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We Are Witnessing An Enormous Wave Of Bankruptcies And Layoffs During The Early Stages Of 2023

Is your job safe?  Right now, we are witnessing so much turmoil is so many different sectors of our economy.  The housing market is crashing, the cryptocurrency industry has imploded, the tech industry is laying off workers at an extremely frightening pace, and some of our most important retailers are heading into bankruptcy.  The information that I am about to share with you is deeply troubling.  It has become exceedingly clear that our economy is in huge trouble, and I fully expect that our problems will accelerate even more as the year rolls along.

Let me start by pointing out what is currently happening at Microsoft.  It is one of the wealthiest companies in the entire world, but due to a shift in “macroeconomic conditions” executives have decided that it has become necessary to lay off 10,000 workers

Microsoft announced thousands of job cuts this week, becoming the latest tech company to pluck its workforce as the global economy slows.

The software company confirmed Wednesday its reducing workforce by 10,000 people through the end of the third quarter of the 2023 fiscal year.

The cuts come “in response to macroeconomic conditions and changing customer priorities,” the company’s CEO Satya Nadella released in a statement to its employees Wednesday.

If even Microsoft is laying off thousands of workers, is any job in the private sector truly safe?

Meanwhile, some of the biggest names in the retail industry are plunging into bankruptcy now that the holiday season is over.

On Tuesday, it was Party City’s turn

Party City filed for bankruptcy protection Tuesday, weighed down by competition and years of financial losses.

The largest party goods and Halloween specialty retail chain in the United States said in a regulatory filing that it reached an agreement with debtholders to cut its $1.7 billion debt load.

Even more alarming is the fact that it is being reported that a bankruptcy filing for Bed Bath & Beyond has become “likely”

Bed Bath & Beyond has been in discussions with prospective buyers and lenders as it works to keep its business afloat during a likely bankruptcy filing, according to people familiar with the matter.

The retailer is in the midst a sale process in hopes of finding a buyer that would keep the doors open for both of its major chains, its namesake banner and Buybuy Baby, said the people, who weren’t authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

So many brick and mortar retailers are really struggling right now, and many of them are blaming competition from Internet retailers such as Amazon.

But if Amazon is doing so well, why did they start laying off approximately 18,000 workers on Wednesday?

Earlier this month, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy told employees in a blog post that the company was laying off about 18,000 people as it seeks to cut costs and would begin contacting impacted employees on Jan. 18.

“Amazon has weathered uncertain and difficult economies in the past, and we will continue to do so,” Jassy said in the Jan. 4 post. “These changes will help us pursue our long-term opportunities with a stronger cost structure.”

The wave of layoffs that we have been witnessing in the tech industry is truly unprecedented.

Prior to this week, more than 25,000 tech industry workers had already been laid off this year, and this comes on the heels of the massive layoffs that we saw last year…

According to the data tracking website, more than 101 tech companies around the world have laid off 25,436 employees so far in 2023. Most of the layoffs have taken place in the United States, accounting for 22,400 employees fired.

The number of workers being laid off from tech companies is a trend that is continuing since 2022, when 154,336 workers were fired from over 1,000 tech companies around the world, according to the data.

But at least the tech industry is in far better shape than the cryptocurrency industry is.

Let me share four major announcements that have all happened within the past 10 days…

#1 It is being reported that Genesis Global Capital “is laying the groundwork for a bankruptcy filing”

Genesis Global Capital is laying the groundwork for a bankruptcy filing as soon as this week, according to people with knowledge of the situation.

The cryptocurrency lending unit of Digital Currency Group has been in confidential negotiations with various creditor groups amid a liquidity crunch. It has warned that it may need to file for bankruptcy if it fails to raise cash, Bloomberg previously reported.

#2 Crypto.com announced that it will be laying off “20% of its workforce”

Crypto.com announced plans to lay off 20% of its workforce Jan. 13. The company had 2,450 employees, according to PitchBook data, suggesting around 490 employees were laid off.

CEO Kris Marszalek said in a blog post that the crypto exchange grew “ambitiously” but was unable to weather the collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto empire FTX without the further cuts.

#3 Coinbase has decided “to cut about a fifth of its workforce”

On Jan. 10, Coinbase announced plans to cut about a fifth of its workforce as it looks to preserve cash during the crypto market downturn.

The exchange plans to cut 950 jobs, according to a blog post. Coinbase, which had roughly 4,700 employees as of the end of September, had already slashed 18% of its workforce in June saying it needed to manage costs after growing “too quickly” during the bull market.

#4 The founder of cryptocurrency exchange Bitzlato has actually been arrested.  Apparently he was laundering money on a scale of epic proportions…

The founder of the Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency exchange Bitzlato was arrested early Wednesday in Miami in connection with a vast money laundering operation, accused of transmitting more than $700 million in illicit funds in the past four years.

Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said Anatoly Legkodymov, 40, a Russian national, oversaw a major “high-tech financial hub that catered to known crooks,” including cybercriminals and drug dealers seeking to process dirty money.

The cryptocurrency industry will never look the same again after all of this turmoil.

On top of everything else, the Saudis appear to be poised to make a major move that could literally change everything.

At the yearly gathering of the World Economic Forum in Davos, the Saudi finance minister decided to drop a bombshell

Saudi Arabia is open to discussions about trade in currencies other than the US dollar, according to the kingdom’s finance minister.

Needless to say, this could potentially completely undermine the dominance of the petrodollar.

Of course we cannot afford to have that happen, because the dominance of the dollar is one of the only things that is keeping our system afloat.

At this point just about everything is moving in the wrong direction for the U.S. economy, but most people still do not understand the bigger picture.

A lot of the “experts” assume that we will just suffer through a temporary recession and then things will eventually return to normal.

I wish that was true.

Unfortunately, our entire system is starting to crack and crumble all around us, and those that are currently running things are not going to be able to put it back together again.

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

About the Author: My name is Michael and my brand new book entitled “End Times” is now available on Amazon.com.  In addition to my new book I have written six other books that are available on Amazon.com including “7 Year Apocalypse”“Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”“The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”. (#CommissionsEarned)  When you purchase any of these books you help to support the work that I am doing, and one way that you can really help is by sending copies as gifts to family and friends.  Time is short, and I need help getting these warnings into the hands of as many people as possible.  I have published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse BlogEnd 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 definitely a great help.  These are such troubled times, and people need hope.  John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  If you have not already done so, I strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.

The post We Are Witnessing An Enormous Wave Of Bankruptcies And Layoffs During The Early Stages Of 2023 appeared first on The Economic Collapse.

The Clock Is Ticking For Humanity As A Horrifying Fertility Crisis Looms

Is humanity running out of time?  Based on the growth of the global population during the last century or so, you wouldn’t come to such a conclusion.  In 1900 there were about 2 billion people living on this planet, and now there are about 8 billion.  But some experts are now suggesting that we have reached a very significant turning point.  Global population growth has slowed dramatically, and birth rates have actually fallen well below replacement level in many industrialized nations.  Couples are having a more difficult time producing babies, and there are many that are blaming our highly toxic environment for this.

A twitter thread about our looming fertility crisis has gotten a tremendous amount of attention over the past few days.

There are some pretty bold claims being made in that thread, and I decided to fact check three of the most startling…

#1 “1 in 4 couples cannot conceive naturally”

According to the official CDC website, 19 percent of women aged 15 to 49 in the United States are not able to get pregnant…

In the United States, among heterosexual women aged 15 to 49 years with no prior births, about 1 in 5 (19%) are unable to get pregnant after one year of trying (infertility). Also, about 1 in 4 (26%) women in this group have difficulty getting pregnant or carrying a pregnancy to term (impaired fecundity).

So that would suggest that it is actually around 1 in 5 couples that are not able to conceive naturally.

However, it should be noted that the infertility rate has been steadily rising, and the number on the official CDC website reflects data that is a bit old.

If current trends continue, it is just a matter of time before “1 in 4 couples cannot conceive naturally” if we are not there already.

#2 “Sperm counts are down 60%”

This claim appears to be right on the nose.  As I noted last week, a study that was recently released found that sperm counts have fallen by about 60 percent since 1973…

The latest analysis added seven years of sample collection and 44 study results to the 244 included in the earlier 2017 analysis. That study, in its analysis of data trends between 1973 and 2011, found an average decline in mean sperm concentration of 1.6% per year, and an overall decline of 59.3%. The latest study found an even steeper decline – to 2.64% post-2000 and an overall fall of 62.3% among unselected men. This, add the authors, represents a decline of –4.70 million/year, and indicates that this world-wide decline is continuing into the 21st century at an accelerated pace.

If sperm counts continue to plunge this rapidly, it won’t be too long before a majority of human males are infertile.

If that happens, the global population will begin to decline very rapidly.

#3 “if you’re an average person using regular soaps, deodorants, shampoos, body washes, conditioners, hair products, makeup, you’re ingesting over 200+ chemicals + heavy metals a day, all linked to infertility”

This claim was much harder to verify.

On the official NIH website, we are told that “pregnant women in the United States are exposed to 43 or more different potential chemical toxins”…

Environmental toxins are ubiquitous and sometimes implicated in infertility development, either through anatomical abnormalities or endocrinological dysfunction. Based on a National Health and Nutrition Survey from 2003 through 2004, pregnant women in the United States are exposed to 43 or more different potential chemical toxins.[3]Knowledge and experience in evaluating exposure to environmental toxins are critical for any reproductive endocrinology and infertility specialist.

