John McAfee Launches Blog, Offers $25K Reward For "Real Killers"

An anonymous reader writes "The IT security pioneer John McAfee has launched a blog to document his life on the lam, as Belize police chase him down for suspicion of killing a neighbor. McAfee is using the blog to state his case, raise suspicions about Belize authorities and to offer a $25K reward to find the real killer or killers. From the article: 'McAfee writes that he is on run with a 20-year-old female named Sam, photos of whom are in the blog, along with a post from her. McAfee says a handful of friends and associates have been rounded up by police over the past week or so. His posts are filled with dramatic descriptions of his actions (including returning to his home in disguise to find police digging up his dead dogs and cutting off their heads) and lay bare his suspicions about Belize authorities. '"

Comments

IANAL, but

[Anonymous Coward]

pleading (temporary) insanity much?

Re:IANAL, but

[jhoegl]

You cant be insane after the fact. hehehe.
Rich people are so entertaining. Perhaps if this happened more, where rich on rich crime and lunacy to follow, it would be worth paying more taxes.

Re:IANAL, but

[Jeremiah Cornelius]

I think McAfee's probably right.

There's a bit of a witch-hunt going on.

Re:IANAL, but

[Jetra]

I would be very surprised if he has more than a single million. His program was trash and it took up sheet-tons of CPU. It couldn't even protect from the common cold.

Re:IANAL, but

[Anonymous Coward]

That is if he gets the chance to get arrested. I'm guessing that his craziness is going to start ticking off the gang leaders he claims to have recruited. Gangs know how to deal with a rabid dog. At some point they are going to question what kind of liability he is if he gets arrested or becomes desperate.

Re:IANAL, but

[Anonymous Coward]

Since when does any of that matter!

People (read: upper management) buy insanely expensive software that sucks every day. A product like McAfee isn't popular because customers like it on the individual level, it's popular because it's sold via buzzwords at the enterprise level.

See also: any IBM software (rapsody, clearcase, clearquest, ..) and SAP

Ironically the guys who put care and effort into their software are the ones struggling, while the folks who put most of their budget into marketting are making a fortune selling junk that barely works.

Re:IANAL, but

[multicoregeneral]

Yeah, but it should be obvious to anyone who travels to or decides to live in a third world country that you just don't fuck with the the management. Look, it sucks, but these people have absolute power, and very little accountability. Third world countries are often corrupt, and the last thing you want to do is paint a target on your forehead. No telling if McAfee is behind it or not, but any way you look at it... he's pissed somebody off.

Or, the other possibility is that he's a crazy old man, and all of this is in his head.

None of the outcomes here are good.

Re:IANAL, but

[hjf]

these people have absolute power, and very little accountability. Third world countries are often corrupt, and the last thing you want to do is paint a target on your forehead. No telling if McAfee is behind it or not, but any way you look at it... he's pissed somebody off.

Yes.
Greetings from Argentina.

Re:IANAL, but

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, just like it was all a witch hunt against Hans Reiser.

Re:IANAL, but

[Black Parrot]

I'm guessing that his craziness is going to start ticking off the gang leaders he claims to have recruited. Gangs know how to deal with a rabid dog.

Google for "mcafee removal tool" ?

Re:IANAL, but

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, just like it was all a witch hunt against Hans Reiser.

Being burned at the stake is not proof that you are not a witch.

Re:IANAL, but

[phantomfive]

The worst part about Argentina is, it could easily be changed, except the people like it that way. Kirchner stays in power because she has the support of the [majority of the] people in what she does.

Re:IANAL, but

[shaitand]

I assume you are joking. McAfee is shit, but it is still a highly popular app that rakes in millions.

Re:IANAL, but

[Jetra]

Cause idiots think that if you pay for something it's much better than the free version.

Re:IANAL, but

[shaitand]

True but in the AV world, all the options suck.

Re:IANAL, but

[wjousts]

See also: any IBM software (rapsody, clearcase, clearquest, ..) and SAP

How you can list terrible IBM software and NOT mention Lotus Notes is, frankly, shocking.

Re:IANAL, but

[Anonymous Coward]

Do you not realize when John left the company? Probably around the time you were born. It's performance in the last 2 decades has little to do with his net worth.

Re:IANAL, but

[MNNorske]

Nonsense there's one option that works 100% of the time. Turn off your computer, unplug it from the wall, remove the hard drive, and smash it with a hammer and you're guaranteed 100% effective protection against computer viruses. Note, if you ever put in a new hard drive and plug the computer in/turn it on you will void your coverage.

Re:IANAL, but

[shaitand]

I said all the options suck, not that there isn't an option that works.

Re:IANAL, but

[helix2301]

Kevin Mitnick sent out a funny tweet "Here are my top 5 tips for McAfee on the run:" it's worth the read

Re:IANAL, but

[MrLint]

And all this time I thought LN was software... its good to know its something else. Some other yet undefined category.

Re:IANAL, but

[SilentStaid]

But if you do burn, it proves that you are made of wood. And if you're made of wood, it proves that you float. And if you float you weigh as much as a duck... therefore... logically...

Re:IANAL, but

[Anonymous Coward]

I guess that also applies to Brazil, although the corruption here is a bit different. For one, nobody ever even dreamed of screwing with the central bank and the census bureau. OTOH, we have quite dangerous criminals in the Senate and the House...

Re:IANAL, but

[niiler]

Read this interview with Josh Davis first. This is one of several he has given. From this interview:

"He is a very eccentric person; there is no question. He is a very complex person. In fact, in one instance in August, I had heard a rumor that he had in fact killed somebody, and I asked him about that. And he says, “That he actively encouraged the rumors about him.” And I said, “Why would you do that?” He said, “Because I wanted people to be scared of me.” He said, “Remember I am living here, in a place where I feel very threatened. Where I think people are trying to harm me, and I want them to be afraid of me, and if they think that I am capable of some brutality, then all the better” So clearly he is living a life that most people would never choose, never even dream of. And yet, I asked him, point blank, “Why don’t you leave? If you think people are trying to kill you, why don’t you leave?” He says, “I love it here! What do you mean?” That’s why I said he is complex; it is very hard to figure him out."

There are some other interviews with or stories by Josh Davis who has interviewed him for over 100 hours over 6 months.

http://www.npr.org/2012/11/14/165160275/anti-virus-software-pioneer-on-the-run-in-belize

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/11/threatlevel_1112_mcafee/

McAfee sounds crazy and paranoid, but that doesn't mean that people aren't out to get him.

Re:IANAL, but

[Johnny O]

Sounds like Linux

Re:IANAL, but

[alexander_686]

To build on this, we know that when McAfee went public, John held about 100 million in stock.Taxes, time, bad investments, and interesting hobbies have probably dented that number big time. However, at one time, he was worth 100m.

Re:IANAL, but

[Anonymous Coward]

"I would be very surprised if he has more than a single million."

But even that should be enough to order a yacht with a skipper online to be delivered at a deserted dock where he can get aboard. He could still play his idiotic game with the local cops even from Buttfuck, Idaho.

Re:IANAL, but

[bmo]

They raided his home in the belief he was making Meth while he lied to them and told them he was doing pharmaceutical research.

The only thing wrong with their assessment was that it was worse than meth. He got all butthurt and mad and tried to paint the Belize authorities as bumbling idiots and corrupt when they were actually right all along - that McAfee is a fucking tweeker and drug manufacturer, which he admitted himself on a drug forum.

He is a crazy old man who was making Substance D in his own basement and is now as batshit from it as Bob Arctor.

--
BMO

Re:IANAL, but

[Jetra]

I like Linux, but have to use Windows being a gamer and what not.

Re:IANAL, but

[Anonymous Coward]

And have a virus too it seems.

Re:IANAL, but

[jakimfett]

What game is it that you can't get running via Wine? Personally, when I got Skyrim running on Xubuntu, I quit windows...

Re:IANAL, but

[Jetra]

Eheheheh...Um, try a wee bit older. Like Fallout 2 and Neverwinter Nights.

Re:IANAL, but

[jakimfett]

According to my google-fu, both Fallout 2 and Neverwinter Nights run pretty well...

Re:IANAL, but

[Jetra]

I feel like this is becoming some kind of intervention.

Re:IANAL, but

[iamhassi]

Yeah, but it should be obvious to anyone who travels to or decides to live in a third world country that you just don't fuck with the the management. Look, it sucks, but these people have absolute power, and very little accountability. Third world countries are often corrupt, and the last thing you want to do is paint a target on your forehead. No telling if McAfee is behind it or not, but any way you look at it... he's pissed somebody off. Or, the other possibility is that he's a crazy old man, and all of this is in his head. None of the outcomes here are good.

Well, if you read his blog, he mentions living with a 17 year old Amy and now a 20 year old Sam he's known for "1 and a half years"? Obvious this 67 year old loves teenage girls, which would probably upset a few fathers, and these are only the girls he's willing to admit to....

Re:IANAL, but

[iamhassi]

Yeah, but it should be obvious to anyone who travels to or decides to live in a third world country that you just don't fuck with the the management. Look, it sucks, but these people have absolute power, and very little accountability. Third world countries are often corrupt, and the last thing you want to do is paint a target on your forehead. No telling if McAfee is behind it or not, but any way you look at it... he's pissed somebody off. Or, the other possibility is that he's a crazy old man, and all of this is in his head. None of the outcomes here are good.

Well, if you read his blog, he mentions living with a 17 year old Amy and now a 20 year old Sam he's known for "1 and a half years"? Obvious this 67 year old loves teenage girls, which would probably upset a few fathers, and these are only the girls he's willing to admit to....

Also I find it highly suspicious their ages are being mentioned at all. What exactly does his age or the ages of girls he's sleeping with have to do with him being accused of murder and running from the law? I mean, there's no mention of the vehicle he escaped in or the clothes he's wearing or anything, but the ages of the girls is somehow revelant? Unless, of course, there's another side of the story, where he's being accused of sleeping with young children, in which case it makes sense why he would announce upfront that one girl was 17 and the other was 20.

Or maybe I've just been watching too much CSI

Re:IANAL, but

[jakimfett]

Jetra, we're your friends here, and we really care about you. Using Windows doesn't just hurt you, it's hurting others too!

Nah, in all seriousness, every operating system has it's strengths and weaknesses. I'd never recommend that a gamer get a mac, and if an artist talks about using Linux, I would be looking outside for the flying pigs.

I still have a Windows box for my wife to use, mainly because of Netflix.

Re:IANAL, but

[Anonymous Coward]

Third world countries... I just have to laugh because sometimes those of us living in San Francisco and NYC forget how things can be when you get out of the metropolitan centers. Lord knows that the small southern town I moved to a few years ago sometimes feels 100% exactly like a thuggish banana republic where might is right and Christianity is camouflage for cruelty.

Re:IANAL, but

[Jetra]

Don't get me wrong, I got hooked on Linux when my brother gave me Knoppix a while back. However, I'm just not nerdy or great at computers to warrant using Linux.

Re:IANAL, but

[AdamWill]

Belize isn't a third world country, but apart from that, nice rant. It's a former British colony with a somewhat more developed and stable economy than many surrounding countries, and most people wouldn't count *those* as 'third world'.

Re:IANAL, but

[hjf]

She had the support, last year, when she won the elections. We don't know now, as she manipulates the statistics.

Re:IANAL, but

[phantomfive]

True, and with the recent protests it's hard to say.

I could be wrong, but I don't think the opinions of the people have changed, though. So while they may get rid of her, they will replace her with someone the same.

Re:IANAL, but

[Anonymous Coward]

See also: any IBM software (rapsody, clearcase, clearquest, ..) and SAP

How you can list terrible IBM software and NOT mention ***** ***** is, frankly, shocking.

Unlike you, he wanted to avoid swearing.

Re:IANAL, but

[Raenex]

Also I find it highly suspicious their ages are being mentioned at all. What exactly does his age or the ages of girls he's sleeping with have to do with him being accused of murder and running from the law?

Because the reporters and their readership find that bit of sensationalism interesting. He was also never formally accused of murder, but is wanted for questioning -- at least that's the official story.

Re:IANAL, but

[Raenex]

McAfee is a documented, serial liar. You can't believe a damn thing he says.

Re:IANAL, but

[Hal_Porter]

People (read: upper management) buy insanely expensive software that sucks every day. A product like McAfee isn't popular because customers like it on the individual level, it's popular because it's sold via buzzwords at the enterprise level.

It's kind of unfair to lump in Clearcase with the other enterprise software that is marketed to management. Clearcase is expensive but it is very good. At one place I worked that you could solve 90% of bugs by opening up the history in the version tree tool and doing a binary search to find the breaking check in. Which was handy - it was VxWorks system based on embedded C and they'd hired a bunch of idiots to 'work' on it. So the net result was that it would frequently break in some very subtle ways.

Management would rather you suffered with svn or something.

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1104961/how-can-i-view-the-version-tree-for-a-file-in-svn-which-shows-the-merges-from-br

My issue is I have some changes on a branch which I have merged back to trunk using TortoiseSVN "Reintegrate a branch" feature. Now when I look at the version tree I don't see any edge being rendered from the tip of the branch to the tip of the trunk, which I would expect to see. In Clearcase you would see merge arrows indicating the direction of the merge between branches of a file/folder.

