Daily Archives: March 15, 2022

Never rule out Winston Peters. But there’s a new kingmaker in town. – Stuff

Posted: March 15, 2022 at 6:13 am

There is an awful lot of water to go under the bridge before next years election.

But the currents have changed, and Labour will struggle to stay the course to victory.

It was never likely that Jacinda Arderns party would win another single party majority.

But last weeks 1 News/Kantar poll sharpens the sense that one of the minor parties will decide the future government. National pulled just ahead of Labour in the TV poll for the first time in two years.

READ MORE:* Christopher Luxon surges to bring National neck and neck with Labour after only four months* New poll has National above Labour, Mori Party holding balance of power* A jump at the pump: Government has little control as petrol tops $3 a litre

LAWRENCE SMITH/Stuff

National leader Christopher Luxon delivers his state of the nation speech in Auckland.

With ACT firmly married to National, and the Greens wed to Labour, NZ First and Te Pti Mori are now in play. Both sit on two per cent in the poll.

Winston Peters currently looks like a spent force. A trial over allegations of improper political donations involving the New Zealand First Foundation is due to take place mid-year.

Peters has struggled to get traction on any issue since he left office in 2020. For a very long time, his roguish opportunism has been an accepted, even indulged, feature of our democratic landscape.

But his support, and tour, of Parliaments occupation may have been a step too far. Figures in his own party were horrified by his misjudgement.

DAVID WHITE/STUFF

NZ First leader Winston Peters visited protesters occupying Parliaments ground. The occupation ended in a violent and fiery riot.

The experience of the previous parliamentary term has made Arderns team very wary of any future relationship with senior staff said to be prepared to quit if a new coalition were to eventuate.

Peters visit the day after human waste was thrown at police by the demonstrators has only solidified their antipathy. When asked if she could work with Peters again, Ardern remarked his actions demonstrated the strong distance between them.

But the golden rule of New Zealand politics is: never rule out Winston Peters. Especially Winston Peters armed with a wedge issue.

A common thread in Peters most recent press releases is co-governance (the arrangement for negotiated decision-making between iwi and other Mori organisations and central government). He argues Labour has no mandate for the policies, which are designed to white and brown ant New Zealands democracy.

His position is consistent with past opposition to the incorporation of the Treaty of Waitangi into legislation and policy. Before Don Brash, as a National Party MP he was calling for "one law for all. Last year he railed about increased state usage of te reo Mori, including Aotearoa.

Suspicion about a separatist government Mori agenda has been growing since the emergence of the He Puapua report, and galvanised by opposition to plans to overhaul how the countrys three waters services are managed.

Stoking a culture war is too vague a strategy to campaign on, especially in an election that will be dominated by the economy. But there is nothing Peters loves more than a referendum. Especially on contentious issues.

His ancestry gives him the freedom to exploit the issue and whip up fears of Morification without being labelled a racist. A strong stance on the issue of Mori sovereignty would also endear him to some older, provincial voters in Nationals base who are yet to forgive him for handing power to Ardern in 2017.

Assuming he cant win an electorate, Peters will have to work hard to reach five per cent. And Te Pti Mori already have the jump on NZ First, holding Waiariki.

On the face of it, either side could offer co-leader Rawiri Waititi a deal, guaranteeing the partys return and sweetening any post-election negotiations. But the reality is more complicated: Labour wants to scrap the coat tail rule that brought in co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer.

ROBERT KITCHIN/Stuff

Rawiri Waititi on his way to the House of Representatives debating chamber.

To offer a lifeline, but campaign on a change that would decrease Te Pti Mori representation would be hypocritical. Labour also urged voters in the Mori electorates not to split their vote in 2020.

National have pledged to stand in the Mori seats for the first time in almost decades. It would be strange then to campaign only for the party vote.

For now, Te Pti Mori are holding Peters kingmaker crown. And Ngarewa-Packer has demonstrated she is a worthy successor, making no commitments. Her pledge to work only with those who are focused on treaty-centric policies threw down the gauntlet to both National and Labour.

The poll indicates a sea change. And a rising tide of Mori voters could decide the future government.

Continued here:

Never rule out Winston Peters. But there's a new kingmaker in town. - Stuff

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Marie Byrd Land – Wikipedia

Posted: at 6:12 am

Unclaimed West Antarctic region

Marie Byrd Land (MBL) is an unclaimed region of Antarctica. With an area of 1,610,000km2 (620,000sqmi), it is the largest unclaimed territory on Earth. It was named after the wife of American naval officer Richard E. Byrd, who explored the region in the early 20th century.[1]

The territory lies in West Antarctica, east of the Ross Ice Shelf and the Ross Sea and south of the Pacific Ocean portion of the Southern Ocean, extending eastward approximately to a line between the head of the Ross Ice Shelf and Eights Coast. It stretches between 158W and 10324'W. The inclusion of the area between the Rockefeller Plateau and Eights Coast is based upon Byrd's exploration.

Because of its remoteness, even by Antarctic standards, most of Marie Byrd Land (the portion east of 150W) has not been claimed by any sovereign state. It is by far the largest single unclaimed territory on Earth, with an area of 1,610,000km2 (620,000sqmi) (including Eights Coast, immediately east of Marie Byrd Land). In 1939, United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt instructed members of the United States Antarctic Service Expedition to take steps to claim some of Antarctica as United States territory. Although this appears to have been done by members of this and subsequent expeditions, these do not appear to have been formalized prior to 1959, when the Antarctic Treaty System was set up. Some publications in the United States have shown this as a United States territory in the intervening period, and the United States Defense Department has stated that United States has a solid basis for a claim in Antarctica resulting from its activities prior to 1959.[2] The portion west of 150W is part of Ross Dependency claimed by New Zealand.

Five coastal areas are distinguished, which are listed from west to east:

Marie Byrd Land was first explored from the west where it could be accessed from the Ross Sea. The far western coast of Marie Byrd Land was seen from the decks of Robert Falcon Scott's ship Discovery in 1902. He named the peninsula adjacent to the Ross Sea King Edward VII Land and the scattered outcrops that were within sight, the Alexandra Mountains. In 1911, during Roald Amundsen's South Pole expedition, Kristian Prestrud led a sledge party that visited these isolated outcrops (nunataks) in the region bordering the eastern Ross Sea and Ross Ice Shelf. At the same time the first Japanese Antarctic Expedition led by Nobu Shirase landed a shore party on the peninsula.[3]

Dean Smith was the pilot during aerial overflights in 1929 with Richard E. Byrd's first Antarctic expedition (19281930). It originated from Little America near Amundsen's original base camp Framheim in the Bay of Whales, led to the discovery of the Rockefeller Mountains and the Edsel Ford Ranges farther to the east. Byrd named the region after his wife Marie. A geological party led by L. Gould briefly explored parts of the Rockefeller Mountains.[5]

The first deep overland exploration occurred during the second Byrd expedition (19331935) when a sledge party led by Paul Siple and Franklin Alton Wade reached as far east as the Fosdick Mountains in 1934. Aerial exploration discovered lands farther east along the Ruppert Coast.[6]

The Third Byrd Antarctic Expedition, also called the United States Antarctic Service Expedition, took place from 1939 to 1941. This expedition established two base camps 2,600 kilometres (1,600 miles) apart. West Base was near the former Little America base (68 29' S, 163 57' W) and East Base was near the Antarctic Peninsula on Stonington Island (68 12' S, 67 03' W).[7] Exploration flights out of these two bases led to the discovery of most of the Marie Byrd Land Volcanic Province (e.g. Executive Committee Range[8]) and much of the coastal region including the Walgreen, Hobbs, and Ruppert Coasts.[9] During the expedition trail parties from West Base visited the northern Ford Ranges and south slopes of the Fosdick Mountains.[10]

The United States Navy (USN) mounted several expeditions to Antarctica in the period 1946 to 1959. These expeditions (Operation Highjump led by R. E. Byrd, Windmill, and Deep Freeze IIV) included aerial photography using the Trimetrogon system of aerial photographs (TMA; vertical, left, and right oblique images over the same point) over portions of coastal Marie Byrd Land.[11]

The USN began construction of Byrd Station at 80S, 120W with traverses out of Little America V in 195657 during Deep Freeze II. These efforts were in advance of the International Geophysical Year (IGY; from July 1957 to end of 1958) that saw several exploratory overland traverses with tractor trains (Sno-cats and modified bulldozers). Starting in January 1957 (pre-IGY) Charles R. Bentley led a traverse from Little America V to the new Byrd station along the route blazed by United States Army engineers a few months before (the Army-Navy Drive[12]). His team conducted measurements of ice thickness and of the Earth's magnetic and gravity field. The following summer season (195758) he led a second traverse out of Byrd Station that visited volcanoes of the Marie Byrd Land Volcanic Province for the first time. The traverse reached the Sentinel Mountains beyond eastern Marie Byrd Land before returning to Byrd Station. Bentley led a third traverse out of Byrd Station to the Horlick Mountains in 195859. These three traverses led to the discovery of the Bentley Subglacial Trench or Trough, a deep bedrock chasm between MBL and the Transantarctic Mountains of East Antarctica.[13]

During 19581960 TMA flights and a traverse out of Byrd Station visited and mapped the Executive Committee Range. TMA were flown in western Marie Byrd Land in 1964 and 1965. Following these efforts the United States Geological Survey (USGS) mounted land surveys to establish a series of reference points and benchmarks throughout much of Marie Byrd Land during 19661968.[14]

USSGlacier(AGB-4) explored the parts of the Walgreen Coast and Eights Coast in 196061. It had parties of geologists and surveyors along that were deployed to outcrops on land. This expedition to the far eastern reaches of Marie Byrd Land determined that Thurston Peninsula as proposed by earlier expeditions was in fact an island (Thurston Island).[15] In the same season a geological party led by Campbell Craddock explored the Jones Mountains in the adjacent region.[16]

The United States Byrd Coastal Survey during 19661969, led by F. A. Wade, conducted geologic mapping of the Alexandra and Rockefeller Mountains and the Ford Ranges and produced a series of 1:250,000 geologic maps of the region.[17] This was a complex expedition involving remote helicopter camps and airborne geophysics.[18][19][20]

Several geological expeditions explored Marie Byrd Land during the period 19781993. New Zealand geologists surveyed the Ford Ranges and Edward VII Peninsula in two expeditions, 197879[21] and 198788.[22] Exploration of the Marie Byrd Land Volcanic Province began in earnest by U.S. geologists in 198485.[23] The WAVE project (West Antarctic Volcano Exploration[24]) focused on the volcanic province during the period 19891991. The SPRITE project (South Pacific Rim International Tectonic Expedition)[25] explored regions and surroundings of the Hobbs Coast in 19901993. Members of both projects were from the U.S., Britain, and New Zealand. During the Austral summers of 19891990 and 19901991, a geological party from the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) explored several of the mountain ranges within the northern Ford Ranges of Marie Byrd Land (FORCE expedition; Ford Ranges Crustal Exploration).[26] GANOVEX VII[27] a multinational expedition led by Germany visited Edward VII Peninsula in 199293.

Colorado College geologists led expeditions to the Ford Ranges in 19982001 (Ford Ranges),[28] 20052007[29] and 20112013 (Fosdick Mountains).[30]

Marie Byrd Land hosted the Operation Deep Freeze base Byrd Station (NBY; originally at 80S, 120W, rebuilt at 80S, 119W), beginning in 1957, in the hinterland of Bakutis Coast. Byrd Station was the only major base in the interior of West Antarctica for many years. In 1968, the first ice core to fully penetrate the Antarctic Ice Sheet was drilled here. The year-round station was abandoned in 1972, and after operating for years as a temporary summer encampment, Byrd Surface Camp, Byrd Station was reopened by the United States Antarctic Program (USAP) in 20092010 to support operations in northern West Antarctica.[31]

On Ruppert Coast of Marie Byrd Land is the Russian station Russkaya, which was occupied 19801990 and is now closed.[32]

East of the Siple Coast off the Ross Ice Shelf, Siple Dome was established as a summer science camp in 1996. Ice cores have been drilled here to retrieve the climate history of the last 100,000 years.[33] This camp also served as a base for airborne geophysical surveys supported by the University of Texas Institute for Geophysics (UTIG).[28]

In 19981999, a camp was operated at the Ford Ranges (FRD) in western Marie Byrd Land, supporting a part of a United States Antarctic Program (USAP) airborne survey initiated by UCSB and supported by the UTIG flying out of Siple Dome. [28]

In 200405, a large camp, Thwaites (THW) was established by the USAP 150km (93mi) north of NBY, in order to support a large airborne geophysical survey of eastern Marie Byrd Land by the UTIG.[34]

In 2006, a major encampment, WAIS Divide (WSD) was established on the divide between the Ross Sea Embayment and the Amundsen Sea Embayment, in easternmost Marie Byrd Land, in order to drill a high resolution ice core. Drilling and coring ended in 2014.[35][36]

In 2018, the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration[37] commenced with a large and ongoing physical presence onshore of the Amundsen Sea. It entails marine, airborne, and on-ice geophysical exploration that will illuminate the character of Marie Byrd Land bedrock geology and the nature of the eastern boundary of the province. The goal is determining the stability of the glacier and prediction of global sea level rise from shrinking of the WAIS.[37]

Adjacent to the continent, Marie Byrd Land is bordered by the Amundsen Sea in the east and the Ross Sea and Ross Ice Shelf in the west. Mountain ranges are prominent along and near the coastline with a few exceptions. Marie Byrd Land is covered by the vast West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS). The WAIS in Marie Byrd Land drains off the continent to the east into the Ross Ice Shelf via seven ice streams. Along the coast of the Southern Ocean and the Amundsen Sea, ice drains via glaciers, the major one being the Thwaites. West Antarctica and Marie Byrd Land have elevations of up to 1500 to 2000 meters on the surface of the WAIS. In contrast, East Antarctica has interior elevations on its ice sheet of over 4000 meters.[38]

The West Antarctic Rift System (WARS[39]) that evolved over the last hundred million years, includes all or part of Marie Byrd Land.[40] The WARS extends from the Ross Sea continental shelf east into Marie Byrd Land.[41][42] The ice streams and glaciers that drain the WAIS have been proposed to follow rift valleys, now buried by ice, which formedin the WARS.[43][44] The WARS contains a volcanic province with volcanoes active from the Eocene epoch to a few thousand years ago.[45][46]

A mantle plume was discovered deep below Marie Byrd Land.[47][48][49] Heat from the plume has been proposed responsible for uplift of a significant portion of WestAntarctica to form the Marie Byrd Land Dome.[50][51]

A digital map of Antarctica includes the geology of Marie Byrd Land.[52] The geologic history of Marie Byrd Land in West Antarctica was summarized in a 2020 publication.[53]

Prominent glaciers that drain the WAIS in MBL include the Thwaites, and also the Pine Island Glacier, both of which empty into the Amundsen Sea. Of the seven ice streams that drain into the Ross Ice Shelf, the Bindschadler and Whillans ice streams are the most extensive.[54] The seven ice streams discharge 40 percent of the WAIS.[55] Besides the Ross Ice Shelf, significant ice shelves on the coast of the Southern Ocean include the Sulzberger, and Nickerson.

Due to the burial of the continental basement of MBL by the WAIS, mountain ranges are exposed towards the coast of MBL where ice thickness is smaller. Prominent ranges include the Ford Ranges in western MBL, The Flood Range, the Executive Committee Range, and the Kohler Range. The Ford Ranges are the most extensive and include more than six individual named mountains groups.[17] The Executive Committee Range includes five volcanoes, some proposed to be dormant or active. The Flood Range comprises a linear chain of Neogene and Quaternary age volcanoes.[56] The Fosdick mountains in the northern Ford Ranges are a thirty-kilometer-long span of Cretaceous metamorphic rocks. Most other exposed rock in MBL is Paleozoic metamorphosed sedimentary rock and granitiods, and Mesozoic granitiod.[17]

Away from the coasts, the WAIS buries individual mountains and ranges that are not named, the exception being major features such as the Bentley Subglacial Trench.[57]

Marie Byrd Seamount (700S 1180W / 70.000S 118.000W / -70.000; -118.000) is a seamount named in association with Marie Byrd Land; name approved June, 1988 (Advisory Committee on Undersea Features, 228).

Not comprehensive.

Byrd Station was the template for the doomed Antarctic bases in:

Coordinates: 80S 120W / 80S 120W / -80; -120

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Marie Byrd Land - Wikipedia

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North Hills real estate transactions for the week of March 13, 2022 – TribLIVE

Posted: at 6:12 am

Franklin Park

Estate of Stanley Hoehl sold property at 2387 Fairhill Road to Patricia Edwards for $389,000.

John Keelin sold property at 1527 Field Club Drive to Joseph Fennimore and Julie Mueller for $466,000.

David Fassinger III sold property at 2521 Hopkins Church Road to Jonathan Ray Crawford for $224,900.

Marcos Guilherme Coelho Caldas sold property at 2610 Syracuse Ct to Dharanidhar Gorrepati and Deepthi Mandava for $676,550.

Martha Delargy sold property at 1712 Waterleaf Drive to James Bryan and Judith Pritchard for $575,000.

Maronda Homes LLC sold property at 1409 Windsor Ct to Rohit Sunny Bhimanathi and Priyanka Ankarapu for $539,178.

Hampton

Denise Matscherz sold property at 4572 Bucktail Drive to Kelly Laughlin Gally for $260,000.

George Mark Hamby sold property at 4310 Hemlock Cir to Matthew Trout and Jennifer Watts for $160,000.

Stacy Ceccarelli sold property at 4683 Hidden Pond Drive to Paul Damian Millea for $475,000.

Estate of Martha Wiseman sold property at 4419 Laurel Oak Drive to Edward Ellsworth Jr. and Rachel Ellsworth for $185,000.

Dorothy Bartos sold property at 2841 Maplewood Ln to Barton Pruhs for $255,000.

Andrew Washburn sold property at 2611 Middle Road to Kyle Jaster and Cerys Misha Handschumacher for $480,000.

Matthew Clark sold property at 3000 Northampton Drive to Aaron Andrew and Lara Shipkovitz Martin for $460,000.

Kyle Phillips sold property at 2250 W Hardies Road to Brian Patrick Donaldson for $310,000.

Sandra Kelly sold property at 2362 Willow Run Ct to Joseph and Kathleen Cieply for $560,000.

Marshall

Estate of Thomas Bugel sold property at 104 Antler Point Drive to Jing Cheng and Bo Zeng for $725,000.

James Black sold property at 2800 Cole Road to Joshua Wilson and Rebecca Charrie for $890,000.

Frances Burkhart sold property at 258 Huckleberry Ct to Thomas and Norma Heyl for $260,000.

Travis Wade sold property at 346 Marshall Heights Drive to Mohan Ganesh and LathaDoddathinahalli Halesha for $389,900.

Celtic Capital LLC sold property at 313 Thurgood Drive to Senthilkumar Panneer Selvam and Viji Balasubramanian for $377,815.

McCandless

Lorne Farone sold property at 10499 Allante Ct to Steven DAchille for $775,000.

Prashan Thiagarajah sold property at 412 Arcadia Drive to Pohl Construction Inc. for $200,000.

Joseph Malta sold property at 1001 Cottingham Drive to Anna Bartolini-Brown for $220,000.

Frank Mulley Jr. sold property at 1632 Hedwig Drive to Masaki Okazawa and Sabrina Alejandra Aravena for $327,682.

Matthew John Feraco sold property at 8015 Perry Highway to 8015 Perry Hwy LLC for $138,129.

John Harkins sold property at 9332 Tanbark Drive to Daniel Byron Edwards Jr. and Megan Eileen Edwards for $327,000.

Anthony Luciano sold property at 8197 Thompson Run Road to Matthew James and Jillianne Oster for $439,000.

Walnut Court LLC sold property at 411 Walnut Ct to Lea McLaughlin for $461,500.

Millvale

Joseph Wall sold property at 95 Convent Ave. to Roy Peter Rudl Jr. and Sydni Rudl for $207,000.

Ohio

NVR Inc. sold property at 187 Dana Drive to Johnpatrick OConnor for $427,800.

J. Brian Buckley sold property at 402 Duff Road to Emily Scott for $225,000.

Robert Hunt sold property at 454 Nicholson Road to Donald William Heinold Jr. and Sina Heinold for $380,000.

Pine

Michael Bowen sold property at 171 Buckwheat Drive to Amy Knight for $493,750.

BHI Land LLC sold property at 205 MacFadden Drive to Brian Anthony and Morgan Sava for $229,900.

Evelyn Mitchell sold property at 231 N Pine Cir to William Musher and Diana Marie Cox for $270,000.

Darren Byrd sold property at 323 Osprey Ct to Stephen and Pamela Scott for $439,900.

Michael Derenzo sold property at 1050 S Lake Drive to Paul and Nicole Colella for $738,000.

Camp Trees Partners L.P. sold property at 240 Tamarack Drive to Sean and Rebecca McHugh for $619,977.

Diane Falgione sold property at 106 Tanglewood Drive to Michael Waldemar and Rachel Ann Greiner for $750,000.

Matthew Miller sold property at 3007 Village Run Road to Vikingthor LLC for $320,000.

Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. sold property at 111 W Wild Cherry Drive to AT-ST II LLC for $470,000.

Reserve

Michael Heid sold property at 8 Emma St. to Nathan Heid for $86,000.

Douglas Huerbin sold property at 255 Hoffman Road to Addeline Rose Devlin for $175,000.

Anna Martz sold property at 331 Hoffman Road to Kayla Vybiral for $228,000.

Richland

Thomas Brletic sold property at 4014 Bakerstown Road to Brian and Raechel Devinney for $578,000.

Ross

Joseph Platz sold property at 244 Sixth Ave. to Massud Fattah and Hana Salih for $273,000.

Estate of Fred Lewis sold property at 95 Eighth Ave. to SSRT Homes LLC for $40,000.

Estate of Paul Sitler sold property at 106 Buckhill Road to Luke Campbell and Abigail Williams for $229,800.

Damian Miller sold property at 7 E Forest Ave. to Damian Miller and Kathleen Rankin for $54,058.

Dominic Busa sold property at 54 Edwin Drive to Faon and Madison Tyler Conley for $55,000.

Estate of Thomas Newman sold property at 142 Eileen Drive to Steven Alexander Battista and Rachel Marie Pontis for $214,500.

Rev Properties LLC sold property at 1291 Glarius Ave. to Nolan James Uchic for $98,925.

Garrett Ebeck sold property at 316 Lee Ave. to Aaron Vincent Robertson for $237,500.

David Finigan sold property at 122 Prospect Drive to Cynthia Sopher for $362,500.

Lea McLaughlin sold property at 107 Raleigh Ct to Debra Ann Wieloch for $200,000.

Shaler

Jeffrey Killian sold property at 53A Bethany Drive to Nathaniel Finch for $180,000.

Daniel Brucker sold property at 104 Calmwood Drive to Michael Megahan for $235,000.

Mary Joanne McCaul sold property at 311 Elfinwild Road to Frank Lanza Jr. and Sandra Gail Lanza for $211,000.

Elizabeth Gentile sold property at 412 Heights Drive to Amagu Homes LLC for $315,000.

Nicholas Doney sold property at 135 Lily Drive to Edward Alo and Anthony Saba for $260,000.

Kristen Lea Kershner sold property at 3605 Mt. Royal Blvd. to Jillian Brewer and Jenna Stefin for $336,282.

Kevin Ebner sold property at 316 Sandy Drive to Stephanie White for $245,000.

Robert Whaling sold property at 108 Vermillion Drive to Timothy and Shelly Ann Neff for $274,900.

West View

Anna Marie Cubbage sold property at 154 Chalfonte Ave. to Nathan Nachazel and Carlianna Cottone for $217,000.

Real Estate Transactions provided by RealSTATs. Contact RealSTATs at 412-381-3880 or visit http://www.RealSTATs.net.

Categories:Hampton Journal | Local | North Allegheny | North Journal | Pine Creek Journal | Shaler Journal

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North Hills real estate transactions for the week of March 13, 2022 - TribLIVE

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University of Wyoming Fall 2021 Honors | In Our Schools | wyomingnews.com – Wyoming Tribune

Posted: at 6:12 am

UW Presidents Honor Roll

The University of Wyoming recently listed 155 students from Laramie County on the 2021 fall semester Presidents Honor Roll.

The Presidents Honor Roll consists of regularly enrolled undergraduates who earned a 4.0 (A) grade-point average for the semester. To be eligible, students must have been enrolled for a minimum of 12 credit hours taken for letter grades.

Students on the list were:

Michael Bohlinger, Jack D. Ickes, Harkiran Kaur

Madison B. Adkins, Bernadette R. Aguirre, Joshua Paul Ahern, Zachary E. Allison, Tara L. Andera, Mila Anderson, Haylee Nicole Arneson, Benjamin W. Auer, Alexis R. Baca, Sierra Brooke Bates, Stephanie Benedict, Andrew J. Bishop, McKenzie R. Boltz, Riley Boltz, Michael T. Boyce, Reese E. Bradley, Baillie R. Brandt, Marcis James Bravo, Dejakai Gabriella Brown, Hannah Marie Brown, Zamboni P. Brown, Julia G. Brownell, Deianeira E. Bruce, Carlee Carter, Hailey I. Cassidy, Justyn B. Christensen, Coleden A. Church, Kaycee OShea Clark-Mellott, Julia R. Colvin, Nicolas A. Cruz, Madison Michelle Davis, Hannah Dempsey, Rachel A. Dey, Madeline H. Dillow, Kylie Dray, Cody Dugas, Lindsay J. Eldred, Annastasia M. Erdmann, Abigail Rose Erickson, Mackenzie Kay Faircloth, Erica A. Farris, Lexus R. Fermelia, Azure Flowers, Jennica Marie Fournier, Maren French, Jacquelyn Opal Gonzales, Jenna Michelle Goodrich, Kyle Grant, Kaija M. Hacker, Cassidy M. Hager, Kevin Robert Hardy, Taryn Harsy, Tayva E. Hart, Garrett Hartigan, Hayden H. Hassinger, Courtney A. Hayden, Miles Hays, Zachary Nicholas Hendricks, Mark Allen Holm, Hannah Hood, Alexandra Jaye, Andrew J. Johnson,

Averi N. Kastens, Kayla M. Ketterling, Mackenzie Klipstein, Keenan R. Kresl-Hotz, Samantha Land, Gwenevieve Ledesma, Liam R. Leslie, Aubrey L. Lieske, Rachel E. Linde, Katelynn A. Loken, Emily C. Lucero, Erika Matheney, Emily Mcilvaine, Dillon S. McLean, Emma Katherine Meese, Alexa Mejia, Aidan J. Miller, Aspen N. Miller, John T. Miller, Christian M. Moncrief, Emma M. Morris, Cole A. Munari, Anna Naig, Haley M. Neisen, Peyton R. Ojeda, Ava Olson, Logan Opsal, Anna Papadopoulos, Brianna Perry, Rachel Pietsch, Michael L. Pope, Addison M. Potts, Brooklyn R. Prince, Emily Purifoy, Haley L. Purifoy, Harrison J. Rankin, Jakob C. Rayl, Kendra C. Redding, Paige Hua Lan Ricketts, Peyton R. Rigg, Faith Alexandra Riter, Rachael Riter, Grace A. Ritschard, Taylor R. Rogers, Kaylyn R. Rollefson,

Danielle L. Sawyer, Kevin J. Sawyer, James William Schuchardt, Adrian James Seiloff, Taylen Elizabeth Sewell, Abigail Elizabeth Shameklis, Skye A. Skinner, Katelyn Dale Smith, Andrew C. Speight, Anna Lucille Steele, Austin James Stephen, Sydne Stewart, Kieli A. Stults, Blaine T. Teers, Katearie Thoms, Ryan Tingle, Amanda Trammell, Tristin E. Waggener, Morgan Wald, Tiffany R. Walker, Megan J. Weidler, Caden J. Wiederspahn, Cody Wilcox, Kassidy J. Williams, Katelyn Jeanette Williams, Ryan Louis Williams, Kacey Willyerd, Grace K. Wolfe, Jeremiah Robert Dean Wordeman, Jackson B. Yager, Breanna Young, Renee C. Young, Kristina Pauline Zaharas, Eric J. Zastoupil, Nathan James Zastoupil, Jonah Matthias Zeimens

Emily D. Keiter, Gracie Mae Keiter

Andrew R. Fornstrom, Gregory Gerald Fornstrom, Leonardo S. Garcia, Torri Long, Tucker G. Norman, Harper L. Pachel, Reagan Pachel

UW Deans and Deans Freshman Honor Rolls

The University of Wyoming lists 228 students from Laramie County on the 2021 fall semester academic Deans and Deans Freshman Honor Rolls.

The honor rolls consist of regularly enrolled undergraduates above freshman standing who earned a 3.4 or better grade-point average, and freshmen who have earned a 3.25 or better grade-point average.

To be eligible, students must have been enrolled for a minimum of 12 credit hours taken for letter grades.

Students on the list were:

Alexander J. Allison, Brittney L. Anderson, Cassadie E. Anderson, Colter Davis Anderson, Maren N. Anderson, Nicholas R. Anderson, Josephine Andrew, Blue Ayotte, Ashlyn Bailey, Brooke E. Bailey, Scarlett M. Bainbridge, Brandyn M. Banville, Andrea Becerra, Nicholas Begeman, Nolan R. Bell, Sydney Eve Bell, Ellie Beveridge, Bobbi Bierma, Hannah C. Birge, Kallianne Bliss, Sarah Boussuge, Patrick F. Boyce, Olivia Bradley, Beau Caden Brown, Shane P. Brown, Cailin L. Brugger, Joshua L. Bugg, Zachary Burd, Mercadez Burdick, Megan E. Burns, Eric J. Butler, Abigael C. Bylow, Emily H. Byrd, Kaitlyn D. Caffrey, Lucille Cawley, Brianna R. Chalifour, Brenton E. Church, Jessica L. Church, Caylie L. Coffelt, Lacy Coles, Sebastian Colwell, Abigael J. Conn, Alexander Corbin, Faith Kimberley Coslett, Sean Craig, Jefferson O. Danso, Alexa E. Daugherty, Megan H. Davidson, Braeden Davis, Gia Rene Davis, Preston Andrew Davis, Sanford A. Day, Cassidy Dellos, Kaycee Barrett Dellos, Olivia Devine, Adrienne E. Duda, Hannah Duncil, Elizabeth Ann Erickson, Aidan G. Escobedo, Katherine L. Etchepare, Abigail Fearneyhough, Gabriel P. Floud, Noah Forbes, Dane J. Frankhouser, Lauren A. French, Brenden Seth Frentheway,

Michael K. Gasner, Matthew A. Giarusso, Katelynn Gilbert, Sophia Glennie, Amelia R. Glidden, David Gohier, Carlos A. Gonzales, Jenna Gore, Adrian M. Graham, Morgan E. Graham, Madison P. Green, McKenna R. Guzman, Rhiannon V. Hammond, Mikena Hansen, Jordan S. Harris, Christian B. Hawley, Tatum O. Hayes, Caitlin R. Heddins, Oressa Heilig, Caroline Henman, Jacob L. Hepler, Val D. Herd Jr., Tracy Hicks, Hayden C. Higgins, Cassidy B. Hixon, Melissa Hoang, Christopher Augustus Howard, Makyleigh C. Howard, Samuel P. Howard, Cody C. Hunter, Ryan Huylar, Erik J. Jacobsen, Kaleigh G. Johns, Jordan Mackenzie Johnson, Rosalynne Tiffany Jones, Lily A. Joslin, Evan Kallas, Kayla J. Kant, Pheobe S. Kent, Kayla Ann Kersh, Paige A. Klipstein, Joseph C. Kostelecky, Claire M. Lake, Anna Liggett, Pierson S. Linde, Hunter L. Lissman, Jadon Lopez, Nathan J. Lundberg, Jared Christopher Marquardt, Ashley Marshall, Brenna Nicole Martin, Nicholas A. Martin, Tanner L. Martin, Courtney Mason, Kylie Elizabeth Mathews, Jay M. Matter, Aliza J. Maxwell, Enola N. Mayes, Jayden Cole McKay, Morgan Jo McKelvey, Jacquelyn Elizabeth Mead, Peter N. Mead, Nickolas Steven Meier, Philip C. Meier, Madison R. Merrell, Reese Gregory Milburn, Riley E. Milburn, Nicholas A. Mirich, Lucas J. Mizel, Jason S. Montoya, Josephine M. Mores, Haley Morrison, Ethan E. Mowery, Hannah I. Mulkey, Alicia Munguia, Damon Michael Murdock, Taylor J. Myers,

Fox Glenn Nelson, Siera R. Nelson, George M. Nykun, Karen OHara, Alexander Oleson, Shellamae Olsen, Scott D. Orr, Megan S. Pachniak, Constantine Pappas, Makayla Paris, Andrea Perez, Ian G. Peters, Sarah A. Pollock, Edward C. Powers, Abigail L. Preston, Caleb Price, Cassidee R. Raffa, Nicole Reyes-Aguilar, Nathaniel J. Rieger, Allison Roberts, Noah Roedel, Devin M. Romberger, Jordon D. Rowe, Brenden L. Runion, Abigale Grace Salisbury, Lauren Marie Salsgiver, Michael E. Sandberg, April Rose Sandoval-Eaton, Mateya N. Sarne, Bryce E. Schlachter, Noah Shane Scott, Juliana L. Seidl, Caleb Sells, Rebecca M. Shaw, Yangji Sherpa-Young, Olivia Shoemaker, Abigail Sisneros, Chet W. Slater, Victoria R. Smale, Austana M. Smith, Eliza G. Smith, Grace Smith, Kaitlin Soden, Matthew Patrick Stacey, Trevor W. Stephen, Colby Stockton, Zachary R. Sullivan, Kaidance Taylor, Sarah Beth Thomson, Penzi L. Tran, Tyler N. Trissel, Amber L. True, Justin Valdez, Ethan C. Valentine, Ranee Lyman Valentine, Christa J. Vanlandingham, Nathaniel C. Vredenburg, Samuel L. Walker, William Wayne Ward, Jordan Weber, McKenzie J. Weber, Cassidy R. Weibel, Robert J. Wenger, Aaron Wheeler, Ronald Allison Whelan, Caroline Jane Wilhelm, Tracy K. Wilkinson, Kora Williams, Nicholis Williams, Nyira Williams, Katherine Willyerd, Casandra C. Winans, Justin T. Woolsey, Madison V. Wriborg, Katrina F. Zaharas, Mingna Zeng

Jakobi L. Mirich, Bradley D. Zimmerman

Sydnie Fornstrom, Hunter P. Jeffres, Jude M. Pachel, Hunter T. Thompson

UW Provosts Honor Roll

The University of Wyoming lists 68 students from Laramie County on the 2021 fall semester Provosts Honor Roll.

The Provosts Honor Roll consists of undergraduates who have completed at least six but fewer than 12 hours with a minimum 3.5 grade-point average for the semester.

Students on the list were:

Matthew Adams, Omotola Adewuyi, Darla D. Albright, Marisa J. Beahm, Simon Beer, Keil James Dean Bergeron, Desiree Delayne Bishop, Mackenzie Black, Xachary Bomgaars, Ashley Bray, Gretchen E. Breeden, Justin G. Brown, Sarah B. Carlson, Jennifer M. Chapman, Kelsie Condit, Raegen L. DeLancey, Samantha Jo DiJohn, Tiffani A. Dingman, Allison L. Dolph, Ashleigh L. Ellis, Marisa Evans, Cierra L. Fangman, Mercedes Raye Fermelia, Lillian Fish, Colten Gaines, Caley R. Galipeau, Nicholas Theodore Garcia, Kylie M. George, Jillian Mae Guest, Jacob Benjamin Hendricks, Luis Alberto Hernandez, Ashley N. Herrington, Kaitlyn C. Hogan, Brett Hopper, Carissa J. Isom, Lindsey Jacks, Michael James Lindman, Aran James Lovato, Baylee M. Markus, Adrian McCoy, William F. McDonald, Giamo V. Milatzo, Brandie Moulton, Angela Oliverius, Gisele Pacheco, Amy Peterson, Leandra Pfizenmaier, Samantha Kay Pierson, Puja Ranjit, Heather Roland, Ashlee D. Rooney, Jasmine N. Scott, Parid Shkoza, Toby Staley, Matthew Sylvester, Heather Tafoya, Bradley M. Taylor, Madison G. Terry, Kilee J. Thompson, Morrigan B. Wagner, Susan Wagner, Linda Lorene Walker, Corrie Weber, Kristen H. Wilhelm, Matthew Joseph Williams, Monica Benes Wilson, Desiree Wisdorf, Julia Jessica Yagi

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President Biden Signs Cybersecurity National … – nsa.gov

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FORT MEADE, Md. The White House announced today that President Joe Biden has signed National Security Memorandum 8, Improving the Cybersecurity of National Security, Department of Defense and Intelligence Community Systems. This Memorandum implements the cybersecurity requirements of EO 14028 for National Security Systems (NSS) - networks across the U.S. Government that contain classified information or are otherwise critical to military and intelligence activities. The Memorandum provides the Director of the NSA, General Paul M. Nakasone, in his role as the National Manager for NSS, with enhanced insight and authorities to better safeguard these systems.

We stand ready to fulfill our role, and our responsibility, in securing our nation against foreign malicious actors, and any efforts to exploit our national security systems, said General Paul M. Nakasone, Commander, U.S. Cyber Command, Director, NSA/Chief, Central Security Service.

The Memorandum provides the National Manager the authority to issue binding direction to departments and agencies operating NSS to take action against cybersecurity threats and vulnerabilities. All departments and agencies operating NSS will now report to the National Manager on both the status of mitigation actions taken in response to a specific cyber incident as well as provide assessments of the overall impact to their systems. Departments and agencies are also required to notify the National Manager of known or suspected incidents or compromises of NSS.

The new authorities will provide us with the necessary cybersecurity visibility into our most important systems, said Rob Joyce, NSA Cybersecurity Director and Deputy National Manager for national security systems. This new insight will allow us to identify vulnerabilities, detect malicious threat activity and drive mitigations to better secure all national security systems.

The NSM also requires Federal departments and agencies to modernize encryption protocols used on national security systems.

As the nations leader in cryptography, NSA will play a significant role in ensuring cryptographic interoperability among national security system users through cryptographic standards for use on NSS, said Gen. Nakasone.

For more, read the full memorandumand view the accompanying fact sheet.

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Cybersecurity Speaker Series: Ghidra Beyond the Code – National Security Agency

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The National Security Agency (NSA) Cybersecurity Collaboration Center released the fourth video in its Cybersecurity Speaker Series today, focusing on Ghidra, NSAs open source reverse engineering tool. The Speaker Series highlights subject matter experts at NSA sharing insights, lessons, and contributions of their work in cybersecurity.Ghidra Beyond the Code, is a discussion between NSA senior researcher Brian Knighton, a member of Ghidra s development team, and Cybersecurity Technical Fellow Dr. Josiah Dykstra about the decision to publicly release Ghidra in March 2019.Knighton, who was a part of the team that brought Ghidra to the open-source community, cited several reasons that drove the decision to release Ghidra publicly.We put [Ghidra] out for several reasons. One, was cybersecurity is a vital skill that folks need to have. Its important to NSA and important to our nation to ensure that folks are trained up on cybersecurity and can help analyze all of the different systems that are running software and we also sort of wanted to level the playing field, said Knighton. Heres an open source tool that anyone in high school or college can download and have access to this cutting edge cybersecurity tool.With the release of Ghidra, NSA set out to build a community of dedicated and educated users. By making the software free, students can develop the technical proficiency to work on advanced cybersecurity problems.Ghidra was publicly released at the 2019 RSA conference. Three years later, work on the software continues to evolve for the Ghidra team Knighton discusses how the unique architecture of this software allows for updates to the program.Because you can take Ghidra and extend it to support new devices as they come out, it is certainly an important place to build on research to help secure new devices as they emerge, said Knighton.Ghidra was developed and is still used as a framework for building and researching future technologies. Recently, the Ghidra team partnered with Morgan State University and used Ghidra to identify and mitigate the risks of connecting modern vehicles to Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and cellular technology.From its onset, we built Ghidra, which has been in development now for 20 years, as a platform to do research on. It was built as a platform to grow as the cybersecurity space changed. said Knighton. As technology has become more connected, Ghidra has grown to address new cybersecurity risks as new devices are created.

Download the latest version of Ghidra at ghidra-sre.org.Already a Ghidra fan? Join the NSA Cybersecurity mission and put your skills to work to secure your nation. Apply here, at intelligencecareers.gov/NSA.

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National Security Agency and Department of Homeland Security designate St. Marys as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense – St….

Posted: at 6:11 am

March 10, 2022

St. Marys Universityhas received designation as a National Center for Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense from the National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security.

The St. Marys Master of Science in Cybersecurity is also the first in the city to receive such validation from these agencies, said Ayad Barsoum, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Computer Science and Graduate Program Director of Cybersecurity.

Graduates coming from a program designated by NSA and DHS must know specific sets of knowledge and must have hands-on lab experience in some areas, Barsoum said.

Though there are other designated centers for excellence in the city, St. Marys University is the first to gain the prestigious validation for its Master of Science in Cybersecurity.

To receive this elite designation from NSA and DHS will open doors for the students and graduates of St. Marys University in this high-growth industry, said Ian Martines, Ph.D., Interim Dean of the St. Marys University School of Science, Engineering and Technology.

After a multi-year process, the agencies apply the designation to validate institutions with a comprehensive and robust cybersecurity program. To receive the institution-wide designation as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense, St. Marys demonstrated having a cybersecurity program with full-time faculty contributing research and working collaboratively across disciplines; enrolling students who master specific sets of knowledge, gain real-world experience and participate in extracurricular cybersecurity challenges; creating cooperative agreements to accept students from two-year institutions; and implementing a university-wide security plan that includes training for all employees.

Gary Bevans, a student in the Master of Science in Cybersecurity, said his career goal is to become a cybersecurity analyst and thathaving the NSA validate the masters degree is an important designation.

Its a huge thing for the NSA to give that stamp of approval, Bevans said. St. Marys working together with them is really big. Its going to help the program move forward in positive ways.

Cybersecurity experts are in demand. There is a global shortage of 2.72 million cybersecurity professionals, according to the (ISC) 2021 Cybersecurity Workforce Study. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics expects the job outlook for an information security analystto increase by 33% between 2020 and 2030. The median annual pay for this role was $103,590 in 2020.

The designation is great for our students as they are entering the workforce because they have been studying a curriculum that meets a national standard, said Mitra Bokaei Hosseini, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Computer Science. It puts our graduate students in a competitive level withthe very best.

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Report: NSA Investigates Viasat Hack That Coincided With Ukraine Invasion – PCMag

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The US National Security Agency is reportedly investigating a hack targeting Viasat that disrupted internet access in Ukraine as Russian forces prepared to invade the country.

Viasat told CNBC on Feb. 28 that it was "experiencing a partial network outage" said to be "impacting internet service for fixed broadband customers in Ukraine and elsewhere on our European KA-SAT network." The outage started on Feb. 24the day Russia invaded Ukraine.

Reuters now reports that the NSA is collaborating with ANSSI and Ukrainian intelligence to determine "whether the remote sabotage of a satellite internet provider's service was the work of Russian-state backed hackers preparing the battlefield by attempting to sever communications."

Viasat told Reuters the outage affected satellite modems owned by tens of thousands of customers in Europe. Some of those modems are still offline at time of writing, according to the report, and bringing them back online is going to be a fairly involved process.

Reuters reports that a Viasat official "said most of the affected devices would need to be reprogrammed either by a technician on site or at a repair depot and that some would have to be swapped out." Russia's ongoing attacks on Ukraine will likely complicate that process.

In the meantime, Ukraine has turned to services like Starlink to remain online, although SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has warned that Russia might attack its satellite internet service as well so it can sever Ukraine's connection to the outside world as it seeks international aid in this conflict.

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Does the Free World Need a Global Cyber Alliance? – SecurityWeek

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The increasing incidence of aggressive cyber activity from Russia, China, Iran and North Korea, together with heightened concerns over the war in Ukraine, raises an important question: should the free world unite with a global cyber alliance in response?

At Cybertech Tel Aviv 2022 (March 1-3, 2022), founder of VC firm JVP, Erel Margalit, called for a global cyber alliance in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Leadership is required to establish a democratic cyber alliance, including NATO and other free countries, in order to lead values-based cyber that will support democracies and people, and will say enough! to dictators and to those who support them, he said.

At the same time, on March 2, 2022, Robert Silvers of the U.S. DHS and Israels National Cyber Directorate director-general Gaby Portnoy signed a cyber collaboration deal between the two countries. This followed a new agreement between the UK and Israel announced in November 2021 which was described by the UK government as something that will enable closer working in diplomacy, defense and security, cyber, science, technology, and many other areas.

Such agreements never publicly disclose the extent to which the intelligence agencies of the different countries will work together, but we can assume that it is part of the arrangement. A third new alliance, known as AUKUS, was more upfront about its design and ability to deliver offensive cyber operations, clearly focused on the Indo-Pacific region and Chinas activities.

It is important to understand what we have before asking what we need.

Israels emergence as a cyber ally

Israel is not known for its cyber relationships, but is well known for its cyber capabilities. It is generally thought that Israel worked with the NSA on the delivery of Stuxnet against the Iranian nuclear facility at Natanz in the early 2010s but it must be noted that the U.S. has never declared or admitted any involvement.

The continuous conveyor belt of new and innovative cybersecurity companies being formed by Israeli Defense Force (IDF) alumni also attests to the depth of cyber knowledge and training within the country.

The Belfer Center at the Harvard Kennedy School published a ranking of national cyber power in September 2020. It produced a list of the most comprehensive countries with the highest level of intent and capabilities comprising, in this order, the U.S., China, the UK, and Russia as the top four.

Belfer placed Israel at number 11 in the world. Its methodology was to add data to a mathematical model. The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) takes a different approach, and adds qualitative assessments to Belfers quantitative approach. IISS separates cyber power into three tiers. Tier #1 has the U.S. on its own as the sole world cyber superpower. Tier #2 includes China, the UK, Russia, Canada, Australia, France and Israel.

Clearly, the addition of Israel to the free worlds cyber alliances is a good thing.

AUKUS and theFive Eyes

AUKUS was announced on September 15, 2021. There are two parts to AUKUS a vehicle to provide nuclear submarines to Australia, and the formation of defensive and offensive cyber capabilities to counter Chinese activities in the Indo-Pacific region. There was some surprise at this new alliance since the three countries are three of the five countries comprising the existingFive Eyesalliance. However, theFive Eyesis primarily signals intelligence while AUKUS is likely to deliver offensive cyber operations where necessary. It was the U.S., UK and Australia that together performed cyber operations against the Islamic State.

The Five Eyes (U.S., UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand) evolved as an extension of the UKUSA treaty that itself grew out of the informal agreement between the U.S. and UK during World War II. The agreement was formalized in March 1946, and expanded in subsequent years to include Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Other countries, such as Germany, the Philippines and some Nordic countries, have joined as third parties but the core remains the originalFive Eyes.

The Five Eyes intelligence relationship is probably the closest and most powerful intelligence relationship in history.

At first, the existence of theFive Eyesremained secret (just, in fact, as the very existence of the NSA and GCHQ remained secret for many years). The Prime Minister of Australia didnt learn aboutFive Eyesuntil 1973; it was not disclosed to the public until 2005; and it was only in June 2010 that the full text of the UKUSA agreement was made public.

This treaty is often considered to be the basis of the so-called special relationship between the U.S. and the UK.

NSA and GCHQ

The core of theFive Eyes remains the NSA and GCHQ. This is a complex relationship that is so close that the two organizations are sometimes described as twins. This is wrong. The two organizations have very different structures and primary purposes.

The NSA is run by a military officer currently General Paul Nakasone. Nakasone is a four-star general who also heads U.S. Cyber Command. For the first he reports to the undersecretary of defense for intelligence, and for the latter he reports directly to the secretary of defense. There is a strong military theme that runs through the NSA. Officially, its purpose is to secure DOD and U.S. military networks. More directly offensive operations are conducted by U.S. Cyber Command and the CIA.

GCHQ, on the other hand, is run by a civilian reporting to the Foreign Secretary. Its responsibilities support the military but go beyond this, working closely with law enforcement to go after serious organized crime within the UK such as pedophile networks.

The two agencies are different. The relationship is complex and close, and it is difficult to think of any closer intelligence alliance. But they do not automatically share all information between themselves nor the otherFive Eyespartners. There are things the NSA will want to do without sharing it with other agencies, and GCHQ is the same.

Neither the NSA nor GCHQ are officially charged with offensive cyber operations but both have done so in the past. A more recent development in the UK has been the formation of a National Cyber Force (NCF), which brings UK cyber operations more in line with the U.S. model and for the first time acknowledges that GCHQ may have some offensive responsibilities. Plans were announced in 2018, but it wasnt effectively established until 2020.

NCF is part of the MoD, the Defense Science and Technology Laboratory, the Secret Intelligence Service, and GCHQ. The government describes it as a partnership between defense and intelligence, it is responsible for operating in and through cyberspace to disrupt, deny, degrade and contest those who would do harm to the UK and its allies, to keep the country safe and to protect and promote the UKs interests at home and abroad. It clearly has the remit to direct offensive cyber operations against the enemy in justified cases.

NCF is the equivalent of the U.S. combining the cyber operations of Cyber Command, CIA, FBI, and the cyber operations of the military forces into a single organization. But there is also an element of necessity the UK simply doesnt have the budget to maintain the separate number of 3-letter agencies that exist in the U.S.

Long-term relationships and short-term politics

There is one surprising element of the major international intelligence treaties their longevity and persistence. They survive political change with a broader collective interest that transcends the coming and going of individual politicians.

In recent years there was concern that the U.S./UK special relationship (the one based on the NSA and GCHQ relationship) might fail with the U.S. change from Trump to Biden. It was generally acknowledged that President Biden had scant regard for Prime Minister Johnson because of the mutual admiration between Trump and Johnson. And Biden even issued warnings to Johnson over the sanctity of the Good Friday Agreement in Ireland following Brexit.

The Good Friday political agreement was signed in April 1998. It brought an end to the so-called Troubles in Northern Ireland between loyalists wanting to stay within the UK, and the Irish Republic-favoring republicans. Now Northern Ireland is part of the UK while Southern Ireland is part of the EU and the potential for new tensions has returned. But despite Bidens less-favorable view of the UK, UKUSA just continues.

