Friday Finales & Same Time Last Year

FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM

1. Hiring: Just say nope. Barrister contributor Sean Bigley explains, “Whether you choose to limit your hiring only to those who already hold a clearance or are willing to consider sponsoring un-cleared applicants through the process, you are legally entitled to reject applicants who either do not have or cannot obtain a security clearance. There are, however, some potential landmines to avoid. . . .”

2. Recruiting right. Editor Lindy Kyzer explains, “Few things are harder than making a ‘cold call’ introduction. But unless a candidate is a referral, or you meet them at a networking event, your first message is more likely to be chilly and indirect than warm and friendly. That doesn’t have to be the case, however. Here are thoughts on some of the worst ways to make an introduction, along with a few ideas on how to make a better first impression. . . .”

THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT

1. Hagel’s final address: a defining moment. DoD News’ Nick Simeone reports, “Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, in what was expected to be his last major address to the troops before leaving office, told an Army audience today the world is at a defining moment, with events charging ahead with a new immediacy, creating less margin for error for U.S. leaders and he urged the military to ‘prepare this institution in ways that we’ve never had to.’ . . . Hagel described the cascade of events that have occurred on his watch . . . as being unprecedented in modern times, a trend that he said will continue to place demands on military leaders.” Read Hagel’s full remarks. See also, “Hagel: Budget Uncertainty Is the Biggest Challenge Facing the Military.”

2. Haqqani outlawed. Khaama Press reports, “The US Department of State welcomed reports regarding Islamabad’s decision to outlaw the Haqqani terrorist network and more than 10 other organizations connected to insurgent groups. . . . Islamabad has not formally announce the ban so far but a local newspaper ‘Express Tribune’ reported on Thursday that the Haqqani terrorist network was among several groups the government will formally outlaw in coming days.”

3. Training Syrian rebels. Reuters reports, “The U.S. military is planning to deploy more than 400 troops to help train Syrian rebels to fight the Islamic State, along with hundreds of U.S. support personnel . . . The U.S. military has not yet identified where it will draw its forces from for the training mission, expected to begin in the spring at sites outside Syria . . . . The training program is a part of President Barack Obama’s multi-year plan to field local forces in Syria to halt and eventually roll back Islamic State fighters, while pounding them with U.S.-led airstrikes.”

4. Terror sweeps in Paris, Brussels. Reuters’ Andrew Callus and Arshad Mohammed report, “Police arrested a dozen people suspected of helping the Islamist militant gunmen in last week’s Paris killings . . . as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrived for talks. The arrests came after Belgian police killed two men who fired on them during one of about a dozen raids on Thursday against an Islamist group and German police said they had arrested two people following a raid on 11 properties linked to radical Salafists. Centered on southern Paris suburbs including the Montrouge area where a young policewoman was killed in the attacks, the arrests were for suspected ‘logistical support’ for the shootings . . . .”

CONTRACT WATCH

1. GSA’s Tangherlini resigning. Federal Times’ Andy Medici reports, “The head of the General Services Administration will be stepping down Feb. 13, according to a letter to employees. Dan Tangherlini became administrator of GSA in April 2012 after a conference spending scandal forced the resignation of top leadership. Deputy Administrator Denise Turner Roth will take on the role of acting administrator until President Obama chooses a replacement, Tangherlini said.”

2. Afghanistan’s incredible melting building. Khaama Press reports, “The U.S. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) has said that a half-million-dollar police training center which was built by the US is literally ‘melting’. The latest report released by SIGAR . . . said the training center . . . was badly constructed where substandard materials were used by the Afghan contractor. The report further added that the roof was built of plastic with a concrete cap, instead of the sturdy gravel and contract called for under the contract. . . . SIGAR said the center began to disintegrate just four months after it was completed in 2012 due to shoddy construction that was allowed to happen because U.S. Central Command contracting commanders failed to oversee the project appropriately.” Read SIGAR’s report.

