Humph Day Highlights & “The State of the Union is Strong.”
FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM
1. Networking your way to a cleared job. Editor Lindy Kyzer offers, “Network! These days you need to know someone in HR to get your resume seen. Sites like ClearanceJobs may provide more visibility. Connecting with others is the best way to get your resume seen, and to become aware of new opportunities you may not have found yourself.”
2. On drones and borders. Contributor Charles Simmins reports, “The Department of Homeland Security operates a small fleet of drones, or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Recently-released government reports call into question the effectiveness of the homeland drone program. Reports from both the agency’s inspector general and the General Accounting Office, including an IG conclusion that the 8-year-old program is a ‘waste of money.’ The fleet is operated by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.”
THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT
1. On the SOTU. Reuters’ Steve Holland and Jeff Mason report, “President Barack Obama struck a defiant tone for his dealings with the new Republican-led Congress on Tuesday, calling on his opponents to raise taxes on the rich and threatening to veto legislation that would challenge his key decisions. Dogged by an ailing economy since the start of his presidency six years ago, Obama appeared before a joint session of Congress for his State of the Union speech in a confident mood, buoyed by an economic revival that has trimmed the jobless rate to 5.6 percent and eager to use this as a mandate.” See also from AP, “Obama seizes on recovery, bets on staying power” and from The Christian Science Monitor, “Obama on State of the Union: Tax wealthy, help middle class.”
2. CJCS on threats to Europe. DoD News’ Lisa Ferdinando reports from Rome, “Terrorism and Russian aggression are two ‘very distinct threats’ to European security, according to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey told Italian counterpart Chief of Defense Adm. Luigi Binelli Mantelli and Minister of Defense Roberta Pinotti each of those threats requires a ‘different kind of cooperation.’ The leaders discussed a variety of topics in meetings here today, including threats to Italy’s southern flank. Dempsey praised Italy for its significant contributions to coalition missions, including in Afghanistan and Iraq. The threat from Islamic terrorists will not get any easier, the chairman said.”
3. Diary of a Gitmo detainee. Spiegel Online International’s Britta Sandberg reports the story: “Sufficient evidence has never turned up, proper charges haven’t been filed and Slahi, now 44, has never been put on trial. US District Court Judge James Robertson, who had to review the lawfulness of his detention in 2010, likewise found no evidence of Slahi’s guilt nor, he said, could it be proven that Slahi had supported the 9/11 perpetrators. He ordered Slahi’s release. Four days later, though, the American government appealed the decision and the case has since been remanded to a US District Court, where it is still pending.” See also from The Long War Journal, “Former al Qaeda operative freed, sent home to Qatar.”
4. A look at Boko Haram. Slate’s Joshua Keating reports, “Last week, reports emerged of a massacre in Nigeria, where, it was estimated, fighters from the Islamist extremist group, Boko Haram, may have killed up to 2,000 people in the towns of Baga and Doron Baga. . . . Amnesty International, meanwhile, released satellite images showing the destruction of hundreds of structures and damage to thousands more in the area, lending credence to the 2,000 figure initially reported by local officials.”
5. “Children of the Fallen.” Washington Post’s moving photo essay.
CONTRACT WATCH
1. Navy’s Standard Missile-6 repurpose a boon to Raytheon. DefenseTech’s Kris Osborn reports, “So far, Raytheon has delivered 160 SM-6 missiles to the Navy and is on contract to deliver another 232 missiles. The Navy plans to move into full-rate production of the SM-6 in April of this year as an initial move toward eventually procuring as many as 1,800 SM-6 missiles. Final SM-6 assembly takes place at Raytheon’s production facility at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Ala.”
2. Amphib race is on. National Defense’s Valerie Insinna reports, “In its efforts to replace the 30-year-old amphibious assault vehicle, the Marine Corps has traversed a long and bumpy road. After three decades, billions of dollars and multiple programs spent trying to develop a technologically-advanced, high speed amphibious combat vehicle, the service decided in 2014 to procure a non-developmental vehicle and rely on connectors to ferry its troops to shore. The first phase of the ACV competition will intensify this year, with a final request for proposals to be released in February. After proposals are received, the Marine Corps plans to downselect to two vendors as early as this fall.”
