The Doomsday / Apocalypse Thread

[Mythopoeika]

In 2020 we will also get a recession:
https://www.theguardian.com/busines...0-financial-crisis-nouriel-roubini?CMP=twt_gu

As we mark the 10th anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers, there are still ongoing debates about the causes and consequences of the financial crisis, and whether the lessons needed to prepare for the next one have been absorbed. But looking ahead, the more relevant question is what actually will trigger the next global recession and crisis, and when.

The current global expansion will likely continue into next year, given that the US is running large fiscal deficits, China is pursuing loose fiscal and credit policies, and Europe remains on a recovery path. But by 2020, the conditions will be ripe for a financial crisis, followed by a global recession.

Recessions are planned by the real owners of this planet.

 

[Xanatic*]

Freemasons? I'm meeting up with some, should I ask?

 

[Mythopoeika]

Freemasons? I'm meeting up with some, should I ask?

Pffft! They won't know.

 

[AlchoPwn]

Recessions are planned by the real owners of this planet.

If so, then they are very predictable. We get one recession crudely every decade and a major crash every 40 years, this is in keeping with the cycle of deregulation of financial markets and loss of institutional knowledge or lack of generational knowledge. Those who don't study history are condemned to repeat it, and while not many people seriously study history, even fewer study economic history.

 

[Mythopoeika]

If so, then they are very predictable. We get one recession crudely every decade and a major crash every 40 years, this is in keeping with the cycle of deregulation of financial markets and loss of institutional knowledge or lack of generational knowledge. Those who don't study history are condemned to repeat it, and while not many people seriously study history, even fewer study economic history.

Ordinary people are powerless and can't change this.
All we can do is prepare ourselves for lean times ahead.

 

[AlchoPwn]

Ordinary people are powerless and can't change this.

Change it? No. That isn't how you win that game. Crashes are days when empires are won and lost, and if seen objectively, are one of the most meritocratic forces in the free market system. That is cold comfort for people who are entirely at the mercy of economic swings, but for individuals who have some investment insight, being well placed before a crash then swooping can bump you up three rungs of social class overnight. Crashes are also how lazy old money families lose their fortunes (the key word being lazy).

 

[uair01]

More economic doom, this time from China. I'm reading up on China and this could get nasty:
https://supchina.com/2018/09/14/chinese-corner-middle-class-public-bathing-how-a-meme-is-born/

For these “successful people” who used to think they fit the definition of middle class, it’s not difficult to pinpoint what prompted them to adjust their spending habits. In Beijing, hundreds of thousands of tenants got priced out of their rental homes this summer due to an exponential rise in housing costs. The ongoing trade war and the stock market’s meltdown have shattered their economic stability. And the new tax reform didn’t bring about a drastic change in favor of the middle class in big cities with above-average income by national standards.

With no encouraging signs on the horizon, it’s safe to assume that more and more young people in China, who still believe they belong to the middle class, will lean into penny-pinching to stay afloat in the years to come. But no one knows when things will get better. Worse, as blogger Hou Hongbin 侯虹斌 argues, the summer of 2018 is very likely the start of an economic downward spiral.

If you read these two excellent books, you'll see how this could turn nasty:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36912593-china-s-great-wall-of-debt?ac=1&from_search=true
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28192242-china-s-economy?from_search=true

 

[AlchoPwn]

More economic doom, this time from China.
In Beijing, hundreds of thousands of tenants got priced out of their rental homes this summer due to an exponential rise in housing costs. The ongoing trade war and the stock market’s meltdown have shattered their economic stability. And the new tax reform didn’t bring about a drastic change in favor of the middle class in big cities with above-average income by national standards.

The rise in housing prices is no doubt very artificial, as China has many all-but unoccupied cities, and huge housing infrastructure projects. I would suspect that the jump in housing is a clumsy Central Planning attempt to fill the empty cities. China's planning authority still has all its old communist powers, and wields them with about as much precision as one might expect.

Also, an economic recession in China will likely spell social chaos, as while everyone is prospering, the Communist party is unchallenged. We have also seen the immense public works mega projects that totalitarians love so much, but inevitably fail as they have no real place in the economic scheme of things.

I will say this in Trump's favor; it is remotely possible that the Tariff War could destabilize China and cause regime change, especially if it is able to directly affect China's military budget. Much hinges on the loyalty of the Red Army.

 

[Tribble]

https://twitter.com/TheTweetOfGod/status/1042775945256620032

 

[AlchoPwn]

https://twitter.com/TheTweetOfGod/status/1042775945256620032

So, no Sydney Tsunami? So who is the false prophet? I mean, Sydney isn't a very religious city. I can't imagine people even remembering to pray to save themselves from a Tsunami. Interestingly, a Sydney Tsunami would probably only result from one of the volcanoes in New Zealand waking up. As those are some of the most monitored volcanoes in the world, I suspect it would be wise if the cultists left "prophecy" to science. After all, demons answer prayers too, but only the divine allows divination to come true.

