Wednesday night, after BuzzFeed and the Washington Post obtained thousands of pages of emails through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, revealing that the nation’s top virologist was telling the public one thing, while furiously working on damage control and narrative-shaping as the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded.

At the height of the pandemic, the mainstream media had dubbed Fauci America’s “most trusted voice”, and the big news networks treated him as the pinnacle of scientific knowledge and integrity.

But it turns out that he was flat out lying from the very start.  His emails show that he knew exactly what was going on at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, and that is because he was funding the research…

Fauci’s emails collectively show that “from the beginning, Tony Fauci was worried that the public might conclude COVID had originated at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.”

“Why would he be concerned that Americans would conclude that?” Tucker asked. “Possibly because Tony Fauci knew that he had funded gain-of-function experiments at that very same laboratory.“

And when people started putting the pieces together very early in the pandemic, Fauci was instrumental in covering up the truth.

Everywhere you turn these days, prominent voices are lying.  Virtually everyone has an agenda to push, virtually everyone has ulterior motives, and virtually everyone will do whatever it takes to cover their rear ends at all costs.

“CYA” has become a way of life for most of our government officials, and Tony Fauci has been exposed as just another rear-covering government bureaucrat.

We live at a time when our society is starting to come apart at the seams all around us, and when things really hit the fan the government is not going to be there to save you.

Instead, there will be hordes of faceless bureaucrats that will be working very hard to cover their own rears and that will be looking out for their own interests.

For years, I have been encouraging people to get prepared in advance for what is coming, because it is extremely unlikely that someone else is doing that for you.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, millions of Americans have been relocating.  We have seen a mass exodus from the major cities, and this is something that I have applauded, because I have been an advocate for moving away from large population centers for a very long time.

Unfortunately, we have now gotten to a point where prices for housing in many desirable rural and suburban locations have been pushed to absurd levels.

In one particularly desirable rural location, landlords are now asking for as much as $3,500 a month to rent a unit that has one bedroom and one bath.  And for those looking to buy, inventory is extremely limited, and anything that is listed for less than half a million dollars is likely to be a complete dump.

For many Americans that bring home average incomes, it is already too late to relocate to some of the most desirable rural and suburban areas of the country because they have already been priced out of the market.

Meanwhile, many people that had put off stocking up for the hard times that are approaching are discovering that there are widespread shortages of many of the products that they want to stock up on.

At this point, even the Federal Reserve is starting to panic about how widespread the shortages have become…

With the economy overheating, it will hardly come as a surprise that the latest Fed Beige Book – which found that the economy expanded at what the Fed absurdly called a “moderate pace” from early April to late May, at least clarifying that this was a “somewhat faster” rate than the prior reporting period – one of the top concerns was soaring costs, but nothing spooked the various Fed districts quite as much as what appears to be a shortage of everything, with district after district complaining about broken supply chains, a lack of workers, and critical commodities that just can’t be procured, all resulting in sharply higher prices, slower delivery times and all around chaos.

For certain items, it is now too late to do much stockpiling because availability is so limited.

But the good news is that there is still plenty of food in the stores and there are still sufficient supplies of many basic essentials.

So use this window of opportunity to grab what you can before prices start really going through the roof.

Those that were promising you that everything would turn out just fine if you followed their instructions (such as Dr. Fauci) were not being straight with you.

Everything is not going to be okay.  The truth is that we are headed into the biggest meltdown in American history, and it is going to be exceedingly painful.

Just look at what is happening in the western third of the nation.  My readers knew in advance that Dust Bowl conditions would eventually return, but the vast majority of the population is still absolutely clueless about what is happening.

This is the season of “the perfect storm”.  This is the time when it will seem like everything that can go wrong will go wrong.

And as events spiral out of control, Dr. Fauci and our other leaders in Washington will just keep telling lie after lie as they carefully cover their own rear ends.

***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 post As Trust In The Government Erodes, Many Americans Are Discovering That It Is TOO LATE To Fully Implement Their Backup Plans appeared first on The Economic Collapse.

Of course things were not always this bad.  In fact, if you go back to the early days of the Bush administration, syphilis had almost been entirely wiped out, and cases of chlamydia and gonorrhea were at very low levels…

“Less than 20 years ago, gonorrhea rates in the U.S. were at historic lows, syphilis was close to elimination, and advances in chlamydia diagnostics made it easier to detect infections,” said Raul Romaguera, DMD, MPH, acting director for CDC’s Division of STD Prevention in a written statement.

“That progress has since unraveled.”

Unfortunately, the landscape has completely changed since that time.  Just check out these numbers…

Data showed 1.8 million cases of chlamydia, 616,000 cases gonorrhea and 129,000 cases of syphilis.

Comparatively, in 2000, there were 709,000 cases of chlamydia, 363,000 cases gonorrhea and 31,000 cases of syphilis.

There are a lot of things that we want America to be great at, but spreading sexually-transmitted diseases is not one of them.

