memeorandum: Online activist Aaron Swartz commits suicide, relative says (Michael Martinez/CNN)

5:10 PM ET, January 12, 2013

Top Items:

Aaron Swartz commits suicide — Computer activist Aaron H. Swartz committed suicide in New York City yesterday, Jan. 11, according to his uncle, Michael Wolf, in a comment to The Tech. Swartz was 26. — “The tragic and heartbreaking information you received is, regrettably, true,” …

Discussion: AlterNet, Mashable!, Guardian, VentureBeat, The Verge, The Daily Caller, The Raw Story, Towleroad News #gay and Gothamist

Lessig Blog, v2:

Prosecutor as bully — (Some will say this is not the time. I disagree. This is the time when every mixed emotion needs to find voice.) — Since his arresting the early morning of January 11, 2011 — two years to the day before Aaron Swartz ended his life — I have known more about the events …

Discussion: New York Times, Hullabaloo, Guardian, Althouse and Brad DeLong, more at Mediagazer »

Cory Doctorow / Boing Boing:

RIP, Aaron Swartz — To the extent possible under law, Cory Doctorow has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to “RIP, Aaron Swartz.” — Update: Go read Lessig: “He was brilliant, and funny. A kid genius. A soul, a conscience, the source of a question I have asked myself a million times: What would Aaron think?

Discussion: Guardian, The Agonist, Balloon Juice, The Atlantic Online, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Lede, Gawker, TechCrunch, Althouse and Lessig Blog, v2

Michael Martinez / CNN:

Online activist Aaron Swartz commits suicide, relative says — Los Angeles (CNN) — Aaron Swartz, an Internet savant who at a young age shaped the online era by co-developing RSS and Reddit and later became a digital activist, has committed suicide, a relative told CNN Saturday. — He was 26 years old.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and The Reality-Based Community

Henry / Crooked Timber:
Remembering Aaron Swartz

Discussion: Mark Bernstein

Ezra Klein / Wonkblog:

Treasury: We won't mint a platinum coin to sidestep the debt ceiling — The Treasury Department will not mint a trillion-dollar platinum coin to get around the debt ceiling. If they did, the Federal Reserve would not accept it. — That's the bottom line of the statement that Anthony Coley …

Discussion: Paul Krugman, Outside the Beltway, Business Insider, Washington Examiner, Mother Jones and Post Politics

WTVF-TV:

State Suspends Permit Of Man In Gun Control Rage Video — NASHVILLE, Tenn.- Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security has suspended the handgun carry permit of a local man who threatened to “start killing people” to protect his Second Amendment right.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Impolitic, Balloon Juice, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, No More Mister Nice Blog, msnbc.com, Hatewatch, The Raw Story and Wonkette

Ben Geman / The Hill:

Major report warns climate change could raise temperatures by 10 degrees — The third National Climate Assessment, released Friday, said there's “unambiguous evidence” that earth is warming, and that climate change over the past 50 years is driven primarily by human activity, especially from burning fossil fuels.

Discussion: The Agonist, Mother Jones and Wonkblog

The White House:
Expanding the Climate Change Conversation

Discussion: Guardian

Frank Luntz / Washington Post:

Why Republicans should watch their language — Frank Luntz, a pollster, is the author of “Win: The Key Principles to Take Your Business From Ordinary to Extraordinary.” — This coming week, House Republicans will gather in Williamsburg, Va., to discuss what went wrong in 2012.

Discussion: Applesauce, p m carpenter's commentary and Daily Kos

Max Fisher / Washington Post:

The anti-Americanism of Jackie Chan — Jackie Chan, shown here at a comedy show in San Diego, disparaged the United States on a Chinese TV show. (Kevin Winter/Getty Images) — Americans know Jackie Chan best for his cheery, acrobatic performances in action movies such as “Rumble in the Bronx” …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Mediaite, Washington Examiner and Gawker

James Joyner / The Atlantic Online:

No Longer the ‘Party of Eisenhower and Reagan’ — Republican opposition to defense secretary nominee Chuck Hagel reveals just how far the party's thinking has drifted on foreign policy. — Jason Reed/Reuters — With exit polls showing that the country trusted him more to conduct U.S. foreign policy …

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, The Agonist and Power Line

William A. Jacobson / Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion:

David Gregory and wife knew D.C. Attorney General — District of Columbia Attorney General Irvin Nathan issued a lengthy letter today explaining the decision not to prosecute David Gregory “despite the clarity of the violation of this important law,” despite rejecting NBC's claims …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Althouse, EconLog, protein wisdom, American Power, Sense of Events, The Gateway Pundit, NewsBusters.org, Mediaite, Washington Times, The Daily Caller and Power Line

Mackenzie Weinger / Politico:
No gun magazine charges for David Gregory

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, The Political Carnival, Althouse and The Other McCain, more at Mediagazer »

Peter Hermann / Washington Post:
NBC's Gregory won't be charged for displaying ammunition clip on TV

Discussion: Deadline.com, Post Politics, Poynter and TalkLeft

Emily Miller / Washington Times:
David Gregory gets off scot free

Discussion: Hot Air, Power Line and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Jennifer Haberkorn / Politico:

GOP looks for ways to stop the rape comments — Rep. Phil Gingrey's attempts to explain Todd Akin's rape remarks are leaving many Republicans beyond frustrated that a few in their party can't help but insert rape into the already contentious abortion debate. — “This is actually pretty simple.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Mediaite, The Moderate Voice and The National Memo

Jason Lange / Reuters:

Americans feel austerity's bite as payroll taxes rise — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Americans are beginning to feel the pinch from Washington's decision to embrace austerity measures aimed at bringing down the nation's budget deficit. — Paychecks across the country have shrunk over the last week due …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit