The return to accessible college is happening. Congratulations Governor Cuomo. He did it. He actually did it.

April 10, 2017

By Mary Emily O'Hara

New York (click here) will be the only state in the country to offer universal public college tuition coverage for working- and middle-class residents after the program was included in the budget package approved Sunday night.

The state's Excelsior Scholarship program will be rolled out in tiers over the next three years, starting with full coverage of four-year college tuition this fall for students whose families make less than $100,000.

The income cap will increase to $110,000 in 2018 and $125,000 in 2019.

While states like California and Georgia have comprehensive grant and scholarship programs for four-year college as well, New York's is the nation's only truly universal program — with no requirements other than residency and income, and no caps on the amount of residents who can receive full tuition.

"With this budget, New York has the nation's first accessible college program. It's a different model," said Governor Andrew Cuomo Saturday in a statement. "Today, college is what high school was—it should always be an option even if you can't afford it."...

Alert, US Senator Bernie Sanders, it is happening!

The dragnet for Russian hackers is seeing results. They will probably run home to Mother Russia now to prevent extradition.

Ransomware? He was breaking the law and intimidating people for money. He is an international criminal regardless his activity.

April 10, 2017

...Pyotr Levashov (click here) was held in Barcelona on Friday and is remanded in custody.

Spanish police said Mr Levashov controlled a botnet called Kelihos, hacking information and installing malicious software in hundreds of thousands of computers.

The arrest was part of a "complex inquiry carried out in collaboration with the FBI", police said.

Mr Levashov is subject to a US international arrest warrant and a Spanish court will hear whether he can be extradited.

Much of his alleged activity involved ransomware - blocking a computer's access to certain information and demanding a ransom for its release.

Mr Levashov's wife Maria told Russian broadcaster RT that the arrest had been made in connection with allegations that Russians had hacked the US presidential election.

She said Spanish police had told her the arrest was in connection with "a virus which appears to have been created by my husband and is linked to [Donald] Trump's victory".

However, Agence France-Presse news agency quoted a source close to the matter in Washington as saying that Mr Levashov's detention was "not tied to anything involving allegations of Russian interference with the US election"....                  

No Palace intrigue here. Trump is rarely in the White House.

April 10, 2017
By Stephen A. Crockett, Jr.

...He’s been in office less than three months (click here) and he can’t stop vacationing; in fact, according to The Independent, President TrumPutin spent some $24 million vacationing in his first 10 weeks, which is about as much as President Barack Obama spent in two years....

...To put that in perspective, Obama averaged around $12.1 million a year during his presidency, or about $97 million during his two terms. If President TrumPutin keeps vacationing at this rate, he will surpass Obama’s eight-year total in a mere 10 months. But kids don’t need the Public Broadcasting Service, and the Environmental Protection Agency is being cut off at the knees. You would think, with this much vacationing, he’d at least have a decent tan....

No wonder he sends war machines into Syria; the PDB isn't making it to the golf course.

Indeed, Trump can't claim to be living in public housing. There aren't golf courses like that anywhere near public housing that I know of.

ANOTHER oil pipeline leak in Alabama. When is Bentley out of there?

Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley (click here) speaks to the media during a news conference, Monday, Sept. 19, 2016, in Hoover, Ala. Bentley issued a state of emergency in Alabama after a pipeline spill near Helena, Ala. Gas prices spiked and drivers found "out of service" bags covering pumps as the gas shortage in the South rolled into the work week, raising fears that the disruptions could become more widespread. 

Sorry, the article is today, the speech was September 19, 2016. I can't believe Bentley is still there. He must not have any job offers.

April 10, 2017
By Katie Serena and Sophia Tesfaye

More than one year after the Alabama Republican Assembly called for Republican Governor Robert Bentley’s resignation, impeachment hearings against the governor began on Monday in the Alabama State House.

The embattled 74-year-old GOP governor has pledged to stay in office as the impeachment hearings — the first of its kind in Alabama history — kick off this week.

“I have done nothing illegal,” Bentley said at a press conference at the capitol on Friday. “If the people want to know if I misused state resources, the answer is simply no, I have not.”...

