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I'd love to be wrong Thom, but nope. Bi-partisanship is his game.
What a waste of a young and promisiong life. Just this evening I first learned of Aaron and his amazing achievements, along with the events culminating in his suicide. It is another example to illustrate how far-gone this government's moral compass is, that they would target the Bradley Mannings and Aaron Swartzs of the world while those white collar thugs who trashed this economy and caused all this mass suffering skate free.
From what I heard on Democracy Now, Aaron lost his entire fortune on legal fees. The situation had deteriorated to the point where his parents had to mortgage their house after that, just to help him. I can't imagine being faced with a situation like that.
Corporate thieves skate free of consequence for crimes that victimize millions, yet this government insists on targeting whistle blowers and freedom-of-information activists. If that's doesn't convince more of us that we're living under fascism, nothing will. - Aliceinwonderland
While I agree with not trusting the news, this particular set of facts hangs together in a way that is entirely self-consistent and understandable. (They still may not be true.)
I wish to second Thom's hope that lots of friends and admirers of Aaron Swartz now step up to fill his shoes.
I, for one, do not believe that our government's corruption is new -- what is new is so many people KNOWing that and talking about that and taking action in response to that. To me the original Constitution itself is suspect in that counting black men as 6/10's of a person to achieve what they deemed to be an appropriate balance of power seems like a crazy notion to me -- not only is that document leaving lots of men and women out of its notion of 'people', it is also granting extra power to the slave owners. It is the original jurimander in a government that routinely sidesteps (and has almost always sidestepped) core issues and uses quick and dirty temporary fixes to things.
What is new is the extent of resistance by the populace to that government. Time for us all to live the words from the old song "We're not going to take it any more!"
I'm sure ALL of the T Party will, hopefully the true Republicans will not go along with them and keep this from actually happening.
Of course, I'm also open to the suggestion that Aaron was the victim of a Black Op! I'm not saying that I believe its not possible or likely. I have mixed feeling as to what is a greater tragedy. Personally I'd rather believe it was a Black Op. Unfortunately, like I said, I had manic depression--suicide is very believable.
I think its important for us all to remember when--for the reason of intimidation by a villain--we contemplate suicide, that we are contemplating helping the main cause of our troubles eliminate the Main Hero in our story from winning the good struggle. The price we pay for handing over victory to the Bad Guy is our own life. What the hell are you thinking?
Gandhi, Christ, Mandela, MLK jr., and a host of others refused to do the dirty work of the Bad Guy. They will be remembered forever for their tenacity. Never give up the good fight. Don't take your own life. Make the Bad Guy do it for you. That way, either way, you die a winner!
Thom, I wish to extend my most sincere condolences to you, the family, friends, fellow readers and listeners who are shocked and reeling from this preventable tragedy. I understand the conspiracy suspicions; but having once dealt with depression myself I know how devastating of a condition it can be. My heart goes out to anyone who may be suffering from this condition.
When it happened to me it was brief--only a few months; but, some of the longest months of my life. I wanted to die for no reason. I can imagine what it must be like for someone with a reason. There were no drugs back then to alleviate the condition. We didn't even know it was an abnormal condition. My parent thought it was a phase. I later learned that manic depression is a normal phase of adultolescence that many people experience.
One of the things that got me through it alive was the notion that I was sent here for a reason. If I took my life before I succeeded, I would be sent back and have to do it all over again until I got it right. I thought how many times have I made it this far already and how many more times will it take till I succeed at what I'm supposed to do. The thought of living an eternal feedback loop of despair and failure gave me the courage to overcome the condition and resist the suicidal tendencies.
Although this reasoning has no basis in reality, it certainly was a helpful notion that helped me survive a difficult time. May God Bless Aaron! He will be fondly remembered and sorely missed!
Thom,
I would like to contribute to your conversation with the woman who thought we should not have flood insurance.
We should continue to have this insurance, and we should continue to raise taxes on the wealthy. The rational is that the wealthy are more like to live in coastal properties and they will have higher losses (and higher claims) if there is an incident.
Also, a higher tax on higher income should be thought of as a means test. Perhaps a reverse means test. I think I first heard of this notion from Sam Seeder in a conversation about Social Security benefits (a higher cap on FICA taxes is a better alternative to means testing a recipient). I thought it was a brilliant way to think means testing.
I think suicide marks an important event which warrants scrutiny and a diagnosis. What were the circumstances and history of the moment? Suicide, a violent death, is never investigated, eventhough suicide sometimes covers another crime or is actually a murder.
This young man demonstrated a possible threat to the security of information stored on computers which might incriminate some of our most admired citizens.
Therefore, he was stalked, harassed and intimidated to death- an example to others who may get the idea to release sensitive materials stored in computers which are engaged in polictically embarassing electronic money transfers, profiteering, and stock trades.
