# articles

feed_id: 36f63f6a9feaf6f1f500be1c6146be68
title: Foreign policy post offered to John Bolton
uri: Foreign-policy-post-offered-to-John-Bolton
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-sep-dec.html#28_December_2016_%28Foreign_policy_post_offered_to_John_Bolton%29

content:
<p>
Trump offered a major foreign policy post to John Bolton, whose
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2016/12/15/if-donald-trump-is-so-upset-about-iraq-wmd-lies-why-is-he-hiring-john-bolton/">scheming</a>
made it possible for Dubya to pretend that Saddam Hussein had chemical
weapons.


feed_id: ebb35d144e1f3447c4376a17f8e3b62e
title: Fake news on Facebook
uri: Fake-news-on-Facebook
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-sep-dec.html#28_December_2016_%28Fake_news_on_Facebook%29
content:
<p>
Facebook 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/dec/15/facebook-flag-fake-news-fact-check">will
use several outside fact-checkers to downgrade fake news</a>.


feed_id: 985a71e244d446264edea6429953cf73
title: Effect of roads on nature
uri: Effect-of-roads-on-nature
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-sep-dec.html#28_December_2016_%28Effect_of_roads_on_nature%29
content:
<p>
New Map Reveals 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/dec/15/new-map-reveals-shattering-effect-of-roads-on-nature">Shattering
Effect</a> of Roads on Nature.


feed_id: f669ba14c2d2dfba6e65bc51de494afc
title: DMCA takedown notice sent to art piece
uri: DMCA-takedown-notice-sent-to-art-piece
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-sep-dec.html#28_December_2016_%28DMCA_takedown_notice_sent_to_art_piece%29

content:
<p>
HBO 
<a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4032504/Game-Thrones-threatens-SUE-autistic-schoolgirl-13-girl-used-phrase-winter-coming-artwork-competition.html">sent
a DMCA takedown notice to a piece of art</a> that used the phrase
"winter is coming".
<p>
The article suggests that at some point in this issue, people confused
copyright law with trademark law.  The two have nothing to do with
each other.
<p>
HBO has no copyright claim based on that phrase.  That phrase might be
a trademark, but the DMCA is only concerned with copyright law and is
not applicable to trademarks at all.  Anyway, using a trademarked word
or symbol in a noncommercial way is not trademark infringement.


feed_id: 679becc2a202610fb30b94917b5ebd9c
title: Rapid heating in the Arctic
uri: Rapid-heating-in-the-Arctic
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-sep-dec.html#28_December_2016_%28Rapid_heating_in_the_Arctic%29
content:
<p>
Unprecedented rapid heating in the Arctic is 
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/12/14/noaa-issues-jaw-dropping-assessment-unprecedented-arctic-warming">showing
in many different measurements</a>.


feed_id: a207da71784c366c92d1f8788d213433
title: Uncounted votes in Michigan
uri: Uncounted-votes-in-Michigan
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-sep-dec.html#28_December_2016_%28Uncounted_votes_in_Michigan%29
content:
<p>
Michigan refused to count 
<a href="http://www.gregpalast.com/palast-report-democracy-nowby-rejecting-recount-michigan-covering-75000-ballots-never-counted/">75,000
votes</a> for president, most of them in Detroit and Flint which means
they are likely to be Democratic votes.  The margin of Republican
so-called victory was 10,000.
<p>
Do you think the troll really won Michigan?  Not likely.


feed_id: cc0d93ee083706829c51950c6b582d87
title: War on Sharing
uri: 2016-12-30-War-on-Sharing
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-sep-dec.html#28_December_2016_%28War_on_Sharing%29
content:
<p>
When people are
<a href="https://stallman.org/articles/conscripted.html">conscripted
by the DMCA into the War on Sharing</a>.
</p>


feed_id: 83a1c0ac4113506396f92a63bd84416d
title: Proposed Interior Department head
uri: Proposed-Interior-Department-head
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-sep-dec.html#28_December_2016_%28Proposed_Interior_Department_head%29

content:
<p>
The troll's choice to head the Interior Department 
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2016/12/14/coal-champion-zinke-will-use-interior-plunder-public-lands">promotes
coal mining at all costs to society</a>.


feed_id: 17c04699f98c76ecbfba848a7fb44782
title: American held in Egypt for over 900 days
uri: American-held-in-Egypt-for-over-900-days
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-sep-dec.html#28_December_2016_%28American_held_in_Egypt_for_over_900_days%29

content:
<p>
American Held Over 900 Days in Egypt 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/15/egypt-children-clinic-aya-hijazi-release">Begs
US for Help Before Trump's Reign</a>.


feed_id: 0c72e330ce5d3164550a5d4963e6bddf
title: Lousy nursing homes in Britain
uri: Lousy-nursing-homes-in-Britain
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-sep-dec.html#28_December_2016_%28Lousy_nursing_homes_in_Britain%29

content:
<p>
Many Britons 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/dec/15/old-people-dementia-death-social-care-costs">would
rather die</a> than live in a typical lousy nursing home using up the
money they could otherwise leave to their children.


feed_id: bc8fe7ca05b2c0f85fdbafd8a83bd3e6
title: Destitute Brits
uri: Destitute-Brits
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-sep-dec.html#28_December_2016_%28Destitute_Brits%29
content:
<p>
As the British state finds excuses to punish people by leaving them
destitute, they 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/dec/15/christmas-food-bank-not-eaten-three-days-paddington-london">end
up in food banks</a>.


feed_id: bbb9c988a90cb6c820ea6708eeabfbad
title: Evacuation from east Aleppo
uri: Evacuation-from-east-Aleppo
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-sep-dec.html#28_December_2016_%28Evacuation_from_east_Aleppo%29
content:
<p>
Evacuation of wounded people from east Aleppo 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/15/syria-ambulances-on-the-move-as-aleppo-evacuation-operation-begins">has
begun</a>.


feed_id: 2d70ab16baf30b7cadc9aa50f2b7bd07
title: ISP choices in San Francisco
uri: ISP-choices-in-San-Francisco
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-sep-dec.html#28_December_2016_%28ISP_choices_in_San_Francisco%29
content:
<p>
San Francisco has passed a law 
<a href="https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2016/12/san-francisco-passes-ordinance-protect-isp-competition">stopping
landlords from limiting their tenants' choice of ISP</a>.
<p>
This is a small positive step, but not applicable in many places in
the US because most places have few high-speed ISPs to choose among.
<p>
For the US to get much benefit from ISP competition, it needs to offer
most Americans a choice of many competing ISPs.  Failing that, we
should prohibit ISPs from keeping any records of what their customers
connect to.


feed_id: 28bf4b0792f803d006f7665ccb9f9486
title: Bill allows gov't to implant microchip in people
uri: Bill-allows-gov-t-to-implant-microchip-in-people
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-sep-dec.html#28_December_2016_%28Bill_allows_govt_to_implant_microchip_in_people%29

content:
<p>
House Passes Bill 
<a href="http://www.activistpost.com/2016/12/house-passes-bill-allowing-government-microchip-citizens-mental-disabilities.html">Allowing
Government to Microchip Citizens</a> With "Mental Disabilities."


feed_id: 118a677c061f4616dc1b6b6abdc88ccf
title: Governor promises sanctuary for science
uri: Governor-promises-sanctuary-for-science
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-sep-dec.html#28_December_2016_%28Governor_promises_sanctuary_for_science%29

content:
<p>
California Governor Says His State Will Be a
<a href="http://motherboard.vice.com/read/california-governor-jerry-brown-agu">Sanctuary
for Science</a> Under Trump.


feed_id: 305a5ac4bb69107d454eba99570d8cd8
title: The need for commons
uri: The-need-for-commons
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-sep-dec.html#28_December_2016_%28The_need_for_commons%29
content:
<p>
George Monbiot: Neither the market nor the state can provide what
people need.  
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/dec/13/despair-mess-commons-transform-society">We
need commons</a> as well.
<p>
The article starts with a brilliant presentation of the contradictions
of today's plutocratic capitalism.
<p>
Ironically, the article 
<a href="http://gnu.org/gnu/the-gnu-project.html">refers to the GNU
system as "Linux"</a> and mentions "open source".  Monbiot is probably
not aware that 
<a href="http://gnu.org/philosophy/open-source-misses-the-point.html">"open
source" is a corporate-friendly cover-up</a> for views more like his.


feed_id: 08a607b5154d4a1d293428f39c982fa2
title: Ohio law bans abortion after 20 weeks
uri: Ohio-law-bans-abortion-after-20-weeks
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-sep-dec.html#28_December_2016_%28Ohio_law_bans_abortion_after_20_weeks%29

content:
<p>
Ohio has passed a law 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/dec/13/ohio-vetoes-heartbeat-bill-abortion-ban-john-kasich">banning
abortion after 20 weeks</a>.
<p>
The aim is to create an opportunity for the Supreme Court to reverse
the Roe v Wade decision, in case Trump gets to put a theocratic
fanatic on the court.


feed_id: dfe5ab2eee76f95d74ab47d1949b61f6
title: Urgent: Block Trans-Pecos pipeline
uri: Urgent-Block-Trans-Pecos-pipeline
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-sep-dec.html#27_December_2016_%28Urgent%3A_Block_Trans-Pecos_pipeline%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: 
<a href="https://act.credoaction.com/sign/no_trans_pecos">call on
Obama</a> to block the Trans-Pecos pipeline (intended to carry fracked
gas).


feed_id: c4206e825a9a1569f9d10c4ce3e4322d
title: Overriding election results
uri: Overriding-election-results
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-sep-dec.html#27_December_2016_%28Overriding_election_results%29
content:
<p>
Many presidential electors (members of the electoral college) are
reportedly considering disregarding their states' official election
results and not voting for the troll.
<p>
It would be improper for electors to disregard the voters' choice over
political disagreement.  However, on this occasion there are two
reasons why electors might legitimately decide to override the
official election results: because the troll 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-sep-dec.html#14_December_2016_(Trumps_phone_call_to_Taiwans_president)">intends
to violate the emoluments requirement of the Constitution</a>, and is
therefore unfit for office, and because of voter-suppression, which
means that the official election results in some states are false and
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-sep-dec.html#11_December_2016_(Democrats)">Clinton
actually won</a>.


feed_id: 3272ea9db265a01950cc37c84611734c
title: Haiti's fraudulent presidential frontrunner
uri: Haiti-s-fraudulent-presidential-frontrunner
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-sep-dec.html#27_December_2016_%28Haitis_fraudulent_presidential_frontrunner%29

content:
<p>
Haiti's Fraudulent Presidential Frontrunner
<a href="http://upsidedownworld.org/archives/haiti/haitis-fraudulent-presidential-frontrunner-seizes-land-for-his-own-banana-republic/">Seizes
Land for His Own Banana Republic</a>.


feed_id: 980ca8ba6ed9dff9aa02a002e2c812af
title: The cease-fire arranged by Turkey and Russia
uri: The-cease-fire-arranged-by-Turkey-and-Russia
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-sep-dec.html#27_December_2016_%28The_cease-fire_arranged_by_Turkey_and_Russia%29

content:
<p>
The cease-fire arranged by Turkey and Russia may have failed to hold
because
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/14/iran-aleppo-syria-shia-militia">Assad
needed Hezbollah's militia more than Russian bombers</a>.


feed_id: 104894b2bcbf8aaf8b8444e700a3b190
title: Democratic Party emails
uri: Democratic-Party-emails
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-sep-dec.html#27_December_2016_%28Democratic_Party_emails%29
content:
<p>
Reported details of the 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/dec/14/dnc-hillary-clinton-emails-hacked-russia-aide-typo-investigation-finds">phishing
attack</a> that obtained John Podesta's password.
<p>
The article ends with claims about Russian cracking groups, but I
can't tell from this article whether those claims are credible.
<p>
Craig Murray says that the Democratic Party emails came from a
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/views/2016/12/12/cias-absence-conviction">whistleblower</a>,
not from a cracker, and that he knows the whistleblower.
<p>
I trust Craig Murray, but I am not sure which of the conflicting
stories is true.


feed_id: be04e6ff288a164e0ecea6ecfd2ffb7e
title: UK campaign against shari'a law
uri: UK-campaign-against-shari-a-law
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-sep-dec.html#27_December_2016_%28UK_campaign_against_sharia_law%29

content:
<p>
UK women campaign 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/dec/14/sharia-courts-family-law-women">against
applying shari'a law in British family courts</a>.


feed_id: a02fb216382992da12816e6c3ffdad13
title: Roberto Kozak
uri: Roberto-Kozak
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-sep-dec.html#27_December_2016_%28Roberto_Kozak%29
content:
<p>
How Roberto Kozak 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/14/roberto-kozak-chile-latin-america-schindler">saved
thousands of people</a> from Pinochet's torturers and murderers.


feed_id: 7dea4421b0a66f4b7d156a6a3de306b7
title: Duterte sought suspected criminals to kill
uri: Duterte-sought-suspected-criminals-to-kill
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-sep-dec.html#27_December_2016_%28Duterte_sought_suspected_criminals_to_kill%29

content:
<p>
Duterte said that he used to drive around town 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/14/philippines-president-rodrigo-duterte-personally-killed-criminals">looking
for opportunities to kill suspected criminals</a>.


feed_id: 2ea52aa23e097288016f493cc29f340b
title: Malaysian opposition candidate imprisoned
uri: Malaysian-opposition-candidate-imprisoned
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-sep-dec.html#27_December_2016_%28Malaysian_opposition_candidate_imprisoned%29

content:
<p>
The main Malaysian opposition candidate has been 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/14/jailed-former-malaysian-opposition-leader-anwar-ibrahim-loses-last-appeal">imprisoned
and excluded on absurd grounds</a> ("sodomy").


feed_id: e5354d5e8752e70923a122dd23e5089f
title: "Antisemitism" law would endanger freedom
uri: Antisemitism-law-would-endanger-freedom
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-sep-dec.html#27_December_2016_%28Antisemitism_law_would_endanger_freedom%29

content:
<p>
The US Senate unanimously approved a 
<a href="http://nypost.com/2016/12/08/congress-rotten-idea-for-fighting-anti-semitism/">definition
of "antisemitism" that includes political positions about Israel</a>.
If this law is passed, it will endanger political freedom in US
universities.


feed_id: b262e0b20fded9b155a6e751343e2053
title: Palestinian shot for taking photos
uri: Palestinian-shot-for-taking-photos
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-sep-dec.html#27_December_2016_%28Palestinian_shot_for_taking_photos%29

content:
<p>
An Israeli soldier 
<a href="http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=774398">shot a
Palestinian for taking photos</a> as the soldiers raided his town.


feed_id: e2f3f56e006efdc14ded0b750eed8960
title: Palestinians imprisoned without charge
uri: Palestinians-imprisoned-without-charge
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-sep-dec.html#27_December_2016_%28Palestinians_imprisoned_without_charge%29

content:
<p>
Two Palestinians imprisoned by Israel without charges have been 
<a href="http://imemc.org/article/two-palestinian-hunger-strikers-stop-drinking-water-after-israeli-court-denies-their-appeal/">on
hunger strike for 80 days</a>.  After a court refused to release them,
they have decided to stop drinking water.
<p>
Many other Palestinians are 
<a href="http://972mag.com/israel-to-keep-palestinian-clown-in-prison-without-trial/123685/">imprisoned
without trial</a>.


feed_id: af665d541bd3f72288b610dcaf8786ad
title: President you-know-what
uri: President-you-know-what
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-sep-dec.html#27_December_2016_%28President_you-know-what%29
content:
<p>
President you-know-what 
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/views/2016/12/14/president-reject-dont-say-his-name">might
be driven to distraction if people don't say his name</a>.


feed_id: c779e4ff4d737ac7a34f7dc4700c3fa1
title: For-profit hospitals
uri: For-profit-hospitals
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-sep-dec.html#27_December_2016_%28For-profit_hospitals%29
content:
<p>
A US hospital chain 
<a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/rosalindadams/intake">tricks people
into committing themselves as mentally incompetent</a>, then holds
them as long as insurance will pay for.
<p>
This is one of many reasons to eliminate for-profit hospitals.


feed_id: 473e4d4034e8557b8e12c37319722af3
title: US shelters officials accused of corruption
uri: US-shelters-officials-accused-of-corruption
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-sep-dec.html#27_December_2016_%28US_shelters_officials_accused_of_corruption%29

content:
<p>
Officials accused of corruption in several countries have 
<a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/corrupt-foreign-officials-find-refuge-in-united-states">found
shelter in the US</a>.
<p>
In some cases, there are valid reasons for not deporting them —
for instance, that the justice system in their home country is
suspect.


feed_id: 7936e4041e116a89fd1a089495e71eb4
title: Papering over conflicts of interest
uri: Papering-over-conflicts-of-interest
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-sep-dec.html#27_December_2016_%28Papering_over_conflicts_of_interest%29

content:
<p>
Trump has announced he 
<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2016-12-12/trump-said-to-postpone-announcement-on-future-of-his-businesses">will
paper over his conflicts of interest</a>, rather than actually
eliminate them.


feed_id: fff19f3aea7372358b44a58240b50b8c
title: Price Waterhouse Coopers software security flaws
uri: Price-Waterhouse-Coopers-software-security-flaws
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-sep-dec.html#27_December_2016_%28Price_Waterhouse_Coopers_software_security_flaws%29

content:
<p>
Price Waterhouse Coopers 
<a href="http://www.zdnet.com/article/pwc-sends-security-researchers-cease-and-desist-letter-instead-of-fixing-security-flaw/">tried
to suppress knowledge of a security flaw</a> by making legal threats
against the security company that found it.
<p>
All proprietary software must be suspected of 
<a href="https://gnu.org/proprietary/">concealing flaws</a>, but
software from Price Waterhouse Coopers now has an extra reason for
distrust.


feed_id: d62ee6d8979536ac1c3100afd71278f7
title: Rush to save copies of climate data
uri: Rush-to-save-copies-of-climate-data
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-sep-dec.html#27_December_2016_%28Rush_to_save_copies_of_climate_data%29

content:
<p>
US government scientists are 
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/12/13/scientists-racing-archive-climate-data-denier-chief-trump-takes-office">rushing
to save copies of climate data</a> before Trump can destroy them.
<p>
Harper in Canada ordered climate research data 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2015-sep-dec.html#21_September_2015_(Deletion_of_historic_data)">thrown
in the dumpster</a>.


feed_id: 152585297f1aa2501fbca0f69848c2d1
title: Republican election-rigging
uri: 2016-12-30-Republican-election-rigging
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-sep-dec.html#27_December_2016_%28Republican_election-rigging%29
content:
<p>
We shouldn't let accusations of Russian interference blind us to the
bigger wrong of
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/views/2016/12/13/while-democrats-chase-russians-republicans-keep-rigging-elections">Republican
election-rigging</a>.


feed_id: b6a717b2f9f046be47968f43d5c559f3
title: Protecting civilians in Syria
uri: Protecting-civilians-in-Syria
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-sep-dec.html#27_December_2016_%28Protecting_civilians_in_Syria%29

content:
<p>
Assad's almost-completed conquest of Aleppo, together with the recent
UN resolution, create 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/dec/14/syrians-need-help-ministers-shrug-aid-drops">opportunities
for intervention (not by fighting)</a> to protect civilians in Syria.
<p>
The cease-fire agreed on did not hold, and 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/14/aleppo-civilians-plea-as-airstrikes-resume-syria">civilians
have not been able to leave</a>.


feed_id: ef35f45bb8ce5a8b1d9b651cd393d0bd
title: Gender violence
uri: Gender-violence
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-sep-dec.html#27_December_2016_%28Gender_violence%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2016/dec/14/violence-against-women-mens-issue">Men
need to be concerned</a> about gender violence.


feed_id: a10dfb569fc2348a5fe0e1dd9b4b6870
title: Solar power backfire
uri: Solar-power-backfire
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-sep-dec.html#27_December_2016_%28Solar_power_backfire%29
content:
<p>
Solar power backfire: in Australia, houses with solar power systems
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/feb/25/queensland-solar-homes-are-using-more-grid-electricity-than-non-solar-says-energex-boss">buy
more electricity from the grid than houses without solar power</a>.
<p>
This defeats the intended social benefit of reducing fossil fuel use.
<p>
It seems that the people who have got solar power don't think about
how much electricity they are using.  Perhaps they need very visible
meters to show them how much power they are taking from the grid.  Or
perhaps there needs to be a higher tax on electricity from the grid.


feed_id: e0e28a4a37ad0bd0fe5447dcca7779d3
title: Trump's potential conflicts of interest
uri: Trump-s-potential-conflicts-of-interest
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-sep-dec.html#27_December_2016_%28Trumps_potential_conflicts_of_interest%29

content:
<p>
Why Donald Trump's Potential Conflicts of Interest Are So 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/dec/14/donald-trump-conflicts-of-interest-explainer">Important</a>.


feed_id: fb6008c9d7d31d3435536c8c09ea44e6
title: Overfishing
uri: 2016-12-30-Overfishing
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-sep-dec.html#27_December_2016_%28Overfishing%29
content:
<p>
The EU has 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/dec/14/eu-easing-of-fishing-quotas-raises-fears-over-dwindling-stocks">increased
fishing quotas</a> in the teeth of existing overfishing, yielding to
short-termers' political pressure.


feed_id: 09b8ceafd6ab9311f0a784ee62fb476f
title: Keeping poor people in jail
uri: Keeping-poor-people-in-jail
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-sep-dec.html#27_December_2016_%28Keeping_poor_people_in_jail%29
content:
<p>
Across the US, the practice of keeping poor people accused of crimes
in jail unless they can pay to get out is being eliminated, but 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/dec/14/new-orleans-criminal-justice-system-bail-bonds">some
places hold out</a>.
<p>
In theory, you can post bail and get it back.  But nearly everyone
pays a bail bonds company to post the bail.  The bail bonds company
charges a certain fraction of the bail, and keeps it.


feed_id: fb156a334ba19192d5a8910332bfc83c
title: Prosecution for criticizing murder campaign
uri: Prosecution-for-criticizing-murder-campaign
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-sep-dec.html#27_December_2016_%28Prosecution_for_criticizing_murder_campaign%29

content:
<p>
Philippine Senator De Lima 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/13/rodrigo-dutertes-allies-press-for-senator-critical-of-drug-war-to-be-charged">faces
prosecution</a> for criticizing Duterte's murder campaign and his
removal of her from being in charge of it.


feed_id: 7abab2cd19dc7f562c8e93a24f3a24b6
title: ACLU fighting abortion-repression law
uri: ACLU-fighting-abortion-repression-law
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-sep-dec.html#27_December_2016_%28ACLU_fighting_abortion-repression_law%29

content:
<p>
The ACLU is 
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2016/12/13/aclu-challenges-florida-law-requiring-state-registration-people-consulted-woman">suing
to overturn a Florida abortion-repression law</a> that requires any
person or organization giving anyone advice about abortion to register
with the state, to hand out a state publication (surely full of
anti-abortion lies), and to tell the woman's parents.


feed_id: 73abf03c130e2451e36d88643a6c73f1
title: Voice of America under president's control
uri: Voice-of-America-under-president-s-control
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-sep-dec.html#27_December_2016_%28Voice_of_America_under_presidents_control%29

content:
<p>
The Voice of America and related US government broadcasters have been
placed directly under the president's control, and they are
<a href="https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20161213/00573936258/last-minute-congressional-change-will-give-trump-his-own-trump-tv-financed-taxpayers.shtml">now
allowed to try to influence US public opinion and beliefs</a>.
<p>
Trump could turn them into the Voice of Trumpery, like a US version of
RT.


feed_id: e95c6162e97259f109b03fd8643639ac
title: Civilians killed by gas attack
uri: Civilians-killed-by-gas-attack
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-sep-dec.html#26_December_2016_%28Civilians_killed_by_gas_attack%29

content:
<p>
It appears that civilians in PISSI-held territory in Syria
were killed by a gas attack, 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/13/international-concern-over-claims-of-chemical-weapon-attack-in-syria">perhaps
sarin</a>.


feed_id: 1e7758c9d21928a57a897224b1c3738f
title: US to stop selling missiles to Salafi Arabia
uri: US-to-stop-selling-missiles-to-Salafi-Arabia
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-sep-dec.html#26_December_2016_%28US_to_stop_selling_missiles_to_Salafi_Arabia%29

content:
<p>
The US will stop selling some missiles to Salafi Arabia because of its
using them for
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/13/us-to-halt-planned-arms-sales-to-saudi-arabia-over-yemen-airstrikes">war
crimes in Yemen</a>.
<p>
This decision does not come because the US has learned new information
about that intervention, in which it has been closely involved all
along.  It is a political decision.
<p>
At least it's a change in the right direction, so I won't quibble.


feed_id: 3f946ea6f6296a8a3136d6e1d59cb731
title: CO2 emission from human activity
uri: CO2-emission-from-human-activity
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-sep-dec.html#26_December_2016_%28CO2_emission_from_human_activity%29

content:
<p>
Human activity emits 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/blog/2010/apr/21/iceland-volcano-climate-sceptics">130
times</a> as much CO<sub>2</sub> as volcanoes do.


feed_id: 987b4e8571c82bcd0dd091fd7ad233b1
title: Using CO2 from fossil fuel combustion
uri: Using-CO2-from-fossil-fuel-combustion
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-sep-dec.html#26_December_2016_%28Using_CO2_from_fossil_fuel_combustion%29

content:
<p>
CO<sub>2</sub> from fossil fuel combustion 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2016/dec/13/sequester-carbon-blue-planet-climate-change">can
be collected through a process that makes limestone</a>, avoiding the
need to quarry limestone.


feed_id: f2f9cf062ab7d295c900a26998910f73
title: "Land of opportunity" no more
uri: Land-of-opportunity-no-more
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-sep-dec.html#26_December_2016_%28Land_of_opportunity_no_more%29
content:
<p>
Most Americans 
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/12/slow-economic-mobility/510521/">no
longer earn more than their parents did</a>.  The "land of
opportunity" is no more.


feed_id: 645d49ebc540f96462367772506fa313
title: Why Rick Perry is bad choice for DOE
uri: Why-Rick-Perry-is-bad-choice-for-DOE
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-sep-dec.html#26_December_2016_%28Why_Rick_Perry_is_bad_choice_for_DOE%29

content:
<p>
What the Department of Energy does, and why 
<a href="https://thinkprogress.org/rick-perry-dances-into-the-trump-cabinet-f583f118f0a0">Rick
Perry is a bad choice to run it</a>.
<p>
I think there is something sleazy about funding nuclear weapons
through the Department of Energy.  It looks like a way to disguise how
much of US government spending is actually on weapons and war.


feed_id: c57d41d1df9be0e8d0d60b38f65f2a52
title: Global heating refugees
uri: Global-heating-refugees
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-sep-dec.html#26_December_2016_%28Global_heating_refugees%29
content:
<p>
Global heating generated a 
<a href="https://thinkprogress.org/africa-climate-internally-displaced-people-318d3eb8a27b">million
climate refugees in Africa in 2015</a>.


feed_id: 00311592ff95c69091fec3dc95661484
title: Impacts of fracking on drinking water
uri: Impacts-of-fracking-on-drinking-water
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-sep-dec.html#26_December_2016_%28Impacts_of_fracking_on_drinking_water%29

content:
<p>
The EPA Withdraws Claim that Fracking has no 
<a href="http://blog.ucsusa.org/gretchen-goldman/the-epa-withdraws-claim-that-fracking-has-no-widespread-systemic-impacts-on-drinking-water">"Widespread
Systemic Impacts" on Drinking Water</a>.


feed_id: 758ec595bf3e1f6ff7a7e96d003fbb2f
title: Urgent: Oppose neo-McCarthyite intelligence committee
uri: Urgent-Oppose-neo-McCarthyite-intelligence-committee
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-sep-dec.html#26_December_2016_%28Urgent%3A_Oppose_neo-McCarthyite_intelligence_committee%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: Tell Congress not to create the 
<a href="https://act.rootsaction.org/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=12573">neo-McCarthyite
intelligence committee</a>.
<p>
Here's 
<a href="http://bordc.org/news/dont-like-fake-news-russian-propoganda-either-dont-really-trust-committee-made-fbi-dod-dni-attorney-general-designees-decide-media-trust/">more
information</a> about why not.
<p>
To sign the petition with Javascript disabled, you need to use the
<a href="/salsalabs-method.html">"salsalabs method"</a>.


feed_id: 391d739fa01f3ad9299384ace89239d6
title: Brazil's senate approves spending cuts
uri: Brazil-s-senate-approves-spending-cuts
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-sep-dec.html#26_December_2016_%28Brazils_senate_approves_spending_cuts%29

content:
<p>
Brazil's senate has approved a 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/13/brazil-approves-social-spending-freeze-austerity-package">20-year
cut in government spending</a>, which 60% of Brazilians oppose.
<p>
Brazil is in an economic slump, and cuts in spending are just the
thing to make it worse.


feed_id: 7e176688b9afcc13ee93bf4a8d0d457f
title: Heroin use down, but overdoses up
uri: Heroin-use-down-but-overdoses-up
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-sep-dec.html#26_December_2016_%28Heroin_use_down%2C_but_overdoses_up%29

content:
<p>
Heroin use is down in the US, but deaths from overdoeses are up.  It
seems that the war on drugs is 
<a href="http://reason.com/blog/2016/12/12/heroin-related-deaths-rise-as-heroin-use">making
heroin more dangerous</a>.
<p>
Heroin is not particularly dangerous if it is manufactured under
proper regulation.  It is dangerous because it is sold on the black
market.


feed_id: fb93998733449b328e6950631be5aaa7
title: Incomplete recounts show abnormalities
uri: Incomplete-recounts-show-abnormalities
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-sep-dec.html#26_December_2016_%28Incomplete_recounts_show_abnormalities%29

content:
<p>
The incomplete recounts in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania
have shown 
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/views/2016/12/12/dont-certify-electors-and-electoral-college-vote-without-full-recount">substantial
abnormalities</a>.


feed_id: cbd8b657ca30f4513aae9652ab34b2f0
title: Protest against Wells Fargo Bank
uri: Protest-against-Wells-Fargo-Bank
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-sep-dec.html#26_December_2016_%28Protest_against_Wells_Fargo_Bank%29

content:
<p>
Individuals, and the city of Seattle, are protesting Wells Fargo Bank
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2016/12/12/seattle-activists-target-wells-fargo-over-dakota-access-pipeline-funding">for
financing the Dakota Access Pipeline</a>.


feed_id: 509e74fd68a70ab8ad58df6bda2b71d1
title: World's most damaging tax havens
uri: World-s-most-damaging-tax-havens
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-sep-dec.html#26_December_2016_%28Worlds_most_damaging_tax_havens%29

content:
<p>
While Bermuda is the world's most damaging tax haven, the top ten
include the 
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2016/12/12/worlds-worst-corporate-tax-havens-exposed">Netherlands,
Ireland, Switzerland, Luxembourg and Jersey</a>.
<p>
Tax havens are not the only way business gets out of paying taxes.
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2012-jan-apr.html#07_April_2012_(Shifting_their_profits)">Low
tax rates on businesses</a>, combined with plenty of
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-sep-dec.html#7_December_2016_(Keeping_jobs_in_the_US)">special
exceptions</a>, are also big parts of the problem.


feed_id: 7b0fd9704110ab2961cbe7382e4a4b60
title: US interrogation and search of journalists
uri: US-interrogation-and-search-of-journalists
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-sep-dec.html#26_December_2016_%28US_interrogation_and_search_of_journalists%29

content:
<p>
The Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters without Borders
complained to the US about 
<a href="https://cpj.org/blog/2016/12/security-risk-for-sources-as-us-border-agents-stop.php">interrogation
and search of journalists trying to enter the US</a>.


feed_id: 49704f7b8b23ad6e38878c392462a9b0
title: Hatchet job attempted against fact checkers
uri: Hatchet-job-attempted-against-fact-checkers
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#5_January_2017_%28Hatchet_job_attempted_against_fact_checkers%29

content:
<p>
The Daily Mail attempted a hatchet job against the people behind
snopes.org.  Fortunately, without causing much damage.  But it raises
the suspicion that the Daily Mail 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/dec/23/why-is-mail-online-going-after-fact-checkers-snopes">doesn't
want facts to be checked or myths to be busted</a>.


feed_id: bc4f904627776866118c9e2ef1994893
title: Troll may have violated Logan act
uri: Troll-may-have-violated-Logan-act
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#5_January_2017_%28Troll_may_have_violated_Logan_act%29

content:
<p>
The troll seems to have 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/dec/23/trump-intervenes-to-sideline-obama-over-israeli-settlements">pressured
Egypt to delay a UN resolution</a> to condemn Israel's colonization of
Palestinian territory.
<p>
Has the troll violated the Logan act?  Could he be prosecuted for this
now?  Could that prevent him from taking office?


feed_id: 7807002febd43239b73a2bd4980830ae
title: Apartheid imposed by Israeli gov't
uri: Apartheid-imposed-by-Israeli-gov-t
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#5_January_2017_%28Apartheid_imposed_by_Israeli_govt%29

content:
<p>
Apartheid is imposed by the Israeli government on 
<a href="https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20161208-apartheid-israel-is-not-just-a-political-slogan-it-is-a-daily-reality/">70%
of towns in Israel</a>: Arabs are entirely excluded.


feed_id: 6ebb3a3d3cafa2810ceb92ef3140c4c3
title: Academic freedom in Israel
uri: Academic-freedom-in-Israel
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#5_January_2017_%28Academic_freedom_in_Israel%29
content:
<p>
Right-wing extremists in Israel's government are 
<a href="http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/silencing-israeli-creativity/">setting
their repressive sights on academic freedom</a>.  No one, they
believe, should be allowed to question their politics in school.
<p>
Unlike the still-risible Professor Witchlist in the US, this will
be state-imposed, enforced censorship.
<p>
Israel still claims to be a democracy, but it allows ever less
in the way of human rights.
<p>
There were Israelis that predicted after 1967 that occupation of
Palestine would destroy Israel's spirit.  I have to say they were
right.  The reason the occupation continues is the Israeli colonies
constructed in Palestine by Israelis that want to expel the
Palestinians, slowly.
<p>
The current Israeli government has sped up the construction, and the
expulsion.  Most Palestinians have
<a href="http://mondoweiss.net/2016/12/palestinians-palestinian-possible/">given
up hope of ever having a state of Palestine</a>.


feed_id: a6ab1e9e7c927d1e9adfb7047652ed10
title: California rejects Uber's driverless cars
uri: California-rejects-Uber-s-driverless-cars
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#5_January_2017_%28California_rejects_Ubers_driverless_cars%29

content:
<p>
Now that California kicked out Uber's crash-risking driverless cars,
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/dec/22/uber-self-driving-car-san-francisco-arizona">citizens
of Arizona must organize to do likewise</a>.


feed_id: 9a7de61fe614b68d41f61786be3fab46
title: Duterte's confessed killings
uri: Duterte-s-confessed-killings
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#5_January_2017_%28Dutertes_confessed_killings%29
content:
<p>
The Philippine Commission on Human Rights 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/23/philippines-to-investigate-president-dutertes-claims-he-killed-suspects">will
investigate</a> Duterte's confessed killings.


feed_id: fd190162ad6c41d4851e8c7fb4a8af21
title: No change in rate of teen marijuana use
uri: No-change-in-rate-of-teen-marijuana-use
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#5_January_2017_%28No_change_in_rate_of_teen_marijuana_use%29

content:
<p>
The rate of use of marijuana by teenagers in Colorado is the 
<a href="http://reason.com/blog/2016/12/21/survey-indicates-adolescent-marijuana-us">same
as it was before the state legalized marijuana sales in stores</a>, to
within the margin of error for surveys.


feed_id: 91b143a806fafbd215b60ed1632e8602
title: Troll's conflicts of interests
uri: Troll-s-conflicts-of-interests
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#5_January_2017_%28Trolls_conflicts_of_interests%29
content:
<p>
The 
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/12/21/trumps-half-blind-trust-blasted-absurd">"half-blind
trust"</a> that the troll proposes for his conflicts of interests
would be an absurd parody of a solution.


feed_id: a1ddab38a976998a1baf6c79b43c173a
title: Workers in Trump Hotel win new contract
uri: Workers-in-Trump-Hotel-win-new-contract
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#5_January_2017_%28Workers_in_Trump_Hotel_win_new_contract%29

content:
<p>
Workers in the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas 
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/12/21/they-fought-donaldand-they-won">won
a new contract</a>, but the troll is likely to sabotage the NLRB so
that unions can't win any more.


feed_id: a5266624b200be363453737ce6b25c88
title: Another plan to cut Social Security
uri: Another-plan-to-cut-Social-Security
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#5_January_2017_%28Another_plan_to_cut_Social_Security%29

content:
<p>
<a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#scrotus">SCROTUS</a> have 
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/views/2016/12/21/time-christmas-social-security-plan-only-scrooge-could-love">another
plan to cut Social Security</a>.  In typical right-wing dishonesty,
the plan tries to camouflage the cuts with smaller increases for a
fraction of workers.


feed_id: 6ec1194d2b9198c1651055838cd0d226
title: The Democratic Party email leak
uri: The-Democratic-Party-email-leak
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#5_January_2017_%28The_Democratic_Party_email_leak%29

content:
<p>
Craig Murray says that he received the leaked Democratic Party emails,
from an intermediary who told him that they were 
<a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4034038/Ex-British-ambassador-WikiLeaks-operative-claims-Russia-did-NOT-provide-Clinton-emails-handed-D-C-park-intermediary-disgusted-Democratic-insiders.html">leaked
by an insider</a>.


feed_id: 3ef8d85fa10c419e9ff02d1a069332f5
title: Acción Ecológica
uri: Acción-Ecológica
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#5_January_2017_%28Accion_Ecologica%29
content:
<p>
Ecuador is 
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2016/12/21/ecuador-moves-close-leading-environmental-organization-part-crackdown-civil">acting
to forcibly shut down Acción Ecológica</a>, which
opposes oil drilling in the Amazon.


feed_id: d0cd116452d702d38da1686b5b1771d5
title: Climate lawsuit against Washington state
uri: Climate-lawsuit-against-Washington-state
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#5_January_2017_%28Climate_lawsuit_against_Washington_state%29

content:
<p>
A future climate lawsuit against Washington state 
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2016/12/21/judge-allows-youth-constitutional-climate-rights-case-move-forward-against-state">parallels
the federal future climate lawsuit</a>.
<p>
Many of the plaintiffs, now teenagers, could live long enough to see
the years when climate mayhem kills lots of Americans, and be killed
by it.


feed_id: 8c25ea54777755f9036e276cf139daac
title: Moral Mondays
uri: Moral-Mondays
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#5_January_2017_%28Moral_Mondays%29
content:
<p>
North Carolina's civil rights campaign, the Moral Mondays, has
succeeded so well that it 
<a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/12/18/1608621/-Democrats-can-learn-from-the-Rev-William-Barber-and-the-Moral-Mondays-fusion-movement">elected
a Democrat as governor</a>.
<p>
Its success is helped by appealing to universal goals rather than a
specific identity — like the civil rights movement of the 1960s.
<p>
A minority that is the target of prejudice and bigotry is entitled to
demand better treatment, but it is hard to get majority support for
changes by setting yourself against the majority.  A campaign for
universal values, such as justice for all (so that the minority is no
longer an exception) is more likely to succeed.
<p>
The Moral Mondays could win the election for governor because that
runs by simple popular vote.  But it can't win back the state
legislature, because that election is 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#29_November_2016_(Republican_legislators)">rigged</a>.


feed_id: 107bd7b6c069707d99e398edccda9647
title: Thugs with killer robots
uri: Thugs-with-killer-robots
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#5_January_2017_%28Thugs_with_killer_robots%29
content:
<p>
Now that thugs have killer robots to use, we have to consider the
<a href="https://www.aclu.org/blog/free-future/use-killer-robots-police">danger
that their use will become attractive and frequent</a>.
<p>
Does concern about that eventuality seem like borrowing trouble?  In
1970 it might have seemed silly to worry that SWAT teams would be used
50,000 times a year, and often against suspects not known to be armed.


feed_id: 26f709eb66a381310cb25c28d952f1a1
title: Barclays
uri: Barclays
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#5_January_2017_%28Barclays%29
content:
<p>
Where other large banks have agreed to pay billions in penalties for
cheating millions of American homeowners,
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/dec/22/us-justice-department-accuses-barclays-over-mortgage-misselling">
Barclays bank decided to fight the charges</a>.
<p>
I wonder if Barclays Bank has made a deal with the troll.  Perhaps to
lend one billion dollars with no collateral as part of a scheme
like the one
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-jul-oct.html#6_October_2016_(Loopholes_in_US_tax_laws)">
he did decades ago</a>,
  in exchange for being let off the hook.
<p>
I don't have enough faith in the honesty of either party to regard
this as impossible.
<p>
I expect the penalties are insufficient to deter banks from doing such
things in the future.  I don't have any specific knowledge about that,
but it's the usual weak practice of the US.


feed_id: 075e5e4675f5c1d59398615b60a0d1dd
title: Temporary housing
uri: Temporary-housing
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#5_January_2017_%28Temporary_housing%29
content:
<p>
Arleen Matthews worked for a local government in the UK taking care of
temporary housing.  She couldn't pay her own rent, and became
homeless, so she made arrangements with one of those tenants to let
her sleep in a garage.
<p>
When her employer found out,
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/dec/22/woman-working-for-homelessness-group-suspended-for-sleeping-rough">
it fired her</a>. What callousness.


feed_id: 92629ecf374a9f38244c20b358d4b0bb
title: Melting permafrost
uri: Melting-permafrost
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#5_January_2017_%28Melting_permafrost%29
content:
<p>
CO2 released by melting permafrost could
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2015/oct/13/methane-release-from-melting-permafrost-could-trigger-dangerous-global-warming">
add .5C extra heating in this
century</a>.  The methane released could add even more, for the short
term.


feed_id: 95ea02503fb1136f3403d4daf06ccc02
title: Chopping down
uri: Chopping-down
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#5_January_2017_%28Chopping_down%29
content:
<p>
Chopping down (or drying up) a large forest
<a href="http://www.futurity.org/forests-climate-1300602-2/">
can alter the climate all around the world</a>.


feed_id: a90c0197cafa11076c70b36ea3bd9c3b
title: Urgent: Skip troll's inauguration
uri: Urgent-Skip-troll-s-inauguration
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#4_January_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Skip_trolls_inauguration%29

content:
<p>
Everyone: 
<a href="https://act.credoaction.com/sign/dems_inauguration">call on
Democrats in Congress</a> to skip the troll's inauguration.


feed_id: 202da1ec8e22adf77504cf66f8bf28ba
title: Urgent: National Popular Vote Interstate Compact
uri: Urgent-National-Popular-Vote-Interstate-Compact
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#4_January_2017_%28Urgent%3A_National_Popular_Vote_Interstate_Compact%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: 
<a href="https://act.credoaction.com/sign/popular_vote_compact">call
on states</a> to adopt the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact,
so that presidential elections will be decided by the popular vote.


feed_id: 6283ca09b8f195ac6d80dcd96d80af36
title: Urgent: Reject Tillerson
uri: Urgent-Reject-Tillerson
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#4_January_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Reject_Tillerson%29
content:
<p>
US citizens: 
<a href="http://act.climatehawksvote.com/stop_tillerson">call on the
Senate</a> to reject Tillerson as Secretary of State.
<p>
For 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#20_December_2016_(Exxon_oilman_for_Secretary_of_State)">more</a> 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#2_January_2017_(Tillerson_director_of_Exxon_subsidiary_in_Bahamas)">explanation</a>.


feed_id: 12fd57ae9d13ebacf8e2f6f813eb65a7
title: Thug attacks woman for raising her voice
uri: Thug-attacks-woman-for-raising-her-voice
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#4_January_2017_%28Thug_attacks_woman_for_raising_her_voice%29

content:
<p>
A video shows a Texas thug 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/dec/22/texas-mother-daughter-arrest-fort-worth-jacqueline-craig">attack
and arrest a woman and her teenage daughter</a>, because she raised
her voice to the thug.
<p>
Per standard practice, the thug made false accusations against the two
of them.


