This BLOG is for LLNL present and past employees, friends of LLNL and anyone impacted by the privatization of the Lab to express their opinions and expose the waste, wrongdoing and any kind of injustice against employees and taxpayers by LLNS/DOE/NNSA.
The opinions stated are personal opinions. Therefore,
The BLOG author may or may not agree with them before making the decision to post them.
Comments not conforming to BLOG rules are deleted.
Blog author serves as a moderator.
For new topics or suggestions, email jlscoob5@gmail.com
Blog rules
Stay on topic.
No profanity, threatening language, pornography.
NO NAME CALLING.
No political debate.
Posts and comments are posted several times a day.
Saturday, December 22, 2012
D'Agostino to resign in January
D'Agostino to resign in January
Let the games begin! Who will
be the new Administrator of NNSA? And, perhaps more importantly, will
it matter one way or the other to LLNL?
Comment:
Steve Younger will be the one.
30 comments:
Anonymous
said...
I'd vote for Steven Koonin, currently on the LLNS and LANS Boards.
Dr. Koonin served as the second Under Secretary for Science at the US Department of Energy from May 2009 thru November 2011. In that capacity, he was oversaw technical activities across the Department's science, energy, and security activities and led the Department's first Quadrennial Technology for energy. Before to joining the government, Koonin spent 5 years as Chief Scientist for BP, plc. where he played a central role in establishing the Energy Biosciences Institute. Koonin was a professor of theoretical physics at Caltech from 1975-2006 and was the Institute's Provost for almost a decade. He is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and the JASON advisory group. Koonin holds a BS in Physics from Caltech and a PhD in Theoretical Physics from MIT (1975) and is an adjunct staff member at the Institute for Defense Analyses.
He should go to nstech or Lockheed or Northrop Grumman or some place that actually does work. LANS and LLNS are for people that credible profit driven corporations don't hire. You gotta be a serious loser if LANS or LLNS is the place your only choice.
D'Agostino is guaranteed a Senior Management position at LLNS/LLNS of the job of his choice. It's a "reward" for setting up these "money pits for managers".
They otta get D'Agostino and Mara to work at Livermore to re- build the "failed" Magnetic Test Fusion Facility (MFTF). Each of their bald heads can be used to replace the ying-yang magnets. It's fusion baby!
The NNSA labs and facilities purposefully screw up (yes, more than baseline levels) to make the sponsor look bad, especially when they don't like the greater "oversight." Expect to see more shenanigans. There should be unlimited and personal liability on the part of the lab LLCs and the executive management.
The NNSA labs and facilities purposefully screw up (yes, more than baseline levels) to make the sponsor look bad, especially when they don't like the greater "oversight."
December 24, 2012 12:08 AM
So are you saying the workers intentionally screw up so that their management can make the feds look bad? Or that management forces workers to screw up and the workers keep quiet about it? Or that when workers screw up (like the subcontractors that failed to properly design and install the NMSSUP project), management actually welcomes the result? Or do you believe that workers don't screw up and have no responsibility, but management somehow is responsible for stuff that doesn't work or systems that fail? I think your petty little conspiracy theory needs a little more thought.
There is a chance that we have seen the end of DOE oversight and the next head of "the organization formerly known as NNSA" will report to DOD. Either way, if the replacement is someone that spent most of their career at the labs, look for more of the same. The best path for change is to find a person that has some recent experience at a lab, but the majority of their work elsewhere.
LLNL management screws up and make bad decisions, making NNSA look bad. Deuterium EoS fiasco is not an employee problem but rather a management deficiency. They are the ones ultimately accountable for how taxpayer funds are spent, what technical capabilities are invested in, and what controls are put in place. It is management that blackballed Bill Nellis and then stuck their heads in the sand and leading by example. Lab management is blinded by their own unjustified hubris.
The lab doesn't need Bechtel or NNSA to wreck the place. It was already wrecked to begin with. Enough with the selective memory. The same bad actors at the lab are the common thread pre- and post-contract. And there is nothing that NNSA or Bechtel can do to fix the poor science coming out of NIF. And it was not NNSA black balking people like Bill Nellis. The lab is solely responsible for exacting retaliation against those who brought scientific credibility to wherever they were. And in a bit of irony, many at NNSA run circles around Lab technical leads in many technical areas such as EoS and Strength. Look at their CVs and accomplishments. And lab managers go around referring to them as technically stupid when they are behind the fences at the lab and when they think they are out of earshot of outsiders. The problem is that well meaning insiders accept this as fact but then run into trouble when they pass it to others before learning that it isn't true at all. Propaganda only works when it is contained but that means every outsider must be considered an enemy. Your neighbors, your minister, your dog, your children.
