From John Fleck's Albuquerque Journal Science blog last week:
Lab Performance Reports Withheld
By John Fleck
Monday, 21 December 2009 12:24
Nearly three years ago, the Journal and the National Nuclear Security Administration tangled over whether the annual "Performance Evaluation Report" for Sandia Labs, which the government reviews Sandia's stewardship of taxpayer dollars and U.S. nuclear weapons, should be a matter of public record. Since then, things improved, and NNSA did a better job of clearing the document for public review in a timely fashion. The copies I got had some key information redacted, but they were at least public in large measure.
No more. The NNSA told us last week that, as a matter of policy, the reviews of Sandia, Los Alamos and the other contracts that manage our nuclear stockpile, are now considered sensitive procurement-related. So we know that NNSA thinks the Bechtel-led team in charge at Los Alamos is doing a better job, but the details of how that decision was arrived at are secret.
As of this morning, my Freedom of Information Act requests are in the mail. I'll let you know what NNSA says in response.
By John Fleck
Monday, 21 December 2009 12:24
Nearly three years ago, the Journal and the National Nuclear Security Administration tangled over whether the annual "Performance Evaluation Report" for Sandia Labs, which the government reviews Sandia's stewardship of taxpayer dollars and U.S. nuclear weapons, should be a matter of public record. Since then, things improved, and NNSA did a better job of clearing the document for public review in a timely fashion. The copies I got had some key information redacted, but they were at least public in large measure.
No more. The NNSA told us last week that, as a matter of policy, the reviews of Sandia, Los Alamos and the other contracts that manage our nuclear stockpile, are now considered sensitive procurement-related. So we know that NNSA thinks the Bechtel-led team in charge at Los Alamos is doing a better job, but the details of how that decision was arrived at are secret.
As of this morning, my Freedom of Information Act requests are in the mail. I'll let you know what NNSA says in response.
Let us know if you gain any insight from your FOIA requests, John. We're curious why NNSA thinks LANS is doing such a great job up here.
--Doug
68 comments:
Of course, if they don't want us to see it, then we really MUST see it!
It is clear that something is being hidden!
Note that the DOE/NNSA gives LANS a good grade so that they can say that they are doing a good job of managing LANS. Then the upper levels of the DOE get bonuses.
12:13 The whole process is clearly incestuous at every level. The American public deserves better. Good luck in your search for the truth, John.
Follow the money if you want to know why NNSA gave LANS such a rosy review.
NNSA and Bechtel are taking good care of each other. Wink wink, nudge nudge.
3:04 hit it on the nose. NNSA is keeping LANL's performance report secret because there is no rational way to have justified an "Excellent, 90%" score for LANS this year. The process is corrupt. Big surprise.
Corporate America buys off yet another government official (talking about you now, D'Agostino). Another big surprise.
LANL's spending, including salaries, and performance should be openly available to all because the money comes from the taxpayers. It's our money, and we have every right to know how every penny is spent and why.
The biggest argument against LANL's being managed by a private company is that the company can't separate private from public. When you get public money, you have to tell how you spent it. Because of LANS secrecy who knows what money has gone where.
It sure sounds like 3:04 and 4:09pm are accusing Tom D'Agostino of being on the pad.
Yet one more big surprise.
The DOE is a farce of an agency. It doesn't even pretend anymore to be a watchdog for the taxpayer's interests. By hiding the performance evaluation it is providing the status quo cover, and ensuring the revolving door remains well greased for DOE hacks hoping to land lucrative second careers with the likes of Bechtel, Lockheed, the University of California and the rest of the military industrial pimps screwing our country into bankruptcy. It's time to get rid of the DOE. Nail the coffin door shut on this dead worthless piece-of-shit agency. Would Congress have the integrity to do it? When pigs fly and politicians stop accepting PAC monies, or when hell freezes over. Maybe then. But not likely.
7:45,
I pretty much share your outrage. So, perhaps we should consider using their own tactics against them.
Consider:
Tom D'Agostino has been accused of taking corporate bribes to promote the LANS/Bechtel profit cause.
The corruption that surrounds the LANS/NNSA (and by proxy, DOE) mutual admiration society is pretty obvious.
Everybody (anybody?) who counts in Washington reads this blog.
