Rich countries pushed the other countries to pass new laws to fight money-laundering, but several governments have distorted this into a way of punishing critics and dissidents.

*Haiti requests U.N. commission to probe president's killing.*

Boston's Mayor Janey endorsed the exaggeration that compares vaccination certificates to the manumission certificates that freed slaves in the US needed to show to prove they were not slaves.

In the US, stores check a buyer's ID before selling alcohol. Does Janey say this is the same as slavery?

The real issues I know of regarding checking vaccination certificates are

• Making sure people don't need to own or use a mobile phone to enter a place.
• Making sure not to let the state (or businesses) track people's movements and activities through this system.
• Taking care not to exclude those who for medical reasons cannot be vaccinated.

Boston's Mayor Janey endorsed the exaggeration that compares vaccination certificates to the manumission certificates that freed slaves in the US needed to show to prove they were not slaves.

In the US, stores check a buyer's ID before selling alcohol. Does Janey say this is the same as slavery?

The real issues I know of regarding checking vaccination certificates are

Making sure people don't need to own or use a mobile phone to enter a place.
Making sure not to let the state (or businesses) track people's movements and activities through this system.
Taking care not to exclude those who for medical reasons cannot be vaccinated.
• 7 August 2021 (Haiti requests U.N. commission)

  *Haiti requests U.N. commission to probe president's killing.*

• 7 August 2021 (Money laundering laws)

  Rich countries pushed the other countries to pass new laws to fight money-laundering, but several governments have distorted this into a way of punishing critics and dissidents.

• 7 August 2021 (US last in health care)

  *US ranks last in healthcare among 11 wealthiest countries despite spending most.*

• 7 August 2021 (Russian opposition activist)

  *Russian opposition activist to run for parliament from jail.*

• 7 August 2021 (Tigray's conquering)

  Tigray seems to be conquering substantial parts of other regions of Ethiopia, and the opposition to this seems to be ineffective.

  I am very curious about the explanation for Tigray's military success.

• 7 August 2021 (Gulf Stream)

  The Gulf stream is starting to weaken. Further global heating, which we cannot now avoid, could cause it to shut down. This would make the US east coast and the Atlantic coast of Britain, Ireland and France considerably colder.

• 7 August 2021 (Government tracking of car travel)

  The bipartisan "compromise" infrastructure bill proposes to have the government track all car travel.

  Regardless of the purpose, tracking people's movements as the method is unjust. But the purpose stinks, too. The stated purpose is to tax cars based on the distance they travel, rather than the amount of fuel they use. Who would prefer that?

  Fossil fuel companies would prefer that. I suspect this is really is meant to hamper emissions reduction.

  There are other things in the bill that subsidize fossil fuels.

  If you think of this as "infrastructure construction", but might appear that a smaller amount is better than none at all. But with these harmful measures, the bill can be worse than none at all.

• 7 August 2021 (Dixie, California)

  A wildfire destroyed the historic old town of Dixie, California.

• 5 August 2021 (Wildfires in Turkey)

  Wildfires in Turkey failed to damage a coal-burning power plant enough to prevent it from making worse wildfires in the future.

• 5 August 2021 (Republican old people)

  1/3 of Republican old people will consider voting for a Democrat who supports allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices.

• 5 August 2021 (Palestinians' homes near old Jerusalem)

  Israel is trying to take Palestinians' homes near Old Jerusalem, and kick them out. Some were just offered a deal — they can stay in their homes, for the time being, provided they agree to surrender title and start paying rent.

  They rejected the deal, recognizing that, to first order, it is simply defeat.

• 5 August 2021 (Donations to Democratic PAC)

  Apartment rental companies donated a million dollars to a Democratic Party PAC, not long before Democrats had to unite to extend the eviction ban. Perhaps it was not a coincidence that they failed to do that.

  This sort of thing is tantamount to bribery. Rep. Tlaib demands that the PAC return that money.

• 5 August 2021 ((satire) Private legislator firm)

  (satire) *Senate Loses Congress Contract To Upstart Private Legislator Firm.*

• 5 August 2021 (Arctic Wildlife Refuge)

  Activists call on Congress to permanently ban oil development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

  I agree, but they should not stop there. Congress should prohibit all new fossil fuel development. There is no room in the carbon budget for any additional fossil fuel development.

• 5 August 2021 (State Department appointments)

  Call on Ted Cruz to stop blocking many State Department appointments.

• 5 August 2021 (Relentless assault on democracy)

  *Is Biden Doing Enough to Fight Off the GOP's Relentless Assault on Democracy? I Fear Not.*

• 5 August 2021 (Prosecuted for rape)

  A woman tracked down her father, then had him prosecuted and convicted for raping her mother.

• 5 August 2021 (Cuts to pandemic preparedness)

  *Democrats Considering Major Cuts to Future Pandemic Preparedness.*

  Is it so long since they experienced a pandemic that they don't remember how bad it can be?

• 5 August 2021 (Disney rehiring workers)

  Disney is reopening and rehiring old workers — for less pay, no benefits, and worse conditions.

  This URL uses the Invido.us proxy network to view a Youtube video without running Youtube's nonfree Javascript code. I would not have linked to the video on Youtube, but I can link to it on Invido.us.

  Invido.us will show you a choice of proxy servers to choose from. Click on Go for your choice of proxy server to view the video there.

• 5 August 2021 (Sudan paramilitary officers)

  *Six Sudan paramilitary officers sentenced to death for killings of student protesters.*

  I am glad that Sudan has been able to try and convict such criminals, but the death penalty is never justified.

• 5 August 2021 (Wearing a mask)

  Some people will take offense because you protect others from death or disability by wearing a mask.

  Just because someone takes offense at something you do, that doesn't imply you shouldn't do it. Just tell them you're proud to help protect other people, as well as yourself.

• 5 August 2021 (Terrorist violence against women)

  A surprising fraction of violent terrorists have a history of violence against women — usually as perpetrators, but sometimes as victims or as witnesses.

• 5 August 2021 (Bottled water)

  Bottled water is enormously wasteful. In resource use and in environmental harm, it's a factor of thousands.

  France has a law that restaurant must offer customers tap water. A law like this makes it a lot easier to shun bottled water in restaurants. Other countries should adopt it.

• 5 August 2021 (Republican wrongs)

  Nearly all Republicans in Congress are working together to boost the wrecker's backwards version of history, in which all Republican wrongs are attributed to their opponents.

• 5 August 2021 (Elder giraffes)

  The presence of female elders in a family of giraffes helps the family survive. This may have to do with why giraffes evolved menopause.

  The reason this concerns grandmothers and not grandfathers is that adult male giraffes do not stay in families with their offspring. They form separate groups consisting of adult males only. The only elders that can help lead the family are female.

  Elephants are similar, except that the adult males are generally solitary.

  Orca pods include male and female adults, but the males may have grown up in other pods.

• 5 August 2021 (Electronic vote)

  Bolsonaro claims there was election fraud in recent Brazilian elections and threatens to cancel the next election if Brazil does not switch to paper ballots.

  Brazil should switch to paper ballots, because the current system cannot be properly audited. I have not seen any plausible claims that there has been election fraud, but there could be, and it would be well to eliminate that risk. However, I would not trust Bolsonaro to attempt to make elections honest, and his threat would imply an autogolpe.

• 5 August 2021 (Bribes)

  Members of the UK Parliament continually accept gifts which are tantamount to bribes.

  Members of Congress in the US are not allowed to accept, and do not accept, gifts of nonzero value. Barnie Frank did accept the zero-dollar bill I gave him, but then he voted for the DMCA anyway.

• 5 August 2021 (Forever war authorizations)

  *U.S. diplomat Sherman backs moves to end 'forever war' authorizations.*

• 5 August 2021 (Eviction ban)

  *Biden to announce new 60-day eviction ban protecting most of US population.*

• 5 August 2021 (Brutal thugs)

  Five Miami Beach thugs chased Daltona Crudup into a hotel (they claim he hit one of them), handcuffed him, then started kicking him and slamming his head into the ground. Then they grabbed a videographer and beat him up too, then charged him with some invented crime. But then some good news: the thugs face criminal charges for these attacks. The charges against videographer have been dropped.

  I have a feeling that thug departments are coming to understand that they can no longer tolerate brutal behavior by their employees. That's an important step on the road to changing the brutal behavior.

  We must also systematically punish thugs for making bogus accusations. As my button says, "Jail cops for frame-ups."

• 5 August 2021 (Oversight board)

  The UK police departments have accepted a new oversight board, which will be headed by a black lawyer who doesn't hesitate to tell them that their hostile behavior has made blacks afraid of cops.

• 5 August 2021 (Wildfires)

  Italy, Greece and Turkey are overcome with wildfires. I hope they learn to unite against the tempting deadly money of fossil fuels.

• 5 August 2021 (Vaccine prices hike)

  *Insulated From Patent Waivers, Pfizer and Moderna Hike Vaccine Prices.*

• 5 August 2021 (ISDS clause)

  Oil companies invented the ISDS clause ("I Sue Democratic States") decades ago, and are now using them to make countries pay dearly for their climate defense actions.

  If the fossil fuel companies insist on destroying civilization, the victims should not go down without a fight. To save millions of lives, war is justified.

• 5 August 2021 (Just relocate)

  (satire) *Congress Advises Newly Evicted Americans To Just Relocate To Second Home.*

• 5 August 2021 (Illegal deportations)

  *Lawsuit Initiated Against Trump for 'Illegal' Deportations Resumes Against Biden.*

• 5 August 2021 (Astronaut goldfish)

  (satire) *Researchers Discover Galaxy-Sized Goldfish Astronauts Discarded From Space Shuttle In 1988.*

• 5 August 2021 (Suing oil companies)

  Counties and cities in Colorado are suing oil companies for the expected costs of coping with global heating for just the next few decades.

• 4 August 2021 (Insulting the king)

  103 Thai protesters face charges for insulting the king.

• 4 August 2021 (Siberian heatwave)

  *Siberian heatwave led to new methane emissions, study says.*

  This means it is a real positive feedback loop. As global heating proceeds, it will increase the amount of cuts we need to make to stop the heating.

• 4 August 2021 (New excuse for thugs)

  Nassau County (next to NYC's borough of Queens) is passing a law to punish people who harass "first responders", which includes cops.

  Just as thugs typically say, "He was running toward me and I felt threatened," after they shoot someone, they will find it easy to say, of a protester, "He was harassing me," to ruin someone. Blacks, hispanics, protesters … whoever thugs detest.

• 4 August 2021 (Activist found hanged in a park)

  A Belarusian opposition activist living in Ukraine was found hanged in a park. One must suspect that Lukashenko's agents killed him.

• 4 August 2021 (Pirates enslaving teenagers)

  The "Lord's Resistance Army" continues to act as pirates, kidnapping and enslaving teenagers. Females who escape then face cruelty from their own families, due to the condemnation of women who have been raped.

  To me, that cruel reception is even nastier than what the pirate army does. I suspect that the expectation of this reception must inhibit captives from trying to escape. Perhaps the pirates' continued existence depends on it.

  Bravo to Ms Nyanjura for working to change that.

• 4 August 2021 (Housing shortage)

  New Zealand will investigate the causes of its housing shortage. The problem has been growing for many years, but the pandemic may have made it worse.

• 4 August 2021 (Fleeing Olympic team)

  The leaders of the Belarus Olympic team were ordered to send athlete Krystsina Tsimanouskaya home, but they could not force her onto the plane. (It is hard to force someone onto a commercial flight departing from a foreign country.)

  Now she is seeking asylum.

• 3 August 2021 (Breaking the "law")

  Hong Kong: *Anthony Wong accused of breaking law by singing at a pro-democracy rally three years ago.*

  This is China's Humpty-Dumpty understanding of law: it means just what the authorities choose it to mean, no more and no less.

• 3 August 2021 (Climate protesters targeting banks)

  Climate protesters in Switzerland targeted two large banks for their continued funding of fossil fuel projects.

• 3 August 2021 (Not withdrawing troops)

  *Biden Isn't Withdrawing Troops From Iraq, He's Relabeling Their Mission.*

• 3 August 2021 (Ban evictions)

  AOC reproaches the Democrats that wouldn't vote to ban evictions.

  Indeed, Biden should have brought thus up earlier. But Democrats didn't have to wait helplessly for him to do that.

• 3 August 2021 (Cluster of covid cases among vaccinated)

  A cluster of 900 cases of Covid-19, most of whom were vaccinated, shows that defeating Delta requires masks as well as vaccination.

• 3 August 2021 (Infrastructure plan)

  Biden's very flawed infrastructure compromise was a distraction from the crucial issue of stopping Republicans from rigging future elections. The same sort of mistake, in the 1870s, led to Jim Crow.

  I agree completely. However, that assumes that fixing voting rights is not already hopeless. What approach could possibly succeed?

• 3 August 2021 (Accusing falsely of planning mass murder)

  Pinochet justified his coup in Chile by accusing President Allende (falsely) of planning mass murder. Pinochet's party believed this, and considered his coup justified. The supporters of the bully's cult are trying to do that here. What can straighten them out?

  I think putting the bully on the witness stand under oath can help correct his lies. If he lies on the stand, he could be charged with perjury. If he tells the truth, some of his followers may wake up.

• 3 August 2021 (Covid protection in workplaces)

  Biden has done nothing to make non-medical workplaces protect workers from Covid-19.

• 3 August 2021 (Restorative justice)

  Restorative justice can be more effective than punishment, for avoiding future harm and future crime.

• 3 August 2021 (Urgent: follow the INVEST Act)

  US citizens: call on Congress to write the budget reconciliation bill to follow the INVEST Act — raising taxes on the rich and investing public transit.

  The US could spend that money on public transit without any increase in taxes; it can handle a larger deficit. But taxing the rich more is a good thing to do, just as investing more in public transit is a good thing to do.

• 3 August 2021 (Weakening of fundamental liberties)

  * We [Britons] feel besieged and imperiled, and the Johnson government is seizing the chance to weaken our most fundamental liberties.*

• 3 August 2021 (Increasing vaccination)

  Various countries take different approaches to increasing Covid-19 vaccination.

  I agree with this position:

  *There is a strong case for making any vaccination mandatory (or compulsory) if four conditions are met: there is a grave threat to public health; the vaccine is safe and effective; mandatory vaccination has a superior cost/benefit profile compared with other alternatives [and] the level of coercion is proportionate.*

  I see two moral issues about the details of the system:

  • The system must not punish those who for medical reasons cannot be vaccinated. They should be treated legally as if they were vaccinated, then encouraged and helped to stay away from diseases-spreding situations
  • Systems to check vaccination certificates should not build a database listing everyone's movements. If the system is used for contact tracing, it should be designed so that no central organization finds out who went where except when a place and time becomes listed as a possible transmission site.

• 3 August 2021 (Demonizing opponents)

  Salafi Arabia has launched campaigns of demonization (on antisocial media) against Arab democratic dissidents, and US journalists whose investigations make the regime uncomfortable.

  The same sort of campaign was used against Jamal Khashoggi, so that people in Salafi Arabia would endorse the murder of Khashoggi. Perhaps these campaigns prepare for the murder of journalists and dissidents, or perhaps it is meant to intimidate and silence them.

  Either way, it is a hostile act towards the US.

• 3 August 2021 (Constitutional or not)

  The president of Tunisia has used constitutional emergency powers to take drastic actions: dismissing all the ministers and canceling the immunity of members of parliament. That last is in effect a threat to prosecute them.

  Opponents argue he has not properly followed the constitution.

  His supporters rallied on the streets in large numbers, and so did his opponents. But then he prohibited rallies entirely.

  I don't know enough to judge the right or wrong of these actions, but I think there is enough information to see who the real evildoers are: the IMF, which demands to increase the price of bread while many Tunisians fear having no food.

  Perhaps there is a more efficient way to make sure that the poor have bread, rather than a general subsidy for bread. Would the IMF permit establishment of an alternative support for the poor?

• 2 August 2021 (Brainwashing convicts)

  The UK is keeping convicts in brainwashing conditions, basically solitary confinement.

• 2 August 2021 (Increased repression)

  India increased its repression in Kashmir in 2020, arbitrarily jailing the main human rights defenders in that former state, which it has converted into an occupied territory.

  People have been imprisoned for criticizing any act of the Indian government. It sounds like Hong Kong.

• 2 August 2021 (Military rulers announcing elections)

  The Burmese military rulers say they will hold elections.

  Their willingness to have elections could mean an opening for returning to democracy. They should not be trusted to run the elections, but through diplomacy they might be led to agree to let some trusted neutral party do it.

• 2 August 2021 (Deportation)

  In June, the UK promised not to deport UK-resident EU citizens if they had made an application for continued UK residence. Now its staff are doing just that and show no concern for either these promises or the law.

  The UK government has done things like this so much that I must conclude that the deportation office simply does not care what it does wrong.

• 2 August 2021 (Taxing foreign mining companies)

  President Castillo's administration proposes small and tentative steps to tax some foreign mining companies more.

• 2 August 2021 (Soldier and witnesses)

  Afghan witnesses testified that they saw an Australian soldier murder a farm worker they knew. But the soldier is not on trial — rather, he is suing newspapers that accused him. The witnesses are needed simply to defend the right not to accept his version of what happened.

  If the witnesses are right, he ought to be on trial. Furthermore, it should not matter whether the victim was a farm laborer or Taliban fighter. Isn't it a war crime to kill a prisoner?

• 2 August 2021 (Eviction moratorium)

  Some House Democrats refused to support extending the eviction moratorium, and they didn't have the courage to hold a vote to get everyone's position. Instead they adjourned and left town with no decision.

• 2 August 2021 (Hesitant to seek help)

  * Following the killing of President Jovenel Moïse, Haitians are hesitant to seek aid from the United States, due to the West's long history of intervention…*

• 2 August 2021 (Subcontractors)

  The subcontractors that hire customer service workers treat them like dirt. Miss a shift, even because of a power outage in your neighborhood or because your child broke a hand, and you're fired.

  The nastiness also includes making them listen ad infinitem for any sort of abuse that customers give them — while reproaching them for not handling customers faster.

  Abusive customers are personally to blame for what they say, but what makes it so painful for the worker is the company's rule that the worker can't hang up. We should not allow these subcontractors to shift the blame for their system onto individual customers.

  We need laws to protect these workers' rights. For instance, no subcontracting! All these workers must be employees of the company that the customers are calling. And all but a fraction should have half-time or full-time work, with overtime pay for any shift that wasn't scheduled a week in advance.

  Sometimes the customer is angry at the company's practices and policies, and punishes the customer service worker, who is compelled to follow those practices and policies robotically. If the customer makes a reasonable demand because of something bad that the company did, the worker cannot grant it. It is not fair for the company to use the worker as a shield. There should be a way for the caller to send a message to people who can vary from the script.

• 2 August 2021 (False conviction)

  Curtis Crosland spent 30 years in prison after a false conviction because the Philadelphia thug department concealed evidence.

  The new district attorney, Larry Krasner, set up a systematic effort to correct such injustices, and this exonerated Crosland.

• 2 August 2021 (Presentation about global heating)

  The London Science Museum accepted funds from Shell to make a presentation about global heating, and made a commitment to avoid saying anything that might make Shell look bad.

  In effect, Shell corrupted the museum. The museum's officials that accepted the deal are culpable and ought to resign; but let's not let the small fry distract us from Mr Big. The principal culpability falls on Shell, and we should not let it evade condemnation and punishment.

  Perhaps companies involved substantially in fossil fuel extraction, shipment, processing or use should not be allowed to advertise, or sponsor activities in a visible way.

• 2 August 2021 (Liquidating assets)

  Billionaires can effectively liquidate assets without paying capital gains tax by borrowing against the assets at very low interest rate.

• 2 August 2021 (Prevent spread)

  * [Researchers] said people need to wear masks and take other steps to prevent spread until almost everyone in a population has been vaccinated,* and get vaccinated ASAP. to prevent evolution of more resistant strains.

• 2 August 2021 (Harsh treatment for refugees)

  Texas decreed special harsh treatment for refugees in the name of protecting the state from Covid-19.

  The fundamental dishonesty and contempt show in the pretense that the government of Texas seeks to reduce Covid-19 infection in the state.

• 1 August 2021 (Urgent: Stop funding climate chaos)

  US citizens: call on Wall Street & President Biden to stop funding climate chaos.

• 1 August 2021 (Urgent: Voting rights)

  US citizens: call on Biden to lead the way for voting rights.

• 1 August 2021 (Urgent: Pregnant Workers Fairness Act)

  US citizens: call on the Senate to pass the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.

• 1 August 2021 (Urgent: National Security Powers Act)

  US citizens: call on your Senators to cosponsor the National Security Powers Act.

• 1 August 2021 (Kinder form of capitalism)

  Covid-19 has led many countries to move to a kinder form of capitalism, instead of the cruel poverty-spreading form that has dominated since the 1970s.

  If this is because the rich feel they can't get away, now, with being quite so cruel, we will need to keep up the pressure to stop them, or they will grab back whatever power they have ceded.

• 1 August 2021 (Trackers in all cars)

  The government of Uganda proposes to put trackers in all cars to surveil everyone's movements.

  This would be grounds for a revolt, because tracking people's movements is the basis for crushing repression.

  You'd expect that from Uganda; but I have heard that the European Union has a similar plan. I would be glad to hear from an expert who knows how to explain the situation clearly.

• 1 August 2021 (Subcontracted workers)

  British unions call for banning use of subcontracted workers in public agencies.

  I think no employer should be allowed to use subcontracted workers more than a little bit.

• 1 August 2021 (Protests in Guatemala)

  *Major protests swell in Guatemala as calls grow louder for president, attorney general to resign.*

• 1 August 2021 (Jan 6 body armor)

  A Republican wore body armor while he spoke at the wrecker's Jan 6 rally and encouraged people to attack the Capitol.

• 1 August 2021 (St Louis County council meeting)

  Dr Faisal Khan, director of public health for St Louis County in Missouri, spoke in a packed and dangerous county council meeting to defend his advice to adopt a mask mandate. The room was full of right-wingers and they responded to him with racist bullying.

  St Louis County does not include the city of St Louis, but does include Ferguson.

• 1 August 2021 (NYPD reforms)

  *NYPD Reforms Are Failing, Say Plaintiffs Who Won Landmark Stop-and-Frisk Case.*

• 1 August 2021 (Abolishing online anonymity)

  *Abolishing online anonymity won’t tackle the underlying problems of racist abuse.*

  Anonymous speech is an important freedom in itself, since criticism of the powerful is also something that people will often be intimidated from saying once they know they will be identified and punished.

  Here is a suggestion: social media conversations platforms should not be allowed to support direct messages. Instead, they could allow person A to inform person B "I'd like to talk with you — please contact me at [phone number/email address/other contact channel]" using fixed wording. That can't be used to carry an insult, but it can be used to start conversations.

• 1 August 2021 (False election corruption claims)

  *Trump pressured DoJ officials to falsely claim election corrupt, memos show.*

• 1 August 2021 (Deporting refugees)

  Biden is adopting the wrecker's innovation of deporting refugees without a proper hearing of their claims for asylum.

• 1 August 2021 (Taxes paid by major Corporations)

  *73 Major Corporations Paid Just 5.3% Federal Tax Rate Between 2018 and 2020.*

• 1 August 2021 (Fewer Americans in poverty)

  Thanks to increased government aid, there are 45% fewer Americans in poverty now than there were in 2019. We can do even better than that if we decide to try.

• 1 August 2021 (Far from what is needed)

  The UN has received new greenhouse gas pledges from 110 out of 200 countries. Still far from what is needed.

• 1 August 2021 (Top Bolsonaro allies)

  *Covid-19 Vaccine Corruption Implicates Top Bolsonaro Allies.*

• 1 August 2021 (Strike over firing of Juan Francisco Sandoval)

  Guatemala's indigenous people went on strike in response to the firing of anti-corruption prosecutor Juan Francisco Sandoval. Guatemalans accuse the attorney general of firing him to protect corrupt cronies of the president.

• 1 August 2021 (Cases against Assange and Murray)

  Arguing that the UK cases against Julian Assange, and against Craig Murray, both distort the law for a purpose: to criminalize journalists that are not on a leash to large companies that will keep them in check and protect the dirtiest official secrets.

  This is not 100% true: big journalistic organizations sometimes do help reveal these secrets. But I think it is partly true.

• 1 August 2021 (Risk of eviction)

  *Eviction crisis looms after Biden and Congress fail to extend Covid ban. More than 3.6 million [Americans] at risk of eviction after Covid relief ends.*

• 1 August 2021 (Booing Chinese anthem)

  *Hong Kong man arrested for allegedly booing Chinese anthem while watching Olympics.*

• 1 August 2021 (UK's net zero goal)

  *Foreign control of North Sea oil licenses threatens UK’s net zero goal.*

• 1 August 2021 (Committee investigating January 6)

  *The Select Committee Investigating January 6, like the two House impeachment efforts that preceded it, appears to have no social media strategy and no strategy of public outreach and public education.*

• 1 August 2021 (US sanctions on Cuba)

  The US sanctions on Cuba are intended to make Cubans rebel by causing them misery and starvation. This was the intention from the beginning in 1960.

• 1 August 2021 (UK's censorship)

  The UK's censorship is broad and repressive: posting something people are likely to consider "grossly offensive" is a crime. (The criterion is stated more precisely in the article.)

  Meanwhile, black musicians were convicted of singing a prohibited song.

  More generally, the institutional racism of the thugs has got worse since the report that showed how bad it already was.

• 1 August 2021 (Used up in 7 months)

  After 7 months of 2021, humans have used the full amount of what Earth's ecosystems offer per year.

• 1 August 2021 (Urgent: End arms sales to Egypt)

  US citizens: call on Congress to end arms sales to Egypt because of its atrocious contempt for human rights.

  The Capitol Switchboard number is 202-224-3121.

  If you call, please spread the word!

• 1 August 2021 (Urgent: Make businesses pay their interns)

  US citizens: call on the Department of Labor to make businesses pay their interns.

• 1 August 2021 (Urgent: Sign the pledge against Amazon)

  Everyone: sign a pledge against Amazon.

• 1 August 2021 (Urgent: Defund global heating)

  Call on Wall Street & President Biden to defund global heating.

• 1 August 2021 (Stuck to misinformation)

  It is very easy for a human being to become stuck to a piece of misinformation. Many sorts of misinformation can do this.

  To get unstuck requires taking a scientific attitude towards the possibility that a claim was wrong.

• 1 August 2021 (Informed consent)

  Arguing against the widespread assumption that demanding "informed consent" from users is an adequate solution to various injustices of online dis-services.

• 1 August 2021 (Section 702 surveillance loophole)

  Explaining the "section 702 backdoor surveillance loophole", part of the surveillance imposed by the PAT RIOT Act 20 years ago. Congress is considering whether to shut the back door.

• 1 August 2021 (16% more greenhouse gases)

  If the average male (in developed countries) causes 16% more greenhouse gas emissions, due to typical male spending preferences, what does that imply?

  16% difference in the average does not mean that the typical male causes 16% more emissions than a comparable female. It could instead be that 20% of males emit 80% more each, and the rest act just like females. Averages over groups are meaningful for certain purposes, but judging individuals is not one of them.

  If civilization survives to 2100, it may be a good idea to reduce pollution on Earth by moving polluting industry to the Moon, where solar energy is plentiful in the sunlight and undesired waste products will be stable forever stacked in the shade.

  But that issue will not arise at all if global heating destroys civilization first.

• 1 August 2021 (Republican opposition to Biden)

  If Biden doesn't wake up to the fact that Republicans oppose by reflex almost anything he does to help Americans in general, he will be sunk.

• 1 August 2021 (SSI benefits are outdated)

  The Supplemental Security Income aids 8 million very poor Americans, either old or disabled, but the amount of aid is set based on the economic conditions of 50 years ago. As each year goes by, it becomes less effective.

• 1 August 2021 (Cuba's hasty trials)

  Cuba is holding very hasty trials of people who helped organize protests.

• 1 August 2021 ((satire) Offensive rant)

  (satire) *DaBaby Apologizes For Leaving Jews Out Of Offensive Rant.*

• 1 August 2021 (The $15-per-hour campaign)

  The campaign for a $15-per-hour minimum wage has won a total of $150 billion in raises for 25 million low-paid US workers.

• 1 August 2021 (Criticizing the Chinese government)

  In China, even a billionaire can be sentenced to prison for criticizing the government.

• 1 August 2021 (Republican wise guy)

  One Republican wise guy is using a financial trick to stop the House from collecting fines for his defiance of the mask rule.

  This is a game Republicans use to appear powerful to their followers. If the game had no real stakes, the best thing would be to overlook it. Therefore they have decided to put other people's lives and health at risk, and their relatives' too. "I can put you and your family in danger, and you can't stop me, nyah nyah."

  The House should adopt measures that are not possible to defy. For instance, to eject violators from the House space (part of the Capitol, and House office buildings) and exclude them for 48 hours.

• 1 August 2021 (Vaccine capacity)

  The US should actively promote more vaccine capacity, as well as waiving patents, to get the world vaccinated faster.

  The US should legislate that corporations must consider the interests of customers, workers, and the public, not only making the most possible Profit For Owners. There are still countries which require this.

• 1 August 2021 (Hilton hotel in Xinjiang)

  Members of Congress call on Hilton hotels to refuse to license its name to a hotel built over a demolished mosque in Xinjiang.

  Hilton has various excuses, such as that it licensed the name to a Chinese company, as if that could eliminate its responsibility.

• 1 August 2021 (Glyphosate for home use)

  Bayer will stop selling glyphosate for home use.

  It won't happen for 2 years; I hope this isn't a plan to wait and hope people forget.

• 1 August 2021 (Protecting wolves)

  The success in protecting wolves in the US west was enough to remove them from the endangered species list. This allowed some states to operate plans to wipe them out again. So the Fish and Wildlife Service has been asked to protect them again.

• 1 August 2021 (Australian hotels)

  Australia imprisons some refugees in hotels, which are set up to be more or less solitary confinement, perhaps 24 hours a day. This can continue for years.

  One refugee is suing, claiming that Australia did not lawfully authorize those hotels as prisons.

• 1 August 2021 (Prosecution of Colorado thug)

  A Colorado thug is being prosecuted for a violent attack on Kyle Vinson, who was unarmed and not threatening anyone. Another thug who tried to cover it up is being prosecuted too.

  This seems to be a serious effort to change the violent and dishonest behavior patterns of thugs in Aurora, Colorado. I hope it is effective. No matter what Vinson might be accused of, it was no justification for attacking him once he had surrendered.

• 1 August 2021 (Laws to cover landowners)

  The Scottish parliament has passed laws to cover landowners, but the Queen lobbied secretly for royal estates to be exempt.

• 1 August 2021 (Tortured federal prisoners)

  AMLO will free all federal prisoners that have been tortured.

  That is a step towards putting an end to torture.

• 1 August 2021 (Climate delay)

  *Our biggest enemy is no longer climate denial but climate delay.*

• 1 August 2021 (MP in Tunisia)

  Tunisia's president arrested an MP who called the president's actions a "coup".

  Whether that is right or wrong is a matter of judgment. I don't know enough to judge. But arresting the opposition gives more reason to consider it a coup.

• 1 August 2021 (Chemicals in Beirut)

  4/5 of the original shipment of chemicals that arrived in Beirut may have been moved elsewhere by the time the explosion occurred.

  That may have avoided a far bigger explosion. It may have been part of a legitimate effort to protect the city. Or it could have been a terrorist plot. Or both at once.

• 1 August 2021 (Reporting bad news prohibited)

  Thailand has prohibited reporting bad news; government lies must not be challenged and cover-ups must not be revealed.

• 30 July 2021 (Mandatory tracking)

  Medicaid home care workers are now required to carry "smart"phones with a specific nonfree app which tracks them.

• 30 July 2021 (Getting rid of Amazon rain forest)

  Bolsonaro's logging railway would push the Amazon rain forest over the tipping point, and more or less get rid of it.

• 30 July 2021 (Covid strategy)

  *The British government’s Covid strategy was never designed to manage the virus.* Bogus Johnson projected an air of bumbling, *using the facade of incompetence to narrow the political choices available to the public.*

• 30 July 2021 (Proud of destitute)

  *Millions of destitute Britons rely on charity handouts, yet ministers feel no shame.*

  What Tories feel is pride — they have been working towards this result for a decade.

• 30 July 2021 (Secret vaccination)

  Some Americans get vaccinated secretly to avoid showing that they disagree with the trumpets around them.

  It is good to get vaccinated, but we need you to stand up and say so, to help weaken the intimidatory power of the Republican death cult.

• 30 July 2021 (Ban on fossil fuel infrastructure)

  Whatcom county in Washington has banned all new fossil fuel infrastructure.

  That county has refineries and other fossil fuel facilities, so the refusal to construct more could have a direct impact, as well as setting an example.

• 30 July 2021 (Withholding communications)

  Steven Donziger has been convicted of withholding his Ecuadorian peasant clients' privileged communications from Chevron, and he has been sentenced to 6 months in jail.

  He will appeal, in the hope that a judge that wasn't selected by Chevron will overturn the decision.

• 30 July 2021 (Zero-covid strategy)

  *Australia can’t dump zero-Covid strategy until 80% of people vaccinated.*

• 30 July 2021 (Enough CO2 to cause death)

  Three-four average Americans' lifetime CO2 emissions are roughly enough to cause the death of one additional person from global heating effects.

• 30 July 2021 (Sabotaging trains)

  Supporters of pipeline resistance in Canada are sabotaging trains in ways that can derail them.

  I oppose the pipeline, and I admire support nonviolent civil disobedience in that cause. However, to risk causing a disaster cannot be called "nonviolent"; it is going too far.

• 30 July 2021 (Accused of torturing prisoners)

  Alla Mousa, a Syrian doctor, is accused in Germany of torturing prisoners for Assad.

• 30 July 2021 (Plutocratist opposition)

  President Castillo will encounter powerful opposition in Peru's congress, which is dominated by plutocratist parties.

• 30 July 2021 (Action against broadcasters)

  President Saied of Tunisia seems to be taking action against broadcasters. It is not clear how far that will go or whether it calls for condemnation.

• 30 July 2021 (Miners on strike)

  *Alabama Miners Take Strike to BlackRock's NYC Headquarters.*

• 30 July 2021 (Breaking up supermarket chains)

  New Zealand is considering breaking up the two large supermarket chains. With just two competitors, they can both gouge.

  I suggest having at least six competitors.

• 29 July 2021 (Urgent: Weaken Amazon's power)

  US citizens: state your support for various measures to weaken Amazon's power.

  See also the reasons to refuse to buy anything from Amazon. I stubbornly refuse. When friends want to buy something for me, I always say, "Please don't get anything for me from Amazon!"

• 29 July 2021 (Nonprofit charter schools)

  *Elites Profit From "Nonprofit" Charter Schools.* The nonprofit organization contracts with a profit making company to really run the school, and really do the skimping, profiteering, and sometimes cheating.

• 29 July 2021 (Cost to global economy)

  *Failure to help poor countries fight Covid "could cost global economy $4.5tn", says IMF.*

  That in addition to providing opportunity for more dangerous variants to evolve. To stop that, we must speed up the production of vaccine as much as possible, removing all obstacles.

• 29 July 2021 ((satire) Campaign to cleanup oil polluting Earth's interior)

  (satire) *BP Launches Environmental Campaign Pledging To Clean Up Oil Polluting Earth's Interior.*

• 29 July 2021 ((satire) Things could always be worse)

  (satire) *Improv Theater’s Corporate Workshops Help Employees Realize Things Could Always Be Worse.*

• 29 July 2021 (Global heating tipping point)

  *Critical measures of global heating reaching tipping point, study finds.*

• 29 July 2021 (Major insurance merger)

  *Justice Department opposition kills major insurance merger.*

  Yes! Block all mergers of large companies!

• 29 July 2021 (State employees in California)

  Unvaccinated state employees in California will have to be tested each week, and wear N95 masks while on the job.

  Biden is considering a similar rule for US government workers.

  I am very much in favor of this.

• 29 July 2021 (Facebook promotion of alcohol)

  Facebook will do more to ensure that promotion of drinking alcohol does not reach teenagers.

  This increased exception to the usual functioning of Facebook is a change for the better, but I suspect that Facebook will retain the data collected from teenagers, and from children, and use it to profile them once they reach 18. And perhaps use it in other ways than advertising.

• 29 July 2021 (Haitian security official)

  *Top security official for slain Haitian president arrested by police.*

• 29 July 2021 (Not a blessing)

  Many in Latin America are recognizing that bringing a child into the world we are headed into is not a blessing or a gift.

  Please take the long view. The Covid-19 situation might get better for you in a year or two, but it will take a struggle to win humanity and the ecosphere a tolerable future 20 years from now.

• 29 July 2021 (Dependence on Chinese markets)

  Western companies' dependence on Chinese markets makes them pawns of China. The more dependent, the worse.

  We saw this before with internet services and computer companies such as Apple.

• 29 July 2021 (Zero years)

  * We have zero years before climate and ecological breakdown, because it’s already here. We have zero years left to procrastinate.*

• 29 July 2021 (Ukraine land market)

  The IMF has bullied Ukraine into "opening the land market", which I think means that foreigners will be able to buy up the country.

• 29 July 2021 (Delta in Nanjing)

  China is finding it difficult to stamp out an outbreak of Delta in Nanjing.

  It seems that Delta is considerably harder to get rid of than earlier variants. Various experienced countries that knew how to suppress outbreaks are finding it difficult now. Nonetheless, it is much safer to push for the goal of zero-Covid than to give up as the US and most European countries have done.

  Australia has repeatedly found that its quarantine and arrivals procedures left small loopholes that Covid-19 could sometimes slip though.

• 29 July 2021 (Artificial meat)

  If the world switches to artificial meat, it needs to ensure that the new system does not harm workers, consumers and the environment as the existing system does.

• 29 July 2021 (Repair of Macbooks)

  Apple farms out repair of Macbooks to a sweatshop company, CSAT Solutions, which treats workers abominably. Apple bears the responsibility for the mistreatment of workers, and so do Dell and Lenovo which also use CSAT.

  If companies such as Apple don't want the responsibility for treatment of workers by subcontracted companies, they should establish a system which protects workers' rights universally.

• 29 July 2021 (Burning fossil fuel reserves)

  Burning most of the known fossil fuel reserves would cause 16 C of global heating.

  This would be worse than the heat that caused the end-Permian extinction which wiped out almost all species in the ocean. Humans might hang on in some polar regions.

  350.org calls on the Federal Reserve to stop financing of fossil fuel projects.

• 29 July 2021 (Masks in indoor public places)

  The CDC now recommends people wear masks in indoor public places even if they are vaccinated, in most parts of the US (those with infection rates above a certain threshold).

  The complexity of the condition will make this recommendation less effective. Even some of the states that try to prevent Covid-19 have rates that are increasing fast. Vaccinated people should wear masks in indoor public places everywhere in the US, and other countries where Covid-19 is circulating.

• 29 July 2021 (Congressional seat in Ohio)

  Nina Turner is running in the Democratic primary for a congressional seat in Ohio. Her opponent is a plutocratist, getting campaign funds from Republicans.

  The opponent faces an accusation of criminal corruption: using her office as Cuyahoga County commissioner to steer contracts to a business owner by long-term friends and supporters.

  A preliminary review found the accusation plausible enough to refer it to the Ohio Ethics Commission.

• 29 July 2021 (Space joyride)

  Activists responded to Bezos's space joyride with a rally to tax the rich more.

• 29 July 2021 (Capitol police)

  Capitol police — *for once in this nation's history the good guys* — testified about being attacked by trumpets, a fact which trumpets now lie about.

• 29 July 2021 (Covid-19 forfeit)

  The US National Football League has decided that if a team can't play due to players sick with Covid-19, that team forfeits the game.

• 29 July 2021 (Reducing crime)

  Tories propose to reduce crime by increasing the systematic harassment of blacks on the street.

• 29 July 2021 (Student Data)

  *Student Data Used to Tag Kids as Potential Criminals* in Florida.

  The unfortunate families selected get persistent harassment and surveillance, as well as minor criminal charges that can bankrupt and jail the parents.

• 29 July 2021 (Forcing athletes to exert)

  (satire) *Olympics Under Fire For Human Rights Violations After Forcing Athletes To Exert Themselves.*

• 29 July 2021 (Cover up)

  The investigation of the murder of Moise has encountered strange obstacles that look like a cover-up.

• 29 July 2021 (Distraction from investigation)

  The committee to investigate the attack on the Capitol, Jan 6, has started meeting, and Republican saboteurs in Congress are trying to distract attention from it.

• 29 July 2021 (Trespassing charges for sit-in)

  Jesse Jackson and William Barber are charged with trespassing for holding a sit-in outside Senator Sinema's office. (Barber is the leader of the Poor People's Campaign.) They could be jailed for 6 months.

  I hope Senator Sinema realizes how bad that would look.

• 29 July 2021 (Big National Strike Fund)

  *Labor Movement: We Need a Big National Strike Fund.*

• 29 July 2021 (Arrest of activist)

  Morocco arrested exiled Uyghur activist Yidiresi Aishan when he arrived from Turkey, and plans to send him straight to China for prosecution.

  Extraditing Aishan to China would be like extraditing Julian Assange to the US: a shameful disrespect for human rights. There is no reason to trust China's criminal accusations against dissidents. Construing dissent as "terrorism" is a widespread practice.

• 29 July 2021 (Suppression of minor parties)

  The UK's electoral system suppresses minor parties almost as hard as the US electoral system. This prevents real politics and saddles the country with fantasist manipulators like Bogus Johnson.

• 29 July 2021 (Daniel Hale sentenced)

  Whistleblower Daniel Hale was sentenced to almost 4 years in prison for revealing that US drone attacks were killing lots of civilians, which the US had tried to cover up.

  Shame on the US government for prosecuting heroes such as Hale.

• 29 July 2021 (Status of endangered wildlife)

  A new method of measuring the status of endangered wildlife is based on how far it is from returning to its previous population, before anthropic damage.

• 29 July 2021 (Aboriginal group's board)

  *Ex Rio Tinto chief Walsh joins Aboriginal group's board.*

  A former mining executive probably owns lots of stock in mining companies. He might perhaps be able to give useful advice to this organization, provided they remain alert to the danger of being led into a trap.

  But there is something fishy about putting the mining executive on the board, where he could vote to make it decide to "compromise" by letting the mining company have its way. Thus, I am skeptical that the organization truly intends to protect those lands. It could decide that the best way to "benefit" the Banjima is to pay the organization to permit more mining.

  I wonder which of the Banjima would actually benefit from some of that money, and how that relates to the board of the organization.

• 29 July 2021 (Urgent: wrecker prosecution)

  US citizens: call on Biden not to let the wrecker and his officials off the hook of criminal prosecution.

• 29 July 2021 (Wipe out of sea turtles)

  Mass tourism on Zakynthos is wiping out the sea turtles. They have to stay far out to sea to avoid swimmers and boats, and it is hard to come in to lay eggs.

• 28 July 2021 (Taking painkiller while pregnant)

  A woman in Alabama faces a felony charge for taking a painkiller while pregnant. Pregnant women will be scared to talk to doctors when they realize that doctors might be required to turn them in.

• 28 July 2021 (Gerrymandering)

  Explaining the details of how gerrymandering fits through loopholes in the rules for legislative districts.

• 28 July 2021 (Prohibition)

  A proposal: to end tobacco addiction by prohibiting the sale to anyone born after 2005.

  Tobacco is very dangerous, and I urge everyone never to use it. However, prohibiting an addictive drug is asking for unrest, crime, and corruption. Let's not start a War on Tobacco!

• 28 July 2021 (Charging opponents with terrorism)

  Tanzania has charged an opposition party's leaders with planning terrorism.

  This is over the top, and basically says that the president doesn't care how transparently false the accusations are.

• 28 July 2021 (Heat waves)

  Heat waves in the next few decades will get hotter an accelerating rate, so they will set new records more often.

• 28 July 2021 (Worker rights)

  Labour has made an important campaign promise: workers rights will cover to all kinds of workers, starting from the first day of work.

• 28 July 2021 (Environmental campaign promises)

  Biden has not even started on most of his environmental campaign promises.

  He has started reversing only 1/4 of the wrecker's environmental sabotage measures, while supporting another 1/4.

• 28 July 2021 (Protests against use of Pegasus)

  Hungarians protested against the government's use of Pegasus to spy on dissidents. They compared this with the Communist regime's surveillance, and repression.

  Powerful entities — governments and rich businesses — want to track people to get more power over them. In systems of universal surveillance, future dissidents will be surveilled in advance.

  The most sensitive personal data are metadata:

  • Where did you go?
  • What did you do there?
  • Who did you talk with?

  For the sake of democracy, we must forbid the existence of systems that can collect these data about people.

• 28 July 2021 (Mandate vaccine for government workers)

  *California and New York City to mandate vaccine for government workers. Department of Veterans Affairs becomes first major federal agency to require healthcare workers to receive Covid shot.*

  The requirement is not absolute — each worker can choose to be tested once a week, instead of vaccinated. I support this in principle, but I think the tests should be more frequent; perhaps twice per work week.

• 28 July 2021 (Factory farms)

  Factory farms pollute rivers, lakes and oceans, drive global heating, and make so much meat that people in many countries make themselves sick. Some senators support a bill to eliminate factory farms in the US, over a period of two decades.

• 28 July 2021 (Under Control)

  (satire) *Boston Dynamics Unveils New Robots Able To Realistically Behave Like They Under Researchers' Control.*

• 28 July 2021 (Cannot go home)

  Over 30,000 Australians can't go home. They may have to wait years, and may be ruined by debt, including the high cost of the "subsidized" flights.

  I disagree with the writer on one point. Given the world-wide shortage of vaccine, I think it was proper of Australia to rest behind its wall of quarantine and suffer occasional shutdowns to keep people safe, making vaccination unnecessary. If Delta makes that cease to be effective, so that Australia needs to compete for the scarce vaccines, it will be an unfortunate setback.

  But that is a separate issue. Australia should spend more on quarantine facilities so that it can bring its people home sooner.

• 28 July 2021 (Anti-lockdown protests)

  Australian officials reviled anti-lockdown protesters in Sydney for "filthy, risky behavior", as well as fining them.

  I disagree with the protesters' position; I'm convinced that Sydney needs a more complete shutdown in order to suppress the outbreak faster. ("Shutdown" is not quite the same thing as "lockdown".) However, their right to protest is another matter. Prohibiting protest is repression. The right to protest is sacred to democracy.

  There are clearly things that protesters could do which risk spreading Covid-19 — for instance, failing to keep their distance from each other and everyone else. Protesters must obey rules like that, to keep the protest safe for each other and everyone else.

  However, the article does not report that most of these protesters did things that endangered anyone. What officials call "filthy" appears to be simply a matter of breaking a rule about travelling more than 5km away from home.

  It is not more dangerous to travel 6km than 4km. The rule is clearly meant as a rough approximation to reduce the overall level of travel and social intercourse.

  That might be a helpful measure in general, but they should make an exception for a protest now and then.

• 27 July 2021 (Toxic)

  To call an individual "toxic" is to essentialize per behavior. It is misguided to put all the blame on one person, disregards the point that perse is responding to the structure of the situation, and denies the possibility that people can learn to act better.

• 27 July 2021 (China suffering disaster)

  China is suffering a disaster of extreme rains and flooding. Will this convince Xi to give higher priority to decarbonization? We must hope so.

• 27 July 2021 (Former NHS nurse)

  A former NHS nurse is telling people that vaccination is comparable to Nazi war crimes, and encouraging in a vague way threats against NHS staff.

  Shemirani's absurd claims are indeed reprehensible and dangerous. Not surprisingly, there are calls to criminalize them now if that has not already been done.

  However, we cannot make a free society by jailing people for expressing hostility and saying things the government designates as reprehensible and dangerous. It is not merely possible that this will lead to repression, it is virtually certain given the censorious spirit that rules in the UK. Here's an example in Fiji.

  The UK must refute Shemirani's raving falsehoods with truth, not with a gag.

• 27 July 2021 (Privatized bus lines)

  The Tories have recognized that the privatized bus lines of the UK (outside the London metropolitan area) are a useless subsidy for businesses, but their proposed solution won't change much.

• 27 July 2021 (Murder of a handcuffed prisoner)

  A former Australian soldier is on trial for the murder of a handcuffed prisoner in Afghanistan.

• 27 July 2021 (Climate pledges)

  *A record number of companies are making climate pledges, but experts warn the pace of action remains glacially slow in the face of a barreling climate crisis.*

• 27 July 2021 (Civilian casualty figures)

  *Afghanistan civilian casualty figures at record high, UN says.*

  The Taliban and PISSI are killing and wounding most of those civilians. They have been responsible for a large amount of the civilian casualties before.

• 27 July 2021 (Sh'ite militias)

  A report from Iraq claims that the Sh'ite militias are too powerful for either the Iraqi government or Iran's agent (the replacement for General Suleimani) to keep them under control.

• 27 July 2021 (Lonely with digital communication)

  Old people often felt more lonely and depressed with only digital communication with friends and family, than being entirely alone.

• 27 July 2021 (ISDS clauses)

  Oil companies are using ISDS clauses to demand huge penalties from countries that limit fossil fuel extraction.

  These treaties are not merely the enemies of democracy, they can destroy human civilization and the ecosphere. Allowing those companies to get what they demand would be worse than fighting a war to defeat them.

• 27 July 2021 (The National Security excuse)

  *End the 'National Security' Excuse for Racial and Religious Profiling.*

• 27 July 2021 (Extinction Rebellion as a threat)

  UK thugs regard Extinction Rebellion as a threat to the "UK way of life", and try asking supporters to turn informer about the group's supposed crimes. They don't seem to understand that XR is trying to stop a far bigger real threat.

• 27 July 2021 (History of FAIR)

  The History of FAIR — correcting the gaps in mainstream media.

• 27 July 2021 (Rally in Hungary)

  Tens of thousands joined a rally in Hungary to defend queer rights against Orbán's censorship law. The law ostensibly prohibits "promoting" transgenderism or homosexuality, but just talking about them or instances of them seems to be interpreted as "promoting" them.

• 27 July 2021 (Workers at the Frito-Lay plant)

  The striking workers at the Frito-Lay plant accepted a new contract offer which somewhat reduced their overtime. However, when you see that one of the things they won was a 6-day work week, it shows how far in the wrong direction US labor law has been driven in the 40 years since Reagan attacked unions.

• 27 July 2021 (Indonesia loosens Covid restrictions)

  *Indonesia loosens Covid restrictions despite record deaths.* The new case rate is supposedly falling, but that may be because they are testing fewer people.

• 27 July 2021 (Urgent: utility debts)

  US citizens: call on Congress to pay/cancel Americans' utility debts.

• 27 July 2021 (Urgent: PRO Act)

  US citizens: call on Congress to pass the PRO Act, which will protect the right to organize unions.

• 27 July 2021 (Urgent: Women's Health Protection Act)

  US citizens: call on Congress to pass the Women's Health Protection Act.

• 27 July 2021 (Analyzing bones)

  Canadians plan painstaking analysis of the bones of deceased indigenous children, buried next to the schools they were forced to attend. This could determine what killed some of them.

  Direct physical evidence of mistreatment of specific people will make it hard to disregard the horror of those schools.

• 27 July 2021 (Contact-tracing app)

  The UK uses a dumb automated contact-tracing app which tells the user to stay home for 10 days when it detects a possible contact. Just now it has told so many people to stay home that many of society's systems are failing, including trains, hospitals and food distribution.

  Contact tracing is a very important method of keeping Covid-19 in check, but it is usable only when the infection rate is low enough that the burden of isolating the contacts is bearable. The UK has too high a level of infection.

  Contact tracing in the UK never worked as well as it should have, because the Tory government applied its usual bad management and its usual corrupt contracting.

  This problem is one of many consequences of the underlying bad approach: allowing Delta to run almost unimpeded through the population by ending nearly all measures to hold it back.

• 27 July 2021 (Limits to Growth)

  A recent analysis finds the global economy following paths forecast in 1972 by The Limits to Growth.

  Resource scarcity has not been a big problem thus far, but we do face challenges in resources for making batteries. Population growth has not caused a disaster, but it is still heading for one.

• 27 July 2021 (Levelling up)

  Bogus Johnson talks about "levelling up", meaning to raise the standard of living in the poorer areas north of London, but the measures he proposes are nowhere near adequate to achieve that.

  Tories propose inadequate measures because they are not really interested in helping anyone that is poor. If Britons really want to reduce poverty in the UK, they need to make Corbyn prime minister.

• 27 July 2021 (Torture)

  A UK citizen, prisoner in Somalia, says he is being tortured with UK connivance to pressure him to work for the CIA. He says that FBI agents questioned him in the prison where he is being tortured, including by waterboarding.

  Japanese officers were executed for waterboarding US prisoners of war during World War II. I condemn the death penalty, but we must punish torture, including torture by Americans.

• 27 July 2021 (Aiming for 5C of global heating)

  China, Russia, Brazil and Australia have energy policies aiming for 5C of global heating (or more, due to possible positive feedbacks not properly modeled).

• 27 July 2021 (Urgent: end trade sanctions on Cuba)

  US citizens: call on Biden to end the trade sanctions on Cuba.

• 27 July 2021 (Urgent: Kavanaugh investigation)

  US citizens: call on the Senate to examine the FBI's sham Kavanaugh investigation.

  More information on the cover-up.

• 27 July 2021 (Wipe out of insects)

  Human activities are wiping out insects overall (with a few species, such as cockroaches and mosquitoes, as exceptions). Insects are crucial in almost all land ecosystems, so we could not even try to survive if we continue to reduce insect populations.

• 27 July 2021 (Critics for crackdown)

  Cuban socialists now criticize the state for cracking down on protests. Perhaps this offers a chance to make Cuba respect human rights while continuing to resist capitalist colonization. I hope the US will respond to this by dropping the sanctions. But if they are really driven by plutocracy, it won't be quick to drop them.

• 27 July 2021 (Political corruption and supermarket thefts)

  In Italy, local scandals about political corruption are followed by an increased rate of theft of products by customers in supermarkets.

• 27 July 2021 (Living entity status for a river)

  Canada has accorded a river the false status of "living entity".

  This concept carries a practical danger that most activists do not recognize: it will be hard to fight the idea that corporations are "persons" if we tolerate the idea that rivers are "persons."

  An ecosystem is not a person, not even an organism. It can't exercise rights, but it can be worth protecting.

  Let's put aside this absurdity. We can make laws to protect rivers, in whatever way we determine is needed, without endorsing flagrant irrationalism.

• 26 July 2021 (Standard manipulation)

  UK health minister Sajid Javid tried to use the standard Republican manipulation, "If you are scared of catching Covid-19, your a sissy. We don't need any precautions here!" But people responded with anger.

  This has to be won gradually. The bully built up his US death cult step by step, getting his followers to push each other along one step further into fanaticism, then waiting before the next step.

• 26 July 2021 (Blocking opposition candidate from running)

  Russia has blocked a popular opposition candidate from running for parliament, based on accusations that are strange and hard to believe.

• 26 July 2021 (Debating with short-termers)

  When debating with short-termers who would trade survival of civilization for more jobs this decade, it is useful to know that decarbonization would provide increased employment as well as helping civilization survive.

• 26 July 2021 (Athletes incinerated)

  (satire) *Dozens Of Athletes Incinerated After Being Attracted To Sight Of Glowing Olympic Flame.*

• 26 July 2021 (End to the standardized tests)

  Calling for an end to the standardized tests that the US requires of schools.

• 26 July 2021 (Out-organizing voter suppression)

  *150 Voting Rights Groups Warn Biden Against Attempting to 'Out-Organize Voter Suppression'.*

  Sam Barton has a valid point, but I don't think it alters what we ought to do: support the campaigns of progressive candidates. What about Biden, then? He started out more progressive than I expected, but he is too willing to throw in the towel rather than go to the mat with Manchin and Republicans.

• 26 July 2021 (Restricting emergency powers)

  Republican state legislatures want to restrict the emergency powers of state medical officials, so that they can't protect people from Covid-19 or future diseases.

  The lunatic Republican death cult has taken sickness and death as its emblem.

• 26 July 2021 (Law to imprison homosexuals)

  Ghana is considering a law to imprison homosexuals for 10 years, along with anyone who aids homosexuals or defends equal rights for them.

• 26 July 2021 (Pegasus)

  Spyware called Pegasus, sold to governments by a company called the NSO Group, cracks mobile phones to spy on their usage. Amnesty International was given access to a list of 50,000 alleged surveillance targets. Not all those numbers were in fact targeted, but many of them were. This demonstrates that Pegasus is regularly used for purposes of spying and repression.

  *At least 180 journalists in 20 countries have been targeted,* or at least are on the target list.

  Also lawyers and activists.

  Morocco considered spying on French President Macron's phone. Likewise some French ministers. One minister provided his phone for examination; it showed signs of spying.

  In India, it seems that Modi's right-wing antdemocratic party BJP used Pegasus against the Congress Party, including apparently against its leader, Rahul Gandhi. One of his supporters calls for banning Amnesty as punishment for revealing the BJP's wrongdoing. That's Modi for you.

  Speaking of Modi, there is evidence that the Emir of Dubai used Pegasus to find Princess Latifa on a boat so that Modi's soldiers could grab her.

  In Hungary, Orbán's repressive government is spying on his opponents.

  Current Mexican president AMLO says that the previous Mexican president spied on many people's phones, including perhaps AMLO's own phone.

  The country that spied on Britons seems to be the UAE.

  The NSO Group says that it tells its clients to use the spying software only against "crime and terrorism," then takes on faith that they are sticking to that rule.

  The company emphasizes that it does check not what client countries actually do with it, but we are supposed to have faith in them too.

  As we know, unjust governments often make dissent a crime, and/or call it terrorism.

  Other methods have been used for over 20 years at least to use mobile phones as listening devices.

  To put a stop to this, and other means of spying through portable phones, we need phones that are designed for real security and in which all the software is free, including the software in the modem processor.

• 26 July 2021 (Urgent: Belarus branch of PEN)

  Everyone: state your support for the Belarus branch of PEN. Lukashenko may shut it down.

• 25 July 2021 (Depraved indifference to human life)

  Republican truth haters persistently lead Americans to risk death and disablement. Are they guilty of murder by means of "depraved indifference to human life"? After checking the definition in Wikipedia, that seems plausible to me.

• 25 July 2021 (Corporate money)

  * Our entire political system is designed to let corporate money speak, through campaign contributions and corporate lobbying.* This is especially true in West Virginia, which may be why things are run so badly there and the people are so poor.

• 25 July 2021 (Polish censorship)

  The US is very much concerned about Poland's plan to suppress a TV news channel owned by Discovery Inc. The US government is more concerned about protecting US businesses' investment in Poland than about possible Polish censorship of news.

• 25 July 2021 (Reform unemployment)

  *Reform unemployment, US workers say, as Covid reveals chaotic systems.*

• 25 July 2021 (Hong Kong protesters)

  Hong Kong has sentenced people that attacked protesters in 2019 to years in prison.

  This is at least a little bit of even-handed law enforcement. However, it cannot overcome the repression.

• 25 July 2021 (Australian lobbying)

  Australian lobbying of various countries prevented UNESCO from designating the Great Barrier Reef as "endangered".

  We all know that it is endangered by CO2 emissions, both because of global heating and because of the ocean acidification caused by CO2. For UNESCO to acknowledge this would have helped the cause of curbing those emissions.

• 25 July 2021 (Inadequate proposed agreement)

  A new proposed agreement to slow the destruction and extinction of wildlife is inadequate, like the Paris agreement on climate defense, because it only calls for nonbinding targets.

  It should be noted that if we don't curb global heating, it will cause extinction of lots of species, regardless of whatever other measures we take to protect them. Ecosystems depend on relationships of species, each of which is adapted to the conditions created by the others, and to aspects of the climate (such as, the typical temperature in March). Global heating messes it all up.

• 25 July 2021 (Bust of Klan leader)

  *Bust of Klan leader is removed from Tennessee state capitol after decades.*

  It is interesting that it was installed in 1978. Like the monuments installed in the early 20th century, it celebrated slavery and racism.

• 25 July 2021 (Science and Covid-19)

  Science is the method for being rational when it is impossible to be certain. Dealing with Covid-19 is an illustration of this.

• 25 July 2021 (Lebanon's water systems)

  Lebanon's water systems will fail soon for lack of money to pay for running them.

• 25 July 2021 (Returned bones)

  A New Zealand museum has "returned" bones that were dug up in 1949. What can we say about this?

  This article pervasively uses language which treats the dead as if they were alive.

  A person who died no longer exists; what does exist are remains. The remains are not a person, not alive; things can happen to them, but they cannot actively do anything. They cannot "come home." They cannot "rest." They cannot truly be "welcomed," since that word refers to making a person aware of one's feelings towards per, and a corpse cannot be aware.

  Remains can be stolen, like any other objects that are property. Was digging up the skeletons in question really "stealing"? Were they property? I don't know the specific circumstances, so I have no opinion.

  I disapprove of fetishizing corpses, regardless of which ethnic group they are from. Nothing matters to a dead person. The only valid reasons to care what happens to a corpse are (1) what science can learn from studying it and (2) to cater to living people's feelings about it.

  Which of those concerns is more important in any given case depends on details. The article does not give those details, so I have no opinion. I do see that the article aims to inculcate the assumption that (2) is the only possible concern.

• 25 July 2021 (Infrastructure privatization)

  *Mystery Group Promoting Infrastructure Privatization Boosted by Toll Road Lobbyists.*

  "Public-private partnerships" generally indicates corruption — it means that the government helps put a company in a position to squeeze the public.

• 25 July 2021 (Cooling Athens)

  Athens will look for measures to make the city a little cooler.

  This is short-term palliative treatment for global heating. What the world needs is a long-term cure.

• 25 July 2021 (Death penalty)

  Sierra Leone has abolished the death penalty.

• 25 July 2021 (End to the Olympic games)

  Calling for an end to the Olympic games.

  All the supposed social benefits offered as reasons to hold them — local economic growth, better physical fitness, convincing repressive host governments to allow freedom — have proved to be false promises. What the games really do is hurt local poor people and boost repressive "security".

  I've long urged people to campaign to defeat their city's bid to hold the games. To end them completely would be a full solution for this problem.

  (satire) *Opening Ceremony Depicts Olympics’ Time-Honored Tradition Of Destroying Local Communities.*

• 25 July 2021 (Simon Akam's book)

  After Simon Akam wrote the history book he had contracted to write, about the British Army in Afghanistan and Iraq, Penguin Random House demanded he let his sources and the British government revise it. Then it broke the contract and demanded he pay to be allowed to publish elsewhere.

• 25 July 2021 (Oceanic wind farms)

  Fishermen assume, without evidence, that oceanic wind farms will reduce the amount of fish that they can catch. One way or another, it has to screw them, they believe.

  It might have the opposite effect. In general, protected marine areas increase the fish population, Some of the fish move from the protected areas to other areas where fishing is allowed. The result is to increase the total catch that is sustainably possible.

  If the effect of wind farms is to protect areas from fishing, it might have this same beneficial effect on total fishing.

  Anyway, fishermen are comparing against an fictitious future in which global heating does not occur. Continued global heating will devastate the ocean, and it could destroy technological civilization. The remaining fishermen might have to carve canoes out of trees, if they can find any trees left standing.

• 25 July 2021 (Line 3 protesters)

  Line 3 protesters got a court to order the county sheriff's thugs to stop blocking entrance into their land.

  This was the right thing for the court to do, but it is not enough. When uniformed thugs intentionally harass people for their lawful political activities, that calls for more than just ordering them to stop. It requires a punishment stiff enough to make sure they never do it again.

• 25 July 2021 (US evictions)

  6 million US households are likely to face eviction at the end of this month unless Biden extends the protection against eviction.

• 25 July 2021 ((satire) NASA returns to home planet)

  (satire) *NASA Returns To Home Planet After Completing Mission On Earth.*

• 25 July 2021 ((satire) January 6 committee)

  (satire) *Bat-Wielding Jim Jordan Bursts Through Capitol Window Demanding To Be Allowed Onto January 6 Committee.*

• 25 July 2021 (Low-paid workers)

  Republican states are rushing to end the boost in unemployment payments, claiming that this would pressure low-paid workers to rush back to low-paid jobs. It did not have that effect.

• 25 July 2021 (Water theft)

  *Marijuana farmers blamed for water theft as drought grips American west.*

  I wonder what fraction of total water use this amounts to. Is it enough to be a significant factor in the shortage? It seems to amount to be around 1.5 billion gallons per year. What is California's total water usage per year?

  Theft might cause a real problem to specific houses which had water stolen under their own accounts.

• 25 July 2021 (No safe place to move)

  Naomi Klein: billionaires still think they can move to escape global heating effects, but most people in wealthy countries are starting to realize there is no safe place to move to.

• 25 July 2021 (Urgent: Senator Sinema)

  US citizens: call on Senator Sinema to meet with the Texas Democrats.

• 25 July 2021 (New budget to make Americans less poor)

  Bernie Sanders explains how the new budget will make most Americans less poor.