3. Robotics acquisition: Sarcos takes Sarcos. Business Wire reports, “Sarcos LC (‘Sarcos’) announced [Tuesday] that it has completed the acquisition of the Raytheon Sarcos unit of Raytheon, a leading developer of robotics and micro-electro-mechanical technologies. . . . Sarcos is a global leader in the commercialization of robotics, micro systems, and sensor technologies for use in the health care, life sciences, telecommunications, robotics, defense, and entertainment industries. Leveraging more than 25 years of research and development, Sarcos is developing revolutionary products to improve health, safety, and quality of life.” Related, see The Verge’s “Boston Dynamics’ redesigned Atlas robot is 75 percent more futuristic.”
TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY
1. X-Ray vision is here—seeing through walls. Esquire’s John Hendrickson reports, “The principal tool in question is L-3 Communications’s Range-R, a handheld device that was first developed for the U.S. Army for use in the Middle East. Like the military-grade gear that turned heads in Ferguson and on college campuses last year, Range-R’s have reportedly been used far away from traditional battlefields. Specifically: Outside of American homes, raising new Constitutional issues. . . .”
2. Surveillance pacts. Homeland Security News Wire reports, “The former head of British intelligence agency MI6, Sir John Sawers, has called for a new surveillance pact between Internet companies and U.S. and U.K. security services. Both groups could work together as they had in the past to prevent a repeat of terror events such as the recent Paris attacks, he said. American and British law enforcement and intelligence agencies are urging major Internet companies to provide backdoors or access to encrypted e-mails and other forms of Web communications.”
3. The logic of semantic sensors. National Defense’s Valerie Insinna reports, “As the military and U.S. intelligence agencies struggle to digest mountains of information captured from social media and sensors all over the world, companies continue to create software that can more quickly and accurately help analysts isolate relevant data. One new platform under development, called Via, is able to independently scan data streams and alert users if patterns of interest are found . . . .”
4. Dealing with change. The Christian Science Monitor’s Editorial Board offers, “A global survey finds most people say change is happening too fast. Firms that stick to eternal values such as simplicity can help customers cope with change. . . . [E]ternal values, such as caring for others – including customers – haven’t changed. There’s no app for those.”
POTOMAC TWO-STEP
1. POTUS did what what? “President Obama welcomed a fight with Republicans in his second-to-last State of the Union address Tuesday, seeking to define his legacy and bolster his party’s next White House nominee rather than promise much deal-making before leaving office. Addressing a newly Republican Congress, the lame-duck Obama invited GOP scorn by rolling out new proposals raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans and boosting government spending on his economic agenda, while defending a series of executive actions that tested the limits of his constitutional powers. . . . When Republicans cheered Obama’s acknowledgement that his last election was behind him, the commander in chief quipped, ‘I know because I won both of them.’”
2. Making us squeal all over again: “Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) focused on the GOP’s policy priorities for the new Congress, rather than making a direct response to President Obama’s proposals, in her party’s official response Tuesday night. Ernst, a freshman senator who just won election in November, delivered a polished speech shortly after Obama’s address. The Iowa Republican worked in plenty of smiles and more than a few folksy references to her modest middle-class upbringing throughout her remarks. Ernst notoriously highlighted her years growing up on a farm castrating hogs in a 2014 campaign ad as a way of knowing how she’d ‘make ’em squeal’ while cutting pork in Washington. But Ernst presented a more family-friendly version now that she’s an incumbent senator.”
OPINIONS EVERYONE HAS
1. “American books of terror.” Khaama Press contributor Massud Ebady argues, “Unethical is an extreme understatement, education composed of violence to inject hate and advocate taking up of arms is immoral. However to use education, an area that is hoped to bring enlightenment, to use that to decimate all innocence from a child, words can never explain the degree of immorality.”
2. “A nuclear agreement with Iran will make us safer. Peremptory demands from Congress won’t.” The Guardian contributor Congressman David Price argues, “We cannot lose sight of the fact that a verifiable nuclear agreement with Iran would make our country, Israel, the Middle East and the world much safer. The nuclear talks with Iran could still crumble under the pressure of opposition and distrust both inside and outside Iran. But the United States and the international community must press ahead—because of the security that the removal of the nuclear threat would bring and the dire alternatives we’ll face if negotiations fail.”
3. “Why Assad No Longer ‘Has to Go.’” The Atlantic contributor Adam Chandler argues, “Even if Assad does ultimately step aside at some future date, some of the countries that initially sought his removal, like the United States and members of the EU, have at least two good reasons to keep part of his regime intact: Iraq and Libya. When the dictators of those two countries were deposed, power vacuums emerged in both places, leading to chaos and pitched sectarian violence.”
THE FUNNIES
1. New math
2. Pink slips
