'...passenger saw Qiu behaving strangely around their plane as they boarded -- throwing a handful of coins straight at the jet's engine. She did it, it turns out, with a little prayer for good luck, hoping to bring herself and the other passengers in for a safe landing at their destination...'
'...OPM also issued new guidance on possible reductions in force, titled “Workforce Reshaping Operations Handbook.” The agency put forward the new manual to “provide assistance to agencies that are considering and/or undergoing some times of reshaping (e.g. reorganization, management directed reassignments, furlough, transfer of function, reduction in force.)” The guidance details layoff procedures under federal law and regulations...'
'...Allan Yiv Chan and Jevelyn Viernes Chan, the owners of Sonic One Insurance Agency in Pleasanton, were named in an indictment handed up by a grand jury in San Jose. They were each charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and three counts of mail fraud. The two allegedly misused the postal service's bulk mail program between 2012 and 2016...'
'... The president concluded by saying the government should shut down in September to fix the "mess." "Our country needs a good 'shutdown' in September to fix mess!" he said...'
'...Many, if not most, of the current crop of TSP millionaires did it the hard way. They didn’t bring money into government from their outside retirement accounts. They invested for decades, stuck with the C and S funds (stock indexed)...'
'...The Justice Department late Monday asked a federal judge for more time to "review and assess" a proposed agreement to overhaul the Baltimore police department, saying it needed to determine how it might conflict with the crime-fighting agenda of new Attorney General Jeff Sessions...'
'...National Treasury Employees Union President Tony Reardon said in a statement that the Employment Cost Index shows growth in private industry wages of 10.4 percent on average over the last five years, compared to an overall increase of 5.4 percent for federal workers in the same period....'
'...Agencies also can offer incentives to entice employees to leave, creating vacancies. One way is to allow employees to retire before they are eligible. With OPM’s permission, agencies facing job cuts can allow employees to retire at any age with at least 25 years of service, or at age 50 or above with at least 20 years tenure, subject to a reduction in the annuity in some cases. The other incentive is a buyout. Agencies can offer those with OPM’s permission to reorganize, although most agencies would need authority from Congress to offer them for downsizing. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, has asked his staff to review whether voluntary buyouts across the government would be a better way to shrink the workforce because they provide incentives for retirement-eligible and other...'
'...At this point in fiscal 2017, OPM has processed 56 percent of its claims in 60 days or less. compared to 80 percent in February 2016. Of those claims processed within that 60-day window, it took OPM an average of 38 days to process. Claims beyond that window took an average of 104 days to process...'
'...The investigation is looking into how the documents came into WikiLeaks' possession and whether they might have been leaked by an employee or contractor. The CIA is also trying to determine if there are other unpublished documents WikiLeaks may have...'
'...Despite the incomplete nature of the recovery, influential voices are already calling for the Federal Reserve to guard against inflation by raising interest rates to slow the economy. The stakes in this debate are high. Macroeconomic policy (including monetary policy) that prioritized very low rates of inflation over low rates of unemployment is a key reason why real wages have stagnated for the vast majority of American workers in recent decades (as we have shown through our Raising America’s Pay initiative). Widespread wage growth will not occur over the coming years if the Federal Reserve prematurely slows the recovery in the name of fighting prospective inflation...'
Notes: Real Estate and Medical are what's driving inflation. Primarily, medical related economics are what is harming the economy the most while having the greatest impact on low and middle incomes.
'...So… can we help you carry your stuff out to the parking lot? What’s that? You’re not leaving quite yet?...'
'...In a break with his party's traditional stance on gay rights, Republican U.S. President Donald Trump vowed on Tuesday to uphold protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people...'
'...Trump is planning to sign directives Wednesday to set in motion construction of border reinforcement and toughening immigration enforcement within the U.S. during an afternoon visit to the Department of Homeland Security...'
'...we are willing to help people who are down and out. But public assistance should be a trampoline, not a hammock...'
