As many have seen over the past few days, chemical warfare is becoming an increasing threat from the Assad regime in Syria. "The United States said Tuesday that it has observed Syrian chemical warfare personnel visiting known production facilities, suggesting that President Bashar al-Assad’s government is preparing fresh strikes on the rebel-held north of the country. The White House warned late Monday that the Assad government would pay a 'heavy price' for any such strikes, indicating publicly for the first time that it believes the Assad government is capable of launching new chemical attacks." Yesterday U.S. military struck a Syrian airbase after their use of sarin in the northern rebel-held portion of the country, killing many civilians and hospitalizing even more. Sarin is a colorless, odorless gas that acts a nerve agent and is extremely potent. The large amount of remaining inventory of this chemical was considered by a European official to be "one of the worst-kept secrets in international diplomacy." Governments worldwide continue to monitor the Assad and many are forming synergistic strategies for the road ahead.
Mr. Down to Business
President Trump has been the center of the media's attention for quite some time now; however, there's one thing he has yet to do - back down on hardly any of his promises made on his road to election. As widely-known, the President comes from a deeply rooted business background without any formal political education (he received his Bachelor of Science in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania). His business-driven acumen has largely served as the foundation in developing his agenda and guiding his decisions both here at home and abroad.
Most recently, President Trump made the decision to pull the United States out of the Paris Climate Accord, a consolidated effort across member countries to reduce the impact on global warming. Granted, this was a bold political move (which aligns with much of his days in presidency), this also stays true to his goal of bringing jobs back to America, in particular for the manufacturing industry. Additionally, the most recent unemployment data released today, shows numbers are at an all-time low (4.3%) over the past 16 years. This has sparked conversations of raising interest rates due to higher employment as well as discussions of reaching labor capacity.
Whether President Trump was a personal choice or not, the man should be applauded for getting things done and gaining momentum towards an improved economy overall.
Twitter War of Words
Looks like the United States isn't the only one brushing up on their social media engagement. Yesterday, the verified Ukrainian and Russian Twitter accounts exchanged a mix of words, pictures, and memes over their history. According to Metro.co.uk, this all started when "Vladimir Putin met new French president Emmanuel Macron on Monday and spoke about the historic links between their two countries. He said Anna Yaroslavna was married to the Medievel king of France Henri I...this annonyed Ukraine, who said she was not from Russia but from Ukraine, as demonstrated by her name Anne of Kiev."
Business Prevails
Good day in Texas where legislation rules to keep business moving forward: today the governor signed a bill overruling "local rules set by cities". In the article, Abbott stated, "In Texas we don't believe in heavy-handed, top-down, one-sided regulatory environments that erect barriers for businesses. In Austin, Texas, we're going to override burdensome, wrongheaded regulatory barriers that disrupt the free-enterprise system upon which Texas has been based and upon which has elevated Texas to be the No. 1 state in the entire country for doing business."
RESPECT THE POSITION
A group of Notre Dame students recently walked out during Vice President Mike Pence's commencement address at his Alma Mater. This outrages me; at the minimum, be respectful of the man's position. As many know, I'm a business driven republican who has his fair share of opinions, but in 1997, I had the fortunate opportunity to hear President Bill Clinton speak and even spend five minutes talking to him after his event. It was a highlight of my life! I may not have voted for him (I was too young), but I still respected his position enough to listen to him. Sometimes sitting on your hands is harder than throwing them up in protest, but find sound reasoning worth doing so. Do we as millennials really want to be known as the generation that, when we didn't get our way or our participation trophy, we protested?
Respect the position and find the positive.