Money

Shock Survey Finds That Funding Is Being Reduced For “Nearly Half” Of All Major City Police Departments In America

In recent weeks there has been a tremendous amount of debate about whether police departments around the country should be “defunded” or not, but what most Americans don’t realize is that it is already happening on a massive scale.  At a time when crime rates are absolutely soaring and civil unrest is raging in major cities across the nation, police budgets are being deeply cut and in some cities there is talk of eliminating police departments altogether.  I knew that a few cities had already made moves in this direction, but I had no idea that it was happening on such a widespread basis.  According to a report prepared by the Police Executive Research Forum, nearly half of the law enforcement agencies that they surveyed “are reporting that funding has already been slashed or is expected to be reduced”…

Nearly half of 258 agencies surveyed this month are reporting that funding has already been slashed or is expected to be reduced, according to a report slated for release this week by the Police Executive Research Forum, a non-partisan research organization.

Much of the funding is being pulled from equipment, hiring and training accounts, even as a number of cities also are tracking abrupt spikes in violent crime, the report concluded.

And in most cases we are not talking about small cuts.  Police funding in Los Angeles has been reduced by 15o million dollars, and police funding in New York has been slashed by a total of one billion dollars.

Those are staggering numbers.

In Seattle, there had been a proposal to cut police funding by 50 percent, but apparently that wasn’t good enough for some people and so now a measure has been introduced that would completely “abolish the entire Seattle Police Department”…

BREAKING: Seattle City Council moves to abolish the entire Seattle Police Department and replace it with a “civilian led Department of Community Safety & Violence Prevention.”

They want to replace the police force with nonprofit programs and “community-led activities.”

If you live in the Seattle area and you are concerned that in the future you may not have anyone to call if someone breaks into your home, you can rest assured that someone will still be on the other end of the line when you call 911.

But instead of a police officer with a gun responding to your call, you may have a “community safety official” armed with “science” and “reason” come pedaling out to your place on his or her bike to perform a “mental health evaluation” on the individual that you are having a “disagreement” with.

Minneapolis is another major city that is considering doing away with the police entirely, but for now the MPD is still operating.  However, right now they are being completely overwhelmed by a massive crime wave that has erupted in the city, and in a recent email to 3rd precinct residents they told citizens to be “prepared to give up your cell phone and purse/wallet”…

“Be prepared to give up your cell phone and purse/wallet,” the police said in their email, a copy of which was obtained by Alpha News. The email said citizens should listen to criminals and “do as they say.”

The message warned that “some victims have been maced, dragged, assaulted, and some threatened with a gun.”

I don’t know about you, but I would not have been comforted if I had received that email.

Chicago is dealing with an enormous crime wave as well.  At this point, so many people are being gunned down in the city that it is making headlines all over the globe…

Data released on Saturday showed that Chicago saw 440 homicides between January 2020 through the end of June, a 52 percent increase from the same time period last year (which saw 290 homicides). Shooting victims similarly increased by 51 percent (1,480 to 2,240) and shooting incidents themselves rose 47 percent (from 1,210 to 1,783).

In Los Angeles, it is property crime that is making headlines, and the latest numbers show that auto thefts in the city hit an all-time record high last quarter…

A COVID-19-induced recession, with exceptionally high unemployment in Los Angeles, has resulted in record-high auto thefts in 2Q20.

A new report via Crosstown LA, who examined the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) data, reveals that 5,744 vehicle thefts occurred between April and June, up 57.7% from the same period last year.

But it really isn’t fair to point out just a couple of cities because the crime wave that we are facing is actually national in scope.

Never before have we seen such a dramatic spike in crime in such a short period of time.  The following comes from Fox News…

A host of other cities — Houston, Atlanta, Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia, Portland and Seattle — also saw spikes in shootings and murders, according to public data. “I think it’s just a perfect storm of distress in America,” Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said in July.

In her city, the police department reported a 240 percent increase in murders (from 5 to 17) when comparing a four-week period ending in July 2019 to the same timeframe this year. New York City, meanwhile, saw a 277 percent increase in shootings (from 13 to 49) when observing the year-over-year change for one week in July.

In such an environment, does it really make sense to “defund the police”?

Unfortunately, you and I are not the ones making the decisions, and right now police budgets are being dramatically slashed from coast to coast.

