LLNL - The True Story -

Anonymous said: For those of you who fell victim to the ISP and have not spoke with the attorney's, here is the information: GWILLIAM, IVARY, CHIOSSO, CAVALLI & BREWER P.O. BOX 2079 OAKLAND, CA. 94604 (510) 832-5411 ext. 257. Ask for Winston. There IS something we can do in a 'team effort' to fight the UNFAIR treatment we received!!!!!!

A new 22 page Inspection Report ( INS-O-09-01 ) is available at the DOE Office of Inspector General website. Here is a summary of the findings from the accompanying memorandum: RESULTS OF INSPECTION We concluded that Livermore and Sandia officials did not fully adhere to Department requirements regarding security clearance justifications. Specifically, we found that Livermore and Sandia officials requested and retained security clearances inconsistent with Department policy. We determined that this issue went undetected by Livermore, Sandia, and Service Center personnel security officials because there were no internal controls in place to validate the justification of need as stated on the security clearance requests. We made three recommendations to management designed to ensure that future security clearance request justifications are subject to improved internal controls. MANAGEMENT REACTION In responding to a draft of this report, the Office of Health, Safety and Security (HS) str...

I got a call today from a friend at LLNL who told me FR delivered a talk while I was absent to his business and plant administrators where he told them with the current state of affairs and funding levels you should expect LLNL population be down to 3,500 people by 2010. Can you check on this or confirm his message and please see if the talk was video taped for the peons to view .

Holidays are a time to focus on what's most important The holidays are upon us, and once again many of us are stringing lights from chimneys and eaves, hanging decorations inside and out and rushing about with last-minute shopping and errands. Winter storms are bringing snow to the mountains and cold rain and fog to the valleys. The scene is set for happy holidays with family and friends. But all too often, the scene also is set for accidents. So I’m urging each and every one of you to keep safety -­ at home and here at the Laboratory ­- topmost in your mind during this hectic season. We continue to emphasize the need to do work safely in all Laboratory activities. We made good progress earlier this year in decreasing safety incidents and injuries, but there are indications that our safety culture continues to need improvement. Most worrisome are rumblings that some employees are afraid to speak up about safety issues and are feeling pressured to meet schedules and deliverables at ...

Just wondering how many NSTech employees are splitting the ~$840,000 bonus for scoring 95%? George only got a 70% - a D- on the 7 point system that was in effect when I went to school.

Anonymous said... There is talk that the USD may be devalued. I am wondering what folks think will happen with retirement accounts if that happens and how one can protect oneself. Would you, for example, cash out from UC and use the money to buy gold? Please respond if you have an informed opinion gained either through knowldege of economics or from reading informed commentary. Links to good articles would also be appreciated. December 19, 2008 7:29 AM

Frank Young said... Livermore Lab Workers May Be Exposed To Toxic Dust "Seward said the laboratory is surveying 160 buildings looking for beryllium contamination. Already, they've found some startling results: 20 buildings with levels above acceptable, and a few with "more extensive" contamination. And now they're assessing how many more workers were exposed: So far, 250 have been identified as having past exposure to beryllium and another 350 are being watched." December 19, 2008 11:52 AM

From the LANL Blog Tuesday, December 16, 2008 Subject: NF-09-0066: Message from President Stephen M. Younger Date: Mon, 15 Dec 2008 15:42:30 -0800 I am very happy to report that National Security Technologies LLC has been awarded an OUTSTANDING rating by the Department of Energy for exemplary work during fiscal year 2008. Last week we were informed that we had achieved a score of 95% - one of the highest in the DOE complex. This recognition of superior performance is the result of a year-long commitment to excellence by the entire organization. As part of this recognition, the period of performance on our contract was extended through September 2012, by exercising our first award term year. In addition to the DOE, your outstanding performance was recognized by the parent companies of NSTec. I am pleased to announce that our Board of Managers has unanimously approved a resolution to share 3% of the FY08 award fee earned by our company with employees. This is in addition to the sev...

Anonymous said... NNSA announces decisions to transform national security enterprise December 17, 2008 The plan to transform and downsize the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) infrastructure moved forward Tuesday as the head of NNSA signed two formal decision documents to begin its implementation. That action allows the agency to continue the process of moving from an aging, Cold War-era nuclear weapons complex into a 21st century national security enterprise. “We can now start moving forward on much-needed consolidation and reductions throughout our national security enterprise, shifting to more cost effective operations that will save the taxpayer money,” said NNSA Administrator Thomas D’Agostino. “This will improve the safety and security of the infrastructure that maintains U.S. nuclear weapons, helps prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and material, and responds to potential nuclear terrorism or other emergencies.” The records of decision, signed by D’Agostino,...

Anonymous wanted to know why do you think you should be Secretary of Energy. WHat does it take to be one? why do you think you could do the job or what would you do different?

