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TechVets Teaching Veterans About the Cyber Security Trade

For many veterans, the prospect of finding a good job is difficult when leaving the service as many of their skills don’t translate into the private sector.

Finally, something is being done about matching the skillsets of military veterans with technology and the skills shortage in cybersecurity.

In the past 12 months alone, there have been 15,000 service leavers adding up to a total 908,000 working age veterans in the UK of whom 220,000 are unemployed and inactive. Moreover, only 4% of veterans work in ICT, a figure that is 20% less than non-veterans.
This imbalance is matched by the drastic skills shortage in UK cybersecurity. According to a report by ESG and ISSA, 45% of organizations claim to have a problematic shortage of cybersecurity skills, 70% of cybersecurity professionals say the cybersecurity skills shortage has had an impact on their organization and 22% said their cybersecurity team was not large enough for the size of their organization.
A new social enterprise TechVets was recently launched in the UK with ths support of veteran influencers, investors and tech business leaders.
The not-for-profit initiative provides a bridge for veterans and service leavers into cyber security and technology to foster greater dialogue and creating connections between veterans and the technology and cyber security sectors, and to highlight the strong mutual benefits.
TechVets wants to support veterans and service leavers from Defence who would like to build on their transferable skills and develop new ones to operate and work in technology and cybersecurity sectors.
As well as providing free cyber-security training, TechVets is working with industry partners to secure employment for their cohort. TechVets will take no recruitment fees for this service.
TechVets will work closely with the UK government, the MOD’s the Career Transition Partnership, military charities, and industry champions to build the UK’s tech and cyber sectors with the unrealised human potential of the UK veteran community.
Those UK veterans and service leaders interested in joining the not-for-profits TechVets, can register at TechVets.co if they would like to join the first cohort for cyber training or get advice on how their experience and skillsets would be most valued.

This program in the UK relies on the veterans known qualities in leadership, problem-solving and crisis management that were forged in the military. U.S. companies should take note.

To read the entire article from Forbes, click here:

Syrian Refugees Want to Go Home, But 5 Million Have Left

More than five million Syrians have left their country since the war started in 2011.They want to go home but with the war showing no end in sight, they’re stuck in the middle. They’ve endured a civil war, an invasion by the Islamic State, then combat to drive ISIS from their borders, now an invasion from the Turks. Where have they all gone?

Most are now in neighboring countries, with about 3.5 million in Turkey and one million in Lebanon. More than half a million traveled to Germany, with smaller numbers in other European nations.
To find out what changes they hope for, the Carnegie Middle East Center held a series of meetings involving about 320 refugees in Lebanon and Jordan.
Here are four things they told us they would like to see.
Safety for their children
An end to conscription
Homes to return to
Safety and security
Kholoud, a refguee from rural Damascus summed up her feelings: “If Bashar al-Assad is removed and there is security in Syria, even if there is no food or drink, we would get flour and make it with our hands.”
Many also expressed concern over the presence of various armed foreign groups in the country and the general lawlessness that they represent.
Many also spoke of a Syria that strived for new values, including freedom, equality, and justice, in a country that is democratically governed under the rule of law.
The displaced Syrians wanted their concerns to be heard.
As one young refugee said: “We want a solution that will give us back our dignity – no more, no less.”

But what stands out, even among the refugees is that they know, nor will they accept a country that is fragmented. Split into small enclaves ruled by different factions. The only Syria will be a united one, so the fighting will continue.

To read the entire article from BBC, click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

Working on DOD AI Project Left Some Google Employees “Livid”

More than 3100 Google employees have written a letter to their CEO Sundar Pichai demanding that the company immediately cancel its contract with the U.S. military on a drone program known as Project Maven.

There’s a motto at Google: “Don’t be evil.”
Today, more than 3,000 Google employees fear their company is on the verge of breaching that code by helping the U.S. military improve its spy drone software.
“We believe that Google should not be in the business of war,” the letter states. “Therefore we ask that Project Maven be cancelled, and that Google draft, publicize and enforce a clear policy stating that neither Google nor its contractors will ever build warfare technology.” [The 22 Weirdest Military Weapons]
Project Maven, which Google signed onto last month, fits into the DOD’s larger goal of improving America’s ability to “[win] wars with computer algorithms and artificial intelligence,” DOD officials said in a statement. Google agreed to help with this mission by developing artificial intelligence software capable of rapidly scanning thousands of hours of surveillance drone footage and automatically detecting “38 classes of objects” that military analysts regularly look for.
Despite a Google spokesperson’s assurance that their new tech would be “for non-offensive uses only,” many Google employees were instantly wary of the partnership, Gizmodo reported. In the new complaint letter, which is currently circulating within Google, employees voiced their concerns about the tech’s potential applications in warfare.
“The technology is being built for the military,” the letter says, “and once it’s delivered it could easily be used to assist in [lethal] tasks.”

