# articles

feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#15_August_2024_(MPs_shun_ex-Twitter,_UK)
title: MPs shun ex-Twitter, UK
uri: MPs-shun-ex-Twitter-UK
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#15_August_2024_(MPs_shun_ex-Twitter,_UK)
content:
 
<p>
*[A few Labour] MPs leaving <!---->[ex-Twitter] or scaling back use over its
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/article/2024/aug/12/labour-mps-begin-quitting-x-over-hate-and-disinformation">"deterioration"
under Elon Musk’s ownership</a>.*
<p>
If this spreads, it could put some
<a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#extwitter">useful pressure on ex-Twitter</a>.
However, as long as it requires
to run <a href="https://www.gnu.org/proprietary/proprietary.html">nonfree software</a>,
no one should use it.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#15_August_2024_(RFK_off_ballot,_NY)
title: RFK off ballot, NY
uri: RFK-off-ballot-NY
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#15_August_2024_(RFK_off_ballot,_NY)
content:
 
<p>
RFK jr has been denied a spot on the ballot in New York State because he falsely claimed to be a
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/12/robert-f-kennedy-jr-new-york-residence-ballot">resident
of that state</a>.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#15_August_2024_(Public_transit_push_in_LA,_CA)
title: Public transit push in Los Angeles
uri: Public-transit-push-in-Los-Angeles
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#15_August_2024_(Public_transit_push_in_LA,_CA)
content:
 
<p>
LA is making a strong push to improve public transit for its
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/12/no-cars-games-la-olympics-2028-public-transportation">Olympic
Games in 2028</a>.
<p>
At least for once the region where they are held may gain a lasting benefit.  Meanwhile, the city
says it will give homeless people temporary housing.  I hope that doesn't mean they will be out on
the street again the following week, and their old encampments will be put in the trash.


<p>
 


title: Orbán in D.C. for ... Heritage Fdn.
uri: Orbán-in-D-C-for-Heritage-Fdn
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#14_August_2024_(Orbán_in_US,_D.C._for_…_Heritage_Fdn.)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#14_August_2024_(Orbán_in_US,_D.C._for_…_Heritage_Fdn.)

content:
 
<p>
*How Viktor Orbán Conquered
<a href="https://newrepublic.com/article/179776/heritage-foundation-viktor-orban-trump">the Heritage
Foundation</a>.  Once the redoubt of Reaganism, the think tank has taken to promoting
<!---->[the wrecker]'s
favorite strongman.*
<p>
Both <a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#wrecker">the wrecker</a>
and Orbán have acted to promote Putin.  Each one is the enemy of his own country.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#16_August_2024_(Militarism_growing,_CHN)
title: Militarism growing, CHN
uri: Militarism-growing-CHN
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#16_August_2024_(Militarism_growing,_CHN)
content:
 
<p>
China is strengthening military training and militarist indoctrination
in
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/11/love-the-army-defend-the-motherland-how-china-is-pushing-military-education-on-children">schools,
even primary schools</a>.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#16_August_2024_(Land_system_use_plan,_BRA)
title: Land system use plan, BRA
uri: Land-system-use-plan-BRA
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#16_August_2024_(Land_system_use_plan,_BRA)
content:
 
<p>
Brazil plans to
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/aug/12/pantanal-waterway-project-would-destroy-paradise-on-earth-scientists-warn-aoe">dredge
a shipping channel</a> the length of the enormous Pantanal wetland.  Scientists say this could
destroy the wetland, damage ecosystems, and cause extinction of species.
<p>
The push for the shipping channel comes from companies that would like to ship massive exports
through it.  Like building a road through a forest, the economic activity that the channel would
enable would do lots more damage.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#16_August_2024_(Corrupter's_record_on_racism)
title: Corrupter's record on racism
uri: Corrupter-s-record-on-racism
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#16_August_2024_(Corrupter's_record_on_racism)
content:
 
<p>
*[<a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#corrupter">The corrupter</a>]'s long history of racism,
from the
<a href="https://www.vox.com/2016/7/25/12270880/donald-trump-racist-racism-history">1970s to 2020</a>.*
<p>
*It would be one thing if Trump misspoke one or two times. But when you take all of his actions and
comments together, a clear pattern emerges &mdash; one that suggests that bigotry is not just
political opportunism on Trump’s part but a real element of his personality, character, and career.*
<p>
The article linked to above displays symbolic bigotry by capitalizing "black" but not "white".  (To
avoid endorsing bigotry, capitalize both words or neither one.)  <a href="/bigotry.html">I denounce
bigotry</a>, and normally I will not link to articles that practice it.  But I make exceptions for
some articles because I consider them important &mdash; and I label them like this.

<p>
 


title: Leaked training-videos, Project 2025
uri: Leaked-training-videos-Project-2025
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#16_August_2024_(Leaked_training_videos,_Project_2025)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#16_August_2024_(Leaked_training_videos,_Project_2025)

content:
 
<p>
Project 2025 is
<a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/video-project-2025-presidential-training-academy-trump-election">actively
working on training</a> potential replacement federal staff on how to be loyal to right-wing
politics and <a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#corrupter">the corrupter</a>
and use their power to the maximum.
<p>
ProPublica obtained leaked training videos, which don't show up
in the page if you can't access YouTube directly.
<ul>
<li> <a href="https://invidio.us/watch?v=8hXLXnuVGRg">https://invidio.us/watch?v=8hXLXnuVGRg</a>
<li> <a href="https://invidio.us/watch?v=gjrMl_YHHT4">https://invidio.us/watch?v=gjrMl_YHHT4</a>
<li> <a href="https://invidio.us/watch?v=iRX56yKJOHQ">https://invidio.us/watch?v=iRX56yKJOHQ</a>
<li> <a href="https://invidio.us/watch?v=mB8lsQApJK8">https://invidio.us/watch?v=mB8lsQApJK8</a>
<li> <a href="https://invidio.us/watch?v=1vsrXQp_w1Y">https://invidio.us/watch?v=1vsrXQp_w1Y</a>
<li> <a href="https://invidio.us/watch?v=ob2nmb97OkY">https://invidio.us/watch?v=ob2nmb97OkY</a>
<li> <a href="https://invidio.us/watch?v=xxe55mU4DA8">https://invidio.us/watch?v=xxe55mU4DA8</a>
<li> <a href="https://invidio.us/watch?v=317v5gVFWzg">https://invidio.us/watch?v=317v5gVFWzg</a>
<li> <a href="https://invidio.us/watch?v=ksI1AsXKiaM">https://invidio.us/watch?v=ksI1AsXKiaM</a>
<li> <a href="https://invidio.us/watch?v=H4WOsQYOMgU">https://invidio.us/watch?v=H4WOsQYOMgU</a>
<li> <a href="https://invidio.us/watch?v=y2kGi7z52bA">https://invidio.us/watch?v=y2kGi7z52bA</a>
<li> <a href="https://invidio.us/watch?v=D4HcW29sxcA">https://invidio.us/watch?v=D4HcW29sxcA</a>
</ul>

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#16_August_2024_(Student_loan_relief_ruling)
title: Student loan relief ruling
uri: Student-loan-relief-ruling
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#16_August_2024_(Student_loan_relief_ruling)
content:
 
<p>
An appeals court has
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/money/article/2024/aug/10/court-rules-against-biden-student-debt-relief-program">temporarily
blocked</a> Biden's latest plan for student loan relief.  However, it has already helped over
400,000 former students who can't pay their bills.  And another half-million have got an indefinite
respite from paying.


<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#16_August_2024_(Urgent:_Freedom_to_Vote_Act)
title: Urgent: Freedom and rights to vote acts
uri: Urgent-Freedom-and-rights-to-vote-acts
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#16_August_2024_(Urgent:_Freedom_to_Vote_Act)
content:
 
<p>
US citizens:
<a href="https://act.commoncause.org/petitions/add-your-name-pass-bold-legislation-to-protect-and-expand-voting-rights?nowrapper=true&referrer=&source=email-stand-up-for-voting-rights-todayp">call
on Congress</a> to pass the Freedom to Vote Act and the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.
<p>
If you phone, please spread the word!
Main Switchboard: <a href="tel:+12022243121">+1-202-224-3121</a>

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#16_August_2024_(Urgent:_NO_new_wars)
title: Urgent: NO new wars
uri: Urgent-NO-new-wars
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#16_August_2024_(Urgent:_NO_new_wars)
content:
 
<p>
US citizens:
<a href="https://act.winwithoutwar.org/go/34272?c0=no-new-war-congress.0ParOb&source=em20240808&t=1006">call
on Congress</a> to insist that we have no new wars, and de-escalate crises in the Middle East.
<p>
If you phone, please spread the word!
Main Switchboard: <a href="tel:+12022243121">+1-202-224-3121</a>

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#16_August_2024_(Maduro_sitting_in_VEN)
title: Maduro sitting in VEN
uri: Maduro-sitting-in-VEN
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#16_August_2024_(Maduro_sitting_in_VEN)
content:
 
<p>
We have to wonder:
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/14/venezuela-election-maduro">how can
Venezuela</a> get rid of Maduro, now that he visibly stole an election and launched readiness for
repression of those who object.
<p>
The same question applies to other countries.<br/>  How can Nicaragua kick out Ortega?<br/>  How can
Israel Kick out Netanyahu?<br/>  How can Russia kick out Putin?<br/>  How can China kick out
Xi?<br/>  (Those last two have such total repression that few there dare admit wishing for freedom.
<p>
If <a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#corrupter">the corrupter</a> 
grabs the presidency of the US again, and institutes fascism, how could the US kick him out?

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#16_August_2024_(Salty_water-wells,_VUT_islands)
title: Salty water-wells, VUT islands
uri: Salty-water-wells-VUT-islands
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#16_August_2024_(Salty_water-wells,_VUT_islands)
content:
 
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/aug/14/the-wells-are-salty-how-the-invading-ocean-is-contaminating-vanuatus-water">Rising
seas</a>, due to <a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#global%20heating">global heating</a>,
are polluting the wells in the islands of Vanuatu.

<p>
 


title: Cyber technique against exiles, RUS
uri: Cyber-technique-against-exiles-RUS
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#16_August_2024_(Cyber_technique_against_exiles,_RUS)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#16_August_2024_(Cyber_technique_against_exiles,_RUS)

content:
 
<p>
Putin's cracker corps is using
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/14/russia-phishing-hacking-attacks">very
sophisticated phishing</a> against people involved with the Russian opposition in exile.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#16_August_2024_(Russia_wrinkle,_Kursk_region)
title: Russia wrinkle, Kursk region
uri: Russia-wrinkle-Kursk-region
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#16_August_2024_(Russia_wrinkle,_Kursk_region)
content:
 
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/14/ukraine-forces-continuing-advance-into-russian-territory-zelenskiy-kursk">Ukraine's
small invasion</a> of Russia was still going strong as of Tuesday, and Putin has sent only
inadequate forces to repel it.

<p>
 


title: College students still protesting, UCLA
uri: College-students-still-protesting-UCLA
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#16_August_2024_(College_students_still_protesting,_UCLA)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#16_August_2024_(College_students_still_protesting,_UCLA)

content:
 
<p>
*[UCLA] cannot allow pro-Palestinian protesters to block
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/14/ucla-jewish-student-lawsuit-ruling">Jewish
students from accessing classes</a> and other parts of campus, a federal judge ruled on Tuesday.*
<p>
This ruling is right.  You have a right to hold rallies to protest on political grounds, but you
don't have a right to mistreat individuals by discriminating on their religious views.
<p>
To judge from this description, that kind of protest also commits the wrong of distorting reproach
for Israel's practices into antisemitism.  Antisemitism, like other bigotry, is wrong.
<p>
Whenever we criticize a country, we must be careful not to let that lead to punishing people for
having an ethnicity or religion associated with that country.
<p>
UCLA should show ways that students can stand up for their views, ways that are visible to others
using the campus, not tucked away uselessly, but without blocking them.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#16_August_2024_(Google_as_a_monopoly;_now_what_)
title: Google as a monopoly; now what?
uri: Google-as-a-monopoly-now-what
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#16_August_2024_(Google_as_a_monopoly;_now_what_)
content:
 
<p>
A US court found Google to be a monopoly, but its supposed "remedy",
constrained by US antitrust law, would make things much worse.
It is considering forcing Google to
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/article/2024/aug/14/google-antitrust-monopoly-ruling">spin
off Android and Chrome</a>.
<p>
Chrome is nonfree, and Android includes crucial 
<a href="https://www.gnu.org/proprietary/proprietary.html">nonfree</a> components.
Nonetheless, from Chromium and the free parts of Android we can run systems that are 
<a href="https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html">free</a> and safe to use.
(True, for Replicant we face the challenge of drivers).
I fear that spinning those systems off would lead to making them totally proprietary in the future.
<p>
Meanwhile, that would not stop Google from doing nasty things with its 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2020-may-aug.html#10_August_2020_(Google_Nest_is_taking_over_the_security_company_ADT)">online dis-services</a>.
<!-- a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2020-may-aug.html
#5_July_2020_(Tim_Bray_recommends_how_to_split_up_Google)"-->

<p>
 


title: Redoing HAMAS-agreed ceasefire, ISR, US
uri: Redoing-HAMAS-agreed-ceasefire-ISR-US
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#16_August_2024_(Redoing_HAMAS-agreed_ceasefire,_ISR,_US)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#16_August_2024_(Redoing_HAMAS-agreed_ceasefire,_ISR,_US)

content:
 
<p>
Biden announced a cease fire plan in June, and HAMAS accepted it, but Israel rejected it.  HAMAS now
says it will still accept the July plan, but rejects changes Biden is privately proposing and will
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/14/hamas-unlikely-to-participate-in-new-round-of-gaza-ceasefire-talks">not
join negotiations</a> based on those changes.
<p>
*Gaza ceasefire talks are on their last legs, and
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/aug/14/netanyahu-israel-gaza-ceasefire">Benjamin
Netanyahu is to blame</a>.*

<p>
 


title: Gazans as Israeli army's human-shields
uri: Gazans-as-Israeli-army-s-human-shields
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#16_August_2024_(Gazans_as_Israeli_army's_human-shields)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#16_August_2024_(Gazans_as_Israeli_army's_human-shields)

content:
 
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/14/israeli-forces-in-gaza-use-civilians-as-human-shields-against-possible-booby-traps">Israelis accuse the army</a>
of using civilians in Gaza as human shields.


<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#17_August_2024_(Polio_in_vivo,_Gaza)
title: Polio in vivo, Gaza
uri: Polio-in-vivo-Gaza
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#17_August_2024_(Polio_in_vivo,_Gaza)
content:
 
<p>
*Gaza sees first polio case in 25 years as
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/16/gaza-sees-first-polio-case-in-25-years-as-un-calls-for-mass-vaccinations">UN
calls for mass vaccinations</a>.*

<p>
 


title: Judged innocent, denied prison-exit, FL
uri: Judged-innocent-denied-prison-exit-FL
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#17_August_2024_(Judged_innocent,_denied_prison-exit,_FL)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#17_August_2024_(Judged_innocent,_denied_prison-exit,_FL)

content:
 
<p>
Krishna Maharaj convinced a judge to rule he was innocent of murder, but Florida officials would not
let him out of prison. 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/13/final-wish-comes-true-for-british-trinidadian-kris-maharaj-jailed-for-38-years-in-us-for-murders-he-denied">He has died there</a>.
<p>
A person can become sentimentally attached to anything, but this miscarriage of justice was real,
not merely sentiment in other people's minds.  It called for redress in reality, not merely in
sentiment.  And it calls for changing the system so it won't do that again to someone else.

<p>
 


title: Innocent, spent 25 years in prison, MI
uri: Innocent-spent-25-years-in-prison-MI
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#17_August_2024_(Innocent,_spent_25_years_in_prison,_MI)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#17_August_2024_(Innocent,_spent_25_years_in_prison,_MI)

content:
 
<p>
*<a href="https://otherwords.org/a-false-accusation-put-me-in-prison-a-safety-net-could-have-kept-me-out/">A
Simple Safety Net</a> Could Keep People Like Me out of Prison.*
<p>
It used to be that if you got out of prison, most ways to make a new start were still open to you.
Nowadays, in the US, most avenues to having a decent life are explicitly forever barred to you.
Thanks to "tough on crime" politicians, more interested in showing they are tough than on avoiding
future crime, we have a system designed, in effect, to ensure that former criminals never go
straight.

<p>
 


title: Violence, homicides down in US cities
uri: Violence-homicides-down-in-US-cities
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#17_August_2024_(Violence,_homicides_down_in_US_cities)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#17_August_2024_(Violence,_homicides_down_in_US_cities)

content:
 
<p>
Violent crime in the US in
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/13/violent-crime-homicide-decrease-large-cities">Jan-June
2024</a> is around 5% less than the previous year.  Homicides dropped around 15%.  (These estimates
do not have accuracy within 1%, so I have rounded each to the nearest multiple of 5%.)
<p>
[begin irony] Eventually right-wingers and bigots will have no one to
help them out. [end irony]

<p>
 


title: Newspaper-raid police-chief charged, KS
uri: Newspaper-raid-police-chief-charged-KS
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#17_August_2024_(Newspaper-raid_police-chief_charged,_KS)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#17_August_2024_(Newspaper-raid_police-chief_charged,_KS)

content:
 
<p>
*Ex-Kansas police chief
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/13/marion-county-police-newspaper-raid-charges">who
raided local newspaper</a> criminally charged.*

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#17_August_2024_(Cop_who_shot_her_charged,_OH)
title: Cop who shot her charged, OH
uri: Cop-who-shot-her-charged-OH
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#17_August_2024_(Cop_who_shot_her_charged,_OH)
content:
 
<p>
An Ohio <a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#thug">thug</a> has been charged with murder for
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/13/ohio-police-shooting-officer">shooting
a woman dead</a>.
<p>
Shoplifting is not a violent or dangerous act, so the suspicion of shoplifting was no grounds for
shooting Ms Young.  I do wonder how fast her car was moving and whether he could get out of the way.
If it was no real danger to him, that too was not grounds for shooting her; he should have got out
of the way and followed her.
<p>
I wonder why there are four charges of murder when only one person was killed.  I hope it does not
reflect the fanatical claim
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2023-jan-apr.html#25_February_2023_(Lawyer_argues_fetus_victim_of_unlawful_and_illegal_detention)">that
 a fetus is a person</a>.  Please do not give any sympathy to that scheme to eliminate abortion
 rights.
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/article/2024/aug/13/iranian-woman-reportedly-paralysed-in-shooting-over-alleged-hijab-law-violation">In
Iran, the fanatics</a> shoot women in their cars for "crimes" of disobedience to religion.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#17_August_2024_(Urgent:_Justice_in_Policing_Act)
title: Urgent: Justice in Policing Act
uri: Urgent-Justice-in-Policing-Act
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#17_August_2024_(Urgent:_Justice_in_Policing_Act)
content:
 
<p>
US citizens: call on Congress to pass the
<a href="https://action.aclu.org/send-message/tell-congress-end-police-violence?initms_aff=nat&initms_chan=eml&utm_medium=eml&initms=adv-na-sail-gradead-nat-240809_messageaction-criminallaw-policing-na">George
Floyd Justice in Policing Act</a>
<p>
Side issue: I've been convinced that it is a bad practice in general to name laws, either officially
or unofficially, after prominent victims of a harmful practice to be prevented in the future.  A law
is meant to be a better rule for society, not a memorial to a person.
<p>
If you phone, please spread the word!                              
Main Switchboard: <a href="tel:+12022243121">+1-202-224-3121</a>

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#17_August_2024_(Workplace_heat_exposure)
title: Workplace heat exposure
uri: Workplace-heat-exposure
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#17_August_2024_(Workplace_heat_exposure)
content:
 
<p>
Workers in many US cities have organized "Heat Week" to demand
measures to
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/13/workers-protections-heat-week">help
them avoid death</a> from dangerously hot weather.
<p>
Such regulations will help for a time, but if we keep burning too much fossil fuel and making
Earth's average surface temperature
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2017-sep-dec.html#8_December_2017_(Steady_heating)">ever
hotter</a>, they will eventually overcome our resistance.  The only method that will continue to
work is to curb <a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#global%20heating">global heating</a>.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#17_August_2024_(Urgent:_DOJ:_prosecute_big_oil)
title: Urgent: DOJ: prosecute big oil
uri: Urgent-DOJ-prosecute-big-oil
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#17_August_2024_(Urgent:_DOJ:_prosecute_big_oil)
content:
 
<p>
US citizens:
<a href="https://actionnetwork.org/forms/doj-prosecute-big-oil?nowrapper=true&referrer=group-social-security-works&source=group-social-security-works">call
on the Department of Justice</a> to prosecute big oil.



<p>
 


title: Urgent: overturn "Citizens" United decision
uri: 2024-08-19-Urgent-overturn-Citizens-United-decision
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#18_August_2024_(Urgent:_overturn_Citizens_United_decision)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#18_August_2024_(Urgent:_overturn_Citizens_United_decision)

content:
 
<p>
US citizens: call on Congress to <a href="https://civicshout.com/p/tell-congress-overturn-citizens-united?ref=5QCFYVw&link_id=2&can_id=8b24519448cbedadde1c8a966f94caad&source=email-sign-the-petition-telling-congress-pass-legislationincluding-if-necessary-a-constitutional-amendmentto-overturn-the-citizens-united-decision&email_referrer=email_2414994&email_subject=sign-if-you-agree-overturn-citizens-united">overturn the "Citizens" United
decision</a>.
<p>
If you phone, please spread the word!                              
Main Switchboard: <a href="tel:+12022243121">+1-202-224-3121</a>


<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#18_August_2024_(Urgent:_invest_in_community_safety)
title: Urgent: invest in community safety
uri: Urgent-invest-in-community-safety
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#18_August_2024_(Urgent:_invest_in_community_safety)
content:
 
<p>
US citizens: call on governments to <a href="https://action.aclu.org/petition/invest-community-safety-reduce-reliance-police-and-punishment?initms_aff=nat&initms_chan=eml&utm_medium=eml&initms=adv-na-sail-gradead-nat-240812_petition-criminallaw-policing-na&utm_source=sail&utm_campaign=na&utm_content=adv-na-sail-gradead-nat-240812_petition-criminallaw-policing-na&af=Yb3AJIpkvnwkl6wKwyjELOdf4si7cdbi9GZnigtn2XsinkZMgW%2FlaHLUPy6o6RIvbf5eXPI4VQ9MCb7u6csUcuJHGCwdsf%2FEkhq8Oy%2FiV2Y%2FVM5bOih%2FHmQmLg9UcJwBelZFsSGw38zZwE5iPDbe8SiTlCng7MmoxLHWel8aL4o%3D&gs=2S0HNICAbmtrqPM4MuEhLoyoTst%2BFzjD3IuvTxPYPzHzPb4n%2Bu10adDHhQUMKY4I&ms_aff=nat&ms_chan=eml&ms=adv-na-sail-gradead-nat-240812_petition-criminallaw-policing-na">invest in community safety, and
reduce reliance on police and punishment</a>.
<p>
If you phone, please spread the word!
Your state governor's phone number is at
<a href="https://www.usa.gov/state-governor">USA.gov</a>


<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#18_August_2024_(Urgent:_National_parks)
title: Urgent: National parks
uri: 2024-08-19-Urgent-National-parks
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#18_August_2024_(Urgent:_National_parks)
content:
 
<p>
US citizens: call on Congress to <a href="https://actionnetwork.org/forms/tell-congress-save-our-national-parks?nowrapper=true&referrer=group-left-click-2&source=direct_link">take care of US national parks</a>.
<p>
If you phone, please spread the word!                              
Main Switchboard: <a href="tel:+12022243121">+1-202-224-3121</a>


<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#18_August_2024_(Bartov_wrote_how_Israel_changed)
title: Bartov wrote how Israel changed
uri: Bartov-wrote-how-Israel-changed
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#18_August_2024_(Bartov_wrote_how_Israel_changed)
content:
 
<p>
Omer Bartov, Israeli historian living for 25 years in the US, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/13/israel-gaza-historian-omer-bartov">writes
about how Israel has changed</a>.
<p>
<blockquote>*As a former IDF soldier and historian of genocide, I was
deeply disturbed by my recent visit to Israel.* He describes an
Israeli people that has come to see peace as unthinkable.  That was
not so before.</blockquote>
<p>
He cited his previous publication in November:
<blockquote>*We know from history that it is crucial to warn of the
potential for genocide before it occurs, rather than belatedly condemn
it after it has taken place. I think we still have that
time.*</blockquote>
<p>
But then he said, 
<blockquote>*I no longer believe that. By the time I travelled to
Israel, I had become convinced that at least since the attack by the
IDF on Rafah on 6 May 2024, it was no longer possible to deny that
Israel was engaged in systematic war crimes, crimes against humanity
and genocidal actions.*</blockquote>

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#18_August_2024_(Tim_Walz)
title: Tim Walz
uri: Tim-Walz
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#18_August_2024_(Tim_Walz)
content:
 
<p>
Tim Walz taught in a high school in China, and brought American
students to see China -- and he taught them about <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/13/tim-walz-kamala-harris-vp-china-us-election-donald-trump">the massacre of students
that set up a small version of the Statue of Liberty in Beijing</a>.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#18_August_2024_(Gaza_school_bombings)
title: Gaza school bombings
uri: Gaza-school-bombings
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#18_August_2024_(Gaza_school_bombings)
content:
 
<p>
The UN Human Rights Office (UNHCR) recorded <a href="https://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/un-human-rights-office-opt-un-human-rights-office-condemns-israeli-defense-forces-strike-al-tabaeen-school-gaza-city">21 Gaza schools bombed
from July 4 through Aug 10</a>.
<p>
I don't think this was a matter of chance.

<p>
 


title: Election saboteurs in state offices
uri: Election-saboteurs-in-state-offices
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#18_August_2024_(Election_saboteurs_in_state_offices)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#18_August_2024_(Election_saboteurs_in_state_offices)

content:
 
<p>
Around <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/13/us-election-2020-certification-refuse">36 potential Republican election saboteurs</a> are still in state
offices.

<p>
 


title: Miami teachers union vs. trojan horse
uri: Miami-teachers-union-vs-trojan-horse
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#18_August_2024_(Miami_teachers_union_vs._trojan_horse)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#18_August_2024_(Miami_teachers_union_vs._trojan_horse)

content:
 
<p>
Miami public school teachers have been compelled to https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2024/08/13/which-side-are-you-on-miami-teachers-will-choose-between-their-union-and-a-new-one-bankrolled-by-a-national-anti-union-group/vote to choose
between their existing union and a trojan horse union set up by
right-wing plutocrats</a>.
<p>
I call it a "trojan horse" because it is the work of a campaign to
abolish unions for teachers and public workers,  Whatever it may
offer them, it is a trap.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#18_August_2024_(WHO_PFA_guidelines)
title: WHO PFAS guidelines
uri: WHO-PFAS-guidelines
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#18_August_2024_(WHO_PFA_guidelines)
content:
 
<p>
WHO says that its weak standards for two PFAS were <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/13/world-health-organization-pfas-drinking-water-health-guidelines">meant to head off
adequate standards, and were drawn up by people corrupted by industry</a>.  It plans to eliminate them and start over.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#18_August_2024_(Canada_debt_bondage)
title: Canada debt bondage
uri: Canada-debt-bondage
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#18_August_2024_(Canada_debt_bondage)
content:
 
<p>
A UN special rapporteur judges Canada's temporary foreign worker
program to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/13/canada-foreign-workers-un-report">promote debt bondage</a>.
Also, he found that workers are subject to many of the usual kinds
of abuses; some of those abuses are illegal, but there is insufficient
effort to prevent them.
<p>
Side issue: every time I see the term "global south" it strikes me as
gratuitous geographical error.  Mexico, Guatemala and Jamaica are all
far north of the equator.  The significant issue that these countries
have in country is that they are poor enough that their people suffer,
but developed enough for their workers to be useful in wealthier
countries.


<p>
 


title: Suspended student protesters suing UCI
uri: Suspended-student-protesters-suing-UCI
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#17_August_2024_(Student_protesters_suspended,_sueing_UCI)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#17_August_2024_(Student_protesters_suspended,_sueing_UCI)

content:
 
<p>
*Student Protesters Were Suspended With
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/08/16/uc-irvine-gaza-campus-protests-lawsuit/">No
Chance to Defend Themselves</a>.  Will Courts Return Them to Campus?*
<p>
To identify oneself "pro-Israel" or "pro-Palestine" presupposes that
one cannot be in favor of the well being of both &mdash; as I am.  I am not
anti-Israel or anti-Palestine, I am anti-war-crime.
<a href="/articles/benevolence.html">I am pro-peace and pro-coexistence</a>.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#19_August_2024_(From_the_river_to_the_sea)
title: "From the river to the sea"
uri: 2024-08-20-From-the-river-to-the-sea
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#19_August_2024_(From_the_river_to_the_sea)
content:
 
<p>
The German legal system is deliberating on the
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/aug/16/germany-free-speech-israel-gaza-war">precise
meaning</a> of the slogan, "From the river to the sea, Palestine must be free."  Specifically, is it
antisemitic?
<p>
My conclusion about the slogan is that it is not antisemitic, and does not specifically advocate
doing any harm to Jews as persons, but it does advocate the abolition of Israel.  Said abolition
might in certain circumstances be accompanied by a genocide, though in other circumstances it would not.
<p>
I don't advocate the abolition of Israel, and I do not associate with use of that slogan.  What I
advocate is a <a href="/articles/benevolence.html">free and democratic state of Palestine</a> in the
region alongside Israel.  I have
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2012-sep-dec.html#29_November_2012_(Why_Israel_didn't_win_the_short_war)">advocated
that</a> for many years.  Of course, this is easier said than done.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#19_August_2024_(Democracy_in_the_USA)
title: Democracy in the USA
uri: Democracy-in-the-USA
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#19_August_2024_(Democracy_in_the_USA)
content:
 
<p>
*Is the US Still a Democracy?
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/bernie-sanders-interview">'Yes and No</a>,' Says Bernie
Sanders.  "I use the term oligarchy... I think we are moving rapidly in that direction."*
<p>
I have said basically the same thing for many years, except that I prefer the word "plutocracy".
The two words have a subtle difference but they are mostly the same.
<p>
There is no sharp line between a democracy, a degraded democracy such as the US is now, and a
plutocracy.  Rather, it is a spectrum.  But if we take his issue seriously we must campaign to
reduce the extent of plutocracy.
<p>
US democracy is also threatened currently by authoritarian extremism (led by 
<a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#corrupter">the corrupter</a>).  That
and plutocracy are different currents but they work together.
<p>
Is US democracy doomed?  I don't know.  What I know is that throwing in the towel is foolish because
it guarantees defeat.

<p>
 


title: Wildfires reaching Athens, GRC
uri: Wildfires-reaching-Athens-GRC
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#19_August_2024_(Wildfires_reached_Athens_suburbs,_GRC)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#19_August_2024_(Wildfires_reached_Athens_suburbs,_GRC)

content:
 
<p>
Spreading fires burnt the northwest suburbs of Athens. 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/16/the-new-reality-athens-wildfire-victims-vow-to-adapt-and-stay-put">Many
houses</a> were destroyed.
<p>
There have always been fires in rural areas that took many days to
control, but we have come to expect that the modern state can protect
cities from such fires.  That can no longer be assumed.  Global
heating produces higher temperatures, and in some places more aridity,
and those combine to enable fires to overwhelm defense.
<p>
Coming sooner or later to a city near you &mdash; unless we curb
<a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#global%20heating">global heating</a>.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#19_August_2024_(World's_outdoor-work_heat_laws)
title: World's outdoor-work heat laws
uri: World-s-outdoor-work-heat-laws
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#19_August_2024_(World's_outdoor-work_heat_laws)
content:
 
<p>
Medical effects of heat cause
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/aug/16/heat-inequality-causing-thousands-of-unreported-deaths-in-poor-countries">tens
or hundreds of thousands of deaths</a> per year.  Often there is no record that attributes a death
to heat.  In poor countries, especially, no one is likely to determine that a poor person's death
was due to heat.

<p>
 


title: Report on past violent repression, MEX
uri: Report-on-past-violent-repression-MEX
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#19_August_2024_(Report_on_past_violent_repression,_MEX)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#19_August_2024_(Report_on_past_violent_repression,_MEX)

content:
 
<p>
*Inquiry into Mexico's [deadly repression from 1965 to 1990]
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/16/mexico-dirty-war-military-abuses-amlo">obstructed by military</a>
and other agencies, board says.*
<p>
This repression included the
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tlatelolco_massacre">Tlotelolco massacre</a> in which
soldiers secretly posted by the president in a nearby large building shot a crowd of protesting
students down below.
<p>
There were, of course, cops outside that were sent officially to control the protest &mdash; but those
cops were not the ones that opened fire.  ISTR hearing that the hidden soldiers shot at them so that
they would shoot "back" at the only possible visible enemy.


<p>
 


title: Unchained billionaires opt to sow chaos
uri: Unchained-billionaires-opt-to-sow-chaos
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#19_August_2024_(Unchained_billionaires_opt_to_sow_chaos)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#19_August_2024_(Unchained_billionaires_opt_to_sow_chaos)

content:
 
<p>
*Inciting rioters in Britain was a test run for Elon Musk. Just see what he
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/aug/18/inciting-rioters-in-britain-was-a-test-run-for-elon-musk-just-see-what-he-plans-for-america">plans
for America</a>.*
<p>
We should not suffer anything like today's antisocial media platforms to live.  But what is the
crucial aspect that we must make them change?  I suggest that it is that they run recommendation
engines and impose them on every user.
<p>
We can't be sure that
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jan-apr.html#7_February_2024_(Misogynistic_messages)">changing
this</a> would correct the danger, but unless we have a better idea, we should try it.