Bechtel awarded contact extension for LANL. You can bet, it will happen here! Bechtel rewarded!

I heard that our PSO's are going to join forces with the SNL guards. Can anyone confirm or deny?

Yes, I said it and will continue to say it. I'm so tired of being politically correct and wishing people "Happy Holidays". Me, I beleive in Jesus and therfore will wish you "Merry Christmas". You may do the same to me when I say it to you or you may wish me "Happy Hanukkah", "Happy Kwanzza" or what ever your beliefs may or may not be. See, America was founded on the Christian belief (that there is a God) and with the exception of the past dozen or so years, we were allowed to speak our minds (Freedom of speech). Now, it seems that my saying Merry Christmas to some "offends" them and they use their freedom of speech right to stifile my freedom of speech. So, no matter what you want to say (well almost - please say something nice!) to someone this holiday season - remember, your right to say it is part of our culture. MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR!

A year ago, I posted this torch in the first post of this BLOG vowing to continue the defunct http://llnlthefinalstory.blogspot.com. I named it llnlthetruestory. I am about ready to hand the ownership to the next volunteer. Please email me if you want to continue the BLOG.

From an LA Times article: The 'malware' strike, thought to be from inside Russia, hit combat zone computers and the U.S. Central Command overseeing Iraq and Afghanistan. The attack underscores concerns about computer warfare. By Julian E. Barnes November 28, 2008 Reporting from Washington -- Senior military leaders took the exceptional step of briefing President Bush this week on a severe and widespread electronic attack on Defense Department computers that may have originated in Russia -- an incursion that posed unusual concern among commanders and raised potential implications for national security. Defense officials would not describe the extent of damage inflicted on military networks. But they said that the attack struck hard at networks within U.S. Central Command, the headquarters that oversees U.S. involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan, and affected computers in combat zones. The attack also penetrated at least one highly protected classified network. Military computers a...

Anonymous said: For what its worth as a TPC-1er I received a letter from the Chairman of the LLNS Benefits & Investment Committee of the LLNS, LLC Board of Governors. It's dated Nov 25, 2009. I don't know if TPC-2ers also received it. It is reproduced below in case it was not sent to all LLNL employees... ------- Dear LLNS Defined Benefits Pension Plan Participant: Many of you have asked questions regarding the health and security of your pension benefits and the potential for requiring employee contributions to the LLNL Plan in the future. At the all-hands meeting on November 18, 2008, George Miller announced that the LLNS Plan is healthy and safe. Your pension benefit is a function of your years of service and salary. These factors provide you with a steady stream of monthly pension payments regardless of economic conditions. Your monthly pension payments (Plan liabilities) are made from assets in the LLNS Plan. Even though the financial markets have declined substantiall...

Thank you Dianne! Dianne Feinstein is sponsoring this bill!

Anonymous said: Rumors are that there is about to be an announcement of a new interim CIO. Also to be rumored is the the new interim CIO is going to be Donna Crawford. This announcement has been rumored to be imminent for some time now. Maybe something will finally happen in IT. It has been too long without proper leadership or direction

More on Retiree Medical from an anonymous contributor: At the transition, LLNS said that retirees that took the Lump Sum Cashout from UCRP would be eligible for access only coverage, which meant that they would get the same rates as employees ( or other retirees), but would have to pay the full amount. Is this still true? Does anyone who reads this blog know of anyone who has tried this? Is this affected by the new retiree benefits plan? What are the rates? I know, lots of questions. Any info would be appreciated.

Percentages of people leaving: 19 9 > 6 17 > 1y 11 > 2y 20 > 5y 22 > 10y Assuming, this is anywhere near accurate, 45% of people will leave in 2 years or less. Can someone in LLNS tell us how they plan to replace them? or is that what the bureaucrats call "managed attrition"?

Bruzer said: Just Received in the mail a booklet informing us we are moving to a new and improved retirement 401b plan with VanGuard. Does anyone have any thoughts or concerns regarding this one My first impression is whats in it for them?

Contributed anonymously: Health Care Dates Extended, but not for all? Meds to cost at least 3 times as much! I'm hearing that the extension of the deadlines for health care is only for those who are Medicare qualified- which I think means 65 or older. Does anyone know if true? Also what will the various plans cost us? Looks like Kaiser has gone from a 90 day supply of meds to a 30 day supply, for the same price. Such a deal! Not what the 11/20/08 article in the Independent says: ----------------------------------- Period Extended for Lab Retirees to Sign Up for Health Care By Independent News Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory retirees are concerned that they may not be able to sign up for health care benefits by the deadline. Because of that concern, the Lab is extending the open enrollment period. Currently, the retirees are being asked to sign up for the benefits by Nov. 27. The problem is that many people cannot get through to Extend Health, the company hired to take on the...

Contributed anonymously from the president-elect website

Published by Frank Young in the LANL BLOG: By ROGER SNODGRASS, The Los Alamos Monitor In a lengthy report released Tuesday, the Government Accountability Office questioned the effectiveness of the Department of Energy’s nuclear safety program for 205 high-hazard facilities, including the 19 facilities at Los Alamos National Laboratory. In an unusual sign of contention, officials of the Department of Energy responded with 20 pages of formal comments on why they found GAO’s draft report to be “fundamentally flawed” and disagreed with many of its conclusions, prompting GAO to add several more pages of responses to DOE’s detailed comments. Reps. John D. Dingell (D-Mich.), chairman of the Committee on Energy and Commerce and Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), chairman of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, who requested the report issued a joint statement saying, “the report confirmed their concerns about how safety has taken a backseat at DOE because the offices responsible for safety also...

Congressman Cardoza shares Valley frustration with Treasury Secretary Paulson WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Dennis Cardoza delivered a frustrated and angry message to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson Monday on behalf of the residents of the Central Valley. “In the most direct way possible I told Secretary Paulson that his efforts to date are completely unacceptable,” Cardoza said. “He keeps telling us they averted a financial crisis. I told him that in my district, we are in a recession. And to those who have lost their homes, we are in a depression. More needs to be done now. The country cannot wait for President Obama.” The congressman added that, “I wanted to deliver the message to him that I knew everyone in my district wanted to send -- act now.” The Congressman made the comments during tense closed-door talks he participated in when Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke met with the House speaker, majority leader and a handful other top Congressional leaders Monday. Co...

UPDATE: DOE Bodman: May Have Loans For Auto Cos By Year End November 19, 2008: 11:39 AM EST (Updates with Bodman comments) By Ian Talley DOW JONES NEWSWIRES WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- Auto companies have submitted to the Department of Energy five applications for $25 billion in loans to retool plants for fuel- efficient vehicles, and DOE could disburse funds by the end of the year, Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said Wednesday. "We're in the process of evaluating them, and so depending on the quality of the applications ... it's possible we'll have money available by the end of the year," Bodman said on the sidelines of a conference here. Bodman did not say what companies had submitted the loan applications. Auto companies Ford Motor Co. (F), General Motors Co. (GM) and Chrysler LLC have come to Congress this week seeking additional government funding of $25 billion in loans to make sure they can remain financially solvent for the next six months. Republicans are bl...

Anonymous wants to know: What did you think of the G Miller presentation? He/She said: Looked like, with a few token exceptions, the only LLNL accomplishments he was aware of were NIF related or the WCI awards (oh yeah, the dragon boat team got 3 photos- science at its best). He made it clear that he is not interested in promoting WFO, by stating that even though overhead rates are still high we brought in more WFO in the last cycle. How about the weird statements from Arnold Sch., wildly supportive of NIF...? Are we now having our scientific reviews not by peers but by uneducated celebrities? Does anyone funding our work at LLNL think Arnold is a credible expert on fusion or lasers or nuclear energy? Really makes it look like NIF and LIFE are in big trouble technically if they are resorting to such shenanagins. Guess they figured out that the new administration is likely to accelerate the trend of cut backs on funding for fusion energy. They never mention NIF being used to study nucle...

By Mr Requa: It is certainly immoral and almost certainly illegal for UC to transfer liability for LLNL retiree medical benefits to LLNS. Those of us affected are having our benefits cut now and probably eliminated in the near future. UC's web site promises us that if we were receiving medical benefits immediately before retiring, we would continue to receive those benefits after retiring. In my case, they provided my medical coverage for 7 years, then suddenly declared they were no longer responsible for coverage and told me a Limited Liability Company would be providing my coverage. Being one of those retirees who is not eligible for Medicare, loosing my medical coverage would be catastrophic. Like most of these situations, it is complex enough that a short letter can't cover all the facts. I have set up a web site at: http://home.comcast.net/~jrequa/retiree.htm which explains the situation. I am seeking support from other retirees to help address the issue. Our most critical...

An anonymous contributors said: "Put your hip waders on. GM has rolled out the new and improved NIF. And I always thought it was a weapons research tool. Fooled again by the master nipple farmer." Another said: "I suggest a new thread on the next heroin program that Moses is on that is eating up SMS/LDRD and got the Governor to talk up." Let the comments pour in!

Anonymously contributed: A letter to the editor regarding LLNL retiree benefit changes has been published in the Nov. 6 issue of The Independent Newspaper, on page 5. Find it at http://independentnews.com/uploads/pdf/1_06112008_1225936863.pdf This policy change is such a blatant and obvious example of a LLNS management system that has lost it's moral and ethical compass , that further letters to newspapers or congress people could re-open the whole privatization issue at LLNL and LANL. Now is your chance to make a difference.

