Warning! Protect your credit card

NFCProxy: why you want to protect your credit card

Although this app and the technology involved is amazing and useful for credit card transactions, you may want to take a look at the article and video titled 'NFCProxy: why you want to protect your credit card' to educate yourself on how this technology can be misused to your detriment. The app, and many more out there, can be used to skim your credit card information and then use it at at a credit card reader found at almost all cash register checkouts at almost any store. Imagine you are sitting at work, a restaurant, or anywhere and you have your credit card in your pocket or sitting on a counter for some reason. Then someone innocently sets their phone down next to it. Tap!! ...your credit card information has been skimmed and twenty minutes later someone just purchased that VIZIO 55-Inch Theater 3D Edge Lit Razor LED LCD HDTV with Internet Apps at your expense. It is that easy. What if you are at a checkout and you hand your credit card to the cashier or salesperson and they simply set it down next to their phone while processing your purchase? Tap ...they have your information. Keep your card in view and away from smartphones and think about purchasing an inexpensive credit card protector like the Identity Stronghold Secure Sleeve / Case for Id & Credit Card - Pack of 10 from Amazon. Please send this article link to your friends and family to educate and protect them: http://federalemployeenews.blogspot.com/2012/10/warning-protect-your-credit-card.html or simply scan our QR code found below to get the article link on your smartphone:

Read more interesting articles for the Federal Employee at: Federal Employee News

Source: Android and iPhone Apps and News

[tag]Federal,Government,Military,Retiree, [/tag]

Non-emergency federal employees will be granted excused absence Monday in Washington, DC, Area

Article Title: Non-emergency federal employees will be granted excused absence Monday in Washington, DC, Area
Snippet of Article: "...Non-emergency employees (including employees on pre-approved paid leave) will be granted excused absence (administrative leave) for the number of hours they were scheduled to work unless they..."

Source: Federal Employee News

[tag]Federal,Government,Military,Retiree, [/tag]

Buyout Watch: The Government Executive is a great resource

Article Title: Buyout Watch
Snippet of Article: "... The roster of federal agencies offering buyouts or early outs continues to grow, and we are tracking them. Check back here for updates on agencies offering or considering the separation incentives, and let us know through the comment section if your agency should be added to the list...."

Source: Government Executive

[tag]Federal,Government,Military,Retiree, [/tag]

Small federal agency offers early retirement buyouts

Article Title: Broadcasting Board of Governors offers buyouts, early outs
Snippet of Article: "...To be eligible for a Voluntary Early Retirement Authorization (early out), employees must have 20 years of service and be at least 50 years of age, or have at least 25 years of service -- this applies to those covered under the Civil Service Retirement System or the Federal Employees Retirement System. Buyouts, or Voluntary Separation Incentive Payments, are cash incentives of up to $25,000 for employees who meet certain criteria. Agencies can combine the cash incentive buyouts with early-out options if they choose to...."

Source: www.govexec.com

[tag]Federal,Government,Military,Retiree, early retirement, buyouts, [/tag]

Federal Workers paid much less than private sector

Article Title: Federal Employees Paid Well Below Private Sector Counterparts
Snippet of Article: "...You often hear that union workers, particularly federal workers, are “overpaid.” You can produce a study making this case. But it will ultimately be an apples-to-oranges study...."

Source: firedoglake.com

[tag]Federal,Government,Military,Retiree, Federal Employee Pay Comparisons, [/tag]

2013 Retiree COLA

Article Title: Federal retirement COLA of 1.7 percent announced
Snippet of Article: "...Federal retirees will receive an inflation adjustment of 1.7 percent in January, translating to about a $50 increase in the average monthly payment under the annuity program for most of them...."

Source: www.washingtonpost.com

[tag]Federal,Government,Military,Retiree, 2013 Retiree COLA [/tag]

Federal Employees Health Benefits Program Touted

Article Title: Obama cites ‘Obamacare’ to feds’ organization
Snippet of Article: "...“The Federal Employees Health Benefits Program delivers a range of affordable, quality choices to federal workers. Its success made it one of the models for Obamacare, which will establish similar state exchanges as part of a plan to make sure that everyone has access to affordable insurance. These exchanges will operate independently of the FEHBP...."

Source: www.washingtonpost.com

[tag]Federal,Government,Military,Retiree, [/tag]

Could federal employee retirements leave skills gap?

Article Title: Officials Address the Coming Wave of Federal Worker Retirements
Snippet of Article: "...Filling skill gaps -- particularly those in cybersecurity and information technology -- could prove especially challenging, according to Gene Dodaro, comptroller general of the Government Accountability Office, who spoke on Wednesday at a hearing of a Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs subcommittee...."

Source: www.nationaljournal.com

[tag]Federal,Government,Military,Retiree, [/tag]

VA COLA - political game playing - the kids are at it again

Article Title: Which Senator Put a Hold on Veterans Benefits Bill?
Snippet of Article: "...The Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) increase for Department of Veterans Affairs benefits, which typically passes the House and Senate without opposition, was cleared by Senate Democrats but placed on a “secret hold” Thursday by an unidentified Republican senator, Murray says...."

Source: www.thedailybeast.com

[tag]Federal,Government,Military,Retiree, COLA [/tag]

VA care opens for Lejeune vets, families

Article Title: VA care opens for Lejeune vets, families
Snippet of Article: "...To be eligible, patients must show they spent at least 30 days at Lejeune from Jan. 1, 1957, to Dec. 31, 1987, or they were in utero during that period with mothers residing on base. They also must have one or more of the following:..."

