Man claims responsibility for drone crash at White House

Article Title: Man claims responsibility for drone crash at White House

Snippet of Article: "...Many small quadcopters are essentially sophisticated toys that can also be used for..."

Source: The Drone Report

OPM website glitch: Allowed users access to other retirees' personal information

Article Title: Retiree info exposed in OPM website glitch: Allowed users access to other retirees' personal information

Snippet of Article: "...glitch in the system allowed retirees logging in to the portal Monday morning to gain access to the personal accounts of other users..."

Source: federalretiree.blogspot.com

Is a 3.8% Federal Employee pay raise really a possibility or just a political show?

Article Title: Hoyer joins bill to give federal employees pay increase

Snippet of Article: "...U.S. Rep Steny Hoyer (D-Md., 5th) has cosponsored federal legislation that would provide a pay hike of 3.8 percent to all federal employees in 2016 ..."

Source: www.somdnews.com

Full Text Of President Barack Obama’s 2015 State Of The Union Address

Article Title: Full Text Of President Barack Obama’s 2015 State Of The Union Address

Snippet of Article: "...First – middle-class economics means helping working families feel more secure in a world of constant change. That means helping folks afford childcare, college, health care, a home, retirement – and my budget will address each of these issues, lowering the taxes of working families and putting thousands of dollars back into their pockets each year...."

Source: sacramento.cbslocal.com

DOT to implement NAFTA trucking provision

Article Title: DOT to implement NAFTA trucking provision

Snippet of Article: "...The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) recently announced it will permanently open the U.S. border to Mexican long-haul motor carriers, allowing trucking companies to operate beyond the commercial zones on the U.S.-Mexico border..."

Source: www.porknetwork.com

Postal Service cuts ill-considered, threatens the very integrity and concept of Universal Service

Article Title: Postal Service cuts ill-considered

By Postal Regulatory Commissioner Ruth Y. Goldway

Snippet of Article: "...This latest round of operational cuts, however, threatens the very integrity and concept of Universal Service -- the Postal Service’s primary obligation under the law. ..."

Source: thehill.com

Smoke fills L'Enfant Plaza Station, 1 Dead, 2 Critically Injured, Dozens Sickened

Article Title: 1 dead, 2 in critical condition after smoke fills L'Enfant Plaza Metro

Snippet of Article: "...stuck on Metro for 20 minutes as smoke built up in car. People were screaming and passing out, according to the passenger. As a precaution, DC Fire Mass Causality Units were deployed to the Metro station. The majority of injuries are smoke inhalatio..."

Source: www.wusa9.com

CENTCOM Twitter Account Hacked By Individuals Claiming To Be Part Of ISIS

Article Title: CENTCOM Twitter Account Hacked By Individuals Claiming To Be Part Of ISIS

Snippet of Article: "...The hacking took place as President Barack Obama gave a speech urging Congress to pass new measures to protect Americans from hackers...."

Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

Authority to Redeposit Refunds under the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS)

Article Title: Authority to Redeposit Refunds under the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS)

Snippet of Article: "...Section 1904 of the NDAA now provides the authority for FERS employees who took a refund of their FERS deductions to make a redeposit of the amount refunded, plus interest. FERS employees who took a re fund of CSRS deductions covering CSRS service that is credited under FERS rules may also make a redeposit fo r that service to re - establish full retirement credit for that service. The FERS redeposit for refunded CSRS service will be based on the a ppropriate percentage of the employee’s basic pay that is required for credit under FERS as noted in the table below, plus interest. Interest for a FERS redeposit begins to accrue from the date the employee received the refund of the retirement deductions. ..."

Source: www.opm.gov

U.S. government is discussing a range of options in response to the Sony hacking

Article Title: North Korea Websites Restored Following Outage

Snippet of Article: "...Just days ago, President Barack Obama warned the U.S. would retaliate for what Washington says is North Korea's hacking of Sony Pictures. A State Department spokeswoman, when asked about the situation, declined comment. However, she did say the U.S. government is discussing a range of options in response to the Sony hacking, some of which, she said, will be "seen" and some that "may not be seen." ..."

Source: www.voanews.com

Federal workers get Dec. 26 off but not postal workers

Article Title: Business as usual for USPS on Dec 26

Snippet of Article: "...President Obama's Executive Order only applies to "executive branch departments and agencies of the Federal Government." The Postal Service will treat December 26, 2014 as a normal business day. See the December 9, 2014 memorandum to Local Presidents (pdf)..."

Source: www.npmhu.org

Cyber Breach at KeyPoint may potentially expose Federal Employees personal data

Article Title: Personal information on 50,000 federal employees exposed; hackers breach contractor system

Snippet of Article: "...A company that conducts background checks for the federal government - including investigations on Alabama workers - has been breached, potentially exposing personal data of tens of thousands of federal employees...."

Source: www.al.com

Federal workforce now has a cybersecurity job code listed in its description

Article Title: Cybersecurity codes now attached to jobs governmentwide

Snippet of Article: "...Every position in the federal workforce now has a cybersecurity job code listed in its description for more effective tracking of the lagging cyber workforce, even if the job isn’t cybersecurity-related. ..."