• 25 July 2021 (Advice to vaccinated people)

  MIT's advice to vaccinated people about dealing with the Delta variant.

• 25 July 2021 (Sanctions on some Cuban officials)

  Biden imposed sanctions on some Cuban officials involved in repressing protests.

  These sanctions are acceptable. The US should relax the old sanctions that cause the suffering that Cubans are protesting against, and replace them with these and other new sanctions that hardly affect anyone but the elite.

• 25 July 2021 (Bullying Chinese expats)

  The US has charged a Chinese official (and some hired Americans) of working to bully Chinese expats to go to China to face prosecution.

• 25 July 2021 (Mexican former high official)

  Mexico wants Israel to extradite a former high official accused of corruption and undermining the investigation of the kidnaping and murder of 43 students. But Israel may be being uncooperative to punish Mexico for supporting Palestinians' rights.

• 25 July 2021 (Renewable electric generation in Japan)

  Japan has pledged to move rapidly to renewable electric generation. Now Australia will find its coal and gas export markets disappearing.

  Hooray! Australia's truth-despising planet-roaster government deserves this slap in the face. It deserves three more slaps in the face, for (1) unending imprisonment of thousands of boat people without trial, (2) prosecuting whistleblowers, and (3) threatening to imprison free software developers who don't add back doors on command.

• 25 July 2021 (Investigation of Brett Kavanaugh)

  * A group of US Democratic senators on Thursday said that newly released materials show the FBI failed to fully investigate sexual misconduct allegations against US supreme court Justice Brett Kavanaugh when he was nominated to the court in 2018.*

• 25 July 2021 (Journalists face surveillance)

  Investigative journalists now face high-tech surveillance carried out by teams that combine multiple methods, including spying on smartphones.

• 25 July 2021 (Tax raids)

  *Tax raids target Indian paper that criticised government over Covid.*

  President Nixon made an "enemies' list" and ordered the IRS to investigate the people on it. This seems like similar corruption on Modi's part; but it is no surprise, since he has already done much worse things, including putting a whole state under martial law and preparing to exile Muslims without proper papers.

• 25 July 2021 (Venezuelan government representative)

  The US demands extradition of a Venezuelan government representative to Iran, who was arrested in Cape Verde when his plane was refueling there.

  His "crime" was arranging trade between Venezuela and Iran.

  The US can make rules about its own trade with other countries, but it cannot legitimately have jurisdiction over dealings between two other countries.

• 25 July 2021 (Tigray's army)

  Tigray's militia/army, the TPLF, is attacking neighboring regions of Ethiopia and trying to conquer disputed territory.

  I am astonished by Tigray's military successes in fighting against so many enemies. I wonder if there is an explanation. Could it be that Sudan is supporting them? Sudan (along with Egypt) has a big dispute with Ethiopia about use of water from the Nile. This is speculation, a shot in the dark, but I wonder if anyone knows.

• 25 July 2021 (US medical coverage)

  1/6 of American workers are stuck in a job and can't leave it because they would lose their medical coverage. Others are stuck in a marriage that for the same reason they can't leave.

  We need a national medical system that covers everyone and is not tied to employment or family.

• 25 July 2021 (Battleground for elites)

  Haiti is a battleground between powerful elites, and the killing of President Moise was an example of how they contend for power. That is all we actually know — details such as who was fighting whom over what remain a mystery for now.

• 25 July 2021 (Bogus Johnson's promises)

  Bogus Johnson claimed he could magically satisfy conflicting goals at once, regarding Northern Ireland's trade. He promised the EU frictionless trade with Northern Ireland. He promised Northern Ireland unionists frictionless trade between Northern Ireland and Britain. He promised his British supporters not to have frictionless trade between Britain and the EU. There is no way to keep all three promises.

• 25 July 2021 (Omitting Republican saboteurs)

  Pelosi's decision not to include Republican saboteurs in the Jan 6 Capitol attack investigation means the committee can actually try to do its job.

  It was very important to deal Team Sabotage a visible defeat.

• 25 July 2021 (Road collision injuries)

  Low traffic neighborhoods in London cut the rate of road collision injuries in half.

• 25 July 2021 (Flooding in China)

  Extreme rain is causing flooding in more areas of China. I hope this wakes up the Chinese government to the urgency of curbing global heating. China is only starting to slow its increase in greenhouse emissions, and it will suffer greatly if the world does not unite to lower emissions and quickly.

• 25 July 2021 (North Sea oilfield exploration)

  *UK faces legal action over North Sea oilfield exploration plans. Greenpeace threatens to take government to court as approval risk[s] undermining climate targets.*

• 25 July 2021 (Carbon offset trees)

  The large "Bootleg" fire in Oregon has burned 90,000 acres of trees that were sold as a carbon offset. The assumption was that they would keep growing and keep on taking CO2 out of the air. However, all the carbon in those trees has been converted back to CO2.

  I've warned since 2007 that this is a risky assumption in a world of global heating.

  *Airlines need to do more than plant trees to hit net zero, MPs told.*

• 25 July 2021 (Manufacture of Covid-19 vaccines)

  The opposition to freeing the manufacture of Covid-19 vaccines is now coming mainly from Germany, the United Kingdom, and Canada.

  The vaccine waiver is vitally necessary, but what we really need is much more. The TRIPES agreement (Trade-Restricting Impediments to Production, Education and Science) was designed to elevate business over people; it is an implementation of trickle-down. We should get rid of it.

• 25 July 2021 (Israel's colonies in Palestinian territory)

  Arguing that Israel's colonies in Palestinian territory are a war crime in and of themselves.

  They also act as bases for more specific war crimes against Palestinians.

• 25 July 2021 (Big banks' computers)

  Large banks are abandoning their own computer systems and switching to Big Tech's servers. That could be asking for trouble.

  The article uses the nebulous term "the cloud", so it does not distinguish between renting virtual servers and running the bank's own choice of software on them, and using Google services. However, the former gives a bank the option of having control over the software it runs, while the latter does not.

• 23 July 2021 (New repressive president)

  Tanzania's new president is as repressive as the old one.

• 23 July 2021 (Workplace injuries caused by heat)

  *US workplace injuries caused by heat severely undercounted, study shows.*

  The study says they may be undercounted by more than a factor of 100.

• 23 July 2021 (From ecologist to coroner)

  *Top US scientist on melting glaciers: ‘I've gone from being an ecologist to a coroner’.*

• 23 July 2021 (Small dairy farms can't survive)

  Small dairy farms in Wisconsin can no longer survive — a few large farms are taking over.

  The large farms seem to be more efficient, if you don't count finding some way to support all the unemployed ex-farmers. I fear they will be dumped on America's human trash heap.

• 23 July 2021 (Investigation on attack on the Capitol)

  The committee to investigate the attack on the Capitol will investigate the actions of the House minority leader and the wrecker, who participated in instigating the attack.

• 23 July 2021 (Who does it serve?)

  Behrouz Boochani: who are the interests that profit by Australia's keeping boat people in prison forever without trial?

• 23 July 2021 (Fracking and PFAs)

  Fracking injects nonbiodegradable toxins (PFAs). No wonder frackers worked so hard to protect their supposed "right" to conceal these "trade secrets".

  Businesses have many reasons to want to keep secrets about their actions, but what they want is less important than what the public needs. We should never hesitate to force exposure of their secrets when there is a public need to do so, and we should reject their demands to "compensate" them for the public's investigations.

• 23 July 2021 (Gig workers on strike)

  Gig workers in many US cities went on strike on July 21.

• 23 July 2021 (Illegal raid)

  *Secret NYPD Document Teaches Cops to Illegally Raid Sealed Records.*

• 23 July 2021 (Deploying troops without authorization)

  A bill introduced in the Senate would tighten restrictions on fighting and deploying troops without specific congressional authorization. It would also cancel all existing congressional authorization for combat.

• 23 July 2021 (Extreme weather and global heating)

  Explaining some of the extreme weather that global heating is starting to cause.

• 23 July 2021 (Plan for study Covid-19 origin)

  *China rejects WHO plan for study of COVID-19 origin.*

• 23 July 2021 (Deadly coral disease)

  *Deadly coral disease sweeping Caribbean linked to wastewater from ships.*

• 23 July 2021 (Climate vulnerability)

  *From China to Germany, floods expose climate vulnerability.*

  *After Covid, the climate crisis will be the next thing the right says we "just have to live with".*

• 23 July 2021 (Modi and farmers)

  Indian farmers continue protesting Modi's laws that give big companies more clout over ordinary farmers.

  This shows who Modi is really working for.

• 22 July 2021 (Urgent: Make expanded child tax credit permanent)

  US citizens: call on Congress to make the expanded child tax credit permanent.

  The Capitol Switchboard number is 202-224-3121.

  If you call, please spread the word!

• 22 July 2021 (Urgent: American Dream and Promise Act)

  US citizens: call on the Senate to vote on the American Dream and Promise Act of 2021.

  The Capitol Switchboard number is 202-224-3121.

  If you call, please spread the word!

• 22 July 2021 (Limiting social contact)

  The consequences of limiting social contact and travel are not worse than letting Covid-19 spread.

• 22 July 2021 (Lithuania "representative office" in Taiwan)

  Lithuania is resisting Chinese pressure and opening a "representative office" in Taiwan.

• 22 July 2021 (Pandemic response strategies)

  A taxonomy of possible pandemic response strategies. Exclusion (when possible) and eradication generally give the best results, both in terms of the fewest deaths, the fewest people with disabilities, and the least harm to the economy.

  Suppression (try to keep the number of cases down) and mitigation ("flatten the peak" so hospitals don't get full) lead to more harm of every sort.

• 22 July 2021 (Major deadly problems)

  Ralph Nader presents a list of major, deadly problems which the US government should have addressed decades ago, but interested businesses blocked action until the present.

• 22 July 2021 (Mobile advertising ID)

  Each "smart"phone (for "smart" read "spy") has a unique "mobile advertising ID" number which supposedly makes it possible for surveillance capitalism to profile the user without knowing per identity. It sounds nice, but businesses that link that ID to the user's name and address etc. are in use on an industrial scale.

  Given the powerful incentives to make nonfree apps malware, and make online services into dis-services, I think schemes like this are unlikely even to be effective.

  I advocate going back to the World Wide Web of 2000, in which users sent a web site only the limited data they actually wanted to send.

• 22 July 2021 ((satire) Long-term effects of vaccine)

  (satire) *Hesitant Man Just Waiting To Observe Long-Term Effects Of Vaccine Over Next Several Eons.*

• 22 July 2021 (Abusive conservatorships)

  Congress is trying to help people escape from abusive conservatorships that have been imposed on them by states.

  I have not followed the Britney Spears case, but I think these reforms are good changes. They, and can help protect people from abuse by heir conservators, and I don't see that they are likely to do facilitate any sort of wrong.

• 22 July 2021 ((satire) Oregon fire)

  (satire) *FBI Warns Oregon Fire Had Been Plotting Violent Takeover Of State For Years.*

• 22 July 2021 (TikTok and Youtube)

  TikTok and Youtube have collected data about users, including users that are children, and used it for abusive purposes such as to figure out how to get them hooked. Maybe they still do.

  In my view, we should not allow online dis-services to do this to children. Or to adolescents. Or to adults. Respecting users' privacy and well-being should not end when the user gets to be 13 years old.

• 22 July 2021 (Not applicable to Assange)

  *Critics Note Blinken's Vow to Support 'Independent Journalists' Does Not Apply to Julian Assange.*

• 22 July 2021 (Economic domination)

  Biden's "Plan for Security and Prosperity in Central America" turns out to be more of the same old same old: economic domination with military backup.

• 22 July 2021 (Decriminalized abortion)

  Four Mexican states have now decriminalized abortion.

  If Mexican states on the US border legalize abortion, they could provide abortions to women fleeing oppression in Texas.

• 22 July 2021 (Labour safe space)

  Labour has plans to become a "safe space" for "all its members", by expelling certain leftist groups of members. Surely it is not a coincidence that these groups organized to support or defend Jeremy Corbyn.

• 22 July 2021 (Wildfires poisoning air)

  West coast wildfires are poisoning the air over New York City and other east coast cities.

• 22 July 2021 (Lawyer in Alaska)

  A lawyer working for Alaska's department of law anonymously advocated violence and repression against Black Lives Matter protesters and others on the left.

  Under the constitution, he has the right to advocate such views, but they make him unfit for his job.

• 22 July 2021 (Nord Strea 2 gas pipeline)

  A disappointing outcome regarding the Nord Strea 2 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany: Ukraine will be protected from Russian pressure, but Europe will increase its dependence on Russian gas — and, even worse, extend its overall dependence on fossil fuel.

  In every decision about use or non-use of fossil fuel, reducing that dependence should be the primary consideration.

• 22 July 2021 (Covid-19 antibodies)

  *Covid-19 antibodies detected in 67% of India’s population.*

  It looks like most people have already caught it. The total deaths are estimated at 3.5 to 5 million. If it spreads to the rest, that could mean 2 million more deaths.

• 22 July 2021 (Planning acts of journalism)

  The UK government's general repression bill proposes to make reporting on whistleblowing a crime, and give officials the power to impose arbitrary restrictions on individuals suspected of planning acts of journalism.

• 22 July 2021 (Sea-level rise and mortgages)

  Banks are only just waking up to the need to consider sea-level rise when deciding about making mortgages.

• 22 July 2021 (Urgent: kill Hyde amendment)

  US citizens: call on your congresscritter to kill the Hyde amendment which limits federal funding for abortion.

  Here's the text I used:

  I am writing as your constituent to tell you that I support ending the Hyde Amendment and all legal impediments to abortion.

  Abortion is basic health care, and no person should be denied access because of where perse lives, how much money perse makes, or anything about per medical insurance.

  Therefore, I support ending all barriers to abortion, including the Hyde amendment. Ideally all medical plans should be required to cover 100% of the cost of an abortion. The usual argument that patients should pay a copay so they have "skin in the game" does not apply to abortion.

• 22 July 2021 (Jailing of opposition activists)

  Uganda jailed activists that worked for the opposition presidential candidate.

• 22 July 2021 (Not trading human rights for climate action)

  *Climate envoy John Kerry has rejected notion that Beijing could buy US silence on human rights as price of cooperation on climate.*

  I think that is proper.

• 22 July 2021 (Ringleaders still running)

  Haiti's elections minister says that the two suspects accused of organizing the murder of President Moise were probably not the ringleaders of the plot. He did not speculate about who the ringleaders might be.

  As for whether those two suspects were actually involved in the plot, I have seen no information shedding light on that.

• 22 July 2021 (Defending fossil fuels)

  G20 countries provided 3 trillion dollars of subsidy to fossil fuels since 2015 despite their stated intention to defend the climate.

  Perhaps directed that intention into preparation of targets for 2050, so far in the future that it is purely an excuse. We need action, not targets.

• 22 July 2021 (Exploiting prisoners)

  US employers want to use prisoners and pay them a pittance rather than give their employees a raise.

• 22 July 2021 (Acknowledgment of Covid-19 deaths)

  India officially acknowledges 400 thousand deaths from Covid-19, but the actual number could be as high as 5 million.

  Governments that don't respect truth feel a temptation to minimize the extent of death and sickness that Covid-19 causes. Republicans are the ultimate truth-disrespecters in the US, and indeed Florida officials understated the casualties in 2020.

• 22 July 2021 (Refugees on hunger strike)

  Hundreds of refugees in Brussels have been on hunger strike for two months, demanding permission to live in Belgium.

• 22 July 2021 (Manchin's profits with fossil fuels)

  Manchin's profits with fossil fuels go beyond the usual (stock, campaign support). He owns a coal company and gets $500k per year from it.

  This shows why Manchin is so determined to sabotage the survival of civilization. Unfortunately it does not show us a way to overcome his opposition.

• 22 July 2021 (Global shipping)

  Global shipping has no way of changing crews in East Asia. Crew find them stuck on ships for too long, with no way to go home; so they are thinking of quitting that work. This could cause a crisis for shipping.

• 22 July 2021 (Wasted war)

  US veterans of the war in Afghanistan are becoming aware that fighting there was a waste.

  The war Afghanistan is unwinnable, but that was not clear at the start. Most of Afghanistan rejected the Taliban immediately in 2001 and allied with the US. But it morphed into an unwinnable war over the next few years as the Taliban regrouped. The Afghans that supported the national government were not motivated to fight to win as the Taliban were. Given that situation, the Taliban were sure to win eventually unless they ran into some unforeseeable problem.

  It was visible by 2006 that the war was going badly. A few years later there it was clear that victory was impossible. Why did the US deny the situation and waste more American and Afghan lives?

  It is always hard to accept defeat; in the US government, which believes itself unbeatable, it is hard to acknowledge that defeat has happened.

  Then there is the bizarre idea that American soldiers' lives lost were not wasted as long as American soldiers continue being killed ineffectively in the same war.

• 22 July 2021 (Fisheries in danger)

  Climate mayhem includes putting fisheries in danger. Many fish won't be able to thrive because global heating effects will disrupt the food they eat.

• 22 July 2021 (Illegal campaign contributions)

  Accusing ALEC of illegal campaign contributions.

• 21 July 2021 (Raising tax on the poor)

  Tories dislike raising taxes on the rich, so they propose to raise taxes on the poor instead.

• 21 July 2021 (Educating public about mass murder)

  Spain is planning to do more to educate the public about the former dictator Franco's mass murder.

  The rebellious military, led by Franco, executed some 100,000 to 200,000 people during and in the years after the civil war, which the military won in 1939.

  Right-wing extremists such as the Vox party thrive on fake history. This law may weaken them.

• 21 July 2021 (Large wildfires)

  Large wildfires in Siberia are generating smoke full of toxic pollution. People in Yakutsk have been warned to stay indoors.

  I am no expert, but I'll make a rough guess than 3,000 to 10,000 people in Yakutsk (of the 320,000 inhabitants) will die eventually from this summer's smoke.

• 21 July 2021 (Revised version of tax plan)

  Colombia is considering a revised version of the tax plan that inspired the protests.

  Some bad aspects have been removed. I am interested in seeing the complaints against the revised version.

• 21 July 2021 (Baseless claims of voter fraud)

  Keiko Fujimori, of the Fujimori conservative/corruption political dynasty, has conceded defeat in the presidential race. Authorities refused to accept her baseless claims of voter fraud.

  However, she plans to continue gnawing away at democracy by insisting on those baseless claims. That is really dangerous, as by constantly repeating their lies, they do convince more people to believe them.

  Perhaps President Castillo can damage her by pointing out her resemblance to antitruth US Republicans.

• 21 July 2021 (Facebook and misinformation)

  Biden said that Facebook was killing people with misinformation, but now he says he didn't mean for Facebook to "take it personally."

  It's true that Facebook does not originate the disinformation. What Facebook does is tune its algorithms so that many useds see the disinformation after the 12 originators post it.

  Facebook can't take anything personally, since it is not a person. A corporation is not a person, whatever the right-wing Supreme Court may say.

  But since it is clear that Facebook is controlled personally by Zuckerberg, we could say that Zuckerberg is personally responsible for the decision to boost that disinformation. Zuckerberg ought to take it personally.

• 21 July 2021 (Ben, Jerry and colonization)

  Ben & Jerry's announced plans to stop the sale of its ice cream in Israel's colonies in Palestinian territory.

  Most Israelis favor colonization and many will boycott Ben & Jerry's if it continues to sell in Israel but not Israel's occupation colonies. Israel's new prime minister, a right-wing extremist, has threatened retribution for this.

  I don't think the direction of Ben & Jerry's will be intimidated. However, it is now owned by Unilever. I hope that conglomerate does not impose a "profit über alles" mindset.

  Ben & Jerry's will continue to be sold in the colonies until the present license terminates.

• 21 July 2021 (Promoting thinness)

  Instagram intensely promotes thinness to teens that bring it up in conversations.

• 21 July 2021 (Reasons to oppose Covid-19 measures)

  Bogus Johnson's scorned ex-favorite, Cummings, said that Johnson opposed measures to reduce spread of Covid-19 a year ago because "the people who are dying are essentially all over 80."

  There are situations where you can't save everyone and it is inevitable to prioritize who to save. We have seen some such situations during the pandemic, such as when hospitals did not have capacity to treat everyone who was gravely ill. But Johnson gives nearly everyone's life too little priority.

  An NHS hospital doctor reproaches Bogus Johnson and the British government for shirking responsibility now to protect Britons from Covid.

• 21 July 2021 (Privatizing drugs from public funds)

  Doctors Without Borders has campaigned effectively to influence Canada to stop letting Pharma companies privatize drugs developed with public research funds.

  The campaign is very good, but ought to go further. Canada ought to take the control of studies that test the effects of medicines away from the Pharma companies, and run them with public funding under public control — and tax the companies to pay for them.

  A blemish in the article is that it uses the propaganda term "intellectual property," which opposes the goal and spreads confusion. Please help end the confusion by refusing to use that term.

• 21 July 2021 (New version of the Wi-Fi standard)

  A new version of the Wi-Fi standard, 802.11bf, is planned to standardize their use as spy devices to track people's movements through walls. The designers have reportedly not yet turned their minds to the questions of "privacy and security" for this capability.

  When they do, if they follow the usual bad conceptions, they will interpret "privacy" as "protecting the collected data from use unauthorized by the business that controls them", and "security" as meaning "security against third parties, not against the manufacturer or ISP."

  And if they implement any way to turn this capability off, I fear that it will be under software control — and that it will be an excuse to to require nonfree software in every Wi-Fi interface, just where you really shouldn't trust it.

  What the standard needs is a way to build Wi-Fi interface hardware that is hardware-limited to communication and can't do any tracking. Every ordinary Wi-Fi device should be hardware-limited to communication.

  The devices that are not hardware-limited to communication should be special models, which you won't have in your house unless you know that's what you want. They should not do any communication themselves. That way, if you do have one, you'll be able to control who it communicates with.

  It would be good to require these devices to have a geofence: no tracking anything outside of a certain boundary. It should be legally required for the installer of such a device to configure the geofence at the boundary of your own apartment. Installing them such that they can track outside of a private place should be a crime as well.

  Or perhaps it would be better not to approve this standard and not make such tracker devices.

• 21 July 2021 (Imprisonment of journalists)

  Morocco is imprisoning journalists based arbitrary accusations.

  "Sexual assault" is so vague that it makes no sense as a charge. Because of that term, we can't whether these journalists were accused of a grave crime or a minor one. However, the charge of espionage shows this is political persecution.

• 21 July 2021 (Privatization of bus service)

  An investigation reports that privatization of UK bus service (outside London) was a disaster and left many people cut off from work, school, and medical care.

  Privatizing public services generally makes them worse, but this case seems to have been a real doozie.

• 21 July 2021 (Freedom day for Covid-19)

  Bogus Johnson has proclaimed "freedom day", on which he gave Covid-19 freedom to spread unrestrained among the unvaccinated people of Britain. And occasionally infect the vaccinated as well.

  The hospitals are already filling up, while a badly designed automatic contact tracing system almost randomly orders the NHS staff to self-isolate. Johnson's solution to that is to order the staff to keep it secret.

  Johnson and another minister were told to self-isolate at just the most inconvenient time, so they said they didn't have to do that because they were part of a "pilot study". It appears that they invented this on the spur of the moment, because they had not worked out the full story. So they dropped it and actually did self-isolate. One small victory for practicing what you preach.

  One small bit of sense: only fully vaccinated people will be allowed into nightclubs. They should make some sort of exception for the few who can't be vaccinated for medical reasons.

• 20 July 2021 (Urgent: Ban autonomous killer robots)

  US citizens: call on Biden to ban autonomous killer robots.

  The White House comments line is 202-456-1111.

  If you call, please spread the word!

• 20 July 2021 (Urgent: Reject big oil's ad campaigns)

  Everyone: call on social media CEOs to reject Big Oil's ad campaigns.

• 20 July 2021 (Nondemocratic rule)

  Foreign powers have chosen Haiti's new prime minister. This continues decades of nondemocratic rule imposed from outside.

• 20 July 2021 (Republicans do not support needy families)

  *Republicans, so called party of family values, do not support needy families.*

  This has been true since the 1960s; back then, the Democratic Party was the party of Liberals, who supported the same causes that Progressives support today, and the Republican Party opposed them (but did not oppose environmental protection and abortion rights the way it does today).

• 20 July 2021 (Accusations of spying)

  Various countries have accused China of utilizing a bug in nonfree software, specifically Microsoft Exchange, to spy on email of many companies and organizations.

  The problem with these accusations is that they don't show us the reported proof, so we can only take the claim on faith (or not). I see no reason to doubt that China would engage in such digital spying, nor the US, the UK, or Australia.

  The article spreads confusion by referring to "intellectual property." From the context, I know it must refer to trade secrets, because nothing else makes sense — but most people don't know that it can't refer to copyrights, patents, trademarks, geographical product names, or any others of the long list of disparate laws that the term refers to. Most people confuse these things with each other, and "intellectual property" encourages that confusion.

  Please join me in shunning that term.

• 20 July 2021 (Guantanamo prisoner freed)

  One more prisoner in Guantanamo has been freed. That is 2.5% of the way to closing the prison. However, Biden still has no plan for how to finish the job or to put an end to the injustice of imprisonment without trial.

  The US should never have taken prisoners of war out of Afghanistan. If it called someone a criminal it should have given per a fair trial.

• 20 July 2021 (Blocking climate defense)

  Some major oil companies say they now recognize the danger of global heating and aim to move to renewable energy — while continuing to donate millions to the American Petroleum Institute, which uses the funds to block government action for climate defense.

  When companies say they support climate defense, we should challenge them to publish the list of their donations.

• 20 July 2021 (Damage from corruption of laws)

  After several decades of letting rich people and rich businesses corrupt our laws, look at the damage they have done.

• 20 July 2021 (Ruling elites)

  Arguing that Haiti is trapped in a web of ruling elites that are dependent on foreign support and foreign aid money.

• 20 July 2021 (Kurdish women taking up arms)

  *Came to fight, stayed for the freedom: why more Kurdish women are taking up arms.*

• 20 July 2021 (New Zealand farmers)

  *New Zealand farmers’ demands are unrealistic — but they are suffering and deserve support.*

  I suspect that planet-roaster companies have funded efforts to to mislead the farmers and use them.

  Reducing the use of plastic is important, but it is difficult for individuals to do this if what they eat comes packaged in plastic. The government can achieve this by requiring companies to change how they package those foods.

  I don't agree with veganism, but I enjoy eating vegetables.

• 20 July 2021 (Wi spa)

  Right-wing bullies attacked Wi Spa in Los Angeles for accepting trans-women in the women's section. Counterprotesters came to support the business. The bullies attacked the counterprotesters, and then the uniformed thugs did too.

  The right-wingers are displaying their usual contempt for truth and honesty, because they are only pretending to care about women's rights as an excuse to attack.

• 20 July 2021 (Records and testimony from reporters)

  *The Department of Justice … formally adopted policies sharply restricting the instances in which prosecutors can seek records or testimony from reporters.*

  This is the right thing to do, but the next president could revert the change. It needs to be a law rather than a policy.

• 20 July 2021 (Media on Cuba)

  Mainstream media have exaggerated the protests in Cuba while downplaying the contribution of US sanctions to Cuba's problems.

  Cuba represses dissent. It punished dissident Oswaldo Payá by putting him into a menial job and harassing him; it punished some of his supporters with prison. Some years later, the government arranged to kill him. But Payá did not want to hand Cuba over to the empire of multinational business. I expect that that's what the US government aims for with its sanctions.

• 20 July 2021 (Cost of food in the US)

  Counting the cost of environmental damage (including global heating) and the medical harm to the people that produce the food and eat the food, food in the US costs three times what we actually pay for it.

  If this were simply a matter of having the state pay part of the cost rather than individual consumers, that might not be a bad thing. But these costs are not mere money. They are damage that we can't sustain.

• 20 July 2021 (Tattoo propaganda)

  Here's some propaganda intended to convince you that having a tattoo that is a copy is theft and you should be terribly ashamed of it.

  You can tell it is propaganda from its use of the propaganda term "IP". That is a bogus concept that spreads confusion whenever it is used. Copyright really exists, but "IP" does not.

  Having a copied a tattoo is no more shameful than having a copied book, video or music recording. Copying is not theft!

  I can't understand how anyone could do something so rash as to get a tattoo. Don't you understand your tastes will be different a few years from now? If you like a design, put it on paper, not on your skin.

• 20 July 2021 (US sanctions)

  US sanctions' real effect on a country tends to be harsher than the nominal rules. Sanctions on Cuba permit delivery of medicine, but DHL returned a delivery of insulin citing "US sanctions."

  US sanctions on Iraq, before 2003, caused a shortage of medicine there, even though nominally medicine was permitted. I think sanctions blocked Iraq from paying for medicine.

• 20 July 2021 (Crack down on tax dodging)

  * Following the leak of IRS documents that shed additional light on the prevalence of tax dodging among the wealthiest Americans, a group of House Democrats on Thursday said President Joe Biden must swiftly appoint a new Assistant Attorney General for the Tax Division if he hopes to crack down on unlawful evasion tactics.*

• 20 July 2021 (Death cult)

  The Republican death cult is killing Americans — its believers, and people who come in contact with them. It is doing its best to endanger anyone it can.

• 20 July 2021 (Ban on oil extraction)

  Greenland has banned oil extraction, and preparatory exploration for oil extraction, for the sake of stabilizing Earth's climate. It has also banned uranium mining.

  Let this be an example that all countries follow.

• 20 July 2021 (Minority rule)

  Minority rule is built into the governmental structure of the US at every level. Republican efforts exacerbate the imbalance, but they start with what is naturally there.

  I disagree with one secondary point in the article. I reject the idea that it matters what fraction of the GDP is produced in the areas that voted for any particular county. Deciding by a majority of the GDP would not be democratic nor legitimate.

• 20 July 2021 (Outdoor running experience)

  (satire) *NordicTrack Recreates Outdoor Running Experience With Treadmill Covered In Dog Shit.*

• 20 July 2021 (Rioting)

  South Africa has accused individuals of instigating rioting in response to the imprisonment of former president Zuma for corruption.

  Zuma's corruption was well known, but he was backed by a large party of supporters who excused his corruption and are willing to defend him with violence. I fear that supporters of the wrecker would do likewise if he is sentenced to prison. But we must not let that intimidate us, for then he would be truly above the law.

• 20 July 2021 (Thugs abuse)

  UK plainclothes thugs used lying to get into Katie McGoran's bedroom. They did not give her a chance to put on clothes before they handcuffed her for 20 minutes.

  Circumstances suggest that the motive for this was to punish her unofficially for having been at a protest.

  The thug department said, in effect, "We're sorry it made you feel bad, but we would do it again."

• 20 July 2021 (Insurance companies and climate mayhem)

  US insurance companies have not grasped how climate mayhem will affect their insurance payouts. It is important for them to learn this, so that they can take the selfish steps that will discourage misguided projects that are likely to be greatly damaged by climate mayhem or exacerbate it.

• 20 July 2021 (Mysterious absence)

  The partisan "audit" of ballots cast in Maricopa County, Arizona, has generated a bogus appearance of irregularity by lumping in early voting ballots with mail-in ballots. The list of people who were mail-in ballots does not include the early voting ballots, and this has been cast as a "mysterious absence".

  This supposed discrepancy is an example of how Republicans leap from one falsehood to the next falsehood. When enough truth-despising Republicans repeat the falsehood, other people can be swayed by the sheer number of people and web sites repeating it as the truth, and Republican officials can use that as the basis to draw false conclusions officially.

• 20 July 2021 (Picketing trans-friendly spa)

  Right-wing extremists are picketing a trans-friendly spa, claiming to be concerned about customers that might be in danger from trans-women.

  Since they are right-wing, they don't feel sincere concern for women's rights. Their "concern" is bogus, dishonest.

  Thus, instead of letting them make their falsified concern be the issue, we should make their dishonesty the issue.

• 20 July 2021 (Forgetting torture)

  Turkey plans to encourage the torture of Kurds to be forgotten by converting Military prison 5 in Diyarbakır into a "cultural center".

• 20 July 2021 (An Ugly Truth)

  An Ugly Truth is a book about Facebook's wrongdoing, written by award-winning journalists.

  *The problem of Facebook is Zuckerberg. And the question posed by this splendid book is: what are we going to do about him?*

  The first step is, don't be a zucker — don't be a used of Facebook. Your doing this will not eradicate Facebook, but it will exert one person's worth of influence against its power, and it won't take much work.

  If you are in an organization that insists on having a "Facebook presence", you could exert a little more anti-Facebook influence by suggesting that the organization use that only as a way for people to find it and make initial contact.

• 20 July 2021 (Food sold)

  Almost all food in the US is sold by a few giant companies.

• 20 July 2021 (Covid misinformation)

  *Majority of Covid misinformation came from 12 people, report finds.*

• 20 July 2021 (Spread of Humanism)

  About the spread of Humanism in Australia.

• 19 July 2021 (Urgent: Algorithmic Justice and Online Platform Transparency Act)

  US citizens: call on your congresscritter and senators to co-sponsor the Algorithmic Justice and Online Platform Transparency Act.

  The Capitol Switchboard number is 202-224-3121.

  If you call, please spread the word!

• 19 July 2021 (Urgent: Infrastructure plan)

  US citizens: call on Schumer not to make the plutocratist "bipartisan" infrastructure plan even worse.

• 19 July 2021 (Less respect)

  *Police officers speak to Black drivers with less respect than White drivers, study finds.*

  The difference was in the thugs' tone of voice; people who evaluated the audio recordings, who didn't know the race of the driver, could hear it.

• 19 July 2021 (China is inserting brainwashing)

  Chairman Xi has made the Chinese too scared to disagree with him, but is still not satisfied. So now China is inserting brainwashing into everyone's daily life, at home and at work.

  I expect this effort to convert Chinese into Xi-ple to weaken China, making it rigid and irrational internally, and more offputting to foreigners. It won't be necessary to cite the brainwashing of Uyghurs, which China denies, when the brainwashing of Han people is visible everywhere you go.

  That can help save the rest of the world from China, but it is hard for me to rejoice at the idea, because the injustice to Chinese will be immense.

• 19 July 2021 (Unarmed man shot by thugs in Los Angeles)

  Los Angeles thugs shot an unarmed man at a major intersection without taking the time to check the rumor that he had a gun.

  Should cops carry binoculars with which to check, from a safe distance, whether an object is really a firearm?

• 19 July 2021 (Bootleg fire in Oregon)

  The Bootleg fire in Oregon is burning rapidly through expanses of dead trees.

  The article does not say, but I suspect that these trees were killed by pine borer beetles, which have extended their range northward with the help of global heating.

• 19 July 2021 (Lying to juveniles)

  *Illinois is first state to bar police from lying to juveniles during interrogations.*

  Now that the state understands the wrong of pushing people into false confessions, for minors, it should extend this protection to adult suspects. False confessions by adults may not be as probable as false confessions by minors, but they are not rare either. Imprisoning an adult based on a false confession is an injustice too.

• 20 July 2021 (China lab audits)

  *WHO proposes fresh mission to China and lab audits.*

• 20 July 2021 (Residential solar power in Australia)

  An avoidable dispute is interfering with the progress of residential solar power in Australia.

  Here's an idea: the Australian government should arrange to finance solar power systems and batteries for rental housing, and get the money back over time by charging through the electric bill.

  Massachusetts used a similar system decades ago to replace old, inefficient hot water heaters. The tenants saved money, because they payments for the new heater were less than the savings due to its increased efficiency. The landlord lost nothing so did not object.

• 20 July 2021 (Plotting to blow up California's Democratic Party headquarters)

  Two supporters of the wrecker are charged with plotting to blow up California's Democratic Party headquarters.

• 20 July 2021 (Confusion-disinformation campaign)

  Cuba is being attacked with a persistent confusion-disinformation campaign.

• 20 July 2021 (Salvadoran soldiers)

  *Salvadoran soldiers charged with [murdering] four Dutch reporters in 1982.*

• 20 July 2021 (Burning trees for fuel)

  * Campaigners criticize European Commission strategy that allows continued burning of trees for fuel.*

  We have known for many years that burning wood for energy is not in actual practice a renewable energy generation system.

• 20 July 2021 (Guilty of blocking news printers)

  *Six Extinction Rebellion protesters found guilty of blocking news printers.*

  If only the UK valued freedom of the press when it's Wikileaks reporting on government crimes.

• 20 July 2021 (England's Covid unlocking)

  *England's Covid unlocking is threat to world, say 1,200 scientists.*

  In Spain and Italy I've seen people gather close together as if Covid-19 no longer existed. Most of them were not old enough to have been offered vaccine yet in Europe. Even outdoors, such extended and close proximity is not safe.

• 20 July 2021 (Cornel West)

  Cornel West resigned from Harvard University after he was denied tenure because of his support for Palestinians.

• 20 July 2021 (Test for long covid)

  A new test may be able to determine whether a patient has long covid.

  This would at least put an end to the problem that doctors may not believe what the patient says. However, it won't help treat patients unless researchers discover a treatment.

• 20 July 2021 (Guaranteeing mortgages with racist criteria)

  In the New Deal, the US government started guaranteeing home mortgages, using explicitly racist criteria. This policy continued into the 1960s. The segregation of suburbs thus established persists to this day.

  In cases where the government discriminated against people based on race, it owes reparations to the victims of that discrimination, and their descendants. That includes those who were discriminated against by aid programs like these.

• 20 July 2021 (Virtual courses)

  UK universities find that many students are fed up with virtual courses and want to attend class physically. Others feel the opposite.

  If you are a student, or have been admitted, and you are disgusted with being forced to use nonfree software for the university, you can make a difference right now by telling the university you don't want to do that. Keep your language civil, but show how strongly you feel this.

• 20 July 2021 (Racist bully in Michigan)

  A racist bully in Michigan was sentenced to 5 years in prison for a bloody attack on a black teenager for using the same beach.

• 20 July 2021 (Murder-for-hire case)

  *Man who pleaded guilty in murder-for-hire case planned to pin killings on Black Lives Matter.*

  Perpetrators of right-wing violence have made a habit of flying false flags. Consider "umbrella man" who started violence in protests about the murder of George Floyd, and the way the perpetrators of the Jan 6 attack on the Capitol now claim that it was "Antifa" which carried out that attack.

  I have to wonder how much of this plan was suggested and promoted by the FBI informant. The FBI's MO includes leading people by the nose into participating in a criminal plot. We can't tell whether the accused entered the plot of per own motivation, in which case the conviction is valid deserved, or was effectively entrapped, in which case the conviction is invalid.

• 19 July 2021 (Urgent: Block fossil fuel projects)

  US citizens: call on Biden to block all new fossil fuel projects and invest in a clean energy future.

• 19 July 2021 (Urgent: Cancel F-35 fighter)

  US citizens: call on Congress to cancel the F-35 fighter.

• 19 July 2021 (Urgent: Finish extending Medicaid)

  US citizens: call on Democrats to finish extending Medicaid in the remaining 10 Republican-dominated states.

• 19 July 2021 (Urgent: Prohibit face recognition)

  Mass residents: call on the legislature to prohibit government use of face recognition except with a specific court order.

• 19 July 2021 (Children and antibiotics)

  When children are given penicillin, or related antibiotics ampicillin and amoxicillin, it might alter their brain development.

  Whether it actually does so is not yet known.

• 19 July 2021 (Duty of speech)

  Whistleblower Daniel Hale's action was not an issue of freedom of speech. Something stronger was at stake — his duty of speech.

• 19 July 2021 (Very disturbed)

  *Manchin — 'Very, Very' Disturbed by Climate Action — Made Nearly $500K Last Year From Coal.*

• 19 July 2021 (Adult supervision)

  Why allowing children to play without adult supervision should not be limited to a certain minimum age.

• 19 July 2021 (Amazon emitting CO2)

  The Amazon is now emitting more CO2 than it is absorbing.

• 19 July 2021 (DNA matching for dogs)

  DNA matching makes it possible to identify the dog owners that don't clean up the dogs' excrement. And fine them.

  Making a DNA database of all people gives governments dangerous power over people. But a DNA database of all dogs is ok, because dogs are not entitled to human rights.

• 19 July 2021 (Bill for having a baby)

  *We got the bill for having a baby — $37,000.*

• 19 July 2021 (Location trackers for immigrants)

  Immigrants forced to wear location trackers report that their flaws cause many problems, including getting fired because employers don't want the chance that the deportation thugs might come around.

  An effort to develop better location trackers might reduce these problems. However, there are also questions about whether the basic idea is wise and whether the system is systematically unjust. If immigrants are denied their legal rights due to lack of legal advice, we should give them legal advice. If that ensures they show up for their hearings, there is no need to track them.

• 19 July 2021 (Sun Valley)

  *At Sun Valley each year, the billionaires are feted by the mere millionaires; the millionaires drum up enough deals to allow them to buy their third and fourth homes; and somewhere down the line, you can get a job as a housekeeper for one of those homes. This is the wondrous model of American capitalism in action — a tiny handful of wealthy people eat cake, and an entire nation gathers downstream, hoping to snatch up a few falling crumbs.*

• 19 July 2021 (Speaking to Trumpworld)

  Sanders describes his intention to speak to "Trumpworld", the followers of the truth-hater.

• 19 July 2021 (Helping prisoners confront their offenses)

  * As a forensic psychiatrist I have learned that helping prisoners confront their offenses is best for them, and for society.*

• 18 July 2021 (Inspections of Champlain South Tower)

  The many inspections of the now-collapsed Champlain South Tower condominium focused on compliance with rules about the inside of individual units (as require by building codes), and mostly ignored the safety of the overall structure of the building because that wasn't their job.

• 18 July 2021 (Significant aspect of systemic racism)

  One significant aspect of systemic racism in the US is that black mothers are 3-4 times as likely to die in childbirth than white mothers.

  To fully eliminate the bases of systemic racism is the ideal goal, but easier said than done. So it is a good thing to try to correct this particular aspect (and likewise, various others).

• 18 July 2021 (Ethiopia banned a news site)

  Ethiopia has banned a news site for supposedly supporting the TPLF.

  I suspect that this really means failing to uphold the government line.

• 18 July 2021 (Lead pipes)

  Newark, New Jersey, is replacing the lead pipes that connect many houses to water supply.

  Boston is doing this, too.

• 18 July 2021 (Religious or political symbols at work)

  The European Court of Justice ruled that employers can enforce a policy that employees may not wear religious or political symbols at work, provide it applies in a neutral way to all such symbols.

  I think it is legitimate for a business or agency to apply that policy, so as to present a neutral stand to customers.

• 18 July 2021 (Rainforest CO2 emissions)

  *Amazon rainforest now emitting more CO2 than it absorbs.*

  This is largely due to the amount of fires that burn there every year.

• 18 July 2021 (Problem solvers)

  The senators behind the bipartisan infrastructure "compromise" call themselves the "problem solvers".

  In a sense they are, but the basis of their compromise is to refuse to do anything to solve the problem of global heating and coming climate disaster.

• 18 July 2021 (Cycle of heat, drought and fire)

  *American west stuck in cycle of ‘heat, drought and fire’, experts warn.*

• 18 July 2021 (Martian bacteria)

  Do Martian bacteria (if they exist) have a "right" to Mars?

  In my view, no bacteria have any right to anything. Any right is the right to exercise some option, so its prerequisite is some level of awareness and ability to make decisions. I don't think insects and plants are capable of having rights, nor rivers and forests as such.

  That doesn't mean we should let people destroy them. That could be a big loss to the world.

  For Martian bacteria, their extinction could destroy our chance to learn whether they are related to Earthly life, and that would be a great loss to our understanding of life in the universe.

• 18 July 2021 (Electricity from hydrogen and solar)

  Massive private projects to generate electricity and hydrogen from solar and wind power are being planned. One in Australia would be a large fraction of the size of Australia's entire electric grid power. (I am assuming that the grid power supply in the less populous Western Australia and Northern Territory amounts to a small fraction of that of the rest of Australia.)

• 18 July 2021 (Resistance to arranged marriages)

  Resistance to family pressure for arranged marriages is growing in India, but inexplicably it veers off target. Instead of defending the right to refuse marriage — which I would wholeheartedly support — this campaign calls teenage minors "children", then demands a prohibition on marriage for minors.

  It's a side issue, but I disapprove of calling teenage minors "children".

  As for whether minors should be allowed to marry, I am not sure. Perhaps people under 18 are not ready to make a lasting legal commitment, and should limit themselves to living together until they reach the age of 18. (In India, being part of an unmarried couple is more radical than remaining celibate.) On the other hand, people over 18 are often not ready for this either. Since I am not sure, I do not support raising the age requirement for marriage to 18.

  I support Rajasthan Rising's campaigns for gratis education, and to save people from being pressured into marriage — whether they are under 18 or not.

• 18 July 2021 (Long Covid disabilities)

  The UK's foolhardy haste to return to "normal" life could leave hundreds of thousands suffering from long Covid disabilities.

  Vaccines reduce the danger of long Covid, but don't entirely eliminate it. This is one of the reasons I continue to take precautions.

• 18 July 2021 (Sharing gene editing tools)

  *WHO committee calls for sharing of gene editing tools with poorer nations.*

  Gene-editing tools are potentially very dangerous, but limiting their use to rich countries alone is not effective for protecting against that danger.

• 18 July 2021 (Climate change turning point)

  Rebecca Solnit: *Our climate change turning point is right here, right now.*

• 17 July 2021 (Urgent: $4 trillion more in taxes)

  US citizens: call on Congress to require the rich and corporations to pay at least $4 trillion more in taxes.

  The Capitol Switchboard number is 202-224-3121.

  If you call, please spread the word!

• 17 July 2021 (Urgent: Stop deporting asylum-seekers)

  US citizens: call on Biden to stop deporting asylum-seekers in the name of protecting the US from Covid-19.

  This practice provides no significant protection, and never did; it was the bullshitter's excuse to blame scapegoats.

  The White House comments line is 202-456-1111.

  If you call, please spread the word!

• 17 July 2021 (Domestic violence against women)

  Campaigners take on domestic violence against women in Papua New Guinea.

  In the past, it was considered normal for men to force women into obedience and/or sex. Some men refrained, based only on their own empathy. The idea that it is wrong for men to act that way has spread in the past century, and not everywhere at the same pace.

• 17 July 2021 (New Zealand farmers)

  Short-term thinking New Zealand farmers are protesting plans to make them limit fertilizer runoff into rivers, and tax its greenhouse gas emissions.

  The government must not let them off the hook, but it can support them in doing what needs to be done.

• 17 July 2021 (Disaster in southwest Iran)

  Drought is causing disaster in southwest Iran. Farmers' buffaloes are dying of thirst.

• 17 July 2021 (Kremlin papers)

  *Kremlin papers appear to show Putin’s plot to put [the bullshitter] in White House.*

  Russia expected him to "destabilize" the US.

• 17 July 2021 (Putin banned investigative journalist)

  Putin arbitrarily banned the investigative journalist site Proect, which has published news about Putin's wrongdoings.

  The main staff have been blacklisted personally also.

• 17 July 2021 (Floods in Germany)

  Floods in Germany surprised climate scientists; extreme weather is much worse than their models predicted for so soon.

  Will that enable us to defeat the planet roasters?

• 17 July 2021 (Maine bans PFAs)

  *Maine bans toxic [PFAs] under groundbreaking new law.*

• 17 July 2021 (10% of global bailout)

  * Only 10% of $17tn global bailout directed to cutting greenhouse gas emissions and restoring nature, report finds.*

• 17 July 2021 (Tennessee state health department)

  Tennessee Republicans fired Dr. Michelle Fiscus as head of vaccination and prevention at the state's health department, because she was doing her job. Specifically, she informed clinics that they can vaccinate teenagers of age 14 and over without parental consent.

  The underlying motive is that they are bowing to the Republican death cult, which has made spreading Covid-19 one of its crazed tenets.

  Satire: *Centers For Disease Control Lets Smallpox And Rinderpest Viruses Out For Daily Hour Of Exercise.*

• 17 July 2021 ((satire) Diverse leadership candidates)

  (satire) *Company Struggling To Find Diverse Leadership Candidates Among CEO’s Golf Buddies.*

• 17 July 2021 ((satire) Hotel voucher)

  (satire) *Gate Attendant Offers Richard Branson Hotel Voucher After Virgin Galactic Flight Fully Booked.*

• 17 July 2021 (Hired to help protect President Moise)

  Some of the Colombians accused of killing President Moise of Haiti say that they were hired to help protect him, but they arrived too late.

  The United National Antiwar Coalition says that the US and Colombia can't be trusted to investigate who killed the constitution-trampling President Moise.

  The article lists US interventions against democracy in Haiti.

• 17 July 2021 (Olympic games)

  The Olympic Committee keeps repeating that the Olympic games are safe, but hedges its bets by demanding participants absolve it of all liability for anything that happens to them.

• 17 July 2021 (Masks for those that are vaccinated)

  National Nurses United calls on the CDC to bring back its mask requirement for those who are vaccinated.

  *Australia Covid outbreak: Delta variant cases rise among fully vaccinated people. "Vaccines aren’t perfect," epidemiologist says, but offer lower risk of hospitalization and prevention against spread of virus.*

  Asymptomatic infections are significant mainly because some can spread virus to other people, and those people's cases may not be asymptomatic. An asymptomatic case can also stop you from taking a flight.

  I wear a mask when there are other people within a few meters of me, and I try to keep distance also.

• 17 July 2021 (Climate and social welfare bill)

  The leaders of Democrats in the Senate proposed a climate and social welfare bill to be passed via budget reconciliation despite Republican opposition.

  However, planet-roaster Democrats might kill it.

  Some Senate Democrats get lots of funds from planet roaster activities, including: Sens. Chris Coons (Del.), Maggie Hassan (N.H.), Mark Kelly (Ariz.), Joe Manchin (W.Va.), Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.), and Jon Tester (Mont.).

  They also fund plutocratist think tanks (which call themselves "centrist" to cover up where the center is in public opinion).

  No wonder Manchin rejects even the goal of cutting the extraction of fossil fuels.

• 16 July 2021 (Amazon rainforest collapse)

  *Amazon rainforest "will collapse if Bolsonaro remains president".*

  The question is, will electing Lula have a chance of preventing the forest's collapse?

• 16 July 2021 (Extinction in the Amazon)

  *Over 10,000 species risk extinction in Amazon, says landmark report.*

  If the forest does convert into a savannah, as is expected, most of the species that live there now would no longer fit in.

• 16 July 2021 (Overthrow of government)

  General Milley said he feared that the wrecker would try to overthrow the US government by force.

  The wrecker is working on overthrowing the US government, not by force, but by shouting down those who refuse to support him.

• 16 July 2021 (Jailing of activist relatives)

  A Venezuelan opposition party accuses the government of jailing relatives of one of its activists, as hostages.

• 16 July 2021 (Big cut in meat consumption)

  *Food strategy for England calls for big cut in meat consumption.*

• 16 July 2021 (Lift embargo)

  *Progressives Call on Biden to Lift U.S. Embargo on Cuba as Thousands Protest Critical Shortages.*

• 16 July 2021 (Law to imprison refugees)

  Lithuania passed a law to imprison refugees and deny them internationally required rights.

  Even if they are being used as pawns by Lukashenko, they are still human and deserve human rights.

• 16 July 2021 (Monopolies on vaccine manufacture)

  As Merkel visited the White House, protesters outside demanded that she remove the monopolies of Covid-19 vaccine manufacture.

• 16 July 2021 (Asian-American history)

  Illinois has passed a law requiring public schools to teach Asian-American history.

  I am in favor of teaching the history of immigrants from various Asian ethnic groups. The crucial basis for understanding that history is that Asia is a large continent and contains many nations, and immigrants from all those nations don't have anything in common, except being human. It is misguided to suppose that they could learn "their heritage" together. There is no such thing as "their" heritage, since each nation or people has its own heritage and past history.

  Even groups that have had cultural relations in the past remain very different. For instance, India and China have Buddhism in their heritage; that commonality is significant, but small compared with what is different between them.

• 16 July 2021 (Licenses for fossil fuel extraction)

  Biden promised to reduce the approval of new licenses for fossil fuel extraction, but instead has speeded it up.

• 16 July 2021 (Real estate project)

  *Rights groups urge Japan to stop real estate project in Myanmar.*

• 16 July 2021 (Multifaceted censorship in video games)

  China is imposing multifaceted censorship on most video games, much as it does on movies.

• 16 July 2021 (Way to meet climate goals)

  *The UK won’t meet its ambitious climate goals by making spending cuts.*

• 16 July 2021 (Failed to protect human rights)

  *The EU border agency has failed to protect the human rights of asylum seekers, according to a damning European parliament report.*

• 15 July 2021 (Urgent: Expand the Supreme Court)

  US citizens: call on Congress to expand the Supreme Court so as to stop the wrecker's right-wing appointees from imposing permanent plutocratic minority rule on the US.

  The Capitol Switchboard number is 202-224-3121.

  If you call, please spread the word!

• 15 July 2021 (Strong action for climate defense)

  Citizen's commissions in the UK call for strong action for climate defense. Politicians don't seem enthusiastic.

  Why not? I don't know the details, but I suspect it comes down to being in thrall to corporations. Corporations tend to be psychopaths; they care only about their own gain, even if it kills thousands or billions. And they tend to think short-term.

• 15 July 2021 (Deadly heat)

  *Deadly heat: how rising temperatures threaten workers from Nicaragua to Nepal.*

  Even if the weather isn't hot and humid enough to be universally fatal, it will still tend to hurt people that work hard for any length of time.

• 15 July 2021 (Privatizing NHS)

  Tories aim to privatize parts of the NHS without accountability. The lack of accountability will enable the businesses to squeeze staff and patients for the sake of their profits.

  That tends generally to be the real motive behind privatization of government services. This is why privatization of government services is usually harmful and usually must be reversed.

  The arguments offered in favor of privatization tend to be based on trickle-down ideology, but often that premise is not explicitly stated. Hunt for it and you'll usually find the flaw.

• 15 July 2021 (Trouble finding food)

  India's system that distributes food to the poor has broken down due to Covid-19, and millions have trouble finding food.

  Covid-19 was the trigger, but the underlying cause is population growth. It is possible to reform systems so as to waste less food — but that is easier said than done. Also, if population continues to grow, it will require repeated increases in efficiency, which tend to become ever more of a challenge.

  As for putting more land into production, India has already done too much of that.

• 15 July 2021 (Protests in Beirut)

  Relatives of people killed by the explosion in Beirut protested outside the home of a minister who is blocking the investigation of why the explosive chemicals were stored in a dangerous way inside the city.

  Some officials seem to have known where the chemicals were, long before the explosion.

• 15 July 2021 (Traveling by plane)

  In the UK, traveling by plane is cheaper than traveling by train. In some cases much cheaper.

  There are obvious solutions, for any government willing to value the survival of civilization over the demands of businesses.

• 15 July 2021 (Plot to kidnap journalists)

  The FBI charges that Iranians, working for the government of Iran, plotted to kidnap several expat journalists that criticize Iran and take them to Iran,

  What they are accused of is a vicious act. It reminds me of what the US has done to Julian Assange.

  More information.

• 15 July 2021 (Louisiana protest law)

  Louisiana passed a law to make peaceful protest near certain "critical infrastructure" a crime, but the district attorney dropped charges against a group of protesters that were arrested.

• 15 July 2021 (Abortion rights in Texas)

  Abortion rights defenders in Texas have come up with targets to sue to challenge the validity of the new law against "abetting an abortion".

• 15 July 2021 (Lies about progressive candidate)

  A PAC set up to support plutocratist Democrats is telling lies about progressive candidate Nina Turner.

• 15 July 2021 (Model city of the future)

  Crown Prince Bone Saw is building a model city of the future, using migrant workers subject to the usual repressive practices of Salafi Arabia.

  The article does not talk about the issue of surveillance, but I bet the model city will track everyone's actions all the time. Salafi Arabia wouldn't miss an opportunity to make repression of dissent more effective.

• 15 July 2021 (Manchin's energy infrastructure)

  Manchin's proposed "energy infrastructure" bill would spend heavily on fossil fuel infrastructure.

• 15 July 2021 (Inflation)

  An economist punctures the plutocratist arguments that inflation is terrible.

  The real reason plutocratists want to prevent inflation is that helps people who are in debt, and thus harms the lenders. Most non-rich are in debt to the rich, so who loses?

• 15 July 2021 (Attacks left Palestinians dead)

  *On a Single Day in May, Israeli Settlers and Soldiers Cooperated in Attacks That Left Four Palestinians Dead.*

• 15 July 2021 (A firefighter's heatstroke)

  A firefighter talks about getting heatstroke. Fortunately he recovered in an hour, and went back to containing the wildfire.

• 14 July 2021 (Urgent: reject e-proctoring malware)

  US citizens: call on schools to reject e-proctoring malware.

  I would not sign the letter that you can find in this page, even though I agree with its point, because it contrasts "Black" with "white". I won't put my name on a statement which does that.

  However, what we are asked to sign is the petition, not the letter. So I signed the petition, and I hope you will, too.

• 14 July 2021 (Urgent: Eliminate systemic racism from policing)

  US citizens: call on the US to undertake the UN-recommended steps to eliminate systemic racism from policing.

• 14 July 2021 (Urgent: Include the Invest Act)

  US citizens: call on the Senate to include the Invest Act in the American Jobs Plan.

• 14 July 2021 (Covid health pass)

  France will require people to show a "Covid health pass", which is proof of vaccination or a recent negative test, to enter a restaurant, a supermarket, or a train.

  Checking people's vaccination status is necessary, for now. Doing it digitally is dangerous because it leads to tracking people's movements digitally. For a vaccinated person to catch Covid-19 is unlikely enough that there is no need to identify them.

  I also wonder whether people who don't carry mobile devices full of nonfree malware will be excluded simply for that.

• 14 July 2021 (Juan Guaidó)

  Amazingly, Venezuela has not kept Juan Guaidó in prison, despite his overt attempt to launch a coup. Isn't that a crime?

• 14 July 2021 (UK reparations for slavery)

  Jamaica is planning to ask the UK for reparations for slavery. I support this.

  Haiti needs reparations even more. France should pay back what it made Haiti pay as ransom, adjusted for inflation.

• 14 July 2021 (Not enough to eat)

  1/3 of the human population do not have enough to eat. 1/5 of all young children's growth is stunted.

  Covid-19 caused a big jump in these numbers, and maybe in the next couple of years we can undo that much. But hunger was increasing before Covid-19, and it won't be easy to reduce. Our society and systems are broken in a number of ways, and though we campaign to fix them, we are finding it difficult.

  Having fewer children is one thing that is sure to help.

• 14 July 2021 (Extinction rate)

  *UN sets out Paris-style plan to cut extinction rate tenfold.*

• 14 July 2021 (Haitain and Cuban refugees)

  The US says that Haitain and Cuban refugees won't be allowed into the US if they come by boat.

  This resembles Australia's horrible policy.

• 14 July 2021 (Biden defends voting rights)

  *Biden defends voting rights — but no word on ending the filibuster.*

  Biden is well aware of the situation in the senate, and so are the senators he is trying to persuade. They all know that the For the People Act requires ending the filibuster. So I think he is ramping up the pressure gradually.

  *House Democrats tell Senate: exempt voting rights bill from filibuster.*

• 14 July 2021 (Wildfires in Siberia)

  Wildfires have burned 3000 square miles in Siberia.

• 14 July 2021 (Cruise ships banned from Venice lagoon)

  At long last, Italy has banned cruise ships from entering the lagoon where Venice is. This will prevent some sorts of damage to the beautiful old city.

  However, nothing can save Venice if the level of the Mediterranean Sea rises by several meters, except perhaps a giant dam from Italy to the Balkans.

• 14 July 2021 (Sydney Covid-19)

  An expert on dealing with Covid-19 outbreaks says that Sydney needs to close more businesses and vaccinate people whose work goes between households. But there is no need for a curfew.

• 14 July 2021 (Fossil fuel CEO)

  Australia has put a fossil fuel CEO on the committee in charge of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

  I hope to see charges of ecocide soon.

• 14 July 2021 (Australia snorkeling tour)

  Australia has set up a special snorkeling tour for representatives of countries that will soon vote on whether to label the Great Barrier Reef as in danger.

  I suppose the tour will cherry-pick parts of the reef where not much damage is to be seen, like tours of Israel or tours of the Soviet Union. Can environmentalists invite the ambassadors to another tour, to show the damage to the reef?

• 14 July 2021 (President Zuma jailed)

  South Africa's former president Zuma has been jailed for refusing to testify, and his supporters are rioting.

  The riots are threatening transportation of food.

• 14 July 2021 (Cuba blocking internet service)

  Cuba is blocking internet services that protesters are using to coordinate.

  Over 140 protesters and journalists have been arrested; some cannot be found.

  Cuba arrested a journalist who was covering protests, and repression of same, for a Spanish newspaper.

  Biden said that the US stands with Cuban people as they protest the shortages caused by US sanctions on Cuba.

  Cubans are right to demand human rights, but they should watch out lest they be used to make Cuba submit to the dominion of multinational corporations, which will claim to be entitled to exercise those human rights against human beings, as they do in the US.

• 14 July 2021 (The wrecker's plutocratist rule)

  How the wrecker's plutocratist rule is different from fascism's ideology.

  This shows that the wrecker is not a fascist, though he may be more or less equally bad.

• 14 July 2021 (10 Palestinian families)

  Israel gave 10 Palestinian families 10 weeks to leave their homes in an apartment building that Israel has decided to demolish.

  The motive may be to make more room for an officially unauthorized Israeli colony on Palestinian territory.

• 14 July 2021 (Israeli troops attacked protesters)

  Israeli troops attacked protesters in many Palestinian cities.

• 14 July 2021 (Critical race theory)

  Right-wingers misrepresent critical race theory; then they make false accusations which are a parody of the facts of systemic racism.

  The article explains how this is standard right-wing practice. They superficially reverse what progressives say, and don't care that that mirror image is incoherent and false.

• 14 July 2021 (Digital toys)

  The mainstream media are starting to recognize that digital "toys" for children are likely to snoop on them. They do that as a consequence of containing nonfree software. The user community can't study and fix the software so it doesn't spy, and that means the users have no protection except to reject these toys, separately.

  I do not consider any digital functionality to be an "enhancement" of life it is controlled by someone other than its users.

  In union there is strength. If users try to "negotiate" with the companies by rejecting products, they have little clout and little influence.

  The article says that the ROYBI Robot "has a camera and microphone to detect facial and emotional reactions from kids, but all of the information collected is controlled through a parent or guardian's account." I am not sure what "controlled...account" means concretely, but I tend to think that it is not adequate to protect the child's privacy.

  When will the mainstream media realize that snooping is just as wrong when carried out against adults?

• 14 July 2021 (Cook County workers strike)

  The employees that work for Cook County (which contains Chicago) are on strike, and Bernie Sanders came to show support for them.

• 14 July 2021 ((satire) California Wildfire)

  (satire) *Historic Heat Wave Causes California Wildfire To Catch Fire.*

• 14 July 2021 (Toxic chemicals for fracking)

  *Documents Reveal Obama's EPA Approved Toxic Chemicals (specifically, PFAs) for Fracking in 2011.* Since these chemicals do not naturally degrade, if they get into water supplies they will remain there, perhaps for thousands of years.

  We should not allow frackers to keep any secrets about what they are putting into the well.

• 14 July 2021 (Cancel culture is like disinformation)

  An argument that cancel culture is like disinformation, in that both are forms of manipulation that try to impose a "totalistic" culture that tolerates no dissent.

  At present, the right wing uses disinformation while the left uses cancellation, but neither method is intrinsically tied to a political position. Rather, any side's ability to use these forms of manipulation can use depends on what strengths it has at hand.

• 14 July 2021 (Rapidly Thawing Permafrost)

  *Rapidly Thawing Permafrost Threatens Trans-Alaska Pipeline.* This can cause an oil spill.

• 14 July 2021 (Ecocide)

  Adopting ecocide as an international crime would mean that individuals could be punished for their roles in destroying natural systems.

• 14 July 2021 (Deporting boat people)

  The UK is deporting boat people without even a hearing. This violates British law as well as international treaties.

• 14 July 2021 (Removal of statues of Confederate generals)

  As Charlottesville, Virginia, removed statues of Confederate generals, onlookers cheered.

• 14 July 2021 (Real rivalry between Oxford and Cambridge)

  *The real rivalry between Oxford and Cambridge is how low they can go for money.*

• 14 July 2021 (Rival prime ministers)

  Two rival prime ministers are disputing power in Haiti. I would tend to suspect that both of them are gangsters.

• 14 July 2021 (Doubts on president killing)

  Doubts about whether those accused of killing President Moise really did that.

• 14 July 2021 (Feeding raw food to dogs)

  Feeding raw food to dogs may be spreading antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

  I would not hesitate to prohibit this, for public safety. Of course, there are other foolish practices that promote antibiotic resistance, such as feeding antibiotics to farm animals even when they are not sick. We should put a stop to that.

• 14 July 2021 (Working staff harder)

  Frito-Lay is working its staff harder and cutting wages, so now they are on strike, with community support.

