Joshua Tree Report: June 18th, 2017

This is the Joshua Tree Report for May 28th, 2017.

General Data

The temperature in Cody is 60° Fahrenheit and the weather is fair. The temperature in Kirkwall is 11° centigrade and the weather is rainy. The temperature in Muscat is 39° centigrade and the weather is clear. A barrel of crude oil is selling at $44.74, and $1.27 currently exchanges for £1. This week's geospatial image is the the monastary on Skellig Michael, off the Irish coast.

In the News

Here are a few of this week's top stories.

Qassem Soleimani allegedly spotted in Syria near the Iraqi border (Long War Journal)

New US Russia sanctions bill riles Germany and Austria (BBC News)

Juncker says Europe can no longer 'outsource' protection (AFP)

Yemen rebels fire on UAE ship: coalition (AFP)

Yemen rebels fire on UAE ship: Saudi coalition (Khaleej Times)

Photos show US joint patrols with rebels in southern Syria (Long War Journal)

United Nations Shines Light on Shadowy Libyan Air War (War is Boring)

The UAE's 'destabilising' role in Libya (al Jazeera)

UAE boosts Libyan faction's air power: UN report (AFP)

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi freed from prison in Zintan (al Jazeera)

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi case: ICC calls for arrest of ex-Libya leader's son (BBC News)

Philippine OV-10s Bomb ISIS (War is Boring)

Dollar diplomacy?: The island's allies are being picked off by China in what Taiwan calls a "diplomatic money game (BBC News)

What China's space ambitions have to do with politics (Sputnik)

Ukraine touts defense industry to potential customers (UPI)

Modern Wars Are a Nightmare for the Army's Official Historians (The Atlantic)

Russia's Election Hacking Playbook (Wired)

Russia struck at election systems and data of 39 US states (Ars Technica)

NSA Document Outlining Russian Attempts to Hack Voter Rolls (Schneier on Security)

Latest WikiLeaks Release Shows How the CIA Hacks Your Router (Wired)

Advanced CIA firmware has been infecting Wi-Fi routers for years (Ars Technica)

U.S. Cyberweapons, Used Against Iran and North Korea, Are a Disappointment Against ISIS (New York Times)

Facing limits of remote hacking, Army cybers up the battlefield (Ars Technica)

Mass surveillance: BBC Arabic found the sales included decryption software that could be used against the West (BBC News)

How BAE sold cyber-surveillance tools to Arab states (BBC News)

US arrests nearly 200 Iraqis in deportation sweep (al Jazeera)

Iraqi detainees launch case to halt deportation from US (al Jazeera)

How a crippling shortage of analysts let the London Bridge attackers through (The Guardian)

Fasting Muslims save lives in London fire, hailed as heroes (Khaleej Times)

Suspected N.Korea drone filmed missile defence site: Seoul (AFP)

NSA links Wannacry worm to North Korea (BBC News)

Global cyber-attack 'came from N Korea' (BBC News)

US Blames North Korea for Series of DDoS Attacks (Gizmodo)

North Korea's Cyberattacks Are Chaotic, But Also Make Perfect Sense (Wired)

There's Proof That North Korea Launched the WannaCry Attack? Not So Fast! - A Warning Against Premature, Inconclusive, and Distracting Attribution (Institute for Critical Infrastructure Technology)

'Mary, Jesus' Mother' is new name for UAE mosque (Gulf News)

UAE Christians hail renaming of Abu Dhabi mosque (Khaleej Times)

'Historic' islands bill published (BBC News)

Archaeologists Uncover Secret Message On Bible-Era Pottery (Gizmodo)

No wasta with God (Kuwait Times)

Vintage 1950s Bedford coach to return to Shetland (BBC News)

Battlestar Galactica's Ronald D. Moore Admits the Cylons Never Had a Plan at All (Gizmodo)

A 15-Piece Orchestra Played Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger Than Daft Punk Themselves (Gizmodo)

Top Podcasts

Most of this week's listening hours were spent on either music or baseball, so I'm going to hang on to the handful of podcasts until the next edition.

Course Report

ENG 199: I got some work done on a super secret squirrel writing project.
PAC 130: Nada.
BA 480/CS 406: I spent a lot of time studying for my CISSP exam. This actually consumed a lot of my week.
PI5502: Nothing to report.
HST 406 (OGHAP): Nothing to report.

Quote of the Week

“Plant yourself not in Europe but in Iraq; it will become evident that half of the roads of the Old World lead to Aleppo, and half to Bagram.”
- Arnold Toynbee