Ted Stevens and Sean O'Keefe In Plane Crash

It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by NevarMore · 2010-08-10 07:09 · Score: 4, Funny

...since the internet is a series of tubes. Its not like a truck. It can get clogged.

Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 07:12 · Score: 2, Funny

If we're going to make jokes, let me in on the action. Here's my contribution:
Ted Stevens isn't dead; he's merely in Stage 1-2.
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by harlows_monkeys · 2010-08-10 07:20 · Score: 2, Insightful

Pretty much every network textbook in existence uses the analogy of "pipes" when describing latency and bandwidth. "Tubes" and "pipes" are essentially the same thing, so if Stevens was wrong, then so are all the major network experts who write the textbooks. And "clogged tubes" is a pretty good analogy for congestion along a route.
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by logjon · 2010-08-10 07:24 · Score: 5, Insightful

Actually, if you listen to what he said, he wasn't really that far off, especially when you consider that a good portion of his audience had (and probably still has) no idea quite what the internet really is. Never understood all the flak he got for it.

--
The stories and info posted here are artistic works of fiction and falsehood.
Only fools would take it as fact.
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by 91degrees · 2010-08-10 07:24 · Score: 2, Insightful

It is a fricken series of tubes, or at least it's a decent enough analogy.

Honestly, the guy gave a long and completely hopeless explanation of how the internet works and geeks focus on the one part that he actually got right!
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by HiggsBison · 2010-08-10 07:28 · Score: 1

What? No "... found in north woods cabin"?

--
My other car is a 1984 Nark Avenger.
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 07:29 · Score: 0

Autistics don't understand the concept of "analogy".
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by bunratty · 2010-08-10 07:31 · Score: 3, Insightful

At our local children's museum, there's a model of the Internet as a series of transparent, flexible tubes. Each packet is represented by a ball, and they each take a different path to the destination. I have no idea why he gets so much flak for his tubes explanation of the Internet. He deserves flak for his infamous bridge to nowhere and felony indictment.

--
What a fool believes, he sees, no wise man has the power to reason away.
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by onefriedrice · 2010-08-10 07:37 · Score: 1

...since the internet is a series of tubes. Its not like a truck. It can get clogged.
While Stevens was the archetypal old person who doesn't understand modern technology, his "series of tubes" quote looks completely brilliant beside some of the things my parents say about their computers on a daily basis. I would hope our senators would inform themselves on an issue thoroughly before either opposing it or supporting it, but I'm convinced that some (most?) old people are so far behind the curve and have so few good brain cells left that they're basically incapable of understanding any of it. That being the case, we will still make fun of him, but falling in party lines isn't such a bad backup. Moral of the story: don't pretend to be knowledgeable about something you actually don't get at all.

--
This author takes full ownership and responsibility for the unpopular opinions outlined above.
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by kelarius · 2010-08-10 07:37 · Score: 1

It wasn't so much the content, as he was, in a laymans way, more or less correct. The flak comes from the rambling old-man-time's way of describing his point of view that he used. Also, the fact that he is completely out of touch with the internet as he seemed to mix up the words EMAIL and INTERNETS, he obviously hadn't used either in quite a while, if ever.

--
Personally I'd rather have my idiots at home glued to the TV than out doing idiotic things
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by WrongSizeGlass · 2010-08-10 07:39 · Score: 1

Ted Stevens isn't dead; he's merely in Stage 1-2.
He's like the Terminator (or is it the Energizer Bunny?) ... nothing can stop him.
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by b4dc0d3r · 2010-08-10 07:41 · Score: 1

Looks like he got on "The Plane to Nowhere".
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 07:41 · Score: 0

But blonde females with huge breasts do understand the concept of "anal orgy".
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by whoever57 · 2010-08-10 07:42 · Score: 2, Insightful

It wasn't so much the content, as he was, in a laymans way, more or less correct.

Apart from the fact that he seemed to think that the long delay in delivering "an Internet" [email] was due to those tubes being clogged, rather than the more likely explanation of a mail server being overloaded or offline.

--
The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by hardburn · 2010-08-10 07:45 · Score: 1

The "Series of Tubes" is a short, succinct, catchy statement to encapsulate what he said. It might not be any more fair than Al "Invented the Internet" Gore, but nobody is going to get very far debating against it.

--
Not a typewriter
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by Surt · 2010-08-10 07:50 · Score: 2, Insightful

Worse than that, I have news for people. The internet is about 90% tubes. Little plastic tubes, with copper wire running through them for the most part. Also, some slightly larger tubes with more glass tubes inside. The other 10% is mostly computers.

--
"Who is the Journal of Quantum Physics going to believe?" --Stephen Hawking
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by MBGMorden · 2010-08-10 07:51 · Score: 1

I think that's definitely part of it.
Basically, for those of us in IT: imagine your average user. They muddle through work, barely scraping by. They don't understand the system, or how it works, it just does, and that's fine. They don't need to. Someone else keeps in running and all is well.
Now, imagine if those people were allowed to design the replacement system. Chaos would ensue. That's basically what we have here. Your average lawmaker understands the internet and technology no more than your average corporate user, yet they're they ones who are making all the laws the govern these systems.
It's a scary thought.

--
"People who think they know everything are very annoying to those of us who do."-Mark Twain
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by geekoid · 2010-08-10 07:54 · Score: 1

no.
He was clearly referencing tubes, as in radio tubes.
And tubes are not pipes. He clearly didn't understand what someone told him in a summary and then went and made a fool out of himself.
And clogged tubes is a every bad analogy because it misleads people more then it illustrated his poorly spoken point.

--
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by vux984 · 2010-08-10 07:58 · Score: 5, Insightful

Pretty much every network textbook in existence uses the analogy of "pipes" when describing latency and bandwidth. "Tubes" and "pipes" are essentially the same thing, so if Stevens was wrong, then so are all the major network experts who write the textbooks. And "clogged tubes" is a pretty good analogy for congestion along a route.
Right. If this is how an average pay person, even a senator views the internet its not the end of the world.
Part of his comments included this sentence: "I just the other day got...an Internet was sent by my staff at 10 o'clock in the morning on Friday. I got it yesterday." refering to an email message. Its ok for *MY* grand father to say he received an "internet", or to have a view of the internet strictly in terms of tubes.
However, its not really forgivable that the man responsible for authoring legislation like the "Communications, Consumer's Choice, and Broadband Deployment Act of 2006" to not be clear on the difference between an email and the internet to have such a lay understanding of the subject.
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by DarkIye · 2010-08-10 07:58 · Score: 4, Insightful

Like someone mentioned above, I don't think its his analogy per se so much as "the rambling old-man-time's way of describing his point of view that he used".

And he stated that "one of his staff sent [him] an internet".

--
To prevent this day from getting worse, I'll just read ERROR as GOOD TH
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by operagost · 2010-08-10 08:01 · Score: 2, Funny

They want to deliver vast amounts of information over the Internet. And again, the Internet is not something that you just dump something on. It's not a big truck. It's a series of tubes. And if you don't understand, those tubes can be filled and if they are filled, when you put your message in, it gets in line and it's going to be delayed by anyone that puts into that tube enormous amounts of material, enormous amounts of material.

If you think that what he described sounded anything like a vacuum tube, then YOU are the one with technology FAIL.

--

Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by Kaboom13 · 2010-08-10 08:03 · Score: 5, Insightful

It wasn't what he said, it was the way he said it, and the irony of this old, clueless man, who held an extremely important committee seat, blathering on about something he clearly didn't understand. It sounded like he was repeating an explanation some slick lobbyist had used to explain it to him, that he only half remembered. I have yet to see a single piece of evidence that Ted Stevens was not a 100%, bought and paid for shill to industry, with no ethics or redeeming value. He treated congress like a smash and grab for money for his supporters. I'm sad he died in a plane crash instead of prison where he would have been if it weren't for the ineptitude of the prosecutors of his corruption investigation.
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by Machtyn · 2010-08-10 08:03 · Score: 1

The tubes were clogged because of an accident at the junction... Was Drew around at the time?
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by GameboyRMH · 2010-08-10 08:04 · Score: 1

Yeah the series of tubes part was actually a decent analogy, it's funny because it's the most memorable line of a hilariously idiotic rant. So a person might not think "series of tubes" is funny for the same reason they might not think "bring out your dead" is funny - they don't know what it's referring to.

--
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by scot4875 · 2010-08-10 08:07 · Score: 1

If that's all he had said, the analogy would have been fine.
The part that I found hilarious was that he described it as a series of tubes as opposed to a truck. "The internet is not a truck." And then went on to say that, unlike a truck, tubes could be filled and get clogged. The problem is that a truck doesn't have infinite capacity either, so his comparison fell flat.
It *also* didn't help that he was using this analogy as a justification to violate net neutrality.
--Jeremy

--
Jesus was a liberal
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by Machtyn · 2010-08-10 08:07 · Score: 1

And, if either of these nuggets are used during an argument or debate, then that discussion is over. It is likely the person using the statement has used it in a way to say, "I'm tired of this discussion, let's move on." Sort of a jestful Godwin's Law.
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by Bigjeff5 · 2010-08-10 08:07 · Score: 2, Insightful

Is not an overloaded server (or router, or any other stop along the way) a "clog"?
I still don't see how he was ever that far off.
Young people just made fun of him because he was old, basically, and he didn't have a technical understanding of the internet (then again, most who think they do are wrong on most of what they think they know).

--
Security is mostly a superstition... Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. - Helen Keller
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by phantomfive · 2010-08-10 08:18 · Score: 1

The biggest problem was at the time he was fighting against network neutrality. It showed that he didn't have in-depth knowledge of the topic, and net-neutrality proponents picked it up and mocked it widely. A lot of people who spread it have no clue whether it is accurate or not, they just knew that techies they associate with don't talk like that. If he hadn't been fighting against net-neutrality at the time, no one would have cared.

Too bad. The guy provided me real entertainment. I always feel sad when people who've entertained me die.

--
Qxe4
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by sdo1 · 2010-08-10 08:19 · Score: 3, Informative

He gets flack about it because he stood up there talking about something he knew absolutely nothing about, babbling words that some lobbyist paid him (er, um... donated to his campaign) to say.
A shining example of the worst our legislative process has to offer...
-S

--
--- What parts of "shall make no law", "shall not be infringed", and "shall not be violated" don't you understand?
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 08:24 · Score: 0

Maybe this guy can help answer the question. He seems to be on the leading edge of the future.
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by Kevin+Stevens · 2010-08-10 08:26 · Score: 4, Insightful

Well that's just what people remembered most. His whole speech showed a clear misunderstanding of either English or how the internet works. Here are some other gems from that speech:

Ten of them streaming across that internet and what happens to your own personal internet?
I just the other day got, an internet was sent by my staff at 10 o'clock in the morning on Friday and I just got it yesterday. Why?
Because it got tangled up with all these things going on the internet commercially.
So you want to talk about the consumer? Let's talk about you and me. We use this internet to communicate and we aren't using it for commercial purposes.
Now, he is either trying to severely dumb things down to ...bring things down to the level of education of the senate... or he is really butchering the English language, or he has no understanding of what he is talking about. Occam's razor points to him just not understanding. There are no "clogs" on the internet, except in the case of broadcast storms on localized networks or otherwise sophisticated and abnormal edge cases. The flow through the pipes is the same, how much stuff you get to throw through that pipe might be reduced if many others are, but its not clogged. The analogy doesn't make sense. If he went with a truck and highway metaphor, where each truck is a packet, that *might* have actually been closer.
And he might get a pass if he was my uncle trying to explain the internet to my family at a BBQ. But he is a senator addressing the senate, and with it the entire nation. The potential ramifications of spewing incorrect information to 100 of the most powerful men in the entire world are enormous. Can you imagine if your CEO got in front of the company's shareholders and just started spewing nonsense like this about how his company operates? He would be out the door the next day. The stakes are way higher when you address the senate.
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by rubycodez · 2010-08-10 08:27 · Score: 1

well, I"m well over 40 and I never confuse my electric mails with my inter-tubers.
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 08:36 · Score: 5, Insightful

Is not an overloaded server (or router, or any other stop along the way) a "clog"?

Only in the same sense in which the Grand Canyon is a "ditch".

I still don't see how he was ever that far off.
Young people just made fun of him because he was old, basically, and he didn't have a technical understanding of the internet (then again, most who think they do are wrong on most of what they think they know).

No, because use used his misunderstanding in an attempt to end network neutrality. He actually argued that the reason his "internet" got delayed was because non-email traffic for which "content providers" weren't getting paid, had somehow deprioritized his email, and that if only Google had to pay royalties to his telco-lobby bankrollers (as opposed to, say, transit/peering that they already pay), his emails would go through faster.
The fact that the Internet really is just series of tubes (a stupid network) is a feature, not a bug. Stevens argued the other way around: he wanted an Internet made of "smart" connections, where there are no MP3s or videos clogging the tubes other than from the telco/cableco's ringtone/pay-per-view services.
His speech was along the lines of alleging his local network outage could only be prevented if all that user-generated-but-nobody-pays-royalties traffic (P2P, Youtube videos, etc) could be removed and replaced with content-provider-generated/subsidized content. That's bullshit. Your 8MB DSL link is going to be just as saturated if everyone in your house is watching the "AT&T's Funniest Home Videos Channel In HD!", or if everyone's watching Youtube videos. (And conversely, the presence of a billion botnets and spammers still doesn't stop Youtube from coming through, because Google pays its ISPs for peering/transit, and built up enough fiber to actually provide its viewers with all those bits. Only thing is, AT&T, having not built up enough fiber to host something like Youtube, wants a cut of every viewing, especially when it's trying to rebrand itself as a content provider.)
We didn't make fun of him because he was stupid. We made fun of him because he was wrong.
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by hydromike2 · 2010-08-10 08:40 · Score: 1

and have collisions.
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by lymond01 · 2010-08-10 08:42 · Score: 1

You probably wouldn't be surprised that most of the things that end up shooting through Congress are over the heads of the politicians. They aren't there to make decisions, they are there to apply them. They get tutored from analysts, lobbyists, consultants, advisers, etc. Politicians aren't experts in most of the things upon which they vote -- the experts are too busy working.
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 08:46 · Score: 0

Pretty much every network textbook in existence uses the analogy of "pipes" when describing latency and bandwidth. "Tubes" and "pipes" are essentially the same thing, so if Stevens was wrong, then so are all the major network experts who write the textbooks. And "clogged tubes" is a pretty good analogy for congestion along a route.
Yes, textbooks use the analogy of pipes to compare it to something a layperson would understand. But none of those textbooks will say that the internet is, in fact, literally, a bunch of pipes that can be clogged.
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 08:47 · Score: 0

It is official; Netcraft now confirms: Ted Stevens is dying One more crippling bombshell hit the already beleaguered Ted Stevens community when IDC confirmed that Ted Stevens market share has dropped yet again, now down to less than a fraction of 1 percent of all servers. Coming close on the heels of a recent Netcraft survey which plainly states that Ted Stevens has lost more market share, this news serves to reinforce what we've known all along. Ted Stevens is collapsing in complete disarray, as fittingly exemplified by failing dead last in the recent Sys Admin comprehensive networking test. You don't need to be a Kreskin to predict Ted Stevens's future. The hand writing is on the wall: Ted Stevens faces a bleak future. In fact there won't be any future at all for Ted Stevens because Ted Stevens is dying. Things are looking very bad for Ted Stevens. As many of us are already aware, Ted Stevens continues to lose market share. Red ink flows like a river of blood. FreeBSD is the most endangered of them all, having lost 93% of its core developers. The sudden and unpleasant departures of long time FreeBSD developers Jordan Hubbard and Mike Smith only serve to underscore the point more clearly. There can no longer be any doubt: FreeBSD is dying. Let's keep to the facts and look at the numbers. OpenBSD leader Theo states that there are 7000 users of OpenBSD. How many users of NetBSD are there? Let's see. The number of OpenBSD versus NetBSD posts on Usenet is roughly in ratio of 5 to 1. Therefore there are about 7000/5 = 1400 NetBSD users. BSD/OS posts on Usenet are about half of the volume of NetBSD posts. Therefore there are about 700 users of BSD/OS. A recent article put FreeBSD at about 80 percent of the Ted Stevens market. Therefore there are (7000+1400+700)*4 = 36400 FreeBSD users. This is consistent with the number of FreeBSD Usenet posts. Due to the troubles of Walnut Creek, abysmal sales and so on, FreeBSD went out of business and was taken over by BSDI who sell another troubled OS. Now BSDI is also dead, its corpse turned over to yet another charnel house. All major surveys show that Ted Stevens has steadily declined in market share. Ted Stevens is very sick and its long term survival prospects are very dim. If Ted Stevens is to survive at all it will be among OS dilettante dabblers. Ted Stevens continues to decay. Nothing short of a cockeyed miracle could save Ted Stevens from its fate at this point in time. For all practical purposes, Ted Stevens is dead.
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by retchdog · 2010-08-10 08:53 · Score: 1

Yeah, that part was actually fine.
The next part, involving his idea of trucks as having infinite capacity is the more questionable part and what really kills his analogy. Strictly speaking, his error was in transport logistics and not hydraulics/network flows. ;-) The analogy is still just as dead; people just criticize the wrong part.

--
"They were pure niggers." – Noam Chomsky
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by Chih · 2010-08-10 08:55 · Score: 1

Ted: I think I'm getting better!
Plane: No, you'll be stone dead in a moment
Ted: I think I'll go for a walk now
Plane: No, onto the cart you go!

--
For best results, avoid doing stupid things.
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 08:55 · Score: 0

I took a trip on the Dalton Highway this Spring ( The "Ice Road Trucker" road in Northern AK) It runs adjacent to the Trans Alaskan Oil Pipeline and he trucks constantly hauling materials and supplies up country. Having seen all this I must say that Stevens' quote is a spot on Alaskan metaphor. The internet is a lot more like the Alaskan Pipeline than it is like the Dalton highway and the big trucks that run along it.
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by Chih · 2010-08-10 08:58 · Score: 1

If the internet is a series of tubes, the slashdot is a series of pedants :D

--
For best results, avoid doing stupid things.
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 09:08 · Score: 0

All we know for sure at this point is that his flight went down the tubes.
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by Belial6 · 2010-08-10 09:11 · Score: 0

If you have something legitimate to mock the man about, you should mock him for that. When people mock him for describing the internet as a series of tubes, they just sound stupid. Heck, even your example of "I just the other day got...an Internet was sent by my staff at 10 o'clock in the morning on Friday." isn't really that bad, since he was obviously talking about an internet email. This would be opposed to an internal email. Is his comment any worse that the millions of people that refer to an internet search as Googling? Sure his poor wording didn't catch on, and wasn't already in popular use, but while his slang may not have been great, and his sys admin lied to him as to why it took so long for his email to arrive, the content of his was legitimate. Even if I disagree with him. What really happened here was that someone complained about what he said, the complainer was wrong, and once the sharks started feeding, the irrational complaints just kept going.

We saw the same thing with Dan Quayle. There may have been plenty of things to ridicule the man for, but at the time of the famous "potatoe" incident, "potatoe" was a valid, even if less used, spelling of the word. It was commonly spelled that way by the populace, many teachers were teaching that spelling, and it was in many dictionaries as the less common spelling of the word. No one at the incident noticed anything was wrong until a reporter that obviously couldn't spell well started mouthing off about it. That was picked up by other reporters who started making a big deal about how Dan Quayle couldn't spell. Once it was plastered all over the news, there really wasn't any taking it back, and it is easier for the populace to rationalize that they were wrong and just pretend that "potatoe" was never a valid spelling that it was for them to rationalize that all of the people that they have counted on were complete idiots.
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by SETIGuy · 2010-08-10 09:12 · Score: 1

The senate office buildings may still have operating pneumatic tube systems, so its possible that a "tube" analogy would work with his brittle boned colleagues.

--
Support SETI@home
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by SETIGuy · 2010-08-10 09:15 · Score: 1

It's more likely he was referencing pneumatic tube systems widely used in office buildings, banks and hospitals up until the late 80s. I've seen some hospitals that still have working tube systems.

--
Support SETI@home
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by jellomizer · 2010-08-10 09:22 · Score: 0, Flamebait

Because he is an Evil Republican. So we MUST show how stupid Republicans are. However as Biden has asked for the WebSites Number we say nothing, as Democrats are forces of Good and is wise about all things.

--
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 09:29 · Score: 0

Part of his comments included this sentence: "I just the other day got...an Internet was sent by my staff at 10 o'clock in the morning on Friday. I got it yesterday." refering to an email message. Its ok for *MY* grand father to say he received an "internet", or to have a view of the internet strictly in terms of tubes.
However, its not really forgivable that the man responsible for authoring legislation like the "Communications, Consumer's Choice, and Broadband Deployment Act of 2006" to not be clear on the difference between an email and the internet to have such a lay understanding of the subject.
Yeah, and if I were going to buy that, it'd be because I'd be seeing that as the primary focus instead of so many people lambasting him for his use of the term tubes in his metaphor.
All I see is that he spoke somewhat poorly, but hell, that's hardly unusual, even among politicians. Not all of them are great orators, and very few of them get a chance to rehearse, let alone re-shoot a speech. No big deal to me, I see it all the time on news programs. Which makes me wonder why they're even there, really, as you'd think they'd be more articulate or they'd have the sense to not put themselves on television. Then I realize, hey, they're human, just like me. And let's not even get to the people on the streets whose opinions are sought...
Now maybe if I ever spoke to him personally, I would possibly judge him less favorably, but I guess that won't be happening.
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by Red+Flayer · 2010-08-10 09:29 · Score: 2, Funny

If the internet is a series of tubes, the slashdot is a series of pedants :D
No, slashdot is a *cluster* of pedants. We do not operate in series.

QED

--
"Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by SatanicPuppy · 2010-08-10 09:39 · Score: 3, Insightful

I don't think anyone of us would have cared if he hadn't been the chair of the committee that was in charge of telecom regulation.
If my grandpa had that understanding of the internet, it'd be fine. For Ted Stevens to have it? Fuck no! It was a big part of his job, and the best he can come up with is "a series of tubes"? I don't think so!

--
ad logicam Claiming a proposition is false because it was presented as the conclusion of a fallacious argument.
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by whoever57 · 2010-08-10 09:44 · Score: 1

Is not an overloaded server (or router, or any other stop along the way) a "clog"?

I still don't see how he was ever that far off.
The point that he was trying to make was that his email was delayed by several days because the "tubes" were overloaded, which was clearly untrue. That's why he was so far off. Overloaded or offline mail servers were unrelated to the topic of the discussion. Context is important in this discussion.

--
The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by countertrolling · 2010-08-10 09:48 · Score: 1

...who held an extremely important committee seat...
The problem is the people who put him there.
He treated congress like a smash and grab for money for his supporters.
It certainly isn't his fault that congress doesn't have the balls to stand up to that kind of crap.
An individual usually just doesn't have that kind of power without a support system propping him up.

--
For justice, we must go to Don Corleone
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 10:06 · Score: 0

If you listen to Stevens' rant, you'll find out that he had no idea what he was talking about. That's what made it so ridiculous.
And the point he was trying to make was technically just wrong.
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by cyfer2000 · 2010-08-10 10:20 · Score: 1

A tube is measured by OD (outer diameter) and a pipe is measured by ID (inner diameter). So when you say a gigabit Ethernet is a larger "pipe" than a 100M Ethernet, you indeed mean the capacity is larger. But if you say it is a larger "tube", it may not mean a larger capacity unless you include wall thickness information.

--
There is a spark in every single flame bait point.
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by geekoid · 2010-08-10 10:22 · Score: 2, Informative

" series of tubes"
The is an electronic reference. Ted Stevens hasn't got a grasp on technology as far back as the 70's.
hell, half his quote makes no damn sense at all.
Since departed Ted was crafting how the public could use the internet, that quote should scare you. It's clearly someone in charge of something they have no grasp of.
Here is the first part of that quote:
"Ten movies streaming across that, that Internet, and what happens to your own personal Internet? I just the other day got...an Internet was sent by my staff at 10 o'clock in the morning on Friday. I got it yesterday [Tuesday]. Why? Because it got tangled up with all these things going on the Internet commercially."

--
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by DriedClexler · 2010-08-10 10:35 · Score: 1

Oh, can I do one?
Ted Stevens isn't fucked; he just got a series of screws.