For svn, a branch is just another directory, with the little difference that it knows some history: It knows where it was copied from. When you merge a branch into the trunk, Subversion will take all changes that where made to the branch since it was created (i.e. copied) and apply all those changes to the trunk. It will remember which changes have already been merged (so it's not totally true that Subversion doesn't store anything about the merges), hence knows not to apply them again.

So, merging in Subversion doesn't mean much more than applying some changes here that were made somewhere else. The idea of the branch graph therefore doesn't work well with Subversion (and the way of handling branches is probably the most often uttered criticism of Subversion).

Moving from Clearcase at one client to SVN at another was a pretty bleak experience to be honest.

Re:IANAL, but

[Zontar The Mindless]

Please refresh my memory--What has all this to do exactly with McAfee, Belize, or that bloke who spontaneously grew a third eye socket...?

Re:IANAL, but

[Hal_Porter]

If you look at my comment I've quoted the bits of comment I was replying to. So when it comes to thread derailing it wasn't me who drew first blood.

Re:IANAL, but

[Zontar The Mindless]

Yeah, well, I happen to like SVN...

Re:IANAL, but

[Hal_Porter]

You are aptly named.

Re:IANAL, but

[Rakarra]

There are plenty of games that work in Wine, many games (especially older ones) that do not, and a whole host of games that "work," (World of Warcraft, Civilization 5) that work, just not all that well.

limkerickz

[alphatel]

There once was a man from Belize
Who neglected his bribery fees
Accused of a murder
He became a sheepherder
Fighting for refugees!

Re:limkerickz

[slashmydots]

Also he's a drug addict. That probably rhymes with some stuff but I'm lazy, lol.

Re:limkerickz

[mcgrew]

There once was a man from Belize
Who neglected his bribery fees
Accused of a murder
He became a sheepherder
Fighting for refugees!

-Myanmar Shave

Re:limkerickz

[Ol Biscuitbarrel]

The Fugitive . . . a QM Production.

. . . the story of Dr. John McAfee, an innocent victim of blind justice. Falsely convicted for the murder of his neighbor. Reprieved by fate when Belizian police couldn't find meth, freed to flee. Freed him to hide in lonely desperation. To change his identity. To toil at many jobs. To go on the lam with his piece of jailbait. Freed him to search for a functional antivirus program.

Re:limkerickz

[TheGratefulNet]

"sssh. why did you just yell 'Myanmar' ?"

"I panic'd"

Re:limkerickz

[jamiesan]

MYANMAR!

Sorry. I panicked

Re:limkerickz

[jd2112]

I didn't do it! It was the one-armed man!

Re:limkerickz

[Anonymous Coward]

John is addicted to drugs,
which led him to hanging with thugs.
From a murder he ran,
"They've got the wrong man!"
And now, at our heartstrings he tugs.

Re:limkerickz

[Anonymous Coward]

There once was a man who fought virii
Who became the subject on an inquiry
He went on the lam
With a young girl named Sam
And put up a crazy web diary

Re:limkerickz

[Bryansix]

Its Burma Shave.

Re:limkerickz

[omnichad]

woosh

I think I know who did it

[pr0nbot]

Hans Reiser?

Re:I think I know who did it

[multicoregeneral]

Egad! It all makes sense now.

Re:I think I know who did it

[crazyjj]

You guys are nuts, clearly this was the work of the notorious "Some Puerto Rican Guy".

Re:I think I know who did it

[Anonymous Coward]

This post almost made me want to register so that I could have mod points for the next time I see the "best comment ever".

Delusional

[Anonymous Coward]

This guy is seriously delusional. I wonder if the companion is along for the ride or a captive.

Re:Delusional

[Anonymous Coward]

He's my hero and inspiration! When I grow up I want to be like him whatever he did or did not do! :)
Well....I'd rather have a better looking woman...or perhaps a few better looking women ...

Re:Delusional

[firex726]

> It looks like you're about to run out of your meds!
> Renew your prescription now and receive two years of protection for only $99!

Re:Delusional

[mk1004]

Find the real killers? Cue the white Ford Bronco. She can drive.

Re:Delusional

[multicoregeneral]

Who knows, maybe she's a lot better looking in person?

Re:Delusional

[Anonymous Coward]

It's both. She's along for the ride because she's captive by the meth he gave her.

Danger Signs

[Sponge Bath]

When you start defending yourself with the same phrases as OJ Simpson, you might be on the wrong side of the law. Looking for the real killer...

Re:Danger Signs

[fustakrakich]

I thought OJ was acquitted.

Re:Danger Signs

[Anonymous Coward]

yes, but here is still in jail. but we need to break him out so he can help find the "real killer"

Re:Danger Signs

[interkin3tic]

I think he probably knows if he is innocent or not. And using similar language to (likely) killers is not a really good reason to be suspicious that someone is a killer. The fact that the police are looking for him and he's on the run is about a million times more suspicious than the fact that he says he's looking for the real killers.

Re:Danger Signs

[PolygamousRanchKid]

. . . and the slow speed police car chase is unfolding on the Internet, and not on the road.

What amusing times we live in . . . how can CNN cover this live . . . ?

Re:Danger Signs

[Black Parrot]

When you start defending yourself with the same phrases as OJ Simpson, you might be on the wrong side of the law. Looking for the real killer...

You know the old saying: If the glove fits, wear it.

Re:Danger Signs

[phantomfive]

So.....you think OJ didn't do it?

Re:Danger Signs

[fustakrakich]

Doesn't matter. I wasn't at the scene or the trial. Were you? I do run into a lot of arm chair jurors around here. The verdict is the verdict.

Re:Danger Signs

[Anonymous Coward]

I thought OJ was acquitted.

Right... which explains why we don't go around saying, "convicted murderer OJ Simpson...".

Re:Danger Signs

[Anonymous Coward]

Correct, he bought his way out on the criminal case. That means he doesn't go to jail... not that he didn't do it.

Side note, he was unanimously found liable for the "wrongful death" of Goldman and beating of Brown.

Re:Danger Signs

[Anonymous Coward]

Acquitted doesn't mean innocent.

Re:Danger Signs

[spire3661]

The verdict has nothing to do with if I think he did it or not. The verdict only decides if we get to punish him or not. What you call 'arm-chair juror' i call reasoned citizen evaluating how his justice system functions.

Re:Danger Signs

[fiannaFailMan]

So.....you think OJ didn't do it?

Now now. We want to be very careful what we say about OJ Simpson. After all, he killed his wife and is a very nasty bloke.

Re:Danger Signs

[Anonymous Coward]

You don't get to set up a system where the accused are presumed innocent until proven guilty by a court of law, where the burden of proof is on the prosecution, and then complain when the public assumes acquitted persons are probably guilty of the things they were accused of because by design the likelihood of a guilty person going free is far greater than the likelihood of an innocent person being punished.

I understand the reasons for setting up our legal system to minimize the ability of the malicious to manipulate the law against those they want to target, but the trade-off is that a significant number of criminals will go unpunished - and you can't control public opinion the way you can control punitive actions taken by the state.

"Not guilty" is not the same as "innocent".

Re:Danger Signs

[s.petry]

Based on a sub-set of evidence, the arm chair juror is as useful as a "poopy flavored lolly pop". Quote thanks to Patches O'Hoolihan, may he rest in peace.

Look, it's nothing against you personally. Numerous people are guilty of being just as naive and/or ignorant as you are. You saw and read what people knew would sell, and did not review all of the facts in the case. The same that would be true of the OJ case would be true of McAfee, or Assange, or Lacey, etc.. Your opinion is just an opinion.

If it helps, I'm with you in my opinion of OJs verdict. With that said, I realize that I'm ignorant in regards to the full of the case. I only saw what was on court TV and remember only what the media was hyping. My opinion was shaped by media, not by facts. Therefor my opinion has no legal merit or value outside of rumoring

Re:Danger Signs

[Bryansix]

Stop letting facts get in the way of a sensational argument. This is Slashdot for crying out loud! /sarcasm

Re:Danger Signs

[Onymous Coward]

Therefor my opinion has no legal merit

You seem to be equating "legal merit" with "accuracy" or "truth". I think this is the point of the objection here. "Legal merit" is not necessarily truth. It probably relates to it in a way similar to how "law" relates to "morality".

Re:Danger Signs

[s.petry]

Actually no equation is there, and in my opinion, it is not a reasonable assumption (hence my comment regarding how my opinion of the verdict was shaped). The truth is extremely difficult to obtain, and quite impossible to obtain by someone that reads headlines and watches provided opinions on TV.

If an opinion was truth, it would be called a fact. So in the OJ case, I freely admit to having an opinion but would never state my opinion was a fact. If I sat on the jury, I would probably have a different opinion and could confidently state that my opinion is fact.

I'm confused by your last statement. Law is morality, so I'm not sure what you were getting at. Of course that statement is extremely simplified, but close enough.

Re:Danger Signs

[Onymous Coward]

If I sat on the jury, I would probably have a different opinion and could confidently state that my opinion is fact.

To sit on the jury might make you a more informed person, but it wouldn't necessarily make your opinion fact. Do jurors ever disagree? How could that be the case if to be on a jury makes one's opinion fact?

Law is not morality. To equate the two is simplistic — overly simple. More nuanced thinking is required to make sure hell doesn't break loose.

Is abortion legal? Is abortion moral? Does the legality of abortion change over time? Does the morality of abortion change in lockstep with the legality? Clearly abortion is one of the points at which morality and legality might not necessarily synch. How many others things are like this? Are the fines for music copying commensurate with the harm done? Should it be illegal for 20-year-olds to drink alcohol? If someone conceives of a crime that's not covered by any law and manages to harm millions with it, does that mean it's moral?

Re:Danger Signs

[phantomfive]

The truth is extremely difficult to obtain, and quite impossible to obtain by someone that reads headlines and watches provided opinions on TV.

Well said.

Re:Danger Signs

[Anonymous Coward]

...and if you believe he was innocent you're a fucking moron.

Re:Danger Signs

[Half-pint HAL]

The problem is that the verdict appears to have been decided on doctored evidence -- OJ was acquitted because it looked like he was being stitched up... bit it was a botched stitch-up. The case would have panned out differently had it been argued on the real evidence. Would he have been found guilty in that case? I don't know. Nobody knows. But he couldn't have been found guilty on the basis of the evidence presented without it being a miscarriage of justice.

Re:Danger Signs

[Jane Q. Public]

Okay, we can see that both of you have perfectly valid points to make. And we get them both.

Now shut up, please. (Asking nicely here, or at least trying to.)

Re:Danger Signs

[s.petry]

If I was on the jury, my verdict would have been recorded so would have been factual no matter how it was cast. Perhaps you would see it as playing a bit on literal terminology, but my intent was to be literally correct so no play was intended.

I'm not sure how much you have studied Socrates, but I find his definition of Law is extremely accurate. Law is simply an extension of morality, and Law would not exist without morality. That topic is covered both in the dialogues of Plato and more extensively in "The Republic".

Using the Socratic method on your questions regarding abortion, I have to ask "why" those questions exist. There also is an assumption (at least implied) with those questions that everyone has the same morality. Differences in morality is why we have debates regarding, and changes in, the laws. Who is in power (power comes in many colors, so be open minded with the term) has the biggest influence on the Law. That does not make their morals law, but it sure helps.

Re:Danger Signs

[s.petry]

:( Nothing wrong with healthy debate IMO.

Re:Danger Signs

[Rakarra]

You seem to be equating "legal merit" with "accuracy" or "truth". I think this is the point of the objection here. "Legal merit" is not necessarily truth. It probably relates to it in a way similar to how "law" relates to "morality".

But you don't know "accuracy" or "truth."
What you really have is "legal merit" versus "truthyness."
Sadly, this is the one time I have to go with truthyness.

Re:Danger Signs

[Onymous Coward]

It's certainly very hard to know the truth on many matters. And depending on the degree of certainty required, and how philosophical we want to be, we may never be able to know the truth of anything.

But "truthiness" isn't about this deep philosophical issue of whether we can truly know anything. It's about whether we're just deciding on things because we like the ideas versus paying attention to logic and evidence:

Truthiness is a quality characterizing a "truth" that a person claims to know intuitively "from the gut" or because it "feels right" without regard to evidence, logic, intellectual examination, or facts.

Anyway, the point is that "legal merit" is distinct even from (your concept of) "truthiness". "Legal merit" is about complex, fairly rigid, and codified means of securing facts, presenting facts and theories, and evaluating them. The rules for this game make many kinds of clear factual information invalid for consideration, as just one example of how the process deviates from an optimal method for getting at the truth.

So, your choosing (your concept of) "truthiness" over "legal merit" shows you're getting the basic idea. The fact that you can choose between them indicates you know that they're different. The fact that they're distinct is the point.

Bath salts

[jtownatpunk.net]

That is all.

