Hacker allegedly stole identifying information of workers at NASA, the Missile Defense Agency and...

Article Title: Hacker Charged With Theft From U.S. Army, Defense Agency

Snippet of Article: "...Love stole identifying information of workers at NASA, the Missile Defense Agency and the Army Network Enterprise Technology Command, according an indictment unsealed today in federal court..."

Source: www.businessweek.com

Dangerous Trend: Late Night Mail Delivery; heavier-than-normal mail volume blamed

Article Title: Late Mail Deliveries Upset Residents in the D.C. Region

Snippet of Article: "..."Our goal is to have all mail delivered by 6 p.m.,” the U.S. Postal Service told News4. “Occasionally, heavier-than-normal mail volume or staffing issues require us to deliver outside of that time frame. We apologize for that. We expect to have it resolved very soon."..."

Source: www.nbcwashington.com heavier-than-normal mail volume, mail volume, Postal Employee Dangers, Delay of Mail,

Those that want to privatize America's Postal Service are same people behind shutdown of government

Article Title: Who’s behind the government shutdown? Some of the same people trying to privatize the Postal Service

Snippet of Article: "...The conservative think-tanks and lobbying organizations behind the attack on Obamacare are some of the same groups waging a war against postal workers and the fundamental principle that the Postal Service should be owned by the American people. ..."

Source: www.savethepostoffice.com postal privatization, destruction of postal service, Darrell Issa (R-Calif.),

Bills may permit federal worker back pay upon end of government shutdown

Article Title: House and Senate bills would pay federal workers for shutdown furloughs

Snippet of Article: "...“It is our responsibility to assure these public servants, mostly middle class and struggling to get by like so many other Americans, will be made whole again when it finally ends.”..."

Source: www.washingtonpost.com Government Shutdown 2013, Federal government shutdown news, Federal Employee Pay,

Government shutdown furloughing close to 800,000 employees

Article Title: White House: Agencies, Start Your Shutdowns

Snippet of Article: "...furloughing close to 800,000 employees. The full scope of the shutdown remains unclear, and many government services – such as the military and postal service – will continue...."

Source: wsj.com Federal government shutdown news, Federal Shutdown, Government Shutdown, Government Shutdown 2013, shutdown plans,

Shutdown nears, stocks fall

Article Title: Stocks tumble as government shutdown nears

Snippet of Article: "...Stocks were sharply lower on Wall Street as investors braced for a potential government shutdown..."

Source: www.usatoday.com Government Shutdown 2013, Federal government shutdown news, Federal Shutdown,

NSA maps some Americans' social connections

Article Title: NSA maps out a person's social connections

Snippet of Article: "...For almost three years the National Security Agency has been tapping the data it collects to map out some Americans' social connections, allowing the government to identify their associates, their locations at certain times, their traveling companions and other personal information, The New York Times reported...."

Source: www.cbsnews.com Social Connection Mapping

Prediction: Government Shutdown Will Be Averted

Article Title: Sen. Rob Portman predicts government shutdown will be averted

Snippet of Article: "...He said he is optimistic that the House and Senate will be able to reach a spending compromise in time to avoid a government shutdown on Oct. 1. "I think we will pass something," Portman said...."

Source: www.cleveland.com Government Shutdown 2013

FDA contract includes monitoring conversations on blogs, mainstream news websites and discussion boards

Article Title: FDA Hires Obama Campaigners to Track Its Social Media Reach

Snippet of Article: "...The contract includes monitoring conversations on blogs, mainstream news websites and discussion boards as well as on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Pinterest, Flickr and Wikipedia, according to a request for quotation...."

Source: www.nextgov.com Food and Drug Administration

Furloughs loom soon as political infighting puts federal employees in the crosshairs again

Article Title: NASA warns its 18,000 employees that no federal budget deal by Sept. 30 would mean furloughs

Snippet of Article: "...Radzanowski says no funding for the 2014 fiscal year that begins Oct. 1 "would ... mean that a number of employees would be temporarily furloughed."..."

Source: al.com

Navy Yard shooter held security clearance despite background history

Article Title: Navy Yard shooting rampage kills 12; dead suspect is contractor

Snippet of Article: "...Employed as a military contractor, 34-year-old Aaron Alexis began at the Navy Yard last week, but worked at multiple Navy offices over the summer,..."

