Jumat, 11 Mei 2012
Section - FederalNewsRadio.com at Current News
National Defense University's Dr. Paulette Robinson will talk about the upcoming "Inspire the Future" conference in Washington D.C.
May 11, 2012
Posted 53 minutes, 06 seconds ago
If you ask the typical federal/postal worker what his or her greatest job-related fear was, many would answer they are afraid Congress will change their retirement rules and base their benefits on their highest five-year average salary. Yet the likelihood of losing the current high-three system is small compared to other, more real threats, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says.
Friday - 05/11/2012, 02:00am EDT
Drowning in red ink, the U.S. Postal Service on Thursday reported a quarterly loss of $3.2 billion and blamed Congress for blocking the agency's cost-cutting efforts to offset declining mail volume and mounting costs for future retiree health benefits.
Thursday - 05/10/2012, 03:14pm EDT
The Pathways Program aims to help federal agencies compete with other sectors that recruit and hire interns and recent graduates. The program targets current students, recent graduates and professionals interested in becoming federal managers.
Thursday - 05/10/2012, 05:39am EDT
ListenAre naughty, stupid or arrogant federal workers any different than their private-sector counterparts, who have also been known to do naughty, stupid or illegal things while on the job? The short answer: It depends, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says.
Thursday - 05/10/2012, 02:00am EDT
As part of a cost-savings plan designed to halt the closings of rural postal facilities, the U.S. Postal Service said it would offer $20,000 buyout incentive payments to 21,000 full-time postmasters.
Wednesday - 05/09/2012, 08:44pm EDT
Ahead of the markup of the annual defense policy bill by key House committee, hundreds of survivors of military sexual assault take to the Capitol to demand change.
Wednesday - 05/09/2012, 11:17am EDT
ListenSome departments are improving personnel practices around recruitment and knowledge management even in the face of pay freezes and criticisms of public servants. DHS created a higher education engagement group to bring in college students. GSA finds quality of applicants still strong. Senior leaders highlight successes during Public Service Recognition Week.
Wednesday - 05/09/2012, 05:20am EDT
ListenThe number of federal workers who retired last year was up big-time. Many experts thought the long-awaited retirement tsunami was upon us, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says. Until last month when it slowed dramatically. So what does that mean for you?
Tuesday - 05/08/2012, 02:00am EDT
As part of the annual Defense authorization bill, House lawmakers will take up a provision designed to let federal employees gain experience and share expertise while working temporarily in other agencies.
Monday - 05/07/2012, 05:51pm EDT
After more than two years of tough negotiations, the Social Security Administration and its largest union, The American Federation of Government Employees, have signed off on final contract. The contract includes changes to office travel and vision benefits.
Monday - 05/07/2012, 05:27pm EDT
The Telework Exchange released a report last week saying that feds who participated in the 2012 Telework Week saved more than $5.6 million. The report not only showed a greater adoption of teleworking, but that feds were leading the way.
Monday - 05/07/2012, 01:09pm EDT
The Partnership for Public Service announced the 33 finalists contending for Service to America Medals for 2012.
Monday - 05/07/2012, 06:42am EDT
ListenWhen government workers foul up we know their name, rank and serial number, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says. But when someone in the media makes an inexcusable 'mistake' his — or her — name is kept secret for privacy reasons. So, what's wrong with this picture?
Monday - 05/07/2012, 02:00am EDT
Every week, Federal News Radio's Ruben Gomez speaks with Recreation News Editor Marvin Bond about fun things to do in and near the nation's capital.
Saturday - 05/05/2012, 01:49pm EDT
ListenHost Derrick Dortch is joined by Evan Lesser, founder of ClearanceJobs.com. They will discuss a new survey conducted by the organization.
May 4, 2012
Saturday - 05/05/2012, 12:34am EDT
ListenNational Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund chairman Craig Floyd and David Weisz from Motorola Solutions, join host Debra Roth to talk about 2012 National Police Week and the latest on the National Law Enforcement Museum.
May 4, 2012
Friday - 05/04/2012, 09:21pm EDT
ListenThe Thrift Savings Plan's Roth option rolls out today. The Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board has been preparing for the new program for two years now, but despite the big push today many federal employees will actually have to wait to enroll in the new program. One of the largest federal payroll processors needs more time to upgrade its systems in preparation for the Roth option. Find information about which agencies are affected, as well as the five things feds should know about the Roth TSP below.
Friday - 05/04/2012, 04:10pm EDT
Hiring managers at the Air Force have 15 days — instead of 30 days — to choose the best candidates to fill civilian vacancies.
Friday - 05/04/2012, 10:56am EDT
The Shared Services Strategy is the latest way agencies can reduce spending on infrastructure technology and spend more on mission-critical IT. Federal CIO Steven VanRoekel said PortfolioStat is the lynchpin to the entire process for agencies. He held the first meeting with agencies leaders to discuss expectations.
Friday - 05/04/2012, 05:18am EDT
Felicia Day Gets Her Geek On In 'The Girl With The Dungeons And Dragons Tattoo' at Current News
Note: Do not read on if you have not seen Season 7, Episode 20 of The CW's "Supernatural," entitled "The Girl with the Dungeons and Dragons Tattoo."
It's "Supernatural" custom to follow emotionally heavy episodes with lighter installments, but in the right hands, even an episode laden with humor can propel the mythology forward. Such was the case with the witty, quippy "Girl with the Dungeons and Dragons Tattoo," confidently scripted by Robbie Thompson.
Thompson has fast distinguished himself as the MVP of Season 7's writing staff -- though he's a newcomer this year, he's already written two of the strongest episodes of the season: "Slash Fiction" and the phenomenal time-travel story "Time After Time." Ably assisted by first-time director John MacCarthy (who has served as First Assistant Director on 15 episodes of the show since Season 2), Thompson's script was full of energy, balancing humor and pathos in a believable fashion, and nailing the Winchester brothers' inimitable voices in a way that some of the more established writers still struggle with.
While I'm certain that MacCarthy's choice of non-linear narrative and "24"-esque split-screen effects probably didn't work for everyone, I found his directorial decisions to be engaging, and in-keeping with the tone of Thompson's script. There were plenty of amusing character beats that were well-served by the flexible direction -- Felicia Day's entrance (and subsequent elevator dance) to "Walking On Sunshine" springs immediately to mind.
I find it interesting that "Tattoo" worked so well for me this week after I was left cold by "Party On, Garth," which, at least superficially, shared some similarities with this week's episode. I think my dislike for "Garth" stemmed from the episode focusing more on a Monster Of The Week hunt than a mythology story, and because that episode felt tonally imbalanced when switching between horror and humor --something that Thompson apparently doesn't have a problem with. While certain scenes in "Garth" seemed unnecessarily long or convoluted, "Tattoo" seemed to have a sharper sense of pacing, which helped the hour fly by for me.
Then again, as with "Garth," perhaps your enjoyment was meted according to your appreciation of Felicia Day instead of DJ Qualls, since the episode did place the narrative focus on Charlie rather than Sam and Dean. While I wouldn't describe myself as a die-hard fan of Day (having only seen her in her Whedonverse projects), the character was sufficiently three-dimensional to make me care about her fate and want to hang out with her. Still, I can understand viewers who might've been eager to spend more time with Sam and Dean so close to the finale, especially since the last three episodes have all seen the boys taking something of a backseat to secondary characters. (I wonder if the writers were trying to script Sam and Dean light in deference to Jared Padalecki's impending fatherhood -- while I was scheduling my set visit, I was warned that he might have to dash off at a moment's notice in case his son made an early appearance.)
Geeky "Charlie Bradbury" was a wonderfully welcome addition to the roster of strong female characters on the show; made all the more distinctive not just because of her sexuality, but because she actually survived the episode. It's both realistic and sensible to add a canonical lesbian into the mix -- especially given how certain subsets of fandom seem to react to the inclusion of heterosexual women in Sam and Dean's lives -- and Dean's attempt to guide her through flirting with the security guard was an inspired moment.
The episode was a veritable cornucopia of nerdy references, homages and easter eggs -- so much so that it would be almost impossible to list them all. Some of my favorites included Charlie's Hermione Granger fixation (and Sam's equally geeky "Harry Potter" knowledge); her "Lord of the Rings" Arwen laptop background; her Han and Leia "I love you," "I know," exchange with her co-worker; Dean's "Veronica Mars" reference; "What the frak is a Leviathan?"; the "Star Wars" bobbleheads; "I was drunk, it was Comic-Con," "We've all been there," and Charlie's sassy Vulcan farewell, to name a few. Feel free to chime in with your stand-outs in the comments. I also enjoyed seeing the boys shake things up by revisiting their penchant for unusual disguises -- it was great to see them dressed as ground crew at the private airfield when they switched out Dick's package for a Borax bomb.
The episode was not without its minor niggles, however. Having Bobby pop back in to info-dump on the Winchesters only lends credence to the "deus ex machina"/exposition criticisms that have been leveled at the character for the past few seasons. Frank's handy automated email and the tracking device on his hard-drive also fall into that category, although the character is so canonically paranoid that at least it makes narrative sense.