Anonymous said: Arnold Shwartznegger is visiting NIF on Monday; does anyone know what time?

Will congress do it? Oakland Tribune

Anonymously contributed: LLNL has announced that it will make a large corporate donation to this years HOME charity campaign. I am a strong supporter of the HOME campaign and have made personal contributions, along with thousands of other employees, yearly over my 30-year career. A corporate donation seems particularly inappropriate this year. This year the lab has downsized the workforce by about 2000 people including involuntary layoffs. Lab retirees have been notified that many older than 65 will loose the safety net of their group medical plan. After being told that ongoing staff and benefit reductions are necessary because of funding shortfalls, it seems totally irresponsible for management to make a donation up to $1 million of taxpayers money to outside agencies particularly when dedicated employees and retirees are suffering from these cuts. Selection of elderly retirees to be the first group to loose group medical coverage also seems particularly mean-spirited and disrespectfu...

Anonymous said: The screw tightens... With 17 years, 7 months service at the time of the May lay-offs, I was expecting severance payments over 9 pay periods (17 years plus the extra week's pay for "a fractional year of fulltime equivalent service of 6 months or more" [this quote pulled directly from HR policy at the time of the layoff]. Imagine my surprise when I didn't receive the final check! Payroll apparently took my entire severance payment and divided by 8, not 9. And HR stated that "the 6 month calculation for the additional week's pay was by CALENDAR year not continuous service." Therefore, NONE OF THE TERMINATED EMPLOYEES received that 'bonus' week's pay because termination date was June 20 (we didn't quality until June 30). HR stated that "they tried to clarify this in the All-Hands meetings prior to VSSOP and layoffs." BULL! LLNS did it to save themselves thousands of dollars and once again turn the screw in the backs...

Anonymous said: I also received the packet from LLNL, signed by GM, regarding changes in health benefits for medicare retirees. Since no specific details or contact information were provided for Extended Health, I searched their web site for information about the company. The following contains direct quotes from the company. 1) "The Company’s unique platform and services enable corporations to move employees and retirees from a group benefits platform to an individualized, defined-contribution program." [http://www.extendhealth.com/Resources/AboutUs]. (Clearly this eliminates the safety net of group medical plans.) 2) The company press room provides articles describing what EH values [http://www.extendhealth.com/Resources/PressKit]. "General Motors Corp. retirees are likely in for sticker shock after the company announced it is cutting health benefits for retirees older than 65. " "There's going to be some shock when it comes to premiums and extra costs fo...

Anonymous contribution: Dental Benefits Changed Without Mention While looking closely at the medical packages, I also noticed that the name of the dental plan had changed from Delta Dental and the HMO variant to Delta DPO and the HMO variant. [sarcasm on] Trusting that there would not be any significant change without notice in the package, [sarcasm off] I asked my dentist which of the two packages they took. Imagine my surprise when my Dentist told me "neither" -- our current Delta Dental benefit is now Delta Premier, and we don't have that option anymore after the end of the year. So now I have to change dentists to stay in the insurance network. Annoying, but at least I found out about it before the end of open enrollment. And, of course, the number of dentists in my area who take the "middle" and "low" end Delta insurance options is vanishingly small. You'd think there'd at least be some notice in the package. Yet another case of failure to...

Anonymous wanted to start a thread on benefits: He/she said: Got "Open Enrollment" info from LLNS today. Lots if whining about costs (poor Georgie and ULM, they must be crying all the way to the bank) and weak explanations about why coverage will cost more and benefits will be reduced. Real reason? Bechtel needs to save money for "profit" and inflated ULM salaries. And here's the catch: despite lots of info being provided (yes, it's up to you to decipher the plans and see if your current providers will take them), I couldn't find ANYTHING about what the new plans will cost the employee or retiree. Nada. Nothing. Zip. Already received a letter from Health Net saying my coverage is over come Jan.1, and now I have only a couple of weeks to choose a new plan. And I don't know how much it will cost me. Nice. Complete incompetence on the part of LLNS and their over-paid managers.........Anyone know where the cost of the plans is published (tried the LLNL w...

It is clear that the vast majority prefer not to see policical fights in thsi BLOG. So, starting now, I will screen out anything election, candidate, party, right, left, related stuff

Anonymous said: Secretary of Defense Robert Gates spoke at the Carnegie Endowment For International Peace today (10/28/2008) — Topic: The Future Of U.S. Nuclear Weapons. I caught most of it on C-SPAN and have tried to paraphrase it below. It also looks like you’ll be able to listen to it yourself in the future via this link: http://www.carnegieendowment.org/events/ B-1 Bombers and four Trident Submarines no longer have a nuclear mission In 1992 we unilaterally stopped nuclear testing and developed a Stockpile Stewardship Program The U.S. has completed all reductions for START The U.S. is planning to reach a 2/3 reduction of our 2000 nuclear deployed force numbers by 2010 as part of Moscow Treaty, nearly two years early The U.S. will have 75% fewer nuclear weapons than at the end of the Cold War A new defense triad developed: Strike capability consisting of existing capabilities Defense capability including a limited ballistic missile defense New infrastructure to support Rising and res...

