Richard Stallman

Richard Stallman's Political Notes -

Russia's torture - 2024-03-29T04:25:21+00:00

Putin's state boats about torturing the terrorists that killed attendees at a music event.

I have no more sympathy for those terrorists than you do, but we must never tolerate torture, not even torturing terrorists.

Rushed deportation bill - 2024-03-29T04:25:20+00:00

Australia plans to order people awaiting deportation to take various steps to arrange permission for their own deportation.

Health Care Lawsuit - 2024-03-29T04:25:19+00:00

Right-wing judges will soon have a chance to allow US private medical insurance plans to charge for preventive medicine.

- 2024-03-29T04:25:17+00:00

Measles infections are growing rapidly in the US; anti-vaxxer are putting people in danger,

and not only the people who heed what they say.

Assange granted appeal - 2024-03-29T04:25:15+00:00

Julian Assange's ultimate appeal

ruled that (1) the US has to provide assurances of protecting Assange from certain cruel practices that are not unusual in the US, and (2) if the US does that, he will get another appeal in the UK about whether the charges against him were politically motivated.

This isn't victory but it is a step in that direction.

The war on play - 2024-03-29T04:25:13+00:00

The other side of children's spending a harmful amount of time on antisocial media platforms is children's spending little time playing outdoors — because playing outdoors is firmly discouraged by society.

This is related to the hyper cautious attitude promoted by parents' fear.

Fake mushroom book risk - 2024-03-27T06:53:52+00:00

Various companies and even unknown individuals publish mushroom identification books, or offer online dis-services that purport to identify them, falsely claiming these are based on "artificial intelligence".

In fact, they are based on bullshit generators, and taking their advice can leave you sick or even dead. But people call these "artificial intelligence", which suggests that the output they generate is based on knowledge or understanding of the subject matter.

I urge people to criticize writers and companies that stretch the term "intelligence" to cover the capacity to fabricate plausible-sounding bullshit.

Starbucks union talks - 2024-03-27T05:54:44+00:00

Starbucks has decided to negotiate with the employees' union.

US's asymptotic approach on Gaza - 2024-03-27T05:54:43+00:00

Russia and China vetoed the US security council resolution on Gaza complaining that it did hold back from actually ordering a ceasefire.

I agree that this is a shortcoming. Biden is playing the asymptotic approach again. Russia and China complained about this, validly. (Quite possibly they were also trying to deny the US any credit.)

Nonetheless, I would have approved it because it is a step forward, even though not quite as much as to end the asymptotic approach.

Thug impunity - 2024-03-27T05:54:42+00:00

Republicans openly demand impunity for official thugs; they demand prosecutors resign for prosecuting thugs.

If we don't want thugs to maim, kill and imprison with impunity, we must stand firm against it now.

Landlords and housing crisis - 2024-03-27T05:54:41+00:00

In the 1970s, Britain had policies that rendered owning houses and renting them out unprofitable; private landlords sold their rental houses to cities for use as public housing. Then in the 80s the Tories specifically set out to promote private landlords again and to eliminate public housing.

It is clear how the private landlords made rental housing far more expensive. What I to not see is how this created a scarcity of housing available for rental. However, the practice of building mansions which rich people will buy only as investments has certainly taken much housing space off the rental market.

Urgent: Break up UnitedHealth - 2024-03-27T05:54:40+00:00

US citizens: call on the Department of Justice to break up UnitedHealth's medical treatment almost-monopoly.

Xi and Hong Kong - 2024-03-25T22:24:34+00:00

Xi thought he could crush the spirit of Hong King and still benefit from it economically. He crushed its spirit, indeed, and ended up with a wreck of a once-great city.

School meeting gun bill vetoed - 2024-03-25T22:24:33+00:00

The Republican governor of Wyoming vetoed a bill passed by the Republican-dominated legislature that would have permitted carrying concealed guns in public schools in public meetings.

It's good that at least some Republicans are not total extremists.

Food delivery exploitation - 2024-03-25T22:24:33+00:00

Food delivery companies can only be profitable if they exploit their workers by underpaying them.

This is in addition to the ways they exploit restaurants and their customers.

Bank lies - 2024-03-25T22:24:32+00:00

Banks have a clever (but unsupported) theory to claim that their sneaky extra profits can't be reduced. It asserts that these extra profits are irresistible, and any laws again one scheme will lead banks to replace it with another.

The article presents boast theoretical arguments and empirical facts to reject that theory. What is really happening is that banks are trying to intimidate the public by saying, "You can't beat us, so give up."

But we can beat any sort of gouging if we elect politicians who really work for us and really want to beat them.

Political violence come from right wing - 2024-03-25T22:24:31+00:00

Political violence comes mainly from right-wing extremists, whipped up by right-wing extremist leaders. But many falsely blame the left.

Planet roaster meeting - 2024-03-25T22:24:30+00:00

Oil-company executives and their loyal servants held a meeting at which they declared that reducing fossil fuel use was a "fantasy", and that we should give up on it.

Their statements appear to claim that the task is intrinsically hard, but in fact the difficulty is created by them. The part they don't say is that the main obstacle to achieving that goal is all the money they spend opposing it. They spend it on misleading the public and they spend it on the support of politicians.

If the public is "unwilling to pay for a world with less carbon pollution," it is because they don't grasp the scope of the disaster the current path is leading to, from fires, floods, medical problems and failures of agriculture. By denying this, the planet roasters lead the public to suppose that they have a painless option.

Misleading over sustainability - 2024-03-25T22:24:29+00:00

*The Dutch airline KLM has misled customers with vague environmental claims and painted “an overly rosy picture” of its sustainable aviation fuel, a court has found.*

I saw a partly similar instance of subtle greenwashing recently: an airline company ad on a wall in Boston asserted that the gas generated by a collection of trash could power one flight per day. (Presuming, I suppose, that some planes' engines are converted to operate on methane.) It might be true -- I can't insist that it is false -- but it would make hardly any difference to the harm global heating is doing.

Israel's man-made famine - 2024-03-25T22:24:28+00:00

*‘Man-made famine’ charge against Israel is backed by mounting body of evidence.* A UN court may consider charges.

Texas immigration law blocked - 2024-03-25T22:24:27+00:00

The Texas law that authorizes the state to arrest and prosecute people given a mere suspicion that they are unauthorized immigrants has been blocked by a federal appeals court.

We depend on the Supreme Court to block state laws that tie federal law in knots, but right-wing judges can't be trusted with that responsibility.

Greenhouse gas limits - 2024-03-25T22:24:26+00:00

Biden has announces stricter limits on greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks.

The progress has been slowed down in response to planet roasters' lobbying.

US advocating for Gaza ceasefire - 2024-03-25T22:24:25+00:00

The US now advocates a UN Security Council resolution to call for an "immediate ceasefire in Gaza" and release by HAMAS of its remaining hostages.

It was clear that Biden was moving in this direction for several months with small steps. I am sure he had pressing political reasons to do it that way. Nevertheless, given the thousands of civilians being killed, the US had an obligation to reach this point much sooner.

Both of those ought to happen, but suppose HAMAS refuses to release the remaining hostages -- what then? Israel has an obligation to protect the civilian population, hostages or no hostages; the resolution needs to reinforce that obligation too, or it could fail entirely.

Bat houses - 2024-03-25T22:24:23+00:00

Bats are important parts of ecosystems; some farms are setting up bat houses so as to get the benefit of their presence.

Thugs convicted on torturing black men - 2024-03-25T22:24:21+00:00

Several white Mississippi thugs have been convicted of torturing two blacks, apparently out of sheer hatred and are receiving long prison sentences. One has been sentenced to 40 years in prison.

The article linked to just above displays symbolic bigotry by capitalizing "black" but not "white". (To avoid endorsing bigotry, capitalize both words or neither one.)

