Monday, August 14, 2017
UC System President to address LANL staff
McMillan must be in real trouble, seeing that Napolitano is coming to pay a visit.
In the early days, UC had leaders that understood why it was important to the country that the strategic deterrent be guided by great scientists. There have not been any UC faculty comparable to Lawrence or Seaborg for decades at this point, and may never be again. The Saxon and Gardner eras of UCOP marked the beginning of the end of knowledge about and interest in nuclear weapons for the top leadership. The last serious intellect on the subject in UCOP was Jud King, and he has been retired for years. The great science leaders of decades past would be horrified to discover that someone such as Kim Budil was now in charge of UC stewardship for LLNL and LANL.
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36 comments:
Having worked with every name on that list except for Lawrence, the poster is correct. No one in UCOP now has any credibility regarding the stockpile.
Kim is a good person. Very even tempered and intelligent. Her credentials are better than a lot of the people at Sandia and LLNL.
Kim is a good person. Very even tempered and intelligent. Her credentials are better than a lot of the people at Sandia and LLNL.
August 14, 2017 at 11:04 AM
Prove it!
Napolitano will bow to McMillan like Rick Perry did a when he visited LANL a few weeks ago. Hard to understand why the people the McMillan works for fear him. Anybody?
I agree with 11:04am and will add that Kim also has a rare affliction of integrity that many within the weapons complex do not suffer.
Hard to understand why the people the McMillan works for fear him. Anybody?
August 14, 2017 at 5:55 PM
I doubt they fear him they just have no clue. Perry has to just go along with stuff since he has no idea what the lab does, he just figures that the people running the lab must know what they are doing. As for Janet that is harder to say. Steven Chu certainly had a very low opinion of McMillan.
I agree with 11:04am and will add that Kim also has a rare affliction of integrity that many within the weapons complex do not suffer.
August 14, 2017 at 6:39 PM
We have been "burned" by many people that start out like this in the weapons complex. Remember Nanos? The staff, particularly X-division, loved and adored him when he started. He has the same characteristics as Kim.
11:04 AM and 6:39 PM
It may not be surprising if these are self-promoting posts. That would fit in with the character.
11:04 AM and 6:39 PM
Could be that these are self-serving posts, which would not be surprising.
I doubt they fear him they just have no clue. Perry has to just go along with stuff since he has no idea what the lab does, he just figures that the people running the lab must know what they are doing. As for Janet that is harder to say. Steven Chu certainly had a very low opinion of McMillan.
August 14, 2017 at 7:12 PM
Chu was not restrained in expressing his view that McMillan did not meet the minimum requirements for the position. Perry has a different background and may not yet be ready to differentiate between last week's bottling of Thunderbird and a 1941 Inglenook Cab. Both come from California and one is exceptional while the other is only for bums.
Chu was and is an arrogant jackass.
Any wine bottled in California in 1941 is more likely to be vinegar.
Should prove entertaining to watch the Charlie and Janet show as they explain how all is well with the current management.
Chu was and is an arrogant jackass.
August 15, 2017 at 5:25 PM
That is true but this does not change that fact the he was also right about McMillan.
McMillan knows bombs. Few else do, he is a dinosaur in an archaic art, that we no longer test for. He may be a poor leader but anybody else will not know bombs.
O and the Nappy headed lesbo knows nothing about anything. A political hack and affirmative action hire who hates and poorly serves the California resident students who attend a UC university,
She is an empty chair, along with Dirks and other leadership.
August 15, 2017 at 11:43 PM
Clearly a brainwashed follower of the "McMillan money" cult. Find an authentic nuclear weapons tester and, if they will speak with you, you might find out just how ignorant McMillan really is.
McMillan knows bombs. Few else do, he is a dinosaur in an archaic art, that we no longer test for. He may be a poor leader but anybody else will not know bombs.
August 15, 2017 at 11:43 PM
Throw the red flag on this one. If UC had wanted a LANL Director that knew bombs, then they would have made a different choice than McMillan. There were other options available that had hardware and earth-shaking experience. McMillan has none of this.
McMillan knows bombs. Few else do, he is a dinosaur in an archaic art, that we no longer test for. He may be a poor leader but anybody else will not know bombs.