Part of the letter also sought assurances from the DOD that Project Maven would not be used for offensive purposes. There are no signs from Google, however, that they intend on canceling their contract.

To read the entire article from Live Science, click here:

Photo courtesy DOD

UK Says They Can Pinpoint the Russian Lab That Produced Nerve Agent

British security forces believe that while they are not 100 percent certain, they have a “high degree of confidence in the location” of the Russian source of the nerve agent Novichok that was used against former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter.

A government source told the Times that security forces “knew pretty much by the time of the first Cobra [the emergency co-ordination briefing that took place the same week] that it was overwhelmingly likely to come from Russia.”
Security sources told the Times they believe Russians conducted tests to see whether Novichok could be used for assassinations.
The international chemical weapons watchdog on Wednesday rejected Russia’s call for a joint investigation into the Salisbury poisoning. But Russia said the number of countries that abstained from the vote suggested many have doubts about Britain’s allegations that Moscow was behind the attack and now plans to take its denials of involvement to the U.N. Security Council.
Britain said Russia’s proposal for a joint investigation received only six votes at a special session of the executive council of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. The council has representatives from 41 countries.
Skripal, a former Russian military intelligence officer, was convicted of in Russia of spying for Britain. He was released from a Russian prison as part of a spy swap with the West.
His poisoning has plunged relations between the West and Russia to their lowest ebb since the Cold War.
In Moscow, Russia’s spymaster claimed U.K. and U.S. intelligence agencies “staged” the attack.

Sergei Naryshkin, director of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service, continues to claim that the assassination attempt of Skripal was a “grotesque provocation rudely staged by the British and U.S. intelligence agencies.” Meanwhile, the 28-nation European Union lamented the refusal of Russia to cooperate with the British.

To read the entire article from CBS News, click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

US Military Role on the Border Will Have a Limited Role

U.S. military troops are heading to the border as President Donald Trump said Tuesday afternoon he wants to deploy them to protect the Mexican border while the new border wall is built.

Tuesday evening, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders issued a statement saying the “vigorous” administration strategy includes mobilization of the National Guard.
The White House statement came after Trump met with Defense Secretary James Mattis, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Neilsen, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Joint Chiefs Chairman Joseph Dunford and chief of staff John Kelly, Sanders said.
“We are going to be doing some things — I’ve been speaking with (Defense Secretary) Mattis — we’re going to be doing things militarily”, Trump said at a White House meeting with the leaders of Baltic countries.
“Until we can have a wall and proper security, we’re going to be guarding our border with the military,” Trump said. “That’s a big step. We really haven’t done that before, or certainly not very much before.”
Mexico’s Ambassador Gerónimo Gutiérrez wants Trump to clarify his comments.
“We have formally requested a clarification on the President’s comments from the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security,” Gutiérrez said in a statement. “We share the idea of having a secure border, but we do not always agree on how to achieve that goal. Mexico, naturally, will always act in accordance with our own interests.”
But while President Trump could order active duty military personnel or federalized National Guard troops to assist with border security operations, they would not be allowed to carry out law enforcement duties like detaining migrants crossing the border illegally.
That’s because the Posse Comitatus Act prohibits the U.S. military from conducting law enforcement duties in the United States. The only way that can be allowed is by a special congressional authorization.

In the past active military and National Guardsmen have performed duties at the border under both Presidents Clinton and Bush.

To read the entire article from ABC News, click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

Saudi Crown Prince: Israel Has a Right to its Own Land

In a stunning turn of events, Saudi Arabia’s crown prince said Israelis are entitled to live peacefully on their own land in an interview posted on Monday.

While outwardly the ties between Riyadh and Tel Aviv are appearing to grow closer, there remain obstacles in their paths. But to hear a Saudi crown prince echo those words were unfathomable not long ago.