By definition, D'Agostino and the NNSA are now tainted with the suspicion of having accepted the promise of corporate slush funds which ended up influencing the process that (surprise!) awarded the lucrative LANL and LLNL government contracts to the Bechtel-led LLCs.
The mere suggestion that D'Agostino accepted corporate bribe money, or more likely, the promise of future Bechtel corporate largess (a promised future vice presidency inside the Bechtel corporate money machine, for example) might just be all that is required get somebody important interested in this latest bit of Washington shenanigans.
Or not. Washington as a whole is pretty corrupt, unfortunately.
"So we know that NNSA thinks the Bechtel-led team in charge at Los Alamos is doing a better job, but the details of how that decision was arrived at are secret."...John Fleck
Well duh. By default NNSA has to believe that the Becthel-led team is doing a better job because they selected them. For the same reason that Anastasio thinks that Knapp and Macmillian are doing such a great job, because he hand-picked these bastards. They are part his Livermore Valley family. He treats these guys like his sons, they don't have to compete for shit, they are entitled to it! We are family, I got all my sisters and me, we are family, get up everybody and dance....
Go back to sleep LANL.
It’s too damn late to do anything about it. We have one giant corporation running the NWC & you just figured it out.
Where were you when this was starting in the NWC & others were complaining…you were sitting smugly on the sidelines saying “Were a national lab & they won’t dare do this to us”.
Continue sucking your thumb & go back to sleep – it’s too damn late.
Where the hell are our brilliant Nobel Laureates (DOE head and Pres) now?
Two small things.
Jacobs-Bechtel is being discontinued from clean up work in Oak Ridge (Frank Munger, Knoxville Sentinel
Accusations are fun. Facts are much better. Please gather and submit facts. Do it for the benefit of blog readers and people in D.C. and beyond.
So why isn't POGO interested in this story? Seems like they are more interested in supermarket tabloid fodder than in real evidence of government corruption.
"The mere suggestion that D'Agostino accepted corporate bribe money, or more likely, the promise of future Bechtel corporate largess (a promised future vice presidency inside the Bechtel corporate money machine, for example) might just be all that is required get somebody important interested in this latest bit of Washington shenanigans." (8:24 PM)
Repeat after me, as many times as it takes to sink deeply into your consciousness:
*** NO ONE CARES!!! ***
It's really that dirt simple.
You can take the nice paycheck (at least for a while longer, until further job cuts are required by NNSA) and put up with the pitiful morale and crazy working stopping policies ..or.. decide to leave for a far saner and safer position at another research institution.
Sad to say, those are pretty much the only choices left. LANL is quickly fading away while NNSA and a corrupt construction company turn it into a hollow shell of its former self. No one in Washington DC is listening or cares.
Anonymous at 12/29/09 1:14 PM
states that nobody cares that LANL is going down the toilet, that LANS is reaping major fees for doing a crappy job, and that DOE/NNSA upper managers are probably on the take.
S/he is correct. Nobody gives a shit!
Almost, but not entirely true, 1:14.
There is at least one reporter who cares enough to have filed FOIA requests to procure the NNSA performance reports. At that, John Fleck has done much more to expose the shady dealings between NNSA and LANS than any of those who are the most affected by this particular instance of government/corporate contract collusion. I refer of course to the the LANL sheeple, who as usual have done nothing but whine and whimper anonymously on this blog.
If John does in fact uncover proof of contractual malfeasance between Tom D'Agostino and LANS, LLC you can bet that lots of people will become quite interested.
Repeat after me, as many times as it takes to sink deeply into your consciousness:
*** NO ONE CARES!!! ***
It's really that dirt simple.
You can take the nice paycheck (at least for a while longer, until further job cuts are required by NNSA) and put up with the pitiful morale and crazy working stopping policies ..or.. decide to leave for a far saner and safer position at another research institution.
Sad to say, those are pretty much the only choices left. LANL is quickly fading away while NNSA and a corrupt construction company turn it into a hollow shell of its former self. No one in Washington DC is listening or cares.
12/29/09 1:14 PM
Here's our hero ranting and raving that "no one cares". That can't possibly be true, because he's here day in and day out telling us that. You really care don't you? You gotta wonder how much LANS is paying this poor bastard to get on this blog and attempt to wear us down! Let me tell YOU, once and for all, "NO ONE CARES!!!".
