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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. '"
There once was a man from Belize
Who neglected his bribery fees
Accused of a murder
He became a sheepherder
Fighting for refugees!
When the foot seeks the place of the head, the line is crossed. Know your place. Keep your place. Be a shoe.
Hans Reiser?
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...
That is all.
Programmer named John
Millionaire! Where does he live?
Mud hut with no lawn
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.
which is totally what she said
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.
systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
The trial would only last 30 days.
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
Good people go to bed earlier.
His blog is www.whoismcafee.com and it's just bizarre. Here's a sample:
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.
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?
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.
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.
> 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!
I think it is a delicious irony that McAfee claims he may be the victim of a false-positive identification.
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.
Actually I am a lab rat in an elaborate plot to take over the world.
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..."
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.
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.
This signature intentionally left blank.
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" ?
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
Have you ever been in a turkish prison?
Have you ever seen a grown man naked?
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...
It is by the juice of the coffee bean that thoughts acquire speed, the teeth acquire stains. The stains become a warning
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.
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"
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?
Free Martian Whores!
Do you like gladiator movies?
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
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".
Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.
"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.
"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".
Learn to love Alaska
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
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.
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
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
Dexter is a good dog.