Richard Stallman

Richard Stallman's Political Notes -

Smuggled tech in Iran - 2026-01-18T04:37:36+00:00

Iran is hunting down the Starlink connections that are still running, trying to eliminate all external communication.

People think that Iran is planning to sever its domestic internet entirely from the rest of the world.

It could be you next - 2026-01-18T04:37:36+00:00

Robert Reich: *If agents of the federal government can murder a 37-year-old woman in broad daylight who, as videotapes show, was merely trying to get out of their way, they can murder you.

Even if Trump and his vice president and his secretary of homeland security all claim, contrary to the videotapes, that Renee Macklin Good was trying to kill an agent who acted in self-defense, they could make up the same about you.

Even if Trump describes her as a “professional agitator” and his goons call her a “domestic terrorist,” they could say the same about you regardless of your political views or activism. If you have left-wing political views and are an activist, you’re in greater danger.

How can we believe what the FBI turns up in its investigation, when the FBI is working for Trump and is headed by one of his goons, and is investigating possible connections between Renee Good and groups that have been protesting Trump’s immigration enforcement?*

When a corrupt and dishonest president packs government agencies with his corrupt and dishonest henchmen, everything they say and everything they do becomes suspect.

As Reich put it,

We must commit to peacefully fighting this regime, to ending Republican control of Congress in 2026, and to sending this dangerous gang packing in 2028 — assuming we’re still free and alive by then.

Bipartisan war powers resolution - 2026-01-18T04:37:36+00:00

*Subject: Trump Bullies Flip-Flopping Senators Into Defeating Vote to Block Venezuela War.*

That was just barely enough to defeat the resolution.

Global survey - 2026-01-18T04:37:36+00:00

*[the bully] is making China – not America – great again, global survey suggests.*

Urgent: Prevent Big Oil from Destroying Chaco Canyon - 2026-01-18T04:37:35+00:00

US citizens: Call on Interior Secretary Burgum not to let Big Oil destroy Chaco Canyon.

Urgent: Call on Big Tech to cancel contracts - 2026-01-18T04:37:35+00:00

US citizens: call on Big Tech to cancel contracts with Israel's government.

Horses response to human sweat - 2026-01-18T04:37:35+00:00

An experiment demonstrates that horses respond to odor of human sweat differently depending on whether the human was feeling fear at the time of collection.

ICE agents intimidation - 2026-01-18T04:37:35+00:00

Deportation thugs on streets around Minneapolis have been observed on various occasions making slightly veiled threats to shoot protesters.

They have become a murderous criminal gang that shelters under a distortion of legal authority.

ICE job offer - 2026-01-18T04:37:35+00:00

Journalist Laura Jedeed applied for a job with the deportation thugs, expecting to write a story later about the process and how they rejected her for what their background investigation would reveal about her politics. But they did not bother to investigate — they accepted her even though she had not actually even filled out the forms.

She is concerned that they may be accepting all sorts of violent criminals without bothering to check.

Mandated Danish Forces - 2026-01-18T04:37:34+00:00

Denmark has ordered its soldiers to fight any armed attack on Danish territory, including in Greenland.

Denmark's army cannot militarily stop the US army from seizing Greenland. The point of this order seems to be to prevent the imperialist from sending his troops to seize Greenland and then pretending that the attack didn't start a war.

EPA pollution rules - 2026-01-18T04:37:34+00:00

The EPA been ordered to give weight to the cost of pollution control but not to the cost of the human damage done by pollution, as a basis for relaxing the limits on soot pollution.

The economic cost of a person's death is a callous way to judge the importance of saving a person's life. But ignoring it, as an excuse for allowing more toxic pollution, is even worse.

In defense of Greenland - 2026-01-18T04:37:34+00:00

How can Europe defend Greenland (and the rest of Europe) from the bully?

Imminent logging - 2026-01-18T04:37:34+00:00

A special company in New South Wales, Australia, is authorized to fell trees in areas that are a habitat for endangered native species (plants and animals). It is supposed to take care not to harm those species, but it seems to take insufficient care.

It is so prone to mistakes that I wonder who profits from them.

Immigrant visa processing - 2026-01-18T04:37:33+00:00

The wrecker has halted immigration visa consideration for 75 countries, ostensibly because too large a fraction of immigrants from those countries end up needing some sort of public support.

This is not a rational response to the problem. I was treated a couple of times by doctors that had immigrated from Albania — I am sure their income was adequate not to need welfare. By lumping everyone from each country together, the US shoots itself in the foot.

Fossil fuel phaseout - 2026-01-18T04:37:33+00:00

*1.5°C target likely to be passed by 2030.*

Iranian tensions - 2026-01-18T04:37:33+00:00

After the imperious bully told Iran he would launch an attack if Iran executes protesters, the Iranian regime reacted just as I expected: by saying executions would start soon.

The bully is cruel and unpredictable. The mullahs are cruel and rigid.

Non-terrorist Palestinian speaker cancelled - 2026-01-14T10:37:27+00:00

The Adelaide festival canceled a speaking invitation to a non-terrorist Palestinian, saying that presenting her would be "culturally insensitive" after a shocking terrorist gun attack on Jews in Sydney.

