Food Inflation, Riots Spark Worries for World Leaders

IMF, World Bank Push for Solutions "...World Bank President Robert Zoellick warned in a recent speech that 33 countries are at risk of social upheaval because of rising food prices. Those could include Indonesia, Yemen, Ghana, Uzbekistan and the Philippines..."
[Reference: The Wall Street Journal]

File Under: Economy Worries World Leaders
World Bank

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Post Office Hours and Tax Time

Postal Service tips for last-minute tax filers "...Postal officials are encouraging customers to send their mail early in the day to avoid expected crowds and remind mailers to affix correct postage. First-class, letter-size mail requires 41 cents for the first ounce and 17 cents for each additional ounce...."
[Reference: deseretnews.com]

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National Center for Employee Development (NCED)

What is NCED? NCED is an acronym for the National Center for Employee Development which is a training and conference facility, centrally located in Norman, Oklahoma. The website explains it as the "main NCED campus at NCED is a 72-acre, postal-owned site at 24th and Imhoff Road in Norman, Oklahoma. Although the Postal Service is still NCED's biggest customer, whose employees attend job skills and information training, we also welcome other businesses and groups."

File Under: Postal Training

USPS: Age Discrimination Suit

Former letter carrier sues Postal Service "...After filing a formal complaint with the Postal Service's Equal Employment Opportunity Office in 2003, Marinelli says his boss refused to approve an incentive payment for buying a new personal vehicle, which rural carriers use to deliver mail; refused him leave and vacation time; demanded he show a doctor's note for a sick day; and unfairly increased his work load, among other complaints. Several of those disputes were settled in Marinelli's favor through his union, the suit says. Marinelli said he temporarily went on stress leave at the height of his problems...."
[Reference: www.metrowestdailynews.com]

More Sources: Age Discrimination (EEOC)

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Postal employee rights: Religion in the workplace

Circuit courts address religion in workplace "All four cases affect how much employees are protected in the workplace, and all four courts found in favor of the employer. In a final recent opinion that dealt with religion in the workplace, however (Sturgill v. UPS), a UPS employee prevailed over the delivery company that fired him for refusing to deliver packages after his Sabbath began on Friday evenings."
[Reference: www.firstamendmentcenter.org]

More Sources: Religious Accommodation (EEOC)

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U. S. Postal Service charged expenses to government purchase cards

U.S. Postal Service defends $13,500 dinner charge "...For this occasion, USPS paid for 81 dinners averaging over $160 per person for customers of the Postal Customer Council at an upscale steak restaurant. Further, USPS paid for over 200 appetizers and over $3,000 of alcohol, including more than 40 bottles of wine costing more than $50 each and brand-name liquor such as Courvoisier, Belvedere, and Johnny Walker Gold...."
[Reference: usatoday.com]

Promotional postcards prove profitable, popular

A three-partner firm found a successful niche in offering ad and mailing expertise to small businesses "...they founded Minneapolis-based PostcardBuilder, a company that has accumulated more than 2,000 clients in virtually every state and has grown to nearly $4 million in annual revenue...."
[Reference: www.startribune.com]

File Under: Bulk Mail Services

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Lavish Postal Service Dinner Party

Lavish $13,500 Postal Service Dinner Party Held At Orlando Restaurant "...At Ruth's Chris Steak House, the motto is, "You can have it all," and a new report from the Government Accountability Office says that's what the U.S. Postal Service tried to give 81 special guests who were attending a national conference in Orlando in 2006..."
[Reference: www.wftv.com]

File Under: Postal Service Pork

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Turkeys Go Postal on Postal Workers

Postal Workers Attacked by Wild Turkeys "...the turkeys are attracted to the red, white and blue postal trucks...."
[Reference: www.channel3000.com]

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NAACP sides with Richmond-area postal workers