And the numbers tell us that cases have been rising at a particularly frightening pace since 2015…

For 2019, health departments across the U.S. reported 1.8 million cases of chlamydia, an almost 20% increase since 2015; 616,392 cases of gonorrhea, more than 50% higher than 2015, and 129,813 cases of all stages of syphilis, a whopping 70% increase, the CDC said.

So why is this happening?

Well, an NPR article on this subject is pointing out that dating apps have made finding casual sex easier than ordering a pizza…

There are many factors that contribute to the rise of STDs, and syphilis in particular.

In the gay community in San Francisco, for example, the rise of mobile dating apps like Grindr and Tinder made finding a date “faster than getting pizza delivered to your home,” says Dan Wohlfeiler, an STD prevention specialist and co-founder of Building Healthy Online Communities, which uses these apps to improve gay men’s health.

These dating apps are particularly popular among young people and in the gay community, and this is clearly showing up in the case numbers…

Additionally, gay and bisexual men and younger people also faced an increased burden. According to the report, gay and bisexual men made up nearly half of all 2019 primary and secondary syphilis cases and had gonorrhea rates that were 42 times higher than heterosexual men in some areas, whereas people aged 15 to 24 years accounted for 61% of chlamydia cases and 42% of gonorrhea cases.

It is important to keep in mind that chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis are just three pieces of a much larger puzzle.

According to the CDC, there are dozens of STDs currently spreading in the United States.  Approximately 20 million new STD infections occur in the U.S. every single year, and at any moment in time approximately 110 million Americans are dealing with a sexually-transmitted disease…

Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) have long been a formidable challenge for public health. CDC estimates that approximately 20 million new STD infections occur in the United States each year, and that more than 110 million total (new and existing) people are infected at any given time. These infections also are an economic drain on the U.S. healthcare system. Data suggest the direct cost of treating STDs in the United States is nearly $16 billion annually. Even more concerning, some STDs are becoming increasingly resistant to antimicrobials used to treat them.

According to Google, the current population of the United States is 328 million.

So if you have casual sex with some random person, there is a more than one in three chance that person will be infected.

Meanwhile, a Gallup survey just discovered that the percentage of Americans that consider themselves to be a member of a church, synagogue, or mosque has hit an all-time low…

Americans’ faith in organized religion continues to trend down at an accelerated pace. A new poll from Gallup shows for the first time since the public opinion polling company began asking questions in 1937, the number of Americans who view themselves as members of a church, synagogue, or mosque has plunged below 50%. Keep in mind, in 1937, when Gallup first asked the question, 73% went to church, synagogue, or mosque.

America is losing its religion, and this trend of a more secular state has been accelerating since the Dot Com Bust (the early 2000s). The poll found 47% of Americans said they were a part of a church, synagogue, or mosque, down from 50% in 2018 and 70% in 1999.

So that means that over roughly the same period of time that the number of cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis has more than doubled, the percentage of Americans that belong to a church, synagogue, or mosque has plunged from 70 percent to 47 percent.

America is changing, and not for the better.

Needless to say, if we stay on the path that we are currently on, things will not end well for us.

Unfortunately, most of the population is not interested in listening to voices such as mine.

Instead, most Americans are living their lives as if our society’s seemingly endless party can continue indefinitely, but each new day brings us even closer to our moment of reckoning.

***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 post “We’re #1”: Yet Another Ignominious All-Time Record High Is Established In The Late, Great United States… appeared first on The Economic Collapse.

One of the major themes in the months ahead will be “wars and rumors of wars”.  I have been writing a lot about Ukraine lately, but on Monday the big action actually happened in Asia.

By now, most of you know about the coup that happened in Myanmar earlier this year, and in recent days China had started to mobilize troops on the Myanmar border…

Chinese troops are reportedly assembling at the Myanmar border to guard China’s highly prized natural gas pipelines as violence grows in Myanmar in the aftermath of a military coup.

The Irrawaddy reported Thursday the troops were gathering in the Chinese border town of Jiegao, facing the town of Muse in Shan State. The mobilization includes soldiers and military trucks, the report said.

Well, on Monday social media was buzzing about videos that reportedly show that Chinese forces have actually crossed into Myanmar in order to support the new government against pro-democracy protesters.

Now that Chinese soldiers have entered the country, there is a good chance that they may be sticking around on a permanent basis, and it is probably safe to say that Myanmar will be part of the Chinese “sphere of influence” from this point forward.

Meanwhile, the UK and the European Union are promising to support the Ukrainians in their conflict against Russia…

The European Union and UK have pledged “unwavering” support for Ukraine’s government amid concerns of a military escalation in the east of the country or a possible new offensive against the Nato ally after recent Russian troop movements.

Ukraine has accused Russia of massing thousands of military personnel on its northern and eastern borders as well as on the Crimean peninsula annexed by Moscow in 2014. Online researchers have identified troops being transferred to Ukraine’s borders from western and central Russia, including artillery from as far away as Siberia.

This is a situation that I will be monitoring very closely, because I believe that it has very serious implications for the United States.

Another major theme in the months ahead will be pestilences.

Despite the fact that hundreds of millions of people have already been “fully vaccinated” around the globe, the COVID pandemic continues to rage wildly out of control.

