More Than 100 Are Dead As The Worst Flu Epidemic In Years Sweeps Across The United States - Michael Snyder THE ECONOMIC COLLAPSE BLOG

More Than 100 Are Dead As The Worst Flu Epidemic In Years Sweeps Across The United States Posted: 14 Jan 2018 Michael Snyder  THE ECONOMIC COLLAPSE BLOG This flu season is already off to a record-setting beginning, and many believe that it could ultimately be the worst that we have seen in decades.  In fact, it has been reported that if we stay on this current pace that this could truly be the worst flu season in more than 50 years.   As you will see below, the CDC is reporting widespread flu activity from coast to coast, and the death toll has already crossed 100.  Here in the United States, flu season usually begins in October and ends in May, and so we still have a long way to go before it is over. Normally the mainstream media tries very hard to keep the public calm about these things, but even the Washington Post admits that we are having “a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad flu season”… The nation is having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad flu season. Flu is widespread in 46 states, according to reports to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nationally, as of mid-December, at least 106 people had died of the infectious disease. Usually a flu outbreak is centered in one portion of the country, but this one is different.  According to the CDC, this outbreak is affecting the entire nation, and the number of cases climbed another 5.8 percent within the past week… “Flu is everywhere in the US right now,” said Dr. Dan Jernigan, director of the CDC’s influenza branch. “This is the first year we’ve had the entire continental US at the same level (of flu activity) at the same time.” It has been an early flu season that seems to be peaking now, he said, with a 5.8% increase in laboratory-confirmed cases this week over last. Most people that get the flu don’t die, but it is very important for all of us to understand that this is a very serious outbreak. In California, things have already gotten so bad that some hospitals have started to run out of Tamiflu… California has been particularly hard hit, with at least 27 deaths of people under 65 attributed to the flu, according to reports. As the number of cases continues to climb there, hospitals are beginning to run out of Tamiflu, the anti-viral medication used to treat the illness. If you live in an area where the flu is running rampant, it may be wise to avoid public areas for a while.  Unfortunately, the vast majority of us cannot do that.  Most Americans have work or school commitments that cannot be avoided, and the flu can often spread very rapidly in those environments. Back during the bird flu scare a few years ago, some schools actually closed for a time, and we are starting to see that happen again.  For example, one school down in Texas had a “flu day” on Friday… A school in San Antonio will be closed Friday for a “flu day” amid an outbreak of influenza. “While closed, our school will be launching a Super Clean of each classroom for the health of our faculty, staff and students,” San Antonio Christian School posted on Facebook. Texas has been especially hard-hit by the flu this season, topping Walgreens’ Flu Index, which compiles data from prescriptions used to treat the virus’ symptoms. Every year the authorities relentlessly promote the flu shot, but large numbers of people that got the flu shot this year are getting sick anyway. Sadly, the flu shot is not likely to protect you from the very powerful strains of the flu that are dominant this flu season.  In fact, the experts are telling us that the flu shot was only “around 10 percent” effective during the flu season in Australia this year… U.S. flu specialists say they won’t completely know how powerful this present season’s antibody is until the point that the season is finished. In any case, Australia’s experience recommends viability was just around 10 percent. In the United States, it is 40 to 60 percent powerful in a normal season. Immunizations are less defensive if strains are not the same as anticipated and if sudden transformations happen. Hopefully everyone out there is stocking up on Vitamin C and echinacea.  We still have more than two months of winter left, and the spread of the flu appears to be accelerating. If you do get sick, please stay home and don’t expose others.  Many of us like to try to battle through an illness, and in the process we can inadvertently share it with others. Eventually this flu epidemic will pass, but for now we need to be smart as we weather this storm. Michael Snyder is a pro-Trump candidate for Congress in Idaho’s First Congressional District, and you can learn how you can get involved in the campaign on his official website. His new book entitled “Living A Life That Really Matters” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.