 

[ramonmercado]

Not quite the apocalypse but how much supplies should you keep in case of a limited disasre?

HELICOPTERS GOT TO Wilmington, North Carolina, after a day of isolation; Hurricane Florence made landfall there, and the city, with one foot in the Atlantic and the other in the Cape Fear River, soon became an island. Its main roads underwater, Wilmington went without help until boats and choppers reached it with medical supplies, water, and food.

But it only took a day. According to the federal government, that’s actually pretty fast. Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001—or at least since Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005—the government has urged all of us, every individual, to be ready to go without help for at least three days in the wake of a disaster. You’re supposed to have kits in your cars and at home … maybe not the shopping cart from The Road, but just, like, be ready, OK? And now with Florence a waning threat but with fires and storms an apparently permanent part of Earth’s changed climate (and earthquakes, volcanoes, and terror always possible), the rules seem to be shifting a bit again. The new message: Be ready for 14 days on your own. Two weeks. ...

https://www.wired.com/story/the-sci...?CNDID=38161694&mbid=nl_092218_daily_list1_p4

 

[ramonmercado]

Is the Apocalypse/Doomsday discussed on mumsnet?

The Prepper Moms
Not all doomsday survivalists are macho men with bunkers and chainsaws. Meet the women preparing for the worst.

Jennifer had already taken the necessary precautions the night Hurricane Maria came barreling through the Caribbean. The 46-year-old stay-at-home mom, who lives on two acres of land with her husband and four children atop a mountain in Manati, Puerto Rico, was ready to make use of the filter she’d purchased for sterilizing rainwater in case the taps ran dry. And she didn’t have to worry about food, because her pantry was already stocked with two-and-a-half years’ worth: giant buckets of lentils, flour, and rice; shelves lined with mason jars of fruits and vegetables she had grown and canned herself.

What Jennifer, a self-described prepper who declined to share her last name for security reasons, didn’t anticipate was the sheer force of Maria’s rains and 155 mile per hour winds — and how little the storm shutters would do to protect her home. “I was taking water out of the bedrooms, the living rooms, the hallways,” she says. “The house was flooded.” At one point, a piece of debris flew off a neighbor’s roof and got stuck between the outside wall of Jennifer’s pantry and the storm shutters, ripping off a pair of windows in the process.

“Everything started flying out,” she says. Buckets and cans rolled out of the pantry and down the side of the mountain. Hurricane Maria claimed almost all the food Jennifer had stockpiled, in addition to more than 30 chickens, two cows, four pigs, six ducks, and a turkey. “I had prepped for two and a half years, and I ended up with preps for six months,” she says. ...

https://medium.com/s/greatescape/the-prepper-moms-dc2b3a3b541c

 

[hunck]

Jehovas Witless

Three Jehovah's Witnesses who feared the end of the world was coming fled their home naked and kidnapped their neighbours, according to reports.

Two women and a man thought they were saving their neighbours from the imminent armageddon during the bizarre incident in Canada, court documents state.

The neighbours were a man, his adult daughter and her six-week-old son, who were forced out of their house and into the snow without shoes.

The mother and baby were put in the back seat with two other teenage girls, daughters of one of the female kidnappers who were naked under a blanket.

In their haste to get to safety, a number of the kidnappers didn't have time to put any clothes on.

The male neighbour was put in the trunk and ordered to chant "Jehovah" 10 times, according to Canadian Press .

The mother of the two teen girls was the only one dressed and drove them all in a BMW SUV ploughing straight through their garage door.

The SUV sped down roads and went through a red light, says the document.

The male neighbour trapped in the boot managed to unlock it and escape, as did his daughter with her baby.

The kidnapped flagged down a passing truck to try to get to safety, but the driver of the SUV rammed into the truck before going into a ditch.

When police arrived the family refused to leave the car with one believing the officers "were monsters who would kill them."

The three kidnappers were then Tasered, dragged out of the car an arrested during the incident that took place last year near Edmonton, Alberta.

The mother of the two teen girls was the only one dressed and drove them all in a BMW SUV ploughing straight through their garage door.

The SUV sped down roads and went through a red light, says the document.

The male neighbour trapped in the boot managed to unlock it and escape, as did his daughter with her baby.

The kidnapped flagged down a passing truck to try to get to safety, but the driver of the SUV rammed into the truck before going into a ditch.

When police arrived the family refused to leave the car with one believing the officers "were monsters who would kill them."

The three kidnappers were then Tasered, dragged out of the car an arrested during the incident that took place last year near Edmonton, Alberta.