Re:Bath salts

[mister_playboy]

You forgot the "purified" and "anally administered" parts.

Re:Bath salts

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah I suspect he may be exaggerating things in a way that is consistent with the effects of bath salts.

Re:Bath salts

[Black Parrot]

Nasty stuff. When the Florida face-eating attack was in the news there was some speculation that bath salts were the cause, since (reportedly) they had already been implicated in some other flesh-eating cases.

Re:Bath salts

[Anonymous Coward]

Nasty stuff. When the Florida face-eating attack was in the news there was some speculation that bath salts were the cause, since (reportedly) they had already been implicated in some other flesh-eating cases.

Awkwardly, the autopsy report found no traces of bath salts in the crazy face-eater guy's system, only marijuana. Thirty years ago, any time anyone did something crazy, some conclusion-jumper would invariably chirp "He was probably on PCP." Now it's "He was probably on bath salts." Meaningless memes.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/06/27/2871098/mes-report-eugene-had-no-drugs.html

Re:Bath salts

[BeerAndLoathing]

And the toxicology came back negative, and yet this case continues to get mentioned every time anyone mentions bath salts

Re:Bath salts

[Anonymous Coward]

He wasn't trying to "purify bath salts", he was experimenting with converting MDPV from HCl salt to freebase form. According to him the freebase had very different effects compared to the salt.

Re:Bath salts

[Anonymous Coward]

There was speculation because the police immediately announced it was bath salts before any toxicology report could be compled. And guess what? They didn't find any bath salts. It's just pure zombism.

Re:Bath salts

[Black Parrot]

And the toxicology came back negative, and yet this case continues to get mentioned every time anyone mentions bath salts

I thought bath salts were not detectable. Am I misinformed?

Re:Bath salts

[ketamine-bp]

this depends on which laboratory you are talking about. most regional toxicology laboratory are able to detect these drugs (usually by LC-MS/MS), and then chemical standards of these drugs are commercially available (despite, perhaps, the big price tag on the chemical standards which are ~1 grand a piece...)

Re:Bath salts

[Black Parrot]

this depends on which laboratory you are talking about. most regional toxicology laboratory are able to detect these drugs (usually by LC-MS/MS), and then chemical standards of these drugs are commercially available (despite, perhaps, the big price tag on the chemical standards which are ~1 grand a piece...)

Thanks.

If he is so confident in his innocence

[Hentes]

He should defend himself in court.

Re:If he is so confident in his innocence

[wonkey_monkey]

He should defend himself in court.

I'm guessing things look a little different when it's oneself being falsely accused, even without taking into account whatever level of corruption is perceived in the local judiciary.

Re:If he is so confident in his innocence

[Anonymous Coward]

That's less of an option in countries where the government is unusually corrupt.

I wanted to just say 'corrupt' but I'm pretty sure most governments meet the criteria for corrupt. -_-

Re:If he is so confident in his innocence

[Anonymous Coward]

The trial would only last 30 days.

Re:If he is so confident in his innocence

[Anonymous Coward]

You seem quite confident in Belize's court system.

Re:If he is so confident in his innocence

[Anonymous Coward]

but he doesn't want to be in any court in Belize because he feels they're beyond corruption

Re:If he is so confident in his innocence

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, that worked well for OJ.

Re:If he is so confident in his innocence

[Anonymous Coward]

I'd imagine that the idea of him spending 6 months in jail prior to the trial even commencing and being remanded nightly to his cell is one of the more overwhelming considerations for him to not turn himself in, rather than his desire for vindication.

Re:If he is so confident in his innocence

[Anonymous Coward]

Have you ever been detained pre-trial in a third-world prison?

Re:If he is so confident in his innocence

[Anonymous Coward]

Which court?

Re:If he is so confident in his innocence

[Anonymous Coward]

i see what you did there

Re:If he is so confident in his innocence

[gstoddart]

I'm guessing things look a little different when it's oneself being falsely accused, even without taking into account whatever level of corruption is perceived in the local judiciary.

That, of course, presumes he's actually being falsely accused.

I honestly haven't seen enough evidence to sway me either way -- and it's not like people haven't gone to elaborate lengths to deny criminal charges.

So far we have the official version, and his version. I don't doubt the possibility of corrupt police and false charges -- but I can't exclude the possibility that he did it as well.

Re:If he is so confident in his innocence

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't believe he's even been charged with the crime yet; he's simply wanted for questioning.

Re:If he is so confident in his innocence

[Fallen Kell]

Someone is not up on his current police terminology. "Person of interest" is what used to be called "prime suspect". The reason for the change is that the courts in recent years have held that by pre-labling people "prime suspects" you give the lawyers a chance to show that police had already made up their minds as to who the guilty party was and ignored everyone else.

Re:If he is so confident in his innocence

[timeOday]

You are taking his story at face value? Listen to his blog:

"She has also helped me evade detection by grabbing me and kissing me, in public, in a fashion that causes passerby's to feel embarrassment at the thought of staring and by creating emotional scenes that cause the curious to momentarily forget what they were looking for," he wrote. "She is acutely aware of her surroundings and is as street smart as a sober hobo."

I think he is delusional. That's not to say he can't evade the authorities in Belize for a while, but to what end?

Re:If he is so confident in his innocence

[demonbug]

Have you ever been detained pre-trial in a third-world prison?

Well, you kind of have to expect that possibility when you flee first world countries to avoid lawsuits/prison (the reason Mcaffee is in Belize in the first place).

Re:If he is so confident in his innocence

[multicoregeneral]

Obviously, it was the one armed man.

Re:If he is so confident in his innocence

[Anonymous Coward]

There may be reason to doubt the Beliese government. Source from quick google search

http://www.7newsbelize.com/sstory.php?nid=15542
http://www.heritage.org/index/country/belize

Does that mean Mcafee innocent? Hell no, it's quite likely that these are delusions since he a drug addy. That said, really, there just not enough information to form a opinion either way not that such a opinion would matter anyways.

Re:If he is so confident in his innocence

[PNutts]

That's what he's trying to avoid. According to him, "court" is a beaten confession or a bullet to the back of the head.

Re:If he is so confident in his innocence

[PNutts]

You are taking his story at face value? Listen to his blog:

"She has also helped me evade detection by grabbing me and kissing me, in public, in a fashion that causes passerby's to feel embarrassment at the thought of staring and by creating emotional scenes that cause the curious to momentarily forget what they were looking for," he wrote. "She is acutely aware of her surroundings and is as street smart as a sober hobo."

I think he is delusional. That's not to say he can't evade the authorities in Belize for a while, but to what end?

It sounds like he has High Anxiety.

Re:If he is so confident in his innocence

[Anonymous Coward]

And you know he is falsely accused, how?

Re:If he is so confident in his innocence

[berashith]

Have you ever been in a turkish prison?
Have you ever seen a grown man naked?

Re:If he is so confident in his innocence

[PNutts]

It did. He was acquitted of two counts of murder.

Re:If he is so confident in his innocence

[h4rr4r]

That might be a good reason to live in a decent country instead of fleeing to some hell hole to cook drugs and nail jailbait.

Re:If he is so confident in his innocence

[Hadlock]

That, of course, presumes he's actually being falsely accused.

Innocent until proven guilty. That is, here in the states anyways. Besides the philosophical reasoning behind that statement, it gives the accused a proper fighting chance. People who are guilty tend to be very exceedingly guilty; there are very few violent criminal cases where someone was only marginally or technically guilty, and in that case we err on the side of "beyond a reasonable doubt". Removing someone's freedom without erring on the side of caution sets a poor precedent for us all.

Re:If he is so confident in his innocence

[leromarinvit]

Only if there's no crack involved.

Re:If he is so confident in his innocence

[wonkey_monkey]

That's a hell of a way to brag about getting some.

Re:If he is so confident in his innocence

[Anonymous Coward]

Only government officials and jurors have any reason to respect the presumption of innocence.
The rest of us know OJ did it.

Re:If he is so confident in his innocence

[Anonymous Coward]

You are taking his story at face value?

I don't know if the original poster was taking the story at face value or not, but that doesn't seem relevant to the post. Regardless of whether you think he did it or think you don't have any idea, etc., it is still true that if a person in general were falsely accused, they may have reason to not trust the courts depending on what the evidence looks like or if there is perceived corruption.

Trying to imply that a person hiding from court must be guilty can be pretty far from correct. At best there might be an honestly innocent person somewhere that has a lot of things that look bad in court against them, at worse, the person might be stupid, but not guilty of murder.

Re:If he is so confident in his innocence

[cayenne8]

Do you like gladiator movies?

Re:If he is so confident in his innocence

[Abreu]

He should defend himself in court.

I'm guessing things look a little different when it's oneself being falsely accused, even without taking into account whatever level of corruption is perceived in the local judiciary.

You mean it's a false positive?

Re:If he is so confident in his innocence

[Abreu]

Yup, Libertarian paradises tend to be like that.

Re:If he is so confident in his innocence

[sjames]

That would depend on his confidence in the courts.

That level of confidence would have to be VERY high.

Re:If he is so confident in his innocence

[Kergan]

He should defend himself in court.

I've little sympathy for the old man living with barely legal chicks, but I also suspect you've absolutely no idea what a court might be like in a country with rampant corruption and cronyism.

Re:If he is so confident in his innocence

[Hentes]

Corruption shouldn't be a problem for a man who has just offered up $25K.

Re:If he is so confident in his innocence

[Anonymous Coward]

If only one man was armed then it is indeed obvious.

Re:If he is so confident in his innocence

[Anonymous Coward]

To be fair, 20 is only jailbait in America, most "decent" countries have an age of consent between 14 and 18, not 21.

Re:If he is so confident in his innocence

[h4rr4r]

I meant the 17 year old.

The age of consent is per state and not federally set in the USA. Some states are 16 and others are 18.

Re:If he is so confident in his innocence

[Anonymous Coward]

Does your taste include snails or oysters?

Re:If he is so confident in his innocence

[gmhowell]

No, but I do speak jive.

Re:If he is so confident in his innocence

[gmhowell]

He should defend himself in court.

I've little sympathy for the old man living with barely legal chicks, but I also suspect you've absolutely no idea what a court might be like in a country with rampant corruption and cronyism.

I've little sympathy for men who think women are such fragile little things that they cannot be expected to make their own decisions about who they do or do not sleep with without some patriarchal overlord second guessing them.

Re:If he is so confident in his innocence

[Kergan]

I've little sympathy for men who think women are such fragile little things that they cannot be expected to make their own decisions about who they do or do not sleep with without some patriarchal overlord second guessing them.

You seem oblivious to how easy it is to impress young women.

Re:If he is so confident in his innocence

[wonkey_monkey]

I don't. I wasn't talking about McAfee.

Re:If he is so confident in his innocence

[Anonymous Coward]

As a matter of fact, yes, I have. Philippines to be exact. I don't blame him for skipping out on that.

Re:If he is so confident in his innocence

[gmhowell]

I've little sympathy for men who think women are such fragile little things that they cannot be expected to make their own decisions about who they do or do not sleep with without some patriarchal overlord second guessing them.

You seem oblivious to how easy it is to impress young women.

So they should not have the right to vote, drink, engage in premarital sex, drive, or any of a number of other things? They just aren't up to the standards of men?

Re:If he is so confident in his innocence

[Anonymous Coward]

Another 1 line karma whoring post for gmhowell so he can mod up his other multiple registered user slashdot accounts with even though they use 1 line crap content like he's shown now, and to mod down opponents with when they show him up, cheating the moderation system here. We're all onto you and your transparent methods you scumbag troll.

Haiku

[Anonymous Coward]

Programmer named John
Millionaire! Where does he live?
Mud hut with no lawn

Somethings amiss....

[mark-t]

Unless a person is being framed, an innocent person has no reason to flee law enforcement because they are suspected of a crime.

All running does is increase the perception that the person is guilty.

Re:Somethings amiss....

[Anonymous Coward]

Say that when you feel that the likely course of action from a judiciary is a bullet to the head.

Re:Somethings amiss....

[operagost]

This is Belize.

Re:Somethings amiss....

[coolsnowmen]

I used to believe this, until, in the US, Guantanamo bay was setup, and people were rounded up and jailed with out charges for years.

Re:Somethings amiss....

[firex726]

Or unless their have a fear that they wont get a fair trial as the government is corrupt.

Re:Somethings amiss....

[SuricouRaven]

That depends if they trust in the law enforcement to accurately determine the events and honestly uphold the law. If the suspect believes the police are either incomperent, corrupt or vindictive then they do have a very strong reason to flee. If only to get out of the country and into one where they have enough trust in law enforcement to turn themselves in.

Re:Somethings amiss....

[gl4ss]

Unless a person is being framed, an innocent person has no reason to flee law enforcement because they are suspected of a crime.