I join in disgust for the thugs who committed this crime, the whites referred to as "white" in that article. But the article does not suggest reserving that lower-case form for torturers and other violent bigots. On the contrary, it practices simple race-based bigotry, similar in its root to the bigotry that underlay the thugs' crime of torture.

I do not make a false equivalence here. Symbolic verbal bigotry is far less as an evil than physical torture. Torture is correctly punished as a crime, while verbal bigotry, in itself, is punished only by our expressions of disapproval. But said verbal bigotry and that particular act of torture are both instances of bigotry, and bigotry is always wrong. We should reproach minor symbolic bigotry as well as extreme violent bigotry.

Normally I will not link to articles that practice this symbolic bigotry, but I make exceptions for some articles because I consider them important -- and I label them like this.

UK Earl, his boarding school devastating - 2024-03-25T00:25:04+00:00

A student in an English boarding school describes the persistent cruelty that crushed the humanity out of the students.

Students at such schools included elite children, and many became political or business leaders, and the cruelty they are taught manifested itself in many government policies.

Labour as despicable as Starmer, UK - 2024-03-25T00:25:02+00:00

*Labour has become a hostile environment for anyone believing in the very policies Starmer relied upon to secure the leadership.*

River-to-sea chanting arrest, UK - 2024-03-25T00:25:00+00:00

The UK government is blatantly disrespecting freedom of speech as it arrests someone for singing a song that calls for eliminating Israel.

I don't agree with the political position of that song, but people have a right to sing it.

Parks, sidewalks vs homeless camps, FL - 2024-03-25T00:25:00+00:00

DeMentis has obtained a law in Florida prohibiting sleeping in parks and on sidewalks. It is part of the Republican campaign of persecuting the homeless.

Republican austerity plan unveiled, USA - 2024-03-25T00:24:58+00:00

Republicans propose to prohibit states from subsidizing school lunch.

[ironic truth]
They believe this wastes money which could be better spent on making billionaires richer.
[/ironic truth]

Urgent: Condition military aid to Israel - 2024-03-24T12:54:09+00:00

US citizens: call on Biden to condition US military aid to Israel on Israel's allowing US humanitarian aid to reach people in Gaza.

If you phone, please spread the word! White House: +1-202-456-1111 and (TTY/TDD) +1-202-456-6213

Urgent: Unlawful spying in Section 702 - 2024-03-24T12:54:08+00:00

US citizens: call on Congress to reject the extension of dangerous, unlawful spying under Section 702.

We may have already won this one, but it is not certain yet. Signing this is still important.

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

Urgent: Gouging by Medicare Advantage - 2024-03-24T12:54:07+00:00

US citizens: call on Biden to end the gouging of private Medicare Advantage insurance plans.

If you phone, please spread the word! White House: +1-202-456-1111 and (TTY/TDD) +1-202-456-6213

Weaponizing space, UN - 2024-03-24T12:54:06+00:00

*US and Japan push for ban on nuclear weapons in space with UN security council resolution.*

Electoral deceit, Modi govt, IND - 2024-03-24T12:54:05+00:00

An Indian opposition party leader has been arrested on corruption charges one month before the election.

I can't say it is impossible that there is a valid reason for charges, but given Modi's general tendencies. I think this is more likely to be a dirty trick.

Electoral deceit, Maduro govt, VEN - 2024-03-24T12:54:04+00:00

Maduro's government in Venezuela has barred an opposition leader from running in elections, after she won an election, and now has arrested her campaign staff, accusing them of bizarre plots, more extreme than what the wrecker does in the US.

Climate disruption, upheavals, W. Africa - 2024-03-24T12:54:03+00:00

* A searing heatwave that struck west Africa in February was made 4C hotter and 10 times more likely by human-caused global heating, a study has found.*

Climate conduct racketeering, conspiracy - 2024-03-24T12:54:01+00:00

*Public Citizen […] proposed the idea […] to prosecute [fossil fuel] companies for millions of deaths due to climate crisis.*

*Each year, extreme temperatures take 5 million lives, while 400,000 people die from climate-related hunger and disease.*

Penury and child poverty, UK - 2024-03-24T12:54:00+00:00

Penury in Britain is spreading among the citizens. It is visible in malnutrition, theft of food, and homelessness.

The Tories have been ramping up the poverty, in small steps, for 13 years, but they managed to disguise it. Now it is visible everywhere and cannot be disguised,

Corbyn would have found ways to so something about poverty — for instance, through a customs union with the EU.

Kidney xenotransplant milestone, USA - 2024-03-24T12:53:59+00:00

A genetically modified pig's kidney has been transplanted into a human who suffered from kidney failure.

Boeing's quality-control errors, sources - 2024-03-24T12:53:55+00:00

Robert Reich: Tracing Boeing's frequency of bad manufacturing and maintenance to its use of top-down management which prioritizes increased profit over all other goals.

Giant pandas, Adelaide zoo, AUS - 2024-03-24T07:53:57+00:00

Don't pander to China's "panda diplomacy" — China uses these cute-seeming animals to extract diplomatic concessions that have real importance.

I've posted about this before.

China doesn't give or sell pandas, it only lends them for a limited time, and any offspring belong to China. So China can demand concessions from countries that have pandas and don't want to relinquish them.

Oddly enough, Taiwan has some pandas which it actually owns. If Taiwan can produce some baby pandas, it could undermine China's panda diplomacy.

Gaza food aid - 2024-03-23T06:23:41+00:00

*UN [high commissioner for human rights] says Israeli restrictions on Gaza food aid may constitute a war crime,*

because *Israeli restrictions on the entry of aid may amount to "starvation as a method of war."*

US poisoned prison water - 2024-03-23T06:23:41+00:00

*Rat fur, arsenic and copper: the dangerous ingredients lacing US prison water.*

This joins many other cruel and gratuitous forms of punishment, including solitary confinement which is a form of torture.

UN staff accusations - 2024-03-23T05:53:47+00:00

*UN staff in West Bank accuse Israeli authorities of campaign of harassment.

Documents seen by the Guardian list hundreds of incidents, including UNRWA workers allegedly being blindfolded and beaten.*

I see no reason to doubt these accusations. Those employees are Palestinians. It is quite common for the Israeli soldiers and border patrol, or the fanatical "settlers", to treat Palestinians brutally.

Why would they make an exception for those who work for UNRWA?

TikTok moral panic - 2024-03-23T05:53:46+00:00

*Yes, TikTok sucks. But the rules for tech giants must be better than "it's only bad if China does it."*

I think countries can indeed be safer by barring antisocial media platforms that accumulate data for adversary countries.

It is true that this also helps dictatorships block the influence of anyone from outside the dictator's power. But dictators already do that, as it suits them, So I don't think this is a valid argument about what a free country should do.

However, it is equally dangerous for a "domestic" company to collect lots of personal data about people, with which to manipulate and control them. And using peer pressure to make almost everyone "consent" is not an excuse. We need to protect American minors, and American adults, from Facebook and Ex-Twitter as well as Lies Social, and to do it in a way that respects freedom of speech.

My proposal is to require recommendation engines to be independent from platforms, using a standard protocol, so that any user can choose to send an edited subset of per viewing history on any platform to any recommendation engine, anonymously. then choose to follow (or not) some or all of the recommendation.

Zelaya reflects on the coup - 2024-03-23T05:53:45+00:00

When the US supported the coup against President Zelaya of Honduras, the coup-installed government under President Hernández gave coup investors large parts of the country to rule as fiefs.

The new government has revoked these fiefdoms, and Hernández is in a US prison convicted of narcotrafficking, but the coup investors are trying to impose their long-term power through a secret court run by the World Bank.

It seems that CAFTA, a business-supremacy treaty, includes an ISDS clause

which they hope the World Bank will help them enforce.

Honduras has announced it will abrogate its membership in CAFTA and defy the World Bank. Bravo!