She rebuked the idea that the mere presence of a Palestinian with political views is somehow offensive in a way that one can at most hint at.

Chilling effect on lawful protest - 2026-01-14T10:37:27+00:00

*Both Human Rights Watch and the cross-party law reform organization Justice say recent legislative changes have created a chilling effect on lawful protest and should be repealed. Their reports, simultaneously published on Thursday, also say that proposals for more curbs should be halted.*

Bully wants to impose old imperialist international chaos - 2026-01-14T10:37:26+00:00

What the bully wants to impose is not a "new world order" but a return to the same old imperialist international chaos.

One point in the article is a conceptual confusion:

Yet this is not an administration that wants to colonize; instead it demands compliance. The new bosses in Venezuela are the same old bosses, the same henchmen and yes-men, only now with the No 2 running the show. This isn’t “imperialism”, not a new US protectorate nor some southern principality for son-in-law Jared, but something much cheaper and less onerous to the Oval Office: rule by remote control.

That statement adopts too narrow a definition of "imperialism". US imperialism in the 20th century often operated by working with local strongmen who were, in all but name, vassal rulers. It was different from the kind of imperialism practiced by European countries before 1950, but they often switched over to this new kind with the colonies that they had given independence to.

Laws that attribute personhood to things which are not people - 2026-01-14T10:37:26+00:00

Robert Reich: we must eliminate laws that attribute personhood to things which are not people, and also the laws that treat some people as less than persons.

We can protect things like species, rivers and forests without falling into those practices.

Republican politicians in Minnesota - 2026-01-14T10:37:25+00:00

Republican politicians in Minnesota are stubborn magats; they continue to insist on the party lie that Renee Good attacked deportation thugs before one of them killed her.

Big investors buying single-family homes - 2026-01-14T10:37:25+00:00

*[The bullshitter said] he will ban big investors from buying single-family homes.*

If that were actually done, it would be a substantial good thing. Nowhere enough to compensate for undermining human rights, democracy, and the principle of impartial justice, but good nonetheless.

I don't think he will actually do it. Perhaps, he will drop that proposal when those companies give a few billions to his ballroom fund.

Indian government arrested climate defense activists - 2026-01-14T10:37:24+00:00

The Indian government arrested climate defense activists for campaigning for India to sign the fossil fuel nonproliferation treaty with support from foreign organizations.

Prohibition of foreign support for humanitarian organizations is a standard fascist policy nowadays, pioneered by Orbán in Hungary.

Proposing granting legal rights to all sorts of things - 2026-01-14T10:37:24+00:00

There is a fashion these days to propose granting legal rights to all sorts of things — even hypothetical intelligences that some companies predict they will develop any day now.

It is fun to speculate about what life would be like in a world with real artificial intelligences, but it is pure folly to suppose that today's bullshit generators are even remotely like that.

Pervasive monitoring of children - 2026-01-14T10:37:24+00:00

Medical professionals campaign against pervasive monitoring of children.

RFK diet advice - 2026-01-14T10:37:23+00:00

RFK jr has started repeating some diet advice that is mostly uncontroversial.

Magat officials blocking funds for needy families with children - 2026-01-14T10:37:22+00:00

Magat officials have fabricated an excuse to arbitrarily block funds for needy families with children, based on vague accusations of paying support to some families that are not eligible.

Since no human system works perfectly, I am sure that some errors do occur. What the level of error is — whether it is worth a fuss to investigate — I don't know. Perhaps an investigation to stop fraud and error would result in savings enough to justify its cost. Or perhaps it would teach us that the criteria ought to be relaxed so as to legitimize supporting some families that are currently not eligible.

Either way, it is no excuse for stopping everything and demanding proof of a negative.

Magat officials have taken 1/3 of childhood vaccinations off recommended list - 2026-01-14T10:37:21+00:00

Magat officials have taken 1/3 of childhood vaccinations off the recommended list, based on false assertions and no scientific grounds.

It may be hard for American parents to get their children vaccinations which are not on this list.

Nations' plans to ramp up coal, gas and oil - 2026-01-14T10:37:21+00:00

*Nations' plans to ramp up coal, gas and oil extraction "will put climate goals beyond reach".* In other words, they will push civilization off the climate cliff.

NASA closing of research libraries - 2026-01-14T10:37:21+00:00

NASA, driven by magats who don't really like science or historical investigation, is closing more and more of its research libraries.

Federal judge blocks White House freeze of childcare subsidies - 2026-01-14T10:37:20+00:00

*Federal judge blocks White House freeze of childcare subsidies in Democratic states.*

That is the arbitrary stoppage described here.

Alas, the Supreme Court has a pattern this year of canceling the temporary court orders that have saved Americans from arbitrary punishment by the wrecker and his henchmen.

US deportation thugs resisted scrutiny for abuse of force - 2026-01-14T10:37:20+00:00

The US deportation thugs have resisted scrutiny for abuse of force, which they do often. Screaming false accusations against the victim is just the first step in that resistance.

