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59 Comments
- EvilJelloMan, on 11/11/2009, -10/+71All you idiots calling "big brother" need to read the ***** article - there is a specific person he is being investigated for potentially sharing secrets with, and he's been charged with security violations in the past. This is los alamos, home of some serious national security secrets, and a place that has had major security breaches in the past.
Sounds like law enforcement doing its job to investigate a potentially serious crime to me. If he turns out to be innocent and they don't return his stuff, THEN you douchebags can get your panties in a bunch. - skipvt, on 11/10/2009, -13/+56Slap a terrorist label on someone these days and they can pretty much toss your constitutional rights into the crapper.
- twiztidsinz, on 11/11/2009, -5/+39Bah.. that's too complicated when we can just blindly shake our fists at the gubbamint.
- colincornaby, on 11/11/2009, -5/+28If the government can come for your average scientist working for a ultra high security nuclear research lab who has been previously suspected of security breaches, how long before they come for you? /sarcasm
Seriously, I don't feel sorry for the guy. He works in an ultra top secret lab, and he's complaining that he's being checked for security reasons? It's probably allowed under the security clearance he agreed to. Heck, I have family with top secret clearance (which honestly is not much these days), and every time their clearance comes up for review they send the men in black around to the neighbors, and they use government clearance to grab paperwork from colleges and stuff. I mean, to some people that may sound awful, and I agree, if the government did that to Joe Six Pack, it would be. But when you're signing up for a job working with sensitive documents, the government needs to know they can trust you. It comes with the territory.
So here we have a guy who works in a nuclear weapons lab (really wish I could use bold there), suspected of sharing federal secrets, complaining that the government is shifting through his computers... Maybe he needs to find a new job? I don't buy his argument that the government is against his laser testing system. If he's right, it could save the government billions of dollars. If there is one thing that talks in the government, it's money. I don't see why they'd try to shut that research down. - CaptainNoPants, on 11/11/2009, -8/+28HEY! This is America, and I don't have to do jack ***** about reading past the headline! And dey took err jerbs!
- beingdevious, on 11/11/2009, -3/+16thank you P.A.T.R.I.O.T. act....
:( - issachar, on 11/11/2009, -4/+14Scary?
That the police and FBI can seize your stuff as part of an investigation as long as they have the appropriate warrants?
I'm sorry to disappoint you, but the police have always been able to do this in the US. (Not to mention in every decent country with an accountable government and a separate judiciary.) - Hiwnes, on 11/11/2009, -1/+9I agree. I'm the first to condemn the Patriot Act and it's ilk but there's nothing wrong with a proper investigation. So long as the government has warrants for their seizures and conducts the investigation properly there's nothing wrong with enforcing the law... that's kind of why the government exists in the first place. Now, if the investigation ends up being a failure and all they have against the guy are comments against government policy then yeah, it's time to break out some old school cans of whoop-ass.
- Gordo0852, on 11/11/2009, -1/+9He told congress that they ought to use HIS special laser for nuclear testing. Sounds a little shady to me. If he is so outspoken, I can easily see why his intentions would be taken the wrong way by federal investigators.
- sTiKyt, on 11/11/2009, -3/+10Terrorist is the new spy.
- GauteHauk, on 11/11/2009, -0/+7Because we need the scientists on our side when CERN goes crazy and Half-Life becomes reality.
Say it with me, now: "Scientists are our friends." - yocouchdigga, on 11/10/2009, -11/+17Scary stuff. I thought this was America...
- Propethic, on 11/11/2009, -0/+6I believe you have more than 2 choices other than 100% or 0% trust
- ydobonobody, on 11/11/2009, -0/+6What really annoys me about this sort of seizures is they take away your computer and cell phone and all other electronics for pretty much their useful lifetime, because regardless of innocence you are looking at 18 months minimum. For a company this could shut you down permanently, and for an individual it is beyond inconvenient. It also makes it so that seizures can be used to legally harass people who have different political ideas. I am not saying that all seizures are unjustified I just think that they should come up with a system where they can seize it, copy the internal state of the machines, then return them within a very limited time, especially if no charges are pressed. It should take maybe a week tops.
- Mothrog, on 11/11/2009, -6/+11So, we're supposed to believe that a scientist questioned the government, and now the government's after him for questioning them? Guess what! Scientists question government policy all the time, and somehow they manage not to get arrested. Hell, some scientists' whole job is questioning government policies, and yet they all seem to be free.
The guy's already been investigated twice for security violations, so he's probably full of *****. But, oh no, Big Brother! Rabble, rabble, rabble! - CeruleanRed, on 11/11/2009, -1/+6You're wanted in the test chamber, Dr. Freeman.
- timeshifter, on 11/11/2009, -6/+11Um, where the hell is there word "terrorist" mentioned in any of the text?
- Charlotte_Web, on 11/11/2009, -2/+7If they're going to round up all the people who complain about our nuclear agenda, there won't be a liberal left walking the streets.
- bringitontimx, on 11/11/2009, -2/+6"your liberal conspiracy nerve"
The second you read anything involving anything to do with the federal government, you partisanize things. ***** you. - Laminarcissus, on 11/11/2009, -0/+4"If I were a real spy I would have left the country a long time ago."
A spy who is not in the country he is spying on is not a very good spy. - anotherjack, on 11/11/2009, -3/+7The man retired from Los Alamos in 1988. He's been openly speaking about this idea for decades, trying to sell this laser of his as an energy source. Typical of the US governement of the last few decades, they had no interest in an energy source. It can also be used to reduce the devastation involved in weapons testing, but no actual use of it as a weapon has been cited. They are not confiscating his stuff because they suspect him of selling weapons or telling secrets ( 1988! ) but because they think the laser operates on similar principles, so apparently they think the Venezualans will reverse engineer an h-bomb, maybe...if they figure it out, sorta...
