
My Aaron Swartz, whom I loved - rufo
http://www.quinnnorton.com/said/?p=644
======
danso
> _When he was 20, he carried me through my divorce. We promised each other a
> year. I apologized so many times: that I was better than what he was
> getting, that he got me destroyed. Still, what a year. Later, I tried to
> take care of him while he was being destroyed, from inside and out. I
> struggled so hard, but not as hard as he did. I told him, time and again,
> that this was his 20s. It would be better in his 30s. Just wait. Please,
> just hold on._

I think all of us who've transitioned from 20 to 30 can agree with her. I
still can't get over how much he could've impacted civics and technology as a
wiser man.

~~~
tomjen3
Then go tell that to the murder. I hope the prosecutor burns in hell. Fuck
that monkey and all she has ever done.

~~~
jplewicke
Calling her a monkey is unbearably and unquestionably racist, and I think you
might want to take a minute or two and think about why you said that.

From <http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/semmelweis> :

"Looking at ourselves objectively isn’t easy. But it’s essential if we ever
want to get better. And if we don’t do it, we leave ourselves open to con
artists and ethical compromisers who prey on our desire to believe we’re
perfect."

~~~
Resident_Geek
> Calling her a monkey is unbearably and unquestionably racist

How so?

~~~
LukeShu
To many people to call someone a monkey is to say that the race they belong to
is less evolved; biologically closer to monkeys.

~~~
Resident_Geek
Sure, but what indication is there that the comment is referring to her race?

~~~
cynwoody
Absolutely none.

Indeed, to accuse an insulter of racism for deriding someone as belonging to
another species is to conflate the concepts of race and species. At best
that's ignorant; at worst it's racist!

As to the prosecutor's species, isn't the saga of Aaron Swartz sufficient
evidence? As to her race, have a look at her picture and judge for yourself:

<http://goo.gl/JNck7>

~~~
Hario
Yes, because people who call out racism are the REAL racists.

------
citricsquid
google cache:
[http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache%3Ahttp%...](http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache%3Ahttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.quinnnorton.com%2Fsaid%2F%3Fp%3D644&oq=cache%3Ahttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.quinnnorton.com%2Fsaid%2F%3Fp%3D644&sugexp=chrome,mod=6&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8)

------
benesch
"There are no words to can contain love, to cloth it in words is to kill it,
to mummify it and hope that somewhere in the heart of a reader, they have the
strength and the magic to resurrect it."

This is perhaps the most profound statement about love I've ever come across.

------
asdadasdgasfa
[http://ia601205.us.archive.org/25/items/UsaV.AaronSwartz-
Cri...](http://ia601205.us.archive.org/25/items/UsaV.AaronSwartz-
CriminalDocument53/UsaV.AaronSwartz-CriminalDocument53.pdf)

"Promises, rewards, or inducements have been given to witness Erin Quinn
Norton. Copies of the letter agreement with her and order of immunity with
respect to her grand jury testimony are disclosed on Disk 3."

~~~
hyperbovine
Note that this does not necessarily imply that she sold her friend out.
Prosecutors commonly grant immunity in grand jury cases whether or not the
witness asked for or wanted it, because it deprives him of the legal basis for
invoking the Fifth Amendment. Testimony can then be compelled under threat of
contempt.

If this sounds shady, that's because it is.

~~~
philwelch
Compelling testimony isn't "shady". Besides, the defense has the power to
compel testimony as well. It's in the Constitution.

~~~
hyperbovine
Call it what you like--this interpretation of the Fifth Amendment seems about
as much in line with what the framers intended as the supposed right of every
man, woman and child in our well regulated militia to own an AR15.

~~~
philwelch
I was talking about Sixth Amendment, which explicitly gives the defense the
power to compel witnesses:

"In all criminal prosecutions, _the accused shall enjoy the right_ to a speedy
and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the
crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously
ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the
accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; _to have
compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor_ , and to have the
Assistance of Counsel for his defence."

The _subpoena ad testificandum_ , the process by which the prosecution may
compel witnesses, is a feature of the English common law that was well
familiar to the founders. Its use in the United States comes directly from
English precedent.

------
scottbartell
Beautiful, sad story.

------
mikec3k
There's something in my eye.

------
obv_throwaway
I honestly dont know what to make of Quinn Norton.

She likes to call herself a journalist but it seems to me that she always puts
herself in the story. I am seeing some of that here as well.

I'm also uncomfortable with her "claiming" him as a "lover." I'd be rather
uncomfortable with one of my ex's writing articles about me after my death.

Then again, maybe I'm missing something here.

~~~
vidarh
Yes, you seem to miss the fact that it's an obituary written by someone who
loved the person who has died.

Complaining that she "puts herself in the story"? On her personal blog? When
someone she loved has just died? Seriously? Are you _really_ that callous?

(And if my ex wrote about me like that after my death, then I'd be perfectly
fine with it.)

~~~
obv_throwaway
I'll admit to a fair share of kneejerk annoyance to her writing and her
attitudes in general.

But my sense of her article is that she's maybe a bit insensitive to the
person who was his current partner, Taren. Some feelings aren't meant to be
written down and shared with all the world to see.

