Richard Stallman

Richard Stallman's Political Notes -

Urgent: Pass the VISIBLE Act - 2026-01-29T04:38:32+00:00

US citizens: call on Congress to pass the VISIBLE Act, which would prohibit deportation thugs from concealing their identities.

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: Keep deportation thugs out of public schools - 2026-01-29T04:38:32+00:00

US citizens: call on your state's attorney general to keep deportation thugs out of public schools.

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

Urgent: Stop censoring apps - 2026-01-29T04:38:31+00:00

US citizens: call on Apple and Google to stop censoring apps — and let users freely release and install free/libre apps.

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

Urgent: Oppose funding for deportation thugs - 2026-01-29T04:38:30+00:00

US citizens: call on your elected officials to oppose all funding for the deportation thugs in the absence of systemic reforms.

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

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.

Fans of Israeli team banned from football match - 2026-01-29T04:38:30+00:00

A UK official banned the fans of an Israeli team from a football match, believing that they had got involved in fights with fans of another team in a previous match.

It turns out that previous match had never taken place — the report was bullshit, output by a bullshit generator.

Please don't call these errors "hallucinations" — that term is designed to maintain the claim that those systems really perceive (whether correctly or incorrectly) events that they then understand.

Investigation of Governor of Minnesota and may of Minneapolis - 2026-01-29T04:38:30+00:00

The Injustice Department (formerly called the Justice Department) is now investigating the governor of Minnesota and the mayor of Minneapolis for "obstructing" the federal terror campaign in Minneapolis.

Governor Walz said,

Two days ago it was [Senator] Elissa Slotkin. Last week it was Jerome Powell. Before that, [Senator] Mark Kelly. Weaponizing the justice system against your opponents is an authoritarian tactic. The only person not being investigated for the shooting of Renee Good is the federal agent who shot her.

That is not precisely valid. Neither Slotkin nor Kelly is being investigated for the shooting of Renee Good, though that was a real crime and its real perpetrator really should be investigated. Kelly and Slotkin are being investigated for correctly citing US law, which is not a crime at all.

The Chicago Teachers Union is being investigated too, but nothing to do with Renee Good.

US cities compelled to police abuses by deportation thugs - 2026-01-29T04:38:30+00:00

*US cities [are] increasingly compelled to police abuses by [deportation thugs]* because the officials in charge of the deportation thugs encourage them to commit crimes against the public.

Military newspaper, Stars and Stripes - 2026-01-29T04:38:30+00:00

Magats in the Pentagon plan to make the military newspaper, Stars and Stripes, follow the strict party line.

Bully demands HAMAS hand over heavy weapons - 2026-01-29T04:38:29+00:00

The bully demands that HAMAS hand over its heavy weapons, while saying nothing about Israel's heavy weapons.

US mixed messaging on flu shots - 2026-01-29T04:38:29+00:00

*US mixed messaging on flu shots alarms experts: "Children should not be dying."*

Australia found responsible for torture in immigration prison - 2026-01-29T04:38:29+00:00

The UN committee against torture has found Australia responsible for torture carried out in an immigration prison in Papua New Guinea on an immigrant that Australia paid Papua New Guinea to jail.

Australia pioneered the idea of denying asylum to refugees who arrive by small boat, no matter how repressive the country they escaped.

Philosophy professor ordered to drop readings from Plato's Symposium - 2026-01-29T04:38:29+00:00

Texas A&M ordered a philosophy professor to drop readings from Plato's Symposium, and a discussion of the issues they raise, from his class on the grounds that they "advocate" about "race theory" and "gender theory".

This article explains what those readings from Plato talk about and show why magats want to quash such discussion — even though the professor had no intention of "advocating" anything, only holding rational discussion about the issues raised.

I am disappointed that he ultimately obeyed rather than suing. But since he did that after consulting his lawyer, I suppose that suing was not likely to fix the problem.

That makes the tragedy even worse, and shows that the saboteur in chief is the enemy of the thinking and knowledge, not only human rights and the well-being of the poor.

The president of the university defended the university's order by misrepresenting and evading the issue. This page shows what he wrote and precisely explains the dishonesty.

Philosophy professors' resistance is not enough to save freedom in the US, but they can clearly explain why we need to save it, and that helps.

Violence towards prisoners in many US states - 2026-01-29T04:38:28+00:00

Prison thugs in many or all US states often carry out illegal violence towards prisoners, causing suffering, damage and occasionally death.