<p>
 


title: Urgent: Protect ongoing antitrust agenda
uri: Urgent-Protect-ongoing-antitrust-agenda
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#19_August_2024_(Urgent:_Protect_ongoing_antitrust_agenda)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#19_August_2024_(Urgent:_Protect_ongoing_antitrust_agenda)

content:
 
<p>
US citizens:
<a href="https://invidio.us/watch?v=J7ZdU-1fF8g">Protect</a> the Biden-Harris
<a href="https://actionnetwork.org/forms/biden-harris-antitrust-agenda?nowrapper=true&referrer=group-bowers-news-media-main-list&source=group-bowers-news-media-main-list">
Antitrust Agenda.</a>

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#19_August_2024_(How_RFK_is_seeking_political_power)
title: How RFK is seeking political power
uri: How-RFK-is-seeking-political-power
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#19_August_2024_(How_RFK_is_seeking_political_power)
content:
 
<p>
After RFK Jr tried to corrupt <a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#corrupter">the corruptor</a>,
he reportedly tried corrupting Kamala Harris the same way &mdash; he would endorse her
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/15/rfk-jr-kamala-harris-cabinet-job-reports">in
exchange for a cabinet job</a>.
<p>
The reports say she made no reply to him.
<p>
How pitiful it is to try to sell out and find that what you're selling is not worth anything.

<p>
 


title: Urgent: deceptive practices on the young
uri: Urgent-deceptive-practices-on-the-young
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#19_August_2024_(Urgent:_deceptive_practices_on_the_young)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#19_August_2024_(Urgent:_deceptive_practices_on_the_young)

content:
 
<p>
US citizens:
<a href="https://actionnetwork.org/forms/ban-police-deception?nowrapper=true&referrer=group-rashida-tlaib-for-congress&source=group-rashida-tlaib-for-congress">call
on Congress</a> to ban <a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#thug">thugs'</a> use of deception
to trick minors into false confessions.
<p>
I signed the petition but we should go further.  Many adults are vulnerable to pressure to make
false confessions, and those are unjust no matter who is the victim.  We should adopt this measure
regardless of who the victim is.
<p>
If you phone, please spread the word!                              
Main Switchboard: <a href="tel:+12022243121">+1-202-224-3121</a>

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#19_August_2024_(Large_family_mostly-killed,_Gaza)
title: Large family mostly-killed, Gaza
uri: Large-family-mostly-killed-Gaza
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#19_August_2024_(Large_family_mostly-killed,_Gaza)
content:
 
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/18/family-killed-israeli-strike-gaza">Israeli
bombing</a> killed 18 people in the same family at once.
<p>
Families tend to stick together when they flee in search of safety.  So if you make a habit of
bombing places where hundreds of civilians are sheltering, and sometimes killing dozens of them, by
chance sometimes the many civilians you kill will include a dozen or two from one family.
<p>
Whether the victims are related is not morally crucial.  The war crime consists of bombing a place
where there are many civilians.  Related or not, civilians are not a legitimate target.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#19_August_2024_(Jewish-settler_pogrom,_West_Bank)
title: Jewish-settler pogrom, West Bank
uri: Jewish-settler-pogrom-West-Bank
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#19_August_2024_(Jewish-settler_pogrom,_West_Bank)
content:
 
<p>
Fanatical "settlers"
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/15/one-palestinian-killed-as-violent-israeli-settlers-launch-fresh-attack-on-west-bank-village">carried
out another pogrom</a> in the West Bank, but this time the president of Israel called it "a pogrom"
and officials have said they will arrest and try the perpetrators.
<p>
This might be a significant change.  We can't take that for granted, and it would be only a first
step.  But we can hope that it is real, and we can encourage that.

<p>
 


title: Weapons for US-law-violator Israel?
uri: Weapons-for-US-law-violator-Israel
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#19_August_2024_(Weapons_for_US-law-violator_Israel_)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#19_August_2024_(Weapons_for_US-law-violator_Israel_)

content:
 
<p>
The US president can cut off arms shipments to Israel without any help
from Congress.  He can do this by enforcing two existing laws, which
forbid arms deliveries to countries that (1) violate the
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#28_June_2024_(Pier_failure)">rules of war</a>
or (2) block delivery of
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jan-apr.html#29_March_2024_(US_abstained_on_vote_for_ceasefire_for_Ramadan)">US humanitarian aid</a>.

<p>
 


title: Urgent: Financing Netanyahu's Gaza-war
uri: Urgent-Financing-Netanyahu-s-Gaza-war
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#19_August_2024_(Urgent:_Financing_Netanyahu's_Gaza-war)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#19_August_2024_(Urgent:_Financing_Netanyahu's_Gaza-war)

content:
 
<p>
US citizens:
<a href="https://act.ourrevolution.com/signup/end-weapons-sales-israel/&rd=1&source=email-20240814&t=1012">Stand
with Bernie Sanders</a>: Not another nickel for Netanyahu's war.  End U.S. funding and weapons sales
to Israel.
<p>
If you phone, please spread the word!                              
Main Switchboard: <a href="tel:+12022243121">+1-202-224-3121</a>

<p>
 


title: How US abortion-policy spreads globally
uri: How-US-abortion-policy-spreads-globally
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#19_August_2024_(How_US_abortion-policy_spreads_globally)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#19_August_2024_(How_US_abortion-policy_spreads_globally)

content:
 
<p>
<a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#wrecker">The wrecker</a> could harm abortion rights
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/article/2024/aug/16/global-health-charities-warning-threat-global-gag-rule-abortion-rights-family-planning-women-trump-project-2025">in
many countries</a> if he seizes the US presidency again.
<p>
(I don't say "wins" because
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2017-may-aug.html#8_July_2017_(Mass_Voter_Suppression)">Republicans are constantly</a>
trying to
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives//2021-sep-dec.html#20_November_2021_(Gerrymandering)">rig elections</a>.)

<p>
 


title: Urgent: Biden's constitutional amendment
uri: Urgent-Biden-s-constitutional-amendment
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#19_August_2024_(Urgent:_Biden's_Constitutional_ammendment)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#19_August_2024_(Urgent:_Biden's_Constitutional_ammendment)

content:
 
<p>
US citizens: support Biden's proposal for a
<a href="https://actionnetwork.org/forms/no-one-is-above-the-law-amend?nowrapper=true&referrer=group-just-strategy&source=group-just-strategy">"No
One Is Above the Law</a>" amendment.
<p>
If you phone, please spread the word!
White House: <a href="tel:+12024561111">+1-202-456-1111</a> and (TTY/TDD) +1-202-456-6213

<p>
 


title: Urgent: 2001 AUMF secretive overreach
uri: Urgent-2001-AUMF-secretive-overreach
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#19_August_2024_(Urgent:_2001_AUMF_secrative_overreach)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#19_August_2024_(Urgent:_2001_AUMF_secrative_overreach)

content:
 
<p>
US citizens:
<a href="https://actionnetwork.org/forms/no-more-endless-wars?nowrapper=true">call on Congress</a>
to repeal of the Authorization for Use of Military Force.
<p>
If you phone, please spread the word!                              
Main Switchboard: <a href="tel:+12022243121">+1-202-224-3121</a>

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#19_August_2024_((Satire)_God_as_The_Infallibile)
title: (Satire) God as The Infallible
uri: (Satire)-God-as-The-Infallible
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#19_August_2024_((Satire)_God_as_The_Infallibile)
content:
 
<p>
*Newly Sober God Admits He Has No Recollection Of
<a href="https://theonion.com/newly-sober-god-admits-he-has-no-recollection-of-creati-1851620885/">Creating Universe</a>.*



<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#20_August_2024_(2023-heat_alarms,_baffles_experts)
title: 2023-heat alarms, baffles experts
uri: 2023-heat-alarms-baffles-experts
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#20_August_2024_(2023-heat_alarms,_baffles_experts)
content:
 
<p>
<!---->Global heating has been
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/aug/15/we-should-have-better-answers-by-now-climate-scientists-baffled-by-unexpected-pace-of-heating">advancing
faster than models predicted</a>.  Some scientists are concerned that Earth has moved beyond the
region of climate space that the models work in.
<p>
So it looks like <a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#global%20heating">global heating</a>
will be worse than predicted.
<p>
Earth's weather is a chaotic system.  Some of that mathematical chaos may get into the climate too.
There are plenty of positive feedbacks that could be taking over.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#20_August_2024_(Overheated_cites_coping_techniques)
title: Overheated cities' coping techniques
uri: Overheated-cities-coping-techniques
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#20_August_2024_(Overheated_cites_coping_techniques)
content:
 
<p>
*With modern solutions such as air-con aggravating the problem, ancient
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/aug/15/cities-are-tackling-growing-heat-but-they-have-to-avoid-a-dangerous-trap">heat-management
techniques</a> can offer answers.*

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#20_August_2024_(Shell_deep_in_Project_2025_ilk)
title: Shell deep in Project 2025 ilk
uri: Shell-deep-in-Project-2025-ilk
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#20_August_2024_(Shell_deep_in_Project_2025_ilk)
content:
 
<p>
<p>
*Shell oil non-profit donated to
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/15/shell-oil-project-2025-climate-crisis">anti-climate
groups</a> behind Project 2025.
<p>
Foundation says it ‘does not endorse any organizations’ while funneling hundreds of thousands to
rightwing causes.*
<p>
It also donated to the <a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#heatland">Heatland Institute</a>,
which campaigns to protect <a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#global%20heating">global
heating</a> and keep it going.

<p>
 


title: Myriad victims petition DOJ on Big Oil
uri: Myriad-victims-petition-DOJ-on-Big-Oil
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#20_August_2024_(Myriad_victims_petition_DOJ_on_Big_Oil)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#20_August_2024_(Myriad_victims_petition_DOJ_on_Big_Oil)

content:
 
<p>
*Survivors of [fossil fuel] disasters
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/15/climate-disaster-survivors-letter-big-oil-crimes">demand
US inquiry</a> into big oil's "climate crimes."*
They include spreading misinformation about <a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#global%20heating">global heating</a> and its causes.

<p>
 


title: Protesters glued to airport runways, DEU
uri: Protesters-glued-to-airport-runways-DEU
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#20_August_2024_(Protesters_glued_to_airport_runways,_DEU)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#20_August_2024_(Protesters_glued_to_airport_runways,_DEU)

content:
 
<p>
*German climate activists
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/15/german-climate-activists-breach-four-airport-sites-halting-air-traffic">stop
air traffic</a> after breaking into four airport sites.*
<p>
These protests may be dangerous, but not as dangerous as the failure to curb
<a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#global%20heating">global heating</a>.  Is it
stupid to try this method when gentler ones don't serve?

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#20_August_2024_(POWs_pile_up_in_Kursk,_RUS)
title: POWs pile up in Kursk, RUS
uri: POWs-pile-up-in-Kursk-RUS
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#20_August_2024_(POWs_pile_up_in_Kursk,_RUS)
content:
 
<p>
Ukraine's army in the Kursk region is taking many prisoners;
they say Putin's conscripts often
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/18/more-150-russians-captured-some-days-incursion-ukraine-official">
don't want to fight</a>.
<p>
It makes sense that they don't; so when Zelenskiy says that prisoners of war become part of the
"exchange fund" to swap for Putin's Ukrainian prisoners, that creates a moral quandary.  If a Putin
forces soldier surrenders in order to get out of the
<a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#putinforces">Putin forces</a>, swapping him back to Putin
would spoil the point of his surrender.
<p>
Does Ukraine give each prisoner the option <em>not</em> to be traded?


<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#21_August_2024_(gonorrhoea_drug_resistance)
title: Drug-resistant STD
uri: Drug-resistant-STD
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#21_August_2024_(gonorrhoea_drug_resistance)
content:
 
<p>
*Gonorrhoea getting more drug-resistant and 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/article/2024/aug/15/gonorrhoea-getting-more-drug-resistant-and-may-become-untreatable">"may become untreatable."*</a>

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#21_August_2024_(bangladesh_sheikh_michael_chakma)
title: Michael Chakma, BGD
uri: Michael-Chakma-BGD
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#21_August_2024_(bangladesh_sheikh_michael_chakma)
content:
 
<p>
Sheikh Hasina imprisoned many oppositions incommunicado.
Their families had heard no word of them for years and gave them
up for dead. 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/article/2024/aug/15/bangladesh-sheikh-hasina-michael-chakma-disappeared">Now it seems some are alive and will be freed.</a>

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#21_August_2024_(kenya_protests_disappearances)
title: Kenya’s protests
uri: Kenya-s-protests
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#21_August_2024_(kenya_protests_disappearances)
content:
 
<p>
Kenya is 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/15/kenya-protests-disappearances">disappearing protesters.</a>

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#21_August_2024_(climate_activist_sign)
title: Charges dropped against sign-holder, UK
uri: Charges-dropped-against-sign-holder-UK
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#21_August_2024_(climate_activist_sign)
content:
 
<p>
The UK government has dropped its appeal of  a court's dismissal of charges
against a protester who reminded the public of juror's absolute right to 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/law/article/2024/aug/15/government-drops-appeal-over-climate-activist-who-held-sign-outside-uk-court">vote to acquit any accused.</a>

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#21_August_2024_(UK_media_sting_ops:_Project_2025)
title: UK media sting ops: Project 2025
uri: UK-media-sting-ops-Project-2025
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#21_August_2024_(UK_media_sting_ops:_Project_2025)
content:
 
<p>
Russell Vought, one of the authors of Project 2025, had a conversaion with a right-wing supporter
from a wealthy family, or so he thought; but <a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#perse">perse</a>
was really a British journalist who recorded the whole conversation.
<p>
In the recording, Vought claimed that
<a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#bullshitter">the bullshitter</a> was lying when he said that
<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/15/politics/russ-vought-project-2025-trump-secret-recording-invs/index.html">Project
2025 has nothing to do with him</a>.  Which one was lying &mdash; 
<a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#corrupter">the corrupter</a> or Vought?  We can't
tell a priori, since Vought seems to approve of lying for political victory.  But since many of his
close supporters believe Project 2025 is for him, I think that he told them it was.

<p>
 


title: "Normal politics" as a 1945-75 anomaly
uri: Normal-politics-as-a-1945-75-anomaly
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#21_August_2024_(Normal_politics_as_a_1945-75_anomaly)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#21_August_2024_(Normal_politics_as_a_1945-75_anomaly)

content:
 
<p>
George Monbiot contrasts politics we learned to expect in the democratic world from 1945 to 1975 with
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/jun/27/oligarchs-democracies-britain-1945-economic-powers">the
true normal</a> of history.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#21_August_2024_(Oligarchy_vs_the_masses)
title: Oligarchy vs the masses, UK, US
uri: Oligarchy-vs-the-masses-UK-US
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#21_August_2024_(Oligarchy_vs_the_masses)
content:
 
<p>
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2023-jan-apr.html#26_April_2023_(The_billionaire_moniker_as_a_slur)">Billionaires</a>
have
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2023-may-aug.html#1_August_2023_(Arguments_for_the_OLIGARCH_Act)">concentrated wealth</a>.
<p>
Any party that tries to woo right-wing voters by
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/jun/13/keir-starmer-uk-election-labour-manifesto">promising
not to raise taxes</a> has made a choice not to address those issues.  By making this choice for
Labour, Starmer has ruined it.
<p>
Many Britons supported the Labour Party precisely because its goal was to do something about that.
It rejected Communism, but advocated an increased level of Socialism.  Now Starmer thinks to drag
them along for lack of a better alternative.

<p>
 


title: Urgent: Protect the Right of Organizing
uri: 2024-08-22-Urgent-Protect-the-Right-of-Organizing
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#21_August_2024_(Urgent:_Protect_the_Right_of_Organizing)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#21_August_2024_(Urgent:_Protect_the_Right_of_Organizing)

content:
 
<p>
US citizens:
<a href="https://actionnetwork.org/forms/its-time-for-congress-to-put-workers-first-and-pass-the-pro-act-now?nowrapper=true&referrer=group-afr-advocacy-fund-c4&source=group-afr-advocacy-fund-c4">call
on Congress</a> to pass the PRO Act, to help workers unionize.
<p>
If you phone, please spread the word!                              
Main Switchboard: <a href="tel:+12022243121">+1-202-224-3121</a>

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#21_August_2024_(Homelessness_study,_U_of_C)
title: Homelessness study, U of C
uri: Homelessness-study-U-of-C
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#21_August_2024_(Homelessness_study,_U_of_C)
content:
 
<p>
*<a href="https://bfi.uchicago.edu/insight/research-summary/the-mortality-of-the-us-homeless-population/">The
Mortality</a> of the US Homeless Population*
<p>
The article linked to just above displays symbolic bigotry by capitalizing "black" but not "white".
(To avoid endorsing bigotry, capitalize both words or neither one.)  <a href="/bigotry.html">I
denounce bigotry</a>, and normally I will not link to articles that practice it.  But I make
exceptions for some articles because I consider them important &mdash; and I label them like this.


<p>
 


title: LLM farms as a massive electricity sink
uri: LLM-farms-as-a-massive-electricity-sink
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#21_August_2024_(LLM_farms_as_a_massive_electricity_sink)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#21_August_2024_(LLM_farms_as_a_massive_electricity_sink)

content:
 
<p>
The massive adoption of chatbots (bullshit generators often
<a href="https://gnu.org/philosophy/words-to-avoid.html#ArtificialIntelligence">referred to
misleadingly as "artificial intelligence"</a>) is
<a href="https://www.levernews.com/the-unknown-toll-of-the-ai-takeover/">greatly increasing the
demand for electric power</a>.  This in turn is increasing the use of fossil fuels and thus
accelerating climate disaster.
<p>
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#3_May_2024_(LLMs_and_web_searches)">How ironic</a>
that this is a byproduct of <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2023-may-aug.html#23_June_2023_(Chatbot_SEO,_a_spiraling_degradation)">making online</a>
services <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2023-may-aug.html#25_August_2023_(Rediculous_search_results)">function worse</a>.
<p>
The article erroneously states that neural network systems "make decisions similar to the human
brain."  Aside from the confused concepts &mdash; it makes no sense to compare a decision with a
brain &mdash; digital "neural network" systems do not work like groups of real neurons.  These
"neural networks" implement an abstraction and simplification of early theories of how real neurons
work.  They can do some useful things, but we should avoid erroneous explanations of them.


<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#22_August_2024_(ftc_ban_fake_reviews)
title: FTC Vote
uri: FTC-Vote
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#22_August_2024_(ftc_ban_fake_reviews)
content:
 
<p>
The Federal Trade Commission voted this week to ban the posting of fake
reviews by companies, and other 
<a href="https://substack.perfectunion.us/p/the-ftc-says-you-cant-buy-clout-anymore">dishonest methods of publicity.</a>

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#22_August_2024_(doctor_britain_protests_speaks_out)
title: Insulate Britain
uri: Insulate-Britain
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#22_August_2024_(doctor_britain_protests_speaks_out)
content:
 
<p>
The UK is using a bizarre excuse to suspend doctors' right to practice
medicine for participating in nonviolent protests against a 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/aug/17/doctor-struck-off-insulate-britain-protests-speaks-out">long-term
threat to everyone's health.</a>
<p>
It is based on the claim that patients are likely to distrust all
doctors because of those doctors involvement in protests which have
been criminalized.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#22_August_2024_(iaea_inspectors_zaporizhzhia)
title: Nuclear plant deteriorating
uri: Nuclear-plant-deteriorating
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#22_August_2024_(iaea_inspectors_zaporizhzhia)
content:
 
<p>
IAEA inspectors at Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant,
occupied by the Putin forces since 2022, report 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/17/safety-at-ukraines-zaporizhzhia-nuclear-plant-deteriorating-iaea-warns">frequently hearing
fighting nearby.</a>

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#22_August_2024_()
title: (Satire) J.D. Vance
uri: (Satire)-J-D-Vance
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#22_August_2024_()
content:
 
<p>
(satire) *J.D. Vance Accuses Tim Walz Of Stolen Valor For 
<a href="https://www.theonion.com/j-d-vance-accuses-tim-walz-of-stolen-valor-for-wearing-1851621120">Wearing
‘Grill Master’ Apron.*</a>

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#23_August_2024_(Cheater_polluting_election_info)
title: Cheater polluting election info
uri: Cheater-polluting-election-info
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#23_August_2024_(Cheater_polluting_election_info)
content:
 
<p>
The bullshitter has adopted the making of deepfakes as
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/19/trump-ai-swift-harris-musk-deepfake-images">a
new medium for bullshit</a>.

<p>
 


title: States implicated in ISR-energy embargo
uri: States-implicated-in-ISR-energy-embargo
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#23_August_2024_(States_implicated_in_ISR-energy_embargo)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#23_August_2024_(States_implicated_in_ISR-energy_embargo)

content:
 
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/20/israel-war-gaza-fuel-war-crimes-warning">*Countries
fueling Israel's Gaza war</a> may be complicit in war crimes, experts warn.*

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#23_August_2024_(Israel-arms_embargo_case,_UK)
title: Israel-arms embargo court case, UK
uri: Israel-arms-embargo-court-case-UK
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#23_August_2024_(Israel-arms_embargo_case,_UK)
content:
 
<p>
A court case in the UK seeks to
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/19/lawyers-seeking-arms-export-ban-submit-claims-israeli-war-crimes-uk-court">show
that UK law requires</a> cutting off arms exports to Israel.
<p>
Is there any chance of doing something similar in the US?

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#23_August_2024_(Mpox_development)
title: Mpox developments, DRC, KEN, RWA, UGA
uri: Mpox-developments-DRC-KEN-RWA-UGA
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#23_August_2024_(Mpox_development)
content:
 
<p>
*African health officials have appealed to the international community not to impose travel bans on
countries dealing with an outbreak of mpox, but instead to support the continent in rolling out
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/article/2024/aug/20/african-health-officials-call-for-solidarity-not-travel-bans-over-mpox-outbreak">testing
and vaccinations</a>.*
<p>
This is very wise.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#23_August_2024_(Why_July_blood_drive_faltered,_US)
title: Why July blood drive faltered, US
uri: Why-July-blood-drive-faltered-US
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#23_August_2024_(Why_July_blood_drive_faltered,_US)
content:
 
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/20/blood-shortage-summer-temperatures-extreme-heat-climate-change">Extreme
weather</a> in the US is causing a shortage of donated blood.  That can kill people, and it is just
one of many ways that the climate crisis can kill.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#23_August_2024_(Sign_carrier_pelted_at_DNC)
title: Sign carrier pelted at DNC
uri: Sign-carrier-pelted-at-DNC
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#23_August_2024_(Sign_carrier_pelted_at_DNC)
content:
 
<p>
A delegate at the DNC held up a
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/08/20/dnc-harris-gaza-uncommitted-protest/">sign saying "Stop
Arming Israel"</a>.  Other delegates near her started hitting her with their "We 💝 Joe" signs.
<p>
This was disgusting behavior, and those who attacker her should be punished for it.

<p>
 


title: Lab-grown meat ban, FL, AL, ITA, HUN
uri: Lab-grown-meat-ban-FL-AL-ITA-HUN
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#23_August_2024_(Lab-grown_meat_ban,_FL,_AL,_ITA,_HUN)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#23_August_2024_(Lab-grown_meat_ban,_FL,_AL,_ITA,_HUN)

content:
 
<p>
George Monbiot: *At the behest of
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/aug/21/livestock-lobby-lab-grown-meat-new-proteins">livestock
lobby</a> groups, lab-grown meat has been banned in Florida, Alabama, Italy and Hungary.
Politicians in France, Romania and [128] other US states are seeking to follow suit. [...] [A] new
campaign funded by the livestock industry and fronted by a former meat executive is pressing for an
EU-wide ban.*
<p>
Monbiot asserts, and this is plausible to me, that the meat industry is aiming to preemptively
prohibit an urgently needed substitute for the massive and heavily polluting farming of cattle feed.

<p>
 


title: (Satire) Jonesing for TV-news-camera fix
uri: (Satire)-Jonesing-for-TV-news-camera-fix
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#23_August_2024_((Satire)_Jonesing_for_TV-news-camera_fix)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#23_August_2024_((Satire)_Jonesing_for_TV-news-camera_fix)

content:
 
<p>
(satire) *CHICAGO—In a deliberate counter-programming effort aimed at one of the biggest weeks of
the 2024 election, [the bullshitter] reportedly hoped to disrupt the Democratic National Convention
news cycle Tuesday by
<a href="https://theonion.com/trump-hoping-to-disrupt-dnc-news-cycle-by-eating-live-rat-on-television/">eating
a live rat</a> on television.*


<p>
 


title: Voting rights playbook, US Supreme Court
uri: Voting-rights-playbook-US-Supreme-Court
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#24_August_2024_(Voting_rights_playbook,_US_Supreme_Court)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#24_August_2024_(Voting_rights_playbook,_US_Supreme_Court)

content:
 
<p>
Since 2013 the subtler right-wing members of the Supreme Court have been
<a href="https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/voting-rights-are-dying-by-a-thousand-cuts/">chipping away at voting rights</a>.

<p>
 


title: Urgent: Investigate 2015 pay-for-US-play
uri: Urgent-Investigate-2015-pay-for-US-play
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#24_August_2024_(Urgent:_Investigate_2015_pay-for-US-play)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#24_August_2024_(Urgent:_Investigate_2015_pay-for-US-play)

content:
 
<p>
US citizens:
<a href="https://actionnetwork.org/forms/investigate-trump-bribe?nowrapper=true&referrer=group-just-strategy&source=group-just-strategy">call
on Congress</a> to investigate Egypt's possible $10 million bribe to
<a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#corrupter">the corrupter</a>.
<p>
If you phone, please spread the word!                              
Main Switchboard: <a href="tel:+12022243121">+1-202-224-3121</a>

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#24_August_2024_(Urgent:_autonomous_weapons)
title: Urgent: autonomous weapons
uri: Urgent-autonomous-weapons
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#24_August_2024_(Urgent:_autonomous_weapons)
content:
 
<p>
US citizens:
<a href="https://actionnetwork.org/forms/no-ai-weapons?nowrapper=true&referrer=group-rashida-tlaib-for-congress&source=group-rashida-tlaib-for-congress">call
on Biden</a> to support a global ban on autonomous weapons systems.
<p>
If you phone, please spread the word!
White House: <a href="tel:+12024561111">+1-202-456-1111</a> and (TTY/TDD) +1-202-456-6213

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#24_August_2024_(Urgent:_Excessive_political_power)
title: Urgent: Excessive political power
uri: Urgent-Excessive-political-power
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#24_August_2024_(Urgent:_Excessive_political_power)
content:
 
<p>
US citizens:
<a href="https://act.demandprogress.org/sign/untaxed-musk-wealth/?t=1001">call on Congress</a> to
tax the rich and reduce their excessive power.
<p>
If you phone, please spread the word!                              
Main Switchboard: <a href="tel:+12022243121">+1-202-224-3121</a>

<p>
 


title: Urgent: Sanction obstructive impunity, ISR
uri: Urgent-Sanction-obstructive-impunity-ISR
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#24_August_2024_(Urgent:_Sanction_obstructive_impunity,_ISR)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#24_August_2024_(Urgent:_Sanction_obstructive_impunity,_ISR)

content:
 
<p>
US citizens:
<a href="https://act.winwithoutwar.org/go/34272?c0=condemn-torture.LP32UB&source=em20240813&t=1006">call
on Biden</a> to address allegations of rape and torture by Israeli army.
<p>
If you phone, please spread the word!
White House: <a href="tel:+12024561111">+1-202-456-1111</a> and (TTY/TDD) +1-202-456-6213


<p>
 


title: Amazon Basin drying, at tipping
uri: Amazon-Basin-drying-at-tipping
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#25_August_2024_(Amazon_slowly_drying,_tipping_imminent)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#25_August_2024_(Amazon_slowly_drying,_tipping_imminent)

content:
 
<p>
Due to <a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#global%20heating">global heating</a>,
wildfires are a threat even in
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/aug/22/brazil-sends-1400-firefighters-to-the-amazon-amid-devastating-blazes">the
Amazon rainforest</a>.

<p>
 


title: Solar vs fossil fuel: for the poor, IND
uri: Solar-vs-fossil-fuel-for-the-poor-IND
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#25_August_2024_(Solar_vs_fossil_in_desert_work,_IND)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#25_August_2024_(Solar_vs_fossil_in_desert_work,_IND)

content:
 
<p>
Solar power has
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/article/2024/aug/19/televisions-fridges-and-water-pumps-why-solar-power-means-a-brighter-future-for-gujarats-salt-farmers">cut
the cost of electricity</a> in Gujarat by 2/3, making salt extractors' lives much better as well as
less polluting.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#25_August_2024_(High-profile_conversion_to_Harris)
title: High-profile conversion to Harris
uri: High-profile-conversion-to-Harris
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#25_August_2024_(High-profile_conversion_to_Harris)
content:
 
<p>
A Conservative US judge has endorsed Harris, saying, "I am indifferent in this election on any
issues other than America’s Democracy, the Constitution, and the Rule of Law, as
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/aug/21/conservative-judge-harris-endorsement">I
believe all Americans should be</a>."

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#25_August_2024_(Stop_and_search_escapade,_UK)
title: Stop-and-search escapade, UK
uri: Stop-and-search-escapade-UK
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#25_August_2024_(Stop_and_search_escapade,_UK)
content:
 
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/law/article/2024/aug/21/stop-and-search-study-in-england-and-wales-casts-doubt-on-effectiveness">A
study of "stop and search"</a> in the UK, which means stopping people arbitrarily on the street and
searching them for no specific cause, found that it wasn't even effective for its stated purpose
(stopping knife crime).

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#25_August_2024_(RFK_drops_out_of_race)
title: RFK drops out of race
uri: RFK-drops-out-of-race
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#25_August_2024_(RFK_drops_out_of_race)
content:
 
<p>
*RFK Jr considers dropping out
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/20/rfk-jr-dropping-out-help-trump-election">to
help Trump</a>, running mate says.*
<p>
Now it is clear what side he was on all along.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#25_August_2024_(New_pun)
title: New pun
uri: 2024-08-26-New-pun
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#25_August_2024_(New_pun)
content:
 
<p>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
progressive feminist
<a href="https://stallman.org/puns.html#imam">digital Islam</a>
...

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#25_August_2024_(New_parody)
title: New parody
uri: New-parody
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#25_August_2024_(New_parody)
content:
 
<p>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
A parody of <a href="https://stallman.org/doggerel.html#lubberly">Wouldn't It Be Loverly</a>.


<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#26_August_2024_(Ignoring_plastic_maybe_perilous)
title: Ignoring plastics maybe perilous
uri: Ignoring-plastics-maybe-perilous
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#26_August_2024_(Ignoring_plastic_maybe_perilous)
content:
 
<p>
*Twenty-four [human] brain samples collected in early 2024 measured on average about
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/aug/21/microplastics-brain-pollution-health">0.5% plastic by
weight</a>.*
<p>
That is so large it astounds me.  And they are likely to cause various diseases.

<p>
 


title: Mass arrests: protesting US-ISR, Chicago
uri: Mass-arrests-protesting-US-ISR-Chicago
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#26_August_2024_(Mass_arrests:_protesting_US-ISR,_Chicago)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#26_August_2024_(Mass_arrests:_protesting_US-ISR,_Chicago)

content:
 
<p>
Chicago thugs<!----> arrested protesters rallying near the Israeli Consulate.
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/08/21/dnc-chicago-gaza-protests-arrests/">They arrested
reporters</a> covering the protest, too.
<p>
The <a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#thug">thug</a> spokesman justified the arrests with
non-sequiturs in their usual way, then made typical right-wing threats.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#26_August_2024_(profit_schemes_poors_expence)
title: Profit schemes at poors' expence
uri: Profit-schemes-at-poors-expence
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#26_August_2024_(profit_schemes_poors_expence)
content:
 
<p>
<a href="https://invidio.us/watch?v=4L6bjQNOZ0E">Robert Reich</a>:
<p>
Putting an end to collusion and price fixing is necessary today as it has always been, but that's
not enough.  The collusion is encouraged by the excessive concentration in large companies.  We need
to break them up or compel them to split up, with adequate new laws.
<p>
For the field of petroleum products, reducing the price is the wrong goal (it would exacerbate
<a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#global%20heating">global heating</a>).
What we need instead is a
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2022-jan-apr.html#8_April_2022_(Urgent:_Windfall_tax_on_fossil_fuels)">windfall
profits tax</a>, to redirect that money to important needs (including more support for the
non-wealthy).  This could, in effect, serve as a kind of carbon tax.
<p>
For the field of rental housing, we would put an end to companies' owning large numbers
of <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2022-jan-apr.html#19_February_2022_(affordable_housing_crisis)">houses</a>
and <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#17_July_2024_(Biden_housing_plan,_rent-control)">apartments</a>
for rent.  This can be seen as a strong form of deconcentration, bringing the rental housing market
back to the way it operated 30 years ago.

<p>
 


title: Authoritarianism vs democracy, big media
uri: Authoritarianism-vs-democracy-big-media
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#26_August_2024_(Authoritarianism_Vs_Democracy,_Big_Media)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#26_August_2024_(Authoritarianism_Vs_Democracy,_Big_Media)

content:
 
<p>
<a href="media/b3938636._letter_urging_media_to_report_on_threats_to_democracy_final.pdf" data-original-source="https://www.freepress.net/sites/default/files/2024-08/coalition_letter_urging_media_to_report_on_threats_to_democracy_final.pdf">A
letter</a> sent by many organizations urging the mass media to report on the threats to US democracy
from right-wing extremists, headed by <a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#trump">the fascist</a>
leader.


<p>
 


title: Red-state summer-schools reawaken 1964
uri: Red-state-summer-schools-reawaken-1964
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#27_August_2024_(Red-state_summer_schools_reawaken_1964)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#27_August_2024_(Red-state_summer_schools_reawaken_1964)

content:
 
<p>
*[Governor <a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#dementis">DeMentis's</a> law] banned
lessons on racism in Florida public schools.  "Freedom schools"
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/24/desantis-florida-schools-racism">fill the gaps</a>.*
<p>
Blue states too, like Illinois and
<a href="https://www.seattletimes.com/education-lab/freedom-schools-summer-program-connects-students-to-civil-rights-legacy/">Washington</a>,
have seen a resurgence of "freedom schools".