LANS is on the move, making the lab a better and better place with each passing month. My, look how far we've come! NNSA just gave LANL a score of 90%! But wait, that's not good enough for the LANS team. Let's all pitch in and try for 100% during this next year. We can do it -- we're Los Alamos!
Don't miss the exciting All-Hands meeting that Dr. Anastasio has planned for early January. It will be a rip-roaring, hoot'in-toot'in celebration of all our successes over this last year under LANS leadership. Our LANS business partners, Bechtel and BWXT, have done a fantastic job of helping to pull this lab up from the brink and we should all be thankful for their hard efforts this year. Great improvements have been made in the weapons engineering sections under the leadership of Bret Knapp and now it's time to apply this same successful formula to the weapons science sections at LANL. Hoo-rah!
It's a fantastic time to be working at LANL! In fact, most of the results of the recent Engagement Survey clearly prove that LANL is on the right track. It also demonstrates that LANS values your input (but, you knew that already, right?). NNSA is also very happy to see these encouraging survey results. Be sure to keep up with further great results at the LANS Performance Blog and at the "hip" new NNSA Twitter/MySpace/Facebook sites. Get reliable news straight from the source that you can trust.
This next year, I dare you -- no, strike that -- I double dare you to assist this new management team to make LANL an even bigger success. Follow all policies to the letter and be sure to complete all of your on-line training in a timely manner. And, yes, be sure to wear those shoes that grip this winter. Suggestions for new on-line training classes and new safety or security policies are also most welcome! We can never be too highly trained, even those smart scientists who work at this great laboratory.
Never forget, LANS has the plan for making LANL grand! Happy New Year and we'll see you all next year. It's going to be LANS-tastic!
Nobody cares? Not entirely true. There are some that care. Let me put another spin on it. The people that care are (1) those who can no longer play in their sandboxes at taxpayer expense with no accountability and (2) journalists trying to make a story out of nothing. Most people (politicians included--if you care to include them in the term "people") likely find it hard to be terribly concerned about DOE, NNSA, and LANS when people are still flying over US airspace with bombs sewn into their underwear.
DHS's Janet Napolitano recently went on the record proclaiming "the system works!" in regards to the latest terrorist attempt.
Huh? She should be fired for her department's bureaucratic screw-up of not having this crazy terrorist on the "no fly" list. It's an unacceptable mistake. The DHS bureaucrats failed miserable here and it almost cost 300 lives.
However, I can just as easily visualize the same words coming from NNSA's Tom D'Agostino's mouth at a future date when Congress inquires into how our nation's nuclear expertise got wiped-out by risk adverse NNSA bureaucrats. Of course, that's a screw-up that may be even more deadly than just the loss of 300 lives. It could cost us our nation.
Hello, Washington DC. Anyone home?
"Most people.. find it hard to be terribly concerned about DOE, NNSA, and LANS when people are still flying over US airspace with bombs sewn into their underwear."
12/29/09 5:36 PM
Hey, let's all "get naked" at the airport TSA entry stations. That will clear up this messy problem and also create a lot of fun!
- Sir Richard Marquez
Isn't this stuff below the same type of thing that happened pre-911 when Hazel O'Leary headed up the DOE?
Does this mean that the LANL Library can now start placing all those sensitive but unclassified articles about atomic bombs back into public circulation like before during the Clinton/O'Leary era? Can we also bring back PARD?
Obama Curbs Secrecy of Classified Documents
December 29, 2009, NY Times
WASHINGTON — President Obama declared on Tuesday that “no information may remain classified indefinitely” as part of a sweeping overhaul of the executive branch’s system for protecting classified national security information.
In an executive order and an accompanying presidential memorandum to agency heads, Mr. Obama signaled that the government should try harder to make information public if possible, including by requiring agencies to regularly review what kinds of information they classify and to eliminate any obsolete secrecy requirements.
Wow, 12/28/09 8:24 PM - sounds like there NEEDS to be a congressional investigation into this mess.
11:38 PM, yes, let's start unclassifying all our nuclear secrets. We will need fewer Q-clearances or the need for a NWC. When things are declassified we can just pay a company to make some bombs when needed - on IWDs, no safety issues, no security issues. Why, it is a win-win!