It Is Being Reported That Donald Trump May Recognize Jerusalem As The Capital Of Israel In December - Michael Snyder THE ECONOMIC COLLAPSE BLOG

It Is Being Reported That Donald Trump May Recognize Jerusalem As The Capital Of Israel In December Posted: 01 Dec 2017 Michael Snyder  THE ECONOMIC COLLAPSE BLOG Is President Trump about to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel?   If so, this would be one of the most historic events to happen in the Middle East in a very long time.   Needless to say, the government of Israel would be absolutely thrilled by such a move, while the Palestinians and Israel’s neighbors would not be pleased at all.  In fact, some Palestinians have suggested that if the Trump administration actually moves the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem that it could spark widespread violence or even war. But Donald Trump promised that he would recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel during the campaign, and it looks like he intends to keep his word… A senior U.S. administration official said on Thursday that President Donald Trump is considering recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel without moving the embassy to the Israeli capital, at least for the time being. Trump wants the recognition of Jerusalem to be a gift to Israel on the occasion of its 70th Independence Day, and he may even announce this recognition by means of a statement to be made by Vice President Mike Pence, who will visit Israel in December. Pence will be visiting Israel this month, and he is scheduled to deliver an address to the Knesset.  If the Trump administration is going to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, it is believed that it may happen at that time. Israel became a nation in 1948, and so 2018 will be Israel’s 70th anniversary.  There will be independence celebrations throughout the year, and recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital as we approach this highly significant time would be considered a great gift to the Jewish people. For the moment, however, the Trump administration will not be moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem.  The White House recognizes that such a move could spark violence in the region, and so administration officials are treading carefully… President Donald Trump and his senior aides are mulling a plan to eventually move the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a decision that could derail Trump’s attempts to restart peace talks between the Israelis and the Palestinians. A leading option under consideration: temporarily keeping the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv while also outlining a longer-term strategy to begin the process of moving the embassy to Jerusalem, according to two administration officials. The plan is meant to strike a middle ground on the politically treacherous issue. We shall see how this plays out, but Vice-President Mike Pence sure sounds optimistic that moving the embassy will actually happen.  Earlier this week, he posted the following message on Twitter… While for the past 20 years, Congress and successive administrations have expressed a willingness to move our embassy, @POTUS Trump is actively considering when and how to move the American Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. #70toIsraelUN Of course moving the embassy would have very serious ramifications, and without a doubt many those surrounding Trump are advising against such a move… American intelligence circles may caution Trump against the move, warning of the security-related ramifications that could ensue and danger that it could pose to American embassies around the world. Rumors of Trump’s planned announcement were met with warnings from Jordan’s King Abdullah II, who said during a visit to the US that “the transfer of the American embassy to Jerusalem at this stage will have repercussions in the Palestinian, Arab and Islamic scene.” I will be even more blunt.  If the U.S. embassy is moved to Jerusalem, there will definitely be violence, and it could potentially move us closer to armed conflict in the Middle East. But U.S. policy should never be dictated by threats of violence.  Moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem is the right thing to do, and we cannot allow anyone to intimidate us.  In 1995, Congress passed a law that requires the U.S. embassy to be moved to Jerusalem, but ever since then presidents have used “waivers” to delay the move. The current “waiver” expires on December 1st, and Trump is expected to sign another one at that time. But even if the U.S. embassy is not moved to Jerusalem any time soon, the truth is that the next major war in the Middle East seems to be getting closer with each passing day.  Just check out some of the things that have happened over the past week… -Saudi Arabia just intercepted another ballistic missile that was fired from Yemen.  The civil war in Yemen is essentially a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran, and the Saudis hold the Iranians directly responsible whenever a missile is fired toward their territory. -China has announced that they will be sending “elite troops” into Syria to fight alongside the Syrian army in the ongoing civil war that is raging there. -Just a few days ago, the Pentagon acknowledged that there are approximately 2,000 U.S. troops currently in Syria working with forces that would like to overthrow the Syrian government. The Middle East is a tinderbox that could literally erupt at any moment.  Most Americans have absolutely no idea how close we are to a major regional war, and let us pray that one does not happen any time soon. Michael Snyder is a Republican candidate for Congress in Idaho’s First Congressional District, and you can learn how you can get involved in the campaign on his official website. His new book entitled “Living A Life That Really Matters” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.

Joel C. Rosenberg's Blog - The U.S. & West should support Kurdish independence. Here’s why.

