Richard Stallman
Richard Stallman's Political Notes -
Sysco mistreating truckers and restaurants - 2025-10-17T02:38:50+00:00
The giant corporation Sysco dominates the food distribution business in the US, and is using this to mistreat truckers and restaurants.
Its success has driven many US restaurants to buy food of lower quality.
I don't see a reason to distinguish between "organic growth" and mergers as paths to over-concentration. Paying attention to that is based on trying to judge over-concentration as "fair" or "unfair", but that judgment is a distraction from the crucial point: over-concentration is very harmful.
We should prevent and eliminate over-concentration in business regardless of how it is or might be created, with the exception of natural monopolies, and those we should restrain by strict regulation.
High youth death rates an emerging crisis - 2025-10-17T02:38:50+00:00
*High youth death rates [from Alcohol, suicide and injuries] are an "emerging crisis", global health study warns.*
People learning not to trust bullshit generators - 2025-10-17T02:38:49+00:00
People are learning not to trust the output of bullshit generators. But they need to organize to pressure or require companies to stop pushing bullshit generators on them. Companies including Google and United Airlines have done this.
Starmer Labour showing how it abandons environmental protection - 2025-10-17T02:38:49+00:00
Starmer Labour is showing off how it abandons environmental protection to smooth the way for all sorts of construction projects.
Musicians organize boycott of Spotify - 2025-10-17T02:38:49+00:00
Musicians are starting to organize boycott of Spotify, mainly about how it doesn't pay most musicians. But they don't seem to recognize the injustice Spotify does to every listener: such as making them identify themselves (by payment systems) and imposing DRM.
I won't submit to those injustices, so I have never used Spotify and never will.
Out, Out Damned Spotify!
Persecutor's plan to never forgive student loan debt - 2025-10-17T02:38:49+00:00
The persecutor has a plan to make sure some US student loans can never be forgiven.
Israel demanded captive Australians bringing aid sign confession - 2025-10-17T02:38:49+00:00
Israel demanded that captive Australians who tried to bring desperately needed aid to Gaza sign a sort of confession or they might be imprisoned forever.
This is not as bad as what Israel does to the people of Gaza, but it is despicable. And no one should assign any significance to these confessions when prisoners do sign them.
Prisoners in Alabama tell true story of cruelty - 2025-10-17T02:38:48+00:00
Prisoners in Alabama, when interviewed for a documentary, supported the official story while they were being filmed. But when not on camera, they told of horrible cruelty.
Scientists warn US will lose a generation of talent - 2025-10-17T02:38:48+00:00
*Scientists warn US will lose a generation of talent because of [the saboteur in chief's budget] cuts.*
Scientists usually have, within some ranger of issues, a commitment to truth and integrity. The saboteur in chief would rather not inculcate that into young people.
Biologists advancing toward making egg or sperm cells from anyone's tissue - 2025-10-17T02:38:47+00:00
Biologists are advancing fairly fast towards being able to make egg or sperm cells from anyone's tissue. Any two people, of whatever sex and age, could make a fertilized ovum that could potentially develop into a baby.
If one of the parents is female and has a functioning womb, perse could carry the baby. (However, most of those couples would not need this technology to have a baby.) Otherwise, the conceptus would need a surrogate mother if it is to develop.
Those who imagine that these techniques could "reverse population decline" are perhaps not thinking about where so many surrogate mothers would come from. I don't think millions of women would volunteer for this; most who want to bear a baby will prefer to be its genetic mother too. So i fear they would be pressured or coerced into it — for instance, "We will give you permanent residence here if you act as a surrogate mother for the baby of two citizens." Or perhaps people will sentenced to do this. Would right-wing extremist hesitate?
But the idea that we should increase the birth rate is the result of foolish short-termist thinking. A larger population at the time when climate disaster really takes off will probably lead to a more abrupt and deeper disaster, which would leave fewer survivors later, therefore probably with less technology and less remnants of civilization.
Lake in New Mexico with highest known concentration of PFAS - 2025-10-17T02:38:47+00:00
Holloman lake in New Mexico has the highest known concentration of PFAS. People hunt ducks there, but they are not safe to eat.
Mysterious fatal accidents of Tesla cars - 2025-10-17T02:38:46+00:00
On the mysterious fatal accidents of Tesla cars, which the company releases little data about.
