McAfee Was Not Captured 150
netbuzz writes "As rumors and news reports of John McAfee's alleged capture circulated widely yesterday – fueled by McAfee's own blog and blogging cohorts – police and other authorities in Belize denied that they had the man in custody and, well, they should have been believed. McAfee surfaced earlier this morning and had this to say in a blog post: 'We are not in Belize, but not quite out of the woods yet.' He also painted a picture of his 'escape' that could have been taken from a bad spy novel."
Ah, this was to be expected, folks. (Score:5, Funny)
Another false positive.
Re:Ah, this was to be expected, folks. (Score:5, Funny)
They're scanning for him as we speak... heuristically.
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And he's running because......?
Belize is not your average tin-horn central american dictatorship. Where ever the British went they tended to leave behind good government. Why won't he just walk in and answer the questions? Nothing makes you look quite as guilty as acting guilty.
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They're run by Muslims.
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How about China and hongkong?
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Mainland China was never colonized by the British Empire. Hong Kong, which was colonized, remains somewhat democratic as a special autonomous region after the UK "returned" the territory to China.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Country_Two_Systems [wikipedia.org]
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Yeah, but that "to an extent" is important.
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The chase (Score:4)
Then again chances are he really did shoot him over the dogs business, people have killed people for a lot less, and with Mcafee's rich white man ego in a country not known for it's 1st worldness... I can see him doing it.
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I'm not sure his blog is doing him many favours at the moment, either. For most people, "batshit insane paranoia" is not quite as closely connected "innocent" as he seems to think.
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I'm not sure his blog is doing him many favours at the moment, either. For most people, "batshit insane paranoia" is not quite as closely connected "innocent" as he seems to think.
"How long can the press maintain the “Drug crazed madman” perspective? I think it will end with Vice Magazine’s story. They have seen, and heard everything."
...I have to admit, reading that blog entry, 'drug-crazed madman' was pretty much the first thing that sprang to mind.
http://www.whoismcafee.com/i-am-safe/ [whoismcafee.com]
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Well I do not think that law enforcement like to get ahead of themselves.
A judge and jury are for proving guilt.
Re:The chase (Score:5, Insightful)
If it was me... I'd just leave & go live somewhere else, it's not like he can't afford another mansion / drug lab or anything. He might fit in better in E. Europe anyways.
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[...]if he was truly innocent, he has international press coverage, so they can't just put a black bag over his head, I guess they could plant evidence and fabricate details, but still if he was "innocent" the coverage should provide him the lifeline he needs to acquit himself over there.
Or, of course, they could just disappear him for good. The public would just think he went "deep underground", and just forget about him.
Re:The chase (Score:4, Insightful)
Now now, you've got to remember this is Belize, not the states, if somebody high up enough says your guilty, the facts don't matter.
I can't help but ask: when you wrote this, did you actually know anything about Belize to support your sweeping (and somewhat offensive, if it's just based on stereotypes) conclusion?
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If you're going to say they have a just and righteous democracy over then, then LOL, the entirety of CA is one giant drug trafficking route into the states.
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And here I was thinking he was just so bad at geography he thought Belize was a province of Canada.
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Wow, racist AND stupid. That's a pretty good combo you've got going there.
All racism is stupid, by definition, as it is based on an utterly trivial irrelevance (skin colour) to justify treating other human beings as somehow belonging to another species.
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Now now, you've got to remember this is Belize, not the states, if somebody high up enough says your guilty, the facts don't matter.
Actually, it's that way in the states too. Whether it's Guantanamo bay, drone strikes, or a marine corps brig, innocent until proven guilty went out the window a long time ago. Other concepts, such as proportional justice are similarly missing from the modern United States.
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You wrote & I quote, " this is Belize, not the states, if somebody high up enough says your guilty, the facts don't matter".
And I scream in response, ARE YOU KIDDING!
Did you forget the NDAA, the Patriot Act, secret grand juries, Guantanamo Bay, targeted assassinations, suspended Habeas Corpus, etc?
Corruption is everywhere (Score:2)
The US is just as corrupt as those so-called third-world countries. I've had some rather unpleasant experiences with a couple of blatantly corrupt court commissioners at the Los Angeles Superior Court, a cesspool of corruption and malpractice. The shit that goes on at the LASC would make Saddam Hussein blush. I swear.
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When your neighbour dies, you're wanted for questioning and you run, trying to skip the country, most police forces will pursue you pretty hard.
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When your neighbour dies, you're wanted for questioning and you run, trying to skip the country, most police forces will pursue you pretty hard.
Also doesn't help when you're known about the community as a paranoid who has a bunch of guns and known ex-criminals for bodyguards.
