Richard Stallman

Richard Stallman's Political Notes -

Calls for respecting Ukraine's sovereignty - 2025-11-26T16:37:36+00:00

Many countries in Europe, and Australia, have rejected the bully's capitulation plan for Ukraine.

I hope those presenting an alternative "peace plan" have verified that Ukraine will accept it, before arguing for it.

Unjust plans for Ukraine - 2025-11-26T16:37:35+00:00

The bully's surrender plan for Ukraine is obviously unjust, a reward to a dictator that wants to conquer more territory. This article describes additional secondary aspects that would make Ukraine a sitting duck if Putin ever wants to conquer the rest of it.

Counterterror surveillance used against student activists - 2025-11-26T16:37:35+00:00

*How Universities Used Counterterror Intelligence-Sharing Hubs to Surveil [student activists for Palestinians' rights].*

Brain-drugs as weapons - 2025-11-26T16:37:35+00:00

Fast-acting mind-affecting drugs have been developed for use as weapons.

Covid bereaved pursue accountability for Johnson - 2025-11-26T16:37:34+00:00

An inquiry found that Bogus Johnson did a careless job of handling the Covid-19 pandemic, and this caused thousands of avoidable deaths. The relatives of the deceased demand to punish him for this by denying him public funds.

Republicans' serious, glaring, hypocrisy - 2025-11-26T16:37:33+00:00

Senator Kelly rebuked Republicans in Congress for almost complete silence about the persecutor's death threats against him and five other congressional Democrats.

He contrasted that with their exaggerated reproach of those who dared criticize Charles Kirk's bigotry and hatred after he had been killed (but never claimed that his wrongs justified killing him).

These two contrasting reactions of Republican officials, juxtaposed, demonstrate that they have abandoned the idea of a moral standard of conduct that is above politics. They have shamelessly replaced it with cowardly submission to partisan extremism encompassing political terrorism.

A few exceptions may exist even though the general tendency is clear. If you know of any significant exception — any prominent Republican who publicly denounces the persecutor's death threat — please do tell me the specifics.

Anyone who leans Republican but doesn't want to be changed by peer pressure into accepting political terrorism should reject and denounce the Republican Party now!

An exercise for the reader: what reasons make Vance's response invalid? I see two.

Urgent: Stop Spotify recruit-ads - 2025-11-26T10:37:32+00:00

US citizens: call on Spotify to cease running recruiting ads for the bully's deportation thugs.

See the instructions for how to sign this letter campaign without running any nonfree JavaScript code—not trivial, but not hard.

If you send a letter, please spread the word!

In my letter I said that if Spotify stops using DRM, makes it possible to pay anonymously, and makes it possible to be a customer without running nonfree software, I could consider being one. Thus, I used this letter for two issues: the issue of supporting the deportation thugs and the issue of unjust software.

Urgent: Stop US, Venezuela-war plans - 2025-11-26T10:37:32+00:00

US citizens: call on Congress to stop threatened U.S. military attack against Venezuela, Mexico, and other countries in Latin America.

Urgent: Stop Congress trading stocks - 2025-11-26T10:37:31+00:00

US citizens: call on Congress to pass a law to ban members of Congress from trading stocks.

Urgent: US scheming to tax nonprofits - 2025-11-26T10:37:31+00:00

US citizens: call on the IRS commissioner to protect nonprofits from the bully's "National Security" Memo.

President of Serbia accused of war profiteering scheme - 2025-11-26T10:37:31+00:00

The president of Serbia is accused of involvement in a perverse war profiteering scheme which allowed rich foreigners to pay to come to a hill near Sarajevo and shoot noncombatants from a long distance with a telescopic sight.

Immigrant doctors in Britain leaving - 2025-11-26T10:37:30+00:00

Many of the doctors in Britain are immigrants. The growth of right-wing hatred in the UK, fomented by organized right-wing extremists, is increasingly driving them to leave and practice medicine elsewhere.

Pernicious giveaway to Big Food - 2025-11-26T10:37:30+00:00

The deal that ended the shutdown had a pernicious giveaway to Big Food that negated until 2028 some state regulations for food safety.

I expect this will harm some Americans but not thousands. Still, Congress needs a way to designate a bill as "free from tangential riders" that would invalidate any that somehow appeared in the text finally passed.

Tortured into making false confession - 2025-11-26T10:37:30+00:00

British thugs tortured Peter Sullivan into making a false confession of murder. (DNA evidence later proved that he was not the murderer.)

False convictions seem to happen often. Perhaps the legal system ought to show more doubt confessions which no had evidence to support them.

Normally cool regions having heat waves - 2025-11-26T10:37:30+00:00

Even normally cool regions such as Scandinavia are having deadly heat waves boosted by global heating.

"22 days over 30°C" does not sound like much of a danger to people who live in tropical countries. But the people and ecosystems in Scandinavia are not accustomed to this heat, so things go wrong. The engineered systems there were not designed for this heat, so they malfunction. And hundreds of people dis. Elsewhere, it is sometimes tens of thousands who die.