Such treaties often have a clause saying that the special power of foreign investors will continue for some number of decades even if the country pulls out of the treaty. Rejecting CAFTA may not be enough to make the World Bank drop the cases. If not, there will be struggles around the world to convince other governments to refuse to support the coup investors.

I can't forecast which side Biden will take, but it is clear that the wrecker would take the side of the investors if they bribe him enough.

Driver data being shared - 2024-03-23T05:53:44+00:00

GM cars snoop on their drivers, and GM makes the data available (through a broker) to insurance companies.

To make this data available to anyone but the owner or renter of the car should be a crime. If the car is owned by a rental company, that company should not have access to it either.

WTO fails to reach agreement - 2024-03-23T05:53:43+00:00

The campaign by poor countries for the World Trade Organization to temporarily suspend patents on treatments and vaccines for Covid-19 was defeated by governments in the pockets of Big Pharma.

Patents are the expensive, gruesome way to fund drug research. We should abolish those patents and fund the research with public money.

Trump’s warnings of violence - 2024-03-23T05:53:42+00:00

In case there is any doubt that the wrecker's talk of a "bloodbath" if he loses the election was a threat to seize power through violence, there sure plenty of instances of his making such threats and inciting violence.

The wrecker was caught after a speech telling someone he wanted Americans to show him the sort of deference that North Koreans show Dictator Kim. North Koreans have a rational reason to show total obedience to Dictator Kim: he will have them jailed or killed if they don't.

That is indeed what he wants. He recently called for imprisoning Liz Cheney for participating in the congressional investigation of the wrecker's role in the Jan 6 attack on the Capitol.

Americans who don't want to be ruled by a repressive and brutal tyrant must make sure to defeat the wrecker in the election, and be ready to defeat his violent supporters afterward.

An effective movement for Palestine - 2024-03-23T05:53:41+00:00

In advocating peace and an end to the injustice of the occupation of Palestine, we should welcome support from Israelis that work for these goals.

The doctrinaire hostility towards Israel, described in the article, seems designed to create a mirror image of Netanyahu, and thus make sure the conflict can never be resolved except by total defeat for Israel or Palestine.

Millions of displaced Congolese, DRC - 2024-03-22T12:23:58+00:00

*It's time to ask why the US and UK fund Rwanda while atrocities [it supports] mount up in DRC.*

The western sponsors of Rwanda may be racists and they may enjoy seeing black Africans suffer. But I am skeptical that they join such a complex and selective scheme involving dividing groups of blacks against each other. I suspect that money is somehow at the root of that.

Bill to tame LLM "releases", CA - 2024-03-22T12:23:56+00:00

California is considering a bill that would require companies to test large "artificial intelligence" models for "unsafe" behavior before "releasing" them, and set up ways to shut them down completely.

The best known large language models do not properly qualify as "intelligence", but I expect that the bill would define the term with the usual misguided usage. In terms of substance, that is the right decision: the bill would be useless for its purpose if it did not cover bullshit generators.

The bill would apply to "released" programs. Bullshit generators are typically not released at all -- you can't get a copy of GPT4, not even an executable copy. They are made available for use only as SaaSS (Service as a Software Substitute):

I expect that the author intends the law to apply to those systems, and it would be ineffective if it did not apply to them. That implies that the bill's sponsor, or perhaps the author of the article, is distorting the word "released" to include unreleased programs.

This will cause further confusion. It is surely possible to write the law to have the intended meaning without spreading confusions about the meaning of words.

There is a substantive issue, too. Will this law effectively prohibit the real release of free software to do machine learning? It could do that, depending on the precise wording.

Greenland greening, glaciers receding - 2024-03-22T12:23:55+00:00

*Climate experts sound alarm over thriving plant life at Greenland ice sheet.*

Minimum wage battle, Minneapolis - 2024-03-22T12:23:54+00:00

Ride companies Guber and Lyft threaten to leave Minneapolis now that the city has voted to require them to pay at least minimum wage.

The officials that voted to require paying drivers decent wage say that those exploitative and gouging companies are welcome to leave. May this start a world-wide movement to end such exploitation of workers.

New pun - 2024-03-22T12:23:53+00:00

To correct an algae bloom

Urgent: Support Schumer's rebuke to Netanyahu - 2024-03-22T12:23:52+00:00

US citizens: Support Senator Schumer's rebuke to Netanyahu, and the pressure on Israel to stop the mass killing of Palestinian civilians.

Urgent: Ships with renewable, not fracked, energy - 2024-03-22T12:23:52+00:00

Everyone: call on Canada to power ships with renewable energy, not fracked methane.

Urgent: ExxonMobile-enabled climate upheaval - 2024-03-22T12:23:51+00:00

US citizens: Tell ExxonMobile: you caused the climate crisis — not us.

When a few powerful entities — such as, major oil companies — reshape the system that most people live in so that only by making difficult efforts can they avoid putting the world in grave danger, those entities become responsible for the harm they have led and pressured people to do.

Kidnapping fears and stats - 2024-03-22T07:22:47+00:00

Kidnapping of children is so rare in the US that parents who worry about it are giving themselves pointless grief.

The article compares that risk with other risks children face.

Marañón River - 2024-03-22T07:22:46+00:00

A court in Peru decided that the River Marañón has "intrinsic rights".

In philosophical terms, that is absurd, because exercising rights requires volition, and the river is not capable of that.

The practical content of the decision is good. To preserve the river's existence, ensure it continues to flow, restore damage, reduce pollution in it, and protect it's ecosystems are legitimate and important responsibilities — of humans, including the state.

However, to call those goals "rights" of the river itself is absurd, because the river cannot think, want, or decide anything. It is not in fact capable of exercising rights.

There is no need to base policies to protect nature on an incoherent philosophical foundation. We can establish a responsibility to protect rivers without asserting that they have rights.

Biden's big tech defeat - 2024-03-22T07:22:46+00:00

Biden negotiated changes in NAFTA, weakening business power in the area of international digital business.

Arms sales to Israel - 2024-03-22T07:22:45+00:00

Canada will halt arms sales to Israel, based on reproach in the legislature for Israel's disregard for the likes of Palestinian civilians in Gaza.

Devon politics - 2024-03-22T07:22:44+00:00

Some districts in the UK are experimenting with an unofficial primary election which helps the voters figure out which opposition party they support has the best chance of defeating the incumbent party.

This is not part of the official electoral system, but helps voters determine how to vote tactically in the official election.

Putin-forces EU operations like cold war - 2024-03-21T10:53:18+00:00

How Putin is returning Russian spying and murder operations in foreign countries to resemble the Soviet Union's activities in the 70s and 80s.

He seems to expect that the corrupter will convince US Republicans to root for the Russian side instead of the American side, so the more outrageously he attacks the US, the more support he will win.

Putin-Trump, Orbán, sirens - 2024-03-21T10:53:17+00:00

*Putin bromance has US intelligence officials fearing second Trump term.*

Democracy metrics in decline, EU - 2024-03-21T10:53:16+00:00

*Rule of law declining across EU*, due to the influence of far-right parties which don't believe in respecting legal rights.

Hidden anti-Palestinianism, USA - 2024-03-21T10:53:15+00:00

Alongside general antimuslimism, the US now has bigotry against Palestinians.

Double profiteering: toxic ground, FL - 2024-03-21T10:53:15+00:00

Toxic chemicals buried next to defunct factories can make people in the neighborhood sick. They can spread into the grounds of neighboring homes. New construction on the same ground can mobilize them to spread more.

For-profit bail industry - 2024-03-21T07:53:21+00:00

For-profit bail bonds companies are trying to prohibit the operation of charities that provide bail for non-rich people.

ALEC, the perverse organization that pushes any sort of right-wing law at the state level, is supporting the campaign.

Bernie Sanders foreign policy - 2024-03-21T07:53:19+00:00

* Bernie Sanders Says US Must 'Fundamentally Rethink' Its Foreign Policy.*

It must stop launching coups to put right-wing plutocratist governments in power.

