Letter to a Young Man Considering Los Alamos
Positronicus
He recently returned from a job interview. The following
exchange took place between him and a correspondent on
a private bulletin board.
Joe wrote (---'s):
Positronicus wrote (+++'s):
----- while Los Alamos Lab would be a great place to work,
----- I am not yet enamoured with the living conditions there.
++++
++++ I gotta say, Joe, if they make you an offer,
++++ THINK TWICE before you go there.
++++
++++ Remember that Los Alamos is first and foremost a nuclear
++++ weapons lab, and that people who dedicate their lives to
++++ developing weapons of mass destruction are not really very
++++ nice people, even when they are U.S. citizens.
---
--- I guess it boils down to this - It does not sound like you
--- and I are going to agree on political issues concerning
--- national security.
++
++ No. It boils down to this --
++ DOE and their contractors abuse their employees.
++ They are dangerous. I can't be clearer than that.
++ Politics has nothing to do with it.
-
- I have never heard of DOE employees being dangerous
- or abusive. Can you provide any details, because nobody
- here in New Mexico is talking. In fact every scientist I know
- (and I know LOTS of them) says that Los Alamos is the
- place to aim for, and are really pushing for me to get this
- position.
-
- So why are these guys abusive and dangerous?
Dear Joe:
Of course the people in New Mexico aren't talking about it, they're
recruiting you! (see http://www.logovo.ru/humor/recruiting.html)
As it turns out, they're also paid very well to keep quiet.
Over the past few days, I have looked up just a handful of the
thousands of documents of abuse by DOE and the national labs;
links to some of them are below. Since the cases covered are so
egregious that their victims are essentially compelled to make
them public, evidence of abuse by poisoning, contamination, and
political persecution are not hard to find. These are not rare
instances of bad luck, but replicated thousands and thousands
of times -- thousands of cancers, thousands of grieving families,
thousands of lawsuits, thousands of cover-ups and denials.
As bad as it is, it doesn't stop there. For every major, life-
threatening abuse there are dozens of less serious abuses which
do not leave as public a record. During my years at a national
lab, I personally witnessed lying, cheating, stealing, fabrication,
falsification, plagiarism, misogyny, nepotism, intimidation,
misappropriation of funds, sexual and other harassment, and fraudulent
representations to the government, all committed by lab managers.
Anyone who reported anything to DOE or the ethics office was defunded
and fired. I swear before God it is all true.
Nor is it accidental. I have never seen anything uglier than the look
of carnivorous satisfaction on a manager's face when he orders a
retaliation. Their never-ending stream of transparently self-serving
lies are nauseating.
"Abusive and dangerous" is not an exaggeration. These guys make
Ken Lay and his thugs at Enron look like Mary and her little lambs.
A lot of them belong in jail.
If you do wind up joining a national lab, I genuinely hope your
experience is better than mine was.
Enjoy the links.
Best Regards,
Positronicus
=================================================
"...a large organization saturated with cynicism, an arrogant
disregard for authority, and a staggering pattern of denial."
http://www.fas.org/sgp/library/pfiab/foreword.html
"Thomas Paine once said that "government, even in its best state,
is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one." This
report finds that DOE's performance, throughout its history, should
have been regarded as intolerable."
http://www.fas.org/sgp/library/pfiab/foreword.html
"Uranium, plutonium, and a variety of heavy metals found in
people's bodies ... It's time for the federal government to stop
automatically denying any responsibility and face up to the fact
that it appears as though it made at least some people sick."
Sen. Fred Thompson (R-TN), March 22, 2000
http://www.senate.gov/%7Egov_affairs/032200_thompson.htm
"In my opinion and experience, DOE and its contractors have a
long history of treating the health of its workers as
"expendable." The DOE sick workers evidence this, as does
DOE continuing history of reprisal against its concerned
employees." Joe Carson, http://www.carsonversusdoe.com
"Ann Orick limped to a Legislative Plaza lectern to face
lawmakers and onlookers, her hands shaking as she leaned
on a cane for support.