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| President Donald Trump |
'...The agency is barred from issuing refunds before Feb. 15 on any returns claiming the Earned Income Tax Credit or the Additional Child Tax Credit. Congress mandated the delay to give the IRS more time to review returns to try to catch fraudulent ones before refunds are paid out. In reality, taxpayers taking these credits will probably have to wait even longer to get their refunds — until the week of Feb. 27, the IRS says, because of weekends and the President's Day holiday...'
'...in the active workforce CSRS people are seen as kind of a favored sub-category, with a civil service annuity formula producing a benefit roughly double what FERS people earn, for the same years of service and the same high-3 salary level. (The Social Security component of FERS and the employer contributions to the TSP there were designed to make up the difference. Whether they do is another question, one that you can get answered by asking any FERS person whether he or she would rather have CSRS.)...'
'...From WikiLeaks, we know the disdain they have for “medieval” Catholics and “needy Latinos.” We’ve long understood the Clintons’ breathtaking contempt for “the help” — Secret Service agents, the military, basically anyone in uniform. Now we’re discovering the Clintons’ supposed acolytes feel the same way about their masters. They say no man is a hero to his valet, and to the Clintons, we are all valets...'
'...Cyber security experts say the threat to Tuesday's election by some malign state actor or rogue hacker changing the actual vote count is probably slim, given that the U.S. voting system is fragmented and decentralized. The state by state, district by district and polling place by polling place network provides an inherent safeguard – one that is augmented by the fact that widely used electronic voting machines are not connected to the internet...'
'... Another email reveals more media collusion with Clinton campaign...As the 2016 Presidential election comes less than one month a way, new information shows that major members of the media are or have apparently colluded to help the political campaign of Hillary Clinton. Normally, the way this is should work is the media is supposed to act as an ethical, independent, watchdog to help keep government honest and transparent when there is a lack of such...
'...The FBI has arrested a contractor for the National Security Agency and is probing whether he stole and disclosed highly classified computer "source code" developed to hack into the networks...'
'...In most cases, a) there's some dispute over what actually happened, b) there might be at least some question as to sort of the legality of things that were done, and c) the defendant's goal is to be acquitted or to minimize the charges or to minimize sentencing," Sali says. "Here, most of those things are absent...they were exercising their First and Second Amendment rights...'
'...caught in crossfire in Chicago and killed on Friday, it was revealed that the alleged shooters were felons on parole. That in turn prompted calls from local officials for stiffer sentencing...'
'...The IG report also blamed DFAS, saying it too made unjustified changes to numbers. For example, two DFAS computer systems showed different values of supplies for missiles and ammunition, the report noted – but rather than solving the disparity, DFAS personnel inserted a false “correction” to make the numbers match...'
'...I wonder what happened to the true democracy, to the equal opportunities, the things we love the United States for. The big money bags are fighting for power today. They are lying constantly and don’t keep their word. The MSM are producing tons of propaganda hiding the real stuff behind it. But I do believe that people have right to know what’s going on inside the election process in fact...'
'...U.S. government airlifted the equivalent of $400 million to Iran this past January – as four detained Americans were released by Tehran – and say the transaction has put more Americans at risk of being taken hostage...Obama administration denied the cash transfer was done to secure the release of the four Americans, GOP lawmakers said it was tantamount to “ransom...'
'...The House of Representatives passed a package of government reform bills today that would make a number of changes impacting the federal workforce. The legislation is known as the Government Reform and Improvement Act (GRIA) (H.R. 4361) and is actually a package of past proposed bills. The package includes...'
'...Social Security has already lost 23 percent of its buying power since 2000, and another potential year of no cost-of-living increase could squeeze seniors — whose expenses haven’t lowered with low inflation...'
'...problems and delays at TSA. “Smurfing” is a technique that breaks specific financial transactions into something below the reporting requirement to mask them. “Hoggan’s $90,000 in bonus payments in 13 months is a clear violation of the spirit, if not the letter, of the law,” wrote McCaskill in her letter to acting OPM director Beth Cobert...'