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Link to actual blog (Score:5, Informative)
What a great article. No indication of what the actual blog address is except in an image.
The fella's website is http://www.whoismcafee.com/ [whoismcafee.com]
Here we can find http://www.whoismcafee.com/i-am-safe/ [whoismcafee.com]
Frankly, I don't know why anyone would link to Network World when they don't link to their sources.
Anyway I just wanted to say that. I don't actually care about the story.
Re:Link to actual blog (Score:4, Funny)
> Anyway I just wanted to say that. I don't actually care about the story.
Care about? No..... me neither, but, it sure is amusing to watch it unfold.
I particularly like this last bit about the Koran double not being able to stay in jail due to Mexican indifference. That could be a story in and of itself. I want to hear the Koran "double"s story, I bet it is at least fun.
I mean can you imagine.... being in Mexico with the intention of going to jail, and then finding out you ca't do anything that they care enough about to actually keep you? ROTFL what did he do? Kill someone? :)
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Aaaannndddd actually they do link to the blog. They may have changed it, or I may have missed it. Either way, you can mod my post back down again now.
This sounds like a job for... (Score:1)
This sounds like a job for Eugene "bring 'em back alive (or otherwise)" Kaspersky.
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I asked Kaspersky who he sent to whack the neighbor and frame McAfee.
Bond or clowns (Score:2, Interesting)
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Oh great! Now I can't get those scenes from Octopussy out of my head. You know the opening when they chase the clown though the woods that has the Fabergé egg. Or the end when Bond, dressed as a clown, tries to convince a general that there is a nuclear bomb in the "cannon."
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I suspect he has the Bond theme in his head while we all have March of the Clowns in ours.
I've been thinking Yakety Sax.
Zoing (Score:1)
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He's got nothing to worry about there. The trial version that comes pre-installed on every new border checkpoint would have expired years ago, and nobody ever pays for the full subscription.
Just pay the bribe and move on (Score:4, Interesting)
He moved to a corrupt 3rd world banana republic with no rule of law, and failed to pay a bribe a couple months ago so they roughed him up, shot his dog for fun, trashed his place, what did he expect if he didn't pay his bribe in a country that's corrupt? So that's the background.
So he still doesn't pay up, and next petty theft gone bad where there's a body, of course he's gonna be suspect numero uno as punishment for not paying up. His only hope of avoiding that was someone else getting higher on the list. Duh! I'm sure as soon as he pays up, they'll be a sudden confession from whoever actually did it, or it'll turn out they don't need him for questioning after all, etc etc, and he'll be all good until the next guy wants a bribe that he wont pay.
Its kind of like moving to Canada even though you don't like shoveling snow and then not shoveling snow just for the principle of it as if that will make the problem go away... dude just leave or pay up, the people in charge aren't going to give any other options.
You know the deal where the Mexican policeman pulls you over for made up BS until you slip him some cash? Same deal just a little bigger scale. The solution is not to drive in Mexico. Worked pretty well for me when I visited (great scuba diving BTW and liked the food too)
I don't understand why rich tech guy doesn't:
1) already know these rules of the road
2) just buy a boat like all other rich tech guys to sail away from the corruption
Re:Just pay the bribe and move on (Score:5, Insightful)
You know the deal where the Mexican policeman pulls you over for made up BS until you slip him some cash? Same deal just a little bigger scale. The solution is not to drive in Mexico. Worked pretty well for me when I visited (great scuba diving BTW and liked the food too)
The correct answer is "Oh, sorry, simple mistake. Can I just pay the fine right now? I don't need a receipt."
Re:Just pay the bribe and move on (Score:5, Funny)
Considering all his time as an executive within the software industry, he is probably fearful of piracy.
No, pay subscription instead (Score:2)
The subscription bundled with your computer has expired. You just need to pay up the subscription, download an update and all new virus will be detected and removed.
- Customer Support
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I'm guessing though he actually was involved in something shady himself,
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I disagree with the implication that the solution to rampant corruption is to pay up or go somewhere else.
Actually, that implication is precisely right, bar the occasional official who wants your ass in addition to the money for not paying up immediately -- so as to make an example for those who might do the same.
Just across the Rio Grande, there are several countries where corruption is rampant. Open a restaurant in any of them and see for yourself if you don't take my word for it: If you don't pay up to whoever asks you to when you start to see any level of success (which could be the police, the taxman, the
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What makes you think that only happens SOUTH of the Rio Grande?
But for all of their imperfections and occasional overzealousness, the US or Canadian administrations remain, at they end of the day, some of the most efficient and least corrupt administrations out there.
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You are, of course, correct that "pay up or go somewhere else" is not "the solution to rampant corruption". It is not.
