➢ 9+ Years Core Experience in Data warehousing &Business Intelligence/Business Analytics software.
➢ Expertise has been concentrated in all the phases like Architect, Design, and Development& Administration of Microstrategy suite.
➢ Strong experience with products of MicroStrategy 9x suite namely Desktop, Web, Command Manager, Object Manager, Enterprise Manager and Narrowcast Server.
➢ Proficient in all phases of the Report development lifecycle, including requirements gathering, Design, Development, System Testing and User Acceptance & Support.
➢ Good understanding of concepts such as Data Warehousing, Data Marts, ER Modeling, Dimensional Modeling, Fact & Dimensional Tables.
➢ Design, developing, deploying, maintaining and integrating complex Microstrategy reports, dashboards using Schema objects (such as Attributes, Facts, Hierarchies, Transformations etc.), Application Objects (such as Reports, Documents, Metrics, Filters, Prompts, Templates, Consolidations, Custom groups etc.) and Configuration Objects (such as project, users, user groups, security filter etc.) using MicroStrategy desktop.
➢ Good at writing complex SQL Queries in Teradata to perform Data Validation and Graph validation to make sure test results matched back to expected results based on the user needs.
➢ Hands on experience in Project Migrations between DEV / UAT & PROD environments.
➢ Experienced in Enterprise Manager Setup & Statistics Report Development.
➢ Experience in developing Security Filters, Access Control Lists, Security Roles and assigning privileges.
➢ Optimizing report generation with respect to Very Large Databases (VLDB) to make absolute use of database flexibility, caching, security and scalability issues suited for Teradata.
➢ Created of Intelligent Cubes and shared to reduce the database load and decreasing the report execution time by using the cube services.
➢ Extensively worked on performance tuning to reduce the run time of Microstrategy reports.
➢ Extensively used Microstrategy Visual Insight to create reports and dashboards using the data stored in Hive Tables by connecting through Hortonworks Hadoop, Amazon Web services EC2/S3.
➢ Extensively used Hue application to run HIVE and Cloudera Impala queries for unit testing.
➢ Extensively used Hadoop Map Reduce Job tracker to monitor the jobs.
➢ Created customized reports using various chart types like text tables, bar, pie, Heat maps, line charts, Area charts, scatter plot, dual combinations charts in Tableau.
➢ Developed views using advanced calculations like filters, Parameters, Actions, Table calculations, Logical calculations, date calculations, and Trend Lines.
➢ Extensive Tableau Experience in Enterprise Environment and Tableau Administrator experience including technical support, troubleshooting, report design and monitoring of system usage.
➢ Extensive experience in modeling and developing logical/physical data models using entity-relationship modeling tools like ERWIN.
➢ Experience in performing System, Functionality, User Acceptance, Integration and Regression testing.
➢ Strong knowledge and understanding of SQL and ability to write SQL queries.
➢ Able to handle different projects concurrently and Lead experience.
BI Tools: Microstrategy 8.x, 9.x, Tableau 7, 8.X.
Big Data: Hortonworks Hadoop, Amazon Web services EC2/S3.
Environment: Microstrategy 9.3.1, Teradata 14, Hortonworks Hadoop, Amazon Web services EC2/S3, Windows 7.
With the US release of the Global Mobile Application and ongoing efforts to capture customer data via promotions such as Monopoly and One Hot Holiday, the Global Data Platform has been charged with warehousing Customer, Offer and Order data and providing reports to business partners summarizing the data received so that the business can make further decisions on marketing to our current and future customers. In the future, this data will be used for CRM (Customer Relationship Marketing) to continue the dialog with our customers after their individual visits.
• Gathering requirements and understanding the source systems to implement DW/BI.
• Data Analysis and providing recommendations to higher management.
• Present the analysis to internal and external teams and Explain data from a business perspective and relevance to Key Performance Indicators (KPI).
• Interacted with Business Analysts and Data Modelers and defined Mapping documents and Design process for various Sources and Targets.
• Developed and reviewed SQL queries to validate data.
• Installing, Configuring of all Microstrategy activities including Microstrategy Desktop, Administrator, Intelligence Server, Web.
• Create MicroStrategy schema and applications objects such as attributes, metrics, prompts, filters, templates, compound metrics, custom groups and consolidation, security Filters and transformation Metrics.
• Develop complex MicroStrategy reports using advanced filters, conditional formatting, transformation metrics, level metrics and custom groups.
• Developed Dashboards, Scorecards and operational reports by using Report services.
• Design, develop and maintain MicroStrategy Mobile Dashboards using graphs, panel stacks, selectors, widgets, swipe and tap functionality.
• Created Consolidations and Custom Groups as per the requirement.
• Created Transformations for time-series analyses and Prompts in customer tuned reports.
• Worked extensively in Microstrategy Administration like Creation of new users, roles, privileges, shared folders and access controls Lists.
• Troubleshoot and tune Microstrategy reports to determine and fix data issues and performance issues.
• Coordinate with different teams to deploy the MicroStrategy changes between environments.
• Providing training to Business users in using Microstrategy Web.
System Integrator Environment: Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA), Web Services, XML, SOAP, WSDL, Java/J2EE, SQL, Linux, ActiveVos, JBoss, JMX Console, ATMOS, Rational ClearQuest, Oracle DB, SQL Developer, SoapUI, Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP), SMTP, Agile and SCRUM Involved in the modernization of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS)/Next Generation Identification (NGI) System to include multiple biometric modality matching (fingerprint, facial, palmprint and supplemental) via MorphoBIS Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) as well as implementation of ActiveVOS solution. Served as key tester for the development efforts, in an Agile development environment. Developed functional test strategy, test approach, test plans, and system impact change matrixes (SCIMs). Worked with technical architects to identify data requirements based upon the FBI Electronic Biometric Transmission Specification (EBTS) v 9.4 and 10 and create data accordingly for developers and test team. Served as a Subject Matter Expert (SME) to the customer, including conducting functional requirement validation sessions to demonstrate proper functionality of system as the key milestone to move the system into Functional Analysis Testing (FAT). Worked with systems administrators to certify builds that were deployed into key environments. Mentored junior test and QA team members to develop and execute test cases using SDLC processes.
To obtain a challenging position utilizing my skills, with the opportunity for growth and advancement.
As Systems Chief providing technical support concerning the implementation and daily operations of the computer systems functions within G2. Performed a variety of duties in support of users located at the Office, and off-site locations. • Install, maintain, and troubleshoot hardware/software and perform diagnostics providing all Marines necessary tools to perform their missions. • Maintain network capabilities (printing, domain capabilities) for the entire G-2. • Responsible for ordering, tracking, accounting for, and distributing all computers and accessories in support of future combat operations. • Biometric Automated Toolset (BAT - collects fingerprints, iris scans, facial photos and biographical information of persons of interest into a searchable database) Server Administrator, Administrator, MTT (Mobile Training Team) and operator collecting intelligence, which directly impacted combat operations and High Value Target (HVT). • Has taught hundreds of Marines in various locations in Iraq and Garrison on use of BATs, created class syllabus and PowerPoint training documentation. Received NAM (Navy Marine Corps Achievement Medal) for actions. • Knowledge of computer software, equipment and operating systems. These hardware/software products include: Exchange 2000, Windows 2000 Professional & XP operating system, Unix and Linux, all Microsoft Office 2000 - 2003 functions, database search tools, link analysis systems, burning software, and C2PC. • IOS (Intelligence Operations Server) and IOW (Intelligence Operation Workstation) Administrator. (IOS is run on the Unix OS). • Served as the IOS administrator /operator for 4 year duties included: Imaging the IOS, Connectivity with higher echelon and subordinate units, track management and backup. Maintaining the COP (Common Operational Picture).Ensuring C2PC user connectivity with IOS for updated IPB ( Intelligence Preparation of the Battlefield) • Designed and Built the G2 Network during OIF-I and OIF-II • Configured and maintained Cisco based switches and routers for the G2 Network. • GBS (Global Broadcasting System) administrator and operator during OIF I. • MEF IAS (Marine Expeditionary Force Intelligence Analysis System) administrator Additional Responsibilities and Information • Granted Top Secret Clearance SCI eligibility in June 2002 based on a Single Scope Background Investigation by the Department of Navy Central Adjudication Facility (DoNCAF). • Received a Navy Marine Corps Achievement Medal for work with BATs during OIF II • Looking for a position in the Washington D.C. Metro area, but willing to work anywhere.
FORT BELVOIR VA 1987 to 1997 Senior Power Station Instrument Specialist / NIULPE Licensed Power Engineer Mr. Wakelin managed several electrical grounding surveys, substation maintenance, and protective relay testing projects at various worldwide locations. Installed and operated generation equipment from 500 kilowatts to 22 megawatts in size, worldwide. Key Points: Served as the Operations Manager, Project Manager, Training Manager, Administrator, Information Manager, and Budget Officer of a company sized element of 90 personnel, located at 4 separate worldwide locations. Conducted fault isolation, failure trend analyses, tests and maintenance on generators (4160 Volts), diesel engines, transformers, electrical distribution systems, uninterruptible power supplies, electronic governors, voltage regulators, meters, and electronic control circuitry for the large mobile electrical power generating units and customer facilities worldwide. Power Plant Operations: Honduras-24-hour operations for a total of eleven months that included two 750 kW generator change outs without Power interruption to the base camp. Bright Star Egypt-Pre-Site, Installation to include 24-hour operations totaling 90 days. Johnston Island-Pre-Site, Installation to include 24-hour operations totaling 90 days. Philippines refurbishing of a 22 Megawatt Floating Power Plant for a total of 6 months. Guam refurbishing of a 22 Megawatt Floating Power Plant lasting for a total of 5 months. Korea, CP Tango-Operations, and Maintenance for a total of 8 weeks. Hurricane Andrew-Over 90 days of Pre-Sites, installing, operating, and handing over operations to the local authorities (ranging from 10 kW to 1000kW). Disaster Relief Project Manager for Hurricanes Marilyn and Opal.
Studying for the Microsoft Server 2012R2 tests.
Studying for the Cisco CCNA test.
Fort Drum Mission Training Complex (MTC).
• Built and configured all requisite CPOF servers and networked a training environment to operate for integrated classroom instruction.
• Data Dissemination Service (DDS) Gateway Administrator.
professionals in the Atlanta metro area.
Please consider my resume in your search to fill a position at or across the street from the Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq. I am an experienced Intelligence Analyst with a diverse background in Communications Security (COMSEC), management, program management support, administration, archiving, public relations, computer software, research and reporting, and marketing. My field of expertise is COMSEC, research and reporting, and administration. I held a Top Secret clearance with the U.S. Air Force for nine years and would have no problem obtaining a clearance again; however, it is no longer current. In addition, I have experience in computer technology and system set-up. I also have a range of expertise in every version of the Microsoft Office suite, to include Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Access, and Publisher. I am currently a Marketing Manager, Administrator, and Archivist for a non-profit organization handling nearly […] of in-kind contributions per year. I am extremely detail oriented and I seek an opportunity to support your team.
426th Information Operations Squadron (IOS) Air Combat Command (ACC) Vogelweh Cantonment AIN, Germany Duties: Worked independently and in teams to handle problems and deviations in accordance with practices and policies. Provided services to a widely dispersed population throughout the world to ensure timely intelligence. Prepared data summaries for inclusion in routine and special reports for upper-echelon military personnel and civilian. Transported materials and equipment in connection with official government business both within and outside the installation and on public roads at highway speeds. Acted as courier and ensured that priority, mission-essential material was delivered swiftly and in accordance with instructions provide by government regulations. Rendered advice and recommendations for purchase of software and hardware items and utilization, placement, as well as need. Initiated the operation of new application programs and trained personnel on those programs. Served as one of two points of contact regarding purchasing supplies for work areas then reported needs to purchasing authority. Provided technical and program support on all administrative and management functions including planning, programming, assessments, inspections, budgeting, training, data processing, personnel, equipment, property, and reporting and general office management. Tracked personnel, supplies, and other administrative transactions through databases and government paperwork. Drove 15-passenger vans with visiting officials to special functions. Created documents, records, and reports based on government regulations and procedures for information needed by the intelligence community worldwide. Served as point of contact on personnel issues as a non-commissioned officer. Answered inquiries from subordinates in all aspects of employment including, but not limited to, benefits, availability and types of training, pay schedules, positions opportunities, leave programs, EEO, thrift savings, suggestion program, and assistance programs. Prepared and assured the accurate and timely preparation of personnel and supporting documents. Conducted new airman orientations and assured accurate personnel records were maintained. Wrote and developed standard operating procedures for fusing previously uncorrelated data and trained nine analysts on new fusion system establishing operations capability for Distributed Ground System (DGS)-4. Supervised and or directed activities of up to ten intelligence analysts in daily activities. Analyzed, prioritized, and distributed workloads, tasks, and provided guidance, training and information in the performance of research and analysis. Served as protocol officer for 20 top ranking National Security Agency (NSA) personnel making visit flawless Provided standardization/evaluation support to all cryptologic positions in the 426th Information Operation Squadron supporting DGS-4 and the 24th Intelligence Squadron (IS). knowledge of multi-intelligence operations, principles, and general communications and dissemination architecture and standard evaluation functions. Assist in developing and executing a standardization and evaluation program and create, modify and administer tests and test materials as required. Updated tests and test materials and scenarios as necessary to ensure currency is maintained. Assisted in the creation, update, and maintenance of test question databases and ensure questions retain their relevancy as compared to test materials. Aware of and utilized established security procedures and safeguards to ensure tests and test materials were not compromised. Tracked the qualification of mission personnel and ensure they met all standards for mission qualification. Notified mission personnel at established intervals when personnel must accomplish mission certification qualifications. Assisted with the maintenance and upkeep of Concept of Operations (CONOPs)/Operating Instructions (OIs)/references in accordance with local and command directives. Maintained current certification in operations crew position. Provided the US European Command (EUCOM) Commander, Joint Forces Air Component Commander (JFACC), Air Component Commanders, Air Operations Centers, and others as directed with global and EUCOM Specific, time-sensitive, multi-ISR tasking, processing, exploitation, and dissemination (TPED) across the spectrum of military operations. Supported the AF mission areas as outlined in Air Force Doctrine Document (AFDD) 2-5.2, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Operations, December 1998, to include Air and Space Superiority, Precision Engagement, Global Attack, Agile Combat Support, and Information Superiority. Supported operations Iraqi Freedom, Enduring Freedom, and the Global War on Terrorism. Provided dedicated cryptologic services for the Commander of U.S. Air Force in Europe (COMUSAFE)/Director of Intelligence/Intelligence-Operations Center (IOC). Utilized restricted databases, performed indications and warning, provided reachback to national authorities. Sanitized Special Intelligence (SI) information to collateral Secret-level for dissemination to warfighters. Provided cryptologic expertise to Air Operations Center (AOC) fusion team supporting theater crisis operations. Fused multi-intelligence discipline data enhancing theater's DGS-4 intelligence production. Researched, planned, and recommended actions to establish planned cryptologic operations in DGS-4 msn architecture. Identified and relayed highly perishable data to U.S. Air Force in Europe (USAFE) Imagery cell for dynamic retasking of recon sensors. Analyzed tactical recon data for inclusion and update of the Intelligence Preparation of the Battlefield (IPB). Directed section in absence of Non-Commissioned Officer in Charge (NCOIC), an E-6 position; satisfied critical analysis support request from 24IS/Director of Operations (DO). Brokered solution covering rare 20-hr exploitation requirement maximizing event intelligence gain and personnel utilization. Envisioned/created innovative DGS-4 analyst team operations schedule which was lauded by Officer in Charge (OIC) and won immediate approval. Integrated new plan into 10-person crew rotation increasing analytic interaction 25% and enhancing team morale. Led team of 6 Airmen in evolving operations position revolutionizing their skill sets and readying junior analysts for future challenges. Set operational methods and trained nine analysts on new intelligence fusion tool which established operations capability for DGS-4. Met national agency information systems protection directives by verifing data in 17 individual accounts which ensured mission accreditation. Oversaw analyst team's creation of six target country study guides which served as source documents and were utilized for expanding DGS-4 mission. Analyzed over 32,000 tactical intelligence reports depicting target country air defense operations and identified 209 enemy weapon systems. Initiated 101 ad-hoc tippers, locating 48 untasked targets which were vital for US/Iraq war execution and theater air operations. Chaired DGS-4 inter-squadron operations improvement meeting and set new training requirements for evolving analysis position. Chaired DGS-4 analyst-to-analyst operational improvement meeting unifying objectives and streamlining mission goals. Created cross-queing tip sheet; fused previously uncorrelated data which proved valuable and won