And if things weren’t bad enough already, now we are being told that a “double mutant” strain has popped up in California…

A new “double mutant” variant of the coronavirus has been discovered in California, with scientists worrying the strain could be more infectious.

Apparently this new variant has two key mutations that help it “latch onto cells” even better…

The emerging strain is called the “double mutant” because it carries two mutations in the virus that helps it latch onto cells, the news outlet reported.

The “double mutant” variant has been found in 20 percent of cases sequenced from India’s hard-hit state of Maharashtra, where coronavirus cases have surged more than 50 percent in the past week, noted Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious disease expert at the University of California, San Francisco.

At the same time, we are being told that an even deadlier new COVID strain has just been discovered in Brazil.  The following comes from a British news source…

A NEW, even deadlier Brazilian COVID-19 variant has emerged which is able to alter itself in such a way as to render all current vaccines ineffective, an alarming new study has indicated.

I have previously written about the P.1 variant that emerged in Brazil, but that is already old news.

This new variant is known as P.2, and it is apparently the most dangerous variant that has been discovered so far…

There is already a P.2 variant, and preliminary research authored by scientists including those at Brazil’s Department of Virology suggests the virus is continuing to alter itself in Brazil, deleting sites on the spike protein which antibodies bind to in a development that would prevent vaccines from working.

Needless to say, the corporate media will squeeze every ounce of drama out of this COVID pandemic that they possibly can, but those that follow my work on a regular basis already know that I am far more concerned about the next pandemic that is coming.

Earth changes will be a third major theme which will be prominent in the months ahead.

In recent weeks I have written numerous articles about the volcanic eruptions and large earthquakes which have been taking place all over the globe.

On Monday, it was California’s turn for some shaking.  Two sizable earthquakes shook Los Angeles, and that included one of magnitude 4.0…

At least two earthquakes shook up the Los Angeles within half hour of each other Monday before dawn.

The U.S. Geological Survey said a 4.0 tremor was reported at 4:44 a.m. near Lennox, California.

The epicenter was just east of the Los Angeles International Airport, along Century Boulevard on the south side of Hollywood Park.

The good news is that this quake was just a “wake up call” and not much damage was done.

But someday we will see a history changing earthquake happen along the west coast, and once that happens the geography of California will never be the same again.

Before I end this article, I also want to strongly urge everyone to keep watching Israel.

Because I believe that in the months ahead we are going to see things happen in Israel that are of absolutely critical importance.

No matter what we do, we cannot stop the inexorable march of time.

Each day we continue to move even closer to the “point of no return” for our society, and yet very few people seem alarmed by this.

Sadly, time will eventually run out, and then our day of reckoning will be at hand.

***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 post 4-3-2-1: Is The Countdown To Our “Point Of No Return” About To Come To An End? appeared first on The Economic Collapse.

#1 A Plague Of Millions Of Rats In Australia

Could you imagine having so many rats infesting your community that it is literally impossible to ever get away from the smell?  Right now, millions upon millions of rats are making lives miserable for countless residents of Australia, and in some instances it is literally taking hours just to clean up all of the poop that they leave behind…

Mice in the cabinets. Mice in the streets. Thousands upon thousands of mice in the barn, pooing so much it takes six hours to clean up their waste.

These are scenes from Queensland and New South Wales, Australia, where an out-of-control mouse infestation is making life miserable for farmers, grocers and other citizens of the eastern Australian states.

Needless to say, it isn’t just poop that is the problem.  At this point, many farmers in Australia “have already lost entire grain harvests to the rampaging mice”…

Some farmers have already lost entire grain harvests to the rampaging mice, according to local media reports, while hotels have had to close because they can’t keep the critters out of the rooms. Staff at a grocery store in a small town northwest of Sydney reported catching as many as 600 mice a night.

#2 Large Earthquakes

According to the USGS, usually we get about 15 earthquakes of magnitude 7.0 or greater each year…

According to long-term records (since about 1900), we expect about 16 major earthquakes in any given year. That includes 15 earthquakes in the magnitude 7 range and one earthquake magnitude 8.0 or greater.

So far in 2021, we have already had 7 that are magnitude 7.0 or greater, and that includes a magnitude 7.0 earthquake that just shook Japan…

A 7.0 preliminary magnitude earthquake has struck Japan off the coast of Ishinomaki, a city located just 65 miles (104 km) from Fukushima, the site of a devastating 9.0 magnitude quake 10 years ago.

Latest information from USGS shows the earthquake has a depth of 54 kilometers (34 miles). CNN teams in Tokyo felt the tremor.

#3 Volcanoes Are Roaring To Life All Over The Globe

According to Volcano Discovery, 29 volcanoes around the planet are currently erupting right now, and that includes a volcano in Iceland that had been dormant for hundreds of years…

The Fagradals Mountain volcano in southwest Iceland had been dormant for 6,000 years. But on Friday night, following weeks of earthquakes in the area, the volcano came to life.

The eruption is the first that the Reykjanes Peninsula, where the volcano is located, has experienced in 781 years.