<p>
 


title: Poverty of current US-Israel relations
uri: Poverty-of-current-US-Israel-relations
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#27_August_2024_(Poverty_of_current_US-Israel_relations)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#27_August_2024_(Poverty_of_current_US-Israel_relations)

content:
 
<p>
The
<a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2024/8/5/the-us-is-no-longer-the-senior-partner-in-the-us-israel-relationship">US
used to have leverage on Israel</a>, and used it to restrain some unjust actions.  Nowadays, it
seems Biden does not dare.
<p>
I don't know what caused this change, but I suspect that various Extreme Court decisions to rip up
various
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#24_August_2024_(Voting_rights_playbook,_US_Supreme_Court)">voting
rights</a> and
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2021-jan-apr.html#26_April_2021_(Disclosure_of_who_donates_to_campaign_funds)">campaign
funding laws</a> play a role.  They have enhanced the power of concentrated money to dictate to the
US government.
<p>
*Both Israel and HAMAS’s leaders believe there is more to gain by
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/17/both-israel-and-hamass-leaders-believe-there-is-more-to-gain-by-fighting-on">fighting on</a>.*
<p>
It is impossible to wipe out an underground movement that can recruit new supporters.  Killing its
leaders has generally
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2012-sep-dec.html#26_September_2012_(Drone_attacks_in_Pakistan_boost_Taliban)">proved
ineffective</a>.

<p>
 


title: Democrats pressured by demands on Israel
uri: Democrats-pressured-by-demands-on-Israel
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#27_August_2024_(Democrats_pressured_by_demands_on_Israel)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#27_August_2024_(Democrats_pressured_by_demands_on_Israel)

content:
 
<p>
A Palestinian-American Democratic delegate and an Israeli whose son was killed by HAMAS joined to
pressure the Democratic Party to take a
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/23/like-a-rollercoaster-palestinian-americans-clamour-to-be-heard-at-dnc-convention">stronger
stand against the bombardment and siege of Gaza</a>.  The party did not give much.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#27_August_2024_(How_the_loser_is_faltering)
title: How the loser is faltering
uri: How-the-loser-is-faltering
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#27_August_2024_(How_the_loser_is_faltering)
content:
 
<p>
Some of <a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#corrupter">the corrupter's</a>
supporters are starting to think, from
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/24/donald-trump-mental-fitness-campaign">his
public presentations</a>, that he is mentally incompetent.

<p>
 


title: Critical barriers to Harris' promises
uri: Critical-barriers-to-Harris-promises
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#28_August_2024_(Critical_barriers_to_Harris'_promises)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#28_August_2024_(Critical_barriers_to_Harris'_promises)

content:
 
<p>
If Harris becomes president, she will have to decide whether to push slightly on some
<a href="https://www.levernews.com/heres-what-the-senate-must-do-to-deliver-harris-dnc-promises/">Senate
rules</a> in order to benefit non-wealthy Americans.

<p>
 


title: Privatized public-utility failings, UK
uri: Privatized-public-utility-failings-UK
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#28_August_2024_(Privatized_public-utility_failings,_UK)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#28_August_2024_(Privatized_public-utility_failings,_UK)

content:
 
<p>
A privatized UK water company didn't put away enough to cover its pension obligations, and has lost
the suit to
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/article/2024/aug/19/thames-water-barred-from-billing-customers-for-pension-shortfall">dump those costs on the public</a>.
<p>
Britain's privatized water companies have skimped on employees' pensions as well as on maintenance
of facilities.  That should no be a surprise; that is what one should expect of privatized public
services.  With any luck, this will drive the companies bankrupt, which would make it possible to
nationalize them without paying any "compensation", and thus put an end to the whole foolish Tory
story of privatizing them.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#28_August_2024_(West_Bank_land-grab_spree,_ISR)
title: West Bank land-grab spree, ISR
uri: West-Bank-land-grab-spree-ISR
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#28_August_2024_(West_Bank_land-grab_spree,_ISR)
content:
 
<p>
Since October, Israeli
<a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2024/6/2/israels-violent-raids-on-jenin-only-fuel-palestinian-resistance">army
raids</a> into areas of the West Bank, including Jenin, have greatly increased.  This includes
killing over 500 Palestinians and attacking schools.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#28_August_2024_((Satire)_We'll_owe_250_space-bucks)
title: (Satire) We'll owe 250 space-bucks
uri: (Satire)-We-ll-owe-250-space-bucks
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#28_August_2024_((Satire)_We'll_owe_250_space-bucks)
content:
 
<p>
(satire)
<a href="https://theonion.com/earth-towed-impounded-after-illegally-parking-in-milky-way/">*Earth
Towed, Impounded</a> After Illegally Parking In Milky Way.*

<!--Waiting
<p>
 


title: US weather-disaster lawsuits pay-to-play
uri: US-weather-disaster-lawsuits-pay-to-play
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#28_August_2024_(US_weather-disaster_lawsuits_pay-to-play)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#28_August_2024_(US_weather-disaster_lawsuits_pay-to-play)

content:
 
<p>
Funded by oil firms and dark money, the corrupted Republican Attorneys General Association is
fighting climate-related federal regulations and the ongoing lawsuits which would hold oil firms
accountable for weather-related disasters
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/21/republican-ag-climate-dark-money">in
their states</a>.
<p>
Their counterpart is
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Attorneys_General_Association">DAGA</a>.
Waiting-->

<p>
 


title: Methane as key to climate-control
uri: Methane-as-key-to-climate-control
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#28_August_2024_(Methane_as_global_climate-controller)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#28_August_2024_(Methane_as_global_climate-controller)

content:
 
<p>
*As the world heats up, methane released from thawing permafrost and warming tropical wetlands is
intensifying climate breakdown. But
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/aug/17/methane-climate-crisis-amazon-peat-permafrost-vegan-heat-pumps">curbing
it is achievable</a>.*

<p>
 


title: (Satire) Wealthy flee for cool environs
uri: (Satire)-Wealthy-flee-for-cool-environs
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#28_August_2024_((Satire)_Wealthy_flee_for_cool_environs)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#28_August_2024_((Satire)_Wealthy_flee_for_cool_environs)

content:
 
<p>
(satire) *More Affluent Americans Beating Heat By
<a href="https://theonion.com/more-affluent-americans-beating-heat-by-summering-on-cooler-planet/">Summering
On Cooler Planet</a>.*

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#28_August_2024_(Homeless_raid,_LA_beach,_CA)
title: Homeless camp raid, LA beach, CA
uri: Homeless-camp-raid-LA-beach-CA
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#28_August_2024_(Homeless_raid,_LA_beach,_CA)
content:
 
<p>
<a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#thug">Thugs</a>
in LA raided an encampment of homeless people on a beach, and
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/23/california-homeless-crackdown-dockweiler-beach">stole
all their property</a> except what they could carry.
<p>
Stealing from homeless people is a standard part these raids.  Even if that property is just a tent
and some clothing, a homeless person has no way to carry all that on a moment's notice, and no ready
place to take it to.
<p>
To steal from people who have so little is especially cruel, and it gives the lie to the claim that
this is simply a way of making them move.  It is, rather, systematic harassment with a legal excuse.


<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#28_August_2024_(RFK_sits_in_Republican_camp)
title: RFK sits in Republican camp
uri: RFK-sits-in-Republican-camp
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#28_August_2024_(RFK_sits_in_Republican_camp)
content:
 
<p>
RFK Jr
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/23/robert-f-kennedy-jr-drops-out-endorses-trump">abandoned
his campaign</a> for president and endorsed
<a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#corrupter">the corrupter</a>.
In my book, that endorsement makes him an enemy of democracy.
<p>
Greg Palast talks of investigative
<a href="https://www.gregpalast.com/i-was-on-the-phone-with-rfk-jr-when-he-lost-his-mind”">journalism
with RFK Jr</a>, and how the latter subsequently forgot all about what the two had done.
<p>
Some examples of
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/23/rfk-jr-wildest-campaign-moments">RFK
Jr's promotion</a> of wild disinformation.

<p>
 


title: (Satire) RFK as rejected narcissist
uri: (Satire)-RFK-as-rejected-narcissist
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#28_August_2024_((Satire)_RFK_as_rejected_narcissist)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#28_August_2024_((Satire)_RFK_as_rejected_narcissist)

content:
 
<p>
(satire) *RFK Jr. Offered Multiple Cabinet Positions In RFK Jr.’s
Administration,
<a href="https://theonion.com/rfk-jr-offered-multiple-cabinet-positions-in-rfk-jr-s-administration-rfk-jr-reports/">RFK Jr. Reports</a>.*

<p>
 


title: Pharmaceuticals disrupt fish behavior
uri: Pharmaceuticals-disrupt-fish-behavior
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#29_August_2024_(Pharmaceuticals_disrupt_fish_behavior)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#29_August_2024_(Pharmaceuticals_disrupt_fish_behavior)

content:
 
<p>
*Australian study of guppies shows that
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/aug/27/australia-prozac-waterways-fish-behaviour">pharmaceutical
pollution</a> (for instance, Prozac) could threaten species’ long-term survival.*


<p>
 


title: Telegram head seized, awaits trial, FR
uri: Telegram-head-seized-awaits-trial-FR
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#29_August_2024_(Telegram_head_seized,_awaits_trial,_FR)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#29_August_2024_(Telegram_head_seized,_awaits_trial,_FR)

content:
 
<p>
The arrest of Pavel Durov, founder of Telegram, could indicate an
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/article/2024/aug/26/who-is-pavel-durov-billionaire-founder-telegram-mysterious-figure">attempt
to wipe out communication services</a> that allow end-to-end encryption.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#29_August_2024_(Rent-hike_scheme_as_antitrust,_US)
title: Rent-hike scheme as antitrust, US
uri: Rent-hike-scheme-as-antitrust-US
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#29_August_2024_(Rent-hike_scheme_as_antitrust,_US)
content:
 
<p>
*US sues software company RealPage for
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/article/2024/aug/23/doj-realpage-lawsuit">alleged rent hiking scheme</a>.
<p>
DoJ lawsuit claims firm’s algorithm helps landlords coordinate rental prices and violates antitrust
laws.*

<p>
 


title: Republican infighting, hater's base, PA
uri: Republican-infighting-hater-s-base-PA
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#29_August_2024_(Infighting:_Republicans,_hater's_base,_PA)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#29_August_2024_(Infighting:_Republicans,_hater's_base,_PA)

content:
 
<p>
<a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#wrecker">The wrecker</a> is rambling in his rallies and
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/26/trumps-campaign-rallies-harmful-or-helpful">discouraging some former supporters</a>.

<p>
 


title: Republicans eradicating trans humans, MO
uri: Republicans-eradicating-trans-humans-MO
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#29_August_2024_(Republicans_eradicating_trans_humans,_MO)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#29_August_2024_(Republicans_eradicating_trans_humans,_MO)

content:
 
<p>
Missouri's Republican legislators are persecuting trans people in
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/24/missouri-trans-youth-anti-lgbtq-bills">every way they can think of</a>.

<p>
 


title: New morality police suppress women, AFG
uri: New-morality-police-suppress-women-AFG
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#29_August_2024_(New_morality_police_supress_women,_AFG)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#29_August_2024_(New_morality_police_supress_women,_AFG)

content:
 
<p>
The
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/article/2024/aug/26/taliban-bar-on-afghan-women-speaking-in-public-un-afghanistan">Taliban
have tightened their laws</a> to oppress women.  They are now required to hide their faces (along
with the rest of their bodies) when outside the home, for forbidden to speak also.  Even at home,
they are forbidden to speak or sing loud enough to be heard from outside.
<p>
I wish we could kill all Taliban and put an end to their oppression.  But we already found that that
was not possible.  Is there any cure for this infection?

<p>
 


title: Stacked top-court: President Maduro, VEN
uri: Stacked-top-court-President-Maduro-VEN
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#29_August_2024_(Stacked_top-court:_President_Maduro,_VEN)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#29_August_2024_(Stacked_top-court:_President_Maduro,_VEN)

content:
 
<p>
The US and most Latin American countries have denounced
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/23/latin-american-states-and-us-reject-maduro-vote-certification-election-venezuela-supreme-court">Maduro's
stolen election</a>.
<p>
10 of them signed a joint statement with the US.  Brazil, Colombia and Mexico did not join the US
for this, but made their own statements to the same effect.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#29_August_2024_(Essential_workers:_wages_not_tips)
title: Essential workers: wages not tips
uri: Essential-workers-wages-not-tips
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#29_August_2024_(Essential_workers:_wages_not_tips)
content:
 
<p>
*Is "No tax on tips" a distraction from the
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/27/no-tax-on-tips-unlivable-minimum-wages">fight
to end sub-minimum wages</a>?*
<p>
I think it is.  I advocate abolishing tips by abolishing the special lower minimum wage for certain
occupations, and making sure workers are adequately paid as part of the stated price of a service.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#29_August_2024_(Food-delivery_workers,_UK)
title: Food-delivery workers, UK
uri: Food-delivery-workers-UK
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#29_August_2024_(Food-delivery_workers,_UK)
content:
 
<p>

In the UK, <a href="/food-delivery.html#essential">food-delivery</a> workers are compelled to work
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/article/2024/aug/24/i-wouldnt-wish-this-on-anyone-the-food-delivery-riders-living-in-caravan-shantytowns-in-bristol">very
long hours</a> at lousy pay.

<p>
 


title: Essential workers were Palestinians, ISR
uri: Essential-workers-were-Palestinians-ISR
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#29_August_2024_(Essential_workers_are_Palestinians,_ISR)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#29_August_2024_(Essential_workers_are_Palestinians,_ISR)

content:
 
<p>

*"<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/23/israel-restrictions-stifle-west-bank-economy">No
one has any money</a>": Israel's restrictions stifle West Bank economy.*

<p>
 


title: Water qualities bloom jellyfish, ESP
uri: Water-qualities-bloom-jellyfish-ESP
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#29_August_2024_(Water_qualities_bloom_jellyfish,_ESP)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#29_August_2024_(Water_qualities_bloom_jellyfish,_ESP)

content:
 
<p>
Human activities are making jellyfish spread and become more numerous off the
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/aug/24/spain-costa-brava-beaches-closed-invasion-jellyfish-sea-temperature-warming-climate-change-stings">northeast
coast of Spain</a>.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#30_August_2024_(Urgent:_A_green_New_Deal)
title: Urgent: A green New Deal
uri: Urgent-A-green-New-Deal
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#30_August_2024_(Urgent:_A_green_New_Deal)
content:
 
<p>
US citizens:
<a href="https://actionnetwork.org/forms/add-your-name-we-need-a-green-new-deal-4?nowrapper=true">call
on Congress</a> to pass a green New Deal.
<p>
If you phone, please spread the word!                              
Main Switchboard: <a href="tel:+12022243121">+1-202-224-3121</a>

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#30_August_2024_(Polio_vaccine_rollout_challenges)
title: Polio vaccine rollout challenges
uri: Polio-vaccine-rollout-challenges
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#30_August_2024_(Polio_vaccine_rollout_challenges)
content:
 
<p>
*Gaza polio vaccine rollout
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/27/gaza-polio-vaccine-rollout-hindered-by-israeli-evacuation-orders-says-un">hindered
by Israeli evacuation orders</a>, says UN.*

<p>
 


title: Eradicating DEI, gender studies, FL edu.
uri: Eradicating-DEI-gender-studies-FL-edu
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#30_August_2024_(Eradicating_DEI,_gender_studies,_FL_edu.)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#30_August_2024_(Eradicating_DEI,_gender_studies,_FL_edu.)

content:
 
<p>
After <a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#dementis">DeMentis</a> 
took over the New College in Sarasota, and abolished various departments, he had
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/25/ron-desantis-woke-university-policy-florida-sarasota-new-college">thousands
of library books put into dumpsters</a>.

<p>
 


title: Huge oil tanker afire, Red Sea, YEM
uri: Huge-oil-tanker-afire-Red-Sea-YEM
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#30_August_2024_(Huge_oil_tanker_afire,_Red_Sea,_YEM)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#30_August_2024_(Huge_oil_tanker_afire,_Red_Sea,_YEM)

content:
 
<p>
The Houthis have for
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/28/sounion-tanker-yemen-houthi-attack-fire-red-sea-oil-leak">a second time set an oil tanker on fire</a>,
causing a risk of polluting the Red Sea.
<p>
If the fire can be put out, and the ship and its cargo saved, that would be the ideal outcome.  But
if that is not feasible, there is another possibility: to rig the ship with remote controls and sail
it into the port of Hodeida as a fireship.  That could cause a lot of damage to the Houthis' port
facilities, while not harming a lot of civilians.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#30_August_2024_(Brain_plastics)
title: Brain plastics
uri: Brain-plastics
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#30_August_2024_(Brain_plastics)
content:
 
<p>
If a deceased person's brain contains (average)
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#26_August_2024_(Ignoring_plastic_maybe_perilous)">0.5%
plastic today</a>, what will it contain in 2050?  Perhaps 2%?
<p>
Will it be necessary to treat that brain as toxic waste?  Could cremation or burial lead to air or
water pollution?

<p>
 


title: Urgent: Public safety for mental crises
uri: Urgent-Public-safety-for-mental-crises
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#30_August_2024_(Urgent:_Public_safety_for_mental_crises)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#30_August_2024_(Urgent:_Public_safety_for_mental_crises)

content:
 
<p>
US citizens: <a href="https://actionnetwork.org/forms/peoples-response-act?nowrapper=true&referrer=&source=email-sign-on-to-support-public-health-alternatives-to-policingy">support the People's Response Act</a>, to invest in public health alternatives to policing
for emergencies that are not about crime.

<p>
 


title: Urgent: Mifepristone certification, grocer pharmacies
uri: Urgent-Mifepristone-certification-grocer-pharmacies
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#30_August_2024_(Urgent:_Mifepristone_certification,_grocer_pharmacies)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#30_August_2024_(Urgent:_Mifepristone_certification,_grocer_pharmacies)

content:
 
<p>
US citizens:
<a href="https://act.weareultraviolet.org/sign/Albertsons_mifepristone_petition?t=1002">call on
Albertsons to apply</a> to distribute mifepristone,

<p>
 


title: Urgent: Grocers' bullet-vending machines
uri: Urgent-Grocers-bullet-vending-machines
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#30_August_2024_(Urgent:_Grocers'_bullet-vending_machines)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#30_August_2024_(Urgent:_Grocers'_bullet-vending_machines)

content:
 
<p>
US citizens:
<a href="https://act.winwithoutwar.org/act/ban-bullet-vending?akid=9998.223515.5o7Vua&c0=ban-bullet-vending.qfhVYG&rd=1&source=em2024820_1&t=1006">call
on Congress</a> to ban vending machines for ammunition.
<p>
If you phone, please spread the word!                              
Main Switchboard: <a href="tel:+12022243121">+1-202-224-3121</a>


<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#30_August_2024_(brother_of_zomi_frankcom)
title: Frankcom’s brother
uri: Frankcom-s-brother
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#30_August_2024_(brother_of_zomi_frankcom)
content:
 
<p>
*The brother of the Australian aid worker Zomi Frankcom, who was killed
in an Israeli airstrike, has called for those responsible for his
sister's 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/26/zomi-frankcoms-brother-calls-for-people-responsible-for-her-death-in-israeli-airstrike-to-be-prosecuted-ntwnfb">death to be prosecuted and punished.*</a>

<p>
 


title: Crocodile culling study
uri: Crocodile-culling-study
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#30_August_2024_(crocodile_culling_australia_research)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#30_August_2024_(crocodile_culling_australia_research)

content:
 
<p>
Studies show that the most efficient way to reduce crocodile attacks
in Australia is to teach men to follow the 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/aug/27/crocodile-culling-australia-research">publicized safety precautions.</a>

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#30_August_2024_(trump_on_trial_jack_smith)
title: Trump’s lucky streak
uri: Trump-s-lucky-streak
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#30_August_2024_(trump_on_trial_jack_smith)
content:
 
<p>
A new, improved indictment of <a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#wrecker">the wrecker</a> argues that his criminal
actions to steal the 2020 election, were outside of his "official
duties", so even under the extreme court's broad idea of 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/27/trump-on-trial-new-indictment-jack-smith">immunity he
has none for these.</a>
<p>
I argue that stealing an election is never a legitimate part of the
president's duties, so <a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#perse">perse</a> would never have immunity under this
doctrine.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#30_August_2024_(lower_income_debt_relief_study)
title: Greater debt relief study
uri: Greater-debt-relief-study
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#30_August_2024_(lower_income_debt_relief_study)
content:
 
<p>
More Debt relief for poor countries would lead to major improvements
in 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/25/huge-benefits-in-greater-debt-relief-for-lower-income-countries-study-finds">education and sanitation.</a>
<p>
I hope it would also lead to major increases in use of birth control.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#30_August_2024_(andrei_gnyot_extradition)
title: Andrei Gnyot warning
uri: Andrei-Gnyot-warning
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#30_August_2024_(andrei_gnyot_extradition)
content:
 
<p>
*Dozens of European directors, actors and other artists have called on
Serbian authorities not to extradite a 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/26/directors-actors-call-serbia-not-extradite-activist-belarus-andrei-gnyot">Belarusian activist back to
Belarus,*</a>
<p>
where he could be executed for political opposition activities.

<p>
 


title: Regulatory agenda
uri: Regulatory-agenda
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#30_August_2024_(new_poll_government_regulatory_agenda)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#30_August_2024_(new_poll_government_regulatory_agenda)

content:
 
<p>
60% of Americans think big 
<a href="https://substack.perfectunion.us/p/new-poll-government-must-take-on">business is too powerful.</a>
<p>
But the politicians who protect business's power will continue
call themselves, misleadingly, "centrist".

<p>
 


title: Climate crisis campaigner
uri: Climate-crisis-campaigner
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#30_August_2024_(dear_ministers_climate_crisis_campaigner)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#30_August_2024_(dear_ministers_climate_crisis_campaigner)

content:
 
<p>
George Monbiot: *There are several services and assets I would like to
   see nationalized.  But at the top of my list is neither water, nor
   trains, nor development land, much as I’d like to see them brought
   under national or local public ownership. Above all, I want to see
   the nationalisation of my 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/aug/28/dear-ministers-i-am-a-climate-crisis-campaigner-nationalise-me-right-now">own business: environmental persuasion.*</a>
<p>
Leaving it to private citizens to recruit and organize to avoid global
heating disaster, then criminalizing all effective methods they can use,
guarantees the job won't be done.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#30_August_2024_(use_of_force_violence_data)
title: Police use of force
uri: Police-use-of-force
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#30_August_2024_(use_of_force_violence_data)
content:
 
<p>
Official <a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#thug">thuggery</a>: *US police use force on 300,000 people a year, 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/28/police-use-of-force-violence-data-analysis">with
numbers rising since George Floyd.*</a>

<p>
 


title: Ranked-choice voting
uri: 2024-08-31-Ranked-choice-voting
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#30_August_2024_(presidential_election_ranked_choice_voting)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#30_August_2024_(presidential_election_ranked_choice_voting)

content:
 
<p>
By adopting ranked-choice voting in the US, we could ensure that
voting for a minor-party candidate does not risk handing 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/aug/28/presidential-election-ranked-choice-voting">victory to
the worse major party candidate.</a>

<p>
 


title: Election board rule-change concerns, GA
uri: Election-board-rule-change-concerns-GA
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#31_August_2024_(Election_board_rule-change_concerns,_GA)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#31_August_2024_(Election_board_rule-change_concerns,_GA)

content:
 
<p>
The details of new Georgia election rules and how they
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/23/georgia-election-deniers-pass-new-laws-election-chaos">facilitate
arbitrary refusal to certify</a> the election at all.

<p>
 


title: Urgent: Billionaires' Republican Fascism
uri: Urgent-Billionaires-Republican-Fascism
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#31_August_2024_(Urgent:_Billionaires'_Republican_Fascism)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#31_August_2024_(Urgent:_Billionaires'_Republican_Fascism)

content:
 
<p>
Many US billionaires are donating millions to elect
<a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#insurrectionist">the insurrectionist</a> because he has
promised to
<a href="https://invidio.us/watch?v=0LEnI9THvLA">help them take even more</a> of America's wealth
from the rest of us.
<p>
If you know of an institution (or part of one) named after any of the billionaires mentioned in the
video, for instance Steve Schwarzman, how about holding protests against his association with a
convicted corrupt official that tried to steal a US election and openly threatens to try again.
<p>
Simply pasting "Trump" or "Trumptool" over the name of his billionaire supporter might be a good
start &mdash; but do expect to have to put that sign up again frequently.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#31_August_2024_(Kamala_vs_corporate_gigantism_)
title: Kamala vs corporate gigantism
uri: Kamala-vs-corporate-gigantism
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#31_August_2024_(Kamala_vs_corporate_gigantism_)
content:
 
<p>
<a href="https://invidio.us/watch?v=FOTwvEluqXE">Harris says</a> she will reduce inflation by
attacking the
price <a href="https://robertreich.substack.com/p/how-kamala-intends-to-bring-prices">controls
imposed by oligopolistic megacorporations</a>.
<p>
That is a great thing to do, but not easy.  I would like to see what methods she proposes to use.


<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#31_August_2024_(Harris'_speech,_DNC)
title: Harris' acceptance speech, DNC
uri: Harris-acceptance-speech-DNC
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#31_August_2024_(Harris'_speech,_DNC)
content:
 
<p>
Harris's speech at the end of
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/23/harris-convention-speech-trump">the
Democratic national convention</a> was a statement for the prosecution of the chicken that tried to
lead a coup.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#31_August_2024_(Gaza_food-aid_car_attacked,_ISR)
title: Gaza food-aid car attacked, ISR
uri: Gaza-food-aid-car-attacked-ISR
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#31_August_2024_(Gaza_food-aid_car_attacked,_ISR)
content:
 
<p>
*UN food agency [(World Food Programme)] suspends operations in Gaza after car [shot intentionally]
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/29/un-food-agency-suspends-operations-in-gaza-after-car-hit-by-gunfire-at-israeli-checkpoint">at
Israeli checkpoint</a>.*

<p>
 


title: Another Gaza aid convoy attacked, ISR
uri: Another-Gaza-aid-convoy-attacked-ISR
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#31_August_2024_(Another_Gaza_aid_convoy_attacked,_ISR)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#31_August_2024_(Another_Gaza_aid_convoy_attacked,_ISR)

content:
 
<p>
*Israeli military launches
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/29/israel-airstrike-aid-convoy-gaza">fatal
airstrike on humanitarian aid</a> convoy in Gaza.*
<p>
This happened shortly after the attack on a World Food Programme aid convoy which led that
organization to suspend operations in Gaza.
<p>
The Israeli army says that unidentified gunmen were trying to hijack the lead vehicle, and that it
attacked that vehicle all to protect the convoy.  I don't know whether that actually happened, or
whether the soldiers involved actually believed it.  It could be mere after-the-fact bullshit
fabricated as an excuse.
<p>
But even if that really happened, shooting everyone in the lead vehicle was clearly not a sane
response.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#1_September_2024_(Book-reading_punishment_sued,_GA)
title: Book-reading punishment sued, GA
uri: Book-reading-punishment-sued-GA
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#1_September_2024_(Book-reading_punishment_sued,_GA)
content:
 
<p>
The federal government and 16 states have joined as friends of the court in suing Georgia for firing
a teacher for
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/30/georgia-lgbtq-book-ban-lawsuit">reading
a banned book aloud in class</a>.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#1_September_2024_(River-_and_lake-fish_status)
title: River- and lake-fish status
uri: River-and-lake-fish-status
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#1_September_2024_(River-_and_lake-fish_status)
content:
 
<p>
*Almost half of all fish species and 10% of mammals rely on rivers and lakes for survival but a
combination of [<a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#global%20heating">global heating</a> effects]
and pollution is
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/aug/30/aquatic-life-under-threat-as-pollution-and-warmer-waters-wreak-havoc">threatening
their existence</a>.*

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#1_September_2024_(Norway's_salmon_collapse)
title: Norway's salmon collapse
uri: Norway-s-salmon-collapse
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#1_September_2024_(Norway's_salmon_collapse)
content:
 
<p>
Salmon escaping from fish farms in Norway are overwhelming
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/aug/29/like-doomsday-why-have-salmon-deserted-norway-rivers-and-will-they-ever-return">the
wild salmon</a> population and could wipe it out.


<p>
 


title: Misquoted about HAMAS hostage treatment
uri: Misquoted-about-HAMAS-hostage-treatment
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#3_September_2024_(Misquoted_about_HAMAS_hostage_treatment)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#3_September_2024_(Misquoted_about_HAMAS_hostage_treatment)

content:
 
<p>
Accusations that HAMAS physically harms its hostages seem to be false.
*Freed Israeli captive Noa Argamani says <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/noa-argamani-freed-israeli-captive-says-misquoted-about-hamas-mistreatment">she was wounded by Israel, not
Hamas</a>.*
<p>
Being held hostage is in itself a form of mistreatment, but we should
not confuse that with physical mistreatment.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#3_September_2024_(Vance_against_unions)
title: Vance against unions
uri: Vance-against-unions
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#3_September_2024_(Vance_against_unions)
content:
 
<p>
Vance talks a lot of adoration for unions, but <a href="https://substack.perfectunion.us/p/tim-walz-and-jd-vance-got-very-different">his votes have been to
weaken and undermine</a> them.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#3_September_2024_(Peter_Hendy)
title: Peter Hendy
uri: Peter-Hendy
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#3_September_2024_(Peter_Hendy)
content:
 
<p>
The UK's railroad minister, in his previous job, threatened to deny
contracts arbitrarily to an engineering company <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/article/2024/aug/29/peter-hendy-ex-network-rail-chair-threatened-firm-engineer-euston-criticism">unless it bullied a
worker into ceasing to raise safety concerns</a>.  In response, the
company fired him.
<p>
I am not competent to judge the validity of those safety concerns.
What is clear is that gagging a qualified person who reports safety
concerns, rather than investigating them properly, is <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2023-nov-feb.html#21_January_2024_(Boeing_defects)">Boeing-like</a> and is a
failure of responsibility to passengers and others.
<p>
I think such conduct ought to be a crime.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#3_September_2024_(Gas_rhetoric)
title: Gas rhetoric
uri: Gas-rhetoric
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#3_September_2024_(Gas_rhetoric)
content:
 
<p>
The Australian fossil fuel companies claim that Australia has been too
slow to build more renewable generation and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/aug/29/without-new-gas-the-australian-warns-an-energy-crisis-is-nigh-but-is-the-scary-rhetoric-justified">therefore needs to
develop new gas fields</a>.
<p>
Why has Australia gone too slowly in building new renewable
generation?  Because the previous government was controlled by global
heating denialists and adopted planet-roaster policies -- which
included resisting building renewable generation.
<p>
If the government tolerates that as am excuse to allow more gas
extraction development, it will lock the country into "solving" the
problem of failure to curb global heating by boosting global heating.
<p>
Another way to delay curbing global heating is by spending billions
on fantasy solutions that have never been shown to work.  For instance, carbon capture and storage.  If that reduces what's available for the cheap and
effective solutions, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/article/2024/aug/29/unproven-climate-solutions-spending">it gives the fossil fuel barons what they want</a>.
<p>
*How Exxon chases billions in US subsidies for a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/article/2024/aug/29/exxon-mobil-carbon-capture-government-subsidies">‘climate solution’ that helps
it drill more oil</a>.*

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#3_September_2024_(Lafourche_Parish_saved)
title: Lafourche Parish saved
uri: Lafourche-Parish-saved
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#3_September_2024_(Lafourche_Parish_saved)
content:
 
<p>
A local man saved Lafourche Parish from Hurricane Ida by <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/aug/28/louisiana-bayou-levee-gulf">building a
18-foot levee instead of the wider 13-foot levee that the US
government was going to build</a>.
<p>
Each choice of design would have represented a bet about what future
storms would be like.  Hurricane Ida's waves were 17 feet tall.
I expect that a broader 18-foot levee could have been built, if it was
clear that would be needed, but it wasn't.
<p>
Maybe the federal government should prepare for stronger hurricanes,
since that seems to be what is coming.  That could help for some
decades.  But if we don't curb global heating, any levee will
eventually fail, because sea-level rise will overcome it.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#3_September_2024_(Plane_emission_lobbying)
title: Plane emission lobbying
uri: Plane-emission-lobbying
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#3_September_2024_(Plane_emission_lobbying)
content:
 
<p>
US air carriers <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/aug/28/revealed-us-airlines-lobbied-eu-over-its-plan-to-monitor-plane-emissions">lobbied quietly and secretly against an EU plan</a> to
require carriers to better measure the amounts of various pollution
substances they emit into the air (and the amount of greenhouse effect
of each one).
<p>
Measuring these better can't hurt, but using them to calibrate an
emissions trading program is misguided.  We have seen that <a hre="https://stallman.org/archives/2007-jan-apr.html#22%20January%202007%20(Carbon%20offsetting%20is%20ineffective)">emissions
trading is ineffective</a> for reducing emissions, because it is too easy
to <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2012-sep-dec.html#21_November_2012_(EUs_greenhouse_emissions_cap-and-trade_system_gamed)">game the system</a> or <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2011-sep-dec.html#25_October_2011_(Cap-And-Trade_California)">cheat</a>.
By going in that direction, the EU
is caving into business at the outset.
<p>
By imposing a tax on emissions, a government offers no easy way to
game the system, and cheating would constitute tax evasion -- punishable
by imprisonment.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#3_September_2024_(Little_support_for_handicapped)
title: Little support for handicapped
uri: Little-support-for-handicapped
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#3_September_2024_(Little_support_for_handicapped)
content:
 