8:37 - You don't see the point that this will be a seamless information protection transition for nuclear matters, moving from classified information to LANS proprietary information... The information will still not be made public, just protected as trade secrets instead of national security secrets.....
Obama can say all he wants about the duration of secrecy of National Security Information (non-nuclear). It's all dependent on Executive order anyway, which he controls. Nuclear stuff (Restricted Data) is another story. It's based on statute (the Atomic Energy Act), and Obama can't do jack shit about that without Congress.
“Isn't this stuff below the same type of thing that happened pre-911 when Hazel O'Leary headed up the DOE?”
Use the old noodle man! If we classify all this stuff Igor will start hack’n into our puters more often - resulting in more investigations & fines. Not classify’n all this stuff results in more bonuses for the Suits.
Hazel wasn't just a dummy, she was the head DOE dummy.
Anonymous said...
...I refer of course to the the LANL sheeple, who as usual have done nothing but whine and whimper anonymously on this blog.
Well said, anonymous.
Who are you, anyway?
Why don't you post under your name so you can distinguish yourself from the 'sheeple' you denigrate so easily for doing what you do.
9:43pm,
I emailed your comment to POGO a couple of days ago, and this morning I got a phone call from Peter Stockton, one of their investigators. It turns out that POGO sent a letter to Obama complaining about the lack of transparency regarding the NNSA's refusal to release this year's Performance Reports for LANL and SNL. Peter told me that the Obama administration does not appear to be interested in this particular instance of lack of government transparency. Not interested at all.
8:53 AM, well said... but this Congress seems to be peculiarly capable of anything, the more ill-conceived the better.
Doug,
The response POGO got would suggest that Bechtel et al. were big financial supporters of teh Obama campaign and that the newest Nobel Laureate was bought off. How delightful. Corruption all the way to the top.
8:53 AM et al...
From Court House News Service - Dec 29, 2009
Obama Orders Sweeping Review of 'Top Secret' Classification of Docs
WASHINGTON (CN) - In a sweeping change to current practice, President Obama has ordered that all federal agencies presume that documents and records they produce will not be considered "classified" unless disclosure reasonably could be expected to compromise national security. Obama also ordered that almost all classified material will be declassified after 25 years.
In two Executive Orders dated Dec. 29, the President further limited the authority of employees of federal agencies to categorize material based on the level of classification, allowing, for instance, only the president, vice president and agency heads and officials designated by the president to declare information "Top Secret".
The orders eliminate the practice of indefinitely classifying information as restricted from the public, and require that each agency develop a time table for declassification of material with a default of 10 years unless it is highly sensitive, in which case it my remain classified for 25 years.
All classified material automatically will be declassified after 25 years, without prior review, unless declassification is appealed by an agency head because disclosure would jeopardize the identity of a living confidential human source, compromise an ongoing operation, or reveal information that would assist in the development, production or use of weapons of mass destruction.
In a win for government watchdog organizations, the press and defense lawyers in federal trials, information that has been disclosed and was not classified at the time of its disclosure can not be retroactively classified.
However, federal agencies retain the right to classify information sought through a Freedom of Information Act request that has not previously been classified or disclosed.
In a related action, Obama also issued a Presidential Memorandum instructing the heads of all federal agencies to develop policies and procedures to implement the two Executive Orders issued on classification of government information.
---
And from the Washington Post version of this story...
"The government spent more than $8.21 billion last year to create and safeguard classified information, and $43 million to declassify it, according to the Information Security Oversight Office, which oversees the government's security classification. The figures don't include data from the principal intelligence agencies, which is classified."
Does anyone else find it ironic that genuinely classified information is being released to the public and DOE-LANS report cards are being protected from the public? This country is going to the birds.
"Does anyone else find it ironic that genuinely classified information is being released to the public and DOE-LANS report cards are being protected from the public? This country is going to the birds."
The birds of the Parrot Farm are deeply offended by this comparison.
Does anyone else find it ironic that genuinely classified information is being released to the public and DOE-LANS report cards are being protected from the public? This country is going to the birds.
12/30/09 8:49 PM
It's what un-mitgated political and financial corruption looks like.
