John McAfee found dead in Spanish jail after court approves extradition to US • Hacker News Board

Re: John McAfee found dead in Spanish jail after court approves extradition to US

#321

Post by bena » Wed, Jun 23, 2021, 8:59 PM UTC

boomboomsubban wrote: post #254

dntrkv wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would anyone want him dead? I don't think anyone cared about him that much.

If people had reason to kill him, it would likely be that he knew scandalous information. The public wouldn't really know that people cared about him or what that information was. I have no idea if McAfee had such knowledge, but "I don't know any reason why someone would kill him" doesn't mean much.

What he knows is immaterial though.

Whatever McAfee would "reveal" would just be his word. Which isn't great. Unless he knows how to obtain evidence of things, what he "knows" is just rambling.

Movies have instilled in us this notion that simply knowing something is good enough. It's not. Let's pretend for a second that McAfee knew that certain public figures were, without a doubt, 100%, Satanic pedophile lizard people or whatever the flavor of the month panic is.

If his only proof of this is that he saw Person X devour a live baby while molesting children in the basement of a pizza parlor, it's kind of meaningless. It's not much better than just saying you know it because you believe it really strongly.

The information he would have to know would be specific to uncover something in a way that people could actually act on that information.

Otherwise, it's like what Bill Murray whispered in my ear after he painted my house last night, "No one will ever believe you".

Re: John McAfee found dead in Spanish jail after court approves extradition to US

#322

Post by Krasnol » Wed, Jun 23, 2021, 8:59 PM UTC

beebeepka wrote: post #106

Just like that Epstein guy killed himself

I doubt anybody in Spain or the US was afraid of what he could say.

So no...not just like it at all.

Re: John McAfee found dead in Spanish jail after court approves extradition to US

#323

Post by tptacek » Wed, Jun 23, 2021, 8:59 PM UTC

brainfog wrote: post #280

prvc wrote: post #242

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're saying "likely" as a hedge, when in fact you are instead merely expressing an opinion, without any knowledge of the actual numerical likelihood of such an event having happened.

The amount of pedantry and over the top literalism in your comment gave me an aneurism.

But it didn't really give you an aneurysm, did it???.

Re: John McAfee found dead in Spanish jail after court approves extradition to US

#324

Post by celticninja » Wed, Jun 23, 2021, 9:00 PM UTC

colordrops wrote: post #151

celticninja wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because whatever he says in a trial becomes public record and widely reported on.

A lot of down voting of perfectly reasonable comments in this thread...

That might just be me, I seem to have attracted the ire of some people on HN recently.

Re: John McAfee found dead in Spanish jail after court approves extradition to US

#325

Post by fastball » Wed, Jun 23, 2021, 9:00 PM UTC

stusmall wrote: post #40

bethecloud wrote: post #8

From McAffee in 2019, "Getting subtle messages from U.S. officials saying, in effect: "We're coming for you McAfee! We're going to kill yourself". I got a tattoo today just in case. If I suicide myself, I didn't. I was whackd. Check my right arm. " https://twitter.com/officialmcafee/status/120086428376625152...

There was a ruling today approving his extradition to the US. US officials were about to get him and he was facing extremely serious charges. That's a really important bit of context to keep in mind before jumping to ideas that some shadowy "they" had him killed.

Unless McAfee has dirt on you, and getting extradited to the US with serious crimes against him means a high likelihood of him turning state's witness.

Re: John McAfee found dead in Spanish jail after court approves extradition to US

#326

Post by rchaud » Wed, Jun 23, 2021, 9:00 PM UTC

belltaco wrote: post #217

sva_ wrote: post #23

What a strange life he lived. I'm not going to make a value judgement about whether or not he was a 'good' person, but I do applaud the fact that he dared to deviate from the norm. "There he goes. One of God's own prototypes. A high-powered mutant of some kind never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, and too rare to die." -- Hunter S Thompson RIP

Taking hard drugs can lead to deviant behavior, so I am not sure if people should be applauded for it.

So can being rich enough that no-one can check your behaviour.

Re: John McAfee found dead in Spanish jail after court approves extradition to US

#327

Post by vaer-k » Wed, Jun 23, 2021, 9:00 PM UTC

So which kind of suicide is this? A suicide, or a "suicide"?

Re: John McAfee found dead in Spanish jail after court approves extradition to US

#328

Post by steego » Wed, Jun 23, 2021, 9:01 PM UTC

prvc wrote: post #242

gkoberger wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean, he very likely killed his neighbor in 2012... so I feel like "colorful" undermines how much of a monster he's been for over a decade.

You're saying "likely" as a hedge, when in fact you are instead merely expressing an opinion, without any knowledge of the actual numerical likelihood of such an event having happened.

I believe that’s how most people in society invoke a numerically void word like the word “likely”.

Call my cynical, but time and experience has taught me that people do not back up qualifying words with the appropriate level of mathematical rigor.

It’s as if they want to express an opinion without doing the leg work or providing any citations.

Had he invested the time to calculate an estimate of likelihood, I’m willing to bet an estimate or confidence interval would have been parenthetically inserted into his remarks.

That’s what my experience tells me. YMMV

Re: John McAfee found dead in Spanish jail after court approves extradition to US

#329

Post by drummer » Wed, Jun 23, 2021, 9:01 PM UTC

rozab wrote: post #208

Interview with Jena Friedman: https://youtu.be/tfe4Fjf3sds

Awesome. The man had a wonderful sense of humor.

Re: John McAfee found dead in Spanish jail after court approves extradition to US

#330

Post by chris11 » Wed, Jun 23, 2021, 9:01 PM UTC

colordrops wrote: post #169

chris11 wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> we're supposed to be considered innocent until proven guilty. The legal system should presume innocence. It's completely reasonable for people have lower standards for assuming guilt.

In general yes, but it takes on a different form when the person is an eccentric that has very publicly challenged powerful authorities and has been both the source and target of disinformation campaigns.

He was accused of making bath salts, and he was reported to be involved with prostitutes and much younger women. His reported statements seem to confirm that, not deny that.

I probably won't describe someone as evil for committing victimless crimes. But MPDV is a hard drug that's connected to serious, graphic crimes. I believe he was involved with trafficked women in third-party countries, that's rape. So I easily believe both the murder and rape accusations.