NASA Has Thieves. So What Else Is New?

I'm not surprised:

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In June, NASA’s space shuttle program will take its last flight. The Action News I-Team has uncovered some problems NASA is facing on the ground.

NASA reports obtained by the I-Team show $479,108 dollars worth of high-tech equipment simply vanished at Kennedy Space Center in 2010.

When I was working at the SSCL (Superconducting Supercollider) in Texas, they discovered an employee with a huge amount of SSCL property in his garage.

This guy was either so arrogant or so stupid that he didn't consider it necessary to stash the loot in a storage shed somewhere, he kept in his garage. Even after having been discovered, the man was allowed to remain on the job while the "investigation" proceeded.(laugh here)

He was there until the collider project was cancelled by Congress.

During that time, he was provided full pay and benefits, although he was not allowed to perform any work, only to remain at his desk under the watchful eye of SSCL security. He mostly read books, listened to music and news, and played cards... for eight hours a day. But he was severly punished: Nobody would go to lunch with him.(Cry here)

You see... He was black, and the SSCL folks had no desire whatsoever to stir up the black caucus hornets nest in Washington by appearing to be anything less than totally, completely 100% fair while handling this case involving what the black caucus would without question instantly believe to be the racist persecution of a victimized minority.

You see... Any action or activity that could even remotely damage the SSCL's chances for more federal money was absolutely forbidden. Not that it mattered in the long run, they still got cancelled.

NASA - I'm quite certain - has barely scratched the surface of internal theft. I'm also quite certain that little if any real action will take place over all the losses.

Same kind of situation arose at LANL (Los Alamos National Laboratory) when I was working at the Meson Physics Facility Accelerator Division. Another minority, this time a Mexican.

So it's not anything new to discover huge amounts of thievery at government facilities.... It's gone on forever, and generally never prosecuted successfully because of the minority minefield.

But what the hell.. It's only taxpayer money... and all the stuff was used.

And besides, literally everyone walked away with U.S. Government pens and pencils in their shirt pockets and briefcases, and nobody got excited over that either.