Meanwhile, civil unrest continues to simmer in many of our largest cities.  For example, protesters in Portland just made headlines by burning an American flag and a Bible…

Protesters burned an American flag and a Bible in Portland, Oregon, sparking outrage just as weeks of violent demonstrations seemed to be coming to a close.

For more than 60 days, Black Lives Matters demonstrators, including a “Wall of Moms” and a “Wall of Vets,” have clashed with federal agents in the city, drawing national attention as authorities blasted marchers with tear gas and the civilians at times responded with weapons of their own — such as feces, bleach, bricks or batteries.

Sadly, what we have experienced so far is just the beginning.  The upcoming election certainly has the potential to trigger more protests and more riots, and the severe economic downturn that we are currently experiencing will add fuel to the fire as well.

Everywhere you look, people are angry and frustrated, and our society seems to be coming apart at the seams all around us.

It is at such a moment that politicians all over America have decided to radically cut police funding, and needless to say this is going to have very serious implications for every man, woman and child in the entire country.

***It is finally here! 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.

Now Americans Are Rioting Over Mini-Golf And Bagels

Have you noticed that people all over the country are starting to completely flip out for little to no reason?  People are becoming violently angry even over very trivial matters, and you never know when someone might erupt.  One moment you could be talking to a seemingly mild-mannered middle-aged woman, and the next moment she could transform into a raging “Karen”.  And of course I am not singling out women in particular, because most of the people that have been involved in the violent riots that we have seen around the nation in recent weeks have been men.  People of all ages and backgrounds are suddenly going completely nuts, and what we have experienced so far is just the beginning.

The mainstream media deserves a lot of the blame for this.  Over and over they keep telling us that the riots that are happening in our major cities each night are “peaceful”, but everyone can see that they are not.  In Portland, protesters have been regularly firing projectiles, vandalizing buildings and setting fires, and they keep getting away with it.  Other than Fox News, the major news outlets in this country have put their full stamp of approval on what these rioters are doing, and that sends a very dangerous signal to everyone else.

If it is perfectly acceptable for rioters to attack police officers, destroy buildings and commit other acts of violence because they are “offended” by the system, then a lot of other young people out there are going to give themselves permission to violently erupt when they are “offended” by something as well.

For example, there was just an incident in Tennessee where hundreds of teens started going on a violent rampage at a mini-golf center because “the game machines ate their cash”…

A Tennessee mini-golf center erupted in chaos Saturday night when 300 to 400 teenagers began terrorizing staffers and smashing up the premises because the game machines ate their cash, Jam Press reported.

The riotous scene at Putt-Putt Fun Center, at Golf and Games Family Park in Memphis, was caught on camera by an alarmed bystander and shows the violent teens go berserk and throw various heavy objects at staff because they didn’t issue the kids a refund.

To really get a feel for this incident you need to see some video footage, and someone posted a short clip of the chaos on Twitter right here.

100 years ago, young people in America never would have conducted themselves in such a manner, and this is yet more evidence of how dramatically our culture has decayed.

Over on the east coast, three male “Karens” completely freaked out and caused 13,000 dollars in damage to a bagel shop when they were told that they had arrived too late to get food…

Footage released by police shows the suspects smashing up The Brothers Deli & Bagel in Dyker Heights, Brooklyn at around 5.30pm on Friday after workers had packed up and were waiting for their deliver man to bring the bikes inside.

The video shared Tuesday shows the would-be customers knocking drinks off a shelf, flipping over snacks, and turning tables after seemingly realizing they were too late to buy food.

In a civilized society, people resolve their differences calmly and peacefully, but the truth is that we are becoming less civilized with each passing day.

For many people, resorting to violence is becoming option number one and talking things out rationally is way down the list.

Down in South Florida, nobody is quite sure why a bunch of people in bathing suits started “pummeling each other” at a local casino, but it ended up making headlines all over the globe…

Three people were arrested and several more were banned from a South Florida casino after they were filmed in a violent brawl.

Video on social media shows several individuals, wearing bathing suits, while pummeling each other inside the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood on Friday.

At this point, video of the brawl has been seen more than four million times, and I suppose that should not come as a surprise to any of us.

As I was writing this article, several lines penned by the Apostle Paul in the New Testament came to mind…

This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.

2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,

3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,

4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;

5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

Everywhere you look, people are exceedingly angry, and we are starting to see Americans take out their anger on one another with frightening regularity.

