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John McAfee found dead in Spanish jail after court approves extradition to US
- TazeTSchnitzel 5y agoGiven his recent history, I suppose he probably tried to break out of jail and failed?
- gkoberger 5y agoI feel like a lot of people in this thread are forgetting he likely killed his neighbor in 2012 and has been on the run since. I mean, sure he built some antivirus software a few decades ago, but I don't think he deserves the eulogies he's getting here. He's not tech's Hunter S. Thompson; he's a murderer who spent the last years of his life screwing over people with crypto scams.
- godmode2019 5y agoYou are stating something as fact, something that happened in another country. You are so well informed you watched a documentary and read some news articles. He ran for US president in the last few races. How was he on the run.
- lotsofpulp 5y agoWas he not running away and hiding from various countries’ authorities? Are all the articles making it up?
- jjulius 5y ago>McAfee announced via Twitter that he would be continuing his campaign "in exile", following reports that he, his wife, and four of his campaign staff were being indicted for tax-related felonies by the IRS. McAfee indicated that he was in "international waters", and had previously tweeted that he was on his way to Venezuela. The IRS has not commented on the alleged indictments. On June 29, McAfee tweeted that his campaign headquarters had been relocated to Havana, Cuba. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McAfee_2020_presidential_campaign https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McAfee_2020_presidential_...
- dang 5y agoPersonal attacks like this and https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27363797 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27363797 will get you banned here. Please make your substantive points thoughtfully. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- nwsm 5y agoWhat do you mean how was he on the run? He (likely) killed himself to avoid extradition
- duskwuff 5y ago> He ran for US president With a campaign slogan of "Don't Vote McAfee". And he failed to win the Libertarian nomination in either 2016 or 2020 -- he barely even placed in the 2020 nomination, winning a grand total of two write-in votes (out of over a thousand). This was never a serious campaign. It was a publicity stunt. > How was he on the run. He conducted his "campaign" from a boat in the Caribbean, and described himself as "in exile". https://www.cnet.com/news/john-mcafee-says-he-has-recruited-hundreds-of-masked-lookalikes-for-his-2020-presidential-campaign/ https://www.cnet.com/news/john-mcafee-says-he-has-recruited-...
- alphabetting 5y agoThe Gringo documentary was damning.
- joshmn 5y agoIMDB[0] for those wondering. [0] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6071534/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6071534/
- prvc 5y agoThe existence itself of that movie demonstrates that many parties had it in for him.
- camel_Snake 5y agoI honestly can't tell if this is sarcasm or not.
- syncsynchalt 5y agoMuch as the existence of The History Channel demonstrates a smear campaign against the third reich, I suppose.
- celticninja 5y agoWell we should probably take into account that the programme was made for entertainment purposes and not as evidence as part of a trial. Much in the same way that reality TV is edited to make it more entertaining, this was probably produced in such a way to emphasize outrageous behaviour and the truth would have been less important.
- aaron695 5y agoHard to know how Ancient Aliens on the History channel fits into this. Documentaries like money?
- babypuncher 5y agoThis is not uncommon when you are both a notorious asshole and wealthy enough to make it a problem for everyone else
- uncletammy 5y ago> I feel like a lot of people in this thread are forgetting he likely killed his neighbor in 2012 and has been on the run since. In America, we're supposed to be considered innocent until proven guilty. It's a shame it really only takes an accusation.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- chris11 5y ago> 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.
- colordrops 5y agoIn 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.
- chris11 5y agoHe 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.
- colordrops 5y ago> 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. Open and shut case then. So unattributed "reported" anecdotes on the internet are all it takes these days, huh. No wonder it's so easy to smear and bury people. Everyone here on HN is so strict about online security and providence and yet assign truth to a story based on anonymous anecdotes.
- masklinn 5y ago> I mean, sure he built some antivirus software a few decades ago, but I don't think he deserves the eulogies he's getting here. Surely having built an antivirus us corroborating evidence of evil intent? I find it unlikely that the product he created less damage to computers and user productivity than what it protected them from, especially in the last 15 years or do.
- babypuncher 5y agoThe court of public opinion does not operate on the same rules as a court of law. Most people still believe OJ "did it" even though he was found innocent. In a just judicial system, the accused must be proven guilty "beyond a reasonable doubt", but the general public are not beholden to such stringent requirements. People are allowed to evaluate the available evidence and come to their own conclusions. In the case of John McAfee, that evidence is pretty damning, and he's done nothing to temper its persuasion.
- colordrops 5y agoWas he convincted of murder, or are you acting as the judge and jury based on third hand media reports?
- anigbrowl 5y agoThere was a whole civil case about it in the US. So while that doesn't prove he committed murder beyond a reasonable doubt, it means the preponderance of the evidence suggests he did.
- dfsegoat 5y agoIt is a very small community where this happened (San Pedro, BZ). I'm all for due process, but it was basically an open secret. source: my parents live in the town where it happened.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- duskwuff 5y agoHe was never tried, because he fled to Guatemala to avoid prosecution, then faked a heart attack to delay his extradition.
- colordrops 5y agoIs your assertion that authority figures are to be trusted and fleeing them proves guilt? Is this deference to authority provided to China and Russia as well?
- chpmrc 5y ago> he likely killed his neighbor > he's a murderer who spent the last years of his life screwing over people with crypto scams Well, that escalated quickly.
- space_rock 5y agoCredibly accused of rape and multiple murders is the most accurate
- nodesocket 5y agoHere in America we have something called innocent until proven guilty.
- bingidingi 5y ago"Innocent until proven guilty" does not mean "Abandon critical thought until a judge tells you otherwise" — this guy caught himself up in crimes literally everywhere he went... and this was after fleeing from a $25m judgement against him. It seems a bit daft to think "gee, he probably did nothing wrong" simply because of how the American legal system is designed.
- babypuncher 5y ago> It seems a bit daft to think "gee, he probably did nothing wrong" simply because of how the American legal system is designed. It's worse than that. People are saying "gee, he probably did nothing wrong" simply because he avoided seeing any trial by fleeing the countries he is wanted in.
