LLNL - The True Story -

I would like to add   non-anonymous contributions to this Blog. I know anonymous ones encourage people to express themselves more "freely" but  also can stimulate negativity. On the other hand,  contributors who identify themselves "own" their topics and are more likely to attract serious discussion. Starting today, we have a special guest contributor,  Marie Miguel. She has been a writing and research expert for nearly a decade, covering a variety of health- related topics. Currently, she is contributing to the expansion and growth of a free online mental health resource with BetterHelp.com . With an interest and dedication to addressing stigmas associated with mental health, she continues to specifically target subjects related to anxiety and depression. Here is her article on the importance of mental health. The Importance of Mental Health We all strive for good health and good fortune, but this sometimes comes at the cost of our mental health. Sacrificing your m...

  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9632403/Biden-orders-National-Labs-examine-unexamined-evidence-pandemic-probe.html So the DOE and NNSA labs are going to examine if the pandemic came from a lab leak at Wuhan. The picture in the above article showing LLNL equipment looks like NIF. I am not exactly sure how NIF will be used but I am guessing they are actually going to use the supercomputers. Well this could be interesting, suppose it does turn out to be a China lab leak, what happens in that case. Do you just say we are going to boycott the 2022 Olympics and call it even?

  Thank you Scooby for terminating the "racism" threads and putting your blog back on an even keel.

  Ben Santer does not want Steve Koonin to speak at LLNL https://blog.ucsusa.org/science-blogger/climate-denialism-no-place-at-lawrence-livermore-laboratory

  "Nature" will change its science to combat systemic racism https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-01312-4 Since the labs publish in Nature and Nature family journals this will have some kind of impact. Racism in science is endemic because the systems that produce and teach scientific knowledge have, for centuries, misrepresented, marginalized and mistreated people of colour and under-represented communities. The research system has justified racism — and, too often, scientists in positions of power have benefited from it. That system includes the organization of research: how it is funded, published and evaluated Ending systemic racism will therefore require those in the system, including Nature, to collectively acknowledge and study these facts, and to ask: how and why did this happen? We need to thoroughly understand the root causes, even as we seek energetically to remedy the ongoing damage. Some have already started down this road. Projects at the Massachusetts Inst...

 Contributor's note: Sorry, this website requires a subscription, maybe a free review of this story will emerge at some point. "Senators Probe Acting NNSA Chief About Livermore Pits, Foreign Uranium" "In a budget hearing that was mostly a best-of, a couple senators asked the acting head of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) about alternative means of meeting the mission objectives of the day, including by producing pits at the Lawrence Livermore..." https://www.defensedaily.com/senators-probe-acting-nnsa-chief-livermore-pits-foreign-uranium/nuclear-modernization/

  Here is an odd one that may be related to the labs. There is suddenly a bunch of talk about UFOs being with the Pentagon now confirming much of the recent military videos. Now Obama has confirmed that these things are real. So if this stuff is a real and they start investing money into it would the labs going to get involved in someway. https://nypost.com/2021/05/18/barack-obama-says-ufo-sightings-appear-real/ https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/15/politics/unidentified-aerial-phenomena-defense-department/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/17/politics/ufo-pentagon-explainer/index.html https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ufo-military-intelligence-60-minutes-2021-05-16/ https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/23/us/politics/pentagon-ufo-harry-reid-navy.html

  Can a LLNS manager refuse an employee's request to have a 3rd party present in a meeting where the employee alleges this particular manager has been harassing them or other alleged inappropriate conduct? In this Weinstein and Cuomo period, one would think not.

  Los Alamos lab packed prohibited metal in sparking waste drum https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/report-los-alamos-lab-packed-prohibited-metal-in-sparking-waste-drum/article_293da0dc-b1a5-11eb-9bb0-fba77ee68de6.html

  There is some talk that if you do not get the vaccine or have not gotten the vaccine that you will facing disciplinary action. The other rumor is that this coming rather fast. I would figure they would have tell us first that but maybe they are just going spring it on us out of nowhere. Anyone hear anything?

  . The Political Science world is abuzz about a professor who is leaving academics because of the increasing nonsense in the ability to publish. In money of the social science journals publications are being evaluated on if they cite enough women or other minorities groups not the actual results of the paper. This gotten bad enough that some people are just giving up on the field. “Four times, at four separate journals, this past year I submitted an article and received no feedback other than: a) you don't cite enough women, b) you don't cite [unrelated] literature on 'bias', c) nobody could possibly understand an article without p-values. Top reason I quit.” https://twitter.com/knrd_z/status/1391819873047793666?s=20 https://www.poliscirumors.com/topic/no-country-for-white-men-polsci-academic-on-why-he-and-others-are-leaving The obvious question is when is this coming to science journals. Personally I have not seen this in science journals or heard of it but there is s...

  Former Sandia Labs employee indicted for stealing federal funds https://www.krqe.com/news/former-sandia-labs-employee-indicted-for-stealing-federal-funds/ https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/5775998/Joshua-Cordova-Indictment.pdf

  Honeywell, which manages Sandia National Laboratories, was fined $13 million for sharing military specs with China  https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military

Should the labs make it mandatory to have a vaccine as a condition of your employment?

  April 2021 DOE IG Special Report: Internal Contractor Auditors at LLNL and Two Other Named Labs have a "fox-guarding-the-henhouse problem" "The Department’s M&O contractors’ internal auditors are hired by, supervised by, paid by, and responsible to the contractors.25 In addition, the contractors’ audit executives typically have their personal bonuses tied to contract award fees.26 This creates a fox-guarding-the-henhouse problem. This design flaw is particularly problematic because an incurred cost audit is the single most critical audit measure available to control Federal expenditures and to ensure that Federal contractors are not overpaid, resulting in fraud, waste, or abuse. 26 The OIG has documented these bonuses at Lawrence Livermore, Idaho, and Oak Ridge National Laboratories." https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2021-04/DOE-OIG-21-26%20Amended.pdf

According to the results of an independent study, Sandia National Laboratories technology transfer activities have resulted in more than $95 billion in economic impact from 2000 to 2020. Additionally, the report indicates Sandia has also supported about 21,000 jobs per year...   https://www.krqe.com/news/business/technology-transfer-of-sandia-national-laboratories-results-in-over-95b-of-economic-impact/