No Passion In Great Britain > This Dull Election

Apathy is new election strategy

Published on Apr 30, 2017

Views: 151

Is this the most boring election ever?

THE U.S. ARMY IS TESTING A DEVASTATING NEW WEAPON: A SUPER 'BAZOOKA' || ...

M3-E1 Evolutionary improvement for urban warfare

Published on Apr 30, 2017

In 1946, two Swedes named Hugo Abramson and Harald Jentzen designed the Carl Gustaf, which at the time appeared to be just another recoilless rifle like the famous bazooka. Many of these weapons fell out of use in the following decades as anti-tank missiles took over.
But the Carl Gustaf stuck around — and for a different role than Abramson and Jentzen had planned in the 1940s. For one, it’s now just as much an anti-infantry weapon owing to its range, low cost and types of ammunition.
Soldiers are fond of the 84-millimeter Carl Gustaf, and it’s easy to see why. The weapon is quite practical for dismounted infantry — especially at long ranges — and creates a thrilling blast, so it’s fun to shoot. The U.S. Army had a handful in service with Special Operations units, and they proved so popular that the Army began distributing them widely.

Cool To Listen To Then + Now: Bob Dylan In Mesa 1988

Watching Bob Dylan in Mesa, Arizona (1988)

— who knew it was the start of something never-ending?

by Anne Margaret Daniel

04 April 2017 01:47 pm EST

Source: No Depression

"Dylan was playing in some cool places we'd never been before, and we loved the idea of going — being in a place for no reason other than music, and having no reason to stay once the music moved on. . . And so, on a hot Saturday night in July, I ended up in Mesa, Arizona with my two friends, kindred spirits happy in the summertime.

The hotel next door was part of the venue. Basic, modern, cleanser-smelling new rooms with unclouded windows, and a fantastic outdoor pattern of pools and palm trees. We basked and splashed that morning, and had lunch in the shade, before heading into the green terraced bowl next door in the early afternoon for front-row seats. . . "

"Dylan looking mighty fine with Dusty-Springfield-thick gray-blue liner around his remarkable, magnetic, drowning-pool eyes, earring swinging. He was loose and relaxed, looking out constantly at the crowd, the alertness and the stage clothes combining for a pirate-captain vibe. . .

Mr. Tambourine Man” was high-flying and elegant. On the speedy, sassy “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right” something strange happened. Dylan’s hands were flying over his guitar, and as he picked his way, his long varnished thumbnail snapped off near the quick. . . "

We knew we’d get something from the new album, Down In The Groove.  We knew it would be “Silvio.” Even for the people who’d come to the show — and still come to his shows — wanting only Bob 1965/1966, where’s the problem with this? Dylan is singularly alone in being expected to serve as a human jukebox for His Greatest Hits, with adoring fans poised like the little Jack Russell-terrier mix in the old RCA Victor ads, listening for His Master’s Voice.  Any other artist who releases a new record performs songs from that record on their next tour without comment, because that’s what they’re supposed to do. “Silvio” was cool to listen to, then and now. 

A contemporary interjection to anyone complaining that Dylan’s 2017 summer tour features some of his songs from Triplicate, his brand-new release of American songbook standards chiefly covered by, among others, Frank Sinatra:  hush your fussing and listen. They’re grand songs. He’ll do something old, of his own, for you too — as I’ve put it before, Dylan always likes to give you something old, something new, something borrowed and a whole lot of blue....

About the author Anne Margaret Daniel

At home in New York City, or on the road (again), Anne Margaret Daniel loves live music, and she'll take you there.

Anne Margaret Daniel, Contributor professor; writer; redhead. Editor, F. Scott Fitzgerald, I’D DIE FOR YOU (Scribner 2017). Baseball, books, music

 

NSA : Un-Masking, Leaking . . . or Illegal Interception?

[Intelligence] NSA halts Section 702 'upstream' collection

By Sean D. Carberry Apr 28 2017

As FCW has been reporting, Section 702 has come under fire in recent months due to the alleged “unmasking” and leaking of information about Americans -- namely associates of President Donald Trump -- that was collected in the surveillance of foreign targets.
It is not yet clear if this decision by NSA and the compliance incidents it reported have any relation to investigations into connections between Trump associates and Russian officials, and the NSA would not provide any information beyond its April 28 press releases.