- handrous 5y agoIt is absurd to apply that to individual, or even social, judgement. We don't actually pretend to be ignorant and blind of a person's probable or apparent misdeeds if they haven't been proven in a court of law, nor should we. If, for instance, I notice a couple small, expensive items go missing each time my cousin visits, I'm not going to say "oh well, better not tell anyone else he's probably a thief and I'd better keep inviting him over and leaving him unattended, innocent until proven guilty in a court of law after all". That'd be silly, and acting that way to such an absolute adherence to that principle would be downright anti-social. If he's later convicted and my family finds out I'd noticed years ago, but not warned them because he hadn't been convicted yet, and so he stole things from them because I didn't warn them, they'd justly be pissed off at me. Or, what, are we suddenly not allowed to judge people's apparent behavior & deeds as soon as they're criminal, but free to before that? That doesn't make much sense either. But clearly we can form and share judgements about behavior that's not criminal, and that's fine. If it gets too serious, though, then we have to stop unless a conviction occurs? Huh?
- ssully 5y agoI am hoping it's a case of people just being ignorant of his life after exiting the software world. The guy left a pretty horrible path of destruction. Hope his victims have some small amount of closure from this, because they won't be getting it from the legal system anymore.
- res0nat0r 5y agoFolks want to make him out as a nerd/tech hero and pretend all of the downward spiral stuff that he did never happened just to keep their conscience clean.
- balls187 5y agoNo black band for McAfee?
- kyleee 5y agoHe probably deserves it for his tech contributions, but unlikely in this day and age due to the sordid nature of his final few decades
- anonytrary 5y agoWe should make a conscious effort to avoid this thinking. It's way too common for people to dismiss a brilliant man because of a few bad deeds or events that happened surrounding him. Genius is rarely accompanied by butterflies and rainbows. If we expect everyone to be perfect, there will be no one left worth respecting.
- neverminder 5y agoNowadays people put the politics and social sensitivities first, unfortunately even HN crowd which should be way more objective than your average twitter warriors. Unproven accusations against a dead man who can no longer defend himself suddenly become facts.
- CRConrad 5y ago> It's way too common for people to dismiss a brilliant man because of a few bad deeds There's a difference between "a few bad deeds" and a few bad decades. > or events that happened surrounding him. Yeah, all that stuff just happened to happen around him.
- balls187 5y agoI created an HN poll asking the community their thoughts.
- oauea 5y agoAnd sadly it has been deleted..
- mymanz 5y agoWe need a black bar to salute this man.
- lastofthemojito 5y agoHe'd probably prefer a powdery white line.
- beebeepka 5y agoJust like that Epstein guy killed himself
- moralestapia 5y agoFunny you get downvoted for stating the truth :^)
- beebeepka 5y agoOne man's truth is another man's uncomfortable thought. Can't have that
- Krasnol 5y agoI doubt anybody in Spain or the US was afraid of what he could say. So no...not just like it at all.
- beebeepka 5y agoSurely you are not implying countries don't ever orchestrate such things.
- AnimalMuppet 5y agoThey usually don't without being afraid of what the person can say, no.
- tzone 5y agoMcAfee could easily have had plenty of dirt on ton of powerful people. He would have given up all that info for reducing his sentence in the US. It is not super crazy to think that there would be plenty of people who would have rather see him die vs get extradited to US.
- tartoran 5y agoI don’t think so, he was too impulsive to keep his mouth shut
- runbathtime 5y agoMaybe he was killed for his bitcoin/crypto? Is it a possibility? How can we know if it was suicide or murder?
- nemo44x 5y agoHe made it to 75 and had an absolutely insane, wild ride. What a scoundrel and magnificent bastard. RIP.
- jszymborski 5y agoFrom DeepL: > McAfee anti-virus founder John McAfee commits suicide in a Barcelona prison > The antivirus founder was arrested at El Prat airport and was awaiting extradition to the United States for tax evasion. > The founder of McAfee antivirus, John McAfee, has been found dead this afternoon in his cell in Brians 2 prison, in Sant Esteve de Sesrovires (Barcelona), according to police sources. The Mossos are investigating what happened, and everything points to a suicide, according to the Department of Justice. McAfee was pending extradition to the United States after being arrested by the National Police at El Prat airport. > McAfee, 75 years old, was being held in Module 1 of the Brians 1 penitentiary center. The prison guards, who found him dead in his cell, and the prison medical services intervened to perform resuscitation maneuvers, according to the Department of Justice, but were unable to save his life. > The controversial antivirus founder was arrested on October 3, 2020 at the airport of El Prat, when he was about to take a plane to Turkey. The arrest came at the request of the US justice system, which accuses McAfee of evading millions of dollars in taxes from profits allegedly obtained from activities such as cryptocurrency trading. The judge of the Audiencia Nacional José de la Mata ordered his imprisonment, and his extradition to the United States was already planned.
- prvc 5y agoIs there currently any information out there as to the cause of his death?
- i_am_new_here 5y agoIt probably was suicide by hanging himself.
- ignoramous 5y agoEnglish translation by Google (via archive.is): https://archive.is/pxc4H https://archive.is/pxc4H
- mc32 5y agoGood or bad, what a sad ending to a colorful life. The guy was troubled and had many shortcomings, but he was colorful and also achieved success and arguably was one of the seminal figures in the nascent AV industry. Sad to see his fall from grace and into a world of extravagance, deceit and cheating (taxes) and, if allegations true, even worse; then to end it on the floor of a jail -all by his own hands.
- gkoberger 5y agoI 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.
- txsoftwaredev 5y agoAnd if the ladies stories about his hammock usage is true...
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- joering2 5y ago[I stand corrected]
- ceejayoz 5y agoIt hasn't been "John's software" since 1994.
- kingsuper20 5y agolol. I had to look that up. Maybe he hung out with Chuck Berry too much.
- boomboomsubban 5y agoSo people don't have to look that up, some women claimed he liked seemingly consensual scat. Not really comparable to alleged murder.
- luhego 5y agoEven though he lived a cuestionable life. He was a free man until the end. I respect him for that.
- eganist 5y agoTechnically still a free man. No convictions against him as related to the extradition request.
- msbarnett 5y ago> He was a free man until the end. He literally died in jail.
- mc32 5y agoJail is detention before trial, not imprisonment in a penitentiary.
- DJBunnies 5y agoIt is still being held captive against ones will.
- pm90 5y agoEither way it’s questionable if he was “free”.
- ornornor 5y agoIsn’t the end result the same: you can’t go anywhere? I wouldn’t call that free.
- msbarnett 5y agoI wouldn't describe being held in custody pending extradition as "being free". YMMV.
- mc32 5y agoYes and no. It's not like I'd expect him to carry a cyanide pill and just as he's about to be arrested swallows it to be technically correct. I think this qualifies "dying free" in spirit since his death means objection to remaining in custody.
