How to beat the Taliban & Happy 29th!
FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM
1. First, try re-starting your computer, and leave us alone! Millions gone for nothing, but at least we all got new monitors! Contributor Michelle Kincaid covers Department of Commerce’s $2.7 million overreaction and links to the IG report telling the story: “[Economic Development Administration] believed the incident resulted in a widespread malware infection that was possibly propagating within its systems. Furthermore, EDA believed that its widespread malware infection could spread to other bureaus if its IT systems remained connected to the network, so EDA decided to isolate its IT systems from the HCHB network. OIG found no evidence to support EDA’s beliefs.” And hackers tell the Feds – you are not invited. Here’s how I fix my computer.
2. Cost-plus or Fixed-price? It all depends. Contributor Diana Rodriguez covers DoD’s 2013 Performance of the Defense Acquisition System. The new report concludes that between cost-plus and fixed-price contracts, “no single contract type . . . yielded better cost control, and advised that it was preferable to select the most appropriate contract type and incentive structure and select the most appropriate contract type.” In short, Rodriguez writes, “the bottom line is about the getting the best value and benefits of goods and services acquired in a responsive time compared to the costs to the taxpayer.” There’s a first time for everything.
THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT
1. The fight continues: Afghan security forces kill suicide bomber. Khaama Press reports from Kabul, “a suicide bomber was shot dead by Afghan security forces near the Kabul international airport in capital Kabul on Monday night. The suicide bomber was looking to attack a police check post located near the Kabul international airport and was shot dead by police forces.” Also in Afghanistan, “A NATO soldier was killed following militants attack in eastern Afghanistan on Monday . . . . This comes as a British soldier was killed following armed clashes with the Afghan national army soldiers in southern Helmand province of Afghanistan on Sunday.”
2. Here’s what I think about reconciliation. Reuters Erika Solomon reports from Beirut, “Gunmen loyal to President Bashar al-Assad shot dead at least six mediators sent to try to reconcile warring sectarian groups in the province of Homs, where people on opposing sides in Syria’s war had until now been able to coexist, residents said on Tuesday.” Meanwhile, Syrian rebels decide on Transformation: “Syria’s opposition coalition wants to create a 10-person executive council to reorganize disparate rebel factions into a structured army with adequate financing and weapons . . . . [dissident veteran Michel] Kilo predicted that the war in Syria would last a long time now that foreign factions had joined what had become a theatre for a region-wide Sunni-Shi’ite sectarian conflict, complicated by a growing rivalry between Russia and the United States.”
3. Violence, again, in Cairo. Just in, Aljazeera reports, “Egyptian security forces fired tear gas in central Cairo after scuffles broke out between supporters of the deposed Islamist president Mohamed Morsi and locals . . . . The clashes marked the first violent confrontation involving pro-Morsi protesters for a week.” AP reports, “7 killed in clashes,” and Reuters reports 261 wounded.
4. AFRICOM troops teach sanitation basics to the Malawi Defense Force. U.S. Army Africa Public Affairs reporter Terysa M. King explains, “From the effects of malaria during World War II to medical problems in current deployments, Soldier health has become a great factor in unit effectiveness. With the increase of Soldiers from different militaries deploying to combat and field environments, the need for preventive medicine and field sanitation teams are in higher demand.” Hygiene is key.
5. A brave new world: SecDef lays it out for Paratroops. Claudette Roulo, American Forces Press Service, reports on Hagel’s remarks to service members at Fort Bragg. Recognizing service members’ contributions to building “’a new world, a better world, a fairer world, a freer world,’” Hagel gives credit where credit is due: “Congress was unwilling to authorize the reprogramming of funds that would have prevented the need to furlough about 650,000 defense civilian employees. . . . ‘I think it’s fair to say if we’re going to be living with an additional $52 billion cut, there [is] going to continue to be bad news with every aspect of our budget . . . .’”
6. Sex, lies, and videotape. Brig. Gen. Jeff Sinclair joins the growing club of general officers: “a 27-year Army veteran based at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, pleaded not guilty to charges of forcible sodomy, wrongful sexual conduct, possessing pornography while deployed and conduct unbecoming of an officer. The most serious of the charges against Sinclair stem from accusations that he forced a subordinate with whom he acknowledges having a three-year affair to perform oral sex on two occasions. . . . He is also accused of eliciting nude emails and text messages from other female subordinates. He could be sent to prison for life if convicted of the most serious charge, forcible sodomy.” No way! O.K., maybe.