Environmental toxins affect individuals throughout the lifespan, including prenatally, and can have various effects, from increasing cancer risk to ovulatory dysfunction to altered semen quality.

Of course the NIH has not exactly been a beacon of truth in recent years.

Without a doubt, we are all endlessly exposed to extremely hazardous toxins in our food, in what we drink, in the air that we breathe and in the products that we put on our bodies.

A lot of those toxins have been linked to infertility, and many believe that this is one of the primary reasons why birth rates have been falling all over the world year after year

It’s happening to men and women and as well, I should add, non-human species. And what we see is that the decline in the number of children that people have is one percent per year worldwide over the past 50 years. That’s true of developed countries and underdeveloped countries. And the same rate of decline, one percent per year, is what we see for the declining sperm count, what we see for the decline in testosterone, we see for the increase in miscarriage rates, and we’ve examined in our book “Count Down,” how each of these endpoints is deteriorating, if you will, at the same rate, about one percent per year, which is another bit of evidence, although not conclusive, that these are related to a common cause.

What do you think is going to happen to us if these trends continue?

Already, the fertility rate in the United States is way below replacement level

According to the US Census Bureau, the fertility rate – which measures how many children an average woman will give birth to during her life – was 1.6 in 2020.

This falls far below the level of 2.1 needed to maintain current population levels.

As I detail in my new book, this crisis is an existential threat to the future of humanity, but most people simply do not care.

Most of us are just going to continue to bombard ourselves and our children with highly dangerous toxins no matter what information comes our way.

Sometimes I think that we are simply too stupid to continue as a species for much longer.

Instead of trying to figure out how to avoid extinction, we have become an “idiocracy” in which our young people are constantly devising increasingly bizarre ways to get the most social media views possible

The clock is ticking for humanity, and we cannot save ourselves from the historic catastrophe that is in front of us.

Hopefully we will realize how desperate our situation has become before time runs out completely.

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

About the Author: My name is Michael and my brand new book entitled “End Times” is now available on Amazon.com.  In addition to my new book I have written six other books that are available on Amazon.com including “7 Year Apocalypse”“Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”“The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”. (#CommissionsEarned)  When you purchase any of these books you help to support the work that I am doing, and one way that you can really help is by sending copies as gifts to family and friends.  Time is short, and I need help getting these warnings into the hands of as many people as possible.  I have published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse BlogEnd 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 definitely a great help.  These are such troubled times, and people need hope.  John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  If you have not already done so, I strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.

The post The Clock Is Ticking For Humanity As A Horrifying Fertility Crisis Looms appeared first on The Economic Collapse.

Is The War In Ukraine About To Go To An Entirely New Level?

If Russia intends to make a major move to win the war in Ukraine, it needs to do it very soon.  As you will see below, representatives from over 50 different nations will gather this week for a historic meeting in Ramstein, Germany.  The goal of that meeting will be to implement a plan to absolutely flood Ukraine with tanks and missile systems in an attempt to turn the tide of the war.  At the moment, the Russians have regained the initiative and the Ukrainians are steadily losing territory in eastern Ukraine.  The Ukrainians are hoping to buy enough time for the next massive influx of military aid to arrive, because it could potentially change everything.

Most of you have probably not heard about the meeting that will be held in Ramstein, Germany on Friday.  The following originally comes from the Wall Street Journal

Representatives of more than 50 countries supporting Ukraine are set to gather in Ramstein, Germany, to discuss provisions for Kyiv and pledge fresh supplies later this month. The U.S.-led assembly, known as the contact group, includes all countries in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and allies, including Japan, South Korea and Australia, offering lethal and nonlethal aid.

Ukraine is expected to receive Patriot missile systems, which Ukrainian officials say would hobble Russia’s missile attacks that have wreaked havoc on Ukraine’s civilian and critical infrastructure. Some Western officials also said that the first-ever shipment of Western-made main battle tanks could also be announced at the Friday meeting in Ramstein.

The only way that the Russians will be able to stop all of this equipment from getting to Ukraine would be to launch an enormous new invasion from the north that completely cuts off the flow of aid from the western powers.

Russia has been moving troops and equipment into Belarus for months, and many believe that such an offensive will soon happen.

And it is interesting to note that Russia and Belarus just initiated “a series of air-force exercises” on Monday…

Russia and its ally Belarus launched a series of air-force exercises Monday along the border with Ukraine in an effort to boost cooperation ahead of what Ukrainian officials and military analysts believe could be a fresh effort by Moscow in the coming months to retake battlefield momentum.

Throughout history, military exercises have often been used as a cover for major military operations.

But that doesn’t mean that the Russians will pull the trigger in this case.

Perhaps the Russians are just bluffing and are simply trying to hold a large number of Ukrainian forces along the northern border as the main push happens in the east.

At this point we just don’t know.

But many analysts in the western world do believe that the Russians will launch some kind of new offensive in the coming months

“The Kremlin is likely preparing to conduct a decisive strategic action in the next six months intended to regain the initiative,” said a note from the Institute for the Study of War, a U.S.-based think tank that publishes daily reports on the war in Ukraine.

Actually, I think that if the Russians are going to make a move it will happen soon.

When the mud returns in the spring, it will be much more challenging for Russian tanks to move around efficiently.

So if a major offensive is going to take place, it will almost certainly be conducted within the next several weeks.

Meanwhile, Russian television continues to be filled with talk of nuclear war

One of Vladimir Putin’s allies has claimed World War Three has already started as he called for Russia to launch a nuclear missile strike on Britain, France and Poland.

TV propagandist Vladimir Solovyov told Russians that Moscow should target the West to disrupt NATO countries from sending supplies to Ukraine.

You don’t hear this sort of talk on television here in the United States.

In fact, at this point most Americans still believe that the risk of nuclear war is extremely low.

But they see things very, very differently inside Russia.

These remarks by Solovyov were in response to reports that NATO powers are getting ready to ship large numbers of tanks and armored vehicles to Ukraine

It comes as Britain is poised to supply Challenger II main battle tanks to Kyiv, in the first such move of the war.

France is shipping French AMX-10 reconnaissance vehicles, Germany is sending 40 Marder infantry fighting vehicles, and the US is promising 50 M2 Bradley fighting vehicles.

Both sides just continue to escalate matters, and that has brought us dangerously close to nuclear conflict.

Earlier this month, Dmitry Medvedev made headlines all over the globe when he “threatened the United States of America with hypersonic cruise missiles”…

Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev threatened the United States of America with hypersonic cruise missiles and compared the American government’s policies to that of Nazis in a Thursday Telegram post in response to a US embassy appeal to Russian citizens for peace.

“The main gift of the New Year was the arsenal of Zircon missiles that went yesterday to the shores of NATO countries,” said Medvedev, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin who currently serves as Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council.

The nuclear warhead-capable Zircon missiles were reported by Reuters Wednesday to have been placed on the frigate Admiral Gorshkov to be deployed to the Indian and Atlantic oceans.

By the way, we have absolutely no way to defend against those hypersonic cruise missiles.

If the Russians launch them, they will hit their targets.

If our leaders were sane, they would be trying to find a peaceful way out of this mess while there is still an opportunity to do so.

Sadly, that window is rapidly closing.

If the Russians launch another massive invasion of Ukraine from the north, there will be no going back.

Both sides will just keep escalating the conflict until someone crosses a line that will never be able to be uncrossed.

On Russian television, they are already talking about the inevitability of a nuclear conflict.

Unfortunately, most Americans don’t even realize that our leaders have us on the brink of the unthinkable.

Hopefully people will start to wake up before it is too late, because the clock is ticking.

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

About the Author: My name is Michael and my brand new book entitled “End Times” is now available on Amazon.com.  In addition to my new book I have written six other books that are available on Amazon.com including “7 Year Apocalypse”“Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”“The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”. (#CommissionsEarned)  When you purchase any of these books you help to support the work that I am doing, and one way that you can really help is by sending copies as gifts to family and friends.  Time is short, and I need help getting these warnings into the hands of as many people as possible.  I have published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse BlogEnd 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 definitely a great help.  These are such troubled times, and people need hope.  John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  If you have not already done so, I strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.

The post Is The War In Ukraine About To Go To An Entirely New Level? appeared first on The Economic Collapse.

Something Really Strange Is Happening…


Have you noticed that a lot of people have started to behave very strangely?  It is almost as if the level of insanity in our society has been suddenly ramped up several notches, and I don’t have a rational explanation for why this is happening.  All I know is that everywhere I look, people are behaving quite oddly.  Perhaps we have simply reached a point where the number of stupid people in our society has reached a critical mass.  Sadly, the truth is that intelligence levels in our society have been dropping for decades.

But you would have to be a special sort of dumb to try to sneak a snake on to a plane.

One woman in Florida actually tried to do this, but she didn’t quite make it

Snake on a plane? Almost.

This isn’t the plot of a sequel to the action flick. Last month, a woman traveling through Tampa International Airport attempted to stow her boa constrictor in her carry-on luggage, according to the Transportation Security Administration.

A TSA tweet shows the X-ray of the four-foot creature that passed through the screening machine passengers must navigate before getting to the gate.

When the woman was asked why she tried to bring a snake on to the flight, she said that it was “her emotional support pet”.

Our criminals are getting stupider too.