"The 51-year-old, who appears older than her years, described
how an unknown enemy has ravaged her body and, as she says,
ruined her family's life. The enemy, Orick says, is something
she was exposed to at the U.S. Energy Department's Oak Ridge
bomb-development complex where she worked for a dozen years?"
"From the lectern, Orick described the woman she was six years
ago: in steel-toed work boots, proudly working 60-80 hours a
week as a radiological technician. Then she described the Ann
Orick of today: Unable to work, her skin painful to the touch,
her vision closing to a tunnel, her blood and urine laced with
uranium, silver, nickel and strontium.
"I didn't get that at home," she said. "Those are not things
that are under my kitchen cabinet."
http://www.tennessean.com/sii/longterm/oakridge/part1/stories/athome.shtml
BEATRICE ALECK, LEAH SUE ALECK, SONJA ANDERSON, INEZ AUSTIN, etc.
http://www.tennessean.com/special/oakridge/part3/frame.shtml
see also http://www.tennessean.com/special/oakridge/part2/
"Since the beginning of the Cold War, the Department of
Energy (DOE) stridently opposed most occupational
disease claims by contractor employees in the nuclear
weapons complex as a matter of policy. [Then] Secretary
of Energy Bill Richardson stated that DOE-through its
contractors-- fought these workers' compensation claims
"regardless of merit." The hurdles faced by workers were
numerous: official secrecy, missing or altered exposure
data, impossible burdens of proof under state compensation
programs, opposition from a sophisticated legal machinery
that was greased by DOE-funded scientists who specialized
in fighting claims, and the unlimited resources of the US
Treasury which paid the contractor's legal costs plus a fee
for their trouble. Retaliation was faced by some who pressed
their claims, sending a message to others not to tempt fate."
-- Government Accountability Project
"This has been a very sad chapter in the history of the United
States.
Workers have worked at these nuclear establishments and plants
for many years, and they have been injured as a result, many of them
have been injured, the Department now acknowledges, as a result of
occupational exposures...
"In New Mexico, about 3 weeks ago, I attended a hearing in my
district
where workers came forward. They talked about how patriotic they were;
they talked about how they were serving their country for many, many
years and, as a result of their work, they believed they came down
with
cancers, with beryllium disease, with asbestosis, with a variety of
other
illnesses. They were very heart-wrenching stories."
U.S. Representative Tom Udall (D-NM)
Congressional Record, House, p. H2184, April 12, 2000
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getpage.cgi?dbname=2000_record&page=H2184&position=all
"To a great extent, those who did complain to management were
labeled as "malingerers" or "malcontents" or told that their health
complaints were "unrelated" or "all in their head."
"Mr. Chairman, it's unconscionable to me that people who were in
management could be so insensitive and uncaring about their fellow
workers..."
SENATOR GEORGE V. VOINOVICH, MARCH 22, 2000
http://www.senate.gov/%7Egov_affairs/032200_voinovich.htm
"The "Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Act,"
represents the first substantial acknowledgment by the government
that all its nuclear weapons workers were put at risk building the
country's arsenal."
"Officials estimate that during its first six years the program will
cost nearly $2 billion and compensate some 4,000 current and former
workers or their survivors. Eligible workers -- those suffering from
illnesses resulting from exposure to two toxic substances, beryllium
and silica, or who have contracted a radiation-induced cancer -- will
receive a lump sum payment of $150,000, plus medical benefits."
Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, vol. 57, no. 4, 2001
http://www.thebulletin.org/issues/2001/ja01/ja01flynn.html
see also http://www.thebulletin.org/issues/2001/ja01/ja01toc.html
"The Department of Energy is a threat to our national security ..."
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Todd Tiahrt, (R-Kansas)
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD -- HOUSE H5076 June 23, 2000
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getpage.cgi?dbname=2000_record&page=H5076&position=all
The Federal Government's Top Ten Worst Examples of Mismanagement
6. SECURITY VIOLATIONS AT THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
The Department does not adequately safeguarded America's
nuclear secrets. In just one case, an employee was dead for
11 months before department officials noticed that he still had
four secret documents signed out.