So, raise cards came out last week. A co-worker asked me an interesting question. They asked if I was a recipient or a donor. After they explained it. it went something like this. A few people received a raise percentage greater than “bring in”. Those are the Recipients. Then there are those who received less than the “bring in” percentage. Example of this is from http://llnlthetruestory.blogspot.com/2008/09/salaries-in-short.html The 300 series allocation was 1.54%. If you are a 300 series and got more than 1.54% then you are a recipient. If you got less, then you are a donor. Someone has to get less so all the supervisors and good ol boys can get a big fat raise on this lean year. So, I pose the question. Were you a recipient or a donor?

Anonymous said: Scooby, Thanks for the work you do. I appreciate it. However, I do not truly believe that opinions expressed in this blog are representative of people who are still working at the Lab. I'm still very proud to be a lab employee. I feel valued and fortunate to be working at LLNL. Everything I read here is so negative. There are a bunch of "chicken littles" here. Yeah, things are tough all over the country, not just at LLNL. I honestly cannot see our country going forward and staying strong without a healthy science program at our national labs. Anyone in congress or in the senate or in the executive branch of our government would be totally ignorant to think otherwise. Reading this blog has no value for me. It just provides the chicken littles with a podium for expressing their negativity. Yes, the lab has changed. Yes, we are no longer UC employees. That is very unfortunate. Get over it! Let's discuss how we can promote research and science. Let's t...

Anonymous said... The mystery of Barack Obama’s missing thesis "After a few days of getting nowhere, I asked my readers for help. It was not long before one of my brilliant readers informed me that the topic of his thesis was “Soviet nuclear disarmament,” and Columbia refuses to release it." [...] Obama's Resume "Columbia University B.A. Political Science with specialization in international relations Thesis topic: Soviet nuclear disarmament" Does anyone else wonder what is in that thesis? Is there really a thesis or is this an internet rumor?

Anonymously contributed: Presidential debates take on role as big as office Analysts say the stakes are raised this election year By SCOTT SHEPARD Cox News Service Sept. 20, 2008, 4:55PM WASHINGTON ­ There's no underestimating the importance of the upcoming presidential debates. They are the main event in the 2008 White House contest in an America tiring of its lengthy war in the Middle East and battered by economic chaos. "They always seem to be bigger than all outdoors, but this time there's great potential to be even bigger," said Allen Louden, a political communications expert at Wake Forest University who maintains a Web site, www.debatescoop.org, that analyzes political debates. In a campaign already historic because of the first African-American candidate, events in Iraq and on Wall Street "have raised the stakes" for the debates, added Louden in a telephone interview Thursday. In the contest between Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain, ...

Anonymously contributed: albuquerque.bizjournals.com

Anonymous asked: What is the current lab head count? (How much) has it dropped since the layoff (through normal attrition and terminations) (words in parenthesis added by BLOG master for clarity).

Anonymously contributed: AP article

Anonymous would like to talk about " Joe the plumber" a.k.a. "Joe the liar". McCain hitched his wagon to this knuckle-dragger without checking his background (see Palin). McCain is toast. Honestly, if he can't get this one right then what would ever convince anyone to vote for the guy? Well, I suppose "Joe the liar" might vote for him.

Contributed anonymously: Sure doesn't look like it. WFO has multiple extra taxes taken out(Safety and Security, Facility Administrative Charge, etc). Also, the chain of command to approve and accept the money takes at least a month, often more. There are approximately 9 levels of "oversight" that need to approve the money. Let's ask the question- is incoming money ever rejected? My guess is no- so what is the delay and multiple approvers for? One time I did not hound each of the nine "approvers" incessantly, and it took 4 months to get my money in- this is 4 MONTHS after a "check" was cut by the sponsor. This whole system needs to be streamlined. Why are there so many barriers? LLNS this is a cry for help- bring us into a modern age of WFO! We need "support" services who actually "serve" the scientific mission. We are in competition with other labs and companies. When we delay accepting money and demand excessive overhead rates,...

Contributed anonymously: Same old crooks calling the shots no matter who gets in office. Who ever is running this country and, by the way it's not the president, has their head buried up their a** so deep they'll never see day light or they have an agenda that appalling to me. The history of a financial disaster

Are safety and security at risk? Here the question posed by anonymous: LLNS/DOE has broken so many promises made to employees hired long ago under UC management. So how long before one, two, or a lot of employees decide that given management broke one side of the contract they should start breaking theirs? Safety, security, all kinds of things are at risk when people get this disgruntled.