Project to plant over 800,000 trees failed - 2025-10-17T02:38:46+00:00
A project to plant over 800,000 trees along a new road in England failed drastically. It is not clear why, but it is clear that the project was done carelessly.
I have to wonder whether the contractor responsible was made to pay damages for this failure. I suspect the answer is no, and that is enough to explain why the project failed, though not in detail.
Horrors of Israeli jail - 2025-10-17T02:38:46+00:00
*"Cruelest forms of torture": freed Palestinians describe horrors of Israeli jail.*
Thugs arrest TV reporter Debbie Brockman - 2025-10-17T02:38:45+00:00
Federal thugs violently arrested TV reporter Debbie Brockman as she was walking to a bus stop, and accused her of throwing things at them.
Apparently she had not actually done that, because they filed no charges.
Unnatural walled reservoirs - 2025-10-15T02:38:42+00:00
The greedy privatized UK water companies want the state to charge the public to build unnatural walled reservoirs and give them as a gift to those water companies.
The UK should nationalize those companies, not build assets to inflate their valuation. If indeed those reservoirs need building, the state should own them, and drown the water companies in them.
Wrecker said Illinois Governor Pritzker should be jailed - 2025-10-15T02:38:42+00:00
The wrecker said that Illinois Governor Pritzker should be jailed for "not protecting" deportation thugs.
They are masked and armed, and hardly in danger. The people who need protection are their victims.
That's an instance of the wrecker's usual absurd extreme double-standard premise. He goes beyond denying the truth, by proclaiming an extreme opposite of it. This will fool the people who try to find the truth by looking for the two extremes and taking the average.
The deportation thugs are not merely failing to protect the people who encounter them (including unauthorized immigrants, authorized immigrants, and US citizens), some of them are cruelly attacking innocent people.
Sierra club blasts report of "Concierge, White Glove Service" - 2025-10-15T02:38:42+00:00
*Sierra Club Blasts Report of "Concierge, White Glove Service” for Fossil Fuel Companies.*
That fits with everything the saboteur in chief is saying and doing for them.
New scheme to borrow money to pay medical bills - 2025-10-15T02:38:42+00:00
A new scheme to borrow money to pay medical bills will make it easy for poor Americans the transition from Medicaid (which Republicans have cut) to unpayable medical debt whose interest will drain them constantly.
Concert tickets have exploded in price - 2025-10-15T02:38:42+00:00
Concert tickets have exploded in price for the last few decades. It is a disaster for music.
Right-wing extremist as head of CBS news department - 2025-10-15T02:38:41+00:00
CBS has appointed a right-wing extremist as head of its news department. This is a declaration of submission to the bully. I expect this to result in blatant bias that shows contempt for the idea of truth, but that is not inevitable. They could make the right-wing bias more subtle instead, to make the bias look "centrist".
Either way, we should not trust it.
*CBS News staffers react to Barri Weiss being named editor-in-chief: "It's utterly depressing."*
Starmer investigating how to punish protests expressing hatred of Jews - 2025-10-15T02:38:41+00:00
Starmer says he is investigating how to punish protests that express hatred of Jews.
He singled out a chant that calls for some analysis: "globalize the intifada". It has a problem but Starmer seems to have misidentified what the problem is. I don't see any antisemitism in that phrase, but it is a dog whistle that hints at support for terrorism.
The word "intifada" means "uprising"; it does not specifically imply terrorism, or violence at all. But we all know that the Palestinian second intifada often used suicide attacks on victims who were not fighting, and that was terrorism. That is what makes the slogan a dog whistle.
To make dog-whistling a crime is dangerous; it could enable all sorts of censorship. But we ought to reject that slogan and its hazy implications.
Vindictiveness of deportation thugs - 2025-10-15T02:38:41+00:00
The vindictiveness of deportation thugs: Kapil Raghu was released from deportation prison after they determined that the bottle labeled "opium" contained perfume, not a drug, but 30 days in prison was not enough persecution to satisfy them.
Kansas charged thug with murder - 2025-10-15T02:38:41+00:00
Kansas has charged a thug with murder for pressing his knee into a handcuffed man's back for 93 seconds.
Kansas is known for right-wing attitudes including cruelty to the weak or outcast, but his shows at least some decrease in its influence.
The article linked to just above displays symbolic bigotry by capitalizing "black" but not "white". (To avoid endorsing bigotry, capitalize both words or neither one.) I denounce bigotry, and normally I will not link to articles that practice it. But I make exceptions for some articles because I consider them important — and I present this comment about them.