Source: fedscoop.com cybersecurity job code

Spending Bill protects banks again, does nothing to save Postal Service mail processing network, permits extremely large political donations

Article Title: Congress Deal to Avoid Shutdown Includes Victory for Banks

Snippet of Article: "...The measure would allow a tenfold increase in donations that individuals can give national political parties each year, to $324,000 from $32,400, according to a statement by Fred Wertheimer, president of Democracy 21. The non-partisan group advocates for changes to campaign finance laws. ..."

Source: www.bloomberg.com

Obama's decision to replace Goldway as PRC Chair raises a couple of important questions

Article Title: Prez throws PRC Chair under the bus, WaPo misses the bus completely

Snippet of Article: "...Obama's decision to replace Goldway raises a couple of important questions. Why did Obama replace a Democratic chairman with a Republican? And why has the president not taken care to give the PRC a Democratic majority? The PRC normally has five commissioners, so Obama could have easily made sure three of them were Democrats. Instead, he has made appointments giving the Republicans the majority. ..."

Source: www.savethepostoffice.com Destruction of US Postal Service Mail Processing Network

Executive Order: ...Federal Government shall be closed and their employees excused from duty on Friday, December 26, 2014

Article Title: Merry Christmas to Federal Employees: Extra Paid Holiday Announced for Dec. 26

Snippet of Article: "...President Obama signed an executive order late this week that reads: “All executive branch departments and agencies of the Federal Government shall be closed and their employees excused from duty on Friday, December 26, 2014, the day after Christmas Day….”..."

Source: www.fedsmith.com

Federal employees will pay an average of 3.8 percent more for their health insurance plans in 2015

Article Title: More than 25,000 federal workers to lose their health plans next year

Snippet of Article: "...OPM announced last month that federal employees will pay an average of 3.8 percent more for their health insurance plans in 2015, marking the fourth straight year of increases in that range...."

Source: www.washingtonpost.com

Cyber Warfare: Regin spyware stealing data from ISPs, energy companies, airlines and research-and-development labs

Article Title: Security firms uncover 'sophisticated' Regin spyware

Snippet of Article: "...With a "degree of technical competence rarely seen", Regin had probably taken years to develop, Symantec said. ..."

Source: www.bbc.com Regin, Cyber Warfare,

Detekt app scans devices for government surveillance software

Article Title: Is Big Brother Watching? Amnesty's New App Scans For Spyware

Snippet of Article: "...Worried that the government is spying on your computer activity? A new anti-spyware tool from Amnesty International released Wednesday scans devices for government surveillance software...."

Source: Android and iPhone Apps and News Detekt app

Executive Actions on Immigration: United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)

Article Title: Executive Actions on Immigration: United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)

Snippet of Article: "...On November 20, 2014, the President announced a series of executive actions to crack down on illegal immigration at the border, prioritize deporting felons not families, and require certain undocumented immigrants to pass a criminal background check and pay taxes in order to temporarily stay in the U.S. without fear of deportation. These initiatives include:...Preliminary estimates show that roughly 4.9 million individuals may be eligible for the initiatives announced by the President. However, there is no way to predict with certainty how many individuals will apply. USCIS will decide applications on a case-by-case basis and encourages as many people as possible to consider these new initiatives."

Source: www.uscis.gov Executive Actions on Immigration

The man who called the last stock crash is already blaming the Fed for the next

Article Title: The man who called the last stock crash is already blaming the Fed for the next

Snippet of Article: "...This time around, Peter Schiff, the chief executive officer of Euro Pacific Capital who memorably predicted the collapse of the housing market in 2008 and the global financial crisis of 2010, is speaking out against the Federal Reserve, which, he claims, has inflated the prices of stocks and bonds with its ultraloose, unconventional monetary policies...."

Source: www.marketwatch.com Federal Reserve

Postmaster General to Step Down

Article Title: Postmaster General Donahoe to retire in February

Snippet of Article: "...Patrick R. Donahoe will retire Feb. 1 after 39 years with the Postal Service. Megan J. Brennan..."

Source: www.usatoday.com Postmaster General Donahoe,

Half a Million Post Office Employees' Data Could Be Compromised

Article Title: Half a Million Post Office Employees' Data Could Be Compromised

Snippet of Article: "...Customers who contacted the postal service customer care center with an inquiry via telephone or e-mail between Jan. 1, 2014, and Aug. 16, 2014 are also at risk. The intrusion compromised names, addresses, telephone numbers, email addresses and other information for those customers who may have provided this information, according to the statement. ..."

Source: www.nbcnews.com

Time off to vote for federal employees

Article Title: Do federal employees get time off work to vote on Election Day?

Snippet of Article: "...Here are the guidelines that the government’s Chief Human Capital Officers Council laid out for excused voting absences prior to the 2012 election..."

Source: www.washingtonpost.com Excused Absence for Voting