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Thirty-Three States Contributed to the MATRIX
lexbaby writes "The Salt Lake Tribune has an article claiming that at least 33 states have released government and commercial records on residents to the controversial MATRIX (Multistate Anti-Terrorism Information Exchange) network instead of the originally claimed 13." Don't worry, there's plenty of RAM for all 50 and the territories too.
Mouth shut, eyes forward, do what you're told. Don't question authority.
Smile for the cameras. They're everywhere and they're watching you.
Secure all zippers, buttons, tie clips, etc. Wardrobe Malfunction isn't funny anymore, it's subversive.
Turn in your neighbors on the slightest hint they're trouble makers. You won't get a pair a blue jeans, but you help keep your country safe.
Pokemon: Catch 'em all, otherwise you never know where they are or what they are up to.
Cover your mouth when coughing or sneezing to avoid Germ Warfare Terrorist label.
Vote for the most patriotic sounding politician, no matter what their platform.
Remember, we're all in this together.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
I thought they were opening a new terawatt plant or something.
The unofficial
Welcome to The Matrix.
I was wondering why all the stories aimed at getting the tinfoil hat crowd in a frenzy where popping up, then I noticed Michael was at the helm
there are numbers but not a list!
we need a list! if my state was involved I would like to know!
Why don't you embrace your slashbotness instead of living in a dreamworld?
I can't believe they actually had the balls to call it that.
burnt umber pill.
"The Matrix has you." Sad really.
With the Mormons keeping track of their ancestors and all, do you suppose that some (most?) of the info that Utah willingly provided was from those vast genealogical records?
I wonder if/how that would help the MATRIX project. Hmm.
I thought this was about the Matrix movie. Thirty three states involved in the making of the Matrix?
Once this MATRIX is proven to be useless, either by failing to catch terrorists or not predicting the next attack, will the government kill the program? Of course not.
Fear has always been a great method to let government erode privacy and rights.
Trolling is a art,
I don't see a list of which 33 states we're talking about. Does that list exist somewhere?
Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known. -- Carl Sagan
down with big brother...down with big brother...down with big brother...
Don't worry, there's plenty of RAM for all 50 and the territories too.
Do you actually have some good, solid evidence that the ram is being used for this? Aside from an article at Techworld that thinks it might be. At least try to show a tiny little bit of responsibility in the statements that you make.
slashdot, news for crazed liberal socialist zealots
Aksearch.net is a db I compiled from a few various databases the State of Alaska makes available. I have address and phone numbers for approx 98% of residents of Alaska. I also have DOB for about 5%, and voting records of all eligable voters. All available for free. Scarry huh?
I was recently stopped by the cops (while walking) here in FL. I was stopped for crossing the street with an open container of beer on the way to my neighbor's house.
Anyway, what was spooky about it is they were able to immediately look up my record--I got busted smoking pot at a concert about 10 years ago in NJ--literally a thousand miles away. Even though this was expunged from my record nearly ten years ago, they found out about it from their cars, without me every mentioning that I ever lived anywhere other than FL. That sucks.
It's very likely that the bombers in Spain, like the hijackers here, had valid drivers licenses and other papers and good identification.
After all, they don't need to hide until AFTER they do it. Then they are dead.
This is like a stupid school teacher to tries to re-arrange seating order from alphabetical to something else when her classroom becomes disruptive. All she knows how to do is put things in order so that's what she does, when in reality the situation calls for some strong spankings and maybe kicking some students out.
I don't know if it's on the web, but there was a wonderful series of Pogo (by Walt Kelly) strips from the early 70's where Spiro Agnew (then Vice President) was portrayed (appropriately) as a hyena in military uniform. For the good of the country all suspect people were rounded up and jailed. The end result was everyone in jail except him, including his cronies and assistants.
Sounds like history repeating itself.
Spiro Agnew later resigned due to mounting pressure over scandal for tax evasion and bribe taking.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
consider masturbation first.
Or even sex with someone you love, which could be the same thing. It'll make you feel better.
Honestly.
The cops have no business knowing if you were convicted of smoking pot, posessing a firearm, or shooting a cop in another state!
do you see any tigers? it must work
I love this one from their FAQ: http://www.matrix-at.org/faq.htm
If you can't access the data, how can you find the source!?
CAN THE PUBLIC REVIEW THE MATRIX PILOT PROJECT DATA CONCERNING THEMSELVES?