• 14 July 2021 (Employees hesitation to return to office)

  (satire) *California Employees Hesitant About Returning To Office Currently On Fire.*

• 14 July 2021 (Global heating and extreme rains)

  Global heating brings more extreme rains. New York City experienced flooded streets and subway stations because its drains could not cope with the rainfall.

  The cost of adapting systems to cope with this will grow at an accelerating rate unless we curb global heating.

• 14 July 2021 (Student debt)

  Biden has forgiven the student debts of students who borrowed to pay for fraudulent for-profit colleges.

  It is ok for a business to teach a specific practical skill, but dressing them up as colleges is harmful since that leads students into thinking of them as something like colleges. We should put an end to that. Biden promised to forgive other student debt, but he has not done so.

• 14 July 2021 (Renewable electric generation)

  Figures for Europe's progress in renewable electric generation are partly bogus because they include cutting down trees in the US to burn the wood.

• 14 July 2021 (Planet roasters)

  Planet roasters spend a lot of money keeping elected officials on their side.

  *How big oil keeps a grip on New Mexico — with the help of a major lobbyist.*

• 13 July 2021 (Silence is deafening)

  Ralph Nader: *Today the silence is deafening. Just try calling your members of Congress, not as one of their donors or golf companions, but as a serious informed citizen.*

• 13 July 2021 (Urgent: Reality Winner)

  US citizens: urge clemency for Reality Winner.

• 13 July 2021 (Response to refugees)

  The UK is considering an Australia-style response to refugees: if you are too persecuted to get a passport and a UK visa, and you ask for asylum there, you'll be sent back to where they persecute you.

• 13 July 2021 (Searching for PISSI)

  A journalist reports on accompanying Iraqi counterinsurgency forces that were searching for PISSI guerrillas, and not having much success at finding them.

• 13 July 2021 (Keeping Covid out)

  Taiwan has done a good job of keeping Covid-19 out, even counting the time that defeating the latest outbreak is taking.

• 13 July 2021 (Two children per family)

  Uttar Pradesh is considering a two-children-per-family law.

  Reducing the number of births would be a good goal, but doing it by punishing the children when a family is overlarge is a cruel method of doing so.

• 13 July 2021 (Using migrants)

  Belarus is recruiting migrants to send overland into Lithuania. Now Lithuania is building a border wall.

  Previously, Turkey exploited the contradiction between Europe's adherence to the principle of giving refugees asylum and its fear of giving it to more than a few refugees.

• 13 July 2021 (Right-wing fanatics)

  Right-wing fanatics in Georgia (in the Caucasus) attacked people who were organizing a pride parade, and journalists, and killed one of them.

• 13 July 2021 (Antiabortion law)

  A new Texas antiabortion law is designed to make it difficult to challenge in court in advance, because there is no way to determine who to sue about the question.

• 13 July 2021 (Response to voter suppression laws)

  The Democratic National Committee's response to Republican voter suppression laws is pathetically weak: let's each try harder to overcome the obstacles.

  This fails to use the power of collective action.

• 13 July 2021 (Investments destroying the Amazon forest)

  Big banks must exclude "investments" that destroy the Amazon forest.

• 13 July 2021 (Criminalizing homeless people)

  *[The Tories'] police bill risks criminalizing homeless people, warn UK charities.*

  It looks like this proposed law is meant to spread repression against the non-rich, non-powerful in all possible directions at once.

• 13 July 2021 (Climate deniers)

  *How the BBC let climate deniers walk all over it.*

• 13 July 2021 (Impossible weather)

  Meteorologists believed that the recent northwest heat wave was impossible. Global heating is having effects far worse than expected.

  For the short term we must prepare to cope with such heatwaves. But that path does not lead to survival in the long term if we fail to curb global heating. Each additional degree of extreme heat locally will require a lot more work to cope with. And since local extreme heat could hit any locality, we will need to build up these precautions everywhere. We don't even know what will be sufficient, ten years from now.

  How do we prepare for the danger of a regional power outage that may occur while the weather outside is fatal in an hour? Should we give build for each building an underground shelter deep enough to keep people safe from fever for days? That would be a new twist on the Cold War.

  And how will human beings put out wildfires in fatal weather? That work has to be done outside. Will firefighters have to wear cooling suits?

  We could do lots of things like that, in the wealthy countries, one for each aspect of the harm done by global heating. But it is a foolish approach. If you think curbing global heating is "expensive," you don't understand how expensive it will be to compensate for failing to do so. Indeed, we won't be able to compensate for more than a few decades. Curbing global heating will be much cheaper and give far better results.

• 13 July 2021 (Preparing for future pandemics)

  Experts told the G20 meeting that those countries need to spend 75 billion dollars over 5 years to prepare to confront future pandemics.

• 12 July 2021 (Influencers)

  *In Vietnam, where the state is fighting a fierce online battle against political dissent, social media "influencers" are more likely to be soldiers than celebrities.*

  I can't understand why many people — or why anyone — chooses to be influenced by people known to have the goal of influencing them for ulterior purposes.

• 12 July 2021 (Forever chemicals)

  *Toxic ‘forever chemicals’ are contaminating plastic food containers.*

• 12 July 2021 (Big Pharma spending)

  *Big Pharma Firms Spent More Enriching Investors Than on R&D.*

• 12 July 2021 (Persistent drought)

  Deepening persistent drought is causing Las Vegas to work hard to reduce water use. Whether it will be able to do this enough is not clear.

• 12 July 2021 (Kill of military and real estate agent)

  Someone killed an Afghan Air Force pilot as well as the real estate agent he was working with.

  Shooting people for accepting soldiers as clients is terrorism.

• 12 July 2021 (Covid-tracking)

  Covid-tracking in England is showing so many contacts that people can't possibly self-isolate so often. What does this mean?

  To me it says that the disease is spreading too fast for contact tracing to be effective. England needs to reduce the contact between people.

  This article about Australia shows what is needed.

• 12 July 2021 (Colonization)

  The UN special rapporteur argues that Israeli colonization of Palestinian territory amounts to a war crime.

• 12 July 2021 (Admitting only vaccinated visitors)

  Malta will admit visitors only if they are vaccinated against Covid-19.

• 12 July 2021 (Locked in workers)

  More than 50 workers in a factory in Bangladesh died in a fire because the owner had them locked inside.

  Bangladesh should start prosecuting factory owners and managers simply for locking workers in — even when there is no fire.

• 12 July 2021 (Regulations on groups)

  The Netherlands has resumed some regulations on groups of people to slow the spread of Covid-19.

  Many governments were foolishly eager to throw off all restraints, but the problem is not over.

• 12 July 2021 (Minister personal wealth)

  *Mexico prosecutors open probe into personal wealth of ex-minister.*

• 12 July 2021 (Protecting personal data)

  China is taking firm actions to protect Chinese people's personal data from US access and from some kinds of misuse.

  The most dangerous misuse of personal data in China is misuse by Chinese governments. China's policies will not protect people from much of that.

  Insisting on storing people's personal data within their own country has good and bad effects — it protects them from many kinds of mistreatment, while denying them protection from mistreatment by the power that can hurt them most.

  In total, is its effect good or bad? That depends on how repressive your country is, especially against people who criticize. Most countries are becoming more repressive — some quickly, some more gradually.

• 12 July 2021 (Stabbing thug)

  A man in Hong Kong stabbed himself fatally after attacking a cop. This was on the anniversary of China's declaration of its repression.

  The thug department says this was "terrorism". Was it terrorism, or was it rebellion?

  Terrorism is making war on civilians. In Hong Kong, the cops have provided armed force for Chinese repression. I consider that that makes them occupation forces rather than civilians. Therefore, I would say this attack was rebellion, not terrorism.

  If I thought that Hong Kongers had a chance of defeating Chinese forces and freeing Hong Kong, I would encourage them to try. I don't see any way the Hong Kongers could possibly win, so think it would be irresponsible to encourage a rebellion there. But I can't say it would be morally wrong.

• 12 July 2021 (Family farms)

  What family farms would like to get from US farm policies, if it isn't redirected to subsidize factory farms.

• 11 July 2021 (Urgent: End use of US funds to oppress Palestinians)

  US citizens: call on Congress not to allow Israel to use US funds to terrorize and oppress Palestinians.

  The Capitol Switchboard number is 202-224-3121.

  If you call, please spread the word!

• 11 July 2021 (Urgent: Stop supporting Republican supporters of insurrection)

  US citizens: call on companies to stop supporting Republican supporters of insurrection.

• 11 July 2021 (Urgent: Reject infrastructure deal without climate defense)

  US citizens: call on Congress to reject any infrastructure deal without climate defense.

  The Capitol Switchboard number is 202-224-3121.

  If you call, please spread the word!

• 11 July 2021 (Urgent: Low-risk prisoners)

  US citizens: call on Biden to let 4,000 low-risk federal prisoners, already released, finish their sentences at home rather than making them return to prison

  The White House comments line is 202-456-1111.

  If you call, please spread the word!

• 11 July 2021 (Urgent: Sunrise Movement's national day of action)

  US citizens: join the Sunrise Movement's national day of action (July 15) for government action to save Earth's climate.

• 11 July 2021 (Cops in Haiti)

  Cops in Haiti say they have shot several people and captured several, and assert they are some of the group that killed President Moise.

  Others say that Moise's own bodyguards shot him.

  It may not be easy to find out who really did it, in the chaotic environment of Haiti where corruption and dishonesty prevail.

  If Republicans succeed in rigging the 2022 election, they will turn the US into the same sort of place.

• 11 July 2021 (Vulnerable Afghan women)

  *U.S. considers visas for vulnerable Afghan women after military exit.*

  Please don't spend too much time considering it — it will be needed soon.

• 11 July 2021 (Prenatal test)

  *Prenatal test developed with Chinese military stores gene data of millions of women.* The company will have to provide this data to the Chinese government if demanded — officially "if necessary for national security", but in practice in China there is no such thing as refusing.

  The US considers it a threat to US national security for a Chinese company to collect world-wide genetic data, especially about Americans. I agree. However, China is not the only government that can collect DNA, sequence it, and use the data against people. Any government could.

  The UK has a system to collect the DNA of every newborn baby. Over time, that will grow into a national genetic database. This is dangerous too. And, unlike the Chinese company, this system does not try to anonymize people. (As we know, anonymized data is easier to deanonymize than one tends to suppose.)

  Correlating people's DNA with medical problems can do wonders for medical research. We need to develop a system to make this possible while protecting privacy.

• 11 July 2021 (Diverting attention)

  China diverts attention from its crushing of the Tibetans and the Uyghurs by citing the way the US and Canada crushed indigenous people in the past.

  The comparison is valid, and if we look at this as a matter of competition between powers, it's poetic justice. But if the point is to save people from repression and injustice, historic whataboutism is a distraction. Ending the unjust treatment of indigenous people today is a real cause, but encouraging a new imperialism is not going to help them. China will lure them, use them, and spit them out, even faster and more blatantly than the US has done.

• 11 July 2021 (NHS backlog)

  The NHS is so underfunded that its backlog of treatments has set a record twice in a row.

  The immediate causes is relaxing Covid-reducing measures exactly as the Delta variant comes to dominate, but this meets the weakness that Tories have built up step by step.

• 11 July 2021 (ALEC politicians)

  *[Some] ALEC Politicians Belong to Neo-Confederate Organization.*

• 11 July 2021 (Commission to validate carbon offset schemes)

  Businesses are proposing to establish a commission to validate carbon offset schemes. Greenpeace says it won't be strict enough.

• 11 July 2021 (Harm from cruise ships)

  * Cruise ships kill whales, leak gray water, and are largely exempt from US taxation. When they violate the law, they pay the equivalent of a parking ticket.*

• 11 July 2021 (Trudeau's love of fossil fuel)

  *Justin Trudeau’s love of fossil fuel will only make Canada’s extreme weather worse.*

• 11 July 2021 (Declining birth rates)

  *Why declining birth rates are good news for life on Earth.*

  I disagree with one point. I think we need to reduce the human population more than 20% per generation. If in the short term that leads to somewhat less quality of life, by the 22nd century it will enable us to distress Earth's natural ecosystems.

• 11 July 2021 (Heat dome in Canada)

  *‘Heat dome’ probably killed 1bn marine animals on Canada coast, experts say.*

  I am skeptical of what that number means, because if you adopt a smaller lower bound on size for taking notice of an animal, you could take in twice as many animals.

  Nonetheless, the destruction was enormous, and it may even change ecosystems.

• 11 July 2021 (Pressure for intervention in Haiti)

  There is pressure for the US to intervene in Haiti again.

  Previous interventions removed President Aristide, brought him back to be president again, kidnapped him again and sent him into exile, installed President Martelly, and installed President Moise. Martelly and Moise were never elected by free and fair elections.

• 11 July 2021 (California's digital vaccination certificates)

  The EFF says that California's digital vaccination certificates are safe for privacy as long as you avoid the QR codes.

• 10 July 2021 (Extreme rain events)

  Extreme rain events are mostly due to global heating.

• 10 July 2021 (Suppressing the Delta variant)

  Various countries that had suppressed Covid-19 successfully are struggling to suppress the Delta variant.

• 10 July 2021 (Official repression in Belarus)

  Lukashenko is closing all gaps in the official repression in Belarus.

  He had a news site editor arrested for covering last year's protests, and blocked access to the news site.

• 10 July 2021 (Republican party's goal)

  A Republican congresscritter told supporters that the party's goal is sabotage: "18 more months of chaos and the inability to get stuff done."

  We who oppose them must not sink to their level. But they are conscious enemies of our country, and of our democracy, and this justifies many tactics that are somewhat bad, and that ordinarily we should scruple to sink to. For instance, making Washington DC a state (rather than authorizing its residents to vote in Maryland), and increasing or decreasing the size of the Supreme Court.

  As long as we remain solidly more scrupulous than they are, we should fight to win.

• 10 July 2021 ((satire) Reinforce bones with steel)

  (satire) *[Governor] Ron DeSantis Requires Florida Residents To Reinforce Bones With Steel, Concrete.*

  It worked for Miles Vorkosigan, so why not?

• 10 July 2021 (Danger of prosecuting news publishers)

  The LA Times mentioned, unusually, the danger of prosecuting news publishers like Julian Assange. The article did not mention that one of the main witnesses against him has admitted that he fabricated his testimony in connection with a deal with the FBI. Has the LA Times mentioned that?

• 10 July 2021 (Strange virus)

  *The Strange Virus Attacking Republican Governors.* Warning, it's very snarky.

  What those governors are doing is entirely rational: they are repeating some Big Lies to suck more people into the lunatic death cult which is the Republican Party.

• 10 July 2021 (Springs drying up)

  Two years of preparation for the Adani Carmichael coal mine in Queensland have pumped out so much groundwater that springs in the region are drying up.

  The reason this mine should not exist is that it's a coal mine and will speed global heating disaster, but the planet-roaster government of Australia doesn't care about 30 years from now. There is a chance that the damage to groundwater can be used to stop the mine.

• 10 July 2021 (Global minimum tax)

  *Top Economist Warns 15% Global Minimum Tax on Corporations Is 'Way Too Low'.*

• 10 July 2021 (Cambridge deal with the UAE)

  Cambridge University wants to avoid the risks of the present Covid situation by making an enormous deal with the UAE.

  Such deals tend to be extremely corrupting to the university.

• 10 July 2021 (Right to repair farm equipment)

  Biden will make executive orders for the right to repair farm equipment.

  I support the right to repair, of course, but the best way to achieve that is as part of insisting on free software in the machinery. We need to make this a step towards further gains, rather that letting people think that it's the full solution.

• 10 July 2021 (Political distortion)

  EPA scientists report that political distortion of their work continues.

• 10 July 2021 ((satire) Haiti constitutional crisis)

  (satire) *Haiti Faces Constitutional Crisis After Assassinated President Refuses To Step Down.*

• 10 July 2021 (Imprisoned immigrant minors)

  Whistleblowers report imprisoned immigrant minors are being abused by subcontracted prison workers.

  Subcontracting undermined accountability. Its purpose is to pay workers less and mistreat them, but it also affects the people that depend on those workers.

  We must make subcontracting in-usual again.

• 10 July 2021 (Underwater fracking)

  Underwater fracking in the Gulf of Mexico releases large quantities of liquid chemicals into the water. What effect the chemicals have on wildlife, or humans that eat the wildlife, is unknown.

  Since we need to cut down fossil fuel extraction anyway, let's start with the particularly dangerous methods, including this one.

• 10 July 2021 (Website to sign up for child tax credit)

  The federal government made an unjust website to let poor families sign up for the increased child tax credit. That was developed Intuit, which may have been trying to ensure poor families did not have a way to do without Intuit's services. Aside from being made very hard to use, it was also designed to treat users unjustly: it won't work unless you run nonfree software while you use it.

  A group of activists developed a convenient site to do the same job. Alas, it is equally unjust, and for the same reason: it won't work unless you run nonfree software while you use it.

  Filling out forms is generally fairly easy to do in a non-Javascript web site. How easy it would have been to make a new site that would have been both convenient and just! But they did not think about the latter.

  If you're a good web developer, maybe you'd like to do it. Perhaps the People's Policy Project will tell you what you need to know to design a sample web site that doesn't require Javascript code.

• 10 July 2021 (Climate science's underestimated risks)

  * Politicians must respond to the latest warnings that climate science has underestimated risks.*

  I expect they will respond to the newly discovered risk as half-heartedly as they are responding to the previously known risks.

• 10 July 2021 (Mice and rats to use for biological experiments)

  An incoherent article celebrates the forthcoming inability to obtain, in Australia, specialized genetic variant strains of mice and rats to use for biological experiments.

  The article seems to presume that these mice and rats are used in superfluous, redundant, required product tests that are not really necessary, so if they are not available, the problem will be addressed by removing the requirements for them.

  Redundant product tests used to be required, and maybe sometimes still are, but I don't think such tests are where specialized genetic variants are used. Those are often used for experiments to figure out unknown biology — and you can't do that with models.

  Australia and other countries should maintain their capacity to elucidate biological systems with experiments on mice and rats. If you wish to die for a mouse, go ahead, but don't pressure others to do likewise.

• 10 July 2021 (Protection from climate crisis harm)

  *Australian government must protect young people from climate crisis harm, court declares.*

  Australia's government consists of planet roasters, and they will do their damnedest to reverse the decision. But if they fail at that, it may do some good.

• 10 July 2021 (Corruption and violence of Haitian politicians)

  On the corruption and violence of Haitian politicians in general, president Moise included.

• 10 July 2021 (Rehiring of New York cops)

  *New York Regulations Allow Cops Stripped of Training Credentials to Be Rehired.*

• 10 July 2021 (Blowing up homes of Palestinians)

  Israel continues to practice collective punishment by blowing up the homes of Palestinians that are accused of participating in attacks.

• 10 July 2021 (Canada's forced boarding schools)

  Whistleblowers and victims have tried to inform the public about the cruelty and deadliness of Canada's forced boarding schools since the early 1900s. They had to push against a current of legitimization.

• 10 July 2021 (Jump in global hunger)

  *Higher food prices help fuel 40% jump in global hunger — UN agency.*

• 10 July 2021 (Deal to send Assange to Australian prison)

  The US made a deceptive proposal to send Assange to an Australian prison for the rest of his life after a decade or two in US prisons, during which time he might be kept in ordinary prison conditions provided the government doesn't change its mind.

  This deal says, basically, "We can cheat you and say it wasn't cheating."

• 10 July 2021 (Malaria and dengue fever)

  *More than 8 billion people could be at risk of malaria and dengue fever by 2080 if greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise unabated,* That would be most of humanity.

• 9 July 2021 (Despite vaccine)

  Indonesia has been using Chinese vaccine, and it's better than nothing, but a substantial number of medical personnel have caught Covid-19 anyway and cannot work.

• 9 July 2021 (Successful gun violence prevention groups)

  * Unlike in previous decades, there are many successful US gun violence prevention groups with a record of saving lives.*

• 9 July 2021 (Climate crisis classes)

  *The climate crisis will create two classes: those who can flee [for the time being], and those who cannot.*

• 9 July 2021 (Shortage of truck drivers)

  The UK has a shortage of truck drivers. The government chose the dangerous solution of letting each driver drive more hours per day, rather than the safe solution of allowing more EU citizens to live there and drive trucks.

• 9 July 2021 (Women taking up arms)

  Afghan women have taken up arms to fight the Taliban. Now they need military training.

  These women provide exactly what has been missing from the fight against the Taliban: people as strongly committed as the Taliban themselves. If they had got started 10 years ago, if they now numbered tens of thousands, they could win the war.

  It's sad to see them only now when there is little chance left.

• 9 July 2021 (Connected surveillance cameras)

  The new mayor of Boston has cancelled a regional plan to fill the whole metropolitan area with connected surveillance cameras.

  The reason they did not know how many cameras Cambridge would contribute is, I believe, that Cambridge has an ordinance requiring city council approval for all surveillance technology.

  It is a good thing to defeat an initiative for massive surveillance, but there are already many surveillance systems here. We need to get rid of them and establish laws to prohibit replacing them.

• 9 July 2021 (New Covid restrictions)

  Greece has put restrictions on bars and restaurants once again, demonstrating how foolish it was to eliminate them completely.

  I have the impression most governments are manic-repressive about Covid. They get intoxicated with hope, and throw caution to the winds. After the predictable results of that, they are compelled to start pulling on the reins. The repetition of this cycle builds up a feeling of unwillingness to obey restrictions.

• 9 July 2021 (Arrest of poet)

  *Kuwait arrests poet activist for 'insulting' emir.*

• 9 July 2021 (Punishing abusing thugs)

  *Colombia’s government must hold genuine dialogue with civil society and ensure punishment for [state thugs] who have committed abuses,* according to the OAS human rights commission. They committed these crimes against protesters in the recent protests, and bystanders.

• 9 July 2021 (Destroying of tents)

  Israel destroyed Palestinians' tents in a place near the Jordan River. For many years, Israel has tried to make it very difficult for any Palestinians to live near the river, attempting to clear them all out. Declaring their land a "closed military zone" is a frequent tactic.

• 9 July 2021 (Assassination of president)

  The president of Haiti was shot by gunmen that said they were DEA agents.

  I don't think they were really DEA agents, because it was the US that installed Moise as president, and I think the US could have put in some other president without shooting Moise.

  Haiti effectively has no government now. There is no one officially eligible to take over as president.

  Here's more about the constitutional irregularities of Moise's regime.

  The result will probably be chaos.

  After the state has been a US puppet for so long, I think it would be difficult for anyone to exercise authority with much legitimacy,

• 9 July 2021 (Guerrilla resistance to the coup)

  About the guerrilla resistance to the coup in Burma.

  It seems clear that the army doesn't take care to avoid killing nearby civilians when it fights a battle. It acts like an occupying army in its own country.

  I wonder what the soldiers will do about that. Surely some must be very uncomfortable with the situation.

• 9 July 2021 (Switching to paper voting)

  Bolsonaro wants Brazil to switch to paper voting, instead of the computerized system whose security can't be verified.

  Brazil ought to use paper ballots, but I can't believe that Bolsonaro wants an honest election. I expect that he has something bad in mind.

• 9 July 2021 (Sick pay)

  Victoria (an Australian state) will offer sick pay to workers in insecure jobs. It is crucial to enable them to stay home if they get sick.

  This is a good step, but not enough. Employers for whom a person regularly works should be required to formalize that relationship and give sick pay.

• 9 July 2021 (Extreme temperatures)

  *Extreme temperatures kill 5 million people a year.*

  In the past, more have died from cold than from heat, but global heating is increasing the latter.

• 8 July 2021 (Urgent: Facial Recognition and Biometric Technology Moratorium Act)

  US citizens: call on your congresscritter to support the Facial Recognition and Biometric Technology Moratorium Act of 2021.

  This is a substantial step forward, but not sufficient. We must ban face recognition by private parties too, outside of narrow exceptions.

  The Capitol Switchboard number is 202-224-3121.

  If you call, please spread the word!

• 8 July 2021 (Urgent: Abolish the filibuster)

  US citizens: phone your senators on July 12 to insist on abolishing the filibuster.

  The Capitol Switchboard number is 202-224-3121.

  If you call, please spread the word!

• 8 July 2021 (Charged with 150 murders)

  10 Colombian soldiers have been charged with almost 150 murders, as part of the "falsos positivos" murder campaign which involved murdering over 6,000 people around 15 years ago.

  The motive for the murders was to inflate body counts and claim bounties meant for killing rebels.

• 8 July 2021 (Repression of political opposition)

  Nicaragua's dictator Ortega is aiming for completeness in the repression of political opposition.

• 8 July 2021 (Privatize medical treatment for the NHS)

  Tories want to privatize actual medical treatment for the NHS, and issue contracts in an informal way that facilitates corruption and fails to assure competence.

• 8 July 2021 (Right-wing threat against El Jueves)

  The right-wing extremist party Vox made a hardly-veiled threat of violence against the editor of El Jueves.

  ¡Viva El Jueves! I often need help to understand it, but once explained, I enjoy some of it.

• 8 July 2021 (Great Salt Lake is shrinking)

  The Great Salt Lake is rapidly shrinking, leaving a dry lake bed full of arsenic-laden sand that will blow away and poison people.

• 8 July 2021 (Trial of Carlos DeLuna)

  The trial that sentenced Carlos DeLuna to death was an example of complete contempt for justice and the rights of the accused. A proper investigation would have supported his claim of innocence, but nobody bothered to investigate.

  This sort of thing (which is not unusual) is one of the reasons to abolish the death penalty, but not only that. To convict anyone of anything with such a shoddy trial, regardless of the severity of the crime, invites wrong verdicts. We should change the system so this does not happen any more.

• 8 July 2021 (UK deportations)

  The UK will bully countries into cooperating with deportation of their nationals, by denying visas to other people from those countries.

  It feels like hostage-taking to me.

• 8 July 2021 (Prisoners in their own homes)

  The UK's foolhardy decision to eliminate all Covid-19 distancing rules will make a many people prisoners in their homes for a long time.

  Wearing a mask is a small sacrifice.

• 8 July 2021 (Elimination of planning rules)

  The reason Britain builds too few houses is that investors who own houses and building sites prefer to hold on to them for later. The Tories don't want to change this. Instead they plan to deregulate — to eliminate planning rules.

  This will create a big windfall for those investors, and a thousand local forms of pollution and trouble, but won't do much to reduce housing prices.

• 8 July 2021 (The US case against Assange)

  The US case against Assange has now lost any way to pretend to be valid. The US must drop the case.

  The case has been based on contempt for law and human rights all along.

• 8 July 2021 (WiFi 802.11bf)

  A proposed new WiFi standard, 802.11bf, would allow WiFi devices to sense the position of people and how they are moving. Even from someone else's apartment. Perhaps even sensing how your fingers are moving over the keyboard and what keys they are pressing.

  This seems to me like a disaster. I expect that Amazon and other companies will sell "connected" products containing such WiFi interfaces, and set them up to watch everyone in range and report.

• 8 July 2021 (Art works looted by King Leopold)

  Belgium plans to return the art works looted by King Leopold from the Congo, but instead of physically shipping them there, Belgium will rent them so as to continue displaying them where they are.

  One can think of this as reparations for the thefts. It could benefit the Congolese more than physical possession of the art works would.

• 8 July 2021 (Regulation in Israel)

  Bennett wants to eliminate lots of regulation in Israel to "boost the economy."

  Rich people are always glad to give you the benefit of a little more of the mythical trickle-down that's going to result from giving them more leeway and power.

• 8 July 2021 (Abortion as a recruiting issue)

  For organized Christian fanatics, abortion is just a recruiting issue. They explicitly advocate theocracy and killing whoever disagrees with them. Their attitude towards truth resembles the one that other Christians long ago ascribed to Pontius Pilate.

• 8 July 2021 (Spouses from Palestine)

  A victory against apartheid in Israel: Arab citizens will be allowed to bring spouses from Palestine to live with them and become citizens.

• 8 July 2021 (Denial of the Capitol attack)

  *Republicans’ effort to deny the Capitol attack is working — and it’s dangerous.*

• 8 July 2021 (Why Covid-19 is worse than flu)

  The reasons why Covid-19 is much worse than seasonal flu.

• 8 July 2021 (Rushed deportation)

  The UK government rushed to deport an asylum seeker to Darfur without waiting for per legally required hearings. A court ordered the government to bring per back to Britain, if at all possible, so as to finish respecting per legal rights.

• 8 July 2021 (Experts urge delay of reopening)

  *Global experts urge [Bogus] Johnson to delay ‘dangerous’ Covid reopening.*

  The idea of "living with the virus" is advocated by plutocratists who callously disregard the suffering, death or disability this causes, mainly to the non-rich.

  I suggest relaxing regulations on a city-by-city basis according to what fraction of people in the city have been vaccinated. That would lead people to get vaccinated.

  In order for that to be fair, the government must make sure that people all across the UK have equal access to vaccination. It would be wrong to impede vaccination based on (say) race or class, and then use that as an excuse to punish people for what is not their fault.

• 8 July 2021 (Global heating and the heatwave)

  *Scientists said [global heating] had made such a heat wave in the [US northwest] 150 times more likely.*

  With current trends, *an event so extreme could start occurring every five to 10 years by the 2040s, they warned.*

• 8 July 2021 (8 Years in prison)

  *As Big Oil Execs Roam Free, Climate Activist Gets 8 Years in Prison.*

• 8 July 2021 (Kidnapped in Moscow)

  Belarus oppositionists were kidnapped in Moscow and brought immediately to Belarus without even an extradition hearing, and accused of plotting to assassinate Lukashenko.

  Since then, they have been held incommunicado.

• 8 July 2021 (Trout addicted to methamphetamine)

  Trout in some rivers are addicted to the methamphetamine that flows into them after humans use some.

• 8 July 2021 (Hounding poor people)

  Republicans have redirected the Social Security Administration to hound poor people to whom it has given extra money by mistake. It can demand the impossible, such as to return within a month thousands of dollars that the agency overpaid them over periods of many years.

  Poverty has become so widespread in the US that most Americans can't come up with $500 in an emergency. The poor people that Social Security helps can't pay these debts.

  And they should not have to. The first step to correct this is to make the agency, not the benefits receiver, responsible for the agency's mistakes.

• 8 July 2021 (Build economies)

  *We Need to Build Economies — Not Walls — to Stop Migration.*

• 8 July 2021 (Face recognition in schools)

  The Santa Fe (Texas) school district ran nonfree face recognition software and handed copies of 5,000 photos of students to the developer. That alone should be illegal — schools must never hand student personal data to any company, except grade transcripts when students request that.

  But the schools did worse than that — they operated cameras and identified students by their faces. "Overall, we had over 164,000 detections the last 7 days running the pilot. We were able to detect students on multiple cameras and even detected one student 1100 times!" said a salesman.

  Maybe it is acceptable, under strict limits, for stores to try to detect thieves already known to them. But it is not acceptable for a store to distribute such photos to any other person or entity, because blacklist networks are too dangerous to society.

  It should be illegal to operate a camera viewing a place the public is admitted to, that systematically collects or transmits identifiable face images of some or all of the people it sees. Because doing that much would enable someone else to run face recognition on them.

• 8 July 2021 (Four day work week)

  Iceland is turning to a four-day work week, with the help of pressure from unions.

  I personally don't think I could endure anything less than a seven-day work week, but that's because my work is the heart of my life.

• 8 July 2021 ((satire) Making an actual product)

  (satire) *Struggling Tech Company Almost Desperate Enough To Start Making Actual Product.*

• 8 July 2021 ((satire) Truly being seen)

  (satire) *Study: "Truly Being Seen" Still Ranks Among Worst Possible Experiences In Human Existence.*

• 8 July 2021 (Florida structurally unsound)

  (satire) *21 Million Floridians Evacuated After State Deemed Structurally Unsound.*

• 8 July 2021 (Undercounting of civilian casualties)

  Progressives in Congress called on the Pentagon to investigate apparent undercounting of the civilian casualties of US military combat.

• 8 July 2021 (Damaging Seneca lake)

  Waste heat from a power plant that powers a bitcoin mine is damaging Seneca Lake in New York State.

• 8 July 2021 (Summer Covid cases)

  *Data predicts 2m UK summer Covid cases with 10m isolating.*

  That is an enormous rate of infection — almost one in 30 people.

• 8 July 2021 (Abolition of nuclear weapons)

  *Twenty-five years ago, the International Court of Justice stated the obligation to negotiate the abolition of nuclear weapons.* No progress has been made, except for the non-nuclear deal with Iran — which Biden seems to be missing the chance to restore.

• 8 July 2021 (Making countries subservient)

  The US has concluded that China's diplomatic differences with Australia reflect a strategy of making countries subservient to China via divide and conquer. (That is what I have thought.)

  It is useless to treat this as a minor dispute and hope to resolve it through diplomacy. China doesn't want a reasonable solution, it wants surrender so as to increase its power.

• 8 July 2021 (Divine right of corporations' profit)

  We must overturn the divine right of corporations' profit so that they can't drive us into poverty.

• 8 July 2021 (Breaking vaccine patents)

  *Brazil's lower house approves text of bill to allow breaking of vaccine patents.*

  Bolsonaro opposes the bill, as part of his general policy of letting Covid-19 win.

• 8 July 2021 (Arrest of dual citizen)

  Turkish agents in Kyrgyzstan arrested a dual citizen and took him to Turkey for prosecution, accused of being an ally of Fethullah Gulen.

  Erdoğan envisions Gulen as the leader of a giant conspiracy and accuses all those he considers enemies of conspiring with Gulen. I find those claims extremely unlikely.

• 8 July 2021 (Quoting Goebbels)

  The bullshitter recently quoted Goebbels, Hitler's head of propaganda.

  The bullshitter: "If you say it enough and keep saying it, they'll start to believe you."

  Joseph Goebbels: "If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it."

  Tomorrow the bullshitter might say the opposite, or anything else whatsoever, but he will continue to be culpable for his big-lie tactics.

• 8 July 2021 (Solutions for some)

  The Tories don't care much the Britons who are stuck with firetrap apartments. They keep adopting solutions for some that omit the rest.

• 8 July 2021 (Graft scheme)

  *Brazil's Bolsonaro implicated in alleged graft scheme as lawmaker.*

  Politicians who don't think corruption is wrong, in countries where corruption is widespread, will generally have participated.

• 8 July 2021 (Abandonment)

  *The Tories’ abandonment of responsibility to protect us from Covid is unmasked.*

• 8 July 2021 (Ordering assassination)

  A former CEO has been convicted of ordering the assassination of Berta Cáceres. Her activism was in the way of the dam that his company wanted to build. The murder followed years of surveilling her.

  Before being the CEO of that company, he was in the Honduran military and got training from the US. I wonder: was that in the School of the Americas, aka WHINSEC and various other names?

• 8 July 2021 (Admitting new countries)

  Should the EU admit the remaining Balkan countries?

  They do not have a long or strong tradition of democracy, so it seems likely that they will go the way of Poland and Hungary. Before admitting them, the EU needs to strengthen its ability to stop countries from going down that path.

• 8 July 2021 (As if Covid did not exist anymore)

  Spain is suffering from a surge in Covid-19 as people there act as if Covid-19 did not exist any more.

  I am in Spain now, and I take care to remind the people I meet to take precautions — and to set an example by doing so myself.

• 8 July 2021 (Torturing prisoners)

  Mexico has arrested a former high official of thugs on charges of torturing prisoners.

• 8 July 2021 (No lesson learned)

  *The real tragedy of the 2003 U.S. invasion is that virtually none of its lessons have been learned. It's easy to understand why. None of its perpetrators have ever suffered any consequences for the damage they inflicted on the country and the world.*

  I think that the death of a million or so Iraqis, and the rise of PISSI, are additional tragic consequences of Dubya's invasion.

• 7 July 2021 (Urgent: Tell House and Senate not to meet with Exxon's representatives)

  US citizens: call on your congresscritter and senators to refuse to meet with Exxon's representatives.

  The Capitol Switchboard number is 202-224-3121.

  If you call, please spread the word!

• 7 July 2021 (Urged not to restrict protests)

  The Council of Europe's human rights representative urged the UK not to restrict protests.

• 7 July 2021 (Mental health problems)

  Isolating people for long times causes mental problems. So does working in an overloaded hospital, getting badly sick, and having friends and relatives die. It is a mistake to assume it is better to let people spread Covid-19 ad libitum.

• 7 July 2021 (Investment fund in Norway)

  A large pension fund in Norway has refused investment in 16 companies because of their connections to Israel's colonies in Palestinian territory.

• 7 July 2021 (Fired by a robot)

  What's even worse than working under robot supervision in an Amazon warehouse? Being fired by a robot in an Amazon warehouse.

  You can help put an end to this: don't order anything from Amazon.

  You could even recover some of your freedom by joining me in not ordering things online. Saying no even once is helping.

• 7 July 2021 (Altering people's dreams)

  Companies are studying what they can achieve with advertising designed to alter people's dreams.

  The clean and simple solution to this problem, which would solve many other problems, would be not to have computerized speakers in your home controlled by nonfree software. That gives companies the power to do many nasty things to you. But most people consider that such a radical change that it can't even be proposed.

• 7 July 2021 (Pelosi's select committee)

  *Capitol attack: what Pelosi’s select committee is likely to investigate.*

• 7 July 2021 (South Korea mRNA vaccine)

  *South Korea in talks with mRNA vaccine makers to make up to 1 billion doses.*

  This has the potential to be of great help in eliminating the danger of Covid-19. To vaccinate the world faster, we need faster production of vaccines.

• 7 July 2021 (Public warning of global heating)

  Global heating was having effects in the 1960s that can be recognized in hindsight. There was even some government concern about the issue. But it was the 1970s when the public started to receive warnings.

• 7 July 2021 (UK ends distancing measures)

  The UK has decided to end anti-Covid distancing measures and invite spreading of the disease.

• 7 July 2021 (Federal executions)

  *US halts all federal executions amid review of capital punishment.*

  This may be the effect of Biden's disapproval of the death penalty. It could lead to ending the death penalty for federal crimes.

• 7 July 2021 (Making elections less fair)

  The Supreme Court is eagerly seeking opportunities to allow states to make elections less fair. First, by accepting voting rules that interfere with poor voters; second, by ensuring the rich can use their money to do more than vote.

• 7 July 2021 (Nina Turner)

  Nina Turner is running in an Ohio Democratic primary for Congress. She has worked for Sanders and eagerly supports Medicare for All. Her plutocratist opponent gets campaign support from Big Pharma, and gets endorsements from politicians funded by Big Pharma.

• 7 July 2021 (Personal data about students)

  Bill Gates is funding an effort to make it easier to collect and analyze personal data about students. Easier for schools. Easier for companies.

  They talk about protecting students' privacy. What they mean is, protecting it from third parties who were not officially supposed to get the data. As for protecting the students' privacy from the companies that have dealt themselves in, they exclude that from the definition of "privacy".

  If the school gives a student's real name to any company, or any other identifying data, that already violates the student's privacy.

• 7 July 2021 (Russian gas)

  Russia demonstrates the power it gets from Europe's dependence on Russian gas by pressuring European countries to invest in continuing, long-lasting dependence on Russian gas.

  This should remind Europe that the whole world needs to quickly cut down its use of natural gas, Russian or not. If Nord Stream 2 is still in use 10 years from now, that will mean the world has failed to protect itself from global heating.

  If Nord Stream 2 is not still in use 10 years from now, building it will have been a waste of money. Europe should not spend another eurocent on that bad investment.

  Cutting it off now will punish Putin where it really hurts.

• 7 July 2021 (Unsubstantiated claim)

  The level of belief in the unsubstantiated claim that SARS-Cov-2 leaked from a lab demonstrates the powerful effect of a loud chorus repeating the same claim.

  This gives the wrecker his power.

• 7 July 2021 (Undermining of the NHS)

  Britons are protesting against the Tories' undermining of the NHS and their plan to privatize it step by step.

• 7 July 2021 (Biden's foreign policy)

  *Why Is Biden's Foreign Policy So... Conventional?*

• 7 July 2021 (Climate crisis is a workers' rights issue)

  *The Heat Wave Shows [the climate crisis] Is a Workers' Rights Issue.* Particularly for the low-paid workers that can't work in air conditioning.

• 7 July 2021 (Oil pipeline in Tennessee)

  Public pressure has cancelled plans for a new oil pipeline in Tennessee.

• 7 July 2021 (US sued for blocking Keystone XL)

  A pipeline company is using a business-supremacy treaty to sue the US for blocking the Keystone XL pipeline. It demands 15 billion dollars.

  It does not deserve to get any of that money. The approval of that pipeline was the result of lobbying and lies by many fossil fuel companies, starting in the 1970s, which warped the US government (and others) to act in the interest of planet roasters rather than the public interest. If this influence has come to an end, and it blocks planet roasters from doing some harm, that means it is acting properly. The planet roasters will owe damages for the damage they succeeded in carrying out.

• 7 July 2021 (Assaulting Journalists)

  *FBI Begins Arresting People Accused of Assaulting Journalists at Capitol on January 6.*

• 7 July 2021 (Urgent: reject Journalism Competition and Preservation Act)

  US citizens: call on Congress to reject the "Journalism Competition and Preservation Act". It threatens fair use, and would give big media added advantages over small competitors.

• 7 July 2021 (Rescue ship seized)

  Italy has seized another ship that rescued migrants at sea.

• 7 July 2021 (Death of political prisoner)

  *Fury in India over death of 84-year-old political prisoner Stan Swamy.*

  He and other activists for human rights and against caste prejudice were charged with "terrorism", based on files found on one of their computers — files which analysis suggests were planted by crackers.

  Modi's officials may not have been interested in reasons to doubt the conclusion they wanted to believe.

• 7 July 2021 (Variant factories)

  *UK scientists caution that lifting of Covid rules is like building "variant factories".*

  This is true — but meanwhile there are enormous "variant factories" in the unvaccinated countries. We need to get almost everyone vaccinated for Covid-19, so we can eradicate it.

• 7 July 2021 (Taliban on the move)

  The Taliban are rapidly taking over large parts of Afghanistan. Government soldiers either run away or surrender happily.

  It is interesting that the areas which fought the Taliban bitterly 20 years ago show no interest in fighting it now. Perhaps the opposition back then was due to loyalty to the individual warlords that lead them.

  It is clear that those soldiers don't feel a strong commitment to the current government's cause. That, I think, is why the Taliban are winning. The Taliban inspire loyalty. How sad it is to see people invest their loyalty in a fanatical religion.

  I am also sad about the religious repression that Afghan women will face under the Taliban. But I can't consider forever war better.

  What can these women do? Some years ago, they could perhaps have formed militia units determined to defeat the Taliban. With real commitment to the cause, just what the Afghan army lacks, they might perhaps have won. But it seems too late to start now.

  At this point, I think their only hope of avoiding some of the Taliban's oppression is to seek asylum in other countries.

• 7 July 2021 (DNA-sequencing of babies)

  An article about the possibility of DNA-sequencing every baby born in the UK does not mention that this would be a giant collection of biometric identification data.

• 7 July 2021 (Vanity plates)

  Freedom of speech as applied to vanity plates.

• 7 July 2021 (Making of show of climate defense)

  Greta Thunberg rebukes politicians for only making a show of defending Earth's climate. Even if this fools many people, it won't fool the air.

• 7 July 2021 (Thugs using copyright)

  A thug tried to use copyright law to block publication of recordings of how he was treating the protesters at Black Lives Matter event. It wasn't the first time.

  A human US judge could rule that the right to publish news of events overrides copyright law. The thugs expect that automatic copyright censorship filters will not be able to make such a judgment.

  I support Black Lives Matter, but I would equally condemn thugs for doing this to people supporting any other cause, even a cause I oppose. (However, thugs tend to be friendly and helpful to supporters of right-wing causes.)

  It would be ironic if the thug gets sued for public performance of the song. That too is copyright infringement. But I do not hope that this happens, because it too would increase the unjust power of copyright.

• 7 July 2021 (Importance of democracy)

  (satire) *Congressional Democrats Put On Elaborate 4th Of July Pageant To Teach Republicans Importance Of Democracy.*

• 7 July 2021 (Enjoy economy)

  (satire) *Labor Department Announces Plans To Stop Counting Jobs And Just Enjoy Economy.*

• 7 July 2021 (Not really said)

  Exxon's CEO is trying to tell people that the admissions about its planet-roasting lobbying were not really said, so we should forget them.

• 7 July 2021 (Glyphosate)

  Europe decided to authorize glyphosate based on experiments carried out by companies, then described in secret reports written and submitted by companies. These reports have become public and show important flaws; they don't prove that glyphosate is safe.

  No wonder the companies kept them secret.

  Clearly these regulatory decisions should not accept secret studies carried out by companies with an interest in the outcome.

  For medicines, I've argued that tests of their effectiveness and safety should be independent of the companies involved with producing and selling them. Perhaps that should apply to pesticides, too.

  It is pertinent that one report says that glyphosate caused cancer specifically when mixed with other chemicals, as occurs in Roundup. That one study may not be proof enough, but shows the need to test Roundup as well as pure glyphosate.

• 7 July 2021 (What was the point)

  *'What was the point?' Afghans rue decades of war as U.S. quits Bagram.*

  If the US had achieved its war aims, the war could have been worth its human and financial cost, which would have been small. But once it became clear that that was no longer possible, there was no point in continuing the war any longer.

  (satire) *"Someone's Gotta Occupy Afghanistan," Grumbles Dick Cheney, Shoving Firearms Into Suitcase.*

• 7 July 2021 (Heat wave)

  The northwest US heat wave was the most extreme heat wave ever recorded.

  Forecasting some of the extreme weather disasters we will experience at 1.5 C, 2C, 3C and 4C of global heating. Meanwhile, the world may reach 1.5C by 2025, showing the trying to avoid that by actions with targets in 2050.

• 6 July 2021 (Urgent: Climate-focused infrastructure bill)

  US citizens: call on Biden and Senate Democrats to Use reconciliation to pass a robust climate-focused infrastructure bill.

• 6 July 2021 (Damaged concrete)

  The condo board of the collapsed Florida apartment building disputed for a long time what to do about the damaged concrete.

  I can understand the disagreement in the board. The owners of the building were the residents; some of them might have been bankrupted by a $100,000 expense. If they had realized that the alternative was likely to include collapse of the building, I suppose they would have closed the pool and said "Fix the damage right away," or moved out immediately if the collapse was likely to happen soon. But the engineers did not tell them (and I suppose did not know) that collapse was likely.

  What a dilemma.

• 6 July 2021 (Urgent: reject Journalism Competition and Preservation Act)

  US citizens: call on Congress to reject the "Journalism Competition and Preservation Act". It threatens fair use, and would give big media additional advantages over smaller competitors.

• 6 July 2021 (Urgent: leniency for Daniel Hale)

  Everyone: call for leniency for whistleblower Daniel Hale.

• 6 July 2021 (Denouncing pipeline)

  Minneapolis denounced the Line 3 pipeline and called for its cancellation.

• 6 July 2021 (Genetic disease cured)

  A genetic disease has been cured in several patients by injecting a CRISPR-Cas9 gene editor into their bloodstream.

• 6 July 2021 (Bill Cosby)

  Bill Cosby's rape conviction was thrown out because it was based on using his own testimony (for a civil suit), which he gave in return for a promise not to prosecute him.

  I have no reason to doubt the trial's conclusion that Cosby was guilty of rape. Punishing rapists is important.

  But it's even more important not to let governments cheat and trick people by making a promise not to prosecute and then breaking it. The right to refuse self-incrimination is an endangered fundamental liberty, and we must protect it — even though sometimes it protects real criminals who committed real crimes that call for real punishment.

  Explaining the constitutional issue at stake.

  The plaintiffs wanted those answers so as to help them win damages against Cosby. Without this promise, Cosby could have cited the 5th amendment and refused to answer some questions.

• 6 July 2021 (Child slavery)

  *On Ghana's Lake Volta, child slavery is in plain sight.*

• 6 July 2021 (Decriminalizing drug possession)

  A bill to decriminalize drug possession has been introduced in Congress.

• 6 July 2021 (Firing striking nurses)

  Multinational hospital chain owner Tenet Healthcare plans to fire the striking nurses in one US hospital. They are on strike demanding safe levels of staffing. Tenet's aim is to be able to maintain insufficient levels in the US and perhaps in other countries.

  I think we should put an end to for-profit hospitals, I know that the managemment of nonprofit hospitals often engages in some of the same harmful actions, but I suspect that the for-profit competition encourages this.

• 6 July 2021 (Global minimum tax deal)

  Oxfam denounced the global minimum tax deal because of its designed-in loopholes.

• 6 July 2021 (Deep sea animals)

  As people learn more about animals of the deep sea, we might start overfishing them without understanding that we are doing so.

• 6 July 2021 (Online tickets)

  Some events sell tickets only online, and allow only the person that purchased the ticket to use it.

  Aside from excluding people who can't personally purchase a ticket that way, this system does something even worse: it violates the privacy of everyone that attends.

  Since you're not going to be compelled to attend, refuse!

• 6 July 2021 (Surprise medical bills)

  New US regulations attempt to check the practice of surprise enormous medical bills.

• 6 July 2021 (False testimony against Assange)

  Sigurdur Ingi Thordarson, a former Wikileaks volunteer, has admitted he had given the FBI false testimony making false accusations against Julian Assange.

  The article shows how the US indictment against Assange repeats some of Thordarson's accusations.

  He initially offered his fabrications to the FBI to try to get out of possible charges for embezzling money from Wikileaks. In 2019,the FBI gave him immunity from prosecution on other charges in exchange for this testimony against Assange.

  The article reconciles the US assertion that the push to indict Assange started only under the bully, with the evidence that the efforts to indict Assange started while Obama was president.

• 5 July 2021 (Alcohol addiction)

  * Alcohol addiction has long been romanticised in films, TV shows, books and adverts. Let’s stop glossing over the destructive drudgery and sheer sorrow of the disease.*

• 5 July 2021 (Defending monuments to the Confederacy)

  Suggested tactics for defending monuments to the Confederacy include avoiding the topics of race and slavery.

  The whitewashing of the Confederacy has always been based on pretending that the Civil War was not about whether to end slavery.

• 5 July 2021 (Making nomad life impossible)

  One aspect of the Tories' proposed broad repression law would be to make nomadic life almost impossible, as they would be effectively forbidden to stop almost anywhere.

  People who live in vehicles because they can no longer afford anywhere else would also be targeted.

• 5 July 2021 (Fashion brands and slavery)

  *France investigates fashion brands over forced Uyghur labour claims.*

• 5 July 2021 (Colonies)

  The deal that removed Israeli fanatics from their illegally constructed colony in Palestine seems to be designed to create an excuse to permit them to return soon.

• 5 July 2021 (Coastguards and migrants)

  *Libyan coastguards "fired on and tried to ram migrant boat".*

  European countries support the Libyan Coast Guard, so one has to wonder whether this support amounts to recruiting Libyan help to kill migrants.

• 5 July 2021 (Longer extreme weather)

  Climate models show that global heating causes more instances of extreme weather, but there is a secondary effect, not included in the models, that causes extreme weather to get stuck for longer in one place. This makes the effect even more extreme.

• 5 July 2021 (John McAfee)

  A report from the prison says that John McAfee tried to commit suicide at the end of February.

• 5 July 2021 (Dealing with FARC splinter groups)

  Venezuela jailed Javier Tarazona after he claimed that the government had dealings with Colombian FARC splinter groups.

• 5 July 2021 (Worsening famine)

  *UN warns of worsening famine in Ethiopia's Tigray.* The famine is at least partly caused by the civil war.

• 5 July 2021 (Donald Rumsfeld)

  (satire) *Rumsfeld Family Immediately Squabbling Over Who Will Inherit Mounted Heads Of Iraqi Civilians.*

  (satire) *Donald Rumsfeld Survived By 1 Million Fewer Iraqis.*

• 5 July 2021 (Large events requirements)

  Large events in the UK require participants to (1) run nonfree software to get a ticket and (2) identify themselves.

  There is no justification for requiring nonfree software — they could do the job with free software. Rather than run the nonfree software, I would choose not to go. It isn't the end of the world to stay away.

  Identification is a more complex issue. I can't argue with the importance of contact tracing for beating Covid-19, if the country makes a serious attempt to do that. Some countries try to do that carefully, but I don't think the Tories have tried. They give the contracts to incompetent companies for political reasons. For the same reason, I feel safer staying away from those events. I wouldn't even think of going if I were not fully vaccinated. But even vaccinated people have a small but significant chance of catching the Delta variant.

• 5 July 2021 (Jellyfish ocean)

  As we pollute the sea and overcatch fish, we are driving the seas towards mainly jellyfish.

• 5 July 2021 (Guantanamo prisoners)

  23 Guantanamo prisoners have been "released" to the UAE, which said they would be free after some months, but every one has been kept in prison ever since. One may be sent to Russia for more torture and imprisonment.

• 5 July 2021 (Urgent: Appoint an FCC commissioner)

  US citizens: call on Biden to appoint an FCC commissioner to fill the vacant seat.

• 5 July 2021 (Urgent: Strong climate bill)

  US citizens: call on Biden to introduce a strong climate bill.

• 5 July 2021 (Scientific American)

  Scientific American published an article whose title explicitly stated a controversial political stand. It said that the authors "stand in solidarity with Palestine." Later the magazine took it down.

  The article should never have been published there, because Scientific American's purpose is science education. It should not politicize that education, except perhaps to defend science from anti-science.

  Depending on how far the stated solidarity extends, I might agree with the authors' position. (I support the existence of Israel as well as the existence of Palestine.) I might possibly have stated agreement with the article.

  However, the issue as I see it is not about which stance the article took. If the proclaimed solidarity were with "Rojava", "Hong Kong", "Taiwan", "the United States", or "Israel", the issue would be the same. The article belongs in a place where political stands belong, and Scientific American should not be that place.

• 5 July 2021 (Conspiracy theories)

  Edward Snowden: *Why do conspiracy theories flourish? Because the truth is too hard to handle.*

  The article explains that the most dangerous conspiracies are not secret, and that imaginary conspiracies serve as a distraction from them.

• 5 July 2021 (Changes to conservatorship laws)

  *After Britney Spears testimony, lawmakers push changes to conservatorship laws.*

• 5 July 2021 (Future wildfire damage)

  California Governor Newsom overstated work that the state had done on preventing future wildfire damage.

  I don't know how effective it is to remove some potential fuel from a forest. On that I will defer to experts. This method can't get out of control and become dangerous (a controlled burn has that danger), but it must be a lot more labor-intensive.

  Effective action to reduce fire danger requires a tremendous amount of work and money, because it has to be done over the whole region affected by drought. And it has to be done over and over, forever.

  Switching to renewable energy and curbing the emissions that cause the drought will be far more efficient in the long term.

• 5 July 2021 (Home care budgets)

  Several US states are using algorithms to apportion home care budgets for the disabled. This has given more help to some, and less to others. Some patients can't get out of bed without the help they no longer get; some have died.

  In theory, an algorithm can do the job better than humans. The salesmen will lead you to imagine that the algorithm performs as well as you could imagine. In practice, it can easily do a bad job. In this case, some factors were explicitly not considered. Very likely there are other important factors that that human decision-makers used to recognize on their own.

  If the state doesn't have the source code of the program, it should not use the program. But the problems described in the article can happen with a free program, because they result from the absence of any non-problematical solution.

  The underlying problem is that the algorithm has to divide up funds that are insufficient to start with. The algorithm tries to spread the insufficiency equally. Is that the best thing to do?

  Which is worse: to permanently give each disabled person half the help perse needs, or to permanently abandon a randomly-chosen half of them? The answer is not obvious to me.

• 5 July 2021 (Water privatization)

  Progressives tell Biden not to put water privatization into the infrastructure deal.

  Privatizing any service is harmful unless it results in a competitive market with many competitors.

• 5 July 2021 (Murder of Muhammad Waqas)

  A Pakistani thug has been charged with the brutal murder of Muhammad Waqas, who had been charged with blasphemy and then acquitted.

  In Pakistan, it is not unusual for fanatics to murder people who have been charged with blasphemy, or their lawyers, or anyone who stands in the way of executing them.

• 5 July 2021 (Bullied into giving DNA samples)

  Prosecutors in Orange County, California, bully everyone accused of the smallest offenses into giving a DNA sample, by threatening false felony charges.

  It is easy to manipulate the public with fear into tossing aside civil liberties for "stronger law enforcement" which will supposedly make everyone "safe". The danger is that it promotes repression too.

• 3 July 2021 (Urgent: Exclusion of military pollution from climate agreements)

  Everyone: call on Cop26 to stop excluding military pollution from climate agreements.

• 3 July 2021 (Urgent: Elon Musk's union-busting)

  US citizens: call on Congress to stop Elon Musk's union-busting by passing the American Jobs Plan.

  The Capitol Switchboard number is 202-224-3121.

  If you call, please spread the word!

• 3 July 2021 (Freezing jail conditions)

  *Secret Internal Report [from a federal prison] Slammed Warden For Freezing Jail Conditions — Then He Was Promoted Anyway.*

  We must put an end to impunity for officials that are callous and/or incompetent (as well as for officials that are brutal).

• 3 July 2021 (Climate disaster has started)

  People are coming to realize that the predicted climate disaster has started. Nowhere is safe from extreme weather.

  The extreme weather of 30 years from now will go beyond what we call "extreme" today.

• 3 July 2021 (Arizona voting restrictions)

  *US supreme court deals bow to voting rights by upholding Arizona restrictions.*

  The Republicans on the court seem inclined to give states lots of leeway for voter suppression. They support "states' rights" rather than "people's rights".

• 3 July 2021 (Euro soccer tournament)

  *Euro soccer tournament under fire for helping spread COVID-19.*

  I want to respond, "Duh?!"

  Travel to beaches is having a similar effect.

• 3 July 2021 (Italian prisons)

  *Italian prisons under fire as video footage shows guards beating inmates.*

• 3 July 2021 (Charged with murder for self defense)

  A teenager in Zimbabwe fought with a rapist who had invaded her home, and killed him. Now she is charged with murder for her act of self-defense. Zimbabwean law leaves doubt about whether self-defense is a legally valid defense, which makes some women scared to fight back.

• 3 July 2021 (Donald Rumsfeld's legacy)

  Donald Rumsfeld's legacy: *systemic torture, massacres of civilians, [and] illegal wars.*

• 3 July 2021 (Hong Kong blackwhiting)

  A Hong Kong official demonstrated a level of blackwhiting befitting Republicans.

• 3 July 2021 (Insect protein)

  * Adopting insect protein in pig and poultry feed could reduce UK soya consumption by a fifth by 2050, says WWF study.*

• 3 July 2021 ((satire) Roots of Washington Monument)

  (satire) *Biologists Discover Roots Of Washington Monument Have Spread Over 400 Feet Underground.*

• 3 July 2021 ((satire) Supreme Court waits in line)

  (satire) *Supreme Court Waits In Line For Hours Before Voting To Uphold Arizona Restrictions.*

• 3 July 2021 (Articles by Chinese scientists)

  Some scientific journal publishers have resisted a push to reject articles by Chinese scientists to punish China for its crimes against humanity.

  I support that goal, in general, but these publishers acted rightly in refusing to reject authors for being Chinese. Scientific cooperation is part of the basis of science. We must not undermine cooperation for political campaigns, not even when the campaign is based on a valid goal.

  It should be noted that the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign carefully avoids calling for a boycott of individual Israelis. It targets only institutions.

• 3 July 2021 (Influence inside the FDA)

  Biogen developed improper influence inside the FDA to bring about the approval of its drug aducanumab with inadequate investigation.

  This looks like an example of regulatory capture.

• 3 July 2021 ((satire) Best of luck stopping climate change)

  (satire) *Senate Passes Bill Wishing Younger Generations Best Of Luck Stopping Climate Change.*

• 3 July 2021 (Trickle-down neoliberalism)

  Trickle-down neoliberalism appears to work as long as stock prices are rising, but occasionally it crashes. To keep it going requires a bailout of the rich. Each bailout incorporates more instability which results in a crash some years later.

  The article also discusses the alternatives to continuing down that path.

• 3 July 2021 (Face recognition in Maine)

  Maine has prohibited state government use of face recognition, with small exceptions.

  This is a substantial step forward but it may not be sufficient. I think it does not prevent private businesses from tracking everyone via face recognition — something we could call the China Syndrome.

• 3 July 2021 (Voter fraud)

  Bolsonaro threatens to seize power if he loses the next election, giving "voter fraud" as an excuse.

• 3 July 2021 (Lukashenko's dictatorship)

  EU sanctions against Belarus and against Lukashenko's cronies are unlikely to endanger Lukashenko's dictatorship.

  As long as Russia supports Lukashenko, the west cannot hurt him much.

• 3 July 2021 (Lack of California-Oregon rain)

  The lack of rain on the California-Oregon border is endangering fish, and farmers.

  There is no way to keep farming going without enough rain, but I think that the US government should buy out enough of the farms in such areas that the remainder will be able to subsist on the water that is now available. That would be of some help to them. Letting them fall into bankruptcy is the callous, Republican approach.

• 2 July 2021 (Virgin Plastic 2040)

  *Call for global treaty to end production of "virgin" plastic by 2040.*

• 2 July 2021 (Erdoğan protest women)

  Thousands protested in Turkey as Erdoğan took Turkey out of the treaty against violence against women.

• 2 July 2021 (Duque 8 years protesters)

  President Duque of Colombia wants to sentence protesters to more than just 8 years in prison for blocking a highway.

• 2 July 2021 (Republicans Trumpify Electoral System)

  *Republicans Trumpify Electoral System to Steal Future Elections.*

• 2 July 2021 (Matt Hancock Resigns)

  *Yes, Matt Hancock resigned, but standards in government have to be upheld by more than just public opinion.*

  If public opinion learns to say, "Never vote for a Tory," that would be a good first step.

• 2 July 2021 (Russia Jehovah's Witnesses Jailed)

  Russia has jailed Jehovah's Witnesses for arbitrarily declared "extremism".

  Jehovah's Witnesses are annoying, but it is not hard to get them to leave you alone. There is no justification for putting them in prison.

• 2 July 2021 (UK Covid-test corruption)

  The corruption of UK contracting with Covid-testing companies has been exposed by emails.

• 2 July 2021 (Israeli Colonists)

  Fanatical Israeli colonists agreed to leave the officially unapproved "outpost" with which they were trying to take Palestinians' land, but their buildings will remain there, locked and off limits to the local Palestinians.

  That is significant because that particular spot was chosen to help cut the West Bank in two parts, blocking Palestinians from travelling between.

  This is temporary, and the government says it might later authorize another colonization attempt there. I hope that the strength of opposition convinces it not to do so. Israel must return the land it has taken on Palestinian territory, unless it gets an agreement to trade that territory for other good land.

• 2 July 2021 (Australian University Pseudonyms)

  *Australian universities may allow students to submit written assignments under pseudonyms and in hard copy amid growing concerns about [China]-linked harassment over politically sensitive topics.*

  This is a good thing to do, but their pseudonyms should extend to all aspects of their participation in the school, and they should be allowed to have multiple pseudonyms for different activities.

  Also, everyone should be allowed to submit work on paper so as to avoid digital systems that snoop on them.

• 2 July 2021 (London football super-spreader)

  An "important" football match in London became a Covid super-spreader.

  It was a policy mistake to permit spectators at that match.

• 2 July 2021 (Pesticide Companies Poison EPA)

  *How Pesticide Companies Corrupted the EPA and Poisoned America.*

• 2 July 2021 (Accusations of plagiarism)

  The German Green Party is being hit hard by accusations of plagiarism that seem to be exaggerated to hurt the party.

  The article is undermined by a mistaken basic assumption: that plagiarism is related to copyright. The two are entirely unrelated. If you publish a copy of Hamlet calling yourself the author, that is not copyright infringement, since Hamlet is in the public domain. It is, nonetheless, plagiarism.

  Legally it is possible to infringe copyright by republishing your own writings, if the copyright belongs to some other person or company. But that cannot be plagiarism.

  Accusations of plagiarism for short passages seem to be straining to put the accused in the wrong. That does sound like something resembling character assassination. Meanwhile, supposing this is big enough to amount to plagiarism, the one responsible would seem to be the ghostwriter who wrote the book, not the Green candidate whose name was on it. She can't be expected to recognize that a passage was copied from an unidentified book that she may never have read or heard of.

  The mere use of a ghostwriter feels, to me, somewhat like plagiarism. You are putting your name on something written by XYZ. To be sure, you paid XYZ for permission to do so, so XYZ won't object. But I don't think that excuses claiming to have written something you did not write.

  However, if the candidate's book acknowledges the work of the ghostwriter, that eliminates the issue.

  In any case, recognizing that ghostwriting is generally accepted and does no special wrong to anyone, I would not consider it a major ethical issue. If I were a German voter, it would not change my vote.

• 2 July 2021 (Unconstitutional for insurrection aids to hold office)

  It would be unconstitutional for those who aided the Jan 6 insurrection after taking an oath of office in the US, to take up any federal or state office.

• 2 July 2021 (Legalization of abortion)

  Three Mexican states have now legalized abortion.

• 2 July 2021 (Coal miners)

  Striking Alabama coal miners picked investment companies that bought the bankrupt Walter Energy, made promises to the union workers, then broke them.