A misnomer, a spin. Science advances more often through misteps and errors as often as sailing smooth. Same as it ever was.
Scoundrels and heros, fools and sages abound. And armchair legends.
I am reminded of the 19th century head of the Royal Society who infamously stated that "all scientific advancements has already been made", just before Marie Curie's lab began to glow.
Sounds like someone in serious denial. The problem is not that the one paper in 1997 had spurious results. It was the fact that after 15 years, they still have no capability to make credible EoS measurements.
I have heard on many occasions by many different individuals at LLNL that part of the problem was that the Institute for Shock Physics in Washington State was not "sending any Post-Docs" to LLNL and that they have yet to get a single one "considering that the Institute receives NNSA funding." If you were a smart guy in the field of shock physics, you would try to avoid the Lab unless you really had no choice.
The responses by December 28, 2012 9:55 AM is so weird. Calling something "spin," then dropping nearly-random snipets as if something profound was embedded between the lines. Only thing between the lines are the rantings of the self-deluded. To think that this is the best response by LLNL? I seriously could come up with better responses than that non-response. Atleast you could have made it into a haiku or something.
Nnsa has a number of very bright people, but hey it is true that it also has a lot is serious deadbeats. The worst are the typical "know nothing -say nothing" types who observe foreign interactions though I have yet to figure out how they add any value considering their lack of accomplishments in their career or any substantive or meaningful documents coming from them. These government dregs need to go. Tithe real talented gems need to be empowered however.
I have worked with NNSA since its beginning, and before that with many of the same people who then had DOE office symbols. I wouldn't give a dime for more than 10% of them. The rest would be unemployed if it weren't for the useless positions in NNSA.
I hear former Admiral Pete Nanos is available for the job. He's bitting at the bit to get back to yelling at the "cowboys and buttheads" still left at the NNSA labs and show them who's boss.
30 comments:
I'd vote for Steven Koonin, currently on the LLNS and LANS Boards.
Dr. Koonin served as the second Under Secretary for Science at the US Department of Energy from May 2009 thru November 2011. In that capacity, he was oversaw technical activities across the Department's science, energy, and security activities and led the Department's first Quadrennial Technology for energy. Before to joining the government, Koonin spent 5 years as Chief Scientist for BP, plc. where he played a central role in establishing the Energy Biosciences Institute. Koonin was a professor of theoretical physics at Caltech from 1975-2006 and was the Institute's Provost for almost a decade. He is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and the JASON advisory group. Koonin holds a BS in Physics from Caltech and a PhD in Theoretical Physics from MIT (1975) and is an adjunct staff member at the Institute for Defense Analyses.
How long will it be before D'Agostino is given a high paying job in Bechtel?
January is 5 years too late . . .
He should go to nstech or Lockheed or Northrop Grumman or some place that actually does work. LANS and LLNS are for people that credible profit driven corporations don't hire. You gotta be a serious loser if LANS or LLNS is the place your only choice.
If he doesn't get an exemption, he can hang out at TechSource for a year before taking a position at one of the major contractors he oversaw:
http://www.techsource-inc.com/staff.php
D'Agostino is guaranteed a Senior Management position at LLNS/LLNS of the job of his choice. It's a "reward" for setting up these "money pits for managers".
They otta get D'Agostino and Mara to work at Livermore to re- build the "failed" Magnetic Test Fusion Facility (MFTF). Each of their bald heads can be used to replace the ying-yang magnets. It's fusion baby!
This guy should have left six years ago.
It must feel good to be the worst Administrator yet for NNSA. Look at what he has done to the Weapons Complex.
The only reason he stayed this long is that no one else with credible credentials would take the job.
The NNSA labs and facilities purposefully screw up (yes, more than baseline levels) to make the sponsor look bad, especially when they don't like the greater "oversight." Expect to see more shenanigans. There should be unlimited and personal liability on the part of the lab LLCs and the executive management.
The only reason he stayed this long is that no one else with "Credible Credentials" would take the job.
December 23, 2012 8:26 PM
Did he have "Credible Credentials" [Doubtful] ???
Certainly none of the Rectal Bechtel management types have "Credible Credentials" !!!
The NNSA labs and facilities purposefully screw up (yes, more than baseline levels) to make the sponsor look bad, especially when they don't like the greater "oversight."