No. Members of the public cannot access individually identifiable information on themselves or others. Persons wishing to access data pertaining to themselves should communicate directly with the agency or entity that is the source of the data in question. For example, each participating state must provide a means for an individual to review and challenge the accuracy and completeness of his or her criminal history record, as authorized and required by 28 Code of Federal Regulations, Section 20.21(g).
and the movie still sucked at the end?
how much of all this anti-terror stuff is really making us safer? I mean look at your airfare next time, we're paying a lot more money to be body searched at the airport now.
Best Community for Gaming and Gadgets!
I am guessing Mr. Ashcroft pay this out of his own pcoket. So this tax payer's money.
Is this going to make you any safer? Doubtful.
Is this going to make you poorer? Yes, Indirectly.
Is this going to make Seisinit richer? Sure.
Is this going to violate your privacy? Most Definitely.
So you are basically paying Seisinit to take away your privacy. This is a bit like this story here. But that one is a bit more believable.
Nothing to see here
....developped and running al the way till the late 80's, but a dude called Gorbachov kinda screwed it all up....(it's still in use only in outdated machines in China.)
1. No sig. 2. ???? 3. Profit!!!
To quote the article...
Leavitt teamed up with Florida Gov. Jeb Bush -- President Bush's brother -- to pitch MATRIX to other states. The two briefed other governors on the project during a conference call referred to in Feb. 6, 2003, MATRIX board minutes.
A member of the Bush family involved in something deceptive that will further erode our constitutional rights? NEVER, I say, NEVER!
Head over to this site:
http://www.brbpub.com/pubrecsites.asp
Free public records for all states and nationwide databases.
I know for sure that Colorado and Wisconsin have criminal court proceedings online, effectivly putting your police record out there for anyone who knows your name or even parts of your name.
It did come in handy for me lately, as I found out someone gave my name when they were arrested. Had this resource not be available, I may have never known. Now I have to get it off, and they don't make it easy.
-ft
Goddamned asshole mother-fucking pile of steaming shit! FUCK YOU GW you mother fucker!!!!
Perhaps this has something to do with the large RAM disk the government just purchased.
Darpa with a new Internet for more control, more MATRIX states. I am starting to get scared. I am Canadian and the only hope we have is that the US has freedom of expression that we can emulate. Please rise up and fight this demon that justifies itself with the "think of the children argument". The end does not justify the means.
Stay tuned for new sig...
Enough with the MATRIX puns, look at the issue seriously. I live in France and had never heard of this project before, but it sure looks scary, or at least, the government not saying everything about it is.
Can be read in the article: "We don't want our information floating out there when we don't know what's on the database or who has access to it," said Sen. Ron Allen, D-Stansbury Park. It seems the people actually involved in this do not know very much what information will be withheld, let alone the people whose information is withheld. I mean, how can you be sure what you're being told is the truth when you see that the people involved with the project do not know that much about it themselves?
The representatives say that the MATRIX is just a way of accessing individuals' information faster, but I don't really see how this could help them to predict where and when the next terrorist attack will be -- it will only really help them once the acts are actually done, I should think.
I'm not stating that the government are surely up to something dodgy here, and after all, perhaps they might not be lying when they say that this will allow them to get hold of currently available information faster. But I just cannot read this without an ounce of doubt that a few privacy breaches might help them to fulfill their task.
"Really, I'm not out to destroy Microsoft. That will just be a completely unintentional side effect" -- Linus Torval
When he left for EPA his Lt. Gov, Walker took over and found out about this MATRIX stuff and told the public. I hope Walker or Matheson gets elected next time around.
Lasers Controlled Games!
Does UK plan to contribute to the MATRIX?Our reichfuhrer David Blunkett has always favoured keep all citizens on Surviellance methods.
/contribute to this?
On a more Topical note:do the Countries which are closely allied with US such as UK,Canada and Australia plan to join
Wanted : A Signature.
Fuck you!!!! There is not terrorist threat!!! The only threat out there today is this fucking administrations attempts to take away all civil liberties and freedoms. EVERY CITIZEN IS GUILTY UNTIL PROVEN INNOCENT!!!!!! Fuck this goddamned administration and their right wing religious aganda!!! Blame the fuck that speaks to God in the white house, because he's the looney fuck that started all of this to line his own fucking pockets.
If Slashdot editors want to make paranoid claims and assert they are true, they damn well better be able to back them up with FACTS! It's not up to us to prove their wild assertions untrue!
"Ask not what your country can do for you." --John F. Kennedy
I love feeling guilty until proven innocent. It gives me a warm, fuzzy and safe feeling and makes me able to sleep at night. And remember kids, just as long as everyone videotapes everybody, everything will be alright.
TARKIN:
The regional governors now have direct control over territories. Fear will keep the local systems in line. Fear of this MATRIX.
CT
it is only a matter of time before this is used to round up non terrorist criminals to make some politician look good. that is essentialy what this kind of information is best for. no terrorist is going to show up with the kind of info they are putting together. there is no way some this will not be used against the peaceful criminals in this country. its a damn shame.
this is not a Sig.
Smoking pot is a misdemeanor which, in NJ at least, you may pay the state to have expunged from your record if it's a first offense. This is what I did--and I've never been arrested for anything before or since then.
Despite paying to have it expunged and staying out of trouble, it appears this offense from when I was rather young will still follow me around now wherever I live in the US.
So are they saying they'll use it to only monitor guilty citizens? Guilty of what? Isn't everybody innocent until proven guilty? If they were already proven guilty, why monitor them?
Quid festinatio swallonis est aetherfuga inonusti?
Africus aut Europaeus?
As it turns out, I actually know the person who prototyped the MATRIX system very well -- it's my wife's aunt.
On one hand, this scares me a bit, because I know her work, and she's good -- which means that this system probably functions as intended.
On the other hand, I have the assurances that a) she's a decent person, who generally supports civil liberties and frowns on abuse of government powers; and b) she's explicitly said that there were several requests that the government made during the initial design phase that she explicitly ruled out -- she told the government they were going too far, and that she wouldn't be a part of what they wanted. They actually backed off, too from what I've been told.
Of course, I realize that I have very little credibility here as just another Slashdot poster...but for anyone inclined to believe, the good news is that *some* restraint was made in designing the MATRIX system.
How To Get Humans To Mars
So, the next time they get you they know what to plant on your person to keep you quiet. The gestapo is coming and now they know everything about you.
All hail der fuhror BUSH!!!
And the "Patriot" Act sure is preventing terrorist librarians and teachers' unions from blowing up the County Courthouse. I haven't read one story about that on Google. Must be working.
"Fundamentalism" isn't about divine morality. It's about human authority.
Why do you say that? Maybe you'd rather have it with a slash through it?
I don't care that much fo John Kerry, but if you want any hope at all of this type of thing going away, you'd better get out and vote for him in November.
Remember the Florida election of 2000 when a private database company scrubbed thousands of eligible voters from the rolls? Well now one of the co-founders of Database Technologies is back in the headlines -- he's working with law enforcement agents in Florida to create what may soon expand into a national surveillance system. We talk with privacy expert Wayne Madsen, investigative reporter Greg Palast and a top intelligence official from the state of Florida.
s .h tm
8 /0 7/1427223
When is Joe Six pack going to wake up to the fact that in secret the government has conspired to create a dossier on every citzen in this country and this is who they hired to do it:
Hank Asher then creates the MATRIX as a state level network version of the TIA office. Essentially continuing the TIA office, but freeing it from congressional oversight and federal whistleblower protections. He admits smuggling millions of dollars worth of cocaine in 1981 and 1982. Coincidentally at the time when the Iran-Contra dealings were in full swing.
But this is only speculation. Could there be more of a link between illegal dealings between Hank Asher and the republican party? OF COURSE THERE IS!
In 1992, Asher founded Database Technologies, which later merged with ChoicePoint. In 1999, he founded Seisint Inc. by merging two companies. He is still on Seisint's board of directors, and continues to play an active role in the company.During the 2000 presidential election ChoicePoint, gave Florida officials a list with the names of 8,000 ex-felons to "scrub" from their list of voters. But it turns out none on the list were guilty of felonies, only misdemeanors.
So there we have it. We went from having a domestic spying agency run by a five time felon to having the same domestic spying program sans congressional oversight and whistle blower protections run by a convicted drug smuggler who has proven that he'll break the law to further the republican agenda.
http://www.oldamericancentury.org/oh_republican
A Florida law enforcement data-sharing network is about to go national. In the name of counterterrorism, the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security are pouring millions of dollars into the system to expand it to local law enforcement agencies across the nation. It's called Matrix, which stands for Multistate Anti-Terrorism Information Exchange. According to the Washington Post, the computer network accesses information that has always been available to investigators but brings it together and enables police to access it with extraordinary speed. Civil liberties and privacy groups say the Matrix system dramatically increases the ability of local police to snoop on individuals.