Video of the eruption show the bright lava oozing out of the earth, lighting up an otherwise stark dark night.

#4 The “Megadrought” In The Southwestern United States

Earlier this month, I wrote an entire article about the megadrought in the Southwest entitled “You Were Warned That Dust Bowl Conditions Would Return, And Now It Has Happened”.

Well, this drought just continues to get even worse. In fact, NBC News is telling us that there is “little hope for relief” any time soon…

With nearly two-thirds of the United States abnormally dry or worse, the government’s spring forecast offers little hope for relief, especially in the West where a devastating megadrought has taken root and worsened.

Weather service and agriculture officials warned of possible water use cutbacks in California and the Southwest, increased wildfires, low levels in key reservoirs such as Lake Mead and Lake Powell and damage to wheat crops.

#5 Armies Of Locusts In Africa And The Middle East

In 2020, giant armies of locusts the size of major cites relentlessly marched across parts of Africa, the Middle East and Asia.  Millions of farmers had their crops wiped out, and experts told us that it was unlike anything they had ever seen before.

That was only supposed to be a one year plague, but now it is happening again…

A single locust swarm can contain up to 80 million locusts and fly 30 to 80 miles in one day depending on the wind. By the time, spraying planes arrived at the WhatsApp coordinates the next day, it was often too late.

The locusts had warmed up in the morning sun and moved off into the wilderness, laying millions of eggs. Every day, each locust can eat its weight in vegetation daily and multiplies twenty-fold every three months. A swarm can easily eat as much food as 35,000 people in a single day and multiple two dozen times in three months.

#6 H5N8 Bird Flu In Russia

When cases of H5N8 bird flu started to pop up in Russia, many experts started to become extremely concerned that it could start being transmitted from human to human.

Because if it starts spreading widely among humans, the percentage of victims that will die will be far higher than for COVID.

Unfortunately, one of the top experts in Russia says that there is “a fairly high degree of probability” that it is now being passed from one person to another…

A mutating strain of bird flu that has emerged in Russia has “a fairly high degree of probability” of human-to-human transmission, the head of the country’s health watchdog warned in a report.

Anna Popova, who heads Rospotrebnadzor, made the worrying prediction almost a month after scientists detected the first case of H5N8 transmission to humans at a southern Russia poultry farm, the Moscow Times reported.

#7 The COVID Pandemic

Even though people are being vaccinated at a feverish pace all over the globe, the number of confirmed cases in Brazil is higher than ever before and experts are telling us that a “fourth wave” has begun in Europe.

Could it be possible that the vaccines are not going to be the “saviors” that so many people were anticipating?

At this point, more than 2.7 million victims have already died from COVID, and more are passing away every single day.

But even though so many bad things have already happened, if you are familiar with my new book then you already know that I believe that what is on the horizon is going to be much worse.

We live at a time when everything that can be shaken will be shaken, and what we have experienced so far is just the beginning.

So buckle up and get ready for a bumpy ride, because things certainly aren’t going to be getting any easier.

***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 post 7 Plagues That Are Hitting Our Planet Right Now appeared first on The Economic Collapse.

But before I go any further, I want to make it very clear that I believe that it is very important that we don’t jump to any conclusions.

Very few disease outbreaks end up developing into global pandemics.  In November, a mystery disease that caused very ugly sores on the skin was reported in Senegal, and we were being told that more than 700 fishermen had been affected.  But since that time that outbreak appears to have fizzled out.  I have been searching for an official explanation for what happened to those fishermen, but so far I have not been able to find one.

This new outbreak in India could also fizzle out very rapidly.  We just don’t know.  But whenever a new disease comes along that the medical establishment cannot identify, it is worth watching.  I believe that we have entered a period of time when global pestilences will become a lot more common, and so any story like this will immediately grab my attention.

Initially, we were told that approximately 300 people had been affected by this new mystery disease.  The following comes from CNN…

An unidentified illness has hospitalized more than 300 people in southeastern India, including one who has died, according to local officials investigating the cases.

Patients in the city of Eluru, in the state of Andhra Pradesh, reported a range of symptoms including seizures, loss of consciousness and some nausea over the weekend, said Dolla Joshi Roy, the district surveillance officer of Eluru’s West Godavari District.

Subsequently, the number of victims that required hospitalization was increased to 450…

Officials in India are working to identify an illness that has hospitalized 450 people with symptoms ranging from nausea and anxiety to loss of consciousness.

At least one person, a 45-year-old man, has died because of the illness in Eluru, a town in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, the Press Institute of India reported.

Once someone is affected by this mystery illness, things seem to progress rather rapidly.  As I noted above, a number of the victims said their eyes felt like they were “burning” before they began vomiting…

“The people who fell sick, especially the children, suddenly started vomiting after complaining of burning eyes,” a medical officer at Eluru Government Hospital told The Indian Express. “Some of them fainted or suffered bouts of seizures. Some were in critical condition when they were brought in on Saturday, but now all of them are safe.”

