Hump day.

FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM

1.  Cost of classification, $11 billion.  Posting to Wikileaks, free.  Editor Lindy Kyzer examines the numbers behind classification, declassification, and the people who make those decisions: “Not surprisingly, the Department of Defense produces the greatest number of documents for automatic declassification, with the CIA, Army, State Department, Navy, and Department of Energy rounding out the list of those with more than 500,000 pages.”

2.  Glass-is-half-full kind of girl.  Contributor Jillian Hamilton reports, “. . . there is hope that with consistent new job creation, the U.S. economy will not slow down.  Economists believe the job market to be holding firm and ADP’s National Employment Report is predicting job growth.”  Plus, Lockheed Martin goes global, DoD tightens the belt, and more.

THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT

1.  POTUS weighs Afghan options.  “President Barack Obama is reviewing options from his national security team on what the possible U.S. footprint in Afghanistan will look like after 2014,” American Forces Press Service’s Bill Garamone reports.  “All options are on the table in regards to a post-2014 U.S. presence in Afghanistan, [Pentagon Press Secretary George] Little said. This includes the so-called ‘zero-option’ that White House official Ben Rhodes spoke about in January, Little said. This option, he said, is a possibility.”  See also, “Pakistan, army adamant on fighting the other Taliban.”

2.  Fighting words.  Afghan soldier opens fire on ISAF troop in Kandahar.  LongWarJournal.Com’s Lisa Lundquist reports, “According to Javed Faisal, spokesman for the provincial governor [of Kandahar], the shooting occurred after a ‘verbal clash.’  An account by Khaama Press stated that ‘at least three’ Czech soldiers were wounded in the attack, which occurred as they were ‘crossing the area.’ . . .  A subsequent report by the Associated Press indicates that the injured soldiers were from Slovakia, which guards the Kandahar Airfield base. According to the AP report, gubernatorial spokesman Faisal claimed that a preliminary investigation indicated the shooting was an ‘accident’ rather than an insider attack.  See also, “Roadside bomb kills 17 Villagers.”

3.  Servicemembers (and families) suffer, GAO investigates, DoD denies.  Thanks, guys.  Reuters’ Scot J. Paltrow and Kelly Carr tell the story of one Soldier at the mercy of unresponsive pay system: “A review of individuals’ military pay records, government reports and other documents, along with interviews with dozens of current and former soldiers and other military personnel, confirms Aiken’s case is hardly isolated. . . . ‘Too often, a soldier who has a problem with his or her pay can wait days, weeks or even months to get things sorted out,’ Democratic Senator Thomas Carper of Delaware, chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, wrote in an email. ‘This is simply unacceptable.’”  Well, then do something.  See also, “Paymasters Hound Master Sergeant”:  “Air Force Secretary Michael Donley[‘s] spokeswoman, Ann Stefanek, said that . . . ‘there’s a possibility there is an error.’ . . . She said Donley’s office would not look into whether the Air Force and DFAS had erred.” [my emphasis]

4.  Aquino’s Ramadan petition for peace.  Philippines’ President Benigno S. Aquino III, reports the Philippine Daily Inquirer, “said that as one of the five pillars of Islam, this sacred month called on the ‘faithful to seek to be closer to Allah and to ask for his mercy.  It is a vital aspect in the life of every Muslim . . . .’  The President . . . wished that prayers offered during the fasting month would not only lead to spiritual vigor, but also help usher in societal harmony and justice.”  See also, “Jonathan urges Muslims to pray for peace, security, unity at Ramadan” and “U.N. calls for Afghan peace during Ramadan.”

5. Syria’s humanitarian crisisBrookings.Edu’s Elizabeth Ferris outlines “Five More Uncomfortable Questions for the International Community”: “Analysis of the Syrian humanitarian situation is a heart-breaking effort. Millions of Syrian men, women and children have been uprooted from their communities and are unlikely to return back to their homes any time soon. Even though it has, thus far, been unable to bring an end to the conflict, the international community has a responsibility to do all it can to protect and assist the victims of this war. This is and will be a difficult, costly and often uncomfortable undertaking.”

6.  Constitutional nod to Islamists causes stirReuters’ Shadia Nasralla reports on challenges ahead as Egypt works to compose a new constitution: “In what appeared to be a gesture to Islamist parties, the decree included some of the controversial language put into the constitution last year by Islamists and which defined the principles of sharia. Liberals and Christians had opposed the article as one of several that gave the text an Islamist tone.”  See also, “Egypt seeks to end crisis with quick elections” and “Egypt Pushes Transition, Naming Prime Minister” and, finally, “Egypt interim leader offers Brotherhood roles” while “Rival groups in Egypt reject transition plan” and “Egypt gripes about U.S. gov.”

7.  Sailors training Ugandans – benefits both forcesMarine Corps Forces Africa’s Andrew Bolla reports, “Sailors assigned to Special-Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force Africa recently completed their second 10-week training engagement with Uganda People’s Defense Force (UPDF) soldiers.  While enhancing the capabilities of two UPDF logistics companies over the last six months, U.S. Navy Hospital Corpsmen First Class Hugo Canedo and Brent Pope took the opportunity to increase their own capabilities and prepare for their Fleet Marine Force qualification.”

8.  Manning: “’Activism is fun.’”  Well, up to the trial and life sentence part.  Defense continues in Bradley Manning Trial, USNews.Com reports: “Laura McNamara, a friend of Manning’s, testified about the concern Manning seemed to show for the lives of families in foreign countries. Through a series of online chat logs from 2009 – before the reported leak – Manning discussed with her the value of human life above all other priorities, and how he saw the military as an ‘overall positive force’ but a largely ‘male-dominated, Christian right organization,’ according to the Times. Manning told her that ‘activism is fun,’ McNamara said in cross examination, and that the military made a mistake.”

9.  Rocker goes Ranger goes Columbia U.  Read this pretty amazing story of Nirvana’s guitarist Jason Everman:  “He was talking about Jack Kerouac; he had to reread ‘On the Road’ for one of his classes. . . . Everman looked rested and content, a backpack over his shoulder.  After he left the military in 2006, he used the G.I. Bill to apply to two places:  Seattle University and Columbia University. . . . General McChrystal wrote a letter of recommendation.  To Everman’s shock, he was accepted. ‘It’s almost like a dare that went too far — and it keeps going.’ At 45, he just received his bachelor’s degree in philosophy.”

CONTRACT WATCH

1.  GSA goes eBay. NextGov.Com reports on GSA’s reverse auction tool: “In a reverse auction, an agency seeks a product or service and vendors compete to offer the lowest price. Bids usually fall the longer the auction goes on. The procedure is typically used for simple purchases where cost is the most important factor in an agency’s buying decision.”

2.  $53.6 million for Lockheed Martin: “Lockheed Martin Corp., Mission Systems and Training, Owego, N.Y., has been awarded a $53,600,000 (estimated amount for basic three year period of performance) firm-fixed-price for six B-2 line replaceable units, data, material lay-in, and overhaul management.”

TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY

1.  Gurgle gurgle gurgle.  Obama’s nominee for FBI director calls waterboarding torture.  Reuters’ Deborah Charles reports, “Comey, the former deputy attorney general from 2003-2005, told senators at a confirmation hearing that . . . . ‘When I first learned about waterboarding when I became deputy attorney general, my reaction as a citizen and a leader was ‘This is torture,’ Comey said. ‘It’s still what I think.’”  See also the late Christopher Hitchens’ Vanity Fair story from August 2008, “Believe me, It’s Torture.”

2.  Go west, or east, or north or south, young man, depending on where you are.  Montana protects your privacy with gusto.  GovExec.Com’s Alexander Abad-Santos reveals Big Sky Country’s foresight:  “Behold the Montana legislature, whose last prominent achievement allowed Montanans to eat their own roadkill.  Overshadowed by that bill this past term was little old House Bill 603, a measure that requires the government to obtain a probable cause warrant before spying on you through your cell phone or laptop. HB 603 was signed into law this past Spring, effectively making Montana the first state to have an anti-spy law long before anyone heard of Edward Snowden.”