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=03/0
The Florida company that built the database was founded by the man behind ChoicePoint and Database Technologies. The companies administered the contract that stripped thousands of African Americans from the Florida voter roles before the 2000 election.
Although narrower in scope than John Poindexter's controversial Terrorist Global Information Awareness program, Matrix may serve a similar purpose because it provides unprecedented access to US residents regardless of their criminal background. And states are eager to participate in the new program. On Tuesday, the Department of Homeland Security announced plans to launch a pilot program in state law enforcement data-sharing among Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania and New York.
Re:Proof? (Score:2, Informative) by andih8u (639841) on Friday March 12, @12:54PM (#8544878)
Starting Score: 1 point
Moderation +1
100% Informative
Extra 'Informative' Modifier 0 (Edit)
Total Score: 2
Funny how that modifier can just vanish like that.
The Mormons comb records and databases of people already dead. So thinking that they handed over some uber list of American citizens to the government is flawwed thinking.
Mouth shut, eyes forward, do what you're told. Don't question the editors.
Smile for the cameras. They're everywhere and they're watching you.
Secure all servers, workstations, toasters, etc. with Linux. Windows isn't funny anymore, it's subversive.
Mod down your fellow posters on the slightest hint they're windows users. You won't get a free subscription, but you help keep Slashdot safe.
Suspicious links: Don't click 'em, otherwise you might know where they go or what horrors they may contain.
Twiddle your thumbs when considering posting evidence that Windows is OK to avoid Astroturfer label.
Vote for the most paranoid, irrational sounding politician, but only if their platform is Open Sourced.
"Ask not what your country can do for you." --John F. Kennedy
I was reading James Mitchner's Iberia up to a couple months ago. It's terribly ironic considering what happened in Spain on the 11th and the political climate in the USA. The book was written, IIRC, in the late 60's and one spaniard told Mitchner, refering to the harsh governance of Franco, that the spaniards need a firm hand because (pardon if quote is not exact) "We're such bastards to govern."
I consider this phrase frequently when reading about autocratic or strong central governments and people apparently happy to be lead thusly. It's worrying.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
I'm sure this has been said already, but who in their right mind would choose to call this thing MATRIX and then not expect people to get upset about it leading to some form of totalitarianism. I mean didn't any of them see the movie? This has got to be one of the stupidest marketing mistakes of all time.
here
And remember, we are stll the people. It is not late to stop these things.
Would you be saying the same thing if a Democrat was in office? Very, very doubtful. You'd praise the fucker for doing a good job.
This is a test. This is a test of the emergency sig system. This has been only a test.
Article Text here
New York and Wisconsin Opt Out of Anti-Crime Database
............
MARK JOHNSON
Associated Press
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- New York and Wisconsin have joined the list of states that have pulled out of an anti-crime database program that civil libertarians say endangers citizens' privacy rights.
Just five states now remain involved in Matrix out of more than a dozen that had signed up to share criminal, prison and vehicle information with one another and cross-reference the data with privately held databases.
Questions over federal funding and the waning potential for benefit to law enforcement ultimately prompted New York's withdrawal, said Lynn Rasic, a spokeswoman for the New York State Office of Public Security.
In a letter earlier this week, New York State Police Lt. Col. Steven Cumoletti noted that as more states withdraw, Matrix's usefulness diminishes.
The administrator of the Wisconsin Division of Criminal Investigation, meanwhile, cited cost, privacy and potential abuses of such a large database.
"When you added it all up, there were more negatives than positives,'' said the administrator, Jim Warren. He said the state signed up for Matrix about a month ago, but withdrew this week without having put any money into it or trained anyone.
Known formally as Multistate Anti-Terrorism Information Exchange, Matrix links government records with up to 20 billion records in databases held by Seisint Inc., a private company based in Boca Raton, Fla.
The Seisint records include details on property, boats and Internet domain names that people own, their address history, utility connections, bankruptcies, liens and business filings, according to an August report by the Georgia state Office of Homeland Security.
Officials with Seisint and the U.S. Department of Justice did not immediately return calls seeking comment.
The American Civil Liberties Union has complained that Matrix could be used by state and federal investigators to compile dossiers on people who have never been suspected of a crime. Seisint officials have said safeguards are built into the system to prevent such abuses.
"We're pleased New York has finally seen the light and opted out of this data-mining program that would allow the government to troll billions of private, personal records for information they have no business getting,'' said Donna Lieberman, director of the New York Civil Liberties Union.