In Chicago, a 22-year-old man recently stole a car so that he wouldn’t be late for his court appearance.

So why did he have to appear in court?  Well, it turns out that he had previously been arrested for stealing another vehicle

A Chicago man received a combined 16-year prison sentence for carjacking a driver so that he could get to court for a stolen vehicle case.

Edward Flemming, 22, was arrested in January 2020 after he sole a Ford Fusion while wearing a ski mask, but he was released on his own recognizance, CWB Chicago reported.

The following month, Flemming, along with a 17-year-old boy and a 14-year-old girl, threatened a 22-year-old male with the intention of stealing the victim’s car so that Flemming could arrive at his court appearance at 9:00 a.m. on February 25, 2020.

Our politicians are also behaving very strangely.

Earlier today, I was stunned to learn that one member of Congress actually wants to “put a bust of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the U.S. Capitol” on a permanent basis…

Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) has introduced a resolution to put a bust of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the U.S. Capitol, to officially honor the patron saint of the military-industrial complex with a graven idol.

“Resolved, That the House of Representatives directs the Fine Arts Board to obtain a bust of the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, for display in a suitable, permanent location in the House of Representatives wing of the United States Capitol,” the resolution states.

Instead, why don’t we just put a 500 foot tall gold statue of Zelensky right in the middle of the National Mall?

That way the American people would be able to bow down and worship Zelensky any time that they choose.

Two years ago, hardly anyone had heard of Zelensky.

So much has changed since then.

Speaking of change, Fox News is reporting on a new study that very much surprised me…

The U.S. is more lenient than any European country when it comes to allowing children to access medical services for gender transitions, according to a new study.

The study, published by Do No Harm, a group that seeks to insulate the health care profession from “radical, diverse and discriminatory ideology,” analyzed the laws of European countries and concluded “the United States is the most permissive country when it comes to the legal and medical gender transition of children.” Laws vary in the U.S. by state, but overall, transgender youth in America have greater access to gender clinics, puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and surgeries, in some cases without parental consent.

So apparently we are leading everyone else in the western world when it comes to gender transitions.

Meanwhile, anything having to do with the Christian faith is increasingly being considered “offensive” in this country.  In fact, authorities recently tried to kick a man that was wearing a “Jesus saves” shirt out of the Mall of America because they believed that the shirt was “offending” other shoppers.

What in the world has happened to us?

I never thought that I would see the day when people are getting kicked out of shopping malls for simply having the name of Jesus on their shirts.

But of course I never thought that I would see the day when heroin and crack are being openly sold in stores, but that is precisely what is about to happen in Vancouver, Canada

A shop that will sell heroin and crack is set to open in Vancouver, Canada, to tie in with the decriminalisation of hard drugs at the end of the month.

British Columbia is due to decriminalise the possession of Class A drugs for personal use on 31 January – a move that has been widely criticised by conservative politicians and pundits.

Local businessman Jerry Martin has announced plans to open The Drugs Store, which will allow customers to buy up to 2.5g or heroin, crack and a number of other hard drugs such as methamphetamine.

Before I end this article, I wanted to acknowledge the passing of former American Idol contestant CJ Harris.

He was just 31 years old.

Every time we lose another young person with so much potential it should deeply sadden all of us.

Unfortunately, I believe that much more sadness is ahead.

Our world has become such a strange place, and I am entirely convinced that it is about to get a whole lot stranger.

Are you prepared to handle whatever comes your way as our society slowly but surely goes mad?

I hope so, because what we have experienced so far is just the tip of the iceberg.

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

About the Author: My name is Michael and my brand new book entitled “End Times” is now available on Amazon.com.  In addition to my new book I have written six other books that are available on Amazon.com including “7 Year Apocalypse”“Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”“The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”. (#CommissionsEarned)  When you purchase any of these books you help to support the work that I am doing, and one way that you can really help is by sending copies as gifts to family and friends.  Time is short, and I need help getting these warnings into the hands of as many people as possible.  I have published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse BlogEnd 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 definitely a great help.  These are such troubled times, and people need hope.  John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  If you have not already done so, I strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.

The post Something Really Strange Is Happening… appeared first on End Of The American Dream.

Baltic Gas Pipeline Explodes

A northern Lithuanian pipeline exploded and a village was evacuated. A gas pipeline connecting Lithuania and Latvia exploded on Friday, causing a fireball visible for 17 kilometers. Lithuania’s gas grid operator is investigating the blast, and foul play is not suspected.

Fire crews were dispatched to put out the blaze, but their efforts were hampered as the remaining gas in the line continued to burn off. Flames shot to a height of around 50 meters (160 feet), and were visible from 17 kilometers (11 miles) away, Lithuania’s Delfi news website reported.

The explosion took place along a section of a pipeline in Lithuania’s Pasvalys region, grid operator Amber Grid said in a statement according to a report by RT. The blast severed one of two parallel lines. The company said it immediately shut off the gas flow after the incident, adding that supply to residents of Pasvalys would resume through the undamaged line.

Russia Blames The U.S. For Nord Stream Sabotage

This is horrible news considering the energy crisis and natural gas shortages reported all over Europe. What another interesting coincidence.

Europe’s Energy Crisis Was Created by Political Intervention

Lithuanian broadcaster LRT said that the nearby village of Valakeliai was evacuated by police as a precaution, with its roughly 250 residents asked to leave their homes.

Amber Grid Director Nemunas Biknius told Delfi that an investigation will begin as soon as the fire is extinguished. He added that the company has thus far seen no evidence of a “malicious event,” but will nevertheless examine the possibility.

The pipeline transports gas to Lithuania’s northern regions and on into Latvia. No supply issues were reported on the Latvian side, Energy Minister Raimonds Cudars said. –RT

Pipeline issues are not new, and of course, the mainstream media is going to claim they are purely coincidental.

Liz Truss Allegedly Sent A Message Saying: “It Is Done” To Blinken After Nord Stream Sabotage

Germany Energy Crisis Worsens: Oil Pipeline Leak Cuts Flow To Germany

 

Testing the SIG Sauer Cross in the Wilds of the Appalachian Mountains

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There is a joke among hunters who visit West Virginia. “If you flatten West Virginia and roll it out, it would be as large as Texas.” While they’re not the majestic 10,000-foot-plus peaks of the Rockies, the Appalachians started out just as high, but 480 million years of erosion have worn them down. Still, any time spent in West Virginia’s rugged terrain is sure to impress. Most people don’t realize the barrier the Appalachians presented for the first 100 years of North American settlement by the Europeans along its entire length from Maine to Alabama.

Rough Country Tested: SIG Sauer Cross

My 16-year-old son’s obsession with hunting has allowed me to revisit my own youthful memories in the Appalachian Mountains, specifically along the West Virginia/Virginia border. The rugged, steep terrain is ideal for the lightweight yet accurate and hardy Sig Sauer Cross bolt-action rifle. Highly accurate for hunting from stands or ground blinds with shots across wide clear-cut clearings, it’s also handy for spot and stalk techniques. Even with the relatively short ranges involved in thick-timber hunting, pinpoint accuracy is crucial to find the shooting lane.

With the Sig Sauer Cross, you can experience a return to the classic hunting style symbolized by this bolt action chambered in .308 Win. The Cross is also available in 6.5 Creedmoor and Sig’s .277 Fury. Instead of focusing on long-range hunting scenarios, let’s operate under the assumption that closer is better when taking an animal. This puts the onus on scouting and choosing the best ambush position. Of course, if a 300-yard-plus shot presents itself as the only option, having the ability to successfully place the round where it’s needed is an asset. There’s a distinctly different aura surrounding hunting with a bolt-action rifle in this day of the modern sporting rifle, i.e., the AR.

The pistol grip stock and lightweight of the SIG Cross made it ideal for still hunting.

Best Of Both Worlds

Stagnant is not a word that applies to Sig Sauer, what with its innovative products in multiple classes of weapons: handgun, submachine gun, select-fire rifle, precision, belt-fed machine gun and now bolt action. Sig Sauer designed the Cross bolt-action rifle to offer performance not only with current cartridge designs but also with its highly anticipated high-pressure ammunition, starting with the .277 Fury. The action is incredibly rigid. Sig designed a one-piece receiver eliminating the need for bedding and action screws. This change from typical methods minimized much of the accuracy-robbing potential associated with bolt actions. Another benefit of the one-piece receiver is weight savings. The Sig Cross in .308 Win weighs a mere 6.5 pounds.

In any precision rifle, the trigger is a crucial part of the equation. Sig created a fully housed two-stage match trigger with a range of adjustment between 2.5 and 4.5 pounds. It exhibits no creep. The urge to change or tinker with your trigger will not be present with the Cross. That said, Sig Sauer recently issued a safety recall associated with the Cross trigger. Contact Sig to arrange the return of the Cross at Sig’s expense to remedy the situation.

Fully Adjustable & Folding Stock

The other noteworthy feature of the Cross, both in terms of aesthetics and performance enhancement, is the fully adjustable folding stock. Comb height, pad height, pad cant (screws on the pad assembly turn 7 degrees either way), a reversible comb and length of pull are all easily adjustable and locked in place with the Sig Cross. This allows a user to “fit” the Cross like no other production rifle. The importance of this should not be understated.

