Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Gary McKinnon

Gary is probably NOT a name you have heard unless you are a lover of UFO's or fear that the "man" will get you for exposing your conspiracy theory of the day. And although it is tempting to uncover the "Truth" by going to the source, the US government computer files in, oh, say, the Pentagon, it is not generally considered to be a really good idea. Seems they take the idea of hacking into their computers seriously. Even if the person doing it is a geeky kid from North London.

Imagine that.

Gary has been going through a lot of stress lately. Seems the entire US government is really pissed at him...and have managed to convince the UK government to extradite him back to the US to face trial.

The story is all here ... http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/aug/01/gary-mckinnon-extradition-nightmare

Now why is this worthy of even a moment of my valuable time? Well, where should I start? How much SHOULD we protect people from their stupid actions? Should we forgive people who create breaches of security of military security? How about the stupid Pentagon IT clerks who left their laptops unprotected? You think THEY will get more than a slap on the wrist? (actually I do...one thing I am certain about is that the military will eat their own...grin!)

Balance that against the fact that "Hell yeah, he's guilty as sin", with the question, "Will he get a fair trial?"
I don't think he will get a fair trial...though I am certain he will get a trial of some sort. I suspect that his reasons for entering into areas which are forbidden will not be found as important as the fact that he did it at all. A young joy rider who steals a car for "a little fun" is just as guilty as the hardened criminal who steals it in order to send it to a chop shop.
But one might think that perhaps a little humanity might be in order....perhaps at his hearing they may decide that the offence was perhaps misguided. Not malicious.

Regardless, we should all keep this case on the front burner....if only to keep an eye on the goings on of the "aroused tiger" who is proving to not be constructed of paper after all.

4 comments:

Cerulean Bill said...

If he's lucky, the proscecutors will be Obama appointees, and not Bush appointees.

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STAG said...

HAVE YOU NOT BEEN FOLLOWING THIS BLOG?
Sheesh......


I am not afraid of the religion of peace, I am not afraid of animists, shamans, or for that matter, Christian fundamentalists. I AM afraid of extremists who feel that they must kill me for the greatest good, or worse yet, kill me for my own good. If you mean me no ill, then go in peace. If you wish me ill, and pretent to come in peace I will find you out. If you come with terror, then you are sowing fear.

Yes, I admit that this fear exists within me, and within many of my friends. I will answer this fear with weapons.

Be warned then, when you come to visit.

STAG said...

In Malta, they would reply to people who say "maybe they are peaceful, they claim to follow a religion of peace with a simple response..."The Turk shall ALWAYS come back. And he comes with a sword".
They look to their guns, and farm their fields, and are hospitable to all. Their history has been one of fighting Moslem nations pretty much continuously for the last five hundred years or so. By now, they recognize the religion of peace for what it is. We in the "west" would do well to heed this warning.

The Turk shall always come back, and he shall come with a sword.

Words to live by.