Richard Stallman

Richard Stallman's Political Notes -

Snoop-phone cameras "adjust" photos - 2025-12-31T04:39:16+00:00

Snoop-phone cameras "adjust" all photos by default to make them more visually attractive. This falsifies everyone thus photographed.

I think that this contributes one more factor that would lead people to prefer to interact through phones rather than in physical presence.

Father tells children truth about Santa Claus lie - 2025-12-31T04:39:15+00:00

A father writes that he told his children the truth about Christmas presents, rather than the usual Santa Claus lie, so they won't feel judged if some year he can't afford to get them any presents.

I think that is a good reason. But I still feel that telling the usual lie is wrong as well. And when parents bully me into speaking to their children as if Santa Claus existed, it puts me in a painful moral dilemma: either butt in and cause a family crisis, or join in lying. I don't want to do either.

Migrants from Mauritania fear deportation - 2025-12-31T04:39:15+00:00

Migrants from Mauritania in the US fear being deported back there to live under a form of apartheid system with slavery.

Episode of 60 Minutes on El Salvador prison pulled from air - 2025-12-31T04:39:14+00:00

*60 Minutes episode on brutal El Salvador prison, pulled from air by CBS, appears online.* This article summarizes much of its description of the torture in the Cecot prison. It is clearly meant to destroy the prisoners' bodies and minds, though not quickly.

US citizens of foreign origin carrying their passports - 2025-12-31T04:39:14+00:00

US citizens of foreign origin have been terrorized by the deportation thugs' violence, and their rush to deport people without allowing time for justice or even fact-checking. Many now carry their passports all the time, hoping the thugs will check those before brutalizing or jailing them.

Violence against news reporters increased - 2025-12-31T04:39:13+00:00

Violence against news reporters increased greatly this year. In many cases they were attacked while covering actions of the deportation thugs. Many of the attacks were committed by thugs.

US general said he would obey orders to attack people inside US - 2025-12-31T04:39:13+00:00

A US general, ultra-loyal to the bully, said he would obey orders to attack people that the bully calls "terrorist" inside the US.

The phrase "confident in the lawful order" is not clear. It invites us to comfort ourselves by believing that this general would make sure the order is lawful, but doesn't explicitly say so. I distrust that vagueness.

Economists call for going easy on Sri Lanka's debt - 2025-12-31T04:39:13+00:00

Leading world economists call for going easy on Sri Lanka's debt after the recent devastating storm. Even before that, Sri Lanka's debt was crushing and unjust.

Iranian dress code for women - 2025-12-31T04:39:12+00:00

For the moment, Iranian women have the government's clothing rules enforcers cowed even as it continues to bluster.

Offices of two important newspapers destroyed in Bangladesh - 2025-12-31T04:39:12+00:00

Violent mobs have rampaged across Bangladesh, and destroyed by fire the offices of two important newspapers.

The article does not say what cause or side the mobs support, but they may be Islamist extremists.

High price of medicines in the US - 2025-12-31T04:39:12+00:00

Medicines are terribly expensive in the US because the US helps Big Pharma gouge on medicine and does little to resist them. The bullshitter claims that the prices are high in the US because other well-off countries have national medical systems that negotiate lower bulk prices. Prices are high in the US because it fails to do that. By attacking those countries' bulk prices with economic warfare, he helps Big Pharma in yet another way, while distracting and confusing the Americans who heed him.

Biden made a start at using government power to reduce drug prices in the US. He was limited in what he could do, because Congress was dominated by Republicans and plutocratist Democrats. Nonetheless, his price-reduction measures helped millions of non-rich Americans afford the medicines they needed to stay alive.

Please join me in supporting a national medical system in the US. We also need to stop the ways Big Pharma corrupts the medical system and medical research, take controlled experiments on drugs' effectiveness and safety out of the hands of Big Pharma, and weaken the time span and power of patents on medicines.

Antimuslimist threats in Australia - 2025-12-31T04:39:12+00:00

After the antisemitic killings in Australia follows a wave of antimuslimist threats.