Other symptoms include anxiety, nausea, and loss of consciousness, according to AP News. So far, one 45-year-old man was admitted to the Government General Hospital in Eluru with seizures and narcolepsy and has since died on Sunday evening, the only reported death related to the illness.

In addition, there are reports that some of the victims were “frothing at their mouths”…

The affected persons were developing fits and frothing at their mouths and collapsing. A 70-year-old woman collapsed while cooking while a 12-year-old girl developed fits during a visit to a temple.

The good news is that so far there has only been one death and a lot of the victims have improved so much that they have already been released from the hospital.

But the bad news is that authorities have been completely unable to determine what is causing this disease.

Since India is having such a problem with COVID, all of the patients were immediately tested for the virus and all of the tests came back negative.

So this new mystery disease does not appear to be related to the COVID pandemic at all.

Water pollution was also suspected as a potential cause, but so far all of the water samples that have been tested haven’t revealed anything out of the ordinary…

“We ruled out water contamination or air pollution as the cause after officials visited the areas where people fell sick. Water samples were sent for testing and no contamination was found. Blood samples of the patients have been sent to labs. No viral infection has been detected,” Srinivas told The Indian Express. “It is some mystery illness and only lab analysis will reveal what it is.”

Hopefully there is some sort of really simple explanation and we won’t even be talking about this a week from now.

Having said that, we should definitely be on the alert for more disease outbreaks around the globe.  There have been killer pandemics all throughout human history, and scientists assure us that there will be more killer pandemics in our future.

In our time, the threat of pandemics is greater than ever, because on top of the threat of naturally occurring pandemics we also are facing the threat of man-made pandemics.

Thanks to our advanced technology, it has become so incredibly easy to tinker around with extremely deadly bugs, and a great plague could literally be released at any moment anywhere in the world.

My hope is that the outbreak of  this new mystery disease in India does not develop into something larger, and so far it does not fit the profile of the sort of future pandemic that I warned about in my new book.

But that does not necessarily mean that we can relax.

Nobody saw the Black Death coming in the Middle Ages, but it ultimately wiped out approximately 25 million people.

Nobody saw the Spanish Flu pandemic coming either, and that killed at least 50 million people.

It is just a matter of time before the next great killer pandemic comes along, and we may be closer to that day than most people would dare to imagine.

***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 post A new “mystery disease” that causes “burning eyes” has already spread to hundreds of people in India appeared first on The Economic Collapse.

I am sure that by now most of you have heard what happened to a woman in Ohio that was attending a middle school football game.  She had the audacity not to wear a mask, and so a police officer used a taser on her, arrested her and dragged her away in handcuffs…

An Ohio woman at a middle school football game was tasered and arrested by a police officer for not wearing a face mask in the bleachers.

Around 300 people attended a Marietta City Schools football game where Alecia Kitts, of Marietta, was filmed getting handcuffed on Wednesday in the city of Logan.

I would expect something like that to happen in China, but not in the United States.

What in the world is happening to our country?

As bad as that incident was, I was even more disturbed by the arrests that just took place in Moscow, Idaho…

At least five Christians were arrested during a hymn sing in the parking lot of city hall in Moscow, Idaho. Hands up, don’t sing.

One of the individuals cited was Latah County Commission candidate Gabriel Rench.

The five individuals were cited for being in violation of Moscow’s mask/social distancing order, Moscow Police Chief James Fry told the Daily News.

How sick do you have to be to arrest Christians while they are singing hymns to God?

Literally, while hundreds of believers were singing “Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow”, officers were slapping handcuffs on people…

“Well, it happened,” one observer wrote on Twitter. “The Moscow (Idaho) Police Department arrested my kids’ music teacher and his wife the basketball coach for singing without social distancing at a Psalm Sing protest. The music is beautiful.”

Two people were handcuffed as hundreds sang “Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow.”

You can watch video of this happening right here.  I have actually been to Moscow, and it is heartbreaking to see such tyranny in such a beautiful community.

And this took place in supposedly one of the most “conservative” states in the entire country.  Idaho has a reputation for being a “deeply red state”, but for some reason it has some of the worst politicians.

Sadly, the two examples that I just shared are not isolated incidents.  People have also been arrested for not wearing masks recently in New Jersey, New York, Tennessee, Oregon, Nevada and Montana.

One of the states that is the most hardcore about enforcement is Hawaii.  Lots of people have been getting arrested there for refusing to wear masks, and that includes five people that recently gathered for an outdoor “health summit” that was going to debate the effectiveness of masks…

Hawai‘i County Police on Saturday arrested five individuals for violating COVID-19 protocols as part of a gathering at Kahalu‘u Beach Park in West Hawai‘i.

HPD Assistant Chief Robert Wagner said officers responded to a report of roughly two dozen people gathered under the large oceanside pavilion in the park. Michelle Melendez, who organized the gathering, described the event as a “peaceful Hawai‘i Health Summit.” A flyer promoting the event, which was scheduled from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, noted several planned speakers and discussion topics including “Is there science behind face masks?” and the “Health risks of 5G.”

So how long do law enforcement authorities plan to keep arresting people like this?

Because the truth is that this virus is never going away.