No one looking for a lobbyist, huh? That is about the only thing anyone will remotely think Bentley is qualified for, but, the Republicans in DC will probably bolt the door to avoid him.

September 16, 2016

Residents of the communities (click here) nearest to the site of a Shelby County pipeline leak that has released more than 250,000 gallons of gas into the environment say they are worried about the potential for the gas to cause damage to their health and homes.

Hours after Gov. Robert Bentley declared a state of emergency for Alabama on Thursday, multiple neighbors of the William R. Ireland Sr. Cahaba River Wildlife Management Area told AL.com that they worry that the gas leak could have direct impacts on their lives.

Billy McDanal owns a house on a 3.5-acre piece of land less than 500 yards from the edge of the Wildlife Management Area in the Fox Valley Highlands subdivision in the small community of Maylene. He and his son have hunted, hiked and ridden four-wheelers throughout the management area and its surroundings for over a decade....

Then two weeks later.

Helena, Ala. - Alpharetta-based Colonial Pipeline (click here) has shut down its main line at a site in Alabama after an explosion.

Investigators say the explosion hit around 3:30 p.m. Monday after machinery hit the pipeline in Shelby County, Alabama.

One person died and at least five others were injured in the blast.

Channel 2's Aaron Diamant is as close to the scene of the blast as authorities will allow. He reports a massive response underway as crew work to put out the fire a day after the explosion.

Channel 2's Jim Strickland obtained internal information from Colonial Pipeline showing one pipeline has resumed operations as of midnight. That pipeline contains diesel, jet fuel and home heating oil....

That is why when I first looked at "Slate" and the title to the picture was state of emergency, I thought, AGAIN!

If Bentley resigns he may still be able to collect his pension and won't be homeless standing on the corner with a tin cup.

Another tragedy in San Bernardino. I am sorry to hear there are more teacher dead.

All to often Americans are watching reports of school children in a line following a police officer to be sure they are safe from someone with a lousy gun.

April 10, 2017

Two adults (click here) were killed and two students were injured Monday morning at an elementary school in San Bernardino in what officials are describing as a murder-suicide.

The students were taken to a local hospital, where they were listed in critical condition, said San Bernardino police Lt. Mike Madden. The male gunman, whose identity was not released, shot and killed a female instructor before he turned the weapon on himself and died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to police.

The teacher is believed to be the spouse or girlfriend of the gunman, according to San Bernardino Unified School District spokeswoman Maria Garcia.

“We believe this to be a murder-suicide,” San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan tweeted. “Happened in a class room. Two students have been transported to the hospital.”...

What the heck?

There are too many guns on the street and it is becoming the method of choice in idiot rampages like this.

...“I was in my class and my teacher was teaching us a lesson, and then I heard three gun shots. My teacher told us to get on the ground. Then we started hearing sirens,” the third-grader said....

Oh, yeah, he learned a lesson alright.

...Jaidyn said once he and his classmates were outside on a soccer field, they were planning to walk to Cajon High School, but he spotted his mother and she scooped him up and took him home....

...Zamudio, the father of a 6-year-old in second grade at North Park, said he lives nearby and heard helicopters overhead. He rushed to the school when his sister called saying there had been a school shooting.

“I came because they said it was safer, more isolated. But I guess it’s not that way,” said Zamudio, who recently moved to the area from Highland....

Sincerest sympathies to those in Sweden who have perished and the loss of wonderful people in Egypt.

April 10, 2017

Members of Sweden's royal family and politicians attended the ceremony in Stockholm

Sweden's prime minister (click here) has told the families of the victims of Friday's truck attack they are not alone, after the country held a minute of silence.

Stefan Lofven said all of Sweden's thoughts were with them following a ceremony outside Stockholm City Hall, also attended by the mayor and most of the Swedish royal family.

Four people died and 15 were injured when a hijacked truck was driven into a department store in central Stockholm.

An Uzbek man, 39, is the main suspect.

