What is Digg?104 Comments
- Dysarthria, on 10/10/2007, -2/+56Jesus, just buy them each a $500,000 yacht and save 20 million.
- GinaJuice, on 10/10/2007, -1/+52He should propose a series of tubes to get to the airport. Much cheaper.
- allaboutdatiki, on 10/10/2007, -4/+38$84M to service an island with 40 people? What a bargain!
- inactive, on 10/10/2007, -3/+30Is it so hard to implement a law that politicians cannot be older than 50?
Ted stevens should be kicked in the face repeatedly for being such a horrible, horrible politician. - chase001, on 10/10/2007, -3/+29After he is sentenced maybe he could serve out his term as the ferryman.
- madcreator, on 10/10/2007, -0/+25Did you read the article? This has nothing to do with an airport, it has to do with a company that Stevens used to work for that is "interested in building huge oilfield equipment at the port". The Airport issue is in Ketchikan, and the ferry that the article is talking about is in Anchorage, don't worry you were only about 1,000 miles off.
- gab00n, on 10/10/2007, -6/+27This guy is such a wanker.
- diggless, on 10/10/2007, -0/+19the people that put the airport over there should have thought about transport while designing the airport.
- NullzipZero, on 10/10/2007, -0/+18For those who don't know.
The Bridge To Nowhere - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravina_Island_Bridge - madcreator, on 10/10/2007, -0/+13Not anymore you can't, what with all these people downloading movies and stuff the tubes are all clogged. Why I remember the day when you could hop into one of those tubes and just ride for hours.
- Smight, on 10/10/2007, -1/+11This isn't the same place. This isn't the bridge in ketchikan this is a ferry from Anchorage to Port Mckenzie: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=p ...
The already have a road going to it, no one is trapped. They just want to be able to ride there on the speed ferry in 15 minutes instead of take the 2 hour drive. It would be cheaper to buy a fleet of 40 helicopters to fly each person from their house everyday. - epicstruggle, on 10/10/2007, -18/+28Unfortunately this story doesn't get properly researched/reporting. The island does only have 40 some people, but it contains the towns airport since the town doesnt have much room to expand. This airport services over 200,000 passengers a year. Here is the google maps of the area: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=ketchikan, ...
See the town and the airport are separated by the body of water. It isnt too outlandish to get a bridge for it or to improve existing ferry system. - Ekdog, on 10/10/2007, -4/+14Good to see these conservative Republicans are spending our tax dollars wisely.
- vertinox, on 10/10/2007, -2/+12I'd have to vouch that Philadelphia Airport serves 31,502,855 ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PHL ) and our major bridges look like they are going to fall into the river and yet we haven't been seeing any Federal money. Why can't you people use state money like PA does. We have tons of people but our roads and bridges are quite the crap. (I'm looking at you South Street Bridge)
- inactive, on 10/10/2007, -3/+12I'm thinking a 50 passenger hovercraft: http://www.usamarineservice.com/
Maybe a fleet of cars on the other side for getting around. A budget for maint. and upkeep and well i can keep it well under 10 - 15 million on the high end. - Smight, on 10/10/2007, -0/+8Ketchikan on nowhere near Anchorage
- QuickeningYak, on 10/10/2007, -3/+11Hey Ted: Public funds are not your personal ***** allowance.
- epicstruggle, on 10/10/2007, -8/+14The island also has an airport that serves over 200,000 passangers. This fact doesnt get reported does it?
- senatebuddy, on 10/10/2007, -1/+7God I hate it when this ***** "decline to comment."
- shortarabguy, on 10/10/2007, -3/+9Silly GinaJuice, you can't ride the internet to the airport...
- Whackly, on 10/10/2007, -1/+7dude... 84 million to make it easier for 40 people to live in the middle of nowhere? i bet it'd cost 20 million or less to relocate the whole damned town somewhere more accessible... or maybe there shouldn't be a town... it's not worth pissing away tons of money so a few people can live someplace hard to reach unless they are research scientists or something
- reddikilowatt, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5But the superfast ferry isn't something anyone wants. If Lockheed Martin creates it and no one wants it, why should it be built? Just because it is there? Let Stevens use his own money if he wants it. Let the people who live and work on the island pay for it if they want it. Don't make me pay for your desires.
- dangermen, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5Nah, it has nothing to do with his cronies. He's trying to build public support so he doesn't get prosecuted. The man is dirty... dirty... dirty. The worst part is that his name is ALL over their largest airport and other major buildings.
- airiox, on 10/10/2007, -1/+6It's for an experimental super fast ferry, so if it was for pure research and advancement in naval engineering than I would be for it if only it was just a tad cheaper.. But considering its coming from a notoriously corrupt senator I'll pass. Plus I doubt the government would allow people to be ferried on an experimental craft at taxpayers expense. Ted Stevens can shove it and the good people of Alaska would and should have made him resign long ago if he wasn't such a powerful voice for their small state.
- reddikilowatt, on 10/10/2007, -1/+6That is already being serviced by a ferry that runs several times per day, at a reasonable cost ($6.00). What is the purpose of this? So that a private company can erect oil platforms on an island on the cheap. Let 'em pay for their own ferry, if they want it. It's not like they can drill for oil somewhere else.