New post on Joel C. Rosenberg's Blog

The U.S. & West should support Kurdish independence. Here’s why. [Analysis of Kurdish referendum, to be held on Sept. 25] by joelcrosenberg On Monday, September 25th, the Kurdish people of northern Iraq will vote on a highly controversial referendum on whether to secede from the Republic of Iraq and create their own independent state. It is expected to pass overwhelmingly. But then what? Marsoud Barzani, the Kurdish president, laid out the case in a June 28th op-ed in the Washington Post, "The time has come for Iraqi Kurdistan to make its choice on independence." Most world governments, however, oppose the referendum. They see the move by the Sunni Muslims of the Kurdistan province as ill-timed and needlessly complicating an already highly volatile geopolitical situation in the Middle East. Especially adamant against the move are the Shia leaders in Baghdad and Tehran, as well as the Turkish government, which hates the Kurds with a vengeance. Unfortunately, the Trump administration also opposes the referendum, or at least its timing. This is a mistake. The Kurds deserve their freedom now. The Kurds were promised a state of their own after World War I by the Western allies who had defeated the Ottoman Empire -- but those promises were never kept. Since then, the Kurds have suffered genocide under Saddam Hussein and numerous atrocities by other regional despots. Along the way, the Kurds have proven themselves staunch and faithful allies of the U.S. and the West. They helped us fight and defeat Saddam Hussein in the 2003 war. [see a detailed account in Bob Woodward's book, Plan of Attack: The Definitive Account of the Decision to Invade Iraq] They have helped the West effectively fight the Islamic State in Iraq. They have helped the West effectively fight the Islamic State in Syria. They have welcomed thousands of Iraqi Christians, Yazidis and other minorities when they were fleeing from ISIS genocide. They have built a growing economy and a stable, functioning, pluralistic and imperfect but reasonably democratic society. They were promised a real partnership in a democratic, pluralistic Iraqi government, but those promises failed to materialize, as well. What's more, they have close and long-standing commercial and intelligence tiesto and warm relations with the State of Israel -- indeed, Israel is the only government that has openly support Kurdish independence -- and can be an ally in Middle East peace-making. I have had the honor of visiting the Kurdish province in northern Iraq four times. Over the years, I have met with Kurdish Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani, Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani (who was the Kurdish representative in D.C. at the time), a range of other Kurdish government officials, and Christian pastors and ministry leaders in Kurdistan. I have been moved by their history, have fallen in love with their people -- especially the children -- and have been praying for the people and leaders ever since. In 1988, Saddam Hussein launched massive military attacks against the Kurdish people "that killed at least 50,000 civilians and destroyed thousands of villages," reported the New York Times. Throughout the 1980s, it has been alleged that that as many as 180,000 Kurds were killed by Saddam's forces. On March 16th, 1988, Saddam Hussein used chemical weapons against the Kurds, barbarically killing some 5,000 Kurdish men, women and children with poison gas. [For this, Saddam Hussein was ultimately charged with genocide against the Kurds, after U.S. forces liberated Iraq in 2003 and captured the Iraqi tyrant. Saddam was ultimately convicted and hanged for these crimes, among others.] When the U.S. led an international coalition to drive Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait in 1991, President George H.W. Bush called on the Iraqi people to rise up and overthrow the Butcher of Baghdad. "There's another way for the bloodshed to stop, and this is for the Iraqi military and the Iraqi people to take matters into their own hands and force Saddam Hussein, the dictator, to step aside," said President Bush (41). The Kurds responded to the call, but when Saddam launched a counter attack the Bush administration refused to help the Kurds. "In a written statement issued from their headquarters in northern Iraq, Kurdish rebel leaders Massoud Barzani and Jalal Talabani appealed to Bush to use American military force to prevent the Iraqi army from employing its tanks, artillery and aircraft to put down the rebellion," reported the Los Angeles Times. "You personally called upon the Iraqi people to rise up against Saddam Hussein's brutal dictatorship," the Kurds said. "They have now risen and are confronting the might of Saddam's tyranny." The referendum the Kurds have drafted is not perfect. Indeed, in some ways it is overreaching. And yes, it will complicate diplomatic matters in the region. Rather than oppose it, however, the U.S. and Western powers should be working with the Kurds and regional leaders to negotiate a peaceful and reasonable conclusion, one that gives the Kurds their independence but ensures they are cooperating partners in the region's security and economy. The Kurds have been patient for the better part of a century, while the world continues to cut them loose. Enough is enough. It is time to support their bid for self-determination. If not now, then when? The column expresses my own personal opinions. It does not reflect the views of The Joshua Fund, which is a non-political organization, and takes no position on legislative or political issues in the U.S. or other countries. (Top photos: Meeting with Kurdish Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani in Erbil.) See also excellent column by Eli Lake, "Iraq's Kurds Have Earned Their Right to Independence -- The U.S. should offer full-throated support, not a quibble over timing." ———————— September 30 — I’ll be speaking in Denver on Sept. 30 on the latest threats from Radical Islam, Russia & North Korea. Please register today. October 6 & 7 — I’ll be speaking at the 2017 Epicenter Conference in Orange County, California. The focus of the conference is, “What does the Future Hold for Israel and Her Neighbors?” Please register today. October 12 — I’ll be speaking in chapel at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Please click here for more information. October 10 through 14 — I’ll be speaking at Dallas Theological Seminary and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (in chapels, classes, and public events in local churches) in joint-conferences on “The Gospel and the Middle East.” Please click here for more information and to register. ——————— >> To pre-order a copy of The Kremlin Conspiracy (which releases March 6th), please click here. Would you like to make a secure, tax deductible investment in The Joshua Fund (www.joshuafund.net)? This is the non-profit organization that my wife, Lynn, and I founded in 2006 to educate and mobilize Christians to bless Israel and her neighbors in the name of Jesus, to care for the poor and needy in Israel (both Jews and Arabs) with food and other humanitarian relief, care for Holocaust survivors, care for Syrian and Iraqi refugees, and strengthen the Church in the epicenter. The Joshua Fund is a member in good standing of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. Please click here to learn more. Thanks so much! Click here to read the 2016 Joshua Fund Donor Report — and watch the short videos, as well Subscribe (free) to the RSS feed (click here) and receive every new posting on this blog directly via email.  joelcrosenberg | September 24, 2017 at 10:31 pm | Categories: Epicenter | URL: http://wp.me/piWZ7-8pp