Originally, most people assumed that this pandemic would end when either herd immunity was achieved or an effective vaccine was developed.  But study after study has shown that antibodies disappear very rapidly and any immunity to the virus is very short-lived.

What this means is that this virus is going to be with us permanently.  It has already been proven that people can catch the virus multiple times, and with no lasting immunity it will just keep coming back year after year like the flu does.

One way or another, we are going to have to learn to live with this virus.

Do they really think that they can make all of us wear masks permanently from now on?  There is no way that the American people are going to accept that.

Yes, I do believe in taking this virus seriously, and if people want to wear masks they should wear masks.  And scientists assure us that it is just a matter of time before a true killer pandemic breaks out that will kill millions upon millions of people, and when such an outbreak inevitably comes along you will not even want to leave your home for an extended period of time.

But this virus is not that sort of a threat.  From 1918 to 1920, the Spanish Flu killed more than 50 million people, but this pandemic has only killed about a million so far.

If we cannot even handle this virus, how in the world would we possibly be able to deal with something that is far more severe?

Fear of this pandemic has been much worse than the pandemic itself, and law enforcement officials have been going completely nuts all over the globe.

Seeing people getting put in handcuffs for refusing to wear masks should sicken all of us, but this is just the beginning.

Much more tyranny is coming, and the years that are ahead are going to be a very dark era for all of humanity.

***Michael’s new book entitled “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.***

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.  By purchasing the book 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.  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)  The material contained in this article is for general information purposes only, and readers should consult licensed professionals before making any legal, business, financial or health decisions.  I encourage you to follow me on social media on Facebook and Twitter, and any way that you can share these articles with others is a great help.  During these very challenging times, people will need hope more than ever before, and it is our goal to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with as many people as we possibly can.

The post Arresting People For Not Wearing Masks Is Another Giant Step Toward Total Tyranny appeared first on The Economic Collapse.

At this point, the battle lines are becoming quite clear.  President Trump and other top Republicans are strongly against more lockdowns, but Democratic politicians in many areas of the country are starting to institute them anyway.  In fact, we just learned that all schools in Los Angeles, San Diego, Atlanta and Nashville will be closed at the beginning of the new school year…

Resisting pressure from President Donald Trump, three of the nation’s largest school districts said Monday that they will begin the new school year with all students learning from home.

Schools in Los Angeles, San Diego and Atlanta will begin entirely online, officials said Monday. Schools in Nashville plan to do the same, at least through Labor Day.

Other major cities are expected to follow suit.  Of course considering the quality of the education in most of our public schools, most of those kids won’t exactly be missing too much.

Ultimately, closing the schools won’t have too much of an economic impact, but shutting down most of the businesses in our largest state certainly will.  On Monday, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced a comprehensive lockdown for 30 California counties which account for “about 80 percent of California’s population”…

Newsom, a Democrat, announced during a press briefing that all bars across the state must close up shop and that restaurants, wineries, tasting rooms, family entertainment centers, zoos, museums and card rooms must suspend indoor activities.

The governor also announced that all gyms, places of worship, malls, personal care services, barbershops, salons, and non-critical offices in counties on the state’s “monitoring list” had to shut down under the new order. The order affects more than 30 counties which are home to about 80 percent of California’s population.

Newsom is a political opportunist, and I guarantee you that he wouldn’t be doing this unless he truly believed that it would help Democrats in November.

But I think that Newsom and other top Democrats have greatly underestimated how much the American people detest COVID-19 restrictions at this point.  We have been witnessing a huge backlash all over the country, and even though California is far more liberal than most other states, a backlash has been brewing there as well.

If the Democrats are not very careful, they are going to lose an election that they could have very easily won.

First of all, they should have never nominated Joe Biden.  It is obvious to everyone that he is physically and mentally declining at a very rapid pace, and videos of him “acting creepy” will be viewed millions upon millions of times over the coming months.  Democrats have known about Biden’s creepy behavior for many years, but they decided to give the nomination to him anyway.

Secondly, most top Democrats have refused to strongly denounce the rioting, looting and violence that have happened around the nation, and this is going to push a whole lot of people toward the Republicans.

Thirdly, the backlash against these new lockdowns is going to be directed primarily toward Democrats.  If Democratic politicians push too far, this will be an issue that deeply hurts them in November.

But despite all of these mistakes, it is possible that the Democrats could still come out on top, because Trump and the Republicans are making lots of political mistakes as well.

If Trump wants to make a comeback in the polls, he really needs to fully embrace an anti-lockdown message, because that would strongly resonate with tens of millions of voters.

The first wave of lockdowns certainly didn’t stop the spread of the virus, and more lockdowns will not stop it from spreading either.  And now three separate scientific studies have shown that COVID-19 antibodies disappear very, very rapidly, and that means that a vaccine is not going to end this crisis and we will never reach a point of “herd immunity”.  So we are going to have to find a way to function effectively as this virus circulates around the globe year after year, because it isn’t going to go away.

We simply cannot shut down the economy every time the number of cases starts to surge again.  The damage that we have already done to the U.S. economy has been incalculable, and now these new lockdowns will do even more damage.

