The question has been raised regarding allowing or disallowing anonymous posts. I think a vehicle such as this blog provides an interesting and sometimes provocative channel for questioning the orthodoxy and culture at the labs. I suspect losing anonymity will damage that, and ultimately the blog will collapse as a result.
Certainly, there is the constant static of "I hate Bechtel," "things were so much better under UC when we were unaccountable," and "things would be better if NNSA and or Congress would only realize just how great albeit unproductive we are." Oh, and the ever present "why is LANL dominating an LLNL blog" -- which goes back to the death of the original LANL blog. I think that static is worth the openness the blog presents, and it can be easily ignored.
I am also a little surprised that the blog owner, who chose to operate in anonymity himself until he was safely retired and outside the reach of employment retaliation, would even ask the question. If anonymous posting is stopped, will Evil Echo then also be unmasked?
I would also bet you will get a quiet campaign of managers at LANL and LLNL to vote against anonymity.
Certainly, there is the constant static of "I hate Bechtel," "things were so much better under UC when we were unaccountable," and "things would be better if NNSA and or Congress would only realize just how great albeit unproductive we are." Oh, and the ever present "why is LANL dominating an LLNL blog" -- which goes back to the death of the original LANL blog. I think that static is worth the openness the blog presents, and it can be easily ignored.
I am also a little surprised that the blog owner, who chose to operate in anonymity himself until he was safely retired and outside the reach of employment retaliation, would even ask the question. If anonymous posting is stopped, will Evil Echo then also be unmasked?
I would also bet you will get a quiet campaign of managers at LANL and LLNL to vote against anonymity.
Comments
Excellent questions. Anonymous posting should remain unchanged.
Assuming, of course, the poll is being properly presented, since it won't show up without disabling adware and malware blockers.
As for not posting a photo vs using the EE grinning avatar -- I'm rather infamously camera shy. A hell of a combination when paired with a globe-trotting mom who loved to photograph people.
So for those that must know, I'm Gregg Schoenberger - worked at MFECC/NMFECC/NERSC and then Livermore Computing. I once stood up to a DoE undersecretary and called him out (quite colorfully) as a liar during the NERSC move to LBL. I was not afraid then and certainly not now.
Now can we move on?
For example, we see a number of posts blaming the poor state of LANL management on UC or on Bechtel. Sounds like repetitive noise, right? Nope, this immediately tells us that there are forces campaigning from both sides. Evidently, UC came up with the excuse for its future bid: this was all Bechtel's fault and they've started to disseminate it. Bechtel is going to push exactly the same line against UC. We learn that this is the line each of them will push during the recompete.
We also see the danger of having LLCs made of several partners: no one takes responsibility for what happens at the Lab.
Next, we see posts which actually dig a bit deeper: many of the key managers responsible for the recent decline were at LANL prior to the contract change. But they were elevated and given unlimited power to destroy by LANS. So we learn that the LLC created the environment that allowed the bad seeds to grow and thrive. It was a symbiosis of the worst traits from the partners. Will this happen again with the new contract? Probably, unless specific precautions are taken by DOE/NNSA.
Next, while posters are trading blame, there is actually consensus that the "privatization" scheme definitely failed. That's important. What's also important is that, as other posters pointed out, the people who devised the scheme (Brooks, Bodman, D'Agostino, Przybylek, Dominici, etc) are long gone. Yet, the scheme, damaging as it is, continues to this day. How can this be? Sure, the Bush administration made some clearly bad decisions, but how come the Obama administration, in its 8 years, didn't reverse any of them? Are there apparatchiks on the dough here? If yes, we are in trouble, for what guarantees we have that this would change in the future?
Anyhow, a very useful blog, be careful not to break it!
I am comfortable enough in retirement thanks to investments OUTSIDE of LLNL/DOE - whom I never trusted further than I can spit.
My time is spent being a loving husband to a wonderful wife, cooking the occasional gourmet meal, teaching the younger generation the error of their ways in various online combat simulations, writing software ( my Zulu software library had close to 1 million lines of documentation at last count ), tutoring my god daughter, and mentoring a number of other people including one very autistic young man who loves space exploration.
Not everyone is in your position.