Millionaire wealth up - 2024-03-21T06:52:30+00:00

*Wealth of US Billionaires Hits $5.5 Trillion—Up 88% Since Pandemic Hit.*

Virtual wife - 2024-03-21T06:52:29+00:00

*The man who married a hologram in Japan can no longer communicate with his virtual wife. The software that allowed the interaction is no longer supported…*

If a computational activity is truly important to you, never depend on being able to continue it by means of nonfree software controlled by someone else! That is asking to lose.

France fast fashion - 2024-03-21T06:52:27+00:00

France is passing a special sales tax on "fast fashion" to reduce the environmental harm that it does.

Interest rates for the people, UK - 2024-03-21T05:23:02+00:00

The UK economy and low-wage workers are suffering from the high interest rates.

The ostensible reason for high rates — to control inflation — was foolish because the cause of inflation was the greed of the rich. The increased rates enabled companies to gouge and be even more greedy.

Banks upping global meat and dairy - 2024-03-21T05:23:01+00:00

*Financiers providing billion-dollar support for industrial livestock companies to expand leading to unsustainable rise in production [of meat and dairy].*

UN climate plan discludes meat eating - 2024-03-21T05:23:00+00:00

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization has a plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions but it does not include eating less meat.

Social Security and upcoming election - 2024-03-21T05:22:59+00:00

Social Security has a long-term fiscal shortfall because its last reform, in the 1980s, did not reckon with the increased inequality of incomes in the US since then.

The simple fix is to make rich people pay the same share of their high business income that the rest of us pay out of our smaller incomes.

Urgent: Target, Walmart corporate activities - 2024-03-21T08:22:45+00:00

In the US, or wherever these stores operate: call on Walmart and Target to stop pretending that shoplifting is mainly in neighborhoods where blacks live, and stop pushing cruel "tough on crime" policies.

Mo Yan's Nobel prize - 2024-03-20T11:23:10+00:00

China falls prey to lunatic nationalism which resembles in spirit the QAnonsense disinformation in the US.

Urgent: Fake abortion clinics - 2024-03-20T10:52:42+00:00

US citizens: call on state governments to stop funding phony abortion services ("crisis pregnancy centers").

If you take any advice from a "crisis pregnancy centers", you're likely to find yourself having a cry, sis ;-{.

Havana syndrome occult - 2024-03-20T10:52:39+00:00

*Medical studies find no trace of physical harm in Havana syndrome patients.*

This gives support to the theory that the problem is psychosomatic.

Gaza as a forever war - 2024-03-20T10:52:38+00:00

Areas of Gaza where Israel believed it had defeated HAMAS and kicked it out have seen HAMAS fighters reappear. It looks like truly defeating HAMAS is not possible — they would have to continue the war indefinitely.

Let's not lose sight of where we want to end up.

Scientific research org discredited, AUS - 2024-03-20T10:52:35+00:00

A right-wing Australian political leader is attacking renewable energy by making false criticisms of a study of electricity options publicized by CSIRO. This time, CSIRO is rebuking the false criticism, which is likely to be motivated somehow by money from the planet roasters.

UNRWA funding unpaused, AUS - 2024-03-20T10:52:34+00:00

*Australia reinstates funding to UNRWA to provide aid in Gaza.*

Let's not lose sight of where we want to end up.

Anti-dengue mosquitoes - 2024-03-20T05:24:03+00:00

Brazil is deploying bacteria-infected mosquitoes to block the spread of dengue fever.

Maui wildfires - 2024-03-20T05:24:02+00:00

People in Maui are organizing to help the survivors of the Lahaina fire to avoid desperately selling their burned houses to people who aim to profit by reselling to rich people.

32 hour work week - 2024-03-20T05:24:02+00:00

Bernie Sanders has proposed a law to require a 32-hour work week.

This might be an improvement in businesses in which working is "just a job". I think it would be a big problem for idealistic nonprofit organizations such as the FSF. The staff are already as productive as one could reasonably wish for; they couldn't become more productive just because of a cut in hours.

Brazil coup - 2024-03-20T05:24:00+00:00

* Bolsonaro presented top military officials with a plan to carry out a coup d’état after his defeat in the October 2022 election, two former commanders have told the police.*

I hope this sends Bolsonaro to prison for the rest of his life.

PoemsEssaysNovels, and free expression - 2024-03-20T01:53:44+00:00

Some writers are boycotting PEN America events because it has refused to take a stand about the war in Gaza. In one case they demanded that PEN America uninvite another writer for per stand about the war in Gaza. (They too had been invited to the same event.)

PEN is right to refuse to take a side on that conflict, and all other conflicts, so it can influence all sides to respect the safety of writers and their freedom to write and publish.

PEN has acted similarly in regard to Putin's invasion of Ukraine: reproaching the Putin forces for their bombardment of Ukrainian museums and cultural institutions, but not calling for war to defeat Putin's aggression and repression.

I don't have a principle of political neutrality in my personal life — do not hesitate to say that Putin is the enemy of freedom and call for defeating his aggression — but I appreciate PEN's reasons to have such a principle, and I respect it for sticking to that.

Driver's license or prison, FL - 2024-03-20T01:53:44+00:00

Florida Republicans passed a bill to imprison people for conviction of driving without a driver's license. Since unauthorized immigrants can't get a license, they tend to do this. So they are the ones who will mainly be imprisoned -- and, perhaps, deported very soon.

Massachusetts made arrangements so that anyone who resides in the state and is capable of driving can get an official driver's license, valid for driving.

"Noble" effort for reproductive health - 2024-03-20T01:53:43+00:00

Three US states forbid divorce for anyone who is pregnant. That can be used by the other spouse for coercion.

I wonder whether it is feasible to get around this problem by going to another state — Nevada.

Long-Covid demographics, USA - 2024-03-20T01:53:42+00:00

Almost 7% of Americans (around 18 million) currently have symptoms of long Covid. Around 4 million have it to a debilitating degree.

This is a national catastrophe. Governments should take more measures to reduce the spread of Covid-19; we know that won't eliminate it, but reducing the number of people who get sick will also reduce the number that get long Covid and become incapacitated.

US–Netanyahu breaking point - 2024-03-20T01:53:42+00:00

*Biden says Schumer made "good speech" in breaking with Benjamin Netanyahu.*

Schumer called Netanyahu an obstacle to peace. Amen. He also called for the US to pressure Israel into changing its deadly approach to Gaza. Amen.

Biden's expression of support suggests he is telling Netanyahu that he's approaching the point of real pressure on Israel. I just hope Biden's approach is not going to asymptotically slow.

Let's not lose sight of where we want to end up.

Aid wars, Gaza - 2024-03-20T01:53:41+00:00

Hamas says that Israeli soldiers fired directly at a crowd of Palestinians waiting for some aid to arrive. They killed 20 and wounded more than 150.

Israel said that this did not happen. We don't know for certain what actually happened.

Let's not lose sight of where we want to end up.

Physicianality as a crime, UK - 2024-03-19T04:23:51+00:00

British physicians are threatened with loss of their license to practice medicine as further punishment for being convicted of climate defense protests.

You can see this as further damage to non-rich Britons by Tories, who don't care about the non-rich, or as further repression intended to keep the drilling for oil and gas going.

Endemic polio eradication - 2024-03-19T04:23:50+00:00

Humanity is closing in on the last few areas where wild polio may still survive.

North Sea oil, plans and protests - 2024-03-19T04:23:49+00:00

*Climate activists across Europe block access to North Sea oil infrastructure.*

Governments that refuse to recognize that drilling for oil and methane is deadly are showing contempt for the lives of their young citizens.

Human development index, UN - 2024-03-19T04:23:49+00:00

Increased plutocracy is increasing the income disparity between countries along with income disparity within most countries.