Asked if he believes the Jewish people have a right to a nation-state in at least part of their ancestral homeland, Mohammed bin Salman was quoted as saying: “I believe the Palestinians and the Israelis have the right to have their own land. But we have to have a peace agreement to assure the stability for everyone and to have normal relations.”
Saudi Arabia — birthplace of Islam and home to its holiest shrines — does not recognize Israel. It has maintained for years that normalizing relations hinges on Israeli withdrawal from Arab lands captured in the 1967 Middle East war, territory Palestinians seek for a future state.
“We have religious concerns about the fate of the holy mosque in Jerusalem and about the rights of the Palestinian people. This is what we have. We don’t have any objection against any other people,” said Prince Mohammed who is touring the United States to drum up investments and support for his efforts to contain Iranian influence.
Increased tension between Tehran and Riyadh has fueled speculation that shared interests may push Saudi Arabia and Israel to work together against what they see as a common Iranian threat.
“There are a lot of interests we share with Israel and if there is peace, there would be a lot of interest between Israel and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries,” Prince Mohammed added.
Saudi Arabia opened its airspace for the first time to a commercial flight to Israel last month, which an Israeli official hailed as historic following two years of efforts.
In November, an Israeli cabinet member disclosed covert contacts with Saudi Arabia, a rare acknowledgment of long-rumored secret dealings which Riyadh still denies.

Saudi Arabia and the Crown Prince are definitely walking a different path than ever before. While they were for normalizing relations, they condemned the U.S. plan to move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem. How their Arab neighbors react to this will be interesting to see.

To read the entire article from Voice of America, click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

After Families are Gone Home, Enjoy an Easter Epic, Ben-Hur

Unlike some of the other times of the year when we glued to the screen watching action films that coincide with the particular time of year, there aren’t too many what we’d call “Easter” themed films. But after we celebrate what Easter is all about and enjoy our time with our families, there are a couple of personal favorites that I always pop in the DVD at this time of the year.

The best is the epic 1959 (not the remake) of Ben-Hur. This actually has the events of Jesus in Jerusalem as a backdrop but it weaves the story brilliantly throughout. It also will appeal to the action film genre by having the climactic chariot race, where no expense was spared in the realism of the danger involved.

There was also a large naval battle scene where the Roman navy takes on Macedonian pirates using miniatures that for 1959 was pretty high speed. Of course, there was no CGI that filmmakers use today.

Charlton Heston was cast as the protagonist, Judah Ben-Hur, a wealthy merchant and Jew from Jerusalem. He lives with his mother and sister and has a love for but not acted upon, for his beautiful slave girl Esther, portrayed by then unknown Israeli actress Haya Harareet.

His friend growing up was a Roman citizen, Messala, excellently portrayed by Stephen Boyd. The two friends grow apart when Messala returns after several years away as the commander of the Roman garrison. Messala demands that Judah turn over all of the supposed Jewish rebels who plot against Rome.

Boyd is excellent at one second looking like a chiseled leading man and the next turning his face into a mask of hate and rage at his former friend.

An accident causes the Roman governor to fall from his horse, Messala uses this as an excuse to condemn Judah to the galleys and sends his mother and sister off to prison. As he’s led off to the galleys, the slaves pass thru Nazareth. Judah begs the Romans for water. They ignore him but an unseen man (Jesus Christ) gives Judah a drink. Their meeting, which lasts but a second, will be replayed later.

Judah catches the eye of the Roman general Arrius on his flagship. He sees the strength and courage of Judah (#41 of the galley rowers), and senses there is more to this galley-slave than meets the eye. “You have the spirit to fight back but the good sense to control it. Your eyes are full of hate, Forty-One. That’s good. Hate keeps a man alive. It gives him strength.”

Ably portrayed by esteemed British actor Jack Hawkins, he lends a sympathetic and much more humane view of Rome and Romans than the evil Messala. Arrius offers him a chance to fight as a gladiator or train as a charioteer but he refuses.

Before the climactic battle, Arrius orders all of the galley slaves chained to their oars except Judah. The pirates ram his flagship and it sinks. The exterior miniature scenes were well done for the 1950s but don’t hold up to the CGI of today. But the interior scenes of the ship to ship fighting are outstanding and they are visually top notch with hundreds of extras.

Judah frees the other slaves then saves Arrius, who believes he lost the battle and tries to commit suicide. Judah saves him from that as well. When later rescued, in one of the better scenes in the film, once safely onboard the Roman ships, Arrius stuns his senior officers by offering a cup with wine to the galley slave as they look on with stunned silence. It was, in an epic film, an understated brilliant short scene.

