Brad Lee Holian checked in today...
Brad stood up against Nanos (and others) allegations that LANL had a dismal safety and security record by publishing a well-formed arguement against those allegations in
Physics Today.
Again he stood up against LANS/Bechtel's ridiculous random drug-testing policy in a
signed letter to Director Anastasio.
At least twice now, he has called for a concerted stand against the attacks on LANL and we, the people, have failed to step forward.
Look forward to some posts revisiting these two issues in the near future. The Doctor has a lot of research to do first.
Strangely yours,
Doctor Love
Dear Dr.
As to the Shutdown, I think it was part of the
end-game drama begun in 2003, when the final decision to privatize was
announced. That really was the end, though we may have been in a state
of denial. I had hoped that an uprising of the staff would derail it,
but no Uprising ensued, even after Nanos and his benighted Shutdown.
When Pat, the Dog, started up his/her blog, I thought s/he would be
able to kick-start the staff into some kind of response. I sent him/her
a post of my view of random drug testing, and then a calmer, more
reasoned letter to Mike Anastasio, which also got published in the
conventional media. I knew that the staff would meekly pee, but I
really did have a few moments of hope that Anastasio would see reason
and cancel the random part, in order to salve the morale of the
beaten-down Labbies. Well, we know how THAT little scene played out.
Then, finally, when the RRW decision was announced, having been cooked
for months in advance of the "competition," I knew it was all over at
LANL for another two years, at least. And I got personal confirmation
of that from Senator Bingaman himself at the recent All-Hands-On-Deck
Meeting. Now, it looks like the two new blogs (yours and
PinkyandtheBrain's) will be the only source of succor to the abuse
victims trying to survive their bludgeoning. Best of luck to you.
As to the drug testing, I believe that Al Zelicoff has written
extensively on how those things work. If memory serves me (you can look
up Al's comments on Pat's blog), the only thing that CAN be reliably
discovered is marijuana, because it is absorbed into the fatty tissues
of the body and slowly released. Then there is methamphetamine, if it
is ingested only a few hours in advance of the test, since it is
water-soluble and eliminated from the body rather quickly (half a day
or so). (Beware allergy sufferers: the breakdown products of sudafed,
used as an ingredient for making meth, are probably identical to the
breakdown products of meth itself!) The Powers-that-Be, thanks to our
vigilant press and attention-starved Congressmen, only care about
nailing trailer-trash meth dealers and smashing subversive,
non-conformist pot smokers. For Lab management, the rest is gravy. And
deterrence. If they had REALLY cared about helping Lab people with
their self-destructive addictive behaviors, they would not have made
the whole business so adversarial. But "Adversarial 'R' Us" is the
Bechtel motto.
All the best, chin up, etc., ... AND ... patients!
-Brad Lee Holian
