Federal Drive Interviews — Dec. 21, 2012

NORAD fills us in on how it's tracking Santa Claus on Christmas Eve. David Berteau of the Center for Strategic and International studies reviews the State Depar...

This is the Federal Drive show blog. Here you can listen to the interviews, find more information about the guests on the show each day and links to additional resources.

Today’s guests:

Lt. Cmdr. Bill Lewis

North American Air Defense

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The Defense Department doesn’t do many things the way it did them in 1955. But the North American Air Defense, or NORAD, still makes sure children and the young at heart all over the world know exactly where Santa Claus is on Christmas Eve.

David Berteau
senior vice president
Center for Strategic and International Studies

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It’s been a rough week for the State Department. It began with an independent commission’s scathing report on security lapses in Libya, where four diplomats were killed in September. Then the agency’s security chief resigned and several others stepped down. And yesterday, it culminated with one senator accusing the agency of having “sclerosis” and another saying it had not seen the forest for the trees. But what is the solution to the agency’s security problems? And how much risk should we expect our diplomats to take?

Ed Hardy
site editor
Brighthand.com

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BlackBerry maker Research In Motion took the unusual step of getting federal security clearance for its BlackBerry 10 smartphone before releasing it. That might have been a good move. Now it has a big taker: Immigration and Customs Enforcement will pilot the new BlackBerries early next year. There’s a lot at stake for the company in this new phone.

Dr. Jacques Gansler
Roger C. Lipitz Distinguished Chair in Public Policy and Private Enterprise
University of Maryland School of Public Affairs

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Regardless of whether sequestration happens or not, one thing is certain. The Pentagon still needs to buy millions of dollars worth of stuff. In the last couple of years, though, Congress and the administration have adjusted the ways the government goes about acquisition.

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