So I've been reading the SF for a couple years, and I'm not going to lie, some crazy stuff has been in the past month or so. (mid-east revolutions, tsunami/quake, etc) I was thinking, what crazy thing could happen next. What would be the worst case scenario? Does what's going on right now leave countries open for more bad things to happen to them? Thoughts?

Godzilla hasn't come out of Tokyo Bay yet.....

Gas hitting $5.00

My biggest fear would be a natural disaster or man made event that would be bad enough for the Govt to declare Martial Law & suspend civil liberties.
If they ever get their foot in that door we could be in deep trouble.  If given the chance there are people in this country who would enslave us in the name of protecting us.

YET!  

This would be my biggest fear as well.  I agree completely that there are elements in this country's government and general population that, given the chance, would enslave us for "our own protection"

Deliberately triggered currency collapse in advance of the '12 elections, to coerce people to vote for the party promising to feed them. Soros has the means and the track record (and the conviction for it!). The Democrat-Socialists investing our governmental bureaucracies want Power uber alles. Wisconsin is the model and warning for their strong-arm campaign. Prepare for it.

The middle east will become more unstable.

sooo what round for godzilla?

Lahti anti-tank gun with armor piercers

As far as what crazy thing could happen next...That's anyone's guess. As long as I don't wake up on the neighbor's lawn, wearing a diaper and a broken beer helmet, it'll probably be a good day.
The good news (for us who frequent this forum) is that we attempt to plan ahead (or PREP) to retain comfort and normalcy in spite of a particular event or condition.
There's no more crazy stuff happening now then any other time. Thanks to advances in communications and the explosion of media, we're getting a "real time" feed of conditions around the globe, that we didn't have even 10 years ago. (If the house that blew up from a ruptured gas line was 2-states over, and not behind YOUR house...chances are that you wouldn't hear of it.)
The same cycles continue, while the names and faces change.  

north dakota starts a trend in the mid west and lower ontario to actually offer ice in your soda vs your pop and to ban hot dishes.





 

I fear it's coming real soon.
If prophecy means anything the next 2 years are gonna be a hell of a ride. Literally.

This is the one I'm betting on, though not just gas but coal and NG also.  The problem in Japan is going to make it harder and more expensive to build more nuclear power plants, which will shift the power industry back toward using fossil fuels.

I expect that the next year and a half or two will be a pretty bad ride.
If you look at the events of the past, you have WTC on the 11th, the quake in Haiti on the 11th and the quake in Japan on the 11th. UMMMMM wonder what 2011 will bring.....

Obama is starting his reelection plan
Yes the next two years will be BAD and Dirty
Heaven help us all if the person is in the white house again for another fours year or so if he gets his way .

Well, we don't have the $ to support the world, Japan cashed in A LOT of the BONDS that they have with us.
If we continue to give and give and give, we will be broke soon. So I hope that they can get the debt issues worked out soon... The economy is hurting and if we aren't careful, it could get real ugly, real quick.
The best advice I have to anyone is, If you can afford it and need it for your survival, I wouldn't wait to long to get it.
This could be food, water/water filters, protection(guns and ammo), have the proper cloths for the time your going to be gone...don't take only summer cloths if winter will be upon you at your BOL. All bathroom products(enough for atleast a year or 2...now ladies hair spray,gel and makeup and all that other stuff is not needed, You need to have the basic's for everyday survival.
If you can store a few hundred gal. of fuel in proper tanks, do it.
The tools you will need, be it for a equipment or home building, and even gardening...don't forget the seeds you need for planting, and a way to can, or preserve the garden.
The reason for the home building tools is because if you don't own your home outright...IE no mortgage than if you lose your job and it gets reposessed or destroyed you will need to build another, with your blood sweat and tears.
Live your life and enjoy it for what it is.

Increasing fuel prices (or the inflation thereof) will bring the economy to a halt.  We will go the way of Weimar..

Ops

Was there any round in any movie that was ever effective?  I'm ill prepared for a Godzilla attack.  

To answer the OPs query seriously (as seriously as one can):  I think that an eruption of a "yellowstone cauldera" in the middle of the US would cause the biggest SHTF event that would essentially be unexpected.  We don't even know if such a thing truly exists, but scientists on the History channel say it's possible...  If that happened with a combination of fault lines in California collapsing, I could see things really go down hill fast.

"The big one" on the west coast of the U.S.




 

Major Earthquakes along the  new madrid fault and  along the west cost