Richard Stallman
Richard Stallman's Political Notes -
Silencing dissidents, US - 2025-04-04T03:38:25+00:00
*an administration that imprisons and expels foreign students for their pro-Palestinian advocacy is unlikely to stop with foreign students or, for that matter, with pro-Palestinian advocacy. Trump’s student roundup has already progressed from visa holders to legal permanent residents, and administration officials have said they intend to come after naturalized citizens as well. And the argument the administration is advancing to justify the cancellation of students’ visas — that the students’ advocacy undermines US foreign policy — could as easily be made with respect to those who advocate in support of any other cause the Trump administration happens to disfavor.*
US Trade war response, UK - 2025-04-04T02:38:13+00:00
Starmer offered to reduce British taxes on digital "services" in general in exchange for lower US tariffs on UK exports. (We can presume that this includes digital dis-services as well as true digital services.)
This offer was foolish in two ways, which become obvious when we note that the biggest threat to society, is taxing business too little, and that the T-usk regime is a part of that threat.
- The deal would increase the power of companies that have too much power already, thus making them an even bigger threat.
- To offer an enemy a lasting concession, in exchange for not
attacking you just now, is a bad bargain, thus a change for the worse.
Science, Engineering, Medicine, US - 2025-04-04T02:38:13+00:00
1800 members of the US National Academies have published an open letter calling on the US government to stop attacking science.
University speaker canceled, NYU - 2025-04-04T02:38:13+00:00
NYU canceled a talk by Joanne Liu, former head of Doctors Without Borders, for reporting on casualties in Gaza and on the persecutor's cuts to US foreign aid.
I have not seen the slides, but this seems like a very stretched instance of the "Israel exception".
Can anyone find NYU's allegedly "clear" guidelines? Have they been posted anywhere?
Free speech as terrorism - 2025-04-04T02:38:13+00:00
Ken Roth: *There can be no "Israel exception" for free speech*, and the case of Mahmoud Khalil illustrates this.
Urgent: Deportation deactivation - 2025-04-04T02:38:13+00:00
US citizens: call on Congress to block funds for the Donald Deportation Derby and fund medicine and Social Security instead.
If you phone, please spread the word! Main Switchboard: +1-202-224-3121
Urgent: Resign Hegseth - 2025-04-04T02:38:12+00:00
US citizens: call on Hegseth to resign immediately.
*Hegseth should go to jail for war plan leaks, according to Hegseth.*
If you phone, please spread the word! Main Switchboard: +1-202-224-3121
Urgent: Congresscritters who profit war - 2025-04-04T02:38:12+00:00
US citizens: call on Congress to ban members of Congress from having financial interests in companies that do business with the Pentagon.
Contrast this with the bill to stop them from buying or selling stocks. The two operate in the same area, but they are different enough to be complementary.
If you phone, please spread the word! Main Switchboard: +1-202-224-3121
Trump administration at "war" with mRNA technology - 2025-04-02T02:38:05+00:00
*Trump administration at "war" with mRNA technology: scientists alarmed vaccine skeptics could kill research.*
mRNA vaccines are the target of persistent disinformation along many fronts. Some disinformation exaggerates the significance of side effects that happen a small fraction of the time and generally cause no permanent harm. Others harp on thousands of people go had serious side effects but neglect to compare those with the millions of lives the vaccines saved.
Urgent: Stop fueling destruction to Amazon forest - 2025-04-01T20:38:07+00:00
US citizens: call on banks to stop fueling destruction of the Amazon forest.
Wedge in solidarity - 2025-04-01T20:38:07+00:00
*Despite the diversity of pro-Palestinian demonstrators, [deportation thugs] go after non-white visa and scholarship holders "to create a wedge in solidarity".*
Universities that survive eager submission to state - 2025-04-01T20:38:06+00:00
Universities that hope to survive through eager submission to state repression will find themselves reduced to even more abject subservience,
Saboteur tried to seize control over who can vote - 2025-04-01T20:38:06+00:00
The saboteur tried to seize personal control over who is allowed to vote in the US.
It follows the latest magat fashion of using a small federal power for leverage to bully lesser governments and institutions into repression: in this case, into requiring voters to show ID cards. The range of ID cards to be accepted would be so limited that many poor voters would do without them, and be disenfranchised.
Greg Palast estimates that 21 million eligible voters would be barred from voting, if states obey this.
It would also take the US another bit step towards having a national ID card — which is, itself, oppression.
