Sunday 23 July 2017

Hiatus

The good news: I passed my CISSP exam, which was the major reason why a couple of weeks of Joshua Tree Reports have been skipped. I also have some big stuff happening in the coming weeks that may get some acknowledgement here on the blog. It's a good time to be alive.

The bad news: I'm insanely busy. So, I'm going to suspend the Joshua Tree Reports for a few weeks. At some point, I'll try to come up with some stuff to make up for the absence. However, if you follow this blog, be prepared not to read anything until early September.

Sunday 2 July 2017

Joshua Tree Report: July 2nd, 2017

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

General Data

The temperature in Cody is 82° Fahrenheit and the weather is fair. The temperature in Kirkwall is 9° centigrade and the weather is rainy. The temperature in Muscat is 40° centigrade and the weather is clear. A barrel of crude oil is selling at $46.04, and $1.30 currently exchanges for £1. This week's geospatial image is the Roman ruins of Leptis Magna in Libya.

In the News

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

  • Saudi king's son Mohammed bin Salman is new crown prince (BBC News)
  • Mohammed bin Salman named Saudi Arabia's crown prince (al Jazeera)
  • Saudi Arabia's royal shuffle - All decrees in full (al Jazeera)
  • What does Saudi’s new Crown Prince mean for the country? (Gulf News)
  • Saudi naval forces foil attack on offshore oil field (Khaleej Times)
  • Weapons found after shots fired in oil field: Saudi (AFP)
  • Yemeni Forces Hit Saudi Warship off Southwestern Coasts (Tasnim News Agency)
  • Bahrain: Explosion kills policeman, wounds two in Diraz (al Jazeera)
  • Qods Day commemorations highlight Tehran’s global reach (Long War Journal)
  • Israel calls for Saudi Arabia ties and state visits (al Jazeera)
  • UK activists demand end to Saudi Arabia, UAE arms sales (al Jazeera)
  • The mysterious fall in Saudi foreign reserves (al Jazeera)
  • Why did Qatar leave the Djibouti-Eritrea border? (al Jazeera)
  • Donald Trump Is Building an Alliance of Oil States (War is Boring)
  • Chinese Navy ships in Oman on goodwill visit (Times of Oman)
  • Pakistan to introduce strict visa policy for Chinese (Khaleej Times)
  • We are to blame, not expats (Kuwait Times)
  • US coalition downs first Syria government jet (BBC News)
  • Syria conflict: Russia issues warning after US coalition downs jet (BBC News)
  • Assad Still Must Go (The Tower/Michael J. Totten)
  • China, Russia to hold joint naval drills in Baltic Sea (AFP)
  • NATO holds first war games on vulnerable Baltic corridor (AFP)
  • Soviet Docs Shed Light on the Red Army’s Booze-Fueled Nuclear Vacation in Cuba (War is Boring)
  • Australia accused of spying on China: Chinese media (AFP)
  • Sharp rise in violent Islamist extremists in Sweden: intelligence (AFP)
  • It's Difficult to Know If Counter-Extremism Programmes in Europe Are Working (RAND Corporation)
  • Marines Take Control of Mexico’s Ports to Fight Out-of-Control Crime (War is Boring)
  • In Fixing the Afghan Army, We Need to Start with The Afghan Air Force (Small Wars Journal)
  • How China Could Truly Rein in North Korea (RAND Corporation)
  • Giving Japan a Military (RAND Corporation)
  • The European Commission Is Struggling to Demonstrate 'Value for Money' (RAND Corporation)
  • The U.S.-France Dustup Over Counterterrorism in the Sahel (RAND Corporation)
  • NATO says non-US 2017 defence spending to rise 4.3% (AFP)
  • Grounding the Ayatollah’s Tomcats (War is Boring)
  • It’s Better When F-35s and Super Hornets Work Together (War is Boring)
  • The U.S. Air Force Is Starving Its A-10 Squadrons—Again (War is Boring)
  • To Grow the Fleet, the U.S. Navy Could Recommission Retired Warships (War is Boring)
  • Five Myths About a Controversial Nuclear Weapon (War on the Rocks)
  • Insitu receives $45 million contract extension for SOCOM UAVs (UPI)
  • Washington Might Feel the Chill of a More United European Defense (War on the Rocks)
  • Don't Believe the Hype About European Defense (War on the Rocks)
  • Germans Should Accept What a Military is For, or Get Used to Disappointment (War on the Rocks)
  • Obama reportedly ordered implants to be deployed in key Russian networks (Ars Technica)
  • NATO says cyber attacks a call to arms (AFP)
  • Petya' Ransomware Outbreak Goes Global (Krebs on Security)
  • Petya Ransomware Hackers Didn't Make WannaCry's Mistakes (Wired)
  • Tuesday’s massive ransomware outbreak was, in fact, something much worse (Ars Technica)
  • WikiLeaks Dump Reveals a Creepy CIA Location-Tracking Trick (Wired)
  • NSA Insider Security Post-Snowden (Schneier on Security)
  • The Encryption Debate Should End Right Now, After Vault 7, Shadow Brokers, WannaCry, and Petya (Wired)
  • Senator Probes Top US Defense Contractor Over Leaked Data Tied to Pentagon Project (Gizmodo)
  • How to Browse the Web and Leave No Trace (Gizmodo)
  • How to Spot and Remove Stalkerware (Gizmodo)
  • Official warning: Snapchat 'bug' gives away your location (Gulf News)
  • UAE residents warned about new Snapchat update (Khaleej Times)
  • Microsoft bringing EMET back as a built-in part of Windows 10 (Ars Technica)
  • Some beers, anger at former employer, and root access add up to a year in prison (Ars Technica)
  • Is Continuing to Patch Windows XP a Mistake? (Schneier on Security)
  • The FAA Is Arguing for Security by Obscurity (Schneier on Security)
  • Human error blamed for 'wrong island' air ambulance (BBC News)
  • US gun laws: Colorado to arm teachers in classrooms (BBC News)
  • Hacking the Nazis: The secret story of the women who broke Hitler's codes (Tech Republic)
  • Saudi man mauled by lion at recreational facility (Gulf News)
  • Exploding cream dispenser kills French fitness blogger (BBC News)
  • Things that Canada is really, really good at (BBC News)
  • Baby elephant rescued by family at zoo (BBC News)

