Chemical Attack: Dozens of people were killed in an apparent chemical weapons attack on a rebel-held enclave about 12 miles from Damascus. At least 42 people are reported dead in eastern Ghouta and 500 show signs of exposure to a chemical agent.

Local civil defense forces reported finding entire families suffocated in their homes and shelters. Video showed piles of bodies inside homes and slumped in stairwells, foam coming from their mouths and noses.

The State Department described the attack as “horrifying” and urged “an immediate response from the international community.”

Page Not Found: The federal government this past week shut down the website Backpage.com that has been accused of enabling prostitution and aiding the traffic of minors for sex. In particular the site has used phrases like “Amber Alert,” which is considered a code for available minors.

More than 90 percent of the site’s income came from “adult” advertising, according to the California Department of Justice. It’s income went up when Craigslist closed its “personals” section.

The owners of the site say they notify authorities when they suspect illegal activity and that the law protects internet platform providers from legal liability for what people post on their websites, but the law is changing. Congress passed a bill now waiting for President Trump’s signature that would makes it easier for states to prosecute and victims to sue internet companies for hosting content that promotes sex trafficking.

Motivated to March: One in five Americans motivated by the election and presidency of Donald Trump have marched in rallies and protests, according to a  Washington Post-Kaiser Family Foundation poll. Nineteen percent of respondents said they had never protested before and a third said they planned to get involved in politics this year.

Gone are the hippies and anti-war protesters of the 60s. Today’s protesters tend to be white, wealthy, and suburban, the poll says.

Job Review: President Trump was tweeting last night in defense of EPA Director Scott Pruitt, who’s been accused of spending millions on his personal security and getting cheap condo rent from the wife of an energy lobbyist. Trump wrote, “While Security spending was somewhat more than his predecessor, Scott Pruitt has received death threats because of his bold actions at EPA. Record clean Air & Water while saving USA Billions of Dollars. Rent was about market rate, travel expenses OK. Scott is doing a great job!”

Let’s note here that no one has collected evidence of “record” clean air and water under Pruitt and it’s unknown what “billions” of dollars he’s talking about. His security detail has cost about $3 million since he took office.

Also, the “market rate” rent Pruitt paid was $50 a night in Washington, DC. The cheapest room available last night at the Trump International in DC was $653.

Fire: A 67-year-old man who lived in Trump Tower in New York was killed yesterday by a fire that broke out on the 50^th floor of the building that is owned and is the home of President Trump. Flames roared through the windows. No cause has been determined.

While firefighters were still at the scene, Trump tweeted, “Fire at Trump Tower is out. Very confined (well built building). Firemen (and women) did a great job. THANK YOU!”

Shortly after, the fire was upgraded to four alarms.

World: Two people were killed in Hamburg, Germany when a man described as psychologically disturbed drove a van onto the sidewalk. The driver also died in the incident. Police say they do not think it was an act of terrorism.

Political Scrubbing: Former Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, once a hero of left-wing politics, ended a two-day standoff with authorities yesterday and turned himself in for  a 12-year prison sentence on corruption charges. He has vowed to mount his political comeback from prison.

Lula is the biggest catch so far in a corruption investigation of South American political and business leaders known as Operation Car Wash.

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