# articles

feed_id: fd70422cee72a5dba71f144a30919df5
title: Suspicious 99% victory in election
uri: Suspicious-99-victory-in-election
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#6_August_2017_%28Suspicious_99%2525_victory_in_election%29

content:
<p>
Authoritarian President Kagame of Rwanda, running for reelection,
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/05/paul-kagame-secures-third-term-in-rwanda-presidential-election">reports
winning 99% of the votes</a>.
<p>
Kagame has 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2012-sep-dec.html#13_October_2012_(Kagame_imprisons_and_kills_opposition_and_journalists)">brought
peace and prosperity, as well as some repression, to Rwanda</a>, and I
can believe he received the majority of the votes.  However, the
reported 99% victory makes me suspect falsification.  It reminds me of
Russia, where Putin would surely win a free and fair election, but
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2012-mar-jun.html#11_May_2012_(Putin)">prefers
to make them unfair</a>.


feed_id: 5436357cdc1ac0d963a907073f4f1086
title: Nissan's illegal bullying
uri: Nissan-s-illegal-bullying
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#6_August_2017_%28Nissans_illegal_bullying%29
content:
<p>
Nissan 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/05/mississippi-nissan-workers-vote-against-union">defeated
unionization in its Mississippi factory</a> using 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#2_August_2017_(Nissan_workers)">illegal
bullying measures</a>.


feed_id: 9c124e44bcc1a2f6d3910cbaf49cba0b
title: Venezuelans fleeing to Colombia
uri: Venezuelans-fleeing-to-Colombia
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#6_August_2017_%28Venezuelans_fleeing_to_Colombia%29
content:
<p>
People in Venezuela are starting to 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/05/here-there-is-a-chance-venezuela-crisis-triggers-exodus-to-colombia">flee
to Colombia</a>.  Others go there to buy everyday goods that can't be
found in Venezuela.
<p>
To go to Colombia to buy goods is an ironic reversal.  A few years
ago, Venezuelans crossed the bridge to CÃºcuta to
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-jul-oct.html#11_July_2016_(Food_shortages_in_Venezuela)">resell
goods they had bought in Venezuela</a> at low prices subsidized by the
state.  These subsidies caused occasional shortages in Venezuela.


feed_id: 65a0c7eb19c0a49f373cfc94a71c6922
title: Business systems that harm most of society
uri: Business-systems-that-harm-most-of-society
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#6_August_2017_%28Business_systems_that_harm_most_of_society%29

content:
<p>
Many sectors of business operate in ways that harm most of society.
These business systems are 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/08/02/talking-about-media-revolution">propped
up by the corporate media</a>.
<p>
The article mentions fossil fuel use and medical care, but there are
more.  Big agriculture, for instance.
<p>
Beyond the corporate media, we find 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jan-apr.html#10_April_2017_(Young_Americans_longing_for_1950s_world)">plutocracy</a>,
the overall system which keeps business in power over society.


feed_id: 0f4d15184a10e71522deacd6484132c4
title: Protest related executions
uri: 2017-08-07-Protest-related-executions
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#6_August_2017_%28Protest_related_executions%29
content:
<p>
Salafi Arabia is about to <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2017/08/04/saudi-government-defends-imminent-protest-related-executions">execute 14 people for protesting</a>, after trying them in a Guantanamo-style kangaroo court.
<p>
That the autocratic state responded shows that campaigns of criticism are making progress.  If we keep on, we can make <a href="/glossary.html#salafi">Salafi Arabia</a> too toxic for other countries to ally with.


feed_id: 4f85d825f077c8e0eca9f526f8b2e58b
title: Abortion rights
uri: 2017-08-07-Abortion-rights
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#7_August_2017_%28Abortion_rights%29
content:
<p>
Campaigning for abortion rights in the Philippines
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/jul/10/how-bitter-herbs-and-botched-abortions-kill-three-women-a-day-in-the-philippines">requires overcoming
the resistance of the Catholic Church</a>.


feed_id: 0140f3b8d529fc251384d66fbb7d4e28
title: Urgent: Block troll's housing cuts
uri: Urgent-Block-troll-s-housing-cuts
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#7_August_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Block_trolls_housing_cuts%29

content:
<p>
US citizens:
<a href="https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/sign-the-petition-tell-ben-carson-to-stop-trumps-housing-cuts">call
on Ben Carson</a> to block the troll's housing cuts.


feed_id: f31b77c6a1f8aca709ebffb40c5dbc40
title: Urgent: Protect the Johnson Amendment
uri: Urgent-Protect-the-Johnson-Amendment
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#7_August_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Protect_the_Johnson_Amendment%29

content:
<p>
US citizens:
<a href="http://go.fightforreform.org/page/s/johnson-amendment">Protect
the Johnson Amendment</a> from SCROTUS.


feed_id: 20abbe44a2d47a1f42e2b0e0b7617655
title: Urgent: Block Sinclair-Tribune merger
uri: Urgent-Block-Sinclair-Tribune-merger
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#7_August_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Block_Sinclair-Tribune_merger%29

content:
<p>
US citizens:
<a href="http://act.freepress.net/sign/journ_trump_sinclair">call on
the FCC</a> to block the Sinclair-Tribune TV merger.


feed_id: 6ac249221a296c87b452615051b1477a
title: Urgent: Moral budget
uri: Urgent-Moral-budget
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#7_August_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Moral_budget%29
content:
<p>
US citizens:
<a href="https://actionnetwork.org/forms/demand-a-moralbudget">call on
Congress</a> to pass a moral budget.


feed_id: ed55e5f7e0a2d35af99cbe0c4239c5aa
title: Resurgent wolves in France
uri: Resurgent-wolves-in-France
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#7_August_2017_%28Resurgent_wolves_in_France%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/06/french-farmers-demand-action-against-wolves-killing-livestock">Resurgent
wolves in France</a> have killed 3000 to 4000 farm sheep this year, as
well as some cattle and horses.
<p>
Surely France can afford to reimburse farmers for the cost of losing a
tiny fraction of their animals to wolves.


feed_id: 00cd3834b96fac518fc20b3e89e29905
title: Venezuela
uri: 2017-08-07-Venezuela
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#7_August_2017_%28Venezuela%29
content:
<p>
Chavez was
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/06/observer-view-on-venezuela-nicolas-maduro">both
right and wrong</a>, and some of the wrong was his response to
plutocratist sabotage.


feed_id: 4c11cd90b5c5a4bcdb6b324bd840434f
title: Excessive tourism
uri: Excessive-tourism
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#7_August_2017_%28Excessive_tourism%29
content:
<p>
Excessive tourism is
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/05/only-governments-can-stem-tide-of-tourism-sweeping-the-globe">making
the inhabitants of many cities very unhappy</a>.
<p>
Taxing flights for their contribution to global heating would have the
side effect of limiting tourism.  It would also reduce the cost of
airport expansion.


feed_id: 2052cee87ddfe9d0f997e63c512295e0
title: Proposed fracking in Australia
uri: Proposed-fracking-in-Australia
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#7_August_2017_%28Proposed_fracking_in_Australia%29
content:
<p>
Proposed fracking in Australia would emit
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/aug/02/emissions-from-nts-mcarthur-basin-would-dwarf-those-from-adani-coalmine">far
more</a> than the giant proposed coal mine.


feed_id: ea7e624fd2ee9f6cadbc94934964a122
title: India's secular, tolerant, free society
uri: India-s-secular-tolerant-free-society
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#7_August_2017_%28Indias_secular%2C_tolerant%2C_free_society%29

content:
<p>
India is
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/02/70-years-independence-india-mumbai">losing
the secular, tolerant and free society</a> that its founders hoped
for.
<p>
The current ruling party is related to the religious fanatical
movement that assassinated Gandhi.


feed_id: 43daa41daac738f8f0a548667ce4926f
title: Human consumption outpacing Earth's production
uri: Human-consumption-outpacing-Earth-s-production
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#7_August_2017_%28Human_consumption_outpacing_Earths_production%29

content:
<p>
"<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/08/02/earth-exhausted-humans-have-already-consumed-planets-annual-resources">In
seven months</a> [January through July], we emitted more carbon than
the oceans and forests can absorb in a year, we caught more fish,
felled more trees, harvested more, and consumed more water than the
Earth was able to produce in the same period."


feed_id: 97dfb4fb7302a43868128630474208a9
title: Genetic engineering and ecosystem preservation
uri: Genetic-engineering-and-ecosystem-preservation
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#7_August_2017_%28Genetic_engineering_and_ecosystem_preservation%29

content:
<p>
<a href="http://e360.yale.edu/features/should-new-genetic-engineering-be-used-as-a-conservation-tool">Can
genetic engineering be used</a> to preserve ecosystems?
<p>
I don't think eradicating an intrusive species from an area with a
gene drive is significantly ethically different from doing so with
traps.  For safety, there must be multiple levels of safety systems to
prevent the gene drive from spreading off the target area.
<p>
However, I think any scheme that involves modifying large numbers of
species will not be feasible for a long time.  For instance, the idea
of genetically modifying coral to cope with heat and acidity is far
fetched, because preserving the ecosystem would require modifying
<em>all</em> the coral species and varieties there.  How many coral
species are found in any given reef?  Can we be sure we have
identified them all?  It doesn't seem feasible.


feed_id: 986589e2e00ae1721023f2960554a5fa
title: Seismic blasting harms sea mammals
uri: Seismic-blasting-harms-sea-mammals
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#7_August_2017_%28Seismic_blasting_harms_sea_mammals%29

content:
<p>
The US government has recognized that seismic blasting to search for
oil in the Gulf of Mexico harm
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2017/08/04/feds-seismic-oil-surveys-gulf-mexico-would-injure-30-million-marine-mammals">large
numbers of whales, dolphins, and other sea mammals</a>.


feed_id: 6ed4db89a11382f9526ea63d70d77926
title: Immigration thugs in labor commission offices
uri: Immigration-thugs-in-labor-commission-offices
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#7_August_2017_%28Immigration_thugs_in_labor_commission_offices%29

content:
<p>
Employers in California are calling US immigration thugs to
<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/8/3/1686666/-In-California-disgruntled-employees-may-be-siccing-ICE-on-workers-who-report-labor-violations">grab
and deport their employees that have reported violations of labor
laws</a>.  California has responded by kicking immigration thugs out
of the labor commission offices.


feed_id: 24a2a9d37bccc7af70233779a2a4ba17
title: DJI drones snoop on users
uri: DJI-drones-snoop-on-users
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#7_August_2017_%28DJI_drones_snoop_on_users%29
content:
<p>
While you're using a DJI drone to snoop on other people, DJI is in
many cases
<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2017/8/4/16095244/us-army-stop-using-dji-drones-cybersecurity">snooping
on you</a>.


feed_id: f7b0e627763a2f694780fff970c4ba50
title: Anti-terrorism
uri: 2017-08-07-Anti-terrorism
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#7_August_2017_%28Anti-terrorism%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://edri.org/draconian-anti-terrorism-measures-instil-terror/">Draconian Anti-Terrorism Measures</a> Instill Terror.
<p>
Innocent people are charged with imaginary "crimes" detected
by surveillance.


feed_id: 051e939917888abeebf8b4fd354132a6
title: Kleptocracy
uri: Kleptocracy
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#7_August_2017_%28Kleptocracy%29
content:
<p>
The troll's <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jul/31/trump-ethics-chief-walter-shaub-kleptocracy">corrupt self-dealing</a> risks branding the US as a kleptocracy.


feed_id: ed41f9c63687922393c08129d527a3e1
title: Targeted Facebook ads
uri: Targeted-Facebook-ads
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#7_August_2017_%28Targeted_Facebook_ads%29
content:
<p>
Facebook ads targeted at people selected for high or low authoritarianism
can effectively persuade them either to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jul/31/facebook-dark-ads-can-swing-opinions-politics-research-shows">support massive state surveillance or to oppose it</a>.
<p>
Such targeting gives well-funded campaigns the power to win by saying
different things to different people.


feed_id: 8c2ed263b18dbc64f543e7b9268ca886
title: Tesla tracking device
uri: Tesla-tracking-device
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#7_August_2017_%28Tesla_tracking_device%29
content:
<p>
 The Tesla car version 2 was a tracking device. The Tesla 3 requires
the driver to carry a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jul/31/tesla-model-3-electric-car-doesnt-have-key-things-we-learned-speedometer-battery-sleep">separate tracking device</a> (portable phone) and
run a proprietary app on it.


feed_id: ce1a173141a6a67570ae3b66c8412b01
title: Credit card tracking
uri: Credit-card-tracking
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#7_August_2017_%28Credit_card_tracking%29
content:
<p>
Google's plan to correlate credit card purchasing with browsing is the
target of a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2017/07/30/googles-new-program-to-track-shoppers-sparks-a-federal-privacy-complaint/">federal privacy complaint</a>.
<p>
It is easy to make an informed decision about whether to pay by credit
card: <em>don't</em>. If you pay in a way that isn't anonymous,
<em>someone</em> will know what you bought, and give the data to
someone else that will use that information against you. We don't
know precisely how or when, but we don't need to know that to draw the
pertinent conclusion.


feed_id: 20036ba4cda903e03fe50017d5c390ff
title: Software vulnerabilities
uri: Software-vulnerabilities
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#7_August_2017_%28Software_vulnerabilities%29
content:
<p>
Software vulnerabilities are frequently <a href="https://lawfareblog.com/rediscovering-vulnerabilities">discovered independently more than once</a>. When intelligence agencies keep a vulnerability secret so
as to be able to use it, with the result that it isn't fixed, there is
a substantial chance this gives someone else chance to rediscover it
and exploit it.


feed_id: 26ab7aa5c6d6f2249a228f7d04412936
title: Today's capitalism
uri: Today-s-capitalism
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#7_August_2017_%28Today%27s_capitalism%29
content:
<p>
Most Americans are fed up with <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/01/capitalism-excesses-dustbin-history">capitalism as it is today</a>.
<p>
Capitalism was not always so narrowly focused. The idea that a
corporation's primary duty is to its stockholders alone was not
accepted in the US until a few decades ago, and in some European
countries it still is not accepted.


feed_id: 2fb05169067900adf8afafe83bc03a5b
title: Chicago mental health
uri: Chicago-mental-health
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#7_August_2017_%28Chicago_mental_health%29
content:
<p>
Chicago has <a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/08/06/chicago-police-mental-health-swat-raids-militarized/">ceased offering</a> mentally ill people any help. But if they
flip out, it sends a SWAT team to arrest them.


feed_id: a67db154b918bab01486b7f1313475fa
title: Banning al-Jazeera
uri: Banning-al-Jazeera
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#7_August_2017_%28Banning_al-Jazeera%29
content:
<p>
Israel plans to join Egypt in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/06/israeli-government-impose-ban-al-jazeera-news-network">banning al-Jazeera's reporters</a> from
operating there and blocking access to broadcasts.


feed_id: bb9141baf591ca38a83023ea96065f2c
title: North Korea sanctions
uri: North-Korea-sanctions
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#7_August_2017_%28North_Korea_sanctions%29
content:
<p>
The UN adopted <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/06/north-korea-un-vote-russia-china-resolution-2371">new, biting sanctions</a> against North Korea with the support
or Russia and China as well as the US.
<p>
Tillerson could perhaps convert this into a negotiating point to
advance towards stability in the Korean nuclear situation.


feed_id: 17c38aa87fcc09deaea54b4be01dbb4a
title: Urgent: Stop import of chicken from China
uri: Urgent-Stop-import-of-chicken-from-China
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#8_August_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Stop_import_of_chicken_from_China%29

content:
<p>
US citizens:
<a href="https://secure.foodandwaterwatch.org/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&page=UserAction&id=3055">call
on the USDA</a> to stop import of chicken from China as long as China
doesn't maintain US-style food safety standards.


feed_id: 1acd54fa19c45ce91bc14f2a9da4ca81
title: Urgent: Tongass National Forest
uri: 2017-08-08-Urgent-Tongass-National-Forest
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#8_August_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Tongass_National_Forest%29

content:
<p>
US citizens:
<a href="https://secure.defenders.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=3228">protect</a>
the Tongass National Forest from logging.


feed_id: fcea914fd948531c102f6fc9f31cf2c5
title: Urgent: Replace NAFTA
uri: Urgent-Replace-NAFTA
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#8_August_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Replace_NAFTA%29
content:
<p>
US citizens:
<a href="https://act.credoaction.com/sign/Replace_NAFTA">call for
replacing NAFTA</a> with something less plutocratic.


feed_id: b75db96623b7b04db371e4a047fa1675
title: Urgent: Cancel BSA honor for president
uri: Urgent-Cancel-BSA-honor-for-president
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#8_August_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Cancel_BSA_honor_for_president%29

content:
<p>
In the US: call on the Boy Scouts of America to
<a href="https://petitions.moveon.org/sign/boy-scouts-take-away">cancel
the honorary status</a> accorded to the president of the US.


feed_id: bb35ce9270477f68d9b581c3d5167b6c
title: Effect of smartphones on teenagers
uri: Effect-of-smartphones-on-teenagers
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#8_August_2017_%28Effect_of_smartphones_on_teenagers%29

content:
<p>
Today's teenagers
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/09/has-the-smartphone-destroyed-a-generation/534198/">remain
childish</a> instead of seeking to become independent.  They stay at
home, communicating by smartphone, instead of seeing each other
physically.
<p>
And that makes them feel lonely and depressed.


feed_id: 351b07bccc80ca697888665dd304e109
title: Ban on "spice" in the UK
uri: Ban-on-spice-in-the-UK
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#8_August_2017_%28Ban_on_spice_in_the_UK%29
content:
<p>
Banning the drug called "spice" in the UK has
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/aug/06/spice-ban-prisoners-homeless-at-risk-drug-goes-underground">made
it more dangerous</a>.


feed_id: 5bb9a0dd25273901d6e9db51aee04a09
title: Military government of Thailand
uri: Military-government-of-Thailand
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#8_August_2017_%28Military_government_of_Thailand%29
content:
<p>
The military government of Thailand
<a href="https://globalvoices.org/2017/08/06/thai-journalist-and-two-other-critics-of-military-led-government-face-sedition-charges-over-facebook-posts/">prosecutes
journalists and dissidents</a> for criticizing the military
government.
<p>
I think it is a mistake to use the vague and deemotionalized word
<a href="https://stallman.org/antiglossary.html#detained">"detain"</a>
to refer to imprisoning people.


feed_id: 1192a0fde54c1eda60b2bb9d1a34df83
title: Saboteur of Health
uri: 2017-08-08-Saboteur-of-Health
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#8_August_2017_%28Saboteur_of_Health%29
content:
<p>
Tom Price, the <a href="/glossary.html#saboteur">Saboteur</a> of Health, has
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/08/05/i-grew-tom-prices-district-sex-ed-he-promotes-dangerous">cut
the budget for dozens of programs that reduce teenage pregnancy</a>.


feed_id: 112c74201c7520b54bb507370a283a4b
title: Urgent: Reject denialist as USDA head
uri: Urgent-Reject-denialist-as-USDA-head
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#8_August_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Reject_denialist_as_USDA_head%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: 
<a href="http://act.climatehawksvote.com/stopclovis">call on the
Senate</a> to reject denialist Sam Clovis as head of the USDA's
scientists.
<p>
Clovis is not only a global heating denialist, he's a 
<a href="http://gizmodo.com/trumps-pick-for-usda-chief-scientist-isnt-a-scientist-1797485411">rabid
racist</a> as well.


feed_id: 5c6c76edb916e141b1984e8e8124d8cb
title: Women in patriarchal societies
uri: Women-in-patriarchal-societies
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#8_August_2017_%28Women_in_patriarchal_societies%29
content:
<p>
Using foreign aid to help women in Afghanistan, or any strongly
patriarchal society, is a lot
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/07/canada-international-aid-feminist-women-afghanistan">harder
than one might suppose</a>.
<p>
Syrian women are 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2017/aug/07/syrian-feminists-chance-the-war-gave-us-to-empower-women">doing
their own organizing</a> for equality.


feed_id: 077608fe440866554e5817b8bed7b4c3
title: Sustainable electronics standards
uri: Sustainable-electronics-standards
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#8_August_2017_%28Sustainable_electronics_standards%29

content:
<p>
Big Tech Has 
<a href="https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/evzeep/big-tech-has-destroyed-americas-sustainable-electronics-standards">Destroyed</a>
Americaâs Sustainable Electronics Standards.


feed_id: 2985212e2a80f44aa5ffffd738d8761f
title: Medical research
uri: Medical-research
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#8_August_2017_%28Medical_research%29
content:
<p>
Really important medical research 
<a href="http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/41522-the-zika-vaccine-the-miracle-of-government-funded-research">should
be funded by the government</a> — so why even think of giving
one company a monopoly on it?


feed_id: 54b392b07845b097ebb27ec4899f260b
title: Droughts
uri: 2017-08-09-Droughts
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#8_August_2017_%28Droughts%29
content:
<p>
An unusual kind of drought 
<a href="http://grist.org/food/flash-drought-could-devastate-half-the-high-plains-wheat-harvest/">could
ruin the wheat harvest in the High Plains</a>, an area which only
recently became a center for growing wheat.
<p>
<a href="/glossary.html#global heating">Global heating</a> made wheat production feasible there, but global
heating also makes the droughts.


feed_id: af4d457ae60c1820b8b1f8fdab847d67
title: Toxic emissions from diesel cars
uri: Toxic-emissions-from-diesel-cars
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#8_August_2017_%28Toxic_emissions_from_diesel_cars%29

content:
<p>
Diesel car manufacturers have 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/aug/07/death-diesel-why-no-reverse-gear">cheated
at many levels to cover up toxic emissions</a>, and continue lobbying
to prevent corrective measures.  Under proper pollution safety
standards, diesel cars would be so expensive they wouldn't sell.  We
might as well put an end to them.


feed_id: b38d744c1b1e54671d45535d7913cbb5
title: Poverty and hunger
uri: Poverty-and-hunger
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#8_August_2017_%28Poverty_and_hunger%29
content:
<p>
Reporting on the Millenium Development Goals says the world has
greatly reduced poverty and hunger, but this is 
<a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/293191457_The_true_extent_of_global_poverty_and_hunger_Questioning_the_good_news_narrative_of_the_Millennium_Development_Goals">exaggerated
by the way the figures are computed</a>.


feed_id: 4c3d1942b15a313b6f67f9239aa55a35
title: Fossil fuel subsidies
uri: 2017-08-09-Fossil-fuel-subsidies
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#8_August_2017_%28Fossil_fuel_subsidies%29
content:
<p>
Fossil fuel subsidies amount to 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2017/aug/07/fossil-fuel-subsidies-are-a-staggering-5-tn-per-year">five
trillion dollars per year</a>.


feed_id: 30a834ac028e93ebf41261736eff4279
title: Urgent: Call on MPD to fire racist thugs
uri: Urgent-Call-on-MPD-to-fire-racist-thugs
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#8_August_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Call_on_MPD_to_fire_racist_thugs%29

content:
<p>
Everyone: <a href="https://campaigns.organizefor.org/petitions/kick-racist-cops-out-our-community-tell-mpd-to-fire-officer-altieri?akid=7740.1242918.G5zHpI&bucket=COC&rd=1&source=mailing&t=1005">call on Washington DC to fire the thugs</a> that wore white supremacist symbols, and investigate racism in the thug department.


feed_id: 8e2e028fccab99930ad89361e8e10518
title: US voters Atheism
uri: US-voters-Atheism
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#8_August_2017_%28US_voters_Atheism%29
content:
<p>
One of the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/shortcuts/2017/aug/08/in-god-we-trust-why-americans-wont-vote-in-an-atheist-president">many fantastic beliefs</a> that religious Americans go in for is the belief that Atheists are more likely to do evil than religious believers.


feed_id: 8220dbdce13745e616a46c7f0260a609
title: Evolution science Darwin
uri: Evolution-science-Darwin
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#8_August_2017_%28Evolution_science_Darwin%29
content:
<p>
How can science engage with people that are so predisposed to disbelieve science that they can't consider the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/08/attack-darwin-evolution-science-an-wilson">rational evidence</a> for evolution?


feed_id: 89629da4e0620b77ddd61fd70ea61d31
title: Autonomous vehicles
uri: Autonomous-vehicles
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#8_August_2017_%28Autonomous_vehicles%29
content:
<p>
Some Americans, such as truck drivers, dare to start to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/08/humans-v-robots-defending-jobs">think about retarding "progress"</a> in automation that they see will benefit the rich and harm most everyone else.
<p>
However, they don't dare to propose strong measures adequate to the task, because they are afraid of the stigma of the term "Luddite": a stigma against saying that technology should be or servant rather than our master.  They are afraid to propose that we limit technology for people's good.
<p>
All we need, to stop driverless trucks and driverless cars from putting millions of Americans out of work, is a state law in some important state to prohibit them.  While we're at it, let's make Uber treat its drivers as employees and give them the benefits of employees.
<p>
If this means <a href="/uber.html">Uber</a> disappears, good riddance! That will put a crimp in massive surveillance.


feed_id: 94214da3bf5f12adc9d2412ea88c6940
title: Afghanistan US Plan
uri: Afghanistan-US-Plan
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#8_August_2017_%28Afghanistan_US_Plan%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/08/08/blackwater-founders-disturbing-plan-privatize-afghan-war-gains-ground">Blackwater Founder's "Disturbing" Plan</a> to Privatize Afghan War Gains Ground.


feed_id: 0ef187195e2f3db0c81382a3d7ac27d9
title: Transhumanist future
uri: Transhumanist-future
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#8_August_2017_%28Transhumanist_future%29
content:
<p>
Transhumanist technologies that can enhance individuals, in the context of a society organized by extreme capitalism that makes most people choose between all-out competition and abandonment, would tend to <a href="https://theconversation.com/super-intelligence-and-eternal-life-transhumanisms-faithful-follow-it-blindly-into-a-future-for-the-elite-78538">become oppressive</a> and effectively compulsory.


feed_id: c29c16d8cc1aaba9553bf7bb5b83e51d
title: Urgent: Trans Mountain pipeline
uri: Urgent-Trans-Mountain-pipeline
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#8_August_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Trans_Mountain_pipeline%29

content:
<p>
 Everyone: <a href="https://act.credoaction.com/sign/transmountain">call on banks</a> not to fund the Trans Mountain pipeline.


feed_id: 8cd92dfc5bb50add6e276123866c6645
title: Extreme weather
uri: 2017-08-09-Extreme-weather
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#8_August_2017_%28Extreme_weather%29
content:
<p>
<a href="/glossary.html#trump">The troll</a>'s saboteurs have told staff at the Department of Agriculture
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/08/07/emails-show-usda-staff-told-avoid-term-climate-change-under-trump">not to use the term "climate change"</a>. They have been ordered to say
"extreme weather" instead.
<p>
Ironically, the reason they used the term "climate change" is that
denialist officials appointed by Dubya <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2014-may-aug.html#16_June_2014_(Destroyed_by_global_heating)">told them to say that</a> instead
of "global warming".


feed_id: 304bbc57ea45711f953c6fb52acf6e4d
title: Human rights laws
uri: Human-rights-laws
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#8_August_2017_%28Human_rights_laws%29
content:
<p>
Keir Starmer, the UK's former chief prosecutor, says that human rights
laws <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/07/theresa-may-tearing-up-human-rights-laws-terrorist">never blocked the prosecution of terrorists</a>, while they protect
everyone from oppression.


feed_id: 235523eeed1acbaeda20a4d21a887096
title: 100 year floods
uri: 100-year-floods
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#8_August_2017_%28100_year_floods%29
content:
<p>
"100 year floods", that used happen on the average just once per century,
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jun/07/us-coastal-flooding-carbon-emissions-study">will happen once per year</a> in San Francisco by 2050, and once per month
in New York City by 2100.


feed_id: fd71ef0fd7d400d9c13294320bb66b8a
title: Economic inequality in US
uri: Economic-inequality-in-US
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#8_August_2017_%28Economic_inequality_in_US%29
content:
<p>
Economic (and thus political) inequality in the US is <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/08/07/even-more-evidence-us-kleptocracy-not-meritocracy">racing forward</a>.


feed_id: 942a2053d8c7225f1a58a528554b9c6b
title: Next terrorist incident
uri: Next-terrorist-incident
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#8_August_2017_%28Next_terrorist_incident%29
content:
<p>
Americans, prepare for the next terrorist incident: prepare <em>not</em>
to <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/8/6/1687312/-A-Stark-Warning-How-Trump-s-Popularity-Could-Skyrocket">rally 'round the troll</a>, who threatens us more than any mere terrorist.


feed_id: 282fb49e089d6d18f9005c2d8d6e6e82
title: Bank and Wall Street fines
uri: Bank-and-Wall-Street-fines
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#8_August_2017_%28Bank_and_Wall_Street_fines%29
content:
<p>
The troll has <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/08/07/wall-street-fines-down-66-under-trumps-goldman-sachs-filled-administration">cut fines issued to banks and Wall Street</a> by 2/3, for
the first half of 2017, compared with one year earlier.


feed_id: fb4468abb62f5f42578953acc2d7feca
title: Public school spending
uri: Public-school-spending
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#8_August_2017_%28Public_school_spending%29
content:
<p>
Plutocratic government in the US is <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/08/07/back-school-more-expensive-year-yes-and-heres-why">cutting spending</a> on public schools,
making parents take up the slack.


feed_id: 304ab0c65d5d31e604c4be2ff856f5a0
title: Police and teachers unions
uri: Police-and-teachers-unions
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#8_August_2017_%28Police_and_teachers_unions%29
content:
<p>
Police, Teachers Unions <a href="http://reason.com/archives/2017/08/04/police-teachers-unions-protect-workers-a">Protect Workers at Expense of Public</a>.
<p>
Concealing a thug's past crimes, especially that of framing someone else
previously, is in spirit obstruction of justice.


feed_id: f8e89c499115c9f14e7f65e9c8181c5d
title: Biological ransomware
uri: Biological-ransomware
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#8_August_2017_%28Biological_ransomware%29
content:
<p>
A <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/s/608388/biological-teleporter-could-seed-life-through-galaxy/">printer for biological viruses</a> will pave the way for biological
ransomware.


feed_id: a0295ac61959a9684a55f5e7248c4298
title: Venezuelan protesters killed
uri: Venezuelan-protesters-killed
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#8_August_2017_%28Venezuelan_protesters_killed%29
content:
<p>
Venezuelan thugs and pro-government groups have killed at least 73 dissident
protesters, and jailed at least 5000, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/08/venezuela-un-rights-chief-decries-excessive-force-used-against-protesters">according to a UN investigation</a>.
<p>
1000 of them remain jailed.


feed_id: 26d7a0ab23bbde8eb1cee06056c4c762
title: Surface laptop
uri: Surface-laptop
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#8_August_2017_%28Surface_laptop%29
content:
<p>
The Microsoft "Surface" laptop is <a href="https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/17/06/16/201232/you-cant-open-the-microsoft-surface-laptop-without-literally-destroying-it">almost impossible to open up</a>, and if
through heroic efforts you manage to do so, you can't replace any of
the parts that a laptop usually permits replacing, such as the network
card, the memory, or the disk.
<p>
Basically, it is designed for use by subject peoples.


feed_id: c51185634bb957f527ce991e987a3da7
title: Employing slaves
uri: Employing-slaves
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#8_August_2017_%28Employing_slaves%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/aug/08/how-big-brands-including-sports-direct-unwittingly-used-slave-labour">Subcontracting</a> enables and encourages well-known companies to employ
slaves without identifying them a such.
<p>
The low pay that the subcontracted workers get tends to push out
those who are not slaves.


feed_id: 58c7f05a504e764604e44626e889c179
title: Caste documentary
uri: Caste-documentary
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#8_August_2017_%28Caste_documentary%29
content:
<p>
An Indian documentarian <a href="http://www.minoritiesofindia.org/filmmaker-terrorized-exposing-caste-slavery-tamil-nadu/">made a movie about caste-based slavery</a>.
Showings have been banned, and the filmmaker faces prosecution,
for saying things that make people uncomfortable.


feed_id: a7e0760671e4ee7ed54a7c5295c9a8ce
title: US patriotism
uri: US-patriotism
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#8_August_2017_%28US_patriotism%29
content:
<p>
An American <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/08/unlearning-the-myth-of-american-innocence">learns to see the nationalist prejudice</a> in US "patriotism"
by living in Turkey.


feed_id: bf4f63b4d041c6614b5ce9283da3dc0d
title: Losing money to global heating
uri: Losing-money-to-global-heating
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#8_August_2017_%28Losing_money_to_global_heating%29
content:
<p>
Two shareholders in an Australian bank are suing the bank for
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/aug/08/commonwealth-bank-shareholders-sue-over-inadequate-disclosure-of-climate-change-risks">downplaying the risk</a> of losing money due to global heating effects.


feed_id: d21976f8e7409f67f6e7d783d9b2feed
title: New Zealand poverty
uri: New-Zealand-poverty
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#9_August_2017_%28New_Zealand_poverty%29
content:
<p>
New Zealand Greens leader Metiria Turei has resigned after a campaign condemned her for lying to get enough money to feed her child rather than condemning the state for <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/09/new-zealand-green-party-leader-metiria-turei-resigns-lied-to-claim-benefits">making benefits inadequate</a>.
<p>
People who can't get enough food, in a country which has a sufficiency, are morally entitled to steal food.  By contrast, this was nothing.


feed_id: 158d0e2316e8001051f9ada422251dcd
title: Vehicle tracking
uri: Vehicle-tracking
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#9_August_2017_%28Vehicle_tracking%29
content:
<p>
Danger Ahead: The <a href="https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2017/05/danger-ahead-governments-plan-vehicle-vehicle-communication-threatens-privacy">Governmentâs Plan</a> for Vehicle-to-Vehicle Communication Threatens Privacy, Security, and Common Sense.


feed_id: 667aa1622b7fb2ac84b1248d5a07ecba
title: Britain Labour establishment
uri: Britain-Labour-establishment
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#9_August_2017_%28Britain_Labour_establishment%29
content:
<p>
If Labour under Corbyn is voted into power, or if it seems to be headed for that, the "deep state" will try to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/09/prime-minister-corbyn-very-british-coup-establishment-backlash">sabotage it</a> with dirty tricks.


feed_id: 70ecc98103a43dc6ccb9d4435e411961
title: Western US global heating
uri: Western-US-global-heating
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#9_August_2017_%28Western_US_global_heating%29
content:
<p>
This July was the <a href="http://www.climatecentral.org/news/july-record-hot-alaska-and-west-21693">hottest July</a> ever recorded in some parts of the western US.


feed_id: 534315f2099737bb639ec8e384d937a0
title: Yemen humanitarian crisis
uri: Yemen-humanitarian-crisis
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#9_August_2017_%28Yemen_humanitarian_crisis%29
content:
<p>
The official (US- and Salafi-supported) government of Yemen says that the semi-closure of the airport of Sana'a due to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/aug/09/yemen-health-ministry-airport-closure-nearly-10000-deaths">war has killed 10,000 Yemenis</a>.


feed_id: 3de4bb0a67b23559ae74bf5d0ce8787c
title: Monsanto archive revelations
uri: Monsanto-archive-revelations
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#9_August_2017_%28Monsanto_archive_revelations%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/aug/09/monsanto-continued-selling-pcbs-for-years-despite-knowing-health-risks-archives-reveal">Monsanto Continued Selling PCBs</a> for Years Despite Knowing Health Risks.


feed_id: fe33b6b94b16ba9a5be488ce03030489
title: UK poverty women's health
uri: UK-poverty-women-s-health
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#9_August_2017_%28UK_poverty_women%27s_health%29
content:
<p>
Many women in the UK that <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/aug/09/scotland-stop-period-poverty-food-banks">live in poverty</a> can't afford tampons. Or they can't afford tampons as well as food for their children.
<p>
Unstated, but clearly part of the root of the problem, is a feeling of shame about being poor.  It makes no sense for poor people to feel ashamed because <em>other people</em> (Tories) did something wrong to them.


feed_id: c0296233c6a8f05f3d0f81f1a006f62f
title: US NK threat
uri: US-NK-threat
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#9_August_2017_%28US_NK_threat%29
content:
<p>
North Korea seems to have <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/08/donald-trump-north-korea-missile-threats-fire-fury">nuclear missile capability</a>.  The troll threatened massive retaliation—with ambiguous words that could mean real retaliation for a nuclear attack, or could mean real retaliation for threatening an attack.
<p>
The latter would be a threat of pre-emptive war.
<p>
The former would be nothing new, in terms of policy, and not very shocking either.  However, emphasizing it just now might be counterproductive for the negotiations that are needed.
<p>
Here are comments from some <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/09/north-korea-v-the-us-how-likely-is-war">experts</a>.
<p>
I disagree with the one who says that sanctions have proved ineffective.  The new sanctions will not make North Korea collapse, but they can affect the outcome of negotiations.
<p>
Negotiations are the only way to convert the new sanctions into some of the changes that the rest of the world wants.


feed_id: bd9602b7d447aec6625fd31c3bb0c3da
title: Novel words nature
uri: Novel-words-nature
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#9_August_2017_%28Novel_words_nature%29
content:
<p>
The <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/09/forget-the-environment-new-words-lifes-wonders-language">words we use</a> to refer to wildlife and wild areas divest them of any emotional resonance.


feed_id: 96d6347936b2674b0730e6c7c2f692c1
title: Urgent: Oppose Sam Clovis as USDA head
uri: Urgent-Oppose-Sam-Clovis-as-USDA-head
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#9_August_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Oppose_Sam_Clovis_as_USDA_head%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: phone your senators to oppose the choice of 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#8_August_2017_(Urgent:_Reject_denialist_as_USDA_head)">Sam
Clovis</a> to head the USDA's scientists.
<p>
The Capitol Switchboard numbers are 202-224-3121, 888-818-6641
and 888-355-3588.


feed_id: bd650d806de3e292316ccd5898c31826
title: Urgent: Quit the US Chamber of Commerce
uri: Urgent-Quit-the-US-Chamber-of-Commerce
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#9_August_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Quit_the_US_Chamber_of_Commerce%29

content:
<p>
Everyone: 
<a href="https://act.credoaction.com/sign/quit_chamber">call on the
Gap, Disney and Pepsico</a> to quit the US Chamber of Commerce.


feed_id: 266722e71a2fdd627ca8211569c9cdbc
title: Giving birth dangerous
uri: Giving-birth-dangerous
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#9_August_2017_%28Giving_birth_dangerous%29
content:
<p>
Giving birth is dangerous, and especially so in the US.
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/09/pregnancy-can-kill-right-to-chose-jessica-valenti">No
one should be forced</a> to go through with a pregnancy.


feed_id: 5d23bce6062a15fa426eddbf8eda1b85
title: How Finland achieves academic excellence
uri: How-Finland-achieves-academic-excellence
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#9_August_2017_%28How_Finland_achieves_academic_excellence%29

content:
<p>
Finland achieves academic excellence by 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/2017/aug/09/worlds-best-school-system-trust-teachers-education-finland">trusting
teachers instead of imposing standardized tests</a>.
<p>
I suppose Finland also funds public education adequately, so that
there are plenty of teachers, not overworked, and not distracted by
shortages of school supplies.


feed_id: 94cd6727b9bec1cd104d3a11baf7544a
title: Global heating continues
uri: Global-heating-continues
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#9_August_2017_%28Global_heating_continues%29
content:
<p>
Government 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/08/trump-administration-climate-change-ban-usda">efforts
to avoid naming "global warming" and "climate change"</a> have proved
ineffective at stopping them from occurring.


feed_id: 08baf76d9aab1b616581cb509a66cc6a
title: Significance of events in US history
uri: Significance-of-events-in-US-history
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#9_August_2017_%28Significance_of_events_in_US_history%29

content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/08/us-history-debate-pandoras-box">Calling
for more debate</a> — fact-based debate — about the
significance of events in US history.


feed_id: b4eee3073d31dcdacc826ab65554b80c
title: Crash of the FCC comment-filing site
uri: Crash-of-the-FCC-comment-filing-site
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#9_August_2017_%28Crash_of_the_FCC_comment-filing_site%29

content:
<p>
A former employee of the FCC says that its CIO, Bray, 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2017/08/07/breaking-former-fcc-security-employee-destroys-agencys-claims-ddos-attacks">fabricated
claims</a> that the crash of its comment-filing site was due to a DDoS
attack.


feed_id: 00c9513acc52c5756ac69db57854ba4c
title: Pacific bluefin tuna
uri: 2017-08-10-Pacific-bluefin-tuna
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#9_August_2017_%28Pacific_bluefin_tuna%29
content:
<p>
<a href="/glossary.html#trump">The troll</a> regime has 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2017/08/08/trump-administration-denies-pacific-bluefin-tuna-endangered-species-act">refused
to protect Pacific bluefin tuna</a>, which is in danger of extinction
if humans keep catching those fish.


feed_id: 432c7e6270a0fc3b67611e55652b0802
title: Reducing inequality and poverty
uri: Reducing-inequality-and-poverty
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#9_August_2017_%28Reducing_inequality_and_poverty%29
content:
<p>
A 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/08/07/us-inequality-breeds-oligarchy-new-report-details-pathway-equity">set
of proposals</a> for how to reduce inequality and poverty in the US.


feed_id: bae63bcf392dc05fe275d9730850fae0
title: Troll thanks bot for praise
uri: Troll-thanks-bot-for-praise
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#9_August_2017_%28Troll_thanks_bot_for_praise%29
content:
<p>
<a href="/glossary.html#trump">The troll</a> 
<a href="http://www.rawstory.com/2017/08/twitter-suspends-army-of-fake-accounts-after-trump-thanks-propaganda-bot-for-supporting-him/">thanked
a Twitter account for praising him over and over</a>.  Turns out the
account was stolen, and the messages it sent were repeats from various
bots.


feed_id: c00306deda1852acca48eb6464ae2a64
title: Weakened US antitrust law
uri: Weakened-US-antitrust-law
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#9_August_2017_%28Weakened_US_antitrust_law%29
content:
<p>
Reagan's Republicans weakened US antitrust law in the 1980s
in a way that 
<a href="http://www.yalelawjournal.org/note/amazons-antitrust-paradox">blinds
it to the danger of Amazon's power</a>.
<p>
The sheer size of some companies makes them threatening to democracy,
so we should stop asking whether a company's practices are
anticompetitive and start making sure companies don't get too big.


feed_id: 6b96c8592eb4e73889da8f451f6ecee2
title: Scientists leak report on global heating
uri: Scientists-leak-report-on-global-heating
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#9_August_2017_%28Scientists_leak_report_on_global_heating%29

content:
<p>
US government scientists have finished a report on likely effects of
global heating.  Fearing that the troll's saboteurs will suppress it,
some of them 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/08/08/fearing-trump-censorship-govt-scientists-leak-alarming-climate-report">leaked
it</a>.


feed_id: 23a66750975631a4028049a50f095f42
title: British banks' lack of security
uri: British-banks-lack-of-security
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#9_August_2017_%28British_banks_lack_of_security%29
content:
<p>
British banks' lack of security 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/08/banks-online-banking-fraud-ross-mcewan-rbs">exposes
customers to fraud</a>, then the banks refuse to be responsible.
<p>
Professor Ross Anderson refuses to do online banking because, he says,
banks have taken advantage of the change in technology to dump the
responsibility on the customer.


feed_id: 2764ac92b9d4b58f34822fbb25e9bac5
title: Next terrorist incident
uri: 2017-08-10-Next-terrorist-incident
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#8_August_2017_%28Next_terrorist_incident%29
content:
<p>
Americans, prepare for the next terrorist incident: prepare <em>not</em> 
to <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/8/6/1687312/-A-Stark-Warning-How-Trump-s-Popularity-Could-Skyrocket">rally 'round the troll</a>, who threatens us more than any mere terrorist.


feed_id: 195f18cf224cf6a48ceb6878501ef1d2
title: UK's Prevent
uri: UK-s-Prevent
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#10_August_2017_%28UKs_Prevent%29
content:
<p>
The UK's Prevent deradicalization now 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/09/prevent-anti-radicalisation-strategy-baby-bathwater-teething-troubles-working-well">receives
lots of warnings about potential right-wing extremists</a>.  That is
good, but how much of its effort does it dedicate to right-wing
extremists?