AI discrimination - 2024-03-19T04:23:48+00:00

Bullshit generators such as ChatGPT increasingly show racial stereotypes in judging people's employ-ability.

They don't actually understand anything, including the concept of "employ-ability" or "bigotry", so employers should not use them for that purpose.

Olivia Rodrigo concerns - 2024-03-19T04:23:47+00:00

Singer Olivia Rodrigo became a champion of freedom by distributing condoms and emergency contraception pills at her concerts. But now she has ceased that practice, citing a vague concern about "children" that attend.

I can't tell whether "children" in her statement refers to the people we normally call "children" — pre-teens — or to everyone under 18. But either way, I can't see even a lick of sense in that decision to stop. Whatever a person's age, if person is going to be sexually penetrated, it is good for that person to have a condom available. Whatever a female's age, if she may get pregnant, it is useful for her to have emergency contraception available.

Unless she presents clearly some other reason, I have to think that she has yielded to an incoherent right-wing moral panic.

Neuralink concerns - 2024-03-19T04:23:46+00:00

Advances in brain-machine interfaces are dangerous.

Musk has spoken in favor of fascism more than once. He could make Neuralink implants trigger pleasure in the brain whenever the patient hears words that endorse fascism. If the Neuralink itself is not capable of relaying the sound that the patient is hearing, the apparatus to run it could simply have an internet-connected microphone.

The only way to make them safe is if users have full control over the software that operates them and talks directly with them. They also need to be able to study the circuit diagram and verify that the device was built honestly.

Voter Rolls Being Targeted - 2024-03-19T04:23:45+00:00

Unofficial groups of Republicans are trying to rig elections by pressuring local election officials in some states to remove voters from he voting lists.

In Michigan, Nevada, and Georgia they have had successes.

Keir Starmer Labour Party - 2024-03-19T04:23:45+00:00

George Monbiot: *It's as if Keir Starmer is seeking out all the positive reasons to vote Labour — and deleting them.*

Punjabi Farmers and Modi - 2024-03-19T04:23:44+00:00

Modi made a campaign promise to Indian farmers, then broke it. When they protested this, they met with repression

of the sort that he had previously reserved for Muslims.

Urgent: A global minimum tax - 2024-03-18T13:52:39+00:00

US citizens: call on Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to endorse a global minimum tax on billionaire wealth ahead of the G20 summit.

Facebook as TikTok - 2024-03-18T13:52:38+00:00

Congress is considering a bill to demand TikTok to be sold to a non-Chinese owner, in order to keep operating in the US. Yet articles continue to talk about this as a plan to ban TikTok, rather than a plan to disconnect it from China. Why misrepresent this point?

Its intense collection of personal data clearly has the power to increase the harm it does, compared with Facebook. What that suggests is a law to prohibit any company from collecting data in this way. Ideally it would also limit the data Facebook can collect about its useds — that would increase the benefit of the law.

Richard Stallman will give a talk - 2024-03-18T13:52:37+00:00

In Rapperswil, Switzerland, Richard Stallman will give a talk. The title of the talk will be Free Software and Your Freedom.

Dividing the lands, Scotland - 2024-03-18T13:52:36+00:00

Scotland plans to require owners of large tracts of land to divide their lands among multiple owners.

It is generally a good thing to split up big properties of any kind.

Greenland's climate-effect on Europe - 2024-03-18T06:22:23+00:00

* Location, extent and strength of recent freshwater [melt] events [in Greenland] suggests an unusually warm and dry summer over southern Europe this year.*

Worker efficiency as license for plunder - 2024-03-18T06:22:22+00:00

*The cries from Britain's struggling CEOs are growing louder — can they survive on a mere £4.4m a year?*

That amount is clearly an average value. To assign that amount to each and every CEO is an oversimplification, and incorrect. Probably some of those CEOs receive a mere £2m per year.

We could feel sorry for them, if we forget about how low-wage workers are suffering in Britain today.

Lobby kills decarbonization effort, UK - 2024-03-18T06:22:22+00:00

*UK scheme to spur take-up of heat pumps delayed after gas lobby pressure.*

Over and over, the UK government has dropped or slowed its efforts to curb global heating, putting the priority on planet roaster profits.

An office of heat, Phoenix - 2024-03-18T06:22:21+00:00

Phoenix had over 600 excess deaths last summer.

At present levels of heating, many of these deaths can be prevented, but that depends on willingness to spend money to protect the health of poor people — often homeless people. Plutocrats consider that a waste of money that could instead be increasing their investments.

It may also depend on whether workplaces are willing to permit precautions to be taken. The Republicans that control Florida oppose that.

Lobbying efforts against auto-emissions - 2024-03-18T06:22:19+00:00

*Automakers Spend Millions to [weaken] EPA's Proposed [limitations on pollution that damages human health].*

Urgent security need: geoengineering, US - 2024-03-18T06:22:18+00:00

* Impact on ecosystems [of geoengineering] must be predicted before technology is used, US atmospheric science agency chief says.*

So far, human geoengineering has been done unthinkingly, as a side effect of actions carried out for other purposes. Some of these side effects are extremely dangerous. Sometimes humans were ignorant of the eventual consequences; in other cases, they corruptly buried the knowledge. Some of them continue the disinformation today.

I see no reason to object in principle to intentional geoengineering. With the knowledge we have learned, and some planning, we could make it less dangerous than unintentional geoengineering has been.

But that should not be an excuse to let the disinformationists win. Reducing the causes of our harmful geoengineering has to be safer than trying to counter one geoengineering with another.

Urgent: The Public Banking Act - 2024-03-17T06:51:21+00:00

US citizens: call on Congress to pass the Public Banking Act.

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

Methane leaks worse than thought, US - 2024-03-17T06:51:20+00:00

*US energy industry [methane] leaks are triple the official figures, study finds.*

The leaks can be fixed, but we can expect those planet roaster companies to lobby against any effort to compel them to fix the leaks.

ACLU sues over Gaza protest fallout, NY - 2024-03-17T06:51:19+00:00

Columbia University suspended the school chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace, which joined many other groups in a peaceful protest against Israel's bombardment and siege of Gaza. Now the ACLU is suing, accusing the university of acting illegally and in a discriminatory manner.

Gaza slaughter fallout in the US - 2024-03-17T06:51:18+00:00

The FBI warns that the killing of 30,000 Palestinians in Gaza is likely to radicalize many American Muslims and cause a big increase in the threat of terrorism in the US.

This is a reason why it would be to America's advantage to make Israel stop its atrocities in Gaza. But I think the moral reason, that we all have a duty to prevent atrocities, is the most important reason.

I call into question the validity of classifying "homegrown violent extremists" as a "foreign" terrorist threat. It seems to me that nothing can be both "homegrown" and "foreign" at once. But that is a minor detail, not part of the substance of the matter.

US fueling the bombers over Gaza - 2024-03-17T06:51:17+00:00

The US continues supplying jet fuel to Israel; both countries are defying the interim ruling of the International Court of Justice.

Palestinians denied asylum, AUS - 2024-03-17T06:51:17+00:00

Several Palestinian refugees report that Australia gave them visas and then canceled the visas at the last minute.

Special forces' Afghanistan cover-up, UK - 2024-03-16T11:21:59+00:00

A minister tasked with investigating accusations that British special forces committed many murders in Afghanistan came to the conclusion he was facing a cover up.

The article explains how they enjoy impunity, not only informally, but built into the formal structure of command.

New book on J.F.Kelly's time with Trump - 2024-03-16T11:21:58+00:00

The fascist’s second White House chief of staff, John Kelly, tried to convince him to praise Mussolini rather than Hitler, because Mussolini was less evil.

Kelly said that the fascist loves dictators because he was dissatisfied with the comparatively limited power of the President of the United States.

One correction to the article: The figure of 400,000 American military killed is actually the global total for World War II, not the number killed in Europe alone.