But the WHO continues to insist that more restrictions are needed…

“Let me be blunt, too many countries are headed in the wrong direction, the virus remains public enemy number one,” WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a virtual briefing from the U.N. agency’s headquarters in Geneva.

“If basics are not followed, the only way this pandemic is going to go – it is going to get worse and worse and worse.”

What would the WHO have us do?

Would they like us to all lock ourselves in our homes indefinitely?

The WHO keeps touting a future vaccine, but if COVID-19 antibodies disappear after just a few months, there is no way that a vaccine is going to end this pandemic.

And many Americans will never, ever take any COVID-19 vaccine under any circumstances.

As I discussed in an article that I posted earlier, it looks like we are just going to have to accept the fact that COVID-19 is going to be around year after year.

It is easy for the “experts” to tell us that everyone should just stay home, but the price tag for the first wave of lockdowns was astronomical.  Thanks to all of the emergency measures that Congress passed, the U.S. government ran a budget deficit of 864 billion dollars in the month of June…

The US budget deficit surged to a record-breaking $864 billion in June, the Treasury Department said on Monday. The increase is the product of the federal government’s efforts to combat the coronavirus pandemic and its economic fallout.

The government collected about $240 billion in tax revenue in June, the Treasury said, and federal spending overall reached $1.1 trillion.

To put that in perspective, it took from the founding of our nation until 1980 for the U.S. government to accumulate a total of 864 billion dollars of debt.

And now we have added that much to the national debt in just one month.

We simply cannot keep doing this.

No matter what we do, COVID-19 is going to keep spreading, and we are going to have to learn how to deal with this virus for a very long time to come.

More lockdowns are definitely not the answer, but unfortunately many of our politicians are convinced otherwise.

So U.S. economic conditions will continue to deteriorate, and the economic depression that began earlier this year will continue through the end of 2020 and beyond.

About the Author: I am a voice crying out for change in a society that generally seems content to stay asleep. My name is Michael Snyder and I am the publisher of 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 have written four books 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 those books you help to support my work. I always freely and happily allow others to republish my articles on their own websites, but due to government regulations I need those that republish my articles to include this “About the Author” section with each article. In order to comply with those government regulations, I need to tell you that the controversial opinions in this article are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of the websites where my work is republished. 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. Those responding to this article by making comments are solely responsible for their viewpoints, and those viewpoints do not necessarily represent the viewpoints of Michael Snyder or the operators of the websites where my work is republished. I encourage you to follow me on social media on Facebook and Twitter, and any way that you can share these articles with others is a great help.  During these very challenging times, people will need hope more than ever before, and it is our goal to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with as many people as we possibly can.

The post “Lockdown 2.0”: This New Wave Of Lockdowns Will Ensure The U.S. Remains In An Economic Depression Through The 2020 Election appeared first on The Economic Collapse.

When we look back at the old peaks for unemployment claims, they almost seem laughable compared to what we are experiencing now…

The highest prior weekly total for new unemployment claims was 695,000, in October 1982, according to Labor Department data. During the Great Recession, the country’s last downturn, weekly claims peaked at 665,000, in March 2009.

For those that aren’t old enough to remember, the recession of the early 1980s and the recession of 2008 and 2009 were both really, really painful.

But of course they weren’t anything like this.

Sometimes it is hard to believe that the numbers have gotten so bad.  According to Wolf Richter, the number of continuing claims that were filed last week under all state and federal unemployment programs is the highest that we have ever seen…

The total number of people who continued to claim unemployment compensation in the week ended July 4 under all state and federal unemployment insurance programs, including gig workers, jumped by 1.41 million people, to 32.92 million (not seasonally adjusted), the Department of Labor reported this morning. It was the highest and most gut-wrenching level ever.

The number of people who continue to receive state unemployment insurance (blue columns) has been ticking down, as more people got their jobs back than newly unemployed flooded the state unemployment systems. But the number of people claiming federal unemployment insurance, including gig workers under the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program, continues to surge (red columns), which causes the total number of people claiming unemployment benefits under all programs to rise

Up to this point, the emergency measures that Congress put in place to help unemployed workers have definitely eased the pain for millions upon millions of people that have lost their jobs, but a number of those emergency measures are about to expire…

Several benefits were developed in March to help ease the financial strains on Americans during the coronavirus pandemic. Those are set to come to an end before July 31, which could impact 20 million Americans, MarketWatch reports. The CARES Act, which was signed into law on March 27 by President Donald Trump, provided benefits like enhanced unemployment payments to supplement lost income from layoffs. It also includes a clause to delay evictions for 120 days.

Of course Congress could choose to extend some or all of the elements in the CARES Act, but that would mean borrowing and spending more giant mountains of money that we do not currently have.

Meanwhile, we are seeing businesses fail at a rate that is absolutely staggering.