EPA email address to request exemption to evade air pollution rules - 2025-04-01T20:38:05+00:00
* EPA sets up email address where "regulated community" can request exemption to evade air pollution rules.*
This is to speed the billionaires' ultimate sabotage project — to make the survival of civilization outside their realms impossible.
Harvard's Middle Eastern Studies department - 2025-04-01T20:38:05+00:00
Two faculty of Harvard's Middle Eastern Studies department have suddenly "departed", and it is reported that they were fired except that the university doesn't want to admit that.
Migrating Social Security Administration off of COBOL - 2025-04-01T20:38:04+00:00
The Social Security Administration has 60 million lines of COBOL code and has long planned to migrate that very slowly and carefully into a more modern programming language. It would take years. But now the wrecking crew (LOGE, *) wants to do it in a few months.
It will surely have many new bugs. But instead of having humans do it, they plan to use bullshit generators to write the new code.
That will guarantee plenty of absurd mistakes that humans wouldn't make.
What could make the situation worse than that? The SSA could stop answering the phones, and eliminate most of the human beings to complain to.
Hmm, that's what they just did. Looks like someone is planning to make the Social Security system fail disastrously.
* LOGE = Lots of Grief, Evisceration
Data from Amazon echo to be sent to Amazon - 2025-04-01T20:38:04+00:00
Amazon "echo" devices should be called "tattle" because they tell Amazon what they hear.
Rebuke for Smithsonian Institute - 2025-04-01T20:38:04+00:00
The magats rebuke the Smithsonian Institution for presenting modern scientists' and scholars' ideas of science and history, instead of the old-fashioned superstitions and prejudices they replaced.
Urgent: Amazon lawsuit attacking CPCS - 2025-04-01T14:38:14+00:00
US citizens: call on Amazon to drop its lawsuit attacking the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Also, don't buy from Amazon. Yes, you can do it!
Urgent: Protect privacy of customers of 23 and Me - 2025-03-31T08:38:32+00:00
Everyone: call on the directors of 23 and Me to protect the privacy of their customers.
Search warrants for student rooms - 2025-03-31T08:38:32+00:00
The deportation thugs seems to have got search warrants for student rooms at Columbia University by misleading a judge, as well as misrepresenting the law they were claiming to enforce.
Wrecker attacking law firms - 2025-03-31T08:38:32+00:00
The wrecker is attacking law firms with executive orders to cut off their business. Three of them have taken legal action against these orders.
Head of CDC facing right-wing disinformation - 2025-03-31T08:38:32+00:00
The wrecker tried to appoint a serious medical researcher as head of the CDC. He, and she, now face right-wing extremist disinformation.
I expect he will try to develop a system by which to control more completely which kinds of disinformation are permitted.
Quid pro quo deals between US government and billionaires - 2025-03-31T08:38:32+00:00
Alvaro Bedoya, FTC commissioner until he was fired by the corrupter, warns of apparent "quid pro quo" deals between the US government and billionaires. In other words, apparent corruption.
When the "Department of Justice" is part of the same corruption, there is no way to tackle it.
Parents following RFK's medical misinformation - 2025-03-31T08:38:32+00:00
Parents following RFK's medical misinformation are giving their children cod-liver oil, thinking that will cure or prevent measles. It does nothing against measles, but it does cause liver damage.
European universities rescuing threatened scientists from US - 2025-03-31T08:38:32+00:00
European universities are starting to rescue threatened scientists from US universities.
Turks holding large rallies - 2025-03-31T08:38:31+00:00
Turks are holding very large rallies for jailed opposition leader İmamoğlu.
Florida law against teachers that are Chinese residents - 2025-03-31T08:38:31+00:00
Florida's law forbidding hiring teachers who are officially residents of China (or some other countries) makes no exception for Chinese refugees who are applying for asylum.
I wonder whether this law violates federal anti-discrimination law.
FDA official in charge of vaccines has resigned - 2025-03-31T08:38:31+00:00
The FDA's official in charge of vaccines has resigned, saying RFK "wishes subservient confirmation of his misinformation and lies."
This and other appointments described here suggest he will attack vaccinations and put Americans greatly in danger.
That includes me. I got a Covid-19 booster vaccination a week ago, because I was worried it might cease to be available if I waited. That's good for now, but what about next fall. and subsequent years.
Academics in US - 2025-03-31T08:38:30+00:00
Academics in the US are making preparations in case they are disappeared.