My thought with this evaluation was to make it a Sig Sauer party in terms of rifle, ammunition, optic and suppressor. I mounted a Sig Sauer Sierra3BDX 4.5-14x44mm on the Cross and decided to use a Sig Sauer SRD762-QD suppressor. It was as simple as installing a Sig Taper-Lok muzzle-device adapter. The Sig Sauer Taper-Lok is not only an ingenious mounting system for the suppressor body but also an effective flash suppressor or muzzle device in its own right. The ability to wield a suppressed Cross in a package not at all ungainly is a valued option.

I chose to use Sig Sauer’s 165-grain Elite Hunter and 150-grain Elite Copper HT ammunition with the Cross; Sig 168-grain Match was also tested to establish a baseline for accuracy. No ammunition tested produced greater than 1.5-inch groups at 100 yards. The Cross feeds from standard AICS-pattern magazines; a Magpul five-rounder arrived with the rifle. It has a proprietary sled follower for optimized single-round loading through the ejection port. The single-stack profile of the AICS lends itself to a thinner overall width for the Cross and a stiffer action due to less material needing to be removed from the bottom of the receiver.

The Quarry

The whitetail deer is the quintessential North American game animal, and opening day of rifle season is sacred. It is estimated that 6 million deer are taken by hunters each year across the country. In West Virginia, schools close and vacation days are burned in pursuit of the whitetail. For many of us, hunting touches our hard-wired primitive side when harvesting an animal meant the difference between life and death.

Do not let the numbers fool you. Whitetail deer are challenging prey that can be pursued in a variety of ways: stand/blind, stalking/still hunting and spot and stalk. Their sense of smell is the whitetail’s greatest asset, so wind direction and scent control must be monitored and managed by the hunter. Whitetail eyesight is strong, with movement detection being the main emphasis, and hearing is superior, with ears that are able to locate offending noises by triangulation like radio direction-finding equipment.

Hunters measure success in the field in a variety of ways, ranging from filling a freezer with delicious venison to wall-mounting a set of antlers. In America, whitetail remains king.

A Multi-Pronged Approach

We are blessed to have access to hundreds of acres in Hampshire County, West Virginia, along the Cacapon River. As part of the Potomac River watershed, the Cacapon River (which takes its name from the Shawnee word for “medicine water”) offers 81 miles of fishing, boating, wildlife and scenery. Access is by ATV and confined to foot traffic only in some of the more remote areas. A stream bisects the property we frequent.

While the rifle, optic and ammunition are important components of a successful hunt, there are other gear considerations that will increase the odds in your favor. After all, you’re on your quarry’s home turf. To this end, BOG has emerged as a great source of products such as trail cams, ground blinds and folding chairs to go along with its more well-known tripods and shooting sticks.

A Big, Rough Country Test

The woods can be a big place when you’re looking for a good buck. Weeks before rifle season’s opening day, we strategically placed game cameras to home in on travel routes and explore the potential bucks in the area. BOG game cameras enhance game-scouting capabilities: The Blood Moon and Clandestine game cameras offer technology that helps a hunter to identify game habits, which enables more efficient hunting. No one wants to hunt in an area devoid of activity. In addition, each photograph includes a time stamp, barometric pressure and temperature. With this information, hunters can get a clearer idea of whether there are certain times of the day or weather patterns with more activity.

A BOG Haymaker blind or Grave Digger ground blind setup works well after defining your deer habits. Ground blinds have become favored over the years for a variety of reasons. A ground blind allows you to get away with much more movement, without alerting your prey. One consideration often overlooked with a ground blind is scent containment—we’ve had game pass only 10 yards away oblivious to our presence.

The Cross Afield

The Sig Sauer Cross quickly became a favorite for our West Virginia wilderness hunting for not only rifle buck season but also designated doe days that extend hunting season until the New Year. Its lightweight and compact nature while maintaining ruggedness and potency is all you can ask for in a hunting rifle. The Cross carries easily in the hand. It also secures in a pack from Eberlestock, which allows for hands-free movement.

Numerous positive qualities of the Sig Cross became apparent early in our test. I have always been a fan of detachable magazines for safely and efficiently when loading and unloading a rifle. Every move into and out of transportation, into and out of the blind—which happens multiple times a day—requires weapon manipulation that the detachable magazine simplifies. The AR-like safety found on the Cross is natural to manipulate considering the rifle’s pistol grip. For Cross use in a ground blind, we either left the rifle in place in the BOG Death Grip tripod or quickly brought it to bear once we spotted an animal. Our blinds placement presented expected shots in the 100- to 225-yard range. The Cross’ MOA accuracy instilled confidence that it would do its job.

Slowing Down

Still hunting is where the Sig Cross came into its own. As the name implies, still hunting is walking stealthily through an animal’s habitat, stopping frequently—sometimes for long periods—to scan and listen for game. As a rule, you should spend at least 10 times longer being still and observing than walking. Still hunting is stalking your prey on their own terms. The Cross’ pistol grip gives it superior carrying qualities, and one-handed carry is more feasible as well. The natural-to-the-shoulder attributes of the Cross are conducive to quick, well-placed shots when an animal presents itself. This stems from the custom fitting made possible by the Sig stock.

Rarely does a firearm get me excited anymore. That sounds jaded, I know, but I’m not reaching out for sympathy; this is just a result of evaluating numerous weapons over the last 25 years. However, with the Sig Sauer Cross, you know that something different and special is afoot. For more information, visit sigsauer.com.

SIG Sauer Cross Performance

Load Velocity Average Group Best Group
SIG Sauer 165-gr. EHT 2,718 1.33 0.75
SIG Sauer 168-gr. OTM 2.572 1.00 0.66
SIG Sauer 150-gr. HT 2,790 1.50 1.00
Bullet weight measured in grains, velocity in fps by chronograph and accuracy in inches for best five-shot groups at 100 yards.

This article originally appeared in the Winter 2022 issue of American Frontiersman. Get your copy today at OutdoorGroupStrore.com.

The Winter 2022 issue of American Frontiersman.

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Grocery Stores In New York City Are Considering Locking Up Food Because Theft Has Become So Rampant

Food has become a prime target for thieves, and that should deeply alarm all of us.  Once upon a time, shoplifting was a minor nuisance for most retailers in the United States.  But today the game has completely changed.  Highly organized gangs of thieves are systematically looting stores all over the country, and this is costing retailers billions upon billions of dollars.  Authorities call it “organized retail crime”, but I call it complete and utter lawlessness.  When you have large groups of people storming retail stores all over the nation on a regular basis, that is a major crisis.

Originally, a lot of these gangs were primarily targeting goods that could be resold on the Internet very easily.  But now a lot of grocery stores are being targeted, and food is being stolen on a scale that we have never seen before.

In New York City, things have gotten so bad that some stores are thinking of implementing dramatic measures.  The following comes from a Fox News article entitled “NYC grocery stores consider locking up food due to rampant theft; workers are ‘traumatized’”

Shampoo, toothpaste, and razor blades are all items that grocery stores have increasingly started locking behind counters. Soon, that list might include food.

“People have no fear of coming to your store and stealing,” said Nelson Eusebio of the National Supermarket Association.

“Our employees are terrified,” Eusebio continued. “We have young people that come to work, young cashiers who work part-time, these kids are 16-17 years old. They’re traumatized.”

When I first started warning that we are becoming a “Mad Max society”, a lot of people thought that I was exaggerating.

Sadly, the breakdown of law and order just continues to accelerate in many of our largest cities.  In fact, it is being reported that grand larcenies “were up 80% in New York City last year”

New York City Mayor Eric Adams has made a point of combating the repeat offenses. “Criminals believe our criminal justice system is a joke,” Adams said in comments referring to a serial intruder who was arrested and released 26 times. “Those arrested for grand larceny go to court, get released and on their way home from court, they’re doing another grand larceny.”

According to the New York Police Department, grand larcenies, thefts of over $1,000, were up 80% in New York City last year.

Only an 80 percent increase?

Yes, that sounds perfectly “normal” to me.

In other areas of the country, shortages are the big news right now.

I never imagined that Costco would totally run out of eggs in early 2023, but this has actually happened at many of their stores.

As I discussed yesterday, bird flu is one of the factors that is causing supplies of eggs to get tighter.

But as the farmer in this video explains, it is certainly not the only factor.

No matter how high interest rates go, people still need to eat.

So the Federal Reserve can hike rates to the moon, but food prices are still going to remain ridiculously high.

However, higher rates will crush many other areas of the economy, and some of the biggest names in the corporate world are now conducting mass layoffs

Goldman Sachs is just the latest firm to reduce its size in recent months. Morgan Stanley announced that it would cut two percent of its staff in December, Amazon plans to cut over 18,000 jobs, and Salesforce announced it would cut ten percent of its workforce and close some offices last week.

While white collar workers were less affected by the COVID-19 pandemic lock-downs than their blue collar counterparts, many jobs were simply done remote instead of being cut, professionals are now bearing the brunt of the economic headwinds America faces.

When are people going to finally understand that we have a major league crisis on our hands?

When Goldman Sachs lays off large numbers of workers, that is a red flag.

When Morgan Stanley lays off large numbers of workers, that is a red flag.

When Amazon lays off large numbers of workers, that is a red flag.

Facebook, Twitter, McDonald’s and Walmart are also laying off workers.

As they used to say in the 1980s, it is time to wake up and smell the coffee.

At this point things are so grim that the World Bank is warning that the entire global economy could plunge into a recession this year…

The global economy is just one more knock away from a second recession in the same decade, something that hasn’t happened in more than 80 years.