All running does is increase the perception that the person is guilty.

well, he is claiming that belize police is framing him, due to not being bribed properly(and due to things between him and the police escalating). the police may very well originally thought that he was doing something mildly illegal, everyone is if you look at things the "right" way, so he should have paid up.
as a consequence he was busted in a fashion that would lead the local police into very bad light if it was done without reason - and he didn't get charged. this left the local police with a serious problem.

so if he had free reign to pursue justice from the bust then the local police would be fucked in some levels, so it's not that far fetched action for the cops to escalate things further. I mean, why would the local cops assume that anyone would care for some has been businessman just because his name is McAfee? had he been some pipe salesman then international press wouldn't give a flying fuck but as it is his adventure is being reported even in Finland. so politics wise things haven't been going nicely for either McAfee or the local cops(who officially according to reports only want to 'question' him anyways.. which I suppose means there's no arrest warrant, international or local).

Which does leave the question though who killed the victim and why? who the fuck was he?
The lesson to take home here is: don't relocate to Belize.

Re:Somethings amiss....

[h4rr4r]

That does not mean this burned out fool did not commit this crime. Read his blog, he is off his nut.

Re:Somethings amiss....

[Anonymous Coward]

Dis Assange say that too?

Re:Somethings amiss....

[h4rr4r]

Why exactly are you taking his claims at face value?

I think the real lesson here is to not spend your life jamming bath salts in your ass. Then you can avoid ending up a burn out wanted for murder.

Re:Somethings amiss....

[Anonymous Coward]

Not committing a crime != not guilty in the eyes of the law. If one is able to get the heck out, there are plenty reasons to do so:

1: Things happen in jails. Stuff that doesn't get caught on cameras, and word against word does not hold up.

2: Bail may not be possible for a lot of people. So, they get to rot in jail with no chance of researching a defense, compared to being on the outside and being able to get a suitable defense together.

3: Just an arrest is a career killer. Google "arrest electronic plantation" for a good description. Just a haul in that gets your fingerprints on NCIC's files with no charges can mean never getting a job in the banking industry.

4: Jails are not nice places. Some cities like Austin will place people in a waiting room and you have a good chance of getting out unscathed. Others like Chicago toss you in a bullpen where the local hoodrats on the intake will promptly relieve you of your shoes [1] and anything valuable.

So, if given the choice, then getting out if possible is likely a good thing.

[1]: The shoes get taken just to show who is boss in the cage.

Re:Somethings amiss....

[Anonymous Coward]

Even in the United States there are plenty of people who were innocent and went to prison.

http://www.innocenceproject.org/

That said from what little I've read the man does appear to have the qualities of a psychopath.

Re:Somethings amiss....

[RCGodward]

Do we really know he posted that stuff? The only evidence I've seen regarding bath salts is some posts on a Russian drug forum from a username McAfee used other places.

Re:Somethings amiss....

[greyblack]

THIS. IS. BELIIIIZE!!!

FTFY

Re:Somethings amiss....

[h4rr4r]

Read his blog.
It is chock full of some kind of crazy.

Re:Somethings amiss....

[gl4ss]

well they're the only claims to have been made.
and I don't remember journalists contesting the stuff reported about his bust? - that he was a) busted b) not charged.
the the belize cops don't really sound like they would have anything to pin the murder on him. in fact they don't sound like they're confident enough to even ask the neighboring counties police departments to look for him for them. can't really be _that_ hard to find.

as to the whole "bath salts" why the fuck not just make mdma while at it ?? though again, the cops busted him for not bribing them while they probably thought that was what he was up to with his lab - he wasn't, so couple of dogs dead for nothing.

Re:Somethings amiss....

[Anonymous Coward]

Gitmo is in the US?

Re:Somethings amiss....

[Anonymous Coward]

Let's of course forget that these people are:
a) Not American citizens
b) Hostile enemies attacking our military personel
c) Likely to continue to pose a threat if released
d) all of the above

Re:Somethings amiss....

[mcgrew]

Unless a person is being framed, an innocent person has no reason to flee law enforcement because they are suspected of a crime.

On the contrary, son, there are innocents in prison right now. Innocent men have been executed for murder.

Or should I be wooshed away from here?

Re:Somethings amiss....

[spire3661]

You are a fool, living a fool's life. Survival > all

Re:Somethings amiss....

[mark-t]

Your tone suggests that you seriously doubt I would, so there's little point in my telling you that you are wrong. I'll chalk it up to the fact that you do not know me. I have no desire to die, but I'd rather take the high road and have a clear conscience than live knowing that I could deserve a lot worse than what I have.

Re:Somethings amiss....

[mark-t]

Is it foolish to realize that one cannot control what other people do?

I certainly wouldn't want to go to jail for something I didn't do... but if other people are thinking that I did, my running away is certainly *NOT* going to have a chance in hell of convincing them that they are wrong. Just knowing I didn't do it might seem like small consolation if I were spending time in prison for something I didn't actually do, but it's preferable to me than deliberately making choices of my own that are only going to increase the outside perception that I'm guilty, not to mention against the law, and I *could* reasonably be held accountable for.

Re:Somethings amiss....

[Anonymous Coward]

Unless a person is being framed, an innocent person has no reason to flee law enforcement because they are suspected of a crime.

All running does is increase the perception that the person is guilty.

That's only true if you don't have enough money/resources to escape to Brazil.

Re:Somethings amiss....

[rhsanborn]

a) Just because they aren't Americans doesn't make it right to hold them without trial.
b) It has turned out that several weren't actually hostile enemies attacking anyone.
c) If there is a threat, then it should be easily shown in a trial.

Here is a quick list of people who were held and determined not to be enemy combatants:
Sadik Ahmad Turkistani
Adel Abdulhehim
Sami Abdul Aziz Salim Allaithy

Re:Somethings amiss....

[bill_mcgonigle]

Unless a person is being framed, an innocent person has no reason to flee law enforcement because they are suspected of a crime.

False.

Re:Somethings amiss....

[bill_mcgonigle]

people were rounded up and jailed with out charges for years

Oh, that's old-school. Now their children are assassinated by drone-strike.

To keep us safe.

Re:Somethings amiss....

[spire3661]

If society has already deemed you guilty of a crime you didnt do, who gives a flying fuck what their perception is. If the system itself turns on you, what obligation do you have to it?

Re:Somethings amiss....

[mark-t]

You appear to think that must have been implying that innocent people don't goto jail. That's not what I mean.

What I mean is that whether or not you go to jail is going to entirely depend on whether somebody believes you did it. Running away will only further that belief. If you go to jail for something you didn't do, that's unfortunate, but if the only thing you can do to avoid it is make it appear more likely that you did (and thus also more likely to face worse punishment), then taking your chances and hoping for a lack of evidence to convict you (since if you are innocent, there should not be any, unless you were framed) is a preferable option.

Re:Somethings amiss....

[mark-t]

That's exactly my point. If society thinks you did,then you're going to go jail for it. Why do something that will only serve to *increase* that perception?

Re:Somethings amiss....

[mark-t]

I deeply cherish my freedom. But I'd rather be a prisoner for something I didnt do than live as a slave to anyone or anything because of mymown choices. Because all running away form the law does is make you a slave to running.

Re:Somethings amiss....

[Anonymous Coward]

I did. Not only is he off his nut, but he's a 67 year old man with two girlfriends, ages 17 and 20. I guess piles of money can only get you so far, but wow, that's far.

Re:Somethings amiss....

[Onymous Coward]

Please take a moment to reconsider these ideas and to consider the thinking that produced them.

You may be a stand-up person, with nothing but good intent for the world, doing right things as best you can. That's good. That's appreciated.

These ideas, however, do not serve you in your cause to do right.

Re:Somethings amiss....

[mark-t]

Running from the law makes you a slave to running away... because that's all you'll ever be able to do. You aren't free. Prison isn't a place that most any sane person would voluntarily choose for themselves, but it's preferable to slavery. For that matter, so is death.

Re:Somethings amiss....

[Bryansix]

Really? You would rather die then offend some people? Amazing. I don't believe it for an instant but hey, stranger things have happened.

Re:Somethings amiss....

[Darinbob]

Ya, that makes it all ok I guess. No rules or laws or treaties or codes of conduct ever apply once you cross the border.

Re:Somethings amiss....

[Darinbob]

Presumed to be hostile enemies. Most have them have had no hearings to decide this. A lot were just rounded up with no evidence because someone wanted the bounty to turn in others. There were inmates there who did not pose any threat and yet releasing them was full of political issues.

It is against the law to hold people without charges. It does not matter if this is not in the US because it was done on US operated military base. It also violates international treaties, and the US constitution says that treaties have full force of the law (even though the US historically violates them). These people are not even being given the basic rights of prisoners of war.

Yes there are a few dangerous people there, but a lot of people as well who would be found innocent if they were allowed rights to habeus corpus or trials.

This is just a lot of fallout that came from starting a war without having any plan whatsoever. The irony is that I think if many of these prisoners had been held in secret black ops sites that they'd have been released quietly as too much hassle to keep around. But because the military is holding them it's a loss of face to release someone.

I also blame all the NIMBYs who protested against allowing these prisoners trials on US soil.

Re:Somethings amiss....

[mark-t]

No. I'd rather die than be a slave.

Running away makes you a slave to trying to always running away.

The advantage of the high road is that you remain free.

Re:Somethings amiss....

[Half-pint HAL]

B) "Hostile enemies"...? The US ignored the Geneva Convention by saying that they're not soldiers, but then refused to treat them according to criminal law instead.

Re:Somethings amiss....

[Half-pint HAL]

Just as well. Some of those guys had very vicious looking goats.

Re:Somethings amiss....

[Anonymous Coward]

AFAIR, Guantanamo was deliberately created on non-US soil to be able to detain US citizens indefinitely. Many prisoners are or were indeed US citizens.

Re:Somethings amiss....

[Grumbleduke]

On the contrary, son, there are innocents in prison right now.

Technically there are people in prison right now who claim to be innocent. They may be innocent, they may not. The ones proven to be innocent (or rather, who have had their convictions quashed, which doesn't necessarily mean they are innocent) should have been released by now.

[Disclaimer: I've just started working on an Innocent project, so... not sure whether that makes me more or less likely to agree with them being innocent.]

Also, are you really the parent of the poster you were replying to?

Re:Somethings amiss....

[mcgrew]

The ones proven to be innocent (or rather, who have had their convictions quashed, which doesn't necessarily mean they are innocent) should have been released by now

Almost all if not all of those who wre released were proven innocent by DNA. Most were victims of prosecutorial misconduct. Some were tortured into confessing.

I'm not sure who the GP was...

Re:You'd think with his money, he could...

[somersault]

She looks okay to me, kinda cute. As long as someone is at least average in looks, their personality counts for a lot more in the end. There have been women that I don't consider that attractive, that start looking more attractive once I get to know them. Then there have been women who I initially find attractive, that just repulse me once I get to know them.

Five stars!

[Anonymous Coward]

This is by far the most entertaining, hilarious, and amazing drug-paranoia fueled blog I have ever read.

I wonder how long before he starts sharing his secret formulas with the world and showing pictures of him kestering his product.

I'll do it for free under one condition.

[Anonymous Coward]

Under the condition that he personally removes the crap bloatware bearing his name from every corporate machine in the world and never authors software again then I'll gear up like Dog the bounty hunter and locate the murderer for him. Or just wait for him to confess he did it. Either way.

This is what I don't understand

[Anonymous Coward]

If Belize is out for his head, why not just GET THE FUCK OUTTA THERE? Why the hell is this idiot still hanging around?

Re:This is what I don't understand

[jeffmeden]

If Belize is out for his head, why not just GET THE FUCK OUTTA THERE? Why the hell is this idiot still hanging around?

You would think that $25000 would be enough to grease the palms of the Mexican border guards, or hell just pay some drug runners to smuggle him to the US with their next shipment; if he is really being targeted and persecuted in Belize, the risk seems bearable.

And let this be a lesson for ya, it's all fun and games moving with your millions to a Caribbean tax shelter, until the local [cartel,corrupt police,militias, kidnappers, etc] come for you. Why not just keep your millions stateside, pay your taxes like a good boy, and get old and fat without these kinds of worries? Was there not enough suspense in that option?

Re:This is what I don't understand

[lister king of smeg]

i mean really why not go to a European tax shelter, Monaco, Switzerland, or other such place. the government is slightly less corrupt and you are less likely to be framed for forgetting to pay the local police chief off.

Re:This is what I don't understand

[jemenake]

And let this be a lesson for ya, it's all fun and games moving with your millions to a Caribbean tax shelter, until the local [cartel,corrupt police,militias, kidnappers, etc] come for you. Why not just keep your millions stateside, pay your taxes like a good boy, and get old and fat without these kinds of worries? Was there not enough suspense in that option?

Exactly. This is the exact point of the "You Didn't Build That" speech (and the Elizabeth Warren one which gave rise to it). Try getting your Subway franchise or tanning salon off the ground when there are roving bands of thugs and rebels going up and down the unpaved roads. Once you buy your own security force, one could argue that you're out the same amount of money.

Re:This is what I don't understand

[Anonymous Coward]

Because it's too hard to run drug labs or fuck underaged girls anywhere else.

Re:This is what I don't understand

[h4rr4r]

Because they won't let you cook bath salts?