It asks FBI to investigate claims of 'unrealistic goals' set by local management "...executive director of the NAACP's Virginia Conference, said the civil-rights group got involved "because the people came to us." "We have heard from others who are afraid of retaliation," he said. "They want an impartial investigation, so why not ask the Federal Bureau of Investigation to do that?" He wrote a letter to the FBI's Richmond office on April 1 seeking an investigation...."
[Reference: www.inrich.com]

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Where did the candidates get their money

The amount raised by 2008 presidential candidates, according to www.whitehouseforsale.org, is $692,939,128. Where did that money come from? Much of the money comes from bundlers. Bundling is the practice of one donor gathering donations from many different individuals in an organization or community and presenting the sum to a campaign. This is a legal manner in which to give large sums of money, yet remain within the restrictions set by law. Go to www.whitehouseforsale.org to identify these bundlers.

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What is the best career for the future?

If you are looking for a new career or assisting your children in career choices, you will find the Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH), 2008-09 Edition might come in handy. The Occupational Outlook Handbook tells you:

* training and education needed
* earnings
* expected job prospects
* what workers do on the job
* working conditions
Example: Postal Service Workers

Home Raided by Postal Inspectors

Postal inspectors raid home in identity theft probe "...Postal service officials declined to reveal who they were looking for or what they discovered with the federal search warrant. No one connected with the investigation was arrested. ..."
[Reference: www.theoutlookonline.com]

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Postal Customers Not Happy With Removal of Stamp Vending Machines

Postal Service fails us — again "...Private enterprise seems to be able to cope with the challenge of keeping vending machines, where everything from soft drinks to headache remedies can be bought, in operation. Why can’t the Postal Service?
..."
[Reference: www.messengernews.net]

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Postal Employee Retirement

Polled and Pushed on Diversity "...About 26,000 federal employees, who are paid through the General Services Administration, are in the first phase of RetireEZ. The U.S. Postal Service, with about 700,000 employees, will join the retirement modernization project next. The OPM expects that about 2,000 postal employees will file retirement claims every month and that will provide a better sense of how the new system functions, Springer said...."
[Reference: www.washingtonpost.com]

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Federal Pay Raise and COLAs

Pay Raise & COLAs "...The Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) increased 0.5 percent in January 2008 according to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics (www.bls.gov/cpi or 202/691-6994). Released on February 20, the CPI-W for January is 206.7. For purposes of calculating the next COLA (cost-of-living adjustment) the index is currently 1.5 percent above the 2007 third quarter average base index of 203.6..."
[Reference: www.federalnewsradio.com]

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MILWAUKEE - Postal Workers Attacked

Two Postal Workers Recovering After Attacks "... MILWAUKEE - Two letter carriers in Milwaukee are recovering after attacks in their neighborhoods...."
[Reference: www.todaystmj4.com]

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Photo Stamps

Create your own real postage stamps with your photo of choice "...put your own picture on your stamps. Imagine sending a birthday card to your mother ...when she gets it in the mail, it has a stamp on it that is a picture of her holding you in her arms...."


[Reference: postal-edaily.blogspot.com]

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Chantilly Virginia Postal Employees Infected

Chantilly Postal Workers Test Positive for Tuberculosis "...a worker at the post office had an active case of the disease. Fairfax County health officials found that 32 of the more than 120 employees had been exposed..."
[Reference: www.washingtonpost.com]

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OPM Issues Report On Its New RetireEZ Program

New Program is permanently transforming retirement process "..."We are pleased to report the majority of cases that processed to date under RetireEZ matched the legacy calculation," said OPM Director Linda M. Springer. "In all Wave 1 cases OPM paid full retirement benefits at the payment commencement date. No longer are retirees under the new system receiving interim payments and waiting for months until their actual payment amounts are calculated. This success is directly attributable to the transformation of millions of paper records to automated data that underlies the modernization. All Wave 1 new retirees are getting better service because of RetireEZ."..."
[Reference: www.opm.gov]
www.retireez.gov

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