The National Security Agency is halting “upstream” collection of emails that mention targets of foreign surveillance after a review of “inadvertent compliance incidents” involving information on U.S. persons collected under the surveillance program. ?????????????????????????????????
A provision of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act authorizes the NSA to monitor internet traffic without a warrant and sweep up any communications that simply mention a foreign target, regardless of whom the email is actually from or addressed to.
“After considerable evaluation of the program and available technology, NSA has decided that its Section 702 foreign intelligence surveillance activities will no longer include any upstream internet communications that are solely "about" a foreign intelligence target,” the agency announced

Statement

NSA Stops Certain Section 702 "Upstream" Activities

April 28, 2017

Since 2008, the National Security Agency (NSA) and other members of the U.S. Intelligence Community have relied on Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) to conduct surveillance on specific foreign targets located outside the United States to acquire critical intelligence on issues ranging from international terrorism to cyber security. After a comprehensive review of mission needs, current technological constraints, United States person privacy interests, and certain difficulties in implementation, NSA has decided to stop some of its activities conducted under Section 702.
While the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) was considering the government's annual application to renew the Section 702 certifications, NSA reported several earlier, inadvertent compliance incidents related to queries involving U.S. person information in 702 "upstream" internet collection. . .

The NSA will still conduct upstream surveillance to collect emails sent to or from a foreign target, and it will continue “downstream” surveillance of communications directly involving a foreign target located outside the U.S., for which it does not require a warrant under 702.

In addition to halting “about” collection, the NSA said it will take steps “as soon as practicable” to delete data already collected in such surveillance.???
Due to limitations of its current technology, however, the agency said “it is unable to completely eliminate ‘about’ communications from its upstream 702 collection without also excluding some of the relevant communications directly ‘to or from’ its foreign intelligence targets.” ???????????
As FCW has been reporting, Section 702 has come under fire in recent months due to the alleged “unmasking” and leaking of information about Americans -- namely associates of President Donald Trump -- that was collected in the surveillance of foreign targets. Some members of Congress threatened in March that they would have a hard time renewing 702 before it expires at the end of 2017 unless the administration prosecutes those responsible for the leaks.

About the Author

Sean Carberry is an FCW staff writer covering defense, cybersecurity and intelligence. Prior to joining FCW, he was Kabul Correspondent for NPR, and also served as an international producer for NPR covering the war in Libya and the Arab Spring. He has reported from more than two-dozen countries including Iraq, Yemen, DRC, and South Sudan. In addition to numerous public radio programs, he has reported for Reuters, PBS NewsHour, The Diplomat, and The Atlantic.Carberry earned a Master of Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School, and has a B.A. in Urban Studies from Lehigh University.

Another report from Reuters

Sat Apr 29, 2017 | 11:54am EDT

U.S. spy agency abandons controversial surveillance technique

A U.S. government official familiar with the matter said the change was motivated in part to ensure that Section 702 is renewed before it sunsets on Dec. 31, 2017. FISA has come under increased scrutiny in recent months amid unsubstantiated claims by President Donald Trump and other Republicans that the Obama White House improperly spied on Trump or his associates.

News of the surveillance activity being halted was first reported on Friday by The New York Times, which first revealed its existence in 2013, two months after Snowden leaked intelligence documents to journalists.

 

An additional report from Politico

NSA ends collection of digital communications about foreign targets

By Eric Geller 04/28/17 05:07 PM EDT

Section 702 programs have also been in the spotlight since it was revealed that Trump transition team officials incidentally had their communications swept up through legal government surveillance operations possibly authorized under 702.

While the move was greeted as a positive step by surveillance critics on and off Capitol Hill, privacy advocates say it does little to placate their broader concerns about the programs and vowed to continue a legislative push to amend the law.

Critics believe the programs constitute warrantless and unconstitutional searches on Americans, but proponents defend the programs as vital to collecting information on overseas terrorists and criminals.

 

Another report from The Daily Beast 

NSA Halts Controversial Surveillance Tactic of Collecting American Emails About Foreign Targets

By Betsy Woodruff 04.28.17 10:35 AM ET

Officials tell The Daily Beast the decision came as a result of intel analysts failing to comply with measures designed to protect citizens’ constitutional rights.

The National Security Agency will no longer use a controversial surveillance tactic that lets the spy agency sift through electronic communications to find communications about its surveillance targets, according to an official who has been briefed on a pending ruling from the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC).