- Inverno, on 10/10/2007, -1/+5I was going to say, "Maybe he could just give those 40 people $2,050,000 each and win their votes back" but then you and your facts got in the way. Damn you!
- FoxtrotYankee, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4...yeah...it's not just a truck you can dump your things on and be taken to the airport.
- NowakFilms, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4The city in question, Ketchikan, is a major jumping off point for Alaska cruise lines and more than a million tourists flow through there every year. Since most of them fly, they must take a ferry from the airport to the cruise ships on the other side which is OK since they came up to cruise anyway. The real problem is that Ketchikam has no room to grow because it is caught between the mountains and the sea. You need quite a few people to clean bathrooms, sell coke, and generally look after one million tourists and those people have to live somewhere. The island with the airport is perfect because it's almost completely deserted but without transportation it's just not cost effective to develop anything there. The bridge, while a bit costly and now shot down, would have proved to be an enormous benefit to the area and would have probably paid for itself in the long run. The ferry is a second best solution and one that isn't always available due to the weather in the area. Whoever writes these ridiculous articles about the bridge, and now the ferry, to nowhere should do a little more research.
- ZenMojo, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Man, ***** the bridge to nowhere. It's all about the ferry for noone!
- Qeveren, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3It doesn't get reported 'cause it isn't true. Wrong place, see Smight's post up above in reply to the first time epicstruggle posted this.
- Smight, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3read the article. that was the bridge yo nowhere, this is a ferry from anchorage to a town that already has a highway going to it.
- miken32, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4This was a terribly written article. I have no idea what's going on here, except that Stevens wants to build a ferry, and this is terrible. Something about Lockheed Martin, something about a brother-in-law, something about the navy.
It seems the writer was more intent on digging up dozens of tangentially related facts that he thinks could make Stevens look bad, something which seems entirely unnecessary, as his many misdeeds are a matter of common knowledge. - lazerus9, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3The Best Government Money Can Buy
- pollypot, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4"The island also has an airport that serves over 200,000 passangers. This fact doesnt get reported does it?"
So, they built the airport on an island, BEFORE figuring out how to get people transported to it? *chuckles* And now the taxpayers are expected to correct this mistake? - jgrossma, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Hardly tangentially related.
Step 1. Lockheed Martin designed a boat and tried to sell it for military use.
Step 2. The Navy rejected Lockheed's proposal and decided not to buy and ships based on this design
Step 3: Lockheed paid a law firm run by Ted Stevens' brother-in-law $420,000 to lobby for them and gave $63,650 to Stevens' campaign and PACs
Step 4: Stevens put an earmark in a defense appropriations bill directing 84M taxpayer dollars (at least $2M of which goes directly to Lockheed) to a ferry based on the design rejected by The Navy under a type of agreement which is "exempt from many federal contracting rules, such as those requiring detailed cost justifications." - ryogahibiki, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Worst...Senator...ever.
- Rowan187, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2actually i share the same opinion as at least 90% of my town. according to recent polls.
- SouthsideIrish, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2You have super fast ferries in Europe, so you don't need an experimental one. Just by one of two of those.
- jesusabdullah, on 11/02/2007, -0/+2a) This isn't Ketchikan. This is Anchorage. Yes, there are *two* "bridges to nowhere."
b) This bridge (and fairy) makes more sense than the Ketchikan bridge, not because of the forty people at Point Mackenzie, but because of the thousands of people some tens of miles *behind* Point Mackenzie. The idea is to cut the commute time somewhat drastically between Anchorage and the Wasilla area. Anchorage is also starting to fill its available land, so people would move to Point Mackenzie in significant amounts, it is thought, if there was a bridge (or fairy). - Rowan187, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2I live in Ketchikan Alaska. for the record, the population is like.. 12,000 hahaha. I personally, and the rest of the town, thinks the bridge is a stupid idea, and Ted Stevens is getting too old for this.
- bobbknight, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2It's all about the money, follow the money, who stands to benefit by the connection from the mainland to the island?
Of the people that stand to profit from the island connection, to what extent do they have connections to Ted Stevens? - Smight, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2I had to log in to dig you down.
Sorry, but you should have at least changed "this" to "these" and made "double post" plural or made "*****" singular. - Klowner, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3And I would be happy if the state ran fiber to my house even though my 1x1 mile block is occupied by no more than two dozen homes, I'd have to agree that it wouldn't be the most responsible use of their money.
- graviplana, on 10/10/2007, -5/+7Hmm, they could buy the Superferry in Hawaii instead. It seems the people here aren't too happy about it.
- MrFunions, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I think maybe I need to stop reading Digg. It is making me increasingly angrier at my country and my government.
- mnocket, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1People should throw this fool out of office - not because he loves pork (all politicians do), but because he thinks this project is more important than other issues facing his constituents.
- cisengineer, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Couldn't the "fairy" just magic everyone across? How much would that cost?
- raskali, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1These people truly have no conscience. Public trust has simply become a joke.
- Ajajadude, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Ferries have no chance in furthering our understanding of the universe. At least with NASA, as dysfunctional as it seems to be, we've been able to learn a few things.
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