Uzbeks have been involved with terror long before Daesh. Many Uzbeks practice the Muslim faith, but, to state this is unique because of Daesh is wrong. Daesh is an excuse for killing regardless of the history of such men carrying out atrocities.

Addressing those affected by the attack, Mr Lofven added: "You are not alone, we are thinking of you. All of Sweden stands with you."

Police have not released the identities of the victims, but said they were:...

Uzbeks were terrorists long before Daesh. The organization is "Hizb ut-Tahrir." The other and more common name for the organization is HT. HT had the corner of Calphate long before it became fashionable in Syria. Uzbeks are in prison because they are violent extremists. Their clerks are occasionally jailed as well. They have a bad attitude and they sometimes face religious oppression 

"Google Books" has a publication on line that is free and would help to understand HT for those that care to. "Guide to Islamist Movements" (click here)

If my memory services me well, I think Uzbeks were involved with the Beslan school. The so called mastermind was Chechen, Shamil Basayev. Basayev was an Islamist. He no longer breaths.

But, when I hear there are Uzbeks involved in any terror attack I think of HT long before Daesh.

12 February 2015
By William Scates Frances

Another day, (click here) another Islamic State (Isis) meme. This one is a rather well done mimicry of the pamphlet style of Hizb ut-Tahrir. Its title reads “Hizb ut-Ta’khir” – translated roughly as the “party of delay” – and its bold headline reads “Establishing the Khilafah since 1953”.

Beneath, the disclaimer reads: “I know, we have got nowhere so far, but we have lots of conferences and heaps of flags and are really good at sitting in cafes …”

This is not the first meme about Hizb ut-Tahrir to be spread around the oft deleted and resurrected pro-Isis Twitter handles. The Dawlah twittersphere (Dawlah meaning “state”, shorthand for Islamic State) is full of them, all of a similar theme, all targeting Hizb ut-Tahrir....

All the wackos have turned themselves loose in the name of demented faiths estranged from the sincerely devoted Muslims.

09.04.2017

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis (click here for audio) condemned the terror attack on a Coptic church dedicated to St. George – Mar Girgis – in the city of Tanta, north of Cairo, which killed upward of two dozen people and injured nearly 60 others.

“[W]e pray for the victims claimed this [Sunday] morning,” Pope Francis said in remarks to the faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square to pray the Angelus with him following Palm Sunday Mass, during which news of the attack - the first of two on Coptic targets Sunday, occurred.

“To my dear brother, His Holiness Pope Tawadros II,” Pope Francis continued,  “to the Coptic Church and to all the dear Egyptian nation I express my deep condolences. I pray for the dead and the injured, and I am close in spirit to the family members [of the deceased and injured] and to the entire community.”

Pope Francis went on to pray, “May the Lord convert the hearts of the people who are sowing terror, violence and death, and also the hearts of those who make and traffic weapons.”

Pope Francis is scheduled to visit Cairo at the end of this month.

The United States should offer to assist with security for his visit to Egypt. He is a man of great faith. He openly loves the people and he will not be deterred. The USA needs to accept the fact when it bombs others there is retaliation within the Muslim world.

It wasn't only Christians that died on Palm Sunday; there were men of a different faith that perished as well.

April 10, 2017
By Bethan McKernan

55-year-old (click here) Nagwa Abdel-Aleem was one of three officers to lose their lives in Palm Sunday bombings claimed by Isis.

Egyptians have been paying their respects to a woman police officer who died when she stopped an Isis suicide bomber from entering a
Coptic Church in Alexandria.

At least 44 people were killed in two bombings targeting Egypt’s Christian minority on Sunday - the first at St George's Church in Tanta, about 60 miles (100 kilometres) north of Cairo, followed by the explosion during Mass at Alexandria’s Saint Mark’s Cathedral.

Nagwa Abdel-Aleem, 55, was guarding the entrance to the church when the suicide bomber attempted to pass her security check. Unable to proceed any further, he detonated the bomb at the main gate. It is thought the attacker's primary target was Pope Tawadros II, who had left the site a few minutes earlier.

In case you missed it; there are real people waiting for Brexit.