Anonymously contributed: down the toilet

Anonymously contributed: Check out what GM is saying:

Contributed by anonymous: How useful are these Q&As? Pay attention to the answer to the second question... and laugh! Q

cnn elections

Anonymously contributed: Saw this article: It was so right on somany points I had to chuckle at the image of ULM being a bunch of GEICO representative rejects. FYI - GEICO = Government Employees Insurance Company. Read it

Anonymously contributed: Well, it looks like the dumb *** democratic congress and senate passed the $700B bail-out. How stupid are these people? I don't know if the scale goes that low. CNN Money ***Warning: please refrain from using expletives. Next time, your post/comment will be deleted.

Well, it was 1-year effective October 1st. I think the new account numbering systems sucks and every one of my account numbers transferred over. I know several people who have zero hours since the first of the year due to the new accounting system. Yet another savings method for our new "owners". Go figure! What do you think of our status after one year?

Well, the topic is simple enough, but is the reality? How is your morale and what motivates you?

Well, rumor on the street is that there are only two medical insurance choices. Blue Cross and Kaiser . . . Can anyone confirm this??

Anonymously contributed: How to fix the $700B debt The Common Sense Fix Years of bad decisions and stupid mistakes have created an economic nightmare in this country, but $700 billion in new debt is not the answer. As a tax-paying American citizen, I will not support any congressperson who votes to implement such a policy. Instead, I submit the following threestep Common Sense Plan. I. INSURANCE a. Insure the subprime bonds/mortgages with an underlying FHA-type insurance. Government-insured and backed loans would have an instant market all over the world, creating immediate and needed liquidity. b. In order for a company to accept the government-backed insurance, they must do two things: 1. Rewrite any mortgage that is more than three months delinquent to a 6% fixed-rate mortgage. a. Roll all back payments with no late fees or legal costs into the balance. This brings homeowners current and allows them a chance to keep their homes. b. Cancel all prepayment penalties to encourage refina...

We are funded once again through a continuing resolution through March 09! Read

Back by popular demand, this is the rumor corner! Have you heard of any changes? more cuts? or even anything good?

Anonymous wants to know who/what is getting funded and who/what is getting cut. Any news?

Anonymously contributed: 401ks Down The Tubes One More Time . Can you say retirement at 72 is looking more realistic. Article in the Modesto Bee

From ABC News

Does this make sense or what??

Anonymous asked: 1) Why did you leave LLNL? 2) Why are you staying? 3) Are you better off?

What did you think? were you listening? or did you just tune out? Tell us!

Anonymously contributed: UK time online clip

An article from the Institute of Policy Study. Making the speculators pay is do-able. Read on

Anonymous said: I read this entire thing and then quit paying extra on my home. I was hoping to pay it off but I asked myself why do I want to pay off a house that I've made zero equity on in the last 18 years and in the end have paid four times what it worth while I could be taking the extra money and doing something with my life Financial markets

Anonymous said: Another pay cut for TCP-1's coming soon. Could the16% that was talked about during the transition finally to become true. After all the stock market lost $700B in one day what better way to make up those loses but on the backs of those who chose TCP-1. [September 12, 2008] The following is a letter to UC employees from Judy Boyette, Associate Vice President, Systemwide Human Resources and Benefits. Dear Colleague: The purpose of this letter is to update you regarding the restart of employer and employee contributions to the UC Retirement Plan (UCRP). As you know, the University has been engaged in a multi-year process concerning the need to keep UCRP fully funded in order to ensure the plan remains able to pay retirement benefits to employees in the future, and that UC’s benefits remain competitive in the marketplace. At their July meeting, the Regents discussed a proposed funding policy for the UCRP to accomplish these objectives. This proposal, which includes res...

Contributed by 76: FY09 Allocations: Merit Allocation Administrative (400s ) 2.30% Technical (500s) 2.00% S&E's (200s) 2.11% Technical (300s) 1.54% A&S Administrative Services (Axx) 1.00%

Anonymously contributed: Does this get your attention? Meltdown in US finance system pummels stock market

Anonymously contributed: Looks who's buying America every time the stock market crashes. When all is said and done who will our bosses be and who will determine our lifestyle The Great American Yard Sale

With so many government contractors misconduct cases, why does governement still award contracts to the same contractors over and over. Here is a long list

Anyone know anything about the gun from Building 341 moving to HEAF (Building 191???) I overheard a conversation today about a big project at HEAF. Anyone know something?