 

[Tribble]

Jehovas Witless

Two women and a man thought they were saving their neighbours from the imminent armageddon

Well, it's nice to have neighbours who care about you.

 

[hunck]

Two women and a man thought they were saving their neighbours from the imminent armageddon

Well, it's nice to have neighbours who care about you.

Indeed. We could all do with neighbours like these. Just don't agree to getting in the boot of their car.

 

[Kingsize Wombat]

Another date for the End of the World is nearing. Jeane Dixon predicted Armageddon for January 1, 2020. That's only 13 months away.

She had also previously predicted the world would end on in 1962, so there's that.

 

[Saucerian]

Great posts, everybody! I plan to check out more about the Doomsday Prophetess of March 15 or 16 of 1965, and post what I do find here for all the rest of your Space Brothers and Sisters.

 

[AlchoPwn]

Jeane Dixon, after whom the Dixon effect is named... http://skepdic.com/dixon.html

 

[Ogdred Weary]

I am not "a prepper", I'm more of a "drink yourself to death type", of course, I'll be buggered when The Collapse happens if I don't want to be killed fighting for the last flagon of White Lightening in Tesco so I'd better learn some home brewing skills.

 

[Tribble]

I am not "a prepper", I'm more of a "drink yourself to death type", of course, I'll be buggered when The Collapse happens if I don't want to be killed fighting for the last flagon of White Lightening in Tesco so I'd better learn some home brewing skills.

Don't stockpile and blackmarket White Lightning, I've heard in-cider trading is a crime.

 

[Naughty_Felid]

So, no Sydney Tsunami? So who is the false prophet? I mean, Sydney isn't a very religious city. I can't imagine people even remembering to pray to save themselves from a Tsunami. Interestingly, a Sydney Tsunami would probably only result from one of the volcanoes in New Zealand waking up. As those are some of the most monitored volcanoes in the world, I suspect it would be wise if the cultists left "prophecy" to science. After all, demons answer prayers too, but only the divine allows divination to come true.

Sydney's vulnerability to Tsunami's is actually a worry and has been discussed over recent years. It doesn't need to be a Volcano either. There are a few seismic events that could and have resulted in a Tsunami hitting Sydney. Remember you get different degrees of Tsunami. Some look impressive, think biggish waves, (Hawaii 5-0), but would only pose a problem if you were swimming off the beach. You still have to evacuate mind. You still see people heading down to the beach to have a look despite warnings.

You are right that a biggy effecting Sydney could well originate in NZ particularly the Puysegur Trench

 

[Naughty_Felid]

I am not "a prepper", I'm more of a "drink yourself to death type", of course, I'll be buggered when The Collapse happens if I don't want to be killed fighting for the last flagon of White Lightening in Tesco so I'd better learn some home brewing skills.

In NZ during the recent Christchurch earthquake home brew was actively used for bartering as were home gown vegetables. So home brewing is quite a sensible idea.

 

[Ogdred Weary]

In NZ during the recent Christchurch earthquake home brew was actively used for bartering as were home gown vegetables. So home brewing is quite a sensible idea.

Collapse Now and and Avoid the Rush!

 

[AlchoPwn]

Sydney's vulnerability to Tsunami's is actually a worry and has been discussed over recent years. It doesn't need to be a Volcano either. There are a few seismic events that could and have resulted in a Tsunami hitting Sydney. Remember you get different degrees of Tsunami. Some look impressive, think biggish waves, (Hawaii 5-0), but would only pose a problem if you were swimming off the beach. You still have to evacuate mind. You still see people heading down to the beach to have a look despite warnings.
You are right that a biggy effecting Sydney could well originate in NZ particularly the Puysegur Trench

Given that Rotorua is a Super Volcano, and there are quite a few other volcanoes and fault lines active in NZ, you have a solid point to make N_F.
Those high priced coastal parts of Sydney could be in a lot of trouble, and the way that Sydney Harbor and Botany Bay sit, the water could potentially go a long way inland. Perhaps NSW should invest in some of those huge Japanese concrete tetrapods that strip the force out of tsunamis?

 

[Kingsize Wombat]

Those high priced coastal parts of Sydney could be in a lot of trouble, and the way that Sydney Harbor and Botany Bay sit

And that's why I live in the cheap part of town much further inland! (Well, that and financial constraints...)

I just gotta hope that any tsunami will strike outside of office hours, as I am sitting right here on Port Botany. If it hits between 8am and 4pm, I'm a goner.

 

[Mythopoeika]

And that's why I live in the cheap part of town much further inland! (Well, that and financial constraints...)

I just gotta hope that any tsunami will strike outside of office hours, as I am sitting right here on Port Botany. If it hits between 8am and 4pm, I'm a goner.

A megatsunami can sweep far inland.