April 5, 2017

By Chris Campbell

Aaron Brown said the EU had "devastated" Scotland's fishing industry

The Scottish fishermen (click here) said the union’s control of the market had hampered the industry and the UK’s decision to exit the bloc would offer opportunities.

They added fishing quotas were restricting the amount of fish they could sell within the EU and incentives from the bloc to scrap boats had also damaged the industry. 

Speaking from Peterhead Fish Market on DW News, fisherman Aaron Brown said: “The EU has devastated our industry. 

“Fishermen, the markets that rely on the fishermen… industry, communities, it has been absolutely devastated....

Good night, Moon.

I could wish Americans would find a way to love and accept Hillary Clinton unconditionally and put their faith in her, but, they won't. There is a mistrust of her and her Wall Street funding. It is a joke, isn't it? Donald Trump was suppose to be the ultimate outsider and he has placed some of the most vicious Wall Street billionaires in the cabinet. Who should we mistrust now?

Then there is the Clinton era NAFTA. Another treaty. This time most Americans don't want it anymore. We really don't. We see Wall Street as competition as it should be, but, not with guarantees to win the competition.

Hillary, why accept the funding? There are less Wall Street brokers that are woman than there are US Senators, I believe. Wall Street is no particular friend of women, why should you be? Right now there are woman of Wall Street wearing stripper shoes to work everyday. Hello?

Don't ask Americans to trust Hillary Clinton unless Hillary Clinton is completely trustworthy. They trusted Trump and now they think what the White House really needed was "balls." Misogyny reigns in the White House. Trump actually is willing to trap women into child bearing forever with sex as servitude rather than a comfort and fun between partners or spouses.

Perhaps what Trump needs is a long drag on a Mary Jane and learn that blunting of arrogance serves the country better than spectacular villas for visiting billionaires and heads of state.

420 needs to receive federal reclassification. People are receiving real relief with marijuana. They are not asking for much, simply a chance to live without pain and malfunction of their bodies. Is that too much to ask of the federal government? Federal laws are causing hardship and putting very innocent people in jail until a ludicrous hearing where fines are levied. It is a real issue and someone running for federal office will receive real funding and loyalty to the one who promises to let Americans achieve comfort and quality of life.

And last, but, hardly least is the well being of Americans protected by environmental laws. Additionally, the climate crisis is raging on and becoming more difficult with every year that passes. Heat under greenhouse gases is accumulating with dangerous results. The country and the world needs a leader that is dedicated to their right to living without the threat of Earth's raging storms.

Americans are facing human rights violations due to heat, drought, all too often visiting Arctic vortex because of a pathetically thin Arctic Ocean ice cap. Australia received rolling black outs this year in it's cities because of the demand for electricity to stay cool.

Hillary Clinton was needed in the federal government leadership for more reasons than can be written about here. A wayward FBI Director decided to oppose a woman African American Attorney General with Standard Practice of carrying out investigations without being political. It was a deliberate breach of protocol and Comey does not belong in FBI leadership.

It is called misogyny and it comes in many forms, some brand new as a woman rises to power of the last surviving Superpower.

Bernie knew what he was doing.

Hillary Clinton loved the White House, something Donald Trump has yet to appreciate. See, his constituency ridiculed the Clintons as having spent their lives in public housing. Donald Trump spends his time in his million/billion dollar estates while it costs the American taxpayer billions upon billions for his security.

I think Donald Trump is afraid of gate jumpers, actually. There are more and more all the time and they think he is in 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Fools, every one. They need to travel to Florida where there is a moat around Trump's luxurious bedroom.

It is amazing, isn't it? The White House is public housing while Trump can cut billions from the actual public housing needy Americans rely on to keep them from living on the street. Indeed, cutting housing in the budget, but, his protections can escalate to soak up those so called budget savings.

Hillary Clinton. Why do I feel time will paint a woman cheated out of the most powerful position of leadership in the world at a time when the world needed her most.

As to Bernie, you ignored the real message of the "Lost Generation." He wasn't going to run until he realized this:

It is about controlling fear, Hillary.

