On Our "Virtual Route 66" With a Special Edition of #OutsiderVibes

 

We begin our final edition of May 2025 with a tribute to our hometown, Laguna Niguel, as we leave all with a celebration of Music from around the World, as we look forward to the continued privilege to serve:

Notations From the Grid (Special Sunday Edition): On #Turkey, #Syria & the War...

It has been a challenging few days as the Turkish Army continues its' assault in Northern Syria.   The National's Joyce Karam released the following to get a sense of the challenges at hand in this regard as the United States is withdrawing Troops:

Joyce Karam

@Joyce_Karam

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UPDATE: #Syria - #Turkey • Kurds/SDF STRIKE DEAL W ASSAD • Syria Regime Deployments NE to counter Turkey • 24 Civilians Killed (SOHR) • US to start withdrawal “in days” • Trump declined defending SDF • Merkel

Erdogan • US to stay in Tanf (Al Monitor) • Putin

Saudi

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Joyce Karam

@Joyce_Karam

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This is shaping up as most chaotic US withdrawal from region. Rivals hurrying to collect the spoils. With Assad deal with Kurds, a Turkey- Syria regime battle in horizon. Russia role on the rise as Trump packs and leaves

A Sampling of the engagements over Social Media underscored the challenging reality on the ground :

This is a sense of the aftermath of President Trump's Decision on the long-term impact of the challenging times before us: 

 The Economist' Kal also weighed on: 

Notations From the Grid (Weekly Edition): On @POTUS Watch

The impeachment debate has been dominating the headlines.   This is as North Korea walked out of talks and gave the United States until the end of the year before it noted that it would look for alterantives.--The United States Government denied it all.    This is also as demonstrations in Iraq and Hong Kong continue--and as Turkey contemplates expanding its' zone of influence in Syria underscored by the Turkish President Complaint to President Trump in a call yesterday.

On the reelection front, President Trump's RE-Election Campaign, though, has been out-raising the entire Democratic Presidential Field epitomized by this Poster: 

This poster was sold out in a few Hours--and estimates we have seen note that the President's reelection campaign has about 150 Million Dollars cash on hand.   

The Economist' Kaltoons, though, had his own take on President Trump's current predicament as the President's Supporters were on the US Public Affair Talk shows over the Week-End making the case for the President:  

This is as the Washington Examiner reported on this in  regards to the #ImpeachmentInquiry over the weekend:

Trump dumps Ukraine call on Rick Perry President Trump told Republicans that Energy Secretary Rick Perry encouraged him to have the phone call with Ukraine's president that flung his presidency into chaos. During a conference call with GOP lawmakers in the House on Friday, Trump claimed he did not even want to have the July 25 conversation in which he urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate his political rivals. A clash over a U.S. intelligence official's whistleblower complaint that raised concerns about this phone call paved the way for House Democrats to launch an impeachment inquiry. Read the full story here. Eight House Democrats holding out against impeachment inquiry after Rep. Ben McAdams flips And then, there were eight. Rep. Ben McAdams of Utah, a first-term Democrat representing a Salt Lake City-area district won by President Trump in 2016, said he favors an impeachment inquiry of the White House incumbent over the Ukraine whistleblower episode. McAdams had been among a small group of holdouts in the 235-House Democratic Caucus, each representing districts won by Trump in 2016 or that they flipped from Republican control in the 2018 midterm elections, giving Democrats their first majority in the chamber in eight years. Read the full story here. As we went to press assessing the state of the Trade War, this crossed our news wire courtesy of the Financial Times that underscores how the transformation is going on which in our view is elluding policymakers in Washington: World China car start-up dodges Trump tariffs with AI and 3D printing Pix Moving reflects changes sweeping ageing country’s industry OCTOBER 6, 2019 by Coco Liu and Shunsuke Tabeta, Nikkei staff writers It will be quite a week.