Friday Finale & This Time Last Year
FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM
Tips for balance. Contributor Ana Sherman offers, “From floating holidays, to remote work options, to flexible hours, to rotating days off, employers realize that the idea of a traditional office environment with established hours no longer appeals to job seekers who have embraced work-life balance culture. So how exactly do we master maintaining a balanced load? It’s certainly a process, but these tips have helped me even the scales . . . .”
A little due process, please. Contributor and in house counsel Sean Bigley explains, “In a shocking due process violation, the government attorneys at DOHA routinely send applicants letters demanding that the applicant inform the government attorney prior to the hearing of any objections that the applicant may have to the government’s evidence . . . . Conversely, however, the government attorney does not afford the applicant the same courtesy. Thus, the appearance is that the government is receiving an unfair advantage in hearings by having had the benefit of time to analyze and pick apart applicant evidentiary objections.”
THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT
Roots of the new Cold War. AP’s Steven R. Hurst reports, “The stumbles, blunders, and policy chaos that have sent increasingly frosty U.S.-Russia relations into what many now call a new Cold War might have been inevitable. . . . That dismal relationship more often than not can be linked to the eastward expansion of the NATO alliance and Moscow’s refusal to believe America’s promises that it does not threaten Russia. There’s also Russian President Vladimir Putin’s seething anger over his country’s loss of superpower status.”
Afghanistan retrospective. The New Yorker contributor Barnett Rubin reports, “The American-led intervention in Afghanistan began with the C.I.A.’s transfer of tens of millions of dollars, in cash, to the leaders of armed groups. On September 24, 2001, while the C.I.A. was starting to deliver knapsacks and cartons of hundred-dollar bills to commanders in Afghanistan, Richard Haass, then the head of policy planning in Colin Powell’s State Department, convened a meeting (in which I participated) to discuss the future of Afghanistan. In the first part of that meeting, a State Department official told a representative of the Rome group, a group of exiles led by the former Afghan king Zahir Shah, that his office needed to better account for the expenditure of the modest grant that the U.S. was giving it. No more funds would be disbursed without receipts.”
Tunisian terrorists and Libyan links. The Christian Science Monitor’s Howard LaFranchi reports, “The Tunisian terrorist who gunned down scores of mostly British tourists at a Tunisian beach resort last week trained at an Islamic State-affiliated camp in neighboring war-torn Libya. And so did the gunmen who killed 22 people, mostly European tourists, at the Tunisian capital’s renowned Bardo museum in March. The radicalized student responsible for the beach massacre and the Tunisian gunmen in the Bardo attack are believed to have received weapons training, and ideological indoctrination at a jihadist camp in Libya at the same time in January . . . .”
Porous borders. Defense One contributor Eric Katz reports, “Customs and Border Protection should hire more than 300 new investigators to ensure its 44,000 law enforcement officers are free of corruption and using their weapons properly, according to an internal government report. The CBP Integrity Advisory Panel — housed within the Homeland Security Department’s Advisory Council and created by DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson in late 2014 — issued its interim report on Tuesday, finding the agency’s current investigations process ‘reactive’ and ‘chronically slow.’”
CONTRACT WATCH
GSA reaches for DISA with $50 billion. Federal Times’ Amber Corrin reports, “The General Services Administration wants the Defense Information Systems Agency as a partner for its Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions telecommunications contract vehicle. The 15-year, $50 billion contract is part of GSA’s broader Network Services 2020 strategy, and GSA has added a new clause to EIS language that aims to entice the Defense Department, which was not part of the predecessor Networx contract vehicle. The new clause is in the EIS contract’s geographic coverage section and better aligns the contract with the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation System.”
Cheaper carriers. DoD Buzz’s Kris Osborn reports, “The Navy plans to spend $25 million per year beginning in 2017 as a way to invest in lowering the cost of building the services’ new Ford-class aircraft carriers, service officials said. ‘We will use this design for affordability to make new improvements in cost cutting technologies that will go into our ships,’ said Rear Adm. Michael Manazir, Director, Air Warfare. . . . The USS Kennedy, or CVN 79, is now being built by Huntington Ingalls Industries in Newport News, Va. and is slated to enter service in 2023. The Navy recently awarded a fixed-price construction contract for the USS Kennedy to Newport News Shipbuilding with incentives built in to reward cost-saving successes.”
TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY
Quantum leaps. The Atlantic’s Adrienne LaFrance reports, “Quantum computing promises processing speeds and heft that seem unimaginable by today’s standards. A working quantum computer—linked up to surveillance technology, let’s say—might be able to instantly identify a single individual in real-time by combing through a database that includes billions of faces. Such a computer might also be able to simulate a complex chemical reaction, or crack through the toughest encryption tools in existence. (There’s an entire field of study dedicated to post-quantum cryptography. It’s based on writing algorithms that could withstand an attack by a quantum computer. People still aren’t sure if such security is even possible, which means quantum computing could wreak havoc on global financial systems, governments, and other institutions.)”