approval for operations use. Trained 18 analysts on tool's intent and benefits to ensure precise collection thousands of ad-hoc tasking requests. Briefed future USAFE IN/two Generals on DGS-4 successes which proved intelligence methods and ensured leadership support. Twice activated squadron Sub-Control Center in response to higher alert status and contingency operations, analyzed and released 12 intelligence situational reports to 25 section personnel and improved unit commander's operational awareness and direction of troops. Led team of four analysts in creation of target knowledge study guides which were utilized as source documents for DGS-4 training and operations. Led charge to research, grasp, utilize new analytic software tool and validated the need for theater intelligence exploitation. Trained nine peer analysts, briefed developers and unit commander of local capabilities and established tool utility for DGS-4 operations. Envisioned and created alternate crisis operations floor plan, identified tools and information systems needed for mission completion and tested operations status of nine intelligence data feeds which satisfied COMUSAFE tasking resulting in our site being utilized as the primary operations area during US/Iraq war. Built new format for archiving intelligence collection which provided information and reduced confusion. Selected as main worker for experimental fusion capability and provided direction for ongoing program. Briefed Chief of NSA Central Europe on ISR capabilities; ensured support for this vital program. Provided training and instruction to newly assigned personnel on DGS-4 mission operations. Instructed two USAFE watch officers on correct Communications Security (COMSEC) procedures preventing security violations. Ensured quarterly and annual security training was completed by all members of assigned section. Created databases to archive all quarterly and annual training of section personnel. Reported all training completion to unit security forces. Served as the point of contact for NSANet account creation and polygraph administration. Created and completed process to assure that all personnel with NSANet accounts were legal and that the network security plan was updated to reflect the actual content classification. Restored section's dormant security measures by outlining priorities and establishing clear indoctrination procedures. Identified over 150 deficient items, verified completion of each and salvaged 13 individual accesses to vital intelligence network. Provided oversight into essential commander's program. Monitored and analyzed traffic on special intelligence circuits to ensure around-the-clock situational awareness. Researched national databases in order to perform indications and warning and provided battle damage assessments. Identified and analyzed theater-related current intelligence and updated the Cryptologic Support Group (CSG) European theater database. Monitored surveillance and reconnaissance activities and nominated tracks for additional collection requirements. Sanitized Special Intelligence (SI) information to collateral Secret level for dissemination to war-fighters. Developed and presented a weekly current intelligence briefing for the Squadron Commander and key staff. Responsible for tracking, utilizing, and training personnel on all cryptographic keying materials. Provided dedicated cryptologic services for COMUSAFE, Director of Intelligence, and Intelligence-Operations Center. Monitored and analyzed traffic on special Intelligence circuits to ensure situational awareness throughout theater. Utilized restricted databases, performed indications and warning, provided reachback to national authorites. Researched national databases, performed indications and warning, and provided battle damage assessment. Produced Requests for Information (RFI) and Intelligence Need (IN) statements for collection opportunities. Identified and analyzed theater-related current intelligence and utilized information to update the CSG European theater database. Monitored surveillance and reconnaissance activities and nominated and tracked additional collection requirements. Supported exercises, contingency and crisis operations as a member of the Air Operations Center fusion team. Produced five intelligence summaries depicting adversary air and air defense activities which helped refocus reconnaissance collection plans. Assessed theater events and conducted seven intelligence briefs to squadron commander which equipped leadership with actionable intelligence. Sanitized, wrote, and released 2nd party intelligence report which immediately placed unique intelligence into warfighter's hands. Developed and presented weekly current intelligence briefings for the squadron commander and key staff. Created new operations procedure fusing previously uncorrelated data which improved ability to find and target mobile targets. Provided core knowledge for cross intelligence discipline tipping and pioneered first DGS-4 special intelligence operations position. Analyzed nine near-real-time intelligence data sources during 24 tactical recon flights, identified and reported over forty target country defense equipment positions and this special intelligence was utilized for dynamic retasking of collection sensors. Hand picked to work as the only in-theater CSG Analyst for Exercise Enable Freedom and supported the Air Operations Center (AOC) Fusion Team. Provided exercise development and analytic support while assigned to AGILE RESPONSE 2003. Reviewed and edited over 700 joint theater-level simulation exercise messages, distributed over 400 notional reports to multi-discipline intelligence analysts, and ensured realistic and consistent exercise scenario.
Volunteer work 30-40 hours per week Duties: During rehearsal and production period, coordinated technical departments and made sure all elements of the production were in the right place at the right time and correct according to the director's and designer's requirements. During the run, had overall responsibility for keeping every performance in line with the director's original production. Made photo copies of the scripts and made notes to know every step and prop throughout the production, knows as the book. Organized the entire crew to ensure they all functioned together smoothly. Assisted during auditions. Attended pre-production meetings to ensure all crew members knew what was expected of them and what the schedule was to ensure they were available when needed. Kept attendance sheet of both cast and crew for all rehearsals and performances. Attended all rehearsals and marked all blocking, sound and light cues and all other pertinent information in the margin of the book. Marked the location of furniture and props so they were always placed in the same location. Marked al cues for actors and crew in the book to ensure timely notifications. Called all cues to all crew members and actors. Called warnings of upcoming cues. Kept unauthorized people out of the work area. Checked the accuracy and adequacy of budget amounts and justification data submitted by personnel providing budgetary input. Verified the accuracy of budget amounts and justification data within the program for proper obligation and account balances ensuring all costs were charged to the appropriate funds and met the approval requirements and regulation criteria. Sold and collected tickets for all performances. Set up and recorded all performances to show actors and crew things that went well and what needed improvement. Photographed cast and crew during rehearsals to archive the costumes, make-up and to capture moments for albums. Drove props, furniture, and equipment on highways in large transport vehicle under 10,000 pounds for theater competitions. Handled controls for staring, stopping, backing, and driving the vehicle, in judging overhead and side clearances, turning radius, braking distance, and safest distance to be maintained from preceding vehicle. Used defensive driving techniques, including the skill to recognize developing hazardous road and traffic conditions and the judgment to select and alternate route to avoid potential problems. Read and understand road maps to determine the shortest and safest route for both long and short routes. Familiar with reporting and documenting procedures with use of government vehicles.
Duties: Reorganized entire storage warehouse in the facility to ease employee ability to locate items in need of stocking. Supervised cashiers on duty. Unloaded pallets of merchandise and moved it to storage or sales floor depending on stocking needs. Acted as cashier and customer service representative while on duty. Designed shelf plans for merchandise and moved everything to match. Completed opening and closing procedures with ease. Counted all cash drawers at beginning and end of shift and was in charge of all money and equipment in safe. Acted as courier for the end of the day earnings. Changed seasonal merchandise on a regular basis. Created a database for tracking customer orders allowing customers to know the status of their order at all times. Cleaned around store regularly. Exercised independent judgment and discretion in selecting and applying established work methods and procedures to ensure all duties were accomplished.
Joint Military Assignment (Army, Navy, Marines, and Canadian AF) Duties: Operated various types of computers and communications equipment in order to ensure all tasks are complete on a daily basis. Wrote technical reports. Broadcasted tactical information to other units for analysis. Acted as the primary interface between supported platforms and their controlling command authorities. Applied traffic analysis techniques to raw data and write technical reports based on the results. Used four different systems and software programs (PARSEC, Ground-line, Messiah, and Looking Glass) in order to send out reports and keep current with changing times. Kept Surveillance and Warning Center (SWC) supervisor aware of any unusual activity in order for him to alert consumers of any threats and information for analysis. Monitored and reported on the operational status of US reconnaissance missions to ensure their safety. Broadcasted mission information to consumers in order to provide them with the information needed for analysis. Operated secure radio communications to provide and receive location data. Responsible for and provided communications security for cryptographic keying material needed in the SWC and supported Army and Navy units. Provided force protection and threat warning support to sea, land, and airborne platforms operating in our area of responsibility. Operated secure digital and voice communication equipment for Joint Chief's of Staff Advisory Support program. Coordinated mission schedules to ensure accurate intelligence coverage of every mission. Ensured that all reports received in the unit were disseminated to specified work centers requiring the information. Conducted point-to-point communications in order to coordinate collection efforts with other units. Provided mapping and plotting skills during missions for timely and accurate locations and calculations of distance and speed. Functioned as a critical link between elements of the national and tactical intelligence community. Provided near-real time situational awareness and force protection information to key 5th Allied Tactical Air Force (5ATAF) decision makers. Orchestrated the flow of intelligence between the C2, Combined Air Operations Center (CAOC), National Security Operations Center (NSOC) SSA, and the NSOC Balkans Desk. Monitored six critical threat warning communication nets and fuse detailed technical data for immediate use by CAOC. Provided real time intelligence and threat warning support for deployed NATO forces during Operation Deliberate Forge, Operation Allied Force, and Operation Joint Guardian.
303rd Intelligence Squadron Air Intelligence Agency (AIA)/ACC Osan AB, Republic of Korea Joint Military Assignment (Working side by side with Korean Nationals) Duties: Performed real-time analysis of information that directly affected the safety of Joint Chiefs of Staff tasked reconnaissance aircraft operating in and around the Republic of Korea. Provided a real-time picture to the watch operations floor. Analyzed and labeled all activity within the operating area in and around the Republic of Korea. Coordinated and analyzed information received from Ground Mission Analyst (GMA). Responsible for all cryptographic keying materials for the unit. Provided force protection and threat warning support to airborne platforms operating in and around the Republic of Korea. Provided real-time support to the Commander, Seventh Air Force, Commander, United States Forces Korea, and National Command Authority on reconnaissance mission status. Operated secure voice communication equipment for Advisory Support and threat warning programs. Responsible for the cryptographic keying material needed for the unit. Provided mapping and plotting skills during missions for timely and accurate locations and calculations of distance and speed. Correlated tactical information to ensure correct information was passed to consumers. Analyzed collection data and entered data into national-level database for further analysis. Subject Matter Expert: Maintained appropriate working aids, charts, tests, and files of technical information. Performed quality control of intelligence data entered into local and national-level database. Verified all training records were filled out completely and correctly. Certified all incoming personnel on duty position.
10-30 hours per week Duties: Supplied historical data necessary for preparation in long range financial planning of this non-profit organization. Continue to archive and database all aspects of the organization and am working toward making it accessible to board members. Developed procedures to support program monitoring prepared data summaries of inclusion in routine and special reports. Researched programs to utilize for archive database, volunteer database, and nationwide accessibility and presented findings and budget needed to board members. Developed and applied professional archival methodology and ensured completeness and accuracy of work. Completed work is reviewed for adequacy of support to historical research projects; completeness and accuracy of data gathered for response to historical information queries; and efficiency, accuracy, and completeness of administrative tasks for the executive board members. Developed checkpoint procedures to facilitate program monitoring and success.
To secure a position as an Intelligence Analyst where my 15 years of extensive knowledge of Radar Performance, Information Assurance Protocols, Implementation of Security Procedures, Intelligence Database management, creation, exploitation analysis, System Integration, Cyber Security, SIGINT / ELINT systems, Intelligence All Source analyst production, Communications Security, and experience at various Distributed Common Ground System (DCGS) architectures and Air Operations Centers (AOC's) can be fully utilized.
Intelligence All Source / ELINT / SIGINT •Direct support to Coast Guard and U.S. Navy maritime war fighters. •Build daily Intelligence Reports •Manages multiple ELINT databases •Direct situational Awareness support for Operational Navy Fleet •Responsible for real-time collection of potential vessels of hostile intent.
Responsibilities •Evaluated RADAR performance of Navy simulators •Implementation of Information Insurance Procedures in accordance to DIACAP •Development of system platform for GUI model using C# •Standardized infrastructures for develop and documentation for SIGINT technologies •In depth threat RADAR / parametric signal creation of threat / hostile emitters for database integration. •Complete detailed analysis of SIGINT information. •Coordinate simulated advanced tactical training for Navy pilots. •Develop / Document enhanced training material and SOP's for threat radars, and Navy pilot instruments •Program creation / documentation for simulations used for Navy and AF pilots Accomplishments •Created over 50 Signals that were used to provide training for Navy pilots •Verified over 50 Signals that were placed into a database used by Army, Navy and Air Force simulations. Skills Used •Extensive database research ability. •Ability to simulate real life signals in a virtual environment. •Verify code used and correct if necessary. •Writing shell scripts to correct multiple entries for code errors.
• Created and managed 50 web pages ensuring they met privacy and copyright laws.
• Assisted the SSO in conducting SCIF security reviews, identified and remedied 200 violations.
• Copy edited, copy wrote, proofread, and edited articles for grammatical correctness and journalistic style per AP Style standards. • Drafted and composed journalistic articles for print and web following AP Style standards. • Designed pages and layouts of articles for print using Adobe InDesign. • Formatted and edited photographs for print and online publication. • Fact-checked information and wrote under tight deadlines.
• Managed and supervised 13 contractors and seven military personnel; maintained oversight on Distance Learning instruction, Mobile Training Teams, and instructional materials. • Prepared weekly status reports; attended management meetings to keep Department Supervisors and Deans informed of current operations. • Served as liaison between NATO Forces, J7, DLIFLC Instructors, and AfPak Hands in Afghanistan by coordinating training and providing language support; ensured safety of personnel in a combat environment. Prepared reports to Command Staff to track language instruction data. • Developed curriculum, edited, copy wrote, copy edited and proofread language training materials in both print and online media. • Guaranteed compliance of copyright standards of all authentic materials in audio, video, and text prior to publication.
• Managed payroll and accounts payable and receivable. • Performed customer service and scheduled service and equipment maintenance for clients. • Ordered office supplies, including hardware components for clients. • Supervised and evaluated subordinate employees. • Drafted and reviewed print and electronic correspondence and advertising material.
• Senior supervisor for 15 personnel; provided mentorship and guidance and determined eligibility, prerequisites, and compliance with Army regulations for training and promotions within budget constraints. • Performed administrative duties; maintained personnel status reports and company statistics; drafted and edited correspondence: letters, memorandums, and evaluation reports; issued guidance; enforced policies and procedures. • Social media manager, promoting brand and relevant information to followers. • Coordinated and forecasted budget and supervised the purchase of office equipment and supplies; coordinated computer maintenance and upgrades; conducted inventories of all equipment for accountability.
• Led team and performed Quality Control and Quality Assurance duties as an editor to ensure final documents resembled source documents with proper English grammar and information was clear and concise for intelligence analysts. • Assisted in writing Army doctrine and standard operating procedures for translation methodology to create a uniform translation standard for translators. • Translated documents from Persian Farsi to English to support the National Ground Intelligence Center's Document Exploitation mission. • Assigned documents to linguists as supervisor for each phase of the translation process; updated progress tracking report daily to keep program managers informed. • Utilized Metadata tagging system to enhance keyword search function of translated documents for intelligence analysts.
• Performed administrative duties in support of the GM; maintained calendars, scheduled appointments, prepared agendas, took notes and minutes, answered email and telephone inquiries, drafted correspondence and policies, maintained files. • Performed HR duties; conducted employee verification for new hires, assisted in interviews, managed workman's compensation. • Managed employee payroll, accounts receivable and payable. • Assisted sales manager with the drafting of contracts and receiving clients for site inspections. • Designed restaurant and banquet menus, spa services brochures and literature, and special events literature and promotional material.