- tromp 5y agoOr in english: https://nypost.com/2021/06/23/john-mcafee-dies-by-suicide-inside-prison-in-barcelona/ https://nypost.com/2021/06/23/john-mcafee-dies-by-suicide-in...
- adrianmonk 5y agoAnother English source: https://news.yahoo.com/john-mcafee-found-dead-spanish-193256827.html https://news.yahoo.com/john-mcafee-found-dead-spanish-193256...
- eganist 5y agohttps://elpais-com.translate.goog/economia/2021-06-23/el-fundador-del-antivirus-mcafee-john-mcafee-se-suicida-en-una-prision-de-barcelona.html?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-US&_x_tr_pto=ajax,nv https://elpais-com.translate.goog/economia/2021-06-23/el-fun... Google translate.
- mooseburger 5y agoGetting Epstein "suicide" vibes from this.
- xedeon 5y agohttps://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27609146 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27609146
- bethecloud 5y agoFrom 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/1200864283766251521?s=20 https://twitter.com/officialmcafee/status/120086428376625152...
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- dntrkv 5y agoWhy would anyone want him dead? I don't think anyone cared about him that much.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- weare138 5y agoThis. The guy was just some drug-addled tech industry has been that shilled crypto scams and dodged his taxes. I think all those bathsalts were making him paranoid.
- boomboomsubban 5y agoIf 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.
- bena 5y agoWhat 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".
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- tenerifevisitor 5y agoSad ending of one of the first innovators of the new technology era. Rest In Peace.
- devoutsalsa 5y agoI choose to remember him like this: "How To Uninstall McAfee Antivirus" => https://youtu.be/bKgf5PaBzyg https://youtu.be/bKgf5PaBzyg
- LambdaComplex 5y agoVery NSFW. Very hilarious.
- virgulino 5y ago"But the strangest part of knowing McAfee was the time he wanted me to help start an AIDS-free sex club. I still remember how excited he was about his new, brilliant idea. Membership required a fee and an AIDS test. If the test came back negative, you were given a membership card, which you could then take to organized member parties, have lots of casual sex, and not worry about catching the virus." - My adventures with John McAfee https://www.csoonline.com/article/2616198/my-adventures-with-john-mcafee.html?page=3 https://www.csoonline.com/article/2616198/my-adventures-with...
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- sterlind 5y agoAnti-virus in all respects, I guess.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- nverno 5y agowhat a legend
- bloak 5y agoBit of a tangent here: I notice he stresses the first syllable of his name. Is "McAfee" always pronounced that way, also in England, Ireland and Scotland? Wikipedia gives the pronunciation as /ˈmækəfiː/, like in the video. Is it reasonable to suppose that if lots of people pronounced the name differently then at least one of them would have edited the Wikipedia article to mention the other pronunciation?
- Kharvok 5y agoF
- sva_ 5y agoWhat 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
- notyourwork 5y agoThat Thompson quote really resonates with me, thanks for sharing.
- gregschlom 5y agoRead the whole book, then if you haven't already (Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas). Truly excellent.
- to1y 5y agoFar from excellent imo. Repetitive and disinteresting in tone and topics(drugs.) Ok if you're a teenager.
- pmoriarty 5y agoI second the recommendation. I loved the book, though (to be honest) I did read it when I was pretty young. It's not just about taking drugs, though plenty of drugs are taken. It's an outsider's look at just how weird society is. It's also absolutely hilarious.. but fully appreciating the humor may require experience with drugs.
- hallway_monitor 5y agoThis is the rare case when watching the movie is an acceptable substitute. Johnny Depp studied HST for months to get it right.
- ollran 5y agoThe Rum Diary by Hunter Thompson was also absorbing.
- et-al 5y agoCan someone explain why McAfee had decamped to Belize in the first place and started a life on the lam? Wikipedia is surprisingly sparse here. Edit - in 2012 he was the prime suspect to the killing of his neighbor as mentioned here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27609243 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27609243
- mothsonasloth 5y agoHe moved to Belize to "experiment" on herbal medicines to affect the micro-biology of the human body. Guess Belize are lax on experiments and "labs" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McAfee#After_McAfee_Associates https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McAfee#After_McAfee_Assoc...
- duskwuff 5y ago> Can someone explain why McAfee had decamped to Belize in the first place and started a life on the lam? Drugs. https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2016/09/the-obscure-legal-drug-that-fuels-john-mcafee.html https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2016/09/the-obscure-legal-dr...
- twelve40 5y agosomeone posted a nice story in a different thread - before he started going really crazy with the lab and stuff, it looks like he first wanted to get away from a couple of pending lawsuits in the States: "He was already facing a suit from a man who had tripped on his property in New Mexico. Another suit alleged that he was responsible for the death of someone who crashed during a lesson at a flight school McAfee had founded. He figured that if he were out of the country, he'd be less of a target. And he knew that, should he lose a case, it would be harder for the plaintiffs to collect money if he lived overseas." https://www.wired.com/2012/12/ff-john-mcafees-last-stand/ https://www.wired.com/2012/12/ff-john-mcafees-last-stand/
- stevenjohns 5y agoFrom memory, his nephew had passed in a similar way to the person in the flight. It may be the same case. I don't think he was running away from paying a settlement, I think he was running away from the guilt he felt that he had facilitated his own nephew's death. It was immediately after that that his downhill spiral began. Wired suggesting it was a financial move is just lowbrow journalism.
- TX0098812 5y agoSpanish prisons are apparently among the worst in Europe according to some documentary I saw. I wonder if there's a connection.
- alfonsodev 5y agoAt least Mcafee said Spanish prisons are like Hilton in comparison to USA ones[1], do you have the documentary name, it’s the one about Norway prisons? Just curious. [1] https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9718567/amp/Antivirus-pioneer-John-McAfee-dies-bars-suspected-suicide.html https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9718567/amp/Antivir...
- TX0098812 5y agoSorry I don't recall. I don't think I ever knew actually. It was just something I came across.
- mrtksn 5y agoThere were serious allegations of murder and serious corruption. I’m conflicted on how to feel about this. Probably would have preferred seeing him convicted or vindicated, definitely not dead.
- pdimitar 5y agoNever followed his story but the translated article on NyPost only mentions his cryptocurrency pump and dump scheme. Which naturally leads me to the question, why was McAffee pursued for this all the way to Europe but Elon Musk isn't even investigated while millions watched him do the same? I am not loading this politically at all. I am not from the US and I am mostly apathetic to celebrities. But I am genuinely curious why is it OK for one guy to do it and very illegal for another one doing the same?
