Humph Day Top Ten

FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM

1.  A piece of you—DNA for clearances. Editor Lindy Kyzer explains, “It’s not shocking that advanced biometrics are under consideration. Clearance applicants are already asked to provide fingerprints as a part of the process . . . . The federal government does not necessarily play by the same employment rules as the private sector, particularly when it comes to security clearance applicants.”

2.  G.I. Bill—it’s not just for college anymore. Contributor Jennifer Cary explains, “Each year, hundreds of thousands of service members and veterans take advantage of the GI Bill and pursue a form of higher education. While going to a brick and mortar college is probably one of the most well-known ways to use your GI bill education credits, there are also some unconventional programs that qualify for funding.”

THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT

1.  Cold War II—NATO gearing up. AP’s John-Thor Dahlburg and Vladimir Isachenkov report from Brussels, “NATO foreign ministers moved Tuesday to beef up the defenses of front-line alliance members feeling menaced by a more assertive Russia, with Secretary of State John Kerry proclaiming the U.S. commitment to their security is ‘unwavering.’ . . . The North Atlantic Treaty Organization . . . is facing its most acute geopolitical crisis in years . . . which the Obama administration and its allies condemn as a brazen, illegal land grab.” Also, U.S. defense officials considering material support to Ukraine.

2.  MRAP overload. DefenseNews.Com’s Jeff Schogol reports, “The US military has more Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles in Afghanistan that it can bring home — and Afghanistan, India and Pakistan are locked in a three-way competition for them . . . . Pakistan has said it wants a lot of MRAPs and some US government officials think the vehicles could help the Paksitanis fight their own insurgents . . . .”

3.  Drone kills 3 AQ in Yemen. LongWarJournal.Org’s Bill Roggio and Oren Adaki report, “The US killed three suspected al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula fighters in the first drone strike in Yemen in nearly three weeks. Today’s strike targeted an AQAP training center in the Al Mahfad area of Abyan province . . . . The remotely piloted Predators or Reapers fired three missiles at ‘two huts and a site used as a training center,’ killing three fighters and wounding four more, some seriously. . . . AQAP remains entrenched in the Al Mahfad area despite several Yemeni military operations that attempted to dislodge the terror group.” See also from Reuters, “Militants attack army headquarters in south Yemen.”

4.  Afghan elections—how the Taliban votes. Khaama.Com reports, “The Taliban militants group killed a provincial council candidate along with nine other civilians in northern Sar-e-Pul province of Afghanistan . . . . Nazari was contesting for provincial council seat from Balkhab district. He was  returning from Suzma Qala district on Sunday when he was abducted by Taliban militants.”

CONTRACT WATCH

1.  Call for Geospatial Intel Software. FederalTimes.Com’s Michael Peck reports, “The Naval Special Warfare Command (NSWC) is looking for geospatial intelligence software. NSWC wants off-the-shelf desktop, server-based and portal products, according to Navy request for information, which lays out a long list of desired overlay capabilities. These include geographic, demographic, political and industrial overlays. Other overlays would depict enemy sensor coverage, sentry locations, patrol routes, line-of-sight, and weapons coverage.”

2.  Lockheed cornering GPS Satellite market. GovConWire.Com reports, “Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) will work to complete production of GPS III satellites seven and eight for the U.S. Air Force under nearly $245 million in contract options. ‘With eight GPS III satellites now fully under contract, the GPS III program is moving from development into recurring production’ . . . .”

TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY

1.  Accountability for torture, maybe.. Christian Science Monitor’s Peter Grier reports, “The [Senate Intelligence Committee] probe . . . concluded that waterboarding, stress positions, sleep deprivation, and other harsh methods provided little if any useful intelligence in general, and nothing useful for the hunt for Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in particular. Just as troubling . . . was the evidence that the CIA misled Congress about the nature and success of the program.” See also, Washington Post: “CIA misled on interrogation program.”

2.  North Korea’s high-tech drone. Not really. Time’s Michelle Arrouas reports, “The simplicity of the unmanned aircraft that crashed on a South Korean island Monday highlights how antiquated much of North Korea’s military equipment is . . . . The ‘drone’ that crashed on a South Korean island on Monday was described by experts Wednesday as actually something that’s ‘toy-like,’ ‘poorly designed,’ and “antiquated.’”

3.  Cyborgs—let’s get it on. DefenseOne.Com contributor Patrick Tucker reports, “The ability to link human brains to machines, create new life forms and build Star Trek-style disease detectors will be the focus of a new Defense Department office soon. The new office, named the Biological Technology Office, or BTO, will serve as a clearinghouse for Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, programs into brain research, synthetic biology and epidemiology. The office will cover everything from brewing up tomorrow’s bioweapon detectors and connecting humans to computers to designing entirely new types of super-strong living materials that could form the basis of future devices.”

POTOMAC TWO-STEP

1.  Go Bo-Sox! “President Obama paid tribute Tuesday to the 2013 World Series champion Boston Red Sox, saying the team’s third title in a decade carried special significance in the wake of the bombing last year in the heart of New England. ‘They symbolized the grit and the resilience of one of America’s iconic cities during one of its most difficult moments,’ Obama said of the Red Sox, alluding to the Boston Marathon bombing last April. . . . Once American’s most notorious loser, the Red Sox broke the ‘curse of the Bambino’ in 2004 and have since amassed the most victories in all of Major League Baseball. Or as the president put it, a Red Sox championship is no longer a ‘novelty.’”

2.  Move over, Mr. Shakespeare: “Texas Sen. Ted Cruz . . . has agreed to write a personal memoir about his controversial days in Washington and his vision for the future for HarperCollins . . . . The first term Cruz is expected receive an advance close to $1.5 million after a four-day book auction last weekend, easily winning the authorship primary over several others penning pre-presidential primary books including Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. The advance would be the biggest for a conservative politician in years, even more than the $1.25 million that former 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin received after her sensational rise in Republican politics.”

OPINIONS EVERYONE HAS

1.  “The Certainty of Donald Rumsfeld (Part 4).” New York Times contributor Errol Morris explains, “Many people assume that Rumsfeld was lying. That he knew that there were no W.M.D. in Iraq. But I believe that he was able to convince himself that he was telling the truth. Or even worse, that he lacked the ability to discriminate between truth and fantasy. That over the years he had developed a gobbledygook philosophy that—seemingly paying lip service to empiricism—devalued evidence and made a mockery of logic.”

2.  “Crimea: Too small to matter.” Reuters contributor Nicholas Wapshott argues, “Perhaps to Americans, weary of conflict and eager to save money on defense. But Ukrainians and, over time, the Crimeans, as they come to understand what it is to live in a bankrupt despotism, will not think so. Abandoning them is not moral and it is certainly not dignified, but Crimea is not so much too big to fail as too small to matter.”

3.  “Why This Year’s Elections in Afghanistan Won’t Matter That Much.” DefenseOne.Com contributor Zachary Laub argues, “Karzai is trying to ensure that after he leaves office he will continue to hold clout with successive administrations in Kabul as well as insurgent leaders, and that future generations of Afghans will remember him as a fearless nationalist who had the temerity to face down the much more powerful United States.”

THE FUNNIES

1.  Get out and vote!

2.  North Korea’s Drone.

3.  Center Ring.

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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.