On the other hand, I am interested in Bobby's ongoing struggle with the vengeful side of his new form. He certainly proved that he can still make himself useful as a ghost, but that those darker impulses are clearly too tempting to ignore. It seems fitting that, just as Sam and Dean have struggled with their own dark sides -- demon blood addiction and hell-inspired torture, respectively -- the past couple of seasons have allowed the show's two main supporting characters, Castiel and Bobby, to explore those facets of their personalities too. We didn't see too much of it with Castiel (although it was enough to be chilling), but it seems that Bobby's anger will be an ongoing concern in the lead-up to the finale. I wish we'd had another scene with Bobby to explore his feelings of remorse -- or lack thereof -- for breaking Charlie's arm, but perhaps we'll see that carry through to next week's episode.
We also got to see a lot more of Dick this week (get your minds out of the gutter). While Dick is lacking the gravitas and obvious menace of Azazel or Zachariah, I do appreciate that the writers are trying to switch things up and offer us a villain unlike anything we've seen before. The slick, charismatic one-percenter is a timely antagonist, although I'll admit, the "Soylent Green" endgame doesn't exactly fill me with dread the way the apocalypse or Dean being sent to hell did in earlier seasons. It's a far more insidious plot, in that it plays on modern fears of big brother surveillance and businesses or governments conspiring against the general population, but now that the show has been to hell and back, I think it's natural to expect that nothing else will quite measure up to the impact of Eric Kripke's original five-year plan. I'm hoping the season finale will surprise me on that front, of course, because I'm sure there are potential outcomes that I never could've predicted, but for now, I remain ambivalent about the grandeur of Dick Roman's nefarious scheme. I did enjoy the mock SucroCorp ad, even if it wasn't quite as hilarious as the variations we saw back in "Changing Channels."
Overall, "Tattoo" was an engaging and enjoyable hour, one that was buoyed by Felicia Day's spunky, geektastic performance -- I hope we'll have the opportunity to see her again next season.
What did you think of "The Girl with the Dungeons and Dragons Tattoo"? Did you enjoy Felicia Day's performance, or would you have preferred to see more Sam and Dean? Weigh in below!
"Supernatural" airs Fridays at 9 p.m. ET on The CW.
Follow Laura Prudom on Twitter: www.twitter.com/lauinLA
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Kamis, 10 Mei 2012
Two Vermont Youth Honored for Volunteerism at National Award Ceremony in Washington, D.C. at Current News
WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Vermont's top two youth volunteers of the year, Emery Tillman, 18, of Cornwall and Todd Boisjoli, 13, of Shelburne, were honored in the nation's capital last night for their outstanding volunteer service during the presentation of The 2012 Prudential Spirit of Community Awards. The two young people – along with 100 other top youth volunteers from across the country – received $1,000 awards as well as personal congratulations from New York Giants quarterback and Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning at the 17th annual award ceremony and gala dinner reception, held at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History.
Emery and Todd were named the top high school and middle level youth volunteers in Vermont in February. In addition to their cash awards, they received engraved silver medallions and an all-expense-paid trip with their parents to Washington, D.C., for this week's recognition events.
Emery, a senior at Middlebury Union High School, has undertaken a variety of volunteer activities as she has traveled around the United States and the world competing in freestyle kayaking events. As a whitewater kayaker, Emery is very sensitive to the condition of the world's waterways, and initially just wanted to clean up river trash. But after helping to organize a cleanup project on the Ottawa River with her boarding school, "I knew I had to continue giving back to the community, wherever that community may be," she said.
So, she has found ways to make a difference everywhere she travels. In Chile, she taught English to middle school students. In Zambia, she helped prepare meals and coached soccer at an orphanage. In Uganda, she volunteered at a malaria clinic. In New Zealand, she participated in a river cleanup. And in the U.S., Emery has organized trash removal projects in most of the rivers where she has competed. In addition, she has worked with a program that encourages young people to choose outdoor activities instead of drugs, and participated in a project to keep trash out of the ocean and Lake Champlain.
Todd, an eighth-grader at Shelburne Community School, has been an active volunteer since he was 5 years old by helping out at his school and by contributing in important ways to the broader community. Todd's volunteerism began when his mother suggested that he help with a fundraiser for the Vermont Children's Trust Foundation. He then began looking for ways to make a difference at school.
Over the years, Todd has helped organize school fundraisers, managed the school store, assisted with the elementary school lunch program, participated in a recycling program, educated students about the dangers of drugs and alcohol and worked on other volunteer initiatives as a member of his school's student leadership council. Outside of school, Todd helps referee soccer games in his community and teaches soccer skills to those who want to learn to play. In addition, Todd recently shoveled mud out of homes devastated by Hurricane Irene. Todd said volunteering has given him "a view of how lucky my life is compared to other people in the world. I learned how even doing a few hours of work can make a huge difference to the people who needed the help."
"Through their extraordinary acts of volunteerism, these students are powerful examples of the way one young person can make a big impact," said John R. Strangfeld, chairman and CEO of Prudential Financial, Inc. "We are proud to honor them for their achievements, and hope their stories inspire others to consider how they, too, can make a difference."
