Tuesday’s Top Ten

FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM

1.  Build your bench—invest in talent. Editor Lindy Kyzer explains, “Talent acquisition is a long-game, not a short game. But if you’re looking to make the case for new personnel, there may be no better time than August. Add to your bench while the funds are there, and make top talent a 2015 priority. Here are a few tips to consider . . . .”

2.  Responsive recruiting. Also from Lindy Kyzer, “You’ve found the perfect candidate, you’ve connected with them online, and you’re ready to move forward. Making the first move can be the hardest step, especially for an anonymous or passive candidate. Cleared candidates are discrete, and you’ll need to pick your methods carefully.”

THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT

1.  Western fighters joining ISIS ranks. DefenseOne.Com reports, “There has been a surge in recent months in the number of Westerners traveling to Iraq and Syria to join extremist groups fighting there . . . . The U.S. government says it is greatly alarmed by the possibility that an American or European, radicalized by his experience fighting with militant groups in the Middle East, could attempt to smuggle a bomb onto a passenger plane bound for the United States.” See also, “Islamic State crushes and coerces on march towards Baghdad” and “US Should Begin Airstrikes in Iraq Now.”

2.  Western fighters joining Israeli ranks. AP’s Julie Watson reports, “The two Americans killed in fighting in the Gaza Strip followed in the footsteps of scores of Jews from around the world who have volunteered to fight for Israel. Israel calls them the lone soldiers: They are men and women in the prime of their lives who have left their parents and often comfortable lives behind in places like Sydney, London, Los Angeles and elsewhere to join the Israel Defense Forces, marching in the desert and taking up arms to defend the Jewish state.”

3.  Gaza escalates, violence spreads. Reuters’ Nidal al-Mughrabi and Crispian Balmer report from Gaza, “Despite growing calls for a halt to two weeks of fighting, violence raged on. Israel pounded the coastal strip, killing 28 members of a family in one strike, 11 people in an attack on a high-rise building and four in the shelling of a hospital, medics said. Israel’s losses also mounted. Following the death of 13 soldiers on Sunday, Israel said seven more troops had been killed on Monday, including four whose jeep was fired at by a group of militants who tunnelled across the border from Gaza. . . . Violence also spread to the occupied West Bank where Palestinian medics said Israeli soldiers shot and killed a Palestinian man, 21, while dispersing protesters throwing stones at a military jeep near Jerusalem.”

CONTRACT WATCH

1.  POTUS signs LGBT contractor discrimination ban. FederalTimes.Com’s Andy Medici reports, “President Obama signed an executive order July 21 barring federal contractors from discriminating against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees. . Nearly 200 lawmakers had signed a March 18 letter to the White House urging the administration to take action on its own after legislation stalled in the House. . . . While the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) passed the Senate on Nov. 7, it has stalled in the House. The legislation would prohibit employers from firing, refusing to hire or discriminating against workers based on sexual orientation or gender identity.”

2.  $7 million battery power contract. MilitaryAerospace.Com reports, “U.S. Army artillery experts needed portable universal battery systems for the project to digitize the M119A3 towed 105-millimeter howitzer. They found their solution from Milpower Source in Belmont, N.H. Officials of the Army Contracting Command at Picatinny Arsenal, N.J., announced a $6.7 million contract to Milpower Source on Monday for portable universal battery power electronics systems for the M119A3 howitzer. The company will provide its M793 series high density 6.6-kilowatt NiCad battery input single output DC-DC converters for the job.”

TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY

1.  Black Hat conference cancels Tor talk. Reuters’ Joseph Menn reports, “A highly anticipated talk on how to identify users of the Internet privacy service Tor was withdrawn from the upcoming Black Hat security conference . . . . Tor is a double-edged sword that has given dissidents living under repressive regimes a way of communicating safely. But it also has enabled criminals to take advantage of its cloak of anonymity. . . . The U.S. government funded the creation and much of the operation of Tor as a communications tool for dissidents in repressive countries. But Tor has frustrated the U.S. National Security Agency for years, according to documents released by former agency contractor Edward Snowden.”

