FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM
1. Prep for success. Editor Lindy Kyzer explains, “KPMG will be hosting a Veteran and Transitioning Military Virtual Career Fair September 30 from 1-4 PM ET. . . . KPMG is looking to fill positions in Information Technology, Cyber Security, Forensic Technology, Enterprise Solutions, Financial Risk Management, Information Protection and Business Resilience, IT Advisory and more. . . . If you’re new to virtual career fairs, here are a few tips to help you be successful at the KPMG event . . . .”
2. Networking for nerds. Also from Lindy Kyzer, “Eye contact isn’t your forte, and you’re frequently mistaken for characters on ‘The Big Bang Theory.’ The idea that personality plays a role in the hiring process irks you, but it shouldn’t. Just because you’re not a social butterfly doesn’t mean you can’t put networking to your advantage. Yes, socially awkward job seeker, networking is for you, too. Here are three tips to make the most of it.”
THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT
1. ISIS down under. AP’s Kristen Gelineau reports from Sydney, “Police said they thwarted a plot to carry out beheadings in Australia by supporters of the radical Islamic State group by detaining 15 people and raiding more than a dozen properties across Sydney on Thursday. The raids involving 800 federal and state police officers—the largest in the country’s history—came in response to intelligence that an Islamic State group leader in the Middle East was calling on Australian supporters to kill . . . . The raids came just days after the country raised its terrorism threat to the second-highest level in response to the domestic threat posed by supporters of the Islamic State group.” Reuters reports, “Australian PM says police raids follow IS linked beheading plot.”
2. America will lead the fight. Defense Media Activity’s Jim Garamone reports, “In the fight against the Islamic State in Syria and the Levant, America will lead the right way, President Barack Obama told service members at MacDill Air Force Base . . . . Destroying ISIL is not America’s fight alone, Obama said. The United States military has unique—and decisive—capabilities it can bring to the fight, he added, but this does not mean American troops will engage in ground combat. ‘The American forces that have been deployed to Iraq do not and will not have a combat mission,’ . . . but rather will advise and assist Iraqi forces. ‘As your commander in chief, I will not commit you and the rest of our armed forces to fighting another ground war in Iraq’ . . . .” See also, “NATO head: threats from Russia, Islamic State.”
3. UN: flight from the fight on the Golan Heights. AP’s Aron Heller reports, “For four decades, a multinational United Nations mission has quietly monitored the sleepy Golan Heights—providing a symbol of stability between bitter enemies as it enforced a truce between Israel and Syria. But as Syria has plunged into civil war and the peacekeepers themselves have become targets of al-Qaida-linked rebels, the U.N. observer force has begun to fall apart, leaving its future—and the prospects for ever establishing peace in this rugged area of the Middle East—in doubt.”
CONTRACT WATCH
1. Made in American—Blue Origin teams with United Launch Alliance. DefenseNews.Com’s Aaron Mehta reports, “The United Launch Alliance (ULA) is teaming with Seattle-based Blue Origin to design and produce a next-generation, American-made rocket engine for space launch . . . . the Blue Origin team has been working on the engine for three years, which should reduce needed development time. Analysts have estimated that developing a new engine from scratch could take anywhere from five to seven years and cost $1 billion.” See also, “ULA Subsidiary Wins $938M Contract Modification on USAF Launch Vehicle Program.”
2. $7 billion shooting into space. FederalTimes.Com’s Aaron Boyd reports, “In a move designed to bring the nation’s space travel back to U.S. soil, NASA awarded contracts Tuesday to two U.S. companies — Boeing and Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX)—to begin transporting astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) using private spacecraft. . . . The two awards total $6.8 billion, with $4.2 billion allocated for Boeing and $2.6 billion for SpaceX.”
TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY
1. TRANSCOM hacked. DefenseOne.Com’s Patrick Tucker reports, “Chinese military hackers successfully breached the systems of several transportation companies that do important work for the military . . . . The Chinese hackers stole emails, documents, compromised ‘multiple systems’ of ships, obtained credentials, personal identification numbers and passwords for encrypted email and, through a phishing scam, convinced someone working at a TRANSCOM contracting air company to download an email with malware onto the airline’s network.” See also from Reuters, “Chinese hacked U.S. military contractors.”
2. ISIS internet. Christian Science Monitor’s Harry Bruinius reports, “On the one hand, experts caution that terrorist propaganda and recruitment efforts online is nothing new. But even as a handful of Americans attempt to get more engaged with extremist groups, media observers say IS has become one of most sophisticated social media operations yet seen. . . . IS appears to have taken its social media to a whole new level. . . . For the past decade and beyond, terror organizations have tried to sow their messages in password-protected chat rooms and message boards, while disseminating information and seeking new recruits. But the rise of social media has broadened their audience – just as it has other organizations of all sorts.”
3. Dropout foiling NSA. Wired.Com’s Kim Zetter tells the story: “Brooks, who is just 22 and a self-taught coder who dropped out of school at 13, was always concerned about privacy and civil liberties. Four years ago he began work on a program for encrypted instant messaging that uses Tor hidden services for the protected transmission of communications. The program, which he dubbed Ricochet, began as a hobby. But by the time he finished, he had a full-fledged desktop client that was easy to use, offered anonymity and encryption, and even resolved the issue of metadata . . . .”
POTOMAC TWO-STEP
1. Shutdown aversion: “Congress is one step closer to avoiding another Pentagon and federal government shutdown, something leaders of both political parties fear heading into a crucial election homestretch. The US House on Wednesday approved a $1 trillion stopgap appropriations bill on a vote of 319 in favor and 108 against that would fund the Defense Department and other federal agencies through Dec. 11. Though another fiscal 2015 measure will be required by mid-December, if the Senate approves this measure lawmakers will head home for a seven-week campaign break without the threat of their party being blamed for a shutdown.”
2. Biting the hand: “Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz is in a behind-the-scenes struggle with the White House, congressional Democrats and Washington insiders who have lost confidence in her as both a unifying leader and reliable party spokesperson at a time when they need her most. . . . The perception of critics is that Wasserman Schultz spends more energy tending to her own political ambitions than helping Democrats win. This includes using meetings with DNC donors to solicit contributions for her own PAC and campaign committee, traveling to uncompetitive districts to court House colleagues for her potential leadership bid and having DNC-paid staff focus on her personal political agenda.”
OPINIONS EVERYONE HAS
1. “Russians love their children, too—but that alone won’t stop a nuclear war.” Reuters contributor Masha Gessen argues, “The Russian public, subjected to authoritarian rule and state terror for generations, knows that falling in step, especially in times of war, is essential to survival. In the absence of democratic mechanisms, Putin needs only the most superficial public support for his acts of aggression—and he can most certainly count on it. In part because the Russians love their children, too—and want them to grow up in a great country that the rest of the world fears.”
2. “Why ISIL keeps growing.” Aljazeera.Com contributor Martin Reardon argues, “Through their aggressive and ruthless ‘no-quarter’ tactics against what they consider apostate enemies, effective use of social media, claims of a caliphate, and recent notoriety as what may arguably be the wealthiest terrorist organisation in history, ISIL has been assured—at least for now—a constant flow of new fighters into its ranks. That spigot will likely continue to flow until such time as they are no longer perceived as winning on the ground. The sooner that happens, the better.”
3. “Why Congress must vote on Obama’s war with IS.” Christian Science Monitor’s Editorial Board argues, “Congress is off to a bad start by not holding this debate before the election. Being held to account for a war is one way to reduce its potential folly. But even in a lame-duck session, lawmakers can still rise to the occasion and make sure Americans know the causes, purposes, and conduct for a war already being waged.”
THE FUNNIES
1. Brave-vote.
2. Revolving door.