DHS used Neo-Nazi Anthem for recruitment - 2026-01-29T04:38:28+00:00

*DHS Used Neo-Nazi Anthem for Recruitment After [killing of Renee Good].* We know that they are looking for the personality profile of violent right-wing loonies.

Protesters shot in the face by "less-lethal" munitions - 2026-01-29T04:38:28+00:00

Deportation thugs blinded or half-blinded two protesters by shooting them in the face with "less-lethal" munitions. They barely survived the attack.

One of them, Rummler, still has one working eye, it seems. For the other, Rodriguez, I can't tell from the article.

Naturally, the thugs' PR person misrepresented the situation, pretending they were under heavy attack.

It makes sense that they do the opposite of standard techniques for de-escalation. The persecutor's strategy is to spread terror among the public, so teaching thugs tactics that create opportunities for terror serves the purpose.

Division of Iran's opposition - 2026-01-29T04:38:27+00:00

On the division of Iran's opposition between supporters of the son of the Shah and those who oppose him.

Measurements of microplastics in human bodies - 2026-01-29T04:38:27+00:00

Scientists disagree about measurements of microplastics in human bodies. By studying the conflicting results, they will find methods to work out the correct facts.

Depending on US companies for digital services - 2026-01-29T04:38:27+00:00

European countries, and the UN, have discovered that depending on US companies for digital services puts them at risk of harassment or attack.

The marketing term "the cloud" is used to lull people into disregarding the question of where their data is really kept, and who controls it. We have been saying for ten years that "There is no cloud — only computers belonging to others." When the "other" is a US company, including Amazon, Apple, Google and Microsoft, you're making a mistake by using it.

But the US is not the only country that might attack you. When the "other" is a non-US company, that too may be a mistake.

So do your computing on your own computers, running only free software (since that's the software that users can control), and keep your data on your own computers too.

It is safe to encrypt an archive on your own computer with the GNU Privacy Guard then save the encrypted file on someone else's computer. But don't let the only copies be saved like that.

New diet guidelines pose risks for health and environment - 2026-01-29T04:38:27+00:00

*RFK Jr's new diet guidelines pose risks for health and the environment, experts say.*

Rushed laws after tragedy never good - 2026-01-29T04:38:27+00:00

*Rushed laws after a tragedy are "never good", warns father [and mother] of youngest [Bondi Beach mass shooting] victim.* They show wisdom by resisting the temptation to go overboard into their own loss and preferring that society choose the best response.

In the same way, a law named (even unofficially) after a person who suffered injustice tends to be insufficiently thought out.

European countries uniting against the bully - 2026-01-29T04:38:26+00:00

The bully is trying to bully Europe with tariffs into acquiescing to his demand to sell Greenland to him. Now European countries are moving towards uniting for confrontation with him.

I don't think that the bully cares very much about Greenland. I think his real goal is to make Europe submit to him, using a demand chosen to be outrageous and threats chosen to be daunting.

Past experience suggests that if he sees that he won't gain the submission he seeks, he will back off — for a while.

Liberation after deactivating ex-Twitter account - 2026-01-29T04:38:26+00:00

The writer describes the sense of liberation of deactivating his ex-Twitter account.

Or perhaps nowadays should we call it "shitter"?

Uncertainty about concentration of microplastics in human tissues - 2026-01-29T04:38:26+00:00

The plastic industry is likely to weaponize the present real uncertainty about the concentration of microplastics in human tissues.

Meanwhile, measuring the level of harm that microplastics do to the human bodies they are found in is another difficult medical challenge. A few decades from now, it may be easy to determine which medical problems correlate with higher concentrations. But we would like to know this before being exposed for decades.

I wonder if microscopic structures could be made which would attach to microplastics and drag them out of the body.

Killings by deportation thugs are part of how agency operates - 2026-01-29T04:38:26+00:00

Unjustified killings by the deportation thugs are not anomalies, and not the result of agents with insufficient training. They are part of how the agency was meant to operate.

I agree with the demand that everyone facing deportation have the right to a lawyer to defend per. Deportation is usually exile for life, yet because it is not legally considered a punishment, it can be imposed with less protection than a month in jail.

Urgent: CBS: Don't Censor Debate - 2026-01-27T16:38:15+00:00

US citizens: call on CBS: Don't Let Bari Weiss Censor Debate.