That said, when confronted with a corrupt official, you probably have problems much bigger and more personally relevant to your life than "the solution to rampant corruption", and it is quite possible that the aims of ending corruption overall, and coming out of the situation unharmed are at odds with eachother.
Someone once pointed out, I forget what country/city/conflict it was but the poin
Re:Just pay the bribe and move on (Score:5, Insightful)
Believe it or not, people do actually commit crimes in corrupt, 3rd world countries, too... It's not always a frame-up. Sure, it could be... or he could be just as guilty as Hans Reiser, and just getting the benefit of every geek's doubt.
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Heh... I am Dutch, and I have been living in Mexico for close to 9 years now. Maybe the state of Veracruz is different, or maybe a lot of people who talk about slipping someone money just repeat what they've seen in a bad movie or heard from a friend of a friend. So far, I've only twice seen someone having to slip (or "slip") money to a police officer. The first time was in Chiapas, close to the border w
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If he paid on the spot, it was corruption. Getting a fine means you get a ticket which you pay at a police station sometime later or go to court over. If you give money directly to the cop who stopped you, then its going into his pocket. Usually by giving a bribe direc
Where the hell are you getting this stuff? (Score:2)
He moved to a corrupt 3rd world banana republic with no rule of law, and failed to pay a bribe a couple months ago so they roughed him up, shot his dog for fun, trashed his place, what did he expect if he didn't pay his bribe in a country that's corrupt? So that's the background.
--- or are you just taking McAfee's self-serving blogs as gospel truth?
A bizarre visit to John McAfee's pleasure palace in Belize [cnn.com]
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I don't understand why rich tech guy doesn't:
1) already know these rules of the road
2) just buy a boat like all other rich tech guys to sail away from the corruption
Well, he has rotted part of his brain on his home made drugs remember..
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He's like a paranoid schizophrenic meth superhero (Score:1)
Imagine "The Punisher" if all he did all day was talk to imaginary people, smoke meth, and collect jars of his own urine.
On the upside, maybe this sad state of affairs will finally get companies to stop treating McAfee's crapware as the be-all-end-all of computer security in the workplace (at the last place I worked, it was their ENTIRE security plan--just put McAfee on all the computers and that will handle all security issues).
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Imagine "The Punisher" if all he did all day was talk to imaginary people, smoke meth, and collect jars of his own urine.
If you're growing weed outside, saving your pee, letting it "age" a bit and then spreading it around keeps the deer and other weed-eating critters away from the plants.
On the upside, maybe this sad state of affairs will finally get companies to stop treating McAfee's crapware as the be-all-end-all of computer security in the workplace (at the last place I worked, it was their ENTIRE security plan--just put McAfee on all the computers and that will handle all security issues).
It's been quite a few years since McAfee sold his company, it's a good possibility that what we know now as McAfee Crapwear is not the same as the Original McAfee Crapwear...
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Only if your a carnivore. Herbivore pee doesn't scare anything.
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Only if your a carnivore. Herbivore pee doesn't scare anything.
I eat a lot of meat and the deer eat the grass right where I pee. Deer aren't that smart. Might work on elk though.
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Fearless suburban deer?
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Fearless suburban deer?
No, I live in Lake County, CA... smack in the middle of what is either Zone A or Zone B depending on the year.
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Clear lake? Sympathies.
Still enough people and plantings to teach the deer to ignore human scent (except during hunting season). Rural deer won't let you get close enough to see what they were eating.
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Some humans choose to be herbivores. Their pee is useless for deer scaring.
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I mean, besides the assumption that people would also probably spell "crapware" right.
Yes, well, I can spell "Anonymous Coward" ...
McAfee Timeline (Score:4, Informative)
I made this handy timeline so you can follow events: http://wecheck.org/wiki/John_McAfee
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Now with linky goodness: McAfee Timeline [wecheck.org]
Silver Lining (Score:1)
So swallow your pride and greed and pay your fair share so civilized society AND THE RULE OF LAW shall not perish from the earth.
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Monaco isn't as cheap as CostaRica. Still the traditional solution to high taxes in Europe.
McAfeend eludes capture (Score:4, Informative)
What countries don't extradite to Belize? (Score:2)
Because those are the only ones where he'll be marginally safe.
I wish they'd catch this guy so he'd shut the hell up. He's not Jason Bourne or James Bond, he's just another rich eccentric, and an attention whore.The world doesn't need more of either of those.
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I'm betting it's a pretty small list, at least in the region, given that Belize is a Commonwealth nation and also a member of CARICOM.