feed_id: d17f343bc8eaa1dc63c75718a4cbc857
title: Troll wants nuclear arms race
uri: Troll-wants-nuclear-arms-race
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#4_January_2017_%28Troll_wants_nuclear_arms_race%29
content:
<p>
The troll said he 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/dec/23/donald-trump-nuclear-weapons-arms-race">wants
a nuclear arms race</a>.
<p>
Assuming nuclear weapons continue not to be used, this will be a
bonanza for weapons companies and an excuse to further cut social
programs that people depend on for their lives.


feed_id: ac014aae33e68ec348ba23cd56d22c12
title: Brazilian Amazon tribe fights deforestation
uri: Brazilian-Amazon-tribe-fights-deforestation
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#4_January_2017_%28Brazilian_Amazon_tribe_fights_deforestation%29

content:
<p>
A tribe in the Brazilian Amazon fights violent illegal deforestation
with 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/sep/09/amazon-tribe-protecting-forest-bows-arrows-gps-camera-traps">their
own traditional arms, as well as modern technology</a>.


feed_id: 5621e539f03b48df2a259d146924b39c
title: Attacks on people who sleep on the street
uri: Attacks-on-people-who-sleep-on-the-street
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#4_January_2017_%28Attacks_on_people_who_sleep_on_the_street%29

content:
<p>
Nearly all people who sleep on the street face 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/dec/23/rough-sleepers-face-high-levels-of-abuse-by-public-study-finds">frequent
attacks</a> from passers by.  The get as bad as kicking them in the
head, and rape.


feed_id: f572b1c112858d7b486e0aff70faa29c
title: Evacuation from Aleppo
uri: Evacuation-from-Aleppo
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#4_January_2017_%28Evacuation_from_Aleppo%29
content:
<p>
4000 rebels and civilians were 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/22/final-evacuees-leave-eastern-aleppo-as-assad-regime-takes-control">calmly
evacuated</a> from Aleppo, and Assad's forces took control.
<p>
I think this means that the bloodbath and torture fest that some had
feared will not take place.


feed_id: 104c2e20a4c6974289276521784e12fc
title: Obama orders elimination of NSEERS
uri: Obama-orders-elimination-of-NSEERS
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#4_January_2017_%28Obama_orders_elimination_of_NSEERS%29

content:
<p>
Obama has 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/dec/22/nseers-arab-muslim-tracking-system-dismantled-obama">ordered
the elimination</a> of the inactive NSEERS tracking program which was
set up under Dubya to track Muslim visitors to the US.
<p>
Tracking 80,000 Muslim visitors must have created plenty of
resentment, but it did exactly zero to reduce terrorism.


feed_id: 13d2a785eeda969257276a50a4cf7859
title: Internet mob attack launched by politician
uri: Internet-mob-attack-launched-by-politician
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#4_January_2017_%28Internet_mob_attack_launched_by_politician%29

content:
<p>
Hope not Hate, in the UK, demands an apology from the 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/dec/22/nigel-farage-hope-not-hate-brendan-cox">right-wing
politician who launched an internet mob attack</a>.
<p>
This is "a David v Goliath struggle, where the other side portrays
itself as the underdog, yet in reality is backed by an online army and
millionaires in the wings."


feed_id: 23f7a5f2ae8ed0dff5d74b10a0587f9f
title: Fake rice
uri: Fake-rice
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#4_January_2017_%28Fake_rice%29
content:
<p>
The latest (presumably) Chinese counterfeit food product: fake rice,
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/22/fake-plastic-rice-seized-in-nigeria-amid-rocketing-food-prices">made
of plastic</a>.


feed_id: fd7e9565c3a5dff8a7aa308ad183a835
title: Happier without Facebook
uri: Happier-without-Facebook
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#4_January_2017_%28Happier_without_Facebook%29
content:
<p>
Facebook lurkers are 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/dec/22/facebook-break-can-boost-wellbeing-study-suggests">likely
to feel happier if they stop being used by Facebook for at least a
week</a>.
<p>
If you want to "engage with others" more, how about doing it
<em>outside</em> of Facebook?  That would provide the same benefits
and would avoid giving Facebook any more information about you or the
others you engage with.


feed_id: 763814179f3dd604ef5c717111fefe2f
title: Very urgent: Medicare and Medicaid
uri: Very-urgent-Medicare-and-Medicaid
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#3_January_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Medicare_and_Medicaid%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: phone your congresscritter (on Jan 4 if possible) to
oppose cuts in Medicare and Medicaid.
<p>
The Capitol Switchboard numbers are 202-224-3121, 888-818-6641
and 888-355-3588.


feed_id: c939c5c8a32889a93e215ca3d759e76b
title: Funding for new Adani coal mine
uri: Funding-for-new-Adani-coal-mine
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#3_January_2017_%28Funding_for_new_Adani_coal_mine%29

content:
<p>
The giant new Adani coal mine in Australia was funded by the World
Bank through a program that is
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/dec/22/adani-coalmine-covertly-funded-by-world-bank-says-report">supposed
to fund "sustainable development"</a>.


feed_id: 7b6b4cd5408b0ebc7595a9bc91ae9658
title: Time management ruining lives
uri: Time-management-ruining-lives
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#3_January_2017_%28Time_management_ruining_lives%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/dec/22/why-time-management-is-ruining-our-lives">Why
Time Management Is Ruining Our Lives</a>.
<p>
If the work you do is essential for fighting injustice or preventing
disaster, perhaps it is really desirable for you to work as much as
possible.  Otherwise, you shouldn't have to work so hard, and the
reason you do is because an exploitative system wants to extract as
much as it can from you.  Rather than working hard for it, better to
organize against it.


feed_id: c287ad337c09628991e7314c466550bc
title: Oracle executive resigns in protest
uri: Oracle-executive-resigns-in-protest
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#3_January_2017_%28Oracle_executive_resigns_in_protest%29

content:
<p>
Oracle executive George Polisner has resigned in protest against the
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/dec/21/oracle-executive-resigns-ceo-safra-catz-donald-trump">CEO's
acceptance of a position in the troll's "transition team"</a>.


feed_id: 80597f218cdae95d6cbaf4367946db29
title: IMF and US fixed Russian elections in 1990s
uri: IMF-and-US-fixed-Russian-elections-in-1990s
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#3_January_2017_%28IMF_and_US_fixed_Russian_elections_in_1990s%29

content:
<p>
Joseph Stiglitz describes how the IMF and the US fixed the Russian elections
in the 1990s 
<a href="http://www.gregpalast.com/the-globalizer-who-came-in-from-the-cold/">in
favor of Yeltsin</a>.


feed_id: 3e58abf216a459d4ba666e07ef511421
title: Kuwait's annual diplomatic reception
uri: Kuwait-s-annual-diplomatic-reception
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#3_January_2017_%28Kuwaits_annual_diplomatic_reception%29

content:
<p>
Kuwait's annual diplomatic reception was scheduled for some other hotel,
but the troll's staff 
<a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/12/19/1612784/-Brazenly-crooked-Trump-s-team-pressured-Kuwaiti-ambassador-to-move-an-event-to-Trump-s-own-hotel">pressured
Kuwait to move it to the troll's hotel</a>.


feed_id: 3cc7cf3f1dde470b1f73ae409eb57b4b
title: Defense against truck-ramming terrorism
uri: Defense-against-truck-ramming-terrorism
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#3_January_2017_%28Defense_against_truck-ramming_terrorism%29

content:
<p>
The best defense against truck-ramming terrorism is with simple
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/dec/20/what-can-be-done-to-prevent-berlin-style-attacks-in-modern-cities">physical
barriers</a>.  There is no need to panic.
<p>
Especially there is no need to authorize increased surveillance of
people in general.  The Berlin truck attacker was a known known
terrorist sympathizer who 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/21/berlin-attack-suspect-anis-amri-under-monitoring-since-january">had
been investigated and was facing deportation soon</a>.
<p>
This specific suspicion could have been used (and, I expect, was used)
to obtain orders for surveillance and searches targeted at him
personally.  Increases in surveillance of everyone in Germany would
have provided no more information about him.
<p>
It looks like they have 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/22/police-raid-flats-in-search-for-berlin-truck-attack-suspect-anis-amri">lots
of possible suspects</a> (only a tiny fraction of whom will actually
commit any crime) that they can't keep close tabs on all of them.


feed_id: 58dc2774bfe40a91e84628719baf2956
title: Places with high levels of lead in water
uri: Places-with-high-levels-of-lead-in-water
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#3_January_2017_%28Places_with_high_levels_of_lead_in_water%29

content:
<p>
<a href="http://motherboard.vice.com/read/lead-contaminated-drinking-water-is-much-more-prevalent-than-you-think">Many
places in the US</a> have high levels of lead in the water, enough to
be a real danger to children growing up there.


feed_id: 771c398be3c653496cd5338f46ed3991
title: EU directive to reduce tax-dodging
uri: EU-directive-to-reduce-tax-dodging
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#3_January_2017_%28EU_directive_to_reduce_tax-dodging%29

content:
<p>
A proposed EU directive to reduce tax-dodging by businesses has been
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/dec/20/fears-that-eu-measures-against-financial-will-be-weakened">undermined</a>
by officials in favor of continuing the tax-dodging.


feed_id: 523c585b2d451b34c5b0b021d1612ebe
title: Neoliberal mindset
uri: Neoliberal-mindset
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#3_January_2017_%28Neoliberal_mindset%29
content:
<p>
Trumpery doesn't replace the neoliberal mindset (society is nothing
but business); rather, it takes that mindset to a 
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/views/2016/12/20/trumping-it-neoliberalism-steroids">further
extreme</a>.


feed_id: 6e34712c53f8f3a38df74ee744c6f207
title: Network neutrality
uri: 2017-01-06-Network-neutrality
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#3_January_2017_%28Network_neutrality%29
content:
<p>
The new FCC commissioners 
<a href="https://www.techdirt.com/blog/netneutrality/articles/20161220/10202936316/remaining-fcc-commissioners-promise-to-gut-net-neutrality-as-soon-as-possible.shtml">intend
to eliminate network neutrality rules</a> so that ISPs can mistreat
and manipulate their customers more.


feed_id: f5f464cab2abe67170788700251be293
title: Confiscation of social security payments
uri: Confiscation-of-social-security-payments
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#3_January_2017_%28Confiscation_of_social_security_payments%29

content:
<p>
Thousands of retired Americans are having their social security payments
confiscated to pay the 
<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/student-debt-elderly-poverty_us_58595c6be4b08debb78b2f2a">interest
on student loans</a>.
<p>
For 2/3 of them, the confiscation pays only interest, so the principal
of the loan does not decrease.  They will go on paying this way until
they die, or they elect progressive officials.


feed_id: f48e1c22f5d371d5a5058c1930d109ee
title: The troll's children
uri: The-troll-s-children
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#3_January_2017_%28The_trolls_children%29
content:
<p>
It will be hard for the troll's children to avoid 
<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/stock-act-donald-trump_us_5859c045e4b0d9a594566921">insider
trading</a> charges, if they buy and sell stock and are involved in
policy matters.
<p>
The troll's sons 
<a href="https://www.publicintegrity.org/2016/12/19/20564/donald-trumps-sons-behind-nonprofit-selling-access-president-elect">plan
to sell meetings with him for a million dollars</a>, to anonymous
"donors".


feed_id: ded6d6cc5b1407f2741663a3e313b609
title: India investing in renewable energy
uri: India-investing-in-renewable-energy
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#3_January_2017_%28India_investing_in_renewable_energy%29

content:
<p>
India is 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/21/india-renewable-energy-paris-climate-summit-target">investing
heavily</a> in renewable energy and expects to make 57% of its
electricity that way in 10 years.


feed_id: c759916cbe1a2062afb950faa51400d7
title: Poland's nondemocratic changes in law
uri: Poland-s-nondemocratic-changes-in-law
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#3_January_2017_%28Polands_nondemocratic_changes_in_law%29

content:
<p>
The European Union is 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/21/eu-gives-poland-two-months-to-scrap-changes-to-its-highest-court">talking
about taking action</a> against Poland's nondemocratic changes in law.


feed_id: 7700e0b3f6acdf7356205e9172f500a5
title: Child-protection mania
uri: Child-protection-mania
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#3_January_2017_%28Child-protection_mania%29
content:
<p>
The year 2016 in 
<a href="http://www.freerangekids.com/the-top-10-worst-free-range-moments-of-2016-well-the-top-11-actually/">American
child-protection mania</a>.


feed_id: d6e0bfad5155ec8faf6ff4a5c4462c56
title: The Democratic Party
uri: 2017-01-06-The-Democratic-Party
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#3_January_2017_%28The_Democratic_Party%29
content:
<p>
The Clintons 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/dec/21/clintons-democratic-party-donors-recover">Turned
the Democratic Party Over to Donors</a>.  Can It Recover?
<p>
Alas it wasn't just the Clintons.  Plenty of Democrats in Congress
still stand for the same center-right positions.


feed_id: a2b6a2dbc86db2bafefd19c5bb41b6a5
title: Nauru refugee denied medical treatment
uri: Nauru-refugee-denied-medical-treatment
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#3_January_2017_%28Nauru_refugee_denied_medical_treatment%29

content:
<p>
A Nauru refugee has been 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/dec/21/nauru-refugee-says-medical-treatment-withheld-after-he-had-heart-atttack">denied
medical treatment for a heart attack for a month</a> now.


feed_id: 9a613b584837fc79f620cfa5d92ddfec
title: Emissions of soot
uri: Emissions-of-soot
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#3_January_2017_%28Emissions_of_soot%29
content:
<p>
We urgently need to reduce emissions of soot, so as to stop 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/dec/21/cutting-soot-emissions-arctic-ice-melt-climate-change">blackening
and melting ice</a>.
<p>
We wouldn't be grasping at these straws if we had started acting
rationally 15 years ago.


feed_id: bf9b27fe8f9a6f177549569cd143ab92
title: Sugar and obesity
uri: Sugar-and-obesity
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#3_January_2017_%28Sugar_and_obesity%29
content:
<p>
Who disagrees with the studies that show sugar causes obesity?
Researchers 
<a href="http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2016/12/study-says-guidelines-eat-less-sugar-could-be-wrong">funded
by the sugar industry</a>.
<p>
Those sugar-funded scientists will give the sugar industry a way to
claim that there is doubt about the question.  Does this seem familiar
to you?


feed_id: b2861120db07ccae3cb2fa2c39736f64
title: Oil extraction ban
uri: Oil-extraction-ban
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#3_January_2017_%28Oil_extraction_ban%29
content:
<p>
Obama has finally placed a 
<a href="http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2016/12/obama-climate-change-oil-drilling-ban">permanent
ban on oil extraction on most of the Atlantic and Arctic coasts</a>.


feed_id: f067d9b06d0f18153ac15227cfcf32ad
title: UK austerity
uri: 2017-01-06-UK-austerity
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#3_January_2017_%28UK_austerity%29
content:
<p>
The end result of UK austerity is now visible in 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/dec/21/homelessness-england-rising-scandal-rough-sleeping">the
people sleeping on the streets</a>.


feed_id: 5afbce4ea5e2af73c8bd970396d2d467
title: Indiscriminate email snooping
uri: Indiscriminate-email-snooping
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#3_January_2017_%28Indiscriminate_email_snooping%29
content:
<p>
The European Court of Justice ruled that states 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/law/2016/dec/21/eus-highest-court-delivers-blow-to-uk-snoopers-charter">may
not collect people's emails indiscriminately</a>.
<p>
This could 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/21/eu-ruling-means-uk-snoopers-charter-may-be-open-to-challenge">force
revision of the UK's massive snooping law</a>.


feed_id: 49312a75d7f4e30b185bb565cbcd3859
title: Temp agencies in UK cheating employees
uri: Temp-agencies-in-UK-cheating-employees
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#3_January_2017_%28Temp_agencies_in_UK_cheating_employees%29

content:
<p>
Temporary agencies in the UK profit by 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/dec/21/tax-avoidance-expenses-scams-recruitment-industry-government-hmrc">systematically
cheating the employees</a>.


feed_id: bcdead1e2499c0c6a7f5e123528b3d73
title: Brazil to legalize massive deforestation
uri: Brazil-to-legalize-massive-deforestation
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#3_January_2017_%28Brazil_to_legalize_massive_deforestation%29

content:
<p>
The corrupt Brazilian government is 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/21/brazil-environment-laws-indigenous-people">planning
to legalize massive deforestation</a>.


feed_id: fd01c1986cd158956a6879612553c3f1
title: Celebrity
uri: Celebrity
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#3_January_2017_%28Celebrity%29
content:
<p>
George Monbiot: Celebrity Isn't Just Harmless Fun — It's the
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/dec/20/celebrity-corporate-machine-fame-big-business-donald-trump-kim-kardashian">Smiling
Face of the Corporate Machine</a>.
<p>
It is especially disappointing that what young people desire
most is to be famous.


feed_id: 8f9422d87fb11989c964cd935543ad81
title: Israeli election
uri: Israeli-election
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#3_January_2017_%28Israeli_election%29
content:
<p>
An Israeli politician
<a href="http://forward.com/news/breaking-news/356696/top-israeli-politician-i-prefer-if-arabs-did-not-show-up-to-vote/">wishes
that Arab citizens didn't vote</a>.
<p>
In fact, the government 
<a href="http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/events/1464389870">wants
to find an excuse to ban the candidates they elect</a>.
<p>
Compare this with the troll, who said he was 
<a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/12/16/1611751/-Trump-s-thanks-African-Americans-for-not-voting-tells-white-people-that-s-a-good-thing">glad
many black Americans didn't vote</a>.  As usual, he was bullshitting,
since they tried to vote but his party dishonestly 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#12_November_2016_(The_election_was_stolen)"><em>stopped</em>
them from voting</a>.


feed_id: e57103244080deccd76cefeccdaa9133
title: Torture of Palestinian prisoners
uri: Torture-of-Palestinian-prisoners
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#3_January_2017_%28Torture_of_Palestinian_prisoners%29

content:
<p>
Torture of Palestinian prisoners is common in Israel.  There have been
<a href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/israel-dismisses-1000-complaints-torture">1000
complaints since 2001</a>, and Israeli officials have dismissed every
one.


feed_id: 5bd7b48d3b19bc7b83306a22c2b3f9cc
title: Israel declares land for ethnic cleansing
uri: Israel-declares-land-for-ethnic-cleansing
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#3_January_2017_%28Israel_declares_land_for_ethnic_cleansing%29

content:
<p>
Israel has declared half the land area of the West Bank for ethnic
cleansing, and is using a 
<a href="http://www.nybooks.com/daily/2016/12/07/israel-palestine-the-end-of-the-bedouins/">broad
campaign of repression</a> to drive Palestinians out.


feed_id: 9853430a3d20713965aa7182e525dc86
title: Israel confiscating parts of cemetery
uri: Israel-confiscating-parts-of-cemetery
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#3_January_2017_%28Israel_confiscating_parts_of_cemetery%29

content:
<p>
Israel is 
<a href="http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=774493">confiscating
parts of an old Palestinian cemetery</a> just outside Jerusalem, with
the excuse of making the land into a park.


feed_id: d9111d8ded706eb91f78ca64130ce462
title: Troll's proposed ambassador to Israel
uri: Troll-s-proposed-ambassador-to-Israel
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#3_January_2017_%28Trolls_proposed_ambassador_to_Israel%29

content:
<p>
The troll's proposed ambassador to Israel 
<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trumps-nominee-for-ambassador-to-israel-is-unfit-to-serve/2016/12/19/5b6ffa08-c543-11e6-bf4b-2c064d32a4bf_story.html">viciously
insults Jews that disagree with his politics</a>.


feed_id: 4aa46149387b5f58c30d7fb1b249b322
title: Israel threatens to expel journalist
uri: Israel-threatens-to-expel-journalist
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#3_January_2017_%28Israel_threatens_to_expel_journalist%29

content:
<p>
Israel is 
<a href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/israel-threatens-expel-reporter-who-asked-apartheid-question">threatening
to expel an Australian journalist</a>, but Palestinian journalists get
imprisoned instead.


feed_id: 41c555292d2697ca9ef4f57d1d02ec15
title: UK business to pay for enslaving workers
uri: UK-business-to-pay-for-enslaving-workers
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#3_January_2017_%28UK_business_to_pay_for_enslaving_workers%29

content:
<p>
A business in the UK will have to pay a 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/dec/20/gangmasters-agree-1m-payout-to-settle-modern-slavery-claim">million
pounds to some of the workers it enslaved</a>.
<p>
Isn't it a crime to imprison people and threaten the with violence
using attack dogs?  Why are those abusers being allowed to get off
with a monetary payment?


feed_id: e088d8abc2b979ae38861d42ac879b2c
title: UK undercover infiltrator thug
uri: UK-undercover-infiltrator-thug
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#3_January_2017_%28UK_undercover_infiltrator_thug%29
content:
<p>
A UK woman is suing the thugs for having an undercover infiltrator
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/dec/19/woman-deceived-by-undercover-officer-accuses-police-of-delaying-lawsuit">seduce
her and break up her previous relationship</a>.


feed_id: b3c1f37adfb55406c17b25dfb7cb2078
title: Troll's campaign rallies
uri: Troll-s-campaign-rallies
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#3_January_2017_%28Trolls_campaign_rallies%29
content:
<p>
The troll is 
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/views/2016/12/19/onslaught-tyranny-why-trump-rallies-trump">continuing
to hold campaign rallies</a>, apparently to stir up his supporters
with the latest bullshit.
<p>
That he praises them for being violence-maddened suggests to me that
he intends to use them as a kind of private army, for some sort of
harassment that he won't be able to get official thugs to do.


feed_id: 0ecf6a7ab4a0a8a1601862a5e05ed0fb
title: More officials charged about lead poisoning
uri: More-officials-charged-about-lead-poisoning
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#3_January_2017_%28More_officials_charged_about_lead_poisoning%29

content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/dec/20/flint-water-crisis-charges-emergency-manager">More
officials</a> have been charged about the Flint lead poisoning.
<p>
It is good to prosecute the individuals that are responsible, but we
must also get rid of the system that is responsible: the 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-jan-apr.html#9_March_2016_(Michigans_emergency_manager_law)">"emergency
manager" system</a> that Republicans in Michigan created so they could
set aside democratic local government in Detroit and Flint, so as to
screw the residents there.


feed_id: ae61bafaf0dc549578029ea0018cbe36
title: Uniting to make work pay
uri: Uniting-to-make-work-pay
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#3_January_2017_%28Uniting_to_make_work_pay%29
content:
<p>
Workers in the UK should unite against "free trade" that means 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/dec/20/unite-union-general-secretary-election-free-movement">moving
jobs to places where workers can be paid a pittance</a>.
<p>
And then they should insist that all workers get enough pay, and
enough hours, to 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/dec/20/working-homeless-britain-economy-minimum-wage-zero-hours">make
work pay</a>.
<p>
"Taking back control" does not mean people should get offered 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/dec/19/take-back-control-slogan-left-power-right-state-intervention">a
few horrible alternatives to choose from</a>.  That's like choosing
between a proprietary Microsoft system, a proprietary Apple system,
and a mostly proprietary Google system.


feed_id: c04b1037b34942e2728866a1ee56af1a
title: Facebook accused of lying to buy WhatsApp
uri: Facebook-accused-of-lying-to-buy-WhatsApp
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#3_January_2017_%28Facebook_accused_of_lying_to_buy_WhatsApp%29

content:
<p>
The EU accuses Facebook of 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/dec/20/eu-facebook-misleading-information-whatsapp">lying
when it applied for permission to buy WhatsApp</a>.
<p>
If Facebook is fined $100 million, that won't be enough to deter it
from lying again the same way.  Laws should be changed so that mergers
approved as a result of fraud can be undone, with fines far larger.


feed_id: 5914546b8ed5920f871dc4f5f1284304
title: Most Americans support clean energy
uri: Most-Americans-support-clean-energy
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#3_January_2017_%28Most_Americans_support_clean_energy%29

content:
<p>
A poll reports that 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2016/dec/20/republicans-and-democrats-alike-want-more-clean-energy">most
Americans, even most Republicans</a>, support clean energy and
reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
<p>
Yet Republican politicians regularly, almost without exception,
convince those same Republicans to choose denialist candidates.


feed_id: b8b411965d8755085c6a4495f39e229f
title: Enforcement of emission standards
uri: Enforcement-of-emission-standards
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#3_January_2017_%28Enforcement_of_emission_standards%29

content:
<p>
The European Commission has done next to nothing to enforce emission
standards against the 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/dec/20/european-commission-guilty-negligence-diesel-defeat-devices-draft-report-dieselgate">car
companies that have cheated on tests</a>.


feed_id: 0fc3975634c98dbc4a02b966d6c7bbc2
title: Finland to try giving money to unemployed
uri: Finland-to-try-giving-money-to-unemployed
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#3_January_2017_%28Finland_to_try_giving_money_to_unemployed%29

content:
<p>
Finland will try giving money 
<a href="https://theoutline.com/post/650/finland-s-radical-and-experimental-approach-to-unemployment">for
two years</a> to some currently unemployed people.


feed_id: f7fc2b9979a0b04a212fc72bfad2e567
title: Islamist terrorists and right-wing extremists
uri: Islamist-terrorists-and-right-wing-extremists
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#3_January_2017_%28Islamist_terrorists_and_right-wing_extremists%29

content:
<p>
Islamist terrorists and right-wing extremists 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/dec/20/ankara-berlin-terror-islamist-farage-right">want
the same thing</a>: to create social hostility that they can profit
from.  Don't help them.


feed_id: 17fe9a0630262728488569c2ee8891d6
title: The Professor Witchhunt web site
uri: The-Professor-Witchhunt-web-site
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#3_January_2017_%28The_Professor_Witchhunt_web_site%29

content:
<p>
The Professor Witchhunt web site (to call it what it is)
<a href="http://www.alternet.org/education/professor-watchlist-gets-f-accuracy">mixes
false rumors with some true facts</a> to create a potential threat to
intellectual freedom in the US.


feed_id: fccc7028248ea0c5958805eb3ccadadf
title: Prosecution of New Orleans thugs
uri: Prosecution-of-New-Orleans-thugs
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#3_January_2017_%28Prosecution_of_New_Orleans_thugs%29

content:
<p>
Several New Orleans thugs were 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/dec/19/new-orleans-reaches-settlements-for-police-shootings-after-hurricane-katrina">convicted
or pled guilty to killings, beatings and false accusations made
against innocent people</a> who were trying to flee New Orleans after
Hurricane Katrina.  Now the city has paid millions to the victims.
<p>
It is exemplary that thugs were prosecuted for the more frequent
lesser crimes, and not solely when they had killed someone.


feed_id: 00953b469e243c92735682d5b6abbc0a
title: Polish protesters defend journalism
uri: Polish-protesters-defend-journalism
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#3_January_2017_%28Polish_protesters_defend_journalism%29

content:
<p>
Polish protesters 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/20/poland-scraps-proposed-media-restrictions-in-wake-of-street-protests">made
the regime withdraw planned restrictions</a> on journalists in the
parliamemt building.


feed_id: c349b63face4bad7d5435cf8fd5663bc
title: Polar bears heading towards extinction
uri: Polar-bears-heading-towards-extinction
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#3_January_2017_%28Polar_bears_heading_towards_extinction%29

content:
<p>
As the ice melts, the 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/dec/20/churchill-canada-hudson-bay-no-snow-sea-ice-polar-bear">polar
bears of Hudson's Bay</a> head towards extinction.


feed_id: 98921152eb3a5103f99a916f7338e5a3
title: Urgent: Publish CIA torture report
uri: Urgent-Publish-CIA-torture-report
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#3_January_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Publish_CIA_torture_report%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: 
<a href="https://stallman.org/petitions/petition-senate/">call on
Obama and Feinstein</a> to publish the CIA torture report.


feed_id: a37c31dfaa63821d1b062c06ec024392
title: Unions striking in the UK
uri: Unions-striking-in-the-UK
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#3_January_2017_%28Unions_striking_in_the_UK%29
content:
<p>
Many unions are striking in the UK.  Other workers should 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/dec/19/dont-complain-about-the-strikers-theyre-only-doing-what-we-all-should-in-2017">follow
their example</a>.


feed_id: f17d33bab8bbf971572ce0102bf4b70a
title: US protection of wealthy professionals
uri: US-protection-of-wealthy-professionals
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#3_January_2017_%28US_protection_of_wealthy_professionals%29

content:
<p>
The US Protects Its Wealthy Professionals Financially While 
<a href="http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/38769-the-us-protects-its-wealthy-professionals-financially-while-throwing-workers-to-the-wolves">Throwing
Workers to the Wolves</a>.


feed_id: 2fb5ddd34c68fdd95668bd6b91ceb453
title: UK-made cluster bombs dropped in Yemen
uri: UK-made-cluster-bombs-dropped-in-Yemen
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#3_January_2017_%28UK-made_cluster_bombs_dropped_in_Yemen%29

content:
<p>
Salafi Arabia has acknowledged 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/19/saudi-arabia-admits-use-uk-made-cluster-bombs-yemen">dropping
UK-made cluster bombs in Yemen</a>.  This puts pressure on the UK to
stop selling arms to Salafi Arabia.


feed_id: d1a3be93739f365e4464a2e84a9593ed
title: Melting of Arctic ice
uri: Melting-of-Arctic-ice
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#3_January_2017_%28Melting_of_Arctic_ice%29
content:
<p>
The melting of Arctic ice has deranged the jet stream, 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/dec/19/arctic-ice-melt-already-affecting-weather-patterns-where-you-live-right-now">causing
strange weather all around the northern hemisphere</a>.
<p>
It 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/dec/19/alaska-sea-ice-vanishing-climate-change-indigenous-people">endangers</a>
the way of life, and the language, of some indigenous peoples, as well
as the land they live on.


feed_id: 571213cfd1a23316c575c3846a667671
title: Urgent: Don't help troll register Muslims
uri: Urgent-Don-t-help-troll-register-Muslims
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#3_January_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Dont_help_troll_register_Muslims%29

content:
<p>
Everyone: 
<a href="http://act.democracyforamerica.com/sign/stop_trump_registry/">Call
on tech companies</a> to refuse to help the troll register US Muslims.


feed_id: 96b8335ee8e4a6f16d55bb03478c6089
title: Justice and a good life for all
uri: Justice-and-a-good-life-for-all
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#3_January_2017_%28Justice_and_a_good_life_for_all%29

content:
<p>
Instead of identity politics, let's campaign for a government the
provides 
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/views/2016/12/18/its-not-racism-vs-anti-racism-its-capitalism-vs-socialism">justice
and a good life for all</a>.
<p>
Also, we can oppose bigotry (whether conscious or unconscious) and
work against it without identifying with a particular identity.


feed_id: a67de381bd05707906a504ecf15056e8
title: Troll's choice for ambassador to Israel
uri: Troll-s-choice-for-ambassador-to-Israel
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#3_January_2017_%28Trolls_choice_for_ambassador_to_Israel%29

content:
<p>
A Jew 
<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alan-singer/i-oppose-trumps-nominatio_b_13718870.html">condemns</a>
the troll's choice for ambassador to Israel.


feed_id: 654aedb695e85c531f18274ece369e82
title: Regulation of algorithms
uri: Regulation-of-algorithms
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#3_January_2017_%28Regulation_of_algorithms%29
content:
<p>
The UK Labour Party calls for 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/dec/18/labour-calls-for-regulation-of-algorithms-used-by-tech-firms">regulation
of algorithms used by servers in some cases</a>.


feed_id: 9f8b1e27f24e8a84bb4e43b5be696fab
title: Obligatory gifts
uri: Obligatory-gifts
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#3_January_2017_%28Obligatory_gifts%29
content:
<p>
If you can't resist obligatory gift holidays, at least give gifts that
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/views/2016/12/18/tread-lightly-lift-weight-world">don't
take a lot of resources and don't produce permanent trash</a>.


feed_id: 3da1ef32cf683ad2bb9d5671cc082222
title: Republican sabotage of recounts
uri: Republican-sabotage-of-recounts
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#2_January_2017_%28Republican_sabotage_of_recounts%29

content:
<p>
The Republican 
<a href="http://www.gregpalast.com/the-republican-sabotage-of-the-vote-recounts-in-michigan-and-wisconsin/">Sabotage
of the Vote Recounts</a> in Michigan and Wisconsin.


feed_id: 030a85649a4474edf66d90becaf553dd
title: Poland "on Road to Autocracy"
uri: Poland-on-Road-to-Autocracy
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#2_January_2017_%28Poland_on_Road_to_Autocracy%29
content:
<p>
Poland Is "on Road to Autocracy", 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/18/poland-is-on-road-to-autocracy-says-high-court-president">Says
Constitutional Court President</a>.  When his term ends, soon, Poland
may reach the end of that road.


feed_id: 06a9fb1d214405f708d474fa9fb37cc8
title: Treating fetuses as human beings
uri: Treating-fetuses-as-human-beings
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#2_January_2017_%28Treating_fetuses_as_human_beings%29

content:
<p>
Various Republican-dominated states are trying to propagandize for
their idea that fetuses are human beings with rules requiring
hospitals to 
<a href="http://www.orderofthegooddeath.com/new-fetal-regulations-texas-good-bad-news">treat
fetuses as dead human bodies</a>.


feed_id: 679db1a402f2d10d13e3fc2c52865a19
title: "Brain health" measurements
uri: Brain-health-measurements
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#2_January_2017_%28Brain_health_measurements%29
content:
<p>
It is possible to identify at age 3 a fraction of people who will
place a big burden on society, from a few 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/dec/12/high-social-cost-adults-can-be-identified-from-as-young-as-three-says-study">measurements
of "brain health"</a>.
<p>
How many such people there are is partly under our control.  It is
clear that lead poisoning can put people into that fraction, so the
amount of lead that gets into people will make that fraction bigger or
smaller.


feed_id: 622ae74aeb428f5d272acf806b94eef7
title: Concern about pervasive surveillance
uri: Concern-about-pervasive-surveillance
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#2_January_2017_%28Concern_about_pervasive_surveillance%29

content:
<p>
If people get bothered by the fictional all-seeing eye of the 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/dec/18/elf-on-the-shelf-isnt-real-christmas-tradition-post-truth-doll-intimidation">"Elf
on the Shelf"</a>, maybe they will start being concerned about 
<a href="http://gnu.org/philosophy/surveillance-vs-democracy.html">real
systems that do pervasive surveillance</a>.


feed_id: a8a35b302e89e400e756819fe6a0b67c
title: Tillerson director of Exxon subsidiary in Bahamas
uri: Tillerson-director-of-Exxon-subsidiary-in-Bahamas
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#2_January_2017_%28Tillerson_director_of_Exxon_subsidiary_in_Bahamas%29

content:
<p>
Tillerson is a director of Bahamas-registered Exxon subsidiary that is
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/dec/18/leak-rex-tillerson-director-bahamas-based-us-russian-oil-company">involved
with Russia</a>.
<p>
Companies in the Bahamas usually exist to hide income or dodge taxes.
Maybe that is what this one is for.  Exxon claims that it doesn't
dodge taxes in one particular way.  The denial is phrased in a
legalistic way that makes me suspect it's a word game.  Maybe this
subsidiary dodges taxes in some other way.
<p>
Identifying the 
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2016/12/12/worlds-worst-corporate-tax-havens-exposed">15
tax havens</a>, measured by the amount of harm they do.


feed_id: 4191d75afbdfe090ec626c1e9d7fe7f5
title: Very urgent: Protest against troll nominees
uri: Very-urgent-Protest-against-troll-nominees
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#8_January_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Protest_against_troll_nominees%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: 
<a href="https://actionnetwork.org/event_campaigns/day-against-denial?country=US%5D%3Freferrer%3Dcredo-action-2&zipcode=02142">protest
on Jan 9</a> against the troll's worst saboteur nominees for cabinet
positions.
<p>
If necessary, you can hand-edit that URL, substituting your zip code
into it.


feed_id: 5d8d9cb941e8721f5e4ea74211ed4e41
title: Nothing too ugly for trumpet
uri: Nothing-too-ugly-for-trumpet
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#6_January_2017_%28Nothing_too_ugly_for_trumpet%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/dec/23/donald-trump-carl-paladino-michelle-obama">Nothing
is too ugly</a> for a trumpet to say.


feed_id: f16772113f52d5d58fd8492b467424b7
title: Arbitrarily demanding drug tests of students
uri: Arbitrarily-demanding-drug-tests-of-students
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#6_January_2017_%28Arbitrarily_demanding_drug_tests_of_students%29

content:
<p>
The ACLU has got a court order to 
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2016/12/22/court-finds-mandatory-drug-testing-college-students-unconstitutional">stop
schools from arbitrarily demanding drug tests of students</a>.
<p>
There is no justification for making people take tests of whether they
have used recreational drugs in the past few days or weeks.
<p>
In certain special circumstances it is justified to require someone to
take a test of whether per functioning is currently impaired by a
drug; but that's a different kind of test.  And doing schoolwork
is not one of those special circumstances.


feed_id: 754d536cf4c427d40cc8987f2d255f17
title: Irish homeless people occupy vacant building
uri: Irish-homeless-people-occupy-vacant-building
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#6_January_2017_%28Irish_homeless_people_occupy_vacant_building%29

content:
<p>
Irish homeless people, with support from the community,
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/further/2016/12/22/real-democracy-occupation-irish-rough-sleepers-activists-unions-and-artists">occupied
a vacant building</a> to make places they could sleep.
<p>
Naturally, the government took the side of the future and past rich
owners rather than people who need a place to sleep.  That's a sign of
fundamental callousness: those politicians should spend some months
sleeping on the street to understand what is at stake here.


feed_id: b6b0f33c0209c482b98bd21dde7fa018
title: North Carolina's "bathroom bill"
uri: North-Carolina-s-bathroom-bill
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#6_January_2017_%28North_Carolinas_bathroom_bill%29
content:
<p>
North Carolina Republicans said they would repeal the "bathroom bill"
if Charlotte repealed its antidiscrimination law which said that
people could use the bathrooms of their own gender identity.
<p>
Charlotte did so, upon which the state Republicans 
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/views/2016/12/23/will-political-chaos-north-carolina-lead-third-reconstruction">did
not repeal the "bathroom bill"</a>.
<p>
Republicans are like Trump: cheaters!  Never make a deal with
Republicans — if you care whether they keep it.
<p>
I suggest that Charlotte pass its bill again, just to show those
cheaters for what they are.


feed_id: 12b14356c3dcaec2cd275a912b6bcd79
title: EU considers visitor fingerprints plan
uri: EU-considers-visitor-fingerprints-plan
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#6_January_2017_%28EU_considers_visitor_fingerprints_plan%29

content:
<p>
The EU is 
<a href="https://www.accessnow.org/smartborders/">considering a plan
to take fingerprints from all visitors</a>.  It has no specific
grounds for this violation of privacy, just a vague handwaving that
this is good for "security".


feed_id: 6953f5f443dcbd79036659b07ff8c874
title: Hope not Hate
uri: Hope-not-Hate
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#6_January_2017_%28Hope_not_Hate%29
content:
<p>
How the group Hope not Hate 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/dec/23/challenging-prejudice-constructively-hope-not-hate">teaches
people to have calm discussions</a> to diffuse the anger that promotes
bigotry.


feed_id: d08b788f1a3067f214f1630a5c80ceb6
title: Breitbart internet mob bullies Jewish family
uri: Breitbart-internet-mob-bullies-Jewish-family
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#6_January_2017_%28Breitbart_internet_mob_bullies_Jewish_family%29

content:
<p>
A Breitbart internet mob latched on to a rumor and bullied a Jewish
family with 
<a href="http://www.mediaite.com/online/family-flees-after-breitbart-and-fox-news-blame-them-for-christmas-play-cancellation/">threats
that made them fear violence</a>.


feed_id: c918cd8ec44cfe2c2ae44259b9ae7120
title: Feral cats
uri: Feral-cats
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#12_January_2017_%28Feral_cats%29
content:
<p>
Australia is full of introduced feral cats, which have
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jan/04/feral-cats-now-cover-99-per-cent-of-australia">wiped out 20
native species</a> and could wipe out many more.


feed_id: cac30f5fbfce2f3609a6830fa5487410
title: Offshoring of profits
uri: 2017-01-13-Offshoring-of-profits
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#12_January_2017_%28Offshoring_of_profits%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/jan/04/kenyas-panic-button-app-shake-of-phone-sends-distress-signal">Another
  Tory politician</a> has been connected with hidden offshoring of
profits.


feed_id: 42b7ccc2a9d4c3a771c04318f9e25393
title: Vaquita Porpoises
uri: Vaquita-Porpoises
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#12_January_2017_%28Vaquita_Porpoises%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jan/04/last-endangered-mexican-porpoises-to-be-rounded-up-by-us-navy-trained-dolphins">A
  last-ditch plan</a> to protect the remaining vaquita porpoises: find
them
and move them to a protected area.
<p>
It could wipe them out, or it could save them.  But since they are
being
wiped
out anyway, I think it is better to try it than not to.


feed_id: 3d5fff9cb90b83c633fffeabbe8709d4
title: Guantanamo
uri: 2017-01-13-Guantanamo
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#12_January_2017_%28Guantanamo%29
content:
<p>
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2017/01/03/amnesty-international-usa-launches-aggressive-guantanamo-closure-campaign-obamas">Amnesty
  International is campaigning</a> for Obama to close the Guantanamo
prison now.
<p>
The injustice of the Guantanamo prison is not which prison those
prisoners are in, but that they are held in prison without trial.
Releasing all the prisoners that don't face charges, and giving the
rest real trials, would end that injustice.  That's what needs to be
done.
<p>
Obama can do the first part, and he should.  As for preventing the
troll from imprisoning more people without trial, Obama can't do that
now.  If he had firmly opposed imprisonment without trial for years,
as he should have, he might have made it difficult for a future
president to restart it.


feed_id: d243200bf31dad0fa968c580b272a1ef
title: Deportation
uri: 2017-01-13-Deportation
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#12_January_2017_%28Deportation%29
content:
<p>
18-year-old Idress Wazeer
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jan/03/afghan-teen-detained-home-office-threatens-kill-himself">faces deportation from the UK to
Afghanistan</a>, where (he reports) his family was murdered by the
Taliban.  He says he would rather die than be sent there, and he means
it: he has tried twice to kill himself in immigration prison.
<p>
Both times he was saved by a meddlesome cellmate who is too mentally
rigid to realize that saving Wazeer was only making things worse.
<p>
It takes courage to end your life today in a way that might achieve
some good, rather than hang on a while so that it ends later in a
useless way.


feed_id: 5f12649f2c3453f18e0365a36f64a580
title: Medical ethics
uri: Medical-ethics
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#12_January_2017_%28Medical_ethics%29
content:
<p>
Israeli doctors, in the name of medical ethics,
<a href="https://972mag.com/israeli-doctors-refusing-to-force-feed-palestinian-hunger-strikers/124001/">defy the state</a> and
refuse to force-feed Palestinian hunger strikers.


feed_id: 43ccd4473de5969fa67b6e103e8868b0
title: Home demolitions
uri: Home-demolitions
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#12_January_2017_%28Home_demolitions%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/charlotte-silver/israeli-home-demolitions-break-records-shatter-lives-2016">Israeli
  Home Demolitions</a> Break Records, Shatter Lives in 2016,


feed_id: 6e0135c6cc93c4456f8b0ecab01aa633
title: Rail passengers
uri: Rail-passengers
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#12_January_2017_%28Rail_passengers%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jan/03/campaigners-brave-cold-to-protest-at-stations-over-fare-increases">Rail
  passengers protested</a> in many UK train stations against high
fares
and unreliable trains.
<p>
This is the natural result of privatization.


feed_id: 3fa1f0c2646c25084541496d04849df1
title: Buruli ulcer
uri: Buruli-ulcer
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#12_January_2017_%28Buruli_ulcer%29
content:
<p>
An infectious disease, buruli ulcer, has become more common among
humans
<a href="http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/38955-how-tropical-deforestation-and-land-use-change-is-driving-emerging-infectious-diseases">because humans have wiped out carnivorous wildlife</a>.


feed_id: dec34301fbe9e7840eaaca512d11b028
title: Chinese prisons
uri: Chinese-prisons
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#12_January_2017_%28Chinese_prisons%29
content:
<p>


Peter Dahlin <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/03/human-rights-activist-peter-dahlin-secret-black-prison-xi-jinpings-new-china">reports on his 23 days in a brainwashing Chinese prison</a>.
<p>
A year later, he has not recovered.