December 24, 2012 12:08 AM
So are you saying the workers intentionally screw up so that their management can make the feds look bad? Or that management forces workers to screw up and the workers keep quiet about it? Or that when workers screw up (like the subcontractors that failed to properly design and install the NMSSUP project), management actually welcomes the result? Or do you believe that workers don't screw up and have no responsibility, but management somehow is responsible for stuff that doesn't work or systems that fail? I think your petty little conspiracy theory needs a little more thought.
Good ridaance to one of the worthless pustules that, through the management contracts of 2007, strangled the nuclear weapons laboratories.
Never was there a more useless person than the Captain.
We'll miss you Tom. Not!
Did he have "Credible Credentials" [Doubtful] ???
Certainly none of the Rectal Bechtel management types have "Credible Credentials" !!!
December 24, 2012 6:52 AM
Of course, TD did not have credible credentials. He was left in the position only after several well known players declined the job.
Any person smart enough to be the NNSA Administrator would not be dumb enough to take the job.
There is a chance that we have seen the end of DOE oversight and the next head of "the organization formerly known as NNSA" will report to DOD.
Either way, if the replacement is someone that spent most of their career at the labs, look for more of the same. The best path for change is to find a person that has some recent experience at a lab, but the majority of their work elsewhere.
LLNL management screws up and make bad decisions, making NNSA look bad. Deuterium EoS fiasco is not an employee problem but rather a management deficiency. They are the ones ultimately accountable for how taxpayer funds are spent, what technical capabilities are invested in, and what controls are put in place. It is management that blackballed Bill Nellis and then stuck their heads in the sand and leading by example. Lab management is blinded by their own unjustified hubris.
The lab doesn't need Bechtel or NNSA to wreck the place. It was already wrecked to begin with. Enough with the selective memory. The same bad actors at the lab are the common thread pre- and post-contract. And there is nothing that NNSA or Bechtel can do to fix the poor science coming out of NIF. And it was not NNSA black balking people like Bill Nellis. The lab is solely responsible for exacting retaliation against those who brought scientific credibility to wherever they were. And in a bit of irony, many at NNSA run circles around Lab technical leads in many technical areas such as EoS and Strength. Look at their CVs and accomplishments. And lab managers go around referring to them as technically stupid when they are behind the fences at the lab and when they think they are out of earshot of outsiders. The problem is that well meaning insiders accept this as fact but then run into trouble when they pass it to others before learning that it isn't true at all. Propaganda only works when it is contained but that means every outsider must be considered an enemy. Your neighbors, your minister, your dog, your children.
Deuterium EoS fiasco.
A misnomer, a spin. Science advances more often through misteps and errors as often as sailing smooth. Same as it ever was.
Scoundrels and heros, fools and sages abound. And armchair legends.
I am reminded of the 19th century head of the Royal Society who infamously stated that "all scientific advancements has already been made", just before Marie Curie's lab began to glow.
It's messy 'cause it's human.
Sounds like someone in serious denial. The problem is not that the one paper in 1997 had spurious results. It was the fact that after 15 years, they still have no capability to make credible EoS measurements.
I have heard on many occasions by many different individuals at LLNL that part of the problem was that the Institute for Shock Physics in Washington State was not "sending any Post-Docs" to LLNL and that they have yet to get a single one "considering that the Institute receives NNSA funding." If you were a smart guy in the field of shock physics, you would try to avoid the Lab unless you really had no choice.
The responses by December 28, 2012 9:55 AM is so weird. Calling something "spin," then dropping nearly-random snipets as if something profound was embedded between the lines. Only thing between the lines are the rantings of the self-deluded. To think that this is the best response by LLNL? I seriously could come up with better responses than that non-response. Atleast you could have made it into a haiku or something.
Doesn't matter who takes over NNSA. The organization is so full of losers that no single person can change how bad NNSA really is.
You can make nnsa even worse by populating it with Livermorons.
Nnsa has a number of very bright people, but hey it is true that it also has a lot is serious deadbeats. The worst are the typical "know nothing -say nothing" types who observe foreign interactions though I have yet to figure out how they add any value considering their lack of accomplishments in their career or any substantive or meaningful documents coming from them. These government dregs need to go. Tithe real talented gems need to be empowered however.
I have worked with NNSA since its beginning, and before that with many of the same people who then had DOE office symbols. I wouldn't give a dime for more than 10% of them. The rest would be unemployed if it weren't for the useless positions in NNSA.
Strong rumor that Admiral Kirkland Donald, former head of NNSA’s naval nuclear propulsion office, will be nominated to replace D’Agostino.
I hear former Admiral Pete Nanos is available for the job. He's bitting at the bit to get back to yelling at the "cowboys and buttheads" still left at the NNSA labs and show them who's boss.
Post a Comment