Urgent: Stop funding DHS and ICE - 2026-01-27T16:38:14+00:00

Us citizens: call on Congress to stop funding DHS and ICE inhumane and lethal tactics amidst ongoing investigations into those practices.

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

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: Block voter-ID bill - 2026-01-27T16:38:14+00:00

US citizens: call on the Senate to block the voter-ID bill and protect poor citizens' right to vote against arbitrary interference.

Many poor people need to move often. Many can't afford to take a couple of hours off work to officially update ID cards. And these requirements are not satisfied by proof that you're a US citizen -- the demand is always for "up to date, currently valid" proof.

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.

Dr Ahmed Muhanna seized in Gaza - 2026-01-27T16:38:14+00:00

Dr Ahmed Muhanna was seized in Gaza where he was working in a hospital and jailed in Israel for almost two years without any charges. While jailed, he was tortured sadistically, even including beatings which broke a rib, and then denied medicine for that.

He saw other prisoners die of medical problems which could have been cured if they had received treatment, as prisoners are entitled to.

Now he has been released and is back in Gaza, but the shortages of medical supplies and destroyed equipment, what doctors can do is limited.

Labour plans to restrict right to protest even more - 2026-01-27T16:38:14+00:00

Labour plans to restrict the right to protest even more, by banning frequent protests in the same "area".

To allow protest only as long as it never inconveniences anyone is to make protest so weak that it hardly counts for anything. The policies that large crowds protest repeatedly do much worse than inconvenience people. They usually amount to cruelty and injustice, usually toward the disprivileged.

Children with high screen use - 2026-01-27T16:38:13+00:00

*Children aged two with highest screen use can say significantly fewer words, UK government research finds.*

This is adding to the evidence that using computers tends to be bad for young children.

Google search stopped pseudo-intelligence overviews for some questions - 2026-01-27T16:38:13+00:00

Google Search has stopped presenting pseudo-intelligence overviews for some questions because they gave incorrect medical advice that was endangering people's health.

But since this pseudo-intelligence doesn't really understand the meaning of thing, the criteria had to be written at a superficial level — somewhat like trying to identify spam with regexps. Some paraphrased questions still do elicit the "overview".

Federal judge rejected executive order that states demand ID from voters - 2026-01-27T16:38:13+00:00

A federal judge rejected the saboteur in chief's executive order that purported to make states demand ID from voters, and other restrictions.

Why Minnesota can prosecute Iceman Ross - 2026-01-27T16:38:13+00:00

A lawyer explains why Minnesota can prosecute Iceman Ross, though keeping the evidence away from the state might make it difficult in practice.

Bully ordered criminal investigation of Jerome Powell - 2026-01-27T16:38:13+00:00

The bully ordered an criminal investigation of Jerome Powell, nominally for alleged misuse of government money. I suppose they hope to find something they could dress up as misuse, but the real motive for the investigation is to punish him for lack of subservience to the bully in setting interest rates.

There are real clashes of interests that affect the setting of interest rates. For instance, which is more important: the comfort of the wealthy, or more employment? In the past, some Democratic presidents convinced the Federal Reserve to help workers, but Obama and Biden appointed Republicans to head the Federal Reserve to assure the wealthy nothing like that would happen.

The gnome making excuses to forbid inspections of deportation prisons - 2026-01-27T16:38:12+00:00

When courts rule that congresscritters have the right to inspect deportation prisons, the gnome publishes another cockamamie excuse to forbid it. She probably expects that each one will be overturned, but each order will delay the visits for a while until the courts reject that one too.

US judge allows offshore wind project to continue - 2026-01-27T16:38:12+00:00

*US judge lets Danish firm resume Rhode Island offshore wind project halted by [the saboteur in chief].*

US government demanded list of Jews in University of Pennsylvania - 2026-01-27T16:38:12+00:00

The US government demanded that the University of Pennsylvania hand over a list of Jews in the university, including faculty, staff and students.

This is a peculiar reversal. So far, magats have mostly tried to persecute Muslims and those who condemn Israel's atrocities towards Palestinians — often in the name of "fighting antisemitism". This demand seems more like preparation for committing antisemitism.

Given how many Nazis and Christian bigots there are among the magats, it doesn't surprise me that they want to persecute Jews in addition to Hispanics and Africans.

