Richard Stallman

Richard Stallman's Political Notes -

How I relate to the perennial wisdom - 2025-11-16T04:37:08+00:00

Aztec ideas of training one's moral strength and steadiness have something in common with what I've learned from my own campaigning.

I can confirm point 1 directly. When I choose to strive for freedom and justice in the world, it's not that I expect that having more freedom and justice myself will make me personally happier. On the contrary, there are defeats and failures and they hurt. But overall, my life is worth something because of working for a goal beyond my own happiness.

Points 6 expresses very clearly something that the long struggle for software freedom has more or less aught me. And it probably applies to any other political cause that requires a struggle that isn't over soon.

Points 7 and 8 are directly related to firm rejection of nonfree software. By doing that, I have built that rejection into a habit which helps me keep doing it. And years of finding ways to do various things without running nonfree software, because I refuse to run the nonfree software, has taught me that the resulting inconvenience is manageable.

I suspect that this wisdom literature was older than the short-lived Aztec empire and that they inherited it from previous civilizations in the Valley of Mexico.

Urgent: Coffee-giant corporate picket - 2025-11-15T10:37:24+00:00

US citizens: Tell the Starbucks CEO that you won’t cross the picket line.

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

Urgent: Spy agency accountability, US - 2025-11-15T10:37:23+00:00

US citizens: call on Congress to continue to require confirmation hearings for the heads of US spy agencies, so it can impose at least minimal accountability in how they spy on Americans.

Urgent: Block this corporate Rail merger - 2025-11-15T10:37:23+00:00

US citizens: call on the US Surface Transportation Board to block the Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern Mega-Merger.

Tyrant told CBS what to cut from interview - 2025-11-14T10:37:07+00:00

*[The tyrant] Told CBS What to Cut From 60 Minutes Interview — And They Listened.*

Merging state drivers' license databases with database of citizens - 2025-11-14T10:37:07+00:00

The persecutor's henchmen seek to merge state drivers' license databases into its database of citizens, which it intends to use to interfere with voting.

Non-citizens are not allowed to vote in the US, and it is very rare that they try to. But this data could include opportunity for confusion and error which could call the citizenship of citizens into question.

Climate defense plans inadequate but not too late - 2025-11-14T10:37:07+00:00

The Climate Analytics report asserts that governments' climate defense plans are inadequate, but that it isn't too late to avoid global disaster if we increase them.

The biggest challenges will be to convince the governments of China and the US, and the banks and billionaires that dominate the latter.

Toxins and bacteria from salt lakes - 2025-11-14T10:37:06+00:00

Salt lakes, when they dry up, give off blowing dust that contains toxins and bacteria that damage the biomes in people's lungs.

NSW police accused of double standard - 2025-11-14T10:37:06+00:00

*NSW police accused of ‘sickening’ double standard over neo-Nazi rally [vs defense of Palestinians.]*

Both Jews and Palestinians are condemning this.

Devastated hospitals, mass graves - 2025-11-14T10:37:06+00:00

* Devastated hospitals, mass graves, bodies eaten by dogs in the street. After speaking out, I discovered my visa will not be renewed [by Israel].*

— Jonathan Whittall heads the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)'s mission in occupied Palestine.

China's CO2 emissions flat or falling - 2025-11-14T10:37:06+00:00

*China's CO2 emissions have been flat or falling for past 18 months, analysis finds.*

Senate Democrats dropped demand to preserve medical insurance - 2025-11-14T10:37:05+00:00

"Moderate" (plutocratist) Senate Democrats dropped their demand to preserve medical insurance for poor Americans, in exchange for a purely symbolic concession by Senate Republicans to hold a separate vote on that insurance funding later this year.

With no leverage to pressure Republicans to vote for it, we must expect they will defeat it. And since the House of Representatives won't vote on it at all, it is a dead end that can't lead to any real restoration of the funding that was cut.

Money sent by US to Equatorial Guinea to accept noncitizens deportees - 2025-11-14T10:37:05+00:00

*US has sent $7.5m to Equatorial Guinea to accept noncitizens deportees.

Country is one of world’s most repressive and corrupt, raising concerns over rights abuses of those deported.*

Martin Decker's appeal against deportation - 2025-11-14T10:37:05+00:00

Martin Decker's appeal against deportation from the UK was successful. This does not erase the injustice of imprisoning him for a nonviolent protest. The UK must abolish the laws that punish protests for mere inconvenience.