3. DARPA’s counterfeit electronics fight. Military & Aerospace Editor John Keller reports, “Defense microelectronics experts at the Northrop Grumman Corp. Electronic Systems segment in Linthicum, Md., are joining the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory in Cambridge, Mass., in a program to develop new technologies to safeguard the U.S. military electronics supply chain from substandard used and counterfeit electronics. Officials of the U.S. Defense Advanced Research projects Agency (DARPA) in Arlington, Va., announced $12.3 million contract to Northrop Grumman Tuesday for the agency’s Supply Chain Hardware Integrity for Electronics Defense (SHIELD) program.”

TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY

1. Emotionally responsive machines. The New Yorker’s Raffi Khatchadourian reports, “[S]ince the nineteen-nineties a small number of researchers have been working to give computers the capacity to read our feelings and react, in ways that have come to seem startlingly human. Experts on the voice have trained computers to identify deep patterns in vocal pitch, rhythm, and intensity; their software can scan a conversation between a woman and a child and determine if the woman is a mother, whether she is looking the child in the eye, whether she is angry or frustrated or joyful. Other machines can measure sentiment by assessing the arrangement of our words, or by reading our gestures. Still others can do so from facial expressions. . . .”

2. Lessons learned: stopping a terrorist. Christian Science Monitor’s Brad Knickerbocker reports, “An Ohio man’s alleged plot to wage violent jihad against lawmakers and staff at the US Capitol was a textbook case of a lone wolf terrorist inspired by Al Qaeda and the Islamic State. The way federal agents stopped him before he got much beyond the talking stage was textbook, too.”

3. Darktrace, cyberattacks, and foreign relations. Nextgov’s Aliya Sternstein reports, “In a realm without physical boundaries, it’s all too easy for hackers to hop around and fake out authorities. A recent case in point: Computers engaged in the Sony hack allegedly operated out of New York, Thailand, Poland, Italy, Bolivia, Singapore and Cyprus, according to The Associated Press. The attackers—who the FBI claims are North Korean—also published some company files using an anonymous email service in France.”

POTOMAC TWO-STEP

1. Ernst’s final word. “Joni Ernst promised last year to make Washington ‘squeal.’ On Tuesday, she’ll have her chance. Ernst, who pulled off a resounding victory in last fall’s Iowa Senate race after a memorable television ad about castrating hogs, will deliver the Republican response to President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address next week.”

2. Ouch. “A top House Democrat on Thursday condemned suggestions from conservative websites that Rep. Andre Carson (D-Ind.), a Muslim, should not have been appointed to the House Intelligence Committee. . . . Conservative publications online have suggested that Carson, who sat on the House Armed Services Committee in the 113th Congress, should not have been chosen for the committee because he has ties to Islamist groups that have been investigated for supporting terrorism.”

OPINIONS EVERYONE HAS

1. “The exiled generation.” Aljazeera contributor Iason Athanasiadis explains, “A generation of Iraqis and Syrians, the majority under 30 years old and with prematurely shattered dreams, live in refugee camps. Their Potemkin states’ failure to equip them with foreign languages or employable skills suggests that even when the strife is over they will struggle for a place in the hyper-competitive global marketplace.”

2. “US needs unity to counter Islamic State.” Christian Science Monitor’s Editorial Board argues, “[T]he war against terrorists is mainly a war over principles, such as freedom and pluralism. The best weapon would be unity around the principles guiding each new aspect of this war.”

3. “Where Is Russia’s Foreign Policy Going in 2015?The Moscow Times contributor Josh Cohen argues, “As 2015 dawns, Russia finds itself facing a series of economic and geopolitical challenges that will test our mettle. We will therefore need to pick and choose our foreign policy priorities for the year, and if necessary be prepared to make trade-offs.” See also from Aviation Week, “Person of the Year: The Notorious Mr. Putin.”

THE FUNNIES

1. Radical view.

2. Putin’s plummeting petrol.

3. Je suis Charlie!

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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.