"Hugh DeWitt, a retired physicist from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, calls the FBI action foolish. DeWitt says the theory of a hydrogen-fluoride laser that Mascheroni worked on at Los Alamos lab is a scientific idea that was discussed openly.
Santa Fe businessman Claude Phipps, who once worked in Los Alamos' laser research and development group, says Mascheroni's theories were very good, but they failed politically." - EarElephant, on 11/10/2009, -6/+10"If I were a real spy, I would have left the country a long time ago," said the expert in long-distance espionage.
- abduln, on 11/11/2009, -2/+6Funny, in the Bush days everybody would be on here vilifying Bush... and it would be deserved. Obama is in the big chair, and not a word about him ("Obey Obama" doesn't coun't as it's not even an attempt at a lucid comment). Just an observation.
- OriginalLucid1, on 11/11/2009, -2/+5I guess his first mistake was not being a muslim. Apparently thats all it takes to make the FBI quake in their politically correct boots and avoid you like the plague.
- Jeff901, on 11/11/2009, -2/+5then 19 years ago he should have been let go!
- inactive, on 11/11/2009, -3/+6He should have converted to Islam, then no one would have investigated him!
- RavagedSoul, on 11/11/2009, -1/+4He hasn't worked at Los Alamos ("ultra top secret lab") for 20 years.
- RavagedSoul, on 11/11/2009, -2/+5Yes, let's read the article: he hasn't worked at Los Alamos for 20+ years, and was exonerated in two previous investigations. And apparently, they haven't bothered to arrest him, so they must not be too worried about national security.
- stompk291, on 11/11/2009, -0/+2he could watch cnn, like our other enemies do. . .
- Laminarcissus, on 11/11/2009, -1/+3Just because the FBI seizes all your stuff and refuses to comment doesn't necessarily mean you aren't actually guilty.
- docimodo, on 11/11/2009, -0/+2You miss the point.
He is not currently working at this government lab anymore and thus his mission would have been complete long ago. He is saying he would have already taken all of the intelligence and himself to this supposed spy employer type person in this other country to disseminate it by probably building devices etc.
Physicists are always flagged as high value targets by governments and watched more closely than an ordinary joe the plumber if they are anti-governement just because most half decent ones could build a nuclear weapon given the materials, equipment and appropriate motivation.
You should hear the questioning I get when I go through airport security when entering and leaving the US and I'm not even specialised in the field of nuclear physics... - yocouchdigga, on 11/11/2009, -3/+5I'm taking the side of the scientists: http://www.koat.com/news/21431195/detail.html
- buckrogers1965, on 11/11/2009, -1/+3He was charged and cleared twice in the past.
Clearly they are harassing him. - inactive, on 11/11/2009, -1/+3DEY DURKA DURRRRRR
- alrightwtf, on 11/11/2009, -0/+2@ lepqq61: i don't get it.. are you calling ownage on yourself?
- Boner11, on 11/11/2009, -0/+1Don't you just love the fact that he states the police acted stupidly in the Cambridge MA situation. Then, a muslim heads into Ft. Hood and kills 14 and our President says; "don't jump to conclusions". Am I the only one who sees the irony here?
- emmeron, on 11/11/2009, -0/+1Before I side with the agents who are arresting him, I'd like to know that there are actual secrets here unavailable to any nuclear physics student. Wait, are there that many? Really?
- RavagedSoul, on 11/11/2009, -1/+2"real" as in "actual"; not odd at all. but as usual, let's just assume everyone is guilty.
- Boner11, on 11/11/2009, -0/+1What else do you expect from this administration and janet napolitano?
- wexmajor, on 11/22/2009, -0/+1You make it sound like there's a possibility of them ever returning the stuff.
- katana0182, on 11/12/2009, -0/+1This is a problem for one reason - they took his stuff, when why the heck couldn't they use Ghost on forensic mode? Or, even better - buy new hard disks, take the old ones, ghost his images back on to them while keeping the old ones for forensic purposes. Then there would be nearly no story - just a lawfully-issued search warrant.
I hope if a jury finds him not guilty they pay him for the lost time and the major inconvenience they caused by seizing his data. If the government was required to search, rather than seize, in cases where search without seizure was possible, like this one, and if it claimed to be necessary to seize, that it be required to pay damages (including punitive, or at the very least, interest) for the messes it caused by seizures or constructive seizures to people's lives by their investigation if they don't get a conviction, I'd argue that a lot of the claims of abuse that are brought against them would really go down. The loser pays in civil court - why not in criminal court?
Unfortunately, they like to seize, since he's already guilty in their heads. - stompk291, on 11/11/2009, -0/+1sigh. sadly too true.
- buckrogers1965, on 11/11/2009, -0/+1This is why you should just use X terminals with the server with all your stuff in a free country, like Russia.
- brundlefly76, on 11/12/2009, -1/+1Lol the HEADLINE was POLITICAL (partisan is not the word you meant).
It changed the headline to make it sound as if the government was indiscriminately seizing property from a scientist just for speaking out against the government.
Instead it was a story about a government scientist who was being investigated for espionage - a scientist who, unsurprisingly, had a beef with US nuclear policy. - issachar, on 11/11/2009, -2/+2@alrightwtf
As far as I can tell, lepqq61 thinks that Bush's actions while President make all future police action a constitutional violation.
No problem there.... :P - buckrogers1965, on 11/11/2009, -1/+1Supposed to have probable cause to get a warrant. I bet they didn't have any.
- quirkopatra, on 11/11/2009, -5/+4Why don't you wait before you take a side?
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