 

[AnonyJ]

More economic doom, this time from China. I'm reading up on China and this could get nasty:
https://supchina.com/2018/09/14/chinese-corner-middle-class-public-bathing-how-a-meme-is-born/

For these “successful people” who used to think they fit the definition of middle class, it’s not difficult to pinpoint what prompted them to adjust their spending habits. In Beijing, hundreds of thousands of tenants got priced out of their rental homes this summer due to an exponential rise in housing costs. The ongoing trade war and the stock market’s meltdown have shattered their economic stability. And the new tax reform didn’t bring about a drastic change in favor of the middle class in big cities with above-average income by national standards.

With no encouraging signs on the horizon, it’s safe to assume that more and more young people in China, who still believe they belong to the middle class, will lean into penny-pinching to stay afloat in the years to come. But no one knows when things will get better. Worse, as blogger Hou Hongbin 侯虹斌 argues, the summer of 2018 is very likely the start of an economic downward spiral.

If you read these two excellent books, you'll see how this could turn nasty:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36912593-china-s-great-wall-of-debt?ac=1&from_search=true
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28192242-china-s-economy?from_search=true

I've been predicting a massive Chinese economy crash for the past 3 years - it's been quietly foreshadowed for the past few years. I reckon it could be a similar stuation to the Tiger economies slump in the late 1990s and Ireland and Spain in 2008: massive over-building in the housing sector (in the wrong areas) financed by shadow debt and now in semi-permanent recession.

eg., https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-40942231 " The International Monetary Fund has warned that China's credit growth is on a "dangerous trajectory". In a new report, the IMF says there is an increasing risk of a "disruptive adjustment" and/or a marked slowdown in economic growth"."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19049254 "As growth slows, China's huge investment in infrastructure is looking ever harder to sustain, leaving a string of ambitious projects - towns, shopping malls and even a theme park - empty and forlorn. "We have spoken a lot about these ghost towns in Ireland and Spain recently [but China] is Ireland and Spain on steroids," says Kevin Doran, a senior investment fund manager at Brown Shipley in the UK. "

 

[Kingsize Wombat]

A megatsunami can sweep far inland.

I prefer not to think about that. arapet:

 

[Kingsize Wombat]

I've been predicting a massive Chinese economy crash for the past 3 years - it's been quietly foreshadowed for the past few years.

Yeah, that will happen eventually, I'm sure. Also a certainty is that the Yellowstone National Park will explode and wipe out large parts of the USA.

The trick is to predict the exact moment when.
https://www.express.co.uk/news/scie...-map-weather-NASA-latest-news-volcanic-winter

 

[EnolaGaia]

In case you need a paranoia booster shot ... The venerable bugaboo of nuclear winter is still in play, having been validated by a new simulation study ...

New Study Outlines The Nuclear Winter We'd Have if US And Russia Blew Up Their Bombs

The simulations have been run, and it's official: even today, a nuclear war between the US and Russia would plunge the planet into a nuclear winter, with clouds of soot and smoke covering the planet.

Globally, temperatures would plunge by around 9 Kelvin (9 degrees Celsius or 16 degrees Fahrenheit) on average, due to the lack of sunlight reaching ground level.

The new model matches one of the best existing models we have, published in 2007. Both reports predict a nuclear winter of several years, upwards of a 30 percent global reduction in precipitation over the first few months, and a cloud of smoke enveloping first the Northern Hemisphere, and then the Southern Hemisphere, too.

"Here we repeat the [2007 nuclear war scenario] using an alternative state-of‐the‐art modern climate model run at higher resolution and with a more explicit simulation of stratospheric chemistry and aerosols," write the researchers in their paper.

"The use of nuclear weapons in this manner by the United States and Russia would have disastrous consequences globally."

There are some differences from the 2007 simulation though. The new report says smoke coverage would last longer, according to the Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model version 4 (WACCM4) that the scientists used.

If both the US and Russia released their entire nuclear arsenal on each other's countries, the model shows, around 150 teragrams or megatonnes of soot would be released by the nuclear explosions and ensuing fires.

It would cover the Northern Hemisphere in one week, and the whole planet within a fortnight, reducing surface light levels. Then, it would take around three years before surface light was back above 40 percent of its original level. ...

FULL STORY: https://www.sciencealert.com/the-be...he-threat-of-a-nuclear-winter-is-all-too-real

The Published Report: https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1029/2019JD030509?referrer_access_token=Rexa6W3nX57IWyvZ7Y2iKsOuACxIJX3yJRZRu4P4ertmxyI0Hm_uoL48mf82cDSn3T5UhnrKSxqrMYKPl12zvUJiIUX29R5LQPt3rK13fal4fPuYXzHnLPMV3YtamtTwE_DezyJSe2YmD5AElE26Eg==

Edit to Add:

See Also:
https://www.livescience.com/nuclear-winter-disaster.html