New York started questioning Matrix when several other states dropped out because of privacy or cost concerns, Rasic said. Alabama, California, Colorado, Georgia, Louisiana, Kentucky, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, Utah and West Virginia have all left or declined to join after actively considering it.
"It was going to end up costing a lot for something we already had,'' Tela Mange, Texas Department of Public Safety spokeswoman, said Thursday.
Matrix, short for the Multistate Anti-Terrorism Information Exchange, began in 2002 in Florida. Connecticut, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania also remain participants in the program, which was helped by $12 million in initial funding from the federal government.
Julie Norris, spokeswoman for Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro, said the state plans to stick with Matrix, considering it "a powerful investigation tool'' that uses information already available through public records.
"It allows for an intelligent search that is quick, fast and efficient,'' she said.
The Michigan State Police use Matrix on a limited basis and continue to support it, said spokeswoman Shanon Akans.
------------------
I swear, whenever I read about posts that infringe on privacy in this forum, all the dangerous 1984 references sound like more whining and justification based on more fear, uncertainty, and doubt. I've ceased to take any of it seriously.
-Rob
Marriage doesn't have to suck!
This is true because, as Authority Figures, our exalted leaders and police officials can be trusted completely to act diligently and with only the public interest in mind. Abuses of power for political or personal reasons are quite impossible, now and evermore. Liberals foolishly fail to understand this simple fact that every Good Dog knows.
The really cool thing about this is that they'll always be able to round up a good number of plausible suspects for anything that might happen, without all the hassle and expense of identifying the actual perpetrator or - what's worse - having to actually prove guilt. That way Ashcroft et.al. get to look like heroes whether any real justice is done or not. We the People insist on no more than that somebody be apprehended. I'd like to have a job like that. I could say, "Lookee here, Mr. Boss-Man, sir. I wrote you a hunnert lines o' code," and Mr. Boss-Man wouldn't even care if it compiled, much less did anything useful.
I dunno about you, but I didn't enjoy the Spain incident.
You're taking a big leap of faith here if you're suggesting that the liberty/safety trade-off is real. Under Hitler, Stalin and Mao, nobody was safe. Don't expect any better here if we hand absolute power to Bush and his minions (or anyone else, for that matter).
What a great time not to be an american...
Damn funny shit.
Fucking sheep.
or lack of it, they are breeding like flies, put a stop to it before they get out of control....oh wait
Your sig should be: Cogito me cogitare, ergo cogito me esse. (At least I think. Wouldn't I feel silly if I turned out to be wrong?)
People better be concerned about this. The general populace does not know what's contained in the database, only that it has some kind of information on just about everybody. Unlike a credit report, a citizen cannot access it, view it, dispute it, or make corrections to it. Who knows if the information within is even correct? Even though it's claimed that it will only be used for 'noble' purposes, it's still possible for someone authorized to abuse it or use it for 'sneaky' reasons. Insert your own speculative scenario here. From what I can tell, there's no checks and balances and that is something be to concerned about.
-- After all is said and done, more is said than done.
I fear a state of mind that makes living freely and happily quite cumbersome. I myself will side with the hundreds of thousands of Americans that have died protecting these rights and will accept a certain level of uncertainty pertaining to "terrorists", thank you very much...
In other words, "Live free or die". For those that may want to reconstruct this sentiment to form something like "you will die OR live free", remember what that quote means. It means, "I would rather die than to NOT live free". And I would agree. You see, I am an American, and I understand what freedom means, and therefore when I see it being eroded for unseemly ends I must, in a working democracy that is, rise up and fight. It is my duty as an American, and as a patriot.
Vote these bastards out of office... our freedom depends on it...
"The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance - it is the illusion of knowledge." - Daniel Boorstin
Well at last the American public is beginning to wake up and smell the shit of a police state in the air!!! Whether or not they've allowed it to go on for too long and it is too late to reverse things (after all - anyone can say that it is destroyed and just tuck it under another layer of secrecy!!).
Did the Americans think that the Total Information Awareness program was going to go away? Look at the discredited and felonous individual assigned to chair it all up!!! What about the Patriot Acts?? Did the Americans really think that was going to be in the best interests of "combatting" terrorism? After 9/11, it was heresy to say to an American that this might be a call to re-examine the US's foreign policy. Noam Chomsky has been an articulate and intelligent critic of the US's foreign (and increasingly domestic) policy for a good many years. What about Ralph Nader - he has shown himself to be one of the very few people in the political arena who has shown any integrity and the balls to stand up to major corporations AND be proven right and ultimately supported by the various legislature on emissions and vehicle safety!!!