Thompson Government Management Report: "Government at the Brink"
United States Senate, June, 2001
http://www.senate.gov/%7Egov_affairs/vol1.pdf
"...Americans watching the hearing would have heard a great
deal about a bureaucratic culture that stifles innovation, threatens
whistleblowers and snuffs out even the most desperately needed
reforms."
Los Alamos' Hidden Lesson
By Paul Light
http://207.27.3.29/features/0899/0899ps.htm
"...based on nothing but hollow government allegations, apparent
racism and the need for a scapegoat, Lee explains how Congress'
and the national media's portrayal of him as a traitor more dangerous
than the Rosenbergs resulted in ruining his life and reputation.
Though not convicted, he spent nearly a year in 1999 shackled and
chained in prison."
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-
/0786868031/qid=1039183837/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-8936087-
0951969?v=glance&s=books
Like most American, Dr. Lee was incredibly naive about his own
government. If you don't believe Dr. Lee's version, which was just
what I expected from DOE and the Labs management, then you
don't understand your government. Like Dr. Lee, I was "investigated"
and "followed around" by inept FBI agents, just for working at a
National Laboratory and associating with Chinese (my wife and
graduate students). In over 20 years at the lab I never worked on
nuclear weapons, yet just associating with Asians at the time of
Dr. Lee's persecution was enough to damage my career.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/stores/detail/-
/books/0786868031/customer-reviews/ref=cm_cr_dp_2_1/104-8936087-0951969
The Department of Energy's War on Whistleblowers
------------------------------------------------
The government uses taxpayer dollars to help corporate contractors
retaliate against workers who expose unsafe practices at US nuclear
facilities.
by Chris Berdik
Jan. 17, 2001
http://www.motherjones.com/news_wire/whistleblowers.html
"The Department of Energy (DOE) contracts with not-for-profit
universities and private companies to operate its facilities. As
part of the cost of operating these facilities, DOE can reimburse
its contractors for the legal costs associated with cases brought
against them. These cases involve such matters as equal
employment opportunity, radiation and/or toxic exposure,
personal injury, and wrongful discharge."
"From fiscal year 1995 through the third quarter of fiscal year
2001,
there have been more than 2,100 cases involving various types of
complaints against DOE contractors and the Department has reimbursed
its contractors more than $290 million"
United States General Accounting Office
GAO-02-418R DOE Contractor Litigation Costs
March 8, 2002
http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d02418r.pdf
"Retaliation at DOE does not necessarily entail attempting to fire
federal employees. In the majority of cases in the security area,
DOE supervisors attempt to revoke the whistleblower's clearance
on trumped-up charges. Then they remove them from any
responsibility for oversightof security. On the other hand,
contractors often lose their contracts, or their jobs, for blowing
the whistle." http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/4971
Los Alamos Lab Investigation Expands
Fri Nov 22, 2002 11:59 PM ET
By DEBORAH BAKER, Associated Press Writer
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) - The investigation into allegations of financial
wrongdoing and coverups at Los Alamos National Laboratory has
expanded to include additional purchases made by lab employees,
officials said. ..
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20021123/ap_on_re_us/los_alamos_lab_2
Pink Slips For Lab Whistleblowers
LOS ALAMOS, N.M., Nov. 27, 2002
(CBS) Los Alamos National Laboratory has fired two whistleblowers
after someone delivered their reports outlining widespread theft and
fraud at the lab to a national watchdog group.
"...millions of dollars in stolen and "missing" items ... lab workers
using government credit cards like personal blank checks ... Diamond
necklace, diamond earrings, diamond bracelet ... Refrigerators, VCRs,
television sets ... One worker, who had a million-dollar-a-month
credit line, charged a custom Mustang vehicle to the taxpayers on her
government credit card ..."
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/11/18/national/main529674.shtml
Federal Panel Backs Lab Whistleblower
Thu Dec 5, 2002 12:07 PM ET
LOS ALAMOS, N.M. (AP) - A federal panel found that Los Alamos
National Laboratory retaliated against a whistleblower and ordered
the lab to raise his salary retroactively and pay him $49,000 in legal
fees...