Assessments on the Paris Climate Accords - 2024-03-16T11:21:57+00:00

*UK, Germany, Netherlands, Norway and Denmark have failed to align oil and gas [extraction] policies with Paris pledges, say campaigners.*

The monster is a head of CPAC - 2024-03-16T11:21:56+00:00

*The Conservative Political Action Conference has turned itself into a center of the global anti-democracy movement and anointed Trump its head. [The Wrecker] surrogate Jack Posobiec kicked off the conference by saying, "Welcome to the end of democracy. We are here to overthrow it completely. We didn’t get all the way there on January 6, but we will endeavor to get rid of it and replace it with this, right here." The crowd went wild.*

They brought tyrants from various other countries to show their alliance with the American movement for tyranny.

This has gone well beyond expression of views; it is a stated intention to convert the US government into a repressive tyranny, using violence when convenient.

There is no obligation to delay further before arresting them for this.

Climate records smashed, AUS - 2024-03-16T11:21:55+00:00

Record rains have cut travel and shipping between Australia's east and its west. It will take time to repair the damage.

Humans' long history with the ocean - 2024-03-16T11:21:55+00:00

*Radioactive waste, baby bottles and Spam: the deep ocean has become a dumping ground.*

I wonder what density these contaminants amount to, given the size of the ocean.

Labour disprivileging the sick and poor? - 2024-03-16T11:21:54+00:00

A clear explanation of how Starmer Labour has fenced itself into a right-wing position that will serve the rich and not the rest.

Schools' freedom of speech restored, FL - 2024-03-16T11:21:53+00:00

A court settlement has greatly narrowed the scope of the Florida law that prohibits teaching about sexual orientation and gender identity.

This settlement eliminates much FUD that the law inspired in the teachers restricted by it. The narrowed interpretation of the law remains a change for the worse, but it's a smaller change.

Palestinian granted asylum in UK - 2024-03-16T11:21:52+00:00

*Palestinian citizen of Israel granted UK asylum in case said to be unprecedented. "Hasan", 24, argued he would face persecution in Israel on grounds of his race, faith and its "apartheid regime".*

New technologies lower quality of life - 2024-03-16T11:21:51+00:00

*Exposure to new technologies including trackers, robots and AI-based software at work is bad for people’s quality of life, according to a groundbreaking study from the Institute for the Future of Work.*

Big pharma on medicare negotiations - 2024-03-16T11:21:50+00:00

*Pharma's Dems are doing [the wrecker]'s dirty work on drug prices.*

Define "extremist", suppress groups, UK - 2024-03-16T11:21:48+00:00

*[UK] ministers and officials to be banned from contact with groups labeled extremist.*

Aside from the general point that this would undermine democracy, there is the question of who to label as "extremist". What about the big Tory donor who recently said that MP Diane Abbot should be shot? I don't think you can get more extremist than that.

How about prohibiting ministers and officials from meeting with business lobbyists? Those are the most dangerous people for ministers to meet with.

Israel journalists comeuppance, UN - 2024-03-16T11:21:48+00:00

The UN has rebuked Israel for attacking journalists that were carrying clearly visible identification as journalists.

Simple possession pardons, MA - 2024-03-16T11:21:47+00:00

The governor of Massachusetts said she will pardon everyone convicted of simple possession of marijuana.

This is a very good thing, but the pardons should cover people convicted of other marijuana-related crimes, as long as they don't involve violence or fraud.

Republican Voters Against Trump - 2024-03-16T11:21:46+00:00

*Republican Pac released 100 testimonials of former Trump voters explaining while they will never again vote for [the cheater].*

Deadly lack of insulation, UK - 2024-03-16T11:21:46+00:00

*Analysis finds 58 people have died due to cold homes every winter day in the UK since 2013 Tory pledge to "cut the green crap."* That amounts to thousands of deaths every year. I am sure it causes a far larger number of nonfatal illnesses also.

Muslims as outcasts, India - 2024-03-16T11:21:45+00:00

Several years ago, India passed a couple of laws that add up to an excuse to strip Muslims of Indian citizenship if they can't prove their ancestors have been in India for a long time. Protests convinced the government to delay putting the law into effect, but it is about to do so now.

The result will be to exile millions of Muslim Indians to Bangladesh or Pakistan, where they are not likely to survive very long.

Urgent: Stop Article V convention - 2024-03-16T11:21:44+00:00

US citizens: call on state legislatures to reject and rescind any calls for an Article V convention.

Urgent: Stop weapons exports to Israel - 2024-03-16T11:21:43+00:00

US citizens: call on the US to end weapons exports to Israel.

Urgent: Reject a national abortion ban - 2024-03-16T11:21:43+00:00

US citizens: call on Congress to reject the national abortion ban that most Republicans are pushing for.

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

Urgent: End all govt. shutdowns - 2024-03-16T11:21:41+00:00

US citizens: call on Congress to end government shutdowns (and the threat of them) once and for all.

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

Tory radicalization - 2024-03-16T07:25:24+00:00

Almost any set of political views can generate a violent extremist fringe. To protect democracy from those extremist fringes cannot be done by persecuting specific non-extremist starting points.

Nauseous optimism - 2024-03-16T07:25:24+00:00

Robert Reich describes his "nauseated optimism" that Americans' long-term turn toward progressive values will defeat the increasingly twisted Republican Party.

Jimmy Lai trial - 2024-03-16T07:25:23+00:00

The key witness in the trial of Jimmy Lai, in Hong Kong, had been tortured into condemning Lai.

That testimony proves no more about Jimmy Lai than the testimony of a prisoner in Guantanamo that had been tortured would prove about anyone.

However, there is a crucial difference between China and the US on this point: US courts recognize this point and won't accept testimony that was extracted by torture. Chinese courts don't care. China deals with such blow back by treating those who criticize the phony trials of political prisoners into the next batch of political prisoners, in line for phony trials of their own.

The worst evil of the charges against Jimmy Lai is not the dishonesty of the trial itself, it is the basic decision: to treat raising funds to call for democracy as a crime.

Radioactive rhetoric - 2024-03-16T07:25:21+00:00

Commercial nuclear power propaganda is hiring politicians again in Australia.

As usual, it functions by being absurdly optimistic, underestimating the time and money required to bring new technology to the point of wide commercial use, drawing attention away from the future harm nuclear waste can do over a long period of time,

and misrepresenting the facts about the renewable alternatives,

The companies (and politicians) involved will use the fallacious "sunk costs" argument

to demand subsidies rather than cancellation. (Why not try — it succeeded in Britain in the past decade.)

Thus they hope to profit handsomely even if the project doesn't see widespread adoption.

Tunisia deal - 2024-03-16T07:25:16+00:00

Part of the EU funds given to Tunisia for a deal to impede migration went straight to the dictator's pocket.

(Satire) White Castle - 2024-03-16T06:51:35+00:00

(satire) *White Castle Announces Its Sliders A Result Of Inbreeding.*

Prosecutorial misconduct - 2024-03-16T06:51:34+00:00

*Prosecutors Buried Evidence and Misled the Court. Ten Years Later, They Got a Slap on the Wrist.*

Red Cross Ties - 2024-03-16T06:51:33+00:00

It seems Putin has corrupted the Russian Red Cross to betray one of the Red Cross principles: neutrality in war.

Pharma’s Secret Middlemen - 2024-03-16T06:51:33+00:00

"Pharmacy benefit managers", companies that act as middlemen in insurance payments for medicines in the US, by making demands that harm patients.

The biggest spend tens of millions of dollars stopping Congress from fixing the problem.

The three biggest of them are owned by giant companies that they have to work with — one is owned by a pharmacy chain, and two by insurance companies. This creates a conflict of interest. In addition to the reforms proposed, such connections should be specifically prohibited.