- Barrin92 5y agoMusk was fined 40 million for his stock tweets but I don't think he technically ever engaged in any crypto pump and dump because I don't think he ever actually held (or dumped) any crypto. I assume you have to actually financially benefit from such a scheme to commit some sort of crime. Otherwise you're basically just shitposting about crypto.
- jfrunyon 5y agoDid you miss the "Tesla buys billions of USD in bitcoin" headlines? Along with the "will accept payment in BTC" pump and "never mind, selling" dump?
- Barrin92 5y agodid they actually dump their bitcoin? If yes I'd agree that it deserves attention but I don't think that's the case. Probably for that reason Elon actually posted in May or whatever that they have not sold their coins. Unless you can show that he actually mislead users for financial gain I don't think you're going to get authorities involved.
- toast42 5y agohttps://www.coindesk.com/tesla-sold-bitcoin-in-q1-for-proceeds-of-272m https://www.coindesk.com/tesla-sold-bitcoin-in-q1-for-procee... This was very easy to find, and makes me question your position that you weren't aware of it.
- NakamotoSatoshi 5y agoRespect where it's due.
- andyxor 5y agoMcAffee didn't kill himself
- shimonabi 5y agoI once actually paid real money to read a short story about his adventures in Belize. He had a good run.
- neom 5y agoI met John in an Atlanta airport lounge years ago[1]. I recognized him immediately as I've always admired him, and I decided to go up to him and tell him as much. He invited me to sit down, and told him about when I was a teenager in the 90s learning about tech entrepreneurs at the time, I always thought he was pretty cool and had good ideas. I told him I respected him, and that I was sure he'd lived an incredible life and thanked him for his contributions. He was clearly totally sloshed(inebriated) and insisted he called his wife so I could recount the story to her. I did. An hr later I had to leave to catch my flight, and i asked him where he was going - he said I'd find out some "pretty crazy shit" about him next week, and that "the doc was a bunch of BS". Two days later, I read Show Time had announced "Gringo: The Dangerous Life of John McAfee". In the brief time I spent with him, I have to say he had pretty positive energy for someone who was portrayed the way he was. [1] https://i.imgur.com/qThvR2S.jpg https://i.imgur.com/qThvR2S.jpg
- Scoundreller 5y agoYour sketchy looking link which I mistakenly clicked on instead of copy and pasting into my VM is b0rk. Says "This item has exceeded its view limit!"
- llacb47 5y agoworks for me
- IntrepidWorm 5y agoRebuilt that link for ya, friend. Cheers! http://www.5z8.info/racist-message-board_u1s1lj_-----TAKE.TWITTER.LOGIN----- http://www.5z8.info/racist-message-board_u1s1lj_-----TAKE.TW...
- quenix 5y agoYou run a VM just to inspect "sketchy-looking links"? That sounds like paranoid behavior, if I'm being honest.
- 5y ago
- shon 5y agoIt may seem odd to some, but I think the world was better off with McAffee alive. I doubt he took his own life. He seems to be the sort of fellow who would in some way enjoy going to court, even if only to have his point of view heard.
- aix1 5y agoThere is a documentary about his time in Belize: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/nov/18/gringo-dangerous-life-of-john-mcafee-review-trump-figure https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/nov/18/gringo-dangerou...
- Leader2light 5y agoThe USA has a lot to answer for. Is a man's life worth taxes when we just print unlimited money anyway? Disgusting. We rob the world and destroy, even so, collapse is coming and no amount of fake money will stop it.
- gerikson 5y agoShouldn't that be a Catalan jail?
- elicox 5y agoNo, "Catalan Jail" is only for positive news; for negatives, you have to use Spanish. Come on! That is the first rule of brainwashing.
- i_am_new_here 5y agoThey want independence but are not independent (from Spain). Otherwise both is right. "Spain" is the country and "Catalan" the region (within Spain).
- rackjack 5y agoI honestly forgot he existed. He always seemed more like a mythical character than anything else to me.
- rhema 5y agoI hope there is security footage. If not, I don't like the trend for governments / organizations / powerful people in exacting justice.
- automatoney 5y agoShould the title be changed to the more journalistic "died by suicide", or just "died" with suicide left to the article body? "Committed suicide" is generally not the recommended phrasing largely due to associations with criminality - see https://reportingonsuicide.org/recommendations/ https://reportingonsuicide.org/recommendations/ as well as https://ethics.journalism.wisc.edu/2018/10/04/a-guide-to-responsible-reporting-on-suicide/ https://ethics.journalism.wisc.edu/2018/10/04/a-guide-to-res... and https://www.nami.org/Blogs/NAMI-Blog/June-2018/Why-Suicide-Reporting-Guidelines-Matter https://www.nami.org/Blogs/NAMI-Blog/June-2018/Why-Suicide-R...
- Tepix 5y agoAre the autopsy results in already? If not... no.
- i_am_new_here 5y agoIt would be good journalistic practice if they would not jump to conclusions too quickly, try to influence the public opinion with (their) assumptions or just try to heat the debate by taking a side too early ("suicide"). We are on Hacker News: The upvoted article usually has a high quality/standard, which is a quite positive thing.
- breck 5y agoDon't know nearly anything about the guy, but as a rule anytime an enemy of a government dies of "suicide" or natural causes and there is no video footage I am suspect. You can buy a security cam and a year of monitoring for a the price of a hamburger. Nowadays a 3 year old can't eat a cookie without there being video footage. These should be assumed murders until proven otherwise. If you need a reminder of why, watch this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJujIwtdk8w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJujIwtdk8w) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahmoud_al-Mabhouh https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahmoud_al-Mabhouh
- caymanjim 5y agoPeople in prison are already living under an extreme degree of observation and control. Now you want to deprive them of the last tiny bit of privacy they can hope for and record them 24/7 in their cells?
- breck 5y agoAn interesting point. I'll clarify. Anyone imprisoned while awaiting trial, should have the right to live stream their imprisonment. An absolute dirt cheap way to safeguard justice.
- watwut 5y agoIt is absolute sure way to ensure accused will be threatened with violence if he dont agree with it. And then the public broadcast used to harass him, his familly and used to extract plead guilty just so that it ends.
- EMM_386 5y agoMcAffee ended up doing YOLO to the extreme. Check out the "After McAffee Associates" section. > In June 2013, McAfee uploaded a parody video titled How to Uninstall McAfee Antivirus onto his YouTube channel. In the video, McAfee criticized McAfee's antivirus software while snorting white powder, and being stroked and undressed by scantily clad women. The video has garnered over 10 million views. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McAfee#After_McAfee_Associates https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McAfee#After_McAfee_Assoc...