“Poor Mary, she didn’t deserve it either, when you go back and look at the history,” said Clinton.

It is not the person, it is the quality the person represents. Hillary Clinton was an icon. But, of what?

Is there any doubt she was the woman that launched a thousand assertive housewives to the bra burning? Dear God, in Arkansas. Every Democratic and Progressive woman heard those words and related to them. Finally, we had a woman with the vision we wanted. We were going to have equality in all aspects of life.

Hillary....were you actually going to disarm the cowboy from his guns? Or should I say, his gun?

Maybe that picture is too small.

Hillary Clinton is the final blow to American masculinity. If she wins, it is all over. Women will never be the same. They will want equal pay; "bankruptcy" is at the place where women no longer bake cookies and they are given control of the budget.

The best outcome for women to reach the presidency is to be the one person who understands the household budget and manages it with ease. Don't most women manage the bills in the house? Is a man's masculinity so delicate they have to be given an image of supremacy of every aspect of control? Really? I didn't think sex was about equality, I thought is was about an organism.

...When talking about Vladimir Putin’s attempts to destabilize the US, she pointed out that he did not like strong women, “although he did shake hands with me”, a clear reference to Donald Trump’s refusal to shake Angela Merkel’s hand during a White House meeting....

Does Hillary Clinton think Vladimir Putin is the only man that doesn't like strong women? American men are over all that, huh? American men are dying in their fifties because their life is hard and nothing a woman can understand. Would Hillary Clinton come to the rescue to save the lives of these men? Really? I thought they drank to handle the pain with their lives and smoked to cloud their senses so the alcohol can go down easier.

The answer to becoming President, Mrs. Clinton, is to put 'the value of life' back in their hearts. The only way to do that is to pay them a living wage and back on track to "The American Dream." Now, that is what i call masculinity with equal responsibility of their spouse.

I think that is short sighted.

The New York Times reporter Nicholas Kristof, who conducted the interview in front of thousands at a Lincoln Center theater, asked if Syria policy had been the biggest mistake of the Obama administration.

Clinton reiterated that in 2012, she and the then CIA director, David Petraeus, had devised a plan to arm rebels, but it was rejected.

“I thought we should have done more at that point,” she said.

She noted that most of the civilian deaths came because of airstrikes and argued that more could still be done to stop Assad’s airforce and protect civilians.

“I really believe we should have and still should take out his airfields and prevent him from being able to bomb innocent people and drop sarin gas on them,” said Clinton.

Here again Americans believe God is on their side and therefore can accomplish the impossible.

"W" was the same way with Iraq. He expected to be cheered by the Iraqi people as a liberator. That is all American arrogance.

What if, instead of arming rebels, the USA brokered an agreement that any leader of the rebellion would be given amnesty from retribution by Assad? What would happen? Why is war always the best answer? It is actually no answer in the Middle East.

If Assad was guaranteed his position as president of Syria there would be no reason for war. His position has always been to place strategic militias throughout the region, including Lebanon. It sincerely is the only method of security for the Shia Crescent. UNLESS. Peace was brokered with enough incentive it would be permanent. The Late Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Abdullah was doing exactly that. He would meet with Assad and they would discuss the day and the stability of the region. 

Everyone remembers Beirut and the horrible violence decades ago. For the most part it ended. It took strong Lebanese leadership, but, the Beirut of yesterday is no longer. It is possible. I think Hillary Clinton didn't take the time to realize the strength of peace within the region. Guns are too easy and please the politics of the American people.

US Congressional indifference. Is it misogyny or Trump politics or both?

...The former secretary of state explained that she believed Russian’s interference was “the weaponization of information” in the form of “a thousand agents, bots and trolls” and that an independent, non-partisan investigation was needed.

“I’m hopeful Congress will pull together and realize because of the success the Kremlin feels it had, they’re not going to go away,” she said....

What lead up to the failure of the Ukraine treaty?

Hillary has every right to be upset about Russia. I would love for her to write a book on her experience with Russia across her years in government. I am sure she would open eyes.