feed_id: f15710c436b29f8e8f560d1de769a84d
title: Protecting biodiversity
uri: Protecting-biodiversity
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#10_August_2017_%28Protecting_biodiversity%29
content:
<p>
"<a href='https://www.theguardian.com/environment/andes-to-the-amazon/2017/aug/09/indigenous-peoples-are-the-best-guardians-of-the-worlds-biodiversity'>Indigenous
peoples are the best guardians</a> of world's biodiversity."


feed_id: cfc36653b9f60e8cb39899286cb2eef6
title: Genetically modified salmon
uri: 2017-08-11-Genetically-modified-salmon
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#10_August_2017_%28Genetically_modified_salmon%29
content:
<p>
Genetically modified salmon is 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/09/genetically-modified-salmon-sales-canada-aqua-bounty">now
sold in stores in Canada</a>.
<p>
Each GMO raises its own specific issues.  In the case of this
particular genetically modified salmon, the danger is that 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jan-apr.html#23_January_2017_(GM_salmon)">the
genes might get into wild salmon populations</a>.
<p>
Growing them inland in another continent might make them safe.  But
genes have a record of flowing where scientists said that could not
happen.  The flows occur through pathways that are very improbable,
but they happen once in a rare while and once may be enough.  Moving
production to Canada would eliminate one level of barrier, a foolhardy
act.


feed_id: af8d30ec2a52831dc99ed3abb40ea6d1
title: Immigration policies
uri: Immigration-policies
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#10_August_2017_%28Immigration_policies%29
content:
<p>
After Shakila Zareen survived being shot by her husband in
Afghanistan, she was accepted as a refugee by the US.  <a href="/glossary.html#trump">The troll</a>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/09/afghanistan-woman-husband-us-asylum-claim">cancelled
this</a>.
<p>
Perhaps that's because the husband she is fleeing is connected to the
Taliban.
<p>
A bureaucracy is a machine assembled out of human parts.  When the
humans make it their goal to avoid even the tiniest risk in one
direction, they invite horrible errors in the other direction.  Sad to
say, this is what's happening in many countries' immigration policies.


feed_id: 5c65a5de0421699a79dcfffaaac97618
title: Kenya election
uri: Kenya-election
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#10_August_2017_%28Kenya_election%29
content:
<p>
The opposition candidate in Kenya claims that the election was 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/09/kenya-presidential-election-raila-odinga-early-results-uhuru-kenyatta">rigged</a>.
<p>
I wonder what the exit polls say.


feed_id: 90c6a43125bafc85bf4736817a3efcab
title: Prisoners paid one dollar a day for work
uri: Prisoners-paid-one-dollar-a-day-for-work
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#10_August_2017_%28Prisoners_paid_one_dollar_a_day_for_work%29

content:
<p>
Portland, Oregon, is paying prisoners 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/09/portland-homelessless-camps-inmate-clean-up">one
dollar a day</a> to throw away the possessions of homeless people.
<p>
Prisoners should be paid a decent wage for any work they do, other
than taking care of the prison itself.  To pay them a dollar a day
drives down wages for non-prisoners, and that over time converts some
of them into prisoners.
<p>
Then there is the issue of clearing camps made by homeless people
rather than making enough housing for them.  The article doesn't
explain why the homeless people left their tents and photos behind,
but my guess is that thugs forced them to.


feed_id: 1bb3fcd239dc6d499cb816db2ba1e4e4
title: Effect of heat and drought in Italy
uri: Effect-of-heat-and-drought-in-Italy
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#10_August_2017_%28Effect_of_heat_and_drought_in_Italy%29

content:
<p>
Due to heat and drought in Italy, 
<a href="http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2017/08/08/risk-of-environmental-disaster-as-heat-wave-upsets-bees_f1d23834-9fc7-4fe6-86ec-d55e15b55d3e.html">many
flowers produce no nectar and bees don't pollinate them</a>.
<p>
<a href="/glossary.html#global heating">Global heating</a> is slowly converting the lands near the Mediterranean
Sea into deserts.  Italy will be drastically changed and may not be
able to support the population it supports today.


feed_id: 2f87c344859f06cf91b2eb43bfe1b1e3
title: Urgent: Oppose HR 2603
uri: Urgent-Oppose-HR-2603
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#11_August_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Oppose_HR_2603%29
content:
<p>
US citizens:
<a href="https://secure.awf.org/stop-HR2603">oppose HR 2603</a>, which
would eliminate endangered species protection for species that don't
live in the US.


feed_id: 8c5b0689bbb324867127d60708b5833d
title: The Democratic Party
uri: 2017-08-11-The-Democratic-Party
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#11_August_2017_%28The_Democratic_Party%29
content:
<p>
Comparing the Democratic Party's
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/10/finally-democrats-are-looking-in-the-mirror-thats-reason-for-optimism">"better
deal" platform</a> with a platform that really tries to end
plutocratic austerity.
<p>
The reason Democratic politicians do this is that they are not
Liberals.  They stand for the center-right.


feed_id: 78d88bd02be0f2544ae6e538cc45e865
title: Arctic oil and gas production
uri: Arctic-oil-and-gas-production
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#11_August_2017_%28Arctic_oil_and_gas_production%29
content:
<p>
Norway's Plan to Ramp Up Oil And Gas Production in the Arctic
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/aug/10/norways-push-for-arctic-oil-and-gas-threatens-paris-climate-goals-study">Threatens
Global Efforts to [Curb Global Heating]</a>.


feed_id: 67b5ed747a52f2b7ddcab92d1a1685a0
title: Back pay for sleep-in assistants in UK
uri: Back-pay-for-sleep-in-assistants-in-UK
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#11_August_2017_%28Back_pay_for_sleep-in_assistants_in_UK%29

content:
<p>
Sleep-in assistants, paid to help sick and disabled people, are now
entitled in the UK to pay for the time they sleep in the patient's
home.  Alas, the
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/social-care-network/2017/aug/10/disabled-people-back-pay-sleep-in-carers-mencap">disabled
people may be held responsible for this back pay for years</a>, which
would ruin most of them.


feed_id: f55e89a18a4e1e8d98affec847f7584e
title: Testing the true contents of drugs
uri: Testing-the-true-contents-of-drugs
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#11_August_2017_%28Testing_the_true_contents_of_drugs%29

content:
<p>
Services that test the true contents of drugs can
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/sifting-the-evidence/2017/aug/10/just-say-know-to-drugs-can-testing-facilities-make-festivals-safer">reduce
dangers caused by prohibition</a>.


feed_id: 6e6198ec422202ac4ababf6a89ebc7ee
title: Corruption of democracy in Brazil
uri: Corruption-of-democracy-in-Brazil
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#11_August_2017_%28Corruption_of_democracy_in_Brazil%29

content:
<p>
Why does the US pay more attention to the danger to democracy in
Venezuela than to the
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/10/west-gripped-venezuela-ignore-brazil-jeremy-corbyn-nicolas-maduro">total
corruption of democracy in Brazil</a>?
<p>
My theory is, the situation in Venezuela is useful to the plutocrats
whereas that of Brazil only shows how dangerous they are.


feed_id: 59703978b53bb8d22990363a18014c70
title: Arabia global heating
uri: Arabia-global-heating
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#11_August_2017_%28Arabia_global_heating%29
content:
<p>
Extreme heat in Arabia is forcing work to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/10/iraq-sends-workers-home-as-ungodly-heat-grips-middle-east">stop</a>, damaging electric grids, and killing birds as they fly.


feed_id: 30ca3ba0cf4516e43b648e114911269c
title: Nepal outlaws Chhaupadi
uri: Nepal-outlaws-Chhaupadi
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#11_August_2017_%28Nepal_outlaws_Chhaupadi%29
content:
<p>
Nepal Outlaws Custom of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/aug/10/nepal-outlaws-custom-of-exiling-women-during-their-periods">Exiling Women</a> [from the village] During Their Periods.
<p>
I support this law.  There is no justice in denying people equal rights for mere superstition.


feed_id: 1eb5bccf2dde462617073262048cedb0
title: North Korea Guam threat
uri: North-Korea-Guam-threat
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#11_August_2017_%28North_Korea_Guam_threat%29
content:
<p>
North Korea <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/10/north-korea-details-guam-strike-trump-load-of-nonsense">threatened</a> to explode nuclear weapons around 30 miles from Guam.
<p>
This would, in effect, attack Guam with radioactive fallout.


feed_id: 86a36bc5a86d23ff8ba74cc9b71da7e5
title: India flood relief
uri: India-flood-relief
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#11_August_2017_%28India_flood_relief%29
content:
<p>
2 million Chakmas, Buddhist refugees from East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/aug/10/they-dont-care-indian-government-accused-of-prejudice-by-chakma-people">have been denied citizenship</a> in India and are treated as outcasts.


feed_id: 14eeb540408ffa71441742ca86a14659
title: Alaska climate cuts
uri: Alaska-climate-cuts
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#11_August_2017_%28Alaska_climate_cuts%29
content:
<p>
The US government's denial of global heating has led to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/10/alaska-coastal-towns-sea-level-rise-climate-change">cutting off funds</a> to move Alaskan towns that are being destroyed by rising seas and disappearance of Arctic ice.


feed_id: acf742d5bb8904d5d0ec92eaea0833ab
title: Urgent: Medicare for all
uri: Urgent-Medicare-for-all
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#11_August_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Medicare_for_all%29
content:
<p>
US citizens: <a href="https://act.credoaction.com/sign/dems_medicare_2017">call on all Democrats</a> to support Medicare for All.


feed_id: 0527e649a42cd8467f0a32133afee6bb
title: Urgent: War with North Korea
uri: Urgent-War-with-North-Korea
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#11_August_2017_%28Urgent%3A_War_with_North_Korea%29
content:
<p>
US citizens: <a href="https://petitions.moveon.org/sign/stop-the-insanity-dont">call on US officials</a> not to provoke war with North Korea.


feed_id: 1777f2a28716574148ad272418b3db20
title: Urgent: reject Keystone XL pipeline
uri: Urgent-reject-Keystone-XL-pipeline
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#11_August_2017_%28Urgent%3A_reject_Keystone_XL_pipeline%29

content:
<p>
Everyone: <a href="https://petitions.moveon.org/sign/nebraska-reject-keystone">Urge Nebraska</a> to reject the Keystone XL pipeline.


feed_id: f2b0e5f4a231cd6cf211d0219726822b
title: Smuggling into Yemen
uri: Smuggling-into-Yemen
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#11_August_2017_%28Smuggling_into_Yemen%29
content:
<p>
Ethiopians and Somalis are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/10/yemen-55-people-feared-drowned-after-being-forced-from-boat">paying smugglers</a> to take them to Yemen,
apparently unaware of the civil war in Yemen,
and the famine and <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#3_August_2017_(Yemen_cholera_risk)">cholera</a>
caused by the <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-sep-dec.html#4_November_2016_(US_war_crimes_in_Yemen)">Salafi-US bombardment</a> there.


feed_id: 03387ec3a230b67e21af66b0ac89d83e
title: Silicon Valley and brains
uri: Silicon-Valley-and-brains
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#11_August_2017_%28Silicon_Valley_and_brains%29
content:
<p>
Silicon Valley's <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/07/silicon-valley-weapon-choice-women-google-manifesto-gender-difference-eugenics">Weapon of Choice against Women</a>: Shoddy Science.
<p>
Human brains show great variability in the sizes of various areas, but
this variability has only a small statistical correlation with the
humans' sex. Thus, the brain variability among male humans, or among
female humans, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/nov/30/brain-sex-men-from-mars-women-venus-not-so-says-new-study">swamps the difference between the sexes</a>.
<p>
A human's every thought is embodied as a change in the brain. In
particular, every habit or pattern of thought and action is a change
in the brain. The observed statistical difference between male brains
and female brains, being so small, could represent reactions to
differences in the way males and females are typically treated in any
given society.


feed_id: e3f896dee6002b0960ee1e08e129eb9a
title: Privatizing infrastructure
uri: Privatizing-infrastructure
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#11_August_2017_%28Privatizing_infrastructure%29
content:
<p>
<a href="/glossary.html#trump">The troll</a>'s toll-road privatized infrastructure plan was used by Pence as
governor of Indiana, with <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/08/09/pences-indiana-cautionary-tale-privatizing-infrastructure-projects">results that demonstrate</a> how bad it is.
<p>
Chicago <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2012-may-aug.html#14_June_2012_(New_York_parking_meter_privatization)">privatized parking meter revenue</a>, with results that harm the city,
but there is no way to reverse it.
<p>
Privatizing any government service is a recipe for <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2014-jan-apr.html#17_February_2014_(Privatization_is_costly_and_harmful)">screwing the public</a>,
except in the case that it gives the public access to a market
with a lot of competition.


feed_id: a80f0f81e4f462ded68cc689f6530715
title: Phony farm names
uri: Phony-farm-names
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#11_August_2017_%28Phony_farm_names%29
content:
<p>
One UK supermarket chain has sworn off using <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/aug/09/morrisons-promises-not-to-carry-brands-using-fake-farm-names-nfu">phony farm names</a> as brands.
To me, such names reflect general dishonest tendency, which they legitimize
and thus promote.


feed_id: cfd61765c7e2b572696b30d1b1a4cecf
title: Climate change panel funding
uri: Climate-change-panel-funding
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#11_August_2017_%28Climate_change_panel_funding%29
content:
<p>
The House of Representatives budget <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/08/09/us-abandons-global-science-leadership-zeroes-out-ipcc-funding">eliminates funding</a> for the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.


feed_id: 553811359c16c278d04ecb653f5603c2
title: National monuments
uri: 2017-08-11-National-monuments
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#11_August_2017_%28National_monuments%29
content:
<p>
In addition to protecting the wild, many national monuments have <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2017/08/09/new-report-threatened-national-monuments-highlights-wide-public-support-economic">secondary benefits</a> such as industry and jobs.


feed_id: d480edb07f03db54f8d9156c137d0663
title: Saboteurs' accomplishments
uri: Saboteurs-accomplishments
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#11_August_2017_%28Saboteurs%27_accomplishments%29
content:
<p>
Never mind the troll's distraction tweets. Look at what his saboteurs
have <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/08/09/dont-let-white-houses-dysfunction-distract-you-things-trump-getting-done">accomplished recently</a>.
<p>
The troll and Congress are working hard on <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/08/09/1-organized-and-coming-its-tax-cuts-resistance-ready">giving tax cuts to the rich</a>.
Because there can never be enough inequality to satisfy them.


feed_id: 30c1599faf2c341d7eaf8e2aa9531965
title: Internet Archive blocked
uri: Internet-Archive-blocked
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#11_August_2017_%28Internet_Archive_blocked%29
content:
<p>
India has <a href="https://www.medianama.com/2017/08/223-india-blocks-access-internet-archive-wayback-machine/">blocked access to the Internet Archive</a>, regarding it as a way
to bypass censorship.
<p>
India is highly <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2012-jan-apr.html#26_April_2012_(Indian_Internet_sites)">censorship-ridden</a>. <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2013-nov-feb.html#19_February_2014_(Censorship_of_Wendy_Donigers_book,_The_Hindus,_in_India)">Important works</a> are <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-mar-jun.html#01_June_2016_(India_wants_satirical_video_removed)">censored there</a>.
<p>
The Internet Archive has its flaws. It distributes works with DRM,
which can never be excused. It recently started requiring people to
run nonfree Javascript code in order to search for archived copies of
a page. These actions are wrong, but they are not a reason to block
access to it.


feed_id: 628a95931af613a9a9449299caceaf7d
title: Mayor living on the street
uri: Mayor-living-on-the-street
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#11_August_2017_%28Mayor_living_on_the_street%29
content:
<p>
The mayor of Salt Lake City spent three days <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/8/7/1687635/-Salt-Lake-City-s-Dem-Mayor-Goes-Undercover-As-A-Homeless-Man-For-Three-Days-And-Pledges-Assistance">living on the street</a> to
understand why many homeless people don't want to go to the homeless
shelter. Here's what he learned.


feed_id: d5c14913137713f9612ff0ec7a72900a
title: Hiring border thugs
uri: Hiring-border-thugs
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#11_August_2017_%28Hiring_border_thugs%29
content:
<p>
It would not be easy nor cheap to hire the <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/8/7/1687602/-John-Oliver-Border-Patrol-hiring-surge-could-leave-us-less-safe-and-have-devastating-consequences?detail=emaildkre">5000 additional border thugs</a> that the troll wants.
Nor is there any need to try.


feed_id: 290744729128d211e101a32eb95d0c10
title: Cargo cult
uri: Cargo-cult
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#11_August_2017_%28Cargo_cult%29
content:
<p>
Comparing <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/8/7/1687596/-Cargo-Cult-Studies-Explain-Trump-Supporters">supporters of the troll</a> to a cargo cult.


feed_id: fdc4e942dbc7e92a351d4188072ad3d9
title: Wall Street thieves
uri: Wall-Street-thieves
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#11_August_2017_%28Wall_Street_thieves%29
content:
<p>
Wall Street Thieves Find <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/08/09/wall-street-thieves-find-new-ways-steal-us">New Ways to Steal From Us</a>.


feed_id: 89f7486674bcd876974d77e1e9a00c9e
title: Tax dodging corporations
uri: Tax-dodging-corporations
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#11_August_2017_%28Tax_dodging_corporations%29
content:
<p>
How Republicans and US corporations <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/08/11/corporations-complain-their-taxes-so-high-new-study-busts-myth">pretend that</a> they pay high taxes.
<p>
Many large and <a href="/archives/2012-may-aug.html#24_May_2012_(Protest_around_Boeing)">highly profitable</a> US corporations actually pay no federal income tax; they have arranged to locate so much of their profit in <a href="/archives/2013-may-aug.html#31_May_2013_(Apple_locates_itself_in_Ireland_but_not_a_resident_there_or_US)">other countries</a> (which have no tax on corporate profits) that there is nominally no profit for the US to tax.
<p>
They play similar games in the UK, where Amazon's tax-dodging gives it <a href="/amazon.html">unfair advantages</a> over bricks-and-mortar book stores. Amazon mistreats everyone involved with books, and in particular is a massive surveillance system.


feed_id: 6273b42fdff8ff67a64bac88b11ff25b
title: Nuclear threats
uri: Nuclear-threats
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#11_August_2017_%28Nuclear_threats%29
content:
<p>
"Trump is the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/11/trump-nuclear-threat-deep-state-fantasy-north-korea">real nuclear threat</a>, and we can't just fantasize him away."


feed_id: a74e8933512606e39de7eacb358d1a95
title: Oregon poverty
uri: Oregon-poverty
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#11_August_2017_%28Oregon_poverty%29
content:
<p>
In Oregon, the high rent for housing is making poor parents go hungry so <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/11/hunger-in-america-oregon-food-stamps-skipping-meals">their children</a> can eat.
<p>
In the US, "child protection" has become a totalitarian threat to families.  If the state doesn't want children to be homeless or hungry due to circumstances beyond their parents' control, rather than declaring the parents "bad parents" and taking their children away, it should change those circumstances.
<p>
In the long term, the best way to enable people in the next generation to have better lives than we have is to make a lot fewer of them.  The smaller population will automatically solve many of the <a href="/articles/children.html">problems that are difficult</a> for a large population.


feed_id: 53c04b7e60163de68da797ecc9c9285c
title: Kenya election results
uri: Kenya-election-results
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#11_August_2017_%28Kenya_election_results%29
content:
<p>
Foreign observers say the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/11/kenyan-opposition-refuses-to-sign-off-on-election-charade">election</a> in Kenya appeared honest.


feed_id: fdbec089d75f6b497a16be4b434a3f7c
title: Nuclear disarmament
uri: 2017-08-12-Nuclear-disarmament
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#11_August_2017_%28Nuclear_disarmament%29
content:
<p>
The bully's threats of nuclear war contrast with Martin Luther King's campaign for <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/11/trump-apocalyptic-threats-moral-case-disarmament">nuclear disarmament</a>.


feed_id: 2101ac2841e640348d92277b69e14d09
title: Children decreased physical activity
uri: Children-decreased-physical-activity
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#11_August_2017_%28Children_decreased_physical_activity%29

content:
<p>
US children today are physically inactive, partly because they are told <a href="http://www.freerangekids.com/19-is-the-new-60-when-it-comes-to-activity-levels/">it is too dangerous to go out and play</a>.


feed_id: af754fe8e798425bdc94be1020dd319f
title: UK housing poverty
uri: UK-housing-poverty
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#11_August_2017_%28UK_housing_poverty%29
content:
<p>
There is no shortage of housing in the UK.  The reason it is too expensive for poor people is that they <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/housing-network/2017/aug/11/grateful-social-housing-human-right">aren't allowed</a> to use it.
<p>
This is because the UK state, starting under Thatcher, sold most of the public housing that existed in the 1970s.
<p>
People don't need to be grateful when the state provides them housing. Rather, they should be incensed when it fails to do so.


feed_id: 95db5112ac2fd5f6e12fcf64304c8ef4
title: Urgent: Support Sanders' Medicare Bill
uri: Urgent-Support-Sanders-Medicare-Bill
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#11_August_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Support_Sanders_Medicare_Bill%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: <a href="https://go.berniesanders.com/page/s/bernie-sanders-mfa?source=em170809-full">support Sanders' Medicare-for-all bill</a>.


feed_id: 4d1409a2078b5b597d96a0e834f69056
title: Paris climate commitments
uri: Paris-climate-commitments
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#12_August_2017_%28Paris_climate_commitments%29
content:
<p>
Al Gore said US
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/aug/11/trump-has-failed-to-knock-paris-climate-deal-off-course-says-al-gore">will
meet its Paris climate commitments</a> even though the troll has
formally withdrawn the US from that agreement.
<p>
I hope so, but Republicans plan to do more to sabotage this.
For instance, they plan
<a href="https://www.stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#3_May_2017_(Urgent:_No_drilling_on_Atlantic_and_Arctic_coasts)">more
offshore oil drilling</a>.  Meanwhile, many states have taken steps to
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#4_November_2016_(Anti-solar_initiative)">discourage
further home solar power installations</a>.
<p>
And remember that the Paris agreement is insufficient to avoid
disaster.


feed_id: 4240933a8f965ba6a2fdcfc7d51ad346
title: US legal system a chokehold for blacks
uri: US-legal-system-a-chokehold-for-blacks
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#12_August_2017_%28US_legal_system_a_chokehold_for_blacks%29

content:
<p>
Paul Butler, black American and prosecutor, was arrested and
prosecuted.  This led him to recognize how the legal system he was
part of operates, and not by coincidence, as a
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/11/chokehold-book-paul-butler-us-police-african-americans">chokehold
for blacks</a> (especially men).
<p>
He explains how thugs
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/11/chokehold-police-black-men-paul-butler-race-america">systematically
use gratuitous violence against blacks</a>, violence of all levels.
<blockquote>
   In New York, Baltimore, Ferguson, Chicago, Los Angeles, Cleveland,
   San Francisco, and many other cities, the US justice department and
   federal courts have stated that the official practices of police
   departments include violating the rights of African Americans. The
   police kill, wound, pepper spray, beat up, detain, frisk, handcuff,
   and use dogs against blacks in circumstances in which they do not
   do the same to white people.
</blockquote>


feed_id: f2192b831c5f66f7e5d7fe50358431f6
title: Affordable housing
uri: 2017-08-13-Affordable-housing
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#12_August_2017_%28Affordable_housing%29
content:
<p>
A new proposal for building large amounts of affordable housing with
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/11/housing-shortage-nimbys-yes-in-my-backyard-yimby">local
control and participation</a>.
<p>
It is aimed at the UK, but might be useful for US cities too.


feed_id: 99ab5dccf22ec7d463988372b176f8dd
title: US bombardment in Raqqa
uri: US-bombardment-in-Raqqa
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#12_August_2017_%28US_bombardment_in_Raqqa%29
content:
<p>
Clandestine reports from Raqqa say that US bombardment is
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/11/syria-us-led-coalition-accused-of-failing-to-avoid-civilian-deaths">killing
lots of civilians</a>, sometimes destroying entire buildings (perhaps
killing dozens of civilians) to get one <a href="/glossary.html#pissi">PISSI</a> sniper.


feed_id: c6337427355b51b1fb971d78fc8d329a
title: Egypt's high population growth
uri: Egypt-s-high-population-growth
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#12_August_2017_%28Egypts_high_population_growth%29
content:
<p>
Egypt's high population growth is
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/aug/11/student-sex-scandal-egypt-population-problem">leading
it to disaster</a>, and the state keeps growth high by maintaining the
population in a state of ignorance about sex and reproductive biology.


feed_id: 8bb6f5e7cd4430879f4bd9291fa6b320
title: Action against people-smugglers
uri: Action-against-people-smugglers
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#12_August_2017_%28Action_against_people-smugglers%29

content:
<p>
Action against Libyan people-smugglers, and stopping NGOs from
collecting smuggled people from close to the Libyan shore, has
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/11/number-of-migrants-arriving-in-italy-from-libya-falls-by-half-in-july">cut
smuggling to Italy in half</a>.
<p>
People being smuggled must not be left to drown, but there's no
obligation to bring them to Italy rather than back to Libya.


feed_id: b3d06c46e52c9a2678b88ae38a7af4e2
title: Republicans
uri: 2017-08-13-Republicans
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#12_August_2017_%28Republicans%29
content:
<p>
A poll found that half of Republicans
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/08/10/slippery-slope-dictatorship-majority-gop-would-back-trump-postponing-2020-elections">would
support cancelling the 2020 election</a> so as to keep Republicans in
power.
<p>
The movement that supports the troll is a movement to destroy the
United States.


feed_id: 299f7c85969d590b0c3314714a8f830f
title: Congresscritters' revolving door
uri: Congresscritters-revolving-door
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#12_August_2017_%28Congresscritters_revolving_door%29

content:
<p>
Congresscritters are supposed to report their negotiations about
future employment, but they have interpreted this in a way that
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2017/08/10/members-congress-fail-disclose-future-employment-negotiations-revolving-door">mostly
nullifies the requirement</a>.


feed_id: a8a2f6f18253c903134fd18c4dea00a9
title: Ultrasound transmitter in Havana
uri: Ultrasound-transmitter-in-Havana
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#12_August_2017_%28Ultrasound_transmitter_in_Havana%29

content:
<p>
Someone in Havana seems to be operating an ultrasound transmitter
which has
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/11/sonic-attack-canadian-diplomat-in-cuba-also-suffered-hearing-damage">caused
hearing loss to US and Canadian diplomats</a>.


feed_id: 534f8dfb4af10c16ab5e00b3fa11e3cc
title: Washington "think tank" funded by UAE
uri: Washington-think-tank-funded-by-UAE
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#12_August_2017_%28Washington_think_tank_funded_by_UAE%29

content:
<p>
The Middle East Institute, a "think tank" in Washington,
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/08/09/gulf-government-gave-secret-20-million-gift-to-d-c-think-tank/">gets
millions of dollars a year from the United Arab Emirates</a>.  It uses
this to influence the US government on foreign policy issues that
concern the UAE.


feed_id: 2dac5ad17b0c589058ed318c4b42d3df
title: Toxic foam in Australian drinking water
uri: Toxic-foam-in-Australian-drinking-water
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#12_August_2017_%28Toxic_foam_in_Australian_drinking_water%29

content:
<p>
In Australia, toxic foam used to extinguish fires has
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/aug/10/firefighting-foam-blood-test-should-be-given-to-katharine-residents-mayor-says">got
into drinking water supplies</a>.


feed_id: 47d56072843cbb2fddb3ea6b710f8567
title: Urgent: restrict nuclear weapons
uri: Urgent-restrict-nuclear-weapons
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#13_August_2017_%28Urgent%3A_restrict_nuclear_weapons%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: <a href="https://act.credoaction.com/sign/restrict_nuclear_war/">support the Restricting the First Use of Nuclear Weapons
Act</a>, which would deny the president the authority to start a nuclear war.


feed_id: 7630493bd86c6a89cbfd55d954ddbf4c
title: Toxic blooms
uri: Toxic-blooms
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#13_August_2017_%28Toxic_blooms%29
content:
<p>
Global heating is making <a href="http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonianmag/underwater-robot-labs-monitor-toxins-180964387/">toxic blooms of cyanobacteria</a> more frequent
in some lakes, such as Lake Erie.


feed_id: 1f57cbb555960dd58165ccbb964b2f93
title: Site and network probing
uri: Site-and-network-probing
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#13_August_2017_%28Site_and_network_probing%29
content:
<p>
Tools for probing sites and networks can be <a href="https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/wjj8ax/legal-hacking-tools-can-be-useful-for-journalists-too">useful for journalists</a>,
not just for crackers.


feed_id: 0158dd7b094de1c09c3d2570f01be168
title: Contempt for Tillerson
uri: Contempt-for-Tillerson
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#13_August_2017_%28Contempt_for_Tillerson%29
content:
<p>
The troll's <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/12/donald-trump-rhetoric-on-north-korea-echoes-loudly-in-void-of-us-diplomacy">undisguised contempt for Tillerson</a> leaves the US unable to
negotiate with North Korea or even to calm the tensions.


feed_id: 336d8ffd8a8563af5a53e17d93fae382
title: Arctic heat
uri: Arctic-heat
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#13_August_2017_%28Arctic_heat%29
content:
<p>
2016 set records for the <a href="http://www.climatecentral.org/news/the-crazy-climate-records-from-2016-you-havent-heard-much-about-21706">heat in the Arctic winter</a> and shrinkage of
ice around the world.
<p>
Also a record for the height of sea level — but that was automatic,
since it rises every year. Sea level is now 3.25 inches above the 1993
level. This increase is enough to push some storms and high tides
over the edge of the sea wall.


feed_id: 17b7ee1dad837df371d02dd6a29b396d
title: Academy chains
uri: Academy-chains
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#13_August_2017_%28Academy_chains%29
content:
<p>
Chains of "academies" — semi-privatized schools — in the UK are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/2017/aug/12/secret-teacher-multi-academy-trusts-want-machines-not-mentors">training
teachers to read from a script</a> instead of thinking about their students.
The author says this resembles sales training rather than education.
<p>
It can't be long before they replace the teachers with something like
the Eliza program, or prerecorded videos.


feed_id: 68c50735abb1d07a59873b4f51196f81
title: Self-harming elephants
uri: Self-harming-elephants
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#13_August_2017_%28Self-harming_elephants%29
content:
<p>
Elephants that have been brutalized in captivity by humans sometimes <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/aug/12/elephants-unchained-the-day-has-gone-by-when-this-was-entertainment">turn to
self-harming</a>, as some humans and parrots do in painful circumstances.


feed_id: 0a0eaa7192d917ebb5d588fbf9691452
title: Anonymous data
uri: Anonymous-data
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#13_August_2017_%28Anonymous_data%29
content:
<p>
The UK is considering making it illegal to <a href="https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/government/uk-law-proposal-to-criminalize-re-identification-of-anonymized-user-data/">reidentify anonymous data</a>.
<p>
I agree that this should not apply to researchers, but if it is
limited to commercial activity and public relations or campaign
activity, it would be ethical.
<p>
Would it be enforceable? If the penalties are sufficiently strong,
organizations aiming for profit or other success would hesitate to
violate the law.
<p>
The law needs to address the scenario where the reidentification is
done in some other country but the usage is targeted at people in the
UK. Usually some organization that operates in the UK will be paying
for the service. If that organization can be identified and punished,
that might make the law enforceable enough.


feed_id: 7a2ea5b6cfc00b1da03ba305d5371c3e
title: Foxconn pollution
uri: Foxconn-pollution
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#13_August_2017_%28Foxconn_pollution%29
content:
<p>
Governor Snyder's plan to pay Foxconn billions to "create jobs" is
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/08/11/critics-wary-wisconsin-gov-walkers-plan-push-through-foxconn-deal">encountering resistance</a> because of possible pollution from the factories.
<p>
However, other objections come from the same narrow-minded "more jobs in
<em>this</em> state" thinking that makes schemes like this seem
legitimate in the first place. We have to put an end to the practice
of paying companies to locate here instead of there.


feed_id: c68e14fecc2ec8e4fdee7679338b4001
title: Right-wing fake news
uri: Right-wing-fake-news
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#13_August_2017_%28Right-wing_fake_news%29
content:
<p>
Right-wing fake news is backed by <a href="https://medium.com/@d1gi/who-hacked-the-election-43d4019f705f">sophisticated profiling technology</a>.
<p>
It must have been developed as a well-funded operation.


feed_id: 6aba47b8542988275cc3367466fd778d
title: Drug emergency
uri: Drug-emergency
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#13_August_2017_%28Drug_emergency%29
content:
<p>
If the troll <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/08/11/wrong-way-go-experts-warn-trump-opioid-declaration-could-revitalize-failed-war-drugs">declares a "drug emergency"</a>, that might be used to make
drug repression worse.


feed_id: 170d89ebf8567c720029b1ae9fa056be
title: Automobile pollution
uri: Automobile-pollution
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#13_August_2017_%28Automobile_pollution%29
content:
<p>
The troll has <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2017/08/11/clean-car-standards-should-be-strengthened-not-reopened">sabotaged the EPA's final rules</a> for reducing automobile
pollution.


feed_id: 1de41d6dcd65b28dadf1b399264776a9
title: Forensic 'expert analysis'
uri: Forensic-expert-analysis
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#13_August_2017_%28Forensic_%27expert_analysis%27%29
content:
<p>
Sessions is trying to <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/8/10/1688427/-Jefferson-Sessions-program-to-lock-up-more-Americans-includes-abundant-use-of-junk-forensic-science">relegitimize forensic "expert analysis"
comparisons</a>, which have been found unreliable and not suitable for use
in trials, so that they can provide an excuse for imprisoning people
in the absence of real evidence of guilt.


feed_id: ce635bbe4b19a2351839475453c2d610
title: US deportation
uri: US-deportation
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#13_August_2017_%28US_deportation%29
content:
<p>
The bully has <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/8/10/1688416/-Pastor-and-nurse-with-no-criminal-records-among-latest-bad-hombres-swept-up-by-ICE">redirected US deportation efforts</a> to include upstanding members
of the community who have never been in legal trouble.


feed_id: 367ba5adba56220bdaecb4068aec0180
title: Business supremacy treaties
uri: 2017-08-13-Business-supremacy-treaties
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#13_August_2017_%28Business_supremacy_treaties%29
content:
<p>
The mainstream media <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/08/11/do-corporate-media-need-lie-promote-trade-deals">continue to propagandize</a> for business-supremacy
treaties using fallacious arguments that exaggerate small economic
benefits while disregarding the <a href="https://stallman.org/business-supremacy-treaties.html">sure and steady harm</a> that they generally do.


feed_id: 5a2edc0a208a4c73924e3bad7028f413
title: Enslavers not prosecuted
uri: Enslavers-not-prosecuted
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#13_August_2017_%28Enslavers_not_prosecuted%29
content:
<p>
Even when it's obvious that workers are enslaved, the enslavers are
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/aug/11/flip-flops-vitamins-and-a-broken-sunbed-inside-the-cannabis-bunker">often not prosecuted</a>.


feed_id: b488d45ceb5a0e5b71ef3344c523b504
title: Blumenthal Vietnam lies
uri: Blumenthal-Vietnam-lies
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#13_August_2017_%28Blumenthal_Vietnam_lies%29
content:
<p>
 Senator Blumenthal fed the myth that US soldiers met with hostility when returning from Vietnam.  It turns out he <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/08/11/trump-vs-blumenthal-and-ironies-opportunism">fabricated</a> not only the claims of a hostile reception but also the claim that he returned from Vietnam.  He never went there.


feed_id: 234a3c6677c577a60d89568dc8f95347
title: Harmful diets
uri: Harmful-diets
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#13_August_2017_%28Harmful_diets%29
content:
<p>
"Clean eating" took simple basic nutritional advice (eat more vegetables and less meat) and turned it into a cult of rigid narrow diets that often <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/aug/11/why-we-fell-for-clean-eating">harm people</a>'s health.
<p>
The author suggests this is the result of a generalized fear of some unidentifiable toxin in our food.
<p>
There are toxins in our food, and water.  Some of them are natural, while some come from industrial pollution.  In a few places, pollution taken into the stomach causes real harm to people's health.  For humanity overall, we don't know.


feed_id: a1705813d0138f84fcdaffa809b87abc
title: Polluter fines reduced
uri: Polluter-fines-reduced
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#13_August_2017_%28Polluter_fines_reduced%29
content:
<p>
EPA fines issued against polluters have been cut by over 50% under the troll compared with the same period in 2016.
<p>
Even under Obama the EPA suffered from <a href="/archives/2012-nov-feb.html#24_February_2013_(EPA_delays_regulations_on_hexavalent_chromium)">regulatory capture</a>, so the rate of fines was surely too low already in 2016.
<p>
  


feed_id: dff8d28cfc3920c7cf2e91d754e94088
title: Heathrow outsourcing bad service
uri: Heathrow-outsourcing-bad-service
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#13_August_2017_%28Heathrow_outsourcing_bad_service%29

content:
<p>
Heathrow airport has outsourced help for disabled passengers, with the result that they sometimes have to wait a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/aug/11/disabled-passengers-forced-to-wait-hours-to-disembark-at-heathrow">long time</a> for anyone to help them off a plane.
<p>
I suspect that the company that does this decided to increase its profits by reducing the staff available for this job to a level that is just enough <em>with the usual demand</em>.  Since demand fluctuates randomly, this approach ensures that the staff will be insufficient whenever demand fluctuates up.  If employees are out sick, there will be a problem.
<p>
It is well known that a reliable quick service needs substantially more staff than it takes to handle the normal workload.  I'm sure the managers of that bureau found out, when they took over that service, how many staff are really needed.  Then someone decided to cut corners so as to increase profit.
<p>
This is one of the ways outsourcing tends to provide worse service. Also because it is unaccountable.  Another thing outsourcing normally does is cut the pay of the workers.  We should take measures to penalize outsourcing so that it happens less.


feed_id: f6f76fba0e34876c99598e5165d8e593
title: Awamiyah Shi'ites expelled
uri: Awamiyah-Shi-ites-expelled
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#13_August_2017_%28Awamiyah_Shi%27ites_expelled%29
content:
<p>
Salafi Arabia has sent the army and air force to destroy the town of Awamiyah where many Shi'ites live, announcing the goal of <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/08/10/saudis-are-killing-their-own-people-help-us-and-canada">expelling them and imposing</a> that by killing them.


feed_id: a767f2e0f4353ba77937c3d2f9679fb7
title: EU fair share tax
uri: EU-fair-share-tax
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#13_August_2017_%28EU_fair_share_tax%29
content:
<p>

AirBnB uses <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/aug/10/airbnb-faces-eu-clampdown-fair-share-tax">tax-dodging schemes</a> to exclude its profits from taxation in the countries where rooms are rented out.  The EU is looking at putting a stop to this.


feed_id: 97bda4aa18217c860177ee1fea07d641
title: Terrorism profiteering
uri: Terrorism-profiteering
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#13_August_2017_%28Terrorism_profiteering%29
content:
<p>
Blackwater's atrocities in Iraq show that it would be the <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/08/10/terrorism-profit">worst of all possible entities</a> to send to fight in Afghanistan.


feed_id: 144f36f53f8f51b1ce137da5f114aa43
title: China thugs brutality
uri: China-thugs-brutality
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#13_August_2017_%28China_thugs_brutality%29
content:
<p>
Hong Kong democracy activist Howard Lam <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/11/hong-kong-activist-howard-lam-stapled-legs-lionel-messi-photo-china">was kidnapped by Chinese thugs</a>, beaten up and interrogated.


feed_id: 7ddc7a80a5ee3c3475ad0b0f88fba894
title: German nursery democracy
uri: German-nursery-democracy
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#13_August_2017_%28German_nursery_democracy%29
content:
<p>
Some daycare facilities in Germany let the children <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/11/german-nursery-children-make-decisions-vote-dolli-einstein-haus">vote on many decisions</a> which elsewhere would be made by the staff alone.


feed_id: a8fd4f3d089bba432d4085fc851d31f3
title: Urgent: Oppose Gulf of Mexico oil drilling
uri: Urgent-Oppose-Gulf-of-Mexico-oil-drilling
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#13_August_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Oppose_Gulf_of_Mexico_oil_drilling%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: <a href="https://act.credoaction.com/sign/trump_gulf_drilling?t=1002&akid=24468%2E1183552%2ETqTFro">file a comment opposing new oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico</a>.


feed_id: 0987f2ed3c2292cbc6bf797aec05e469
title: Western aid
uri: Western-aid
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#14_August_2017_%28Western_aid%29
content:
<p>
Foreign investors
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/africa-wild/2017/aug/13/tanzania-ghost-safari-conservation-western-aid-wildlife-haven">
eliminated the large animals from the Kilombero
valley in Tanzania
</a>
by turning it into plantations.


feed_id: 9fefdd14d44c21085bf19ced372d7da1
title: Our last hope
uri: Our-last-hope
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#14_August_2017_%28Our_last_hope%29
content:
<p>
Young progressive activists,
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/13/radical-millennials-will-take-back">
campaigning against racism and to stop
global heating,
</a>
are our last hope to avoid planetary disaster.


feed_id: 874fd6ca3106c869fb4e97e2f3ee32c1
title: Environmental racism
uri: 2017-08-14-Environmental-racism
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#14_August_2017_%28Environmental_racism%29
content:
<p>
The Exxon refinery in Charlton-Pollard, Texas,
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/08/13/exxon-mobil-is-still-pumping-toxins-into-black-community-in-texas-17-years-after-civil-rights-complaint/">
violates the Clean Air Act
by spewing carcinogens,
</a>
and many of the residents in the neighborhood
have got sick.  The EPA settled the complaint a few months ago
requiring only minor changes that won't fix the problem.
<p>
Is that ordinary regulatory capture, or is it the troll's doing?


feed_id: e8f43f3ed6aa3fbb5f4a0481cede7eee
title: Minnesota mosque bombing
uri: Minnesota-mosque-bombing
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#14_August_2017_%28Minnesota_mosque_bombing%29
content:
<p>
Trump Is
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/10/minnesota-mosque-bombing-donald-trump-silence">
Ignoring the Minnesota Mosque Bombing.
</a>
We Know Why.
<p>
It is the same reason he refuses to clearly condemn the violence of
right-wing Nazi Christians in Charlottesville.


feed_id: 1b5b345838e692125ba9fd018a2d65ec
title: Sabotaging medical insurance
uri: Sabotaging-medical-insurance
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#14_August_2017_%28Sabotaging_medical_insurance%29
content:
<p>
The troll's talk about sabotaging US medical insurance has made
insurance companies jittery, so they have already started
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/08/10/analysis-shows-trumpgop-sabotage-blame-coming-insurance-premium-hikes">
planning
large increases in prices.
</a>


feed_id: b3910425ae32ef12b28a837565612a5d
title: Union-avoidance industry
uri: Union-avoidance-industry
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#14_August_2017_%28Union-avoidance_industry%29
content:
<p>
The troll's saboteurs are working to
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2017/08/09/persuader-rule-would-have-shined-spotlight-union-avoidance-industry-trump">
help the union-avoidance industry
stay hidden.
</a>


feed_id: 8d144477f8e7bc2ed91b37b73cb7e1b6
title: Voter deregistation
uri: Voter-deregistation
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#14_August_2017_%28Voter_deregistation%29
content:
<p>
Saboteur Sessions has directed the Department of Justice to
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/08/08/trump-dojs-latest-move-confirms-worst-fears-about-voting-rights">
support
a voter deregistation law in Ohio
</a>
when the Supreme Court considers it.
<p>
This would have a small effect if poor people regularly voted.  Due to
discouragement and obstacles, they often don't -- and the difference could
be crucial for the Republicans in 2018 and 2020.


feed_id: d46d82c1048d6d91ff9a9946d313cb56
title: Racism is a real danger
uri: Racism-is-a-real-danger
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#14_August_2017_%28Racism_is_a_real_danger%29
content:
<p>
Black Lives Matter has taught many Americans that
racism is a real danger today,
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/09/michael-brown-death-three-years-later-no-change">
but in terms of policies, not much has changed.
</a>


feed_id: 51bd0c9bfbc4c8432fdc19fa67654d27
title: Addicted to hate
uri: Addicted-to-hate
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#14_August_2017_%28Addicted_to_hate%29
content:
<p>
Republicans are
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/13/america-white-supremacy-hooked-drug-charlottesville-virginia">
addicted to the drug of bigotry and hate,
</a>
and the addiction
perverts their activities.


