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Adrian Lamo has died

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Re: Adrian Lamo has died

#21

Post by VectorLock »

virtuowl wrote: post #9
kragen wrote: post #5

I'm conflicted about this news. On one hand, he was one of us, and he shared his knowledge. On the other hand, he was a traitor, and he betrayed the trust of a true hero in order to put more unaccountable government power in the hands of people like Donald Trump. Who would have expected that Adrian Lamo would outlive Chelsea Manning? Did he commit suicide — as she nearly did?

I know what you mean but i am not sure how much he knew about the things manning leaked. Considering what he did before i want to believe that he had a good reason why he did it. Maybe he really thought people were in danger

According to him he did it as a matter of conscience given the broad and indiscriminate nature of what Manning was releasing, potentially putting the lives of US servicemen and those that work with them at risk.

Re: Adrian Lamo has died

#22

Post by VonGuard »

So, I'm gonna lay it out here as I am having a bad day and don't feel like censoring myself. I'd known Adrian since 1998. He came to 2600 meetings in SF and was a fixture there. In that time, he generally didn't make any friends. While he was gay, he was also stalking a lady at the meetings, and being super creepy about it. Eventually, he left SF and was homeless. He got in trouble for hacking the NYT and making himself some Lexis Nexis accounts. He then reported Chelsea Manning to the authorities when she reached out to him, connected because of their shared LGBTQ background.

Lamo screwed Manning big time, but when he did, none of us who knew him were surprised. He was never a happy person, and never friendly to anyone I knew. I think his folks threw him out of the house in his teens.

Kind of a tragic figure, but also not really someone you could ever trust or even invite to parties. When anyone dies, it's sad. But with Adrian, he had already basically removed himself from the groups who knew him long ago. He was just seemingly not comfortable being in society and making friends.

Re: Adrian Lamo has died

#24

Post by ixtli »

cypherg wrote: post #11

This guy was seriously mentally troubled, and that's too bad. Chelsea Manning (Bradley/Bradass at the time) confieded in Adrian, Adrian snitched, and the rest is history. He did what he thought was right, but the consequences were absolutely disastrous. Kids, don't be a snitch.

Snitching has a very specific definition here, i think: it's telling on someone to power. You can't snitch on the US government's secret abuses of power because the people deserve to know.

Re: Adrian Lamo has died

#25

Post by rwmj »

kragen wrote: post #5

I'm conflicted about this news. On one hand, he was one of us, and he shared his knowledge. On the other hand, he was a traitor, and he betrayed the trust of a true hero in order to put more unaccountable government power in the hands of people like Donald Trump. Who would have expected that Adrian Lamo would outlive Chelsea Manning? Did he commit suicide — as she nearly did?

"Traitor" is a pretty powerful word. A more realistic way to look at it is that someone—using a persistent method of communication—told him that they had committed a very serious crime¹, and he then had to choose between covering it up or going to the police. Covering it up or ignoring it could have meant he was an accessory.

¹ Whether it should be a serious crime or not is irrelevant here.

Re: Adrian Lamo has died

#26

Post by jsmthrowaway »

sgtmas2006 wrote: post #8
kragen wrote: post #5

I'm conflicted about this news. On one hand, he was one of us, and he shared his knowledge. On the other hand, he was a traitor, and he betrayed the trust of a true hero in order to put more unaccountable government power in the hands of people like Donald Trump. Who would have expected that Adrian Lamo would outlive Chelsea Manning? Did he commit suicide — as she nearly did?

His family has said that he went dark on social media starting the 18-21st of Feb. He also had issues with substance abuse apparently, but who knows.

He had been involuntarily held more than once, and described his diagnosis of Asperger's to more than one publication. There were questions about the story he told, though, based on records not matching up with his narrative; this, to me, indicated a man not well, who needed help more than anything. I hope he was getting it.

That said, I think it's inappropriate to speculate, particularly when the circumstances likely involve mental health. We should really just celebrate Adrian and send our best to those who survive him, as well as take the opportunity to mention that mental health is extremely important in our line of work (and not!) and you should never feel bad for seeking help or fall victim to the stigma. Code can wait; you and your brain can't.

Tragic loss, way too young.

Re: Adrian Lamo has died

#27

Post by jakear »

virtuowl wrote: post #9
kragen wrote: post #5

I'm conflicted about this news. On one hand, he was one of us, and he shared his knowledge. On the other hand, he was a traitor, and he betrayed the trust of a true hero in order to put more unaccountable government power in the hands of people like Donald Trump. Who would have expected that Adrian Lamo would outlive Chelsea Manning? Did he commit suicide — as she nearly did?

I know what you mean but i am not sure how much he knew about the things manning leaked. Considering what he did before i want to believe that he had a good reason why he did it. Maybe he really thought people were in danger

People really were put in danger. The Taliban targeted Afgan nationals revealed in the documents to be associating with the US. From a Taliban spokesperson: "We will investigate through our own secret service whether the people mentioned are really spies working for the U.S. If they are U.S. spies, then we know how to punish them." [1]

I like freedom of information, but what Manning did was simply irresponsible. There was no filter on the documents released. Release all the reports of us torturing and murdering, sure. But don't go around telling the Taliban exactly which families risked their lives to help the counterinsurgency.

[1]: http://www.newsweek.com/taliban-says-it-will-target-names-ex...

Re: Adrian Lamo has died

#28

Post by dec0dedab0de »

adamnemecek wrote: post #6
kragen wrote: post #5

I'm conflicted about this news. On one hand, he was one of us, and he shared his knowledge. On the other hand, he was a traitor, and he betrayed the trust of a true hero in order to put more unaccountable government power in the hands of people like Donald Trump. Who would have expected that Adrian Lamo would outlive Chelsea Manning? Did he commit suicide — as she nearly did?

Was it ever found out why he did it? I don't know the guy but it just seems like idk, what is there to gain out of this?

He had claimed CYA, because he assumed he was being watched. If I recall there were a few conspiracy theories at the time because He had recently been arrested, and then put on psychiatric medication as a result.

Re: Adrian Lamo has died

#29

Post by jakear »

celticninja wrote: post #15
virtuowl wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know what you mean but i am not sure how much he knew about the things manning leaked. Considering what he did before i want to believe that he had a good reason why he did it. Maybe he really thought people were in danger

As I recall he did it so he didn't get in trouble himself if anyone found out he new.

His stated reason was that Manning was putting lives in danger due to not filtering the documents released whatsoever. This included revealing the identities of Afghan nationals which had been friendly with the counterinsurgency. These nationals were then targeted by Taliban. See my sibling comment for more.
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