Yes, in times like these, it's kind of suspicious to keep filling up prisons with penny-ante desperados, the mentally ill and drug addicts, while the lawyers are gloating, the doctors are silent, and the Senate gets richer and richer as the country gets poorer and poorer.
I am sorry to hear of Aaron's death.
As you say, they treated him that way as a warning to other Americans who think our government should be run honestly. When a government starts going on and on about "patriot" this, and "patriot" that, you know that these are good times for fake patriots, but difficult times for real patriots.
We have no idea how Aaron Swartz died. There is no reason to assume that the police report wasn't a cover up. There is no reason to assume that the mainstream press spent any time or effort looking into the circumstances surrounding Swartz's death. There will not be an investigation or a trial. With a history of assassinations stretching from Huey Long to Mike Connell, all serving the Right, none investigated or reported, why should we take this report at face value.
I don't claim to have any affirmative evidence that this was NOT a suicide. There are plenty of people who would not have wanted his trial to go forward, and lots of big, moneyed interests for whom Swartz's commitment to an open Internet was an inconvenience. I have seen no evidence that they played a role in his death, but I have also seen no evidence to the contrary. An thorough and independent investigation conducted by local police would seem to be a reasonable next step...but don't hold your breath.
I think it is a travesty we can no longer trust either our press or our justice system to investigate events like this or to tell us the truth.
When I was in my late teens, I asked my father what he thought I should do for a living. He said, "Well, I hope you won't decide to be a thief. But if you do, steal big. Steal a lot. If you steal money, for instance, steal at least $100 million at a time." (That was forty years ago, so, adjusted for inflation, we're talking around $100 billion.)
He continued, "And if you want to steal from a huge corporation- which is where the really big money is, here's how to do it: get on the board of directors of a corporation whose board is already thick with thieves, and working together with your legal counsel it should be fairly easy to work up a good scam. Put 10% of everything you steal, into plain paper bags and give it to well-placed members of congress and to key people in the White House. And put an important law firm on retainer for another 10%. Then, even if you get caught you won't be prosecuted. Or, if they have to prosecute you because millions of people are threatening to not re-elect the politicians, and you can't throw someone else under the bus, you can "die," get plastic surgery, and live out the rest of your life in luxury in the Cayman Islands."
Sage advice. But he didn't think this stuff up himself, they teach it at Harvard, Yale, and other ivy league schools.
I think Obama will hopefully take it under his control and use executive order.
Our country, our government are clearly broken... dangerously infected! The DOJ is just one symptom of many sicknesses in our society. "The System" fears only one thing... TRUTH. That's why the corrupt connected rich get away with corporate murder at home and abroad... the TRUTH never sees the light of day in the broad swath of America with corporate owned mainstream media. The sad thing is that a majority of mainstream America doesn't want to know the TRUTH, so the cancer will continue to spread. But I hope I'm wrong for the sake of my kids and grandkids. I hope my attitude is only caused by my cynicism from Vietnam war PTSD. I have little faith in "We The People" when WE continue to accept voting for the lesser of two evils, and accept neverending war as the delusion to deal with the fear that infects the core of America.
more on Aaron Swartz:
"The brilliant mind, righteous heart of Aaron Swartz will be missed"...progressive activist, founder of Demand Progress
Sorry to hear about what happened to Aaron. That's so sad. Even JSTOR website has offered condolences on it's main page.
DAnneMarc: OMG LMAO!
Interesting concept Palindromedary!
A RFID chip implant to thwart Kidnappers! In theory it's a great idea. However, I wouldn't trust my life in a technology that isn't yet been satisfactorily proven to me. Besides, you still incure the risk that the kidnappers could have a RFID detector in their midst and are more than prepared and willing to conduct a sedation-less arm amputation. It could be a win win situation for them--elimination of a tracking device and acquisition of positive identification of your identity to send to your ransom payers.
Just inject my chip into my ass. As I am told it is completely worthless! In addition, that's where I store my own personal weapon of mass destruction. If detected I should be able to launch a chemical counter attack that should allow me to escape unharmed.
OMG! We simply must get together sometime for margaritas in some villa south of the border. We'd have a gas. Pardon my pun! LOL Have a good evening, Buddy!
DAnneMarc: I had not heard that about del Toro. That's too bad. To bad his father didn't have an RFID chip injected in his arm so that they could track him. Some business people going down to Mexico have used these in case they were kidnapped. And even Mexican authorities have ordered these for the same reason.
Here's an old article I found...no telling what they have now. I get the feeling that, because of the bad publicity they have gotten...Mark of the Beast lore... they try to keep the newsworthy stuff aimed at animal control.