--
Information theory is life. The rest is just the KL divergence.
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 10:37 · Score: 0

*Young people just made fun of him because he was old, basically, and he didn't have a technical understanding of the internet (then again, most who think they do are wrong on most of what they think they know).*
The difference between Sen. Stevens and myself being that I, if placed in a position to dictate the terms of operation of a system I don't even vaguely understand, will respectfully decline to do so.
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by EQ · 2010-08-10 10:37 · Score: 1

He gets flack about it because he stood up there talking about something he knew absolutely nothing about, babbling words that some lobbyist paid him (er, um... donated to his campaign) to say.
The sad thing is that very scene is repeated daily in the US House and Senate. A congress of idiots.

--
Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo! http://goo.gl/J9bkO
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by Paradoks · 2010-08-10 10:41 · Score: 2, Insightful

That was a splendid post, but I wanted to point one thing out:

We didn't make fun of him because he was stupid. We made fun of him because he was wrong.
We made fun of him because he was wrong and stupid.
The thing is, the speech sounded like it came directly from a lobbyist's press release. Okay, lots of speeches sound like that, but Stevens, in attempting to get the gist of the argument, changed things that no one who actually knew anything about the topic would ever say.
So, yes, he was wrong with what he was trying to say, as he was a mouthpiece for AT&T or some other company. He was stupid because he was speaking confidently from a position of obvious ignorance.
All this said, I was happy when Stevens lost his final campaign, but I find only sadness in his dying unnaturally. If he had lived longer, well, maybe he would have learned more about the internet and changed his position.
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by fishbowl · 2010-08-10 10:45 · Score: 1

>He was clearly referencing tubes, as in radio tubes.
I always thought he meant tubes, as in bank pneumatics. I've used box/bag/envelope analogies when lecturing on TCP, but I wouldn't want to be accused of thinking that the internet was *actually* bags and envelopes.

--
-fb Everything not expressly forbidden is now mandatory.
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by fishbowl · 2010-08-10 10:50 · Score: 1

>He deserves flak for his infamous bridge to nowhere
The bridge wasn't such a bad idea at all. The people who lived on that island didn't think it would be unreasonable to have a road that could connect them to their airport. It wasn't as "nowhere" as you've been led to believe.
The felony indictment was (potentially) consequences enough for the things he did to engender that indictment. I never really thought attacking him over the "tubes" comment or the road project were appropriate. (The town where I grew up is not much bigger than Ketchikan and *we* had civil infrastructure, as it were. *shrug*).

--
-fb Everything not expressly forbidden is now mandatory.
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by phantomcircuit · 2010-08-10 10:57 · Score: 4, Informative

I have yet to see a single piece of evidence that Ted Stevens was not a 100%, bought and paid for shill to industry, with no ethics or redeeming value. He treated congress like a smash and grab for money for his supporters. I'm sad he died in a plane crash instead of prison where he would have been if it weren't for the ineptitude of the prosecutors of his corruption investigation.
You mean like the prosecutor being held in contempt for withholding evidence? Or the part where the FBI agent and the star witness against Stevens? http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/13/AR2009021303092.html
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by phantomcircuit · 2010-08-10 10:58 · Score: 1

er Or the part where the FBI agent and the star witness against Stevens where sleeping together?
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by fishbowl · 2010-08-10 10:59 · Score: 1

In college I lived in an apartment building that was converted from a bank. It still had a mostly functioning pneumatic system, and we had a few cassettes. Every now and then we would start it up and send various things (various things) between rooms. That was a really bizarre place to live. One of the rooms had the vault (no door left just empty space), and another room had the men's room (3 urinals, 2 crappers, 2 sinks, which the girl who lived there used as planters!)
Good times.

--
-fb Everything not expressly forbidden is now mandatory.
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by fishbowl · 2010-08-10 11:04 · Score: 1

>You probably wouldn't be surprised that most of the things that end up shooting through Congress are over the heads of the
>politicians.
I wonder how well the members of the first Congress understood things like naval combat, or iron casting cannons, or detailed issues of agricultural commerce, or whatever technological specialties had to be dealt with in the day.

--
-fb Everything not expressly forbidden is now mandatory.
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by fishbowl · 2010-08-10 11:06 · Score: 1

>Apart from the fact that he seemed to think that the long delay in delivering "an Internet" [email] was due to those tubes being >clogged, rather than the more likely explanation of a mail server being overloaded or offline.
Or the far more likely possibility that the assistant lied about sending the message on Friday.

--
-fb Everything not expressly forbidden is now mandatory.
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 11:09 · Score: 0

I have yet to see a single piece of evidence that you aren't a communist.
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by fishbowl · 2010-08-10 11:10 · Score: 1

>Basically, for those of us in IT: imagine your average user.
My average user either has a Masters in an engineering field, or military experience developing aircraft components, or both.
For the record, this isn't always better than having the cliché "average user".

--
-fb Everything not expressly forbidden is now mandatory.
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by MoriT · 2010-08-10 11:21 · Score: 1

Oh, don't worry, he didn't write the "Communications, Consumer Choice, and Broadband Deployment Act". That would be AT&T and Verizon.
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by TheRecklessWanderer · 2010-08-10 11:25 · Score: 1

I wonder what they were doing up in Alaska? Probably whalin some Pailin.

--
Mean what you say...say what you mean.
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by socsoc · 2010-08-10 11:28 · Score: 1

However as Biden has asked for the WebSites Number we say nothing
Nobody said 127.0.0.1?
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 11:39 · Score: 0

That's probably because you never heard him speak.
He said he "got a piece of internet the other day" referring to email. This came from the man who was debating AGAINST net neutrality.
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 11:52 · Score: 0

It sounds like you'd have a problem with Stevens no matter what he said. But I digress...
The context is that most people have made fun of this old man for being "out of touch" because he said series of tubes, and he kind of stuttered in the video when he said it. Most yahoos don't know much about Stevens, are are just making fun of him because other people think its funny. Some of these originating people probably have a political agenda against Stevens, and are mocking him because they have different ideological ideas.
I think this is a more general answer to GP's question.
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by jd · 2010-08-10 11:56 · Score: 1

Pentacles, surely.

--
It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by jd · 2010-08-10 12:08 · Score: 1

Old people may have a harder time learning, but they can. Nothing stops them, it's all about the effort they're willing to put in.
It is because there are so many different things that are evolving at an incredible pace within a country that I question the wisdom of having old people in Congress or as President. It has been mentioned on Slashdot that the age at which the brain starts to seriously deteriorate is around 40, so I would argue that this should be the oldest anyone should ever enter the Senate. The traditional retirement age of 65 is there for a good reason - traditionally, even craft guilds have found people to be more of a problem than a help above that age. Ergo, nobody should be in politics above that age. It should be the absolute upper ceiling.
If these age restrictions were added in, I think you'd find the political arena suddenly had a lot more sense. (Also, you would have fewer people just about to drop dead trying to decide between a quick kickback and the state of the nation in 30-odd years. The more Congressmen there are that are likely to see the future, the more the future will matter to them.)

--
It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 12:08 · Score: 0

Ah, so you're saying the tubes are always full... Got it.
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 12:19 · Score: 0

Yeah, until he got to the point about it not being a truck that you can just dump things on. Totally the wrong metaphor. If the Internet is a series of tubes, then everything gets dissolved before flowing through it and your mercedes just requires some reassembly after transmission. If the Internet is a superhighway with vehicles on it, they're all the same size (or a maximum size of ~1400 car-octets), and if you dump something big on it it has to be disassembled and shipped through lots and lots of "trucks" with the same priority as my sports car.
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by bill_mcgonigle · 2010-08-10 13:07 · Score: 1

I've seen some hospitals that still have working tube systems.
New hospitals are still putting them in. There's just no better way to get a biopsy from the OR to the Pathology Lab while the patient is sliced open on the table.

--
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by petermgreen · 2010-08-10 13:40 · Score: 1

Is not an overloaded server a "clog"?
In a sense it is but it is a clog in mail specific infrastructure, not a clog in the general purpose routing infrastructure.
And when talking about net neutrality that is a rather important distinction.

--
note: i'm known as plugwash most places but i screwd up registering that here somehow in the past and now can't register
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 14:18 · Score: 0

We didn't make fun of him because he was stupid. We made fun of him because he was wrong.
Actually, I made fun of him for both.
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by DriedClexler · 2010-08-10 15:17 · Score: 3, Insightful

I'm normally one to defend people who take inscrutable flak for using perfectly valid terms, but ...
1) When people mock him, the "series of tubes" thing is just to refer to the whole speech, which had some howlers. Very few are criticizing him for the analogy to tubes specifically.
2) Mail sent by his staff would have come from the same intranet, and so couldn't be explained by general overloading of the internet, which would make a big difference for his point (to the extent he had one).
3) In giving his explanation, he obviously was trying to pass of a lobbyist pep talk as genuine understanding, which is pretty dangerous for someone having such authority over the internet and attempting to pass legislation thereon. It revealed that, "Whoa, is this their understanding on *other* issues?" See 1)

--
Information theory is life. The rest is just the KL divergence.
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by Sovetskysoyuz · 2010-08-10 16:24 · Score: 1

Tune in tomorrow for the shocking conclusion of "The Young and the Restless: Capitol Hill"
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by xero314 · 2010-08-10 16:48 · Score: 1

Ah yes, let us all make sure that we lambast every speaker for every juxtaposition of words, or slip, freudian or otherwise. So the guy said internet when he meant to say email, when making a talk about the internet, it happens. This was a speech, not a peer reviewed and edited document. Certainly this is not the catastrophic mistake some would like to make it out to be.

And I'm not even saying that Stevens knows what he's talking about, but I certainly don't think that stumbling over one word, is indicative of his knowledge or even a lack there of.
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by CharlyFoxtrot · 2010-08-10 17:31 · Score: 1

And he stated that "one of his staff sent [him] an internet".
What you've never gotten an internet before ?

--
If all else fails, immortality can always be assured by spectacular error.
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by CharlyFoxtrot · 2010-08-10 17:39 · Score: 1

Sorry, can't resist :
"Now, there's one thing you might have noticed I don't complain about: politicians. Everybody complains about politicians. Everybody says they suck. Well, where do people think these politicians come from? They don't fall out of the sky. They don't pass through a membrane from another reality. They come from American parents and American families, American homes, American schools, American churches, American businesses and American universities, and they are elected by American citizens. This is the best we can do folks. This is what we have to offer. It's what our system produces: Garbage in, garbage out. If you have selfish, ignorant citizens, you're going to get selfish, ignorant leaders. Term limits ain't going to do any good; you're just going to end up with a brand new bunch of selfish, ignorant Americans. So, maybe, maybe, maybe, it's not the politicians who suck. Maybe something else sucks around here... like, the public. Yeah, the public sucks. There's a nice campaign slogan for somebody: 'The Public Sucks. F*ck Hope.'" -- George Carlin

--
If all else fails, immortality can always be assured by spectacular error.
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by sjames · 2010-08-10 17:40 · Score: 1

Perhaps Palin mistook the plane for one of those flying Russian spy-moose and shot it?
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by vux984 · 2010-08-10 18:13 · Score: 1

It was just one example out of an entire speech, out of his career. Its not like there aren't plenty others.
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by Antarius · 2010-08-10 18:31 · Score: 1

Supermarkets here in Australia are using vacuum tubes to send cash from the registers to the back-of-store administrators, to avoid having too much cash in the register.

These were put into my local stores in 1994, where they replaced the system of two staff members wheeling it around in a big cart twice per day. So it's not so much a 'still using' thing, as they are still being installed as a current technology.
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by The_mad_linguist · 2010-08-10 18:58 · Score: 1

Specifically, a Beowulf cluster of pedants.
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by digitalchinky · 2010-08-10 22:57 · Score: 1

Ted Stevens died, Sean O'Keefe survived along with his son.
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by ultranova · 2010-08-11 02:53 · Score: 1

Young people just made fun of him because he was old, basically, and he didn't have a technical understanding of the internet

And still considered himself fit to make decisions concerning it. It's the combination of ignorance and power that got people alarmed; making fun of him was simply a way of trying to check that power and prevent him from doing damage.

--
Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by ultranova · 2010-08-11 04:23 · Score: 1

Specifically, a Beowulf cluster of pedants.

Also known as a Beowulf clusterfuck.

--
Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by operagost · 2010-08-11 04:48 · Score: 1

How is "series of tubes" describing a radio, again? Sure, you could have a series of vacuum diodes, but how do they get "clogged"? You are really reaching. I don't like the guy either, but let's not be silly.

--

Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
Re:It'll be a while before we get confirmation... by ultranova · 2010-08-11 04:52 · Score: 1

It has been mentioned on Slashdot that the age at which the brain starts to seriously deteriorate is around 40, so I would argue that this should be the oldest anyone should ever enter the Senate. The traditional retirement age of 65 is there for a good reason - traditionally, even craft guilds have found people to be more of a problem than a help above that age.

Traditional retirement age is 64 because prior to modern medicine, almost nobody lived to be that old, and those who did were disease-broken husks. It has nothing to do with brainpower and everything to do with being able to walk.
And Senators don't need functional brains, their corporate masters are more than happy to think for them.

--
Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.

ten hours after the *initial* crash? by deviator · 2010-08-10 07:09 · Score: 3, Insightful

was there a second crash?

Re:ten hours after the *initial* crash? by dyingtolive · 2010-08-10 07:10 · Score: 4, Funny

Maybe it hit so hard it bounced?

--
Support the EFF and Creative Commons. The war is coming, and they're supporting you...
Re:ten hours after the *initial* crash? by Fnord666 · 2010-08-10 07:20 · Score: 1

was there a second crash?

No, there can be only one.

FTFA:
"A rescue crew from the Alaska Air National Guard and the United States Coast Guard arrived on the scene more than 12 hours after the crash, hampered by rain, high winds and heavy fog in an area of mountains and lakes north of Bristol Bay. "

--
'The tyrant will always find pretext for his tyranny.' - Aesop's Fables
Re:ten hours after the *initial* crash? by Captain+Splendid · 2010-08-10 07:21 · Score: 4, Informative

Actually, this crash IS his second crash. He survived one other in 1978.

--
Linux, you magnificent bastard, I read the fucking manual!
Re:ten hours after the *initial* crash? by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · 2010-08-10 07:22 · Score: 1

Clearly they should have built that bridge to nowhere, so responders could quickly reach aircraft that crash there...
Re:ten hours after the *initial* crash? by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 07:28 · Score: 1, Insightful

I think it's mandatory in "plane speech". George Carlin did a famous routine about it:
Quote
George Carlin: People add extra words when they want things to sound more important than they really are. "Boarding process". Sounds important. It isn't.
[laughter]
George Carlin: It's just a bunch of people getting on an airplane. People like to sound important. Weathermen on Television talk about shower activity. Sounds more important than showers. I even heard one guy on CNN talk about a rain event. I swear to God. He said, "Louisiana's expecting a rain event". I said, "holy shit I hope I can get tickets to that!"
Re:ten hours after the *initial* crash? by evilviper · 2010-08-10 07:35 · Score: 1

was there a second crash?
Not yet, but we're working on it.

--
Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
Re:ten hours after the *initial* crash? by damn_registrars · 2010-08-10 07:47 · Score: 3, Funny

Rumor has it the plane was running Windows ME, so it crashed, came back up, and then crashed again.

--
Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
Re:ten hours after the *initial* crash? by suomynonAyletamitlU · 2010-08-10 07:49 · Score: 1

Wow, they must have been waiting at the crash site for a quite a while,
Re:ten hours after the *initial* crash? by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 07:57 · Score: 0

depends if it made a noise or not... was nobody around?
Re:ten hours after the *initial* crash? by Captain+Splendid · 2010-08-10 08:08 · Score: 1

Dogged professionals, each and every one of them.

--
Linux, you magnificent bastard, I read the fucking manual!
Re:ten hours after the *initial* crash? by element-o.p. · 2010-08-10 08:17 · Score: 1

If not, there's still time for a second crash.

My brother-in-law was an Air National Guard helicopter rescue pilot. He was on a training flight one day when the helicopter flamed out, and they crashed. Shortly afterwards, another ANG helicopter was dispatched to pick up my brother-in-law and the rest of the crew. Shortly after picking up my brother-in-law's crew, the second chopper crashed, too. What *really* makes the story funny is that they later tried to airlift out the helicopter my brother-in-law was flying, and ended up dropping it en route. That's *three* crashes in this incident!

--
MCSE? No, sir...I don't do Windows. Yes, I am an idealist. What's your point?
Re:ten hours after the *initial* crash? by MalleusEBHC · 2010-08-10 08:17 · Score: 1

It ran for a whole ten hours between crashes?
Get me that man's sysadmin to work on my tubes at once!
Re:ten hours after the *initial* crash? by hipp5 · 2010-08-10 08:24 · Score: 1

I think it's mandatory in "plane speech". George Carlin did a famous routine about it:
Quote
George Carlin: People add extra words when they want things to sound more important than they really are. "Boarding process". Sounds important. It isn't. [laughter] George Carlin: It's just a bunch of people getting on an airplane. People like to sound important. Weathermen on Television talk about shower activity. Sounds more important than showers. I even heard one guy on CNN talk about a rain event. I swear to God. He said, "Louisiana's expecting a rain event". I said, "holy shit I hope I can get tickets to that!"
Perhaps a little offtopic, so feel free to mod me so...
I work in urban planning, and for some reason my profession likes to refer to things like "water features" and "street furniture". It's a fucking fountain and a bench, can't we please stop being pompous assholes?
Re:ten hours after the *initial* crash? by socsoc · 2010-08-10 11:36 · Score: 1

Can you please stop trying to make streetscape improvements to the ghetto?
Re:ten hours after the *initial* crash? by Jodka · 2010-08-10 11:40 · Score: 1

was there a second crash?
No, actually all the same crash, but the tail sections broke off in flight and landed separately on the other side of the island.

--
Ceci n'est pas une signature.
Re:ten hours after the *initial* crash? by PaganRitual · 2010-08-10 12:35 · Score: 1

Rumor has it the plane was running Windows ME
Even then, the crash itself was a rumor that lasted for so long purely because everyone refused to believe that anyone would still be running a copy of Windows ME.
Re:ten hours after the *initial* crash? by sjames · 2010-08-10 17:42 · Score: 1

I'm not sure where the rain came from, but aren't high winds and fog a constant condition around congressmen?
Re:ten hours after the *initial* crash? by hitmark · 2010-08-11 10:44 · Score: 1

sounds about as bad as the vietnam war rescue gone very bad.
first one fighter jet is shot down, then the rescue group sent in is shot down, then the backup team is downed. In the end i think maybe 20+ people was stranded behind enemy lines because of the initial downed jet.

--
comment first, facts later. http://chem.tufts.edu/AnswersInScience/RelativityofWrong.htm

RIP by mark72005 · 2010-08-10 07:09 · Score: 1, Insightful

RIP

Re:RIP by thetoadwarrior · 2010-08-10 08:55 · Score: 1

God forbid anyone have fun when someone dies. Just because people make jokes doesn't mean they hate the guy and quite frankly I rather people have fun and take the piss out of me at my funeral than sit there like a bunch of miserable people.

It's a shame there were others on the plane by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 07:10 · Score: -1

Otherwise the tag "andnothingofvaluewaslost" would be appropriate here.

Re:It's a shame there were others on the plane by Wyatt+Earp · 2010-08-10 07:27 · Score: 5, Interesting

Because you don't know any Alaska history.
Ted was pretty influential in getting the Eisenhower Administration to go along with Alaska Statehood, oh and Ted astroturfed Ike's press conferences with questions about Alaska's statehood too.
Re:It's a shame there were others on the plane by PitaBred · 2010-08-10 08:07 · Score: 1

Great. Too bad that doesn't offset all the other bullshit he's pulled. Just because he accidentally chose the right horse in the race once doesn't exonerate him from his wrongdoing.

--
My blog. Good stuff (when I remember to update it). Read it.
Re:It's a shame there were others on the plane by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 08:55 · Score: 0

Not to mention the hugely beneficial for Alaska's economy oil pipeline for which Ted lobbied extensively.
Re:It's a shame there were others on the plane by SleazyRidr · 2010-08-10 08:59 · Score: 1

Seriously, can we just get through one day of respect for the dead. Use him as an example of what not to do in the future, but can we please let the man rest in peace.

--
Is 1563649 a prime number?
Re:It's a shame there were others on the plane by Wyatt+Earp · 2010-08-10 08:59 · Score: 1

Which things? A little bribery and or gifts? Convictions that were overturned because the prosecution was lying as much as they charged Stevens with.
So some corruption is way worse than backing the rights of Alaska Natives and American Indians?
Re:It's a shame there were others on the plane by X0563511 · 2010-08-10 09:23 · Score: 1

I hesitate to believe that the dead really care what people on the internet think.

--
For large sets, this will be our guide even unto death, for the LORD will work for each type of data it is applied to...
Re:It's a shame there were others on the plane by geekoid · 2010-08-10 10:24 · Score: 1

no. if the dead don't like it, they can say so.
He's dead, he is resting at peace no matter what we say.

--
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
Re:It's a shame there were others on the plane by cbhacking · 2010-08-10 12:19 · Score: 1

Are these supposed to convince me that what he did was valuable? I've visited Alaska. It's a beautiful area. However, I really don't care whether or not it's part of the US. It could have been its own country, or part of Canada, or part of Russia for all I care. As a state, it consumes far more federal money than it provides. It's a huge blob of very under-developed land with almost no population and numerous little villages that can't be reached by land, where it's an open secret that the owner of the store beats his wife (but nobody cares). I'd visit again, but I have no desire to live there, and I *love* the outdoors. I'm just having a hard time understanding why Alaska being part of the USA is something I'm supposed to commend this guy for.

--
There's no place I could be, since I've found Serenity...
Re:It's a shame there were others on the plane by Nimey · 2010-08-10 13:25 · Score: 1

You'd have cared about Alaska not being Soviet if you'd paid attention to the Cold War.

--
Hail Eris, full of mischief...

E pluribus sanguinem
Re:It's a shame there were others on the plane by Wyatt+Earp · 2010-08-10 13:25 · Score: 1

Being a state of the United States doesn't mean a state has to give more in taxes more than it receives in Federal dollars and it doesn't mean that a state which receives more than it pays in taxes should be kicked out of the Union.
Besides, "it consumes far more federal money than it provides" is from the Federal Government putting five major military bases in Alaska (Elmendorf, Eielson, Wainwright, Richardson, Greely), as well as the high number of Alaska natives and American Indians in the state receiving tons of dollars for the Federal Government.
The fact that you don't understand the strategic and economic benefits of Alaska to the United States is fine.
Re:It's a shame there were others on the plane by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 14:04 · Score: 0

> You'd have cared about Alaska not being Soviet if you'd paid attention to the Cold War.
Um, there was no Soviet Union when we bought Alaska from Russia in 1867.
Re:It's a shame there were others on the plane by Nimey · 2010-08-10 15:35 · Score: 1

And? You think the Soviets wouldn't have inherited it from the Tsarists, eh?
IGTT 1/10.

--
Hail Eris, full of mischief...

E pluribus sanguinem
Re:It's a shame there were others on the plane by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-11 05:25 · Score: 0

Being a state of the United States doesn't mean a state has to give more in taxes more than it receives in Federal dollars and it doesn't mean that a state which receives more than it pays in taxes should be kicked out of the Union.
It absolutely does mean that every single resident of said state is a welfare leech living off of the productivity of people in states which don't have a massive financial (and obviously ethical) imbalance though.
It does put very much into perspective the general trend of such people in such states being the number one complainers about taxes when they don't pay any at all and instead are on the receiving end of other people's unwilling charity at gunpoint. It also highlights the stunning ethical shortfall of such people that they always seem to vote in scum like Stevens who did nothing but seek to keep robbing the hard working decent people of this nation to feed the lazy greed of welfare leeches (while complaining about exactly what they are doing and blaming the victims of their sleazy theft for their actions). Also it perfectly illustrates the complete and utter hypocrisy Palin defines. She went from Governor of the queen of the welfare states and huge proponent of the bridge to nowhere to travelling around to all of the welfare states and rural welfare counties declaring the welfare leeches therein to be "real" Americans as opposed to those who actually pay their own bills and everyone else's.
This is exactly who and what the Republican party is and has been since at least Reagan who defined this very uniquely Republican ideal.

A quick benediction by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 07:11 · Score: -1, Redundant

Just remember, the Internet is not something that you just dump something on. It's not a big truck. It's a series of tubes. And if you don't understand, those tubes can be filled and if they are filled, when you put your message in, it gets in line and it's going to be delayed by anyone that puts into that tube enormous amounts of material, enormous amounts of material.

Perhaps travel by tube would be safer next time?

Re:A quick benediction by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 07:19 · Score: 2, Insightful

Just remember, you're an asshole and will probably always be an asshole. Maybe someday you will also be old, and there will be things that are new to you, and hopefully the new generation will heap the same kinds of derision on you.
Re:A quick benediction by Fiduciary · 2010-08-10 07:25 · Score: 3, Funny

Just remember, you're an asshole and will probably always be an asshole. Maybe someday you will also be old, and there will be things that are new to you, and hopefully the new generation will heap the same kinds of derision on you.
We can only hope that the next generation will not allow us to hold office so long we become totally detached from the people we represent.. That is, if we can get the last generation out of office by then.
Re:A quick benediction by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 07:44 · Score: 0

People in office don't get to play the old card.
Re:A quick benediction by hardburn · 2010-08-10 07:51 · Score: 1

Thing is, Stevens was probably as in-tune to the people of Alaska as he needed to be. Even with a heap of scandals, he lost only by slim margins. The Bridge to Nowhere would have been a boon to the local contractors, and that's just one in a list of pork projects Stevens funneled in (usually with more success).
Senators supposedly represent just one state, not the whole country.

--
Not a typewriter
Re:A quick benediction by Red+Flayer · 2010-08-10 09:48 · Score: 1

Senators supposedly represent just one state, not the whole country.
Says who? I can't find anything of the sort in the Constitution.

Instead, the Congress is specified in the Constitution as "a Congress of the United States". Seems to me that if one were to literally interpret the Constitution, then Senators are to represent the whole country, not their individual states.

--
"Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
Re:A quick benediction by bsDaemon · 2010-08-10 11:34 · Score: 1

Back in the day, the Constitution, as worded, basically framed the United States as "the several States," that is, separate entities. Senators were appointed by State legislatures and were the State's representatives to Congress. Each District in each State elected directly a Representative to the House to represent them. This is was all quite clear prior to Reconstruction.
Basically, its called 'Federalism' -- it's a compromise which recognizes that as a Virginian, while I have certain common interests with Californians re: infrastructure and defense, that I am separated from them by such a great distance, live in a completely geographically distinct area, and my social values and economic interests are not going to be the same as theirs. That's why we have states, and that's why the federal government was originally intended to do the bare minimum that would be seen to be in the common interest despite such differences. That attitude is also the only reason that I don't dump tonnes of money into races in other states and try and oust politicians in places I can't vote for, regardless of how I feel about them. I don't begrudge the people in other states their representatives, and as I would hope they would not begrudge me mine.
But, I'm also probably not the typical American voter, in that I voted for both my Democratic Senators and my Republican Representative because they were actually the more qualified than their opponent. I voted for Obama mostly as a strategic move to keep Sarah Palin's illiterate ass as far away from the White House, or the Naval Observatory, as possible. Never really liked McCain anyway.
Re:A quick benediction by hardburn · 2010-08-10 12:09 · Score: 1

Seems to me that if one were to literally interpret the Constitution, then Senators are to represent the whole country, not their individual states.
The trouble with "literal" interpretations of anything is that nobody can quite agree on just how literal they should be.
In a republic, the people must have some kind of hold over the representative or else that rep will do whatever they please, which is more or less how the Roman Republic worked out. In America, representatives are ultimately accountable to voters. Even lobbyists can only go so far in controlling politicians; that money must somehow be turned into votes in order to be reelected.
Since Minnesotans don't vote for Alaska's Senator, Stevens never had any direct accountability to Minnesota or any other state that isn't Alaska.
Congress may represent the whole country, but that doesn't mean its individual components do.

--
Not a typewriter
Re:A quick benediction by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 13:17 · Score: 0

Just remember, you're an asshole and will probably always be an asshole. Maybe someday you will also be old, and there will be things that are new to you, and hopefully the new generation will heap the same kinds of derision on you.
If those things were indeed new to Ted Stevens, then he had no business heading a subcommittee that dealt with those matters, and was therefore grossly negligent in his duties as a Senator, which means that he deserved every bit of derision he received. He willfully put himself in a position to make policy regarding things he was not competent to make policy on. "But he's old!" is not an excuse for that.

It's true by ak_hepcat · 2010-08-10 07:11 · Score: 4, Informative

Senator Stevens did perish in the crash. The fates of the other 8 on board have not yet been released to the public or media as of 11:10am AST.

--
Support FSF: Stop thinking with your wallet, and think with your imagination. (cc/non-commercial)

Re:It's true by Ambiguous+Coward · 2010-08-10 07:30 · Score: 2, Funny

Died, or FAKED HIS OWN DEATH?

--
Their may be a grammatical error, misspeling, or evn a typo in this post.
Re:It's true by Threni · 2010-08-10 07:51 · Score: 1

I trust your source - whoever it is.
Re:It's true by Bigjeff5 · 2010-08-10 08:08 · Score: 1

Last I heard five others (or maybe it was 5 total) died as well, though who specifically the others were I don't know.

--
Security is mostly a superstition... Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. - Helen Keller
Re:It's true by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 08:56 · Score: 0

I'm seeing the control of information is well at hand....
They have to get all the stock trades in before the announcement, lest the market take another dive.
Re:It's true by mjwx · 2010-08-10 13:54 · Score: 1

Senator Stevens did perish in the crash. The fates of the other 8 on board have not yet been released to the public or media as of 11:10am AST.
The Beeb reports 5 dead including Stevens, 4 survivors including O'keefe and his son. 2 of the survivors were badly injured.

--
Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.

Stevens was Killed by longacre · 2010-08-10 07:13 · Score: 2, Informative

Update: Stevens was killed, fate of other passengers unknown.

--
Airplane Photos, Airline News, Planespotting Guides

Re:Stevens was Killed by serbanp · 2010-08-10 08:28 · Score: 1

It looks like O'Keefe and his son survived, though.

He just found in Hades... by GPLDAN · 2010-08-10 07:14 · Score: 3, Funny

Turns out the bridge goes nowhere...

Re:He just found in Hades... by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 07:18 · Score: 4, Funny

Turns out the bridge goes nowhere...

Even the devil...
...sometoimes enjoys roast pork.
*doublesunglasses*
YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA---
Re:He just found in Hades... by dkleinsc · 2010-08-10 07:44 · Score: 4, Funny

YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA---
What, Howard Dean is there too?

--
I am officially gone from /. Long live http://www.soylentnews.com/
Re:He just found in Hades... by GPLDAN · 2010-08-10 07:44 · Score: 4, Funny

When reached in Hades for comment, Stevens had this to say:

"Ten airplanes flying across that, that state, and what happens to your own airplane? I just the other day got...an airplane was sent by my staff at 10 o'clock in the morning on Friday. I got it yesterday. Why? Because it got tangled up with all these things flying commercially."

"They want to deliver vast amounts of people over the state. And again, the airspace is not something that you just dump something on. It's not a big duck. It's a series of tubesocks. And if you don't understand, those tubes can be filled and if they are filled, when you put your flight in, it gets in line and it's going to be delayed by anyone that puts into that airspace enormous amounts of airplanes, enormous amounts of airplanes."
Re:He just found in Hades... by cashman73 · 2010-08-10 08:21 · Score: 1

I heard that the FAA investigators are camped out at Sarah Palin's house. After all, Palin told them that she could see the crash from there,. . .
Re:He just found in Hades... by Ipeunipig · 2010-08-10 08:49 · Score: 1

*golf clap*
Re:He just found in Hades... by HTH+NE1 · 2010-08-10 09:22 · Score: 1

He should have traveled by bridge.

--
Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?

GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 07:14 · Score: -1, Offtopic

So my account is on the verge of excellent karma. I'm modded from 1 to 2 and go to excellent. I am then modded up to 5 (no funny involved) and modded down to 4, and my karma goes to good. Modded back to 5, it is STILL at good. What is the deal here?

So I feel like trolling to waste some modpoints. Good riddence, Ted Stevens, you douche of a political hack! I can't stand crooks.

Captcha: infamous

Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by HungryHobo · 2010-08-10 07:19 · Score: -1, Offtopic

slashdot weights downmods higher than upmods?
It's bolocks anyway.
A +5 is easy to get.
The only ones I'm happy with are the posts which get both troll/overrated and insightful/informative mods.
If nobody's disagreeing it's not really worth saying.
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by Rod+Beauvex · 2010-08-10 07:27 · Score: 0, Flamebait

Seriously. This guy has pulled some lame shit, like threatening to stall important bills, and people actually seem upset over his death.
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 07:28 · Score: -1, Offtopic

Happened three times: last week, yesterday, and today. I basically have five posts that were +5, and after the first post at +5, I had excellent karma. Either commander "pink" taco is picking on me, or they have *REALLY* messed up karma here. As a result, I'm kinda stuck with replying to the FP to keep it above terrible/bad/neutral just because someone disagrees with me or funny/overrated-es me.
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · 2010-08-10 07:33 · Score: 5, Informative

For whatever reason, it is an American custom to eulogize dead politicians essentially without regard for quality. I'm not sure why.
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by Godskitchen · 2010-08-10 07:35 · Score: 5, Insightful

Or you could stop worrying about your karma on a news site.
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 07:41 · Score: -1, Troll

I wonder who the cuntdot fag is that modded you down, anyway, do any of the cuntdot fags want to waste a fucking mod point modding the AC down
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by AkiraRoberts · 2010-08-10 07:44 · Score: 4, Insightful

Perhaps because, though he was a dipshit, he was a) human and b) may not have actively revelled in his own evil. So it seems kind of odd to be all happy that he's dead. Personally, I won't miss the guy, but I'm also not really going to say 'Good riddance.' Something about the latter is a little cold blooded for my tastes.

--
words, words, words, lemur, words, words words
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by euroq · 2010-08-10 07:53 · Score: 0, Interesting

Slashdot is a very strange place. I don't know how half of the shit here works, either.

--
Just because the U.S. is a republic does not mean it is not a democracy. Democracy/republic are not mutually exclusive.
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by gabereiser · 2010-08-10 07:53 · Score: 0

I stopped worrying after getting modded down so low to bad that I could only post once a day... it's not like my posts are actually read anyways since by the time I get a chance to post, the article has over a gillion comments...
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by nomadic · 2010-08-10 07:59 · Score: 4, Insightful

For whatever reason, it is an American custom to eulogize dead politicians essentially without regard for quality. I'm not sure why.

It is American custom to regret needless death, even if you don't agree with, or like, the victims.
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by Guignol · 2010-08-10 08:03 · Score: 1

Don't worry about it, this rule applies outside of the USA as well, and (in case (which I doubt) it is not the case in the USA too) it also applies to pretty much anything dying after having done or been known for anything even remotely popular except maybe scientists :)
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by moonbender · 2010-08-10 08:03 · Score: 5, Insightful

It is American custom to regret needless death, even if you don't agree with, or like, the victims.
... as long as they're famous and/or rich. Otherwise, whatever.

--
Switch back to Slashdot's D1 system.
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by couchslug · 2010-08-10 08:04 · Score: 3, Insightful

We all die, so __only__ the loss by death of the good is cause for mourning.
GOOD FUCKING RIDDANCE.

--
"This post is an artistic work of fiction and falsehood. Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact."
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by Bigjeff5 · 2010-08-10 08:04 · Score: 2, Funny

b) may not have actively revelled in his own evil.
I hope you don't mean the "evil" that he was completely exonerated of.
He was railroaded for political gain, and that's it.

--
Security is mostly a superstition... Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. - Helen Keller
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by eln · 2010-08-10 08:09 · Score: 5, Insightful

Aside from a few universally hated people like Hitler, we have a tendency to focus on the good in people when they die. I think there are a couple of reasons why we do this:

a.) Except in the case of the universally reviled, we tend to think of people when they die as more...human, and not so much as whatever caricature of them we've built up in our minds over the years. Death is the ultimate equalizer. When someone dies, it's easier to think of them as having been just like us, with all of our foibles and vulnerabilities, and it becomes easier to forget, or at least minimize, their bad qualities.
b.) In most cases, people leave behind mourners when they die, and it's seen as in poor taste to be overtly negative about the dead and risk causing further grief to people who are already grieving. This is probably related to the whole idea of the sins of the father not being visited upon the sons.
c.) In the immediate aftermath of a person's death, criticism of them really serves no purpose. After all, they're dead, and are therefore presumably not actively doing anything to harm anyone anymore. After the initial shock wears off, and we begin to think of that person's place in history, we tend to start criticizing again. However, even then the criticism tends to be more tempered than it likely was when they were alive.

Having said all that, I think people do tend to get unnecessarily sensitive about these things after the death of a public figure. It's to be expected after a death of this type that people are going to make jokes and snide remarks, especially while cloaked in the pseudo (or sometimes total) anonymity of the Internet. Criticizing that or seeking to stop it in any way is pointless.
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by element-o.p. · 2010-08-10 08:11 · Score: 4, Insightful

Think of it this way: 1) they are dead, so they can no longer continue their idiotic policies. Therefore, there is no use continuing to sling vitriol. Bury your animosity with the dead. 2) because like them or not, they are people, and therefore they have family members that (presumably) love them despite their flaws. Out of respect for their survivors, put on a kind face.

IMHO, this is a good thing, and brings out the best in people. I really don't see the reason why people have to continue to hate so much on someone simply because they disagreed with their political stance while they were alive.*

*Yes, I live in Alaska, and no, I did not vote for Stevens since...I don't remember how long, but it's been well over a decade. I felt he was corrupt and needed to be thrown out, but (too) many of my peers disagreed with me until the last election.

--
MCSE? No, sir...I don't do Windows. Yes, I am an idealist. What's your point?
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 08:14 · Score: 0

You know, cockroach like Teddy don't go away THAT easily.
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by AkiraRoberts · 2010-08-10 08:14 · Score: 1

b) may not have actively revelled in his own evil.
I hope you don't mean the "evil" that he was completely exonerated of.
He was railroaded for political gain, and that's it.
"Evil" was straight up hyperbole. I was never a fan of his politics. But the dude was human and I'm just not the sort of person who can jump up and down and say "Yippee is dead!"

--
words, words, words, lemur, words, words words
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 08:21 · Score: 4, Insightful

Dont you mean...
It is American custom to regret needless American death, even if you don't agree with, or like, the victims.
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by phantomfive · 2010-08-10 08:26 · Score: 2, Interesting

Heh really? You don't understand why? Because once they are dead, they can do nothing. All the people who supported the guy are now on 'your side', even if just for a moment, and the dead guy himself can't stand in your way. Just like how all the Republicans honor Reagan while pushing an agenda that doesn't look anything like what Reagan would have done. You can say anything you want, and he can't object. It's the perfect opportunity for demagoguery.

Plus it's poor style to kick a man when he's down. You don't get much downer than dead.

--
Qxe4
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 08:42 · Score: -1, Flamebait

c) Nil nisi bonum.
It is the "Spartan" (or the "Roman") thing to do.
And since the Americans seem to see yourself as some super-civilization, the equivalent or ancient Greece or Rome or something, and revel in all cliches Greek or Roman - I mean, look at your money, or the kitschy buildings your gubbermint resides in - of course you have taken in this cliche as well.
Congrads on your rationalizing though :)
/ Also, Spartaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 08:47 · Score: 0

Just like how all the Republicans honor Reagan while pushing an agenda that doesn't look anything like what Reagan would have done.

You obviously didn't pay much attention to what Reagan did.
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by morgauxo · 2010-08-10 08:48 · Score: 1

Slashdot is a news site?
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by SleazyRidr · 2010-08-10 08:51 · Score: 2, Insightful

I'm pretty sure that if someone you knew died you'd be upset about it.
I probably wouldn't know them, so I wouldn't be particularly upset, as I probably wouldn't even know they were dead.
Famous people are people that a lot of people know. Lot's of people find out that they are dead and feel sorry for the loss of life.
Unless of course you're just an uncaring bastard.

--
Is 1563649 a prime number?
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by MozeeToby · 2010-08-10 08:59 · Score: 1

Or white and female, can't forget them.
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by hamburger+lady · 2010-08-10 09:01 · Score: 1

depends on what they did in their life. this guy was a politician, a senator, and his votes and his decisions impacted a lot of people. he voted to go to war in iraq, and if someone wants to excoriate him after his untimely death for that, i aint gonna argue. maybe it's a bit uncouth to us, but if i were an iraqi civilian who lost half my family in that war i'd be ready to spit on his grave.
i don't understand when people get all wacky when a celebrity dies tho. i mean, maybe they made some dumb songs or movies, but that hardly made peoples' lives measurably worse, at least enough to dance on their grave.

--

---
Is this the MPAA? Is this the RIAA? Is this the DMCA? I thought it was the USA!
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by Sir_Lewk · 2010-08-10 09:03 · Score: 1

Right, that is why nobody cared when John Lennon died for example. He wasn't a US citizen so nobody in America cared, and nobody in the rest of the world cared because that's just an American thing. Poor guy.

--
"linux is just DOS with a UNIX like syntax" -- Galactic Dominator (944134)
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by elrous0 · 2010-08-10 09:13 · Score: 4, Insightful

The guy died in a plane paid for by Alaska's largest telcom, who he had helped to defeat a net neutrality amendment when he was a Senator (this was his famous "series of tubes" speech, whose nasty purpose people tend to forget because of its general silliness). And, had he have lived, he would have *continued* to help them fight net neutrality. So it's not like his evil crap was done with.
One way or another, he would have been doing bad shit until the day he died (and he was). So with someone like that, I don't think it's mean-spirited to wish that day comes sooner rather than later.

--
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 09:18 · Score: 0

Good luck explaining Iraq and Afghanistan with that one.
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by interkin3tic · 2010-08-10 09:20 · Score: 3, Interesting

It is American custom to regret needless death, even if you don't agree with, or like, the victims.
... as long as they're famous and/or rich. Otherwise, whatever.
That's not true. Non-famous rich people don't get that treatment.
Furthermore, the famous people being overly honored is a function more of how many people have heard of famous people than celebrity worship. If a non-famous co-worker dies, we eulogize them. It's not national news for obvious reasons.
Not to defend American culture on slashdot or anything that would risk making me stand out from the cool kids, but I think this also goes on pretty much everywhere. People's natural tenancy is to honor the dead and remember them fondly. Famous people are by definition people that a lot of people know about, so when they die, of course there's more people doing that.
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 09:22 · Score: 1

Like those civilians in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by countertrolling · 2010-08-10 09:24 · Score: 1

Because once they are dead, they can do nothing.
You might want to check their will.

--
For justice, we must go to Don Corleone
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by morphotomy · 2010-08-10 09:31 · Score: 1

It doesnt matter if they follow what Reagan would have wanted, he's the republican's Jesus, and we all know how they consider what he would have wanted.
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by fdrebin · 2010-08-10 09:33 · Score: 5, Interesting

Aside from a few universally hated people like Hitler, we have a tendency to focus on the good in people when they die. ...
Actually one of the biggest eye-opening shocks of my life was in the 70's when I was an American student in Germany living with a German family. They were quite adamant that Hitler had done Germany a lot of good throughout much of of his tenure as their leader.
Remember these were people who had lived through the economic nightmare there after WW-I, then the 30's and 40's. They said Hitler had brought them out of the economic mess, put food on their table, made jobs available etc. etc. And all that is true for the most part.
We tend to focus on the seriously bad things he did... like I said it was a massive shock to me at that time, having been taught only a subset of the entire set of historical events.
Do NOT view this as me agreeing with their viewpoint, merely pointing out that it existed, and in some sad forms still exists.
/F

--
Stupidity... has a habit of getting its way.
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by LilGuy · 2010-08-10 09:39 · Score: 1

Generalizations are always false.
See what I did there?
You can't say "Americans do this" or "We do that" because you're speaking for 300 million people of various backgrounds and thoughts. Even if a large portion of Americans do anything in concert that doesn't mean that is what Americans do in that situation.
Sorry for the nitpicking but I absolutely detest broad generalizations. They only serve those ignorant enough to buy into them.

--

You're nothing; like me.
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 09:42 · Score: 0

You don't get positive karma from Funny upmods. So if you get 3 Funny mods and one Offtopic, the net effect on your karma is -1. There's a section in the FAQ about it.
A "funny" first post is a sure way to lose karma.
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 09:52 · Score: 1, Insightful

Which is respectful and commendable, when the death is needless.
I submit that a corrupt politicians death is not needless. It removes rot that is harming everyone across the country, thus making the death not needless. Such corruption, as is alleged against Stevens, is viewable as treason, which is punishable by death.
We need not behave disrespectfully, but neither should we eulogize someone simply because they died. Death makes saints (or even respectable people) of no one. We should respond to his death (or anyone's) as their actions in life accord them.
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by geekoid · 2010-08-10 09:58 · Score: 2, Insightful

You mean the judge with entrenched republican roots that got the prosecutors tossed out on baseless rumor and then set aside the verdict?
Please, he was guilty.
"Motion of The United States To Set Aside The Verdict And Dismiss The Indictment With Prejudice"
is not the same as exonerated.
Contrary to what he claims, we was found guilty.

--
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by WGFCrafty · 2010-08-10 10:00 · Score: 1

He had a lot to say.
He had a lot of nothing to say.
We'll miss him.
We'll miss him.

He had a lot to say.
He had a lot of nothing to say.
We'll miss him.
We're gonna miss him
We're gonna miss him

So long.
We wish you well.
You told us how you weren't afraid to die.
Well then, so long.
Don't cry.
Or feel too down.
Not all martyrs see divinity.
But at least you tried.

Standing above the crowd,
He had a voice that was strong and loud.
We'll miss him.
We'll miss him.

Ranting and pointing his finger
At everything but his heart.
We'll miss him.
We'll miss him.
We're gonna miss him.
We're gonna miss him.
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by WGFCrafty · 2010-08-10 10:02 · Score: 1

We also like it if they're killed in an especially twisted way, the news and the people eat that stuff up.
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by penix1 · 2010-08-10 10:07 · Score: 1

Ummm...John Lennon received his "green card" in 1976 after much legal fighting because of his anti-war stance. In fact, Nixon tried to get him deported. that was overturned.

--
This is a sig. This is only a sig. Had this been an actual sig you would have been informed where to tune for more sigs.
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by AK+Marc · 2010-08-10 10:09 · Score: 1

Courts do not make findings of evil. They make findings of guilt based on legal evidence. He was provided gifts well outside the legal mechanisms for doing so. His defense was "I was too stupid to know they were spending massive amounts on the renovation of my chalet." They were illegal gifts for political purposes. That his conviction was overturned is unrelated to whether the gifts were or were not illegal, just whether he could be held responsible for receiving them.

He was not exonerated, he was convicted and there is no one, not even his own legal team, that asserts that there were no illegal gifts. I didn't follow it that closely, but I think even those who gave them confessed. He got off on the technicality that he's stupid. It's the Reagan defense, and it's better than even the Chewbacca defense.

--
Learn to love Alaska
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by eln · 2010-08-10 10:11 · Score: 1

I meant "we" as in "humans", not "Americans". I also didn't mean to imply that all people are like this, which is why I used phrases like "tend to" and "in most cases". I think your post applies to the one I was replying to more than it does to mine.
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 10:19 · Score: 0

I don't know what "needless" means; the man was 86 years old, a ripe old age thanks to public health care.
I do know that if he had retired 20 years ago, like he should have, instead of continuing to corrupt our government and flying around with important people on junkets, the US would be billions of dollars richer and he wouldn't be dead.
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by interval1066 · 2010-08-10 10:26 · Score: 1

Probably because we (or most of us, anyway) value life without regard to political affiliation and those who reserve their tears (or good wishes, at least) for those who parallel their own political leaning are sub-human scum? Or shall we do a belated dance to the death of Teddy Kennedy too?

--
Python: 'And then suddenly you have a language which says "we're all stuck with whatever the whiniest coder wants".'
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by Sir_Lewk · 2010-08-10 10:26 · Score: 1

"green card" != "citizenship". Lennon would have been eligible for citizenship in '81.

