(Weekend) News Burst: April 07, 2017 (Patreon)

Hey Fam,

How’re you doing? Well, I hope! This, of course, is your final news burst of the week, before I depart for a weekend full of script writing and video recording. I was initially intending on putting up another scripted piece on Monday. That may still happen. But with what’s going on with both Syria and Gorsuch, I figure maybe Monday will instead be another off-the-cuff episode that’s more timely, and less historical. We’ll have to wait and see how it all works out!

In anycase, I hope you all enjoy your weekend. Rest, eat, read, and all of that good stuff! I’ll see you on Monday.

Oh, and thank you for your continued support. It really does mean a lot. -Colin

P.S. If you’re at the $10+/month level, you should have seen a post about the monthly Q&A. Be sure to get your questions in, if you’re interested in partaking!

America Launches Missile Strike on Syria: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/06/world/middleeast/us-said-to-weigh-military-responses-to-syrian-chemical-attack.html?_r=0

My Take: For starters, there’s a lot to read out there about this. I felt like this New York Times story was rooted in fact and fairly neutral, so I wanted to use it here. But in reality, like with any other major world event, you can find a source more in-line with what you want if you want to Google around or whatever.

That said, I think this is a mistake. I’m not going to claim that the execution of the attack was a mistake -- the attack seems to have been conducted professionally, capably, and effectively -- but I don’t quite understand what the point was, other than to let Assad, Russia, and maybe Iran and ISIS know that we’re paying close attention to the region and what’s going on there. I mean, of course we are. That’s a given.

I don’t want to say too much more here, because I think Monday’s video may be a non-scripted foray into this, and why I think our mentality right now is a mistake. Simply put, we’re not willing to do what’s necessary to really win the conflict outright. Nor should we be willing to expend the manpower and money it would take to claim absolute victory. But if we find that we’re not willing to do what’s necessary, then why get involved at all?

We fought the Nazis to the bitter end because it was a battle that mattered to all involved. It needed to happen. There was no other choice. It was existential. If we don’t find ourselves truly cornered, then we don’t fight like caged animals, and that’s what’s been lost on American foreign policy since Korea. But I digress.

This missile strike seems to have hit its target, and taken a few people out. The situation on the ground in Syria has otherwise remained unchanged. Take that as you will. 21st century America shouldn’t be the world’s police. If the UN had teeth, Assad’s heinous chemical attacks would have and should have been dealt with by them. But it always comes back to us. Our money. Our weapons. Our personnel. Our blood. Always. I’m over it.

In case you’re curious, this story is a nice follow-up for some behind the scenes Trump White House stuff. Basically, everyone of note, with few exceptions, was on board for the attack, showing a more cohesive White House than I think people thought existed: http://www.weeklystandard.com/trump-national-security-team-all-agreed-on-syria-strike/article/2007563

Also, our allies seem pleased. Russia and Iran? Not so much: http://www.politico.com/story/2017/04/syria-missile-strike-world-reaction-236997

Missiles are falling, so now everyone in the capital is happy: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-syria-strike-congress-reaction_us_58e6f1e8e4b0cdad578e7a43?&

(Closing Thoughts: What does it mean that Bannon wasn’t on board? Also, what’s with the ra-ra bullshit from both sides of the aisle? As has been pointed out by people far smarter than I, nothing brings the American government together like blowing shit up. It’s sad.)

Using New Rules, Neil Gorsuch is Appointed to Supreme Court: http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/327797-senate-confirms-gorsuch-to-supreme-court-giving-trump-big-win

My Take: If not for Syria, this would have obviously been the top story of the day, and of the entire week. But alas, the missiles are flying, so. Neil Gorsuch has officially been confirmed by the Senate, and will take over Scalia’s vacant seat for life, or until he resigns or retires. That’s a pretty big deal, though not as big of a deal as some are making it out to be. Politics aside, Gorsuch is a perfectly reasonable, completely moderate candidate that, in a normal place and time in American polity, would have been appointed to the court by a near-unanimous vote in the Senate.

But these aren’t normal times. These are highly politicized, incredibly polarized times, to the point where someone as vanilla as Neil Gorsuch needs to be rammed through the Senate with 54 votes after the rules are changed to lower the traditional 60 vote threshold. It’s important to note that both parties are to blame for this. The Democrats and Republicans, in equal measure, have bastardized the Senate and destroyed the idea of the minority party in the chamber having any power, or any say. It will come back and bite both parties many times in the years and decades to come. And I’m not sure there’s any turning back. All because of politics.

