Levi quits his job -

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[K.R.]

I notice on the comcast.net website there is an video titled something to the effect of:

Sarah Palin now admits despair over baby

but I can't open the video!

http://www.comcast.net/a/

Would somebody view it and tell us about it?  TIA

It's nothing but a fluff piece mentioning how she (SP) wan't exactly thrilled to find out Bristol was pregnant. The rest was what we've already been fed.

[A Blizzard of Words]

Thank you.

Now here's a funny:

A friend and I are going to the Inauguration.  We applied for volunteer jobs but yesterday I got notice that we were no chosen.  The person who sent the e-mail from the Obama Campaign?

Tripp Wellde

Maybe my humor is warped but I thought it rather funny.

[K.R.]

Thank you.

Now here's a funny:

A friend and I are going to the Inauguration.  We applied for volunteer jobs but yesterday I got notice that we were no chosen.  The person who sent the e-mail from the Obama Campaign?

Tripp Wellde

Maybe my humor is warped but I thought it rather funny.

Tripp Wellde. LOL. His last name is funny to me too.

Oh, I'm sorry you didn't get chosen for a volunteer job at the Inauguration. You're still going though, right? Lucky you.

[Democrat G]

Doesn't the bible say that having sex before marriage is a sin punishable with eternal damnation in the fires of hell?  If my memory serves me correcty: Bye Palin's daughter!  Have fun in hell !!! 

Doesn't the bible also say that lying is a sin punishable with eternal damnation in the fires of hell?  Since I feel Palin is a liar:  Bye Palin!  Have fun in hell !!!!

Levi had to quit in my opinion.  The company he was working for would have been under too much scrutiny in my opinion.  I personally feel that his ass was thrown out into the snow.  As far as quitting for education....yeah they can spin it that way because without his degree or GED he cannot be in that position.  If he could, he would have stayed.  Simple as that in my opinion. 

Would Palin and anyone associated with her please be brought to the outskirts of the wild in Alaska, 5,000 miles from civilization, without any technology, just a bible and some clothes (I'm not that mean - LOL!), so she and everyone around her can disappear forever!!!

Edit performed by BigSlick to remove all-cap shouting and use italics for emphasis instead.

[akdennis]

I had not known that Levi's dad was contruction engineer for ASRC.  And although having Palin for a prospective mother-in-law probably did not hurt his selection to the apprentice program it is more likely that his highly placed father was the one primarily responsible for the string pulling here.  Sons following their fathers into slope work is quite common on the north slope so this isn't anything at all unusual.  And, apparently, Levi Johnston was already working for ASRC as a roustabout on the Kenai Peninsula prior to his promotion to the apprentice program.  To give the kid credit, he probably busted his ass and impressed his bosses with his work ethic.  Of course, the family connections helped in large measure but I'm also fairly certain his promotion was a result of his own merit as well.  I think that ASRC slipped up and didn't bother to check on Levi's educational status until the media s**tstorm blew down on them.

On the other hand, I also find it telling that the senior Mr. Johnston is quoted in today's edition of the Anchorage Daily News as saying (referring to the media):

"You guys are watching him so tightly," Johnston said.  "He's being treated differently than an average 18-year-old-kid.  He has to do everything by the book now."

Now peoples, read that closely, "has to do everything by the book"?!!!  WTF!!!!  I can only infer that the precious Levi is special and doesn't have to do things by the book (i.e. like EVERYONE ELSE)?!  Where DO these asshats get their sense of privilege and entitlement from?  Oh yeah, it must rub off from Queen Palin.

Also from the same ADN article:

Johnston said his son always struggled with school and never got his diploma.

Kind of shows that Bristol Palin's pregnancy had less to do with the younger Johnston dropping out than his disdain for school.  It also seems that he dropped out at the end of hockey season.  Since playing hockey appears to be the only thing he attended school for, and since good old dad could pull strings to get him a high paying job, then why not drop out?  Ooooops, I forgot.  He's not a drop out.  Thus spake Her Royal Incompetence Queen Palin.

[judi]

I agree that it was his dad, not SP that helped him get the apprentie job.  but that makes me just as mad.  I know some of the jobs  like roustabout as my husband works in the gas fields here...I am sure with all the work up there it is different...but to get an apprentice program you have to go through all kinds of hoops.

Like I tried to help someone who was in their late thirties get an apprentice program, in fact I think it may have been for the electrician union, and they went way back to his high school years and looked at his grades!  It is a very hard program to get in around here at least. 

then I think, poor levi, did not even realize how good he had it, how great of an opportunity he had, and he just blew it...typical kid huh?

[califpat]

For a governor, SP is such a poor role model for her children and other children she is governing. You would think that as a mother, she would be encouraging her children in the importance of education and as a governor, she would be pushing all children to get educated.

