Talk:Multistate Anti-Terrorism Information Exchange

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Can you please tell us what it is before jumping down our throats to tell us it's the worst thing in the world. Thank you. --Dtcdthingy 14:41, 14 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Contents 1 delete 2 Do Not Delete 3 Don't understand the dispute? 4 real fears, or bogus? 5 Neutrality

[edit] delete

this is horribly written propoganda. there is no objective article here.

[edit] Do Not Delete

This is not propaganda. Although it is certainly not neutral, I work in law enforcement and can state unequivocally that the program is what the article says, except it is not a terminated pilot project - it is being implemented as a fully functional antiterrorism program. I believe it was re-funded through 'other channels' (NSA, but could be any intelligence agency with a black budget), which would account for its quiet resurrection. In light of recent events concerning the strengthening of national intelligence capabilities, the history of TIA (DARPA's IAO) and the general conversion of America into a fishbowl where we can all be watched closely, this article should not be deleted. It should be retained.

[edit] Don't understand the dispute?

This project has been shut down since June 2005. This page needs to be updated http://www.privacyinternational.org/article.shtml?cmd%5B347%5D=x-347-205261

Maybe the article has been updated since the comments were made, but one "commenter" says it's not an objective article, another says it does not describe the MATRIX system. The current article seems to describe the system objectively.

It would seem to me that posters should be more specific and/or offer their own versions before they get to put a "disputed" flag on an informative and objective article.

[edit] real fears, or bogus?

I for one think more information about possible government information gathering systmes is needed. Oh, sure, it's propoganda (sic) . . .

I would rather be paranoid (about the most powerful military-industrial complex driven nation in the world committing crimes against its own citizens and Constitution), and wrong, than to be Polly Anna, and be wrong.

"It can't happen here!" has been stated about a number of things that were seen in totalitarian governments, such as Czarist AND Soviet Russia, yet those VERY things HAVE happened here . . . political concentration camps (the Japanese in WWII), the curtailment of free speech (Alien and Sedition Act), the McCarthy show trials . . .

[edit] Neutrality

I would suggest that the article begin with a statement about what The Matrix is, before the "controversial" aspects of it are discussed. The article begins:

"The Multistate Anti-Terrorism Information Exchange Program, also known by the acronym "MATRIX" (Multistate Anti-Terrorism Information Exchange), has recently come under scrutiny by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). ("Why We Should Fear The Matrix".) "

The statement

"What does the Matrix do? According to Congressional testimony and news reports, it appears to do just what TIA would have done, if enacted: Tie together government and commercial databases in order to allow federal and state law enforcement entities to conduct detailed searches on particular individuals' dossiers."

does not appear until 6-7 paragraphs later. Even the wording of the descriptive sentence, beginning with "it appears to do just what the TIA would have done," implies that the TIA (whatever it actually was) would have been undesirable, had it been enacted (particularly since the sentence was preceeded by anti-Matrix statements). So the first thing the reader sees is that the ACLU is strongly opposed to the use of the Matrix. Moreover, no rebuttal to the ACLU complaints is provided; indeed, no mention is made of the possible reasons one might support The Matrix.

The "What the Matrix is" section appears to be a somewhat sarcastic treatment of the subject from an anti-Matrix advocate, discussing the concept of "anomaly" as if it were a euphemism invented by pro-Matrix advocates. Indeed, scrutiny reveals most of the article was taken verbatim from the article "Why We Should Fear The Matrix," cited near the beginning of the article. Is it neutral to write a "What ____ is" section by copying an article titled "Why We Should Fear ____?" I think not. There are news articles and other sources (other than opinion pages) that deal with the subject of The Matrix.

I agree with the marking of this article as non-neutral; it needs significant work. [unsigned comment]

Well, I recommend that you take the initiative and be bold. 24.18.35.120 03:01, 16 September 2006 (UTC)