A friend from graduate school needs a security clearance for some work that he is doing (I guess I can’t ask what!). An investigator telephoned me to check out his story and mine. She said that this would have been an in-person interview (which she prefers) during ordinary times, but that it was all phone-based due to coronaplague.
When our enemies have mined out all of our secrets five years from now, will that turn out to have been a hidden cost of the shutdown?
> mined out all of our secrets five years from now
Five years from now?
Security clearance background checks by phone. Marvelous idea. You can go to the grocery store to buy a loaf of banana bread and some apple crips for the gang, but someone doing a security clearance check – to make sure important secrets don’t get turned into wikileaks and damage our national security – can’t think of a way to meet you in person, say, in a drive-up meeting with social distance and hand sanitizer? Like this pastor who offers drive-up confessionals in Maryland? Let’s say that in ordinary times, you would to make the trip to their office so that *you* knew they were bonafide. Fine. Open up a security clearance meeting checkpoint in the parking lot of the agency that’s doing the background check. Instead you have to take someone’s word for it over the phone that the security questions they’re asking you are coming from someone authorized to ask them? The mind reels.
https://www.baltimoresun.com/coronavirus/cc-drive-thru-confessionals-20200327-gpnzjzwzbzeabay47ggp2q7cbe-story.html
Our security gatekeepers are afraid to knock on doors and talk to people. Doesn’t bode well for Empire America.
The CDC disqualifies candidates who have smoked tobacco in the last six months.
As far as I know, they will still hire fat people.
“The CDC disqualifies candidates who have smoked tobacco in the last six months. As far as I know, they will still hire fat people.”
My employer seems to seek out unhealthy, obese, 60 year olds for filling entry-level and experienced job openings. The other day, I counted 8 out of 10 handicapped parking spots at my employer’s open parking lot were occupied with employees’ vehicles; leaving just two for visitors.
Nonetheless, my employer has so far avoided layoffs during the coronavirus pandemic, despite whole divisions being shut down to customers (zero revenue) for two months. Unpaid furloughs are certainly forthcoming.