    Top Podcasts

    These were my favorite podcasts from the last couple of weeks.

  • In Qatar and Saudi Arabia’s fight, Iran’s the real winner (War College)
  • IOT: The Battle of Salamis (BBC)
  • Inside the DIA, Episode 1: An Interview with DIA Historian Greg Elder (SpyCast)
  • The Death of Expertise: An Interview with Tom Nichols (SpyCast)
  • Episode 256 - Robert O'Neill, SEAL Team 6 UBL shooter (SOFREP Radio)
  • MWI Podcast Ep. 27 – The Battle of Barg-e Matal (Modern Warfare Institute)
  • Rational Security #114: The "Intelligence Porn" Edition (Rational Security)
  • Security by the Book: How America Lost Its Secrets (The Hoover Institution)
  • Episode 059 – Legal Stalking and Other Scary Tales from Michael Bazzell (Social Engineer)
  • Security Management Highlights June 2017 (ASIS)
  • Episode 197 - After the Penetration Test (The Southern Fried Security Podcast)
  • Risky Business #109 - Open source intelligence with Maltego creator Roelof Temmingh (Risky Business)
  • Risky Business #458 -- Reality Winner, Qatar hax and Internet regulation calls (Risky Business)
  • 100 years of the WI: The acceptable face of feminism (The National Archives)
  • Voices of the First World War: U-Boats (BBC)
  • Voices of the First World War: Ypres (BBC)
  • U.S. Entry Into World War I: Lessons One Hundred Years Later (Council on Foreign Relations)
  • The Art of Manliness #311: The Meaning of Beards (The Art of Manliness)
  • The Art of Manliness #314: Building Better Citizens Through Rucking (The Art of Manliness)
  • The National Archives: An Embarrassing Question: Opium, Britain and China 1856-1860 (The National Archives)
  • The National Archives: Lines on the map: records of international boundaries (The National Archives)
  • The National Archives: Lost London pubs (The National Archives)

    Course Report

    ENG 199: I've been at work on an undisclosed project.
    PAC 130: I deliberately stretched a couple of times.
    BA 480/CS 406: I continued studying for my CISSP.
    PI5502: I diligently followed the ongoing diplomatic dispute in the Gulf.
    HST 406 (OGHAP): I collected a few sources and listened to a bunch of podcasts.

    Quote of the Week
    “So, I love you because the entire universe conspired to help me find you.”
    - Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist