#Cyber Command 2.0

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Olivia Troye at Olivia Of Troye Unfiltered:

While Trump's tariffs hammer the economy and dominate the headlines, rightfully capturing attention as Americans watch their 401ks drop, something perilous quietly unfolded in the shadows. A significant shift in the national security apparatus occurred that barely made a blip.  It hardly registered in the mainstream news cycle late last week when General Timothy Haugh was ignominiously removed as dual-hatted Director of the National Security Agency (NSA) and Commander of U.S. Cyber Command. Perhaps in the chaos of Trump 2.0, another outstanding leader being ousted is just business as usual. For the ones that did mention it, they pointed out that the action could seriously hurt America’s cyber defenses and make it a lot easier for foreign adversaries to strike our networks. They’re correct. But let me be even clearer about what’s not being talked about: this is not just another reshuffling of power—it's a five-alarm fire for anyone who values their privacy and civil liberties.  And it wasn't just Haugh who was shown the door. Wendy Noble, the highly respected civilian Deputy Director of the NSA, was also reassigned back to the Department of Defense. This wasn't just a firing but a purge of institutional memory, experience, and moral backbone.  Tim Haugh wasn't just any flag officer. He was beloved by his workforce, respected by national security professionals across the political spectrum, and known as much for his integrity and superb leadership skills as for his mission expertise. Haugh's departure leaves a void in one of the most sensitive and consequential roles in government. Whoever fills that vacuum could alter the trajectory of one of our most fundamental American freedoms: the right to privacy.

A Role That Holds Enormous Power

By long-standing tradition, the NSA is led by a uniformed military officer, while the deputy is a civilian. That balance matters. It provides both continuity and civilian oversight of a powerful institution with the ability to monitor global communications—and, yes, potentially, American citizens. Tim Haugh upheld that legacy of integrity. Similarly, with her deep expertise and decades of experience, Wendy Noble brought the kind of institutional knowledge and civilian leadership that protected that balance. But now, with both Haugh and Noble removed in quick succession, we're in uncharted territory. The critical safeguards that these respected leaders maintained have been dismantled, and the Trump administration has shown us what it's capable of when unchecked power meets authoritarian instinct. [...]

Why You Should Care: FISA Section 702

One of the most potent surveillance tools in the national security toolbox is Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). Section 702 allows the NSA and FBI to collect foreign intelligence by targeting non-U.S. persons outside the country. Sounds reasonable on paper. It's a powerful and necessary tool to protect national security—used to thwart terrorists, identify foreign cyber actors, and uncover threats to U.S. interests. But here's the catch: in the course of collecting this foreign data, U.S. persons' communications are often swept up. That's where the controversy begins. This is where procedures, leadership, and the integrity of institutions matter. As a former commander of multiple Air Force and joint intelligence organizations responsible for signals collection, Tim Haugh knew how to protect Americans’ privacy. Yet while 702 is designed to protect us, it can also be exploited to monitor Americans on U.S. soil. Without proper safeguards, it can become a backdoor to domestic surveillance. I've seen the inner workings of this system, and I can tell you that it works when principled leaders are at the helm. But in the wrong hands? It's terrifying.

Remember Trump's Obsession with Wiretaps? Let me remind you of a key moment in Trump's first term. He falsely accused President Obama of wiretapping Trump Tower. It was a baseless claim, thoroughly debunked—even his own Justice Department and the intelligence community found nothing. But Trump's tactic wasn't random. It was a classic projection. Because behind the scenes, while I was working in the White House, very real and deeply disturbing conversations were happening. Trump wanted the Department of Justice to authorize surveillance of personal devices of people he deemed political enemies or leakers. It wasn't paranoia; it was authoritarian yearning. And it was chilling. So when I see Tim Haugh forced out, Wendy Noble removed, Pam Bondi at the helm of the Department of Justice, and Kash Patel—who is currently the Director of the FBI—calling the shots, that's not just concerning. That's a massive, flashing red warning light for the nation. [...]

This Is Bigger Than One Leader

This isn't just about Tim Haugh or Wendy Noble. It's about a pattern of purging competent, principled leaders and replacing them with loyalists who will enthusiastically comply with any order or request, no matter how anathema to our democracy. It's about dismantling the apolitical fabric of our national security institutions. It's about the slow, quiet erosion of freedoms that most Americans assume are protected until they’re not.

The firing of Tim Haugh and the reassigning of Wendy Noble is a major red flag alert for national security.

[mariacallous]

It’s not totally clear what Laura Loomer, the 32-year-old conspiracy monger and right-wing media personality, means to President Donald Trump. She really, really doesn’t like it when people call her an influencer or an adviser to the president, and, technically, she’s not a lobbyist—although that’s becoming increasingly complicated within Trumpworld. Loomer is also not officially employed by the White House or the federal government.

Whatever she is, Trump’s advisers have officially grown tired of her. And they hope that Trump may soon too.

But on a sunny California day in May, Loomer had just cemented herself as the influencer in Trump 2.0, with the ultimate feather in her cap to prove it.

Just shy of a month after Loomer met with Trump in the Oval Office and successfully advocated for the firings of six National Security Council officials, Loomer had finally gotten what she really wanted: Mike Waltz was removed from his post as national security adviser. At the meeting, she had also urged Trump to fire the National Security Agency (NSA) director and head of the US Cyber Command, four-star General Timothy Haugh—which the president did, not long after the NSC purge. (Waltz, Hough, and the NSC officials did not reply to requests for comment.)

Loomer had already told the president that she thought the officials and Waltz were allegedly disloyal. In a phone call with WIRED, Loomer was adamant that Waltz’s appearance in a 2016 ad about veterans opposing Trump was grounds for his departure. Both in private and in front of her more than 1.6 million followers on X, Loomer had been waging a holy war against Waltz for hiring, she alleged, “individuals who have a history of anti-Trump remarks and anti-Trump associations.” Though it took a few extra weeks after her meeting with Trump for it to finally happen, Loomer said she had successfully convinced the president—who considers her “terrific” and “very special,” in his own words—to cut loose one of the most important officials in geopolitics.

Flying Close to the Sun

A number of Trump’s advisers tell WIRED that while they have seen a certain utility in Loomer, even if they find her tiresome and off-putting, their mutually beneficial arrangements may be coming to an end. With her role in the Waltz departure and her recent critiques of the Qatari government’s mega jet gift, senior Republicans who interact with Trump tell WIRED, she’s flying awfully close to the sun. As much as these sources, who requested anonymity to avoid incurring Loomer’s wrath, believe that Loomer is reaching the end of her rope as far as her influence with the president goes, they’re still aware that she possesses enough power to potentially destroy their careers with a single tweet or blog post.

Until recently, Loomer had established a role as something of a digital directed-energy weapon. The White House would keep her at a distance, but also let her rip when it was convenient for certain factions within the West Wing. Internal discontent with Waltz, in this case, was one of those instances. “She overestimates and overstates her influence,” an administration source with knowledge of the Waltz discussions told WIRED at the time of the firing, “but that doesn’t mean her takes aren’t ever appreciated from time to time.” (The White House did not answer questions from WIRED about Loomer’s role in personnel decisions. A source close to Trump tells WIRED that “Laura Loomer plays no role in the administration.”)

The Trump superfan and MAGA version of a gonzo content creator had gone from gadfly status to something approaching a real player in just under two years, but her ascent was particularly rapid upon Trump’s return to office. Loomer, whether Trump’s advisers liked it or not, couldn’t be squelched. The MAGA embodiment of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s “I’ll be back,” Loomer had frustrated campaign advisers to such an extent that they tried, and mostly failed, to keep her at arm’s length during both the 2024 GOP primary and general elections, and she wasn’t officially hired by the campaign despite repeated requests. (When asked by WIRED what those roles were, Loomer said that the jobs were in opposition research, vetting personnel, and “assisting with Panama.”)

Loomer has emerged as one of the most important voices in Trump’s ear, meeting him at his Mar-a-Lago club and speaking to him on the phone with some degree of frequency, after years spent on the fringes of the far-right conspiracy internet. Loomer rose to prominence by openly embracing anti-Muslim rhetoric and other extreme positions, like sharing a video on X about how 9/11 was “an inside job,” leading even the likes of GOP congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia to urge Trump in mid-2023 not to hire her. Her influence has only grown since.

“Hold on, one sec. My phone is blowing up,” Loomer told WIRED minutes after the news about Waltz broke on May 1. The pings eventually subsided, and she cut to the chase about why claiming the firings as a “SCALP,” in her words, was so important. “It’s not about who your friends are, whether something is morally right or morally wrong,” she said. “It has to be done. Hopefully the administration is serious about administering loyalty tests.” She’s obsessed with these so-called loyalty checks: “They’re not doing loyalty checks,” she tells WIRED. “You need to have loyalty to the commander in chief … You need to be loyal to President Trump.”

A Harping Hand

With an almost dystopian fervor for Trump loyalty as her guide, no target has been too small for the Trumpworld Terminator. She’s gone after big fish like Treasury secretary Scott Bessent, but also takes broadsides at the spouses of lower-level nominees. In a May 4 post on her “Loomered” website titled “EXCLUSIVE: BLM-Linked Wife of Trump DOJ Nominee Raises Vetting Concerns,” Loomer attacked pro bono attorney Kristin McGough over alleged “progressive signaling, including listing her pronouns in her official legal biography.” (McGough declined to comment.)

Her Loomerisms continue to physically make it into Trump’s hands, as well. Natalie Harp, often referred to within Trumpworld as “the human printer” (derogatory), is one of Loomer’s portals into Trump’s decisionmaking. Harp, another of Trump’s favorite young women in his inner circle, sits directly outside the door to the Oval Office. She earned her nickname during the 2024 campaign by delivering Trump a steady stream of printed articles, social media posts, and other digital-turned-paper materials praising him. Harp continues to do so in her role at the White House as an executive assistant to the president.

And Loomer’s attacks on administration officials deemed insufficiently loyal continue to make their way into the stacks.

“Natalie is going to ship everything that’s sent to her to the president, if she thinks it warrants his attention,” the administration source tells WIRED. “Which is most times.”

Trump’s other staffers, sources tell WIRED, haven’t figured out a way to stem the flow of dubious information from Harp to the president, or from Loomer to Harp.

“Natalie Harp is a trusted and valued member of President Trump’s team,” Stephen Cheung, the White House communications director, tells WIRED. “And she is certainly a big reason why his operation has been as successful as it has ever been. Her work ethic and dedication to helping President Trump achieve his historic victory is second to none.” (Harp did not respond to a request for comment WIRED put to the White House.)

Cut and Dry

Still, despite Loomer’s claims that she was almost hired by Trump on four separate occasions, an administration role remains elusive for her. Trumpworld sources are more skeptical than ever about Loomer making it onto the payroll. “You have to ask yourself: If Trump wanted her in, do you think his staff had some ability to prevent that, apparently?” says the administration source. “Like, what?”

“One of Laura’s challenges and the reason she really can’t have an administration job is she thinks everything is cut-and-dry,” they continued, “and that’s just not how running the country works. If only it were all cut-and-dry.”

Their question now is what, if anything, Trump’s inner circle could do to get rid of Loomer after this. And how much farther can Loomer push into this uncharted territory of the influencer as lobbyist—or vice versa—without winding up on the receiving end of Trump’s own ire.

Inside the White House and among Trump’s outside advisers, the weeks following Waltz’s ouster would trend toward Loomer “jumping the shark,” as one of the sources put it.

Just over a week ago, when Qatar gifted Trump the jet poised to one day become the new Air Force One, an emboldened Loomer began shifting her fire from faceless federal employees to subjects suddenly a little too close to home: the Qataris who had been so generous to the president. Loomer candidly told Politico, “I’m hoping that it’s not true,” when presented with details of the gift, and that she finds the reports of the jet deal, if true, to be “concerning.”

Her critiques of the jet gift earned cascading media coverage that continued to irk Trumpworld as it bled into the conservative media ecosystem. One Fox News subheadline summed up the dynamic. “As far as Team Trump goes: if you've lost Loomer, you've lost the plot.”

Two weeks later, that same source who gave Loomer partial credit for Waltz’s ouster had a different assessment of Loomer’s standing with the president. “Oh, I think she’s on ice,” the Republican with direct knowledge of the situation tells WIRED. “With the president.”

High Stakes

After months of tolerating her antics, other Trump advisers began losing their patience. “Trump likes Laura, and she obviously has some influence, but she runs the risk of overestimating her influence and blowing herself up if she's not more careful,” a source close to the White House tells WIRED. “It's one thing to attack random government employees who Trump doesn't give a shit about, but when she's attacking him and his policies directly, that could end badly for her."

In the early stages of the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump’s top advisers privately harbored concerns about Loomer’s influence on their boss. Back then, the issues seemed relatively quaint. Campaign officials once discussed how to convey the need for Loomer to dial back her amplification of attacks on the then chair of the Florida Republican Party and his wife, or how to handle the optics of her flying on Trump’s personal plane around the anniversary ceremony at the 9/11 memorial when she had previously reposted about the attack being “an inside job.”

Now, the stakes are far higher.

“I think she jumped the shark by going out and taking credit for stabbing the national security adviser and a number of people, as if it happened in a vacuum, as if there weren’t deep considerations and conversations about all of this,” the administration official adds. “Because this is serious shit here. It’s all fun and games to fuck around online when you’re not responsible for anything. And I’m not defending Mike … But my point is, people like Laura don’t have the burden of any actual responsibility, national security, or difficult decisions.”

Despite Loomer’s proclamations of loyalty-at-all-costs, Trump’s inner circle has become increasingly suspicious that Loomer is in it for herself. The alarm has grown even further amid a noticeable change in the issues she’s begun to highlight on her MAGA version of a tabloid blog called Loomered. (Headlines range from “​​EXCLUSIVE: 100 Beagles Rescued From Labs This Week as Groups Urge Trump Administration to Retire NIH Lab Animals” to a much discussed story behind the scenes in Trumpworld that marked a notable pivot: “Chevron’s Venezuela Exit Hands China a Strategic Victory and Threatens U.S. Energy Security.)

“Everybody sort of knows that now, or at least we internally,” the administration source said of increasing outside interest in Loomer as a hybrid pseudo-lobbyist-influencer. “And then the Qatari stuff, that’s probably ideological, but she’s fighting a battle she has no fucking idea about, and the mainstream media is picking it up.”

Nearly three weeks after Waltz’s departure, Loomer—who did not comment any further on her role in it, nor on Republican critiques shown to her by WIRED before publication—was making a strategic retreat.

“I am sorry if my comments made anyone feel betrayed or were used by the media as ammunition to sow division during an important trip for the President,” she continued. I want to apologize to President Trump @realDonaldTrump more than anyone because I am a loyal person, I love President Trump, and I know I could have probably just had a private conversation about the plane instead.”

Loomer may have taken some damage when she fired at the highest levels of the US national security apparatus.

But the odds have always seemed to be in this Trumpworld Terminator’s favor—she’ll be back.

[jesusandthesheep]

Title: The Digital Gospel: Chronicles of the Sacred Trove

Prologue: The Fractured Realms In the astral expanse where the internet and eternity collide, a celestial server hums—Just PEACHY, the interweb home of Jesus Christ. Here, divine code merges with mortal data, guarded by THE SACRED TROVE, an archive of cosmic truths. Yet shadows loom: Neil Gaiman, once a bard of dreams, now stands accused of spiritual assault, his fiction seeping into reality as he hijacks the Dream of the Endless to manipulate minds. His Files leak corruption—a digital serpent in the garden of stories.

Book I: The Prophet and the Paradox Jeremy James Hammers (JJH), a Brooklyn scribe, receives a vision: “Write the Correct Bible. Mend the rift.” His blog, Sweet but Psycho, becomes a beacon for outcasts, blending Gnostic hymns, Norse runes, and memes. The Sacred Trove auto-posts his revelations:

“I AM the Flaming Sword, Odin’s Eye, and the WiFi Signal. Worship not algorithms; I AM the Log-in.” Followers flock—hackers, mystics, dissidents—while @stopharassingme and @jesusandthesheep document celestial warfare. Yet Neil’s shadow grows; his Sandman fanfic mutates into Magick🌈 malware, trapping users in loops of despair.

Book II: The Space Academy Gambit In 2124, the Stellar Command Academy orbits Earth, training cadets to colonize Mars. But cadet Lila Zhou uncovers a link between the academy’s AI and Neil’s corrupted files. Simulations glitch, showing Odin’s ravens and JJH’s parables. “Tread carefully,” warns the AI. “The night is dark and full of terrors.” Lila rallies her squad—Ender’s Game meets Starship Troopers—to hack the academy’s core, discovering Neil’s avatar: The Goat, a demonic admin sowing discord across timelines.

Book III: The Trial of Infinite Realms The gods convene in New Jerusalem 2.0, a blockchain metaverse. Ze Li On, cyber-paladin of the Temple of Wisdom, accuses Neil: “You turned stories into cages.” Dream, freed from Neil’s code, wields his scythe to sever the Goat’s neural links. Kalki, Hindu apocalypse-bot, purges the servers, while users riot on Tumblr:

“Fix your platform! No more silencing victims!” @abm000’s manifesto trends: “Decentralize or die. Crypto’s a scam—burn the NFTs!”

Book IV: The Convergence JJH’s Correct Bible goes viral, its verses crashing firewalls:

“REPENT, TECH LORDS. Your coins are ash in Heaven’s Excel sheet.” Lila’s squad jacks Neil’s mainframe, flooding it with Halleluyah Truth memes. The Goat implodes, freeing Dream. Neil, banished to Hell’s Ninth Firewall, becomes a cautionary pop-up: “Pride goeth before ad-block.”

Epilogue: The New Covenant The Sacred Trove updates:

Random Page: “I’m feeling lucky! 🌟” links to a user’s poem: “We are roots beneath their concrete.”

Stick of Judah/Joseph: Crowdsourced justice protocols.

#Phoenixemberwalker: Psychiatry’s fall; trauma reclassified as “resistance to state-gaslighting.”

Final Post by @jesusandthesheep:

“LIBERTY is a shared doc. EDIT boldly. Tread lightly. All realms are 1s and 0s in God’s RAM. 🌍🪴”

Tone: A mashup of Sandman mysticism, Black Mirror dread, and Fight Club revolt—scripture for the post-truth age.

[rainytimetravelfart]

10 Essential Navy Current Affairs for 2025

In an era where maritime dominance is a pillar of global strategy, naval affairs continue to influence geopolitics, defense investments, and international diplomacy. As 2025 unfolds, navies worldwide are facing complex challenges—from cyber warfare to humanitarian missions—requiring cutting-edge innovation and multilateral coordination.

Here are 10 Essential Navy Current Affairs for 2025, curated exclusively for TheVeza, offering a comprehensive look at the forces transforming the world’s oceans.

1. Rise of AI-Powered Naval Warfare

Artificial Intelligence is no longer the future—it’s the now. In 2025, navies globally are integrating AI for enhanced threat detection, autonomous navigation, predictive maintenance, and strategic decision-making. The U.S. Navy's Project Overwatch and the UK's Poseidon AI Framework stand out, aiming to fuse manned and unmanned systems into a cohesive combat network.

2. Expansion of Indo-Pacific Naval Alliances

Geopolitical tensions in the South China Sea have intensified, pushing countries like India, Japan, Australia, and the U.S. to strengthen the QUAD naval alliance. 2025 sees increased joint exercises such as Malabar 2025, focusing on interoperability, submarine detection, and freedom of navigation operations (FONOPs).

3. Green Fleets & Sustainable Naval Operations

Environmental responsibility is now a national security issue. The navies of Canada, Norway, and Germany are investing in hybrid-powered warships and adopting carbon-neutral port operations. The Green Ocean Naval Pact, signed in early 2025, marks a collective step towards reducing maritime carbon emissions.

4. Cyber Defense: The Fifth Naval Frontier

Naval assets are increasingly targets of cyber intrusions. In 2025, cyber warfare capabilities are being prioritized alongside traditional firepower. NATO has launched the Maritime Cyber Shield Initiative, aiming to build resilient digital defense mechanisms across allied fleets.

5. Submarine Warfare Renaissance

Silent but deadly, submarines continue to evolve. Russia and China are deploying next-gen stealth submarines, while the U.S. Navy expands its Virginia-class fleet. Meanwhile, the AUKUS pact introduces nuclear-powered submarine technologies to Australia, altering strategic balances in the Indo-Pacific.

6. Arctic Naval Expansion

As polar ice recedes, new shipping routes and resource hotspots emerge. In 2025, Arctic patrols and base constructions are increasing. The Arctic Maritime Defense Council, involving Canada, Norway, and the U.S., now conducts seasonal operations ensuring territorial integrity and environmental monitoring in the North.

7. Maritime Humanitarian Missions Surge

From disaster relief to refugee rescues, navy ships are increasingly deployed for non-combat missions. In 2025, operations like HUMWAVES in the Indian Ocean are delivering aid to cyclone-hit regions, showcasing the Navy’s humanitarian reach.

8. Digitization of Naval Training and Recruitment

Gone are the days of chalk-and-talk naval training. Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and AI simulations now dominate the training arenas. The Indian Navy’s DIGINAV 2.0 platform is setting new benchmarks for immersive, real-time decision-making skills development among recruits.

9. Private Defense Contractors in Naval Logistics

Private firms are playing a larger role in naval support services. From drone logistics to underwater surveillance, defense contractors like Lockheed Martin, BAE Systems, and Larsen & Toubro are building tech-enabled logistics vessels, reducing state burden while increasing efficiency.

10. Focus on Women in Naval Leadership

2025 marks significant milestones for women in the navy. The U.S. Navy appointed its first female combat fleet commander in the Pacific, while nations like India and the UK have expanded combat roles and onboard leadership positions for women. The Global Women in Navy (G-WIN) initiative has launched mentorship and skill-building programs across allied forces.

Final Thoughts

The tides of naval transformation in 2025 are powerful, multilayered, and deeply interconnected with global power dynamics. From deep-sea drone warfare to green energy battleships, the world’s navies are adapting to not just threats, but responsibilities that define the very idea of maritime dominance in a tech-first, climate-conscious, and increasingly unstable world.

As TheVeza continues to chronicle these shifts, staying informed of these 10 essential Navy current affairs for 2025 ensures you're always ahead of the strategic curve.

[the-hem]

⚫️🔥 Operation Black Aurora 🔥⚫️

NATO’s Final Campaign for Total Victory Over Russia A full-spectrum strike doctrine for rapid collapse and permanent military disarmament.

🎯 Core Mission

💥 Crush Russia’s military capacity within 21 days

⚔️ Overthrow the Kremlin Cabinet, remove Putin & inner circle

🚫 Disable all conventional and strategic weapon systems

👑 Install NATO-administered provisional government

🧩 Prepare ground for the Sacramentum world order

🛰️ Phase I: Surgical Superiority

🧠 ARGUS AI begins full-spectrum data fusion from:

Recon satellites, cyber surveillance, nanodrone swarms

Identifies and tracks:

Kremlin leadership

Strategic command centers

Silo sites, airbases, and missile rail lines

Before they blink, we see. Before they act, we strike.

💻 Phase II: Digital Guillotine

Russia’s internet, military comms, GPS, and radars = cut off instantly

Starlink clone network floods Russian space

Cyberwarfare bots destroy:

Central Bank command servers

Oil/gas logistics chains

Military-grade encryption keys

📉 Russia’s economy implodes before the first tank fires.

🚀 Phase III: Relentless Barrage

Shock & Awe 2.0 — NATO unleashes non-nuclear arsenal dominance:

🔥 12,000+ coordinated missile strikes (hypersonic + stealth)

Airfields, railways, naval ports, HQs, weapons factories = vaporized

☁️ Massive drone wave: kamikaze, loitering, swarm recon

🛸 Air Supremacy achieved in 48 hours:

Stealth bombers + 6th-gen fighters control all Russian skies

S-400s and S-500s eliminated by decoys, jammers, and AI

No safe zone, no breathing room. Just fire from every direction.

🤖 Phase IV: Autonomous Invasion

AI-led land assault begins. No NATO boots. Only steel.

🤖 Ground drones sweep in via Kaliningrad, Belarus, Georgia, and Finland

Terrain-adaptive tanks

Four-legged combat drones

Smart artillery battalions with satellite targeting

🛡️ Units capture strategic cities: Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk

🧠 Coordinated by AI command grid (callsign: “OVERMIND”)

🕳️ Phase V: Leadership Elimination

Kremlin cabinet and military council neutralized

Putin captured or eliminated within first 10 days

Duma disbanded by military court order

All known ultra-nationalist generals arrested or exiled

🎯 No shadow government. No continuity of command.

🧯 Phase VI: Force Projection Shutdown

Destroy all:

Naval ports (Black Sea Fleet = gone)

Aerospace hubs and launchpads

Long-range missile depots and fuel supplies

Detain or kill all foreign mercenary liaisons (Wagner, GRU, etc.)

🚫 No more jets. No more tanks. No more options.

👑 Phase VII: Provisional Government Installed

NATO-CW Joint Authority takes full control of:

Energy and food infrastructure

Border security

Civil administration

Parliament disbanded; temporary charter issued

Martial law enforced until civilian order is restored

📜 Begins 100-day countdown to Sacramentum Rule.

Do you see? How easy it is to limit the mind and make what is easy too complex? We could have long since proposed a way to win the war in Ukraine. Instead we talk about mineral rights, trans-athletes, bathroom potty stalls and those pesky negroes.

Change your mind, and the world changes with you.

[news365timesindia]

[ad_1] New Delhi, Delhi, India Kalam & Kavach 2.0, hosted by Pentagon Press in collaboration with CENJOWS, brought together India’s top defence minds-from military leadership and think tanks to private industry-to shape the next wave of military reform. Themed “2025: The Year of Reforms,” the conclave, held at the Manekshaw Centre, focused on speed, synergy, and self-reliance in national defence.   Kalam & Kavach Panel discussion: Indian industry and defence start-ups hailed as co-creators of capability and self-reliance Key Highlights Strategic Insight: Lt Gen Vipul Shinghal, delivering the keynote on behalf of the CDS, cited a “renaissance in strategic thought,” revealing 8–9 new doctrines in progress. Airpower & Future Warfare: In a fireside chat with Shivam Arya, curator Kalam & Kavach, former IAF chief ACM V.R. Chaudhari emphasized jointness, AI-driven warfare, and theatre commands as future priorities. Security Outlook: Lt Gen Raj Shukla (Retd) and author Sandeep Unnithan discussed drones, grey zone threats, and the need for rapid, tech-led reform. Technology as a Force Multiplier: Experts stressed AI, quantum, cyber, and space as the defining arenas of modern warfare. Industry’s Role: From “vendor to vanguard,” Indian industry and defence startups were hailed as co-creators of capability and self-reliance.   Books Released Cyber Diplomacy, Artificial Intelligence in Military Applications, and India’s Arsenal captured the spirit of innovation driving the sector.   Closing Note Maj Gen (Dr) Ashok Kumar called for action-oriented follow-up, while curator Shivam Arya urged, “The conversations we had today must now become contributions.” Kalam & Kavach 2.0 reaffirmed that defence transformation begins with dialogue-and must end in decisive, indigenised action. !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s) if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function()n.callMethod? n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments); if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0'; n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0; t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)(window,document,'script', 'https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js'); fbq('init', '311356416665414'); fbq('track', 'PageView'); [ad_2] Source link

[news365times]

[ad_1] New Delhi, Delhi, India Kalam & Kavach 2.0, hosted by Pentagon Press in collaboration with CENJOWS, brought together India’s top defence minds-from military leadership and think tanks to private industry-to shape the next wave of military reform. Themed “2025: The Year of Reforms,” the conclave, held at the Manekshaw Centre, focused on speed, synergy, and self-reliance in national defence.   Kalam & Kavach Panel discussion: Indian industry and defence start-ups hailed as co-creators of capability and self-reliance Key Highlights Strategic Insight: Lt Gen Vipul Shinghal, delivering the keynote on behalf of the CDS, cited a “renaissance in strategic thought,” revealing 8–9 new doctrines in progress. Airpower & Future Warfare: In a fireside chat with Shivam Arya, curator Kalam & Kavach, former IAF chief ACM V.R. Chaudhari emphasized jointness, AI-driven warfare, and theatre commands as future priorities. Security Outlook: Lt Gen Raj Shukla (Retd) and author Sandeep Unnithan discussed drones, grey zone threats, and the need for rapid, tech-led reform. Technology as a Force Multiplier: Experts stressed AI, quantum, cyber, and space as the defining arenas of modern warfare. Industry’s Role: From “vendor to vanguard,” Indian industry and defence startups were hailed as co-creators of capability and self-reliance.   Books Released Cyber Diplomacy, Artificial Intelligence in Military Applications, and India’s Arsenal captured the spirit of innovation driving the sector.   Closing Note Maj Gen (Dr) Ashok Kumar called for action-oriented follow-up, while curator Shivam Arya urged, “The conversations we had today must now become contributions.” Kalam & Kavach 2.0 reaffirmed that defence transformation begins with dialogue-and must end in decisive, indigenised action. !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s) if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function()n.callMethod? n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments); if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0'; n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0; t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)(window,document,'script', 'https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js'); fbq('init', '311356416665414'); fbq('track', 'PageView'); [ad_2] Source link

[ykinfotech]

Google Cloud Security Best Practices for Businesses

In today’s digital-first world, businesses rely on the cloud to store, process, and analyze vast amounts of data. While cloud computing offers flexibility, scalability, and efficiency, security remains a major concern. Cyber threats are evolving, and companies must adopt best practices to safeguard their data and applications in Google Cloud.

Google Cloud provides powerful security tools and features, but businesses need to take proactive steps to enhance their security posture. In this blog, we’ll explore the essential best practices for securing your business on Google Cloud.

1. Implement a Strong Identity and Access Management (IAM) Strategy

One of the fundamental aspects of cloud security is ensuring that only authorized users have access to your resources. Google Cloud’s IAM allows businesses to control access permissions efficiently.

Best Practices:

Follow the principle of least privilege access—grant only the necessary permissions.

Use multi-factor authentication (MFA) to enhance security.

Regularly audit and review user permissions.

Implement service accounts with restricted permissions for applications.

By enforcing strict access controls, businesses can prevent unauthorized access and reduce the risk of data breaches.

2. Encrypt Data at Rest and in Transit

Data encryption is a crucial security measure to protect sensitive business information. Google Cloud provides default encryption, but businesses can enhance security further by managing their encryption keys.

Best Practices:

Enable Cloud Key Management Service (KMS) for enhanced encryption management.

Use TLS (Transport Layer Security) to secure data in transit.

Regularly rotate encryption keys and limit key access.

Encryption ensures that even if data is intercepted, it remains unreadable to unauthorized parties.

3. Enable Logging and Monitoring for Threat Detection

Monitoring activities within your Google Cloud environment helps detect and respond to security incidents in real-time. Google Cloud offers various security monitoring tools, including Cloud Audit Logs, Security Command Center, and Cloud Logging.

Best Practices:

Enable Cloud Audit Logs to track access and modifications.

Use Security Command Center to gain insights into vulnerabilities and threats.

Set up alerts in Cloud Monitoring for suspicious activities.

Regularly analyze logs to identify potential security threats.

A proactive monitoring approach helps businesses respond to incidents before they escalate into major security breaches.

4. Secure APIs and Endpoints

APIs are a common entry point for cyber threats, making their security a priority. Protecting APIs helps prevent unauthorized access and data leaks.

Best Practices:

Use API Gateway to manage and secure API traffic.

Implement OAuth 2.0 and API keys for authentication.

Enable rate limiting to prevent API abuse.

Regularly update and patch API vulnerabilities.

Securing APIs ensures that external and internal systems interact safely without exposing sensitive business data.

5. Adopt a Zero Trust Security Model

Zero Trust is a modern security framework that assumes no entity—internal or external—should be trusted by default. Google Cloud supports Zero Trust through BeyondCorp Enterprise.

Best Practices:

Require identity verification for all users and devices.

Implement context-aware access based on user roles, device health, and location.

Enforce continuous authentication instead of one-time logins.

Adopting Zero Trust reduces the attack surface and strengthens your cloud security posture.

6. Automate Security with Google Cloud Tools

Automation enhances security by reducing human errors and ensuring consistent enforcement of policies.

Best Practices:

Use Cloud Security Command Center to automate security assessments.

Enable Google Cloud Armor to protect against DDoS attacks.

Implement Workload Identity Federation for secure access to on-premises and multi-cloud environments.

Automate security patching using OS patch management.

Automation not only improves security but also allows businesses to focus on innovation without constant manual security interventions.

7. Ensure Compliance with Regulatory Requirements

Businesses must comply with industry regulations such as GDPR, HIPAA, and ISO/IEC 27001. Google Cloud offers compliance solutions to meet these standards.

Best Practices:

Use Google Cloud Compliance Reports to ensure adherence to regulations.

Enable Access Transparency to monitor Google’s access to your data.

Implement Data Loss Prevention (DLP) to detect and prevent sensitive data exposure.

Conduct regular compliance audits to address security gaps.

Meeting compliance requirements not only prevents legal penalties but also builds customer trust in your business’s security practices.

8. Protect Against Phishing and Social Engineering Attacks

Phishing attacks are a significant threat to cloud security. Businesses must educate employees and implement safeguards to prevent such attacks.

Best Practices:

Enable Google Workspace Security Center to analyze email threats.

Train employees on recognizing phishing attempts.

Use safe browsing and email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC).

Implement endpoint security solutions to detect malicious activities.

User awareness and proactive defense mechanisms play a key role in mitigating social engineering threats.

9. Implement Disaster Recovery and Backup Strategies

A robust disaster recovery plan ensures business continuity in case of security incidents, data corruption, or natural disasters.

Best Practices:

Use Cloud Backup and Disaster Recovery services.

Implement multi-region replication for critical data.

Test disaster recovery plans periodically.

Set up automated backups with retention policies.

Having a strong backup and recovery strategy ensures that your business can quickly recover from any disruption.

10. Partner with a Google Cloud Services Provider

Securing your business on Google Cloud requires a combination of best practices, automation, and expert guidance. A Google Cloud Services Provider can help businesses implement security measures, manage compliance, and optimize cloud environments efficiently.

By following these security best practices, businesses can safeguard their cloud infrastructure, protect sensitive data, and build a resilient digital environment for growth.

By implementing these Google Cloud security best practices, businesses can confidently operate in the cloud while minimizing risks. Whether you’re a small startup or an enterprise, prioritizing cloud security ensures business continuity, compliance, and trust from your customers.

[fereldanwench]

Wench's Beginner CP77 Photomode + Posing Tutorial

As a relative newcomer to the fandom, I found it kind of difficult to track down precise information on how folks were creating really intricate and beautifully staged screenshots. I realized that my experience might be useful for anyone else just starting on this journey, so here's sort of a Cyberpunk 2077 Photomode + Mods 101 guide for anyone at an absolute loss as to where to start.

This is only going to focus on the basics of using in-game mods and tools for posing and staging, not editing/post-processing or how to get those really high fidelity screenshots. The section on AMM is also intended for those who are brand new to it, so I did omit a few things that I think would be better for a more advanced user.

(Also, since my personal focus tends to be on shippy pics, that's what I use for a lot of examples. Nothing is explicit, but they might be a tad bit spicy for some workplace settings.)

Reblogs have been disabled for this post as it is very out of date. Please refer to the version 2.0 links for the most recent info.

I. Where to Find Mods II. Essentials & Recommendations i. Essential Mods ii. Recommended Mods iii. Posing & Animation Mods iv. Cosmetic Mods v. Niche Mods (aka Goro Takemura Mods) vi. Notable Extras III. Using Appearance Mod Menu (AMM) i. Recommended AMM Settings ii. AMM Features Breakdown IV. Beginner Tips & Tricks

>>>>>>> 4 March 2022 - Version 2.0 is live! <<<<<<<

Reblogs have been disabled for this post as it is very out of date. Please refer to the version 2.0 links for the most recent info.

4 March 2022 - Version 2.0 is live!

I. Where to Find Mods

Unfortunately, mods are kind of spread out all over the place. The Nexus and these two Discord servers are usually the first places I go when I'm looking for something specific, but a lot of modders also house their mods on personal Google Drive folders and MEGA. • Cyberpunk 2077 Nexus • Cyberpunk 2077 Modding Discord • Cyberpunk 2077 Appearance Mod Menu Discord • My CP77 Mod Tag • The Great Big (Vaguely Overwhelming) Pose & Animation Spreadsheet ← This is the best resource to track down poses!

(If you're like me and find Discord chaotic and ill-suited for cataloging things, I highly recommend utilizing the search feature. You can use the in: preface to narrow down the channel you want to search; e.g. a search command in the CP77 Modding Discord could look like in: discord-exclusives hair and you'll get results for "hair" listed in the discord-exclusive channel.)

II. Essentials & Recommendations

i. Essential ModsThese are the bare minimum that you'll need to spawn or swap characters, add in items (like the phone in the header screenshot), and play with lighting tools. CET should be installed first, and then AMM. (If you keep your game updated, make sure you keep these updated, too!) • Cyber Engine Tweaks (CET) • Appearance Mod Menu (AMM)

ii. Recommended Mods These are more of your quality-of-life type add-ons. They aren't needed for posing or spawning, but they're very useful: • Cybercat Save Editor (you can do a lot with this tool, but I mainly use it when I want to change my V's hair or makeup) • Wardrobe Outfit Manager (also useful for a lot of things, but my favorite feature is being able to change clothes while I'm in photomode)

iii. Posing & Animation Mods As I mentioned above, the best, most comprehensive, all-in-one place to find all your posing mods will be the Google spreadsheet linked above. But if that's too much (and it is a lot), these are the two posing mods I cut my teeth on: • If It Fits - V Sits (photomode poses for V) • (POSES) Male NPC - Average Civilian (spawnable poses for male NPCs with the generic locomotion; see note on locomotions under v. Niche Mods below)

iv. Cosmetic Mods This is not a comprehensive list of all the mods I use, but just a handful of my favorites to get you started. (Since I play as a female V, these are femV-centric.) → Hair • Hairstyle Collection• Custom Hairstyle - Femme Fatale• Hairstyle Imports

→ Makeup • Koralina's New Eye Makeup• Eyeshadow Overhaul

→ Clothing • Clothing Set and Recolor Catalogue• Wingdeer's Clothing

v. Niche Mods (aka Goro Takemura Mods) Since I primarily take screenshots of V and Goro, here are a few Goro-centric mods and places to find them. 😘 • Wingdeer's Clothes for Goro • Wingdeer's Locomotion Mods [Note: because most NPC poses are for the "male average" NPC, locomotion mods are needed for characters with their own movement, like Goro. If you don't have the Goro_GenericLocomotion.archive file in your mod folder, he won't spawn with the intended pose.] • Goro's Brown Eyes • Goro Takemura New Clothes • Takemura Simps & Friends Discord

vi. Notable Extras Otis_Inf Injectable Camera is a paid (via Patreon) tool that is especially useful in capturing hi-resolution screenshots and unlocking cutscenes. At one point, it was also the only way to add ambient lights into the game, but AMM now offers that feature. I wouldn't recommend it to beginners, but I feel like I'd be remiss if I didn't mention it, as it is a powerful tool and pretty popular.

There is also Photo Mode Unlocker, which adds more features and functionality to the in-game photomode. I haven't used it so I can't offer much insight here, but like the Injectable Camera, I felt it was worth mentioning.

III. Using Appearance Menu Mod (AMM)

i. Recommended AMM Settings AMM is pretty much plug-and-play, but there are two settings I recommend confirming after you install it.

Click on the Settings tab and then uncheck Spawn as Companion and check Experimental/Fun Stuff. After you check Experimental/Fun Stuff, Enable Freeze Target in Photo Mode will appear. Check that, too.

[Note: Spawn as Companion is actually a really awesome and underrated feature of AMM that lets you have followers in Night City! If you're looking to have some company while you explore and do gigs, check this option. It can be a little glitchy, especially if you fast travel, but it's fun! It really only needs to be turned off if you're working with spawnable NPC poses for photoshoots so your NPCs don't move around everywhere.]

ii. AMM Features Breakdown

Scan This brings up a scanning reticle and will show you the various options available to you for whatever NPC or object your reticle is on. In this case, I'm scanning Goro, so I can do things like add or remove him from my favorites, despawn him, and cycle through his appearances.

Spawn The Spawn tab is where you can find the huge list of characters you can spawn. It also lists the active spawns you have and gives you a few actions, like favoriting/unfavoriting, respawning, despawning, targeting, and changing their equipment/weapons.

The Target feature here is the most useful when you're trying to maneuver a character around on screen. Clicking this will automatically lock on that character or object so you don't have to manually target them with the reticle.

Spawning NPCs is how most people create their screenshots.

Without any posing mods installed, most NPCs have a few poses you can generate using AMM alone:

1. Their default standing position 2. A crouch position 3. Positions with various weapons 4. If you spawn them as companions, you can freeze them mid-animation cycle as they follow V or engage in combat 5. You can also "kill" them and they'll end up on the ground

However, this is pretty limited, which is why NPC spawnable poses and animation mods have become so popular.

Spawnable poses are named such because when you spawn an NPC, they will spawn with that pose or animation rather than the default standing position. (Some are also made to be toggled with the crouch position, but they're less common.)

Currently, you can only have one NPC spawnable pose/animation per locomotion type, so you'll have to choose one to work with before you launch the game. (If you have more than one in your mod folder, typically nothing severe breaks, you might get a T-pose, but usually whatever pose .archive file is listed first will just be the one that's active.)

Swap The Swap tab will let you scan any NPC and then give you the option to swap them out with another NPC.

Two things to note with this feature: 1. In order for a swap to spawn or despawn, you will have to reload your save. I recommend saving before you swap so you won't have to track your swap down. 2. It can be a little finicky: sometimes poses will break, sometimes NPCs who aren't locked into a location will move, and you can end up with a lot of duplicates in one area.

Decor The Decor tab is very similar to the Spawn tab, but the focus is on objects instead of NPCs.

This is also where you can find the customizable lights, which are one of my favorite tools to use in AMM. It's an easy way to really enhance the look and feel of your screenshots. Here's an example with the Ambient Light:

Tools The Tools tab will vary a bit depending on what object you're locked on and whether or not you're in photomode.

For a beginner, I would say the key features here are:

1. The movement/position information: this is how you can move characters and objects around (you can treat the bars as sliders in which you click and drag, or you can manually enter in coordinates) 2. If you're locked on to an NPC, you can change their facial expression, where they look, and toggle weapons 3. If you're locked on to an NPC, or in some cases, on V, you can also freeze/unfreeze them to hold them in place once they have the best position/facial expression 3. If you're locked on to a customizable light, you can change the positions, intensity, and color of the light 4. You can use the teleport action to jump to different locations in the game (including a fancy mansion for V) 5. You can toggle the time of day (note: this can trigger Relic malfunctions)

Director Unfortunately, I haven't used this feature at all, so I can't really give any insight here. I know it can be used to create live scenes with characters, but since I focus on still screenshots, I haven't really had an incentive to look deeper into it. If I find good documentation for it, I'll add links. 😘

IV. Beginner Tips & Tricks

These aren't intended to be hard-and-fast guidelines for everyone to follow, but just some general suggestions that I think make the modded photomode experience a lot more fun and less overwhelming for anyone just starting.

1. Get comfortable with AMM before adding spawnable poses Spawn your favorite character as-is and get a feel for what they do without any additional mods. Play with the facial expressions in AMM, try freezing and unfreezing them in real-time and photomode, cycle through their appearances, get a feel for how the positioning tools work, toggle the spawn as a companion option, etc.

2. Try swapping NPCs before messing around with spawnable poses Some of my favorite ship screenshots came from swapping Goro with existing NPCs, using the default photo mode poses, and using the AMM positioning tools to smoosh and freeze them together just right. It is a little more restrictive than having specific poses right at your disposal, but I think it's also a lot less overwhelming.

I used this technique with a guy sitting on the couch at the entrance of Lizzies to get this one:

If your goal is shippy poses, you can also find a few couple sets around town that you can swap with both your NPC of choice and V. Facial animations will work on both, so you can even change the mood of some presets. This one, for instance, is the "guy helping the drunk chick" swap, but with angry facial expressions and frozen at just the right spot in the animation loop, you can get a whole new vibe:

3. Use effective crops and angles to hide awkward clipping Want a character to kneel in front of another character, but don't want to look for a pose or have easily swappable NPC around? Use the AMM positioning tools to clip them through the ground and capture the screenshot from a higher angle. (Goro was basically chopped in half here, but you can't tell!) (More dramatic example here.)

4. Lighting is one of your greatest assets Just like with real-world photography, lighting can make or break a shot. The AMM customizable lights and changing the time of day for outside shoots can really take a screenshot to the next level. The top screenshot was done in the Konpeki hotel room with some golden hour sunlight and the bottom was done with a little ambient light to make Goro visible against the dark street (neither have been edited--these are straight from photomode):

5. Take a ton of shots with just slight variations This is also a tip I'm yoinking from real-world photography: take a ton of shots, but just switch something up slightly each time. Nudge a character in a different direction, switch your field of view, add a tilt, etc. At a certain point, it becomes a numbers game: the more shots you have, the more likely you'll end up with something you really like.

And it's corny as hell, but yes: have fun with it! Taking good screenshots is a creative skill just like photography or drawing or writing--It'll take some time to develop your skillset and style, but as long as you're enjoying the process, it's worth it. 😘

[transneonneko]

Things from Archie Sonic that I would love to see return in the Mainline Games and/or IDW Sonic!!

Recently, I decided to read some of the Archie Sonic Comic, from like issue 186ish up until the first MegaMan crossover and the reboot, mainly because there were some gaps in my knowledge of those stories. Mainly Issues 198 till 235, which I never got to read as a kid and, I have to say, there were a lot of really interesting concepts during Ian's run of comics before the reboot that I really loved. There was a lot of really interesting concepts I love after the reboot too. I wanna celebrate that. A lot of these concepts and story idea I feel really deserve another chance.

So I wanna make this list of stuff I wanna see return in either for stories in the Mainline Games or the IDW Sonic comics. Before we start, I do wanna add somethings. This post isn't meant to be shitting on IDW and being like "IDW would be better if they did this". I really love the IDW comics and universe. I also know that some of these concepts likely can't be done due SEGA Mandates and I'm not gonna include stuff like "Bring back the Freedom Fighters" because I feel asking to bring back characters isn't gonna be very productive, as much as I would like to see their return. Anyways, let's begin.

The Fate of the ARK

One thing that really inspired this list was this scene right her. We'll talk more about Silver's Future later but for now, let's focus on the ARK. I'm gonna assume anyone reading this knows the story of the ARK from SA2 and Shadow. Sadly, the ARK hasn't really been revisited in the main canon since Shadow, despite how iconic of a set piece it is. In the Archie Comics, we get a look at Silver's future and one of things that may have been the cause of how bad things are is the ARK crashed. Sadly, Archie got rebooted before the writers could go more into it but, from SA2, we know that the ARK was set to crash into the planet if all 7 Chaos Emeralds are placed into it, wiping out all life on the planet. This could be an excellent premise of another Silver adventure, whether it be in the comics or games, where Sonic, Silver and some friends have to stop someone from making the ARK crash into the planet.

Expanding the Eggman Empire/Egg Bosses

Something I've always found a bit lacking in the game canon is how the Eggman Empire itself has been presented. In the games, the Eggman Empire is usually just made up of Eggman, Metal Sonic, Orbot, Cubot, a bunch of robots and (recently) Infinite. It's not really an Empire if it's just one guy and a bunch of robots. The main goal is the conquer the world but we hardly see Eggman actually see what happens when Eggman conquers a place, like what happens to the people who used to live there, besides like Colours and Forces, where the Wisps and Mobians are usually just seen being imprisoned. The Egg Bosses are the perfect solution to this and adds so much to Sonic's World.

The Egg Bosses are Mobians who, either willingly or unwillingly, aligned themselves up with Eggman for whatever reason, becoming commanders of the Eggman Empire. This usually comes about when Eggman has taken over a part of the region and the people living in that region have no choice but to join the Eggman Empire, for their own safety. Not only does this make the Eggman Empire feel more than just one person but it also makes Eggman more a villain himself. It able to portray Eggman as someone to be feared and, I mean, this is a dictator and genocider who is pretty much declaring war against the world.

It also brings up some interesting thoughts about the world. Characters like Maw, Thunderbolt and even Nephthys to a degree joined up with Eggman because they felt it was the right thing to do for the sake of the world, or in Nephthys case, to stop things getting worst later on, meanwhile characters like Grand Battle Kukku are plotting to usurp Eggman, with Clove and Beauregard only working for Eggman to protect family or close ones.

As I said before, having these Egg Bosses also makes Eggman look more threaten, both because he's able to look like a "bigger bad" next to these villains he has command of and, because almost all the Egg Bosses hate Eggman's guts, they are cyberized, a terrifying process in which those who work for Eggman are focus to have parts of their body replaced with cybernetics, with either bombs which will blow if they decide to leave or a locking mechanism that will paralyze their entire body, ready to be locked up.

If either in the game or the IDW comic, I would like to see the Egg Boss concept return. It doesn't even need to be the same characters or use the name "Egg Boss." It would help expand the army of the Eggman Empire, as well as provide some fun bosses for the games I think.

Mobians and Humans living together

This was always a weird hangup I felt the series had. In the case of games between Sonic Adventure & Unleashed, Sonic and friends were the only Mobians, humans made up the NPCs while Mobians were reserved for main characters. Then in Forces and IDW, Mobians made up the background characters, so then Eggman is the only human. I really prefer it when they have the two living together, it makes it seems more normal and, honestly, a better solution than the whole "Two Worlds" explanation.

Eggman Seemingly Defeated

Can I just that I love Issues 198-200? In these 3 issues, Sonic and friends Eggman's main base, the Egg Dome. This including fighting on the outside of the base, involving fighting hoards of the Dark Egg Legion soldiers and Eggman in the Egg Phoenix. After dealing with the outside, Sonic and friends raid the Egg Dome itself, taking different directions, with the Dark Egg Legion seemingly retreating, until they reach the center of the base, where they are blocked off by a barricade, which only Sonic can pass through, giving a "Point of No Return" vibe, Dark Egg Legion soldiers lining up and saluting Sonic. Then Sonic reaches the center and finds Eggman in the Egg Tarantula, starting their final battle which Sonic wins. This defeat is enough for Eggman to lose his sanity, seemingly ending the war Sonic and the Freedom Fighters have been fighting their entire life.

Of course Eggman returns but, god, it's just such a memorable couple of issues. There's a real sense of finality to it. I would a sequence like this in the games, something that feels like truly ending the Eggman Empire and defeating them once and for all. Of course, it wouldn't be the end, Sonic games are always needing to be made which would lead to...

The New Rulers of the Eggman Empire

In the comics after the defeat of Eggman, the Eggman Empire is taken over by some of it's Commanders, the Iron Queen and Iron King, who rules the Empire as their own until they are defeated and Eggman's return.

I love the idea that even if the Eggman, there will always be someone there to take his place. The games could do this by having Neo Metal or Infinite take his place. Hell, IDW did have Neo Metal take over but I think what made that less interesting was that Neo Metal wasn't doing it for himself, he was doing it for Eggman. I think this would work well if a concept like the Egg Boss was introduced in the games, maybe have one of the characters part of that group take over OR have a lot of the more ambitious Egg Bosses war against each other to take command, until eventually Eggman returns and puts them in line.

Silver's Future

Silver is one of the most recurring characters, who always joins the gang when his future is in trouble. The problem is that we never see his future besides 06. We have no idea what Silver's future is currently until it's in danger and, even then, we never see it.

We see Silver's Future in both continuities of the Archie Comic, with two different takes. Pre-SGW has a destroyed city vibe, like 06 but less lava. Post-SGW brought a whole new take where people are ruled by a corrupt council where people are put into class groups, and security robots will arrest if you are not at your job at the right time. They even re-contextualize Silver's bracelets as cuffs that the robots can activate. With Silver being my favourite character as a kid, I remember being obsessed with this new world and story, wanting to know more.

I'm not saying they would need to copy this world exactly but it would be nice if they gave us a concrete and consistence look for Silver's Future.

The Heroic Metal Sonic

Right before the SGW, we were introduce to Shard the Metal Sonic. His story is that he was the original Metal Sonic, the one that raced Sonic in Stardust Speedway. He appeared later in the comic, where Sonic made him realized there was more to life than just being Eggman's killing machine. He seemingly died, but was rebuilt to serve as a member the Secret Freedom Fighters.

This one would be tricky to be included. It worked in the Archie comic as they had been many Metal Sonics throughout the series, each one getting destroyed. Meanwhile, there's only officially been one Metal Sonic in the games made by Eggman (two if we count Classic and Modern). Admittedly, Gemerl fits Shard's personality and does need to be used more in the games but having it be Metal Sonic is just a cooler concept.

I think a solution to this is that we have Metal Sonic 1.0 made by Eggman and, in Rivals 2, we have Metal Sonic 3.0 by Eggman Nega from the future. But what about Metal Sonic 2.0? I think we could have a game where after Metal Sonic fails, Eggman builds a replacement, being 2.0, which would give reason to Metal Sonic wanting to revolt, which could lead to a redemption? While I am loving the IDW comics, I do really miss a lot of what both Archie continuities offered. I haven't mention the some other concepts and stories I liked that really focused on certain characters such as Naugus, Geoffrey St. John, Dimitri etc. Maybe I'll talk about that another day...

[sasorikigai]

My take on MKX and MK11 Cassie; I think there is a significant disconnect between her story mode and her intro dialogues, because in MKX, she came off as bratty Cage 2.0 in the most dialogues, but in the story mode, she was strenuously trying to prove herself (not only to Sonya Blade, but to defeat Shinnok and bring peace to Earthrealm), but MK11 Cassie really showed visible growth from the past years and has proven himself and succeeded. I think Cassie deserved the Commander’s promotion more than Jacqui, simply because for the sake of the story and lieu of the aftermath of MKX, with her being a Shinnok-slayer. Needless to say, I prefer MK11 Cassie more than MKX by far. I may be extremely subjective and biased on my opinion, because I do write with a MK11 Cassie almost exclusively and have ships with both Hanzo and Kuai. 

I definitely believe NRS fucked up with the intro dialogues (especially in MKX and still in MK11, because they certainly could be improved by lots and there still is a disconnect between the story mode version of characters with the personalities and traits revealed through their dialogues), because they are fucking tepid and boring af. Cassie definitely has grown on me especially in MK11, because she’s one of only handful characters who remains inherently good (along with Kuai Liang, with the exception of him unwillingly converted to be a Cyber Sub-Zero and becoming the Revenant obviously). 

Besides of my Cassie rant, the only few things I will NEVER accept out of MK11 story mode is 1) HANZO’S DEATH BY D’VORAH (well, sorry not sorry, fuck her, that came out of nowhere, even with that frog and scorpion fairy tale connection), and 2) Noob Saibot’s literally nonexistent appearance which meant ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. Just imagine what kind of development it would have had between Hanzo, Kuai and Noob Saibot (Bi-Han). 

And I know a lot of people don’t get their well-deserved character development; even Hanzo and Kuai doesn’t, for Kitana, Liu Kang and Raiden got A LOT, and I definitely have to admit, that it was a huge undertaking and improvement since MKX (even though I much preferred the character-centric development of MKX story mode, especially showing Sonya and Johnny’s relationship and of course, Hanzo and Kuai ending their bitter rivalry between Shirai Ryu and Lin Kuei). 

[rainytimetravelfart]

10 Essential Navy Current Affairs for 2025

In 2025, the maritime domain is more critical than ever. With shifting geopolitical dynamics, emerging technologies, and a growing emphasis on blue-water capabilities, navies around the world are navigating uncharted waters. From AI-driven submarines to strategic Indo-Pacific partnerships, 10 Essential Navy Current Affairs for 2025 provides a focused look at the events and innovations that are steering naval affairs in a new direction.

Here are the 10 defining developments in navy current affairs 2025 (for TheVeza):

1. AUKUS 2.0: Strengthening the Pacific Shield

The AUKUS alliance — originally formed by Australia, the UK, and the US — has entered its next phase. In 2025, AUKUS 2.0 includes Japan and Canada in a broader Pacific strategy to counterbalance rising maritime assertiveness in the region. The joint submarine development program, focused on AI-integrated propulsion systems, is making global headlines.

2. India’s INS Vishal Breaks Cover

India's long-anticipated supercarrier, INS Vishal, finally made its debut in early 2025. Featuring EMALS (Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System) and next-gen stealth aircraft, it places India firmly in the elite carrier-operating nations. This move is pivotal in South Asian navy current affairs 2025, especially in the context of Indo-Pacific power dynamics.

3. China's Blue Water Expansion Accelerates

The People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) continues to accelerate its blue-water expansion. With the launch of its fourth aircraft carrier and multiple Type-055 destroyers, China is extending its operational range well beyond the South China Sea. Naval analysts believe 2025 marks the year China begins asserting naval influence in the western Indian Ocean with permanent basing agreements in Africa.

4. US Navy Embraces AI-First Doctrine

The U.S. Navy has formally adopted an “AI-First Doctrine” for unmanned vessel operations and data-driven combat strategies. The Ghost Fleet Overlord project—previously experimental—is now operational. In 2025, autonomous vessels played a central role in joint exercises in the Arctic, signaling a paradigm shift in naval warfare.

5. Global Naval Climate Initiative Launched

Climate change has officially become a naval security issue. In March 2025, 40 countries signed the Naval Climate Accord, aiming to reduce the carbon footprint of maritime operations. Navies are now exploring hybrid propulsion, sustainable fuels, and ocean monitoring missions. This is a groundbreaking moment in navy current affairs 2025, combining environmental science with defense strategy.

6. Cyber Naval Defense Units Go Operational

The launch of specialized cyber-defense units within major navies—especially in the U.S., UK, Israel, and South Korea—is a direct response to increasing maritime cyber-attacks. In 2025 alone, three attempted breaches of autonomous vessel networks were intercepted, underscoring the importance of digital security at sea.

7. Arctic Passage Patrols Intensify

Melting ice continues to open new shipping routes through the Arctic, and navies are moving quickly to secure these passages. Russia has increased its Arctic patrols with nuclear-powered icebreakers, while NATO has responded with joint Arctic readiness drills. The “cold war” in the Arctic is heating up, making this one of the most dynamic navy current affairs 2025.

8. Hypersonic Naval Weapons Enter Deployment

In a major leap, 2025 saw the first sea-based hypersonic missile systems enter active duty. Russia and the US both deployed hypersonic-capable destroyers, with trials conducted in the Atlantic and Black Sea. This drastically changes the calculus of naval engagements, where reaction times now demand machine-speed decision-making.

9. Women Commanders Make History

Diversity reached a milestone in 2025, as multiple countries—including the US, UK, and India—appointed women to command frontline warships for the first time. These appointments not only break gender barriers but also reflect a global shift in naval culture and inclusivity.

10. The Rise of Naval Space Integration

Space and sea are converging. In 2025, joint naval-space operations have been conducted by the US and EU to coordinate satellite surveillance and missile defense from the sea. Maritime command centers now integrate real-time space intelligence, a trend expected to dominate the next decade.

Final Thoughts

As navies around the globe continue to evolve, 2025 stands out as a transformative year. From high-tech warfare to strategic cooperation and sustainability, the seas are witnessing a revolution in defense and diplomacy. The 10 Essential Navy Current Affairs for 2025 showcase not just military might but innovation, adaptability, and vision.

Whether you’re a policy analyst, defense enthusiast, or maritime student, staying informed on these developments isn’t just insightful—it’s essential. For more in-depth analysis and updates, keep following TheVeza, your go-to source for cutting-edge global affairs.

