Politics: Syria giving up chemical weapons - practical realities

On paper the idea of Syria's Assad giving up their chemical weapons to UN inspectors sounds great but there are some possible practical problems - they can get moved and hidden (as indicated in CNN report below which may or may not turn out to be correct) and, of course, Syria is an active war zone so sending UN inspectors to go inventory them and supervise their neutralization is easier said than done. And finally, Syria is a client state of Russia. Thus, with one hand the Russians can say to Syria give up your chemical weapon stocks (seriously or with a wink) and, on the other hand, give them more conventional weapons to continue the war with the rebels.

Syria may be moving chemical weapons into Lebanon and Iraq.

Aging Parents - Random things from this season of life, part I

A handful of years ago, I entered the phase of life of helping out in looking after aging parents.  At this moment in 2024, my dad passed on...