I'm getting the distinct feeling that America as we know it won't be around for very much longer. It's rotting from the inside out, starting with the politicians of both parties in Washington DC. The end game of total collapse won't be pretty.
POGO could do the country far more good if they spent more time investigating corrupt American mega-corporations like Bechtel and Goldman Sachs.
"The birds of the Parrot Farm are deeply offended by this comparison.
12/30/09 9:26 PM"
Was one of the birds a peacock or a pheasant?
Peacock. A peahen, more accurately. We had a visitor during a snowstorm on New Year's Eve a few years ago. Long story.
Here's the EO:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/presidential-memorandum-implementation-executive-order-classified-national-security
Talk is cheap. It will have to be proven to me that the current administration will produce anything other than just talk. Actions, such as NNSA's refusal to release the performance reports for LANL speak much louder.
While many like to see NNSA's rankings, it seems likely that because LANS is a private company, NNSA may not be legally allowed to do it.
I am not a lawyer, but there would seem to be a number of constitutional issues involved.
The purpose of the Obama's review was to clear up all the confusion surrounding OUO, but what comes out? NEW (and unnecessary) confusion related to TS.
Secretary "paint your roof white" Chu and D'ogasstinko will have no choice but to delegate classification authority, under the provisions of Obama's executive order, to everyone who generates TS. We have to follow the classification guides.
Teh Parrot Farm looks yummy. Can teh kittehs of Teh Kitteh Farm come for paret-burger?
I WAS an Obama supporter once upon a time! Transparency be damned?! Well Obama be damned!
Let make sure that everyone knows that, "no one cares that no cares!!!" Who cares!!
Is this the transparency that Obama promised?
How can this be a secret?
This is performance on a federal contract!
The public has a right to know!
If you think about it, the problem here is not just that NNSA didn't release performance information on a federal contract. That's bad enough, but the real outrage is that they had been allowed to grade it in the first place.
Let's recall that Tom D'Agostino was the person who selected LANS to manage this Lab. He is now the head of NNSA. He has every incentive in the world to make it look like LANS is doing an excellent job, thus proving that his selection of them, the action that continues to cost the taxpayer $190 million every year, was the right move.
This is a gratuitous conflict of interest! NNSA absolutely had to recuse themselves.
The performance of LANS needs to be evaluated by an independent third party. For example, think a review committee, made up of recognized world experts. Such a committee would've been relatively easy to put together. Why wasn't this done this way? Because such a committee would've almost certainly produced scathing reviews not just of LANS, but also of NNSA. Do you think that the committee would be overly impressed by the "management innovations", such as computer gloveboxing and mandatory urination on queue? Do you think the damning morale survey results would've moved them to award "excellent" performance grades? Do you think they would've liked our astronomical overhead rates, necessary to feed the bloated tower of useless managers? Exactly.
Happy New Year! Get ready for an exciting new year of constant body searches, harassment and anal cavity explorations at the lab.
You're all guilty of something. We just need to find out what it is so that you can all be fired.
(Your Lov'in LANS Management)
Oh thank you 1:27! Great news. I can't wait. I will think of the love each time I get probed.
Oh for cryin' out loud, 1/1/10 1:27 PM, don't be giving the mgmt new ideas on ways to divert even more attention from any real work and make the folks in the trenches more miserable!
From Peggy Noonan's WSJ column today:
"Maybe the most worrying trend the past 10 years can be found in this phrase: "They forgot the mission." So many great American institutions—institutions that every day help hold us together—acted as if they had forgotten their mission, forgotten what they were about, what their role and purpose was, what they existed to do. You, as you read, can probably think of an institution that has forgotten its reason for being. Maybe it's the one you're part of...
So what to do? Here my friend the lawyer's stoicism and mindless optimism might come in handy, for turning around institutions is a huge, long and uphill fight. It probably begins with taking the one thing we all hate to take in our society, and that is personal responsibility.
If you work in a great institution: Do you remember the mission? Do you remember why you went to work there, what you meant to do, what the institution meant to you when you viewed it from the outside, years ago, and hoped to become part of it?
And an optimistic idea, perhaps mindlessly so: It actually might help just a little to see national hearings aimed at summoning wisdom and sparking discussion on what has happened to, and can be done to help, our institutions. This wouldn't turn anything around, but it could put a moment's focus on a question that is relevant to people's lives, and that is: How in the coming decade can we do better? How can we repair and rebuild?"
