FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM
1. ClearanceJobs.Com and the Iceberg Principle. Hemingway argued that “The dignity of movement of an ice-berg is due to only one-eighth of it being above water.” Editor Lindy Kyzer demonstrates that principle with a glance at the other seven-eighths of ClearanceJobs.Com we never see: “Helping veterans and their families is ingrained in the company culture of the customers ClearanceJobs works with each day. Once again in the second quarter of 2013 ClearanceJobs was proud to match the commitment of our customers with an outreach campaign of our own. For every employer subscription to ClearanceJobs.com purchased this year, a $15 donation is made to Operation Gratitude.”
2. All clearances are not created equally. Kyzer’s Security Clearances Jobs Blog makes just this point: “Many professionals assume that if they have been cleared by one agency, their security clearance will readily transfer to another agency. This isn’t the case. While OPM conducts the vast majority of security clearance investigations, the three letter agencies conduct their own investigations, and others, including the Department of Homeland Security, make use of both OPM and outside contract investigation services.”
THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT
1. “Moral obscenity” and “there must be accountability” – Kerry prepares our “war-weary American public”: Reuters’ Lesley Wroughton and Matt Spetalnick report, “Information gathered so far, including videos and accounts from the ground, indicate that the use of chemical weapons in Syria was ‘undeniable,’ [Secretary] Kerry said, adding that it was the Syrian government that maintained custody of the weapons and had the rockets capable of delivering them. . . . The Obama administration has not set a timeline for responding but officials are preparing options for with a sense of urgency, the State Department said.” See also, Russia to U.S., “Don’t make the same mistakes twice.” Assad to the U.S., “’The US faces failure just like in all the previous wars they waged, starting with Vietnam and up to our days’ . . . any US military action against his country would fail.” France, Germany, other traditional reluctants coming on board. Read the transcript of Kerry’s remarks. And in Congress, “May we play, too, please?”
2. Russia and Iran to U.S. – Don’t do it. Aljazeera.Com reports, “Assad’s allies say military move would have serious consequences as West weighs punishment for alleged gas attack. Russia and Iran have given fresh warning to US and its allies against a military intervention in Syria. The Russian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that such an intervention could have ‘catastrophic consequences for the region and called on the international community to show ‘prudence’ over the crisis. . . . Separately, Iran repeated its opposition to any US attack by warning that a military intervention will engulf the whole region.”
3. “Uncle?” In Egypt, some Islamists seeking truce. [Probably more like refit and regroup] AP’s Maggie Michael reports from Cairo, “Two former militant groups offered to call off street protests if the government agrees to ease its pressure on Islamists, a move that underscores how a onetime strong Islamist movement is now bowing to an unprecedented crackdown by security authorities. . . . Critics say the truce proposal reflects cracks within the Islamist alliance led by the Brotherhood, with much of its leadership either imprisoned or on the run.”
4. Army Staff Sgt. Ty Carter receives Medal of Honor. AP’s Tom Raum reports, “Carter risked his life to save an injured soldier, resupply ammunition to his comrades and render first aid during intense fighting in a remote mountain outpost four years ago. . . . Carter sprinted from his barracks into a ferocious firefight, a day-long battle on Oct. 3, 2009, that killed eight of his fellow soldiers as they tried to defend their outpost – at the bottom of a valley and surrounded by high mountains – from the onslaught of a much larger force of Taliban and local fighters.”
5. SecDef promises Indonesia robust helicopter support. American Forces Press Service’s Cheryl Pellerin reports, “In a first-of-its-kind deal worth about $500 million, the United States has agreed to sell eight new Apache AH-64E attack helicopters and Longbow radars to Indonesia . . . . The U.S. military will train Indonesian pilots and help in developing tactics, techniques and procedures for operating in the Southeast Asian security environment . . . . The two militaries recently launched an initiative to share best practices in defense planning and management to increase Indonesian military capability, Hagel said, and next month the United States and Indonesia will cohost a counterterrorism exercise under the framework of the ASEAN Defense Ministers Meeting-Plus.”
6. Karzai to Pakistan: Taliban masters. Reuters’ Sharaf Stanekzai reports, “The Taliban are increasingly targeting civilians seen to be cooperating with the government, raising concerns about the prospects for peace after most foreign troops pull out next year. President Hamid Karzai condemned the killings with a swipe at Pakistan which he has been visiting for two days. ‘The killing of innocent engineers and workers shows that the Taliban and their foreign masters want Afghanistan to be an impoverished and underdeveloped country forever,’ he said in apparent reference to Islamabad, among others, which he has often accused of playing a double game in the 12-year-old war.”
7. Karzai to Sharif: friends in need. Khaama.Com reports, “Afghan president Hamid Karzai on met with the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif in a one-on-one meeting at the Prime Minister House in Islamabad. President Karzai during his meeting Nawaz Sharif . . . . discussed the common challenges facing the two countries and expressed resolve to stand by each other in times of need. . . . In his public statement after the meeting, president Karzai said that the government of Pakistan could provide opportunities for talks between the Afghan High Peace Council and the militants.” Related, Afghanistan and Pakistan look to Kunar River for electric power while China’s multi-billion-dollar copper deal with Afghanistan hangs in the balance. Also, Taliban suicide assault in Kapisa.
8. In AFRICOM, concern over violence in Democratic Republic of Congo. AllAfrica.Com reports, “fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo between government soldiers and M23 rebels has brought expression of concern from the United States. The two sides suffered heavy casualties in clashes Sunday north of the city of Goma. The fighting that began last week marks the first major hostilities since the army bombed M23 headquarters in July and drove the rebels several kilometers from Goma. The U.S. State Department said in a statement Sunday the United States is ‘alarmed’ by the violence. It condemns the actions of the M23 rebels, calling on them to end hostilities and disband. The U.S. is also urging the governments in the DRC and neighboring Rwanda to use restraint to prevent further military escalation and actions that could endanger civilians. United Nations experts have accused Rwanda of supporting M23 – an allegation Rwanda denies.”
