Lockwiki:Current events
Current Events
This page lists upcoming events dealing with physical security, replica watches , and locksport. Most are general security conferences that have some sort of physical security or locksport event.
| Event | Date(s) | Location | Info |
|---|---|---|---|
| ALOA 2012 | July 7-15, 2012 | Las Vegas, NV |
|
| LockCon 2012 | July 17-19, 2012 | Nicholsville, KY |
|
| BlackHat 2012 | July 21-26, 2012 | Las Vegas, NV |
|
| DEFCON 20 | July 26-29, 2012 | Las Vegas, NV |
|
| Toorcamp 2012 | August 8-12, 2012 | Neah Bay, WA |
|
See also
Website merger gives consumers edge
As of this summer, two consumer-oriented websites maintained by the federal government have blended into one.
The merger of ConsumerAction.gov and USA.gov marks another step to make consumer information easier to find and use. As advocates for consumers who help themselves and others by staying informed, we find that the new site — www.usa.gov/topics/consumer.shtml — is a great source for a variety of information.
Regular readers of this column may recall that ConsumerAction.gov was the online location of the Consumer Action Handbook. The latest version of the handbook is available at the merged site, and it’s still a comprehensive guide to all manner of needed information. Print versions are available as well, by writing to Consumer Action Handbook, Pueblo, Colorado 81009. You may also call the Federal Citizen Information Center (FCIC) at 888-8-PUEBLO (888-878-3256) Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. to request a copy.
The focus of the handbook is helping consumers make smart choices in the purchase of goods and services.
One new section is called “Going Green.” For all of the concern over our environment in recent years, it’s a fairly short section; but it does offer some basics on reusing and recycling products, plus buying organic products and saving energy.
Also new, in the section on investing, is some advice about the purchase of gold. The airwaves are full of commercials urging us to buy gold as part of a diversified portfolio. The handbook has a couple of pieces of sound advice on this score. One is to make sure you deal only with licensed salespeople and companies. The second is to know that American Gold Eagle Bullion Coins are the only gold coins the U.S. government guarantees for purity, weight and content.
As with any comprehensive guide, the handbook contains concise advice on buying everything from food to insurance to a home. There’s advice about choosing a phone service, a doctor, a health care facility and homeowner’s or renter’s insurance.
There also is a lot of useful advice replica watches about what kind of purchases you should avoid. There’s a list of questions to ask promoters of work-at-home programs, such as, what tasks will I have to perform, who pays me, and when do I get my first paycheck? If you don’t get answers you can live with, you may decide the offer is not for you; you may even conclude it’s not legitimate.
The book also outlines ways you can file complaints if you’re dissatisfied with a purchase or if a service was not provided as promised. There are lists of state banking authorities, insurance regulators, securities administrators and utility commissions. You also will find professional and trade associations, corporate consumer contacts and consumer protection offices listed; we’ve found letters far more effective than either phone calls or emails in resolving issues.
If you request the handbook online, you’ll be asked for your phone number and e-mail address. We checked with the FCIC, and that information is not required to receive your free copy. Since the handbook is updated every year, it’s worth a few minutes to request a copy annually; the information it contains could be worthy plenty.
Consumer Forum is a collaboration of the Bangor Daily News and Northeast CONTACT, Maine’s membership-funded, nonprofit consumer organization. Individual and business memberships are available at modest rates. For assistance with consumer-related issues, including consumer fraud and identity theft, or for more information, write: Consumer Forum, P.O. Box 486, Brewer 04412, go to or email contacexdir@live.com.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this column contained an incorrect Web address for the new consumer-oriented website. The error has been fixed.
U.S. secretary denies fish catch limit hike
BOSTON — The U.S. commerce secretary has denied a request by the governor of Massachusetts for emergency increases in fish catch limits, saying there’s no new science to justify them.
Secretary Gary Locke had said in October he was open to ordering increases, but needed evidence to support it.
Gov. Deval Patrick responded in November, sending a letter and scientific report to Locke that said unnecessarily low catch limits were creating an “economic disaster” for local fishermen. The report estimated a $40 million hit in direct losses and forgone catch.
But last week Locke said the state report offered no new science to justify raising catch limits, but simply offered an analysis of old data that already had been rejected by regional regulators at the New England Fishery Management Council.
“I need scientific data not previously replica watches considered by the council because the Magnuson Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act [the nation’s fisheries law] does not permit me to overrule council decisions on the basis of a disagreement over scientific judgment,” Locke wrote in letter to Patrick, dated Jan. 7.
Locke added, “I stand ready to increase catch limits whenever new scientific data are available that meet the requirements of the Magnuson-Stevens Act.”
Patrick said Friday that state agencies had given Locke “more than sufficient evidence” that an increase in catch limits was justified and badly needed.
“I believe he has squandered an opportunity to relieve the economic hardship currently suffered by many fishing families and restore a sense of trust and good will toward the federal agencies who regulate their livelihood,” Patrick said in a statement.
Since May, New England fishermen have been under a new management system that gives fishermen working in groups called “sectors” an allotment of various groundfish species — such as cod, haddock and flounder — to divide among themselves. But if fishermen exceed their limit on one species, they must stop fishing on all species.
Fishermen argue that federal regulators set limits so low on some protected species that their fishing will be shut down prematurely.
The report sent by Patrick said regulators were far too conservative when they built buffers into catch limits to make sure fishermen didn’t take too much of a given species. Patrick said regulators could safely decrease the buffer so more fish could be caught, and argued catch limits on most species could be raised by at least 30 percent without threatening conservation.
The governor asked for “immediate action” in his letter, and lawmakers became perturbed as weeks passed without word from Locke. In December, Massachusetts Democratic Rep. John Tierney said it was “unacceptable” Locke hadn’t acted, and sent a letter signed by four other lawmakers urging congressional leaders not fund the fishery management system until Locke raised catch limits.
The New Bedford Harbor Development Commission started a “Still Waiting” ad on the Saving Seafood website with a count of the number of “Days Waiting for Secretary Locke” since Patrick had sent the letter to Locke without action.
On Friday, Tierney said he was “deeply disappointed” in Locke’s decision.
“The fact remains that the lack of action by the secretary will result in more hardship for our fishing communities,” he said in a statement.
But Peter Baker of the Pew Environment Group said Locke had showed “great determination” in standing up to political pressure and backing the lengthy public process that set the catch at a level Baker believes is best to ensure the fishery’s future health.