• 2 July 2021 (Pollutants)

  In the negotiations for a global treaty on persistent organic pollutants, the US EPA is pushing to omit UV-238 from the list of them.

• 2 July 2021 (Ban ads for fossil fuel companies)

  Calling on social media companies to ban ads for fossil fuel companies. This punishment would fit the crime of advertising lies which denied global heating.

• 2 July 2021 (Ancient coronavirus epidemic)

  A Coronavirus epidemic 25,000 years ago seems to have killed enough people in East Asia to have a big selective effect on certain proteins. Those proteins probably made people more capable of resisting the infection or its symptoms.

  I expect Republicans will condemn China for not sharing those genes with other racial groups, while secretly looking for people of Chinese descent to marry. ;-}.

• 2 July 2021 (People's Response Act)

  The People's Response Act would move the US towards responding to drug and mental crises with compassion rather than hatred — with unarmed people who will help rather than kill.

  It might be better for the mental health responders to be local organizations rather than federal. But that is a detail — it is better to do this in one way or the other, than not to do it.

• 2 July 2021 (Making hydrogen)

  Is it wise to make hydrogen by burning fossil fuel and sequestering the CO2?

  Any CO2 that is released into greenhouses or used to carbonate water will then go into the atmosphere — its sequestration will be temporary. Anyway, if we already bottle enough CO2 to meet those demands, whatever CO2 is sequestered this way won't get used for that.

  So why grasp at that straw to make this project look good? I have a feeling that someone is trying to underestimate the cost of storing all the unwanted CO2 that this process will produce. Perhaps to make this plant look more green than it would really be.

  I suggest building more wind and solar generating capacity than the average electric demand can directly use, and using the surplus (when there is a surplus) to make hydrogen. When there is need for more electricity than the wind and solar facilities are producing, burn some hydrogen to make up the shortfall.

• 2 July 2021 (Heat dome)

  The Pacific Northwest heat dome is being described as "once-in-a-millennium" by people who don't understand that heat that was rare in the past will be frequent in the future.

  A few decades from now, the same strength of heat dome will be an every-few-years event, and worse ones will happen occasionally.

  Lytton village in British Columbia suffered three days of record-breaking heat; then a wildfire destroyed it.

• 2 July 2021 (Military rapes in civilian courts)

  South Korea wants rapes committed against soldiers to be tried in civilian courts, because they are more likely to convict rapists.

  Women's suicides after being raped suggest to me that patriarchal (Confucian) values, according to which rape destroys a woman's purity and calls for her (rather than the rapist) to feel shame, still have power in South Korea. If so, the solution should include confronting and rejecting those values.

• 2 July 2021 (Hiding billions)

  Billionaires can use Roth IRAs to hide billions of dollars of income from all taxation ever.

  There is no need for Roth IRAs. It would be legitimate to wind them all up.

• 2 July 2021 (Systematic lies)

  Fossil fuel companies caused the coming global heating disaster by systematic lies. We should focus on this, and prosecute them.

  We can't save ourselves individually from climate disaster. The only way we can save ourselves is together.

  To wonder where your descendants would be "most safe" in a world of climate disaster is a foolish distraction. That question will become pertinent only if civilization is failing — which means, if almost everyone is doomed. But that defeat is only a possibility; it has not happened yet. Now is the time when humanity can win, so focus on now!

  Billionaires know where their descendants would be "most safe": in private enclaves intended to survive collapse of civilization. We need to show them, in a way that they can't doubt, that we won't let their families abandon the rest of us that way — that their families' fate is linked with civilization's, so they must work for civilization's survival if their own descendants are to have a chance.

  Lawsuits and other pressure against planet roasting companies are starting to win in some countries.

• 2 July 2021 (Business-supremacy treaties without human rights)

  The UK is negotiating and signing business-supremacy treaties with countries that disrespect human rights, and in some cases workers' rights as well.

  Exporting production to countries that have lower pay or working conditions is an indirect way to reduce them in the UK.

• 2 July 2021 (Carbon offset)

  * Forest protection carbon offsets that may have no benefit to the climate have been used by polluters to avoid paying carbon taxes in Colombia.*

  The offset schemes get a seal of approval from a private organization called "Verra", but its private status makes it less accountable than a government organization would be.

• 30 June 2021 (Urgent: Stop all new fossil fuel projects)

  US citizens: call on Biden to stop all new fossil fuel projects.

  To do this sincerely means not looking for excuses to claim that some of them aren't quite new enough, as the UK just did.

• 30 June 2021 (Moving to renewable electricity)

  Moving to renewable electricity depends on a lot of mining, and mining tends to raise both environmental concerns and human rights concerns.

• 30 June 2021 (Dumping manure)

  London cops arrested Extinction Rebellion protesters for dumping manure on the office of a newspaper that downplays the climate crisis.

• 30 June 2021 (Censored history)

  The Chinese Communist Party presents a thoroughly censored history in which all the things it did badly have disappeared.

  There are similar tendencies in other countries. For instance, Japan tends to deny war crimes, including kidnapping women from subject peoples and forcing them to be prostitutes.

  Some Americans tend to deny ugly parts of US history, including slavery, stealing the land from the indigenous peoples, overthrowing democracies in other countries, and, since 2000, a number of wars that go on and on because victory is impossible.

  But it is not forbidden in the US to talk about these things.

• 30 June 2021 (Mexico legalized marijuana)

  Mexico's supreme court has legalized marijuana.

• 30 June 2021 (Increased Delta variant threat)

  It is foolhardy to eliminate precautions against Covid-19 with the Delta variant increasing the threat.

  Some US states, ruled by the Republican death cult, are already seeing a new surge.

• 30 June 2021 (A road to a driveway)

  Minnesota "law enforcement" personnel claim to have arbitrarily prohibited travel from a road to a driveway and say they will build a wall there to prevent it.

  The driveway, like the land it leads to, belongs to protesters that oppose the Line 3 pipeline. The "law enforcement" personnel come from a local sheriff's department which has been (in effect) purchased by the pipeline company.

• 30 June 2021 (Nigerian government threatens press)

  *Nigerian government threatens to rein in press after Twitter ban.*

• 30 June 2021 (Retaliatory air attack)

  Biden launched another retaliatory air attack on "Iran-backed militia groups" which seem to be using drones to bombard US military forces and US civilian activities in Iraq (for instance, a consulate). The Iraqi government condemned this attack.

  It is the Iraqi government's responsibility to protect foreign consulates, and US forces as well if it has invited them to Iraq. This raises the question: why are the forces there?

  Are they there to provide military support that Iraq wants? If so, Iraq should join in protecting them, including counterattacking if that is necessary.

  But perhaps the Iraqi government regards US forces as intruders, and would rather they were gone. If so, removing them might be the right thing to do. The only force in the region that the US has a reason to fight is PISSI, as far as I know.

• 30 June 2021 (Sunrise movement protest)

  The Sunrise Movement organized a protest at the White House criticizing Biden's desperate efforts to find a "compromise" so weak that Republicans won't kill it.

  I suspect that that is a moving target, and that each new surrender emboldens Republicans to demand more.

  If you are going to accept a "compromise" that is a small fraction of what must be done, at least have the courage to continue describing it as such — something like. "I thank the Republicans for compromising on 15% of what we wanted to do for US infrastructure."

  The worst part of this "compromise" is that it takes a step backwards.

• 30 June 2021 (Venezuela opposition candidates)

  Venezuela is looking at being flexible about letting opposition candidates run either separately and in a coalition.

  Some opposition parties have been running candidates (and gaining some seats) all along. But some were excluded, I think, after their leader Juan Guaido tried try to stage a coup, claiming support from the US. Not surprisingly, he faced criminal charges for that.

  Can anyone tell me whether he still faces charges?

• 30 June 2021 (Transfer of immigration prisoners)

  The US deportation thugs transferred 30 immigration prisoners to a different prison and did not say where. This included prisoners who were on hunger strike.

• 30 June 2021 (Chinese students in Australia)

  Human Rights watch says Chinese students in Australian universities mostly cooperate with China to transmit pressure for classmates and teachers not to say anything critical about China. Those who disobey face physical attacks, or punishment of their relatives in China.

  As long as they are holding classes online, they should make all the students anonymous so that they can more safely criticize China (or any other country).

  However, I think that the real root of the problem is having so many students from a country with a vicious repressive government. When 10% of the students in a university are Chinese, the desire for their income will tend to carry more weight with cowardly administrators than academic freedom. By keeping the numbers down, they can protect themselves from this temptation.

• 30 June 2021 (Commercial farming and mines)

  Brazil's congress is considering a law to facilitate taking over indigenous lands for commercial farming and mines.

  However, Brazil has banned outdoor fires, in an attempt to prevent people from setting fires as they tend to do at this time. In recent years these fires have burned substantial parts of the Amazon forest, and the drought would make it even worse.

  At least it will enable people to cut down the trees for wood rather than seeing them all burn.

• 30 June 2021 (Vaccinated people wear masks)

  Los Angeles County recommends that vaccinated people wear masks in public indoors, just like the non-vaccinated.

• 30 June 2021 (Sea level rise)

  Sea level rise will threaten the homes of 410 million people by the end of the century, and that is not counting any population increase.

• 30 June 2021 (Russian thugs raid journalists)

  *Russian [thugs] raid journalists probing government corruption.*

  The Russian state has abandoned any attempt to heed ideas of justice. It represents raw power.

• 30 June 2021 (Demolishing Palestinian homes and stores)

  Israel is now demolishing Palestinian homes and stores in Silwan, which is part of what Israel has annexed as "East Jerusalem".

  The excuse is that some of the homes were "built illegally", but since Israel effectively prohibits all construction by Palestinians, that has little moral weight.

• 30 June 2021 (Labour abuse allegations)

  *Malaysian palm[-oil] giant IOI faces labour abuse allegations in new report.*

• 30 June 2021 (New coal power investment)

  *Five Asian countries account for 80% of new coal power investment.*

• 30 June 2021 (Calling teenagers children)

  Calling teenagers "children" has real effects. The UK is considering a law to prohibit marriage of anyone under 18, and this is presented as "saving people from child marriage."

  The stated reason for this law is to prevent the practice of compelling someone to marry. Doing that is clearly an injustice, but I don't see that it becomes any less wrong if the victim is over 18.

  Maybe it is unwise for people under 18 to marry. Maybe it is unwise for people under 21 to marry. Or under 31. I clearly don't know, but it is not about being "children."

• 30 June 2021 (Imposing secrecy)

  The Tories want to impose secrecy on British environmental protection decisions. That would be very helpful when ministers wish to permit a damaging development because of the developer's political influence. Would Tories ever do that?

• 30 June 2021 (Remote exam software companies)

  Remote exam software companies try to have it both ways: telling schools that they automate detection of cheating while saying that teachers can and must review recordings and make their own decisions.

  It is clear that those programs snoop on students and the interiors of their homes.

  However, the article says nothing about their demand that students install nonfree software. Even worse, the program talks over a network, which means you must expect it to be spying on users.

• 30 June 2021 (Critic of the ACCESS Act)

  The EFF criticizes the ACCESS Act, a bill meant to stop platforms from mistreating users. It is too weak in several ways.

  The EFF's criticisms are valid, but it doesn't mention a basic weakness: that it doesn't require services to allow anonymous use. If the service knows who the user is, it will track the user, and that is the basis for some injustices.

• 30 June 2021 (Entitled to not paying taxes)

  A Disney heiress explains the attitudes she absorbed from her family while growing up, which taught her to feel entitled to avoid paying any taxes.

  These people ought to pay lots of their income in taxes. Their political philosophy enables them to justify escaping from that, by spending a much smaller amount on philanthropy.

• 30 June 2021 (Corruption to stop unionizing)

  Uber and Lyft corrupted community groups to get them to push the companies' campaigns to stop gig workers from unionizing.

• 30 June 2021 (Republican narrative)

  *The Republican narrative that enhanced unemployment benefits are dissuading people from returning to work—and that cutting off the aid is necessary to boost hiring—is running up against reality in the GOP-led state of Missouri, where officials have yet to see any significant increase in job applicants since the governor cut off pandemic-related federal programs last month.*

  We don't see much effort by legislatures to stop landlords from holding apartments vacant until someone offers a higher rent. But if workers wait for a better offer, legislators insult them and try to pressure them. That's plutocracy at work.

• 30 June 2021 (Donating to supports of overturning election)

  Toyota has donated lots of money to Republican congresscritters that have supported overturning the election.

• 30 June 2021 (Stop police discrimination)

  United Nations human rights officials have called on all countries to stop police from practicing discrimination against blacks.

• 30 June 2021 (Not wearing masks indoors)

  In Idaho, most of the people not wearing masks indoors are unvaccinated.

• 30 June 2021 (Chronic pain)

  Interviews with people suffering from various medical problems that cause chronic pain. Many report that doctors didn't believe they had real medical problems.

• 30 June 2021 (Important traditions)

  Amartya Sen: Britain taught India important traditions, including a free press and democratic elections, but the British Empire prevented India from taking advantage of them until India became independent.

• 30 June 2021 (Fake leaflets)

  Right-wingers in the UK are distributing fake leaflets, pretending to be from the Labour Party, which make extreme statements.

• 30 June 2021 (Testifying about corruption)

  South Africa has sentenced its former president Zuma to prison for refusing to testify about corruption.

• 30 June 2021 (Southern Baptists)

  The US Southern Baptists are divided between supporters of the Republican death cult and people more interested in Christianity.

  Why is there an organization called "Southern Baptist"? In 1845, the Baptists of the south split from the US Baptist church because the latter had concluded that slavery was wrong. Those in the south were ardent supporters of slavery. Now they are reverting to white supremacism.

• 30 June 2021 (Guerrillas chasing government forces out)

  Tigrayan guerrillas have reorganized and chased the Ethiopian government forces out of Mekelle, the capital of Tigray.

  Mekelle is now under the control of the Tigray People's Liberation Front,

• 30 June 2021 (Lowering pain threshold)

  The brain can respond to some kinds of pain and damage by lowering its pain threshold. This can lead to devastating pain in many parts of the body.

• 30 June 2021 (Fly-shooting nets)

  Fly-shooting nets are so effective for catching fish that they leave very little to regenerate the stock.

  If our goal is to keep fish stocks strong, fish them sustainably, and provide work for many fishers, it is clear that these nets are counterproductive -- so we should ban them entirely.

• 30 June 2021 (New Zealand Plastic)

  New Zealand plans to ban plastic packaging for some products, as well as the usual single-use plastics that other countries ban.

• 30 June 2021 (Sea levels buildings)

  Rising seas drive salt water into the ground nearby. This can corrode the foundations of tall buildings and make them collapse.

  There are many places in the world where lots of somewhat tall buildings have been built near beaches. I've seen them near Rio de Janeiro.

  Even if we work hard to curb greenhouse emissions quickly, sea-level rise will continue for decades, perhaps even centuries. Miami cannot be saved.

• 30 June 2021 (Brazil 400,000)

  *Brazil could have stopped 400,000 Covid deaths with better response, expert says.*

• 30 June 2021 (British museums imperialism)

  A major London museum insists on its responsibility to "accurately explain the nature of its collections," including how some were acquired through British imperialism, but rejects demands to hide them.

  I agree with the museum's general stance. I don't know enough about the specific cases to have opinions on them.

  "Decolonization" properly means giving independence to colonies. I object to extending that word to cover removing things from display, because that results in absurd hyperbole. Also, it tries to impose the presumption that two very different issues are just one issue. Opposing colonization does not imply any particular position on what to do with objects in a museum that were acquired from colonization -- or with objects acquired by war (as distinct from colonization).

• 30 June 2021 (Questionable Alzheimers Drug)

  Why the approval of the purported Alzheimer's preventative, aducanumab, was questionable.

• 30 June 2021 (Republicans gerrymandering)

  *Republicans can [rig] the next elections through gerrymandering alone.*

• 30 June 2021 (Neighborhood trees)

  In many US cities, wealthier neighborhoods have lots of trees, but poor neighborhoods have few or none. So the latter become painfully, even dangerously hot. This is the result of lending practices decades ago, which will take effort and money to overcome.

  Just planting trees won't immediately fix the problem; it may take some decades for the trees to grow big enough to have much effect.

  To give poor neighborhoods the same amount of trees would require 30 million new trees.

  That's assuming they find enough new-tree-ents to grow big.

• 30 June 2021 (EU workspaces)

  The EU will draw up work safety standards that apply to working at home or in other premises that are not "workplaces" of the employer.

• 29 June 2021 (New pun)

  Users of WhatsApp

• 29 June 2021 (Taking Syrian prisoners back)

  Biden called on countries whose citizens are in Syrian prison camps, accused of supporting PISSI, to take them back (and prosecute them if appropriate).

  I am in favor of this.

• 29 June 2021 (Global heating attribution)

  Advances in attributing parts of the costs of global heating effects to specific amounts of greenhouse emissions are likely to lead to a lot more lawsuits against fossil fuel companies.

  I predict that companies will buy laws to give them immunity. That's the plutocratic way of life.

• 29 June 2021 (Songbirds)

  A French court has prohibited hunting songbirds by putting glue on branches.

  This will help protect endangered species.

  I find it hard to understand how anyone can want to kill a songbird rather than listen to its singing.

• 29 June 2021 (Urgent: ending training of Salafi Arabia)

  US citizens: call on Blinken to end all US training of "security" forces of Salafi Arabia.

• 29 June 2021 (Deceit is routine)

  *The case for Brexit was built on lies. Five years later, deceit is routine in [UK] politics.*

  The difficulty of getting the health minister to resign demonstrates the level of tolerance for deceit. Indeed, several instances of deceit in government, and outcry in response to them, were covered up in the past year.

  *From Grenfell Tower to the Met police, shirking responsibility has become endemic.*

• 29 June 2021 (Publishers cancel books)

  On the issue of cancelling books to express disapproval of their authors.

  I am terrified by the reported contempt of publishing staff under 40 for freedom to disagree with them. If they succeed in excluding from publication all disagreement with their ideology -- regardless of what the ideology eventually comes to be -- the result is likely to be tyranny.

• 29 June 2021 (Right-wing violence hype)

  Right-wing propaganda claims that increasing rates of violent crime result from local policy changes, which in many cases did not really happen.

• 29 June 2021 (UK oilfield exempt from carbon test)

  The UK plans a new climate impact test for proposed fossil fuel projects. The test will be applied at the very start of the process, which means that an enormous planned oilfield in the North Sea will be exempt from the test.

• 29 June 2021 (Urgent: Call Congress to protect Amazon workers from surveillance)

  US citizens: call on Congress to protect workers from Amazon's oppressive surveillance.

• 29 June 2021 (UK BLM death threats)

  Black Lives Matter activists and supporters in the UK are getting death threats; when they state their support, they are accused of "inflaming racial tensions".

  I think that the thugs who are quick to murder blacks are the ones who inflame the racial tensions. The issue is how to change their behavior.

• 29 June 2021 (Myanmar torture)

  *Nathan Maung says [Burmese prison thugs] punched, slapped and beat him, and kept him blindfolded for over a week.*

  They also chained him in painful positions and denied him sleep.

  They didn't know, for the first few days, that he was a US citizen. So his treatment may be representative of how they treat political prisoners who are citizens only of Burma. But he says that some prisoners got worse torture than he did.

• 29 June 2021 (Good guy gun killed)

  A "good guy with a gun" shot a murderer. Then a uniformed thug shot him dead without giving him time to explain.

• 29 June 2021 (Bipartisan unemployment insurance)

  The bipartisan infrastructure sellout-or-deal include an attempt to crack down on fraud in unemployment insurance.

  Whatever it does, it is likely to screw people who are entitled to unemployment support. And the supposed amount to be saved is likely to be way exaggerated.

• 29 June 2021 (Big Pharma UK)

  Big Pharma corrupts the UK Parliament via hiden funding to various parliamentary "all-party" groups.

  They don't have official status; nonetheless, funding one gives support to its members, and can therefore corrupt them.

• 29 June 2021 (Israeli violations)

  *Amnesty: ‘catalogue of violations’ by Israeli police against Palestinians.*

• 29 June 2021 (False equivalance)

  On the issue of whether two sides in a dispute are "morally equivalent," or even in the same region of morality.

  False equivalence is a kind of fallacy that can be used to argue for various conclusions. Often that fallacy is used to defend unjust power; the article presents examples. The article also presents examples of false or misleading accusations of use the fallacy.

  Was it better to be in Eastern Europe under the Soviet Empire than in Central America under US dominion? I think that depends on where and when. Stalin's rule also included massive arbitrary imprisonment and execution, sometimes almost at random, but he died in 1953 and after him the repression was less wild and brutal (but it was still repression).

  I have a feeling that the term "genocide" is being stretched when applied to the repression in Guatemala. It was a crime against humanity, for sure; but genocide is something different. In order to be genocide, the killings would have to have been intended as a step towards eliminating the Maya of Guatemala. Was that the army's intent? I don't know for ceertain, but the basis presented here seems insufficient to show that.

• 28 June 2021 (Donations to GOP backers of Trump's Coup attempt)

  *Military Contractors Quietly Boost Donations to GOP Backers of Trump's Coup Attempt.*

• 28 June 2021 ((satire) Falsified documents to pass as tuna)

  (satire) *Subway CEO Apologizes For Trusting Fish Who Falsified Documents To Pass As Tuna.*

• 28 June 2021 (Pushed for violence against protesters)

  A book reports that the bully, in 2020, persistently pressed for US thugs and the army to commit more violence against protesters.

• 28 June 2021 (Reduce the siege of Gaza)

  How Israel should start contacts with HAMAS to reduce the siege of Gaza.

• 28 June 2021 (Ahmad 'Abdu)

  Israeli thugs found Ahmad 'Abdu in his car, which was stationary, and immediately started shooting him. Then they left without even giving him first aid. Then they lied about what they had done.

• 28 June 2021 (Videos removed from Youtube)

  Youtube has deleted videos in which people talked about their relatives who are in reeducation camps in China, and showed their own ID cards to demonstrate their identity. Youtube has a rule against showing people's identity data.

  That rule seems good in most circumstances, but this seems to be an exception.

  Posting videos in a site other than youtube is not a bad thing. But some of them require nonfree software to view, and do not — unlike Youtube — have invidious as a workaround.

• 28 June 2021 (Assange's fiancée)

  *Assange's fiancée urges Biden to free WikiLeaks founder to show U.S. has changed.*

• 28 June 2021 (Funeral of Nizar Banat)

  The funeral of Nizar Banat became a protest against Mahmoud Abbas, president of Palestine.

  Palestine has not held an election for many years. The reasons for this are complex: Israel has put elected officials in prison without charges, and has interfered with holding elections. The result is that Mahmoud Abbas remains president by default.

• 28 June 2021 (Refusal to hire enough nurses)

  US hospitals, even those that are nonprofit organizations, refuse to hire enough nurses. The predictable result is that patients get injured.

  Occasionally a patient develops a serious condition that went unnoticed because the nurses were always in a hurry.

  I voted against the Massachusetts initiative, despite agreeing with the basic idea, because it seemed to me that putting a specific staffing ratio directly in the law was too rigid. In 20 years that ratio might call for change and would be very hard to change. Also, since the nurse I had known had died, I had no one to ask about whether that number was correct.

• 28 June 2021 (Charges against nonviolent protesters)

  The UK's supreme court dismissed charges against participants in an inconvenient but nonviolent protest in the name of the freedom to protest.

• 28 June 2021 (Excluding candidates)

  Russia is excluding candidates from local elections because of their past support for Navalny.

• 28 June 2021 (Sanctions on Chinese solar panels)

  The US has put sanctions on some Chinese solar panel exports.

  This is a tricky trade off between two goals: to punish China for its repression, about which it shows as little shame as the bully does, and to continue installing solar generation in the US. I suppose the aim includes encouraging a buildup of US production which would be a long-term decrease in the world's dependence on China for this.

• 28 June 2021 (IPCC Draft climate report)

  *Leaked IPCC Draft Climate Report 'Reads Like a 4,000-Page Indictment' of Humanity's Failure.*

• 28 June 2021 (John McAfee)

  John McAfee's widow says he was not suicidal and had told her he would call her again in the evening. She does not believe he committed suicide.

  I know nothing about his case and have no opinion about whether he was guilty or not.

• 28 June 2021 (Law to reject election results)

  Arizona Republicans are passing a law to make it easy for Republicans to conspire to reject election results (in case a Democrat wins).

• 28 June 2021 (Israel's colonies in Palestine)

  70 members of Congress told Biden that the US should resume its former recognition that Israel's colonies in Palestine are illegal.

• 28 June 2021 (Punish Michael Flynn)

  The US Army must not be too timid to punish Michael Flynn for calling for a military coup.

• 28 June 2021 (Research on versions of coronaviruses)

  The US as well as China has carried out research on potentially dangerous modified versions of coronaviruses.

  This in itself is not evil; the research has an ethical medical justification. But there is some risk to it, and we are not sure how much risk that its. The author calls for coordinated international standards and oversight for such research.

• 28 June 2021 ((satire) Cheaper to tear down U.S. and start over)

  (satire) *Contractor Informs Biden It'd Be Cheaper To Just Tear Down U.S. And Start Over.*

• 28 June 2021 ((satire) Holy water-infused spray)

  (satire) *Raid Introduces Holy Water-Infused Spray That Allows Cockroaches To Be Baptized And Die As Christians.*

• 28 June 2021 (Gas pipeline to Russia)

  Germany claims that it could stop construction of the new gas pipeline to Russia, or shut off its use, as punishment for Russian aggression.

  I am skeptical of the claim. Once the pipeline is in use, EU countries would become dependent on it, and their pressure to keep it running would be even harder to resist then, than their pressure to finish it is now.

  The EU should cancel this pipeline and adopt stronger measures to decarbonize. It needs to do that anyway.

• 28 June 2021 (Hostility against the police)

  Hong Kong's new head of the thug department claims that "hostility against the police" is caused by "fake news."

  I think that means the state will declare news about unjust actions by the thugs to be "fake."

• 28 June 2021 (Suing Republican supporters)

  Biden campaign workers are suing the Republican supporters that besieged a campaign bus in Texas.

• 28 June 2021 (Collapsed apartment building in Miami)

  The owners of the recently collapsed apartment building in Miami got a warning from an engineer of structural damage, so they started planning to do the recommended repairs.

  That takes time. Alas, the building collapsed shortly before those repairs were going to start.

  What should we conclude about such a situation? Were the owners negligent or culpable for this?

  Is there a way to tell when there is an imminent danger of collapse? Should all building owners assume an imminent danger from such damage?

• 28 June 2021 (Shutdown of Iranian web sites)

  When the US shut down Iranian web sites, it included even dissidents.

• 28 June 2021 (Sabotaging lawsuits)

  The New York City thug department has a history of sabotaging lawsuits by failing to hand over documents that the victims demand for the trial. It is doing that again now, to Black Lives Matter protesters whom the thugs attacked last summer.

• 28 June 2021 (Farm-worker union organizers)

  The Supreme Court's ruling on farm-worker union organizers is a disaster for the public which extends far beyond union organizing.

  It limits all levels of governments in the US in requiring businesses from allowing access to workers in workplaces.

• 28 June 2021 (Urgent: Support Julian Assange)

  In Boston: rally to support Julian Assange and freedom of the press. Monday, July 5, from 11 to 12:30, at Park Street Station on the Boston Common.

• 28 June 2021 (Urgent: exclude white supremacists)

  US citizens: call on the DOJ to exclude white supremacists in America's thug departments, including transit thugs, as well as the TSA.

• 28 June 2021 (Urgent: Green New Deal)

  US citizens: call on Congress and the president to pass the Green New Deal.

• 28 June 2021 (Infrastructure bill)

  There is a bipartisan deal to pass an infrastructure bill. What it does not include, Democrats say they will pass via budget reconciliation process, a sort of loophole-in-a-loophole.

  It seems that the crucial question is not what this deal includes, but what is included in this deal plus the budget reconciliation bill. I'd like to see what Sanders says about it.

  One thing that is clearly dangerous is the plan to sell public assets. Another is "public-private partnerships", which is a nice-sounding name for making the public support the profits of businesses.

  Reportedly the investments are slanted towards use of fossil fuels. Some of that can't be avoided, but it's clear that plutocratists will try do as much of that as they can.

• 28 June 2021 (Experiment in bankruptcy)

  (satire) *Scientists Announce Successful Experiment To Bankrupt Mouse That Can’t Afford Cancer Drug.*

• 28 June 2021 (Giant sinkhole)

  (satire) *Infrastructure Talks Come To Halt After Giant Sinkhole Swallows Capitol Building.*

• 28 June 2021 (Freedom of speech in universities)

  Florida Republicans have adopted a law that claims to defend freedom of speech in universities; but it lets the politicians in power (right-wing politicians) decide when and how to enforce. As a result, it is likely to defend freedom of right-wing speech, while helping to restrict left-wing speech.

• 28 June 2021 (Masculinity anxiety)

  Masculinity anxiety has held society back from rational advances.

  I'm proud to say that I adopted wheeled suitcases as soon as I became aware of them. Conceptions of manliness didn't hold me back at all. I never considered myself physically strong, nor made much effort to be so.

  I do wonder how the women who used rolling suitcases before they were a "success" got them. Did each make her own? If not, they had to buy them somewhere, so where was that?

• 28 June 2021 (Misleading voters)

  Plutocratist Democrats including Clinton are trying desperately to mislead voters so that they won't vote for Nina Turner for Congress.

• 28 June 2021 (Making filibusters difficult to carry out)

  Some ideas for how the Senate can make filibusters more difficult to carry out.

• 28 June 2021 (Pentagon report on UAPs)

  The Pentagon has released its report describing Unidentified Aerial Phenomena which appear to be objects.

  In some cases they reportedly affected military systems.

  Let's see what explanations skeptics come up with.

  UAPs could be devices that send spoofing transmissions to present a false impression of how they are moving.

• 28 June 2021 (Deleted genetic sequences)

  The NIH deleted in June 2020 some early SARS-CoV-2 genetic sequences at the request of the Chinese researcher who had previously submitted them.

  It is not obvious what those sequences would prove if they were still available, but given the way China operates, we have to suspect that officials ordered the researcher to "request" their deletion, and that the purpose was to impede understanding. I think the NIH should change its rules for deletions. Perhaps it should allow the submitter to add notes, such as "I now suspect this was spurious", but not actual deletion.

• 28 June 2021 (Using economic power to get deportations)

  China uses its increasing economic power to make other countries expel Uyghur expats or deport them to China.

  This includes Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan, Cambodia, Burma, Egypt, Turkey, and other countries.

  I've decided to write it "Uyghur", because their own pronunciation of that name starts with the sound of "uy" rather than the "we" customarily used to pronounce that name in English.

• 28 June 2021 (Mistake or incompetence)

  When Iranian soldiers shot down Ukrainian flight 752, was it a "disastrous mistake" or was it "incompetence and recklessness"?

  The difference does matter in regard to what steps Iran should take to make sure nothing similar happens again, but it is not a big moral issue.

• 28 June 2021 (Start of Covid spreading)

  Statistical methods suggest that SARS-CoV-2 started spreading in China in October or early November, 2019.

• 27 June 2021 (Australia lockdown)

  Australia has imposed a lockdown on part of Sydney, and a neighboring town.

  This is necessary.

  An article argues that Australia was foolish to depend on its quarantine and occasional lockdowns to protect the country from Covid-19.

  I disagree.

  In an ideal world, Australia (and every other country) would have vaccinated everyone by now (aside from medically necessary exceptions). However, given the artificial limitations on vaccine production, on top of the inevitable difficulties of ramping up production, Australia was not the most urgent place to use the limited supplies. It was succeeding, as well as any country, in keeping its population safe.

• 27 June 2021 (Belarus journalist moved)

  Belarus has moved journalist prisoner Roman Protasevich to house arrest in an apartment.

  Likewise Sofia Sapega, who was taken off the plane with him.

  This could be a step towards releasing the two. I expect the EU would suspend its sanctions unless/until Belarus does such a thing again.

• 27 June 2021 (PISSI becoming PISSA)

  PISSI is becoming PISSA as it expands in Subsaharan Africa.

  PISSA in Nigeria treats local Muslims with respect, better than other governments. Which is fine, in and of itself. If it were willing to make peace with non-Muslims, we could coexist with it.

• 27 June 2021 (New Zealand insult prison)

  New Zealand imprisons people for "being insulting", and plans to do this in even more cases.

  It is painful to be insulted, but none of us has the right to forbid people to insult us.

• 27 June 2021 (US censorship of Iranian websites)

  The US blocked access from the US to some Iranian government web sites.

  That is censorship in the US. Americans have the right to see what Iran is saying.

• 27 June 2021 (Manchin protest)

  The Poor People's Campaign protested Manchin and the Republicans outside their office in Washington DC.

• 27 June 2021 (New UK oilfield)

  The UK plans to develop a large new oilfield in the North Sea.

  There is no room for this in the carbon budget.

• 27 June 2021 (Biden Okay's Alaska Oil Drilling)

  *Ignoring Climate Goals, Biden Administration Greenlights Oil Drilling in Alaska.*

• 27 June 2021 (Wales' environmental offsets)

  * New South Wales’ use of environmental offsets to compensate for habitat destruction caused by major developments will be examined by a parliamentary inquiry.*

• 27 June 2021 (Pakistan censorship)

  Pakistan is moving to censorship of opinions and art.

• 27 June 2021 (California drought heating)

  Drought caused by global heating is forcing California to burn more gas and thus causes more global heating.

• 26 June 2021 (Canadian forest protectors)

  Forest protectors are attaching themselves to trees and roads to prevent logging of the remaining ancient trees in British Columbia (Canada).

• 26 June 2021 (Florida's doomed islands)

  People in the Florida Keys are starting to recognize that their islands are doomed because of global heating.

  To raise their homes enough to escape flooding in the short term would cost more than they can afford. Worse than that, it would only delay the disaster, not prevent it -- the work would have to be repeated, with increasing frequency, and that would be money ill spent.

  Millions of people will lose their homes due to sea level rise, and for in most cases we can't protect them for very long.

  We have to focus on treating the disease, not the symptoms. The disease is greenhouse gas emission and the treatment is to curb emissions.

• 26 June 2021 (Repressive UK laws)

  UN special rapporteur David Boyd warns that three proposed repressive UK laws would *make human rights violations more likely to occur and less likely to be punished.*

• 26 June 2021 (al-Sisi 60,000 political prisoners)

  Dictator al-Sisi has taken at least 60,000 political prisoners, including four activists of the Egyptian Initiative on Personal Rights (EIPR).

  *Part of the EIPR’s role is to investigate the [88]mistreatment of prisoners, and during interrogations the arrestees were asked why they had fabricated accounts of the grim conditions faced by those in jail, even as they sat in those very conditions themselves.*

  Al-Sisi can continue this because he has outside financial backing, from the US for instance.

• 26 June 2021 (Nizar Banat killed)

  Palestinian thugs beat Palestinian opposition candidate Nizar Banat so badly that he died from his injuries.

• 26 June 2021 (Voting rights bill)

  The expected filibuster against the We the People Act was not a final defeat. Steady pressure can shift the votes of some senators and achieve victory.

• 26 June 2021 (EU Parliament greenhouse emissions)

  The European Parliament approved binding greenhouse emissions targets and other measures to curb global heating.

  I think this is not strong enough, but it is still a good step forward.

• 26 June 2021 (Ethiopian market massacre)

  *At least 64 killed in Ethiopian airstrike on Tigray market.*

  When US pilots bombed weddings in the Middle East, perhaps they did not know what they were attacking. However, Ethiopian pilots ought to immediately recognize an Ethiopian market.

  When the US claims that all the victims of a bombing were guerrillas, it is hard for Americans to know for certain that this is false. Most of us have never been to the countries where these attacks occurred, and we don't know what is normal there or not. We have to decide whether to believe the US government or believe local people that we don't know much about. Over time, it has become clear that the US often denies civilian casualties.

  I expect that Ethiopians know what is plausible in Ethiopian life, and what really could or could not have happened in that bombing.

• 26 June 2021 (Malaysia repressive laws)

  Malaysia plans to increase the repression of blasphemy and nonstandard gender or sex roles.

  We think of Malaysia as modern, not fanatical. But countries dominated by Islam tend to be repressive and deny various human rights in the name of religion, including religious freedom.

• 26 June 2021 (Urgent: Repeal Authorization for Use of Military Force)

  US citizens: call on the Senate to repeal the 2002 Authorization for Use of Military Force.

  The House passed this, but that's not enough to do it.

  The Capitol Switchboard number is 202-224-3121.

  If you call, please spread the word!

• 26 June 2021 (Urgent: Pass a wealth tax)

  US citizens: call on Congress to pass a wealth tax.

  The Capitol Switchboard number is 202-224-3121.

  If you call, please spread the word!

• 26 June 2021 (Urgent: No infrastructure deal without climate defense)

  US citizens: tell the President and Congress: No infrastructure deal without climate defense.

  The Capitol Switchboard number is 202-224-3121.

  If you call, please spread the word!

• 26 June 2021 (Urgent: People imprisoned for drug crimes)

  US citizens: call on Biden to give clemency to people imprisoned for drug crimes.

  The White House comments line is 202-456-1111.

  If you call, please spread the word!

• 26 June 2021 (Urgent: Work and Family Mobility Act)

  Massachusetts citizens: support the Work and Family Mobility Act.

• 26 June 2021 (Masks indoors in Israel)

  Israel has brought back the requirement to wear masks in public places indoors, due to renewed spread of Covid-19.

• 26 June 2021 (Death due to Covid-19)

  Almost every death (or disability) due to Covid-19 in the US from now on will be preventable — due to American's foolish refusal to get vaccinated.

• 26 June 2021 (Brazil's environment minister)

  * Brazil’s environment minister has quit amid a criminal investigation into whether he obstructed a police inquiry into illegal logging in the Amazon rainforest.*

• 26 June 2021 (Trial of Chinese scientist)

  A juror in the trial of Chinese scientist Anming Hu says that the FBI tried to railroad him, that the accusation of hiding his ties to China was visibly false all along.

  I wonder what the FBI does when it finds that an agent has tried to frame someone. Does it say, "Get lost, we don't want to threaten innocent people"? Or does it say, "Nice try, better luck next time"?

• 26 June 2021 (UK ban on junk food ads)

  *UK to ban junk food advertising online and before 9pm on TV [and on internet sites] from 2023.*

• 26 June 2021 (Amazon's private internet, "Sidewalk")

  The ACLU's criticisms of Amazon's private internet, "Sidewalk".

• 26 June 2021 (Face recognition used to prove unemployment eligibility)

  Some states require unemployed people to use unreliable face recognition to prove their eligibility for unemployment support. Failures can cause delays of weeks.

  This is a use of face recognition for which a perfectly reliable system would do no harm, provided it doesn't impose nonfree software on people. Applicants for unemployment support are required to identify themselves, after all. What worries me most about biometrics is the danger of using them to identify people when they are entitled to anonymity.

• 26 June 2021 ((satire) After Democracy crumbles)

  (satire) *Experts Encourage Americans To Start Thinking About What Form Of Government They’d Like To Try After Democracy Crumbles.*

  I think we already know the answer. If we don't defend democracy now, we will have out-and-out plutocracy — still presented as democracy.

• 26 June 2021 ((satire) Critical Race Theory)

  (satire) *Conservative Man Tearfully Informs Family Critical Race Theory Has Spread To His Liver.*

• 26 June 2021 (Colony on Palestinian territory)

  As Israelis build a new colony on Palestinian territory, Palestinians are trying many ways to drive them out.

  The colony is illegal under Israeli law, but the government is only interested in keeping it growing. Rather than removing the Israeli lawbreakers, Israel sent troops who are killing some of the Palestinian protesters.

  Smoke from the fires burning outside the colony sometimes hurts the eyes of the colonists. It must feel somewhat like tear gas.

• 26 June 2021 (Oil and gas donors gave to Tories)

  *Oil and gas donors gave over £400k to Tories* as the UK government decided to allow new oil wells in the North Sea.

• 26 June 2021 (Rich backer of the corrupter)

  A web of influence linked a rich backer of the corrupter with Crown Prince Bone Saw and his murder of Jamal Khashoggi.

  I doubt that the training included use of bone saws or forced application of powerful sedatives, but it may have included readiness to follow orders for assassination.

  I see no evidence that either the corrupter or his plutocratist donor specifically supported murdering Khashoggi. But they surely helped get the US more closely involved with Bone Saw and Salafi Arabia. If that didn't directly bring about to the murder of Khashoggi, it surely helped bring about US support for Salafi Arabia's war in Yemen, which has killed thousands, or perhaps hundreds of thousands.

• 25 June 2021 (Destroying democracy)

  * Rep. Mondaire Jones said [Senator] Sinema [by defending the filibuster] is effectively arguing that "we should let Republicans destroy democracy now because at some indeterminate time in the future they may try again."*

• 25 June 2021 (Right to protest)

  The proposed British law to restrict the right to protest — even alone — says this is in the name of avoiding noise!

  Right-wingers say the law is good because the thugs like it. Duh! I say that confirms it is bad.

• 25 June 2021 (Data storage)

  Companies that store data about users in China are required to cooperate unquestioningly with Chinese surveillance, and must not send the data to anyone outside China without China's approval.

  This protects people in China from non-Chinese surveillance and profiling, while making all of them totally vulnerable to China.

• 25 June 2021 (Drying for Amazon rainforest)

  *Study Warns of Severe Drying for Amazon Rainforest.*

• 25 June 2021 (Non-nuclear deal and election)

  Biden's slow negotiations to resume the non-nuclear deal with Iran probably helped push the voters towards the right-wing candidate.

  I think the term "train wreck" is too strong, but mostly I agree with the article's opinions.

• 25 June 2021 (Future cost of CO2)

  The US underestimates the future cost to society of emitting CO2, which systematically encourages plans to emit too much of it.

• 25 June 2021 (Prisoners phone calls)

  Connecticut will stop charging prisoners for phone calls.

• 25 June 2021 (Protecting democracy)

  Sanders: *Not a single Republican in the United States Senate has the courage to even debate whether we should protect American democracy or not.*

• 25 June 2021 (New mayor)

  Buffalo, New York, has elected a socialist mayor.

  She plans to reduce the opportunities for brutality by the city's thug department, and to redefine "public safety" in a broader way.

• 25 June 2021 (Endorsement of election)

  The US endorsed the validity of the Peruvian election.

  This is definitively better than how the US used to act.

• 25 June 2021 (Capturing CO2)

  Some geoengineering schemes could capture large amounts of already-emitted CO2.

  These schemes, if they work, could compensate for all the effects of releasing CO2, by removing that CO2. Running them extra could compensate for the methane we have released.

  Concerns about "playing god" are foolish. That idea is valid only insofar as it reminds us that these schemes could have risks we won't foresee. Alas, what we are already doing has enormous risks that we have already foreseen.

  We may need to uses megasystems to sequester CO2. However, I am concerned that we will adopt this as an easy substitute for reducing emissions. Fossil fuel companies will say, "Let's continue to extract and burn all the fossil fuels — and sequester all the CO2 with olivine and kelp forests."

  That would be risky: if the scheme works for a while, that does not mean it will work without limits. We had better play it safe with our planet: first, make firm arrangements to cease the dangerous and destructive practices, thus limiting the damage we will do; then fix the damage we will not have avoided.

  As for the schemes that would only cool the Earth, they don't try to address the danger of ocean acidification by the emitted CO2, which could kill all coral, all molluscs, and maybe all crustacians (I don't remember), because they could not make their shells. Some research suggest that high levels of CO2 would change some other animals' behavior, making them rash, so they would get eaten. Local cooling to prevent escape of methane might be useful. It would be much smaller and thus less risky than trying to cool the whole surface of the Earth.

• 25 June 2021 (Accustomed to the absence of UK)

  The EU has accustomed itself to the absence of the UK, and may have been strengthened by it.

  It still has grave problems: its government has only a little democracy, and it gives the Euro banksters the power to crush countries such as Greece and Italy that fall into unpayable debt.

• 25 June 2021 (Editorial writer arrested)

  *Hong Kong police arrest editorial writer at Apple Daily newspaper.*

• 25 June 2021 (Ancient indigenous art protection)

  Some indigenous Australians criticize Western Australia's bill to change the rules meant to protect the sites containing ancient indigenous art.

  I support protecting them, but the AHAA seems to say that the destruction of ancient indigenous art is acceptable provided that the "holders of this cultural heritage give consent." I do not agree with that. Those sites include some of the oldest art in the world; it is part of the heritage of all humanity. No one group should be authorized to give consent for their destruction. On the contrary, we should make it very hard for anyone to get legal permission to do that.

  We should not romanticize indigenous humans. They are humans, and susceptible to corruption by money or power like other humans. Just now an indigenous group in Canada opposes efforts to protect the remnant old growth rainforest in British Columbia, because it gets paid for the trees that are cut down.

  I think logging is legitimate and useful -- as long as it doesn't go too far. In particular, we must preserve the small old growth forests that remain.

• 25 June 2021 (More homelessness)

  The UK's tax system allows people to own second homes, rent them out part time, and pay no tax on them. The result is more homelessness.

• 24 June 2021 (Paramilitary training for Khashoggi killers)

  *Four Saudis who participated in the 2018 killing of the Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi received paramilitary training in the United States the previous year.*

• 24 June 2021 (For security reasons)

  Apple says it restricts users for their own good, to protect them from "security risk".

  Apple is using the usual narrow definition of "security" — the danger that third parties might attack the user. However, Apple's own software mistreats users in several ways, and that is bad security, using a broader and deeper sense of "security".

• 24 June 2021 (Tax dodging)

  Let's stop presuming that all tax dodging by the rich is lawful.

  Much of it may be lawful. When corporations route their profits through a country where the tax rate is zero, it may be lawful. That is no excuse morally, of course — those laws must be changed.

  However, the purpose of using tax havens to hide who really gets the money is so that someone can commit tax evasion, and that is presumably a crime.

  The article calls for investigating rich cheaters, and changing laws so that it is possible to nail them.

• 24 June 2021 (Liquified natural gas)

  A proposed EU directive for cutting the carbon emissions of shipping would permit use of liquified natural gas as a bridge to nowhere. Compared with the current fuel (heavy fuel oil), it might not reduce emissions at all.

  Cutting emissions will cost a lot of money, but the alternative is global disaster, so we need to spend it. Permitting "flexibility" to avoid this is self-defeating.

• 24 June 2021 (Filibuster)

  Republicans blocked the For the People Act with a filibuster, as expected. Now the really hard fight begins, to convince all Democrats in the Senate to vote to eliminate or weaken the filibuster so that this and other crucial laws can be passed.

• 24 June 2021 (Boarding schools)

  The US Interior Department will hold an investigation of the boarding schools that decades ago it forced indigenous children to attend.

• 24 June 2021 (Unionizing Amazon workers)

  *Teamsters plan sweeping effort to unionize Amazon workers.*

  Bravo!

• 24 June 2021 (Arrest of journalists)

  Nicaragua has arrested journalists as well as political candidates; a famous Nicaraguan journalist has fled the country after his home was raided.

  When the US prosecutes journalists such as Julian Assange, it lends support to other countries that do so. Including Nicaragua and China. The US should stand up for freedom of the press, including the freedom to investigate government wrongdoing.

• 24 June 2021 (Socialism)

  *US military training manual describes socialism as "terrorist ideology."*

  That is arrant bullshit. Today's socialists are mostly not violent at all. Some communists are violent, but that is mainly when they are working for violent communist states such as China.

• 24 June 2021 (New article)

  New article : Worker-owned internet services can still be dis-services.

• 23 June 2021 (Third wave of Covid-19)

  A third wave of Covid-19 has started in the UK. It is clear that the government catered to the demands of those who could not defer gratification to save people's lives. However, the government's previous bad leadership undermined its authority and fomented those demands.

  When a system behaves badly, the blame falls on the system overall as well as on the people who exploit its flaws. Neither one can make the excuse of blaming the other.

• 23 June 2021 (Mysterious suicide)

  Five thugs from Savannah, Georgia, reported that a suspect committed suicide while they were taking a break from interrogating him. Mysteriously, the cameras all failed to record anything during that time.

  Is it plausible that the suspect committed suicide? It seems more plausible to me that the thugs killed him. But there is no proof.

  The system has to be changed so that this can't happen again.

• 23 June 2021 (More segregated)

  Most US cities and metropolitan areas have become more segregated racially since 1990.

• 23 June 2021 (Britain's housing crisis)

  *Absurd planning policies that create Britain's housing crisis.*

• 23 June 2021 (Czech thugs killed a man)

  Video shows that Czech thugs killed a Roma man by kneeling on his neck.

• 23 June 2021 (Ecocide)

  Proposing a draft law establishing the crime of ecocide.

  It shows that the law can defend the well being of ecosystems without the silliness of claiming that the ecosystems themselves "have rights".

  If this is adopted by the International Criminal Court, we will have another reason to press for more countries to join that court. Its main opponents are the US, Russia and China.

• 23 June 2021 (Proposed Italian law)

  The Vatican objects to a proposed Italian law which might criminalize the refusal to teach certain specific ideas about gender, and refusal to conduct same-sex marriages.

  I support same-sex marriages, and adoption by same-sex couples. I also support the right of people to practice their religion, so any particular church should not be required to carry out those procedures. As long as same-sex couples have other places to marry or adopt, such as state agencies, their rights are safe.

  Where I see real injustice is where religious organizations have a local monopoly (or near-monopoly) on some activities, such as medical care or education. That near-monopoly gives them power over what people can do.

• 23 June 2021 (Secretly imprisoned)

  China imprisons tens of thousands of people secretly and incommunicado, to break them before charging them with crimes. Some who were later released report having been tortured, Guantanamo style.

• 23 June 2021 (Irrational rage)

  Covid-19 may have pushed millions of Americans into irrational rage while other millions practice denial of what they went through.

  The denial is spreading the Delta variant, while the irrational rage pressures people not to take precautions.

• 23 June 2021 (Proposed gun insurance and fee law)

  More details about San Jose's proposed gun insurance and fee law.

• 23 June 2021 (Prosecuting Walter Mitty terrorists)

  Trevor Aaronson has reported on the FBI practice of prosecuting Walter Mitty terrorists, people whom the FBI has led by the hand into trying to commit a crime which was never a real possibility. Thus it can prosecute people who would never have committed any terrorism if left alone.

  This makes the FBI look very effective, but it may not prevent any terrorist plots that would really have been carried out. It's also unjust.

  Right-wingers have used that truth as the basis for fiction, claiming that the attack on the Capitol was brought about by FBI entrapment.

  Aaronson refutes part of their argument about this.

  In addition, if that were the case, the FBI (1) would not have built up the group to be big enough to do real harm and (2) would have arrested the participants before they got in a position to do real harm.

• 23 June 2021 (Great barrier reef)

  Since 2014, the Australian government has campaigned forcefully against recognizing how global heating and fertilizer runoff are destroying the Great Barrier Reef.

  Now UNESCO plans once again to label the reef as world heritage "in danger".

• 23 June 2021 (Failure of British state schools)

  Tories blame the failure of British state schools on "decades" of bad policies, but the policy under funding schools, and food and shelter for the students in them, was started by the Tories in 2010.

  It is still true: the Tories are lower than vermin.

• 23 June 2021 (Trial of Moroccan journalists)

  *Trial of Moroccan journalists raises fears of repression.*

• 23 June 2021 (Response to revenge porn)

  The right way to respond to revenge porn: "I'm not ashamed."

• 23 June 2021 (Abuse in Mexico)

  *Migrants turned away at border under Biden face shocking abuse in Mexico.*

• 23 June 2021 (Landmines and booby traps)

  Fighting Libyan factions filled Tripoli with landmines and booby traps.

  The US should sign the treaty against antipersonnel landmines and lead other countries to do so.

• 23 June 2021 (Threats of violence)

  Guatemala's anti corruption judges are facing threats of violence.

• 23 June 2021 ((satire) Sanctity of innocent carbohydrates)

  (satire) *Every day, women are using pancreatic enzymes to break down food without any consideration for the sanctity of these innocent carbohydrates, proteins, and fats.*

• 23 June 2021 ((satire) Nepotistic hiring practices)

  (satire) *Organized Crime Syndicate Condemned For History Of Nepotistic Hiring Practices.*

• 23 June 2021 (Climate finance pledges)

  *Global Hopes in Doubt After G7 Fails to Meet Climate Finance Pledges for Poor Nations.*

• 23 June 2021 (Precautions when vaccinated)

  We who are vaccinated should continue taking precautions such as wearing masks when indoors or near other people.

• 23 June 2021 (Apple Daily raids)

  *Hong Kong leader refuses to say how media can avoid arrest in wake of Apple Daily raids.*

  Keeping the boundaries vague is standard practice for promoting self-censorship through intimidation.

  Hong Kong has decided that political accusations won't have jury trials. Juries give the people power that repressive autocrats don't want them to have.

• 23 June 2021 (Amazon's tight control of workers)

  Amazon must eliminate the tight control that treats workers as robots, and injures them along the way.

  Please don't buy from Amazon. When people buy things for me, I ask them to please not buy from Amazon.

• 23 June 2021 (Weakened encryption)

  Encryption algorithms used in old portable phones were designed to be weak. Some numeric parameters were chosen to make breaking the encryption particularly easy.

• 23 June 2021 (Murder threat for election win)

  A Lunatic Party candidate for Congress said he would send contract killers to murder a rival Lunatic Party candidate, if the latter wins.

• 23 June 2021 (US Supreme Court on farms outside US)

  The US Supreme Court allows corporations to direct farms outside the US to mistreat workers and not be held responsible.

  The decision gives corporations more rights than human beings. That is always wrong. Aside from that, the decision is wrong because it allows a US entity to organize and direct an action and escape responsibility for it, by organizing and directing it outside the US.

  There is a crucial factual question: to what extent do Nestle USA and Cargill really control the working conditions on those farms? The article quotes someone as asserting that they have total control. The article itself doesn't demonstrate that. It may be true, though.

• 23 June 2021 (Compromised version of the For the People Act)

  Obama backed Manchin's proposed compromise version of the For the People Act.

  Sanders said he did not reject it out of hand.

  Manchin's version of voter ID requirements is not as bad as what Republicans are imposing in many states. It permits demonstrating residence with a utility bill. In some states, that is a lot cheaper and easier to get than an official state ID.

  However, many people who share apartments don't directly pay any utility bills (though they may share the cost). How are they supposed to vote? What about spouses that don't have the utility bills in their name? And adult children who had to move back to their parents' home?

  I don't know whether Manchin's compromise would enable them to vote or not, since I don't know the details.

  The same difficulties could prevent them from getting a driver's license in some states.

• 23 June 2021 (Cast of human rights setbacks)

  *UN warns of worst "cascade of human rights setbacks in our lifetimes."*

• 23 June 2021 (Charging more, paying less)

  Uber and Lyft are cutting pay for drivers even as they charge customers more.

  This is in addition to making customers run nonfree software and identify themselves, which both Uber and Lyft do.

• 23 June 2021 (Outlawing opposition)

  Putin may regret outlawing opposition organizations such as Navalny's.

• 23 June 2021 (Long Covid recovering)

  Some of the sufferers of long Covid injuries can recover their normal strength and capacity by getting lots of rest for a substantial time. Society needs to give all of them the opportunity to do this.

• 23 June 2021 (Buddha statue)

  What would the Buddha have said about the idea of a 69-meter-tall statue of him?

• 23 June 2021 (Donation to restore bombed bookshop)

  *Donations flood in to restore Gaza bookshop destroyed by Israeli airstrikes.*

• 23 June 2021 (Princess Latifa and friends)

  Some of Princess Latifa's friends report travelling with her, and that she is not imprisoned, but there are some reasons to wonder if it is really true.

• 23 June 2021 (Liquid Natural Gas)

  *Biden Subsidies for Liquid Natural Gas Could Doom International Climate Goals.*

• 23 June 2021 (Rejecting exports)

  The EU will reject major exports from Belarus as punishment for the seizure of Roman Protasevich and Sofia Sapega.

• 23 June 2021 (Peace negotiating)

  Salafi Arabia and the Houthis are reportedly negotiating peace.

  I think Biden is partly responsible for Crown Prince Bone Saw's decision to seek peace. In addition to the overt pressure, I expect there was private pressure.

• 23 June 2021 (Covid and birthdays)

  * US study finds households with recent birthdays about 30% more likely to have positive diagnosis [for Covid-19].*

  The effect is strongest for children's birthdays. It appears that birthday parties are spreading the disease, and suggests that children are playing a significant role in the spreading.

  The study covered most of 2020. It will be interesting to see what happens in the second half of 2021.

• 23 June 2021 ((satire) Full compensation for mistakes)

  (satire) *CEO Of Troubled Company Accepts Full Compensation For His Mistakes.*

• 23 June 2021 (Control of Political decisions)

  Ralph Nader: business executives control most political decisions, because they have systematically neutralized the former competing sources of power in society.

• 23 June 2021 (Investigate Ebrahim Raisi)

  Amnesty International calls for an investigation of Ebrahim Raisi, who was just elected president of Iran, for the execution of thousands of political prisoners in Iran in 1988.

• 23 June 2021 (Eased sanctions)

  The US has eased sanctions against Iran, Venezuela and Syria to facilitate shipment of products to treat or prevent Covid-19.

  It is clearly the right thing to do. It should not have taken so long.

• 23 June 2021 (Protest of the London Science Museum)

  British students protest the London Science Museum for letting Shell fund an exhibit which leads people to think we can trust in carbon capture and storage to curb global heating and skip the necessary effort.

• 23 June 2021 (Bullying Catholic politicians)

  Some US bishops are trying to bully Catholic politicians (including Biden) into opposing abortion.

  When John F Kennedy ran for president, some said that it would be intolerable to have a Catholic as president because he would be a puppet for the pope. Kennedy responded said that he would not let that happen.

• 23 June 2021 (Witness K spared jail)

  *Witness K spared jail after pleading guilty to breaching secrecy laws over Timor-Leste bugging.*

  However, that is no excuse for prosecuting whistleblowers who report wrongdoing by the state. Australia must change its laws.

• 23 June 2021 (Failing deal on climate)

  *UN blasts world leaders for failing to seal £72bn-a-year deal on climate.*

• 23 June 2021 (Too ignorant to vote)

  Fujimori's anti-democratic party aims to cancel the votes of Peru's rural poor, saying they are too ignorant to be allowed to vote.

  We know what happens when elites don't let poor people's votes count: they form governments that serve the elites. They are trying it in the US and they are trying it in Peru.

  How will the US government use its influence in Peru? Will it support the coup, as Hillary Clinton did in Honduras and the bullshitter's servants did in Bolivia? Or will it support the elected government?

• 23 June 2021 (Journalist arrested for "stalking")

  Australian thugs have arrested a journalist for "stalking" an official at public events to ask embarrassing questions.

• 23 June 2021 (Hong Kong's Apple Daily newspaper)

  Hong Kong's non-submissive newspaper Apple Daily will have to shut down soon because China has frozen its assets.

• 23 June 2021 (Immediate threats to the US)

  The immediate threats to the US do not come from China. They come from its own flaws.

  In the longer term, Chinese dominion is a threat to the world as a whole. But the US will not be able to help resist that threat unless it corrects its own flaws.

• 23 June 2021 (Perverting the Department of Justice)

  Barr as attorney general was a thoroughly willing flunky for perverting the Department of Justice.

• 23 June 2021 (Zimbabweans in extreme poverty)

  Half of Zimbabweans are now in extreme poverty: 8 million now, up from 6.5 million in 2019 and 3 million in 2011.

• 23 June 2021 (Zambian park)

  *Farm plan poses ‘catastrophic’ threat to Zambian park vital for fruit bats.*

  The last frenzied decades before massive global collapse could see desperate humans wipe out thousands of endangered species in a futile effort to postpone that collapse.

• 23 June 2021 (Condemnation of actors)

  It's getting so that people will condemn an actor for playing a character that has any substantial difference from per real self.

• 23 June 2021 (Jail for refusing vaccination)

  President Do-dirty said he will put people in jail for refusing Covid-19 vaccination. I think that is unjustly strict. First of all, there are people who have certain medical conditions for whom vaccination would be dangerous. However, even for people that have no medical reason to refuse, actually forcing them is going too far.

  It is legitimate to restrict certain activities to vaccinated people, such as large gatherings, and occupations where other people's safety depends on vaccination. However, if people who cannot be vaccinated are excluded from work for not being vaccinated, the state should pay their salaries, because it isn't their fault.

  Once enough people have been vaccinated to reach herd immunity, it will be safe to let unvaccinatable people return to those jobs, and generally treat them just like vaccinated people.

• 23 June 2021 (COVID-19 vaccine hub)

  *Who Setting up hub to make COVID-19 vaccines in South Africa* for vaccinating people in poor countries.

• 23 June 2021 (Threats to decertify Venice)

  UNESCO threatens to decertify Venice unless it stops letting cruise ships dock.

• 23 June 2021 (Disappearances and murders)

  90,000 disappearances (and plenty of simple murders) in Mexico are directly related to US-Mexico collaboration in the "War on Drugs".

  This is one of many reasons we need to end that war.

• 22 June 2021 (Repealing use of military force)

  Progressives call for repealing the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force.

• 22 June 2021 (Helping voters)

  Voting rights activists have to help disprivileged voters, one by one, overcome the hurdles Republicans invent to disenfranchise them.

• 22 June 2021 (ACCESS)

  Cory Doctorow talks about the proposed interoperability law, ACCESS, and endorses the idea of limiting the collection of personal data.

  "Data protection" requirements may do a little good — here's one interesting attempt — but this is unusual. For the most part, their approach is too weak.

• 22 June 2021 (Nasty things about Airbnb)

  Some nasty things about Airbnb. For instance, most airbnb rentals belong to large companies that gobble up lots of houses that people used to live in.

  This could be driving up your rent.

• 22 June 2021 (Military coup)

  Right-wing Peruvian retired military officers called for a military coup.

  This is the standard right-wing one-two punch: fabricate accusations of election fraud, then cite them as the excuse for a coup. That's what the right-wing opposition did in Bolivia against Evo Morales.

• 22 June 2021 (Forced labor)

  Congress plans to eliminate the exception in the US Constitution that permits imposing forced labor on convicts.

  When I read those words in the 13th amendment, I thought that their purposes was to allow sentencing convicts to imprisonment. I don't advocate abolishing that.

  However, the practice of forcing prisoners to work for low pay is a dangerous abuse, because it encourages passing laws to put more people in prison. I strongly support eliminating that practice.

• 22 June 2021 (Bashing protesters at will)

  The Portland thugs that police protests demand to be allowed to bash protesters at will. One of them was charged for a gratuitous violent attack on a protester, so the others resigned from the team.

  The city cannot afford to give in to such demands.

• 22 June 2021 (Supposed gang members)

  California's gang data base includes supposed gang members added at the age of one year. And other errors that can ruin someone's life.

• 22 June 2021 (LinkedIn censure)

  LinkedIn censors user profiles for China.

• 22 June 2021 (SARS-CoV-2 origins)

  The question of whether SARS-CoV-2 jumped to humans from an animal or leaked from a lab has become politicized, and researchers feel threatened based on the positions they take.

  Scientific progress needs the truth, whatever it is, and this will make the truth harder to ascertain.

• 22 June 2021 (Vaccination requirements)

  A court ruled that the CDC can't make vaccination requirements for cruise ships.

  Rulings like this make the US rather helpless defend itself against future pandemics. In other words, they endanger national security.

  I expect the Republican-controlled US states to suffer another wave of Covid-19, with the Delta variant, causing a substantial number of deaths and permanent disabilities among adults under age 60.

• 22 June 2021 (Condemnation of climate policy)

  *Climate campaigners claimed a "historic victory" after a Brussels court on Thursday condemned Belgium for its climate policy that breaches the country's duty of care and human rights obligations.*

• 22 June 2021 (Trapped heat)

  *The amount of heat the Earth traps has doubled in just 15 years, study shows.*

  This is related to drought.

• 22 June 2021 (Big Pharma control of vaccine)

  *94% of Americans Oppose Big Pharma's Control of Global Covid-19 Vaccine Doses: Poll.*

• 22 June 2021 (Warnings about heat waves)

  Scientists regarding the US west: We have warned about heat waves and droughts like these, and the fires that will follow.

• 22 June 2021 (Attackers of pro-democracy protesters)

  People who attacked pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong have been convicted of violent crime.

• 22 June 2021 (Comfortable and unchallengeable lies)

  Comfortable and unchallengeable lies paved the way to overthrow democracy in Germany. It can happen in the US too.

  The reason why the US military can't win the wars it has started in the 21st century is that foreign armies and foreign money normally can't defeat a strongly motivated guerrilla. Only a local force with an even stronger commitment to victory can do so. In situations like that, a US military intervention is usually self-defeating.

  US leaders should recognize this.

• 22 June 2021 (Election audit)

  ALEC is lobbying for more states to imitate Arizona's "election audit".

  As far as I can tell, the aim of the "election audit" is to be secretive and sloppy enough to create the opportunity for liars to claim to have discovered irregularities, and no one will have enough facts to refute the claim. Then the Republican anti-truth machine will convince 50 million Americans to believe the lies, along with other lies such as "Covid-19 is not dangerous" and "Democrats stole the 2020 election."

