China Is Practicing For An Apocalyptic War Against Taiwan, And The Western World Is Still Not Taking The Threat Seriously:

China has just launched enormous military exercises codenamed “Joint Sword-2024A” which are designed to simulate what a war against Taiwan would look like.  Chinese fighter jets are conducting mock airstrikes against “high-value military targets”, and Chinese warships are practicing for a future economic blockade.  Most Americans don’t seem to realize this, but once China goes to war with Taiwan, we will instantly be in a state of war with China.  The flow of consumer products from China will completely stop, we will no longer have access to the advanced computer chips from Taiwan that we are so dependent upon, and the economy will crash.  All of our lives will be turned completely upside down the moment that war with China begins, and that day may be a lot closer than most people think.

On Thursday, the Chinese “encircled Taiwan with naval vessels and military aircraft” as Joint Sword-2024A kicked off… 

China on Thursday encircled Taiwan with naval vessels and military aircraft in war games, as it vowed the blood of “independence forces” on the self-ruled island would flow.

The two days of drills are part of an escalating campaign of intimidation by China that has seen it carry out a series of large-scale military exercises around Taiwan in recent years.

Taiwan’s new president Lai Ching-te was inaugurated earlier this week, and the Chinese government is not a fan of him at all.

And it is definitely not a coincidence that these military exercises are taking place shortly after he took office.

These are the biggest military exercises that we have seen in the region so far, and CNN is reporting that “dozens of Chinese fighter jets carrying live ammunition” are involved…

As part of the drills, dozens of Chinese fighter jets carrying live ammunition conducted mock strikes against “high-value military targets” of the “enemy” alongside destroyers, frigates and missile speedboats, according to China’s state broadcaster CCTV.

The exercises, which started early on Thursday and will encircle Taiwan, pose the first real test for newly elected Lai Ching-te as he attempts to manage relations with the island’s powerful authoritarian neighbor.

Churches turn to armed volunteers as gunmen threaten pastors, worshippers:

Security experts are increasingly urging U.S. churches to increase their safety measures after two near misses involving attempted shootings at houses of worship in different parts of the country this month. Interest in doing so among congregations is also on the rise, they say.

Last week, a Pennsylvania man jumped out of his seat at the front of a church and tackled an armed man who walked up to the pulpit and tried to gun down a pastor mid-sermon. A hero in the front row, Clarence McCallister, tackled and disarmed him. Then, on Saturday, a gun-toting teen walked up to a Louisiana church during a First Communion Mass for dozens of children. Parishioners detained him outside and called police.

In February, an armed woman barged into Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas, with her 7-year-old in tow and opened fire. Off-duty officers on scene put an end to the assault, but her child was struck in the head in the crossfire.

Even the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) recommend churches and other places of worship take preparedness measures around the year.  Measures include creating a plan and sharing it with congregants in case of an emergency, coordinating with local law enforcement and undergoing active shooter response training.

He said armed volunteer security at houses of worship is not a new idea, especially in Jewish synagogues, but the demand is increasing as more and more sites explore their options.

Katz, a former special agent with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), began training volunteers at his own Texas synagogue amid fears of violence following the invasion of Israel by Hamas terrorists and antisemitic attacks in the U.S. Now, he says, he's working with churches, too.

https://www.foxnews.com/us/churches-turn-armed-volunteers-gunmen-threaten-pastors-worshipers

CHAOS IN THE SKY: One Dead and Dozens Hospitalized After ‘Severe Turbulence’ on Flight to Singapore:

At least one person has died, and dozens more have been hospitalized after a Singapore Airlines flight was hit by “severe turbulence” on Tuesday morning.

The flight from London to Singapore was forced to divert to Bangkok after a sudden and severe drop in altitude sent some passengers flying into the ceiling.

“So I started bracing for what was happening, and very suddenly there was a very dramatic drop so everyone seated and not wearing seatbelt was launched immediately into the ceiling,” 28-year-old student Dzafran Azmir told the BBC.

“Some people hit their heads on the baggage cabins overhead and dented it, they hit the places where lights and masks are and broke straight through it.”

A spokesperson for the Chilean airline LATAM told news outlets that the issue was caused by a “technical problem” and would be thoroughly investigated.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/05/chaos-sky-one-dead-dozens-hospitalized-after-severe/   

VIDEO: Oakland Removes Intersection’s Traffic Lights amid Copper Thefts Blamed on Homeless:

Officials in Oakland, California, removed traffic lights from an intersection and replaced them with stop signs amid rampant thefts some attribute to a homeless encampment.

Neighbors claim people have been stealing copper wires and city infrastructure, Fox News reported Sunday. Even though authorities have put cement barriers over electrical boxes to deter people from tampering with them, the problem has apparently persisted.

[Video at link.]

https://www.breitbart.com/crime/2024/05/20/video-oakland-removes-intersections-traffic-lights-copper-thefts-blamed-homeless/

More Than Half Of US Voters Want Illegal Immigrants Rounded Up And Kicked Out: New Poll:

Democrats may have effectively convinced their base during the Trump administration that building a wall and securing a border is racist.

But the Biden regime’s open border policies, in which illegal aliens from around the world are given free housing, transportation, the opportunity to vote,  and get-out-of-jail cards to reside in the United States indefinitely, is outraging voters on both sides of the aisle.

A whopping 56 percent of registered voters said most or all illegal aliens in the US should be rounded up and kicked out of the country, according to a new Reuters/Ispos poll.

A staggering 85 percent of Republican voters said most or all immigrants in the US illegally should be deported, compared to 26 percent of Democrats and 61 percent of independents.