(OPINION) 2024 is going to be such a crazy year. So many of the extremely alarming trends that we have been watching for many years are now reaching a crescendo, and events are starting to accelerate at a very rapid pace.
Last week, I wrote about three major developments which have enormous implications for all of us. Today, I am going to tell you about a dozen. Instability is a word that you are going to hear a lot this year, because order is breaking down all over the planet. The following are 12 examples of the tremendous chaos that is suddenly erupting all over the globe…
#1 The candidate that China hated the most just won the election in Taiwan. Needless to say, this makes a Chinese invasion much more likely…
Voters in Taiwan elected Vice President Lai Ching-te as their next president on Saturday, defying warnings from Beijing not to support a candidate it has called a separatist and a “troublemaker.”
The election, which China had described as “a choice between war and peace,” could test recent efforts by Beijing and Washington to repair relations that in recent years have fallen to their lowest point in decades.
The status of Taiwan, one of the strongest democracies in Asia, is among the most sensitive issues between the two superpowers, and focus will now turn to any potential show of force from Beijing in response.
As I have been warning my readers for a long time, the moment that China invades Taiwan we will be at war with the Chinese.
#2 In Germany, massive demonstrations by farmers and train drivers have caused much of that nation to come to a standstill…
In Germany, where workers and bosses run many companies jointly, a big strike is unusual. A wave of big strikes is almost unheard of. Right now the country of “co-determination” is simultaneously facing an eight-day “action week” by irate farmers, who blocked roads with tractors, a three-day strike of railway workers and, to top it off, a looming strike of doctors, who already closed surgeries between Christmas and New Year’s Day. This Mistgabelmop (pitchfork mob), as some have taken to calling it, will test Germany’s harmonious labour relations in the year to come.
#3 In Argentina, the annual rate of inflation has reached 211 percent…
Argentina’s annual inflation soared to 211.4% in 2023, the highest rate in 32 years and highest in the world, surpassing Venezuela, according to figures released Thursday by the government’s INDEC statistics agency.
The data reflects the strong impact of a series of shock measures, including a 50% devaluation of the nation’s currency, implemented by right-wing President Javier Milei in hopes of eventually bringing the country’s roaring inflation under control.
#4 In Ecuador, an “internal armed conflict” has turned that country into a war zone…
The government of Ecuador formally declared an emerging gang war in the country an “internal armed conflict” on Wednesday, vowing to curtail the deadly violence that dramatically intensified the day before.
The terrorist actions committed by Ecuador’s criminal gangs on Tuesday — which included kidnappings, prison riots, and the use of explosive devices against civilian and police vehicles — left at least ten dead, including two policemen. On early Wednesday morning, police authorities found a burned vehicle with three burned people inside in a Guayaquil neighborhood.
#5 Oklahoma was just hit by a magnitude 4.4 earthquake…
According to a U.S. Geological Survey report, a 4.4-magnitude earthquake was recorded at 5:36 a.m. about 4 miles east-northeast of Edmond. The report says it could be felt throughout the Oklahoma City metro.
#6 There was another enormous volcanic eruption in Iceland on Sunday…
A volcano erupted in southwest Iceland early Sunday, sending lava flowing toward a nearby town for the second time in a few weeks, authorities said.
The eruption began north of the town of Grindavík just before 8 a.m. UTC (2 a.m. ET), the Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO) said. The town was evacuated on Saturday as fears of an imminent eruption rose following multiple earthquakes in the area.
Barriers of earth and rock were built in recent weeks in a bid to prevent lava from reaching Grindavík, but authorities said the latest eruption has apparently breached those defenses.
#7 Dmitry Medvedev is warning that any deployment of British troops in Ukraine would be a “declaration of war”…
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, now deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, made the comments in response to a visit by British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to Kyiv to announce an increase in military funding to help Ukraine purchase new military drones.
“I hope that our eternal enemies – the arrogant British – understand that deploying an official military contingent to Ukraine would be a declaration of war against our country,” Medvedev wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
#8 A “coalition” led by the United States has conducted two rounds of airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen in recent days, but instead of deterring the Houthis it is just making them even angrier…
These two rounds of attacks, which included Tomahawk missiles and even submarine launched missiles, have done nothing to deter the Iran-linked Houthis.
They are now threatening “strong and effective response” as regional waters remain on edge for what comes next. The Houthis have repeatedly said they are not scared of US and UK threats. The reality too is that the Houthis have been battling Saudi-UAE-US airpower going all the way back to 2015, amid an ongoing war for control of the country.
#9 Hezbollah continues to strike targets in northern Israel, and this ensures that the war on Israel’s northern border will continue to escalate…
The Islamic Resistance in Lebanon – Hezbollah announced on Saturday carrying out a number of operations against Israeli targets in northern occupied Palestine.
In a series of statements, the group reiterated that the operations are in support of “our resilient Palestinian people in Gaza and their courageous and honorable Resistance.”
Hezbollah said it conducted the first operation at 11:20 am, targeting the Israeli al-Assi military site, facing the Lebanese village of Mays al-Jabal, using appropriate weapons and confirming direct hits.
#10 The war in the south continues to escalate as well. It is being reported that the IDF is planning an operation “to seize Gaza’s border with Egypt”…
Israel has informed Egypt of its plans to launch a military operation aimed at retaking control of the key Philadelphi corridor in the southern Gaza Strip, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday.
Citing both current and former Israeli and Egyptian officials, the report noted that the IDF operation would “likely involve removing Palestinian officials from a key crossing point and stationing Israeli forces along a stretch of land from Gaza’s southeastern corner abutting both Israel and Egypt toward the Mediterranean Sea about 12 kilometers (8 miles) to the northwest,” as per the WSJ. (READ MORE)