'...Social Security benefits and federal retirement benefits did not go up in 2016. This was obviously bad news for retirees who rely on their monthly checks for a big part of their overall income. No COLA increase resulted in millions of Social Security recipients, disabled veterans and federal retirees paying for increasing food and other costs with the same income they had in the previous year. To add insult to injury, medical costs and medical insurance also went up, so these extra costs also had to be absorbed with the same income as the year before...'
Wishy Washy: Obama Endorses Clinton, But What Does He Truly Think of Lying Hillary
Now that corporate backed Hillary Clinton has trash talked Bernie Sanders to the degree that we no longer have an opportunity for 'real' positive change for all Americans, we are left with the standard of fake, lying, corporate backed scum that are destroying the working class and raping seniors by not expanding Social Security, yet permitting corporations, big oil, and the extreme wealthy to ride off the backs of working men and women. All of this while we permit transgenders to share restrooms and locker rooms with our children. Way to go America! Let's keep the world laughing at us while we decline with our own naive lack of common sense.
'...When November IOP polling asked 18- to 29- year-olds if the “American Dream is alive or dead” for them personally, respondents were nearly evenly split (49%: “alive;” 48%: “dead”). While no significant difference was found based on race or ethnicity (whites – 49% said “alive;” African-Americans – 44% said “alive;” Hispanics – 52% said “alive”), respondents’ level of education did play a role. Nearly six-in-ten (58%) college graduates said the American Dream was alive for them personally, compared to only 42% of those not in college/never enrolled in college saying the same. Additionally, a significant majority of both Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders supporters said they believed the American dream was “dead” (Trump voters – 61%: American Dream “dead,” 39%: “alive;” Sanders voters – 56%: American Dream “dead,” 44%: “alive”)...'
'...The report says Clinton, who is the Democratic presidential front-runner, should have printed and saved her emails during her four years in office...'
'...The Supreme Court on Monday ruled that federal workers who want to file a constructive discharge claim have 45 days from the time they resign to do so. The ruling effectively extends the time former federal employees have to file lawsuits over purported discriminatory acts in the workplace. With their 7-1 ruling the court rejected the Justice Department's argument that the clock should start ticking on such claims when the conditions the filers allegedly confronted at work became intolerable. Marvin Green, a former Colorado postmaster, claimed in a lawsuit ...'
Opinion without an opinion: A short, referenced guide on LGBT rights debate in America
What is the big deal with accommodating LGBT's in the federal workforce or anywhere for that matter? Obama says 'LGBT rights are human rights’ ...that is the word from Obama. So why is it an issue? The largest argument comes from the religious side of the debate. A christian believer in God often feels that what someone does behind closed doors is their business and are held accountable based on the beliefs of each party. Live and let live! However, what happens when the government infringes upon the religious beliefs of others? This is where the debate occurs. The Bible says, 'If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.' Obviously you can see that when a government forces the lifestyle of others upon those that are opposed to that lifestyle based on their religious convictions, it is going to be a problem. But what does the constitution say about protecting alternative lifestyles or impeding the free exercise of religion. The constitution is clear on impeding the free exercise of religion and spells it out using the specific word 'religion.' The constitution 'prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering with the right to peaceably assemble or prohibiting ...' As far as LGBT constitutional right trumping religious freedom, we are at a loss for a reference with the exception of Obama. These are the facts, your opinion is yours, as well as your right to agree with Obama, God, The Constitution, or your own subjectively created cocktail of oil and water. Your support simply lies with what you personally believe within yourself.
'... As commander in chief, Obama... His nonchalant attitude shows disrespect for the 9/11 victims and their families, whom he’s repeatedly promised release of the 28 pages. Yet he’s never even read them? These families need that trove of evidence to get justice and closure on their long-running nightmare. Here we have a president who’s now made a record four trips to Saudi Arabia, counting last week’s trip, and he’s never read the evidence against the kingdom...'
