(Weekend) News Burst: March 31, 2017 (Patreon)

‘Sup Fam?

The weekend has arrived, and with it, the final days until the first episode of Colin's Last Stand are waning away. I have to be honest: I’m nervous. I hope folks like what I’m trying to do. Ultimately, that will be for the market to decide.

I was planning on doing a final pre-launch update video today, but I’m actually sick (albeit still functional, thankfully), and my throat is destroyed. So, I’ll simply focus on editing and finalizing everything over the coming days, and keep future updates to the upcoming Patreon Q&A video (more on that soon).

When next we speak, the first episode of Colin’s Last Stand will be live. Until then, I hope you all have a fantastic weekend. -Colin

Senate Denies Flynn’s Immunity Request: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/michael-flynn-lawyer-immunity_us_58de72c8e4b0ba3595946b32?

My Take: There’s not a whole lot more to go on here than what we knew yesterday, but one big development is that the Senate Intelligence Committee has turned down General Flynn’s request for immunity. To be fair to Flynn, the Senate’s move does seem to be directed at not making a decision now, as not all of the surrounding information is yet known. It’s possible they return to Flynn’s request if and when it makes more sense to do so.

My personal opinion is that, regardless of the muddled nature of the “Everything is Russia’s Fault” narrative the liberal media has been pushing, where there’s smoke, there’s oftentimes fire. I must admit that I didn’t consider the argument made by Flynn’s lawyer, that no one in their right mind would enter this minefield without immunity guaranteed, since a lot of this comes off as a political witch hunt, but I also feel like I don’t really know which way is up and which way is down anymore with this entire arc. I mean, is Flynn’s selection of an ardent anti-Trump conservative lawyer a sign, or a red herring?

I’ll be watching this develop with great interest, because as I noted yesterday, if this is something -- if there’s really something here and Flynn really has something to say -- it could be the begining of the end for Trump’s presidency. Then again, it could be nothing. As usual, who the hell knows.

Democrats Think They Can Take Cruz Out in ‘18: http://www.politico.com/story/2017/03/texas-dems-orourke-236722

My Take: I guess anything’s possible, but I’d call this the epitome of wishful thinking. Demography suggests that changes are afoot in the south in the coming decades, but I don’t think those changes are here yet, and Texas is one of the last places you’re going to see a full demographic shift.

Cruz showed well enough in the presidential primaries, and, unlike Marco Rubio, he easily won his home state, even when it was clear that he wasn’t going to take the whole thing. He’s a polarizing figure -- I like some of his policies, but I just don’t like him -- but he also has deep conservative roots, and Texas Republicans like him.

As the piece rightly points out, the Democrats, even if Trump implodes, are in deep trouble in the 2018 midterms when it comes to the Senate. 10 -- that’s right, 10 -- Democratic Senators are up for re-election in ‘18 in states that Trump won. Going after Texas is the only Hail Mary operation they really have, and, especially considering the relative no-name stature of Cruz’s 2018 opponent, I’d peg this as almost certainly not happening.

Secretary Mattis Speaks Out on North Korea: http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/defense-sec-james-mattis-north-korea-has-got-be-stopped-n740966

My Take: Mattis, as well as Secretary Tillerson, are right that North Korea has basically gotten away with anything it has wanted to do since the Clinton administration. These men are also right to note that the North Korean regime is extremely dangerous. The thing is, they’re dangerous to their immediate neighbors, not us. That’s an important note: I really do feel like anyone talking about North Korea’s ability to attack us or launch something at us is talking nonsense. Not only couldn’t they deliver something to the American mainland, if they did, it would likely be shot out of the air well before it arrived, and Pyongyang would be a pile of rubble about 10 seconds later.

I’m way, way more worried about Japan, and especially South Korea. I’m not entirely sure to what level Kim Jong-Un is suicidal; in other words, he has to know that if he pulls anything at all, it’s over for him and his country’s ruling class. But if he was crazy, if he knew he was going down, if he knew it was over, he could very easily obliterate Seoul, and perhaps even Tokyo, before we had a chance to respond. If I were South Korean, in particular, I’d be looking northward at that madman with utter skepticism and fear. Seoul is like 40 miles from the DMZ.

With the exception of Nazi Germany, North Korea is my most-studied subject in the realm of history and politics outside of the United States. The more I’ve read and consumed over the years, the more confused I become as to how this country still exists. South Korean intelligence sometimes suggests upheaval is in the works, yet, even with public executions, purgings, and byzantine rules that keep the essential Pyongyang class in check (or else), there hasn’t even been an attempted coup, nonetheless a successful takeover led by more moderate and reasonable elements.

That small country is easily the strangest place in the entire world.

Erdogan’s Turkey May Be Imploding: https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2017/03/turkey-erdogan-kurds-pkk-isis-syria-coup-gulen/521487/

My Take: I never knew much about Turkey, and frankly, I still don’t. Still, after the nearly-successful coup in 2016, I’ve started to pay more attention. This op-ed, which isn’t very long and should only take you a handful of minutes to read, is eye-opening, because it suggests that Turkey is a simmering timebomb.

The rub is basically that Turkey isn’t only divided, but divided almost completely down the middle. Erdogan’s right wing forces seem to be far more unified; the left, as the article describes, is a disparate collection of various elements that may not even like one another. Whether or not they can hold together to turn back Erdogan’s attempted Constitutional reforms remains to be seen. We will find out soon enough.

Amazon and Wal-Mart Race to the Bottom: https://www.recode.net/2017/3/30/14831602/amazon-walmart-cpg-grocery-price-war

My Take: This is a really, really, really fascinating story. Just read it.

SpaceX Launches, Lands Reused Rocket: https://www.sciencenews.org/blog/science-ticker/spacex-launches-and-lands-its-first-reused-rocket

My Take: An expensive element of space travel is the use of rockets, which, until now, have been one-use-only investments that are dropped in orbit or into oceans, never to be seen (or used) again. Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been attempting to make that element of space travel cheaper -- and therefore increase the likelihood of more trips into and beyond orbit -- by crafting a resuable rocket.

Now, we know that their reusable rocket works.

It’s not the most glamorous news, but it’s a major step towards the commercialization of space, which we’re going to have to rely on in the coming decades as NASA continues to get undercut and bypassed by private money. I'm stoked.