And if things are this bad already, what is the U.S. going to look like when events really start to spiral out of control?

The way that we raise and educate our children really matters.  For decades, most of the country has completely thrown out all traditional forms of morality, and we have raised our children to believe that they can define “right” and “wrong” however they wish.

Our education system is a complete and total joke, most children have been raised without any real moral foundation, and our culture relentlessly pounds a “victim mentality” into the heads of our young people.

A society is only as strong as the sum of the individuals that make up that society, and right now the lack of character in the United States is absolutely frightening.

Yes, there are certainly lots of exceptions.  I know some truly wonderful people, but I just wish that there were a whole lot more of them.

Unfortunately, the social decay that is eating away at our society like a cancer is getting worse with each passing year.  Decades of incredibly bad decisions have brought us to this point, and there are no indications that our nation is going to choose a different course any time soon.

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.

Soon, You Will Need To Wear A Mask To Enter Virtually Every Major Retail Store In America

If you are adamant about not wearing a mask, you are not going to like this news one bit.  Coming into this week, Costco, Starbucks, Best Buy and Panera Bread were requiring customers to wear masks to come into their stores, but most other major retailers were still giving people the freedom to choose whether they wanted to wear a mask or not.  I know that a lot of people appreciated this freedom to choose, but it is about to come to an abrupt end.  On Wednesday, Walmart and Kroger announced that they will be starting to require consumers to wear masks in all of their stores, and the National Retail Federation is pushing all of the rest of their members to do the same thing.  In the days ahead it is expected that most of them will follow suit, and that means that soon there will be very few major retail stores that you are able to enter without wearing a mask.

Walmart says that they decided to make this change in order to “bring consistency” across all of their stores.  The following comes from the official Walmart website…

As the number of confirmed cases has spiked in communities across the country recently, so too have the number and types of face covering mandates being implemented. Currently about 65 percent of our more than 5,000 stores and clubs are located in areas where there is some form of government mandate on face coverings. To help bring consistency across stores and clubs, we will require all shoppers to wear a face covering starting Monday, July 20. This will give us time to inform customers and members of the changes, post signage and train associates on the new protocols.

In the region of the country where I live, there are a ton of people that feel very strongly about not wearing masks, and this announcement is going to hit them really hard.

There is only one Walmart within a 90 minute drive of where I live, and virtually everyone in the region pops in there at some point.  But now those that do not want to wear masks will be excluded, and there will be some very hard feelings over this.

If you try to enter a Walmart without a mask next week, you will be greeted at the door by a “Health Ambassador” wearing a black shirt.  I find it very interesting that they specifically chose the color black, and I think that it would have been helpful if they had chosen a more friendly color.  In any event, these new positions are being created in order to ensure that only people wearing masks are able to get into the stores.  Of course Walmart is trying to make this sound as non-threatening as possible…

In addition to posting clear signage at the front of our stores, Walmart has created the role of Health Ambassador and will station them near the entrance to remind those without a mask of our new requirements. Our ambassadors will receive special training to help make the process as smooth as possible for customers. The ambassadors, identifiable by their black polo shirts, will work with customers who show up at a store without a face covering to try and find a solution. We are currently considering different solutions for customers when this requirement takes effect on July 20.

Needless to say, this announcement by Walmart is likely to spark an avalanche of other announcements by major retailers.

In fact, Kroger made an announcement just hours after Walmart did…

Within hours, Kroger — the largest U.S. supermarket chain — said it will also require shoppers to wear masks starting July 22.

And as I mentioned above, the National Retail Federation is already pushing all of their members to fall in line…

The president of the  National Retail Federation trade group wants retailers to adopt a nationwide policy that requires customers to wear masks, and hopes Walmart’s decision to do so would galvanize other companies to take similar action, reports Reuters.

“Shopping in a store is a privilege, not a right. If a customer refuses to adhere to store policies, they are putting employees and other customers at undue risk,” the NRF says.

We will be told that this is just a “temporary” thing, but at what point will we be able to start shopping without masks again?

It certainly won’t be any time in 2020.  This week, CDC director Robert Redfield said that he anticipated that this fall and winter “are probably going to be one of the most difficult times that we’ve experienced in American public health”…

I am worried. I do think the fall and the winter of 2020 and 2021 are probably going to be one of the most difficult times that we’ve experienced in American public health because of what you said — the co-occurrence of Covid and influenza, and this is where I’d like to continue to work with you to get the American public to embrace the influenza vaccine so we can try to minimize the impact of inluenza, because I think those two respiratory pathogens hitting us at the same time do have the potential to stress our health system.