feed_id: d1de340ed57d26df67fb6274fd273103
title: Tories endangering human rights
uri: Tories-endangering-human-rights
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#12_January_2017_%28Tories_endangering_human_rights%29

content:
<p>


The Tories plan to withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/03/european-convention-human-rights-threat">endangers human rights in the UK and globally</a>.


feed_id: 4c31717c88ddad7cb7b9ae337f94ea22
title: Trump's debts
uri: Trump-s-debts
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#12_January_2017_%28Trump%27s_debts%29
content:
<p>


<a href="http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/12/31/1615891/-Trump-s-Poor-And-Putin-knows-it">It appears that the loser must have debts that he can't pay</a>.


feed_id: 79864648411fb4864341dc2d618fc261
title: US violence
uri: US-violence
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#12_January_2017_%28US_violence%29
content:
<p>


<a href="https://consortiumnews.com/2016/07/07/the-nasty-blowback-from-americas-war/">Relating the violence</a> of US thugs in the US to the violence of US soldiers
in other countries.


feed_id: e06e53a117ce76c5f9243b499259f0c0
title: Israel's occupation
uri: Israel-s-occupation
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#12_January_2017_%28Israel%27s_occupation%29
content:
<p>


Kerry's last speech <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/01/john-kerry-netanyahu-israel-palestinians">acknowledged in detail</a> the oppression of Israel's
occupation of the West Bank.
<p>
If Obama had made this point persistently for 8 years, and insisted on it,
we might have a peace deal by now.


feed_id: 778e61957475618263c19b53eef162af
title: Organ donors in France
uri: Organ-donors-in-France
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#12_January_2017_%28Organ_donors_in_France%29
content:
<p>


In France, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/jan/02/france-organ-donation-law">everyone is now an organ donor</a> by default.
<p>
You can opt out, but I can't see any rational reason to do so unless
for some special reason you are likely to murdered for your organs.


feed_id: 649431a174c419acdd1d03599af0d896
title: E-cigarettes
uri: 2017-01-13-E-cigarettes
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#12_January_2017_%28E-cigarettes%29
content:
<p>


E-cigarettes <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/sifting-the-evidence/2017/jan/02/ill-say-it-again-e-cigarettes-are-still-far-safer-than-smoking">are much less dangerous</a> than smoking, but if you are not a nicotine user you should not start using it
in any form.


feed_id: fb5bcb94818155a865b5acd40db6ed3c
title: Homeless camp
uri: Homeless-camp
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#12_January_2017_%28Homeless_camp%29
content:
<p>


Oakland, California, provides ordinary public services to a homeless
encampment <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/homeless-camp-oakland-trash-pickup">instead of trying to drive them away</a>.


feed_id: 87a2da8a2448d508aaee8fedfe13088f
title: Jean-Claude Juncker
uri: Jean-Claude-Juncker
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#12_January_2017_%28Jean-Claude_Juncker%29
content:
<p>


<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/jan/01/jean-claude-juncker-blocked-eu-curbs-on-tax-avoidance-cables-show">A leak showed</a> that Jean-Claude Juncker, when PM of Luxembourg, worked
actively to protect tax dodging by thwarting EU efforts to reduce it.
<p>
The EU is set up to give the executive power to playthings of the
rich, such as Juncker.  That means it is corrupt at the root.


feed_id: f13faa0b04e4d8e380e26cc035206219
title: Austerity in Greece
uri: Austerity-in-Greece
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#12_January_2017_%28Austerity_in_Greece%29
content:
<p>


<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/01/patients-dying-greece-public-health-meltdown">Austerity in Greece means sick people die who ought to be cured</a>.


feed_id: 914744eb0ab0bee22365299afaf87731
title: Trump and Putin
uri: 2017-01-13-Trump-and-Putin
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#12_January_2017_%28Trump_and_Putin%29
content:
<p>


<a href="http://www.alternet.org/world/macabre-petroleum-waltz-trump-and-putin">Why Oil Is the Glue That Bonds Trump and Putin</a>.


feed_id: 128d53840a7458ba15cf45a8c6a3b345
title: Biometrical tracking
uri: Biometrical-tracking
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#12_January_2017_%28Biometrical_tracking%29
content:
<p>


Express lanes in security <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-12-28/popcorn-peanuts-iris-scan-nba-mlb-teams-enter-high-tech-age">are a clever idea</a> to make Americans want to be
biometrically tracked.
<p>
It is fairly predictable that once the gentry are eagerly doing this,
it is likely to be pushed on everyone else.
<p>
Please use your moral strength to resist biometric tracking
to the best of your ability.


feed_id: 9b6a7c3118a5e974a767fd91aadd1377
title: Control of universities
uri: Control-of-universities
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#12_January_2017_%28Control_of_universities%29
content:
<p>


<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/01/leave-state-control-of-universities-to-china">The UK should not follow China</a> with state control of universities.


feed_id: b0109221ae87fede4a505a2bcf73e36d
title: US stock market rising
uri: US-stock-market-rising
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#12_January_2017_%28US_stock_market_rising%29
content:
<p>


The rising US stock market constitutes a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/01/surging-stock-markets-donald-trump-conman-theresa-may-phoney">big bet that the new
president is a conman</a>, and won't really do anything to benefit the
working-class people that voted for him.
<p>
All that money wagered will generate pressure for him to be a conman
so that the bettors win the bet.


feed_id: a3a32c55924ed8a98ef0a67ce6673257
title: Cease-fire in Syria
uri: 2017-01-13-Cease-fire-in-Syria
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#12_January_2017_%28Cease-fire_in_Syria%29
content:
<p>


<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/31/syria-ceasefire-russia-united-nations-iran-turkey">The cease-fire in most of Syria is holding</a>.


feed_id: b693dedc4398c659732ebf96016eae6e
title: Global heating
uri: 2017-01-13-Global-heating
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#12_January_2017_%28Global_heating%29
content:
<p>


<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2008/aug/01/climatechange.carbonemissions">We have 100 months</a> to curb global heating or face probable catastrophic
change in climate.


feed_id: e8c78ca723e43fb74a027e8ae4618f36
title: Miami thugs
uri: Miami-thugs
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#12_January_2017_%28Miami_thugs%29
content:
<p>


Three Miami thugs were fired for a racist discussion in which they joked
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/dec/30/miami-police-officers-fired-black-neighborhood-joke">about shooting blacks for target practice</a>.
<p>
That's far beyond unconscious racism; that's real hatred.


feed_id: 87b3c76fd2ed21d904424e89a9fe8291
title: Israel's land grab
uri: Israel-s-land-grab
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#12_January_2017_%28Israel%27s_land_grab%29
content:
<p>


Previous presidents opposed Israel's land grab much more forcefully;
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2016/12/30/barack-obama-wasnt-nearly-as-tough-on-israel-as-republican-presidents/">Obama has been mostly subservient</a>.
<p>
And when, at last minute, he dares to show a sign of opposition,
Netanyahu vilifies him.


feed_id: a0995412e47a1aae818b9271b91129ed
title: Matt Taibi
uri: Matt-Taibi
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#12_January_2017_%28Matt_Taibi%29
content:
<p>


Matt Taibi distrusts the accusations of Russian meddling in the US
election.  It's not impossible, but <a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/features/something-about-this-russia-story-stinks-w458439">there seems to be more propaganda
than evidence</a>.


feed_id: c92ac9ea6bfac0da89b682c9c7807389
title: Debt colletion
uri: Debt-colletion
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#12_January_2017_%28Debt_colletion%29
content:
<p>


Large companies that buy consumer debt <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/so-sue-them-what-weve-learned-about-the-debt-collection-lawsuit-machine">has made debt collection an
unbearable burden for millions of Americans</a>.
<p>
Since the debt-buyers are more aggressive, one solution is to forbid
that activity.  Legislators are constantly pestered by companies for
laws that let them make more money … often at society's expense.


feed_id: f2da76667ce1ac519511f80945dd5e29
title: Sea turtles
uri: Sea-turtles
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#12_January_2017_%28Sea_turtles%29
content:
<p>


Australian volunteers tag and measure the loggerhead sea turtles every year
as they lay eggs on the beach.  They rarely find a mature turtle they had
not already tagged, which <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/dec/31/saving-loggerhead-turtles-the-annual-sacrifice-to-preserve-an-ancient-journey">indicates the species is dying</a>.


feed_id: fba57010624ff32ae2eed77e119d1122
title: Predictive policing
uri: 2017-01-13-Predictive-policing
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#12_January_2017_%28Predictive_policing%29
content:
<p>


Several cities in the San Francisco area <a href="http://motherboard.vice.com/read/minority-retort-why-oakland-police-turned-down-predictive-policing">have rejected</a> "predictive
policing".
<p>
Using a proprietary program such as PredPol to guide policing means,
in effect, outsourcing the data analysis and policy decisions of the
state to the proprietor of the software.  <a href="http://gnu.org/philosophy/government-free-software.html">That's never justifiable</a>.


feed_id: e0a7e91f1b03dea4d88e3cbc565f5967
title: Mormon Tabernacle Choir
uri: Mormon-Tabernacle-Choir
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#12_January_2017_%28Mormon_Tabernacle_Choir%29
content:
<p>


<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/dec/30/mormon-tabernacle-choir-member-quits-trump-inauguration">One of the singers in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir has quit rather
than perform for the loser</a>.
<p>
I've decided to call him "the loser" for a while
rather than "the troll".


feed_id: 454118b93deb347dcdb4c738c4b2eb2c
title: Civilian Control of the Military
uri: Civilian-Control-of-the-Military
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#12_January_2017_%28Civilian_Control_of_the_Military%29

content:
<p>


<a href="http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/is-civilian-control-of-the-military-in-jeopardy/">Is Civilian Control of the [US] Military in Jeopardy</a>?


feed_id: ee870e6e5654a9a5e7b4d22a2e853733
title: New American segregation
uri: New-American-segregation
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#12_January_2017_%28New_American_segregation%29
content:
<p>


The new American segregation, like the American segregation of 50 years ago,
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jul/09/ghettos-blight-on-united-states">is created by a system of institutionalized bigotry</a>.


feed_id: a286afc1aeccc1c3aa62af6eafe86bb4
title: Muslims radicalization
uri: Muslims-radicalization
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#12_January_2017_%28Muslims_radicalization%29
content:
<p>


<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jun/13/radicalisation-islamophobia-orlando-shooting-florida-muslims-trump">The most effective way</a> to radicalize Muslims is to display bigotry
toward them.


feed_id: 07e44e972227f0c2e1c9cf5bbe06c55d
title: Faux News
uri: 2017-01-13-Faux-News
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#12_January_2017_%28Faux_News%29
content:
<p>


Faux News wants to eliminate food stamps because allegedly .1% (one
part in a thousand) <a href="http://www.alternet.org/right-wing/fox-news-caught-using-out-and-out-lie-push-end-food-stamps">gets fraudulently put into buying drugs</a>.
<p>
When dooH niboR wants an excuse to hurt the poor, the smallest excuse
will suffice.


feed_id: 5abd2c9ba0a8bf67d0464d048212c443
title: Effect of spills of diluted bitumen
uri: Effect-of-spills-of-diluted-bitumen
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#12_January_2017_%28Effect_of_spills_of_diluted_bitumen%29

content:
<p>


<a href="http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/38920-new-study-secrecy-around-composition-of-oil-sands-dilbit-makes-effective-spill-response-research-impossible">Oil companies are blocking research</a> into the effect of spills of
diluted bitumen into the sea, by keeping the composition of the
diluent fluid secret.
<p>
I don't believe in prohibing companies from keeping secrets, not in
general.  But companies are not persons and they are not entitled to
human rights.  Any time their secrecy interferes with some public
need, the state should require publication.  The companies that don't
like this are welcome to shut down or go away -- good riddance to
them.


feed_id: 40957c6995c6cbd9b98f269b6e788080
title: AslÄ± ErdoÄan
uri: AslÄ-ErdoÄ-an
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#12_January_2017_%28Asl%C3%84%C2%B1_Erdo%C3%84%C2%9Fan%29

content:
<p>

Turkish writer AslÄ± ErdoÄan has been released from jail
but <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/30/turkish-novelist-asli-erdogan-reveals-detention-ordeal">still faces political charges</a>.


feed_id: 8f0293f1eefd5ba08331215639ce6abc
title: Irukandji jellyfish
uri: Irukandji-jellyfish
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#12_January_2017_%28Irukandji_jellyfish%29
content:
<p>


Tiny irukandji jellyfish, whose sting can kill a human, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/dec/30/queensland-swimmers-warned-as-irukandji-jellyfish-heads-south">are  spreading
along the Australian coast</a>, far beyond the equatorial areas where they 
have lived in the past.
<p>
Global heating is cause of this, as well as so many larger dangers.


feed_id: 5f7c8b82631b055c2d4981ff5c6fb3cd
title: Medicare
uri: 2017-01-13-Medicare
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#12_January_2017_%28Medicare%29
content:
<p>


The Republican <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/12/28/1615175/-Tom-Price-s-Plan-To-Destroy-Medicare-Balance-Billing-Seniors-Into-Bankruptcy?detail=email&link_id=9&can_id=8b24519448cbedadde1c8a966f94caad&source=email-cartoon-rip-carrie-fisher&email_referrer=cartoon-rip-carrie-fisher&email_subject=cartoon-rip-carrie-fisher">plan to destroy</a> medicare works by letting hospitals and
doctors charge whatever they like, and bill the old people for
whatever Medicare doesn't cover.


feed_id: e1e6a1e566067a9c329fa3468ec2f218
title: Rockettes
uri: Rockettes
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#12_January_2017_%28Rockettes%29
content:
<p>


Although the Rockettes have been told that they have the option of
not performing for the troll, <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/12/27/1614941/-The-Rockettes-performance-at-Trump-s-inauguration-is-voluntary-Yeah-sure">the dancers fear getting fired</a>.
<p>
I have a suggestion: they should perform in the park that day, in
street clothing rather than their costumes, as a protest.


feed_id: 1a436f14e53b790704419a7dbfa1b27a
title: Trump
uri: 2017-01-13-Trump
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#12_January_2017_%28Trump%29
content:
<p>


If the troll stretches the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force
the way Obama did, <a href="http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/12/29/thanks-congress-trump-will-have-nearly-unlimited-power-wage-war">he could bomb or invade</a> nearly anywhere.


feed_id: d91b40862aa2d539b74be1dce271761e
title: Trump trolling
uri: Trump-trolling
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#12_January_2017_%28Trump_trolling%29
content:
<p>


The troll <a href="http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/12/29/trump-takes-credit-new-sprint-jobs-he-had-nothing-do">claims credit for 5000 jobs that are moving to the US</a>
under a business agreement made before the election.


feed_id: 0d3c89f2bba5c4b4b53e7ecb3f7a15cc
title: Assange was smeared
uri: Assange-was-smeared
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#12_January_2017_%28Assange_was_smeared%29
content:
<p>


Assange was smeared <a href="https://theintercept.com/2016/12/29/the-guardians-summary-of-julian-assanges-interview-went-viral-and-was-completely-false/">with distorted quotations</a> claiming that he
supported Trump and supported Putin.
<p>
Looking <a href="http://www.repubblica.it/esteri/2016/12/23/news/assange_wikileaks-154754000/">at his actual interview</a>, the main reference to Trump, which ends with

<blockquote>
there are opportunities for change in the
United States: change for the worse and change for the better.
</blockquote>

is a cool evaluation of an unknown factor, not support.
<p>
I think Assange exaggerates a little when he says that the tolerated
Russian opposition press constitutes an alternative to Wikileaks.
Those publications may be tolerated for now, but if they published
leaks they might be shut down.
<p>
However, his point that Wikileaks can't publish effectively to
Russians because that needs to be done by people with a Russian
background is valid -- and a far cry from what the smear article
claimed.


feed_id: 2097ae73a6b13e06222042c47a3b4c12
title: Burger King
uri: Burger-King
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#12_January_2017_%28Burger_King%29
content:
<p>


Burger King <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/dec/29/burger-king-to-cut-use-of-antibiotics-in-its-chicken-as-part-of-superbug-fight">says it will cut</a> out use of "critical" antibiotics
in raising its chicken.
<p>
That is a significant step forward, but it has to be spread to all farming
of all kinds of animals.


feed_id: e20f20a1ecf778d5fc94638e7fefb9c3
title: Eaten Fish
uri: Eaten-Fish
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#12_January_2017_%28Eaten_Fish%29
content:
<p>


Cartoonist Eaten Fish, imprisoned by Australia on Manus Island,
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/dec/29/eaten-fish-iranian-asylum-seeker-and-cartoonists-refugee-claim-rejected">will be sent back to Iran</a>, where he faces imprisonment or execution.


feed_id: 344dca44b278ebfaa1be723d807abbf9
title: "Child endangerment"
uri: Child-endangerment
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#12_January_2017_%28Child_endangerment%29
content:
<p>


Jeffry Wagner is charged with "child endangerment" <a href="http://www.freerangekids.com/boy-5-accidentally-walks-to-school-on-a-saturday-morning-while-dad-sleeps-in-cops-come-calling/">because his child
started walking to school</a> on Saturday morning while Jeffry was asleep.


feed_id: 9094e95c3b22173dc8c1726a0c8b7879
title: Neveed Baloch brutalized
uri: Neveed-Baloch-brutalized
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#12_January_2017_%28Neveed_Baloch_brutalized%29
content:
<p>


Naveed Baloch, who was temporarly suspected of being responsible for
the terrorist attack in Berlin, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/29/naveed-baloch-man-wrongly-arrested-berlin-attack-fears-for-his-life">reports</a> that the thugs brutalized him
while he was in jail.


feed_id: 81f8feba7c9eab29868cb79115b0d775
title: Smart meters
uri: Smart-meters
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#12_January_2017_%28Smart_meters%29
content:
<p>


The security of "smart meters" is very stupid.  Crackers can find out what
devices you own, in many cases take control of them, bankrupt you with a false
electric bill, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/dec/29/smart-electricity-meters-dangerously-insecure-hackers">and even make them explode</a>.
<p>
The crackers can learn an awful lot by watching out how much electricity
you use from second to second.
<p>
Even worse, the electric utility can learn it, too -- and tell big brother.
<p>
The obvious "solution" to this problem would be "better security in
the smart meter".  That way, only the electric utility and big brother
could snoop on you, invade your other devices, etc.
<p>
The real solution is to design smart meters so that they can't do this,
at all, for anyone.


feed_id: 6f046c59da41a47470615f773a873bfa
title: Al Qa'ida
uri: Al-Qa-ida
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#12_January_2017_%28Al_Qa%27ida%29
content:
<p>


Al Qa'ida <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/29/a-more-dangerous-long-term-threat-al-qaida-grows-as-isis-retreats">is slowly growing</a> by seeking support locally and being less
bloody.
<p>
Perhaps it will morph into something we could make peace with.
<p>
Any Islamist group advocates oppressive Shari'a law, and thus aims to
violate people's human rights.  But it's not usually necessary or
legitimate to respondto every such regime with war.  The US has not
started drone attacks in Poland and Hungary, let alone Belarus,
Thailand, and Malaysia, nor even in Bahrain, Egypt, and Salafi Arabia,
for their violations of human rights.


feed_id: 5888d5d6db20bb03d3bdf62b45f38a4b
title: Thugs killings
uri: Thugs-killings
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#12_January_2017_%28Thugs_killings%29
content:
<p>


When thugs kill a dog, that's not as grave as killing a person.  But
<a href="http://www.rutherford.org/publications_resources/john_whiteheads_commentary/programmed_to_kill_the_growing_epidemic_of_cops_shooting_dogs">the frequency of killing dogs highlights bad values</a> in training, and they
endanger humans too.


feed_id: 396f1241a4e91b970db05b15fdc9197f
title: Thugs
uri: 2017-01-13-Thugs
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#12_January_2017_%28Thugs%29
content:
<p>

One lesson we could learn from the killing of Philando Castile is
that, in some kinds of traffic stop situations, the thug should stay
in the car and <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/07/end-needless-interaction-with-cops-during-traffic-stops/490412/">avoid risk to the driver and to the thug</a>.


feed_id: 12969e413c677e82cee108f3b39865d4
title: Tory bigotry
uri: Tory-bigotry
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#12_January_2017_%28Tory_bigotry%29
content:
<p>

Tory bigotry <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/dec/29/racism-primary-schools-tories-immigration">has sown bigotry in UK</a> elementary schools.


feed_id: 425cd065ba1c4a45d6ba98934461cc02
title: Dakota Access Pipeline
uri: 2017-01-13-Dakota-Access-Pipeline
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#12_January_2017_%28Dakota_Access_Pipeline%29
content:
<p>


<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/dec/29/standing-rock-activists-dakota-access-pipeline-delay">Activists are attacking the funding</a> of the Dakota Access Pipeline. Some banks have pulled out, and the company may soon have to renegotiate.


feed_id: cba133eeb1f8568ff8c79f4f767caf06
title: Duterte
uri: Duterte
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#12_January_2017_%28Duterte%29
content:
<p>


Duterte <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/29/philippines-rodrigo-duterte-says--threw-suspect-from-helicopter">said that he killed a man</a> by throwing him out of a helicopter.
<p>
Such an act is murder, no two ways about it.
<p>
I don't think it matters much whether Do-dirty's claim is true or false.
Someone who boasts of murder is despicable whether it is true or not.


feed_id: c9e153f8a1583b692b102b17c27635a8
title: Israel and Palestine
uri: 2017-01-13-Israel-and-Palestine
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#12_January_2017_%28Israel_and_Palestine%29
content:
<p>

Jewish Voice for Peace: Kerry's last-minute push for peace between
Israel and Palestine had the right goals, but <a href="http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2016/12/28/jvp-statement-secretary-kerrys-speech-122816">it wasn't a serious plan</a>
for overcoming the obstacles.


feed_id: 6e334527ed61a3e93a1d5ad1034b1af1
title: Trump
uri: 2017-01-13-Trump
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#12_January_2017_%28Trump%29
content:
<p>


Electing the troll was effectively a big temper-tantrum, and it presents the
US as infantile.  <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/america-the-disgraced-super-power_us_582c9bb2e4b058ce7aa88c8f">It will have trouble inspiring respect or admiration</a>
anywhere in the world.


feed_id: 4a1fe1821f9d107d60cfc341e2368cd0
title: Partial vote recounts
uri: Partial-vote-recounts
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#11_January_2017_%28Partial_vote_recounts%29
content:
<p>
The partial vote recounts confirm the previously reported counts, but
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/dec/28/election-recount-hacking-voting-machines">show vulnerabilities that need to be fixed</a>.


feed_id: ef17d3802c94bad1a323a660fb64cfd9
title: Self-defense
uri: Self-defense
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#11_January_2017_%28Self-defense%29
content:
<p>
French President Hollande pardoned a woman who was imprisoned for
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/28/francois-hollande-pardons-woman-for-of-husband">killing her violently abusive husband</a>.
<p>
Self-defense should apply to spousal violence just like violence by a
stranger.


feed_id: d346f66603951eb5124480b72ec91ce5
title: Minimum Wage
uri: 2017-01-13-Minimum-Wage
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#11_January_2017_%28Minimum_Wage%29
content:
<p>
In Every [US] State, Minimum Wage
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2016/12/28/every-state-minimum-wage-falls-far-short-living-wage">Falls Far Short of a Living Wage</a>.


feed_id: 82c67c61abdac87da7c0271c7b63d2bb
title: Texas thug
uri: 2017-01-13-Texas-thug
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#11_January_2017_%28Texas_thug%29
content:
<p>
A Texas thug
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/dec/28/police-shoot-black-man-video-david-collie-texas">shot a black man in the back</a>, as he was walking away, and
left him paralyzed for life.
<p>
Even supposing that the story about the box cutter was true, the thug
didn't need to shoot him at that time.  But you can't believe the
accusations
thugs make against their victims.


feed_id: 54da1a2390d7f29fc5edea3095900158
title: How Propaganda Works
uri: How-Propaganda-Works
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#11_January_2017_%28How_Propaganda_Works%29
content:
<p>
How Propaganda Works — <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/26/books/how-propaganda-works-is-a-timely-reminder-for-a-post-truth-age.html?_r=0">repeating a simplistic slogan</a> until the
zombified
followers don't want to try to think.


feed_id: 7207c0d4f896c3c03eb1534c730184e8
title: Condemnation of colonizing
uri: Condemnation-of-colonizing
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#11_January_2017_%28Condemnation_of_colonizing%29
content:
<p>
Israel's response to the UN's condemnation of colonizing the West Bank
is
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/12/27/lashing-out-israel-vows-more-settlements-reduces-diplomatic-ties">the usual stupid attempt to put the blame on its critics</a>.
<p>
It would be appropriate now for other countries to adopt a first stage
of sanctions, to start pressuring Isreal to make peace with Palestine.
<p>
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/views/2016/12/27/now-time-obama-recognize-palestine">Obama should give Palestine US recognition now.</a>
<p>
Israel can kick Palestinians around with impunity because they are
stateless.  I agree with Juan Cole that the Palestinians must be able
to be citizens of a state that will try defend their human rights,
just as Israelis are.


feed_id: cb835d3648d47078393d6c40ecefd598
title: So rich
uri: So-rich
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#11_January_2017_%28So_rich%29
content:
<p>
The troll said he was so rich he could not be bought, but it appears
that his billionaire donors
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/12/27/trump-who-cant-be-bought-rewards-big-donors-cabinet-roles">bought cabinet offices</a>.


feed_id: 54a5e552028d6d88b15e9033a41a61ae
title: Mega-cities
uri: Mega-cities
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#11_January_2017_%28Mega-cities%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/world-on-a-plate/2016/dec/28/growing-mega-cities-will-displace-vast-tracts-of-farmland-by-2030-study-says">Growing Mega-cities</a> Will Displace Vast Tracts of Farmland by 2030,
Study
Says.


feed_id: 2cb2dc7ac705c26eaaba5f3dcab7fbb0
title: Repr essive right-wing party
uri: Repr-essive-right-wing-party
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#11_January_2017_%28Repressive_right-wing_party%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/in-poland-a-window-on-what-happens-when-populists-come-to-power/2016/12/18/083577e8-c203-11e6-92e8-c07f4f671da4_story.html">Poland shows how</a> a repressive right-wing party can build public
support for repression and tyranny based on subsidies for ordinary
people.


feed_id: d6bd3bd79932872eb10b1c03c4f2f8bc
title: East Palo Alto
uri: East-Palo-Alto
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#11_January_2017_%28East_Palo_Alto%29
content:
<p>
In East Palo Alto,
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/dec/28/silicon-valley-homeless-east-palo-alto-california-schools">right near the wealth of Silicon Valley</a>,
1/3 of the children in public school are in families that don't
have a home of their own.
<p>
Most of them don't have to live on the street.  They live in someone
else's
house, or in a vehicle.


feed_id: 3e33cbc33265e8269f030c2a93346465
title: Partial cease-fire
uri: Partial-cease-fire
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#11_January_2017_%28Partial_cease-fire%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/28/turkey-russia-agree-terms-syria-ceasefire">Turkey and Russia have agreed</a> on a limited partial Syrian cease-fire
between Assad's men and non-Jihadi Arab rebels.
<p>
PISSI and al-Nusra are excluded.  So, at Turkey's insistance, are the
Kurds.
Nonetheless, I think this will be a step forward,
as long as Turkey doesn't turn it into an opportunity to launch
renewed
war against the Kurds.


feed_id: d6bba0be74065d07a0933ef916c691ad
title: US progressives
uri: US-progressives
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#11_January_2017_%28US_progressives%29
content:
<p>
US progressives are
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/dec/28/bernie-sanders-progressive-movement-2017">organizing behind Sanders</a>.


feed_id: 075500049cac33aea993355dedf41494
title: Exiled from New Zealand
uri: Exiled-from-New-Zealand
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#11_January_2017_%28Exiled_from_New_Zealand%29
content:
<p>
Tony Fullman has been effectively exiled from New Zealand for
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2016/08/14/nsa-gcsb-prism-surveillance-fullman-fiji/">talking
with Fijian democracy campaigners</a>.  New Zealand brought in Australia
and
the US NSA to spy on him in ways that were illegal for New Zealand to
do.


feed_id: 632f4da778e342cf0b379d33a9ebd83f
title: Sabrina Siddiqui
uri: Sabrina-Siddiqui
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#11_January_2017_%28Sabrina_Siddiqui%29
content:
<p>
Sabrina Siddiqui, a Muslim reporter who doesn't dress as one,
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/dec/29/reporting-while-muslim-how-i-covered-us-election">encountered violent hatred</a> while covering the troll's campaign.


feed_id: 8b2bc084982503a07212d29c4abfdb58
title: Safety standards
uri: Safety-standards
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#11_January_2017_%28Safety_standards%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2016/12/28/california-blames-incarcerated-workers-for-unsafe-conditions-and-amputations/">Prisoners in US prisons are excluded from work safety standards.</a>  They
can be maimed on the job due to lack of safety equipment and training,
and the US government covers it up.


feed_id: 029ae3a1ac19307ff888f171a60b37aa
title: Changing the seasons
uri: Changing-the-seasons
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#11_January_2017_%28Changing_the_seasons%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/dec/28/climate-change-driving-birds-migrate-early-research-reveals-edinburgh-global-warming">Global heating</a>, by changing the seasons, is causing birds to arrive at
their
summer breeding grounds too early.  Some find an absence of food.


feed_id: cff1d51abda88cdb693fa0d60cd80b99
title: CIA manipulation
uri: CIA-manipulation
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#11_January_2017_%28CIA_manipulation%29
content:
<p>
How the CIA
<a href="http://whowhatwhy.org/2016/12/26/spooked-cia-manipulates-media-part-1/">manipulates the US media</a>.
<p>
<a href="http://whowhatwhy.org/2016/12/27/spooked-cia-manipulates-media-part-2/">Part 2.</a>


feed_id: c37bb018267bdbf06481ab473fc907e8
title: Fear-spreading
uri: Fear-spreading
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#11_January_2017_%28Fear-spreading%29
content:
<p>
A fear-spreading city council member in Los Angeles
<a href="http://www.freerangekids.com/bill-would-ban-adults-without-kids-from-playgrounds/">proposed to make
it a crime for an adult to enter a playground if not accompanied by
children</a>.
<p>
Doesn't that fool realize how easy it is for the hypothetical
stranger-molester to arrange to bring a child?  One child would pave
per way to meet other children.
<p>
Nearly all adults that have sex with children are their relatives or
friends of the family.  What could be more natural than to bring that
child in order to meet another?
<p>
It would be more logical to prohibit adults that _do_ bring children.
<p>
Fortunately the LA Times rebuked this stupid idea.


feed_id: b8897c7a3c6eac1b0d08518f5a2cf97b
title: Export-Import Bank
uri: 2017-01-13-Export-Import-Bank
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#11_January_2017_%28Export-Import_Bank%29
content:
<p>
The US Export-Import Bank
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/dec/28/export-import-bank-mexico-pemex-oil-company-loans">lent over 8 billion dollars to Pemex</a>,
Mexico's
state oil company.
<p>
Even if it oil extraction were not dangerous to the world,
that certainly counts as corruption.


feed_id: 4752f43249f512410e20bb72be859e91
title: Chance of dying
uri: Chance-of-dying
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#11_January_2017_%28Chance_of_dying%29
content:
<p>
American adults under 64 have a 40% higher chance of dying
<a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-healthcare-deaths-idUSTRE58G6W520090917">if they
don't have medical coverage</a>.
<p>
This means that SCROTUS and the troll, when they plan to cancel
Obama's medical care plan, are planning to kill tens of thousands of
people.
And if they eliminate Medicare, they will kill even more.
<p>
<a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-healthcare-deaths-idUSBRE85J15720120620">This article</a>, a couple of years later, suggests that the number
increased
over that time.
<p>
Because Fox Asked,
<a href="http://mediamatters.org/research/2013/09/27/because-fox-asked-here-are-examples-of-people-w/196139">Here Are Examples</a> Of [Americans] Who Were Denied
Health
Care.


feed_id: 37845961b7334aa53a31ef56d6d4c767
title: Discretion
uri: Discretion
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#11_January_2017_%28Discretion%29
content:
<p>
To teach your children discretion about what to post on social media,
<a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Passcode/Security-culture/2016/0909/Take-it-from-a-parent-ask-your-kids-before-you-post-to-Facebook">you have to respect their privacy</a>.
<p>
This article recommends a rule: never post anything personal about
family members or friends without explicitly asking permission.
<p>
I suggest not posting photos of anyone else, except people who
have sought public attention (me, for instance).


feed_id: 3f6666f6f95244f2cce2f6d19548c530
title: Paying for digital services
uri: Paying-for-digital-services
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#11_January_2017_%28Paying_for_digital_services%29
content:
<p>
Paying for digital services
<a href="http://motherboard.vice.com/read/free-isnt-freedom-epstein-essay">through surveillance</a> can do people a lot
of harm.


feed_id: 0480f9c6fa2c5a8d41cec8f23f8507cb
title: Kidnapping of publishers
uri: Kidnapping-of-publishers
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#11_January_2017_%28Kidnapping_of_publishers%29
content:
<p>
China's kidnapping of publishers has
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/dec/28/in-hong-kongs-book-industry-everybody-is-scared">crushed the Hong Kong publishing
industry</a>.
<p>
Bookstores have been privately censored, or shut down, so that books
that criticize China are now hard to find, if they are published at
all.
<p>
Angela Gui, daughter of a kidnaped publisher, has been
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/sep/01/daughter-of-missing-hong-kong-bookseller-told-not-to-travel-to-asia">warned not to
go to Asia lest she too be attacked by Chinese agents</a>.


feed_id: 1c63be6c2e617ac0e0f140c119f25230
title: Urgent: Protonmail
uri: Urgent-Protonmail
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#11_January_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Protonmail%29
content:
<p>
Everyone:
<a href="https://protonmail.uservoice.com/forums/284483-feedback?query=librejs">urge
  Protonmail</a> to make its Javascript code free
such that LibreJS can recognize it.


feed_id: c716356b254c215f87554742d13aa423
title: Power to pardon
uri: Power-to-pardon
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#11_January_2017_%28Power_to_pardon%29
content:
<p>
<a href="http://www.politico.com/blogs/donald-trump-administration/2016/12/newt-gingrich-trump-ethics-laws-congress-232828">Gingrich argues that the president's power to pardon is so powerful</a>
that it permits making anyone whatsoever completely above the law.
<p>
He didn't urge the troll to do this; it seems he was rather warning
that the troll might do this.
<p>
Ever since President Ford pardoned President Nixon, I have believed
that we should amend the constitution to reduce the president's
power to pardon crimes connected with the federal government.
<p>
Specifically, the president should not have the power to pardon crimes
that were committed by anyone holding elected or appointed federal
office at the time of the crime, or any crime carried out as part of
working for the federal government or cooperation with the federal
government.


feed_id: 69e3d08f0c0145856cc2f775739f0830
title: Trump Foundation
uri: Trump-Foundation
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#11_January_2017_%28Trump_Foundation%29
content:
<p>
New York State will not allow the Trump Foundation to dissolve
because it is being
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/dec/27/trump-foundation-charity-spending-investigation">investigated for alleged corruption</a>.


feed_id: dde074bdc4ce6f83b2db03d2c87777ef
title: Pretending to be Sunni
uri: Pretending-to-be-Sunni
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#11_January_2017_%28Pretending_to_be_Sunni%29
content:
<p>
Shi'ite Iraqi Ali Amin Abdullah
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/27/family-survived-isis-pretending-to-be-sunni-mosul">survived 2 years in Mosul under the
rule of PISSI</a> by pretending to be Sunni.
  He did this so effectively that the Iraqi army put him in prison
and his family cannot find him.
<p>
There is a rational need to do something to prevent PISSI supporters
from remaining underground in Mosul and setting up cells to try to
take power again.  But it has to be done without terrorizing masses of
people because they appear to be Sunnis, or even because they are
Sunnis.


feed_id: 0fff5b8eb97f79fa98c8bc1cd5fe6074
title: Independent press
uri: Independent-press
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#11_January_2017_%28Independent_press%29
content:
<p>
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/12/26/under-cover-christmas-obama-establishes-controversial-anti-propaganda-agency">Obama's last blow against the US independent press:</a> establishing an
"anti-propaganda center" for "recognize, understand, expose, and
counter" foreign propaganda.
<p>
In principle, that's not a bad thing to do; in practice, almost any
sort of US state propaganda could be described as "countering" some
sort of foreign propaganda.  A single foreign article published
anywhere in the world could serve as the excuse for a mammoth US
government propaganda campaign.


feed_id: 8b2eee697d7ebe3b649028faa0ccfc5a
title: American journalism< /a>
uri: American-journalism-a
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#11_January_2017_%28American_journalism%29
content:
<p>
Looking back over the history of American journalism, we find, about a
century ago, that articles based on
<a href="http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/Searle20161226">rumors
  and lies</a> were common.
<p>
The imperialist war against Spain was started through such pressure.
The slogan for the war was "Remember the Maine", alluding to a US
warship
that exploded mysteriously in Havana.  The most recent investigtion
concluded it was an internal explosion.
<p>
Movements for independence in Cuba and the Philippines were both
crushed by the US, which turned Cuba into a puppet government, and
reduced the Philippines to a colony after years of war and repression.


feed_id: c083fbceb382fa9ef67ebc6b6f567c96
title: Rain in Spain
uri: Rain-in-Spain
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#11_January_2017_%28Rain_in_Spain%29
content:
<p>
The rain in Spain
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/dec/26/supermarkets-fly-emergency-salad-from-us-spanish-floods">fell mainly on fresh vegetables for sale to the UK</a>,
so UK supermarkets will fly in fresh vegetables from the US.
<p>
The heavy rain was probably a result of global heating, and flying the
vegetables will surely cause more global heating.  This is one little
example of how civilization can fall.


feed_id: da03c6861056f8f84f2e3cb39f42c473
title: Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
uri: Arctic-National-Wildlife-Refuge
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#11_January_2017_%28Arctic_National_Wildlife_Refuge%29

content:
<p>
The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is going to be
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/views/2016/12/26/arctic-waters-have-been-rescued-drilling-what-about-land">threatened again</a>
by the troll and his extractivist cabinet members.


feed_id: a82cf8db9d7d7d9147bbc97f1c6fd591
title: Planned protests
uri: Planned-protests
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#11_January_2017_%28Planned_protests%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/dec/27/womens-march-on-washington-dc-guide">A
  guide</a>
to the planned US protests on Jan 21.


feed_id: 0f015e2405a0d5b92e8f350758eb36a7
title: Clothing factories
uri: Clothing-factories
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#11_January_2017_%28Clothing_factories%29
content:
<p>
Bangladeshi clothing factories crushed a week-long strike and protest
with
the
help of thugs.
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/27/bangladesh-garment-factories-sack-hundreds-after-pay-protests">They fired 1500 workers and blacklisted them.</a>  This is "free trade"
  at
work.
<p>
The article calls this a "blow" to the Bangladeshi clothing industry,
but I disagree, because it appears to me that the bad guys won.
(Nonetheless, it was a good try!)
<p>
A real blow to the indistry will be if the workers win.


feed_id: c7a7301d9840ec1defad57726e35fd77
title: Sexual repression
uri: Sexual-repression
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#11_January_2017_%28Sexual_repression%29
content:
<p>
How far has sexual repression in the US gone?  A
<a href="http://www.freerangekids.com/bill-would-cap-jail-time-for-18-year-olds-who-have-consensual-sex-with-other-teens-at-just-5-years/">proposed law to
establish a 5-year maximum penalty</a> for sex involving teenagers (in
certain limited cases) is actually a <em>reduction</em> in the
repression.


feed_id: 143a7cbfef354c0908f8ed6ca7512f84
title: Cheetah numbers
uri: Cheetah-numbers
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#11_January_2017_%28Cheetah_numbers%29
content:
<p>
Cheetah numbers are
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/dec/27/cheetah-more-vulnerable-to-extinction-than-previously-thought">dropping fast</a>.


feed_id: 3a87d33ec1b7b9b6ac4810fc35e2657e
title: Reindeer
uri: Reindeer
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#11_January_2017_%28Reindeer%29
content:
<p>
Global heating 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/dec/27/the-guardian-view-on-climate-change-bad-for-the-arctic">threatens
the survival of reindeer</a>.  They can dig through dry snow to find
food, but they can't break a surface of ice from rain that froze on
the ground.


feed_id: 4e60dafd6d5859cd3fbffbb66a4981fa
title: President's power to pardon
uri: President-s-power-to-pardon
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#11_January_2017_%28Presidents_power_to_pardon%29
content:
<p>
Gingrich argues that the president's power to pardon is so powerful
that it 
<a href="http://www.politico.com/blogs/donald-trump-administration/2016/12/newt-gingrich-trump-ethics-laws-congress-232828">permits
making anyone whatsoever completely above the law</a>.
<p>
He didn't urge the troll to do this; it seems he was rather warning
that the troll might do this.
<p>
Ever since President Ford pardoned President Nixon, I have believed
that we should amend the constitution to reduce the president's
power to pardon crimes connected with the federal government.
<p>
Specifically, the president should not have the power to pardon crimes
that were committed by anyone holding elected or appointed federal
office at the time of the crime, or any crime carried out as part of
working for the federal government or cooperation with the federal
government.


feed_id: 699272c5bb6790d9ce2278ef756b9758
title: NY won't allow Trump Foundation to dissolve
uri: NY-won-t-allow-Trump-Foundation-to-dissolve
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#11_January_2017_%28NY_wont_allow_Trump_Foundation_to_dissolve%29

content:
<p>
New York State will not allow the Trump Foundation to dissolve
because it is 
<a href="
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/dec/27/trump-foundation-charity-spending-investigation">being
investigated for alleged corruption</a>.


feed_id: 94bd4ace78728dfd3682e9dda6d718fb
title: Pretending to be Sunni to survive
uri: Pretending-to-be-Sunni-to-survive
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#11_January_2017_%28Pretending_to_be_Sunni_to_survive%29

content:
<p>
Shi'ite Iraqi Ali Amin Abdullah survived 2 years in Mosul under the
rule of PISSI by 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/27/family-survived-isis-pretending-to-be-sunni-mosul">pretending
to be Sunni</a>.  He did this so effectively that the Iraqi army put
him in prison and his family cannot find him.
<p>
There is a rational need to do something to prevent PISSI supporters
from remaining underground in Mosul and setting up cells to try to
take power again.  But it has to be done without terrorizing masses of
people because they appear to be Sunnis, or even because they are
Sunnis.


feed_id: e765ea4828d800827e603b3d77a737fe
title: Flood in Spain
uri: Flood-in-Spain
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#11_January_2017_%28Flood_in_Spain%29
content:
<p>
The rain in Spain fell mainly on fresh vegetables for sale to the UK,
so UK supermarkets 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/dec/26/supermarkets-fly-emergency-salad-from-us-spanish-floods">will
fly in fresh vegetables from the US</a>.
<p>
The heavy rain was probably a result of global heating, and flying the
vegetables will surely cause more global heating.  This is one little
example of how civilization can fall.


feed_id: 0a70bd20ec17115eece5b629a5a82a79
title: History of American journalism
uri: History-of-American-journalism
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#11_January_2017_%28History_of_American_journalism%29

content:
<p>
Looking back over the history of American journalism, we find, about a
century ago, that 
<a href="http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/Searle20161226">articles
based on rumors and lies were common</a>.
<p>
The imperialist war against Spain was started through such pressure.
The slogan for the war was "Remember the Maine", alluding to a US
warship that exploded mysteriously in Havana.  The most recent
investigation concluded it was an internal explosion.
<p>
Movements for independence in Cuba and the Philippines were both
crushed by the US, which turned Cuba into a puppet government, and
reduced the Philippines to a colony after years of war and repression.


feed_id: 766eef39b3d701ebf78ef5d74b33f949
title: Obama establishes "anti-propaganda center"
uri: Obama-establishes-anti-propaganda-center
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#11_January_2017_%28Obama_establishes_anti-propaganda_center%29

content:
<p>
Obama's last blow against the US independent press: establishing an
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/12/26/under-cover-christmas-obama-establishes-controversial-anti-propaganda-agency">"anti-propaganda
center"</a> to "recognize, understand, expose, and counter" foreign
propaganda.
<p>
In principle, that's not a bad thing to do; in practice, almost any
sort of US state propaganda could be described as "countering" some
sort of foreign propaganda.  A single foreign article published
anywhere in the world could serve as the excuse for a mammoth US
government propaganda campaign.


