Tuesday’s Top Ten

FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM

1.  Jobs! The Secret Service. Editor Lindy Kyzer reports, “If you’re considering work with the US Secret Service, search the official website for field office locations and career fair information—making an in-person appearance is a great first step toward employment. . . . The secret service is a lot more than special agents with dark glasses and ear pieces. If you’re looking for competitive government employment in careers ranging from IT and technical positions to clerical and administrative support, take a close look at the protective mission of the U.S. secret service.”

2.  Pending—changes to the interim clearance process. Contributor William Henderson explains, “For close to two years the Defense Security Service (DSS) has been advising stakeholders about an upcoming change to how interim Secret clearance decisions will be made.  It seems that they are now only a few months away from implementation. . . . Slightly longer processing times and a decline in the interim clearance approval rate coupled with the current effort to reduce the number of security clearances may have a significant impact on both large and small defense contractors.”

THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT

1.  Homeland (in)security. Christian Science Monitor’s Anna Mulrine reports, “The nation is no safer after 13 years of war, warns a top US military official who leads one of the nation’s largest intelligence organizations. ‘We have a whole gang of new actors out there that are far more extreme than Al Qaeda,’ says Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, which employs some 17,000 American intelligence collectors in 140 countries around the world. That the United States is no safer—and in some respects may be less safe—even after two wars and trillions of dollars could prove to be disappointing news for Americans . . . .”

2.  Russia—treaty transgression. Reuters’ Robert Rampton reports, “In another sign of deteriorating relations between the United States and Russia, the U.S. government said on Monday that Moscow had violated the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces treaty, and urged immediate bilateral talks on the issue. . . . State Department officials had hinted that a formal determination that Russia had violated the treaty could be forthcoming . . . .”

3.  SIGAR—weapons flood in Afghanistan. Khaama.Com reports, “According to the latest report released by SIGAR on Monday, Afghan security forces have oversupply of weapons and equipment and have serious problems keeping track of those weapons. The report further added that the weapons supplied by the United States to Afghanistan could wind up in the hands of the Taliban and other groups seeking to destabilize Afghanistan.” Read SIGAR’s report.

4.  Gaza getting worse. Reuters’ Nidal Al-Mughrabi and Maayan Lubell report, “Israel’s military pounded targets in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country should prepare for a long conflict in the Palestinian enclave, squashing any hopes of a swift end to 22 days of fighting.” AP’s Karin Laub and Peter Enav report, “Israel struck symbols of Hamas’ control of Gaza and the strip’s only power plant on Tuesday, escalating its military campaign against the Islamic militant group with the heaviest bombardment in the fighting so far. Flares turned the sky over Gaza City orange overnight and by daybreak, as the conflict entered its fourth week, heavy clouds of dust hovered over the territory.” Finally, DefenseNews.Com reports, “Israel Intensifies Anti-Tunnel Campaign, Rejects Truce Calls.”

5.  Joint Strike Fighter—a history of isolated failures. AviationWeek.Com’s Bill Sweetman reports, “The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter will survive its failure to show up at two major international air exhibitions this month. It was a good thing, in that the non-event showed that the U.S. and British military airworthiness experts had the authority and common sense to put safety first. The no-show does point to issues with the program. Despite some rhetoric, there is no such thing as an ‘isolated’ failure on the scale of the June 23 fan-stage breakup that caused the recent grounding.”

CONTRACT WATCH

1.  Restructuring procurement. GovExec.Com’s  Charles S. Clark reports, “Citing a ‘human capital crisis’ in a federal workforce beset by retirements and inexperience, a major contractors group on Monday proposed acquisition reforms that would speed up the procurement process, enhance industry-agency collaboration and reorganize the White House Office of Federal Procurement Policy to improve workforce training. The Professional Services Council’s report joins an array of acquisition reform efforts under way in the executive branch and on Capitol Hill in addressing the need to create contracting officers with a more sophisticated grasp of industry trends in services contracting, particularly in information technology.”

2.  Pegasus wiring woes. DoDBuzz.Com’s Brendan McGarry reports, “The surprise disclosure last week of a wiring flaw on the Air Force’s new KC-46A refueling tanker made by Boeing Co. may not be the end of the program’s development challenges. . . . The refueling tanker, known as Pegasus, will require some 15.8 million lines of code, the vast majority of which—83 percent—is slated to come from existing software, according to the report. While Boeing plans to recycle most of the software from the 767-2C, it will still need to modify or write new code for the military subsystems on the KC-46, it states.”

TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY

1.  Whistleblowing PAUSEX. DefenseOne.Com contributor Conor Friedersdorf reports, “Reasonable people can disagree about whether a particular leak advances the public interest. There is always a moral obligation to keep some secrets (e.g., the names of undercover agents in North Korea). But if official channels afford little protection to those who report serious wrongdoing, or fail to remedy egregiously unlawful behavior, the case for working within the system rather than going to the press falls apart. . . . Today, there is no credible argument that internal channels offer adequate protection to whistleblowers or remedy most serious misdeeds. U.S. officials claim otherwise.”

2.  Reforming NSA. NextGov.Com’s Dustin Volz reports, “More than a year after Edward Snowden’s leaks ignited a furious debate over the proper scope of government surveillance, Washington may finally be ready to fundamentally redefine the National Security Agency’s broad spying powers. Key senators have been working with the White House, tech companies, and privacy groups to rally behind a new bill that is expected to be introduced [today]. . . . The bill, according to recent drafts that circulated late last week, would effectively end the government’s ability to collect bulk metadata on Americans’ phone records and usher in a series of new privacy and transparency measures designed to prevent abuses at the nation’s intelligence agencies.” See also, “Leahy unveils ‘historic’ NSA reform bill.”

3.  Cost effective digital security. VentureBeat.Com’s Richard Byrne Reilly reports, “Virtru wants to protect your business data in the cloud. In order to do so, the Washington, DC-based startup, co-founded by former National Security Agency data transfer architect Will Ackerly and his brother John, has launched its enterprise crypto-based email service for Android users. The new service is built directly into your Google Apps Gmail interface. . . . Virtru is the first company to make email privacy accessible to everyone. With a single plug-in, Virtru empowers individuals and business to control who receives, reviews and retains their digital information—wherever it travels . . . .”

POTOMAC TWO-STEP

1.  #Impeachment: “Democrats are beating the impeachment drum in hopes it becomes a GOP liability and a boon for their party at the polls in November. . . . GOP leaders, however, have given no indication they intend to push an impeachment measure, with Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) saying flatly this month that he opposes such a move. But that’s done nothing to discourage Democrats, who are hyping the perceived threat if only for the opportunity to shoot it down. That strategy has only taken off since last Thursday, when House Republicans moved forward legislation to sue Obama for what they consider abuses of executive power.” See also, “Politicking off impeachment chatter.”

2.  Kriticizing Kerry: “The Obama administration pushed back strongly Monday at a torrent of Israeli criticism over Secretary of State John Kerry’s latest bid to secure a cease-fire with Hamas, accusing some in Israel of launching a ‘misinformation campaign’ against the top American diplomat. . . . The coordinated pushback in Washington came amid growing U.S. frustration with the number of Palestinian civilian casualties as Israel wages an air and ground war in the Gaza Strip. Obama and Kerry have been pressing Israel to accept an immediate and unconditional humanitarian cease-fire. The U.S. has made little progress in achieving that objective.”

OPINIONS EVERYONE HAS

1.  “On chutzpah [shameless audacity] and war.” Aljazeera.Com contributor Marwan Bishara argues, “Israel has had a problem since its inception. It’s a terribly serious, existential problem; one that existed since its realisation as a European implantation in sea of Arabs, and it continues to haunt it today. Israel is a tiny state built on the ruins of another nation.”

2.  “No Endgame in Gaza.” USNews.Com contributor Charles Wheelan argues, “The ‘roadmap to peace’ metaphor lurks on the brink of cliché. But in this case, it may be apt. If you don’t know where you are going, it’s hard to get there. For as long as I’ve been paying attention, which is going on 30 years, the road to nowhere in this conflict has been paved with innumerable violent actions, each of which seemed rational and justified in the moment. . . . Someone in a credible position of authority needs to get out a map and at least start discussions about a better destination. Once there is a destination, then there is at least hope for figuring out how to get there.”

3.  “Countering a digital jihad.” Christian Science Monitor Editor-at-Large John Yemma argues, “Not every young person is a rebel. Not every rebel has a cause. But throughout history, the young and idealistic have been stirred to action by stories of injustice, visions of better worlds, and images of clenched fists and banners held high.”

THE FUNNIES

1.  Take a walk.

2.  Impolitic.

3.  Out of work.

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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.