Monday morning & Luck o’ the Irish to ye!
FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM
1. Studying for your Polygraph Test. Contributor D.B. Grady explains the truth-meter: “An awful lot about the polygraph seems to depend on the examinee believing that the test actually works. There is a strong placebo effect at work; if you think the polygraph will catch you, you are more likely to be caught. To some extent, as the American Psychological Association noted, the lie detector is more accurately labeled a ‘fear detector.’”
2. Suitability—ability to wear a suit. Not really. Contributor John Holst explains the difference between suitability for the job and suitability for a clearance: “A person may be deemed suitable for work for the federal government and not be granted a security clearance. If a person has passed a suitability screening with the federal government it does not indicate they will also be able to obtain a federal security clearance. Suitability determinations are often used by the federal government and government contractors in initial applicant screenings.”
THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT
1. Seal surprise. The New York Times reports, “United States Navy commandos seized a diverted oil tanker in the Mediterranean waters southeast of Cyprus on Monday morning, thwarting an attempt by a breakaway Libyan militia to sell its contents on the black market . . . . No one was hurt in the operation . . . . The diverted tanker, called the Morning Glory, had sailed into the Libyan port of Sidra under a North Korean flag but North Korea disavowed the ship and denied having provided any authorization. News reports have said it was operated by a company based in Alexandria, Egypt, and that after leaving Libyan waters it appeared to have sailed the Mediterranean in search of a buyer for its oil.”
1. Let the Cold War re-begin. DefenseNews.Com’s Gerard O’Dwyer reports, “Sweden’s government is examining a proposal to boost military spending to defend its own territories and the strategic Baltic Sea area in the face of renewed Russian aggression in Ukraine. There is also a movement among high government officials to re-examine the long-running issue of joining NATO.”
2. Syria + Hezbollah = Success. Aljazeera.Com reports, “Syrian forces, backed by Lebanese Hezbollah fighters, are in full control of Yabroud after clearing out rebels holed up in the strategic Syrian town for months, Syrian state media and opposition activists have reported. Capturing Yabroud, the last major rebel bastion near the Lebanese border north of Damascus, will help President Bashar al-Assad secure the land route linking his Mediterranean coastal stronghold with the capital Damascus, and choke off a cross-border rebel supply line from Lebanon.”
3. Crimea chooses its destiny. Time’s Sam Frizell reports, “Voters in the Crimea region of Ukraine voted overwhelmingly on Sunday to secede from their country and join Russia, in a major victory for Moscow that followed days of international condemnation that the referendum itself was illegitimate.”
4. Pulling Out: Brits relinquishing Helmand to Afghans. Khaama.Com reports, “British forces handed over two more military bases to Afghan national security forces in southern Helmand province of Afghanistan. The ministry of defense of United Kingdom said Sunday that the Lashkar Gah and Patrol Base Lashkar Gah Durai have been handed over to Afghan control. The statement further added that British forces have closed a third base, MOB Price in southern Helmand province. Britain now has only two bases operational in Helmand . . . .”
CONTRACT WATCH
1. Colin Powell—old Generals never die, they just consult. GovConWire.Com reports, “Colin Powell, . . . has joined the board of directors at Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM). Powell’s appointment took effect Thursday brings the board’s total number of members to 11 . . . . Marc Benioff, chairman and CEO of Salesforce.com, said Powell has previously worked with the company to establish its philanthropic model and the Salesforce.com Foundation. Powell serves as a strategic limited partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations’ board of directors and also chairs board of visitors of the Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership at the City College of New York.” [Cha- cha- cha-ching]
2. Billions on the ballistic missile interceptors table. AviationWeek.Com’s Amy Butler reports, “Raytheon is preparing to submit a bid to the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) to build the first batch of SM-3 Block IIA ballistic missile interceptors while gearing up for the first flight test next year. The proposal will include the sale of 22 of the missiles, which are now being developed, says Mitch Stevison, SM-3 program director for the company. They would be purchased by MDA with research and development funding.”
TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY
1. Cyberwar report: NATO and U.S. Commands take hits. DefenseOne.Com’s Patrick Tucker reports, “From the Middle East to Ukraine, it was a great weekend for anti-Western hacktivists looking to score cheap shots. Both NATO and U.S. Central Command fell victim to separate cyberattack attempts on the eve of the Crimea referendum to secede from Ukraine and join Russia.”
2. Yellow submarine drones. DefenseOne.Com’s Patrick Tucker explains, “In the next decade, Navy scientists will be able to predict the weather as far as 90 days into the future with the help of mathematical models, satellites, and submarine drones. The mathematical models are the most important element in the ocean and weather prediction cocktail. But making those models perform at a level where they can be reliable so far into the future requires data from everywhere, including more places under the sea. That’s where the submarine drones make the difference.”
3. Next robot evolution—soft, squishy skin. QZ.Com (Quartz) contributor Rachel Feltman reports, “Soft robotics is ready to enter the spotlight. These robots are built with soft materials like silicone and powered by the flow of fluids. This allows for unique kinds of movement, with the automatons often taking locomotive cues from the animal kingdom. As recently as 2010, when the video below was made, soft robots weren’t considered a field of study in their own right. But this month, a peer-reviewed journal, Soft Robotics, was launched just for them.”
POTOMAC TWO-STEP
1. Tightrope—C.I.A. vs. Senate: “The public spat between President Obama’s trusted CIA ally and a loyal senator has sharpened the focus on his complicated role in managing the terrorism-fighting programs he inherited. Obama wants to stay neutral in the feud between Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and CIA Director John Brennan, Obama’s former top counterterrorism adviser. . . . Staying out of the fray may prove difficult, given Obama’s involvement in the issue at the core of the dispute: What kind of public reckoning should there be for those who carried out waterboarding and other harsh interrogation methods? Even as Obama stated his neutrality in the Feinstein-Brennan dispute, he sent his chief of staff, Denis McDonough, and top lawyer, Kathryn Ruemmler, to meet with California senator.”
2. Mid-terms: Koch vs. Steyer: “In one corner are Charles and David Koch, the prominent conservative donors who made their fortunes in the fossil-fuel industry. They are pouring tens of millions of dollars into ad campaigns aimed at helping the GOP take back the Senate. In the other corner is a newcomer, Tom Steyer, who has vowed to push the issue of climate change relentlessly to the forefront of American politics — even though his allegiance to the Democrats is more equivocal than that of the Kochs to the GOP. Steyer and the Kochs are both digging deep into their personal fortunes to try and influence the outcome of the elections, in what historians say is a political throwback to the Gilded Age.” Related, see Politico.Com’s “Revenge of the Republican consultants.”
OPINIONS EVERYONE HAS
1. “Confederation: An off-ramp for the Ukrainian crisis.” Reuters contributor Stephen D. Krasner argues, “The best the United States and Western Europe can hope for would be an outcome in which Crimea is not formally detached from Ukraine, but has a very high degree of autonomy. This autonomy would include not just choices about domestic policies but about some aspects of foreign policy as well. Ukraine would be a confederal state where at least one of the component parts would control some elements of foreign policy, rather than a federal state where only the central government has authority over international affairs.”
2. “On Europe’s odd performance over Ukraine.” Aljazeera.Com contributor Rosa Balfour argues, “The Russian “invasion” of Crimea led to a diplomatic vacuum in Europe. The EU has increasingly raised the possibility of applying some negative measures, such as visa bans and asset freezes, and in the morning after the referendum in Crimea, the foreign ministers are likely to do so. Threatening to implement such measures does do not seem to have persuaded Moscow to change its policy. Washington, too, may not succeed in forcing President Vladimir Putin to make a policy shift.”
3. “Modern Day Appeasement.” USNews.Com contributor Jorge Benitez argues, “Describing Western actions against Russia’s aggression as half measures would be a gross exaggeration. Putin’s military invasion of Ukraine deserves at least a strong diplomatic and economic response from the U.S., Canada and Europe. But instead of prompt and meaningful sanctions against Moscow, the Western response has been lethargic and miniscule.”
THE FUNNIES
3. Putin’s pattern.