That’s the latest warning from the World Bank, which on Tuesday sharply lowered its forecast for global economic growth.

As economic conditions deteriorate, people are going to become increasingly desperate.

And desperate people do desperate things.

So if you think that organized retail theft is bad now, just wait until you see what is ahead.

The social deterioration that we have been witnessing over the past several years will soon accelerate significantly, and that is really bad news for all of us.

Many retail stores on both coasts have already closed due to the epidemic of theft that we are experiencing, and a whole lot more will soon be permanently shut down.

We really are in the process of becoming a “Mad Max society”, and we only have ourselves to blame.

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

About the Author: My name is Michael and my brand new book entitled “End Times” is now available on Amazon.com.  In addition to my new book I have written six other books that are available on Amazon.com including “7 Year Apocalypse”“Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”“The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”. (#CommissionsEarned)  When you purchase any of these books you help to support the work that I am doing, and one way that you can really help is by sending copies as gifts to family and friends.  Time is short, and I need help getting these warnings into the hands of as many people as possible.  I have published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse BlogEnd 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 definitely a great help.  These are such troubled times, and people need hope.  John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  If you have not already done so, I strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.

The post Grocery Stores In New York City Are Considering Locking Up Food Because Theft Has Become So Rampant appeared first on The Economic Collapse.

How Will The World End? 9 Biggest Threats To Humanity

How The World Will End - Urban Chaos With Tank Driving Over RubbleWondering How The World Will End?

Today, I’m going to share what I believe are the 9 biggest threats to humanity.

Each of these threats has the potential to destroy our way of life.

Heck, some of these threats could be existential.

And unfortunately, the likelihood of any of the following threats occurring in our lifetimes is rising.

Why? Because as technology advances exponentially and the interconnected nature of the world continues unabated, the probability (and size) of great human mistakes also increase.

And here’s what’s truly concerning…

When you add up the chances of at least 1 of the following 9 threats occurring in our lifetimes, it seems all but certain we’ve got some tough times ahead.

Perhaps we’ll see with our own eyes exactly how the world ends…

Hey, I’m Jack – cofounder of SkilledSurvival.com and TheResilientLife.com. I have a huge favor to ask; if you learn something new today, please subscribe to my youtube channel (see the video below).

Seriously, it really helps me out.

Note: You can either watch the video below or skip over it and continue reading the article; the content is nearly identical.

The 9 Biggest Threats To Life As We Know It

1. Nuclear War

Nuclear Attack Bomb Explosion

If you could convert every atom in a tiny paper clip into pure energy (leaving no mass whatsoever), it would yield roughly 18 kilotons of TNT!

That’s the size of the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima in 1945.

Hard to believe? Yes, but the proof is in the equation:

E=mc²

It looks so compact and harmless without any context, right?

But that’s massively misleading; the information contained in that equation is powerful enough to end all human civilization.

In physics, energy and mass are different forms of the same thing.

So, if you split an atom (mass), you force the mass to convert into energy. But a tiny mass stores a MASSIVE amount of potential energy based on E=Mc².

The Real Meaning of E=mc²

This is why nukes are so dammed scary.

Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein

This equation was discovered by genius mathematician Albert Einstein, who fully understood the consequences of this discovery.

He once said,

“I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.”

While he didn’t call out Nuclear War specifically, he understood that this powerful equation (and future weapons) would no longer affect just local societies alone.

We now (for the first time in history) achieve the power, tech, know-how, and capability to end the world.

Some nuclear experts predict that a massive nuclear exchange of weapons between major superpowers would not only destroy hundreds of major cities in the blast (and potentially billions of lives), but the radioactive fallout would also kill millions (perhaps billions) more over the following years.

Worst yet, radioactive fallout in high dosages can cause hyper-aggressive cancers in humans. Any with high levels of radioactive fallout exposure would become the literal walking dead (they won’t know it until it’s too late!).

How to Survive Nuclear Fall Out

Bunkers Not Basements

And basements offer very little protection. You need feet (not inches) of dense concrete or packed dirt to slow down the deadly onslaught of radioactive fallout.

Not only this, but some folks believe global temperatures would plummet after such a nuclear exchange. This is due to the massive amount of dust and ash it would thrust into our upper atmosphere.

This blanket of ash would significantly reduce the intensity of solar rays reaching the earth’s surface.

This, in turn, would make growing crops anywhere near current yields all but impossible. And thus, create a worldwide famine for decades to come.

Nuclear Winter Nightmare

World Wide Political Tensions Are On The Rise

And unless you’ve been living under a rock, the threat of all-out nuclear war is rising due to unrelenting worldwide political tensions.

Plus, every year, more and more rogue Nation States are rushing to join the nuclear proliferation club.

All these facts add up to one hell of a scary future. And this is why Nuclear War is at the very top of this “how the world ends” threat list.

2. Super Artificial Intelligence

How The World Will End - Super AI Robots

I used to think Super AI was just a silly Hollywood trope. I mean, the Terminator movies were interesting in the mid-80s and early 90s but back then, I thought they had very little semblance to reality.

Well…I now believe I was wrong.

I’ve changed my mind after reading an incredible article about Super AI from the blog WaitButWhy.

This article lays out the incredible risk of Super AI in a way that’s easy to understand and with enough detail to punch you in the gut.

The truth is, there’s no way for me to go over the entire argument here, you should read the article yourself, but today, I’ll give you a short introduction.

Super Intelligence Is Closer Than You Think

First off, Super AI is not as far off from reality as most people think…

Why? Because technological advancement is NOT linear, it’s exponential. So, the time between one major technological advancement to the next is shrinking, FASTER and FASTER.

For example, computing power doubles every 18 months.

At that rate, at the beginning of computing power, you’ll see very little progress for a long time… And then suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, in a blink of an eye, computers have the same brain power as humans.

This is why I believe Super AI is NOT far off; a “best guess” based on “expert” consensus is around 2040

And THAT might be too conservative.

Why? Because we’ve already seen some evidence of robots making their own decisions…And some computer programs beat humans in complicated strategic games such as Chess.

And yes, these AI systems are NOT “Super AI”…yet.

Super AI would be achieved when a “thinking” robot connects to the internet and learn EVERYTHING humans have ever written or known.

And with all this intellectual power (of new-aged physics, nanoparticles, quantum mechanics, psychology, biology, philosophy, etc.), such a super AI computer would be a “conscious” entity way smarter than any human.

And not by a small margin either; by a MASSIVE amount. I’m talking about God-like Super Intelligence.

And with this superior intellect, what are these robots now capable of? Well, damn near ANYTHING.

Elon Musk | Superintelligent AI is an Existential Risk To Humanity

Will Super AI Have A Moral Compass?

And will these “awake” robots have a moral compass? Will they adopt human-based ethics?

Perhaps they might, IF (big if) humans program them with one. But we humans are not nearly as intelligent as we “think” we are. And it’s way more complicated than it seems to put human-based moral guardrails into a computer program.

And this is assuming humans could even agree on morals, which we all know is a big reason for massive riffs in society since Adam and Eve.

The best attempt I’ve come across to write such a code says something like,

“Our coherent extrapolated volition is our wish if we knew more, thought faster, were more the people we wished we were, had grown up farther together; where the extrapolation converges rather than diverges, where our wishes cohere rather than interfere; extrapolated as we wish that extrapolated, interpreted as we wish that interpreted.”20

Or, here’s my attempt at a translation,

“We realize we don’t know as much as we think we know, so please take pity on us, and treat us like we’d like to be treated if we, indeed, knew as much as you know now. And, Oh, don’t eliminate us! Thanks”.

If we can maintain some human moral compass within a Super AI computer, perhaps, they’ll help humanity usher in a better future. A utopia without diseases, famine, strife, or aging.

If We Fail? Then What?

But if we fail and they consider humans a cancer to be eliminated…then what?

I mean, if you were super intelligent, would you want to “save” humanity? Or get rid of us and move on?

No one knows, but if they decide to eliminate us, they will have the tech and knowledge to do so easily in any number of ways.

Nuclear bombs, Cyber-attacks, nano weapons. A Super AI could get access to EVERYTHING, launch ANYTHING, or create whatever it needs.

It could trick humans, manipulate leaders, and save or ruin us all…

If it’s amoral or, worse, evil…we don’t stand a chance.

Now, the point isn’t to figure out EXACTLY how this will all play out. The point is Super AI is a REAL potential threat to humanity.

I believe Super AI is a significant contender for how the world ends.

Superintelligent A.I. Will Be Unstoppable

3. Cyber Warfare

Have you ever heard of the term “Zero Day Exploits”?

They’re a term used in the hacker world to reference the “most powerful and potent software vulnerabilities.” And these “zero-day” vulnerabilities are at the heart of a new-aged underground arms race.

Why? Because hoarding these “zero-day exploits” allows Nation States to easily spy on each other through tech devices and the internet.

The most extreme examples of this are tech allows anyone with a particular “Zero Day” to infiltrate ANYONE’s phone ANYWHERE in the world, PASSIVELY (meaning you don’t need to get an active click first).

It’s spyware called Pegasus.

Israeli Pegasus spyware used ‘zero click-attack’ to infect smartphones

That’s right, the BEST (maybe I should say worst?) “Zero Day” exploits can get into nearly any security system and pull whatever levers it chooses unbeknownst to the user.

