The NY Daily News reports that the terrorist group Al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula is now calling for strikes on federal employees. In the second issue of the organization’s magazine, “Inspire,” AQAP propagandist Yahyim Ibrahim suggests wannabe terrorists open fire at crowded restaurants in Washington during lunchtime to kill feds. “Targeting such employees is paramount and the location would also give the operation additional media attention,” Ibrahim wrote. AQAP is the Yemen-based franchise of al-Qaida and is thought to have provided training and support to the alleged Christmas Day bomber. The Obama administration says American-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki is…
Yearly Archives: 2010
Good luck trying to decipher the Defense Department’s color-coded chart of policies it uses to “build, operate and secure” its networks. The two-foot-long IA policy chart outlines 193 documents (including directives, strategies, policies, memos, regulations, strategies, white papers and instructions) that many information assurance professionals “may not be aware of,” Noah Shachtman points out on his Danger Room blog. Designed by the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Cyber Identity & Information Assurance, the chart is supposed to help these workers familiarize themselves with the policies that govern how they do their job. I guess the legend may be a good place to start, but even…
The vast majority of the federal workforce has today off for Columbus Day, but Ed O’Keefe at the Post notes that in many other places, the tradition is falling out of favor. Some cities have canceled parades, or given workers a floating holiday in lieu of Columbus day. It’s not only the perennial controversy over Native Americans’ post-1492 treatment sinking the holiday — cash-strapped California dropped it entirely last year as part of a budget-cutting effort. O’Keefe’s got a poll that shows respondents are, by a nearly two-to-one margin, against the second Monday in October being a federal holiday. (But…
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, is keeping pressure on the FBI to reform in the wake of a cheating scandal. Collins sent FBI Director Bob Mueller a letter Oct. 7 that said he should immediately punish those who cheated on an important exam on domestic investigations rules and privacy, and force any cheater who wasn’t fired to retake the exam. Collins also wants the FBI to conduct a department-wide review to find out if there were any other cheaters that weren’t identified by an inspector general investigation. Mueller last month said disciplinary actions are being taken against cheaters and promised to…
Are you a recent federal retiree who is still getting a partial annuity check each month? Federal Times would like to hear from you. We’d like to find out how long you’ve been waiting for your full check, how much less you’re getting paid than what you’ve earned, and what you’ve heard from OPM when you inquired about the problem. E-mail me at slosey@federaltimes.com. If you’d like to speak off the record or not have your name used in my story, that’s certainly fine.
HHS, VA, CMS, Blue Button, health records, electronic health record
I was hoping to get some fed input on the results of our new poll on the Combined Federal Campaign, which was based off of some comments we have received from feds across the government… Sep 30, 2010 – Appeals for pledges to the Combined Federal Campaign at my agency are: Overbearing. People feel pressured to contribute whether they want to or not. : 60 % Appropriate. Pledges are for good cause. : 35 % Insufficient. More effort should be made to increase donations. : 5 % Do you feel pressured to give to the CFC, even if you don’t…
The White House continues to push renewable energy projects during National Energy Awareness month this October. The latest is from the Interior Department, which has announced what they call the largest solar energy project on public lands. From Ken Salazar, Interior Secretary The Tessera Solar Imperial Valley Solar Project and the Chevron Energy Solutions Lucerne Valley Solar Project will both be built in the California desert. Together, the projects could produce up to 754 megawatts of renewable energy, power 226,000 – 566,000 American homes, and support almost 1,000 new jobs. At the Department of the Interior, we have a special…
The Federal Employees Health Benefits Program premiums will go up 7.2 percent on average next year, the Office of Personnel Management said last week. For the most popular federal plan — Blue Cross Blue Shield Standard — self-only premiums are going up 6.9 percent and self-and-family plans are going up 7.6 percent. Also, six health care plans are dropping out of FEHBP: Louisiana’s Vantage Health Plans; Nevada’s Pacificare of Nevada; New Jersey’s AmeriHealth HMO; New York’s Community Blue; Rhode Island and Massachussetts’ BlueCHiP Coordinated Health Plan; and the multistate UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company, which included a high-deductible health plan option and…
As October kicks into full swing, it will take some sorting to figure out what month it really is. President Obama and various federal agencies have issued statements about various causes and concerns for this month. Click on links for the President’s statement on each of these months. National Arts and Humanities Month National Breast Cancer Awareness Month National Disability Employment Awareness Month National Domestic Violence Awareness Month National Cybersecurity Awareness Month National Energy Awareness Month Also, it is Fire Prevention Week. Also, feel free to comment below on any other commemorations that are happening this month, and we will…