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- dang 5y agoWe changed the URL from https://elpais.com/economia/2021-06-23/el-fundador-del-antivirus-mcafee-john-mcafee-se-suicida-en-una-prision-de-barcelona.html https://elpais.com/economia/2021-06-23/el-fundador-del-antiv... to the most neutral English-language article that was easy to Google.
- yarcob 5y agoThe new URL is not available from EU
- mellosouls 5y agoNot available to European readers. Alternative examples here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-57589822 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-57589822 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jun/23/john-mcafee-dead-spain-prison-extradition https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jun/23/john-mcafee-...
- dang 5y agoThanks to you both for letting me know. Let's go with the BBC link for now. (URL changed from https://www.nbc4i.com/news/u-s-world/john-mcafee-found-dead-in-spanish-jail-after-court-approves-extradition-to-us https://www.nbc4i.com/news/u-s-world/john-mcafee-found-dead-...)
- ping_pong 5y agoHe has lived a very interesting life, to say it mildly. I can think of worse lives to have lived, especially considering how rich he was, how salacious a life he lead with his drug-and-sex filled decades and even killing someone. Ending it via suicide in a Spanish prison seems just about par for the course given the rest of his life.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- godmode2019 5y agoRIP John
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- underseacables 5y agoEnd of an era. What a shame.
- motohagiography 5y agoI didn't know him at all, but felt there was something I recognized and understood about what he was saying. If you must burn, burn bright. It looked like a great ride. This video of him playing piano is what I think he wanted people to know: https://twitter.com/officialmcafee/status/1362059887010807813 https://twitter.com/officialmcafee/status/136205988701080781...
- casi18 5y agothanks for that video. i found myself so quick to judge, though i know very little about him. but seeing someone play music makes them human again. it seems he did burn bright. some people cant help but push up against the edges of existence. rip.
- tartoran 5y agoIf you didn’t know, Charles Manson was a sociopath but a talented musician. Not sure if you taste the style but here it is: [0] [0]: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HOTnvPE_LMY https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HOTnvPE_LMY
- shaicoleman 5y agoBetter quality link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsIGKxvrG0E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsIGKxvrG0E
- jl2718 5y agoWhat is the “change” he was talking about here?
- rozab 5y agoInterview with Jena Friedman: https://youtu.be/tfe4Fjf3sds https://youtu.be/tfe4Fjf3sds
- tromp 5y agoPlease don't link to websites that snub Europeans with the infamous "Our European visitors are important to us. This site is currently unavailable to visitors from the European Economic Area while we work to ensure your data is protected in accordance with applicable EU laws."
- viro 5y agoHow about you fix ur laws then and stop banning EU companies from using US companies.
- bingidingi 5y agoEU companies can do business with US companies as long as they're following the law. Thousands of companies and websites have no problem doing so.
- viro 5y agoTell that to the companies fined for using mail chimp. You might to look up the regulatory requirements to "follow the law". when it comes to EU companies using services from US based companies. Even if the data never leaves the EU...
- bingidingi 5y agoAFAIK They weren't ultimately fined, just warned... and it was one company. They were warned because they were transferring email addresses to a company that falls under US Surveillance law and there weren't any relevant legal protections in place... and the company facing the fine never did any due diligence to check. If you run a business and don't consult a lawyer about privacy laws you're taking a big risk... many countries have laws that you could easily run afoul, even other states in the US.
- onychomys 5y agoBut how would somebody not in Europe know that the website does that?
- krylon 5y agoI remember that time, maybe 5-7 years ago, when he had a car chase with the police, followed by a little shootout. After the police apprehended him, he claimed he had mistaken them for his ex-wife, and also that he was on Xanax (and who knows what else). One of a kind, that's for sure.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- api 5y agoHe clearly lost his mind at some point. Late John McAfee != early John McAfee. Heavy drug abuse and alcoholism looks to have played a role. Giving tons of money to a chronic addict (like he got when he cashed out of his company) can be a death sentence.
- njoubert 5y agoDo you have any experience with the stuff you’re making such bold statements about, because I have; and my god did you oversimplify things.
- threatofrain 5y agoThen perhaps you can provide some clarity rather than alluding to hidden knowledge that you won't show people? Otherwise what the public has to go on would be John McAfee's YT and Twitter.
- shapefrog 5y agoTons of money, check Tons of blow, check It was pretty simple at the time, blow up the nose, money to the hooker, repeat and rinse. It only got complicated when I ran out of money.
- cwkoss 5y agoI don't think he lost his mind, but rather decided that it was more fun to seek attention than credibility.
- jbverschoor 5y agoExactly.. the art of not giving a fuck
- lavela 5y agoSeeking attention is an opposite of not giving a fuck.
- bifrost 5y agoThats awful.
- maverick-iceman 5y agoAny international criminal law expert here? Why can the US arrest everybody in Europe but the colony of fraudsters living in St.Kitts&Nevis (among them Paul Bilzerian) is untouchable?
- patfla 5y agoWatched about 20 minutes of Gringo before I got tired of it and turned it off. Sounds like a textbook case of what can happen if you take a very bright person and then give them a sudden windfall of success. That is, derangement. He or she doesn't stop being smart and even charismatic and so on. One question always is: what's the next act? No next act and the propensity to derangement goes up.
- rchaud 5y ago> what's the next act? Very hard question to answer for those who got rich early, , lived fast, but now are out of the game and direction-less. A lot of pro athletes suffer depression after retirement because of the absence of the daily routine. You have a lifetime of empty hours left to fill. Some are fortunate and have a network of friends and family to provide companionship and support. Others don't and try to fill the void with sex and drugs. But that just conceals the fundamental emptiness. It's still there, and will reveal itself the second you come down.
- dccoolgai 5y agoDidn't he always say he had a bunch of "dirt" that was triggered to release on a coffin switch? Guess we'll find out soon.
- balozi 5y agoDefinitely seems like the sort of man that would have a lot of other people's secrets. It would be a shame if he took them to his grave with him.
- DarkByte 5y agoWhy is it when I use the safari share button on my iPhone and select someone to share this article to the URL is swapped for this other nxsttv domain with an article on the same topic?
- sschueller 5y agoSad that the punishment is so extreme and state of US prisons is so bad that people rather kill them selves than face their charges.