feed_id: 8631c50b39491e570e96bd3d2d766a66
title: Any and all viewpoints
uri: Any-and-all-viewpoints
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#14_August_2017_%28Any_and_all_viewpoints%29
content:
<p>
It is right for the ACLU to
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/08/13/the-misguided-attacks-on-aclu-for-defending-neo-nazis-free-speech-rights-in-charlottesville/">
defend the rights of people to hold peaceful
rallies for any and all viewpoints.
</a>
<p>
I support this, even in regard to views that I despise along with
other ACLU members.
<p>
I don't think this means we must allow people to systematically stir
up violence, as the Nazis and bigots did in Charlotteville.


feed_id: bbf50309af9a609aa6379d9328ba6b97
title: Wikileaks slinging dirt
uri: Wikileaks-slinging-dirt
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#14_August_2017_%28Wikileaks_slinging_dirt%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/7/30/1685501/-WikiLeaks-Officially-in-the-bag-for-Trump?detail=emaildkre">
Wikileaks is slinging dirt at Robert Mueller
</a>
by presenting an act of
his official duties, part of official US cooperation with Russia, as
if it were a private deception.
<p>
(I had fact-checking done on this article.)
<p>
I am disappointed in Assange for this.


feed_id: c6cac423d15527b75597f6d4c9a457aa
title: Dodgy diplomats
uri: Dodgy-diplomats
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#14_August_2017_%28Dodgy_diplomats%29
content:
<p>
Paris Climate Deal:
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/aug/08/paris-climate-deal-rex-tillerson-us-diplomats">
US Tells Diplomats to Dodge Foreign Officials' Questions.
</a>


feed_id: 73853f8ee6417c0064597c455ce922d0
title: Bureaucracy errors
uri: Bureaucracy-errors
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#14_August_2017_%28Bureaucracy_errors%29
content:
<p>
When any company or agency screws up your account or your orders,
causing some other company or agency to claim you owe it money, you
are likely to be screwed.  It tends to be hard to clear up the error.
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/aug/07/teenager-killed-himself-over-fears-he-would-be-jailed-over-600-rail-fine">
Here a British teenager committed suicide because he expected to be
given a fine he could not pay.
</a>
This was because court notices had
been sent to the wrong address.
<p>
You may have to go to court against the entity that screwed up, and
the other one (that demands payment) won't help you because it doesn't
care who is at fault.  When this happens, the state should hold the
first one responsible for all costs, and should help you prove it.


feed_id: 9ca95a537a67fdcc83390131581c2ce8
title: Urgent: Reject wall street donations
uri: Urgent-Reject-wall-street-donations
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#14_August_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Reject_wall_street_donations%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: 
<a href="https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/tell-kamala-harris-kirsten-gillibrand-cory-booker-to-reject-wall-street-donations">call
on some Democratic senators</a> to reject wall street donations in
their reelection campaigns.


feed_id: 428ca014a419cce4802dc5148dfbd9e8
title: Urgent: Oppose oil drilling
uri: Urgent-Oppose-oil-drilling
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#14_August_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Oppose_oil_drilling%29
content:
<p>
US citizens: 
<a href="https://secure.foodandwaterwatch.org/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&page=UserAction&id=3088">Oppose</a>
oil drilling off US coasts.


feed_id: 1e4f7a9ce50ec399b6747b68993a79c8
title: Urgent: Support Colin Kaepernick
uri: Urgent-Support-Colin-Kaepernick
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#14_August_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Support_Colin_Kaepernick%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: 
<a href="https://act.credoaction.com/sign/NFLPA_Kaepernick">call on
the National Football League Players' Association</a> to support Colin
Kaepernick, who was blacklisted for supporting Black Lives Matter.


feed_id: f2e345d490cce2746f6e54949b807928
title: Melting Antarctic ice sheet
uri: Melting-Antarctic-ice-sheet
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#14_August_2017_%28Melting_Antarctic_ice_sheet%29
content:
<p>
'Stable' Antarctic Ice Sheet May Have Started 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/may/21/stable-antarctic-ice-sheet-may-have-started-collapsing-scientists-say">Collapsing</a>
(in 2009).
<p>
It is now adding .16 mm to global sea level per year.  That would be
no disaster in itself, but it is sure to speed up melting in coming
decades.


feed_id: 0bc7da137ffd10fe1710ec2953f944ae
title: North Korea
uri: 2017-08-14-North-Korea
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#14_August_2017_%28North_Korea%29
content:
<p>
<a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2017/07/26/asia/north-korea-united-states-relationship/index.html">Why
Does North Korea Hate the US?</a>


feed_id: ba1bea901b747980732142008770759b
title: A way to protest the troll
uri: A-way-to-protest-the-troll
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#14_August_2017_%28A_way_to_protest_the_troll%29
content:
<p>
A great way to protest the troll is with 
<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/8/11/1688684/-Has-The-Secret-Code-for-Dealing-With-Trump-Finally-Been-Broken">derision
at the White House</a>.


feed_id: 110b18695e68b5e6ca5f530b276b6fd3
title: Sex education
uri: 2017-08-14-Sex-education
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#14_August_2017_%28Sex_education%29
content:
<p>
Comprehensive sexuality education helps young people avoid gratuitous
suffering of various kinds.  However, around the world, there is a
tendency for sex education to omit the topic of 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/08/12/vital-importance-sexual-education">contraception</a>.


feed_id: 81cadc8d6b0fdf98d313e6868dd44fdd
title: Unionizing Nissan plants
uri: Unionizing-Nissan-plants
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#14_August_2017_%28Unionizing_Nissan_plants%29
content:
<p>
Bernie Sanders is 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/aug/12/nissan-union-vote-danny-glover-bernie-sanders-france">asking
the French government to help</a> unionize Nissan plants in the US,
through its partial ownership of Renault, which is closely linked with
Nissan.


feed_id: 1eee5bb12de7c657d940057238bd7140
title: Troll's bait-and-switch
uri: Troll-s-bait-and-switch
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#14_August_2017_%28Trolls_bait-and-switch%29
content:
<p>
<a href="/glossary.html#trump">The troll</a>'s campaign was a 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/08/12/despite-white-house-chaos-trump-delivers-favors-corporate-america">bait-and-switch</a>,
condemning powerful corporations but now handing over power to the
worst of them.


feed_id: 92e1d702f0d87f3c1eef842d8b029a5a
title: Internal Google memo
uri: Internal-Google-memo
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#14_August_2017_%28Internal_Google_memo%29
content:
<p>
James Damore's internal Google memo was "not an unhinged rant", but it
cited irrelevant scientific generalities to advocate giving sexism
free rein inside Google.  Here's a 
<a href="https://www.vox.com/the-big-idea/2017/8/11/16130452/google-memo-women-tech-biology-sexism">clear
explanation</a>.
<p>
There is good reason to fire anyone who posts an unhinged sexist rant
within a company.  Such rants harass, directly.  I don't see that it
is necessary to fire people for non-ranting postings that propose a
sexist policy.  The proposal itself does no harm unless it is adopted.
Wouldn't firm rejection of the proposal suffice?
<p>
Reading well-veiled fallacies can be exasperating, but that is not
the same as being harassed.
<p>
Once Damore had been fired, he 
<a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/charliewarzel/james-damore-google-anti-diversity-memo-pro-trump-media-hero">jumped
into bed with right-wing extremists</a> that are known for unhinged
rants.
<p>
Perhaps he wrote the internal memo with careful restraint, aiming to
persuade Google staff, but now shows his true nature.
<p>
I can envision the possibility that a firm rejection, without firing,
would have kept him restrained and avoided helping the bigots.


feed_id: 0a9fc6552e20473028c935754d2220f9
title: Curbing "addiction to growth"
uri: Curbing-addiction-to-growth
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#14_August_2017_%28Curbing_addiction_to_growth%29
content:
<p>
A plan to curb the
"<a href='https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/08/11/universal-basic-income-needed-break-addiction-economic-growth-killing-us'>addiction
to growth</a>": "Curbing advertising, taxing carbon, a basic income,
and a shorter work week".
<p>
I think we must also do something to curb the ability of billionaires
to compete to outdo the others.
<p>
A report argues that the 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/08/12/what-would-it-really-take-reverse-inequality">main
drivers of inequality</a> are certain government policies: taxation,
trade, regulation, public subsidies, and expenditures.
<p>
It is clear that retraining people to take different jobs can help
only a small fraction of the unemployed and the 50% of employed
Americans stuck in Mcjobs.
<p>
However, technology is also an important factor.  If automation
eliminates 10% of jobs over a decade, there is no way that most of
those people will find anything but Mcjobs, if even that.
<p>
Globalization is a crucial factor, but perhaps at a deeper level.
Globalization is the driver of trade policy.  Globalization-oriented
trade policy gives businesses the power to 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#22_July_2017_(Tobacco_companies)">knock
down regulations that protects us from them</a>,
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#29_July_2017_(Foxconn_US_factories)">demand
public subsidies</a>, and 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-jul-oct.html#3_September_2016_(Apple_tax_dodging)">force
cuts in expenditure</a> by dodging taxes.
<p>
The 
<a href="/business-supremacy-treaties.html">business-supremacy
treaties</a> are at the root of this.


feed_id: 13f2acafea380e8ffc3945379e8cb3ec
title: Melting ice activating volcanoes
uri: Melting-ice-activating-volcanoes
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#14_August_2017_%28Melting_ice_activating_volcanoes%29

content:
<p>
Melting ice tends to activate volcanoes; this is 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/12/scientists-discover-91-volcanos-antarctica">happening
in Alaska and Iceland</a>.  Meanwhile, scientists have just discovered
91 more volcanoes under the Antarctic ice sheet.


feed_id: 5a6ee60b911fed3aafdfbb84bedc10c6
title: Venezuela
uri: 2017-08-14-Venezuela
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#14_August_2017_%28Venezuela%29
content:
<p>
Eva Gollinger, who exposed the US role in the coup against Chavez,
analyzes the 
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/08/12/the-battle-for-venezuela-and-its-oil/">developments
in Venezuela</a>.


feed_id: 4fe61ac6a692d2f72b9afc73efce405b
title: Urgent: Remove pro-slavery symbols
uri: Urgent-Remove-pro-slavery-symbols
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#15_August_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Remove_pro-slavery_symbols%29

content:
<p>
Everyone:
<a href="https://act.colorofchange.org/sign/remove-all-confederate-symbols-america/">call
for removal</a> of symbols that honor the rebel states of 1860 that
seceded to preserve slavery.


feed_id: 6a7fac9ab1ec46531bb5f4ea3af8ebb7
title: Prejudice against women
uri: Prejudice-against-women
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#15_August_2017_%28Prejudice_against_women%29
content:
<p>
There is no scientific evidence that males are mare capable of tech
work, but plenty of evidence that
<a href="https://www.recode.net/2017/8/11/16127992/google-engineer-memo-research-science-women-biology-tech-james-damore">prejudice
against women holds them back</a>.


feed_id: c7828486f89d51abdc9d4f64c9529122
title: Racist movement
uri: Racist-movement
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#15_August_2017_%28Racist_movement%29
content:
<p>
<a href="/glossary.html#trump">The troll</a> has been working for more than a year to
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/08/13/presidency-built-racial-divisions">build
up the racist movement</a> that attacked counterprotesters in
Charlottesville.


feed_id: 9c8b95043cb5caef4b54371acf915141
title: Terrorism in Charlottesville
uri: Terrorism-in-Charlottesville
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#15_August_2017_%28Terrorism_in_Charlottesville%29
content:
<p>
A neo-Nazi drove a car into a crowd of peaceful antifascist
counterprotesters in Charlottesville, killing one and seriously
injuring several more, in an act of
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/13/charlottesville-james-fields-charged-with-was-pictured-at-neo-nazi-rally-vanguard-america">terrorism</a>. His
adherence to Nazism was
<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/one-dead-as-car-strikes-crowds-amid-protests-of-white-nationalist-gathering-in-charlottesville-two-police-die-in-helicopter-crash/2017/08/13/3590b3ce-8021-11e7-902a-2a9f2d808496_story.html">long-standing</a>.
<p>
The Nazi group that held the meeting says it is not their
responsibility because the terrorist was not a "member" of the group.
We would hardly accept such an excuse from Islamist terrorists, and we
should not accept it here.  They willfully stirred up this violence, so
they are morally responsible for it.
<p>
Some Nazis claim the rally was a victory.  That is partly an instance
of their troll-style policy of systematic exaggeration, but I suspect
that the murder will win them
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#4_July_2017_(Republican_endorsement_of_violence)">more
support from the violent crazies that they intentionally recruit</a>.
Other right-wing acts of violence have had this effect.


feed_id: cd7e4947a0e9533cbaa0e8518c61e338
title: Torch-carrying right-wing bigots
uri: Torch-carrying-right-wing-bigots
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#15_August_2017_%28Torch-carrying_right-wing_bigots%29

content:
<p>
Antifascist counterprotesters met the torch-carrying right-wing bigots
who
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/08/12/white-supremacists-armed-tiki-torches-and-hate-denounced-uva">marched
through the University of Virginia on Friday</a>.  Many local
businesses closed or put up signs telling bigots they are not welcome.
<p>
The torches reference the Ku Klux Klan, which in the 1860s burned
black people's houses, and in the 1920s burned crosses as a threat.
<p>
On Saturday, the bigots held their main rally, attended by
counterprotesters, with numerous thugs watching.  And
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/08/13/police-stood-mayhem-mounted-charlottesville">watch
is all they did</a>, when some of the bigots attacked unarmed
counterprotesters.
<p>
<a href="/glossary.html#trump">The troll</a> pointedly
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/13/charlottesville-white-supremacists-donald-trump">refused
to condemn the racist violence</a> that he helped to stir up.
<p>
He
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/13/charlottesville-white-supremacists-far-right-donald-trump-confederate-statue">pretended
that "many" sides were responsible</a> for the violence that was
repeatedly launched by the bigots.
<p>
Mainstream media did likewise, describing the violence in ways that
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/08/13/media-driving-crowd-protesters-clash">cover
up who was responsible</a>.


feed_id: eccc05fe66c7a35eddd74a2fbbcc8668
title: Pepsico's palm oil supply chain
uri: Pepsico-s-palm-oil-supply-chain
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#15_August_2017_%28Pepsicos_palm_oil_supply_chain%29
content:
<p>
The Rainforest Action Network says that Pepsico's supposed plan to end
deforestation and enslavement of labor in its palm oil supply chain is
just a
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2017/08/04/rainforest-action-network-responds-pepsicos-release-palm-oil-action-plan">disguise
for not doing much</a>.


feed_id: 82f18ff0900b3367f99f001b7c7ddb1c
title: Abuse of powerless UK workers
uri: Abuse-of-powerless-UK-workers
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#15_August_2017_%28Abuse_of_powerless_UK_workers%29
content:
<p>
An analysis of the UK labor market shows that unemployment is very
low, but
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/aug/06/employment-statistics-wages-uk-jobs-market">abuse
of powerless workers is up</a>.


feed_id: a98440ca4703550081e8b663a0e35d38
title: Sabotaging medical insurance
uri: 2017-08-15-Sabotaging-medical-insurance
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#14_August_2017_%28Sabotaging_medical_insurance%29
content:
<p>
<a href="/glossary.html#trump">The troll</a>'s talk about sabotaging US medical insurance has made
insurance companies jittery, so they have already started
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/08/10/analysis-shows-trumpgop-sabotage-blame-coming-insurance-premium-hikes">
planning
large increases in prices.
</a>


feed_id: dd9a22978074d916cbcc7d9df15b4271
title: Union-avoidance industry
uri: 2017-08-15-Union-avoidance-industry
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#14_August_2017_%28Union-avoidance_industry%29
content:
<p>
<a href="/glossary.html#trump">The troll</a>'s saboteurs are working to
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2017/08/09/persuader-rule-would-have-shined-spotlight-union-avoidance-industry-trump">
help the union-avoidance industry
stay hidden.
</a>


feed_id: 3d40b28939cc8834c6fef638d3cfe389
title: Voter deregistration
uri: Voter-deregistration
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#14_August_2017_%28Voter_deregistration%29
content:
<p>
<a href="/glossary.html#saboteur">Saboteur</a> Sessions has directed the Department of Justice to
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/08/08/trump-dojs-latest-move-confirms-worst-fears-about-voting-rights">
support
a voter deregistration law in Ohio
</a>
when the Supreme Court considers it.
<p>
This would have a small effect if poor people regularly voted.  Due to
discouragement and obstacles, they often don't -- and the difference could
be crucial for the Republicans in 2018 and 2020.


feed_id: 10645177489919dff773395ec9efdbad
title: Netanyahu indictment
uri: Netanyahu-indictment
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#15_August_2017_%28Netanyahu_indictment%29
content:
<p>
Uri Avnery: Netanyahu faces indictment soon on <a href="http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/channels/avnery/1502458442/">multiple corruption scandals</a>, and Israelis are ready to vote him out.


feed_id: 5ea6b18001fe9f9477635dd2b2a58488
title: Raleigh, NC voting day
uri: Raleigh-NC-voting-day
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#15_August_2017_%28Raleigh%2C_NC_voting_day%29
content:
<p>
Digital systems to keep track of which who in North Carolina had already voted <a href="http://www.npr.org/2017/08/10/542634370/russian-cyberattack-targeted-elections-vendor-tied-to-voting-day-disruptions?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=news">malfunctioned</a> in the 2016 election.
<p>
Some accuse Russian interference.  Perhaps it was that, but other suspects are possible, too.  We may never know the real cause of this, but we know a way to avoid it: <a href="/evoting.html">use paper for these records</a>.


feed_id: bdd9906854abeca386bf8d4b0c4dbb5a
title: Wells Fargo mortgage scandal
uri: Wells-Fargo-mortgage-scandal
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#15_August_2017_%28Wells_Fargo_mortgage_scandal%29
content:
<p>
The latest Wells Fargo cheating scandal: it signed home mortgage customers up to a <a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/08/12/theres-a-new-wells-fargo-scandal-this-time-its-the-trucoat/">warranty service without telling them</a>, let alone getting their approval.


feed_id: 10638b01138a796edf1be5bbf22d9b01
title: Government service outsourcing
uri: Government-service-outsourcing
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#15_August_2017_%28Government_service_outsourcing%29
content:
<p>
Privatizing or outsourcing government services makes those services unaccountable, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/10/outsourcing-killing-local-democracy-britain-stop-it">inviting bad service and even injustice</a>.
<p>
This is one of the reasons why privatization of government services should not be allowed, unless it gives the public access to a truly competitive market.
<p>
If the UK exits the EU, will it be able to pass a law so it can cancel unjust privatization contracts without paying penalties?


feed_id: d6c507fd4baa8d923ac1304c67f57a22
title: Sinclair FCC loophole
uri: Sinclair-FCC-loophole
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#15_August_2017_%28Sinclair_FCC_loophole%29
content:
<p>
The troll's FCC saboteur, Ajit Pai, is trying to resuscitate an obsolete rule to <a href="https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/paadj8/the-fcc-is-using-an-obsolete-loophole-to-help-a-pro-trump-media-company-take-over-local-tv">allow Sinclair</a> to become a nationwide extremist network.


feed_id: f811487392e69fe4e3ef8f0480854dd5
title: Venezuela military intervention
uri: Venezuela-military-intervention
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#15_August_2017_%28Venezuela_military_intervention%29

content:
<p>
The troll <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/11/donald-trump-venezuela-crisis-military-intervention">threatened</a> a military intervention in Venezuela.
<p>
That's more aggressive than Dubya, who organized a coup attempt. It was defeated because the people <a href="/archives/2005-jul-oct.html#22 July 2005 (Attempted coup)">stood firm</a> for Chavez.
<p>
I don't know what would happen now, but if Republicans intervene they are surely up to no good.


feed_id: 1e722336ed1fad634f4791625515bd64
title: Reflecting on airstrikes
uri: Reflecting-on-airstrikes
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#15_August_2017_%28Reflecting_on_airstrikes%29
content:
<p>
A bombardment campaign is not a halfway step to war. It <a href="http://reason.com/archives/2017/08/11/dont-be-fooled-airstrikes-are-war">is war</a>.
<p>
However, there is a distinction to be made between fighting on the side of a country's recognized government and fighting against it. Under international law, states are allowed to support other states militarily.
<p>
In some of the countries where the US is carrying out drone bombardment, it is aiding the more or less legitimate government. This is true in the Philippines, Iraq, Afghanistan.
<p>
In Libya, Yemen, Somalia and Afghanistan, that claim is less clear, but it is arguable.  In Syria it is clearly not true.
<p>
Legally permitted by international law is not the same thing as morally justified.  I think that fighting against PISSI is <a href="/archives/2014-nov-feb.html#11_November_2014_(US_attacks_against_PISSI)">entirely justified</a>.  Fighting against Assad, maybe not.
<p>
Meanwhile, the Salafi-US bombardment of Yemen is legalized by the support of the official government of Yemen—but it is clearly wrong.


feed_id: be17323ca5e393ef487ef5a85dbec08a
title: Inheritance tax loophole
uri: Inheritance-tax-loophole
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#15_August_2017_%28Inheritance_tax_loophole%29
content:
<p>
One Single UK Aristocrat Just Avoided More in Inheritance Tax Than the <a href="https://www.thecanary.co/2016/08/12/single-aristocrat-avoided-more-entire-deficit/">Entire NHS Deficit</a>.


feed_id: 785bedc0400c4569f2e1f58e31a6b5db
title: Galveston hurricanes global heating
uri: Galveston-hurricanes-global-heating
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#15_August_2017_%28Galveston_hurricanes_global_heating%29

content:
<p>
The town of Galveston was raised 110 years ago to resist hurricanes, but now due to global heating the hurricanes <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/12/glen-campbell-galveston-texas-country-music-trump-politics">are gaining</a> on it.
<p>
If we don't curb global heating, sooner or later Galveston will have to be abandoned.


feed_id: a37739b13f97f0776b622abfb31eaba1
title: Microbots
uri: Microbots
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#15_August_2017_%28Microbots%29
content:
<p>
Developing small ion rockets to <a href="http://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/sci-fi-technology-could-power-microbots-180964358/">power</a> small and light drones.
<p>
Is anyone developing a technology to prevent tiny robots from invading our homes, then spying on us or worse?


feed_id: 565e287b21dca3be1bfb84a1803727dd
title: Urgent: Pressure officials to remove statues
uri: Urgent-Pressure-officials-to-remove-statues
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#16_August_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Pressure_officials_to_remove_statues%29

content:
<p>
In the US:
<a href="https://act.credoaction.com/sign/Take_Down">call on
government officials at all levels</a> to remove all symbols that
honor the rebel side of the civil war.
<p>
The purpose of their rebellion was to perpetuate slavery.  The Union
soldiers fought to end slavery, and sung about that as they marched.
<p>
No matter what admirable personal characteristics some southern
leaders may have had, that can't redeem the evil that they fought for
— not even slightly.
<p>
Protesters in North Carolina (not so far from Charlottesville)
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/15/confederate-statue-toppled-in-north-carolina-during-anti-racism-rally">pulled
down a memorial to soldiers that fought for slavery</a>.
<p>
Defacing a statue reduces the dignity of those who do it.  Pulling the
statue down is more dignified.  However, the best form of victory is
to pressure officials to remove the statue.  For a state to have a
special law privileging statues that honor the war to continue slavery
is an endorsement of that side, which dishonors that state.


feed_id: e2ee6b1ee6ed6e1d9f211a40fda2338c
title: Urgent: Unite against right-wing extremists
uri: Urgent-Unite-against-right-wing-extremists
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#16_August_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Unite_against_right-wing_extremists%29

content:
<p>
In the US:
<a href="https://petitions.moveon.org/sign/we-the-people-of-the-10">Stand
united</a> against the right-wing extremists.


feed_id: 8d8826a386356b357a5deacbba0026a5
title: Animal rights
uri: Animal-rights
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#15_August_2017_%28Animal_rights%29
content:
<p>
Another strike against the animal rights movement: a supporter would
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/15/transplant-pig-organs-into-humans-gene-editing">rather
let people die</a> than use pigs to grow transportable human organs.
<p>
If animals deserved the right to live, as humans do, we would have the
duty to try to save them when they are in danger, as we have towards
humans.  It would follow that we ought to stop barn owls from killing
mice, stop dolphins from killing fish, and stop frogs from killing
flies.
<p>
Perhaps in 200 years in a totally transformed world, we could do this
and keep all those animals alive without any eating any.


feed_id: 08b41cc9c8a8afc489ed494d251c8709
title: Imitating New York's "High Line"
uri: Imitating-New-York-s-High-Line
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#15_August_2017_%28Imitating_New_Yorks_High_Line%29
content:
<p>
Cities that want to imitate New York's "High Line" must be very
careful.  There are
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/aug/15/new-york-high-line-crowd-london-garden-bridge-urban-design">few
opportunities for that to succeed</a>.
<p>
When I first saw the proposal for London's Garden Bridge, I took it as
a scheme to suck money out of the state to do something useless.  In
the US, this is typically done with
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#18_June_2017_(Subsidizing_stadiums)">major
league sports studios</a> or
<a href="">weapons systems</a>.


feed_id: f13dfe65f83e430fbfecbaeec7e81b81
title: Phony trial for human rights defender
uri: Phony-trial-for-human-rights-defender
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#15_August_2017_%28Phony_trial_for_human_rights_defender%29

content:
<p>
Chinese human rights defender Wu Gan was
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/15/china-super-vulgar-butcher-detention-sham-trial">imprisoned
for two years</a>, but now has been given a phony trial.


feed_id: 9ea7f27e687a43ea7992efa4f04f2ac2
title: CEOs quitting troll's "advisory council"
uri: CEOs-quitting-troll-s-advisory-council
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#15_August_2017_%28CEOs_quitting_trolls_advisory_council%29

content:
<p>
Some US CEOs are now
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/14/donald-trump-kevin-plank-under-armour-quits-advisory-council-charlottesville">quitting
the troll's "advisory council"</a> in response to his support for
right-wing extremism.
<p>
I don't think the "advisory council" is consulted for advice.
It is simply a way for executives to endorse the troll, presumably
hoping for some sort of reward for the company or themselves.
<p>
<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/14/intel-ceo-quit-trumps-manufacturing-council.html">Another
resignation</a> from a related council.


feed_id: 2e0ff6c208521b52e3bf6442627b13d4
title: AI
uri: 2017-08-16-AI
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#15_August_2017_%28AI%29
content:
<p>
"<a href='https://www.theguardian.com/technology/commentisfree/2017/aug/14/who-wants-live-artificially-intelligent-future-ai-tech-industry'>Who
wants</a> to live in an artificially intelligent future?"


feed_id: 3d84791447b164c25083ac028519743a
title: Attack on inmates of nursing homes
uri: Attack-on-inmates-of-nursing-homes
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#15_August_2017_%28Attack_on_inmates_of_nursing_homes%29

content:
<p>
Republicans are attacking inmates of nursing homes by eliminating the
rule that prohibits the nursing homes from
<a href="http://thehill.com/regulation/healthcare/345411-fight-over-right-to-sue-nursing-homes-heats-up">forcing
inmates into arbitration</a>.
<p>
The article uses the term "sexual assault" which is defined to stretch
from groping to rape, and includes other things too.  In general it is
a grave mistake to use that term, so I have decided never to use it.
In this particular case, no actual error results, since inmates ought
to be able to sue the company if the management tolerates any of those
acts.  But I still reject that term.


feed_id: a06d0b1a1e4e214b55d8cc94e0b46422
title: Islamists want to shut down Atheist group
uri: Islamists-want-to-shut-down-Atheist-group
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#15_August_2017_%28Islamists_want_to_shut_down_Atheist_group%29

content:
<p>
Malaysian Islamists
<a href="http://boingboing.net/2017/08/08/atheists-should-be-hunted-d.html">want
to shut down an Atheist group</a>.  Some have made death threats.  The
government will investigate … the Atheist group, not the
murderous Islamists.
<p>
Malaysia
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2015-jan-apr.html#20_April_2015_(Malaysian_sedition_law)">denies
the human rights of non-Muslims already</a>, and those of Muslims too,
by
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2007-mar-jun.html#03%20June%202007%20(Lina%20Joy)">denying
them the right to stop being Muslims</a>.
<p>
It would be equally wrong to deny people the right to become Muslims,
but curiously Malaysia does not do that.


feed_id: e60063d4d8fb060f55933bf2723f3e23
title: Troll's new hotel making profit
uri: Troll-s-new-hotel-making-profit
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#15_August_2017_%28Trolls_new_hotel_making_profit%29
content:
<p>
<a href="/glossary.html#trump">The troll</a>'s new hotel in Washington, DC, has brought in
<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-dc-hotel-turns-2-million-profit-in-four-months/2017/08/10/23bd97f0-7e02-11e7-9d08-b79f191668ed_story.html">4
million dollars more than was expected</a>.  Being president is quite
profitable if the president's goal is to make a profit.


feed_id: 7685538c188bc70a9a72dce69d26d194
title: The FCC under Saboteur Pai
uri: The-FCC-under-Saboteur-Pai
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#15_August_2017_%28The_FCC_under_Saboteur_Pai%29
content:
<p>
The FCC, run by <a href="/glossary.html#saboteur">Saboteur</a> Pai, has filled most of its Broadband
Deployment Advisory Committee with
<a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/almost-all-of-fccs-new-advisory-panel-works-for-telecoms">representatives
of cable and wireless companies</a>.  A few others were chosen,
perhaps solely so that we could not say the FCC had filled it
"entirely" with such representatives.


feed_id: 6e754ad23c041e18fca4ec84b5cc70dd
title: Wells Fargo's disservice
uri: Wells-Fargo-s-disservice
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#15_August_2017_%28Wells_Fargos_disservice%29
content:
<p>
Lawsuit accuse Wells Fargo of
<a href="https://consumerist.com/2017/08/11/wells-fargo-accused-of-overcharging-small-businesses/">cheating
small businesses</a> for handling their credit card payments.
<p>
When the victims find out, they are told they must pay $500 to stop
using Wells Fargo's disservice.


feed_id: 52e712276946521cf4c0016449086e52
title: Nazis
uri: Nazis
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#15_August_2017_%28Nazis%29
content:
<p>
To Tackle Neo-Nazis, We Must
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/shortcuts/2017/aug/14/tackle-neo-nazis-thinkers-thugs-charlottesville">Treat
Its "Thinkers" like Thugs</a>.


feed_id: e63facfe1dd91d8d5305e86479c668e5
title: Neonicotinoid pesticides
uri: Neonicotinoid-pesticides
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#15_August_2017_%28Neonicotinoid_pesticides%29
content:
<p>
Neonicotinoid pesticides make queen bees
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/aug/14/pesticides-could-wipe-out-bumblebee-populations-study-shows">substantially
less likely to start a colony</a>.


feed_id: ef0a7b79563a1e2be2da4b546ab82d6f
title: Forensic analysis of leaked DNC files
uri: Forensic-analysis-of-leaked-DNC-files
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#15_August_2017_%28Forensic_analysis_of_leaked_DNC_files%29

content:
<p>
Forensic researchers
<a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/a-new-report-raises-big-questions-about-last-years-dnc-hack/">claim
that analysis of some of the metadata of DNC leak files shows that the
files were copied first onto a USB memory</a>, not obtained by
cracking the DNC server externally.
<p>
Please don't refer to breaking security as "hacking"; the proper name
for that is "hacking".
<p>
They also claim that some of the leaked files had been pasted into a
template with some Russian characteristics, to make it appear that the
leak was committed by Russians.
<p>
Wikileaks announced last year that received this material through an
internal leak — it was
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#27_December_2016_(Democratic_Party_emails)">not
obtained by cracking</a>.
<p>
I don't follow what the article says about Forensicator's special
access to the metadata of the files, and I don't see convincing
evidence that we can rely on the statements attributed to him.  But I
also don't see any convincing proof that Russia was involved in these
leaks (though I wouldn't put it past Putin).
<p>
There are so many suspicious ties between the troll and Russia that an
investigation is clearly called for; but I don't see <em>proof</em>
that the troll is guilty of criminal plotting with Russia in what has
been revealed to the public.  Meanwhile, other crimes such as
obstruction of justice must be investigated too.


feed_id: 0319cb24c16ceac876f7ddb7b9e45eb9
title: Multinational tax loopholes
uri: Multinational-tax-loopholes
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#15_August_2017_%28Multinational_tax_loopholes%29
content:
<p>
US corporations generally <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2017/08/10/corporations-pay-between-13-and-19-percent-federal-taxes-far-less-35-percent">pay between</a> 13 and 19 percent federal tax, compared with the nominal 35% rate.
<p>
Many of the largest "US" corporations pay <a href="/archives/2017-may-aug.html#11_August_2017_(Tax_dodging_corporations)">no federal tax</a>.


feed_id: 34a46342b355a4a168aeb13da01eb485
title: RAF Veteran war warning
uri: RAF-Veteran-war-warning
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#15_August_2017_%28RAF_Veteran_war_warning%29
content:
<p>
"In 1939, I didn't hear war coming.  Now its thundering approach <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/14/1939-second-world-war-fascist-thundering-approach-hitler">canât be ignored</a>."


feed_id: 04acb533275cff7233fe0ec5f400d473
title: Thug street brutality
uri: Thug-street-brutality
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#15_August_2017_%28Thug_street_brutality%29
content:
<p>
Searching blacks for walking on the street is military occupation lite, and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/14/stop-and-frisk-policing-black-men-torture-sexual-harassment-paul-butler">often thugs escalate it</a> to sexual molestation, sometimes even torture.


feed_id: 45275ea90a87659e12e87676bac14c50
title: Republicans' dirty water
uri: Republicans-dirty-water
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#15_August_2017_%28Republicans%27_dirty_water%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/14/poison-flowed-americas-waters-trump">Poison Once Flowed in America's Waters</a>.  With Trump, It Might Again.


feed_id: 96b2e1234bf011e4bf36ad1efcf486f1
title: Vehicle pollution
uri: Vehicle-pollution
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#15_August_2017_%28Vehicle_pollution%29
content:
<p>
Electric cars won't get rid of particulate pollution, even if the electricity comes from solar and wind power.  The brakes and tires <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/aug/13/electric-cars-are-not-the-solution-pollutionwatch">make more particulates than the engine</a>.


feed_id: b7c166c60b69bb3178daea1ecb4e1d2d
title: Australia prison secrecy
uri: Australia-prison-secrecy
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#15_August_2017_%28Australia_prison_secrecy%29
content:
<p>
Australia <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/aug/14/dutton-retreats-on-offshore-detention-secrecy-rules-that-threaten-workers-with-jail">is being forced</a> to pull back from threats to imprison staff at its immigration prisons if they talk about abuse of prisoners.


feed_id: 059d21ff788b2806535a95c06f9e7460
title: Sessions deserves no sympathy
uri: Sessions-deserves-no-sympathy
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#15_August_2017_%28Sessions_deserves_no_sympathy%29
content:
<p>
Don't sympathize with Sessions merely because his master is attacking him. Sessions <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/08/12/let-me-remind-you-who-jeff-sessions">has supported cruelty</a> and injustice for decades, and he is not stopping now.


feed_id: 6cf0a9d546e277fb9d5a1a3439090e65
title: Britain Grouse environment
uri: Britain-Grouse-environment
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#15_August_2017_%28Britain_Grouse_environment%29
content:
<p>
Making enough grouse in Britain to satisfy the excessive numbers of people that want to shoot them has lead to bad land management practices that <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/12/grouse-shooting-glorious-twelfth-times-up-for-inglorious-victorian-sport">endanger other wildlife</a>.


feed_id: 04a045685ddd35233a019db2f90a5c2c
title: Right-wing terror
uri: Right-wing-terror
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#16_August_2017_%28Right-wing_terror%29
content:
<p>
The troll has a history of <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/08/14/trump-wont-say-it-we-will-white-terror-charlottesville">refusing to acknowledge</a> right-wing terror
in the US.
<p>
It will be interesting if the Charlottesville terrorist attack enables
Republicans to start openly condemning the extreme right and maybe the
troll also. But many seem to be sticking by him for now.
<p>
If the troll sincerely disapproves of right-wing bigotry and violence,
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/15/trump-words-white-supremacy-extremism">here is how</a> he can show he means it.
<p>
Instead, he has shown that that statement was a throw-away line, an
excuse to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/15/trump-retweets-alt-right-provocateur-after-condemning-white-supremacists">deny his continued support</a> for right-wing bigotry and
violence.


feed_id: 452bcc8c87ad9ee5a328e64a1de9da8a
title: Amazon highway
uri: Amazon-highway
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#16_August_2017_%28Amazon_highway%29
content:
<p>
Bolivia <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/aug/15/bolivia-approves-highway-in-amazon-biodiversity-hotspot-as-big-as-jamaica">Approves Controversial Highway</a> in Amazon Biodiversity Hotspot.


feed_id: 879a3e5f4c5f13a13fd926e5b85cf252
title: Troll supporters' doubts
uri: Troll-supporters-doubts
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#16_August_2017_%28Troll_supporters%27_doubts%29
content:
<p>
Some of the troll's supporters <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/15/diversity-right-wing-complaints-working-class-problems">are having doubts</a>, as it sinks in that
his racism is only a distraction from the real causes of their real
problems.


feed_id: 958780c4e0e9d16d011329afb5f3ee18
title: Witnessing terrorism
uri: Witnessing-terrorism
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#16_August_2017_%28Witnessing_terrorism%29
content:
<p>
What it was like to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/15/charlottesville-car-attack-eyewitnesses-virginia-heather-heyer">witness the racist terrorism</a> of Charlottesville.
<p>
It is important to recognize this, and then to avoid dwelling on this.
People who repeatedly watched the videos of planes flying into
buildings, in 2001, were mentally traumatized. After seeing it once
or twice, I sensed the danger of this; for self-protection, I made a
point of avoiding television for the next few days.
<p>
Instead of dwelling on what terrorism feels like, let's dwell on how
to vanquish this particular terrorist movement.


feed_id: 113a00a9f32ed52136d54d7c5459e0ae
title: Iranian journalists
uri: Iranian-journalists
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#16_August_2017_%28Iranian_journalists%29
content:
<p>
Iran <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/15/iran-freezes-assets-bbc-persian-staff-crackdown-journalists">retaliates individually</a> against the expat Iranian journalists that work
for the BBC.


feed_id: 58757f0a1733e8217aa0ad4a3e6d30c1
title: Recess
uri: Recess
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#16_August_2017_%28Recess%29
content:
<p>
Reintroducing recess into a school day can <a href="http://www.freerangekids.com/meet-superintendent-thought-leader-former-terrible-student-michael-hynes/">make the school better</a> in
many ways.


feed_id: b4ba9ddabe4e82d84c7ba91feb2520b7
title: Rallies against right-wing violence
uri: Rallies-against-right-wing-violence
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#16_August_2017_%28Rallies_against_right-wing_violence%29

content:
<p>
Thousands of Americans have <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/08/14/massive-outpouring-solidarity-thousands-rally-charlottesville">rallied in many cities</a> to condemn the
right-wing violence.


feed_id: 3c5e87b4a4cd0b64f6ffbdafab870435
title: US thugs in Charlottesville
uri: US-thugs-in-Charlottesville
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#16_August_2017_%28US_thugs_in_Charlottesville%29
content:
<p>
US thugs eagerly kill blacks without waiting to see if they do
anything wrong, but they are <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/8/12/1689078/-Police-did-little-as-mayhem-mounted-in-Charlottesville">as tame as kittens</a> towards armed and
threatening whites.
<p>
Seeing that sort of behavior towards a peaceful protest is what
radicalized Malcolm X.
<p>
Some Republicans <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/8/13/1689346/-Republican-Arsonists-Issue-Non-Apology-and-sorry-I-don-t-accept-it?detail=emaildkre">condemn the right-wing extremist violence</a> now
that it has broken out, but they helped stoke it for years.


feed_id: 9b5b81c5070857b9207c3b150235114c
title: Financial crisis victors
uri: Financial-crisis-victors
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#16_August_2017_%28Financial_crisis_victors%29
content:
<p>
10 years after the financial crisis, the rich victors are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/15/ten-years-after-crash-civil-war-britain-austerity">squeezing
the defeated poor</a> ever more, and giving a boost to right-wing
populists offering misguided "solutions".


feed_id: 1f234561e331d273ffb64b6cd1980e36
title: PISSI-occupied Raqqa
uri: PISSI-occupied-Raqqa
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#16_August_2017_%28PISSI-occupied_Raqqa%29
content:
<p>
It is getting <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/15/civilian-raqqa-syria-siege-isis-religious-police">harder to survive</a> in PISSI-occupied Raqqa, but easier to
leave as the liberation forces come further into the city. Those who
escape pass their remaining food supplies to those who must remain,
and those must pretend to be sincere and convinced supporters of <a href="/glossary.html#pissi">PISSI</a>
or be executed.
<p>
The description reminds me of what I have read about other totalitarian
states, such as the Soviet Union, East Germany, and China under the cultural
revolution. It is hell on Earth.
<p>
It will be hard, in the future, for Syrians to distinguish between
<a href="/glossary.html#pissi">PISSI</a>'s real supporters (dangerous hidden enemies) and those who
pretended.


feed_id: 574defbb74f564ff13623064b3f2678d
title: Salafi Arabia princes
uri: Salafi-Arabia-princes
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#16_August_2017_%28Salafi_Arabia_princes%29
content:
<p>
Salafi Arabia has <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/15/saudi-arabia-new-details-of-dissident-princes-abductions-emerge">grabbed and disappeared</a> several dissident princes,
in acts which include kidnapping, treachery, or the extrajudicial
cooperation of other countries.


feed_id: bc2360cdca6a7b527201f05938eff84f
title: Extremists on the internet
uri: Extremists-on-the-internet
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#16_August_2017_%28Extremists_on_the_internet%29
content:
<p>
Various companies that provide support for internet sites and
communication have begun <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/aug/14/daily-stormer-alt-right-google-go-daddy-charlottesville">kicking off right-wing extremists</a>
such as the Nazi "Stormer" site.
<p>
When the extremists use dog-whistles to arouse hatred and violence, then
claim it was only irony, they are trying to have it both ways.
It is legitimate to tell them they ought to know that this an appeal
to violence.
<p>
Nazis have a right to hold rallies. But not the right to incite and
prepare violence in them.


feed_id: 198757afb5190bf2e07b000201aa326b
title: Forensic analysis of leaked DNC files
uri: 2017-08-17-Forensic-analysis-of-leaked-DNC-files
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#15_August_2017_%28Forensic_analysis_of_leaked_DNC_files%29

content:
<p>
Forensic researchers
<a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/a-new-report-raises-big-questions-about-last-years-dnc-hack/">claim
that analysis of some of the metadata of DNC leak files shows that the
files were copied first onto a USB memory</a>, not obtained by
cracking the DNC server externally.
<p>
Please don't refer to breaking security as "hacking"; the proper name
for that is "cracking".
<p>
They also claim that some of the leaked files had been pasted into a
template with some Russian characteristics, to make it appear that the
leak was committed by Russians.
<p>
Wikileaks announced last year that received this material through an
internal leak — it was
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#27_December_2016_(Democratic_Party_emails)">not
obtained by cracking</a>.
<p>
I don't follow what the article says about Forensicator's special
access to the metadata of the files, and I don't see convincing
evidence that we can rely on the statements attributed to him.  But I
also don't see any convincing proof that Russia was involved in these
leaks (though I wouldn't put it past Putin).
<p>
There are so many suspicious ties between the troll and Russia that an
investigation is clearly called for; but I don't see <em>proof</em> 
that the troll is guilty of criminal plotting with Russia in what has
been revealed to the public.  Meanwhile, other crimes such as
obstruction of justice must be investigated too.


feed_id: 7d9606941dcbf07813f60844dc2608fe
title: Kenya election result
uri: Kenya-election-result
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#17_August_2017_%28Kenya_election_result%29
content:
<p>
Kenya's opposition presidential candidate will push his accusations of
election fraud <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/16/kenyan-opposition-leader-to-challenge-election-result-in-court">in the courts</a>, rather than on the streets.


feed_id: d0bcba43b6d3b1e81d9ed6c2b5a7dd69
title: Nebraska prisoners neglected
uri: Nebraska-prisoners-neglected
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#17_August_2017_%28Nebraska_prisoners_neglected%29
content:
<p>
Overcrowding in Nebraska prisons causes heart attacks, blindness and mental illness, because prisoners don't <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/16/nebraska-prisons-cause-heart-attacks-mental-illness">get medical care</a>. 


feed_id: 3112d85985a68348f277542c315e728e
title: Lebanon marry rapist law
uri: Lebanon-marry-rapist-law
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#17_August_2017_%28Lebanon_marry_rapist_law%29
content:
<p>
Lebanon has <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/16/lebanon-axes-law-allowing-rapists-escape-justice-by-marrying-victim">repealed</a> its marry-your-rapist law.


feed_id: 5ab5b351828f2bf220e52dfa5c5d2838
title: US school thugs profiling
uri: US-school-thugs-profiling
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#17_August_2017_%28US_school_thugs_profiling%29
content:
<p>
US school thugs like to search schoolgirls rather intimately, except for the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/16/black-women-violated-us-policing-racial-profiling">white ones</a>.


feed_id: c4f882a540d6c80d6ed298e8aed626bc
title: Britain food banks
uri: Britain-food-banks
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#17_August_2017_%28Britain_food_banks%29
content:
<p>
Britain's food banks are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/aug/16/austerity-causing-suffering-record-number-food-banks-stock-shortage">running low on some foods</a> as the Tories push ever more people into depending on them.


feed_id: 48ebe5fc245d7d78d5e15bb11f554416
title: Greenfell tower inquiry
uri: Greenfell-tower-inquiry
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#17_August_2017_%28Greenfell_tower_inquiry%29
content:
<p>
The Tories aim to limit the public inquiry into the causes of the housing project fire to the technical failures—the direct causes—while leaving out the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/aug/15/grenfell-fire-public-inquiry-to-consider-cause-and-council-response">root causes</a> (unjust Tory policies).


feed_id: d631ccc05fe5f17210de096d47e67208
title: Urgent: censure the bigot-in-chief
uri: Urgent-censure-the-bigot-in-chief
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#18_August_2017_%28Urgent%3A_censure_the_bigot-in-chief%29

content:
<p>
 US citizens: <a href="https://petitions.moveon.org/sign/censure-trump">call on Congress</a> to formally censure the bigot-in-chief.