Happy New Year, y'all.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052748704152804574628522483219740.html
Here is an old comment rephrased for a new year.
To me Congress cares about LANL but has more pressing matters. The only way that LANL moves up the list is if all of the commenters here have the courage to discard their anonymity and bring along 20 friends each.
If a named 20% of LANL's workforce were serious about leaving and sent Senators Udall and Bingaman a signed letter saying this, then things might change.
Otherwise they won't.
The path above is not unique to LANL. It is generic.
A fire department does triage. So they do not come to a house with bad wiring. They come to the house that is on fire.
Same with politicians and LANL. If the complaining is anonymous, the house is not on fire.
Thoughts?
As usual, Eric the Great makes so much sense. Consider the Jews of WWII. Once they made themselves known to their Nazi oppressors, being required to display the star of David on their person at all times to escape anonymity, everything else just fell right into place. So stop being among the faceless anonymous bloggers of the world. Yes, just let your identity be known and the world will surely line up behind you in support.
Thank you Eric, once again, for sharing your wisdom with us.
PS However I think I'll just stay anonymous a little longer, just to see how it all works out for the rest of you who step out from behind the door of anonymity. And good luck by the way.
NNSA and the weapons complex have a *NEW* mission. It's a 'Get-Rich-Quick' mission lead by the top managers at LANS (via hi salaries and perks) and NNSA (via lucrative slots with NNSA contractors after civil service retirement).
Anyone who gets in the way of this new mission will be squashed by both LANS and NNSA.
I like reading Peggy Noonan's essays. She is observant but she doesn't really offer any workable solutions to the rapid decline in America due to the unrestrained increase of the "greed heads" who now run the show.
The ultimate solution will be a total collapse and then a slow re-build of the American system. It's coming faster than most people realize, so be prepared.
NNSA and the weapons complex have a *NEW* mission. It's a 'Get-Rich-Quick' mission lead by the top managers at LANS (via hi salaries and perks) and NNSA (via lucrative slots with NNSA contractors after civil service retirement).
Anyone who gets in the way of this new mission will be squashed by both LANS and NNSA.
1/2/10 5:08 PM
You really don't even need to get in the way to get squashed. Bret Knapp is just cherry picking workers. He didn't know me from "jack shit" to terminate me. X-Division, your next in line. Happy New Year!
This you gotta see! Go over to Slate Magazine (link below) and check out the US county level map showing counties with job losses (in RED) and gains (in BLUE) since the end of 2006. The Slate map animation plays thru the last 3 years.
In New Mexico, it starts as a sea of BLUE (gains) except for one small dot of RED (losses)... in Los Alamos! Los Alamos stays RED all the way to the end of 2009.
I guess this county has something in common with the sea of RED over in the state of Michigan. Wow!:
Here's the link. Push the green button at the bottom of the map to start/stop the animation:
------------------------------
When Did Your County's Jobs Disappear? (12-30-09)
www.slate.com/id/2216238/
------------------------------
If LANL feels to you like it's been really thinning out in terms of employees, you're right. This map shows it.
To: Bret K.
From: Mike A.
Subject: Mid-year Performance Review
Date: January 3, 2010
Dearest Bret,
You can't imagine how much I appreciate (love really) you being the "sub-human wrecking ball" for LANS. I'm kidding, really, I appreciate the manner in which you have destroyed employees, contractors, careers, programs, facilities, YOU NAME IT, in the nuclear weapons program. I need LANS to continue to look like Livermore, frankly there are too many women and minorities in the program, this makes us look bad. I look forward seeing you continue to shit all over people in the near year, with particular emphasis on X-Division. I am sick and tired of X-Division asking me about my allegiance to Los Alamos, these guys need a good ass-kicking.
Scores: 10-Highest Score Possible
Good looks - 9.9, Classy Dry-cleaned Threads - 10, Hateful Behavior - 13, Wrecking (People/Facilities) Ability - 10, Destruction - 10, Demolition - 10, Forced the Largest Number of Employees out of their Jobs - 12, Trips back to Livermore - 10, Poor Speaking Ability - 11, Poor Writing Ability - 9.9, LANS Manager who used the word "Livermore" most last year - 14, Largest number of employee ass kickings - 15.3, Low IQ - 25
I love you, Mike
The ultimate solution will be a total collapse and then a slow re-build of the American system. It's coming faster than most people realize, so be prepared.