US carbon pollution rose in 2025 - 2026-01-27T16:38:12+00:00

*US carbon pollution rose in 2025 in reversal of previous years' reductions.* It was clear from the polluter in chief's policy decisions that this would be the result.

Eye injuries from gunshots in Tehran - 2026-01-27T16:38:12+00:00

*An ophthalmologist in Tehran has documented more than 400 eye injuries from gunshots in a single hospital, as overwhelmed medical staff struggle to cope with the toll of an increasingly violent crackdown on nationwide protests by Iranian authorities.*

Doctors treat injured protesters out in the street as the hospitals are full.

I wonder at the support of some Iranians for the son of the former shah to reestablish a monarchy. The shah was a bloody tyrant too, and aroused big street protests that forced him out. Of course the Iranians want to get out of the fire, but why choose a possible frying pan as refuge?

I wish the US were capable of inspiring Iranians to fight for democracy, but I expect that the bullshitter/bully has made his contempt for democracy clear even as far as Iran. The past US aggressions, including putting the shah back in power, won't help either.

Grok to be integrated into "Pentagon networks" - 2026-01-27T16:38:11+00:00

Hegseth says that Grok will be integrated into "Pentagon networks" including secret ones.

That can now be a security hole as well as an asshole. Imagine the leaks: "I sometimes ask Grok to make a picture of me as a soldier in a war zone. Two weeks ago it showed me in Caracas, but now it shows me in Tehran!"

But the bullshitter's Nazi supporters will rejoice.

The gnome declared Somalia a safe country to send Somalis back to - 2026-01-27T16:38:11+00:00

The gnome declared that Somalia has become a safe country and ordered Somalis with temporary protected status to start arranging to leave the US.

I don't know whether Somalia is now safe — its civil war/terrorism has not been in the news much lately — but we cannot expect her to tell the truth about such questions.

US attacked a supposed "drug boat" with plane disguised as civilian - 2026-01-27T16:38:11+00:00

Reports say the US attacked a supposed "drug boat" using an armed plane disguised as civilian.

The article explains that this, in war, would constitute the crime of "perfidy" — but since the US and Venezuela were not engaged in war, it was simple murder regardless of whether weapons were visible.

The saboteur's henchmen have removed or excluded the specially trained lawyer-soldiers who are supposed to advise officers about such issues, thus learning officers to commit war crimes unawares.

I wonder who would be held responsible for those war crimes? The officer who ordered the action? The civilians responsible for denying advice to per?

Developing countries poorer than in 2019 - 2026-01-27T16:38:11+00:00

*[One] quarter of developing countries poorer than in 2019, World Bank finds.*

DoJ attorneys resign over decision not to investigate shooting of Renee Good - 2026-01-27T16:38:11+00:00

*[At least four] DoJ attorneys resign over decision not to investigate agent [accused of shooting Renee Good].* This is the work of Harmeet Dhillon, an election-denying Republican made an official by the bully. Her assiduous service to him has been to demolish parts of the Justice Department.

The next goal is to establish that the bully's henchmen can order the killing of anyone and protect the killer from prosecution, while fishing for excuses to call the victim a criminal.

Experimental detection of microplastics in tissues - 2026-01-27T16:38:10+00:00

Some experimental detection of microplastics in tissues may be errors due to contamination.

Pro-Israel group Betar U.S. - 2026-01-27T16:38:10+00:00

*New York Attorney General Pro-Israel Group Betar U.S. for Biased Harassment of Arabs, Muslims.*

The organization is shutting down in response to a settlement it reached with New York State.

House Progressive Caucus will "oppose all funding" for immigration enforcement - 2026-01-27T16:38:10+00:00

*Ilhan Omar said [the House Progressive Caucus] will "oppose all funding" for immigration enforcement unless militarized policing ends.*

Nazi influence - 2026-01-26T10:37:59+00:00

The bully's henchmen are spreading Nazi influence.

This goes with the Nazi-like cruelty and arbitrary political punishments aimed at universities law firms, and major media.

Wind and solar overtook fossil fuels - 2026-01-26T04:38:00+00:00

*Wind and solar overtook fossil fuels for EU power generation in 2025, report finds.*

This is a measure of steady progress. The momentary measurement is not greatly important, but the steady progress is.

Judge-only trials - 2026-01-26T04:38:00+00:00

Estimates show that eliminating juries from some trials would make hardly any difference to the backlog of trials in Britain.