As for Syria, with the USA no longer in the picture, the sovereign government of Mr Assad, with the assistance of Russia and Iran will win the civil war, defeat ISIL in that country... and peace will return to Syria.

I don't think this is a bad outcome.

I have been interested in and entertained by the American Presidential elections for some time but I must admit I have reached a kind of nadir of despair. I had hoped by this time that one of the contenders would have talked honestly about the impact of the last 'recession' as it wasn't called at the time in 2008 and had mentioned that these corrections always take about 20-25 years to recover from and in the meantime things won't be so good. That to me, would have been a bright point of honesty and most folk could understand it.

I have been interested in and entertained by the American Presidential elections for some time but I must admit I have reached a kind of nadir of despair. 
I had hoped by this time that one of the contenders would have talked honestly about the impact of the last 'recession' (as it wasn't called at the time) in 2008 and had mentioned that these corrections always take about 20-25 years to recover from and in the meantime things won't be so good, can't be good, and may well get worse, as they always do with the big economic 'corrections', throughout real history in the US and world wide.
That to me, would have been a bright point of honesty and most folk could understand it...and work towards a good long term goal nationally, socially and calmly.
It is still as if the Americans, and others including the UK and Australia, can only believe in something if it means everything will be alright within two weeks.
I think if we look back at this time from the future we will see many things arising from the recession (i.e. global financial crisis) including the Arab Spring, the Rise of China (who were smart enough to bypass it), Brexit, and the next American President.

Quote from Mrs Fitz: "If you, when young and beautiful, always used your charm to manipulate others, when you grow less beautiful in natural age, you need to use the abundance untouched within your heart to care for those you have manipulated, rather than to demand anything from them at all. There comes a time when they will need to leave you alone. There comes a time for this rebalancing in every good life time."

What is the least important thing that you have ever worried about? One time, when I was 40 I bought the most amazing pair of reading glasses perfectly designed by brilliant Parisian ophthalmologists. They cost me around a thousand dollars, thin, gold rimmed, very well styled, perfect... and they dimmed in the sunshine, they cleared in the dark, they were good for reading and driving and writing, and I had them for a day and then lost them in Paris...I was never so much worried about the cost of such basically unnecessary things, I was just more worried that I had paid so much for something inessential. Never been back to the optometrists since. The world looks just fine to me anyway. I can see enough for my needs.

What is the least important thing that you have ever worried about? For me, yesterday, well..Yesterday, the least important thing that I have been worried about was the quality of my second favourite fountain pen because the inner sleeve of the cap came loose. I finally, after analysing the problem, worked out a perfect solution... but in the interim, I lost the pen.

What is the least important thing you have ever worried about?

No woman no cry - Songs for Kids, Children's Music