• 22 June 2021 (Wall Street takeover)

  *Critics Warn Bipartisan Infrastructure Plan 'Would Facilitate a Wall Street Takeover.'*

• 22 June 2021 (The Counseling Not Criminalization in Schools Act)

  The Counseling Not Criminalization in Schools Act would shift funds to support counseling in schools instead of uniformed thugs.

• 21 June 2021 (Lot more housing)

  Prefabricated small houses, to fit in spaces which used to hold garages, can provide a lot more housing comparatively quickly.

• 21 June 2021 (Gratis burgers for thugs)

  Thugs in Lahore demanded gratis burgers at a restaurant. The staff said no, so the thugs returned the next day and arrested all the staff, leaving the restaurant unattended, even the machines that heat oil for frying. This risked causing injuries or a fire. Fortunately that didn't happen.

  Reportedly the thugs have been suspended. They deserve more punishment than that; what they did was corrupt.

• 21 June 2021 (Oil and gas on public lands)

  Biden's order to stop issuing oil and gas leases on public lands, or offshore, was temporarily blocked by a judge. It may be blocked permanently.

  We have to keep this in perspective. If this comparatively small action is a "key" part of Biden's efforts to avoid global heating disaster, it's because what he has done so far is small. He has proposed legislation to do more, but Manchin and Sinema are blocking those bills. Unless we do a lot more, our future is hosed.

• 21 June 2021 (Guns prohibition)

  San Jose, California, cannot prohibit guns. It plans to require gun owners to carry insurance and pay a tax.

  Those who possess guns but have not paid and insured them will have them seized.

  I think it is a clever idea. Let's see how well it works.

• 21 June 2021 (Preserving filibuster)

  A leaked meeting recording shows Manchin asking rich donors to "convince" some Senate Republicans to vote for an investigation of the Jan 6 insurrection, to help him preserve the filibuster.

• 21 June 2021 (Pfizer out of ALEC)

  Pfizer has pulled out of ALEC, in response perhaps to public pressure.

  It is better to cease support for ALEC than continue it, but whatever motivated the company to support ALEC may find a new expression — perhaps through PhRMA, which lobbies for Big Pharma.

• 21 June 2021 (Sentence for witness K)

  Australia will soon decide, secretly, the sentence to impose on the heroic whistleblower that we know only as "Witness K".

• 21 June 2021 (Law against transgenders)

  Hungary has passed a law which seems to prohibit showing video including transgender minors except late at night.

  The expression "defend the right of children to an identity that conforms to their birth gender," when we interpret "right" correctly, means that no one should try to force or pressure children to be trans. I agree that children who want to be cis have the right to be cis.

  However, I doubt that many children grow up under pressure to be trans. Few parents are likely to impose such pressure. (The Chinese movie, "Farewell My Concubine," presents a fictional example that might be based on some real instances 100 years ago.)

  The right-wing advocates of that law seem to twist the concept of "have the right" by adding, implicitly, "whether they like it or not." That results in an excuse to impose something on people while pretending to be respecting their freedom.

  People have duties as well as rights. There are times when we must demand that people carry out their duties — for instance, to pay taxes so the state can carry out its missions. But we should reject the dishonesty of pretending that this is done for the sake of those people, that it constitutes defending their rights.

  It appears that "children" is being used here to mean "minors". I can't let that practice go by without a rebuke. Treating teenagers like children harms them by infantilizing them.

• 21 June 2021 (Calling for Stephen Breyer to retire)

  *Legal scholars publish letter calling for Stephen Breyer to retire from Supreme Court.*

  He is old; the aim is to ensure Republicans don't get to replace him as they did Justice Ginsburg.

• 21 June 2021 (Prevent more DOJ spying abuses)

  *Press Freedom Advocates Say 'Congress Needs to Act' to Prevent More DOJ Spying Abuses — Under Both Parties.*

• 21 June 2021 (Protests against police abuse)

  *Protests against police abuse spread across Tunisian capital.*

• 21 June 2021 (Proprietary software)

  Proprietary software tends to be designed to mistreat the user. The FBI released proprietary software for gangsters which was designed to snoop on them.

  In my view, snooping on those gangsters' crimes was a good thing to do, for special reasons. Nonetheless, it is a good example of why you should not use nonfree software.

• 21 June 2021 (War on people)

  *Nixon's War on Drugs turned out to be a war on people. President Biden should end it once and for all.*

• 21 June 2021 (Power structure)

  The Democratic Party power structure in West Virginia is made up of people with political stances like Senator Manchin's. They keep the working-class and nonwhite Democrats from having much influence.

  Jesee Jackson: Most West Virginia residents are poor and need more federal government support. To represent them, Manchin should help enact the progressive program.

  *Rev. Barber Says West Virginians Are Ready for 'Non-Violent Sit-Ins' Against Manchin for Abetting GOP Voter Suppression.*

• 21 June 2021 (Non-living factories)

  Meat made in non-living factories could address issues of sustainability, and animal suffering. But it creates possible problems for human beings, both biological (elimination of the biodiversity, and organ diversity as in present-day farm animals) and legal (patent-owning companies could control all meat).

  This is not necessarily a reason to reject artificial meat, but means we should not uncritically assume that all artificial meat is free of grave problems.

• 20 June 2021 (Urgent: Pay cash to protect your anonymity)

  Britons, protect your anonymity — pay cash! If you don't defend this right, you will lose it.

  When you leave your house, take cash with you, enough for the purchases you might make.

  A bonus: most people find that paying cash leads them to spend less.

• 20 June 2021 (Urgent: Infrastructure plan money not for the Pentagon)

  US citizens: call on Pelosi and Schumer to give the Pentagon none of the infrastructure plan money.

  If you sign, please spread the word!

• 20 June 2021 (Juneteenth)

  June 19 is Juneteenth, a new federal holiday which celebrates the freeing of slaves in the defeated confederacy.

  It was not the end of discrimination by law against blacks — that continued into the 1960s and was ended by the civil rights movement. Systemic racism continues to this day. So we still need more change in that area.

• 19 June 2021 (Investigation of the origin of SARS-CoV-2)

  Some Americans had antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 in blood samples they gave in January 2020, so they must have got infected in 2019.

  I don't know whether there is any chance that some other coronavirus could have triggered formation of antibodies that react to SARS-CoV-2. If not, those Americans must have caught Covid-19 in December.

  *'Let Scientific Evidence Determine Origin' of Covid-19, Say Heads of US National Academies.*

  A Chinese virologist said this means the investigation of the origin of SARS-CoV-2 should move to the US.

  The investigation should study all relevant places and events. Trying to "blame the US" for Covid-19 is as foolish as trying to "blame China" for it. It is foolish to consider this as a matter of rivalry between countries. If any mistakes were made by China, if any mistakes were made by the United States, if any were made elsewhere, the world needs to know what happened and understand them.

• 18 June 2021 (Driver charged with murder)

  *Driver accused of driving into protesters in Minneapolis charged with murder.*

  Republican state legislatures are passing laws to help murderous fanatics get away with such murders. They will only need to claim that they hit the protesters by accident, and right-wing jurors could decide to believe them.

• 18 June 2021 (Hiring mercenaries)

  A minister in Bolivia's previous coup-installed government sought to hire US mercenaries to block the 2020 election of the new president Arce.

• 18 June 2021 (Remodeling old buildings)

  China is remodeling old buildings in some cities in Xinjiang as more appealing oldish-looking tourist attractions. When reporters visit, they feel the heavy hand of Soviet-style repression.

• 18 June 2021 (Arsenic and lead in baby foods)

  The FDA must enforce limits on arsenic and lead in baby foods.

• 18 June 2021 (Lottery college)

  For most Americans, a college education is something they need to win a lottery to get.

• 18 June 2021 (Punishing peaceful protesters)

  *[The US deportation thug organization] Discussed Punishing Immigrant Advocates for Peaceful Protests.*

• 18 June 2021 (Arrest of journalists)

  China arrested executives and editors of the Apple Daily for endangering national security. Precisely what actions supposedly had that effect, China does not bother to answer, since the goal is to intimidate all journalists.

• 18 June 2021 (Pleading for release)

  *Father of [Sofia Sapega, who was] arrested off plane in Belarus, appeals to Lukashenko for her release.*

• 18 June 2021 (Thug charged for killing autistic)

  *Israeli policeman charged with manslaughter of autistic Palestinian.* The thug had no reason at all to shoot him.

  It is rare for Israeli thugs or soldiers to face justice for killing a Palestinian. I hope this is the sign of a change.

• 18 June 2021 (Organizing against overfishing)

  Eight countries in the Pacific Ocean organized to prevent foreign ships from overfishing, and get a share of the money at the same time,

• 18 June 2021 (Pressure to investigate bogus accusations)

  Emails show that the White House chief of staff, under the corrupter, tried five times to make Acting Attorney General Rosen investigate various bogus accusations of voter fraud.

  Rosen refused. At that time it was possible for supporters of the corrupter to retain some scruples about their civic duty.

• 18 June 2021 (Consumerism)

  How plutocracy co-opts and perverts the defense of freedom and autonomy — using consumerism. Zuckerberg wanted to buy the rights to "Another Brick In the Wall" to use it to promote Instagram, which is a very big collection of bricks in the wall of surveillance.

  Musician Roger Waters, author of the song, condemned Facebook and stated support for Julian Assange.

• 18 June 2021 (Business deregulation)

  Tories plan to deregulate businesses across the board.

  Contracts will be awarded in "agile" ways, thus regularizing the Tory practice of giving contracts to companies run by friends of ministers, whether or not they have the capacity to do the job or the experience to do it right Planning will also be agile, so that local people won't be able to argue against plans that would harm them. (Unless it's a land-based wind farm; Tories want those all to be blocked.)

• 18 June 2021 (Civil service plans)

  *[Minister] Michael Gove's civil service plans threaten impartiality, says union leader.*

• 18 June 2021 (Opposing helping each other)

  Andy Slavitt hinted at how some Americans (Republicans) were too selfish in confronting Covid-19, and refused to do the little things that save other people's health and lives, They should have made little sacrifices such as wearing masks, keeping distance, getting vaccinated. What they opposed was the principle that we ought to help each other. "War on Earth, ill will to men."

  He touched the right-wingers' nerve because what he said is evidently true. So they began spewing gibberish as white noise to drown out his message.

  Delta variant has to start a wave that will kill or disable a lot of antivaxxers. As people see the pattern that Republicans spread human death and Democrats more or less protect human life, they may learn not to trust Republicans.

• 18 June 2021 (Soybeans, coffee, chocolate, and palm oil)

  Global supplies of soybeans, coffee, chocolate, and palm oil will be cut by global heating, even if we curb emissions quickly.

  They will be cut a lot more, over time, if we fail to curb emissions.

• 16 June 2021 (Urgent: call on Tiktok to stop collecting biometric data)

  US citizens: call on TikTok to stop collecting biometric data, and delete what it has collected.

• 16 June 2021 (Extinction of eels)

  Trying to prevent the extinction of eels in the Britain.

• 16 June 2021 (Boat refugee)

  Australia has temporarily released a boat refugee from an immigration prison on a remote island, to reunite him with his wife and children, but he will still be kept under some sort of house arrest.

  Australia has sworn unending repression for boat people, and treats that as the highest political priority.

• 16 June 2021 (Lab precautions)

  Whether or not Covid-19 escaped from a virology lab, such labs need to take stronger precautions.

• 16 June 2021 (America needs more press freedom)

  *Trump spied on journalists. So did Obama. America needs more press freedom now.*

• 16 June 2021 (Ikea fined by French court)

  *Ikea fined €1m by French court for spying on staff.*

• 16 June 2021 (Concealed failings of investigation)

  *London's [thugs] corruptly concealed failings in the investigation of the 1987 murder of private investigator Daniel Morgan.*

• 16 June 2021 (Revolving door)

  The revolving door for violent thugs leads out of one thug department and into another.

  They continue to main and kill, but they suffer the penalty of a lower salary.

• 16 June 2021 (Investigation into seized communication records)

  Republicans will thwart a Senate investigation into how Trump's henchmen seized senators' communication records.

• 16 June 2021 (Antidepressants and crayfish)

  Small amounts of antidepressants in the water make crayfish "bolder", and more rash. This could affect ecosystems.

• 16 June 2021 (Agreement to stop dealing with climate crisis)

  * From food standards to fossil fuel exports, Britain’s agreement with Australia could stop us dealing with the climate crisis.*

• 16 June 2021 (War on drugs killings)

  *ICC prosecutor seeks investigation into Philippines ‘war on drugs’ killings.*

  President Do-Dirty's war was nominally on drugs, but actually against whoever looked good to shoot.

• 16 June 2021 (Protecting Yanomami from wildcat gold miners)

  *Brazil to deploy special force to protect the Yanomami from wildcat gold miners.*

  Measures like this are justified for the protection of the Yanomami and the land and its ecosystems. However, I have to worry that Bolsonaro will intentionally pervert or corrupt the mission so that it poisons them instead.

• 16 June 2021 (Repeal of Use of Military Force)

  Biden has endorsed repeal of the 2002 Authorization for the Use of Military Force.

  Bravo!

  Will the Republicans in the Senate block this to make sure the next Republican president can make an excuse for war wherever he wants it?

• 16 June 2021 (Own Pandas)

  (satire) *Senate Passes $50 Billion Bill To Combat Chinese Influence By Developing Own Pandas.*

  That is less of a joke than it might seem. China uses its pandas with great care as instruments of influence. It does not give pandas, only lend them, and the contract says that all baby pandas they produce belong to China. Thus, China maintains its monopoly.

  This has been used to induce various countries to panda to China.

• 16 June 2021 (Heatwave)

  A heatwave in the US southwest brings temperatures of 49C, 120F, in some places.

  If we don't curb global heating, people should expect much worse.

• 16 June 2021 (Hating masks)

  The corrupter has inspired thousands of Americans to hate masks the way they hate Democrats and minority racial groups.

• 16 June 2021 (Pressure on coal)

  Biden dropped pressure to quickly end burning of coal. Perhaps this was catering to Manchin.

  It is a mistake to give Manchin anything without a concrete deal where he gives something concrete in return.

• 16 June 2021 (Part of NATO)

  Ukraine's president very very much wants Ukraine to be part of NATO.

  I suspect that it would be far more effective, for restraining Putin, to threaten to include Ukraine in NATO than to actually do it. That is a general principle that I learned about by reading a book about Go strategy.

• 16 June 2021 (Serious violations by police)

  *U.N. rights office voices concern on serious violations by Tunisian police.*

• 16 June 2021 (Delta variant)

  As the Delta variant of Covid-19 spreads, it increases the danger. Being vaccinated is still very helpful, but the chance of catching it despite vaccination is significant.

  Delta can also more easily be mistaken for a cold. *The number one symptom is headache … followed by sore throat, runny nose and fever.*

• 16 June 2021 (Climate targets)

  * Rich countries must come forward with detailed plans on how they hope to meet their climate targets.*

• 15 June 2021 (Splitting from ALEC)

  A campaign calls on companies to split from ALEC. That organization lobbies states to adopt right-wing policies that hurt poor people, democracy, or both.

• 15 June 2021 (Reality Winner)

  Reality Winner has been released on probation, but the US government practice of imprisoning whistleblowers by calling them "spies" is only getting worse.

• 15 June 2021 (Unlivable in a few decades)

  Global heating will make major Australian cities unlivable in a few decades.

• 15 June 2021 (Inequalities made worse by Covid)

  *UK health inequalities made worse by Covid crisis. Disadvantaged groups have faced greatest disruption to medical care.*

  The underlying long-term cause of this is steadily increasing underfunding of the NHS. Tories keep saying that they will get more done with less money; but always the result is less done, so some poor people get squeezed out the cracks.

• 15 June 2021 (Golden opportunity missed)

  * The [G7] summit was a golden opportunity to avoid countless deaths. History will judge the rich world's failure harshly.*

• 15 June 2021 (Transport)

  Floating plastic detritus is transporting various marine species around the world, to other regions where they can become intrusive pests and wipe out native species.

• 15 June 2021 (Hospitals collapsing)

  On top of war, Afghanstan's hospitals are collapsing under the weight of Covid-19.

• 15 June 2021 (Predatory lending)

  A new form of predatory lending lures women into improvidence by inviting them to imagine the bliss of never worrying about whether you can afford something. Such bliss can be yours in an instant with one-click borrowing.

  You will still need to worry about how much you are spending, but you will fail to do what you need.

  Imagine when someone combines this with the prosperity gospel. "Start borrowing now, and since you're a good Christian, your debt will miraculously pay itself. If it doesn't? You must not be a good enough Christian."

• 15 June 2021 (Economic weakness)

  The US conquest and occupation of Iraq were one cause of its economic weakness, which is enabling China to move towards dominating the world.

  I think that its plutocratist decadence is, however, another cause. (The two are related.)

  If this were no more than a matter of competition between countries, I would say, "Let the (most capable) country and system win." The reason I don't say that is that China would impose a totalitarian hell.

• 15 June 2021 (Deporting man there since he was a toddler)

  Protesters in London and Glasgow objected to plans to deport to Jamaica a man who has lived in the UK since he was a toddler.

• 15 June 2021 (G-zero world)

  *This G7 reflects our G-zero world, ruled by self-interest instead of global ambition.*

• 15 June 2021 (Netanyahu out)

  *Israeli coalition ousts Netanyahu as prime minister after 12 years.*

  Netanyahu's great achievement was to eliminate Israel's will to make peace with Palestine, and replace it with the will to subjugate Palestinians for ever.

  He has postponed dealing with the corruption charges against him by being prime minister. With luck, the prosecution will soon start and prevent him from holding that office again.

• 15 June 2021 (Netanyahu's great achievement)

  Netanyahu's great achievement was to eliminate Israel's will to make peace with Palestine and replace that with the will to rule Palestinians for ever.

• 15 June 2021 (DoJ chiefs)

  *Pelosi: "beyond belief" that [the corrupter's] DoJ chiefs didn't know of secret subpoenas.*

  If it is true that they did not know, it follows that the corrupter had undermined their control of the department in order to use it to undermine the US government.

• 15 June 2021 (Bogus accusations of fraud)

  Since it appears that the leftist candidate has won Peru's presidential election, the right-wing candidate is making bogus accusations of fraud.

  The next right-wing step may be to spend a lot of money to create a false impression that the election was stolen. It worked in Bolivia; it might work in the US; it may work in Peru if people don't organize to stop it.

• 14 June 2021 (Urgent: Laws prohibiting algorithmic discrimination)

  US citizens: call on Zuckerberg to endorse laws prohibiting algorithmic discrimination.

  This is a half-measure. Collecting people's personal data endangers them in many ways, and discrimination is only one of them. It also harms society in various ways — for instance, boosting hate groups and conspiracy fantasies; this is not an issue of discrimination by Facebook, even if some of the hate groups might practice or advocate discrimination.

  We should not allow anything comparable to Facebook to exist.

• 14 June 2021 (Covid-19 in Mexico)

  In Mexico, 1/4 of the population — 31 million people — have had Covid-19.

  I'd expect this to mean around half a million deaths and a larger number with persistent disabilities.

• 14 June 2021 (We must protect marine areas)

  Deep sea explorer Sylvia Earle: we must "protect marine areas and stop eating tuna."

  She may be right regarding people in wealthy countries that most seafood we eat is a luxury. But not in poor countries. I've read that around a billion people around the world depend on seafood for their sustenance.

  Of course, most of them are not eating expensive tuna. They are eating whatever they can catch near where they live. The people who eat canned herring are not splurging.

  I don't want to rush to stop eating tuna in sushi, especially since I only rarely have sushi at all. But I endorse firm measures to end the practice of fishing for tuna, and all forms of overfishing, non sustainable fishing, and ecosystem-damaging fishing.

  In some places, "sushi" usually means tuna and salmon only. Other kinds of fish may not even be available. I suggest that people try the other kinds of fish, aside from tuna and salmon, to discover how delicious they are.

• 14 June 2021 (Colombia police rights abuses)

  Human Rights Watch: *Systemic failures behind Colombia police rights abuses.*

• 14 June 2021 (Tunisians protesting)

  Tunisians are protesting after uniformed thugs beat a prisoner to death.

  The prisoner was accused of selling illegal drugs. Repression of drug dealers is a bad solution to a gratuitous problem created by prohibition of drugs. The best way to handle drugs that can harm their users is to legalize the drugs and regulate them so that fewer people will use them.

• 14 June 2021 (Thank the party)

  China is teaching Tibetans to thank the Party for everything they have in life.

• 14 June 2021 (Chilean colonel)

  Argentina has captured a fugitive Chilean colonel who was one of Chilean dictator Pinochet's murderers.

• 14 June 2021 (Map of landmines)

  *Azerbaijan swaps 15 Armenian PoWs for map of landmines.*

  It is very bad to plant antipersonnel landmines.

• 14 June 2021 (Shelled hospital)

  Assad's forces have shelled a hospital again.

• 14 June 2021 (No appeal on Craig Murray's conviction)

  The court that convicted Craig Murray for writing about Salmond's trial decided not to let him appeal the peculiar basis given for convicting him.

  How can it make sense to let a court decide whether its decision can be appealed? "Is there any chance that you might have misjudged this? No, that's impossible."

• 14 June 2021 (Factory conditions spread Covid-19)

  Factory working conditions in southeast Asia encourage the spread of Covid-19 among the workers.

• 14 June 2021 (Firing school teachers)

  One candidate for mayor of New York wants to fire most of the public school teachers, leaving only a few "great" teachers, each of whom will "teach" 400 students.

  This would make sense if students were mass-produced, identical machines.

• 14 June 2021 (The most important policy questions)

  The American people are in strong agreement about the most important policy questions, including preserving democracy. These policies have 2/3 support, and many have 3/4 or 4/5 support. A small minority of extremist Republicans are hijacking the country.

• 14 June 2021 ((satire) BlackRock dream home)

  (satire) *Thrilled BlackRock Announces Purchase Of 800,000th Dream Home.*

• 14 June 2021 ((satire) 2 Million brain-dead)

  (satire) *Over 2 Million Left Brain-Dead In Most Brutal Day Of Culture Wars Yet.*

• 14 June 2021 (When a protest constitutes a riot)

  New repressive Republican laws in various states allow thugs to decide whether a protest constitutes a "riot", and to punish anyone nearby when some unidentified person commits a crime.

• 14 June 2021 (Heating of summers and winters)

  Paleontological evidence suggests that global heating may heat both summers and winters the same amount. That would lead to painfully hot summers.

• 14 June 2021 (Over 2,000 Palestinians arrested)

  Israeli thugs have arrested over 2,000 Palestinians, in many cases over obviously bogus charges. Some were protesting; some were at home. Some are journalists, but journalists were arrested despite not being at protests.

  Sometimes the thugs attacked protesters with violence and then did not let them get medical treatment.

  Sometimes the thugs did not allow volunteer lawyers to meet with the prisoners.

• 14 June 2021 (Israel demands block of shipment)

  Israel demanded that Egypt block the shipment of construction materials needed to rebuild Gaza's destroyed houses, on the grounds that some of it might be used to rebuild HAMAS's military facilities.

  Fortunately, Egypt is disregarding that demand. Biden pledged funds to help rebuild Gaza, and must have urged Egypt to allow in the necessary materials to do it.

• 14 June 2021 (Origins of COVID-19)

  *EU leaders urge unfettered probe into origins of COVID-19.*

  I too think that is called for. To achieve it calls for not giving presenting the possibility of a lab leak as wrongdoing by China. It would be a mistake.

• 14 June 2021 (Resistant diseases)

  How should we fund the development of drugs to treat resistant diseases?

  This article proposes that governments fund them to do the development, and later are entitled to the drug at a reasonable price. That could be good if all governments will be entitled to the drug at a reasonable price. But I suspect that all but the sponsoring country will have to pay through the nose.

  Inviting Big Pharma companies in will surely mean letting them gouge. They will find an excuse, or simply insist.

  I think that the drug-manufacturing know-how should be available to any country that either (1) is poor or (2) sponsors drug research appropriately for the size of its economy.

• 14 June 2021 (Liberating Covid-19 vaccines)

  The European Parliament voted to support liberating Covid-19 vaccines. This is non-binding; the parliament has no say over such questions.

• 14 June 2021 (Right to state dissent)

  A UK appeals court endorsed the right to state dissent from established political views about what respect various individuals deserve.

  The UK continues to impose censorship in other ways, but this is an important step forward. Unless overturned, it means that people in the UK cannot impose political censorship by law simply by saying, "Your views are harming me!"

• 14 June 2021 (Climate and nature crises)

  *Climate and nature crises: solve both or solve neither, say experts.*

• 14 June 2021 (Conflicting views)

  People of Bristol are working on making an accommodation between their conflicting views about Colston, and political values.

  I hope that the targets of racism and the targets of economic inequality learn to work together. Together they can win.

• 14 June 2021 (Reports of torture)

  Amnesty International presents more reports of torture of Uyghurs and other Muslims in Xinjiang.

• 14 June 2021 (Not everyone's enemy)

  Having a leader that isn't everyone's worst enemy is winning back trust in the US.

• 14 June 2021 (Socialist candidate winning election)

  Pedro Castillo, a socialist candidate, has won the election for president of Peru, subject to reexamination of some of the ballots.

  He is not an extremist, and said he intended to continue a market economy, but he wants to raise taxes on extractive foreign companies.

  Naturally, the right wing is fabricating charges of fraud, as is its strategy nowadays.

• 14 June 2021 (Items polluting the seas)

  *Single-use bags, plastic bottles, food containers and food wrappers are the four most widespread items polluting the seas.*

• 14 June 2021 (Extremist group)

  Russia labeled the Jehovah's Witnesses as an "extremist group" and has attacked their prayer meetings, sentencing some of them to many years in prison.

  This is inexplicable, since they do not advocate violence, or agitate against Putin.

• 14 June 2021 (Violating the rule of law)

  The European Parliament voted to demand sanctions against Hungary and Poland for violating the rule of law.

  The wrong those two countries are carrying out consists of infringing the independence of the judiciary.

• 14 June 2021 (Deportation)

  Asking the International Criminal Court to investigate the deportation of thousands of Uighurs from Tajikistan to China.

• 14 June 2021 (Unmarked burials of children)

  The discovery of unmarked burials of indigenous children who died at a Canadian boarding school — which they were forced to attend — has compelled Canada to offer settlement for legal disputes about forcing indigenous children to attend those schools.

  The purpose of these schools (which were spread across Canada) was to disconnect indigenous children from their parents, their culture, and their language. That in itself was cruel, but the schools also practiced direct physical forms of cruelty, including giving the students inadequate food.

  Canada set up a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to investigate the crimes of those schools, but has not implemented its recommendations.

• 14 June 2021 (New gas-powered generator)

  Australia's planet-roaster government wants to spend 600 million to build a new gas-powered generator that won't be fully utilized, and isn't necessary.

  At least, it isn't necessary for providing electricity. I am sure some construction companies and fossil fuel companies desperately need it.

• 13 June 2021 (Urgent: Fire and replace a USPS board member)

  US citizens: call on Biden to fire and replace one of the USPS board members, to assure the firing of DeJoy.

• 13 June 2021 (Exacerbated effects of PTSD)

  The effects of PTSD on US war veterans are exacerbated by the fact that the US doesn't want to be a society which cheerfully accepts killing. We want to be a society that fights wars only when just. Thus, veterans feel guilt about what they have done in war.

  This makes a paradoxical contrast with the fact that the US fights so many avoidable wars that one can hardly keep track of them all. For most of these wars, there is no possibility of real victory, which means the US has to choose between indefinite prolongation and politically unacceptable voluntary defeat.

  Perhaps the best way to reduce the harm done to Americans by PTSD is by learning to be less ready to fight a war. If we only fought when there was a reason to be proud afterward of having fought, perhaps we would fight fewer wars, fewer veterans would suffer moral injury, and those who did could be welcomed back and healed.

  Other countries have similar problems. Samantha Crompvoets interviewed Australian veterans about war crimes, and stated conclusions that the Australian government would rather silence.

• 13 June 2021 (Right-wing trumpery)

  Right-wing trumpery: running ads on Facebook for Green Party candidates in the hope of dividing Democrats, and pretending not to be who they really were.

• 13 June 2021 (Sri Lanka pollution ship disaster)

  The Sri Lanka pollution ship disaster can be traced to the country's debts, which forced it to lease its ports, long term, to foreign investors that didn't care about safety.

• 13 June 2021 (Trade war)

  The UK and the EU are headed for a trade war.

  Bogus Johnson saw a collision coming, and pretended for political purposes that it would magically go away.

  *How Tories changed their tune on Northern Ireland protocol.*

• 13 June 2021 (Discouraging smoking)

  In Britain, smokers overall give more support to discouraging smoking than to protecting the right to smoke.

  Tobacco is death for the smoker, as well as disgusting for everyone else. I wish I could magically help everyone quit. Nonetheless, I oppose prohibition of tobacco, on grounds of personal freedom.

• 13 June 2021 (Censorship on movies in Hong Kong)

  China will impose political censorship on movies in Hong Kong.

  If you are in Hong Kong, the only way to get copies of movies is through unofficial channels, sharing from people in countries which have only some of the oppressive systems that Hong Kong and China have.

• 13 June 2021 (Deals with informants in the Mafia)

  Right-wing Italian prohibitions want to repeal the law that allows making deals with informants in the Mafia. They want to have their cake (long prison sentences) and eat it too (get confessions and convictions).

• 13 June 2021 (Mexican children sent back to danger)

  *The Biden Administration Is Routinely Sending Mexican Children Back to Danger, Report Finds.*

• 13 June 2021 (US military is socialist)

  The US military is the largest socialist entity on Earth. Strange how officers tend to despise socialism.

• 13 June 2021 (New workplace rules about Covid-19)

  The US Labor Department's new workplace rules about Covid-19 fail to require most workplaces to do anything to protect employees.

• 13 June 2021 (Greenhouse emissions reduction)

  An enormous group of investment funds are calling on governments to speed up greenhouse emissions reduction.

  Two notable exceptions are Blackrock and Vanguard, which deserve specific rejection by the public.

  If these funds are serious about the matter, they could exert strong pressure on corporations as stockholders. Their lobbying power could be significant too.

• 13 June 2021 (Shortfall in funds)

  The UK has received the suggestion to fill a shortfall in funds for universities from low-income graduates, by reducing the income threshold above which they must repay their student loans.

  That sounds like the sort of soak-the-poor plan that Tories would love.

• 13 June 2021 ((satire) New chalet in the Swiss Alps)

  (satire) *Pfizer Announces Breakthrough Medication That Will Treat Executives To New Chalet In Swiss Alps.*

• 13 June 2021 (Communication records of Democrats)

  The would-be tyrant had the Department of Justice seize communications records of Democrats in Congress and their staff and relatives, as part of a leak investigation.

  In this article, an official claims this was meant as punishment, not real investigation.

• 13 June 2021 (Chip factories in Taiwan)

  Chip factories in Taiwan are having trouble getting enough water, as Taiwan suffers form a drought. Global heating will lead to more and worse droughts there.

  Powerful countries should not allow their manufacture of any critical product to be concentrated in one region or a few regions. Such centralization leads to vulnerability — to various kinds of problems.

  The way to reduce the vulnerability, to threats of many unrelated kinds, is to disperse production.

• 13 June 2021 (Anti-corruption crusaders)

  Anti-corruption crusaders in Guatemala have been charged with crimes that are incredible.

  I can't imagine that anything could motivate those influential people to intentionally found a political party and list a dead person as participant. Why not find a living supporter to list instead? I conclude the charges must have been fabricated.

• 13 June 2021 (Colombia's defense minister)

  Colombia's former president Santos was previously the defense minister and thus ultimately responsible for the over 6,000 murders committed by soldiers during that time. He says that he took action to stop the practice when he determined it was happening. Nonetheless, he asks forgiveness.

  Santos said that the pressure for the murders came from the then president, Alvaro Horrible (Uribe).

  I think that those who killed, or encouraged or facilitated the killing, ought to be prosecuted for it.

• 13 June 2021 (Invasive species as pets)

  An article about keeping an invasive species as pets (Australian possums in New Zealand) presents the usual emotional pleas, plus a peculiar nonsequitur about colonial history.

  Perhaps it would be safe and reasonable to permit neutered possums as pets in New Zealand, provided they are not allowed outdoors. The article does not say whether the pet-owners interviewed do that.

  One of them has a cat, too. Cats in New Zealand are a similar case. Even in the US, cats that are allowed outside devastate many species of birds. If you want to have a cat, please keep it indoors and protect wildlife.

• 13 June 2021 (Starving people in Tigray)

  The UN official in charge of food aid accuses the Eritrian army of starving people in Tigray.

• 13 June 2021 (Mother Corona)

  One Indian village is praying to a new goddess, "Mother Corona", to stop the disease.

  That's where religion comes from.

• 13 June 2021 (G7 global tax system)

  The G7's agreement on a global tax system for multinational companies will mostly increase tax revenue for their home countries. It won't do much good for poor countries they operate in.

• 13 June 2021 (Whistleblower Craig Murray)

  *Whistleblower Craig Murray Sentenced To 8 Months In Prison Over His Reporting On Former Scottish First Minister's Trial.*

• 12 June 2021 (Urgent: Millionaires surtax)

  US citizens: phone your congresscritter to support the "millionaires surtax", which would establish higher tax brackets for individuals with incomes over a million dollars a year.

  The Capitol Switchboard number is 202-224-3121.

  If you call, please spread the word!

• 12 June 2021 (Urgent: For the People Act)

  US citizens: remind Senator Manchin that the For the People Act has overwhelming bipartisan support.

• 12 June 2021 (Greek labor bill)

  Many Greek workers are on strike against a labor "flexibility" bill that would weaken their position in some ways against the demands of employers.

• 12 June 2021 (Biggest obstacle to ending Covid-19)

  Amnesty International: *The self-interest of G7 countries is the biggest obstacle to ending the Covid-19 pandemic, a group of campaigning organizations said today.*

  To vaccinate the world fast requires building a lot more vaccine factories, fast. This requires eliminating the patent obstacle and making the vaccine companies teach others how to make those vaccines.

  Under the present circumstances, with the way Big Pharma has corrupted the field of pharmaceuticals, patents on medicines to a lot of harm and very little good. (Patents in other fields don't do as much harm, but they still do very little good.) Any blow against the patent system will be a good thing.

  However, building the additional vaccine factories may not be necessary. If China will finish vaccinating the world by early 2022, we might not have any way to speed that up by much.

• 12 June 2021 (Call for corporations to quit US Chamber of Commerce)

  Student groups call on corporations to quit the US Chamber of Commerce unless it stops lobbying against climate defense.

• 12 June 2021 (Right-wing accusations of "corporate-run communism")

  Right-wing campaign groups are saying that CEOs are engaging in "corporate-run communism" when corporations state their opposition to voter suppression and election sabotage.

  They know that right-wing lunatics today will accept any lie that supports their side.

• 12 June 2021 (Fossil fuel exit strategy)

  The Fossil Fuel Exit Strategy presents a path to low greenhouse gas emissions that is feasible with no new technology.

• 12 June 2021 (Law to divest from fossil fuel)

  Maine has passed a law to divest from fossil fuel assets.

  Every government on Earth must do likewise.

• 12 June 2021 ((satire) Children's museum)

  (satire) *Children’s Museum Docent Reminds Guests Not To Touch The Kids.*

• 12 June 2021 (Shell greenhouse emissions)

  A Dutch court ruled that Shell must reduce its greenhouse emissions. A company executive makes fallacious arguments that this is unfair.

• 12 June 2021 (Wealth tax on Billionaires)

  *Wealth Tax on World's Billionaires Would Raise $345 Billion a Year.*

• 12 June 2021 ((satire) Basic dignity to incentivize new hires)

  (satire) *Desperate Employer Offers Basic Dignity To Incentivize New Hires.*

• 12 June 2021 (Danger of extracting fossil fuels)

  A growing problem: resistance to fossil fuel infrastructure now frequently downplays the main danger of extracting and transporting fossil fuels — that they might leak methane into the air, or be burnt and release CO2. This example does not trouble to mention it at all.

  What's with these people? I get the impression that they are more concerned with who owns certain land or waterways than with whether civilization survives.

  Ironically, the same can be said of the companies that want to extract the fossil fuels.

  The reason not to build the Line 3 pipeline applies to every other new oil or gas pipeline, every new refinery, and every new well or mine: there is no room in the world's carbon budget for any more fossil fuel infrastructure.

• 12 June 2021 (Kevin Strickland murder conviction)

  Kevin Strickland was convicted of murder in 1979. Since then, everyone involved in his case agrees he was falsely convicted, even the prosecutors. The governor of Missouri is grasping at straws to excuse keeping Strickland in prison anyway.

  These strict "law and order" fanatics believe that it should be unthinkable to question a court's decision to punish someone. Unless that person is trying to destabilize our democracy for right-wing ideology.

• 12 June 2021 (Thugs charged for pepper spraying protesters)

  Columbus, Ohio, thugs have been charged with crimes for spraying pepper spray on peaceful protesters who were violating no law or order, and for covering up lies.

  A Louisville thug faces criminal charges for nonfatal brutality: hitting a suspect on the head with a stick while the latter was kneeling with his hands up.

  No matter what that person was arrested for, or what he had actually done, nothing can justify hitting him under those circumstances.

  Prosecuting thugs for unjustified violence even when it is nonfatal is crucial for teaching them to practice self-control as required for a police officer.

• 12 June 2021 (Gun manufacturers liability)

  New York State has made gun manufacturers legally liable for damages caused by the manner of marketing or selling guns.

  I want those activities to be better regulated, but I am concerned that this law may be unfair on account of vagueness. If those companies are to be required to obey new rules, the rules must be clear.

  *San Jose mayor proposes gun owners carry insurance and pay annual fee in wake of mass shooting.*

  I am in favor of this. Gun owners should also have to get safety training and keep the guns in ways that prevent theft or unapproved use of the gun.

• 12 June 2021 (Payments to COVAX vaccine system)

  *Venezuela says payments to COVAX vaccine system have been blocked* by US sanctions.

• 12 June 2021 (Rep. Cori Bush demands records from FBI)

  Rep. Cori Bush put FBI director Christopher Wray on the spot while he was testifying to Congress. She demanded a copy of the records that the FBI had collected on her protest activity.

• 12 June 2021 (More power to WTO)

  Australia's government wants to give the WTO more power to make countries bow down to foreign businesses.

  This is indeed the purpose of business-supremacy treaties, but few governments dare to admit they advocate that purpose.

• 12 June 2021 (Apparent favoritism)

  Now that a court found "apparent favoritism" by ministers in choice of companies to get UK contracts, how will that make future decisions less corrupt?

  The old UK method was that ministers had to resign when visibly tainted. Now, like US Republicans, Tories don't object to corrupt ministers, as long as they are Tories. So the question is whether this will weaken ministers' hand in disagreements with civil service professionals.

  I don't have confidence in that.

• 12 June 2021 (Voluntourism)

  *Voluntourism: new book explores how volunteer trips harm rather than help.*

• 12 June 2021 (Oregon house expels Republican)

  *Oregon house expels Republican who helped far-right rioters enter capitol.*

  That is the treatment Republicans bent on insurrection deserve.

• 12 June 2021 (Insufficient Covid vaccine donations)

  The G7's pledges to donate an insufficient quantity of Covid vaccines constitute a total failure.

• 12 June 2021 (Unidentified aerial phenomena)

  Unidentified aerial phenomena may appear to be "out of this world", but they are in fact mundane objects that appear mysterious due to the circumstances of the view.

  None of them are evidence for alien visitors.

• 11 June 2021 (Urgent: zero emission transit policy)

  US citizens: call on Congress to fully fund a zero emission transit policy now.

• 11 June 2021 (Urgent: lift sanctions)

  US citizens: call on Biden to lift sanctions that are blocking Covid relief.

• 11 June 2021 (Artificial light on coastal reefs)

  Artificial light at night on coastal reefs seems to kill 20% of young clownfish there.

• 11 June 2021 (Dam on the Blue Nile)

  Ethiopia has built a large dam on the Blue Nile. Egypt and Sudan worry that by retaining water in Ethiopia, it will reduce their share of the water.

  Egypt and Sudan have coasts, and can do solar-powered desalinization (very expensive) to purify sea water. That is the only solution for the medium-term — the only way to make enough potable water for the growing population.

  In the long term, curbing and then reversing population growth is the only way.

• 11 June 2021 (Reopened too fast)

  The UK has reopened too fast; the Delta variant of Covid-19 is spreading. This was quite predictable.

  What the UK needs is leadership in taking the steps to prevent transmission. But it won't get that from Bogus Johnson, whose repeated policy changes have not given Britons a reason to trust his judgment. Officials' breaking their own hygiene rules have led Britons to disregard the same rules.

• 11 June 2021 (Poisoned author)

  It looks like Russian agents poisoned author Dmitry Bykov with novichok in 2019.

• 11 June 2021 (Pipeline)

  The Keystone XL pipeline has been cancelled. The owner yielded in the face of Biden's decision to revoke the permit.

  Now what about the Line 3 pipeline? That would carry tar sands oil too, if it is allowed to be built.

• 11 June 2021 (Murdering and disappearing people)

  Former Guatemalan soldiers face charges for murdering and disappearing people during the US-supported dirty war.

• 11 June 2021 (Defense of filibuster)

  Koch money and the US Chamber of Commerce are behind senators Manchin and Sinema's stubborn defense of the filibuster.

• 11 June 2021 (1836 Project)

  Texas Republicans have launched the "1836 Project" to teach a distorted version of the reason for Texas's secession from Mexico.

  I expect that the Mexican government and Mexicans elites found the rapid arrival of so many border-crossing immigrants in Texas worrisome in itself, independent of the fact that some of them illegally had slaves.

  I suspect that one of the aims of this project is to pave the way for an attempt to take nondemocratic control of the US government, or else secede.

• 11 June 2021 (Big banks and global tax plan)

  The UK wants to exempt the big banks from the plan for global businesses to pay tax in the countries where they get the income.

  Even if those banks do pay an adequate tax rate — and I won't take a minister's word for that! — it is still important to make them pay tax in each country where they operate.

• 11 June 2021 (Unknown aerial phenomena)

  When writing about unknown aerial phenomena (UAPs), it is soooo tempting for writers to presume that at some of them are sightings of actual objects that are actually moving at their apparent high velocities with their apparent rapid accelerations. They look like that, but many are not that.

  The term "unidentified aerial phenomena" is better than "unidentified flying objects" because it rejects that presumption — but we need to remember not to let the presumption sneak in later.

  I find it implausible that alien visitors with high technology would fail to conceal their presence from us, supposing they were trying to do conceal it.

• 11 June 2021 (Billionaires tax rate)

  Due to the deferred US taxes on capital gains, the richest 25 US billionaires paid an effective tax rate of 3.4% on the increase of their known wealth.

  More info.

• 11 June 2021 (Fighting secret demand)

  How CNN fought the bully's secret demand for Barbara Starr's email metadata, which was supported by secret court filings.

  The story is somewhat vague about the ultimate result. It appears that CNN ultimately did have to deliver some of this information.

  The US government should stop persecuting whistleblowers. The US government should build precedents and laws to prevent persecution if a subsequent administration sets out to persecute whistleblowers.

• 11 June 2021 (War on Drugs)

  *Poll Shows 83% of Americans Believe So-Called 'War on Drugs' an Abject Failure.*

• 9 June 2021 (Urgent: Try Michael Flynn)

  US citizens: call on the Secretary of Defense to have Michael Flynn tried for advocating a coup.

• 9 June 2021 (NHS nurses)

  The UK NHS is hiring nurses who don't have nursing qualifications. This, along with the lack of nurses, results from many years of gradually reducing the NHS's funds, together with the refusal to spend enough on training nurses and the refusal to employ immigrants.

• 9 June 2021 (San Francisco herd immunity)

  *San Francisco may be first major US city to hit herd immunity, experts say.*

• 9 June 2021 (Caves on Ocean Island)

  Mining destroyed the caves on Banaba Island (also called Ocean Island) that preserved water in periods of drought. Nowadays, when their desalination plant breaks, they have only sea water to drink.

• 9 June 2021 (A crime to protest)

  Lukashenko plans to make protesting a crime.

  Also insulting officials — which is also a crime in many countries that don't sufficiently respect freedom of speech. France is an example.

• 9 June 2021 (Secretly imprisoning people)

  Human rights defenders in Australia are calling for an end to imprisoning people secretly.

  Australia keeps the identity of such a prisoner secret by threatening the relatives and friends who know about per disappearance.

  A trial held in secret is likely to be an unfair trial. That is true in Australia just as in the UK, Belarus, or China.

  There is no reason to suppose that "Witness J" really broke an Australian law, or that perse did not have an overriding justification for doing so, as Witness K had.

• 9 June 2021 (Feral peacocks)

  Feral peacocks have become a nuisance in the northern LA region.

  I am perplexed by the idea of "relocating" the peafowl. Peafowl originated in India; in California, they are an intrusive pest species. There is no reason to protect them.

  In India and Europe peafowl were traditionally farmed to be eaten. We could

• 9 June 2021 (Prisoner Husain Barakat)

  Bahrain's political prisoner Husain Barakat died in prison from Covid-19. Prison tends to put prisoners (and guards) in danger of catching Covid-19. That has been true world-wide. Putting someone in prison for legitimate political activity, which repressive governments such as Bahrain tend to do. Thus, Bahrain's repression was responsible for Barakat's death.

• 9 June 2021 (Increasing forest cover)

  The UK government will pay landowners for increasing forest cover in specific beneficial ways.

• 9 June 2021 (Greenwashing fossil fuel)

  A PR agency for fossil fuels greenwashes its business by pledging to reduce the greenhouse emissions of its own activities.

  That reduction is insignificant compared with the increased use of fossil fuels by others caused by its own PR work.

  Companies that extract or deliver fossil fuels have used this distraction tactic for years.

• 9 June 2021 (Inflation)

  Joseph Stiglitz: don't listen to people that claim inflation is a real worry now.

• 9 June 2021 ((satire) New driverless car)

  (satire) *Revolutionary New Driverless Car Requires Zero Functional Technology To Generate Profit.*

• 9 June 2021 (The Sunrise Movement)

  The Sunrise Movement demands Biden stop trying to make a ruinous compromise with Republicans that only want to make him fail.

  I would like to support the Sunrise Movement. However, I found it was impossible to participate in any of their activities without running nonfree software. When I saw that was completely true, I unsubscribed. I wish they would fix this so I could support them.

• 9 June 2021 (Anti-Solitary Taskforce)

  The Federal Anti-Solitary Taskforce has developed specific targets for ending solitary confinement in US federal prisons.

  Solitary confinement is a kind of torture, but the word "tortuous" has nothing to do with torture. It describes a road or path with many twists and turns.

• 9 June 2021 (New Zealand greenhouse gas emissions)

  New Zealand's prime minister tentatively endorsed a big effort to reduce use of fossil fuel, and reduce other greenhouse gas emissions.

• 9 June 2021 (Fake campaign organization)

  A conman cheated would-be supporters of the bullshitter's campaign by collecting for a fake campaign organization with the fake support of the bullshitter's relatives.

  If your aim is to con people. what better place to seek victims than among people who want to be lied to? The difference between a fake charlatan and a real charlatan is a subtle point.

• 9 June 2021 (March in old Jerusalem)

  Netanyahu approved the right-wing march in old Jerusalem that officials had previously forbidden.

  I suspect he aims to create difficulties for the new government that will probably take office next week.

• 9 June 2021 (Arrest of opponent)

  *Nicaraguan police arrest third potential Ortega opponent.*

  How many other Nicaraguans might possibly run against Ortega? Is there anyone in the country that certainly won't do so?

• 9 June 2021 (Knowledge of medicinal plants at risk)

  *Knowledge of medicinal plants at risk as (indigenous) languages die out.*

• 9 June 2021 (Progress in campaigns against female genital mutilation)

  African activists are making some progress campaigning against female genital mutilation.

• 9 June 2021 (Weakening environmental protection)

  The Australian government plans to weaken environmental protection laws, and thus "fast-track extinctions."

• 9 June 2021 (Abolishing HDP)

  Erdoğan is now trying to entirely abolish the HDP (Peoples’ Democratic Party).

  The party did well in an election, so Erdoğan launched a civil war against Kurds and announced victory. Then he held a new election in which the HDP did not do so well. Whether this was because nationalists were elated by the "victory" of Turkey over part of Turkey, or because some HDP voters were dead, I don't know.

• 9 June 2021 (Overlooking hostage practices)

  Biden appears to overlook al-Sisi's practice of taking relatives of dissidents as hostages to intimidate them.

• 9 June 2021 (Plan to distribute patients data)

  The plan for the NHS to distribute patient data (or use of it) has been postponed for reconsideration.

  It's very useful to make medical records available for medical research, but there must be a very strict system to prevent it from being used to judge people or discriminate between them.

  "Sharing" is something that people do with people; let's not use that word for this.

• 9 June 2021 (Dishonesty among ministers)

  Bogus Johnson's former advisor said he had witnessed dishonesty among the ministers, but has failed to give any evidence of dishonesty.

• 9 June 2021 (Election sabotage)

  The nastiest forms of Republican election sabotage are those designed to destabilize the system of counting votes.

• 9 June 2021 (Pressure to investigate)

  The bully did pressure Ukraine to investigate Biden's son. His lawyer, Giuliani, did this on a phone call, of which a recording has now leaked.

• 9 June 2021 (Convicted of genocide)

  Ratko Mladić has been finally convicted of genocide in Bosnia. He ordered the Bosnian Serb to kill Bosnian Muslims with the aim of driving Muslims out (euphemistically referred to as "ethnic cleansing").

• 9 June 2021 (Convicted of aborting a pregnancy)

  El Salvador convicted Sara Rogel of aborting a pregnancy, and sentenced her to 30 years in prison.

  She has been released by a judge after 8 years in prison.

• 9 June 2021 (Prohibition of useless lawns)

  Nevada will prohibit useless lawns in the Las Vegas area, because the grass wastes scarce water.

• 9 June 2021 (Documentaries as stories)

  Criticizing the fashion for making documentaries as stories, and prioritizing empathy (for individuals) over understanding (of a phenomenon that affects individuals).

  Something like this has happened in textual journalism. I sometimes stop reading an article because the "human story, feel for this human who was hurt" part is too big and heavy compared to the part that explains what's going on (events that may hurt lots of people).

• 9 June 2021 (Filibuster in House of Representatives)

  The House of Representatives once had rules that allowed something comparable to a filibuster. Segregationist Democrats tried to be counted as absent one moment and present the next. In 1890, the House stopped permitting them to be counted as absent while actually physically present.

• 8 June 2021 (Urgent: Federal infrastructure bill)

  US citizens: tell Congress that the federal infrastructure bill must be big, bold and green.

  The Capitol Switchboard number is 202-224-3121.

  If you call, please spread the word!

• 8 June 2021 (California drought)

  California is in deep drought, exacerbated by global heating. Many farms will be idle this year for lack of water. There may be big wildfires again.

  I wonder whether lakes will have water available to put out the fires.

• 8 June 2021 (Beef, soy and palm oil production)

  *China funneling billions into harmful production of beef, soy and palm oil, says campaign group.*

• 8 June 2021 (Economic impact of global heating disaster)

  Researchers say that the economic impact of global heating disaster, in 2060, will be twice that of Covid-19.

• 8 June 2021 (Great ape habitat)

  African great apes are predicted to lose 90% of their habitats.

  Their survival in the wild could be impossible.

• 8 June 2021 (Reducing bird collisions)

  Turning off the light in half the windows of a large building can reduce bird collisions by a factor of ten.

• 8 June 2021 (Plague of mice)

  In Australia A plague of mice is destroying crops, even houses, but the poison that might be effective would kill endangered parrots, as well as predators that eat mice.

• 8 June 2021 (Medicare advantage programs)

  NYC unions plan to move their retirees onto Medicare Advantage programs whether they like it or not.

  These insurance programs reduce the subscriber's costs when the subscriber is more or less well, and can increase them by thousands of dollars when the subscriber needs expensive medicines.

• 8 June 2021 (Hawaii tourism)

  *Hawaii bill seeks to gut funding aimed at protecting environment from tourism.*

• 8 June 2021 (Spread of religious opposition to abortion)

  Republican state governments are using federal funds, meant to support poor families, to fund phony "crisis pregnancy centers" whose purpose is to spread religious opposition to abortion.

• 8 June 2021 (Risk of Tokyo Games during pandemic)

  *Top Japanese virologist warns of risks of Tokyo Games during pandemic.*

  The Olympic games tend to do lasting harm wherever they are held: to homeless people, to anonymity (via public surveillance), and to the public treasury.

  If your city proposes to hold them, I suggest campaigning against the bid. This has been successful.

• 8 June 2021 (Decision about the CFAA)

  The EFF analyzes the Supreme Court's decision about the CFAA.

  It pretty clearly rejects the twisted interpretation that was used against Aaron Swartz, then at the end creates some doubt.

• 8 June 2021 (Informing on drug mules)

  The US informs other countries about drug mules so that those countries can catch them and imprison them. Most of these drug mules are old, and many have been tricked into carrying drugs.

  Aside from the special case of cognitively impaired old drug mules, what about drug mules in general? Many of them claim to be duped, too. Some of those are lying, some are telling the truth.

  What of those who participate knowingly? Indeed, they are committing crimes. But what purpose is served by practice of imprisoning them? As far as I can see, it does a lot of harm to them, and achieves little good for anyone else. The whole War On Drugs does more harm than good, even when it concerns drugs that are dangerous.

• 8 June 2021 (Oil industry fraud)

  *How Third-Party Auditors Make Oil Industry Fraud Possible.*

• 8 June 2021 (Amazon customers demanding arbitration)

  75,000 customers of Amazon filed cases demanding arbitration, so Amazon withdrew the rule saying that customers can't do class-action suits.

  Companies should not make their customers or employees use arbitration instead of suing. If what happened to Amazon convinces companies to stop, that will solve the problem. But if arbitration requirements continue, we need laws to negate them.

• 8 June 2021 ((satire) Partially demolishing Brooklyn Bridge)

  (satire) *Biden Offers Infrastructure Concession By Partially Demolishing Brooklyn Bridge.*

• 8 June 2021 (GOP Oregon lawmaker)

  *In a secretly recorded video, GOP Oregon lawmaker tells protesters how he will help them enter closed state Capitol.*

  Will the legislature expel him?

• 8 June 2021 (Journalists' communications records)

  The Department of Justice continued trying to subpoena journalists' communications records even as Biden was saying his administration would not do this.

  One can never rule out lying by a politician, but another explanation seems plausible: institutional inertia. People appointed by the bully may still be in their positions, and committing sabotage to serve him. Others may still be following orders they received which reflected his policies.

  The DOJ recently said it would not do this any more, so it looks like Biden took the necessary action to overcome the bully's policies.

• 8 June 2021 (Atmospheric CO2)

  The last time Earth had this level of atmospheric CO2, it was 7F hotter (around 4C) and sea level was around 80 feet higher.

  If we don't get the CO2 level back down to 350 ppm, we are likely to see all of today's coastal cities inundated, by and by.

• 8 June 2021 (Synthetic pesticides ban)

  *Swiss to vote on whether to become first European nation to ban synthetic pesticides.*

• 8 June 2021 (Chinese university)

  Hungary says that the proposed Budapest branch of the Chinese university Fudan has not been approved, and suggests it could be cancelled if local people don't like it.

  It could be an excuse to silence controversy and quietly proceed with the plan.

• 8 June 2021 (Male fertility)

  We don't know enough about the things that affect male fertility to draw conclusions from the sperm count data.

  What we do know is that the world's human population is still increasing, and that is still dangerous.

• 8 June 2021 (March through Jerusalem)

  *Israeli police bar right-wing march through Jerusalem's Old City.*

  I guess the authorities have noticed that they couldn't keep playing with that fire.

• 8 June 2021 (Claim that Amazon harms competitors)

  The attorney general of Washington DC is suing Amazon, claiming that Amazon Prime uses Amazon's size to harm competitors.

• 8 June 2021 (Efficiency over robustness)

  Today's industry, at least in the west, has prioritized efficiency over robustness. The result is that lots of things don't work.

• 8 June 2021 (Restraining thugs)

  The president of Colombia announced measures to try to restrain the thugs' violence against protesters.

  I don't know how effective they will be, but at least this acknowledges the problem.

• 8 June 2021 (Politicians who like very rich people)

  *Our decision to structure patent and copyright monopolies in a way that allows for a small number of people to get incredibly rich is because we have politicians who like very rich people.*

  If China is on track to provide vaccines to most of the world by early 2022, it seems that a western investment in increased vaccine production would be a waste now, because it is too late to help. It would, reportedly, produce enough vaccine to vaccinate the world by the end of 2022, but long before that it won't be needed any more.

  Why is China going faster? I suspect it has more to do with the (low) competence of the western business system than with the competence of western engineers. This too is due to having politicians who like very rich people.

• 8 June 2021 (Arresting journalist)

  Israeli thugs beat up, then arrested al-Jazeera journalist Givara Budeiri while she was covering a protest. As usual, the thugs fabricated outrageous accusations against her, but even if they were true, they would not have justified ordering her to stop covering the protests for 15 days.

• 8 June 2021 (Censorship)

  The UK minister for domestic oppression wants internet platforms to delete postings that "glamourise" migrants' crossing the channel illegally.

  This shows that censorship is now the go-to British solution for unpleasant communications.

• 8 June 2021 (Plutocracy interference)

  Plutocracy interferes at every political level in efforts to save civilization from global heating disaster.

  The world can no longer allow profit-seeking companies such as Shell to manage the continued use of fossil fuels. They will try to drag it out as long as they can.

  The wealthy countries have put a lot of money into developing new fossil fuel facilities in poor countries. This is busting the carbon budget and directing civilization toward disaster.

• 8 June 2021 (Ban of Twitter)

  Nigeria says that use of Twitter is banned and it will prosecute anyone who tweets.

  Publishing news obtained from Twitter is banned too.

• 8 June 2021 (Trying to get reporters email logs)

  The Dept of Justice tried to get reporters' email logs for a leak investigation.

• 8 June 2021 (Global G7 deal)

  *Global G7 deal may let Amazon off hook on tax, say experts.*

• 8 June 2021 (Stopping unsustainable logging)

  Protesters in British Columbia are trying to stop the unsustainable logging of old-growth forests.

  Humans have already eliminated most of the old-growth forests that existed 100 years ago. It's time to stop before they are all gone.

  As the supply of these woods decreases, their price will rise. If today's high prices are taken as a reason not to stop now, higher prices in the future will always be a reason to keep logging — until there are no old-growth forests left. That is absurd, so this reason is invalid.

• 7 June 2021 (Urgent: repeal the 2002 Authorization for Use of Military Force)

  US citizens: call on Congress to repeal the 2002 Authorization for Use of Military Force. This was meant for a misguided and harmful purpose — to authorize attacking and occupying Iraq — but continues to be stretched to justify other wars.

  The Capitol Switchboard number is 202-224-3121.

  If you call, please spread the word!

• 7 June 2021 (Saving monarch butterflies)

  Californians are trying to save monarch butterflies by planting more milkweed for their caterpillars. But they don't know whether this will do the job.

• 7 June 2021 (Monitoring by means of AI-based surveillance)

  Computerized systems to monitor old people, perhaps partly demented, for their safety, work by means of AI-based surveillance, and their actions can feel oppressive to the people they "help".

  However, the problem goes deeper: they contain proprietary software, so neither the people to be "served" nor the people who install the system have real control over it.

  In particular, they can't be sure which sorts of events are being observed and reported to companies by the system, and used to profile or manipulate people.

• 7 June 2021 (Protesters trapped and besieged)

  A 3D model of the movements of protesters in Charlotte, a year ago, as well as the thugs who had surrounded them, demonstrates that thugs intentionally trapped and besieged the protesters.

  Then they attacked the trapped protesters with tear gas and other weapons.

• 7 June 2021 (UK asylum requests)

  UK officials told asylum seekers in immigration jails that complaining about the conditions there would jeopardize their asylum requests.

• 7 June 2021 (For the People Act)

  Manchin has effectively killed the For the People Act.

  This means nothing can be done to stop Republicans from stealing the next election at the level of various states.

• 7 June 2021 (Jailing the opposition)

  Uganda's president has jailed hundreds of the opposition after his "reelection."

• 7 June 2021 (Council of elders)

  The 2,000 inhabitants of Wagina island, in the Solomons, won a court case to prevent a bauxite mine on their small island. Then 8 of them appointed themselves a "council of elders" and claimed to authorize the mine.

  I wonder what inducement convinced those 8 people to do this.

• 7 June 2021 (Alarm over tax proposals)

  *The Tax Foundation [Cites] Mythical Taxpayers to Cause Alarm Over Proposals That [Would] Only Impact the Wealthiest Among Us.*

• 7 June 2021 (Rich countries cooperating with poor countries)

  A business leader says that rich countries must cooperate with vaccinating poor countries in order for poor countries to cooperate with climate defense.

  I don't know whether the two issues are linked, but I am not sure it matters. Rich countries must cooperate with vaccinating poor countries. Poor countries must cooperate with climate defense.

• 7 June 2021 (FBI demands IP addresses)

  The FBI demanded from USA Today the IP addresses of everyone that read a certain newspaper article.

  The power to get that information is dangerous to a free society. I take steps to prevent such information from being recorded about me. This is also why I do not identify myself when accessing any online publication, whether text, music, video, or whatever.

  Now the Department of Justice says it won't demand reports' phone records for leak investigations.

  That is a small change for the better, but what we really need to do is change the Espionage Act and whatever other laws whistleblowers may be prosecuted under.

• 7 June 2021 (Bill to support vaccine doses)

  Some democrats ask Biden to *support a $25 billion investment in the production of roughly eight billion mRNA vaccine doses.*

  Is that what we need? The words are not precise enough for me to tell.

  Whatever vaccine production lines exist will surely keep running, producing vaccine, as long as there are people who want to be vaccinated. I expect funds will be found to pay for the vaccine and vaccinate someone or other. Pledging funds towards that will be necessary, but doing so in advance won't speed things up.

  The way to funds to speed up vaccinating the world is by increasing the future rate of production: building more plants, sooner. If that's what this plan would do, I'm in favor of it.

  So which one are they proposing to do with that money?

  If it refers to this proposal, then it would be spent on boosting production. In that case, I'm in favor of it.

• 7 June 2021 (Spikes on family couch)

  (satire) *L.A. Mayor Prevents His Kid From Lazing About By Installing Spikes On Family Couch.*

• 7 June 2021 (Covid-19 response and the cult of the invisible hand)

  The connection between the lousy US response to Covid-19 and the laissez-mourir plutocracy of the cult of the invisible hand calls for an investigation, but there is no visible intention to investigate this.

• 7 June 2021 (Rivers have rights)

  Florida is considering a constitutional amendment to declare that rivers have rights.

  I am in favor of the goals of this amendment, and practical rules such as are likely to follow from it. However, it should not be formulated this way.

  It is a confusion to extend "rights", as such, to anything other than intelligent beings. To exercise a right is to make a decision. A river cannot make any decision whatsoever, so it cannot exercise any right whatsoever.

  If you think a river can have rights, next you'll believe that a corporation can have rights. Reject these absurd ideas!

  It would be legitimate to decide that rivers have inherent value, that there is an imperative to preserve them in good state, that their health counts in some sorts of legal questions. Just don't call this "rights".

• 7 June 2021 (Colossal risks)

  *126 Nobel Laureates Warn "Humanity Taking Colossal Risks With Our Common Future."*

• 7 June 2021 (Signs of fascism on the rise)

  10 signs of fascism on the rise. The US faces an immediate fascist threat, not merely a potential one.

• 7 June 2021 ("Compromise" infrastructure bill)

  The progressive caucus warned Biden that they would not vote for a "compromise" infrastructure bill dictated by Republican senators.

  Afterward, Biden rejected the Republican proposal.

  We need to get Manchin and Sinema to vote to abolish the filibuster. Rejecting Republican sabotage "solutions" for the infrastructure bill might put on enough pressure to achieve that goal.

  Biden's plan is already a "compromise" compared to what we really need.

  What's at stake in the infrastructure plan: prosperity, democracy, saving civilization from climate disaster. Also making America great again, with health and strength rather than bullying and cruelty.

• 7 June 2021 (Nicaragua opposition presidential candidate)

  Nicaragua has jailed a second opposition presidential candidate.

  The charges are vague, of course.

• 7 June 2021 (Grab-it capitalism)

  *Psychopath-Driven Inequality (grab-it capitalism) Is Making Our Society Sick.*

  Rewarding the "move fast and break things" approach makes the US even more psychopath-favorable today than it was before.

• 7 June 2021 (App to "check in")

  It turns out that Victoria (a state in Australia) does not requires everyone to use an app to "check in" when entering a supermarket (or any other store). People are allowed to use other methods, including pencil and paper. Thus, this system does not require customers to run nonfree software.

  It does track their movements. Whether that is acceptable, for the very importat purpose of eradicating outbreaks of Covid-19, depends in my view on how much that data is available to be used for other purposes.