--
"linux is just DOS with a UNIX like syntax" -- Galactic Dominator (944134)
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by EQ · 2010-08-10 10:32 · Score: 4, Insightful

"Geekoid", Nice try at repeating a lie and then spinning it. But you're lying flat out.
Try the truth per the Washington Post:
Judge Orders Probe of Attorneys in Stevens Case; Prosecutor Misconduct Alleged In Former Senator's Trial

[In April], a new team of prosecutors asked Sullivan to dismiss Stevens's conviction and indictment after uncovering notes from previous prosecutors that contradicted testimony from a key government witness. Paul O'Brien, one of the new Justice lawyers, told Sullivan that "we deeply, deeply regret that this occurred." Laura Sweeney, a department spokeswoman, said officials will review Sullivan's order "and will continue to cooperate with the court on this matter." During and after the trial, the judge reprimanded prosecutors several times for how they had handled evidence and witnesses. He chastised prosecutors for allowing a witness to leave town. He grew more agitated when he learned that prosecutors had introduced evidence they knew was inaccurate, and he scolded them for not turning over exculpatory material to the defense. U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan said ... after seeing so much "shocking and disturbing" behavior by the government "In 25 years on the bench, I have never seen anything approaching the mishandling and misconduct that I have seen in this case."
Pretty much he was railroaded by an overzealous and lying Bush Administration US Justice Department (and corrected by the Obama Administration, nice irony). Righty or Lefty, everyone deserves a fair trial. Get that into your overly-partisan thick head. You on the left are as bad as the rightist when it comes to hating your political enemies so much you'd screw up our justice system to punish them whether they deserved it or not -- and lying and smearing people in public without regard to the truth. Liars like you, left and right, are so damnably stupid they think they can get away with it. There was serious prosecutor misconduct, not "baseless rumor" - nice try but you lied and are busted. See the part in italics in the quote above? It was the federal prosecutors (under Holder/Obama) that asked the conviction to be overturned (RTFA linked), not the judge. Care to retract your post as the lie that it is?

--
Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo! http://goo.gl/J9bkO
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by sznupi · 2010-08-10 10:40 · Score: 1

Or just don't care about it from the start, and it'll be fine...

--
One that hath name thou can not otter
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 10:56 · Score: 0

The answer is even simpler than that. Death is the thing we all ultimately fear, our very psychology is built around it's denial. When someone else dies we are keenly aware of our own death, something that we normally go to great lengths to avoid. Much like the desire to believe in an afterlife, we all want to believe in a death that everyone mourns greatly. We want to me remembered and respected, It's a unspoken pact we all make with each other. I'll refrain from sticking my enemy with a dirty Sanchez, while he's laying in the casket, and I hope everyone else returns the favor for me. The few people who would step out of line on this issue, wont do it publicly because they know it would go over like a fart in church.
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 11:15 · Score: 0

Lennon would have been eligible for citizenship in '81.
I smell a conspiracy here!
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by Hatta · 2010-08-10 11:22 · Score: -1, Flamebait

1) they are dead, so they can no longer continue their idiotic policies. Therefore, there is no use continuing to sling vitriol.
But plenty of reason to celebrate.
2) because like them or not, they are people, and therefore they have family members that (presumably) love them despite their flaws.
If you love an evil piece of shit, you are an evil piece of shit. Dealing with people that hate the piece of shit you love is fair punishment.

--
Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by tomhath · 2010-08-10 11:27 · Score: 1

though he was a dipshit, he was a) human and b) may not have actively revelled in his own evil
Are you talking about Ted Stevens or Ted Kennedy? I can't tell from your post.
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 12:09 · Score: 2, Insightful

It is American custom to regret needless death, even if you don't agree with, or like, the victims.
Unless they're Iraqi or Afghani women, children, and other innocent victims in the way of glorious American imperialist liberators creating puppet regimes that support Amerika.
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 12:18 · Score: 0

No, everyone does it. Watch this.
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by roman_mir · 2010-08-10 12:18 · Score: 1

Ok, Ok, I see that you want to but your good nature doesn't let you, I'll do it for you: good riddance, useless man that should have been taken away on an alien spaceship through a series of universe tracks 40 years ago.

--
You can't handle the truth.
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by PaganRitual · 2010-08-10 12:32 · Score: 4, Funny

Unless of course you're just an uncaring bastard.
Phew. Up until now I wasn't sure how I fit into all this.
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by ConceptJunkie · 2010-08-10 12:41 · Score: 1

Sure it is, but unlike CNN, Fox, the NYT, network news, etc, it also is a site for "Stuff that matters."

--
You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 12:51 · Score: 1, Informative

For whatever reason, it is an American custom to eulogize dead politicians essentially without regard for quality. I'm not sure why.
Well, if we can eulogize good ol' Teddy Kennedy, we can certainly week for Teddy Stevens, who was only the Diet Pepsi of evil compared to Kennedy.
Teddy Stevens had his pipes, but Teddy Kennedy more or less murdered Mary Jo, gave us our modern immigration policies which we're paying for now, and made a number of amazingly stupid statements, including his famous opposition to Robert Bork: "Robert Bork's America is a land in which women would be forced into back-alley abortions, blacks would sit at segregated lunch counters, rogue police could break down citizens' doors in midnight raids, schoolchildren could not be taught about evolution, writers and artists could be censored at the whim of the Government, and the doors of the Federal courts would be shut on the fingers of millions of citizens."
Stevens was a saint compared with Kennedy.
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by Nimey · 2010-08-10 13:19 · Score: 1

Fuck Natalee Holloway.
http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2005/7/3/491/18474

--
Hail Eris, full of mischief...

E pluribus sanguinem
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by tnk1 · 2010-08-10 13:46 · Score: 1

Let's just say that it was sufficient to me that he was *former* Senator Stevens. I think being reviled really should be in proportion to the damage that they were able to inflict. Stevens was a politician like any other politician who had been in office too long. There have been many worse than he ever was. We all make mistakes, he just had more scope to execute them in.
Representative Democracy in large countries with no term limits tends to create career politicians that have the peculiar vice of seeking pork for their own electorates and frequently failing to make decisions that benefit the whole. He could easily have tried to be a saint, but our system does not reward people like that. No one today would know who he was, because it's doubtful he'd get re-elected, if he even got elected in the first place. Anyone who is a US Senator has probably sold out in a number of different ways just to get on the ticket to begin with.
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by AK+Marc · 2010-08-10 14:17 · Score: 2, Interesting

And don't forget the undisputed fact that he did receive unreported income from a political supporter. The only things disputed are whether the income influenced (or was given to influence) Ted Steven's votes and whether he was aware that there was a funneling of money to him, as he didn't report it correctly on disclosure forms or IRS forms and such. But there was nobody that I saw (aside from some entertainers who run talk shows or opinion pieces on TV who people confuse with news reporters) that actually claimed that he wasn't given funds improperly. Not his own people, and not those that gave it to him.

I think he was purposefully railroaded. I originally thought they were going to push it through for a quick acquittal before the election, then found out that they convicted him, so I thought he was being railroaded to get him out, then he got the verdict set aside the next time it went in front of a judge. It was improper on many levels, so why was it done that way, and what political pressure was laid to get that outcome? I don't know enough about the details to figure it out, and it completely disappeared from interest when one of the most powerful men in the country was ousted in a few short weeks from an improper court action. He'd never have been voted out if the verdict was set aside before the election or the conviction after, so there was some specific timing to the actions. But why and who wanted that is beyond me. But to claim that so much was done against one of the most powerful people in the country without any reason behind it at all seems a little silly.

--
Learn to love Alaska
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 14:41 · Score: 0

I personally will get drunk and cheer when Cheney dies... what did he do for anyone that wasn't one of his cronies? It is possible to help your friends without hurting others.

But he is a master at profiting off the exploitation of others. Not just that, he seems to revel in it.
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by EQ · 2010-08-10 14:43 · Score: 1

And don't forget the undisputed fact that he did receive unreported income from a political supporter. The only things disputed are whether the income influenced (or was given to influence) Ted Steven's votes and whether he was aware that there was a funneling of money to him, as he didn't report it correctly on disclosure forms or IRS forms and such... It was improper on many levels, so why was it done that way, and what political pressure was laid to get that outcome?
Agreed. Then again, the Alask old-boy network had been doing that for years. And therein is the puzzle! If one takes off the ideological blinders, like you have done, then you really wonder what sort of corruption was ongoing in the US Justice Department for them to force such a case. Either it was easily proven or else should not have been brought. The real puzzler to me is why they (Justice Dept/Bush) then allowed the prosecuting team in such a high profile case to engage in such a degree of prosecutorial misconduct. As you point out, its nearly impossible to come up with any plausible scenario that either a friend or foe would have envisioned working out quite the way things did -- the timing alone was so unusual and could have been easily altered by any number of elements to make the whole case moot in terms of the election; no way Begich's people would have dreamed that one up. It just doesn't make any sense. And the irony that the opposing political party's incoming Atty Gen (Holder) ended up cleaning up the mess and cutting the defendant free is icing on the weirdness cake. It really makes me wonder just how (morally) corrupt and power hungry the US Justice Dept has become.

--
Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo! http://goo.gl/J9bkO
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 15:01 · Score: 0

Define "needless." The Christian religion says god moves in mysterious ways, was this one of those ways?
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 15:32 · Score: 0

Someone's father is dead, and you rejoice?
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by Anachragnome · 2010-08-10 15:45 · Score: 4, Informative

"...The guy died in a plane paid for by Alaska's largest telcom..."
In addition, he was in the company of Jim Morhard, a "connections" man from Alexandria. This person openly sells his influence on Capitol Hill to all with money (enough money, I should say). His company website is a pretty interesting read.
http://www.morhard.us/about.asp
Pay close attention to the wording of the "Why choose Morhard & Associates to serve you?" section at the bottom. Scary shit when you think about it. This is a private entity claiming "We know how to analyze legislation and understand its impacts. We are expert drafters of legislation." Since when do private entities draft legislation?
This guy and Stevie were backroom-dealers if there ever was one, and GCI was footing the "expenses".
Just fucking lovely. Shame about the kids though.
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by Sovetskysoyuz · 2010-08-10 16:26 · Score: 2, Funny

Because once they are dead, they can do nothing.
They can still vote in some jurisdictions if your campaign manager knows some people.
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by darkpixel2k · 2010-08-10 16:41 · Score: 1

It is American custom to regret needless death, even if you don't agree with, or like, the victims.
Damn. I guess being born in Portland, Oregon, I'm not an American.

I guess that also means there's no reason for me to celebrate several fewer gold-plated pensions being paid for out of our pockets regardless of how good or crappy they were.

--
There's no place like ::1 (I've completed my transition to IPv6)
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by darkpixel2k · 2010-08-10 16:51 · Score: 1

Dont you mean...
It is American custom to regret needless American death, even if you don't agree with, or like, the victims.
Right. If Australia were nuked, no one who is a valid United States Citizen as per the 14th amendment would so much as sniffle or feel a pang of remorse.
We're actually required to not care by law. There's a hidden amendment to the constitution (Amendment XXVIII) that isn't printed in normal copies of the constitution or put on the internet. It's only in the secret copies we all carry around in our back pocket. It's called the "Don't be a whiny bitch amendment".

--
There's no place like ::1 (I've completed my transition to IPv6)
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by darkpixel2k · 2010-08-10 16:56 · Score: 1

It is American custom to regret needless death, even if you don't agree with, or like, the victims.
Unless they're Iraqi or Afghani women, children, and other innocent victims in the way of glorious American imperialist liberators creating puppet regimes that support Amerika.
On the other hand, someone from Irkan or Turcey would totally curl up in a ball and sob if an Iraqi or Afghani woman or child died needlessly.

WTF is with spelling Amerika with a 'k'? I'm confused--on one hand you bash America, but on the other hand you spell like you are a byproduct of it's public school system...

--
There's no place like ::1 (I've completed my transition to IPv6)
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by darkpixel2k · 2010-08-10 17:01 · Score: 1

It doesnt matter if they follow what Reagan would have wanted, he's the republican's Jesus, and we all know how they consider what he would have wanted.
Hot damn! We just got a liberal so riled up about Reagan he accidentally admitted Jesus was real.

--
There's no place like ::1 (I've completed my transition to IPv6)
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by darkpixel2k · 2010-08-10 17:07 · Score: 1

Probably because we (or most of us, anyway) value life without regard to political affiliation and those who reserve their tears (or good wishes, at least) for those who parallel their own political leaning are sub-human scum? Or shall we do a belated dance to the death of Teddy Kennedy too?
My dance for Kennedy wasn't belated. It was right on schedule.

I wonder if he shed a tear for Marry Jo after he left her to die in that Oldsmobile?

--
There's no place like ::1 (I've completed my transition to IPv6)
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 19:51 · Score: 0

The only thing I regret about this whole episode is that they forgot to invite Cheney to this fishing trip.
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by multi+io · 2010-08-10 21:15 · Score: 1

WTF is with spelling Amerika with a 'k'? I'm confused--on one hand you bash America, but on the other hand you spell like you are a byproduct of it's public school system...
It's "its", not "it's".
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-11 01:01 · Score: 0

No. "Stuff that matters" is a complementary statement to "News for nerds," NOT an independently different statement. You people are retarded.
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-11 01:07 · Score: 0

"It is American custom to regret needless death"
Really? I guess Fox news must be a foreign network then, because I've seen them positively glow with "good riddance" when various people from the other side of the aisle have shuffled off this mortal coil.
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-11 02:04 · Score: 0

Aside from a few universally hated people like Hitler...
speak for yourself. He was great in that musical! ~~Springtime for Hitler, and Germany! Deutchland is happy and gay!~~ la la la
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by Elbowgeek · 2010-08-11 02:49 · Score: 1

What Hitler did was to basically tell the German people to stop feeling sorry for themselves and start working together instead of going at each others throats, the basic rhetoric of any third-rate motivational speaker. Unfortunately he did that by putting the blame for Germany's problems on the Jewish race and others they saw as impure. If I'd been there in your shoes I would have pointed out the fact that whilst having food on the table in those times may have been a good thing, it wouldn't have done much good if for some reason the Nazi regime arbitrarily decided that they themselves were impure or immoral and had to be summarily eliminated, say because they found out that somewhere in the distant past they had a Jewish ancestor.
Lets say those people somehow had survived being thrown into a death camp and were talking to you at that point - I think they'd have a slightly different viewpoint.
In summary, as much as they would have enjoyed their plentiful food and jobs, the overall outcome for humanity far outweighed any benefit the individual. Also keep in mind that Hitler was ultimately a destructive personality and in fact achieved his goal of revenge on his parents through the destruction of Germany itself.

--
Who is this delectable creature with an insatiable love of the dead?
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by Darby · 2010-08-11 04:10 · Score: -1

Aside from a few universally hated people like Hitler, we have a tendency to focus on the good in people when they die. I think there are a couple of reasons why we do this:
Except Ted Stevens *is* universally hated by everyone in America with the exception of those Americans who avidly supported Hitler during his reign (or who clearly would have had they been around), which is to say Republicans. They share Hitler's philosophy and world view which is defined as "rabid opposition to the Left and Liberalism,". Right wing ideology is 100% fundamentally incompatible with a free society and specifically the American Constitution by the very definition of the Right.
So, you're entirely missing the point. Stevens deserves nothing but to be reviled at this point as the rabidly anti-American piece of shit Nazi thief that he worked so hard to be.
You, by denying him the just culmination of his life's work, are disgracing his memory. If he didn't want his death to be a cause for celebration among all patriotic Americans, then he would have lived his life in pretty much the exact opposite of the manner in which he did. Anybody mourning his death is celebrating the death of America as Stevens and his vile ilk were the primary cause of its demise.
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by element-o.p. · 2010-08-11 04:36 · Score: 1

You can spread hate and venom if you want, but personally, I find there's enough of that around already without me adding to it. I'd rather call out the gold in people, buy hey, that's just me. If by some twisted exercise of logic that makes me "evil" to you, well, that's your opinion and you're welcome to it. But then I'd rather be a (perhaps) slightly naive, happy person than a bitter old man. But, whatever floats your boat.

--
MCSE? No, sir...I don't do Windows. Yes, I am an idealist. What's your point?
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by Abcd1234 · 2010-08-11 04:52 · Score: 1

In summary, as much as they would have enjoyed their plentiful food and jobs, the overall outcome for humanity far outweighed any benefit the individual. Also keep in mind that Hitler was ultimately a destructive personality and in fact achieved his goal of revenge on his parents through the destruction of Germany itself.
Undoubtedly. But that doesn't change one simple fact: like him or not, Hitler, through leadership and rhetoric (however vile), lifted Germany from poverty to the verge of global dominance, and in the process, did a great deal for many Germans (as long as they weren't Jewish, Gypsies, mentally disabled, etc).
'course, none of that justifies murder and genocide, but it is nevertheless true, and is often overlooked when studying the rise of Hitler, which is a shame, as it goes a long long way to explaining how many Germans could have become enamored with a leader and an ideology that was so morally bankrupt at its core.
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-11 07:34 · Score: 1, Informative

Just like how all the Republicans honor Reagan while pushing an agenda that doesn't look anything like what Reagan would have done.
Holy fucking shit. The entire Republican agenda since 1980 has been entirely based around what Reagan would have and much more importantly *did* do to fuck this country. He didn't do anything that helped us at all for t5he love of anything decent. How ignorant and fucking stupid are you to even want to believe something so utterly false. It is refuted by every relevant fact bar none. It is not supported by a single fact. It is that far outside even basic sanity. No wonder he had to win by dragging the lunatic fringe of religious nutters and lying constantly to them about America. Telling those scum to shove their vile ignorant shot into our government was one of Reagan's many direct, intentional acts of treason.
The current economic collapse is a direct result of Reagan's idiotic, economic policies which have remained essentially unchanged since Reagan implemented them.
Reagan was one of if not the worst presidents we've ever had.
From trickle down economics which is the direct cause of the massive wealth disparity hence the manifold decimation of the middle class and the current economic collapse to his avid support for terrorists in direct violation of congressional orders and hence the crack epidemic created by Reagan selling crack in the streets of America in order to fund terrorism around the world and hence the current state of worldwide terrorism.
That lying piece of shit Nazi traitor is *exactly* the template for everything the Republican party has done since. Bush II was an exact copy of Reagan with only one meaningful difference. Reagan was an actor, hence a professional liar. Bush was an idiotic liar to the point that anybody who thought it could possibly be ok to vote for him has declared themselves to be deserving on nothing but contempt.
Republicans honor Reagan because he destroyed everything that made America great and everything once great about America is exactly what Republicans despise most in the world as proven absolutely by even the most cursory glance at current events.
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-11 12:08 · Score: 0

http://www.beliefnet.com/News/2003/09/The-Gospel-Of-Supply-Side-Jesus.aspx
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by darkpixel2k · 2010-08-11 12:38 · Score: 1

WTF is with spelling Amerika with a 'k'? I'm confused--on one hand you bash America, but on the other hand you spell like you are a byproduct of it's public school system...
It's "its", not "it's".
Yes--and I am a byproduct of the American Government School System...

--
There's no place like ::1 (I've completed my transition to IPv6)
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by religious+freak · 2010-08-12 11:19 · Score: 1

+1 lol

--
If you can read this... 01110101 01110010 00100000 01100001 00100000 01100111 01100101 01100101 01101011
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by JThundley · 2010-08-12 11:24 · Score: 1

The reason I hate him is different: he stated that cable television and satellite radio need to be censored.
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by EQ · 2010-08-13 16:33 · Score: 1

Plenty of good reasons not to like Stevens. I don't disagree with you at all on that. But not enough to screw up the justice system when going after him. It does make you wonder why the Bush administration wanted him politically pushed under the bus.

--
Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo! http://goo.gl/J9bkO
Re:GOOD RIDDENCE OL TEDDY BOY by morphotomy · 2010-08-16 05:29 · Score: 1

"would have"

86 years is a long time .. by achyuta · 2010-08-10 07:15 · Score: 4, Insightful

.. to make friends and memories. Its a shame he and the other unlucky ones aboard that plane didn't have a chance to say a few words to their loved ones before their end. May their souls rest in peace. Condolences to their families.

Re:86 years is a long time .. by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 07:20 · Score: -1, Flamebait

Good FUCKING grief. Save it for your grandma, Achyuta.
Re:86 years is a long time .. by Paracelcus · 2010-08-10 09:12 · Score: 1

I too am sorry for the deaths of normal, average people, politicians, nah!

--
I killed da wabbit -Elmer Fudd

Safe journey, Ted by sznupi · 2010-08-10 07:15 · Score: 4, Funny

We can only hope you have found the tube meant for you.

--
One that hath name thou can not otter

A plane is very much like the Internet... by Alien1024 · 2010-08-10 07:15 · Score: -1, Redundant

...in the sense that it's not a big truck, it's a series of tubes. And if you don't understand, those tubes can be filled and if they are filled, when you are flying, it gets in line and it's going to be delayed by anyone that puts into that tube enormous amounts of material, enormous amounts of material.

Seriously though, rest in peace.

Re:A plane is very much like the Internet... by socsoc · 2010-08-10 07:47 · Score: 1

It's called a fuselage, not a tube. Or did you mean approach patterns? Either way, makes no sense. Seriously though, thank god one less politician.

You callous bastard! by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 07:15 · Score: 5, Funny

Don't you think it's a bit early for jokes?

Slashdot has really gone down the tubes these days.

Re:You callous bastard! by twebb72 · 2010-08-10 10:03 · Score: 0

Yeah, but the /. crowd is more like a big truck. It dumps on you for not being modded as funny.

O'Keefe is "Banged Up", but OK by ultraexactzz · 2010-08-10 07:19 · Score: 4, Informative

According to http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewnews.html?id=1419, Sean O'Keefe (and his son) both survived the crash, though they are "...banged up". This, per a family source.

--
Never underestimate the potential of Human stupidity. -Heinlein

Re:O'Keefe is "Banged Up", but OK by Warll · 2010-08-10 08:15 · Score: 1

So whos the father?
Re:O'Keefe is "Banged Up", but OK by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 09:21 · Score: 0

Smart of them, letting the airbag sit up front.

Sean O'Keefe by Zarquil · 2010-08-10 07:20 · Score: 2

Sean and his son Jonathon are reported banged up but okay.

http://nasawatch.com/archives/2010/08/sean-okeefe-and.html

Re:Sean O'Keefe by isorox · 2010-08-10 08:21 · Score: 1

Sean and his son Jonathon are reported banged up but okay.
They've been arrested? Bit harsh isn't it?

I helped jack off the horse by Rakshasa+Taisab · 2010-08-10 07:21 · Score: 0, Offtopic

Please don't capitalize words like 'plane crash' unless you're talking about a movie or something.

--
- These characters were randomly selected.

Re:I helped jack off the horse by bcmm · 2010-08-10 07:37 · Score: 1

It's an article title, which are always capitalised apart from words like "and".

--
# cat /dev/mem | strings | grep -i llama
Damn, my RAM is full of llamas.
Re:I helped jack off the horse by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 09:01 · Score: 0

Technically it's an error that fancy-pants newspaperpeople have done for so long that people don't anymore recognise it as such.

Not his first crash by kaizendojo · 2010-08-10 07:23 · Score: 4, Informative

Shortly after being elected to his second full term in 1978, he was aboard a private jet that went down at Anchorage International Airport, killing his first wife, Ann.

Re:Not his first crash by blair1q · 2010-08-10 07:40 · Score: 2, Insightful

Alaska, due to the massive standard deviation in topograpy, frequently abysmal weather, and the necessity of covering its vast area for which there is almost no infrastructure, is the nation's (and possibly the world's) epicenter for aircraft incidents, per capita (California has more total from 2008 to 2010, Texas just barely fewer, but neither comes close per citizen).
Throw in the sort of personality that likes living and flying airplanes there, and you get more excursions into any envelope of safety. Even when reducing risktaking deliberately they reduce it less than most people would.
The numbers aren't quite up to where you can expect to crash in an aircraft at least once in your life if you live all of it in Alaska, but there's probably an actuary somewhere who has it as a trigger for an extra calculation in his database.
Re:Not his first crash by socsoc · 2010-08-10 11:41 · Score: 1

Per capita? Yeah with a population of 15, I bet it has a higher per capita rate than California and Texas.
Re:Not his first crash by Abcd1234 · 2010-08-11 04:34 · Score: 1

Which only makes it all the more silly that they didn't file a flight plan before leaving. Yes, I realize its not necessary for VFR flights, but ffs, if you know you're flying into risky territory, why not do it anyway, and seriously cut down on response time if something happens?

This is news because... by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 07:23 · Score: -1, Troll

...one of the dudes on the plane made some internet tube comparison. Is that the main reason why this story is posted? Surely there must be some other news more relevant to discuss rather than this one.

Big Ted by Sponge+Bath · 2010-08-10 07:23 · Score: 4, Insightful

Big Ted
Big Ted

Every morning at the senate, you could see him arrive.
He stood 5 foot 6, weighed 145.
Kind of broad at the hips and narrow of mind.
And everybody knew you had to pay to play with Big Ted.

Big Ted
Big Ted
Big Bad Ted

Re:Big Ted by irving47 · 2010-08-10 07:38 · Score: 1

That.... sounds familiar.
Big fat dumb dead Irving... the 142nd fastest gun... In the West.