Fannie Mae officers investigating FHFA - 2025-11-14T10:37:05+00:00

*Fannie Mae officers were investigating whether [the head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA)] inappropriately accessed mortgage details of Letitia James, Adam Schiff and others.*

Child invites kids for outdoor play - 2025-11-14T10:37:04+00:00

An enterprising child distributed a flier in his neighborhood urging other kids to join him at a specific place and time for outdoor play. It was a success, and started regular meetings for play.

Israelis attacks on Palestinian water sources - 2025-11-14T10:37:04+00:00

*Israelis attacked Palestinian water sources over 250 times in five years, data reveals.*

Hot to Decrease allergy to peanuts - 2025-11-14T10:37:04+00:00

Introducing young children to peanuts at a younger age has greatly decreased the frequency of allergy to peanuts.

Urgent: Ceasefire in Sudan - 2025-11-13T16:37:05+00:00

Everyone: call for an immediate ceasefire in Sudan.

If you sign please spread the word!

Emulating Mamdani's social media strategy - 2025-11-13T10:37:01+00:00

*A note to politicians hoping to emulate Mamdani's social media strategy: without the right policies, it's pointless.*

Food stamp fight in America - 2025-11-13T10:37:01+00:00

*The food stamp fight signals an era of unprecedented cruelty in America.*

The right-wing ideology says that state help for poor people — either to survive, or to be more productive — is their idea of the greatest evil. (They also oppose regulations that protect people from other private citizens, such as gun control or even gun safety.) It is the ideology of the sadistic state, which when implemented tends to make life nasty, brutish and short (except for rich people).

However, in the past they were just a fringe group and could hardly ever get elected to office.

Now we see what happens when their sadism is unleashed.

Power to arrest people outside of federal government facilities - 2025-11-13T10:37:01+00:00

A new regulation gave the Federal Protective Service the power to arrest people outside of federal government facilities.

I have a feeling it was established to protect against attacks launched by enemies of the US, such as the riot that the bully had launched on 6 Jan 2021. Of course, he now claims that that violent attack was not violent at all, and has pardoned all the people convicted of crimes in it, as a way of adding fake verisimilitude to that claim.

Now it seems he plans to use the opposite lie, accusing nonviolent protesters of rioting as an excuse to attack them.

Orwell referred to bidirectional lies like this as "blackwhiting".

He also plans to use distorted accusations to prosecute protesters for wearing masks.

Judge orders funding for Snap benefits in November - 2025-11-13T10:37:01+00:00

*US judge orders Trump administration to fully fund Snap benefits in November.*

The persecutor will surely appeal this decision, and eventually it will go to the Supreme Court. If it follows recent practice, it will allow the persecutor to starve 40 million Americans until it makes a final decision, months later.

Sandwich thrown at federal agent - 2025-11-13T10:37:01+00:00

A protester prosecuted for throwing a sandwich at a federal agent was found not guilty.

Clearly the jury considered the charge absurd.

Projects that were keeping forests alive - 2025-11-13T10:37:01+00:00

When the bogus "carbon offsets" were unmasked and businesses stopped buying them, a few projects that were keeping some substantial forests alive were also defunded.

Retro regurgitation of culture - 2025-11-13T10:37:00+00:00

On today's leaning toward retro regurgitation of old retro culture.

Sharks will be wiped out by ocean acidification - 2025-11-13T10:37:00+00:00

Add sharks to the long list of marine organisms that will be wiped out by ocean acidification. It also damages their skin.

This effect is not limited to the few species that sometimes attack humans.

Investigations of China's repression and crimes - 2025-11-13T10:37:00+00:00

China is systematically pressuring UK universities to block academic studies that investigate China's repression and crimes, and universities comply more than they stand firm.

China is playing British universities against each other so that they complete to stay in China's good graces. It's like what the bully is doing to US universities.

The British government should change the system by which Chinese students enroll in British universities so that the universities don't compete with each other for Chinese students.

Turkey issues arrest warrant against Netanyahu - 2025-11-13T10:37:00+00:00

*Turkey issues genocide arrest warrant against Benjamin Netanyahu as well as some other officials.*

For once, Erdoğan has done something good. That should not make his tyranny and repression in Turkey acceptable.

Corrupter pardons state legislator - 2025-11-13T10:37:00+00:00

*The corrupter has pardoned a Republican state legislator who had been convicted of corruption.*

He admires corruption as long as his side gets the proceeds.

Mass shooters following "cultural script" - 2025-11-13T10:36:59+00:00

A psychiatrist who has talked with many mass shooters says that they are following a "cultural script", a sort of social trail that was made by the publicity about so many past mass shooters.

