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Senators issued satellite phones, offered demos on upgraded security devices
- Natsu 3y agoIt says "over 50" but... why not 100? Is there some reason any senator should be without one if there's a worry? I'm pretty sure we can afford a few more phones.
- kevinventullo 3y agoFrom the second paragraph of the article: “The satellite phone technology has been offered to all 100 senators. CBS News has learned at least 50 have accepted the phones…”
- Natsu 3y agoThanks, I missed that because I saw several previous versions of this story that left that out.
- Mountain_Skies 3y agoMakes me wonder if CBS News asked how many accepted the phones and were told "the majority did" with no specific number given.
- 0cf8612b2e1e 3y agoGiven our geriatric government, I could believe many of them do not regularly use phones. As of 2015, Senator Lindsey Graham claimed to have never sent an email [0]. [0] https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/lindsey-graham-ive-never-sent-email-n319571 https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/lindsey-graham-ive-ne... Edit: median Senator age is 65 https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/aging-congress-boomers/ https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/aging-congress-boomers/
- SoftTalker 3y agoIf I could change one thing about federal office eligibility it would be to add a mandatory retirement age of 65. That would go for elected office as well as agency and judicial appointments. There are too many old people set in their ways at the highest levels of governent who need to get out of the way. And I say that as someone who's less than a decade away from that age himself.
- AlbertCory 3y ago"set in their ways" == "have experience with life and don't agree with me" That said, some are just TOO old to do the job: Feinstein, for example.
- dehrmann 3y agoWhat's interesting is they can offer experience, and while some is still relevant (history rhymes), some isn't. They're also more likely to have mental acuity declines (Feinstein's had a few). They might also be less invested in long-term policies and more concerned with near-term, retiree-friendly policies. Or they could be a Jerry Brown who comes back without political ambitions, just wanting to do the right thing. Or you get a Ruth Bader Ginsburg whose lasting legacy was the overturn of Roe because she couldn't step down at 80.
- gentleman11 3y agoEnough of the ageism in tech
- yarg 3y agoCognitive decline is a real thing. Experience counts for a lot, but it doesn't help with creativity. One of the things in technology is that novel problems often require novel solutions - and most of us aren't Knuth. Beyond a point age counts against you more than it helps.
- phpisthebest 3y ago
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- rapjr9 3y ago>Gibson said the phones are a security backstop in the case of an emergency that "takes out communications" in part of America. Ummm, what about the rest of us? Large scale emergency preparations in the USA fell to the wayside long ago. Maybe the new satellite messaging features just starting to roll out would help, although I doubt they have been tested at scale with tens of millions of people trying to use them at the same time.
- poorUs 3y agoWhat do you mean what about us? We got what we wanted; tech jobs, new phones each year, all the anime, Marvel, and Star Wars content we can stomach! If the public wanted security and sustainability it should have acted less like a drunk in a whore house.
- LinuxBender 3y agoIf cost isn't an issue there are existing commercial satellite phones and phone services that have been around for quite some time see Iridium, Inmarsat, GlobalStar. Or if you want a middle-of-the-road option so to speak there is Garmin InReach service that would allow texting via the Iridium satellite network. In this case the officials are being issued phones. Some companies issue phones to employees. If your job is critical during a catastrophic event then your company should issue you a satellite phone. Perhaps corporations could get bulk discounts. Each neighborhood's CERT team should maybe invest in at least one phone to text others. Of course if they are planning for a full scale nuclear exchange then those options may be useless when the different layers of the atmosphere are charged. HAM radio operators or even CB radios may be more useful for local communications. Long distance would require a courier and a lot of bottle caps. I have no idea what they are actually planning for. Perhaps EMP floated in on a few balloons that takes out power continent wide? Overload of the power grid? [1] Halting all petroleum imports and re-shuffling the locally produced fuel transport networks? Go 100% green in 2024? [1] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36097173 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36097173
- mikem170 3y ago> I have no idea what they are actually planning for. The article said: > The devices are part of a series of new security measures being offered to senators by the Senate Sergeant at Arms, who took over shortly after the assault on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. I assume they figure that the next insurrection may involve the loss of cellular communications, which is reasonable to expect from a decent coup attempt. The authorities might plan on jamming cell phones themselves, want to deprive the insurgents that communication channel.
- FridayoLeary 3y agoSo in the event of a communications blackout they will be able to continue obstructing the running of government.
- i2cmaster 3y agoI'm on the "please obstruct it" side and thought this was funny. Let's laugh together instead of silencing each other.
- costco 3y agoIs it possible to obtain phones like the Iridium 9575A or Sectera models as a non-government user? Seems like the non-secured versions are usually available but if encryption isn't really export controlled anymore I don't see why these phones aren't available to everyone.
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- Blackstrat 3y agoIn the event of a widespread communications outage, I’m not too concerned about whether some senator can call his mistress. Just another waste of taxpayer dollars. They want satellite phones, cut spending elsewhere. This has little to do with Jan 6. It’s just another perk for our ruling class.
- aaomidi 3y agoYou don’t but our political system expects senators to be able to be around. I think criticizing this needs to be mixed with criticizing the entire form of governance here
- Blackstrat 3y agoIt is not the form of government that is the issue. It's the corrupt dinosaurs that have for too long rigged elections in their favor and Congress today is hardly different from the old Soviet Politburo - a description given me by a friend that escaped the Soviet Union in the early 80s. Term limits would help since machine politics controls elections in most states.
- aaomidi 3y agoMoney will always corrupt and speak louder than people. Majority of people are also very easy to manipulate. So no I think this is a feature of the government. No matter who is at the helm.
- neuronexmachina 3y agoI think I'm missing something -- why would someone use a (presumably closely-monitored) government-issued satellite phone instead of a personal phone to call a mistress?
- Blackstrat 3y agoConsidering the frequency of trading stocks ahead of legislation, payola and other graft, I doubt too many are worried about word of a mistress getting out. It’s a badge of honor in DC
- aaron695 3y ago[dead]
- peetiedontplay 3y ago[flagged]