• 7 June 2021 (Tank man on Bing)

  *Microsoft blocks Bing from showing image results for Tiananmen "tank man".*

  If you support Chinese censorship, Microsoft, move to China!

• 7 June 2021 (Condemning occupation policies)

  Even Zionists can condemn Israel's occupation policies.

• 7 June 2021 (Ceasing to treat abortion as taboo)

  US movies are ceasing to treat abortion as taboo, ceasing to present female characters who find abortion too stressful to go through with.

• 7 June 2021 (SARS-CoV-2 spreads by aerosols)

  It turns out that SARS-CoV-2 spreads by aerosols — usually not travelling a long distance, but it can do so.

• 7 June 2021 (Coping booth)

  Some Amazon warehouses provide a booth which a staff person can get into for some sort of help in coping with the pressure of working in an Amazon warehouse.

  I suspect Amazon will keep track of what employees say and do while in the booth, and use that as well as other profiling that information to decide how to pressure them and whether to fire them.

• 7 June 2021 (Thug lying)

  A thug involved in killing Ronald Greene lied about what the thugs had done, then falsely claimed not to have any body camera footage. Officials including the governor participated in the coverup.

  Somehow, that body camera footage showed up recently. I am curious how.

• 7 June 2021 (Transformational action)

  *126 Nobel Laureates Warn 'Humanity Taking Colossal Risks With Our Common Future'*. They say that "transformational action this decade" is absolutely necessary.

• 7 June 2021 (Police and mental health calls)

  *More than a dozen cities push to minimize or even eliminate police presence at mental health calls.*

  This is an important part of the substance that "defund the police" refers to. However, it is also important to take armed thugs out of traffic law enforcement. That is another big source of opportunities to mess up someone's life.

• 7 June 2021 (Chaplain at Guantanamo)

  The Muslim chaplain at Guantanamo prison saw that some prisoners were being tortured, and saw that the officials knew most prisoners were innocent, and saw that Dubya would not release them because that would mean admitting a mistake.

  After his scheduled return to the US at the end of his tour of duty, he was jailed and kept in solitary confinement with some of the same sorts of torture, based on the general feeling that he sympathized with the prisoners and must therefore be a terrorist.

• 7 June 2021 (Firefighters coverage by VA)

  *Firefighters Denied Coverage by Veterans Affairs After Exposure to PFAS Firefighting Foam.*

• 7 June 2021 (AR-15 and swiss knife)

  A federal judge, who is a second-amendment extremist, ruled that an AR-15 is legally equivalent to a swiss army knife.

  It is possible to hurt someone or destroy something with a swiss army knife, but it isn't particularly good for that use. It is mainly designed for other things.

  Conversely, it may be possible to use an AR-15 for something that doesn't involve sloppy destruction, but it isn't designed for that. Indeed, it would be a clever hack to do so.

• 7 June 2021 (Arctic sea ice)

  *Arctic sea ice thinning twice as fast as thought, study finds.*

  This will accelerate global heating.

• 7 June 2021 (End destruction of nature)

  *End destruction of nature to stop future pandemics, say scientists.*

  The immediate cause is that people get into closer contact with wildlife. However, the amount of travel (between regions and between countries) is increasing, and that helps a disease become a pandemic.

• 7 June 2021 (Outbreak and hospital capacity)

  Parts of Peru have a Covid-19 outbreak that exceeds hospital capacity in some regions. In those regions, many of the sick people die even though standard treatment could have saved them.

• 7 June 2021 (Drivers union)

  Uber recognized a drivers' union in the UK, but the contract signs away collective bargaining on their rate of pay. One driver says it's a "dud".

• 6 June 2021 (Urgent: End filibuster and pass For the People Act)

  US citizens: call on the Senate to end the filibuster and pass the For the People Act.

• 6 June 2021 (Commemoration of Tiananmen Square massacre)

  Han Dongfang commemorated the Tiananmen Square massacre alone in Hong Kong. He lived through that massacre in 1989 and will not stop resisting. "Before your last breath, don’t tell yourself you are dead."

  *Residents light candles, lay flowers and paint messages as police enforce ban on annual vigil for massacre.*

• 6 June 2021 (Vaccine production)

  The EU has proposed "we'll try a little harder" as a substitute for unlocking vaccine production.

  The point at the end about the existing WTO for compulsory licensing of patents is true (though countries including the US have pressured countries not to do this), but it is fundamentally inadequate because it only allows a country to make vaccine for its own use. Most countries, other than big economies, can't do their own vaccine manufacturing. The bigger and more capable countries must be allowed to make vaccine for the smaller/poorer countries.

  Globally, the world has to choose between efficiency (and profit), and finishing the job of vaccinating everyone quickly. The efficient way to vaccinate everyone is to make just enough vaccine plants, then run them until they make enough vaccine for everyone. That costs less but will take a long time. The rapid way is to keep building vaccine plants, so that the production will accelerate. This way, we will get enough vaccine to vaccinate everyone, sooner.

  The drawback is that many of those vaccine plants won't run for a whole year. The expense of running them may seem wasteful. Private companies would call it wasteful, but so would the governments that have to pay to get them running. "Why be in such a rush", they will argue. "We have enough plants now — be patient and you'll all get vaccine."

  However, while billions of people are "being patient", tens or hundreds of millions of them will be patients, and millions of them might die from Covid-19.

  In addition, the virus might mutate and become even more dangerous than the Delta and Kappa variants are now. They might kill hundreds of millions of people.

  Producing vaccine as fast as we can until the job is finished is worth the cost.

• 6 June 2021 (EU bans Belarus plans from EU airspace)

  The EU has banned Belarus planes from EU airspace, and orders its planes not to fly over Belarus.

  What about planes registered in other countries — the UK, for instance? Should the EU allow UK planes flying to or from EU cities to cross Belarus?

• 6 June 2021 (Restoring ecosystems)

  *World's soils "under great pressure", says UN pollution report.*

  *UN Agencies Call for a Decade of Restoring Ecosystems to Confront Biodiversity and Climate Emergencies.*

  *World must rewild on massive scale to heal nature and climate, says UN.*

  Rewilding is often a difficult task, and in some cases nobody knows a way to make it successful. We can't count on being able to duplicate an ecosystem that has been eliminated in a place, not even if that ecosystem still exists elsewhere. And even less, if it does not.

• 6 June 2021 (Jailing of opposition leader in Nicaragua)

  Dissident leaders in Nicaragua call for a general strike to protest the jailing of the opposition leader.

• 6 June 2021 (Multinational tax havens)

  EU agrees to compel multinationals to publish how much tax they pay in each EU country and in some non-EU countries (though some of the biggest tax havens are missing from that list).

  For countries that charge businesses no tax, will they be required to publish how much of their income flows through them?

  *Microsoft Irish subsidiary paid zero corporate tax on £220bn profit last year.*

  This subsidiary is only nominally Irish, since it "pays taxes" in Bermuda, and it sucks in money from around the world.

• 6 June 2021 (Texas governor threatens child care facilities)

  The Republican motto is "Say it with cruelty." The governor of Texas plans to cancel the licenses of the child care facilities that take care of immigrant minors, trying to compel the federal government to keep them in prisons instead.

  The federal government could transport them to new facilities outside Texas. But Texas is big, so they would need to spend a long time in a bus, exposed to catching Covid-19 from each other.

• 6 June 2021 (Business-supremacy treaties)

  If governments agree to liberate manufacture of vaccines, companies could sue them using business-supremacy treaties. "You're not allowed to save lives if that reduces our profits," is the motto of plutocracy.

• 6 June 2021 (Feral driverless car)

  (satire) *Homeowner Shoos Away Feral Driverless Car Rooting Around Garage.*

• 6 June 2021 (Congress takes field trip to Goldman Sachs)

  (satire) *Congress Takes Field Trip To Goldman Sachs To Learn How Laws Get Made.*

• 6 June 2021 (Supreme Court limits breadth of CFAA)

  The Supreme Court limited the breadth of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, ruling that accessing data for invalid purposes was not a violation.

  This was the right decision. Justice Thomas was confused in his arguments. It should be prohibited to pull a fire alarm when there is no file — and it is prohibited, by another law, one which has nothing to do with using a digital system. The CFAA should not apply.

• 6 June 2021 (Giving every US household hundreds of dollars)

  The recent experiment in giving every US household hundreds of dollars showed that this made a big help in easing poverty. So let's do it every year.

• 6 June 2021 (Valedictorian condemns Texas anti-abortion law)

  Paxton Smith, high school valedictorian, focused her speech on condemning the new Texas anti-abortion law.

• 6 June 2021 (Amazon's gratuitous drug testing of employees)

  Amazon has cancelled its policy of gratuitous drug testing of employees.

  This is a change for the better, but Amazon continues to mistreat its staff and its customers so I won't start buying there because of this change.

  Many large companies have this policy of harassment. Drug testing is part of the war on drugs, and it's not a good solution to real problems.

  For employees such as drivers whose ability to concentrate is crucial for safe work, it is better to test their concentration and reflexes each day than to test them for drugs once in a while.

• 6 June 2021 (Workers pushed into poverty by pandemic)

  *UN Labor Agency Finds Pandemic Pushed Over 100 Million Workers Into Poverty.*

• 6 June 2021 (Pentagon understates number of civilians killed)

  The Pentagon continues understating the number of civilians killed by US military operations. It tends to call casualties "enemy combatants" regardless of facts.

• 6 June 2021 (Right-wing Americans more likely to believe fake news)

  A study found that right-wing Americans are more likely to believe fake news. Also, that right-wing viral stories tend to be fake.

• 5 June 2021 (Urgent: Cancel student debt now)

  US citizens: call on Biden to cancel student debt now. At least some of it!

• 5 June 2021 (Urgent: Reduce military spending)

  US citizens: call on Congress to reduce military spending.

• 5 June 2021 (Voter-suppression measures in Texas voting bill)

  A long list of voter-suppression measures in the Texas Republican voting bill that Democrats recently blocked.

• 5 June 2021 (US defending exploitation by tech companies)

  The US is threatening trade sanctions against countries that tax tech platforms on their revenue in those countries.

  The US proposal for subdividing international taxation would be a step forward, but it is wrong to use the nation's power to defend those companies' exploitation.

  Facebook, Google, and Amazon, etc mistreat their "users"; I say that Facebook does not have users, only useds.

• 5 June 2021 (Canceling joint climate action plan with China)

  Schumer's bill to focus on China as a threat would cancel the joint climate action plan that Kerry has negotiated.

  China's growing power, and its practice of using that to build an empire of repression, is a threat to the world. However, the actions we can take to defend against that are mostly in specific areas of activity. Global heating is also a threat to the world. We should be able to work together on climate defense.

• 5 June 2021 ((satire) Feinstein considers eliminating filibuster)

  (satire) *Dianne Feinstein Considers Eliminating Filibuster Over Upcoming Vote On Smoot-Hawley Tariff.*

• 5 June 2021 (Renewable resources in America)

  *America Has More Than Enough Renewable Resources to Meet All of Its Energy Needs, Says Report.*

• 5 June 2021 (Corruption wins in Indonesia)

  Indonesia's leading anti-corruption investigator has been fired, and says it is because corruption has won.

• 5 June 2021 (China setting up internet for African countries)

  China is setting up the internet for many African countries, and China is reportedly implementing a different architecture that allows it to monitor and control all usage.

• 5 June 2021 (Concentration of book publishing through mergers)

  *‘If publishers become afraid, we’re in trouble’: publishing’s cancel culture debate boils over.*

  40 years ago there were many substantial independent publishers with distribution to bookstores. If a few refused to publish a book, it could still reach the public. Nowadays there are four large publishing empires (or is it now just three?). It is easy to keep a book from reaching bookstores.

  The concentration of book publishing results from plutocratist policies which continue to allow mergers in nearly all industries.

  We need to deconcentrate industry, to make the large companies split up into many competing pieces. My tax proposal is a way to do this without needing a lot of lawsuits.

• 5 June 2021 (Apple shifts more production to China)

  In 2021, Apple has been shifting more production to China.

• 5 June 2021 (Giant redwood trees destroyed by fire)

  A fire in 2020 seems to have destroyed 1/10 of the world's giant redwood trees.

  The fire's intensity was partly due to human fire-suppression activity. We could prevent wildfires from being intense enough to damage those trees by doing a lot more controlled burns, but that is easier said than done. It is hard to keep a controlled burn under control in times of deep drought, and even harder when flammable debris has accumulated.

  It would make sense to grow more giant redwood groves in widely separated places.

• 5 June 2021 (Israeli progressive talking about 'apartheid')

  *Why Israeli progressives have started to talk about ‘apartheid’.*

• 5 June 2021 (Russia to extradite exile)

  Russia will extradite a Belarusian exile to Belarus, who is charged with protesting and is likely to be tortured there.

  This is not surprising given that Putin is fundamentally similar to Lukashenko in his contempt for opposition and dissent.

• 5 June 2021 (Persecution of leakers)

  *Trump justice department secretly obtained New York Times reporters’ phone records, paper says.*

  This was, of course, a hunt for leakers (whistleblowers). The US should stop persecuting leakers, because they serve the public.

• 5 June 2021 (Why governments should keep spending)

  *Why governments should keep spending, and stop worrying about inflation.*

  We are still in a slump, and the way to end a slump is with deficit spending.

  However, we should stop putting government funds into fossil fuel development and move it all to renewable energy.

  The only obstacle to a renewable energy future is that governments still put their money into civilization-killing fossil fuels.

• 5 June 2021 (Arab party endorses annexationist as PM of Israel)

  An Arab party has endorsed right-wing annexationist Naftali Bennett as prime minister of Israel. Without the Arab party, Bennett would lose his majority. This may restrain him from passing new unjust laws.

• 5 June 2021 (Severity of greenhouse emissions)

  All of humanity is under attack by the greenhouse emissions that humanity makes. Television news fails to show the severity of this.

• 5 June 2021 (Denmark law to deport asylum seekers)

  *Denmark agrees law to deport asylum seekers outside Europe.*

  This sounds somewhat like the horrible things that Australia has done.

• 5 June 2021 (Filibuster and voting rights laws)

  Biden is raising the pressure on senators Manchin and Sinema to eliminate the filibuster and pass voting rights laws.

• 5 June 2021 (US promise to stop spying on allies)

  Norway says that in 2014 it objected to US spying on allies, and the US promised it would stop.

• 5 June 2021 (Climate tipping points)

  *Climate tipping points could topple like dominoes, warn scientists.*

• 5 June 2021 ("Delta" variant of Covid-19)

  The Indian "delta" variant of Covid-19 is twice as likely to cause a severe case that requires hospitalization. It also spreads more easily. This is evolution at work.

  The article does not state anything quantitative about effectiveness of vaccines against it.

• 5 June 2021 (Blasphemy conviction overturned)

  *Pakistan court overturns blasphemy conviction of Christian couple.*

• 4 June 2021 (Ringleader of Arizona Election Audit Circus)

  *Top ALEC Official Is Ringleader of Arizona Election Audit Circus.*

• 4 June 2021 (Artwork rejected for reference to Assange)

  *Ai Weiwei accuses curators of rejecting artwork over [a reference to] Julian Assange.*

• 4 June 2021 (Arrest of opposition candidate)

  Nicaragua's dictatorial president Ortega has arrested the main opposition candidate, Chamorro, on charges of money laundering.

  It is not impossible that these charges could be valid, but it is implausible. Ms Chamorro has been under state harassment for many years. Would she take the risk of committing a real crime and giving Ortega a valid reason to prosecute her? Of course not.

• 4 June 2021 (New drive for vaccination)

  Biden has announced a new drive to vaccinate 70% of Americans against Covid-19.

  If this is achieved, uniformly over the population, the US will be at or near herd immunity, safe against the disease. Unless we encounter a variant that is more transmissible, in which case herd immunity would need a higher fraction to be vaccinated.

• 4 June 2021 (Opposition through street names)

  The mayor of Budapest will demonstrate opposition to building a branch of a Chinese university in Budapest through street names China will not like.

  I love this sort of mischievous hacktivism. And I have a suggestion.

  How about naming a plaza in the vicinity of the university site Tien An Men Square? Then they could have a rally for democracy (in China, in Hungary, world-wide) every June 4.

• 4 June 2021 (Special medical care)

  Giving babies special medical care and education for five years resulted in visible increases in the size of some brain regions at age 40.

• 4 June 2021 (Nuclear fission power plant)

  Two billionaires want to build a molten-salt nuclear fission power plant using US government money.

  I am skeptical of the claim that this would be "clean" energy. It would not emit greenhouse gases, but it would create radioactive material.

• 4 June 2021 (Financial side-effects)

  Many Americans refuse Covid-19 vaccination because they fear it would cause them financial side-effects.

  When properly understood, that concern is a reason to get vaccinated as soon as you can. Vaccination is gratis, but if you get a severe case of Covid-19, treatment is not.

  However, the US needs to do a better job of showing everyone that vaccination is gratis.

• 4 June 2021 (Price of medical data)

  *Revealed: NHS England bosses meet with tech and pharmaceutical giants to discuss price list of millions of Brits' medical data.*

  The data would be "anonymized", but we know that it is easy to identify most of the "anonymized" individuals given several data about each one.

  The NHS has no inherent need to sell anyone access to data about its patients. The illusion of a need comes from the Tory policy of starving the NHS of funds, since 2019, which I believe is intended to lead to privatizing the NHS and thus effectively destroying it.

  

  Tories now plan to include this in a business-supremacy treaty with the US, so that future UK governments would have their hands tied.

• 4 June 2021 (Not trying)

  *"DOJ Antitrust is run by people promoted under Trump/Barr!"*, and they are not trying to restrain monopolies.

• 4 June 2021 (Green new deal)

  The EU's Green New Deal has many fundamental flaws. Here they are.

• 4 June 2021 (Oxygen in lakes)

  Global heating is causing the level of oxygen in lakes to decrease — by 20% so far. This endangers wildlife and can taint drinking water.

• 4 June 2021 (Harm to 16-25 years old)

  For Europeans 16-25 years old, Covid-19 has caused great harm to their lives. 2/3 of them are at risk of depression.

• 4 June 2021 (Billions more to fossil fuel)

  *G7 nations committing billions more to fossil fuel than green energy.*

• 4 June 2021 (Microwave weapons)

  *Microwave weapons that could cause Havana Syndrome exist, experts say.*

• 3 June 2021 (Business-supremacy treaties)

  The British and Australian governments plan to subject those two countries to a business-supremacy treaty which gives businesses direct power over what laws the countries can have.

  This would be implemented with an ISDS clause ("I Sue Democratic States") that would empower foreign businesses to sue the state if it does anything that would reduce the profits those businesses expect to make.

  The advocates of taking the UK out of the European Union said that the goal was to recover Britain's sovereignty. I warned that the Tories would give that sovereignty to global business instead, and now they are about to do it.

  Australia has bad experiences with an ISDS clause, and politicians should have learned their lesson never to accept one again. But the current government of Australia is irredeemably plutocratist.

• 3 June 2021 (Tortured then charged with defamation)

  Pakistan's army tortured journalist Asad Toor in his home, then charged him with "defaming" the government.

  The next step will be to explicitly criminalize criticism of the government.

• 3 June 2021 (Groupthink)

  *By representing [UK government policy] failures as the outcome of the psychological nature of groups, "groupthink" hides their political basis.*

• 3 June 2021 (TPP)

  The Tories want to put the UK into the TPP.

  That would imply subjecting it to the ISDS clause ("I sue democratic states") that gives foreign companies more rights than citizens.

  Australia has suffered greatly from the ISDS clauses.

• 3 June 2021 (Ship with toxic chemicals sinking)

  A ship laden with chemicals, many of them more or less toxic, is sinking near Sri Lanka and is likely to poison the wildlife in that area. The effects could last for decades.

• 3 June 2021 (Suspending oil drilling leases)

  *Biden suspends Trump-era oil drilling leases in Alaska’s Arctic refuge.*

  This is one step towards what we need for ecosurvival. There is no room in the carbon budget for additional fossil fuel infrastructure. We need to end the drilling world-wide.

• 3 June 2021 (Key species at risk)

  *Key species at risk if planet heats up by more than 1.5C.*

  The loss of those species can upend ecosystems and thus cause havoc.

• 3 June 2021 (Export of coal emissions)

  *Emissions from coal mined in Australia but exported and burnt overseas were almost double the nation’s domestic greenhouse gas footprint in 2020.*

  When coal is mined in country A and burnt in country B, which one is responsible for those emissions? Both share the responsibility, since both work together to arrange to burn that coal.

  If we had sufficient pressure to stop burning coal, country B would stop buying it and stop burning it. Country A would not be able to prevent that.

  But the world does not put enough pressure on country B to bring the practice to an end; thus, pressure to stop mining the coal is needed too.

• 3 June 2021 (Attacks on ambulance)

  Since Covid-19, ambulance crews in the UK have been attacked enough times that they will now wear body cameras to document the attacks.

  What's the cause of this, I wonder?

• 3 June 2021 (Planning on destroying coral reefs)

  When cruise ships start operating again, they plan to destroy coral reefs around Gran Cayman Island to build a bigger harbor and unload far more tourists every day.

• 3 June 2021 (Lobbying to kill right-to-repair)

  Amazon, Apple, Google and Microsoft are lobbying to kill right-to-repair bills in many US states.

  Some of the arguments they use amount to, "We designed these products to be tricky to repair," and the obvious response is, "You had better not do that any more."

  Looking at the information in the article from the standpoint of users' freedom, we see that Chromebooks (some of them? all of them?) are designed not to work unless it can spy on the user.

• 3 June 2021 (Pharma companies lobbying)

  Pharma companies spent $$44 million last year on lobbying EU countries, and much of it was to oppose generic vaccines.

• 3 June 2021 (No constructive action)

  *At a Time When America Faces Cascading Crises, Republicans Just Say No* — to every constructive action.

• 3 June 2021 (Amazon rate of injury)

  Amazon's harsh working conditions and workloads result in a rate of injury 50% higher than in competing companies.

  Please don't buy from Amazon. I refuse to buy from Amazon for my own protection, because buying from Amazon entails being identified and running nonfree software. In addition, I boycott Amazon, so I ask others, when they are getting anything for me, not to get it from Amazon.

  There's no harm in looking at products in Amazon's web site as long as you've blocked it from identifying you or running nonfree software on your machine.

• 3 June 2021 (Keep precautions while vaccines are rolled out)

  * …coronavirus infections, hospitalizations and deaths would continue to rise [in North Carolina] if pandemic precautions such as quarantine, school closures, social distancing and mask-wearing were lifted while vaccines were being rolled out.*

• 2 June 2021 (Law against deceiving juvenile suspects)

  *Illinois lawmakers pass a bill banning police from deceiving juvenile suspects during interrogations.*

  You may call me hyperstrict, but I think there should be limits on manipulative treatment of adults, too. Adults are not immune to being pressured into false confessions. I agree that an adult ought be strong enough to resist the pressure to lie, but that doesn't imply that adults who are not strong enough to resist deserve a false conviction.

• 2 June 2021 (US mega-dairies)

  *How US mega-dairies are killing off small farms.*

• 2 June 2021 (Chinese censors)

  Chinese censors are very creative at inventing speech crimes.

• 2 June 2021 (Uttar Pradesh)

  *An Indian court has ruled that a local government administration in Uttar Pradesh filed a "false and unfounded" police report against eight Muslim leaders who had opposed the "illegal" demolition of their mosque.*

• 2 June 2021 (Stepan Latypov in court)

  Belarusian protester Stepan Latypov cut his throat in court, saying that he had pled guilty because Lukashenko's men had threatened to imprison his family and neighbors if he did not.

  I suppose he had been tortured already and expected more torture, so he attempted to escape a fate worse than death.

  He may have failed in that attempt — but he did land a blow on the enemy in the process. I bow to the courage he displayed in doing this.

• 2 June 2021 (Amazon devices)

  Amazon gave customers just one week to opt out of having their Amazon devices offer wifi connections to other people's devices.

  I don't think that letting other people's devices connect is as bad as the spying that Amazon devices do. However, giving people one week to opt out of anything should be prohibited. The FCC should set standards for this, and any company that doesn't follow the standard should be prosecuted.

  If a company is too big to prosecute then it is too big to exist.

• 2 June 2021 (New digital patient data system)

  A campaign asks the UK's NHS doctors to refuse to put patient data into the new digital system that makes it available to companies.

• 2 June 2021 (Indian variant of Covid-19 in Australia)

  Australia has an outbreak of the Indian variant of Covid-19, and finds that it can spread when people brush past each other momentarily.

  This is very dangerous — people need to get vaccinated.

• 2 June 2021 (Response to mass looting)

  A year ago, *NYPD Took Hours to Respond to Mass Looting, Despite Quickly Cracking Down on Protests.*

• 2 June 2021 (Oil and gas companies)

  *Oil and Gas Companies Get Enormous Welfare, Still Lay Off Workers and Enrich Executives.* And they are "too busy" to testify at a congressional hearing.

• 2 June 2021 (Opposition to military aid for Israel)

  Israel's request for more military aid from the US faces opposition from US Jews, including Jewish Voice for Peace, and Senator Sanders.

  The US has offered aid to rebuild Gaza. That influence over Gaza, plus the influence the US has on Israel when it dares to use it, could be sufficient to prevent more violence — if the US can also guide Israel away from the apartheid and fanaticism that could spark violence.

• 2 June 2021 (Democracy at risk)

  *[Republican] initiatives are transforming several states into political systems that no longer meet the minimum conditions for free and fair elections. Hence, our entire democracy is now at risk.*

• 2 June 2021 ((satire) Removing mask straps for the first time)

  (satire) *Couple Who Met During Pandemic Tenderly Remove Each Other’s Mask Straps For First Time.*

• 2 June 2021 (Naftali Bennett)

  Juan Cole: Naftali Bennett, who personally advocates annexing the Palestinians' land and treating them as unwanted residents, may become prime minister of Israel with the support of a coalition of parties with a spectrum of different views.

  Ironically, he may need one Arab party's votes. I can't begin to guess how much of Bennett's personal views would get implemented by that coalition.

  But it could stay in power long enough for Netanyahu to be formally prosecuted for corruption. Maybe then he could not become prime minister again, and the political situation would change permanently.

• 2 June 2021 (Trickle-up economics)

  Trickle-up economics: economic modeling including the "velocity of wealth" predicts that giving a larger share of economic growth to the non-wealthy increases economic growth, and this benefits everyone including the wealthy — while decreasing the gap between them.

  The result is to increase the total level of consumption. That would be good if it benefited mainly the non-wealthy, except for one problem: nowadays it is not clear that we can sustain more consumption in the US.

• 2 June 2021 (Secret report on attacking China)

  Daniel Ellsberg published a secret US report that proposed using nuclear weapons against China in 1958, supposing China were to attack Taiwan.

  Now he dares the US government to charge him under the Espionage Act, as it has charged other leakers including Edward Snowden, as well as journalist Julian Assange.

• 2 June 2021 (Charging journalists)

  Lukashenko has charged the editor-in-chief of TUT.BY with tax evasion "on an especially large scale," which could only be a fabricated excuse.

• 2 June 2021 (Police standing by)

  *Colombia to probe police who stood by as civilians shot at protesters.*

• 2 June 2021 (Talk-show host removed after criticizing military)

  Pakistani talk-show host Hamid Mir criticized the military's censorship of media, and was removed from his show with no explanation.

• 2 June 2021 (Unsustainable logging)

  Unsustainable logging in the Solomon Islands will eliminate its natural forests in 15 years. I suppose this will cause extinction of many species. Ecological damage is everywhere.

• 2 June 2021 (Money to authors of used books)

  Some used book stores will give money to the book's author when they sell a book.

  I'd be in favor of this if it were accompanied by a move to narrow the power of copyright.

• 2 June 2021 (Fighting the army)

  Many local armed groups are fighting the Burmese army.

  The army is using artillery and helicopters to attack them.

• 2 June 2021 (Arrest of solitary protester)

  Hong Kong's repression agency arrested a solitary protester who called attention to the 1989 massacre in Beijing's Tien An Men square, Grandma Wong.

• 2 June 2021 (Oath keepers militia members charged)

  19 members of Oath Keepers militias have been charged with attacking the Capitol.

• 2 June 2021 (Voter-suppression law)

  The new Texas voter-suppression law will do more than stop disprivileged people from voting. It will also give judges an easy way to perceive a problem of election fraud, even when there wasn't one.

  Democrats blocked it for the moment because the legislative session was ending.

• 2 June 2021 (Attacks on voting by mail)

  * The Arizona Legislature is continuing its attack on voting by mail. In a party-line vote, the state house advanced a bill that would turn allegedly mismatched signatures on mail ballots into potential criminal cases.*

  A Republican who rejects the very idea of truth would have little difficulty reporting a "mismatch" between two identical signatures.

  A voter who is informed of an alleged mismatch might wish to go through the process to cure it, but there are various innocent reasons why perse might not do so. Here are a few that occur to me.

  • Perse is out of town.
  • Perse has no time off from work.
  • Perse fears persecution by racist officials.

• 2 June 2021 (Stop destruction of life)

  * We must ensure that rich companies and nations stop this destruction of life in the oceans, which not only impoverishes wildlife but also the coastal communities that are truly dependent on small-scale fishing for survival.*

• 2 June 2021 (False confessions)

  Yang Hengjun, prisoner of China, says he was tortured and drugged, and made to say things that were probably recorded to be presented as (false) confessions.

• 1 June 2021 (Urgent: Whole American Families and Jobs Plan)

  US citizens: call on Democrats to reject ruinous Republican "compromises" and pass the whole American Families and Jobs Plan.

• 1 June 2021 (Describing the wrecker's cult)

  Let's stop describing the supporters of the wrecker's cult as "conservatives". Most Republicans today are no longer conservatives, they are right-wing extremists.

• 1 June 2021 (Cloudy digital services)

  It's foolish for anyone to entrust secrets to cloudy digital "services". It's especially foolish when these secrets concern guarding or accessing nuclear weapons, but that doesn't mean you ought to make the same mistake.

  The guards should use one of the free/libre programs for flashcard learning — some are listed in the free software directory. They won't send anything to remote servers unless you ask them to.

• 1 June 2021 (Refused to reopen Mark Duggan case)

  The UK agency that investigates crimes by uniformed thugs refused to reopen its astonishing conclusion about the thugs' killing of Mark Duggan, despite new analysis that makes the conclusion even more astonishing.

• 1 June 2021 (Regular Covid vaccine approval)

  Many Americans will decide to get vaccinated when they can get a Covid-19 vaccine that has a regular (not emergency) approval.

  That will probably be soon.

• 1 June 2021 (More poverty and crime)

  *The Ugly Truth: Republicans Want More Poverty and Crime.*

  Their cuts in aid to the poor, and cuts in workers rights (which makes more workers poor), encourage crime, which Republicans then cite as an excuse to bash the poor some more.

• 1 June 2021 (Britons will lose their homes)

  Millions of Britons will lose their homes soon — perhaps this week.

• 1 June 2021 (Secret lists)

  Even if the US takes you off the no-fly list, you may still be on some secret list that cues other countries to interrogate you blindfolded for days.

  There is no way to confirm whether you're on one of these lists, and no legal procedure for getting yourself taken off.

• 1 June 2021 (Archaeology in the UK)

  Archaeology in the UK is in crisis because projects can't hire Europeans any more.

• 1 June 2021 (People power)

  The "people power" methods of making autocrats step down no longer work. Repressive regimes have learned that they can crush a dissident movement, then survive being hated.

  We see this today in China, Belarus and Burma, but it was Egypt, Bahrain, Turkey and Syria that demonstrated this.

  China and Russia are setting up an informal bloc to defend repressive countries that are willing to have a bad relationship with the US. Colombia won't reach out to them, but countries farther from the US will.

• 1 June 2021 (Election officials)

  *Republicans who embraced Trump’s big lie run to become election officials.*

  Since they endorse cheating, Republican extremists will vote for them so that they can cheat.

• 1 June 2021 (Tulsa 1921 pogrom)

  In Tulsa, nobody dared talk about the 1921 pogrom against blacks, especially not the few survivors. Official records were destroyed. It took persistence and hard work to pull the story into the open.

• 1 June 2021 (US relationship to Israel)

  Calling for the US to adopt a more normal, less "special" relationship with Israel.

  I think the US should remain committed to protecting Israel's survival, while at the same time pushing to end the occupation of the West Bank and the siege of Gaza.

• 1 June 2021 (US spying on European allies)

  The US spied on its European allies via facilities in Denmark.

  Denmark investigated this starting in 2015 based on information released by Edward Snowden. The results of the investigation have only now been published, but the Danish government seems to have been acting to prevent a repetition.

• 1 June 2021 (Minerals, wood and fish)

  China's appetite for minerals, wood and fish from the Pacific is having a big economic impact, and a big ecological impact too.

• 1 June 2021 (Wild animal market in Wuhan)

  A virologist calls for interviewing the individual stall operators at the wild animal market in Wuhan. The goal is to find out which kinds of wild animals were traded in 2019.

• 1 June 2021 (Undermining interoperability)

  Apple is systematically undermining interoperability. At the hardware level, it does this via nonstandard plugs, buses and networks. At the software level, it does this by not letting the user have any data except within one app.

• 1 June 2021 (NHS patient data)

  The NHS has a plan to redistribute patient data to university labs and even companies.

  This can be useful for progress in medicine, but if it isn't held in check by an organization whose main priority is privacy, it could ruin some people's lives.

  Please don't refer to the redistribution of personal data between companies with the word "sharing".

  *Data isn’t oil, whatever tech commentators tell you: it’s people’s lives.*

• 1 June 2021 (Contempt for works and for art)

  Thinking of art works as "intellectual property" demonstrates contempt for these works and for art, much like calling them "content."

  I've described several reasons to reject the term "intellectual property" entirely. This is one additional reason.

• 1 June 2021 (President Kagame of Rwanda)

  President Kagame of Rwanda is now being recognized for his persistent repression of opposition leaders. It's on a level with Putin and Lukashenko.

• 1 June 2021 (Urgent: line 3 pipeline)

  US citizens: call on Biden to revoke the permit to build the Line 3 pipeline.

• 1 June 2021 (Urgent: end filibuster)

  US citizens: call on the Senate to end the filibuster and approve the Jan 6 investigation commission.

• 1 June 2021 (Suicide after being canceled)

  A promising choreographer killed himself after he was canceled in response to unsubstantiated accusations of some sort of sexual wrongdoing.

  Although an investigation found no indication the accusations were valid, institutions proceeded with the cancellation anyway. The decision to stop performing his work, the fact that there was no way he could clear his name or ever be able to practice his art again, must have made him feel he was as good as dead already, his art already buried.

  A few developers of useful free software have been convicted of grave crimes, even murder. (With the large number of contributors, by chance we must expect this.) We disapprove of murder, but we don't reject their code on that account.

• 1 June 2021 (Seeding Covid)

  *Kumbh Mela: how a superspreader festival seeded Covid across India.*

  All around the world, fervent religion has been deadly in spreading Covid-19. We have seen this with Christianity in Brazil, South Korea, the US of course; with Judaism in the US, and now with Hinduism in India.

  If death followed quickly, it would be easier for believers to stay in touch with reality. But nobody is likely to die of Covid-19 from a religious ceremony until a couple of weeks later, and most of the victims will not have participated in the ceremony themselves, but rather got the disease indirectly via participants.

• 1 June 2021 (MORE Act)

  The 2021 version of the MORE Act, which would legalize marijuana, would also eliminate some continuing punishment of people with old convictions.

• 1 June 2021 (Statue facing the wall)

  *The statue of Cecil Rhodes at Oriel College, Oxford, should be turned to face the wall in shame.*

  I like it.

• 1 June 2021 (New variant)

  Covidiots beware — a new variant has appeared which spreads faster than the other bad variants.

  It is currently limited to one country, but it will get to the others soon enough.

• 1 June 2021 (Rushing to eliminate restrictions once again)

  Bogus Johnson is once again rushing to eliminate all Covid-19 restrictions, and this is producing yet another surge of infections.

• 1 June 2021 (Attack on protesters)

  Most of the protests in Colombia have been peaceful recently. However, in Cali, protesters have made barricades blocking roads. Official state thugs attack the protesters, sometimes killing or maiming them. Unidentified nonuniformed thugs joined in shooting at protesters.

  If the protesters manage to kill or capture one of those, maybe it will be possible to determine what their affiliations are.

• 1 June 2021 (Protests against Bolsonaro)

  There were large protests across Brazil against Bolsonaro and his callous disregard for Covid-19 and Brazilians' lives.

• 1 June 2021 (New evidence on Fauci)

  (satire) *New Evidence Shows Fauci May Have Been Created In Chinese Lab.*

• 1 June 2021 (Budget and extinction of species)

  Biden's budget does not try to prevent extinction of species in the US.

• 1 June 2021 (Power of filibuster)

  An idea for step-by-step reduction of the power of filibuster.

• 1 June 2021 (Call for law to answer truthfully)

  Relatives of victims of government misconduct call for a law requiring ministers government departments and advisers to answer truthfully in investigations and court proceedings.

• 1 June 2021 (Thugs and dogs)

  Thugs that bring dogs sometimes tell them to bite people — around 4000 people a year in the US.

  Usually the dog bites whoever the thug directs. Sometimes it bites someone else who happens to be in the vicinity. Sometimes the bite is fatal.

• 31 May 2021 (Urgent: transportation funds)

  US citizens: call on Congress to divide transportation funds 50-50 between mass transit and highways.

• 31 May 2021 (Urgent: cancel student debt)

  US citizens: call on Congress to cancel all student debt.

  To sign without running nonfree JavaScript code from the web site, use the Salsalabs workaround.

• 31 May 2021 (Subpoena of Github)

  A man condemned to execution has subpoena'd secret source code from GitHub for a program that the court used to analyze evidence. (If the program is flawed, that might invalidate the conviction.) But GitHub is in another state, and has ignored the subpoena for years.

  The article explains that the difficulty of accessing secrets needed as evidence can drive people to please guilty.

  In this particular case, the court should conclude that it can't get the source code, therefore it can't trust that program, and overturn the conviction. Society should adopt a general rule that programs used to evaluate evidence for a court must be free/libre so that their validity can be analyzed.

• 31 May 2021 (Infrastructure plan)

  Senate Republicans have decided also to mostly kill Biden's infrastructure plan. Biden yearns for bipartisan cooperation, but it is worth than useless to try to cooperate with saboteurs.

• 31 May 2021 (Vaccine factories for the whole world)

  A study concludes it would cost 25 billion dollars to build vaccine factories sufficient to vaccinate the whole world in a year.

• 31 May 2021 (Memory of Tulsa massacre)

  *How my family's memory of the Tulsa massacre sheds new light on Jan. 6 Capitol riot.*

• 31 May 2021 (Technological miracles)

  We don't need technological miracles to curb global heating and prevent climate disaster.

  What we need is firmness and determination.

• 31 May 2021 (Ending poverty in richest country)

  Progressives in Congress: *Ending Poverty in the Richest Country on Earth: poverty exists because we allow it to exist.*

  *We can't end poverty without attacking the interconnected injustices of systemic racism, inequality, militarism and the climate emergency.*

• 31 May 2021 (Filibuster)

  Republicans used a filibuster to block the Senate from voting on an investigation of the January 6 Republican attack on the Capitol.

  Those Republicans now endorse the obvious falsehood that there was no attack, or else it was an attack by "antifa". This is a lie about events that Americans saw less than 4 months ago.

  They have, in effect, endorsed 1984-style rewriting of history. Having convinced their followers to accept this, on something very visible, I expect that they will do it over and over.

  It is noteworthty that Republicans accuse Democrats of trying to deny the truth of who won the 2020 election, when in fact it is Republicans who have done that ever since November, and are still trying with irregular "audits" in Arizona and Georgia. The attack on the Capitol was specifically part of that.

  This may be preparation for a bigger attack on the mechanism of US democracy in 2022 or 2024.

  Will Democrats take this threat seriously?

• 31 May 2021 (Miners attacking police and indigenous homes)

  *Brazilian wildcat miners attack police and burn indigenous homes in Amazon.*

• 31 May 2021 (Temple of Johnson)

  *A dangerous cult now runs Britain — the worshippers at the Temple of Johnson.*

  I don't think that worship is as complete and blind as what is found in the US, though.

• 31 May 2021 (National strike)

  The opposition in Belarus plans a national strike.

• 31 May 2021 (Members of parliament dying from Covid-19)

  5% of the members of the Democratic Republic of Congo's parliament have died from Covid-19. It seems that they don't practice physical distancing and don't wear masks.

• 31 May 2021 (Prosecuting leader of opposition)

  Erdoğan is prosecuting the leader of the opposition for saying that the supreme election board was foolish to cancel a previous election.

  His attitude towards laws is like that of Republicans: they are opportunities to imprison whoever he wishes. At least this time he did not launch a civil war.

• 31 May 2021 (Power assist)

  Biden is running the Pentagon's revolving door with power assist.

  *Meet the Senate Nuke Caucus, Busting the Budget and Making the World Less Safe.*

• 29 May 2021 (RMS Talk - Monday May 31)

  Richard Stallman will be giving a talk/interview on Monday May 31, titled "Live de Segunda #80 - Uma conversa com Richard Stallman" (Monday's Live #80 - A conversation with Richard Stallman).

  People can send in their questions from #debxp:matrix.org via Matrix or #debxp on freenode via IRC.

• 29 May 2021 (Urgent: Face recognition technology)

  Everyone: call on large store chains to reject using face recognition technology on customers.

• 29 May 2021 (Urgent: Corporation taxes)

  US citizens: call on Biden to hold firm on increasing corporation taxes.

• 29 May 2021 (Sanctions on violent regimes)

  Imposing sanctions on violent regimes is usually ineffective, and often hurts the people that the regime oppresses.

  He is mostly right, but (as is his tendency) he falls into simplistic exaggeration.

  I contend that some of the sanctions against Belarus are likely to be more effective than usual.

  • Making it hard to fly to the west from Belarus will mainly hurt the elites. The borders are not closed. Ordinary people travelling out of Belarus can take a bus or train; it is not far.
  • Cutting down on purchases of oil via Belarus pipelines will hurt the regime directly, and can fit into a plan to reduce fossil fuel use.
  Insisting that flights not fly over Belarus is not primarily a sanction, it is a necessary safety precaution.

• 29 May 2021 (Amazon merging with MGM)

  The US should block Amazon from merging with MGM.

  In general, large companies should not be allowed to merge at all. The larger the company, the more lobbying power it has, and the more it can mislead the public about science and the public interest. We should take steps to make it difficult in general for companies to be large.

• 29 May 2021 (Insurance companies profiting)

  The big US insurance companies are eagerly profiting from encouraging business that increase global heating, destroy ecosystems, and violate human rights.

  This is to be expected. The US adopted a twisted policy around 1980 which says that corporations are legally required to maximize profit at the expense of everything else that ought to matter, and this is the natural result.

  Far from requiring psychopathic behavior, we should require all entities to have a care for the rest of society.

• 29 May 2021 ((satire) No way to prevent this)

  (satire) *‘No Way To Prevent This,’ Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens.*

• 29 May 2021 (Forced arbitration)

  Forced arbitration harms small businesses as well as individuals.

  When companies are able to impose arbitration requirements, it is generally because they are large and don't have many competitors. Large companies often try to change laws in ways that benefit them at the expense of everyone else. Prohibiting businesses from imposing arbitration requirements on customers, workers or suppliers would reduce that harmful advantage.

• 29 May 2021 (Arab protesters)

  Israeli thugs are arresting Arab protesters by the hundreds.

• 29 May 2021 (Covid-19 long term symptoms)

  *Nearly three-quarters of patients with moderate-to-severe Covid-19 had at least one long-term symptom.*

  A friend of mine had Covid-19 a few months ago; he needs to sleep two hours more every night.

• 29 May 2021 ((satire) Coronavirus to compete)

  (satire) *Coronavirus Variant Excited To Compete With World's Top Mutations In Tokyo This Summer.*

• 29 May 2021 (Energy with less greenhouse emissions)

  Chevron's stockholders voted to require the company to deliver energy with less greenhouse gas emissions. That would require the company to invest in renewable energy, or perhaps increasing the customers' energy efficiency.

• 29 May 2021 (Australian climate plaintiff)

  One of the Australian climate plaintiffs talks about their recent partial victory in court.

• 29 May 2021 (Crimes in Gaza conflict)

  *UN rights council votes for probe into crimes committed in Gaza conflict.*

  Israel refuses to cooperate with the investigation.

• 29 May 2021 (American support for war in Yemen)

  Biden's administration have not explained to Congress what they really mean by ending "all American support for offensive operations in the war in Yemen, including relevant arms sales."

• 29 May 2021 (Protesters shot in the eye)

  Colombian thugs shot protesters in the eye so often that people think they were intentionally aiming to render people half blind. A right-wing leader mocked them for complaining about it.

  The spirit of right-wing arrogance is to mock their victims.

• 29 May 2021 (United Nations)

  The United Nations has not brought world peace, but the documents around its founding still point the way.

• 29 May 2021 (Bogus Johnson's decisions)

  Scientists agree that Bogus Johnson's decisions led to tens of thousands of avoidable Covid deaths.

• 29 May 2021 (Facebook deleting old photos)

  Facebook has been deleting photos from many years ago showing New Guinea natives nude in ceremonies that called for nudity.

• 29 May 2021 (Drop African debt)

  *Protesters call on banks to "drop African debt" in wake of Covid.*

  Much of the debt was borrowed by dictators who then stole the money from their country, leaving it with only the debt. Once the dictator is ousted, the country should be able to repudiate those debts.

• 29 May 2021 (Tortured by prison thugs)

  Eric King, anarchist, has been tortured by US prison thugs, who then claimed he had attacked them.

• 29 May 2021 (Right wing "center")

  Rebecca Solnit discusses the right-wing assumption that the "center" is morally superior, a priori, and other views bear the onus of their disagreement with that "center".

  The article does not mention the second-stage lie: referring to a fictitious "center" position which is actually rather right-wing compared with what most people think.

• 29 May 2021 (UK profiling and stereotyping)

  Whether the UK's "hostile environment" targets a particular foreign visitor is largely a matter of what the border officials suppose perse will do in Britain. That is largely a matter of profiling and stereotyping.

• 29 May 2021 (Mexico's ancient ruins)

  Mexico is failing to protect Teotihuacan from a private construction project that is destroying ancient ruins without properly excavating them.

• 29 May 2021 (Biden's military budget)

  *Biden's military budget puts lots of money into weapons that the US is better off without.*

• 28 May 2021 (Israeli thugs arrest Arabs for protesting)

  Israeli thugs eagerly arrest Arabs for protesting; meanwhile, they usually don't even try to interfere when fanatical Jews attack Arabs or their property.

• 28 May 2021 (Influencers denigrate the Pfizer vaccine)

  A secretive and mysterious PR campaign tried to hire influencers to denigrate the Pfizer vaccine. The company whose name was on the offer may not exist at all, but the people listed as involved had internet ties to Russia.

  Whether this campaign had anything to do with Russia is not clear.

• 28 May 2021 (Non-vaccinated Americans)

  Non-vaccinated Americans should not assume they are safe from Covid-19 simply because many of the other Americans they encounter are vaccinated. The problem is that the fraction that are vaccinated is insufficient to reach herd immunity; the virus still circulates and you can still catch it. And in some regions, it is even less.

  Indeed, vaccinated individuals can catch the disease and spread it, and may not experience any symptoms. This is less likely for vaccinated individuals than for non-vaccinated, but the chance is not zero.

• 28 May 2021 (Tesla cars in China)

  Tesla cars collect lots of data for the company, including the precise trajectory of movement of the car. Henceforth, all the data for Tesla cars in China will be at the tentacletips of the Chinese state.

  Tesla will offer the misleading response that it is legally required to store data collected from cars in China in servers in China that the state can easily browse through. That is true, but it evades the issue. The wrong is that the car collects that data in the first place.

• 28 May 2021 (The Man Who Lived Underground)

  It took 80 years for the whole of The Man Who Lived Underground, by Richard Wright, to be published this year.

• 28 May 2021 (Environmental Protection Agency)

  The EPA is becoming the Environmental Protection Agency again. It has cancelled the rule that Republicans invented to exclude most medical studies from consideration for EPA decisions. That rule converted the EPA into the Environmental Poisoning Agency.

• 28 May 2021 (Climate activist shareholders)

  Climate activist shareholders ran candidates for Exxon's board of directors, and shareholders elected two or more of their candidates.

• 28 May 2021 (Lab-leak theory)

  Some scientists are coming to see the lab-leak theory of SARS-Cov-2 as plausible, due to reports that workers in the Wuhan virus lab got badly sick a month before the identification of the disease Covid-19.

  According to this theory, China's applied its standard approach to problems — cover up and deny! — and this led to the pandemic.

  There is not much evidence for that theory; what exists is not clear or conclusive.

  If the lab-leak theory is true, it does not mean that China deserves all the blame for the harm that the disease has done.

  In December 2019, people had little knowledge about what this virus would do. The Chinese authorities may have believed they could prevent the disease from spreading, get rid of it, and the world would never notice a problem or complain. Such a response would have been risky, perhaps reckless, but not murderous.

  Later efforts to cover up the outbreak were injustices, of course, regardless of whether there was a lab leak.

  More blameworthy are the right-wing rulers such as Bolsonaro, Johnson, Modi and Trump, who decided to let their compatriots die rather than take action to bring the epidemic to a halt. That was murderous.

• 28 May 2021 (Proposed oil drilling in Alaska)

  Climate defenders call on Biden to tell the Department of Justice to stop defending proposed oil drilling in Alaska.

  This would be new development of fossil fuel extraction infrastructure, and there is no room for any such development in the carbon budget.

• 28 May 2021 (Compensation for Namibia)

  Germany will pay Namibia enormous compensation for the atrocities it committed after conquering Namibia.

• 28 May 2021 (Venezuelan oil union leader)

  Tweets about fuel shortages led to Venezuelan oil union leader's arrest. last year.

  Regardless of the facts, those charges seem morally invalid to me.

  I wonder what happened after that hearing. Was Girot jailed until trial, or not?

• 28 May 2021 (Victory over GCHQ's surveillance)

  A privacy campaigner puts the recent court victory over GCHQ's massive surveillance in context.

• 28 May 2021 (Shell greenhouse gas emissions)

  A Dutch court ordered Shell to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions 45% by 2030.

  When I first read about this, the vague words did not make it clear whether this meant a 45% decrease in the emissions from Shell's own operations, or a 45% decrease in emissions from the energy and fuel that Shell delivers to customers. That difference is crucial: the former would be insignificant, while the latter would be revolutionary.

  From this article, I think it is the latter. Hooray! Even though this is just the first of many such battles, Hooray anyway!

• 28 May 2021 (Lukashenko "bomb threat")

  The "bomb threat" which Lukashenko used as an excuse to force down the plane carrying Roman Protasevich was posted after the attack had already started.

• 28 May 2021 (Death from heat)

  Global heating, in Miami, means that death from heat will continue to increase.

  Global heating has increased the range of summer temperatures in Tokyo. Sometimes it gets so hot that vigorous exercise becomes hazardous to health.

  *Investing 0.1% of global GDP could avoid breakdown of ecosystems, says UN report.*

  But the work that is done would become insufficient as the climate crisis gets worse.

  It is absurd to think we can afford to cope with the consequences of global heating each decade, as each decade will bring new changes bigger than the old ones. The costs will rise until they become more than we can cover.

  The only solution we can afford is to stop global heating. It will be a big expense, but we only have to do it once.

• 28 May 2021 (Hydrogen plant)

  Oman plans to build a large plant to make hydrogen from renewable energy.

  That's the right spirit!

• 28 May 2021 (Cyclones in the Indian Ocean)

  Global heating is causing more and bigger cyclones in the Indian Ocean.

  In the Atlantic, Hurricanes (as they are called there) are also becoming more damaging. Taiwan had made a deal to buy vaccine from Pfizer-BioNTech, but China intervened to cancel it.

• 28 May 2021 (Urgent: reject facial recognition)

  US citizens: call on big store chains to reject using facial recognition on customers.

• 28 May 2021 (Urgent: George Floyd Justice in Policing Act)

  US citizens: call on the Senate to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act.

• 28 May 2021 (Uncomfortable with investigation)

  Republican senators say they are uncomfortable with a congressional investigation into the attack on the Capitol because it could stir up awareness of Republican support for attacking the Capitol.

  It might also help Americans remember, for the next election, how Republican elected officials continue giving support to the same lies that Republicans used to organize the attack on the Capitol.

• 28 May 2021 (Shooting prisoners and reporting natural death)

  Franco's fascist rebels shot prisoners, then recorded their deaths as due to natural causes.

• 28 May 2021 (General duty of care)

  The Australian Federal Court ruled that the environment minister has a general "duty of care" to protect young people from future climate disaster. Ministers will have to defend their specific decisions based on this standard.

  This is not a final decision. The Federal Court is an appellate court, but an appeal could still be made to Australia's High Court.

• 28 May 2021 (Vaccine for travel overseas)

  *Australians travelling overseas should be forced to have Covid vaccine, doctors say.*

  I support this, but there should be an exception for people who, for medical reasons, cannot be vaccinated.

• 28 May 2021 (Confessions to silence dissent)

  *Belarus regime uses video confessions as a tool to silence dissent.*

  They extract confessions by torture and threats of violence. They don't mind if the confessions are false.

  Ms Sapega was forced to confess to an activity that would not be a crime in a free country. In effect, Lukashenko is the one who has confessed, on two different levels.

• 28 May 2021 (Anti-abortion law violating religious freedom)

  The Satanic Temple of Texas is suing to overturn some of the new Texas restrictions on abortion, claiming that they violate the state Religious Freedom Restoration Act by imposing gratuitous preconditions (and financial costs) on the temple's abortion ritual.

  As the Satanic Temple's page says, "The state might as well tax and regulate Mass."

  This is the legal equivalent of aikido, and a great hack.

• 28 May 2021 (Incompetence in dealing with Covid-19)

  Dominic Cummings accused Bogus Johnson of displaying incompetence, carelessness, dishonesty, appointing incompetents with connections, and disregard for human life, in dealing with Covid-19. Other high officials participated, including Cummings himself, he admits.

  Tens of thousands of Britons got sick and died as a result.

  *The Dominic Cummings circus is an indictment of the entire governing class.*

• 28 May 2021 (Hiding something about uranium)

  The International Atomic Energy Agency says that Iran is hiding something about its processing of uranium.

  Just what that might be is not clear.

• 28 May 2021 (Targeting journalists in mosque)

  *Israeli Police Target Palestinian Journalists at Al Aqsa Mosque.*

• 28 May 2021 (Suing government over mass-surveillance laws)

  *WhatsApp sues Indian government over ‘mass surveillance’ internet laws.*

• 28 May 2021 (Parliament has no say)

  The UK is at the mercy of Bogus Johnson, who can impose business-supremacy treaties arbitrarily; Parliament has no say.

• 28 May 2021 (Health minister lies)

  Bogus Johnson's former chief advisor, Dominic Cummings, stated that the health minister lied about how the UK was dealing with Covid-19 in April 2019, falsely claiming that all patients were getting the requisite treatments and that supplies of protective equipment were under control.

• 28 May 2021 (Distress from global heating)

  Living through the impacts of global heating effects, or just fearing future impacts, are causing widespread mental illness and distress.

• 27 May 2021 (Republican anti-mask anti-vaxxer punished)

  Nevada's legislature has given a strong punishment to a Republican anti-mask anti-vaxxer. She is barred from speaking or voting in the legislature unless she apologizes for breaking the chamber's mask rule.

  Her firmness in defense of principle would be admirable, if not for the fact that the principle being defended is "Spread disease!"

• 27 May 2021 (Fashionable ways to impress people)

  A guide to the fashionable ways to impress people, for those who can't afford a mansion.

• 27 May 2021 (Cancer Alley chemical plant)

  The construction of a new, potentially polluting chemical plant in Cancer Alley is running into government resistance.

  Instead of trying to clean up Cancer Alley, how about if we move the people out of there? Here's how we could do it.

  Help out each of the families that lives in the polluted area, paying enough that it can afford a home in a city some distance away.

  Set up bus lines from those cites to the area where the polluting plants are, taxing all chemical plants nationwide to pay to run them.

  Put all new chemical plants in such a zone, so that they won't pollute places where anybody lives.

• 27 May 2021 (Eliminating the filibuster)

  How Democrats can maneuver the political process so that Manchin votes reluctantly to eliminate the filibuster.

  It seems to me that they are working on a plan like that.

• 27 May 2021 (Cory Doctorow on "intellectual property")

  Cory Doctorow has endorsed my denunciation of "intellectual property" as a bogus overgeneralization.

  See "Did You Say 'Intellectual Property'? It's a Seductive Mirage", for how I stated the point.

  Doctorow does a good job of explaining the point, and will reach a bigger public.

• 27 May 2021 (Patients sued by Community Health Systems)

  Community Health Systems, Inc. owns 84 hospitals, and watch out if you end up in one! That company sues lots patients that can't pay their medical bills.

  Most Americans can't raise $400 for an emergency expense. Can you raise $162,000?

• 27 May 2021 (Android user location tracking)

  Android tracked users’ location across third party apps, even if the user disabled "location". Installing a Google-disconnected operating system, such as the not-entirely-libre LineageOS or the totally libre Replicant, was the only way to stop this.

  In addition, it tracked users' location via which WiFi networks the phone could see.

• 27 May 2021 (More absurd charges against Navalny)

  Navalny says an official told him of additional criminal charges. They all seem absurd to me.

• 27 May 2021 (Britons living in vans)

  Poverty, and inadequate government support for the poor, forces many Britons to live in vans because they can't afford any housing.

• 27 May 2021 (Sabotage of democracy by fanatics)

  The US must not accept "compromise" with right-wing fanatics about whether right-wing fanatics are allowed to sabotage democracy.

• 27 May 2021 (Unlocking travelers computers)

  The ACLU is continuing to advance the lawsuit challenging US border thugs' power to unlock any traveler's computers arbitrarily.

  However, this lawsuit does not go far enough. The border thugs should have to ask a judge to sign a warrant before they can search a traveler's computer.

  (Every smart phone is a computer. Maybe some nonsmart phones should also be treated as computers.)

• 27 May 2021 (Head of Civil Rights Division)

  The new head of the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice, Kristen Clarke, has made a career of fighting against bigotry and bias.

• 27 May 2021 (Third reconstruction)

  *A Third Reconstruction Is Pragmatically Achievable and Could End American Poverty.*

  By "reconstruction", the author means the elimination of the systems that disenfranchise and impoverish poor people and disprivileged demographic groups.

• 27 May 2021 (Coal stock price)

  Even as many public pension funds divest from coal, some others are gobbling up the shares that they sell.

  The net result is not zero. It drives down the stock price of the companies that do coal development, which is a positive step. But not a big positive step. We need laws to make fossil fuel industries shrink.

  A carbon tax is one method that can do it.

• 27 May 2021 (Damage on water and electricity infrastructure)

  Israel's bombing of Gaza damaged a lot of the water and electricity infrastructure. 400 thousand have no access to water except by going to fetch some.

  This makes it hard for people to wash their hands regularly, as they need to do.

• 27 May 2021 (Hiding threats)

  *IG Report Shows Top Trump Officials at EPA Hid Threats of Toxic Dicamba Herbicide.*

• 27 May 2021 (Class action against god)

  (satire) *Class-Action Suit Against God Pays Out 45 Extra Seconds Of Life To Every Creature.*

• 27 May 2021 (Stop flow of Lukashenko money)

  Calling on the UK to stop the flow of Lukashenko's tax-dodging money through UK banks.

  It ought to stop this for all tax-dodging, but (like so many other countries) it stubbornly insists on continuing to profit from assisting.

• 27 May 2021 (Fixing presidential election)

  *Iran’s leadership accused of fixing presidential election* by authorizing the main hard-line candidate and blocking the popular softer candidates.

• 27 May 2021 (Journalists getting death threats)

  Belarusian journalists in exile are getting lots of death threats.

• 27 May 2021 (Plan for elections)

  Somalia has a plan for elections for president.

• 27 May 2021 (Pulling plastic from river)

  *Nile fishermen protect [fish] stocks by pulling plastic from river.*

• 27 May 2021 (Raiding refugee camp)

  Eritrean and Ethiopian soldiers raided refugee camps and violently took away 500 refugees.

• 27 May 2021 (Fossil fuel is still profitable)

  Fossil fuel development continues because it is still profitable. To curb global heating we must take such strong steps to discourage it that it won't be profitable any more.

• 27 May 2021 (Uncontrolled mass surveillance violates human rights)

  The European Court of Human Rights ruled that the UK's GCHR was violating human rights through its uncontrolled massive surveillance.

• 26 May 2021 (Explosive weapons)

  90% of the casualties caused by military explosive weapons when used in cities, in the past ten years, have been civilians.

  This fuels a campaign to end the use of explosive weapons in cities.

  (Writing "91%" gives the number too much precision. I can't believe the data are reliable enough that we could tell whether the true percentage is 90% or 91% or 92%.)

• 26 May 2021 (Plastic trash)

  Plastic trash that washes up on tropical beaches makes the beach sand substantially hotter. This causes most sea turtle eggs to come out female. The lack of males endangers the species.

  Global heating will eventually have the same effect anyway, but that will take longer and maybe we will stop it.

• 26 May 2021 (Hidden deportation)

  In 1945, the UK secretly deported hundreds of Chinese seamen who had helped run the UK's merchant marine during World War II. The government did not tell Parliament, nor did it tell the men's British wives and children.

• 26 May 2021 (Trademark on ethnic group name)

  A British clothing company registered "Yoruba" as a trademark. That is absurd — the name of an ethnic group, or other group of people, should never be anyone's monopoly. Imagine if a company in Africa made "British" its trademark! It would be the same wrong.

  However, using the term "cultural appropriation" to describe this wrong is a confusion.

  A fitting term for what happened here would be "cultural enclosure": the attempt to seize part of the common.

• 26 May 2021 (Compromising)

  Biden offers to give up on central progressive commitments to try to "compromise" with Republicans whose goal is to make him fail.

• 26 May 2021 (Apple privacy in China)

  Don't believe Apple's claims to care about users' privacy. In China, it stores all user data on servers controlled by the Chinese government.

• 26 May 2021 (Looting stores refusing currency)

  *Venezuelans in mining town loot stores that refuse to accept [Venezuelan currency].*

• 26 May 2021 (Legal limits on carrying gun)

  Texas has removed nearly all legal limits on carrying a gun in public. No safety training (or accuracy training) is required.

  A lot more people have reasons to drive cars than to carry guns. When will Texas eliminate the requirement for a driver's license?

  If Democrats start urging Americans not to cut their ears off with a kitchen knife, will Republicans insist on upholding the freedom to do that?

• 26 May 2021 (Reaction to Covid-19 escaping quarantine)

  Australia's quick and strong reaction when Covid-19 somehow escaped from quarantine demonstrates the way to defeat the virus.

  Any country can do this, if it has sufficient social cohesion to trust that the inconvenient measures will pay off. And they do pay off, even economically, if you judge with a time frame as long as six months.

• 26 May 2021 (Airbnb Quarter)

  (satire) *New Orleans Airbnb Touts Location In Heart Of Historic Airbnb Quarter.*

• 26 May 2021 (Cherishing every moment)

  (satire) *Patient With 18 Months To Live Not Sure She Can Sustain Cherishing Every Moment That Long.*

• 26 May 2021 (Stop and search)

  *EU report highlights widespread use of ‘stop and search’ on ethnic minorities*

• 26 May 2021 (Farm subsidies)

  The EU is about to change its farm subsidies to avoid promoting concentration and intensification.

• 26 May 2021 (Requirement to allow subcontracting)

  Italy seeks EU funds that come with a requirement to allow more subcontracting.

  When businesses subcontract work, it tends to imply lower pay, worse working conditions, and in many cases illegal working conditions.

• 26 May 2021 (Sanction oil and potash producers)

  *Kremlin critic Khodorkovsky tells Europe: sanction Belarus's oil and potash producers.*

• 25 May 2021 (Urgent: Right to an abortion in federal law)

  US citizens: call on Congress to enact the right to an abortion in federal law.

  The White House comments line is 202-456-1111.

  If you call, please spread the word!

• 25 May 2021 (Urgent: Support the VOTES act)

  Massachusetts residents: call on Massachusetts legislators to support the VOTES act.

  Here is more explanation of that proposed law.

• 25 May 2021 (Urgent: Break Free from Plastic Pollution Act)

  US citizens: call on Congress to pass the Break Free from Plastic Pollution Act.

  Here is a description of that proposed law.

• 25 May 2021 (Video entertainment)

  Video entertainment attracts people so strongly that they reduce their working hours to do it.

  (The article says "television", but that word introduces a specificity that I suspect is spurious.)

  If you want to watch video, I urge you to make sure your choices are not being tracked by some snooping tech. Don't use nonfree software (including nonfree Javascript code from a web site) or a streaming dis-service or a cable box.