1/2/10 5:08 PM
Yeah, right. Drama queen.
Just one big happy family :)
"Pantex report card: Performance exceeds expectations"
"Contractor B&W Pantex received an "outstanding performance" rating and earned $32.2 million in fees..."
12:21, interesting, but please don't embarrass us by comparing Los Alamos' employment situation to Michigan's:
http://www.bls.gov/lau/maps/twmcort.pdf
This just off the AP News Wire
News Update January 3, 2009:
"The 2010 performance rating for LANL operations has been decided, this according to an unnamed DOE source. LANS, manager of the storied nuclear lab, will be receiving an OUTSTANDING performance rating for 2010 according to the source, but the official award fee announcement of 99.5% of the available award fee amount won't be made public until after September 30, 2010. This delayed announcement is necessary, said the source, to avoid focusing too much attention on this new DOE approach for evaluating contractor performance. The objective, said the source, is to speed up the process by accomplishing the evaluation as early in the performance cycle as possible, with as little supporting documentation as possible, and with as little delay as possible associated with meddlesome public disclosure and scrutiny. Many members of Congress are quietly applauding this new approach for promoting contractor accountability. Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa characterized it as "innovative" and "destined to become a new best practices benchmark throughout the federal government." However some, such as POGO, question the wisdom of evaluating contractors at the start of the performance cycle as opposed to the end. When asked about it, POGO's Peter Stockton's only comment was, "you gotta be shit'n me!!"
AP reserves all rights associated with this story. To contact the DOE for more information call 1-800-DOE-PUKE
Regarding the AP News story just announced, in a related article I found on the Internet today it's reported that when asked about this new DOE practice the White House responded by imploring the nation "stay focused on the future and not the past." When the White House spokesperson was asked what this meant given the President's campaign promise to return transparency to government all he said was, "yea right."
PS Don't know about the rest of you nerds out there, but I've kind of lost that nice warm fuzzy feeling I initially had about this new administration.
Calling Dr. Chu.
Calling Dr. Chu.
Where are you Dr. Chu?
Don't know about the rest of you nerds out there, but I've kind of lost that nice warm fuzzy feeling I initially had about this new administration.
1/3/10 11:34 AM
The buzz finally wore off, huh? Too bad, back to reality.
Apparently the Nuclear Posture Review has become a "bring me a rock" exercise. Obama sent the Pentagon back for a do-over:
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation-world/bal-te.nukes28dec28,0,7255181.story
"Apparently the Nuclear Posture Review has become a "bring me a rock" exercise. Obama sent the Pentagon back for a do-over" (6:49 PM)
Is anyone really surprised that this has degenerated into yet another "bring me a rock, not that one!" exercise? Meanwhile, the weapons research labs continue their slide into mediocrity.
I guess it's time for the DoD and the Stimson Center to issue more reports with dire warnings, including those ubiquitous warnings about poor staff morale, extremely high labor costs, bloated management overhead, and the risk-adverse culture fostered by the NNSA and their for-profit friends in high places. They'll make good kindling for the fireplace during the winter.
"Calling Dr. Chu.
Calling Dr. Chu.
Where are you Dr. Chu?"
1/3/10 1:22 PM
Dr. Chu hates the nuclear weapons complex he is suppose to oversee.
Why do you think he spent so little time here during his visit and then re-appointed 'Captain Tom' as the head of NNSA?
A LANL survey which is always available for perusal by the general public at www.lanl.gov is the annual Northern New Mexico "Community Leaders Survey"; i.e., a survey of the attitudes of local community leaders toward DOE/LANL, and conducted for LANL at DOE's expense. Not too surprisingly perhaps, these attitudes are usually pretty positive.
For those interested in the results of a survey of attitudes toward LANL involving a somewhat different target survey group, and not funded by DOE or LANL, try the site http://LANL-the-back-story.blogspot.com; viz., the posts entitled, "Community Survey Report for Northern New Mexico" and "Concerns of Northern New Mexico Citizens Probed".
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