Magat officials cut nearly $8bn in clean energy projects - 2025-10-15T02:38:40+00:00
*[Magat] officials cut nearly $8bn in clean energy projects in Democratic states.*
The fact that they are selecting victims based on political manipulation rather than any sort of national interest demonstrates their corrupt spirit.
Rubio and Noem targeted pro-Palestine activists - 2025-10-15T02:38:40+00:00
*Judge Finds Rubio and Noem Intentionally Targeted Pro-Palestine Activists to Chill Speech.*
He called the wrecker's spade a spade, based on the constitutional principle that freedom of speech applies to non-citizens just as to citizens.
Gaza flotilla members allege beatings and insults in prison - 2025-10-15T02:38:40+00:00
*Gaza flotilla members allege beatings and insults in Israeli [prison]. Some of those held say guns were pointed at them, they were threatened with dogs and deprived of sleep.*
Produce of film about medics in Gaza - 2025-10-15T02:38:40+00:00
*The producer of a film about medics in Gaza that was dropped by the BBC has accused the corporation of attempting to gag him and others over its decision not to show the documentary..*
Various countries support bully's peace plan for Gaza - 2025-10-15T02:38:40+00:00
Various countries support the bully's peace plan for Gaza but only in the sense that they are willing to start negotiations from there. It has some fundamental problems.
Where will crackdown on Britain's democratic freedoms end? - 2025-10-15T02:38:39+00:00
*It starts with Palestine protests. But where will the crackdown on Britain's democratic freedoms end?*
DOJ sues activists - 2025-10-14T02:38:43+00:00
*[Department of Injustice] sues pro-Palestinian activists under law often used to protect abortion clinics.*
In general, to hold a protest at a synagogue against something done by Israel is an instance of trying to hold all Jews responsible for Israel's actions. That is a kind of antisemitism. However, this protest was against an event at that synagogue, and the event participated in expropriation of Palestinian land. It is legitimate to protest that kind of event no matter where it is held.
The rightwing extremists have followed that up with one of their frequent tactics: to start violence and then blame the victims for starting it. Not a new thing, since right-wing extremists generally consider lying legitimate, but now the US government is broadcasting the lie.
RMS will give a talk in Rome - 2025-10-12T20:38:32+00:00
Richard Stallman will give a two hour talk in Rome, Italy tomorrow, Monday, Oct 13, starting at 4PM: Free/Libre software and freedom in the digital society
It will be at:
Sapienza University of Rome
Aula Magna of the Rectorate
Piazzale Aldo Moro, 5
Registration: https://www.di.uniroma1.it/it/distinguished-lectures
Money sent to family in Gaza - 2025-10-12T02:38:32+00:00
*She Sent Money to Family in Gaza. ICE Claimed It’s Evidence She Supports Hamas.*
Journalist banned from Labour Party Conference - 2025-10-12T02:38:31+00:00
A senior British journalist who has repeatedly asked leaders of Labour hard questions has been banned from the Labour Party Conference and told he was considered a threat to safety.
Does Starmer-Labour now equate the asking of probing questions to a threat of violence?
US Energy department regulating what staff can say - 2025-10-12T02:38:31+00:00
The US Energy department has meticulously regulated what its staff may say, so that it cannot even hint at global heating and its effects.
Meanwhile, various shutdown government offices are set with outgoing messages that make a partisan statement blaming Democrats for the shutdown.
On this one and the same issue, magats have applied the Hatch Act to two different situations and drawn opposing conclusions. Why the chasm? I suggest it is based on the partisan design to get advantage for the magats in each case.
UK program to predict who is likely to commit murder - 2025-10-12T02:38:31+00:00
The UK has a project to collect lots of information about criminals and crime victims in order to predict who is likely to commit murder.
It will be hard to find a legitimate way to use the results. They are sure to identify a list of "likely" future murderers far larger than the list of real future murders would be if it could be known.
What could the state legitimately do to or with the people on that list? There might be kinds of attention that would help direct them away from committing murders, but identifying them would be easier said than done.
The temptation would be to pre-restrict or pre-punish them, which would be unjust and likely to drive them towards violence.
Every time someone commits murder who is known to the justice system, people say, "Why didn't you stop him?" The reason is, of course, that there are lots of such people, and it is not easy to identify those few who will go that far.
