what's up

Syria (CNN) -- We'd been in Damascus for several weeks, watching out of our windows as smoke hovered almost daily over the city's skyline.
Where we were staying holed up was somewhat safe but it didn't insulate us from the noise of the battles threatening to engulf the Syrian capital.
One day we stood outside a local ice cream seller's shop as tracer fire lit up the night sky. The ice cream seller then tried to give us our cones for free.
As foreigners, we stood out in a crowd of locals, all of whom were weirdly protective of Damascus and put out that we weren't seeing their city at its best.
In a lull in the fighting one man turned and asked me if I'd gotten chance to see the window St. Paul was lowered from before his escape to Europe - a popular attraction for western tourists. I promised I'd put it on my list of things to do.

So, we recognize that Medicare is the largest driver of our national debt, which will bankrupt us on our current course, we have an opposition party that has said we must reduce our national debt and reign in entitlements, but now we have to protect Medicare at all costs because it makes a convenient talking point against the sitting president? Come on.

this should be a quickfire century

On the beach nearly nothing

U guys. Have long weekend

Good evening

BROOKLYN BREAKING NEWS: Woman shot dead near flatbush, others injured

A 28-year-old mom walking home from the store was killed and at least three other people were wounded Thursday night in a shooting on a Brooklyn street, police sources said.
Shots rang out about 9:05 p.m. on Clarkson Ave. near Flatbush Ave. in Prospect-Lefferts Gardens, officials said.
The dead woman was identified as Fatima Gordon by relatives.
“My niece is a wonderful girl,” said the woman’s devastated aunt.
“Please not my niece. God, take me. She was just coming from the store. Her birthday is Saturday. She’s a wonderful mother - why her?”