He gave white supremacists <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/15/us/politics/trump-charlottesville-white-nationalists.html">explicit and unequivocal support</a>.


feed_id: 573b545d7627cfc8acf84391a9920e80
title: Urgent: American Technology Council
uri: Urgent-American-Technology-Council
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#18_August_2017_%28Urgent%3A_American_Technology_Council%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: <a href="https://act.colorofchange.org/sign/tell-ceos-quit-council/">call on CEOs</a> to quit the troll's American Technology Council.


feed_id: 9d9bd4ad7df20e154f8394475e7c387a
title: Urgent: censoring of scientists and experts
uri: Urgent-censoring-of-scientists-and-experts
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#18_August_2017_%28Urgent%3A_censoring_of_scientists_and_experts%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: <a href="https://act.credoaction.com/sign/investigate_doi">Tell the inspector general of the Department of the
Interior</a>: Investigate the censoring of government scientists and
experts.


feed_id: 745155a040c79c0cbeadb7da0d448f2a
title: Right-wing rallies
uri: Right-wing-rallies
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#18_August_2017_%28Right-wing_rallies%29
content:
<p>
Right-wingers <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/organizers-postpone-google-protest-marches-citing-alt-left-terrorist-threats/2017/08/16/1a62a248-824b-11e7-ab27-1a21a8e006ab_story.html">cancelled rallies</a> because they expected counterprotests,
but claimed that those were "terrorist threats".
<p>
It is a standard right-wing lie to take the things they actually do,
and falsely accuse their opponents of doing the same. That's what the
troll does when he calls accurate criticism "fake news" and when he pretends
that counterprotestors in Charlottesville engaged in violence.


feed_id: 4cc723fc4780f6430bf55feaaf11be64
title: Cuckoo D'Etat
uri: Cuckoo-D-Etat
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#18_August_2017_%28Cuckoo_D%27Etat%29
content:
<p>
Cuckoo D'Ãtat: The Lunatics Have <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/08/16/cuckoo-detat-lunatics-have-taken-over-asylum">Taken Over the Asylum</a>.


feed_id: a45e87218f0fc12930996950955c9515
title: US terrorism laws
uri: US-terrorism-laws
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#18_August_2017_%28US_terrorism_laws%29
content:
<p>
US <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/8/15/1689904/-White-supremacists-terrorists-are-protected-from-the-laws-that-affect-Islamic-terrorists">laws against acts of terrorism</a> have a gap: they cover only terrorism
that is inspired from outside the US.
<p>
That doesn't stop us from acknowledging right-wing violence as terrorism.
When we come across a pile of shit, we don't need a special law or a court
decision to say it stinks.


feed_id: e70a41cef3f1340e23b0be8c373f2bf1
title: Robert E Lee
uri: Robert-E-Lee
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#18_August_2017_%28Robert_E_Lee%29
content:
<p>
Robert E Lee was no hero as a man. He was a stubborn supporter of
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/amp/article/529038/">slavery and racial oppression</a>.


feed_id: 3d170e1b87b35f1cf5ac015e6eb3bcf3
title: Food waste
uri: 2017-08-18-Food-waste
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#18_August_2017_%28Food_waste%29
content:
<p>
Norway's efforts to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/aug/17/how-norway-is-selling-out-of-date-food-to-help-tackle-waste">reduce food waste</a> at supermarkets.


feed_id: eb5be4645aa8710c01a4786d9590437e
title: Destroying the NHS
uri: Destroying-the-NHS
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#18_August_2017_%28Destroying_the_NHS%29
content:
<p>
The Tory <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/17/nhs-cuts-basic-medicines-poor-gps-withdraw-service">campaign to destroy the NHS</a> is entering the home stretch:
doctors can no longer give basic medicines to destitute patients.


feed_id: dec0e7d95a13518c142ee71132b97663
title: Anti-Trump site visitors
uri: Anti-Trump-site-visitors
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#18_August_2017_%28Anti-Trump_site_visitors%29
content:
<p>
Did You Visit This Anti-Trump Site? The US Government <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/17/anti-trump-site-us-government-surveillance">Wants Your IP Address</a>.
<p>
ACLU: A <a href="https://www.aclu.org/blog/speak-freely/sweeping-search-warrant-targets-anti-trump-website-clear-threat-constitution">Sweeping Search Warrant</a> Targets Anti-Trump Website in Clear
Threat to the Constitution.


feed_id: ffffc8c4bb1719147c38e990586da864
title: US deportation
uri: 2017-08-18-US-deportation
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#18_August_2017_%28US_deportation%29
content:
<p>
The <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/08/16/trumps-cruel-deportations">cruel deportation</a> of people living in the US who have little
contact with any country other than the US.
<p>
The deputy chief of LA thugs says his department it works to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/inequality/2017/aug/17/lapd-police-department-here-to-help-los-angeles-la-immigrants-not-deport-them">build
relationships</a> with immigrant communities, not deport them.
<p>
I wouldn't assume black people are safe from thugs there, but the attitude
of Deputy Chief Arcos is a good one.


feed_id: 782a43ee2e5caff9e88d17e6782f58b3
title: Tech and the Media
uri: Tech-and-the-Media
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#18_August_2017_%28Tech_and_the_Media%29
content:
<p>
Tech's <a href="http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/41627-tech-s-growing-stranglehold-on-the-media">Growing Stranglehold</a> on the Media. It is dangerous for the
independence of the press.
<p>
It threatens to make the general business domination of the media even
worse.


feed_id: 97cfbe58c4a2fa0afc37bd5b57745be6
title: Terraforming Mars
uri: Terraforming-Mars
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#18_August_2017_%28Terraforming_Mars%29
content:
<p>
Two ethical arguments <a href="http://nautil.us/blog/the-argument-against-terraforming-mars">against terraforming Mars</a> even if it is
lifeless.


feed_id: be960aa51f15f948c7d45d86573eb4b4
title: Republicans on the hater
uri: Republicans-on-the-hater
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#18_August_2017_%28Republicans_on_the_hater%29
content:
<p>
Here's what various prominent Republicans <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/16/republicans-charlottesville-trump-response-for-against">do and don't dare to say</a>
about the hater's support for racist violence. Some identify him
personally, while others can't get those words out.
<p>
I note that the official leaders of the Republicans in Congress are in
the latter group.
<p>
Daily Kos pointed out in an email that even the Republicans who deny
open support to white supremacism are still working for voter ID laws
and disenfranchisement programs that stop many blacks from voting,
as well as the big gerrymander that makes many of their votes ineffective.


feed_id: 896b3ef2abd58668ad6ed80281851bc7
title: The infant's business councils
uri: The-infant-s-business-councils
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#18_August_2017_%28The_infant%27s_business_councils%29

content:
<p>
The infant <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/16/donald-trump-advisory-councils-disbanded-ceos-charlottesville">took his business councils home</a> after several CEOs refused to
play with them his way.


feed_id: 04867811ea5fd4502ee99560eb0d7df3
title: Urgent: Quit troll's business councils
uri: Urgent-Quit-troll-s-business-councils
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#18_August_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Quit_trolls_business_councils%29

content:
<p>
Everyone: 
<a href="https://act.colorofchange.org/sign/tell-ceos-quit-council/">call
on CEOs</a> to quit the bigot-in-chief's business and manufacturing
councils.


feed_id: 9e9b528142b32cde2cf22899c98599d7
title: Urgent: Fire Bannon
uri: Urgent-Fire-Bannon
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#18_August_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Fire_Bannon%29
content:
<p>
US citizens: 
<a href="https://act.colorofchange.org/sign/its-time-firebannon/">call
on Congress to insist</a> that the troll fire Bannon.


feed_id: efffec9df33dbcd596f66ecd88a915aa
title: Urgent: Protect protesters
uri: Urgent-Protect-protesters
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#18_August_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Protect_protesters%29
content:
<p>
Everyone: 
<a href="https://act.colorofchange.org/sign/nc-no-protections-for-drivers-hit-protesters/">call
on North Carolina</a> not to protect drivers that hit protesters with
their cars.
<p>
The proposed law explicitly protects drivers that hit protesters
"accidentally", but removing drivers' usual legal obligation to take
care not to hit anyone would encourage drivers to drive in risky ways,
killing people "accidentally on purpose".  Not to mention the
temptation to hit protesters intentionally and then pretend it was an
accident.


feed_id: 4ebe3e333b03a287f2a0097bb71b063d
title: Degraded trust in other people
uri: Degraded-trust-in-other-people
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#18_August_2017_%28Degraded_trust_in_other_people%29
content:
<p>
The US suffers from degraded trust in other people, and this 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/16/social-capital-us-opioid-epidemic-drugs-overdose">makes
people more vulnerable to opioid addiction</a>.


feed_id: cc8524f9e6f47e585d48c7e25dc9ed15
title: Thugs search people based on looks
uri: Thugs-search-people-based-on-looks
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#18_August_2017_%28Thugs_search_people_based_on_looks%29

content:
<p>
London is returning to having thugs 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/16/stop-and-search-cuts-trust-police-theresa-may-black-minority-confidence-law">search
people on the street based on disliking their looks</a> (which often
means, their skin color).  This makes black communities hate the
thugs.


feed_id: a1aacb2aa18591b1f724b91ae9e3e40b
title: Self-styled heroic leaders
uri: Self-styled-heroic-leaders
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#18_August_2017_%28Self-styled_heroic_leaders%29
content:
<p>
The World's Problems Cannot Be Solved by 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/public-leaders-network/2017/aug/16/world-challenges-no-heroic-leaders">Self-Styled
Heroic Leaders</a>.


feed_id: 16f894cbdbe554e85bef735dad21974b
title: Plastic in the ocean
uri: 2017-08-18-Plastic-in-the-ocean
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#18_August_2017_%28Plastic_in_the_ocean%29
content:
<p>
When plastic floats in the ocean for a few days, it grows a layer of algae
which 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/aug/16/fish-confusing-plastic-debris-in-ocean-for-food-study-finds">leads
anchovies to mistake it for food</a>.


feed_id: 2e44f5437f798aae2ccfe01563904126
title: Condemnation for Bigot-in-Chief
uri: Condemnation-for-Bigot-in-Chief
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#18_August_2017_%28Condemnation_for_Bigot-in-Chief%29

content:
<p>
Several Republicans condemned the Bigot-in-Chief for equating violent
Nazis and white supremacists to the peaceful nonbigots that they
attacked.  But most 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/15/donald-trump-charlottesville-republicans-react-bigotry">could
not bring themselves to criticize him by name</a>.
<p>
Shame on those.


feed_id: 197f90c3b2b6f410b5bae9f303dfedf8
title: Charlottesville thugs
uri: Charlottesville-thugs
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#18_August_2017_%28Charlottesville_thugs%29
content:
<p>
A photo shows Nazis in Charlottesville beating up an unarmed black
man, using iron and wooden bars.  They did this next to the thug
department headquarters, but the thugs 
<a href="http://www.gregpalast.com/charlottesville-gun-face-got-photo/">didn't
intervene</a>.


feed_id: 2e34fbd5d29ff77062a4ebf8fee5c4ba
title: Negotiations with North Korea
uri: Negotiations-with-North-Korea
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#18_August_2017_%28Negotiations_with_North_Korea%29
content:
<p>
Kim Jong-un turned down the bombast dial in a 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/15/north-korea-guam-strike-pause-donald-trump-negotiations">possible
invitation for negotiations</a>.  Will the troll be capable of taking
up the invitation?


feed_id: 3250982916c38aa3bdb8b2c1d720cc89
title: Broken water pumps in New Orleans
uri: Broken-water-pumps-in-New-Orleans
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#18_August_2017_%28Broken_water_pumps_in_New_Orleans%29

content:
<p>
In New Orleans, the water pumps are 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/15/new-orleans-flooding-rain-water-louisiana">mostly
broken</a>, the people who run them are not on the ball, and even if
they were operating correctly they wouldn't be enough to cope with
five months of steady rain.
<p>
How about starting now to move New Orleans to a place 150 ft above sea
level, where we can be confident that it won't be 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-jan-apr.html#25_March_2016_(Sea_level_rise)">submerged
in the next few centuries</a>?  Then the only concern will be 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#3_August_2017_(India_global_heating)">fatal
heat waves</a>.


feed_id: 946c1dac0362ab8279bb3a6d1d8992ab
title: Michael Moore warning
uri: Michael-Moore-warning
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#18_August_2017_%28Michael_Moore_warning%29
content:
<p>
Michael Moore warns Americans that the troll's saboteurs in various government departments do real, <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/08/15/michael-moore-dont-lose-sight-horror-trump-inflicts-every-single-day">permanent harm every day</a>. 


feed_id: de50e453ead548e7e096a3999000fe02
title: FBI NHS Terror threat
uri: FBI-NHS-Terror-threat
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#18_August_2017_%28FBI_NHS_Terror_threat%29
content:
<p>
The FBI and NHS <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/08/14/federal-agencies-warned-white-supremacist-threat-may">warned</a> in May that right-wing bigots were the biggest terrorist threat in the US.


feed_id: 739d94c80c67852e4396ac8b9fb6f6fa
title: Trump Arpaio pardoning
uri: Trump-Arpaio-pardoning
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#18_August_2017_%28Trump_Arpaio_pardoning%29
content:
<p>
The troll is talking about pardoning ex-Sheriff Arpaio for <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/report-trump-says-he-might-pardon-former-sheriff-joe-arpaio/">disobeying the court order</a> to stop unconstitutional practices.


feed_id: c1d724656aff197b33fbf20f9ae37aee
title: Confederacy monuments symbolism
uri: Confederacy-monuments-symbolism
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#18_August_2017_%28Confederacy_monuments_symbolism%29

content:
<p>
Monuments to the Confederacy in the US are not relics of the Confederacy.  They were erected chiefly in the 1910s and 1920s as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/16/why-is-the-us-still-fighting-the-civil-war">symbols of bigotry</a>, by and for the movement that set up the racist segregation laws known as "Jim Crow".
<p>
We should preserve the battlefields and other relics of the Civil War, which reflect the gravity of that struggle.  They honor the abolitionist movement that defeated the Confederacy.  However, as for the campaign symbols for bigotry, cities and states should <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/gallery/2017/aug/15/confederate-statues-removed-across-southern-us-states-in-pictures">take all of them down</a>.
<p>
Many have been removed this year.
<p>
<a href="https://www.thenation.com/authors/mychal-denzel-smith/">Historical Amnesia</a> About Slavery Is a Tool of White Supremacy.
<p>
"False equivalence is a tool, not an accident of ignorance.  It is a choice to focus on Leeâs reputation as a military tactician and not on what that acumen was put to use for…  It was a choice to erect these statues honoring his life, just as it was a choice to keep them up for so long."


feed_id: b613ad42b901083d27600746732d6d1d
title: World racial division
uri: World-racial-division
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#18_August_2017_%28World_racial_division%29
content:
<p>
The troll has "forced the world to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/16/world-racial-division-us-charlottesville">confront racial division</a> in the US".


feed_id: 2bfbb1cf9e6eda6d28ac51014b5b559d
title: Trigger warnings
uri: 2017-08-19-Trigger-warnings
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#18_August_2017_%28Trigger_warnings%29
content:
<p>
An argument against <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/mar/05/trigger-warnings-can-be-counterproductive">insisting</a> on trigger warnings.
<p>
I read an article (I don't know a place to link to it) which compared trigger warnings to spoiler warnings.  Spoiler warnings do a favor to some readers.  It's a kindness to do that favor, if you think of it, but we can't demand that people always remember to think of it, or know where there is a reason to do it.


feed_id: 5cb7804a6c89e6dcbb0de52db96d270f
title: Urgent: Impeach the bigot-in-chief
uri: Urgent-Impeach-the-bigot-in-chief
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#19_August_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Impeach_the_bigot-in-chief%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: <a href="http://act.couragecampaign.org/sign/impeachtrump?source=org_em_p_impeachtrump&t=1006&akid=4416%2E183061%2Es2IIwu">call on Congress to impeach the bigot-in-chief</a>.
<p>
He gave white supremacists explicit and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/15/us/politics/trump-charlottesville-white-nationalists.html?partner=rss&emc=rss">unequivocal support</a>.
<p>The Capitol Switchboard numbers are 202-224-3121, 888-818-6641 and 888-355-3588.</p>


feed_id: 27b35e130fa098c10aea85df30e5bf81
title: Urgent: Support Charlottesville peace pole
uri: Urgent-Support-Charlottesville-peace-pole
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#19_August_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Support_Charlottesville_peace_pole%29

content:
<p>
Everyone: <a href="https://diy.rootsaction.org/petitions/put-a-peace-pole-in-charlottesville">Support putting up a peace pole in Charlottesville</a>.


feed_id: 4d3b36fbc2595de72eb2990dfbbc0e2f
title: Portugal wildfire surrounds town
uri: Portugal-wildfire-surrounds-town
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#19_August_2017_%28Portugal_wildfire_surrounds_town%29

content:
<p>
Portugal has suffered from massive and deadly wildfires this year. Now a town is cut off, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/17/wildfires-trap-2000-people-in-macao-village-in-central-portugal">surrounded by fire</a>.
<p>
Spain, France and Italy are having the same problem due to a drought that is clearly associated with global heating.  As global heating continues, much of Spain and Italy will become desert.


feed_id: ab8a403f31dc3ae95e0c4f1f5dde52c9
title: China campaigners jailed
uri: China-campaigners-jailed
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#19_August_2017_%28China_campaigners_jailed%29
content:
<p>
Hong Kong democracy protest leaders have been <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/17/hong-kong-democracy-campaigners-jailed-over-anti-china-protests">sentenced</a> to months in prison.
<p>
It's not as bad as what the US is trying to do to <a href="/archives/2017-jan-apr.html#27_January_2017_(Thugs_arrest_TV_journalists)">dissidents</a>,  but it shames the leaders of Hong Kong, who are carrying out the orders, and the leaders of China, who gave them.


feed_id: 9a0252c695f4699e04f96732a6097da9
title: US UK Centrist party
uri: US-UK-Centrist-party
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#19_August_2017_%28US_UK_Centrist_party%29
content:
<p>
"Centrists" that <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/17/centrists-attack-left-extremists-labour-moderates">fail to oppose</a> neoliberal dooH niboR have nothing to offer that will help the people, in the UK as in the US.


feed_id: 7c72150919a44740a8121be166c9d6e3
title: Iran opposition leader hunger strike
uri: Iran-opposition-leader-hunger-strike
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#19_August_2017_%28Iran_opposition_leader_hunger_strike%29

content:
<p>

Mehdi Karroubi, who ran for president of Iran and was punished with permanent imprisonment at home, has gone on hunger strike to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/17/iran-opposition-leader-begins-hunger-strike-to-demand-public-trial">demand a trial</a> of whatever accusations there are against him.


feed_id: bdc9bbe600d8e20391799b35a07145ec
title: Damore science ignorance
uri: Damore-science-ignorance
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#19_August_2017_%28Damore_science_ignorance%29
content:
<p>

The <a href="https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/cross-check/google-engineer-fired-for-sexist-memo-isnt-a-hero/">bad science</a> of James Damore is supported by other commentators equally ignorant of science.


feed_id: 034175c55959ce87eb95755e1d27ec52
title: Troll flood risk
uri: Troll-flood-risk
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#19_August_2017_%28Troll_flood_risk%29
content:
<p>
The troll is trying to <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/08/15/ignoring-threat-rising-seas-trump-eliminates-flood-risk-standards">eliminate federal prudence requirements</a> to build federally funded infrastructure out of range of likely flooding.


feed_id: d800d163b9a728bf9f467912ac7216f8
title: Santa Fe thugs racism
uri: Santa-Fe-thugs-racism
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#19_August_2017_%28Santa_Fe_thugs_racism%29
content:
<p>
The head of the Santa Fe thug union <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/8/14/1689450/-New-Mexico-police-union-chief-shared-meme-about-running-protesters-over-with-cars?detail=emaildkre">spreads violent racism</a>.


feed_id: 48085d04cb3fe86de9cdb2818c52092a
title: Symbolism of Confederacy monuments
uri: Symbolism-of-Confederacy-monuments
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#19_August_2017_%28Symbolism_of_Confederacy_monuments%29

content:
<p>
Many monuments to the Confederacy <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/16/confederate-monuments-civil-war-history-trump">were set up</a> within the past two decades.
<p>
As <a href="/archives/current.html#18_August_2017_(Confederacy_monuments_symbolism)">explained previously</a>, few of them go back to the 19th century.  They are not part of the history of the Civil War.  They represent a white supremacist view of that war, one we do well to reject.


feed_id: d02f5fc51032259d0b451b3d93fd629d
title: Urgent: Revoke troll's Twitter account
uri: Urgent-Revoke-troll-s-Twitter-account
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#19_August_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Revoke_trolls_Twitter_account%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: 
<a href="https://act.credoaction.com/sign/twitter_trump">call on
Twitter</a> to revoke the troll's account.


feed_id: e7170d68b76344ade02de3890b875731
title: Antiracists arrested
uri: Antiracists-arrested
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#19_August_2017_%28Antiracists_arrested%29
content:
<p>
Antiracists were 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/08/16/four-arrested-toppling-confederate-statue-zero-neo-nazis-yet-arrested-brutal-beating">arrested
for toppling a statue of Robert E Lee</a>, but no one has been
arrested for beating up Deandre Harris in Charlottesville.


feed_id: 6f4c0678aea9ea57b8582fdd9bc4a56f
title: Redesign of NAFTA
uri: Redesign-of-NAFTA
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#19_August_2017_%28Redesign_of_NAFTA%29
content:
<p>
Family farmers of Canada, Mexico and the US warn that the redesign of
NAFTA seems intended to increase the power of corporations.  The
negotiations are 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2017/08/16/family-farm-groups-three-countries-slam-nafta-reboot-based-tpp">secret
again</a>, as in the 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2012-sep-dec.html#15_September_2012_(The_secret_negotiations_of_the_TPP)">Treacherous
Plutocratic Poison</a>.
<p>
The fundamental nature of any "free trade treaty" that "works" too
well is to 
<a href="/business-supremacy-treaties.html">increase the power of
businesses over the state and the people</a>.


feed_id: 0192349da61f0567dec381127cad2da2
title: Censorship
uri: 2017-08-20-Censorship
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#19_August_2017_%28Censorship%29
content:
<p>
Important internet companies are 
<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/silicon-valley-escalates-its-war-on-white-supremacy-despite-free-speech-concerns/2017/08/16/842771b8-829b-11e7-902a-2a9f2d808496_story.html">cutting
off right-wing extremist groups</a>.
<p>
If the result is that hardly anyone spreads right-wing lies and
terrorism on the internet, that would be small loss.  However, it is
hard to confine effects to their intended targets.  If all the major
Internet communication companies (there are not so many of them, after
all) combine to firmly censor right-wing extremism, that would amount
to Chinese-style repression which 
<a href="https://ieet.org/index.php/IEET2/more/Searle20170730">could
be turned against any form of dissent</a>.
<p>
The CEO of Cloudflare decided to 
<a href="http://gizmodo.com/cloudflare-ceo-on-terminating-service-to-neo-nazi-site-1797915295">cut
off its service to a particular Nazi site</a>, but thinks that society
needs to take up the question of what is allowed on the internet,
rather than appoint major companies as censors by default.
<p>
Freedom of speech means respecting people's right to maintain views
that we despise.  It doesn't include the right to organize violence,
but we have to make sure not to push the limits too tight.  We must
take care not to legitimize the kind of repression that 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jan-apr.html#9_March_2017_(Threat_of_prison_for_protesters)">inauguration
protesters</a> and 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#5_June_2017_(Pipeline_protesters_treated_like_jihadists)">pipeline
protesters</a> now face in the US.


feed_id: e66b99cb3f71e378408960326ed32322
title: Salafi Arabia
uri: 2017-08-20-Salafi-Arabia
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#19_August_2017_%28Salafi_Arabia%29
content:
<p>
<a href="/glossary.html#salafi">Salafi Arabia</a> is offering funds to "rebuild Iraq" 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/18/saudi-arabia-talks-alliance-rebuild-iraq-return-arab-fold">in
exchange for political influence</a>.
<p>
If this helps Iraqi Sunnis get equal rights, it will be a step forward
and might aid the cause of peace there.  But <a href="/glossary.html#salafi">Salafi Arabia</a> will surely
implant Salafi rigidism — just what Iraq doesn't need more of.
<p>
Iran is a repressive theocracy, but nowhere near as bad a repressive
theocracy as
<a href="">Salafi Arabia</a>.


feed_id: 46d9fb365e6b009aa24ab2372cf221a9
title: Protecting the Great Barrier Reef
uri: Protecting-the-Great-Barrier-Reef
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#19_August_2017_%28Protecting_the_Great_Barrier_Reef%29

content:
<p>
Australia has 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/aug/18/queensland-conservationists-call-for-river-mining-ban-to-protect-great-barrier-reef">rejected
two proposed river mines</a> because they would threaten the Great
Barrier Reef.


feed_id: 7666f9947fb0e2f1104d8229394a0291
title: Troll's advisory council
uri: Troll-s-advisory-council
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#19_August_2017_%28Trolls_advisory_council%29
content:
<p>
<a href="/glossary.html#trump">The troll</a> decided to take another advisory council home since 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/17/third-white-house-panel-scrapped-amid-trump-charlottesville-controversy">CEOs
won't play with him any more</a>.


feed_id: 96103a9318b737e6e0cd0a8d96369163
title: American antisemites support Israel
uri: American-antisemites-support-Israel
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#19_August_2017_%28American_antisemites_support_Israel%29

content:
<p>
American antisemites hate Jews, but 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/belief/2017/aug/17/why-americas-antisemites-can-hate-jews-but-still-claim-to-admire-israel">support
Israel for its system of racism</a>.


feed_id: 5662b8d790d4cfe1d92ac247f4844fb5
title: Wells Fargo
uri: 2017-08-20-Wells-Fargo
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#19_August_2017_%28Wells_Fargo%29
content:
<p>
Wells Fargo bank, "poster child for corporate crime recidivism", has
taken the drastic step of requiring three board members to resign with
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/08/17/wells-fargo-pwc-board-reshuffle/">no
other penalty</a>.
<p>
What?  No jail time?


feed_id: 93d372a55be38062ac635f5716975b82
title: Land rights of indigenous people in Brazil
uri: Land-rights-of-indigenous-people-in-Brazil
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#19_August_2017_%28Land_rights_of_indigenous_people_in_Brazil%29

content:
<p>
Brazilian Supreme Court 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/aug/17/brazilian-supreme-court-upholds-land-rights-indigenous-people-mato-grosso-do-sul">Upholds
Land Rights of Indigenous People</a>.
<p>
This by itself does not make them safe from land-grabbers.


feed_id: f608411276da097f996dc2d5e9761955
title: Urgent: National Defense Authorization Act
uri: Urgent-National-Defense-Authorization-Act
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#20_August_2017_%28Urgent%3A_National_Defense_Authorization_Act%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: <a href="https://secure.defenders.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=3235">tell Senate Democrats</a>, Ensure the National Defense
Authorization Act does not include funding for Trumpâs war on
immigrants, his discriminatory ban on transgender troops or any other
policies that promote or advance Trumpâs agenda of fear and hate.


feed_id: e2c9278b03b25894a2b34b5a9369f1fb
title: Urgent: ditch 'alt-right'
uri: Urgent-ditch-alt-right
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#20_August_2017_%28Urgent%3A_ditch_%27alt-right%27%29

content:
<p>
Everyone: <a href="https://act.credoaction.com/sign/No_More_AltRight">call on mainstream media</a> to ditch the term "alt-right".


feed_id: 192973a202703ffaca6a94110b0f5277
title: US infrastructure
uri: 2017-08-21-US-infrastructure
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#20_August_2017_%28US_infrastructure%29
content:
<p>
<a href="/glossary.html#trump">The troll</a>'s endorsement of right-wing extremists, in the meeting where
he intended to push his corrupt infrastructure plan, may have <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/19/trump-infrastructure-charlottesville-neo-nazis-comments">pushed
away the support</a> of plutocratist Democrats such as Pelosi and Schumer.
<p>
Those pseudo-Democrats will have plenty more chances to support the
banks and <a href="/glossary.html#doohnibor">dooH niboR</a>. We need to replace them with progressive
Democrats — people who will reject these bow-down-to-business plans
<em>because they bow down to business</em> rather because of secondary
associations.
<p>
The reason the US government can't afford to maintain and build
infrastructure now is because business has too much power, and <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-mar-jun.html#8_April_2016_(Arsenic_in_Texas_border_towns)">uses
that power</a> to pay too little tax.
<p>
Republicans, and plutocratist
Democrats, offer this as an <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#23_November_2016_(Trump%27s_infrastructure_plan)">excuse for privatization</a> that would give
business even more power. What we need to do is take that power away.


feed_id: 44aa9a79d0aa10ae43c5d9f2f61e158c
title: Silicon Valley unions
uri: Silicon-Valley-unions
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#20_August_2017_%28Silicon_Valley_unions%29
content:
<p>
Workers in Silicon Valley are <a href="http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/20425/Silicon-Valley-Techno-Capitalism-Low-Wage-Worker-Unions-Facebook-Tesla">forming unions</a>.


feed_id: 386d000729bb8f87dedd7d21d916310d
title: Organophosphates
uri: Organophosphates
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#20_August_2017_%28Organophosphates%29
content:
<p>
Airplane crewmembers are getting <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/aug/19/sick-crew-toxic-air-planes-frequent-flyers-ill">contaminated with organophosphates</a>,
and this is suspected of causing some to end up permanently sick, or
even dead.


feed_id: c67072faefd22fc71987a02404215185
title: Liu Xia video
uri: Liu-Xia-video
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#20_August_2017_%28Liu_Xia_video%29
content:
<p>
Liu Xia, widow of Liu Xiaobo, is still held incommunicado, but her captors
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/19/liu-xia-appears-for-first-time-since-husband-liu-xiaobos-funeral">released a video</a> in which she says what they told her to say.


feed_id: 2fc6e80174e092aa40a376e4bf2a7f7e
title: North Korea missile tests
uri: North-Korea-missile-tests
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#20_August_2017_%28North_Korea_missile_tests%29
content:
<p>
Korea's missile tests appear to have carried <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/08/18/dont-believe-alarmist-propaganda-about-north-korea">extremely light payloads</a>
and lacked heat shields. They would not be able to reach Guam with a
real bomb.
<p>
However, North Korea's threat to spread carnage in Seoul with
conventional weapons if it is attacked is not a bluff. The US should
take advantage of the offer of negotiations.


feed_id: 2e40bd19bf81ebb1f47a2f17cb8f0b2d
title: Money from Nazi march
uri: Money-from-Nazi-march
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#20_August_2017_%28Money_from_Nazi_march%29
content:
<p>
The people of Wunsiedel in Germany <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/nov/18/neo-nazis-tricked-into-raising-10000-for-charity">prepared for a march</a> by Nazis by
arranging for it to raise money for a deradicalization charity.


feed_id: 7f2dfdd308c6d31e47ca8818ce784083
title: Troll's advisory councils
uri: Troll-s-advisory-councils
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#20_August_2017_%28Troll%27s_advisory_councils%29
content:
<p>
Large company CEOs joined the troll's advisory councils in order to
profit, and it took his explicit endorsement of Nazis to embarrass them
into quitting. Just when they had all agreed to announce they would quit,
he stole their thunder by <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/16/business/trumps-council-ceos.html">abolishing the panels</a>.
<p>
He also cancelled <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-17/trump-is-said-to-abandon-plan-for-council-on-infrastructure">another advisory council</a> (on infrastructure)
that was still being formed.
<p>
The chief purpose of these councils is mutual PR benefit. If they don't
yield that benefit, nobody has a reason to keep them going.


feed_id: 40499c020489ad77f7fdc147c095f7a9
title: National park litter
uri: National-park-litter
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#20_August_2017_%28National_park_litter%29
content:
<p>
Saboteur Zinke, to <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2017/08/17/zinke-allows-plastic-water-bottles-national-parks">boost waste in the US</a> and make national parks more littered,
has cancelled the rule against selling bottled water in them.


feed_id: b03368508074de25320db96c7df14d07
title: Takiyah Thompson
uri: Takiyah-Thompson
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#20_August_2017_%28Takiyah_Thompson%29
content:
<p>
Takiyah Thompson could be <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/08/17/support-eight-arrested-toppling-durham-statue-hundreds-turn-themselves">imprisoned for more than a year</a> for helping to pull
down a monument to soldiers that fought for slavery. 200 people came to the
jail and asked to be arrested too.


feed_id: 5d4af830c766c3db6e867258246c797b
title: Rich bigot-in-chief supporters
uri: Rich-bigot-in-chief-supporters
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#20_August_2017_%28Rich_bigot-in-chief_supporters%29
content:
<p>
Some rich Americans that support the bigot-in-chief are <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/08/17/alt-right-and-1">supporters
of right-wing extremists</a> too.


feed_id: f261739e66277303f9fe5c6fed1bdf9c
title: Faked Charlottesville photo
uri: Faked-Charlottesville-photo
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#20_August_2017_%28Faked_Charlottesville_photo%29
content:
<p>
Right-wing extremists <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/8/16/1690610/-Photo-That-Showed-Antifa-Man-Assaulting-Police-Officer-in-C-ville-Rally-Was-Fake">publicized a faked photo</a> which purported to show
one counterprotester directly attacking a thug in Charlottesville.
<p>
No such attack occurred: the photo was taken years ago, elsewhere,
and was edited for fraudulent use now.
<p>
Right-winger extremists, following the troll, care nothing about lying.


feed_id: 3ea89e138dd6c1d3f8857cf55a468b17
title: Do-dirty sending thugs
uri: Do-dirty-sending-thugs
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#20_August_2017_%28Do-dirty_sending_thugs%29
content:
<p>
<a href="/glossary.html#dodirty">President Do-dirty</a> isn't satisfied with sending thugs to summarily
shoot drug dealers, all of whom allegedly shoot at the thugs first.
He has now threatened to <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/08/17/duterte-recipient-trump-praise-just-threatened-have-human-rights-activists-shot">shoot human rights defenders</a> who try to
record those shootings — in case some of the victims didn't really
shoot, didn't have guns, etc.
<p>
We recently saw thugs in Baltimore <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#28_July_2017_(Illegitimate_evidence)">planting guns and drugs</a> to put
people in jail.
<p>
Are thugs in the Philippines so honest they would never do such a thing?


feed_id: 1a2d1485afc6c1cf3258842ebee8b4d9
title: Logging in Tasmania
uri: Logging-in-Tasmania
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#20_August_2017_%28Logging_in_Tasmania%29
content:
<p>
Logging in Tasmania threatens the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/aug/19/numbers-shrinking-for-tasmanias-weird-but-much-loved-giant-freshwater-lobster">world's largest invertebrate</a>. These crayfish are giants by invertebrate standards, but they are only
as big as a cat.


feed_id: 4e25dedf11dc98a844fb17a16411731d
title: Bannon fired
uri: Bannon-fired
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#20_August_2017_%28Bannon_fired%29
content:
<p>
Steve Bannon has been <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/18/steve-bannon-fired-donald-trump-jared-kushner-what-next">fired from the White House</a>.
<p>
Bannon did both bad and good. Bannon helped the troll mobilize a
racist base. He also helped the troll resist the establishment
Republican demands for wars and business-supremacy treaties.


feed_id: bdd0bcaea4d2557bdc2a8b09c63d2d05
title: Wayne Lotter murdered
uri: Wayne-Lotter-murdered
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#20_August_2017_%28Wayne_Lotter_murdered%29
content:
<p>
Wildlife protection leader Wayne Lotter was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/aug/18/wayne-lotter-police-believe-killers-followed-and-targeted-wildlife-champion-who-was-shot-and-killed-this-week">murdered in Tanzania</a>, perhaps by a team engaged specifically to assassinate him.


feed_id: 4e5f6fec24ead8667ec8f7c144b8436e
title: EPA pesticide ban
uri: EPA-pesticide-ban
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#20_August_2017_%28EPA_pesticide_ban%29
content:
<p>
EPA Welcomed Industry Feedback Before Reversing Pesticide Ban, <a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/08/18/epa-welcomed-industry-feedback-before-reversing-chlorpyrifos-pesticide-ban-ignoring-health-concerns/">Ignoring Health Concerns</a>.
<p>
The troll's saboteurs are hard at work, and they are making steady progress.  Their mission is to help rich Americans get even more rich by poisoning the rest of us.
<p>
For the most part, the real actions of the saboteurs are more important than what the troll says, which is mainly for distraction. So normally I focus on the real actions.  His support for Nazis and bigots is an exception because that has real and harmful effects.


feed_id: 2168bc273566f9b89dde2f0caa55727d
title: Charlottesville Mayor Confederacy
uri: Charlottesville-Mayor-Confederacy
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#20_August_2017_%28Charlottesville_Mayor_Confederacy%29

content:
<p>
The Mayor of Charlottesville will <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/18/charlottesville-mayor-opposes-robert-e-lee-statue-a-lightning-rod-for-terrorism">campaign</a> for repeal of the Virginia law that prohibits removing monuments to the Confederacy.
<p>
It is better not to call them "Confederate monuments" because term suggests they remain from the Confederacy itself.  In fact, most of them were erected by white supremacists <a href="/archives/2017-may-aug.html#18_August_2017_(Confederacy_monuments_symbolism)">long after the Civil War</a>, mostly after 1900, and some in the <a href="/archives/2017-may-aug.html#19_August_2017_(Symbolism_of_Confederacy_monuments)">21st century</a>.
<p>
While the law prohibits removing the monument to Lee, an alternate way to deal with it is by erecting another monument nearby, perhaps depicting some of Lee's slaves after they were freed.
<p>
Was there a regiment of freed slaves from Virginia? That regiment could be honored in Emancipation Park.


feed_id: 9669ba909b416598bade55f02e26a021
title: Karroubi ends hunger strike
uri: Karroubi-ends-hunger-strike
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#20_August_2017_%28Karroubi_ends_hunger_strike%29
content:
<p>
Mehdi Karroubi ended his hunger strike when the government of Iran <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/18/iran-reformist-leader-mehdi-karroubi-ends-hunger-strike">agreed</a> to take the human spies out of his house.  But he still has not received any official charges to justify his punishment.


feed_id: dbd50e8dc159da11c0400be217a72a80
title: Mike Tang sentenced
uri: Mike-Tang-sentenced
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#20_August_2017_%28Mike_Tang_sentenced%29
content:
<p>
Mike Tang <a href="http://www.freerangekids.com/mike-tang-dad-who-made-son-walk-home-in-dark-loses-his-appeal/">lost his appeal</a>, and has been sentenced to two months of "hard labor" for telling his son to walk home at night.
<p>
The web site of the organization mentioned in the page is totally dependent on JavaScript.  Without that, even the text is not visible. If you feel inclined to support the organization, please tell them you will do so if they make their web site work properly.


feed_id: 806171302f29641fd1d30d61dd0f2990
title: Susan Bro rejects political agenda
uri: Susan-Bro-rejects-political-agenda
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#20_August_2017_%28Susan_Bro_rejects_political_agenda%29

content:
<p>

The mother of murdered protester Heather Heyer says she <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/18/charlottesville-heather-heyer-mother-donald-trump">refuses to speak with the troll</a>.  She doesn't want to play into his political agenda.


feed_id: 5487b2b81c009beb0b779dc0c822c154
title: Spain PM Rajoy vigil
uri: Spain-PM-Rajoy-vigil
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#20_August_2017_%28Spain_PM_Rajoy_vigil%29
content:
<p>
The right-wing prime minister of Spain <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/18/i-am-not-afraid-barcelona-vigil-sends-message-of-defiance">injected himself into a vigil</a> for the people killed by car terrorists on Thursday.
<p>
Rajoy and his dooH niboR policies have surely killed more Spaniards than all the terrorists in Europe since 2000.


feed_id: 5e94226ad84a83aa0522ea93de0a6856
title: Barcelona vehicle terrorism
uri: Barcelona-vehicle-terrorism
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#20_August_2017_%28Barcelona_vehicle_terrorism%29
content:
<p>
Terrorist attacks against people based on an identity they associate with tend to make them more firmly and more cruelly <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/17/world/europe/barcelona-van-terrorist-weapon-fear.html">attached to that identity</a>.
<p>
That's what terrorists seek, in their pursuit of an unendable "culture war".


feed_id: f3057f86c165c25efbc969f46d562f00
title: Financial crisis lessons
uri: Financial-crisis-lessons
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#20_August_2017_%28Financial_crisis_lessons%29
content:
<p>
The advanced countries have not <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/aug/17/politicians-lessons-financial-crisis-advanced-economies">learned the lesson</a> of the financial crisis 10 years ago; they continue to try to depend on banks to cause growth.
<p>
Of course, when you give banks more power, they use that power to make it impossible to take the power away without a fight.  We need to defeat the power of the banks.


feed_id: da2d40fcf9979a7e8dd095a4e468a06e
title: Giulio Regeni Egypt murder
uri: Giulio-Regeni-Egypt-murder
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#20_August_2017_%28Giulio_Regeni_Egypt_murder%29
content:
<p>
There is no doubt that Egyptian thugs murdered Italian student Giulio Regeni and then <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/15/magazine/giulio-regeni-italian-graduate-student-tortured-murdered-egypt.html">covered it up</a>.  But there is no hope of finding out any more than that, and the murderous regime feels no pressure to do justice.
<p>
I had a visit to Egypt scheduled at the time of al-Sisi's bloody coup d'Ã©tat.  I skipped it.  Even if you are just a tourist, you can put pressure on those murderers by not visiting Egypt.
<p>
Meanwhile, the UK (like the US) <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/aug/18/uk-2-million-pounds-aid-support-egypt-security-projects-deeply-disturbing">continues supporting</a> Egyptian "security".