- dukeofdoom 5y agoQ was his last post https://www.instagram.com/officialjohnmcafee/?hl=en https://www.instagram.com/officialjohnmcafee/?hl=en
- ibejoeb 5y agoCheck out his instagram
- vaer-k 5y agoSo which kind of suicide is this? A suicide, or a "suicide"?
- kyleee 5y agoThat's the fun - you decide!
- boba7 5y agoAmericans murdered him because he refused to help them spy on everyone with his software like other western companies do?
- babypuncher 5y agoThis might be the dumbest McAfee conspiracy theory yet.
- gbear605 5y agoHe hasn’t run any software since 1994 - if he had any power, it was only secrets held in his mind.
- maverwa 5y agoIt has not been "his software" for more than a decade now. He sold to Intel in 2010/2011.
- cwkoss 5y agoJena Friedman did a great interview with him back in 2018. Kind of a Nathan for You vibe to it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfe4Fjf3sds https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfe4Fjf3sds
- enriquto 5y agoOne of his last messages, just a few days ago. It is sad and thoughtful: There is much sorrow in prison, disguised as hostility. The sorrow is plainly visible even in the most angry faces. I'm old and content with food and a bed but for the young prison is a horror - a reflection of the minds of those who conceived them. https://twitter.com/officialmcafee/status/1403019184074788875 https://twitter.com/officialmcafee/status/140301918407478887...
- azureel 5y agoAlso this tweet is interesting. https://twitter.com/officialmcafee/status/1316801215083225096?s=20 https://twitter.com/officialmcafee/status/131680121508322509... May he rest in peace.
- vmception 5y agoThats not interesting when its 9 months in advance Maybe a few weeks People arent just able to make a perpetual conspiracy indefinitely in the future, or you dont have to entertain people trying to do that I wont here He has increasingly depressing messages in an increasingly dimmed outlook and an increasing time in prison
- jonathankoren 5y agoHis instagram posted a giant Q after his death. Call me cynical, but this feels like posthumous trolling.
- throw123123123 5y agoHe deadman switched this? on-brand!
- mjfl 5y agoThe guys been in prison before and seemed to enjoy it, posted pictures from prison in the dominican republic which is way worse than spanish prison. The guy talked about being content a week ago, "I'm old and content with food and a bed", he felt bad for the young people who were afraid of prison. He was still able to tweet and enjoyed interacting with people. If you think he killed himself, you don't understand how humans work, plain and simple.
- virgulino 5y agoThere was a time when I wouldn't leave home without a 5 1/4-inch, 1.2 MB, write-protected MS-DOS boot floppy with my trusty McAfee anti-virus, SCAN.EXE. I helped many people with just that. It was my first contact with shareware too. Thanks, John.
- JohnMcafee 5y agoI remember taking that pic.
- JohnMcafee 5y agoHello.
- wcchandler 5y agoHere's a story of how I'll remember John McAfee: https://www.wired.com/2012/12/ff-john-mcafees-last-stand/ https://www.wired.com/2012/12/ff-john-mcafees-last-stand/
- pjettter 5y agoHard to beat "a colorful life until seventy five". Looking forward to the facts, the movie. I don't want to judge. A person can be many things. A hero. A myth. A criminal. I mean, hyphthetically speaking. Many dimensions. But I guess in "our" society, one is judged after a single thing. One dimension. An open ended movie where you have to make up your own mind would be great. RIP
- CryptoPunk 5y agoAbolishing taxes on movable private property, in favor of a tax on land ownership, would solve this. No one would be persecuted internationally because they refused to surrender their privacy and property in filing an income tax return and fulfilling the payment obligations imposed on them, respectively. To enforce a land tax is straightforward: you don't pay the tax, you are evicted from the land, and lose your rights over it. Who owns what land is also always known, by virtue of the fact that registry of a land title with the government is a prerequisite of owning land. Economists also consider it "the perfect tax": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_value_tax https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_value_tax
- dennis_jeeves 5y agoSimplicity is not for ordinary mortals. How many people did you think can wrap their head around simple taxation rules?
- jl2718 5y agoOr just sell bonds like they already do for 10x what they collect in tax revenue. Taxation just lowers the interest rate. BTC/ETH/etc create public utility (security etc) by controlled inflation without any tax. And no Bitcoin miner will ever show up at your house with guns demanding their fair share. Tax is an anachronism of notes backed by land or gold. It’s inefficient, expensive, nearly impossible to enforce, and altogether obsolete. You have a great username. I hope that in the future you’ll avoid promoting solutions that require violence to enforce.
- CryptoPunk 5y ago>Or just sell bonds like they already do for 10x what they collect in tax revenue. Bonds backed what? It's future tax obligations and revenue that creates the demand for the fiat currency the bonds pay interest in, and guarantee that the government will have revenue with which to pay that interest and the principal back, respectively. >I hope that in the future you’ll avoid promoting solutions that require violence to enforce. Violence to prevent the misuse of scarce natural resources is not aggression. Society at large has a legitimate right to govern the usage of scarce natural resources to ensure their socially optimal utilization. Scarce natural resources are not true private property. That is what makes a tax on scarce natural resource usage, like a land tax, different from a tax on people, like a head tax, or their movable private property, like a wealth, income or sales tax.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- G3rn0ti 5y ago30 years for tax evasion? No wonder he preferred to die. I mean, you’ll get jail time for severe cases of tax evasion in Germany, too, but it’s a couple of years at max and most of the time it’s on probation. How do you justify your draconic punishments in the US which is supposed to be a free country?
- srswtf123 5y agoThe sadly honest answer is that we don’t justify it. The people in power like punishing people.
- Trias11 5y agoUS Citizenship in reality is an IRS trap. Now Biden wants to hire 87,000 more IRS workers to harass americans. This used to be a great country. Times long gone.
- romanovcode 5y agoAFAIK U.S. is the only country that makes you pay tax even if you are tax resident of different country. Ironically it does not apply to corporations that fail to pay billions in tax.
- atlasunshrugged 5y agoAlso Eritrea :) Jokes aside, there is a waiver if you are earning less than ~$150,000 as a single earner where you're not double taxed.
- marton78 5y agoWell, that military won't pay itself...
- midasuni 5y agoHaving a US passport entitles citizens to a lot of benefits globally, those benefits have to be paid for. It would seem odd that you can benefit from the US growing up, and once you make it, you can move to the Cayman Islands and not pay for the benefits you have received
- KorematsuFred 5y agoI remember that John McAfee was a strong supporter of prostitution. In one of the Libertarian party debates he said he is the most qualified person to support this issue because he married a prostitute. McAfee represented the old west styled "good outlaw" stereotype. Sadly, their times has passed away.