Ultimately, we will probably be forced to wear masks until the pandemic ends.

But what if this pandemic lasts for years?

A couple days ago, I authored an article in which I discussed three separate scientific studies which all showed that COVID-19 antibodies disappear very, very rapidly.  In fact, some patients no longer had detectable antibodies just weeks after originally testing positive for antibodies.

What this means is that it appears that COVID-19 is very similar to many other less dangerous coronaviruses that are floating around out there.  Just like there is no lasting immunity to “the common cold”, there also appears to be no lasting immunity to COVID-19.

That means that no “vaccine” is going to save us, we will never get to the point of “herd immunity”, and this virus will circulate all over the globe year after year.

So does this mean that wearing masks will now become a permanent requirement in our society?

We should certainly hope that won’t be the case, but unfortunately we aren’t the ones making the decisions.

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.

There Are Nationwide Shortages Of Aluminum Cans, Soda, Flour, Canned Soup, Pasta And Rice

I had no idea that things had gotten so bad.  Earlier today, my wife spoke with the manager of a local grocery store because she wanted to place a large order for some canned goods.  What she was told surprised her, and it certainly surprised me.  The manager of this local grocery store told her that there are numerous nationwide shortages going on at this moment, and he indicated that there are lots of products that he simply cannot get right now.  When my wife told me what he had said, I decided that I had to look into this, because I hadn’t heard that canned goods were in short supply.  Well, it turns out that the manager that my wife spoke with was right on target, and that should deeply alarm all of us.

One thing that my wife was specifically told was that there is a nationwide shortage of aluminum cans, and this is having a tremendous impact on the soda industry.

In fact, things have gotten so bad that Coca-Cola has been forced to publicly address the situation…

Coke Life, Mello Yellow, Sprite Zero, Fresca and more. These are among some of the products you may have had trouble locating on store shelves in recent weeks.

And you’re not alone.

When asked about the situation, Coca-Cola told one Twitter follower: “We are seeing greater demand for products consumed at home & taking measures to adapt, working to mitigate the challenge during this unprecedented time. We appreciate your loyalty to our beverages; please know that we’re working hard to keep the products you love on the shelves.”

Apparently the big reason why there is a shortage is because people are consuming far more beverages at home than usual, and this has created a huge demand for canned drinks.

Right now, Coca-Cola and Pepsi are primarily focusing on using their limited supplies of aluminum cans to produce their core products, and this has made less popular flavors very difficult to find…

Both Coca Cola and Pepsi have reportedly been forced to focus on their most popular flavors in order to keep them in stock, making the less popular flavors harder to find for the time being.

Unfortunately, we aren’t just facing a shortage of aluminum cans.

According to the Wall Street Journal, some of the biggest food manufacturers in America are admitting that there are nationwide shortages of “flour, canned soup, pasta and rice”…

Grocers are having trouble staying stocked with goods from flour to soups as climbing coronavirus case numbers and continued lockdowns pressure production and bolster customer demand.

Manufacturers including General Mills Inc., Campbell Soup Co. and Conagra Brands Inc. say they are pumping out food as fast as they can, but can’t replenish inventories. Popular items such as flour, canned soup, pasta and rice remain in short supply.

Of course those are precisely some of the key items that preppers tend to stock up on.

I think that millions of Americans can sense what is coming, and they are gathering supplies while they still can.

Meanwhile, the nationwide coin shortage continues to get even worse.

This week, I was stunned to learn that Kroger has announced that it will “no longer return coin change to customers”…

If you pay with cash at one of Kroger’s cashier checkouts, you won’t be getting coin change for a while, and it’s indirectly due to the coronavirus.

Kroger spokesperson Erin Rofles confirmed Friday the grocer will no longer return coin change to customers. Instead, the remainders from cash transactions will be applied to customers’ loyalty cards and automatically used on their next purchase.

That is serious.

This coin shortage is being caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and it is likely to last for as long as this pandemic persists.

If we have already gotten to the point where the federal government is unable to produce enough coins for all of our businesses, how long will it be before we start witnessing a shortage of dollar bills?

