Hippie NASA Employees Fighting New Badges
Some stupid hippies who managed to work at CalTech as JPL contractors are suing the federal government. They want to block NASA from implementing a new badging process which every other federal employee and contractor has already gone through.
The process involves being fingerprinted and having a background check performed. Once fingerprints are taken and run through a criminal background check, a badge is issued to the employee, allowing them to work on federal projects. The goal is to keep criminals and terrorists out of the government infrastructure.
But Susan Foster and a bunch of whiny liberals at CalTech are not happy that their fingerprints will be checked and certainly don’t want anyone asking their neighbors if they are good people or not.
From the AP here:
Jet Propulsion Laboratory scientists and engineers sued NASA and the California Institute of Technology on Thursday, challenging extensive new background checks that the space exploration center and other federal agencies began requiring in the wake of the Sept. 11 terror attacks.
The lawsuit says NASA is violating the Constitution by calling on employees — everyone from janitors to visiting professors — to permit investigators to delve into medical, financial and past employment records, and to question friends and acquaintances about everything from their finances to sex lives. Those who refuse could lose their jobs, the suit says.“They don’t tell you what they’re looking for, they don’t tell you when they’re looking for it, they won’t tell us what they’re doing with the data,” said plaintiff Susan Foster, a technical writer and editor at JPL for nearly 40 years.
JPL employees have until Sept. 28 to fill out forms authorizing the background checks. Those who don’t will be barred from JPL and be “voluntarily terminated” as of Oct. 27. A request for a preliminary injunction blocking the requirements is to be heard in court Sept. 24.
A 2004 Homeland Security presidential directive mandated new security badges for millions of federal workers and contractors.
Foster said she will resign before the badges are required, and that there were members of the clerical staff who were too frightened about losing their jobs to come forward.
Foster is scared because she probably has a growing operation in her basement or some other criminal history. And with 40 years under her belt, she is probably afraid that she will lose her valuable pension if she is fired for a security violation.
Foster’s website is here. HSPD12 is here.
Thank god your on the ball here this slipped through the crack on my radar. Yeah, what does she have to hide, we in the Homeland need to know. Was ist das hier? I mean what is this? Next thing you know others will try to bring down the Father Land. We must stop this now! Der Father Land must know where your parents came from, we must know if you are loyal to the Party. She has her movies confused, not Treasure of the Sierra Madre, “We don’t need no stinkin’ badges.” Rather, Triumph of The Will, an impressive spectacle of Germany’s adherence to Hitler.
0 to Hitler in 3 sentences. Typical lib arguments. Smoke a bowl and work on a commune, or allow the government to do the background check to make sure you are loyal to the country and not a criminal. The choice is a simple one dummkopf.
Herr Pat,
You are richtig. She should be wearing a “peace sign” so that we could tell who she is, and get the “commune” ready for her. No doubt, the 40 year infiltration, would have gone unnoticed and her “loyalty” to the “Homeland” would not have been questioned, if not for 9/.11, Das Fatherland, needs members that submit to the will of Herr Richt Marshall Chertoff. After all my house hasn’t needed to be painted since I’ve wrapped it in plastic and duct tape. If her views are contrary to the “Homeland” , her vote might get lost, and the “Commune” would have new quest. After all she may “out a spy” or cause people to die or disrupt the flow of profits, all against the will of the “Fatherland”.
After the Hippies, we should “question” anybody that does not share our view of der fatherland. I have a list.
I find it interesting that such horrid comments can be made about individuals for whom “Pat” has no knowledge. Nor does he know precisely what portions of the background check Ms. Foster finds offensive. I believe Ms. Foster has been employed by JPL for more years that perhaps “Pat” has on this planet. Surely, JPL knows her character by now without resorting to other invasive requirements.
Without going further into the growing lack of personal privacy in the country, I will simply say that (1) I know Susan and she is not a hippie, she is a technical writer (2) she does not have a criminal record. A standard background check would have determined that years ago (3) She doesn’t have a basement.
Hi PJ, thanks for writing.
If she doesn’t have a criminal record, what’s her problem then? Just put her fingerprints on the card and sign the paperwork like every other federal employee.
Other research schools do it too. That Caltech and JPL have gotten away without having to do it for so long is what is wrong with this picture.
Hello Pat
Get a grip and read the Constitution (that’s a start), most people protesting this badging and questions about our loyalty are CONSERVATIVES, not hippies.
It’s not about hiding anything, its about privacy and the rule of law. We are not civil servants; we have all the headaches of civil service and none of the perks.
You sound like a child, maybe you should go back to collage and finishes you schooling…
You do not work here and personal attacks on people you do not know are repulsive.
Hi Taenha,
This is not a constitutional question. This is about submitting to a background check to get a job with the federal government. Every federal employee must be screened.
And no, the people fighting this are entrenched academics. You guys will lose this case because it is you being childish by not wanting to follow the rules.
Man, thought I’d stumbled onto a hate site. As a 20 year FEDERAL employee who does work for NASA, who isn’t a ‘hippie’, and who does believe in ensuring security of our facilities, even I think this is overreach. We already do background checks for all employment, that includes our contractors. But giving open access to all medical and financial records? Sorry, that’s too much; there really is no need for that; clearly you don’t know what you’re talking about. If a real investigation is called for, it’s easy enough to get a warrant. Your argument that people who don’t have anything to hide shouldn’t have a problem with this breach of privacy is a ridiculous thing to say, especially for an American. The reason we have three branches of government, and a balance between them, is to prevent or redress precisely these overreaches of one branch. As a federal employee, I made an oath to uphold the Constitution from all enemies foreign and domestic. I guess you’re one of the domestic ones.
Are you seriously calling me a “domestic enemy?” You are a crackpot Scott. It makes me question your judgement. The so-called background check is a standard financial credit check. Every federal employee goes through it.
And I know you will go along with the new requirements too, cause it would be a shame if you have to work at McDonalds or Roy Rogers with your 20 years experience at NASA.
Scott, Taehna and Rush,
The lawsuit failed on all counts except one, which is the question of how much dope JPL Hippies smoke, but that is likely to be overturned on appeal.
Good luck getting a job in any other industry. I think most job applications ask if you do drugs, and employers certainly have the right to know that.
Don’t know how I missed it, but the JPL hippies must submit to drug screenings or they get fired. It was a unanimous ruling by the Supreme Court of the United States. Just. Like. I. Predicted.
Oh, and if you weren’t too busy smoking dope you guys might be able to fly a global warming rocket.