Lill, Kája and Ellenburg, Kurt, "Bobo Stenson's Song of Ruth" (2011). Student Summer Scholars. 76.
Jazz is a musical genre which historically has thrived on the evolution of music by challenging and changing normative musical practices. However, the later half of the of the 20th century saw a development within the musical community of the jazz conservative, as represented today by Jazz at the Lincoln Center, who maintain a tradition of performing jazz in a style developed prior to the 1960's. This presentation will illustrate what these traditions are, in context to rhythm, melody, harmony, form, improvisation, and song selection, and how artists, such as those of theECM record label, continue to evolve and break these traditions. The intent is not to display that there exists in jazz a strict schism between an american and european tradition, but that their is a continuum along two extremes in which most artists lie closer to the center.


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Stephanie BallooSenior Reporter
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This is the moment a young mum was forced to flee in terror carrying her baby as carjackers dragged her partner away from their Audi in broad daylight.
The attack happened just days before carjackers stole another Audi - snatching it from a young mum while her four week old baby was still inside.
Concerning CCTV from the streets of Birmingham captures as three men stage a minor 'accident' to coerce the dad out of his Audi S3.
The family had been parking up on Jameson Road, Nechells on Monday afternoon (July 16) when their vehicle was hit by a passing car.
Carjacking mum: Criminals knew my baby was in car when they stole it
In the video which can be viewed above, a silver car clips the rear of the Audi and both cars come to a sudden stop.
The young dad, who had been driving the Audi, gets out of his vehicle while three men pile out of the offenders' car, believed to be a Ford people carrier.
Driver dragged away from Audi S3 in broad daylight carjacking
As the drivers discuss the lack of damage to the car, a man dressed all in black drags the victim from behind, wrenching him with the chain round his neck.
The men are seen scuffling on a parked vehicle while the rear passenger door opens. The family, who have asked not to be named, are asking BirminghamLive readers to watch the CCTV - to help catch those responsible.
The terrified mum hurriedly unfastens her two-year-old child from her baby seat and - carrying her clinging daughter close to her - makes a run for safety.
Just as the panicking mum reaches the pavement, one of the carjackers jumps into the front seat.
Helpless, she can do nothing but look on in horror and hide behind a brick wall while her partner desperately tugs at the car door in a bid to thwart the robbery.
Burglars target homes in neighbouring Sutton Coldfield streets
Shocking CCTV reveals how mum was forced to flee with two-year-old after her partner was dragged from Audi S3
The two other men escape in the silver vehicle and the carjacker quickly reverses the Audi away from the scene.
The victim, who did not wish to be named, told BirminghamLive how the terrifying ordeal had unfolded.
He explained how they had seen the car go up and down the road multiple times and had locked the doors in fear.
But after the 'accident', the men had screamed at each other to steal his watch and chain.
"As I went to turn into the plate factory, the car hit the back of my vehicle. The automatic reaction is that you get out to resolve the situation," he said.
"At first I didn't feel uneasy as it just seemed like a normal accident.
"Then all of a sudden, they dragged me backwards, wrenched the chain backwards and dragged me by that.
"They were screaming at the top of their voices, get the watch, take the watch.
"When they couldn't get the watch, they started screaming get in the S3, get in the S3.
Audi S3 which was stolen in terrifying carjacking in Nechells
Blood-stained man 'attacked and left for dead in undergrowth for 18 hours'
"I tried to jump in and get the keys out, but one lad stopped me then he jumped in the car. Then they got away.
"It happened so fast, such a quick sequence.
"I don't think they were aware that my other half had the baby in there."
Fortunately, the family escaped uninjured, but were left shaken by the ordeal.
The father added how he feared for his daughter as the carjackers attacked.
Thugs in black Audi threaten driver with baseball bat in terrifying armed carjacking in Bearwood
"Metal can be replaced, lives can't. I get speechless when I talk about this and the fact my two-year-old daughter was in the car," he said.
"If we hadn't pulled forward, what would they have done? Would they have dragged us all out of the car? We could have been stabbed."
Armed police, traffic officers, police dogs and neighbourhood officers all rushed to the scene, but the offenders had already escaped.
No arrests have been made and West Midlands Police is urging anyone with information to come forward.
Crimes Caught on Camera
Taxi driver punched
Teenager battered
Gun pulled
Knife-wielding raider
In a statement from the force said: "Officers are investigating a carjacking which took place in Jameson Road in the Nechells area of Birmingham just before 1.30pm yesterday (Monday 16 July).
"It is believed a man was sat in his stationary Audi on the road with his young daughter in the back, when he noticed a suspicious car which was driven past him several times.
"As he drove away, the silver Ford car rammed into his car.
"When the Audi driver's partner came out of the car with his child, three men proceeded to steal his car and the chain around his neck, before leaving.
"Enquiries remain on-going and anyone with information is asked to call police on 101, quoting crime reference 20BW/160327N/18."
Aston and Nechells
CoronavirusUK records 1,820 coronavirus deaths - highest of entire pandemicAll except 49, aged between 37 and 99, had known underlying health conditions
Relief and tears as people get Covid jab after almost a year of not leaving their homes
SolihullUpdate on progress of Solihull's vaccination programme
Face mask spot checks to be carried out by police at Tamworth shops
Staffordshire PoliceStaff are now approaching more shoppers asking them politely if they are not exempt to wear a mask
Ethnic minorities and young people disproportionately fined by police targeting Covid rulebreakers
West Midlands PoliceWest Midlands Police have issued 1,649 fines and 30,373 'directions to leave'
Snow forecast to hit Birmingham and West Midlands across two days next week
Birmingham weatherForecasters at the Met Office are forecasting sleet and torrential downpours across Wednesday night (January 20)
SAGE member warns winter lockdown in 2021 may be needed
CoronavirusProf Semple, speaking in a personal capacity, told Sky News: "I think this is a fair and honest representation of the state of where we are at present."
Police update after man dies following 'suspicious incident '
Staffordshire PoliceA man was taken to hospital but was sadly pronounced dead a short time later.