What Cyber Warfare Looks Like

This goes WAY beyond spying and privacy concerns. I’m talking about blowing up nuclear plants (from within) by:

  • Changing factory PLC controllers
  • Shutting down power plants
  • Frying electrical transformers.
  • Cutting off oil pipelines and refiners
  • Messing with food delivery systems and logistics, causing havoc in critical supply chains.

How Will The World End – Book Recommendation

All these possible threats are laid out in a gripping book, “This Is How They Tell Me The World Ends.”

It’s an excellent book if you want to know more about this threat, including cyber-weapons history, how we got here, and what the future may hold.

The bottom line is I’m now convinced cyber warfare is one of the most underappreciated threats to harm society right NOW.

Unlike Super AI, this is NOT a future threat; it’s a current ongoing underground war most folks have very little idea is taking place.

At least not until their power is out and gas stations are empty with no end in sight…

Then we’ll fully understand and suffer the dire consequences and experience firsthand how the world ends for us all.

Cyberwarfare| How World War 3 Will Be Fought

4. Bioengineering

Why do humans have to mess around with things we don’t understand? How does it make any sense to create biological chemicals and weapons that can destroy mankind?

Because THAT is where bioengineering is headed.

Again, as technology advances exponentially, the ability for more and more people to access bioengineering knowledge, skills & tools continue to grow.

And I don’t care how “secure” any bio-facility claims to be – the existential risks are not worth the “rewards.”

Engineering Viruses Are the New Biological Weapons

Controlling Access To This Tech IS A Major Problem

It’s no longer JUST Nation States with the tech to manipulate biological diseases to make them more dangerous and contagious. Every year, biotech equipment gets cheaper and more accessible to more and more groups of humans.

How many years in the future will some brilliant, disgruntled high school student decide to replicate an Ebola virus that’s more contagious and deadly?

That possibility is NOT science fiction – sure, we’re not there yet, but such a reality is on the horizon.

And well before we ever get THERE, terrorist groups and rogue nation states will be there first – perhaps only a few years away from such immense power.

I’ve even heard it may be possible in the future to create a bioengineered virus that only targets specific people with specific DNA profiles.

Congressman warns DNA tests could be used for a bioweapon

So, let’s say a deadly virus that only kills you if you have a certain percentage of bloodlines (i.e., European, Asian, African, Native American, etc.)?

The sad truth is we’re already messing with things we don’t fully understand, and any mistake (or attack) could prove deadly to most of humanity.

This sure sounds like how to world ends to me.

But is it possible to avoid such a terrible fate? To figure out how to control these existential bioengineering advancements? To only use them for “good” and not “evil.”

With humans, the answer is NO!

Out-of-control bioengineering could very well be how the world ends.

5. Nano Weapons

Nano weapons laser beam cutting materials

As we discussed earlier, nuclear bombs are a massive threat in destruction potential. But since humans can’t convert ALL mass into energy (yet), most nukes are relatively large.

They currently require some rocket launcher, or they’re dropped from planes.

Perhaps they could be loaded into a semi-trailer, but we can all agree you can’t sneak them into a purse, right?!?

With the advancement of nanotechnology, THAT will no longer be the case…

Mini Nukes

What if I told you the technology to put a micro nuclear weapon that could fit in a purse was just around the corner?

Nanotechnology allows the manufacture of mini-nuke components so small that they are difficult to screen and detect. The mini weapon (equivalent to about 100 tons of TNT) could be less than 5 lbs. and could easily destroy skyscrapers.

Nanodevices are machines much smaller in size than the strand of human hair, making them nearly undetectable to the human eye.

In the future, insect-like nanobots could be programmed to perform various tasks, such as spying on political opponents or contaminating the water supply of a major city with ease.

Or a nano drone could fly into a room and drop poison into food or a drink to target a particular individual.

Again, the exponential growth of tech is the common denominator here. As these technologies continue to appear, their risks also continue to grow.

10 TINY Micro Robots and Nano Drones

And humans will be behind the curve ball in controlling or combating such tech if used by bad actors.

Having this sort of tech in the hands of major Nation States is scary enough, but what happens with small groups or individuals gain access to this end-of-the-world tech?

Again, we’re talking scary how the world ends tech here.

6. Widespread Famine & Droughts

Famine - dirty hands holding bread crumbs

This is the first threat to humanity that’s not directly rooted in technology. I mean, famines and water shortages are ancient threats, right?

From the beginning of human history, the fear of starvation and dehydration has terrorized us all.

In the past, famines primarily came from weather-related events (floods/droughts) or war.

And while these root causes of famine still exist today, the scope, severity, and likelihood are all on the rise. And not only THAT, but there are a few new contributors as well.

For example, topsoil depletion is a genuine problem.

One in which will not only result in less food (due to lower crop yields) but also the food that’s harvested having fewer nutrients.

Why The World Is Running Out Of Soil

So over time, the amount of food and the “value of the food” will undermine our already precarious food security.

So even IF wars don’t break out (which is highly unlikely) and politicians work together (even less likely), the depletion of topsoil nutrients may no longer be able to support the extreme size of humanity.

Again, I don’t have an exact timetable here, and perhaps with all our new tech, we can figure this problem out, but the trends are concerning, and the risk of worldwide famine is increasing at an alarming rate.

And I haven’t even touched on climate change, which we all know will worsen famines and droughts. That’s why I think this could be how the world ends.

Why California is Running Out of Water

7. Out Of Control Tyrannical Governments

DC Broken: Out of control tyranny could end the world

The increased potential for Tyrannical Governments (in traditionally free Western Societies) is on the rise. And I believe 2 main forces are driving this trend toward Tyranny.

  1. The Rise of Post-Modern, Nihilism Philosophies
  2. Decentralization (via Loss of Narrative & Money Supply Control)

Let me dive into each of these a bit to help you understand what I mean.

1. The Rise of Post-Modern, Nihilism Philosophies

Dr. Jordan Peterson

Dr. Jordan Peterson

This philosophical threat was brought to my attention by Dr. Jordan Peterson.

Perhaps you’ve heard of him? If not, he’s a phycologist from Canada who’s been outspoken about the new radical left.

Now, his arguments are full of nuance and details I can only hope touch on…

So, here’s my best attempt to summarize his argument:

Over the past few decades, our universities have promoted a postmodern, Nihilistic doctrine. This way of thinking has absolutely dominated the humanities and social sciences.

The postmodernists completely reject the structure of Western Civilization. They call Western Civilization a phallocentric society, one that’s steeped in male domination. And is oppressive and self-serving to everyone EXCEPT for privileged white males.

And, of course, there’s a thread of truth to these concerns because there’s never been a shortage of flaws in any structured society.

No matter how people decide to structure things, there will be winners and losers because, as humans, we’re NOT angels, and this is NOT heaven!

There will be those in power and those without. There’s no way around that FACT.

Western Society Vs. Tyranny & Communism

But when you compare Western Society to the rest of the world, it’s proven to be vastly better and fairer in structure than anything else ever offered.

Western Society (with all its flaws) is still FAR BETTER than tyrannical Governments and Communism when it comes to individual freedoms and human rights, and it’s not even close.

What The Post-Modernists (a.k.a radical left) Believe

But postmodernists don’t accept that. They don’t have a shred of gratitude in their philosophy.

Instead, they’re driven by resentment. Resentment and bitterness, even though they’re bathed in relative wealth. And living with resentment as your central ethos is a horrible, destructive way to live.

Postmodernists also don’t believe in the individual; they don’t believe in logic, and they don’t believe in dialogue to figure things out through the exchange of ideas.

They disagree with letting others speak (with “wrong” ideas)– it’s not part of their ethos.

Postmodernists believe your fundamental identity is group fostered – you’re an exemplar of your race, your sex, your ethnicity, etc.

And based on these categories, you fall either into a group called “victim” or a group called “oppressor.” This is similar to Marxist ideas of “elites vs. workers.”

This creates a power struggle. Oppressors are vilified and must be removed from power and demonized.

It’s never about competence. It’s about perceived oppression for all past sins, with no exceptions.

They believe anyone in the “oppressors’ category” must be removed and will longer get a seat at the table – regardless of their individual contributions, morality, or competence.

And this dangerous idea of “oppressors vs. victims” is behind many historical human tragedies worldwide.

The Biggest THREAT To Our Society We MUST FIGHT Against

Complex Systems Break With Incompetence

Things don’t go well when you no longer run society with the most competent people. Complex systems tend to break economically and logistically and collapse in on themselves.

Sorry, but putting people who are not competent in positions of power (CEOs, Government agencies, Judicial appointments, politicians) is complete folly for society.

Having people who are “good at being victims” gain power and influence and run critical businesses and government agencies creates an escalating downward spiral into economic depression and collapse.

Again, we have many issues in our Western Society that should be addressed within the current system to make it better and fairer and support those oppressed.

But it is a very dangerous experiment to throw it all away and start over with absolute power in the hands of those who are good at being victims.

2. Decentralization

Now on top of this “trend to overthrow current Western culture,” let’s add a bit of decentralization into the mix, and you have a very potent brew for Tyranny…

FACT: Those who control the Narrative & money supply control the people.

So, what do you think happens when Nation States (who’ve been controlling the Narratives and Money Supplies for centuries) lose this control?

Historical Upheaval Due To The Printing Press

The last time there was massive Narrative upheaval was after the first scalable printing press was developed (in the 1400s).