<p>
A multiply handicapped Briton gets so little support that he <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/aug/28/cannot-afford-charge-wheelchair-energy-price-rise-disabled-people">can't
afford the cost of charging his wheelchair and running the lift to get
in and out of his home</a>.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#3_September_2024_(Oil_licenses)
title: Oil licenses
uri: Oil-licenses
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#3_September_2024_(Oil_licenses)
content:
 
<p>
The UK is moving towards <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/aug/29/ed-milibands-withdrawal-of-legal-backing-puts-uk-oil-projects-in-doubt">cancelling some recently issued oil licenses</a>,
based on questioning their validity.
<p>
Finally a step in the right direction.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#3_September_2024_(Bird_flu)
title: Bird flu
uri: 2024-09-04-Bird-flu
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#3_September_2024_(Bird_flu)
content:
 
<p>
The same factors that undermined the US response to Covid-19 are
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/30/bird-flu-covid">having the same effect on the US response to bird flu</a>.
<p>
Bird flu is a pandemic for birds and could cause extinctions and
damage agriculture.  At present it is not a big direct danger to humans,
but it has the potential to mutate and become so.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#3_September_2024_(MPs_urged_to_give_up_freebies)
title: MPs urged to give up freebies
uri: MPs-urged-to-give-up-freebies
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#3_September_2024_(MPs_urged_to_give_up_freebies)
content:
 
<p>
*UK MPs urged to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/aug/30/uk-mps-urged-to-give-up-freebies-from-tobacco-alcohol-and-junk-food-firms">give up freebies from tobacco, alcohol and junk food firms</a>.*
<p>
It is illegal for a member of the US Congress to accept such gifts.
The UK should have a comparable prohibition.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#3_September_2024_((Satire)_Hazard-filled_fairways)
title: (Satire) Hazard-filled fairways
uri: (Satire)-Hazard-filled-fairways
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#3_September_2024_((Satire)_Hazard-filled_fairways)
content:
 
<p>
(satire) *Bemoaning the terrible course conditions he encountered
while visiting the military burial site, Donald Trump called out
Arlington National Cemetery on Thursday <a href="https://theonion.com/trump-calls-out-arlington-national-cemetery-for-hazard-filled-fairways/">for its hazard-filled
fairways</a>.*
<p>
If an Onion page appears blank, try disabling Javascript entirely or
telling LibreJS to blacklist all scripts in the page, then right-click
and select item "Reveal hidden HTML". Or use a browser such as lynx
that doesn't implement Javascript and CSS.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#3_September_2024_(Health_Over_Wealth_bill)
title: Health Over Wealth bill
uri: Health-Over-Wealth-bill
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#3_September_2024_(Health_Over_Wealth_bill)
content:
 
<p>
According to Americans for Financial Reform, the Health over Wealth bill
would make these positive requirements:
<ul>
<li>
Transparency: Required reporting will ensure the public is able to
know the status of healthcare entities owned by private equity firms
with regard to their debt, executive pay, political spending, patient
costs, and any reductions in patient services or staff wages and
benefits.    
<li>
Continuity of Care Protections: The bill would require private equity
firms to establish escrow accounts sufficient to cover five years of
operation beyond any financial disruptions or facility closures and
fund neighboring providers in case of closure.
<li>
Public Accountability: The bill would require private equity firms to
obtain a license in order to purchase healthcare entities in whole or
part. This license could be revoked in the event of understaffing,
price-gouging, or reducing patients’ access to care.
<li>
Community Protections: The bill would require the Department of Health
and Human Services (HHS) to review, and possibly block, any sales of
hospitals or facilities by private equity Real Estate Investment
Trusts (REITs) if the sale would threaten the facility’s financial
status or the public health.
<li>
The Role of Private Equity: The bill would establish an HHS Task Force
to monitor and examine changes in the marketplace and any patterns of
private equity ownership that result in excessive consolidation or
inequities in access or quality or services.
<li>
Accessibility, Safety, and Quality: The bill would prevent the
stripping of assets from healthcare facilities by private equity firms
necessary for assuring the safety and quality of healthcare services
and retain staff in any bankruptcy.
</ul>
<p>
I am in favor of each of them, but this approach is nibbling around
the edges of a large problem which applies to many fields, including
retail sales and home rentals.  We should address the whole problem
fully.
<p>
So I urge we either (1) prohibit private equity organizations from
owning medical facilities or practices, or (2) subject private equity
organizations to the same SEC rules as public equity corporations.
<p>
Any requirements of the Health above Wealth Act that do not currently
exist for public corporations should be imposed on all of them.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#3_September_2024_(Water_fluoride)
title: Water fluoride
uri: Water-fluoride
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#3_September_2024_(Water_fluoride)
content:
 
<p>
The level of fluoride that people add to tap water is safe, but there
are places where tap water naturally has a higher level, and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/article/2024/aug/23/fluoride-water-study">that
level is associated with neurological damage</a>.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#3_September_2024_(Multi-use_coffee_cups)
title: Multi-use coffee cups
uri: Multi-use-coffee-cups
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#3_September_2024_(Multi-use_coffee_cups)
content:
 
<p>
Petaluma, California, has <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/aug/24/petaluma-reusable-cup-project-california">introduced a municipal system of multi-use
coffee cups</a>.
You drop the cup in a bin when you're done with it.  It gets cleaned
and delivered again to a coffee shop.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#3_September_2024_(Peter_Lynch)
title: Peter Lynch
uri: Peter-Lynch
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#3_September_2024_(Peter_Lynch)
content:
 
<p>
The UK has sentenced a bigot to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/article/2024/aug/22/peter-lynch-61-jailed-for-nearly-three-years-for-role-in-rotherham-riot">almost three years in prison for
shouting insults</a> -- and nothing else.
<p>
He received the same sentence as another rioter who kicked and threw
bottles.  There ie evidently injustice here.  Worse than that, to
convict people for insults -- even insults that are foolish and false
right-wing nonsense -- tramples freedom of speech.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#3_September_2024_(Employer_OSHA_warnings)
title: Employer OSHA warnings
uri: Employer-OSHA-warnings
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#3_September_2024_(Employer_OSHA_warnings)
content:
 
<p>
Some US employers are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/article/2024/aug/20/house-democrats-osha-inquiry-tip-offs">getting warnings in advance when an OSHA
inspection is coming</a>.  Congress is investigating.

<p>
 


title: US election as a trivial race, big media
uri: US-election-as-a-trivial-race-big-media
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#2_September_2024_(US_election_as_a_trivial_race,_Big_Media)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#2_September_2024_(US_election_as_a_trivial_race,_Big_Media)

content:
 
<p>
*Why the
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/08/28/trump-campaign-election-media-coverage-journalists/">Media
Won't Report</a> the Truth About [<a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#bully">the
bully</a>/corrupter].*

<p>
 


title: Protests over hostage deaths, ISR
uri: Protests-over-hostage-deaths-ISR
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#2_September_2024_(Protests_over_hostage_deaths,_ISR)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#2_September_2024_(Protests_over_hostage_deaths,_ISR)

content:
 
<p>
Israelis held
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/sep/01/protests-israel-strike-eruption-outrage-gaza-war">massive
protests and called a general strike</a> demanding that Netanyahu make a deal with HAMAS to get the
hostages back.
<p>
That is not what I would demand from him.  I would demand, rather, that he respect and protect the
lives of Palestinian civilians and cease to make war in ways that kill or oppress them.

<p>
 


title: US puts sanctions on land-grabbers, ISR
uri: US-puts-sanctions-on-land-grabbers-ISR
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#2_September_2024_(US_puts_sanctions_on_land-grabbers,_ISR)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#2_September_2024_(US_puts_sanctions_on_land-grabbers,_ISR)

content:
 
<p>
The US has
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/28/us-imposes-sanctions-on-extremist-israeli-settlers-in-west-bank">put
sanctions on an organization</a> that supports the violent "settlers"' colonial activity, and its
leader.
<p>
They certainly deserve this punishment, but the US is moving far too slowly.  If Biden want this to
significantly restrain Israel's brutality before the election, he had better move faster.

<p>
 


title: New business-court legal system, TX
uri: New-business-court-legal-system-TX
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#2_September_2024_(New_business-court_legal_system,_TX)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#2_September_2024_(New_business-court_legal_system,_TX)

content:
 
<p>
Texas has established a parallel set of business courts, with judges that have no effective
independence and have been
<a href="https://www.levernews.com/justice-brought-to-you-by-big-oil/">chosen for partiality</a> to
oil companies.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#2_September_2024_(Epithets_as_effective_politics)
title: Epithets as effective politics
uri: Epithets-as-effective-politics
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#2_September_2024_(Epithets_as_effective_politics)
content:
 
<p>
Ralph Nader says that giving <a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#bully">the bully</a> a
<a href="https://mailchi.mp/nader/wrecking-america-and-the-purpose-of-nicknames-for-trump-xaidbpjqhw?e=555e9be067">taste
of his own medicine</a>, in the form of nasty epithets, can be very effective.
<p>
Since 2016 I have refused to refer to <a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#bully">the bully</a> by
his name, only by various epithets.  I originally did this to deny that narcissist the pleasure he
derives from others' use of his name.  You can join in using my names for him, or do this your own
way.

<p>
 


title: Maduro now an illegitimate president, EU
uri: Maduro-now-an-illegitimate-president-EU
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#2_September_2024_(Maduro_now_an_illegitamate_president,_EU)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#2_September_2024_(Maduro_now_an_illegitamate_president,_EU)

content:
 
<p>
The EU has rejected Maduro's
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/29/eu-foreign-policy-chief-says-he-wont-accept-maduro-as-venezuelan-president">stolen
election</a> as illegitimate.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#2_September_2024_(Local-voting_law_changing,_US)
title: Local-voting law changing, US
uri: Local-voting-law-changing-US
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#2_September_2024_(Local-voting_law_changing,_US)
content:
 
<p>
Non-citizens are not allowed to vote in federal and state elections in the US, but cities can
authorize them to vote in municipal elections.  A right-wing
<a href="https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2024/08/28/eight-states-will-vote-on-amendments-to-ban-noncitizen-voting-in-november/">campaign
aims to amend state constitutions</a> to prevent that.
<p>
Some places in Europe permit non-citizens to vote in municipal elections.
The idea shocked me at first, but after thinking further I decided it might
be a good idea.  In any case, there is no reason for state governments
to intervene against it.  We can leave it to each local government.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#2_September_2024_(China_on_Burma_factions)
title: China on Burma factions
uri: China-on-Burma-factions
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#2_September_2024_(China_on_Burma_factions)
content:
 
<p>
China is playing the many factions in Burma against each other in an
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/aug/25/chinas-deadly-divide-and-rule-tactics-in-myanmar-risk-shock-waves-across-region">effort
to increase its power</a> over all of them.  It is not clear that the rest of the world has
influence to aim for a stable peace, or what that peace should look like.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#2_September_2024_(Wildfire_emissions,_CAN)
title: Wildfire emissions, CAN
uri: Wildfire-emissions-CAN
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#2_September_2024_(Wildfire_emissions,_CAN)
content:
 
<p>
Canada's
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/29/canada-wildfires-carbon-emissions">wildfires
in 2023 released more CO2</a> than any country other than China, India and the United States.

<p>
 


title: A Breonna Taylor case setback, KY
uri: A-Breonna-Taylor-case-setback-KY
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#2_September_2024_(A_Breonna_Taylor_case_setback,_KY)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#2_September_2024_(A_Breonna_Taylor_case_setback,_KY)

content:
 
<p>
A judge
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/23/breonna-taylor-charges">dismissed
charges against the thugs</a> that killed Breonna Taylor, by putting the blame for her death on her
boyfriend.  He shot at the <a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a> because they had
not identified themselves as official thugs, so he thought they were criminals breaking into his
house.
<p>
Since his actions were legitimate given his state of knowledge, they cannot
make him culpable for consequences.  And if the <!---->thugs falsified a warrant
to give themselves an excuse, no circumstances can possibly justify that.


<p>
 


title: Arlington National Cemetery sacrilege, VA
uri: Arlington-National-Cemetery-sacrilege-VA
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#1_September_2024_(Contempt_of_solemnity,_Arlington,_VA)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#1_September_2024_(Contempt_of_solemnity,_Arlington,_VA)

content:
 
<p>
When the <!---->corrupter tried to use Arlington National Cemetery to film a political message,
which is not allowed, it showed his contempt for the United States.  His reaction when officials
told him this was not allowed showed his
<a href="https://robertreich.substack.com/p/trumps-cemetery-gate">contempt for anyone that gets in
his way</a>.
<p>
I do not worship the military as the article suggests we should.  Armed force can be used for good
or for bad.  But the rule that <a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#corrupter">the corrupter</a>
tried to break is a wise one.

<p>
 


title: Urgent: News standards, media practices
uri: Urgent-News-standards-media-practices
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#1_September_2024_(Urgent:_News_standards,_Media_practices)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#1_September_2024_(Urgent:_News_standards,_Media_practices)

content:
 
<p>
Everyone:
<a href="https://act.freepress.net/sign/media-letter-petition/">call on media executives</a> to
follow standards of good journalism that will avoid spreading hate.

<p>
 


title: TDU drivers union well-timed strike, TN
uri: TDU-drivers-union-well-timed-strike-TN
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#1_September_2024_(TDU_drivers_union_well-timed_strike,_TN)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#1_September_2024_(TDU_drivers_union_well-timed_strike,_TN)

content:
 
<p>
*Uber and Lyft drivers in
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/30/uber-lyft-drivers-union-strike-nashville">Nashville
vote</a> to strike after forming a union.*
<p>
Those companies <a href="/uber.html">exploit workers</a> so I hope they win some better treatment.
If that increases the prices of rides from Uber and Lyft, that will be good as well, since it will
improve the availability of real taxis that you can ride anonymously without carrying a snoop-phone.
<p>
But I don't expect that the drivers will demand anything for the freedom and anonymity of
passengers, so I will continue to consider Uber and Lyft completely unacceptable.  As far as I am
concerned, this is a fight to the very end.  See <a href="/uber.html">uber.html</a> for why I refuse
to enter an Uber car even if someone else orders it.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#1_September_2024_(Urgent:_The_AT%26amp;T_strikers)
title: Urgent: The AT&amp;T strikers
uri: Urgent-The-AT-T-strikers
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#1_September_2024_(Urgent:_The_AT%26amp;T_strikers)
content:
 
<p>
In the US:
<a href="https://action.cwa.org/petitions/support-striking-workers-at-att-southeast?nowrapper=true&referrer=&source=email-support-our-strike-against-att">call
on AT&amp;T</a> to negotiate in good faith with the union workers that are now striking.

<p>
 


title: Republican hawk threatens Labour doves
uri: Republican-hawk-threatens-Labour-doves
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#1_September_2024_(Republican_hawk_threatens_Labour_doves)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#1_September_2024_(Republican_hawk_threatens_Labour_doves)

content:
 
<p>
An associate of the<!----> bully turned his bullying on the UK, threatening enormous punishment if
it should decide to
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/aug/29/special-relationship-at-risk-if-uk-bans-arms-sales-to-israel-says-trump-adviser">stop
delivering arms to Israel</a>.
<p>
It makes sense to try to pressure Biden and Harris to take a stand and pressure Israel to stop the
killing in Gaza.  But threatening to stand aside and maybe help
<a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#bully">the bully</a> become president again is
advocating self-mutilation.

<p>
 


title: Columbia U. tried to forgive protesters
uri: Columbia-U-tried-to-forgive-protesters
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#1_September_2024_(Columbia_U._tried_to_forgive_protesters)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#1_September_2024_(Columbia_U._tried_to_forgive_protesters)

content:
 
<p>
Columbia University has bowed to
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/08/29/columbia-campus-protests-gaza-subpoena/">threats from
right-wing extremists</a> in Congress by agreeing to rush to judgment of various students who were
accused of participating in protests on campus.
<p>
The university administration is making a cowardly surrender to fanatics who do not believe in
trials or justice &mdash; exactly the sort of enemies that a loyal American should resist.

<p>
 


title: Urgent: Billionaires overly empowered
uri: Urgent-Billionaires-overly-empowered
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#1_September_2024_(Urgent:_Billionaires_overly_empowered)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#1_September_2024_(Urgent:_Billionaires_overly_empowered)

content:
 
<p>
US citizens: Elon Musk and other billionaire CEOs have too much power.
<a href="https://act.demandprogress.org/sign/musk-uaw-tax-the-rich/?t=1001">Call on Congress</a> to
Tax the ultra-wealthy.
<p>
If you phone, please spread the word!                              
Main Switchboard: <a href="tel:+12022243121">+1-202-224-3121</a>


<p>
 


title: Urgent: NO more Elon Musk in US Military
uri: Urgent-NO-more-Elon-Musk-in-US-Military
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#1_September_2024_(Urgent:_NO_more_Elon_Musk_in_US_Military)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#1_September_2024_(Urgent:_NO_more_Elon_Musk_in_US_Military)

content:
 
<p>
US citizens:
<a href="https://act.demandprogress.org/sign/musk-defense-contracts/?t=1001&akid=32585%2E96703%2EhLQ4_3">call
on the US military</a> to make no more contracts with Musk's companies.
<p>
I don't know whether the executive branch to has the authority to make this decision arbitrarily.
However, it is surely possible in principle to pass a law to impose a suitable morally valid
criterion.  If it excludes some companies in addition, for the same reason, that would not be a bad
thing.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#1_September_2024_(Vaccines_awaiting,_Gaza)
title: Vaccines await, Gaza
uri: Vaccines-await-Gaza
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#1_September_2024_(Vaccines_awaiting,_Gaza)
content:
 
<p>
*WHO delivers
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/30/who-delivers-polio-vaccine-doses-gaza-israel-agrees-humanitarian-pauses-fighting">1.2m
polio vaccine doses</a> to Gaza as pauses in fighting agreed.*

<p>
 


title: In-flight air-turbulence-injuries up
uri: In-flight-air-turbulence-injuries-up
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#1_September_2024_(In-flight_air-turbulence-injuries_up)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#1_September_2024_(In-flight_air-turbulence-injuries_up)

content:
 
<p>
The increasing frequency of passenger
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/30/united-airlines-severe-turbulence">flights
hit by severe turbulence</a> might be a consequence of 
<a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#global%20heating">global heating</a> effects.  If so, it is
likely to increase further.  No one knows how bad it might get in a few decades.  However, I suspect
it will not be as big a problem as the likely
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#10_May_2024_(Farmers'_climate_catastrophe,_UK,_LATAM)">food shortages</a>,
spreading
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2023-sep-dec.html#3_September_2023_(Global_heating_enabling_spread_of_tropical_tiger_mosquitoes)">tropical diseases</a>,
and
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#19_August_2024_(World's_outdoor-work_heat_laws)">deaths from heat</a>.

<p>
 


title: US history of slave-labor in sugar
uri: US-history-of-slave-labor-in-sugar
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#1_September_2024_(US_history_of_slave-labor_in_sugar_)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#1_September_2024_(US_history_of_slave-labor_in_sugar_)

content:
 
<p>
*A Horrid
<a href="https://www.newyorkalmanack.com/2024/08/new-york-history-of-sugar-industry/">History of
Sugar</a>.* For instance, Indian sugar farm workers today are effectively slaves, as they are
permanently in debt.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#1_September_2024_(Urgent:_School-kid's_free_lunch)
title: Urgent: School-kid's free lunch
uri: Urgent-School-kid-s-free-lunch
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#1_September_2024_(Urgent:_School-kid's_free_lunch)
content:
 
<p>
US citizens:
<a href="https://civicshout.com/p/pass-tim-walz-s-free-lunch-for-kids-program-in-every-state?">call
on state governments</a> to pass Tim Walz's Free Lunch For Kids Program in <em>every</em> state.
<p>
Please find your state governor's phone number at
<a href="https://www.usa.gov/state-governments">USA.gov</a>

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#1_September_2024_(Book-ban_sued,_FL)
title: Book-ban sued, FL
uri: Book-ban-sued-FL
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#1_September_2024_(Book-ban_sued,_FL)
content:
 
<p>
*<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/30/florida-school-book-ban-publishers-lawsuit">Major
publishers sue</a> Florida over "unconstitutional" school book ban.*
<p>
The ban is disgusting, but the article does not explain how it violates the US or the Florida
constitution.  I think the extreme court will find an excuse to uphold it.

<p>
 


title: Urgent: Kroger's surveillance-pricing
uri: Urgent-Kroger-s-surveillance-pricing
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#3_September_2024_(Urgent:_Kroger's_surveillance-pricing)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#3_September_2024_(Urgent:_Kroger's_surveillance-pricing)

content:
 
<p>
<a href="https://actionnetwork.org/letters/kroger-surveillance-pricing?nowrapper=true">Tell
Kroger's</a> to stop trying to identify all its customers through facial recognition.
<p>
I edited my letter to say that trying to identify each customers is unjust even aside from the use
of that information for precision gouging.
<p>
Here's how to make the actionnetwork.org letter campaign linked above function without running the
site's nonfree JavaScript code.  I presume you have deactivated JavaScript or are using the LibreJS
plugin.
<p>
I have done the first step for you: I added `?nowrapper=true' to the end of the campaign URL before
posting it above.  That should bring you to a page that starts with, "Letter campaigns will not work
without JavaScript!"  They indeed won't work without some manual help, but the following simple
method seems adequate for some of them.
<p>
To start, in the personal information in the box on the right side of the page.  That's how you say
who's sending the letter.
<p>
Then click the "START WRITING" button.  That will take you to a page that can't function without
nonfree JavaScript code.  (To ensure it doesn't function perversely _by running_ that nonfree code,
you should enable LibreJS or disable JavaScript.)  You can finish sending without that code By
editing its URL in the browser's address bar, as follows:
<p>
First, go to the end.  Then insert `&nowrapper=true'.  Then tell the browser to visit that URL.
This should give you a version of the page that works without JavaScript.  Edit the subject and body
of your letter.  Finally, click on the "SEND LETTER" button, and you're done.

This method seems to work for letter campaigns that send the letters to a fixed list of recipients,
the same recipients for every sender.  Editing and revisiting the URL is the only additional step
needed to bypass the nonfree JavaScript code.  I'm sure you'll agree it is a small effort compared
with the benefit of supporting the campaign without opening your computer to unjust (and potentially
malicious) software.

<p>
 


title: Urgent: Debate-questions ABC should ask
uri: Urgent-Debate-questions-ABC-should-ask
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#3_September_2024_(Urgent:_Debate-questions_ABC_should_ask)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#3_September_2024_(Urgent:_Debate-questions_ABC_should_ask)

content:
 
<p>
Everyone:
<a href="https://actionnetwork.org/letters/expose-trumps-connection-to-project-2025-at-the-next-debate/?nowrapper=true">call on ABC</a>
to expose the right-wing extremist's connection to Project 2025 in the coming
presidential debate.
<p>
Here's how to make the actionnetwork.org letter campaign linked above function without running the
site's nonfree JavaScript code.
<p>
First, make sure you have deactivated JavaScript's or are using the LibreJS plug-in.
<p>
I have done the first step for you: I added `?nowrapper=true' to the end of the campaign URL before
posting it above.  That should bring you to a page that starts with, "Letter campaigns will not work
without JavaScript!"  They indeed won't work without some manual help, but the following simple
method seems adequate for some of them.
<p>
To start, in the personal information in the box on the right side of the page.  That's how you say
who's sending the letter.
<p>
Then click the "START WRITING" button.  That will take you to a page that can't function without
nonfree JavaScript code.  (To ensure it doesn't function perversely _by running_ that nonfree code,
you can enable LibreJS or disable JavaScript.)  You can finish sending without that code By editing
its URL in the browser's address bar, as follows:
<p>
First, go to the end and insert `&nowrapper=true'.  Then tell the browser to visit that URL.  This
should give you a version of the page that works without JavaScript.  Enter the subject and body of
your letter.  Finally, click on the "SEND LETTER" button, and you're done.
<p>
This method seems to work for letter campaigns that send the letters to a fixed list of recipients,
the same recipients for every sender.  Editing and revisiting the URL is the only additional step
needed to bypass the nonfree JavaScript code.  I'm sure you'll agree it is a small effort compared
with the benefit of supporting the campaign without opening your computer to unjust (and potentially
malicious) software.

<p>
 


title: Urgent: Billionaire Minimum Income Tax
uri: 2024-09-04-Urgent-Billionaire-Minimum-Income-Tax
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#3_September_2024_(Urgent:_Billionaire_Minimum_Income_Tax)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#3_September_2024_(Urgent:_Billionaire_Minimum_Income_Tax)

content:
 
<p>
US citizens: phone your congresscritter and senators to support the
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/#29_March_2022_(Billionaire_minimum_incom_tax)">Billionaire
Minimum Income Tax</a>.
<p>
You can be sure that billionaires are phoning those same elected officials on the other side.
<p>
If you phone, please spread the word!                              
Main Switchboard: <a href="tel:+12022243121">+1-202-224-3121</a>

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#3_September_2024_(Ex-Twitter_banned,_BRA)
title: Ex-Twitter banned, BRA
uri: Ex-Twitter-banned-BRA
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#3_September_2024_(Ex-Twitter_banned,_BRA)
content:
 
<p>
Brazil has banned <!---->ex-Twitter for spreading
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/article/2024/aug/31/x-offline-brazil-elon-musk">propaganda
in favor of the extreme right-wing</a> ex-president Bolsonaro.
<p>
Bolsonaro launched an attack against the main government buildings in Brazilia after Lula was
elected president again.
<p>
I recognize people's right to advocate right-wing political views, even though (as you can see from
years of postings in this site) I loathe those views.  However, the state should not hold out its
neck for an enormous business to cut, and businesses are not entitled to human rights.
<p>
Aside from the owner's vicious politics, 
<a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#extwitter">ex-Twitter</a> is unjust to each and every user by
requiring per to run nonfree software to access it.  The article says that many users have switched
to Bluesky.  Is it possible to use Bluesky without running any nonfree software?
<p>
Strictly speaking, the ban is because ex-Twitter<!----> tried to evade legal responsibility by
ceasing to operate in Brazil and not appointing any legal representative.  Each company doing
business in Brazil is required to have a representative, whom I believe has the job of receiving
summonses to the company.  Must seems to have thought to make legal action against ex-Twitter<!---->
impossible by not appointing one.

<p>
 


title: Female sterilization surgery: 95% surety
uri: Female-sterilization-surgery-95-surety
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#3_September_2024_(Female_sterilization_surgery:_95%25_surety)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#3_September_2024_(Female_sterilization_surgery:_95%25_surety)

content:
 
<p>
A tubal ligation does not guarantee
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/31/pregnancy-tubal-ligation-surgery-study">you
won't get pregnant</a>.


<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#4_September_2024_(Cannabis_as_recreational,_FL)
title: Cannabis as recreational, FL
uri: Cannabis-as-recreational-FL
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#4_September_2024_(Cannabis_as_recreational,_FL)
content:
 
<p>
<!---->The bullshitter said he is
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/31/donald-trump-recreational-marijuana-florida">in
favor of legalizing marijuana</a>.  What should we think of that?
<p>
I have advocated legalization of marijuana for many years, so in general I am glad when others
advocate it too.  I hope the referendum to legalize marijuana in Florida wins.  If the 
<!---->bullshitter influences some people to vote for it, that will be a good thing.
<p>
However. <a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#bullshitter">the bullshitter's</a> statement that he
supports that measure should not alter our disgust for <em>him</em>.  We know that he will change
his opinions from one day to the next, for no reason except political manipulation.  That today he
has a new opinion that agrees with us should not mislead us about what he is at heart.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#4_September_2024_(Climate_pounding_the_poor)
title: Climate pounding the poor, BHS
uri: Climate-pounding-the-poor-BHS
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#4_September_2024_(Climate_pounding_the_poor)
content:
 
<p>
The shantytown of Mudd, in the
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/article/2024/aug/31/hurricane-dorian-survivors-impact-bahamas">Bahamas,
was flattened</a> or washed away by the most powerful hurricane ever seen there.  Five years later,
the survivors can't even find land to build a permanent shantytown on.
<p>
They are like homeless people in the US, building encampments that get washed away by the cruelty of
the state.

<p>
 


title: An assessment of today's anti-heroes
uri: An-assessment-of-today-s-anti-heroes
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#4_September_2024_(An_assessment_of_today's_anti-heroes)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#4_September_2024_(An_assessment_of_today's_anti-heroes)

content:
 
<p>
*In an unheroic age,
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/aug/31/putin-trump-netanyahu-stalin-hitler-mao-successors">Putin,
Trump and Netanyahu</a> are sick parodies of great men.*

<p>
 


title: World's first math-breakthroughs, IND
uri: World-s-first-math-breakthroughs-IND
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#4_September_2024_(World's_first_math_breakthroughs,_IND)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#4_September_2024_(World's_first_math_breakthroughs,_IND)

content:
 
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/sep/01/hidden-story-ancient-india-west-maths-astronomy-historians">The
Indian invention</a> of positional numeration, and zero, transformed mathematics world-wide, but in
the west we have incorrectly attributed it to Arabs.
<p>
It should be noted that the ancient Maya used a similar system to write numbers, except with base
20, even earlier.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#4_September_2024_(DeMentis'_great_fall,_FL)
title: DeMentis' great fall, FL
uri: DeMentis-great-fall-FL
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#4_September_2024_(DeMentis'_great_fall,_FL)
content:
 
<p>
Governor <a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#dementis">DeMentis</a> made a proposal to
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/31/ron-desantis-state-parks-florida-republicans-great-outdoors-initiative">pave
over large parts of Florida state parks</a>, and it has provoked ridicule from prominent
Republicans.


<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#5_September_2024_(Partial_Israel-arms_embargo,_UK)
title: Partial Israel-arms embargo, UK
uri: Partial-Israel-arms-embargo-UK
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#5_September_2024_(Partial_Israel-arms_embargo,_UK)
content:
 
<p>
*UK suspends 30 arms export licenses to Israel
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/sep/02/uk-suspends-30-arms-export-licences-to-israel-after-review">after
review</a>.  Foreign Office says review found "clear risk" that UK arms may be used in violation of
humanitarian law.*
<p>
This will increase pressure on the US to do likewise, as it ought to.
<p>
*<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/sep/03/which-countries-banned-or-restricted-arms-sales-to-israel-gaza-war">Which
countries have</a> banned or restricted arms sales to Israel?*

<p>
 


title: Ignored voters leave left, go right, DEU
uri: Ignored-voters-leave-left-go-right-DEU
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#5_September_2024_(Ignored_voters_leave_left,_go_right,_DEU)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#5_September_2024_(Ignored_voters_leave_left,_go_right,_DEU)

content:
 
<p>
The German neo-Nazi party won the election in one state.  One writer
argues, *There’s only one way to keep Germany’s far-right AfD at
bay.
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/sep/03/germany-far-right-afd">Address
the concerns it exploits</a>.*

<p>
 


title: Scotland's budgetary decisions, fallout
uri: Scotland-s-budgetary-decisions-fallout
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#5_September_2024_(Scotland's_budgetary_decisions,_fallout)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#5_September_2024_(Scotland's_budgetary_decisions,_fallout)

content:
 
<p>
*Scottish government raids £460m green energy fund for
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/sep/03/scottish-government-raids-460m-green-energy-fund-for-public-sector-pay-rises">public
sector pay rises</a>.*
<p>
When funds for curbing <a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#climate">climate mayhem</a>
are are treated as available for any pressing short-term need, climate mayhem <!---->is
likely to proceed uncurbed.

<p>
 


title: Urgent: Project 2025 tax-cuts on wealthy
uri: Urgent-Project-2025-tax-cuts-on-wealthy
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#5_September_2024_(Urgent:_Project_2025_tax-cuts_on_wealthy)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#5_September_2024_(Urgent:_Project_2025_tax-cuts_on_wealthy)

content:
 
<p>
Everyone:
<a href="https://actionnetwork.org/forms/demand-news-networks-expose-project-2025s-nightmare-tax-scheme-now?nowrapper=true&referrer=group-just-strategy&source=group-just-strategy">call
on news networks</a> to expose Project 2025's nightmare tax scheme.

<p>
 


title: DeMentis retaliates against leaker, FL
uri: DeMentis-retaliates-against-leaker-FL
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#5_September_2024_(DeMentis_retaliates_against_leaker,_FL)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#5_September_2024_(DeMentis_retaliates_against_leaker,_FL)

content:
 
<p>
*Florida’s department of environmental protection has fired a whistleblower who exposed and sank
governor [DeMentis]'s<!---->
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/sep/03/florida-park-whistleblower-fired">secretive
plan to pave over environmentally sensitive state parks</a> and build lucrative hotels, golf courses
and pickleball courts.*
<p>
One must suspect the head of that department of placing per boss,
<a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#dementis">DeMentis</a>, above per department's
mission.  Is <a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#perse">perse</a> a Republican, by any chance?