Re:This is what I don't understand

[Kaenneth]

The problem with dealing with corrupt guards and drug smugglers like that, is they are reasonably likely to just shoot you, and keep your money.

Re:This is what I don't understand

[lister king of smeg]

evidently belize does not either

Re:This is what I don't understand

[PNutts]

Why not just keep your millions stateside, pay your taxes like a good boy, and get old and fat without these kinds of worries?

I've got 2 thru 3 covered. #1 is turning out to be a problem.

Re:This is what I don't understand

[Anonymous Coward]

Because it's too hard to run drug labs or fuck underaged girls anywhere else.

"If you lived in Arkansas you'd be home now!"

Re:This is what I don't understand

[cdrguru]

If the alternatives were clearly a choice between paying for a huge welfare state and living in a community of thugs out to take whatever is lying around, then you, Elizabeth Warren and President Obama would be correct.

The problem is, civilization does not necessarily lead to corruption without the influences of a huge welfare state. And in the US there is clear evidence that the presence of the police, fire and other protective services aren't part of the welfare state - we have had them long before we had the idea of a welfare state.

There is also clear evidence that you can pick two people off the street and pretty easily identify the "entrepreneur" - someone that will be successful in building a new business and pretty easily identify the other sort that would prefer to live off your contributions. If this were not the case and such things were completely dependent on the government then the "You didn't build that" folks might have a point. The facts are more like if you do not have the ambition, focus and energy you aren't going to build anything no matter what. If you do, then mostly all the government can do is stand in the way - there were plenty of people building businesses in the 1700s when there was very little government in the way and no organized police.

It all comes down to the individual. You might like the "it takes a village" concept better, but it has little to no basis in reality. Reality is that you have it or you don't, and if you don't no amount of government "help" is going to make the difference.

Re:This is what I don't understand

[ArsonSmith]

This is the huge distinction between Libertarianism and Anarchy that people often try to blur. Few if any Libertarians will say no to any government, and they will recognize that a certain amount is a good thing. I myself have always lived by the motto: "Just enough government, and no more." Of course the argument then comes down to how much is just enough.

Re:This is what I don't understand

[Anonymous Coward]

Question; how does this make sense when your Subway franchise or tanning salon pays taxes?

Answer; it doesn't.

Re:This is what I don't understand

[n7ytd]

You would think that $25000 would be enough to grease the palms of the Mexican border guards, or hell just pay some drug runners to smuggle him to the US with their next shipment; if he is really being targeted and persecuted in Belize, the risk seems bearable.

Lest we forget that he originally went to Belize to avoid legal and tax problems in the US. I doubt the US is on the top of his "Countries I Can Flee To" list.

Re:This is what I don't understand

[Anonymous Coward]

You would think that $25000 would be enough to grease the palms of the Mexican border guards, or hell just pay some drug runners to smuggle him to the US with their next shipment; if he is really being targeted and persecuted in Belize, the risk seems bearable.

He might have left the country already. But which country would he choose as his destination?

Re:This is what I don't understand

[Bucc5062]

Let's stop with the "I built it with my own two hands" BS. That only works if you are Robinson Caruso. If you start a business today, or even back in the 1700s you still have to work with a basic infrastructure that you did not build yourself.

Yes, let us take the roads, bridges, and basic services out of the equation. You boiled it down to a Us and Them moment where Us is the "I'm an entrepreneur" and the Them are those that just leach off the fruits of your labor.

There is also clear evidence that you can pick two people off the street and pretty easily identify the "entrepreneur" - someone that will be successful in building a new business and pretty easily identify the other sort that would prefer to live off your contributions

So fine, until you want to expand and hire another worker. Now that worker is not an entrepreneur, nor a leach, but one who contributes to the owner. The moment he/she hires then in reality, they did not build it themselves anymore,they hired someone else too to the work. Almost like the entrepreneur is leaching off the hard work of others. So now we have three players, the entrepreneur, the worker/laborer, and the leach. With a 93+% employment rate in the US, it would seem that those who leach, as a group, are pretty small. Those that entrepreneur are also pretty small, thus the largest group out there in business is the worker/laborer.

It takes some major cajones to stand up and say that the only contributors to a society are just the entrepreneurs, to say that they are the only group of value. Without that pretty large labor pool, they would build squat.

Re:This is what I don't understand

[ultranova]

It all comes down to the individual. You might like the "it takes a village" concept better, but it has little to no basis in reality. Reality is that you have it or you don't, and if you don't no amount of government "help" is going to make the difference.

It takes the guy who hung the power lines for your business to get electricity. It takes the guy who paved the roads for you, your products and your customers to move on. It takes the guys who defend the borders and those who guard your business at night. It takes actual employees unless your brave new business is a one-man miracle. It takes customers and it takes suppliers. And it takes someone to take the trash out.

You might like the "I need nobody" concept better, but it has no basis whatsoever in reality. Reality is that you either live in a village or redefine success as "I found tasty worms and outran the bear today".

Re:This is what I don't understand

[kenorland]

And let this be a lesson for ya, it's all fun and games moving with your millions to a Caribbean tax shelter, until the local [cartel,corrupt police,militias, kidnappers, etc] come for you. Why not just keep your millions stateside, pay your taxes like a good boy, and get old and fat without these kinds of worries?

Indded. Here, the "local cartel" comes for you too, but in a much more civilized and predictable manner, usually involving the IRS, government mandates to buy from companies, subsidies, bailouts, stimulus packages, and all that.

Re:This is what I don't understand

[kenorland]

Let's stop with the "I built it with my own two hands" BS. That only works if you are Robinson Caruso. If you start a business today, or even back in the 1700s you still have to work with a basic infrastructure that you did not build yourself.

Most entrepreneurs I know have no problem with paying local or state taxes, taxes where we see where the money is spent and where we have the option of moving away when government is screwing up. We have a problem with moving more and more functions to the federal government, where tax dollars I spend turn into bridges to nowhere to benefit some politically connected Republican in Alaska, or bail out some failing and obsolete industry, or pay for huge bonuses for Bush's and Obama's buddies in the banking industry.

Re:This is what I don't understand

[Anonymous Coward]

Why not just keep your millions stateside, pay your taxes like a good boy, and get old and fat without these kinds of worries? Was there not enough suspense in that option

The answer is simple: because that alternative (with all its nuisances) is *still* better than what you propose. You say "pay your taxes" as though it's just a small nuisance. It's not. For wealthy people, the changes the USA are undergoing are truly frightening. Why do you think so many people are leaving the US for better shores? Rich people aren't stupid. To think they are going to sit there and take all of this class warfare bullshit cries of naivete. They don't have to so they aren't.

Remember the golden rule: he who has the gold makes the rules. Many people are coming to the conclusion that the only way to win is not to play. See Hostess and countless other examples all across the country. It's going to get worse too.

I don't give a rats ass about John or his problems but lets not pretend that he is some weirdo for moving to Belize. Anyone who can read knows exactly why he moved (and are probably looking at it themselves.....sans the drugs, underage girls, and murder)

Re:This is what I don't understand

[AK Marc]

"Just enough government, and no more."

The problem is that's the motto of the anarchists, libertarians, capitalists, fascists, socialists and communists. The only distinction is on the definition of "enough".

Re:This is what I don't understand

[Anonymous Coward]

You've made a claim on reality but hardly do anything to prop it up. How many vets would never have gone to college and or started businesses if not for the handouts the governments provides them? How many people have shit lives in some other country and are content to practically live behind the counter of their convenience store or in the drivers seat of their taxi once they get here?

Lots of successful people used food stamps or college programs at some point in their life.

Re:This is what I don't understand

[number11]

Most entrepreneurs I know have no problem with paying local or state taxes, taxes where we see where the money is spent and where we have the option of moving away when government is screwing up.

And that's different from federal taxes, how? You've always got the option of moving to, oh, say, Belize. You don't have to put up with the federal government pissing away money on Interstates and FEMA and Social Security and military adventures in Iraq (if you provide a good pension plan for all your workers, and don't steal the money like a lot of big companies did, they won't need that Social Security).

Re:This is what I don't understand

[Lashat]

eÂnough/iËnÉ(TM)f/

Adjective:

As much or as many as required.

Adverb:

To the required degree or extent (used after an adjective, adverb, or verb); adequately: "old enough to shave".

Exclamation:

Used to express impatient desire for an end to undesirable behavior or speech: "Enough! No more arguing!".

Synonyms:

adjective. sufficient - adequate - ample - satisfactory

adverb. sufficiently - pretty - satis - quite - fairly - rather

Re:This is what I don't understand

[Anonymous Coward]

What the hell are you talking about? What is a leach?

What is this 93% employment rate?

Are all you people high?

http://www.zombietime.com/zomblog/?p=1852

Try learning something today and contributing to society.

Good grief.

Re:This is what I don't understand

[AK Marc]

Then you need to define "required degree", and repeat that exercise indefinitely. It's all someone's opinion at some point. That was the point, we can agree on the words to define the solution and still disagree on the solution itself.

Re:This is what I don't understand

[kenorland]

And that's different from federal taxes, how?

First, Obama is engaging in bait-and-switch: he justified tax increases with paying for the kind of infrastructure that businesses need, but that's not where the taxes go that he collects.

Second, the US federal government has a specific list of enumerated powers and duties, and creating the roads, schools, and infrastructure that businesses need is not on that list (only interstate commerce).

Third, there is competition between cities and states for businesses, and there is free movement of goods, services, people, and money between states; that keeps governmental screw-ups in check. This kind of competition does not exist at the federal level; if the federal government screws up, it screws up the entire country, irrevocably.

You've always got the option of moving to, oh, say, Belize.

There is no freedom of movement, goods, services, or money between the US and elsewhere, so most people do not have that option. Besides, instead of leaving a sinking ship, it would be better to keep the ship from sinking. The US isn't irredeemably lost, it's just had a couple of bad presidents and a bad decade. It happens.

Re:This is what I don't understand

[Darinbob]

A few million dollars also goes a lot farther in Belize than in Switzerland.

Re:This is what I don't understand

[ArsonSmith]

not really. Anarchists want no government, libertarians just want enough government to protect the individual. Capitalists want enough government to protect the producers, socialists want enough government to provide for everyone, fascists and communists want enough government to insure nobody can be better than anyone else no batter their ability.

Re:This is what I don't understand

[omnichad]

That only works if you are Robinson Caruso

That's Robinson Crusoe. Someone's watched too much Gilligan's Island. Sadly, whoever wrote that closing theme song thought that they could get away with hiding an extra syllable in the name to make the word fit the music. And it's apparently been causing people to think that's a real person for decades.

Re:This is what I don't understand

[Bucc5062]

Thank you. I typed it from phonic memory and being a child of the Gilligan era (Mary Ann for sure, Ginger was way to much maintenance) that is what came out. I thought to Google it, but got lazy.

Of course, I now curse you for that damn tune is stuck in my head all day.

Only 25k?

[Anonymous Coward]

If it was really the hardened drug criminals he suspects, why does he think such a small chunk of change would get them to turn in their friends?

Maybe he should work with OJ Simpson

[Anonymous Coward]

Together they could find the real killers of Nicole Simpson AND Gregory Faull.

I tried to access it

[Anonymous Coward]

But my antivirus software totally flagged that site.

or more realistically

[nimbius]

he and his 17 year old girlfriend are being chased around town by the cops for unlicensed drug manufacture, posession of an unlicensed firearm and suspicion of making crystal meth. Hes also wanted for questioning in the death of an american ex-patriot. hes not answering routine police questions and hes rambling on about secret plots to decapitate dead animals and collect his friends. John McAfee is a textbook example of drug-induced psychopathy.

of course, for those of us who doubled-up on our tinfoil this morning, belize isnt known as the most textbook of democratic states
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_Perceptions_Index

Re:or more realistically

[Joehonkie]

Reading the blog is sounds like he is on the lam with his 20 year old girlfriend and has left the 17 year old one at the house.

Re:or more realistically

[19thNervousBreakdown]

Although it's certainly possible to be an ex-patriot, I think you mean expatriate.

Re:or more realistically

[greg1104]

Actually the 17 year old girlfriend has been taking the bath salts, so she both thinks and looks as if she's aged 3 years in the last month.

Re:or more realistically

[mcgrew]

Give the kid a break, he's probably not even in high school yet. How can I tell? No capitals and no apostrophes; his entire comment looked as if he's barely literate but trying vainly to be "kewl".

Re:or more realistically

[Kergan]

Yeah, there's no mention of her in follow up posts for some reason.

What rubbed me the wrong way, personally, was that he insisted on getting an excuse and blah blah from the prime minister, and then went on to become a staunch critic of the latter. I was like, seriously? If you live in a third world country, especially one as corrupt as Belize, the first rule of thumb is to keep a low profile and not arm-wrestle with local authorities, no matter who you are or think you are. He evidently didn't get that memo.