feed_id: bec9420f3dcc23a210ab893f4e182703
title: Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
uri: 2017-01-13-Arctic-National-Wildlife-Refuge
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#11_January_2017_%28Arctic_National_Wildlife_Refuge%29

content:
<p>
The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is 
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/views/2016/12/26/arctic-waters-have-been-rescued-drilling-what-about-land">going
to be threatened again</a> by the troll and his extractivist cabinet
members.


feed_id: 45fd676c0d8450dbb6dce9eae48f05d0
title: Women's march
uri: Women-s-march
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#11_January_2017_%28Womens_march%29
content:
<p>
A 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/dec/27/womens-march-on-washington-dc-guide">guide</a>
to the planned US protests on Jan 21.


feed_id: 2c78d5651d22d47166cf2de93cf010d5
title: Sexual repression in the US
uri: Sexual-repression-in-the-US
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#11_January_2017_%28Sexual_repression_in_the_US%29
content:
<p>
How far has sexual repression in the US gone?  A proposed law to
establish a 
<a href="http://www.freerangekids.com/bill-would-cap-jail-time-for-18-year-olds-who-have-consensual-sex-with-other-teens-at-just-5-years/">5-year
maximum penalty for sex involving teenagers</a> (in certain limited
cases) is actually a <em>reduction</em> in the repression.


feed_id: 1ff04830f356d55b3c3655d69866c7eb
title: Clothing factory strike crushed
uri: Clothing-factory-strike-crushed
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#11_January_2017_%28Clothing_factory_strike_crushed%29

content:
<p>
Bangladeshi clothing factories
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/27/bangladesh-garment-factories-sack-hundreds-after-pay-protests">crushed
a week-long strike and protest with the help of thugs</a>.  They fired
1500 workers and blacklisted them.  This is "free trade" at work.
<p>
The article calls this a "blow" to the Bangladeshi clothing industry,
but I disagree, because it appears to me that the bad guys won.
(Nonetheless, it was a good try!)
<p>
A real blow to the industry will be if the workers win.


feed_id: 16d159dce887f9c982e720fc9fbf4973
title: Cheetah numbers dropping fast
uri: Cheetah-numbers-dropping-fast
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#11_January_2017_%28Cheetah_numbers_dropping_fast%29
content:
<p>
Cheetah numbers are 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/dec/27/cheetah-more-vulnerable-to-extinction-than-previously-thought">dropping
fast</a>.


feed_id: 5715a95e20219f8fc598f953ab7c655d
title: Urgent: Impeach governor of Maine
uri: Urgent-Impeach-governor-of-Maine
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#11_January_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Impeach_governor_of_Maine%29

content:
<p>
Everyone: 
<a href="http://act.democracyforamerica.com/sign/impeach_lepage/">urge
Maine legislators</a> to impeach the governor of Maine.


feed_id: 43c52455e8d54be929560398b9c6850d
title: Misinterpretation of witness testimony
uri: Misinterpretation-of-witness-testimony
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#11_January_2017_%28Misinterpretation_of_witness_testimony%29

content:
<p>
Zimmerman was acquitted of killing Trayvon Martin because the crucial
witness spoke a strongly nonstandard dialect of English, typically
found among blacks, and the jurors 
<a href="http://phys.org/news/2014-12-prejudice-african-american-dialect-result.html">interpreted
her testimony wrong by taking it as standard English</a>.
<p>
More analysis confirming that Rachel Jeantel spoke in a typical form
of 
<a href="media/07f50f62.Rickford_92_4.pdf" data-original-source="http://www.linguisticsociety.org/sites/default/files/Rickford_92_4.pdf">African-American
Vernacular English</a>, though with a little influence from Haitian
Kreyol, and that she consistently followed the grammatical and lexical
rules of her dialect.  The jurors (none of whom knew that dialect)
frequently misunderstood her testimony.
<p>
I support the idea that courts should use interpreters whenever
witnesses appear to be speaking in a dialect that many jurors will not
understand.
<p>
This also demonstrates how important it is for everyone in the US to
learn to speak a more standard form of English — standard enough
that you won't be systematically misunderstood.  Not that you
shouldn't ever speak some other dialect that you grew up with —
but don't let that be the only one you can use fluently.


feed_id: e752c66b96e48e3afe9ef761335a9bb2
title: US gov't asking visitors for social media accounts
uri: US-gov-t-asking-visitors-for-social-media-accounts
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#11_January_2017_%28US_govt_asking_visitors_for_social_media_accounts%29

content:
<p>
The US government has 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/26/us-customs-social-media-foreign-travelers">started
asking visitors to give a list of their social media accounts</a>.
<p>
Although the answer is not required, many visitors will fear to
decline.


feed_id: a41f9f78113a1b716a8e543504253d9b
title: Michael Flynn and the KGB
uri: Michael-Flynn-and-the-KGB
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#11_January_2017_%28Michael_Flynn_and_the_KGB%29
content:
<p>
A 
<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-12-23/trump-aide-partnered-with-firm-run-by-man-with-alleged-kgb-ties">link</a>
between Michael Flynn and the KGB.


feed_id: c02ec71f88d369baccac808cef7a4796
title: Size of Amazon's market share
uri: Size-of-Amazon-s-market-share
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#11_January_2017_%28Size_of_Amazons_market_share%29
content:
<p>
Amazon has so much market share that its sheer size 
<a href="http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/38807-1-of-every-2-spent-online-goes-to-amazon-can-we-break-the-company-s-stranglehold">distorts
the market</a>.
<p>
We should not allow a company to have a share over around 10% of any
market.  If in a certain field a single dominant company is beneficial
for society, that means it is a natural monopoly, and should be
served by a regulated utility.


feed_id: b51ce4f855824eba74441cc1c26687b1
title: Inequality in retirement pay
uri: Inequality-in-retirement-pay
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#11_January_2017_%28Inequality_in_retirement_pay%29
content:
<p>
The Scandal of 
<a href="http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/38856-the-scandal-of-vast-inequality-in-retirement-pay">Vast
Inequality in Retirement Pay</a>.
<p>
The CEOs pushed their income way up the same way they pushed US
workers' wages down.


feed_id: 380e7e21860248565025c9c758b62c22
title: Overreacting to small freak events
uri: Overreacting-to-small-freak-events
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#11_January_2017_%28Overreacting_to_small_freak_events%29

content:
<p>
Americans' 
<a href="http://www.freerangekids.com/a-squirrel-attack-and-whats-wrong-with-america/">customary
response to small harmful freak event</a>: demand someone turn the
world upside down to make sure it "never happens again".


feed_id: 9f5642bc7e379e196fcc199f2eb24ae9
title: Washington's Syria policy
uri: Washington-s-Syria-policy
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#11_January_2017_%28Washingtons_Syria_policy%29
content:
<p>
This American Fought [PISSI].  Now He's Trying to Get Washington to
Untangle Its 
<a href="http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/12/turkey-syria-kurds-isis-american-volunteers">Syria
Policy</a>.


feed_id: 5a48e49fd863bbe091645c2f081ffbc6
title: Afghanistan's military aid funds
uri: Afghanistan-s-military-aid-funds
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#11_January_2017_%28Afghanistans_military_aid_funds%29

content:
<p>
Afghanistan's 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/26/afghanistan-us-military-militia-funding-human-rights">military
aid funds</a> support local militias, ostensibly to fight the Taliban,
but they also fight each other and the central government.


feed_id: f1ee06b1e13276bb882a0d088420da8f
title: Overpopulation
uri: 2017-01-13-Overpopulation
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#11_January_2017_%28Overpopulation%29
content:
<p>
Because of overpopulation, 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/mar/31/ipcc-climate-change-cities-manila">millions
in Manila live in areas that often flood</a>.  But hurricanes are
getting stronger and in the future will flood nearly all of Manila.
Meanwhile, crop failures will mean food is scarce.
<p>
How to cope with this in the future?  Condoms and sterilizations will
help.


feed_id: 9467251b8f51ec10058b33ae52cb727f
title: Floods in the UK
uri: 2017-01-13-Floods-in-the-UK
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#11_January_2017_%28Floods_in_the_UK%29
content:
<p>
Due to global heating, major floods in the UK are 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/dec/26/major-flooding-in-uk-now-likely-every-year-warns-lead-climate-adviser-storm-desmond">likely
to happen every year</a>.
<p>
The ministers not only don't have a plan to deal with it,
they intend to continue the policies that created it.


feed_id: a38b9e1c3a8de51d9d22ae04e7fdad4b
title: Volunteer
uri: 2017-01-13-Volunteer
url: https://stallman.org/index.html#volunteerListAnc
content:
<p>I am looking for people to (in Goa, India) make and
	 sell buttons that say, "DON'T BE TRACKED  PAY CASH", to
	 resist the state's campaign against cash.  (Doing this in other
	 parts of India is good too.)</p>


feed_id: 4e2849f5b80a2a3029c25d91ef34b29d
title: Thinking critically about porn
uri: Thinking-critically-about-porn
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#10_January_2017_%28Thinking_critically_about_porn%29

content:
<p>
It would be 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/oct/17/educate-teenagers-porn-attitudes-sex-parents-schools">useful
in schools</a> to teach adolescents to think critically about porn.


feed_id: 3c69717d8c50b7cac09c3d3746af0ea6
title: Thugs' use of face recognition data base
uri: Thugs-use-of-face-recognition-data-base
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#10_January_2017_%28Thugs_use_of_face_recognition_data_base%29

content:
<p>
The FBI has collected photos of half the adults in the US, and many
city thug departments feed cameras on the street into this data base
to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/oct/18/police-facial-recognition-database-surveillance-profiling">recognize
everyone walking by</a>.
<p>
More 
<a href="http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/10/the-perpetual-lineup-half-of-us-adults-in-a-face-recognition-database/">information</a>.
<p>
We need laws to restrict putting faces with names into a face
recognition data base.


feed_id: b193799e6483b94a457e859e739b4f30
title: Militarized thugs
uri: 2017-01-13-Militarized-thugs
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#10_January_2017_%28Militarized_thugs%29
content:
<p>
Schooled in Terror: The Tactical Trainings Where Cops 
<a href="http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/38385-schooled-in-terror-the-tactical-trainings-where-cops-militarize-their-brutality">Militarize
Their Brutality</a>.


feed_id: 99f42f7516341b781270a115a1f5d803
title: Sexist sexual repression in the US
uri: Sexist-sexual-repression-in-the-US
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#10_January_2017_%28Sexist_sexual_repression_in_the_US%29

content:
<p>
Sexist sexual repression in the US starts in school with a 
<a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/10/23/1578415/-Damn-those-dress-codes-Young-feminists-are-taking-a-stand">dress
code</a>.
<p>
One way girls can push back is by wearing oversize yellow shirts
and making it a new style.


feed_id: f1a9c12af8190cc40799c8b14aeaa7d2
title: Urgent: Pardon Snowden now
uri: 2017-01-13-Urgent-Pardon-Snowden-now
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#10_January_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Pardon_Snowden_now%29
content:
<p>
US citizens: 
<a href="http://act.demandprogress.org/sign/tell-president-obama-pardon-edward-snowden-now/">call</a>
on Obama, once again, to pardon Snowden now.


feed_id: af9d0ff52e1ae2a85b9d12fe3c1b060f
title: Troll's proposed ambassador to Israel
uri: 2017-01-13-Troll-s-proposed-ambassador-to-Israel
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#10_January_2017_%28Trolls_proposed_ambassador_to_Israel%29

content:
<p>
The troll's 
<a href="http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/channels/avnery/1482500748/">proposed
ambassador Israel</a> would be better suited for Israeli ambassador to
the US, but only under a virulent racist extremist government of the
farright.


feed_id: 9b972f07709a46f0852bd68be99ec2ff
title: Journalist arrested for "provoking sedition"
uri: Journalist-arrested-for-provoking-sedition
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#10_January_2017_%28Journalist_arrested_for_provoking_sedition%29

content:
<p>
Egypt Arrests [vacationing] Al-Jazeera Journalist over 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/25/egypt-arrests-al-jazeera-journalist-mahmoud-hussein-fake-news">"Provoking
Sedition"</a>.
<p>
Egypt is one of the few countries I have never seen, that I would
specifically like to visit.  But I wouldn't go there now; I am afraid
of the repression.  I don't suppose the Egyptian regime hates free
software, but it might object to something I say on this site.  In
addition, the Egyptian government is so random about its repression
that anyone there could be imprisoned for years 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2013-jul-oct.html#13_October_2013_(Greyson_and_Tarek_released_from_Egyptian_prison)">simply
for being in the wrong place at the wrong time</a>.
<p>
I urge tourists to punish Egypt by boycotting it.


feed_id: c4cb3dc147c9709f2055de983f7580e8
title: Pakistan's response to fake news
uri: Pakistan-s-response-to-fake-news
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#10_January_2017_%28Pakistans_response_to_fake_news%29

content:
<p>
A fake news site published a report that Israel threatened a nuclear
attack against Pakistan.  The report was false, but 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/26/fake-news-story-prompts-pakistan-to-issue-nuclear-warning-to-israel">Pakistan's
counter-threat</a> was real.


feed_id: 99b39f7146cccdc4aeb6c690e7ef3a4e
title: Policies that cause poverty
uri: Policies-that-cause-poverty
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#10_January_2017_%28Policies_that_cause_poverty%29
content:
<p>
Focusing on mental illness and failed relationships as causes of
misery
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/dec/26/happiness-lse-study-austerity-off-the-hook-psychologists-claim">should
not be used to excuse</a> policies that cause poverty.
<p>
Poverty has a tendency to cause stress, which can exacerbate mental
illness and provoke relationship problems.


feed_id: ebcd19c81ff2e8fb3467f9ad019442cc
title: Mammals that can see UV avoid power lines
uri: Mammals-that-can-see-UV-avoid-power-lines
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#10_January_2017_%28Mammals_that_can_see_UV_avoid_power_lines%29

content:
<p>
Many mammals can see ultraviolet light.  The reason they won't walk
under an electric power line is that those cables 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/mar/12/animals-powerlines-sky-wildlife">emit
flashes of UV</a>.


feed_id: 3510ed7359cb67da05abe98836e4783a
title: Israel threatens to punish the UN
uri: Israel-threatens-to-punish-the-UN
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#10_January_2017_%28Israel_threatens_to_punish_the_UN%29

content:
<p>
Israel threatens to punish the UN by 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/24/israel-reassess-ties-united-nations-settlement-benjamin-netanyahu">breaking
off ties with it</a>.


feed_id: 820203864bb6d3faf169698287b66601
title: American jobs sent to Mexico
uri: American-jobs-sent-to-Mexico
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#10_January_2017_%28American_jobs_sent_to_Mexico%29
content:
<p>
Factory Near Carrier Sends Jobs to Mexico, But 
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2016/12/19/factory-near-carrier-sends-jobs-to-mexico-but-trump-just-tweets/">Trump
Just Tweets</a>.


feed_id: fd94f5c670dab342f8c850cede427746
title: Identity politics
uri: Identity-politics
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#10_January_2017_%28Identity_politics%29
content:
<p>
Identity politics is valid opposition to bigotry, but when its
supporters are 
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/views/2016/12/18/its-not-racism-vs-anti-racism-its-capitalism-vs-socialism">not
also the poor and downtrodden</a>, it can turn into "It's ok for
people to be poor as long as it's not due to bigotry."
<p>
"You donât build the left by figuring out which victim has been most
victimized; you build it by organizing all the victims."


feed_id: e43229bce85b81ba1aad1ee3a4585885
title: Privatization of schools
uri: Privatization-of-schools
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#10_January_2017_%28Privatization_of_schools%29
content:
<p>
It seems Betsy DeVos advocates using government money to 
<a href="http://fusion.net/story/373616/betsy-devos-public-education-school-choice-gods-kingdom-religious-culture-wars/">subsidize
religious inculcation</a>.  Privatizing schools may be a covert scheme
to achieve this.


feed_id: f1bd963d3c09d673b9a3039c4c4e4dac
title: Torture of poor people
uri: Torture-of-poor-people
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#10_January_2017_%28Torture_of_poor_people%29
content:
<p>
Campaigns against torture tend to overlook the 
<a href="http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/38390-missing-torture-amongst-the-poor">everyday
torture of poor people</a> — those who, lacking fame or foreign
supporters, can be tortured with impunity.


feed_id: 2ca397cf828ddc463bcf64b1de516ad4
title: Boycott Dr Seuss
uri: Boycott-Dr-Seuss
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#10_January_2017_%28Boycott_Dr_Seuss%29
content:
<p>
Boycott Dr Seuss the greedy, grasping 
<a href="https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20161114/09473036039/one-fish-two-fish-we-will-sue-fish-seuss-lawyers-hop-pop-art.shtml">copyright
bullying</a>.


feed_id: 5dfa5c15f1538203a538fd1d32f2e846
title: Globalization
uri: Globalization
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#10_January_2017_%28Globalization%29
content:
<p>
Thomas Piketty: We Must 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/nov/16/globalization-trump-inequality-thomas-piketty">Re-Think
Globalization</a>, Or Trumpism Will Prevail.


feed_id: b7c20e75e1c17cd0a05902436fcb118f
title: Illegal fishing
uri: 2017-01-13-Illegal-fishing
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#10_January_2017_%28Illegal_fishing%29
content:
<p>
Thousands of Chinese ships 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2016/nov/15/thousands-of-chinese-ships-trawl-the-world-so-how-can-we-stop-overfishing-un-goals">travel
long distances to fish illegally all around the world</a>.  They will
surely wipe out all fisheries that are not protected from them.


feed_id: b763343bed86119d942457687136bca6
title: Taking power away from right-wingers
uri: Taking-power-away-from-right-wingers
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#10_January_2017_%28Taking_power_away_from_right-wingers%29

content:
<p>
Protests (as such) can't take power away from right-wingers.
Only an 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/nov/14/protests-donald-trump-democracy-party">electoral
movement</a> can do that.


feed_id: 6ae0151221651b2842db2b9811ac8c7b
title: Security camera law in Madison, Mississippi
uri: Security-camera-law-in-Madison-Mississippi
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#10_January_2017_%28Security_camera_law_in_Madison%2C_Mississippi%29

content:
<p>
Madison, Mississippi, passed a law 
<a href="https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20161211/12434036250/city-passes-ordinance-mandating-cctv-surveillance-businesses-including-doctors-lawyers-offices.shtml">requiring
every store, business and professional office to run a security
camera</a>.  This includes doctors' offices and lawyers' offices.
<p>
There's a danger that the city will make this even worse, by requiring
businesses to hand over the recordings without a warrant.  Though that
might be overturned as unconstitutional.


feed_id: d2e7a0cd94d3fb90acd51bc3c298cfa4
title: Repression of human rights activists
uri: Repression-of-human-rights-activists
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#10_January_2017_%28Repression_of_human_rights_activists%29

content:
<p>
Why 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/25/why-christmas-time-in-china-means-jail-for-human-rights-activists">Christmas
Time in China Means Jail</a> for Human Rights Activists.


feed_id: 48bff7bdf307f76e43407a202cba28f5
title: Troll's nominee for peace negotiations
uri: Troll-s-nominee-for-peace-negotiations
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#10_January_2017_%28Trolls_nominee_for_peace_negotiations%29

content:
<p>
The troll has nominated a man with 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/dec/24/jason-greenblatt-international-negotiations-trump-administration">no
diplomatic experience</a> to supervise peace negotiations with Israel
and Palestine.
<p>
The nominee is well suited to that sinecure, since Netanyahu has
already rejected peace and 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2009-mar-jun.html#29%20March%202009%20(Avnery%20-%20peace%20initiatives%20designed%20to%20fail)">has
not held any serious negotiations for many years</a>.


feed_id: 3c6ec9b07c3365b49c788fea40baae30
title: The DMCA
uri: The-DMCA
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#10_January_2017_%28The_DMCA%29
content:
<p>
Dishonest publishing lobbyists are 
<a href="https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20161219/11104236304/publishing-lobbyists-suck-up-to-trump-with-lies-about-copyright-ask-him-to-kill-dmca-safe-harbors.shtml">trying
to recruit the troll to make the DMCA even worse</a>.
<p>
I was delighted to see that the article recognizes the 
<a href="https://gnu.org/philosophy/not-ipr.html">absurdity of the
term "intellectual property"</a>.  I've been explaining this to people
for 12 years now.
<p>
The article refers to misrepresentation of the US Constitution
regarding copyright law.
<p>
See
<a href="https://gnu.org/philosophy/misinterpreting-copyright.html">https://gnu.org/philosophy/misinterpreting-copyright.html</a>
for how I treat that point.


feed_id: 2d186958a750159611fe4c9ef2bfaa8b
title: The Sarin gas used by Syrian rebels
uri: The-Sarin-gas-used-by-Syrian-rebels
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#10_January_2017_%28The_Sarin_gas_used_by_Syrian_rebels%29

content:
<p>
In 2015, two Turkish members of parliament accused the Turkish state
of <a href="http://www.wikileaks-forum.com/syrian-civil-war/321/-chp-deputies-govt-rejects-probe-into-turkeys-role-in-syrian-chemical-attack/34505/">shielding
people who provided Sarin gas to Syrian rebels</a>.
<p>
This was originally published in the newspaper Today's Zaman, which
was 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-jan-apr.html#9_March_2016_(Turkish_govt_takeover_of_newspaper)">shut
down arbitrarily by the Turkish government</a> earlier this year.
<p>
This accords with claims made by 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2014-jan-apr.html#11_April_2014_(Why_Obama_did_not_attack_Assad)">Seymour
Hersh</a>.
<p>
Ray McGovern, former CIA analyst, describes how Obama 
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/views/2016/12/12/syrian-sarin-false-flag-lesson">recognized
these facts</a> and cancelled the plan for military intervention in
Syria.


feed_id: 651bc068eac01245fb38fd0a6327c371
title: Cluster bombs from Brazil
uri: Cluster-bombs-from-Brazil
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#10_January_2017_%28Cluster_bombs_from_Brazil%29
content:
<p>
Now Yemen gets its cluster bombs 
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2016/12/23/yemen-brazil-made-cluster-munitions-harm-civilians">from
Brazil</a>.


feed_id: 7f6141ed124a903243d563490c8ee795
title: Banks unpunished for giant frauds
uri: Banks-unpunished-for-giant-frauds
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#10_January_2017_%28Banks_unpunished_for_giant_frauds%29

content:
<p>
The US Department of Justice is 
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/12/23/doj-bestows-early-christmas-present-financial-giant-deutsche-bank">letting
banks off the hook for giant frauds with inadequate fines</a>.


feed_id: 6b035ed7a19c9b41c633a18c215f8e89
title: Urgent: Reject Pruitt
uri: Urgent-Reject-Pruitt
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#10_January_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Reject_Pruitt%29
content:
<p>
US citizens: 
<a href="https://secure3.convio.net/lcv/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=3664">call
on the Senate</a> to reject Pruitt as head of EPA.


feed_id: dac122a369989fb69044ceabd2054bfb
title: Urgent: Oppose arms race in space
uri: Urgent-Oppose-arms-race-in-space
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#10_January_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Oppose_arms_race_in_space%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: 
<a href="http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/congress-obama-dont-start">call
on Obama</a> not to start an arms race in space.


feed_id: f68b82f1b4ba6043a5f1e590b9eb6ea1
title: The troll on foreign workers
uri: The-troll-on-foreign-workers
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#10_January_2017_%28The_troll_on_foreign_workers%29
content:
<p>
The troll said he would stop foreign workers from taking jobs in the US,
but his family's vineyard has 
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/12/23/trumps-vineyard-looks-hire-foreign-workers-us-jobs">applied
to bring in foreign workers</a>.


feed_id: fae5a857af0d599c79a9f698897e6fc9
title: Raising minimum wage
uri: Raising-minimum-wage
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#10_January_2017_%28Raising_minimum_wage%29
content:
<p>
Republicans are striving mightily in various states to
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/views/2016/12/24/election-losses-dont-stop-corporate-efforts-block-voter-approved-minimum-wage-hikes">block
local laws and even state-level referendums</a> to raise the minimum
wage.


feed_id: 8fb9f624442a2f71ee83cee17f829163
title: Taxes paid by unauthorized immigrants
uri: Taxes-paid-by-unauthorized-immigrants
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#10_January_2017_%28Taxes_paid_by_unauthorized_immigrants%29

content:
<p>
Unauthorized immigrants in the US pay 
<a href="http://www.politifact.com/punditfact/statements/2016/oct/02/maria-teresa-kumar/how-much-do-undocumented-immigrants-pay-taxes/">lots
of taxes, including Social Security tax</a>, although they can't get
Social Security benefits.


feed_id: ed6bb57b76836d89abd55c68e971694e
title: Focusing on policies instead of the troll
uri: Focusing-on-policies-instead-of-the-troll
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#10_January_2017_%28Focusing_on_policies_instead_of_the_troll%29

content:
<p>
George Lakeoff: we who 
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/views/2016/11/22/minority-president-trump-why-polls-failed-and-what-majority-can-do">oppose
the troll</a> should show that he is a loser, corrupt, and a betrayer
of trust.  That undermines his message.  But we should focus, not on
the troll himself, but on what policies make a nurturing society.


feed_id: a3c559407714134fffa4a75e0d33f7c2
title: Rick Perry accused of corruption
uri: Rick-Perry-accused-of-corruption
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#10_January_2017_%28Rick_Perry_accused_of_corruption%29

content:
<p>
Rick Perry is accused of corruption as governor of Texas, and he 
<a href="http://reason.com/blog/2016/12/21/oops-rick-perrys-history-of-crony-capita">could
easily carry this forward to the US Department of Energy</a>.


feed_id: 7d77e596be09294df1c6f726e23f7f4f
title: Imposing religion on others
uri: Imposing-religion-on-others
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#10_January_2017_%28Imposing_religion_on_others%29
content:
<p>
US right-wingers make a fuss about religious freedom, but really it's
only when Christians want to 
<a href="http://reason.com/archives/2016/12/21/religious-liberty-under-fire-in-culpeppe">impose
their religion on others</a>.


feed_id: faab41f450a9e6407c1b47fb433f5e74
title: Republicans frightened to disagree with the troll
uri: Republicans-frightened-to-disagree-with-the-troll
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#10_January_2017_%28Republicans_frightened_to_disagree_with_the_troll%29

content:
<p>
Republicans in Congress are 
<a href="http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/12/21/1613456/-Republicans-In-Congress-Are-TERRIFIED-Of-Trump-And-His-Horde-Of-Enforcers">frightened
to disagree with the troll</a> on anything.  His mob of extremist
supporters, organized through Breitbart, keeps them in check.
<p>
This could be the reason why the troll 
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/views/2016/12/19/onslaught-tyranny-why-trump-rallies-trump">continues
to hold rallies</a> of the same sort he did during the campaign.


feed_id: de2d10b3ec316ef707aa6717f9e9bfb2
title: Charter schools
uri: 2017-01-13-Charter-schools
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#10_January_2017_%28Charter_schools%29
content:
<p>
Charter schools in the US are 
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/views/2016/12/23/charter-schools-already-massive-threat-and-now-here-comes-billionaire-besty-devos">businesses
subsidized by public funds with very little accountability</a>.  They
are now going through a wave of mergers.
<p>
The troll, naturally, wants to unleash them to drain even more funds
away from American children's education.


feed_id: a138c30325e71a59271befc1cf01f6ed
title: Last Boko Haram camp captured
uri: Last-Boko-Haram-camp-captured
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#10_January_2017_%28Last_Boko_Haram_camp_captured%29
content:
<p>
The Nigerian army has 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/24/nigerian-army-captures-last-boko-haram-camp-in-sambisa-forest">captured
the last Boko Haram camp</a> in the Sambisa forest, which they used to
control.
<p>
Alas, this doesn't automatically wipe out Boko Haram.  A permanent
camp is useful for operations, but they can surely survive moving
around in the forest.


feed_id: c6ec85e2c9e9bc1f34bd24b1d5dd6610
title: Attempt to prosecute Backpage for escort ads
uri: Attempt-to-prosecute-Backpage-for-escort-ads
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#9_January_2017_%28Attempt_to_prosecute_Backpage_for_escort_ads%29

content:
<p>
Kamala Harris is 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/dec/23/backpage-new-pimping-charge-kamala-harris-california">trying
again</a> to prosecute Backpage and its owners for publishing ads for
escorts, who are probably prostitutes, because some of them may in
fact be minors.
<p>
Prostitution should be lawful.  Prohibiting the advertising of
prostitution does no good for prostitutes, and tends to force them to
work on the street, which hurts them plenty.
<p>
The principal way to prevent women and girls from being forced into
prostitution is to reduce poverty.
<p>
Some women are forced into prostitution by violent threats by pimps.
It is hard to prevent that — banning advertising won't do it.
Maybe targeted surveillance could be made to work.


feed_id: c39900843925ed015933a11c50975e59
title: Thailand's new "computer crime act"
uri: Thailand-s-new-computer-crime-act
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#9_January_2017_%28Thailands_new_computer_crime_act%29

content:
<p>
Thailand's new "computer crime act" includes 
<a href="https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2016/12/amended-computer-crime-act-and-state-internet-freedoms-thailand">punishment
for violating vague censorship rules</a>.
<p>
Thailand is one of the countries that I won't visit, because of the
repression there.  I encourage everyone to boycott Thailand.


feed_id: 6a0db88784663fda1f9d0c9ff750dc22
title: Troll's plan to move US embassy in Israel
uri: Troll-s-plan-to-move-US-embassy-in-Israel
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#9_January_2017_%28Trolls_plan_to_move_US_embassy_in_Israel%29

content:
<p>
The troll's plan to 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/dec/21/us-israel-embassy-jerusalem-peace-process">move
the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem</a> would be an explicit
endorsement of Netanyahu's intention for a permanent occupation of
Palestine.


feed_id: 08fd248e96ce258545251f50212c8dfc
title: How Tories handle increasing child poverty
uri: How-Tories-handle-increasing-child-poverty
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#9_January_2017_%28How_Tories_handle_increasing_child_poverty%29

content:
<p>
As more children in the UK fall into poverty, the Tories handled it by
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/dec/21/child-poverty-unit-tories-scrapping-it-theresa-may">eliminating
the special government program meant to reduce the causes of
poverty</a>.
<p>
Perhaps the government want to reduce them — since the main
cause of poverty in the UK today is the Tory party.


feed_id: 151a11a03e9f2e754a254f695f57b1b5
title: Another refugee dies on Manus Island
uri: Another-refugee-dies-on-Manus-Island
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#9_January_2017_%28Another_refugee_dies_on_Manus_Island%29

content:
<p>
Another refugee died after 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/dec/24/sudanese-refugee-dies-in-brisbane-hospital-after-medivac-from-manus">months
of being denied access to Australian medical care</a>.  The refugee
was imprisoned by Australia on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea.
<p>
The refugees that die are a small fraction, but they are all subject
to grave mistreatment every day.


feed_id: c207e67646d984d1fedb0ce5d866ddc7
title: Rousseff fights to clear her name of charges
uri: Rousseff-fights-to-clear-her-name-of-charges
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#9_January_2017_%28Rousseff_fights_to_clear_her_name_of_charges%29

content:
<p>
Former president Rousseff fights to clear her name of the 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/24/dilma-rousseff-brazil-impeachment-president">charges
used by the right wing to seize power</a>.


feed_id: 0d61ad7cb6b92a84dda0d3641fbdbc5a
title: House committee exonerates Snowden
uri: House-committee-exonerates-Snowden
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#9_January_2017_%28House_committee_exonerates_Snowden%29

content:
<p>
A House committee prepared a report to smear Snowden, but 
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/12/22/house-intel-report-accidentally-exonerating-says-snowden">couldn't
demonstrate anything bad about him</a>.  Snowden called it
"accidentally exonerating".
<p>
It is 
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2016/12/23/newly-declassified-house-intel-report-on-snowden-is-rifled-with-obvious-falsehoods/">full
of falsehoods and distortions</a>.
<p>
I speculate that the purpose of this report is to influence the
general climate of public opinion against Snowden, and thus oppose the
campaign asking Obama to pardon him.
<p>
Sad to say, that tactic sometimes works.  I know someone who is
generally sensible, who has been persuaded by the parade of lies to
call Snowden a traitor.


feed_id: 0e7d0c8e9bd209a6b7127454505715cc
title: Obama finally stands up to Netanyahu
uri: Obama-finally-stands-up-to-Netanyahu
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#9_January_2017_%28Obama_finally_stands_up_to_Netanyahu%29

content:
<p>
Obama finally stood up to Netanyahu, 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/23/us-abstention-allows-un-to-demand-end-to-israeli-settlements">allowing
the UN to rebuke Israel's colonization of the West Bank</a>.  This is
a reversal, because Obama has 
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2016/12/23/obama-allows-toothless-un-resolution-against-israeli-settlements-to-pass/">bent
over backwards</a> to prevent UN criticism of Israel.
<p>
Meanwhile, Netanyahu has been 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-jul-oct.html#20_August_2016_(Israel_plans_another_colony_in_West_Bank)">accelerating
the colonization</a>, while completely shutting down the possibility
of a peace deal with Palestine.
<p>
Netanyahu has displayed 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#10_November_2016_(Netanyahus_blatant_oppression)">overt 
arrogance towards the US</a>, and mostly Obama has swallowed this,
because Congress gives Israel almost bootlicking support.
<p>
All this 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2015-jan-apr.html#2_April_2015_(US_distrusts_Netanyahu)">as
American Jews become increasingly critical</a> of Israeli occupation
policies.


feed_id: 3a45b6fe22cf981726f7b88dda56b773
title: Very urgent: Rallies against Republican cuts
uri: Very-urgent-Rallies-against-Republican-cuts
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#13_January_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Rallies_against_Republican_cuts%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: join rallies on
<a href="https://go.berniesanders.com/page/event/search_simple">Sunday
Jan 15</a> against Republican cuts to medical care and Planned
Parenthood.


feed_id: d7168541179a8c0a41aba67453d6a761
title: Very urgent: oppose Resolution 6
uri: Very-urgent-oppose-Resolution-6
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#13_January_2017_%28Urgent%3A_oppose_Resolution_6%29
content:
<p>
US citizens: phone your senators to
<a href="https://org.salsalabs.com/o/301/p/salsa/web/common/public/signup?signup_page_KEY=8566">oppose
Resolution 6</a>, which would condemn the recent UN resolution
rebuking Israel for colonizing Palestinian territory.
<p>
The Capitol Switchboard numbers are 202-224-3121, 888-818-6641
and 888-355-3588.


feed_id: 5039bff2f97bf944d82c985e3b2a72ec
title: Military conscription
uri: Military-conscription
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#14_January_2017_%28Military_conscription%29
content:
<p>
The US abolished direct military conscription, but has replaced it
with an
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/04/thank-you-for-your-service-us-troops-military">indirect system of economic conscription</a>: young people from
poor backgrounds often see no opportunity to get ahead except
through the army.
<p>
The article is mistaken on a couple of important points.  First, Nixon
did damp down the movement to end the Vietnam War, by pulling the US
army out of Vietnam, but that was not the permanent effect that the
article presents.  The US antiwar movement was quite strong for the
first few years of the occupation of Iraq.
<p>
It also omits another, deeper blindness about thanking troops for
"serving their country" -- for the most part, that's not what they are
doing.  And, in Iraq, many of them figured that out; (then) Bradley
Manning was far from alone.  A soldier wrote to me, responding to
what he saw in stallman.org, saying that the troops in his unit
felt that they were in Iraq to support an empire.
<p>
I think we should offer troops condolences rather than thanks.
Many of them joined up intending to serve their country, and
they were cheated of the opportunity.


feed_id: b335448b559300c53cfb035e34dad816
title: Simon & Schuster
uri: Simon-Schuster
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#14_January_2017_%28Simon_%2526_Schuster%29
content:
<p>
The
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/04/simon-schuster-alt-right-hate-breitbart-milo-yiannopoulos">Chicago Review of Books will boycott publisher Simon & Schuster</a>
because of its book deal with a hate guru.


feed_id: 9305b6df5b80c3a937e7a23e213b8669
title: Nuclear Experts Warn
uri: Nuclear-Experts-Warn
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#14_January_2017_%28Nuclear_Experts_Warn%29
content:
<p>
Nuclear Experts Warn [the troll]:
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/01/03/nuclear-experts-warn-trump-do-not-torpedo-successful-iran-deal">Do Not Torpedo Successful Iran Deal</a>.
<p>
It not only keeps Iran non-nuclear, it indirectly helps keep other
countries non-nuclear.


feed_id: 170439124e1dac6b6edf1a4c03e62625
title: School thug
uri: School-thug
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#14_January_2017_%28School_thug%29
content:
<p>
A
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/03/north-carolina-police-body-slam-high-school-student">school thug in North Carolina picked up a student</a>, then threw her on
the floor, momentarily stunning her.
<p>
We should refuse to call these thugs by the euphemism, "school
resource officer".  These thugs are the suction end of the
school-to-prison pipeline, and their presence in a school creates
a danger of more than physical injury.


feed_id: ccf77a7c5abd235e5eb2b795cfe8f8e0
title: Anti-Surveillance Clothing
uri: Anti-Surveillance-Clothing
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#14_January_2017_%28Anti-Surveillance_Clothing%29
content:
<p>
Anti-Surveillance Clothing
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jan/04/anti-surveillance-clothing-facial-recognition-hyperface">Aims to Hide Wearers from Facial
Recognition</a>.
<p>
The idea is good, but does it do the job effectively?  It may be hard
to determine that.  However, at least it will serve for public
education
about the danger of surveillance.


feed_id: c69c41cee1e09c858d5960afaf7ea36e
title: Sit-in
uri: Sit-in
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#14_January_2017_%28Sit-in%29
content:
<p>
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/further/2017/01/03/unacceptable-naacp-members-arrested-occupying-sessions-office">NAACP activists held a sit-in in Senator Sessions' office</a> to oppose
making him Attorney General.


feed_id: beaa03b04d22633936f2a2d0bafe6b40
title: Resisting gentrification
uri: 2017-01-16-Resisting-gentrification
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#15_January_2017_%28Resisting_gentrification%29
content:
<p>
How Washington DC 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/03/gentrification-washington-dc-housing-topa-right-to-buy">resists
gentrification</a> to protect low-income residents.


feed_id: f74217581133431972481a7ada8b83c7
title: Keystone XL pipeline
uri: 2017-01-16-Keystone-XL-pipeline
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#15_January_2017_%28Keystone_XL_pipeline%29
content:
<p>
Canada 
<a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/2016/12/21/justin-trudeau-donald-trump-keystone-xl-exxon-tar-sands">plans
to work with the loser</a> to resurrect the Keystone XL pipeline.


feed_id: bd82a0efd7887931cceb68c9371cd36d
title: Law against adults in playgrounds
uri: Law-against-adults-in-playgrounds
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#15_January_2017_%28Law_against_adults_in_playgrounds%29

content:
<p>
Los Angeles proposes to follow New York City's absurd law prohibiting
unaccompanied adults from playgrounds, but now there is 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/02/los-angeles-childless-adults-playground-ban-proposal">resistance</a>.
<p>
If the goal is to protect children from sexual abuse, it would be more
effective to keep them away from adults in private places, since that
is where abuse almost always occurs.  For instance, there could be a
law to prohibit children from spending time at home with just one
adult.  A single parent arriving home with children should call Child
Protective Services and wait for an agent to arrive before entering
the home.  When the agent has to depart, the family must leave the
house.
<p>
I had better state that the proposal above is meant satirically.


feed_id: 7267c6732ed0a59e2277a7ed5e27b6ad
title: Urgent: Support Keith Ellison
uri: Urgent-Support-Keith-Ellison
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#15_January_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Support_Keith_Ellison%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: 
<a href="http://my.democrats.org/page/s/contact-the-democratsa">tell
the Democratic National Committee</a> you support Keith Ellison as
leader.


feed_id: 4f7e3c47eb85ba1a35c8f746f81f21b9
title: Urgent: UN resolution for Israeli annexationists
uri: Urgent-UN-resolution-for-Israeli-annexationists
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#15_January_2017_%28Urgent%3A_UN_resolution_for_Israeli_annexationists%29

content:
<p>
Everyone: 
<a href="http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/chrismurphyct-stop-attacking">call
on Senator Murphy</a> to stop criticizing the UN resolution in support
of Israeli annexationists.


feed_id: fab7f628ba6f509f79b6f7e4c5f9be2e
title: Urgent: Resist pressure for military confrontation
uri: Urgent-Resist-pressure-for-military-confrontation
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#15_January_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Resist_pressure_for_military_confrontation%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: 
<a href="http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/senwarren-chrismurphyct">call
on senators Warren and Murphy</a> to resist bipartisan pressure for
military confrontation with Russia.
<p>
Putin is a smarmy tyrant, who has crushed opposition and the free
press in Russia.  He engages in military aggression, though in a more
measured way than the US does.  I think it is sick to suck up to him
as the troll does, but that doesn't mean we need a military rivalry
with Russia.


feed_id: 0d7d10be45c5f1cf0071c1d2f541253e
title: US workers with volatile, unstable incomes
uri: US-workers-with-volatile-unstable-incomes
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#15_January_2017_%28US_workers_with_volatile%2C_unstable_incomes%29

content:
<p>
More U.S. Workers Have 
<a href="http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/19765/more_u.s._workers_have_highly_volatile_unstable_incomes">Highly
Volatile, Unstable Incomes</a>.
<p>
That means they are at risk of homelessness, hunger, and 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-may-aug.html#25_May_2016_(Man_kills_sick_wife_as_they_couldn%27t_afford_medicine)">dying
from lack of medicine</a>.  Their children are at risk of growing up
under stress that will 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2015-sep-dec.html#26_December_2015_(Poverty_in_the_US_permanently_stunts_IQ)">impair
them for their whole lives</a>.


feed_id: 40410169b87c0d5b7274f06a7f10724a
title: Business-supremacy treaties
uri: 2017-01-16-Business-supremacy-treaties
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#15_January_2017_%28Business-supremacy_treaties%29
content:
<p>
Multinational megacorporations can used the forced arbitration of
<a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#business-supremacy">business-supremacy
treaties</a> to
<a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/chrishamby/super-court">overturn
even convictions for crimes</a>.
<p>
They also 
<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/isds-lawsuit-financing-tpp_us_57c48e40e4b09cd22d91f660">invest
in potential lawsuits to be arbitrated under these treaties.
<p>
With the help of business-supremacy treaties, corporations that made a
deal with a corrupt dictator 
<a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/chrishamby/the-billion-dollar-ultimatum">can
force a democratic successor government to pay whatever the dictator
promised</a>.  This encourages dictators to cheat their countries.
<p>
We need to change the legal system at all levels so that corrupt deals
can be cancelled and even undone.  For instance, a predatory
privatization should be cancelled, and the privatizer should be
compensated with the money it paid <em>minus</em> whatever profit it
has extracted.
<p>
Most privatizations of state operations are 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2012-may-aug.html#01_August_2012_(Predatory_privatization)">predatory</a>.


feed_id: 6f20f6fa08f7c188a34c12008e07c5cc
title: Urgent: National Popular Vote Act
uri: Urgent-National-Popular-Vote-Act
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#15_January_2017_%28Urgent%3A_National_Popular_Vote_Act%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: 
<a href="http://www.nationalpopularvote.com/write9">support</a> the
National Popular Vote Act.


feed_id: 81a4c35dd9b1923324bafa234ee60e71
title: Pipeline company merger
uri: Pipeline-company-merger
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#15_January_2017_%28Pipeline_company_merger%29
content:
<p>
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2017/01/04/new-analysis-highlights-alarming-anti-consumer-impacts-proposed-enbridgespectra">A
  proposed US pipeline company merger</a> would reportedly create so
much
market power that the combined company could raise prices for oil and
natural gas.
<p>
If it could do that, it might discourage consumption, but not enough:
we need heavy taxes on petroleum products and an end to all subsidies
to raise the price enough to avoid disaster.
<p>
The better reason to oppose this merger is that bigger companies have
more lobbying power.  We need to make large companies split up, except
for those that are natural monopolies and ought to be regulated
utilities.