Body cam footage of ICE agent in Minneapolis - 2026-01-14T10:37:20+00:00

Renee Good's wife directed sarcastic criticism at the deportation thugs, but sarcastic criticism is no justification for killing someone. Neither she nor Renee physically attacked them or threatened them.

FBI "investigation" of killing of Renee Good - 2026-01-14T10:37:19+00:00

The FBI has given us reason to suspect that its "investigation" of the killing of Renee Good will have a result decided in advance by Attorney General Bondi. The FBI is adding to this suspicion by excluding local cops from that "investigation" while denying them access to crucial evidence, including the gun that was used to kill her and the car she was killed in.

Everyone in Iran cut off from the internet - 2026-01-14T10:37:19+00:00

Everyone in Iran, except the government, has been cut off from the internet in the middle of nationwide protests against religious repression. This will help them hush up news of brutal torture and killings such as the state has applied to previous waves of protest.

Senate passed war powers resolution - 2026-01-14T10:37:18+00:00

The Senate passed a war powers resolution to stop the bully's use of the US army for bullying.

UK cops that infiltrated protests reported to MI5 - 2026-01-13T04:37:19+00:00

The UK cops that infiltrated nonviolent protest organizations reported to MI5, the state counterintelligence agency. It seems the government envisaged the protesters as Russian agents, though there is no evidence that they worked for or supported Russia.

(satire) Felony Oil Possession - 2026-01-13T04:37:18+00:00

(satire) *Nicolás Maduro Charged With Felony Oil Possession.*

US repression of protesters reaches new level - 2026-01-13T04:37:18+00:00

US repression of protesters reaches a new level as students are charged with a felony for an occupation on campus and pouring fake blood.

The students hope to use the trial to put Israel on trial for pouring the real blood of tens (or hundreds) of thousands of Palestinians.

US has made every other country less safe - 2026-01-13T04:37:18+00:00

*With [the would-be emperor's] military action in Venezuela, the US has made every other country less safe.*

*[His] lawless actions in Venezuela demand a resolute response.*

Worst Free-Range kids stories of 2025 - 2026-01-13T04:37:18+00:00

*It's Safe to Look Back! The Worst Free-Range Kids Stories of 2025.*

Saboteur's purges of US military - 2026-01-13T04:37:18+00:00

General Paul Eaton (retired) says the saboteur's purges of the US military could have dire long-term consequences to the military's reputation and efficiency.

*"There is an active effort to politicize the armed forces," Eaton said. "Once you infect the body, the cure may be very difficult and painful for presidents downstream."*

Eaton compares this to Stalin's purges of the Red Army in the 1930s, which removed nearly all the generals and left the Soviet Union weak and vulnerable, which led Hitler to decide to attack it, and greatly hampered its defense.

Here is background on Eaton.

Failure to condemn US for attacking Venezuela - 2026-01-13T04:37:14+00:00

International failure to condemn the US for attacking Venezuela is likely to encourage Russia and China to aggression.

Two conflicting strands of American history - 2026-01-13T04:37:14+00:00

Two conflicting strands of American history, one enlightened side that stands for liberty and one dogmatic and brutal Christian side, have been in conflict since the beginning.

Preparing to help resist threatened US invasion of Greenland - 2026-01-13T04:37:14+00:00

European NATO members are preparing to help resist a threatened US invasion of Greenland.

One third in US live in areas that could suffer next fire disaster - 2026-01-13T04:37:13+00:00

*Researchers estimate roughly 115 million people – more than a third of the US population – live in areas that could [suffer] the next fire disaster.*

Resisting spread of urban fires requires removing anything that can burn from a certain zone around each house or structure — up to 5 feet away.

This should be a condition of fire insurance, or even part of the fire code.

America's "leaders" sucking up to saboteur in chief - 2026-01-13T04:37:13+00:00

Most of America's "leaders" are sucking up to the saboteur in chief, and worst of all are the billionaire "captains of industry".

Saboteur's reckless drilling plan - 2026-01-13T04:37:13+00:00

"Our analysis shows that [the saboteur's] ridiculously reckless drilling plan could cause thousands of new oil spills, threatening almost every U.S. coast," said Kristen Monsell, oceans legal director at the Center for Biological Diversity. "Nobody wants beaches and marine life coated in crude, but that'll be our future if [his] scheme goes forward. Every new drilling project signs us up for decades of problems, and our wildlife and coastal economies will suffer the most."

[This] analysis assumes average spill rates for platforms and pipelines based on 1974-2015 data. It does not include catastrophic events like the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon disaster, which released more than 210 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.

Supercharged oil extraction - 2026-01-13T04:37:13+00:00

*"Everybody loses" if [oil extraction] supercharged in country with largest known oil reserves, critics say.*

This is likely to push civilization over the climate cliff.

Cuba, Mexico, Colombia and Greenland in President's sights - 2026-01-13T04:37:13+00:00

*The US president has been quite clear that Cuba, Mexico, Colombia and Greenland are in his sights. We must believe him.*

I would say, we must consider that a serious threat. Any of his threats can be bullshit, but we can't assume it is bullshit.