Not a bad suggestion from Udall's perspective though. It would provide an opportunity for him to grab some political sound bites. Sort of like he did when he told Anastaso to ignore NNSA's WFO guidance, and instead lead LANL in a new initiative to go after renewable energy WFO money.
-Gus
_________________________________________________
4:59 is exactly correct with the clarification that the total cost of LANS to the LANL budget isn't $200M, it's greater than $1B over the 7 year LANS contract. LANS will cost taxpayers over ONE BILLION dollars in nonproductive costs over the UC's previous cost of running LANL.
Congress needs to hold Bodman and D'Agostino accountable for this astounding waste of Federal funding, so astounding that it perhaps rises to the level of criminal malfeasance. Are you listening, Rep. Udall? This is your chance to stand up for your district; ask the GAO to investigate!
Congress needs to hold Bodman and D'Agostino accountable for this astounding waste of Federal funding, so astounding that it perhaps rises to the level of criminal malfeasance. Are you listening, Rep. Udall? This is your chance to stand up for your district; ask the GAO to investigate!
18 comments:
Oh come now, if there has been any criminal malfeasance it began long before LANS came into the picture and has occurred repeatedly since the founding of the Lab more than 60 years ago. If anyone should be prosecuted it should be UC, the DOE and Pete Domenici. Of course that will never happen. Fortunately, Udall is smart enough to know those whining on this blog could care about tax dollar waste. It’s about perceived loss of dominance, loss of property (housing) values, loss of “best and brightest” status and, perhaps first and foremost, loss of cherished retirement benefits. Not much altruism in any of this, is there?
There's more than a bit of truth in your highly cynical assessment, 10:51.
On the other hand, DOE and their corporate buddies have raised the graft associated with running LANL to a level that is one or two orders of magnitude beyond what UC and their incompetence alone could ever have mustered.
It would be fun to see the GAO launch an investigation on the whole DOE/NNSA-led bidding process that has landed us at this new low. It has been an undeniably corrupt process that got us here.
10:51AM
... Yawn ...
What is your point Mr Troll?
12/31/07 12:13 PM
10:51 - Troll?
12:13 - Arrogant Asshole?
I'll buy the second one.
Get real. The whole US government, the US business community, and our Congress are filled with massive amounts of corruption. Why bother investigating the dastardly deeds at a small, out of the way place like LANL? We are chump-change on the scale of the larger nasty deeds that are happening all around us.
From Tom Udall's email newsletter, it doesn't sound like he's got "helping norhtern NM" on his agenda:
'Tis The Week After Christmas
Now that the New Direction Congress has adjourned after its first year, I wanted to share with you some of the exciting things that were accomplished this year, and some of the ambitious goals we have for next year. Since it's the holiday season, I thought I'd share a holiday poem my office cooked up. For more information on these or on any other federal issues, please visit www.tomudall.house.gov.
Congress is now quiet, and this year the House
Brought a brand new direction, for Clovis and Taos,
A new mission for Cannon, new bridge for San Juan,
And many new projects, we fought for and won.
We passed ethics and S-CHIP, more funds for health care,
More money for vets, and to clean up our air.
For the first time in decades, we boosted CAFE,
Backed renewable energy, found a new way,
To power our future, our economy,
With sources not dangerous, scarce or dirty.
We will pay our troops more --they deserve our support--
And demand that the telecoms won't avoid court.
We passed the biggest increase, since the G.I. Bill,
In aid for our students and support that will
Help them all attend college, and leave with less debt,
And buy homes for their families without the threat
Of unscrupulous lenders or loans that are rough,
Or high health care costs that make living tough.
We passed higher wages, competitive bids,
And with our budget rules there's less debt for our kids.
But we have more to do; we know that we must
End the war in Iraq, make taxes more just,
Insure those who need it, bring health care to all,
End fighting in Darfur, and always stand tall
As the home of the brave and the land of the free,
The land where we fight to protect liberty,
Where we support our children and care for the poor,
Where our policies fit with all that we stand for,
Where we don't allow torture--no, not in our name--
And we practice our principles, never bring shame
On the flag we salute or the truths we hold dear.
We wish all of this as we mark the New Year.
I've seen several GAO critical reports before against DOE and other government agencies, but nothing ever comes of it unless some politician has either an axe to grind for his own benefit or constituency. So I wouldn't hold my breath.
"It’s about perceived loss of dominance, loss of property (housing) values, loss of “best and brightest” status and, perhaps first and foremost, loss of cherished retirement benefits."
Wow. This is quite possibly the most concise and most accurate assessment of the motivation behind the majority of people unhappy at the lab who are attempting to find some way to blame LANS for their current state of being. People are pissed that their houses are worthless, their retirement is uncertain, and the lab is no longer a mecca of scientific reason. So, the rallying call is "criminal acts!".
