December 11th 2007, the start of this blog. It was intended to replace the short-lived llnlthefinalstory blog and as a step up from llnltherealstory one.
As llnltherealstory sank into a period of virulent insults among LANL employees and inflammatory remarks towards LLNL's, it was time to begin a new blog that encourages intelligent debate.
The torch was lit and LANL readers saw it and hopped on fast. Participation shot up and moderation was challenging despite clear blog rules.
On the 1st anniversary, I asked for a volunteer to take it over. I heard the echo of my own voice.
Since then, I had brief help from "Doobydew" whose nickname I still use today. Thanks Doobydew! whoever you are. I also hard help from a tech-savvy guy named "TheEvil Eye". Thank you.
With some exceptions, LANL dominated this blog negatively and disregarded civility and the call for intelligent debate. That made moderation that much difficult.
13 years later, many have questioned the relevance of this platform. I believe there is a need to have a place where issues are brought up, abuse is reported, important information is passed.
What does everyone think?
Julian/Scooby/Doobydew
Comments
Thank you. One may argue that even the rule you proposed leaves room for interpretation.
Like it or not the labs are indeed connected to social issues. This could be how on how politics will determine funding, who controls the labs, pro war versus anti war sentiment, if testing could occur again, directions in basic and energy science. This is on top of the other issues like diversity, profit versus non-profit and ethical issues of war and so on. If something is completely off topic then Scooby does a good job and not posting it or steering to something that is related. It sort makes sense that labs that are related to nuclear weapons have to have some connections social issues or political issues by definition.
Thank you for being appreciative !
It was an honor to co-admin with Scooby. He is a very nice person in real life and so very dedicated to maintaining an active source of good information on the two labs for employees and retirees of those facilities. And like any admin Scooby has endured his critics, you never can satisfy everyone. I was glad to help shoulder that load for Scooby and let some of the heat come my way instead of all on him. Hopefully someday other folks will find a way to help Scooby.
Meanwhile a deep and heartfelt THANK YOU for all the work Scooby does for us all.