I expect that Republican officials will maintain the lie that the people who may be arrested and deported are supporting terrorists and insist that nothing is wrong.
Social Security website crashing - 2025-03-31T08:38:30+00:00
*Social Security website is crashing, nobody monitors customer experience since DOGE eliminated that office.*
This could be their plan for how to get rid of Social Security in practice even though it may continue to exist in name.
Urgent: Town-hall meetings - 2025-03-31T02:37:58+00:00
US citizens: phone your congresscritter and say, "Hold town-hall meetings with the public, in your district and maybe in other districts too."
When Democrats do this, it wins support. But when Republicans do this, it exposes what they really are.
If you phone, please spread the word! Main Switchboard: +1-202-224-3121
Urgent: Robert Reich on Social Security - 2025-03-31T02:37:58+00:00
US citizens: phone your congresscritter and senators at (202) 224-3121 and call on them to save Social Security, by rehiring the staff that the DOSE(*) got rid of and reversing all other recent changes made by the bully and the muskrat.
* Depredations of Swinging Evisceration.
Israel broke cease-fire - 2025-03-31T02:37:58+00:00
Israel broke the cease-fire with Lebanon by destroying a specific building by bombing. It gave warnings first, but that doesn't mean the attack was justified.
(satire) Texans To Show ID - 2025-03-30T20:38:01+00:00
(satire) *New Law Requires Texans To Show ID To Buy Phallic Foods.*
Hegseth war plan leaks - 2025-03-30T20:38:01+00:00
*🤯Hegseth should go to jail for war plan leaks, according to Hegseth.*
Open letter Columbia University - 2025-03-30T20:38:01+00:00
*Open letter: we call on Columbia to stand up to authoritarianism.*
Russia ukraine ceasefire deal - 2025-03-30T20:38:01+00:00
*Ukraine ceasefire deal looks like a Russian wishlist tied with a US bow.*
(satire) Big Bird At Starbucks - 2025-03-30T20:38:00+00:00
(satire) *Big Bird Seen Working At Local Starbucks After PBS Funding Cuts.*
Greenland takeover - 2025-03-30T20:38:00+00:00
Putin has enthusiastically supported the US intention to seize Greenland, probably expecting the corrupter to support his intention to seize Ukraine.
Palestinian director - 2025-03-30T20:38:00+00:00
*Oscar-winning Palestinian director released from Israeli detention.*
The "Academy" that gives these awards has persistently refused to comment on the attack.
This attack by extremist bullies and the arrest by the Israeli state are not unusual in the West Bank. They happen to plenty of Palestinians. They are just as vicious when they are done to people who have not won awards. However, the fact of the award has one significant implication: it shows that the attackers have completely quashed their consciences.
Protests held in Turkey - 2025-03-30T20:38:00+00:00
8 more Turkish journalists have been jailed for covering nationwide protests against Erdoğan.
(satire) Elon Musk Amazed - 2025-03-30T20:37:59+00:00
(satire) *Elon Musk Amazed At How Much Cheaper Bribing Voters Is In Midwest.*
New pun - 2025-03-30T08:38:21+00:00
New pun: The virus nobody notices
Sanctuary city policies in Tennessee - 2025-03-30T08:38:20+00:00
Tennessee proposes to make it a crime for local legislators to vote for sanctuary city policies.
It is clear that the state could pass a law that overrides any local law of this sort, but no state should be allowed to criminalize the act of voting as such.
The "five eyes" intelligence network fraying - 2025-03-30T08:38:20+00:00
The "five eyes" intelligence network between the Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and the US is fraying after the US accidentally revealed to the others that they could not rely on it to help them.
Sensitivities to gluten - 2025-03-30T08:38:20+00:00
Experiments show that many people who believe they are sensitive to eating gluten are having a reaction which is not triggered by gluten.
House speaker proposes elimination of "federal courts" - 2025-03-30T08:38:20+00:00
House speaker proposes to eliminate official "federal courts" and replacing them with new courts that would be subject to the president's control.
Biodiversity loss in all species - 2025-03-30T08:38:19+00:00
*Biodiversity loss in all species and every ecosystem linked to humans.*
Leaked conversation about attacking Houthis - 2025-03-30T08:38:19+00:00
The US military and spy officials who leaked their conversation about attacking the Houthis were deficient in competence and deficient in respect for human rights. But this should be no surprise.
The corrupter chose them, not for loyalty to conscience or to country, but only for loyalty to the corrupter. That's what they have, and that's how he will judge them.
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