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20021205/ap_on_re_us/los_alamos_lab_1
"Alene Anderson, an attorney with the Government Accountability
Project (GAP) which represented MacLeod in her complaint against
Los Alamos, stated, "The conduct of Los Alamos management in
this case illustrates an atmosphere of retaliation against employees
who raise concerns about safety, health and environmental issues.
For every whistleblower who is fired, a hundred other employees
learn the lesson that in order to keep your job at Los Alamos, keep
your mouth shut. This creates an unsafe environment, and is a
disservice to the government and the public."
--4/30/97 Alene Anderson (206) 292-2850
"They lost, then they lost again, and they need to get over it and
give Ms. Westbrook her money and her job back," said Held. Westbrook
is expecting about $80,000 and reinstatement plus attorney's fees.
http://www.oakridger.com/stories/110102/new_1101020064.html
"In every investigation concerning problems at the DOE weapons
facilities and laboratories, the individuals responsible for the
operation of defense programs consistently and repeatedly denied
the problems, punished the whistle blowers, and covered up the
problems to their superiors and Congress."
Representative John D. Dingell
http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/4971
Arthur E. Sowers
The Wall Street Journal, Friday, November 29, 2002, page A4, has a
moderately long article entitled: "Investigators Say Lab [LANL] Fired Them
Over Cover-Up Allegations" by John J. Fialka over stolen equipment,
inappropriate use of credit cards, and abuse of a purchasing system.
According to the article, the investigators were told by LANL to NOT talk
with fed officials about the problems.
Arthur E. Sowers, PhD
-----------------------------------------
| Science career information website: |
| http://www.magpage.com/~arthures |
-----------------------------------------
=========== no change to below, included for ref. & context =====
Old Pif
> "Joe" is a young man considering a position at Los Alamos.
> He recently returned from a job interview. The following
> exchange took place between him and a correspondent on
> a private bulletin board.
>
The long list of horrifying stories is skipped for brevity.
Wow! I AM impressed. What a challenge for Rembo type personalities. I
am curious whether Schwarzenegger would be interested in taking this
position. He is not young anymore, though ...
And another (deep) thought. It is amazing that people splashing hot
coffee in their panties are compensated with millions whereas the folk
who put basically their health and ultimately lives for the national
agenda are in such miserable situation. Where are all those lawyers?
Where are Alan Dershowitz and his brigade? Or he believes that it is
less challenging than saving OJ from jail?
Old Pif
Positronicus
He recently returned from a job interview. The following
exchange took place between him and a correspondent on
a private bulletin board.
Joe wrote (---'s):
Positronicus
> ... the folk
> who put basically their health and ultimately lives for the national
> agenda are in such miserable situation.
It would be a tragedy if it was only as bad as that. I'd like to
revisit one of the quotes:
"Retaliation at DOE does not necessarily entail attempting to fire
federal employees. In the majority of cases in the security area,
DOE supervisors attempt to revoke the whistleblower's clearance
on trumped-up charges. Then they remove them from any
responsibility for oversightof security. On the other hand,
contractors often lose their contracts, or their jobs, for blowing
the whistle." http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/4971
What the author of this except missed was that retalition at DOE
contractors *also* involves deliberately assigning workers to
jobs where they are exposed to radiation or toxic chemicals.
I am personally familiar with two such cases, and I am certain
there are more.
So, while some workers put their health and lives at risk in
the service of the national agenda, others are simply victims
of vengeful managers, and that's all they are. It's beyond tragic.
It is genuinely difficult to appreciate how pathological the labs are.
I cannot recommend then to anyone.
Positronicus
Positronicus
> The Wall Street Journal, Friday, November 29, 2002, page A4, has a
> moderately long article entitled: "Investigators Say Lab [LANL] Fired Them
> Over Cover-Up Allegations" by John J. Fialka over stolen equipment,
> inappropriate use of credit cards, and abuse of a purchasing system.
> According to the article, the investigators were told by LANL to NOT talk
> with fed officials about the problems.
It's clear the investigators didn't understand their jobs -- they
were supposed to find nothing, and if they did find something,
they were supposed to lie to the government and say they found
nothing. Given that they didn't understand this simple principle,
is it any wonder they were fired?