feed_id: 5551b3050c176147d2d185d7b671f685
title: Greenland wildfire
uri: Greenland-wildfire
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#21_August_2017_%28Greenland_wildfire%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/20/ice-and-fire-large-blaze-burns-in-greenland-for-two-weeks">
An unusual large wildfire is
burning in Greenland.
</a>
<p>
Global heating is surely partly responsible.  And the fire risks increasing
global heating by dropping soot onto the ice sheet.


feed_id: a46e786856bf4dc0ef4ba225cf4b33dd
title: Terrorism against mosque
uri: Terrorism-against-mosque
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#21_August_2017_%28Terrorism_against_mosque%29
content:
<p>
Australians who
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/aug/20/three-men-to-be-charged-with-terrorism-offences-over-alleged-mosque-attacks">
tried to burn a mosque
</a>
will be charged with terrorism.


feed_id: c5b5ee32e0b9a1ac2d4fc249f48c8427
title: Opioid intervention court
uri: Opioid-intervention-court
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#21_August_2017_%28Opioid_intervention_court%29
content:
<p>
A special opioid intervention court in New York State is designed to
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/20/opioid-crisis-america-buffalo-new-york-trump-national-emergency">
lead addicts to treatment.
</a>


feed_id: 9a941bf8b6fa31f0fc6a224135b36c4c
title: Urgent: Remove rebel statues
uri: Urgent-Remove-rebel-statues
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#21_August_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Remove_rebel_statues%29
content:
<p>
US citizens: call for
<a href="https://campaigns.organizefor.org/petitions/take-em-all-down-no-confederate-statues-in-the-us-capitol?bucket=COC&rd=1&source=mailing&t=1007">
removal of the statues of rebels from the US capitol.
</a>


feed_id: 7f147316d6e2b963c523004c4e98cb37
title: Urgent: Remove white supremacist advisors
uri: Urgent-Remove-white-supremacist-advisors
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#21_August_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Remove_white_supremacist_advisors%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: call for
<a href="http://actnow.prochoiceamerica.org/sign/170816-white-house-hate/?t=6&">
removal of white supremacist advisors from the
White House.
</a>


feed_id: 67b7e524ec3513af41b7cb8650af805e
title: Urgent: No driver immunity laws
uri: Urgent-No-driver-immunity-laws
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#21_August_2017_%28Urgent%3A_No_driver_immunity_laws%29

content:
<p>
Everyone: call on US states
<a href="http://act.demandprogress.org/sign/driver-immunity-protesters/?source=demandprogress&t=1001&">
not to pass immunity laws for deadly drivers.
</a>


feed_id: 13b918cd7b6c9911198d1841975ce325
title: Volunteer
uri: 2017-08-22-Volunteer
url: https://stallman.org/index.html#volunteerListAnc
content:
<p>I am looking for people to I am looking for a volunteer to sign petitions for me on
     websites.  This is not a lot of work, but it needs to be done
     reliably and promptly.  If you would like to help me 
     in this way, please write to rms at gnu dot o r g.</p>


feed_id: e4cb817b3dd57c834cd6ca9732bb05be
title: Urgent: Oppose troll's war on birth control
uri: Urgent-Oppose-troll-s-war-on-birth-control
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#22_August_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Oppose_troll%27s_war_on_birth_control%29

content:
<p>
In the US: <a href="http://www.populationconnectionaction.org/resistance-toolkit/">see the Population Connection's resistance toolkit</a> for ways to oppose the troll's war on birth control.


feed_id: ffbf5deee764a88105f86bb4be2e28da
title: Merkel ErdoÄan extradition
uri: Merkel-ErdoÄ-an-extradition
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#22_August_2017_%28Merkel_Erdo%C3%84%C2%9Fan_extradition%29

content:
<p>
ErdoÄan is trying to make Spain <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/19/germany-urges-spain-not-to-extradite-erdogan-critic-to-turkey">extradite</a> an exiled Turkish writer.


feed_id: 41c757c1f187aa21cd125e6db0f33b44
title: US evangelical morals
uri: US-evangelical-morals
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#22_August_2017_%28US_evangelical_morals%29
content:
<p>
US Christian organizations in the US can't bring themselves to rebuke the bigot no <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/8/17/1690933/-Nation-discovers-evangelicals-have-no-moral-compass-as-business-leaders-pick-up-the-slack?detail=emaildkre">matter how great</a> a sin he commits.
<p>
They have been turned into hypocrites, through and through.
<p>
This is not a new phenomenon.  Recall why there is a "Southern Baptist" church?  It split off to endorse slavery when the broader Baptist church came out against slavery.


feed_id: 62361f7a96ddd1d183f9ac2e7863b4a2
title: Venezuela Maduro parliament
uri: Venezuela-Maduro-parliament
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#22_August_2017_%28Venezuela_Maduro_parliament%29
content:
<p>
Maduro's questionable constitutional assembly <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/19/venezuela-crisis-deepens-maduro-strips-opposition-held-parliament-power">has annulled the legislature's power</a>.


feed_id: 9de75bd5d676430b23c37016b3dcf372
title: Republicans bigot loyalty
uri: Republicans-bigot-loyalty
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#22_August_2017_%28Republicans_bigot_loyalty%29
content:
<p>
Republicans mostly <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/08/18/despite-harsh-rebuke-charlottesville-stance-trumps-base-remains-loyal">excuse the bigot in chief</a> for supporting violent extremists, and are reluctant to criticize the violence, too.


feed_id: 9072e1e6dbf608a37d6de6f72d29639c
title: False accusations
uri: False-accusations
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#22_August_2017_%28False_accusations%29
content:
<p>
A woman <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/aug/18/my-brother-was-jailed-for-abusing-his-daughter-now-she-says-it-was-all-lies">wants to apologize</a> to her estranged father for the false accusations of molestation that she made against him, as a young child, under irresistible pressure from her mother.
<p>
False accusations may be unusual, but they are not impossible.


feed_id: 28cd5939f987b8c6cd975630d35a5593
title: Consumer fraud operation
uri: Consumer-fraud-operation
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#22_August_2017_%28Consumer_fraud_operation%29
content:
<p>
Republicans <a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/08/18/more-trump-populism-doj-shuts-down-an-operation-that-was-successfully-combatting-consumer-fraud/">sabotaged</a> an anti-fraud system by threatening to apply it arbitrarily to birth control.


feed_id: 0147e169222113300691e833375126fd
title: Cambridge UP China Censorship
uri: Cambridge-UP-China-Censorship
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#22_August_2017_%28Cambridge_UP_China_Censorship%29
content:
<p>
Cambridge University Press imposed censorship of its journal, the China Quarterly, on users from China.  It <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/19/cambridge-university-press-accused-of-selling-its-soul-over-chinese-censorship">has blocked 300 articles</a>, following orders from the Chinese state.
<p>
China's demand for censorship is tyrannical, but don't forget that the roots of this injustice are in the journal's paywall.  The paywall is an inexcusable attack on scholarship which also gives CUP the power to track and control who can read the articles.  Having this power made CUP vulnerable to pressure from China, which demanded that CUP use its power for the Chinese state against the Chinese people.
<p>
The Cambridge University Press must immediately remove the paywall from the China Quarterly, and permit everyone to mirror the journal freely (which it morally ought to have done anyway).  Then it will have a simple, ethical answer to give China when China demands that it control who can read the journal: "We are unable to do that."
<p>
Scholars, please <em>refuse</em> to serve as reviewers or editors for journals that control access to articles or restrict sharing of articles.


feed_id: 7f5db613e32a39c93b7787a12454c27f
title: Africa gangs poaching
uri: Africa-gangs-poaching
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#22_August_2017_%28Africa_gangs_poaching%29
content:
<p>
Poaching mafias in Africa <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/aug/19/super-gangs-africa-poaching-crisis">also move drugs</a>.


feed_id: 2c22daa7e02deeccd2fa4c54b7ec0080
title: Republican party motto
uri: Republican-party-motto
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#22_August_2017_%28Republican_party_motto%29
content:
<p>
"You will not replace us" is the Republican Party's motto <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/19/republican-party-white-supremacists-charlottesville">as well as</a> the white supremacist's.


feed_id: 03b2087799f8fdde04b6a6233da0e4ec
title: Nauru refugees
uri: Nauru-refugees
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#22_August_2017_%28Nauru_refugees%29
content:
<p>

Refugees dumped by Australia on Nauru are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/aug/21/three-pregnant-refugees-and-nearly-50-others-denied-medical-transfers-from-nauru">being denied</a> surgery, and Nauru blocks all women from getting approval for an abortion.


feed_id: ea231e319b6820fba8a7134d11cd0d91
title: Republicans dirty water
uri: 2017-08-22-Republicans-dirty-water
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#22_August_2017_%28Republicans_dirty_water%29
content:
<p>
The Republican Party is the <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/08/14/critics-condemn-trump-administrations-assault-americas-water-resources">dirty water party</a>.


feed_id: 5a415b2cdf783b9201fde53aeaeda7d6
title: Methane Antarctica
uri: Methane-Antarctica
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#22_August_2017_%28Methane_Antarctica%29
content:
<p>
There is a large reservoir of methane in the ground under the Antarctic ice sheet.  If the ice melts, that methane will be released, which would <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2012/aug/29/antarctica-methane">cause further global heating</a>.
<p>
Methane lasts only a few decades in the atmosphere. If the ice melts over a period of 200 years, only a small part of the methane will be in the air at any one time.


feed_id: 240e563a612ca3609934decef680dd72
title: Musk AI regulation
uri: Musk-AI-regulation
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#22_August_2017_%28Musk_AI_regulation%29
content:
<p>
Elon Musk calls for <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/aug/14/elon-musk-ai-vastly-more-risky-north-korea">regulation</a> of AI so it won't be dangerous.
<p>
Someday an AI might be developed that has desires of its own and could be dangerous the way an immoral or unhinged person can be dangerous. In the short term, the danger of AI is that it will help rich people and companies that own AIs do an even better job of transferring wealth from the rest of humanity to them.
<p>
Thus, the regulation we need for AI in the next decade is to reduce the harm it can do to employment.


feed_id: 7ad0bd11248018d7550cee2551e0b1cb
title: Troll Hezbollah
uri: Troll-Hezbollah
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#22_August_2017_%28Troll_Hezbollah%29
content:
<p>

The troll completely <a href="https://consortiumnews.com/2017/08/13/trumps-shallow-thinking-on-terrorism/">misunderstands</a> what Hezbollah is about.


feed_id: c6057d67e76fec31f1d8f30f57fc003e
title: Extremism parallels
uri: Extremism-parallels
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#22_August_2017_%28Extremism_parallels%29
content:
<p>

There are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/20/charlotteslville-and-barcelona-extremists-united-by-perverted-sense-of-grievance">partial ideological parallels</a> between jihadis and white supremacists.


feed_id: ddfa6a82df354e5d9dd9e63f1645f415
title: Urgent: Discourage right-wing terrorism
uri: Urgent-Discourage-right-wing-terrorism
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#22_August_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Discourage_right-wing_terrorism%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: 
<a href="https://act.credoaction.com/sign/stophate">call for
restoration of funds</a> for US programs, cancelled by the troll, that
aimed to discourage right-wing terrorism.


feed_id: 0d6373b87a207567045f06cd5abb4bac
title: US courts protect CIA torturers
uri: US-courts-protect-CIA-torturers
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#22_August_2017_%28US_courts_protect_CIA_torturers%29

content:
<p>
US courts have 
<a href="https://www.aclu.org/blog/national-security/torture/after-years-slammed-doors-torture-survivors-finally-end-impunity">protected
almost everyone involved with CIA torture</a>, from top to bottom.
Only the psychologists who designed the torture program have been made
to testify in a civil suit.
<p>
Torture victims did not apparently win anything, but by suing they
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/17/cia-torture-lawsuit-settled-against-psychologists-who-designed-techniques">forced
the CIA to reveal secrets about its torture program</a>.


feed_id: 07cf24fafe846da1dad487c33cb2e7a7
title: Troll's supporters
uri: Troll-s-supporters
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#22_August_2017_%28Trolls_supporters%29
content:
<p>
<a href="/glossary.html#trump">The troll</a>'s supporters in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/17/donald-trump-support-base-pennsylvania-voters">eat
up his bigotry and cruelty</a>, while living in a fantasy world of
right-wing propaganda.


feed_id: 700c87a8c905bec4b8397659ea864488
title: US snooping laws
uri: US-snooping-laws
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#22_August_2017_%28US_snooping_laws%29
content:
<p>
People have proposed a pitifully small change to one of the US
snooping laws.  The snooping services are pushing back by
<a href="https://www.justsecurity.org/44125/opponents-closing-backdoor-search-loophole-distort-fix-works/">misrepresenting
it</a>.


feed_id: 1423136ff8d4f7d17190a395bef37bc0
title: NAFTA renegotiation
uri: NAFTA-renegotiation
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#22_August_2017_%28NAFTA_renegotiation%29
content:
<p>
NAFTA renegotiation could be used to make copyright 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/08/20/first-nafta-round-opens-secrecy-digital-rights-groups-fear-another-tpp">even
more repressive</a> in the US (and Canada and Mexico).


feed_id: 5b22cc6793a5396ccd63d5751966327b
title: Amish people and nuns resist gas pipeline
uri: Amish-people-and-nuns-resist-gas-pipeline
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#22_August_2017_%28Amish_people_and_nuns_resist_gas_pipeline%29

content:
<p>
Amish people and nuns are 
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/08/20/atlanitc-sunrise-pipeline-pennsylvania-lancaster-county-nuns-protest/">resisting
the construction of a fracked gas pipeline</a>.


feed_id: 2eaf4b9c98a736c8ed62806d3ee60b70
title: Protest in Hong Kong
uri: Protest-in-Hong-Kong
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#22_August_2017_%28Protest_in_Hong_Kong%29
content:
<p>
Thousands protested in Hong Kong to 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/20/hong-kong-pro-democracy-march-alex-chow-nathan-law-joshua-wong">demand
the release of jailed protest leaders</a>.


feed_id: b6efa237e26df67cc5f33046097a4736
title: Wikileaks
uri: 2017-08-22-Wikileaks
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#22_August_2017_%28Wikileaks%29
content:
<p>
A 
<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170820050852/http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/08/17/wikileaks-turned-down-leaks-on-russian-government-during-u-s-presidential-campaign/">leaked
conversation</a> implies Wikileaks was not interested in leaks from
the Russian interior ministry in 2016.


feed_id: c3241a241cb196c77448220d8c596b41
title: Crossing the US border from Mexico
uri: Crossing-the-US-border-from-Mexico
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#22_August_2017_%28Crossing_the_US_border_from_Mexico%29

content:
<p>
Some volunteers dedicate their lives to 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/20/finding-migrants-who-died-crossing-the-us-border">finding
the corpses of people who died</a> crossing the US border from Mexico.
<p>
I don't think finding corpses is important; I wouldn't put any effort
into that myself.  Avoiding deaths is important.
<p>
The reason those people die is that they think two liters of water are
enough to walk to safety.  What efforts are being made to inform
would-be migrants in Mexico of how much water is really needed?  My
rough estimate is 10 liters, which weighs 10 kg.  Many of them,
informed of this, would stay in Mexico rather than die in the desert.
Only a few would be able to take advantage of the information to reach
a town in the US.
<p>
Wouldn't an intense, truthful information campaign be more effective
than a wall?  Also cheaper, easier, less ecologically damaging, and
less offensive to Mexico and Mexicans?


feed_id: 42238ce9ad8bffdf2fd25a858a5cf9f4
title: Suggestion for counterprotest against Nazis
uri: Suggestion-for-counterprotest-against-Nazis
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#22_August_2017_%28Suggestion_for_counterprotest_against_Nazis%29

content:
<p>
A suggestion I saw for counterprotests against Nazis:
sing "Springtime for Hitler" (the song from The Producers).


feed_id: b9388cbe7ddfa0390a08d1f6648880d4
title: Greenland wildfire
uri: 2017-08-22-Greenland-wildfire
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#21_August_2017_%28Greenland_wildfire%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/20/ice-and-fire-large-blaze-burns-in-greenland-for-two-weeks">
An unusual large wildfire is
burning in Greenland.
</a>
<p>
<a href="/glossary.html#global heating">Global heating</a> is surely partly responsible.  And the fire risks increasing
global heating by dropping soot onto the ice sheet.


feed_id: be00454123f3e5601ec866df70239070
title: EPA pesticide ban
uri: 2017-08-22-EPA-pesticide-ban
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#20_August_2017_%28EPA_pesticide_ban%29
content:
<p>
EPA Welcomed Industry Feedback Before Reversing Pesticide Ban, <a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/08/18/epa-welcomed-industry-feedback-before-reversing-chlorpyrifos-pesticide-ban-ignoring-health-concerns/">Ignoring Health Concerns</a>.
<p>
<a href="/glossary.html#trump">The troll</a>'s saboteurs are hard at work, and they are making steady progress.  Their mission is to help rich Americans get even more rich by poisoning the rest of us.
<p>
For the most part, the real actions of the saboteurs are more important than what the troll says, which is mainly for distraction. So normally I focus on the real actions.  His support for Nazis and bigots is an exception because that has real and harmful effects.


feed_id: 922dc912001df4ba5a1d0859a1593c3c
title: Spain PM Rajoy vigil
uri: 2017-08-22-Spain-PM-Rajoy-vigil
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#20_August_2017_%28Spain_PM_Rajoy_vigil%29
content:
<p>
The right-wing prime minister of Spain <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/18/i-am-not-afraid-barcelona-vigil-sends-message-of-defiance">injected himself into a vigil</a> for the people killed by car terrorists on Thursday.
<p>
Rajoy and his <a href="/glossary.html#doohnibor">dooH niboR</a> policies have surely killed more Spaniards than all the terrorists in Europe since 2000.


feed_id: e94197b75ceb58134a81c7096b13ad51
title: Urgent: Discourage right-wing-extremism
uri: Urgent-Discourage-right-wing-extremism
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#22_August_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Discourage_right-wing-extremism%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: 
<a href="https://act.credoaction.com/sign/stophate">call for
restoration</a> of funds for programs to discourage right-wing
extremism.
<p>
Since then, the troll's 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/08/15/ahead-charlottesville-trump-cut-funds-group-fighting-white-supremacy">saboteurs</a>
have 
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/08/17/this-group-has-successfully-converted-white-supremacists-using-compassion-trump-defunded-it/">killed
another such program</a>.


feed_id: b5616908986e01e71755d7f2ea04a430
title: Urgent: No foreclosure for toxic water bills
uri: Urgent-No-foreclosure-for-toxic-water-bills
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#22_August_2017_%28Urgent%3A_No_foreclosure_for_toxic_water_bills%29

content:
<p>
Everyone: 
<a href="https://secure.foodandwaterwatch.org/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&page=UserAction&id=3039">demand
no foreclosures</a> in Flint because of bills for toxic water.


feed_id: 35f25fdd86a4719a01aab7de5f63765a
title: Urgent: Stop offshoring of jobs
uri: Urgent-Stop-offshoring-of-jobs
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#22_August_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Stop_offshoring_of_jobs%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: 
<a href="https://actionnetwork.org/forms/trump-pick-up-the-pen">call
on the troll</a> to take action to stop federal contractors from
offshoring jobs.  He made this one of the central points of his
campaign.
<p>
If you do this with Javascript disabled, you will get a page that says
donation won't work that way.  My experience says that it signs the
petition before that happens, and you should get an email to confirm.


feed_id: c304d70835f4b9ecb8f27381f0d556a4
title: Urgent: Stop renting space in troll's buildings
uri: Urgent-Stop-renting-space-in-troll-s-buildings
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#22_August_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Stop_renting_space_in_trolls_buildings%29

content:
<p>
Everyone: 
<a href="https://act.weareultraviolet.org/sign/trump_tower_stores/">Tell
Starbucks and Nike</a> to stop renting space in buildings that belong
to the troll and carry his name.


feed_id: 5e367880d4f9e3f42bef2fe0f0c61da3
title: Urgent: Stop forced arbitration
uri: Urgent-Stop-forced-arbitration
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#22_August_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Stop_forced_arbitration%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: 
<a href="http://a.cpdaction.org/page/speakout/protect-the-cfpb-s-new-rule-">Tell
your senators</a> to protect the CFPB's rule that stops banks from
forcing arbitration on their customers.


feed_id: 765f1351897b1edfd6e9f7435fe83821
title: Persecution of homosexuality
uri: Persecution-of-homosexuality
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#22_August_2017_%28Persecution_of_homosexuality%29
content:
<p>
The imported European custom of persecution of homosexuality has taken
deep root in Uganda.  The state uses thugs for 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/21/lgbt-ugandans-pride-uganda">violent
attacks on homosexuals</a>.


feed_id: 693a2a7be95c17a2c16d48d7b3a1071e
title: Sanctuary schools
uri: Sanctuary-schools
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#22_August_2017_%28Sanctuary_schools%29
content:
<p>
"Sanctuary Schools" Across America 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/21/american-schools-defy-trump-immigration-crackdown">Defy
Trump's Immigration Crackdown</a>.


feed_id: 8b05052f33d6650d055c5a16a5b34cdb
title: Municipal bicycle-rental systems
uri: Municipal-bicycle-rental-systems
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#22_August_2017_%28Municipal_bicycle-rental_systems%29

content:
<p>
Non-wealthy inhabitants of San Francisco and Oakland sabotage the
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/21/bike-sharing-scheme-san-francisco-gentrification-vandalism">municipal
bicycle-rental systems</a>, using it as a proxy for the gentrifiers.
<p>
Bicycle rentals are not "sharing", so "bicycle sharing" is a
misleading PR term.  Please let's avoid it.
<p>
Bicycle rental systems as such are not bad, but these systems are
unjust and intolerable because they track their users.  I would not
propose to eliminate them, though; better to fix them not to surveil
(see
<a href="https://gnu.org/philosophy/surveillance-vs-democracy.html">https://gnu.org/philosophy/surveillance-vs-democracy.html</a>).
<p>
The non-wealthy residents have discovered that sabotaging
bicycle-rental is a way to fight gentrification.  Urging them to think
instead of it as merely a transportation service is valid in a shallow
sense, but totally misses the point.  First, those people surely know
whether it will serve them or not.  Second, if you want them to stop
defending their housing this way, what other way do you suggest?


feed_id: b26974f861ca7cdacdde475bb77dbb42
title: Thug charged with murder
uri: Thug-charged-with-murder
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#22_August_2017_%28Thug_charged_with_murder%29
content:
<p>
The thug that killed Laquan McDonald has been 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/nov/24/chicago-police-shooting-laquan-mcdonald-16-times-murder-charge">charged
with murder</a>.


feed_id: b415a491be6e1290edb56a6ff26f0942
title: Court orders imprisonment of wife
uri: Court-orders-imprisonment-of-wife
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#22_August_2017_%28Court_orders_imprisonment_of_wife%29

content:
<p>
India's Supreme Court annulled a marriage, and 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/aug/21/india-annulment-mixed-faith-marriage-love-jihad-hindu-woman-muslim-man-akhila-ashokan-shafin-jahan">ordered
the wife to be held incommunicado as a prisoner of her parents</a>.
<p>
Her father claimed the husband had forced her into marriage, but she
says no.
<p>
The court also ordered an investigation of the facts.  An
investigation may be called for, but how can that justify imprisoning
her now?


feed_id: 6397272e47f8b7f83deb20824eca0a9e
title: Database of schools' student records
uri: Database-of-schools-student-records
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#22_August_2017_%28Database_of_schools_student_records%29

content:
<p>
Sony and IBM want to make a 
<a href="https://techcrunch.com/2017/08/09/sony-education-blockchain/">combined
database of all schools' educational records, grades, and perhaps
every piece of big data that digital education is planned to collect
about each student</a>.
<p>
To make it exciting, they plan to use a blockchain.  Blockchain is the
time-release version of cleavage: it blinds techies so they don't
think about what might be wrong with the project.
<p>
What might be wrong with this project?  The question of privacy does
not seem to get much attention, and I fear they will use this to get
data and misuse it.
<p>
I expect they will adopt a worthless "privacy policy", tell the public
"We protect your privacy by firmly following our privacy policy", and
the result will be injustice.


feed_id: d026abed0f340e4e77024184070fa569
title: Spain releases Turkish exile from jail
uri: Spain-releases-Turkish-exile-from-jail
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#22_August_2017_%28Spain_releases_Turkish_exile_from_jail%29

content:
<p>
Spain has released Turkish exile DoÄan AkhanlÄ± from jail, but
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/20/german-writer-held-in-spain-on-turkish-warrant-granted-conditional-release-dogan-akhanli">has
not yet ruled out extraditing him to Turkey</a>.  Meanwhile, writer
Hamza Yalcin remains in jail as Spain considers whether to extradite
him.


feed_id: f9e5bb3dae0e244fdbd84bab22bbea2e
title: White-supremacist propaganda mill
uri: White-supremacist-propaganda-mill
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#22_August_2017_%28White-supremacist_propaganda_mill%29

content:
<p>
Sinclair Broadcast News is an overt 
<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/8/12/1689068/-Sinclair-Broadcast-News-exposed-its-white-nationalist-agenda-today">white-supremacist
propaganda mill</a>.


feed_id: ef532107be64e1e138a31781bd0b3129
title: ACLU freedom of speech
uri: ACLU-freedom-of-speech
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#23_August_2017_%28ACLU_freedom_of_speech%29
content:
<p>
The ACLU has decided not to defend people's right to have a rally with <a href="https://www.vox.com/2017/8/20/16167870/aclu-hate-speech-nazis-charlottesville">guns</a>.  But it stands firm for defending freedom of speech for any opinion or position.
<p>
I support this, because if legal censorship is tolerated, it will be applied to your views and mine views.  I am proud to be a member of the ACLU.


feed_id: 8fad5c2bff2392b2ebaf3533b8900a30
title: Right-Wing hostility
uri: Right-Wing-hostility
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#23_August_2017_%28Right-Wing_hostility%29
content:
<p>
The right-wing <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/21/myth-benefits-cheat-sign-unkind-times-new-zealand-politician-metiria-turei">has taught people</a> a spirit of hostility to anyone that needs public help.
<p>
Except for rich business owners, who claim they are doing us a favor when they take a handout.


feed_id: fab3f529e641db7d302c923c15a22e40
title: Propaganda tactics analysis
uri: Propaganda-tactics-analysis
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#23_August_2017_%28Propaganda_tactics_analysis%29
content:
<p>

Analyzing three <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/8/20/1690714/-Three-Russian-propaganda-techniques-being-used-by-the-Trump-administration-and-how-to-fight-them?detail=emaildkre">principal right-wing propaganda tactics</a>, also used by Putin, and suggestions for resisting them.


feed_id: 6afbde56f4312fcea9d34226cfa4bb4c
title: Right-wing terrorism
uri: 2017-08-23-Right-wing-terrorism
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#23_August_2017_%28Right-wing_terrorism%29
content:
<p>
Right-wing terrorist attempts in the US are <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/8/20/1690784/-The-presumed-innocence-of-white-terrorism?detail=emaildkre">twice as common</a> as jihadi attempts.  Meanwhile, left-wing terror plots are rare by comparison.
<p>
Right-wing attempt is twice as likely to proceed unobstructed as each jihadi attempt.  Perhaps that indicates that the state has focused its efforts more on jihadis and ignored right-wing terrorists.


feed_id: d4b6dff9fbe85140b098263ae3ae8d26
title: Hair and makeup tax
uri: Hair-and-makeup-tax
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#23_August_2017_%28Hair_and_makeup_tax%29
content:
<p>
It makes sense to limit how much time your daughter spends <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/shortcuts/2017/aug/21/hair-makeup-tax-zadie-smith">in front of a mirror</a>.


feed_id: 1d3823096a1d5d30f49823bb20b769d9
title: US Kleptocracy
uri: US-Kleptocracy
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#23_August_2017_%28US_Kleptocracy%29
content:
<p>
Decades of "progress" in American business means ever <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/08/21/absurdity-corporate-tax-cuts-during-corporate-pillaging-middle-class">more concentration</a> in a few firms, and ever fewer good jobs.


feed_id: ad8d9519c7cfb41099c77b2078bd990c
title: ErdoÄan curriculum evolution
uri: ErdoÄ-an-curriculum-evolution
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#23_August_2017_%28Erdo%C3%84%C2%9Fan_curriculum_evolution%29

content:
<p>
ErdoÄan has put <a href="http://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2017/08/20/540965889/in-turkey-schools-will-stop-teaching-evolution-this-fall?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=20170820">an end to teaching evolution</a> in Turkish high schools.
<p>
Christianity and Islam over and over deal with inconvenient truths by teaching ignorance.


feed_id: 38a32a2d4be9611b6d80d5a4ca216cc2
title: Argentina missing protestor
uri: Argentina-missing-protestor
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#23_August_2017_%28Argentina_missing_protestor%29
content:
<p>
Argentine thugs grabbed <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/08/16/disappearance-protestor-argentina">Santiago Maldonado</a> as he was giving support to a protest by Mapuche indigenous people, and disappeared him.


feed_id: 315bf6a18f199a64f444437d720e1e4e
title: US military defiance
uri: US-military-defiance
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#23_August_2017_%28US_military_defiance%29
content:
<p>
Don't Pin Your Hopes on Military Generals' <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/21/dont-expect-generals-save-you-donald-trump-white-house">Saving the World from Trump</a>.


feed_id: aac0ef0639642b884aedc394d6490156
title: US enforcement act
uri: US-enforcement-act
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#23_August_2017_%28US_enforcement_act%29
content:
<p>
The US government <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/21/us-government-ku-klux-klan-charlottesville">crushed white-supremacist violence</a> in 1870. All it takes is suitable laws and a firm effort.


feed_id: e2d027cac966ad05be262e04e09ba39f
title: US cost of living
uri: US-cost-of-living
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#23_August_2017_%28US_cost_of_living%29
content:
<p>
Working six days a week won't pay for a place to live in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/21/missouri-fast-food-workers-better-pay-popeyes-economics">the extremely unequal</a> USA.


feed_id: ca6cea3c883888953576bd687ea60a82
title: Urgent: Preserve the DACA program
uri: Urgent-Preserve-the-DACA-program
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#23_August_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Preserve_the_DACA_program%29

content:
<p>
US citizens:
<a href="https://petitions.signforgood.com/defendDACA">call on the
troll</a> to preserve the DACA program, which protects people that
were brought to the US without authorization as children many years
ago.


feed_id: 8e82440cafe355349cae8307dc255c20
title: "President" of the Maldives
uri: 2017-08-23-President-of-the-Maldives
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#23_August_2017_%28President_of_the_Maldives%29
content:
<p>
The "president" of the Maldives is
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/22/maldives-army-occupies-parliament-no-confidence-vote">using
thugs to stop parliament from replacing his ally</a>, who is speaker
of the house.
<p>
This "president" took power through a coup against President Nasheed,
who campaigned ceaselessly to curb the global heating that
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2011-nov-feb.html#10_February_2012_(Maldive_Islands)">threatens
to destroy the Maldive Islands</a>.  I suspect that
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jan-apr.html#27_April_2017_(Journalists_murdered_in_Maldive_Islands)">oil
companies helped organize the coup</a>.


feed_id: 94e4ff5f53f964260657ddc63be53f12
title: Troll to send more troops to Afghanistan
uri: Troll-to-send-more-troops-to-Afghanistan
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#23_August_2017_%28Troll_to_send_more_troops_to_Afghanistan%29

content:
<p>
<a href="/glossary.html#trump">The troll</a> announced a
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/22/why-trumps-afghan-stra
tegy-risks-the-worst-of-both-worlds">plan
to send more US troops to Afghanistan</a>, supposedly to "win" the
war, although we already know that is impossible.
<p>
What it amounts to is a decision to continue supporting the Afghan
government, which
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2010-jul-oct.html#17%20July%202010%20(Troops%20that%20serve%20Karzai)">can't
win a war because it inspires little loyalty</a>.  The US can prop
that up as long as it has the strength, but that won't improve
anything.
<p>
<a href="/glossary.html#trump">The troll</a> said he would focus on killing more enemies.  Arguably,
that's what
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2006-jan-apr.html#04%20February%202006%20(Afghanistan%205%20years%20after)">resuscitated
the Taliban when Dubya did it</a>.
<p>
At least he said he would cancel the "nation-building" programs that
were basically handouts to corrupt people in the US and Afghanistan.
<p>
In principle, the idea of helping people establish a peaceful and
prosperous nation makes sense.  But the
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jan-apr.html#9_March_2017_(Taliban_slowly_gaining_in_Afghanistan)">conditions
for success don't exist in Afghanistan</a>.
<p>
Another reason for failure was that Americans
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-jul-oct.html#6_October_2016_(The_nation_building_drain_in_Afghanistan)">chose
projects that made no sense in the local context</a> — failure
guaranteed.
<p>
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/08/21/donald-trump-afghanistan-us-get-out/">All
the Times Donald Trump Said the U.S. Should Get Out of
Afghanistan</a>.
<p>
It seems that the troll can't stand up to the neoliberal/theocratic
establishment on any issue other than bigotry.


feed_id: aaab2c017e6bbb9536b27e7bedbb5896
title: School-to-immigration-prison
uri: School-to-immigration-prison
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#23_August_2017_%28School-to-immigration-prison%29
content:
<p>
As more US thug departments aid deportation, the school-to-prison
pipeline now includes a
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/22/trump-immigration-us-schools-education-undocumented-migrants">school-to-immigration-prison</a>
branch pipeline.


feed_id: 74cc1b28d3fa512b81ce2c4e50807850
title: Idlib
uri: Idlib
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#23_August_2017_%28Idlib%29
content:
<p>
Idlib, Syria, is ruled by an ally of al-Qa'ida: Islamist and somewhat
unjust, but not foaming at the mouth like <a href="/glossary.html#pissi">PISSI</a>.
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/08/22/syrian-civilians-brace-for-humanitarian-disaster-of-a-final-confrontation-between-assad-and-jihadists/">Two
million civilians fear being killed</a> when Assad tries to conquer
Idlib.
<p>
Avoiding that war might be possible through diplomacy.


feed_id: 40e7f459deb18228deacbe2d7ca6d273
title: Abortion rights in Northern Ireland
uri: Abortion-rights-in-Northern-Ireland
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#23_August_2017_%28Abortion_rights_in_Northern_Ireland%29

content:
<p>
Permitting women in Northern Ireland to have abortions in England
through the NHS without a fee is a helpful step forward — but
they
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/22/women-northern-ireland-abortion-reproductive-rights-westminster-change-law">must
have abortion rights at home</a>.


feed_id: 8dad9291cd1cbf9aaa4dd3aea2123dc4
title: "Subversion" trial in China
uri: Subversion-trial-in-China
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#23_August_2017_%28Subversion_trial_in_China%29
content:
<p>
Chinese defense lawyer Jiang Tianyong "confessed" and "pled guilty" to
"subversion" a
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/22/chinese-activist-jiang-tianyong-subversion-trial-dismissed-as-sham">show
trial</a>.


feed_id: 9b44627d3115417e97723939cc684144
title: Child obesity
uri: Child-obesity
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#23_August_2017_%28Child_obesity%29
content:
<p>
To Fight Child Obesity —
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/aug/22/fight-child-obesity-let-children-play-outdoors-more-with-friends">Let
Children Play Outdoors More with Their Friends</a>.
<p>
The article weakens its case by erroneously legitimizing the idea that
the presence of cars requires keeping children on a virtual leash.  It
may be true that parents' fear of cars influenced parents' thinking,
but the real presence of cars did not justify their conclusion.
<p>
There were plenty of cars in Manhattan in 1960, but that did not stop
7-year-olds from walking to school, even though we had to cross large
avenues.  We went on errands, too.
<p>
The crime wave that lasted from 1965 to 1995 probably played a role.
It seems this was
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2014-mar-jun.html#14_June_2014_(Rate_of_violence_in_US_schools_has_been_declining)">caused
by lead poisoning</a>, which was spread by lead in gasoline.
<p>
Part of the obstacle to children's walking and playing is due to urban
sprawl.
<p>
Sprawl causes many other problems too.  Let's build dense housing
(necessary anyway to make enough housing and make transportation
efficient) so that children don't have so far to walk to stores and
school.


feed_id: 5198e9716442974126d10d84ccf8a72f
title: Muslim practice of instant divorce
uri: Muslim-practice-of-instant-divorce
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#23_August_2017_%28Muslim_practice_of_instant_divorce%29

content:
<p>
India's Supreme Court ruled that the Muslim practice of instant
divorce (for men only) is
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/22/india-supreme-court-bans-islamic-instant-divorce-triple-talaq">unconstitutional
in India</a>.


feed_id: e2cf32533d6b69dfab394808dfe7dfc5
title: Cambridge University Press censorship
uri: Cambridge-University-Press-censorship
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#23_August_2017_%28Cambridge_University_Press_censorship%29

content:
<p>
Cambridge University Press
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/22/cambridge-university-censorship-u-turn-china">reversed
its decision to censor articles</a> against netizens in China.
<p>
Academics
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/aug/21/cambridge-university-press-faces-boycott-over-china-censorship">threatened
a boycott</a>.
<p>
The publisher still has a paywall and forbids redistribution by
mirrors.  These unjust measures give it the capability to impose
selective censorship.  That makes the publisher a tempting target for
such pressure.  When publishers restrict availability of publications,
they provide a foundation which any censor can take advantage of.


feed_id: dcc287e49d7b25f159dc6f1669365c0c
title: Industrial waste in rivers in India
uri: Industrial-waste-in-rivers-in-India
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#23_August_2017_%28Industrial_waste_in_rivers_in_India%29

content:
<p>
The limits of dumping industrial waste in rivers in India: when it
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/22/the-blue-dogs-of-mumbai-industrial-waste-blamed-for-colourful-canines">colors
stray dogs blue</a>, that's when you get shut down.


feed_id: f6ed41097766a41c52b38852614e0695
title: Coral in Belize's sea
uri: Coral-in-Belize-s-sea
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#23_August_2017_%28Coral_in_Belizes_sea%29
content:
<p>
A massive effort is
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/aug/22/belize-coral-reefs-improving-grassroots-restoration">planting
coral</a> in Belize's sea, but the reefs are threatened by unchecked
industry and by oil drilling which ought to be banned entirely.


feed_id: f332d93e046f5ac11f5314d1822e8ed6
title: Organized labor
uri: Organized-labor
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#23_August_2017_%28Organized_labor%29
content:
<p>
Calling Trump an "Embarrassment," Sanders Says Organized Labor
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/08/21/calling-trump-embarrassment-sanders-says-organized-labor-key-nations-future">Key
to Nation's Future</a>.


feed_id: 9bc12b0f2e3736b1bf8b59d3fce62ef9
title: Russian theater director arrested
uri: Russian-theater-director-arrested
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#23_August_2017_%28Russian_theater_director_arrested%29

content:
<p>
Is Russian theater director Kirill Serebrennikov being 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/22/kirill-serebrennikov-arrest-russian-theatre-director-fears-of-clampdown-on-dissent">framed
for political reasons</a>?


feed_id: 4a2118e696537055889a236e227b3b33
title: Republicans' surveillance bill
uri: Republicans-surveillance-bill
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#23_August_2017_%28Republicans_surveillance_bill%29
content:
<p>
The Republicans' "border security" bill is actually a bill for 
<a href="https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/08/gop-senators-border-wish-list-drones-dna-collection-voice-scans-and-more/">more
surveillance of everyone, including citizens, in a zone extending 100
miles from every coast or border</a>.
<p>
That includes cities such as New York, Boston, Washington, Miami, New
Orleans, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco.


feed_id: a4fc5281832d2f480c6c797b3af3d5cc
title: NYC to help tenants facing eviction
uri: NYC-to-help-tenants-facing-eviction
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#23_August_2017_%28NYC_to_help_tenants_facing_eviction%29

content:
<p>
New York City 
<a href="https://www.citylab.com/equity/2017/08/nyc-ensures-eviction-lawyer-for-every-tenant/536508/">will
now provide legal help to every tenant facing eviction</a>.
<p>
(Except those whose income is so high that they can afford to pay a
lawyer.)


feed_id: f30ae59ff6a52a52619dd65083d5f480
title: Mainstream media encourages expanding wars
uri: Mainstream-media-encourages-expanding-wars
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#23_August_2017_%28Mainstream_media_encourages_expanding_wars%29

content:
<p>
The mainstream media start 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/22/positive-trump-media-coverage-when-he-embraces-war">respecting
the liar when he expands wars</a>.
<p>
Seeing this, he will learn to expand wars.


feed_id: af06c66061170f8e0ee17d3a58bfffbf
title: Abortion in Chile
uri: Abortion-in-Chile
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#23_August_2017_%28Abortion_in_Chile%29
content:
<p>
Chile has legalized abortion, when there are 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/aug/22/chile-abortion-bill-michelle-bachelet-a-triumph-of-reason-ease-abortion-ban">specific
reasons</a>.
<p>
It is a step in the right direction.  Women should not have to give
reasons in order to have an abortion.


feed_id: 7b15818eac351f5d5e80cb8b5a5cd444
title: Inequality of wealth in Russia
uri: Inequality-of-wealth-in-Russia
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#23_August_2017_%28Inequality_of_wealth_in_Russia%29
content:
<p>
Inequality of wealth in Russia is more extreme even than in the US.
The state has 
<a href="http://boingboing.net/2017/08/15/russian-inequality-is-worse-th.html">covered
it up with false statistics</a>.


feed_id: f235ec9ccc5ef4ee10887f10e74aa1d2
title: "Virtual charter schools" fail
uri: Virtual-charter-schools-fail
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#23_August_2017_%28Virtual_charter_schools_fail%29
content:
<p>
"Virtual charter schools", where the student talks only to a computer,
<a href="https://fredrikdeboer.com/2017/06/12/study-of-the-week-of-course-virtual-k-12-schools-dont-work/">provide
a failing education</a>.


feed_id: 7b3fac3ee4cf53987ba03423c5d3ae93
title: Troll's endorsement of bigotry
uri: Troll-s-endorsement-of-bigotry
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#23_August_2017_%28Trolls_endorsement_of_bigotry%29
content:
<p>
"Anyone who continues to work with Trump is 
<a href='http://boingboing.net/2017/08/16/anyone-who-continues-to-work-w.html'>complicit
in his support of white supremacists</a>."
<p>
The CNN article this refers to 
<a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/16/politics/donald-trump-crisis/index.html">errs
when it suggests that we have no crimes to impeach him for</a>.
<p>
It's true that endorsing bigotry is not a crime, but receiving pay
from foreign interests directly violates the constitution.  Using his
office to get money from his hotels is corrupt.  Let's impeach him for
those.


feed_id: 40fe1f390283e9313c60fa6e69d26cbb
title: Technological "advances"
uri: Technological-advances
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#23_August_2017_%28Technological_advances%29
content:
<p>
Many recent technological "advances" seem to be designed to 
<a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/s/608580/eliminating-the-human/">save
us any real interaction with other people</a>.
<p>
I reject some of the services the article discusses because of their
<a href="https://gnu.org/philosophy/surveillance-vs-democracy.html">surveillance</a>,
and some because I want to protect people's jobs.  It is interesting
that the three problems often co-occur.
<p>
In a way, dating services and apps are doing the same thing.  They
don't entirely eliminate human contact — you still (possibly)
have a date or have sex — but the human contact is greatly
reduced.  Maybe that is an impediment to finding a real relationship.


feed_id: 77466f2d06f8104900a21ccc9e6c8edf
title: Unjustified killings by thugs
uri: Unjustified-killings-by-thugs
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#23_August_2017_%28Unjustified_killings_by_thugs%29
content:
<p>
A thug publicly 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/further/2017/08/21/note-nypd-bemoaning-blue-racism-blue-not-race-duh-and-youre-not-damn-victims-here">claims
that condemning them for unjustified killings is a kind of
"racism"</a> against "blue people".
<p>
This seems crazy, but he really says it.  The right-wing contempt for
truth is so great that Republicans will say obvious bullshit, relying
on other Republicans to support it anyways.  And they do!
<p>
I know of one case where racism is directed against blue-skinned
people.  When thugs beat up black people, their skin turns black and
blue.  The usual racism against them continues, but now it is against
blue-skinned people.