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Posted on April 26, 2013 December 30, 2018
The World's Most Handsome Man?
What are we to make of this silly story of this poet being expelled from Saudi Arabia recently because "he's too handsome?"
This story passed through the English press like a wild fire yesterday, and probably also overtook the entire Saudi media as well. Well, turns out the dude in question is also a model and actor, so maybe you can chalk the entire episode up to a publicity stunt. Or maybe there's another explanation. Like maybe this nutty story was actually manufactured to divert attention away from something else?
When Abdul Alharbi was taken into police custody at the scene of the Boston Bombing and immediately identified as the prime suspect, some strange events apparently took place, including an emergency meeting between President Obama and the Saudi ambassador, although we were quickly assured that meeting had nothing to do with the sudden reversal of Alharbi from "suspect" to "victim," and his rapid transportation back to the safety of Saudi Arabia, where he would have been the biggest person in the news upon arrival, except for that handsome man, who conveniently took all the spotlights on himself. Maybe I am barking up the wrong tree, but there are so many issues swirling around Boston that just don't figure.
First of all, if you escape the scene of a crime in Boston and blend into the scenery, and are ready to make your getaway, the very last thing you'd do is shoot a Boston police officer in the back of the head, execution style. The Boston police force is one of the most tight-knit communities on earth and they take care of their own. Nobody executes a Boston policeman, unless of course, they want the full fury of that entire force coming down on them with great precision and speed, and, of course, that's exactly what happened next. We were told initially these brothers were armed to the teeth, yet now discover they had but one revolver between the two of them. Nothing makes sense about this crime, and the only possible hypothesis I can find is they were under hypnotic control and instructed to kill that police officer so they'd be quickly located and suicide-d by the Boston police force.
And the most suspicious thing about Alharbi (left)? You can't ask the State Department any questions about him for reasons of National Security. And that probably gives you only two choices: Alharbi was a double agent planted into the cell the brothers belonged to, or Alharbi was actively working to support the brothers. Alharbi, obviously, was way more important than the brothers, who are probably patsies to be discarded who thought they were super spies working for any number of possible intelligence agencies or jihad fronts.
What really happened when the Soviet Union broke up? Because I was led to believe that just as the CIA and Saudi's funded the jihad against the Soviets in Afghanistan, they moved quickly into the Russian states with Muslim populations and began recruiting jihadists. Apparently, the two countries are working together to spread the radical Sunni Salafist Wahhabism in order to provide the dialectical opposition they need to advance their global agendas. So a lot of radical mosques suddenly popped up in Chechnya.
Isn't is a bit strange that the dialectic inside the Muslim world, this endless war between the Sunni and Shite never really seems to produce terrorists from Iran or Iraq interested in fomenting violence against America? In fact, the only source of such violence seems to emanate from Osama bin Laden's home country, Saudi Arabia. Which is why I find it odd that the Saudi links to 9/11 were covered up and ignored, just like what's happening right now to the Saudi link to the Boston Bombing.
And honestly, aside from the eyeliner, I don't see much difference in the looks between these two dudes, so maybe we can ask Saudi Arabia to send Alharbi back here for questioning so he won't tempt the females there with his smouldering good looks?
I just think the "wag the dog" movies have reached a new level since 9/11, and they already have a brilliant op going that blames the Boston bombing on stoners and conspiracy theorists. You can get smoke and mirrors to work any better than that.
New Children's Prayer
Here's a little tip on how to manifest peace magic. A lot of the best magic starts with the kids. A good example would be the children's poem, "Hush-a-bye Baby," which was a coded message for an uprising against King James I, who was suspected of smuggling a new born baby into his palace so he could pawn it off as his newly birthed offspring (when, in fact, he could bear no fruit). "The cradle will fall" was a reference to this child not being recognized as being of proper royal blood.
When I was a kid, we were taught a very strange poem to say every night before bed. In my usual fashion of improvisational ritual theater, I've changed the words a bit in order to place them more in line with my understanding of the sacred vibrations that run through all things.
I encourage parents to introduce this prayer to their kids as a means of dealing with some of the worst of the terror being manufactured today, some of which may even be created to condition us to accept a complete surrender of the Bill of Rights. I think this prayer is a positive step in the right direction and should be translated into every language and spread around the globe as quickly as possible.
An Apology to Elephants
Lily Tomlin has produced a most amazing documentary. Only 40 minutes in length, I guarantee anyone who watches this film will have a hard time ever attending a circus again. I don't think I ever went to a circus that displayed elephants, but I'm sure never going to even think about paying to see such a spectacle as long as I live.
Elephants are some of the most sensitive creatures on earth: huge telepathic engines for emotion and love vibrations. Their deep attachment to each other is well-known and when a lover, child or friend of an elephant dies, it's not unusual for that animal to go into mourning for six months. Looking at an elephant in mourning, you get a real sense of how that vibration shuts down all their chakra centers.
What they don't tell you is that getting elephants to do stupid tricks is a complicated process. First the animal's parents and adult tribe are usually all assassinated in front of the children in Africa. That's done to harvest ivory and meat. Then the elephant kids are rounded up and shipped overseas to a circus or zoo. Once the toddlers arrive at a circus, they have to be "tamed," which involves six men. First, they put ropes on every leg and pull the baby elephant off its feet while one man holds the trunk and another sticks a bullhook into the animal's anus. The bullhook is a steel torture device designed to stab or hook the animal's most sensitive parts, usually a tender spot right about the eye. Baby elephants are beaten and tortured until they lose their spirit. At that point, they're ready to learn tricks, like standing on their hind legs, a completely unnatural position for an elephant.
Interestingly enough, elephants posses great powers that have never been put to use. Had an orphan elephant been showered with love and adapted willingly to living around people, keep in mind he or she is much more sensitive to smell compared with a bloodhound. And probably more intelligent too. Imagine if that elephant had been honored and treated with respect and dignity, instead of being beaten into submission? Almost all are suffering from PTSD, and you can see that in their unnatural head-rocking behaviors. Instead of being treated like a slave, what if that elephant had just been treated like another person, with feelings, emotions and some basic rights? Elephants may lead the way to ending the worldwide abuse of all animals who are denied all dignity in their existence, pumped up on pills and standing in their own feces for most of their short lives before being harvested for human consumption. You know, animals emit telepathic vibes just like we do, so imagine the signals emanating from those animal factories.
Thankfully, people are starting to wake up to this atrocity, and thank you Lily Tomlin for bringing this to our attention. A couple in California created an elephant sanctuary so old elephants no longer of use to the circuses can come and try to get some healing in their final years. One of the most moving parts of the documentary concerns two baby elephants who were separated after coming to the states, both tortured for years, and much later in life, they reunite at this sanctuary. The deep emotion these creatures feel for each other despite being separated for decades was obvious. In fact, elephants spend a lot of time touching each other, rubbing against each other. If they could hug they would since they are obviously sharing compassionate energies on a regular basis.
So check out this amazing documentary while it's on HBO. It will make you sad, but it's something that might actually help turn the tide and help stop the abuse. And never, ever, buy anything made of ivory again.
Alex Jones and Salon: The dialectics of discrediting conspiracy theory
A big dance went down between Alex Jones and Salon over the Boston Marathon Bombing. Salon had already bestowed the title "King of Conspiracy Theory" on Jones earlier and began blogging about him daily, thus increasing his fame, even though Jones is an obvious crackpot demagogue and in no way a real, organic citizen researcher like myself.
Any sensible person rejected Jones after he doctored a pair of Family Guy clips to make it appear the Boston Bombing was predicted by the TV show, a blunder that will forever discredit him. See, Jones likes to push the theory all violence in America is being orchestrated by the Illuminati to mind control us. And when the Colorado shooting happened, that was supposedly a mind control project. Same with Sandy Hook. Never mind the lack of any evidence in this regard, Jones and his ilk just mine coincidences and rumors to bolster phony cases. See, a Batman movie once mentioned the words "Sandy Hook," so that means they plan these events decades in advance and place evidence of their plots into the movies and TV so when the crimes happen, it subconsciously controls our mind. It's hard to even figure out what point they are trying to make with these ridiculous theories, other than manufacturing paranoia.
Jones doctored two Family Guy episodes and then presented this as evidence of an Illuminati mind control experiment. This is just the sort of sophomoric drivel Mark Passio pushes, completely devoid of any real research, just the art of connecting dots that don't connect and then scaring people with the Illuminati boogeyman.
So why would any sensible person even talk to Alex Jones after he pulled that stunt? Of course two of the biggest "whistleblowers" in America talk to Jones all the time: Wayne Madsen and Sibol Edmonds, both former members of the national security state whom I wanted to believe were reliable sources of info, but considering their strong connection to Jones (a manufactured lightning rod, just as Wikileaks and Snowden are manufactured lightning rods), I feel I can't fully trust them.
I'd assume the National Security State is setting up a dialectic with Salon on one side and Jones on the other, as if those two paradigms are our only options. Of course, I always assumed Salon was a CIA op.
Posted on April 24, 2013 September 25, 2018
Was Sinatra a Sometime Stoner?
Handsome Johnny.
Paul Anka's new tell-all book My Way finally arrived. I was hoping this memoir might shed some light on the Sicilian men-of-honor society since Anka was the youngest member of Sinatra's Las Vegas ratpack who ruled Vegas throughout the sixties and seventies. The book does not disappoint. In fact, the foreword includes a few paragraphs on Johnny Roselli, who was running Las Vegas for the Chicago family when Anka arrived there as a teenager. Anka says "Handsome Johnny" was working for Frank Costello and Meyer Lansky, but far as I know, he started out doing hits for the Chicago outfit and may have even been the trigger man for the St. Valentine's day massacre which permanently rearranged the power structure in Chicago.
I have a strange connection to Roselli as he frequently came to my hometown to visit one of his favorite mistresses, the owner of the local newspaper, where I worked on the weekends while in high school, hanging up the UPI and AP tapes that were used to automatically set type. Initially, Roselli was moved out to Hollywood, but after Bugsy Siegal invented Las Vegas, he soon shifted his base of operations there. Anka says Casino is probably the closest movie to the truth about Vegas, but even in that movie the violence is exaggerated for theatrical effect. Roselli and his friends were actually the best-dressed, most well-mannered people in Vegas, and any problems that arose for them were usually dealt with very quietly and behind the scenes.
In fact, the rat pack may have picked up some of its style from Roselli and his pals because they always dressed to the nines. It was Roselli who got Marilyn Monroe her first movie deal, by the way, which is why she owed the Chicago family big time, and why she had affairs with Sam Giancana, Roselli's boss.
There are many revelations in this book, but one of the biggest is Sinatra actually liked smoking pot on occasion? Anka doesn't make a big deal out of it, just mentions it in passing one time, but obviously many if not most of the professional musicians in the 30's and 40's were vipers at one point. We always heard Sinatra didn't care for illegal drugs, but, in fact, that may not have been true when it came to marijuana. The rat pack spent a lot of time in the steam rooms, sweating out the booze they were drinking, but marijuana would also have provided some much needed hangover relief.
Of course, Sammy Davis was the weirdest member of that group. At the invitation of the creepy Lt. Col. Michael Aquino, Sammy received an honorary membership in Anton LaVey's Church of Satan. Sammy was a freak at heart and loved having threesomes with a dude and a lady while imbibing enormous amounts of cocaine and watching porn. Sammy supposedly had the biggest porn collection in Hollywood. Sinatra tried to pull Sammy out of that scene when it was obvious Sammy was losing it.
According to Anka, the scene in Casino when they are bundling up the skim in the backroom is not entirely correct. All the cash was put into official wooden boxes and reported except the hundred dollar bills. The hundreds were divided between the families who'd invested in Vegas, and suitcases of hundred dollar bills were constantly being shipped back east.
I'm sure Anka knows more than he is revealing, but even so, the book is filled with revelations and I hope this gets turned into a movie soon. Anka comes across as a very smart dude who was there at the beginning of rock and roll. In fact, he was working with Buddy Holly when Holly died and Anka correctly identifies Holly as the most important influence on the British invasion, the man who almost single-handedly created the singer/songwriter/guitar player role model that swept through the culture a few years later. Chuck Berry was very influential too, but Chuck was an older dude, already in his 30s when the rock tidal wave crashed on the beach. In a way, Holly's death and Berry's incarceration opened the doors for the British invasion to walk though as they left such a tremendous void.
Anka and Bobby Darin were the two most talented dudes in their class, the last to come from the Brill Building, and it's obvious Anka thinks Darin lost all dignity by joining the counterculture late in life. I disagree in that songs Darin wrote during this period were among his best and make great counterculture anthems today, especially Simple Song of Freedom. So I don't think Darin lost his dignity, quite the contrary, I think he had a spiritual awakening, but like Ricky Nelson found out at Madison Square Garden, sometimes your audience thinks they're in charge of your paradigm and they don't want you to change, or at least they don't follow you down that road.
I didn't realize Anka was Lebanese, probably because his family is Christian, but he was Adnan Khashoggi's favorite performer and there's a lot of praise for that gun runner and Octopus bagman and very little on his criminal behaviors, but then the same goes for the Sicilian men-of-honor. Anka also goes into detail on the famous fight between Steve Wynn and Donald Trump.
But some of his most interesting revelations occur when Howard Hughes arrives in Vegas with the intent of buying up the state. Hughes did buy several casinos before he was mysteriously disappeared, but the men-of-honor? They were left in place. Hughes needed people to run his casinos, and they were simply the best people for that particular job.
Remembering Richie Havens
