The purpose of this and future installments of "A Min With Vin" is to provide a weekly platform in which current events and interesting topics are discussed. I will be providing my two cents with hopes of you providing yours.

-To kick it off, for the first time since 1928 a sitting United States president visited the island of Cuba. President Obama was will be meeting with Cuban president Raul Castro Monday morning (3/21) at the presidential palace. Obama has high hopes of convincing Castro to bring political reform to the communist nation. The change Obama hopes to see will be a gradual one as a newer generation of Cubans slowly rises to the occasion. With Cuba having the potential to be in mutually beneficial relationship with the United States further relations with Cuba will be a pressing topic for the next president come January 2017. We must avoid force when debating future relations with Cuba as this nation has seen a communist regime for over half a century. The political revolution we want will take time to complete.

-Amidst the ongoing problem Apple is facing with the F.B.I, they are unveiling their newest gadget(s) which many analysts suspect to be an upgrade to the iPhone 5s along with a new model of the iPad Pro. Reverting back to its four inch screen, the new iPhone is expected to come with recently released features such Apple Pay and the company's fastest processor which has previously only been offered in versions of the iPhone 6. Having been very vocal recently regarding encryption, Apple CEO Tim Cook is expected to remain quiet regarding the topic during Monday's event. In the grand scheme I do not see what new information can be gathered with the creation of this "master key" software. The F.B.I has already been given all of the text and phone conversations. The creation of this unlocking software which Cook equates to "the software equivalent of cancer" will only make us more vulnerable and the fact the government fails to understand that is alarming.

-Heading across the Pacific to eastern Asia, South Korea has stated that their neighbors to the north have fired five projectiles into the Sea of Japan. The South Korean military has yet to determine the the nature of the projectiles, whether they were missiles, artillery, or rockets. This firing comes just days after North Korea reportedly fired a medium range missile along with threatening Seoul, the South Korean capital and Washington D.C with nuclear strikes. Defense officials in South Korea reiterate that North Korea does not yet have functioning ICBMs (Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles). Hopefully if North Korea continues this trend of aggression their biggest ally China will take a proactive stance and decrease relations in an effort to calm down a testy Kim Jong Un.

-Lastly, the vacancy in the Supreme Court. Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell remains firm on the belief that the next president of the United States should decide the next Supreme Court Justice. Even though our current president, the one bounded by the Constitution to pick the next Justice has already selected someone to fill late Justice Antonin Scalias' seat. Merrick Garland is the man Obama has chosen to fill the ninth seat on the Supreme Court but Mitch McConnell refuses the let the confirmation vote go to the Senate. Senator McConnell has also stated the the nominee should be confirmed by the NRA. He even threw in the statement that even if Clinton or Sanders were to win the presidency come November, the Republican majority house will still not confirm Garland to the Supreme Court. The lack of cooperation in Congress is reaching it's breaking point. There is no justifiable reason to not allow Garland to even be considered for the seat. The fear of an unfavorable court is no reason to undermine the powers of the executive branch.

With that said the minute is up and I hope this evolves into something wonderful. :)

#Min