Joshua tree Report: April 23rd, 2017

This is the Joshua Tree Report for April 23rd, 2017.

General Data

The temperature in Cody is 54° Fahrenheit and the weather is fair. The temperature in Kirkwall is 6° centigrade and the weather is rainy. The temperature in Muscat is 37° centigrade and the weather is sunny. A barrel of crude oil is selling at $49.62, and $1.28 currently exchanges for £1. This week's geospatial image is the Qinetiq Portsdown Technology Park in the United Kingdom, which looks like a Royal Navy destroyer built on top of a hill.

In the News

Here are a few of top stories from the last couple of weeks.

Trump: Iran not 'living up to spirit' of nuclear deal (AFP)

Rex Tillerson accuses Iran of 'alarming provocations' (al Jazeera)

The Libyan National Army Is Running Out of Air Power (War is Boring)

Pentagon chief pledges support for Egypt's Sisi (AFP)

The U.S. Military Expands Its Network of Syrian Airfields (War is Boring)

Pacifist Military Trainer: Kurdistan Should Be Like Israel (War is Boring)

Kidnapped Qatari hunting party of 26 'freed in Iraq' (BBC)

Paris Champs Elysees shooting: Gunman was 'focus of anti-terror' probe (BBC)

Major Leak Suggests NSA Was Deep in Middle East Banking System (Wired)

Attack vs. Defense in Nation-State Cyber Operations (Cornell via Schneier on Security)

India warns Pakistan of consequences in spy row (al Jazeera)

Beijing offers big bucks for foreign spy tip-offs (AFP)

The Real North Korean Missile Crisis is Coming (Michael J. Totten)

North Korea tension: Volleyball spotted in nuclear test site (BBC)

North Korea's Navy—More Nuisance Than Menace (War is Boring)

U.S. Marines Want to Pack 20 Stealth Fighters on One Assault Ship (War is Boring)

U.S. Air Force, Lockheed Martin demo unmanned F-16 (UPI)

Boeing pulls out of 'unfair' Belgian F-16 fighter replacement bid (UPI)

Playing Moneyball: The Scouting Report on Light Attack Aircraft (War on the Rocks)

Courts Are Using AI to Sentence Criminals. That Must Stop Now (Wired)

A Nasty Microsoft Word 'Booby Trap' Loaded PCs With Malware (Wired)

Hackers set off Dallas' 156 emergency sirens over a dozen times (Ars Technica)

Mysterious Microsoft patch killed 0-days released by NSA-leaking Shadow Brokers (Ars Technica)

Chrome, Firefox, and Opera users beware: This isn’t the apple.com you want (Ars Technica)

Ohio prison inmates 'built computers and hid them in ceiling' (BBC)

From Cultural Intelligence to Cultural Understanding: A Modest Proposal (Small Wars Journal)

A Soviet Fighter Plane's Tragic Error Brought Us Google Maps (War is Boring)

Offshore workers to be balloted on industrial action (BBC)

A remote Scottish island with a population of around 60 is looking for a new nurse (BBC)

Film tells story of Aberdeen anatomist grave robber (BBC)

Kick In Some London Embassy Windows in '6 Days' (War is Boring)

Top Podcasts

These were my favorite podcasts since the last Joshua Tree Report.

Saudi Surge? A New Defense Doctrine for the Kingdom (CSIS)

Spooks and Nukes: An Interview with Dr. James Acton (SpyCast)

Drawing a line in the sand: The Sykes-Picot Agreement (ABC Radio National)

America's Foreign-Born Doughboys (The MacArthur Memorial)

The 93rd Division in World War I (The MacArthur Memorial)

A Scottish Yarn: A Knit In Time Saves The Fabric Of Shetland Life (NPR)

For One Crime Writer, Peaceful Shetland Is A Perfect Place For Murder (NPR)

In Shetland, Oil Shapes Debate Over Scottish Independence (NPR)

It's Not Whisky, But Everyone In Scotland Drinks It By The Bottle (NPR)

Out Of The Strings Of A Fiddle, The Melodies Of Cold, Craggy Isles (NPR)

Shetland Oil Money Can't Unravel Islanders' Knitting Lifestyle (NPR)

The Art of Manliness #289: The Revenge of Analog (The Art of Manliness)

S-Town, Chapter I (Serial)

S-Town, Chapter II (Serial)

S-Town, Chapter III (Serial)

S-Town, Chapter IV (Serial)

S-Town, Chapter V (Serial)

S-Town, Chapter VI (Serial)

S-Town, Chapter VII (Serial)

Course Report

ENG 199: My week sort of got derailed, so I accomplished nothing.
PAC 130: PAC 130 is suspended for the time being.
BA 480/CS 406: I finished a chapter in The Design and Evaluation of Physical Protection Systems by Mary Lynn Garcia.
PI5502: My week sort of got derailed, so I accomplished nothing.
HST 406 (OGHAP): I spent a lot of the weekend and some additional time during the week working on this project. Aside from spending the first few days of the week looking after my ailing bride, this was my big accomplishment of the week.

Quote of the Week

"It is quite possible for such a state of feeling to exist between two states that a very trifling political motive for war may produce an effect quite disproportionate, in fact, a perfect explosion."
- Carl von Clausewitz, "On War"