I hitchhiked to the first Woodstock festival in 1969 with only a few dollars in my pocket. When I arrived at the site, I actually went to the ticket window and bought one ticket, to the Saturday night performance because the Grateful Dead were my favorite band at the time, and the Merry Pranksters were my biggest role models. The Prankster bus (Further) and most of the Pranksters were at the event, although the Chief, Ken Kesey, was hiding in Mexico at the time, avoiding arrest on a minor marijuana charge because he was afraid they were going to throw the book at him for being a counterculture leader. After all, Tim Leary had gotten ten years for two seeds in Texas.
The event was so much more massive than expected. They were trying to erect a fence around the site while I was buying that $7 ticket with most of the money I had on me. You could buy all three days for $18, but I didn't have that much money on me. A few hours later, promoter Michael Lang took Prankster Ken Babbs' advice and tore down the fence and declared Woodstock a free concert. I should have that ticket stashed somewhere in my vast archives but haven't seen it in years.
They had the sound system ready to go long before any of the major acts showed up. A band called Sweetwater was supposed to open the show, an LA version of Jefferson Airplane that nobody ever heard of. But Sweetwater was stuck in traffic and could not reach the site. After that, helicopters were used to bring in the bands. Finally, after a long wait, Richie Havens was sent out to warm up the crowd with only an acoustic guitar, but that warmup lasted for hours as they told Richie just to keep vamping. Richie had been a doo wop and gospel singer from Brooklyn who'd moved to Greenwich Village and become a hippie. After 2 and half hours Richie had played out every song he knew, and still, no other act was ready to play. So Richie performed that most famous example of Improvisational Ritual Theater: he made up a song on the spot and called it "Freedom." Because after all, freedom was what the counterculture was all about. And that became one of the most memorable moments of Woodstock.
As we contemplate the epidemic of violence in our culture, brought on by the perfect storm of pills for everyone, guns for everyone, and graphic violence pornography for everyone, one wonders if another generation will ever emerge honoring non-violence, like mine did in the 1960s.
Richie died last night of a heart attack in his home in Jersey City. His spirit is a good place to be.
The Saudi Connection to the Boston Marathon Bombing
Abdul Rahman Ali Alharbi
Wasn't it strange that Abdul Rahman Ali Alharbi was picked up immediately after the Boston Marathon and his residence searched while the media (NY Post) told us he was the lead suspect in the case? Then, suddenly, the pair from Chechen executes a Boston policeman, followed by a wild shoot-out with police, while behind the scenes, Skull & Bones Patriarch John Kerry and then President Obama hold emergency meetings with the Saudis, the result of which is to have Abdul immediately moved from "suspect" to "victim" and hastily deported out of the country back to Saudi Arabia, free from prying eyes and anxious questions and any legal actions.
Abdul disappeared from the national media and all google searches titled "Saudi Connection to Boston Bombing" led straight into Russia and none into Saudi Arabia, who, as we know, is the real center of funding for Islamic terrorism, perhaps even under the supervision of their British and American compatriots in the MI6 and the CIA and Pentagon. War is really a game played for profit, and most of the crusaders and jihadists don't even realize it, but they're actually working for the same banks, just running up billions in profit in guns and drugs.
Meanwhile, that uncle who was interviewed on CBS 60 Minutes and praised in the Washington Post for being so nice and articulate in his hatred for his two loser nephews? According to Daniel Hopsicker today, that dude is an oil millionaire with links to Halliburton and the CIA. Why am I not surprised? Meanwhile, when Abdul was shipped back to Saudi Arabia, he and his father were immediately paraded before the Saudi media and assured everyone they had nothing to do with the bombing. And then the entire media was overwhelmed by a absurd story of three men so handsome they had to be banished.
Shades of the Israeli team caught videotaping the fall of the twin towers, like they knew if was going to happen, and then celebrating their collapse before being picked up by the New Jersey police and quickly deported back to Israel, where they were paraded before the media to assure everyone, "We didn't have anything to do with 9/11." Funny how easy that op always works. Nothing to see here people, keep moving along. Look, there goes the most handsome man in the world! Just obsess about him and nothing else for the next week or so, will ya?
Posted on April 22, 2013 December 9, 2019
Me & My Meditations
As an infant, I was trained to get on my knees every night by the side of my bed, clasp my palms together with fingers extended upward and say the same prayer every night. Only I always had a queasy feeling about that prayer…."if I should die before I wake." Why even bring up that concept? Something just didn't feel right. I mean, don't you get what you ask for?
Can you imagine if millions of kids went to bed every night in that same position across the world saying: "Now I lay me down for the night, I pray my friends will never fight, a day will come we'll all live in peace, and all these negative energies will finally cease."
How long would it take to manifest world peace if we got something like that going in a major way I wonder? I doubt many of the religious institutions will pick up on this idea, however, much less spread it to their congregations.
I was in the 6th or 7th grade when my older brother finally clued me into the fact our Lutheran upbringing was basically a Santa Claus story. I was absolutely furious. "Why the hell didn't you tell me sooner?" I snarled. I felt like I'd been walking around acting a fool believing some white-haired dude lived in heaven and was watching over me? It shattered not only my religious faith, but also my faith in my parents to tell me the truth, although my mom was real sheepish about the whole fiasco when I confronted her and said she'd only pretended to go along to please my dad's parents who'd grown up in south-eastern Kansas. They went to their graves believing in that white-haired dude in the clouds.
I didn't deal much with religion or spirituality for a long time after that and was basically a punk for many years with no moral foundation. It wasn't until I was sitting on the hill on Yasgur's Farm that I finally got zapped. Probably Wavy Gravy helped that process since he was the main emcee and what a wonderful job he did.
But the 1970s was a terrible time for my generation, at least those of us that choose to fight against the establishment. We were herded off on a trail to nowhere, and gradually watched our entire scene diminish and fade away. But it didn't fade away. Around 1990, I went to my first National Rainbow Family Gathering, and plugged back into that spirit I'd felt at Woodstock in 1969.
I went to a lot of gatherings after that and even organized many on my own, only I called mine the World Hemp Expo Extravaganjas (WHEE!). I had started the concept with the clinical "World Hemp Expo," but Ken Babbs told me it would be a million times better with another "e" on the end so it sounded like fun. The fun vibe was my main trail at the time and always had been. Babbs and Wavy were both Pranksters, although Wavy just dropped in for a brief time before starting his own group, the Hog Farm.
When Abby from Daily Beast interviewed me, I started talking about the people I've known and studied under, a list that includes John Cage, Julian Beck, Jasper Grootveld, Ken Kesey, and Wavy Gravy. This is basically the whos-who of Improvisational Ritual Theater, the art form they pioneered and I struggle to keep alive even though most people don't know it exists and a some people even claim I'm a fraud mouthing a bunch of mumbo-jumbo and have no art at all? Abby had never heard of Wavy Gravy, but I think she did recognize John Cage. Maybe not. Her interview has yet to appear, which makes me think the bosses on high killed her story on 420.
Anyway, after I started going to gatherings, I'd usually be the first one up on peace meditation day, often a Sunday, or in the case of the National, always on July 4th. There'd be silence throughout the camp that morning until noon. I'd be the one who got up before dawn, however, in order to be the first at the peace pole, so I could sit there for hours, burning incense, taking a few hits of pot every hour or so, but focused on one thought, please bring an end to violence and the suffering it creates, and keep that thought until the OM broke out at noon, followed by a big drum circle and dance.
I know both John Lennon and George Harrison approached meditation the same way. When they discovered it, they'd chant for hours until both lost their vocal cords and had to stop.
Does this meditation have any positive effect? Well, it always leaves me feeling cleansed and energized. I'm always very sad to leave the natural world after living in a forest as an environmental monk for a few weeks. And I look and act like a road dog for a few days before I morph back into my Babylon identity.
The Sexiest Woman Alive?
When dudes my age think "sex appeal" most of us think Marilyn Monroe, easily the sexiest screen goddess Hollywood ever manifested, but as beautiful and sexy as Marilyn was, she wasn't known as the best person in bed in Hollywood, far from it, in fact. That particular honor actually fell to Angie Dickenson, as revealed in Paul Anka's stunning new tell-all book, My Way. When Anka asked both Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin who the best lay in town was, neither hesitated for even a second: "Angie."
I already ordered a copy of Anka's book and I'm really looking forward to it. It's obviously creating problems for the Sinatra estate, as they would like to keep some of this gossip out of the press, but apparently Frank pretty much lost it by the end of his life and became a haunted shadow of his former self. While Bobby Darin easily made the paradigm shift in the 1960s, growing long hair and become a peace activist who loved hippies and wrote songs about world peace, Sinatra never found a way to connect with the emerging paradigm and its messages of universal love.
Burt Bacharach and wife.
According to Anka, Sinatra was enamored of his connections with the Sicilian men-of-honor society, although Frank never seemed to realize he was just a pawn really, and not an actual member of the gang. According to Anka, Sinatra tried to get a casino head whacked who wasn't giving him enough free chips at the gambling table (he was used to getting $50,000 in chips every time he showed up). But then when Howard Hughes started buying up Las Vegas, he didn't extend those perks to anyone. Sinatra had a hard time during the late 1960s as the world changed all around him while he didn't. But the Sicilian fathers refused to whack a member of their tribe just because Frank was pissed at him.
I'd sure like to question Anka about whether Sinatra ever mentioned Bobby Fuller, who was about to become the biggest rock star in America when he was murdered. That crime has never been solved, but one rumor had it that Sinatra had ordered the hit on Fuller because he'd introduced his daughter Nancy to LSD. If you know anything about Nancy, though, that story seems ridiculous as she was always a goodie two shoes, and certainly never showed any signs of having tripped on anything. At one point I thought I'd actually cracked the case when Bobby's only child, his son John Novak, told me that his grandfather might have killed Bobby as revenge for impregnating his underage daughter. John was raised in a foster home and his identity as Bobby's son was not revealed to anyone for decades.
Some people ask me, "Steve, why do you call the mafia 'the Sicilian men-of-honor society?" Well, I do that for the same reason I call the Lakota by that name, instead of calling them Sioux like most everyone else. I prefer to call tribes and secret societies by the names they use for themselves and not the names put on them by their enemies.
Posted on April 21, 2013 May 9, 2019
Gunshots at Marijuana Rally
How sad the Denver rally was marred by violence and instead of a message of peace, the global news is now reporting: "gunshots at marijuana rally." For me, this is a great tragedy.
Abby from Daily Beast called me on 4/19 and interviewed me for over an hour. She seemed fascinated by my history of spiritual use of cannabis, although I cautioned her there was a pretty intense filter in the national media on any of this info, and if she planned to write about it, be prepared for censorship from on high. She laughed off that idea, but strangely, her story has yet to appear.
The Denver rally began ten years ago, one of the first large mass April 20th events. Now we have so many. In 1990 I discovered an annual ritual was taking place near the top of Mount Tamalpais in Marin County. At the time, I was reading about Soma and had decided the story invented by Gordon Wasson that Soma was a mushroom was false, and Soma was actually cannabis, just like it was obvious to me cannabis was manifesting real ceremony and ritual in Marin, headquarters of the hippie counterculture after the Haight was over-run with undercovers, violence, hard drugs and nasty ops. From 1995 until 2003, the center of energy on spreading 420 ceremonies was the Cannabis Cup, especially the Temple Dragon Crew, who were so fanatical about honoring 420 they did it twice every day, at 4:20 PM and 4:20 AM. Having a picture taken at the Quentin hotel lobby under the clock at 4:20 AM was one of the biggest 420 ceremonies around for years before the rest of the world picked up on it.
That's why I could never understand why Steve Bloom, who actually appears in some of those early 420 photos at the Quentin lobby, tells people High Times, the Cannabis Cup, and me in particular, "had nothing to do with spreading 420?" After having spent 30 years trying to get the spiritual rights issues around cannabis recognized, and then have that entire life's campaign dismissed by someone who actually saw the thing assembled is saddening. But then Bloom voluntarily quit High Times when I was brought back the third time, just because he couldn't work under me again. So I understand where the vibes are coming from.
Mike Edison on wikipedia claims I pushed the Waldo's story and took 420 to "cult-like extremes." That is really hilarious. Yes, I organized events around 420, and at 4:20 PM, I would sometimes ask the assembled multitudes to form a circle, hold hands, and OM for world peace. That's a traditional hippie ceremony begun in North America by The Brotherhood of Eternal Love on the West Coast and Allen Ginsberg on the East Coast. I believed holding these ceremonies was proof of spiritual culture and could be used to bring a court case to the Supreme Court, which had always refused to hear the religious rights case on cannabis.
Like I was telling Abby from Daily Beast, I found out about marijuana by reading On the Road, and the key moment in that stream of consciousness is a spiritual moment in Mexico provided by a few hits of marijuana. That book sent my generation looking for marijuana because we wanted to have a spiritual moment like that, especially since all of us had recently lost our religions and needed something real and honest we could plug into.
During this crucial time, when the counterculture was re-discovering the sacrament of peace culture, what happens? A major op is launched by Gordon Wasson to declare the magic mushroom as the key to spirituality. And he heads off down to Mexico to take mushrooms with a shaman and it ends up on the cover of Life magazine. Suddenly, it's all about mushrooms again. This is obviously the same op Wasson pulled on Soma. Could it be possible that when the Roman empire took control of Christianity, which up until then had been a poor people's religion based on world peace, and when Constantine put that cross on his army's shields, he also switched up the sacraments? The poor people got alcohol, while the priests got mushrooms maybe but the cannabis became strictly forbidden because cannabis manifests peace culture, and the Roman empire was never about peace.
After I attended my first Rainbow Gathering and stood in a circle OMing for peace with 15,000 people, my mind was blown and I realized if only we had more ceremonies like this, we might actually get some positive energy going in this direction. So I organized a lot of peace circles for the next 30 years and tried to teach the youth about hippie magic. But I live in New York City, where hippies are not really very popular, and the minute I started manifesting these ceremonies, I was branded "a cult leader" by people that wanted to take my job. Where is my army of zombie robots and why aren't they carrying me around in a sedan chair feeding me grapes all day? In fact, I never tried to organize a cult or anything close and I have zero dogma to push, only a desire to spread peace energy to help heal all the hate, but of course, this is dangerous, or at least lame and stupid, eh?


