FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCE JOBS.COM
1. Michelle Kincaid at ClearanceJobs.Com surveys news on cybersecurity and in-security: “Just one week after reports surfaced claiming that China had hacked into U.S. networks to steal military weapons design plans,” writes MK, the two leaders used an informal summit at the Sunnylands estate in Rancho Mirage, California to address the countries’ cyber challenges.”
2. As BAH looks for a new computer tech in Hawai’i, time to revisit T. Ledford’s eerily prophetic “Confidence and a Clearance – an Unbeatable Match”: “Job ads for cleared service members abound,” foretold CJDC writer T. Ledford back in April. “But making the switch from the military to the civilian workforce is more than a search and respond mission. Even the most skilled, seasoned professionals face new lingo, a new set of competitors and often, a time gap between the old life and the one ahead. But career advisors and business mentors know this road well. And some of their recommendations could make the process a little more efficient and a lot easier on the psyche.”
THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT
1. Better than Angry Birds for the Lavatory. National Journal’s Michael Hirsh revisits an evolution in American policy in “How America Lost Its Nerve.” Even if you don’t agree with some conclusions, it’s an intelligent survey of how American policy came to be this way. Hirsh writes, “Obama may be relinquishing American leadership in critical regions of the globe, and leaving a vacuum that more-aggressive powers such as Russia and China are trying to fill.”
2. Afghanistan rollup – a Taliban leader and the latest news. Apparently, everything is going swimmingly: “A combined Afghan and coalition security force killed two extremists during a search for a senior Taliban leader in the Warduj district of Afghanistan’s Badakhshan province yesterday, military officials reported.”
3. Mission creep, perhaps. Washington Times’ Shaun Waterman reports that “U.S. fighter jets and Patriot missiles arrived in Jordan over the weekend, as the Obama administration this week considers ‘all possible options’ in increasing its support to rebels in neighboring Syria.”
CONTRACT WATCH
1. In all seriousness, “Government agencies offer advice on avoiding contract mistakes”: Virginia Bridges of NewsObserver.com shares advice gathered during her visit to a Marketplace workshop.
2. Contract opportunity in UK for small-, mid-sized tech firms. Brit’s Information Week suggests that temporary cancellation of End User Computing and Common Services contract reflect an “insufficient numbers of small and midsize tech firms . . . . in the last stages of contract negotiations.” The contract in question “was designed to change the way ICT services are delivered across the Ministry, going from a line of business to a new cross-functional approach. . . . the five-year contract would cover 2,300 sites nationally, comprising an extensive network of prisons, courts, tribunals, probation services centers and other locations. The contract involved the supply, management and maintenance of the entire end computer environment, comprising desktops, laptops, workplace productivity applications, including email and word processing, peripherals and storage. The end-user contract was intended to be just one component of the [UK’s] MoJ’s Future IT Sourcing plan, which also included service integration, networks, hosting, application maintenance and development.”
TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY
1. Wiring the world. Financial Times explains how “a connection forged in the second world war has evolved to produce technologies ranging from the chips that power ballistic missiles to the data-mining software used to ferret out terrorists. . . . Many technologies are rooted in Darpa-backed research, from the user interface that powers a Windows laptop to Siri, the voice of the Apple iPhone.”
2. Air Force Surgeon General Tracks Middle Eastern Killer Virus. It’s called respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), and it could be coming to a lung near you.
3. Hillary Tweets, chirps, and makes other animal noises. WaPo’s Diana Reese declares, “Everybody who’s anybody tweets. Anybody who wants to be somebody tweets. And those who might someday want to get elected president should most definitely tweet. . . . Let’s face it, the whole world seems destined to join Twitter. It’s been touted as the way to communicate for everyone from academic researchers to salespeople seeking customers.”
4. Probably not high on the Administration’s list of priorities right now: greenhouse gasses. Befuddled Neela Banerjee writes that “much-awaited rules to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from new power plants have stalled in the White House. Rules that would cut emissions from existing plants have yet to be proposed.”
POTOMAC TWO-STEP
1. NSA operator whines about too much security. “’It’s actually very difficult to do your job,’ said a former senior NSA operator, who also declined be quoted by name because of the sensitive nature of the case. There are all these checks that don’t allow you to move agilely enough.” Unless you are a leaker, of course.
2. Exactly who is in charge: S&P. Washington Times’ Patrice Hill pulls back the curtain: Standard & Poor’s Corp. on Monday withdrew its threat to downgrade the U.S. government for a second time, citing an improving economy and declining budget deficits. But it said the U.S. still falls short of getting a AAA rating because the two bickering political parties refuse to bridge their differences and address long-term debt problems.” (More parenting news at 3, below – Opinions Everyone Has.)
3. In the (fruit) loop. Al Kamen brings us up to date.
OPINIONS EVERYONE HAS
1. As long as the government leaves reporters alone. Wall Street Journal editorial – wounds healed after DoJ-AP fight – reminds, “Practices like data-mining save lives, and in doing so they protect against far greater intrusions on individual freedom.” Talk about a short memory.
2. Jonah Goldberg exposes naiveté (or he’s being really, really sarcastic), suggests we cannot trust the government: “Or it could be that, like so many presidents before him, Obama thinks there’s nothing wrong with executive power when he’s the executive.”
3. Be nice. Washington Examiner’s Timothy Carney revisits an old adage: “’If you have something that you don’t want anyone to know’ . . . ‘maybe you shouldn’t be doing it in the first place.’”
THE FUNNIES
1. Makes you want to type t-e-r-r-o-r-i-s-t into all your e-mails. Gina Loudon’s strange but true (apparently): “’ “Users are not to use AF NIPRNET systems to access the Verizon phone records collection and other related news stories because the action could constitute a Classified Message Incident.”
2. Not the least bit clever: “Can you hear me now?”
3. Blunt but true – the nature of great political cartoons.