--
I had a sucky sig.
Re:Big Ted by LostAlaska · 2010-08-10 07:53 · Score: 1

Whoa.... you just caused me to have a flashback of listening to Dr. Demento on the radio late at night on a Sunday as a child and trying not to laugh and wake the parents. Big fat dumb dead Irving... really had no chance.
Re:Big Ted by Surt · 2010-08-10 07:56 · Score: 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U077BiDMmPE

--
"Who is the Journal of Quantum Physics going to believe?" --Stephen Hawking
Re:Big Ted by DrugCheese · 2010-08-10 09:49 · Score: 1

Thanks now that tune will be in my head all night ...

--
*DrugCheese rants*

R.I.P. Sen. Tubes by RAMMS+EIN · 2010-08-10 07:24 · Score: 4, Funny

Sen. Tubes: 1 packets transmitted, 0 received, 100% packet loss

%

My heartfelt sympathy goes out to those of us still living who held the perished ones dear.

--
Please correct me if I got my facts wrong.

Re:R.I.P. Sen. Tubes by weeboo0104 · 2010-08-10 08:17 · Score: 1

You forgot: "TTL expired in transit" %

--
It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men. -Frederick Douglass

why the hell is this news in the slashdot by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 07:24 · Score: -1, Troll

why the hell is this news in the slashdot?? how is this WORLD (not USA) news worthy?

Re:why the hell is this news in the slashdot by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 07:26 · Score: 0

Fuck the "world".
Re:why the hell is this news in the slashdot by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 07:31 · Score: 0

Because when the USA farts, the rest of the world happily gets in line for a sniff.
Re:why the hell is this news in the slashdot by mevets · 2010-08-10 07:32 · Score: 1

He did add a colourful, if vacuous, terminology to describe the internet. The general expression is now something like:
(inner|inter|\')(net|tube)s?
I'm quite fond of innertubes, because it sounds a lot more fun than the stuff on computers.
Re:why the hell is this news in the slashdot by StayFrosty · 2010-08-10 07:32 · Score: 1

why the hell is this news in the slashdot?? how is this WORLD (not USA) news worthy?
Apparently you didn't RTFM. From the linked FAQ:

Slashdot is U.S.-centric. We readily admit this, and really don't see it as a problem. Slashdot is run by Americans, after all, and the vast majority of our readership is in the U.S.

--
"Frequently wrong, never in doubt."
Re:why the hell is this news in the slashdot by euroq · 2010-08-10 08:14 · Score: 1, Informative

why the hell is this news in the slashdot?? how is this WORLD (not USA) news worthy?
This is NOT a WORLD news website. This is an American website. RTFM: http://slashdot.org/faq/editorial.shtml#ed850

--
Just because the U.S. is a republic does not mean it is not a democracy. Democracy/republic are not mutually exclusive.

And so he's off to the series of tubes in the sky! by Kuukai · 2010-08-10 07:28 · Score: 3, Funny

Unfortunately, since his staff didn't mail his soul until Monday, it's not going to get to where it's going until Thursday. Until then he's still technically alive.

--
Sendou Wave Kick!!

OH NOES! by HeckRuler · 2010-08-10 07:29 · Score: 2, Insightful

If only he had traveled by tube!
But really, as much as I dislike the guy, and as poor at his job as he was, if he's really dead then these comments are going to be in poor taste and my heart goes out to his family. Hopefully everyone is ok.

Re:OH NOES! by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 09:08 · Score: 0

I don't like him either (not a big fan of Republicans in general), but if he was anything, he certainly wasn't poor at his job. He managed to funnel a ton of money into his state, which is probably the most important job of a senator or congressman after pushing for legislation of interest to his constituents. Based on his net neutrality stance, I doubt he was doing much of the latter, but the influx of cash for public works projects does more for the average person than most legislation does.
Re:OH NOES! by HeckRuler · 2010-08-10 09:30 · Score: 3, Insightful

Oh yes, because the greatness of a politician is the quantity of porking they perform...
Pork you motherporker, funneling money to your state just so it lands in the hands of your friends is called corruption. Building hoover dam, a benefit to society and a source of clean energy for generations. Building a bridge to nowhere benefits a construction company for a few months. Know the difference. As for dearly departed Ted, I imagine he had a little for column A, and a little for column B.

10,000 easy tube jokes by circletimessquare · 2010-08-10 07:29 · Score: 1, Insightful

the guy's dead, show some sensitivity

hating his politics should not be about forgetting your humanity. then perhaps you are worse than whatever you ridicule about ted stevens

--
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it

Re:10,000 easy tube jokes by Joe+U · 2010-08-10 07:37 · Score: 3, Insightful

His part in the destruction of American politics for personal gain should be overlooked, after all he died and is now a saint.
Re:10,000 easy tube jokes by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 07:38 · Score: 1, Insightful

Haha, you're kidding right. The guy was totally out of touch with reality and made decisions affecting peoples lives. If HE had any humanity he would have got the fuck out of government long long ago, but no he's a greedy corrupt bastard like them all. Good riddance one less incompetent ass running the country further into the ground.
Re:10,000 easy tube jokes by b4dc0d3r · 2010-08-10 07:44 · Score: 1

Sorry, my monkeyshpere is full. Trying to care... unsuccessful.
Re:10,000 easy tube jokes by socsoc · 2010-08-10 07:52 · Score: 1

He was 87 and a senator. That isn't a human, he was an alien plant.
Re:10,000 easy tube jokes by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 07:55 · Score: 1, Insightful

Yeah, it's really sad that Hitler and Pol Pot died.
Might have hated their politics, but shouldn't say a word wrong or joke about them right?
Re:10,000 easy tube jokes by tgd · 2010-08-10 07:56 · Score: 1

He's dead. He doesn't care.
Odds are, at his age, his wife and any immediate family are not in the /. demographic anyway.
Re:10,000 easy tube jokes by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 08:07 · Score: -1, Troll

His part in the destruction of American politics for personal gain should be overlooked, after all he died and is now a saint.
No shit you know I was watching the Wizard of Oz the other day and started to ponder, what the hell has happened to us. In Oz when the house fell on the evil fucking witch they sang a fucking joyous song lamenting and celebrating the loss of her life. You know why, she was a fucking cunt that deserved to die. She was evil she was a leach on society, she served no good and people where happy she died because, she was a determent to society, always took and never gave. So instead of all the, "have some reverence for the dead" crap we should be fucking partying in the street because this fucking ball scum finally met the ultimate justice. I hope he fucking burned for a while before he finally croaked. He has taken from my children mouth for his personal gain and then was smug about his above the law-ness. He got what he fucking deserved. I hope he rots in hell. I am so fucking glad he is dead because he is what is wrong with America. So I say "ding-dong the Senator is dead".
Re:10,000 easy tube jokes by the_humeister · 2010-08-10 08:08 · Score: 4, Insightful

the guy's dead, show some sensitivity
hating his politics should not be about forgetting your humanity. then perhaps you are worse than whatever you ridicule about ted stevens
I disagree. Do you show the same regard for people like Hitler? Mussolini? Stalin? No? Where's YOUR humanity? Granted Ted Stevens isn't as close to evil as those people, but he certainly did his part to increase the idiocy of congress as a whole.
Re:10,000 easy tube jokes by couchslug · 2010-08-10 08:09 · Score: 1

"hating his politics should not be about forgetting your humanity."
I don't owe him respect, so he gets none.

--
"This post is an artistic work of fiction and falsehood. Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact."
Re:10,000 easy tube jokes by Bigjeff5 · 2010-08-10 08:12 · Score: 1

His part in the destruction of American politics
I'm sorry, I missed that part in his career, could you clarify?

--
Security is mostly a superstition... Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. - Helen Keller
Re:10,000 easy tube jokes by dfghjk · 2010-08-10 08:13 · Score: 1

"hating his politics should not be about forgetting your humanity"
politics and humanity are often exclusive, particularly with Stevens
Re:10,000 easy tube jokes by euroq · 2010-08-10 08:20 · Score: 0

the guy's dead, show some sensitivity
hating his politics should not be about forgetting your humanity. then perhaps you are worse than whatever you ridicule about ted stevens
I, in theory, agree with you. However insensitive it may be, though, politicians generally affect many people's lives (depending on the type of politician). I have seen the same discussions come about when various politicians die. You are right, we should not forget our humanity. On the other hand, people in power who die tend to leave a powerful legacy which can still affect many peoples' lives. Often, being forced to honor the dead and "show sensitivity" leads to acquiescence of said politicians power.
In other words, people still have to continue the arguments after a politician dies. Politicians of the same hue will often take advantage of the death and use the death to their advantage.

--
Just because the U.S. is a republic does not mean it is not a democracy. Democracy/republic are not mutually exclusive.
Re:10,000 easy tube jokes by shiftless · 2010-08-10 08:46 · Score: 1

His friends, his family, his loved ones, the good things he's done on this Earth should be overlooked and forgotten, after all he's dead and we're glad, right?
Re:10,000 easy tube jokes by Quiet_Desperation · 2010-08-10 09:21 · Score: 1

Do you show the same regard for people like Hitler? Mussolini? Stalin?
Oh, shit! Kaylee! Disconnect the Godwin matrix! Quick!
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
******#######BOOM#########!!!!@O#(JIOPmncopmc pp;.... no carrier
Re:10,000 easy tube jokes by Zerth · 2010-08-10 09:44 · Score: 1

"Bridge to Nowhere" ring a bell? He threatened to resign if funds earmarked for the bridge was spent on disaster relief after hurricane Katrina.
While the bridge would service an airport that gets 200,000 people a year, it would have cost between 200 and 400 million dollars. They could've just moved the airport, it only had 2 runways.
Re:10,000 easy tube jokes by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 10:38 · Score: 0

People tend to forget that the billions he misappropriated from the public budget could have gone towards saving people's lives, instead of being wasted on his pet projects and political gain. It's indirect, but arguably, politicians like him do have blood on their hands. Just on health care alone, he voted against public health care, while he himself received it and allowed him to live to the age of 86 in apparently decent health.
I think it's legitimate to have a fair analysis of the man's deeds and legacy, including the question of whether the world is better off or worse off because of his actions. I think there's a good argument to be made that the world is worse off, but feel free to inject some positive historical facts.
Re:10,000 easy tube jokes by Joe+U · 2010-08-10 10:47 · Score: 1

Yeah, it's really sad that Hitler and Pol Pot died.
Might have hated their politics, but shouldn't say a word wrong or joke about them right?
You know, I really came close to Godwining the thread in my first reply, I would have gone with Hitler and Stalin.
Either way, Stevens was just a part of the political party machine that is ruining this country.
I actually feel sad for him, he'll only really be known for his Senate career, if he did anything else in life it will be overshadowed.
Re:10,000 easy tube jokes by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 11:30 · Score: 0

While the bridge would service an airport that gets 200,000 people a year
So it's not to no where.
Would't it be cheaper to just load everyone on a bus and drop them off someplace than waste money rebuilding a city located under sea level?
Re:10,000 easy tube jokes by Joe+U · 2010-08-10 12:35 · Score: 1

Interesting, I never mentioned being glad that he's dead.
I'm actually sorry he's dead, because his legacy will be charges of corruption and greed and that will, by far, overshadow any good he's ever done in his life.
But he made that bed for himself, now he gets to sleep in it.
Re:10,000 easy tube jokes by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 12:47 · Score: 0

Would't it be cheaper to just load everyone on a bus and drop them off someplace than waste money rebuilding a city located under sea level?
Yes, and many people on /. would agree with that statement on a strictly financial basis. It's also cheaper to avoid living on a flood plain, in an earthquake prone region, or an area that has regular wildfires.
Re:10,000 easy tube jokes by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 15:23 · Score: 1, Funny

I disagree. Do you show the same regard for people like Hitler?
Some of Hitler's art looks kinda interesting. And he was a best-selling author.
Mussolini?
I hear Mussolini made the trains run on time...
Stalin?
...I hear Mussolini made the trains run on time...

I don't want to be an asshole... by darkmeridian · 2010-08-10 07:29 · Score: 1

... or inspire a debate on the true meaning of "ironic" but having the head of a leading aerospace firm and the former head of NASA die on an airplane seems kind of, well, ironic.

--
A NYC lawyer blogs. http://www.chuangblog.com/

Re:I don't want to be an asshole... by binarylarry · 2010-08-10 07:37 · Score: 1

Not only that but they also had Ted Stevens, an active duty space cadet.

--
Mod me down, my New Earth Global Warmingist friends!
Re:I don't want to be an asshole... by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 07:48 · Score: 0

...having the head of a leading aerospace firm and the former head of NASA die on an airplane seems kind of, well, ironic
So, were you listening to Alanis Morissette and you thought of that, or did you think of that and then go listen to Alanis Morissette?
Re:I don't want to be an asshole... by the_humeister · 2010-08-10 08:09 · Score: 1

No, that actually a coincidence. It would be ironic if they didn't die, because that would be the unexpected outcome of a plane crash.
Re:I don't want to be an asshole... by VortexCortex · 2010-08-10 08:26 · Score: 1

So, were you listening to Alanis Morissette and you thought of that, or did you think of that and then go listen to Alanis Morissette?
Nope. I think it would be ironic if everyone was made of iron.

Angle for /.ers: by Relic+of+the+Future · 2010-08-10 07:32 · Score: 3, Informative

An angle on the story that might be of interest to /.ers:

The plane, and the lodge it was flying to, are owned by GCI.

GCI is a large (the largest?) local cable/wireless/internet provider in Alaska.

Most likely, Ted "Series of Tubes" Stevens was prepping/being prepped for a new telecom lobbying gig; his two-year senate-lobbying exclusion window would have closed at the end of the year.

I don't want to disparage the man, not today; but I thought /. would like to know.

--
Those who fail to understand communication protocols, are doomed to repeat them over port 80.

Re:Angle for /.ers: by Wyatt+Earp · 2010-08-10 07:37 · Score: 2, Insightful

Or they were just going fishing because they were friends with the CEO of GCI.
GCI doesn't have the clout to lobby as a "telecom" on the national scale, but perhaps they were going to push for that cable around Alaska to get high speed data to the Bush.
But using Stevens to lobby against a Democratic majority right now seems ill timed.
Re:Angle for /.ers: by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 07:48 · Score: 0

ACS is the largest, and also my employer :-)
Re:Angle for /.ers: by jd · 2010-08-10 07:55 · Score: 4, Interesting

Much more interesting (to me) is that the aircraft used (a DeHavilland DHC-3T) is a flying boat built in 1953. Looks great for fishing trips, but they were taking it through dangerous mountains - known for doing unmentionable things to aircraft - during a severe storm. Hands up all those who would want to be in the aircraft shown in the posting under those kinds of conditions. I feel certain that former Sen. Stevens has been in enough light aircraft (Alaska is big and the roads aren't) to know what you can and cannot do. What I cannot fathom is why he, with his knowledge and experience, would take that kind of a pointless, stupid risk.
As for O'Keefe, for all his time at NASA, I doubt he's enough time in aircraft of this vintage and size to know the risks. Being head honcho of an aerospace organization doesn't endow you with the kind of skill and knowledge needed. Nonetheless, he too should have been wary of flying in those conditions in an antique.

--
It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
Re:Angle for /.ers: by Bigjeff5 · 2010-08-10 08:22 · Score: 3, Insightful

GCI is a large (the largest?) local cable/wireless/internet provider in Alaska.
GCI is the largest cable provider, but they are definitely not the largest wireless/internet/telecom company. That would be ACS.
Your lobbying idea is ludicrous though, GCI serves about 300,000 people, and being a local company, have very little stake in national politics. They might lobby the state senate (in fact they almost certainly do), but it's a far cry from anything national, and using Stevens for the state senate is a bit of overkill.
The more likely explanation is that, after 50 years as a major name in politics, Stevens has made a number of big-name (locally speaking) friends himself - enough that a high level GCI manager would send him out to a private lodge from time to time when he wanted.
I suppose GCI was grooming the CEO of EADS North America (a much larger company, btw) for a lobbying gig too, eh? Maybe GCI is going to be going into space sometime, eh?
Frankly, you're an idiot.

--
Security is mostly a superstition... Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. - Helen Keller
Re:Angle for /.ers: by Alioth · 2010-08-10 08:22 · Score: 1

The aircraft he used is a perfectly good aircraft, and is used by Alaskan bush pilots.
Sen. Stevens didn't take the risk, the *pilot in command* took the risk. The pilot in command is the final authority on the safety of the flight. Nobody else. The PIC could have said "no, the weather's too bad", but he didn't.
I wouldn't want to be in any aircraft, new or old, in bad weather in mountains. Given the same circumstances, a plane that was a day old would have been crashed.

--
Oolite: Elite-like game. For Mac, Linux and Windows
Re:Angle for /.ers: by Colonel+Korn · 2010-08-10 08:27 · Score: 3, Interesting

Much more interesting (to me) is that the aircraft used (a DeHavilland DHC-3T) is a flying boat built in 1953. Looks great for fishing trips, but they were taking it through dangerous mountains - known for doing unmentionable things to aircraft - during a severe storm. Hands up all those who would want to be in the aircraft shown in the posting under those kinds of conditions.
I would prefer not to be flying any aircraft in those conditions, but if one must be chosen, a DHC-3 isn't bad. A DHC-6 would be better, thanks to the spare engine, but they have nearly identical performance and the DHC-6 is known as one of the best aircraft in the world in severe conditions. When things are too dangerous for the type of plane that you're implying would be safer (I assume you mean big fancy jets), they turn to Twin Otters. They operate in Antarctica, for instance.

--
"I zero-index my hamsters" - Willtor (147206)
Re:Angle for /.ers: by bcmm · 2010-08-10 08:28 · Score: 1

The DHC-3T isn't a flying boat. A flying boat uses a combined hull/fuselage. It's a seaplane (or floatplane, in the US).

--
# cat /dev/mem | strings | grep -i llama
Damn, my RAM is full of llamas.
Re:Angle for /.ers: by smellsofbikes · 2010-08-10 08:37 · Score: 1

Flying boats have the distinct advantage of a really awesome ability to crash-land gracefully in areas that have a lot of water. They, along with floatplanes, also do a pretty good job landing in snow. In comparison, a Learjet sucks in both water and snow landings, but excels at landing on level paved 5000 foot long runways... of which there are about 6 in the entire state of Alaska.
Give me a flying boat any day of the week in scary terrain, thanks.

--
Nostalgia's not what it used to be.
Re:Angle for /.ers: by Almandine · 2010-08-10 09:54 · Score: 1

The CEO should not be using company property for personal activities.
Re:Angle for /.ers: by Wyatt+Earp · 2010-08-10 10:04 · Score: 1

I'm not a GCI shareholder, so I really don't care what GCI does with GCI property.
I did get a job there but found a better one before I started working.
If the state of their call center was any indication, they are a pretty lax company when it comes to personal things on company time. Alot of WoW and MW going on as people were taking calls.
Re:Angle for /.ers: by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 10:10 · Score: 0

Float plane != "flying boat". Also, I've not seen anything that said it was a turbine*. Regardless, your characterization of the plane as an 'antique' is childish and offensive to anyone who has ever worked on one of these beauties. They're rebuilt on a very regular basis, and the appropriate upgrades are done as required by Transport Canada or whatever your equivalent is - the FAA?
Beavers and Otters (DHC-2s & DHC-3s) were both built originally with piston engines and only recently have they been upgraded with turbine engines (Kenmore in Seattle does many of the conversions these days but I believe there were/are a few other companies with different conversions for different configurations). Twin otters (TDHC-6) were factory built with turbines (and Viking air recently just started back up production in Victoria, BC. IIRC, they bought the rights to the beaver and single otter as well and hoped to get the Beaver into production too.).
*Okay I saw one article that claimed it was a turbine, but it went on to pull critical comments from a website regarding the original P&W piston engine so I'm fairly certain the author wouldn't know a turbo otter if he were standing next to one.
Re:Angle for /.ers: by UnknowingFool · 2010-08-10 10:12 · Score: 1

Hands up all those who would want to be in the aircraft shown in the posting under those kinds of conditions. I feel certain that former Sen. Stevens has been in enough light aircraft (Alaska is big and the roads aren't) to know what you can and cannot do. What I cannot fathom is why he, with his knowledge and experience, would take that kind of a pointless, stupid risk.
From what I know about Alaska, flying in a DeHavilland DHC3 isn't as unusual that you think it is. Many bush pilots fly decades old, propeller driven planes like the DeHavilland. These planes are fairly common in a desolate region like Alaska where there are few runways. Many of these planes land in water with pontoons during the summer and on a snow clearing in skis in winter.
Many pilots prefer some of these antique planes because of a number of factors like short takeoff/landing, lighter weight, ruggedness, configurability, and of course cost. A well maintained plane older plane is not a much a death trap as you think it is. They don't offer many comforts though

--
Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
Re:Angle for /.ers: by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 10:27 · Score: 0

We won't know if a pointless stupid risk was taken until the crash investigation is concluded, and maybe not then depending on what information is available to the investigators
Flying a 57 year old aircraft is not a stupid risk, it's a very suitable craft for the problem, and no significant part of the aircraft would actually be 57 years old, there's a constant overhaul programme.
If the weather was really abysmal, and came out of nowhere, there may be nothing more to report here than bad luck. More likely, a combination of bad weather and some otherwise minor pilot error (a lot of things that are stupid but not dangerous in clear air over level ground become spectacularly fatal in zero visibility over a mountain).
Re:Angle for /.ers: by geekoid · 2010-08-10 10:43 · Score: 1

Stevens is well know for doing anything he can to get federal dollars into the state.
And EADS is a large military contractor.
"enough that a high level GCI manager would send him out to a private lodge from time to time when he wanted."
which would be a crime.

--
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
Re:Angle for /.ers: by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 10:52 · Score: 0

It's not a flying boat. Those would have a fuselage that provides floatation, while that thing is a float plane, where pontoons are attached where one would normally expect wheels.
Re:Angle for /.ers: by AK+Marc · 2010-08-10 14:47 · Score: 1

GCI doesn't have the clout to lobby as a "telecom" on the national scale,

Yeah, they do. They lobbied on a national scale with Ted while he was a senator. Much of the rural telecom stuff was written with Mr Tubes involved, and crafted to help GCI. It worked for them. They are arguably the most successful CLEC in the country, depending on the definitions you like to use. And they are doing business almost exclusively in one of the least populous states in the nation.

But using Stevens to lobby against a Democratic majority right now seems ill timed.

Worked under Clinton. Why wouldn't it work now?

--
Learn to love Alaska
Re:Angle for /.ers: by AK+Marc · 2010-08-10 15:10 · Score: 1

GCI is the largest cable provider, but they are definitely not the largest wireless/internet/telecom company. That would be ACS.

GCI carries more data out of the state than ACS does. I'm not sure the number of Internet subscribers for each, but GCI can't be that far behind, if not already ahead. ACS doesn't do much business off the road system (and almost no Internet for the longest time in places where it would have to go over satellite). My understanding is that GCI does more LD than ACS as well. GCI has a larger market cap (even after a 6% drop for killing Ted). So, tell me what definition you are using for the largest company? They have the most traffic, and the largest valued company, and you are claiming that not only aren't they the largest, but "definitely not" the largest, as if there would be a large margin.

Your lobbying idea is ludicrous though, GCI serves about 300,000 people, and being a local company, have very little stake in national politics.

They have departments dedicated to the securing of e-rate funding. They take in massive amounts (percentage-wise) of income from federal USF. I'd have to read their financial disclosures, but I wouldn't be surprised if they got as much as 25% of their revenue from federal sources. They have a massive stake in federal politics. The RCA is in direct control of them, but only under the rules imposed by the FCC.

I suppose GCI was grooming the CEO of EADS North America (a much larger company, btw) for a lobbying gig too, eh?

Your sarcasm circuits work, but not your logic circuits. GCI paying for the trip for another company's CEO would obviously be to gain influence. I wouldn't expect Ted Stevens to be a lobbyist for just GCI, but I expect he'd find a job doing something in politics and GCI wanted to make sure that they'd be able to count on his influence that he's used in the past to their benefit. Perhaps he was going to be working for EADS instead, and GCI wanted influence with EADS and Ted. Just because GCI wouldn't hire him exclusively doesn't mean it's obvious that they weren't trying to cultivate personal relationships for future gain.