Another DOE requirement: Borrowed from LANL BLOG

San Francisco Business Times article

Well, NewOnLine had this today- if someone can figure out how to link the whole article, please do. At any rate - read the document while you can DRAFT – New language highlighted in YELLOW (text in red, not highlighted) III Layoff III.1 Layoff for 200-Series Employees III.1.1 Policy This section pertains to 200-Series indefinite career employees only. It applies when a layoff is necessitated due to a lack of work or a lack of funds, which could result from such factors as, but not limited to, budget reduction, reorganization, or reduced scope of work . It does not apply to postdoctoral, term or temporary employees, who are subject to other employment and termination policies, nor does this policy apply to flexible term or key personnel. . . etc, etc

Any word on our next raise package? OK, you can stop laughing now and answer the question.

I know that since the VSOP and ISP, we lost a bunch of people in my department. The work hasn't decreased, just the number of people doing the work. Now, we've a bunch of people who are over worked, doing jobs they've never done before, with no one to ask (nor time to do so) if they are doing the job right. I smell an incident.

Thursday, September 04, 2008 Lab safety, security show improving trends By Tatjana K. Rosev September 3, 2008 Safety and security at the Laboratory is showing continued improvement. A recent report confirmed that both safety and security showed positive tendencies in the time period from July 2007 to July 2008. With worker injury performance measured in total recordable cases (TRCs) and days away, restricted or transferred (DART), the TRC rate went down by 35 percent and the DART rate decreased by 34 percent during the same time period. According to the report, which was presented at an all-manager’s meeting on August 18, the number of severe security incidents also went down. While four IMI-2 incidents were reported during fiscal year 2007, only one IMI-1 and one IMI-2 incident was reported over the past 12 months. The number of incidents reportable to the Department of Energy also decreased in the time period from August 2006 to July 2008. Dick Watkins, associate director for Environ...

Anonymously contributed: What do you think of the Ed Moses presentation about LIFE? Will we really be able to unload any old kind of nuclear waste into a vessel, send a laser in, get out electricity and be left with almost no spent fuel to dispose of and have it be economical? Why is this being pushed now, before NIF has been demonstrated? Maybe to open up a new funding stream for NIF, since it is perpetually behind schedule and overbudget? Should there be a public peer-review of this concept?

This guy should have been the director for all DOE Labs! Here are Q&As with him I took from LANL's Blog. Full text

I have spent most of the summer chatting every other day with the "representatives" of LLNS at Hewitt Management in a so-far futile attempt to get LLNS to adhere to the Kaiser health benefits as outlined in 20 years of "Evidence of Coverage" (EOC) documents, including the present one covering LLNS. My primary complaint (shared by many at LLNL?) is that UC threw us bona-fide UC retirees over the wall, linking us to the private contractor, LLNS, for whom we never worked (or wanted to work!!) a day in our lives. This was probably a prelude to the accelerating shrinkage of the UCOP staff (with what change in UCOP budget?) that is now requiring the campuses to take over many of the formerly system-wide functions operated by UCOP. I might understand booting campus UC retirees back to their respective campuses for benefit management (which are at least UC non-profit institutions), but why must I end up begging for UC benefits from a management company that is dedicated to...

Contributed anonymously (by a person with a sense of humor): We need some CHANGE WE CAN BELIEVE IN . Can we find a 47 year old technically strong leader who can restructure our lab to support the scientific and technical staff in redefining our mission? Your opinion?

Anonymously contributed: How does funding support look for next fiscal year around your part of the Lab ? Is there any place at the Lab that is doing well right now with regards to WFO funding ?

anonymous asked: Is there an unwritten rule in COMP that when there is an opening,preference is given either to COMP candidates or to outside non-LLNL candidates. Is there bias against candidates from other parts of the Lab? True/false?

Anonymous said: Do you agree the cuts went too deep? Have you seen the job postings? Twenty postings in the S&T area... Computer Scientists, Environmental Analyst, Program Leaders, Physicists. Heh! Weren't those positions targeted during the May layoff? What's the word on the street in your hallways?

Contributed by anonymous: I ran across this in the May 15, 2008 minutes (www.ucop.edu) of the UC Regent's Committee on Oversight of the DOE Labs... it's the last sentence that should give us all pause.... "Mr. Darling (UC Executive Vice President) reported that the Livermore laboratory is facing a $280 million funding shortfall this fiscal year resulting from a variety of components. These include a $50 million increase in inflationary costs, a $100 million reduction in federal funding due to the National Nuclear Security Administration’s budget reductions for Livermore, and items associated with the awarding of the new contract, the first of which is $86 million in increases mainly for retirement and health benefits compared to the costs the laboratory would have absorbed if it had remained part of the University. The second is $44 million in increased management fees and expenses that DOE agreed to provide to the winning contractor. To accommodate the shortfall, the labo...

This comment was brought from the post "Any suggestions for upper management" It calls a spade, a spade! First, management needs to understand how past WFO projects outside the weapons area have started -- a scientist or group of scientists had an idea and convinced their division leader to support it. They then developed it and found sponsors. A main motivator was that they would be rewarded by their division leader with higher pay, responsibility, and prestige in their division. The current situation is completely counter to the the process that has worked in the past. We now have middle managers whose primary responsibility is to bring new money in the door. This means that any efforts or initiative to do so by "lower-level" scientists/engineers are not rewarded. Indeed, the credit is usually stolen by the middle managers and they will take away control of any funding. The scientist's division no longer sees any of the money -- so they can care less. Scientis...