feed_id: 0eed3768ec64b57aa4c98ad7c969ce70
title: Sustained National Climate Assessment
uri: Sustained-National-Climate-Assessment
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#23_August_2017_%28Sustained_National_Climate_Assessment%29

content:
<p>
The saboteur-in-chief has 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/08/21/going-wrong-direction-we-need-more-advice-impacts-climate-change">done
away with the Advisory Panel</a> for the Sustained National Climate
Assessment.
<p>
He is 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jan-apr.html#23_February_2017_(Troll%27s_anti-science_politics)">anti-science
in general</a> and especially opposed to climate science.  His
strategy is that if we close our eyes and don't find out the details
of how global heating does and will effect everyone, many people will
make less effort to resist the massive denialist campaign.


feed_id: 1b78653209c5b96ae7f26db8ff05f996
title: Patients' insurance funding
uri: Patients-insurance-funding
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#23_August_2017_%28Patients_insurance_funding%29
content:
<p>
Medical doctors must advocate for their patients by 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/22/doctors-politics-patients-lives-are-at-stake">protecting
their insurance funding</a>.


feed_id: 5c670a5b016369cef75386ef090680db
title: Nonviolent movement diversity
uri: Nonviolent-movement-diversity
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#23_August_2017_%28Nonviolent_movement_diversity%29
content:
<p>
The diversity of a nonviolent movement gives it a 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/22/american-politics-becoming-violent-but-peaceful-movements-have-power">considerable
advantage over violent movements of young males</a>.


feed_id: 1fdf3eeb080484ffedd2a62aafa0af01
title: Mountaintop-removal coal mining
uri: Mountaintop-removal-coal-mining
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#23_August_2017_%28Mountaintop-removal_coal_mining%29

content:
<p>
One of the troll's saboteurs 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/08/21/giving-middle-finger-appalachian-communities-trump-kills-study-mountaintop-removal">ordered
the national academies to stop work on a study</a> of the health effects
of mountaintop-removal coal mining.
<p>
I wonder whether the national academies can keep the study going.


feed_id: 0af55c41ca68391029092f3feb639a4f
title: Primary school
uri: Primary-school
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#23_August_2017_%28Primary_school%29
content:
<p>
Students in primary school 
<a href="http://www.freerangekids.com/less-homework-more-learning/">do
not benefit from being assigned homework</a>.


feed_id: 548f20644a9671ca61687d63036f0c96
title: Drug tests imposed on welfare recipients
uri: Drug-tests-imposed-on-welfare-recipients
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#23_August_2017_%28Drug_tests_imposed_on_welfare_recipients%29

content:
<p>
Australia is 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/aug/22/welfare-recipients-in-south-west-sydney-first-to-be-targeted-by-drug-testing">trying
to impose drug testing on welfare recipients</a> even though that has
failed to do any good in other countries.
<p>
It is wrong to require drivers to take drug tests.  Instead, they
should have to use a machine at the beginning of each shift that tests
their alertness and capacity at that moment.  This would detect
drivers impaired for <em>any</em> reason, whether it be illness, lack
of sleep, painful experiences in their lives, or drugs.


feed_id: 2ffa9c2b3b73f529091aa10b2dea819f
title: Erdo&gbreve;an curriculum evolution
uri: Erdo-gbreve-an-curriculum-evolution
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#23_August_2017_%28Erdo%26gbreve%3Ban_curriculum_evolution%29

content:
<p>
Erdo&gbreve;an has put <a href="http://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2017/08/20/540965889/in-turkey-schools-will-stop-teaching-evolution-this-fall?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=20170820">an end to teaching evolution</a> in Turkish high schools.
<p>
Christianity and Islam over and over deal with inconvenient truths by teaching ignorance.


feed_id: a011f39949da4cf77626b18b26791b30
title: Merkel Erdo&gbreve;an extradition
uri: Merkel-Erdo-gbreve-an-extradition
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#22_August_2017_%28Merkel_Erdo%26gbreve%3Ban_extradition%29

content:
<p>
Erdo&gbreve;an is trying to make Spain <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/19/germany-urges-spain-not-to-extradite-erdogan-critic-to-turkey">extradite</a> an exiled Turkish writer.


feed_id: 907e777b0413ab5be8d9a0cd0286f9ae
title: Being friends with a Tory
uri: Being-friends-with-a-Tory
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#24_August_2017_%28Being_friends_with_a_Tory%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/24/is-it-ok-to-be-friends-with-a-tory">Is
it possible</a> to be friends with a Tory, or a Republican?
<p>
Like the writer, I don't refuse a priori, but I'd probably find little
basis for friendship with a person with those values.


feed_id: 1183c4d8421c6c0b1fc31ec2138ddec3
title: Medic imprisoned in Turkey
uri: Medic-imprisoned-in-Turkey
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#24_August_2017_%28Medic_imprisoned_in_Turkey%29
content:
<p>
Joe Robinson from England spent four weeks acting as a medic for
Kurdish troops in Syria.  Now he is 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/24/family-theresa-may-uk-soldier-turkey-isis-joe-robinson">in
prison in Turkey</a>, accused of "being a member of a terrorist
organization."
<p>
This illustrates the wrong of arbitrarily labeling a group as a
"terrorist organization".  That is 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2006-nov-feb.html#19%20November%202006%20(US%20witch-hunt%20against%20charities)">wrong
when the US does it</a>, too.
<p>
Robinson also joined the Kurdish forces in Iraq, which Turkey appears
to have
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-jul-oct.html#26_October_2016_(Turks_and_Kurds_in_Iraq)">military
cooperation</a> with.


feed_id: 9bf058a59821884b92e4f45353d5e8fe
title: Capitol wishes to invite refugees
uri: Capitol-wishes-to-invite-refugees
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#24_August_2017_%28Capitol_wishes_to_invite_refugees%29

content:
<p>
The Capitol region (around Canberra) 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/aug/24/act-offers-to-resettle-refugees-held-in-inhumane-offshore-detention-centres">wishes
to invite the refugees Australia holds on Manus Island and Nauru</a>.


feed_id: 480546a5432e0ce612b4e172302ea2b5
title: Privacy
uri: 2017-08-25-Privacy
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#24_August_2017_%28Privacy%29
content:
<p>
India's Supreme Court 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/24/indian-court-rules-privacy-a-fundamental-right-in-battle-over-national-id-cards">ruled
that privacy is a fundamental right</a>; this may help pin back
India's hard-to-escape biometric ID system, Aadhar.


feed_id: cba666528cf914e74483c71c54402b10
title: Charges against journalist in Thailand
uri: Charges-against-journalist-in-Thailand
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#24_August_2017_%28Charges_against_journalist_in_Thailand%29

content:
<p>
Thailand has dropped charges against British journalist Jonathan Head,
who had reported on enslavement of workers there.  However, one of the victims
of the scam he reported on 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/24/bbc-correspondent-jonathan-head-has-criminal-defamation-suit-dropped-in-thailand">still
faces prosecution</a>.


feed_id: 8260afd6557b8b9a89bd9ef8d1a4d6e4
title: Cost of nuclear power
uri: Cost-of-nuclear-power
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#24_August_2017_%28Cost_of_nuclear_power%29
content:
<p>
Nuclear power in the US and Europe is 
<a href="https://thinkprogress.org/u-s-nuclear-plants-bleeding-cash-c794e4142597/">moribund
because of its costs</a>.
<p>
It ought to be moribund because of the danger of accidents in the
nuclear power plants themselves, and the medical danger of the wastes
that will have to be stored.
<p>
The idea that it is somehow more legitimate or reassuring to eliminate
an environmental threat because it is expensive, than because it could
cause a local disaster, effectively says profits justify risking
disaster.


feed_id: 6770737cf2482f6b0a28e4d85652fe88
title: Damage of global heating
uri: 2017-08-25-Damage-of-global-heating
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#24_August_2017_%28Damage_of_global_heating%29
content:
<p>
In the US, the damage of global heating 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2017/aug/24/new-study-finds-that-climate-change-costs-will-hit-trump-country-hardest">will
fall hardest on the southeast</a>, where people mainly support the
liar.
<p>
Perhaps they support him as a way to firm up their denial of what's
going to happen to them.  Like not going to the dentist, or not
getting tested for cancer.


feed_id: 4ec481c83f84754e1cca0b9b670c9250
title: Publishing reports on clinical trials
uri: Publishing-reports-on-clinical-trials
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#24_August_2017_%28Publishing_reports_on_clinical_trials%29

content:
<p>
Medical journals now have a system for deciding whether to publish a report
on a clinical trial 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/head-quarters/2017/aug/24/clinical-trials-revolution-could-change-the-future-of-medical-research">without
knowing the trial's outcome</a>.
<p>
It's a clever piece of diplomacy.


feed_id: 3185078ff587d85d54dd63aea0f77a9d
title: University teachers
uri: University-teachers
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#24_August_2017_%28University_teachers%29
content:
<p>
University Teachers' 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2017/aug/23/university-teachers-jobs-and-dignity-are-under-threat">Jobs
And Dignity Are Under Threat</a>.
<p>
These letters are about the UK, but the situation is the same in the
US.
<p>
The primacy of research over teaching in prestigious universities is
nothing new.  A few decades ago, it was a joke at MIT that the annual
award for excellence in teaching meant "No tenure for you."  To some
extent, this prioritization is legitimate and necessary, but it could
be reduced.


feed_id: c5034aa62e524bb84062448b67a0fde8
title: Sanders leads troll in polls
uri: Sanders-leads-troll-in-polls
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#24_August_2017_%28Sanders_leads_troll_in_polls%29
content:
<p>
Sanders 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/08/23/loser-2020-trump-vs-sanders-match-bernie-beats-donald-bigly">leads
the cheater by 13%</a>, according to polls.
<p>
That means the Republicans need to gain over 13% by cheating in 2020.


feed_id: f880b2568ce188098e90a168f48026c2
title: FERC
uri: FERC
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#24_August_2017_%28FERC%29
content:
<p>
A court ruled that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/08/22/pipeline-victory-could-have-major-implications-climate-fights-ahead">didn't
even try</a> to make a careful judgment of a proposed pipeline.


feed_id: ef330527d04077267453bc138979b6bd
title: UK keeps asylum seeker in prison
uri: UK-keeps-asylum-seeker-in-prison
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#24_August_2017_%28UK_keeps_asylum_seeker_in_prison%29

content:
<p>
The UK is keeping an asylum seeker, who was tortured in Chad, in
prison 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/aug/23/judge-amber-rudd-orders-torture-victim-asylum-seeker-detention">in
defiance of repeated court orders to free him</a>.


feed_id: 62a44345944b8b1081a7c0f3c16ab590
title: Anti-Muslim hate group cancels rallies
uri: Anti-Muslim-hate-group-cancels-rallies
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#24_August_2017_%28Anti-Muslim_hate_group_cancels_rallies%29

content:
<p>
A nationwide anti-Muslim hate group cancelled rallies all across
the US 
<a href="http://metro.co.uk/2017/08/22/anti-islam-hate-group-cancels-67-rallies-after-seeing-40000-anti-fascists-in-boston-6871079/">after
seeing how many counterprotesters came out</a> in Boston.


feed_id: a2ff50bf2c3d9b43d00d933469697b5d
title: Letter to troll voters
uri: Letter-to-troll-voters
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#24_August_2017_%28Letter_to_troll_voters%29
content:
<p>
Dear Trump Voters: 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/08/23/dear-trump-voter-he-lied-you">he
lied to you</a>.


feed_id: ee8fb55fa5e1742d8959cc4fba193b8f
title: Bayer-Monsanto merger
uri: Bayer-Monsanto-merger
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#24_August_2017_%28Bayer-Monsanto_merger%29
content:
<p>
The Bayer-Monsanto merger 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/23/bayer-monsanto-merger-agricultural-control-farming">would
endanger farmers</a>, thus agriculture too.


feed_id: c95e8401af985ed8fcba8228f9b52bc1
title: Urgent: call on China to free Tibetan Jamyang Lodru
uri: Urgent-call-on-China-to-free-Tibetan-Jamyang-Lodru
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#24_August_2017_%28Urgent%3A_call_on_China_to_free_Tibetan_Jamyang_Lodru%29

content:
<p>
Everyone: call on China to <a href="https://freetibet.co.uk/sign-petition-free-jamyang-lodru">free Tibetan Jamyang Lodru</a>, imprisoned for no stated reason.


feed_id: 977149c7e9dbf5e67e048ce95516a8d9
title: Troll secretive immigration courts
uri: Troll-secretive-immigration-courts
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#24_August_2017_%28Troll_secretive_immigration_courts%29

content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/23/immigration-crisis-us-deportation-system-lawlessness-trump-administration">The US Deportation System Is Verging on Lawlessness</a>.


feed_id: fc4a9f1fdcd6a64b26c5a1b449fb70e5
title: Exxon follows tobacco playbook
uri: Exxon-follows-tobacco-playbook
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#24_August_2017_%28Exxon_follows_tobacco_playbook%29
content:
<p>
Exxon knowingly <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2017/aug/23/harvard-scientists-took-exxons-challenge-found-it-using-the-tobacco-playbook">mislead the public about global heating</a>.  Its advertisements to the public sowed doubt while its researchers reported the truth.


feed_id: 29502f3ab80119d21eda85b96753353b
title: Predatory mortgage contracts
uri: Predatory-mortgage-contracts
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#24_August_2017_%28Predatory_mortgage_contracts%29
content:
<p>
Wall Street companies are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/23/loan-sharks-eradicated-wall-street">swindling would-be home buyers</a> with rent-to-own contracts that make them vulnerable to losing everything they have paid if anything goes wrong.
<p>
Why isn't it a felony to offer houses that way?


feed_id: 7f59d543e50a6c79f7c971d609102f76
title: Qatar employment rights
uri: Qatar-employment-rights
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#24_August_2017_%28Qatar_employment_rights%29
content:
<p>
Qatar has passed a law to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/aug/23/qatar-passes-law-protect-employment-rights-domestic-workers">give domestic workers some rights</a> and benefits.


feed_id: e9cb6286ae5ad72334c2d0097785bca2
title: Women's rights in Afghanistan
uri: 2017-08-25-Women-s-rights-in-Afghanistan
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#24_August_2017_%28Women%27s_rights_in_Afghanistan%29

content:
<p>
American right-wingers that despise women's rights are circulating photos of western-dressed Afghan women from the 1970s to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/23/photos-afghan-women-foreign-policy-trump-womens-rights">justify keeping Afghanistan violent today</a>.


feed_id: 53a4a1620baecd6966d93130a12f7684
title: Canada unlabeled GM Salmon
uri: Canada-unlabeled-GM-Salmon
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#24_August_2017_%28Canada_unlabeled_GM_Salmon%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/23/gmo-salmon-sales-unclear-where-to-buy-canada">GM Salmon: Want to Try It or Avoid It?  Either Way, Good Luck</a>.


feed_id: b21635abb5e0324fb7f9172d09e34405
title: War on drugs Philippines
uri: War-on-drugs-Philippines
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#24_August_2017_%28War_on_drugs_Philippines%29
content:
<p>
Philippine thugs, sent to kill drug dealers, drug addicts, and anyone that tries to record what they are doing, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/23/please-stop-brutal-killing-of-a-student-in-philippines-drug-war-sparks-nationwide-anger">shot a high school student</a>.


feed_id: cffe3869410d9efdb781b889454780a3
title: US DOJ Dreamhost
uri: US-DOJ-Dreamhost
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#24_August_2017_%28US_DOJ_Dreamhost%29
content:
<p>
The US <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/22/donald-trump-protest-website-back-down-dreamhost-ip-address">gave up on demanding information</a> on all the visitors to the inauguration protest site.
<p>
Attempts at repressing Americans that don't support the troll will surely continue.


feed_id: 1407dff9905115b35eb212c93b1e9819
title: Prison safer than shelters
uri: Prison-safer-than-shelters
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#25_August_2017_%28Prison_safer_than_shelters%29
content:
<p>
Tommy McAdoo, at age 70, couldn't bear living on the street or in
unsafe homeless shelters. 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/24/tommy-ray-mcadoo-homelessness-outside-in-america-ross-now">
He robbed a bank to get back in prison.
</a>
<p>
It's our shame that our treatment of homeless people is worse than prison.


feed_id: 66643061ebae7c5f41a75213f23a9816
title: Pot felons
uri: Pot-felons
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#25_August_2017_%28Pot_felons%29
content:
<p>
The partial legalization of marijuana fails to undo
the harm done to people who were
<a href="http://reason.com/archives/2017/08/24/an-apology-isnt-enough-for-the-millions">
convicted of possession or sale of marijuana
in the past.
</a>


feed_id: 1439160e256672660bbc57654efdca5d
title: Amazon reserve abolished
uri: Amazon-reserve-abolished
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#25_August_2017_%28Amazon_reserve_abolished%29
content:
<p>
Brazil has
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/aug/24/brazil-abolishes-huge-amazon-reserve-in-biggest-attack-in-50-years">
abolished a large reserve in the Amazon,
</a>
exposing it to
deforestation which will destroy it forever.


feed_id: c66f50164dcaa928771d65eec3ce195d
title: National monuments
uri: 2017-08-25-National-monuments
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#25_August_2017_%28National_monuments%29
content:
<p>
Saboteurs in the US have presented
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/24/the-trump-administrations-national-monuments-review-is-a-sham">
supposed reasons for "reviewing" US
national monuments.
</a>
They are bogus.
<p>
The economic analysis makes the frequent economic error of measuring
the "health of the economy" by totals, or equivalenty per-capita
figures.  This is a fallacy because it disregards the harm done by
inequality.  If one billionaire gains a million dollars, and 9000
minimum-wage workers lose 100 each, the total increases by 100 thousand
but the net effect is more suffering.
<p>
However, the article's point is valid nonetheless.


feed_id: d17acf9ce93b696389f43f6128563e07
title: Arctic ice melt
uri: Arctic-ice-melt
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#25_August_2017_%28Arctic_ice_melt%29
content:
<p>
The loss of Arctic sea ice has proceeded so far that a tanker has
been able to
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/aug/24/russian-tanker-sails-arctic-without-icebreaker-first-time">
cross the north of Asia without an ice breaker.
</a>
<p>
If that were the only effect, it would be a great savings.
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#22_August_2017_(Methane_Antarctica)">
Alas, the absence of ice is rapidly heating the Arctic even more.
</a>


feed_id: 286815870d2c0a574ed2bc933cd453e2
title: Urgent: bottled water in national parks
uri: Urgent-bottled-water-in-national-parks
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#25_August_2017_%28Urgent%3A_bottled_water_in_national_parks%29

content:
<p>
Everyone: <a href="http://action.storyofstuff.org/letter/bottled-water-free-letter-nps-superintendents/">call on US national park superintendents</a> to resist bottled water sales.


feed_id: aa7f891965431beb6fc428eb4bb0b4ea
title: Urgent: endangered Florida panther
uri: Urgent-endangered-Florida-panther
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#25_August_2017_%28Urgent%3A_endangered_Florida_panther%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: <a href="https://act.nrdc.org/letter/big-cypress-panther-170821">call on the Fish & Wildlife Service</a> to continue
protection for the endangered Florida panther.
<p>
My childhood sweetheart, <a href="/articles/childhood-sweetheart.html">Melynda</a>,
campaigned to protect the Florida panther.


feed_id: 9d5a4b113beb8a0f9dd1ccb837b95977
title: Urgent: protect overtime pay
uri: Urgent-protect-overtime-pay
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#25_August_2017_%28Urgent%3A_protect_overtime_pay%29
content:
<p>
US citizens: <a href="https://act.credoaction.com/sign/trump_overtime">call on the Department of Labor</a> to protect workers' overtime pay.


feed_id: 94bf53d5773bde4ceb99a8c4f2c7b124
title: Urgent: protect Social Security
uri: 2017-08-26-Urgent-protect-Social-Security
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#25_August_2017_%28Urgent%3A_protect_Social_Security%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: <a href="https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/sign-the-petition-social-security-is-not-a-hostage">call for protecting Social Security</a> from right-wing cuts.


feed_id: 69b50f7da034df55e2b5a60b4d86053a
title: Urgent: limit drug prices
uri: Urgent-limit-drug-prices
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#25_August_2017_%28Urgent%3A_limit_drug_prices%29
content:
<p>
US citizens: <a href="https://act.credoaction.com/sign/sanders_pharma_taxpayers">support Sanders' bill</a> to limit what drug companies can charge
for drugs developed with government funds.


feed_id: 55fb98bc4bc1fab81110168205a5ad7b
title: Bombing Yemen
uri: Bombing-Yemen
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#25_August_2017_%28Bombing_Yemen%29
content:
<p>
Salafi Arabia <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/08/23/saudi-bombing-kills-dozens-and-us-complicit-man-made-crisis-yemen-worsens">bombed a hotel in Yemen</a> and killed around 35 people, as
its US-backed bombardment continues.
<p>
There was never any justification for either <a href="/glossary.html#salafi">Salafi Arabia</a> or the US
to make war on Yemen. The motive is only strategic rivalry between
<a href="/glossary.html#salafi">Salafi Arabia</a> and Iran.
<p>
Iran and the US have a history of war from some decades ago,
but nothing stops the two countries from being at peace today
except for <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#19_June_2017_(Will_troll_allow_neocons_to_launch_war_)">US neocons</a>.
<p>
Iran is a <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#28_May_2017_(Iran_more_free_than_Salafi_Arabia)">repressive partial tyranny</a>,
but <a href="/glossary.html#salafi">Salafi Arabia</a> is a
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#27_May_2017_(Islamist_extremism_from_Salafi_Arabia)">more repressive</a> total tyranny.


feed_id: df96588571e0d67c2ed3cc476ba40542
title: Sending refugees to Greece
uri: Sending-refugees-to-Greece
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#25_August_2017_%28Sending_refugees_to_Greece%29
content:
<p>
Various European countries are sending refugees who first arrived in
Greece <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/25/eu-states-begin-returning-refugees-to-greece-as-german-reunions-slow">back to Greece</a>.
<p>
Greece, crippled by <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2015-jul-oct.html#16_July_2015_(Euro-banksters_demand_more_oppression)">Euro-imposed poverty</a>,
cannot support all these refugees without help.


feed_id: a9ddea5841b64bbeffb4cb7dc4773da4
title: NHS secret plans
uri: NHS-secret-plans
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#25_August_2017_%28NHS_secret_plans%29
content:
<p>
NHS Accused of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/aug/25/nhs-accused-of-keeping-secret-its-plans-to-cut-services">Keeping Secret Its Plans</a> to Cut Services.
<p>
You wouldn't expect Tories to take responsibility for the wrong they do,
would you?


feed_id: e87320124520baf96154cbdfc62e40b3
title: Rapture
uri: Rapture
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#25_August_2017_%28Rapture%29
content:
<p>
A Christian refugee from Iran, where the idea of the Rapture
represented escape from the repressive Muslim state, finds that the
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2017/aug/25/yearning-for-the-end-of-the-world">cult of Rapture in the US</a> is the basis for a mad nihilism.
<p>
It reminds me of chapter 5, "The destruction of the Xhosas", in Joseph
Bulgatz's book, Ponzi Schemes, Invaders from Mars, & more
extraordinary popular delusions, and the madness of crowds.


feed_id: 1b6e3a14c5aa9cd03c4d8be15313f678
title: Samsung corruption
uri: Samsung-corruption
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#25_August_2017_%28Samsung_corruption%29
content:
<p>
Samsung Heir <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/25/samsung-heir-lee-jae-yong-found-guilty-of-corruption">Found Guilty of Corruption</a> And Sentenced to Five Years in Prison.


feed_id: cb88a7f3596c62205ac6b6ec595df11a
title: Farmed rhino horn
uri: Farmed-rhino-horn
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#25_August_2017_%28Farmed_rhino_horn%29
content:
<p>
Arguing against a sale of rhino horn from <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/africa-wild/2017/aug/25/rhino-horn-sales-banking-on-extinction">farmed rhinos</a>.
<p>
I don't know whether this argument is valid, overall.
<p>
I agree that the sale is really intended to be illegally exported.
Does that mean it is wrong? Being illegal does not imply something is
wrong. Exporting poached rhino horn is wrong because it is leading to
extinction of rhinos, but whether exporting farmed rhino horn is wrong
is a different question. Indeed, that is the crucial question here.
<p>
A sufficiently large supply of farmed rhino horn, together with a
fairly effective anti-poaching program, ought in principle to drive
poachers out of business. But that depends on making the
anti-poaching program effective enough to drive up the cost of poached
rhino horn, and a large enough supply of farmed rhino horn to drive
down the price they can charge. Is that feasible to achieve? I don't
know.
<p>
Counterpropaganda against the medical myths about rhino horn is
clearly a good thing to do.


feed_id: 261b4118497a7b714badb3ead37c5a7f
title: Testosterone
uri: Testosterone
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#25_August_2017_%28Testosterone%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/25/men-blame-hormones-testosterone-trouble-aggression-decision-making">Dosing men with testosterone</a> makes them more impulsive and less
intelligent.


feed_id: 80ee9f8e88b81199f6a26802917810f8
title: Morals of past heroes
uri: Morals-of-past-heroes
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#25_August_2017_%28Morals_of_past_heroes%29
content:
<p>
Once in a while, the troll repeats a valid point that people aren't
supposed to talk about — for instance, about the <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/08/24/facing-history-age-trump">12 US presidents</a>
that owned slaves at some time in their lives.
<p>
To demand that past heroes measure up to modern moral conclusions is
anachronistic. We stand for these conclusions on the foundation of
many years of further moral thinking, which those of the past did not
have the benefit of. That Washington and Jefferson failed to
anticipate the arguments and conclusions of Frederick Douglass and
Abraham Lincoln, which we know by hindsight, does not negate the good
they did for fighting for an incomplete freedom.
<p>
But we should recognize that they did wrong by keeping people in
slavery. We shouldn't demand perfection in our past heroes, either.


feed_id: daea27a087e81f9b8df25a810b1d0640
title: Perry altering report
uri: Perry-altering-report
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#25_August_2017_%28Perry_altering_report%29
content:
<p>
Saboteur of Energy Perry <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2017/08/24/trump-administration-releases-report-try-and-justify-bailing-out-dirty-expensive">altered a report</a> so that it would support
subsidies to power plants burning fossil fuels.
<p>
However, the honest report is <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/08/24/trump-energy-depts-pro-coal-pro-nuclear-report-not-worth-paper-its-written">still visible</a> inside the coating of ashes.


feed_id: ffac67b42a789683d756388d347597c7
title: Civilians in Raqqa
uri: 2017-08-26-Civilians-in-Raqqa
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#25_August_2017_%28Civilians_in_Raqqa%29
content:
<p>
In Raqqa, <a href="/glossary.html#pissi">PISSI</a> is forcing <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2017/08/24/syria-deadly-labyrinth-traps-civilians-trying-flee-r\
aqqa-battle-against-islamic">civilian human shields</a> to move the place
where it plans its last stand, Russia and/or Assad are dropping
cluster bombs, and the US shoots indiscriminately at every boat that
heads out of Raqqa.
<p>
There has got to be a way to capture the people in boats when they
don't fight back (as civilians won't).


feed_id: c30cb31b4b7c8d874ae2eea9ddfd3680
title: Heroes of the South
uri: Heroes-of-the-South
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#25_August_2017_%28Heroes_of_the_South%29
content:
<p>
The <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/8/23/1692770/-The-Real-Southern-Heroes-of-the-Civil-War-Were-the-Ones-Who-Resisted">real heroes of the south</a> were the hundreds of thousands that fought
for the United States, and against slavery.


feed_id: 5290a5fa3977c6cc8727f97ff8598d9e
title: Reagan honored
uri: Reagan-honored
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#25_August_2017_%28Reagan_honored%29
content:
<p>
The US Department of Labor will spit in the face of workers by
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/08/24/trump-labor-department-announces-it-will-honor-ronald-reagan-the-man-who-broke-american-labor/">honoring President Reagan</a>, union buster, saying his "distinctive
contributions to the field of labor have enhanced the quality of life
of millions yesterday, today, and for generations to come."


feed_id: 2b1dcc44b324f57ad744b58a85f45dfe
title: Amazon reserve abolished
uri: 2017-08-26-Amazon-reserve-abolished
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#25_August_2017_%28Amazon_reserve_abolished%29
content:
<p>
Brazil has
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/aug/24/brazil-abolishes-huge-amazon-reserve-in-biggest-attack-in-50-years">
abolished a large reserve in the Amazon,
</a>
exposing it to
deforestation which will destroy it forever.
<p>
<a href="/glossary.html#saboteur">Saboteur</a>s in the US have presented
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/24/the-trump-administrations-national-monuments-review-is-a-sham">
supposed reasons for "reviewing" US
national monuments.
</a>
They are bogus.
<p>
The economic analysis makes the frequent economic error of measuring
the "health of the economy" by totals, or equivalently per-capita
figures.  This is a fallacy because it disregards the harm done by
inequality.  If one billionaire gains a million dollars, and 9000
minimum-wage workers lose 100 each, the total increases by 100 thousand
but the net effect is more suffering.
<p>
However, the article's point is valid nonetheless.


feed_id: d5af0a13dfef65daf6166df0f413d7c0
title: Urgent: Preserve DACA
uri: Urgent-Preserve-DACA
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#26_August_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Preserve_DACA%29
content:
<p>
US citizens: phone your congresscritter at 1-202-224-3121 and say to
preserve the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) program.
This protects unauthorized immigrants from deportation if they were
brought to the US as children, many years ago, and have lived here
ever since.


feed_id: b8b06914417bfa038234efaf352abe2d
title: Oil extraction in Peruvian Amazon
uri: Oil-extraction-in-Peruvian-Amazon
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#26_August_2017_%28Oil_extraction_in_Peruvian_Amazon%29

content:
<p>
Indigenous peoples in the Peruvian Amazon
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/25/peru-tribal-leaders-vow-halt-oil-output-unless-indigenous-rights-respected">threaten
to block oil extraction</a> if the state fails to comply with its law
requiring consultation with them on a new oil project.
<p>
It is inexcusable to start new oil wells in places where they can be
particularly harmful.  We
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-jan-apr.html#20_February_2016_(Fight_to_keep_fossil_fuel_in_ground)">need
to leave 80% of the known reserves in the ground</a>, so any reserves
that cause special risks should be part of that 80%.


feed_id: bd5a32497b96e2c9dfdb90fe72fe7888
title: Texas voter-ID overturned
uri: Texas-voter-ID-overturned
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#26_August_2017_%28Texas_voter-ID_overturned%29
content:
<p>
The Texas voter-ID was
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/08/24/jim-crow-era-tactics-rejected-texas-gop-racist-voter-id-law-smacked-down">overturned
by a US court</a>.


feed_id: d076062d771e9721c4b79060acf374dc
title: Predatory underground US agent
uri: Predatory-underground-US-agent
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#26_August_2017_%28Predatory_underground_US_agent%29
content:
<p>
An underground US agent seduced Jennifer Padilla, then pressured her
into making a call to arrange a drug deal for him.  Then he
<a href="http://www.sfreporter.com/santafe/article-13834-informant-no-9097.html">arranged
for her to be prosecuted for this entrapment</a>.
<p>
I am disappointed that the newspaper disguised his face.  The public
need to be warned about this predator.  Has anyone posted a photo of
his face?  Had she posted photos of the two of them?


feed_id: 552f522a74349aff07afd23d81b7220d
title: "Pro life"
uri: Pro-life
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#26_August_2017_%28Pro_life%29
content:
<p>
<a href="/glossary.html#saboteur">Saboteur</a> Teresa Manning claims to be "pro life", but only for
potential future human beings.  She's
<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/8/22/1692126/-Another-day-another-Trump-official-with-ties-to-Holocaust-denial-and-the-pro-Nazi-movement">willing
to help let the Nazis off the hook for killing millions of real human
beings</a>.


feed_id: ae99b46871919be9a751d937c23272fc
title: A attempt to wipe out protest organizations
uri: A-attempt-to-wipe-out-protest-organizations
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#26_August_2017_%28A_attempt_to_wipe_out_protest_organizations%29

content:
<p>
The company behind the Dakota Access pipeline has sued Greenpeace and
other protest organizations for
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/08/23/corporate-mercenaries-trump-allied-firm-slammed-1-billion-suit-against-water">300
million dollars</a>, in an attempt to wipe out those organizations and
make organized protest against environmental destruction too dangerous
in the US to consider trying.


feed_id: d17ec0dad2190f881d788d32b73b9637
title: "Be dependent"
uri: Be-dependent
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#26_August_2017_%28Be_dependent%29
content:
<p>
15-year-olds attending summer camp in the US today have to be
<a href="http://www.freerangekids.com/my-child-had-to-take-two-buddies-and-a-counselor-to-go-to-the-bathroom-at-night/">
monitored by an adult at all times during the day.
</a>
They are not even
allowed to go to the toilet on their own.
<p>
Apparently the Girl Scout motto nowadays is "Be dependent."
(I'd guess it is the same for the Boy Scouts.)
<p>
If these teenagers do not rebel, it could only because they have been
made to expect suffocation.  Nothing could be worse preparation for
the upheaval that global heating is likely to cause, a few decades
from now.


feed_id: 6c97aed52112bcf6abafdd013f492c9d
title: Financial regulations
uri: Financial-regulations
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#26_August_2017_%28Financial_regulations%29
content:
<p>
Federal Reserve head Janet Yellen rebuked the saboteur-in-chief for
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/25/us-central-bank-boss-janet-yellen-rebukes-trump-over-plan-to-lift-regulations">
planning to eliminate some of the inadequate protections enacted after
the financial crises to prevent a repeat.
</a>
<p>
The financial crises was terribly harmful to Americans in general, but
it was also very profitable to some, and the troll is whoring for them.


feed_id: 5705cf3a8419f68eca110f10fc5c526b
title: Posts by smugglers
uri: Posts-by-smugglers
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#26_August_2017_%28Posts_by_smugglers%29
content:
<p>
Facebook has deleted
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/aug/25/facebook-removes-posts-made-by-people-smugglers-aiming-to-lure-migrants">
deceptive posts designed to recruit customers
for smugglers
</a>
that offer to take them across the Mediterranean.
<p>
Removing these lies is a good thing, since they are dangerous traps.
At the same time, allowing Facebook to censor the world seems
dangerous too.  Facebook claims it can impose any criteria of censorship,
as a private company; but no company with that big an impact should
be allowed to set its own policies.


feed_id: d1b5ced0fb88122dfd886bbfd88ff3c1
title: Ultrasound transmitter
uri: Ultrasound-transmitter
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#26_August_2017_%28Ultrasound_transmitter%29
content:
<p>
Cuba is cooperating with the investigation of the hearing damage to US
diplomats that
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/25/botched-surveillance-job-may-have-led-to-strange-injuries-at-cuban-embassy">
appears to have been caused by an ultrasound transmitter.
</a>


feed_id: 8ca3854427af603e54752e9bf5ee04aa
title: Hostile intelligence agency
uri: Hostile-intelligence-agency
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#26_August_2017_%28Hostile_intelligence_agency%29
content:
<p>
Even though Wikileaks is drifting into disreputable conduct, we must not allow
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/08/25/even-wikileaks-haters-shouldnt-want-it-labeled-a-hostile-intelligence-agency/">
criminalization of the honorable journalism that Wikileaks started out doing.
</a>


feed_id: ada019987df19b77546beaf1c18baaf1
title: Time to redistribute
uri: Time-to-redistribute
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#26_August_2017_%28Time_to_redistribute%29
content:
<p>
'Time to Redistribute Wealth':
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/08/25/time-redistribute-wealth-1-thriving-while-78-living-paycheck-paycheck">
1% [in the US] Thriving While 78%
Living Paycheck to Paycheck.
</a>


feed_id: a76c995af8e8d6304c1ff18e817be701
title: Portugal government spending
uri: Portugal-government-spending
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#27_August_2017_%28Portugal_government_spending%29
content:
<p>
Portugal has <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/24/austerity-lie-deep-cuts-economy-portugal-socialist">proved once again</a> that the way to get out of a depression
is by increasing government spending.
<p>
That's what Keynes taught us, and what the neoliberals <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2015-may-aug.html#03_May_2015_(No_more_austerity)">worked
so hard</a> to bury.


feed_id: 99df221a890c1d2515ad75862568b292
title: White safety
uri: White-safety
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#27_August_2017_%28White_safety%29
content:
<p>
Racist white Americans believe they are safer in a neighborhood where
almost everyone is white. But it's <a href="http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/41684-the-myth-of-white-safety">the opposite</a>: the right-wing
policies that push away nonwhites also shorten lives.


feed_id: a1dfb1828b61ae7c46b7a0e5574dbc84
title: Discarded ballots
uri: Discarded-ballots
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#27_August_2017_%28Discarded_ballots%29
content:
<p>
ACLU: California <a href="https://www.aclu.org/blog/voting-rights/fighting-voter-suppression/were-suing-california-because-it-threw-out-more-45000">discarded 45000 ballots</a> because voters' signature
"didn't match".


feed_id: 695c2b9b41fcd85690d8bb8cbc18b6c7
title: Protesters' email search
uri: Protesters-email-search
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#27_August_2017_%28Protesters%27_email_search%29
content:
<p>
The troll's men want to <a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/08/24/court-trump-protester-data-inauguration-disruptj20/">search the emails</a> of organizers of
inauguration protests. The judge authorized an indirect search, where
someone else looks for emails (if any) that organize violence and only
those are handed over.
<p>
This still looks like a fishing expedition to me, even if
not as broad as the original proposal.


feed_id: 08015b190a07336f59dc0701f8b43536
title: Fines for protest crimes
uri: Fines-for-protest-crimes
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#27_August_2017_%28Fines_for_protest_crimes%29
content:
<p>
Republicans in Pennsylvania want to make all protesters convicted of
any crime in connection with a protest <a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/08/23/new-bill-would-force-arrested-protesters-to-pay-police-overtime-other-fees/">pay costs</a> that no one could afford.
<p>
Governments must not have the power to <a href="https://www.aclu.org/blog/why-government-cant-be-allowed-make-you-pay-free-speech">make people pay</a> for the privilege
of saying controversial things.


feed_id: ee1b92b4a0fd59ac5bfdd387bd63da0e
title: Mozilla speech recognition
uri: Mozilla-speech-recognition
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#27_August_2017_%28Mozilla_speech_recognition%29
content:
<p>
Mozilla's free database of <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/40449278/google-mozilla-and-the-race-to-make-voice-data-for-everyone">recordings of English speech</a> could be crucial
for free software for speech recognition.
<p>
Speech recognition done by by companies usually involves sending your
audio to the company's server. It is foolhardy to allow such a device
into your home.


feed_id: ec4d0ad497e7643839e02db3fd3853dd
title: Frozen methane hydrates
uri: Frozen-methane-hydrates
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#27_August_2017_%28Frozen_methane_hydrates%29
content:
<p>
Burning the frozen methane hydrates from the ocean bottom would make
it possible to push the <a href="http://e360.yale.edu/features/the-world-eyes-yet-another-unconventional-source-of-fossil-fuels-methane-hydrates">world's temperature even higher</a>.
<p>
It is good news that there is little chance of a catastrophic release
of methane into the atmosphere from those deposits. But if that is
because the methane gets converted to CO2 in the ocean, that replaces
one danger with another.


feed_id: 97fa03497f4e2ee7122aa4fddbe0ad8a
title: T-shirt robots
uri: T-shirt-robots
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#27_August_2017_%28T-shirt_robots%29
content:
<p>
Robots that can make t-shirts at high volume might put millions of garment
workers <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/40454692/this-t-shirt-sewing-robot-could-radically-shift-the-apparel-industry">out of a job</a> in poor countries.
<p>
It's great to make things with high efficiency using automation
<em>provided</em> everyone gets to share the benefits.


feed_id: e9f2e637dff4c21d1c7bdd5be104eac6
title: Ozone hole and chemicals
uri: Ozone-hole-and-chemicals
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#27_August_2017_%28Ozone_hole_and_chemicals%29
content:
<p>
The "ozone hole" is not closing, and <a href="http://e360.yale.edu/features/thirty-years-after-the-montreal-protocol-solving-the-ozone-problem-remains-elusive">new industrial chemicals</a> now
threaten it.
<p>
1987 was before the World Trade Organization; the dominion of business
over states was not as strong then. If the ozone hole were first
discovered today, I don't think anything like the Montreal Pact would
be possible, because chemical businesses would veto it.


feed_id: a07a7943625c6c40bdee4faee64d79c8
title: Sexist marriage laws
uri: Sexist-marriage-laws
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#27_August_2017_%28Sexist_marriage_laws%29
content:
<p>
After the elimination of instant divorce for men only, Indian
marriage laws continue to have <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/25/islamic-instant-divorce-victory-india-talaq-women-harmful-practices">other forms of sexist bias</a>.
<p>
No one should be forced to stay in a bad marriage; anyone who wants a
divorce should be able to get one, through appropriate procedures.
But the law of divorce should not embody prejudice against any subgroup
of persons.


feed_id: b8e8607404e5ee7a564493d3d02fac6d
title: Film resembling Palestine occupation
uri: Film-resembling-Palestine-occupation
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#27_August_2017_%28Film_resembling_Palestine_occupation%29

content:
<p>
A British arts center is showing a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/aug/25/barbican-accused-of-showing-antisemitic-film-in-science-fiction-season">science fiction film</a> about a future world with
a partial resemblance to the occupation of Palestine. Supporters of
the occupation demand it be removed for "antisemitism".
<p>
The Israeli right-wing lobby is pushing in many countries, including
the US, to <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jan-apr.html#31_March_2017_(Boycott_Israel)">criminalize opposition</a> to the occupation.


feed_id: 5b973d1c01ce8c6cbaf90effad8a82b2
title: Revived Nazi threat
uri: Revived-Nazi-threat
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#27_August_2017_%28Revived_Nazi_threat%29
content:
<p>
We Thought the Nazi Threat Was Dead. But <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/25/donald-trump-nazis-far-right-charlottesville">Donald Trump Has Revived It</a>.


feed_id: 05e1d4ec7b7f2439b7a0b0d9c53b2807
title: Urgent: Network neutrality
uri: 2017-08-28-Urgent-Network-neutrality
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#28_August_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Network_neutrality%29
content:
<p>
US citizens:
<a href="http://act.freepress.net/letter/internet_faces_nprm_nn">submit
a comment</a> in favor of network neutrality.
<p>
Here's the comment I filed.  I avoided the terms
"<a href='https://gnu.org/philosophy/words-to-avoid.html#Content'>content</a>"
and
"<a href='https://stallman.org/antiglossary.html#poc'>people of
color</a>."
<blockquote>
<p>
The internet is a crucial medium for communication and each person's
rights must be protected from commercial interference.
<p>
Just as telephone companies are not allowed to interfere about who we
talk with by phone, ISPs must not be allowed to interfere about who we
contact by internet.
<p>
Just as phone companies are not allowed to give out hints about who we
talk with by phone, ISPs must not be allowed to give out hints about
who we contact by internet.
<p>
ISPs must not be allowed to discriminate based on what we communicate
over the internet.  In the absence of a court order, they should not
even be allowed to take notice of what it is (or enable anyone else to
do so).
<p>
The first step is to avoid making things worse.  Keep internet access
under Title II.
</blockquote>


feed_id: 0dd56111221b48f0067ff3bad99d233a
title: Urgent: Conscientious objectors
uri: Urgent-Conscientious-objectors
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#28_August_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Conscientious_objectors%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: conscientious objectors
<a href="https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/people-who-oppose-war-must-not-be-compelled-to-pay-for-war">must
not be required to pay for substitutes</a>.


feed_id: 28779c91f7e59e6d43a3a7cb3d4f42b1
title: US secret surveillance
uri: US-secret-surveillance
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#28_August_2017_%28US_secret_surveillance%29
content:
<p>
Alfred McCoy's research led in 1972 to a book about US complicity with
drug trafficking in Laos.  The CIA tried to suppress the book,
intimidated his informants, and tried to get him kicked out of Yale
graduate school.  His subsequent research found that US secret
surveillance has been
<a href="http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/41724-exploring-the-shadows-of-the-us-security-state-how-i-learned-not-to-love-big-brother">at
the service of repression</a>, of treason against democracy, for over
a century.  But it was never as pervasive and complete as today's
digital surveillance.