• 25 May 2021 (Cancel culture)

  *Both left and right practice "cancel culture". Both should stop.*

• 25 May 2021 (Blood Legacy)

  Blood Legacy, by Alex Renton, examines Britain's involvement in slavery through his family's investment in slave plantations in the Caribbean.

• 25 May 2021 (Atrocities in Ethiopia)

  *Washington toughens stance to fight atrocities in Ethiopia.*

• 25 May 2021 (Threats to kill lawmakers)

  *Police records show threats to kill lawmakers in wake of Capitol attack.*

  This is a part of the Republican campaign to attack the truth about the election.

• 25 May 2021 (Being denied tenure)

  *What is at stake with Nikole Hannah-Jones being denied tenure.*

• 25 May 2021 (Anti-Sinasian hate in Canada)

  Vancouver, with its large population of immigrants from China and nearby countries, is becoming the focus of anti-Sinasian hate in Canada.

  I use the term "Sinasian" because the target group of this particular hate movement includes countries such as Indonesia and the Philippines, which are not in Asia. Also because it does not include countries such as Israel, Palestine, Syria, Iran, Pakistan and India, which are in Asia.

  People from those countries are also currently targets of bigotry and hatred, and that is just as wrong as when the targets are Chinese or neighboring. But when people say "anti-Asian", they don't have in mind the western parts of Asia.

• 25 May 2021 (Belarus forced down an airliner)

  Belarus forced down an airliner crossing its airspace in order to arrest a passenger — Roman Protasevich, a Belarusiano protest organizer who had gone into exile.

  Lukashenko's toadies say they will kill him.

  How to push back? Other countries could close their airspace to flights going to or from Belarus airspace, until Lukashenko frees Protasevich and commits not to do this again.

  In spirit, this resembles what the UK did to David Miranda when he transited through the UK with a copy of Snowden material. However, that did not involve forcing down an airliner.

• 25 May 2021 (Non-GMO corn)

  *Mexico Wants to Import Non-GMO Corn and US Farmers Say They Can Deliver It.*

  However, Mexicans can also grow it, and that might enable a lot of Mexicans to get out of the poverty that NAFTA pushed them into.

• 25 May 2021 (Actively managed fires)

  In Arnhem Land, in northern Australia, indigenous rangers actively manage fires.

  This sort of management can reduce destructive fires and protect species. However, whether it will succeed in storing carbon long-term depends on how bad global heating gets. It is good to pay rangers to do it, but we should not take for granted it will reduce net emissions.

  Indeed, I think we should not plan for curbing global heating in terms of "net emissions" and "offsets". Rather, we should make plans to reduce emissions; and we should also make plans to protect various sorts of terrain.

• 25 May 2021 (Papers with grabby conclusions)

  *Academics suspect papers with grabby conclusions are waved through more easily by [peer] reviewers.*

• 25 May 2021 (WHO plenary meeting)

  The WHO has refused to allow Taiwan to send observers to participate in its plenary meeting.

  I think western powers should bite the bullet and start recognizing Taiwan as "Taiwan". There could, by chance, be a more convenient moment in the future, but it won't get easier.

• 25 May 2021 (Burma's democracy movement)

  Burma's democracy movement is shifting into a guerrilla uprising and getting involved with minority ethnic separatist movements that have maintained autonomous zones for decades.

  Don't expect China to be any less violent in its imperialism than the US has been. However, its denials will be in the bullshitter's style, broad and blatant denial of truth, rather than subtle lies.

• 25 May 2021 (Non-violent autogolpe)

  Samoa's prime minister is holding on to power with a sort of nonviolent autogolpe.

• 25 May 2021 (Wave of Covid-19 in Japan)

  Japan is suffering a wave of Covid-19 in Osaka which is overwhelming the medical system there.

  I wonder why Japan has failed to apply the necessary discipline to suppress the disease. It seemed to do so effectively a year ago, though I don't recall details.

  Could it be that the government has denied the severity so as to reduce pressure to cancel the Olympic games?

• 25 May 2021 (Polycystic ovary syndrome)

  Around 10% of women have a medical problem, polycystic ovary syndrome, which can cause severe complications if they catch Covid-19. Most Covid-19 medical studies have not paid attention to it, and most of these women don't know they have it.

• 25 May 2021 (Lunatic extremists)

  Even in 2012, lunatic extremists were altering the Republican Party. They were not yet a majority, but the trend was clear.

• 25 May 2021 (Right-wing cancellationists)

  Right-wing cancellationists have got two noteworthy journalists fired for past support for Palestinians' rights.

• 25 May 2021 (Republican party long-term plan)

  50 years ago, plutocratist in the Republican Party started a long-term plan to convince Americans that the government should work mainly for the rich. It has been very effective.

  I love the German businessman's explanation for why he did not resent the high income tax bracket he was in: "I don’t want to be a rich man in a poor country." Today's plutocratists are aiming precisely for that situation.

• 25 May 2021 (Overcome by Covid-19)

  Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam are being overcome by Covid-19.

  The lack of enough vaccine is not pertinent to why things are worse than a year ago, since vaccine is more plentiful now than then.

  The more transmissible B.1.617 strain may be part of the cause. But it seems that they are failing to take adequate measures against transmission.

  Australia showed the right example: take local measures immediately that are strong enough to end transmission. Don't wait, because waiting will require the measures to cover more areas.

• 25 May 2021 (Editor of Frontier Myanmar imprisoned)

  The Burmese military rulers imprisoned the editor of Frontier Myanmar, an American, as he was about to fly out of the country.

• 25 May 2021 (The UK has punished Belarus)

  The UK has punished Belarus for arresting Roman Protasevich by forbidding Belarus's airline from flying to the UK and ordering British planes not to fly over Belarus.

  That is a substantial step, but I think it is inadequate. At the very least, other countries should ban any flights between their airports and Belarus — regardless of which airline — and ban flights from or to Belarus from crossing their airspace. This would cut off Belarus from air transportation with anywhere except Russia.

  As a separate matter, they should to prohibit flights that have crossed Belarusian airspace from entering their airspace. That would would not punish Belarus any further, but it would make all flights avoid the territory of Belarus, and that would ensure the safety of passengers in those flights.

  Belarus is not the only country which interfered with travel in foreign country's civilian aircraft. When Snowden was seeking a way to reach Bolicia, and the US wanted to keep him stuck in Russia, the plane of the president of Bolicia went to Europe. The US suspected it would bring Snowden to Bolivia on its return there, and had its allies compel the plane to land in a country which then forcibly searched it.

  Fortunately, Snowden was not aboard.

  They did not threaten violence against the plane or order it to land at a specific place. But they did box it in by forbidding it to enter various countries' airspace. And they likewise compelled Bolivia to allow it to be searched.

  It would be a mistake to draw blanket conclusions about the US government or the Belarus government from this. Each one is capable of doing evil. Lukashenko's regime is unremitting tyranny and unremitting evil; the US has some hope of being better.

• 25 May 2021 (Advocating LGBTQ in Ghana)

  Ghana has arrested people for holding an event and "advocating LGBTQ activities", then held them incommunicado without access to lawyers.

• 25 May 2021 (End to extractivism)

  To avoid global heating disaster, we need to put an end to extractivism as the basis for our economy.

  It is an error to suppose that local cultures of the past had an inherent understanding of sustainability. Some groups recognized problems and adopted ways of life to protect their environment. Others did not, and caused environmental crises that wiped them out.

  In regard to our current situation, the problem that drives us to too much growth is partly in the desires of masses of people, and partly embedded in laws and institutions. For instance, the fairly new "principle" (adopted in the 1980s) that a corporation "must" maximize return to its investors regardless of all other values.

• 25 May 2021 (Choking independent reporting)

  Belarus is choking off all avenues for independent reporting and trying to imprison all dissidents. Even dissidents in exile are not safe.

• 25 May 2021 (Standing firm against antisemitism)

  Supporters of Palestinians' rights stand firm against antisemitism.

• 25 May 2021 (Mask when vaccinated)

  Covid-19 vaccination makes you pretty safe from actual harm, but does not guarantee you can't get a mild case and transmit the virus to others. Thus, some people rationally decide to keep wearing masks.

  I continue to wear a mask when in the proximity of strangers.

• 25 May 2021 (Cops Kill banner)

  Barrett Brown went to a protest in the UK and multiple times helped hold a banner that said "Cops Kill". The last time, it had been rearranged to say "Kill Cops" — and he was arrested for incitement to violence.

  If I understand right, that would not count as incitement to violence in the US. The US has a very strict definition of that crime.

• 25 May 2021 (Insist on the infrastructure/job plan)

  Exhorting Biden to insist on the infrastructure/jobs plan, not cut it back in the hope Republicans will deign to accept it.

  A general principle of negotiation, when you're working for something other than your own gain, is never to propose a concession. You can accept all or part of a concession proposed by the opposition, preferably attaching a condition (a quid-pro-quo); that is the way deals are reached. But initiating a concession says, "I am desperate and weak-willed." It invites the opposition to respond, "That's not enough — make a real concession!"

• 25 May 2021 (Number of Covid deaths)

  WHO estimates that the number of deaths caused by Covid-19 is two or three times the official reported total of 3.4 million. Perhaps even more.

  Many countries don't have good systems for reporting cause of death, In some cases it is hard to determine whether Covid-19 was to blame. And then there are the cover-ups.

• 25 May 2021 (Murdered by thugs in prison)

  William Jennette was in jail in Tennessee, and handcuffed, when a group of thugs killed him by kneeling on his back for several minutes.

• 25 May 2021 (Returning soldier)

  (satire) *"And You Lived In Afghanistan For How Long?" Asks Suspicious Agent Questioning Returning Soldier At Customs.*

• 25 May 2021 (BBC reform)

  The former dishonest journalist, Bogus Johnson, must not be allowed to reform the BBC after his own heart.

• 25 May 2021 (Legal action for scientific criticism)

  *World expert in scientific misconduct faces legal action for challenging integrity of hydroxychloroquine study.*

  It is remarkable that Dr Raoult would escalate this far to silence a scientific criticism, and also that he has the resources to do so. I wonder where those resources come from.

• 25 May 2021 (Government cover up for thugs)

  The UK government is covering up the results of an investigation into police corruption from 34 years ago, corruption which resulted in the murder of a private detective who was investigating it.

  This demonstrates that the corruption is not just a thing of the past.

• 25 May 2021 (University free speech requirement)

  An argument against the UK's proposed university free speech requirement shows real problems, but it also shows that the author (Renton) advocates a lot of censorship.

  I disagree politically with Yiannopoulos, and when Renton criticizes things Yiannopoulos said, I agree with the criticism. However, censoring such statements is another matter. In arguing for that, Renton shows little support for freedom of speech.

  Naturally, right-wing politicians in power will try to crush dissent. The solutions they propose will tend to be unfair. But that doesn't mean there is no problem.

• 25 May 2021 (Covid-19 spread in workplaces)

  The UK is hardly trying to make businesses prevent Covid-19 spread in workplaces.

• 25 May 2021 (Fueling hatred)

  *Don't let Middle East violence fuel hatred on the streets of Britain.*

• 25 May 2021 (New Covid-19 variant in schools)

  Bogus Johnson suppressed information on spread of new Covid-19 variants via schools.

• 25 May 2021 (More harm to children from variants)

  The more transmissible Covid-19 variants are more likely to make children gravely ill, even kill them, than before.

  People age 12-15 are not children. They are adolescents. Please do not infantilise adolescents.

• 24 May 2021 (Urgent: Allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices)

  US citizens: call on Congress to allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices.

• 24 May 2021 (Urgent: condition military aid to Israel)

  US citizens: call on the US to condition military aid to Israel on ending the occupation of Palestine, human rights abuses, and war crimes.

• 24 May 2021 (Urgent: Lift sanctions temporarily)

  US citizens: call on Biden and cabinet secretaries to lift US sanctions temporarily to facilitate countries' imports of food and medicines required to deal with Covid-19.

• 24 May 2021 (Urgent: no facial recognition for unemployed benefits)

  US citizens: call on states to stop requiring facial recognition for unemployed benefits.

• 24 May 2021 (Pushing bigotry back in a bigoted way)

  Chicago's mayor, a black woman, has set a policy of refusing to give interviews to white journalists.

  Blacks in the US continue to meet with individual bigotry as well as systemic racism. But you can't help cure bigotry by pushing back in a bigoted way.

• 24 May 2021 (Funds for endangered species)

  The Extinction Prevention Act would provide funds to help save many endangered species that live in the US.

• 24 May 2021 (COVID relief money on surveillance)

  *Tech Companies Want Schools to Use COVID Relief Money on Surveillance Tools.*

• 24 May 2021 (Lies about shooting)

  It's standard practice for thugs to lie about the people they gratuitously shoot. In Ronald Greene's case, we now see the truth.

  With Andrew Brown, we have indications of it but the thugs are still keeping the facts secret.

  More info about Ronald Greene's killing.

• 24 May 2021 (Climate strike movement)

  Australia's climate strike movement has made the planet-roaster Australian government its main target.

• 24 May 2021 (Bombing of medical facilities)

  Israel's bombing has damaged 19 medical facilities in Gaza.

• 24 May 2021 (Herd immunity)

  Bolsonaro wanted to achieve herd immunity by having most Brazilians catch Covid-19, rather than by vaccinating most Brazilians.

  The article errs by using the term "herd immunity" only for the first option. Both recovery from an infection and vaccination convey the same sort of immunity; a sufficiently large fraction with immunity from whatever cause results in herd immunity.

  Where they differ is that catching Covid-19 can result in death, or in lasting disability (perhaps permanent) in a few percent of the infected people. Vaccination does not do this.

  Out of 200 million Brazilians, letting the disease run rampant may imply a few million dead and a few million disabled on the path to herd immunity.

  This is why it makes sense to use various methods to reduce the fraction of people that ever catch Covid-19.

• 24 May 2021 (Disinformation to undermine cohesion)

  Taiwan says that China is using disinformation to undermine Taiwanese cohesion in responding to Covid-19. Taiwan asked everyone to stay home this weekend so as to break the chain of transmission.

• 24 May 2021 (Conflict of interest)

  *Charles Koch funded eviction push while investing in real estate companies.*

• 24 May 2021 (Tibetan culture)

  China has been suppressing Tibetan culture for so long that, soon, little will be left.

  We should not forget that many imperialist countries have suppressed the culture of colonized peoples. The US did, Canada did, and so did some European countries to their minorities. Nowadays, these countries no longer have such policies, while China does.

• 24 May 2021 (Children independence outdoors)

  Texas passed a law allowing parents to give their children reasonable independence outdoors.

  The article does not make it clear whether the law also includes allowing children to be home alone. It would be logical if it did, but can anyone find out and tell me?

• 23 May 2021 (Urgent: Shareholder resolutions 4-8 at Facebook's annual meeting)

  Everyone: call on BlackRock, Fidelity, State Street, T. Rowe Price and Vanguard to vote for shareholder resolutions 4–8 at Facebook’s annual meeting on May 26.

• 23 May 2021 (Urgent: California water extraction)

  US citizens: call on the Forest Service not to permit Nestlé's successor to extract California's water.

• 23 May 2021 (Urgent: Jan 6 insurrection)

  US citizens: call on the Senate to support the Jan 6 insurrection investigation.

• 23 May 2021 (Drop in Arctic wildlife populations)

  *Climate crisis behind drastic drop in Arctic wildlife populations.*

• 23 May 2021 (Jet fuel for Burma)

  China is supplying jet fuel to Burma. The military uses that for air attacks.

  The US has a history of similar behavior, and progressives criticize it. We should not treat it as less bad when China does it.

• 23 May 2021 (Hong Kong jury trial)

  *Hong Kong court denies jury trial to first person charged under national security law.*

• 23 May 2021 (Intercity buses)

  The US government should buy Greyhound and provide intercity buses as a government service.

  This would be great as long as it is not used as a surveillance system. Greyhound asks for passengers' names but mostly does not seem to check their identities. It should stop asking!

• 23 May 2021 (German soldier)

  A German soldier who is apparently a Nazi is being tried for planning to assassinate politicians while posing as a Syrian refugee.

  Catching him after those murders would have revealed that he was no Syrian. I wonder why he did not consider that a flaw in his plan. Perhaps he assumed it would take so long to catch him that the truth would never overcome his lie. Or perhaps he expected Nazis to reject the truth whenever it did come out.

• 23 May 2021 (Vaccine profits)

  Covid-19 vaccine profits have made nine people billionaires.

  They are not satisfied — they and their businesses are determined to get as many billions as they can from vaccination, even by slowing the process of vaccinating everyone.

  Many of the experts and think tanks that argue for strict application of patents and trade secrets on Covid vaccine production are supported by drug money. The mainstream media do not mention this when citing their "wise" advice.

  This sort of practice makes it necessary to be skeptical of the motives of scientists and other experts, and that hurts society deeply.

• 23 May 2021 (Argentina's medical system)

  Argentina's medical system is collapsing under the strain of so many cases of Covid-19.

  As in the US, politicians are exploiting resentment against public health measures, boosting their careers by killing some fraction of the public.

• 23 May 2021 (Financing coal development)

  The G7 countries have agreed to stop financing coal development in other countries.

  That will be a significant step, if they carry it out quickly. But then we need similar policies regarding oil and natural gas.

• 23 May 2021 (Ethiopia soldiers)

  Ethiopia has convicted four of its soldiers of rape or murder of civilians.

  Every army has a duty to enforce the laws against war crimes, but disorder in the army is out of control in Tigray; Ethiopia has a long way to go.

• 23 May 2021 (2013 protests in Gezi Park)

  Erdoğan is still working on convicting the organizers of the 2013 protests in Gezi Park in Istanbul.

  That was his first big foray into repression. Since then he has done much worse things, such as starting a civil war so he could rerun an election that he had lost.

• 23 May 2021 (Guatemala stopped prosecuting corrupt officials)

  Guatemala has decided to stop prosecuting corrupt officials and instead prosecute the officials who tried to make the rich pay taxes.

  Sounds like Guatemala's equivalent of Trump or Bolsonaro is in charge.

• 23 May 2021 (Families of the dead of flight PS752)

  The families of people who died in Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752 won a lawsuit against the government of Iran.

  There is no question that Iranian forces shot down the plane, but I am surprised by the conclusion that they knowingly and intentionally targeted an airliner. What evidence exists for that?

• 23 May 2021 (Asthma in toddlers)

  *Asthma in toddlers linked to in-utero exposure to air pollution.*

• 23 May 2021 (Republican governors plan to cut unemployment)

  Republican governors plan to cut the unemployment benefits of 3 and a half million unemployed Americans.

• 23 May 2021 (Australian climate defense strikes)

  In approximately Covid-free Australia, students are striking again for climate defense.

• 23 May 2021 (Exposure to air pollution)

  Excluding the most polluting vehicles from densely populated areas is an effective way to reduce the general level of exposure to air pollution, and the medical harm which that pollution does.

  However, when the exclusion is implemented by systematically tracking all vehicles, that is a form of oppression. Tracking the movements of people in general is inherently oppressive. The system should be implemented so that it does not notice the movements of low-emission cars, only the presence of a high-emission car.

• 23 May 2021 (Weapons to repress protests)

  *The U.S. Must Stop Providing Weapons Used to Repress Colombia’s Protests.*

• 23 May 2021 (Scarce battery resources)

  The scarce resources for making efficient batteries, as it is currently done, will cause conflict among states.

• 23 May 2021 (Ronald Greene killed by thugs)

  *His family says they were told he died in a car wreck. Video now shows Ronald Greene was kicked, dragged and tased by [thugs].* Then, as usual, they lied about it. At least this time they did not try to frame him.

• 23 May 2021 (EPA errors)

  *The EPA effectively admitted grave errors in EPA’s 2020 interim registration of glyphosate, best known as the active ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup pesticides, and asked the court for permission to re-do the agency’s faulty assessments.*

• 23 May 2021 (Gaza media coverage)

  *Committee to Protect Journalists Accuses Israel of Trying to 'Shut Down' Gaza Coverage by Bombing Media Outlets.*

• 23 May 2021 (Bill to cancel water debts)

  *Democrats unveil $30bn bill to cancel water debts and bail out utility firms.*

• 23 May 2021 (Bogus Johnson blames Britons)

  To evade the responsibility for bad decisions on protecting the UK from Covid-19, Bogus Johnson is blaming the Britons who did not want to be vaccinated.

  This is even more absurd than it looks like. because vaccination in the UK is limited by supplies of vaccine. If one person chose not to be vaccinated, another person got the chance to be vaccinated early. This had no effect on the vulnerability to the more transmissible Indian strains.

• 22 May 2021 (Urgent: Abolish the death penalty for federal crimes)

  US citizens: call on Congress to abolish the death penalty for federal crimes.

  The Capitol Switchboard number is 202-224-3121.

  If you call, please spread the word!

• 22 May 2021 (Urgent: Investigate the corrupter and his associates)

  US citizens: call on the DOJ to create a task force to investigate the corrupter and his associates.

• 22 May 2021 (Urgent: Pass Medicare for All)

  US citizens: call on Congress to pass Medicare for All.

  To sign without running nonfree JavaScript code from the web site, use the Salsalabs workaround.

  The Capitol Switchboard number is 202-224-3121.

  If you call, please spread the word!

• 22 May 2021 (Israel and HAMAS)

  Israel and HAMAS have agreed on a cease-fire.

  I think that Biden privately pressured Netanyahu to accept it, while publicly defending Netanyahu. That seems to be his approach.

• 22 May 2021 (Take strain off our planet)

  *Declining birthrates will take the strain off our planet.*

  I agree with the first two letters. However, I have to point out that, for the societies that live in an ecologically inefficient way, the effects of one more immigrant are not very different from the effects of one more baby. Either one adds to the population and is likely to result in further growth in subsequent generations.

• 22 May 2021 (Pro-Palestine movement)

  *The pro-Palestine movement is broad but it can’t be a home to antisemitism.* Furthermore, the presence of Jews, and a majority of people who are neither violent nor extremist nor antisemitic, must not be taken as proof that none of its supporters are violent or extremist or antisemitic.

• 22 May 2021 (Peace between Jews and Arabs)

  Israeli state thugs, plus thuggish right-wing private citizens, are committing repeated violence that has poisoned the peace between Jews and Arabs that prevailed in Jaffa for many years.

• 22 May 2021 (Oxford statue)

  Oriel College in Oxford decided not to remove Rhodes's statue. It did not refuse on principle, but rather because some laws create an obstacle.

  Rhodes's main activity was colonial conquest. He did good with some of the riches he got from colonialism, but that can't compensate for the harm by which he got those riches. Therefore, I conclude that there are no good reasons why the statue ought to remain.

  I hope that the UK will change whatever laws interfere with removing such statues.

• 22 May 2021 (India's Covid-19 crisis)

  India's Covid-19 crisis has eliminated vaccine supply for most other countries.

  The world needs more production capacity, for other countries and for India too.

• 22 May 2021 (Bill to audit the Pentagon)

  Sanders and other senators have introduced a bipartisan bill to audit the Pentagon.

  This is long overdue.

• 22 May 2021 (Republican cultists)

  Some Republican cultists in the House of Representatives refused to wear masks, and got a warning for the first violation of that rule.

  They believe that getting away with this makes them look brave to voters, and that may be true. The House needs to take measures stern enough that it will make them back down. For instance, keeping them off the house floor for the next ten hours of being in session.

• 22 May 2021 (Jan 6 investigation)

  Even though the Jan 6 investigation had been pre-undermined with a requirement for Republican agreement to issue any subpoena, most Republicans in the House voted not to have any investigation.

  Democrats compromised by giving Republicans equal representation in the commission, hoping to win some Republican support. In response to that, Senator McConnell called it a "slanted and unbalanced proposal."

  McConnell can probably kill the investigation entirely.

  It was foolish of the Democrats to agree to a compromise without getting a final deal as part of the compromise. It appears that what they will ultimately get for their concession is nothing — and making a concession uselessly only looks weak.

• 22 May 2021 ((satire) Scarf in Afghanistan)

  (satire) *U.S. Military Leaves Scarf In Afghanistan So It Has Excuse To Go Back Later.*

• 22 May 2021 (Tigray hospital raided)

  Ethiopian soldiers raided a hospital in Tigray searching for staff and patients that told journalists about interference with humanitarian aid to that region.

• 22 May 2021 (Contempt for the public)

  Despising politics, and expecting elected officials not to care about what people need, gets us elected officials that show contempt for the public.

  I disagree, however, with the criticism of sleeping in the office. That space is theirs to use, and their using it 10 more hours each day does not cost the government anything significant.

• 22 May 2021 ((satire) Pothole as historic landmark)

  (satire) *Neighborhood Rallies To Designate Pothole As Historic Landmark.*

• 22 May 2021 (Nonfree software in the car)

  Ford is considering programming the nonfree software in the car to impose ads on the people in the car. The owner could pay extra to turn off the ads.

  This is what you get with a device that contains nonfree software and can communicate in any fashion.

• 22 May 2021 (US waste companies)

  US waste companies continue to send the waste to countries that won't try to recycle it.

• 22 May 2021 (Apolitical fact-checking)

  Fact-checking and debunking, as Snopes does, used to be apolitical and fun, as well as educational. People who read the explanations often learned from this.

  Nowadays, refuting the spew of right-wing lies is ineffective; right-wing fanatics don't change their minds no matter how much evidence is piled on them.

  If someone you know has fallen under the truth-hating spell, then unless you have the best information on how to lead someone out of it, and wish to put a lot of patience and effort into it, I suggest cutting off those conversations rapidly.

• 22 May 2021 (Further power to businesses)

  European ministers look forward to joining Biden in policies that give businesses further power over democracy in the US and the EU.

  The area of business-supremacy treaties was one of the few policy areas in which the corrupter made things better, keeping the US out of the TPP and modifying NAFTA to remove the ISDS clause (I Sue Democratic States).

  Will Biden return to something like Obama's bad policy? Can progressive legislators block it?

• 22 May 2021 (Justified in shooting Andrew Brown)

  *North Carolina prosecutor says [thugs] were justified in fatally shooting Andrew Brown.* He claimed Brown was driving his car at the thugs.

  Brown's family's lawyer says the video contradicts the prosecutor's claims. The family has seen the video but the public is not allowed to see it.

  False accusations against blacks have played an important role in history and politics in that region of Virginia. The prosecutor is not entitled to say, "take my word for it!"

• 22 May 2021 (You better be right)

  *Michigan "Big Lie" lawmaker proposes eerie bill that would punish fact checkers: "You better be right".*

  I suspect they will draw up the law such that it will be easy to launch lawsuits that will deter people from criticizing, even if they would ultimately fail.

• 22 May 2021 (Refuse to concede)

  *What will the institutions of liberal democracy do when Republican officials simply refuse to concede Democratic victories?*

• 22 May 2021 ((satire) Events of January 9)

  (satire) *Congress Reaches Compromise To Investigate Events Of January 9.*

  (There was nothing on January 9 that Republicans don't want investigated.)

• 22 May 2021 (Colossal planning failure)

  *The Most Colossal Planning Failure in Human History:* setting up a civilization to run on fossil fuels without planning for how to stop using them.

• 20 May 2021 (Prize lottery to vaccinated)

  Ohio is offering a prize lottery to people that get vaccinated, and this boosted interest in vaccination.

• 20 May 2021 (Proud of voter suppression)

  Republicans are no longer ashamed to say their intention is to stop legitimate voters from voting. On the contrary, many Republicans are proud to do that.

  They are picking up the "by hook or by crook" attitude that the wrecker has promoted.

• 20 May 2021 (Misleading information about people killed)

  * A review of California cases shows that [thug departments] frequently publish highly misleading information about people they've killed — just like the first George Floyd press release.*

• 20 May 2021 (Illegal timber sales)

  *Brazilian police raid environment ministry over ‘illegal’ timber sales.*

  The minister, a close ally of Bolsonaro, seems to be one of the suspects.

• 20 May 2021 (Blocking news site and arresting journalists)

  Belarus blocked the news site Tut.by and arrested its journalists.

• 20 May 2021 (Plastic waste)

  The UK was exporting plastic waste to Turkey, but once it arrived the companies just burned it or littered it. Now Turkey will stop accepting such waste.

  Cheaters will keep looking for countries they can pollute in that way, but we had better stop making large quantities of unrecyclable plastic.

• 20 May 2021 (Troops attacking protesters)

  Chad's troops attacked protesters denouncing the military coup.

• 20 May 2021 (Sanctions)

  US sanctions against Venezuela are cutting into planting, and the threatening the country with food shortage later.

• 20 May 2021 (Feeding supporters)

  The government of Honduras feeds the supporters of the ruling party. Others have to flee to get food.

• 20 May 2021 (Survivors of massacre)

  Survivors of the 1921 massacre of blacks in Tulsa testified about it in Congress. They were children when 300 people in their neighborhood were killed.

  It's bad enough that this happened once, but the wrecker is trying to make it happen again.

• 20 May 2021 (Jailing child traffickers)

  *Ivory Coast jails child traffickers after cocoa farm raids.*

• 20 May 2021 (Selling product of deforestation)

  Food companies Cargill, Bunge and Cofco were caught selling soy beans produced by deforesters in Brazil.

• 20 May 2021 (Subpoena to identify critics)

  When the wrecker was in charge, the Department of Justice gave Twitter a subpoena to try to identify the operator of a parody account that made fun of abject supporter Rep. Devin Nunes. It went so far as to make Twitter keep the subpoena secret.

  This looks like an attempt to use the government to repress criticism of Nunes.

• 20 May 2021 (Reporters under attack)

  *Israeli TV reporters face attacks and threats from Jewish extremists.*

  Soon they may have to flee to the West Bank and seek the protection of the Palestinian Authority ;-}{.

• 20 May 2021 (Prejudice from staff of stores)

  In a survey, 90% of US blacks said they had experienced some sort of prejudice from the staff of stores.

• 19 May 2021 (Urgent: Block funds for Israel's evictions of Palestinians)

  US citizens: call on your congresscritter to block funds for Israel's evictions of Palestinians.

  The Capitol Switchboard number is 202-224-3121.

  If you call, please spread the word!

• 19 May 2021 (Steps to reduce disposable plastic)

  Washington State has banned disposable styrofoam food containers and packing "peanuts", as well as other steps to reduce disposable plastic.

• 19 May 2021 (Desperate working class)

  Varoufakis: Why do the rich push against stimulus programs? Ultimately, they want working-class people to be desperate and take low pay.

• 19 May 2021 ((satire) Occupied territories)

  (satire) *Israel Returns Occupied Territories To Palestinians After Running Out Of Targets To Hit In Gaza.*

• 19 May 2021 ((satire) Hiding Hamas agents)

  (satire) *‘The Onion’ Calls On Israel To Bomb Our Offices In Case Any Hamas Agents Hiding Out There.*

• 19 May 2021 (Peat bog restoration)

  The UK has announced plans to protect and restore peat bogs, which absorb considerable amounts of CO2.

• 19 May 2021 (Congressional investigation into attack on the Capitol)

  Rep. McCarthy opposes an official Congressional investigation into the Jan 6 attack on the Capitol.

  This is a form of the Republican big lie, which claims there was no attack.

  It appears to me that the proposed investigation, if approved, will be paralyzed by its structure. With equal numbers of Democrats and Republicans required for a subpoena, Republicans could block all subpoenas. Is there some crucial point I am missing?

• 19 May 2021 (Billion dollar power plant)

  Australia will spend almost a billion dollars (AUD, not USD) on a fossil-fueled power plant that would only rarely be turned on.

  At least it won't emit a lot of CO2 if it rarely operates, but it is a big waste of money. How about building storage batteries instead?

• 19 May 2021 (Mail order guns)

  In the US it is easy to get a gun by mail order, with no background checking. It comes as parts, which are not considered a gun until they are assembled.

• 19 May 2021 (Chile's elections)

  The conservative parties lost big in elections for Chile's constitutional assembly. Candidates that favor substantial change will dominate the body.

• 19 May 2021 (Largest US surveillance network)

  *Amazon’s Ring is the largest civilian surveillance network the US has ever seen.*

• 19 May 2021 (Foreign holidays)

  Why is Bogus Johnson so eager to urge Britons to take foreign holidays, then warning everyone to be careful about it?

• 19 May 2021 (No more fossil fuel investment)

  The Executive Director of the International Energy Agency says there must be no more investment in fossil fuels anywhere in the world.

  This is important because the IEA has in the past promoted and defended fossil fuels. Its departure from that camp will have an influence.

  The same report also explains that putting the economy into full decarbonization mode will create jobs, and requires no futuristic technology, only predictable advances.

• 19 May 2021 (Instagram ads)

  Signal tried to use Instagram ads to show users how Instagram was profiling them. Instagram shut down these ads.

• 19 May 2021 (Systemic corruption in government contracts)

  Bogus Johnson made corruption in awarding government contracts systematic.

• 19 May 2021 (Navalny's supporters)

  Putin will prohibit Navalny's supporters from running for the basically subservient Russian parliament.

• 19 May 2021 (Lynch mob in Pakistan)

  A lynch mob in Pakistan tried to break into a police station to murder two people accused of minor property damage to a mosque.

• 19 May 2021 (Danish citizens involvement in PISSI)

  Denmark has decided to admit 22 Danish citizens who are in prison in Syria for involvement in PISSI.

  Justice calls for this. Those people may be accused of participation in PISSI's crimes, but if so, they deserve trials to judge their actions. If they are convicted, exile should not be their punishment.

• 19 May 2021 (Too much power to ministers)

  The British parliament has ceded too much power to ministers. Nowadays, UK ministers tend to be corrupt and unaccountable.

• 19 May 2021 (Pinochet's constitution for Chile)

  Pinochet's constitution for Chile imposed a laissez-mourir "neoliberal" economy. The vote on the constitutional assembly indicates repudiation of that ideology — an intention to allow the government to limit the power of the rich and to actively help those that need help.

  It is ironic that some bemoaned the surprise that the explicit requirement for 50% women in the assembly actually resulted in slightly increasing the number of men in the assembly. Does this mean they now reconsider whether it is right to have an explicit gender requirement in public elections?

  I also wonder what will happen, or perhaps what did happen, in the encounter between such a requirement and transgender and nonbinary gender.

• 19 May 2021 (The 1980s savings and loan scandal)

  In the 1980s Savings and Loan scandal, hundreds of US banks engaged in outright cheating. President Bush I clamped down on the agency that reported the crimes so that future crimes would be protected.

• 19 May 2021 (Private equity coalitions)

  Private equity coalitions are trying to take over Medline, which makes and resells medical supplies.

  If they destroy this company as they destroyed Toys-Я-Us, any of us could die as a direct result.

• 19 May 2021 (Israel targeting journalistic sites)

  It looks like Israel must have been systematically targeting Palestinian journalistic sites in Gaza.

• 19 May 2021 (Systemic racism example)

  Systemic racism example: Carlette Duffy's home was appraised at a much higher value when she tacitly let the appraisers think the owner was a white man.

  What's more, it is clear how appraisers used the owner's race in the appraisal process, leaving no doubt that her race was the cause of the difference.

  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 object to bigotry, and normally I decline to link to articles which promote it. But I make an exception for articles which give important information about racism or the fight to eliminate racism. That article is one of the exceptions.

• 19 May 2021 (Uber made money last year)

  Bad news: Uber made money last year.

  More bad news: it paid no US taxes, because it laundered the profits through a tax haven: the Netherlands.

  The article uses the term "intellectual property". You might think that refers to something of inherent monetary and intellectual value, but chances are it only means some excuses to sign a contract for Uber branch A to pay rent to Uber branch B. Please don't use the term "intellectual property".

• 19 May 2021 (Cow methane reduction)

  An dietary additive could reduce each cow's methane emissions by 30%.

  I see one potential flaw in the system: once a company has bought the supplement as an "offset", what will ensure that it reaches farmers who really feed it to their cows? If its use is advantageous to the farmers themselves, they they will arrange to get it and use it; but if not, it could get put in the trash.

• 19 May 2021 (Proposed arms sale)

  Biden's proposed arms sale to Israel includes more of the missiles that Israel fires at many civilian homes and institutions in Gaza.

  *Israeli Airstrikes Damage Gaza's Only Coronavirus Testing Lab.*

• 19 May 2021 (International Energy Agency)

  The International Energy Agency still has some changes to make to fully support curbing global heating.

• 19 May 2021 (Air attacks on civilians)

  Amnesty International says Israel has a pattern of air attacks on civilians.

• 19 May 2021 (Acting like police officers)

  Some unions that represent many cops have adopted policies to lead and press them to act like police officers. Officially, they will no longer defend thugs.

  Making changes in this area is easier said than done. We will see to what extent this decision is effective.

• 19 May 2021 (Increase rain in Antarctica)

  The melting of ice in Antarctica could cause increased rain there. This fall of molten ice could make the remaining ice melt even faster.

• 19 May 2021 (Emergency to rule by decree)

  The executives of many EU countries have made Covid-19 "emergency" declarations which have enabled them to rule by decree.

• 19 May 2021 (Labor shortage)

  The UK's "hostile environment" for foreign workers is driving out so many long-term residents that there is now a labor shortage.

• 19 May 2021 (Wearing masks when vaccinated)

  Millions of Americans have medical problems that call for them to wear masks even once they are vaccinated.

  We could eliminate this problem if we cooperated in taking precautions against transmission.

• 19 May 2021 (Military activities in civilian buildings)

  HAMAS says it never operates military activities in civilian buildings, and in particular not in the building which housed the AP and al-Jazeera offices until Israel bombed it.

• 19 May 2021 (Dating apps)

  It looks like I didn't miss anything by not using dating apps; they are addictive and twisting, and not very good for finding love. I won't consider using dating apps — they are nonfree software so I refuse to run them.

• 19 May 2021 (Urgent: chair of the Federal Reserve)

  US citizens: call on Biden to nominate a climate leader as chair of the Federal Reserve.

• 19 May 2021 (Urgent: no US aid to trample Palestinians' human rights)

  US citizens: call on Congress to forbid Israel from using US aid funds for actions that trample Palestinians' human rights.

  In my view, the fact that the trampling is done with US funds is not a central moral issue. Those actions would be equally bad if it did not benefit from US funds. But the US should not overlook them.

  To sign without running nonfree JavaScript code from the web site, use the Salsa labs workaround.

• 19 May 2021 (Selling rainforest)

  *Sierra Leone sells rainforest for Chinese fish plant.*

• 19 May 2021 (Investing in production of hydrogen)

  Australia plans to invest heavily in production of hydrogen, including production that consumes fossil fuels and will probably contribute to CO2 emissions.

  It wants to use "renewable energy" funds for this project.

  The core aim of this planet-roasting bullshit is to paint CO2 generation as acceptable on the expectation supposition that the CO2 will be captured. Will that really happen? What fraction will the hypothetical technology actually succeed in capturing, if it ever works? Is it ready for use at industrial scale at all now?

  The loophole for cheating our future is that they will build the plant, and capturing all the CO2 won't actually be feasible, but they will insist on using the plant anyway "because we already paid for it."

• 19 May 2021 (Greenland ice about to melt)

  A lot of Greenland ice is about to start melting, and as much as 2 meters sea level rise may already be unavoidable.

• 19 May 2021 (Greenhouse gases not fully accounted for)

  *The warming Arctic tundra will make it harder for the world to curb climate change, as thawing permafrost and wildfires release greenhouse gases that are not fully accounted for in global emissions agreements, a study said on Monday.*

• 19 May 2021 (Thugs caught planting evidence)

  Canadian thugs accused someone of running an illegal casino, but the charges have been dropped after videos showed thugs stealing and planting evidence.

• 18 May 2021 (Wild jaguars)

  Proposing to release wild jaguars in parts of Arizona and New Mexico, an area which used to be part of their habitat.

• 18 May 2021 (Abortion)

  The right-wing-dominated US Supreme Court has chosen an opportunity to undo all or part of the Roe v Wade decision which established the right to an abortion in the US.

• 18 May 2021 (Investigation on use of force by police)

  *The FBI is supposed to track how police use force — years later, it’s falling well short.*

  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 object to bigotry, and normally I decline to link to articles which promote it. But I make an exception for articles which give important information about racism or the fight to eliminate racism. That article is one of the exceptions.

• 18 May 2021 (Problematic thugs database)

  *There's a database whose mission is to stop problematic [thugs] from hopping between departments. But many agencies don't know it exists.*

• 18 May 2021 (Unarmed non-thugs)

  Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, has voted to hire unarmed non-thugs to handle certain kinds of situations, including people having psychological crises. This change would presumably have prevented Daunte Wright from being killed.

  Thugs object to some of the changes.

• 18 May 2021 (Unwitting spies)

  *How Apple’s AirTag turns us [captives of Apple] into unwitting spies in a vast surveillance network.*

  Inevitably Apple will see where each user's tags are located, so the state will be able to see that too. However, the main danger I see is that of tracking other people or their property. The safeguards that are described won't prevent that.

• 18 May 2021 (Imprisoning writers and poets)

  The Burmese army is imprisoning writers and poets, sometimes killing them.

• 18 May 2021 (Targeted advertising)

  Big tech companies are making concessions about privacy, so they can continue their targeted advertising while collecting less data about each individual.

  Evgeny Morozov suggests that this fails to touch their deepest problem: the fact that commercial factors determine how the internet treats people.

  I think that tracking individuals is an important moral issue, and it is not limited to internet service/disservice companies. The stronger we can make the movement to demand anonymity and non-tracking, the better our chance of putting an end to other forms of massive surveillance, including Amazon Ring video cameras and Apple Airtags that could be attached to other people's cars, property, or clothing.

  At the same time, I think he has a valid point that we shouldn't have to filter the internet we want through the filter of startups.

• 18 May 2021 (Not letting staff wear masks)

  Rep. Doug Lamborn is being sued by a former staffer for compelling his staff to risk infection with Covid-19 by not letting them wear masks when together in the office.

• 18 May 2021 (Long working hours)

  *Long working hours are a killer, WHO study shows.*

• 18 May 2021 (Bombing of Associated Press)

  The Associated Press calls for an investigation of why Israel bombed and destroyed its office in Gaza.

• 18 May 2021 (Pattern of denial)

  Authoritarian right-wing rulers have a pattern of denying Covid-19 and covering up casualties.

• 18 May 2021 (Helping coral survive)

  Biologists are scrambling to find a way to help some coral survive longer against global heating.

  Identifying heat-resistant coral species, or breeding some species to be more heat-resistant, cannot possibly protect more than a fraction of the coral species that exist now. The only way to preserve reef biodiversity is to halt the increase of CO2 in the air.

  Meanwhile, ocean acidification will eventually wipe out all coral and many other kinds of ocean life.

• 18 May 2021 (Outlawing bigotry)

  *Challenge bigotry by all means, but outlaw it? I’d rather not.*

  The UK is considering a law to prohibit political censorship in universities and another law to require censorship by antisocial media. Both are projects of the Tory Party.

  Freedom of speech includes the freedom to make statements we disagree with or disapprove of. To respect freedom of speech, we must maintain the distinction between offending people and harming them.

• 18 May 2021 (Imprisoning refugees)

  The UK deportation thugs imprisoned refugees that they did not need to imprison, then held them in solitary confinement for more than a year.

• 17 May 2021 (Climate defender as chair of the Federal Reserve)

  It is crucial for Biden to appoint a climate defender as the next chair of the Federal Reserve.

• 17 May 2021 (McDonalds workers' strike)

  Workers in McDonalds franchises are planning a strike on May 19.

• 17 May 2021 (Concealed EPA data)

  The wrecker made the EPA conceal data on developing global heating damage, but Biden has it publishing the data again, and it shows how things have got worse.

• 17 May 2021 (China student suicides)

  In China, school officials cover up student suicides, and if parents and their neighbors demand information, the state's noise machine says they are working for the CIA.

  The US likewise places too much pressure on students. However, such coverups tend to be limited to thug departments after a uniformed thug murders someone.

• 17 May 2021 (Texas abortion law)

  A proposed Texas law would authorize anyone whatsoever to sue anyone who helps anyone to get an abortion. The target could be bankrupted by one 10,000-dollar penalty after another.

  This is the same tactic used in Israel's law that made it impossible in Israel to advocate boycotting the products made by Israeli businesses in Israel's colonies in Palestinian territory. It threatened such a person with the prospect of penury through unlimited judgments of "damages".

  The root cause of the Texas law is that Republicans rig the elections in Texas.

• 17 May 2021 ((satire) Aeolus's bag of wind)

  (satire) *Biden Outlines Renewable Energy Plan To Invade Mt. Olympus And Steal Aeolus’s Bag Of Wind.*

  It should be "Aeolus's" because the "s" in "Aeolus" is not a plural suffix.

• 17 May 2021 (Vaccine disinformation in the US)

  Most vaccine disinformation in the US comes from 12 saboteurs.

  Although their bullshit is likely to kill people, I do not like the idea of censoring it, because the systems of censorship will be used against other targets — perhaps including, some day, people who question Trump's proclaimed victory in the 2020 election.

  It would be much better to force companies to drop the business model that promotes postings based on how much "engagement" they provoke.

  *Jacinda Ardern calls for ‘ethical algorithms’ to help stop online radicalization.*

  Whether it's white supremacism or radical Islamism, anti-vax or QAnonsense, I suspect that "social" media promote them all in the same way.

• 17 May 2021 (Apple fired a new employee)

  Apple fired a new employee because he had published statements of misogyny in 2016.

  What he wrote about women in 2016 was contemptuous and nasty. It was also 5 years ago. Perhaps he should have been offered a second chance if he has had a change of heart.

  I can't disregard the other moral issue, that of his job. The job he was hired for was adtech, which is itself harmful and exploitative by nature. Whoever does that job will do a lot of real harm to people, more than mere insults can do.

• 17 May 2021 (Fossil fuel extraction projects)

  Fossil fuel extraction projects are having difficulty finding investment funds and insurance for their projects.

  This is a crucial step forward, but it won't be enough until it makes those projects come to a halt.

• 17 May 2021 (Diosdado Cabello)

  Diosdado Cabello, vice president of Venezuela, won a libel suit against a newspaper for republishing an article that accused him of ties to drug trafficking, and is seizing the newspaper's offices as payment.

  In the US it is very hard for a public official to win a libel suit. The standard is set very high so that officials cannot suppress criticism.

• 17 May 2021 (Australia violating international human rights)

  Australia's practice of keeping refugees in prison with no time limit, arbitrarily with no stated reason, violates international human rights law. But Australia quietly made it legal under Australian law.

• 17 May 2021 (Offices of Associated Press and al-Jazeera)

  Israel destroyed the building in Gaza which held the offices of Associated Press and al-Jazeera.

  Other media organizations had their offices in that building too.

  The US did something similar in Baghdad in 2003: it bombed the office of al-Jazeera. The office was visibly labeled and the US knew where it was. The attack had to be intentional.

  Israel knew where those offices were in Gaza, so this attack too had to be intentional.

• 17 May 2021 (Against impeachment out of fear)

  *Cheney says some GOP members voted against impeachment out of fear for their lives.*

• 17 May 2021 (Fully vaccinated, wearing masks)

  Some epidemiologists, fully vaccinated, say why they will continue wearing masks when near strangers or non vaccinated people, and why they think the CDC made it too easy for anti-mask anti-vaxxers to risk their own health and other people's too.

• 17 May 2021 ((satire) Missing Tiger)

  (satire) *Houston Authorities Scramble As Missing Tiger Disappears Into Crowd Of Tigers.*

• 17 May 2021 (Vaccine manufacturing monopolies)

  Vaccine patents, vaccine manufacturing monopolies, are part of a neoliberal system of trickle-down.

  Patents were supposed to trickle down both material benefits (products incentivized by the patent system) and knowledge (made available by the patent applications since the patent system requires it). Both of these trickle-downs have slowed to vary little. For example, the vaccine patents do not give enough information for other companies to make the vaccines commercially.

  Let's eliminate the patent system. We have little to lose.

• 17 May 2021 (Blocking arrests of immigrants)

  People in Glasgow massed in the street to block the arrest of immigrants for deportation.

  The objection to their arrest was not focused on the idea of deporting them, not that as such, but rather the idea of keeping them for a long time in an immigration prison where prisoners are likely to catch Covid-19, as well as the idea of arresting Muslims on a Muslim holiday.

  I can't empathize with that last; if I were going to be put in prison, I wouldn't care what day of the year it might take place. If I were arrested for advocating free software, and it occurred on the anniversary of the GNU Project, that would make it more ironic but would not make it more unjust or more painful.

• 17 May 2021 (Targeting Uighur expats)

  China is targeting Uighur expats by inserting spyware into their computers.

• 17 May 2021 (Tigers in the wild)

  There are around 5,000 tigers in captivity in the US, and only around 4,000 of them in the wild.

• 17 May 2021 (Ralph Nader criticizes NPR)

  Ralph Nader criticizes NPR's deep inadequacies.

• 17 May 2021 (Urgent: don't confirm Rahm Emanual)

  US citizens: call on the Senate not to confirm Rahm Emanual as ambassador.

  To sign without running nonfree JavaScript code from the web site, use the Salsalabs workaround.

• 17 May 2021 (Urgent: Freedom to Move Act)

  US citizens: support the Freedom to Move Act, which would fund better and cheaper public transportation.

• 17 May 2021 (Wage stagnation)

  Wage stagnation in the US is the result of policy decisions expressed in laws, not mysterious unchangeable economic "laws."

• 17 May 2021 (Vaccinated people and masks)

  Epidemiologists generally believe that vaccinated people should wear masks indoors with other people who might be unvaccinated.

  Vaccinated people can catch Covid-19, can be damaged, and can pass it on. The vaccination makes this far less likely, but not impossible. Let's choose to protect each other.

• 17 May 2021 (Adult Disney Fandom)

  (satire) *DSM-5 Finally Stops Classifying Adult Disney Fandom As Form Of Psychopathy.*

• 17 May 2021 (Official Covid-19 figures)

  The major media should stop reporting official figures about Covid-19 infections or deaths as if they reflected the reality.

• 17 May 2021 (Bringing people home)

  Australia has started bringing home Australians who have been stuck in India. At the rate of 2000 per fortnight, it is going to take 10 weeks, provided no one else joins the waiting list.

• 17 May 2021 (Extreme standard of secrecy)

  Craig Murray has been imprisoned for covering the trial of Alex Salmond, under an extreme standard of secrecy that mainstream media are not held to.

  I linked to his coverage of the Assange hearing.

  I do not advocate independence for Scotland, but that's a separate issue.

  The UK does need to have regional governments with some real authority, but it was a terrible mistake to set this up using Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as regions.

• 17 May 2021 (Drawing up new constitution)

  Chile is going to draw up a new constitution.

  I have suggestions for national constitutions.

  I urge free software supporters in Chile to look at this and think about whether these relate to the new constitution.

• 17 May 2021 (Another Covid-19 wave)

  A new Covid-19 which may be more transmissible could cause another wave in England.

• 17 May 2021 (Risky quarantine)

  *Covid quarantine process in the UK is riskier than being in a ‘red list’ country.*

  Properly run Covid-19 quarantine procedures require careful planning and a lot of money spent on actually work. The Tory government is stingy with both.

• 17 May 2021 (Easing on Covid-19 will cause new surge)

  *Brazil's easing of COVID-19 controls will cause new surge, experts warn.*

  That can happen in the US too.

  Allowing fully vaccinated people to go unmasked in stores is probably not significantly dangerous for them or others; but how can you tell whether the maskless person you see is vaccinated or not?

• 17 May 2021 (Food production and climate crisis)

  *1/3 of global food production at risk from climate crisis* by the end of this century.

• 17 May 2021 (Facebook violating its promises)

  Facebook's plan to merge in data from WhatsApp violates a promise it made when it bought WhatsApp.

• 17 May 2021 (Oppressed must be allowed a voice)

  Opposition leader Bobi Wine: *Young Ugandans are being brutally oppressed. They must be allowed a voice.*

• 16 May 2021 (Urgent: Support diplomacy with Iran)

  Everyone: call on Senator Menendez to support diplomacy with Iran.

• 16 May 2021 (Ministry of Cruelty)

  How the UK's Home Office, which deals with immigration among many other things, developed into Ministry of Cruelty.

  The minister "seeks to do and say the thing that will be perceived to be the toughest thing that anyone could possibly do or say in any given scenario."

• 16 May 2021 (Violence at Jerusalem's holy sites)

  *The violence that began at Jerusalem’s ancient holy sites is driven by a distinctly modern zeal.*

• 16 May 2021 ((satire) Bad at being raised)

  (satire) *Parents Can’t Believe How Bad Daughter Is At Being Raised By Them.*

• 16 May 2021 (Fear stalks streets)

  *Fear stalks streets of Israeli city where Jews and Arabs mixed freely.*

  When the extremists compel people who are not extremists to become hostile, that is a victory for the extremists. The hostility tends to propagate, since change in the other direction is very difficult. Israeli hate groups have been carrying out pogroms for many years and I think their goal was this.

• 16 May 2021 (Pogroms against Arabs)

  Netanyahu is using the pogroms against Arabs (and, occasionally, against Jews) for his own political advantage.

  I have to wonder if he has done something to exacerbate the violence in order to get this advantage.

• 16 May 2021 (Defending US industries from Chinese competition)

  Proposing that the US should have laws to defend US industries from Chinese competition before they get wiped out.

  The US ought to defend the workers in these industries from their employers, not only from their employers' competitors.

• 16 May 2021 (Sending little children to the grocery store)

  In the 1970s, it was still normal for American mothers to send little children to the grocery store.

  I never saw that; when Sesame Street appeared, I was in high school.

• 16 May 2021 (Last hope over climate crisis)

  *Last hope over climate crisis requires end to coal*, says the president the Cop26 climate conference.

• 16 May 2021 (Permitting generic vaccines)

  When it comes to permitting generic vaccines, plutocratist officials that Biden appointed will still have plenty of opportunities to get in the way.

• 16 May 2021 (Republican authoritarian death cult)

  The Republican authoritarian death cult has demonstrated, by ousting one of its leaders on Congress, how it will purge anyone that stops short of the latest, biggest lie.

  If there is any lie that you would not repeat, get out now.

• 16 May 2021 ((satire) Press-On Hangnails)

  (satire) *Sally Beauty Introduces New Press-On Hangnails.*

• 16 May 2021 (Appearing to support decarbonization)

  JPMorgan Chase announces a new policy of appearing to support decarbonization in its investments.

• 16 May 2021 (Samoa government)

  Samoa was a stable democracy but its current government is undermining democracy.

  I can't tell from the facts given here what the correct outcome of the election was, but the efforts to weaken democracy are alarming.

• 16 May 2021 (Russia-led cyber campaign)

  *Suspected Russia-led cyber campaign targets Germany’s Green party leader.*

  The motive is her opposition to the proposed Russia-to-Germany gas pipeline. That pipeline would boost both Russian influence in Europe, and use of fossil fuels, and that effect would last a long time.

  Since the pipeline is almost finished, I wonder if withdrawal of support for it will come too late.

• 16 May 2021 (People's Vaccine)

  *Will Movement for People's Vaccine Open Doors to Larger Revolt Against Big Pharma?*

  We can't possibly know the answer to that question, but it would be good if that happens.

• 16 May 2021 (Treatment of corpses)

  People are raging about the treatment of the corpses of the people who were killed when the Philadelphia thug department dropped a bomb on the MOVE house.

  I think this is a side issue, and a distraction from the real moral issue, which is how they died, and why.

  They died by murder. The Philadelphia thug department killed 11 people, gratuitously — it could easily have let them live. This is the issue that matters. Living people are important in their own right; living people (which they were) have rights. Corpses don't.

  I don't believe that corpses deserve any special sort of "respect." That goes for all corpses, includes my corpse when it some day exists. I've signed papers for it to be used for scientific or medical purpose, because that's a constructive use. You can do that too!

  Let's not shift our moral focus from respect for people's rights to respect for taboos.

• 16 May 2021 (Covid-19 leak from lab)

  Some real biologists say there is not yet sufficient evidence to rule out the possibility that Covid-19 leaked from a lab.

  Morally, I don't think it makes much difference. Everyone makes mistakes.

• 16 May 2021 (Secret order to attack protesters)

  A captain in the Belarus army showed the press a secret order that told the army to attack protesters. He has been sentenced to 18 years in prison.

• 16 May 2021 (Impossible to rent a place to live)

  In the UK, a creditor can easily make it impossible for a debtor to rent a place to live. That is not an officially mandated consequence, but that is what results in practice.

  Perhaps it is still possible to pay to use a room in someone else's apartment.

• 16 May 2021 (Qatar arrested blogger)

  Qatar arrested a blogger who writes about the life of migrant workers there, and is holding him secretly, incommunicado.

• 14 May 2021 (Forever chemicals in breast milk)

  *Study finds alarming levels of ‘forever chemicals’ in US mothers’ breast milk.*

• 14 May 2021 (Antisocial reading network)

  Goodreads is an antisocial network that encourages people to show off what they read and be judged by others accordingly. One reader thinks this perverts the enjoyment.

  I think that may be valid. Of course, it also collects data about each user and that will surely be used to manipulate per.

• 14 May 2021 (Charging use of own solar power system)

  Electric companies in the US want to charge homeowners for the privilege of using their own solar power systems.

  This has the tendency to discourage decarbonization, so with rational politics the US government would make it illegal.

• 14 May 2021 (Domestic violence crisis)

  *The American gun crisis? It’s largely a domestic violence crisis.*

• 14 May 2021 (Most-unfriendly-nation prize)

  The UK is competing for the most-unfriendly-nation prize by imprisoning and deporting Europeans who visit for the purpose of a job interview, although this is supposed to be permitted.

• 14 May 2021 (Microplastics in rivers)

  Most microplastics in UK rivers come from untreated sewage that water companies sometimes release into rivers.

• 14 May 2021 (Reciprocal mobs)

  Jewish and Arab mobs in Israel are carrying out reciprocal mob violence, which can reach the point of lynching. The Jewish mobs are composed of right-wing extremists, which Netanyahu has increasingly tolerated.

  *Live TV shows Israeli mob attack motorist they believed to be an Arab.*

• 14 May 2021 (Cutting down forest reserve)

  Uganda has allowed cutting down part of a forest reserve which is habitat for chimpanzees and other wildlife.

• 14 May 2021 (Covid-19 outbreak in prison)

  Thailand is having a Covid-19 outbreak in two large prisons. The prisoners there include political prisoners.

• 14 May 2021 (Farms and carbon)

  Biden's proposal to pay farms to sequester carbon is designed in a way that will not cover regenerative agriculture.

• 13 May 2021 (Urgent: Limit the price charged to prisoners for the phone calls in prison)

  US citizens: call on Congress to give the FCC authority limit the price charged to prisoners for phone calls in prison.

  The Capitol Switchboard number is 202-224-3121.

  If you call, please spread the word!

• 13 May 2021 (Asim Jamal Shakir Jr)

  Asim Jamal Shakir Jr watched an LA thug, who is Asim's uncle, tell another thug to shoot Asim. I get the impression that he shot Asim with rubber-coated steel bullets.

• 13 May 2021 (Birth rate of Uighurs)

  The birth rate of Uighurs in Xinjiang fell by half from 2017 to 2019.

  Humanity needs to reduce its birth rate substantially, but not by means of inflicting suffering on masses of people. Singling out a specific minority group for that suffering is an injustice in itself.

• 13 May 2021 (Eviction during pandemic)

  *[Wrecker]-Appointed Judge Rules Against CDC Moratorium on Evictions During Pandemic.*

  I do hope that this will be overturned on appeal, but eventually it will go to the Supreme Court where the same bad outcome could be reimposed.

• 13 May 2021 (Power to monitor or dissolve NGOs)

  Guatemala's government has given itself the power to monitor or dissolve NGOs, particularly those that get support from outside Guatemala.

  This would include the local affiliates of international human rights organizations.

• 13 May 2021 (Colombian protest leader Lucas Villa)

  *Colombian protest leader Lucas Villa, who was shot eight times, dies.* He was shot by gunmen on motorcycles, who I suspect are somehow related to the paramilitares.

• 13 May 2021 (Products made in Israel's colonies in Palestinian territory)

  EU citizens are signing a petition to demand an EU-wide referendum for rejecting products made in Israel's colonies in Palestinian territory.

• 13 May 2021 (Eritrean soldiers)

  Reportedly Eritrean soldiers are occupying Tigray and wearing Ethiopian uniforms, and they are blocking aid from some regions.

  The ancient city of Axum is besieged by Ethiopian and Eritrean forces, which do not allow aid or communication.

• 13 May 2021 (European commission refused to register a petition)

  EU citizens tried to establish a petition to demand an EU-wide referendum for rejecting trade with illegal colonies in occupied territories. The European Commission refused to register it, but now a court has ordered the commission to do that.

• 13 May 2021 (Interference with freedom of speech)

  The Tories are considering a law to punish universities if they interfere with freedom of speech. Opponents say that the law would instead limit freedom of speech. But the arguments presented in the article seem very weak: "It's complicated, don't interfere" is not persuasive, and neither is "Only 53 people were deplatformed in a year."

  Given that the law is being proposed by Tories, and Tories are not known for scrupulously respecting the rights of the non-rich, I will not rule out the possibility that the law would indeed do the opposite of its stated purpose.

  However, I think it should not be hard to design the law so that it can't interfere with speaking. If the Tories don't want to do that, a constructive proposal could demonstrate what they are really aiming at.

• 13 May 2021 ((satire) Prevent vaccine from going to foreigners)

  (satire) *New Program Encourages Americans To Get Vaccine To Prevent It From Going To Foreigners.*

• 13 May 2021 (US blocking the UN Security Council)

  Reportedly the US is blocking the UN Security Council from publicly calling on Israel and HAMAS to make a truce.

• 13 May 2021 (Right-wing elites' cancel culture)

  Right-wing elites have their own forms of "cancel culture" — ways of silencing those who disagree with them. Moreover, they are now actively cancelling Republicans that don't recognize the bully as their personal savior.

  I think, however, that we should not get too distracted by comparing the respective levels of cancellation activity. It's bad on either side.

• 13 May 2021 (Protection from coercive control)

  Some US states are adopting laws to protect people from coercive control.

• 13 May 2021 (Old mosques in China)

  China is "protecting" old mosques in Xinjiang by partly or completely demolishing them, and by putting fences around them.

  China is not the only country that destroys the Muslim heritage. Salafi Arabia has systematically destroyed the oldest sites.

• 13 May 2021 (Punishment of dissidents)

  Biden's decision not to put sanctions on Salafi Arabia's acting king was followed by a big increase in punishment of dissidents.

• 13 May 2021 (Air pollution deaths)

  *Air pollution from food production in the United States is linked to an estimated 15,900 premature deaths each year.*

• 13 May 2021 (Need for independence)

  *A Developmental Psychologist on Why Kids Need Some Independence.*

• 13 May 2021 (Vigilantes)

  Georgia has reformed the citizens arrest law that provided vigilantes an excuse to stalk and kill Ahmaud Arbery.

• 13 May 2021 (Crisis of Low Wages)

  *We Don't Have a Labor Shortage in the US, We Have a Crisis of Low Wages.*

• 13 May 2021 (Pandemic pay)

  *Report Reveals How Big Corporations Rigged Rules to Boost Pandemic Pay of CEOs as Workers Suffered.*

• 13 May 2021 (Sodom and Gomorrah)

  (satire) *New Evidence Finds God Destroyed Sodom And Gomorrah As Part Of Luxury Condominium Development Deal.*

• 13 May 2021 (Planning for new coal plants)

  *HSBC has stakes in firms that plan more than 70 new coal plants.*

  We can easily boycott HSBC.

• 13 May 2021 (Urgent: no eviction of Palestinians)

  US citizens: call on your congresscritter and senators to demand Israel end the practice of evicting Palestinians from Sheikh Jarrah.

  Sheikh Jarrah is a part of East Jerusalem.

  To sign without running nonfree JavaScript code from the web site, use the Salsalabs workaround.

• 13 May 2021 (Still being hit by Covid)

  *Why is the world still being hit by wave after wave of Covid when we know how to stop it?*

  *Covid pandemic was preventable, says WHO-commissioned report.*

  At the start of 2020, the virus existed, but quick action could have prevented it from infecting very many people.

  Originally, the flaws in the response were due to political leaders. Now, however, they have taught millions of people to believe fake news, react irrationally, and sabotage public health measures.

  The next new pathogen may be even worse if we are not disciplined enough to keep it away.

• 13 May 2021 (Hiding chemical danger)

  *Chemical giants hid dangers of [PFAs] in food packaging.*

• 13 May 2021 (Cooperating to deny asylum rights)

  *EU states cooperating informally to deny refugees asylum rights.*

• 13 May 2021 (The big lie)

  *[Rep.] Cheney's ousting proves the "big lie" is the Republican Party's religion.* They still seek to abolish democracy in the US, and they will tell any lies to do it.

• 13 May 2021 (Life improvement for the non-rich)

  Colombian protesters, fired up by the murders committed by thugs and right-wing death squads, are demanding policies to improve life for the non-rich.

• 13 May 2021 (Coalition to defeat Orbán)

  Hungary's opposition parties are forming a coalition to defeat Orbán.

• 13 May 2021 (Violating thug department policies)

  A report from the Louisville thug department says that the thugs that killed Breonna Taylor violated the department policies by starting to shoot.