Hurricane Irma Is Being Called ‘A Lawnmower From The Sky’ And FEMA Warns It Will ‘Devastate’ The Southeast - Michael Snyder THE ECONOMIC COLLAPSE BLOG

Hurricane Irma Is Being Called ‘A Lawnmower From The Sky’ And FEMA Warns It Will ‘Devastate’ The Southeast

Posted: 08 Sep 2017  Michael Snyder  THE ECONOMIC COLLAPSE BLOG

It looks like Hurricane Irma is going to make landfall in south Florida on Sunday morning.  Of course that could still change, but this is what the meteorologists are telling us at this point.  But of course the exact spot where Irma makes landfall is not so important because of the absolutely immense size of this storm.  Irma is going to cause chaos and devastation over a very large area, and just like Hurricane Harvey the recovery from this storm is literally going to be measured in years.

Down in the Caribbean, the destruction that Irma has caused has been absolutely unprecedented.  The president of the island of Saint Martin “estimated that 95 percent of his country had been obliterated”, and one resident of the island described the storm as “a lawnmower from the sky”…

Witnesses described similar scenes on the island’s Dutch half. “It’s like someone with a lawnmower from the sky has gone over the island,” said Mairlou Rohan, a European tourist visiting Sint Maarten, part of the Netherlands.

That is not the sort of terminology that I would use, but without a doubt the devastation caused by this storm has been off the charts.

On Barbuda, at least 90 percent of the buildings have been destroyed…

Gaston Browne, the prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda, said Barbuda was “totally demolished,” with 90% of its buildings destroyed. Communication with the island was cut off because of the destruction. As Hurricane Jose approaches the island, Barbuda officials are trying to evacuate the entire population of 1,800.

Now the storm is heading straight for south Florida, and FEMA is using apocalyptic language to describe what might happen…

FEMA Director Brock Long, in a Friday morning update, told a news conference there’s no question that Hurricane Irma will devastate parts of the souheastern United States:
“Obviously, Hurricane Irma continues to be a threat that is going to devastate the United States in either Florida or some of the southeastern states,” Long told a 7:30 a.m. news conference.