CONTRACT WATCH
1. Uranium balloons? In “Contractors Slammed for Uranium Project’s Ballooning Expense,” GovExec.Com’s Diane Barnes reports on a project run wild because of a failure to lead: “changes ended up costing well over half a billion dollars more, congressional auditors said last Friday. The site is to replace existing facilities that handle and store highly enriched uranium. The Government Accountability Office blamed the additional $540 million price tag on a failure by the lead design firm to “adequately manage and integrate the design work” of four subcontractors.”
2. Get in the HUBZone. What’s a HUBZone? See how to gain advantages in contracting by leveraging the “Historically Underutilized Business Zones (HUBZone) program [that] helps small businesses in urban and rural communities gain preferential access to federal procurement opportunities.” The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) walks you through the requirements. And don’t forget, “Small Businesses Receive 22.25 Percent of Small Business Contracts in FY 2012.”
TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY
1. Water-resistant: not just for jungles anymore. Time.Com’s Suzanne Kantra gives you your best bets for keeping your tech dry at the beach: “Heading to the beach or pool? There’s no need to leave your tech behind. You can listen to music, read a book, take pictures and keep in touch with the help of water-resistant cases and products. The key to keeping your gear safe is checking their water-resistance rating, or IP code (Ingress Protection rating), to determine just how water-safe it is. It’s the second number after “IP” that you’ll want to check for water resistance.”
2. That’s the trick: there is no infection. Ransomware. Had the Economic Development Administration and Brig. Gen. Sinclair only known. Beware the Ransomware fraud: “You’ve been caught viewing prohibited pornographic content. Now you need to pay $300 to ‘unlock’ your Mac . . . or take your computer in for a potentially embarrassing servicing. Catch-22? That’s the premise behind a new version of the FBI Ransomware browser trojan that is targeting Mac users. (No, it’s not actually from the FBI, that’s just the scam that it’s trying to get you to buy into.) And no matter how much your spouse might refuse to believe you, you don’t have to be viewing porn to get it. In fact, according to security expert Jerome Segura, all you have to do is search the web for a few popular keywords.”
3. Snowden is like a bad cold – just can’t shake him. Reuters’ Alexei Anishchuk reports from Gogland Island, Russia, “Putin said on Monday he wanted Edward Snowden to leave after three weeks holed up at a Moscow airport, but also signaled that the former U.S. spy agency contractor was moving towards meeting Russia’s asylum conditions..Putin said Washington had trapped Snowden by preventing him from reaching other countries that might shelter him but, wary of upsetting Moscow’s former Cold War enemy, has said Russia will grant him political asylum only if he stops actions that could be harmful to the United States.”
POTOMAC TWO-STEP
1. One dollar dances. AP reports, “Petraeus, a hero of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars who quit the CIA in scandal last November after it was uncovered he’d had an affair with his biographer, will teach a seminar at Macaulay Honors College in the next academic year for $1, The New York Times reported on Monday.” He should be paying them, actually.
2. Filibuster Freak Dance. Reuters reports that unable to work and play well with others, “U.S. senators failed to reach a deal on Monday to avert a showdown over President Barack Obama’s executive-branch nominees and threats by Democrats to strip Republicans of their power to block such nominations with procedural hurdles known as filibusters.” Get the steps for the Freak Dance. See also, “Filibuster talks flag.”
OPINIONS EVERYONE HAS
1. Perpetual vacation for everyone! Time.Com contributor Dharmesh Shah argues, “Vacations, by design, are supposed to be a time to relax, rejuvenate and reconnect with your favorite places, people or activities. And yet the process of requesting, approving and tracking vacation at most companies worldwide is anything but relaxing.”
2. Circus de Snowden – end it. Aljazeera contributor Richard Falk argues, “This anger is surely misdirected. Taking the overall situation into account, whatever anger is generated, should rather be directed at the United States for employing such arrogant language and crude methods in its hopefully vain effort to gain custody over Snowden. From almost every angle of relevant law, morality, and politics the case for protecting Snowden against the long arm of American criminal law is overwhelming. Anyone who commits nonviolent ‘political crimes’ should be entitled to be protected, and should certainly not be compelled to hole up in an airport transit lounge for weeks of anguishing suspense.” Whining sound.
3. A view from across the pond. The Guardian’s Ana Marie Cox feels our pain: “Americans, as a whole, are justifiably disgusted with the partisan gridlock that bogs down federal legislation. At the state and local level, they see state legislatures increasingly at odds with governors. But is any side winning? Activists on both sides point to dramatic legal threats to one cause or another as proof that the troops must be rallied because America is under assault. We are either a country slipping into a swamp of socialism and secular humanist sin . . . or we are on the verge of institutionalizing gender discrimination and doing nothing as a shock wave of gun violence terrorizes children . . . .”
THE FUNNIES
1. New drone.
2. Career day.
