FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM
1. Cybersecurity education gap. Perhaps it’s the vogue of Assange and Snowden, or good old fashion anti-establishment sentiment, but contributor Diana Rodriguez points out that “an overwhelming 82% of survey participants stated that they had never been advised by a high school teacher or guidance counselor to consider a career in cybersecurity. Of those who responded to the survey, only 24% said they were interested in a career in cybersecurity . . . .” What gives?
2. So why cybersecurity? Editor Lindy Kyzer takes a stab: “Semper Secure’s cyber security census reveals it isn’t just a paycheck that motivates today’s cyber professionals. While cyber professionals earn an annual salary of $116,000, on average, working for a quality employer is a key motivator in cyber security employment.”
THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT
1. In Philippines suffering, don’t miss the chance for STRATCOMs. Reuters reports, “With children in the lead, scores of villagers ran from jury-rigged shanties to greet the helicopter as it settled in a flattened patch of grass. Locals jostled for a view, beaming and yelling ‘Thank you! Thank you!’ as two crew members rushed out aid marked ‘from the American people.’” [Do you really think they care?] AP reports, corruption follows destruction, and U.S. Pacific Command reports, “U.S. military assets have as of early today delivered approximately 655,000 pounds of relief supplies provided by the U.S. Agency for International Development since the start of Operation Damayan, the relief effort in support of the government of the Philippines in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda.”
2. War crimes in Egypt – what did we expect? Aljazeera.com reports, “Lawyers in the UK have accused the Egyptian military and the country’s interim government of crimes against humanity for the aftermath of the clashes since deposed president Mohamed Morsi was ousted in July. In a report released on Saturday, the high-profile legal team accused the military of a number of crimes and human rights abuses. The report documented the findings of their investigation since August. . . . key suspects include top army officers and soldiers.”
3. Taliban attack Loya Jirga site. LongWarJournal.org’s Bill Roggio reports, “The Afghan Taliban took credit for yesterday’s suicide attack in the capital of Kabul that targeted the site of an upcoming meeting of Afghan leaders who will vote on the Bilateral Security Agreement. . . . The Ministry of Interior said that 13 Afghans, including three security personnel, were killed in the blast . . . . Afghan President Hamid Karzai has invited the Taliban and other insurgent groups in Afghanistan, such as the Hizb-i-Islami Gulbuddin, to attend the Loya Jirga.” [Looks like they accepted.] Also in Afghanistan, Khaama.Com reports, “Officials in southern Zabul province of Afghanistan have announced that the beheaded bodies discovered in southern Afghanistan, belong to the Afghan police forces. . . . police service members were abducted by militants in southern Zabul province of Afghanistan few days back . . . were apparently beheaded by their captors in Kandahar province.”
4. Accruing risk and consuming readiness: Dempsey takes off the gloves. American Forces Press Service’s Jim Garamone reports, “The U.S. military, the most formidable force on the globe, is being challenged by the current fiscal uncertainty amid a changing world, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said today during his speech at the Reagan National Security Forum held at the Reagan Library . . . . Rising and reemerging powers, new relationships among the governed and governing, internal religious differences surfacing after being suppressed, and a roller-coaster fiscal environment are all shaping the world and the future, Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey said. . . . The risk of state-on-state conflict is diminished, he said, but because of the global proliferation of technology, the ability of non-state actors to wage conflict to injure or destroy has never been greater. Cyber falls in this category, and Dempsey called the threat of cyberattack his personal nightmare.”
CONTRACT WATCH
1. Big three for next year. WaPo’s Ashley Bergander reports, “The military is readying to release three major contract vehicles worth watching early next year. The contracts’ requirements range from information technology support to router equipment to research and development on bomb threats.
2. Lockheed Martin to cut 4,000. FederalTimes.com reports, “Lockheed Martin said Thursday that it is cutting 4,000 jobs due to a slowdown in business due to less U.S. government spending on defense. The defense contractor also said it was closing and consolidating several of its U.S. facilities in an effort to increase the efficiency of its operations and make its products more affordable.”
TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY
1. Spying – it’s what we do. Christian Science Monitor’s Howard LaFranchi’s insightful prognosis on international relations post-spying revelations: “No one expects the US or anyone else to negotiate away the age-old intelligence priority of trying to fathom the intentions of nations – even friendly ones. But perhaps the future tapping of friendly leaders’ cellphones can be given up so that such activities no longer distract from critical international intelligence pursuits. In a similar way, the months ahead may tell if a ‘code of conduct’ can be reached among allies that serves both security and personal-freedom interests.”
2. The doctor is virtually in. AP contributor Terence Chea explains, “A growing number of hospitals in California and other states are using telepresence robots to expand access to medical specialists, especially in rural areas where there’s a shortage of doctors. These mobile video-conferencing machines move on wheels and typically stand about 5 feet, with a large screen that projects a doctor’s face. They feature cameras, microphones and speakers that allow physicians and patients to see and talk to each other.”
3. Obama, Bitcoins, The Silk Road, and Ricin. NextGov.com’s Aliya Sternstein reports, “A former seller on the now-shuttered Silk Road website, a black market eBay that only accepted bitcoin, is one of the suspects accused of mailing President Obama poison-laced letters this year, according to Homeland Security Department officials. . . . After busting up the operation earlier this fall, U.S. authorities say they continue to probe the site’s annual revenue stream of more than $250 million and its hundreds of thousands of users.”
4. Oops.
potomac two-step
1. The week ahead. WashingtonExaminer.com shares the President’s Calendar, with commentary: “President Obama will spend this week continuing to assure the public that his signature health care remains viable and on course while trying to salvage negotiations with Iran over freezing the development of its nuclear program. Obama will continue picking up the pieces this week for the many problems of the health care law’s six-week roll-out after a Thursday apology for a broken promise that Americans would be able to keep the insurance plan they had and liked and a healthcare.gov enrollment website beset by glitches.”
2. Political civil war – sister against sister: “The public war of words over same-sex marriage between former vice president Dick Cheney’s daughters escalated Sunday when Mary Cheney and her wife sharply criticized Liz Cheney for expressing clear opposition to gay marriage during a national television interview. The back-and-forth was the latest round of a public split that has intensified in recent months. It comes as Liz Cheney is immersed in a heated campaign for the U.S. Senate in Wyoming, where her views on same-sex marriage have come under great scrutiny. It is also yet another instance of the Cheney family’s views on marriage becoming enmeshed in politics.”
OPINIONS EVERYONE HAS
1. The Myth of American Decline. TheDailyBeast.com’s Q&A with Josef Joffe: “In The Myth of America’s Decline, his first English-language book since a treatise of the “imperial temptation of America,” Joffe argues that despite consistent predictions of decline—and much to the irritation of the European cognoscenti—America will not be displaced as a superpower any time soon.”
2. A view from the inside, deep inside. Aljazeera.com posts Shaker Aamer’s reflections on America, Halloween, and Biggie: “Biggie is the [‘Forced Cell Extraction’] team leader on my cellblock. He is the one who nearly breaks my back during each forced extraction. He is also the one who handcuffs me using tight, cutting plastic restraints and then subjects me to a humiliating body search. I’m lucky if Biggie and the FCE team handle me like a sack of potatoes. I recently confronted Biggie about this contradiction. His only response is that he’s ‘just doing as told’”.
3. Help Afghanistan stop chasing the dragon. Christian Science Monitor’s Editorial Board argues, “Having invaded Afghanistan in 2001 to oust the Al Qaeda-linked Taliban, the US should not leave the country to become a narco-state.”
THE FUNNIES
2. Tiananmen twins.