Soon after, the powerful Church, Priests, and Monarchies could no longer control the masses with their interpretations of the Bible (and other works of literature).

With the printing press, people could, for the first time, read and decide for themselves.

This one invention alone turned the world on its head. The centuries following that invention destroyed the power structure of Priests and Monarchies.

Many historians believe the printing press was a significant contributor to the Thirty Years’ War that changed the world from Monarchy rule and gave rise to the modern Nation State.

Our Modern-Day Printing Press Moment

Well, the next wave of Narrative upheaval is here via the internet. And this time, the modern “Nation-State” is in the upheaval crosshairs…

But just like the change from Monarchy to Nation States, will the ones in power willingly give up control? Or will they enact more and more Tyranny in a desperate effort to keep and maintain control?

This shift in control is one of the key reasons why Tyranny will continue to rise.

Narrative Control Is Slipping Away

In the past, Nation States used mainstream media to control the news narrative (i.e., propaganda). There were only a handful of news networks and newspapers, so the Governments could pressure these gatekeepers to keep information in check.

But with the internet and social media, the narrative control is slipping away FAST. Between sites like Twitter and Substack, there’s no longer any barrier to entry into the “narrative” or truth domain.

Anyone with a computer and a voice can create a media channel, and inconvenient ideas (that go counter to what the Government would like) can be distributed across the globe with the click of a button.

That is why these ideas are being labeled as “disinformation” and “mis-information” – that’s the Government trying to keep control of the Narrative by shutting down inconvenient messaging.

Joe Rogan is a perfect example of this. His podcast draws in 11 million viewers per show on average.

This is much bigger than traditional news media such as CNN Primetime (less than a million per show).

But Joe doesn’t cover news and information in small unsatisfying “quick takes” or gotcha “sound bites.” Instead, he deep dives into nuanced conversations about complex topics covering philosophy and politics and challenging the “experts.”

This is very inconvenient for the government and those in power.

And this trend (this inconvenience) will only worsen, and governments worldwide will NOT go quietly into the night. To continue to hold onto power for as long as possible, they’ll be forced to attack those who challenge them.

Attack them by shutting them down and getting rid of them if necessary. This Is Tyranny 101.

Money Supply Control Is Slipping As Well

And not only THAT, but the Nation States also need to control the money supply. They need to be able to track individual incomes and tax them at rates that keep the money coming in.

If they lose the ability to track and tax, what happens? Well…the entire Nation State structure fails.

If Governments stay large and revenues go down? It’s only a matter of time before things get worse.

And before the advent of cryptocurrencies, there was no threat of losing money control. But now, with crypto and encryption, there are more ways to get around Government taxation.

And not only THAT, but more and more billionaires can leave their Country of origin and move somewhere much more friendly to their bottom line. Heck, some live on Yachts and avoid taxation altogether.

These “super-rich” are avoiding massive taxation, money modern Nation States need to survive into the future.

How the Rich & Powerful Hide Their Money

If the taxation supply shrinks, Governments will be forced to shrink, go further into debt, or attack those who they believe are “cheating” and raise taxes on everyone across the board to protect their size and power.

But as taxes rise, more people will be incentivized to find ways to avoid being taxed. This is another dangerous cycle, where a Nation State will be forced to become increasingly authoritarian to keep its power to control the populace.

Because, again, those who control the Narrative and the money supply have ALL the power.

These 2 major trends, “dangerous philosophical ideas and decentralization,” in much of modern Society are all pointing towards greater and greater Tyranny.

Perhaps even a lawless, collapsed society where your own Government is NOT your friend but the enemy.

Another terrifying example of how the world may end…

Antibiotic Resistance: pills and shots on a table

8. Antibiotic Resistance

The medical miracle of antibiotics has saved countless lives over the centuries. But this miracle may be quickly coming to an end.

Before Antibiotics

Bacterial infections have killed untold numbers of folks throughout human history. Why? Because without antibiotics, it doesn’t take much for an infection to fester and overwhelm your immune system to the point of death.

It was a very common way to die before the advent of modern-day antibiotics.

Now, with antibiotics, if you get an infection, you go to the doctor, who prescribes the proper dosages, and the infection goes away.

But due to humans’ tendency to not finish their proscribed antibiotic regimen, not all the sneaky bacteria die. A few little buggers survive. And those that survive, well, they build up a bit of resistance to the antibiotics.

This is bad because, over the years, the bacterial microbes that’ve had repeated exposure to the antibiotics survive and build up increasing resistance to them.

So now, when you take the meds that should kill the infection, they don’t.

And this has been happening at an alarming rate over the past few years. More bacteria are getting harder to kill. And our very best antibiotics are no longer working.

And not only THAT, but at the same time, we’re running out of new antibiotics to fight these resistant bacteria strains.

Antibiotic Resistance | Are we creating super bacteria?

The Modern Miracle Of Antibiotics Is Ending

Basically, the modern miracle of antibiotics is losing its magic AND FAST.

The future could be full of many more deaths due to bacterial infection, more in line with the past.

For example, in 2019, more than 1.2 million people (potentially more) died directly from antibiotic-resistant infections. And this will only get worse as we have yet to come up with alternative treatments.

Such a future of mass death due to antibacterial resistance could create an untenable strain on our medical systems and many other modern-day grids.

This could lead to an exponentially downward spiral of death and economic collapse, and a prime example of how the world ends.

9. Inflation Leading To Complete Economic Collapse

HyperInflation

How about dangerous, out-of-control inflation? Also called hyperinflation. Could it destroy the world as we know it? If it was widespread enough, yes, I think it could.

We don’t need to search hard to find some examples:

  • In Hungary, just after World War II, prices doubled every 15 hours
  • In Zimbabwe 2007-2008, prices doubled every day
  • Venezuela’s CPI grew by 65000% from 2017 to 2018

If we saw this type of hyperinflation of the US Dollar, a jug of milk that costs $4 today may cost $8 tomorrow, followed by another price hike to $16 the next day.

If left unchecked, that $4 gallon of milk would cost over a billion dollars by the end of a month.

So basically, the $ would quickly become completely worthless. And THAT would cause an immediate worldwide societal collapse overnight.

The world is too dependent on the dollar for it not to create mass poverty, looting, riots, and uncontrollable anarchy.

Every human, everywhere, would be overtaken by fear and lash out against their neighbors and their societies. All-out anxiety and panic will be the main ingredients to the end of the world, and hyperinflation may be the spark to light that fire.

TOP Five Worst cases of Hyperinflation in History

Scary, yes, but to be honest, such a scenario is not likely anytime soon with the US dollar. US inflation would likely not be THAT aggressive.

What About Stubborn Inflation?

What about slightly elevated inflation but for more extended periods?

If left unchecked, even 10% inflation per month and over time would put insane amounts of pressure on an economy.

Day by day, year by year, everything would get more expensive. This would be disastrous for anyone on a fixed income, such as retired folks.

Everyone on the economic ladder, from the poor to the lower class to the middle class, etc., would all move down a peg.

So, if you’re middle class, you’re buying power would diminish, and unless you worked harder or got a big raise, you’d plunge into the lower class. And those in the lower class would drop into the poor.

Think this sort of trend would undermine society as a whole?

Such an environment would be ripe for civil unrest, strife, and anarchy. I’m talking about mass looting of stores, bank robberies, etc.

Because paper money (or digital money) only has worth because others agree it has worth. If others lose confidence in this fact, the value of it goes down FAST.

OR if a corrupt Government decides to print more money, then the dollars you currently hold lose some of their value over time.

How Inflation Worked In The Past

In the ancient past, Governments would devalue a currency by adding fewer rare metals into each coin. They would replace Gold or Silver with lesser valuable alternatives.

The populace would detect this “fraud,” and inflation would occur since people would require MORE coins (more Gold / Silver) to make up for the difference.

ancient coin devaluation

How Inflation Works Today

The same idea comes into play with modern-day Governments that print money out of thin air to pay for more services, foreign aid, etc.

If you print more money faster than the number of goods and services that can be bought, inflation will eventually catch up.

At this point, you must slow down the economy (through rising interest rates) and stop printing money to stop inflation. Slower economic activity slows the speed of money being exchanged and allows the Government to buy back some of the extra dollars sloshing around.

We’ve Lost All Self Control

But this all requires Government officials to show immense self-control. And to stop raising Government debt and even pay some of it down.

But those actions are incredibly unpopular. Asking folks to pay the price today to prevent a future calamity has never gotten ANYONE elected.

We ALL prefer to ignore the pain that’s building up behind the scenes and pretend it doesn’t exist. But the more debt you have, the more fragile you become.

This is an absolute truth, whether you’re talking about YOU, me, or a Nation.

Because there are no “free lunches” regarding finance and debt, if you keep digging a deeper hole, you can delay the pain for a while, but eventually, it’ll catch up.

And when it does, there will be end-of-the-world type hell to pay.

How Will The World End Wrap Up

Is it possible to prevent such an end-of-the-world blow-up?

Possible Yes, Probable No.

Greed and power have always proven to be too much for humans to handle. And the future will be NO different.

Humanity (in general) is much too broken to negotiate a future of massive debt, advanced tech, and interconnectedness.

Greed, hate, spite, envy, and revenge are too powerful to tame.

Eventually, we will:

  • Invent new technology we don’t fully understand
  • Develop new biological weapons we can’t fully control
  • Fight each other with these weapons to control vital resources

WE are the common denominator in all 9 of these threats.

