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Thom's blog
Internet trailblazer and activist Aaron Swartz is dead at age 26
Aaron, who often appeared on this show, was found dead in his apartment after an apparent suicide over the weekend. He had long battled depression. But friends, family, and supporters of Aaron are placing the blame for his death on the Department of Justice, which was currently prosecuting Aaron for an incident that happened back in 2011 on the campus of MIT. Aaron, an advocate for freedom of information on the Internet, was busted for tapping into MIT’s network, and downloading millions of scholarly journals from the online database JSTOR.
Despite it being a victimless crime, and JSTOR itself settling the matter with Aaron, the Department of Justice stepped in to make an example out of Aaron – charging him with multiple crimes and the possibility of serving more than 30 years in prison – which is more than killers, bank robbers, child pornographers, and terrorist sympathizers receive. The Secret Service even got involved in the matter. According to a statement – Aaron’s family blamed his death on, “an exceptionally harsh array of charges.”
Our justice system is clearly broken. How is that banksters who steal billions, or corporate executives who are responsible for the deaths of workers on oil rigs and mines, never see a day in jail. But whistleblowers and freedom of information activists have the book thrown at them, and suffer the full might of the United States Justice Department?
Over the weekend – online activists affiliated with Anonymous claimed responsibility for taking down the websites of MIT and the Department of Justice. One thing is for sure, the online community, which had joined together in the past for significant achievements, like the defeat of SOPA and PIPA, will not let Aaron die in vain.
Like the suicide of the Tunisian street vendor, which kicked off the Arab Spring, Aaron’s death just may be a spark to wake Americans up to this cancer in our justice system, this abuse of copyright laws, and this corporate domination of the internet, and our society. Let’s hope.
-Thom
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Tonight on The Big Picture on RT TV at 7pm and 9pm... Second amendment was passed to protect slavery (check your local listings for stations or stream at RT, and catch past shows on Youtube)
Need to Know: Second amendment was passed to protect slavery
The Best of the Rest...
Is Japan dumping austerity?- Eamonn Fingleton, Economics Journalist / Contributor-Forbes.com / Author "In the Jaws of the Dragon" 
Everything You Know is Wrong - Could a super bird flu escape from the lab?- Michael Greger, M.D., Director of Public Health and Animal Agriculture at The Humane Society of the United States / author "Bird Flu: A Virus of Our Own Hatching" -
Daily Take: Aaron Swartz...symptom of an over reaching police state?
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Special Event !
WHAT: Progressive Central : The People's Inauguration
WHERE: UDC David A. Clarke School of Law | 5th Floor Moot Court Room | 4340 Connecticut Avenue NW | Washington, DC 20008
WHEN: Saturday, January 19, 2013 | 8:00 a.m.–3:30 p.m.
WHO: John Nichols (The Nation magazine writer, MSNBC contributor, author) will moderate a series of panel discussions focused on the most critical issues of today, with 18 guest speakers, including Thom Hartmann
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Friday's Daily Stack 
Hour One: If it's Friday, it's "Brunch With Bernie"... the honorable Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) joins Thom with all the news from our nation's capitol and as always he'll be spending the hour taking your calls and answering your questions too... Follow Bernie:    campaign site.
Hour Two: The Hidden History Of The Second Amendment
Article: " 2nd Amendment". "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."
Hour Three: Anything Goes on Townhall Friday!
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Monday on The Thom Hartmann Program, 3-6pm ET
Hour One: Debt ceiling...will Obama call the GOP's bluff?
McChrystal on drones, guns and...groupies- General Stanley McChrystal, Retired United States Army General / former Commander of the International Security Assistance Force and Commander of United States Forces Afghanistan / Author, memoirs "My Share of the Task"
Hour Two: Should we the people help each other out when disaster strikes?- Nicole Gelinas, Searle Freedom Trust Fellow at the Manhattan Institute / City Journal
Hour Three: The second amendment was passed to protect slavery...
And, the best of the rest of the news and your calls right here on...
The Thom Hartmann Program...your media support group for "we the people"...
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Tuesday on The Thom Hartmann Program, 3-6pm ET
More on the debt ceiling talks and the latest on VP Biden's ideas for implementing sane gun controls...
Plus the best of the rest of the news and your calls right here on...
The Thom Hartmann Program, Occupying The Media 3 hours a day 5 days a week" for "we the people"...Democracy is NOT a spectator sport...it begins with you...
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Thom's Poll
Will Obama really call the Republican's bluff on the debt limit?
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Watch & Listen to Thom
Conversations w/ Great Minds - Dr. Sonja Lyubomirsky - The Myths of Happiness P1
Conversations w/Great Minds - Dr. Sonja Lyubomirsky - The Myths of Happiness P2
Would you like a side of the flu with your order?
Big Picture Rumble - Michele Bachmann has some secrets...
Big Picture Rumble - Do we need guns to protect us from our government?
Or watch the Full "Big Picture" Show...
Full Show 1/11/13: Corporations Spreading The Flu
When big restaurant corporations deny employees sick days, are they in fact responsible for spreading the flu? We also ask, is the concept of "happiness" just a myth? Thom talks with Dr. Sonja Lyubomirsky in tonight's Conversations with Great Minds.
Thom Hartmann On The News: January 11, 2013
Bernie Sanders: Paul Krugman For Treasury
Real Reason For The 2nd Amendment Part 1
Real Reason For The 2nd Amendment Part 2
Brunch With Bernie: January 11, 2013
Why Don't Republicans Want to Pay Their Bills?
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 Would you like to help give a child with a very troubled background this feeling of peace? Thom and Louise Hartmann founded the New England Salem Children's Village (NESCV) in New Hampshire in 1979. With states delaying payment for the children they entrust to the village, they need help with cash flow. Can you help? Now on Facebook. |
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