LLNL - The True Story -

  Have LLNL employees benefited from subsidized college education? For decades, the University of California and California state colleges were free. Some of you may not have known this. I'm sure some of the students of that era were or are working at LLNL. Since ~1980, college tuition has grown faster than inflation. Many years ago, Peter Schiff said the spiraling cost of college in the USA was largely due to easily acquired federal loans, since that allowed colleges to continue to raise their tuitions and fees. Then colleges could raise costs, the federal loans increased, and the cycle repeated. Something to consider before criticizing the $10K student loan forgiveness.

  Worth a topic of discussion? https://www.llnl.gov/news/carolyn-zerkle-named-lawrence-livermores-deputy-director

  Are the California “sanctuary cities” of Berkeley, LA, Napa, San Francisco, San Jose, and others next? “Operation Lone Star Ramps Up Busing Of Migrants To NYC, D.C. To Provide Relief To Border Communities” "In addition to Washington, D.C., New York City is the ideal destination for these migrants, who can receive the abundance of city services and housing that Mayor Eric Adams has boasted about within the sanctuary city,” https://gov.texas.gov/news/post/operation-lone-star-ramps-up-busing-of-migrants-to-nyc-d.c-to-provide-relief-to-border-communities

Dangerous GOP.  https://www.huffpost.com/entry/michael-hayden-cia-director-republicans_n_62fe52e4e4b077bb77a966d8 Ex-CIA Director Says Today’s GOP Is Most Dangerous Political Force He’s Ever Seen “I agree,” said Michael Hayden, in response to a journalist who covers extremism describing Republicans as "nihilistic" and "contemptible."

  In 2022, is LLNS still pitching to prospective “career indefinite” employees, that sub-contractor employees, are a funding and employment buffer? If so, is it really true?

 " If we could harness this reaction to generate electricity, it would be one of the most efficient and least polluting sources of energy possible." Newsweek 8/12/22 https://www.newsweek.com/nuclear-fusion-energy-milestone-ignition-confirmed-california-1733238?amp=1

  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11103507/Justice-Department-asks-judge-UNSEAL-search-warrant-Trumps-raid.html FBI agents were searching for classified documents about NUCLEAR WEAPONS when they raided Mar-a-Lago, according to report, as Merrick Garland says HE approved search warrant on Trump's Florida home Did Trump ever visit LANL and their cowboy culture rub off on him? 8/11/2022 6:35 PM

  Proposal for LLNL Vision statement draft: We aspire to become an anti-racist and health-promoting research institution where: Diversity, equity, shared governance, and expansive notions of excellence are core institutional values. Wellness and an ethic of care are embedded throughout our campus culture and all policies and practices. We invest in a resource-rich learning environment to support the development and success of citizens of plural identities and from diverse socio-economic, racial, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds. Climate, environmental, and racial justice align with sustainable economic and planning decisions with local and global effects. Community engaged scholarship, service, and reciprocity are embedded in University practices that promote the economic, social, and cultural well-being of the communities we serve We hold ourselves and each other accountable to ensure these values drive all decision-making in research, pedagogical innovations, resource allocation,...

  From LLNL scientists https://www.science.org/content/article/nsf-grant-decisions-reflect-systemic-racism-study-argues The analysis supports earlier studies finding similar racial disparities in the funding of scientists by other federal agencies, notably the National Institutes of Health (NIH). And its authors—a team led by geochemist Christine Yifeng Chen, a postdoc at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory—attribute the gap in NSF funding rates, with white scientists at the top and Asian researchers at the bottom, to “systemic racism.” The NSF funding disparities “have cascading impacts that perpetuate a cumulative advantage to White [principal investigators] across all of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics,” they write in their study, posted earlier this month on the Center for Open Science preprint site.

  Is the projected CA Electric Grid Capacity in line with the growth of "Zero Emission" EV goals in CA, or are we getting over our skis? There is CA proposal to ban new gas engine vehicle sales in CA by 2035 in favor of zero emissions vehicles, like EVs, which will require more capacity from our CA electrical grid. Increasingly, CA cities are no longer installing natural gas furnaces, natural gas stovetops, and natural gas water heaters. Again, this will require more CA electrical grid capacity. And let's not forget about those ~200 natural gas fired electrical generating "peaker" plants in CA. Are those slated to be shut down to reduce pollution too? There is also talk of removing some hydroelectric dams in NE California for environmental reasons. Some assumptions (please modify as needed) 1. The average work commute of a CA driver is 47 miles/day. 2. The average EV can travel 4 miles/kWh, so 11.75kWh/day is needed to allow for the average daily commute distanc...

  Carlsbad Operations Alliance LLC has filed the 2nd bid protest for the WIPP Contract awarded to Bechtel https://www.gao.gov/docket/b-420913.2

 From the University of Osaka: https://www.inverse.com/science/lasers-artificial-magnetosphere/amp

  In the latest LLNL retirees newsletter, UCRS declared they had finished divesting from all companies with ties to fossil fuels. That sounds like a big hit to the bottom line of the fund. How are they going to replace the cash-flow coming from oil, gas, and coal? Or is UCRS about to take a huge dive  into the red  in order to please a bunch of eco-alarmists? GreggS