More than 26,000 young people participated in the 2012 awards program last fall through schools, Girl Scout councils, county 4-H organizations, American Red Cross chapters, YMCAs and affiliates of the HandsOn Network. The top middle level and high school applicants in each state were selected in February, and flown to Washington this week with their parents for four days of special recognition events.
Conducted in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP), The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards were created 17 years ago by Prudential Financial to encourage youth volunteerism and to identify and reward young role models. Since then, the program has honored more than 100,000 young volunteers at the local, state and national level.
"These young people have demonstrated remarkable leadership, selflessness and compassion, and they set a fine example for thousands of other students across the U.S. who want to make a difference," said Ken Griffith, president of NASSP. "The actions of these young volunteers exemplify the best of what America's youth have to offer."
More information about The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards and this year's honorees can be found at http://blogshots.org/spirit.prudential.com or www.nassp.org/spirit.
NASSP (National Association of Secondary School Principals) is the leading organization of and national voice for middle level and high school principals, assistant principals, and all school leaders from across the United States and more than 45 countries around the world. The association provides research-based professional development and resources, networking, and advocacy to build the capacity of middle level and high school leaders to continually improve student performance. Reflecting its longstanding commitment to student leadership development as well, NASSP administers the National Honor Society™, National Junior Honor Society®, National Elementary Honor Society®, and National Association of Student Councils®. For more information about NASSP, located in Reston, VA, visit www.nassp.org.
Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU - News), a financial services leader, has operations in the United States, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Prudential's diverse and talented employees are committed to helping individual and institutional customers grow and protect their wealth through a variety of products and services, including life insurance, annuities, retirement-related services, mutual funds and investment management. In the U.S., Prudential's iconic Rock symbol has stood for strength, stability, expertise and innovation for more than a century. For more information, please visit http://blogshots.org/www.news.prudential.com/
[Editors: Full-color pictures of the Spirit of Community Awards program logo and medallions are available at http://blogshots.org/spirit.prudential.com.]
Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://blogshots.org/www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=50265489&lang=en
MULTIMEDIA AVAILABLE:http://blogshots.org/www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=50265489&lang=en
Obama honors Alabama for its 2012 BCS National Championship at Current News
Obama Honors Alabama for Title
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WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama honored the University of Alabama football team for winning the BCS championship to culminate what he called a ``deeply meaningful season for the Tide.''
& &Obama's message to the Crimson Tide went beyond the team's second national title in three seasons and a 21-0 shutout of LSU in the BCS championship game in January.
&He praised the Tide coaches and players for their efforts in the Alabama community, noting their role in helping rebuild Tuscaloosa, Ala., after devastating tornadoes touched down in April 2011.
&View 2013 BCS National Championship Odds
&``Now, obviously this is a team that knows something about adversity,'' Obama said. ``It was one year ago next week that an F4 tornado carved a path right through the town of Tuscaloosa. I traveled down there two days later to see the devastation with the mayor and the governor. And I've got to tell you, I'd never seen anything like it.''
&The team emerged from the second floor of the White House onto the balcony while a U.S. Marine Corps combo played the fight song ``Yea Alabama.''
&Obama emerged from the Oval Office in the West Wing with Nick Saban. Among those present were Sens. Richard Shelby and Jeff Sessions and Rep. Spencer Bachus.
&Alabama offensive lineman Barrett Jones presented Obama with a crimson and white jersey with his name on the back and the No. 14 representing the total national titles the Tide counts. He also got an Alabama helmet.
&``I'm probably going to need a helmet between now and November,'' Obama joked
&The president also made reference to last weekend's accidental shattering of the $30,000 Waterford Crystal trophy from the title.
&``So this team didn't just shatter records,'' Obama said. ``I hear the championship trophy also took a bit of a spill earlier this week.''
&The combo played ``Sweet Home Alabama'' as he shook hands with the Tide contingent.
&Want More From TheSpread.com? Follow us on Twitter and Facebook or Subscribe to Our News Feeds!
Carolina Panthers sign all seven draft picks, source says - NFL at Current News
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- A person familiar with the situation says the Carolina Panthers have agreed to terms with each of their seven draft picks on the eve of their rookie minicamp, including linebacker Luke Kuechly, their first-round selection from Boston College.
The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the deals have not been announced.
All seven draft picks agreed to four-year contracts
Kuechly will get $12.58 million over four years. The Panthers have an option for the fifth year of his contract because he's the ninth overall pick.
In past years it's taken most NFL teams until late July to get rookies under contract but the new collective bargaining agreement has made it much easier to sign rookies since they're all slotted.
The Panthers open a three-day minicamp on Friday.
Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
'Dark Knight Rises' star Juno Temple joins Nic Cage for 'Wild Side' - National Comic Book Movies at Current News
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