<p>
 


title: Lack of 2031-49 climate targets, KOR
uri: Lack-of-2031-49-climate-targets-KOR
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#5_September_2024_(Lack_of_2031-49_climate_targets,_KOR)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#5_September_2024_(Lack_of_2031-49_climate_targets,_KOR)

content:
 
<p>
*South Korea’s constitutional court has ruled that part of the country’s climate law does not
conform with protecting the
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/29/south-korea-court-climate-law-violates-rights-future-generations">constitutional
rights of future generations</a> [from
<a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#global%20heating">global heating</a>].*

<p>
 


title: Thames (Privatized) Water proves wrong
uri: Thames-(Privatized)-Water-proves-wrong
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#5_September_2024_(Thames_(Privatized)_Water_proves_wrong)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#5_September_2024_(Thames_(Privatized)_Water_proves_wrong)

content:
 
<p>
Thames Water, one of the privatized water companies that Tories created to extract money from the
public water supply, is pressuring for permission to increase water bills, saying that
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/article/2024/aug/28/thames-water-says-without-steep-bill-increase-its-neither-financeable-nor-investible">otherwise it will fail</a>.
<p>
Privatization schemes are generally a way to
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2012-mar-jun.html#7_May_2012_(UK's_Loony_Experiment)">transfer
public money to private profit</a>, and
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2006-mar-jun.html#30%20May%202006%20(Private%20water%20supply%20companies)">water
supply privatization</a> is no exception.  If the company is indeed moribund, that is great news,
because it means that nationalization will cost the government very little in so-called
"compensation".  (Really, these companies' past and present owners should pay compensation for the
wealth they have extracted from the public.)
<p>
Once nationalization ensures that any additional funds put in will not be frittered away on private
investors' profits, the government can put in what is needed and really get publish benefit for it.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#5_September_2024_(Elec._car_distance-tax,_UK)
title: Electric vehicle distance-tax, UK
uri: Electric-vehicle-distance-tax-UK
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#5_September_2024_(Elec._car_distance-tax,_UK)
content:
 
<p>
The UK is
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/sep/03/uk-electric-car-drivers-per-mile-vehicle-taxes-campaign-for-better-transport">again
considering taxing electric cars</a> based on the distance they travel.
<p>
In the short term, the right thing to do is <em>not</em>
to tax the EVs, but rather to increase the petrol
tax &mdash; that will pressure more and more drivers to get rid of those.  But eventually it will be
necessary to tax the use of the EVs somehow.
<p>
I think that will be reasonable to do at that time, provided the system to collect the tax does not
track where each car goes.  For instance, it could be based on a secure odometer that will be
checked from time to time.
<p>
In fact,
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2020-may-aug.html#7_May_2020_(Please_trust_our_contact-tracing_app)">the
UK already tracks every car</a>, and the potential oppression of this tracking system was already
realized many years ago when protesters on the way to a nonviolent protest were preemptively stopped
specifically to sabotage the protest.
<p>
Of course, the repression that the UK aim at nonviolent protesters has been greatly increased since
then.  I expect any new UK systems of transportation to be designed for increased surveillance
&mdash; until <a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#climate">climate mayhem</a>
makes those systems cease to function at all.


<p>
 


title: Both candidates, on capital punishment
uri: Both-candidates-on-capital-punishment
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#6_September_2024_(Both_candidates,_on_capital_punishment)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#6_September_2024_(Both_candidates,_on_capital_punishment)

content:
 
<p>
Kamala Harris used to advocate abolishing the death penalty for federal crimes, but
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/08/23/dnc-democrats-death-penalty-executions/">she doesn't
talk about it any more</a>.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#6_September_2024_(Musk_deepfake_of_Harris)
title: Musk deepfake of Harris
uri: Musk-deepfake-of-Harris
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#6_September_2024_(Musk_deepfake_of_Harris)
content:
 
<p>
*Musk posts fake image of Harris
<a href="https://thehill.com/policy/technology/4859664-elon-musk-fake-image-kamala-harris/">in
communist garb</a>.*
<p>
It is the usual right-wing superexaggeration which equates any progressive policy to "communism".
<a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#plutocratist">Plutocratists</a> said the same thing about
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Deal">the New Deal</a>.
It shows that Musk has broken off his relationship with reality.

<p>
 


title: Fake-slate electors as ... electors?
uri: Fake-slate-electors-as-electors
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#6_September_2024_(Fake-slate_electors_as_..._electors_)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#6_September_2024_(Fake-slate_electors_as_..._electors_)

content:
 
<p>
*State
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/sep/05/fake-electors-republicans">Republican
parties [are nominating]</a> [presidential] electors who were on fake slate in 2020.*
<p>
I hope there is a way to bar them from having any role in the coming
election.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#6_September_2024_(Republicans_against_fascism)
title: Republicans against fascism
uri: Republicans-against-fascism
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#6_September_2024_(Republicans_against_fascism)
content:
 
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/sep/02/republicans-voting-against-trump-for-harris">Many
Republicans are organizing</a> to defeat 
<a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#trump">the fascist</a>,
saying they'd rather have a democracy-supporting president that has policies they disagree with than
someone who intends to set up a dictatorship.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#6_September_2024_(Cheater's_bad_memory)
title: The cheater's tactical befuddles
uri: The-cheater-s-tactical-befuddles
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#6_September_2024_(Cheater's_bad_memory)
content:
 
<p>
<a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#bullshitter">The bullshitter</a> tends
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/sep/02/trump-hypocrisy-harris-pence">to get everything backwards</a>.
Is this right wing tactics (whatever you are doing, accuse the other side of doing it) or mere
failing memory?

<p>
 


title: Presidential-election loss-playbook
uri: Presidential-election-loss-playbook
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#6_September_2024_(Presidential_election-loss_playbook)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#6_September_2024_(Presidential_election-loss_playbook)

content:
 
<p>
*[<a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#wrecker">The wrecker</a>] and allies
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/sep/03/trump-maga-allies-election-conspiracy-theories">plant seeds for "chaos and discord"</a>
if he
loses, experts warn.*

<p>
 


title: Edmundo González ordered imprisoned, VEN
uri: Edmundo-González-ordered-imprisoned-VEN
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#6_September_2024_(Edmundo_González_ordered_imprisoned,_VEN)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#6_September_2024_(Edmundo_González_ordered_imprisoned,_VEN)

content:
 
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/sep/03/edmundo-gonzalez-venezuela-election-opposition-leader-prosecutors-arrest-warrant">Maduro
has ordered</a> the imprisonment of opposition candidate González.  There will no doubt be a trial
first, but its outcome is not in doubt.

<p>
 


title: Independents alliance, UK parliament
uri: Independents-alliance-UK-parliament
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#6_September_2024_(Parliamentary,_Independent_alliance,_UK)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#6_September_2024_(Parliamentary,_Independent_alliance,_UK)

content:
 
<p>
Jeremy Corbyn and four other independent MPs,
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/sep/02/jeremy-corbyn-alliance-independent-pro-gaza-mps">all
rejected by Labour</a>, have formed an alliance.

<p>
 


title: Urgent: Thank FTC chair Lina Khan
uri: Urgent-Thank-FTC-chair-Lina-Khan
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#6_September_2024_(Urgent:_Thank_FTC_chair_Lina_Khan)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#6_September_2024_(Urgent:_Thank_FTC_chair_Lina_Khan)

content:
 
<p>
US citizens: Show your support to
<a href="https://invidio.us/watch?v=J7ZdU-1fF8g">Lina Khan</a>
and 
<a href="https://actionnetwork.org/forms/biden-harris-antitrust-agenda?nowrapper=true&referrer=group-hd&source=group-hd">Jonathan Kanter for fighting
and blocking monopolies</a>.
<p>
Imagine if we had a president and congress that supported all of FDR's
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Deal">New Deal</a>, not just a few parts.

<p>
 


title: Urgent: Campus as forefront of progress
uri: Urgent-Campus-as-forefront-of-progress
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#6_September_2024_(Urgent:_Campus_as_forefront_of_progress)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#6_September_2024_(Urgent:_Campus_as_forefront_of_progress)

content:
 
<p>
US citizens:
<a href="https://actionnetwork.org/forms/sign-now-to-tell-university-administrators-and-boards-end-the-repressive-tactics-against-gaza-solidarity-encampments?nowrapper=true&referrer=&source=email-university-repression-of-pro-palestine-protests-is-starting-again">call
on University administrators and boards</a> to end repressive tactics against protests in support of
Palestinians' rights.
<p>
I agree with the recommendation that we should not label ourselves or others as "pro-Israel" or
"pro-Palestine".  We should campaign for peace between those two nations and the safety of all.

<p>
 


title: Internet-police expand search, CHI
uri: Internet-police-expand-search-CHI
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#6_September_2024_(Internet-police_expand_search,_CHI)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#6_September_2024_(Internet-police_expand_search,_CHI)

content:
 
<p>
*How China's internet police went from targeting bloggers
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/sep/02/how-chinas-internet-police-went-from-targeting-bloggers-to-their-followers">to
their followers</a>.*



<p>
 


title: LLM-quality experiment: summarizing, AUS
uri: LLM-quality-experiment-summarizing-AUS
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#7_September_2024_(LLM-quality_experiment:_summarising,_AUS)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#7_September_2024_(LLM-quality_experiment:_summarising,_AUS)

content:
 
<p>
*[Large language models (please don't call them "AI") are] worse than humans in every way at
summarizing documents and might actually create additional work for people,
<a href="https://www.crikey.com.au/2024/09/03/ai-worse-summarising-information-humans-government-trial/k">[an
Australian] government trial of the technology has found</a>.*

<p>
 


title: Medical treatment farcical, US jails
uri: Medical-treatment-farcical-US-jails
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#7_September_2024_(Medical_treatment_farcical,_US_jails)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#7_September_2024_(Medical_treatment_farcical,_US_jails)

content:
 
<p>
Prisons are famous for refusing prisoners the medical care they need.  The medics deny the problem
and accused the prisoner of making it up. 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/sep/05/naphcare-healthcare-jails">It
happens over and over that the prisoner is telling the truth</a> and that the problem is not
recognized as real until <a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#perse">perse</a> dies.
<p>
This problem includes <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2020-sep-dec.html#29_October_2020_(Private_prison_medical_care)">privatized medical non-care in US prisons</a>.

<p>
 


title: Child protective services overreach, UK
uri: Child-protective-services-overreach-UK
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#7_September_2024_(Child_protective_svc_overreach,_UK)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#7_September_2024_(Child_protective_svc_overreach,_UK)

content:
 
<p>
*Kirstie Allsopp let her
<a href="https://www.freerangekids.com/kirstie-allsopp-did-not-neglect-her-son-period/">15-year-old
son go on a 3-week train trip</a> around Europe with his 16-year-old buddy &mdash; and found herself
under investigation by child protective services.* Here is Lenore Skenazy's response.
<p>
When I was 15, I was not ready for an adventure like that, and I would have been too terrified to
try it.  Even at 25 I would have found it too daunting &mdash; sharing a ride to a science fiction
convention was as much as I could handle then.
<p>
However, most people learn to deal with the non-academic and non-computing aspects of life much
younger than I did.


<p>
 


title: Battery storage vs nuclear power plants
uri: Battery-storage-vs-nuclear-power-plants
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#8_September_2024_(Battery_storage_vs_nuclear_power_plants)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#8_September_2024_(Battery_storage_vs_nuclear_power_plants)

content:
 
<p>
<a href="https://pluralistic.net/2024/08/06/with-great-power/#comes-great-responsibility">Major
advances in battery technology</a> promise to eliminate any practical limit on how much electrical
energy the world can store.  With enough renewable generation capacity, and these new kinds of
batteries, we will not need any fossil fuel or nuclear power for activities that can run on
electricity.
<p>
That by itself can't enable eliminating all greenhouse gas emissions, but it can eliminate most of
them.
<p>
Explaining why nuclear power plants are
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/sep/04/mv-ramana-why-nuclear-power-not-solution-energy-needs">not
the solution</a>.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#8_September_2024_(Animal_agriculture_subsidies,_EU)
title: Animal agriculture subsidies, EU
uri: Animal-agriculture-subsidies-EU
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#8_September_2024_(Animal_agriculture_subsidies,_EU)
content:
 
<p>
*Europe’s food and farming lobbies have recognized the
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/sep/04/europe-farming-lobbies-recognise-need-eat-less-meat-report">need
to eat less meat</a> after hammering out a shared vision for the future of agriculture with green
groups and other stakeholders.*
<p>
I expect they are proposing less change than is really needed, but if
they mean this sincerely, it will be a step forward towards survival.

<p>
 


title: Recent Jenin siege highly destructive
uri: Recent-Jenin-siege-highly-destructive
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#8_September_2024_(Recent_Jenin_seige_highly_destructive)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#8_September_2024_(Recent_Jenin_seige_highly_destructive)

content:
 
<p>
*Israel lays siege to Jenin as it
<a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/9/1/lack-of-food-and-water-ambulances-blocked-as-israel-lays-siege-to-jenin">stops
food and water, blocks ambulances</a>.*
<p>
These are massacre tactics.  Israel is extending its system of atrocities in Gaza to the West Bank.

<p>
 


title: Over 100 days over 100°F, Phoenix, AZ
uri: Over-100-days-over-100-F-Phoenix-AZ
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#8_September_2024_(Over_100_days_over_100°F,_Phoenix,_AZ)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#8_September_2024_(Over_100_days_over_100°F,_Phoenix,_AZ)

content:
 
<p>
Phoenix has suffered 100
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/sep/04/phoenix-arizona-100-degrees-heat">consecutive
days of temperatures</a> above 100°F.
<p>
That's not
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2021-jul-oct.html#12_August_2021_(Major_climate_changes)">as
bad as it will be</a> in coming decades.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#8_September_2024_(Urgent:_MAGA_bigotry_in_NDAA)
title: Urgent: MAGA bigotry in NDAA
uri: Urgent-MAGA-bigotry-in-NDAA
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#8_September_2024_(Urgent:_MAGA_bigotry_in_NDAA)
content:
 
<p>
US citizens:
<a href="https://act.winwithoutwar.org/act/senate-2025-ndaa">call
on the Senate</a> to keep MAGA bigotry out of the National Defense Authorization Act.
<p>
If you phone, please spread the word!                              
Main Switchboard: <a href="tel:+12022243121">+1-202-224-3121</a>

<p>
 


title: Urgent: Voting-rights attack funding
uri: Urgent-Voting-rights-attack-funding
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#8_September_2024_(Urgent:_Voting-rights_attack_funding)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#8_September_2024_(Urgent:_Voting-rights_attack_funding)

content:
 
<p>
US citizens:
<a href="https://act.weareultraviolet.org/sign/MAGA_RAGA_Ken_Paxton_Raids/">call on T-Mobile, GM,
CVS, and Elevance</a> to stop funding Republican harassment using fake criminal accusations to
attack voting rights.


<p>
 


title: Telegram head Pavel Durov, FRA charges
uri: Telegram-head-Pavel-Durov-FRA-charges
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#9_September_2024_(Telegram_head_Pavel_Durov,_FRA_charges)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#9_September_2024_(Telegram_head_Pavel_Durov,_FRA_charges)

content:
 
<p>
The charges against Pavel Durov are about chat groups,
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/article/2024/sep/06/telegram-to-drop-people-nearby-feature-and-improve-moderation">not
encrypted conversations</a>.  It is a relief that this is not an effort to ban end-to-end
encryption.  However, I am somewhat concerned about the announced changes.  Those who will be
affected by them will include political dissidents as well as criminals.  The phrase "upload media"
is very vague, but if it means "upload videos", I fear that blocking this will do more to hamper the
fight against crime (and particularly crime by agents of the state) than to hamper crime.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#9_September_2024_(Aysenur_Eygi)
title: Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, Seattle
uri: Aysenur-Ezgi-Eygi-Seattle
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#9_September_2024_(Aysenur_Eygi)
content:
 
<p>
Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, an American,
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/09/06/american-shot-israel-military-eygi-west-bank/">went to
Nablus</a> to join nonviolent protests against an fairly new Israeli colony (nominally unauthorized)
near the town of Beita.  Israelis fired guns to crush the protest and she was killed.
<p>
Some witnesses say a sniper shot her in the head.  If so, that was murder.
<p>
Many Americans have gone to Israel and Palestine to protest against the apartheid system and its
cruel expressions, and some have been killed doing so.  One I recall was
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rachel_Corrie">Rachel Corrie</a>, killed in 2003 as she
refused to leave a Palestinian house that the Israeli army intended to demolish.

<p>
 


title: 2017, Grenfell tower fire update, UK
uri: 2017-Grenfell-tower-fire-update-UK
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#9_September_2024_(2017,_Grenfell_tower_fire_update,_UK)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#9_September_2024_(2017,_Grenfell_tower_fire_update,_UK)

content:
 
<p>
The inquiry into the London tall building fire found that the system
of construction
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/article/2024/sep/05/grenfell-tower-the-fire-the-findings-whos-to-blame-and-what-happens-next">regulations
had been thoroughly corrupted</a>.  Companies sold flammable building materials, contemptuously
violating safety standards and ignoring objections, and regulatory bodies had been nullified by a
government whose priority was "efficiency" through "cutting red tape".
<p>
What it shows is that the red tape is necessary because the regulations are necessary.  (Similar
lessons taught the need for these regulations in the first place.)
<p>
The corporations add employees culpable should be prosecuted, but only the people can democratically
reject the politicians that propose to "cut red tape" that is necessary for public safety.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#9_September_2024_(Greens_push_wealth_tax,_UK)
title: Greens push wealth tax, UK
uri: Greens-push-wealth-tax-UK
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#9_September_2024_(Greens_push_wealth_tax,_UK)
content:
 
<p>
*Greens to push Labour for wealth tax to
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/sep/06/upbeat-greens-target-labour-timidity-and-call-for-wealth-tax-to-raise-revenue">fund
[Britain's] public services</a>.*

<p>
 


title: Teamsters at Republican convention
uri: Teamsters-at-Republican-convention
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#9_September_2024_(Teamsters_at_Republican_convention)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#9_September_2024_(Teamsters_at_Republican_convention)

content:
 
<p>
Some Republicans are giving
<a href="https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2024/09/04/the-rise-of-pro-labor-conservatism/">lip service to
supporting the interests of workers</a>.  Alas, it can't be more than lip service as long as they
are dependent on support from barons of business.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#9_September_2024_(Ralph_Nader_book_on_Trump)
title: Ralph Nader book about Trump
uri: Ralph-Nader-book-about-Trump
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#9_September_2024_(Ralph_Nader_book_on_Trump)
content:
 
<p>
<em>Wrecking America: How Trump’s Lawbreaking and Lies Betray All</em>, by
Mark Green and Ralph Nader, show <a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#bullshitter">the bullshitter's</a> delusions
and how
<a href="https://mailchi.mp/nader/his-delusions-lead-to-trumpian-dangers-s2khxb540v?e=555e9be067">they
add up to denial</a> of reality.
<p>
For example:
<ul>
<li> “Nobody knows more about taxes than I do, and income than I do.”
<li> “Nobody knows more about construction than I do.”
<li> “Nobody knows more about campaign finance than I do.”
<li> “I know more about drones than anybody.”
<li> “Nobody knows much more about technology … than I do.”
<li> “Nobody in the history of this country has ever known so much about
infrastructure as Donald Trump.”
<li> “I know that H-1B [visa], I know the H-2B. Nobody knows it better than me.”
<li> “I know more about ISIS than the generals do, believe me.”
<li> “I know a lot. I know more than I’m ever gonna tell you.”
</ul>

<p>
 


title: Harris' rhetoric presents well
uri: Harris-rhetoric-presents-well
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#9_September_2024_(Harris'_rhetoric,_presentations_work)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#9_September_2024_(Harris'_rhetoric,_presentations_work)

content:
 
<p>
Harris
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/commentisfree/article/2024/sep/04/kamala-harris-hillary-clinton-feminist-messaging-democratic-donald-trump">downplays
identity politics</a> &mdash; instead of asking us to vote for the "first female president", she
calls for defending women's rights.
<p>
In other words, she is concerned with the substance of feminism, not the identity aspect.  That is
admirable.
<p>
I don't directly care whether the US president is male, female, both, or neither.  Those things are
per personal matter, and don't affect the public.  I care whether the US president stands for
justice, rights of real persons (not fictitious ones), and helping the disadvantaged (which in many
societies tends to include women).

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#9_September_2024_(HR_McMaster's_book_on_Trump)
title: HR McMaster's book on Trump
uri: HR-McMaster-s-book-on-Trump
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#9_September_2024_(HR_McMaster's_book_on_Trump)
content:
 
<p>
HR McMaster, <!---->the corrupter's national security adviser for over a year, says he thinks
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/article/2024/aug/21/trump-putin-hr-mcmaster-memoir">Putin
developed a hold</a> over <a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#corrupter">the corrupter</a> 
by flattering him.
<p>
Unlike McMaster, I know about these matters only what I read in the news.  But I got the feeling
before and during <!---->the corrupter's term as president that he was making decisions to help
Putin.
<p>
On the day that that article was published, I ran into Phil Zimmerman (author of PGP) and in
conversation with him referred to <!---->the corrupter as
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Manchurian_Candidate">"the Manchurian candidate</a>".
Zimmermann said he believed <!---->the corrupter was indeed the Manchurian candidate,
in league with Putin.
<p>
*The
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/sep/04/russia-accused-of-trying-to-influence-us-voters-through-online-campaign">Biden
administration has accused Russia</a> of carrying out a sustained disinformation campaign targeted
at American voters and meant to influence the outcome of November’s presidential elections.*
<p>
This includes paying Americans to spread Putin's message.  Others then repeat the disinformation
without knowing Putin's role in convincing them to do so.

<p>
 


title: Selfies as thought-crime, DPRK Olympians
uri: Selfies-as-thought-crime-DPRK-Olympians
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#9_September_2024_(Selfies_as_thought_crime,_DPRK_Olympians)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#9_September_2024_(Selfies_as_thought_crime,_DPRK_Olympians)

content:
 
<p>
Two
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/sep/02/north-korean-table-tennis-selfie-paris-olympics-south-korea-punishment">North
Korean athletes face punishment</a> for allowing themselves to be photographed at the Olympic Games
together with South Korean athletes, after both pairs had received medals.
<p>
If the North Korean pair do not show sufficient contrition, they may be chosen as targets for the
next
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_Minutes_Hate">Two Minute Hate</a>.



<p>
 


title: Institutions canceling journal contracts
uri: Institutions-canceling-journal-contracts
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#10_September_2024_(Institutions_canceling_journal_contracts)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#10_September_2024_(Institutions_canceling_journal_contracts)

content:
 
<p>
MIT canceled its contract for reading Elsevier journals several years ago
and has
<a href="https://sparcopen.org/our-work/big-deal-knowledge-base/unbundling-profiles/mit-libraries/">suffered
no great inconvenience as a result</a>.  This is great news, because it suggests that more
universities can cancel their contracts too.
<p>
MIT saved a substantial amount of money by doing this, but that is a secondary issue.  What's
important is that if more universities cancel these contracts, the result could be to wipe out the
journal publishers or make them desperate enough to agree to be bought out for an affordable sum.
After buying them out, the new copyright holder could make all the online copies libre.
<p>
Please join me in <a href="/articles/free-scientific-publishing.html">shunning the term "open
access"</a> and using the term "free scientific publishing" instead.  The article linked just above
explains why that term is better.
<p>
Analyzing this situation as an instance of a
<a href="https://pluralistic.net/2024/08/16/the-public-sphere/#not-the-elsevier">"collective action
problem</a>."
<p>
I think that one of government's missions is to fix these problems for the people.  To do that, we
need to elect representatives and officials who won't hesitate to say that some profitable business
is a parasite and advocate laws to nullify its business model.


<p>
 


title: Ad-blocking as copyright violation
uri: Ad-blocking-as-copyright-violation
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#10_September_2024_(Ad-blocking_as_copyright_violation)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#10_September_2024_(Ad-blocking_as_copyright_violation)

content:
 
<p>
<a href="https://pluralistic.net/2024/07/29/faithful-user-agents/#hard-cases-make-bad-copyright-law">Digital
game publishers are trying</a> to twist copyright law to construe ad-blocking as copyright
infringement.  That would magically make them illegal without consulting the people's thoughts on
the matter.
<p>
The article linked to above makes the deep mistake of using the term
"IP" to refer both to copyright and to other disparate laws.  That
usage might leads you to suppose you could generalize about those laws
and reach one single conclusion that would apply to all of them.
<p>
That is a path to confusion, because these laws are dissimilar in almost every point.  If you want
to think clearly, treat copyright as one issue, patents as another unrelated issue, trade secrets as
another issue unrelated to those, trademarks as yet another issue unrelated to the other three, and
likewise for plant variety monopolies, IC mask monopolies, design patents and publicity rights.
<p>
If you assume that
<a href="https://gnu.org/philosophy/not-ipr.html">any one of them is similar to any other</a>,
you're headed for error.  Instead, do as I do: I think about just one law, I call it by its
distinguishing name, and I never imagine that what I learn or conclude about it applies to any other
law.

<p>
 


title: Windfall profits tax, North Sea oil
uri: Windfall-profits-tax-North-Sea-oil
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#10_September_2024_(Windfall_profits_tax,_North_Sea_oil)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#10_September_2024_(Windfall_profits_tax,_North_Sea_oil)

content:
 
<p> 
The <a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#planet">planet roasters</a> of the North Sea have
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/article/2024/sep/02/north-sea-firms-windfall-tax-jobs-tax-receipts-risk">warned
that the proposed increase</a> in the windfall profits tax levied on them would result in decreased
amounts of drilling, and decreased extraction rate, over the coming decade.
<p>
The author of that article seems not to understand that that is part of the overall goal, which is
to move from civilization-endangering fossil fuels to renewable generation.
<p>
All the arguments that <a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#planet">planet roasters</a>
make for letting them extract more and more are based on burying this point.  One of the
things that disappoints me about The Guardian is that it continues to
publish articles with this slant.

<p>
 


title: Prime minister pick unacceptable, FRA
uri: Prime-minister-pick-unacceptable-FRA
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#10_September_2024_(Prime_minister_pick_unacceptable,_FRA)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#10_September_2024_(Prime_minister_pick_unacceptable,_FRA)

content:
 
<p>
The French president, Macron, who is on the
<a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#plutocratist">plutocratist</a> right-wing,
appointed a <!---->plutocratist right-wing prime minister, Bernier.  There have been
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/france-protests-2669146782">massive protests</a>.
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/sep/08/keir-starmer-michel-barnier-brexit-eu-uk">Bernier
and Starmer</a> seem to get along very well.

<p>
 


title: US solidity with Israel atrocities
uri: US-solidity-with-Israel-atrocities
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#10_September_2024_(US_solidity_with_Israel_atrocities)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#10_September_2024_(US_solidity_with_Israel_atrocities)

content:
 
<p>
Arwa Mahdawi argues that it is now demonstrated that
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/sep/06/israeli-podcasters-laughing-gaza-genocide-two-nice-jewish-boys">no
amount or gravity of Israeli atrocities</a> against Palestinians will make Biden act to restrain
those atrocities.  Sad to say, it looks like that is true.
<p>
However, I can't understand the fuss about Israeli soldiers who put on the underwear of Gazan women.
They meant that as mockery, which is not nice, but mockery is as nothing compared to the atrocities
committed against those same women (and almost all of Gaza).  Those women (and their families) have
been driven from their homes.  Some have been killed, and more are being killed.  Those soldiers
have probably participated in the real atrocities.
<p>
A person who would get more outraged about making fun of women's underwear than about these violent
atrocities would seem to lack a sense of proportion.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#10_September_2024_(Internet_age-checking_bill,_AUS)
title: Internet age-checking bill, AUS
uri: Internet-age-checking-bill-AUS
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#10_September_2024_(Internet_age-checking_bill,_AUS)
content:
 
<p>
South Australia is considering a bill to
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/article/2024/sep/08/tech-firms-face-harsh-fines-and-lawsuits-from-parents-under-sa-plan-to-ban-children-from-social-media">require
social media platforms</a> to check the ages of users, which would have the effect of requiring them
to demand that each user identify perself.

<p>
 


title: Urgent: Congressional stock-trading
uri: Urgent-Congressional-stock-trading
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#10_September_2024_(Urgent:_Congressional_stock_trading)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#10_September_2024_(Urgent:_Congressional_stock_trading)

content:
 
<p>
US citizens:
<a href="https://act.winwithoutwar.org/act/ethics-act?akid=10023.223515.WK8eEC&c0=ethics-act.3cXhB0&rd=1&source=em20240903_1&t=1006">call
on Congress to pass the ETHICS act</a> so that they can't profit by buying and selling stocks that
their votes will affect
<p>
If you phone, please spread the word!                              
Main Switchboard: <a href="tel:+12022243121">+1-202-224-3121</a>


<p>
 


title: Night light exposure and type 2 diabetes
uri: Night-light-exposure-and-type-2-diabetes
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#11_September_2024_(Night_light_exposure_and_type_2_diabetes)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#11_September_2024_(Night_light_exposure_and_type_2_diabetes)

content:
 
<p>
*Reducing night light exposure <a href="https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/reducing-night-light-exposure-simple-way-cut-diabetes-risk">may be a simple way to cut [type 2]
diabetes risk</a>.*
<p>
I wish the article gave some idea of <em>how much</em> light it takes to have
a big effect.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#11_September_2024_(Too_complex_history)
title: Too complex history
uri: Too-complex-history
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#11_September_2024_(Too_complex_history)
content:
 
<p>
*Pride or shame? British history is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/sep/08/british-history-social-attitudes">too complex to be seen in such glib terms</a>.*
<p>
American history is likewise too complex to deserve, as a whole, any
one feeling.  Rather than argue over a choice of one single feeling
overall, we can do better by identifying the parts of history that
deserve pride, condemnation, or whatever else.
<p>
I would recommend condemnation, rather than personal shame, for the
actions that we think were wrong.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#11_September_2024_(Nationalism)
title: Nationalism
uri: 2024-09-12-Nationalism
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#11_September_2024_(Nationalism)
content:
 
<p>
Hindu-nationalist ideology in India, in the 1930s, drew <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/sep/08/india-slow-motion-rise-of-fascism">lessons from
its contemporary, Nazism</a>.   Comparing the two can help us identify the
fascist essence that they have in common.
<p>
This suggests the lesson that the specific choice of majority trait
which serves as an excuse to marginalize and dehumanize others is just
a detail.  Any trait can be used for this, if its members can get
their hands on power to oppress the rest.
<p>
The trait need not even be borne by a majority, except in a somewhat
democratic state which impedes any minority from getting the power to
oppress others.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#11_September_2024_(Vape_damage)
title: Vape damage
uri: Vape-damage
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#11_September_2024_(Vape_damage)
content:
 
<p>
*Vaping <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/article/2024/sep/08/vaping-damages-young-peoples-lungs-as-much-as-smoking-study-suggests">damages young people’s lungs</a> as much as smoking, study suggests.*

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#11_September_2024_(Election_police_intimidation)
title: Election police intimidation
uri: Election-police-intimidation
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#11_September_2024_(Election_police_intimidation)
content:
 
<p>
*DeSantis' election police <a href="https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida-politics/elections/2024/09/06/florida-abortion-amendment-petition-signature-fraud-voters/">questioned people who signed abortion petitions</a>.*
<p>
This seems to be an attempt at intimidation.

<p>
 


title: Tyrannical, violent no-voter tactics, TX
uri: Tyrannical-violent-no-voter-tactics-TX
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#12_September_2024_(Tyrannical_violent_anti-vote_tactics,_TX)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#12_September_2024_(Tyrannical_violent_anti-vote_tactics,_TX)

content:
 
<p>
Greg Palast:
<a href="https://www.gregpalast.com/he-put-a-gun-to-my-head/">Texas Republicans</a> are threatening
to jail Houston's election officials for facilitating voter registration.
<p>
They fear that the Democrats will win Texas if
<a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#disprivileged">disprivileged groups</a> find it easy to vote.

<p>
 


title: UN Polio-aid workers terrorized, ISR
uri: UN-Polio-aid-workers-terrorized-ISR
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#12_September_2024_(UN,_Polio-aid_workers_terrorized,_ISR)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#12_September_2024_(UN,_Polio-aid_workers_terrorized,_ISR)

content:
 
<p>
Israeli soldiers blocked a vaccination aid convoy in Gaza for 8 hours and questioned some of the
people working in it.  The convoy was
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/sep/10/un-says-lives-of-staff-endangered-in-israeli-halt-of-gaza-polio-vaccine-convoy">unable
to carry out its aid mission</a>.  Fortunately, nobody in it was killed or wounded.

<p>
 


title: Social-media blocking, FRA, US, UK, AUS
uri: Social-media-blocking-FRA-US-UK-AUS
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#12_September_2024_(Social-media_blocking,_FRA,_US,_UK,_AUS)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#12_September_2024_(Social-media_blocking,_FRA,_US,_UK,_AUS)

content:
 
<p>
Australia is considering requiring social media platforms to
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/article/2024/sep/10/australia-children-social-media-ban-age-limit-under-16-details">check
the age of each user</a>.  This article describes the mechanisms that might be used.  It seems that
each one will either require you to identify yourself to some other service that could keep track of
everything, or require some sort of unalterable unique number from your computer.  I expect they
will demand something that users can't alter, which implies rejection of free operating systems (on
a free operating systems, you could always set it to whatever value you like).
<p>
So I think this represents a plan to require that users either identify themselves, or run nonfree
software (which will probably snoop on them), or both.
<p>
But I can't be completely sure of that &mdash; I have to make guesses about what some of these
things mean.
<p>
There is a system that can verify your age to a web site while refusing to identify you to that web
site: <a href="taler.net">GNU Taler</a> can be adapted to let you get tokens that you can use to
prove you are over N years old, but that would not enable the site to identify you, and that won't
allow the Taler site to know which sites you gave them to.
<p>
But that is not in the list of what Australia is considering.

<p>
 


title: An example of ecosystem fragility
uri: An-example-of-ecosystem-fragility
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#12_September_2024_(An_example_of_ecosystem_fragility)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#12_September_2024_(An_example_of_ecosystem_fragility)

content:
 
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/sep/10/cheetos-carlsbad-caverns-national-park">A
discarded bag of Cheetos</a> messed up the ecosystem in Carlsbad Caverns.  The balance in a cave is
so sensitive that a small amount of food that does not belong there is enough to endanger it.

<p>
 


title: Privatized "dictatorships", US
uri: Privatized-dictatorships-US
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#12_September_2024_(Privatization_as_dictatorial,_USA)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#12_September_2024_(Privatization_as_dictatorial,_USA)

content:
 
<p>
*Conservatives think giving children [gratis]
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global/commentisfree/article/2024/sep/05/communism-meaning-republicans">lunch
at school is socialism</a>, but vast, powerful private monopolies are freedom.*
<p>
The more power a person has, the more society needs to regulate the use of that power to protect
everyone else in it.  Most of you, like me, don't have much power &mdash; though we may be able to
influence others by convincing them &mdash; so we should have a lot of freedom, outside of actions
that directly endanger others.
<p>
By contrast, a billionaire's power is very dangerous, so dangerous that we should regulate many
things they could do.  Even better, we should tax high income and high wealth enough that nobody
can become or remain a billionaire.
<p>
There are other interesting points in the article.