What an idiot (Score:2)
This guy is completely delusional. OK, suppose he's actually out of Belize. Now what? At some point, he'll surface, and Belize will issue an international arrest warrant via INTERPOL, and whatever country he's in will likely pick him up and begin the extradition process. What's he going to argue in response? That the police there are out to get him? Based on what? And it certainly won't help his case that, instead of hiring a lawyer, he chose to run, and, not only that, he started a blog chronicling
Where in the World Is John McAfee? (Score:2)
Re:Sorry, but... (Score:5, Insightful)
Tradition, see coverage of Reiser
Re:Sorry, but... (Score:5, Funny)
Still the only file system that murders your wife.
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Re:Sorry, but... (Score:5, Funny)
Damn, dude! This is as close as a geek's going to get to James Bond-esque international intrigue. I'm picturing him running through the jungle from 5-star hotel to 5-star hotel with a bad super model/actress in tow.
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Has anyone actually confirmed with the Belize police that his neighbour was murdered? And that they want to talk to McAfee about it? Given some of the stuff on his blog, I'd not be surprised to learn that he's invented the whole thing.
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Next time, try reading all the words and then add in the comprehension step, it's vitally important.
Re:Sorry, but... (Score:4, Informative)
This is slashdot, you youngsters are funny coming here and expecting people to have actually read anything.
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I'm just not used to people actually reading the article or summary and being incapable of comprehending it. It's as if when they took down the 'News for Nerds' all the stupid people came flooding in.
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I've not seen the case in any traditional media, local or international. I've seen it discussed in three places: The Register, Slashdot and John McAfee's blog. The only sources I've seen either of the first two cite is McAfee's blog.
And, believe it or not, I've read McAfee's blog. All of it. And what I comprehended from it is that this guy could quite easily be suffering paranoid schizophrenia and could quite easily have imagined the whole thing. But I think I said that already - didn't you comprehend?
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Then learn that your lay understanding of paranoid schizophrenia has nothing to do with paranoid schizophrenia, well, at the very least nothing to indicate that in his blog that can't be confused with other diagnosis or just a geek under real stress. Have you ever been persecuted falsely by the government when you haven't done anything? It's not fun. Less so in less civilized countries.
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Yes, the Belizian Prime Minister has commented on the case.
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True. I'm not sure at this point if the authorities are "after him" at all.
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This is interesting, and in fact fairly plausible. Anyone that's lived in developing countries knows that crazy situations are rarely far away, see the mad police chase after a foreigner and his married lover in the Philippines a while back for example (adultery is a crime there). The craziest thing I've read about it so far is that he's planning to go BACK. If gone, stay gone, it would be like fighting the ground under your feet to return and seek justice, especially after this dog and pony show.
Re:Sorry, but... (Score:5, Informative)
Because he is the geek equivalent to Charlie Sheen;
batshit crazy, totally fried on drugs, paranoid, goes of on ranting tirades, has no concept of reality, funny as hell to watch from a distance, and explains why the anti-virus we all hate is so crappy and validates our belief that he is brain-dead that we long ago derived from said anti-virus
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Except Fiat will not pay him for TV commercial time....
Re:Sorry, but... (Score:4, Funny)
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...he is the geek equivalent to Charlie Sheen;
batshit crazy, totally fried on drugs, paranoid...
And probably a better actor.
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Because he is the geek equivalent to Charlie Sheen
I'd say more like Britney Spears. Charlie has style and presentation.
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I think there are two divergent groups following it. The first are hipsters who love celebrity gossip, but would never admit it. They love it, because it's celebrity gossip that's socially acceptable for college-educated, professional males. The second group are postmodernists, who can't believe how surreal the whole thing is. There is, of course, some cross-over.
Myself, I'm interested in the postmodern aspects of the story. I think it could work very well as some kind of postmodern novel or film.
Re:Sorry, but... (Score:4, Funny)
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geek != meth-head
just because its chemistry does not make it nerdy
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Why is Slashdot attempting to live blog the pursuit of a suspected murderer who appears to be mentally ill? We get that he once owned a software company, but that was a long time ago.
Personally, I'm rooting for the cops. They don't seem to be trying too hard. Like parents letting him run around tire himself out before they pick him up and change his diapers and put him back to bed.
The whole thing is starting to remind me of the book Shutter Island.
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Because half of us had his software running on our boxes until a few weeks ago.
suspected murderer (Score:2)
The key is *suspected*, as at least here in the US we still believe in innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. So, until he goes to court and has his day, he's still presumed innocent.
Now, the mentally ill part, well, that will be up to the doctors to evaluate after hes captured.
Nice try John. (Score:2)
n.t.
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And here it is folks, the real reason you should avoid 'bath salts'.
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