feed_id: 7beefb6ccbd6c1727919172fbfb8bd8b
title: HR 6421
uri: HR-6421
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#15_January_2017_%28HR_6421%29
content:
<p>
The ACLU warns that bill HR 6421, the misnamed "Anti-Semitism
Awareness Act",
<a href="media/77939a76.16_12_5_-_antisemitismawarenessact_-_house.pdf" data-original-source="https://www.aclu.org/sites/default/files/field_document/16_12_5_-_antisemitismawarenessact_-_house.pdf">would impose unconstitutional censorship on debate</a>
about
Israel and its occupation policies.


feed_id: 31cc10114060084432eb4110a3b1c19c
title: Free Market
uri: Free-Market
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#15_January_2017_%28Free_Market%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/05/market-labour-industrial-strategy">The
  Free Market Isn't Working</a> — And Labour Now Dares to Say
So.


feed_id: 2d294e6a66c744b59d0a67d912aa2e59
title: Growing authoritarianism
uri: Growing-authoritarianism
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#15_January_2017_%28Growing_authoritarianism%29
content:
<p>
The troll
<a href="http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/Messerly20170105">provides
  growing authoritarianism in the US</a>
an opportunity to potentially supplant democracy.
<p>
The
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/01/04/15-warnings-signs-impending-tyranny">15
  Warnings Signs of Impending Tyranny</a> — as seen through the
troll.


feed_id: f68f629701b0febbbca4c53d6d3de5ef
title: Credit Reports
uri: Credit-Reports
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#15_January_2017_%28Credit_Reports%29
content:
<p>
People in the US are supposed to be able to buy copies of their credit
reports, but
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/01/credit-scores-cfpb/512162/?utm_source=atlgp">Equifax
 and Transunion have been lying</a> — sending people
doctored reports that are not what businesses get.


feed_id: 9be708fb01248b3c95b5bce79d811bbb
title: National debt
uri: National-debt
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#15_January_2017_%28National_debt%29
content:
<p>
It's
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/01/04/cant-we-kill-deficit-hawk-industry">a fundamental mistake</a> to make a fuss about the national debt,
disregarding other systems that will make the public pay in the
future, such as toll collection and drug patents.


feed_id: 8c45b1e1fd06305ffc74a0f23c429d7d
title: Restaurant chains
uri: Restaurant-chains
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#15_January_2017_%28Restaurant_chains%29
content:
<p>
Pressuring restaurant chains
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2017/01/05/consumer-groups-petition-16-fast-food-chains-reduce-antibiotic-use-burger-kings">to stop causing antibiotic resistance</a>.
<p>
The Jack in the Box pledge is an example of, "We will stop using
certain antibiotics in certain animals for certain purposes, several
years from now."  Which is more show than reality.
<p>
We shouldn't need to campaign to pressure restaurants or companies.  A
government that gives companies the value they deserve, and human
health the value it deserves, would have made this a firm law many
years ago.
<p>
Don't these legislators realize that antibiotic resistance can kill
them or their children?


feed_id: 83b161804c42f5299bc604dfec411018
title: Tom Price
uri: Tom-Price
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#15_January_2017_%28Tom_Price%29
content:
<p>
Tom Price, the troll's choice for a cabinet post,
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/05/tom-price-senate-investigation-insider-trading-trump-administration">appears to have
committed insider trading</a>.


feed_id: 16feae34b8870edcf29c3742d46b7d7e
title: Effect of spills of diluted bitumen
uri: 2017-01-16-Effect-of-spills-of-diluted-bitumen
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#12_January_2017_%28Effect_of_spills_of_diluted_bitumen%29

content:
<p>


<a href="http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/38920-new-study-secrecy-around-composition-of-oil-sands-dilbit-makes-effective-spill-response-research-impossible">Oil companies are blocking research</a> into the effect of spills of
diluted bitumen into the sea, by keeping the composition of the
diluent fluid secret.
<p>
I don't believe in prohibiting companies from keeping secrets, not in
general.  But companies are not persons and they are not entitled to
human rights.  Any time their secrecy interferes with some public
need, the state should require publication.  The companies that don't
like this are welcome to shut down or go away -- good riddance to
them.


feed_id: 1c4877d9ae504f559c2b8fbc3db67ed5
title: Al Qa'ida
uri: 2017-01-16-Al-Qa-ida
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#12_January_2017_%28Al_Qa%27ida%29
content:
<p>


Al Qa'ida <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/29/a-more-dangerous-long-term-threat-al-qaida-grows-as-isis-retreats">is slowly growing</a> by seeking support locally and being less
bloody.
<p>
Perhaps it will morph into something we could make peace with.
<p>
Any Islamist group advocates oppressive Shari'a law, and thus aims to
violate people's human rights.  But it's not usually necessary or
legitimate to respond to every such regime with war.  The US has not
started drone attacks in Poland and Hungary, let alone Belarus,
Thailand, and Malaysia, nor even in Bahrain, Egypt, and Salafi Arabia,
for their violations of human rights.


feed_id: e850ead8f74efc0af0f9d7b1dd0ad346
title: Condemnation of colonizing
uri: 2017-01-16-Condemnation-of-colonizing
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#11_January_2017_%28Condemnation_of_colonizing%29
content:
<p>
Israel's response to the UN's condemnation of colonizing the West Bank
is
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/12/27/lashing-out-israel-vows-more-settlements-reduces-diplomatic-ties">the usual stupid attempt to put the blame on its critics</a>.
<p>
It would be appropriate now for other countries to adopt a first stage
of sanctions, to start pressuring Israel to make peace with Palestine.
<p>
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/views/2016/12/27/now-time-obama-recognize-palestine">Obama should give Palestine US recognition now.</a>
<p>
Israel can kick Palestinians around with impunity because they are
stateless.  I agree with Juan Cole that the Palestinians must be able
to be citizens of a state that will try defend their human rights,
just as Israelis are.


feed_id: a126876de3c727811a20a911002705ee
title: Partial cease-fire
uri: 2017-01-16-Partial-cease-fire
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#11_January_2017_%28Partial_cease-fire%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/28/turkey-russia-agree-terms-syria-ceasefire">Turkey and Russia have agreed</a> on a limited partial Syrian cease-fire
between Assad's men and non-Jihadi Arab rebels.
<p>
PISSI and al-Nusra are excluded.  So, at Turkey's insistence, are the
Kurds.
Nonetheless, I think this will be a step forward,
as long as Turkey doesn't turn it into an opportunity to launch
renewed
war against the Kurds.


feed_id: 162a95f5fdc919fd6f7b7afa654578fe
title: American journalism< /a>
uri: 2017-01-16-American-journalism-a
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#11_January_2017_%28American_journalism%29
content:
<p>
Looking back over the history of American journalism, we find, about a
century ago, that articles based on
<a href="http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/Searle20161226">rumors
  and lies</a> were common.
<p>
The imperialist war against Spain was started through such pressure.
The slogan for the war was "Remember the Maine", alluding to a US
warship
that exploded mysteriously in Havana.  The most recent investigation
concluded it was an internal explosion.
<p>
Movements for independence in Cuba and the Philippines were both
crushed by the US, which turned Cuba into a puppet government, and
reduced the Philippines to a colony after years of war and repression.


feed_id: 5bdedcdbfd9e8afe32a8c7dbc95200ce
title: Clothing factories
uri: 2017-01-16-Clothing-factories
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#11_January_2017_%28Clothing_factories%29
content:
<p>
Bangladeshi clothing factories crushed a week-long strike and protest
with
the
help of thugs.
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/27/bangladesh-garment-factories-sack-hundreds-after-pay-protests">They fired 1500 workers and blacklisted them.</a>  This is "free trade"
  at
work.
<p>
The article calls this a "blow" to the Bangladeshi clothing industry,
but I disagree, because it appears to me that the bad guys won.
(Nonetheless, it was a good try!)
<p>
A real blow to the industry will be if the workers win.


feed_id: ce4044dae80295e4e8994f124f243519
title: Urgent: Social Security
uri: 2017-01-20-Urgent-Social-Security
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#19_January_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Social_Security%29
content:
<p>
US citizens: phone the White House on Jan 23 and remind the troll he
said he would protect Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.


feed_id: 27ad7960bc6df536e4ce7f37377be572
title: Indiscriminate dosing
uri: Indiscriminate-dosing
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#19_January_2017_%28Indiscriminate_dosing%29
content:
<p>
The FDA has a
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2017/jan/08/fda-antibiotic-use-in-livestock">new rule to limit the indiscriminate dosing of farm
animals</a>
with antibiotics.  But it is a weak rule, and it's not clear how much
good it will do.
Since our lives are at stake here — resistant bacteria could kill
anyone — we need a strong rule.


feed_id: c18abc44cf6e85e812cdf99e87ec6cb8
title: Natural gas pipeline
uri: Natural-gas-pipeline
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#19_January_2017_%28Natural_gas_pipeline%29
content:
<p>
A proposed natural gas pipeline from Pennsylvania to North Carolina
<a href="https://thinkprogress.org/acp-moves-forward-in-buckingham-186a5b9eeb6c">is facing increasing local opposition</a>.
<p>
Aside from whatever local problems it will cause, the pipeline would
act as inertia for extraction of natural gas.  The owners, having
built the pipeline, will do all in their power to make sure it gets
used for a lot of natural gas.  That will speed our fall over the
climate cliff.


feed_id: 689f22ffe4b2b499fe06c470fbfbc48a
title: Tracked
uri: Tracked
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#19_January_2017_%28Tracked%29
content:
<p>
A large fraction of US employees are
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2017/01/employer-gps-tracking/512294/">tracked in their movements 24
hours a day by their employers</a>.  Most states have no laws against
this.
Basically, if your employer gives you a portable phone, or software
to run on one, don't trust it!
<p>
If you have a union, it can help you fight against being tracked
when there is no valid reason.
<p>
If you don't have a union, you need one.


feed_id: ee4157c740b3425b96338a07cd3bb954
title: Attacking soldiers
uri: Attacking-soldiers
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#19_January_2017_%28Attacking_soldiers%29
content:
<p>
A Palestinian in Jerusalem
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/08/truck-rammed-into-pedestrians-jerusalem">used a truck as a weapon to attack Israeli
soldiers</a>.
<p>
I am sure Israel and its supporters will call this "terrorism", but
attacking soldiers of an occupying army is properly called
"rebellion", "resistance" or "guerrilla war".  If the targets had been
civilians, it would have been terrorism.


feed_id: be97c7d8de4adeb2f681a5986e475d23
title: Attention industry
uri: Attention-industry
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#19_January_2017_%28Attention_industry%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jan/08/tim-wu-interview-internet-classic-party-went-sour-attention-merchants">The World Wide Web has become dominated by a few web sites</a>, most of
which are run by businesses and designed to addict and mistreat their
visitors.  A book puts this into the historical perspective of the
"attention industry".
<p>
You can personally escape this if you don't visit those sites.  I
don't log in on any of them, and I rarely visit them at all.  But we
can't individually escape from the harm they do at the social level.


feed_id: 216fccaf0f916707a3ce07ae4d8cac14
title: Multi-year ice
uri: Multi-year-ice
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#19_January_2017_%28Multi-year_ice%29
content:
<p>
Thick multi-year ice is
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jan/08/arctic-multi-year-sea-ice-break-up-graveyard">rapidly diminshing in the Arctic</a>, leaving an
ice cap made only of thin one-year ice.


feed_id: eea7e44b17a01618e2b17f5e1f7b2030
title: Information literacy
uri: Information-literacy
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#19_January_2017_%28Information_literacy%29
content:
<p>
The many schemes for corruption of apparently authoritative truth have
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-challenge-facing-libraries-in-an-era-of-fake-news-70828">made the teaching of information literacy a challenge</a>.


feed_id: ce63a26e738fdbcd53830faf755a870a
title: Epidemic of fake news
uri: Epidemic-of-fake-news
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#19_January_2017_%28Epidemic_of_fake_news%29
content:
<p>
Evgeny Morozov: the epidemic of fake news is a symptom of the digital
system that makes fake news profitable,
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/08/blaming-fake-news-not-the-answer-democracy-crisis">but focusing on it serves as
distraction</a> from recognizing the deeper origin of today's real
political problems.


feed_id: 8cb24f2cceae0ac9568aeb10b9c1d8cc
title: Fish stocks
uri: Fish-stocks
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#19_January_2017_%28Fish_stocks%29
content:
<p>
Global heating is
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jan/08/fish-ocean-warming-migration-sea">undermining localized rules to protect fish stocks</a>
because it makes the fish move to different areas.  Combined with
widespread overfishing, the result is that the total seafood catch has
decreased drastically in 20 years.
<p>
This matter much if ocean acidification wipes out the sea life we
catch.


feed_id: 32098bd6de88f297f88c3d33506a6d72
title: Clothes workers
uri: Clothes-workers
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#19_January_2017_%28Clothes_workers%29
content:
<p>
Clothes workers in Bangladesh that participated in the strike
are
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/08/bangladesh-garment-workers-factories-industrial-action">not just blacklisted</a>, they are harassed by thugs as well.
<p>
What this means is that the Bangladeshi state represses citizens on
behalf of foreign businesses.


feed_id: e2072948198acb5a19363b5ce04ce8f3
title: Considerate to their users
uri: Considerate-to-their-users
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#19_January_2017_%28Considerate_to_their_users%29
content:
<p>
Japan's admirable
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/05/how-japan-weaves-caring-and-sharing-into-all-layers-of-society">tradition of designing systems and structures to be
considerate</a> to their users.


feed_id: 13fd2d2fe0325ae1dec18774b8bc8897
title: State legislatures
uri: State-legislatures
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#19_January_2017_%28State_legislatures%29
content:
<p>
Several state legislatures controlled by Republicans are
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/01/07/gop-2017-business/">determined to
crush unions</a>.


feed_id: ab1d4cd4c0c16830da302ee885c8f679
title: Session
uri: Session
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#19_January_2017_%28Session%29
content:
<p>
Sessions's reactionary views, harshness for harshness' sake, are
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2017/01/06/two-new-papers-jeff-sessionss-criminal-justice-record-danger-using-justice">rejected by many Republican politicians</a>.


feed_id: f9fe11d8bb6ec07fea6352ab8bc62866
title: Benevolent sexism
uri: Benevolent-sexism
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#19_January_2017_%28Benevolent_sexism%29
content:
<p>
<a href="http://www.vox.com/identities/2016/11/15/13571478/trump-president-sexual-assault-sexism-misogyny-won">Benevolent sexism and hostile sexism work together</a>, like the good cop
and bad cop, to keep women under men's power.  Many women, when they
see hostile sexism, turn to benevolent sexism for protection.


feed_id: a0f06cbe1191a67993610ad3a7579560
title: Rental housing
uri: Rental-housing
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#19_January_2017_%28Rental_housing%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-01-03/wall-street-america-s-new-landlord-kicks-tenants-to-the-curb">Large companies now own and rent out lots of houses in the US.</a>  They
are much quicker to evict tenants that get in any sort of trouble.
<p>
I think it would be wise to charge a higher tax rate to a landlord
that owns lots of rental housing.


feed_id: 973d0d6fe164dfac4c0df03fc527f23b
title: Victims of domestic violence
uri: Victims-of-domestic-violence
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#19_January_2017_%28Victims_of_domestic_violence%29
content:
<p>
The most important step to help victims of domestic violence
is to
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/womens-blog/2017/jan/07/training-hair-stylists-spot-signs-domestic-abuse">provide a place for them to go to safety</a>.  Right-wing
governments
are cutting that.


feed_id: 38ec08753b77d184c258461cdba8a21c
title: Stop the Ecuadorian state
uri: Stop-the-Ecuadorian-state
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#19_January_2017_%28Stop_the_Ecuadorian_state%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/andes-to-the-amazon/2017/jan/07/ecuadors-leading-environmental-group-fights-forced-closure">Acción Ecológica is struggling</a> to stop the Ecuadorian state from
shutting it down.


feed_id: de8137f24ef5f68555c32c95a8775677
title: Poles in the UK
uri: Poles-in-the-UK
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#19_January_2017_%28Poles_in_the_UK%29
content:
<p>
Poles in the UK are
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/jan/07/poles-lin-uk-scared-to-speak-up-on-hate-crimes">often the target of hate crimes</a> by bigots
that hate immigrants.  They are afraid to report the crimes
because it could affect the political pressure to make them leave.


feed_id: 47c67a969b01d33e80993dd2c9907031
title: Persecution of Rohingyas
uri: Persecution-of-Rohingyas
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#19_January_2017_%28Persecution_of_Rohingyas%29
content:
<p>
The military-industrial complex could be responsible for persecution
of Rohingyas,
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2017/jan/04/is-rohingya-persecution-caused-by-business-interests-rather-than-religion">in support of a land-grab</a> that has kicked millions of
people (of various ethnic groups) off their lands.


feed_id: eb96d097fe07ea3de827d779300d8664
title: Fossil fuel workers
uri: Fossil-fuel-workers
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#19_January_2017_%28Fossil_fuel_workers%29
content:
<p>
<a href="http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/38998-clean-energy-the-challenge-of-achieving-a-just-transition-for-workers">Fossil fuel workers whose jobs will (we desperately hope) disappear
can oppose decarbonization.</a>  Also, planet-roaster politicians cite
them as a reason to keep using fossil fuels.  If we can help these
workers get new jobs, that will facilitate decarbonization.
<p>
But we don't dare choose to slow decarbonization for this.  Avoiding
global heating disaster, which could kill 2/3 of all living humans and
2/3 of all living species, is desperately urgent.


feed_id: 1c642fbde7f902c128bddd72169ef8e2
title: Ethics Committee
uri: Ethics-Committee
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#19_January_2017_%28Ethics_Committee%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/04/donald-trump-ethics-committee-you-did">Donald Trump Didn't Save the Ethics Committee.</a>  The American people
did.
The troll only chimed in with a weak statement.


feed_id: afd6ca2afc3caad29d086b99d7710fa5
title: Difficult for transsexuals
uri: Difficult-for-transsexuals
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#19_January_2017_%28Difficult_for_transsexuals%29
content:
<p>
Several state legislatures controlled by Republicans are
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/01/05/legislatures-gear-target-transgender-people-we-gear-fight-back">determined to
make life difficult</a> for transsexuals.
<p>
In the long run, transsexuals can push back simply by obeying the
bathroom law and refusing to be embarrassed.  "Don't blame me —
right-wing jerks passed a law that says I have to use this toilet.
Will you join me in campaigning to vote them out?"


feed_id: c28908ecd3c5700c345caa29e088b2b0
title: Nostaglic for 1950s
uri: Nostaglic-for-1950s
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#19_January_2017_%28Nostaglic_for_1950s%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/social-issues/how-nostalgia-for-white-christian-america-drove-so-many-americans-to-vote-for-trump/2017/01/04/4ef6d686-b033-11e6-be1c-8cec35b1ad25_story.html">Many Americans that voted for the troll are nostaglic for 1950s</a>
America, with its good jobs to support a family on, with women and
minorities in their place, with gays invisible, and transsexuals not
yet invented.


feed_id: b22969cea57a890d583db71ef2e51a91
title: Six-hour work day
uri: Six-hour-work-day
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#19_January_2017_%28Six-hour_work_day%29
content:
<p>
A six-hour work day
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/06/ignore-headlines-six-hour-working-day-swedish
">can make society better for people overall</a>, in
countries that don't let the rich crush the rest.
<p>
It is one way to cope with the problem of technological employment
for millions of people.


feed_id: 14d8d88dde362f11f5cf410151a603d3
title: Ford
uri: Ford
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#19_January_2017_%28Ford%29
content:
<p>
The troll's threats
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/07/fear-and-threats-mexico-hits-back-over-trumps-bullying-of-automakers">seem to have convinced Ford not to increase</a>
production in Mexico.
<p>
I see nothing wrong about importing products made by Mexicans in
Mexico, but moving production to Mexico should not serve as an excuse
to cut workers' pay.  US companies that move US production to Mexico
should pay the Mexican workers US-style salaries.


feed_id: 8d92abe52471bb27aba590d90d8a2efb
title: Russian involvement
uri: Russian-involvement
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#19_January_2017_%28Russian_involvement%29
content:
<p>
The newly published report on
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/01/06/underwhelming-intel-report-shows-need-for-congressional-investigation-of-dnc-hack/">alleged Russian involvement in cracking
Democratic Party servers</a> has no new evidence to show that Russia was
involved.
<p>
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/01/06/trump-already-demanding-leak-investigation-and-hes-not-even-president-yet/">Some of the report was leaked</a> to the Washington Post by the CIA.
The troll is scandalized.
<p>
Wikileaks points out that the CIA is
<a href="http://thehill.com/policy/cybersecurity/313002-wikileaks-opposed-to-cia-leaking-report-info-to-nbc">leaking top secret documents to
the press to manipulate US public opinion</a>,
just as Wikileaks is accused of doing.


feed_id: 4d225a56ce54edbcc6dd1e69b695492a
title: Assault on Unions
uri: Assault-on-Unions
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#19_January_2017_%28Assault_on_Unions%29
content:
<p>
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/01/06/why-workers-everywhere-should-be-scared-kentuckys-assault-unions">Why
  Workers Everywhere Should Be Scared</a> by Kentucky's Assault on
Unions.


feed_id: 07ea6520676745fc20f9e6256a8e3620
title: Rotten barrel
uri: Rotten-barrel
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#19_January_2017_%28Rotten_barrel%29
content:
<p>
The Israeli soldier convicted of killing a helpless Palestinian is not
a "rotten apple".  He's
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/01/05/azaria-exposed-reality-israels-colonial-project">a typical sample of the whole rotten barrel</a>.


feed_id: 5240f4031015eb0b152cc0021405570e
title: US policy towards Russia
uri: US-policy-towards-Russia
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#19_January_2017_%28US_policy_towards_Russia%29
content:
<p>
Historian Stephen Cohen, who has studied Russia for decades,
<a href="http://www.salon.com/2015/04/16/the_new_york_times_basically_rewrites_whatever_the_kiev_authorities_say_stephen_f_cohen_on_the_u_s_russiaukraine_history_the_media_wont_tell_you/">criticized
in 2015</a> the confrontational and domineering policy that the US has
taken towards Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union.
<p>
Here's the 
<a href="https://www.salon.com/2015/04/23/architects_of_american_policy_towards_russia_and_ukraine_are_destroying_american_national_security_stephen_f_cohen_on_the_truths_u_s_media_and_politicians_hide/">second
half</a>.
<p>
I think we can have some confidence in Cohen's judgment, because he is
not one of the Putin pets you find so many of nowadays.  He doesn't
start from the assumption that Putin is good and the US is bad.  He
regards the US government and the Russian government both as playing
the same kind of power game, but Putin's aims are more modest and his
strategy more coherent.
<p>
One point in the articles requires correction.  The referendum in the
Crimea was imposed by "pro-Russian gunmen" who had captured the
parliament building and 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/24/ukraine-crimea-russia-secession">ordered
the vote at gunpoint</a>.  We now know that they were capable of
mounting a "well co-ordinated military operation" because they were
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2013-nov-feb.html#28_February_2014_(Unidentified_soldiers_seize_regional_parliament_of_Crimea)">Russian
soldiers not wearing their usual uniforms</a>.
<p>
But this is a small error and I still trust the articles overall.


feed_id: b8f93a3dfda050e0aefb4e5567244edf
title: Resignation of UK ambassador to EU
uri: Resignation-of-UK-ambassador-to-EU
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#19_January_2017_%28Resignation_of_UK_ambassador_to_EU%29

content:
<p>
The UK ambassador to the EU has 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jan/03/rogers-resignation-is-latest-sign-britain-is-heading-for-hard-brexit">resigned</a>.
He reported to the Tories that they wouldn't be able to get a
favorable deal when leaving the EU, and they did not like what they
heard.


feed_id: a081d7398f7db23eb0d5606374c2cec2
title: Speech-recognition
uri: Speech-recognition
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#18_January_2017_%28Speech-recognition%29
content:
<p>
Speech-recognition devices that keep recordings of what people say —
even if only some of the time —
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/01/05/alexa-law-enforcement-listening">threaten constitutional rights</a>.
<p>
An ethically designed speech recognition device will not save any
voice recordings (or transcripts) of actual use, except when the user
explicitly commands that it save one.  Training the device to
understand particular people's voices better should be something that
users explicitly request.


feed_id: 3183249035544f90345e1ee9d1c08b27
title: 1.5 billion dollars
uri: 1-5-billion-dollars
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#18_January_2017_%281.5_billion_dollars%29
content:
<p>
The troll
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/01/05/no-conflict-here-150-wall-street-firms-own-over-15-billion-trumps-debt">owes 1.5 billion dollars to Wall Street companies</a>,
  adding up to a giant corruptive force.


feed_id: 6925194cd2acce401d5aa64363ef5248
title: Distract and impede
uri: Distract-and-impede
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#18_January_2017_%28Distract_and_impede%29
content:
<p>
SCROTUS have a
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/01/05/gops-brilliant-plan-distract-critical-confirmation-hearings">plan to distract and impede press coverage of the vital
confirmation hearings</a> for the troll's saboteur candidates.


feed_id: 366cc4386fad7c561d16fea328a6bf51
title: Bashir Naderi
uri: Bashir-Naderi
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#18_January_2017_%28Bashir_Naderi%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jan/06/home-office-receives-petition-man-who-fled-afghanistan-as-child-bashir-naderi-cardiff">14,000 people have implored the UK</a> not to deport Bashir Naderi to
Afghanistan, where he knows no people and none of the local languages.
<p>
People who have lived in a country for many years, since childhood,
should always be given citizenship.  If the citizens want to reduce
the number of immigrants, there is no need to do it in a cruel way.


feed_id: a6f6186e54781657f57b1c081bf4e13a
title: Israeli colonies
uri: Israeli-colonies
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#18_January_2017_%28Israeli_colonies%29
content:
<p>
Uri Avnery: don't despair about getting the Israeli colonies
<a href="http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/channels/avnery/1483709579/">out of the way of a viable Palestinian state</a>.


feed_id: 021fe6c59daf97a828d99e4d0303e37d
title: Resisting the troll
uri: Resisting-the-troll
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#18_January_2017_%28Resisting_the_troll%29
content:
<p>
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/01/06/first-100-days-resistance-agenda">Suggestions every American can put into effect</a> for resisting the
troll.


feed_id: b25883ca786f356c9a005be81b3d3d8a
title: Protect their disinformation
uri: Protect-their-disinformation
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#18_January_2017_%28Protect_their_disinformation%29
content:
<p>
SCROTUS protect their disinformation from comparison with: their new
rules package tells the Congressional Budget Office
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/01/06/gop-doesnt-want-public-know-how-much-obamacare-repeal-will-cost-study-shows-it-could">not to report on
the likely costs</a> of repealing or changing Obama's medical insurance
program.
<p>
One estimate is that it would cost the economy almost a trillion
dollars a year, and eliminate 3 million jobs.  And that's not to
mention
the suffering of people who can't get medical care.


feed_id: 2d4ab16e374e0ce816b34ebf5c693a85
title: 2C
uri: 2C
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#18_January_2017_%282C%29
content:
<p>
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/01/06/earth-edge-disastrous-2016-goes-down-hottest-year-record">Earth is on track towards</a> more than 2C of global heating by 2050.


feed_id: eaf9f9a500ddfd7512cef39995850b87
title: Urgent: Polluters
uri: Urgent-Polluters
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#18_January_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Polluters%29
content:
<p>
US citizens: oppose the troll's
<a href="https://secure.nrdconline.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=4143">cabinet of polluters</a>.


feed_id: b78666c44fc48da9b5a5a73af12fcd51
title: Unions
uri: 2017-01-20-Unions
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#18_January_2017_%28Unions%29
content:
<p>
Kentucky's new
<a href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2017/01/13195/koch-astroturf-army-cheers-union-busting-ky">Republican legislature is passing laws to destroy
unions</a>,
so fast that there won't be time for the victims to react.


feed_id: 1d873891ae5e68045cb7e81ad1ae6771
title: Exit the EU
uri: Exit-the-EU
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#17_January_2017_%28Exit_the_EU%29
content:
<p>
It appears the UK will exit the EU
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jan/06/fears-that-uk-is-heading-towards-train-crash-brexit">with no agreement at all</a> — a
"train crash".
<p>
Britain still has hope.  If the train is operated by a lousy
privatized UK train company, such as Southern Rail, it may not run.


feed_id: c58bf1a46771eff0638b185928588ee0
title: Mastercard
uri: Mastercard
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#17_January_2017_%28Mastercard%29
content:
<p>
<a href="http://www.theage.com.au/it-pro/business-it/mastercard-to-access-facebook-user-data-20141006-10qrqy.html">Facebook provided personal data to Mastercard.</a>
<p>
The data was provided in anonymized form, but Mastercard could
reidentify
the data by correlating it with other data.


feed_id: b341ffb6987bee519b047c7f55598fdf
title: Private prisons
uri: 2017-01-20-Private-prisons
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#17_January_2017_%28Private_prisons%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.aclu.org/blog/speak-freely/trump-and-sessions-great-private-prison-industry-terrible-civil-rights">Sessions wants more private prisons.</a>
<p>
He says privatization "seem to work better", but better for whom?
Perhaps for his future employers, some years from now.


feed_id: 3830aa857c7ad8c963a3b9d590333e58
title: Ivory carvers
uri: Ivory-carvers
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#17_January_2017_%28Ivory_carvers%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jan/06/elephants-victims-lament-china-ivory-lovers">Chinese ivory carvers are coming to grips</a> with China's decision to ban
the ivory trade.
<p>
It makes no sense to eliminate elephants so that Africa can
accommodate more humans.
<p>
Shutting down the legal ivory trade
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jan/06/china-ban-ivory-life-worse-elephants-poaching">will not stop the illegal trade</a>.


feed_id: 5a0598a1aedb903fa249d511a99851f0
title: ISP privacy rules
uri: ISP-privacy-rules
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#17_January_2017_%28ISP_privacy_rules%29
content:
<p>
The FCC's weak ISP privacy rules are
<a href="https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20170104/10021436408/ad-industry-wants-new-fcc-broadband-privacy-rules-gutted-because-uh-free-speech.shtml">too much for the trumpets</a>.
They plan to eliminate them.
<p>
ISPs should respect customers' privacy by not taking any note
of their traffic, except pursuiant to a specific court order.


feed_id: 473806590d5ba849ce0716fabb6f124d
title: Robert Earl Lawrence
uri: Robert-Earl-Lawrence
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#17_January_2017_%28Robert_Earl_Lawrence%29
content:
<p>
Thugs in Alabama killed Robert Earl Lawrence for refusing to show
identification.
<a href="http://courthousenews.com/cops-accused-of-killing-man-for-not-showing-id/">All he did was refuse.</a>
<p>
He brought a stray dog to an animal shelter, but refused to show a
driver's license, so the staff called the thugs.  How gratuitous.
They could just as easily said, "We won't take the dog from you
without your identification, so just let it run loose outside the
door."  It would have been stupid, but no more stupid than what they
did.


feed_id: 1e7c72fe6c731ac5a463e71fbce15e28
title: Under the control
uri: Under-the-control
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#17_January_2017_%28Under_the_control%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/conservatives-plot-their-course-on-the-rising-sea-of-red-in-state-capitals">More US states have fallen</a> under the control of Republicans and ALEC.
<p>
They generally gerrymander the districts so that they subsequently
always "win" even when they don't get most of the votes.


feed_id: 7439fd02f020f9c271667cd004bf479e
title: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
uri: 2017-01-20-Consumer-Financial-Protection-Bureau
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#17_January_2017_%28Consumer_Financial_Protection_Bureau%29

content:
<p>
SCROTUS want to eliminate or neutralize the Consumer Financial
Protection Bureau,
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2017/01/05/consumer-bureau-under-attack">because it does a good job of protecting people</a>
from banks that would cheat them.


feed_id: 5aa76044c4a069e68dc8d764d50fdc77
title: Congressional investigations
uri: Congressional-investigations
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#17_January_2017_%28Congressional_investigations%29
content:
<p>
SCROTUS have
<a href="http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/1/4/1617016/-Big-Brother-alert-GOP-grants-Hill-staffers-authority-to-question-private-citizens-under-oath">expanded their power to harass and intimidate Americans</a>
by giving congressional staff the power to interrogate people under
oath.
<p>
Congressional investigations have a legitimate function, but
Republicans
are not interested in pursuing real abuses.  Their goal is to crush
despised climate defenders and abortion providers, by hook or by
crook.


feed_id: a7df0f1fefa3456050860ec143fddec2
title: Dismissed for misconduct
uri: Dismissed-for-misconduct
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#17_January_2017_%28Dismissed_for_misconduct%29
content:
<p>
A US thug that is dismissed for misconduct can easily get another job
as a thug, because there is
<a href="https://reason.com/archives/2016/09/30/why-its-so-hard-to-stop-bad-cops-from-ge">no firm system to prevent it</a>.
<p>
Many states do absolutely nothing, when thugs are fired for violence
against
the public, to stop them from getting hired somewhere else.


feed_id: c4de456c0225447c85a4e620105202c4
title: Sex offender
uri: 2017-01-20-Sex-offender
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#17_January_2017_%28Sex_offender%29
content:
<p>
Shawna, in her 19th birthday party, had sex with a younger teenager.
She was sentenced to register as a
<a href="http://www.freerangekids.com/how-i-got-on-the-sex-offender-list-by-a-mom-of-three/">sex offender for her whole life</a>.


feed_id: 6ae02d7b6fcdd25b02a1aca31db0691a
title: Charlie Hebdo
uri: 2017-01-20-Charlie-Hebdo
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#17_January_2017_%28Charlie_Hebdo%29
content:
<p>
Zineb El Rhazoui has quit working for Charlie Hebdo, rebuking the
magazine for
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/jan/06/charlie-hebdo-journalist-quits-zineb-el-rhazoui-islamist-extremists-muhammad">no longer daring to draw Mohammed</a>.


feed_id: a7a0679646a50564442dd20d9f044255
title: Air pollution
uri: 2017-01-20-Air-pollution
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#17_January_2017_%28Air_pollution%29
content:
<p>
Roughly
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jul/15/nearly-9500-people-die-each-year-in-london-because-of-air-pollution-study">10,000 people die in London each year from air pollution</a>,
much of it from diesel engines.
<p>
The UK government attacks everyone's freedom, supposedly to reduce the
already tiny danger of terrorism.  But terrorists would find it
exceedingly hard to kill even 1% as many people as the diesels do.
<p>
Britons should demand that the government end to massive surveillace
and focus on the greater danger of cars.  But this lesson is not
limited to Britain.
<p>
How many thousands do diesels kill every year in France?  I don't
know, but it must be thousands.  So why have a "state of emergency"
that tramples human rights supposedly to protect against the secondary
danger of terrorists, instead of against car companies?


feed_id: 139ae1319450f445b8ffbc82d791615d
title: El Nino
uri: El-Nino
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#17_January_2017_%28El_Nino%29
content:
<p>
Now that El Niño has ended,
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2017/jan/06/prepare-for-reanimation-of-the-zombie-myth-no-global-warming-since-2016">2017 may not set a new heat record</a>.
Denialists are likely to start spreading the myth that "global heating
stopped in 2016."


feed_id: b296222528e2168e0ea0e7f4049721a5
title: Renewable energy
uri: 2017-01-20-Renewable-energy
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#17_January_2017_%28Renewable_energy%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jan/06/china-cementing-global-dominance-of-renewable-energy-and-technology">China has become dominant</a> in the manufacturing of renewable energy
generation.
<p>
China is making a big investment, while its potential competitors are
dominated by planet-roasters and denialists.


feed_id: 57b030485b28228a7478778a305008f9
title: Urgent: Price
uri: Urgent-Price
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#16_January_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Price%29
content:
<p>
US citizens:
<a href="https://act.credoaction.com/sign/block_price?t=1003&akid=21098.1183552.6LaKzZ">call on Senate Democrats</a> to go all-out to block Tom Price
from Health and Human Services.


feed_id: 5fbcba926c11513caf2ac7ed7eabb317
title: Urgent: Resolution 6
uri: Urgent-Resolution-6
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#16_January_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Resolution_6%29
content:
<p>
US citizens:
<a href="https://org.salsalabs.com/o/301/p/salsa/web/common/public/signup?signup_page_KEY=8566">phone your senators</a> to oppose Resolution 6, which would
condemn the recent UN resolution rebuking Israel for colonizing
Palestinian territory.


feed_id: 31dc64388c6fb238d2d32d901dcfd67e
title: Spat on and ignored
uri: Spat-on-and-ignored
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#16_January_2017_%28Spat_on_and_ignored%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/jan/06/what-learned-sleeping-rough-london">Homeless people</a> are "spat on and ignored."


feed_id: e66ee18d0969e5768dd74b98d38939e6
title: TPP marching on
uri: TPP-marching-on
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#16_January_2017_%28TPP_marching_on%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/jan/06/labour-reforms-herald-earnings-boost-migrant-workers-malaysia-trans-pacific-partnership">Outside the US</a>, the TPP is marching on, threatening to subjugate
other countries to the power of foreign business.


feed_id: fa936b466d824d563e5d45c09766b112
title: Comfort Woman
uri: Comfort-Woman
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#16_January_2017_%28Comfort_Woman%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/06/japan-says-recalling-envoy-to-skorea-over-new-comfort-woman-statue">Japan Recalls Envoy</a> after South Korea Puts "Comfort Woman" Statue
Outside
Consulate.
<p>
This is political posturing on both sides, but South Korea is
posturing
on behalf of a real injustice, while Japan is posturing on behalf of
military nationalism.


feed_id: 88adb18c6e9433aca0c1634acec1b540
title: Cold-blooded murder
uri: Cold-blooded-murder
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#16_January_2017_%28Cold-blooded_murder%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/01/05/israelis-want-soldier-executed-wounded-palestinian-suspect-camera-go-free/">Most Israelis support</a> cold-blooded murder of Palestinian suspects.


feed_id: 1883a4085f57ccd569cbf5cff67e1503
title: World Wildlife Foundation
uri: World-Wildlife-Foundation
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#16_January_2017_%28World_Wildlife_Foundation%29
content:
<p>
The World Wildlife Foundation faces accusations of helping to
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jan/05/oecd-to-examine-complaint-against-wwf-over-human-rights-abuses-in-cameroon">establish
and patrol a wildlife reserve in Cameroon</a>.  The land was inhabited by
hunter-gatherers.
<p>
As humans overpopulate Earth and overrun all wild areas, more and more
the survival of some humans will come in conflict with the survival of
specific species, and then the survival of entire ecosystems.
<p>
Human population growth will stop, one way or another, in this
century, because too many factors stand to limit it.  The question is,
what will be left of the natural world at that point?
<p>
I think therefore that preserving species and wild areas has to take
precedence over human claims, when they cannot coexist.


feed_id: 5cc99293462a9ac75457b0883dcc8a12
title: Local organizing methods
uri: Local-organizing-methods
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#16_January_2017_%28Local_organizing_methods%29
content:
<p>
<a href="media/6547cca2.IndivisibleGuide_2016-12-31_v1.pdf" data-original-source="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5855a354cd0f68bab2089b40/t/5867cd26be65940ffdeeac1e/1483197741124/IndivisibleGuide_2016-12-31_v1.pdf">Former congressional staff recommend local organizing methods</a> to fight
the right-wing agenda, learning from the success of the Tea Party.
<p>
In order for this to work, we must do another thing that the Tea Party
did:
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/05/democrats-tea-party-tactics-liberal-policies">replace nonprogressive Democrats</a>.


feed_id: c1bba692c7ad7839bdc3b2b6a42c9e10
title: President Do-dirty
uri: President-Do-dirty
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#16_January_2017_%28President_Do-dirty%29
content:
<p>
President Do-dirty of the Philippines joins lies to murder; his
campaign to make Davao City by killing all the criminals, which he
claims made it a safe place,
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2017/jan/05/rodrigo-dutertes-drug-war-in-the-philippines-is-out-of-control-he-needs-to-be-stopped">actually left it with a high rate of
crime</a>.


feed_id: 5d2c87af3ad9e98e0145380e42109660
title: Assassination
uri: 2017-01-20-Assassination
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#16_January_2017_%28Assassination%29
content:
<p>
UK thugs surrounded Yassar Yaqub's car as it was exiting a highway,
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jan/04/i-want-answers-says-father-of-man-shot-dead-by-police-m62-yassar-yaqub">then shot him dead</a>.
They said that the operation was pre-planned.
<p>
His father asks whether it was a pre-planned assassination.
<p>
If Yassar Yaqub was a gangster, that was grounds to arrest and
prosecute him, but not to assassinate him.
<p>
Of course, the effective way to put an end to drug gangs is to
get the War on Drugs off drugs.


feed_id: c91741852dff226b951a4593b7a0d360
title: Sustainable food
uri: Sustainable-food
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#20_January_2017_%28Sustainable_food%29
content:
<p>
Will 2017 Be the Year We Get Serious about 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2017/jan/03/challenges-sustainable-food-2017-organic-farming">Sustainable
Food</a>?
<p>
One step most Americans can easily take is to eat less beef.


feed_id: 0cfeb3708268b9b72317d4a64713f4b2
title: Urgent: Fire school thug
uri: Urgent-Fire-school-thug
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#20_January_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Fire_school_thug%29
content:
<p>
Everyone: 
<a href="https://act.colorofchange.org/sign/get-rid-officer-who-body-slammed-15-yr-old-black-girl-nc/">call
for firing</a> the thug that threw Jasmine Darwin on the floor and
gave her a concussion.


feed_id: 3e80ed82c79b841a97a030b346079558
title: Netanyahu wants convicted murderer pardoned
uri: Netanyahu-wants-convicted-murderer-pardoned
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#20_January_2017_%28Netanyahu_wants_convicted_murderer_pardoned%29

content:
<p>
Netanyahu 
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/01/04/netanyahu-wants-pardon-idf-soldier-who-shot-defenseless-wounded-palestinian-head">wants
the Israeli soldier convicted of murdering a Palestinian to be
pardoned</a>.
<p>
That would mean, in effect, that Israelis could murder Palestinians
with impunity.


feed_id: 3cf7d2849df524103e717321efe3f46b
title: Allowing companies to "sponsor" parks
uri: Allowing-companies-to-sponsor-parks
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#20_January_2017_%28Allowing_companies_to_sponsor_parks%29

content:
<p>
US national parks will henceforth be turned into 
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2017/01/04/disregarding-public-concern-national-park-service-finalizes-commercialism-policy">sales
and promotion schemes for businesses</a>.
<p>
Allowing companies to 
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/01/04/wondrous-national-park-brought-you-mcdonalds">"sponsor"
parks</a>, or stadiums, or any other civic institution, conveys a
message: "everything here is for sale."  The right way to get these
companies' money for civic uses is to tax them properly.


feed_id: 36d37dc144882a08c253db4db7ca422b
title: Power of public response
uri: Power-of-public-response
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#20_January_2017_%28Power_of_public_response%29
content:
<p>
Public response blocked 
<a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#scrotus">SCROTUS</a> from
neutralizing the ethics committee.  It may be possible to
<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2017/01/04/how-democrats-can-defeat-the-repeal-of-obamacare/">do
the same to protect Americans' health care</a>.
<p>
This applies to Medicare and Medicaid, too.


feed_id: 92b446b1de48a7b16bbe191c8e31c3b0
title: Bogus forms of forensic identification
uri: Bogus-forms-of-forensic-identification
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#20_January_2017_%28Bogus_forms_of_forensic_identification%29

content:
<p>
A scientific report showed that many forms of forensic identification
are scientifically bogus and produce 
<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-watch/wp/2017/01/04/when-obama-wouldnt-fight-for-science/">many
false accusations</a>.  The Obama administration rejected the report,
preferring to let miscarriages of justice continue.


feed_id: 2f9b0843793f0197c506d098a1655c09
title: Racially biased predictions
uri: Racially-biased-predictions
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#20_January_2017_%28Racially_biased_predictions%29
content:
<p>
Racially biased predictions about the risk of recidivism come from an
<a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/bias-in-criminal-risk-scores-is-mathematically-inevitable-researchers-say">inherent
conflict between two ideas of fairness</a> — not from specific
implementations.


feed_id: fee0e2f12fd93fffcc09503df73383d3
title: Corporate welfare
uri: 2017-01-21-Corporate-welfare
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#20_January_2017_%28Corporate_welfare%29
content:
<p>
Former Texas governor Perry 
<a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/rick-perrys-energy-grants-in-texas">gave
out billions to corporations</a>.