<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#13_September_2024_(Urgent:_Debt-ceiling_reform)
title: Urgent: Debt-ceiling reform
uri: Urgent-Debt-ceiling-reform
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#13_September_2024_(Urgent:_Debt-ceiling_reform)
content:
 
<p>
US citizens:
<a href="https://actionnetwork.org/forms/tell-congress-pass-the-debt-ceiling-reform-act-today?nowrapper=true">call
on Congress</a> to pass the Debt Ceiling Reform Act, which would deny Republican extremists the
power to hold most federal spending hostage to demand passage of harmful laws.
<p>
If you phone, please spread the word!                              
Main Switchboard: <a href="tel:+12022243121">+1-202-224-3121</a>

<p>
 


title: Religion-coordinated election-work, US
uri: Religion-coordinated-election-work-US
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#14_September_2024_(Religion-coordinated_election-work,_US)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#14_September_2024_(Religion-coordinated_election-work,_US)

content:
 
<p>
A
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/sep/04/christian-election-poll-workers">fanatical
Christian group is recruiting poll workers</a> ready to try to rig the election for Jesus.
<p>
If <a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#wrecker">the wrecker</a> doesn't actually win, they will
dogmatically declare that "fraud" and try to declare him the winner despite the votes.


<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#15_September_2024_(NSW_curricula)
title: NSW curricula
uri: NSW-curricula
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#15_September_2024_(NSW_curricula)
content:
 
<p>
One state in Australia will include <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/article/2024/sep/12/nsw-new-school-curricula-colonisation-aboriginal-resistance-prue-car">colonization of Australia and
resistance</a> in the standard curriculum.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#15_September_2024_(Easter_Island's_population)
title: Easter Island's population
uri: Easter-Island-s-population
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#15_September_2024_(Easter_Island's_population)
content:
 
<p>
Genetic analysis indicates that the population of Easter Island <a href="https://www.sci.news/genetics/ancient-easter-islander-genomes-13254.html">did
not collapse</a> until Europeans contacted them in the 1700s.
<p>
It also shows that they mated with South Americans before Columbus.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#15_September_2024_(War_crimes)
title: War crimes
uri: 2024-09-16-War-crimes
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#15_September_2024_(War_crimes)
content:
 
<p>
*Australian military officers to be <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/sep/12/australian-military-officers-to-be-stripped-of-honours-after-alleged-war-crimes-under-their-command-ntwnfb">stripped of honours after alleged war
crimes under their command</a>.*
<p>
This is the way an army teachers its soldiers to take the rules of war
seriously.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#15_September_2024_(Giving_homeless_places_to_live)
title: Giving homeless places to live
uri: Giving-homeless-places-to-live
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#15_September_2024_(Giving_homeless_places_to_live)
content:
 
<p>
A British city has imitated Finland's approach to ending homelessness: <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/article/2024/sep/10/manchester-turns-to-housing-first-scheme-to-eradicate-rough-sleeping">first give the person a place to live</a>.  The mayor said that this approach has the secondary benefit of saving
public money.

<p>
 


title: Apple appeals court arrangements invalidated
uri: Apple-appeals-court-arrangements-invalidated
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#15_September_2024_(Apple_appeals_court_arrangements_invalidated)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#15_September_2024_(Apple_appeals_court_arrangements_invalidated)

content:
 
<p>
The EU's highest appeals court has invalidated the arrangements Apple made
<a href="media/624a7d74.cp240133en.pdf" data-original-source="https://curia.europa.eu/jcms/upload/docs/application/pdf/2024-09/cp240133en.pdf">to hide its profits from income tax</a>.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#15_September_2024_(Ford_snooping)
title: Ford snooping
uri: Ford-snooping
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#15_September_2024_(Ford_snooping)
content:
 
<p>
Ford has scandalously <a href="https://therecord.media/ford-patent-application-in-vehicle-listening-advertising">applied for a patent on the malfeature of
snooping on the conversations of people</a> in the car and using that to
decide what ads to play for them.
<p>
That a company has a patent on some vicious software malfeature does
not imply that a company will actually implement that malfeature.
Contrariwise, <em>not</em> having a patent on that malfeature (or abandoning
a patent application for one) does <em>not</em> in general imply that the
company won't implement that malfeature.
<p>
What could stop companies from implementing a malfeature is to pass
a law against implementing it.  That's what we should demand.
<p>
I think we should have laws to prohibit the sale, leasing or
importation of cars that implement any of a wide range of malfeatures.
One of many that ought to e prohibited is the malfeature of noticing,
recording or transmitting any audio signal captured by the car's
systems unless the driver or a passenger has explicitly activated the
malfeature of listening to sound.
<p>
We should also pass a law so that software, or its use, is <a href="https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/limit-patent-effect.html">never
limited by patent law</a>.
Because when a feature is good, no one should be <a href="https://endsoftwarepatents.org">forbidden to implement
it in software</a>.At least, not in free software.
<p>
Side issue: note how the response from Ford used the propaganda term
<a href="https://gnu.org/philosophy/not-ipr.html">"intellectual property"</a>.  That term was and
is promoted so as to inculcate the idea that companies deserve various
unrelated kinds of monopoly, patents being just one.
<p>
In 2004 I recognized the harm that use of that term does to society, so
I decided never to use it.  And I mean <em>never</em> -- I have not used that
term since.  You can help overcome that propaganda campaign by never
using the term yourself.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#15_September_2024_(Navalny_lawyers_on_trial)
title: Navalny lawyers on trial
uri: Navalny-lawyers-on-trial
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#15_September_2024_(Navalny_lawyers_on_trial)
content:
 
<p>
*Three Navalny lawyers go on trial in Russia &hellip; accused of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/sep/12/three-navalny-lawyers-go-on-trial-in-russia-for-extremism">passing
messages between jailed opposition leader and allies</a>.*
<p>
Since Navalny practiced peaceful political opposition, there were no
grounds to stop him from communicating with his followers, and no just
grounds to accuse anyone who may have transmitted such messages.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#15_September_2024_(Methane)
title: Methane
uri: Methane
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#15_September_2024_(Methane)
content:
 
<p>
Over 100 scientists called on the Biden administration to heed the
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/scientists-call-on-biden-admin-to-follow-the-facts-on-lng-exports-and-gas-sourced-hydrogen-citing-alarming-new-research-on-methane-emissions">climate danger caused by methane leaks</a> and slow down the extraction
and shipping of methane.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#15_September_2024_(Gaza_aid_backlog)
title: Gaza aid backlog
uri: Gaza-aid-backlog
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#15_September_2024_(Gaza_aid_backlog)
content:
 
<p>
There is plenty of humanitarian aid trucks, waiting in Egypt for
Israeli troops to let them into Gaza.  But <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/sep/12/gaza-aid-food-medical-supplies-backlog">Israel allows too few to
enter there</a>.
<p>
Israel allows in enough aid that people don't immediately die of starvation.
But that is not enough for them to remain healthy for long.
<p>
I would be delighted to see the US Army, with Egypt's cooperation,
establish a bridgehead into Gaza, and allow aid in.  I don't think the
Israeli army or Netanyahu would dare to try to stop this.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#15_September_2024_(Hotel_surveillance)
title: Hotel surveillance
uri: Hotel-surveillance
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#15_September_2024_(Hotel_surveillance)
content:
 
<p>
Virgin Australia fired a flight cabin employee for using Grindr to
arrange a sexual encounter when regulations said he needed to sleep.
(He asserts that the sexual encounter enabled him to fall asleep.)
<p>
What shocks me is that the company was able to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/article/2024/sep/06/virgin-australia-staff-hotel-cctv-footage-fair-work-commission-ntwnfb">obtain the hotel's
"security camera" recordings</a> to track the employee's actions.
<p>
What laws or regulations are there to stop hotels from showing these
recordings to all and sundry?  Evidently they are not adequate to protect
hotel guests' privacy.
<p>
But I suspect that the problem goes deeper than that.  I suspect that
the hotel has a <em>surveillance video system</em> (which stores videos in an
easily accessible online system) rather than a classic <em>security
camera</em> which stores them solely in a local recording device that
requires a physical visit to look at them.
<p>
For explanation, see <a href="https://gnu.org/philosophy/surveillance-vs-democracy.html">How Much Surveillance Can Democracy Endure</a>.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#15_September_2024_(Cies_islands_visitor_limit)
title: Ci&eacute;s islands visitor limit
uri: Ciés-islands-visitor-limit
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#15_September_2024_(Cies_islands_visitor_limit)
content:
 
<p>
The limit on number of daily visitors to the Ciés islands <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/sep/10/people-understand-the-cap-how-a-spanish-eco-beauty-spot-tackled-overtourism">seems like a
wise policy</a>,
but I suspect that the implementation is unjust.  I suspect that getting
a visit ticket requires identifying oneself and running nonfree software.
<p>
Is anyone from Galicia reading this?  If so, would you like to find
out if there is a way around that?
<p>
I don't intend to visit those islands myself -- rather, I am concerned
about government requirements that impose fundamentally unjust technology.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#15_September_2024_(Climate_mayhem)
title: Climate mayhem
uri: 2024-09-16-Climate-mayhem
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#15_September_2024_(Climate_mayhem)
content:
 
<p>
G20 countries previously agreed to transition away from fossil fuels,
but the pledges they are now writing <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/sep/10/g20-countries-transition-away-fossil-fuel-pledge-cop28-climate">omit that crucial point</a>.
<p>
If we don't do this, and fast, the mayhem of the early stages of
global heating disaster will create what is euphemistically called
"unrest" all around the world.  People who can't peacefully find safe
places to live or safe food to eat are likely to turn to violence
before they die, and climate mayhem will dump plenty of people into
that situation -- and new ones every year.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#15_September_2024_(Brazil_climate_disaster)
title: Brazil climate disaster
uri: Brazil-climate-disaster
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#15_September_2024_(Brazil_climate_disaster)
content:
 
<p>
Climate disaster is hitting Brazil sharply.  Three of the six biomes
of Brazil are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/sep/10/brazilian-president-flies-into-amazon-amid-alarm-over-droughts-and-wildfires">suffering unprecedented droughts unprecedented and
fires</a>.  Life-shortening wood smoke has covered more than half of the
country.
<p>
This is an example of what many other countries will experience in a
few decades.  (The US has had a small taste.)
<p>
If we don't overcome the planet roasters now, their activity is likely
to bring civilization to an end.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#15_September_2024_(Corporate_corruption)
title: Corporate corruption
uri: Corporate-corruption
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#15_September_2024_(Corporate_corruption)
content:
 
<p>
In 1971, plutocratist extremist Lewis Powell proposed that the
American business community use political power "aggressively and with
determination — without embarrassment and without the reluctance."
Nixon started this plan, and it has been <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/08/31/deconstructed-project-2025-corporate-corruption-master-plan/">gradually corrupting the US
government</a> ever since.

<p>
 


title: School bombed, many UNRWA aids die, ISR
uri: School-bombed-many-UNRWA-aids-die-ISR
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#15_September_2024_(School_bombed,_many_UNRWA_aids_die,_ISR)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#15_September_2024_(School_bombed,_many_UNRWA_aids_die,_ISR)

content:
 
<p>
Israel attacked a school in Gaza
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/sep/12/idf-airstrike-gaza-school-nuseirat-refugee-shelter-six-un-unrwa-workers-among-dead">where
thousands of refugees were staying</a>.  It killed six employees of UNRWA and 12 other people.
Supposedly some of them were HAMAS fighters.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#15_September_2024_(Pressure_for_Gaza_aid,_UK,_AUS)
title: Pressure for Gaza aid, UK, AUS
uri: Pressure-for-Gaza-aid-UK-AUS
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#15_September_2024_(Pressure_for_Gaza_aid,_UK,_AUS)
content:
 
<p>
*[Australia's] foreign minister Penny Wong says she "welcomes" the British move [to cut off shipping
some kinds of weapons to Israel], and
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/sep/10/australian-government-backs-uk-decision-to-curb-arms-sales-to-israel">Palestinian
civilians "cannot pay</a> the price" of defeating Hamas.*

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#15_September_2024_(Overview_on_US_aid_to_Israel)
title: Overview on US aid to Israel
uri: Overview-on-US-aid-to-Israel
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#15_September_2024_(Overview_on_US_aid_to_Israel)
content:
 
<p>
*Harris doesn’t need to impose a full embargo on Israel &mdash; but she can pledge to enforce US
laws restricting
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/sep/06/kamala-harris-israel-arms-biden">arms
transfers to human rights violators</a>.*

<p>
 


title: Border controls tightening in EU, DEU
uri: Border-controls-tightening-in-EU-DEU
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#15_September_2024_(Border_controls_tightening_in_EU,_DEU)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#15_September_2024_(Border_controls_tightening_in_EU,_DEU)

content:
 
<p>
Germany's government has panicked and totally suspended the Schengen area freedom of movement in an
attempt
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/sep/10/the-end-of-schengen-germanys-new-border-controls-put-eu-unity-at-risk">to
pre-empt parties that demand less immigration</a>.
<p>
This will only make the government look weak.

<p>
 


title: ABC Network debate
uri: ABC-Network-debate
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#15_September_2024_(abc_moderators_trump_harris_debate)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#15_September_2024_(abc_moderators_trump_harris_debate)

content:
 
<p>
The fact-checking in the Harris-Trump debate was effective and clear.
<a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#bullshitter">The bullshitter</a> did not get 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/sep/11/abc-moderators-fact-checking-trump-harris-debate">away with bullshitting.</a>
<p>
I wonder: does anyone do real-time fact-checking of <a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#bullshitter">the bullshitter's</a> rallies?
People watching streams of them, and even people attending them, could find
it interesting to watch that fact-checking if it is available.

<p>
 


title: Europe's extreme right-wing party
uri: Europe-s-extreme-right-wing-party
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#15_September_2024_(eu_far_right_anti_worker_voting_pay_tax)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#15_September_2024_(eu_far_right_anti_worker_voting_pay_tax)

content:
 
<p>
Europe's extreme right-wing parties pretend to care about workers'
well-being, 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/sep/12/europe-far-right-parties-anti-worker-voting-pay-tax">but don't really do so.</a>
<p>
This conclusion comes from analysis of how they vote when elected.

<p>
 


title: Hate crimes bill
uri: Hate-crimes-bill
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#15_September_2024_(labor_hate_crimes_bill_lgbtq_jewish_groups)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#15_September_2024_(labor_hate_crimes_bill_lgbtq_jewish_groups)

content:
 
<p>
Australia has chosen to protect freedom of speech rather than embark on
the course of 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/sep/12/labor-hate-crimes-bill-lgbtq-jewish-groups">prohibiting harsh words.</a>

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#15_September_2024_(chemical_industry_derail_pfas)
title: Chemical regulations
uri: Chemical-regulations
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#15_September_2024_(chemical_industry_derail_pfas)
content:
 
<p>
*Scientists tied to chemical industry plan to derail 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/27/scientists-chemical-industry-derail-pfas-regulation-drinking-water">PFAS rule on
drinking water.*</a>
<p>
PFAS are worrisome because they accumulate in the environment and in
human bodies, but it is hard to get real evidence about how harmful
they are.  It might seem like a fine solution to wait a few decades
until we know.
<p>
However, we have no feasible way to remove them from the environment.
If after decades of waiting we find that they are harmful, we will
have screwed ourselves.  It behooves us to take action now to avoid
exposing people to them.

<p>
 


title: Britain’s pandemic
uri: Britain-s-pandemic
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#15_September_2024_(tory_health_reforms_covid_calamity_report)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#15_September_2024_(tory_health_reforms_covid_calamity_report)

content:
 
<p>
The cuts made by Tories to the NHS made Britain 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/article/2024/sep/07/tory-health-reforms-left-uk-open-to-covid-calamity-says-top-doctors-report">especially vulnerable
to Covid-19.</a>
<p>
I've long been convinced that the Tory strategy was to gradually cut
back the NHS as a means of gradually eliminating it.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#15_September_2024_(trump_mental_health_decline)
title: Trump's mental health
uri: Trump-s-mental-health
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#15_September_2024_(trump_mental_health_decline)
content:
 
<p>
<a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#bullshitter">The bullshitter</a> is showing signs of mental failings, but the
mainstream media don't see this as interesting the way 
<a href="https://invidio.us/watch?v=deVK_cDId8E">they did with
Biden.</a>

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#15_September_2024_(pfas_military_gases_toxic)
title: PFAS definition
uri: PFAS-definition
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#15_September_2024_(pfas_military_gases_toxic)
content:
 
<p>
*US lawmakers push to exclude lucrative chemicals from 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/sep/12/pfas-military-toxic-gases-definition">official PFAS
definition.*</a>

<p>
 


title: Hurricane Francine
uri: Hurricane-Francine
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#15_September_2024_(hurricane_francine_climate_change)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#15_September_2024_(hurricane_francine_climate_change)

content:
 
<p>
*Rapid intensification of Hurricane Francine is a 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/sep/12/hurricane-francine-climate-change-category-2-intensification">sign of a hotter world.*</a>

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#15_September_2024_(kamala_harris_debate)
title: Harris debate
uri: Harris-debate
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#15_September_2024_(kamala_harris_debate)
content:
 
<p>
Sanders: If Harris wants to win, she should campaign for 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/sep/12/kamala-harris-debate-bernie-sanders">substantive
progressive changes.</a>

<p>
 


title: Landslide in Greenland
uri: Landslide-in-Greenland
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#15_September_2024_(entire_earth_vibrated_climate_change)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#15_September_2024_(entire_earth_vibrated_climate_change)

content:
 
<p>
A mega-landslide in Greenland, caused by melting ice, caused a mountain
to collapse into a fjord.  This is a new 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/sep/12/entire-earth-vibrated-climate-triggered-mega-tsunami">kind of semi-natural disaster,
previously unknown.</a>

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#16_September_2024_(Greenwashing)
title: Greenwashing
uri: 2024-09-17-Greenwashing
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#16_September_2024_(Greenwashing)
content:
 
<p>
Fossil fuel companies convince governments to spend money on
far-fetched "greenhouse gas reduction" programs that are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/sep/12/fossil-fuel-companies-environment-greenwashing">unlikely to
result in any real reduction</a>.
<p>
They seem to be intended as distractions to relieve pressure for
serious actions that could substantially reduce <a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#global%20heating">global heating</a>.
<p>
Put that together with long sentences for the heroes that try to focus
attention on the need to curb <a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#global%20heating">global heating</a> for real, and the planet
roasters have a clear shot to keep on roasting Earth until there's
little left to burn.

<p>
 


title: Urgent: solidarity with hotel workers
uri: Urgent-solidarity-with-hotel-workers
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#16_September_2024_(Urgent:_solidarity_with_hotel_workers)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#16_September_2024_(Urgent:_solidarity_with_hotel_workers)

content:
 
<p>
In the US: <a href="https://actionnetwork.org/forms/hotel-workers-take-action?nowrapper=true&referrer=&source=email-tbd-251">Pledge to stand in solidarity with hotel workers</a>.

<p>
 


title: Urgent: protect the constitution
uri: Urgent-protect-the-constitution
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#16_September_2024_(Urgent:_protect_the_constitution)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#16_September_2024_(Urgent:_protect_the_constitution)

content:
 
<p>
US citizens: call on state legislators to protect the US constitution
by <a href="https://act.commoncause.org/petitions/reject-and-rescind-any-calls-for-an-article-v-convention-6?nowrapper=true&referrer=&source=082324-article-v">rejecting any calls for an Article V constitutional convention</a>.

<p>
 


title: Urgent: Pass price gouging prevention act
uri: Urgent-Pass-price-gouging-prevention-act
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#16_September_2024_(Urgent:_Pass_price_gouging_prevention_act)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#16_September_2024_(Urgent:_Pass_price_gouging_prevention_act)

content:
 
<p>
US citizens: call on Congress to <a href="https://act.demandprogress.org/sign/price-gouging-prevention-act-ftc/?t=1001&akid=32576%2E96703%2EK6kR3B">pass Senator Warren's Price Gouging
Prevention Act</a>.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#16_September_2024_(Suing_over_homeless_people)
title: Suing over homeless people
uri: Suing-over-homeless-people
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#16_September_2024_(Suing_over_homeless_people)
content:
 
<p>
<a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#dementis">DeMentis's</a> new law to eliminate homelessness <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/sep/11/desantis-florida-homelessness-law">allows any fanatical hater
to sue a city of a homeless encampment exists</a>.  But it gives cities
no help in giving housing to the homeless people who are looking for a place
to sleep.
<p>
Republicans used to condemn "unfunded mandates".  This seems to be
an unfunded mandate for cities to make homeless people disappear.

<p>
 


title: Oliver Campbell conviction overturned
uri: Oliver-Campbell-conviction-overturned
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#16_September_2024_(Oliver_Campbell_conviction_overturned)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#16_September_2024_(Oliver_Campbell_conviction_overturned)

content:
 
<p>
UK <a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a> bullied Oliver Campbell into a false confession by <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/law/article/2024/sep/11/appeal-court-clears-man-with-severe-learning-difficulties-of-1990-london">interrogating
him over and over</a> until they wore down his insistence on telling the truth.
Now, 30 years later, his conviction has been overturned.
<p>
The surprisingly high frequency of false confessions is well
established.  Correcting these injustices one by one, years later, is
better than letting them stand, but it is not good enough.  The <a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#thug">thugs'</a>
systematic methods of extracting false confessions from weak and
vulnerable people should be prohibited.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#16_September_2024_(Kids_need_more_play)
title: Kids need more play
uri: Kids-need-more-play
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#16_September_2024_(Kids_need_more_play)
content:
 
<p>
Special preschools in China allow groups of children to <a href="https://www.freerangekids.com/im-a-child-psychologist-kids-need-more-play/">organize their
group play together</a>, including making complex setups with construction toys.
<p>
I worry that Chairman Xi will find them threatening.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#16_September_2024_(Slowing_mail-in_ballots)
title: Slowing mail-in ballots
uri: Slowing-mail-in-ballots
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#16_September_2024_(Slowing_mail-in_ballots)
content:
 
<p>
The US Postal Service is already <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/sep/11/usps-mail-election-ballots-voting">slowing down mail-in ballots</a> to the point
that they don't get counted.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#16_September_2024_(Genetic_test_discrimination)
title: Genetic test discrimination
uri: Genetic-test-discrimination
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#16_September_2024_(Genetic_test_discrimination)
content:
 
<p>
*Australia to ban life insurance companies from <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/article/2024/sep/10/australia-insurance-company-discrimination-genetic-testing">discriminating based on
genetic testing results</a>.*
<p>
This is so that people will not hesitate to get tested early for genetic
predispositions that could be overcome by treatment.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#16_September_2024_(WHO_pandemic_agreement)
title: WHO pandemic agreement
uri: WHO-pandemic-agreement
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#16_September_2024_(WHO_pandemic_agreement)
content:
 
<p>
Human Rights Watch: *World Health Organization (WHO) member countries
negotiating a <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/who-pandemic-pact-risks-repeating-covid-19-failures">new international agreement</a> to address pandemics
need to ensure that the agreement reflects their domestic and
international obligations to respect, protect, and fulfill all human
rights.*

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#16_September_2024_(Extinguish_surveillance)
title: Extinguish surveillance
uri: Extinguish-surveillance
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#16_September_2024_(Extinguish_surveillance)
content:
 
<p>
*The Google antitrust remedy should <a href="https://pluralistic.net/2024/08/07/revealed-preferences/">extinguish surveillance, not
[enable more snoopers to do it]</a>.*
<p>
*We don't [fix] the Google monopoly [problem] by creating
competition in surveillance. The reason to get rid of Google's monopoly
is to make it easier to end surveillance.*

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#16_September_2024_(Imposing_more_poverty)
title: Imposing more poverty
uri: Imposing-more-poverty
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#16_September_2024_(Imposing_more_poverty)
content:
 
<p>
Starmer is going ahead with plans to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/sep/10/keir-starmer-rachel-reeves-britain-pensioners-winter-fuel-allowance">impose ever more poverty on Britons
in the name of protecting rich people's riches</a>.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#16_September_2024_(Food_warning_labels)
title: Food warning labels
uri: Food-warning-labels
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#16_September_2024_(Food_warning_labels)
content:
 
<p>
Calling for <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/sep/06/warning-labels-food-taxes-rising-deaths-heart-disease-health-campaigners">medical warnings</a> on food with an unhealthful level of salt,
and a ban on their sponsoring sports events.
<p>
The importance that our society gives to these struggles over nothing
is pure foolishness.  I don't pay them any attention, and I would be
glad to see less of a business built around them.


<p>
 


title: The Guardian's analysis of Project 2025
uri: The-Guardian-s-analysis-of-Project-2025
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#16_September_2024_(The_Guardian's_analysis_of_Project_2025)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#16_September_2024_(The_Guardian's_analysis_of_Project_2025)

content:
 
<p>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/sep/14/project-2025-election">An analysis of
Project 2025</a>, by a journalist that read the whole thing.

<p>
 


title: Urgent: The tax scheme in Project 2025
uri: Urgent-The-tax-scheme-in-Project-2025
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#16_September_2024_(Urgent:_Expose_tax_scheme_in_Project_2025)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#16_September_2024_(Urgent:_Expose_tax_scheme_in_Project_2025)

content:
 
<p>
US citizens:
<a href="https://actionnetwork.org/forms/demand-news-networks-expose-project-2025s-nightmare-tax-scheme-now?nowrapper=true&referrer=group-patriotic-millionaires&source=group-patriotic-millionaires">call
on news networks</a> to expose Project 2025's nightmare tax scheme.


<p>
 


title: Urgent: US leverage on Netanyahu in Gaza
uri: Urgent-US-leverage-on-Netanyahu-in-Gaza
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#18_September_2024_(Urgent:_US_leverage_on_Netanyahu_in_Gaza)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#18_September_2024_(Urgent:_US_leverage_on_Netanyahu_in_Gaza)

content:
 
<p>
US citizens:
<a href="https://act.demandprogress.org/sign/netanyahu-blocking-peace/">call
on Congress and Biden</a> to reject Netanyahu, and end U.S. support
for the war on Gaza.
<p>
If you phone, please spread the word!<br />
Main Switchboard: <a href="tel:+12022243121">+1-202-224-3121</a><br />
White House: <a href="tel:+12024561111">+1-202-456-1111</a> and (TTY/TDD) +1-202-456-6213

<p>
 


title: Urgent: Investigate Israeli violence
uri: Urgent-Investigate-Israeli-violence
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#18_September_2024_(Urgent:_Investigate_Israeli_violence)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#18_September_2024_(Urgent:_Investigate_Israeli_violence)

content:
 
<p>
US citizens:
<a href="https://act.winwithoutwar.org/act/eygi-investigation?akid=10031.223515.l0OfRf&c0=eygi-investigation.mEnRGd&rd=1&source=em20240906&t=1006">call
on Biden</a> to investigate West Bank violence including the killing of Aysenur Eygi.
<p>
If you phone, please spread the word!
White House: <a href="tel:+12024561111">+1-202-456-1111</a> and (TTY/TDD) +1-202-456-6213

<p>
 


title: Urgent: Establish a federal minimum wage
uri: Urgent-Establish-a-federal-minimum-wage
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#18_September_2024_(Urgent:_Establish_a_federal_minimim_wage)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#18_September_2024_(Urgent:_Establish_a_federal_minimim_wage)

content:
 
<p>
US citizens:
<a href="https://actionnetwork.org/forms/american-workers-deserve-a-living-wage-not-poverty?nowrapper=true&referrer=&source=email-take-action-a-ceo-demands-congress-establish-a-cost-of-living-wage-3">call
on Congress</a> to establish a minimum wage people can live on.
<p>
If you phone, please spread the word!                              
Main Switchboard: <a href="tel:+12022243121">+1-202-224-3121</a>

<p>
 


title: Urgent: Investigate massive voter purge, TX
uri: Urgent-Investigate-massive-voter-purge-TX
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#18_September_2024_(Urgent:_Investigate_massive_voter_purge,_TX)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#18_September_2024_(Urgent:_Investigate_massive_voter_purge,_TX)

content:
 
<p>
US citizens:
<a href="https://civicshout.com/p/tell-the-doj-investigate-texas-republicans-voter-purge">call
on the Department of Justice</a> to investigate Texas Republicans'
voter purge.


<p>
 


title: US Leahy Law, on military aid to Israel
uri: US-Leahy-Law-on-military-aid-to-Israel
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#19_September_2024_(US_Leahy_Law,_on_military_aid_to_Israel)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#19_September_2024_(US_Leahy_Law,_on_military_aid_to_Israel)

content:
 
<p>
The "Leahy Law" requires denying US military aid to
<a href="https://www.justsecurity.org/96522/israel-leahy-law/">units that stand accused of violating
human rights</a>.  The US makes this system function for donations to nearly all countries; but when
it comes to arms for Israel, the US has a special system that fails to operate.
<p>
For more information
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leahy_Law">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leahy_Law</a>.

<p>
 


title: Urgent: Cities' rent-control authorization
uri: Urgent-Cities-rent-control-authorization
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#19_September_2024_(Urgent:_Cities'_rent-control_authorization)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#19_September_2024_(Urgent:_Cities'_rent-control_authorization)

content:
 
<p>
US citizens:
<a href="https://actionnetwork.org/forms/demand-federal-rent-control-legislation-now?nowrapper=true&referrer=group-people-for-dylan-wegela&source=group-people-for-dylan-wegela">call
for federal rent control legislation</a> that would authorize US cities to pass rent-control laws.

<p>
 


title: Urgent: Campaign finance corruption
uri: Urgent-Campaign-finance-corruption
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#19_September_2024_(Urgent:_Campaign_finance_corruption)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#19_September_2024_(Urgent:_Campaign_finance_corruption)

content:
 
<p>
US citizens:
<a href="https://actionnetwork.org/forms/sign-to-demand-congress-pass-anti-corruption-policies-and-campaign-finance-reform-to-limit-the-influence-of-big-money-in-politics?nowrapper=true&referrer=&source=email-aipac-spent-more-than-100-million-on-2024s-elections-so-far">call
on Congress</a> to pass anti-corruption policies and campaign finance reform to limit the influence
of Big Money in politics.

<p>
 


title: Urgent: A voter suppression scheme
uri: Urgent-A-voter-suppression-scheme
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#19_September_2024_(Urgent:_A_voter_suppression_scheme)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#19_September_2024_(Urgent:_A_voter_suppression_scheme)

content:
 
<p>
US citizens:
<a href="https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/reject-republicans-last-minute-voter-suppression-scheme-2?nowrapper=true&referrer=group-just-strategy&source=group-just-strategy">call
on Congress</a> to reject Republicans' last-minute voter suppression scheme.
<p>
It is called the "Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act", which is typical right-wing
blackwhiting, since actually it makes US citizens ineligible to vote if they can't show up-to-date
papers to prove they are citizens.  An expired driver's license isn't good enough, even if you look
just the same.


<p>
 


title: Urgent: Harris Opportunity Economy
uri: Urgent-Harris-Opportunity-Economy
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#19_September_2024_(Urgent:_Harris_Opportunity_Economy)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#19_September_2024_(Urgent:_Harris_Opportunity_Economy)

content:
 
<p>
US citizens: Support the Harris Opportunity Economy -- <a href="https://actionnetwork.org/forms/i-support-the-harris-opportunity-economy?nowrapper=true&referrer=&source=email-we-need-a-tax-champion-in-the-white-house">several
tax increases on the rich</a>.

<p>
 


title: Urgent: Call on Democrats to reconnect with Democratic base
uri: Urgent-Call-on-Democrats-to-reconnect-with-Democratic-base
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#19_September_2024_(Urgent:_Call_on_Democrats_to_reconnect_with_Democratic_base)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#19_September_2024_(Urgent:_Call_on_Democrats_to_reconnect_with_Democratic_base)

content:
 
<p>
US citizens: call on Democratic candidates to <a href="https://actionnetwork.org/forms/sign-to-urge-democrats-up-and-down-the-ballot-to-reconnect-with-the-democratic-base-including-by-pushing-for-an-arms-embargo-to-stop-the-israeli-governments-war-crimes?nowrapper=true&referrer=&source=email-re-sign-to-tell-democratic-leaders-arms-embargo-now">reconnect with the
Democratic base</a>, including by pushing for an arms embargo on Israel until
it ends atrocities.