feed_id: 008a0b9e4286c959fc95f55c49bcf463
title: TV channels that support troll's power
uri: TV-channels-that-support-troll-s-power
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#28_August_2017_%28TV_channels_that_support_trolls_power%29

content:
<p>
TV channels that
<a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/taibbi-blame-media-for-creating-world-dumb-enough-for-trump-w499649">profit
from presenting the troll as a freak show</a> are giving support to
his power.
<p>
The first thing you can do to resist is not to watch.
<p>
Whatever the troll says is of no importance.
He will say something contradictory tomorrow.
Watching him is at best a waste of time.
Spend your time on resistance activities.
<p>
If you are with friends or relatives that want to watch, take
advantage of the opportunity to set a visible example of not joining
in.  Say, "I'm going to do something useful (or, something I really
want to do) instead."


feed_id: 445c5095884a2f795ee032b3e66bcb0d
title: Italian thugs beat refugees
uri: Italian-thugs-beat-refugees
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#28_August_2017_%28Italian_thugs_beat_refugees%29
content:
<p>
Italian thugs
<a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/08/25/italy-police-beat-refugees-during-eviction">evicted
hundreds of refugees from a collective squat</a>, beating them cruelly
in the process.


feed_id: fc04a0ad5c6f6582de5c2a7b9f804381
title: Christian fundamentalists and global heating
uri: Christian-fundamentalists-and-global-heating
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#28_August_2017_%28Christian_fundamentalists_and_global_heating%29

content:
<p>
A few Christian fundamentalists have rejected the planet-roaster
blindness, and are trying to convince
<a href="https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/qv4w8b/christian-fundamentalists-are-fueling-climate-change-denialism">the
rest</a>.
<p>
It isn't easy, because US evangelicals have made contempt for the world
that they are destroying an integral part of their religion.  In effect,
their religion is a satanic nihilism.


feed_id: c96a4e6877b10631bcbad8c73e0c9ae2
title: Troll pardons Arpaio
uri: Troll-pardons-Arpaio
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#28_August_2017_%28Troll_pardons_Arpaio%29
content:
<p>
The saboteur-in-chief has pardoned Joe Arpaio, who was
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/25/donald-trump-joe-arpaio-pardon-arizona-sheriff">convicted
of carrying out ethnic profiling in defiance of a court order to
stop</a>.
<p>
This is an attack on the fundamental ideas of human rights and rule of
law.  Laws are meant to protect people from abuse of state power.
Prosecutions such as that of Arpaio are the way we stop officials from
spitting on that protection.
<p>
With this pardon, the troll tells his followers that they are welcome
to break laws and abuse their power, as long as it they do it for
reasons he supports.  In other words, that laws can no longer protect
us from tyrants and bullies.


feed_id: e8a77a8c20f954fedbe9860b435de913
title: Women kidnaped and enslaved in Vietnam
uri: Women-kidnaped-and-enslaved-in-Vietnam
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#28_August_2017_%28Women_kidnaped_and_enslaved_in_Vietnam%29

content:
<p>
In the rural far north of Vietnam,
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/aug/26/ready-married-kidnapped-brides-vietnam-china">thousands
of young women</a> are kidnaped and sold into sexual slavery.  The
prices paid for women can corrupt entire local families to help kidnap
them.
<p>
As usual, a crucial cause of the problem is the ingrained custom of
blaming the victims.  I suspect this is part of why the purchasers of
the kidnaped women often treat them so badly: the men who had them
kidnaped despise them for having been kidnaped.
<p>
From the point of view that judges people by their actions, this
attitude seems incomprehensible.


feed_id: e2aca6fab9afabbf7d2fef5861757ce4
title: Nazi appeasers
uri: Nazi-appeasers
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#28_August_2017_%28Nazi_appeasers%29
content:
<p>
Now that the troll supports Nazism, we can see who
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/26/great-uncle-alienated-postwar-france-americans">the
appeasers</a> are.


feed_id: 27aabdeb15b109d31f513526a82449ed
title: Right-wing rally blocked in San Francisco
uri: Right-wing-rally-blocked-in-San-Francisco
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#28_August_2017_%28Right-wing_rally_blocked_in_San_Francisco%29

content:
<p>
Progressives in San Francisco blocked a right-wing rally by
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/25/patriot-prayer-san-francisco-rally-cancelled-dog-poo">walking
their dogs on the field where it was scheduled</a>.
<p>
Sabotaging an opposing rally with dogshit is not part of civil
political discourse.  If it becomes accepted, it would be used
against us, against everyone or anyone.
<p>
However, when it is used against today's right-wing extremists, it is
such a low level of violence compared with theirs that in effect it is
an example of restraint.  There is no need to be ashamed of it.
<p>
The right-wing group claims says it isn't white supremacist, but such
claims mean nothing because right-wing extremists have become totally
at ease with lying about this (or anything else).  One day they are
Nazis, the next day they are white supremacists, the next day they are
conservatives.  They devalue truth just as the troll does.


feed_id: b375d199b18f9e2274ba9186a6c3981c
title: Liberals
uri: Liberals
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#28_August_2017_%28Liberals%29
content:
<p>
Liberals must
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/08/25/mark-lillas-book-criticizes-identity-politics-but-falls-short-on-proposing-an-alternative/">stop
encouraging people to divide themselves by identity</a> and campaign
instead to give every human being the essential human rights.  Martin
Luther King, Jr., showed the way.


feed_id: bbff2a7ef0d80a970ceea8f6f05ea094
title: Hurricane Harvey
uri: Hurricane-Harvey
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#28_August_2017_%28Hurricane_Harvey%29
content:
<p>
As Hurricane Harvey approached, US border thugs
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/08/25/border-patrol-checkpoints-in-texas-will-stay-open-as-hurricane-evacuation-is-underway/">continued
to operate checkpoints along the evacuation routes</a>.
<p>
Unauthorized immigrants, fearing the border thugs, may stay put in
homes that will be flooded.  They could be killed.  The saboteurs know
that; they know that previous presidents turned off the checkpoints
during evacuations, and they know why.  By changing that policy, they
are trying to kill people.


feed_id: cfe865dfca7d3ea38642e700fe0052fe
title: Moving to renewable energy
uri: Moving-to-renewable-energy
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#28_August_2017_%28Moving_to_renewable_energy%29
content:
<p>
Announcing
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/08/24/100-renewable-roadmaps-139-nations-reveal-far-reaching-benefits">roadmaps
for 139 countries</a> to move to renewable energy by 2050 and probably
avoid global disaster.


feed_id: 6a373f8f0cf74c07a512c80eed608012
title: State-chartered public bank
uri: State-chartered-public-bank
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#28_August_2017_%28State-chartered_public_bank%29
content:
<p>
California is thinking about creating a state-chartered public bank
specifically so that
<a href="https://www.shareable.net/blog/could-the-marijuana-industry-bring-public-banking-to-california">marijuana
companies could use it</a>.  This would be generally good for
California, regardless of marijuana.


feed_id: 5f449bcbd2b9c66f4d4295335f96f9d8
title: Israeli forces demolish EU-donated school
uri: Israeli-forces-demolish-EU-donated-school
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#28_August_2017_%28Israeli_forces_demolish_EU-donated_school%29

content:
<p>
The European Union donated a school to the Palestinians of Jub a-Dib.
The day before school was supposed to start, Israeli suppression
forces
<a href="http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/events/1464389870">demolished
the building</a>.


feed_id: 52213ebfd59c0d6ee32a780136b94633
title: Dishonesty of the right-wing
uri: Dishonesty-of-the-right-wing
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#28_August_2017_%28Dishonesty_of_the_right-wing%29
content:
<p>
The dishonesty of the right-wing:
<a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-41036631">posting
violent insults against women that voted for the troll</a>, and trying
to attribute them to progressives.
<p>
If there were a Satan, he would love the right wing.


feed_id: 93de2e47ca961237061877476b318679
title: Cruelty of UK immigration officials
uri: Cruelty-of-UK-immigration-officials
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#27_August_2017_%28Cruelty_of_UK_immigration_officials%29

content:
<p>
Irene Clennell was finally given
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/aug/25/irene-clennell-deported-british-woman-finally-granted-uk-visa">the
right to live in the UK with her British husband and children</a>.
<p>
A previous article said that Ms Clennell had had permanent residency
in the UK before, but the Tory state took it away because she spent
"too long" in Singapore —
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jan-apr.html#1_March_2017_(UK_immigration_policy)~">caring
for her dying parents</a>.
<p>
I suspect that part of why right-wing governments tell immigration
officials to be rigid and gratuitously cruel is to develop a
reputation for heartlessness, so as to dishearten everyone they pick
on.  They suffered a defeat this time, so naturally they pretend that
it wasn't so.
<p>
But I suspect they have another motive too: to make people loathe the
state and thus demand "small government."  That will help right-wing
parties reorient the state from helping people in general (which it
used to do quite well) to helping only the rich.


feed_id: 0eccc82d52d164daf372cda37c740072
title: Pre-Notting Hill carnival arrests
uri: Pre-Notting-Hill-carnival-arrests
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#27_August_2017_%28Pre-Notting_Hill_carnival_arrests%29

content:
<p>
London thugs set out to arrest a list of hundreds of people, based on
specific accusations and using every possible excuse,
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2017/aug/25/police-arrest-hundreds-in-pre-notting-hill-carnival-crackdown">solely
to force them to stay away from the Notting Hill carnival</a>.
<p>
One of them was arrested for possessing frankincense.  Is it a crime
in the UK to have incense?


feed_id: 3390282a6150b3fbb29143254fa6ec8c
title: Virginia General Mahone
uri: Virginia-General-Mahone
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#27_August_2017_%28Virginia_General_Mahone%29
content:
<p>
White supremacists put up no monuments to Virginia General Mahone,
skilled general though he was, because after the war he
<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/the-confederate-general-who-was-erased-from-history_us_599b3747e4b06a788a2af43e">rejected
racism and led an integrated party that governed Virginia with
integrity</a>.
<p>
The purpose of the monuments was to promote the racist cause,
and someone like Mahone wasn't useful.


feed_id: 5f589551d322b35fd840bb1c7b1a550d
title: North Korea wants nuclear negotiations
uri: North-Korea-wants-nuclear-negotiations
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#27_August_2017_%28North_Korea_wants_nuclear_negotiations%29

content:
<p>
North Korea is repeatedly
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/08/25/north-korea-keeps-saying-it-might-give-up-its-nuclear-weapons-but-most-news-outlets-wont-tell-you-that/">asking
for nuclear negotiations</a>.
<p>
If the US won't accept the invitation, I hope South Korea will.


feed_id: 56d028d6e56bd6d0733a1a2df5abfc2e
title: Wealth and stinginess
uri: Wealth-and-stinginess
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#29_August_2017_%28Wealth_and_stinginess%29
content:
<p>
Wealth tends to make people stingy and callous, and philosophers used
to say so.  Since the 1970s, rich people have 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/07/30/being-rich-wrecks-your-soul-we-used-know">funded
an effort to make society forget this</a>.


feed_id: 842a579af72b7f42ca8f0297a704aea9
title: Unemployment in France
uri: Unemployment-in-France
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#29_August_2017_%28Unemployment_in_France%29
content:
<p>
Macron is determined to reduce workers' rights, but 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/26/emmanuel-macron-reform-france-labour-laws-challenge-unions">unions
are planning a general strike</a>.
<p>
The root cause of unemployment in France is world-wide plutocracy,
imposed through 
<a href="/business-supremacy-treaties.html">business-supremacy
treaties</a>.
<p>
Under plutocracy, every country must choose between lots of
unemployment (as in France) and lots of Mcjobs (as in the US).


feed_id: 0a00a0c26a0616b10151a33e15ae21ca
title: Right-wing extremists cancel rally
uri: Right-wing-extremists-cancel-rally
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#29_August_2017_%28Right-wing_extremists_cancel_rally%29

content:
<p>
Right-wing extremists cancelled their rally in Berkeley 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/27/berkeley-pro-trump-rally-cancelled-protesters">after
they were told that weapons and helmets would not be allowed</a>.
Counterprotesters deployed mockery and jokes against the remnant.
<p>
When these extremists say they are defending "freedom of speech",
remember how they fuzz the boundary between speech and hitting people
with cars.  That's not "speech," that is terrorism.


feed_id: 9583539c491143a305789cc588e49cfc
title: Planting trees to take CO2 out of air
uri: Planting-trees-to-take-CO2-out-of-air
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#29_August_2017_%28Planting_trees_to_take_CO2_out_of_air%29

content:
<p>
If the saboteur-in-chief succeeds in cancelling the Clean Power Plan,
one way to compensate for the damage is to 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/aug/27/how-to-offset-trumps-climate-science-ignorance-plant-10bn-trees">plant
10 billion trees, covering 40,000 square miles with forest</a>.
<p>
Planting so many trees is easier said than done.  What's more, for the
trees to take the intended amount of CO<sub>2</sub> out of the air, it
is not enough to plant them.  It is necessary that they survive and
grow for many years.  That is hard to assure, what with
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-nov-feb.html#27_November_2016_(Trees_dying_in_California)">local
disasters fueled by global heating threatening to kill them</a> and
increased CO<sub>2</sub> levels slowing the growth of plants.
<p>
Is it possible even to find that much land on which to plant trees?
<p>
Then there is the point that the Clean Power Plan doesn't go far
enough.


feed_id: f65a7807892cc0406df66c044e37ab28
title: Access to birth control in Texas
uri: Access-to-birth-control-in-Texas
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#29_August_2017_%28Access_to_birth_control_in_Texas%29

content:
<p>
The Republicans that control Texas have made it hard to get reliable
birth control there.  Now they are working on smashing the legal basis
of Medicaid, nationwide, so that they can 
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/08/22/texas-seeks-trumps-help-to-defund-planned-parenthood/">cut
off the last funding for Planned Parenthood in Texas</a>.
<p>
I hope the students of Texas Tech organize to demand that the
university replace the doctor that tries to stop students from getting
contraceptives.  By refusing to give them proper medical care, sh is
refusing to do her job.


feed_id: 90e31554699bb968a229398e90d2da91
title: Sheriff Arpaio's illegal practices
uri: Sheriff-Arpaio-s-illegal-practices
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#29_August_2017_%28Sheriff_Arpaios_illegal_practices%29

content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/26/joe-arpaio-pardon-panders-white-supremacists">Persecuting
immigrants</a> was just one of Joe Arpaio's many illegal practices
when he was sheriff.


feed_id: 05da7ff11d4fae0063e700f7758bab48
title: Investigation of troll's links with Russia
uri: Investigation-of-troll-s-links-with-Russia
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#29_August_2017_%28Investigation_of_trolls_links_with_Russia%29

content:
<p>
<a href="/glossary.html#trump">The troll</a> has made a 
<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/8/25/1693166/-Trump-has-tried-to-stop-the-Russia-investigation-again-and-again-and-again">series
of attempts to derail</a> the investigation of his links with Russia.
<p>
We have not seen proof that he and his campaign did anything criminal
with Russia, or even anything particularly wrong.  However, his
persistence in trying to quash the investigation is a very strong
reason to suppose there is something nasty to expose.


feed_id: 8cc4903508a1706cf3d8c195a661f0db
title: Terrorist movement aimed at journalists
uri: Terrorist-movement-aimed-at-journalists
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#29_August_2017_%28Terrorist_movement_aimed_at_journalists%29

content:
<p>
<a href="/glossary.html#bully">The bully</a> is 
<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/8/25/1692993/--It-really-feels-like-a-matter-of-time-frankly-before-someone-gets-hurt">building
a terrorist movement aimed at journalists</a>.  He practices
"stochastic terrorism", much as <a href="/glossary.html#pissi">PISSI</a> does in Europe: stirring up acts
of violence which are statistically predictable although individually
random.


feed_id: 8a780ff394cd242047ffe98239158882
title: Effective responses to Nazis
uri: Effective-responses-to-Nazis
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#28_August_2017_%28Effective_responses_to_Nazis%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/08/26/why-nazis-are-so-afraid-these-clowns">Clowns</a>
are often effective responses to Nazis.


feed_id: c99168d656e676546d20f40d6bea4c4a
title: Censorship
uri: 2017-08-29-Censorship
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#28_August_2017_%28Censorship%29
content:
<p>
Censorship of radical views 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/08/25/warnings-slippery-slope-fulfilled-germany-shutters-anti-capitalist-website">will
be turned against critics of the plutocratic world order</a>.  In
fact, Germany has already started doing it.


feed_id: c8db77f2677a55d2676895b767a3af42
title: Convicted of insulting Turkish president
uri: Convicted-of-insulting-Turkish-president
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#28_August_2017_%28Convicted_of_insulting_Turkish_president%29

content:
<p>
Macedonia has 
<a href="https://globalvoices.org/2017/08/25/macedonian-citizen-fined-400-euro-for-insulting-turkish-president-erdogan-on-facebook/">convicted
someone of insulting Turkish President ErdoÄan</a>, violating even the
weak European standards of freedom of speech.


feed_id: 42aa02066c511ff2abed4ad3f43dc505
title: Another right-wing terrorist attack
uri: Another-right-wing-terrorist-attack
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#28_August_2017_%28Another_right-wing_terrorist_attack%29

content:
<p>
Another 
<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/8/24/1692938/-It-s-happened-again-Car-drives-into-marchers-at-LGBT-vigil">lone-wolf
right-wing terrorist attack with a car</a> in the US.


feed_id: a1488d1925897779bfd2bfe241dd28ae
title: Morphine from yeast
uri: Morphine-from-yeast
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#28_August_2017_%28Morphine_from_yeast%29
content:
<p>
It will soon be possible to develop 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/may/18/home-brewed-heroin-scientists-yeast-that-can-make-sugar-into-opiates">genetically
modified yeast that can make morphine</a>.
<p>
To prevent these yeast from being developed, or from being used, will
be almost impossible.  Governments will have to choose between
repression such as we have never seen in free countries, and dropping
the 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-jul-oct.html#24_July_2016_(Why_Big_Pharma_lobbies_against_marijuana)">"war
on drugs"</a> (which is also the war on people in pain).
<p>
Imagine yeast whose level of functioning can be increased or decreased
by exposing them to some signal chemicals.  You could get them into
your intestines, then swallow the signal chemicals to adjust the
dosage rate.  This would be the equivalent of the intravenous morphine
that people get in a hospital after an operation, but you wouldn't
have to be in a hospital.
<p>
This will be a great ease for people in pain, until the day we can
turn off the pain and no longer need opiates.


feed_id: 40c04fbfe5133970eb9720bc8104f534
title: When the US conquered Afghanistan
uri: When-the-US-conquered-Afghanistan
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#28_August_2017_%28When_the_US_conquered_Afghanistan%29

content:
<p>
Once the US conquered Afghanistan in 2001, 
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/08/22/afghanistan-donald-trump-taliban-surrender-here-we-are/">most
Taliban just wanted to give up fighting and get accepted into the new
power structure</a>.  If Dubya had permitted this, the US could have
been out of there in 2002.


feed_id: 3d2b957f92849f63667c4fa8b6afbde0
title: Using blockchain systems to pay for goods
uri: Using-blockchain-systems-to-pay-for-goods
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#28_August_2017_%28Using_blockchain_systems_to_pay_for_goods%29

content:
<p>
Using bitcoin, or any blockchain system, paying multiple stores for
goods would totally ruin privacy 
<a href="https://freedom-to-tinker.com/2017/08/17/when-the-cookie-meets-the-blockchain/">when
the data leaked by these stores are combined</a>.


feed_id: 0347877992394da12f52e8f8e908edad
title: Personal data collected by businesses
uri: Personal-data-collected-by-businesses
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#28_August_2017_%28Personal_data_collected_by_businesses%29

content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/23/silicon-valley-big-data-extraction-amazon-whole-foods-facebook">The
people must tell businesses</a> what kinds of personal data they are
allowed to collect.
<p>
The article exaggerates when it says "you can't avoid" Google,
Facebook and Amazon.  I avoid them almost totally.  (I occasionally do
a Google search and occasionally look at a page on Amazon, but I hide
who and where I am, and block their surveillance.)  You can do this
too.
<p>
However, the article's conclusion is valid and very important.


feed_id: 7866cc994d6023a1e22912598f26d71c
title: Resistance to unjust government
uri: Resistance-to-unjust-government
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#28_August_2017_%28Resistance_to_unjust_government%29

content:
<p>
Successful resistance to unjust government calls for a diversity of
nonviolent methods, but a 
<a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/how-to-topple-a-dictator/">firm
rejection of violence</a>.


feed_id: 511fea329ae2b3dff0317806eca96a54
title: Election monitors in Kenya
uri: Election-monitors-in-Kenya
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#28_August_2017_%28Election_monitors_in_Kenya%29
content:
<p>
Kenya seems to be 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/aug/24/boss-wants-to-talk-to-you-former-un-human-rights-expert-maina-kiai-detained-kenya-airport-ordeal">attacking
election monitors and human rights defenders</a>.


feed_id: bcc09c59248d89ee128c094af4f5eceb
title: Rohingya refugees
uri: 2017-08-29-Rohingya-refugees
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#28_August_2017_%28Rohingya_refugees%29
content:
<p>
It would be 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/aug/24/india-warned-plan-to-deport-rohingya-refugees-will-only-inflame-persecution">"legally,
procedurally and practically impossible"</a> for India to deport
Rohingya refugees.
<p>
In addition, I doubt Burma (from which they have fled) would allow
them in.


feed_id: a4abde6f2cd40f4fca1486dd75b3f31c
title: Urgent: saboteur of antitrust enforcement
uri: Urgent-saboteur-of-antitrust-enforcement
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#29_August_2017_%28Urgent%3A_saboteur_of_antitrust_enforcement%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: <a href="https://act.credoaction.com/sign/warren_makan_delrahim">call on the Senate</a> to reject the troll's proposed saboteur of
antitrust enforcement.


feed_id: 61ee09fcba03bc7a26fc696983544722
title: Pet owls
uri: Pet-owls
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#29_August_2017_%28Pet_owls%29
content:
<p>
Asiaâs Harry Potter Obsession <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/aug/12/owls-fall-victim-harry-potter-asia-obsession-hedwig-india-indonesia-pets">Poses Threat to Owls</a>.
<p>
Never buy an animal that has been captured in the wild. The trauma
and suffering of being captured does not make a good pet. Make sure
that the pet you buy was born among humans and raised by humans.


feed_id: b826aeb78afd7561c0225fa25a3524fa
title: Repression of Rohingya
uri: Repression-of-Rohingya
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#29_August_2017_%28Repression_of_Rohingya%29
content:
<p>
Burma's repression of Rohingya, which has gone on for many years,
has enabled jihadis to get a foothold among them. Now Burma has <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/28/aung-sang-suu-kyis-office-accuses-aid-workers-of-helping-terrorists-in-myanmar">accused
international aid workers</a> of supporting jihadi violence.


feed_id: 4c3dcd7793170298dac11c7dfb608b4b
title: Antisocialists
uri: Antisocialists
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#29_August_2017_%28Antisocialists%29
content:
<p>
Although antisocialists disagree on some basic issues with right-wing bigots,
it is peculiarly frequent for antisocialists to <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/the-insidious-libertarian-to-alt-right-pipeline">become right-wing bigots</a>.
<p>
I do not use the term "libertarians" for the former group, because
what distinguishes them is not support for human rights but economic
laissez-faire (<a href="/glossary.html#doohnibor">dooH niboR</a>). We progressives, who oppose laissez-faire
economics, support human rights too.
<p>
I will not legitimize the antisocialists' claim that they support
liberty more than I do.


feed_id: 2fb6d61fa6d23374d895800823395d0a
title: Facial recognition in Germany
uri: Facial-recognition-in-Germany
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#29_August_2017_%28Facial_recognition_in_Germany%29
content:
<p>
Germany has set up a <a href="http://www.dw.com/en/germanys-facial-recognition-pilot-program-divides-public/a-40228816">facial recognition surveillance system</a> with the
privacy protection that all such systems should be required to have:
face images that don't match anyone in the search target database are
immediately deleted.
<p>
To make an ethical system, we need a couple of additional points. A
court order should be required to put someone's face in the database,
and people should be informed when they are in the database so they
can challenge the order.


feed_id: 52d98ed0ee088e890a2a51f8fb7f7e8d
title: Pardoning Arpaio
uri: Pardoning-Arpaio
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#29_August_2017_%28Pardoning_Arpaio%29
content:
<p>
 The saboteur may have <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/08/27/arpaio-pardon-may-be-opening-act-constitutional-crisis">pardoned Arpaio</a> as a signal that he will pardon
anyone jailed for refusing to testify against him in the Russia
investigation. Everyone in Congress must stop appeasing Nazis now.


feed_id: 2438417eb3f2a109ba64f1a4ef1aea77
title: Slavery reparations
uri: Slavery-reparations
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#29_August_2017_%28Slavery_reparations%29
content:
<p>
 <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/28/slavery-reparations-west-wealth-equality-world-race">Advocating reparations</a> to the descendants of people that were enslaved.
<p>
I've <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2014-may-aug.html#01_July_2014_(Reparations_owed_to_US_blacks)">posted about this</a> before.


feed_id: fd1235cdd05473a12b4ea4b75ba3d164
title: Freedom to rally
uri: Freedom-to-rally
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#29_August_2017_%28Freedom_to_rally%29
content:
<p>
 Why the ACLU still <a href="http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2017/09/28/why-we-must-still-defend-free-speech/">defends the freedom</a> to rally for right-wing views
that its lawyers and members despise.
<p>
Giving a few dozen companies <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/aug/28/daily-stormer-alt-right-cloudflare-breitbart">arbitrary power</a> over what people are
allowed to say on line is a dangerous policy.
<p>
A couple of steps down the road, the right-wing trolls may force those
companies to censor us.


feed_id: 82116912b86a6873cd6f84a906810d59
title: Transgender military lawsuit
uri: Transgender-military-lawsuit
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#29_August_2017_%28Transgender_military_lawsuit%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/aug/28/transgender-service-members-lawsuit-aclu-trump">Transgender people in the US military</a> have sued to block the troll's
plan to dismiss some or all of them.
<p>
If the lawsuit succeeds, would it have any effect on the order
not to allow trans people to join? I tend to think not.


feed_id: 5974ae93284b8b23d8f9f6be0daa6d1b
title: Heavy weapons for US thugs
uri: Heavy-weapons-for-US-thugs
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#29_August_2017_%28Heavy_weapons_for_US_thugs%29
content:
<p>
The bully wants to give US thugs <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/28/donald-trump-news-police-military-style-weapons-vehicles">more heavy weapons</a>.
<p>
Instead, most SWAT teams should be shut down, because their use <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2014-sep-dec.html#16_October_2014_(A_repeating_tendency_of_SWAT_raids)">kills
innocent people</a> through mistakes that happen repeatedly.


feed_id: e387aa2c752dea0eb769a0fd210ccfbe
title: Hurricane Harvey
uri: 2017-08-29-Hurricane-Harvey
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#29_August_2017_%28Hurricane_Harvey%29
content:
<p>
 Global heating made Hurricane Harvey <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/28/climate-change-hurricane-harvey-more-deadly">stronger and more deadly</a>.


feed_id: 3853d17726d7477026d3df64cf322e4a
title: Evangelical climate scientist
uri: Evangelical-climate-scientist
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#29_August_2017_%28Evangelical_climate_scientist%29
content:
<p>
 Evangelical climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe is effective at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2017/aug/28/study-katharine-hayhoe-is-successfully-convincing-doubtful-evangelicals-about-climate-change">convincing
other evangelicals</a> to recognize that humans are causing global heating.
<p>
Now the question is, how can she and others like her reach more of them?


feed_id: 5c37c83dee1c1d2d901abe5112ea441a
title: Iran nuclear deal
uri: 2017-08-29-Iran-nuclear-deal
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#29_August_2017_%28Iran_nuclear_deal%29
content:
<p>
The saboteur-in-chief is pressuring intelligence analysts to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/28/iran-nuclear-deal-violations-white-house-search-intelligence">distort
their reports</a> to make an excuse to sabotage the nuclear deal with Iran.
<p>
<a href="/glossary.html#trump">The troll</a>'s supporters don't care about Iran; he won't be able to keep them
motivated with this. So he must be doing the bidding of neocons that <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2016-may-aug.html#21_August_2016_(The_Democratic_and_Republic_platforms)">want
war with Iran</a>.


feed_id: 7af0f82f7b70f129a438d9eb6085271d
title: Global heating and Afghanistan
uri: Global-heating-and-Afghanistan
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#29_August_2017_%28Global_heating_and_Afghanistan%29
content:
<p>
 Global heating is gradually making <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/28/how-climate-change-is-death-sentence-afghanistan-highlands-global-warming">parts of Afghanistan dry up</a>. When
agriculture fails from too much risk of a dry season, the inhabitants will
be compelled to flee or fight.


feed_id: fea7ede7132fbcaca61c6381cb7ac8eb
title: Sex offenders list
uri: Sex-offenders-list
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#29_August_2017_%28Sex_offenders_list%29
content:
<p>
 A biddable, retarded man who could never function in life without help
and supervision was put on the <a href="http://www.freerangekids.com/a-mothers-story-of-her-mentally-disabled-son-on-the-sex-offender-registry/">sex offenders list</a> for a "crime" that
he committed under the orders of a competent adult. His life, and his
parents' life, have been permanently ruined.


feed_id: 2bb10170fcb4915289c46e086d12afe2
title: Flood interpretation
uri: Flood-interpretation
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#29_August_2017_%28Flood_interpretation%29
content:
<p>
 For Christian crazies, a flood is either a punishment for not serving their
cult or a <a href="http://deadstate.org/guy-who-says-god-sends-natural-disasters-to-punish-gays-has-his-home-destroyed-in-a-natural-disaster/">beneficent lesson</a>, depending on whose house is flooded.


feed_id: 7aa9afba4543f92e92277f36cff5bc37
title: Closing public schools
uri: Closing-public-schools
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#29_August_2017_%28Closing_public_schools%29
content:
<p>
 Closing public schools that are doing badly, and replacing them with
charter schools, <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/08/27/closing-schools-doesnt-increase-test-scores">does not lead</a> to an improvement.
<p>
So, will states pass laws to close malfunctioning charter schools and replace
them with public schools?


feed_id: 3cd039f42da7abe1ad3c4d59dbf498dd
title: Anonymous commenting in China
uri: Anonymous-commenting-in-China
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#29_August_2017_%28Anonymous_commenting_in_China%29
content:
<p>
China has made <a href="https://globalvoices.org/2017/08/27/china-to-ban-anonymous-online-comment-blacklist-users/">anonymous commenting</a> on web sites illegal. All sites must
require users to register with their real names.
<p>
We must think twice before proposing this sort of "solution" even when there
is a real problem.


feed_id: 4167c9c3a65c3b22f8b1cf166cbb09a9
title: US taxation
uri: US-taxation
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#29_August_2017_%28US_taxation%29
content:
<p>
A study demonstrates that US taxation has become <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/aug/27/should-the-rich-be-taxed-more-a-new-paper-shows-unequivocally-yes">less progressive</a>.
<p>
The US needs to return to the "bad old days", when Americans in
general could have a decent life, not penury; when the US could afford
to build what the public needed instead of privatizing everything with
a toll.


feed_id: da712e371a5dfe235c1775b95f4dba45
title: Urgent: call on Virginia to remove Confederate General Lee statue from US capitol
uri: Urgent-call-on-Virginia-to-remove-Confederate-General-Lee-statue-from
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#30_August_2017_%28Urgent%3A_call_on_Virginia_to_remove_Confederate_General_Lee_statue_from_US_capitol%29

content:
<p>
Everyone: <a href="https://stallman.org/petitions/petition-lee/">call on Virginia to remove its statue of Confederate General Lee</a> from the US capitol.


feed_id: 836f9903c3f9dc0447756db10d96a309
title: Aldi sues truck drivers union
uri: Aldi-sues-truck-drivers-union
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#30_August_2017_%28Aldi_sues_truck_drivers_union%29
content:
<p>
The supermarket chain Aldi, in Australia, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/aug/29/aldi-tries-to-gag-truck-drivers-union-after-claims-of-unsafe-practices">is suing the truck drivers' union</a> to silence its complaints that Aldi pressures drivers to drive unsafe long hours (which is illegal as well).
<p>
Aldi's statement appears intended to mislead.  It said, "We value our employees and pride ourselves on paying our staff well."  But even supposing that is true (I won't take Aldi's word for that), it has nothing to do with the truck drivers; they are not employees of Aldi.
<p>
Aldi demands "specific information" about the abuses. Would that mean the names of drivers as witnesses?  We can guess what Aldi would do to any drivers that come forward as Aldi demands.
<p>
It appears that Aldi doesn't directly impose this violation of drivers' rights and public safety.  Rather, it subcontracts the driving through companies, and pays the companies so little that they are effectively compelled to do this to the drivers.
<p>
So subcontracting facilitates this wrong and makes it deniable.
<p>
I think there should be legal limits on the amount of work of any particular kind that a company can subcontract.  Subcontracting should be limited to the amount of work that needs to vary from week to week during any particular month.  For the base load of any kind of work, a company should be required to hire full-time employees to do it.


feed_id: 728c6db74c35a4ebf3fba2a60777b374
title: Charlottesville shooter charged
uri: Charlottesville-shooter-charged
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#30_August_2017_%28Charlottesville_shooter_charged%29

content:
<p>
The racist that attacked Deandre Harris with a metal pole has been arrested and <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/8/27/1693617/-Daniel-P-Borden-Who-Beat-DeAndre-Harris-in-Charlottesville-Parking-Garage-Arrested-in-Cincinnati?detail=emaildkre">charged with a felony</a>.
<p>
The <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/8/26/1693527/-Charlottesville-video-surfaces-showing-white-supremacist-shooting-gun-at-protestor?detail=emaildkre">other racist man</a> arrested might be the shooter described here, who tried to shoot a counterprotester dead, but was prevented by the pistol's safety which gave him a chance to think twice.  He fired into the ground to let off steam of his hatred.
<p>
Or they might be two different shooters.


feed_id: e75804bcd6cb6e9f79f39270d18d25c9
title: Hurricane Harvey politics
uri: Hurricane-Harvey-politics
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#30_August_2017_%28Hurricane_Harvey_politics%29
content:
<p>
Naomi Klein: plutocratist politicians <a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/08/28/harvey-didnt-come-out-of-the-blue-now-is-the-time-to-talk-about-climate-change/">are already planning</a> how to use Hurricane Harvey as an opportunity for dooH niboR.  We had better not be squeamish about organizing to stop them.


feed_id: 481b1952a9aca20e613175add3f24bb0
title: Venezuela sanctions
uri: Venezuela-sanctions
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#30_August_2017_%28Venezuela_sanctions%29
content:
<p>
The troll has placed <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/08/28/trumps-new-venezuela-sanctions-will-do-more-harm-good">financial sanctions on Venezuela</a>, designed to make the food shortage worse.
<p>
The food shortage is mainly due to mistaken economic policies of the Venezuelan state, but now that the troll owns it, Venezuelans will start blaming the right-wing opposition too.
<p>
Venezuela needs a progressive opposition that doesn't aim to return the country to control by foreign businesses and whichever local elites they can corrupt.


feed_id: 1431b40f0fa226270e6d59232e476146
title: Texas GOP hurricane relief
uri: Texas-GOP-hurricane-relief
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#30_August_2017_%28Texas_GOP_hurricane_relief%29
content:
<p>
Republican heating denialists that opposed a special aid law after Hurricane Sandy now <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/08/28/two-faced-texas-gop-seeking-hurricane-relief-after-rejecting-sandy-aid">ask for a similar aid law for Hurricane Harvey</a>.
<p>
Hurricane Harvey is an example of a general problem; the US government should address the whole of the problem.  Democrats should refuse to vote for a special aid package limited to Hurricane Harvey.
<p>
They should demand instead a law that will provide this aid in the case of Hurricane Harvey and future hurricanes without requiring cuts in other spending.  The law should recognize that global heating will cause more and larger floods, and include strong flood risk criteria, both for construction of new government infrastructure and for flood insurance to private buildings.


feed_id: 78098e62a0e68631c7e60416d4085909
title: Japan Sea Shepherd whalers
uri: Japan-Sea-Shepherd-whalers
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#30_August_2017_%28Japan_Sea_Shepherd_whalers%29
content:
<p>
Japan has defeated Sea Shepherd by <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/aug /29/sea-shepherd-says-it-will-abandon-pursuit-of-japanese-whalers">means of a law</a> that classifies Sea Shepherd's obstruction activity as "terrorism", combined with actions by Australia, New Zealand and the US to stop Sea Shepherd from operating.
<p>
Sea Shepherd does not engage in violence; it gets in the way of whaling ships.  The idea that an inconvenient nonviolent protest is "terrorism" is twisted, but then, so is everything about Japanese hunts for <a href="/archives/2012-may-aug.html#15_June_2012_(Japanese_whaling) ">whale meat that people mostly won't even buy</a>.


feed_id: a0c93d21d4cdd5211791144a49d20f8e
title: India gender identity discrimination
uri: India-gender-identity-discrimination
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#30_August_2017_%28India_gender_identity_discrimination%29

content:
<p>
India's Supreme Court has ruled that <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/india-declares-freedom-of-sexual-orientation-a-fundamental-right_us_599f574ee4b05710aa5b4194?ncid=tweetlnkushpmg00000054">discrimination based on gender identity is unconstitutional</a>.


feed_id: 5409f477533973edfc9631785af05a9f
title: Saboteur's flood-risk rule
uri: Saboteur-s-flood-risk-rule
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#30_August_2017_%28Saboteur%27s_flood-risk_rule%29
content:
<p>
Houston's ever-more-frequent floods (one is happening now) show <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/trump-signed-away-obamas-flood-risk-rules-weeks-hurricane-harvey-hit-655712
">how damaging the saboteur's cancellation of Obama's flood-risk rule</a> will be over time.
<p>
A time-limit on analysis of projects will certainly assist projects that submit bogus environmental impact studies.  When those in harm's way criticize the flaws in a bogus study, the developers will use the deadline to pressure spineless or semi-corrupt officials to overlook the flaws "so that the project won't be canceled by the time-out."
<p>
A firmly honest official or judge won't cede to that pressure, but Republicans won't appoint honest officials and judges.
<p>
Heavy rains are more devastating for Houston than they would have to be, because <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/business/metropolis/2017/08/houston_wasn_t_built_to_withstand_a_storm_like_harvey.html">the old infrastructure</a>, and lots of houses, were built in places with too high flood risk.
<p>
Meanwhile, the number of heavy rainstorms keeps increasing, just as global heating is expected to do.  So it will get worse and worse.


feed_id: 99ca6f97f95bc9aca43d477d8e5c0e48
title: Colorado faked stabbing
uri: Colorado-faked-stabbing
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#30_August_2017_%28Colorado_faked_stabbing%29
content:
<p>
A right-wing extremist claimed to have been stabbed by a black man. That was a lie—actually he had stabbed himself as a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/28/neo-nazi-stabbing-fake-colorado-joshua-witt">false-flag attack</a>.


feed_id: e1bd30c870fdbf884bb3862c8e6d1b4e
title: Japan Sea Shepherd whalers
uri: 2017-08-30-Japan-Sea-Shepherd-whalers
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#30_August_2017_%28Japan_Sea_Shepherd_whalers%29
content:
<p>
Japan has defeated Sea Shepherd by <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/aug/29/sea-shepherd-says-it-will-abandon-pursuit-of-japanese-whalers">means of a law</a> that classifies Sea Shepherd's obstruction activity as "terrorism", combined with actions by Australia, New Zealand and the US to stop Sea Shepherd from operating.
<p>
Sea Shepherd does not engage in violence; it gets in the way of whaling ships.  The idea that an inconvenient nonviolent protest is "terrorism" is twisted, but then, so is everything about Japanese hunts for <a href="/archives/2012-may-aug.html#15_June_2012_(Japanese_whaling) ">whale meat that people mostly won't even buy</a>.


feed_id: 2e68d49c30c1fcd839593fbf7eb1ee3b
title: Water at $43 a case
uri: Water-at-43-a-case
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#31_August_2017_%28Water_at_%2443_a_case%29
content:
<p>
Shame on "Best Buy" stores for
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/08/29/stores-accused-price-gouging-wake-hurricane-harvey">
price gouging on bottled water in and
around Houston.
</a>
<p>
Generally you shouldn't buy bottled water in the US.
When a contaminated flood has made tap water inaccessible
is one of the exceptions.


feed_id: c05cd4e7679dc0fdd6ae3a1c14672d64
title: Norway's fossil fuels
uri: Norway-s-fossil-fuels
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#31_August_2017_%28Norway%27s_fossil_fuels%29
content:
<p>
Nobel peace prize winners call on Norway to
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/08/29/nobel-appeal-norway">
stop pushing fossil fuel exports.
</a>


feed_id: de1ed2f39baf2fbb357d107d1013c62a
title: Great Barrier Reef tourism
uri: Great-Barrier-Reef-tourism
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#31_August_2017_%28Great_Barrier_Reef_tourism%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/aug/30/tourists-doubting-value-of-trip-to-great-barrier-reef-dive-operator-tells-inquiry">
Tourists are starting to avoid the Great Barrier Reef
</a>
because they know
the Australian government is pushing to kill it off.


feed_id: 862d197a25ba1e4ee060ced862c695c4
title: Salafist war crimes
uri: Salafist-war-crimes
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#31_August_2017_%28Salafist_war_crimes%29
content:
<p>
Amnesty International and other human rights organizations call on the UN
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/aug/30/human-rights-groups-demand-inquiry-into-yemen-war-abuses">
to take action against the war crimes committed by Salafi Arabia
with support from the US.
</a>


feed_id: 23387a6d7ed2c05ea4b16d8e3b00650f
title: Civil rights division
uri: Civil-rights-division
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#31_August_2017_%28Civil_rights_division%29
content:
<p>
Saboteur Sessions has
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/30/the-civil-rights-division-legacy-eric-dreiband-unfit-to-lead">
nominated a long-time enemy of civil rights
enforcement
</a>
for the civil-rights division of the Department of Justice.


feed_id: 9d4403f42f184c34b642dba516926523
title: Darwin
uri: Darwin
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#31_August_2017_%28Darwin%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/aug/30/charles-darwin-victorian-mythmaker-an-wilson-review">
"To blame Darwin for being racist is like accusing Freud of not being
a feminist,
which is to say both blindingly obvious and slightly
beside the point."
</a>
<p>
Most people never manage to make either a great advance in science or
a great advance in ethics.  To demand that someone do both in order to
deserve admiration is asking too much.  If Darwin did the former and
not the latter, we can admire him for the former, and recognize that in
the latter field he was mediocre, not great.
<p>
Fortunately, others since have made the advance of rejecting racism.


feed_id: 14b67afeb37d405bc84e75de6e4e6805
title: NHS cost cutting
uri: NHS-cost-cutting
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#31_August_2017_%28NHS_cost_cutting%29
content:
<p>
The Tory officials of the NHS told NHS managers,
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/aug/30/nhs-cost-cutting-drive-to-reduce-hospital-referrals-revealed">
"Don't send so many
people to the hospital -- we don't have money for that."
</a>
<p>
If they can't handle so many patients in the hospital, they must try
to optimize the use of the hospital beds they have.  But the issue
should not stop there.  <em>Why</em> is there a shortage?  Is it because
they cut taxes for the rich?


feed_id: 7313ad798521f01f381fa11d1ef8d669
title: Global warming and Harvey
uri: Global-warming-and-Harvey
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#31_August_2017_%28Global_warming_and_Harvey%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/30/tropical-storm-harvey-climate-change-conservatives-donald-trump">
Republican bullshitters shrug off Hurricane Harvey.
</a>
No evidence of
global heating can ever be so clear that they can't deny it by lying.


feed_id: e172a46a3159f677de4293ec153fc136
title: Disappearances in Syria
uri: Disappearances-in-Syria
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#31_August_2017_%28Disappearances_in_Syria%29
content:
<p>
Something must be done
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/30/syria-disappeared-murdered-industrial-scale-un-must-step-in">
to stop Assad from disappearing people.
</a>
<p>
Many were
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/aug/30/tortured-abused-hidden-horror-disappeared-women-syria-prisons-international-day-of-the-disappeared">
imprisoned only to use as hostages.
</a>
<p>
But what can be done.
<p>
There are even worse things going on in Syria.  For instance, there is
PISSI.  There is war.  There is the danger to refugees that have fled
from war.  There is the danger that Assad's forces will attack the
Kurds once PISSI is defeated militarily.  A scheme to end the
disappearances has to fit into a scheme to end the other dangers.