I think Lavrov really wanted the reset between the USA and Russia. There was no reason for it not to work. I am sure there were private talks that set parameters to the reset after the public relations campaign. We should know. What happened? We wanted to work with Russia and not escalate a nuclear posture.

Democratic ideology? Sure. But, it is based in global aspirations by other countries as well in the Non-Proliferation Treaty. Treaties are suppose to mean something. The United Nations is suppose to mean something. I sincerely believe Putin took license to move into Ukraine because the USA was aggressive in it's oil hunger by invading Iraq. The permission was there after "W" went outside the operations of the UN Security Council and their inspectors.

He saw the handwriting on the wall. The UN was finding nothing. There was less and less reason to invade Iraq. "W" wanted the goal of Rumsfeld's Cabal. They weren't going to be stopped, hence, why would Putin oppose the USA invasion. It was a new rule in the aspirations of countries with a strong military. "Go ahead, who is going to stop you?" China the same way with it's military presence on meaningless islands to expand it's borders further into the Pacific. Same thing.

Vietnam quakes with the reality of having China claim the water and mineral rights on their common ocean border. Same thing.

It was a feel good moment. Russia and the USA shaking hands, smiling and starting anew with the hopes of reviving old ideals and securing long time hopes. Indeed, what could have been better? Was Russia hoping to lull the USA into political amnesia after a reset? I don't think we know why it failed so much as that it failed.

misogyny

 a hatred of women

Misogyny may be distinguished from the closely related word sexism, which signifies discrimination based on sex (although it most frequently refers to discrimination against women) and also carries the meaning “behavior, conditions, or attitudes that foster stereotypes of social roles based on sex.”

Misogyny refers specifically to a hatred of women. The word is formed from the Greek roots misein (“to hate”) and gynē (“woman”). Each of these roots can be found in other English words, both common and obscure. Gynē helped to form gynecologist and androgynous, and misein can be found in such words as misoneism (“a hatred, fear, or intolerance of innovation or change”) and misandry (“a hatred of men”).

Hatred of women can manifest itself in a civil society as oppression and stereotyping. Stereotyping is oppression. Stereotyping provides boundaries of behavior.

Yes, in 2017. I betcha you thought a burka would be on the list of stereotyping and oppression. No.

7 April 2017
A Canadian province (click here) has scrapped the dress code which requires female employees to wear high heels.

The government of British Columbia (BC) says the requirement is discriminatory as well as being a health and safety issue because they are dangerous.

It says that high heel wearers face a risk of physical injury from slipping or falling as well as possible damage to the feet, legs and back.

Footwear should be designed to allow workers to operate safely, it says.

The announcement of the ban comes after a provincial Green party politician in March introduced a bill in the BC legislature aimed at preventing employers from setting gender-based footwear requirements....

Take a good look at that picture. Is it oppressive? You betcha. She is required to be at least as sexy as the local exotic dancer pole. Understated if measuring against stripper shoes, but, oppressive just the same.

Yes, yes there are seams on those hosiery. 

Why oppressive? There is the obvious safety issue. Anyone ever fall off stripper shoes? Not a pretty sight. Nothing like having everyone gawking at your panty hose and thong or boy cut panties as you fell off your shoes. The image of that one woman against the rest of the office creates a very hostile environment, wouldn't you say? Right? Everyone has that image of Hazel on the floor with her panties showing as her skirt wasn't tight enough to hide them in case the worst happened with the stripper shoes.

Just stay there a minute with Hazel the up and coming girl friday that can do anything asked of her, even dance backwards on heels. Why is it women's fashion dictates they have to try to be as tall as men?

Fashion? I don't know. Men never spice up their work place wardrobe. Nah, even the skinny suit is not the same signature as stripper shoes.

Time to move on.

I have my differences with her as well. No one can deny she is a great woman.

She states she believes military action is needed in Syria. I disagree. She tends to be too much of a hawk.

6 April 2017

By Amber Jamieson

In her first interview (click here) since losing the 2016 election, Hillary Clinton said misogyny had played a role in her election loss.