<p>
 


title: Urgent: Support striking AT&T workers
uri: Urgent-Support-striking-AT-T-workers
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#19_September_2024_(Urgent:_Support_striking_AT%26T_workers)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#19_September_2024_(Urgent:_Support_striking_AT%26T_workers)

content:
 
<p>
In the US: tell AT&T Southeast that <a href="https://action.cwa.org/petitions/support-striking-workers-at-att-southeast?nowrapper=true&referrer=&source=aflcio">you support striking workers</a>.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#19_September_2024_(Urgent:_Texas_voter_purge)
title: Urgent: Texas voter purge
uri: Urgent-Texas-voter-purge
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#19_September_2024_(Urgent:_Texas_voter_purge)
content:
 
<p>
US citizens: call on the Department of Justice to <a href="https://civicshout.com/p/tell-the-doj-investigate-texas-republicans-voter-purge?ref=F55Nzrs&link_id=1&can_id=8b24519448cbedadde1c8a966f94caad&source=email-sign-the-petition-urging-the-department-of-justice-to-investigate-the-recent-purge-of-nearly-one-million-names-from-texas-voter-rolls&email_referrer=email_2439532&email_subject=sign-if-you-are-suspicious-of-texas-recently-purging-nearly-one-million-names-from-its-voter-rolls-and-if-you-think-the-department-of-justice-should-check-it-out-to-make-sure-that-it-is-legit">investigate Texas
Republicans' voter purge</a>.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#19_September_2024_(Xenophobia)
title: Xenophobia
uri: Xenophobia
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#19_September_2024_(Xenophobia)
content:
 
<p>
* Extremist groups [including Nazis] are latching on to [the
corrupter]'s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/sep/08/trump-immigration-neo-nazi-far-right">xenophobic messages to recruit people and spread
ideology</a>.*

<p>
 


title: Improvements from portable phone ban
uri: Improvements-from-portable-phone-ban
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#19_September_2024_(Improvements_from_portable_phone_ban)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#19_September_2024_(Improvements_from_portable_phone_ban)

content:
 
<p>
Calvijn College banned students from carrying of portable phones in
school four years ago, and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/sep/09/dutch-school-that-banned-mobile-phones-calvijn-college">has observed an amazing positive change</a>
among the students.
<p>
The students and teachers in Calvijn College probably don't know about
<a href="https://gnu.org/malware/">the injustice of the nonfree software running in their phones, or the
surveillance and manipulation</a> those are programmed to do to them, but they do benefit because
that mistreatment is blocked for many hours every day.  However,
so-called "ed-tech" companies are <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2023-jul-oct.html#8_October_2023_(Student_safety_not_improved_by_surveillance_technology)">busy developing replacements for the
surveillance</a>, and the school authorities probably do no imagine
that this is wrong.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#19_September_2024_(Substandard_medical_treatment)
title: Substandard medical treatment
uri: Substandard-medical-treatment
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#19_September_2024_(Substandard_medical_treatment)
content:
 
<p>
*State abortion bans are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/sep/09/state-abortion-bans-doctor-care-pregnancy">forcing doctors to provide substandard
[medical treatment]</a>.*

<p>
 


title: Almost 200 environment defenders killed
uri: Almost-200-environment-defenders-killed
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#19_September_2024_(Almost_200_environment_defenders_killed)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#19_September_2024_(Almost_200_environment_defenders_killed)

content:
 
<p>
*Almost 200 people <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/sep/09/almost-200-people-killed-last-year-trying-to-defend-the-environment-report-finds-aoe">killed last year</a> trying to defend the environment, report
finds.*
<p>
Those were mostly in Latin America.  In Britain, they won't kill you for this
but they will sentence you to <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#25_July_2024_(Shouting_fire_as_world_burns,_UK)https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#25_July_2024_(Shouting_fire_as_world_burns,_UK)">years in prison</a>.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#19_September_2024_(Climate_rights_report)
title: Climate rights report
uri: Climate-rights-report
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#19_September_2024_(Climate_rights_report)
content:
 
<p>
*Rich countries <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/sep/10/climate-rights-report-draconian-measures-protest">silencing climate protest while preaching about rights
elsewhere</a>, says study.*
<p>
*The report's authors highlighted several examples of developed
countries lauding the importance of the right to protest on the
international stage at the same time as undertaking harsh and punitive
crackdowns at home.*
<p>
Side issue: the term "global south" means "poor countries". but refers
to them using a geographical metaphor which is not literally true,
adds no actual understanding, and can mislead you if you're not
careful.  The poor countries are scattered around the Earth, have no
common history, and what they have in common is the consequences of
bring poor and frequently exploited.
<p>
This article takes a step into being misled by the metaphor: it refers
to countries "in the global south", as if it were a region.  That
metaphor could stir up a sort of nationalism that takes the side of
one imaginary region or the other.
<p>
That way of thinking obscures the real issue: rich people are
exploiting most of humanity, but in the wealthy democracies a
substantial fraction of people get a decent life out of this.  (Just
how big a fraction varies from country to country, and varies over
time in any given country.)
<p>
The article's actual point is valid despite use of that metaphor.
And they are planting to ramp up the repression.
<p>
*"We'll <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/article/2024/sep/09/well-arrest-people-quicker-at-protests-from-now-on-met-police-deputy-chief">arrest people quicker at protests</a> from now on -- London cops'
deputy chief.*

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#19_September_2024_(Non-Tesla_electric_cars)
title: Non-Tesla electric cars
uri: Non-Tesla-electric-cars
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#19_September_2024_(Non-Tesla_electric_cars)
content:
 
<p>
The Guardian has published *The 10 best electric cars to buy if you
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/article/2024/sep/10/the-10-best-electric-cars-to-buy-if-you-want-to-avoid-tesla">want to avoid Tesla</a>.*
<p>
Alas, the ratings fail to include how easy it is to painlessly turn
off all radio transmission, and GPS reception, by the car's
proprietary computer systems.  That information is crucial for any
car, whether electric or not.

<p>
 


title: Election poll dangers
uri: Election-poll-dangers
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#19_September_2024_(election_terror_attacks_homeland_security)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#19_September_2024_(election_terror_attacks_homeland_security)

content:
 
<p>
The Department of Homeland Security warns that Republicans are likely
to attack polling places to 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/sep/13/election-terror-attacks-homeland-security">disrupt the election.</a>
<p>
If they do, the chief truth-hater and his followers will claim that
Democrats did it and use this as an excuse to sabotage the election in
other ways.  That is standard operating procedure for right-wing
truth-haters.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#19_September_2024_(unrwa_staff)
title: UNRWA staff
uri: UNRWA-staff
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#19_September_2024_(unrwa_staff)
content:
 
<p>
Israel has killed 220 UNRWA staff in Gaza, but it is not satisfied; it
wants to eliminate UNRWA itself.</a>
<p>
Israel is working on laws that would stop UNRWA from operating, but this
would not establish any replacement system.  Israel would, I expect, simply
never agree to one.  Then it would have more "excuse" to stop humanitarian
aid 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/sep/12/idf-airstrike-gaza-school-nuseirat-refugee-shelter-six-un-unrwa-workers-among-dead">from getting into Gaza.</a>
<p>
Israel condemns UNRWA because its work is done by local Palestinians,
and some of 
<a href="https://stallman.org/cgi-bin/new-polnote-search.cgi?term=Israel+UNRWA&type=Normal+search">them work for HAMAS.</a>
<p>
I don't think that in practice there
is any way to avoid this.  It would not be feasible to get so many
workers in 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/01/unrwa-funding-pause-employees-october-7-hamas-attack-claims-no-evidence-un">Gaza in any other way.</a>
<p>
If no substitute can get Israel's approval, that will cement the
hunger in Gaza but enable Israel to pretend that it was due to a
failing of the UN, rather 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#14_July_2024_(Gaza_death_toll)">than to Israel's obstruction.</a>
<p>
Israel is already blocking the flow of US humanitarian aid, and would
do so even more if it stops UNRWA from functioning.  Under US law, the
US is supposed to block military 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#15_September_2024_(Gaza_aid_backlog)">aid to Israel for this.</a>

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#19_September_2024_(gaza_children_school_year)
title: Gaza children
uri: Gaza-children
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#19_September_2024_(gaza_children_school_year)
content:
 
<p>
*Gaza children begin second school 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/sep/15/gaza-children-school-year-education-israel-war">year without education.*</a>

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#19_September_2024_(jd_vance_lies_haitian)
title: JD Vance
uri: JD-Vance
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#19_September_2024_(jd_vance_lies_haitian)
content:
 
<p>
Vance explicitly defended lying for 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/sep/15/jd-vance-lies-haitian-immigrants">political advantage.</a>

<p>
 


title: New leftwing party
uri: New-leftwing-party
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#19_September_2024_(jeremy_corbyn_new_leftwing_party)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#19_September_2024_(jeremy_corbyn_new_leftwing_party)

content:
 
<p>
*Jeremy Corbyn addresses meeting on 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/sep/15/jeremy-corbyn-addresses-meeting-new-leftwing-party-collective">formation of new leftwing party.*</a>

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#19_September_2024_(yavuz_ekinci_propaganda)
title: Propaganda charges
uri: Propaganda-charges
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#19_September_2024_(yavuz_ekinci_propaganda)
content:
 
<p>
Turkey has accused writer Yavuz Ekinci of promoting terrorism
for publishing a 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/sep/13/yavuz-ekinci-terrorist-propaganda-charges-bogus-pen-international-turkey-writer"> work of fiction.</a>
<p>
Such repression is not unusual under Erdoğan's repressive rule.
<p>
*Florida officials investigate voters who signed 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/sep/13/florida-abortion-petition-investigation">abortion ballot initiative.*</a>
<p>
This is standard harassment procedure for right-wing governments.
<p>
The two appear similar in spirit to my eyes.  Can Biden direct the FBI
to investigate Florida officials for this apparent political harassment
of citizens for lawful political activity?

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#19_September_2024_(france_far_right_left_election)
title: French far left
uri: French-far-left
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#19_September_2024_(france_far_right_left_election)
content:
 
<p>
*The US government is right to investigate Nvidia for alleged unfair
 practices.*  Too bad that its <Em>unjust</Em> 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/sep/13/france-far-right-left-election">practices are not the target.</a>
<p>
My understanding is that Nvidia's processors have secret
specifications, so no one but Nvidia can make tools to generate code
that can actually be installed in them.  This is an injustice to every
user, because it blocks the use of them without nonfree software.
Every nonfree program is unjust, so a processor that forces use of
nonfree programs is unjust.
<p>
That's what we need governments to investigate.

<p>
 


title: Stop Camp Grayling
uri: Stop-Camp-Grayling
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#19_September_2024_(fbi_protest_camp_grayling_michigan)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#19_September_2024_(fbi_protest_camp_grayling_michigan)

content:
 
<p>
Students protested military recruiting at the University of Michigan.
The local sheriff labeled it a "hate crime against law enforcement"
and the 
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/09/13/fbi-protest-terrorism-stop-camp-grayling-michigan/">FBI labeled it as terrorism.</a>
<p>
Although IANAL, I think the law about hate crimes is limited to
certain demographic groups as targets, and "law enforcement" does not
qualify.  In addition, a "hate crime" in the US is defined to be more
than just expression of views (thank the First Amendment!).  It means
a crime of violence, motivated by hatred for one of those groups.
Expressing condemnation for all uniformed <a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a> cannot actually be a
hate crime.
<p>
Nor is spraying ketchup as fake blood constitute terrorism.
<p>
Biden, will you make the FBI stick to reality-based action?

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#19_September_2024_(election_harris_emhoff_ads)
title: Douglas Emhoff
uri: Douglas-Emhoff
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#19_September_2024_(election_harris_emhoff_ads)
content:
 
<p>
Republicans are running fake ads in areas in Michigan where there are
many Muslims, emphasizing the fact that 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/sep/13/election-harris-emhoff-ads">Harris's spouse is Jewish.</a>
<p>
It is true that Harris insists on support for Israel &mdash; and
Republicans do so even more strongly.  But the ads don't show that about
both major parties.
<p>
I hope American Muslims recognize the one-sidedness of these ads and
refuse to be fooled into helping the more hateful party to win.

<p>
 


title: Afghan women
uri: 2024-09-20-Afghan-women
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#19_September_2024_(afghan_women_risked_lives_summit_tirana)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#19_September_2024_(afghan_women_risked_lives_summit_tirana)

content:
 
<p>
Afghan women went to Albania so they could have a public event, which
they wanted to hold in a majority-Muslim country (though I don't see why that
was crucial).  Most of those supported the Taliban by refusing.
<p>
Most of the women who participated 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2024/sep/13/we-will-never-stop-fighting-why-afghan-women-have-risked-their-lives-to-attend-a-summit-in-tirana">are living in exile,</a>
<p>
but some came from Afghanistan and are facing a challenge to go home
again.
<p>
They called on influential countries to insist that the Taliban
include some women in diplomatic discussions.  The Taliban, out of
misogyny, refuse to do this.  The discussions are about international
aid to give people in Afghanistan a better life.  If you call on the
Taliban to include women in that better life, and in the discussion,
they refuse.  What is right to do in this situation?
<p>
The Taliban are hardened religious fanatics, and the world would be a
better place if they were all gone. 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives//2021-may-aug.html#23_August_2021_(Prevention_of_Taliban">But the war with which we tried
to defeat them failed.</a>
<p>
Maybe an Afghan woman needs to be ready to kill the Taliban in her own
family, while he sleeps at home.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#19_September_2024_(melbourne_war_protests)
title: Anti-war protesters injured
uri: Anti-war-protesters-injured
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#19_September_2024_(melbourne_war_protests)
content:
 
<p>
<a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#thug">Thugs</a> attacked an anti-war protest outside a weapon sales
exposition in Australia.  They injured dozens of protesters and some 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/sep/12/melbourne-war-protests-land-forces-weapons-expo-ntwnfb">required hospital treatment.</a>
<p>
A legal support person says that <a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#thug">thugs</a> "were documented using force
against people who were trying to run away, shielding themselves or
were already on the ground."
<p>
Some protesters' actions may have called for a forcible response,
but police offers are supposed to determine judiciously when and
where that is necessary, not go wild and rampage against all.

<p>
 


title: AI chatbot misinformation
uri: AI-chatbot-misinformation
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#19_September_2024_(x_ai_chatbot_voter_disinformation)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#19_September_2024_(x_ai_chatbot_voter_disinformation)

content:
 
<p>
<a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#extwitter">Ex-Twitter's</a> chatbot spread incorrect statements about the election:
specifically, whether another candidate could 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/sep/12/twitter-ai-bot-grok-election-misinformation">replace Biden on ballots.</a>
<p>
It took the intervention of several states' secretaries of state to get this
corrected.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#19_September_2024_(myanmar_journalists)
title: Myanmar journalists
uri: Myanmar-journalists
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#19_September_2024_(myanmar_journalists)
content:
 
<p>
The Burmese military government is sending raids that kill journalists
in 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/sep/13/myanmar-journalists-facing-terror-campaign-in-deadliest-year-for-media-since-coup">their own homes.</a>

<p>
 


title: EU marine protected areas
uri: EU-marine-protected-areas
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#19_September_2024_(eu_marine_protected_ineffective_study)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#19_September_2024_(eu_marine_protected_ineffective_study)

content:
 
<p>
*More than 80% of EU marine protected areas are 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/sep/13/more-than-80-of-eu-marine-protected-areas-are-ineffective-study-shows">ineffective, study shows.</a>
<p>
Activities such as mining, dredging and bottom trawling in most MPAs
mean conservation targets will be missed.*

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#19_September_2024_(spending_subsidies_environment)
title: Global spending
uri: Global-spending
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#19_September_2024_(spending_subsidies_environment)
content:
 
<p>
*Global spending on subsidies that harm environment 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/sep/18/spending-subsidies-environment-deforestation-pollution-fossil-fuels-aoe">rises to $2.6tn.*</a>
<p>
*Fossil fuel companies sponsor $5.6bn in global 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/sep/18/fossil-fuel-companies-sponsor-billions-in-global-sportswashing-deals">"sportswashing" deals.*</a>
<p>
I think plane roasters should not be allowed to advertise or visibly
sponsor anything.  As for the sports that they sponsor, they are not important
anyway.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#19_September_2024_(anti_whaling)
title: Anti-Whaling
uri: Anti-Whaling
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#19_September_2024_(anti_whaling)
content:
 
<p>
*Losing the Whales: How the 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/anti-whaling">Anti-Whaling Narrative Has Failed.*</a>
<p>
The article accuses the International Fund for Animal Welfare
of secretly working against the cause of whale conservation
while publicly stating it advocates that cause.
<p>
I don't have a way to judge the accusation against that
organization, but the larger point seems to be valid.

<p>
 


title: UK airport expansion
uri: UK-airport-expansion
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#19_September_2024_(starmer_labour_air_uk_airport_expansion)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#19_September_2024_(starmer_labour_air_uk_airport_expansion)

content:
 
<p>
Starmer-Labour seems leaning towards allowing airport expansion and
thus more 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/sep/15/theres-something-in-the-air-uk-airport-expansion-gears-up-for-takeoff">commercial flights in Britain.</a>
<p>
This would be a step towards climate disaster, and one that would be
easy to prevent.  I think it reflects the basic Starmer error of choosing
to get funds from trickle down from the rich, 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2022-jan-apr.html#3_March_2022_(Torn_between_two_factions)">rather than by taxing the rich.</a>

<p>
 


title: The Earth Commission
uri: The-Earth-Commission
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#19_September_2024_(consumerism_climate_crisis_equitable_future_report)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#19_September_2024_(consumerism_climate_crisis_equitable_future_report)

content:
 
<p>
*[Unridled consumption by the rich] and the climate crisis threaten equitable 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/sep/12/consumerism-and-the-climate-crisis-threaten-equitable-future-for-humanity-report-says">future for humanity, report says.*</a>

<p>
 


title: Harris Walz campaign signs
uri: Harris-Walz-campaign-signs
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#19_September_2024_(ohio_sheriff_harris_campaign_signs)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#19_September_2024_(ohio_sheriff_harris_campaign_signs)

content:
 
<p>
A Republican sheriff in Ohio has launched political 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/sep/17/ohio-sheriff-harris-walz-campaign-signs">repression against
Democrats.</a>

<p>
 


title: Reporters Without Borders
uri: Reporters-Without-Borders
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#19_September_2024_(rsf_fake_video_russia_war_propaganda)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#19_September_2024_(rsf_fake_video_russia_war_propaganda)

content:
 
<p>
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) denounces a Russian disinformation
fake "BBC" documentary that reported a 
<a href="https://rsf.org/en/how-russia-used-fake-video-about-rsf-war-propaganda">fictitious RSF investigation.</a>

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#19_September_2024_(israel_aysenur_eygi_protestors)
title: Aysenur Eygi
uri: Aysenur-Eygi
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#19_September_2024_(israel_aysenur_eygi_protestors)
content:
 
<p>
*Israeli Soldiers Killed 15 Protesters in the Same Place 
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/09/17/israel-aysenur-eygi-protesters-killing-west-bank/">They Shot
Aysenur Eygi.*</a>
<p>
On various days.

<p>
 


title: Arizona elections error
uri: Arizona-elections-error
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#19_September_2024_(arizona_elections_error_eligibility)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#19_September_2024_(arizona_elections_error_eligibility)

content:
 
<p>
Arizona's policy of requiring people to prove citizenship to vote
in state and local elections led to a big confusion in the 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/sep/17/arizona-elections-error-eligibility-impact">voting in
Maricopa County (Phoenix).</a>
<p>
There would have been no problem at all if not for that measure, which
is a variation on a typical 
<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20201125025031/http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/11/opinion/republicans-hijack-an-election-agency.html">Republican voter suppression scheme.</a>

<p>
 


title: Russia propaganda
uri: Russia-propaganda
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#19_September_2024_(microsoft_investigation_story_russia_propaganda)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#19_September_2024_(microsoft_investigation_story_russia_propaganda)

content:
 
<p>
According to an investigation by Microsoft, Russia's disinformation
army made a video that pretends to be a news report about a fictitious
2011 car accident that 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/sep/18/kamala-harris-fake-hit-run-story-russia-propaganda-storm-1516">supposedly involved Kamala Harris.</a>
<p>
What was the motive for this? 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2023-sep-dec.html#8_November_2023_(The_insurrectionist_and_Putin_attack_truth)">It makes sense if wrecker is Putin's
man</a>
<p>
or if they made a deal.
<p>
I don't have implicit trust in Microsoft, so I don't have full
confidence in this report.  But I trust Microsoft more than I trust
Putin.

<p>
 


title: Urgent: Separation of church and state
uri: Urgent-Separation-of-church-and-state
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#20_September_2024_(Urgent:_Separation_of_church_and_state)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#20_September_2024_(Urgent:_Separation_of_church_and_state)

content:
 
<p>
US citizens: 
<a href="https://actionnetwork.org/forms/sign-protect-separation-of-church-and-state-no-10-commandments-displays-in-public-schools?nowrapper=true&referrer=group-hd&source=group-hd">Oppose
laws that require religious displays in public schools</a>.  Protect the separation of church and
state.


<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#21_September_2024_(exploding_pagers_subcontracting)
title: Exploding pagers
uri: Exploding-pagers
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#21_September_2024_(exploding_pagers_subcontracting)
content:
 
<p>
The exploding pagers used to attack Hezbollah leaders were bought as a special
order.  It was subcontracted to a Hungarian company whose 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/sep/18/pager-and-walkie-talkie-attacks-on-hezbollah-were-audacious-and-carefully-planned">owner supports Putin</a>
<p>
(and surely supports also the repressive ruler of 
<a href="https://www.stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#21_September_2024_(gold_apollo_taiwan)">Hungary, Orbán, who
supports Putin.)</a>
<p>
But that company subcontracted the order to someone else.  We don't know
known who actually 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/sep/18/hezbollah-pagers-what-do-we-know-about-how-the-attack-happened">built these pagers.</a>
<p>
This demonstrates how subcontracting causes a potential risk to the national
security of any country, and even organizations of other kinds, when combined
with the opacity of their construction.  It is one more reason
why the world needs 
<a href="https://gnu.org/philosophy/free-hardware-designs.html">free hardware designs.</a>
The rigged pagers have been compared to booby traps.  With careful
comparison, we see a crucial difference: the pages were targeted
specifically at important Hezbollah participants.
<p>
A booby trap is triggered by some ordinary, non-warlike action, such
as opening a door, standing in a certain spot, or picking up an
object.  Soldiers do these things, and so do civilians.  Such a trap
can easily strike anyone.
<p>
The rigged pagers were carried by chosen members of Hezbollah &mdash; not
solely the highest leaders, but surely important enough for special
protection from tracking.  They were sure to keep the pagers near them
and under their personal control.  Just playing with one would not set
off the bomb; the plan arranged that almost always the owner would be
holding it when it exploded.
<p>
Wikipedia estimates that Hezbollah in Lebanon has around 100,000 members.
Clearly the 5,000 pagers were distributed to selected people with
command or sensitive roles, not 
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hezbollah">footsoldiers or fellow travelers.</a>
<p>
Thus, the pager attack was not an atrocity or a crime &mdash; it was simply war.
<p>
That does not imply it was morally justifiable.
<p>
Netanyahu is aiming to escalate the war between Israel and
Hezbollah. and exploding the pagers was one among many attacks in the
campaign of escalation.  That aim is what he deserves condemnation
for.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#21_September_2024_(stock_buybacks_low_wage)
title: Worst-paid employees
uri: Worst-paid-employees
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#21_September_2024_(stock_buybacks_low_wage)
content:
 
<p>
How stock buybacks undermine the incentive that is supposed to
motivate CEOs to add economic 
<a href="https://pluralistic.net/2024/09/09/low-wage-100/#executive-excess">value to the companies they run.</a>

<p>
 


title: Lead risks
uri: Lead-risks
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#21_September_2024_(national_guard_firing_range_lead_exposure)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#21_September_2024_(national_guard_firing_range_lead_exposure)

content:
 
<p>
Indoor firing ranges, including those run by the US military,
are dangerous: they have residues generated by firing lots of bullets,
that contain toxic lead and pose a 
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/09/18/national-guard-armory-firing-range-kids-lead-exposure/">hazard to anyone breathing inside.</a>

<p>
 


title: Ship lawsuit
uri: Ship-lawsuit
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#21_September_2024_(baltimore_bridge_collapse_ship_lawsuit)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#21_September_2024_(baltimore_bridge_collapse_ship_lawsuit)

content:
 
<p>
The US is suing the owner of the ship that destroyed a bridge 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/sep/18/baltimore-bridge-collapse-ship-lawsuit">over
Baltimore harbor.</a>
<p>
This suit demands $100 million, solely for the cost of cleaning up
the wreckage so the harbor could get back to full operation.  It does
not include the damages for the six workers killed by the damage, or
the damages of the loss of use of the harbor, let alone what it will
cost to build building a new bridge.
<p>
I have a hunch that the company will be bankrupted by this, and will
not be able to pay the whole damages.
<p>
Can it pay even this part of the damages?  I wonder how many other
ships that corporation owns.  Did the real owners make a separate
corporation for each ship?  If so, it may not be able to pay
anything more than its legal fees.
<p>
Part of the cause of the collapse was the lack of buffer islands
around the bridge's piers.  The bridge was built not long before the
US adopted a policy of requiring such buffers, and plans were being
drawn up to add them &mdash; but it wasn't considered desperately urgent,
and that sort of project normally takes many years.

<p>
 


title: Coral reefs study
uri: Coral-reefs-study
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#21_September_2024_(coral_reefs_record_heat_event_study)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#21_September_2024_(coral_reefs_record_heat_event_study)

content:
 
<p>
Scientists are making some progress on breeding corals to 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/sep/18/hope-for-coral-reefs-after-ivf-colonies-survive-record-heat-event-study">tolerate
greater heat.</a>
<p>
But this seems futile to me, since 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2024-mar-jun.html#6_June_2024_(Ocean_health)">(based on Wikipedia's article on
Ocean Acidification)</a>
<p>
in a few more decades the increased CO2 in sea water will start to
interfere with the making of coral shells.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#21_September_2024_(oil_donation_universities)
title: Oil donations
uri: Oil-donations
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#21_September_2024_(oil_donation_universities)
content:
 
<p>
Six prestigious US universities have, since 2003, accepted 100 million
dollars in donations from 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/sep/19/oil-donations-universities">fossil fuel companies.</a>
<p>
These donations are officially gifts, but in practice there is
a quid-pro-quo of not championing climate defense.

<p>
 


title: Indigenous truth-telling
uri: Indigenous-truth-telling
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#21_September_2024_(queensland_indigenous_truth_telling)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#21_September_2024_(queensland_indigenous_truth_telling)

content:
 
<p>
Queensland (a state in Australia) is holding an inquiry and investigation
into how British colonists seized that 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/sep/16/queensland-indigenous-truth-telling-inquiry-ntwnfb">territory from the previous inhabitants.</a>
<p>
I read a book, <Em>The Other Side of the Frontier</Em>, which describes the
damage that the process imposed.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#21_September_2024_(gold_apollo_taiwan)
title: Gold Apollo
uri: Gold-Apollo
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#21_September_2024_(gold_apollo_taiwan)
content:
 
<p>
Companies often use subcontracting as a way to get the good side of a business
and dump the 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/sep/18/this-is-very-embarrassing-middle-east-crisis-takes-a-detour-to-an-office-park-in-taiwan">bad side on others.</a>
<p>
Gold Apollo, the front company that sold
exploding pagers but did not actually make them, is an extreme example,
but everyday non-extreme examples are all around us.
<p>
Perhaps there should be a law saying that if you sell a product or
service with signs implying it was your product, you become co-liable
for any harm it may do, along with the company that made it "for" you.
<p>
That would encourage some transparency.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#21_September_2024_(aboriginal_people_slave_labour)
title: Aboriginal people
uri: Aboriginal-people
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#21_September_2024_(aboriginal_people_slave_labour)
content:
 
<p>
Even in the 1940s, the state of Queensland (Australia) systematically
stole 2/3 of the 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/sep/18/aboriginal-people-robbed-of-up-to-500m-under-system-akin-to-slave-labour-queensland-truth-telling-inquiry-hears">wages owed to aboriginals.</a>

<p>
 


title: Urgent: Investigate Aysenur Eygi killing
uri: Urgent-Investigate-Aysenur-Eygi-killing
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#21_September_2024_(Urgent:_Investigate_Aysenur_Eygi_killing)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#21_September_2024_(Urgent:_Investigate_Aysenur_Eygi_killing)

content:
 
<p>
US citizens:
<a href="https://act.winwithoutwar.org/act/eygi-investigation?akid=10031.223515.l0OfRf&c0=eygi-investigation.mEnRGd&rd=1&source=em20240906&t=1006">call
on Biden</a> to investigate West Bank violence including the killing of Aysenur Eygi.
<p>
If you phone, please spread the word!
White House: <a href="tel:+12024561111">+1-202-456-1111</a> and (TTY/TDD) +1-202-456-6213

<p>
 


title: Urgent: Question presidential immunity
uri: Urgent-Question-presidential-immunity
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#21_September_2024_(Urgent:_Question_presidential_immunity)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#21_September_2024_(Urgent:_Question_presidential_immunity)

content:
 
<p>
US citizens:
<a href="https://actionnetwork.org/forms/no-one-is-above-the-law-amend?nowrapper=true&referrer=group-just-strategy&source=group-just-strategy">support
Biden's proposal</a> for a "No One Is Above the Law" amendment.
<p>
If you phone, please spread the word!
White House: <a href="tel:+12024561111">+1-202-456-1111</a> and (TTY/TDD) +1-202-456-6213


<p>
 


title: Urgent: Prevent government shutdown
uri: 2024-09-22-Urgent-Prevent-government-shutdown
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#21_September_2024_(Urgent:_Prevent_government_shutdown)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#21_September_2024_(Urgent:_Prevent_government_shutdown)

content:
 
<p>
US citizens: phone your conresscritter and say to pass a bill to prevent a government shutdown with
no sabotage riders to attack voting rights or any other rights of human beings.
<p>
If you phone, please spread the word!                              
Main Switchboard: <a href="tel:+12022243121">+1-202-224-3121</a>

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#21_September_2024_(Urgent:_Bld_utilities_shutoffs)
title: Urgent: Building-utilities shutoffs
uri: Urgent-Building-utilities-shutoffs
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#21_September_2024_(Urgent:_Bld_utilities_shutoffs)
content:
 
<p>
US citizens:
<a href="https://actionnetwork.org/forms/sign-now-to-urge-congress-end-utility-shutoffs-and-treat-these-life-sustaining-services-as-human-rights?nowrapper=true&referrer=&source=email-with-extreme-heat-waves-its-time-to-end-utility-shutoffs">call
on Congress</a> to end utility shutoffs and treat these life-sustaining services as human rights.
<p>
I support this campaign against artificial cruelty, but success of this is not a substitute for
curbing <a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#global%20heating">global heating</a> and reducing human consumption to a sustainable level.
<p>
If you phone, please spread the word!                              
Main Switchboard: <a href="tel:+12022243121">+1-202-224-3121</a>

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#19_September_2024_(Nvidia_vs_DOJ)
title: Nvidia vs DOJ
uri: Nvidia-vs-DOJ
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#19_September_2024_(Nvidia_vs_DOJ)
content:
 
<p>
The US government is investigating Nvidia for alleged unfair
practices.  Too bad that its <Em>unjust</Em>  practices are not
<a href="https://torontostarts.com/2024/09/16/nvidia-antitrust-investigation-doj-probe-targets-ai-chip-dominance/">the target.</a>
<p>
My understanding is that Nvidia's processors have secret specifications, so no one but Nvidia can
make tools to generate code that can actually be installed in them.  This is an injustice to every
user, because it blocks the use of them without nonfree software.  Every nonfree program is unjust,
so a processor that forces use of nonfree programs is unjust.
<p>
That's what we need governments to investigate.

<p>
 


title: Columbia U., protesting-Gaza update
uri: Columbia-U-protesting-Gaza-update
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#22_September_2024_(Columbia_U.,_protesting-Gaza_update)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#22_September_2024_(Columbia_U.,_protesting-Gaza_update)

content:
 
<p>f
*Back to School at Columbia: Two Students Arrested, New
Guidelines
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/09/05/columbia-students-arrested-palestine-protests/">on Protest</a>.*
<p>
Columbia's administration is violating its own discipline procedures, in its rush to show 120%
compliance to the demands of the right-wing fanatics that control the House of Representatives.
<p>
We can all help put a stop to this persecution by helping to defeat Republicans in Congress on Nov 5.