These two forms of hatred are aimed at different religions, but they are basically similar in form: stirring up hatred of an "other" to make people panic and start to fertilize fascist movements with more hared.

Let's be mature enough not to bite that hook.

Governments have eased pressure on Israel - 2025-12-31T04:39:12+00:00

The adoption of the "peace plan" for Gaza has not brought peace or a cease fire, nor ended the siege of Gaza, but governments around the world have made it as an excuse to remove all pressure on Israel and Netanyahu to cease their crimes.

Trump and Putin share craving for status - 2025-12-31T04:39:12+00:00

*Trump and Putin share a craving for status. That's why they both want to destroy Europe.*

US dropped plan to deport whistleblower to China - 2025-12-31T04:39:11+00:00

The US has dropped its politically-motivated plan to deport whistleblower Guan Heng to China.

Urgent: Impeach Kristi Noem - 2025-12-30T10:38:49+00:00

US citizens: call on Congress to impeach Kristi Noem.

US citizens: Join with this campaign to address this issue.

To phone your congresscritter about this, the main switchboard is +1-202-224-3121.

Please spread the word.

Urgent: Limit denaturalization - 2025-12-30T10:38:49+00:00

US citizens: call for limiting denaturalization to people who committed atrocious crimes before gaining US citizenship.

Urgent: Restore USAID humanitarian funding - 2025-12-30T10:38:48+00:00

US citizens: call on Congress to restore USAID humanitarian funding — help poor countries against hunger and plagues.

US citizens: Join with this campaign to address this issue.

To phone your congresscritter about this, the main switchboard is +1-202-224-3121.

Please spread the word.

Contrast between right-wing and left-wing approaches - 2025-12-30T10:38:48+00:00

Madrid and Barcelona present a contrast between right-wing and left-wing approaches to the problem of high rents for housing.

Right-wingers claim that radical deregulation will bring rents down. That article shows that it doesn't have that result.

It also shows that countries should block the sell-off of public housing to private entities. Under Thatcher, Britain started selling public housing houses and apartments to their residents, who then resold them. The long-term result has been disaster. Madrid has sold off public housing en masse to private equity. The result is disaster.

Supreme Court decision on TikTok - 2025-12-30T10:38:48+00:00

*The [Supreme Court] decision means TikTok now operates under the threat that it could be forced offline with a stroke of [the bully's] pen.*

Damaging insincerity of working as "chat moderator" - 2025-12-30T10:38:48+00:00

On the damaging insincerity of working as a "chat moderator", which turned out to mean pretending to love various customers in parallel while imitating each customer's requested gender and sexual orientation.

The author speculates that his conversations on the platform were being used to train a Fake Intelligence system such as an LLM.

The article gives an example of the wrong that nondisclosure agreements can do: aiding employers in concealing dishonesty and harmful practices.

Australian PM rejects linking Palestine recognition to Bondi beach attack - 2025-12-30T10:38:48+00:00

*Australian PM [Albanese] rejects Netanyahu's linking of Palestine recognition to Bondi beach attack.*

Criticism of a country's crimes is not the same thing as bigotry against its dominant ethnic group. To blame Jews in general for Israel's cruelty and atrocities is where antisemitism enters the argument.

Ways Guardian US reporting made change in 2025 - 2025-12-30T10:38:47+00:00

*Fairer laws passed, polluting factories shuttered, charges against innocent people dropped – and 10 more ways [the Guardian's] US reporting made change in 2025.*

New South Wales's about to adopt restrictions on protests - 2025-12-30T10:38:47+00:00

New South Wales's governing party is about to adopt strict restrictions on protests, citing antisemitism as the excuse. These include a list of phrases that it will be a crime to say, and power to ban all protests for three months any time a "terrorist act" occurs.

One of the prohibited phrases may be "globalize the intifada". I have explained why I consider that a dog whistle for terrorism, but criminalizing dog whistles is the path to repression.

The Green Party denounces these restrictions as unconstitutional. I hope that courts agree.