Some are comparing Hurricane Irma to Hurricane Andrew, but the truth is that Irma is much, much larger.  You can see a comparison of the two storms right here.

At this point, scientists are running out of superlatives to describe this storm.  At the National Hurricane Center, one expert is already labeling Irma as “the most infamous in Atlantic hurricane history”…

“Irma has me sick to my stomach,” said Eric Blake, a scientist with the National Hurricane Center, on his personal Twitter account on Thursday evening. “This hurricane is as serious as any I have seen. No hype, just the hard facts. Take every lifesaving precaution you can.”
“I have little doubt Irma will go down as one of the most infamous in Atlantic hurricane history,”he added.

We shall see what happens over the next few days.

Hopefully things will not be quite as bad as the experts are projecting.

At this hour, thousands upon thousands of Florida residents are desperately trying to flee north on the highways.  Unfortunately, a lot of gas stations are already completely out of gasoline, and it is getting worse by the hour.  Just check out these numbers…

In Gainesville, it was the worst: At least 58% of stations were out of gasoline as of Friday morning, according to GasBuddy’s fuel tracker.

More than 40% of stations in West Palm Beach and Miami had no fuel, while 38% of Fort Myers-Naples stations, nearly 35% of Tampa-St. Petersburg locations and more than 32% of Orlando stations were offline.

At the stations where gasoline is still available, some people are having to wait up to 90 mins for fuel.

Of course there are others that are not planning to leave Florida at all.  In fact, 82-year-old Joseph “Tony” Vincent told the Washington Post that he is quite content to ride the storm out at a local hotel…

“Hell, you’d be safer here than taking a car on those roads. You might be killed before you get to Atlanta,” he scoffed.
If Irma fizzles, Vincent said he’ll just ride his three wheeler back to his trailer. “I’ll come on home and get drinker than hell,” he said.

Hopefully he will be okay.

The warnings have been issued, and I don’t think that they could have been much stronger.  People have made their decisions about what they are going to do, and now we will see how things play out.

On another note, I had to smile today when I came across a Think Progress article entitled “The case for a Category 6 rating for super-hurricanes like Irma”.  I have been heavily criticized for saying the exact same thing that the liberal media is now talking very heavily about, but of course those outlets will not receive the same sort of criticism that I did.

In the end, the main thing is keeping people safe, and if anyone in the direct path of this storm still feels like they want to “ride it out”, I would very much encourage you to flee while you still can.

This is an exceedingly dangerous storm, and you do not want to be there when it hits.
Michael Snyder is a Republican candidate for Congress in Idaho’s First Congressional District, and you can learn how you can get involved in the campaign on his official website. His new book entitled “Living A Life That Really Matters” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.

2017 Is Going To Be The Worst Retail Apocalypse In U.S. History – More Than 300 Retailers Have Already Filed For Bankruptcy - Michael Snyder THE ECONOMIC COLLAPSE BLOG

