Prog Blogs, Orgs & Alumni
Betsy Devine
Blue News Tribune (MA)
Democracy for NH
Live Free or Die
Mike Caulfield
Granite State Progress
Seacoast for Change
Susan the Bruce
Campaigns, Et Alia.
Paul Hodes
Carol Shea-Porter
John DeJoie
Ann McLane Kuster
ActBlue Hampshire
NHDP
DCCC
DSCC
DNC
National
Balloon Juice
billmon
Congress Matters
DailyKos
Digby
Hold Fast
Eschaton
FiveThirtyEight
MyDD
The Next Hurrah
Open Left
Senate Guru
Swing State Project
Talking Points Memo
50 State Blog Network
Alabama
Arizona
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Missouri
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
While I, personally, happen to think that the United States Air Force plans to set up a cyber command is a bunch of hooey, it seems worth noting that, in addition to our own Congresswoman, the Governor of Massachusetts is lusting after the location of this enterprise in his bailiwick.
Gov. Patrick: Put Cyber Command at Hanscom
By Greg Turner
Friday, May 23, 2008 -
Gov. Deval Patrick passed through Hanscom Air Force Base's guarded gate for the first time yesterday, on a mission to expand military operations and create hundreds of technology jobs.
Patrick and other state officials toured the Bedford military installation as they try to persuade the Air Force to set up its Cyber Command headquarters at Hanscom. The command is charged with protecting military computer networks.
Massachusetts is competing with 17 other states for the facility, its estimated 550 jobs and its potential to spur expansion of the defense technology sector.
I'm not sure whether seventeen states (New Hampshire is not included in that number) bidding for the program is news, but the schedule for the decision has definitely shifted again.
The Air Force announced plans for Cyber Command in November 2006 and will make its final selection in September 2009. The governors of 18 states have been asked to make their case, to present data about their base, surrounding infrastructure and other attributes, by July 1.
What seemed set for Barksdale in Louisiana at the start and was then described as a choice among seven locations in September 2008 has now been shifted to September 2009.
Certainly, the military's computer network needs to be protected from hackers. But, considering that it was under the jurisdiction of the Department of Defense that the system of electronic communication we refer to as the internet was originally developed, setting up a program to protect military computer networks now, almost thirty years later, seems a little late.
Left with the choice between gross incompetence and disinformation, I opt for the latter. Unfortunately, recent history leads one to conclude that military disinformation is not conducive to promoting national security; nor is it likely to promote our individual civil and human rights.