feed_id: fb143f4987948021955e80b508b22f10
title: Harvey shock doctrine
uri: Harvey-shock-doctrine
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#31_August_2017_%28Harvey_shock_doctrine%29
content:
<p>
After Hurricane Harvey,
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/08/29/after-hurricane-harvey-will-houston-public-schools-be-charterized">
Will Houston Public Schools Be Charterized?
</a>
<p>
Thats the sort of exploitation of disasters
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#19_July_2017_(How_power_profits_from_disaster)">
that Naomi Klein warns us
about.
</a>


feed_id: 046c5ed69624148c2aa237fbeaaaabc1
title: Google-funded think tank
uri: Google-funded-think-tank
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#31_August_2017_%28Google-funded_think_tank%29
content:
<p>
The New America Foundation, a think tank, cancelled its support for a
project after it made a posting
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/aug/30/new-america-foundation-google-funding-firings">
praising the EU's antitrust judgment
against Google.
</a>
<p>
The head of the think tank revealed, in her words about this, that it
is frightened to be associated with statements Google might not like.


feed_id: 132fc15e150be75975efab29e82b8ec4
title: Drone bombing
uri: 2017-08-31-Drone-bombing
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#31_August_2017_%28Drone_bombing%29
content:
<p>
If the troll
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/30/drones-britain-colluding-us-terror-trump-theresa-may-pakistan">
restarts drone bombing in Pakistan,
</a>
it will be a disaster.


feed_id: 990abd067294858652fc6f5614e86cb7
title: Volcanic eruptions
uri: Volcanic-eruptions
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#31_August_2017_%28Volcanic_eruptions%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/aug/30/volcanic-eruptions-triggered-global-warming-56m-years-ago-study-reveals">
A severe episode of global heating 56 million years ago,
</a>
which caused
extinction of many species, was caused by slow and steady release of
CO2.
Our fossil fuel use is releasing CO2 faster.


feed_id: c7c873eb9ef257655c40e01723850638
title: Urgent: Restore flood safety rules
uri: Urgent-Restore-flood-safety-rules
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#1_September_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Restore_flood_safety_rules%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: 
<a href="https://act.credoaction.com/sign/flood-rules">call for
restoration</a> of the federal flood safety rules.


feed_id: fbd2092257c071f14a54d240f77eac0c
title: Troll team attacks scientists
uri: Troll-team-attacks-scientists
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#1_September_2017_%28Troll_team_attacks_scientists%29

content:
<p>
Trump Team Politicizes Superstorm Harvey by 
<a href="https://thinkprogress.org/by-politicizing-harvey-trump-administration-fails-critical-test-bed81da2edb8/">Attacking
Scientists for Doing Their Job</a>.


feed_id: 1e153c925fb07c26a11581a1957d9be8
title: Georgia thug
uri: Georgia-thug
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#1_September_2017_%28Georgia_thug%29
content:
<p>
"<a href='https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/31/georgia-police-officer-we-only-shoot-black-people'>We
only shoot black people</a>," said a Georgia thug.


feed_id: 431edac45914292252401c293411044d
title: CEO of Uber
uri: CEO-of-Uber
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#1_September_2017_%28CEO_of_Uber%29
content:
<p>
The new CEO of Uber is 
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/08/31/the-new-ceo-of-uber-sits-on-the-board-of-the-new-york-times-company/">on
the board of directors of the New York Times</a>.  This is a conflict
of interest for the Times.


feed_id: caac0926e5f20b26bff2b498f4d0c259
title: Tory welfare cuts
uri: Tory-welfare-cuts
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#1_September_2017_%28Tory_welfare_cuts%29
content:
<p>
As the latest stage of Tory welfare cuts spread slowly across Britain,
they carry 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/31/universal-credit-broken-expanding-conservatives-welfare-reform">hunger,
cold, sickness and homelessness</a>.
<p>
A third of the children in Britain are 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/31/living-on-breadline-makes-me-cry-affects-children-childhood-unaffordable-luxuty">worried
about whether their parents will be able to afford the basic
necessities of life</a>.  The effects of poverty crush their lives.


feed_id: f775e55c5c86a5cdb131590ae83e7943
title: Big data used by gambling companies
uri: Big-data-used-by-gambling-companies
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#1_September_2017_%28Big_data_used_by_gambling_companies%29

content:
<p>
Gambling companies use big data collected by other companies to target
former gamblers (who have decided to stop) with 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/aug/31/gambling-industry-third-party-companies-online-casinos">lures
that are hard to resist</a>.


feed_id: 7fb7edbcf95904e0da18e55d21df45a6
title: Pence shows his bias
uri: Pence-shows-his-bias
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#1_September_2017_%28Pence_shows_his_bias%29
content:
<p>
Pence shows his bias by 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/31/mike-pence-accused-of-hypocrisy-over-harvey-recovery-comments">saying
that Republican Houston deserves aid more than New Orleans and New
York City did</a>.
<p>
They all deserve government aid, and so will cities that are flooded
by big storms in the future.  That is why I propose to demand
Republicans pass a law that will say so.


feed_id: 0551a2c77e9668e71e56625032b04348
title: Reject violence at rallies
uri: Reject-violence-at-rallies
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#1_September_2017_%28Reject_violence_at_rallies%29
content:
<p>
When opposing racist/fascist rallies, we must 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/31/step-aside-antifa-you-undermine-the-resistance">reject
the approach of attacking them with violence</a>.
<p>
The term "Antifa" simply means organized opposition to fascism.
Please do not spoil it by identifying it specifically with that one
group.
<p>
If the plutocratic state is killing you, you shouldn't die with a
whimper.  I could not criticize you morally for taking some of your
killers to the grave with you.  But it could be more effective -- for
defeating them politically — if you use your death to
nonviolently bring shame on them.


feed_id: cf03f84fa82792ca4c3a3377e3184c70
title: Urban sprawl in Houston
uri: Urban-sprawl-in-Houston
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#1_September_2017_%28Urban_sprawl_in_Houston%29
content:
<p>
Urban sprawl 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/31/real-villains-harvey-flood-urban-sprawl">magnified
the flooding</a> in Houston.
<p>
However, in disagreement with the article, I think that the planet
roasters are the worst of the villains responsible for the disaster.


feed_id: 98e05864b18d7ee0b12297b025b75cd8
title: Prison for "disrespecting" China's anthem
uri: Prison-for-disrespecting-China-s-anthem
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#1_September_2017_%28Prison_for_disrespecting_Chinas_anthem%29

content:
<p>
Any sort of "disrespect" for China's national anthem, even sitting
down while it is played,
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/31/hong-kong-activists-fear-chinese-anthem-law-is-latest-curb-on-freedom">will
be punished with a prison sentence</a> — even in Hong Kong.


feed_id: fdd9e9bca6f1cd0acec0c383130ffba5
title: Removal of Assad
uri: Removal-of-Assad
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#1_September_2017_%28Removal_of_Assad%29
content:
<p>
Several countries have quietly accepted that they 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/31/victory-for-assad-looks-increasingly-likely-as-world-loses-interest-in-syria">cannot
remove Assad from power through any efforts they are willing to
make</a>.
<p>
I expect that the US will eventually accept this too.


feed_id: 763f06d2b4f81739df04430100581766
title: Great Barrier Reef
uri: 2017-09-01-Great-Barrier-Reef
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#31_August_2017_%28Great_Barrier_Reef%29
content:
<p>
Great Barrier Reef: Plan to Improve Water Quality 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/aug/31/great-barrier-reef-plan-to-improve-water-quality-ignores-scientific-advice">Ignores
Scientific Advice</a>.


feed_id: 7b80297fe3e2ca4667c161de668c9043
title: US support for coup in Honduras
uri: 2017-09-01-US-support-for-coup-in-Honduras
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#31_August_2017_%28US_support_for_coup_in_Honduras%29

content:
<p>
The US military supported the coup in Honduras, and the US State
Department 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2017/08/30/investigation-reveals-new-details-us-role-2009-honduras-military-coup">supported
it after the fact</a>.
<p>
Hilary Clinton was Secretary of State, and this required her personal
backing.


feed_id: 6244be64807686a106440ae24c17177c
title: Sanctuary cities in Texas
uri: Sanctuary-cities-in-Texas
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#31_August_2017_%28Sanctuary_cities_in_Texas%29
content:
<p>
A judge 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/31/federal-judge-blocks-texas-ban-on-sanctuary-cities-in-blow-for-trump">issued
a preliminary injunction</a> to block the Texas law that forbids
sanctuary cities.
<p>
This is no guarantee that the law will ultimately be found
unconstitutional.


feed_id: d8a756832c98753ea1f8183baf6473eb
title: Global heating denial
uri: 2017-09-01-Global-heating-denial
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#31_August_2017_%28Global_heating_denial%29
content:
<p>
<a href="/glossary.html#saboteur">Saboteur</a> Pruitt 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2017/aug/31/the-trump-administration-wants-to-bail-out-failed-contrarian-climate-scientists">wants
to fund global heating deniers</a>, scientists that cling to theories
they have failed to defend in science, to perpetuate the idea that
there is a "debate" about global heating.
<p>
It is the same bullshit that the Koch brothers have supported
privately.


feed_id: 59c81944375cabebf3ec85a4a1b8b60f
title: Flooded chemical plants
uri: Flooded-chemical-plants
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#31_August_2017_%28Flooded_chemical_plants%29
content:
<p>
Many chemical plants in the Houston area have 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/31/explosions-flooded-texas-chemical-plant-arkema-crosby">released
large amounts of toxins</a> after they were flooded.
<p>
Maybe we need laws to keep chemical plants out of areas that might be
flooded in the next 100 years.


feed_id: 59c5182b58ee17565f407464eee75701
title: US antitrust law
uri: US-antitrust-law
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#31_August_2017_%28US_antitrust_law%29
content:
<p>
Support is growing for 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/aug/31/google-new-america-foundation-criticism-job-barry-lynn">reverting
US antitrust law to what it was before Reagan weakened it</a>.  That
is why Google is using its influence to weaken those that campaign
against this.
<p>
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/08/31/how-i-got-fired-from-a-d-c-think-tank-for-fighting-against-the-power-of-google/">How
I Got Fired From a D.C. Think Tank for Fighting Against the Power of
Google</a>.


feed_id: 98806645081032502b48c287cb9bca15
title: Cuts for agencies that handle disasters
uri: Cuts-for-agencies-that-handle-disasters
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#31_August_2017_%28Cuts_for_agencies_that_handle_disasters%29

content:
<p>
The saboteur-in-chief 
<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/as-agencies-respond-to-storm-some-face-cuts-under-trump-budget-proposal/2017/08/29/0fbbd6ca-8cc8-11e7-84c0-02cc069f2c37_story.html">proposes
cuts</a> for agencies that handle local disasters such as Hurricane
Harvey.


feed_id: d174057793acba3bc8490290a42d8813
title: Unpaid "work experience"
uri: Unpaid-work-experience
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#31_August_2017_%28Unpaid_work_experience%29
content:
<p>
UK jobcenters order unemployed people to report to a specific chain of
stores to get 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/aug/30/poundland-work-free-government-scheme-dwp">unpaid
"work experience"</a> in putting boxes on shelves.
<p>
In effect, this replaces paid jobs with non-jobs that get are a
condition for getting unemployment benefits.


feed_id: 49ddf8ecf097a6f47b11b6aba8aa510d
title: Greenhouse gas emissions in Australia
uri: Greenhouse-gas-emissions-in-Australia
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#31_August_2017_%28Greenhouse_gas_emissions_in_Australia%29

content:
<p>
The Australian government commissioned inadequate recommendations for
reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and is now 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/aug/31/coalition-watering-down-finkel-review-climate-ambitions">subtly
weakening them</a> in the process of implementing them.


feed_id: a282a097f3ddd0d7f8b1dce78acaf944
title: Shot in the back by Seattle thugs
uri: Shot-in-the-back-by-Seattle-thugs
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#31_August_2017_%28Shot_in_the_back_by_Seattle_thugs%29

content:
<p>
Seattle thugs 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/30/charleena-lyles-seattle-police-shooting">shot
Charleena Lyles in the back</a>, then claimed she was coming at them
with knives when they shot her.
<p>
But what else would you expect from thugs?
<p>
The obsession about the fetus is not only silly and pathetic, it is
dangerous, because right-wingers use it to make abortion seem like a
bad thing.  A fetus 15 weeks old doesn't have as much consciousness as
a mosquito.


feed_id: 1b1f325f2c3de357134e80463179cca6
title: Texas nuclear power plant flood danger
uri: Texas-nuclear-power-plant-flood-danger
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#31_August_2017_%28Texas_nuclear_power_plant_flood_danger%29

content:
<p>
Nuclear power plants in Texas are
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/08/29/historic-flooding-grips-texas-groups-demand-nuclear-plant-be-shut-down">in
danger of being flooded</a>.  They should be shut down now as a
precaution.


feed_id: 5b666e372112265080ef11c0689bcd49
title: Automatic voter registration
uri: Automatic-voter-registration
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#31_August_2017_%28Automatic_voter_registration%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/08/28/huge-leap-forward-illinois-becomes-10th-state-automatic-voter-registration">10
states</a> have now adopted automatic voter registration.
<p>
To do this in all states would be a step forward.  What is not clear
to me is whether it would be a big step or a small step.  Would
automatic voter registration protect voters from the Republican voter
suppression measures found in so many states?
<p>
It's not much use to be registered to vote if Republicans find an
excuse not to let you vote.


feed_id: 3749ff806327cde1d6c59a23442af05b
title: UK thugs demand money from victim
uri: UK-thugs-demand-money-from-victim
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#31_August_2017_%28UK_thugs_demand_money_from_victim%29

content:
<p>
UK environmentalist campaigner Helen Steel got the UK thugs to
apologize for having an infiltrator seduce her.  But now they demand
she pay around $10,000 for an appeal that she was compelled to drop
because it could have cost her even more.
<p>
She has announced 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/aug/28/woman-deceived-by-police-spy-refuses-to-pay-met-legal-bill">she
will not pay them</a>.


feed_id: a5a5e1142ff8711258a946d8ef2dc369
title: Hate speech laws
uri: Hate-speech-laws
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#31_August_2017_%28Hate_speech_laws%29
content:
<p>
Glenn Greenwald: In Europe, Hate Speech Laws Are 
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/08/29/in-europe-hate-speech-laws-are-often-used-to-suppress-and-punish-left-wing-viewpoints/">Often
Used to Suppress and Punish Left-Wing Viewpoints</a>.
<p>
If the US abandons freedom of speech, censorship of many causes I
support (and that many of you support) is not merely a painful
possibility.  It is nearly certain.


feed_id: 39fa457e5de04f810feae1f49d5c3ddc
title: Florida real estate
uri: Florida-real-estate
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#31_August_2017_%28Florida_real_estate%29
content:
<p>
Real-estate buyers are recognizing that land in Florida 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/aug/29/hurricane-harvey-climate-change-real-estate-florida">will
lose value when it turns into ocean</a>.


feed_id: 716ea3eada954f6c81e742f8058333cc
title: E-cigarettes
uri: 2017-09-01-E-cigarettes
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#31_August_2017_%28E-cigarettes%29
content:
<p>
A large study in the UK found that some teenagers try e-cigarettes,
but
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/aug/29/fears-over-e-cigarettes-leading-to-smoking-for-young-people-unfounded-study">few
continue using them and few go to tobacco from them</a>.


feed_id: a5bd03c93ccff7a322fd1e06af05b4f2
title: Toxic emissions from Houston refineries
uri: Toxic-emissions-from-Houston-refineries
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#31_August_2017_%28Toxic_emissions_from_Houston_refineries%29

content:
<p>
As refineries in Houston shut down because of the storm, they 
<a href="https://thinkprogress.org/houston-toxic-air-after-harvey-ecb68ada3d36/">emit
lots more toxic air pollution</a> than they usually do.


feed_id: 79e125b99630f287ba066ba4f3dbe23e
title: Blocking availability of drugs
uri: Blocking-availability-of-drugs
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#31_August_2017_%28Blocking_availability_of_drugs%29
content:
<p>
Efforts to block the availability of drugs 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/29/war-on-drugs-fueled-fentanyl-crisis">generally
lead to stronger drugs which are more compact</a> and thus easier to
smuggle.


feed_id: 01711ce888e889f1299f2db98d99f38b
title: Global heating
uri: 2017-09-01-Global-heating
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#31_August_2017_%28Global_heating%29
content:
<p>
Hurricane Harvey is an 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/29/hurricane-harvey-manmade-climate-disaster-world-catastrophe">artificial
disaster</a>.  Media coverage which covers this up is aiding the
denialists.


feed_id: cd25048acaa3239929c8b55cd67725dd
title: Cutoffs of welfare benefits in the UK
uri: Cutoffs-of-welfare-benefits-in-the-UK
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#31_August_2017_%28Cutoffs_of_welfare_benefits_in_the_UK%29

content:
<p>
Cruel and careless cutoffs of welfare benefits continue in the UK 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/aug/29/too-ill-to-get-to-jobcentre-disabled-people-may-still-be-sanctioned">just
as bad as ever</a>.  Disabled people that are too sick go to the
jobcenter for an evaluation of whether they can work are punished for
not getting there.


feed_id: 651fc7330e74bbcc7c7578770295dddc
title: Troll's plan to pardon Arpaio
uri: Troll-s-plan-to-pardon-Arpaio
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#31_August_2017_%28Trolls_plan_to_pardon_Arpaio%29
content:
<p>
<a href="/glossary.html#bully">The bully</a> 
<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/8/27/1693691/-Trump-asked-Sessions-to-drop-case-against-Arpaio-last-spring-had-been-planning-pardon-all-along">was
planning all along</a> to pardon Arpaio.


feed_id: cfca0d7d8a0bd408279a6ae2d3173b30
title: Food poverty in the UK
uri: Food-poverty-in-the-UK
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#31_August_2017_%28Food_poverty_in_the_UK%29
content:
<p>
Food Poverty Is the 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/aug/29/food-poverty-is-new-normal-in-uk-we-adopted-from-the-states">"New
Normal" in the UK</a>.  The US did it first, and Republicans are
pushing hard to make it worse.


feed_id: 5a2b1adb772e2ed1b69e08cc3b306141
title: Hasankeyf
uri: Hasankeyf
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#31_August_2017_%28Hasankeyf%29
content:
<p>
Hasankeyf, 12,000-year-old site in Turkey with thousands of artificial
caves,
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/29/turkeys-12000-year-old-hasankeyf-citadel-faces-obliteration">will
be destroyed if the Ilisu dam is built</a>.
<p>
It is hard for journalists to get access to the place.  I think that
is because the inhabitants are mainly Kurds, and ErdoÄan's war methods
includes blocking journalists from seeing what the soldiers are doing.


feed_id: f71627d8eb29292e961736e7c1d80935
title: Salafist war crimes
uri: 2017-09-01-Salafist-war-crimes
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#31_August_2017_%28Salafist_war_crimes%29
content:
<p>
Amnesty International and other human rights organizations call on the UN
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/aug/30/human-rights-groups-demand-inquiry-into-yemen-war-abuses">
to take action against the war crimes committed by <a href="/glossary.html#salafi">Salafi Arabia</a>
with support from the US.
</a>


feed_id: 6fb766d24bdbf0c58af8eabea1849591
title: Civil rights division
uri: 2017-09-01-Civil-rights-division
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#31_August_2017_%28Civil_rights_division%29
content:
<p>
<a href="/glossary.html#saboteur">Saboteur</a> Sessions has
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/30/the-civil-rights-division-legacy-eric-dreiband-unfit-to-lead">
nominated a long-time enemy of civil rights
enforcement
</a>
for the civil-rights division of the Department of Justice.


feed_id: af80d6140f26ae10884ccd7a58dd754a
title: Disappearances in Syria
uri: 2017-09-01-Disappearances-in-Syria
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#31_August_2017_%28Disappearances_in_Syria%29
content:
<p>
Something must be done
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/30/syria-disappeared-murdered-industrial-scale-un-must-step-in">
to stop Assad from disappearing people.
</a>
<p>
Many were
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/aug/30/tortured-abused-hidden-horror-disappeared-women-syria-prisons-international-day-of-the-disappeared">
imprisoned only to use as hostages.
</a>
<p>
But what can be done.
<p>
There are even worse things going on in Syria.  For instance, there is
<a href="/glossary.html#pissi">PISSI</a>.  There is war.  There is the danger to refugees that have fled
from war.  There is the danger that Assad's forces will attack the
Kurds once <a href="/glossary.html#pissi">PISSI</a> is defeated militarily.  A scheme to end the
disappearances has to fit into a scheme to end the other dangers.


feed_id: 003b14b25334cb4bc4368625e089bcf6
title: Harvey shock doctrine
uri: 2017-09-01-Harvey-shock-doctrine
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#31_August_2017_%28Harvey_shock_doctrine%29
content:
<p>
After Hurricane Harvey,
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/08/29/after-hurricane-harvey-will-houston-public-schools-be-charterized">
Will Houston Public Schools Be Charterized?
</a>
<p>
That's the sort of exploitation of disasters
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#19_July_2017_(How_power_profits_from_disaster)">
that Naomi Klein warns us
about.
</a>


feed_id: 7204d9ac9ee64e2fea75f8849ecf7e12
title: Urgent: Oppose event at Trump-owned hotel
uri: Urgent-Oppose-event-at-Trump-owned-hotel
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#2_September_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Oppose_event_at_Trump-owned_hotel%29

content:
<p>
US citizens: Gorsuch,
<a href="http://act.demandprogress.org/sign/gorsuch-trump-hotel/">don't
speak at right-wing event in Trump-owned hotel</a>.


feed_id: 077f4ca5383ce1223f60032ae5a051e0
title: Urgent: Defend DACA
uri: 2017-09-02-Urgent-Defend-DACA
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#2_September_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Defend_DACA%29
content:
<p>
US citizens: phone your congresscritter to 
<a href="https://www.stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#26_August_2017_(Urgent:_Preserve_DACA)">defend
DACA</a>.
<p>
The Capitol Switchboard numbers are 202-224-3121, 888-818-6641
and 888-355-3588.


feed_id: 8647d60bdae62d1ccfb0e58c8cd91fab
title: Thug departments getting bayonets
uri: Thug-departments-getting-bayonets
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#2_September_2017_%28Thug_departments_getting_bayonets%29

content:
<p>
Why Are We Giving U.S. Police Departments 
<a href="https://www.justsecurity.org/44588/giving-u-s-police-departments-bayonets/">Bayonets</a>?
<p>
No matter what discount the US government offers on these weapons, the
price is still nonzero.  Not buying them is still cheaper.  So low
price can't be the motive for buying them.
<p>
States should pass laws requiring each thug department to get specific
approval from the appropriate democratically elected government for
each acquisition of weapons, including gifts.


feed_id: 6c797d48f5bb3938275f87a3618bf0f1
title: Solar power
uri: 2017-09-02-Solar-power
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#2_September_2017_%28Solar_power%29
content:
<p>
Some US utilities are 
<a href="http://e360.yale.edu/features/utilities-grapple-with-rooftop-solar-and-the-new-energy-landscape">adapting
to increased levels of solar power in the future</a>.
<p>
As people begin installing batteries as well as solar power, the effect
on utility grids will be much less.
<p>
"Electrons flowing in one direction" is a simplification that is
physically wrong.  With alternating current, the electrons flow in one
direction many times each second, and in the other direction many
times each second.  (60 times, more or less, in the US.)  The thing
that may flow in one direction always, or not, is electric energy.


feed_id: 4a7c1cbfa3c43ccd27ab612e48cf9307
title: Hurricane Harvey and mosquitoes
uri: Hurricane-Harvey-and-mosquitoes
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#2_September_2017_%28Hurricane_Harvey_and_mosquitoes%29

content:
<p>
Long-term damage from Hurricane Harvey could create 
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2017/08/will-flooding-in-texas-lead-to-more-mosquito-borne-illness/538242/">more
breeding grounds for mosquitoes</a> in the whole region around Houston.


feed_id: d830019a7533bb8c95f55a4d05afa977
title: Kenyan election rigged
uri: Kenyan-election-rigged
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#2_September_2017_%28Kenyan_election_rigged%29
content:
<p>
The Supreme Court of Kenya has ruled that the election was rigged, and
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/sep/01/kenyan-supreme-court-annuls-uhuru-kenyatta-election-victory">called
for a new election</a> soon.


feed_id: c30505f557a83ffb79637bcf92f4ea70
title: Floods across India
uri: Floods-across-India
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#2_September_2017_%28Floods_across_India%29
content:
<p>
Floods across much of India, and parts of neighboring countries,
have 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/sep/01/mumbai-residents-count-cost-rain-floods">killed
1200 people and made millions homeless</a>.  For those already
homeless, it was even worse.
<p>
However, even that disaster is not as big as 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/sep/01/disaster-texas-america-britain-yemen">the
one caused directly by Salafi Arabia and the US</a> in Yemen.


feed_id: f043cbdf746ad74ca451487dc9293c76
title: Eliminating PISSI
uri: Eliminating-PISSI
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#2_September_2017_%28Eliminating_PISSI%29
content:
<p>
Staffan de Mistura says that the coming military defeat of <a href="/glossary.html#pissi">PISSI</a> won't
permanently eliminate <a href="/glossary.html#pissi">PISSI</a> without an 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/sep/01/last-isis-stronghold-in-syria-could-fall-by-october-says-un-envoy">accord
between Assad and the other Islamist rebels</a>.


feed_id: 2807bdbb1ece1253025be61389907796
title: Great Lakes
uri: Great-Lakes
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#2_September_2017_%28Great_Lakes%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2017/08/31/fishing-and-swimming-risk-great-lakes-budget-cuts-new-report-says">Fishing
and Swimming at Risk</a> in Great Lakes With Budget Cuts, New Report
Says.


feed_id: 8f8f398c1724ef102a3255da3366f263
title: US/Salafi responsibility for killing civilians
uri: US-Salafi-responsibility-for-killing-civilians
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#2_September_2017_%28US%252FSalafi_responsibility_for_killing_civilians%29

content:
<p>
FAIR: 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/08/31/how-media-obscure-ussaudi-responsibility-killing-yemeni-civilians">How
Media Obscure US/[Salafi] Responsibility</a> for Killing Yemeni
Civilians.


feed_id: 9489fa9bdea30c6666d7811963abe757
title: Equal pay for comparable work
uri: Equal-pay-for-comparable-work
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#2_September_2017_%28Equal_pay_for_comparable_work%29

content:
<p>
In the UK, 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/aug/31/asda-legal-challenge-increase-pay-shop-floor-staff-equal-pay-claim">a
victory</a> for equal pay for comparable work.


feed_id: 137ac4559f8c0eeb266f1ff9cb0d3b4b
title: Hate speech laws
uri: 2017-09-02-Hate-speech-laws
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#2_September_2017_%28Hate_speech_laws%29
content:
<p>
Glenn Greenwald: In Europe, hate speech laws are [already] often 
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/08/29/in-europe-hate-speech-laws-are-often-used-to-suppress-and-punish-left-wing-viewpoints/">used
to suppress and punish left-wing viewpoints</a>.
<p>
We need not rely on speculation: there are already campaigns in the US
to ban criticism of Israel's occupation of Palestine, as well as Black
Lives Matter.  In both cases, the would-be censors misrepresented what
they seek to ban, which should be no surprise.  It's the same sort
of distortion campaign that the troll demonstrates (and I would guess
that he spreads those distortions himself).
<p>
Freedom of speech includes the freedom to say things we despise as
well as to say things we support.  It includes the freedom to
criticize, condemn, insult or mock any person, group, organization,
belief, church, act or cause.  Including your country and my country.
Including you.  Including me.
<p>
Most of the "free" countries in the world do not properly respect
freedom of speech.  Now it is threatened again in the US as well.
<p>
Americans, please support the ACLU in defending freedom of speech in
the US.


feed_id: 4369cd958744bd4f6797831cccf45eeb
title: Charter schools
uri: 2017-09-02-Charter-schools
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#2_September_2017_%28Charter_schools%29
content:
<p>
Charter schools are 
<a href="
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/59a7e480e4b00ed1aec9a5d3">pushing
to get rid of requirements for being a schoolteacher</a>.  This will
enable them to slash pay for teachers by hiring unqualified teachers.
<p>
The school administrators will claim, of course, that they hire only
the best.  And, like so many claims that privatization companies make,
it will often be at variance with the facts, which they won't help
people to investigate.


feed_id: 4dc26b0d85a53bd5f7995672d6747f87
title: Sale of high-dose opioid pills
uri: Sale-of-high-dose-opioid-pills
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#2_September_2017_%28Sale_of_high-dose_opioid_pills%29

content:
<p>
A 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/31/obamas-ex-drug-czar-call-to-ban-high-grade-opioids-at-center-of-epidemic">petition
to the FDA calls</a> for the end of sales of some high-dose opioid
pills.
<p>
The article uses misleading terms such as "high-grade" and "powerful".
What distinguishes these pills from other painkillers is not their
quality, as the first would imply, nor the strength of effect of the
active ingredient, but rather the amount of that ingredient in one
pill.
<p>
Withdrawing them might be a good idea.


feed_id: 8f418966be51abce510fed8ae439c2b3
title: Eliminating the Bail System
uri: Eliminating-the-Bail-System
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#3_September_2017_%28Eliminating_the_Bail_System%29
content:
<p>
Some US states are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/30/new-jersey-bail-reform-criminal-justice-bond-money">eliminating the bail system</a> that pushes poor
people into penury and pressures them into false confessions.  But the
bail bond companies are fighting to preserve that bad system because
they profit from it.


feed_id: 689ad680918fcddab240182d2333cc3f
title: San Jose Homelessness
uri: San-Jose-Homelessness
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#3_September_2017_%28San_Jose_Homelessness%29
content:
<p>
Thousands of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/30/san-jose-silicon-valley-tiny-home-homeless-backlash">residents of San Jose believe that homeless people are homeless
by choice</a>, and want to kick them out of the city.
<p>
If they mistreat the homeless people enough, those will die.
Then they can be stored in the cemetery.


feed_id: d5f8d352e5663e8193e5315c317e6ddf
title: UK Prison Population
uri: UK-Prison-Population
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#3_September_2017_%28UK_Prison_Population%29
content:
<p>
With long prison sentences and a "get tough on crime" mentality on one
side, and dooH niboR on the other, the UK's prison population has
boomed while the guards have been cut.  The prisons are now <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/31/tough-on-crime-prisons-crisis-prisoner-numbers">hellholes
that drive many prisoners mad</a>.


feed_id: e1a04b4bedac9e27c4cd30cce7824654
title: Sanders: Socialism
uri: Sanders-Socialism
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#3_September_2017_%28Sanders%3A_Socialism%29
content:
<p>
Thanks to Sanders, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/sep/02/socialism-young-americans-bernie-sanders">"Socialism" is no longer a tabu word</a> in the United
States.


feed_id: 8b621cfa3b07aff5b3ab62531caa4349
title: Urgent: Clean Water Rule
uri: Urgent-Clean-Water-Rule
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#3_September_2017_%28Urgent%3A_Clean_Water_Rule%29
content:
<p>
US citizens:
<a href="https://act.credoaction.com/sign/cleanwater">call on the
EPA</a> to preserve the Clean Water Rule.


feed_id: 029fb0c3001b42bb08948b1005d106bf
title: Militarized thug department
uri: Militarized-thug-department
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#3_September_2017_%28Militarized_thug_department%29
content:
<p>
Militarization means that a
<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-08-30/the-militarization-of-the-hamptons">small
city's thug department boasts a 15-person "counterterrorism" squad</a>
whose duties consist of showing up at celebrity galas with automatic
weapons.


feed_id: da6a5f92b27dc23a6dc66e0af878d53c
title: Civilian casualties in Afghanistan
uri: 2017-09-03-Civilian-casualties-in-Afghanistan
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#3_September_2017_%28Civilian_casualties_in_Afghanistan%29

content:
<p>
Civilian casualties of US bombardment in Afghanistan are running at
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/08/31/adding-record-casualties-under-trump-us-bombing-kills-11-afghan-civilians">record
pace</a>.


feed_id: 00c97c5e84d1e070ab7aeb81786ec1b6
title: Mistreatment of low-paid workers
uri: Mistreatment-of-low-paid-workers
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#3_September_2017_%28Mistreatment_of_low-paid_workers%29

content:
<p>
Low-paid workers in the UK face punishment if they miss work for any reason,
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/money/2017/sep/01/low-paid-workers-penalised-taking-children-hospital-tuc-study-finds">even
to bring a sick child to the hospital</a>.
<p>
We know how to prevent this.  It's called a labor union.


feed_id: 74c91822c50cb3691d7ff3474795a410
title: Strong opposition in Brazil
uri: Strong-opposition-in-Brazil
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#3_September_2017_%28Strong_opposition_in_Brazil%29
content:
<p>
Strong opposition
<a href="http://amazonwatch.org/news/2017/0901-after-deafening-global-outcry-brazilian-government-retreats-on-plan-to-permit-mining-in-renca">made
Brazil's corrupt President Temer back down temporarily</a> on allowing
businesses to deforest a large region of Amazonia.


feed_id: fb9aa35f99cac1ddc0936b7f1ad45ec1
title: Troll cancels pay increase for workers
uri: Troll-cancels-pay-increase-for-workers
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#3_September_2017_%28Troll_cancels_pay_increase_for_workers%29

content:
<p>
<a href="/glossary.html#trump">The troll</a>
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/09/01/trump-furthers-war-workers-announcement-slashed-pay-increases">canceled
a small planned pay increase for federal workers</a>.  The planned pay
increase was too small to bring their pay back to the 2010 level.
<p>
This is to free up some funds for a
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/08/31/payupcorps-campaign-highlights-all-nation-could-do-if-corporations-paid-their-fair">tax
cut for businesses</a>.
<p>
This is one of the many forms that <a href="/glossary.html#doohnibor">dooH niboR</a> takes.


feed_id: ddcc733dc1588821ef369736b099947c
title: Suppression of employee complaints
uri: Suppression-of-employee-complaints
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#3_September_2017_%28Suppression_of_employee_complaints%29

content:
<p>
Sports Direct invites staff to complain about working conditions, but
only if they
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/sep/01/sports-direct-warehouse-staff-sad-happy-emoji-fingerprint-survey-workplace">use
fingerprints to identify themselves</a>.
<p>
The plan, I presume, is that few will take the risk of being fired for
complaining, and the company will have an excuse to claim that only a
tiny group of workers have a complaint.
<p>
This won't fool anyone except those that want an excuse to believe
that conclusion — that is, right-wingers.


feed_id: 422b61049ca1609c0bdb4fa5808da38e
title: License-plate tracking
uri: License-plate-tracking
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#3_September_2017_%28License-plate_tracking%29
content:
<p>
The EFF and ACLU
<a href="https://www.eff.org/press/releases/electronic-frontier-foundation-aclu-win-court-ruling-police-cant-keep-license-plate">won
a court ruling against the California thugs</a> that wanted to keep
their license-plate tracking data and practices completely secret from
the public.
<p>
The ruling did not say that the thugs must publish the actual license
plate numbers.  Rather, it said they must publish enough that the
public can see how much surveillance, and what kind, the thugs are
doing.
<p>
I hope they won't publish the details, and I expect the EFF and ACLU
do too.  My point is, the thugs should not even _record_ the details.
We need laws that say that _no one_ is allowed to systematically
identify and track cars on the road, or people on the street, other
than those that are specifically sought or are visibly doing something
illegal, or under a narrow and specific court order.


feed_id: 715b4d4251fc262b0b19785fcda9a6e9
title: Flood victims
uri: Flood-victims
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#3_September_2017_%28Flood_victims%29
content:
<p>
With "thousand-year" floods happening more than once a year, caused by
the mere beginnings of global heating, the US government must
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/09/01/harvey-wont-be-last-thousand-year-storm">take
the side of the victims, not the insurance companies</a>.


feed_id: 5023e66816c370a4a497b864cc3e4f9a
title: Impact of major storms on poor people
uri: Impact-of-major-storms-on-poor-people
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#3_September_2017_%28Impact_of_major_storms_on_poor_people%29

content:
<p>
Media Still Largely "Blind" to Major Storms'
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/09/01/media-still-largely-blind-major-storms-devastating-impact-poor-communities">Devastating
Impact on Poor Communities</a>.


feed_id: 82bcc402de81514e2b936dbe7f904e51
title: Silenced researchers
uri: Silenced-researchers
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#3_September_2017_%28Silenced_researchers%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/sep/02/corporate-america-silenced-researchers-before-google-barry-lynn">
Corporate America Silenced Researchers Before.  Now They're Doing It Again.
</a>


feed_id: 8815eeee177bb535c91138635f2e8973
title: Chatbots' comprehension
uri: Chatbots-comprehension
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#3_September_2017_%28Chatbots%27_comprehension%29
content:
<p>
If you can't talk with a human, only a chatbot, you are likely to get screwed
whenever something happens that is
<a href="https://theconversation.com/emotionless-chatbots-are-taking-over-customer-service-and-its-bad-news-for-consumers-82962">
outside the chatbot's comprehension.
</a>


feed_id: 7a5fcfef0517cbcd00da57d82ee4698d
title: Toxic air pollution
uri: Toxic-air-pollution
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#3_September_2017_%28Toxic_air_pollution%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/sep/02/houston-hurricane-harvey-pollution-petrochemical-plants">
Toxic air pollution leaked from
chemical plants in some areas of
Houston is making people sick.
</a>
  But the pollution has been making people sick there for a long time.


feed_id: a14b56dae2456a90ec575dc3b0841cb6
title: US school meals
uri: US-school-meals
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#3_September_2017_%28US_school_meals%29
content:
<p>
Many US schools try to
<a href="https://theconversation.com/we-should-serve-kids-food-in-school-not-shame-81787">
shame students whose parents can't pay for
school meals.
</a>
<p>
Shame on schools for charging money for meals in school!


feed_id: 29a37cc92a6bf62493ecf1b83f662693
title: The purpose of education
uri: The-purpose-of-education
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#3_September_2017_%28The_purpose_of_education%29
content:
<p>
Education is
<a href="https://theconversation.com/education-isnt-a-commodity-for-labor-79606">
needed for purposes far more important
than training
workers.
</a>


feed_id: 90d2a8fb9de22fc64074bcf3704c3f82
title: Ethnic cleansing
uri: 2017-09-03-Ethnic-cleansing
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#3_September_2017_%28Ethnic_cleansing%29
content:
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/sep/02/rohingya-fleeing-myanmar-tales-ethnic-cleansing">
Ethnic cleansers have forced 10% of the Rohingya population to try to
flee to Bangladesh;
</a>
but since the Rohingyas now have a guerrilla army,
Bangladesh won't let them in.


feed_id: 72a767a4149824342a04944906c725bd
title: Youtube
uri: Youtube
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#3_September_2017_%28Youtube%29
content:
<p>
It is now <a href="https://stallman.org/google.html#js">impossible to view anything on Youtube</a> without running
nonfree Javascript code.


feed_id: eb3541a42100d100e2ba3e7392752178
title: US citizen Ybarra deportation
uri: US-citizen-Ybarra-deportation
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#3_September_2017_%28US_citizen_Ybarra_deportation%29

content:
<p>
The US keeps trying to deport George Ybarra to Mexico even though he is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/sep/01/george-ybarra-veteran-deportation-mexico-arizona">a US citizen</a>.
<p>
It had to do with crimes that he committed, apparently under the influence of PTSD that he developed while in the US Marines.


feed_id: dd5c51c5ea92c206f3b3fb525b159f28
title: Troll-appointed federal judges
uri: Troll-appointed-federal-judges
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#3_September_2017_%28Troll-appointed_federal_judges%29

content:
<p>
The troll is attacking the environment by <a href="http://e360.yale.edu/features/trumps-judges-the-second-front-in-an-environmental-onslaught">appointing pluticratist judges</a>.


feed_id: 3a471f8cff11e20e0f17ea6ffb263032
title: UK McDonalds strike
uri: UK-McDonalds-strike
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#3_September_2017_%28UK_McDonalds_strike%29
content:
<p>
McDonalds workers in the UK <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/sep/01/poverty-ill-health-fast-food-workers-striking-mcdonalds-shareholders">are going on strike</a>.  Their pay leaves them in poverty; young workers are homeless.


feed_id: 9007d7c5b16fe069fadc82b1a2955772
title: Russia Alyokhina prison
uri: Russia-Alyokhina-prison
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#3_September_2017_%28Russia_Alyokhina_prison%29
content:
<p>
A prison in Russia <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/sep/01/sleeping-is-a-violation-of-the-rules-pussy-riots-maria-alyokhina-on-life-inside-a-russian-penal-colony">reminds one of Guantanamo</a>.


feed_id: c3dab26b5afa3062a1182bc4820b4b14
title: Illinois governor nominees
uri: Illinois-governor-nominees
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#3_September_2017_%28Illinois_governor_nominees%29
content:
<p>
A progressive Democrat is running against a rich businessman for the Democratic nomination for <a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/09/01/illinois-democrat-picks-democratic-socialist-as-running-mate-for-gubernatorial-run/">governor of Illinois</a>.


feed_id: 7061cf5f17107679e155feebb2a0d080
title: Utah nurse arrested
uri: Utah-nurse-arrested
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#3_September_2017_%28Utah_nurse_arrested%29
content:
<p>
<p>
A thug arrested <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/sep/01/utah-nurse-arrested-for-refusing-to-draw-blood-from-unconscious-patient">a nurse</a> who (following hospital policy) refused to draw blood from an unconscious patient without a warrant.
<p>
As a pleasant surprise, the direction of the thug department apologized and rebuked the thug for this.  I hope that isn't just an isolated case.


feed_id: c913c008084120ae3a5bdf387f9825b3
title: UK deceitful gambling services
uri: UK-deceitful-gambling-services
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#3_September_2017_%28UK_deceitful_gambling_services%29

content:
<p>
Gambling advice companies intentionally give <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/sep/01/revealed-tipsters-deliberately-recommend-losing-bets-to-punters">bad advice</a> in the UK because they are paid based on how much their customers lose in their bets.


feed_id: 4d39c1bfe6c812ebeb2226e5767bdb20
title: Supervised free play
uri: Supervised-free-play
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#3_September_2017_%28Supervised_free_play%29
content:
<p>
A school <a href="http://www.freerangekids.com/how-over-involved-can-adults-get-at-recess/">requires all children's games</a> to have written rules approved by the school.  These children have nothing in their lives that they are allowed to organize without supervision.


feed_id: 3059f7bc427a477079ae8bbfb6ac564d
title: Texas plutocrats chemical plant
uri: Texas-plutocrats-chemical-plant
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#3_September_2017_%28Texas_plutocrats_chemical_plant%29

content:
<p>
The chemical plant explosions in Houston <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/08/31/chemical-plant-explosion-texas-not-accident-its-result-specific-choices">were the direct result</a> of deregulation imposed through law by the plutocratic state of Texas.


feed_id: 577fae34dd51ef3182858b445e0715b7
title: Netanyahu Palestine occupation
uri: Netanyahu-Palestine-occupation
url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#3_September_2017_%28Netanyahu_Palestine_occupation%29

content:
<p>
Netanyahu says that Israel will <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/08/29/flouting-international-law-netanyahu-says-west-bank-settlements-will-remain-forever">never remove its colonies in Palestinian</a> territory. In effect, Israel stands for permanent occupation and permanent apartheid.
<p>
These colonies are all in violation of treaties and UN resolutions. Other countries ought to put practical pressure on Israel to make make Netanyahu, or his successor, agree to end the occupation.
<p>
The troll is doing <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/sep/01/trump-ambassador-israel-david-friedman-alleged-occupation-palestinian-territories">the opposite</a>: his ambassador to Israel denied that Palestine is occupied.


feed_id: 233fe4466580005cdad973902be55461
title: Virginia slavery remnant
uri: Virginia-slavery-remnant
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2017-jul-oct.html#3_September_2017_%28Virginia_slavery_remnant%29
content:
<p>
  The slave auction block in Fredericksburg, Virginia, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/sep/01/slave-block-fredericksburg-virginia">is not a memorial</a>.

<p>
It is a remnant of the injustice of slavery.  What should be done with it?


