Slashdot Mirror
Echelon Used to Capture Terrorist
An anonymous reader writes "Echelon was used to track and capture Khalid Sheikh Mohammed." Ahh, bitter sweet victories. The article kind of explains what Echelon is, and pretty much says that those disposable phones really don't have much security at all.
After not having read the article and only reading the headline, I have to ask... How long before this gets turned against good, law abiding Linux and BSD users? We all know that Microsoft has no problems jumping in bed with the liberals (Ahem, Clinton!) and the conservatives (Ahem, Cheney!) as long as they are allowed to continue buying up the free world. So, how much of a stretch is it to imagine the big "Dick" sidling up to MS and playing smoochies with Bill Gates saying... "we'll crush Linux with new laws about terra-ism and using Echelon and put United States V 2.0 (R) Microsoft at the top of the world!!!" ??? Not much of stretch at all, is it? It seems horrible to me that we have tyrants like Gates, Cheney (Bush isn't running anything, he's just cowering like the scared little boy that he is) running the US government and business right now. Hopefully, someday after some common sense prevails, we'll look back at these dark days as an abomination to all that is good and pure (Open source, Linux, Socialism, protecting the environment, etc...). Until then, we have to defend ourselves. It is our RIGHT as human beings to have free software in both senses of the word! It is NOT the right of any company or government to tell you that you CAN'T have what you need to live and frankly these days having a computer and being able to hack is pretty much a necessity for the average geek. Not according to the article, there are big plans afoot to use Echelon in conjunction with Microsoft's DRM and "Trusted Computing" paradigms to cripple open source software. The government is in on this as well as Microsoft. A lot of this has to do with one simple fact that most people are not aware of... and remember, you heard it here first:
Last Fall, Microsoft purchased the US government. They've continued to let things appear to be pretty normal, but they are slowly replacing a lot of the politicians who took them to task during the anti-trust trials with MS marketing staff. If you don't believe me, go look at your new federal income tax forms. They are plastered with ads for MS Windows software for electronic filing. Think this is just a little thing? Well think again... WHY aren't they giving equal time to the open source alternatives for filing taxes? BECAUSE M$ owns the US government. Mark my words, Bill Gates IS the antichrist. He will be taking over during the next presidential election and then you will find out about how you are going to have to pay MS licensing to work in the US, to own property in the US, and to live in the US. The EULAs will specify that anyone with socialist leanings will be watched carefully. at the first sign of alternative OS usage, people will be shot.
(Clip)
We interrupt this tirade to tell you that everything you read up above is patently false. Microsoft is good for the US economy, good for your computer and good for you.
Thanks,
The Management
"Caught". We don't know, and you (the poster of the story) certainly don't.
It's heart-warming to see such trust in the authorities and the media.
for the rest of us that your government is so thorougly corrupt at all levels.
It's no big secret.
How small a thought it takes to fill a whole life
I think the main problem that the European Commission has with Echelon is that it allows the US to detect companies like Dassault and Airbus dump and/or bribe foreign officials to purchase their jets.
This is why really crappy military hardware like the Ententard attack aircraft and Mirage fighters managed to be exported anywhere.
Conformity is the jailer of freedom and enemy of growth. -JFK
"except for any case involving the Second Amendment,"
I invite you to check here for the ACLU's word on the second amendment.
Essentially, the position of the ACLU is as follows:
They DO believe that the initial intent of the second amendment was to protect citizens against an oppressive regime. Here's the problem: to defeat a modern US military, you would need bazookas, F-15s, and nuclear weapons. Obviously, virtually no one honestly believes that every citizen has a Constitutional right to own their own F-15s and nuclear weapons. Therefore, the original intent of the framers goes out the window.
Next, while bazookas and nuclear weapons would certainly be considered arms, most people agree that private citizens just ought not be allowed to own them. At that point, you've agreed that the right of citizens to own arms has limits. Therefore, the ACLU concludes that those limits ought be set by the Congress and the Supreme Court, as they currently are.
The ACLU isn't against the second amendment, nor does it ignore the second amendment. The ACLU simply believes that the Congress and the Supreme Court have handled the matter in a perfectly reasonable matter to date, and therefore sees no reason to get involved. Aside from that, the NRA is at least as powerful as the ACLU, so it quite honestly isn't something the ACLU needs to devote a whole lot of resources to, considering the fact that there are other organizations that deal with the issue. If you agree with everything else the ACLU does, or even just some of it, join up and earmark all donations for the cause you're supporting. Some very conservative people have joined the ACLU lately, because it's at the forefront of defending our Constitution.
-- "Government is the great fiction through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else."
If the speed limit says 110 km/h, then you must drive 110 km/h and no faster. The only exceptions should be emergencies (woman in labor, serious injury, etc...). If you are late for a fucking meeting, then screw it. Meetings are never important enough to put other people's lives at risk. I don't care how "safely" you can drive at 140 km/h, you are still breaking the law and deserve to be ticketed until your license is revoked. We'd have a lot less problems if people just stuck to following all the rules in this world...
Un-news