FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM
1. Hire Veterans, but be smart. Editor Lindy Kyzer reports, “If you’re a federal contractor, hiring veterans isn’t just a great way to build a great workforce, it’s a requirement for doing business with Uncle Sam. Beginning March 24, the federal government will enforce new disabled and veteran hiring benchmarks – 7 percent for disabled workers and 8 percent for veterans. With reaching out to veterans more important than ever, it’s important to consider the legal implications, as well.”
2. Fed Job search – sharpen your focus. Contributor Chandler Harris explains, “If you’re wondering where to find government jobs, your opportunities are best with just a few agencies, and within just a few specific career tracks. . . . the workforce changes at DoD are due to conversion of certain positions from military to civilian, as well as the growth of the agency’s acquisition and cybersecurity workforce.”
THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT
1. U.S. – Taliban prisoner swap. WaPo’s Anne Gearan reports, “In an effort to free American captive Bowe Bergdahl before the bulk of U.S. forces leave Afghanistan this year, the Obama administration has decided to try to resume talks with the Taliban and sweeten an offer to trade Taliban prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for the Army sergeant, current and former officials said.” In Afghanistan, Taliban condemn cowardly terrorists: “Mujahid following the statement said the Taliban group strongly condemns the cowardly terrorist attack on Taliban group members, and vowed that such attacks will not have any impact on the group’s movement.”
2. Energy – Egypt’s Achilles Heel. Reuters’ Maggie Fick reports, “Egypt’s army chief, Field Marshal Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, won vast popularity by crushing the Muslim Brotherhood, but even a man seen by his followers as invincible may be unable to fix the mess in the politically sensitive energy sector. . . . His first big challenge is likely to be power cuts and fuel shortages – the same issues that plagued Mursi and helped spur mass protests that enabled the army to oust him.” Also in Egypt, terrorist warning to tourists. In Pakistan, Taliban claim assassinations of Frontier Corps.
3. Transitioning out – check the NBA. American Forces Press Service’s Claudette Roulo reports, “As the Defense Department looks for ways to ease the difficult process of transitioning from service member to civilian, it’s also seeking out companies in the private sector who can help lead the way in training and hiring veterans . . . . One of those organizations, the NBA, was already searching for ways to broaden their interaction with service members . . . . The NBA has a 10-year history of helping active duty service members, veterans and their families through the Hoops for Troops program . . . .”
4. Violence rocking in Baghdad. Aljazeera.Com reports, “Three car bombs in Baghdad killed at least seven people, security and medical officials said, a day after more than a dozen died in a series of blasts in the Iraqi capital. Bayaa in south Baghdad was hit on Tuesday by two car bombs which killed at least five people while another exploded in a nearby area, killing two people. . . . The attacks came a day after a series of explosions in the capital left at least 23 dead. Those attacks on Monday occurred shortly after sunset and targeted crowded commercial areas near Shia mosques. . . . Attacks and clashes have killed more than 470 people so far this month and more than 1,450 since the start of the year. . . .”
5. al-Qaeda’s next frontier – Lebanon. Christian Science Monitor’s Nicholas Blanford reports, “A slew of car bombings, suicide attacks, and cross-border rocket barrages of Shiite areas of Lebanon over the past nine months by groups allied to the goals of Al Qaeda is raising concerns that the organization could formally expand its operations into Lebanon. . . . the war in neighboring Syria and rising tensions between Lebanese Shiites and Sunnis is creating a more fertile environment for Al Qaeda in Lebanon, analysts and Islamists say.”
CONTRACT WATCH
1. Contractors to convicts. FederalTimes.Com’s Sean Reilly reports, “A Tennessee couple will do time in federal prison for conspiring to defraud the military on vehicle parts purchases in Afghanistan . . . . The scheme evolved in 2007 and 2008 when Keith Johnson was working as a program manager for a Defense Department maintenance contractor in Kabul. The contractor was PAE Government Systems, a subsidiary of Lockheed Martin . . . .”
2. India’s budget boost short on defense. DefenseNews.Com’s Vivek Raghuvanshi reports, “India has proposed a 10 percent increase in defense spending for the financial year beginning April 1, but the plan includes a boost of only 3.28 percent for new weapon procurement compared with a jump of 9 percent the previous year. . . . For weapon and equipment purchases, the equivalent of US $14.93 billion has been allocated for the next fiscal year, compared with US $14.56 billion for the current year.”
TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY
1. NSA redefining political parties. AP’s Steve Peoples and Eileen Sullivan report, “The debate about whether to continue the dragnet surveillance of Americans’ phone records is highlighting divisions within the Democratic and Republican parties that could transform the politics of national security. While some leading Democrats have been reluctant to condemn the National Security Agency’s tactics, the GOP has begun to embrace a libertarian shift opposing the spy agency’s broad surveillance powers – a striking departure from the aggressive national security policies that have defined the Republican Party for generations.”
2. Clapper confesses: the truth would have set NSA free. Time’s Alex Fitzpatrick reports, “Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper said in an interview published on Monday that the intelligence community should’ve told the American public about secret phone-data collection when that program first began years ago.”
3. Thin is in – don’t pocket your smartphone. Wired.Com’s Christina Bonnington reports, “It’s a symptom of the times. Smartphone makers are increasingly incorporating unusual and inventive materials in their super-slim handsets to set them apart from the mass of black, white, and silver slates. . . . Durability, though, is important not just for making sure the phone properly weathers the bumps and scratches of daily use, but also because it adds some structural integrity to the device.”
POTOMAC TWO-STEP
1. STOP (the forced, trite acronyms): “Dozens of House Republicans have recently backed legislation that calls for legal action against President Obama. Forty-three Republicans have cosponsored the resolution since Obama’s State of the Union address, where he threatened to enact policies if Congress didn’t act. The ‘Stop This Overreaching Presidency (STOP)’ measure, introduced by Rep. Tom Rice (S.C.), now has 104 co-sponsors, including Senate GOP hopeful Reps. Jack Kingston (Ga.), James Lankford (Okla.), Steve Stockman (Texas), Paul Broun (Ga.), Steve Daines (Mont.) and Phil Gingrey (Ga.).”
2. Executive action: “President Obama will again bypass Congress and take executive actions to promote his agenda on Tuesday – this time by ordering the federal government to develop the next round of greenhouse gas standards for medium- and heavy-weight trucks by March 2016. Back in Washington from a three-day trip to California, Obama will announce the new executive orders, which the White House said are aimed at curbing climate change, at a Safeway distribution center in Upper Marlboro, Md.”
OPINIONS EVERYONE HAS
1. “Getting to Yes on Defense Spending.” USNews.Com contributor Mackenzie Eaglen argues, “With the many uncomfortable budget choices ahead, it is time for Congress to take a more thoughtful and strategic approach when examining individual decisions in the larger budget they do not like. Congress has the power to hasten the creation of a ‘hollow force’ just as they hold the keys to prevent one from emerging. Let’s hope they start to put parochial interests aside and choose the latter. “
2. “US-Iran deal: Compromise is key.” Aljazeera.Com contributor Tritra Parsi argues, “Both sides may be exaggerating their fears and putting forward maximalist opening positions for what is likely to be very tough negotiations. One thing is certain, however: Compared to the interim deal, the compromises both sides will have to embrace this time around will be of a very different order.”
3. “Syria through a glass darkly.” Aljazeera.Com contributor Richard Falk argues, “For me the fundamental question is what is best to do in such a desperate situation of radical uncertainty. It is not only that the interventionists, and perhaps the anti-interventionists are motivated by a convergence of humanitarian/moral considerations with geostrategic ambitions, but that the nature of these hidden calculations are discussed in governmental circles behind locked doors and written down in secret policy memoranda.”
THE FUNNIES
1. Deaf ears.
2. Grin and bear it.
3. Global warming.