Move Forward party - 2024-03-16T06:51:32+00:00

Thailand's government is moving to abolish the party that got the most votes in the 2023 election — for simply proposing to reduce censorship.

Minister FoI revelation - 2024-03-20T11:21:45+00:00

*Minister consulted BP over ‘right incentives to maximize’ oil production, FoI reveals.*

West Bank homes for sale in NJ - 2024-03-15T13:52:17+00:00

Several organizations of Jews who criticize Israel's occupation of Palestine protested an event in New Jersey to sell luxury apartments in Israel and occupied Palestine.

Many refused visa access in India - 2024-03-15T03:51:45+00:00

RSF: *Foreign correspondents increasingly refused permits, visas, access in India.*

This is part of the slow but steady move to eliminate democracy and human rights, which can be seen across the board in Modi's rule.

SRAT Tool - 2024-03-15T03:51:44+00:00

Australia has privatized its deportation prisons — always asking for injustice. The company uses a secret algorithm to compute how to treat each prisoner, based on secret data that prisoners cannot challenge.

Navalny ally injured - 2024-03-15T03:51:43+00:00

One of Navalny's associates, living in Lithuania, was attacked while in his car and badly injured. I expect this to firm up European determination to defeat Putin. But what did Putin hope to achieve? How could this benefit him?

(satire) God Unveils Plans To Bulldoze - 2024-03-15T03:51:42+00:00

(satire) *God Unveils Plans To Bulldoze Heaven For Luxury Condos.*

Climate change video parody - 2024-03-15T03:51:42+00:00

Funny parody commercials tell the straight truth about global heating.

Please don't watch them from YouTube itself. For instance, here's the URL for the parody Chevron commercial.

And here's the one where a climate scientist explains the issue to a right-wing know-nothing.

pro-Palestine protesters - 2024-03-15T03:51:41+00:00

A large protest in London condemned the bombardment and siege of Gaza and demanded imposition of a cease fire.

The speakers rebuked the Tories who had baselessly and arbitrarily claimed that protesters were "extremists", seeking to justify repression of these protests.

Paying to play poorly with public, NYC - 2024-03-14T12:51:28+00:00

New York Governor Hochul gets funds from big investors in Manhattan real estate, and modified a public records law to let them continue to conceal their identities from the public.

Nuclear weapon temptations within Iran - 2024-03-14T12:51:27+00:00

Concern that some factions in Iran want nuclear weapons.

But there is nothing we can do to discourage that, not any more. The wrecker's aggression destroyed the non-nuclear deal and made it impossible to restart.

The death penalty in the US - 2024-03-14T12:51:26+00:00

Now that some US states are using, or may use, nitrogen gas for executions, there is a campaign to block that method by restricting what the buyers of medical nitrogen can use it for.

As one who opposes the death penalty on principle, regardless of the method used, I am always puzzled by the fuss that people make about those details. I'm especially puzzled by the question of whether the person being executed feels pain during the process. Does it presume that temporary pain is worse than death?

Imagine that you are in Gaza and you are wounded. You may be lucky enough to find a surgeon but there will be no anesthetic available. Would you say, "Please don't operate, just kill me"? You might, I might — but if you have the fortitude to handle days of pain after surgery, you'd say, "Operate! I will suffer so I can live."

So I don't see how a painless method of execution can make execution legitimate.

Meanwhile, it is dangerous and unjust to allow the sellers of products any say in how purchasers use them. That power is very broad and lends itself to injustice.

Few of the purchasers of any product want to use it for executions. What if you buy something so as to use it for something innocent, such as copying DVDs or Blu-ray disks? Should the seller be allowed to forbid you to use it that way? We must not allow companies to have such power over their customers! We must defeat any law that would give a company that kind of power.

What, then, about using nitrogen for execution? If we are opposed to the death penalty, and we have the political support to put a stop to it, we should refuse to get distracted by the side issue of giving producers of nitrogen the power to control what purchasers will do with it, refuse to get distracted from this by the idea of blocking some methods of execution (but not all) in this way.

Instead we should use that political support to prohibit the death penalty. We could insist that purchasers of nitrogen be free to use it for any lawful activity, which would no longer include executions.

Urgent: Asset managers of fossil fuels - 2024-03-14T05:21:46+00:00

US citizens: call on the CEOs of BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street to keep fossil fuels in the ground.

Loser grasping at hate-straws - 2024-03-14T05:21:45+00:00

*[The blackwhiter] flip flops on TikTok.* Whatever Biden is for, the blackwhiter opposes.

A DAFfed democracy, US - 2024-03-14T05:21:44+00:00

*New Report from the Institute for Policy Studies Reveals the True Cost of Billionaire Philanthropy: the ultra-wealthy use [tax-exempt] giving to avoid taxes and exert influence, while ordinary taxpayers foot the bill.*

Momentum revised - 2024-03-13T04:51:13+00:00

Momentum, the left-wing camp of Labour, is considering ending its formal affiliation with the Labour Party, and allowing people to join it who are not members of Labour.

This change is absolutely essential if Momentum is to have real influence (on Labour, or on anyone). As long as the people in charge of Labour are "we don't dare fix much of what the Tories have broken" plutocratists like Starmer, they are only using Momentum and it cannot influence them.

Stakeknife inquiry - 2024-03-13T04:51:12+00:00

The head of a UK government investigation into the career of a government spy inside the IRA accused military intelligence of blocking the progress of the investigation.

Defending Cash - 2024-03-13T04:51:12+00:00

*The Luddite's Guide to Defending Cash (Part 1).*

This is great advice for a way to convince people that cash is a good system and we should not let it be taken away. It provides several good arguments.

Missing from the article is awareness of the injustice of nonfree software. The existing systems for digital payment on the internet typically require users to run nonfree software, and that alone is a reason to refuse.

In my view, tracking all purchases is such a grave injustice that non-cash payments for everyday life are actively dangerous. The article views that as a trade-off between privacy and convenience. I think that view is foolish.

But these disagreements don't invalidate the article and its suggestions may be very useful. I am eager to see part 2.

Intimidation tactics by Putin forces - 2024-03-13T04:51:11+00:00

Ukrainian civic officials in regions conquered by the Putin forces were imprisoned under very bad conditions to pressure them to agree to work for the Putin forces.

Ukrainians in those regions who decline to vote in Putin's "democratic" re-election ceremony are beaten up and given another opportunity to vote for him.

The Putin forces (I suggest not calling them "Russian") have disappeared thousands of Ukrainians in the occupied territories for showing in any way continuing to support Ukraine.

Suggestion to civilians who flee clandestinely: render your house uninhabitable before you go. Why provide quarters to Putin forces soldiers?

EU climate risks report - 2024-03-13T04:23:29+00:00

*Europe is not prepared for the rapidly growing climate risks it faces, the European Environment Agency (EEA) has said.*

Chatbot disinfo - 2024-03-13T04:23:28+00:00

What various leading bullshit generators say about how and where to vote in US elections is full of errors. If your voting info comes from a bullshit generator, you could easily miss your opportunity to vote.

I expect they are equally lousy when it comes to facts that would influence who you would vote for.

Prevent Document - 2024-03-13T04:23:27+00:00

*"Socialism", "anti-fascism" and "anti-abortion" on [a UK] list of terrorism warning signs.*

Well, perhaps that is partly valid for anti-abortion-ism. Many of its supporters in the US are indeed extremists who sometimes use violent tactics, and threaten our democracy.

But anti-fascists and socialists are not dangerous. It is their enemies, the fascists and plutocratists, that are dangerous to society.

In any case, the UK's "prevent" program's methods are on the edge of repression and sometimes drift fully into it.

(Satire) gentrified caves - 2024-03-13T04:23:26+00:00

(satire) *Archaeologists Uncover First Caves Gentrified By Homo Sapiens.*

Pentagon report on UFO - 2024-03-13T04:23:24+00:00

*US not hiding aliens or UFO technology from the public, Pentagon says.*

I believe it. If anyone had been reverse-engineering alien technology for decades, there would be some successes by now, and we would be inquiring about how anyone thought of them.