But as someone mentioned above, she feels that she and her children, and apparently her future son-in-law are entitled to privileges that other children work hard through education to acquire.

I cannot believe how incurious SP is concerning who her children are dating, their families, what they are doing for recreation and their education. That is so scary. How did she ever become mayor or governor??? Sheesh!!!   

[SMR]

Before we believe that Mr. Johnston got Levi the job -- rather than the gov (who admits to writing a letter of reference) -- let us remember that every word that comes out of her mouth is a self-serving lie, and Mr. J would not be the first person to throw himself under the bus for the sake of her ambition.

Levi may or may not have proven himself.  That's not the point at all.  The points are these:

1) He did not meet ASRC's minimum requirements
2) It's quite possible that he did not meet the minimum requirements for the larger companies (BP/Exxon/COP) that ASRC contracts under
3) He jumped the waitlist

He's no martyr, he's just one of the very very few who were outed before they got away with breaking the rules.

I don't feel sorry for this kid -- time to step up to plate, finish your education, then get to the back of the line.

Help me out akdennis --- out of all of the nepotism/cronyism that you've seen (likely more than me since a lot of my time was in town at the office), how many times did you see an underage kid apprenticing as an electrician?  I saw plenty of nepotism/cronyism among the contractors, kids who were summer roustabouts, some who went on to become roustabouts or higher eventually, but never ever kids getting a jump up for a tecnical job.  Positions as operators & electricians & instrument techs are not so easy to come by that people readily look the other way when someone's kid gets the job.

When I worked for ARCO (before it was purchased by BP then split between BP and COP) they had a formal program in place that allowed children of employees preference for summer jobs.  It was pretty clear-cut, and didn't include preference for technical positions, except for summer intern positions for children attending college, pursuing engineering degrees, and those were a bit different positions, heavy on the engineering dogsbody work.

[akdennis]

@SMR

Please allow to me address some of the points that you so eloquently raise.

First, I won't go so far as to say that the Governor didn't play a part in Levi's promotion to the apprentice program.  She says not so but at this point in time I am skeptical of virtually everything that comes out of her face.  Indeed, if she says it's night here in Alaska I go look outside just to make sure.  Of course, I have to acknowledge that it could be night in Palinland when it's day for the rest of us since, apparently, different rules and laws of physics apply in Palinland than the rest of us experience.  I think that we have well established that Palinland exists in an alternate reality or, perhaps, one of those extra dimensions that theoretical physicists are buzzing about these days.......but that's a whole other tangent.

My point is that Levi's father, as an engineer, is highly placed in ASRC.  He would have the seniority and pull to help get Levi promoted.  I know of a family of slopers where the father, an operator for BP, recommended all of his children to a contractor.  Consequently, the dad and four brothers all work on the slope.  I know them personally.  I have to say, to be fair, that there is no dead wood with them though.  All  are go getters.  But none of them were preferentially promoted.  A couple are leadmen now but they earned it.

It is my experience that if Levi was an utter goof or lacked motivation on the job he would not have been promoted to the apprentice program regardless of connections.  As you rightly pointed out in one of your comments over on the main blog it's all about SAFTY-SAFETY-SAFETY.  They just aren't going to let a moron work in ANY high risk position.  Way too much liability, not to mention the field operators (BP, Exxon, CP) intolerance for safety or procedural violations.

Now, with all of that said, I would say that ASRC possibly turned a blind eye to Levi's lack of a diploma/GED, with the tacit understanding that he would obtain one during the course of his apprenticeship.  Then Sarah just had to go and open her yap.  Man, I bet Levi and his dad (and ASRC) are PISSED at her right about now!  If she'd just kept her mouth shut no one would have been the wiser. 

I'm not defending his selection for participation in the program but, as I've stated in my other comments, I am not surprised by the nepotism.  Do I think he would have been selected even without the Palin connection?  More than likely, because of his dad.  As for the wait list, that only really applies to those without connections.  And, BTW, Levi's not underage.  He's 18 which is the minimum age for slope work.

One thing that does surprise me is that Levi quit instead of taking work in another classification that doesn't have a minimum educational requirement, like general maintenance tech (GMT) or continue his work as a roustabout.  When I left the slope roustabouts were making $16-$18/hr and GMTs were making $18-$22 to start.  And remember that it's 84 hour work week on the slope so the overtime is HUUUUUGE.  And yes, they have the internet on the slope so he could have continued doing his online course work for his diploma.  Seems to me that that puts a hole in the argument that he dropped out to get a good job to support the baby.  So he could have still been earning VERY good money while he got his diploma/GED and still been accepted into the apprentice program with the proper educational foundation.