He responds to this by denying them the sort of publicity that they expect to get if they commit a massacre.

It is in the same spirit that I refuse to respond to the mass killer in the White House with the sort of publicity he expects to receive.

Zohran Mamdani's bold agenda for New York - 2025-11-13T10:36:59+00:00

*How could Zohran Mamdani pay for his bold agenda for New York? And whose support he needs.*

UK wants to deport imprisoned protester - 2025-11-13T10:36:59+00:00

The UK government imprisoned protester Marcus Decker for over a year for dropping a banner from a bridge. Now it plans to deport him "automatically" because of that prison sentence.

It is a curious contradiction that the government prohibits him from leaving the UK even as it arranges to deport him. Is there any logic in this?

If the government had sane priorities, it would give priority to protecting the country and its people, and the rest of the world, from the developing climate disaster, and wouldn't need protesters like Decker to push it to do so.

Senate Dems seem to surrender - 2025-11-13T04:36:51+00:00

*Angry Democrats call on Schumer to resign after eight vote to [yield to magats that oppose funds for poor people's medical insurance].*

The term "compromise", used in the article, is misleading since "surrender" fits better.

Climate displacement - 2025-11-12T04:37:03+00:00

*Climate disasters displaced 250 million people in past 10 years, UN report finds.*

That is around 3% of the Earth's human population.

PFAS - 2025-11-12T04:37:03+00:00

The EPA is proposing to approve a PFAS for use in pesticides. Critics say this could make food and water supplies dangerous.

Deforestation reduction reward - 2025-11-12T04:37:03+00:00

Brazil proposes investing a lot of money in rewarding governments that reduce deforestation.

Amazonia heat wave - 2025-11-12T04:37:03+00:00

A heat wave in Amazonia is killing fish and river dolphins.

Great Barrier Reef bleaching - 2025-11-12T04:37:02+00:00

*"Grim future" for Great Barrier Reef unless global heating kept to 2C, study finds.*

If we want to stop it before 2°C, we had best stop it before 1.5°C. Otherwise, we are likely to fall into positive feedback and tipping points.

Human rights study ceased - 2025-11-12T04:37:02+00:00

*Sheffield Hallam University ordered professor to cease human rights study into Uyghurs forced labour in China.*

The UK government is investigating that order as an alleged crime by the university.

Urgent: A place to live - 2025-11-11T22:37:04+00:00

US citizens: call on Congress to end homelessness, by investing in housing, not internment.

Main Switchboard: +1-202-224-3121 If you phone or sign, please spread the word!

Urgent: Mail-in voting in peril - 2025-11-11T22:37:03+00:00

US citizens: call on Congress to defend Mail-in voting before the 2026 mid-term elections.

Main Switchboard: +1-202-224-3121 If you phone or sign, please spread the word!

Loyalty to the measles virus - 2025-11-11T10:36:54+00:00

A sick man in Utah has transferred his loyalty from humanity to the measles virus. Despite what it has done to him, he doggedly protects its opportunities to spread to other people by refusing to tell where (that is, in which human bodies) it may be hiding.

Man who posted about Charles Kirk's death - 2025-11-11T10:36:53+00:00

A man who posted to suggest that Charles Kirk's death was not a great loss to society was jailed for a month on a false charge of "making threats against a school". The judge demanded $2 million for bail, which kept him in jail until the charges were dropped.

Big Tech companies bowing to the persecutor - 2025-11-11T10:36:53+00:00

Big Tech companies are bowing to the persecutor by shutting off public communication about where deportation thugs are attacking.

Comments about rise of Hitler fit present US situation well - 2025-11-11T10:36:53+00:00

Many of Hannah Arendt's comments about the rise of Hitler fit the present US situation well.

Bully hopes to pressure Supreme Court - 2025-11-11T10:36:53+00:00

The bully hopes to pressure the Supreme Court to support his autocratic tariff policies by sitting in the court room when it hears the case.

Mutilated bodies of Palestinians - 2025-11-11T10:36:53+00:00

*At least 135 mutilated bodies of Palestinians had been held at notorious Israeli jail [and torture center called Sde Teiman], say Gaza officials.*

Helicopter parenting became burden to US parents - 2025-11-11T10:36:52+00:00

How helicopter parenting became a burden imposed on parents in the US.

Israeli prison guards caught on video raping and beating Palestinian prisoner - 2025-11-11T10:36:52+00:00

Israeli prison guards were caught on video raping (and beating) a Palestinian prisoner. They were prosecuted but only for a lesser crime.

The head army lawyer has resigned in protest.