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
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