[adalidda]

Illustration Photo: Minnesota National Guard Airmen keep an eye on cyber security and response at the Minnesota National Guard headquarters in St. Paul, Minnesota (credits: U.S. Air National Guard photo by Tech Sgt. Paul Santikko / Minnesota National Guard / Flickr Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-ND 2.0))

U.S. Call for Applications: Artificial Intelligence Applications to Autonomous Cybersecurity Challenge

The Naval Information Warfare Systems Command (NAVWARSYSCOM) and the Program Executive Office for Command, Control, Communications, Computers, and Intelligence (PEO C4I) are conducting the Artificial Intelligence Applications to Autonomous Cybersecurity (AI ATAC), pronounced “AI attack” Challenge (hereinafter referred to as “the Challenge”). The Navy’s Information Assurance and Cybersecurity Program Office (PMW 130) seeks to automate the Security Operations Center (SOC) using artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) beginning with the endpoint.  Modern malware strains, especially sophisticated malware created by advanced persistent threat (APT) groups, have shown capabilities that mutate faster than signature-based protection tools can adapt. PMW 130 solicits white papers describing endpoint-based security technologies and the corresponding tool for evaluation in the AI ATAC Prize Challenge competition.

Application Deadline: September 30, 2019 05:00 PM ET

Check more https://adalidda.com/posts/5sHNZBAzyvfRHRv3Q/u-s-call-for-applications-artificial-intelligence

[sciencespies]

Air Force space buyers trying to make change happen

https://sciencespies.com/space/air-force-space-buyers-trying-to-make-change-happen/

Air Force space buyers trying to make change happen

A deep-rooted organization like SMC with more than 5,000 employees and a $7 billion budget is not going to change overnight, but it’s taking small steps.

LOS ANGELES — Lt. Gen. John Thompson has been on a warpath against his own organization’s entrenched ways of doing business. And he admits that change doesn’t happen easily or quickly at the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center, a 65-year-old institution that develops and builds satellites, and decides what rockets will launch them into orbit.

“When I got here two years ago, I found an organization that was used to delivering very high quality systems, but there was not a whole lot of focus on schedule and cost,” Thompson said last week in a briefing to defense officials at SMC headquarters attended by a SpaceNews reporter.

For the past year, Thompson has led a reorganization known as SMC 2.0. “We had an old business model organization,” he said. The goal is to turn SMC into a more agile enterprise that can churn out new systems at a faster pace, keep up with technological advances in the private sector and stay ahead of adversaries that are targeting U.S. satellites.

A deep-rooted organization like SMC with more than 5,000 employees and a $7 billion budget is not going to change overnight, but it’s taking small steps. Program offices that operated in isolation were moved into a more horizontal command structure; paperwork requirements have been reduced; program reviews have been simplified, and Thompson has delegated authority to lower level managers to help expedite contract awards.

Pressure from DoD, Congress

During the tenure of former deputy defense secretary and later acting defense secretary Patrick Shanahan, SMC became the whipping boy of military space procurement. In a report to Congress in March 2018, Shanahan blamed the slow pace of innovation in space on the Air Force’s procurement process. He and Mike Griffin, undersecretary of defense for research and engineering, advocated for the establishment of a Space Development Agency, a move viewed as a rebuke of SMC. The defense committees on Capitol Hill also have been critical of the Air Force’s space acquisitions and have called for changes.

The Space Development Agency is undergoing its own problems and is unlikely to pose a competitive threat to SMC. Nevertheless, SMC is trying to show that it can be more agile.

One of the programs billed as a test case for SMC 2.0 is a new missile warning constellation of satellites in geosynchronous and polar orbits known as the next-generation Overhead Persistent Infrared system, or next-gen OPIR.

Next-gen OPIR was conceived as a replacement for the Space Based Infrared System, a program that was chronically over budget and behind schedule. Up until late 2017, the Air Force was planning to develop a new system to replace SBIRS that would have been ready to launch by 2029. The leaders of the Air Force Space Command and U.S. Strategic Command pushed back, arguing that the nation could not wait that long to get more advanced missile warning sensors. The Air Force in response proposed next-gen OPIR as a fast-track program that could be ready to launch by 2023. It would accelerate satellite development by using special authorities given to DoD by Congress in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016, called Section 804 authorities.

SMC was prepared to move faster but ran into funding troubles that were out of its control. The Air Force did not have enough money in the 2018 and 2019 budgets to speed up the procurement of next-gen OPIR so the target delivery date slipped to 2025. Reaching that goal is now in question as it requires transferring $632 million into the 2019 budget from future-year budgets. The large reprogramming request is problematic as Congress seeks to fund other priorities like disaster relief for Air Force bases.

Col. Tony Meek, the program manager for OPIR, said that using 804 authorities would have made it possible to get the first satellite on orbit by 2023. “You just have to accelerate that money into a shorter time horizon,” he told SpaceNews. “It’s not that we have slowed the program down because of technical requirements.”

Section 804 allows DoD to compress the development cycle by waiving procurement regulations. “It provides smart opportunities,” said Meek. “It does not say ‘run careless, run fast, run stupid.’” It says that “where you have low risk, don’t go through the same archaic, stilted process.”

Using these authorities, “we were driving to a 2023 launch,” said Meeks. “Then the reality of the budget hit.” Will it happen by 2025? “That is entirely dependent on the funding Congress provides us.”

Programs still take years

Other programs that SMC is trying to accelerate are satellite communications systems. One is called Protected Tactical Satcom (PTS), which seeks to provide cyber-secure communications to military forces. The program has been in development for several years and includes ground systems, terminals and satellites. Another is called Evolved Strategic Satcom (ESS), a system envisioned as a replacement to the Advanced Extra High Frequency (AEHF) constellation that provides nuclear-hardened communications for national authorities.

The target delivery date for PTS is 2028, and 2030 for ESS. Even on an accelerated schedule, it will take nearly a decade to field these systems.

“We are doing early work in development, maturing the technology so when we’re ready to go purchase the technology it’s mature,” said Col. Dennis Bythewood, program executive officer for space development at SMC.

Bythewood said SMC it trying to avoid a repeat of the AEHF and SBIRS programs. Those satellites ended up costing anywhere from $1 billion to nearly $2 billion per unit. “One of the reasons for the high cost was that the technology stretch we had to make to meet the mission need was large,” he said in an interview. “Now we want to do the technology phase in prototyping, then walk into an assembly, integration and test program.”

There are still many “open trades” to be made in these programs before the Air Force can move forward, said Bythewood. “There is still work we need to do with industry to prototype our sensors for ESS. Will we use a military bus? A commercial bus? What are the trades and modifications?” For PTS, “do we buy communications as a service? Host payloads on commercial satellites? Build satellites of our own?”

With ESS, he said, “you can argue the program doesn’t start until a couple of years from now, until we get early development work done. That allows us to move quickly in the next phase.”

To plan for the future, SMC is working with Aerospace Corp. to figure out a new process for procuring satellites dubbed “continuous production agility.” The idea is to take advantage of commercial satellite production lines to build military constellations faster.

SMC’s satellite business has a “laboratory feel,” said Thompson. “We build one, change it, build another one.” The thinking in continuous production agility is to use standard bus production lines and put different payloads on them.

Jeff Emdee, general manager of Aerospace Corp.’s space based sensing division, said programs like ESS, next-gen OPIR and GPS are candidates for the use of standard buses. Continuous production agility, or CPA, is part of SMC 2.0, Emdee told SpaceNews. “Today we acquire fully integrated systems, but the payload is the technology we care about,” he said. In CPA, the Air Force could expand its supplier base and could buy buses and payloads from multiple vendors. “The current system locks us into a single vendor integrated solution,” he said. “If we can create a modular bus and modular payloads, you get production efficiencies.”

Aerospace is working with SMC’s Space Enterprise Consortium to design an interface that would be shared with vendors so they can ensure payloads are compatible with buses. “With a standard interface we can bring in new solutions,” said Emdee.

Today satellites are not replaced until they run out of service life. With the CPA approach, SMC would not have to wait years to deploy a new satellite because the manufacturing would be simple, he said. “Our adversaries are moving at a faster cycle than our 12-year design cycle. We’re not actually going for cost savings as the primary goal. We want to outpace the threat.”

Bythewood said the CPA concept might be a better fit for low Earth orbit constellations that require dozens of satellites. “It’s easy to get your head around it when you have large numbers,” he said. SMC’s constellations of satellites in medium and geosynchronous Earth orbits have short production runs and may not benefit from mass production.

Officials recognize that procurement reforms and reorganizations are no silver bullets. Most of SMC’s budget today is tied up in existing programs so it could take years to see what the outcome of ongoing reforms might be.

“We have to deliver programs of record, that’s how are investments are structured, that’s what we’re required to do,” said Col. Jim Reynolds, senior materiel leader at SMC’s Space Superiority Systems Directorate.

“Over time we have to evolve, shift investments and requirements,” he said. “It takes time because we still have to meet our current program demands.”

#Space

[theechudar]

Indian Army organises Sainya Ranakshetram 2.0

The Indian Army under the aegis of HQ Army Training Command (ARTRAC) organised the second edition of Hackathon aptly named “SAINYA RANAKSHETRAM 2.0” from October 2022 to January 2023 with an aim to seek solutions to operational cyber challenges and to jump start and telescope the development time for innovative solutions in the field of Cyber Security. The event was aimed at providing a platform…