Clinton “spends a lot of time wrestling” with the fact that 53% of white women voted for Trump and the impact of her gender on her loss, she said at the Women in the World summit.

“Certainly misogyny played a role,” she said.

In a wide-ranging interview, Clinton also called for US intervention in Syria, spoke about how being an ambitious woman had turned her into “Typhoid Mary”, and called for a bipartisan investigation into Russian interference in the election.

Clinton called on politicians on both sides to “start acting like patriotic Americans” by investigating Russian involvement in the election.

“What was done to us was an act of aggression and it was carried out by a foreign power under the control of someone who has a deep desire to dominate Europe and to send us into a tailspin,” Clinton said at the Women in the World summit. “What Putin wanted to do was sow distrust and confusion as well as influence our election.”...                    

Hillary

Isn't she great. She is incredible. There aren't words in some ways to express the immense admiration I have for her.

This is not a 15 minute structure. I think of Hillary as open to any form of communication without exception. That also includes using strength through our military.

I want to write about Hillary tonight. She deserves the attention over and above any priority I had for tonight. She was very brave to come forward and speak about her mistreatment as a candidate for President of the USA. I think I've made it clear that is how I see it. I see her as being mistreated. 

Osama bin Laden is dead.

There is a reason Assad has power and it has nothing to do with Russia.

The people he protects and favor him fear ethnic cleansing.

What does that mean? There is no peace, there are only lulls and truces and potential peace agreements with power sharing governments. There is strong reason to believe a power sharing government would work, but, who controls the military in Syria?

There is no way forward in Syria that is simple. Kill Assad and there are others like him.

No USA President has the answer. The answer comes from the people themselves. "The White Helmets" is a great hope, but, bombing hospitals has become a strategy to demoralize them and the people they save.

There needs to be a new strategy for the rescued people. It has to be covert to continue to build strength between different ethnicity to form a nation that is a melting pot. There will always be two separate religious structures in Syria; the Sunnies and Shia and the many, many denominations of ethnicity within those religious ethnics.

I can sympathize with President Trump about dead children, dead babies and the desire to be their hero/champion. There is no answer for them. More bombs and aggression only begets more bombs and aggression. Give the babies and their families refugee status. 

There is a limited argument about migrating Daesh. That occurred in Europe. We know that. They came through the Greek Islands. The sympathy occurred for those hate filled migrant men because Europe witnessed a drowned child wash ashore. Sympathies can be dangerous in a world without answers.

Daesh is similiar to al Qaeda in that they seek psychological warfare as well as randomized killing of citizens of civilized countries.

Question: "Is the election of Donald Trump, for all his good intentions, due to a country undermined by al Qaeda?" When is the "OMG, Osama but in a different body" SYNDROME going to end?

I sincerely question the Americans that hate their government AND those Americans diverse from them! I oppose White Supremacy as a strategy that satisfies the movement of al Qaeda!

In the USA, the refugee/migrant experience is very different regarding mass killings. In the USA, we are seeing children of immigrants with dual citizen status become violent as a resolve to their CONFLICTED IDENTITIES. The USA hasn't even officially identified the problem and until that occurs and is documented the answers won't be available and the USA society remains at danger.

The Iraq War served a political agenda. Ignoring the real problem with our own Americans with dual citizen status serves a political agenda.

Americans are fools for playing politics with their own danger rather than demanding answers!

President Obama is completely correct. Syria can't be done on the cheap as Trump conducted.

...Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu (click here) described Trump’s decision to retaliate as welcome, but not enough.
“If this intervention is limited only to an air base, if it does not continue and if we don’t remove the regime from heading Syria, then this would remain a cosmetic intervention,” he said....

Basically, it is another Iraq, but, worse. The USA would have to wage a war of no consequence to the USA, against a sitting president and it's ally Russia. Syria is not solvable. START THERE!
Americans always believe they can conduct a war and then put it in a box and tie it with a bow. NOT.
Are right wingers so devoted to their politics of death and violence they are willing to place their country, military and soldiers on the line to conduct a forever war in Syria?

Fools!

There is only one genetic Assad.