"Latin American customers are looking at both technologies for security purposes, which partly explains why some of VeriChip's early clients included Mexico's attorney general, as well as a Mexican agency trying to curb the country's kidnapping epidemic, and commercial distributors in Venezuela and Colombia. "
http://news.cnet.com/Human-chips-more-than-skin-deep/2009-1008_3-5318076...
DAnneMarc: I don't remember any "gated" communities in Ajajic...they just looked like fairly nice and large houses on large yards. I did see some a couple of miles north of Chapala to the west of the main route going to Chapala.
I had entertained the idea of moving to that area but I was never really seriously considering it. And I have heard about Americans moving to Costa Rica and Panama. But, I've never looked into that. So far, I'm doing ok right here in Semipalatinsk, Khazakstan...all of those old nuclear waste dumps and old nuke bomb test sites just seems like home. Besides, I would have trouble getting all three wives to move away from their families. ;-}
Wow, I just Googled Ajijic. Now you got me curious again. I wonder if its as nice as the pictures. Thanks for that tidbit. I'm gonna have to check it out next chance I get.
BTW Everyone I know who's in the know have recommended consideration of either Panama or Costa Rica. They say they have great climates, low crime rates and cheap living. Have you looked into those countries or are you dead set on Mexico?
Yeah. It belongs to my wife's family. It's huge, 5br/2ba with a yard big enough for three more houses. It's in a great location near schools, the main clinic, and stores. It's in walking distance to anywhere in the pueblo. (So's every other house there. LOL) There's also a huge ranch with a natural water supply just outside the pueblocito. The problem is all her siblings want to live here because the income and crime rates are more tolerable. All their kids were raised here and all their friends are here. You mentioned del Toro. I'm sure you're aware his father was kidnapped and after spending a fortune to get him back he had to flee the country. He's famous for saying that he's "in involuntary exile [from his country]."
I too love the architecture in Mexico. It's rich, artistic, delicate, and splendid. I love the brick buildings natural weatherproofing, central open sky lighting, and general overall feel of quality craftsmanship and materials. (I have mixed feelings about sleeping under a brick ceiling.) I love the extensive use of textiles and flamboyant display of color. I equally love the humble and hospitable nature of the people. However, despite being somewhat fluent in the language I do often sense being treated differently when I'm alone than when I'm with a family member. However, you are right, an American could retire their and live like a King.
Despite the minor issues of crime, kidnapping, drug violence and domestic property obligations, I would love to relocate after I retire if those issues could be resolved. Times will change for sure by then. Of course I feel the key to resolving the problems over there begins with resolving the problems over here. Gated communities also lack appeal. Prisons are gated communities. Also, I don't particularly like the idea of running away from my problems. Problems love to follow the path of least resistance just like any other natural force. I'm sure that since you haven't already made that move you probably feel the same way too.
My father never let me run away from a fight. He used to say, "You can fight that other kid or you can fight me. What's it gonna be." You'd have felt sorry for the other kid. I can assure you he didn't follow me home.
DAnneMarc: Cool! You've already got a house down there..that's great! I checked out those two pueblocitos you mentioned...not far from Lake Chapala. They are over closer to that Volcano which erupted in 2005 a couple of times. And that oceanside city Manzanillo looks very interesting...but quite a drive from Guadajara.
I went to the town of Chapala, a number of times which is on the Northern edge of Lake Chapala. I've eaten in various dining spots around the pier area..and there is a large plaza where they have art festivals..bought a few T-shirts. I also drove around to the west to Ajijic and further west but I didn't go all the way around the lake. In Ajijic they have some very nice housing and many Americans live in that area as well as other areas around the lake. The lake does, however, tend to get low sometimes. I was there when it was at fairly normal levels and then again when it was lower.
When I first started to go to Guadalajara I stayed at the Hotel Presidente and enjoyed going to the Plaza Del Sol just across the street. I liked the fountains. One had bronze statues that looked like thrones but the back rests were very tall with heads on top....like you could sit in the laps of these throne creatures....reminds me of a del Toro movie...Pan's Labyrinth for example (one of my favorite movies). But I got tired of staying in the same place and having to fight the traffic and smog (a sometimes occurrence) so I started staying at the El Tapatio Resort Hotel. It was much closer to where I had to work and it was up high on a hill giving me a great view of the city. It is an older hotel with a lot of history and many people have weddings and banquets there a lot. But it is very peaceful. The entrance is gated with guards and there is a winding cobblestone drive up the hill. Tlaquepaque historic shopping and restaurant district is nearby to the north.
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/1112891?source=wapi&referrer=kh.google.com
Wow Palindromedary, I just Googled Lake Chapala. Now you got me curious. I just told my wife we are going to have to check out this place on our next visit. Thanks Buddy!