At this point, even Walmart is acknowledging the stress that the nationwide coin shortage is putting on their operations…

Walmart has also been impacted been the shortage. In a statement to WMAZ, Walmart spokesperson Avani Dudhia, “Like most retailers, we’re experiencing the affects of the nation-wide coin shortage. We’re asking customers to pay with card or use correct change when possible if they need to pay with cash.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has also deeply affected the meat processing industry.  Numerous meat processing facilities all over the nation have been shut down in recent weeks, and this has limited supplies and pushed up prices.

In fact, we saw some pretty dramatic price increases during the month of June…

Once again, meat prices went up.

Overall, beef and veal prices rose 4.8%. Pork prices grew 3.3% and bacon got 8.1% more expensive. Hot dog prices grew 4.9%.

I have repeatedly warned my readers that meat prices were going to go up substantially, and so hopefully a lot of you out there stocked up before the price increases hit.

What we have been witnessing over the first half of 2020 should be a major league wake up call for all of us, because it has become clear that our system is far more vulnerable to shocks than most people ever imagined.

If COVID-19 can cause this much chaos, what is going to happen when a crisis that is far more severe comes along?

Even though I write about this stuff on a constant basis, I was stunned when my wife told me that we couldn’t get the canned goods that we wanted because a nationwide shortage was happening.

It has become very difficult to keep up with how fast things are changing, and I expect events to accelerate even more as we head toward the end of 2020 and beyond.

If you still need to get stocked up for all the chaos that is coming, I would do so quickly, because supplies are only going to get tighter the worse things get.

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.

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

Another wave of lockdowns has begun, and that is really bad news for the U.S. economy.  The first wave of lockdowns resulted in the permanent closing of more than 100,000 U.S. businesses, colossal lines at food banks around the nation, and the loss of tens of millions of jobs.  Needless to say, this new wave of lockdowns will make things even worse, and some are speculating that this is precisely what Democrats want.  If the U.S. economy continues to fall apart as we approach the election in November, the thinking is that this will make President Trump look bad and will make it more likely that people will cast votes for Democrats.  But there is also the possibility that this could backfire in a huge way for the left.  If millions of Americans start to identify the Democrats as “the party of the lockdowns”, that could actually greatly help President Trump in November.

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.

2020 Has Been A Miserable Year, And Americans Are The Unhappiest They Have Been In Ages

What a year this has been so far.  First, the greatest public health crisis in 100 years hit us, then the U.S. economy imploded, and now the streets of many of our major cities resemble war zones after weeks of rioting, looting and violence.  It has been one thing after another, and this has taken a great toll on the mental health of the American people.  Of course we weren’t exactly in great shape coming into this year.  In 2019, it was being reported that the suicide rate in the U.S. was at an all-time record high, alcohol-related deaths were at an all-time record high, and drug overdose deaths were at an all-time record high.  So the truth is that we were already deeply miserable before 2020 came along, and now a brand new survey has discovered that as a result of everything that has happened so far this year we have become even more unhappy…

Spoiler alert: 2020 has been rough on the American psyche. Folks in the U.S. are more unhappy today than they’ve been in nearly 50 years.

This bold – yet unsurprising – conclusion comes from the COVID Response Tracking Study, conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago. It finds that just 14% of American adults say they’re very happy, down from 31% who said the same in 2018.

Would you say that you are “very happy” with your life?

I hope so, and I would like to think that most of my readers are more content with their lives than the general population as a whole.

Personally, I would definitely label myself as “very happy”, but it looks like most of the population definitely does not feel the same way.

According to the survey, the coronavirus lockdowns are one of the big reasons why Americans are feeling less happy these days.  Being forced to stay away from others has caused many people to feel increasingly lonely…

About twice as many Americans report being lonely today as in 2018, and not surprisingly given the lockdowns that tried to contain the spread of the coronavirus, there has also been a drop in satisfaction with social activities and relationships. Compared with 2018, Americans also are about twice as likely to say they sometimes or often have felt a lack of companionship (45% vs. 27%) and felt left out (37% vs. 18%) in the past four weeks.

Humans are inherently social creatures, and we were created to love and be loved.

I think that our politicians greatly underestimated the damage that social isolation would cause for many people.  In some cases, the consequences have been absolutely devastating.

Meanwhile, a lot of Americans are also feeling unhappy these days due to economic reasons.

Up to this point in 2020, more than 100,000 businesses have permanently shut down, economic activity all over the planet has dropped precipitously, and more than 44 million Americans have filed claims for unemployment benefits.

Initially, it was hoped that most of those jobs would eventually come back, but now it has become very clear that is not going to happen.  In fact, one new estimate is projecting that a whopping 42 percent of the job losses “will be permanent”…

“50% of U.S. job losses come from the combination of lockdown and weak demand, 30% from the reallocation shock, and 20% from high unemployment benefits,” Bloomberg found.

A report by the Becker Friedman Institute at the University of Chicago estimated 42% of layoffs that occurred as a result of the pandemic will be permanent.

In other words, millions upon millions of Americans that have lost their jobs during this pandemic will never be getting their old jobs back.

When I first started telling my readers that a lot of these jobs would never return, I got some really nasty emails.

There were some people that were absolutely incensed that I would suggest such a thing, but now the truth of the matter has become obvious to everyone.

Unfortunately, a large portion of the population was not prepared for an economic shock of this magnitude.  In fact, another new survey has found that 33 percent of all Americans “do not feel prepared to deal with the financial impact of the pandemic”…

Even before COVID-19 was a household name, many Americans struggled to build up an emergency fund. Now, for some, the need for such a foundation is painfully clear. A full third – 33% – of respondents said they do not feel prepared to deal with the financial impact of the pandemic.

“If our current financial situation gets worse before it gets better, Americans need to have money set aside that they can lean back on as a last resort,” Frerichs said. “If you don’t currently have an emergency fund, try to set aside as much as you can every month, and aim to build enough to cover between three and six months of living expenses.”

For years, I have been strongly urging my readers to build up their emergency funds, and hopefully most of them heeded that advice.

Because things are not going to be turning around any time soon.  The bad news is that much of the economic suffering that had been deferred by unprecedented government intervention is about to hit us in a major way, and the really bad news is that the economic problems that we are facing now are going to pale in comparison to what we will be facing in future years.

Needless to say, this is going to put even more stress on the mental health of Americans.

So if you think that people are going absolutely nuts right now, just wait until you see how bad things get when our society really starts to melt down.

But just because things will be falling apart all around you does not mean that you have to be personally miserable.

If you derive meaning and purpose in life from your career, your ambitions, your bank account, your social status and all of the things you have accumulated, then you will definitely have an exceedingly difficult time dealing with the things that are coming.

However, if instead you choose to derive meaning and purpose in life from the things that really matter, you will not be shaken even if all of your plans, programs and material possessions are taken from you.

All of human history has been building up to the moment that we are living in right now, and you were born for such a time as this.  So don’t crawl into a hole and complain about how bad things are as conditions deteriorate.  Instead, choose to stand up and become the person that you were created to be.

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.

It Only Took 2 Days For Seattle’s “Autonomous Zone” To Descend Into Chaos…

Protesters in Seattle decided that they were going to give us a living, breathing example of how the world should really operate.  The police were completely kicked out of a six block area of downtown Seattle, and armed guards were posted at all the entrances to the “Capital Hill Autonomous Zone” in order to make sure that their “utopia” would not be interrupted.  At first, people were dancing and singing in the streets, free food was being passed out to everyone, gardens were being started, and free movies were being played at night under the stars.  It was such a glorious beginning for “CHAZ”, but within hours major problems began to develop.

The protesters wanted to show everyone how compassionate they could be, and so they invited Seattle’s homeless population to share their free food.

Well, it turns out that the homeless people grabbed more of the food than they should have, and that created quite a crisis…

Yes, she was being quite serious.

If you live near CHAZ and you have extra “vegan meat substitutes, fruits, oats, soy products, etc.” laying around, there are some really hungry radicals that would really appreciate the help.

But please don’t bring them anything that has been heavily processed because that will just make them angry, and if you try to give them anything that contains real meat that could potentially set off a riot.

In addition to a looming food shortage, residents of CHAZ are also dealing with a leadership crisis.  Now that all the police are gone, it was just a matter of time before someone else took charge, and the person that has taken charge is a “heavily-armed” rapper named Raz Simone…

Seattle’s new “autonomous zone” – a six-block area established by protesters after the police and National Guard pulled out of city’s Capitol Hill neighborhood – now has a ‘heavily-armed’ warlord, and he’s already enforcing his streets.

