Because you know ALL the facts? I note from your various other postings you like to demand sources and facts from those you disagree with. You seem to be an expert on the military/aerospace industry as well as the medical field, vaccines, oriental politics, what else? Yet you cast accusations at unnamed low-mid level employees without citing a single reference, make many factual errors in your claims, and considering your political leanings, chose to divide the conservative members that I believe you include yourself in the same way I might expect a liberal to do.
It is not a callous attitude to hold individuals accountable for their poor judgement.
Sort of like saying ALL Enron employees were guilty, (I know a few GOOD folks that lost their jobs due to the mismanagement there), or all WorldCom employees knew that skimming was taking place, or all the employees of banks of the S&L scandel knew. How many thousands would you like to see suffer so that you can feel like justice was done when the fat cats got away anyhow? Why would a Loral employee be any more malicious than any other company? BTW Hughes was also charged in the China affair. What is your position wrt that company? Your comparison of an employee who choses a job based on his/her interests, skills and ambitions, location, family obligations, etc, with every intention of following law, to an HIV patient who chooses to engage in unsafe sex is a poor parallel. And I fail to see at all the point wrt to this posting your comment about abortion.
Factual error 1: contracts at Hughes Aerospace, Rockwell, Northrop, MDAC, Boeing, Lockheed, TRW, and, yes, Loral were granted through a political process...
Since pre-1996 when Loral sold off all its interest except its space systems division aquired from Ford Aerospace previously, Loral ceased to be a "defense contractor". The companies contracts were competed and the only govt contact outside of small NASA studies was the GOES weather birds, competitively bid.
2:substantial economic downturn at the hands of those who PROFITTED at Loral.
While no doubt Bernie and a few corporate friends profited, it would be premature to blame any single companies misdealings for an economic downturn.
3:failed President proclaim his innocence while the employees at Loral CHOSE to support his campaign
the CEO yes, employees, some for sure, others definitely not. But again now you condemn some just because of political leanings as opposed to intention illegal activity. Are you a conservative or a fascist? What is the political landscape of any company?
I will sum up all the other inaccuracies by saying that Skynet was aquired from the proceeds of the sale of the Loral defense arm to reposition the company in the commercial market where the corporate thought its profits margins would be better (than the then downsizing defense industry) and because the profits in commercial space turn out to be primarily in the service provider, not the satellite maker. Satellite builder profit margins are very small even in good years. Finally, SS/L is not a launch vehicle manufacturer and the protocol that was broached by 'an individual' no longer employed had nothing to do with rockets/third stage orbit insertion. It had to due with releasing without Govt approval of a failure analysis report of the Long March III failure in Feb 1996. That particular employee was 'removed' shortly following the event and I would blame the then Clinton govt for never prosecuting him. You know a lot less than you think with regard to this.
Blame Clinton/Bernie/greedy wall streeters all you want. Blame the criminals who committed the offense and blame those who failed to prosecute them. Lay off the white and blue collar workers that make up the horsepower that drives the economic engine of this country and want nothing more than what any other patriotic american wants, the opportunity to make the life of his/her family better, the opportunity to contribute to society and country, and the pleasure of doing so at a job you enjoy.
Each citizen must take personal responsibility for their deeds.
If I thought the company I worked for was engaged in illegal activities, particularly where national security was concerned, I'd blow the whistle in a minute. Your insinuation is that patriots like myself who are employed at Loral would not is both slander and insult. But reading some of your previous postings, you seem practiced at it.
I am going to celebrate Independence Day now and I wish you and all a happy and safe weekend. Perhaps, indignation aside, you will find in the future that we do not see that far apart on most issues.
PS - I am guessing by your screen name and other posts that your in the medical field. I just want to say I would never similarly wish your hospital/place of employment is shut down putting hundreds of dedicated medical professionals out of work because a few corporates who run that system live off my tax dollars, medicare, other mismanaged govt spending, etc and manage to 'lose', fail to account for, or bilk the insurance companies for millions every year.