"...a large organization saturated with cynicism, an arrogant
disregard for authority, and a staggering pattern of denial."
http://www.fas.org/sgp/library/pfiab/foreword.html
Positronicus
jat...@ecn.ab.ca
<snip>
: It's clear the investigators didn't understand their jobs -- they
: were supposed to find nothing, and if they did find something,
: they were supposed to lie to the government and say they found
: nothing. Given that they didn't understand this simple principle,
: is it any wonder they were fired?
: "...a large organization saturated with cynicism, an arrogant
: disregard for authority, and a staggering pattern of denial."
: http://www.fas.org/sgp/library/pfiab/foreword.html
<snip>
I know of a number of academic institutions that are run like that.
Anybody who runs afoul of the system, whether it's the individual's fault
or not, is automatically guilty until proven innocent. The only thing,
any investigation of the matters in question will rarely find anything
supporting the case of the accused.
--
***************************************** "We set sail on this new sea
* Dr. Bernhard Michael Jatzeck, P. Eng. * because there is new knowledge
* * to be gained and new rights to
* jat...@freenet.edmonton.ab.ca * be won, and they must be won
***************************************** and used for the progress of
all people."
John F. Kennedy at Rice
University, Houston, Texas,
September 12, 1962
Arthur E. Sowers
This is quite similar to the problem encountered by inspectors back when
nuclear power plants were first being constructed and inspected. I
remember reading a number of articles where inspectors found
irregularities, cheats, errors, or substandard construction in these
plants. And, they wrote them up as failed inspections. There were actually
cases of workers threatening or administering bodily harm (i.e. physical
assault), managers forcing/coercing the inspectors to see psychiatrists
(as an intimidation), and terminations for finding flaws when they were
supposed to not find flaws. There were also secret police forces and hired
thugs -- much like the hired call girls sent by General Motors to
discredit Ralph Nader back in the '60s and when it was all over, Nader got
a public apology from GM -- that were sent out to thwart the hippie
movement and the peaceniks that were anti-anything Nukes.
For anyone who doubts me, that stuff really was in the newspapers back
then. There was an article a few years ago, I forgot the details, but it
was some guy who was an inspector and he didn't give them what they
wanted and they gave the guy a lot of grief.
There is at least one major book on whistle-blowers and I honestly would
recommend that people, for their own mental and physical health, just get
the hell out of the job when they see dirt before its too late. On the
other hand, there should be national medals of honor for those who can
survive and the bad guys get their rear ends blasted. The guys in power
have power and money and lawyers and power and money and lawyers and...it
goes on. Even in scientific circles, its still bad. The journal _Science_
has, over the years, published quite a few articles on what is called
"scientific misconduct" and it can be quite serious stuff.
My favorite pet peeves can be found in two old books: "In the name of
science" by Hans Neiburg (copyright circa '62), all about the dirty deals
between the DoD and the defense industry, and "The Invisible Government"
by Wise and Rose (or Rose & Wise, I can't remember), also circa early 60s,
and is about our spy agencies (CIA, NSA, and several others) and that they
have these very large budgets and are virtually unanswerable to anyone
while they go around unilaterally undermining whatever governments or
entities around the world they feel like and to hell with the concept of
democrasy. In the corporate world, is also a string of books dealing with
corporate misconduct: eg. "Bad Blood: Crisis in the Red Cross" by Judith
Reitman, "confessions of a Union buster" by Martin Jay Levitt, and "The
Big Boys" by Taylor and Nader (all about corporate CEOS and the authors
found every one of them to be assholes). I could name many more. And, of
course you've heard of Enron/Andersen, right? And, "Bill Gates" &
"monopoly"? They are only the tip of the iceberg. Here is some more snot:
Quote (page 261):
"The Prevalence of Corporate Crime"
"As we saw earlier, Edwin Sutherland's classic
study led him to conclude that many corporations
violated the law with enough frequency to be termed
"habitual criminals"(68). Although statistics on
corporate violations are not collected on a regular
basis, there is a good deal of evidence to suggest
that Sutherland's conclusion is substantially
correct. Journalistic accounts of the extent of
corporate crime paint a bleak picture of morality
in the busines world. A 1980 _Fortune_ article, for
example, found the lawlessness of big companies
startling, noting that 11 percent of 1,043
corporations studied had committed "at least one
major delinquency (69)." _US News and World Report_
discovered that over half of the nation's twenty-
five largest corporations had recently been
involved in serious misbehavior (criminal or
civil), and that between 1971 and 1980 "2,690
corporations of all sizes were convicted of federal
criminal offenses. (70)" And, in 1985, disclosures
of organizational misconduct had become so common
that the _New York Times_ observed that "a
corporate crime wave appears to be exploding. (71)"
* * *
"Examining the behavior of 477 largest publicly
owned manufacturing corporations in the United
States, the study ranged over a great variety of
illegal behavior, including the failure to supply
information to government agencies, air and water
pollution, bribery, tax violations, unfair trade
practices such as price fixing, transgressing labor
laws, and violations of regulations concerning
consumer safety. Approximately 60 percent of the
corporations had at least one federal action
brought against them in the two-year period covered
by the study (1975-1976) -- a rate of lawlessness
exceeding that found by Sutherland (who analyzed
his sample over a forty-year period)."