The WTC and Pentagon gets bombed (although, let's face it - there is a huge amount of controversy arising about all of that as well - check out From the Wilderness for example http://www.fromthewilderness.com/ for some rather disturbing articles and connections being made) and the American public goes into a passive lead-me-by-the-hand stupor. The Americans got ass-fucked when they weren't looking and because of the primacy of the US in real politik, the rest of the world is going to slowly but surely get ass-fucked too. Yes the good old slut of a Blair government is also cowtowing to the Bush administration and apparently the UK has more CCTV cameras than any other country in the world. The UK is so paranoid about its own people it is driving a wedge between the public and itself just as the US is doing too. Guys - please - you must wake up here!!! Americans please look at what your country is doing - check out Vernon Coleman http:\\www.vernoncoleman.com - we do have to act, act together across the oceans and act sooner rather than later.
Flame me if you must - but the writing is on the wall for the emergence of the kinds of Hollywood-style futures that no-one would ever want to live in. A police state, repressive, using great reams of code to control every person's movements and associations, to drip-feed a diet of drugs (TV, music, entertainment, games, movies, celebrity-suck, and happy distractions) while it continues full steam with its ECHELON system (http://mediafilter.org/caq/echelon/ ), which when confronted by the French the US government backed away and attempted to deny its very existence and has only released very broad details of its operation.
"It's not a war on drugs - it's a war on personal freedoms. Remember that!" ~ Bill Hicks
It's bad for you.
How easy would it be to walk across the Canadian border, walk into a border-town theatre, and blow yourself up?
Pretty easy, but I didn't think you hated the Canadians that much. OTOH I did see South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut...
Kjella
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
We are all terrorists if we disagree with authority... that is what they label people so they get their way.
:(
Info for the bots in the government to subpoena everyone on this page (lol)
BOMBS, USA, TALIBAN, NUKES, OSAMA, TERRORIZE, PEOPLE, DEATH, DESTRUCTION 9-11, BUSH, GEORGE W, BOOM, AMONIUM NITRATE, AIRPLANES!!!!!
hehehe... none of that was meant to scare people.
I cant stand all this fear of terrorism... we are so fearful we will opt to lose our constitutional rights...
The MATRIX system reeks of evil, just take a look at the URL:6 9.asp
http://www.sltrib.com/2004/Mar/03112004/utah/1466
666!
He's coming... he's coming. (insert random conspiracy theory about God, terrorists, aliens, UFO's, Roswell and JFK here)
Check out the satirical piece of the same name by Stephen Colbert of the Daily Show.
Half of this country (America) is religiously driven to the point that 500 emails from angry mothers about a black womans tit on CBS dictates the future of our first amendment rights. Want proof? Ask Howard Stern... I hear he has plenty of it lately.
The government is SO out of control right now that ANY powers like this do not belong in their hands.
They have far too much power. Yes It is quite scary. The thought of biological/nuclear attacks... VERY scary. But the truth is... someone can fire them from across the ocean and hit us just as easily, IF NOT MORE than some rogue group of islamic dick bags TRYING to get a nuclear device.
Its all scary. But right now i'm more concerned about our government than i am of Al Queda.
Interesting that an Anti War protester was arrested yesterday. She's accused of being an Iraqi spy.
She was paid by Iraq they say. If she's just a war protester does that really make her a spy?
Perhaps she is a spy. I dont know. Hopefully there is more evidence than just receiving money from iraqis. That doesnt quite make anyone a spy.
So how did they investigate this woman?
This certainly is NOT the America i was born into during the 70s.
Watch it get elegantly lifted out of her hands to someone more 'cooperative' quite soon. Or watch the restrictions get casually ignored. Or 'coordinated' with another branch. Information is power, and the government loves power.
That's why they're playing every dirty trick in the book, and most rejected in editing to become "the most powerful man on earth" - US president. Which is the head of the power hungry leading other power hungry.
Already most of the rest of the world, foes and allies alike think Americans are arrogant. Yet somehow there's this incredible belief that there's no way a small subset of Americans, a "power elite" would be arrogant not only to other nations, but to the common American. That they should rule in their place.
Personally, I think the US could actually fall for the ultimate scam - I think the country could be run by a small junta, and still have the people believe they're in control. That has got to be the ultimate dictatorship, noone to rebel against, no need to oppress, because there is no opposition only sheep thinking they herd themselves.