--
Learn to love Alaska
Re:Angle for /.ers: by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 15:37 · Score: 0

My experience with the aircraft, the surrounding terrain, and the pilot, all lead me to believe the he was cruising along under 100ft ceiling across a plain and either lost track of time/distance or simply didn't know that there was a small series of hills/mountains between him and his destination. Reports are that there is a 200 foot uphill skid mark, suggesting he had pretty good speed going into the mountain. I've flown twice out that way under the typical Dillingham fog, and if you know the terrain, there is nothing to worry about... I personally didn't know the terrain and I was very worried. The pilot I was with did, and we had no problems.
Re:Angle for /.ers: by jd · 2010-08-11 06:48 · Score: 1

Well, yes, I can understand the logic. However, if I understand this TIME article, very roughly 0.1% of all light aircraft flying in Alaska will crash in a given year. That figure seems very high.

--
It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
Re:Angle for /.ers: by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-11 08:29 · Score: 0

Wait... GCI only serves 300,000 people and they have a private lodge and a plane??
WFT?
There is some crime right there!
How in the hell can they make enough profit off only 300,000 customers for phones and internet to afford that?
Frankly, you would not know corruption if it slapped you in the face with it's slimy dick.
Re:Angle for /.ers: by hitmark · 2010-08-11 10:53 · Score: 1

hehe, i recall reading a claim about the twin otter when it was used by a airline in norway for smaller regional runways. The northern parts are on par with alaska, and the story goes that when there was heavy cross winds during landing, the pilot could come in 90 degrees to the side of the runway and basically twist the whole aircraft around at the last moment before touchdown.
hell, supposedly there is a saying up there that if seagulls and widerøe dont fly, there is no point setting foot outside the home.

--
comment first, facts later. http://chem.tufts.edu/AnswersInScience/RelativityofWrong.htm
Re:Angle for /.ers: by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-11 14:04 · Score: 0

An Otter is a tough damned airplane.
You have NO idea what you are talking about.
Let me say that again : you are a fucking idiot, and you don't know shit
about aviation or which planes would be safe in Alaska.
The fact is, an Otter is a LEGENDARY bush plane, and is a plane which
is as tough as they come. Any bush pilot can verify this.
The toughness of the Otter is very likely the ONLY reason that some of the
passengers on the aircraft survived.
Please, do the world a favor and kill yourself, before you spread more misinformation, you
sorry cockslurping piece of subhuman waste.
'
Re:Angle for /.ers: by UnknowingFool · 2010-08-12 05:21 · Score: 1

Yes it is high. Alaska has the highest rates. However, what is the underlying cause of these accidents? If they are attributable to weather then you can't really pin them on the planes. The simple fact is that to go to some places in Alaska, you can only fly in one of these bush planes (especially at some times of the year). In these remote regions where weather is more likely to be a factor. Another issue are the pilots themselves. More people need to fly in Alaska. While no doubt, they are certified pilots, some of them may not be ready to handle the conditions of Alaska where one mistake could cause a crash whereas in another region, it might be a recoverable error.

--
Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.

No, we don't. by jra · 2010-08-10 07:32 · Score: 2, Funny

"AK Senator Ted Stevens dies in a plane crash; Internet goes back to being made up of routers and fiber."

Re:No, we don't. by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 08:00 · Score: 0

You see, hell is like a lake of fire...

Farewell by bluie- · 2010-08-10 07:34 · Score: 3, Funny

Farewell sir, may your journey onward be clogless in a big truck.

--
life is a tragedy to those who feel, and a comedy to those who think

Re:Farewell by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 08:27 · Score: 0

Parent is the way to do it folks, parent was classy and funny at the same time.
Re:Farewell by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 08:41 · Score: 0

I'm Dutch, you insensitive cunt!
Re:Farewell by ChefInnocent · 2010-08-10 09:54 · Score: 1

Then when your time comes, may your journey onward be filled with clogs. Perhaps a few people will be delighted to clog on your grave.

A sad day for America by DoofusOfDeath · 2010-08-10 07:34 · Score: 2, Insightful

I'm not sad because these particular guys died. I'm sad because my first thought when I heard that some former lawmakers and corporate executives died is, "Good, probably served them right."

I guess this says a lot about me, but I'm afraid it says even more about the overall state of our country.

Re:A sad day for America by Wyatt+Earp · 2010-08-10 07:45 · Score: 4, Interesting

Sad day because he was the driving force in the only truly fair compensation program for American Indians/Alaska Natives in the history of the United States. 44 million acres and 15 billion dollars.
And he pushed the Alaska Pipeline, Denali Commission, Magnuson-Stevens Act, voted against the impeachment of President Clinton.
So why do you think death served him right?
Re:A sad day for America by mooingyak · 2010-08-10 07:52 · Score: 2, Informative

You are not alone in that reaction.
And just so this isn't a "me too!" post, I found this tidbit from the article somewhat irritating:

“Last night, Alaska lost a hero and I lost a dear friend,” Senator Murkowski said in a statement. “The thought of losing Ted Stevens, a man who was known to business and community leaders, Native chiefs and everyday Alaskans as ‘Uncle Ted,’ is too difficult to fathom. His entire life was dedicated to public service — from his days as a pilot in World War II to his four decades of service in the United States Senate. He truly was the greatest of the ‘Greatest Generation.’ ”

Not quite the Ted Stevens I'm familiar with...

--
William of Ockham had no beard. The most likely explanation is that it was chewed off by squirrels every morning.
Re:A sad day for America by Bemopolis · 2010-08-10 07:55 · Score: 1

I'm not sad because these particular guys died. I'm sad because my first thought when I heard that some former lawmakers and corporate executives died is, "Good, probably served them right."
My first thought was a wishlist of other douchebags I would have like to have seen on that plane. So, at least you are a better person than I.

--
"I guess the moral of the story is, don't paint your airship with rocket fuel." -- Addison Bain
Re:A sad day for America by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 07:56 · Score: 1, Interesting

I guess this says a lot about me, but I'm afraid it says even more about the overall state of our country.
Actually, the two are probably fairly tightly correlated. We all like to think of ourselves as independent individuals (especially in the US), but culture is very much tied to the tenor of the individual, and the individual is very much tied to the tenor of the culture.
Re:A sad day for America by pspahn · 2010-08-10 08:25 · Score: 3, Interesting

The guy was a WWII pilot? Knowing that, I could care less about his politics and anything else he has done. The man bravely served his country, and for this he deserves some respect. While I'm not surprised, it is pretty appalling to read some of these responses. I would prefer to maintain the life of one single WWII pilot over the entire collection of everyday assholes found in this thread.

--
Someone flopped a steamer in the gene pool.
Re:A sad day for America by Nimey · 2010-08-10 09:04 · Score: 1

OK, but how much of what he did after that gets excused by his service?

--
Hail Eris, full of mischief...

E pluribus sanguinem
Re:A sad day for America by SleazyRidr · 2010-08-10 09:06 · Score: 1

There are two problems, one is that you have allowed yourself to be an inhuman arsehole, and the other is that you are living in a country full of inhuman arseholes. You can be part of the problem, or you can be part of the solution. Clearly you have chosen to be part of the problem.

--
Is 1563649 a prime number?
Re:A sad day for America by Wyatt+Earp · 2010-08-10 09:06 · Score: 2, Informative

Yes, he qualified to be a P-38 pilot, but the entire class was sent to cargo planes because someone booed the CO during the graduation ceremony.
He served on C-47 and C-46s flying the Hump and in China with 14th Air Force.
Re:A sad day for America by giorgist · 2010-08-10 10:32 · Score: 1

Relax ... don't glorify people of war so much. I have respect for them, but the standard technique of giving them glory is spoon feeding the next generation in thinking that war is an honarable thing. He was as special as any family batteler that may not have gone to war.

You seem ready to terminate the life of a whole bunch of people, most likley youth, in favour of some 78year old because he had an opportunity to weild a life terminating device.

Yours seems like the most appauling answer I have seen so far, and the one wanting more death.

George
Re:A sad day for America by geekoid · 2010-08-10 10:53 · Score: 1

Yes, he flew a plane in WWII. well done. However a life time of screwing America out of tax dollars and accepting illegal gifts kind of tarnishes it.
Plus his early involvement with Snedden. A guy who allegedly makes a verbal agreement with an owner of a peper who dies in an accident then take the paper immediately into a hard conservative paper during the year Snedden and Stevens suddenly became bst friends..
His whole career reads like that.
Yeah, he was a fucking angle.

--
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
Re:A sad day for America by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 12:00 · Score: 0

If you could care less then why don't you? - You mean you could NOT care less. And no, serving your country does not make it ok to be corrupt - which is one of the biggest acts of douchebaggery there is.
Re:A sad day for America by cbhacking · 2010-08-10 12:10 · Score: 1

Oh please, knowing nothing at all except that he flew during the war, you're willing to give him a free pass on everything else he did? You'll even inject the adverb "bravely" as though you have even the slightest inkling of what his service was like. Mabe he shot down 20 enemy planes coming to bomb allied cities, or maybe he flew one combat mission, accidentally bombed a library full of schoolkids instead of the military target he was supposed to hit, got scared, made up some bullshit reason, and fled back to base abandoning his wingmates. Maybe he never flew combat at all - doesn't mean that he didn't contribute, but it does mean that what he did could hardly be described as "brave. Perhaps, given his predilection for corruption and feeding at the public trough, he was a supply pilot who pocketed some portion of every flight he made to sell on the black market, denying those supplies to people on the front line. Did he even volunteer, or was he drafted?
I have no evidence one way or the other on any of the above, but I'm not going to give him a free pass on anything. At best, he might have done something to counter-balance the harm he did later in life. At worst, he might have exemplified the worst of the American military and avoided a military prison only due to political influence and undeserved wealth. I will judge him as I saw him, based on what I know. The fact that he apparently served in the military (no surprise, given his age) gets him a very, very small bit of respect, but nearly enough to compensate for what I *know* he did.
On the other hand, I'm at least partially agreeing with you; I too could care less (a whole lot less, in fact) about his politics, his pork projects, his corruption, his attempt to block net neutrality, and those other things he has done. In fact, without knowing more, I almost couldn't care less. Seriously, even if the rest of your post were completely valid and not arguable, you'd have looked like an idiot for using that expression form anyhow.

--
There's no place I could be, since I've found Serenity...
Re:A sad day for America by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 12:28 · Score: 0

What would you do with the asshole pilots from WWII? No Venn Diagram is complete until the union of all the possible subsets is the domain of discourse...
Re:A sad day for America by roman_mir · 2010-08-10 12:29 · Score: 1

Blah blah blah, many people served in WWII and other wars, good for them. Some later keep the respect earned by that and some totally abuse it and LOSE it. This Ted was one of those, who lost it by becoming a criminal in a position of power, who was corrupting the system and stealing money, thus destroying the society bit by bit, just like in a war he could have been saving it bit by bit. Quid Pro Quo and then some. Good riddance.

--
You can't handle the truth.
Re:A sad day for America by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 12:29 · Score: 0

Nobody here claims to deserve their lives more than he did like you seem to insinuate.
On the other hand, he was a WW2 pilot at some point during WW2; at the point he went out, he was an ex-WW2 pilot and a corrupt politician who also could care less of who you hold in high esteem when he did the things that earned him his reputation. Even hard-earned respect isn't supposed to excuse everything and there are plenty of veterans who did perfectly well without giving into a life of demagoguery.
Re:A sad day for America by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 13:09 · Score: 0

He was a senator. The Senate doesn't vote on impeachment; the House of Representatives does.
Re:A sad day for America by pspahn · 2010-08-10 16:08 · Score: 1

I didn't excuse anything. Whether people like it or not, he was certainly part of the Greatest Generation. I am often in awe of how cool some of these dudes were back then. This guy was a WWII vet that died, he gets his funeral. Let him have his moment of peace and in a few days or weeks or whatever, feel free to rip him apart.
It's just that a lot of comments come off as if people are pissing on him the moment he died. That's just fucking ridiculous.

--
Someone flopped a steamer in the gene pool.
Re:A sad day for America by rovolo · 2010-08-11 05:15 · Score: 1

So why do you think death served him right?
Because the poster is neither native, alaskan, nor a fisher, and has a good chance of not liking Clinton?
Re:A sad day for America by Wyatt+Earp · 2010-08-11 05:26 · Score: 1

Senators vote on the guilt.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impeachment_of_Bill_Clinton#Voting_not_guilty_.2810_Rep.2C_45_Dem.29

Leave it to slashdot... by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 07:35 · Score: 0

...to slam his ass on the door on his way out.

Way to go. Stay classy!

Re:Leave it to slashdot... by Abstrackt · 2010-08-10 07:54 · Score: 1

I remember a line from a eulogy I heard once: "if you're an asshole in life, you're an asshole in death". While I have no particularly strong opinion on the matter, it's a tall order to expect people to change their opinion of someone just because they died.
Whatever jokes were made about him while he was alive will continue to be made about him now that he's dead, and he will live on in peoples' memories because of it.

--
They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but it's not one half so bad as a lot of ignorance. - Terry Pratchett

These things happen... by CyberPhart · 2010-08-10 07:36 · Score: 1

So it goes. Cover 'em over before he stinks, boys...

It's too soon for "Bye Bye American Pie" jokes by Anita+Coney · 2010-08-10 07:38 · Score: 1

Just kidding. Let 'em rip.

--
If someone says he and his monkey have nothing to hide, they almost certainly do.

Series of tubes by tepples · 2010-08-10 07:38 · Score: 1

why the hell is this news in the slashdot?? how is this WORLD (not USA) news worthy?

For one thing, the FAQ answers this. For another, he was famous for his correct yet widely panned analogy between data links and pneumatic tube transports.

N455A by ShaunC · 2010-08-10 07:42 · Score: 1

CNN is reporting that the tail number of the plane was N455A (N45A having been assigned elsewhere in 2002). The geek in me got a smile out of that. I'm glad to hear that O'Keefe is apparently alive.

--
Thanks to the War on Drugs, it's easier to buy meth than it is to buy cold medicine!

prediction of conspiracy theory by irving47 · 2010-08-10 07:42 · Score: 1

My prediction is that on Coast to Coast AM, "science advisor" Richard C. Hoa(x | g)land will be on the air and commenting that since this was a NASA administrator, they were all getting together to discuss a disclosure about ET's or artifacts on The Mars or Moon. They were done away with by the secret people, and we should all demand answers, so forth, so on, etc...

Wow I am super-cynical today.

--
I had a sucky sig.

Posts are really late by dxk3355 · 2010-08-10 07:44 · Score: 1, Informative

Has anyone noticed that stories on Slashdot are showing up well after everyone has heard them from every other source? Why bother reporting it if you're going to report it the day after everyone has heard it.

Re:Posts are really late by ShaunC · 2010-08-10 07:56 · Score: 1

I imagine they probably had 5,000 submissions all morning long saying that Ted Stevens perished in the crash, when that wasn't being definitively reported until very recently. I'd rather wait around for the facts for once.

--
Thanks to the War on Drugs, it's easier to buy meth than it is to buy cold medicine!
Re:Posts are really late by BobSixtyFour · 2010-08-10 08:00 · Score: 2, Funny

This is slashdot. We clog tubes. This unfortunately appears to have clogged the news in both directions... at least until the truck finally delivered the news.
Re:Posts are really late by noidentity · 2010-08-10 08:16 · Score: 1

Yep, when I read other news sources I regularly see the stories a day or so earlier than Slashdot. But I come here for the discussion, not instant reporting.
Re:Posts are really late by GodfatherofSoul · 2010-08-10 08:25 · Score: 3, Insightful

I'm here for the commentary, not news.

--
I swear to God...I swear to God! That is NOT how you treat your human!
Re:Posts are really late by MarkGriz · 2010-08-10 08:29 · Score: 1

Nope... we've never noticed that, ever.
And kudos to the genius who modded your post "informative"

--
Beauty is in the eye of the beerholder.
Re:Posts are really late by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 08:31 · Score: 1, Funny

It's on purpose, so we have time to choke back the tears.
Re:Posts are really late by thetoadwarrior · 2010-08-10 09:07 · Score: 1

Yes, Slashdot feels a bit old compared to reddit but the quality of the moderating of stories more than makes up for that.
Re:Posts are really late by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 09:27 · Score: 0

This was the first I heard. Aside from /. I tend to actually do work at work
Re:Posts are really late by ThunderThor53 · 2010-08-10 09:29 · Score: 1

It's been a long time since /. has been about breaking the news. It has transformed into a place to discuss recent news. The news isn't reported first on /. but it is still timely. I certainly talk with coworkers about items in the news a few days after they are initially reported. /. is less like the newsroom at any of the big networks and is more like the local coffee shop shortly after the networks report on an event. Yes, most people have heard the news already, but they've gathered together to discuss it, and that is the value /. brings to the table - it's the place to talk about the news, not the place to learn about the news as it happens.
Re:Posts are really late by bill_mcgonigle · 2010-08-10 13:11 · Score: 1

Not infrequently Slashdotters have better sources than the news media, especially if the topic leans towards tech.

--
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)

Called "Karma" for a reason by SuperKendall · 2010-08-10 07:46 · Score: 1, Insightful

"Funny" doesn't count for positive karma.

Plus, seeing as how you want someone dead who you simply dislike a bit, you are an asshole. It's called "Karma" for a reason, the choices you made are reflecting on your karma. Hence the name.

Would you find it as hilarious if Maxine Waters died and someone posted "GOOD RIDDANCE?" Even a political thief like Stevens or Waters doesn't deserve to die.

--
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley

Re:Called "Karma" for a reason by couchslug · 2010-08-10 07:59 · Score: -1, Troll

"Would you find it as hilarious if Maxine Waters died and someone posted "GOOD RIDDANCE?" Even a political thief like Stevens or Waters doesn't deserve to die."
THAT statement is highly subjective, considering the damage they do.
I'm fine with either one pushing daisies. Too bad it doesn't happen sooner and much more often.

--
"This post is an artistic work of fiction and falsehood. Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact."
Re:Called "Karma" for a reason by frank_adrian314159 · 2010-08-10 08:00 · Score: 3, Funny

Would you find it as hilarious if Maxine Waters died and someone posted "GOOD RIDDANCE?"
I'm a Libertarian, you insensitive clod! They can both die!

--
That is all.
Re:Called "Karma" for a reason by operagost · 2010-08-10 08:04 · Score: 5, Funny

Actually, we all deserve to die and we're going to get what we deserve.

--

Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
Re:Called "Karma" for a reason by Chih · 2010-08-10 08:48 · Score: 1

You should get more karma for describing karma

--
For best results, avoid doing stupid things.
Re:Called "Karma" for a reason by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 10:00 · Score: 1, Insightful

Ted Stevens actively worked to make this country a worse place. That's not mild dislike, that's a traitor. He was an enemy of the state, spending all he could, taking bribes, and actively undermining democracy.
Re:Called "Karma" for a reason by geekoid · 2010-08-10 10:05 · Score: 1, Troll

Karma can only be handed by the universe.
If Maxine waters was corrupt and used republican influence to get a felony conviction removed , why yes, I would say Good Riddance.
Had he gone to prison instead of railroading the justice system, he would still be alive.
How is THAT for karma?

--
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
Re:Called "Karma" for a reason by sznupi · 2010-08-10 10:37 · Score: 1

But he is dead, or so TFS goes; isn't that a "proper" karma?

--
One that hath name thou can not otter
Re:Called "Karma" for a reason by catmistake · 2010-08-10 11:08 · Score: 1

We all got it comin', kid. "Deserves" got nothin' to do with it.
--The Unforgiven

--
The Admin and the Engineer
Re:Called "Karma" for a reason by mjwx · 2010-08-10 13:48 · Score: 1

Actually, we all deserve to die and we're going to get what we deserve.
As far as Karma is concerned, it does not determine if you deserve to live or die, it determines whether you will be resurrected as a higher or lower form of life.

Ted Stevens being a politician should be on his way back up to a higher form of life, like a cockroach or maggot.

--
Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
Re:Called "Karma" for a reason by operagost · 2010-08-11 05:24 · Score: 1

My statement also describes Judaism and Christianity.

--

Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.

Nope, just you by SuperKendall · 2010-08-10 07:49 · Score: 2, Interesting

I guess this says a lot about me, but I'm afraid it says even more about the overall state of our country.

Not really. Business owners are the same as they have always been, there are a few bad ones but a lot of decent executives simply trying to make the company work better.

Basically you have been brainwashed into thinking any executive is evil, even though you never heard the name of a single company. You have started to wake up, think long and hard about why your first thought was that it was good any given company executive should perish. You can change your preconceptions.

--
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley

What were Ted Stevens and Sean O'Keffe doing? by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 07:52 · Score: 0

Why were Ted Stevens and Sean O'Keffe, now head of EADS North America doing on the same airplane in Alaska?

If Ted Stevens was engaged in lobbying, I'm glad he's dead, and hope there are more lobbyist fatalities in the future?

Re:What were Ted Stevens and Sean O'Keffe doing? by Wyatt+Earp · 2010-08-10 09:08 · Score: 1

They were going to a lodge GCI owns to go fishing.

Civility... by istartedi · 2010-08-10 07:54 · Score: 3, Insightful

Civility has long since gone down the tubes, as so many comments here demonstrate. A guy makes an analogy that isn't entirely congruent with the more popular analogy. Somebody with a job that encompasses interacting with people from every walk of life is criticised for failing to be an expert in our particular walk of life. His opinions were, I assume, not in line with the majority of Slashdotters regarding some issue pertaining to the Internet. Do we even know what his opinions are, or do we just know that he was a stupid poo-poo head becasue all the other kindergardners called him that?

I feel ashamed to have anything to do with this site on a day like today.

RIP Sen. Stevens, and GWS to those who survived.

--
For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?

Re:Civility... by dfghjk · 2010-08-10 08:15 · Score: 3, Informative

He was hated because he was a corrupt SOB. Ridiculing him for his fake expertise was just the low hanging fruit.
Re:Civility... by SpongeBob+Hitler · 2010-08-10 08:27 · Score: 0

Civility has long since gone down the tubes, as so many comments here demonstrate. A guy makes an analogy that isn't entirely congruent with the more popular analogy. Somebody with a job that encompasses interacting with people from every walk of life is criticised for failing to be an expert in our particular walk of life. His opinions were, I assume, not in line with the majority of Slashdotters regarding some issue pertaining to the Internet. Do we even know what his opinions are, or do we just know that he was a stupid poo-poo head becasue all the other kindergardners called him that?
I feel ashamed to have anything to do with this site on a day like today.
RIP Sen. Stevens, and GWS to those who survived.
I understand in general the need for civility. However, given the way Washington politicians are, I would simply like to say "1 down, 99 more to go!" Unfortunately, there will not be a sudden rash of Senatorial airplane crashes or other such accidents.

--
Wollt ihr den totalen Krieg?
Re:Civility... by Bigjeff5 · 2010-08-10 08:30 · Score: 1

A guy makes an analogy that isn't entirely congruent with the more popular analogy.

What's worse is it's actually a pretty accurate analogy, and is often used in network engineering textbooks when referring to bandwidth and the like (not packets though, obviously). But dumbass slashdotters who think they know better made fun of him for it.
His only real gaff at all was calling e-mail "internets", but lets be real here, he occasionally couldn't remember his own daughter's name. He was friggin old. In the scheme of things, that's not a big mistake.
Yet for that, and some misfiled paperwork (he was exonerated of all ethics charges), he was somehow the most evil man in the Senate to half of Slashdotters in spite of all the people he helped, and in spite of all the people in the Senate actively working against the goals of those same Slashdotters.
Frankly, a lot of the reactions here disgust me.

--
Security is mostly a superstition... Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. - Helen Keller
Re:Civility... by X86Daddy · 2010-08-10 08:47 · Score: 4, Informative

His "series of tubes" diatribe was funny, highly entertaining stuff in and of itself. If he was a late night comedian, I doubt many if any slashdotters would be venting "good riddance" at this man's death. But the context of his series of tubes diatribe was something else. He was making law, law applicable to an arena most slashdotters hold dear, and he demonstrated a complete lack of understanding of the subject matter, while demonstrating that he was supporting a position he was paid to support, without regard of how that would impact the People. That made him more than a silly old man... that put him in a very dishonorable position.
Personally, I think that paled in comparison to his behavior during the hearings on record high gas prices, where he nastily shot down colleagues who wanted the record-profit-making oil company executives to be under oath. You can find the written quotes (near end of article) easily enough, but if you can find video, you will see that his attitude indicated he was firmly siding with those executives over any public interest, before the hearings even began.
This man occupied a job "for the people" while feeling far more beholden to his corporate sponsors. It was obvious from so many incidents in which he was involved... from his own words and deeds, let alone his funding. I'm not thrilled at his death, but I certainly don't lament it. I'm not thrilled because he was just one obvious example, in a system that entirely favors and rewards the kind of misdeeds he performed. That system is still in place. Those hating the player are only behaving shamefully if they're failing to hate the game in this case. Those in the wrong are those who think Stevens was especially bad in any way other than getting his behavior more airtime in the media (because he was funny about it). I only wish all senators, etc... were as entertaining, so that more of their behavior would be spotlighted in the same way.
Re:Civility... by Lusixhan · 2010-08-10 08:57 · Score: 1

Mod this up. I distinctly remember sitting in front of the television watching the beginning of the high-gas-prices hearing and seeing Ted Stevens threatening to throw people out if they continued insisting on putting the executives under oath. It was one of the very few things I've seen on TV that made me sick to my stomach.
Re:Civility... by thetoadwarrior · 2010-08-10 09:01 · Score: 1

Yet you stick around and comment with your holier-than-thou attitude.
Re:Civility... by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 09:11 · Score: 0

The "geek" community, both online and off, has become a cesspit of animal behavior and raging ideological lunacy. It's almost like a cult where "computer skills" are the One True Path to... well, something.
Re:Civility... by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 09:26 · Score: 0

The guy was corrupt, ultra-partisan, and screwed the American taxpayers out of billions of dollars. Why should we be civil?
Re:Civility... by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 11:46 · Score: 0

I'm going to guess that the majority of people here who dislike Ted do so because he was corrupt and not because he wasn't tech savvy. If was indeed corrupt then not only does he not deserve "civility" - he deserves a spit on the grave - because corruption is one of the highest forms of douchebaggery there is.
Re:Civility... by roman_mir · 2010-08-10 12:26 · Score: 1

Get the fuck out of here, Ted Stevens - a criminal in a position of power. The fewer of them, the better for the rest of society.

--
You can't handle the truth.
Re:Civility... by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 14:00 · Score: 0

Blocking opinions because of death is a serious religious hangup.
Showing discretion around the mourning is civil. Complaining that people are calling a bastard a bastard is a mental problem.
Re:Civility... by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 14:52 · Score: 0

NO!
Re:Civility... by istartedi · 2010-08-10 17:47 · Score: 1

Personally, I think that paled in comparison to his behavior during the hearings on record high gas prices, where he nastily shot down colleagues who wanted the record-profit-making oil company executives to be under oath. You can find the written quotes [cnn.com] (near end of article) easily enough, but if you can find video, you will see that his attitude indicated he was firmly siding with those executives over any public interest, before the hearings even began.
This man occupied a job "for the people" while feeling far more beholden to his corporate sponsors
He represented Alaska--a state where many people are employed by the oil industry, and where every citizen receives a check from oil. It sounds to me like he represented Alaskans just fine there.
As for net neutrality, watch out what you ask for--you might get it. The State will define what is "neutral", and require you to document that you are running your network in a manor which is "neutral" according to their definition. Where are the Slashdot Libertarians when you really need them?
Look, I'm no fan of clearcutting timber up there either, as the Wiki article on his life describes. That's beside the point. I don't live in Alaska. The rural, western states in general have a much different attitude towards "resources" than coastal, "blue states". A sizeable portion of Alaskans might consider somebody who violates Federal law in that regard a hero, and somebody who prevents them from being subject to perjury as a defender. I'm not saying I agree with that. I'm just saying it's more complex than "a doddering, corrupt old man who does the corporate bidding".

--
For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
Re:Civility... by bhiestand · 2010-08-12 07:29 · Score: 1

He represented Alaska--a state where many people are employed by the oil industry, and where every citizen receives a check from oil. It sounds to me like he represented Alaskans just fine there.
Oh, he represented Alaskan oil interests just fine. What he failed to do was his job as CHAIR of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. This Committee is responsible for, you guessed it, Communications. This particular senator was responsible for a lot of legislation governing? Communications.
I doubt any of us take issue with 80 year old senators having a weak understanding of modern technology. We do, however, take issue with utter incompetence from the most senior elected official responsible for legislation in this area.
If you can't cook, stay the hell out of the kitchen. Or, since this is slashdot, if you say you're an automotive mechanic you'd better know how to change an alternator.

--
SWM seeks new sig for a brief fling

If you were following through on your analogy by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 07:54 · Score: 1, Funny

My heart goes out to those who were waiting for an ACK.

Hmmmm by Lost+Penguin · 2010-08-10 07:55 · Score: -1, Troll

Sarah Palin's helicopter seen leaving the scence?

--
I am the unwilling control for my Origin.

Re:Hmmmm by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 08:22 · Score: 0

scence? can't you linux assfucks learn to spell? Or is linux so poorly written that you fucking cunts don't have a spell check?
Re:Hmmmm by SpongeBob+Hitler · 2010-08-10 08:22 · Score: 0

Sarah Palin: "I can see Ted Steven's plane from my house."

--
Wollt ihr den totalen Krieg?
Re:Hmmmm by jameskojiro · 2010-08-10 08:40 · Score: 0, Troll

Sarah Palin wouldn't kill off Stevens, She would kill off the NASA guy first because she thinks the world is 6,000 years old and the NASA guy would be able to disprove her backwards world view.
NASA guy still alive, ergo, Sarah Palin didn't kill off Stevens.

--
Tsukasa: All I really want, is to be left alone...
Re:Hmmmm by thetoadwarrior · 2010-08-10 08:57 · Score: 1

Woah there Ballmer if you don't watch your temper you're be down one more chair.
Re:Hmmmm by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 09:19 · Score: 0

Ballmer? Go fuck yourself. I can afford a real computer. I'm not posting this from a shitty third rate netbook.

Good riddance by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 07:56 · Score: 0

This is his payback for all the bad karma stemming from The Bridge to Nowhere

R.I.P. Stevens by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 07:58 · Score: 0

Gone to that great series of tubes in the sky.

How old was the plane? by fak3r · 2010-08-10 07:59 · Score: 1

"The 1957 DeHavilland DHC-3 Otter aircraft went down..." What the hell? That can't be right, can it? And I thought commercial aircraft were old. Source: http://nycaviation.com/2010/08/10/plane-possibly-carrying-former-u-s-senator-ted-stevens-crashes-in-alaska/

--
fak3r.com

Re:How old was the plane? by muindaur · 2010-08-10 08:17 · Score: 2, Insightful

It's got aquatic landing gear capability, can carry a large payload, and it works as long as it's well maintained. It's Alaska so you need the older aircraft with those specifications. Given that this one was owned by a company that deals with power or cable in the state they need something that can be converted from passenger to cargo, and land on water in remote areas.
Old plane models are perfectly fine if they are well maintained, why else do you still see WWII fighters still flying?
As for this crash it could have been a mechanical failure, but given the fact weather prevented rescue for so long it may be weather related.
Re:How old was the plane? by Bigjeff5 · 2010-08-10 08:31 · Score: 1

It's right, those are great planes for trips to remote areas, and 99% of Alaska is a remote area.

--
Security is mostly a superstition... Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. - Helen Keller
Re:How old was the plane? by Wyatt+Earp · 2010-08-10 09:10 · Score: 1

It was just rebuild with a new turbine in 2005 from records I've seen today. 1957 isn't that old for a well maintained aircraft, especially one with a new engine.
Re:How old was the plane? by Skuld-Chan · 2010-08-10 09:47 · Score: 1

My father used to work on these (and others much like it) when he was in the RCAF - they are famous for being flown around the nwt and by bush pilots in general.
Re:How old was the plane? by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 11:02 · Score: 0

Here's a picture of it:
http://www.airliners.net/photo/Wood-River-Lodge/De-Havilland-Canada/0835289/L/
rj
Re:How old was the plane? by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 11:49 · Score: 0

> Here's a picture of it:
"With rare exceptions, people cannot use this picture to masturbate - therefore it is not the Internet."

RIP Ted Stevens - The tubes will miss you by gasmonso · 2010-08-10 08:00 · Score: 1

http://seriesoftubesmovie.ytmnd.com/

Because it was clear he knew nothing by Sycraft-fu · 2010-08-10 08:03 · Score: 5, Informative

I mean for one, the "series of tubes" thing just sounds funny. It was not an eloquent way of putting it. Second, it is a rather large oversimplification. Ok I'm fine with it for children since you are trying to really simplify it, but it is a bad way to describe it overall. The relationship between my plumbing (an actual series of tubes) and my net connection is tenuous at best despite the Internet connection begin called a "pipe" in some contexts.

However the biggest reason was because from the entire explanation, it is clear he has no idea what the fuck he is talking about. What he said was:

"Ten movies streaming across that, that Internet, and what happens to your own personal Internet? I just the other day got...an Internet was sent by my staff at 10 o'clock in the morning on Friday. I got it yesterday [Tuesday]. Why? Because it got tangled up with all these things going on the Internet commercially.

[...] They want to deliver vast amounts of information over the Internet. And again, the Internet is not something that you just dump something on. It's not a big truck. It's a series of tubes. And if you don't understand, those tubes can be filled and if they are filled, when you put your message in, it gets in line and it's going to be delayed by anyone that puts into that tube enormous amounts of material, enormous amounts of material."

It is clear the man understands nothing about the net. More or less he's bitching that has staffer sent him an e-mail which he calls "an Internet", and it was delayed for some reason. That he blames on people watching movies online. The amount of shit incorrect about that is just legendary.

Had it been said as part of a competent explanation, it probably wouldn't have been picked up on. However his halting, improper explanation made it seem that he probably really did think of the Internet as being just like a sewer system, which is not at all correct.

Re:Because it was clear he knew nothing by squidfood · 2010-08-10 09:34 · Score: 3, Funny

the Internet as being just like a sewer system, which is not at all correct.
That depends, are you talking delivery system or content?
Re:Because it was clear he knew nothing by Lugae · 2010-08-10 09:46 · Score: 1

However his halting, improper explanation made it seem that he probably really did think of the Internet as being just like a sewer system, which is not at all correct.
Agreed. Many would consider a sewer system may be cleaner than the Internet.
Re:Because it was clear he knew nothing by WGFCrafty · 2010-08-10 09:56 · Score: 1

What Senator Stevens needed was a 'youtube.'

If only he had known about the 'youtube,' he would have learned to use this personalized tube so his internet didn't get all caught up in 'his tubes' and 'her tubes,' filled with movies, it could have gone straight to his 'youtube.'
Re:Because it was clear he knew nothing by Jah-Wren+Ryel · 2010-08-10 10:13 · Score: 3, Insightful

Had it been said as part of a competent explanation, it probably wouldn't have been picked up on. However his halting, improper explanation made it seem that he probably really did think of the Internet as being just like a sewer system, which is not at all correct.
That and the fact that his rambling was his justification to block the addition of net neutrality language to the telecom bill that he himself had 'authored' as head of the commerce committee. By demonstrating his rather poor grasp of the workings of the internet he also demonstrated that he really wasn't qualified to have so much control over it.
People laugh at Gore for saying "he invented the internet" when he really didn't say that, but Stevens has only gummed it up since then. Plus, it's ironic that, at least according to Wikipedia, Declan McCullough is an apologist for Stevens's "tubes" comment but was the first to exaggerate what Gore said for comedic effect.

--
When information is power, privacy is freedom.
Re:Because it was clear he knew nothing by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 12:43 · Score: 0

> he probably really did think of the Internet as being just like a sewer system, which is not at all correct
Between goatse, 2 girls 1 cup and "tulips" his mistake is understandable...
Re:Because it was clear he knew nothing by zippthorne · 2010-08-10 15:00 · Score: 1

Also, he never mentions checking the time stamp on that email that his staffer allegedly sent four days earlier. I'm sure the staffer had no ulterior motives at all to claim "the crappy network didn't deliver my memo on time, uh huh."
Still, are we speaking ill of the dead, or beating a dead horse, here?

--
Can you be Even More Awesome?!
Re:Because it was clear he knew nothing by ultranova · 2010-08-11 03:05 · Score: 1

I mean for one, the "series of tubes" thing just sounds funny. It was not an eloquent way of putting it. Second, it is a rather large oversimplification. Ok I'm fine with it for children since you are trying to really simplify it, but it is a bad way to describe it overall. The relationship between my plumbing (an actual series of tubes) and my net connection is tenuous at best despite the Internet connection begin called a "pipe" in some contexts.

The Internet is not a series of tubes. The Internet is a message-delivery system. Compare it to the postal system and each packet to a letter, and you'll make a lot more sense.
Latency, of course, means how long it takes for a letter to reach its destination, and bandwidth means how many letters the postal truck can fit per round-trip. A router is a post office that sends letters to another post office in the right direction, and since the lazy bastards simply throw away any letters they don't have time to handle, you need to send back an ACKnowledgement that the letter was received. And since the system only delivers letters, and they have a maximum size, if you want to send a long text you need to break it to small pieces, number them, and send them separately, then resend any that the other end doesn't ACKnowledge in a reasonable amount of time. Oh, and there's a vicious Carnivore reading your letters while they're in transit, trying to find some excuse to eat you, so you'd better encrypt them so only the recipient can read them.

--
Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.

Speaking of Maxine Waters by sconeu · 2010-08-10 08:06 · Score: 1

I can't remember... was it her, or Diane Watson who had the gall to stand up after the Northridge quake and ask why all the money was going to the SF Valley instead of South Central?

--
General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.

Re:Speaking of Maxine Waters by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 11:34 · Score: 0

Maybe cause Northridge is nowhere near South Central.

That's not the worst of it by Shin-LaC · 2010-08-10 08:09 · Score: 4, Funny

There were at least eight crashes. From TFS:

Ted Stevens was aboard a small plane with eight others that crashed in remote southwest Alaska Monday night.

So, the eight others that traveled with Ted Stevens did crash. Since there are reports that he died, it seems likely that he crashed too, bringing the total up to nine.

Oh stuff it by Sycraft-fu · 2010-08-10 08:09 · Score: 5, Insightful

Two things:

1) Most people have no positive connection to this guy, at all. They don't know him and don't care about him. Don't pretend like you care about every person who dies, if you did you'd be in a continual state of massive grief. To the extent he touched their lives it was to try and restrict Internet access and through criminally misappropriating tax dollars. Why the hell should they feel bad about his passing? Yes, he was a person and I'm sure had redeeming qualities and people who cared about him. Nobody here knew him in that context.

2) Humour is a great way of coping with disaster. If you can't see that, it is because you are too damn uptight. Joking about things is a way of integrating bad things in to life and moving on.

So knock it the fuck off. I hate the veneration of the dead, where suddenly because someone has died nobody can make fun of them anymore, nobody can talk about them as a real human anymore. They have to be sainted, remembered in an idealized fashion. I hope when I die, if there's anyone around that gives a shit, they talk about me as I really was, remember my flaws, have some laughs at my expense. I hope they don't turn me in to some saint I'm not and refuse to say anything about me that isn't praise. It isn't that way when I'm alive, when I actually care what is being said about me, why should it change when I die?

Re:Oh stuff it by locallyunscene · 2010-08-10 08:33 · Score: 0

For some people, like myself, it's not about veneration of the dead but sympathy for the living. It's one thing to have a grandparent die, it's another to see people dancing on his or her grave. It's not like people become untouchable when they die, I still hear Michael Jackson jokes, people might just lay off for a little while to not be assholes.
Re:Oh stuff it by Raenex · 2010-08-10 08:37 · Score: 1

Don't pretend like you care about every person who dies, if you did you'd be in a continual state of massive grief.
I do, but it's counter-balanced by all the new born births. It's a net positive!
Re:Oh stuff it by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 08:41 · Score: 0

You are a dick.
Re:Oh stuff it by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 08:50 · Score: 0

"2) Humour is a great way of coping with disaster. If you can't see that, it is because you are too damn uptight. Joking about things is a way of integrating bad things in to life and moving on."
Oh come the fuck on. If someone is joking about Stevens' death, they are not affected by this "disaster" enough to need to cope. Humor in this case is not a coping mechanism; it is people poking fun at someone who is dead.
I can't give a fuck about it, either, but to argue your point in terms of coping strategies is fucking stupid.
Re:Oh stuff it by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 09:00 · Score: 0

That's why your mom likes him so much.
Re:Oh stuff it by Culture20 · 2010-08-10 09:19 · Score: 1

I hate the veneration of the dead
At least lay off the jokes for a week, or you'll let people know you'd make a good CEO.

Top bloke after death? by bwohlgemuth · 2010-08-10 08:09 · Score: 1

This seems appropriate... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwyCcGse8WE /not the stupid commercial before it...

--
Flamebait .sig for sale, low mileage, one owner only.
Serious inquiries only.

Done in by his last bribe by elrous0 · 2010-08-10 08:17 · Score: 1

Ironically, he was being "lobbied" (aka bribed) even as he died. The flight was chartered and paid for by GCI, the biggest telcom in the state. Guess they figured that he could still help them get some favorable treatment from his old buddies in Congress. Or maybe it was payback for all the stuff he did for them when he was there, like his vehement opposition to net neutrality. It would seem that he was finally done in by one of his bribes after all.

--
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.

Re:Done in by his last bribe by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 08:48 · Score: 0

The flight was chartered and paid for by GCI , the biggest telcom in the state. Guess they figured that he could still help them get some favorable treatment from his old buddies in Congress. Or maybe it was payback for all the stuff he did for them when he was there, like his vehement opposition to net neutrality.
Heh, in this, I can finally muster one iota of sympathy and respect for the late Sen. Stevens: at least he died doing what he loved.

he JUST died by circletimessquare · 2010-08-10 08:18 · Score: 0, Flamebait

you pay the recently departed some due respect, no matter what they did in life, or you've lost your essential humanity and betrayed whatever nobility you think you stand for but obviously don't, you asshole. the guy was not adolf hitler, no matter how much his politics makes your blood boil. get the fuck over yourself

if you can't do that, then perhaps you are just as self-serving and stupid in your craven motivations as you accuse ted stevens of being

the politics in this country has become too mean spirited: more blood sport self-destruction than frank and intellectually honest discussion. and there are plenty of you, from the right and the left, who are more interested in your own petty tit-for-tat blind partisan team sports, than the essential search for progress for this country. what's the matter? policy discussions too boring? want to call each other socialists and fascists? that excites you? go ahead, ruin this country with your loud boorish simpleminded pettiness you assholes

too many of you are too willing, from the right and the left, to step all over the dignity of your fellow human beings (and your own dignity, not that you realize that) in the pursuit of scoring public relations spin points. so many blogging assholes and so many trolling astroturfing scumbags regurgitating their obvious typical mindless lowest common denominator political opinions on every message board, from THE RIGHT AND THE LEFT. you all think you are the goddamn diety-appointed spokesperson for your ill-thought out dimwitted cause. when the truth is all you fucking armchair political philosophers are worth shit and the content of your thoughts are utterly useless. from THE RIGHT AND THE LEFT. 99% of you do the greatest service to the cause you care about by SHUTTING THE FUCK UP

the politics in the united states has lost all dignity, all intelligence, and all meaning and is now nothing more than a petty high school football game for simpletons

and most of you have completely forgotten about what is at stake. and it is obvious when you forget decency, respect, and simple human decorum, that you don't actually care about you fellow americans anymore, you just care about being the loudest most intelligence-defying piece of shit in the room, be damned the consequences to your country, and be damned the consequences to your character

so listen up, asshole: you respect the recently departed

YOU. RESPECT. THE. RECENTLY. DEPARTED.

do you hear me you fuck?

show some DECENCY. show some CHARACTER. show something of what is missing from the shallow dimwitted politics in this country, you small stupid little man

now fuck off, and try, for once in your pathetic propaganda-addled life, to be a decent human being, you smarmy little piece of shit

ALL OF YOU

i HATE what politics in this country has become: a boatload of loud ignorant trolls

THE GUY JUST DIED. AND YOU'RE DANCING ON HIS CORPSE. THE PROBLEM WITH THIS COUNTRY IS YOU

FUCK

ALL

OF

YOU /rant over, moving on

--
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it

Re:he JUST died by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 08:54 · Score: 0

I disagree, and your use of capitals doesn't make your argument valid.
The man abused his position of power and was corrupt. He was completely incompetent at his job.
There are many petty offenses in one's life that can be overlooked. However, I (who is not the OP) am not going to sit here and sugarcoat a man who spent his life violating the public's trust for his own personal benefit.
So yes, I am sure he was a nice father, and really nice to his grand kids, and that's what his family will talk about his funeral. But let not us not remember him fondly for his political career, because the man was scum and everything that is wrong with the US political system today. He doesn't deserve to have a nice polite entry in the history books. This has nothing to do with any particular political views I have, the man was corrupt and inept, and that was that.
Re:he JUST died by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 08:54 · Score: 0

No
Re:he JUST died by shiftless · 2010-08-10 08:55 · Score: 1, Offtopic

amen and praise Jesus. that's all I can add to this epic and 100% true rant
Re:he JUST died by colesw · 2010-08-10 08:56 · Score: 1

He is dead, I don't think he cares anymore if you make jokes about him.
Re:he JUST died by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 08:59 · Score: 1, Interesting

so, you were this kind when Bush killed Saddam Hussein?
Re:he JUST died by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 09:05 · Score: 0

All of us? I didn't even comment yet. That wasn't very respectful sir.
Or wait, should we only respect the dead? Cursing off the living community is still showing decency and character?
So confused.. Please clarify.
Re:he JUST died by hamburger+lady · 2010-08-10 09:13 · Score: 1

are you kidding?
ARE. YOU. KIDDING.
seriously? are you telling the rest of us how to deal with the death of some ex-politician?
i HATE it when people tell the rest of the world what to say or what type of decorum to have.
GET
OFF
YOUR
HIGH
HORSE
MISS
FUCKING
MANNERS
you're the problem with this country. you and all the other pearl-clutching nutbags who post all kinds of over-the-top garbage in ALL CAPS and then turn around and tell others to 'take it easy'.
YOU. TAKE. IT. EASY. SERIOUSLY. DO IT.

--

---
Is this the MPAA? Is this the RIAA? Is this the DMCA? I thought it was the USA!
Re:he JUST died by onkelonkel · 2010-08-10 09:18 · Score: 5, Insightful

What do you know. All this time I thought you didn't have a shift key on your keyboard.

As far as the rant goes, why should we think any better of him now that he is dead then we did when he was still alive? Other than the fact that he can do us no further harm.

Respect is earned.

RESPECT.

IS.

EARNED.

(or not, as the case may be)

--
None of them can see the clouds; The polished wings don't care.
Re:he JUST died by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 09:38 · Score: 0

Each and every one of the character flaws you allude to are things that you projected onto your parent poster. None of them are in evidence from anything he said. You know this, and you agree with it 100% even though you wish you didn't. That's why your hands were shaking so badly while you typed that hysterical nonsense.
Re:he JUST died by HeckRuler · 2010-08-10 09:46 · Score: 1

And for as evil as the guy was, why doesn't anyone ever think about all the good that Hitler did? I mean, for as much as Madam Circle rages about respecting the dead, she's apparently fine with dancing on Hilter's grave.
Re:he JUST died by Sprouticus · 2010-08-10 09:53 · Score: 2, Insightful

1) US politics has NEVER had dignity. We have had founding fathers duel with pistols. We have had a politician beaten to within an inch of ttheir life ON THE FLOOR OF THE SENATE. Dignity my ass.
2) This man did evil. Yes, I use the word intentionally. He abused power granted to him for his own gain and that of others around him, regardless of the harm he was doing to others. Just because he is dead, does not redeem him in my eyes. He still hurt every single US citizen in some way or another. 300 million paper cuts is still a lot of pain and suffering.
3) I dont know his family. I dont feel happy that they are hurting, but I do feel happy that this man can no longer harm this country.
Re:he JUST died by geekoid · 2010-08-10 10:31 · Score: 1

Why? screaming it doesn't answer the question.
Which dad person told you that?
Stop following pointless customs.
Based on your post, I assume this is the only way you will understand:
STOP. FOLLOWING. POINTLESS. CUSTOMS.
Also, you post broke godwins law.

--
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
Re:he JUST died by Neflyte_Zero · 2010-08-10 10:41 · Score: 1

Chris Crocker, is that you?

--
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn.
Re:he JUST died by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 10:45 · Score: 0

HE'S A HUMAN! What you don't realize is that Ted is making you all this money and all you do is write a bunch of crap about him.

He hasn't performed on stage in years. His song is called "series of tubes" for a reason because all you people want is TUBES! TUBES-TUBES, TUBES: TUBES!.