2.  Naval Special Warfare mobility. DefenseMediaNetwork.Com’s Scott R. Gourley reports, “The retirement of the MK V Special Operations Craft (SOC) from Naval Special Warfare’s (NSW) maritime inventory, along with other resourcing initiatives, are just some of the things changing the face of the community’s maritime platforms. Command planners recently talked about the status of their surface and undersea mobility systems during a ‘state of the fleet’ update with The Year in Special Operations.”

3.  Russia (re)takes Cuba. VentureBeat.Com’s Richard Byrne Reilly reports, “Russian spies will soon arrive in Cuba to begin intercepting U.S. communications. The impoverished, communist Cuban government, with Raul Castro calling the shots, signed a deal with the Russian’s to re-open Lourdes, a massive Cold War signals intelligence (SIGINT) base used by Russia to vacuum up U.S. ultra high frequency (UHF) radio communications. Russia opened the base in the 1970′s and later closed it due to financial costs. Now it’s opening the base again, for the first time since the Cold War ended. . . . Your Gmails are no more in danger than they were before.”

POTOMAC TWO-STEP

1.  Divided Congress: “Congress is deeply divided over whether to kill a contract with a top Russian arms supplier, Rosoboronexport, to provide helicopters and parts to the Afghan air force. The Defense Department opposes sanctioning the firm, arguing that canceling the contract would damage Afghan forces, just as U.S. troops end their combat mission. Yet, support for the helicopter contract is a heavy lift, as lawmakers move to sanction Moscow after pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine are believed to have downed a civilian airliner, killing nearly 300. . . . Two Senate panels have already moved measures that would terminate all existing contracts with the arms giant and prevent new deals. The full House has also passed legislation that would do the same. The Pentagon, though, has already purchased a total of 88 Russian Mi-17 helicopters for the Afghan air force, at more than $1 billion. “

2.  Out-of-Office-Reply: “When President Obama wraps up his 16-day summer break next month on Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., he will have taken all or part of 141 days of vacation, time split between summers on the island, winters in his native Hawaii and birthday weekends at his Chicago home. Obama has been criticized for taking costly and lengthy vacations, especially compared to the short trips most Americans take. The U.S. Travel Association told Secrets that the average American vacation lasts just 3.7 days. But his 141 days out of Washington are far less than the 378 former President George W. Bush took in 57 trips to his Crawford, Texas, ranch at the five-and-a-half-year mark of his presidency . . . .”

OPINIONS EVERYONE HAS

1.  “Meet Executive Order 12333: The Reagan rule that lets the NSA spy on Americans.” Washington Post contributor John Napier Tye argues, “I took an oath to protect the Constitution of the United States. I don’t believe that there is any valid interpretation of the Fourth Amendment that could permit the government to collect and store a large portion of U.S. citizens’ online communications, without any court or congressional oversight, and without any suspicion of wrongdoing. Such a legal regime risks abuse in the long run, regardless of whether one trusts the individuals in office at a particular moment.”

2.  “Force Iran to Make a Choice.” USNews.Com contributor Evan Moore argues, “Iran should be made to face a choice: abandon its drive to nuclear weapons, or suffer decisive and crippling sanctions. By advancing sanctions-in-waiting, the president and Congress can make sure that Iran faces such a choice.”

3.  “MH17 forces EU to stand up to Putin.” USAToday.Com’s Editorial Board argues, “Putin has spent recent years testing how far he can go, sending troops into Georgia, annexing Crimea and even conducting military maneuvers near the border of the Baltic states. For the most part, he has found European resolve sorely lacking and signaled his intent to keep testing the limits. The airline tragedy has put human faces on Putin’s territorial ambitions. If it doesn’t galvanize the West to thwart him, it’s hard to see what would.”

THE FUNNIES

1.  Philosophical question.

2.  Gaza’s next generation.

3.  Get him!

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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.