Kjella
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
For all the US citizens reading this - probably the majority of readers - why do you continue to live where you do? Doesn't this kind of information make you angry, or untrested? And have you asked yourselves, "is it worth staying where I am, without the freedoms that I once had, because I am paid well?"
Hundred years ago, when the overlords continued to distrust the citizens, and impose their draconian rule, the people rose up and overthrown the ruling class.
There are other places where a better set of freedoms exist, perhaps at the expense of a lower standard of living. But isn't that freedom worth it?
Doing the Right Thing should not be preempted by making a buck.
Freemason Grand Master: ...and we will call it Multistate Anti-Terrorism Information Exchange!
Illuminatus Rex: Hm.. Mu.. Ant.. Te... Matie? MATIE? Didn't we decide to keep the Aussie division out this time?
Freemason Grand Master: No, no, they are not in. Purely a coincidence.
Paul W.: Well, it sounds a bit... dull.
Illuminatus Rex: I agree. MATIE just will not work. Think of USA PATRIOT - Uniting and Strengthening - now that is a classic. Even TIA is better, even thought it is just a TLA. How are we going to keep people on their toes with MATIE? People should think of strength and cunning, not Foster's and dingos. We are not playing shadow government here!
Alan G.: What if we change a few letters... uhm.. MATRIX?
Illuminatus Rex: Eeexcellent.
I shall go and tell the indestructible man that someone plans to murder him.
We're waiting for November.
You know what to do.
If they check Washington DC, they will probably find 90% of whole worlds terrorists.
Why wasts bandwidth??
Has anyone made the conection between this and the recent push to copywrite data bases? Once the government has all this information, they could copywrite it (it that law passes) then all you buisiness really beloong to us.
I think there is more to play here too. Not only are they compiling the bigest way to look at abstract data out of context (reasons for going to war in iraq) they are also making this information vulnerable for attack. But what hapens when they are considered to be replicating someone elses database? Does the government all the suuden need to pay royalties or will companies need to pay the government.
This might really be a clever scheeme to extract fee's from industry more than it is for security. By all means i think it is a problem either way. There shouldn't be any information stored like that. It could also lead to post facto laws being interpreted.
Lets say the political agenda is to make guns ileagle. Well with the second ammendment it will be a hard fought battle to succeed in that. But now what if the data shows that most everyone that purchased a firearm since the brady bill required the instant checks, also do some other common activity/thing. We can outlaw that activity then arrest and convict all of the gun owners of some fellony making it ileagle for them to own firearms again. This would have the same effect as making guns ileagle but, not by actually passing a law that might be challenge by a constitutional amendment.
Now lets asuume it is something else that not politicaly corect with some group. SUVs, fast food, religion? can the list go on?
I had the misfortune of meeting some executives from Seisint (www.seisint.com), the company that built the MATRIX. I quite literally felt myself in need of a shower after the meeting. So appologies if I break into flaming at any point in this post.
Seisint builds the engine as well as collects the data and loads it into their "data supercomputer" they then sell the data and access to queries against their "data supercomputer". This has been their business model for years, except prior to 9/11 they sold this server commercially.
9/11 was a huge opportunity for them. These guy were boasting that after 9/11 they programmed a query against their existing database to assign a terrorist likelihood score to everybody in the US (their database was already pretty extensive). They ended up sending a list of the top few thousand to the government; their donation to the cause.
In the meeting they demostrated their social networking chart. This thing was truly scary. They typed in my social security number and dispalyed a graph of everyone I was ever associated with including people I shared an apartment with for 6 months over 12 years ago. They could expand the graph out to as many degrees of associations as they wanted.
Even more scary than the information they did find about me was the information they didn't find. I've never made and particular effort to hide my identity (yes I know I this posted anonymously), but they missed so much stuff. I can only imagine that anyone who made any kind of effort, could easily escape notice.
In this meeting I was technically evaluating their software and I made the specific recommendation to my employer that based on the high potential for false negatives, as well as false positives, this was not a good technology. We didn't buy it.
Now besided the fact that this technology just doesn't work. The other interesting side effect of the MATRIX is that it is making more data available in the public domain that Seisint can incorporate into their database own database, the one they sell commercially.
Can someone tell me who saw the Matrix movies and said, "Hay, that's a good idea!"
BenCurry.net
Thanks for clearing that up. Now please upload your transcript to your Slashdot journal, where we can keep an eye on you. For your own safety and protection.