Source: militaryvetnews.blogspot.com

[tag]Federal,Government,Military,Retiree, Military Vets, [/tag]

Federal employee pay raise April 2013?

Article Title: Federal employee issues deferred by Congress
Snippet of Article: "...no federal raise will be paid in January, one still is possible. The White House favors a 0.5 percent raise in April, while federal employee unions are pushing for such an increase to be made retroactive to the start of 2013. A continued freeze through all of 2013 also is possible...."

Source: www.washingtonpost.com

[tag]Federal,Government,Military,Retiree, 2013 federal employee pay raise, Federal salaries, Federal worker pay [/tag]

If only you were not unionized

Article Title: Romney wishes some feds weren’t unionized
Snippet of Article: "...“I wish they weren’t unionized, so we could go a lot deeper than you’re actually allowed to go,” Romney responded, before giving his broader view..."

Source: www.govexec.com

[tag]Federal,Government,Military,Retiree, [/tag]

Romney to "government-centered society": nearly half of Americans "believe that they are victims."

Article Title: Mitt Romney: No apologies, but 'victims' comment not elegantly stated
Snippet of Article: "...Romney plans no apology for stating that nearly half of Americans "believe that they are victims." Instead, he is expected to respond to questions about the statement by reinforcing the message he delivered at a hastily called news conference Monday night, in which he said Obama favors "a government-centered society"..."

Source: www.newsday.com

[tag]Federal,Government,Military,Retiree, [/tag]

2012 Federal Employee Salary Tables and Related Information

Want to know what all federal agencies pay in salaries and wages?

Article Title: 2012 Federal Employee Salary Tables and Related Information
Snippet of Article: "...the Office of Personnel Management provides policy leadership and expertise on a variety of Governmentwide pay programs for Federal employees, including the General Schedule (GS), Law Enforcement Officer Pay Schedules, and the Federal Wage System (FWS). For more information on the General Schedule and Law Enforcement Officer pay Tables, agencies may email at Pay-Leave-Policy@opm.gov. ..."

Source: OPM

[tag]Federal,Government,Military,Retiree, [/tag]

White House analysis of how “sequestration” or mandatory reductions would affect government operations

Article Title: Cuts could hit programs, federal employment
Snippet of Article: "...Earlier, the House passed a more wide-ranging package of spending cuts that would require all federal employees to pay an additional 5 percent of salary toward their retirement annuities, phased in over five years. The House also has endorsed steps including a 10 percent reduction in the federal workforce through attrition and extending the freeze on federal salary rates...."

Source: www.washingtonpost.com

[tag]Federal,Government,Military,Retiree, [/tag]

Instead of making wealthy pay same tax percentages as working class, they opt to cut social programs

Article Title: GOP leaders made ‘big mistake’ agreeing to sequester
Snippet of Article: "...Republicans had used the debt ceiling to try to force Obama to rein in spending and later touted the $2.2 trillion in spending reductions including those in the sequester. The House last spring passed a bill to replace the automatic cuts with a series of cuts to social programs but Democrats have balked because the measure does not contain new taxes...."

Source: thehill.com

[tag]Federal,Government,Military,Retiree, [/tag]

$80M in 'found' gold coins are property of the U.S. Government

Article Title: Judge upholds government's claim to $80M in rare gold coins found in safe deposit box

Snippet of Article: "...Ten of the rarest and most valuable coins in the world were almost certainly stolen from the federal mint in Philadelphia and therefore belong to the U.S. government and not heirs of a coin dealer who found them in his safe deposit box, a federal judge ruled...."

Source: www.foxnews.com

[tag]Federal,Government,Military,Retiree, [/tag]

Federal Aviation Administration managers allegedly urged workers in Seattle to vote Democrat

Article Title: Group: FAA bosses urged workers to vote Democrat
Snippet of Article: "...Cause of Action argues that the managers violated rules that certain federal employees cannot engage in partisan politics at the workplace...."

Source: www.dailyastorian.com

[tag]Federal,Government,Military,Retiree, [/tag]

Federal employees filed slightly fewer discrimination complaints

Article Title: Employee bias complaints down, waits up
Snippet of Article: "...The number of cases awaiting hearings was up 12 percent and has grown by nearly half since fiscal 2007, topping 8,000. Meanwhile, the number of appeals to the commission rose by 14 percent to almost 5,200, and processing time there rose by 30 percent to 378 days. About 4,300 cases are pending there, up by 18 percent from 2010 and up by about a quarter since 2007...."

Source: www.washingtonpost.com

[tag]Federal,Government,Military,Retiree, [/tag]

AFGE wants a productive form of labor-management relations at EPA

Article Title: EPA Management Thwarting Organizing Effort At Georgia Laboratory, Says AFGE
Snippet of Article: "...AFGE Council 238 urges the Administration to remind EPA management of their obligations under federal labor law to ensure there is a fair and unbiased election at the Athens laboratory. “The least this Administration could do is work with its labor partners to ensure that the Executive Order establishing a cooperative and productive form of labor-management relations at EPA is followed by management,” concluded Orzehoskie.

“We intend to hold this election and prevail. It is clear that these EPA scientists need someone to protect them so they can continue to ensure all of us have clean air to breathe and safe water to drink. They stand at the front lines of ensuring that human health and the environment are protected,” concluded Kelley...."

Source: www.redorbit.com

[tag]Federal,Government,Military,Retiree, [/tag]