Why tech billionaires turned to support Republicans - 2025-10-12T02:38:31+00:00
Paul Krugman: US tech billionaires turned to support Republicans in 2024 because they saw that Americans had learned to distrust the uses of computing.
The Americans in question are not aware that these uses of computing deserve distrust because crucial software that deals with users is not under the control of the users. This is because either (1) it is nonfree software or (2) it runs in a server, not in the users computer.
To resist (1), I refuse to run nonfree software (see https://gnu.org/philosophy/free-software-even-more-important.html). To resist (2), I reject SaaSS (see https://gnu.org/philosophy/who-does-that-server-really-serve.html).
People whose parents were US citizens on military deployment targeted - 2025-10-12T02:38:31+00:00
The deportation thugs are targeting people whose parents were US citizens on military deployment, and some US veterans too.
Naturalized citizens should not be deprived of citizenship except for heinous crimes.
The deportation thugs arrested a US citizen, not saying why, and held him for three days incommunicado without allowing him to talk with a lawyer.
As he put it:
Real goal of "Make America Healthy Again - 2025-10-12T02:38:30+00:00
*The real goal of "Make America Healthy Again"? >Woo-woo treatments for the rich, shrinking healthcare for the poor.
A new coterie of advisers around RFK Jr is shaping the US’s already exclusionary health system for the worse.*
The slogan could more honestly be, "Make America Hell Again."
Analysis of 25 years of carbon offset schemes - 2025-10-12T02:38:30+00:00
*Analysis of 25 years of evidence shows most [carbon offset] schemes are poor quality and fail to lower emissions.*
It has been clear for years that the system encourages "offset" schemes that fail to reliably reduce the total emissions. The system is designed, rather, to facilitate systematic greenwashing.
The scientists who report the study say the world must stop expecting this solution to work.
Former US surgeons general warn about RFK Jr - 2025-10-12T02:38:30+00:00
*Six former US surgeons general warn RFK Jr is "endangering nation’s health"* with his decisions based on medical disinformation.
"Compact" the corrupter in chief is offering universities - 2025-10-12T02:38:30+00:00
*Sticks are bad, but sometimes corruption through carrots is worse.* The "compact" that the corrupter in chief is offering to universities would surrender their academic freedom and leave little chance for a court case to restore it.
Facsist leader preparing for crushing of civil opposition - 2025-10-12T02:38:29+00:00
The Facsist leader is preparing the public for the day he pretends that civil opposition constitutes an "insurrection" and sends troops to crush civil government in some unfortunate city.
Wrecker's activities likely causing more economic problems - 2025-10-12T02:38:29+00:00
The wrecker's activities are likely to be causing various economic problems to increase, but the wrecker is interfering with the systems that in the past used to measure such changes and track them.
UK laws to repress nonviolent protest - 2025-10-12T02:38:29+00:00
The UK government is planning new laws to repress nonviolent protest campaigns with heavier punishment. It stands to reason that thugs will increase the level of unofficial cruelty against nonviolent protesters, too.
Officials with ties to fossil fuel business - 2025-10-12T02:38:29+00:00
More than 40 officials nominated by the planet-roaster in chief have direct connections to fossil fuel business,
Urgent: US Election Assistance Commission - 2025-10-12T02:38:28+00:00
US citizens: oppose the "Show-Your-Papers" voter suppression rule.
See the instructions for how to sign this letter campaign without running any nonfree JavaScript code--not trivial, but not hard.
Urgent: FCC Chair Carr censoring - 2025-10-12T02:38:27+00:00
US citizens: call on your senators to compel FCC Chair Carr to testify now about using the FCC's regulatory power for partisan censorship.
See the instructions for how to sign this letter campaign without running any nonfree JavaScript code--not trivial, but not hard.
If you phone, please spread the word! Main Switchboard: +1-202-224-3121
Important side point in bully's proposed peace deal - 2025-10-11T02:38:29+00:00
One important side point in the bully's proposed peace deal for Gaza is that if HAMAS doesn't agree to it, the plan would Israel's massive killing practices.
White house studies tying Tylenol with autism - 2025-10-11T02:38:29+00:00
*How the White House used studies with "weak" evidence to tie Tylenol to autism.*
It seems the magats want to replace woke ideas with weak ideas. I think a certain amount of wokeness is valid, but weak ideas, never.
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