- jug 5y agoI'm sadder about this than I expected. :-( He was most likely a drug abusing criminal. But what a special mind to lose.
- agiamas 5y agoRIP John, the world will miss you. You surely lived a full life.
- tamaharbor 5y agoNevertheless, a man is dead. May he Rest In Peace.
- prvc 5y agoJust because someone lived a colorful life does not mean that it is appropriate to inundate the forum with gossip and slander when misfortune befalls him. I believe a little respect is in order. RIP.
- chaganated 5y agobig F for my man john mcafee. epsteined in his prime. he will be missed.
- rcurry 5y agoThe sad thing is that our government seems to make a point of screwing with kooks. I don’t care if McAffee owed some taxes - leave the guy alone, he’s obviously unstable, has major problems with drug and alcohol addiction and all they can do is try to bring him even lower. Poor guy had major problems even before the “heroes” of the FBI or the IRS or whatever started screwing with him. Let the poor guy ride off into the sunset for Pete’s sake.
- octopoc 5y agoReminds me of the movie American Hustle. The government has a choice of going after criminals who badly hurt a lot of people or going after the easily-demonized bit players. Guess which is good for their careers.
- tclancy 5y agoWell sure. But do it for poor people first. There are a million people without millions suffering from similar treatment in the US.
- rcurry 5y agoThank you for taking the time to reply, I appreciate it. I also agree with you. What I’m emphasizing is that our government prefers to go after weak targets. Not sure why you are being downvoted, you make a good point.
- amznthrwaway 5y agoWe should dramatically step up funding of the IRS so that they can obtain revenue from harder targets as well.
- gizdan 5y ago> I don’t care if McAffee owed some taxes - leave the guy alone, he's obviously unstable This is ridiculous. Okay so let's leave all the rich people alone who claim they are unstable. McAfee made millions, from what I understand, he paid little taxes on that. That's stupid. I don't care how unstable you are, or how good you are donating your "fair share". You're still not excused from paying your taxes.
- mrverify 5y agoI'm going to be that guy. He was suicided, probably by some other country that had business they didn't want him sharing with the USA. He was offering to help Cuba use crypto to get around embargo. Who else might he have helped?
- alfiedotwtf 5y agoSay what you want about him, he lived a life that should inspire a lot of people in today's Instagram world... he did whatever entertained him while not caring what other people thought of him. Something mostly lost these days. I can't wait for the movie.
- doggodaddo78 5y agoNever speak ill of the dead, unless it's the truth.. seems like a final, fatalist drama move. Always with the drama for attention: guns, police, random projects, extreme this or that, vaporware never delivered, moving around a lot like a psychopath.. while light on the getting anything real accomplished other than staying in the media. Sigh.
- KVFinn 5y agoWas just reading about McAfee freebasing bath salts from old posts on an old Joe Rogan forum and not paying taxes seems like the absolute least he was up to: >I've processed 23 kilos of this stuff in the past year or so, and bump it myself every day - in fair quantities the hypersexuality... is beyond belief. I have had a number of acquaintances (both male and female) who have rubbed their genitals way past the point of bleeding and still couldn't stop. >In all honesty, a first time user, or a user on a large dose, when presented with food, will simply figure out a way to include it in the ongoing sex play with their partner. If alone, they will figure out a way to fuck it, or shove it up their rectum. This is not a joke. Everything on the Tan becomes a sex partner or a sex aid. If only visually. I will not, anymore, let anyone on Tan be alone with my dogs for example. >A local brothel owner (prostitution is legal in my country) talked me out of a large amount of Tan and provides it to his working girls and their customers. The idea was to simply increase business by having hornier customers and more authentic product. It worked for a while, and then girls started taking larger doses and giving customers larger doses. They began leaving and running off with customers - some after a single contact with the customer. >If a person takes a large dose of the Tan and has the misfortune to have no partner at the time, then truly terrible things happen. A number of men, and women, have molested strangers after massive doses of the pure product (which is why I no longer provide it to anyone other than trusted friends - everything else is cut 50 to one). Twice, users on large doses have tried to molest my dogs. >I have distributed over 3,000 doses exclusively in this country. They call it SPT (I named it) and it is a seriously hot underground topic here. I know of at least a dozen people who spend virtually full time playing with this, and hundreds trying to get samples, which I dole out with meticulous care. Anyone caught sharing this with another without my consent doesn't get any more. https://www.resetera.com/threads/john-mcafee-this-might-be-the-craziest-bath-salt-story-you-ever-read-nsfw.52119/ https://www.resetera.com/threads/john-mcafee-this-might-be-t...
- hownottowrite 5y agoWhen is he getting a black bar?
- voldacar 5y agoWhat an incredible life. Annoying antivirus creator, Belizean designer drug producer (and possibly murderer), bitcoin enthusiast, international outlaw, possible creator of the LSJ island drone videos... I never really interacted with him but I will miss him all the same
- stevespang 5y agoWow, like Aaron Swartz, McAfee gave his "final middle finger" to the US Gov't. - - now he is a martyr.
- jordhy 5y agoMay he rest in peace. Sometimes is best to realize we are not in a position to judge.
- drummer 5y agoThis is one of the most important tweets made by McAfee: https://twitter.com/officialmcafee/status/1000163795501768705 https://twitter.com/officialmcafee/status/100016379550176870...
- MyKneeGrows 5y agoAnother one of my street pharmacist brothers bites the dust. Pour one out for our fallen homie. All because he dared to be human.
- AIX2ESXI 5y agoF
- ejanus 5y agoA flawed genius.
- 729e260408c42c 5y agoWhen McAfee was running for president I sent him an email telling him that he should shave his beard, citing that every president since the invention of the safety razor has been clean shaven. He emailed me back saying he would be the first president since then to win with a beard. RIP to a real legend
- henvic 5y agoNo one deserves to be kidnapped and throw in a cell for the victimless crime of tax evasion. RIP, McAfee. In the 20th century: ~8 million were murdered in mundane crimes. ~175 million people were murdered by the state. Democracy is just violence in disguise. Pure evil.