Some people are such giants, that they level all of us and join us together in admiration.
I just woke up in a hotel room in Boston to the news that David Bowie had died. I don't do collective grief, but I'm weeping, and playing a soundtrack of wonderful music mentally as I read tributes and a genuine outpouring of love from fans. Today all of us who feel this loss are just fans, however exalted they were yesterday.
We wouldn't have the music we love without Bowie. It's as simple as that. He made his own path, he did what was right, not what was expected. He changed, endlessly. He got bored easily. What more can you ask of an artist?
And in a world that often seems more and more inhuman from one day to the next, his humanity was a joyous gift. To have been alive at the same time as David Bowie is something I'm very thankful for.
The picture came from his son Duncan's tweet confirming the news. It's touching to me because I just played "Kooks" to my baby son, and smiled at the idea of punching other peoples' dads, bouncing him on my knee as I did. That's my personal Bowie moment, the one I'm thinking of most this morning. He was part of the warp and weft of our lives.
I don't want to geekishly list the connections between Prefab Sprout history and Bowie, it would feel wrong. They are not hard to find, and fairly obvious too. I'm just going to pull out two things, a lovely quote this morning from Wendy from Facebook, and a Youtube link.
I spent a lovely afternoon in a studio sitting next to him on a sofa, chatting, doing the crossword, doodling on a photo in the paper of Jagger. Gave me a recipe for tea for singers. Lucky.