<p>
 


title: Al Jazeera
uri: 2024-09-24-Al-Jazeera
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#23_September_2024_(al_jazeera_office_west_bank_raid)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#23_September_2024_(al_jazeera_office_west_bank_raid)

content:
 
<p>
*Israeli military shuts down Al Jazeera bureau in 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/sep/22/al-jazeera-office-west-bank-raid-israeli-forces-media">West Bank raid.*</a>
<p>
Al Jazeera reports are sometimes slander in favor of Palestinians,
but no more slanted than is usual in journalism,  That should no be
a reason to shut it down.  At least this time Israel did not do so
using explosives, as 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2024-may-aug.html#5_August_2024_(Journalists_targeted,_killed,_Gaza)">it did in Gaza.</a>

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#23_September_2024_(jd_vance_legal_haitian_illegal)
title: JD Vance
uri: 2024-09-24-JD-Vance
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#23_September_2024_(jd_vance_legal_haitian_illegal)
content:
 
<p>
Vance insists on calling Haitians 
<a href="https://www.salon.com/2024/09/19/jd-vance-says-he-will-keep-calling-legal-haitian-illegal-aliens/">working in the US "illegal aliens"</a>
<p>
Although he knows that their presence and employment in the US has
been officially authorized with temporary protected status.  Vance is
claiming to be more powerful than reality.
<p>
Vance and the wrecker could honestly criticize the decision to give
Haitians temporary protected status, if they wanted to.  I would
disagree with their position, but they would not be lying if they said
that.  They could also claim that Biden's decision to do that was
somehow illegal.  They might be mistaken, but it would not be a
factual lie.
<p>
However, the ambiguity of calling them "illegal aliens" turns it into
a dishonest claim.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#23_September_2024_(putin_regime_will_collapse)
title: Putin regime
uri: Putin-regime
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#23_September_2024_(putin_regime_will_collapse)
content:
 
<p>
Vladimir Kara-Murza studied and wrote about dissidents in the Soviet
Union and the workings of the system of repression.  When he became a
dissident and Putin imprisoned him, he observed directly 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/sep/22/putin-regime-will-collapse-without-warning-says-freed-gulag-dissident">what he had
learned in his studies.</a>

<p>
 


title: Hobart council
uri: Hobart-council
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#23_September_2024_(aus_city_hobart_police_cctv_realtime_access)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#23_September_2024_(aus_city_hobart_police_cctv_realtime_access)

content:
 
<p>
An Australian city has ordered giving the thug department full access
to watch all the 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/sep/20/hobart-police-live-cctv-footage-real-time-access">town's surveillance cameras.</a>
<p>
This is far too much surveillance to keep people safe from repression.
However, protecting against repression calls for <a>more than 
<a href="https://gnu.org/philosophy/surveillance-vs-democracy.html">just maintaining
the status quo.</a>

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#23_September_2024_(butterfly_populations_britain)
title: Butterfly numbers
uri: Butterfly-numbers
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#23_September_2024_(butterfly_populations_britain)
content:
 
<p>
Butterfly populations in Britain dropped by 50% this year &mdash; *probably
the consequence of habitat loss and the use of pesticides, making
the insects less resilient to extreme weather fluctuations: the
scorching heat and wetter weather 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/sep/20/tony-juniper-uk-nature-chief-ecosystem-collapse-as-butterfly-numbers-halve">driven by global heating.*</a>

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#23_September_2024_(EU_fishing_rules_under_wraps)
title: EU fishing rules under wraps
uri: EU-fishing-rules-under-wraps
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#23_September_2024_(EU_fishing_rules_under_wraps)
content:
 
<p>

*   The court of justice of the EU ruled on Thursday that member states
   could <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/sep/06/eu-failing-to-enforce-fishing-rules-say-campaigners">keep vital details of their implementation of fishing rules under
    wraps</a>, in a blow to environmental campaigners hoping to use the
   information to show whether the regulations are working.*
</p>
</li>

 


title: Appearance of fairness in the press
uri: Appearance-of-fairness-in-the-press
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#23_September_2024_(Appearance_of_fairness_in_the_press)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#23_September_2024_(Appearance_of_fairness_in_the_press)

content:
 
<p>

  * The press is still <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/sep/06/trump-clinton-harris-election">pursuing the appearance of fairness</a> [in covering
   the US election] by treating the true and the false, normal and
   outrageous, as equally valid.*
</p>
</li>

<!--
[also for amazon.html]
 -->
 


title: Tricked into signing up for Amazon Prime
uri: Tricked-into-signing-up-for-Amazon-Prime
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#23_September_2024_(Tricked_into_signing_up_for_Amazon_Prime)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#23_September_2024_(Tricked_into_signing_up_for_Amazon_Prime)

content:
 
<p>

  *<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/money/article/2024/sep/02/amazon-is-trying-to-trick-me-into-signing-up-for-prime-services">Amazon is trying to trick me into signing up for Prime services.</a>*
  And bully her, too.
</p>
</li>

 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#23_September_2024_(A_plague_of_fungus_killing_bats)
title: A plague of fungus killing bats
uri: A-plague-of-fungus-killing-bats
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#23_September_2024_(A_plague_of_fungus_killing_bats)
content:
 
<p>

A plaugue of fungus killed many bats across the US.  Without the bats
to eat the insect pests, farmers increased use of pesticides.
The pesticides are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/sep/05/loss-of-bats-to-lethal-fungus-linked-to-1300-child-deaths-in-us-study-says-aoe">estimated to have killed 1300 children since then</a>.
</p>
</li>

 


title: Documentary presenting Russian soldiers as victims
uri: Documentary-presenting-Russian-soldiers-as-victims
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#23_September_2024_(Documentary_presenting_Russian_soldiers_as_victims)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#23_September_2024_(Documentary_presenting_Russian_soldiers_as_victims)

content:
 
<p>

  A documentary is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/article/2024/sep/07/documentary-russians-at-war-accused-of-false-picture-soldiers-invading-ukraine">being criticized</a> for presenting the Russian soldiers in
the <a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#putinforces">Putin forces</a> as victims.
</p>
<p>
Those soldiers <em>are</em> victims &hellip; of Putin's tyranny, alongside
the Ukrainians.  And some of them used to know this &mdash; which is why
some Russians <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2022-nov-feb.html#30_January_2023_(Hotline_for_Putin_forces_to_call_and_arrange_surrender)">fled and joined the Ukrainian army</a>
rather than fight <em>for</em> Putin.
</p>
<p>
But Putin's tight censorship is brainwashing many Russians, especially
young ones that get drafted.
</p>
</li>

 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#23_September_2024_(Water_bosses_could_be_jailed)
title: Water bosses could be jailed
uri: Water-bosses-could-be-jailed
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#23_September_2024_(Water_bosses_could_be_jailed)
content:
 
<p>

  *<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/sep/04/water-bosses-could-be-jailed-cover-up-sewage-dumping-law">Water bosses could be jailed if they cover up sewage dumping under new law.</a>*
</p>
<p>
The government looked into the causes of a deadly fire in an apartment building and
found that several companies were jointly dishonest and many government
bodies <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/sep/04/the-guardian-view-on-the-grenfell-report-a-shocking-indictment-of-government-and-industry">failed to do their job</a> of insisting on safe construction.
</p>

<p>
All sorts of regulations to protect the environment and people's
health and safety, should carry criminal penalties for intentional
conduct that significantly endangers people.  The punishment for a
serious violation should include prison, for individuals, and for
corporations seizure and liquidation.
</p>

<p>
Anyone can make a mistake &mdash; even a CEO who has acted wrongly may have
done it unknowingly &mdash; so everyone accused must have a fair trial to
judge culpability.  But intentional disregard for those regulations,
when it occurs to a significant extent, should be grounds for severe
punishment.
</p>

<p>
This should not be limited to cases where serious injury to specific
actually persons occurred as a result.  When that was avoided by sheer
luck, the crime should be the same.
</p>

<p>
Merely banning a company from operating in a country may have no
effect.  Even shutting down the corporation directly involved may be
insufficient.  Many construction businesses do (or at least used to)
start a new corporation each year as a scheme to shrug off subsequent
fines or judgments.  The law should refuse to be thwarted by such
schemes.
</p>

<p>
If this helps drive the UK's formerly public but nowadays private
water companies into bankruptcy, so much the better, since it will
avoid the need to "compensate" their stockholders when renationalizing
them.
</p>

<p>
We need capitalism so it can drive people's desire for profit into
competing to do a good job for society.  However, they will face
constant temptation to cheat their customers, their workers and the
general public.  We must make sure they recognize those methods are
too dangerous to try.
</p>
</li>

 


title: Costs of moving houses to higher ground
uri: Costs-of-moving-houses-to-higher-ground
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#23_September_2024_(Costs_of_moving_houses_to_higher_ground)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#23_September_2024_(Costs_of_moving_houses_to_higher_ground)

content:
 
<p>

  Florida is <a href="https://substack.perfectunion.us/p/can-we-save-coastal-communities-before">coming to recognize</a> it must help people whose houses are
going to be flooded by paying the cost of their moving to higher
ground.
</p>
<p>
In the long run, that is cheaper than paying to build a new house in
the same doomed place, where it in turn will be flooded.
</p>
</li>

 


title: Fossil fuel funding of universities
uri: Fossil-fuel-funding-of-universities
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#23_September_2024_(Fossil_fuel_funding_of_universities)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#23_September_2024_(Fossil_fuel_funding_of_universities)

content:
 
<p>

*<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/article/2024/sep/05/universities-fossil-fuel-funding-green-energy">Fossil fuel companies' funding of universities’ climate-focused efforts
   is delaying the green transition, according to the most extensive
    peer-reviewed study to date of the industry’s influence on academia.</a>*
</p>
<p>
That study covers the UK experience, but I expect the situation is
similar in other countries.  The <a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#planet">planet roasters</a> are callous but not
stupid.
</p>
</li>

 


title: Biden's efforts toward reducing pollution
uri: Biden-s-efforts-toward-reducing-pollution
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#23_September_2024_(Biden's_efforts_toward_reducing_pollution)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#23_September_2024_(Biden's_efforts_toward_reducing_pollution)

content:
 
<p>

*<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/sep/17/biden-environment-clean-energy-jobs-inflation-reduction-act">Reports find [Biden's] policies will save Americans
    from pollution in coming decades and added nearly 150,000 jobs.</a>*
</p>
<p>
We need to do much more to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but
Republicans want to repeal these policies and turn the spigot
wide open.
</p>
</li>

 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#23_September_2024_(Drop_in_seabird_population)
title: Drop in seabird population
uri: Drop-in-seabird-population
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#23_September_2024_(Drop_in_seabird_population)
content:
 
<p>

  A <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/sep/17/stark-before-and-after-photographs-reveal-sharp-decline-of-norway-seabirds-aoe">great drop in the seabird populations in Norway</a>
is a sign of some big problem under the water, but we
don't know what it is,
</p>
</li>

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#23_September_2024_(trumps_fantasy_migrants_meme)
title: Case of Springfield
uri: Case-of-Springfield
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#23_September_2024_(trumps_fantasy_migrants_meme)
content:
 
<p>
In American politics, and British politics, signaling an attitude or
membership in a tribe tends to take precedence over choosing a policy
that 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/sep/15/trumps-fantasy-that-migrants-are-eating-cats-proves-the-meme-has-prevailed-over-real-politics">will have good results.</a>
<p>
That is unfortunate because signaling is not a cogent reason for any policy.
Thus, policies chosen based on signaling will tend to be bad ones.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#23_September_2024_(data_center_gas_emissions_tech)
title: Data center emissions
uri: Data-center-emissions
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#23_September_2024_(data_center_gas_emissions_tech)
content:
 
<p>
* Emissions from in-house data centers of Google, Microsoft, Meta and
Apple may be [almost 8 times the] 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/sep/15/data-center-gas-emissions-tech">official tally.*</a>
<p>
For the survival of civilization we must prevent the expansion
of these data centers.  A sufficiently large tax could do it.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#23_September_2024_(vast_carbon_sink_study)
title: Vast’ carbon sink
uri: Vast-carbon-sink
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#23_September_2024_(vast_carbon_sink_study)
content:
 
<p>
* Landmark research finds 244m tons of organic carbon is stored in top
   10cm of marine sediment in British waters.* And it will steadily
   capture more carbon if 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/sep/19/vast-carbon-sink-of-mud-on-seabed-needs-more-protection-study-shows">we prevent it from being disturbed.</a>

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#23_September_2024_(georgia_abortion_ban)
title: Amber Thurman
uri: Amber-Thurman
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#23_September_2024_(georgia_abortion_ban)
content:
 
<p>
*Amber Thurman was killed by Georgia’s abortion ban. 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/sep/19/georgia-abortion-ban">There will be
 others.*</a>
 <p>
Banning abortion tends to cause various sorts of bad consequences.
Being compelled to have a baby can ruin your life in many ways, and
some of them (combined with poverty) could later cause your death.

<p>
 


title: UC Faculty
uri: UC-Faculty
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#23_September_2024_(uc_professors_palestine_protest_labor)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#23_September_2024_(uc_professors_palestine_protest_labor)

content:
 
<p>
*Faculty from seven University of California campuses took a stand
against the repression of protest over Israel’s war on Gaza on
Thursday, taking the historic step of filing a joint unfair labor
practice 
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/09/20/uc-professors-palestine-protest-labor-violation/">charge against their employer.*</a>

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#23_September_2024_(greenpeace_activists)
title: Greenpeace activists
uri: Greenpeace-activists
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#23_September_2024_(greenpeace_activists)
content:
 
<p>
Climate defense protesters in the UK climbed the former prime
minister's house as part of a protest, but did no harm.  Charges
against 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/sep/20/greenpeace-activists-who-scaled-sunaks-roof-cleared-by-judge">them were dropped by the judge.</a>

<p>
 


title: Carbon Market
uri: Carbon-Market
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#23_September_2024_(cftc_moves_to_set_voluntary_carbon_market)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#23_September_2024_(cftc_moves_to_set_voluntary_carbon_market)

content:
 
<p>
The Commodity Futures and Exchange Commission proposed guidelines for
trading of carbon offsets.  Public Citizen says it should instead
eliminate 
<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/cftc-moves-to-set-voluntary-carbon-market-standards">such trading entirely.</a>
<p>
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2007-jan-apr.html#22%20January%202007%20(Carbon%20offsetting%20is%20ineffective)">I agree.</a>

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#23_September_2024_(mike_dewine_ohio_trump)
title: Springfield claims
uri: Springfield-claims
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#23_September_2024_(mike_dewine_ohio_trump)
content:
 
<p>
Ohio’s Republican governor condemns Trump and Vance for [bogus claims
about 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/sep/20/mike-dewine-ohio-trump-vance-haitian-immigrants">immigrants in Springfield, Ohio.]</a>

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#23_September_2024_(trump_whines_fox_host_debate)
title: Imagined debate
uri: Imagined-debate
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#23_September_2024_(trump_whines_fox_host_debate)
content:
 
<p>
<a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#bullshitter">The bullshitter</a> claimed that the audience at the debate demonstrated great
support for him.  He imagined it all &mdash; there no 
<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/story/2024/9/19/2271454/-Trump-whines-to-Fox-host-about-imagined-debate-crowd-that-went-crazy?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon">audience was present.</a>

<p>
 


title: Bat deaths cause pesticides spike, US
uri: Bat-deaths-cause-pesticides-spike-US
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#23_September_2024_(Bat_deaths_cause_pesticides_spike,_US)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#23_September_2024_(Bat_deaths_cause_pesticides_spike,_US)

content:
 
<p>
A plague of
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/sep/05/loss-of-bats-to-lethal-fungus-linked-to-1300-child-deaths-in-us-study-says-aoe">fungus
killed many bats</a> across the US.  Without the bats to eat the insect pests, farmers increased use
of pesticides.  The pesticides are estimated to have killed 1300 children
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2023-jul-oct.html#11_September_2023_(Climate_aftermaths_and_the_hundredth_US_activist)">since
then</a>.


<p>
 


title: Death row
uri: Death-row
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#23_September_2024_(south_carolina_death_row_prisoner_execution)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#23_September_2024_(south_carolina_death_row_prisoner_execution)

content:
 
<p>
*South Carolina to execute man despite bombshell admission from key witness*
that his crucial testimony for the 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/sep/20/south-carolina-death-row-prisoner-execution">prosecution was a lie.</a>

<p>
 


title: Veronika Cohen
uri: Veronika-Cohen
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#23_September_2024_(holocaust_survivor_birthday_protest)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#23_September_2024_(holocaust_survivor_birthday_protest)

content:
 
<p>
*Holocaust survivor marks 80th birthday with protest outside Israeli
 prison* about maltreatment of Palestinian 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/sep/20/holocaust-survivor-veronica-cohen-80th-birthday-protest-israeli-prison">prisoners in that prison.</a>
What Palestinians need to do, to get the Israeli army to insist they
should be treated with 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/sep/20/israeli-soldiers-filmed-pushing-bodies-of-palestinians-off-west-bank-roof">some respect, is die.</a>
<p>
My view is different.  I think the living are the people who we should
treat with some basic respect so as not to cause them gratuitous,
avoidable suffering.  For the dead, that issue does not arise.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#23_September_2024_(palestinian_protest_keffiyeh)
title: Protest arrest
uri: Protest-arrest
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#23_September_2024_(palestinian_protest_keffiyeh)
content:
 
<p>
Nassau County (just east of New York City) has arrested a protester
for wearing a keffiyeh, and 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/sep/20/palestinian-protest-keffiyeh-ny">allegedly concealing his face with it.</a>
<p>
To harass nonviolent protesters who are not menacing anyone for
concealing their identity is an attack on human rights.

<p>
 


title: Protesters killed
uri: Protesters-killed
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#23_September_2024_(israeli_soldiers_killed_protestors)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#23_September_2024_(israeli_soldiers_killed_protestors)

content:
 
<p>
Shooting protesters who are not threatening anyone is a repeating
passtime of israeli snipers near the village of Beita.  
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/09/17/israel-aysenur-eygi-protesters-killing-west-bank/">A report lists
15 other instances.</a>
<p>
Typically the victims are not near any Israelis, and walking away
from them.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#23_September_2024_(overtourism_spanish_eco_beauty)
title: Overtourism
uri: Overtourism
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#23_September_2024_(overtourism_spanish_eco_beauty)
content:
 
<p>
The limit on tourists visiting 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/sep/10/people-understand-the-cap-how-a-spanish-eco-beauty-spot-tackled-overtourism">Soain's Atlantic Islands National Park</a>
<p>
Requires every visitor to give name and national ID number (or
passport number).  And the only way to apply is on a web form.
<p>
This is one more little brick in a wall of Orwellian surveillance,
imposed gratuitously.
<p>
It would be very little work to sell permits at some physical stores
and avoid the surveillance.  But once a country gives everyone a
national ID number, every activity's managers find it convenient to
add another brick to the wall of Orwellian surveillance.  It comes to
seem "normal", so no one hesitates to impose this on everyone else.
<p>
Contrast Spain's park with the Boston Aquarium, which I visited
recently.  It sells entry tickets for specific times, and encourages
people to buy them by internet &mdash; but you can go there and buy a
ticket for whatever future slots are available.  I did that
anonymously, paying cash.
<p>
This shows the need to organize to demand the right to be anonymous.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#23_September_2024_(trump_tweets_false_label)
title: Labeling Trump’s lies
uri: Labeling-Trump-s-lies
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#23_September_2024_(trump_tweets_false_label)
content:
 
<p>
*Labeling [<a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#bullshitter">the bullshitter</a>]'s lies as "disputed" on [<a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#extwitter">ex-Twitter</a>]
makes supporters 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/sep/20/trump-tweets-false-label-credibility-supporters">believe them more, study finds.*</a>

<p>
 


title: Springfield smear
uri: Springfield-smear
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#23_September_2024_(trump_vance_springfield_immigrants)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#23_September_2024_(trump_vance_springfield_immigrants)

content:
 
<p>
* The Republicans desperately need to distract voters away from abortion.  They've now 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/sep/20/trump-vance-springfield-immigrants-avoid-abortion">found the perfect new scapegoat.*</a>
<p>
Specifically, authorized Haitian immigrants that they can lie about.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#23_September_2024_(trumps_legal_threats_opponents)
title: Legal threats
uri: Legal-threats
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#23_September_2024_(trumps_legal_threats_opponents)
content:
 
<p>
*[<a class=glossary href="/glossary.html#bully">The bully's</a>] escalating legal threats against [Democratic] lawyers, donors
and others raise concern as 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/sep/20/trump-election-opponents-threats">Project 2025 seeks to curtail DoJ.*</a>

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#23_September_2024_(un_resolution_against_israeli)
title: UN resolution
uri: UN-resolution
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#23_September_2024_(un_resolution_against_israeli)
content:
 
<p>
Kenneth Roht: *The US and all nations must respect the UN resolution
against 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/sep/20/un-resolution-against-israeli-occupation">Israeli occupation.*</a>
<p>
* The general assembly confirmed the ICJ ruling that Israel’s
   prolonged occupation constitutes a de facto annexation and hence a
   violation of the “principle of the non-acquisition of territory by
   force”. In other words, although the term was not explicitly used,
   the endless occupation is an act of aggression &mdash; no different from
   Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.*
   
<p>
 


title: Kennedy’s remarks
uri: Kennedy-s-remarks
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#23_September_2024_(senator_islamophobic_john_kennedy)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#23_September_2024_(senator_islamophobic_john_kennedy)

content:
 
<p>
Right-wing demagogues have long used hatred against scapegoat groups
as a way to distract and madden the people.  Today they are 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/sep/20/senators-islamophobic-john-kennedy">using
antimuslimism for this purpose.</a>
<p>
I reject the term "islamophobia" because a phobia is an anxiety
disorder, and we can't blame people for suffering from one.  We can
and should blame people for bigotry and hatred.  So the word I use for
that is 
<a href="https://stallman.org/antiglossary.html#islamophobia">"antimuslimism".</a>

<p>
 


title: Fake UK news sites
uri: Fake-UK-news-sites
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#24_September_2024_(fake_uk_news_sites_spreading_false_stories_ukraine)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#24_September_2024_(fake_uk_news_sites_spreading_false_stories_ukraine)

content:
 
<p>
* Suspected Russian propaganda operation prompts calls to force
UK-registered news sites to 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/sep/22/fake-uk-news-sites-spreading-false-stories-about-western-firms-in-ukraine">reveal ownership.*</a>
<p>
I can support that sort of rule without hesitation,
because it is clearly not censorship.

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#24_September_2024_(hezbollah_enters_battle_israel)
title: Open-ended battle
uri: Open-ended-battle
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#24_September_2024_(hezbollah_enters_battle_israel)
content:
 
<p>
Netanyahu seems to have succeeded in provoking 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/sep/22/hezbollah-enters-battle-of-reckoning-with-israel-as-world-powers-urge-restraint">Hezbollah into all-out war.</a>

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#24_September_2024_(greenpeace_rail_passes)
title: Greenpeace
uri: 2024-09-25-Greenpeace
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#24_September_2024_(greenpeace_rail_passes)
content:
 
<p>
Greenpeace proposes to offer unlimited rail passes for Britain at a
low flat fee per month 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/sep/19/campaigners-call-for-unlimited-climate-card-uk-rail-pass">(though trains passing anywhere near London
will cost extra).</a>
<p>
This scheme will cost money, but it could be money well spent of
reducing CO2 emissions and boosting the economy of places away from
London.
<p>
Crucial for civil liberties, this is also an opportunity to reduce
surveillance &mdash; or to increase it.  With a fee paid per month, the pass
could serve as a ticket for anonymous travel.  It would be easy to
allow the holder to ride a train without collecting per identity.
<p>
But if the system does record who rode each train, as I fear the
surveillance-mad UK will do, it would further discourage anonymous
travel, because to do that you would have to pay cash for a ticket on
a train that would otherwise have been gratis.
<p>
Britons, don't wait this out.  Organize now to demand that train passes
not track their users.
<p>
The UK already uses its massive surveillance of everyone 
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2005-nov-feb.html#27%20December%202005%20(Track%20cars)">for repression</a><a> of </a>
<a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2023-jul-oct.html#8_September_2023_(Facial_recognition_cameras_around_Britain)">dissent.</a>
<p>
But the state can always increase the surveillance, or decrease it.
We must fight to decrease surveillance, limit it, and defend anonymity.
If this train pass idea is adoppted, sieze this opportunity.

<p>
 


title: Omnipresent ai cameras
uri: Omnipresent-ai-cameras
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#24_September_2024_(omnipresent_ai_cameras_larry_ellison)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#24_September_2024_(omnipresent_ai_cameras_larry_ellison)

content:
 
<p>
Billionaire Larry Ellison called for a society of total surveillance in which
everyone is constantly monitored by 
<a href="https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2024/09/omnipresent-ai-cameras-will-ensure-good-behavior-says-larry-ellison/?utm_brand=arstechnica&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social">hypothetical future AI.</a>
<p>
We could expect the AI to share the political bias and
racial/religious/ethhic prejudices of the organizations that run them.

<p>
 


title: Blasphemy suspect
uri: Blasphemy-suspect
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#24_September_2024_(police_southern_pakistan_blasphemy_suspect)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#24_September_2024_(police_southern_pakistan_blasphemy_suspect)

content:
 
<p>
Thugs in Pakistan killed someone accused of "blasphemy" &mdash; rejecting
and 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/sep/19/police-in-southern-pakistan-shoot-dead-blasphemy-suspect">criticizing religion.</a>
<p>
In Pakistan, being arrested and charged with "blasphemy" tends to lead
to being killed, often before trial, except for those who are saved by
innternational pressure to let them go into exile.  The accused man
must have realized that he was doomed if he allowed himself to be
captured.
<p>
Side issue: I've seen several other articles about shooting dead
people.  I am surprised at how many dead bodies are being shot.

<p>
 


title: UK rail pass
uri: UK-rail-pass
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#24_September_2024_(uk_fined_usable_items_fly_tipping)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#24_September_2024_(uk_fined_usable_items_fly_tipping)

content:
 
<p>
In the UK, people get fined for leaving usable items outside the door
for passers-by to take away.  Some are fined so 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/sep/22/councils-in-england-to-get-revised-guidance-on-middle-class-fly-tipping">much that it can
ruin them.</a>
<p>
Often the people responsible for this are the employees and the owners
of companies which have won contracts to hand out these fines.  Their
business is cruelty.  The owners deserve the term "vampires", but the
employees may only be desperate.
<p>
Chicago sold off the income from street parking fees to a company along with the authority to decide the <a href="https://stallman.org/archives/2012-may-aug.html#14_June_2012_(New_York_parking_meter_privatization)">policies and prices.</a>
<p>
Motorists have already been screwed, but the contract will run
for many years so the city is screwed too.
<p>
It should be illegal to involve anyone in fining the public in such a
way as to profit more from fining more.
<p>
Side issue: I wonder what they mean by "fly tipping".  Is it anything
like cor tipping?  A cow that is lying down can get back on its feet,
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cow_tipping">but can a fly do that?</a>

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#24_September_2024_(corporate_uk_tax_breaks_study)
title: UK tax breaks
uri: UK-tax-breaks
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#24_September_2024_(corporate_uk_tax_breaks_study)
content:
 
<p>
UK tax cuts for corporations in 2023 resulted in a loss of 30 billion
UKP in tax revenue but will *spur only up to 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/sep/22/corporate-uk-tax-breaks-to-cost-20bn-more-than-they-generate-study-finds">£10.5bn investment.*</a>
<p>
The rich will generally invest their money in the way they expect
will be most profitable.  When governments want to influence what
ways they choose, instead of taxing certain ways less, how about taxing
the other ways more?

<p>
 


title: Elon Musk
uri: 2024-09-25-Elon-Musk
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#24_September_2024_(elon_musk_fight_brazilian_judges_x)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#24_September_2024_(elon_musk_fight_brazilian_judges_x)

content:
 
<p>
Musk has yielded to the Brazilian government and has 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/sep/21/elon-musk-backs-down-in-his-fight-with-brazilian-judges-to-restore-x">made ex-Twitter
obey the court orders.</a>

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#24_September_2024_(keir_starmer_poll)
title: Starmer less popular
uri: Starmer-less-popular
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#24_September_2024_(keir_starmer_poll)
content:
 
<p>
*   Keir Starmer has suffered a precipitous fall in his personal ratings
   since winning the election, according to a new poll for the Observer
   that comes before his first Labour 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/sep/21/honeymoon-over-keir-starmer-now-less-popular-than-rishi-sunak">conference as prime minister.*</a>
<p>
It seems lots of voters don't like his Toryish loyalty to rich
people's wealth.

<p>
 


title: Create stories
uri: Create-stories
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#24_September_2024_(trump_vance_fake_stories_election)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#24_September_2024_(trump_vance_fake_stories_election)

content:
 
<p>
The wrecker and Vance eagerly acknowledge lying as a tactic to win
support from people who they have taught to accept lying.  They aim to
create a post-truth America in which 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/sep/22/trump-vance-create-fake-stories-lies-election">truth ceases to matter.</a>
<p>
That is the ultimate form of sabotage.  We must reject anything that
comes from them, without taking it seriously, because they are liars.
<p>
No one can achieve 100% falsehood.  Inevitably, some of the things
they say will turn out to be true.  But we should ignore the claim
when it comes from them.  If someone credible and honest makes the
claim. then we should pay it the attention it merits &mdash; but we should
not confuse matters by associating the issue with the Lie Party
candidates.

 


title: US swing states
uri: US-swing-states
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#25_September_2024_(swing_states_election_deniers_vote_count)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#25_September_2024_(swing_states_election_deniers_vote_count)

content:
 
<p>
*   A new survey of eight vital swing states reveals that at least 239
   election deniers who have signed up to Trump’s “election integrity”
   conspiracy theories are actively engaged in 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/sep/13/swing-states-election-deniers-vote-count">electoral battles this
   year.*</a>

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#25_September_2024_(springfield_ohio_bomb_threat)
title: Haitian US immigrants
uri: Haitian-US-immigrants
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#25_September_2024_(springfield_ohio_bomb_threat)
content:
 
<p>
The saboteur's hate messages about Haitians in Springfield, Ohio,
inspired a 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/sep/13/springfield-ohio-bomb-threat">bomb threat.</a>
<p>
If the time bomb threat is accompanied by a real bomb, I expect he
will leap for joy.

<p>
 


title: (Satire) Sin-Sniffing Dogs
uri: (Satire)-Sin-Sniffing-Dogs
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#25_September_2024_((satire)_vatican_city_police_sin_sniffing_dogs)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#25_September_2024_((satire)_vatican_city_police_sin_sniffing_dogs)

content:
 
<p>
(satire) *Vatican City Police Unveil 
<a href="https://theonion.com/vatican-city-police-unveil-new-unit-of-sin-sniffing-dogs/">New Unit Of Sin-Sniffing Dogs.*</a>

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#25_September_2024_(gop_lead_states_voting_rights)
title: The chilling effect
uri: The-chilling-effect
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#25_September_2024_(gop_lead_states_voting_rights)
content:
 
<p>
* Texas, Tennessee, Virginia, Alabama and Ohio want to scare off
voters [of disprivileged racial groups] and 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/30/gop-led-states-voting-rights">naturalized citizens,
activists say.*</a>

<p>
 


title: Gender-equality education
uri: Gender-equality-education
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#25_September_2024_(religions_fighting_against_sex_education)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#25_September_2024_(religions_fighting_against_sex_education)

content:
 
<p>
Various religions in the US are ganging up to fight against sex education
and 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/article/2024/sep/11/religious-groups-christians-islamists-catholic-billions-counter-gender-equality-sex-education-lgbtq-equal-rights">equal rights for queer people.</a>

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#25_September_2024_(donald_trump_ukraine_war)
title: Presidential debate
uri: Presidential-debate
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#25_September_2024_(donald_trump_ukraine_war)
content:
 
<p>
At the debate. the bullshitter refused to say whether he wants Ukraine
to defeat Putin.  Why did someone who cares so little about truth
hesitate to make up 
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/sep/11/us-presidential-debate-donald-trump-ukraine-war">whatever would go over best?</a>
<p>
The author does not know, but I have a conjecture: because Putin is
watching, and Putin demands obedience.  The bullshitter expects to get
away with bullshitting Americans, but this is a matter of promoting
Putin and he knows Putin won't stand for shenanigans.
<p>
"Just stop the fighting" has been the standard line of Putinite
influencers ever since Putin launched the invasion.  The reason is
simple: that would leave Putin in possession of conquered territory,
probably permanently. That would be victory for him, even if not
total victory.
<p>
It is surely no coincidence that the Republicans in Congress have been
willing to obstruct and threaten to interfere with US support for
Ukraine.  They are happy to increase the military budget <Em>unless</Em> it
supports Ukraine.  This has happened in parallel with their shift to
endorse the bullshitter's claim that he really won the election.
<p>
This is not proof, but it's plenty of grounds to treat the corrupter
as a suspect.

<p>
 


title: (Satire) reports of Haitians
uri: (Satire)-reports-of-Haitians
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#25_September_2024_((satire)_ohioan_disturbed_by_reports)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#25_September_2024_((satire)_ohioan_disturbed_by_reports)

content:
 
<p>
(satire) *Ohioan Disturbed by Reports of 
<a href="https://theonion.com/ohioan-disturbed-by-reports-of-haitians-eating-vegetables/">Haitians Eating Vegetables.*</a>

<p>
 


feed_id: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#25_September_2024_(zoox_self_driving_cars_remote)
title: Self-Driving Cars
uri: Self-Driving-Cars
url: https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#25_September_2024_(zoox_self_driving_cars_remote)
content:
 
<p>
Some of the cars that aren't driven by anyone in the car
are operated by 
<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/09/03/technology/zoox-self-driving-cars-remote-control.html?unlocked_article_code=1.KE4.aoKF.RlSluFtKs6dy">remote drivers.</a>
<p>
These cares are neither "autonomous" nor "self-driving".
<p>
Are they safe for the passengers and others in the vicinity?  The
reply must be, "Safe from what?"  If the question is about safety from
collisions, I don't know but with time we will find out.
<p>
If the question is about safety from surveillance and snooping, the
answer is clearly not.

<p>
 


title: Urgent: Abortion-vote blocking tactic, FL
uri: Urgent-Abortion-vote-blocking-tactic-FL
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#25_September_2024_(Urgent:_Abortion-vote_blocking_tactic,_FL)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#25_September_2024_(Urgent:_Abortion-vote_blocking_tactic,_FL)

content:
 
<p>
US citizens:
<a href="https://actionnetwork.org/forms/protect-floridas-abortion-rights-ballot-measure-from-voter-intimidation?nowrapper=true&referrer=group-hd&source=group-hd">call
on the Department of Justice</a> to block voter intimidation in Florida.

<p>
 


title: Urgent: Protesters' right to mask
uri: Urgent-Protesters-right-to-mask
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#25_September_2024_(Urgent:_Protesters'_right_to_mask_)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#25_September_2024_(Urgent:_Protesters'_right_to_mask_)

content:
 
<p>
US citizens: We have a right to safety, privacy, and protest.
Say
<a href="https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/we-have-a-right-to-safety-privacy-and-protest-say-no-to-mask-bans?nowrapper=true">no
to mask bans</a>.

<p>
 


title: Urgent: Joint resolution: Sanders on Gaza
uri: Urgent-Joint-resolution-Sanders-on-Gaza
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#25_September_2024_(Urgent:_Joint_resolution:_Sanders_on_Gaza)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#25_September_2024_(Urgent:_Joint_resolution:_Sanders_on_Gaza)

content:
 
<p>
US citizens:
<a href="https://act.demandprogress.org/sign/sanders-weapons-resolution/?t=1004">call on
Congress</a> to pass Bernie Sanders's resolution to end weapons sales to Israel.
<p>
Explain I might have proposed to adjust some details, of this, but I have confidence in Sanders and
I trust him to know such matters better than I do.
<p>
If you phone, please spread the word!                              
Main Switchboard: <a href="tel:+12022243121">+1-202-224-3121</a>

<p>
 


title: Urgent: For-profit immigrant prisons, LA
uri: Urgent-For-profit-immigrant-prisons-LA
feed_id:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#25_September_2024_(Urgent:_For-profit_immigrant_prisons,_LA)

url:
https://stallman.org/archives/2024-jul-oct.html#25_September_2024_(Urgent:_For-profit_immigrant_prisons,_LA)

content:
 
<p>
US citizens: call on US agencies to shut down
<a href="https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/shut-down-for-profit-migrant-detention-centers?nowrapper=true&referrer=group-hd&source=group-hd">for-profit immigration
prisons</a>.
<p>
The petition calls them "detention centers", but I think that term is desensitizing.


<p>
 