Soundcloud rapper Raz Simone and his entourage have claimed the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ) as their territory – and have already been filmed regulating when a man wouldn’t stop spraying graffiti over an urban art installation, telling him “We are the police of this community now!”

Somehow Simone was able to get his hands on an AK-47, and even though we keep being told that these are “peaceful protests”, Simone has told those under his command that what they are facing “is war”…

Simone, a local rapper with an AK-47 slung from his shoulder and a pistol attached to his hip, screamed, “This is war!” into a white-and-red megaphone and instructed armed paramilitaries to guard the barricades in shifts.

Before this stunt, hardly anyone had ever heard of Raz Simone, and I suppose that this is one way to make a name for yourself and sell a lot of records.

At first, Washington Governor Jay Inslee insisted that he didn’t even know that activists had taken over a large section of downtown Seattle.

Later on, he changed his tune, and now he is saying that he is hoping for a peaceful resolution.

And hopefully that is precisely what we will see, but for now the protesters appear to be determined to dig in for the long haul.

Needless to say, President Trump is not amused by any of this.

In fact, he is warning that if local officials do not shut down CHAZ, he will do it himself…

President Trump issued a demand for Democratic controlled Seattle to be brought back under order immediately, as Antifa anarchists claimed control of a six-block zone and a police station.

“Radical Left Governor [of Washington, Jay Inslee] and the Mayor of Seattle are being taunted and played at a level that our great Country has never seen before,” Trump tweeted late on Wednesday.

“Take back your city NOW. If you don’t do it, I will. This is not a game. These ugly Anarchists must be stooped [sic] IMMEDIATELY. MOVE FAST!’” he continued.

It is hard to believe that this is actually happening in America.

But as I keep warning, what we have seen so far is just the beginning.  As economic conditions deteriorate, Americans are just going to get even angrier and even more frustrated.

On Thursday, we learned that another 1.5 million Americans filed new claims for unemployment benefits last week…

About 1.5 million Americans filed first-time applications for unemployment insurance last week, the Labor Department said Thursday. That pushes the tally of those who have made initial claims – a rough measure of layoffs – over the past 12 weeks to a staggering 44.1 million.

This wasn’t supposed to happen.  Once states started reopening, the tsunami of job losses was supposed to stop, but instead we continue to see Americans lose their jobs at a pace that is far beyond anything we have ever witnessed in all of U.S. history.

As I keep reminding my readers, the all-time record for a single week prior to this year was just 695,000.  So until we get below that level, nobody should even think of using the word “recovery” to describe what is happening.

The truth is that the U.S. economy continues to fall apart all around us, and at this point even the New York Times is admitting that damage has been done “to millions of interconnections” throughout our economic system…

The fabric of the economy has been ripped, with damage done to millions of interconnections — between workers and employers, companies and their suppliers, borrowers and lenders. Both the historical evidence from severe economic crises and the data available today point to enormous delayed effects.

“There’s a lot of denial here, as there was in the 1930s,” said Eric Rauchway, a historian at the University of California, Davis, who has written extensively about the Great Depression. “At the beginning of the Depression, nobody wanted to admit that it was a crisis. The actions the government took were not adequate to the scope of the problem, yet they were very quick to say there had been a turnaround.”

If you think that the anger that we have experienced so far is something, just wait until you see what is coming in the years ahead.

We have entered a very disturbing new chapter in U.S. history, and events are beginning to spiral out of control.

Tens of millions of Americans have already lost their jobs, and the very generous unemployment bonuses that they have been getting are set to expire at the end of July.

A great deal of economic pain is on the horizon, a long, hot summer awaits us, and this is an election year.

All of that adds up to big trouble, and more major societal turmoil could be sparked at any moment.

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 all many people as we possibly can.

A ‘Biblical’ Plague Of Locusts Has Put Millions On The Brink Of Famine: “We Have Never, Ever Seen What We Have In The Last Six Months”

Billions upon billions of voracious desert locusts are ravenously devouring crops over a vast portion of the globe that stretches from eastern Africa all the way to India.  This unprecedented plague was supposed to be subsiding by now, but instead a fourth generation of locusts has emerged that is producing swarms that are “up to 8,000 times larger” than what we witnessed earlier this year.  Some of these swarms are the size of major cities, they can travel up to 150 kilometers a day, and when they descend upon a farm they can literally eat everything there in as little as 30 seconds.  Because these swarms are not affecting the United States, most Americans don’t understand the immense devastation that is happening on the other side of the globe right now.  The UN is warning that mass starvation is coming, and we are being told that it is going to begin by the end of this calendar year.