You appear practiced and seasoned at defending the indefensible policies of Loral. My comments were specifically targetted at you and your colleagues who CHOSE to work at Loral. It is the workers at a company who CHOOSE to engage in work at a company. The defense that "I was just following orders" does not compute. The fact is that engineers at Loral were actively paid by their company to transfer technology to the PRC. When I hear people attempting to defend the ABUSIVE antics of a ridiculously hypocritical management, it is a lark. Wake up!
Since you request quotes and facts (something that is sometimes lacking in the trenches of engineering firms), let me quote the Cox Report on this matter.
By agreeing to procure numerous satellites from Hughes Electronics Co. (Hughes) and Space Systems/Loral (Loral) in the early 1990s, the PRC created a mutuality of interest with two companies well-positioned to advocate the liberalization of export controls on these platforms.
For example, Bernard L. Schwartz, Chairman and CEO of Loral Space & Communications, Ltd., the parent company of Loral, met directly on at least four occasions with Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown after 1993, and accompanied him on a 1994 trade mission to the PRC.113
C. Michael Armstrong, the former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of GM Hughes Electronics, the parent company of Hughes, has served as Chairman of President Clinton’s Export Council since 1993, working with the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Commerce, and others to "provide insight and counsel" to the President on a variety of trade matters.114 Armstrong also serves or has served as a member of the Defense Preparedness Advisory Council, the Telecommunications Advisory Council, and the Secretary of State’s Advisory Council.115
Both Armstrong and Schwartz, as well as other executives from high-technology firms, advocated the transfer of export licensing authority from the "more stringent control" of the State Department to the Commerce Department. Armstrong met with the Secretary of Defense, the National Security Advisor, and the Secretary of State on the matter, and both Schwartz and Armstrong co-signed a letter with Daniel Tellep of Lockheed Martin Corporation to the President urging this change.116 The changes they advocated were ultimately adopted.
Between 1993 and January 3, 1999, Loral and Hughes succeeded in obtaining waivers or export licenses for an aggregate of five satellite projects.117
Regarding the awards and merits involved with satellite deals (which you appear to deny), there is CLEARLY a political process at play. My conclusion is that you are either attempting to deceive us or you are attempting to deceive yourself. If you are an engineer, you are in denial. If you are in executive management, you're a liar. Anyone with any managerial experience in aerospace or engineering KNOWS that politics played a role in the prosperity of Loral and the demise of virtually every other company around it.
Regarding Hughes, their company has benefitted from sales to Boeing. Prior to having Boeing's leadership, it was obvious that the Hughes leadership was selling technology to the very regimes that are now pointing their missiles at us.
Regarding your denial of technology transfer regarding third-stage orbital insertion techniques (which are the technologies required to MIRV tip a nuclear missile), you are also incorrect. The fact is that the Long March failures were investigated by Loral and Hughes teams. The fact is that Loral and Hughes gave high-level support for those initiatives. This was not a simple case of "one engineer" having excessive verbosity. This was a case of several corporations specifically aiding and abetting a regime with obvious antagonistic attitudes towards our nation.
Quoting the Cox Report from http://www.house.gov/hunter/CoxReport-sat-loral.htm.
The Defense Department assessment concluded that "Loral and Hughes committed a serious export control violation by virtue of having performed a defense service without a license . . . "
The State Department referred the matter to the Department of Justice for possible criminal prosecution.
The answer is clear. YOU CHOOSE TO WORK WHERE YOU ARE. Don't go complaining about management. If you really are that conservative and that patriotic, don't work for a company that exports our technology to the PRC!
With respect to hospital shut downs, look around Los Angeles and look what the Clinton-Gore-Davis people have done to healthcare in your area. Your health care system IS being shut down by the EXACT same people who sucked millions from Loral.
Happy July 4th... I hope you can become more independent from the people at Loral. There will be plenty of job opportunities created by the Bush/Cheney BMDO projects....that is ... if you have correct security clearances.... but then again... you CHOOSE to work at Loral...
By the way, how's those Oracle DB's and Sun Sparc Stations over there?