feed_id: 9f09fb0d8f15a59e17237ea6d982e560
title: Global heating
uri: 2017-01-21-Global-heating
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#20_January_2017_%28Global_heating%29
content:
<p>
Bad climate news: a careful comparison finds that the most
authoritative measurements of global heating so far is the set from
NOAA, which 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2017/jan/04/new-study-confirms-noaa-finding-of-faster-global-warming">shows
more heating than the other measurements</a>.


feed_id: 6b290ff0e06233764dd8e65eddaefb6e
title: Urgent: Pardon Snowden now
uri: 2017-01-21-Urgent-Pardon-Snowden-now
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#20_January_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Pardon_Snowden_now%29
content:
<p>
Everyone: call on Obama to pardon Snowden 
<a href="https://act.credoaction.com/sign/pardon_snowden">now</a>.


feed_id: 1e5883dc981d7cc25184cf7081074e76
title: Urgent: Oppose troll's registry of Muslims
uri: Urgent-Oppose-troll-s-registry-of-Muslims
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#20_January_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Oppose_trolls_registry_of_Muslims%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: 
<a href="https://act.rootsaction.org/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=12602">call
on your governor and state legislators</a> to oppose the troll's
registry of Muslims.


feed_id: 6a998f13e0a16b824434672880194875
title: Overfishing
uri: 2017-01-21-Overfishing
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#20_January_2017_%28Overfishing%29
content:
<p>
Overfishing has knocked down the bluefin tuna population by 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/05/bluefin-tuna-sells-for-500000-at-japan-auction-amid-overfishing-concerns">97%</a>.
Due to continued human pressure, 95% of bluefin tuna caught are under
3 years old.
<p>
A respite could allow fish stocks to recover; in 10 years, we might be
able to fish sustainably and catch more tuna per year than we now
catch unsustainably.  But this requires long-term thinking, which is
in short supply when a government bows down to business.


feed_id: 3fafc56db4f58046abaf28548eb22257
title: US election meddling
uri: US-election-meddling
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#20_January_2017_%28US_election_meddling%29
content:
<p>
Americans Can Spot Election Meddling Because They've 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/05/americans-spot-election-meddling-doing-years-vladimir-putin-donald-trump">Been
Doing It for Years</a>.


feed_id: 37a702612097f5d5d9779afffe942c5c
title: Myanmar
uri: Myanmar
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#20_January_2017_%28Myanmar%29
content:
<p>
Rohingya Plight Making Myanmar a 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/05/rohingya-plight-making-myanmar-a-target-for-isis-malaysia-warns">Target
for [PISSI]</a>, Malaysia Warns.


feed_id: 80363695235196eb630224a530671867
title: Allowing teenagers to have alcohol
uri: Allowing-teenagers-to-have-alcohol
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#20_January_2017_%28Allowing_teenagers_to_have_alcohol%29

content:
<p>
A study found that teenagers given a little alcohol by their parents
are
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/jan/05/children-whose-parents-give-them-sips-of-alcohol-more-likely-to-drink-as-teens">less
likely to drink excessively a year later</a>.


feed_id: d5c39137bb84d6da89d9096516ad13f0
title: Places with no toilets for handicapped people
uri: Places-with-no-toilets-for-handicapped-people
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#20_January_2017_%28Places_with_no_toilets_for_handicapped_people%29

content:
<p>
Handicapped people face 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/05/train-toilets-disabled-people-anne-wafula-strike">big
problems</a> in any place where there is no toilet for them, and it's
not unusual to find them.


feed_id: 5ab05ed76f5ad2f4b266c5adfd72fa58
title: Apple's censorship system
uri: Apple-s-censorship-system
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#20_January_2017_%28Apples_censorship_system%29
content:
<p>
Apple used its censorship system to enforce China's censorship by
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/05/apple-removes-new-york-times-app-in-china">blocking
distribution of the New York Times app</a>.
<p>
More about 
<a href="http://gnu.org/proprietary/malware-apple.html ">Apple's
censorship</a> of apps and other malicious functionalities in Apple
software.


feed_id: 5875ef8ebbaf6e2af5f7bbfa7c4a6be7
title: Saving UK farming
uri: Saving-UK-farming
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#20_January_2017_%28Saving_UK_farming%29
content:
<p>
Scrapping EU Rules Won't Save UK Farming.  
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/05/scrapping-eu-rules-uk-farming-small-farmers-andrea-leadsom">Supporting
Small Farmers Will</a>.


feed_id: 60637377e3349d78944bac3fd5086590
title: River ecology
uri: River-ecology
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#20_January_2017_%28River_ecology%29
content:
<p>
Scientists have learned how river valleys and floodplains participate
in the ecology of a river, and how 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jan/05/yellowstone-fish-deaths-point-to-huge-toll-of-human-activity-on-rivers">dams
and nearby human activities can damage it</a>.


feed_id: 68fc2d0df2f9856c1f058632ae3ab0ee
title: Inheritance tax
uri: 2017-01-21-Inheritance-tax
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#20_January_2017_%28Inheritance_tax%29
content:
<p>
The UK
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/05/inheritance-tax-inequality-wealth-theresa-may-social-mobility">needs
more inheritance tax</a>.  So does the US.
<p>
If the wealthy tend to have more successful children, or even smarter
children, there are so many obvious social causes that there's no
point getting distracted by possible genetic contributions.  When they
go to school, they go to a better school, with other good students,
and they make good connections.  They have a calm place to study, and
enough food to eat.  Even before they start school, they are probably
taught a better approach towards learning and success.
<p>
These are things that we can give to children in poor families.  All
we need to do is tax the rich to a fair extent (much more than now).


feed_id: 790ec19c693a749eb2a6c4100edb8451
title: Thugs in schools
uri: 2017-01-21-Thugs-in-schools
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#20_January_2017_%28Thugs_in_schools%29
content:
<p>
Teenager Slammed to Ground Raises Fresh Concerns About 
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/01/04/teenager-slammed-ground-raises-fresh-concerns-about-police-schools">[thugs]
in Schools</a>.
<p>
At the time she was attacked, 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/04/high-school-girl-body-slammed-police-officer-north-carolina">that
teenager was trying to break up a fight</a> between others.
<p>
Unless your school is very violent, you will be safer if they get the
School Havoc Officer out of it.


feed_id: 7467127ba700aae541bd3cbe46366fac
title: Leonard Peltier
uri: Leonard-Peltier
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#20_January_2017_%28Leonard_Peltier%29
content:
<p>
One of the principle prosecutors of Leonard Peltier has 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/04/free-leonard-peltier-obama-open-letter-james-reynolds">called
on Obama to give him clemency</a>.


feed_id: c257cfaf72abb654a9aa48a64a907210
title: Extreme weather in Australia
uri: Extreme-weather-in-Australia
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#20_January_2017_%28Extreme_weather_in_Australia%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/jan/05/record-breaking-extreme-weather-in-australia-in-2016-devastates-ecosystems">Record-breaking
extreme weather</a> in Australia caused fires in areas which don't
normally have them.


feed_id: 9c9b3a87c921fa9527753b0fde6901cb
title: "Suspicious" IP address
uri: Suspicious-IP-address
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#20_January_2017_%28Suspicious_IP_address%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/01/04/the-u-s-government-thinks-thousands-of-russian-hackers-are-reading-my-blog-they-arent/">40%
of the "suspicions" IP addresses</a> that US agencies attribute to
Russian crackers are simply Tor exit nodes.
<p>
Either US intelligence agencies are trying to snow us with meaningless
factoids, or they don't have enough intelligence to recognize them as
meaningless.


feed_id: 01c78ac70e0f0a32ace0f3db12ab2eeb
title: The fuel for terrorism in Turkey
uri: The-fuel-for-terrorism-in-Turkey
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#20_January_2017_%28The_fuel_for_terrorism_in_Turkey%29

content:
<p>
The jihadi terrorism in Turkey is 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/04/istanbul-attack-terror-turkey-erdogan-syria-jihadi">fueled</a>
partly by Erdo&gbreve;an's support for Turkish Islamists, and partly
by foolish purges of officials responsible for security.
<p>
When the PKK attacks the forces of the state, that's not terrorism;
that's rebellion.  There are some civilian casualties, but the PKK
does not target them.  They are what the US calls "collateral damage".
<p>
There is no way to fight and completely avoid civilian casualties.
What the Geneva Conventions require, for the US or for the PKK or any
other combatant, is to make sufficient efforts to avoid and minimize
them.
<p>
I can't judge whether the PKK makes a sufficient effort, but it is
pretty clear that 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2015-sep-dec.html#08_September_2015_(Turkey%2FPKK_escalation)">the
Turkish state isn't trying to</a>.
<p>
It's a shame Erdo&gbreve;an 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-jul-oct.html#8_October_2016_(Repression_of_Kurds_in_Turkey)">terminated</a>
the many years of cease fire with the PKK.


feed_id: 9669050c39e5969867d12b5efa8d0869
title: Urgent: Trump's financial arrangements
uri: Urgent-Trump-s-financial-arrangements
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#20_January_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Trumps_financial_arrangements%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: call your senators at 1-866-985-2543, and ask them to
support a review of Trump's financial arrangements AND to support
Sen. Warren's bill requiring the president to divest and disclose all
business affairs in order to avoid serious and unconstitutional
conflicts of interest.


feed_id: 0dfc5ee00c1ae1d6c0e12cd87bcc99ba
title: UK investment in renewable energy
uri: UK-investment-in-renewable-energy
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#20_January_2017_%28UK_investment_in_renewable_energy%29

content:
<p>
The Tories have 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jan/04/renewables-investment-uk-fall-95-percent-three-years-study-subsidy-cuts-emissions-targets">almost
completely eliminated UK investment in renewable energy</a>.  Their
policy has been to 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2015-sep-dec.html#25_October_2015_(Future_demand_for_fossil_fuels)">eliminate</a>
it
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-jan-apr.html#25_March_2016_(Cuts_in_UK_funds_for_energy_efficiency)">step
by step</a>, and they are now
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-may-aug.html#11_May_2016_(Tories_quashed_renewable_energy_investment)">reaching
the end</a> of the process.
<p>
The Tories are lower than vermin — 
<a href="media/62a79bb0.anuran-bevan.jpg" data-original-source="https://stallman.org/images/anuran-bevan.jpg">Aneurin
Bevan</a>.


feed_id: a0d47bc49b26a78587068a2cd6d01ed4
title: Soldier convicted of killing suspect
uri: Soldier-convicted-of-killing-suspect
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#20_January_2017_%28Soldier_convicted_of_killing_suspect%29

content:
<p>
An Israeli soldier has been 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/04/israeli-soldier-guilty-manslaughter-shooting-palestinian-elor-azaria-abdel-fattah-al-sharif">convicted
of killing a wounded, disabled Palestinian suspect</a>.
<p>
I'm glad the Israeli legal system can at least occasionally give
Palestinians justice, but it only rarely tries.
<p>
Right-wing extremists 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/04/elor-azaria-israeli-soldier-exposed-faultlines">lionized
that soldier</a>, taking a racist position in favor of killing
Palestinians.


feed_id: 8ea28c3e8218657f3807f0ead5eebaba
title: Troll's net assets
uri: Troll-s-net-assets
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#20_January_2017_%28Trolls_net_assets%29
content:
<p>
The troll is 
<a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2017/1/2/1616547/--Billionaire-Trump-Can-t-Pay-His-Transition-Team-s-Salaries">begging
for funds to pay his transition team</a>.
<p>
This lends support to the conjecture that 
<a href="https://www.stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#12_January_2017_(Trump%27s_debts)">his
net assets are far less than zero</a>.


feed_id: 8a9432f2cd44f2126c4f50111818b98f
title: Urgent: Oppose building registry of Muslims
uri: Urgent-Oppose-building-registry-of-Muslims
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#20_January_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Oppose_building_registry_of_Muslims%29

content:
<p>
Everyone: 
<a href="https://act.credoaction.com/sign/no_muslim_registry">call on
tech companies</a> to refuse to help the loser build a registry of
Muslims.


feed_id: 1ebff3afc337e08a1d81dcd3fb54b4d1
title: The law that punishes "insulting Islam"
uri: The-law-that-punishes-insulting-Islam
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#20_January_2017_%28The_law_that_punishes_insulting_Islam%29

content:
<p>
Pakistani religious fanatics are 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/03/pakistani-activist-shaan-taseer-fears-killed-like-father-blasphemy">out
to murder Shaan Taseer for criticizing the law</a> that punishes
"insulting Islam" with execution.
<p>
That law would be a great evil if it were enforced carefully, but it's
even worse because they are sloppy about it.  It provides an
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-may-aug.html#29_May_2016_(Curfews)">all-purpose
excuse</a> to execute people based on unverifiable accusations.


feed_id: 99b0866fcecc3b9fa523d472e4eabea5
title: Mnuchin's bank
uri: Mnuchin-s-bank
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#20_January_2017_%28Mnuchins_bank%29
content:
<p>
Mnuchin's bank repeatedly 
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/01/03/treasury-nominee-steve-mnuchins-bank-accused-of-widespread-misconduct-in-leaked-memo/">broke
Californiaâs foreclosure laws</a>.


feed_id: 3f37da108f67754750a0f494fc58edb5
title: Reproductive health care under threat
uri: Reproductive-health-care-under-threat
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#20_January_2017_%28Reproductive_health_care_under_threat%29

content:
<p>
<a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#scrotus">SCROTUS</a>
threaten
<a href="http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/38964-all-aspects-of-reproductive-health-are-under-threat">all aspects of reproductive health care</a>, and don't mind if mothers
and babies die for the principle that the state shouldn't do any good
for individuals that aren't rich.


feed_id: 27bcb868e5f9a1dc95aa9da1273b42b6
title: Office of Congressional Ethics
uri: Office-of-Congressional-Ethics
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#20_January_2017_%28Office_of_Congressional_Ethics%29

content:
<p>
<a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#scrotus">SCROTUS</a> made
a
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/03/house-republicans-drop-ethics-watchdog-trump">plan
to very quickly inactivate the Office of Congressional Ethics</a>, but
was dissuaded by public disgust from various people including the
loser.
<p>
It is ironic that the troll helped pressure them to do it, given how
corrupt and corrupting he is in other ways.
<p>
Some of the Republicans expressed a preference to do the same plan
but at a later date when it would not be noticed as much.


feed_id: cbf15ffd6f04944a43e3d531fe91d88f
title: Drought in Mexico
uri: Drought-in-Mexico
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#20_January_2017_%28Drought_in_Mexico%29
content:
<p>
Drought, probably caused by global heating, is 
<a href="http://grist.org/article/mexicos-climate-migrants-are-already-coming-to-the-united-states/">making
Mexican peasants flee their land</a>; some flee to the US.
<p>
Don't blame them, trumpets.  They didn't cause the drought; the US
did.


feed_id: 6e5d0b447c5a52314e68f8cd19915561
title: Urgent: reject Pudzer
uri: Urgent-reject-Pudzer
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#20_January_2017_%28Urgent%3A_reject_Pudzer%29
content:
<p>
US citizens:  Call on the Senate to
<a href="https://act.credoaction.com/sign/puzder">reject Pudzer</a> as Secretary of
Labor.


feed_id: 17420feb49f300f186feb07da0ae3257
title: Urgent: Pompeo
uri: Urgent-Pompeo
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#20_January_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Pompeo%29
content:
<p>
US citizens:
<a href="http://act.amnestyusa.org/ea-action/action?ea.client.id=1839&ea.campaign.id=61160&ac=W1701EAGR1&ea.url.id=823351">phone your senators to grill Pompeo</a>, nominated to run the
CIA,
about respecting human rights.
<p>
This includes surveillance of you and me, and torture.


feed_id: 024d9ef2da491ce62c8c8255b8b6429c
title: Betsy DeVos
uri: Betsy-DeVos
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#20_January_2017_%28Betsy_DeVos%29
content:
<p>
US citizens:
<a href="https://act.credoaction.com/sign/block_devos?t=1003&akid=21138.1183552.kfvXCP">call on Senate Democrats</a> to fight hard against Betsy
DeVos.


feed_id: 083f9eec8ceb251a67c3eaed00ebd538
title: Right-wing budget cuts
uri: Right-wing-budget-cuts
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#20_January_2017_%28Right-wing_budget_cuts%29
content:
<p>
Right-wing budget cuts have
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/jan/08/an-absolute-warzone-nhs-doctors-describe-their-week-in-ae">strained the UK's medical system to the
breaking point</a>.  Patients can't get urgent treatment, There are not
enough beds available for patients.  It takes a long time for an
ambulance to arrive when needed.
<p>
Doctors feel that their relatives are not safe in a hospital, and are
thinking of quitting.


feed_id: 101ab73b6651a8dc0408cf8d3b23b844
title: Insufficiently subservient
uri: Insufficiently-subservient
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#20_January_2017_%28Insufficiently_subservient%29
content:
<p>
An
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jan/08/labour-calls-for-inquiry-into-israeli-diplomats-take-down-mps-plot">Israeli embassy official in the UK was caught scheming</a> to "take
down" certain members of the UK parliament that are insufficiently
subservient to Israel.
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jan/07/israeli-diplomat-shai-masot-caught-on-camera-plotting-to-take-down-uk-mps">Here's more detail.</a>


feed_id: 539e3fd8f43f1d17528d004a6ae64ef5
title: Rushing to confirm
uri: Rushing-to-confirm
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#20_January_2017_%28Rushing_to_confirm%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#scrotus">SCROTUS</a> are
rushing to confirm the troll's proposed cabinet officials
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/08/trump-cabinet-nominees-ethics-review-conflict-of-interest">without waiting for the ethics review</a>.


feed_id: 7c7d4cfcd845d7d7edb3b7ee2acc2b9a
title: Use of NGOs as front groups
uri: Use-of-NGOs-as-front-groups
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#20_January_2017_%28Use_of_NGOs_as_front_groups%29
content:
<p>
Businesses create or take over NGOs to use as front groups, 
<a href="http://www.futurity.org/corporations-ngos-lawmakers-1326902-2/">even
in the UN</a>.
<p>
For instance, CORE, the Congress On Racial Equality, which was a real
and important civil rights group in the 1960s, has been 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2008-may-aug.html#25%20July%202008%20(Corrupted%20by%20the%20coal%20industry)">turned</a>
into a
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2008-nov-feb.html#14%20January%202009%20(Oil%20company%20lobbying)">puppet</a>.
<p>
Even groups that are not puppets can be co-opted on a side issue by
businesses that in exchange offer some support for the cause.
This happened to the 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2011-mar-jun.html#17_June_2011_%28NAACP_GLAAD_Support_AT&T_Merger%29">NAACP</a>.


feed_id: eef1467ca5b0a409ca3b5538ed7eb63b
title: Multi-year ice
uri: 2017-01-21-Multi-year-ice
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#19_January_2017_%28Multi-year_ice%29
content:
<p>
Thick multi-year ice is
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jan/08/arctic-multi-year-sea-ice-break-up-graveyard">rapidly diminishing in the Arctic</a>, leaving an
ice cap made only of thin one-year ice.


feed_id: 4e89a728dbf39554fc1798f7717ae7fa
title: Nostalgic for 1950s
uri: Nostalgic-for-1950s
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#19_January_2017_%28Nostaglic_for_1950s%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/social-issues/how-nostalgia-for-white-christian-america-drove-so-many-americans-to-vote-for-trump/2017/01/04/4ef6d686-b033-11e6-be1c-8cec35b1ad25_story.html">Many Americans that voted for the troll are nostalgic for 1950s</a>
America, with its good jobs to support a family on, with women and
minorities in their place, with gays invisible, and transsexuals not
yet invented.


feed_id: 872111ab1974f658725be98533565a0f
title: Distract and impede
uri: 2017-01-21-Distract-and-impede
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#18_January_2017_%28Distract_and_impede%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#scrotus">SCROTUS</a> have
a
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/01/05/gops-brilliant-plan-distract-critical-confirmation-hearings">plan to distract and impede press coverage of the vital
confirmation hearings</a> for the troll's saboteur candidates.


feed_id: dfe0b0fe9e8c341e6d56638c3aca462d
title: Protect their disinformation
uri: 2017-01-21-Protect-their-disinformation
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#18_January_2017_%28Protect_their_disinformation%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#scrotus">SCROTUS</a>
protect their disinformation from comparison with: their new rules
package tells the Congressional Budget Office
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/01/06/gop-doesnt-want-public-know-how-much-obamacare-repeal-will-cost-study-shows-it-could">not to report on
the likely costs</a> of repealing or changing Obama's medical insurance
program.
<p>
One estimate is that it would cost the economy almost a trillion
dollars a year, and eliminate 3 million jobs.  And that's not to
mention
the suffering of people who can't get medical care.


feed_id: f79619d10f55bcacbaec4025c9d61997
title: ISP privacy rules
uri: 2017-01-21-ISP-privacy-rules
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#17_January_2017_%28ISP_privacy_rules%29
content:
<p>
The FCC's weak ISP privacy rules are
<a href="https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20170104/10021436408/ad-industry-wants-new-fcc-broadband-privacy-rules-gutted-because-uh-free-speech.shtml">too much for the trumpets</a>.
They plan to eliminate them.
<p>
ISPs should respect customers' privacy by not taking any note
of their traffic, except pursuant to a specific court order.


feed_id: 1fc266d799581b292159690682d147de
title: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
uri: 2017-01-21-Consumer-Financial-Protection-Bureau
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#17_January_2017_%28Consumer_Financial_Protection_Bureau%29

content:
<p>
<a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#scrotus">SCROTUS</a> want
to eliminate or neutralize the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau,
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2017/01/05/consumer-bureau-under-attack">because it does a good job of protecting people</a>
from banks that would cheat them.


feed_id: 671f09749a66a473ae76fab37b70e01e
title: Congressional investigations
uri: 2017-01-21-Congressional-investigations
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#17_January_2017_%28Congressional_investigations%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://stallman.org/glossary.html#scrotus">SCROTUS</a> have
<a href="http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/1/4/1617016/-Big-Brother-alert-GOP-grants-Hill-staffers-authority-to-question-private-citizens-under-oath">expanded their power to harass and intimidate Americans</a>
by giving congressional staff the power to interrogate people under
oath.
<p>
Congressional investigations have a legitimate function, but
Republicans
are not interested in pursuing real abuses.  Their goal is to crush
despised climate defenders and abortion providers, by hook or by
crook.


feed_id: 5ff51d76bf583e070029411c891b8494
title: Air pollution
uri: 2017-01-21-Air-pollution
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#17_January_2017_%28Air_pollution%29
content:
<p>
Roughly
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jul/15/nearly-9500-people-die-each-year-in-london-because-of-air-pollution-study">10,000 people die in London each year from air pollution</a>,
much of it from diesel engines.
<p>
The UK government attacks everyone's freedom, supposedly to reduce the
already tiny danger of terrorism.  But terrorists would find it
exceedingly hard to kill even 1% as many people as the diesels do.
<p>
Britons should demand that the government end to massive surveillance
and focus on the greater danger of cars.  But this lesson is not
limited to Britain.
<p>
How many thousands do diesels kill every year in France?  I don't
know, but it must be thousands.  So why have a "state of emergency"
that tramples human rights supposedly to protect against the secondary
danger of terrorists, instead of against car companies?


feed_id: 101ccf6d3e65c15d5bfdf1348375c426
title: Troll's response to rebuke
uri: Troll-s-response-to-rebuke
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#21_January_2017_%28Trolls_response_to_rebuke%29
content:
<p>
Meryl Streep, accepting an award before a large audience, 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/greenslade/2017/jan/09/good-on-you-meryl-streep-in-your-new-role-as-press-freedom-champion">rebuked
the troll for publicly mocking a disabled reporter</a>.
<p>
The troll responded with an irrelevant personal insult, then proceeded
to try to 
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/01/09/trumps-lie-watching-celebrations-911-lurks-beneath-mockery-reporter/">distort
and deny the visible facts</a>.
<p>
But why was the loser attacking that disabled reporter?  Because the
loser had misrepresented his reporting about Sep 11, 2001, to try to
justify an major campaign lie.  The reported objected to this and
pointed to his real text, so the troll mocked him.
<p>
Streep's speech 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/jan/09/meryl-streep-trump-big-weakness-golden-globes-speech">treated
the troll's offensiveness as a performance</a> and condemned it as one
— which may really rile him.


feed_id: 6c1bec7d010dabef2b71c125cd295962
title: Cash
uri: Cash
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#21_January_2017_%28Cash%29
content:
<p>
If people stop using cash, how can 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/jan/09/rise-cashless-city-contactless-payments-exclusion-cashfree-society">street
performers, musicians, food carts etc.</a> survive?
<p>
Of course, digital payments oppress those who use them, because they
track everything.  I don't use my credit card except with airline
tickets and fees, and car rental.  For the rest, it's cash or nothing,
and if I business doesn't accept cash, I don't buy there.
<p>
You can help defend privacy every day simply by firmly telling
businesses "cash or no sale, and no you may not have my name."


feed_id: 05946cc6fe08ad6330d57425d7d27013
title: Rural Americans
uri: Rural-Americans
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#21_January_2017_%28Rural_Americans%29
content:
<p>
Most city Americans have little understanding of the 
<a href="http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2017/01/who-really-lives-bubble-anyway">lives,
attitudes and behaviors</a> of rural Americans (such as supporters of
the troll).


feed_id: 777a596eeb3331119186f6f40c29ea41
title: Loser's net worth
uri: Loser-s-net-worth
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#21_January_2017_%28Losers_net_worth%29
content:
<p>
If the loser's net worth is positive, he 
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/01/09/politico-mistaken-it-would-be-fun-and-easy-donald-trump-divest">can
divest himself of interest in the running of his businesses without
actually selling them in a hurry</a>.
<p>
This method won't work, however, if the worth 
<a href="https://www.stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#20_January_2017_(Trolls_net_assets)">if
his businesses is negative</a>.


feed_id: 1c6006b015394bf1b85f298aeda31101
title: Two aspects of Republican rule to resist
uri: Two-aspects-of-Republican-rule-to-resist
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#21_January_2017_%28Two_aspects_of_Republican_rule_to_resist%29

content:
<p>
There are two aspects of Republican rule we need to resist: 
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/01/09/two-resistances-trump">policies
that are cruel to the poor and weak, and attacks on democracy
itself</a>.
<p>
In the latter, conservatives might join in.


feed_id: 114ac5d1f458f568403de717afa6121b
title: Ethics reports
uri: Ethics-reports
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#21_January_2017_%28Ethics_reports%29
content:
<p>
Ethics lawyers for Dubya and Obama 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/09/ethics-lawyers-bush-obama-trumps-cabinet-nominations-must-be-delayed">called
for delaying confirmation hearings</a> so the ethics reports could be
delivered.


feed_id: 67b1610867a1a2c9286a398ccad7822e
title: Threat of censorship at University of Wisconsin
uri: Threat-of-censorship-at-University-of-Wisconsin
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#21_January_2017_%28Threat_of_censorship_at_University_of_Wisconsin%29

content:
<p>
Wisconsin Republicans 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/09/university-of-wisconsin-masculinity-program-republicans">threaten
to censor teaching</a> at the University of Wisconsin.


feed_id: be47fa67bec48e6922ffdef5628317a7
title: Protection of polar bears
uri: Protection-of-polar-bears
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#21_January_2017_%28Protection_of_polar_bears%29
content:
<p>
The US lists polar bears as threatened, but the program to protect
them is ineffective, since it 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jan/09/us-plans-to-save-polar-bears-are-toothless-says-climate-scientist">fails
to address the fatal threat</a>.


feed_id: f8679c982e1cd725f713854a803151a2
title: Advertising on hate sites
uri: Advertising-on-hate-sites
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#21_January_2017_%28Advertising_on_hate_sites%29
content:
<p>
Hate sites such as Breitbart 
<a href="http://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/01/07/opinion/sunday/how-to-destroy-the-business-model-of-breitbart-and-fake-news.html">depend
on advertising from companies that don't know where their ads will
appear</a>.  A movement to show companies how their ads appear on
Breitbart has convinced many companies to exclude their ads from that
site.


feed_id: e1bf855914c96fb17e21cb2a5dddc6a7
title: Director of National Intelligence
uri: Director-of-National-Intelligence
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#21_January_2017_%28Director_of_National_Intelligence%29

content:
<p>
The big loser's choice for Director of National Intelligence, Dan
Coats, 
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/01/07/donald-trumps-pick-for-spy-chief-took-hard-line-on-snowden-guantanamo-and-torture/">loves
imprisonment without trial, hates Snowden, and helped to cover up
torture</a>.


feed_id: 8c705ba2e8defe782fcdaf376d890995
title: Richard Cordray
uri: Richard-Cordray
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#21_January_2017_%28Richard_Cordray%29
content:
<p>
A court case will decide 
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/01/08/americans-cant-afford-lose-richard-cordray-or-cfpb">whether
the big loser can remove Richard Cordray</a> as head of the Consumer
Financial Protection Bureau.


feed_id: 2f553f18d4160e76df74a89e214cc5dc
title: Netanyahu caught trying to buy more support
uri: Netanyahu-caught-trying-to-buy-more-support
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#21_January_2017_%28Netanyahu_caught_trying_to_buy_more_support%29

content:
<p>
Netanyahu was recorded 
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2017/01/08/world/middleeast/08reuters-israel-netanyahu.html?_r=0">trying
to buy more support from a major Israeli newspaper</a>.


feed_id: fbd7e4121bef88b8466bed604a2a168f
title: Jailing children for fighting
uri: Jailing-children-for-fighting
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#21_January_2017_%28Jailing_children_for_fighting%29
content:
<p>
In Missouri, children of any age that fight in school 
<a href="http://www.freerangekids.com/a-playground-fight-now-youre-a-felon-kid/">can
now be jailed for years</a>.


feed_id: a7024f97c980373692332cf8116a2263
title: Fighting the troll and the plutocrats
uri: Fighting-the-troll-and-the-plutocrats
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#21_January_2017_%28Fighting_the_troll_and_the_plutocrats%29

content:
<p>
We have to fight the troll and the plutocrats in ways that can 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2017/jan/09/art-strike-donald-trump-cindy-sherman-richard-serra">change
politics</a>, not merely enable us to say we tried.


feed_id: b782ab591f59407dfe4a81d474c94573
title: Persecution of women
uri: Persecution-of-women
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#21_January_2017_%28Persecution_of_women%29
content:
<p>
In many parts of the world, menstruating women are 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2017/jan/09/fighting-menstruation-taboo-nepal-periods">subject
to taboos</a>, and persecuted more or less.


feed_id: 41a9f244c4110c80815ea70a11f7619c
title: Hidden political group within Labour Party
uri: Hidden-political-group-within-Labour-Party
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#21_January_2017_%28Hidden_political_group_within_Labour_Party%29

content:
<p>
The Israeli diplomat who wanted to "take down" UK MPs that criticized
the occupation/siege of Palestine also set up a 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/08/israeli-diplomat-shai-masot-plotted-against-mps-set-up-political-groups-labour">hidden
political group within the Labour Party</a>.


feed_id: 6c11c49c9a781c394a4cd782964e23e3
title: Unions
uri: 2017-01-21-Unions
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#21_January_2017_%28Unions%29
content:
<p>
The Democratic Party stopped really supporting unions decades ago, so
union are weakened and their members have often become Republicans.
Part of political organizing today includes 
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/01/03/unions-trump-era">recovering
the strength of unions</a>.


feed_id: 5aa26f811eb14944a2c79854c36478e7
title: The Real Name Fallacy
uri: The-Real-Name-Fallacy
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#21_January_2017_%28The_Real_Name_Fallacy%29
content:
<p>
Eliminating anonymity is no guarantee of civility.  In practice,
<a href="https://blog.coralproject.net/the-real-name-fallacy/">trolls
and haters often choose to state their real names</a>.


feed_id: c4c02cdb9042724bb0877fe16c25e171
title: Obama's medical insurance program
uri: Obama-s-medical-insurance-program
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#21_January_2017_%28Obamas_medical_insurance_program%29

content:
<p>
SCROTUS 
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/01/07/three-big-reasons-republicans-cant-replace-obamacare">will
find it difficult to "replace" Obama's medical insurance program</a>
with anything different that actually works.
<p>
They don't really want to continue to give Americans access to medical
care.  They just don't want to be blamed for stopping it.  So here
is what I think they will do.
<p>
They will come up with something that appears to work, a disguise that
will hold up for a year or two, and lie to claim that is a solution.
When it becomes obvious that it doesn't work, they will duck the issue
by distraction and use standard tobacco/sugar/petroleum obfuscation
techniques to deny the problem.


feed_id: cfda34dc5698c413104a767f38c6c3d9
title: An authoritarian regime in the US
uri: An-authoritarian-regime-in-the-US
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#21_January_2017_%28An_authoritarian_regime_in_the_US%29

content:
<p>
Arguing that the US is 
<a href="http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/Messerly20170108">descending
into an authoritarian regime</a>.
<p>
The title says "totalitarianism", but that seems to be an incorrect
choice of words.


feed_id: 04167f9c1f95e4af3c5ab58174b07f76
title: Urgent: Oppose fracking near Chaco Canyon
uri: 2017-01-21-Urgent-Oppose-fracking-near-Chaco-Canyon
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#21_January_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Oppose_fracking_near_Chaco_Canyon%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: 
<a href="https://secure.nrdconline.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=4131">oppose</a>
fracking near Chaco Canyon.


feed_id: ae566ed963e9541e63275ede4a7cbab6
title: Haitian warlord arrested for US drug charges
uri: Haitian-warlord-arrested-for-US-drug-charges
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#21_January_2017_%28Haitian_warlord_arrested_for_US_drug_charges%29

content:
<p>
Haitian warlord Guy Philippe has been 
<a href="http://www.ezilidanto.com/2017/01/guy-philippe-arrested/">arrested</a>
for US drug charges.
<p>
Philippe fronted the 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2004-jan-apr.html#15%20March%202004%20(Destabilizing%20Haiti)">US-backed</a>
coup that
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-jan-apr.html#16_February_2016_(Haitis_rotten_political_system)">overthrew
elected President Aristide</a>.


feed_id: 53096be0153de01881660ad452d6f0d6
title: The REINS act
uri: The-REINS-act
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#21_January_2017_%28The_REINS_act%29
content:
<p>
With the REINS act, SCROTUS would 
<a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2017/01/06/1617638/-House-Republicans-move-to-strip-regulatory-power-from-the-executive-branch">make
all new federal regulations require specific approval from
Congress</a>.


feed_id: 27a18a9e9dfbe0c8a8b97de5b8a20aff
title: Putin's interference on troll's behalf
uri: Putin-s-interference-on-troll-s-behalf
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#21_January_2017_%28Putins_interference_on_trolls_behalf%29

content:
<p>
The troll 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/08/donald-trump-not-denying-russia-hacking-report-reince-priebus">"accepts"
the claim</a> that Putin interfered in the election on his behalf,
based on non-published evidence.
<p>
Based on this, I think I should accept it too.  He would not have
taken this stand if he thought he could deny it.
<p>
Craig Murray said that he received the first (DNC) leak material
from an intermediary who said it was an 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#5_January_2017_(The_Democratic_Party_email_leak)">insider
leak</a>.
<p>
I have confidence in what he says.
<p>
Perhaps Russians were involved in the phishing attack on John Podesta.


feed_id: d0246911e8d8da6c9b5cb2622d2a4df2
title: Attacks on progressive organizations
uri: Attacks-on-progressive-organizations
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#21_January_2017_%28Attacks_on_progressive_organizations%29

content:
<p>
Vicious right-wingers are attacking progressive organizations and artists'
centers by getting them 
<a href="https://thump.vice.com/en_us/article/4chan-trolls-diy-spaces-oakland-fire">raided
and shut down</a>.
<p>
Right-wing organizations, often 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2010-jul-oct.html#1%20September%202010%20(Big%20money%20finances%20far%20right%20politics%20in%20America)">secretly
funded by rich people</a>, can afford to rent space that has no flaws.


feed_id: 26bffed11796f9857c46b91a611942dd
title: US economy worse than in 2008
uri: US-economy-worse-than-in-2008
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#21_January_2017_%28US_economy_worse_than_in_2008%29
content:
<p>
The US economy is worse for workers now than in 2008, 
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/01/06/american-capitalism-already-abysmal-trump-about-make-it-lot-worse">for
the bottom 50% of earners</a>.  They get no more pay, and more of them
are in precarious work.
<p>
Meanwhile, in many cities their rents have gone up, and millions had
their houses 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#7_December_2016_(Foreclosures)">taken
fraudulently by banksters</a>.


feed_id: 23fb1ab2a9b74bbe175a512581eea06c
title: Facebook snoops via disqus comments
uri: Facebook-snoops-via-disqus-comments
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#21_January_2017_%28Facebook_snoops_via_disqus_comments%29

content:
<p>
Facebook snoops on surfers via disqus comments: when a page uses
disqus for comments, the proprietary disqus software 
<a href="https://blog.dantup.com/2017/01/visiting-a-site-that-uses-disqus-comments-when-not-logged-in-sends-the-url-to-facebook/">loads
a Facebook software package into the browser of every anonymous
visitor to the page</a>, and makes the page's URL available to
Facebook.


feed_id: b3a8deb263e92981ee575805db686f62
title: The plutocratic system
uri: The-plutocratic-system
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#21_January_2017_%28The_plutocratic_system%29
content:
<p>
How the plutocratic system 
<a href="http://www.truth-out.org/buzzflash/commentary/why-so-many-americans-defend-the-failed-capitalist-experiment">manipulates
Americans to support it even as it squashes them</a>.
<p>
I think it is a mistake to equate "capitalism" with the plutocratic
type of capitalism that we have now.  There are various kinds of
capitalism, and the one we had in 1970 worked tolerably well in the
US.  It coexisted with the public sphere and didn't propagandize that
wealth was the measure of everything.
<p>
Public schools are the 
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/01/05/why-schools-should-not-be-run-businesses">largest
remaining sector that hasn't been turned into a business</a>.  Thus,
the sect of the invisible hand wants to privatize it.
<p>
Americans' support for plutocracy is not complete, as many have come
to see a 
<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-a-love/american-capitalism-christianity_b_857425.html">conflict
between the plutocratic system and Christianity</a>.


feed_id: d373e3c6393867c02a347b324973f60d
title: Mnuchin's bank
uri: 2017-01-21-Mnuchin-s-bank
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#20_January_2017_%28Mnuchins_bank%29
content:
<p>
Mnuchin's bank repeatedly 
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/01/03/treasury-nominee-steve-mnuchins-bank-accused-of-widespread-misconduct-in-leaked-memo/">broke
California's foreclosure laws</a>.


feed_id: 29acf4e181df4516421caddbc7e9caec
title: Very urgent: phone the White House on Monday
uri: Very-urgent-phone-the-White-House-on-Monday
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#21_January_2017_%28Urgent%3A_phone_the_White_House_on_Monday%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: On Jan 23, phone the White House at 202-456-1111 and call
on the loser to keep his promise to protect Social Security,
Medicare and Medicaid.


feed_id: 1556ea51333b8343da9cca7771eb7e5b
title: Very urgent: phone the White House on Monday
uri: 2017-01-21-Very-urgent-phone-the-White-House-on-Monday
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#21_January_2017_%28Urgent%3A_phone_the_White_House_on_Monday%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: On Jan 23, phone the White House at 202-456-1111 and call
on the loser to keep his promise to protect Social Security,
Medicare and Medicaid.


feed_id: eca01cb73cc1c861076704c6ca0359a6
title: SCROTUS displays blatant support for corruption
uri: SCROTUS-displays-blatant-support-for-corruption
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#21_January_2017_%28SCROTUS_displays_blatant_support_for_corruption%29

content:
<p>
SCROTUS displays <a href="http://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/01/10/mcconnelltrump-gop-guts-ethics-rules-its-billionaire-cabinet">blatant support for corruption</a> in multiple ways.
<p>
A change in House rules allows congresscritters to <a href="http://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/01/10/gop-further-eviscerate-oversight-changing-little-known-records-rule">conceal some of their papers from ethics investigations</a>.


feed_id: eea6f220ad7cf299260fb8f4d94ebe87
title: The troll has been feeding Putin intelligence
uri: The-troll-has-been-feeding-Putin-intelligence
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#21_January_2017_%28The_troll_has_been_feeding_Putin_intelligence%29

content:
<p>
Leaked memos say that the troll has been <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2017/01/10/leaked-memos-allege-trumps-lawyer-helped-orchestrate-russian-hacking/?ncid=rss">feeding Putin intelligence for 8 years</a>, partly because he is being blackmailed, and that his lawyer helped arrange the cracking of Democratic Party sites. 
<p>
That lawyer says the memos are phony.
<p>
I have insufficient basis to reach a conclusion, but the idea of
blackmailing the troll by threatening to show that he had sex with
prostitutes in a bed Obama had slept in seems implausible to me. I'd
expect the troll to crow about that as if it were some sort of victory
for him.
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/11/trump-russia-dossier-explainer-details">More analysis of the credibility</a> of this report.


feed_id: 83a6947914130181183999228877ad3c
title: Changes in society discourage physical meetings
uri: Changes-in-society-discourage-physical-meetings
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#21_January_2017_%28Changes_in_society_discourage_physical_meetings%29

content:
<p>
Changes in society, especially in the nature of work, <a  href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/nov/23/unions-clubs-churches-joining-something-might-be-the-best-act-of-resistance">discourage
people from joining organizations which meet physically and can take
political action</a>. That's super-convenient for the rich.


feed_id: 54d1080f5ff7fabbd7467887d9b66568
title: Luddites destroyed high-efficiency weaving machines
uri: Luddites-destroyed-high-efficiency-weaving-machines
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#21_January_2017_%28Luddites_destroyed_high-efficiency_weaving_machines%29

content:
<p>
The Luddites destroyed high-efficiency weaving machines because the
<a href="http://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/when-robots-take-jobs-remember-luddites-180961423/">factory owners used them to cut wages and starve the poor</a>.
<p>
The same thing is happening today. Worker productivity in the US has
soared since 1980, but the rich take all the benefit.
<p>
I've read that some McDonalds outlets in NYC have replaced service
personnel with keyboards. If you see one, take your business to a
place that employs humans rather than robots.
<p>
The only way to avoid the violent fight against robots is to win by
nonviolent resistance now.


feed_id: 7e6fc02832bdedf1e1a54aad4d18cffb
title: Rex Tillerson Is Big Oil Personified
uri: Rex-Tillerson-Is-Big-Oil-Personified
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#21_January_2017_%28Rex_Tillerson_Is_Big_Oil_Personified%29

content:
<p>
Rex Tillerson is big oil personified. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/11/rex-tillerson-big-oil-trump-cabinet">The damage he can do is immense</a>.


feed_id: 7f8add4c6605b7217419eb7a42c1b328
title: The infant wants to put more people in Guantanamo
uri: The-infant-wants-to-put-more-people-in-Guantanamo
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#21_January_2017_%28The_infant_wants_to_put_more_people_in_Guantanamo%29

content:
<p>
The infant <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/11/donald-trump-guantanamo">wants to put more people in Guantanamo</a> and torture them.
<p>
Why? Perhaps the same reason other infants tear the wings off butterflies.


feed_id: 7bba082eca22c591610ca68f9df7af56
title: Government harasses Backpage.com
uri: Government-harasses-Backpage-com
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#21_January_2017_%28Government_harasses_Backpage.com%29

content:
<p>
In a setback for freedom of the press, <a href="http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2017/01/10/backpagecom-succumbing-government-blow-free-speech-online">persistent government
harassment has pressured Backpage.com</a> to shut down its adult
advertisement page.
<p>
<a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-court-backpage-idUSKBN14T1OR">Kamala Harris failed in one prosecution</a>, so she <a href="http://reason.com/blog/2017/01/10/backpage-shutters-adult-ad-section">constructed another excuse</a>, and the company couldn't continue to resist.


feed_id: b470d17113283c9ca224284c3975730d
title: We have just one year to avert 1.5C of global heating
uri: We-have-just-one-year-to-avert-1-5C-of-global-heating
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#21_January_2017_%28We_have_just_one_year_to_avert_1.5C_of_global_heating%29

content:
<p>
Under the most pessimistic scenario, <a href="http://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/01/10/ticking-carbon-clock-warns-we-have-one-year-avert-climate-catastrophe">we have just one year to take stong action</a> to avert an eventual 1.5C of global heating.
<p>
A more optimistic scenario says we have 4 years, which means the
troll can assure the collapse of civilization (some while after his
lifetime) either way.