After a triumphant return to Rome, Arrius petitions Emperor Tiberius to free Judah and adopts him as his son. While in Rome, Judah races Arrius chariot in the circus, making a name for himself with Pontius Pilate, whose horses had always won. Pilate is unhappy, not only for his horses losing, but to learn he is to be the new governor of Judea.

Judah returns to Judea as the heir to Arrius and is approached by a wealthy Arab, Sheik Ilderim who asks him to drive his quadriga (four-horse chariot) in the races. He initially declines. He goes to Messala to demand the release of his mother and sister. Esther returns and convinces Judah that they are dead, rather than break the news that they are now lepers. So, as we knew all along, Judah seeks vengeance on Messala by taking part in the chariot races.

The chariot race was a remarkable piece of filmmaking. The building of the circus of Jerusalem took months to complete and the filming of the race took over 5 weeks and cost over a million dollars. There were 78 horses (mostly Lipizzans) used in the race while Heston raced Andalusians. The training for the horses as well as the charioteers took months.

Heston and Boyd had to train for hours a day to be able to handle the rigors of handling the quadriga. Boyd almost all of his own stunts, including the one where he was dragged by his horses. A dummy was used in the pivotal scene despite the urban myth that a stuntman actually died during the filming.

During the race, Messala attempts to wreck Judah’s and other racer’s chariots with weapons attached to his wheels. But he is the one who is wrecked and is trampled by not only horses but by a chariot as well. As he lays dying a gruesome death, he has one last cruel stab at the victorious Judah. He tells Judah that he will give him one last reason to hate, and tells him that his mother and sister are alive and that he can find them in the Valley of the Lepers. “If you can recognize them.” Messala adds as he dies, “the race is not over.”

A clip of the fantastic scene of the chariot race which was filmed in widescreen format can be found here from Movieclips:

Embittered, Judah sinks into depression contemplating death itself when Esther urges him to return to who he was. “It was Judah Ben-Hur I loved. What has become of him? You seem to be now the very thing you set out to destroy, giving evil for evil. Hatred is turning you to stone. It’s as if you had become Messala.”

Stunned by the comparison, he softens and with Esther’s help they go to the leper colony and attempt to bring them to the “Rabbi of Nazareth” who has been healing the sick. But before he can, Pilate has sentenced Jesus to crucifixion and they arrive as he’s being led thru the streets.

After he recognizes the man that helped him, he returns the favor and tries to give him water but it knocked from Jesus’ hand after their eyes lock for the briefest of seconds. As Christ’s blood is mixed with the rain after his death, Judah’s wife and sister are miraculously healed. Judah declares, “And I felt His voice take the sword out of my hand.”

It was a powerful ending to the film, giving hope as it were to all of mankind.

It was a true epic of filmmaking, the marathon 3-hour and 37 minutes is the length of two feature films today. It cost a then $15,000,000 which was at that time, the most expensive film ever produced. In today’s terms that would cost $130,206,000 dollars.

William Wyler, the director, spins a masterful tale but the entire cast and crew did a fantastic job. The film won a very deserved 11 Academy Awards. It is as good today as it was when it was released. In fact, with the release of the updated version in 2016, audiences didn’t buy it and the film flopped at the box office.

So, do yourself a favor and reserve an entire afternoon or evening for a classic spectacle. It fits perfectly with the weekend and enjoy.

Photos: Wikipedia

Veterans Behind Bars, Finding Support in Special Cell Blocks

The Monroe County Jail outside of Rochester, NY has a special veterans’ housing unit and is one of about 80 different pods across the country. Rochester’s opened in September and the goal is to put the veterans in a different setting where they are more likely to feel in a military setting. That is hoped to appeal to a time in their lives when they served and were part of something bigger than themselves.

In most cases, the plan is working, recidivism is way down in veterans who are placed in the program. They wear brown jumpsuits rather than the normal orange and seems to be a positive step.

