Author Jen Wasserstein says, "My life without a smartphone is getting harder and harder."

Good on her to resist, but she should stop doubting the rightness of her resistance.

It is interesting to compare her account my own experiences this year without any portable phone whatsoever, in Europe as well as the US. There were inconvenient moments, but I always got through them.

I am fortified in my resistance by knowing powerful moral reasons to conde,m portable phones. It's not just that I find their effect on other people alarming. I recognize them as a threat to democracy due to their massive general surveillance

as well as an injustice to each user (due to their remotely modifiable nonfree software). As a result, I never feel abashed about rejecting them, nor ashamed if the ignorant look askance. I am proud of my resistance.

When a waiter tells me to scan a QR code, I move my finger slowly over it while staring at it intently, as if a menu should magically appear. After sufficient time, I may say, "It doesn't seem to be working." Try it, it's fun!

Please join me in resisting the pressure to make everyone run nonfree software. Even if you only say no once, saying no even once is helping.

And once you've said no the first time, the second time is easier.

*Why is Trudeau pressuring Michigan to keep a dangerous oil pipeline open? *

Interviews with exiled Nicaraguan opponents of the Ortega couple's dictatorship, including their daughter.

The International Criminal Court will investigate accusations of torture by Venezuelan state suppression forces -- with Maduro's agreement.

The Federal Election Commission ruled that foreign companies (and perhaps foreign individials and governments too) can contribute to campaigns for and against ballot questions.