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make install -not war
I love the America that you represent. Currently we are a minority in our own country. I hope the pendulum does swing back soon, because moving to europe is gonna be a pain. ;-)
h p and know that some of us are awake and give a sh*t.
Please read this: http://holophrastic.com/javascopes/september_02.p
The House Between - Original Sci-Fi Series
And vote who in?. They are all mirror images of each other. What working democracy??.
"CPTDP"? Nobody'd fund that.
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make install -not war
It wasn't just the open border policy. What was more important was US government intervention in other countries' affairs. I mean, the CIA don't exactly twiddle their thumbs all day! In one of the Dalai Lama's books, he mentions that the CIA were involved in his run to India, and that was decades ago on the other side of the world in the Himalayan mountains in Tibet, ferchrissakes! Can you imagine what the CIA are like now? What amazes and scares me the most is that today people have stopped demanding to know why and just accept the fact that it happened because those "middle easterners are evil terrorists". But WHY? WHAT ARE THEY DYING FOR? All I ever hear is that "those godless savages and fundamentalists hate freedom, that's all". C'mon people, keep questioning!!! 3000 people dead. What is going on behind our backs?
I would also assert that this "if you don't like it, leave" mentality is unAmerican. The proper attitude should be "if you don't like it, vote and change it." Certainly, if there were a mass exodous of citizens from the country, that would change things because there would be not enough workforce to keep the infrastructure running. However, short of that mass exodous, leaving the country will not change anything. Voting, however, has changed much.
For all those people who love to say "if you don't like it here, leave," I'm considering turning them in to homeland security as terrorists because they are trying to undermine the American way. I'm not going to do it, but it's a fun idea.
"I swear I won't break you if you let me take you where the willows never weep" -- Switchblade Symphony
They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security.
- Benjamin Franklin
Imagine a succesful hack capable of sending everyone you don't like straight to gautanamo without any legal access or rights for them? Anyone with the skillz, would you mind altering Darl Mcbride's records?
True genius is grasping a situation like a peice of fruit, and peircing it just right so that it drains dry.
Anyone seen this yet? http://news.com.com/2100-1028_3-5172719.html?part= rss&tag=feed&subj=news
"It's not a war on drugs - it's a war on personal freedoms. Remember that!" ~ Bill Hicks
33/50
27/50
15/50
13/50
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88/200 (about 44 percent)
anyways... matrix is a bad idea, just think about keanu reeves trying to act!
Just remember the rechristened DCS-1000's former name, Carnivore.
The truth about Scientology, Xenu, and you: Operation Clambake
I'd expect that it was "expunged" from a criminal record, but not a general one. That is to say, an employer looking you up wouldn't find it etc, but if you got charged on a similar charge later the cops could.
That's where it belongs, anyway.
Check this troll's history. Every single one of his posts links to an unrelated story at aittimes.mithuro.com for what I'm sure is ad-revenue generation of some sort, whether ads appear directly on that site or not. He's trying to up his impressions, the twat.
Couldn't swing a dead cat in there without hittin' Real Commies still can't today either.More fuckin' Communists than on a US College Liberal Arts Faculty.
I can't think of any "first world" country that I can't say the same thing about.
If she wouldn't implement the requirements of the government and had the temerity as an employee to tell them to back off then they would have sacked her.
Anyway is she Indian?
#1. Good question.
#2. I agree
#3. Er, I meant this polyarchy.
"The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance - it is the illusion of knowledge." - Daniel Boorstin
Well, of course. It's always expected that someone will say that only the people who have something to hide will be concerned about these measures. The American people will probably readily give up their freedoms for the belief that they will be safer. It's already happening now and I don't expect that to change.
Between the fear-mongering of the U.S. media and Bush's capitalizing on the 9/11 tragedy (which is to be expected under purely political reasoning), there are a lot of people who are scared shitless, or simply indifferent.
Think before you post next time.
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. --Edmund Burke
Mmm..Political stagnation! My favorite. I like it with a bit of ketchup on the side.
Whenever government employees defend such programs, they often use the argument that most of this data is available on the open market anyway.
Is it just me, or does that make it worse and not better?
And when did someone establish a link between convicted sex offenders and terrorists? The truth is, there is a wide range of people who are just using the events of 9/11 to do a secret power grab. And eventually (hopefully by January of 2004), there will be someone in the Presidency who wants to reveal all this crap to show what the hell these people were secretly doing.
For the former Governor of Utah to refuse to even discuss what he authorized with the current governor is so plainly obnoxious, I cannot believe more people are not outraged by it.