feed_id: 2f70c73e0f72d7a8622d204b7af2613a
title: Poor countries don't adopt measures to reduce smoking
uri: Poor-countries-don-t-adopt-measures-to-reduce-smoking
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#21_January_2017_%28Poor_countries_don%27t_adopt_measures_to_reduce_smoking%29

content:
<p>
Poor countries don't adopt measures to reduce smoking, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/jan/10/poorer-countries-fail-smoking-big-tobacco-threats-says-who">because tobacco
companies pressure and mislead them</a>.


feed_id: cf16462241bbaa52bc140041f77b1844
title: Racists Anonymous helps reduce racism
uri: Racists-Anonymous-helps-reduce-racism
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#21_January_2017_%28Racists_Anonymous_helps_reduce_racism%29

content:
<p>
In Racists Anonymous, people work on trying <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/09/racists-anonymous-church-national-discussion-race">reduce their own personal racism</a>.


feed_id: ea9e2449797bfa43257a191be5d5da4e
title: Landlords lower rent in exchange for sex
uri: Landlords-lower-rent-in-exchange-for-sex
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#21_January_2017_%28Landlords_lower_rent_in_exchange_for_sex%29

content:
<p>
It is common for landlords to offer women a lower rent in exchange for
sex. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/11/sex-for-rent-female-tenants-predatory-landlords">Some of them try to go beyond just offering</a>.
<p>
I don't think it is wrong to offer a room in exchange for sex, if it
is offered honestly. The problem is when rents get so high and
unaffordable that many people have no real option to decline such
offers.


feed_id: 41095afa39ba7f752c70b9db1f403838
title: The Troll chooses Monica Crowley for White House PR
uri: The-Troll-chooses-Monica-Crowley-for-White-House-PR
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#21_January_2017_%28The_Troll_chooses_Monica_Crowley_for_White_House_PR%29

content:
<p>
The troll has chosen Monica Crowley for a White House PR job just as
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/jan/11/monica-crowley-accused-of-plagiarism-as-she-joins-trump-team">her 2012 book has been withdrawn for plagiarism</a>.
<p>
What's more, it criticized Obama for things that happened under the
Bush regime.


feed_id: 455f3d7a7e45e9d45cf49fd83e4a5531
title: Facebook plans "stronger ties" with news venues
uri: Facebook-plans-stronger-ties-with-news-venues
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#21_January_2017_%28Facebook_plans_stronger_ties_with_news_venues%29

content:
<p>
Facebook plans "stronger ties" with the news venues that it is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jan/11/facebook-journalism-project-news-industry">slowly
strangling</a>. In particular, Facebook may be "more open" with its
useds' data.


feed_id: b98a86793dff29273ea1fef4eecfda0b
title: UK replacing foreign aid with "investment"
uri: UK-replacing-foreign-aid-with-investment
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#21_January_2017_%28UK_replacing_foreign_aid_with_investment%29

content:
<p>
The UK is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/jan/11/uk-step-closer-dramatic-rise-aid-funding-to-private-sector-cdc-group-dfid">replacing foreign aid with "investment"</a>.
<p>
This means that they can't just give food to hungry people; they have
to make it profitable for someone. Businesses will skim money off
this, and those businesses push for the change. Suck-up-to-the-rich
politicians approve it.


feed_id: b59c6be1bb2afa52ecdc213e46f29a0c
title: Advances in production efficiency
uri: Advances-in-production-efficiency
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#28_January_2017_%28Advances_in_production_efficiency%29

content:
<p>
Advances in production efficiency <a href="http://news.mit.edu/2017/technological-progress-alone-stem-consumption-materials-0119">do not lead to decrease of demand</a> for material resources.
<p>
Eventually, scarcity of the resources will raise the price for them, and that may lead to use of less resources. The problem is that if pollution and other harmful side effects are not charged to whoever extracts the resources, they will "cure" the scarcity by extracting more and more.
<p>
This is where we need a democratic state to impose taxes high enough to discourage use of the resources.


feed_id: a81b9c97f40f8f218a344869c0a79a92
title: Woman's attacker not charged
uri: Woman-s-attacker-not-charged
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#28_January_2017_%28Woman%27s_attacker_not_charged%29

content:
<p>
UK prosecutors are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/jan/27/cps-accused-of-failing-domestic-violence-victims-after-woman-loses-eye-in-attack">reluctant to prosecute domestic violence</a>. Even after a man blinded Akorede Odutayo in one eye, they didn't charge him.


feed_id: 28e5f6be2b588a903d4c34c855dde666
title: Measuring society's well-being
uri: Measuring-society-s-well-being
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#28_January_2017_%28Measuring_society%27s_well-being%29

content:
<p>
Several parameters that <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/27/how-society-doing-gdp-alternatives-grain-prices-inequality">measure society's well-being</a>.


feed_id: 2e4ac9ef266ff251e3b1b354f298ee2a
title: US out of UN
uri: US-out-of-UN
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#28_January_2017_%28US_out_of_UN%29
content:
<p>
Rumors say the troll <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/27/donald-trump-existential-threat-united-nations">might pull the US out of the UN</a>.
<p>
The UN might actually become more capable of useful action without the US dragging it in the wrong direction. But it will have less influence and funds.


feed_id: 4d05dbeade8934ba2f07503d7d195c42
title: Bannon: abolish journalism
uri: Bannon-abolish-journalism
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#28_January_2017_%28Bannon%3A_abolish_journalism%29
content:
<p>
When Bannon told the press to "keep its mouth shut", he revealed the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/27/steve-bannon-white-house-official-media-keep-mouth-shut-threat">intention to abolish journalism</a>, leaving the media with nothing to do but respew the sewage the troll pumps through the White Hose.


feed_id: 705a65528895d1c7853f1be109242edd
title: UK teaches gender stereotypes
uri: UK-teaches-gender-stereotypes
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#28_January_2017_%28UK_teaches_gender_stereotypes%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/occams-corner/2013/dec/09/gender-stereotypes-schools-children-choices">UK schools teach gender stereotypes</a> such as "girls can't do physics" and "boys can't become writers". Children learn these stereotypes by age 6.


feed_id: ddb3c60e21c89274031028c8e4c4054a
title: Matching the cheater's tax cuts
uri: Matching-the-cheater-s-tax-cuts
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#28_January_2017_%28Matching_the_cheater%27s_tax_cuts%29

content:
<p>
Right-wing governments around the world will try to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/jan/27/australia-doesnt-need-to-chase-donald-trump-on-corporate-tax-cuts">match the cheater's tax cuts</a> for the rich.


feed_id: 2bed6e7a992d8651398a2a2c22b6a31d
title: Sex and relationship education vital
uri: Sex-and-relationship-education-vital
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#28_January_2017_%28Sex_and_relationship_education_vital%29

content:
<p>
It is vital to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/27/sex-education-children-safety-lessons">give all children serious sex and relationship education</a>.
<p>
The risk of getting sexually involved over the internet is one of the smaller of the problems these classes can prevent. Children and teenagers don't generally meet up with adults over the net unless their families have already caused them some damage. It's good to help those children, but it would be better to help them avoid that damage.
<p>
The biggest dangers these classes can help avoid are that of catching pregnancy or disease through consensual sex, and that of getting stuck in a violent relationship.


feed_id: 949a6e579ff0effb1f037b955e83b8f2
title: Promising US unions to create jobs
uri: Promising-US-unions-to-create-jobs
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#28_January_2017_%28Promising_US_unions_to_create_jobs%29

content:
<p>
The troll is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/27/jobs-for-all-tested-to-destruction-trump-full-employment">promising US unions to create lots of jobs</a>.
<p>
He might actually be sincere about this, but it seems unlikely to succeed, especially if AI eliminates a large fraction of today's good jobs.
<p>
Meanwhile, state-level Republicans are doing quite a lot to <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#19_January_2017_(State_legislatures)">undermine unions</a>. If he is serious about cooperating with unions, he had better get make those Republicans stop that.
<p>
Eliminating the <a href="/business-supremacy-treaties.html">business supremacy treaties</a> will be good for workers, simply because making it hard to move production between countries will help workers in each country organize and demand better pay, more rights, and higher minimum wage.


feed_id: 030c004c47592648b6603f48a45c143d
title: Planet roasters to spend 60 billion
uri: Planet-roasters-to-spend-60-billion
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#28_January_2017_%28Planet_roasters_to_spend_60_billion%29

content:
<p>
Australia's planet roasters plan to spend 60 billion building advanced coal plants to reduce emissions, but they could <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jan/27/coal-power-plan-twice-the-cost-of-renewables-route-emissions-reduction">achieve the same reduction with renewable energy</a> for half the cost.
<p>
It's clear that their highest priority goal is to burn as much coal as possible.


feed_id: 920158e054aec7f6a21e5704d49c9b5c
title: Using park photos to "prove" falsehood
uri: Using-park-photos-to-prove-falsehood
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#28_January_2017_%28Using_park_photos_to_prove_falsehood%29

content:
<p>
The troll <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/26/donald-trump-inauguration-crowd-size-national-parks-photos">pressured the National Park Service director</a> for photos that would "prove" the falsehood that he attracted more people to the inauguration than Obama did.
<p>
This suggests that the troll is worse than a liar—he is going crazy.


feed_id: 8197c92f822f8605f63867141a0a8a5f
title: Denver kicks out homeless
uri: Denver-kicks-out-homeless
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#28_January_2017_%28Denver_kicks_out_homeless%29
content:
<p>
Denver kicked out the inhabitants of a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/jan/26/denver-officials-clear-homeless-camp-controversy-winter-elements">large camp of homeless people</a>. Previously, the thugs stole homeless people's blankets.


feed_id: 3e3a16fc462d6092ce073063e92996cd
title: UK NHS to limit hip and knee replacements
uri: UK-NHS-to-limit-hip-and-knee-replacements
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#28_January_2017_%28UK_NHS_to_limit_hip_and_knee_replacements%29

content:
<p>
The UK's <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/jan/26/royal-college-surgeons-slam-plans-hip-knee-replacements-ccgs">NHS plans to limit hip and knee replacements</a> to those patients whose need is greatest—purely to save money.
<p>
The Tories simply cannot give the NHS enough funds because <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jan/27/uks-super-rich-appear-to-get-special-deal-from-hmrc-says-watchdog">catering to rich tax-dodgers</a> is so expensive ;-{.
<p>
British children should go outdoors and play the game <a href="media/62a79bb0.anuran-bevan.jpg" data-original-source="https://stallman.org/images/anuran-bevan.jpg" title="Anuran Bevan cartoon">"Chicken, Catch a Tory"</a>, to learn what you do with a Tory when you catch one.


feed_id: bf656d69211960b295edf8bd6ed09831
title: Tohono Oâodham tribe to block wall
uri: Tohono-Oâ-odham-tribe-to-block-wall
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#28_January_2017_%28Tohono_O%C3%A2%C2%80%C2%99odham_tribe_to_block_wall%29

content:
<p>
The Tohono Oâodham tribe, whose reservation crosses the US-Mexico border, intends to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/26/donald-trump-border-wall-tohono-oodham-arizona-tribe">block construction of the troll's wall</a> on its land.


feed_id: 0a1ac4dc66a8b44962ad0a0b451e7de5
title: Australian company ignored gas leaks
uri: Australian-company-ignored-gas-leaks
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#28_January_2017_%28Australian_company_ignored_gas_leaks%29

content:
<p>
An <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jan/27/origin-energy-ignores-coal-seam-gas-well-leaks-whistleblower-says">Australian company decided to ignore natural gas leaks</a> for years, and pay fines, rather than fix them.
<p>
It's obvious what to do here:<br />
<pre>
 while (policy continues)
 fines *= 2;
</pre>
<p>
The question is, why doesn't the government do this obvious thing? Because it's been corrupted by these companies, I suppose.


feed_id: 953df12d738b4e6a2f5168c47c20c00f
title: Turkish soldier extradition refused
uri: Turkish-soldier-extradition-refused
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#28_January_2017_%28Turkish_soldier_extradition_refused%29

content:
<p>
The Greek Supreme Court refused Erdogan's <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/26/greek-court-turns-down-extradition-request-eight-turkish-officers-ankara-failed-coup">request to extradite eight Turkish soldiers</a> that sought asylum in Greece.
<p>
They were sent to rescue troops that participated in the coup, but they themselves were not part of the coup. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/22/greek-supreme-court-called-on-to-refuse-turkish-soldiers-extradition">For Erdogan, hoever, association implies guilt</a>.


feed_id: 650f4d0016164f1b9e54fc15e3425a9e
title: US Democracy rating downgraded
uri: US-Democracy-rating-downgraded
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#28_January_2017_%28US_Democracy_rating_downgraded%29

content:
<p>
The Economic Intelligence Unit, which rates democracy of countries in general, has downgraded its rating of the US to <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/01/new-report-finds-america-no-longer-full-democracy">"flawed democracy"</a>.
<p>
This is based on recognition of the flaws that existed before the last election, such as the fact that the <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#12_November_2016_(The_election_was_stolen)">people no longer get to decide</a> anything much.


feed_id: 829dcf6d02c6912981bb6974b90a974b
title: Troll proposes 20% tariff
uri: Troll-proposes-20-tariff
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#28_January_2017_%28Troll_proposes_20%2525_tariff%29
content:
<p>
The troll proposes to impose a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/26/trump-calls-for-20-tax-on-mexican-imports-to-pay-for-border-wall">20% tariff on imports from Mexico</a>.
<p>
If Mexico retaliates with a tariff on US grain, Mexican peasants might be able to prosper in Mexico. A side benefit for the US would be a big drop in immigration of Mexicans.
<p>
The US grain that won't be shipped to Mexico is grown by corporations, not by family farms. (The Republicans, under Reagan, destroyed nearly all of those.) So to hell with them.


feed_id: 73674859c1455a2f1c79137a28c394f0
title: Asylum seekers will be imprisoned
uri: Asylum-seekers-will-be-imprisoned
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#28_January_2017_%28Asylum_seekers_will_be_imprisoned%29

content:
<p>
By the troll's executive order, all <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/26/trump-immigration-border-detention-migrants-catch-release">asylum seekers crossing the US southern border</a> will be imprisoned.
<p>
Conditions in America's privatized immigration prisons are already cruel and dangerous, <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-jan-apr.html#09_February_2016_(Children_in_immigration_prison)">especially for children</a>.
<p>
With many more people put in them, they will be overloaded and even more dangerous.


feed_id: 506498500d8f73f09bb4b04a885708fc
title: Troll's executive orders appalling
uri: Troll-s-executive-orders-appalling
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#28_January_2017_%28Troll%27s_executive_orders_appalling%29

content:
<p>
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/01/26/executive-orders-are-normal-trumps-are-only-appalling-because-of-what-they-say/">Executive Orders Are Normal; [the troll's] Are Only Appalling Because of What They Say</a>.
<p>
Some of them don't actually say much in substantive terms.


feed_id: 755852f18052869e5d4da809a29425d3
title: Marc Short: Koch Dark-Money Operative
uri: Marc-Short-Koch-Dark-Money-Operative
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#28_January_2017_%28Marc_Short%3A_Koch_Dark-Money_Operative%29

content:
<p>
<a href="http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/39199-marc-short-koch-dark-money-operative-is-trump-s-liaison-to-congress">Marc Short: Koch Dark-Money Operative Is Trump's Liaison to Congress</a>.


feed_id: fffc340ccfde64a95bf669632f9f120e
title: German journalists face jail
uri: German-journalists-face-jail
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#28_January_2017_%28German_journalists_face_jail%29
content:
<p>
Journalists in Germany face jail for <a href="https://edri.org/germany-fighting-anti-whistleblower-provision/">reporting on leaked information</a>.


feed_id: 33d094fb4ba6b548e1c8ba091d6c57f8
title: SCROTUS to eliminate inheritance tax
uri: SCROTUS-to-eliminate-inheritance-tax
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#28_January_2017_%28SCROTUS_to_eliminate_inheritance_tax%29

content:
<p>
SCROTUS now want to eliminate the inheritance tax, <a href="http://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/01/25/most-trump-voters-didnt-vote-make-richest-richer-gop-congress-about">boosting the growth of inherited capital</a>.
<p>
As Piketty pointed out, <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2014-jul-oct.html#03_August_2014_(Tax_on_wealth)">this tendency is already devastating democracy</a>. Naturally, the plutocrats' lackeys want to make it worse.


feed_id: f53163d70c31216b61f0eea993151e8c
title: France torture against independence movement
uri: France-torture-against-independence-movement
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#28_January_2017_%28France_torture_against_independence_movement%29

content:
<p>
France used <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/law/2017/jan/26/does-torture-work-and-is-it-worth-the-cost-donald-trump">torture against the independence movement in Algeria</a>, and paid a great price for it in the long term.


feed_id: ff09a3909478ec2825d0740f6d670b4a
title: Troll imposing censorship on scientists
uri: Troll-imposing-censorship-on-scientists
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#28_January_2017_%28Troll_imposing_censorship_on_scientists%29

content:
<p>
The troll has imposed censorship on scientists at the EPA and some other agencies: they are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jan/25/donald-trump-epa-gag-order-political-review">forbidden to speak to the public</a> about the results of their research without getting political approval.
<p>
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/01/26/government-scientists-at-u-s-climate-conference-terrified-to-speak-with-the-press/">Scientists met</a> to discuss how to cope with this censorship.


feed_id: 4226ae4d4458d7c286d58c2fd50fe4b0
title: Troll's wife worked illegally
uri: Troll-s-wife-worked-illegally
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#28_January_2017_%28Troll%27s_wife_worked_illegally%29

content:
<p>
The <a href="http://reason.com/blog/2017/01/25/if-trump-is-going-to-start-deporting-imm">troll's wife worked illegally</a> while in the US on a tourist visa. If you want to crack down on immigrants that break laws, why not start with her?
<p>
She will be just fine back in Slovenia—it's a safe, democratic country with a decent standard of living.


feed_id: 1669e3d715b67ca9e38da723a54bc25f
title: Additional hearing on Sessions requested
uri: Additional-hearing-on-Sessions-requested
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#28_January_2017_%28Additional_hearing_on_Sessions_requested%29

content:
<p>
The ACLU asked the Senate to <a href="http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2017/01/25/aclu-urges-senate-cancel-attorney-general-vote-demands-second-sessions-testimony">hold another hearing on Sessions</a> before voting about his nomination.


feed_id: ebd622caf01ef2409c4708764afa9210
title: CIA altered movies
uri: CIA-altered-movies
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#28_January_2017_%28CIA_altered_movies%29
content:
<p>
The CIA <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2000/03/18/books/how-the-cia-played-dirty-tricks-with-culture.html">altered the movie adaptations</a> of <cite>Animal Farm</cite> and <cite>1984</cite>.
<p>
It also funded exhibits of abstract expressionist art so as to decrease the popularity of socialist realism.


feed_id: 0d7108acb173962f3c710b36dd032269
title: Urgent: Reject Sonny Perdue
uri: Urgent-Reject-Sonny-Perdue
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#27_January_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Reject_Sonny_Perdue%29
content:
<p>
US citizens: 
<a href="http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/o/1881/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=19854">call
on the Senate</a> to reject Sonny Perdue as head of the USDA.


feed_id: b66fa10887590d656952438a4257e480
title: Urgent: End slavery
uri: 2017-01-29-Urgent-End-slavery
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#27_January_2017_%28Urgent%3A_End_slavery%29
content:
<p>
Everyone: 
<a href="https://www.walkfree.org/thai-chicken/">call on Betagro</a>
to put an end to slavery in its farms.


feed_id: d52202e4a31f4df9a2645177e6c1e2bf
title: Provoking disasters to knock people down
uri: Provoking-disasters-to-knock-people-down
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#27_January_2017_%28Provoking_disasters_to_knock_people_down%29

content:
<p>
Naomi Klein: the troll and Republicans are planning to provoke disasters
and 
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/01/24/get-ready-for-the-first-shocks-of-trumps-disaster-capitalism/">use
them as opportunities for knocking people down</a>.


feed_id: 98e3f1c7d6d21ce181ecb99b291f672d
title: Charter schools
uri: 2017-01-29-Charter-schools
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#27_January_2017_%28Charter_schools%29
content:
<p>
Charter schools can be cheaper to run than public schools, but 
<a href="http://reason.com/reasontv/2017/01/23/thales-academy-north-carolina-bob-luddy">the
way they do so</a> shows why they are not a solution for society.
<p>
This chain skims the cream by not dealing with the students that need
special help.  That apparently includes the increasing fraction of
students whose families are food-insecure, because these charter
schools have no cafeteria to give them meals with.  With no sports,
they appear to lead students to be obese couch potatoes.  The absence
of an auditorium rules out many kinds of programs.
<p>
Hell, it's easy to cut costs by doing only part of the job.


feed_id: e13b3203a11c0abf96cd2dadcf3172de
title: Cheater repeats lie about popular vote
uri: Cheater-repeats-lie-about-popular-vote
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#27_January_2017_%28Cheater_repeats_lie_about_popular_vote%29

content:
<p>
The cheater 
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/01/24/now-president-trump-once-again-lies-about-why-he-lost-popular-vote">continues
to repeat the lie</a> that millions of illegal voters gave Clinton a
higher popular vote total than he got.
<p>
This lie is a sharp knife in the belly of US democracy.  It is meant
to provide an excuse for more voter suppression, to be cited by
Republican state officials for whom truth means nothing and democracy
is to be destroyed.


feed_id: 763d30a9cf915b3597b327ddb50eddbd
title: Portable phones with iris scanners
uri: Portable-phones-with-iris-scanners
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#27_January_2017_%28Portable_phones_with_iris_scanners%29

content:
<p>
Portable phones with 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jan/24/samsung-galaxy-s8-smartphone-infinity-display-iris-scanner-insiders-say">iris
scanners</a>?  Make sure to taoe them over!


feed_id: 359154c3f3284b1d891a58ac9a13e502
title: Votes for pro-torture Pompeo
uri: Votes-for-pro-torture-Pompeo
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#27_January_2017_%28Votes_for_pro-torture_Pompeo%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/01/23/14-senate-democrats-fall-in-line-behind-trump-cia-pick-who-left-door-open-to-torture/">14
Democrats</a> voted for pro-torture Pompeo as CIA director.


feed_id: 5df13bb752e3ce8926c873549d632c32
title: US gag rule threatens contraceptive programs
uri: US-gag-rule-threatens-contraceptive-programs
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#27_January_2017_%28US_gag_rule_threatens_contraceptive_programs%29

content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/jan/24/how-the-us-trump-global-gag-rule-threatens-health-clinics-across-kenya-and-uganda">Contraceptive
programs in Africa are threatened</a> by the reinstated US global gag
rule.


feed_id: d1d8192f37d263db9410cf7874222301
title: Fact-denial campaigns
uri: Fact-denial-campaigns
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#27_January_2017_%28Fact-denial_campaigns%29
content:
<p>
"Inoculating" people about 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2017/jan/24/study-real-facts-can-beat-alternative-facts-if-boosted-by-inoculation">fact-denial
campaigns</a> can be effective at blunting their effects.


feed_id: e0ea3e035a281bfa60a3fc2bb1e31b8b
title: The troll's unjust policies
uri: The-troll-s-unjust-policies
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#27_January_2017_%28The_trolls_unjust_policies%29
content:
<p>
We the people saved the US from the TPP, and we will now have to save
the US from the troll's 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/24/donald-trump-tpp-trans-pacific-partnership-president-hillary-clinton">unjust
policies</a>.


feed_id: 351c46f8cf3cc024c8a957eebea9a1e7
title: Universal income
uri: Universal-income
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#27_January_2017_%28Universal_income%29
content:
<p>
"What if we gave 
<a href='https://www.theguardian.com/environment/radical-conservation/2017/jan/24/what-if-we-gave-universal-income-to-people-in-biodiversity-hotpots'>universal
income</a> to people in biodiversity hotpots?"
<p>
Since we need to keep population growth down, perhaps the universal
income should be limited to those who have no children or use reliable
birth control (which we should provide at no charge).


feed_id: bce042fe931033a4397c7111253dadb4
title: US journalists should unite
uri: US-journalists-should-unite
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#27_January_2017_%28US_journalists_should_unite%29
content:
<p>
US journalists should unite to 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/24/panama-papers-media-investigation-next-donald-trump-hold-accountable">defend
each other from the troll</a>.


feed_id: 7666d2749336783a6583c34f4dd8c667
title: Roman Emperors
uri: Roman-Emperors
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#27_January_2017_%28Roman_Emperors%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2017/jan/25/donald-trump-president-tyrants-ancient-rome">Comparing the loser with the worst Roman emperors.</a>
<p>
The American hegemony is often compared with Rome's conquest of the
Mediterranean world.  History does not repeat itself, but the gradual
decay of the Roman Republic which led to its becoming a tyranny shows
it can in principle happen here too.


feed_id: 9cef4ea22bcb73f1fe0a038a7ede56f6
title: 35 Permanent Jobs
uri: 35-Permanent-Jobs
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#27_January_2017_%2835_Permanent_Jobs%29
content:
<p>
The Keystone Pipeline [would] Create
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/25/keystone-pipeline-permanent-jobs-trump-claims">Just 35 Permanent Jobs</a>.
  "We cannot pollute our way to prosperity."


feed_id: 00c7fff207b2bc7fa82328e53783e75a
title: Right-wing terrorist plotter
uri: Right-wing-terrorist-plotter
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#27_January_2017_%28Right-wing_terrorist_plotter%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/25/germany-raids-target-suspected-far-right-extremists">Germany has arrested</a> suspected right-wing terrorist plotters.


feed_id: f5fd8b56de1ce0277f949414fabf4c2c
title: Robo-signing
uri: Robo-signing
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#27_January_2017_%28Robo-signing%29
content:
<p>
Mnuchin told the Senate committee that his bank had not done
fraudulent
robo-signing,
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/01/25/mnuchin-lied-about-his-banks-history-of-robo-signing-foreclosure-documents/">but in fact it did</a>.


feed_id: ed57c712c8331b593037bd7be49f4163
title: Find illegal immigrants
uri: Find-illegal-immigrants
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#27_January_2017_%28Find_illegal_immigrants%29
content:
<p>
The UK is
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jan/24/nhs-hands-over-patient-records-to-home-office-for-immigration-crackdown">using the National Health Service to find illegal
immigrants</a>.
  The result of this is that illegal immigrants — and others who are
afraid for vague reasons — will forego treatment and die.


feed_id: 272168c31ece64ef902fbd015f808eca
title: Trumpery Party commisars
uri: Trumpery-Party-commisars
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#27_January_2017_%28Trumpery_Party_commisars%29
content:
<p>
The troll plans to
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/01/24/trumps-shadow-cabinet-will-allow-his-tentacles-control-all-agencies">control his Senate-approved cabinet secretaries</a>
by means of unofficial Trumpery Party commisars.


feed_id: 116be1ce5d65f1b576eab9bea7a7b384
title: Coinbase
uri: Coinbase
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#27_January_2017_%28Coinbase%29
content:
<p>
The
<a href="http://reason.com/archives/2017/01/24/the-irss-war-on-coinbase">IRS has demanded Coinbase surrender records of millions</a> of
peoples' transactions en masse.


feed_id: 75b7efa2388884f5457cc96470deb660
title: Wyoming Republicans
uri: Wyoming-Republicans
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#27_January_2017_%28Wyoming_Republicans%29
content:
<p>
Wyoming Republicans
<a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/wyoming-renewable-energy-ban-new-state-law-us-companies-coal-donald-trump-environment-a7544186.html">want to ban utilities</a> from using renewable energy.


feed_id: bf5b9c314ad1ff1f21e5bfcfa0aee14b
title: Ahmad Hassan Shubeir
uri: Ahmad-Hassan-Shubeir
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#27_January_2017_%28Ahmad_Hassan_Shubeir%29
content:
<p>
<a href="http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=775049">Israel killed Ahmad Hassan Shubeir</a> by blocking him from leaving Gaza
for treatment for a heart problem.
  He was offered permission to travel if only he became an informer.


feed_id: 21e4da1b61eb546a220bcf2defbbda63
title: Expulsion
uri: Expulsion
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#27_January_2017_%28Expulsion%29
content:
<p>
An Israeli Jew criticized Israel's expulsion of Arabs from the Jordan
valley
<a href="http://mondoweiss.net/2017/01/antisemitism-useful-idiots/?utm_source=Mondoweiss+List&utm_campaign=216e96eee3-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_b86bace129-216e96eee3-398418937&mc_cid=216e96eee3&mc_eid=5196141150">and was accused of "antisemitism"</a>.
<p>
The
<a href="http://imemc.org/article/israeli-forces-seize-agricultural-tractors-in-jordan-valley/">latest expulsion technique:</a> seizing Palestinians' tractors.


feed_id: 1444b6a1544128521de2492c9a92bd27
title: Provoke war
uri: Provoke-war
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#27_January_2017_%28Provoke_war%29
content:
<p>
The cheater
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/25/donald-trump-south-china-sea-distraction-technique">may provoke war with China</a> as a distraction technique.


feed_id: 07def4a0d4d29b0c6e789c10dba57a68
title: Urgent: Citibank
uri: Urgent-Citibank
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#27_January_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Citibank%29
content:
<p>
Everyone:
<a href="https://secure3.convio.net/gpeace/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=2066&autologin=true&NONCE_TOKEN=B00754E754161E8F11CEEF7809B48AD2">call on Citibank to stop funding</a> the Dakota Access Pipeline.


feed_id: 632fb0456d9fc212644e1262fb56bf08
title: Urgent: Spicer
uri: Urgent-Spicer
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#27_January_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Spicer%29
content:
<p>
US citizens:
<a href="http://act.freepress.net/sign/trump_alternative_facts/?t=1001&akid=6024.9489429.rL4nkE">tell Spicer to quit lying</a>.


feed_id: 1f3d2c649d709459347431e7c0738744
title: Urgent: stingray
uri: Urgent-stingray
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#27_January_2017_%28Urgent%3A_stingray%29
content:
<p>
US citizens:
<a href="https://stopstingrays.org/?src=161116">call for restricting use</a> of "stingray" devices that
track all cell phones in a given area.


feed_id: a8dd565df8ad7cebb8e318dd00b3d0f0
title: Lies
uri: 2017-01-29-Lies
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#27_January_2017_%28Lies%29
content:
<p>
US media are
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/further/2017/01/24/beyond-orwell-trumps-alt-universe">starting to call the cheater's lies</a> "lies".


feed_id: 7fea03535791a342e2b4010f7aff4fb4
title: Juvenile prisoners
uri: Juvenile-prisoners
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#27_January_2017_%28Juvenile_prisoners%29
content:
<p>
Juvenile prisoners in Wisconsin get
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/25/solitary-confinement-as-a-child-lincoln-hills-prison-guards">permanently messed up by solitary
confinement</a>.
<p>
Even adults have trouble standing up to that.


feed_id: a933d8f5fda001d1970a6bd726d33d29
title: Infrastructure plan
uri: Infrastructure-plan
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#27_January_2017_%28Infrastructure_plan%29
content:
<p>
The troll's infrastructure plan would construct toll roads chosen
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/01/24/trumps-infrastructure-scam">based on how much profit the private owners hope to get</a> from tolls.
<p>
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/01/24/senate-dems-throw-down-gauntlet-trump-and-gop-plan-rebuild-america">Senate Democrats have proposed an alternate infrastructure plan</a>
which doesn't give businesses a big handout.


feed_id: 7c4134c7cd0e622dd7e7dfcdfd19023f
title: Post-scarcity
uri: Post-scarcity
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#27_January_2017_%28Post-scarcity%29
content:
<p>
<a href="http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/Gazengel20170125">Proposals for a transition to the post-scarcity society</a> in which work
is not needed.
<p>
One problem not touched on is that resources humans need — such as
food, and potable water — are likely to be scarce later this century.


feed_id: c41fe0c99d42664731d7aafe2a406c08
title: Covering abortions
uri: Covering-abortions
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#27_January_2017_%28Covering_abortions%29
content:
<p>
SCROTUS are
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/25/abortion-bill-hr7-donald-trump-republicans">planning to prohibit Obamacare</a> insurance from covering
abortions.
<p>
This could cause many medical plans to eliminate abortion coverage.


feed_id: 2953c3db533d671d15447d435980422b
title: Government pledge
uri: Government-pledge
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#27_January_2017_%28Government_pledge%29
content:
<p>
Governments pledged over 15 billion dollars for education of Syrian
refugee children,
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2017/jan/25/billion-dollar-pledges-to-save-the-world-mean-little-if-governments-dont-pay-up">then paid only 1/3 of that</a>.


feed_id: 0ee1072e5c159c638d5b8b8de8067902
title: Public Sector Corruption
uri: Public-Sector-Corruption
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#27_January_2017_%28Public_Sector_Corruption%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/jan/25/global-public-sector-corruption-fuels-rise-populist-politicians-transparency-international-index-report">Global Public Sector Corruption Fuels Rise</a> of Populist Politicians,
report
says.
<p>
George Monbiot's
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/25/democracy-broken-distrusted-trump-brexit-political-system">proposals to make a democratic system</a> that makes
thoughtful decisions.


feed_id: 97d4b48e7c1c6d07df9050e0361acb0c
title: National Parks Service
uri: National-Parks-Service
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#27_January_2017_%28National_Parks_Service%29
content:
<p>
Scientists of the US National Parks Service have set up an unofficial
Twitter account
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/news-blog/2017/jan/25/national-parks-service-goes-rogue-in-response-to-trump-twitter-ban">to refute the troll's lies</a>.


feed_id: 0e47746edcf89df9fc7e363f5d8c79de
title: Contraception
uri: 2017-01-29-Contraception
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#27_January_2017_%28Contraception%29
content:
<p>
In England, women who were unable to care for their children are
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/jan/25/pause-project-mothers-pregnancy-children-in-care">offered
help for a fresh start</a>, with the requirement that they use
contraception.
  Not having more children turns out to enable many of them to learn
  to make
a success of their lives.
<p>
I think that people who predictably won't be able to take care of
children have a responsibility to society not to make more of them.
Having children who will be condemned to a life of stress and want is
very bad.


feed_id: 276c2fe3b8406f36312537805a9b6355
title: Worse than Scalia
uri: Worse-than-Scalia
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#27_January_2017_%28Worse_than_Scalia%29
content:
<p>
The troll is considering
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/law/2017/jan/25/trump-supreme-court-nominee-list-gorsuch-hardiman-pryor">three potential saboteurs to put on the
Supreme Court</a>.
<p>
Each of them could be worse than Scalia.


feed_id: 720b6830bd3271df32b246a6f2426cc0
title: Suppressed cures
uri: Suppressed-cures
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#27_January_2017_%28Suppressed_cures%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/aug/30/six-stubborn-myths-cancer">Don't be taken in by the myth</a> of the suppressed cancer cure.
  These so-called "cures" are quackery.
<p>
What <em>is</em> true is that the big pharma companies spend a lot
more on sleazy marketing (including "gifts" for doctors) than on
research, and that they direct the research more at chronic conditions
of the wealthy part of the world than at curing diseases common
mainly among poor people.


feed_id: f290791b98ff15a1cad82b1fcdd43704
title: Indiscriminately charging
uri: Indiscriminately-charging
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#27_January_2017_%28Indiscriminately_charging%29
content:
<p>
Washington DC thugs encircled a large group of protesters, then
<a href="http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/39196-in-trump-s-america-felony-riot-charges-against-inauguration-protesters-signal-dangerous-wave-of-repression">attacked them indiscriminately with teargas</a>, grenades and sticks, then
arrested them all and charged them with the felony of "rioting".
<p>
I saw reports that some people were breaking windows that night.
But that can't justify indiscriminately charging everyone who was
in the vicinity.  Nor, perhaps, such serious charges even against
those
who broke windows.
<p>
The
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/jan/24/journalists-charged-felonies-trump-inauguration-unrest">targets of repression</a> include six journalists.


feed_id: acab810165501306259001bd62cb7e77
title: High deductibles
uri: High-deductibles
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#27_January_2017_%28High_deductibles%29
content:
<p>
"For people sick of high deductibles,
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2017/01/high-deductibles-republicans/514205/">Republicans offer
high-deductible
[medical] plans</a> as replacements for [Obama's medical insurance
program]."


feed_id: 324e508d94722d35c83d144decf99721
title: Mattel
uri: Mattel
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#27_January_2017_%28Mattel%29
content:
<p>
Mattel is making a device to
<a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/columnist/baig/2017/01/03/mattel-brings-artificial-intelligence-and-internet-things-into-kids-rooms/96081330/">monitor children all the time</a>
and report on what they say and what they do.


feed_id: 7d99320099e8f0118538400a2a952961
title: Civil rights office
uri: Civil-rights-office
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#27_January_2017_%28Civil_rights_office%29
content:
<p>
The troll's choice for the civil rights office at the Justice
Department
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/01/24/trump-doj-gerrymander/">is a saboteur</a>.  He has worked in favor Republican gerrymandering
and voter suppression.
<p>
This is part of the "grab power by hook or by crook" attitude
of US Republicans.


feed_id: 7629ee6a3fda198e0647c846e102d6e5
title: Data brokers
uri: 2017-01-29-Data-brokers
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#27_January_2017_%28Data_brokers%29
content:
<p>
Data brokers sell
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2017/01/the-webs-many-search-engines-for-your-personal-information/513323/">all sorts of information about nearly everyone</a>.
<p>
Never post any information about anyone else to an internet site
without first consulting that other person.  This includes Facebook
(though in principle you
<a href="https://stallman.org/facebook.html">shouldn't let Facebook use you at all)</a>.
<p>
However, there's a lot of information they get from companies and
services
that you use in a non-anonymous way.  Most of those companies and
services
should be required to allow anonymous use.
<p>
The few that we need to use, and that need to know who we are, should
not be allowed to give any piece of personal information to anyone.
Not even "anonymized".  And that should include government agencies,
except when there is a subpoena for specific people's data.


feed_id: c5ceaeb3681048e96cc101e0aa41137f
title: Troll adopting propaganda practices
uri: Troll-adopting-propaganda-practices
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#27_January_2017_%28Troll_adopting_propaganda_practices%29

content:
<p>
The troll is adopting 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/24/trump-national-day-of-patriotic-devotion-echoes-north-korea">propaganda
practices of North Korea</a>.
<p>
Until we get the troll out of office, every day calls for patriotic
devotion.  This political note is just one of my acts of patriotic
devotion for today.


feed_id: 545956959a78baca388846ff0680338c
title: Troll still owns golf companies
uri: Troll-still-owns-golf-companies
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#27_January_2017_%28Troll_still_owns_golf_companies%29

content:
<p>
The cheater resigned as director of some golf companies but is
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/24/donald-trump-resigns-as-director-of-four-scottish-golf-firms">still
the owner of them</a>.
<p>
This is not enough to make them cease to be a conflict of interest and
a violation of the constitution.  It's a mere sham.


feed_id: fd667ebc276b54e4ab9e3e8699d851e5
title: Thugs arrest TV journalists
uri: Thugs-arrest-TV-journalists
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#27_January_2017_%28Thugs_arrest_TV_journalists%29
content:
<p>
Washington DC thugs 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/23/two-journalists-trump-inauguration-protests-felony-riot-charges-evan-engel-alex-rubinstein">arrested
two TV journalists</a> and charged them with "rioting".
<p>
The journalists were covering the riot, not rioting, but thugs don't
care about such distinctions.


feed_id: ab1a4fd7f4620d4bea306eb946e5a33f
title: The TPP
uri: 2017-01-29-The-TPP
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#27_January_2017_%28The_TPP%29
content:
<p>
The US is safe from the TPP, but 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/jan/24/australia-open-to-china-and-indonesia-joining-tpp-after-us-pulls-out">other
governments</a> still relish the possibility of subjugating their
countries to foreign companies.
<p>
The Treacherous Plutocratic Poison 
<a href="media/c9a9c30b.trance-pacific-partnership.en.jpg" data-original-source="https://stallman.org/images/trance-pacific-partnership.en.jpg">would
put dooH niboR in charge of any countries that sign it</a>.


feed_id: e6b05b2ede35b2725d6dc01021057fa3
title: Heating and public health
uri: Heating-and-public-health
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#26_January_2017_%28Heating_and_public_health%29
content:
<p>
The
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/01/24/trump-didnt-even-have-ask-cdc-cancel-climate-summit">Center for Disease Control cancelled a summit on global heating</a>
and public health, which was scheduled for February.


feed_id: c4c134ead81ee8633abf218394d22ba6
title: EPA grants
uri: EPA-grants
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#26_January_2017_%28EPA_grants%29
content:
<p>
The troll has
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/01/24/trump-administration-imposes-freeze-epa-grants-and-contracts">frozen EPA grants and contracts</a>.


feed_id: 193419771ac1fa68e5dcc41fd6d21c3a
title: Transparency principles
uri: Transparency-principles
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#26_January_2017_%28Transparency_principles%29
content:
<p>
Although the troll opposes the TPP, that doesn't mean he won't
establish harmful trade treaties.  Certain
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/01/23/does-trumps-withdrawal-tpp-signal-new-approach-trade-agreements">transparency principles in
the negotiation would help avoid that</a>.


feed_id: 76e61c100daa56e890c833d7a58f4a67
title: False impression
uri: False-impression
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#26_January_2017_%28False_impression%29
content:
<p>
When the cheater visited the CIA, he brought along an audience
supporters, apparently not connected with the CIA, to cheer for him
and
<a href="http://www.politicususa.com/2017/01/23/cbs-confirms-reports-donald-trump-brought-cheering-props-cia-visit.html">give a false impression of support</a>.


feed_id: 89fc1deb469919979ffd9548f25bdfa1
title: Verizon lawyer
uri: Verizon-lawyer
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#26_January_2017_%28Verizon_lawyer%29
content:
<p>
The troll's nominee to head the FCC is a Verizon lawyer.
<a href="http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/1/20/1622924/-The-Orange-Swindler-s-First-Priority-Ending-Net-Neutrality?detail=email&link_id=2">Everything he does will help ISPs against the public.</a>
<p>
<a href="http://gizmodo.com/trump-appoints-anti-regulation-net-neutrality-foe-to-he-1791438195">More explanation.</a>


feed_id: f7e757e78ffeeb917c2a83759188d578
title: Damaging fossil fuels
uri: Damaging-fossil-fuels
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#26_January_2017_%28Damaging_fossil_fuels%29
content:
<p>
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/01/23/tillersons-damaging-record-extraction-and-opposing-climate-action">Tillerson's record</a> of pushing damaging fossil fuels.
<p>
Sad to say, he was confirmed by the Senate to head the State
Department.


feed_id: 4d785f16733b39af5de4aefa7d1b990d
title: Surveillance bill
uri: Surveillance-bill
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#26_January_2017_%28Surveillance_bill%29
content:
<p>
A bad surveillance bill in Connecticut has a bad purpose:
<a href="http://reason.com/blog/2017/01/23/soliciting-sex-may-become-a-felony">repression of customers of prostitutes</a>.
<p>
This bill would not help those women who consider practicing
prostitution, and would violate the rights of everyone who uses a
hotel in Connecticut.


feed_id: 91ebde05d76c15da36e8fbf741f2ab26
title: Pipelines
uri: Pipelines
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#26_January_2017_%28Pipelines%29
content:
<p>
The troll intends to
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/24/keystone-xl-dakota-access-pipelines-revived-trump-administration">revive the blocked Keystone XL and Dakota Access
pipelines</a>.
<p>
The article does not make it clear what effect today's executive
orders actually have.
<p>
The troll claims to be an "environmentalist".
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/24/donald-trump-automakers-environmental-regulations">Self-contradiction is
all in a day's work.</a>
<p>
Now if only he would claim to eliminate abortions by opening 1000 new
abortion clinics.


feed_id: 48cea13423714c15b88b3c516e8014b0
title: Total monitoring
uri: Total-monitoring
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#26_January_2017_%28Total_monitoring%29
content:
<p>
A new tech product
<a href="http://www.freerangekids.com/now-you-can-monitor-every-calorie-your-child-eats-or-burns/">offers parents the chance to impose total
monitoring and
regimentation</a> on their children.


