Join the DC community to remember the life and work of Aaron Swartz, an accomplished activist, and call for Computer Fraud and Abuse Act reform. We will honor the contributions he made at the national level with members of Congress on both sides of the aisle who shared his relentless commitment to make the internet free and open.
Attendees will include Taren Stinebrickner-Kauffman, Ben Wikler, Dean Baker, Robert Swartz, Larry Lessig, Senator Wyden, and several other members of Congress.
Aaron is survived by his parents Robert and Susan Swartz, his younger brothers Noah and Ben, and his partner Taren Stinebrickner-Kauffman.
Remembrances of Aaron, as well as donations in his memory, can be submitted at http://rememberaaronsw.com.
Democracy Now! has generously provided a special livestream as family and friends of Aaron Swartz gather at Cooper Union’s Great Hall in New York City to celebrate his life and remember their beloved friend, sibling, child, and partner.
Speakers include Taren Stinebrickner-Kauffman, David Segal, Ben Wikler, Roy Singham, Doc Searls, Edward Tufte, David Isenberg, Holden Karnofsky and Tom Chiarella and other friends. OK Go’s Damian Kush will be performing at the service.
The service ended at 6:00 pm ET, but you can still watch it all via this livestream video.
The last of the funerals have been held for the 27 victims of the Newtown massacre, the worst grade school shooting in U.S. history. On Friday, mourners held a moment of silence at the Newtown memorial site and across the country to mark the first week since the 20 children and seven adults were killed. On Christmas Day, visitors from neighboring areas flocked to Newtown’s memorial site to honor the dead.
Sandra Johnson: "Because it was Christmas and as a parent I just couldn’t move on celebrating unless we came and, you know, respect these kids and the adults. It touched everybody’s hearts. So I just couldn’t move forward. I came in this morning, early, you know, and just saying a prayer."
Jesus Carrion: "We wanted to contribute and bring some teddy bears for the families, you know, of these kids and the teachers who are not here today because of some tragic moment. And so we just wanted to come down and show support for the families — obviously that will be never be the same again, whose holidays will never be."
I know that the children, the teachers and families of Newton haven't been far from my own thoughts this holiday season. Did any of you feel moved to do something, say a prayer, send good thoughts, a moment of silence or anything else?
Twenty-five people, most of them U.S. military veterans, were arrested while laying flowers at a war memorial in New York City Oct. 7. They were engaged in a peaceful vigil to honor those killed and wounded in war and to oppose the U.S. war in Afghanistan as it entered its 12th year.
The vigil was held at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Plaza in lower Manhattan and began with a program of music and speakers including Vietnam veteran Bishop George Packard, Pulitzer Prize-winning war correspondent Chris Hedges, and Iraq combat veteran Jenny Pacanowski. At 8:30, the protesters began reading the names of the New York soldiers killed in Vietnam who are commemorated at the plaza and the military dead in Afghanistan and Iraq.
At 10:15 pm, the police informed the group that the park was officially closed and that if they remained they would be arrested. Many chose to continue reading names and laying flowers until they were handcuffed and taken away. One of the arrestees was Word War II Army combat veteran, Jay Wenk, 85, from Woodstock, NY.
The veterans had four aims:
Demand an end to the 11-year war in Afghanistan
Demand an end to all U.S. wars of aggression
Remember all those killed and wounded by war
Stand up for our right, and duty, to assemble and organize
Photojournalist, poet and Vietnam veteran Mike Hastie was the first arrested, after appealing to police not to force the veterans out of the war memorial: “This is a sad day. I was a medic in Vietnam. I watched soldiers commit suicide. I had soldiers’ brains all over my lap. How can you do this? How can you arrest me for being at a war memorial?”