Wi-Fi arrives in Cuba. Reuters’ Jaime Hamre reports, “Cuba has opened 35 Wi-Fi access points nationwide, offering unprecedented online access in a country that until now has restricted use of the Internet to an elite few. Before the Wi-Fi signals became available on Wednesday, broadband Internet access had been limited to largely to desktops at state Internet parlors and pricey hotels. . . . Whether because of a lack of investment or concerns about the flow of information in a Communist state that monopolizes the media, Cuba has lagged behind in Internet usage. Only 3.4 percent of Cuban homes have either intranet or Internet access, according to a U.N. agency.”
Security clearances and spouses. Government Executive contributor Lindy Kyzer explains, “When someone obtains a security clearance, the government is making a decision to allow that person access to classified information. But qualifying for a clearance goes beyond just a single individual. Your spouse or partner is intimately involved in the process, from being included on your SF-86 background investigation paperwork to being interviewed to, in some cases, tanking your chances of obtaining or keeping a clearance. Here are four ways your spouse or partner can affect your security clearance . . . .”
Lightening loads: Enhanced Technologies for Optimization of Warfighter Load. Homeland Security News Wire reports, “Typically, an infantryman will carry 80 to 100 pounds and often more . . . The effects of such a burden not only slow the warfighters down, they reduce agility and result in fatigue, joint sprains, or long-term ailments like arthritis or chronic back problems. . . . To determine how to reduce these hazards, the Office of Naval Research (ONR) has presented the Marine Corps with a 3-D computer simulation program that measures equipment weight, distribution, and effects on body mechanics and individual warfighter performance. . . .”
Fireworks. Wired’s Julia Greenberg explains, “Along with the burgers, brats, and BBQ, fireworks are a Fourth of July staple in the US. And they always have been. Founding father John Adams wanted ‘illuminations from one end of this continent to the other’ to commemorate Independence Day even before the 13 colonies were fully independent. But the chemical cocktail that explodes in showers of color hasn’t changed all that much since those days. Sure, the shows have gotten far more sophisticated—technicians can now time brighter colors, comets, and complex displays to the crescendo of any song. Here’s what lights up the sky.”
POTOMAC TWO-STEP
Looking for a fight. “President Obama appears ready and even eager for a fight over naming the first ambassador to Cuba in over 50 years, a move that would no doubt further poison his relations with Senate Republicans right after a thaw with the passage of two key trade bills. After announcing the opening of embassies in Havana and Washington, the White House signaled Wednesday that it intends to nominate an ambassador and wouldn’t mind a very public — and undoubtedly intense — debate over the issue.”
Anti-slump. “President Obama is seeking to finalize a nuclear agreement with Iran next week, an achievement that would add to a big year that is defying predictions of a second-term slump. At a time when most presidents worry about losing clout, Obama is coming off what some have called his best week ever: favorable Supreme Court rulings on same-sex marriage and ObamaCare and passage of his trade agenda in Congress. The president is looking to seize on the momentum. In addition to the Iran deal, Obama wants to move ahead with his plan to open up Cuba, and he is working to complete the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade deal with 11 Pacific Rim countries that is key to Obama’s foreign policy pivot to Asia.”
OPINIONS EVERYONE HAS
“Is ISIL winning the psychological battle?” Aljazeera contributor Hamish de Bretton-Gordon argues, “With a unified coalition in place, or at least promised, the determined effort to win the critical psychological battle can begin in earnest – a mental battle fought in the minds of the masses which is required for the physical war to realistically succeed. Only then might we witness the beginning of the end of ISIL’s reign of terror.”
“A failing nuclear treaty with Russia shows the right way to deal with Iran.” Reuters contributor Bennett Ramberg argues, “The missile-crisis model may be one of a number of alternatives to wrap into a plan that Congress ought to bless in legislation to add credibility. At a minimum, the plan must avoid ambiguity in sending Iran a message that gaming expired deal clauses — or other breakout measures—will be the roll of the dice that Tehran will lose.”
“A new unity of focus on the heroin trade.” Christian Science Monitor’s Editorial Board argues, “[W]ith the coming UN focus on drugs, Afghanistan will deserve special attention. One country cannot bear such a heavy burden as the UN now turns to ways to end the opium trade. Every country with a drug problem must provide lessons and aid in kicking this habit. Global unity itself will send a strong message that drug addiction is not the norm.”
