From: ir560@sdcc3.ucsd.edu ()
Newsgroups: sci.space.policy
Subject: NASA MANAGEMENT CONDEMNED
Date: 6 May 1998 09:28:35 GMT

         Space Scientist Condemns NASA Management

BORREGO SPRINGS, California - At a strategy meeting of leading
space scientists and engineers at this desert resort,
Dr. John Romachek of the Space Exploration and Telecommunications
Institute has verbally condemned top NASA management for its
treatment of a Boeing Company employee and for allowing other
agencies of the Federal government to carry out Internet eavesdropping
at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in violation of Constitutional rights.

Romachek declared, "NASA's abuse of the principle of free speech
is without parallel," citing the case of a Boeing Company employee
who was interrogated recently for posting Internet updates on Space
Station construction delays and other information of vital interest to the
American taxpayer.  "Our courageous friend 'Bitflip' has been silenced,
and we are left wondering what will happen when the American public
realizes that secret police tactics reminscent of the
KGB are being used against fellow citizens," Romachek said.

Romachek also brought to light another case where privacy
of citizens may be violated.  "At the Jet Propulsion Laboratory,
which is operated by the California Institute of Technology under
contract to NASA, the National Security Agency will be performing
a six-month campaign of electronic eavesdropping under the guise
of a computer security test," Romachek revealed.  "The morale of
workers at this historic laboratory who have produced major
triumpths in the exploration of our Solar System is now being
undermined by a Kafkaesque scheme from the dark corners of a
government run amuck.  Surely, we can protect computers from
a few hackers with off-the-shelf commercial software and the
advice of well-trained consultants.  Why are we turning the cold
war bloodhounds on ourselves?", Romachek asked.

"The answer", Romachek concludes, "lies at the top-most levels
of government.  It is the politics of deceit that is determining
many of the goals of our national space program.  It is for
purely political reasons that the Space Station is going to be
completed at any cost.  The politicians in control of NASA
demand that NASA silence the truthsayers and the order is carried
out by a NASA management constantly in fear of budget cuts and
termination. Top NASA management needs to stand up in the spirit
of truth and condemn their evil masters."

"In the case of JPL, you had the freethinking wonderlab that gave you
Voyager and now you have TQM and people wondering what happened to
the good old days.  Clearly, NASA is positioning itself to tighten
its grip on JPL, perhaps by using data obtained by the NSA
to weed out those who personal opinions do not match the dictates
of the political masters of NASA", Romachek predicted.

Romachek ventured, "When the politicians start using the investigative
and policing powers of the United States to further their own
political agenda, to hasten the erosion of personal rights and
liberties instead of to enforce the Constitutional laws of the land
with respect to all persons, no matter how powerful, then you have a
situation leading a totalitarian regime.  You see now how government
employees and contractors are being treated, and that is how John Q. Public
will be treated in short order."

From: jamesoberg@aol.com (JamesOberg)
Newsgroups: sci.space.policy
Subject: Re: NASA MANAGEMENT CONDEMNED
Date: 10 May 1998 23:07:14 GMT

I have had very similar experiences as Bitflip, and it seems a natural
consequence of the desperate make-believing at the highest levels of the
federal space program, as their delusions about the Russian partnership
continue to disintegrate in front of their eyes. What is more humanly natural
than to viciously attack anybody who speaks differently (and more accurately)
to those people who must not catch on for as long as possible -- the public and
Congress?

Newsgroups: sci.space.policy
From: thomsona@netcom.com (Allen Thomson)
Subject: Re: NASA MANAGEMENT CONDEMNED
Date: Sun, 10 May 1998 23:39:01 GMT

In article <1998051023071400.TAA06838@ladder01.news.aol.com> jamesoberg@aol.com (JamesOberg) writes:

>I have had very similar experiences as Bitflip, and it seems a natural
>consequence of the desperate make-believing at the highest levels of the
>federal space program, as their delusions about the Russian partnership
>continue to disintegrate in front of their eyes. What is more humanly natural
>than to viciously attack anybody who speaks differently (and more accurately)
>to those people who must not catch on for as long as possible -- the public and
>Congress?


Yes, I suspect many have had such experiences.  I've certainly had
stern admonitions from various parties who were acting at the
behest of the NRO that posting on the Internet could be bad
for business.  And there are at least several instances in which
the USN submariners have put heavy pressure on those who have
questioned official views.

This is indeed just part of being human -- one shouldn't be surprised
when it happens and be prepared to deal with it, or not do it the first
place.

From: jamesoberg@aol.com (JamesOberg)
Newsgroups: sci.space.policy
Subject: Re: BitFlip and the discontents
Date: 20 May 1998 12:50:00 GMT

Let's also not forget what happened to Todd Breed, who spent a few years on the
NASA team in Moscow. He was bureaucratically brutalized for writing some very
insightful and informative memos on the inner workings of the Russian space
industry, that got posted on the Internet, and this added onto his private
stock of personal agonies. How much this contributed to what happened to him
can't be known,  but it's one more case where an honest voice was silenced,
this time forever.