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Drop dead date pushed up – Man made pollution, mostly CO2, is accelerating at a rate that has a definite endpoint for world civilization as we know it. Since accumulated CO2 in the atmosphere sticks around for hundreds of years, we won’t be able to change the cycle of oblivion once it gets rolling. (Image: Takver)

In 2004, Lawrence Smith of UCLA pointed out that vast reservoirs of methane gas stored under Siberian permafrost could enter the atmosphere as global warming accelerated ice melts holding the tundra together. By 2008, the beginning of the permafrost melt was imminent and warnings were sounded. Now, we hear that the methane release, 20 times the pollution effect of CO2, will cost $60 trillion in adaptions to the damage to the environment (yes, $60 trillion).

What profound denial. Why characterize catastrophic global climate change in terms of dollars? Why not just say: there is no chance to mitigate this emerging cycle of oblivion because world leaders won’t even mention the topic and by the time they do, it will be too late. We’re done. Stick a fork in us.

General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi – the new Pharaoh in Town – On July 3, the Egyptian military removed then President Mohamed Morsi from office. Protests and a petition with 22 million signatures were part of the military’s motivation. Saudi Arabian loan guarantees were the clincher. Morsi was an utter failure. He was also instituting what looked like a Muslim Brotherhood (MB) blueprint for autocratic rule. (Image: Egyptian Independent)

The Muslim Brotherhood began protesting and failed to heed warnings from the military to stop. Finally, on July 24, General el-Sisi, head of the military, announced that he’d tried reasoning with the MB to no avail. Three days ago, , Morsi was charged with espionage and conspiring with Hamas in a jail break in 2011.obama

The military and police tried to stop the protests and the MB kept coming back. A few days ago, protesters started getting shot in the head. Foreign press suspected the use of snipers. The Army denies this. Death tolls are well over 100 according to observers in Egypt, although official counts are lower. General el-Sisi is adamant about putting down the MB.

The U.S. backed Morsi and now President Obama is chastising the Egyptian military for the deaths. The president should take a look at the death and destruction he facilitated in Libya and Syria, reflect on his utter hypocrisy, and keep quiet. The double standard is so ridiculous, it’s embarrassing to see these remarks.

Syria – the Empire Project in Peril - Gore Vidal predicted that national bankruptcy would stop the insane wars of the ruling class. The record of wars since 2008 reflects this reality. We don’t invade. We have proxy forces do our dirty work. Libya was a resounding success. The UN put its stamp of approval on the attack, the Gulf States funded it, and there were no United States troops, installations, etc.

The Obama administration got away with a proxy war in Libya with help from the UN, NATO and the Gulf oil oligarchies. So why not try the same in Syria? There were just a few problems. The locals couldn’t fight so foreign fighters had to be imported. The imports were from an Iraqi Al Qaeda group and damn proud of it. The Al Qaeda fighters began committing atrocities, kidnapping and killing Christians are favorites.

This is all known, the public is overwhelmingly opposed to any intervention, and the whole adventure looks like a real loser. What’s a president to do? Change the storyline. The same press that ran articles about life in Syria after Assad now runs articles about what it means that Assad survives.

The Western states may arrange to kill Assad but count on this — no rebel government will be installed. The victory the West almost handed Al Qaeda in Syria will be yanked away. The utter failure may end of the Empire Project, (at least in the military form) for a few years. But, more likely, our fearless leaders will persevere.

What will the fools who rule do next? Watch the news or check in in two weeks for the next edition of Decline and Fall.

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See more at: Michael Collins site