I saw the writing on the wall over a year ago and bailed out over the summer of '07 -- I miss the scientific environment of the lab greatly (and I frequently find myself wishing I had stayed from that perspective), but I couldn't live in a world where my peers were so horribly deluded about the non-science parts of their lives. I think the scientific environment that I still think of as representing "the lab" died in '03 or '04. Since then it's just been a depressing place to be. My last walk through the empty Ad. building in TA-3 summed it up in my mind -- the lab I once knew was dead, dead, dead - an empty husk living off of memories of the glory days.
Quite depressing actually, but unlike some of my peers, I chose to move on instead of shouting accusations of criminal acts towards the contract holder. Now I read the blog every few days out of morbid curiosity, much like slowing down as I pass a car wreck on the interstate.
10:51
What loss of retirement benefits? For most LANL employees, retirement benefits under LANS are substantially equivalant to previous benefits under the UC. Mine are. Next time do your homework.
And altruism? You don't know the meaning of the word. You apparently have no concern for the 500 Northern New Mexico contractors that lost their jobs last year and 500-750 staff that have/will lose their jobs to pay for the LANS fees and other costs. These people were doing valuable work and now the funding that used to pay their salaries is going to line the pockets of some Bechtel fat-cat. Why is this acceptable to you?
"I think the scientific environment that I still think of as representing "the lab" died in '03 or '04. Since then it's just been a depressing place to be. My last walk through the empty Ad. building in TA-3 summed it up in my mind -- the lab I once knew was dead, dead, dead - an empty husk living off of memories of the glory days." (4:11 AM)
I've had the same thoughts, especially in terms of the empty Admin building. Walking through those depressingly empty halls makes me think about how dead LANL has become and how, someday soon, large parts of LANL will take on a similar appearance as NNSA and Congress accelerate the downsizing plans.
LANL died back around 2004 yet some of the staff don't fully realize it. They will soon enough. Many of LANL's more perceptive staffers are desperately looking for ways to get out, even if only temporarily.
1/1/08 12:19 PM
10:51 AM is just the same troll who just keeps saying the same thing over and over again. Laugh at him for what he is.
There's lots of us trolls. I'm not 10:51, for example, but I echo some of his sentiments. More of the same will follow, for excellent reasons. I do, however, disagree with the statement about "best and brightest". The lab has been a backwater since about 1947 unless you believe in the objectivity of self-evaluation.
"
Grow up. Try to be an adult.
Happy New Year.
1/1/08 11:21 PM" and to
9:02PM
Oh ... ya, and acting like a troll is adult behaviour? Please, you are just making yourself sound like a fool for the whole world to see. It is a free country so you are free to make an ass of yourself.
Lets try and make 2008 a troll free year. You can help by saying to yourself before you post, "Do I really know what I am talking about or am a just
making stuff up"
An expample of statment might be something like following gem of nonsense.
"The lab has been a backwater since about 1947 unless you believe in the objectivity of self-evaluation."
Now this statement is factually incorrect and it is easy to check. So the poster is (1) A troll who is lying or (2) just an incredibly arrogant and ignorant person who has no idea what they are talking about. It has to one of these.
Troll Slayer
1/1 1:34pm : It's actually pretty telling of the state of affairs and future of the lab to compare the scenery in the bottom floor of the old admin building versus the NSSB. The admin building used to have lots of posters and photos of all kinds of science that took place at the lab, both related and unrelated to the weapons program. That's all gone now, and if you walk a short distance away to the NSSB, all that I recall seeing prominently displayed in the lobby was a lonely little B61 case. That summed up what the lab had turned into when I was walking around that area of TA-3 last summer filling out the paperwork necessary to move on to greener pastures (and yes, in a rare instance, the lawn was in fact greener on the other side of the fence from LANL -- life is good again out here in the Real World).
Yep 8:28, just another sign of how the liar Terry Wallace has literally killed science at LANL. He lies every time he opens his mouth. He does not care about who he f*cks over at LANL as long as he does not have to deal with a problem and as long as he gets his big paychecks and bonuses to pay for his McMansion and custom-made-for-a-big-butt sports car.
I find it quite telling that the spineless and insecure prick "forgot" to mention to the scientific workforce that he abolished the CSO position over 3 months ago because he couldn't deal with the competition?
Just remember folks that he really cares about science at LANL.
"Troll Slayer" (1/2/08 10:08 AM)
You are correct in what you say, 10:08 AM, but in fact you are a Troll Feeder. Toll's live for the disturbance they create. Logical arguments have no effect on them. When you react, they win.
Allowing Trolls to post is not the same thing as promoting freedom of speech, Gus. Civil discourse is also important.
Gus and I both moderate comments according to my guidance, which is to allow every comment if possible. I don't see the point in lecturing him about it. There's no point in lecturing me about it either, I'm just saying...
what happened; nothing new since 12/31?
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