06/22/2006: Even though I still think Bush needs to destroy the NK missile on the pad, it is noteworthy that we have had another successful missile intercept, this time with a medium-range missile.
Archive for June 22, 2006
Former Clinton SecDef Perry: Blow Up NK Missile on the Pad
06/22/2006: William Perry–a Secretary of Defense under Clinton–is calling for the U.S. to destroy the North Korean long-range missile on the pad, a view I share.
A pre-emptive strike would be a gutsy move, but would send a clear message that we are determined to fight their WMD program every step of the way.
Blowing it out of the sky would be risky, as our missile defense systems have done this not against enemy missiles, but only in controlled tests. If we try and fail on that one, then we will be handing NK a victory.
Kentucky Blog Block is Not Apparently Politically-Motivated
06/22/2006: http://BluegrassReport.org has opined the following:
I’ve gotten a handful of e-mails this morning already that BluegrassReport.org has apparently been blocked to state computers by the Commonwealth Office of Technology. Readers in three different cabinets have e-mailed to tell me they get a “blocked” message when they try to access the site.
Nothing like a little censorship with your breakfast. Welcome to the People’s Republic of Kentucky.
UPDATE: I’m getting flooded with e-mails and a couple of phone calls from readers in other cabinets — and other elected constitutional offices — that the site has been blocked. But what’s interesting is there’s no problem allowing state workers to access the Republican Party of Kentucky or Fox News or Drudge Report or at least one conservative Kentucky blog. Pathetic.
UPDATE #2: The Bluegrass Institute’s blog is accessible, as are the political blogs run by Mark Hebert and Pat Crowley. Looks like BGR is being targeted. What are they afraid of?
I know some folks who are on the inside here, so I’ll comment on the issue.
Listening to the rhetoric, this has been panned as a block against politiblogs. That is hardly true.
This policy was apparently directed at all blogs, and some apparently were screened while others were not. Screening out all blogs is not an exact science.
In fairness to the Governor, the word out is that this was not a top-down policy instituted by Gov. Fletcher.
In fact, every blog on blogspot.com has been blocked. This is the result of a policy decision at the Kentucky Commonwealth Office of Technology (COT): they are merely trying to minimize non-work-related blogging on state time.
While I understand the principle–corporations often have even more restrictive policies–I have two fundamental gripes with the policy:
(1) IT professionals–such as myself–use the blogosphere quite frequently for technical information. State workers who are IT workers can be compromised in their ability to gain timely resolutions to problems that are not addressible through conventional literature.
(2) The blogosphere is increasingly a source of primary information on a whole host of subjects, in many cases better than mainstream information outlets. Many government workers–even the rank and file–use the Internet to gain such information. I know many who are in that category.
Ergo, the new policy restricts access to a key source of information for many, making their use of the Internet less efficient.
The marginal benefits gained through restricting such access are outweighed by the marginal costs in efficiency for legitimate Internet users.
It is my hope that COT revisits this policy for that reason.
NOTE: State employees have confirmed that this blog is accessible from the state network. Given that this blog often has political overtones, I find it interesting that I am not blocked but Warwick at 3nailsministries is.
Then again, while I have criticized Gov. Fletcher on this site, I have not called for his impeachment or resignation. (Warwick has.)
If the block turned out to be politically-motivated, it would reveal a level of pettiness on the part of the governor. However, that is not an impeachable offense. That said, it would prove to be another embarassment for the governor, who has stated his desire to run for re-election in spite of overwhelming disapproval of his leadership.
At this point, I will not vote for him for re-election. This should concern the governor, because I am extremely conservative, normally a dependable Republican vote at the state and local level. I know many conservatives like myself who share the same sentiments. It is that conservative base that Fletcher MUST carry in order to win.
My non-support of him has nothing to do with the hiring scandal, the hullabaloo over which is mostly political. Rather, my top gripe with Fletcher has been his failure to address the fundamental problems facing Kentucky.
The state government is growing at a pace that is unsustainable by the tax base. It was my hope that the Governor would start slicing the budgets of large agencies, cutting needless agencies out of the government, restructuring employee insurance to allow for high deductible plans and HSAs, beating the drum for Washington to implement medical IRAs, and killing pork spending.
None of that has happened.
Either he is incompetent, or he has failed to hire competent staffers. Either way, it reflects on his lack of ability to lead.
FOX News: Seven Nabbed in Miami in Plot to Hit Sears Tower
06/22/2006: FOX has broken the story: Evidently some terrorists were planning to hit the Sears tower. More to come.