Thursday, January 04, 2007

 

Is Resistance Futile?

If you think that resistance to the corporate vise-grip is hopeless (here I'm talking mainly to LLNL personnel, since LANL folks seem to have gone limp, but not even due to passively resisting), check out the website of, by, and for the soldiers in Iraq. Now these people have a serious problem to fix in their lives; they're not just whimpering about keeping their jobs. I guess they may know a bit more about bravery ...

--Pat, the Dog-tagged

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http://www.appealforredress.org/

An Appeal for Redress from the War in Iraq

Many active duty, reserve, and guard service members are concerned about the war in Iraq and support the withdrawal of U.S. troops. The Appeal for Redress provides a way in which individual service members can appeal to their Congressional Representative and US Senators to urge an end to the U.S. military occupation. The Appeal messages will be delivered to members of Congress at the time of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in January 2007.

The wording of the Appeal for Redress is short and simple. It is patriotic and respectful in tone.

As a patriotic American proud to serve the nation in uniform, I respectfully urge my political leaders in Congress to support the prompt withdrawal of all American military forces and bases from Iraq . Staying in Iraq will not work and is not worth the price. It is time for U.S. troops to come home.

The Appeal for Redress is sponsored by active duty service members based in the Norfolk area and by a sponsoring committee of veterans and military family members. The Sponsoring committee consists of Iraq Veterans Against the War, Veterans For Peace, and Military Families Speak Out.

Members of the military have a legal right to communicate with their member of Congress.

Attorneys and counselors experienced in military law are available to help service members who need assistance in countering any attempts to suppress this communication with members of Congress.

Appeal for Redress
PO Box 53052
Washington, DC 20009-3052
info@appealforredress.org
Phone: 360-241-1414
Fax: 360-694-8843
© 2006. All Rights Reserved.

Comments:
Retired From LANL in 2005

Doesn't this sort of beg the question: Pat, why are you running a blog for a bunch of people who aren't willing to help themselves?

I thought the previous LANL blog clearly demonstrated that there were only a handful of people at Los Alamos who had the courage to stand up for their convictions. The rest just cowered in anonymity. I imagine many of the worthwhile people have already left, or are planning to do so. What remains a year from now will truly be the dregs.
 
This or any other political crap does not belong on this blog.
 
Disagree, 10:09 am. The decision that gave the LANL contract to Bechtel & friends was political. Every bit as political as the process that gave Bechtel & Halliburton those huge Iraq contracts.

And the politics stink.
 
10:09 am is clearly a shill for The Man.
But that's OK. We're all adults here. Oh, and don't forget:
"All politics is local." (Tip O'Neill)
 
Pat, me Laddie, you do an old heart good. It's nice to know that you are trying to rally (or herd - as your breed is known for) the troops. But, alas, Laddie, your efforts are akin to "closing the barn door after the cows got out." or losing your sheep in a snowstorm. The real problem (and solution) lies in DC, where LANL has few to no friends or supporters. And, remember, it is the American citizens who elect these idiots to office. And, by the way, a definition of "idiot" includes "...not suitable for public office."

A few years ago you might have been very successful at nipping at the heels of a certain Senator Hobson (aka..the "Big Bad Wolf") and his cronies (the rest of the pack) who decided that commercialization was the best way to run National Labs. Yes, we (employees) were the sheep who lost our way, with no leader (shepherd - aka Lab Director) and no friends or guides (Pat, where were you then?) to warn us of impending doom. We merely plodded along, writing proposals for funding, doing research, our jobs, essentially in a vacuum. The die was cast then. Now, we are suffering the consequences.

And, before you jump all over me, please know that I have actively supported employee respect and proper treatment since I came to the Lab. What has it gotten me? Basically I am labeled a trouble maker, blackballed, harassed, assaulted and battered in the workplace, suffered through the bogus complaint resolution system, blasted by the arbitration process (I was too assertive), and am now confined to a small "kennel" in the middle of nowhere. Why do I stay? I like the people I work with, and I enjoy my job - when I get to do it. My resistance has been futile.
 
11:46 Am:
Ach, Laddie!
Ye're bein' too harsh on y'self!
There's nothin' wrang wi' havin' black balls! It shows ye've been kick'd by scooundrels! And ye can swerrel aroond an' bite 'em i' th' ASS whae they're na loookin'! Fa' they be a bahhd boonch, they be, tha's f' shoor.
Ken tha' ye're a boorder collie, nae? Sa pack it oop, an' snaeek behind th' sheep ye're boound ta. They'll fallah ye i' time, I'm shoor.

--Pat, the boorder collie.
 
How bad could the current government's Contractor Mania get? How about this story below. Paid contractors are now being implicated in torture tactics at Gitmo. They were apparently directing US military forces to carry out the work! It' a new low in the governments march toward complete corporatization of the government. LANL is only a small part of a much bigger and very troublesome trend.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/03/AR2007010301759_pf.html

//

Contractors Are Cited in Abuses at Guantanamo - Washington Post, Jan 4

New allegations of detainee abuse at Guantanamo Bay released by the FBI on Tuesday put private contractors at the center of interrogation operations, raising questions once again about where they fit in the military's chain of command.

The FBI's disclosures, which are based on eyewitness reports, refer several times to contractors directing the Army's interrogation efforts at the military detention center in Cuba. In at least one case, FBI agents were told that detainees may have been mistreated on orders from a contractor.

Taken together, the documents suggest a greater role for contractors than was previously known, and contracting experts said they indicate a further blurring of the limits on how much responsibility the private sector can carry in doing the public's work.

"These are incredibly sensitive and important government jobs. That's why you're supposed to have a very clear and public chain of command," said Brookings Institution scholar Peter W. Singer. "But now there's a confusion about proper roles."
 
Ach, Laddie! You are a love indeed. But can a female be a havin' black balls? And, ya, I bite 'em i' th' A$$ whae they're na loookin'! It's just a double whammy when ye've been kick'd by scooundrels and you are a classy lady.
 
Ach, LASSIE are ye then! Well, so am I! We're a fair pair, then, are we nae? Ach, ye thought that PAT were a laddie's name, didn't ye then ...

--Pat, the boorder collie
 
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