I expect that not all the fatalities caused by the heatwave occur during the heatwave. Such is the case for big storms: the local death rate remains higher for decades after.

The article warns that heating could make reindeer-herding impossible. Heat that makes reindeer too hot to move out of the shade, if continued for longer, would stare them.

In climate disaster, The inability to continue our way of life would hardly be limited to indigenous peoples. It would affect just about everyone.

Birth control information on TikTok - 2025-11-25T10:37:29+00:00

Searching on TikTok for information on birth control finds right-wing medical disinformation.

Observing effects of ocean acidification - 2025-11-25T10:37:29+00:00

To observe the effects of ocean acidification, scientists retraced the path of Scott's Antarctic expedition, and collected sea animals to compare with the samples he collected. The sea urchins have become very fragile, and ocean acidification seems to be the cause.

Fish in Mekong River - 2025-11-25T10:37:29+00:00

*Fish [species, in the Mekong River,] once as large as grizzly bears have become far smaller in recent years due to overfishing, dams and climate crisis.*

US states give federal agencies drivers license records - 2025-11-25T10:37:28+00:00

US states give some federal agencies unlimited access to their drivers license records — and now these agencies may be using them for facial recognition, disregarding laws and human rights.

US hiring countries as deportation prisons - 2025-11-25T10:37:28+00:00

The US is hiring various countries as private deportation prisons for the US.

Risking health of babies for profit - 2025-11-25T10:37:28+00:00

*Nestlé accused of "risking health of babies for profit" over added sugar in cereals sold in African countries.*

Armed Israeli "settlers" escalated violence - 2025-11-25T10:37:28+00:00

The armed Israeli "settlers" have escalated their violence against Palestinian inhabitants of the West Bank.

Labour privatising NHS in plain sight - 2025-11-25T10:37:28+00:00

In Britain, *Labour is privatising the NHS in plain sight.*

I expect it will remain nominally a public service, but if you don't want your treatment to wait till you're dead, you will have to use it to book a private service to do the treatment — at private medicine prices.

Big Pharma lobby scheme - 2025-11-25T10:37:27+00:00

By spending 4 million dollars on campaigns for Congress, the big US drug companies made Americans pay 8 billion more for medicine.

They lobbied to eliminate the changes Biden made to make manufacturers negotiate a lower price for a list pf important medicines.

Most countries have a national medical system which buys the drugs for most people. It uses its market power to drive drug prices down. This is one of the side benefits that would add to the fundamental benefit of establishing a national medical system in the US.

Huge cuts to staff at WHO - 2025-11-25T10:37:27+00:00

*Huge cuts to staff at WHO will leave world "less healthy and less safe," experts warn.*

The saboteur in chief is responsible for these cuts.

Cluster munitions used by Israel in Lebanon - 2025-11-25T10:37:27+00:00

*Israel used widely banned cluster munitions in Lebanon, photos of remnants suggest.*

Explaining civil war in Sudan - 2025-11-25T10:37:27+00:00

Explaining the civil war in Sudan: two military factions fighting to exploit the country, with the UAE investing in one of them.

Australia's official forestry statistics - 2025-11-25T10:37:27+00:00

Australia's official forestry statistics report that forest cover is increasing, but that counts new-growth forests without native wildlife as a substitute for the native habitat which is being steadily destroyed.

China doesn't want to be alone on climate policies - 2025-11-25T10:37:27+00:00

*China doesn’t want to take lead on climate policies alone, senior adviser warns.*

It would be better if China wanted to show more leadership, but the fault in his area is not mainly China's. China is working pretty hard on curbing its greenhouse gas emissions, and its emissions are about to start decreasing. It is the US billionaires and their flunky, the corrupter, that are eagerly trashing Earth's livable climate.

People helping people leave cults - 2025-11-25T10:37:26+00:00

About people who slowly, step by step, help a person in a cult reach the point of considering whether to leave it.

Putin's sabotage in Poland - 2025-11-24T16:37:20+00:00

Poland accuses Putin of organizing sabotage against Poland's railroads.

This doesn't surprise me. To start low-intensity war is Putin's modus operandi, intended to leave the attacked country unsure of how to respond. Europe needs to develop appropriate ways to fight back. It must not limit itself to a choice between the two extreme options — full war, and full peace — while Putin plays in the middle.

RUS-UKR war - 2025-11-24T16:37:20+00:00

It looks like the bully is searching for a way to give Putin complete victory over Ukraine.

US wants UKR to cede land to RUS - 2025-11-24T16:37:19+00:00

The wrecker has thrown his support fully to Putin, trying to rush Ukraine into agreeing a pernicious deal to capitulate and hand over territory to the Putin forces.

Zelenskyy has already refused.

Officials to testify to US federal judge - 2025-11-24T16:37:19+00:00

A federal judge is demanding testimony from officials to investigate whether some of them should face contempt of court for deporting some people to El Salvador's brainwashing prison after he ordered them not to.

Gaza plan, UN Security Council - 2025-11-24T16:37:19+00:00

*UN security council votes to endorse the bully's Gaza plan.*

I think it is premature to judge that plan when it is so incomplete that we can't tell where it is intended to lead.

Fomenting the housing crisis, US - 2025-11-24T16:37:19+00:00

*How can we make the housing crisis even worse? [The wrecker] has a plan.*

Illegal US military orders - 2025-11-24T04:37:30+00:00

Democrats in Congress posted a video reminding soldiers of their legal duty to refuse illegal orders, and their oath to defend the US Constitution. The bully responded by calling for their death.

He and his henchmen have placed themselves among the enemies of the Constitution whom members of Congress, and members of the armed services, have sworn to defend the Constitution from.

Conference of the Parties, BRA - 2025-11-24T04:37:30+00:00

*Cop30: dozens of countries threaten to block resolution unless it contains roadmap to fossil fuel phase-out.*

The crucial question of whether to try to avoid disaster, or speed it for profit, is now on the table. To postpone the decision till later is futile since action is overdue. If the burn-it-all countries will not accept a compromise that permits survival, the rest should declare them enemies of humanity.

White House receives SAU crown prince - 2025-11-24T04:37:30+00:00

*[The bully] shrugged off Khashoggi’s killing. This is a new low.*

I suppose he figures that since he could get away with shooting someone on Fifth Avenue (or so he claims), why shouldn't Crown Prince Bone Saw get away with having his henchmen murder a journalist in a diplomatic building?

Here's how his henchmen described their plans to murder Khashoggi.

Malice and Crown Prince of SAU, US - 2025-11-24T04:37:29+00:00

Crown Prince Bone Saw brought to Washington one of his henchmen whose job was identifying people who had anonymously posted criticism of him. The henchmen sought to find someone in Twitter who would betray them.

I wonder why he brought that man to the US. Perhaps as a quiet way of congratulating the bully for doing a good job of repression in the US?

Love and Crown Prince of SAU - 2025-11-24T04:37:29+00:00

*Trump and Mr Bone Saw stage love-in as Saudi’s $1tn wipes the bloody slate clean.*

Please, it's Crown Prince Bone Saw. Show some respect!

A Texas-gerrymandering ruling - 2025-11-24T04:37:28+00:00

*Federal Judges Rule Congressional District Lines Drawn by Texas Republicans are Discriminatory.*

Of course they are — the goal of this redistricting was to be more gerrymandered and less fair. So I am not surprised that these judges recognized it. But I will be surprised if the Supreme Court right-wing-extremist majority objects to that.

Keeping climate promises - 2025-11-25T21:46:03+00:00

*Keeping promises on renewables, energy efficiency and methane "would avoid nearly 1C of global heating."*

Denmark's climate targets - 2025-11-25T21:46:02+00:00

Denmark plans to accelerate its reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, illustrating what sensible governments must do for survival.

Other EU governments seem to expect the people who really count (billionaires) arrange their own survival.

James Comey's trail done improperly - 2025-11-25T21:46:02+00:00

The grand jury proceedings against James Comey were done grossly improperly.

The bully accuses other Americans of breaking laws, and wants to put them on trial; but he doesn't care whether they are legally guilty of anything, and the trial he wants to impose on them is a show trial.

AI industry-backed PAC targets Alex Bores - 2025-11-25T21:46:01+00:00

NY Assemblyman Alex Bores sponsored a law requiring bullshit generator companies to take certain safety precautions. Some owners of such companies have set up a PAC which is now directing funds to defeat him.

Bores boasts of having two patents, but if these are computational idea patents, that is something to be ashamed of. Those patents should not exist.

It is not unusual that a person who takes for granted the legitimacy of a long-accepted injustice of the current legal/economic system can reject attempts to create new ones.

Urgent: Tax the rich - 2025-11-23T16:37:25+00:00

US citizens: call on Congress to make the wealthy pay their fair share of taxes — which is considerably more than they pay now.

The main switchboard is +1-202-224-3121. If you message Congress, please spread the word!

Fascism expert targeted by US far-right - 2025-11-22T16:37:12+00:00

Professor Mark Bray is an American academic expert on fascism. Governmental harassment ordered by the bully, and death threats from the bully's followers, have driven him and his family into exile.

ChatGPT teddy bear - 2025-11-21T22:37:31+00:00

A teddy bear toy that provided a voice interface to ChatGPT gave advice about sex and about finding knives. Clearly it did not think about the meaning and implications of its output for its likely audience.

This reminds us that ChatGPT is not intelligent.

The reaction to this by "Open""AI" demonstrates that ChatGPT is SaaSS, so the company has total control over who can use it. Such control over users is always an injustice.

Hundred Heroines - 2025-11-21T22:37:31+00:00

Artificial Stupidity turned off the Facebook page of the organization Hundred Heroines, whose mission is to encourage female photographers. Apparently Facebook did this without consulting any actual intelligences about the issue, and it took a month for complaints to convince the company to consult one.

After all, what is the point of investing in Artificial Stupidity if you must employ humans to check its decisions?

I find the use of "content" in that article grating. Please join me in rejecting thst usage of the word.