I would like to reflect on the blog's 11 years. Not an editorial because I am not an editor. More like a moderatorial.
Created on 12/11/2007, this blog was intended to be an outlet for LLNL folks to give their opinion on the newly-privatized Livermore lab . Many thought the for-profit model was a recipe for disaster. A few thought it was the end of the UC good old boys club. Most LLNL folks felt they were paying for LANL mistakes.
I saw outraged, distressed, even depressed posts, occasionally interspersed with optimistic ones. Meanwhile, while we all barked, the for-profit DOE/NNSA caravan kept moving.
Gradually, blog readers became focused on relevant issues, such as waste of resources, cost increase, rising number of security and industrial incidents. It was becoming obvious that the privatization was a bad idea!
LLNL folks had the chance to be represented by SPSE but declined with so much rationalization and holy than thou comments! White collars don't unionize!
Golden passed up opportunity, as we found later.
Before we knew it, LANL folks flocked to the blog in far higher numbers. Llnlthetruestory became "LANL blog".
There was a fierce crusade against LANS management and overt hostility to everything LLNL. The word "livermorons"
was abused so much that I added it to the list of offensive terms.
Then, for a while, all you read is about was
TCP-1 required employee contributions!
How unfair! Sorry, cannot do anything about that! No SPSE to represent us.
Later, the blog became a troll's favorite hangout where every opinion was shot to pieces.
Debates were political, personal and virulent.
I was receiving hate mail for not posting hateful messages.
My first reaction was to shutdown the blog but I thought about the few readers/ contributors who made respectable contributions. How about them?
"Long story short", as a former LLNL colleague used to say, to those folks, this blog is for YOU !
Julian
Julian
Comments
It may have some impact of any future bid at LLNL. I suspect that over the years a number of high level NNSA/DOE people may had a look at this blog.
Now all we need is a youtube blogger dedicated to the NNSA labs, like a weekly show and people could submit comments or questions or have special guests like retired lab people, Bob Lazar, a few conspiracy theorist for kicks, who knows it could take off.
I can understand the reluctance of white collar employees to join a union if employed by companies where bad company decisions in the real free market, can lead to prompt loss of market share or company extinction. This was never the case with for-profit LLNS. One can begin to understand the extent of LLNS isolation from the free market when the nearest relatable feedback loop to LLNS for repeated poor management was the loss of its sister contractor LANS taking only ~12 years (?). Volkswagen would beg for that kind of free market, where huge profits keep flowing emissions scandal or not.
You are certainly more than welcome to your opinion. That said, I think you weakened your comments with your tangential digression about SPSE.
Note that (A) the LLNL workforce—which is many things but not stupid—rejected collective representation, by a large margin, on several occasions...including long before LANS/LLNS, (B) people who disagree with you are not necessarily doing it because they are “holier than thou” and (C) many would debate the implication that things would have been somehow better under LLNS had SPSE represented the workforce. Maybe, but quite possibly maybe not. Quite possibly unionization would have made things worse. None of us know for sure, so I won’t pretend I know for sure if you don’t.
In any case I appreciate this blog and your efforts and your moderatorial (I like that word).This blog serves a purpose and I thank you.
It can work in some minor situations but mostly it does not and can end badly, very.
Well, one can only hope that the words "cowboy" and "butthead" will also eventually find their way onto your offensive word list.
December 13, 2018 at 9:39 AM
I take from you post that you feel that Nanos was wrong in his assessment about the arrogance at LANL? How else can you explain the problems and scandals at LANL? Denial is not just a river in India.
I could argue we would still be under UC if it wasn't for LANL issues (being kind here).
December 13, 2018 at 10:29 PM
Uh, try Egypt. Your hatred of LANL is only surpassed by your ignorance of almost everything.
Denial is not just a river in Hungary.
I appreciate the blog. Thank you Julian for hosting it, moderating it, and all the other unpaid work you are putting in for our benefit so we can share information and ideas.
It's amazing to me how much grief various people (all around the internet) have to put up with to try and provide a nice, free forum for communication.
I very much appreciate your efforts. THANK YOU
Also: I appreciate anyone on here that shares information, makes intelligent comments, is polite, etc.