• 12 May 2021 (Shutting down oil pipeline)

  *Michigan governor orders Enbridge to shut down controversial Canadian [Line 5] oil pipeline.*

• 12 May 2021 (Holding minors)

  The US border thugs now holds 21,000 border-crossing minors, though nowadays they mostly stay only a few weeks in those camps.

• 12 May 2021 (Merging data)

  Facebook insisting on merging all WhatsApp data into its main data base. This is a great impetus to stop using WhatsApp forever.

• 12 May 2021 (Conservation and deforestation)

  Conservation efforts have enabled large areas of forest to regrow. However, deforestation is going much faster.

• 12 May 2021 (Wind farm approved)

  The US has approved an 800-megawatt wind farm in the Atlantic Ocean to the south of Massachusetts.

  This is almost twice as big as the failed Cape Wind project. I hope that it gets built.

• 12 May 2021 (Voter-ID)

  Tory voter-ID plans could disenfranchise up to two million UK voters.

• 12 May 2021 (Arrested for planning nonviolent protest)

  The UK has arrested Gail Bradbrook, co-founder of Extinction Rebellion over a planned nonviolent protest.

• 12 May 2021 (Paying to stop migrant departures)

  *Italy to ask EU to pay Libya to stop migrant departures.*

  Is it legitimate for Libya to prevent people from leaving the country, if they are not wanted for nonpolitical criminal charges? China stops people from leaving, and even caught a boat in which dissidents were fleeing Hong Kong, and arrested them all.

• 12 May 2021 (Using bought diplomatic support)

  China has bought lots of diplomatic support, which it is using to block Taiwan from participating in the World Health Organization's conferences about dealing with Covid-19.

• 11 May 2021 (Urgent: Demand an end to Israel's displacement of Palestinians from East Jerusalem)

  US citizens: call on the U.S. State Department and Department of Defense to demand an end to Israel’s forced displacement of Palestinians from East Jerusalem.

• 11 May 2021 (Urgent: Oppose Salafi Arabia's blockade of Yemen)

  US citizens: call on your Senators to sign letter opposing Salafi Arabia's blockade of Yemen.

  To sign without running nonfree JavaScript code from the web site, use the Salsalabs workaround.

  The Capitol Switchboard number is 202-224-3121.

  If you call, please spread the word!

• 11 May 2021 (Columbia's countrywide protesters)

  Colombia's president has acknowledged the demands of the countrywide protesters that the thugs have been killing.

• 11 May 2021 (Colombian right-wing gunmen)

  In Colombia, protesters have built barricades, and right-wing gunmen with support from the uniformed thugs shoot to kill them.

  I suspect that these killers are part of, or related to, the notorious "paramilitares" right-wing gangs.

• 11 May 2021 (Senate Budget Committee hearing)

  *Sen. Bernie Sanders … announced that the Senate Budget Committee will hold a hearing … on "Waste, Fraud, Cost Overruns, and Auditing at the Pentagon."*

• 11 May 2021 (Portuguese border thugs sentenced to prison)

  Three Portuguese border thugs have been sentenced to years in prison for beating a would-be immigrant to death.

• 11 May 2021 (Endless undeclared wars)

  The US has become accustomed to many endless undeclared wars; to end them all is almost unthinkable.

• 11 May 2021 (UK greenhouse emissions reduction)

  Now that the UK has adopted binding targets for greenhouse emissions reduction, it must reconsider its plans to expand airports.

• 11 May 2021 (Australia's endangered species protection laws)

  Australia's endangered species protection laws do not seem to apply to logging.

  Logging is the main direct threat to forest habitats, so this omission is disastrous.

• 11 May 2021 (Sponsoring anti-voter and anti-protest bills)

  *The 10 companies that have contributed the most to state lawmakers sponsoring both anti-voter and anti-protest bills are: AT&T, Dominion Energy, Zurich North America and its subsidiaries, Berkshire Hathaway and its subsidiaries, UnitedHealth Group, Mednax Services, Charter Communications, State Farm Insurance and its subsidiaries, Phillip Morris USA, and Vistra Energy (FKA Energy Future Holdings) and its subsidiaries.*

  Some of these are easy to pressure or boycott.

  More information.

• 11 May 2021 (Rehabilitate Republican supporters)

  Mainstream media are trying to rehabilitate Republican supporters of overthrowing the US government and overturning the 2020 election.

• 11 May 2021 (UK's Covid-testing)

  The UK's Covid-testing operation employs 50,000 people, but they are paid through many small companies which obscure where the money actually goes.

  It's exactly the sort of system one would set up to facilitate corruption.

• 11 May 2021 ((satire) Insufficient Loyalty to the Bully)

  (satire) *Conservatives Panicking After Every Member Of Republican Party Ousted For Insufficient Loyalty To [the bully].*

• 11 May 2021 (Tiehm's buckwheat)

  A proposed lithium mine in Nevada would likely cause the extinction of Tiehm's buckwheat, a plant that has adapted to grow in soil with lithium and boron and is not found anywhere else.

• 11 May 2021 (Robots)

  Dealing with a decreasing population has some inconveniences, but the robots that will exist in 20 years will ensure it is not really difficult. The main challenge will be to ensure that these robots are under the control of the people that they serve, rather than acting as companies' agents to control those people.

• 11 May 2021 (Burmese journalists)

  Burmese journalists who fled to Thailand to escape the army's murderous crackdown face the threat of being sent back to Burma.

• 11 May 2021 (Australian immigration prison)

  Australia has an immigration prison where the average prisoner has been held for five years. (A year from now that average might be six years.)

  The prisoners have, effectively, no legal rights. So some of them dug an escape tunnel, which was discovered unfinished.

• 11 May 2021 (Deplatforming president of Taiwan)

  China is trying to deplatform Tsai Ing-wen, the president of Taiwan.

  China's wrath is not limited to invective. It uses all the power at its disposal to bully countries into shunning Taiwan while China gets the world used to the prospect China will invade.

  The situation calls for a courageous response: uniting to defend Taiwan, and backing this up with action while this could avoid the war.

• 11 May 2021 (Global heating and tea)

  Global heating may damage tea production as some of the growing places become too hot for it.

• 11 May 2021 (PRO Act)

  The PRO Act might need to be amended to clear up what it would do regarding some independent contractors. Or perhaps it's ok as now written.

• 11 May 2021 (Voter-ID law)

  The Tories will impose a voter-ID law on the UK. Apparently they found the voter-suppression effect quite satisfactory.

• 11 May 2021 (Manufacturers repair restrictions)

  *FTC Report Finds Manufacturers' Repair Restrictions Unwarranted.*

  I support the right to repair movement but its goal is only a first step. It should be illegal to block purchasers of a product from replacing the software embedded in it, or to impede them from together to replace that software with free software.

• 11 May 2021 (Carried interest loophole)

  Private equity fund managers arranged to have their management fees taxed as capital gains rather than as ordinary income. This intentional giveaway to the abusive finance industry is referred to by the misnomer of "carried interest loophole". It may be eliminated soon.

  I am in favor of this change, but it won't be enough to put an end to the "private equity" funds that have eliminated many companies we used to deal with.

• 11 May 2021 (Protests against banks funding pipeline)

  *Global Protests Target Banks Funding Line 3 Tar Sands Pipeline.*

  I wish I had found out a week ago and could have posted an urgent note suggesting that people participate in these protests. Does anyone know where these plans are announced in advance? If necessary, I will recruit developers to help you access the announcements without running nonfree JavaScript code, then link to them here.

• 11 May 2021 (Most harmful points in voter-suppression law)

  Summarizing the most harmful points in Florida's new voter-suppression law.

  Texas Republicans passed a bill to interfere with voting in a number of ways. This article describes how Democrats resisted efforts to make it even worse.

  The article mentions the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. The only way to get these past the coup-supporting Republicans in the US Senate is to eliminate the filibuster, and that requires the support of a few plutocratist die-hard Democrats.

  I hope someone has a plausible plan for how to achieve this, a plan I could support. So far I have not seen any discussion of one.

• 11 May 2021 (Corporation duty)

  The US needs to undo the plutocratist revolution of the 1980s and reject the idea that a corporation's only duty is profit.

• 11 May 2021 (Genocide)

  The head of Ethiopia's Orthodox Church made a video saying that genocide is occurring in Ethiopia and that he had been stopped from talking about it. He did not give the details to answer the obvious first questions.

  One must suppose that the Ethiopian government is doing those things.

• 11 May 2021 (Covid-19 decreasing)

  With the US adult population roughly half-vaccinated, cases of Covid-19 are decreasing.

  However, in order to get rid of Covid-19, we need to vaccinate 80% of the population, in every country.

• 11 May 2021 (Audit of election)

  Arizona's "audit" of the 2020 election may violate civil right law because it provides opportunities to generate suspicion based on racial profiling.

• 11 May 2021 (Reducing danger of search warrants)

  Kentucky has set up a commission to study how thugs carry out search warrants, looking for ways to reduce the danger that they might hurt someone in the process.

• 11 May 2021 (State-sanctioned campaign of violence)

  *Hundreds of Palestinians Protesting Evictions in Jerusalem Injured in 'State-Sanctioned Campaign of Israeli Violence'.*

  These evictions are not like the ones in the US, carried out because someone cannot pay the rent. Israel is systematically seizing Palestinians' homes in Jerusalem.

• 11 May 2021 (Shocking defeat)

  A shocking defeat in an election Labour expected to win has made the party aware it needs to change something.

  What it needs is to unite behind Jeremy Corbyn, but that name did not even appear in the article.

• 11 May 2021 (Urgent: Call on Biden to ban fracking)

  US citizens: call on Biden to ban fracking.

• 11 May 2021 (Crimes of the bully's 2016 campaign)

  The Department of Justice has only 5 more months to prosecute crimes of the bully's 2016 campaign.

• 11 May 2021 (Big Pharma Greed)

  Stiglitz: *Big Pharma Greed Will Prolong Pandemic—If We Don't Fight Back.*

  I agree fully with the substance of his points. I wish he did not fall into trap of using the term "intellectual property" to talk about patents. copyrights, trade secrets and trademarks as if they were similar enough to generalize about.

  Since the whole point of the WTO is to give businesses more power over national governments, and thereby more power over people, we should abolish the WTO.

• 11 May 2021 (Reasons Americans hesitate to go back to work)

  Higher unemployment payments are not the main reason Americans hesitate to go back to work. Safety is one. Taking care of children who are not spending the day in school is another.

• 11 May 2021 (Fascism spreading)

  Fascism is spreading around the world, with fascist ideas spreading before it. No two fascist regimes are identical, but we must acknowledge that that is what they are.

• 11 May 2021 (Gates Foundation's forays into education)

  The Gates Foundation's forays into education have not turned out well.

• 11 May 2021 (The Lie-Cheat-Steal party)

  The Republican Party has become the Lie-Cheat-Steal Party, still repeating in unison that the bully really won the 2020 election.

  Every year since 2000, if not before, the Republican Party has tried to rig the election. In 2000, 2004 and 2016 it succeeded.

• 11 May 2021 ((satire) Facebook oversight board)

  (satire) *Mark Zuckerberg Asks Facebook Oversight Board To Rule On Whether Argument Wife's Fault.

• 11 May 2021 (Ban on Bee-killing pesticides)

  *Rejecting Bayer Appeal, Top EU Court Upholds Ban on Bee-Killing Pesticides.*

• 11 May 2021 (Fake letters to the FCC)

  The US attorney for Southern New York says that the scheme that sent fake letters to the FCC about network neutrality was illegal.

  Will we see some charges?

• 11 May 2021 (Motorcycle airbag vest)

  *This Motorcycle Airbag Vest Will Stop Working If You Miss a Payment.*

  In the world of the future, you won't own anything, not even the vest around your torso. Unless you are rich.

• 11 May 2021 (DRM-gouging to dishwashers)

  Introducing DRM-gouging to dishwashers.

  Normally, a new kind of product may start out expensive, but the price goes down. However, if the product requires a subscription, its price may never fall.

• 11 May 2021 (Heirs of Samsung)

  The heirs of Samsung will have to pay a substantial fraction in inheritance tax.

  South Korea has made a wise decision. The US should follow it.

• 11 May 2021 (Disappearance of activist)

  *Mayor of Mexican town and two officials arrested over disappearance of activist.*

  Claudia Uruchurtu Cruz was grabbed after a meeting and forced into a van belonging to the city.

• 11 May 2021 (Signs of 'arbitrary execution')

  *Brazil judge sees signs of 'arbitrary execution' in Rio police raid.*

• 11 May 2021 (Anti-Bolsonaro coalition)

  *Lula lays foundations of anti-Bolsonaro coalition.*

• 11 May 2021 (Prisoner of conscience)

  Amnesty International has resumed referring to Alexei Navalny as a "prisoner of conscience".

  The organization has decided to be less particular, and recognize people that courageously resist tyrants, even if they have expressed views that Amnesty disagrees with.

  I disagree with those views too, but I think Amnesty's change in policy is wise.

• 11 May 2021 (Ponca chief Standing Bear)

  A descendant of Ponca chief Standing Bear demands that Harvard return a hatchet that Standing Bear gave away in gratitude.

  We know that the US committed many injustices against Standing Bear and the rest of the Poncas, as it did to many other indigenous Americans. Only a fraction of them are mentioned in the article.

  However, none of that invalidates Standing Bear's gift of the hatchet to Webster, who had defended his right to be considered human. That was a valid gift, and so (as far as we know) was Webster's gift of the hatchet to Harvard. Thus, I conclude that Chapman's argument is invalid and Harvard should keep the hatchet.

  Displaying the hatchet in a museum can teach Americans about what indigenous Americans had to do to claim human rights in the United States.

• 11 May 2021 (Prosecution of Extinction Rebellion protesters)

  The UK should stop prosecuting Extinction Rebellion protesters. The public are protecting them by finding them not guilty. Bravo for the public! Now it is time for the state to back down.

• 11 May 2021 (Excuse to thwart generic Covid vaccines)

  European politicians have found an excuse to thwart generic Covid vaccines: demanding that the US start exporting vaccine first.

  This is a bizarre nonsequitur. The US will have spare capacity soon and could export it, but that won't be enough to vaccinate the whole world quickly.

• 11 May 2021 (Deal between Georgian political parties)

  The EU has brokered a deal between the two main political parties of Georgia. The opposition alleged rigging of the election, so the ruling party imprisoned the leader of the opposition.

  With no information to go by except this article, I'm inclined to believe the opposition. It is hard to set up an ecosystem disinformation as complete as the one that Republicans have established in the US, and even that one can only fool those who wish to be fooled.

• 11 May 2021 (Seizure of phone records)

  The bully had the Department of Justice seize phone records of reporters who were investigating whether Attorney General Sessions had talked with the Russian ambassador.

• 10 May 2021 (Urgent: clean up ICE)

  US citizens: call on Biden's team to clean up ICE or shut it down.

• 10 May 2021 (Prosecution for drawing penises)

  New Zealand threatens to prosecute Geoff Upson for trying to get potholes fixed by drawing penises around them.

  Sick and cruel prudery is seeping back, threatening to reverse the sexual revolution.

• 10 May 2021 (Tracking tags)

  Very small tracking tags, made by Apple and other companies, make it easy to track any person or object. We may have to start checking our clothing and other property regularly to remove them.

• 10 May 2021 (Waking Snow White)

  Some say that Prince Charming has no right to wake Snow White with a kiss without first waking her to ask for her consent. His obligation is to leave her unconscious forever, they contend.

  In real life, nobody needs a kiss to regain consciousness. But there are real situations in which medics need to cut clothing off of unconscious people, perhaps even exposing their genitals. This is a prelude to medical treatments which aim at restoring those people to consciousness. Medics have presumed that that goal justifies stripping them.

  Maybe we will see real pressure for medics to leave those people untreated, on pain of being charged with some sort of sex crime.

  I compare this to the right-wing political pressure to let women die rather than abort ectopic pregnancies.

• 10 May 2021 (Nuclear plants)

  Biden's infrastructure plan includes subsidy for the existing nuclear power plants, as well as plans to build a new one.

  This would be a harmful use of the money, as well as wasteful — it would be cheaper to replace the nuclear plants with storage batteries — but if it can convince Manchin to vote to end the filibuster, it would be a price worth paying.

• 10 May 2021 (Harassing dissidents)

  A London thug probably killed dissident Blair Peach; afterward, undercover thugs spied on dissidents (including his lover) for 20 years as they demanded information on how he was killed.

  One must suppose the thugs were seeking a way to discredit the dissidents who were, for them, an inconvenience.

• 10 May 2021 (Corruption of cops)

  The BBC has exposed the persistent corruption of London cops.

• 10 May 2021 (Urgent: exclude the wrecker)

  US citizens: call on youtube to exclude the wrecker.

• 10 May 2021 (Urgent: Wealth tax)

  US citizens: call on Congress to adopt a wealth tax.

• 10 May 2021 (Exploiting vulnerable people for profit)

  *The company I founded in my 20s exploited vulnerable people for profit.* It sold special kinds of funeral activities, mainly to people who would pay for more ways to grieve.

• 10 May 2021 (Suing states not burning coal)

  Republicans in Wyoming threaten to sue states that don't burn coal.

• 10 May 2021 (Upholding ban on neonicotinoid)

  *EU court upholds ban on [neonicotinoid] insecticides linked to harming bees.*

  They harm other kinds of animals too.

• 10 May 2021 (Millions for endangered species)

  Florida has agreed to spend 400 million to help various endangered species including the Florida panther.

  My "childhood sweetheart" Melinda would be glad if she were still alive.

• 10 May 2021 (Refugees chased out)

  After the 2018 California fires, 20,000 refugees fled to the city of Chico. After a while of warmth and assistance, the city got tired of them and now tries to chase out those that remain.

• 10 May 2021 (Vaccinal plans exclusion)

  * Research reveals that many national vaccination plans exclude asylum seekers, refugees, migrants and [internally displaced persons].*

• 10 May 2021 (Koch brother)

  The remaining Koch brother is still promoting extremist Republicans that supported the Republican big lie that the bully won the election.

• 10 May 2021 (Floyd thugs charged)

  There are now federal charges against four thugs that participated in the killing of George Floyd.

• 10 May 2021 (ICE disregarding orders)

  The US deportation agency, ICE, is disregarding Biden's orders and doing gratuitous harm -- because it can.

• 10 May 2021 (Israel west-bank)

  *France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Britain urged Israel… to halt settlement-building in the West Bank.*

• 10 May 2021 (COVID death estimate)

  The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation estimates that almost 7 million people have died from Covid-19.

  That is a lot more than governments recognize.

• 10 May 2021 (Former Maldives President Injured)

  Former Maldives president Mohamed Nasheed was injured by a bomb.

  He championed climate defense, and was removed by a coup which we must suspect was organized by planet-roasters.

  The article says he is now speaker of the Maldives Parliament. I hope he is still pushing for the need to curb sea-level rise before the Maldives are inundated.

• 10 May 2021 (Hong Kong Dissidents)

  Three Hong Kong dissidents have been imprisoned for "rioting" simply because they were present at a protest.

  Republicans are trying to make it easier to imprison protesters for "rioting." This seems to be a standard item in the repressive playbook.

• 10 May 2021 (Uber & Lyft Against Unions)

  Uber and Lyft are lobbying against the PRO Act, which would facilitate forming unions.

  So are Instacart and some of the food-delivery companies. This is another reason to boycott them all. (I won't use them anyway since they won't let me pay anonymous cash.)

• 9 May 2021 (Hydrogen fuel)

  It is physically possible to make hydrogen and use it as a fuel, and it's renewable if generated using renewable electricity, but that is inefficient use of funds. In this decade we can decarbonize more by converting the uses of energy to run off renewable electricity.

  I wonder if it is possible to generate hydrogen efficiently from petroleum without producing any greenhouse gases as the result. Maybe the result could be sugar.

• 9 May 2021 (Covid waiver)

  Even with US support, a waiver on patents and trademarks on Covid-19 vaccines is likely to take many months to negotiate, in effect keeping humanity helpless against the virus.

  The WTO is structured to resist any initiative to reduce the power of the businesses that it exists to serve. Of course, it claims that this is for our own good, to ensure plenty of wealth for the rich that could theoretically trickle down to the rest of us.

  I have said before that we should abolish the WTO. I repeat that now.

• 9 May 2021 (Skepticism towards governments and corporations)

  * Unless actions by governments and corporations cut emissions in the here and now, a dose of scepticism is in order.*

• 9 May 2021 (Amsterdam prostitution move)

  Amsterdam's mayor wants to move the visible prostitutes' windows to an out-of-the-way place where tourists will not see them. This change is supposed to "protect" the prostitutes, but the prostitutes do not want to be protected in this way.

  I think the mayor is motivated by prudish disgust.

  It would be better to consult the prostitutes and see what sort of protection they would actually like.

• 9 May 2021 (UN report methane)

  *Cut methane emissions to rapidly fight climate disasters, UN report says.*

• 9 May 2021 (Cheyney to be replaced)

  Rep. Liz Cheney is the one Republican leader in the House of Representatives that refuses to be a puppet of the bullshitter. So the puppets are planning to replace her as a leader.

• 9 May 2021 (New Zealand Labour Citizenship)

  New Zealand's Labour Party is sliding into establishing two classes of citizenship with two different laws.

  It may well be that the Maori deserve compensation for being mistreated in the past by European colonists. That sort of thing has happened in many colonies including the US, Canada and Australia. I don't know enough about New Zealand history to have a firm opinion about that case.

  But this compensation should not take the form of a permanent division of society between two kinds of citizens, with different rules and privileges.

• 9 May 2021 (Australia lenders)

  Australia refused to lend money for a wind farm and battery farm, saying that all funding for that is supposed to come from private lenders.

  Does Australia provide any subsidies for fossil fuel development or extraction? Any tax write-offs such as depletion? I would expect it does. By its stated philosophy, it should stop that immediately.

• 9 May 2021 (15 Months Hong Kong)

  The new standard in Hong Kong is 15 months in prison for telling people about the Tian An Men Square protest and massacre.

• 9 May 2021 (Get both doses!)

  One dose of Covid-19 vaccine improves your chances a lot, but the second dose is a big improvement on top of that.

  Conclusion: get vaccinated and get both doses!

• 9 May 2021 (Bill Gates' Invisible Climate Hand)

  Bill Gates says, have faith in the Invisible Hand and assume technology will prevent global heating.

  When confronted with the political issues about which way the world will go, he plays dumb.

• 7 May 2021 (Urgent: paid sick leave and family leave)

  US citizens: call on Congress to include paid sick leave and family leave in the American Families Plan.

• 7 May 2021 (Patent waiver on Covid-19 vaccines)

  *US declares support for patent waiver on Covid-19 vaccines.*

  I am curious to see how this change of position came about, and who championed it. Most of the officials that Biden chose for foreign policy have plutocratist leanings.

  The article says nothing about the trade secrets of the vaccine companies, but I've read elsewhere that the US means to include them too.

  Governments should require the vaccine companies to teach their methods to new producers, but that (unlike the patent license) is not just a matter of stating a new policy.

• 7 May 2021 (Moving from pledges)

  *World Must Move From Pledges to Actual Green Recovery Spending.*

• 7 May 2021 (Leader's Compound)

  (satire) *Couple Worried Relationship Will Lose Spark Once They Move Into Leader's Compound.*

• 7 May 2021 (Proposing what is needed)

  Will Biden find the courage to propose the whole of what the country needs, instead of just 1/3?

• 7 May 2021 (COINTELPRO files)

  *House Democrat introduces bill to release COINTELPRO files on surveillance of Black Panthers and Fred Hampton.*

• 7 May 2021 (Right-wing ideology)

  Since 1980 the world's elites have adopted right-wing ideology and spread suffering. Only left-wing politics offers an answer.

  "left-wing" covers a lot of ground, so we must be careful about which variety we support.

• 7 May 2021 (Why young adults need to get vaccinated)

  Why young (and middle-aged) adults need to get vaccinated, for their own health and everyone else's.

• 7 May 2021 (Algorithm and business model)

  Fight for the Future gets to the root of how surveillance capitalism promotes civic strife: it's the algorithm, and behind the algorithm, the business model.

  Notorious civic saboteurs, such as the bully, are the creations of that algorithm and that business model. They are people who had enough talent to exploit it, and lacked the conscience to hold them back. Instead of playing whack-a-mole with them, we should fix the system they exploit.

• 7 May 2021 (Cleaner energy)

  *Tens of Thousands of Premature Deaths Linked to So-Called "Cleaner" Energy Like Fracked Gas: Study.*

• 7 May 2021 (Undercover leader)

  A UK undercover infiltrator in the Troops Out Movement became its leader and surely reported all the personal details of supporters.

  He used deceptive sexual relationships with other supporters as a means to advance in the group.

• 7 May 2021 (Lending for coal)

  British banks have increased their lending for coal since 2015.

• 7 May 2021 (Face recognition)

  A dis-service now offers everyone face recognition applied to lots of collected pictures of anyone and everyone.

• 7 May 2021 (Pushing back refugees)

  *European countries, supported by EU’s border agency Frontex, systematically pushed back refugees [numbering 40,000] using illegal tactics ranging from assault to brutality during detention or transportation.* 2,000 of them died from this.

• 7 May 2021 (Election council)

  Venezuela has refilled the election council, including some members of the democratic opposition.

• 6 May 2021 (Forest-protection programs)

  The forest-protection programs that airlines present as "offsets" for for their greenhouse emissions don't necessary do much good.

• 6 May 2021 (Head of WTO on Covid-19 vaccines)

  Even the head of the WTO says that the world should make Covid-19 vaccine as fast as possible.

  Alas, the head of the WTO has no power to override its rules, which are not designed for public health.

• 6 May 2021 (No employees left to fire)

  (satire) *Private Equity Firm Heartbroken After Realizing There No AOL Employees Left To Fire.*

• 6 May 2021 (Birth rate drop)

  The US birth rate took a big drop in 2020.

  If this is due to cruel starve-the-poor policies, those are a terrible wrong. But the birth rate drop itself will be a good thing.

• 6 May 2021 (Ban on satellite dishes)

  *Myanmar junta bans satellite dishes in media crackdown.*

• 6 May 2021 (Bigger threat to democracy)

  *US seen as bigger threat to democracy than Russia or China, global poll finds.*

  That was true for most of the time since 1990, and it is still true for Russia, but it is not true any more regarding China.

• 6 May 2021 (Confiscated explosives)

  A wide variety of explosives and weapons have been confiscated from right-wing protesters in the past year.

• 6 May 2021 (Urgent: Support the Tax Excessive CEO Pay Act)

  US citizens: support the Tax Excessive CEO Pay Act.

• 6 May 2021 (Urgent: Ban oil and gas development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge)

  US citizens: call on Congress to ban oil and gas development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

  The Capitol Switchboard number is 202-224-3121.

  If you call, please spread the word!

• 6 May 2021 (Mayoral candidate Scott Stringer cancelled)

  Progressives immediately cancelled mayoral candidate Scott Stringer when a former intern accused him of groping her. However, others say that the two had a relationship and she wasn't an intern.

• 6 May 2021 (No sense of crisis)

  Greta Thunberg says that the political leaders she has met with show no "sense of crisis" about the climate.

  No wonder they think it is acceptable to surrender to the business pressure to take it slow.

• 6 May 2021 (International Criminal Court, not by a Sudanese court)

  One of Sudanese tyrant al-Bashir's lieutenants says he wants to be tried by the International Criminal Court, not by a Sudanese court. He expects the ICC to be less biased.

  Bravo to the ICC. The US should cease its campaign to delegitimize the ICC and sign up for it.

• 6 May 2021 (Carbon offsetting)

  "Carbon offsetting" or climate defense by protecting forests, as it is now done, is a weak scheme. It may do some good, but certainly not enough.

• 6 May 2021 (Journalists face murder threats)

  Afghan journalists face murder threats from the Taliban, especially those who are women.

  The US should offer them all asylum.

• 6 May 2021 (Right-wing hatred displays)

  Germany is suffering a peak level of right-wing hatred displays.

  The figure of 24,000 "attacks" includes mere statements (I will not call this censoring messages merely because I disapprove of what was said) as well as actual violence. The article does not tell us how acts of actual right-wing violence took place last year in Germany. I wish it did. I would expect that that too has increased.

• 6 May 2021 (DoJ threatened MIT researchers)

  The US Department of Justice, then operating under the control of the wrecker, threatened MIT researchers who had published a statistical demonstration that there was no sign of fraud in Evo Morales's electoral victory, which was followed by the coup in Bolivia.

• 6 May 2021 (Colombia protests)

  *UN condemns violent repression of Colombia protests after at least 18 die.*

• 6 May 2021 (PISSI strength in Iraq)

  PISSI is gradually recovering its strength in Iraq.

  After the US assisted Rojava in defeating PISSI, the wrecker removed US troops and cooperation and let the remnants survive. That was a foolish move.

• 6 May 2021 (Crimes against Belarusian dissidents)

  Belarusian dissidents ask for Germany to investigate Lukashenko's crimes against them.

• 6 May 2021 (More democracy than Tories allow)

  If Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland break away from the United Kingdom, they will have a chance of more democracy than Tories allow (though that will be limited by the European Union, which they would join).

  Meanwhile, England, with most of the UK's population, would sink under inescapable Tory dictatorship, with democracy more tenuous each year.

  England would have as much chance of restoring democracy as Hungary has. I can't see that as a happy ending.

• 6 May 2021 (Treated as criminals)

  People who have been trafficked into the UK and forced into crimes are nearly always treated as criminals, not as victims. Parliament decided recently to make it even harder to escape this fate.

• 6 May 2021 (Uganda criminalizes homosexuality)

  Uganda has reprised an old law imposed by the British Empire which criminalizes homosexuality.

• 6 May 2021 (First amendment training)

  *Internal NYPD Documents Show Cops Were Sent to Protests With Barely Any First Amendment Training.*

  It is complex, organizationally, to choose the personnel for a specific mission based on which trainings they have had. The easy thing to do is train everyone. The next easiest is to have specific units for specific jobs and give those units the training for those jobs.

• 6 May 2021 (Lawsuit against the German government)

  Several young Germans won a lawsuit against the government for failing to take adequate action against global heating.

• 5 May 2021 (Climate targets)

  *Rich nations' climate targets will mean global heating of 2.4C — study.*

  That's if there are no unexpected positive feedback loops.

• 5 May 2021 (1619 Project)

  I've discovered that it is possible to view the 1619 Project using IceCat by clicking on the "Reveal Hidden HTML" button that appears at the bottom right corner of the window.

  In other graphical web browsers, open the "web developer tools," usually by pressing the F12 key, then switch to the console and run:

  (() => {
    Array.from (document.styleSheets).forEach (e => { e.disabled = true; })
    document.querySelectorAll ("*").forEach (e => e.removeAttribute ("style"))
  })()
  

  You should paste and run that as a single block. It reveals the contents of the 1619 Project page.

  The New York Times ought to use Javascript to make the contents initially invisible — that way, when Javascript is not running, the contents will be visible.

  If you know a way to pass that message to the Times, please do so. They might fix this, since it won't be a big change.

• 5 May 2021 (Harassing families of people killed)

  *LA sheriffs frequently harass families of people they kill, says report.*

• 5 May 2021 (Selling fighter-bombers)

  France has decided to sell Egypt more fighter-bombers. There are points in that message that seem like bullshit, but I don't understand what's really behind them.

  I don't see that human rights are a direct concern regarding fighter jets. The Egyptian military regime is highly repressive, but I don't think fighter jets are very apt, or necessary, for attacking protesters, journalists or bloggers.

  I also don't see how terrorism relates to sale of fighter jets. Egypt does have a problem with domestic terrorists, but I don't see how fighter jets are very useful against them.

• 5 May 2021 (Killing dissidents with mail bomb)

  The Burmese military killed several dissidents with a mail bomb.

• 5 May 2021 (Pesticides)

  Pesticides are harming the animals that turn dirt into soil, including earthworms and insects.

  This is very dangerous.

• 5 May 2021 (Racial slurs)

  A professor of linguistics explains how (and perhaps why) the US has converted racial slurs into taboos that can't be mentioned, not even to discuss them.

  I agree that overt racist attitudes should be "ridiculed and socially punished in general society"; it is wrong to make racial slurs against anyone.

  However, that is no reason to put taboos on them. I am opposed to putting taboos on any words, for any reason, because they gratuitously tie society in knots. When the taboo is on a racial slur, it prevents discussion of racism, and famous anti-racist statements cannot be quoted.

  The same hypersensitivity does its harmful work when students seeing a picture of George Washington with slaves are "triggered," and lose the ability to think and speak about the significance of the fact that Washington owned slaves.

• 5 May 2021 (Progressive democrats gaining power)

  How progressive Democrats gained power in the New Mexico state legislature, replacing some plutocratist Democrats.

  They had to fight against identity politics. If you choose which candidate to support based on matters of identity, you are asking to be manipulated.

• 5 May 2021 (Oil windfall)

  A big oil discovery in Namibia offers windfall profits to some of the inhabitants, until global heating destroys their country.

  So the people of Namibia have a right to a better life — for a couple of decades — thanks to a little trickle-down from the profits of exploiting a giant oilfield and perhaps destroying civilization?

  Of course not! Nobody does! There is no room in the world's carbon budget for any new fossil fuel development, whether it is in California, Namibia, the Mediterranean Sea, or anywhere else.

  President Correa of Ecuador asked the wealthy countries to pay Ecuador not to exploit a new oil field. No one took up that deal, but the basic is still a good one. Let's give the people of Namibia a better life in exchange for an agreement to keep that oil forever in the ground.

  Of course, we need to structure the deal so that corrupt oligarchs don't swipe the money and put it into secret offshore investments.

• 5 May 2021 (Traffic enforcement)

  * Removing armed [thugs] from traffic enforcement and turning it over to civilians should be a major goal of the racial justice movement.*

  Thugs use minor traffic violations — or possible appearance of one — as pretexts to stop blacks and search their cars. Civilian traffic code enforcers would put an end to this practice.

  I contend that the practice violates the fourth amendment regardless of whether racial profiling is used, because an unaggravated moving violation, by itself, is no excuse to search a car.

• 5 May 2021 (Hydrofluorocarbons)

  The EPA is moving to reduce use of hydrofluorocarbons, which are very powerful greenhouse gases.

• 5 May 2021 (Data merging)

  There is a campaign to stop Facebook from merging two collections of data about useds: the data about the useds of Facebook itself, and the data about the useds of WhatsApp.

  Of course, if Facebook eliminates an internal policy barrier that limits its use of the massive data it collects from its useds, that will make its power to abuse people a little greater. It would be better to prevent that.

  But I cannot support this campaign, because doing so would legitimize the injustice those dis-services already do.

  Facebook in its current form should not be allowed to exist at all, because much of the data collection it does should be illegal.

  Don't be a zucker! Stop letting Facebook and WhatsApp use you!

• 5 May 2021 (Biden's surveillance state)

  * The Biden administration is reportedly considering teaming up with private companies to monitor American citizens' private online activity and digital communications.*

  What creates the opportunity to try this the fact that these companies are already snooping on users' private activities. That in turn is due to people's use of nonfree software which snoops, and online dis-services which snoop.

• 5 May 2021 (So-called Israeli dates)

  "Israeli" dates are mainly grown in Palestinian territory, and those grown in Israel proper depend on underpaid Palestinian workers.

• 5 May 2021 (Will Biden crack down?)

  Several plutocratist presidents have found ways to let businesses off the hook for their crimes. Will Biden change directions?

• 5 May 2021 (NAFTA glyphosate)

  The US is using NAFTA to try to stop Mexico from banning glyphosate.

  NAFTA is a business-supremacy treaty, and it used to contain an ISDS clause (I Sue Democratic States) which authorized businesses to sue a country for adopting a law or policy that interferes with their plans.

  The bully revised NAFTA, eliminating the power, but another member country can still do so, and that is what the US is threatening to do.

• 5 May 2021 (Concerns about the surveillance state)

  * We are told by some opponents of the far-right that supporters of equality and civil liberties should not be worried about expansions of U.S. surveillance and counterterrorism capabilities. They are wrong.*

• 5 May 2021 (US Covid Vaccine patent)

  (satire) *U.S. Vows To Invade Next Country That Asks For Covid Vaccine [patent licenses or trade secrets]*

  Even when you're joking, please don't lump together trade secrets and patents as if they were similar!

• 5 May 2021 (Columbian tax plan responses)

  Colombia's president pulled back the regressive tax plan in response to big protests around the country. However, thugs attacked the protesters.

• 5 May 2021 (Tories law proposal)

  The Tories are proposing a law to make it so hard to sue the UK government (claiming its policies are illegal) that the government could get away with anything.

• 5 May 2021 (New Zealand's China Policy)

  New Zealand is proud of taking an "independent" foreign policy towards China: independent of the west, but going along with China in practical terms.

• 5 May 2021 (Remote talk on May 10)

  On May 10, RMS will give a remote talk for the University of Buckingham Free Speech Society, starting at 7pm UK time.

  You can watch the stream here.

• 5 May 2021 (Urgent: Gratis college education in public colleges)

  US citizens: call for the US to offer gratis college education in public colleges.

  To sign without running nonfree JavaScript code from the web site, use the Salsalabs workaround.

• 5 May 2021 (Urgent: Cancel college debt)

  US citizens: call on Biden to cancel college debt.

• 5 May 2021 (Urgent: Texas abortion ban)

  Everyone: call on AT&T to speak out against the Texas abortion ban and pledge to stop funding anti-abortion politicians.

• 5 May 2021 (Bogus Johnson on keeping the UK economy open)

  Bogus Johnson appears to have said, "let the bodies pile high in the thousands," insisting on keeping the UK economy open. (He later changed his mind about that decision, and changed it again, and again, etc.)

  Bogus Johnson has evaded scandal after scandal by refusing to take them seriously, but the current scandal about accepting gifts of money and covering them up is constricting around him.

  Nonetheless, he continues trying to thwart punishment by ignoring it.

  The UK used to hold its ministers accountable with a firm expectation that a minister would resign over any wrongdoing, whether public or personal. The Tories have abolished that expectation by disregarding it, and now they can get away with just about anything. But they are still pushing to destroy every institution that could stop them.

  I can imagine them as saying, "If you're a Tory politician, they let you do it." And, as when the bully said it, it's not really true, unless "let you" includes "be too scared to stop you".

• 5 May 2021 (Indian government ignored scientists)

  The Indian government asked Indian scientists for advice for dealing with Covid-19, but when they said that the variants threatened another wave of illness, the government ignored them.

• 5 May 2021 (Outsourcing regulation)

  The UK, by outsourcing regulation, has demonstrated that this practice encourages corruption that defeats the regulation, with results that sometimes kill and often ruin people.

• 5 May 2021 (Unionizing workers in charter schools)

  Unionizing the workers in charter schools prevents some of their usual kinds of exploitation. Is that enough to make them harmless?

• 5 May 2021 (Peaceful London protests)

  Thousands protested peacefully in London against Tory plans to repress protesters if they cause inconvenience to anyone.

  I fear this will not be enough. The Tories figure they will win the next election, with some help from voter suppression, and aside from that they care about nothing and no one.

• 5 May 2021 (A thug attacked a teenager)

  A thug went mad and attacked a teenager who had surrendered, for not obeying every violent demand.

• 5 May 2021 (Last resident of Wollar Australia)

  An interview with the last resident of the village of Wollar in Australia. Everyone else has sold per property to Peabody coal mining.

  If the new use of the town's land was something necessary for Australia and the world to survive, I would say that what has happened in Wollar was not so bad. At least people are getting bought out and they can move to other communities.

  But given that mining more coal is death, the state should not have permitted a new coal mine at all. Laws should prohibit new coal mines.

• 5 May 2021 (Republican election sabotage bills)

  Republican election sabotage bills go beyond making it inconvenient to vote (especially for Democrats). They propose to allow poll watchers to look at people's ballots (and see how they are voting), harass voters, even try to disqualify voters.

  Republican officials would judge the challenges and there is no reason to expect them to try to judge in a non-partisan or fair manner.

• 5 May 2021 (Data that cars record)

  Cars record everything that happens in them, even opening doors and windows. If you connect a phone to one, it gets lots of data from the phone, and stores them permanently too.

  In the US, various government agencies can get this data out of the car. However, it's not just the government. Surely the car manufacturer gets it too, and can sell it.

  I wonder whether all this data enables the government, and the car manufacturer, to track the car's movements by dead reckoning if the GPS antenna is covered.

  We need laws to tightly restrict what data a car can record.

• 5 May 2021 (Intention to privatize UK public schools)

  The Tory government has stated the intention to privatize all public schools in the UK.

  Privatization would result in paying teachers less, spending less on education, and providing profit to the operators. In addition, the privatized schools could get away with disregarding educational needs, even kicking out students because they cost more money, perhaps leaving them with no school that will admit them.

• 5 May 2021 (Big Pharma doesn't want Medicare)

  Bernie Sanders: *Big Pharma doesn’t want us to expand Medicare. We have to fight them.*

• 5 May 2021 (Children who catch Covid-19)

  Children who catch Covid-19, even without symptoms, have a significant chance of ending up with lasting pain and disability.

  Putting aside the gratuitous disrespect reported for some doctors, there is, in fact, nothing that medicine can do for those people now. No one has any idea what might help. Maybe research will discover treatments in the future, but there is no guarantee.

  This is a fate worse than death. I suppose some of those children wish for death. If they don't now, they may start in a year or several years. But it may take them years to attain that wish.

  To prevent this horrible fate, we need to eradicate Covid-19, from our countries and from the whole world. That means a large fraction of the population must be vaccinated.

  We cannot allow perverse cults to stand in the way.

• 5 May 2021 (UK's fines for violating Covid-19 suppression rules)

  The UK's fines for violating Covid-19-suppression rules fell most heavily on disprivileged racial groups.

  I think it would be interesting to study the importance of various factors in producing that result, including these:

  • Bias, conscious or unconscious, on the part of those issuing the fines, so that whites get fined less often for the same behavior.
  • people in disprivileged racial groups need more often to go somewhere physically and meet with someone.
  • people in disprivileged racial groups are less likely to have a private outdoor space where meeting someone else was permitted.
  • people in disprivileged racial groups tend to be poorer.

• 5 May 2021 (Green Party in Germany)

  Polls suggest that the Green Party may be Germany's strongest party after the next election. That would be truly revolutionary.

  So don't say, "Colorless Green ideas sleep furiously." They are not colorless, and they are not sleeping any more.

• 5 May 2021 (Covid-19 vaccination in Hong Kong)

  Hong Kong plans to require foreign domestic workers to get Covid-19 vaccination.

  Each domestic worker works in close proximity to a family, over long periods of time. If the worker catches Covid-19, person is very likely to transmit it to that family. Therefore, the worker should be vaccinated.

  Perhaps people who work in stores and deal with the public should also have to be vaccinated. A store worker rarely spends even 5 minutes near one customer, but one infected worker in a store for hours can fill the store with virus and several people could catch Covid-19 from that.

  The likelihood of this depends on the store's ventilation system. It also depends on whether customers keep wearing masks when in a store.

  The only sort of exception that, for ethical reasons, needs to exist is for those who, for medical reasons, cannot be vaccinated. Hong Kong says it will offer that exception.

  Aside from those people, anyone who feels discriminated against by this policy has a simple solution at hand: get vaccinated. It's the right thing to do and the safe thing to do. Humanity needs to eradicate Covid-19, and this is the way. Stop complaining, and get vaccinated!

  However, for the time being, many people don't have the option of getting vaccinated, because they live in places where little or no vaccine is available. It would be proper for a country that has money to burn, such as Hong Kong (i.e., China), to offer people admitted with work visas vaccination before or after arrival, if they are coming from one of those places.

  Singapore is using a disco ad to encourage people to get vaccinated.

• 5 May 2021 (Stopping Australian citizens returning from India)

  Australia's chief medical officer talks about the need to stop citizens from returning from India while getting the quarantine system ready to cope with the extremely contagious virus variant now spreading there.

  I think this is legitimate as long as they work fast and get this over quickly.

• 5 May 2021 (Rare South African plants)

  Poaching rare plants in a South African desert is likely to wipe them out, and if it doesn't, global heating effects can do it.

• 4 May 2021 (Chickenpox vaccine)

  Complex and subtle factors have to be weighed to determine whether use of the chickenpox vaccine is desirable. One factor is whether everyone will agree to be vaccinated.

• 4 May 2021 (Funeral)

  Funeral for a glacier.

• 4 May 2021 (Radiation attack)

  Evidence that some sort of directed radiation attack was made against US personnel in the 1990s.

• 4 May 2021 (Redirect harmful subsidies)

  *Redirect harmful subsidies to benefit the planet, UN urges governments.*

• 4 May 2021 (Witchcraft)

  Witchcraft accusations in New Guinea: is it correct to call this a "highly modern phenomenon" and say it is not a practice from "ages past"?

  I think that is a false choice, and that it is part one and part the other.

  It may be true that an accusation of witchcraft nowadays typically results from conflicts related to modern society and the precarious economy. I have no reason to doubt that. It would result from whatever tends to cause strong conflict.

  However, the choice to handle the conflict by accusing someone of witchcraft surely comes out of cruel traditions, and so does the choice to deal with that accusation by torturing the alleged witch.

  The fact that in some regions it is usually males that are accused of witchcraft, while in other regions usually females are accused, supports the idea that the traditional culture of each region is responsible. New Guinea traditional cultures varied greatly in their customs and religious beliefs, including their beliefs about witchcraft.

  Whatever the explanation, the idea of witchcraft is a plague of irrationality that leads to persecution of many innocent people.

  One thing secular humanists do, in many countries, is campaign for an end to persecution of "witches". I see articles about this occasionally in the secular humanist magazine, Free Inquiry.

• 4 May 2021 (Glacial lakes)

  *Glacial lakes threaten millions with flooding as planet heats up.*

• 4 May 2021 (Transmitting Covid-19)

  Getting a Covid-19 vaccination greatly reduces the chance of your transmitting Covid-19 to anyone else.

  Please get vaccinated as soon as you can.

• 4 May 2021 (False figures of Covid-19 deaths)

  India is giving false figures for the number of people killed by Covid-19, reporting only half as many deaths as the number of bodies that were cremated.

  In the US we have seen governments falsify Covid-19 statistics in Florida and New York State.

• 4 May 2021 (Reinstating Covid-19 restrictions)

  Oregon has reinstated restrictions to prevent spread of Covid-19, based on projections that this would avoid hundreds of deaths from Covid-19.

  How about conditioning reopening in each area on the fraction of residents who have been vaccinated?

• 4 May 2021 (Shooting protesters)

  Chad's military shot protesters who were criticizing Chad's military rulers — which include the son of the recently deceased former dictator.

• 4 May 2021 (Evidence-Free Destruction of Reputations)

  Glenn Greenwald: *The Left Continues to Destroy Itself and Others With Evidence-Free Destruction of Reputations.*

• 4 May 2021 (Denuclearization)

  Biden says that he continues to push for "denuclearization" of North Korea, which is an impossible goal. Kim has learned that nuclear weapons are the way to protect his dictatorial power, and will not consider giving up that protection.

• 4 May 2021 (Concealing pipeline assurance company)

  Canada has obtained new insurance coverage for the planet-roasting Trans Mountain pipeline, and is concealing which insurance companies are providing the coverage.

  This is a reaction to the pressure already placed on insurance companies to stop insuring fossil fuel projects.

  Canada's government takes a planet-roaster stance, and what we see here is how far it will go to continue destroying civilization's future.

• 4 May 2021 (New York Times 1619 project)

  Some Republicans object to the New York Times' 1619 project, about the history of slavery in the US, claiming that it is wrong to call attention to the country's flaws.

  Since some of these flaws continue to cause injustice today, I believe as a general principle that we should pay attention to them, not cover them up. Therefore, I would like to look at the 1619 Project and see what it says.

  I am blocked from doing so because its web site insists on running nonfree software (written in Javascript) in my browser. Since I don't allow anyone to do that to me, the site shows me a blank window.

  Does anyone know of another way I can look at that material? Perhaps a way that is not "interactive"?

  Because of that injustice in the site's infrastructure, I must urge everyone to decline to visit that site, unless and until they fix it to be accessible from the Free World. I hope that school curriculum will likewise refuse to suggest the site as a resource until it has been fixed.

  I hope that they fix it soon, to make the material available for viewing from the Free World. But we will need to press them to do it.

  Does anyone know where we should direct the pressure?

• 4 May 2021 (For the People Act)

  *How the For the People Act [would blunt] New Florida Voting Restrictions.*

• 3 May 2021 (How to trigger you)

  Delete your social media accounts, because sooner or later the algorithm will figure out how to trigger you and start changing you so you can't get away.

• 3 May 2021 (Study pressure)

  Pressure for people to study for careers in science and technology is leading universities to stop teaching history.

• 3 May 2021 (COVID vaccine)

  *Who's Controlling the COVID Vaccine: 10 Myths and Misdirections.*

  I posted this link because overall the points are valid. However, talking about the concept of "intellectual property" inevitably spreads confusion through over generalization and putting scare quotes around the term does nothing to undo that confusion. Each use of that term inherently misinforms.

  The way to avoid that misinformation is to talk about patents and about trade secrecy as two separate issues which are legally unrelated.

• 3 May 2021 (Thugs and military weapons)

  Win Without War's campaign to end the arming of US thug departments with military weapons.

• 3 May 2021 (Democracy and repression)

  The world struggle between democracy and repression has been going oppression's way for ten years. The influence of repressive powers, China and Russia plays an important role, and so do the supporters of the bullshitter.

  The existence of a powerful antidemocratic party in the US undermines its influence for democracy in several ways: it makes the US a disappointing example of democracy's functioning; it encourages repressive and aggressive US policies, which set bad examples themselves; its support for plutocracy weakens the US and thus undermines its ability to do anything inspiring.

• 3 May 2021 (Right to take and publish photos)

  The right to take and publish photos in public places is under threat from another direction: in the UK, some campaign to criminalize photos of breast-feeding in public.

  I sympathize with Ms Creasy's feeling of disgust, but we should not be led into supporting a dangerous law by a feeling alone.

  The right to take and publish photos is already threatened on several fronts. Some US states have adopted "ag gag" bills that criminalize publishing pictures of farms' treatment of animals. Some countries, including Spain, criminalize publishing photos of thugs committing acts of violence, under vague and stretchable conditions. And many countries restrict photos that include buildings whose architecture is copyrighted, even in the background.

  To combat these threats, we need to insist on a simple and general principle: wherever you have the right to be, you have the right to photograph anything that you can see, and to show the photograph to others.

  Those who wish to breast-feed in public and avoid others' looking at or photographing their breasts have an easy way to prevent this: wear (or don at the moment of need) a garment that can be arrayed to block the view. This can achieve the goal more reliably than the proposed law, while not putting anyone's rights in question.

• 3 May 2021 (Extinction Rebellion protests)

  Extinction Rebellion organized highly visible protests in London, in many cases blocking the travel of cars which are mostly using fossil fuels.

  The four factors of the apocalypse:
     global heating, global hating,
     global eating, global mating.

• 3 May 2021 (Anti-Protest Laws)

  *Dangerous Republican Anti-Protest Laws Grant Drivers License to Kill.*

• 3 May 2021 (Right-wing extremism on the rise)

  *Right-Wing Extremism Is on the Rise in Israel.*

  It is ironic in the extreme to see that a party with views comparable to Nazis is so powerful in Israel that it may soon be in government.

• 3 May 2021 (Tax proposals)

  Comparing Biden's tax proposals with what FDR actually did.

  Biden's plan goes further in regard to capital gains, though in some others it does not go as far.

  Ralph Nader: we must make Congress raise the taxes on rich businesses and rich people.

• 3 May 2021 (Urgent: reduce drug prices)

  US citizens: call on Congress to reduce drug prices this year.

• 3 May 2021 (Sale tax)

  Thousands are protesting in Bogotá against a plan by the right-wing government to institute a sales tax.

  A sales tax is a very regressive method, so this plan is designed to hurt the poor and spare the rich. So I support the protesters.

• 3 May 2021 (Mining companies)

  Pedro Castillo, Socialist, says that as president of Peru he would make mining companies "70% of the profits in Peru".

• 3 May 2021 (Charged for letting violent protesters in)

  *Republican [state representative] who let violent protesters into Oregon state capitol is charged.*

• 3 May 2021 (Interfering with some kind of tracking)

  Apple takes a step to interfere with some kinds of tracking of users.

  If Apple's operating were free/libre, public-spirited hackers would already have released a modified version which had the defaults set to protect privacy. You could get the benefit of these modifications without having to work on them yourself.

• 2 May 2021 (End profit-based decisions on fossil fuels)

  Proposing to end the profit-based decisions on whether to invest in fossil fuel infrastructure.

• 2 May 2021 (West Antarctic ice sheet)

  The West Antarctic ice sheet could start to break up within this decade. If it does, it will eventually raise sea level by an additional two feet. I don't know how long it would take for that extra sea level rise to occur.

• 2 May 2021 (UK undercover thugs)

  UK undercover thugs that infiltrated peaceful political groups lied about their activities to justify continuing to spy on them. This according to former minister Peter Hain, who participated in a political campaign to end apartheid in South Africa and thereby became one of the targets for this spying.

  He charges that the choice to infiltrate that movement was made for political reasons: the government supported South Africa and therefore opposed pressure against apartheid.

• 2 May 2021 (UK police officers convicted)

  *Four [UK] police officers have been convicted after one of them beat up a member of the public and the others helped him to cover it up.*

• 2 May 2021 (Latest round of US relief checks)

  The latest round of relief checks sent to US taxpayers made a big, though temporary, dent in overall poverty in the US..

  Making this permanent would convert it into a form of universal basic income.

  The popularity of extra support to Americans suggests it might be politically possible to lift all children in the US out of poverty.

• 2 May 2021 (Border-crossing children)

  The US border thugs are now quickly transferring border-crossing children to long-term shelters run by the Department of Health and Human Services. Far fewer children are in the first-level camps at any time. This is how the system is supposed to work.

  It is still necessary for journalists to look at the conditions in those shelters, and in the first-level camps.

• 2 May 2021 (Climate defense activism)

  Climate defense activism, shared, can give people a feeling of joy to cope with the external disasters.

• 2 May 2021 (Former Louisiana thug faces charges)

  A former Louisiana thug faces state and federal charges for attacking and injuring a man he was arresting, with no legitimate reason.

  If we weed out the violent thugs for crimes that are not fatal, we may be able to avoid most of the killings that some of them would have gone on to commit.

• 2 May 2021 (Free childcare)

  *Free childcare equals class warfare, say Republicans.* I agree, and it's time the non-rich fought back — let's march! Children should grow up with less stress.

• 2 May 2021 (US prescription drug prices)

  *Study Commissioned by Sanders Shows US Pays 2 to 4 Times More for Prescription Drugs Than Other Nations.*

  US laws provide a handout to pharma companies by restricting the practice of buying prescription drugs at retail price in other countries and selling them to Americans to fill their prescriptions. That allows pharma companies to charge a higher price in the US than anywhere else in the world.

• 2 May 2021 (Increase in military spending)

  The world's major powers increased their military spending substantially in 2020.

• 2 May 2021 (Australians stuck in India)

  Australia has made it a crime for Australians stuck in India to return home. They face imprisonment, and ruinous fines.

  Many of them have been stuck in India for a year trying to get a flight home. The seats available were few and expensive.

• 2 May 2021 (Climate scientists are seeing hope)

  Rebecca Solnit: climate scientists are starting to see hope that we will do what is necessary, as fast as is necessary, to avoid climate disaster.

  But we are not on a course for safety yet. We need to fight for this. The new hope is that, by fighting, we can win.

• 2 May 2021 (Theocratic populism)

  India's encounter with theocratic populism is much like that in the US.

  Indian politicians threaten criminal charges against people that report the shortage of oxygen.

  I am disappointed that the article propagates a claim about the emperor Nero that may be a lie concocted by his enemies.

• 2 May 2021 (Bolsonaro may face impeachment)

  Bolsonaro may face impeachment and prosecution for almost half a million Brazilians that his policies caused to die.

• 2 May 2021 (Defending rights of wetlands)

  A lawsuit in Florida attempts to defend the rights of some wetlands.

  I may well agree that the construction of that housing should be stopped. Aside from the threat to the wetlands, it sounds like the construction is too close to sea level and likely to be flooded in a few decades. I suspect that someone is being swindled. No one should build anything in lowland areas of Florida.

  However, the idea that the wetlands "have rights" seems like a kludge. Philosophically, only a being that can have desires and make choices can have rights. I would rather achieve the same result — blocking bad development — in a conceptually coherent way.

• 2 May 2021 (England reducing toxic particulate pollution)

  England has restricted burning coal and wood inside houses, to reduce toxic particulate pollution.

• 2 May 2021 (Taliban deal with the US)

  The Taliban made a deal with the US to protect US and other western forces in Afghanistan, until their planned departure on May 1, from other Islamist groups.

  This follows the Taliban's pattern. In 2001, the Taliban offered to kick out al-Qa'ida for the sake of peace with the US. Too bad Dubya was not interested.

• 2 May 2021 (Tunisia loan through the IMF)

  Tunisia has arranged a loan through the IMF, and (as usual) there is an element of dooH niboR in it. Wages will be reduced.

  Will the profits of business shareholders be reduced?

• 2 May 2021 (Abu Zubaydah suing countries that kidnapped and tortured him)

  Abu Zubaydah, a prisoner in Guantanamo based on an false accusation of being a member of al-Qa'ida, is suing the countries that kidnapped and tortured him.

• 1 May 2021 (Urgent: Senate counterpart to Stop Militarizing Law Enforcement Act)

  US citizens: call on your senators to introduce a Senate counterpart to the Stop Militarizing Law Enforcement Act (H.R. 1694).

  The Capitol Switchboard number is 202-224-3121.

  If you call, please spread the word!

• 1 May 2021 (Ban on flavored cigarettes and cigars)

  The FDA is planning to ban flavored cigarettes and cigars.

  The flavored cigarettes in the US are mainly flavored with menthol. ISTR reading that the menthol makes cigarettes more attractive to teenagers.

• 1 May 2021 (Controversies about Substack)

  A discussion of controversies about Substack.

  Is it possible to read Substack and make a donation to a writer without running nonfree software? The usual ways of paying most web sites require the payer to run nonfree software, which is why I never pay a web site.

• 1 May 2021 (Biden's proposed reform to the international tax system)

  The head of the OECD is in favor of Biden's proposed reform to the international tax system.

  I agree it would be a step forward, but the system I proposed to put pressure on big companies to split themselves up would be much better.

• 1 May 2021 (Torture of people in jail)

  A sheriff in Georgia faces charges for ordering torture of people in jail.

• 1 May 2021 (Case mounted by Chevron against Steven Donziger)

  Progressives in Congress have asked Attorney General Garland to review the case mounted by Chevron against Steven Donziger.

• 1 May 2021 (Thugs that injured Karen Garner)

  The thugs that injured Karen Garner have resigned.

  I am heartened to see several cases in which thugs have been held accountable for violence that was not fatal. This is the way to teach cops to avoid the habits that lead to unjustified violence, which occasionally is fatal.

• 1 May 2021 (Police robo-dog)

  *New York mayor calls off ‘creepy, alienating’ police robo-dog.*

• 1 May 2021 (Navalny's opposition movement)

  Putin has labeled Navalny's opposition movement as "terrorist".

  We should not forget that "anti-terrorism" laws often turn out to be anti-dissent laws.

• 1 May 2021 (Britons taught by Bogus Johnson)

  Has Bogus Johnson taught most Britons to accept bullshit from their leaders?

• 1 May 2021 (Female political prisoners in Iran)

  *Female political prisoners in Iran facing ‘psychological torture’, say campaigners.*

• 1 May 2021 (UK government sued over climate crisis)

  *[Three] UK students sue government over human rights impact of climate crisis.*

• 1 May 2021 (Phasing out glyphosate genetically modified corn)

  Mexico is trying to phase out glyphosate genetically modified corn, but the US is trying to interfere.

• 1 May 2021 (UN Treaty)

  *UN Treaty Could Force Mining Companies to Behave Responsibly.*

• 1 May 2021 (Thugs who killed Mario Gonzalez)

  Thugs in Alameda, California, killed Mario Gonzalez by kneeling on his back, then lied about it.

• 1 May 2021 (Low-hanging fruit in the climate battle)

  *The low-hanging fruit in the climate battle? Cutting down on meat.*

• 1 May 2021 (Epoch times and conspiracy theories)

  The Epoch Times is accused of sinking into far-fetched conspiracy theories since 2017.

  A priori I can't tell whether the accusation that it is fake news is valid, or fake news itself. I would like to be able to verify this.

• 1 May 2021 (Urgent: Add Medicare expansions and improvements to the American Families Plan)

  US citizens: call on Biden to add Medicare expansions and improvements to the American Families Plan.

• 1 May 2021 (Urgent: Green augmentation of Biden's infrastructure plan)

  US citizens: call for green augmentation of Biden's infrastructure plan.

• 1 May 2021 (Letting Republicans rig the 2022 election)

  Manchin argues for letting Republicans rig the 2022 election because otherwise they would try to steal it by force.

  Is it better if they rig it?

• 1 May 2021 (Virtual reality to train cops)

  Using virtual reality to train cops on how to respond to difficult situations and avoid killing innocent people.

  If it enables them to see how their scores are worse when dealing with blacks than with whites, could it train them out of unconscious bias?

• 1 May 2021 (Indoor Covid-safety)

  Covid-safety of people in an indoor space depends greatly on the amount of ventilation — and on use of face masks.

• 1 May 2021 (Not stopping an inmate from killing himself)

  A New York City thug faces criminal charges for ordering subordinates not to save a prisoner who was killing himself.

• 1 May 2021 (Video of the death of Andrew Brown, Jr.)

  Elizabeth City, North Carolina, privately showed relatives a heavily edited video of how thugs shot and killed Andrew Brown, Jr.

  One thing they saw is that the thugs began shooting just as they said, "Show us your hands", while in fact his hands were in plain view.

• 1 May 2021 (Chill all controversial public statements)

  Vanuatu is about to chill all controversial public statements with a law making libel a crime.

  Even if that law is applied honestly, it will make all controversial journalism dangerous. But such honesty is not likely, as the powerful will keep trying to distort the law.

  We have seen many examples of use of such laws for repression.

• 1 May 2021 (German government's climate protection measures)

  * Germany’s supreme constitutional court has ruled that the government’s climate protection measures are insufficient to protect future generations.* The government must adopt stronger climate defense measures.

• 1 May 2021 (Extinction Rebellion activists found not guilty)

  Three Extinction Rebellion activists were found not guilty of charges for a protest against a denialist right-wing newspaper.

• 1 May 2021 (Regulating Chlorpyrifos)

  A court ordered the EPA make a proper decision about regulating Chlorpyrifos.

• 1 May 2021 (Laws for leaving children unattended)

  Two more states have passed laws to allow parents to leave their children alone for a while, without being accused of "neglect".

• 1 May 2021 (Dealing with the homeless)

  San Francisco is taking the police out of dealing with the homeless and complaints about them.

  The idea is to regard them as people that need help, rather than as nuisances to be pushed away, which is how San Francisco has treated them historically for a long time.

• 1 May 2021 (Factories ready to manufacture Covid-19 Vaccines)

  *Factory Owners Around the World Stand Ready to Manufacture Covid-19 Vaccines.*

  Those who lobby not to allow them to try to do it claim they could not.

• 1 May 2021 (Portland protesters sprayed by tear gas)

  After Portland thugs sprayed protesters with tear gas in July, over 1000 of the protesters reported medical problems that did not quickly go away.

  In particular, it seems to have a tendency to cause abnormal menstruation. I wonder if it can cause abortions also. Would Republicans ban tear gas, if so?

  We say "tear gas", but I've read that there are different products with different composition. They might have different medical effects, too. I wonder what kind, or kinds, the Portland thugs sprayed.

• 1 May 2021 (Senators urged Biden to close Guantanamo)

  24 senators urged Biden to get to work on closing the Guantanamo prison.

  The US should either offer them real trials or stop holding them in prison.

• 1 May 2021 (Republicans drawing new congressional districts)

  Republicans in many states are working to draw new congressional districts so as to dominate the House of Representatives with a minority of the votes.

• 1 May 2021 (AI to analyze and manipulate)

  Companies and apps are using AI to analyze people's voices to manipulate them.

• 1 May 2021 (Nigeria permitting jailing for criticizing religion)

  The government of Nigeria is permitting religious fanatics to jail humanist Mubarak Bala for criticizing religion.

• 1 May 2021 (Attorney Beaudreau for Deputy Interior Secretary)

  *Senate Urged to Reject Fossil Fuel Attorney Beaudreau for Deputy Interior Secretary.*

• 1 May 2021 (Permanent apartheid system)

  Human Rights Watch has recognized that Israel intends to operate an apartheid system permanently, in Palestine and in Israel.

• 1 May 2021 (NYC suing Chipotle)

  New York City is suing Chipotle for failing to give workers predictable schedules.

  For workers that are terrified of losing their jobs, being compelled to work at last minute is a big hardship.




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