Each desert locust is very small, but collectively they can consume vast amounts of food.  According to the UN, a swarm that contains between 40 and 80 million locusts can eat “the same amount of food in a day as three million people”.

And it is important to remember that colossal swarms of locusts have been destroying countless farms day after day for many months.  What we have already witnessed is enough to constitute a major global emergency, and now the International Rescue Committee is telling us that this latest generation of locusts is the worst of them all by far…

“A fourth generation of desert locusts up to 8,000 times larger than previous swarms could destroy crops at the start of the hunger season and leave millions facing food insecurity and famine,” explained the aid organization in a statement.

When these swarms of locusts approach an area, they can be so thick that they literally block out the sun.  Authorities have been spraying them with pesticides from the sky, but when you are talking about countless millions of locusts in a single swarm, killing thousands of them doesn’t exactly make too much of a dent.

In past articles about these locusts, I have focused on the widespread destruction that we have been witnessing in Africa, and without a doubt we will see widespread famine across much of the eastern portion of that continent.

This new generation is hitting Africa again, but what has surprised many experts is how hard it is also hitting Pakistan and India.

A British news source is using the term “biblical” to describe the infestation that Pakistan is facing, and the Pakistani government was recently forced to declare a national emergency because of the locusts…

Tens of millions of people are set to face food shortages on the continent after a plague of locusts embarked on a path of destruction across India and Pakistan. In Pakistan, a national emergency has been declared after an outbreak of locusts’, on a biblical scale, wreaked havoc across farmland in the eastern Punjab, southern Sindh and southwestern Baluchistan provinces.

Over in India, one expert is saying that these locusts are unlike anything that his nation has ever seen before…

Bhagirath Choudhary, director of the New Delhi-based South Asia Biotechnology Centre, an agriculture think-tank said: “We have never, ever seen what we have in the last six months in India – never in the history.”

Sadly, most Americans don’t even know that this is happening.

Here in the United States, the mainstream media has been so focused on COVID-19 and all of the civil unrest that has erupted, but this gigantic locust plague should be making front page headlines too.

At this point, things have gotten so bad that the executive director of the UN World Food Program is warning that we are facing “the worst humanitarian crisis since World War Two”, and he has publicly stated that hundreds of thousands of people will soon be starving to death every day…

“If we can’t reach these people with the life-saving assistance they need, our analysis shows that 300,000 people could starve to death every single day over a three-month period”, he upheld. “This does not include the increase of starvation due to COVID-19”.

Thankfully, we are not facing imminent starvation here in the United States.

But that doesn’t mean that everything is okay.

In fact, one brand new survey has found that an increasing number of Americans are skipping meals or reducing the size of their meals now that economic conditions have greatly deteriorated…

“One in four Americans (26%) say they or a member of their household have skipped meals or relied on charity or government food programs since February, including 14% who say they have reduced the size of meals or skipped meals because there wasn’t enough money for food, 13% who have visited a food bank or pantry for meals, and 13% who have applied for or received SNAP benefits,” the survey said.

Many Americans have been taking last Friday’s jobs report as a sign that things will soon turn around, but it turns out that the report was not nearly as rosy as many thought.

In the report, the BLS actually admits that a major “misclassification error” severely skewed the numbers and that the real rate of unemployment is actually about 16.3 percent…

When the U.S. government’s official jobs report for May came out on Friday, it included a note at the bottom saying there had been a major “error” indicating that the unemployment rate likely should be higher than the widely reported 13.3 percent rate.

The special note said that if this “misclassification error” had not occurred, the “overall unemployment rate would have been about 3 percentage points higher than reported,” meaning the unemployment rate would be about 16.3 percent for May.

And according to John Williams of shadowstats.com, if honest numbers were being used and if the numbers were corrected for BLS errors, the real rate of unemployment in the U.S. would currently be sitting at 36.5 percent.

So no, things are not good at all.

But at least locusts are not eating all of our crops and our population is not on the brink of starvation.

We should be thankful for the blessings that we still have, and we should use the time that we have to prepare for what else is ahead, because the truth is that this “perfect storm” 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 all many people as we possibly can.

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