August 15, 2017 at 11:43 PM
McMillan is still a poor leader. He may know very specific technical aspects of bombs but he really does not understand the bigger picture about all the science and engineering that needs to go into making and maintaining them. He has absolutely no understanding of even broader issues of non-proliferation, computer modeling, clean up, aging, and so on. In fact I would argue that his expertise is so narrow and that he is so disconnected from broader scientific world and the outside world that he simply cannot be a good leader. Compare his to Sig Hecker and the differences are immediate.
McMillan in fact does not 'know bombs.'
Of the transplants that arrived from LLNL with LANS, McMillan was the most arrogant, and by far the least qualified in weapons. Anastasio, Mara and Knapp each had broad and deep experience in nuclear weapons.
McMillan neither knows weapons nor is he a decent manager. He has matched Chu's expectations and been the failure that was predicted.
August 16, 2017 at 6:59 AM
Agree. While Anastasio was Director, he did not allow McMillan to have many discussions with visitors about weapons.
Enough already!
We can all agree that McMillan was woefully unqualified to get his position and he has failed at almost every point in his tenure.
So what next? What went so terribly wrong in the process that resulted in his selection and what can be learned from that train wreck in order to avoid another catastrophe?
Anonymous Anonymous said...
Enough already!
We can all agree that McMillan was woefully unqualified to get his position and he has failed at almost every point in his tenure.
So what next? What went so terribly wrong in the process that resulted in his selection and what can be learned from that train wreck in order to avoid another catastrophe?
August 16, 2017 at 7:37 AM
Do some digging and verify that the so called process that UC ran resulted in 4 finalists being interviewed by Pattiz and the rubber stamp committee. McMillan was sold to them by Anastasio as the best available candidate.
It was an open secret, it was a sham run by Bruce Darling to insure that no one made it to the end that would be considered a serious competitor to Charlie. By doing so, UC could preserve the story line that Charlie was the best of the finalists.
Steve Younger could have been a better choice for LANL Dir, but Anastasio blocked his consideration for the position.
If UC had displayed any interest in an internal STE candidate from LANL, Dr. Susan Seestrom was the clear top option.
If UC had wanted to seriously consider internal STE candidates at LANL, Dr. Susan Seestrom would have been at the top of the list.
Sue landed on her feet down at Sandia, even after she wasn't given a fair shot. The deck had been stacked so that Charlie would come out on top, and there was only room for one additional internal candidate. Terry, who was played for a fool when he believed his chances were real, is fading away. Meanwhile Sue is still doing well and would expect to see her in leadership for years to come.
I'd take Terry over Sue any day. Both will throw you under the bus, but at least Terry will look you in the eye while doing it.
Terry was indeed played for a fool. When he realized that he never had a chance from day one, it was too late in the game to do anything about it and he had a classic temper tantrum. Any hope he ever had of making a comeback was out when he lost his temper with the committee and self destructed.
Terry is a second-rate geologist. Do you really think a geologist/former rock museum docent would qualify to be a lab director? He is in WAY over his head as a PAD.
About the only positive thing that can be said for Charlie as Director is that on his worst days he was still better than what Terry could have ever been.
Terry got the job by his mother's political clout. Apparently not many people remember this very obvious (at the time) fact.
About the only positive thing that can be said for Charlie as Director is that on his worst days he was still better than what Terry could have ever been.
August 20, 2017 at 10:45 AM
People have said a number of bad things about Charlie on the blog. In real life there are a few mellow supporters or noncommittal folks when it comes to Charlie I don't think I have ever heard anyone say single good thing about Terry over the many years. Only Nanos gets more negative comments. At least Terry is consistent. If someone has something good to say than throw it out. There have always been some posters that come to defend Younger, Seestrom, even Knapp, and most every other name that has been put on the blog in a negative fashion. I cannot seem to remember any coming to defend Terry.
Terry indeed got his job due to his mother's political status and not on the merits of his knowledge, skills or accomplishments. Which makes it puzzling that Charlie kept Terry around after his mother was no longer in office.
One positive is that Wallace is more competent than Budil.
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