According to the Washington Post, more than 100,000 businesses have permanently closed their doors during this pandemic, and Bloomberg just posted an article about 110 major companies that have declared bankruptcy here in 2020…

Retailers, airlines, restaurants. But also sports leagues, a cannabis company and an archdiocese plagued by sex-abuse allegations. These are some of the more than 110 companies that declared bankruptcy in the U.S. this year and blamed Covid-19 in part for their demise.

Sadly, the bankruptcy announcements just keep on coming.

This week, we learned that Brooks Brothers has filed for bankruptcy protection…

The coronavirus pandemic has now claimed one of the country’s oldest and most prestigious retailers.

Brooks Brothers — pioneer of the polo and uniform of the polished prepster — filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy court protection from creditors on Wednesday, as it continues to search for a buyer.

That hit me particularly hard, because I have had Brooks Brothers shirts in my closet ever since I was a young man.

They have always made great products, and I just assumed that they would always be around.

Of course lots of other iconic retailers are failing as well.  Before too long, naming the major retailers that are still operating successfully may be easier than trying to name the vast number of major retailers that have gone belly up.

Store closings are happening fast and furious these days, and that isn’t likely to change any time soon.  Starbucks just announced that they will be closing 400 locations, Dunkin’ Donuts just announced that they will be closing 450 locations, and Bed Bath & Beyond has increased the number of stores that they will be closing to approximately 200…

Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) announced Wednesday that it plans to close roughly 200 stores in the next two years.

The retail chain — which also operates Buybuy Baby, Christmas Tree Shops and Harmon Face Values — said it would be mainly closing Bed Bath & Beyond stores, starting later this year. The announcement came as the company released its quarterly earnings report on Wednesday.

If you are still not convinced that the retail industry is facing an unprecedented cataclysm, I think that the following list will do the trick.

Forbes has been tracking the major store closing announcements of 2020, and their list was recently shared by Zero Hedge…

Forbes’ Store Closure List In 2020

Chuck E Cheese: 54 U.S. stores (bankruptcy)

Destination Maternity: 90 stores (bankruptcy)

GNC: 1,200 stores (bankruptcy)

J. Crew: 54 stores (bankruptcy)

JCPenney JCP: 154 stores (bankruptcy)

K-Mart: 45 stores (bankruptcy)

Modell’s Sporting Goods: 153 stores (bankruptcy)

Neiman Marcus (Last Call): 20 stores (bankruptcy)

Papyrus: 254 stores (bankruptcy)

Pier 1 Imports PIR: 936 stores (bankruptcy)

Sears: 51 stores (bankruptcy)

Signet Jewelers SIG: 232 stores

Stage Stores: 738 stores (liquidating)

Tuesday Morning: 230 stores (bankruptcy)

***

AC Moore: 145 stores

Art Van Furniture: 190 stores

AT&T: 250 stores

Bath & Body Works: 50 stores

Bed Bath & Beyond: 44 stores

Bloomingdale’s: 1 store

Bose: 11 stores

Chico: 100 stores (estimated)

Children’s Place: 200 stores

Christopher Banks: 30-40 stores

CVS Pharmacy: 22 stores

Earth Fare: 50 stores

Express: 66 stories

Forever 21: 15 stores (estimated)

GameStop GME: 320 stores

Gap: 230 stores

Guess: 100 stores

Hallmark: 16 stores

Lord & Taylor: 30 or 40 stores

Lowe’s Canada: 34 stores

Lucky Market: 32 stores

Macy’s M: 125 stores (over 3 years)

Microsoft: 77 stores

New York & Co: 27 stores

Nordstrom: 16 stores

Office Depot: 90 stores

Olympia Sports: 76 stores

Party City: 21 stores

Starbucks SBUX: 400 stores (over 18 months)

Victoria’s Secret: 250 stores

Walgreen: 100 stores (estimated)

Walmart: 2 stores

Wilson Leather & G.H. Bass: 199 stores

Zara: 1,000 stores worldwide (over 2 years)

This week, the number of newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 has surged to the highest level that we have seen yet, and that means that fear of COVID-19 is going to continue to paralyze economic activity in the United States for the foreseeable future.

That means that many more businesses will be shutting their doors, there will be many more bankruptcies, and millions more Americans will be losing their jobs.

This is what an economic collapse looks like, and it is just getting started.

About the Author: I am a voice crying out for change in a society that generally seems content to stay asleep. My name is Michael Snyder and I am the publisher of 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 have written four books 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 those books you help to support my work. I always freely and happily allow others to republish my articles on their own websites, but due to government regulations I need those that republish my articles to include this “About the Author” section with each article. In order to comply with those government regulations, I need to tell you that the controversial opinions in this article are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of the websites where my work is republished. 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. Those responding to this article by making comments are solely responsible for their viewpoints, and those viewpoints do not necessarily represent the viewpoints of Michael Snyder or the operators of the websites where my work is republished. I encourage you to follow me on social media on Facebook and Twitter, and any way that you can share these articles with others is a great help.  During these very challenging times, people will need hope more than ever before, and it is our goal to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with as many people as we possibly can.

The post Job Losses, Bankruptcies And Store Closings Are All At Apocalyptic Levels As The U.S. Economic Collapse Rolls On appeared first on The Economic Collapse.