Anti-Palestinian Billionaires to control what TikTok users see - 2025-12-30T10:38:47+00:00

*Anti-Palestinian Billionaires Will Now Control What TikTok Users See.* In the US at least.

Regardless of the specific preferences of any particular antisocial media platform, the general practice of boosting whatever gets viewers mad, upset or riled (because that leads to "more engagement" of viewers) is harmful — the site's "algorithm" (recommendation engine) is a tool for manipulating them. Such manipulation should be prohibited.

Climate specialists refuted magats' denial of climate crisis - 2025-12-30T10:38:47+00:00

*Over 85 top climate specialists* refuted the magats' official denial of the developing climate crisis, *calling it a "shoddy mess" that downplays risks,* and *a mockery of science.*

It has *pervasive problems with misrepresentation and selective citation of the scientific literature, cherry-picking of data, and faulty or absent statistics.*

India demands GPS tracking for all iMonsters - 2025-12-30T10:38:47+00:00

India withdrew the plan to require all snoop-phones to have an app for the state to track them. Now it demands that Apple enable GPS tracking for all iMonsters all the time.

Admission that "agentic" FI carries large risk - 2025-12-30T10:38:47+00:00

Some Fake Intelligence companies admit — in words that downplay the point — that "agentic" FI carries such a large risk of falling for scams and attacks that no one should use it.

Leaked video of trial of Xu Qinxian - 2025-12-30T10:38:46+00:00

Video has been leaked showing the trial of Xu Qinxian, a Chinese general who refused to send troops into Beijing in 1989 to crush the students' massive Tien An Men protest for freedom and democracy.

Supreme Court blocked National Guard troops in Chicago - 2025-12-30T10:38:46+00:00

*The Supreme Court blocked [the persecutor] from sending the National Guard into the Chicago area — finally setting a limit to [his] executive power.*

Europeans mistakenly think immigrants are unauthorized - 2025-12-30T10:38:46+00:00

*Many Europeans mistakenly think most immigrants are [unauthorized], poll shows.*

US invests in fossil fuels, activists push back - 2025-12-30T10:38:46+00:00

*As the US invests in fossil fuels, young climate activists push back in the courts.*

Gaza no longer in famine - 2025-12-30T10:38:46+00:00

*Gaza no longer in famine but hunger levels remain critical, UN says.* This means that some people in Gaza are still dying or being permanently stunted from lack of food, but not so many as before.

Israel continues to limit medical supplies in Gaza and keep out tents, which people in Gaza desperately need and have a right to.

Urgent: Turn climate pledges into action - 2025-12-24T22:39:25+00:00

US citizens: call on world leaders to turn climate pledges into enforceable action and build a livable future instead of climate disaster.

Urgent: Call on Congress to impeach Brendan Carr - 2025-12-24T22:39:24+00:00

US citizens: call on Congress to impeach Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chair Brendan Carr.

Urgent: Tell the UN to condemn Israel's killing of journalists - 2025-12-24T22:39:24+00:00

US citizens: call on the UN Security Council to condemn Israel's killing of journalists.

Demand accountability, and defend the right to report news, by protecting the people who do that.

Urgent: Reject Trump’s mass surveillance proposal - 2025-12-24T22:39:24+00:00

US citizens: Denounce the bully's proposed deep surveillance of visitors to the US.

Italy considers hiding state flight paths - 2025-12-24T22:39:24+00:00

Putin has been attacking EU officials' planes by jamming GPS signals in their vicinity.

I think this sort of attack should be treated like the firing of missiles, shells or lasers at a plane: as a warlike act which justifies warlike defense. To avoid unnecessary escalation, it would be wise to limit these defensive acts to efforts to prevent or block the attack.

Kennedy Center board call - 2025-12-24T22:39:24+00:00

The US tradition in naming institutions after people is to honor a great person who is already dead or at least out of power. But the wrecker uses his power to have things named after him now.

When the new magat board members voted to add his name to the Kennedy Center for the Arts, they omitted that plan from the meeting agenda so that some board members would not know there was a reason to attend, and digitally silenced one dissenting board member who did show up; then they told the lie that the vote was unanimous.