Anonymously asked: If every other facility at LLNL were to shut down except for NIF support personnel and the Super Computer how many people would LLNL need to operate?

Anonymously contributed: Despite the ULM talks, people are still talking in the halls about a layoff in October. What's your opinion?

suggested anonymously: what would you say to upper Lab management on how to turn the Lab around ?

Suggested anonymously.

Someone anonymously suggested that since there are so many negative opinions in this BLOG about LLNS, why can't ULM set them straight (rebutal) in this BLOG, anonymously? If they don't do that, then, all we hear must be true. ULM or the ones that read this BLOG for them, speak out!

Anonymous said about us: You livermites are the worse example of unity I've ever seen. Your blog or should I say lack of participation tells DOE, NNSA & LLNS all they need to know. They can do what they want, any time they wish, and all you'll do is bend over and take it. Even in a time when you're wages are 20% behind inflation you refuse to ask where's your 20%, while ULM get huge pay raises, bonus checks and build their nest eggs at your expense. It seems the Livermites' lack of action, involvement and complacency is a prime example of what has ruined this country and turned the mass majority into corporate America's lackey's. You get what you allow. Enjoy you dilemma.. Is he right?

Contrubyted anonymously: Immediately during and after all LLNS pep talks LLNL employees should be asking themselves the following question: Will I now or at any time in the future believe the rhetoric presented by anyone in LLNS management especially, when you are told once again that, "I don't foresee any future lay-offs . . ." If you take the time to review the LLNL to LLNS transition questions and answers (over 1000) it will become readily apparent that LLNS has reneged on almost every answer that was provided. The VSSOP and ISP processes were also fraught with numerous inconsistencies, potential inequities and half-truths. Did George's speech really give you a warm fuzzy . . . remember the "We are Family!" spiel - some of those faithful are now pounding the street and trying to find employment during extremely difficult economic times. Does anyone really believe that all is well in Lab-Land after today's carefully orchestrated speech, audio/visual ex...

Anonymously contributed: Miller talk. Crocodile tears about injury at Rochester, soon followed by the proclamation about NIF being free of safety incidents (but wasn't the ladder incident in NIF?). Odd comment that he had "broken" (I think that was the word he used) S. Houghton who is resigning. Funky music with images of "achievements" by LLNL. Would not confirm rumor that world wide web access is being cut off. Berated employees who have tossed their "we value" cards. Zero questions for him from the audience. Did I miss any high points from this inspiring presentation?

That is what they calls us at LANL! What our friends at LANL are saying

Contributed anonymously: There are opportunities at the Lab but the motivation on the part of management to fill them is not there! Things will change but in another couple of years. Certainly not 08 or 09. The indicators are: 1) How many posting are there in the jobs.llnl.gov site and what are they for? There should be more postings but many managers are too paralyzed to make a move and post. 2) I have looked for opportunities within the lab for 2 years now. First, before the transition, it looked like the hiring managers had an incredible preference for outside applicants(may be outside applicants tend to be younger?) Second, my own management was hell bent on not letting me get "matrixed". That is not likely to change without a culture change! 3)After the transition, all managers seem to be paralyzed, waiting for the next directive. No one wants to make a move. Will LLNS look at the lack of career development for its employees? It seems that that is not even on the list to...

Anonymously asked: What was the outcome of the SPSE meeting for people who were laid off? What there a basis for action?

47 said: One topic that would be of great interest, as well as therapeutic, would be for all people who have left LLNL voluntarily and involuntarily since LLNS, to tell their story (in a 100-200 words)and leaving out info that could identify who they are. I'll volunteer mine as a starter: A 200 series employee Over 50 years old Over 20 years service LLNL only employer Held many different positions including supervision and management Managed multi-million $ projects Always had above average reviews Gave my all to LLNL as a dedicated employee. Loyalty used to be a value Reason left: ISP Why involuntary separated: My speculation, as no one has told me that my SKA's weren't adequate for the future LLNS, is wrong place at wrong time in wrong 'work unit' Feeling about it all: I've grieved it and am now looking for a company that has hired the best and brightest into management!

A commenter recently said: "I would read this blog more often if there wasn't so much negativism here." Nobody can prevent negativism. As a BLOG screener, I must accept all sort of opinions, negative, positive, sort of positive etc... If I accepted only positive opinions and feedback, there would only be a handful of posts here. That is why I count on you, positive, truthful people to tip the balance to the positive side. I hope you will take the challenge! Can you see the sun behind the clouds?