feed_id: d492e14750a448f7c1ce11577ec0ae1f
title: Cease-fire
uri: Cease-fire
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#26_January_2017_%28Cease-fire%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/24/syria-talks-astana-russia-turkey-iran-ceasefire">Some progress</a> towards a cease-fire in Syria.
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/24/the-message-from-syria-summit-russia-wants-a-solution-in-its-name">Putin seems to be serious</a> about pushing for a settlement, and has a
chance to achieve it.
<p>
The troll may will prevent the neocons from interfering.  That would
be good
for Syria.


feed_id: 277430de53c65bcc3f0a175c8a852d2d
title: Sabal pipeline
uri: Sabal-pipeline
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#26_January_2017_%28Sabal_pipeline%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jan/24/sabal-trail-pipeline-florida-next-standing-rock-controversy-suwannee-river">Protesters are setting up camps</a> to stop the Sabal pipeline in Florida.
<p>
They focus on the danger of polluting the area's rivers and lakes, but
that's the least of the worries.  If we burn the gas that will be
shipped through that pipeline, those rivers and lakes won't exist,
because the land will become part of the Atlantic Ocean.


feed_id: 2a52bc537fc81aac15524e52961bdec9
title: Teaching girls
uri: Teaching-girls
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#26_January_2017_%28Teaching_girls%29
content:
<p>
Teaching girls they are inferior
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/24/gender-pay-gap-boys-girls-pocket-money">starts very young</a>.


feed_id: 1b06682911b79ee2112ec11448b1863c
title: Prisoner
uri: Prisoner
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#26_January_2017_%28Prisoner%29
content:
<p>
A prisoner in Texas was on the verge of dying of malnutrition,
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/01/24/malnourished-prisoners-death-reveals-horrific-conditions-in-a-texas-prison/">before someone attacked and killed him</a>.


feed_id: 01f7089ba859224d86d15cdef8e9f706
title: Accelerating colonization
uri: Accelerating-colonization
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#26_January_2017_%28Accelerating_colonization%29
content:
<p>
Israel is
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/24/israel-announces-2500-more-west-bank-settlement-homes">massively accelerating colonization of Palestinian</a>
territory.
<p>
I have for years supported boycott of products of these colonies, but
these developments are making me consider taking a stronger position.


feed_id: 4075048ccd8f04edcd663c413f8933c0
title: Elected judges
uri: Elected-judges
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#26_January_2017_%28Elected_judges%29
content:
<p>
In states where judges are elected directly,
<a href="http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/38828-democracy-endangered-when-philanthro-barons-try-to-tip-courts">billionaires can stack
the courts</a>.
<p>
This avenue for corruption has
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2014-jul-oct.html#29_October_2014_(Control_of_US_judicial_elections)">existed for a long time</a>.
  It doesn't take billions to sway a judgeship election.


feed_id: afab94d69c53d96eaeb6f60f7e60ff2a
title: Data Brokers
uri: 2017-01-29-Data-Brokers
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#26_January_2017_%28Data_Brokers%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/facebook-doesnt-tell-users-everything-it-really-knows-about-them">Facebook buys personal data</a> from various data brokers, and correlates
that with what it figures out directly about its useds.
<p>
Facebook advises useds that they can tell the data brokers to stop
collecting data about them, but it doesn't ensure that this really
works.  After all, no one will punish Facebook for false claims of
that
sort.


feed_id: b9facb6076120111721b9fc456d6c161
title: Urgent: Lieu-Conyers letter
uri: Urgent-Lieu-Conyers-letter
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#26_January_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Lieu-Conyers_letter%29
content:
<p>
US citizens: call on members of Congress to
<a href="http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/housedemocrats-back-lieu?r_by=1135580">sign the Lieu-Conyers
letter</a>, which Obama to stop refueling Salafi Arabian planes involved
in the bombardment of Yemen.


feed_id: 6d704284c9b1a7c6912826241d8c59fa
title: Urgent: Oppose constitutional convention
uri: Urgent-Oppose-constitutional-convention
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#26_January_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Oppose_constitutional_convention%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: 
<a href="https://secure2.convio.net/comcau/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&page=UserAction&id=1881">Call
on state legislators</a> to oppose a constitutional convention.


feed_id: 66ddc80a0878b74ccb05ad9a4158b1e8
title: Urgent: Impeach the loser now
uri: Urgent-Impeach-the-loser-now
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#26_January_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Impeach_the_loser_now%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: 
<a href="https://www.impeachdonaldtrumpnow.org/">call on Congress</a>
to impeach the loser now.


feed_id: a6ca03bd1b579769c1ec07687af21c95
title: US workers condemn the cheater
uri: US-workers-condemn-the-cheater
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#26_January_2017_%28US_workers_condemn_the_cheater%29

content:
<p>
<a href="http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/19832/workers_strike_to_protest_trump_there_is_power_in_our_unity">US workers held a strike on Friday to condemn the cheater</a>, who wants to "bring back jobs" but doesn't want the employees to get good working conditions or fair treatment.


feed_id: 1c38aa44e9b7ac1c07999aa559af73fc
title: Give Australian homeless voice
uri: Give-Australian-homeless-voice
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#26_January_2017_%28Give_Australian_homeless_voice%29

content:
<p>
Giving homeless people in Australia a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/jan/24/im-a-beautiful-person-melbournes-pilloried-homeless-people-speak">chance to speak</a>, while they face the threat of a crackdown.


feed_id: 0a7e895f615d9fd74221c12ad2f0c03e
title: Medicare "reform" screws Americans
uri: Medicare-reform-screws-Americans
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#26_January_2017_%28Medicare_reform_screws_Americans%29

content:
<p>
One way or another, Republican plans to "reform" Medicare and Social Security <a href="http://inthesetimes.com/article/19800/arise-ye-boomers-of-the-nation-social-security-medicare-trump-ryan">will screw Americans that aren't rich</a>.


feed_id: 5a30e1e8e424e8831c71b9cc077a4a5e
title: Troll pulls US out of TPP
uri: Troll-pulls-US-out-of-TPP
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#26_January_2017_%28Troll_pulls_US_out_of_TPP%29
content:
<p>
The troll has <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/23/donald-trump-first-orders-trans-pacific-partnership-tpp">officially pulled the US out of the Treacherous Plutocratic Poison</a>.
<p>
Well, I can't say that the troll never did anything that was good. But our <a href="http://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/01/23/tpp-officially-dead-thank-peoples-movement-not-trump">resistance made it possible</a>.


feed_id: 411af43958a2c029437fd64d2c51c078
title: Transcripts of Xie Yang torture
uri: Transcripts-of-Xie-Yang-torture
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#26_January_2017_%28Transcripts_of_Xie_Yang_torture%29

content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/23/lawyer-torture-china-secret-jails-xie-yang">Transcripts describe the torture of Xie Yang</a>, Chinese human rights lawyer.


feed_id: dd5196b950bcbba5a976d74fd379f6b4
title: Jeffrey Beall erased "scientific journals" blog
uri: Jeffrey-Beall-erased-scientific-journals-blog
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#26_January_2017_%28Jeffrey_Beall_erased_scientific_journals_blog%29

content:
<p>
Jeffrey Beall used to maintain a blog that identified bogus "scientific journals", but he has erased it all, apparently facing <a href="https://theconversation.com/who-will-keep-predatory-science-journals-at-bay-now-that-jeffrey-bealls-blog-is-gone-71613">legal threats from those predators</a>.


feed_id: 396cc8b8355b35e9d3f3d1ccf9a6786a
title: Australian privacy laws nearly ineffective
uri: Australian-privacy-laws-nearly-ineffective
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#26_January_2017_%28Australian_privacy_laws_nearly_ineffective%29

content:
<p>
A court decision in Australia <a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-privacy-laws-gutted-in-court-ruling-on-what-is-personal-information-71486">narrowed the definition of "personal information"</a> to the point where privacy laws are nearly ineffective.
<p>
True protection of privacy requires <a href="https://gnu.org/philosophy/surveillance-vs-democracy.html">limiting the accumulation of data about people</a>, not merely limiting how it is used once accumulated.


feed_id: 4829231f34c899181878420e9cafd28d
title: Tom Price helps drug company
uri: Tom-Price-helps-drug-company
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#26_January_2017_%28Tom_Price_helps_drug_company%29
content:
<p>
Tom Price helped a drug company by <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/when-a-study-cast-doubt-on-heart-pill-the-drug-company-turned-to-tom-price">pressuring the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality</a> to downplay a study that reported problems with the company's product.
<p>
Clearly the wrong sort of person to be allowed any say in US health care. In other words, just the sort of swamp creature that the troll would put in charge of it.


feed_id: 7185c196ad2c9f62e42e82d208053c64
title: Families without visas imprisoned immediately
uri: Families-without-visas-imprisoned-immediately
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#26_January_2017_%28Families_without_visas_imprisoned_immediately%29

content:
<p>
Families arriving at the US border without a visa are <a href="https://indypendent.org/2017/01/19/where-moms-and-kids-go-straight-jail">put immediately in immigration prison</a>, where children get shoddy medical care that can kill them.


feed_id: 1ffb7fcd43b01fb394a2e88aa8a1a328
title: Obama didn't help non-rich Americans
uri: Obama-didn-t-help-non-rich-Americans
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#26_January_2017_%28Obama_didn%27t_help_non-rich_Americans%29

content:
<p>
Obama didn't help non-rich Americans <a href="http://www.spiked-online.com/newsite/article/obama-is-not-your-magical-negro/19350">wield political power</a>, but he made them feel (mistakenly) that they were psychologically "empowered".


feed_id: a523a1d80297c74c31658cc98f0f3dc2
title: Alexey Kovalev: covering the cheater
uri: Alexey-Kovalev-covering-the-cheater
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#26_January_2017_%28Alexey_Kovalev%3A_covering_the_cheater%29

content:
<p>
Alexey Kovalev gives <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/23/reported-putin-journalists-trump-media">advice to the press about how to cover the cheater</a>, based on experience covering Putin.
<p>
One thing we should <em>not</em> do is ponder in kremlinological fashion every hint about what the cheater is thinking, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/23/us-embassy-jerusalem-trump-israel">as in this article</a>.
<p>
That's a recipe for getting distracted by every little gesture.


feed_id: 8b2b443e9bcdbeb1d65f1b7fca6670d6
title: Zuckerberg suing hundreds in Hawaii
uri: Zuckerberg-suing-hundreds-in-Hawaii
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#26_January_2017_%28Zuckerberg_suing_hundreds_in_Hawaii%29

content:
<p>
Zuckerberg is suing hundreds of people in Hawaii to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jan/23/mark-zuckerberg-hawaii-land-lawsuits-kauai-estate">force them to sell him their land</a> that's in the middle of his large estate.


feed_id: b962212ff4eeb923c9d73bf6caa6c24c
title: Rainforests gone in a century
uri: Rainforests-gone-in-a-century
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#26_January_2017_%28Rainforests_gone_in_a_century%29
content:
<p>
At the current rate of deforestation, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2017/jan/23/destroying-rainforests-quickly-gone-100-years-deforestation">rainforests will all be gone in a century</a>.
<p>
They are also in danger of drying out and burning up.


feed_id: 266cb21152d29de39f88564609a630da
title: Tracking nightclubbers
uri: Tracking-nightclubbers
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#26_January_2017_%28Tracking_nightclubbers%29
content:
<p>
A state in Australia proposes laws to require nightclubs to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/jan/23/queensland-drops-lockout-laws-in-favour-of-mandatory-id-scans">track and record everyone who enters</a>.
<p>
That is an injustice.
<p>
If the system <a href="https://gnu.org/philosophy/surveillance-vs-democracy.html">checked only for certain known individuals</a>, and did not record anyone else, it would be acceptable.


feed_id: 867642f6673b654be0eebb9a8f8ccb37
title: China's birth rate soars
uri: China-s-birth-rate-soars
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#26_January_2017_%28China%27s_birth_rate_soars%29
content:
<p>
The end of China's one-child policy <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/23/chinas-birth-rate-soars-after-relaxation-of-one-child-policy">raised the birth rate by 8%</a>.
<p>
These results show that the one-child policy was making a significant contribution to reducing population growth. Eliminating it was a mistake.
<p>
The low birth rate will cause short term inconvenience, but not a disaster. China's population is still increasing, and that is likely to lead to disaster.


feed_id: ca13eef20735d35006efcda69d0b6454
title: Troll "resilience" remedy to global heating
uri: Troll-resilience-remedy-to-global-heating
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#26_January_2017_%28Troll_resilience_remedy_to_global_heating%29

content:
<p>
This article proposes ways to convince the troll to support <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/jan/23/climate-change-donald-trump-adapting-aditya-v-bahadur">activities to help people cope with the short-term effects of global heating</a>.
<p>
There's just one giant flaw in this proposal: working on "resilience" is treating the symptoms only. Since the disease of inducing global heating is likely to be fatal to most species and most humans on Earth, what really matters is arresting the progress of the disease, not treating the symptoms.


feed_id: 88ad2d9eef4ba3a563302f5ed0d20ad8
title: Blaming parents when kids die
uri: Blaming-parents-when-kids-die
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#26_January_2017_%28Blaming_parents_when_kids_die%29
content:
<p>
In the US, it has become <a href="http://www.freerangekids.com/why-we-blame-moms-when-their-kids-die/">customary to condemn parents</a> for any freak accident that happens to their children.


feed_id: 7730f734e909b644488d679f2578f656
title: Troll's "alternate facts"
uri: Troll-s-alternate-facts
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#26_January_2017_%28Troll%27s_alternate_facts%29
content:
<p>
The troll and his trumpettes call their <a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/01/22/observable-reality-1-trump-white-house-0/">factual lies</a> "alternate facts".
<p>
How many people attended the inauguration is of no substantive political importance, but the loser's mystique is based on the claim that he always wins, so he is compelled to deny the inconvenient facts whenever he loses any sort of contest.


feed_id: bf7beb1d8d8a47e172ae8c9fded6e79b
title: Romanian prison pardons
uri: Romanian-prison-pardons
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#26_January_2017_%28Romanian_prison_pardons%29
content:
<p>
Romanians <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/22/thousands-march-against-prison-pardons-in-romania">protested a plan to free many prisoners</a> to reduce prison overcrowding. They fear this would be used to free people convicted of corruption.


feed_id: a554370fc730014479fae7220d1a0c1e
title: Republican Party the disloyal party
uri: Republican-Party-the-disloyal-party
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#26_January_2017_%28Republican_Party_the_disloyal_party%29

content:
<p>
The Republican Party is the disloyal party, opposed to democracy as well as to the Democrats.
<p>
Haldeman's notes prove that Nixon <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/31/opinion/sunday/nixons-vietnam-treachery.html">sabotaged President Johnson's Vietnam peace negotiations</a> so as to get himself elected. This was an act of treason.
<p>
John Dean gives more <a href="https://verdict.justia.com/2017/01/06/nixon-evil-getting-historical-evidence-right">explanation of Haldeman's notes</a> and why we can rely on them.
<p>
Reagan likewise <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2015-sep-dec.html#18_September_2015_(Reagan%27s_deal_with_Iran)">sabotaged his country</a> (working with Iran) to get himself elected. A few years later, he <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2013-may-aug.html#17_July_2013_(Urgent:_Ban_US_from_spending_money_to_arm_Syrian_rebels)">ransomed terrorists' hostages with arms for Iran</a>, from which he also got money to spend illegally to launch an underground war against Nicaragua. That too was treason, I believe.
<p>
Since 2000, Republicans have instead cheated by <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#27_December_2016_(Republican_election-rigging)">rigging the elections</a>. After gaining power <a href=""https://stallman.org/archives/2015-jan-apr.html#18_April_2015_(Republican_gerrymandering)>by hook or by crook</a>, they use it to swindle their country.


feed_id: 2cf1963aba81816d81776d992f020053
title: China prohibits unlicensed VPNs
uri: China-prohibits-unlicensed-VPNs
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#26_January_2017_%28China_prohibits_unlicensed_VPNs%29

content:
<p>
China has 
<a href="http://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2064587/chinas-move-clean-vpns-and-strengthen-great-firewall">prohibited
all unlicensed VPNs</a>.


feed_id: 5f1c6001e6acbb41bf8cf18923391edc
title: Monsanto's latest pesticide
uri: Monsanto-s-latest-pesticide
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#26_January_2017_%28Monsantos_latest_pesticide%29
content:
<p>
US farmers are suing to stop the use of 
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2017/01/23/public-interest-groups-farmers-file-lawsuit-challenging-monsantos-toxic">Monsanto's
latest pesticide</a>, designed for certain GMO crops.


feed_id: ec647d73666c713be96105308c69971a
title: Payments to troll from foreign governments
uri: Payments-to-troll-from-foreign-governments
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#26_January_2017_%28Payments_to_troll_from_foreign_governments%29

content:
<p>
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington is 
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2017/01/23/crew-sues-trump-over-emoluments">suing
to demand that the troll not receive payments from foreign
governments</a>.
<p>
Various commentators' 
<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/22/us/politics/trump-foreign-payments-constitution-lawsuit.html">legal
analysis</a>.


feed_id: 5a9e222a8f2d991ff14d4219fe916b4e
title: Points to set against loser's militarism
uri: Points-to-set-against-loser-s-militarism
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#26_January_2017_%28Points_to_set_against_losers_militarism%29

content:
<p>
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/01/23/facts-our-war-happy-leaders-would-keep-hushed">Some
points</a> to set against the loser's militarism.
<p>
There is a correction for item 4: attacks against soldiers of an
occupying army are not terrorism.  They are, rather, an armed
uprising.  We need to distinguish armed uprising from terrorism, since
both do exist.
<p>
Another point worth mentioning is that the US army already is so big
that no other army would mess with it.  However, no army can be so big
that it discourages guerrilla uprising, or terrorism.


feed_id: e0b8c4c4776fa92e6579be19f18043ec
title: UK immigration
uri: 2017-01-29-UK-immigration
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#26_January_2017_%28UK_immigration%29
content:
<p>
UK immigration 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jan/22/home-office-eritrea-guidance-softened-to-reduce-asylum-seeker-numbers">ignored
information about repression in Eritrea</a> in order to reject teenage
refugees.


feed_id: 4802b3f2bb1c8a68564dd6ca87848c0b
title: Disturbed man gives White House press conference
uri: Disturbed-man-gives-White-House-press-conference
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#26_January_2017_%28Disturbed_man_gives_White_House_press_conference%29

content:
<p>
<a href="http://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/disturbed-man-gets-past-white-house-security-gives-press-conference">Disturbed
Man Gets Past White House Security, Gives Press Conference</a>.


feed_id: 5fc401d79d3e5095f47954ca83851f90
title: Arrest and torture of human rights lawyers
uri: Arrest-and-torture-of-human-rights-lawyers
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#26_January_2017_%28Arrest_and_torture_of_human_rights_lawyers%29

content:
<p>
Lawyers' leaders, world wide,
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/23/china-must-respect-lawyers-human-rights">rebuke
China</a> for arresting and torturing human rights lawyers.


feed_id: b96391cdecf09d63f4a0594270ff3daa
title: The Women's Marches
uri: The-Women-s-Marches
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#26_January_2017_%28The_Womens_Marches%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/23/millions-have-done-something-together-why-the-womens-march-will-spark-the-resistance">3.5
million people</a> participated in the Women's Marches Saturday, and
established contacts they can use in future resistance to the
kleptocratic party.


feed_id: c18b2c43db1833230701ce90076dbf81
title: Troll reintroduces abortion gag rule
uri: Troll-reintroduces-abortion-gag-rule
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#26_January_2017_%28Troll_reintroduces_abortion_gag_rule%29

content:
<p>
The troll has reintroduced the Reagan gag rule that 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/23/trump-abortion-gag-rule-international-ngo-funding">prohibits
US-funded organizations from referring women to abortion
providers</a>.
<p>
In the past, this rule 
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/01/23/reinstating-global-gag-rule-trump-attacks-women-worldwide">impacted
birth control provision and health care for women and for
children</a>.  It is also likely to kill thousands of women by leaving
them with no safe abortion option.
<p>
It will surely encourage population growth and thus increase future
poverty.


feed_id: 4ce576d40c0a57e2d68906673faf369f
title: English usage
uri: English-usage
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#26_January_2017_%28English_usage%29
content:
<p>
English Usage is 
<a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/3066747/signs-and-symbols/one-nation-divided-by-a-common-language">changing
so fast that it has become a pitfall</a> for most people — at
least on Twitter.
<p>
Since I don't use Twitter or SMS, I have never seen most of the terms
discussed in the article.  Indeed, I don't even recognize, the words
that the article describes as "passé".  They had their 15
minutes of usage and I never noticed.  I don't think I missed much.
<p>
I've always refused to adopt the latest fashionable slang words, just
as I've refused to adopt the latest fashionable clothing styles.  I
didn't adopt them when I was young, and I see no reason to start.  Why
be dragged around by fads?
<p>
I still use the word "staff", because "team" means something different
to me.  The FSF hires staff, and some of the staff belong to various
teams.


feed_id: 2cc998e0fc22865615c244a10e2f84d7
title: FBI campaigning in favor of "forfeiture"
uri: FBI-campaigning-in-favor-of-forfeiture
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#26_January_2017_%28FBI_campaigning_in_favor_of_forfeiture%29

content:
<p>
The FBI is now 
<a href="https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20170120/12285536529/fbi-decides-finally-time-to-do-terrible-job-defending-civil-asset-forfeiture.shtml">campaigning
in favor of "forfeiture"</a>, i.e. punishment without trial.


feed_id: 85ae9020b269fbdc2dbdf5b9157aa076
title: Curbing Greenhouse
uri: Curbing-Greenhouse
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#25_January_2017_%28Curbing_Greenhouse%29
content:
<p>
Although the US is terribly weak on curbing greenhouse emissions,
<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/01/22/climate-action-roadmap-california-steps-uncertain-times">California is pushing harder</a>.


feed_id: af20b95a59eecf809e4094f078b3813c
title: Remembering Aaron
uri: Remembering-Aaron
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#25_January_2017_%28Remembering_Aaron%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2017/01/everyone-made-themselves-hero-remembering-aaron-swartz">Remembering Aaron Swartz.</a>
<p>
Carmen Ortiz,
<a href="http://www.bostonherald.com/news/local_coverage/herald_bulldog/2016/12/carmen_ortiz_to_step_down_as_us_attorney">the prosecutor that hounded Aaron Swartz to death</a>, has
retired.
<p>
She stretched the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act to an extreme
interpretation that attacks the rights of everyone in the US.  It's
too bad she is already gone, because it would have been great have a
rally
to tell her "Good riddance!"


feed_id: ae19c022b13839a3ca659ea9d9dd5852
title: Urgent: F35
uri: Urgent-F35
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#25_January_2017_%28Urgent%3A_F35%29
content:
<p>
US citizens: call on Congress to
<a href="http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/usprogressives-libertycaucus?r_by=1135580">kill the F35 fighter</a>.


feed_id: 66e257545858a91d458ec635810c33af
title: Urgent: Domestic Violence
uri: Urgent-Domestic-Violence
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#25_January_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Domestic_Violence%29
content:
<p>
US citizens:
<a href="https://act.weareultraviolet.org/sign/no_cuts_ovw/?t=1001&akid=4023.1105163.d8DtL3">call on Congress to defend</a> the programs to protect women
from domestic violence.


feed_id: 29cd29c768c489e5ae8b3509fcaf0623
title: Israel sets demolishing record
uri: Israel-sets-demolishing-record
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#25_January_2017_%28Israel_sets_demolishing_record%29

content:
<p>
Israel set a new record in 2016 for <a href="http://interactive.aljazeera.com/aje/2017/jerusalem-2016-home-demolitions/index.html">demolishing Palestinians' homes</a> in areas it has annexed to Jerusalem.


feed_id: d40a98ef6d48aca249cb96c5095888c2
title: False confessions
uri: 2017-01-29-False-confessions
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#25_January_2017_%28False_confessions%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/donald-trump-claims-torture-works-but-what-does-the-science-say-70236">Aggressive questioning of suspects</a>, even if it doesn't reach the level of torture, often elicits false confessions.
<p>
So if you think someone knows where a ticking time bomb is, and you want to find it, the last thing you'd want to try is torture.


feed_id: 8bd5bcbb4468bec2ec7169e562f7d894
title: US bombed Mosul hospital
uri: US-bombed-Mosul-hospital
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#25_January_2017_%28US_bombed_Mosul_hospital%29
content:
<p>
The <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/12/08/precision-strike-iraqi-hospital-should-be-investigated">US intentionally bombed a hospital in Mosul</a>, saying that PISSI soldiers were firing from it. But the US did not say whether it followed the requirements of international law by warning civilians to flee the area.


feed_id: 37bbd4767e8d0b20de2670dfae14a84f
title: Japanese children not properly fed
uri: Japanese-children-not-properly-fed
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#25_January_2017_%28Japanese_children_not_properly_fed%29

content:
<p>
Japan's inequality is growing—<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/17/japans-rising-child-poverty-exposes-truth-behind-two-decades-of-economic-decline">millions of children there don't get properly fed</a>.
<p>
When I was a child, my relatives told me to eat because children in Japan were hungry. In the 1950s, perhaps that was still true. How sad that it is true once again. Japan has plenty of food; what it lacks is a progressive government that aims to reduce inequality.


feed_id: 397a89a3479dd5e3140a632c8cc53b87
title: Americans that oppose the troll
uri: Americans-that-oppose-the-troll
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#25_January_2017_%28Americans_that_oppose_the_troll%29

content:
<p>
Americans that oppose the troll must aim for more than just to stop him from <a href="http://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/01/21/greater-expectations-anti-trump-forces-should-aspire-much-more">making things worse</a>.


feed_id: e88801bb2a37f3f2b007f7c8b1f5a721
title: Amazon and Google Listening In
uri: Amazon-and-Google-Listening-In
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#25_January_2017_%28Amazon_and_Google_Listening_In%29

content:
<p>
Amazon and Google are competing for the chance to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jan/22/home-battleground-amazon-google-voice-technology">listen to people's homes</a>.
<p>
Be wise—choose "none of the above".


feed_id: ffd848c6ce1271903e1e808d0e13f9a8
title: Banning abortions after 20 weeks
uri: Banning-abortions-after-20-weeks
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#25_January_2017_%28Banning_abortions_after_20_weeks%29

content:
<p>
Republicans in several states are passing laws to ban abortions after 20 weeks. This would <a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/01/22/kentuckys-new-fetal-pain-law-like-most-abortion-restrictions-is-based-on-junk-science/">force some women</a> to carry gravely damaged fetuses to term.
<p>
The legislators cite junk science as an excuse.


feed_id: 943c2a7af96e67e5c6bdf87d5f42a869
title: Zaghari-Ratcliffe will be imprisoned
uri: Zaghari-Ratcliffe-will-be-imprisoned
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#25_January_2017_%28Zaghari-Ratcliffe_will_be_imprisoned%29

content:
<p>
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe will be imprisoned for five years for working with the BBC. According to Iran, the BBC is some sort of plot to overthrow the government. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/22/uk-woman-imprisoned-iran-conviction-upheld-nazanin-zaghari-ratcliffe">Her trial was a sham</a>.
<p>
Any Islamist government is the <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-jul-oct.html#25_July_2016_(Human_rights_of_all_Americans)">enemy of human rights</a>, so overthrowing it would generally be an advance for humanity.


feed_id: 2bc53e60ce4bd1b2aa40a0a38efe7d86
title: Women's Protest interviews
uri: Women-s-Protest-interviews
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#25_January_2017_%28Women%27s_Protest_interviews%29
content:
<p>
Interviews with participants in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/22/why-we-protested-solidarity-with-womens-march-on-washington">Saturday's Women's Protest, around the world</a>.


feed_id: 0b5224a52e0f5b645f529b0789a2b613
title: The infant lies about inauguration crowd size
uri: The-infant-lies-about-inauguration-crowd-size
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#25_January_2017_%28The_infant_lies_about_inauguration_crowd_size%29

content:
<p>
The infant lies even about <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-in-cia-visit-attacks-media-for-coverage-of-his-inaugural-crowds/2017/01/21/f4574dca-e019-11e6-ad42-f3375f271c9c_story.html">what we can all see</a>: the size of the crowd at the inauguration.
<p>
The infant's <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/22/sean-spicer-inauguration-groucho-marxist-asking-us-not-believe-our-own-eyes">press secretary repeated the lies</a>. It is an outright declaration of war against the idea of truth.
<p>
I reject the use of the term "Groucho Marxist" to describe this. Groucho's comedy wasn't a lie, it was humorous fiction. His good name should not be tarred by association with the troll.
<p>
The proper term for overt political contempt for truth is Orwell's term, "blackwhiting".


feed_id: 899bbeb0940586a91bbf1a97d22cf86e
title: Israel plans large colonization
uri: Israel-plans-large-colonization
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#25_January_2017_%28Israel_plans_large_colonization%29

content:
<p>
Israel, profiting from the troll's backing, just announced plans for a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/22/israel-reveals-plans-for-nearly-600-settlement-homes-in-east-jerusalem">large colonization project in Palestinian territory</a> annexed and called part of Jerusalem.


feed_id: 212a7a778c8fe5cece91473ca246a168
title: Nationalist trumpery
uri: Nationalist-trumpery
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#25_January_2017_%28Nationalist_trumpery%29
content:
<p>
Varoufakis: as nationalist trumpery disputes power with the neoliberal globalizers, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/22/trumps-nationalism-response-not-globalization">only an international progressive movement can represent the people</a>.


feed_id: 586045e0d9c200cf7577fccb48759fe2
title: State-supported business globalization
uri: State-supported-business-globalization
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#25_January_2017_%28State-supported_business_globalization%29

content:
<p>
State-supported business globalization means that ships operating in British waters can <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/22/indian-sailors-stranded-norfolk-seven-months">hire Indian sailors for a pittance</a>, and then refuse to pay them the pittance.
<p>
This is no unwanted side effect. Knocking down pay for workers is the purpose of business globalization, and governments that support it compete to undercut living standards around the world.


feed_id: 26f9baed8290ed2b354a3210a16c7f27
title: Gun control: American gays organizing
uri: Gun-control-American-gays-organizing
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#25_January_2017_%28Gun_control%3A_American_gays_organizing%29

content:
<p>
In response to the massacre last June, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/22/gays-against-guns-can-the-lgbt-community-curb-the-power-of-the-nra">American gays are organizing to campaign for gun control</a>.


feed_id: 6757d7242096f8d0c337a2ca801a1961
title: Bomb threats to Jewish institutions in US
uri: Bomb-threats-to-Jewish-institutions-in-US
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#25_January_2017_%28Bomb_threats_to_Jewish_institutions_in_US%29

content:
<p>
Jewish institutions in the US are <a href="http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/national-international/New-Spate-of-Bomb-Threats-Against-Jewish-Community-Centers-Across-Country-Raise-Alarms-411082955.html">receiving lots of bomb threats</a>.
<p>
American antisemites got a <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#17_November_2016_(Trump_promotes_antisemitism)">big boost from the troll's campaign</a>.
<p>
Criticism of Israel's policy now <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/22/online-conspiracy-theories-feed-holocaust-denial">leads people to false history</a> such as denial of the holocaust.
<p>
It's a non sequitur, but that doesn't stop people from following it.
<p>
Israel won't end the occupation/siege of Palestine for simple justice, will it do so to avert future antisemitism?
<p>
This is comparable to the US and Guantanamo. Imprisonment without trial, whether in <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#24_January_2017_(Guantanamo:_imprisonment_without_trial)">Guantanamo</a> or <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#27_December_2016_(Palestinians_imprisoned_without_charge)">Israel</a>, is not only a great wrong, it also provokes hostility. In the case of the US, Guantanamo recruits supporters for jihadi terrorist movements around the world.


feed_id: 3770d1d32cd6d81a384d18188d975471
title: White House promotes Melania Trump products
uri: White-House-promotes-Melania-Trump-products
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#25_January_2017_%28White_House_promotes_Melania_Trump_products%29

content:
<p>
The White House web site now <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/2017/live-updates/politics/live-coverage-of-trumps-inauguration/white-house-website-promotes-melania-trumps-modeling-and-jewelry-line/">promotes Melania Trump's branded products</a>.
<p>
That's the troll's totally shameless approach to conflict of interest.


feed_id: 3e7f869aae75dd144ee6885c33f2a583
title: China's full tracking data
uri: China-s-full-tracking-data
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#25_January_2017_%28China%27s_full_tracking_data%29
content:
<p>
In China, basically <a href="http://supchina.com/2017/01/03/cashing-in-on-dystopia/">anyone can get full tracking data</a> about anyone for under 15 dollars.


feed_id: 8fce058558a7d4a41ef1bfe37d9ab0a7
title: Loser attacking science
uri: Loser-attacking-science
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#25_January_2017_%28Loser_attacking_science%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/trumps-5-most-ldquo-anti-science-rdquo-moves/">The loser is attacking science massively</a>.


feed_id: 74fb1546c3d4887f0db580f7f1686785
title: Right-wing pays phony protesters
uri: Right-wing-pays-phony-protesters
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#25_January_2017_%28Right-wing_pays_phony_protesters%29

content:
<p>
<a href="http://www.theverge.com/2017/1/17/14300082/paid-protestor-demand-protests-conservative-media-news">Right-wing disinformation includes a phony site</a> which pretends to recruit paid phony protesters against the troll.
<p>
It is standard practice for the right wing to falsely accuse their opponents of what they themselves do. The troll's "press conference" had <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-jul-oct.html#27_August_2016_(Getting_paid_for_votes)">paid supporters</a>.
<p>
The Tea Party used <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2015-may-aug.html#30_July_2015_(Grass_roots)">fake "grass roots"</a> support.


feed_id: 9f321ee3c45203f9c1263976dd168221
title: Supporter of the troll
uri: Supporter-of-the-troll
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#25_January_2017_%28Supporter_of_the_troll%29
content:
<p>
A
<a href="http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/01/donald-trump-2016-election-oklahoma-working-class">supporter of the troll wrote an essay</a> that clearly presents his
thinking, which he says his community mostly shares.
<p>
The people know the facts of their experience, but they have been sold
misguided explanations for them.  For instance, they blame welfare,
rather than war, for high taxes, and they don't realize that they pay
so much because businesses and rich people don't pay their share.
<p>
<a href="media/49f7d03d.Peter-s-Essay.pdf" data-original-source="https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/3394305/Peter-s-Essay.pdf">Here is the essay itself.</a>


feed_id: f6f5688d6e0d230e57374056bb2377b4
title: Urgent: Alt-right
uri: Urgent-Alt-right
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#25_January_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Alt-right%29
content:
<p>
Everyone: call on NBC
<a href="https://act.colorofchange.org/sign/tell-networks-stop-alt-right/?t=1011&akid=6716.1242918.lXqXD2">not to hide white nationalism behind the
innocent-sounding term</a> "alt-right".


feed_id: 7d0c1e9dd078036e7509c401d3457e98
title: Urgent: Ethics
uri: Urgent-Ethics
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#25_January_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Ethics%29
content:
<p>
US citizens:
<a href="https://action.aclu.org/secure/trumpFOIA?emsrc=Nat_Appeal_AutologinEnabled&emissue=nationalsecurity&emtype=petition&ms=eml_170120_nationalsecurity_TrumpFOIA&__af=query_string_encrypted">call on the Office of Government Ethics to release all
documents</a>
about Trump's conflicts of interest.


feed_id: cd05213ac0e40f160eca6cfeabaf16f5
title: Legalizing hitting protesters with cars
uri: Legalizing-hitting-protesters-with-cars
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#25_January_2017_%28Legalizing_hitting_protesters_with_cars%29

content:
<p>
North Dakota Republicans propose to legalize hitting protesters with cars. Ostensibly it is <a href="http://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/01/16/shocking-north-dakota-republicans-want-legalize-running-over-protesters">only for unintentional collisions</a>, but it is easy for the driver to claim falsely that it was unintentional. Also, it would encourage drivers to be intentionally careless, and intentionally risk hitting someone.


feed_id: 88367d7f394e0da7f3299f67a4a07b4c
title: Resist the loser's way of thinking
uri: Resist-the-loser-s-way-of-thinking
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#25_January_2017_%28Resist_the_loser%27s_way_of_thinking%29

content:
<p>
To resist the loser's way of thinking, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/17/resist-donald-trump-vocabulary-resistance-rhetoric">we should not resist his approach to language</a>.


feed_id: fe90261e06be43bd76486ef9c5731675
title: Half a million people protested
uri: Half-a-million-people-protested
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#25_January_2017_%28Half_a_million_people_protested%29

content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/21/women-march-washington-protest-donald-trump">Half a million people protested in Washington DC</a> today.


feed_id: b01f6430f9f2b5bc0d1d731df288b112
title: The Tories' threat against the EU
uri: The-Tories-threat-against-the-EU
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#25_January_2017_%28The_Tories%27_threat_against_the_EU%29

content:
<p>
The Tories' threat against the EU is to make itself a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/17/theresa-may-brexit-workers-rights-britain-single-market">puppet state of the rich</a> and trash the lives of nonrich Britons.
<p>
<a href="media/62a79bb0.anuran-bevan.jpg" data-original-source="https://stallman.org/images/anuran-bevan.jpg" title="Anuran Bevan cartoon">The Tories are lower than vermin—Aneurin Bevan</a>.


feed_id: 46b38dbc8e6e92d4564d929b1fbd1219
title: Troll inauguration press manipulation
uri: Troll-inauguration-press-manipulation
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#25_January_2017_%28Troll_inauguration_press_manipulation%29

content:
<p>
The troll used the inauguration as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/20/donald-trump-divisive-ungracious-unrepentant-trump-unbound">another bullying campaign rally</a> and <a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/01/21/identify-trump-donors/">a way to reward the investors</a> in his presidency. His speech <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/20/trump-inaugural-address-fact-check">misrepresented the situation</a>, as usual.
<p>
The press must not be distracted by his bullshitting and manipulation—it must focus on the issues raised by what he does.


feed_id: 488350c21e70214497d1e72fb14490d9
title: Takeaways From Scott Pruittâs Nomination Hearing
uri: Takeaways-From-Scott-Pruittâ-s-Nomination-Hearing
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#25_January_2017_%28Takeaways_From_Scott_Pruitt%C3%A2%C2%80%C2%99s_Nomination_Hearing%29

content:
<p>
<a href="http://blog.ucsusa.org/andrew-rosenberg/five-takeaways-from-scott-pruitts-nomination-hearing-that-should-worry-scientists">Five Takeaways From Scott Pruitt's Nomination Hearing That Should Worry Scientists</a>.


feed_id: f008f29482f434e9655f2e1f29cee8ba
title: Melbourne may ban homeless
uri: Melbourne-may-ban-homeless
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#25_January_2017_%28Melbourne_may_ban_homeless%29
content:
<p>
Melbourne, Australia, is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/jan/20/melbournes-homeless-could-be-banned-from-city-after-mayors-u-turn">threatening to attack homeless people</a> for sleeping or begging on the streets.
<p>
Where are they supposed to go? A grave?


feed_id: eb68e33d542d86bd99b054c15eabc6a5
title: Facebook's political influence
uri: Facebook-s-political-influence
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#25_January_2017_%28Facebook%27s_political_influence%29

content:
<p>
Arguing that Facebook can't deal with the fake news problem without <a href="http://www.chronicle.com/article/FacebookFalsehood/238867">taking political stands</a>.
<p>
However, what political stands would Facebook take? It is not an upstanding organization. It is a business that aims to make more and more money.
<p>
My conclusion is that we can't tolerate a business as influential as Facebook.


feed_id: 51d25ee1c21f7021e135988426976844
title: The loser is encouraging nationalisms
uri: The-loser-is-encouraging-nationalisms
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#25_January_2017_%28The_loser_is_encouraging_nationalisms%29

content:
<p>
The loser is encouraging nationalisms that are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/21/president-trump-age-global-confrontation-nationalist-china">sure to lead to conflicts</a>.
<p>
US hegemony kept many of these conflicts down, but it has been getting increasingly ineffective ever since Dubya's invasion of Iraq.


feed_id: 0fa7b249c52bc97e89b9a8531d7a2797
title: The new American Left
uri: The-new-American-Left
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#25_January_2017_%28The_new_American_Left%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/21/he-american-left-will-be-reborn-under-president-trump">"The American left will be reborn under President Trump."</a>


feed_id: 031e808fae218d81817379bff6778520
title: The meaning of citizenship and democracy
uri: The-meaning-of-citizenship-and-democracy
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#25_January_2017_%28The_meaning_of_citizenship_and_democracy%29

content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/jan/21/theresa-may-citizenship-tom-mccarthy-aeschylus">On the meaning of citizenship and democracy</a>.
<p>
Immigrants are not a burden on the national treasury, because they contribute to it. There are, however, two resources that they strain: housing space and farmland.
<p>
The footprint on housing and farmland of one immigrant is no different from the burden of one native-born inhabitant. To limit those footprints is a matter of curbing the future population, not immigration as such.


feed_id: 8f2edd21e41fa73f3f7b89a8d7205297
title: Canadian marchers blocked
uri: Canadian-marchers-blocked
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#25_January_2017_%28Canadian_marchers_blocked%29
content:
<p>
Canadians intending to march in Washington today were blocked from entering the US, as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/20/womens-march-canada-protesters-denied-entry-us">immigration agents stretched the truth</a> to generate an excuse.
<p>
French and British people coming with them were permanently barred from the US.
<p>
Agents also searched their car and phones for hours—obviously for no reason but to harass them. The agents glory in the power to harass with impunity. They are a disgrace to their country.
<p>
Don't forget the <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2009-sep-dec.html#15%20December%202009%20(How%20the%20law%20really%20works)">unprovoked beating of Canadian writer Peter Watts</a> when he tried to visit the US.


feed_id: 4cb7a0203721606c0aaf0c87f9a1b303
title: The loser's first act as president
uri: The-loser-s-first-act-as-president
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#25_January_2017_%28The_loser%27s_first_act_as_president%29

content:
<p>
The loser's first act, as president, was to <a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/01/20/on-his-first-day-in-office-trump-raises-taxes-on-middle-class-homebuyers/">raise taxes on homebuyers</a>.


feed_id: 66bdeda098a1a5b7aa3e0d12796056ca
title: UK universities imposing surveillance and censorship
uri: UK-universities-imposing-surveillance-and-censorship
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#25_January_2017_%28UK_universities_imposing_surveillance_and_censorship%29

content:
<p>
UK universities are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jan/20/university-warns-students-emails-may-be-monitored-kings-college-london-prevent">imposing surveillance and strict censorship</a> on student and faculty email systems.
<p>
They require users to agree to this as a condition of using those systems. It is very important for people to respond by refusing ever to connect to them, even once.


feed_id: eade07e0298bf9fa77c4b7b77de40433
title: Imprisoned for swallowing a goldfish
uri: Imprisoned-for-swallowing-a-goldfish
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#25_January_2017_%28Imprisoned_for_swallowing_a_goldfish%29

content:
<p>
Two Britons may be <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jan/20/two-friends-face-jail-over-dare-that-ended-in-goldfish-swallowing">imprisoned for swallowing a goldfish</a>.
<p>
What next—prison for boiling a lobster?


feed_id: e6c347dbe6fdbde1df0bbb69f747e5dc
title: DC thugs attacked peaceful protesters
uri: DC-thugs-attacked-peaceful-protesters
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#25_January_2017_%28DC_thugs_attacked_peaceful_protesters%29

content:
<p>
Washington DC thugs <a href="http://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/01/20/dc-protests-against-trump-supporters-deploraball-met-tear-gas-riot-police">attacked peaceful protesters with tear gas</a> on Thursday evening.


feed_id: 0c6506eeeac488c6174e35ebe017aaa1
title: Extreme weather killing Spain's vegetable crop
uri: Extreme-weather-killing-Spain-s-vegetable-crop
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#25_January_2017_%28Extreme_weather_killing_Spain%27s_vegetable_crop%29

content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/jan/20/losing-the-plot-courgette-crisis-spreads-to-other-vegetables">Extreme weather has killed most of Spain's vegetable crop</a>, so there will be a shortage of fresh vegetables in Europe for a few months.
<p>
Global heating makes extreme weather more common. At least this shortage won't kill anyone, but now imagine an equal shortage of grain. That will happen frequently in a decade or two.