3.  Trans-app Ubiquity is comingWired.Com’s Marcus Wohlsen lays out the future of Dropbox – both exciting and, perhaps, a little disturbing.  Wohlsen writes that Dropbox CEO Drew Houston “wants Dropbox to become the “spiritual successor to the hard drive”:  Tuesday, “at Dropbox’s first-ever developers conference, the company is officially launching a new set of coding tools designed to push Dropbox into every corner of your digital life. Not content to stay sequestered inside the box, the company’s co-founders are unveiling ways for developers to meld their service with every app on every device you own.”  See Bloomberg’s overview of Dropbox, Inc. and BusinessInsider.Com’s report, “A Lot Of Dropbox Employee Stock Is Being Bought Right Now,” by Alyson Shontell, if you’re interested in investing.

POTOMAC TWO-STEP

1.  Coup CalypsoTheDailyBeast.Com’s Kirsten Powers reviews the steps and observes, “Egyptians have been jubilant that their autocratic and dangerously incompetent president, Mohammed Morsi, was removed from power one week ago. But they are also frustrated with lectures from American congressional leaders and some American journalists who have characterized the Egyptian people’s popular uprising as an undemocratic power grab. . . . The U.S. has had a real knack for getting on the wrong side of history in Egypt. Maybe it’s time to change that.”

2.  On the verge of a McCarthy-esque minuetMcClatchyDC.Com’s Jonathan S. Landay and Marisa Taylor report on the Administration’s “initiative aimed at rooting out future leakers and other security violators . . . . to report suspicious actions of their colleagues based on behavioral profiling techniques that are not scientifically proven to work, according to experts and government documents.”   It’s a long one, so you’d better sit down.

OPINIONS EVERYONE HAS

1.  Good lavatory reading.  Print it.  Put it on the tank.  Vanity Fair’s Fred Burton and Samuel M. Katz’s “40 Minutes in Benghazi” details the history of U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens death in Benghazi: “Burning down an embassy or a diplomatic post was so much easier than blowing it up, and historically, when a diplomatic post’s defenses had been breached, the end result was usually an inferno. As the frenzy of destruction began to simmer down, the roar of fire was loud and ominous.”

2.  How to leak and not get wet (without Poise)Reuter’s Jack Shafer provides wise advice to those looking to leak for reasons larger than self-aggrandizement:  “The solitary whistle-blower, usually a career government employee, isn’t really a leaker, as Stephen Hess explains in his enduring typology of leakers. Typically, the whistle-blower seeks revolutionary change, not piecemeal reform.  He doesn’t share information with journalists to purchase their goodwill or to loft a trial balloon or to give himself an ego boost.  He’s motivated by principle, not self-interest or Machiavellian intrigue, and seeks to correct what he considers an intolerable wrong. And in most cases, his whistle-blowing results in career suicide if not jail time.” See also May 17th’s CJDC article, “Why People Spill Government Secrets: From AP to Wikileaks.”

3.  WaPo’s Ed Board: “Egypt’s generals, President Obama double down on failed policies”:  “The Obama administration is doubling down on its own failures.  During 2011 and 2012, it refused to respond to the military’s abuses by reducing or suspending aid. For the past year it remained publicly silent and passive while the Morsi government abused its powers. Now it is contending that a cutoff of U.S. aid — required by law following any ouster of an elected government in which the military plays a decisive role — would not be in the U.S. interest.”

THE FUNNIES

1.  Connecting flights.

2.  Which Doobie you be?

3.  Do not pass go.

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Ed Ledford enjoys the most challenging, complex, and high stakes communications requirements. His portfolio includes everything from policy and strategy to poetry. A native of Asheville, N.C., and retired Army Aviator, Ed’s currently writing speeches in D.C. and working other writing projects from his office in Rockville, MD. He loves baseball and enjoys hiking, camping, and exploring anything. Follow Ed on Twitter @ECLedford.