2017 Is Going To Be The Worst Retail Apocalypse In U.S. History – More Than 300 Retailers Have Already Filed For Bankruptcy Posted: 13 Jun 2017 Michael Snyder  THE ECONOMIC COLLAPSE BLOG Not even during the worst parts of the last recession did things ever get this bad for the U.S. retail industry.  As you will see in this article, more than 300 retailers have already filed for bankruptcy in 2017, and it is being projected that a staggering 8,640 stores will close in America by the end of this calendar year.   That would shatter the old record by more than 20 percent.  Sadly, our ongoing retail apocalypse appears to only be in the early chapters.  One report recently estimated that up to 25 percent of all shopping malls in the country could shut down by 2022 due to the current woes of the retail industry.  And if the new financial crisis that is already hitting Europe starts spreading over here, the numbers that I just shared with you could ultimately turn out to be a whole lot worse. I knew that a lot of retailers were filing for bankruptcy, but I had no idea that the grand total for this year was already in the hundreds.  According to CNN, the number of retail bankruptcies is now up 31 percent compared to the same time period last year… Bankruptcies continue to pile up in the retail industry. More than 300 retailers have filed for bankruptcy so far this year, according to data from BankruptcyData.com. That’s up 31% from the same time last year. Most of those filings were for small companies — the proverbial Mom & Pop store with a single location. But there are also plenty of household names on the list. Yes, the growth of online retailers such as Amazon is fueling some of this, but the Internet has been around for several decades now. So why are retail store closings and retail bankruptcies surging so dramatically all of a sudden? Just a few days ago, another major victim of the retail apocalypse made headlines all over the nation when it filed for bankruptcy.  At one time Gymboree was absolutely thriving, but now it is in a desperate fight to survive… Children’s clothing chain Gymboree has filed for bankruptcy protection, aiming to slash its debts and close hundreds of stores amid crushing pressure on retailers. Gymboree said it plans to remain in business but will close 375 to 450 of its 1,281 stores in filing for a Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization. Gymboree employs more than 11,000 people, including 10,500 hourly workers. And in recent weeks other major retailers that were once very prosperous have also been forced to close stores and lay off staff… This hemorrhaging of retail jobs comes on the heels of last week’s mass layoffs at Hudson Bay Company, where employees from Saks Fifth Avenue and Lord & Taylor were among the 2,000 people laid off. The news of HBC layoffs came on the same day that Ascena, the parent company of brands like Ann Taylor, Lane Bryant, and Dress Barn, told investors it will be closing up to 650 stores (although it did not specify which brands will be affected just yet). Only two weeks ago, affordable luxury brand Michael Kors announced it too would close 125 stores to combat brand overexposure and plummeting sales. In a lot of ways this reminds me of 2007.  The stock market was still performing very well, but the real economy was starting to come apart at the seams. And without a doubt, the real economy is really hurting right now.  According to Business Insider, Moody’s is warning that 22 more major retailers may be forced to declare bankruptcy in the very near future… Twenty-two retailers in Moody’s portfolio are in serious financial trouble that could lead to bankruptcy, according to a Moody’s note published on Wednesday. That’s 16% of the 148 companies in the financial firm’s retail group — eclipsing the level of seriously distressed retail companies that Moody’s reported during the Great Recession. You can find the full list right here.  If this many major retailers are “distressed” now, what are things going to look like once the financial markets start crashing? As thousands of stores close down all across the United States, this is going to put an incredible amount of stress on shopping mall owners.  In order to meet their financial obligations, those mall owners need tenants, but now the number of potential tenants is shrinking rapidly. I have talked about dead malls before, but apparently what we have seen so far is nothing compared to what is coming.  The following comes from CNN… Store closings and even dead malls are nothing new, but things might be about to get a whole lot worse. Between 20% and 25% of American malls will close within five years, according to a new report out this week from Credit Suisse. That kind of plunge would be unprecedented in the nation’s history. I can’t even imagine what this country is going to look like if a quarter of our shopping malls shut down within the next five years.  Already, there are some parts of the U.S. that look like a third world nation. And what is this going to do to employment?  Today, the retail industry employs millions upon millions of Americans, and those jobs could start disappearing very rapidly… The retail sales associate is one of the most popular jobs in the country, with roughly 4.5 million Americans filling the occupation. In May, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics released data that found that 7.5 million retail jobs might be replaced by technology. The World Economic Forum predicts 30 to 50 percent of retail jobs will be gone once struggling companies like Gymboree fully hop on the digital train. MarketWatch found that over the last year, the department store space bled 29,900 jobs, while general merchandising stores cut 15,700 positions. At this rate, one Florida columnist put it soberingly, “Half of all US retail jobs could vanish. Just as ATMs replaced many bank tellers, automated check-out stations are supplanting retail clerks.” At this moment, the number of working age Americans that do not have a job is hovering near a record high.  So being able to at least get a job in the retail industry has been a real lifeline for many Americans, and now that lifeline may be in grave danger. For those running our big corporations, losing these kinds of jobs is not a big deal.  In fact, many corporate executives would be quite happy to replace all of their U.S. employees with technology or with foreign workers. But if the middle class is going to survive, we need an economy that produces good paying jobs.  Unfortunately, even poor paying retail jobs are starting to disappear now, and the future of the middle class is looking bleaker than it ever has before.