I wasn't going to post this

Bernie Foy is someone for whom I have a great deal of respect. He has never been afraid to speak out at LANL when he saw a situation that needed correcting. Bernie was one of the staff members who attended the meeting with NNSA head Brooks at LANL last December 17. He did not hesitate to ask Brooks hard questions during that meeting. Nor was he reticent about putting Nanos on the spot during all of the subsequent "all hands" meetings that were held prior to Nanos' abrupt departure in May, 2005. Nor in his (now hidden from the public eye) letters to the LANL NewsBulletin. Keep up the good work, Bernie.

In any event, Bernie was adamant that he wanted "to be on record publicly with my comment" that he sent us a couple of days ago. So here it is. On behalf of Brad and myself: thanks for the compliment.

Doug:

Please accept my thanks for maintaining the LANL blog and for all you have
done to improve communication about problems at LANL. The technical staff
at LANL owe much to you and Brad Holian for standing up bravely for the
truth about events at this institution.

This blog has taught us all a great deal. Not everything has been healthy,
particularly some of the anonymous commentary, but the blog still played an
essential part in recovery from the horrible decision to shut down
operations in July 2004. We will live with the damage from that
catastrophic failure of judgment for many years to come. Whether we will
regain the full confidence of funding sponsors remains to be seen.

For me, the most profound lesson of the last two years is that the
technical staff need to be vocal about the problems at LANL. Use every
opportunity and every mechanism to make your voice heard about problems
that obstruct technical productivity. Things go wrong when the staff remain
silent.

Thank you, Doug and Brad, for your bravery, your willingness to stand up
for mistreated employees, your efforts at openness and honesty. LANL is a
poorer place for having lost both of you.

-- Bernard Foy