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The exhibition Kurt Schwitters. Avant-Garde and Advertising seeks to highlight jointly what at first glance would appear to be two divergent aspects of the work of Kurt Schwitters (1887–1948), one of the foremost figures of the European avant-garde in the last century: on the one hand, his collages—a technique of which he was a true master, along with Picasso, Hans Arp, László Moholy-Nagy and Hannah Höch—and, on the other, his graphic design, a facet of his legacy that is much less familiar to the general public. To this end, the exhibition presents several of his celebrated collages from the period spanning the 1920s and the 1940s alongside an uninterrupted string of his work in graphic design and typography, with numerous and varied examples, ranging from books, posters, advertising pamphlets, magazines, ads for the press, letterheads, and printed matter for banks and businesses or for the post.
The array of pieces presented here includes ten collages executed between 1922 and 1947 and nearly a hundred printed items, all of which are on loan from private collections in Spain and abroad. This selection serves to reveal Schwitters' work as a corpus of art as full of contrasts as it is meaningful. To begin with, we encounter examples of work that can be described as "artistically pure": his collages and, in general, the entire universe of works that Schwitters referred to (in his peculiar turn of phrase) as Merz, a world that he created and re-created over the course of his life. At the same time, however, the exhibition offers a well-rounded assessment of his work in the advertising business and as a graphic designer—work whose evident utilitarian function served to promote certain products and commercial enterprises and which likewise provided for the artist's own economic necessities. And yet, making Schwitters' case all the more interesting, he did not only earn his keep as a graphic designer. As is well known, throughout his career he also painted landscapes and still lifes in a traditional style—that is, "art" in a pre-modernist sense—in order to procure a regular income. One might thus say that his work was markedly bifurcated, both formally and economically, into two activities: those with which he earned no money (avant-garde collages, objects, and sculptural constructions) and those with which he did earn an income (oils and graphic design).
This formal and economic duality that is so fundamental to his oeuvre is the point of departure for Kurt Schwitters. Avant-Garde and Advertising. But it has been chosen as our starting point precisely in order to question the habit of imposing too strict a division between his art and his graphic design (though the difference between them might seem perfectly clear), as if Schwitters' graphic work played a merely secondary role alongside his "principal" work, his extraordinarily novel experiments with form.
For this reason, Kurt Schwitters. Avant-Garde and Advertising presents both aspects of his oeuvre, that of the artist and that of the designer, intermingling them in order to delve into their common roots. Indeed, the "economic" or "business" model of Schwitters' work as a graphic designer was not at all unrelated to his self-awareness as an artist. An indication of the degree to which art and design—or, avant-garde and publicity—are interwoven in Schwitters' oeuvre lies in the term he invented to identify his work: Merz. Not only did it arise, according to Schwitters, from his having come across fragments of printed matter from a bank in which he found the word Kommerz, "commerce," torn in half; but he also applied it indiscriminately to paintings (Merzbilder), constructions (Merzbauten), sculptural objects (Merzobjekte), and exhibitions (Merzausstellungen), and, at the same time, to his unusual advertising agency, the Merzwerbezentrale. In fact, the duality in Schwitters' work between the order and communicative efficacy that must prevail in graphic design and the surprising, baffling effects of the inherently spontaneous technique of collage is not an irreconcilable dichotomy; on the contrary, it is marked by the same consistency as the equilibrium that Schwitters managed to establish between his activities as an artist and as a poet. Indeed, significantly, Schwitters' enormous poetic sensibility that is quite evident in his collages also appears in his work as an ad designer, in which he often applied his uncommon ingenuity to the creation of effective slogans and phrases, some of which became very popular.
Kurt Schwitters. Avant-Garde and Advertising aims to present Schwitters' artistic, poetic, and advertising work visually as a comprehensible whole, governed by an idiosyncratic internal logic. Collages allowed him to reestablish and recompose an order—the order of art and poetry—for those "things" from daily life (theater tickets, used and torn wrappers, newspapers, pieces of cloth, wires, and nails, but also texts, unconnected words, expressions, poems, phrases, and syllables) that use and the passage of time had stripped of their original function and, therefore, of their meaning in its entirety. It is the work of the collagist, the assemblages built out of those fragments, that gives them new meaning: the meaning of artistic creation. Through the order of art, collage recomposes the order of events (and of language) when their obsolescence or disuse has supervened. This act of creation, which implies a kind of resurrection, a second chance provided by art for life's objects and things, was for Schwitters also inseparable from a certain tension and anguish: In his Merz one can sense an echo of the word Schmerz (suffering, grief), whose first three letters in turn point to the first letters of the artist's last name.
In short, the novelty of the avant-garde artist's experimentation with form meshed, in Schwitters' case, with his work as a graphic artist, in such a way that his oeuvre can be presented as a true, mutually productive symbiosis between two realities in modern art, as apparently at odds as they are intimately connected: the avant-garde and advertising.


