Tuesday, April 05, 2022
Latter-Day Saints Easter Vision: Quasi-Historical Re-Enactment on Multi-Million Dollar MakeOver of Mesa Temple Grounds
Intro: ALL ABUZZ
Peace, Community, and Tradition: The Mesa Easter Pageant Returns After 3-year Hiatus
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NEW BUREAU OF CYBERSPACE & DEFENSE POLICY [CDP]
US government launches Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy
US launches cybersecurity bureau
Washington commits diplomatic resources to cybersecurity and ‘digital freedom’ as Russia & China denounce cyberattacks
"The US Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy (CDP) has begun operating, the State Department announced on Monday. The bureau is subdivided into three branches dedicated to “cyberspace security,” “international information and communications policy,” and “digital freedom.”
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Jennifer Bachus, a career diplomat, will lead the bureau until an ambassador-at-large is confirmed to take her place. Bachus previously served in the Czech Republic, Kosovo, France, Vietnam, and Jamaica. https://www.state.gov/biographies/jennifer-bachus/
In prepared remarks announcing the launch of the bureau, US State Secretary Antony Blinken said, “Democracies must together answer the question of whether universal rights and democratic values will be at the center of our digital lives.”
During the Trump administration’s overhaul of the State Department in 2017, then State Secretary Rex Tillerson abolished the Office for the Coordination of Cyber Issues, which was created during the Obama administration to handle US diplomatic efforts at negotiating the rules and expectations of cyberspace, assigning cybersecurity responsibilities to the much broader Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs.
The CDP Bureau’s inauguration is one more indicator that cybersecurity remains front and center in international affairs as the US and its allies compete with adversaries like Russia and China.
Just last week, the Russian Foreign Ministry claimed that “anonymous hackers and provocateurs” composing an “army of cyber-mercenaries” sympathetic to Kiev and centered in the United States conduct hundreds of thousands of cyberattacks against Russian government institutions, media outlets, and critical infrastructure, warning of “grave consequences” for those responsible.
Earlier in March, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that the “largest ever”cyberattack in the country’s history had taken the websites of its interior, health, justice, and welfare ministries as well as the prime minister’s office offline, while China’s foreign ministry denounced the US as a “hacking empire,”accusing it of using Chinese networks as a “springboard”to launch cyberattacks on Russia and Belarus."
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Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy Begins Operations
Jennifer Bachus, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, is serving as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the CDP bureau.
The State Department is pleased to announce that the Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy (CDP) began operations today. A key piece of Secretary Blinken’s modernization agenda, the CDP bureau will address the national security challenges, economic opportunities, and implications for U.S. values associated with cyberspace, digital technologies, and digital policy.
The CDP bureau includes three policy units: International Cyberspace Security, International Information and Communications Policy, and Digital Freedom.
Ultimately, the bureau will be led by a Senate-confirmed Ambassador-at-Large.
Starting today, Jennifer Bachus, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, is serving as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the CDP bureau. PDAS Bachus will serve as Senior Bureau Official until an Ambassador-at-Large is confirmed.
Michele Markoff is serving as Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Cyberspace Security,
Stephen Anderson is serving as Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Information and Communications Policy, and
Blake Peterson is serving as Acting Digital Freedom Coordinator.
The Department appreciates the service and collaboration of all who will work with and within the CDP bureau in the coming months and years to empower it to achieve its vital mission."
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The Latest
Secretary Antony J. Blinken on the Modernization of American Diplomacy
> On cyberspace and emerging technologies, we have a major stake in shaping the digital revolution that’s happening around us and making sure that it serves our people, protects our interests, boosts our competitiveness, and upholds our values.
Read the Statement- April 4, 2022
Department Press Briefing – April 4, 2022
Monday, April 04, 2022
FIILING A VOID IN ALASKA IN FROM THE COLD: "Mamma Grizzly" Sarah Palin Files to Join The Fight
Intro: Announced on Twitter - where else - and on April Fools Day
Sarah Palin announces run for US Congress in Alaska
The former governor says she will ‘combat the left’s socialist, big-government, America-last agenda’
Sarah Palin has announced her run for Alaska’s only seat in the US House of Representatives, marking her first run for public office in over a decade.
“America is at a tipping point,” Palin said in a statement released on her Twitter account announcing her candidacy. “As I’ve watched the far left destroy the country, I knew I had to step up and join the fight.
“At this critical time in our nation’s history, we need leaders who will combat the left’s socialist, big-government, America-last agenda,” she said.
It will be Palin’s first political campaign since serving as John McCain’s running mate in a campaign that saw Barack Obama elected president in November 2008.
Fiery, anti-establishment rhetoric came to define Palin’s vice-presidential campaign, which served as a precursor to the rise of Donald Trump and the modern Republican party.
Alaska’s House seat became vacant after the Republican Don Young died suddenly last month at age 88 after serving for more than four decades. Young had held Alaska’s House seat since 1973 and was seeking re-election at the time of his death.
Palin is shaking up an already unpredictable race for Alaska’s lone US House seat, where she joins a field of at least 40 candidates. The field includes current and former state legislators and a North Pole city council member named Santa Claus.
Palin, a former governor of Alaska, has kept a low profile in Alaska politics since leaving office in 2009, before her term as governor ended.
A special primary is set for 11 June. The top four vote-getters will advance to a 16 August special election in which ranked-choice voting will be used, a process in line with a new elections system approved by voters in 2020. The winner will serve the remainder of Young’s term, which expires in January.
Others who filed their paperwork by the Friday deadline include the Republican state senator Josh Revak; the Democratic state representative Adam Wool; the independent Al Gross, an orthopedic surgeon who unsuccessfully ran for US Senate in 2020; and Andrew Halcro, a former Republican state lawmaker who is running as an independent. They join a field that includes the Republican Nick Begich, who had positioned himself as a challenger to Young; the Democrat Christopher Constant, an Anchorage assembly member; and John Coghill, a Republican former state lawmaker.
Meanwhile, a man who years ago legally changed his name to Santa Claus and serves on the North Pole city council also filed with the state division of elections for the special primary. Claus, who said he had a “strong affinity” for Bernie Sanders, is running as an independent. . .
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