Moreover, there's writing all over the wall that he wasn't keeping a low profile before that. Researching an antibacterial spray has nothing to do with researching antibiotics (for which a permit seems needed)? Really? A private security firm? Getting into disputes with his neighbours? Wtf? If anything, I'd wager from his couple of posts that he behaved like what the locals call Gringos. They think they own the place and can do as they please, because they're from the US and immensely richer than the next guy. Belize locals, as most other Latin Americans, loath them with a passion. I've little sympathy for him.

Re:or more realistically

[stephanruby]

he and his 17 year old girlfriend are being chased around town by the cops for unlicensed drug manufacture, posession of an unlicensed firearm and suspicion of making crystal meth. Hes also wanted for questioning in the death of an american ex-patriot. hes not answering routine police questions and hes rambling on about secret plots to decapitate dead animals and collect his friends. John McAfee is a textbook example of drug-induced psychopathy.

McCafee claims his girlfriend is 20 years old. Did you really see someone else claim she was younger? Or are you making it up yourself? Looking at her picture, I'd say she even looks older than 20 years old.

Also, the decapitation of his buried dead dogs can easily be explained. The cops are doing ballistics analysis on the bullets. Also, it's customary to only take the head of a dog when testing for rabbies. And the analysis of the dogs is important for the cops, because their theory is that his neighbor poisoned his dogs, not that his dogs had rabbies (thereby going to a potential motive for wanting to kill the neighbor).

Also, no one seems to be disputing the fact that cops have rounded up his entourage and kept some of them in jail. Nor does he describe it as some kind of "secret plot". Those are your words, not his. Here are his words exactly:

After the murder of Mr. Faul, the police began a systematic roundup of my friends and associates. So far, those arrested include:

Eddie Ancona – my best friend in Belize. Eddie is a consistent attendant at the local church. He does not drink. He does not smoke. He has never used drugs. He has a loyal wife and a young son. His only crime is being my best friend. He is still in jail and is being charged with trumped-up charges.

Cassian Chavarria – my caretaker of two and a half years. Cassian is one of the most honest men I have had the pleasure to know. He is reliable and competent. I would trust him with my life. He, like Eddie, has been jailed for a week.

A cab driver named Cesar. I regret not knowing his last name. His only crime was driving me into town the day of the murder. I am told he has since been released.

William Mulligan – my British bodyguard. He was arrested and has been sent to the Government penitentiary in Hattieville.

Williams wife, Stefanie Mulligan – she was arrested with her husband. She had just arrived for the weekend. He had not seen her for months. I am told that, since she was breastfeeding, she was temporarily released.

My housekeeper Priscilla – I regret again not knowing her last name. She is one of the most decent people I have known. I am told she has been released but charges may be filed.

The list will grow. I am asking all people of conscience to read this blog, especially the links in the “Background” section, and see the ugly truth unfolding here. Speak out. Write your congressmen. Write the Prime Minister. Do what you can. These people are suffering and will continue to do so irrespective of my actions. They will become yet another bleak statistic in the web of injustice clutching the heart of this country.

Re:or more realistically

[smugfunt]

chased around town by the cops for unlicensed drug manufacture, posession of an unlicensed firearm and suspicion of making crystal meth.

I live in Belize so have been taking an interest in this story. The facts seem to be that the police raided his mainland compound on an 'anonymous tipoff' of a meth lab. They found no meth or any other illegal drugs. There was a lab where McAfee says he was making an anti-bacterial cream from local plants. There was talk of charging him with making antibiotics without a license but it seems that has been dropped.
A number of guns plus ammo was found on the compound but valid licenses for them were produced. A single unlicensed bullet gets a mandatory five years here. Raids for guns and drugs do not require a warrant (or at least that's what the police think). You can imagine how that can go.
McAfee claimed the raid was at the behest of a local politician to whom he had refused a 'campaign donation'. This is entirely plausible.
The police cut off the heads of his dead dogs (CNN confirms) to retrieve the bullets with which he euthanised them after they were poisoned. Belize recently took delivery of a ballistics microscope from Canada.
A number of McAfee's associates are in custody. His British bodyguard and his wife (recently arrived from the UK) for unlicensed gun possession. Also the owner and license-holder of said gun for lending it without permission.
Overall my view is that McAfee is only half-crazy. I reserve judgement on the murder but note that it is not unusual for white expats to be murdered in their homes by crackheads and the like.

More rings in the circus

[Anonymous Coward]

How long until he tries to blame a broad conspiracy that involves US government agencies?

C'mon John lets get some A grade crazy up in this piece.

Easy Profit?

[ddxexex]

So do we still get the $25,000 if it turns out he was the real killer?

OJ's gonna sue for copyright infringement

[Anonymous Coward]

Speaking of OJ, has he found the real killer yet?

Paranoid

[Frosty Piss]

He's been "experimenting" with these so-called "bath salts" and God knows what else...

Itâ(TM)s no wonder heâ(TM)s paranoid and possibly delusional. Thereâ(TM)s a big difference between weed and these laboratory chemicals, and things like âoebath saltsâ and âoespiceâ.

Re:Paranoid

[Anonymous Coward]

How about you experiment with an OS that can handle quotation marks correctly in a browser?

Re:Paranoid

[Anonymous Coward]

How about you BLOW IT OUT YOUR ASS?

And by the way, it's not a browser issue, it's a Slashdot issue.

Re:Paranoid

[Anonymous Coward]

Maybe you should stop using a browser that lets the OS tell it what to do with its quotation marks.

Re:Paranoid

[Doctor_Jest]

Wasn't there someone (or more than one) here in the states on bath salts who went ape-shit on some people? Or was it that guy who ate off the other guy's face? It's not out of the realm of possibility that while high on bath salts McAfee went all spider monkey and killed someone but doesn't remember. Creepy as hell, and smells like a good movie of the week. :)

thrill junkie

[Anonymous Coward]

His blog is www.whoismcafee.com and it's just bizarre. Here's a sample:

I watched the police search my residence 7 times. At one point I got too close and was angrily ordered to go away. I did so while muttering “Pendejos!” loud enough for the officers to hear. Every search was allegedly performed in order to find me. On two occasions, however, the police carried large duffle type bags into the premises and left with the bags appearing nearly empty. Perhaps the bags contained their lunch and they ate while searching. Perhaps not.

On subsequent days using different disguises, I did the same general thing, one day selling tamales and burritos that I had purchased wholesale from a real vendor, on another pretending to be a drunk German tourist with a partially bandaged face and wearing speedo swimming trunks and a distasteful, oversized Hawaiian shirt and yelling loudly at anyone who would listen – “Leck mich um ausch!”. At 67 years of age it was quite a spectacle.

For a guy that thinks he's going to be falsely arrested by the Belize's prime minister's police minions, you'd think he'd want to just get out of the country. I can't imagine that it would be all that difficult. Yet, he keeps going back to his residence where he's most likely to arrested (Belize police must be idiots if this is all true) in these ludicrous disguises that just makes this whole story seem like a farce.

Re:thrill junkie

[SuricouRaven]

Perhaps he really is fleeing the country, and is just posting those stories on the blog to misdirect the police into keeping their search local and divert their attention from his real location.

Re:thrill junkie

[Anonymous Coward]

Perhaps he really is fleeing the country, and is just posting those stories on the blog to misdirect the police into keeping their search local and divert their attention from his real location.

His blog is irrelevant. It would more accurately reflect reality if he just piped /dev/random onto it.

Re:thrill junkie

[Anonymous Coward]

When I read that part of the blog I just couldn't help picturing Inspector Clouseau (Sellers, not Martin) in his various disguises.

I wonder if he pays any of those teenage girls to hide around his residence and then leap out at him by surprise and engage him in lengthy, slapstick hand to hand combat sequences?

Re:thrill junkie

[h4rr4r]

I am almost certain none of this is actually happening.

That blog is about the best anti-bathsalt advertising ever. He is totally burned out and these are his delusions.

Re:thrill junkie

[n7ytd]

His blog is www.whoismcafee.com and it's just bizarre. Here's a sample:

I watched the police search my residence 7 times. At one point I got too close and was angrily ordered to go away. I did so while muttering “Pendejos!” loud enough for the officers to hear. Every search was allegedly performed in order to find me. On two occasions, however, the police carried large duffle type bags into the premises and left with the bags appearing nearly empty. Perhaps the bags contained their lunch and they ate while searching. Perhaps not.

On subsequent days using different disguises, I did the same general thing, one day selling tamales and burritos that I had purchased wholesale from a real vendor, on another pretending to be a drunk German tourist with a partially bandaged face and wearing speedo swimming trunks and a distasteful, oversized Hawaiian shirt and yelling loudly at anyone who would listen – “Leck mich um ausch!”. At 67 years of age it was quite a spectacle.

For a guy that thinks he's going to be falsely arrested by the Belize's prime minister's police minions, you'd think he'd want to just get out of the country. I can't imagine that it would be all that difficult. Yet, he keeps going back to his residence where he's most likely to arrested (Belize police must be idiots if this is all true) in these ludicrous disguises that just makes this whole story seem like a farce.

The logical thing would be to get away from location that the police are searching, but that's just what they would expect you to do! So, they know that you know what they know, you know? I'm sure it makes more sense with a colon stuffed full of drugs.

Re:thrill junkie

[nurb432]

Hes just trying to distract the local police while he tries to slip across the border.

He may be totally nuts at this point, but hes not stupid.

Re:thrill junkie

[Anonymous Coward]

“Leck mich um ausch!”

Google Translate sez: Lick me to Auschwitz?

Ewwwww....

Re:thrill junkie

[Anonymous Coward]

> I wonder if he pays any of those teenage girls to hide around his residence and then leap out at him by surprise and engage him in lengthy, slapstick hand to hand combat sequences?

Something like that...

Re:You'd think with his money, he could...

[Anonymous Coward]

Man you talk to a lot of women. You must have a good job because that gets expensive at 2.99 a minute.

Pool thier money

[Anonymous Coward]

Maybe he can OJ can pool their money and both catch the real killers...

I can hear it now.....

[Lumpy]

"If it doesnt fit...... you MUST acquit!"

Re:I can hear it now.....

[Anonymous Coward]

"If it doesnt fit...... you MUST acquit!"

Considering this story involves anally administered bath salts, that quote has a new disturbing meaning.

Re:You'd think with his money, he could...

[gatesstillborg]

Agreed. It really comes form inside. And some of the "attractive" ones start to look ugly after a while! :)

After I read McAfee's blog

[Anonymous Coward]

I found that somehow, ReiserFS had been installed on my PC!

Re:You'd think with his money, he could...

[Anonymous Coward]

I agree. As far as looks go, once a woman meets a certain standard, it doesn't matter how far above your standard she is.

So where's a good place to live?

[Anonymous Coward]

Getting bored with the US and the bullshit politics. Where's a good place to live?

I'd like someplace liberal (meaning individual liberty, not a welfare/transfer state) with strong property rights, equal rule of law, legal drugs/prostitution/etc, economic freedom, and full of white people. English-speaking is cool but I'll learn another language.

I guess Belize is out of the question. Eastern Europe? Scandanavia? ???

Re:So where's a good place to live?

[tekrat]

That would be anyplace run by the Dutch, or Switzerland, Luxemborg, or any European nation that's not a British Isle or former British Isle.

Oh the Irony...

[wernst]

I think it is a delicious irony that McAfee claims he may be the victim of a false-positive identification.

Re:Oh the Irony...

[greg1104]

And he's only vulnerable because he forgot to renew his yearly protection fees. Ha-ha!

Re:Oh the Irony...

[omnichad]

Maybe, but his current plan of escaping detection is pretty much the norm for McAfee as well.

Just stop.

[macwhizkid]

I wish the tech media (/. included, though Gizmodo is the worst offender) would stop covering McAfee's latest antics. The guy clearly has some serious mental and legal issues and needs professional help. Enabling him by conducting interviews and real-time blog coverage isn't doing anyone any good (except for a few journalists who clearly have book deals pending).

I did not kill my wife

[Anonymous Coward]

I did not kill my wife

I don't care

Re:You'd think with his money, he could...

[larry bagina]

all cats look the same in the dark.

Perception of law enforcement

[the Dragonweaver]

I'm assuming that the vast majority of commenters are from the US, Canada, and western European countries where the rule of law is well understood and (mostly) enforced in a non-arbitrary manner. That's apt to color your reaction to a story such as this.

While I don't know the facts in this particular case, it is often true in many Central and South American countries (and Caribbean islands) that the rule of law can be enforced arbitrarily, and sometimes in response to the desire to acquire the wealth of an accused person. Presumption of innocence or even actual innocence does not matter in such cases; individuals have been known to disappear for years into Byzantine court systems, or found guilty without what we would consider to be sufficient evidence of guilt. I have a friend whose college roommate has been held as a political prisoner for well over a decade in a South American country; my sisters have both had to "pay tickets" to Mexican police to keep their passports from being impounded. So I don't take flight from authorities as an admission of guilt; if McAfee knows or suspects he's being railroaded, that's probably the wise choice.

For all I know, he may be guilty, but don't take his actions as an admission.

Re:Perception of law enforcement

[rkww]

Belize isn't a typical Central American country. It's a member of the Commonwealth with Queen Elizabeth as the Head of State.

"The structure of government is based on the British parliamentary system, and the legal system is modelled on the Common Law of England."

Here's the US Department of State's view.

Re:Perception of law enforcement

[cdrguru]

Yes, but there are other ways of dealing with police corruption.

Instead of trying to stay on the lam in the country with the corruption problem he might take his case somewhere that would be disinclined to extradite him without a hearing and some real indications that he committed a crime. Say, maybe the US. Or the UK.

Of course, this would be stupid to do if he really is guilty.

Re:Perception of law enforcement

[FlopEJoe]

[...] the rule of law can be enforced arbitrarily, and sometimes in response to the desire to acquire the wealth of an accused person.

Is that anything like setting up waivers for your friends and donors so they can avoid huge, rambling, and crippling laws? I'm pretty sure that happens in the US as well.

Re:Perception of law enforcement

[kenorland]

It also is rated as a highly corrupt nation, however:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_index

Re:Perception of law enforcement

[Anonymous Coward]

Commonwealth? So is Nigeria.

Re:Perception of law enforcement

[Kergan]

Then again, per a separate comment I replied to, he insisted on getting an excuse from the prime minister, and went on to become a staunch critic of the latter. If you live in a third world country, especially one as corrupt as Belize, the first rule of thumb is to keep a low profile and not arm-wrestle with local authorities, no matter who you are or think you are. He evidently didn't get that memo.

Moreover, there's writing all over the wall on his blog that he wasn't keeping a low profile prior to that. If anything, I'd wager from his couple of posts that he behaved like what the locals scornfully call Gringos. They think they own the place and can do as they please, because they're from the US and immensely richer than the next guy. Belize locals, as most other Latin Americans, loath them with a passion.

Re:Perception of law enforcement

[Bryansix]

Wow, its rated worse then Rwanda, Turkey and the Czech Republic.

Re:Perception of law enforcement

[cvtan]

Prosecution to acquire the wealth of the accused person sounds like law enforcement in Georgia.

Re:Perception of law enforcement

[Anonymous Coward]

I have lived in Belize and have friends there. Not only is it a corrupt place it is also a bizarre and crazy place with most of their problems been self inflicted due to ignorance and irrational behaviour. However that does not mean McAfee is innocent, it just means he does not stand a chance even if he is.

Re:Perception of law enforcement

[Anonymous Coward]

I have lived through a similar episode in a different Commonwealth third-world country, and nothing that John Mcafee describes seems at all far-fetched.

Those of you who have never lived outside the 1st world, you really should not comment on things of which you have no clue.

Interesting...

[jemenake]

Former anti-virus mogul... running from corrupt 3rd-world foot-soldiers through the jungle with a girl half his age?

I think Dos-Equis just found their new pitch-man. "I don't always run from corrupt Central-American governments, but when I do, I prefer Dos Equis..."

Re:Interesting...

[Zaphod-AVA]

Less than one third his age.

Re:Interesting...

[Kergan]

The girls mentionned are actually a third (20) and a fourth (17) of his age (67).

Re:Interesting...

[SleazyRidr]

Man, I hope I'm that awesome when I'm that old.

Book Sales?

[ttg512]

People people.... This has nothing to do with McAfee's charges. Did anyone notice that a new book will soon be up for sale? What could help more but some publicity to generate interest in an otherwise worn out subject?

Two questions

[93 Escort Wagon]

Was Kaeto Kaelin living in his guest house at the time?

Has he hired Johnnie Cochran yet?

Re:Two questions

[NJRoadfan]

Its going to be pretty hard to hire Johnnie Cochran.

Re:Two questions

[chill]

I dunno. A shovel and a few of those anally administered bath salts and he might have a chance with Zombie Johhny Cochran.

Re:Two questions

[93 Escort Wagon]

What about Zefram Cochrane?

reward

[Anonymous Coward]

Will he pay me the reward if I catch him?

Manssiere!

[Thud457]

John McAfee is the bass man!

Real killers?

[DaveV1.0]

Anyone know where O.J. was at that time?

Re:Real killers?

[JonahsDad]

O.J. was/is still in jail. However, the whereabouts of the person or persons who killed Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman is currently unknown.

Re:You'd think with his money, he could...

[Intrepid imaginaut]

Yes, a kind heart and sense of humour go a long, long way. Some of the hard bitten faux-cynical beauties I've met get a lot less attractive after they open their mouths.

less crazee conspiracy theory right here:

[Thud457]

And let this be a lesson for ya, it's all fun and games moving with your millions to a Caribbean tax shelter, until the local [cartel,corrupt police,militias, kidnappers, etc] come for you. Why not just keep your millions stateside, pay your taxes like a good boy, and get old and fat without these kinds of worries? Was there not enough suspense in that option?

this.

Proof this is just a black propaganda smear campaign by Obama against job creators.
Poor McAfee is just all too convenient fall guy.

Re:less crazee conspiracy theory right here:

[h4rr4r]

So did you smoke the bath salt or jam it in your ass like McAfee?

Life imitates Art

[Anonymous Coward]

Is is linking out the Far Cry 3 game?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Far_Cry_3

Re:Life imitates Art

[GameboyRMH]

Hahaha this whole ordeal reminded me of that as well, especially since this guy is tattooed and batshit crazy.

Fantasy

[Anonymous Coward]

This is sounding more and more like a B movie every day. I haven't determined whether this is real in McAffe's mind or not, but I think its connection with reality is weak at best.

he's an a(u/r)tistic genious!

[Thud457]

John's just working on the world's greatest ARG. The bath salts are just the MacGuffin that allows him to transit the portal to the alternate universe the story takes place in.

And the soon to be published book...

[jacobsm]

"If I Did It"

Oh John...

[Arancaytar]

or OJ for short

Re:You'd think with his money, he could...

[Zemran]

I would be happy with a woman like that when I am 60 :-) Eyes are not that good now and will only get worse.

Posting a slow clap for you b/c you're already +5

[JoshDM]

clap clap clap clap clap clap

Please see The Innocence Project

[moronikos]

http://www.innocenceproject.org/

Security theater...

[BeerAndLoathing]

from an old master

In Other Unrelated News

[Anonymous Coward]

My five-year-old son is now offering a $.25 reward for the identity of the person who really took the cookies from the jar on the kitchen counter.

Re:You'd think with his money, he could...

[Anonymous Coward]

you know you can just walk over to a woman and talk to her right? worst case.. she's not interested, and you're alone, just like you were before.

also.. if she's attracted to you, it doesn't matter a whole lot what you say. as long as it's not disgusting/repulsive/etc.

The real killer, eh?

[superdave80]

He and OJ can team up to fight crime.

Victim killed 4 of his dogs!

[Anonymous Coward]

And McAffee killed his neighbor. End of story. That's an understandable reaction.

What part is delusional?

[SuperKendall]

The text as a whole may be overly dramatic, but having someone kiss you so your face cannot be seen is not an invalid or even unlikely tactic.

Also claiming a girl from the streets of Belize is street smart is not exactly unlikely.

I don't know if he's innocent or not but the sentence you chose to highlight does not mark him as delusional, just a bad writer.

Re:What part is delusional?

[Anonymous Coward]

Except that your face is almost never what police are searching for during a chase. They look for clothing and body size first, then they examine closer to determine facial features. Remember that scene in the Matrix? If you were told to look for a black-haired man in a black suit, sure you'd be screwed. Told to look for a blonde woman in a red dress, and who could she kiss that you wouldn't already know she was the woman you were looking for?

I mean, he claims "I have pre-written enough material to keep this blog alive for at least a year." And there's also "ABC News and The Register report that the blog has been authenticated by Chad Essley, a friend of McAfee's whose upcoming graphic novel about McAfee is plugged prominently."

Considering he was already getting into bath salts before the murder, it's not so far-fetched that he is high as a kite and either writing out some dramatization of what he wishes his life were like right now, or that his "friend" is writing the blog for him because McAfee is so far on the run that he can't be bothered to stop at every Starbucks and Internet cafe along the way to detail his travels.

Re:What part is delusional?

[Bryansix]

They don't know where he is and have been searching for more then 1 week for him but all of the sudden know what color clothes he put on this morning?

Apologies to Steve Miller

[Hoi Polloi]

This here's a story about John McAffe and Sam
Two mismatched lovers with nothin' better to do
Than sit around the house, live off John's savings, and watch the tube
And here is what happened when they decided to cut loose

They headed down to, ooh, old Belize
That's where they ran into a great big hassle
John shot a man while robbing his castle
Sam took the money and run

Go on take the money and run
Go on take the money and run...

Need Advice on Finding Them?

[Anonymous Coward]

Ask OJ.

Has anyone confirmed this is real?

[Anonymous Coward]

Looks like a bad James Bond plot, like Sean Young auditioning for Catwoman.

Only $25,000?!

[Anonymous Coward]

I thought he had more money than that. I imagine lawyers will cost him more than that, and they for sure will not let him go to jail with all that money (i.e. will cost him arm and a leg).

He told a little story

[Ukab the Great]

It sounded well rehearsed
Four days on the run and he was dying of thirst
The brew was in my hand and he was on my tip
His voice was hoarse, his throat was dry, he asked me for a sip

"My name is McAfee, I got a license to kill
I think you know what time it is, it's time to get ill
Now what do we have here? An outlaw and his beer?
I run this land, you understand? I made myself clear"

Re:He told a little story

[Anonymous Coward]

Almost sounds like a beastie boys song...

My name is McAfee, I got a license to KILL
I think that you know that it's time to get ILL
Be careful of my beer, wouldn't want it to SPILL
This guy here is my brother, his name is PHIL

It sounded well reHEARSED
He was dying of THIRST
The beer was not the best but it wasn't the WORST
Lookin' for a ho who's a full time NURSE

Re:He told a little story

[girlintraining]

The police did respond
Near his mud hut by the pond
Found bath salts and money
But no sign of the dummy.

They released to the press
a story of the man's drug distress,
how his license to kill had expired
and the renewal fee was inspired.

Re:You'd think with his money, he could...

[IamTheRealMike]

Yeah, she's not bad, especially not in the first photo (chronologically). And let's get real here - the man is 67. Judging from the photos that were going around (the crazy one with him in aviators with a shotgun), he's in amazing shape for his age. How many 67 year old men can get an even slightly cute 20 year old to run away with them? It's not like he's going to be buying her diamonds and taking her on fancy vacations whilst he's on the run, is it?

Isn't it obvious who's really behind the murder?

[HaggiStan]

The IRS of course! D'Oh, McAffee must really be a dopehead to not have figured it out: Imagine if every rich entrepreneur were to flee taxes by moving to some Caribbean or South American tax haven. That's the IRS's wooorst nightmare. So in order to prevent that, they have to make an example so that the others who are flirting with tax motivated expatriation fantasies are afraid and prefer to stay and pay.

compare and contrast with Julian Assange...

[Anonymous Coward]

No text needed.

Any billionare could.

[Anonymous Coward]

Fuck personality, money WORKS.

Re:Any billionare could.

[Johann Lau]

Money without personality doesn't go very far. Personality goes a long way, even dirt poor. Money AND personality... well... women dream about that.

And why wouldn't they? Just like men with neither money nor personality like to dream about how every dude with more personality and/or money than them must have some defect. Sometimes, just sometimes - that defect is you.

Re:Any billionare could.

[Raenex]

Money without personality doesn't go very far.

If you're just looking for a decent looking girl to have sex with you, it goes plenty far. Prostitutes don't care about your personality. And if you're in a poor country like Belize that caters to tourism, it goes even farther.

Re:Any billionare could.

[Johann Lau]

So? What's your point? On what basis are you implying this is the case here? Other than extrapolating from yourself maybe?

Re:Any billionare could.

[Raenex]

What's your point?

My point was pretty obvious. It was a direct contradiction to your statement.

On what basis are you implying this is the case here?

That was pretty obvious too. A rich old dude with money in Belize is sleeping with a bunch of young girls who are obviously in it for the money. Even McAfee has no delusions about this.

Re:Any billionare could.

[Johann Lau]

If you think sleeping with a bunch of girls is "going far", then yes, in whatever world where that makes sense you contradicted my statement. Everywhere else, not so much ^^

Re:Any billionare could.

[Raenex]

So the "going far" is supposed to be because she fled with him? He was her sugar daddy. What did she have to go back to?

Re:You'd think with his money, he could...

[Anonymous Coward]

How many 67 year old men can get an even slightly cute 20 year old to run away with them?

After they get them hooked on meth?

I think his blog is a little misguided

[Syhra]

Somehow I don't think that dramatic descriptions of him cutting off the heads of police are going to help him much.

His posts are filled with dramatic descriptions of his actions (including returning to his home in disguise to find police digging up his dead dogs and cutting off their heads) and lay bare his suspicions about Belize authorities.

Quite a tall tale from McAfee

[Anonymous Coward]

Of course he has a crazy story, he's been a self-professed drug addict for the last several years of his life. Hardly surprising that his drug-addled brain is cooking up bizarre stories of paranoia and deceit.