A similar concern now occurs for GCHQ the fear that Brexit would break the ties with EU national intelligence agencies. The European Commission has had concerns over GCHQ and personal privacy ever since Snowdens leaks about GCHQ and the NSA; and has even threatened legal action. But the individual relations between GCHQ and the individual EU member state intelligence agencies seems to be persisting aided, perhaps, by the absence of national security from the EUs political remit.

Where are we now?

Out of necessity, we have concentrated on the major international free world cyber and intelligence relationships. In reality, there is a global patchwork of individual agreements between different nations throughout the free world; many of them ultimately coalescing around theFive Eyeshub. For the most part, these are security information sharing arrangements relatively few nations have the ability or confidence or political will to engage in offensive cyber operations. In this sense, there are two separate networks: gathering intelligence (for example,Five Eyes), and responding offensively to that intelligence (for example, AUKUS).

Does the free world need a single global cyber intelligence organization? The answer is almost certainly No. Firstly, such a move would likely drive Russia and China closer together perhaps including Iran and North Korea and Russian and Chinese satellite nations into their own special relationship.

Secondly, it would be unworkable. Friends keep secrets from friends when the economic or political necessity demands. Just consider the French reaction to the AUKUS announcement. France described it as a stab in the back, and within a couple of days recalled its ambassadors to both the U.S. and Australia. France lost a multi-billion euros submarine deal over AUKUS.

Related: Russia, Ukraine and the Danger of a Global Cyberwar

Related: Russia-Ukraine: Threat of Local Cyber Ops Escalating Into Global Cyberwar

Related: Talking Global Cyberwar With Kaspersky Lab's Anton Shingarev

Related: The United States and China - A Different Kind of Cyberwar

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PMB, NSA and the war against terriorism, small arms, light weapons – Blueprint Newspapers Limited

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Over the years, human security has been threatened, primarily by the small arms and light weapons, on a large scale, as they are distinctly inexpensive and are easy to construct, maintain and operate and conceal. States are sole legitimate source of weapon manufacturing and of their use against the anti-social and anti-national rudiments.

Sadly, these states have failed to maintain and sustain their monopoly over the manufacturing and use of such weapons. As a result, many illicit sources are producing the weapons domestically and are misusing them against mankind.

Today, these are the weapons of choice for insurgent groups who are indulged in violent struggle with the states and other groups or for the terrorists, criminals and underworld mafias. The misuse of such weapons results in the thousands of human causalities, disruptiilon of human development and creation of refugees crisis.

All these have led to human rights abuses, fuelling deadly conflicts, troubling humanitarian assistance and peace-keeping programmes. It therefore becomes imperative to control the diffusion of such weapons and misuse of such weapons to protect and promote human security and development, which again demands responsible attitudes on the part of human being as well as states.

Africa continues to bear the brunt, with heightened trafficking in small arms in West Africa and with the porous borders between different countries. It has become increasingly difficult to address the spread of these weapons. Small arms have been recycled in the West African countries of Nigeria, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea and Burkina Faso. Rebel groups and criminal groups supply each other with arms in past and present conflict situations in countries such as Cte dIvoire, Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso and Liberia.

In the end, the proliferation of these weapons has undermined security sector reform (SSR). Nigeria has been challenged with the same phemonon in the last decade and half, a development previous governments have tried unsuccessfully to contain.

But the tide changed with the assumption of office by President Muhammadu Buhari on May 29, 2015. He demonstrated his commitment to tackling insecurity and tame proliferation of small arms and light weapons with the appointment of egg heads like Gen Muhammed Babagana Monguno (rtd) to head his security architecture. The National Security Adviser (NSA) has not only proved his mettle but surpassed the expectations of his critics.

Evidence, they say, is the end of argument. In recent times, the highthened security alert in Nigeria has reduced. Even in the Noth East, North West and other parts of the Nigeria, a new lease of life is beginning to bekcon. There have not been reported cases of Boko Haram and ISWAP attacks, unlike before. This feat cannot happen in a vacuum. Credit must be given to whom it is due, in which case, the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Buhari.

Also, President Buharis National Security Adviser, Monguno must be generously comended for his doggedness in the war against terriorists. Most remarkable also is the containment of the proliferation of samll arms and light weapons, which poses existential threat to our collective security. The illicit proliferation and misuse of small arms and light weapons ranks among todays most pressing security threats. Tens of thousands of people are killed or wounded each year in conflicts that are fought primarily with these weapons and in crime-ridden areas outside of conflict zones.

One of strategies adopted was decentralising the operation with the creation of six zonal offces in each geopolitical zone to monitor and enforce laws against small arms proliferation. The Buhari and Mongonu-led onslaught couldnt have come at a better time than now that serious concerns are beginning to emerge, with the 2023, general elections approaching. More than ever, theres need to curb the menace of insecurity in other to conduct best democratic elections without violence

The air of hope and optimism that has characterised the Buhari presidency can be attributed to the competence of his team, especially the National Security Adviser, Gen Monguno. Without a pinch of doubt, Monguno has proven that he towers above his equals in his professional callings. Indeed, he is a deft security/intelligence czar.

For Gen Monguno, no doubt, the role of intelligence gathering in a nations security architecture cannot be overemphasised. That is where the dexterity of the Chief Spy Officer lies. As a man who has spent quality working years in the intelligence community, organising a viable security system for Nigeria is like a walk in the park. Before he took over as the National Security Adviser to President Buhari in 2015, the countrys security architecture was in a shambles but seven years down the line, the story is different.

Noose has been tightened around terror groups terrorising Nigerians and the terrorist groups have almost been defeated, even as all territorial extensions have been returned to the sovereignty of Nigeria. We must be objective; it is incontrovertible that what is obtainable today is far more than in 2014 when lives all around Nigeria were becoming poor, nasty, brutish and short. Lest we forget so soon, 17 local government areas in Borno State alone were under the control of Boko Haram, with their flag firmly hoisted.

The ingenuity and courage of the NSA must be commended for confronting and winning the fight against insurgency. From records, General Monguno is a renowned security expert and a retired Nigerian military general. He was the Chief of Defence Intelligence from July 2009 to September 2011 and the Commander of the Brigade of Guards from 2007 to 2009.

As Nigerias number one spy master, Monguno has a natural, adaptable and high functioning ability to interact with others. Social interaction as a spy will take many different forms, requiring you to be comfortable associating with the entire spectrum of personality types.

Monguno, as the National Security Adviser from 2015 to date, has acted in his best to recover the local governments controlled by the Boko Haram terrorists and ensuring that Nigerians put the nightmare of Boko Haram behind them. This is the greatest height of professionalism and it could be said of the NSA to be the best choice of President Buhari for courageously doing his work.

Each administration has always set the guidelines for intelligence activities and, within these guidelines, establish in a timely fashion specific requirements and priorities for the conduct of these activities.

Under Gen Monguno, the Nigerian intelligence community is saddled with two broad functionscollection and analysisand one relatively narrow one, covert action. An additional function, counterintelligence, is integral to the entire intelligence process. In the forthcoming general elections, we are set to see the best of these efforts as President Buhari is poised to deliver free fair and credible elections, with his NSA readily available to provide the enabling playground with adequate security.Ibrahim is director of Communications and Strategic Planning of the Presidential Support Committee (PSC).

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