Hmmm, was that the aroma of stale fish I just detected.......?

[SMR]

Thanks akdennis.  You & I are on the same page &/or wavelength, I think together we've covered pretty much all of the bases.  Cronyism/nepotism is rampant, but I think that in the case of minimum requirements not being met it should not be tolerated.  People who start out as rousties and work their way up thru their own efforts, okay, great, good on ya.  But people who leapfrog requirements and waitlists?  Never going to be okay with that, even if it is standard operating procedure.  Maybe this thing will be a blessing in disguise for all of the hundreds on waitlists for the program, ASRC and others will have to open their books and some better rules &/or standardization will be put in place.

Gotta agree with you that ASRC is probably thinking that SP is the scummiest stupidest person on the planet.  We already knew that, though, didn't we?  It's about time they got a clue!

I may be being a bit snobbish here, but I find it more than a teeny bit difficult to believe that Levi's dad could be a BIG big-wig at ASRC.  What's with the trailer-trashy family if he's an educated professional/executive?  Is Sherry J really believable as the wife (or soon to be ex wife) of an executive?  Not in my opinion.

And if ASRC is using their waitlist only to pull in people who don't have the benefit of relatives able to get them jobs then I hope they'll be facing a whole lot of lawsuits.  I firmly believe that as a native corp they are likely receiving tons of state and federal accomodations (re: taxes, etc), and so should be held to a higher standard than other non-native-corp contractors.  Native first is just the tip of that iceberg.

By the way, I've got an interesting email to share with you.  Will PM you.

[CO Almost Native]

akdennis and SMR:

Thanks for all the expertise information. I am not familiar with slope work, so it was a little hard to use my CO experience to interpret this messy situation.  I understand that Levi started out in another area at ASRC, then jumped to the electrician apprenticeship; do you think dad arranged that, thinking ASRC wouldn't look again at his application?

I would like to slap his dad up the side of his head with a 2x4 for not insisting Levi finish his high school diploma- but, maybe, Levi was really lacking in credits; once hockey season was over, he would have dropped out anyway, if he didn't care about school.  It will be interesting to see if he really finishes this time-

[akdennis]

@SMR

Yep, I surely hope the harsh glare of media attention prompts slope contractors to adopt more impartial hiring practices.  I doubt it though.  You can be sure that their legal depts. are ensuring that no one is doing anything outright illegal.  And as I've stated repeatedly, it is an historical as well as ongoing issue.   But if they are not breaking the law then what is one to do?

As far as the native alaskan hiring issue is concerned, every minimally qualified native that wants a slope job, has a slope job.  Every major contractor and, especially, the Big 3 actively recruit native alaskans.  I've asked my native buddies who are slopers why more natives don't work on the slope, considering they are truly preferential hires, and the answer was invariably that not that many natives want to work there.  I have no idea why since it is such sought after employment by many others.  By the way, I'm 1/4 Apache so I don't have any issue with natives being preferentially hired for obvious reasons.  And no, preferential hiring does not apply to me or other tribes from the outside (as far as I know).

As far as people bringing suit against contractors for unfair hiring practices, it's been done.  To date it does not seem to have done anything to curb the nepotism

[SMR]

@akdennis --

If you go to Dan Fagans blog (alaskan standard?) there is a comment from an ASRC shareholder.  It's worth reading.  Don't know if it's true or not, maybe even wholly fabricated, but if it's true it's something to think about.

I'm not a Fagan fan, to put it mildly.  However, it's interesting how people are jumping all over him for attacking poor little defenseless Levi.  I didn't get that out of his op-ed piece, I didn't even see it as an attack on Palin.  It's a situation that required answers -- something that Palin brought on by herself given her obsession with staying in the spotlight -- and he did his usual 1/2 bullsh!t bombast + 1/2 legit gripes.

Unfortunately, I'd have to agree w/one of his commenters that he is in danger of making himself irrelevant.  If he isn't willing to use facts to back up his positions then he is in danger of being seen as a sarah-hater-just-for-the-sake-of-hating-her like Andrew Halcro has been branded.  The right wingers will only snap out of it if they are presented with irrefutable facts.  And SP usually manages to dredge up someone who will go on record to refute the irrefutable.

Time for everyone to vote her out.  Citizen's recall intiative time.  But more bad press in the interim can't hurt.

[sweetlucy47]

Is it possible that Levi is still working but the story is out there that he quit?? Just a cover story so to speak??

[SMR]

possible, but who knows?  we'll never know until someone OTHER than Gov Grifter talks.  If her lips are moving she is lying.

I honestly don't think BP/Ex/COP would let that kid on their leases at this time.  He's bad press and a huge legal liability.