Source: www.cnn.com Aaron Alexis

40,000 Feds delayed direct-deposit on Friday due to error

Article Title: Pay is delayed for 40,000 federal workers

Snippet of Article: "...More than 40,000 federal employees expecting direct-deposit paychecks Friday did not receive their funds because of an error at one of the government’s payroll processing centers, officials said...."

Source: www.washingtonpost.com

Federal job hiring on the decline

Article Title: Federal hiring declines to six-year low point

Snippet of Article: "...The drop in hiring comes as agencies face a wave of retirements by baby-boomers, who are calling it quits amid budget cuts, furloughs and poor morale caused by a negative public view of federal service...."

Source: www.washingtonpost.com

Postal work is by far the most dangerous among federal civilian jobs

Article Title: Most dangerous jobs: Postal work tops list among federal civilian positions

Snippet of Article: "...In terms of federal jobs, postal work is by far the most dangerous: Last year, postal employees constituted a third of all federal civilian employees in the United States..."

Source: www.federaltimes.com

Postal Service wants to force retirees out of the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program and over to Medicare

Article Title: USPS Plan to Pull Out of Fed Health Benefits Could Cost Postal Workers

Snippet of Article: "...The Postal Service would reach a majority of its savings by shifting its retirees... to Medicare..."

Source: www.govexec.com Postal Service, FEHB, Medicare,

Small 2014 Federal Pay Raise May Be Coming

Article Title: COLA? Maybe. Pay raise? Maybe not!

Snippet of Article: "...Thanks to a three-year pay freeze, higher taxes and rising health insurance premiums, take-home pay for most nonpostal federal workers has been shrinking every year. The White House originally..."

Source: www.federalnewsradio.com 2014 Pay Raise

Tell congress to stop the privatization of the Postal Service - you will be next!

Article Title: House Panel Approves Rep. Issa’s Postal Bill

Snippet of Article: "...“If it is enacted, this bill will lead to the demise of the Postal Service,” said APWU President Cliff Guffey..."

Source: www.apwu.org Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), Postal bills, postal privatization, privatization,

Are sequestration cuts being used to send a political message?

Article Title: Chief of federal workers union says Pentagon using sequestration cuts to 'send a political message'

Snippet of Article: "...it's obvious sequestration cuts are being used to "send a political message" by being as "disruptive as possible." ..."

Source: blog.al.com

States Rights: Will states need permission from the Feds...

Article Title: Feds want Texas to clear voting-rights changes with them

Snippet of Article: "...Holder said the Obama administration will use a different section of the Voting Rights Act that allows federal authorities to ask a judge to order a state to be put under the preclearance regime. To do so the Justice Department must prove "purposeful" discrimination...."

Source: www.cnn.com States Rights

Are women owned businesses getting their share of federal contracts?

Article Title: Women-Owned Small Businesses Snubbed by U.S. Energy Department

Snippet of Article: "...The effort hasn’t gone far at the Energy Department, which reserved six of more than 13,000 awards for such companies last year. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has also struggled, setting aside just one. ..."

Source: www.bloomberg.com 8A

Life Event: Marrying a CSRS retiree

Article Title: Marrying a CSRS retiree

Snippet of Article: "...when he dies? Does the spouse receive any benefit?..."

Source: federaltimes.com

Impact of furloughs begins

Article Title: Furloughs begin hitting federal workers in the wallet where it hurts; their pain will spread

Snippet of Article: "...Federal furloughs arrived for real this week, and real-world impacts will begin showing up as well. Thousands of federal workers..."

Source: www.pennlive.com

OSHA investigates postal worker death

Article Title: OSHA opens investigation into death of Medford postal worker who collapsed in the heat

Snippet of Article: "...A 24-year veteran of the US Postal Service, Baldassarre had complained to his wife about the heat earlier in the day. Baldassarre was a utility carrier working out of the Medford Post Office..."

Source: www.boston.com

OPM buyouts could further slow federal employee retirement processing

Article Title: OPM pension claims processing plunged again last month

Snippet of Article: "...claims backlog could also be hindered by OPM’s decision in late May to offer buyouts and early retirements to up to almost 300 employees..."

Source: www.federaltimes.com OPM pension claims backlog