Trump phone call recording - 2025-12-24T22:39:23+00:00

A recording of a phone call shows that the cheater tried directly to persuade someone in Georgia to nullify the 2020 vote.

Neighborhood activists against deportation thugs - 2025-12-24T22:39:23+00:00

Journalists report on driving to follow deportation thugs and the neighborhood activists who warn about their dreadful visits.

The Seven Mountain Mandate - 2025-12-24T22:39:23+00:00

The most extreme of the right-wing Christians are a rapidly growing sect of Pentecostals whose doctrines are un-Christian as well as un-American.

Imitation municipal signs in Christchurch - 2025-12-24T22:39:23+00:00

Funny imitation municipal signs posted in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Australia fossil gas reservation policy - 2025-12-24T22:39:23+00:00

Australia is going to limit exports of fossil gas so as to reduce the domestic price. However, the price decrease will mainly benefit large industrial users, not the people who might merit some sympathy.

Reducing the price of fossil gas risks encouraging consumption. That may do no harm if Australia pushes hard to increase available renewable electricity to replace it anyway -- but if it does enough of that, the price of gas problem will solve itself anyway.

Magats plan to replace 30 US embassies - 2025-12-24T22:39:22+00:00

The magats plan to replace 30 heads of US embassies, who normally aim to be apolitical, with people who are personally loyal to the saboteur in chief.

Bari Weiss censors CBS in Trump's interests - 2025-12-24T22:39:22+00:00

Paramount installed Bari Weiss as CBS news editor-in-chief in obedience to the bully, so she could kill stories that would make him look bad. She just killed one.

The writer argues that this is part of a plan by Larry Ellison and David Ellison to get control of all the US major media.

Robert Reich interviews Sharyn Alfonsi, who worked on the story, accused CBS News of pulling the story for "political" reasons.

StopAntisemitism takes credit for getting hundreds fired - 2025-12-24T22:39:22+00:00

An organization systematically finds and attacks people who criticize Israel's atrocities against Palestinians, by mislabeling that criticism as "antisemitism" and mobilizing an army of supporters to demand they be fired for that. It often gets them fired.

Crop pests and food losses supercharged by climate crisis - 2025-12-24T22:39:22+00:00

*The key global crops, wheat, rice and maize, are expected to see the losses to pests increase by about 46%, 19% and 31% respectively when global heating reaches 2C, the scientists said… The direct impact of the climate crisis on wheat, rice and maize is predicted to cut yields by 6-10% for every 1C of global heating.*

Urgent: Christmas shopping company boycotts - 2025-12-24T22:39:22+00:00

Here is a list of some consumer boycotts mounted by progressives. I mostly support them, but sometimes for different reasons.

I have boycotted Amazon absolutely for many years. If a friend wants to give me a gift, I ask per to please not obtain it from Amazon (and not tell any company my name or address, even for delivery purposes!).

I have always avoided Spotify since it was first set up, because it requires the customer to run nonfree software (for DRM!) and to identify perself. Likewise all other streaming dis-services.

I would boycott Home Depot except I don't know anywhere else around here where I could buy some of their products. However, I don't buy there often.

I support the boycott of Starbucks, to support the union, but that makes no direct economic difference since their products don't appeal to my tastes.

I support the boycott Tesla, not just because of I detest the musket but especially because of its surveillance and remote control, which ought to be illegal. However, since I do not have a car and don't intend to have one, my support does not make direct economic difference.

The article says that some progressives choose to buy from Costco because it has stood up to the bully. I appreciate that, but Costco's practice of demanding that customers identify themselves makes it unacceptably unjust.

Most stores invite people to identify themselves, either by registering their identity or using digital payments or both. But most of them continue to permit a customer to pay cash anonymously. This builds an enormous database of personal activities, which the persecutor's henchmen are now using to build up an "enemies list".

Don't be tracked -- pay cash, and insist on anonymity!

Urgent: Call on the EPA to restore climate change truth - 2025-12-24T22:39:21+00:00

US citizens: call on the EPA to restore the truth about climate [disaster] on its web sites.