CONTRACT WATCH
1. One to watch: Abiomed Inc. (Nasdaq: ABMD) of Danvers, Mass. BizJournals.Com’s Maureen McCarthy reports, “Abiomed Inc. . . . landed a five-year federal contract with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to provide its Impella heart pump to Veteran’s Affairs medical facilities, Department of Defense (DoD) hospitals and other federal agencies. . . . Abiomed’s president, chairman and CEO, told Mass High Tech in an email that the deal has been in the works for some time and is expected to increase revenue by 20 percent.”
2. $17.5 million for Natoma Technologies Inc. SacBee.Com out of Sacramento reports, “Founded in 1998, Natoma is a government-focused systems integrator and information technology consulting firm serving local, state, federal and commercial clients. Under the contract, Natoma will provide operations and maintenance services to GSA’s Enterprise Project Management system, ePM for short, a Web-based solution designed to help manage a portfolio of design and construction projects. Services will include application operations and maintenance, performing system enhancements/upgrades and technical services to migrate ePM to a cloud-based hosting environment.”
TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY
1. Handicapped work-around for NSA’s snooping. Wired.Com contributor Klint Finley explains how the tech-world is responding to inevitable breaches of your privacy. Finley writes, “an ex-Googler, points out that one of the biggest problems with e-mail is that large providers like Gmail make tempting targets for both malicious hackers and overzealous governments. A government service or a hacker with ‘direct access’ to Google could tap thousands, perhaps millions, of e-mail boxes. But if no single e-mail provider had such a large user base, government and attackers would have a much harder time. . . . Yes, you can already sign-up for an e-mail account with an alternative hosting provider and move your email into a client like Thunderbird. But Gmail has changed people’s expectations about how e-mail should work, particularly with regard to search. If you decide to switch from Gmail to another provider, you may find the tools sorely lacking.”
2. iPhones – you can’t have everything, yet. Techland.Time.Com contributor Jared Newman provides the latest intel on the 10 September iPhone release, and it’s good, but it isn’t everything: “Apple’s A7 processor provides a 31 percent speed boost over the current A6 chip. It will reportedly remain a dual-core processor, even as quad-core chips become commonplace in high-end Android handsets. . . . . I wouldn’t fret much about the lack of cores. The iPhone has never been lacking in the performance department, because Apple makes it easy for developers to take full advantage of its hardware.”
3. Apocalypse now, or in the future – be ready. CNN.Com contributor Holden Frith offers the latest in high-tech survival gear: for instance, a personal ark – gotta have that! “The Noah miniature ark takes up a little more room than the Orange Saver but its designers intend it for the “average Japanese home”. The bright yellow ball, four feet across, is made from fiber-reinforced plastic and will accommodate four adults. Once the hatch is sealed the pod is waterproof, buoyant and tough enough to fend of debris in the water. Vents in the roof allow in fresh air. The Noah is already in production and sells for about $5,500.”
POTOMAC TWO-STEP
1. RNC courts African Americans. WaPo’s Aaron Blake covered the RNC’s MLK luncheon and heard some surprise philosophy: “The most rousing speech of the luncheon came from Bob Woodson, the head of the Center for Neighborhood Enterprises. Woodson criticized black leaders over Trayvon Martin, the black Florida teen who was shot to death by George Zimmerman. Zimmerman was acquitted in Martin’s death. Woodson, who is black, said groups including gays and immigrants have been prioritized over poor black people in American society. . . . Recognizing that strong reaction to his words, Woodson didn’t back down. . . . At the end of his remarks, Woodson was greeted with a standing ovation.” [There goes the gay and immigrant vote in 2016.]
2. Dancing with the Devil – Lindsay Graham facing the music. NYTimes.Com’s Kim Severson reports, “Conservatives in South Carolina are eager to oust Mr. Graham, who has enraged the far right for, among other things, reaching across the aisle on immigration and supporting President Obama’s nominations for the Supreme Court. Tea Party supporters called him a community organizer for the Muslim Brotherhood when, instead of heading home for the Congressional break this month, he went to Egypt at the request of the president.”
OPINIONS EVERYONE HAS
1. “Syria’s Escalating Crisis.” Aljazeera.Com contributor Deepak Tripathi argues, “A theatre of war such as Syria, with competing players, has many risks of escalation, but two are particularly potent. One is a propensity of those who are already committed to seeing only what fits their argument; the other a tendency to resort to reasoning that sounds too earnest to be objective and credible. After the experience of Iraq, those interested in truth instead of geopolitical gain should be weary of excessive ideological commitment and immoderate sincerity. For both tendencies are partly responsible for the mess in the Middle East.”
2. “Syria Is Forcing a New U.S. Strategy for the Middle East.” DefenseOne.Com’s Kevin Baron and Stephanie Gaskell remind, “By this point, cruise missiles alone may not be enough to alter the Syrian conflict definitively. But any type of involvement there will entangle the United States into another conflict in the Middle East. As Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey warned, ‘Once we take action, we should be prepared for what comes next.’”
3. Considering Edward Snowden. OpEdNews.Com contributor John Sanchez Jr. argues in great detail, “Quite frankly, those who were shocked by Snowden’s revelations were simply not paying attention. With that, we may still consider Snowden to have performed a public service in making this NSA overreach a topic of discussion. Yet there is still much that is troubling about his behavior.”
THE FUNNIES
1. Eye of beholder.
2. Self-regulation.
3. CIA Confessions.