I’m a pragmatist. I also like fairness. So, to me, the most reasonable course of action here would have been to convince Breyer, Kennedy, or Ginsburg to retire, and voted back-to-back on Gorsuch and Garland, two perfectly reasonable, moderate, qualified jurists. I have always been of the mind that what the Senate did to Garland in 2016 was reprehensible and political, and yet, it paid off. It sends all the wrong signals. A magnanimous move like this, though? That would have really won a lot of hearts and minds. But we’re talking about Washington D.C., here, where no one gives a fuck about anything but what’s right in front of them. Trust me when I say this will come back to haunt all involved.

Marine Le Pen Finds an Ally in Gay French Society: https://www.yahoo.com/news/pinkwashing-populism-gay-voters-embrace-french-far-121903968.html

My Take: French populist hero Marine Le Pen has nothing more than an outside chance of winning the two-tier elections to be held beginning at the end of this month. But taking her lightly -- especially in the wake of Brexit and Trump’s victory -- would be a huge mistake, especially because she’s no doubt being supported by a quiet contingent of French voters. How big that contingent is, of course, is the big question. That was the big question with Brexit and Trump, too, questions answered horribly wrong.

One group that doesn’t seem to be too quiet in supporting her is the gay population of France. It’s been interesting watching at least a portion of the western gay community become more conservative over time, especially since many liberals seem to ignore the incredible existential threat radical Islam poses to gay communities. Being gay is illegal in many Islam-majority countries; you could even be killed in some of those countries for being homosexual. So it’s not a huge surprise that the one candidate in France talking a great deal about the threat of radical Islam is gaining some support there. (I also didn’t know, until I read this story, that her top lieutenant is openly gay. That’s interesting.)

Anywho, I’m stoked for the French election. It should be super interesting to observe from the outside. I can’t help but feel like Le Pen really can win, especially with some political and personal weaknesses and shortcomings of her opponents being pointed out in recent weeks. We’ll have to wait to see what happens.

Amazon is Slaughtering Retail Stores, Malls Are Dying: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-04-07/stores-are-closing-at-a-record-pace-as-amazon-chews-up-retailers

My Take: This story is an interesting follow-up to the story I wrote last week about Wal-Mart and Amazon. The basic gist is that retail stores, largely due to Amazon’s growing influence, are closing faster than they have in years. This piece has interesting extrapolated data indicating that, if store closures continue at the rate they went through in this year’s first quarter, retail closures will outpace even 2008 and 2009, when shit was really hitting the fan economically. That doesn’t bode too well for our greater economy, whatsoever.

Shopping malls are the big loser, and further data embedded in the story indicates that Amazon is the single biggest beneficiary of the move towards digital. 53% of e-commerce growth in 2016 came from Amazon. The other 47% goes to everyone else. That’s really incredible stuff. Amazon, as we all know, continues to be a significant game-changer. Only Uber and a handful of other companies even remotely have that kind of power and leverage.

SpaceX’s Reusable Rockets Showing Dividends: http://spacenews.com/spacex-gaining-substantial-cost-savings-from-reused-falcon-9/

My Take: This is another follow-up to a story I posted either earlier this week or last week (I don’t remember). To catch you up, a major initiative SpaceX has undertaken is to lessen the cost of space travel by inventing reusable rockets. Rockets that propel craft and cargo into space are traditionally one-use-only. They’re used, then they’re done, and the money is flushed down the toilet.

SpaceX’s new technology allows the company to reuse rockets, which, over time, will cause a significant cost savings in space travel, making it cheaper and more accessible to NASA and private companies alike. This story notes that SpaceX is already starting to see that savings, and that the savings would be even more significant if not for how much attention to detail they’ve been paying early on. In other words, as this becomes more routine, attention paid will wane and margins will continue to increase.

Elon Musk does point out, however, that SpaceX dumped a ton of money into this initiative -- over a billion dollars -- and that it needs to recoup that money, too. That will be hard, if not impossible, since savings on each rocket doesn’t amount to enough to pay that debt off for many years. Still, it’s the technology that really matters, and will truly revolutionize space travel moving forward.

Thank you, Mr. Musk.

This Is How World War III Starts: http://highline.huffingtonpost.com/articles/en/trump-russia-putin-military-crisis/

My Take: A long and interesting read -- one of many of its ilk -- that predicts how World War III could potentially begin. Worth reading, considering what’s going on in the world...

EDIT: As Samuel and Sebastian aptly pointed out in the comments, I forgot to include the suspected terror attack in Sweden, which is another major story.

Please forgive my carelessness. You can find more on the attack, the nature and content of which are still developing, here: http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/truck-incident-stockholm-injures-several-sweden-police-n743781