Page 266:
"A knowing disregard for consumer health has also
been found in the pharmaceutical industry. Clinard
and Yeager's study of corporate crime over a two
year period found that each of the seventeen
pharmaceutical firms in their sample had one
offense, and two companies had over twenty
violations (102). Most disquieting, as M. David
Ermann points out, drug companies have a long
tradition of fabricating test data and of
concealing hazards that cause birth defects,
illness, and death (103)."
Page 269:
"The FBI's 'Greylord Operation' revealed massive
corruption in Chicago's Cook County court system,
ending in the indictment of nearly ninety judges,
lawyers, and court officials. An FBI sting in South
Carolina -- called 'Operation Lost Trust,' but
known locally as 'Bubbagate' -- ensnared ten
legislators taking bribes, and a similar operation
in Arizona -- called 'Azcam' -- resulted in
convictions or indictments of seventeen people,
including seven state legislators.(127)"
This is all from chapter 8: "Crime in High Places"
including in professions, government, with 5-6
pages of references, all from the book
"Criminology" 2nd Edition, by Gresham M. Sykes (U.
Va, affiliation) and Francis T. Cullen (U.
Cincinnati, affiliation), and under the general
editorship of Robert K. Merton (Columbia
University), Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1992., 529
pages, incl. index.
---end of quoted material ----
jat...@ecn.ab.ca
<snip>
: This is quite similar to the problem encountered by inspectors back when
: nuclear power plants were first being constructed and inspected. I
: remember reading a number of articles where inspectors found
: irregularities, cheats, errors, or substandard construction in these
: plants. And, they wrote them up as failed inspections. There were actually
: cases of workers threatening or administering bodily harm (i.e. physical
: assault), managers forcing/coercing the inspectors to see psychiatrists
: (as an intimidation), and terminations for finding flaws when they were
: supposed to not find flaws. There were also secret police forces and hired
: thugs -- much like the hired call girls sent by General Motors to
: discredit Ralph Nader back in the '60s and when it was all over, Nader got
: a public apology from GM -- that were sent out to thwart the hippie
: movement and the peaceniks that were anti-anything Nukes.
<snip>
I've heard similar stories about what used to be the biggest power company
in Canada, the former Ontario Hydro. It also happens to be the largest
user of nuclear reactors in the country.
Prior to its breakup a few years ago, there were comments about how some
of those places were run, including shoddy maintenance and running units
with cracked fuel rod casings. Much of that could have been avoided by
proper and timely inspection. Part of that might have been due to the
culture of the utility in which one division didn't talk to another and
that sort of thing. One of its power stations, which was to be company's
showpiece, never met operated at full capacity and never fulfilled its
potential.
I used to work in an oil refinery many years ago and heard stories about
what had become the plant's laughingstock and resident white elephant. A
process unit for the decontamination of water before returning it into a
nearby river was built, but hadn't worked properly. Allegations of
rubbish and leftover brushes and rubber boots inside the piping abounded.