McAfee basically flipped out while stoned out of his mind, murdered somebody, and is now fabricating even wilder stories that he may actually believe are real. He's not living in our reality anymore, he's in a state of drug-induced psychosis.

When you knee deep stop digging

[WaffleMonster]

Operating a blog where a 67 year old guy talks about his 17 and 20 year old girlfriends getting dressed while proclaiming his innocence while hiding from authorities for murder is not a way to gain any measure of public sympathy or positive PR of any kind. It just makes you look like even more of a sick fuck to a nontrivial portion of those who would be inclined to read your blog.

Now for all I know you are completely innocent but I aint the one you need to win over. The only thing I know for sure is your gross and a moron.

Re:When you knee deep stop digging

[johnny cashed]

Not only that, he insults the culture with the bit about poor families "promoting" their women to rich guys. It might be true, but is now is not the time to be talking about it? The guy certainly feels the need to justify his relationship with women.

Publicity stunt?

[coldsalmon]

The website is promoting a graphic novel called "The Hinterland" about the artist/author's friendship with McAfee. Why would McAfee name his fugitive blog after a graphic novel? In addition, the post "Watchfulness" seems to border on the absurd, claiming that McAfee skulked around his property in disguise observing the police, who were actively searching for him at the time. He claims to have used several different disguises: "one day selling tamales and burritos that I had purchased wholesale from a real vendor, on another pretending to be a drunk German tourist with a partially bandaged face and wearing speedo swimming trunks and a distasteful, oversized Hawaiian shirt and yelling loudly at anyone who would listen – “Leck mich um ausch!”." If he actually hid from the police by wandering around his own property in a speedo yelling at people in German, then more power to him. But I don't believe it.

Re:Publicity stunt?

[omnichad]

Sounds like an episode of a bad sitcom.

So.... Just out of curiosity...

[tekrat]

How many blowjobs does it take to "pay a ticket" in Mexico???

Why don't rich bastards form their own country?

[tekrat]

Seriously;

If you got together all the Rich Bastards that want to flee the American Tax System (Mitt Romney, I'm looking at you), want to live their libertarian lifestyle, why the heck don't they pool their resources and simply BUY a freakin' country?

  Seriously, the number of billionaires right now building gated fortesses with private security in places like Belize, Costa Rica, Brazil and the good old USA amounts to a number of dollars great enough to buy a nice secluded country and simply take over the government.

Then they can impose whatever "law" they like, and run the place the way Shieks do in places like UAE and Dubai.

And when you consider that, as a foreign country, they can continue to earn profits by applying for aid from the USA to feed their poor, and the stupid Middle Class will continue to sudsidize their lifestyles.

They'd be safe, their money would continue to grow, and the police would answer to them. Are these rich people just that stupid that they can't figure this out?

Re:Why don't rich bastards form their own country?

[Thud457]

fergit HELL !

Re:You'd think with his money, he could...

[snemarch]

also.. if she's attracted to you, it doesn't matter a whole lot what you say. as long as it's not disgusting/repulsive/etc.

"So, umm... wanna come home and check out my tub? I've got a lot of bathing salts."

Points Of Fact

[Anonymous Coward]

Belizean law enforcement did in fact dig up (exhume) the grave of McAfee's dogs. They also did in fact remove only the heads from the grave.

Witnesses (from the U.S. media) describe a putrid stench coming from the still open hole(grave) where the dogs bodies were left behind after having their heads removed.

Also, McAfee appears to be batshit crazy.

Re:You'd think with his money, he could...

[Johann Lau]

In other words... you know you won't be able to, but you can damn well make up some crude accusative story just to make your lame self feel better about it. Gotcha.

CNN

[stanbreezy]

Yesterday they posted on CNN that he wasn't the prime suspect and that they had 3 others detained. Also he thinks the cops are going to kill him, http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/18/world/americas/belize-mcafee-killing/index.html?hpt=hp_t3

being oppressed all the way to the bank

[Thud457]

yeah, class warfare.

And you berate the losing side for starting to notice and complain after 40 years.
Stay classy, job creator.

Want the protection of the constitution...

[Anonymous Coward]

If he wanted the protection of the Bill of Rights, he should have stayed in American. But since he was dodging a law suit in a 3rd world country, what did he expect?

You can't make this stuff up.

[westlake]

That might be a good reason to live in a decent country instead of fleeing to some hell hole to cook drugs and nail jailbait.

I don't want to pre-judge this. But it is hard not to think of Hans Reiser.

You might wonder why someone with so much money would live so far from town down such a difficult road. Rounding a sandy curve it quickly became obvious: the staggering beauty of the Belize Barrier Reef coast.

McAfee's view is worth a fortune. An endless stretch of blue sky overhangs an ocean of pastel greens and blues framed by coconut palms. Next to a long wooden dock with chairs at its end sits a fast-looking boat with twin outboards.

The day before, I met "Tiffany" here. She claimed to be one of McAfee's girlfriends, one of seven. They all live together, sharing McAfee's houses and fantasies. He's 67. Tiffany says she's 23 and they have been lovers for three years. The girl beside her gives no name and only says she's 19.

Tiffany says she's not seen or heard from McAfee in nearly a week -- not since the neighbor, Greg Faull, was discovered dead and McAfee went into hiding.

Now a day later the 23-year-old had vanished too.

Half a dozen dogs lie sorry-looking or listless in the yard -- thin, hungry and thirsty. They're lucky to be alive.

Dogs just might be the key to this mystery.

Officials say their barking and aggressive behavior was a frequent source of friction between McAfee and Faull, a 52-year-old contractor who retired to Belize from Florida and lived next door.

On November 9, McAfee told police someone poisoned four of his dogs. Tiffany said to put them out of their misery he shot each one in the head and buried them.

Then two days later someone shot Faull in the head in his own living room. A 9mm shell was found on the second step on the first floor, and Faull was found dead on the second floor.

And McAfee had vanished.

This almost daily "catch me if you can" game is wearing thin on investigators. The longer it all goes on, the more suspicious police become.

So five days ago they dug up his dogs. I found the partially exposed graves next to a trash pit in the back behind his priceless ocean view. The flies led me there. I asked a caretaker if he was here when the police came for them. "Yes" he said, then added another tick up the strange-o-meter by revealing, "They cut off their heads."

Since only the heads had bullets, the investigators put the rest of the remains back in the holes, then hurriedly and poorly recovered them.

A source close to the investigation said authorities probably want to see if the slugs in the dogs match the one in Faull.

A bizarre visit to John McAfee's pleasure palace in Belize

Better living through chemistry!

[lee n. field]

Anyone else reminded of Phil Katz?

Re:You'd think with his money, he could...

[Anonymous Coward]

...is it 2 girls for your one tub?

CNN says he is NOT a suspect

[ClickOnThis]

although the Belize police do want to question him.

wait, he WASN'T high?!!!

[Thud457]

So the guy wasn't on drugs when he ATE that other guy's face off?

well, that's a relief.

It's even more sad...

[Anonymous Coward]

...the majority of slashdotters would dismiss a real-time exposure of ruthless corruption simply because the reporter is a bigger technology celebrity than they are.

Have you RTFA? He's up-front about his relationship with the girl, goes out of his way to provide sufficient context & background re: the government's past corruption and demonstrates a willingness to assist in (or do I mean lead) the murder investigation so long as that investigation continues.

The dodgiest evidence points to wrongdoing on the part of Belize authorities. Have they thrown any charges yet that have stuck? For that matter, have any of the charges been related to the murder? No!

We are witnessing the Federal Cover Your Ass Program of Belize.

My granddaughter is named Sam!!!

[cvtan]

And here I thought she was only 7! It's so easy to trick old people.

Belize is not a third-world hellhole

[AdamWill]

It seems like some people in this thread have a really weird image of Belize.

It's a former British colony with a decent economy, functioning parliamentary democracy and British style independent judiciary. It is not a 'third-world hellhole' into whose prisons one disappears and never returns. It has issues with drug-related gang violence and corruption, but then so do other developed countries with independent judiciaries, like for instance _Britain_. And the U.S.

It's not like it takes long to look it up, sheesh. Half the stuff about how sketchy Belize is came from McAfee in the first damn place.

former employee of John McAfee here...

[Aryeh Goretsky]

Hello,

I am a former employee of Dr. John McAfee here, and would like to see if I can clear up some of the misperceptions about him that have arisen in this thread.

John took a leave of absence from McAfee Associates in 1993 for health reasons, which became permanent in 1994, and he divested himself of interest in the company as quickly as he could (i.e., subject to stock lockouts and the like). At the time he left, McAfee Associates had DOS, Novell, OS/2 and Windows 3.1 products. He certainly had nothing to do with the design or development of McAfee Associates' products after that. As a matter of fact, if it just says "McAfee" on it (sans "Associates"), it's pretty much a given that he was not involved with it.

I first met John when I was in high school, and started working for him after I graduated. One of the first things he did after employing me was read me the riot act regarding drugs and alcohol. At the time, he had been sober for just under a decade (eight or nine years, I think), but prior to that told me about how he had abused all sorts of substances, and as a result he had never done a single thing in his life that was worthwhile before quitting. I took John's advice to heart and have avoided these all my life.

While John was running McAfee Associates, we had a strict no alcohol/no drugs policy, and there was no drinking allowed at the company, at company events or even just going out for a meal. Showing up drunk, stoned or otherwise impaired would be a great way to get yourself fired.

In Belize, John started up several business ventures, one of which was looking at bacterial quorum sensing as an antibiotic. That fell through, and he changed focus to topical antiseptic compounds. He had reporters coming through all the time, as well as people, I believe, from the national hospital and university, so it should have been readily apparent to those who were knowledgeable in such matters that he was doing bio-pharmaceutical prospecting and not running a meth lab.

That said, it is particularly understandable how law enforcement would feel about a rich expat coming to their company and setting up a research lab. It probably looked like a cleaner, better-equipped version of the drug labs they were used to raiding. If the police had talked to the health officials, they could probably have arranged for regular inspections.

John has had continuous run-in's with politicians in Belize over the years, which you can read about over in his blog or elsewhere in the news. Without getting into the details of how Belize operates, it is apparent he believes that country's politicians are corrupt and is fearful for his life as a consequence. Just looking at the responses from the police and politicians there, it seems they are doing little to allay his fears. Calling him names is not going to help, nor is not addressing his claims of corruption or claims that they are holding his former employees hostage.

A lot of the conversations I have seen revolve around calling John McAfee crazy, paranoid, bonkers and so forth. But consider this: Each time he says something outlandish about where he his hiding, how he is monitoring things, et cetera, he causes law enforcement to expend efforts to find him. In a sense, it is kind of a war of attrition against them. In that context, this is not crazy at all, but rather very sensible and practical behavior in light of current circumstances.

Anyhow, I hope that puts things into context about the man behind the name.

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky

Re:former employee of John McAfee here...

[Anonymous Coward]

Heh, his snap of Samantha was taken with an RX100 which suggests he is very sane indeed.

are you kidding me?

[Anonymous Coward]

running for your life and you assholes are making fun of this? shaking my head and disgusted right now.

Belize is a new world country

[Anonymous Coward]

First there was the world. Then there was the new world which included north and south America. Then Europeans started trying to classify countries in Africa and Asia and came up with the term "third world". As a former British colony Belize is definitely New World.

Re:Belize is a new world country

[Zontar The Mindless]

First there was the world. Then there was the new world which included north and south America. Then Europeans started trying to classify countries in Africa and Asia and came up with the term "third world". As a former British colony Belize is definitely New World.

Wrong, wrong, wrong. The term originated during the Cold War.

1st world = "free world" (Western industrial democracies)

2nd world = Soviet bloc

3rd world = nonaligned nations

Of course, there's no more Soviet bloc, but the term "third world" remains with us.

I Paid For That!

[Anonymous Coward]

Ultranova who do you think pays for those services? The government is not GIVING anything to anybody. Individuals pay for those services through their taxes and the taxes on companies which they own. In the end the individual pays for everything. This notion that somehow government is the solution to everything is based on the fallacy that governments have unlimited funds. In reality governments kill more jobs than they create.

Re:Bump

[Anonymous Coward]

Please don't do that shit here. You seem pretty OK for an AC, otherwise, and it'd really suck if we had to hunt you down and kill you, slowsly and horribly.

$25k reward ?

[phoebbs]

If I was a multimillionaire (as he almost certainly is), and my liberty was at such a severe risk, I wouldn't be offering piddling amounts like this to get to the bottom of the problem. Sure, in Belize it's probably the equivalent of 10 years' pay for the average worker, but is that all he thinks his credibility and freedom are worth ?

Lost-At-Sea McAfee

[Anonymous Coward]

A millionaire geek from Belize
O.D.ed on a diet of sleaze
He murdered his neighbor
Then booked for Jamaicer
Now he's lost in the Caribbean Sea

Saultxy in SilVal
*
P.s.: All jingles aside, fubar McAfee is up s..t creek without a rudder ...

Apocalypse

[Anonymous Coward]

The Revolution won't be televised! .. but The Apocalypse will!