Gang violence crisis, Haiti - 2024-03-12T16:21:40+00:00

The government of Haiti has been brushed aside by gangs, which are now fighting to take over the most important central resources.

The government of Haiti became so weak because the US imposed presidents through coups and rigged elections. No one thought of them except as viceroys.

Haiti has not had a legitimate president since a coup orchestrated by the US forced Aristide out in 2004.

La Joyita prison - 2024-03-12T06:50:24+00:00

A prisoner in Panama, in a prison that was full of refuse, started a program for prisoners to work on cleaning it up. The result was to involve hundreds of prisoners in doing skilled work that is legitimate and constructive.

Programs for prisoners to learn, and work in useful ways, and be rewarded, were known in the past as "rehabilitation". They were widespread in the US, but a right-wing "tough on crime" wave eliminated them, equating enlightenment with softness.

The U.S. War in Somalia - 2024-03-12T06:50:19+00:00

The US intervention in Somalia has continued for more than 20 years, without ever making a coherent plan for what it was trying to do. The Pentagon investigated what went wrong there and discovered this basic problem.

Somalia had almost become stable under a government that had the bad quality of being Islamist. So it got Ethiopia to intervene and get rid of it, leaving al Shabaab in guerrilla war against a government that the US supports. It seem to me that that intervention made things worse.

(Satire) Marianne Williamson - 2024-03-12T06:50:17+00:00

(satire) *Marianne Williamson Successfully Primaries Biden In All 63 Counties Of Astral Plane.*

New York Surveillance expanding - 2024-03-12T06:50:14+00:00

The New York City subways' crime rate is very low, but Governor Hochul was sent soldiers to patrol entrance gates and demand to search passenger's bags just to make them feel comfortable.

I don't think the ones who are racially profiled and searched repeatedly will feel comforted.

Oil industry lobbying - 2024-03-12T06:50:11+00:00

Oil companies began lobbying against renewable power in the 1960s.

Cash-strapped UN - 2024-03-12T06:21:37+00:00

*Sweden and Canada will resume aid to UN agency for Palestinians.* *To unblock the aid, UNRWA had agreed to "allow controls, independent audits, to strengthen internal supervision and extra controls of personnel".* This is to ensure that they don't work for HAMAS.

Israel has not provided proof of its accusations that some UNRWA employees work for HAMAS.

But it would not surprise me if that were true, since it is hard to hire a lot of people in Gaza without including some HAMAS members.

(Satire) Zuckerberg Murder - 2024-03-12T06:21:36+00:00

(satire) *Blood-Covered Mark Zuckerberg Informed That Murder He Just Committed Was Not In Metaverse.*

Low-traffic neighborhoods - 2024-03-12T06:21:34+00:00

A low-traffic neighborhood in the UK has a one-time cost of 100 UKP per person (or less) to build, and save 200 UKP per person per year by benefits to health.

I think those benefits come from (1) more exercise and (2) less pollution.

AI climate and disinfo - 2024-03-12T06:21:34+00:00

*AI [they seem to mean the large language models, rather than real domain-specific intelligence] will likely increase energy use and accelerate climate misinformation.*

MI5 interference - 2024-03-12T06:21:33+00:00

In the 1980s, the Tories used the government's intelligence agency to attack the striking miners' union, which they sought to destroy.

Plans to cut SS, Medicaid - 2024-03-11T14:50:57+00:00

SCROTUS has put a budget resolution on the table, to be voted on, which would set up a secret committee to impose cuts in Social Security and Medicare.

That will serve their declared goals of less for the non-rich and more for the rich, which I refer to as dooH niboR.

Urgent: Fund the IRS - 2024-03-11T14:50:56+00:00

US citizens: phone your representative in Congress and say to preserve funding for the IRS. Thanks to Biden it uses that money to investigate rich tax cheaters.

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

1/5 of councils in England, section 114 - 2024-03-11T14:50:54+00:00

Tory budget cuts have forced several British local governments into bankruptcy; now they are using that as an excuse to inflict cuts on local programs that the non-rich depend on. The US did the same thing to Puerto Rico some years ago, with a financial "bailout" that turned the island's elected legislature into repo men for creditors.

Starmer-Labour supported the Tory imposition by threatening to expel members of the council if they did not rubber-stamp the cuts. This confirms once again that Starmer-Labour is actually Tory Lite. They should have quit the Labour Party right then and there.

They could start the Robin Hood Party.

The gall of Modi in Kashmir - 2024-03-11T14:50:53+00:00

Modi is campaigning for votes from the Hindu minority in Kashmir after gerrymandering that state.

This follows a total state of repression.

India ought to let Kashmir have the referendum about whether to be part of India that it promised Kashmir in the 1940s.

Russian nuclear timebomb: Zaporizhzhia - 2024-03-11T14:50:53+00:00

*Greenpeace accuses Russia of ‘unprecedented escalation’ if it restarts Zaporizhzhia reactors.* Without a secure source of power to prevent a meltdown if the reactors were to shut down, restarting them would be very dangerous.

Putin has a pattern of making wild nuclear threats. Maybe this is another of them.

Female genital mutilation - 2024-03-11T14:50:52+00:00

Female genital mutilation is increasing in total. In some regions it has gone underground to avoid censure from the general public in those regions

What factors in having fewer babies - 2024-03-11T14:50:51+00:00

Following current trends, the human population would start to decrease in the 2080s. With all the real problems that could cause human extinction, the lack of interest in procreation is hardly worth mentioning.

Current trends cannot continue until the 2080s. If we don't curb global heating soon, and various problems of pollution, the population by then will be much smaller than now.

We can't maintain the current population and give a good standard of living to everyone, barring a spectrum of miraculous scientific advances which one cannot count on. We need it to decrease, and it will.

There are three ways for the human population to decrease: the humane way (birth control and abortion), the depression-filled way (mass celibacy), and the gruesome way. We are heading for the gruesome way.

Brain modeling and complex systems - 2024-03-10T09:20:10+00:00

*We all are the living manifestation of 13.7bn years of flukes.*

Misled on purpose: planned chaos - 2024-03-10T09:20:09+00:00

Governor DeMentis has plunged Florida into disease threat by putting an antivax fanatic in charge of public health.

Said lunatic was judged guilty of scientific fraud for fabricating evidence to discredit Covid-19 vaccines.

When these anti-health measures produce chaos, Trump-pets call that success; their campaign to put their strongman in power is based on chaos.

Mifepristone access, US - 2024-03-10T09:20:08+00:00

Reviewing the current state of mifepristone access in the US.

Urgent: Social Security Expansion Act - 2024-03-10T09:20:07+00:00

US citizens: call on Congress to pass the Social Security Expansion Act.

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

Urgent: Subpoena Leonard Leo, Harlan Crow - 2024-03-10T09:20:06+00:00

US citizens: call on the Senate to issue subpoenas for Leonard Leo and Harlan Crow to investigate their corrupting of Supreme Court justices.

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

Crimes against humanity, protesters, Iran - 2024-03-10T09:20:04+00:00

A UN investigation *concludes regime murdered, imprisoned, tortured and raped those who protested the death of Mahsa Amini.*

Biden's corporate tax reform - 2024-03-10T09:20:03+00:00

Biden proposed in the State of the Union address to transfer lots of money from rich people and corporations to non-rich people.

If Americans want this, they will need to reelect Biden and also boot out many plutocratists from Congress. May it happen thus!

Biden also warned that US democracy is threatened, which it is, and called for legalizing abortion.

Biden did not highlight protecting the climate, but I forgive that because he tried hard to go further. He was blocked by Republicans in Congress. For the US to do more, it is SCROTUS we must replace, not Biden.

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