Yes I saw them at the museum of flight. Apparently weapons of war are only for the liberal elite.

quote:

Originally posted by Voshterkoff:
Yes I saw them at the museum of flight. Apparently weapons of war are only for the liberal elite.

No one NEEDS to own planes designed to kill people.

He hated free people owning guns and used his money to inhibit my freedom. That’s how I’ll remember him, and I don’t care what he donated to republican causes. Adios.

I ain't gonna miss him.

quote:

Originally posted by Fenris:

quote:

Originally posted by Voshterkoff:
Yes I saw them at the museum of flight. Apparently weapons of war are only for the liberal elite.

No one NEEDS to own planes designed to kill people.

Don't forget his V2 rocket.

Homedude was a billionaire, traveled around with essentially commandos, used his money to purchase doomsday weapons, and worked hard at restricting other people's rights under the guise of safety, then he dies of cancer? There didn't happen to be any suave British gentlemen slinking about, were there?

Nobody's life is black and white.

I am extremely grateful for his involvement with finding the USS Indianapolis. That is a gift to history for all time.

And, I guess he was a lib "guns for me but not for you" type. Some good, some bad.

quote:

Originally posted by Hound Dog:
Nobody's life is black and white.

I am extremely grateful for his involvement with finding the USS Indianapolis. That is a gift to history for all time.

And, I guess he was a lib "guns for me but not for you" type. Some good, some bad.

Agreed, I appreciate the Indianapolis and historical work but I'm hoping he didn't leave any contribution to the Antis.

May I have his yacht?

Sure. Can you afford to maintain it?

quote:

Originally posted by Orguss:
May I have his yacht?

Dibs on the Dora. . .

Allen owned the Portland Trailblazers. There was no way he could (or anyone) can get to the Rose Garden to watch the Blazers without first seeing, or tripping over, homeless tents. How much did the 4th richest man in the world contribute to those poor unfortunates which he undoubtedly saw many many times?

Not a fucking nickel. He gave a million to an anti-gun group though. Fuck that shit head.

The other side of town is Phil Knight. Another anti-gun douch....maybe. He gave anti-gun lib dem Kate Brown $25000 to run but gave her pro-gun repub opponent Knute Buhler a reported $100,000. So who can say. But Phil has funded what he loves, which is a new running stadium for the Ducks and a world class cancer research center which will benefit all of mankind.

Paul Allen? Piss on his grave.

quote:

Originally posted by Copefree:

quote:

Originally posted by Storm:

quote:

Originally posted by Sig209:
he was noted for his contributions to gun-control groups, was he not?

Why yes, yes he was.

KOMO News: Paul Allen donates $1M to Washington gun initiative

Well, he won't be doing that anymore, will he?

Good lord, how dense are you? Oh my. That’s all you can come up with?

I’m actually quite shocked and how stupid you just sounded.

PS. just 6 weeks ago

Explain to me how I'm dense and stupid for making a statement of fact. I was neither celebrating, nor bemoaning his demise.

I make no apologies for opposing gun-control, or those who ignorantly or disingenuously support it. If Mr Allen (and all the other wealthy patrons that support gun-control) had instead invested that money in inner-city education, rather than gun-control, he (they) would have seen a much greater return on investment in terms of lives saved.

quote:

Originally posted by Copefree:

Good lord, how dense are you? Oh my. That’s all you can come up with?

I’m actually quite shocked and how stupid you just sounded.

PS. just 6 weeks ago

And if you read that article you will note he also gave generously to Democrats as well. Can anyone explain why one would donate large sums to BOTH opposing political parties?

Oh, that’s right, grease everyone’s palm and no matter who wins you have curried their favor. A cynical person might think those donations to BOTH political parties could be used for leverage for any pet project or interest that might come up in legislation.

I believe the term is “Playing both sides”. Not terribly honorable but effective none the less.


Yes, he did some good stuff with his money, but he also spent a lot of it to curtail the rights of others. I am not sure the cool shit outweighs that.

At $1,249,936.00 for anti gun side on I-1639 from a guy who owned tanks and fighter planes I got nothing good to say about Paul Allen these days I just leave it at that.

Washington State I-1639

Top donors
Donor Cash In-kind Total

Paul Allen $1,226,036.00 $23,900.00 $1,249,936.00

Nicolas Hanauer $613,018.00 $0.00 $613,018.00

Leslie Hanauer $613,018.00 $0.00 $613,018.00

Steven Ballmer $500,000.00 $0.00 $500,000.00

Connie Ballmer $500,000.00 $0.00 $500,000.00

https://ballotpedia.org/Washin...re_(2018)#Top_donors

quote:

Originally posted by 911Boss:
Can anyone explain why one would donate large sums to BOTH opposing political parties?

Oh, that’s right, grease everyone’s palm and no matter who wins you have curried their favor. A cynical person might think those donations to BOTH political parties could be used for leverage for any pet project or interest that might come up in legislation.

I believe the term is “Playing both sides”. Not terribly honorable but effective none the less.

Most business people with money contribute to both sides. It’s neither honorable nor dishonorable. It’s simply the cost of doing legal business.

Just for my own curiosity. Why would you donate to both political parties. Are you expecting favors back at a later date reguardless of party?

I worked for him briefly around 2006/7, did the operational development and sea trials of his manned submersible out in Bermuda. Vulcan Inc. was like the worlds richest traveling circus of liberal nincompoops. Sent a 737 to JAX just to pick up a quart of "Yellow Submarine" paint after we slightly scratched the conning tower. Paul himself seemed like a pretty nice guy in the limited contact I had with him personally. We finished the sea trials and the circus left town: 2 yachts, 4 jets, 2 helicopters, 315 support personnel, and a mobile coffee shop.

Blue Screen!

Like all of us, Paul Allen was an imperfect person. I met him casually several times through Burt Rutan's Scaled Composites project for the Ansari X-Prize; private flight into space twice within 2 weeks. The Ansari X-Prize, eventually won by Paul Allen and Burt, was $10M... and a lot of press.

Allen funded 100% of the SpaceShip 1 development and construction, as well as the direct operating costs of flight. Burt told me the total cost funded by Allen was $22M, so it would seem Allen lost $12M on the effort.

But, Allen donated the prize money to Rutan/SCALED with the proviso the money be distributed to the small team that did the work over 5 years. Some of the cash recipients at SCALED are close friends of mine, and their lives were changed forever through the generosity of Allen.

Paul and I shared a love of WWII aircraft, and his restored collection at Flying Heritage and Combat Armor Museum at Paine Field WA is an extraordinary labor of love, and not insignificant cost.

Paul was a very quiet and private individual, so I didn't really get to know him other than a memorable informal dinner with Paul, Rutan, and Sir Richard Branson. I have no beef with the man, and will miss his patronage of space adventure.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: aileron, October 16, 2018 11:11 AM

quote:

Originally posted by oddball:
Looking past his politics, the guy was way more interesting than Bill Gates.

Yep. I think smarter too.
Bill Gates was in the right place at the right time and the better salesman though. It took both of them to build Microsoft. One without the other and it wouldn't have happened.