LEAVE HIM ALONE! You are lucky he even served for you BASTARDS! LEAVE TED ALONE!.....Please.
Re:he JUST died by AK+Marc · 2010-08-10 15:41 · Score: 2, Informative

the guy was not adolf hitler,

So what if he was? You say that they should be revered, not punished. So why not "adolf"? At what level of evil do you draw the line? And since you imply that line exists because of the differentiation between him and someone else, how can you be sure that he isn't on the other side of that line?

so listen up, asshole: you respect the recently departed

They are dead. What do they care? I met the man. I shook his hand. I had a conversation with his wife. What right to you have to tell me what I can and can't say about him? Have you met him? I'm certainly not qualified for a eulogy, but to ban all talking is silly.

Besides, don't you know your Shakespeare? "The evil men do lives after them. The good is oft interred with their bones." It's not a new idea.

--
Learn to love Alaska
Re:he JUST died by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 18:24 · Score: 0

Spoken by an ignorant fool who has no idea the magnitude of his accomplishments for the Alaskan people.
I would be happy to serve my people as well as he did. He will always be remembered with honor here in Alaska.
Re:he JUST died by shiftless · 2010-08-12 01:55 · Score: 1

He abused power granted to him for his own gain and that of others around him, regardless of the harm he was doing to others.
Just like EVERY HUMAN ON THIS PLANET does, intentionally or not.
You're saying you've never done anything that helped you and your friends, but hurt others in some way? Then you're a fucking liar. Or an idiot.
Re:he JUST died by shiftless · 2010-08-12 02:02 · Score: 1

Stop following pointless customs.
And what makes them pointless? Because you personally are too stupid/ignorant to understand the reason they exist?
In a civilized society, people pay respect for the dead, because it is recognized that #1 you don't have command of all the facts. You don't know what kind of person this was. There is one thing you do know though, and that's #2 people are sad, upset, and feel terrible about their loved one, their friend, their father/uncle/cousin whatever dying in a horrible plane crash. Respect for the person shows respect for those who were hurt by his passing. EVERY person in our society deserves a modicum of respect. Respect doesn't have to be "earned", it is freely given amongst peers in a civilized society. Do you, or anyone else screaming "RESPECT MUST BE EARNED!!!!!!1111!" *really* want to live in a society where nobody respects anyone else? Funny how slashdot posters yell about "RESPECT IS EARNED" in one article, then in the next people are crying about all the violence, crime, etc that plagues our cities. WAKE UP, people.

There are (at least) 3 crashes by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 08:19 · Score: 0

Trauma people talk about 3 crashes.

1) Vehicle hits hard immovable object (like the earth).

2) Occupant hits inside of vehicle.

3) Occupant's brain hits inside of skull (and similar events with other organs)

Re:There are (at least) 3 crashes by Quiet_Desperation · 2010-08-10 10:42 · Score: 1

Trauma people talk about 3 crashes.
1) Vehicle hits hard immovable object (like the earth).
2) Occupant hits inside of vehicle.
3) Occupant's brain hits inside of skull (and similar events with other organs)
Wait, aren't those the rules to Inception? Which one wakes him up?
Re:There are (at least) 3 crashes by socsoc · 2010-08-10 11:38 · Score: 1

The drop, obviously.

Seward's folly, indeed by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 08:27 · Score: -1, Flamebait

fuck Alaska.

It's just Texas with more ice. Just a bunch of gun-crazed "individualists" who won't take responsibility for the repercussions of their own actions.

Actually, I slander Texas, and I apologize. Alaskans, each and every one of them are welfare queens who are quite happy to take their big check from the state fund, while pissing and moaning about how the feds are a bunch of pinko bloodsuckers. Lousy hipocrits.

OMG - The Irony ! by frog_strat · 2010-08-10 08:28 · Score: 2, Informative

Remember Mary Schiavo voicing concerns for ValueJet safety, and Stevens tell her to STFU and stop disparaging a corporation ?

Question about the "series of tubes" comment by dollarwizard · 2010-08-10 08:36 · Score: 2, Insightful

Politics aside, if the Internet was being compared with pneumatic tubes in the pre-email era, then it actually seems like a fairly sound analogy to me. Could someone please explain what I'm missing here?

Re:Question about the "series of tubes" comment by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 08:54 · Score: 0

"Ten movies streaming across that, that Internet, and what happens to your own personal Internet? I just the other day got...an Internet was sent by my staff at 10 o'clock in the morning on Friday. I got it yesterday [Tuesday]. Why? Because it got tangled up with all these things going on the Internet commercially.
[...] They want to deliver vast amounts of information over the Internet. And again, the Internet is not something that you just dump something on. It's not a big truck. It's a series of tubes. And if you don't understand, those tubes can be filled and if they are filled, when you put your message in, it gets in line and it's going to be delayed by anyone that puts into that tube enormous amounts of material, enormous amounts of material."
This was our legislative expert (or at least the ranking member of committee) on the Internet.
Re:Question about the "series of tubes" comment by dollarwizard · 2010-08-10 09:07 · Score: 1

Okay, now I see. Thanks. :-)
Re:Question about the "series of tubes" comment by kindbud · 2010-08-10 10:15 · Score: 1

Could someone please explain what I'm missing here?
The sound of Ted Stevens squeaky Perot-like voice proclaiming "...the Internet is not something that you just dump something on. It's not a big truck. It's a series of tubes."
Series of Tubes (with audio recordings attached)

--
Edith Keeler Must Die
Re:Question about the "series of tubes" comment by mfnickster · 2010-08-10 11:25 · Score: 1

As John Hodgman put it on the Daily Show, "a better metaphor might be, oh, I don't know, off the top of my head, a NET? ...or an INTER-NET?"
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-july-19-2006/net-neutrality-act

--
"Slow down, Cowboy! It has been 3 years, 7 months and 26 days since you last successfully posted a comment."
Re:Question about the "series of tubes" comment by bogjobber · 2010-08-10 19:55 · Score: 1

It's an OK analogy, but the manner in which he delivered it made it blatantly obvious that he didn't fully grasp what he was talking about. He was in a very powerful position arguing for a policy that will dramatically revamp the way the internet operates in the United States (and probably the rest of the world by extension), and he didn't even understand his own argument. So it's very, very doubtful that he had even a basic, high-level, non-technical comprehension about how the internet works.
This, combined with his general reputation as being a corrupt scumbag for sale to the highest bidder, is why Senator Stevens was mocked.

NASA vs. Alaska by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 08:37 · Score: 0

Looks like NASA wins!

what forgetting basic human decency is like: by circletimessquare · 2010-08-10 08:43 · Score: 1

Senator McCarthy: Mr. Chairman, may I say that Mr. Welch talks about this being cruel and reckless. He was just baiting. He has been baiting Mr. Cohn here for hours, requesting that Mr. Cohn before sundown get out of any department of the government anyone who is serving the Communist cause. Now, I just give this man's record and I want to say, Mr. Welch, that it had been labeled long before he became a member, as early as 1944 --

Mr. Welch: Senator, may we not drop this? We know he belonged to the Lawyers' Guild.

Senator McCarthy: Let me finish....

Mr. Welch: And Mr. Cohn nods his head at me. I did you, I think, no personal injury, Mr. Cohn?

Mr. Cohn: No, sir.

Mr. Welch: I meant to do you no personal injury.

Mr. Cohn: No, sir.

Mr. Welch: And if I did, I beg your pardon. Let us not assassinate this lad further, Senator.

Senator McCarthy: Let's, let's --

Mr. Welch: You've done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?

Senator McCarthy: I know this hurts you, Mr. Welch.

Mr. Welch: I'll say it hurts!

Senator McCarthy: Mr. Chairman, as point of personal privilege, I'd like to finish this.

Mr. Welch: Senator, I think it hurts you, too, sir.

Senator McCarthy: I'd like to finish this. I know Mr. Cohn would rather not have me go into this. I intend to, however, and Mr. Welch talks about any "sense of decency." I have heard you and everyone else talk so much about laying the truth upon the table. But when I heard the completely phony Mr. Welch, I've been listening now for a long time, he's saying, now "before sundown" you must get these people "out of government." So I just want you to have it very clear, very clear that you were not so serious about that when you tried to recommend this man for this Committee.

Mr. Welch: Mr. McCarthy, I will not discuss this further with you. You have sat within six feet of me and could ask -- could have asked me about Fred Fisher. You have seen fit to bring it out, and if there is a God in heaven, it will do neither you nor your cause any good. I will not discuss it further. I will not ask, Mr. Cohn, any more witnesses. You, Mr. Chairman, may, if you will, call the next witness.

--
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it

Re:what forgetting basic human decency is like: by gmhowell · 2010-08-10 10:32 · Score: 1

McCarthy was an American hero. I read it in a book by some tranny named Coulter.

--
Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. -John Lennon

RIP by shiftless · 2010-08-10 08:49 · Score: 1

I hope when I die I don't get my own Slashdot article full of hundreds of lame, rude comments and snickering by basement dwelling nerds. I hope none of you do either. Can we have a little compassion for another human being, even if we don't personally know them and like them?

REST IN PEACE, TED STEVENS.

Goodbye Mr. Tubes by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 08:49 · Score: 0

Goodbye Mr. Tubes. Information of your death will no doubt be clogged once it gets on the internets because things will get clogged like a truck stuck in mud. Its kinda like Goodbye Mr. Chips, except that Mr. Chips had clarity of mind and understood ....stuff... and Mr. Tubes ...not so much.

chin up! by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 08:51 · Score: 0

Fuck the "world".

There, that's the USA we all know and love(?).

Sean O'Keefe lived by Noren · 2010-08-10 08:53 · Score: 2, Funny

... or inspire a debate on the true meaning of "ironic" but having the head of a leading aerospace firm and the former head of NASA die on an airplane seems kind of, well, ironic.

It would seem that you are not aware that Sean O'Keefe survived the crash.

His many levels of experience in Aviation gave him the ability to take less damage from plane crashes. Alternatively, it may just be that I've played too many RPGs.

Taking that tube to the other side by thetoadwarrior · 2010-08-10 08:53 · Score: 1

I hope it's not clogged, he deserves a good rest.

Air crash again? by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 08:54 · Score: 0

What is it with American senators and airplanes? Do they regularly upset flight mechanics or what?

Oh get stuffed by SmallFurryCreature · 2010-08-10 09:01 · Score: 1

The guy was a corrupt moron who never cared about anyone else. Why should we care then about him?

Stop your bleeding heart for a moment and be glad an evil man is dead. Or perhaps not evil. Just one with no morals whatsoever.

When a good man dies, I will show sensitivity. Ted Stevens? Joke time!

--

MMO Quests are like orgasms:

You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.

Re: 90% tubes by petit_robert · 2010-08-10 09:12 · Score: 1

Agreed.

I host a small web site and, from my experience, 90% of the cost is bandwidth.

Decency? Character? by Concern · 2010-08-10 09:23 · Score: 2, Insightful

Even ALL CAPS can't make that vile criminal worthy of any more dignity in death than he was in life.

We have never had the mythical world of respect that you allude to, and we never will. For reference, read the newspapers of 50 years ago. Or 100. Or 150. Or 200. The "uncivil" argument is a canard sometimes thrown around by hypocrites to fool idiots.

I'll take an honest man over a polite one any day of the week, and twice on Sunday.

In comparison with you, good sir, who actually tried to paint a critical slashdot poster as a bigger "problem for the country" than one of America's most notoriously corrupt senators.

This is such a breathtaking demonstration of lack of clarity in public discourse that I can actually make a case that it is, in fact, YOU

THAT

ARE

THE

PROBLEM

WITH

THIS

COUNTRY.

(CAPS for demonstration purposes, so the poster can see how silly the textual shouting thing is, and how utterly irrelevant it is to the point being made.)

--
Tired of Political Trolls? Opt Out!

Re:And so he's off to the series of tubes in the s by Zerth · 2010-08-10 09:24 · Score: 1

Maybe he'll clog up the tubes and some of the fellow passengers will get bounced.

Or does TTL work the other way around in these situations?

What happened to availability of manifestos? by vlueboy · 2010-08-10 09:30 · Score: 1

I thought the reason paparazzi's can intercept celebrities so well right before plane flights was because all plane boarding lists are public or at least thinly veiled to anyone but The Press (TM.) "Civil [aka public] servants" such as Ted Stevens likely do not bother to use aliases for an otherwise routine flight. Especially since congress or the US senate has so many holidays in which plane trips can be booked [quick research didn't yield a citation but bills pass slowly in part thanks to lots of days when they do not meet.]

That the press is much more experienced at digging up clues and yet is having a hard time seems doubtful. Maybe private flights or small planes don't need to publicize passenger lists to the FCC.
(?)

Re:What happened to availability of manifestos? by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 09:36 · Score: 0

publicize passenger lists to the FCC.
I meant the Federal Aviation Administration. Sorry.
--vlueboy

The first tasteless joke I've already heard by ratsouffle · 2010-08-10 10:00 · Score: 1

"Y'know, I think he passed through a series of tubes, avionics, hydraulics, fuselage, etc."

Consider his audience by Esteanil · 2010-08-10 10:02 · Score: 4, Funny

Well. I'll agree that 'tubes' may be too simplified an explanation of the internet, even for children...
But you have to remember, this man was used to talking to Senators

--
I'm a dreamer, the world is my playpen. But hey, I'm a serious person, I can't dream all the time.

What about the corruption by assertation · 2010-08-10 10:02 · Score: 1

I was just at the gym, watching CNN, while on the elliptical machine working out. It is a tragedy when someone dies in a plane crash, but Senator Stevens is being painted like a saint when only last year he was in court for extreme corruption. Yes, he is THAT Senator Stevens.

Re:What about the corruption by Wyatt+Earp · 2010-08-10 10:10 · Score: 1

Two years ago. A year ago he was in court having the conviction over turned and charges dropped because the prosecution hid evidence and the prime prosecution witness lied on the stand.

Time for a laugh by davmoo · 2010-08-10 10:04 · Score: 1

Even though I think Senator Stevens was as corrupt as they come, I'm sorry to see anyone die in a horrific way. (Although I will admit that the death of Osama bin Laden in any manner will not bring a tear to my eye.)

As for the jokes on here about Stevens calling the internet "tubes", I'm laughing. Not at Stevens, but the ones of you making the jokes. Because the pipe analogy is actually a very good one, is easy for the layman to understand, and is, in a manner of speaking, technically correct. Your jokes are only showing your own lack of intelligence, and that's why I laugh. I'm not laughing with you, I'm laughing at you.

--
I want a new quote. One that won't spill. One that don't cost too much. Or come in a pill.

This could all have been avoided... by seandiggity · 2010-08-10 10:15 · Score: 1

...if he had been wearing that Incredible Hulk tie the media loved so much.

--
Geeks like to think that they can ignore politics, you can leave politics alone, but politics won't leave you alone.-rms

Raising my hand for the de Havilland Otter by snowwrestler · 2010-08-10 10:16 · Score: 1

de Havilland Otters and Beavers are probably the most respected aircraft in Alaska bush flight. They were designed and built specifically for backcountry flying by de Havilland Canada. To this day they are used for dangerous mountain flying, including glacier landings and flying into Denali basecamp (through "One Shot Pass"). When I visited a friend in Alaska we took a flight-seeing tour over Denali National Park and the flight was in a single-engine Otter.

They rarely go up for sale and when they do, they are very expensive because they are so highly sought-after.

--
Build a man a fire, he's warm for one night. Set him on fire, and he's warm for the rest of his life.

RESPECT MUST BE EARNED. by Joe+U · 2010-08-10 10:22 · Score: 2, Insightful

YOU. RESPECT. THE. RECENTLY. DEPARTED.

RESPECT. MUST. BE. EARNED.

It is not given freely to anyone, I don't care how or when they depart this world.

Everyone and everything dies. All that's left is their legacy of their actions. Judge a person on those actions, nothing else, and expect to be judged on yours.

c'mon, this fake respect is BOGUS by skidisk · 2010-08-10 10:46 · Score: 1

Look, the guy was 85 when he died. He's lived a good long life. My mom is 87 suffering from painful, agonizing terminal cancer and thanks to idiots like Stevens blabbing about death panels and such, there is no funded end of life counseling and no states allow you to end your life when it's time to do so. While perhaps he suffered for a few minutes before dying, I'm certain my mom would gladly trade that for the years of incredible pain and discomfort leading to her slow and lingering death. Meanwhile, this guy hijacked funds for all sorts of absurd, wasteful programs and did very little good. He fought for our country in WWII (as did most every male his age at that time, including my dad) and supported equality for women in sports, so good for him. But over all, he was not good for the country, and he is not someone to respect. I was very happy he finally left the senate, though there are still too many clueless boneheads there. So cut out all the empty BS because while all deaths are tragedies of a sort, some are far more than others. This rates very low on the scale. I lost my father to cancer at 69, and I would have been ecstatic for him to make it to 85. And it will be a relief to my mother to finally be at peace. Senator Stevens does not deserve my respect. And his family will be sad, but they don't have to rail at the injustice of it all, because he had a good run -- better than most.

Re:c'mon, this fake respect is BOGUS by cdrguru · 2010-08-10 11:13 · Score: 1

"blabbing about death panels" isn't exactly all that far-fetched. You seem to think that the idea of a bunch of doctors sitting down and deciding that a few people would be better off dead is some kind of absurd nonsense.
In fact, what people are a little concerned about is the progression of things in the US mirroring that which happened in Holland. Pretty much they moved in less than 30 years from assisted suicide being illegal and doctors rarely assisting patients that requested assistance with ending their lives to doctors taking an active role in what is now called "termination of the patient without explicit request".
Basically, thousands of people every year have matters decided for them by a doctor and one or more colleagues. And often this is decided on the basis of chronic illnesses or mental illness affecting the "quality of life" of the patient.
The progression took less than 30 years to move from being an illegal practice to being fully sanctioned by the state and now being the cause in over 20% of all deaths in the Netherlands.
How long do you think it would take in the US, once it got started?
Re:c'mon, this fake respect is BOGUS by Sovetskysoyuz · 2010-08-10 16:35 · Score: 1

From Wiki : Conditions are

the patient's suffering is unbearable with no prospect of improvement
the patient's request for euthanasia must be voluntary and persist over time (the request cannot be granted when under the influence of others, psychological illness or drugs)
the patient must be fully aware of his/her condition, prospects and options
there must be consultation with at least one other independent doctor who needs to confirm the conditions mentioned above
So either there's major malpractice going on in the Netherlands or you're wrong.

(same source):

In 2003, in the Netherlands, 1626 cases were officially reported of euthanasia in the sense of a physician assisting the death (1.2% of all deaths).
Do you have a source for claiming "over 20% of all deaths"?

Bridge to nowhere unfairly ridiculed by caseih · 2010-08-10 10:52 · Score: 1

According to my Alaskan friends, Alaska could really use a couple of bridges to nowhere, and certainly the people who lived on the island the "bridge to nowhere" was to link to would have greatly benefited from being more connected with the mainland. In Anchorage itself, there were plans to build a bridge across part of the bay (I believe... I'm not familiar with the environs of Anchorage) to a place that is currently nowhere, so that they could build houses and neighborhoods there. Obviously there's nothing there now as it takes 2 hours by car to drive around to that spot.

So it's a bit disingenuous of Palin to jump on the ridicule bandwagon during the election as she undoubtedly was in favor of it before. The real controversy was the Stevens earmarks of course. But bridges to nowhere are often not as bad as the pundits make them out to by.

There is another by SuperKendall · 2010-08-10 11:07 · Score: 1

Karma can only be handed by the universe.

And Rob Malda.

So be careful what you say about Slashdot not having any power over Karma.

Or you just might find yourself getting a LOT more accidental razor nicks or your milk going sour early.

Just sayin'.

--
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley

The Extreme by SuperKendall · 2010-08-10 11:12 · Score: 1

I'm a Libertarian, you insensitive clod! They can both die!

Hey, I'm a libertarian too! But it seems like death is kind of extreme for theft, for either side.

Russia really had a good idea going with Siberia. The U.S. could use a place like that to send political thieves.

You might think Alaska but really it's way too nice.

Perhaps they could be forced to bring hot cocoa to the Ice Road Truckers film crew for a decade or so.

--
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley

Re:The Extreme by darkpixel2k · 2010-08-10 17:18 · Score: 1

I'm a Libertarian, you insensitive clod! They can both die!
Hey, I'm a libertarian too! But it seems like death is kind of extreme for theft, for either side.
I'm a Libertarian anarcho-capitalist, you insensitive clod! I think the market can support more senator-term-limiting plane crashes. Once we reach the cap, there's always rope.

--
There's no place like ::1 (I've completed my transition to IPv6)

Ted Stevens died... by keatonguy · 2010-08-10 11:17 · Score: 1

...and nothing of value was lost.

--
If you aren't angry, you aren't paying attention.

Let me be the first to say... by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 11:17 · Score: 0

meh :/

KC-X Air Tanker competition by kriston · 2010-08-10 11:58 · Score: 1

O'Keefe is CEO of EADS North America who is in the third-time's-a-charm rebid of the next-generation US Air Force tanker being fiercely sought by Boeing and EADS. Northrop Grumman pulled out (but EADS filled in) to use Airbus jets. US Aerospace was also bidding, using Russian Antonov jets.

You could write a pretty good conspiracy thriller based on today's unfortunate development in this long air tanker saga.

--

Kriston

Status of Passengers by II+Xion+II · 2010-08-10 12:22 · Score: 1

Just in...

Deceased:

- Ted Stevens
- Theron "Terry" Smith (pilot)
- William "Bill" Phillips, Sr.
- Dana Tindall (GCI's Senior Vice President, Legal, Regulatory and Governmental Affairs)
- Corey Tindall (Dana's 16 yro daughter)

Survivors:
- Sean O'Keefe (broken pelvis supposedly)
- O'Keefe's son (leg injury supposedly).
- William "Willy" Phillips, Jr. (13 yro)
- Jim Morhard

Compiled from recent press releases and Rick's List on CNN which showed the transcript.

Alive! by QuantumG · 2010-08-10 12:57 · Score: 1

http://quantumg.net/okeefealive.jpg

Too soon?

--
How we know is more important than what we know.

Ted was murdered by the government by Anonymous Coward · 2010-08-10 13:19 · Score: 0

I guess I'm the only one who remmebers Ted on Coast to Coast AM years ago, when he said his dad had been murdered in a faked plane crash, and they had tried to kill him that way. He predicted that he would die the same way.

Nothing to see here...move along...move along...hey look at that!

Mod parent up! by TrisexualPuppy · 2010-08-10 14:24 · Score: 1

NICE argument, man. Bravo.

No, not because he was old by Sloppy · 2010-08-11 03:29 · Score: 1

Young people just made fun of him because he was old, basically, and he didn't have a technical understanding of the internet

No. It was lack of understanding (forgivable) combined with a seemingly passionate desire to regulate things his way. Ignorance plus arrogance.

If a senator doesn't understand the internet, that's ok, but then when the topic comes up in Congress, he should SHUT THE FUCK UP and maybe abstain from votes too. Don't make speeches "explaining" things you don't know anything about. Don't advocate; listen. Stevens was so ignorant of a subject which most laymen understand at least a little bit, that laymen could spot it, and know that he couldn't have any sort of sincere informed opinion on the matter. And if he didn't have an opinion, why was he talking? Corruption was the only possible answer. He outed himself to the public at large, rather than merely geeks/experts. That's what made Stevens' speech so mock-worthy, and he deserved it.

--
As copyright owner of this comment, I authorize everyone to defeat any technological measure which limits access to it.

Ted Stevens, A Genius? by Dallas+Caley · 2010-08-11 03:34 · Score: 1

Ok ok so the internet is not a series of tubes, but i think you are all missing the point. What if it WAS a series of Tubes? Think of it. Remember those old drive through banks where you got your money or made your deposit via a tube. Think of how many gigabytes, heck terabytes could be put inside a cylindrical hard drive shaped like one of those?. You could solve your bandwidth problem immediately, one terabyte would take a mere moment or two to receive (assuming your isp was within 30 feet or so of your computer). Ted was a genious.

Now, of course this system wouldn't work on a national level because those tubes would get too long, but if you were to combine it with my new projectile delivery service i think you might have something. want a youtube video? simple, put it on a flash drive, toss it in the morter set the trajectory and BAM there you are!

Comment removed by account_deleted · 2010-08-12 06:08 · Score: 1

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Comment removed by account_deleted · 2010-08-12 06:18 · Score: 1

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Slashdot Mirror

Ted Stevens and Sean O'Keefe In Plane Crash

512 comments