FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM
1. Stay? Or go? Editor Lindy Kyzer shares, “I once quit a job just a week after a new boss came in and replaced my old supervisor. Why? She informed me that she didn’t know why I was in my current position and thought I was under-qualified. I regret a lot of mistakes I made earlier in my career, but not that one. The only thing I wished I’d done was give just two weeks’ notice rather than a full month.”
2. Cyber vulnerabilities. Contributor Ashley LaGanga reports, ““Congress, the intelligence community and private sector must work together to stop the cyber 9/11 we know will happen if we don’t act now,” Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) warned in her keynote address honoring the 10th anniversary of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. . . . Her legislative recommendations: to compel public-private information sharing of cyber threats; to require companies to disclose to consumers security breaches resulting from cyber attacks; and to expand national cyber capabilities and workforce, especially at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).”
THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT
1. Netanyahu wins with the right. Reuters’ Luke Baker and Jeffrey Heller report, “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu won a come-from-behind victory in Israel’s election on Wednesday after tacking hard to the right in the final days of campaigning, including abandoning a commitment to negotiate a Palestinian state. In a four-day pre-election blitz, Netanyahu made a series of promises designed to shore up his Likud base and draw voters from other right-wing and nationalist parties. He pledged to go on building settlements on occupied land and said there would be no Palestinian state if he was re-elected.”
2. Space vulnerabilities. Breaking Defense’s Colin Clark reports, “China has long targeted America’s space assets, having learned from the first Gulf War just how crucial those capabilities were and what an edge they gave American forces. First came their lazing of American spy satellites. Then they destroyed their own weather satellite in early 2007. Since then they have tested at least one more anti-satellite weapon — possibly two. And Russia has continued . . . to press ahead on its own systems. Meanwhile, the United States remains preeminent in terms of capability but has yet to protect or build redundancy into crucial space systems. Thus the capabilities grow more vulnerable with time.” See also, “Netanyahu’s Likud surges to stunning Israeli election win.”
3. Climate change cuts and national security. Defense One contributor Clare Foran reports, “The House GOP budget unveiled on Tuesday calls for cuts to CIA and DOD programs devoted to the study of global warming, despite the fact that the military has identified climate change as a major national security threat and a key priority. . . . The fiscal blueprint lists climate-change funding at DOD and the CIA as ‘examples of areas where there should be room to cut waste, eliminate redundancies, and end the abuse or misuse of taxpayer dollars.’” See also, “Averting global water crisis.”
4. Predator down. Defense News’ Jeff Schogol reports, “An MQ-1 Predator was lost Tuesday while flying over northwest Syria . . . . Syria’s official news agency claimed the drone was shot down, but the defense official was unable to say exactly how the unmanned aircraft crashed.”
CONTRACT WATCH
1. Contracts, grants, and loans. Government Executive’s Charles S. Clark reports, “Forty-nine of the federal government’s top 100 contractors also won grants, loans or tax credits over the past 15 years . . . Two-thirds of the $68 billion in federal business grants and tax credits since 2000 went to large corporations, said the study and update of an accompanying database that includes federal data for the first time. . . . The federal contractor with the most grants and allocated tax credits was General Electric, with $836 million, mostly from the Energy and Defense departments . . . . The ‘double dipper’ with the most loans and loan guarantees was Boeing Co., with $64 billion in assistance from the Export-Import Bank.”
2. Army in with GSA’s OASIS. Federal Times’ Andy Medici reports, “The Army will amp up its use of the General Services Administration’s OASIS contract – to the tune of $500 million a year – according to a new memorandum of understanding signed by the two agencies March 16. OASIS is a multibillion dollar contract that offers professional services, such as financial management and engineering, scientific and logistics services. OASIS also features separate contracts for small businesses and larger firms.”
TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY
1. Opaque transparency. AP’s Ted Bridis reports, “For the second consecutive year, the Obama administration more often than ever censored government files or outright denied access to them under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act . . . . The government took longer to turn over files when it provided any, said more regularly that it couldn’t find documents, and refused a record number of times to turn over files quickly that might be especially newsworthy. It also acknowledged in nearly 1 in 3 cases that its initial decisions to withhold or censor records were improper under the law – but only when it was challenged.”
2. Drone technology offset. Defense One’s Marcus Weisgerber reports, “Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work has been championing a Pentagon project to offset the technology of enemies; much like the U.S. military did with the development of guided bombs, stealth and nuclear weapons over the past century. On Wednesday, Pentagon leaders said that the next offset, when it comes to drones, would likely come in the form of sensor payloads for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, or ISR, rather than new platforms.”
3. Space suit fashion. Quartz’s Tim Fernholz reports, “We are, perhaps, on the cusp of a significant increase in the number of humans in space. The International Space Station has maintained an average population of about six since it was first inhabited in 2000, with fluctuations during crew change-overs or when China’s space station, Tiangong-1, is occupied. But in 2017, if all goes to plan, SpaceX and Boeing will become the first private companies to put people in space, and the US, China and India are all mooting more manned missions in orbit and beyond. The dream of Martian colonists and asteroid miners has never seemed so close to reality.”
POTOMAC TWO-STEP
1. Shocking: “Embattled Illinois Republican Rep. Aaron Schock abruptly resigned his seat in Congress Tuesday, setting off, no pun intended, shock waves through the U.S. Capitol. The resignation, which is effective March 31, marks the end of what was once thought to be a stellar political career that could have eventually propelled the 33-year-old Republican into statewide office. It comes on the heels of increasing scrutiny being given to the way Schock managed his campaign funds and official congressional accounts.”
2. Shell games: “House leaders unveiled their plan for bridging the divide between defense and fiscal hawks by using the Obama administration’s off-the-books war chest as a slush fund to circumvent sequestration budget caps. . . . House Budget Committee Chairman Tom Price, R-Ga., wasn’t shy about the ploy. He highlighted it, saying the Republican budget allocates base and OCO funding that, when combined, sets Pentagon spending ‘higher than the President’s budget request for the fiscal year.’”
OPINIONS EVERYONE HAS
1. “Vladimir Putin’s absence proves chaos will be his only successor.” Reuters contributor Masha Gessen argues, “We can assume that when Putin goes, there will be no one who knows what’s happening or is supposed to happen.”
2. “Kurdistan in a ‘War Game’: Inching towards Independence.” Rudaw contributors Ceng Sagnic and Ofra Bengio argue, “The democratic and secular image the Kurds have created in the past few years stands as one of the major factors that has paved the path for global recognition of their right to self-rule and eligibility for global support.”
THE FUNNIES
1. Stealing second.
3. Magic tricks.