In the end, WE are our own worst enemy; and that’s why corrupt humanity is ultimately how the world will end.

Since you’re still reading, I’m guessing you’re a bit shaken up. And at this point, I “could” say, “I’m sorry for that,” and try and make you feel better. But then, I’d be a liar.

I honestly believe the risks to our current modern way of life are at an all-time high. And I don’t see these risks becoming less and less severe over time. I see the opposite.

The number of ways in which the world could end is growing.

And yet…I still hope we can thread the needle and reach the other side of these threats, both “healthy and prosperous.”

But HOPE is NOT a strategy.

Protecting Yourself & Your Family

And if you want any chance to protect yourself and those you love from the future, you must STOP living a FRAGILE life.

You need to start living what I call a Resilient Life.

It’s the only way to take matters into your own hands and avoid being a victim of future turmoil. And the first step is to determine where you stand on the Fragile vs. Resilient spectrum.

You must answer these questions to figure out precisely WHERE YOU STAND…Only then can you finally do something about it?

And the good news is I created a short and easy Readiness Score Quiz. Once complete, it’ll show you exactly how fragile or resilient you are to all these “how the world will end” scenarios.

If you want to stop fretting about how the world will end, focus on being more resilient. And the first step on that journey is to take my Readiness Score Quiz.

After, you’ll know where you stand, so you can finally do something about it and prepare for the tough times ahead!

Prepare, Adapt & Overcome,
“Just In Case” Jack

P.s. Are you ready for the tough times ahead?

Find out now by taking my short Readiness Score Quiz – it’s absolutely free.
Once complete, you’ll know exactly where you stand on the “fragile” vs.” resilient” spectrum.

The post How Will The World End? 9 Biggest Threats To Humanity appeared first on Skilled Survival.

What to Expect from the Government in 2023? More of the Same

This article was originally published by John W. Whitehead and Nisha Whitehead at the Rutherford Institute.

“There is no greater tyranny than that which is perpetrated under the shield of the law and in the name of justice.”—Montesquieu, Enlightenment philosopher

For those wondering what to expect from the government in 2023, it looks like we’re going to be in for more of the same in terms of the government’s brand of madness, mayhem, corruption, and brutality.

Digital prisons. Unceasingly, the government and its corporate partners are pushing for a national digital ID system. Local police agencies have already been given access to facial recognition software and databases containing 20 billion images, the precursor to a digital ID. Eventually, a digital ID will be required to gain access to all aspects of life: government, work, travel, healthcare, financial services, shopping, etc. Before long, biometrics (iris scans, face print, voice, DNA, etc.), will become the de facto digital ID.

Precrime. Under the pretext of helping overwhelmed government agencies work more efficiently, AI predictive and surveillance technologies are being used to classify, segregate and flag the populace with little concern for privacy rights or due process. All of this sorting, sifting, and calculating is being done swiftly, secretly, and incessantly with the help of AI technology and a surveillance state that monitors your every move. AI predictive tools are being deployed in almost every area of life.

Mandatory quarantines. Building on precedents established during the COVID-19 pandemic, government agents may be empowered to indefinitely detain anyone they suspect of posing a medical risk to others without providing an explanation, subject them to medical tests without their consent, and carry out such detentions and quarantines without any kind of due process or judicial review.

Mental health assessments by non-medical personnel. As a result of a nationwide push to train a broad spectrum of so-called gatekeepers in mental health first-aid training, more Americans are going to run the risk of being reported by non-medical personnel and detained for having mental health issues.

Tracking chips for citizens. Momentum is building for corporations and the government alike to be able to track the populace, whether through the use of RFID chips embedded in a national ID card, microscopic chips embedded in one’s skin, or tags in retail products.

Military involvement domestically. The future, according to a Pentagon training video, will be militaristic, dystopian, and far from friendly to freedom. Indeed, all signs point to the battlefield of the future being the American home front. Anticipating this, the government plans to have the military work in conjunction with local police to quell civil unrest domestically.

Government censorship of anything it classifies as disinformation. In the government’s ongoing assault on those who criticize the government—whether that criticism manifests itself in word, deed, or thought—government and corporate censors claiming to protect us from dangerous, disinformation campaigns are, in fact, laying the groundwork now to preempt any “dangerous” ideas that might challenge the power elite’s stranglehold over our lives.

Threat assessments. The government has a growing list—shared with fusion centers and law enforcement agencies—of ideologies, behaviors, affiliations, and other characteristics that could flag someone as suspicious and result in their being labeled potential enemies of the state. Before long, every household in America will be flagged as a threat and assigned a threat score. It’s just a matter of time before you find yourself wrongly accused, investigated, and confronted by police based on a data-driven algorithm or risk assessment culled together by a computer program run by artificial intelligence.

War on cash. The government and its corporate partners are engaged in a concerted campaign to shift consumers towards a digital mode of commerce that can easily be monitored, tracked, tabulated, mined for data, hacked, hijacked, and confiscated when convenient. This push for a digital currency dovetails with the government’s war on cash, which it has been subtly waging for some time now. In recent years, just the mere possession of significant amounts of cash could implicate you in suspicious activity and label you a criminal.

Expansive surveillance. AI surveillance harnesses the power of artificial intelligence and widespread surveillance technology to do what the police state lacks the manpower and resources to do efficiently or effectively: be everywhere, watch everyone and everything, monitor, identify, catalog, cross-check, cross-reference, and collude. Everything that was once private is now up for grabs to the right buyer. With every new AI surveillance technology that is adopted and deployed without any regard for privacy, Fourth Amendment rights, and due process, the rights of the citizenry are being marginalized, undermined, and eviscerated.

Militarized police. Having transformed local law enforcement into extensions of the military, the Department of Homeland Security, the Justice Department, and the FBI are moving into the next phase of the transformation, turning the nation’s police officers into techno-warriors, complete with iris scanners, body scanners, thermal imaging Doppler radar devices, facial recognition programs, license plate readers, cell phone extraction software, Stingray devices and so much more.

Police shootings of unarmed citizens. Owing in large part to the militarization of local law enforcement agencies, not a week goes by without more reports of hair-raising incidents by police imbued with a take-no-prisoners attitude and a battlefield approach to the communities in which they serve. Police brutality and the use of excessive force continues unabated.

False flags and terrorist attacks. Almost every tyranny being perpetrated by the U.S. government against the citizenry—purportedly to keep us safe and the nation secure—has come about as a result of some threat manufactured in one way or another by our own government. This has become the shadow government’s modus operandi regardless of which party is in power: the government creates a menace—knowing full well the ramifications such a danger might pose to the public—then without ever owning up to the part it played in unleashing that particular menace on an unsuspecting populace, it demands additional powers in order to protect “we the people” from the threat.

Endless wars to keep America’s military empire employed. The military and security industrial complexes that have advocated that the U.S. remain at war, year after year, are the very entities that will continue to profit the most from America’s expanding military empire abroad and here at home.

Erosions of private property. Private property means little at a time when SWAT teams and other government agents can invade your home, break down your doors, kill your dog, wound or kill you, damage your furnishings, and terrorize your family. Likewise, if government officials can fine and arrest you for growing vegetables in your front yard, praying with friends in your living room, installing solar panels on your roof, and raising chickens in your backyard, you’re no longer the owner of your property.

Overcriminalization. The government has increasingly adopted the authoritarian notion that it knows best and therefore must control, regulate and dictate almost everything about the citizenry’s public, private and professional lives. Overregulation and overcriminalization have been pushed to such outrageous limits that federal and state governments now require on penalty of a fine that individuals apply for permission before they can grow exotic orchids, host elaborate dinner parties, gather friends in one’s home for Bible studies, give coffee to the homeless, let their kids manage a lemonade stand, keep chickens as pets, or braid someone’s hair.

Strip searches and the denigration of bodily integrity. Court rulings undermining the Fourth Amendment and justifying invasive strip searches have left us powerless against police empowered to forcefully draw our blood, forcibly take our DNA, strip search us, and probe us intimately. Individuals—men and women alike—continue to be subjected to what is essentially government-sanctioned rape by police in the course of “routine” traffic stops.

Censorship. First Amendment activities are being pummeled, punched, kicked, choked, chained, and generally gagged all across the country. Free speech zones, bubble zones, trespass zones, anti-bullying legislation, zero tolerance policies, hate crime laws, and a host of other legalistic maladies dreamed up by politicians and prosecutors have conspired to corrode our core freedoms. The reasons for such censorship vary widely from political correctness, safety concerns, and bullying to national security and hate crimes but the end result remains the same: the complete eradication of what Benjamin Franklin referred to as the “principal pillar of a free government.”

Taxation Without Any Real Representation. As a Princeton University survey indicates, our elected officials, especially those in the nation’s capital, represent the interests of the rich and powerful rather than the average citizen. We are no longer a representative republic. With Big Business and Big Government having fused into a corporate state, the president and his state counterparts—the governors—have become little more than CEOs of the Corporate State, which day by day is assuming more government control over our lives. Never before have average Americans had so little say in the workings of their government and even less access to their so-called representatives.

Year after year, the government remains the greatest threat to our freedoms, and yet year after year, “we the people” allow ourselves to be suckered into believing that politics will fix what’s wrong with the country.

Indeed, as I make clear in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People and in its fictional counterpart The Erik Blair Diaries, this is the very definition of insanity.