One two-story unit within the Monroe County Jail in Rochester isn’t your typical jail pod.
Some inmates do yoga to combat anger, others participate in art therapy classes, and others take part in chemical dependency courses.
Inside are two dozen veterans, ranging from their 20s to 60s, dressed in brown jumpsuits. Each man jailed here served in the United States military.
Since its inception, about 120 veterans have lived in the unit
There are currently 20 veterans housed in the 53-person jail pod
The goal is to connect the men with support services they can continue to utilize once released from jail.
Years of military service and discharge status aren’t important. Inmates who served even a day are eligible to live in the unit.
“Of Monroe County Jail’s 1,100 inmates, we look for ways to change lives for the better,” said current Monroe County Sheriff Todd Baxter. “Through this program, we are saving and changing lives.”
Put veterans with other veterans and they’re more likely to be successful as the camaraderie the unit provides is significant, said Nick Stefanovic, director of the Monroe County Veterans Service Agency.
“The goal of the program is to stop that revolving door and we do that through the services we offer the pod, which is the most effective point in the criminal justice system to intervene,” Stefanovic said. “The amount, type and quality of those programs will make it or break it.”

For many incarcerated veterans, their jail terms are a consequence of their military service. Coping with PTSD, combat injuries and the like, many self-medicate with drugs and alcohol and sent them on a downward spiral. This program and others like it are a step in the right direction.

To read the entire article from Rochester Democrat, click here:

Photo: Rochester Democrat

US Military Tells Disabled Vet He Owes $15,000 in Separation Pay

Darrell “Smitty” Smith is being told that the $15,000 “Special Separation” pay that he received more than 25 years ago has turned into a loan. And now that he is 100 percent disabled due to numerous ankle and back surgeries from his time in service, he may lose his home and his boxing gym where he trains the local youth.

After numerous back and ankle surgeries from his time in service, Smith is now fully disabled. Being deemed 100 percent unemployable by the military, that separation pay has turned into a loan. All of Smith’s disability checks are being taken until it’s paid back.
“It’s nothing I’m trying to get out of, but $14,000 and taking your whole check at one time of your income coming in, that would hurt anybody,” Smith says.
Smith was caught with his gloves down when he received a letter saying that he owed the military nearly $15,000 dollars they gave him nearly 25 years ago.
“I was unaware that according to a law written by Congress, that if you ever become a 100% disabled veteran, that money they gave you turns into a loan.”
“Smitty” has already been forced to start paying on it.
“They’re taking my next five paychecks and leaving my family with absolutely nothing because of the way the law is written in Congress,” Smith says,
Smitty spent about 16 years fighting the good fight for his country, but now, he is up against a different kind of fight.
“I mean if it comes down to it, I can’t lose my house. I’m just trying to save my gym,” he says.
He is not trying to save the gym just for himself, but for the kids he trains. He has trained multiple gold-glove fighters, and currently has a few in training eyeing Olympic competition in 2020.
“Tutors come on Thursdays and help them maintain a B average that we demand in order to box here. It’s a trade off. I’ll teach you how to box, in exchange for you making good grades and graduating high school. At any given time, I may have 20-25 kids in the gym. Some days I may have five. I don’t care as long as I got some kids in this gym,” he says.

“I still love my country though.”

To read the entire article from OzarksFirst.com, click here:

Photo courtesy screenshot Ozark First video

FBI Makes an Arrest in the Suspicious Package Case

The FBI has arrested a man in the Seattle, Washington area on Monday in connection with more than a dozen suspicious packages sent to government and military addresses on the East Coast, most of them in the nation’s capital, the FBI said Tuesday.

Tranh Cong Phan, 43, was arrested at his home in the Seattle area on Monday. He was scheduled to make his initial court appearance on Tuesday afternoon.
Earlier Tuesday officials said they believed Phan sent a total of 12 packages to military and government addresses in the Washington metro area. But late Tuesday, the FBI’s Washington field office appeared to leave open the possibility that more packages were mailed.
“It is possible that further packages were mailed to additional mail processing facilities in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area,” the FBI office said in a statement.
Officials have said packages turned up at the CIA’s mail-sorting facility, a White House mail-sorting facility in suburban Washington, a Navy facility in Dahlgren, Virginia, and two facilities at Fort Belvoir, Virginia — the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and another defense university.
FBI investigators found that the packages contained potential destructive devices and appeared to have been sent by the same individual. Some of the packages included letters that one official described as disturbed and rambling.
The deliveries appeared to have been intended to cause fear rather than injure people or cause damage, one official said. But authorities have not confirmed a motive.
Prior to the FBI’s statement late Tuesday night, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told reporters earlier in the day that all of the packages mailed to Defense Department facilities were under the control of federal authorities.

It isn’t known whether Phan acted alone or whether other arrests were made or are planned at the current time.

To read the entire article from NBC News, click here:

Photo courtesy: Screen shot, video