- RIMR 5y agoTax evasion isn't victimless. It is a civic duty to pay into the system that you benefit directly from. Freedom isn't free. Tax evasion is theft from the public. Tax evaders steal from you.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- henvic 5y agoNo. The state is a criminal racket, and you have no obligation to sponsor it (if something, you're morally obliged to try to avoid being a victim). And this is not only because 99% of whatever you pay in tax doesn't come back in terms of services that actually have any value, but because it's rotten at its very foundations. No wonder in the 20th century 8 million people were victims of murder by mundane crimes committed by private citizens worldwide, while 175 million were murdered by the state. You only think this because you were brainwashed by statism ever since you were a kid.
- keymone 5y ago> You only think this because you were brainwashed by statism ever since you were a kid. This can be flipped back to you without much effort: You only think this because you were brainwashed by your preferred flavor of anarchism ever since you started reading those propaganda web sites on the internet. Making such a claim doesn't bring any value to the conversation and only serves to estrange you from this community, which is a form of self-ostracization and self-censorship, which in itself is quite funny and ironic.
- 5y ago
- reducesuffering 5y agoRIP McAfee. You're a testament to the concept in which many intelligent people find a windfall of success but face the dark void of "what now?" While many like you have flamed out into drugs and mental illness, few have made it so public. May the people you so gravely hurt also find peace.
- dmitrygr 5y agohttps://twitter.com/officialmcafee/status/1316801215083225096 https://twitter.com/officialmcafee/status/131680121508322509... I am content in here. I have friends. The food is good. All is well. Know that if I hang myself, a la Epstein, it will be no fault of mine. — John McAfee (@officialmcafee) October 15, 2020
- _vn5r 5y agoI know this is fiction. But I really can see McAfee paying people in the jail and faking his death. Or at least trying.
- pedalpete 5y agoI'm confused by why/how he was arrested in Spain for failing to pay US taxes? Or am I missing something?
- zamadatix 5y agoIt's known as extradition and many countries have extradition treaties with the US https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/da/US_extradition_treaties.svg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/da/US_extra... the details of how it works depends on the particular treaty.
- pedalpete 5y agoIt wasn't the extradition that I was confused by, that I get. It was the arrest. I thought extradition only applied to people who had been arrested in one country for another crime and were then being tried in a different country for a different crime. I didn't understand that the Spanish police would arrest somebody on an accused crime commited in another country.
- 1MachineElf 5y agoI am sorry to hear it. May he rest in peace. I never knew him personally, but I really liked his explicit non-conformity. Strange... I have an emotional disconnect that prevents me from being sad about conventional things. Death of close family members - depressing, but not acutely sad. I don't know why. Maybe it's because I see most of those coming? This bit of news on the other hand... I felt a sharp crack in my stony facade. Probably has something to do with the psychology behind valuing what John McAfee stood for, and what his demise means for those things valued.
- dennis_jeeves 5y agoI hear ya...
- schrute 5y agoThis is extremely hard to believe with, you know, John being John.
- imwillofficial 5y agoLike Epstein, McAfee didn’t kill himself.
- major505 5y agoConsidering Mr MacAfee lifestyle and unusual... fetiches... he died older than I expected.
- koolba 5y agoTweet from him late last year, Oct 2020: > I am content in here. I have friends. > The food is good. All is well. > Know that if I hang myself, a la Epstein, it will be no fault of mine. https://twitter.com/officialmcafee/status/1316801215083225096 https://twitter.com/officialmcafee/status/131680121508322509... Hang on while I go grab my tinfoil hat.
- canada_dry 5y agoInteresting tweet by Kim Dotcom... (fuel for the conspiracy theory): https://twitter.com/KimDotcom/status/1407805522175094785 https://twitter.com/KimDotcom/status/1407805522175094785 “I wan’t to build an anti surveillance phone Kim. With air-gapped cam & mic, open source OS with VM and the most secure crypto wallet. That will piss the mass spying US govt off. Want to help me?” — John McAfee Shortly after he was arrested on “tax charges”. RIP John.
- Theory5 5y agoOh look, another conspiracy theory! That didn't take long. Does this one tie John in with Epstein too, like another comment's conspiracy theory does?
- i_am_new_here 5y agoTo label/dismiss something that might be true (>0%) a "conspiracy theory" doesn't give it justice. "All conspiracy theories turn out to be true" reverts it to "100% true", then. Where are we now in the discussion? Did we make (any) progress?
- fsflover 5y agoSuch phone already exists: https://puri.sm/products/librem-5 https://puri.sm/products/librem-5
- counternotions 5y agoOur culture has hit an all-time low (or some may argue ATH?) to adore and idolize a manic degenerate like McAfee, may he Rest In Peace.
- accountnametkn 5y agoWhy hasn’t anyone questioned the order of the presented events? Could he have easily killed himself first, then have been extradited? It would be a convenient front run story to alter public perceptions — and front running would be the appropriate way to classify the death
- wly_cdgr 5y agoThe world would be a better place if more of you were more like him. RIP
- _user112 5y agoPlease don't disappoint McAffee. Release all you have got, you crazy libertarian.
- jwmoz 5y agoHe once offered me 3 BTC to get a tattoo of his face. Genuinely the most interesting person I followed on twitter.
- bencollier49 5y agoOh come on HN, where's the black bar at the top of the page?
- voldemort1968 5y agoReminder that McAfee was a rapist and murderer who was never brought to answer to his crimes.
- imwillofficial 5y ago"I am content in here. I have friends. The food is good. All is well. Know that if I hang myself, a la Epstein, it will be no fault of mine." (Tweet by John McAfee) 10/15/20
- poodoggy 5y agoJohn McAfee was the first person killed by Microsoft Windows
- midjji 5y agoSomehow that seems exactly like he was always going to die.
- spacechild1 5y agoSerious question: why are so many people here praising John McAfee, even calling him a visionary? I know he started the anti-virus software of the same name, but that alone can hardly be the reason...
- pieter_mj 5y agoNo sarcasm : Just because you're most likely suicidal (and loudly claiming you're not), mentally unstable, cold-turkeyed and deprived of your liberty, doesn't mean that they're not out there to suicide you. In fact, that would be the perfect cover-up. I'm not saying this is what happened, but I do believe if you're enough of a perceived threat in any shape or form you will be liquidated. And I absolutely hate Occam's razor being applied to these circumstances. So did he know/do or say a few things that lit up the radar? Maybe, such as for instance claming to know which person allegedly in his mind killed Epstein. Or simply because he wouldn't shut up or creating a radicalising following.
- seasily 5y agoAnother reminder that taxation is theft, and sometimes murder.
- a0-prw 5y agoThis guy was just so colourful and full of shit XD Also, so what if he "died" in jail in Spain. It's a way to go that's in keeping with his life. Everyone dies but not everyone lives.