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Q: Android: CryptoObject and BiometricPrompt security. Is it possible to hack? I need to securely store certain secret in my app using biometry. I wanted to use BiometricPrompt to obtain CryptoObject which will be used to cipher and decipher this secret (e.g. like described here: https://medium.com/androiddevelopers/using-biometricprompt-with-cryptoobject-how-and-why-aace500ccdb7).
val promptCrypto = BiometricPrompt.CryptoObject(cipher)
biometricPrompt.authenticate(promptInfo, promptCrypto)

But is there any known vulnerabilities in this mechanism? Is there any option to obtain this CryptoObject without using biometry (e.g. on rooted device)? Is it secure on all devices or are there any differences?
Thank you for your response.

A: Your topic questions

Android: CryptoObject and BiometricPrompt security. Is it possible to hack?

If it is Software then it may be possible to hack it. It's just a question of time, knowledge and effort.

But is there any known vulnerabilities in this mechanism? Is there any option to obtain this CryptoObject without using biometry (e.g. on rooted device)?

Not that I am aware off, but I am not an expert in reverse engineering, just someone knowledgeably enough to tell you that an attacker doesn't need to bypass this security mechanism to extract the secret from your mobile app.
Just keep reading to understand how it's possible...
Secrets in a mobile app are public

I need to securely store certain secret in my app using biometry. I wanted to use BiometricPrompt to obtain CryptoObject which will be used to cipher and decipher this secret.

The use of the CryptoObject and BiometricPrompt will securely encrypt the secret and store it with the underline mechanism known by the Android Hardware-backed Keystore:

The availability of a trusted execution environment in a system on a chip (SoC) offers an opportunity for Android devices to provide hardware-backed, strong security services to the Android OS, to platform services, and even to third-party apps.

While this may be very hard to hack, an intelligent attacker will not waste his time in trying to break it, instead, the attacker will download your mobile app binary, perform some static analysis on it to find the function in your code that uses the secret after it has been decrypted, and then use an instrumentation framework to hook to this function at runtime and extract the secret to a command and control server he controls, from where he will then be able to automate attacks using the extracted secret. The reach of this type of attacks will be limited if the secret is scoped to the current user of the mobile app.
One of the most popular instrumentation frameworks is Frida:

Inject your own scripts into black box processes. Hook any function, spy on crypto APIs or trace private application code, no source code needed. Edit, hit save, and instantly see the results. All without compilation steps or program restarts.

The bottom line here is that no matter how safely you store your secrets in the mobile app, they must be considered public from the moment your release the mobile app.
Delegate access to third party services and API's
I often see third-party APIs being accessed directly from within a mobile app, thus the mobile app will need to have the secrets to access them.
The problem with this approach is that once you cannot guarantee that an attacker will not steal your secrets, then you may only know that they have been compromised when your bill usage for this services goes to the roof. Worst, you may only find the secrets have been compromised after you are made aware that you have suffered a data breach, but now the reputation of your business is severely affected or damaged beyond repair, to not mention the huge fines that the business may have to pay due to breaches of laws, like the GDPR in Europe.
So my advice is to always delegate to a backend that you control the access to third party services/APIs, and you can read more about in my article
Using a Reverse Proxy to Protect Third Party APIs:

In this article you will start by learning what Third Party APIs are, and why you shouldn't access them directly from within your mobile app. Next you will learn what a Reverse Proxy is, followed by when and why you should use it to protect the access to the Third Party APIs used in your mobile app.

Now you may say that you still need a secret to access this Reverse proxy, and that is true, but now you are only including one secret in the mobile app for a backend that you have total control off, where you can apply all defence measures you see fit to monitor abuse, throttle it or completely block it. So no more surprise bills in your third party services/APIs, because now they are accessed through this backend you control.
The bottom line is that a mobile app should only communicate with a backend that is under your control and any access to third-party APIs services must be done by this same backend you control. This way you limit the attack surface to only one place, where you will employ as many layers of defence as what you are protecting is worth.
Possible Solutions to defend your backend
I mention above that you can apply defences measures you see fit, and I recommend you to read this answer I gave to the question How to secure an API REST for mobile app?, especially the sections Securing the API Server and A Possible Better Solution to understand some of your options.
Do You Want To Go The Extra Mile?
In any response to a security question I always like to reference the excellent work from the OWASP foundation.
For APIS
OWASP API Security Top 10

The OWASP API Security Project seeks to provide value to software developers and security assessors by underscoring the potential risks in insecure APIs, and illustrating how these risks may be mitigated. In order to facilitate this goal, the OWASP API Security Project will create and maintain a Top 10 API Security Risks document, as well as a documentation portal for best practices when creating or assessing APIs.

For Mobile Apps
OWASP Mobile Security Project - Top 10 risks

The OWASP Mobile Security Project is a centralized resource intended to give developers and security teams the resources they need to build and maintain secure mobile applications. Through the project, our goal is to classify mobile security risks and provide developmental controls to reduce their impact or likelihood of exploitation.

OWASP - Mobile Security Testing Guide:

The Mobile Security Testing Guide (MSTG) is a comprehensive manual for mobile app security development, testing and reverse engineering.

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