The FISC ruling is expected to be publicized soon, and to indicate that the NSA has stopped using this surveillance tactic because it couldn’t fully comply with procedures designed to protect Americans’ constitutional rights.

The NSA’s apparent struggles to comply with minimization procedures may be the reason the FISC it didn’t authorize any surveillance under Section 702, as indicated by a report on the court released last week.

The NSA’s decision to end “about” collection is also significant because the agency previously told the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB)––a bipartisan watchdog agency––that it would be difficult to stop “about” collection without stopping all “upstream surveillance.” The term “upstream surveillance” refers to the NSA’s practice of scanning communications in bulk as they pass over the Internet backbone, and saving copies of any that contained a term on the agency’s list of selectors.

This new ruling could mean one of two things:
1. that either the NSA misinformed the PCLOB when it said it probably couldn’t stop doing “about” collection without stopping all “upstream surveillance,” or
2. it found a way to do the former without doing the latter.

Regardless, this is a major change in how the U.S. government spies on foreigners it’s trying to surveil. And it’s the rare restriction in surveillance that has happened without Congressional involvement.

 

Over 16 Million Refugees Displaced By Wars

Visualizing the Flow of Asylum Seekers Into the Industrialized World
Based on data from the UN Refugee Agency, approximately 4.4 million asylum applications were submitted to 44 industrialized countries between 2013 and 2016. The map below shows the flow of these asylum seekers from their country of origin to the country in which they applied for asylum. Each point represents 500 asylum seekers.
Source: http://metrocosm.com/asylum-seekers/

Asylum seeker vs refugee

An asylum seeker is someone who has requested sanctuary from persecution in their home country. If the request is granted, the asylum seeker then becomes a refugee. In some cases, a host country may not have a formal process for evaluating asylum requests for all migrants crossing its border seeking refuge, in which case these displaced persons become “prima facie” refugees.

The map above displays the flow of asylum seekers into industrialized nations, which makes up only a small piece of the global refugee crisis.

As of the end of 2015, there were about 16 million refugees globally, and a much larger number of displaced persons who did not qualify as refugees under the U.N. statue.

The countries hosting the largest number of refugees are all in the developing world. No industrialized nation features in the top 10.

Which countries host the largest refugee populations?

This map shows how the world’s 16 million refugees are distributed by country.

To take a closer look, see the interactive map.

The seven largest refugee populations are in Turkey, Pakistan, Lebanon, Iran, Ethiopia, Jordan, and Kenya, respectively. Together they host more than half the world’s refugees.

Credit:

• Built with Blueshift.
• Asylum seeker and refugee data from the UNHCR: Asylum seekers monthly, UNCHR Statistical Yearbook 2015.
• Credit to Lucify for their outstanding project from last year, The flow towards Europe.

Going Zonkers In The Zona > Hit Me Up Again > Over 120,000

Thank you so much, dear readers for your interest in independent online reporting of one kind or another: news and views, and information and entertainment, good-natured humor all in good faith - all to make you think when you can take it
It has been a very transformative time for yours truly living in this dynamic transformative - and sometimes tingling - habitat  here in The New Urban Downtown Mesa. 
As you know doubt realize it's not easy being 'mellow' all the time with all the stuff that's going on or under-the-radar screen. And I can't really say  "What you see it what you get"
Not sorry-to-say You won't get Spoon-Fed news here

Just deal with it like your MesaZona does: the good intention is to activate individuals and the public-at large and groups of all kinds TO THINK MORE and get more involved in public life on issues you care about . . . keeping you informed is the mission of this blog site.
Impossible to be everywhere all the time. It's sometime a mind-bender ... realizing what's going on but that's what inspires me on all the trips up-and-down and all-around

Sometimes even some of the sooner or latter-day saints get on-board when there are many other passengers ready to go for a ride.


All Aboard.
No limit on capacity.

 

Nature Works In Amazing Ways

They Released 14 Wolves In A Park, But No One Was Prepared For THIS. What Happens Next ?
In 1995, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, along with Canadian biologists, captured 14 wolves in Canada and placed them in Yellowstone National Park, where they had been extinct since 1926. Over the next few years, the number of wolves rose, but that was the least of the changes that took place in Yellowstone.
The effects were more striking than anyone could have expected. The entire ecosystem of the national park transformed and it went so far that even the rivers changed.
How could this have happened? Watch the clip and marvel at the amazing way in which nature works.