[sweetlucy47]

I was just curious if ASRC would cover for him. Just seems very convenient that he quit so quickly, and his dad made such a fast statement.

[akdennis]

I doubt Levi is still working on the slope.  It would be too difficult to keep a secret.   Milne Point is a small field with only one product gathering center.  Kind of hard to hide anyone there.  Even if they moved him to a bigger field like Kuparuk he is too well known now to hide.

@SMR

I read the comments from the ASRC shareholder over on Fagan's blog.  I find her remarks curious.  She only mentions that she is on a waiting list for a "training program", not which ones.  I should point out here that, along with nepotism, sexism is another issue that slope contractors have a problem with.  Again, we're not talking about the Big 3 but about contractors.  I'm not sure how much you've had to face as an engineer.  It seems to be more of a problem with trades and crafts.  Of course, this is an oil industry wide problem, not just a slope problem.  A lot of older oil field hands maintain the archaic belief that a woman has no place in an oil field.  However not all feel this way.  Myself, fer instance.  And the more old dogs that retire the less prevalent the notion is.  Anyway, it's possible she's being kept on hold because of her gender, but that's pure speculation.

As a shareholder she should be at the top of the list for any training program for which she is minimally qualified for.  The only reason that I can think of for her not being brought on board is lack of qualification, failure to pass a drug test, physical inability to perform the work, or some other reason that precludes her employment.

She fails to mention whether or not there are/were any other shareholders on the wait list ahead of her and have any of them been hired.  As the fields dry up the slope has been cutting back on the number of positions for several years now.  It could be that trainee slots just aren't opening up very often, particularly if the training program in question is for a trade that does not require much representation on the slope.  Like carpenters, for instance.  They just don't need very many carpenters on the slope.

If I were her and wanted a slope job that bad and was relatively young I would get myself to UAA and enroll in the process systems operator program.  That is the ONE high paying job that they are hiring for like gangbusters.  All of the original operators are hitting retirement age and that's one position that is not going away any time soon.  I absolutely guarantee that a native woman with an AAS degree in process systems technology could walk into the BP recruiters office and be hired on the spot.  I'm pretty sure it would be the same for Exxon and Conoco/Philips as well.  Makes them look all progressive and concerned about native and gender equality and all that.  Like I said in an earlier post, I'm part indian so I can get away with saying that.  I also happen to agree with preferential hiring in this scenario.  Levi Johnston's preferential hiring is another story.

I admit that everything I'm saying could be b/s of the purist sort .  This is pure speculation based on what I know of the slope, hiring native corp. shareholder, etc.  Take it for what it's worth.

[SMR]

Thanks akdennis.  I appreciate hearing your perspective/view.  It is quite different from both the town perspective and from a woman's perspective (the slope/hiring/oil industry/etc), and yet we agree on about 99.9% of it!

Hopefully there will be a silver lining to this situation -- besides Levi deciding to get his GED -- maybe some positive changes for native hiring due to scrutiny of ASRC and other native corps that talk native hire but don't walk the talk.

It's amazing to me all of the hating stuff at Fagan's site, most everyone wanted this kid to get a big bucks slope job ahead of people on waitlists, without even having finished his GED, simply because his dad could get him this job and ASRC was scummy enough to do it.

What is wrong with those people????????????

[judi]

I have no idea about her situation or what it is like on the slopes...but my husband has worked in the gas/oil bus (around here gas) since the seventies when he helped put in all the gas lines...he NEVER has worked with a women in any position other than the ones in the office.  maybe they just dont apply ha ha for the higher paying jobs

[SMR]

There are still relatively few women working in the oil industry.  THere are more, but still not many.  I don't count the bean-counter accounting types, because there are loads of women doing that, but they rarely, if ever, step foot in the field.

There are more women doing the environmental stuff than most disciplines.  They get lots of field time.  There are more women doing petroleum engineering than there used to be, but it's still probably close to 80/20 or maybe even 90/10.

When I elected not to do the training for a very high paying job on the north slope it was because of my family.  Some women are discriminated against, absolutely, but there are also many, like me, who cannot or will not leave their children for 1/2 (or more) of the year.

It's a combination of many things -- training/education, opportunities, life choices, and many more -- that make the oil fields very male-dominated.

Levi wasn't qualified to have the job that he was given.  He did not meet the minimum requirements.  Nobody should ever get to jump any waitlist, ever.  And nobody should ever be given a job due to cronyism/nepotism if they do not meet the minimum requirements to have that job.

I will not be so PollyAnn-ish that I will think that cronyism/nepotism will not continue day after day after day all over the world in every single industry, but I would at least like to think that the people getting those jobs will meet the minimum requirements, particularly in a job as dangerous as an electrician's.