LLNL - The True Story -

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...