SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:54 P.M. ET:

SIGN OF THE TIMES – FROM ROLLING STONE:   In light of the recent attacks on concerts in Manchester, Las Vegas and Paris, this year's Grammy weekend will feature a new component: a counterterrorism briefing for musicians with State Department and European Union officials. The all-day training, held in a Times Square hotel suite on Saturday, will include briefings to a number of high-profile Grammy attendees, including Pink, Little Big Town, Chris Stapleton, Run the Jewels and Young Thug, among others. While venues typically provide standard security briefings ahead of each event, and the Recording Academy provides some guidance to its members, this off-site briefing is the first to provide non-event-specific best practices from US State Department and European Union officials directly to the musicians themselves.  A very wise move.  Eternal vigilance, as they say, is the price of liberty.

MORE ABOUT MELANIA TRUMP'S RISE – FROM THE WASHINGTON TIMES:   Much of the press coverage of first lady Melania Trump has descended from mere criticism and speculation to downright scandal mongering. The American public is not buying it, if recent poll numbers are a gauge.  Since December, Mrs. Trump has garnered very respectable favorability ratings. Gallup found that 54 percent of the nation gave her a thumbs up. CNN reported her positive rating to be 47 percent while an Economist YouGov survey gave her a 48 percent.  In the year since she became first lady, Mrs. Trump poll numbers have risen from 17 to 37 percentage points over the months, depending on the poll. Some news organizations have acknowledged this.  Both Fox News and The Hill recently ran nearly identical headlines which read “Melania Trump’s popularity soars” and “Melania Trump’s popularity climbs.” AOL News also reported the first lady’s “surging popularity.”  Such positive sentiment has continued for months, despite hostile press coverage which appears to have escalated.  I see increasing evidence that the public is becoming repelled by the attacks on both Donald and Melania Trump.  The voters who chose Mr. Trump knew they weren't getting an angel.  They elected him for policy reasons.  As for Melania, she is earning her rise in popularity.

INCREDIBLE – FROM THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE:    An interactive map posted on the internet that shows the whereabouts of people who use fitness devices such as Fitbit also reveals highly sensitive information about the location and activities of soldiers at U.S. military bases, in what appears to be a major security oversight.  The Global Heat Map, published by the GPS tracking company Strava, uses satellite information to map the location and movements of subscribers to the company's fitness service over a two-year period, by illuminating areas of activity.  Strava says it has 27 million users around the world, including people who own widely available fitness devices such as Fitbit, Jawbone and Vitofit, as well as people who directly subscribe to its mobile phone application. The map is not live — rather it shows a pattern of accumulated activity between 2015 and September last year.  Most parts of the United States and Europe, where millions of people use some form of fitness tracker, show up on the map as a blaze of light, because there is so much activity.   Pretty chilling.  Imagine what newer versions of this technology will be able to tell a foreign enemy 20 years from now.

January 28, 2018