Apparently, some key people associated with that project had quickly left
the company and went elsewhere....
When the TransAlaska pipeline was built in the 1970s, there were
allegations of improper weld inspections and even fabricated test results.
Positronicus
>
> ... I honestly would
> recommend that people, for their own mental and physical health, just get
> the hell out of the job when they see dirt before its too late.
I have to agree; that is wise advice. Had I known it as a younger
man, I could have saved myself years of pointless grief.
Freedom is the freedom to walk away, and that's all it is.
Thankfully I remembered that in time.
> ... Edwin Sutherland's classic
> study led him to conclude that many corporations
> violated the law with enough frequency to be termed
> "habitual criminals"(68).
> ... from chapter 8: "Crime in High Places"
> including in professions, government, with 5-6
> pages of references, all from the book
> "Criminology" 2nd Edition, by Gresham M. Sykes (U.
> Va, affiliation) and Francis T. Cullen (U.
> Cincinnati, affiliation), and under the general
> editorship of Robert K. Merton (Columbia
> University), Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1992., 529
> pages, incl. index.
Thank you for the quote and the citation. Henceforth I will
think of DOE and the labs as "habitual criminals". I wonder if
that's what the Rudman commission meant when they wrote ...
"Thomas Paine once said that "government, even in its best
state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an
intolerable one." This report finds that DOE's performance,
throughout its history, should have been regarded as intolerable."
http://www.fas.org/sgp/library/pfiab/foreword.html
Positronicus
Positronicus
> Arthur E. Sowers (arth...@magpage.com) wrote:
>
> <snip>
>
> : This is quite similar to the problem encountered by inspectors back when
> I've heard similar stories about what used to be the biggest power company
> in Canada, the former Ontario Hydro. It also happens to be the largest
> user of nuclear reactors in the country.
It is amazing how much corruption surrounds nuclear technology,
both in the power industry and in the weapons complex. I hypothesize
that it's due to the high concentration of money and power, which
tends to attract the wrong people.
Positronicus
jat...@ecn.ab.ca
<snip>
: > I've heard similar stories about what used to be the biggest power company
: > in Canada, the former Ontario Hydro. It also happens to be the largest
: > user of nuclear reactors in the country.
: It is amazing how much corruption surrounds nuclear technology,
: both in the power industry and in the weapons complex. I hypothesize
: that it's due to the high concentration of money and power, which
: tends to attract the wrong people.
One reason Ontario Hydro was split up was because it accumulated an
enormous debt. Nukes are expensive to build and take a long time to do
so, and their lifetime is relatively short compared with other forms of
power generation. When one bets the farm on a technology like that, and
it still doesn't work properly, a large financial crater is usually the
legacy.
Arthur E. Sowers
If you remember your newspaper history, both the FBI and the IRS, in the
last couple of years also got their share of egg-in-the-face.
But, if you want to, look up that book "The FBI Nobody Knows" from circa
1960s. You might think they were describing the KGB.
Old Pif
>
> both in the power industry and in the weapons complex. I hypothesize
> that it's due to the high concentration of money and power, which
> tends to attract the wrong people.
>
> Positronicus
Partially. And partially it is cultural thing. If you read how General
Groves hadnle everything in Manhatten project you find a lot of
similarities.
Old Pif
Positronicus
> The Wall Street Journal, Friday, November 29, 2002, page A4, has a
> moderately long article entitled: "Investigators Say Lab [LANL] Fired Them
> Over Cover-Up Allegations" by John J. Fialka over stolen equipment,
> inappropriate use of credit cards, and abuse of a purchasing system.
> According to the article, the investigators were told by LANL to NOT talk
> with fed officials about the problems.
Here's another article, on the congressional investigations.
(Now I can relax -- with Congress on the job, I'm sure things
will get cleaned up in a big hurry.)
NOVEMBER 27, 2002
Senate committee launching investigation of firings
at Los Alamos nuclear laboratory By Peter Brand
Congressional investigators are looking into the firing of two
Department of Energy officials just weeks after they reported security
breaches at the Los Alamos National Laboratory...
http://www.thehill.com/news/112702/investigation.aspx
Positronicus